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!

21. A Fairy Cryptmas Pt 2

And here we are again! Happy Belated Holidays!

'Dude, the holidays are over.'

That doesn't mean we can't celebrate an Unhappy Holidays!

See? Maddie likes celebrating. And if you take off that Santa hat of yours, its back into the closet with you.

'You are so lucky I can't K-Word you, Four-Eyes.'

Now then, onto the reviews. Unfortunately, we seem to be experiencing a glitch on the site that does not allow one to properly display the reviews given to them, meaning I have to view them from my email inbox, which does allow me to view the entire review given . . . so apologies if all your questions are not answered fully.

Get on with it!

Put the teapot down, Maddie!

Karlos1234ify – I know right? The year flies by so fast, especially down here in the Underworld. Surrounded by grim grinning ghosts and a plethora of crazy characters.

Isom – My top three weapons from anywhere in the multiverse would be the Omnitrix, the nanites from Generator Rex (provided I could control them like Rex could), and the ability to earth-bend like Toph (my favorite character next to Soka from Avatar: The Last Airbender). Oh, and Deadpool?

'Yes?'

*THWACK!*

Touch my girl and I'll beat you four ways to Sunday.

'Don't you mean eight? Or am I seeing double?'

Aw, you do care, Creaty!

Moving on . . .

Wolfslick – You're very perceptive, aren't you? And yes, we'll need all the help we can get. If only Dipper and Mabel would find that page already . . .

storygirl99210 – Trust me, Apple will learn her lesson one way or another.

Redrangerlegacy – Thankfully, Maddie was able to convince Kitty otherwise with some catnip tea of her on design. For some strange reason, Mr. Nibbles, as Maddie calls it, gets eerily calm whenever he drinks it . . . and now I'm completely losing my mind.

I knew you'd warm up to Mr. Nibbles eventually!

Not now, not ever. That thing is staying with you and away from my face.

Wolvenstrom – Thank you for pointing those out to me. Yes, things will not turn out well for Apple and she will lose quite a lot of fairy tale's close to her trust in her and maybe even Ben, but she's just simply too naive and unsure and afraid of what will happen if her destiny isn't followed; it's already in jeopardy of Ben being her prince charming and not Daring and with more girls and ghouls throwing wrenches into the machine, she's simply too distraught and afraid of what will happen if everything she's known her entire life is taken aware from her. It's kinda like when you were a kid and lived in one place all your life with your friends and everything else you held dear and then suddenly moved across the country where everything is so strange and foreign to you (kinda like the whole opening of Inside Out, now that I think about it). While you make consider her a villain, I don't, but I don't consider her any of the positive things you said either. I really don't know what to call her other than an accident prone princess.

Codecrash – According to her creator, Savara was intended to marry one of Dexter's relatives (it isn't specified which one) before he ditched her for someone else; she is actually roughly fifty years old or so despite looking no older than Dexter, so there's your messed up medieval dating scene for the day. And while the first three rules apply to Whisp for now, the whole wishing for extra wishes thing can actually be done, genies just don't mention it or say you can't because that means they don't get passed around enough and instead are kept as eternal servants; then you have to take into consideration that most genies twist their Finder's wishes in ways never intended because they aren't specific enough.

Genie – Oh, no, not you, too! Ugh. Either way, the rules state that a genie can't make anyone fall in love with anyone else, not fall out of love. And since Ben already loves Apple and she loves her back, she's simply wishing that he only loves her; this technically does not violate the rules.

'Yeah, so back off, big blue!'

If you wanna be turned into a cockroach, it's your funeral, dude.

StrongGuy159 – I shall follow your orders to the best of my abilities!

mechazard01 – I asked for OC villains not aliens, so don't expect your transformation to come to fruition (I already have too many lined up and ready to dish out), and as for your second question . . . well, you'll just have to see ;)

ajjr12 – While it may seem selfish, it was more along the lines of panicked. And yes, there will be reactions to Whisp's existence by the Brothers Grimm XD

Menatron the Angel of Ideas – Yeah, the review issue is driving me crazy. I was actually thinking of going with the Forever Knights finding Whisp, but I thought the Apple plot would be more entertaining.

Guest – While that little shenanigan won't happen for a while, it'll be one amusing and sweet chapter to write XD Also, I don't remember the first villain you suggested. I think it might have gotten lost during the whole 'review issue' that's been happening lately.

BlackAceStriker – Maddie has yet to set anything incapable of being lit aflame on fire just yet-

But it won't stop me from trying!

'Nice going. You just made the Hatter a pyromaniac. Just what we need.'

I feel your pain, bro. Maddie, put that blowtorch down!

DracoAngel17 – Why is my personal pain so amusing to you people!? I'm fighting an omniversal demon over here, can't you give me a break!? I do not need a hyperactive Hatter driving me bonkers while I make plans to use Bill Cipher's eye as a bowling ball! And I was not actually threatening you, it was more along the lines of . . . suggestion?

'You keep telling yourself that, Four-Eyes.'

That closet sure looks comfortable . . .

'You wouldn't dare . . .'

Wouldn't I?

Stretchy-Rat – I'm pretty sure you just made a certain princess cry somewhere. Hopefully this little adventure will teach Apple a thing or two that she's been missing.

masterart – Actually, Once Upon a Tennyson is the unfortunate end of the Ben 10/Monster High/Ever After High series, though there are planned one-shots to be continued even after their end (which probably won't be for some time XD).

Numbervania – Truth be told, I'm actually kinda regretting ever thinking of Cerise's fate considering how much of a headache that'll create down the road, but we'll have to see where this goes. And hopefully Apple will learn her lesson during this one . . . hopefully.

Lorn Dominator – Hmm. The most beautiful and awesome female aliens in history? In my opinion at least, that would include Astranova, Attea, Princess Leia, Princess Neytiri, even Looma Redwind (although that last one might be more likely to crush even me. Wonder if she likes undead Tetramands).

Not if she wants to deal with me, she won't!

'And the Hatter is madder than ever, ladies and gents!'

Shut it, Wade.

NaruFuu Forever – Technically speaking, Clawdeen is in charge at the moment and it's unknown whether Frankie will arrive before or after Cerise is impregnated (depending on how things go), so you never know.

360 – Technically, Apple is already in love with Ben. There is nothing in the rules that says genies can't wish people out of love.

confused – Depends on who you are (otherwise, I didn't get the PM you supposedly sent me). Either way, the problem with the reviews has been thankfully fixed.

Hooray! Celebratory tea for everyone!

TerrorKing10 – Await no more, my good man!

Zachary Hance – Compared to other characters from Monster High and Ever After High, Apple is woefully clueless and arguably dimwitted in stressful situations and under pressure (something she'll probably try to smooth out as a future ruler). She's prone to making irrational thoughts under stress.

Kaiju Fan – You think spending Christmas with these nuts was fun? Try preventing Deadpool from lighting fire to the Christmas tree, keeping Maddie from filling Hades' socks with lukewarm honeysuckle tea (don't ask), and once again keeping the abomination that is Mr. Nibbles (we still don't if it is a 'he') from eating my face off. Lets see how long you last . . .

'Not my fault Christmas trees are flammable.'

Who carries a portable flamethrower behind their back 24/7!?

Royal Rebel – a cameo is when a character appears in some form of media but does not have any lines, dialogue, or major interference with the main plot line; they're essentially just background characters for the main characters to occasionally interact with. And yeah, I don't know what the problem is either, but looking back on We're All Monsters, I'll probably want to smooth out a few of those bumps if I want to keep that around.

Bill Cipher – My old enemy . . .

'Stairs?'

No, you scoodle-brain! The One-eyed-Trinity-Force-Nacho-Chip-Man!

Why you /censored/ /censored/ /once again censored/ of all /censored again/ /sweet mother of Methanosian, where did he learn these words!?/ /yep, still censored/ in all my /censored again/ /almost done with all this censored stuff/ days!

. . . WHAT HE SAID! ONLY . . . DOUBLE!

'Make that infinite!'

Well, what are we gonna do? Is it gonna be Raven or Soos?

I . . . oh, fairy fail! I can't decide!

'I'm with Teacup on this one. Neither option is viable.'

Hmmm. I might have a way . . . but I'm gonna need Deadpool to do a little dimension jumping . . .

'Uh-uh! No way!'

Will you do it for a Scooby Snack?

'I am NOT a dog.'

Will you do it for a Deadpool snack then?

'. . . make it two and you've got yourself a deal. What am I getting anyways?'

I'll tell you once we're done with these reviews. Right now, just know that Soos won't have to be a yo-yo anymore!

WHAT!? You're little poor Raven to deal with that monster!?

Not even close, babe. Soos is the one that's in the most danger at this point, but I think I can stall/save Raven long enough until Weirdmageddon Part 3 finally rolls around . . . I hope . . .

I hope you're right . . .

Riddle Master – Now that you say that out loud, it makes a lot more sense.

I can't believe we were dumb enough to fall for that!

'I can.'

SHUT IT WADE!

Story Artist – If I remember correctly, Zombozo mostly fed on happiness and fear. But I digress. Yes, chaos shall ensue, one way or another!

Fanfic Fan – The O'Hair Sisters will reappear soon, but patience is a virtue of good reader. Also, I have convinced Maddie to get Mr. Nibbles to dismantle all and any security cameras you have posted around my door; lets see you try and be the 900th reviewer now!

'Yep. Four-Eyes' lost it.'

Shut it, Wade.

Titanzilla – Unlike We're All Monsters, I think I'll avoid a another mini harem within Ben's. While it works for Ben, Venus, Robecca, and Jane, it wouldn't work so well for Raven, Cerise, and Clawdeen; the later two are under an uneasy truce at the moment and probably won't work up any feelings for each any time soon if ever. As to answer you're other question, I put out a poll for a new yuri couple to form in this story, and Raven x Cerise won out (I was silently routing for them either way).

Darkness Rissing – Like Whisp said, we were pressed for time, so musical anytime soon! And what can I say? Apple just seems like the person that panics under pressure or overwhelming situations and make very poor choices that result in less than desirable consequences. As for your last question, I can only hope that Apple is fast . . . very, very, very fast.

ImmaSupa Stargirl – I'm pretty sure he's familiar with her during the events of Spring Unsprung. And then of course, there's the dreaded parent's day chapter . . . XD

LegionnaireBlaze – You may think I have violated the genie rules, but guess what? I haven't! The rules say I can't make fall in love, not out of love (trust me, I've checked). And thank you for the Toon Rope; it'll help in keeping a certain mercenary and bizarre alien creature contained . . .

'Uh, oh.'

fantasylover4evr – Words can not even describe how my New Years went over here with these nut balls-

'I nearly lit the Christmas on fire! Woo!'

Dude, that's not something to be proud of.

Cartoonfan10 – That's for me to know, and for you to find out ;) As for your second question, Aquattack is the natural predator of the Appoplexian species, meaning it is super durable, enabling it to suffer hundreds of attacks and punches and simply bounce them right back off; basically, it exhausts its prey to death after provoking it and then quickly delivers a painful sting to subdue and kill it.

Palutena – I'll be sure to have an extra big flyswatter on hand. What can I say, with all the craziness that happens with unwelcome visitors, I'm more than prepared to beat them back if I have to. Although, considering this Pit is coming over on an errand for you, I think I'll let it slide.

And while I can't introduce you to my Cupid, I can introduce you to another! You wouldn't believe how many universes are out there where Cupid never left Monster High!

Stop spoiling my one-shot series!

Unknown – I don't think Ben will ever have magical abilities without using the Omnitrix to turn into Terraspin, but there is always the hope of the Ultimatrix; while I can stomach the fact that Ultimate Ben (or an evolved human) would gain the ability to manipulate magic, the way he was able to use all his alien powers without changing form was just . . . lame. Even some of the writers for the show thought it was a stupid idea. And there are more Aladdin references to come, guaranteed!

DoomsDay2015 – After this chapter, actually. What I have planned for the next one should turn things on their head.

Hero-Time10 – Canonically, Ben has dealt with the Rooters and thus being trapped in the Null Void, are unaware of both universes being fused together and the presence of the ghouls (until later, that is).

Writer2016 – If that poll does come to fruition, the resulting offspring will most likely be a girl simply because Cerise and Ben's daughter appeared in Raven's dream beforehand, and I really hate to change things that have already happened for the sake of confusion.

Smaug – Glad to see you aren't too down in the dumps. And who knows? If the Predator transformation doesn't appear in this story, it could appear in one of my one-shots!

Morantis – Yes, actually. Darkness Rissing was actually the one that submitted Savara, and I'm glad you enjoyed it! And finally someone sees the loophole! I've literally got the Genie himself breathing down my neck about it ;)

maverickmoxey2000 – What can I say? Venus just seems like the flirting type that loves to tease her ghoulfriends and shared boyfriend as much as possible (she especially loves it when Jane turns the color of a ripe tomato whenever she whispers the things she'd like to do together); and yeah, writing the next chapter for When Life Gives You Lemons was rather difficult in figuring out how to fit Skelita in there (spoiler), but I think I made it work.

As much as I love your idea for how the whole wish could have gone horribly wrong, I was influenced by a certain goat-legged demon before reading this and decided to go with it; what can I say, the movie was awesome to watch (hint, hint). And those suggestions for Briar, Cedar, and Ginger? Much appreciated ;)

Reasons why Harangue hates Ben . . . my guess he just sees Ben as a menace and is just one of those haters of anything that could endanger his fame or jeopardize his ratings (this is backed up by the fact that he continues to slander Ben to boost his ratings as much as possible). What I don't understand is why he idolizes Captain Nemesis, a showboating fame monger that's only in it for riches and celebrity status, and despises Ben. I mean, you remember the beginning of The Vengers when Nemesis kept on saying how he was so great and everything when people's lives were actually in danger, leaving Ben to XLR8 on in there and do the heroing? And even when he says how big of a fan he is of Nemesis, Harangue still slanders him as a 'showboating vigilanty'! It's just one of those great mysteries of the universe.

Ah, so there is something going on between you and the Princess of Hearts! Congrats, man! Please don't get her to behead me!

'Layin' it a little thick there, aren't cha?'

Shut it, Wade.

Will you two stop bickering!? You're practically sucking the madness out of everything! It's like going to that extremely strict Catholic school-thing Kitty's mom was sent to!

Fine, fine. You stay away from my girl, and I don't compact you into an area the size of a dictionary and shove you back into the closet with Mr. Nibbles, got it?

'Fine. And you keep . . . whatever that thing is away from me, or I will stuff every available hole and pocket on your person with raw meat.'

Why are all you guys bringing Mr. Nibbles into this!? He hasn't done anything!

EXCEPT TRYING TO EAT US!

Ahem. Anyways, I'm pretty sure I can arrange Ben to have a comforting moment, and much appreciated for voting on the poll. As for the next chapter of Cupid's Crystal Ball, I'm working on it as fast as I can. Little miss /censored for sake of spoilers/ is a lot harder to write than I thought. And hey, don't sweat it. I don't mind in the slightest.

On a side note, I got around to drawing your OC, Vanity. She's posted and awaiting your approval!

morganoth – I have decided that Dragon Games will be added to the line of canonically Ever After High moments that I have promised to included, but that's it; don't expect something with the one after that (which is the equivalent of an Ever After High Frozen parody, if I remember correctly). I have my own plans for that.

Anonymous – I believe the time would be . . . now? Yes, now I believe.

luciayshadow – Yep, that little bug is fixed and squished, so now I can hear form you all! Nice! And yeah, I knew as soon as I wrote the question about Cerise is pregnant and creating a sort of cliché teenage-parent plot would just give me a monster-szied headache farther down the road; can't say the same for Courtley though (you not believe how people want her and Ben together).

Whoa now, I can't have you murdering my characters just yet. I still need them!

'You know what you also need? A bath.'

Deadpool, I am not kidding. Say one more word and it's back into the closet with you, belated holiday season or not.

MCDrakersYT – Hope you're enjoying the story so far! And hey, I'd love to see what you got. I can't guarantee that they'll make it in, but I love to see what other people got going around inside of their heads.

'Is that all of them?'

Yep. Now, you remember what you have to do?

'Relax, Four-Eyes. Did you forget who you're talking to?'

A Spiderman lookalike?

'Not the time, Teacup.'

Dude, just activate the dimension jumper and get jumping. *Deadpool rolls his eyes and taps a watch-like device fastened to his wrist before disappearing in a flash of blinding light, finally granting yours truly some peace and quiet* Ah, this is nice. Just me, my girl, and a freaky alien pet that wants to eat my face off every few minutes.

I couldn't have said it better myself, Creaty.

Still not answering to that. *Takes long sip of hot chocolate, only to do a massive spit take as the ceiling above rumbles and cracks, splitting open and dumping a figure on the coffee table, breaking it into splinters with a low groan as the cavern in the ceiling closes up; upon closer inspection, it reveals to be a human boy about five feet or so tall as he slowly climbed to his feet and rubbed his aching skull* Oh, come on! I just got that done last week!

Creaty, I think we have more important things to worry about!

"What the- where I am? And who are you?"

I could ask you the same thing. I could also ask you why you fell through our ceiling and destroyed my coffee table, but we can't have everything, now can we?

"Sorry. The last thing I remember was reviewing for this story I was reading an then . . ."

Hmm. By chance did this story have a devilishly handsome, undead Tetramand, a beautiful Hatter, a savage alien pet, and the mother of all annoying fourth wall breaking mercenaries arguing it out in the author's notes?

"Now that you mention it . . . wait, what did you say your name was?"

Name's Creaturemaster. This is my girlfriend Maddie and lurking somewhere around here is our pet Mr. Nibbles who I can not stand but keep around for Teacup's sake.

"Then . . . it worked! I can't believe it actually worked!"

What worked?

"Dude, my name's Zachery Hance! Don't you remember me?"

Uh, give me a sec. I have a lot of reviewers . . . oh, yeah, you! You owe me a new ceiling. I think?

"Uh, I don't have that kind of cash on me. C-Can I . . . I dunno, do something else? Run errands or do chores?"

Hmmm. I might have something you could help out with. Granted, it might end in a fate worse than death, but right now, we're kinda desperate. You in?

"Does a dodo fly?"

No.

" . . . I'm tired of this conversation. Where do I start?"

You can start by finding Mr. Nibbles. It's nearly his feeding time!

"Uh, okay? What exactly do you feed him?"

Trust me when I say you don't want to know. Lets just say that Maddie takes this parenting thing a little too far and leave it at that. Regardless, while our new intern finds out missing pet, beloved or otherwise, don't forget to comment, review, suggest, and request down below! On a side note, I do not own the following songs whatsoever. Also, I've managed to get around to drawing up some of the OC villains you guys submitted and were accepted; they will be posted on my Deviantart account, which you find on my profile page.

Onward!

"AGH! What the heck is that thing!?"

Told you it wasn't pretty.

Apple blinked her eyes and shielded her face from a bright, intense light that seemed fully intent on frying her retinas to ash when she wasn't coughing and wheezing; her lungs were on fire and her skin was burning as well, igniting her flawless, soft, snow white skin with raw, red spots that crackled and snapped like embers in a fireplace. Now that Apple had gotten use to her surroundings, she realized that the air all around her actually was on fire, filled with bright embers that twisted and floated through like new fallen snow in a blizzard.

The princess hissed and withdrew her hands inside of her sleeves to prevent them from getting burnt as she looked around, not realizing where in the name of the ancestors she was; the sky was a fiery, poisonous orange and yellow in color as if the sun had gotten too close and set the atmosphere ablaze, leaving nothing but the intoxicating air to breathing and the mournful caws of crows to listen to. All around her was debris and rubble, the remains of a once wonderful and enchanting civilization now reduced to burning piles of stone and wood that surrounded Apple on all sides. She gulped and took several cautious steps forward, looking back and forth and getting the uneasy feeling that where ever after she had ended up, it was all too familiar.

What was puzzling even more was how this even corresponded to her wish. How could this awful scene, this apocalyptic landscape that made her lungs struggle to breath and her eyes want to commit suicide possible relate to her selfish desire to have Ben all to herself? Now that she thought about it, she was already having seconds thoughts about that wish; but she had been caught up in the moment of having such power, such raw and uncontrollable power at her command that in the madness and chaotic thoughts of it all she had made what was perhaps one of, if not the worst wish ever after. Especially if it led to this kind of place, wherever after it was.

Her foot striking against something caught her attention and she looked down and gasped upon seeing the smoldering remains of the Glass Slipper's store logo, a shop she regularly frequented to visit Ashlynn and to stock up on the season's latest designs in footwear. Looking around, Apple recognized the crumbling remains of the Tower Salon that no longer proudly reached the sky and looked out over the Village of Book End. Apple's heart was hammering in her chest as she continued on, her pace quickening when she recognized the ancient, smoldering stumps that had once made up the Multi-Hex theater and the gigantic, wilting remains of the Beanstalk Bakery, now nothing more than a pitiful weed just waiting to be put out of its misery.

The further and further Apple traveled, more and more she disliked where she was, her pulse quickening when she saw the shattered remains of the Mad Hatter's Haberdashery & Tea Shoppe lying in crumbled ruins like some kind of dying beast waiting for its time to pass on; gulping, Apple slowly walked inside and made careful steps to not step on the shards and pieces of broken teapots and teacups, somehow making Apple feel like he was trespassing on some fairy tale's grave as she knelt down and stood up a fallen table that groaned and creaked pitifully as Apple pulled up a chair and took a seat, looking around at what had once been one of the livest places in all of Book End. If this really was Book End, if this really was Ever After . . . where was everyone? What had happened to them?

A soft clinking noise caught her attention and apple looked and startled, barely keeping in a small yelp of surprise when a small, cracked teacup slowly hopped up to her foot, seeming to look up at her some set of invisible eyes that she could not see before sadly hopping along; unsure of what to do, Apple got up from her chair and quietly followed after the teacup, biting her lip when she noticed that the rotting, festering floorboards of the Tea Shoppe were now scorched and covered in a thin layer of ash that got blacker and darker the further she followed the teacup until it finally came to a halt. The princess, curious, looked up at what the teacup had stopped to stare at and nearly lost her stomach contents at the mere sight of the ghastly scene before her. It was a corpse of a small, teenage girl that had been buried under the rubble of the collapsing Haberdashery and killed upon impact with nothing by her tattered, white legging covered legs and a limb, frail hand still clutching a teacup in death; a small, teacup-shaped top hat lay undisturbed on the ground but a few feet away, the smoldering scorch mark implying that its owner had also been attacked in the head before she had been killed by the very place she loved and adored.

"Maddie . . ." Apple rasped, her throat having gone dry upon seeing such a horrific nightmare; the little teacup at her feet bobbed slightly, as if nodding before sadly hopping away into the shadows, ignoring Apple's heartbroken expression. Not wanting to see anymore, Apple ran out of the Mad Hatter's Tea Shoppe as quickly as possibly, ignoring the dull, stabbing pains as she ran over the broken china and back out into the fiery streets of hell that had become Book End. Her breath short and ragged and her heart beating like a drum, Apple ran through the maze of Book End, trying to block out the horrific things she encountered along the way; the lifeless corpses of Poppy and Holly O'Hair were crushed under a mound of heavy rubble, their lips left open and dripping trails of drying blood while their eyes held looks of eternal agony and pleading with clasped together tightly for comfort. Daring had been impaled through the chest by what Apple realized to be his own sword, his limp form left to rot hanging from his own blade in a still standing wall that had been battered relentlessly by the harsh weather, the dented crown of Hopper Croakinton II at his feet with no other sign of the amphibious prince in sight. Apple blocked this all out as she all but barreled into the Enchanted Forest, her breath catching in her throat when she took note of the blackened trees and their lifeless branches that seemed to claw and reach for her.

Dry, dead leaves crunched under her feet as she walked, her heart stopping when she came upon the blood stained, skeletal remains of a once proud stag that had been stripped to the bone; lying not to far away were a pair of skeletons wrapped in each others arms with their bones riddled by multiple arrows that glistened menacingly in the low light. The smaller of the two corpses had several, greasy patches of strawberry blonde hair still attached to its bony scalp, its body dressed in a light blue and pink, puffy sleeved dress and short, floral skirt that barely reached its kneecaps. The larger of the two skeletons however, had a few strands of earthy brown hair left on only the left side of its skull, a tattered and heavily weathered jacket over a decomposing, evergreen sweatshirt covering its gaping rib cage where several of the bones had been snapped off and leaving only one of its skeletal feet covered by a single, brown hunting boot.

"No . . . not Ashlynn and Hunter . . ." Apple whispered, her lips barely forming the words before a low, deep hiss caught her attention. Against her better judgment, Apple slowly turned around to catch a glance at the noise and nearly felt her heart stop upon what she saw; glowering at her from behind a pair of blackened trees was a massive dragon easily the size of an elephant if not three times as big. What made the beast all the more frightening was that it didn't bare any resemblance to a dragon apple had ever had the displeasure of seeing, with the exception of Nevermore, and looked more like some sort of sick mutation. For one thing, the dragon didn't have any eyes of any kind and merely glared at her with an expressionless face, save for the two rows razor-sharp fangs that resided in its massive maw; as if that weren't bad enough, the tongue was instead a long, fleshy vein with a smaller, fang filled mouth at the end that drooled excessively, letting long strands of corrosive, acid-like saliva to drop and hiss loudly upon the ground. Never minding its frightening head, the rest of the beast a sheer monstrosity, a nearly skeletal body held together by ligaments, tendons, muscles and sinew as black as ebony that seemed too far stretched between their two points; blackened vertebrae rose up from its spine, running all the way down a very long, whip-like tail. Gigantic, curved claws tipped each and every toe and finger, digging deep into the desecrated earth when it wasn't flexing the pair of massive, mourning gray wings that acted as a pair of forelegs. Apple immediately recognized it as one of the school's dragons that were used in the Beast Care and Training and Heroics 101 classes.

"N-Nice boy," Apple trembled, taking several cautious steps back for every one the horribly ill-looking dragon took, smoke drifting forth not from a set of nostrils on its nose, but a set of gill-like slits on its thick neck. The dragon, whatever had happened to it, growled and locked its eyeless face on her, slithering the second mouth out past the cage of dagger sharp teeth that lined its first set of jaws and slowly, deliberately towards Apple; the princess winced and froze on the spot as the second mouth reflexively opened and closed, gently poking and prodding her before slithering a long, flexible tongue out past the dull teeth that lined the second mouth and tentatively licked her, sampling her before the tongue, the second mouth, and the long vein it was attached to all zipped back inside the dragon's maw faster than a chameleon's tongue. The twisted dragon than bellowed in Apple's face, shattering whatever nerves she had left and sending the princess fleeing as fast possible, screaming at the top of her lungs as the dragon took chase after her, screeching and roaring as its feet pounded the ground, the blackened, dead forest working against it with the trees forcing it to run instead of fly. This did not mean however, that the advantage was Apple's.

The princess's lungs were burning as she ran, her heart threatening to tear itself out of her chest from pumping and pounding and hammering so much within her to the point where it hurt like hex to her as she stole a peek behind her and screamed even louder when the dragon was just a feet meters away; a quick movement to the left allowed Apple to avoid getting attacked by the second mouth that instead snapped at a branch as thick around as Apple's wrist and chewed it in two with one movement, making the mutated dragon even further irritated.

"P-Please! Just leave me alone!" Apple pleaded. "Whisp! Whisp! Wherever you are, help me!" she screamed as loud as possible while running before she suddenly tripped and when tumbling and bouncing down a steep embankment that scratched and pounded away at her body with rocks and blackened logs until she finally came to a stop at the trunk of an ancient oak that looked as if it had seen far better seasons. She winced at a sharp pain in her arm and shook her head to clear her vision, immediately wishing she hadn't when she saw the horrid dragon come slowly stalking down the bank and hissing venomously as the gills puffed and fluttered to release puffs of smoke from within itself.

"G-Go away! I'm w-warning you!" Apple cried, really wishing she had paid attention to those Heroic 101 classes that had been combined with her Damsel-in-Distress period as she grabbed a stick and held in front of her like a weapon; when the dragon didn't back off, Apple chucked the stick at its head, hoping to deter it from eating and make it think she was too much of a problem to deal with. Her hopes were shattered however when the second mouth snaked out faster than a whip and caught the stick in its teeth, snapping it half with a quick movement and letting the two halves fall to the ground before stalking closer, its patience at an end.

"WHISP!" Apple screamed as loud as possible with the dragon but a few yards away; a puff of black smoke exploded in front of her, making her cough and wheeze even more.

"Hmmm. Lets see here," Whisp hummed as she stood between Apple and the nightmarish dragon while she flipped through a thick collection of pages stapled together. "Apple gets cornered and tries to defend herself, Apple cries out for help, Whisp comes to the rescue. A tad predictable, but I can work with this." she shrugged, closing the script and sending it away in a cloud of black smoke.

"Do something!" Apple begged.

"Righto! One knight in shining armor coming up!" Whisp cracked her knuckles before snapping her fingers and swallowing herself in another flash of black smoke that dissipated to cloth the genie in a suit of shining, metal armor that broadened her shoulder dramatically and increased her height as well, all but dwarfing Apple. A fiery pink plume stuck out of the top of the helmet, matching the brightly pink colored symbol of none other than the Omnitrix under a white skullette on Whisp's chest and the massive shield she carried in her left hand while holding a gigantic broadsword in the other. The genie in shining armor lifted the lid of its helmet up with a cocky grin before charging forward with her sword raised and ready to smite.

The dragon snarled and reared up onto its hindlegs, hissing venomously and flaring its wings as a warning, even going so far as to let the second mouth slither out past the first set of jaws; when it realized that the genie would not be deterred easily, it finally resorted to its last line of defense and fired off a hot, fiery stream of flame right at Whisp, bellowing and roaring at the top of its lungs as the genie in shining armor raised her shield to block a majority of fire before rushing forward with her sword raised and the shield over her face to protect her from the flames. The twisted dragon roared and followed her movements with its neck, snapping its jaws shut just an inch behind her as Whisp dove under the dragon's belly and stabbed her blade upwards, embedding it deep into the dragon's belly and raising her shield a second time to block a second stream of fiery breath sent her way by the irritated beast.

"Ha! Have at thee, foul villain!" Whisp cheered as she rammed her shield at the dragon's face and dazed it long enough for her to pull her sword out from its gut and slash it front of the beast's face, severing the long vein that connected the second mouth to the dragon in a spurt of disgusting, green blood. After that, the nightmarish monstrosity had finally had enough and gave a final flare of its smoke expelling gills before raising its wings to give them a single, powerful flap and flying upwards and away; Whisp gave off a loud battle cry to chase it off, a scream that made Apple's hair stand on end.

"I-Is it gone?" Apple asked as she climbed to her feet with her back pinned firmly against the tree trunk.

"Gone like a dodo, kid." Whisp grinned, snapping her fingers and sending the suit of armor she had been wearing, grand sword, and protective shield away in a puff of black smoke.

Apple swallowed and began breathing again, her pulse relaxing as she slid down the trunk of the tree with her wits still about her just in case another dragon or some other twisted monstrosity that may have been roaming the woods; the princess sucked in another breath to calm her nerves, entire frame rattling as she did so. "Wh-Where . . . where am I?" she trembled.

Whisp tapped her chin in thought before snapping her fingers and summoning a compass, a map, and a pair of glasses that she set upon the brim of her nose to peer closer at the map in her hands. "Hmmm. Off hand, I'd say Ever After." she replied casually.

"B-But what happen to it?" Apple wondered, her bottom lip quivering as she wheezed and coughed at the sheer amount of ash and embers in the air.

Whisp hummed and rubbed her chin for a second before snapping her fingers and summoning a pair of reading glasses onto the bridge of her nose and a heavy leather book in her hands. "Lets see now . . . Raven Queen and the original Snow White kissing . . . Daring discovering that his original ancestor was a necrophiliac . . ."

Apple immediately clapped her hands over her ears, singing loudly at the top of her lungs. "Stop it! Stop that! P-Please, for the love of the ancestors, stop it!" she pleaded, a shaky tone in her voice.

"Just as well. Wrong book anyway." Whisp shrugged, oblivious to Apple as she sent the book away in a puff of blackened smoke before summoning a second book into her other hand and flipping through that until she landed on the page she was looking for; the genie then snapped her fingers and summoned a telescope into her hand to glance up at the ash-filled sky above her with before turning a pile of deadened leaves into a notepad and pencil that she scribbled some calculations down and then finally pulling a coin out of her pocket that she flipped and caught between her fingers. "Just as I thought."

"You actually got an answer from all that?" Apple raised an eyebrow, biting her lip and cautiously uncovering her ears for fear of hearing anything else that she might regret or be traumatized by.

Whisp grinned. "Not a bit. I just know." she replied. "Either way, the answer is quite simple, really: Raven did this."

Apple blanked. "I must be hearing things," she muttered to herself. "This . . . all this . . . Raven did all this?"

"That's right, she can be taught!" Whisp smirked, snapping her fingers and placing a diploma and mortar hat upon the princess's head and hand.

Apple was quaking and trembling at these words. This . . . all of this death and destruction and desecration was because of Raven? But the Raven that Apple knew, the Raven that Apple loved and treasured like a sister would never resort to all of this evil . . . would she? Now that the princess thought about it, how well did she really know Raven? She knew she was the Daughter of the Evil Queen and was destined to follow in her mother's footsteps, but beyond that she knew next to nothing about her other than a few sparse facts that were little more than trivia tidbits. Maybe . . . maybe all of this wasn't that far off? Maybe Raven, as tall and as strong as she was, really was teetering on the edge of sanity and was barely hanging on?

"Where . . . wh-where is Raven?" Apple asked.

"Hmmm. I'd wager the ever ominous, looming castle way over yonder." Whisp suggested, pointing behind Apple.

"Can you take me there?" Apple asked.

"Is that a wish? Because I can't do nothing until you wish it, and I for one am pretty sure you do not want to remain stuck here." Whisp warned her.

Apple raised an eyebrow. "But what about when you saved me? Just two minutes ago?"

"Four minutes three seconds, to be exact. But who's counting?" Whisp corrected as she pulled an oversized stopwatch out from between her breasts before snapping her fingers; the golden chain slithered back between her cleavage with the watch right behind, drawing a deep blush across Apple's face as she sucked in a breath to calm herself. "And if you must know, us genies are allowed to give out one freebie when we first start out; I've been at this for . . . a year or two, give or take a couple millennium? It's so hard to keep a calendar inside of a lamp."

Apple tapped her chin in thought. If Whisp couldn't give her a way to Raven's lair (at least she hoped it would be) and she was all out of free wishes from the genie in training, then the best course of action without wasting one of her precious wishes . . . was to trick her. "Wait, hold up. You're saying that you can bring me to some fairy fail of a future and save me from some sort of mutant dragon, but you can't just teleport me or something to the castle?" she scoffed with a mocking tone that she had been practicing. "Some all powerful genie."

Whisp frowned and raised an eyebrow at this, her brow furrowing as her temper began to grow.

"I guess that's to be hexpected," Apple seemed oblivious to the genie's expression. "Guess I'll just have to walk there all alone . . . by myself . . . with nothing but a weak genie-"

THOOM!

A gigantic foot easily three times Apple's size came crashing down in front of her, an even bigger slipper with a curled tip fitting over the foot and blocking her path; tilting her head upward revealed the owner of the massive foot to be none other than Whisp on a much bigger scale with the smoked trees looking comparable to a small meadow of blackened grass to her with Apple nothing more than a tiny insect to be accidentally crushed underfoot. "Excuse me?" Whisp snarled, glaring at the princess. "Are you lookin' at me? Did you rub my lamp? Did you wake up? Did you bring me here? And all of a sudden, you're walkin' out on me!?" she yelled angrily, her voice loud and booming. "I don't think so! Not right now! You're getting' your wishes, so SIT DOWN!" the very air seeming to vibrate from the sheer intensity of her anger.

Apple was shaking like a leaf in a storm beneath the genie's towering height that would have made her visible for miles and yelped with surprise when Whisp was engulfed in a gigantic cloud of charred smoke that swallowed her entire form and shrank her down to a much more manageable size; Whisp then cracked her kncukles and pointed her finger at a fallen log on the forest floor, blasting a charge of what Apple could only guess to be phenomenal cosmic power or some form of powerful magic and turning the fallen limb into a magic carpet with exotic and extravagant designs in a puff of ash-colored smoke.

"In case of emergency, the exits are here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here . . . anywhere!" Whisp summed as she sprouted what must have been eight new arms that pointed in a total of ten different directions to Apple as she was pulled on board the flying carpet by yet another pair of arms that Whisp had recently grown before the Genie snapped all but her original pair back against her body. "Keep your hands and arms inside the carpet! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE'RE. . . outta here!" Whisp exclaimed as the magic carpet blasted off like a rocket, leaving Apple hanging on for dear life and wondering if she had made the right choice in tricking the genie.

---

The Holiday Mash Up was in full swing, with the ballroom heavily decorated and full of Christmas cheer; white and blue snowflakes floated and flew across the dance floor and walls, giving the room an overall warm and fuzzy feel when once took into consideration that a grand fireplace sat against one wall of the room and was burning brightly in front of a group of chairs for those students that had grown tired from all the jolly noise and dance and simply needed a break. The towering Christmas tree stood opposite of the fireplace across the wide dance floor and in front of the large windows that looked out upon the winter wonderland outside and offered an extra dollop of holiday cheer for those that were still a tad grumpy and rather scrooge-like.

"Faybelle, what did I tell you about playing with the punch bowl?" Ben scolded the fairy when he caught her red handed while she tried to pour some sort of mysterious concoction into the holiday punch that was offered to anyone who desired a cool drink to nurse through the night.

"To not to?" Faybelle guessed.

Ben sighed and pinched his brow. "Can't you go one day without being evil? We remembered to invite you to the party this time, didn't we? You got an invitation, right?"

The fairy paused. "Well . . . no . . ."

Ben raised an eyebrow at this. "But I told Maddie to hand out the rest of the invitations hours ago. We even invited the headmasters." he added. "Of course, only Giles could attend with Grimm swamped by paperwork, or so he claimed."

"So we gave him a mug of hot eggnog and some Christmas cookies instead!" Maddie laughed gleefully as she bounced up to the two of them and happily pecked her boyfriend on the cheek; the Hatter had switched out her usual teeny tiny top hat and tea themed dress, leggings, and shoes for something more festive, a red dress that just reached her knees and showed a little more leg than Ben had ever seen on her with white, fluffy ring ringing the skirt and a black belt with a golden buckle strapped tightly around her waist. A red Santa hat ringed with white fuzz and a cotton ball tip sat on her head with a sprig of mistletoe tucked into the brim as well, turning the usually mad Hatter into a mad, female version of Santa Claus.

"Maddie, I thought you said everyone got their invitations?" Ben inquired.

"They did! Earl Grey took one half and I took the other!" Maddie grinned broadly.

"And you're sure everyone got their invitations?" Ben pressed.

Maddie hesitated for a second. "Well . . . Earl Grey did mention he had been chased by a rather nasty and persistent owl fully intent on making this Christmas his last . . . until he pulled the ol' Bandersnatch Fight trick, that is!" she cheered happily, high-fiving the little dormouse.

"So you're saying that Faybelle's invitation is now possibly buried somewhere under the snow right now?" Ben summed up.

"Does a Jabberwocky secretly tap dance?"

With a satisfied smirk on his face, Ben turned back to face Faybelle with his arms folded over his chest and Maddie happily hanging off his shoulder. "You see? You were invited and you still are invited to this party. No need to be evil here." he said. "Now hold off on the dastardly deeds for just one night, alright? It is Christmas after all."

Faybelle sighed and relented, corking the mysterious potion and tossing it over her shoulder with a care where it landed in the open fireplace, making the flames flare and roar loudly when the bottle exploded on the burning logs. "Fine. But just for tonight." she surrendered, pointing an excusing finger at Ben. "And I better be entertained."

"What was in that?" Ben wondered with concern at the explosive potion; the fairy ignored his question and helped herself to some of the refreshments.

"Well if the consensus of the student body is the same as yours, then you're going to love what's coming up next." Skurd reminded Faybelle. "Now if you'll excuse us, we and the lovely Hatter have a concert to play."

"You? Sing?" Clawdeen scoffed, coming up to join the conversation. "That's rich."

"Admittedly, the boy's singing is not all that good. Mexico was more than enough for me, thank you." Skurd agreed with his usual, toneless drawl.

"Believe it or not, Raven and the Rebels are a musical sensation." Faybelle smirked smugly, folding her arms over her bust and fluttering her wings to lift herself off of the floor high enough to appear more imposing than the werewolf. With that being said, Ben and Maddie quickly scuttled towards the stage where Raven and Melody were already waiting and making finally adjustments to the sound equipment; several moments later, Dexter arrived as well with a clearly distressed look on his face.

"Dexter, are you alright?" Raven asked while adjusting the sparkling, glimmering purple dress ringed with white, faux fur that pulled back into a cape that hooked around her wrists for extra flare and comfort; the witchling was oblivious to how Cerise was starring at her from the shadows, unable to tear her eyes away from the witchling while she hid a deep crimson blush on her face as best as she could.

"F-Fine." Dexter reassured her, frantically flickering his eyes back and forth between Raven and the doors of the ballroom.

"Dude, you need to relax. Cupid's been through worse." Ben told the anxious prince as Raven handed him the bass guitar she had been tuning earlier and watched as he strummed a short, melodic chord before adjusting the picks. "You think watching you turn into the Beast and get blasted off the roof was fun for her? I swear, she nearly went madder than Maddie when she couldn't find you." he added as Dexter felt his face warm up slightly while he took out his trumpet and fingered the keys to warm them up.

"How are the bells, Maddie?" Raven asked, suddenly getting last minute jitters.

"Jinglin' and ring-ting-tinging, too!" Maddie laughed excitedly before she realized something pulled off the Santa hat that sat snugly on her head and reaching deep side all the way up to her elbow while she fished around for something until she finally found it and pulled out two Santa hats identical to her own with a pair of green ones coupled with pointed, felt ears that she tossed at Dexter and Melody before throwing the other two hats at Raven and Ben.

"Why do I have to be an elf?" Melody wondered as she slipped the hat on over her snow white and purple stained locks, tucking her ears inside of the fake set attached to the hat.

The Hatter shrugged casually. "Because I can't picture Raven or Ben as elves, you scoodle brain, duh!" Maddie replied simply. "Now lets do this!"

Raven sucked in a deep breath to still her jittery nerves, reasoning with herself that she had done this twice before already and was more than capable of doing it a third, no matter the occasion; her best friends forever after and boyfriend were up on stage with her to support her and she was singing her heart out to her greatly extended family of classmates and fellow fairy tales and monsters. And the way Clawdeen and Venus were smirking at Ben with taunting looks made her feel far more relaxed when Ben tried to hide the embarrassed blush that crept across his face.

"Can I have everyone's attention?" Raven called out through the mic, tapping it to make sure it was in working order; once every had their focus trained towards the stage, Raven gulped and sucked in a second breath for courage before speaking. "So, uh, how's everyone enjoying the party so far?"

"I take it you're not use to addressing big crowds?" Ben guessed.

"They mostly just run away from me." Raven told him out of the corner of her mouth before returning to the microphone. "Anyways, Happy Holidays, everyone! Give a big round of applause for Briar for setting this all up!" she added as a rousing round of clapping and cheering echoed through the room; the din fell on deaf ears however as Briar dozed off wrapped in a blanket in front of the fireplace, snoring loudly.

"Should we wake her?" Dexter wondered.

"It'll be like trying to wake the dead, Dex." Melody rolled her eyes while she spun a record around on her fingertip.

"I have woken the dead. I do that every morning with Spectra and Skelita." Ben joked.

Raven ignored the comment. "So with that out of the way, we'll be start off with a slow Christmas song that everyone knows and can dance to. Enjoy!" she smiled brightly as the crowd cheered and whistled with approval as Ben strummed a few chords on the bass given to him by the witchling while Maddie jumped right in with her bells and Melody backed it all up with a steady drumbeat from one of the multitude of beats and rhythms she was able to set upon her turntables.

"I don't want a lot for Christmas, there is just one thing I need."

"I don't care about the presents underneath the Christmas tree."

"I just want you for my own more than you could ever know."

"Make my wish come true,"

"All I want for Christmas is you!" Raven sang into the microphone with a bright smile, a grin that was only broadened when she took note of how everyone else was enjoying the music as much as she was giving it.

"I don't want a lot for Christmas, there is just one thing I need,"

"And I don't care about the presents underneath the Christmas tree."

"I don't need to hang my stocking there upon the fireplace."

"Santa Claus won't make me happy with a toy on Christmas Day!"

"I just want you for my own more than you could ever know."

"Make my wish come true,"

"All I want for Christmas is you!" Ben took note of how Skurd happily bobbing and bouncing to the beat of the song upon the Omnitrix, freezing steadfast when he caught sight of his host sparing a glance at him before returning to focusing on the playing the very jolly sounding chords; once he was sure Ben wasn't looking, Skurd resumed his little dance, hardly noticing how Dexter effortlessly blended right in with a short blast of his trumpet and few melodic notes to cover up the entry.

"Oh, I won't ask for much this Christmas, I won't even wish for snow."

"And I'm just gonna keep on waiting underneath the mistletoe."

"I won't make a list and send it to the North Pole for Saint Nick."

"I won't even stay awake to hear those magic reindeer click,"

"'Cause I just want you here tonight, holding on to me so tight!"

"What more can I do?"

"All I want for Christmas is you!" Cerise couldn't quite put her finger on it as she laughed and spun around in a circle with the cape of her hood widespread like wings, but she could have sworn that Raven might have absolutely, probably, maybe, possibly pointed at her during that last line, a thought that made her heart flutter before it was immediately ground; the witchling could never fall for a halfbreed freak like her, right? They were just . . . friends? With every passing day for Cerise, that definition seemed to get weirder and more abstract.

"Oh, all the lights are shining so brightly everywhere."

"And the sound of children's laughter fills the air!"

"And everyone is singing, I hear those sleigh bells ringing."

"Santa, won't you bring me the one I really need? Won't you please bring my baby to me?"

"Oh, I don't want a lot for Christmas, this is all I'm asking for."

"I just want to see my baby standing right outside my door!"

"Oh, I just want you for my own, more than you could ever know!"

"Make my wish come true!"

"All I want for Christmas is you!" Raven drew out the last as long as possible while she whirled and pointed right at Ben with a small wink that made both of their faces turn a light shade of red when cat calls and wolf whistles caught their attentions. With being said, Raven turned her attention back to the audience and summed up the song with a wave of her hand and a smile upon her lips.

The witchling grinned. "Merry Christmas!"

"I think they like us." Ben remarked.

"That's an understatement." Raven felt her face turn a darker shade of red from embarrassment; it was almost bizarre how the crowd of unnamed, miscellaneous fairy tales and myths could be cheering her on, rooting for her and her wonderful music and song and then the next day, run away and scream in terror from her as if she were going to slice them in half and feast upon their organs for the mere fun of it. It was so hypocritical of them that it almost painful to the witchling, as painful as the mysterious, silvery scars that marked her body like a hideous parasite, always out of sight and yet a constant reminder to something that she would much rather forget.

The young witch shook her head slightly and averted her gaze from her shoulder and arm, mentally telling herself now wasn't the time to be reminiscing on things she would much rather forget, no, now was the time to simply put her worries and troubles aside and enjoy the warm, fuzzy feeling that wriggled and wormed its way inside of her during the holiday season and made her happy once more to be alive surrounded by her friends and those who loved her.

"Care to dance?" Ben asked as the small band quickly packed up and let Melody Piper handle the rest of the music, the DJ choosing to keep the funny, holiday themed hat Maddie had kindly given to her as she put on the latest hit by One Reflection that got everyone swinging into the holiday spirit.

Raven shrugged. "Maybe later. I think I have some competition." the witchling laughed when she caught sight of the ghouls, Maddie, and even Cedar working their way through the crowd towards the stage; Ben paled slightly at the mere thought of how sore his feet were going to be the next morning.

"Dexter!"

The Son of Prince Charming and the rest of the band with the exception of Melody, who was trying to keep the small colony of mice that had swarmed over her records at the sound of her music in order, turned their head to see Giles Grimm come walking through the shifting, shuffling crowd of the Christmas party with none other than Cupid by his side, a sight that made Dexter both relax and seize up with worry.

"Cupid! What are you doing here!?" he wondered with concern. "Not that I'm not happy to see you, of course."

"Young Charming, you can relax. Cupid is now more than capable of walking on her own," Giles Grimm reassured him as he adjusted his spectacles and ignored the snickers sent his way when his students caught sight of the ugly Christmas sweater he had purposely worn for the occasion; the snickering increased into full out giggling and laughter when Maddie bounced down from the stage and swiped Dexter's hat off of his head and deposited it on the Headmaster's with a bright smile that made him chuckle slightly.

"Are you sure?" Dexter fretted.

"Dexter, I'm fine." Cupid reassured him with a pink, barely noticeable tinge to her pale, snow white cheeks as she held a small, heart-shaped ice pack to her head. "As long as I'm not too strenuous on my wounds, I'll be more than capable of dancing the night away with you."

Raven smiled quietly to herself as she managed to slip away just as Ben was yanked away by Clawdeen and Venus, more than happy for both her best friend forever after and shared boyfriend as she retreated towards the more quieter area of the ballroom; the witchling sighed heavenly as she sat down in one of the many comfy cushions and chairs set up in front of the roaring fireplace, taking a particularly comfortable pillow that sat in front of and little to the right of the armchair Briar had been propped and wrapped up in a blanket in until she finally woke up and would become the life of the party. Raven snagged one of the spare blankets tossed carelessly about the small, cozy area and snuggled up deep inside it, revealing in the warmth the fire provided for her.

"You're not going to join in on the party?"

Raven turned her head to see Cerise slide herself between two chairs and join her down on the floor near the fireplace, grabbing a lighter blanket as she wrapped herself up in her hood and sat down next to the witchling; Raven shrugged. "Not yet. I just want to enjoy some peace and quiet before things get hextic."

"You and me both." Cerise smiled lightly, mentally chanting to herself that she could blame the light blush upon her face on the intense heat of the fireplace while she bedded down a little closer to Raven; the Riding Hood noted to herself that the witchling had switched out her normally, lovely lavender scent for something a little more festive, a combination of crisp pine needles and holly that gently tickled her sensitive nose.

"You didn't enjoy our performance?" Raven asked.

Cerise shook her head. "No, that was fine. The music being played now is a little too loud for my liking." she explained.

The two of them lay there for a while, simply enjoying the warmth that the hearth supplied them and each others company as the party raged on behind them; Cerise couldn't help but spend the majority of that time lying there surrounded by warmth simply admiring and starring longingly at Raven when the witchling had stolen a glance at the Riding Hood. She bit her lip nervously as she flickered her gaze towards Raven, longingly to touch that soft, ivory skin and caress her long, fluid raven black and violet purple locks that seemed more like water than strands of dead, fused together keratin, and have those endless, purple pools looking at her with the same amount of love and affection Cerise felt for her.

At the same time, she was mentally berating herself, knowing full well that someone like Raven, brave and strong enough to stand up for what she believed in, to fight for it tooth, claw, and hangnail with every last ounce of strength she had, and to know when it was time to rely on others for help when she was weak and broken, could never love her; in a way, Raven had managed to create herself a tightly knit wolf pack of friends that had become an extended family that would fight for one another's safety and well being, much like Cerise's father's pack (there had been initial protest amongst the wolves, according to her father anyway, when her mother had been introduced and when Cerise had been born, but that had quickly been quelled without question by her father's strength and her mother's temper that was more than enough to make even the most stubborn of the wolves back down and admit that she was more than suited to join the pack). Cerise had no doubt that Raven and especially Ben would be just as welcome into her pack once she finally got the courage to introduce them to her extended family . . . and once and if Raven actually returned the Riding Hood's feelings for her.

"Girl, why did you decorate yourself with mistletoe if ya don't wanna be kissed!?" Sparrow Hood's horrid, off key voice howled as he rubbed his lips furiously, startling and quickly backing away from Venus when he realized that his hand was stained a light red in color; the plant monster in question had sprouted a small garden of mistletoe plants from the vines that snaked and wrapped themselves around her arms, shoulders, and neck, giving the great misconception that anyone could simply walk up to her and plant a sweet kiss upon her fanged lips out of tradition.

"Because it's not for you, moron!" Venus snapped as small, lavender mourning dove alighted down on her shoulder and cuddled up to her cheek, cooing softly.

Raven snickered. "I don't think that's the kind of love bite Sparrow was looking for." she joked as Venus snorted and spat out a crimson stained glob of saliva towards the nearest garbage can, easily scoring a bulls-eye; the purple dove on her shoulder recoiled slightly and fluttered down to the ground where it quickly resumed the form of Jane, who took to scolding Venus on her manners much to the plant monster's surprise and amusement.

I'd show you a real love bite,Cerise thought to herself. It was then that the Riding Hood casually glanced upward and noticed a sprig of mistletoe that someone had mysteriously hung from the ceiling over the comfortable hearth; Cerise gulped and gently tapped Raven's shoulder, drawing the witchling's attention to the mistletoe hung directly over their heads.

"You know, it's witch's superstition that anyone who refuses to kiss another under the mistletoe will be cursed with bad luck." Raven noted, a pink tinge crossing her ivory face.

Cerise blinked. "Y-You . . . you don't believe in bad luck, do you?"

"No," Raven replied, making Cerise relax slightly. "But I do believe in curses, and knowing some of my more villainous ancestors and members of my species, I'm not taking any chances."

Cerise was immediately rigid again, her heart hammering in her chest with her mind a chaotic storm of thoughts, emotions, and instincts. "B-But I thought witches were just people? Humans . . . like me?" she added, flickering eyes around for anyone that could possibly be listening in.

"Common misconception," Raven corrected with a slight smile of amusement. "I don't know how things work back in Ben's dimension, considering all the stories he told us, but humans are totally and absolutely incapable of performing magic and casting spells; the only exception would be if one of the parents was of magical origin, like a mage, warlock-"

"Or witch?" Cerise guessed, the blush she had continually been blaming on the snapping and crackling fireplace now a little lighter than before.

"We're actually a subspecies of humans, if that helps clear things up." Raven added.

"Like Osmosians?"

Raven winced. "Please don't start on that. It was confusing enough when Ben told it." she joked lightly; the girl's shared boyfriend often regaled them with tales of his adventures across the universe, even the most unbelievable of stories no matter how complex or ridiculous they may have been. Blondie was even planning on scheduling a short segment in her show where Ben would tell the whole school about his adventures, almost as if it were a Saturday morning cartoon, much to Ben's slight annoyance (according to him there had been numerous television shows and cartoons that revolved around him and his life ever since he had received the Omnitrix, most of which had been absolutely horrendous and made him cringe whenever he accidentally flipped the channel onto one of them, especially a certain one that Ben wished to forget as much as possible).

"So . . . uh . . ." Cerise trailed off as she glanced back up at the ceiling again.

"It doesn't have to be on the lips," Raven offered. "There's nothing that says that it can't be a kiss on the cheek."

"There are rules about this?"

"More like guidelines." Raven shrugged, scooting a little closer to the Riding Hood. "So do you want to do it or should I?"

"Why are you so open about this?" Cerise wondered.

"Because I'd rather not have either one of cursed with luck so bad it could end up killing us." Raven responded, her eyes flickering away for a moment. "Lets just that my uncle Morgyn wasn't allowed over for Harvest Eve or the Winter Solstice."

"Winter Solstice?"

"We don't celebrate Christmas . . ." Raven explained, trying to ignore the memories of her as a little girl waking up on Christmas morning and opening presents with her father and the castle servants, maids, cooks, and staff like one, big, extended family that couldn't stand to be around one another for too long but loved and cherished each other dearly. "But ever since coming to Ever After High, a place dominated by humans . . . it's become one of my favorite holidays." she smiled brightly, a sight that made Cerise's heart nearly skip a beat.

"So . . . w-we're really d-doing this?" Cerise felt her face heat up once more as she unconsciously shifted closer to the young witch.

"If you don't want to have bad luck, then yes." Raven answered, the pink tinge to her cheeks turning a deeper red as she leaned in; the witchling expected Cerise to recoil slightly and begrudgingly allow her to plant a brief, barely noticeable peck of affection upon her cheek, but was completely caught off guard when the halfbreed lunged her arms forward faster than Raven could react and all but engulf her in a tight embrace and smash her lips against Raven's. The witchling was caught off guard to say the least by Cerise getting caught up in the moment, perhaps more worried about bad luck than Raven had realized, but for some reason . . . it actually felt nice.

But moment didn't last for long. The doors to the ballroom suddenly banged open, smashing against the walls as they were blown of their hinges, a freezing winter wind blowing into the ballroom and extinguishing the crackling flames of the fireplace as the electrical lights wound around the Christmas tree and decking the halls were cut out quite suddenly, plunging the room into darkness while the temperature dropped dramatically, to the point where Raven could actually feel icicles forming on the cape she had worn for the occasion, turning it into a stiff sheet that broke into a dozens shards like glass when she moved.

Her face felt like ice and when she tried to move, there was a slight tug and pull on her lips; giving a muffled yelp of surprise as she moved her hands about to discover what had happened, she absentmindedly brushed her hand against Cerise's head and winced when it was a lot more solid than usual and gave off a dull klunk! A more causal approach in her investigation revealed that Cerise was cold and lifeless to the touch while simultaneously remaining smooth like glass and slightly wet as well. Having enough confusion for the moment, Raven squeezed her eyes shut and gave an almighty tug and successfully tore her lips free from Cerise's with a slight spike of pain to assure her that she was awake and not asleep.

Upon getting up from the floor however, Raven immediately wished that it was a dream. The ballroom had been plunged into darkness, a cold wind blowing in from the door and scattering a dusting of freezing snow on the floor where it piled up at the base and in the crevices and folds of the many students that stood frozen in place; the witchling gulped with fear when she realized that they were all quite literally frozen into statues of solid ice that twisted their faces into eternal images of fear or happiness for those that had been caught off guard by the sudden snowstorm.

"H-Hello?" Raven called out, suddenly feeling very afraid and alone in the darkened ballroom.

"Hello? Hello! Who goes there!?" a second voice called out from the other side of the room; normally, Raven would not have been as happy as she was now to hear Daring's voice out of everyone else that had been frozen at the Holiday Mash Up, but with the very real probability that he was the only other one that wasn't currently an ice statue, she would take it.

"Daring, it's me, Raven!" the witchling called out to him a loud, hushed voice. "I'm going to try and find you. And whatever you do, not make anymore noise than necessary!" she added as an afterthought as she entered the maze of icy bodies that covered the dancefloor.

"Why?" Daring asked in a worried tone.

"Because I have a feeling we aren't alone." Raven gulped with a shaky tone as she ducked under Hunter and Ashlynn's arms, the happy couple frozen with their hands held together and the rest of them splayed out in some sort of bright, cheery dance that had been interrupted. The witchling, despite knowing that Daring was somewhere else in the room with her, could not help but feel all alone right now as she slid herself between Dexter and Cupid, the two of them stuck in a position that clearly defined them as friends but not close enough to classify them as something more, something that actually aggravated Raven; it was clear that Cupid had a massive crush on Dexter that the prince was seemingly oblivious to despite how much time he spent around her.

A sudden whisper caught her attention, sending a chill up Raven's spine as she searched around for the source of the noise; as annoying and impulsive as Daring was at times, she knew he would never resort to such childish pranks at such a time. A deeper, louder hiss made her hesitate and freeze as she rounded around Skelita, the skeleton forever stuck eating the ashes of one of the tamales she had made, and Ginger frozen in midchase after the two Crumb Cousins, the two of them each making off with massive platters of stolen pastries and treats that would have made most teeth simply disintegrate from the sheer amount of sugar in all of them combined (the two portly children seemed to have teeth made out of diamonds).

"Okay, whoever is doing that, knock it off!" Raven suddenly yelled irritably after another rustling of the snow and wind made her tense up.

"Raven? What's going on?" Daring asked from somewhere near by; the witchling ignored the prince as a pair of faded, green eyes rose out of the floor in front of her, making her freeze up as they blinked once and trained on her before the eyes, now attached to a roughly human-like head that was wavering and faded, phased up from the floor followed by a basic body structure of two muscled arms tipped with claws, lean legs with a pair of talons at the end, and four massive, insectoid wings thrusting out of the back with a pair of antennae growing from the scalp.

"Is it safe to come out?" Big Chill rasped, releasing an icy vapor from his unmoving lips as he assumed a solid form once more and making Raven relax a great deal.

"Seriously? You've saved the universe how many times and you're still asking that?" Skurd gave a mouthless frown. "And to think, I actually thought you were a decent musician . . ."

"I don't know," Raven replied truthfully, ignoring the Slimebiote's comment. "Daring, it's okay! It's just Ben!"

"That's a relief, I suppose. At least we have a third member to our party." the Son of Prince Charming added as he ducked under Maddie; the Hatter had been effortlessly lifted off of the ground by Kitty in a figureskating pose that had been part of some odd and probably bizarre Wonderland dance that most likely didn't make a lick of sense to anyone outside of Wonderland.

Big Chill blinked once. "I'll try not to take offense." he remarked. "Now can someone kindly explain to me what the Sphinx just happened?"

Before anyone could offer an answer of any kind, the sound of loud, slow clopping echoed through the empty and lifeless ballroom like the footsteps of weary mourner walking the lonely halls of a mausoleum, searching for a loved one they could not find; the three of them felt chills run down their spines as they turned towards the source of the noise, a large figure that stood at the entrance of the blown open doors with chilling intent. He was roughly ten feet tall or so, his hulking frame making him look far more bigger if one even dared to get close to him (for how could it possibly be a girl?). Even with the faint cast of the moon's illuminating light, he gave off no color that defined who he was or who he fought for if anyone, the only clue being a pair of small, crimson rings at the center of a heavy, hooded cloak that could have only been a pair of soulless unblinking eyes. For the longest time, the figure didn't move, the only sound being a heavy, almost strained breathing and the soft clinking of metal whenever the figure panted.

"Nobody escapes . . ." the cloaked figure growled in a low, whispery voice like that of a heavy fog rolling in and blocking out the comforting light of the moon and stars; despite his usual, courageous demeanor, Daring was trembling with fear as the figure reached up with a hand so malnourished one could see the tendons and ligaments binding the nearly skeletal fingers together and the veins that barely nurtured them and grab the hem of his hood, slowly drawing it back and revealing a nightmarish face that one could only hope to see in their nightmares. It was animalistic in appearance, something almost like a horribly sickened dog with sharpened fangs that protruded from the torn and bleeding lips and gums as a long and heavy tongue lolled over the fangs, slurping and dripping drool loudly as a pair of pointed ears that poked out of the hood through slits twitched and picked up on the slightest of sounds, including the way Daring's heart was pounding in his chest.

Raven took note of the pair of ringed horns that thrust themselves almost painfully from the malformed creature's head, curving back slightly like those of an ibex and sprouting off into sets of seemingly random spikes that branched from the main set. Spiked chains crisscrossed the foul demon's back and broad shoulders, hanging loose and rattling softly and making the hairs on the back of Raven's neck stand on end when she caught sight of a large, sharpened hook hanging from the thick, heavy chain clutched tightly in the monster's grip, quietly swinging back and forth in an invisible breeze while its owner regarded them with almost lackluster interest. It's body was depleted and weak looking enough that one could see the individual bones that made up his rib cage if one dared to peek underneath of his heavy, torn cloak that seemed to have a cape of cold chains attached to a spiked collar around his neck and clattered and rattled behind him while he breathed a foul smelling breath like that of severely burnt gingerbread cookies and holly.

Big Chill had faced off against worse characters back home, but that didn't mean this abomination, this . . . thing . . . it was absolutely terrifying, right up there with Zs'Skayr and the rest of his Halloween rejects. The current and actually living monster stood on bent legs with a pair of firm hooves for feet that kept the creature balance and positioned stiffly, its hunched over posture only briefly broken whenever it shifted its hooves for a more comfortable position; a leather strap with a rusty, golden buckle was laid across his skeletal chest, blending in perfectly with his dull green cloak and loincloth around his waist and over a pair of blackened, gray bandages that functioned like a pair of pants. Clipped to the creature's belt was a rusty, metal lantern that gave off an unearthly glow and a set of ancient keys that squeaked in protest at the slightest of movement and clinked softly when the heavy chain in the creature's hand rubbed against it and towards the top of the lantern it was hooked to.

"And then there were three," the creature rasped, his grip on his flaying hook tightening ever so slightly while he let out a low, cruel chuckle. "What delightful agony we shall inflict."

"Don't I count!?" Skurd cried with frustration.

"Who are you?" Raven blurted out, not sure her tingling nerves could take any more suspense.

The hunched figure chuckled as if he knew the punch line to a joke that Raven didn't know. "My, my, my. Always to the point with youth today." he grinned a sinister, cruel toothed smile. "But if you must know the name of your tormentor, the title is none other than Krampus, the Shadow of Saint Nicholas."

"Wait, Saint Nicholas as in Santa Claus?" Big Chill raised an eyebrow.

"Of course, ice-for-brains!" Skurd sighed with exasperation.

"Ever After's not just a place of fairy tales, Ben. There are myths and legends as well, including specific holiday figureheads, too." Raven told the Necrofriggian.

"Intelligent, are we? I will enjoy breaking you the most." Krampus chuckled a wheezing laugh that made Daring whimper slightly, only making The Shadow of Saint Nicholas turn his attention upon him. "And you . . . a fine warm up." he added, chucking his hook down at the floor and embedding it deep into the marble without exercising even a tiny fraction of the strength he possessed.

"W-Warm up?" Daring gulped.

Krampus once again gave off another cruel chuckle from the back of his throat while he pulled his hook out of the floor with ease and spun it around in a casual manner. "Oh, yes, a warm up. It will make the task of killing Ms. Queen and Tennyson all the sweeter with your blood staining my hook and your soul forever screaming within my grasp once I have smeared the little booger-."

"BOGGER!?" Skurd screamed loudly. "That's it! Let me at him! Let me at him!"

Krampus smirked. "My, what a feisty little glob of snot you are."

"Skurd! Find out more about the creepy bad guy before you try to throttle him!" Big Chill hissed warningly as the Slimebiote attempted to ooze himself closer to Krampus without removing himself from the Omnitrix strapped to the belt around the Necrofriggian's waist.

"You're icy friend knows well, slimeball." Krampus grinned toothily as he tightened the grip on his hook slightly and shifted his legs to rest himself into what Big Chill quickly recognized to be an attacking position. "Now, any last words?" his voice like gravel on a tombstone.

"I got one," Big Chill hissed with annoyance, pushing past Daring to stand bravely in front of him and Raven as he unwrapped the wings and antennae that enveloped him like a snug, velvety cloak of icy death. "FREEZE!" he rasped loudly, a blast of subzero vapor firing out from his jaws and right at Krampus, seemingly catching him off guard as icicles quickly grew from the edge of his hook and his chains, coating his furry, black body in ice crystals that fused together into a freezing cold shell that imprisoned the demon in place by the time the Necrofriggian paused to recollect his breath.

"Now that's cold." Skurd mildly joked.

"What are we now, a comedy duo?" Big Chill blinked his eyes, his current physiology not allowing him to roll his eyes like he normally would; this problem was quickly resolved as the Omnitrix gave a warning beep and timed out in a flash of green light, returning Ben to the world in his original, human form with the watch-like device and Skurd now placed upon his wrist.

"Don't celebrate yet." Raven warned the two of them, pointing with a quivering finger towards the very ugly ice sculpture that had become Krampus; a thin coating of snow that blanketed the demon's form sprinkled to the ground as small, hairline cracks etched themselves along the thick base of the ice sculpture that encased Krampus and held him in place, the cracks widening and growing bigger and deeper as the ice groaned and cracked before the icy prison suddenly exploded. Ben grabbed hold of Raven and instinctively sheltered her with his body as Daring dove to the floor with his hands over his head as razor-sharp ice shards flew in all directions, smashing against the walls and floor and frozen dancers like delicate glass.

"Hmmm, whose mind shall I snap first?" Krampus snarled, snorting with annoyance and shaking lose a small layer of accumulated snow and ice; before Ben could retort with a rude comment, the Shadow of Saint Nicholas snapped his fingers, the resulting sound echoing off the hollow walls with a resounding noise as a puff of blackened flame like hot shadows exploded at his feet and died away to reveal a second, much shorter figure standing there. The creature was small, reaching only about to Krampus' knees with its height only slightly increased by the head of greasy, scraggly, ash-colored hair on its head hidden beneath a gray striped stocking cap. The gray, ash covered face was like a squash ball of dough with a bear trap mouth riddled with needle-like fangs that split into an incredibly creepy smile that made all flinch at the mere sight of it. The arms and legs were thin and wiry, the body slightly plump and out of shape, much like a bean with strings glued to the appropriate areas; the hands however, possessed strong fingers tipped with scythe-like claws that glinted in the moon's light. The creature wore a ragged, black, burlap sack for clothing and a pair of gray, curl-tipped shoes on its feet as it starred at them with a pair of gold, cat-like eyes and pointed ears.

"My dear Enthaupten," Krampus purred casually, his voice like the sound of a jagged block of granite being dragged across the floor of a mausoleum as he meticulously stroked the creature's head, a monster that Raven recognized to be an elf of some kind. "Who do you think should be the first to taste my hook?"

"Graakc ngnejke gabagabag agahathckrik!" the elf garbled in some sort of unidentifiable tongue that was probably even more confusing than Riddlish (though not as complex).

"My thoughts exactly." Krampus grinned before he snapped his fingers a second time. Nearly a dozen more plumes of black fire burst to life around him, filling the air with a thick, ashy smell that burned their lungs and stung their eyes from the sharp scent while more dark elves appeared around Krampus' bent legs, snarling and cackling madly in some incomprehensible language that merely sounded like a series of unintelligent babbling, snorting, laughter, and fart noises with the occasional burp thrown in to lighten to mood.

"When I give the signal, run." Ben whispered as he ever so slowly tapped the Omnitrix and hoped that the demon nor his army of evil elves saw what he was doing.

"What signal?" Daring gulped nervously; he didn't receive an answer as Ben found the transformation he was looking for and slammed a hand down on the activation button, swallowing himself in a flash of green light that warped and shifted his DNA into something new. His arms and legs ground and cracked as the bones shifted and realigned themselves, becoming shorter and more rounded like his fingers and thumbs while they turned into short, stubby claws; Ben's toes melted into three, flat claws to support his expanding weight as a small tail squirted out from the base of his spine and curled at the end slightly. His face was squashed inwards as his nose disappeared with a loud splintering noise and his mouth widened and larger to accommodate the crooked teeth that pushed out from the upper jaws. His tongue split into three, slimy tentacles with a wet ripping sound while six, fleshy lumps pushed themselves out of his head and neck and the Omnitrix and Skurd appeared on his pudgy stomach, completing the transformation.

"That signal." Upchuck before whipping out his three adhesive and stabbing them as deep into the marble floor as possible, tearing out a sizable chunk and pulling it back inside his expandable mouth where his diamond-hard teeth set to work on chewing it into a thick, slimy paste; with a loud burp, the Gourmand spat it back out just as the small army of dark elves started to rush at him, some of them dropping down to all fours to skitter forward on their hands and feet until one of them was blasted backwards by the disgusting, acidic ball and exploded into dark flame and ash, disintegrating.

"C'mon, Daring!" Raven grunted as she grabbed hold of the prince charming's wrist and pulled him along, charging right past the distracted elves and right at Krampus against her better judgment, catching the demon off guard long enough for her to drag Daring out of the ballroom and down the hall where he regained the ability to run on his own two feet and proceeded to lead the way.

"No, sugarplums-for-brains! Get the brats!" Krampus' voice roared loudly between the loud and rather disgusting belches and squelching noises from the ballroom. "The changeling is mine to destroy!"

"Believe me when I say a lot of people have tried to do that," Upchuck burped slightly as he messily chewed his most recent mouthful. "And a lot of people have failed."

"As the humans say, 'there is a first time for everything'." Krampus growled as he grabbed one of the chains off of his hulking shoulders and whipped it like a chain at the Gourmand; dodging a swipe of a dark elf's wicked claws, Upchuck lashed out with his tongues and wrapped them around the chain, pulling it taunt and struggling slightly against Krampus' immense strength while he dug his feet into the floor while trying to resist the relentless attacks of the elves as they clawed and bit at him furiously.

"Must I do everything in this partnership?" Skurd sighed in usual tone before he sucked in a deep and tapped into the genetic sample of the Omnitrix to focus on one in particular and quite suddenly belch out a fiery flame that caught the dark elves off guard and incinerated three of them before the rest could back off. With that being done, Skurd accessed another sample from the extensive database of DNA and wrapped and slithered himself around Upchuck's legs, hardening the skin and encasing it in a durable exoskeleton as the joints creaked and bent backwards, forming a thin webbing between them as the short stubby toes on the feet elongated an fused together into a pair of large, sharp claws.

"Hop to it, dear boy!" Skurd cried.

Upchuck let out a loud, long belch and quickly proceeded to hurl another glowing orb of corrosive juices at the now wary dark elves and send them scattering as the ball of stomach acids hissed and exploded, sending them flying in all directions and giving Krampus a faceful of slime; the Gourmand then bent his new legs and sprang forward, managing to lift his pudgy body off of the floor and jump over the demon's head before bounding down the hall and away from the ballroom as fast his new legs would carry him.

"After him!" Krampus howled, his cloven hooves clopping loudly on the floor. Upchuck continued to bounce and bound down the hall, whipping out his long tongues and wrapping them around some of the lifeless suits of armor that stood tall and proud against the walls until they were knocked over to form a crude barricade of sharpened steel and durable metal.

"I don't think that's gonna hold 'em for long!" Upchuck gulped as the sounds of excessive cackling and scratching met his ears, quickly followed by the howl and screech of metal tearing away; the Gourmand was suddenly engulfed in a bright flash of green light as the Omnitrix timed out and returned Ben to the world, making him face plant hard on the ground with a loud smack!

"Ben, stop fooling around!" Raven hissed from around a corner, quickly grabbing the back of her boyfriend's shirt and yanking him out of sight.

"I'll keep that in mind," Ben groaned as Skurd returned his legs to their original form. "So what do we do? What does this guy want?"

"I think a more important question is why the scoundrel is after you in the first place." Skurd hummed in thought.

"Isn't that the same question?" Daring wondered. Before anyone could give an answer, the sound of scrabbling claws and savage chattering got louder and louder, signifying that they were not as safe as they hoped they would be; the three of them shared a nod and Daring turned around to grab hold of the sword in an inert suit of armor's tight grip and wretch it free, and throwing him off balance slightly under the blade's unaccounted for weight. Ben tapped the Omnitrix and cycled through his roster before selecting the Kineceleran icon and slamming a hand down on the activation button, encompassing himself in a flash of green light and scrambling his genetic code into something new. His skin started to lose it firmness as his bones began to liquidate and fade away into a thick, slushy soup before disappearing altogether while his skin turned a faded lavender in color; with no skeleton of any kind to support him, Ben quickly fell to the ground in a pile, his fingers and feet stretching and morphing out to form the very tips of what he soon quickly realized to be tentacles of some kind. He felt his body compress and fold in on itself, his chest and gut fusing together as his head and neck were absorbed as well, forming a ball of squishy flesh with four, squirming tentacles attached. His head suddenly pulled upwards, as if by an invisible hand, forming a rough oval in shape as hose skin began to fold and harden slightly into an arrow-shaped fin that ringed what Ben could only guess to be a mantel. His eyes quickly divided into a second pair, the two new eyes molding together to form a single, green orb between his original pair as his organs sloshed and squished around inside of him, pushing up into the mantel that had become his body while his brain to enlarge and swell in size; the final touch was the addition of the Omnitrix and Skurd appearing in the form of a band around his body below his eyes, where a mouth might be if it were not in the form of a beak at the center of his tentacles.

"Once again, you're fat human fingers lack the appropriate dexterity." Skurd mocked the Cephplobellum slightly; Ventrilosquid wriggled and waved his tentacles in distressed, narrowing his three, small eyes at the Slimebiote with annoyance.

"Skurd, what's going on? What did Ben just turn into?" Raven asked.

Skurd sighed and pinched his brow. "A Cephplobellum, my dear girl. They're all but helpless without a host to manipulate and control."

"Then sorry in advance." Raven apologized as she quickly bent down and scooped up Ventrilosquid in her hands, ignoring the slimy feeling on her fingers as she drew back her arm like a bookball quarterback with the Cephplobellum as the bookball and waited patiently for just the right moment while Skurd and Ventrilosquid squirmed and wriggled in distress in her hand.

"What are you doing!? Release us at once!" Skurd demanded.

"I have a better idea." Raven ignored the Slimebiote's pleas and lobbed Ventrilosquid as hard as possible, hurling him down the hall just as the crowd of dark elves came storming around the corner with the Cephplobellum landing right on the lead elf's face with a loud, wet smack! The unfortunate elf screeched horribly in surprise as Ventrilosquid quickly readjusted himself with loud sucking noises that his suction cups made as he crawled off the dark elf's face and around to its back, avoiding the wicked claws and smacking hands while he drove all four of his tentacles into his host's most sensitive, neural locations and quickly assumed control.

"Yaaaaaaaahhh!" Ventrilosquid, through the lips of his current host, gave off a shrill battle cry before wildly leaping upon one of the other dark elves with raw savagery as he raked his wicked, black claws across the creature's skin before clicking the claws on his other hand and touching them together to form a sharpened tip before punching clear through the elf's chest and out the other side, dissipating them in a puff of black smoke and ash.

"Yaaaaaaahhh!" Daring yelled as well, diving into the fray and catching the platoon of highly combat ready yet dimwitted elves off guard before they could comprehend what had just happened. With a swing of his new weapon (his own sword was stowed in his dormitory at the request of Briar to have as little weapons as possible at the Holiday Mash Up) the prince bravely decapitated two elves in a single strike before blocking a swipe of a third's claws and running his blade through its chest and cleaving a fourth in two with a downward strike that sliced through the twisted elf like butter; all exploded into fine ash and disintegrated from the tough blows.

"Oh, what the hex? Yaaaaaaahhh!" Raven shrugged with a slight sigh, rushing into the battle with her hands glowing and crackling with an unstable amount of raw, dark magic; a quick thrust of her hand and a bolt of hot energy was fired off from her fingertips, smashing into an elf's face and stunning it for Daring to run his sword through it before she whirled around and raised both her hands to form a shimmering shield over herself as another elf leaped at her, only to crash against the construct and be pulled off by the dark elf currently being controlled and manipulated by Ventrilosquid. Raven then stomped her foot down on the floor, blasting the remaining elves backwards a few feet as she closed her eyes and cupped her hands above and under each other, wiggling her fingers in strange movements and gestures that were absolutely foreign to both prince and Cephplobellum but produced a satisfying result when the ball of raw magic forming between her palms finally grew big enough to be used and was swiftly compressed by her hands; the resulting effect was a small explosion of carefully timed energy that swept out and destroyed the remaining elves in hollow screeches of agony and pain as they disintegrated like the others.

"What do we do now?" Daring panted with slight wind as he lowered his sword just as the sound of clattering chains from farther down the hallway caught their attention, sending chills up their spine.

"My suggestion is to get away from that." Skurd piped up, shivering.

"Agreed." Ventrilosquid grinned toothily through the unfortunate elf that had been turned into his host. The rattling of the icy cold, frost-covered chains chased after them, nipping at their heels like a pack of wolves as they fled down another hall away from the horrid noise that echoed relentlessly in their heads.

As Raven ran, her mind was racing to try and figure out just why the chain wielding demon was after them in the first place, and for that matter who he exactly was. She had heard tales as a little girl from her father about some fairy tales that had the unfortunate fate of being lost, forgotten in the sand of time and left behind; she wondered how that was even possible, since the Grimm Brothers, long time keepers of the Storybook of Legends, did everything in their power to ensure that every fairy tale and story was filled to its full potential to ensure it would never be forgotten. But as far as the story of Saint Nicholas went, there was never any mention of someone as diabolical and heartless as Krampus.

"Raven, hurry!" Ventrilosquid shook her out of her thoughts, grabbing hold of her hand with the dark elf's fingers; it felt cold and clammy to the touch and uncomfortably ticklish where the wicked claws just barely grazed her skin as the Cephplobellum used his current body to pull her along even faster.

"Where are we going?" Daring asked as they came to a crossroads; the hallway continued on a short ways before dividing into a fork and going two separate ways while another way led to a set of stairs that led higher and higher in Ever After High's bowels.

Raven panted slightly, her current footwear not meant for such running. "I think . . . I think we need some more information."

"What are you talking about?" Ventrilosquid wondered just before the Omnitrix timed out in a flash of green light and returned Ben to the world and releasing the dark elf as well; the evil little creature didn't get to revel in its freedom for long before Daring decapitated it with a swift movement of his sword, letting it fall as fine ash to the floor.

"You better watch out . . ." Krampus' deep, velvety voice sang cruelly from far off, his echoing tone bouncing off the walls and making him sound like he was coming at them from all angles.

"Daring, have you ever heard of Krampus up until now?" Raven asked the prince, hoping that her hunch was right.

"You better not cry!"

The Son of Prince Charming blinked with surprise, his heart racing at the sound of the malicious, gravely voice that was getting louder and louder by the seconds they were wasting. "Uh . . . I d-don't really . . . I never . . ."

"You better not pout I'm telling you why."

"Daring!" Ben pleaded, flickering his gaze back and forth between the source of the voice and the Omnitrix on his wrist as he desperately cycled through the selection of aliens that could possibly handle the unstoppable, dark force that was hunting them.

"Santa Claus ain't comin' to town!" Krampus cackled evilly, his laughter resounding and bellowing and made all the louder by the way the halls amplified it heavily, making Daring whimper and shrink back from it.

"No! No, alright!" Daring exclaimed fearfully. "Now can we please get out of here!?"

Raven smirked slightly, a small part of her satisfied to see that egotistical prince lose every last shred of his dignity as he proceeded to cower and cry like a small child, using her like a shield. "That's what I thought. It seems my suspicions have some foothold after all."

"That's nice and all, Rae, but would you mind letting us in on it?" Ben asked.

"Before we all get killed!?" Skurd added desperately.

Raven gave a smug smile of sorts despite the situation. "We need to find the Headmaster."

"So, we just head up?" Ben guessed, receiving a nod from the witchling and a second, more nervous confirmation from Daring.

"Up, up, up and away, then!" Skurd declared as he compressed himself down on the Omnitrix and enveloped Ben in a flash of green light, scrambling and twisting his DNA into something new. He felt his arms swell with small muscles as his skin cracked and hardened into rust red plating that raced his arms and legs and across his chest, forming horny spikes on his knees and elbows. His skull crunched and squelched as it was pulled backwards into a sharp crest while his eyebrows wove together and pulled up from his head, forming long, wispy feathers as his nose and mouth fused together with a loud, sickening crunching and cracking noise into a large, horny beak; Ben's fingers fused together into three, sharp claws as his toes molded into two strong talons and his heel thrust out behind him, forming a third. A flash of brilliant green light exploded on his back when a jetpack-like structure pushed itself out from between his scrawny shoulders, a pair of rust red gauntlets appearing on his arms while green, fingerless gloves and toeless boots formed on his hands and feet. A green and black bodysuit wrapped around his person, a flash of light enveloping his left shoulder and positioning Skurd and the Omnitrix in their new designated location.

"RAWK! Hold on!" Astrodactyl squawked as he grabbed Daring by the back of his shirt and Ever After High Letterman jacket, sinking in razor-sharp claws into the fabric while hooking an arm carefully around Raven's waist and hugging the witchling close to him; the jetpack-like structure fixed to his back roared and gave off a good deal of heat before a fiery green energy blasted outwards and sent the three of them flying upwards and into the stairway, Astrodactyl weaving back and forth between the cases to avoid crashing into them as Daring screamed with fright and Raven dug her fingernails a little deeper into her boyfriend's arm.

"Something just occurred to me," Skurd spoke up over the mild din of Astrodactyl's jetpack and the sound of the wind rushing past their faces. "What are the chances that the grumpy, old fool will not just be frozen like everyone else?"

Raven bit her lip. That thought had occurred to her as well, but she was betting that even if the Headmaster had been turned into the world's fattest ice sculpture (he really needed to stop pillaging cookies and sweets from the Castleteria kitchen; the lunch ladies were starting to grow suspicious) there would be some clue or piece of evidence that they could use to figure out just what the hex was going on. Hopefully.

"That's a chance I think we'll just have to take. RAWK!" Astrodactyl replied. "If Raven thinks she knows something, then she generally does. I'm not gonna lose faith in her now and not ever." he mumbled under his breath, a slight blush of appreciation crossing Raven's face as Daring screamed out of fright; sure, the prince had trained and rode stubborn dragons that twisted and rolled and attempted to throw him off while in midair, but this was absolutely terrifying going at such a speed that he was sure his crown was going to go flying off and plummet back to the ground as smoldering fireball!

"Slow down!" he pleaded.

"How about you hang on?" Astrodactyl countered. Before they knew what was happening, they had finally arrived to the floor they needed, Astrodactyl alighting down as gentle as possible on the landing above them and releasing his tight hold on Daring and Raven. Once the former had managed to stop shaking and catch his second wind, Daring climbed to his feet with the sword still in hand and gave a slow nod to signal that he was fine and would be able to continue; with Raven taking the lead, the three of them headed down the quiet hallway, flinching at the slightest whisper that rustled through the shadows or the softest scrap against the floor and the tenuous rattling of the chains that signaled death had arrived on its cloven hooves.

When they finally arrived at the olden, oak doors that would open up to the Headmaster's office, Raven halted the small procession and drew a finger to her lips, signaling them to be quiet; the two of them nodded before the witchling pushed against one of the doors, grunting with effort when the door wouldn't budge. A quick check of the knobs revealed it to be locked tightly.

"Simple enough to fix." Skurd chuckled as he selected a genetic sample from the Omnitrix upon Astrodactyl's shoulder and slithered and oozed himself around his host's arm; the reptilian plating warped greatly, forming a geometrical shape as bright, primary colors flashed across his skin, turning it from a dull, rust red into deep crimson, bright yellows, and vibrate blues that thrust out bony knobs from his quickly hardening skin while his claws thickened and dulled dramatically, sprouting a new digit as three strong fingers and a thumb formed on the end, completing the Segmentasapien limb. Astrodactyl whistled with excitement and drew back his new fist, closing the fingers tightly before he thrust it forward and busted the lock with one hit, kicking the door open as well with a loud bang!

The Headmaster coughed and choked loudly, spitting out the remains of one of Ginger's recently eaten Christmas cookies and a mouthful of scalding hot chocolate all over the three anxious survivors, their eyes wide with shock and surprise at both getting assaulted by half chewed food and seeing the Headmaster actually alive and not frozen like the rest of his students and their friends.

"Ms. Queen, Mr. Tennyson, Mr. Charming, what is the meaning of this!?" Grimm demanded with an irritated tone that quickly shrank back when he caught sight of the less then pleased look on Astrodactyl's face, the tightened grip on Daring's sword, and the way Skurd had balled his little pseudopods up into fists and was making jabbing motions at the air as if punching something.

"You," Raven narrowed her eyes at the portly man behind his desk. "Have some explaining to do."

---

The short flight to the ominous looming castle at the back of the blackened and desecrated Village of Book End was a long way, and the dark fortress ahead did not ease Apple's jittery nerves and mind in the slightest; it stood atop the edge of a tall cliff that overlooked a deadened forest that creaked and groaned loudly at the slightest of winds, as if its trees were ancient and would fall over any second. The towers of the castle seemed to puncture the sensitive underbelly of the, thrusting its pointed spires painfully into the clouds as murders of crows and ravens flocked around the highest points, cawing loudly so that their screams echoed relentlessly over the valley and lifeless Enchanted Forest.

And now that Apple realized the castle's location in junction to the Enchanted Forest and the Village of Book End, the princess realized with sunken stomach that the fortress she was marching herself up to was in fact Ever After High. Or at least, a far more portentous version of its former glory days.

The princess however, tried to not focus on the looming shadow of her former home, instead focusing on the dark and depressing answer that Whisp had bluntly told her (Apple was beginning to note that the genie was not only insane at times, right up there with a certain Hatter and Cheshire, but also about as crude and blunt as a dulled sword). The fiery air burned her lungs and stung her eyes as she contemplated what had just transpired, a world decimated and blackened by a broken heart torn in two that belonged to someone Apple was perhaps more close to than she ever realized; it was Raven that cared for her when she was sick and bedridden, despite her initial protests, it was Raven that she bid good night and sweet dreams to every time the sun set, and it was Raven that comforted and consoled the princess when she was at her worse. And when Apple thought about all those wonderful things Raven did for her out of the kindness of her heart despite her constant badgering to behave more like the stereotypical villain. It made her heart clench and her palms sweaty with guilt.

The princess was shaken out of her thoughts as the magic carpet started to descend towards the ground and Whisp quickly clothed herself in the crisp uniform of an airline stewardess."Thank you for choosing "Magic Carpet" for all your travel needs. Don't stand until the rug has come to a complete stop," the genie instructed as the carpet touched down to the ground and snapped it front end into a makeshift set of stairs. "Please direct yourself to the exit in front of you, thank you!"

Apple allowed herself a small smile at the genie's antics and climbed down the steps of the carpet, the grin increasing when Whisp sent the stewardess uniform and magic carpet away in a cloud of smoke. "Well, how about that, Ms. Doubting Mustafa?"

Apple rolled her eyes. "You sure showed me." she laughed. "Now about my two other wishes?"

Now it was Whisp's turn to roll her eyes and sport a laughing grin. "Dost mine ears deceive me? Two? You are down by one, kid!" she exclaimed, thrusting a finger in Apple's face.

"Actually, I didn't wish for you to bring me here. You did that on your own." Apple smirked proudly; Whisp looked like she was about to protest and correct her before she played over the little conversation they had together minutes ago and realized that, contrary to what she had believed, Apple had indeed not wished for her to be brought to the front door of the looming castle that had once been her high school.

"Oh. Well, I feel a little sheepish." Whisp felt her cheeks flare up out of embarrassment and assumed the form of a fluffy ewe with a warm, blue, woolen coat. "Alright, you ba-a-ad girl. But no more freebies." the sheep butted Apple in the leg out of frustration.

"Fairest enough." Apple laughed; with that being said, the sheep gave her as threatening of a look as it could muster before it was swallowed in a puff of black smoke and vanished, leaving Apple alone out in front of the shadow of Ever After High. Now alone, Apple turned to the vaguely familiar yet completely foreign set of stairs that use to invite any and all new students but now seemed to yawn like the maw of one of the terrifying beasts that now prowled the scorched remains of the Enchanted Forest and began to cautious and quietly walk up the steps; her heart skipped a beat when the front doors slowly creaked open on their own accord with a low groan.

Before the princess could properly react in time, a blast of chaotic, dark energy came firing out from the darkness beyond and struck her like lightning, making her nerves burn and her body scream in pain for a few harrowing seconds until it finally stopped, leaving Apple's heart racing; scorch marks now covered her body and smoke curled from her blonde locks. She coughed and began to dust herself off and flex her shaky fingers when her arm suddenly seized up on her, becoming stiff and rigid and seeming to take on a mind of its own when it suddenly slapped her across the face. The princess and screamed with surprise when her other hand began to pull at her blonde curls and her legs suddenly began to move on their own accord, taking shaky steps forward before taking off at a stiff, steady march like a soldier in the military.

Against her will Apple walked into the shadow of her former school, slowly marching through halls and corridors that had been stripped of their lockers and classrooms that had been turned into makeshift barracks and enchantment rooms and anything else that an Evil Queen could possibly need to instill fear and terror in whatever subjects remained from her loyal troop's monthly sweep through the rubble of Ever After; the further the princess moved along against her own will, the more she tensed up at what she saw. Thick coats of ivy strangled the walls and tendrils slithered and crawled across the floor, nearly tripping Apple in her uncontrollable state of mind when her attention wasn't focused on the wraith-like staff that floated and moaned about, rattling the heavy chains that were shackled to their black boned wrists and gave off an uncomfortable amount of heat from their fire-engulfed heads as they watched the princess walk past them and up several flights of stairs towards the top floor of Ever After High and down a long, seemingly endless corridor lined with gothic, stained-glass windows all the way down to the end of the hallway where a set of grand doors loomed over her; Apple whimpered as her body continued to march her all the way down the length of the hallway and came to a stop right before the pair of doors just before her head suddenly reeled back and rammed the door as hard as possible, sending a spike of pain through Apple's skull as she fell to the floor, hissing in pain.

"Talk about a doorbell." Apple groaned as she rolled and flopped over onto her back, propping herself up on her elbow as she glanced up at what had once been the Headmaster's office back in the Ever After High she knew; now its wooden doors were even more ancient and weakened, offering sanctuary to something far sinister than Apple could ever care to know. Sucking in a brave breath to calm herself, the Daughter of Snow White climbed to her feet and cautiously approached the door and rapped a tentative knuckle on the old wood, the sound barely audible to most; whatever lay on the other side of the door however, seemed to hear it just fine.

"H-Hello?" Apple gulped as the doors creaked open, half expecting monstrous tentacles to come lashing out once more; thankfully, nothing with razor-sharp fangs waiting to tear her limb from limb seemed to be lurking anywhere nearby, but the Headmaster's office had changed dramatically since Apple last saw it. The royal red rug had been replaced with an elegant ebony traced and decorated with poisonous purples and brilliant blues that formed gaping skulls and fierce ravens that flapped their wings against a blackened sky while the walls had been painted the color of ash and death with curtains of the same color draped over the large violet and white stained glass windows. Where a large sturdy desk made out of an expensive and dine wood once sat facing the doors so that the Headmaster would be able to loom over anyone that had been summoned to his office, there now was a large canopy bed with dark lavender curtains and warm black covers decorated with lilac pillows.

Sitting curled up on the bed with a thin, cruel smile upon her lips was an elegant woman with all too familiar ivory skin and all too familiar amethyst eyes and silky, fluid hair that spilled over her exposed shoulders; dark royal robes of venomous colors and extravagant, deadly design clothed the woman's well rounded figure and cupped her large breasts well while a a black crown of sorts framed her face in a way that made one focus their attention on her cold, unforgiving eyes. Curled up on the bed at her side and resting her head was a second woman with much deeper colored skin and deep earthen hair streaked with a single snow white ribbon and soft, pale lips all covered and wrapped up in a slightly torn and ragged, crimson hood the color of blood.

"Took you long enough. I hexpected that little walking spell of mine to bring you here much faster." the woman commented with the corners of her deep indigo lips curled up in the slightest of smiles as she stroked the second woman's head slow and lovingly like one might to a beloved pet; Apple found this somewhat weird and largely uncomfortable.

"Raven?" Apple gaped with disbelief.

"Long time, no see." the Daughter of the Evil Queen gave a smug, cruel grin upon her lips. "Of course, being dead would significantly make that little wait much longer."

Apple felt her palms grow sweaty and her throat go dry as she starred down what had once been the closet person in her life up until that moment. "D . . . D-Dead?" she croaked.

The now wicked Raven's smirk deepened as she shifted her weight slightly on the bed; the woman resting her head upon her thigh stirred and moaned slightly in her sleep before settling back down under the witch's soft touch. "Yes, dead. I believe you had the flesh melted right off your bones?" she tapped her chin in thought with a perfectly manicured finger. "No, wait. I wasn't as powerful as I am now. I think you were-"

"Why are you doing this, Raven?" Apple interrupted.

Raven rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Please, little miss 'Follow Your Destiny'. This is what you wanted in the first place."

"No, not it's not!" Apple argued.

"You really are the fairy godmother of all hypocrites, aren't you?" the witch frowned, narrowing her eyes.

"This is going too far!" Apple protested loudly; the woman lying against Raven sucked in a deep breath and slowly blinked open her eyes, revealing stormy gray clouds that seemed to stare blankly at Raven right into her soul while she yawned, revealing a set of sharp, canine fangs, and sat up. Apple felt her eyes widen and her breath leave her when she found that the woman was clothed only in a black and red plaid thong and skimpy top that just barely cupped her breasts and clothed her in anything but modest attire save for the tattered, crimson hood and a spiked dog collar around her neck, the princess's jaw dropping when the woman pulled her hood down to reveal a pair of furry, canine ears on either side of her head.

"Is something wrong, mistress?" the woman asked.

Raven smiled and shook her head. "No, my little pet, everything's perfectly wicked as usual. You can go back to sleep, Cerise."

Apple's face was a deep red in color. "Wh-What . . . ho . . . what have you done to Cerise!?" she gaped, attempting to cover her eyes and yet found herself unable to turn away. "Y-You've turned her into a monster!"

At that last word Cerise's eyes flashed an intense amber and a low, guttural growl erupted from her throat as she turned to glare fiercely at Apple with savage intent; her razor-sharp fangs were bared and her wolfish ears were pinned back to accent her fury while she stalked towards the edge of the bed for every step a now whimpering and very regretful princess took backwards.

"Easy, my pet. The naive little girl just doesn't know how to hold her tongue." Raven tut-tutted, pulling back on a leather leash that Apple hadn't noticed before and reeling Cerise back to her side; the Daughter of Red Riding Hood relaxed only several degrees, her cold gaze never wavering from Apple as she sat on her haunches next to her mistress. Apple attempted to protest once more before Raven narrowed her eyes at her and pointed her fingers at the princess, moving her hand in a quick series of fluid motion before thrusting her fingers Apple; a short blast of powerful energy shot forth from the witch's fingertips and struck Apple's head, making her jump and nearly collapse to the floor from surprise as she tried to scream with fear. Instead, her throat gave nothing more than a silent whisper as she clawed at her neck, fruitlessly trying to speak.

"Much better," Raven sighed heavenly. "I've temporarily stolen your voice, dear. Almost like a certain mermaid now that I think about it." she added as an afterthought.

Cerise sniffed the air curiously. "Does this mean another hunt, mistress?"

The witch, much to Apple's surprise, actually laughed at the question. "I'm afraid not, Cerise. She's hardly worthy prey; all skin and bones, not to mention that she screams so much it'll hurt your poor, sensitive ears. That and the fact she won't last less than one minute."

Apple continued to try and feebly speak, squeaking and squawking a little less than a baby parrot would.

"Does the little princess have something she would like answered?" Raven cooed with a taunting tone; Apple gave a whispery breath a quick nod of her head. "I suppose you want to know why this happened, maybe even how this happened?"

The princess had given up on trying to talk at this point, giving a reluctant sigh and deflating slightly as she nodded again.

Raven's eyes glowed a dark luminescence as she sat up more erect on the bed and cast her hands in front of her face, slowly and methodically waving them in intricate patterns and forming odd symbols with her fingers while she quietly chanted something under her breath before an explosion of light flashed in front of her; the lights in the bedroom dimmed, the only source of light coming from the small, glowing singularity between Raven's fingertips giving Cerise's eyes an eerie shine as she bedded down closer to her mistress.

"I'm sure you remember the days we use to share together back when our home use to be the festering cesspool of assorted arcane magics and spells and curses and the likes, quite literally when there was so much lose magic about it could make a witch queasy just by staying in one place too long?" Raven recalled, the glowing orb of energy dissipating slightly to form a wavering image of Ever After High in its glory days when the sky was still blue and the grass was still green and the polished marble of the school shone brightly in the warm, afternoon sun.

Upon not receiving an answer (for how could Apple do anything else but make a fool of herself every time she tried to talk?), the wicked enchantress continued on, resorting to slowly and lovingly raking her fingers through Cerise's earthy brown hair to calm herself, as if troubled by the memories of her past; the Daughter of the Red Riding Hood gave off a low growl that could have been compared to a purr as Raven scratched a certain spot behind her sensitive, canine ears.

"It was just like this until Ben came along; I'm sure you remember that day when the new student, Blitzwolfer, turned out to be some sort of human in disguise?" Raven reminded Apple. "At first I had hope, a small sliver of based off of some stupid dream I had that he would be able to help me, help all of us see past the horrible fate the destinies provided us, help any of us that wanted out of the destinies laid before us and still give those that desired them their Happily Ever Afters."

At this point, Raven unintentionally tightened her grip and grabbed a fistful of Cerise's hair, clenching her fingers tightly but not yanking back on her pet's hair as Cerise froze and remained absolutely still, only offering a comforting whimper to her mistress in the hopes of loosening her grip. "But he only had eyes for you."

"'Sticks and bones may break your bones, but names will never hurt you,'" Raven then quoted, relaxing her hold on Cerise's hair and resuming her slow stroking. "That was something my father told me when I was a little girl; I was so foolish back then."

"You're not foolish, mistress." Cerise comforted her.

The wicked enchantress allowed a small smile to come to her lips. "Your comments are much appreciated, my pet." she said with a pleased tone before she continued with her tragic tale. "Unfortunately, that very statement could not have been more wrong; I had developed small feelings for Ben after his arrival to Ever After High, but he was once again only interested in you; and thus, my last hopes of finding a way out of the destiny conflict were crushed. He never talked to me, never even acknowledged me unless he was saving you or another damsel from the villain in those moronic classes they made us participate in . . . and the bullying only got worse."

Bullying? Apple thought to herself, still unable to speak as she normally would have.

Raven seemed to sense the princess's confusion somehow, as if she were able to read her mind. "People, no matter the species or background, are far from perfect, dear." the witch frowned slightly. "Even people like Ben were far from perfect, but the world is a harsh and unforgiving place; it demands perfection even from those that can't give it . . . so I decided to be what the world wanted me to be, to give into the demand and the constant bullying and reprimanding me for trying to find a better life, and show them just why I wanted to change my life." she hissed venomously, thumping a fist down on Cerise's skull in anger; the Daughter of Red Riding Hood whimpered and flinched.

"What you see around you is the end result." Raven concluded; the witch apologetically scratched Cerise behind her sensitive ears in repayment for causing her a brief amount of pain, a small smile crawling across her lips as the Riding Hood whimpered with pleasure and snuggled up to her even further like an affectionate dog to its loving master. Once the witch was sure her pet was convinced that her temper did not change her affections for her, Raven returned her attention to Apple closed her thumb and index finger together, as if choking Daughter of Snow White with one hand as her eyes flashed a light lilac in color.

"You can speak now." Raven told the princess.

"Wha . . . What . . ." Apple tested to make sure could talk once more. "What happened to Ben?"

A sinister smile crossed the witch's lips at the mention of the Omnitrix wielder's name. "He was far more emotional than I ever thought. As soon as you . . . kicked the bucket, per say, he was never the same; he didn't eat, didn't sleep, he didn't even attempt to stop me. If memory serves he died by your grave, unable to cope with the loss of the girl he was hopelessly and foolishly in love with."

Apple was trembling now, though whether it was with fury, guilt, or even fear was not known to her as the wicked enchantress merely gave a smug smile at her.

"And then I raised him from the dead and made him my loyal, undead servant for all eternity." Raven added much to Apple's shock and surprise as the witch snapped her fingers; a movement in the shadows caught the princess's attention and she turned to see a disgusting, poisonous purple slime slowly drip down from the ceiling and collect on the carpeted floor with a loud hissing noise that chilled Apple's nerves as the pile of goo began to shift and bubble and morph into a roughly humanoid figure with a dripping nose for a face and multiple feelers and fleshy protrusions dotting its body as dangerous, corrosive, green acid swirled and turned around just barely held back by the figure's sickly membrane. A blinding flash of violet light swallowed the infected Polymorph whole as the Omnitrix timed out and returned Ben to the world . . . but this was hardly the Ben that Apple knew and loved.

His skin was a sickly, green color with random, purple blotches dotting his pale skin. He was missing some of his dark brown hair, a good deal of it hanging thick and shaggy over one side of his face while other greasy strands hung off his left side, leaving the rest of him bald and covered with a sharp fuzz; his teeth were crooked and uneven, his eyes no longer their brilliant green and instead a sallow violet that highlighted what seemed to be insanity. He was incredibly thin, his muscles pulled taunt and his tendons and ligaments making Apple gulped nervously when she glanced at his hands and how they were clenched like claws with razor-sharp nails at the tips of his fingers. His feet were twisted into beast-like claws that had torn his sneakers to shreds, his revival from the beyond having tattered and torn his brown pants and tearing off the right sleeve and side of his T-shirt, the Omnitrix discolored a venomous purple instead of the comforting green that Apple was use to.

"Ben, you remember Apple?" Raven purred.

"No remember." Ben snarled in a low, raspy voice.

The wicked witch rolled her eyes. "As you can see, his physical appearance is something less to be desired and his intelligence had decreased significantly, but he still gets the job done. There hasn't been an army he couldn't take down by himself." she grinned while she petted Cerise maliciously.

"Ben smash?" the undead wielder of the Omnitrix raised a bushy eyebrow to his wide eyes.

"If you'd like. Whatever you do to her, I don't care. I believe our business is done." Raven shrugged before snapping her fingers; Ben grinned wickedly and slammed his forehead down on the Omnitrix fastened to his wrist, swallowing himself in a blast of deep lavender light that scrambled and warped his genetic code into something new and horrifying. His skeleton crunched and twisted, forcing itself out from beneath Ben's skin and to the surface where it proceeded to melt together into a single casing that covered his entire body, riddled with decaying bumps and cracks. A loud crunching sound filled the air as the bone casing split along his back, chest, and limbs, becoming segmented on his belly and forming a hard shell on his back that peeled away in certain places to show pulsing pink, vulnerable muscle beneath that was accented by sickly black patches. His jaw jutted outwards with a loud crunching noise, his skin fusing with the bone as it became serrated like teeth and curved out over his upper lip like railroad spikes; curved horns formed along his one of his muscled arms, a pair of broken spikes jutting out from either side of his massive jaws. A loud and sickening splitting sound filled the air as a short, severely broken, horn-like protrusion split out from the top of his skill as his toes fused together into two claws with the Omnitrix appearing on the his chest and completing the transformation.

"Ben smash!" Zombie Eatle rasped with a low, guttural tone to his voice.

"Bon appetit." Raven smirked as the undead, alien insect bellowed loudly and charged right at Apple with his jaws wide open so far that Apple could see all the way down his pulsing throat just before she yelped and ducked down to the ground with her hands over her heads; Zombie Eatle sailed right over her and smashed headfirst into the wall behind her with a loud crash! The princess didn't waste any time in scrambling to her feet and all but practically tearing the old, oaken doors off their hinges in a desperate attempt to flee as quickly as possible.

"May I join in the hunt, mistress?" Cerise asked.

Raven shook her head. "I would love nothing more than to watch you tear her limb from limb, my pet, but I only reserve the best prey for you. She's hardly worth the chase." she lightly scoffed while scratching Cerise under the chin with a finger. "But don't worry. Even if the guards don't find anything worthy of you, we'll still have a wonderful time tonight . . . alone . . ."

"Ben chase?" Zombie Eatle asked as he finally managed to pry his large head loose from the wall in a shower of plaster and stone.

"Yes! And be quick about it, too!" Raven added, sounding an awful lot like her mother; the infected insect didn't dare to hesitate before smashing through one of the oaken doors and into the hallway, his claws digging deep into the smooth marble floor as he briefly sniffed the air for Apple's scent and gave chase soon afterwards. It wasn't that hard to track down the princess though, considering her heavy, winter boots slowed her down considerably and she was not the fastest of runners in the first place along with the fact that she was currently screaming in terror and fear, making her practically a sitting duck to the voracious, alien insect as he relentlessly pursued after her.

Zombie Eatle growled and roared with triumph upon skidding around a corner and laying his sights on the fleeing princess, effortlessly tearing out a chuck of the wall with his skeletal claws before cramming it into his mouth and chewing it into a thick, gooey paste; the broken horn growing out of his head fizzled and hissed loudly before a blast of hot, violet energy came firing out at Apple's back, missing her when an unfortunate, wraith-like servant drifted out into the hall to investigate the commotion and was instantly vaporized. Eatle fired off two more shots at his target before jogging off after her while she screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Whisp! Help!" Apple screamed as she hurled herself around a corner and fled down a flight of stairs, her boots clomping loudly on the steps. "If you can hear me, save me!"

The princess was so busy running away from the haunted remains of her boyfriend that she wasn't looking where she was going and slammed right into something or someone as she rounded a corner, falling to the floor with a grunt as she looked up to see what she had run into; it was one of the many wraiths that haunted the castle, it's entire body composed of blackened bones wrapped up in a tattered and crimson stained cloak of the same color. Its skull sported three skeletal tentacle-like growths from its skull that fell back against its head like dreadlocks as ghostly green fire consumed its head and rusted chains rattled and clanked against its wrists.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Apple screamed as the wraith screamed at her and lunged forth with its scythe-like claws, reaching for the fumbling princess at its non-existent feet before a shrill whistle caught its attention; the wraith glanced up to see Whisp standing behind the cowering princess with a disapproving look upon her face as she cracked her knuckles and popped her wrists. The genie then stuck her thumb in her mouth and sucked in a deep breath before blowing it back out, her fist expanding and bloating like a swelling beach ball until it must have been five times the size of her head.

"Keep your hands to yourself, Death Breath." Whisp frowned before she slugged the wraith with her oversized fist and scattered its black bones into a robe-wrapped mess on the floor that smoldered and hissed with green fire.

"You okay, kid? I leave you alone in a dystopian future for more than twenty pages and look what you get yourself into!" Whisp scolded Apple as her fist deflated with a loud whining sound like that of a deflating balloon and she helped the princess to her feet.

"F-Fine . . ." Apple gulped shakily. "Whisp . . . I . . . I wanna go home now."

Whisp gave a smug smile. "About time, too. I was getting tired of this prank anyways."

Apple blinked with realization. "Wait . . . th-this . . . all this was a trick?"

Whisp nodded. "Yep. To be fair, it's all real, too, but it was a trick. Genies are tricksters by nature and with our kind of power, if you're not careful or specific enough in your wishes, that leaves us to make assumptions and guesses about what you meant, not all of which are correct." Whisp explained before grabbing Apple by the front of her winter sweater and bringing her less than an inch away from her face. "In this case, this was all my little revenge for your dumb ass wish to take me away from my boyfriend. Next time, I will turn you into a cockroach." she threatened.

"Apple swallowed nervously, not wanting to incur the genie's wrath any further. "Underst-stood. C-Can we p-please go home?"

"I thought you'd never ask." Whisp smirked as she released her hold on Whisp.

"RRRAAAAAAAAA-AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Hold said thought for a second." Whisp held up a finger. "Just what the Sphinx was that?"

"I thought you created all this? Shouldn't you know?" Apple whimpered, instinctively taking cover behind the genie for protection.

"That doesn't mean I control what's going on!"

The wall in front of them suddenly exploded as Zombie Eatle burst through and roared at the two girls, spraying them with a slimy saliva in the process as Whisp squeezed her eyes shut against the hot breath that blew her segmented ponytail back from the sheer force; the alien insect scooped some of the rubble at his feet and shoved it into his mouth, chewing it with ease and blasting it back out from the broken horn on his head, aiming at Whisp's feet to distract them before he lunged forward to slash at them with his claws.

"Lets make some noise." Whisp smirked as she tapped the Omnitrix fastened to her wrist and slammed a hand down on the activation button without looking at what she had selected and encompassing herself in a blast of dark blue light that shifted and scrambled her physical features. Her skin took on a smooth, chrome white with a soft cracking noise as her skin solidified, a much more volatile and sickening noise catching Apple's attention as the genie's frame shrank and was compressed further and further with every passing nanosecond, her bones becoming shorter and more flexible until they were simply done away with and fused with Whisp's skin. Her lips split and widened as her head swelled to a roughly football-shaped sphere as her organs oozed and sloshed around inside of her, being pushed and squished together to their limits as her lungs bloated and grew to become the largest organs in her body. Her pointed ears were pulled back into her head, fusing together with her skin and swelling to form large half domes on either side of her head that resembled headphones that wrapped up and over her head in a way that resembled pigtails of sorts as her eyes dilated and shrank while the Omnitrix appeared on her forehead, completing the transformation.

"Wall of Sound!" Sonic Doom announced as a dark blue light swept across her body and quickly divided her into five separate clones that stood firmly between Zombie Eatle and Apple; the Sonorosians all sucked in a deep breath, swelling their lungs to their full capacity before blasting it back out at an ultrasonic frequency strong to form a sturdy barrier that easily deflected the alien insect's claws.

"Ben smash!" Zombie Eatle roared with anger as he relentlessly punched the shield of pure sound before slamming both of his fists in the hopes of breaking it.

"You-"

"Asked-

"For-"

"It!" the Sonic Doom clones switched back and forth in their speech; Eatle watched with slight confusion as the five Sonorosians each divided themselves in two, creating a total of ten clones that formed a tight circle around him with him at the center; Apple took several cautious steps back, sensing that she didn't want to be anywhere near with what was about to happen.

"Echo-"

"Echo!" a second clone finished the first duplicate's word, adding to the amount of pressurized sound sent at Zombie Eatle.

"Echo-"

"Echo!"

"Echo-"

"Echo!"

"Echo-"

"Echo!"

"Echo-"

"Echo!" the last clone screamed, each Sonorosian yelling and screaming and shouting at the top of her lungs to be hid over the horrible din that bounced and echoed off the walls like hundreds of rubber balls as the pressurized blasts of pure sound aimed at Zombie Eatle's rotting exoskeleton only added to the deafening effect of the echo chamber. Eatle had his hands clapped over his head where his ears might have been as he screeched and howled in agony, a sickly green ooze seeping between his skeletal fingers from his bleeding ear holes. The Sonorosians only increased the intensity and volume of their yells much to Zombie Eatle's agony until he gave a final roar of defeat and collapsed to the ground; the Omnitrix fixed to his chest beeped and flashed warningly before it timed out in a blast of violet light and returned the undead form of Ben to the world.

"Is . . . is he okay?" Apple asked as she peeked through her fingers; the Omnitrix's fixed to Sonic Doom duplicate's heads blinked and beeped loudly as all of the Sonorosians fused back together into a single entity moments before the Omnitrix finally timed out in a blast of dark blue light and returned Whisp to the world.

"He'll live, er, unlive." Whisp corrected herself as she lowered herself down to the ground from her original position in the air on her wispy tail and cautiously poked Ben's body with a finger. "Now I believed you mentioned something about going home?"

Apple nodded. "I wish loved all the ghouls and girls he has fallen in love with again." she wished.

Whisp gave a satisfied smile and crossed her arms over her chest, resting her elbows as she sucked in a deep breath and closed her eyes, as was customary when granting the desires of a Finder. "As you wish . . ." she said; the two of them, more so Apple than Whisp, fully expected the two of them to be swallowed in a flash of blinding light and to be taken away from the dystopian future that would probably haunt and linger in the princess's dreams and be returned to the world as Apple loved and knew it.

Except that they didn't.

Apple winced and cracked open an eye, deflating miserably when she found out that they hadn't moved at all; Ben was still lying unconscious at their feet, the remains of the unfortunate wraith lay scattered about, the air was still wet and damp in a stark contrast to the fiery, lung burning elements that raged outside. "W-What's going on? Why are we still here?" Apple asked with fear.

Whisp rested her hand on her chin, a calculating look upon her face as she mumbled incoherent things under breath and running through various reasons and scenarios as to why they were still currently stuck in the lair of a future Evil Queen with their undead boyfriend lying on the floor nearby. "My best guess is that it messes with the rules." she offered.

"Rules?"

Whisp nodded. "There are a few provisos. Ah, a couple of quid pro quo." the genie explained with a somewhat anxious expression, though Apple suspected it was more out of embarrassment than anything else.

"Like what?" she asked.

Whisp sighed and pinched her brow out of exasperation. "Uh, rule number one: I can't kill anybody." she explained, slicing a finger across her throat and consequently cutting off her own head much to Apple's surprise and horror when it fell to the ground and winked at her; the genie's body patted around for a few seconds before grabbing her head by the ponytail and placing it back upon her shoulders.

"Anything else?" Apple gulped.

"Uh, rule number two: I can't make anybody fall in love with anybody else." Whisp told her before quite suddenly grabbing Apple's shoulders and placing a quick kiss upon her cheek as a demonstration, much to the princess's shock; a crimson tinge crept across her face as she edged a few steps away as the genie watched with a small smirk upon her lips.

"Rule number three!" Whisp suddenly exclaimed before collapsing to the ground, going limp and inert for a few seconds before her skin turned a sickly, pale shade of green and her hair grew long and greasy, an ashy black at the tips while her eyes flashed a faded yellow and looked up at Apple with sick horror and trembling, bony hands dripping with slime. "I can't bring people from the dead," the genie moaned. "It's not a pretty picture. I DON'T LIKE DOING IT!" she yelled, shaking the shaken up princess by the shoulders before disappearing in a puff of smoke and resuming her original and far less frightening form. "Other than that, you got it."

Apple was clutching her left breast with gasping breaths, quite put off by the many transformations and hijinks that had ensued within the past few seconds. "S-So . . . y-you're saying were stuck here? F-Forever?"

"I didn't say that." Whisp argued lightly, setting a reassuring hand on the princess's shoulder to comfort her. "I may have all the power and occasionally all the answers, but you're the Finder here. I can't do anything until you tell me to."

"What about just now? When you saved me from Ben?" Apple raised an eyebrow, feeling slightly better.

Whisp rolled her eyes. "Rookie genies are cut some slack if their Finders are ever in danger." she answered. "Just be glad I'm not as experienced as Gigi or my Dad who, by the way, is a lot crazier than I am." she added with a slight laugh.

Apple laughed along nervously; deep down inside though, she was terrified. It was after all, her selfish and panicked thoughts that had landed her in this horrible situation in the first place and she wasn't even sure that she could get herself out of it, even with a semi-all powerful genie at her fingertips. She wasn't fast or strong like Cerise or capable of performing magic and spells like Raven. She was brave and courageous like Daring and Hunter or maddeningly insane like the Wonderlandians. She didn't have sharp claws like Clawdeen or the ability to bend the very fabric of nature to her will like Venus, and she certainly wasn't capable of changing her form like Jane and Ben. That's all she was, just an ordinary, helpless maiden who was nothing more than a burden to her friends and loved ones; all she was, was just . . . normal.

"Apple? Are you alright?" Whisp asked after several seconds of silence.

"No . . ." the princess sighed, slumping down against the wall and resting her head on her knees; Whisp floated down to curl her wispy tail up like a pair of bent legs and rest upon it, briefly blasting the undead Ben as he started to come to with another round of 'phenomenal cosmic power' and putting him back to sleep.

The genie sighed. "Come on, tell ol' Whisp what's wrong." she coaxed Apple.

Apple sniffed and rolled her head up to look at the genie. "I . . . I don't know what to do." she admitted. "I never know what to do . . . all my life, I've had everything handed to me without ever questioning it and acting like some kind of coddled baby; even if we could get back, who would want me around? Ben and his ghouls will be absolutely furious with me and Raven and everyone else attached to Ben probably won't ever speak to me ever again, I've been so selfish." she sighed. "Lets face it: I'm absolutely useless to someone like Ben."

Whisp sighed and rolled her eyes, shaking her head and setting her hand under Apple's chin to draw her focus upon her. "I know what you're going through, kid. When I first got this job, I thought I'd never be as good as a genie as my sister; Sphinx, I didn't even get a Finder of my own before I was released . . . and then shoved back into this job, but that's beside the point." she digressed slightly. "You might think you don't have anything of use to Ben, but you're cutting yourself short."

"Really?" Apple sniffed.

Whisp nodded. "Of course. Do you really think it's that easy to trick a genie?"

"Yes."

Whisp frowned slightly. "Okay, let me rephrase that. Do you think most people could have tricked a genie into getting them here without wasting a wish?" she asked.

Apple hesitated for a moment. "No . . ?" she guessed.

"Exactly!" Whisp exclaimed, clapping Apple roughly on the back. "If you can do that and survive this long in this fiery nuthouse of doom, you'll be able to figure a way out of here in no time!" she grinned.

Apple bit her lip, a small tendril of confidence worming its way around inside of her. "I . . . guess I could give it a shot." she said.

"That's the spirit!" Whisp smiled broadly. "Now, how can we go home without making anyone fall in love? Because, just to be clear, that falls outside of my jurisdiction." Whisp explained, snapping her fingers and sprouting a pair of feathery wings and a bow and arrow into her hands for further emphasis. Apple ignored her shenanigans and began to pace up and down the hall as quietly as possible, absentmindedly kicking aside a wraith's bone in her thought as Whisp blasted Ben with another shot of 'phenomenal cosmic power' to put him to sleep again.

"Well . . . what would the consequences be if I just wished for us to be sent home?" Apple wondered.

"Extreme damage to the time line or reality that would involve a certain Time Walker to fix." Whisp answered. "In case you've forgotten, I'd like to avoid that kind of thing until the end of this story, thank you very much."

Apple ignored Whisp's oddball of a statement and continued to think. "Hmmm. What if . . . no, that wouldn't work . . . would it?" she mumbled to herself.

"What? What is it?" the genie asked.

The princess hummed with thought before asking slowly. "Whisp . . . can you tell me what happens when a Finder wishes a genie free?"

Whisp shrugged. "It happens so rarely, not many genies know. But based on what's happened to our sister, how powers are greatly decreased, only allowing us to grant small wishes here and there and much bigger ones with another genie assisting. Really, we'd only be considered powerful magicians by human standards and not gods of phenomenal cosmic power stuffed into an itty-bitty living space." she explained.

"But you can still grant wishes, right?" Apple pressed.

Whisp nodded. "Sure. Did 'em, done 'em, own 'em."

"So you could return everything to normal?" Apple continued to press.

The genie was starting to see what the princess was getting at, evidenced by a cunning grin that split across her features. "Yes. Granted, it would leave me exhausted beyond belief if I did it by myself, but if you free me, I can undo this wish of yours and we can return home without any disastrous consequences . . . I think."

"You think?" Apple raised an eyebrow.

Whisp shrugged. "There's a twenty percent chance that we'll end up getting thrown outside of the story and join the madness that is the author's notes and review answers, but c'mon! That's only twenty percent! We still got eighty more!" she waved it off without concern while Apple just looked at her as if she had sprouted a second head and had her eyes replaced by the hedgehogs the White Queen spent so much time drawing and presenting to the class like a proud child to its mother instead of teaching. But if the genie was that confident that nothing horrible or insanely mad would happen to them, who was she to argue.

"You're sure this is safe?" Apple asked one last time.

"Hey, twenty percent is saying no, eighty is saying yes!" Whisp grinned. "Let 'er rip!"

Apple sucked in one last deep breath to calm herself. "In that case . . . Whisp, I wish you were free." she said without knowing that she had closed her eyes again; the princess dared to crack one open and watched with amazement as the black lamp that had sent Apple spiraling into this whole mess slowly flickered into existence like a dying light bulb onto the floor in front of them, the top squeaking open and releasing a loud sucking noise that latched itself onto Whisp and pulling her towards the open lantern. At first, Apple thought that this was some cruel trick or critical error of some sort, but relaxed when Whisp gave her a reassuring smile and allowed a loud discharge of unknown energy to arch itself across her body, making her hair stand on end as she clenched her jaw and tried not to scream with pain or happiness, she didn't know which. The princess watched with amazement as the set of golden braces clamped tightly around Whisp's forearms to signify her servitude opened with a soft clank before clattering to the ground, useless as the lantern gave a final, dull roar and spat whatever of Whisp had been dragged in back out and closed back up, the faint light inside growing dimmer and dimmer.

"Whisp . . . are you . . ?" Apple asked softly as the genie floated back down to the ground, her face breathless but sporting a bright smile.

"Quick, wish for something ridiculous!" Whisp exclaimed eagerly, grabbing Apple by the shoulders and shaking her. "Go ahead, say . . . I dunno, 'I want the Nile'! Wish for the Nile!" she demanded.

Apple grabbed hold of the genie's wrists and pulled them off of her, lightly touching her head to clear her vision. "Um . . . I wish for the Nile?" she tried.

"NO WAY!" Whisp barked in her face before laughing giddily and rolling herself up into a ball and bouncing off of the surrounding walls like a rubber pinball of energy while simultaneously screaming and cheering "I'm free! I'm free! Free, free, FREE! Woo-hoo, I'm free!" at the top of her lungs like a maniac, much to Apple's amusement.

"Are you done yet?" Apple asked.

Whisp smirked. "Seeing as how I probably don't have the room to make a celebratory parade float, yes." she remarked. "Oh, I'm so happy, I could kiss you!"

"Please don't. I'm traumatized enough as it is." Apple flinched under the genie's kooky smile. "Now then . . . you can still grant wishes, right?"

"Small ones, but I think I can do this." Whisp nodded. "Technically though, it's more along the lines of a favor right now. But I guess I can let this one be a freebie." she shrugged with a mischievous smirk. "What can I say? You ain't never had a friend like me."

Apple allowed a quiet smile to grace her lips. "At least I'll have some support when we get home." she sighed before sobering up and calming herself once more. "Whisp, I wish that everything was back to normal; that Ben not loved me, but loved his ghouls and the girls again, that we were back home at Ever After High, and that my feet would stop aching. I just realized they've been killing me for the past ten minutes." the princess winced.

Whisp smiled and crossed her arms over her chest, resting her elbows as she sucked in a deep breath and closed her eyes, as was customary when granting the desires of a Finder, or this case a new friend. "As you wish." she grinned while she bobbed her head, a bright light swallowing the two of them.

---

Headmaster Grimm watched with a combination of annoyance and fear as Raven paced back and forth in front of his desk, a calculating expression upon her pale features as her heels clicked against the floor loudly and echoing off the walls; the sound made the headmaster cringe with every step she took. Daring stood guard at the door with his grip tight on the handle of his sword, his eyes following Raven as she walked back and forth, drawing Astrodactyl's attention as well while he perched on the headmaster's desk with an odd look.

"Ms. Queen, what is this all about?" Headmaster Grimm asked after a while.

The witchling paused and turned to look at him with a blank stare that made him sweat with fear. "I take it you aren't aware that everyone that attended the Holiday Mash Up was instantaneously frozen into ice?" she asked despite already knowing the answer.

Just ass expected, the portly man sputtered with surprise. "F-Fro . . . Frozen?" he gaped.

"He's even more clueless than my stubborn host! And that's saying something." Skurd cracked.

"Don't make me have Azmuth remove you again, Snot-Pocket." Astrodactyl threatened with a harsh glare; Skurd ignored the warning and relaxed on the Omnitrix for the time being, content with feeding off of the delicious DNA inside while his host interrogated Grimm. "And yeah, while you were up here stuffin' your face, RAWK, everyone else downstairs just got the biggest brain freeze of the century."

Headmaster Grimm was flabbergasted. "That's not . . . you ca . . . preposterous!" he struggled to keep his regal posture and vocabulary; he shrank back slightly when Raven threw what had to be the harshest glare he had received in his entire life. The occasional times his father berated him for being so foolish and even the dreaded face of the legendary Medusa made the witchling's irritated stare look a hundred times worse when it seemed to bore right into his soul with a cold bladed knife.

"I'm afraid I must side with Raven on this one, sir." Daring spoke up from the door. "Only we were so bold and lucky to avoid the terrible fate of our friends and your brother."

The headmaster's focus was hindered even further upon hearing that. "Giles . . . he was . . . frozen?" he asked quietly.

"RAWK! Like a statue." Astrodactyl confirmed before hopping down from the desk and arching his back with a loud cracking noise moments before the Omnitrix timed out and swallowed him in a flash of green light that returned Ben to the world; Grimm fell back in his chair at word of his brother, barely even registering Raven's words until the young witch sighed and snapped her fingers, summoning a chaotic orb of unstable magic in her palm and lobbing it at the headmaster's head with an apologetic look that became initial concern when the portly man all but nearly fell out of his chair.

"Sorry, Headmaster Grimm, but we really need you to focus." Raven apologized as she walked over and planted her hands firmly on her desk; Ben came up behind her and folded his arms over his chest with narrowed eyes glaring threateningly at the headmaster should he try anything.

"Y-Yes. Of course." Headmaster Grimm nodded as he sat up in his chair and pulled a spare hankie out of his breast pocket to dab the invisible sweat off of his receding hairline. Contrary to how he appeared to most students and members of the school's faculty, he really did care for his brother and the student's well being, despite the fact that he opposed the Rebels with as much force as possible without making him appear as a complete and utter villain that could have been along the lines of . . . her.

"Headmaster, do you by chance still have the fake Storybook of Legends from last Thronecoming?" Raven asked.

The mustached man nodded. "Of course. It would have been much simpler to dispose of it through the school's magical waste system, but given how much time transpired until we . . . realized it was a cheap imitation . . . I've kept it nearby in case I have time to begin further investigation into its creation when I'm not handling all the paperwork and bills that are mysteriously conjured up whenever a certain someone gets a little trigger happy with a certain device of his." he explained as he rolled his comfy, padded chair back and and opened the main desk drawer in front of him; sitting neatly inside and starring back at him with a blank expression was the fake Storybook of Legends that had turned the entire school on its head.

"It's not my fault everyone has some sort of vendetta against me." Ben grumbled. "I mean, it's not like I'm trying to ruin Pakmar's business or destroy Mr. Baumann's car every single time."

"Who?" Daring wondered.

"Not important right now." Ben waved it off as he sat himself down on the headmaster's desk without care of noticing the portly man's annoyed look while Raven took the book and began to flip through its contents. "What are we looking for anyway?"

"If my hunch is correct . . ." Raven hummed as she turned pages. "Whoever created this must of have had ready access to the original Storybook of Legends or incredible espionage and magic capabilities. Have you ever updated the locking spells on this?" she asked as a side thought.

"Well . . ." Headmaster Grimm trailed off, swallowing nervously and tugging at his ascot with discomfort.

The young witch allowed a small smile. "Then that would explain why it was so easy to steal in the first place. Even a witch as young as me could have stolen it . . . you know, if they actually control over their magic."

The headmaster raised a cautious eyebrow. "Ms. Queen, are you-"

"Not important right now." Raven waved it off as she clapped the book shut, a sound that made Daring in surprise and very nearly drop his sword at the thought of the doors being banged open by a swarm of dark elves or who knew what else The Shadow of Saint Nicholas had up his sleeve. "It's just as I thought: there's no record of Krampus in the Storybook of Legends."

This time the headmaster did fall out of his seat and landed flat on his back as he starred back up at the ceiling and seemingly right through Ben and Raven as they crouched over him with curious and concerned looks upon their faces; the mustached man's grip was shaky as Raven grabbed him by the hand and Ben let Grimm use his shoulder as a support while they helped the shivering, sweating headmaster back into his seat while trying not to be suspicious or concerned about the utterly terrified look upon his aged features.

"Headmaster?" Raven said softly without receiving a response from the petrified man.

"I think the old geezer's in need of a reboot." Skurd chuckled lightly from upon the Omnitrix.

Ben flicked the Slimebiote upside the head. "He could be suffering from a heart attack, you know."

"Oh, please. You humans are always so melodramatic." Skurd scoffed.

Raven ignored the Slimebiote's comment and continued to try and snap Grimm out of his frozen stupor. "Headmaster Grimm?" she tried, snapping her fingers repeatedly in front of his face.

"I think the old man's in some sort of trance." Daring offered his suggestion from the door, relaxing only a few degrees and keeping a tight grip on the hilt of the weapon he had managed to steal from one of the inactive suits of armor from the hallway.

"Did I mention that I hate it when humans state the obvious? Because I detest it when humans state the obvious." Skurd mumbled.

Ben rolled his eyes. "Go back to feeding on your DNA or something. We've got bigger problems than your pet peeves right now." he said.

"Milton!" Raven curtly barked in the headmaster's ear, finally managing to break the portly man out of his immobile, psychological state and back to the world at the sound of his name; the witchling kindly dabbed his sweaty brow with his hankie and offered him a comforting hand as the headmaster inhaled deep and steady breaths to try and calm his hammering heart.

"Th-Thank you, Ms. Queen." he breathed after a while. "I . . . I-I don't know what came over me . . ."

Raven gave a small smile and squeezed her headmaster's hand to comfort him. "It's alright. But we need you to focus right now and tell us what you know about-" she paused when she noticed how Grimm's hand was tightening around her fingers, his grip turning white knuckle. "What you know about . . . him." she reworded.

Headmaster Grimm nodded. "I . . . I shall try."

"I don't get what everyone's scared about. Vilgax is much more scarier than this Krampus guy." he lightly scoffed with a serious tone, only now taking notice of the portly man's discomfort at the mere mention of the name. "Even Dr. Animo is worse than him."

Grimm shook his head. "You don't know him like I do . . ." he shuddered.

Daring coughed uncomfortably from the door. "I don't mean to be rude, but there is currently a demon stalking the halls of our fair school in search of us and I for one would not like to be killed and/or eaten today." he said in a matter of fact manner.

"Fair point." Ben nodded before turning back to look at the headmaster. "Alright, Grimm. Spill."

Raven continued to take the more relaxed approach. "We need to know, Milton." she explained to him in a pleading manner.

The headmaster sighed and sat himself up in a more dignified manner in his chair, though Raven noticed he didn't seem ready to part from her touch just yet, as if she were the only thing keeping him calm and collected at the moment and not running for the hills. "Of course, Ms. Queen. And I would prefer if you use my appropriate title instead of what my brother insists . . . insisted on calling me." he corrected him with a solemn tone before he heaved another breath and started to talk in a low, hushed voice, as if the portly man were afraid that someone would overhear them.

"It was centuries ago, roughly two-hundred years or so-"

"Wait, wait, wait. Hold up." Ben interrupted. "Where I come from, some monsters are naturally centuries old, some even thousands of years, like my ghoul, Nefera. Just how old are you?" he wondered; when it comes to lengthy lifespans, the wielder of the Omnitrix knew more than a few people that were well over the average lifespan, some both friend and foe. Nefera was roughly five-thousand, eight-hundred and forty-six years old (apparently three years older than her younger sister, Cleo De Nile, a fact that she no longer held over her sibling's head), Headless Headmistress Bloodgood was older than Monster High itself, Vilgax had lived long enough to see the Revo-boo-tionary War, and the two Time Walkers, Professor Paradox and Hexiciah Steam, were both technically older than time itself thanks to slight mishaps with the experimentation of the mechanics of time travel (a concept that Ben was only vaguely familiar with whenever he turned into Clockwork).

To think that a human could live that long without being thrown over the event horizon was something made Ben's head hurt.

"For your information, I'm well over two centuries." Headmaster Grimm frowned slightly. "Unlike your . . . unique world . . . most beings here can live far longer if they have access to a considerable amount of magic to lengthen their life. And being the Keeper of the Storybook of Legends allows me to live longer than most."

"I do not think you are fit to bear that title any longer." Skurd remarked casually.

The headmaster chose to ignore the Slimebiote's comment and continued on with his explanation. "As I was saying, it was two centuries ago, a few years after I had founded Ever After High to ensure that the legacies of our stories and the magic that bound our world together would continue to live on into the far future. It was around this time that the first Rebels came about . . ."

Raven paused the headmaster with a slight squeeze of her hand. "There . . . there were other Rebels . . . before me?" she whispered curiously.

"Unfortunately." Grimm sighed. "Although I suppose it wasn't as severe as your case; they were still willing to partake in their destinies, mind you, they just wanted some changes."

Daring was confused. "Changes?"

Headmaster Grimm nodded. "Believe it or not, Mr. Charming, very few fairy tales ever ended with a Happily Ever After back then. I'm sure Ms. Queen is aware that the original Evil Queen was very nearly killed by the scalding hot, iron shoes she was forced to wear and dance in as punishment for poisoning the original Snow White." he explained, casting a minuscule glance of pity towards the young witch as she shrank slightly. "To prevent the death of important fairy tale bloodlines and royals, my brother and I made adjustments to the original tales to ensure there would be further heirs to follow in their parents' footsteps."

"That's a relief." Ben commented.

"And you wonder why most aliens communicated with your livestock. So barbaric." Skurd remarked, earning a second flick upside the head from Ben, much to the Slimebiote's protest.

The mustached headmaster coughed to clear his throat and continued. "Yes, well. During those changes and edits to the script, my brother and I were greatly disturbed by what we saw; being Keepers of the Book and not fairy tales ourselves, we never truly imagined how horrible it was. This also led to the realization that some fairy tales were just too dangerous to continue repeating."

"That doesn't sound good." Ben muttered with worry.

"There you go again, stating the obvious!" Skurd grumbled; everyone ignored him.

"Multiple fairy tales were lost, their pages torn out and their stories forgotten for the sake of Ever After. As you can imagine, some of the lost fairy tales were not happy about being written out of the Storybook of Legends and their fate of fading away into the sands of time . . ."

"Krampus." Raven whispered with a slight edge in her voice.

"I'm afraid so." Headmaster Grimm nodded. "He attacked the school in a fit of rage, brutally injuring anyone he came across and very nearly killed one of Ms. White's descendants before help finally arrived."

Daring straightened up a little at the door. "Let me guess: a handsome prince charming?"

Headmaster Grimm shook his head. "No, I'm sorry to say that what I believe was one of your great-great-great-great uncles was one of the first to run away and be injured. No, help came in the form of jingling bells and the reindeer hooves."

"Santa Claus?" Ben guessed.

The headmaster nodded. "We mostly refer to him as Saint Nicholas or Nicholas for short." Grimm explained with a hint of a relieved smile beneath his small mustache. "There is, after all, a reason why . . . he . . . is called the Shadow of Saint Nicholas."

"Is that it?" Daring asked, trying to ignore the slight blow to his family pride.

"Almost," Headmaster Grimm sighed. "Upon being defeated, Krampus swore vengeance on Ever After High and Saint Nicholas as a whole, promising that he wouldn't rest until he had everyone's soul trapped forever screaming in his lantern for him to toy with and our flesh between his teeth."

Ben shivered slightly. "Okay, now I see why this guy is bad."

Raven nodded. "Thank you, Headmaster Grimm. But, if I may ask, do you know why we're still here and not frozen like everyone else?"

The portly, mustached man hummed and stroked his bulbous chin, pushing away from his chair to stand up and pace in front of the large bay windows behind his desk that allowed him an extensive view of Ever After when his beady eyes weren't trained on the senseless scribbles of bills and papers. "If I remember correctly . . . all Grimms are required to commit every fairy tale to memory should the Storybook of Legends somehow be tampered with . . . he specifically sought out and deliver the most severe punishment to those he deemed to be selfish and quite unsavory."

"Basically a scrooge?" Ben summed up.

"Hexactly." Headmaster Grimm nodded.

Both Raven and Daring were taken aback by the statement. "That does make any sense!" Daring argued.

"For once, I agree with Daring on something." Raven commented.

Ben rolled his eyes. "Dude, you're completely self absorbed with yourself, you spend countless hours admiring your own reflection, you're dating a new girl every other day of the week, none of which ever seem to learn their lesson and go right back to drooling over you, and if you were stuck between saving Apple from a fire-breathing and keeping your precious face, you'd let her become barbecue. If that's not being selfish, I don't know what is."

"Ooh! Burn!" Skurd giggled giddily at the shocked look on Daring's face.

The flustered Son of Prince Charming sought to try and find some ground. "Oh, yeah? Then . . . then . . ." he glanced around trying to find some source of inspiration to save his quickly shrinking ego. "What about Raven? Why is she here? Why isn't she frozen?"

Ben actually paused at that. "Now that you mention it, why are you here with us? And for that matter, why am I here, too?" he asked Raven, utterly confused.

"Hmm. That is a good question." Skurd mused; Headmaster Grimm looked like he was about to retort with what Ben or Raven would most likely assume to be a cynical or snide comment, but before that could happen the doors to the dim office were given a heavy hit from the other side, a sound that made the brave Daring Charming jump and scream like a little girl into Ben's arms. The wielder of the Omnitrix gave the sheepish prince a scolding look before promptly dropping him to the ground and tapping the Omnitrix and cycling through the available roster without taking his eyes off of the door. The door was attacked again, the olden wood bending inwards from the force.

Ben finally made up his mind and selected Brawn before slamming down on the activation button and encompassing himself in a flash of green light. Half a dozen purple and black striped tentacles horrifically burst out of Ben's chest, making Headmaster Grimm quite literally very nearly toss his cookies as the horrifying appendages slithered and cracked impatiently in the air; Ben's fingers ground and cracked loudly as the bones pushed out and through his skin in a painless, yet absolutely terrifying manner while they sharpened into wicked claws. His spine cracked and crunched loudly as it lengthened and bent, forcing him to hunch over as his legs wrapped around each other like rubber and fused into a single, wiggling tail with black and white stripes that arched themselves across. Ben's skin started to shift and hang off of his skeleton, making him look like he was wearing a massive, wet, paper bag as his new, lose skin shifted and warped to form sleeve-like arms that his bony claws slipped out of them while a black, tuxedo-like suit trimmed in green made out of his skin formed around the rest of him, hanging off tattered and ragged at his ghostly tail. Ben's jaw jutted out as jagged, curved teeth ripped through his gums and let a wet, forked tongue slip out and sample the air as his eyes molded into a single, green orb and blinked experimentally. Two more fully functioning eyes thrust out of his shoulders with a wet popping sound, pushing through his suit-like skin and blinking slowly to take in the sudden amount of light the dim, moonlit office provided. The Omnitrix and Skurd formed at the center of a gruesome, bat-like bow tie wrapped tightly around his neck, completing the transformation.

"Shhhhhhh." Phantux hissed, holding a bony claw up to his nonexistent lips for emphasis; Raven nodded and watched as the Draugnurite floated up towards the ceiling, fading away from her sight of vision and into the shadows moments before the door finally gave way and banged open, smashing loudly against the walls.

Daring tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword as a cloud of swirling, freezing snow flew into the room, lowering the temperature dramatically as the cold fog hung low close to the floor and sent shivers up everyone's spine; especially when the loud clattering of chains came to their ears. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Daring bravely stood between the Headmaster and Raven as Krampus slowly walked into the room with his frost-tipped flaying hook spinning loosely in his hands.

"How delightful, an old family reunion." he gave a sinister chuckle. "I remember you, and you . . ." he pointed towards Daring and Raven before setting his sights on the headmaster; the portly man gulped and sweated profusely with fear when he saw those crimson rings at the bottom of their blackened bits narrow at the sight of him. "And I definitely remember you."

Phantux watched from above, invisible to even Krampus' senses as the hellish demon snapped his fingers and summoned a large battalion of dark elves to surround and back him as a small group grunted and wheezed to push the doors to the office shut with deafening thud! The closer the Draugnurite looked however, he noticed there were other beings shifting among the ranks of ash-colored elves, twisted monstrosities of children toys and play things that were now at Krampus' beck and call. Teddy bears with razor-sharp teeth and claws, Jack-in-the-Boxes with spider legs and forked tongues that slithered past their wide grinning smiles, ghostly-eyed dolls with extra, malformed limbs that softly called for their mommas, all these stood around and behind Krampus as he slowly and deliberately walked around the room, his hooves clopping loudly on the marble floor.

"Three naughty souls out an entire school of fairy tales," the Shadow of Saint Nicholas said, his voice gravely and deep like that of a hideous beast from the deepest depths of an ocean trench. "A shame, really."

Raven couldn't stand it any longer. "Why are you doing this!?" she demanded to know, a slight tingle of fear in the back of her throat; the witchling shrank back when the demon paused and turned around to regard her, his blood red pits starring right through her soul as he took a few steps forward.

Krampus easily sensed her fear and unease, along with an annoying amount of courage and strength that was thankfully buried under layers of uncertainty. "Oh, Raven. Oh, the eternity we shall spend together." he smiled maliciously. "I will enjoy plucking every one of your precious feathers until you are nothing but a pathetic mess just begging for death."

"Death?" Daring squeaked.

"'Death?'" Krampus mocked him before cackling loudly. "No . . . nothing that simple."

Headmaster Grimm clenched his fists and bit his lip before he sucked in a deep breath and pushed himself to stand bravely between Daring and Raven with his arms spread wide to block the demon. "Forget the children, you monster." he frowned with a slightly wavering tone in his voice. "It . . . It's me you want!"

Krampus once again cackled loudly, an echoing din that resounded and bounced off the walls of the office in a deafening tone that was accompanied by the chorus of snickering and jeering from the demons twisted elves and play things; trembling, Grimm backed down. "You amuse me, Grimm. But you can't save them, no one can save them from what I have planned."

"Why are you doing this?" Raven repeated, her long spiral of patience wearing quite thin with the demon's constant change of conversation and threats upon their lives.

"Because the wicked must be punished." Krampus answered with a chilling tone, tossing his hook down towards the marble floor and embedding it deep within the polished stone without much effort as he pointed a bony finger at Raven. "You want to know why you are here? Because you are selfish and care only for yourself."

Raven was greatly befuddled and even Daring was taken aback by the remark. "Hold it! I know me and Raven might be opposite sides of this whole Royals and Rebels business, but I know for a fact that she can't be that evil. I mean, she does occasionally ruin my hair and turn the headmaster into a chicken-man every now and again, but she's never done anything large scale. And she's probably the most selfless person I know . . . which admittedly is not very becoming of a future Evil Queen, but at this point I could care less."

Krampus grinned a heartless, toothy smile. "You'd like to think that, wouldn't you?" he growled in that rock grating voice of his. "You don't really think the little bird started this whole feud for the good of everyone ever after, do you? No, she started it for her own needs and desires, her selfish desire to write herself out of the Storybook of Legends and save herself from a destiny she didn't want."

Raven fidgeted uncomfortably. "Well, yeah, but I never thought anyone else would-"

Krampus interrupted the young witch with a low, calculating hum. "Do you think I need glasses? Because I could have sworn there were three of you brats . . . he trailed off in thought before snapping his skeletal fingers in realization. "The changeling . . . where did he go?"

"What could you possibly want with Tennyson?" Headmaster Grimm wondered, the ever present disdain in his voice whenever wielder of the Omnitrix's name was brought up.

The Shadow of Saint Nicholas yanked his hook out of the floor and aimlessly twirled it around in a careless circle, decapitating a few unlucky dolls that got too close for their own safety. "Hope."

The mustached man blinked with surprise. "Hope?"

Krampus nodded. "Like Saint Nicholas, your little shape-shifter brings hope to everyone around him; hope that there will be a better tomorrow, hope that everything will turn out alright in the end, hope that the world finally cease all its senseless bickering and get along for once. Hope that, for one day, that everyone can put their differences aside and simply enjoy being alive . . . a highly overrated thought, if you ask me." he added as an afterthought. "Aside from having what was rightfully mine stolen away from me, hope is absolutely worthless. There will be no better tomorrow, there will be no hope that everything will alright, there will be no hope that the world will ever reach peace, because the world is a dark and unforgiving place."

"By what do you care? I'm about to tear your soul out and make your first moments of eternal torment a living nightmare." Krampus grinned, enjoying the pale expressions on their faces; as if to further prove his point, he tapped the glass of the rusted lantern hooked to the end of his rattling chain and cautiously tapped open the hatch with a claw, quickly thrusting it out at arms length as unholy screams of pain and misery and absolute agony filled the air, bouncing off the walls and leaving Raven completely deaf as the Shadow of Saint Nicholas cackled with joy at hearing such sweet sorrow within his grasp.

Phantux could no longer take it and let out an ear-splitting screech of rage as he flashed back into sight and dive bombed straight at Krampus from behind, only to be snagged and brought down to the floor by the dark elves and toys that severed him, the twisted holiday minions dog piling on the Draugnurite and weighing him down as Krampus turned around to look at him. "Ah, right on time." he purred with a malicious tone.

The Draugnurite narrowed his single eye at the demon with great disdain. "If you think I'm going to take this lying down-"

"Oh, but you are, Tennyson." Krampus gave a smug grin as he raised the flaying hook above his head. "Torment comes in so many flavors . . . I can already imagine all the fun times we shall spend together for all of eternity. Well, fun for me, not so much for you." he allowed a low chuckle as he began to swing the frost-covered chain and hook above his head like a lasso.

"That's fascinating and everything, but I really must be going." Phantux hissed, slithering the forked tongue out past his cage of sharp teeth for emphasis before he flexed and relaxed the density altering protoplasm that made up his body and fading away and out of existence right through the toys and elves; for once, Krampus actually looked concerned as Phantux's haunting laughter now caught his attention, coming from seemingly everywhere at once.

"Not so fun now, is it?" the Draugnurite cackled.

Krampus narrowed his eyes as he searched for his target, his sensitive, animalistic ears rotating and flickering at the tiniest of sounds; without warning, the demon whirled around and raised his hook, effortlessly blocking Daring's sword with a loud metallic clang! The Son of Prince Charming gulped nervously as Krampus snarled at him and thrust the flaying hook in a downward motion, cutting right through his sword as if it were butter before the Shadow of Saint Nicholas spun his hook in a tight circle and cast it out at Daring, crashing it right into his gut and sending him flying back against the wall; with a groan, he slumped to the ground and lay there without movement.

"Wretched mongrels get the leash." Krampus hissed to the unconscious prince as he began to swing the frost-tipped flaying hook again, a sinister growl upon his muzzle as the latch to the otherworldly lantern squeaked open further, the screams of the souls and shades increasing to the point where nothing else could be heard.

Phantux hissed loudly and materialized back into vision. "Oh, no you don't!" he screeched as he rushed at Krampus and punched him in the jaw, snapping the demon's head upwards; the twisted toys and dark elves immediately turned on the Draugnurite, clinging to his arms and grabbing onto his tail and ruthlessly biting him as he attempted to swat them away.

"Never fear, Skurd is here!" the Slimebiote declared as oozed his gelatinous body over the Draugnurite's arms; muscles packed and piled themselves onto the already existing tissue, swelling and bloating Phantux's arms to nearly three times their original size while the bony claws crunched and distended into thick fingers perfectly designed for grasping and crushing. Shaggy fur began to sprout, turning a vibrant yellow in color that was arched by jagged black and white lightning strike bands, the transformation ending as specialized muscles formed just beneath the surface of the skin. With a toothy grin, Phantux released a powerful discharge of electricity from his new Gimlinopithecus limbs, creating terrified shrieks of agony from the elves and toys as they dropped to the ground and exploded into blackened ash.

"My, how shocking." Skurd chuckled.

"You are such a hypocrite. Whoa!" Phantux sighed, yelping as Krampus swung the flaying hook at him, just barely missing the Draugnurite as he pulled the chain back for another shot.

"Give up, Tennyson! I know all your tricks far too well!" Krampus hissed.

Phantux rolled his eye. "I don't know where you've been for the past eight years, but do you know this one? Now you see me, now you don't!" he hissed darkly as a sickly, yellow powder came pouring out from under his suit-like skin and enveloped the entire room; Raven coughed and hacked as the gas poured into her lungs, making her eyes water as she glanced up and startled briefly upon seeing not one Phantux, but nearly a dozen clones that hovered in a ring over her head.

Krampus glowered. "Clever trick. But not clever enough!" he shouted as he swung his kusarigama at the nearest copy of the Draugnurite, scattering it into dust with one hit of the flaying hook; a relished grin cross the demon's face as he swung the chains again and again, destroying the illusions one by one as they began to move about and dive bomb him in the hopes of confusing him until there was only one Draugnurite left.

"Will you give it a rest already? You can't touch me, and I can't touch you. We're at a stale mate!" Phantux hissed.

The Shadow of Saint Nicholas smiled a sinister grin and chuckled darkly, a sound that was like the echo of a heavy, metal blade being dragged across cold stone during the darkest hour of the night. "That may be, Tennyson. But unlike you, I don't play by the rules." he rasped with the ancient voice that wormed its way into the darkest corners of Raven's mind; before Phantux even knew what had happened, Krampus whirled around and the chain that he carried with him like an old friend slithered out from his claw-tipped fingers and through the air right at Raven. The witchling was frozen on the spot, her violet eyes wide with fright as the hook flew right at her, aimed at her heart.

"No!" Phantux cried.

At the last second however, Raven was pulled out of the way and roughly thrown to the floor as Headmaster Grimm threw himself in the way at the last second and just barely managed to grab hold of the soul shivering chain in his hands; despite the interruption, Krampus seemed just as happy with his catch. Raven watched with horror as the demon snapped back the flayed hook and effortlessly hauled the headmaster's entire weight towards him, making the portly man yelp in surprise as he was pulled through the air. The Shadow of Saint Nicholas then cracked the chain downwards and towards his left, bringing the wailing headmaster with it and sending him right through the bay windows with the loud shattering of glass and out into the cold air.

"Headmaster Grimm!" Raven cried out as she scrambled to her feet towards the broken window; Phantux followed suit and alighted down near the witchling moments before the Omnitrix timed out in a flash of green light and returned Ben to the world; Raven gulped as she peered over the edge of the shattered glass, knowing just how far down of a drop it was to the ground and how close she had once been to falling from such a great height.

The young witch bit her lip. "Is he . . ?"

"I don't know." Ben answered, unable to see through the swirling snow that was at the mercy of the howling winds and ravaging storm; he knew he and the headmaster didn't see eye to eye on nearly every single occasion that arose, but even Ben wasn't willing to let his life be thrown away like a wad of garbage, no matter how annoying an stubborn he was.

"Well, he is quite . . . uh, insulated?" Skurd offered. "There might be a chance that the blubbery fool survived the fall."

Ben frowned. "Not the time, Snot-Pocket."

"Ah, but it is the time." Krampus' ancient, creaking voice drew away their attentions. "It is time for the two of you to meet your end, just like your plump friend."

Ben rolled his eyes as he tapped the Omnitrix and selected the first alien he came across. "If we live through this and the headmaster is alive, we really need to talk to him about going on a diet." he murmured to Raven before slamming down on the activation button and engulfing himself in a blast of green light. His frame crunched and snapped as his height increased by only a few skin, his skin stretching and hardening to form a thin sheen of organic metal to cover himself in as his face pushed forward and melted into separate, roughly triangular plate that stretched out and upwards to form a pair of horns that swelled at the tips to form pulsing, purple orbs; the rest of his skull shifted and cracked loudly into a rough, boxy trapezoid as his exterior flashed deep lavenders and blacks in colors. His bones pushed themselves through his muscles and tissue to fuse directly with his skin to form a more sturdy exterior as his muscles changed composition and became more carbonaceous and artificial. Ben's hands were perhaps the most dramatic of changes with his fingers fusing together into a pair of stubby digits and his thumb rotating downwards to form a third while his arms and hands molded together into a stiff rod that was just beginning to hollow out like the barrel of a cannon that smelled distinctly similar to gunpowder and sulfur. His toes fused together into a single foot as black rings arched their away around his arms and legs and upper chest, surrounding the Omnitrix and Skurd fastened to a wide, black and green collar over his breastbone as a stiff, triangular dorsal fin tipped with a single orb rose out from between his shoulder blades and back, ending the transformation.

"Time for you to say bomb voyage." Badaboom narrowed his eyes at the demon.

"We shall see." Krampus hissed.

"See this, you Dirt Bag!" Skurd yelled, forming one of his little pseudopods into a tightly clenched fist that he shook angrily before he slithered his squishy, gooey body over the Bombardian's left arm and tapped into a genetic sample from the Omnitrix attached to hist host's breast bone; the stiff cracked and snapped loudly as the organic plating split and fragmented apart until it was more like a limp tentacle riddled with pebbled armor. The lavender and black hues flashed a deep green as the techno-organic muscles and tissue shifted their physiology once more and were replaced by stretchy fibers while the stubby digits lengthened and melted together into a long, dexterous tip that made the new limb more like a tentacle than anything else.

"Now whip it, dear boy! Whip it good!" Skurd commanded, jamming a pseudopod at Krampus.

Badaboom grinned and flexed his new Florauna tendril and gave it an experimental thrust before the Bombardian cracked the flexible tentacle forward like a whip and wrapped it tightly around Krampus' neck, squeezing his grip tightly before snapping the tendril back and pulling the demon with it. With a grunt, Badaboom lifted his entire weight up into the air and threw the hellish demon over his shoulder, through the broken window of the headmaster's office, and out into the open air.

"Quick while he's on the defensive!" Skurd cried.

"On it!" Badaboom agreed as he rushed over to the window and made a move to jump before he felt a hand on his shoulder; he turned to Raven standing there with a look on her face that the Bombardian had seen one too many times ever since he had met the ghouls. Daring had finally come to and staggered to his feet, rubbing his aching skull as he stumbled over to the window and quickly assessed the situation despite being somewhat delirious.

The corners of Raven's mouth quirked upwards ever so slightly. "Do I even have to say it?"

"Is there anyway to talk either of you two out of it?" the Bombardian tried.

Daring shook his head to clear his vision and puffed out his chest in a prideful manner. "Not in the name of the Charming Kingdom! I have a family reputation to restore and honor!" he replied heroically; Raven merely rolled her eyes and gave Badaboom that stubborn look he knew would drive his nerves crazy in the future but would never get him to stop loving her.

"Alright then. Hang on tight." he nodded as he wrapped his Florauna around Daring and Raven's waist and squeezed them together in a somewhat uncomfortable manner while pulling them close to his chest before he recklessly (as Skurd would later point out, despite the fact that it was his suggestion) hurled himself and the two fairy tales out the window and after Krampus and Headmaster Grimm.

Daring gulped nervously as the ground quickly approached, his fear only getting worse with the swirling snow somehow amplifying the terror of plummeting from such a great height. "Uh, not to be rude, but do you have any idea on how we're going to land?"

"Leave it to me, lad!" Skurd announced as he swiftly returned the Florauna DNA back into the Omnitrix and selected a new sample as the flexible tendril was replaced by a Bombardian's stiff, cannon-like arm while the Slimebiote slithered over his host's back and dorsal fin. The growth upon Badaboom's crunched and cracked loudly as it was split in two right down the middle, forming a pair of paper thin flaps that quickly thickened and stiffened once more, broadening into a pair of sickly, yellow, gossamer wings easily bigger than beach umbrellas that began to flap instantaneously to slow their descent towards the ground with a low thrum.

"Whoo! That was close." Daring sighed with relief as they gently fell towards the snow below them.

Raven bit her lip nervously. "I think you might have spoken too soon." she gulped as an ever familiar, frost-tipped kusarigama came shooting through the freezing, pelting snow at them and skillfully wrapped around Badaboom's leg, the flaying hook catching onto the spiked chain before pulling taunt; the three of them had approximately two seconds to react before they were swiftly pulled down through the air, the pair of Lepidopterran wings grown by Skurd reduced to useless, gossamer blankets that flapped and waved behind them until they landed roughly and painfully on the ground and in the chilling snow.

"Everyone alright?" Badaboom groaned as he sat up and let Daring and Raven go, hoping he hadn't hurt them too bad when he landed on top of them.

"I think so . . . ow . . ." Raven lied, silently hissing when she felt one of the many of old, silvery scars that heartlessly arched themselves across her body reopen and begin to trickle fresh blood once more; the young witchling greatly resented the painful markings not just because they reminded her of things she'd rather forget and didn't allow her to wear anything that might expose them to prying eyes (namely Blondie and even a Spectra Vondergeist that Badaboom had talked fondly of), but they had an unfortunate habit of reopening at the worst possible times and making her bruise quite easily, making the sheer thought of playing dodge ball in Grimmnastics a complete nightmare.

"Thank you for flying with Slimebiote Airlines . . . be sure to thank the stewardesses on your way out . . ." Skurd groaned deliriously.

"I concur with the booger." Daring winced at what he really hoped were not a set of bruised ribs; despite his comment, it seemed Skurd was too far gone at the moment to even care much about the nickname he despised so much. The soft clattering of ice-encased metal caught their attentions and they turned to see Krampus looming over a fallen figure buried shallowly in the freezing snow, his chains dragging behind him and scrapping softly against the snow as his crimson eyes burned like smoldering embers of hatred and rage.

Krampus' tongue lolled out past his sharp fangs as he aimlessly swung the kusarigama in his hand, his hooves crunching softly in the snow as he approached the fallen and weak form of the headmaster. The mustached man shrank back from his fiery glow, covering his eyes as he trembled violently and unable to move. "Please. Please, not you." he whispered.

"Long ago, from the day you forsake my destiny and tore my page from the Storybook of Legends, I claimed you as mine." Krampus' voice creaked and stretched in a whispery tone, as if he hadn't spoke for ages. "Now it is time I collect . . ."

Headmaster Grimm was breathing heavily and sweating with fear despite the cold, his eyes never tearing away from the frost-covered, chain-wearing demon as he scrambled backwards through the ice and snow, desperate with an urge to find a weapon some kind to save himself; his hand happened upon a fallen limb that had had been torn away from the ancient trees of the Enchanted Forest and he picked it up, holding it front of his face in the hopes of forcing Krampus to hesitate and allow him a moment to clamber to his feet and run away. The Shadow of Saint Nicholas lashed his flaying hook downward and cleaved right through the thick branch as if it were butter.

"Please! Just kill me!" Headmaster Grimm pleaded.

Krampus shook his head. "Your death is not my desire . . ." he hissed darkly as the latch to the lantern was flown open, releasing a cacophony of screams and howls as he raised the flaying hook high above his head to finish the deed once and for all; the headmaster squeezed his eyes shut and prepared for the worse, waiting for the flaying hook to plunge deep into his chest and sink into his flesh before the dark demon would rip out his soul and imprison it into the lantern that was the torture chamber of so many.

CLANG! SCRITCH!

Headmaster Grimm cracked open his eye to see Badaboom standing over him, his cannon-like arm thrust out between the two of them and reduced to a mere stump with the other half lying lifeless in the snow beneath them; the Bombardian then raised his other hand and clubbed Krampus across the face before he cocked his single limb and fired off a Miniboom into the demon's gut, blasting him back and away from the him and the headmaster.

"Ben!" Raven cried as she rushed over to the headmaster while Badaboom charged after Krampus despite his missing limb; Daring rushed past them and hurriedly began to dig through the snow to pull out another fallen tree limb that he brandished like a club as best as he could; it was no grand, heroic sword, but it seemed he would have to make an exception.

Badaboom grunted as he fired off a pair of Minibooms, one right after the other, at Krampus and successfully managed to detonate one of them near the demon's shoulder while the second one was swatted away by the flaying hook and harmlessly exploded some distance away in a fiery snow cloud; the little symbiotic creatures bared resemblance to a classic, black ball with a little decorated with toothpick arms and legs and a smoldering wick-like growth sprouting out of their heads as they mindlessly ran at their targets before blowing themselves up in a sort of extraterrestrial kamikaze. Badaboom tried not to think about this as he raised his arm to block a swipe of the flaying hook, grunting under the pressure applied while simultaneously trying to focus on reforming his other arm, the result of losing it in the first place and multiple explosions making the process slow and tedious.

"You're losing your touch, boy." Krampus gave a sinister, smug smirk.

"You try losing an arm!" Badaboom shot back, gasping as he was forced down onto his knee.

"Feeling tired? Exhausted perhaps?" the demon purred cruelly.

" . . . And . . . if I . . . am?" the Bombardian grunted; a sharp yell caught their attention and they both turned to see Daring come charging through the snow as possible with his new weapon raised overhead and a fearsome look upon his face. With a roll of his eyes, Krampus snapped the fingers on his free hand and surrounded the Son of Prince Charming in a puff of blackened ash that dissipated to reveal a small army of dark elves and twisted toys surrounding him moments before they moved as one and roughly tackled him to the ground; the tree branch was snapped in half by the jaws of an elf as Daring screamed with fear and pain.

Krampus chuckled darkly. "You'll end up like him." he nodded towards Daring as a clenched hand jammed out of the pile of elves and toys with a pained scream just before a teddy bear attacked it and buried its claws and teeth into the flesh; a sudden blast of chaotic energy struck the pile of elves and toys, disintegrating them into fine ash as Daring yelped and clapped his hands over his head, waiting for whatever terror there might have been to end. A second blast of dark magic struck Krampus in the head, sending him flying a couple feet through the freezing snow with the loud clattering of his frost-covered chains to accompany him.

"Stay away from my boyfriend." Raven snarled, letting her hand drop to her side as she helped the headmaster to his feet, allowing him to use her as a support.

"Thanks for the save." Badaboom sighed with relief. "But he's got a point. We can't beat him like this. Not by ourselves anyway."

Skurd shook his head to clear his chaotic thoughts, rubbing his invisible skull with his pseudopods. "It is true. The old goat seems to have an endless amount of energy at his fingertips, enough to wear each and every last one of us down."

"I don't suppose now would be the time to pray for a Christmas miracle?" Headmaster Grimm asked before he cried out in pain and dropped to the snow, clutching his ankle tightly and viciously gritting his teeth to fight back tears of pain while Raven immediately dropped down to the ground to examine him.

The witchling bit her lip as she tenderly touched his leg, gently applying pressure to his thigh and working her way down before she finally got to his ankle and jumped back from the resulting howl of agony. "I was afraid of that. It's twisted, maybe even broken." she concluded. "Although I suppose that's kind of a blessing considering how far you fell."

"I told you he was well insulated!" Skurd cried triumphantly.

Raven rolled his eyes. "On a side note, you might want to consider a diet."

The headmaster gritted his teeth. "Noted," he winced through the pain as he tried to climb to his feet and stand up again before screaming once more and collapsing to the ground. "Great ancestors above, this hurts!"

"Screaming won't do you any good," Krampus hissed as he slowly rose from the ground, icicles and frost starting to creep across his horns and his eyes seeming to grow brighter as if he were embracing the true nature of the howling, arctic winds around him. "But it's music to my eyes." he snarled as he loomed over them all, drawing up to his full height and swinging the dreaded flaying hook over his head.

"I don't suppose you have any plans?" Raven asked as Badaboom took a few steps back from the demon, nearly bumping into them as Daring fearfully scrambled over to huddle with them, covering his eyes with his hands as he trembled.

"For once, no." Badaboom shook his head. "I'm missing an arm, I'm exhausted, Daring's absolutely useless without a good weapon, the headmaster's leg is broken, and you can't save us all at once. Looks like its end game for us."

"And I thought we would perish during that time we helped create the universe." Skurd hummed absentmindedly, unaware of a surprised and shocked look that crept across the headmaster's face; the astonished expression however, was quickly replaced by fear as Krampus continued to edge closer and closer, the snow crunching underneath his hooves with every step like breaking bones.

"Whose mind shall I break first?" he grinned sadistically. "What is it that you flesh-imprisoned brats say? Eeny, meeny, miny-"

"Mo!" a voice called out through the night.

Krampus startled and searched for the source of the noise with desperate eyes, his bony grip tightening on the kusarigama until his knuckle were nearly as white as the snow beneath his hooves; he knew that voice all too well, the voice that haunted his mind and dreams, refusing to ever leave him alone as he he stalked all of Ever After in the shadows and out of the lights reach for all of eternity. The sound of tinkling bells made his ears prick up as he instinctively turned towards the sky, searching through the swirling storm for the source of the sound until his eyes caught something sailing through the air at him, landing in the snow a couple feet away and rolling towards him to stop at his feet; it was a bright red, Christmas ornament.

"Oh, no." he whispered to himself before the decoration suddenly exploded in a burst of blinding, bright light, like that of a hot firework, right in his facing; the demon cried out and clapped a hand over his eyes as he stumbled back, blinking blearily as he looked towards the heavens once more, his sights finally settling on his adversary.

"YOU!" he cried, jamming his hook accusingly.

Badaboom, Raven, and Daring watched as a figure that they had only ever heard of and that the headmaster had only met a couple times before descended down from the sky, cackling with a bellowing, jolly laugh that echoed through the air like a booming, bass drum; an explosion of light like a sparkling firework of ice and snow filled the air and there it was, a seemingly large and unorthodox figure flying through the air with the greatest of ease. Four pairs, eight in all, of powerful reindeer with massive hooves, giant racks of antlers, and frost-tipped layers of warm fur as white as snow galloped graciously through the air with bits in their mouths and jingling bells tied to their leather-strapped reins, pounding the very air with their massive hooves while they pulled a grand sleigh colored the shade of holly berries with golden runnings through the swirling, icy winds. At the reins was a large man easily four extra feet taller than the headmaster and with a grand, white beard and mustache that spilled over his powerful chest; beefy arms were covered in a velvet red coat ringed with black fur that went all the way down to his ankles and a black fur hat to protect him from the wailing winds as he wore a pair of tough, leather boots and woolen pants with suspenders held up by a large belt that just seemed to barely fit over his swollen belly.

"YAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" the jolly, old man cried as he gave the reins of his sleigh a swift crack and steered the reindeer down towards the ground, grinning like a maniac as the snorting animals crashed into Krampus and ran him over, pounding him into the snow with their powerful hooves and running him over with the sharp runners; the man wildly cracked the reins a second time before tying them to the front of the sleigh and jumping over the side as it began to take off again, dropping a few feet through the air before landing in a cloud of snow, standing tall and powerful as he whipped out a pair of swords from beneath his coat and spun them around in his fingers great art and skill.

"Is that . . ?" Badaboom gaped.

Raven's eyes widened. "Santa Claus?"

The jolly man laughed heartily, his belly bouncing like a bowlful of jelly. "Of course! Who do you expect, Tooth Fairy?" he joked in a heavy, Russian accent.

"I don't know who you are, but I like the cut of your jib." Skurd complimented as Krampus groaned and slowly staggered to his feet, wincing at the large bruisers from the reindeer's hooves and the sleigh's runners.

"As do I, little Skurd! But unlike you, I know much about you!" he laughed. "But please, enough with formalities. Nicholas North Pole at your service!"

The Slimebiote was taken aback. "How did you . . ?"

Nicholas laughed. "Like I say, I know much about you!" he smiled, before pointing at Badaboom, Daring, and the headmaster. "And you, you, you, and . . . I definitely know you!" his smile broadened when he pointed at Raven, a light pink blush of embarrassment crossing the witchling's cheeks. A loud howl of rage caught their attention and Nicholas whirled around at the last second with sword in hand and raised above his face to deflect a strike of the deadly, frost-covered flaying hook that Krampus with a loud clang!

"Ah, Krampus, old friend! You haven't changed bit!" Nicholas laughed.

"I will end you, Claus!" Krampus bellowed angrily, jumping back and casting the slithering, icy chains of the kusarigama forward; Nicholas laughed cockily as the chains wrapped one of his blades, the flaying hook catching on the metal links and holding fast as its hellish owner yanked back as hard as possible. Nicholas however, stood fast and pulled back twice as strong, wrenching the chain from the Shadow of Saint Nicholas' grasp and pulling him with it, throwing high up into the air as he cried out in fury and slamming him back down in the snow.

"Haven't changed bit!" Nicholas laughed before turning to the small crowd of witchling, prince, aliens, and headmaster. "What are you standing for? Join in fun!" he smiled broadly.

Badaboom smiled as he climbed to his feet and stood tall once more. "I think that can be arranged." he grinned; he grinned at his severed arm as it cracked and bowed, new metal starting to form from the olden flesh and forming a hollow tube that was coated in pulsing, carbonaceous muscles and tissue and ended in three stubby digits of the cannon-like barrel; Raven gave the fallen headmaster a hard look, one that he knew all too well in the many, fruitless hours spent trying to get her to budge and push on following her destiny as she then turned and stood next to the Bombardian. Her ivory fingers crackling and buzzing with energy before exploding into hot, dark, chaotic flames. Daring gulped and took in a deep breath before climbing to his feet and clenching his fists, glaring tightly at Krampus as he staggered to his feet and glowered at the lot of them with pure hatred in his fiery, crimson eyes.

"No!" he cried. "No, no, no, NO!"

Nicholas turned around to glare triumphantly at Krampus, his swords raised and shining brightly in the glow of the moon through the swirling storm. "What is it that Ben say? Have not had time to search memories thoroughly."

Badaboom grinned as he leveled his cannon-like arm at Krampus, a smug smile upon his face. "It's Hero Time!" he cried as they all rushed as one at the nightmarish demon, leaving the headmaster to watch with awe and amazement; Nicholas led the charge, thrusting his pair of swords out at Krampus and slicing them down and across his chest, cutting deep gashes that poured forth with cold, blue flame instead of precious blood. Krampus howled and lunged back, spinning the hook in a tight, defensive circle that acted like a temporary shield from Nicholas' swipes and strikes.

"I need a clear shot!" Badaboom cried as he ducked under the flaying hook as Krampus made a desperate throw and just barely missed the Bombardian and Daring; gritting his teeth, the prince ran low across the ground and past Badaboom, furiously pumping his arms as he locked onto the fiery demon and jumped, throwing his entire weight at the Shadow of Saint Nicholas and tackled him to the ground, grunting and biting back the pain as the dagger sharp tip of the flaying hook sliced across his arm and ripped through his coat as the two of them fell to the ground.

"Hurry!" Daring yelled as he hooked his arms under and up over Krampus' shoulders and arms, thrusting his chest out and pinning the demon in an arch position forward with a pained expression while he fought and struggled against the prince's waning strength.

Raven closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, silently hoping that she would know what to do as she cupped her hands together and slowly moved her fingers in an intricate pattern, the pace quickening as she focused on the energy that coursed through everything, the energy that was everything; the trees that reached for the night sky with their gnarled hands, the soft, crunching snow that covered the tender shoots of the grass beneath her feet, the birds that would fly through the air come morning and the rabbits that would hop along the ground, the very air and water and earth and fire and aether that surround them all, it was all full of manipulative magic that, when focused and concentrated enough, had the power to warp the very fabric of reality to the users touch. Some species, namely witches and fairies, were born with the innate or natural ability to use such power, and some were able to tap into the ebb and flow of it after much trial and error, but most neither had the patience or the 'touch', as it had been called, most magic manipulators had.

"Badickinis Metalalurca!" Raven recited as her eyes glowed a vibrant violet in color; Badaboom's eyes widened upon hearing those words and he faltered the chains that adorned and decorated Krampus' cloaked shimmered and glowed a bright lavender in color, rising up and slithering about like venomous snakes as the demon finally broke free from Daring's grip and jammed his elbows into his gut, causing him to drop to the ground on his knees before receiving a hoof to the face and being kicked back in a fashion very similar to a fool standing behind an irritable mule. The chains rattled and clattered loudly as they moved as one, ignoring Krampus' yells and roars of fury and confusion as they wrapped around him, pinning his arms to his sides and letting the kusarigama he wielded with such terrifying skill drop to his side while the chains squeezed tighter and tighter, restricting all movement.

Nicholas laughed as Krampus struggled against his bonds. "Is like carnival game at Spring Fairest he laughed.

"Hit the bottles and win a prize, if I'm not mistaken." Badaboom smirked as he leveled an arm at the demon and fired off a Miniboom right at him, smashing into his gut before detonating the little creature in a small discharge that blasted him back against the wall of the school with a dull thud! and shaking the icicles that hung from the roof high above, some nearly as long as Raven was tall. Glancing up, Krampus grinned as a wicked idea crossed his mind and he rammed himself against the side of the towering castle in the hopes that his vibrations would be enough to shake the icicles lose as they wiggled and wobbled ever so slightly in the wind before finally giving way and plummeting through the air; Krampus smirked and twisted his body just so, watching as the icicles fell and smashed against the ancient chains that bound him so, watching with a mixture of amazement and cunning as the chains broke and fell lifeless to the ground, freeing him and leaving him with his trusty flaying hook once more.

"How about I hit you instead!?" Krampus roared as he cast the chain out again and managed to wrap it around Nicholas' ankle, tugging back and felling the giant of a man with one pull, his swords falling out of his grip and to the ground.

"No! Aurora and Sasha!" he cried, grasping for his swords as Krampus dragged him back, pulling him in like a fisherman with a catch he had just been wrestling with for the past hour; the latch to the lantern clacked open, the souls screaming once more as Krampus grinned greedily, his mortal enemy now within his grasp and so close to death; while technically immortal, there was still the possibility that he and Nicholas, along with a multitude other characters and beings, could still be killed in combat and war, a concept that the Shadow of Saint Nicholas was more than willing to exploit.

Raven bit her lip and ran towards Nicholas' fallen swords, glancing at him as he was pulled towards Krampus, knowing he wouldn't be able to defend himself effectively from such an angle; Badaboom didn't posses the necessary digits, and she herself didn't know how to effectively wield a sword and she doubted she would be able to perform a miracle under such pressure. That left . . .

"Daring! Catch!" Raven cried as she threw the pair of shimmering swords at the Son of Prince Charming as hard as she could; Daring hissed and held his bruised stomach as he staggered to his feet and reached up to just barely catch one of the shimmering blades in his hand, snapping his other hand out and catch the other by the handle, noting how relatively light they were compared to his far heavier, grander looking weapon that he used during his Heroics 101 training. A grin crossed his face as he sneaked up behind Krampus while he was distracted in reveling in his soon to be victory.

"How shall I torture you, Nicholas? Break those precious fingers of yours that you waste making toys and gifts, or maybe forcing you to eat your precious reindeer? Or maybe I'll- GRAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHH!" Krampus cackled before suddenly howling in pain as Daring jammed one of the two swords into his shoulder, the icy blade burning like fire against his skin and only intensifying when the prince stabbed the second weapon into his other shoulder and kicked him fiercely in the small of his back, forcing him to drop to the ground and release his hold on his prisoner.

Nicholas allowed a small frown to cross his beard face as he climbed to his feet and cracked his knuckles loudly before rolling up his sleeves and turning around to face Krampus with his arms folded over his strong chest; the words 'Naughty' and 'Nice' were grafted onto his skin in the form of tattoos that must have been hundreds of years old and yet looked like new as slowly lumbered up to the demon. "I believe is time that I introduce you to babies, Nice and Naughty." he grinned in a low, cold voice that made Krampus shiver moments before Nicholas drew back his fist and slugged him in the jaw with a loud crack!

"Ooh, that's gonna sting." Raven winced.

"It'll do more than sting!" Nicholas laughed cheerfully as he decked Krampus across the face again and reached to pull out his blades from the demon's flesh, barely noticing how they hissed loudly and allowed smoke to curl off of them before he plunged them into the freezing snow to cool them. This allowed Krampus to lung forward and ram his horns into Nicholas' jiggling gut, knocking him over as he scrambled to his hooves and made a run for it, whipping around to cast out the flaying hook at Daring to keep away and swing it out to hold off Raven; the demon quickly skidded to a stop to dodge a Miniboom that detonated mere feet away from him and began to run even faster, his hooves digging deep into the snow as he ran for the edge of the Enchanted Forest while dodging Minibooms as Badaboom chased after him, never relenting as he jammed his arms down and fired off a pair of Minibooms and instantly detonated them, blasting him high up into the air and over Krampus, cutting him off as he landed.

"It's over, Krampus. You've got nowhere to run." the Bombardian threatened, leveling a cannon-like arm at him.

The demon glanced back at Nicholas as he climbed to his feet and quickly dusted himself off while Daring and Raven fast approached from behind, surrounding the demon as he turned back to look at Badaboom and Skurd as the later gave him an incredibly rude gesture; a quick form of realization crossed the Shadow of Saint Nicholas' nightmarish face and a cold, sadistic grin curled his lips upwards in a cruel smile.

"You'd like to think that, wouldn't you?" he laughed. "But the truth of the matter is, I've already won."

"What the dickens are you talking about, man!?" Skurd raised an eyebrow.

Krampus grinned smugly. "You may have beat me and I may have failed in capturing your souls, but I've already gotten what I've truly come for," he cackled softly. "You really think it was that hard to follow you, Tennyson? You're like a minotaur in a china shop."

"What are you saying?" Badaboom frowned.

"Lets just say that I'm not the only one that doesn't like having their part cut in the grand scheme of things." Krampus smirked. "Until next time . . . I'm sure we'll be seeing each other soon." he gave a raspy whisper as his nearly skeletal body shuddered and exploded in a blast of freezing winds and darkened shadows, dissipating and settling down as new fallen snow on the spot of earth where he had been moments before; silence fell over everyone as they gathered around the spot Krampus had vanished.

The Omnitrix beeped and timed out in a flash of green light, swallowing the Bombardian and returning Ben to the world, a concerned and exhausted look upon his face. "What did he mean by when he said he 'already gotten what I've truly come for'?" he wondered, his voice barely a whisper with his eyes unmoving on the bare patch of snow.

Nicholas sighed and clipped his swords to the side of his belt, folding his arms across his chest and inhaling deeply. "The dark times . . . they are ahead. I can feel it in my belly . . . and my belly is never wrong." he added, patting his jiggling stomach.

"So what do we do?" Raven asked.

Nicholas sighed once more and stroked his beard in thought. "I sense a disturbance will arise and that all of our world, the entire fate of Ever After, will rest upon our shoulders in times soon to come." he said as he dug a hand inside of his heavy coat and fished around for a few seconds before pulling something out; it was a large, shimmering orb about the size of a basketball with two round, metal caps on both ends and a swirling vortex of vibrant colors pulsing brightly in the middle as Nicholas gently handed the sphere to a stunned Raven with a small smile on his face. "But whatever it may be, know that you have allies in the North. Just toss into sky as far as possible . . . the rest will do itself."

Raven gasped with amazement as she watched colors swirl and spin and tumble around each other. "Th-Thank you, Mr. Claus." she whispered.

Nicholas North Pole laughed heartily and clapped her on the shoulder, nearly knocking her over in spite of himself. "Please, it is just Nicholas to all." he smiled before clapping his hands together. "Now then, I must go. Much flying and delivering of gifts to do!" he announced with a smile. "And if I were you, I would head back to your party; I sense a great longing and confusion from certain people." he grinned knowingly as the reindeer and sleigh descended from the sky and landed on the ground nearby, coming to a stop as the jolly fat man climbed aboard and took hold of the reins.

"Wait! Am I on the Naughty List?" Daring wondered.

Nicholas tapped his chin in thought. "Eh . . . is best not to think about it."he shrugged.

"What about me?" Ben asked.

Nicholas let out a loud bark of laughter. "Are you kidding!? You hold the record!" he laughed, sending a small wink Ben's way before he gave the reins a swift crack, the reindeer snorting and bellowing lowly as they galloped across the ground and took off into the air, climbing higher and higher into the night sky as Nicholas laughed brightly, his loud, resounding laughter echoing through the night sky.

"I don't understand what the dickens just happened." Skurd said after a while.

Ben allowed a quiet smile to grace his face. "In our line of work, it's best not to question it." he said as he turned around and made his way over to the headmaster, ignoring the chilling wind as he helped the portly man to his feet and let him throw the majority of his weight onto his shoulders to keep his sprained ankle free of pressure. "Come on. Party's not over yet."

"But what about Krampus? Raven wondered.

"Trust me, I'm just as worried, too. But that's something to be saved for another time." Ben reassured as he and the limping headmaster made their way around to the front entrance, the later trying to hold back feminine sounding screams of pain while Daring slipped himself under his other shoulder; Raven hesitated for a second, glancing at the strange, glowing ball in her hands and back up at the night sky as the snow swirled and fell around her, wondering just long it was going to be before everything she knew would change for better or for worse.

---

Cerise anxiously paced back and forth across the floor in front of the fireplace, nervously gnawing on her lip as she wrung her hands in thought; her mind was racing at a hundred miles per hour, wondering what in the name of the ancestors had just happened while she flickered her gaze back and forth between the floor and sprig of mistletoe above. One moment, she and Raven were sitting side by side in front of the hearth, discussing the very real possibility of being cursed upon forsaking the traditions of the accursed plant above before Cerise had stupidly lost control of herself and . . . kissed Raven right then and there.

The Daughter of Little Red Riding Hood knew that all sorts of odd things and embarrassing shenanigans occurred at parties, especially if they were hosted by Briar (who was still conked out and wrapped in a comfy blanket just a few feet away from Cerise), but this was beyond more than she could handle. The kiss had been absolutely wonderful, putting all those anxieties and frustrations over her suddenly growing feelings for the young witchling to rest, only to have them skyrocket back into place when she opened her eyes mere seconds later and found herself kissing nothing but air. Cerise knew she was being foolish in pretending she should be hurt by such actions, but if it weren't for the fact that she knew nobody with the exception of a transformed Ben could move that fast without her knowing, she would have simply accepted her feelings would never be returned; but now, she wasn't sure she would ever know. She couldn't find Raven anywhere.

No one else seemed to be incredibly concerned about the witchling's disappearance as much as Cerise was, though she had technically only realized it mere minutes beforehand, and that was not enough time for something as big as this (at least to her) get spread around.

"Hiya, Cerise!" Maddie smiled madly as she skipped over to the hearth with two mugs of whip cream-covered hot chocolate in hand, the fluffy, white tip of her Santa hat bouncing up and down as the Hatter moved merrily.

"Hi, Maddie." Cerise paused in her pacing for a brief moment before continuing.

Maddie raised an eyebrow. "What's got you tied up tighter than a tongue-tied mocking turtle?" she wondered.

Cerise sighed as the Hatter waved one of the mugs of hot chocolate in her face, not taking no for an answer until the Riding Hood finally excepted a mug and took a quick sip to try and calm herself down. "It's just . . . Raven's gone."

"What happened?" Maddie asked.

Cerise took a deep breath. "Well, we kinda sat underneath the mistletoe and . . ."

"To avoid being cursed you two kissed?" Maddie guessed, a small smile creeping across her lips. "The Narrators told me so."

"What'd the Narrators say now?" Kitty's voice purred as a pair of pearly whites attached to small lips materialized on a comfy arm chair before being followed by the rest of the Daughter of the Cheshire Cat in a glimmering light, a curious look on her face and a cheeky smile upon her lips.

"Raven and Cerise kissed to avoid getting cursed," Maddie explained bluntly as a deep crimson crossed Cerise's face while she took a deep sip to try and save what little dignity she had left. "And now she can't find Raven anywhere."

Kitty rolled her eyes. "She's right over there, Dog-Breath." she said, jerking a thumb over her shoulder; the two Wonderlandians just barely managed to close their eyes in time as Cerise spat out her hot chocolate and dropped her mug to the floor, turning her attention towards where Kitty had pointed to see Ben, Raven, and Daring come walking through the main doors of the ballroom with winded expressions upon their face; faster than most participants of the dance could blink, Cerise was racing over through the crowd and slamming full force into both Ben and Raven, tackling the both of them to the ground and leaving Daring both uncomfortable and rather left out.

"Oh, I'm so glad you're alright!" Cerise breathed with relief.

"Why wouldn't we be? Did you forget who you're talking to?" Ben joked as Cerise allowed the two of them to sit up on the floor; Cerise rolled her eyes and merely hugged the two of them tightly, relieved that Raven was okay and not cowering away in some corner with her thoughts scattered about her.

"I thought something horrible happened to you after we . . . you know . . ." Cerise trailed off uncomfortably.

Ben raised an eyebrow. "Is there something I should know about?" he asked.

Raven shrugged. "We kissed under the mistletoe," she replied. "It was either that or get get bad luck for who knows how long."

"Fair enough." Ben chuckled as they climbed off the floor and stood up. "Just don't go stealing my girl, Cerise." he joked; Cerise grinned sheepishly and rubbed her arm uncomfortably, attempting to hide the intense blush well hidden beneath her hood.

"Wh-Where were you anyways?" Cerise asked as she fought to suppress the crimson tinge to her face as much as possible, tugging on her hood in an effort to cover herself.

Ben flickered his eyes across the ballroom, making sure no one making an effort to listen in an effort to cause mass panic; Briar Beauty was still asleep by the hearth, now accompanied by a dozing Kitty and Maddie as the Hatter was chipping away at a block of ice with a pick and quiet chainsaw at her feet that had appeared under mysterious circumstances that Ben was pretty sure he didn't want to know. The Crumb Cousins were once again at it, marching a full scale invasion on the buffet table and leaving Ginger to scramble to try and cover all the positions until several tendrils of holly vines curled and slithered around the the Son and Daughter of Hansel and Gretel's ankles and suspended them above the air under Venus' command until they surrendered the treats they had managed to capture. Dexter and Cupid were watching the whole scene with hints of amusement on their faces as the former brought mugs of eggnog over and promptly tripped over the form of a fleeing, purple cat from Blondie as the reporter tried to get an interview from Jane, consequently dousing Cupid in the scalding liquid and making her yelp with slight pain as Dexter apologized professedly and tried to find something to help her clean up. Melody was jamming away at her turntables, oblivious to how Sparrow was constantly trying to make attempts to get up on stage and steal the show, only to be thwarted by Duchess, Lizzie, and a severely sound-sensitive Clawdeen at every turn while Hunter and Ashlynn shared a dance underneath the grand Christmas tree.

"Lets just say that the Shadow of Saint Nicholas paid a visit," Ben whispered to Cerise, her sensitive ears picking up every word over the loud thrum of the holiday music. "But you can't tell anyone!" he hissed when he caught sight of the expression on her face.

"It'll cause mass panic, and that's something we definitely don't want." Raven added with a pleading expression; under the combined looks of her boyfriend and unrequited crush, Cerise quickly agreed and a move to turn around and head for the buffet table to try and grab some of the leftover mutton, only to be tackled to the floor by a fearful Jane that managed to worm herself inside of Cerise's hood, her feline tail making her sneeze briefly as she climbed to her feet and yanked her hood tighter over her face just as Blondie rushed up.

"C'mon, Jane! I just want a few words!" the reporter pleaded while she panted to catch her breath. "Ancestors above, she just might be faster than you, Cerise."

The Riding Hood raised an eyebrow as the lilac cat poked her head out of her hood and hissed angrily at Blondie before cuddling up to Cerise's cheek, purring contently when she reluctantly scratched her behind the ears. "I doubt that," she scoffed lightly, a small smile crossing her lips.

"Blondie, can't you take a break?" Ben sighed. "It's Christmas, a time to take a break from work and spend time with friends and family, and Jane clearly does not want to talk. She's incredibly camera shy."

"But-"

Raven stepped in. "Blondie, hand over your Mirrorphone, notepad, and pencil. Now." she said in a demanding voice that made it clear that she would not have the patience for such shenanigans at the moment; the reporter gulped, fearful that she might get turned into a fruitcake, and quickly handed over the aforementioned items, relaxing a little more when Raven promised to return them once the party was over (Ben also had to throw in the promise of another interview, but that was beside the point).

"Well that was close." Ben sighed with relief as Blondie walked off towards the buffet table to see if they had any gingerbread flavored porridge available; once she was sure she was gone, Jane climbed out of Cerise's hood and jumped down to the floor, resuming her original form in a whirl of purple fur and whiskers.

"Thank you." Jane rubbed her arm uncomfortably. "She is awfully persistent, isn't she?"

"That doesn't even define what Blondie," Raven smirked before her eyes caught sight of movement beneath Jane's feet. "And I don't think she's the only one." she added as the holly vines snaked and slithered themselves up around Jane's legs and waist, steadily making their way higher and higher as a fierce blush crossed Jane's face until Venus hugged her from behind, resting her chin on her shoulder.

"Miss me?" she smiled.

Jane faltered for a second. "Uh . . . yes?"

"Good answer." Venus chuckled, pecking her on the cheek before one of the holly vines lashed out and wrapped around Ben's wrist, hauling him towards the pair where he was immediately pulled into the warm embrace with Jane in the very middle. "Mmm. My two favorite people." the plant monster purred happily.

"Ghoul, get yourself under control." Clawdeen scolded her as she, Skelita, Kitty, and Maddie wearing a pair of goggles and covered in a thin layer of ice flakes walked up to them; Ben raised an eyebrow at the Hatter as she pulled the goggles off and shook herself free of the ice, following where she pointed with a maddening smile and felt his eyes widen when he saw a very intricate and details ice sculpture of herself and Ben doing some . . . rather inappropriate things that were quickly drawing attention.

"Uh, Maddie? Why did you make an ice sculpture of us doing . . . that?" Ben wondered, a fierce shade of red crossing his face.

Maddie shrugged. "I don't know! Why do I do anything!?" she laughed with a pair of crossed eyes; Skurd thankfully, mercifully, took pity on Ben for once and oozed and melted himself over his host's free, right arm, tapping into a DNA sample of the Omnitrix as Ben's skin bubbled and smoldered with a loud hissing noise as his skin cracked and divided itself into bumpy, rock encrusted islands only separated by moats and barriers between them that quickly filled with molten lava. With an appreciative grin on his face, Ben cocked his new Pyronite arm like a gun and fired off a jet of flame from his index finger right at the statue, melting it with a loud hissing noise and cloud of steam.

"Maddie, if you must do some carving, try doing something that won't likely get you and Ben expelled." Raven suggested with a tentative hand on the Hatter's shoulder as she pouted.

The Daughter of the Mad Hatter relented with a sigh. "Alright, alright. I just thought considering Ben and his ghouls-" she said before Clawdeen clapped a hand over her mouth, muffling everything else she might have said; the werewolf only released her hold once she was sure that Maddie was done babbling and was going to carve something that wasn't so private.

"How she did she even know?" Clawdeen hissed to Ben as Maddie merrily skipped back over to the fireplace, taking up the chainsaw and pulling the ripcord with a bright smile; it was noted that several participants of the dance backed away from the hearth once they caught sight of the Hatter.

"My guess? The Narrators." Ben shrugged, a small chuckle escaping him when he caught the look of disbelief on Clawdeen's face. "Now that that's out of the way, something just occurred to me: where the Sphinx is Apple?" he wondered with concern. "It's been a while since the party started and I haven't seen her anywhere."

Raven rubbed her chin in thought. "Now that you mention it . . . I haven't seen Apple either."

"Is it wrong that I'm kinda glad she's not here?" Clawdeen asked, quickly backing down when everyone from Ben to Skelita and even Jane threw her hostile glares. "I was joking." she quickly corrected herself, fighting back the submissive whimper and backward movement of her ears that she was instinctively compelled to do, much like Clawd and his obsession with chasing cars and Howleen's guilty pleasure of chewing on a squeaky toy whenever she was anxious.

Ben tapped his chin, mulling over plans and ideas in his head. "Okay, so if I were Apple, where would I be and what would I be doing?" he wondered.

It was at that moment that the doors to the ballroom banged open and Raven, Ben, and everyone else standing the way was immediately knocked over and tackled to the ground by Apple as she came barreling through, hugging every last one of them tightly and babbling incomprehensible things about Cerise being Raven's pet and Ben trying to eat her and Maddie getting crushed beneath her father's tea shop before she caught sight of the Hatter cackling merrily as she hacked away at a new block of ice with her chainsaw.

"Apple! Slow down!" Ben said, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking the princess to calm her.

The Daughter of the Snow White was visibly shaking as she grabbed Ben's wrist and quickly hugged him tightly, as if she needed some confirmation that he was real and that she wasn't still stuck in some maddening dream that never seemed to end. "Are y-you . . . you?" she asked.

"Who else would I be?" Ben asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"It is you!" Apple cried with relief, hugging Ben once more.

Raven and pretty much everyone else was completely confused. "Apple, what the hex are you talking about?" she asked.

Apple's bright and relieved smile slowly dissipated away at the question, her usually bubbly and perky demeanor now uncomfortable and guilty looking, something that Raven quickly caught onto and folded her arms over her chest, throwing Apple one of them many looks that she had mastered into getting the princess to spill the beans on whatever trouble she had somehow managed to create or get into. "W-Well . . ." Apple tapped her fingers together nervously. "When we were finding a tree, I kinda . . . found something . . . o-or someone?"

Venus was definitely curious. "Who?" she wondered before she felt a tapping on her shoulder and looked over to see nobody standing there; a second tap on her other shoulder caught her attention and she turned to once again see no one standing there. A third tap came from her head and she snapped her focus upwards, now visibly irritated until she saw who was responsible floating in the air above with a cheeky smile on her face.

Whisp waved. "That would be me."

"Whisp!" Ben and the ghouls cried happily as Venus snapped a holly vine up and around the genie's waist, pulling her down into the middle of a tight embrace between them all while Raven, Cerise, and Kitty looked just confused; Apple was looking more ashamed than anything else.

"How did you get here!?" Ben grinned like idiot after Whisp roughly kissed him on the lips, immediately latching onto him with an iron grip that would most likely not be pried off any time soon or ever.

Whisp shrugged. "It's a long story, babe." she smiled. "But lets just say that the laws of this place . . . wherever it is . . . shoved me back in a lamp again; not a fun time, if you can imagine. Eventually, your little princess friend- excuse me, girlfriend." Whisp corrected herself. "Don't worry, I approve. Anyway, she found me and we went through the whole genie business; Finder finds lamp, Finder rubs lamp and summons genie, Finder makes a stupid first wish, Finder uses second wish to fix it, Finder uses third wish to forget ever meeting me." she shrugged casually.

Ben blinked. "Uh, what did Apple wish for?" he asked, flickering over to the princess and taking note of an incredibly guilty look upon her face that was already drawing suspicious glares from Raven Cerise, and Clawdeen and a less irritated one from Venus.

Apple gulped nervously. "I . . . I-I, uh . . . wished that . . . Ben only loved me?" she winced, yelping with fear as both Cerise and Clawdeen immediately threw themselves at her, only held back by Ben's quick reflexes and Venus' even faster vines that wrapped themselves tightly around their wrists and shoulders to hold them back as the princess cowered and whimpered under their harsh glares.

"What!?" Ben exclaimed with a much calmer look than the one the two wolf girls were wearing, though he was no less angered; it was mostly just confusion and hurt though rather than pure rage, knowing full well from experience and Raven's many, many, many tips on how to rein in the Daughter of Snow White that she was somewhat of a difficult case to control and deal with at times, especially when she got the wrong idea about something.

"I . . . I panicked, okay!?" Apple cried desperately, yelping with fear as Clawdeen managed to edge forward and snap her fanged-filled flames just a mere four inches away form her face before Venus was able to pull her back; Kitty was enjoying the entire experience with a wide, cunning smirk upon her face that remained a shimmering white like new fallen snow as she disappeared in a glimmering light and reappeared by Maddie's side, nodding with approval upon catching sight at what the Hatter was carving. "I thought that with so many of your ghouls popping back up all over the place that you wouldn't like me anymore, that you would just see me as ordinary!"

"There'll be nothing ordinary about you when I'm done with you!" Clawdeen snarled.

Jane gulped. "She's really taking this the wrong way, isn't she?"

"That's an understatement." Venus grumbled, pulling back on the vines a little more.

Whisp however, didn't seem the slightest bit fazed. "Oh, don't worry. I took care of everything!" she smiled. "We genie's are tricksters by nature," she added with a seductive grin to Ben that made him raise an eyebrow of slight confusion while he kept a firm hold on the back of Cerise's shoulder. "Sent her to a fake, dystopian future and boom! Problem solved and lesson learned!" she snapped her fingers.

"Lesson thoroughly learned." Apple trembled.

Ben sighed and released his hold on Cerise and Clawdeen, not even acknowledging the fact that the two wolf born girls managed to restrain themselves from mauling and maiming Apple on the spot while the holly vines slowly slithered off of them, ready to snap back into place and hold them back should they so much as lung at the princess; instead, they walked off, mumbling incoherently under their breath as they stole a combined half of whatever remained of the smoked mutton on the buffet table.

Raven pinched her brow with exasperation. "Apple, where do I even begin?" she wondered to herself.

"I'm sorry, I'm really am!" Apple apologized, holding her face in her hands out of shame. "I don't know how to say it any better!" she sniffed miserably.

Ben shook his head and sighed. "Look, Apple, I'm not mad . . . just really disappointed." he told her. "You still mean a lot to me, and I can't toss you aside like yesterday's trash, but if you're going to be a part of this harem, you're gonna have to get use to it and earn the trust of the ghouls back, one way or another." he told her in a tone of voice Apple had never heard him use before, but from the shifting glances upon Venus, Jane, and Skelita's face, it was not something to be taken lightly; Whisp's happy, go lucky expression turned slightly sorrow as she allowed Ben to retreat and think as the of the ghouls slowly trickled off to either go and try and offer a word of comfort to Ben or partake in the dance's many activities until it was only Raven, Apple, and Whisp left.

Raven sighed again and rested a hand on the princess's shoulder as she slumped back against the wall and slowly slid down to the floor, a completely miserable look on her face as she covered her eyes. "Apple . . . I've told you this numerous times, Ben's told you this numerous times, everyone's told you this numerous times . . . Ben comes from a different world, full of strange and unusual beings and monsters that are as commonplace as knights in shining armor and beautiful maidens. From the stories I've heard, they've been through a lot together . . . Ben fought in a war, for ancestors sake. Even with genie magic, you aren't going to break them anytime soon. You need to accept that." was the witchling's final word before she gave Apple one last, small smile and stood up to walk back into the party in search of Ben, hoping that he wasn't sulking somewhere or being swarmed.

Apple sniffed and rested her on head on her knees, hugging herself tightly while he blonde curls tumbled and spilled over her shaking shoulders; she felt all alone now, as if she had been cast out from the group she had slowly begun to adjust to with its constant additions and craziness. The princess felt like she was trying to unsuccessfully swallow a large rock, her throat dry, and her fingers shaky as she fought back tears of worry and concern, wondering just what was to become of her until she felt a comforting arm slowly snake its away around her shoulders and hug her close, a pair of delicate yet firm fingers softly running through her hair and ever so slowly calming her.

With a deep intake of breath, Apple wiped her eyes and rolled her head up to see Whisp sitting next to her, her ghostly, wispy tail now traded in for a pair of legs clothed in a set of baggy, silk pants and pair of curled slippers. "Everyone hates me . . ." Apple croaked miserably.

Whisp shook her head, making her segmented ponytail bob and slither back and forth through the air like a serpent. "Not everyone," she said. "When I said, 'you ain't never had a friend like me', I meant every word of it."

"Really?" Apple felt a smile grace her lips.

The genie nodded. "Granted, you fucked up big time, and that's just gracing the surface," Whisp shrugged, oblivious to the red tinge that crossed Apple's face at the mention of such a volatile that would have gotten any average student at Ever After High sent to clean the dragon stables for a month and a half, three if it was a maiden. "You made mistakes, gigantic mistakes, To'kustar-sized mistakes, and in order for you to make up for that, you need to realize that while Ben may love his ghouls, he also loves you. He'll always care for you and try to spend time with you whenever possible, but in his line of work there's always interruptions."

"So it would seem." Apple nodded.

Whisp grinned and embraced Apple once more, rubbing a soothing hand up and down Apple's back before they parted and she climbed to her feet. "Well, I'm going to go drink myself silly with eggnog and some of that Hatter's Wonderland tea and try to catch up with Ben, if you don't mind. You're more than welcome to join me." she offered.

Apple once more felt a crimson tinge cross her face as she shook her head. "N-No, thanks."

Whisp shrugged. "Eh, your loss. Just a suggestion though, you might want to steer clear of wherever Ben's crashing these days; something tells me you aren't going to be welcomed."

"Noted." Apple sighed with hint of exasperation. "But expected."

"There we go, you're finally usin' that head of yours!" Whisp laughed as she rapped a knuckle on Apple's skull; the princess rolled her eyes and comfy on the floor, deciding that she would join in on the festivities at a later time once she knew the repeated pattern of where Cerise and Clawdeen patrolled, taking note that they each crossed paths with Ben at least twice.

"Remember, kid, you ain't never had a friend like me." Whisp smirked, bending down to softly peck Apple on the cheek, a gesture that drew a sharp touch of crimson to the princess's face, before swiftly departing in a flash of blackened smoke and reappearing by Maddie's side to admire her ice sculpture and offer some suggestions on what to add and what to cut (mostly what to cut. The Hatter still didn't seem to grasp the concept of what was appropriate and what would get her and her boyfriend hassled into the headmaster's office faster than Jack B. Nimble leaping over a candlestick with the seat of his pants on fire) before snapping her fingers once more and vanishing in a second puff of ash-colored smoke to reappear by Ben's side.

"You okay?" Whisp asked as she snapped her fingers a second time and summoned a pair of mugs filled with warm, hot chocolate covered in fluffy, whip cream.

Ben took the mug graciously and took a sip, licking off the whip cream around his lips before Whisp quickly snapped up the small dollop on his nose with a cheeky smile. "I guess," Ben shrugged with a hint of a snicker in his voice. "I just wish Apple would understand what I went through with you ghouls . . . and why I can't imagine a day without you."

Whisp rolled her eyes and playfully shoved Ben in the shoulder. "Please, it's cliché enough in here as it is." she laughed before she downed her entire mug of hot chocolate, whip cream and all, in one gulp before slamming the mug down on the buffet table and shattering it with a wild grin; Melody Piper cranked the volume up on her turntables and put on another record before plugging in her Mirrorphone and selecting one of the latest hit songs.

"Alright, men and maidens, here's the latest hit by Faun Mendes!" Melody announced. "Find your significant other, and head to the dance floor!" she grinned as the song began to play nice and quiet for the moment, nothing more than a simple guitar playing by itself as couples started to push the still single fairy tales out of the way.

Whisp turned to Ben, offering her hand. "Care to dance? It might help you take your mind off things."

"It's worth a shot." Ben shrugged, taking a long sip of his hot chocolate and setting it down on the table before taking the genie's hand and following her out onto the dance floor as the lyrics started to play.

"I thought that I've been hurt before,"

"But no one's ever left me quite so sore."

"Your words cut deeper than a knife!"

"Now I need someone to breath me back to life." the warm, male voice sang as the clapping of hands and drums accompanied him into the pre-chorus of the song that felt absolutely foreign to Ben yet so familiar as well; Whisp took his hand spun herself around into his embrace with a broad grin on his face, unaware of the shocked and inspired look upon Maddie's face before she pulled off her Santa hat and pulled out a lit match and blew on it, igniting the flame greatly and melting her second ice sculpture before it could be criticized for its contents.

"Got a feeling that I'm going under,"

"But I know that I'll make it out alive."

"If I quite calling you my lover,"

"Move on!" the voice crooned moments before the drums kicked it up and washed over the crowd like a tidal wave of music into the chorus; Whisp went back on her spin, pulling back out from Ben and taking the lead as she moved to the beat, clicking her feet against the floor and gently kicking Ben's feet to the rhythm while dancing in and out in a strange, addictive movement that Ben felt himself catching onto and copying.

"You watch me bleed until I can't breath,"

"Shaking, falling onto my knees!"

"And now that without your kisses,"

"I'll be needing stitches!"

"Tripping over myself, aching begging you to come help,"

"And now that I'm without your kisses, I'll be needing stitches!" the music died down to the lonesome guitar once more, drawing Whisp back into Ben's warm and comforting embrace as she rested her head in the crook of his and grasped his hand tightly, finally glad to be back where she belonged.

"Just like a moth drawn to the flame,"

"Oh, you lured me in, I couldn't sense the pain."

"Your bitter heart cold to the touch,"

"Now I'm gonna reap what I sow."

"I'm left seeing red on my own." Whisp once again took the lead, as if she were mentally instructing Ben on how to follow her lead, a smirk crossing her lips when she caught sight of Hunter and Ashlynn attempting to copy their movements and doing a somewhat decent job until Hunter slipped on a puddle of spilled eggnog and landed flat on his face; the genie rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers once in time to the beat, engulfing the huntsman and princess in a puff of black smoke, yelps of surprise and amazement coming from them when they found out at their shoes were moving on their own accord and moving his legs in time to the rhythm and beat, copying Whisp's movements with ease.

"Got a feeling that I'm going under,"

"But I know that I'll make it out alive."

"If I quite calling you my lover,"

"Move on!" the pre-chorus ended before swiftly moving into the chorus without faltering, Whisp's grin broadening widely as Ben grabbed her by the hips and lifted her off of the ground with a joyous smile upon his face as he swung her around before setting her back down on the ground just in time to kick shoes once more; Whisp took his hand in hers once more and captured his lips in hers for the briefest of moments, savoring the taste of his lips after such a long absence and making a mental note to steal some more while she broke away from him to allow him to breath once more.

"You watch me bleed until I can't breath,"

"Shaking, falling onto my knees!"

"And now that without your kisses,"

"I'll be needing stitches!"

"Tripping over myself, aching begging you to come help,"

"And now that I'm without your kisses, I'll be needing stitches!"

"Needle and the thread, gotta get you out of my head."

"Needle and the thread, gonna wind up dead!" Apple watched Ben and Whisp start to slow down with the dying music, their faces but an inch apart as they hugged each other tightly, as if both of them were trying to full grasp what had happened and transpired over the last couple of hours and trying to find some sort of stabilization to keep them from joining Maddie in madness; the Hatter herself had finally finished an approved, appropriate statue of Whisp and Ben frozen in midstep, forever locked in a loving dance of frost and ice as she wiped her brow and slumped to the floor, taking out a teacup and pot from the depths of her Santa hat and pouring herself a cup to relax.

"I'm without your kisses,"

"I'll be needing stitches!"

The princess sighed longingly and rested her chin on her hand, drumming her fingers on her knee in thought; her gaze faltered and she caught sight of Cedar sitting glumly off to the side, nursing a plate of barely touched Christmas cookies as she watched Ben and Whisp dance across the floor with a wistful expression that Apple knew all too well. Perhaps if she did something a little more nice than she usually did and . . . would it work? A casual glance out the window made her eyes widen when she caught sight of the silhouettes of eight powerful reindeer pulling a grand sleigh and jolly, laughing man across the night sky and glowing moon allowed the ghost of a smile to grace her lips; after all, I reindeer could fly, then her chances with Ben weren't totally sunk just yet.

"Merry Christmas." she whispered to herself.

"I think I may be forever scarred for life."

Trust me when I say that her method of feeding that creature nearly threw me for a loop, too. I guess you get used to it after a while? I dunno. It hasn't bugged me in a while.

"You'd think she'd at least do it in another room . . ."

Dude, there's only one room in this entire dorm, save for the closet and the tiny bathroom we all now have to share. Hope you can deal with cold water every now and again. At least NecrorexSparda Juubi-No-Kishin hasn't moved in a while . . . I think he might be dead. Ah, well, at least that's extra kibble for Mr. Nibbles. Ironic, now that I think about it; he was actually the one that gave us the horrific monstrosity in the first place.

Stop calling Mr. Nibble's names or no more kisses for you!

Stop feeding him like that and I might consider it! Seriously, aren't you ever worried that thing is going to eat you instead?

Nope!

Hatters. What can you do? *A flash of bright light explodes in the middle of the living room, blinding everyone and making Mr. Nibbles squeal and run for cover as the light finally dies down to reveal Deadpool looking worse for wear; deep scratches and gouges mark his uniform, one of his swords is missing with the other one bitten or broken in half, and his right arm is bent at an unnatural angle. Lying limp in his free hand is a mint green and black Omnitrix lying deactivated and waiting*

'I hope you know what I had to go through to get this. Bad Ben wasn't willing to part with it so easily.' *Tosses Omnitrix at my head and collapses to the floor, asleep*

Alright, Zachery, you wanna be useful? And helpful? And repay me for the damage to my ceiling? Put this on.

"Uh, okay?" *reluctantly reaches for the Omnitrix and yelps with fright as it suddenly comes to life and leaps at him, tightly wrapping around his left wrist and humming softly, blinking and beeping a bright, mint green in color before settling down* "What do I do now?"

Turn into Pesky Dust. I gotta job for you. *watches as Zachary taps the Omnitrix and cycles through the roster before finding the Nemuina icon and pressing down on the activation core, swallowing himself in a blast of mint green light that scrambled and shifted his genetic code. His skin began to crack and harden slightly, scrunching up and pinching in certain places as his pink skin flashed a light violet in color while his bones faded and liquefied into nothingness, fusing together with his soft exoskeleton; his tall, lean frame was compressed and compacted down until he was less than two feet tall. Zachary felt an itching sensation on his backside and turned to look behind him as a pair of delicate, butterfly-like wings slid and oozed of his back, still damp and wet before they became stiff and rigid as they dried out and turned a light magenta and pink in color. His toes cracked and melted together into two, small claws as white gloves appeared over his delicate fingers and bright pink and purple markings arched themselves over his face and arms while his hair turned a dark shade of violet and curled back as a pair of feathery antennae sprouted from his forehead above his eyes. His eyes sharpened and became pointed as a mint green and black dress wrapped around him, completing the transformation as the Omnitrix appeared upon his chest.

"Okay, rrrrrrr what now? Because this is kinda rrrrrrr humiliating."

No it isn't! Bill Cipher's on the rampage and is gonna hurt Soos and-

Look, just take Deadpool's watch and pop in on over to Raven Queen's dimension? Protect her dreams and mind and keep her safe from Bill Cipher at all costs. Report back if something goes wrong . . . if you're able to, that is.

"Why do I get the feeling I fell into the wrong story?"

Welcome to my world, kid. *watches as the Nemuina flutters down to Deadpool and strips the dimensional jumper from his wrist, wrapping it around his waist and slamming a hand down on the activation buttons before disappearing in a flash of blinding light* Well, that takes care of that particular problem. I hope.

Knowing the One-Eyed Nacho Chip, we'll never know.

Agreed. Now then, as always, comment, review, suggest, and request down below!

Hasta Luego!