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!

26. Way too Wonderland Pt 3

*Thunder rumbles and clouds ominously roll across the sky, blotting out the sun as lightning flashes in the distance. A fierce gale picks up and a torrent of violent weather lashes out at the earth below as a might voice makes the very mountains tremble with its fury* WHO DARES TO HAVE THE AUDACITY TO DOUBT MY LOYALTY TO YOU ALL!?

Creaty, silly, stop mocking big, ol' Zeus-y! We've got fans and readers to address!

What, I can't be the pseudo god of theater? *receives stern glare* Alright, alright, enough clowning around and down to an important matter. I have recently – as in several weeks ago – received a review that made the accusation that I would never be coming back . . . please understand that I am not angry, I am not vengeful, I am not going to get Zeus to hurl lightning bolts at your house or anything. I am not going to attempt to shame this person and I implore you to do the same because, truth be told, they have a right to make the assumption. Given the length of time between each chapter, I can understand that some of you would come to the belief that I was abandoning you all with the mother of all cliff hangers.

But please also understand that I am extremely dedicated to this site and this story – and my others – as a whole and have no plans ever to stop writing or updating or entertaining you all with my works of fiction. Believe me, I've read amazing stories that were permanently put on hiatus and never finished, and I don't ever want that to happen to you all. In the event that I would be quitting writing – which I will NEVER do if I can help it – I would alert you all to it and proceed to give you all the basic premise of what would have happened in the future chapters that were never written, thus allowing for someone to attempt to pick up the torch where I left off and finish what I had started.

But let me make this clear: I am never leaving Fanfiction for as long as I live!

I thought you were an undead Tetramand?

It's a figure of speech, babe.

Yay! We're back! This calls for a tea party!

. . .

Say, Creaty?

I told you not to call me that. What is it anyway?

Does it seem quieter around here to you?

Now that you mention it, it does feel like something is missing . . . can't quite place my finger on it though. By the way, make mine a ginger tea with two lumps-

Yay!

-of sugar. Two lumps of sugar, babe.

Aww . . .

Well, with nothing else to suddenly ruin the moment, its onto the reviews I guess! Wait a moment, I forgot about the Omniversal Laws of Karma . . . damn those rules . . . AAAAAAGH! Maddie, why does this stupid monstrosity you insist on treating like a child instead of the voracious beast it is continue attacking my face!? I haven't done anything to it, I swear!

Because you refuse to show Mr. Nibbles any respect!

I might show him something that resembles respect if he stopped attacking my face at every random moment! GAH! Onto the reviews! Again!

Karlos1234ify – Yes, Hunter and Sparrow are going to be feeling that for a while and something tells me that the former of the two if going to have some explaining to do to a certain Daughter of Cinderella. As for Dexter and Cupid . . . well, lets just say you shouldn't expect things to go normally. Especially with how things normally go around Ever After High even without Ben and his ghouls running amok.

ajjr12 – Due to plot development and possible time restraints (IRL, curse you IRL), Epic Winter will not be involved as you know it. There be a version of it buried in here somewhere but, like the masterful Sigmu does with the Ever After High specials, it'll be something different yet relating to the pot. It's hard to explain, but long story short just don't expect to see Epic Winter as you know it.

Menatron the Angel of Ideas – Yeah, I meant to put that plug of yours in the last chapter, but I literally posted it mere minutes before I left to get my wisdom teeth pulled out so it kind of slipped my mind at the last second. I do plan to go with your alternative plan (way to keep things incognito, mi amigo. Well played), since Briar is someone I want to add to the harem and there are other pairings in the EAH gang that need some attention (as much as we might like it, Ben and his harem can't hog the spotlight all the time). As for your questions, Bianca Chessman is an OC submitted by a reader that I thought had enough potential to work with without border lining on hogging all the attention away from the main story line; she is the Daughter of the White Queen and is in no way, shape, or form related to Apple, Snow White, or their extesive family line.

Wolvenstrom – In that case, I'll be sure to make it quite enjoyable . . .

Creaty, why are you smiling like that?

Smiling like what?

Smiling like you just got a mean idea that you really, really, really want to do, like the time you put out Hade's hair with water from the Phlegethon.

Am I smiling? What the Hades is wrong with me!?

Don't worry, I can fix it!

No, no, put that mallet away! Mallets don't solve every-

WHAM!

There we go! Now you have a happy smile!

Thanks . . . are we missing someone . . ?

You know, I can't remember . . .

Neither can I . . . eleventeen-billion-five . . . singing salamanders . . .

Oh, Creaty! You're so flirtacious!

StrongGuy159 – I shall, mi amigo!

Isom – To be honest, I'd rather attend Wonderland High than the school I use to attend when I was human in a previous life (that's reincarnation for ya). At least there, all the madness that transpires would make sense; but I digress. Glad you like the redesign for Savara, and the reason I went with the roley-poley version of Seducire was because there are already so many strong, swift, and lean predators in the Nemetrix and yet we don't have any predators that have their prey come to them instead of running it down.

As for Deadpool . . . we actually don't know where he is. But when we find him, we'll let him know about your little . . . favor . . .

Creaty, you're doing it again.

Am I? What am I doing?

You're smiling all nasty-like, like Mr. Nibbles before he starts chewing on the furniture.

For the love of Galvan Prime! Won't someone make this nightmare end!?

Gotcha covered!

No, no, no! Not again!

WHAM!

Wha . . . What were we just talkin' 'bout?

Hmm . . . nope! Doesn't ring any bells!

Then can someone answer the phone already . . ?

Nope! We have a death battle to discuss!

Fine by me . . . whatz a death battle . . ?

ThatChronicKid – Can't make any promises, but maybe Jane will show some mercy . . . maybe . . .

mechazard01 – My Ben will not receive any of the forms Rogue Ben has received during his time in Troubles of a Misplaced Hero, so no Crosswing or Dinostrike. As for your previous questions, yes, each Omnitrix harbors the genetic code of a single alien's DNA and each Omnitrix changes every time Ben transforms.

starravenwolf – Funny you should mention Zac. I actually play a considerable amount of League of Legends, though I mostly main Nautilus and Ekko. I've been studying Zac for some time as he's a champion I think I might want to try out some time once I have enough IP; but I digress. While the actual character won't appear after a frisky night between Ben and Gooliope, there's a chance that a similar child might be born. No guarantees!

As for marriage counselors . . . I haven't the foggiest idea.

Guest – In due time, mi amigo. Valkyrie will appear in due time. All in due time . . .

Why do you keep repeating yourself?

I have no idea . . .

warprince2000 – As much as I'd like Lagoona and Ben to be together (and make little sea guppies together XD), I don't tamper with canon couples no matter how appealing it might be. Gil and Lagoona are a good couple, as are Draculaura and Clawd and Cleo and Deuce; plus, it's kind of a little late for that. There is however, a massive chance the two get together in my one-shot series (as their first chapter together already states).

Marshman101 – Believe me, when you've been around the block as many times as I have and reside in a surprisingly well furbished and comfortable cell in the Wonderland with the King and Queen of Insanity as your roommates (that's the ever lovely Maddie and ol' whats-his-face if you forgot like I have . . . I think), nothing seems weird to you. In other words, I welcome your oddly sexual and steamy comments to my corner of Fanfiction where insanity rules supreme (apparently).

Matthew gemm – Believe me, I love Huntlynn as much as everyone else (they're the one canon couple that even mad homosexual shippers can't and won't break apart because their relationship is absolutely perfect and hits all the righ points without being overly disgusting), so as much of a buffoon Hunter might be at times, I am never splitting him apart from Ashlynn (except in the inevitable one-shot and lemon series where he'll have never had an interest in her to begin with. I'm not that cruel to break 'em up).

Mephistopheles – Welcome new comer, to my corner of Fanfiction where insanity reins supreme (apparently). And let me just say that I means a lot all of what you said and I surprisingly admire that dedication to reading a good story (I have been guilty of doing the same thing and keeping Maddie up all night with my reading when I should be sleeping or doing other . . . things). Now while I am trying to even things out between which aliens appear at which times (meaning Blitzwolfer and Diamondhead won't be appearing as often as some might like to), I can guarantee that our favorite Loboan will appear this chapter, so sit tight! And no, the Evil Queen, Snow White, or any adult/MILF will be joining Ben's harem; if you want to see that kind of thing, wait until the one-shot/lemon series that will inevitably arise from this.

Like cookie dough!

What . . ?

Well, you said 'arise' and cookie dough rises when in the oven and so it will arise like cookie dough, which I absolutely love and goes just wonderlandifully with tea and crumpets, too!

Your logic is weird.

And yet you love me anyway. Ain't madness grand?

Whatever you say, babe.

Darkness Rissing – Unfortunately for Apple, I don't think she can hear you, which works out great for me. *grins evilly* I've always wanted to be this powerful . . .

You're doing it again, Creaty!

Stop calling me by that name!

Only when you stop responding to it!

I . . . you, I . . . uh . . . fair point. Touche. Anyway, I do actually have an explanation for why everyone is so scared of Courtly, as well as why jokers and jesters are so looked down upon (and no, it has nothing to do with the possibility that they don't take anything seriously). And yes, the Security Cards (guess it's my turn to add a coin to the bad pun jar) are quite formidable when they need to be, though they tend to rely on strength in numbers than actual physical strength, so if you get enough of them all piled on a single person, then they're quite effective.

Now that's what I call stacking the deck!

Maddie?

Yes?

Put a coin in the bad pun jar.

Aw, phooey!

While I can't make any guarantees, lets just say that Nefera's arrival to Ever After is going to be a big hit with the guys. Both Ben and Whisp are going to have to make it very clear that their Jewel of the Nile is off limits and that anyone who so much as tries to even flirt with her will either end up tied in a knot or being turned into a camel . . . or whatever Whisp is feeling like that specific day. Maybe a cockroach . . .

DracoAngelus17 – I know! I'm such a horrible yet oddly amazing person! I don't know how I manage to do it, leaving all you guys waiting for eons before finally shining light on your meaningless existence only to disappear again (okay, that's maybe laying it on a little thick, but you get the picture)! And believe me, in the words of one one Candance Gertrude Flynn, Courtly's "going down! D-O-W-N! DOWN!"

Someone really needs to publish a book on the Omniversal Laws of Karma. According to Omniversal Law of Karma #234,454,875,991,337,223.02: Section 67, Sub-section 198787, Article 23, Sub Article 23, Chapter 3765488, Paragraph 62-A, Line 69-V, the moment anyone utters the fatal words "things could not get worse", "how could things possibly get worse", or tempts fate by proclaiming how triumphant and victorious they are, the Great Goddess of Karma will descend down upon them and screw them over . . . evidently she's really emphasizing on the screwing bit.

Hmmm . . . are you thinking what I'm thinking?

That or loyal and beloved reader will soon be a father as well as devoured?

Well, yes, but I was also thinking that some blueberry muffins would go great with this tea!

You're one of those half-glass full ghouls, aren't you?

Yeppers!

Malchior the Bad – I've said it once and I'll say it again, I am not bringing Skidmark into this story, the main reason being that he is part of the Transformer's franchise and I have no intention of bringing in any more series to this already complicated story; it's bad enough I have Ben 10, Monster High (both of which are getting reboots), Ever After High, and even a little Generator Rex as well, so Skidmark and consequently Transformer's will not be introduced to this story in any way, shape, or form. I am aware that Roadhog is not a Transformer, but he's honestly the closest fan-made Omnitrix alien to a Transformer that isn't a Transformer.

As for your suggestion for the Queen of Hearts to love Ben like his ghouls and girls do, that's an also absolute denial, though that doesn't mean she won't take a liking to him.

The Forever King proposing to the Evil Queen . . . hmmm, that certainly has potential, though there's undoubtedly an ulterior motive since he would never marry a woman who has magical roots, considering their dislike of anything that isn't human. Daring will not be turned into a second Beast and I'm not quite sure if I want to pair him up with Rosabella either, so we'll just have to see which way the snowball rolls. And I will most certainly not be bringing back the Evolutionary Function of the Omnitrix because it is super over-powered and should only be used in times of dire need, such as the ending of We Are Monsters. The reason I refuse to bring back the Ultimatrix for a majority of the series is because Ben could literally go Ultimate any time to solve any problem or win any fight and it just wouldn't be interesting otherwise, plus negating the need of the other aliens in the first place as well.

The drawings! I need them! I need them for my eyes! My eyes need the drawings!

Uh, well, you heard her. Why your parents stopped your drawing spree is beyond me, but we'd love to see what you came up with, if you wouldn't mind. Post a link – if possible – before Maddie goes off the even deeper end!

Schoodle! Schoodle! Schoodle! Schoodle! Schoodle!

I'm not sure if I'll write Ben and Lizzie's wedding or not as Wonderland marriage rituals are very complicated and are taken very seriously. As for Ben's dragon, as with most of the dragons in EAH, I model them off of the fire-breathing beauties from How to Train Your Dragon, so if I had to make a guess, I'd go with something similar to either a Monstrous Nightmare or a Whispering Death (no promises though).

While I appreciate the math you did calculating the number of transformations that Ben has (and by extension his ghouls), he actually has approximately 84 aliens at his disposal; this is because Ben no longer has the Ultimate forms and doesn't have Ultimate Water Hazard, Skidmark or his Ultimate transformation or any of Insanedude's aliens either. I have expressed this numerous times: I am not taking any aliens from other franchises because that would count as another crossover which is something I cannot afford at this point in the story. Ben does not and will not possess the Ultimatrix unless bestowed upon him by Professor Paradox – as this would render his non-Ultimate Forms completely obsolete. And I am trying to avoid as many mechanical and robot-like aliens as possible since that is something that doesn't resonate too well with fans of the series; after all, how does a robot – with the exception of the Galvanic Mechamorphs since they are techno-organic lifeforms – have a genetic code for the Omnitrix to scan?

I already have a predetermined list of OC aliens that I will be adding in to the story as it progresses. Each of them have been carefully selected or created to possess a certain power/ability or provide an interesting concept that hasn't been done before and while it is subject to change, this is highly unlikely. Once more, I could consider the possibility of adding in the OC alien Roadhog into this story – with permission from the creator, if they can be found and/or reached – but I am NOT adding in any OC aliens that are from other franchises such as Transformers.

That being said, why don't you set up an account on this site? It would allow you to get alerts when any of my stories – or any other stories you follow – get updated and you could PM all your questions and suggestions and get answers back sooner than three or four months later. Seriously, I wish I could respond to your reviews faster than what I initially can afford, but with you being Guest, well . . . that's kinda next to impossible. Now then, where we're we?

Of course, he's a Tetramand, silly! He's just an undead one!

Ah, yes. And that doesn't mean I'm rotting either! Geez!

TheSonicHeroes – I always do, mi amigo! I always do! And as for Boba and Stormer . . . I have no sympathies for their foolishness. Everyone knows that spying on two sexy girls making love to one another is a death wish, especially when those girls are two fairy tales who are Rebels. Very nasty indeed.

KittyWolf – Until I actually see the special itself, all possibilities for Epic Winter will remain null and void so . . . most likely not.

luciayshadow – I'm pretty sure I actually did give credit to you . . . I must have it lying around here somewhere . . . why in the name of Galvan Prime is there so much unnecessary junk around this literal hellhole?

Hmm? Oh, I'm just cleaning out the closet!

Why is there so much junk in that conveniently small closet?

No clue!

Huh. Well, anyway, I have heard (and seen a few clips) of Epic Winter that does confirm that Daring is in fact the Beast from Rosabella's story (much to my annoyance, but I did make a note of this at the beginning of my story), but since that time line doesn't exist in this one, I might pair Daring up with Ramona like I mentioned last time; it's sort of like Abbey and Heath's relationship, how Abbey keeps Heath and his ego in line while being amused by his antics. The only question I have is how will the Dexter-Cupid-Raven love triangle be resolved because I really want to see Cupid get a happy ending if Dexter and Raven get together (possibly with Blondie if the minds at Mattel think they can go that far without immense backlash. I mean, they put Darling and Apple together for a destiny and Raven's voice actor ships her character and Apple together, so . . . things could get interesting).

Actually, seeing the live-action remake of The Jungle Book (which was awesome by the way) made me want to go back and watch the original version, which struck up my interest in the Vulture Song once more, especially since the robed choir I was apart of back when I was alive sang that song at one point; that, and the idea of a Splixson Barber Shop Quartet had been bouncing around in my head for a while. And truth be told, Zak Saturday was the one to come up with the idea of a love interest for Chase in order to get him off of Darling (at the moment, we don't know if he has a crush on Darling or if he simply admires her skills and given Darling's newfound role and desire to be a hero instead of a princess, she could be a lesbian for all we know and not feel the same way . . . at least in canon). As much as I'd like to (and will) see Darling and Ben together, DarlingxHolly has quickly become a favorite ship of mine due to the works of GalaDanelion (check 'em out! They're good).

Heh-heh-heh-heh, Apple doesn't realize what she's gotten herself into. One can only imagine what her reaction will be when she and Ben make love for the first time (a lot of people, myself included, think that she'll be super submissive and like to be spanked like the naughty girl she is. I think it has something to do with the irony of the situation considering how controlling Apple was with Raven up until Way too Wonderland).

Stretchy-Rat – Applause for the rhyme, which obviously has something to do with Epic Winter.

Ooh, I love riddles! Here's one for you that, if answered correctly, will reveal a secret into the futre of this story! 'On titan's wing the abyss shall fall and flee from the battle feeble and small. Foes unseen and ignored, but not forgotten, shall rise once more and seek what is not their own – my, how rotten. Two armies shall rise and clash one fateful night, one twisted and black and the other pages that took flight. Only one will shall become victor and smother the other – how long before the fall of the Great Earth Mother?'

maverickmoxey2000 – That threat sounds rather promising, especially for ghouls like Whisp, Clawdeen, Jane, and Venus (I practically just listed all the ghouls currently in Ever After, didn't I?) that like to snuggle up close to their man for a good rest.

Yeah, Frozen was a definite good movie, and not just because it diverted away from the standard prince/princess trope (though admittedly, that does work in a few cases such as Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast. Some of the others, like the Little Mermaid not so much, but I try to ignore that and just enjoy the show). My only complaint about the movie in the first place is how long it's stuck around. Basically, I hate Frozen because of how popular it is and how people won't shut up about it after seeing it. And after having to listen to my little cousins sing every Frozen song as off-key as possible (more than half of which are girls, I might add), I absolutely loathe the movie no matter how much I loved it when I first saw it. That being said, I have high hopes for the upcoming movie, Moana, as the leading role is once again a girl with the guy taking a backseat as comedy relief (though not that we don't know their name like the prince from Snow White). Admittedly, there's a potential that the two of them might end up together, but I highly doubt Disney's going to do that after the success of Frozen.

Blondie may be a rather oblivious girl (considering how she seems to have no qualms with intruding on private property), but I doubt she'll overlook Sparrow's massive ego and obnoxious attitude. Really, the only person of the opposite sex I see even capable of tolerating Sparrow for longer than needed is Duchess and that's because she's just as nasty, too.

I think Kitty's been having too much catnip.

Isn't she always like that?

I suppose . . . I guess I should only really be alarmed if Lizzie starts getting a little too . . .

Flirtatious?

Does a Jabberwocky secretly tap dance?

I still don't know what that means.

And neither do I! Hee-hee-hee!

Right . . . anyway, time for a brief history of what I have created for Ever After High. Wonderland as you already know was nothing more than a wild and untamed place of pure and utter madness with no order of any kind, logical or otherwise, and so deadly that it was considered a death sentence to banished there (not unlike the Kumungu Jungle). The few survivors that did manage to escape the blood-thirsty wildlife and insanity of the place were taken in by local, nomadic tribes of various species and races that were constantly at war with one another over resources and territory. It wasn't until the kingdoms of Ever After invaded Wonderland did the tribes unite under the most revered and respected of the clans, the Hearts, and managed to push back and eventually defeat the incoming forces before coming to an uneasy truce; with both worlds influencing one another substantially, Wonderland took on a form of government similar to that of Ever After, with the Hearts family being the reining rulers and the Red and White houses acting as different branches of the government that balanced one another out (sort of like the United States sense of government, though a lot less complicated and more maddening).

Either way, Wonderland High might be infuriating at times but I won't deny that it would be fun to attend.

Ooh, I like that idea!

It is rather . . . amusing, to say the least, to watch someone so courageous and bold suddenly become a submissive, nervous wreck and for once not have it be related to any tragic event or occurrence. If time permits, that might appear in a 'filler' chapter of sorts where some time is needed between arcs or villain battles to smooth things out a tad.

I think that just about covers everything. As always, comment, review, suggest and request down below!

Onward!

I give up.

---

The little bell that jingled and chimed whenever the door opened to signal the arrival of a new customer rang bright and cheery like the little ping that signaled a successful update to the Mirrorlab's extensive computer network and mainframe; to Dexter Charming's ears, it was sweet as a well orchestrated ensemble by the most talented of musicians. He sighed as he sat back in the comfy, padded seat of a booth located in the back corner of the Hocus Latte Cafe. The restaurant itself wasn't particularly anything fancy or expensive and was more casual in nature in that its customers could occasionally drop by in their sleep wear and pajamas – provided it was appropriate for being out in public – and order breakfast. The layout gave the cafe a sense of homeliness and being outdoors at the same time, especially considering that the entire Hocus Latte Cafe had been built around the sturdy and still growing trunk of a magic oak tree; around the heavy trunk sat several comfy arm chairs and multiple television sets were perched in its branches to provide the cafe's patrons with entertainment and a means of hearing new announcements.

"Your Bewitching Witch Brew" a waiter dispensed a covered cup of warm, bubbling coffee in front of the prince. The drawl in her voice that told him that she'd rather be anywhere else.

"Thank you." Dexter nevertheless gave her a smile as he took a deep sniff and sip of his drink. "Mmmm. Ginger, you have outdone yourself yet again."

It was common knowledge that despite her meager upbringings of being raised in a gingerbread house, the Daughter of the Candy Witch had made quite a name for herself with her culinary skills. Her delicious creations were highly sought after by restaurants and cafes throughout Book End – Hocus Latte had bought the recipe for her famous Bewitching Witch Brew frappuccino and she received half of the profits made as a result – and after several successful business deals she had contracted with the help of Humphrey Dumpty acting as her temporary attorney, Ginger had amassed a considerable fortune that she tapped into whenever she was low on some of her more . . . exotic ingredients; most of it was locked up in a savings account that her mother had set up for her in the mean time.

Unfortunately, that didn't stop Sparrow Hood from trying to plunder some of her fortune with an unnecessary amount of pleading and begging, the idea being that he would get Ginger to chuck a couple of bucks at him to make him either go away or stop talking in general. Thus far, it hadn't been working.

Despite the Son of Robin Hood's thievery, Dexter returned his attention to the matter at hand. It was at least five minutes to noon, the designated time that Cupid was supposed to arrive and knowing her, she would be flitting and fluttering all over the place with those beautiful, downy wings of hers . . . and that soft, cotton candy hair . . . that dazzling smile that gleamed like a set of perfect pearls . . .

Dexter blinked uncomfortably. Where had that come from?

He had never looked at Cupid like at all ever since the two of them had collided headfirst into one another on the first day of school of their destiny year and had struck up a close friendship among a shower of scattered papers, lost glasses, and a hundred apologies between the two of them. To him she had always been his best friend forever after, the one factor in his life that he could always count upon to help him in a tight bind where his brother and family had failed to even assist him. To them, he was nothing but a son, a sibling, and an extra whose role in the stage performance of life had yet to be cast, an understudy who was always overlooked and overshadowed by the wonder that was his older brother, Daring. And yet the goddess had dared to see him as something more than an extra or pathetically naive nerd to use for personal gain – for that he would never be able to thank her enough times.

It had only been until recently when his dreams of winning Raven Queen's affections had been brutally destroyed by someone that had come entirely out of left field did he begin to see the young goddess in a new light. It still burned him that he been cheated like this, to be blindsided by someone that no one – not even Ben Tennyson himself – had ever seen coming, but he had learned to accept that it just wasn't meant to be; the aching muscles, throbbing bruises, massive headache, and the unwanted second personality he now shared a body with were clear indications.

Perhaps in some distant dimension he had won Raven's heart and the two had indeed been given a happily ever after all their own. It was a nice thought.

Said nice thought was quickly interrupted when he felt someone sit down in the booth with him with nothing but a soft grunt and a slight bounce of the padded settee to signal that he was not alone. Even so, he was still quite surprised to find Rosabella Beauty sitting across from him as if it were the most normal thing in the world, despite the fact that she seemed to be more preoccupied in panning over the personal clipboard she had piled high with papers and sheets.

"Um . . . Rosabella?" Dexter coughed awkwardly.

The princess held up a finger to signal that she needed but a moment more before she turned those bright, hazel eyes on him with full attention. "Yes?"

The Son of Prince Charming suddenly felt uncomfortable when that bright smile and admittedly beautiful face was looking directly at him as if he were actually there and not through him like so many other girls did. Most girls ignored him in general and thus – unlike his older, more charismatic brother – the young prince had an extraordinarily difficult time talking to them; the only exceptions to that rule were Blondie (his boss), Cupid (his best friend forever after), Darling (his twin sister), and Raven now that the two of them had put their incredibly short relationship behind them. The fact that he barely knew Rosabella in the first place – other than the fact that she was an animal lover and was cast as the one to break his curse – didn't help matters.

Swallowing nervously, he decided to just try and get it over with, fast and quick like a bandage being ripped off. "Uh, er, I've been wondering . . . um, that is, I-I-I don't mean to be rude, but, er . . . uh, wh-what I mean to, um say is . . . why are you here?" he finally managed to weakly spit out.

The air seemed to suddenly get very heavy as all background noise – the clinking of silverware, the clanking of plates laden with food, the rippling conversation of patrons – simply melted away and left the two of them sitting there across from one another in silence, as if waiting to see who would break first. Dexter gulped, hoping he hadn't said anything wrong or offensive while Rosabella starred at him with an owl-like gaze for the longest time, as if she were scrutinizing every last feature of his – everything from the slightly askew angle of his glasses and crown to the faded scuff marks on his face and elbows, as if he had been roughly shoved into the ground – with the most meticulous precision; it felt like she was somehow examining his soul.

The Daughter of the Beauty and the Beast mercifully broke the silence – thus saving Dexter from an unnecessary heart attack – and seemed to return her attention to her current task. She was a surprisingly very busy princess and carried around a clipboard layered with tasks and lists that she made for herself to take care of, the papers littered with last minute notes and reminders scrawled out in various colors among brightly toned post-it notes of last minute changes. All of this – including the petition she was circulating around to ban the use of cage-farmed fairy dust in Science and Sorcery classes – was pushed aside for the time being when Rosabella pulled out a note that she had stashed towards the top of the pile beneath a notice for a clean up of the Brownie Bayou that needed volunteers and placed it on the table in front of him.

"I always read over everything of importance at least three times to make sure there aren't any communication issues between myself and my associates," Rosabella stated calmly as she tapped what Dexter realized to be a letter scrawled out in messy handwriting. "I was told through this letter that you wanted to meet me over lunch . . . was there something I missed?" she asked, just as confused as he was.

Curious and confused at the same time, Dexter gingerly reached and picked up the piece of paper, his eyes panning over the semi-legible words that danced across the sheet.

Dear young mistress Rosabella,

Your presence is requested at the Hocus Latte Cafe at hexactly 12:00 a.m. In the Village of Book End. As you may well know, it has come to my attention that I am to be your future prince in the tale of the Beauty and the Beast and I wish to discuss these matters as soon as conveniently possible. I am well aware of the rather hectic schedule you have laid out for yourself, but I reiterate that this is an urgent matter that can not delay for much longer; we are after all in our Destiny years and if we are to successfully prepare to assume our roles, future planning is required.

I look forward to basking in your esteemed elegance,

Dexter Babbage Charming

Rosabella had to stifle a laugh when she saw Dexter's face take on a rosy hue not unlike that of a ripened apple when his eyes read over the signature. She found it hard to believe that someone could have as ridiculous of a middle name as 'Babbage', but then again, her own middle name, 'Villeneuve', was not something to be very impressed by either.

"I didn't write this."

Rosabella cocked an eyebrow, deciding that the clipboard that demanded her attention could wait for the time being as she set it aside on the table top. "What?"

Dexter sucked in a deep breath, unsure of what to do. "I didn't write this," he repeated. His tone was neither one of anger nor distrust, but one of weariness and confusion. "That isn't my handwriting."

Sliding the letter back towards her, Rosabella peered closer at the words suspiciously. "Are you sure?" she wondered. She wasn't sure what to believe, as she had never seen the prince's handwriting herself – they did share at least one class together, but beyond that she had never closely interacted with him on a personal or even professional level and thus knew very little about him other than who he was related to and what story he belonged to. That was generally all anyone seemed to care about these days and it made her blood boil like molten dragon vomit when haughty royals and nobles would compare their bloodlines with one another and spend hours politely arguing over who was of the purest family tree or who had the fewest blights on their pedigree; it was almost like breeding horses or dogs and it absolutely disgusted her.

Dexter nodded. "I'm sure." he said as he reached across the table and snatched away the Daughter of the Beauty and the Beast's clipboard, taking her pen and finding one of the rare, blank post-it notes at the bottom of the piles before hastily scribbling something out that Rosabella couldn't make out. Normally she didn't let anyone touch her clipboard and mess with her carefully organized system, but she was willing to let the matter slide. Eventually, Dexter finished and presented her with a sample of his handwriting, a sentence that simply read 'My name is Dexter Charming'.

Indeed, when she compared the note with the letter she had been given, she found several differences that even worst of detectives would have been able to point out. The 'D's were too well rounded on the letter, where on the note written by Dexter they looked as if they had been accidentally sat upon by an unwary troll, and the letters themselves were either crooked or ramrod straight instead of being written in the fancy, italicization that was found on the mysterious letter. The main clue however was that whomever had gone to the trouble of writing the letter in the first place had written it with a quill and their right hand, while Dexter wrote with his left and usually used a pencil or pen – no student in their right mind ever wasted their time with a feather quill pen that constantly needed to be dipped in ink every few seconds when there were horribly long essays to write and Crownculus problems to solve before tomorrow.

Even if she wanted to, Rosabella couldn't deny it.

They had been set up.

"We've been played." she muttered sourly, crumbling up the letter with disgust.

Dexter didn't stop her and instead sat back in his seat, contemplating over the sudden turn of events. If the letter Rosabella had received was a fake, did that mean that the one that had been supposedly sent by Cupid was a fake as well? If it was a fraud, it was a very good one at that. He knew the goddess' handwriting very well, as they usually ended up as lab partners in Science and Sorcery and she would take notes while he followed the instructions. The perfume that laced the letter was also something that confused him, as Cupid was the only one who ever used that particular brand, a sweet scent that smelled overwhelmingly like blooming flowers and chocolate and honey all rolled into one at such high consistency that it both nauseating and soothing at the same.

Whoever had written the letter sent to him had to have had access to both Cupid's dorm and a means of copying her handwriting as well if they were able to fool him after he had carefully read the letter so many times. And now that he thought about it, the way the letter was actually written should have rang alarm bells in his head as well; there was no way in the ancestor's name that Cupid would go to that much trouble to write a letter that she could have easily hexted him, and in a far more casual manner as well no matter how much she liked to tease him.

"I fail to see how this could any worse." Dexter sighed.

Rosabella looked at him. "I can't be too sure, but didn't Ben warn us not to say that?"

Dexter pressed his lips in thought. "Maybe . . . I-I mean, Murphy's Law does state that 'if anything can go wrong, it most likely will', regardless of the situation or conditions at hand." he tapped his chin. "Even so, I don't really see how any of the current variables could equate to what most would consider to be a nuisance. After all, something isn't considered to have gone wrong until it starts to bother fairy tales, and even then its only some people that find it to be pestiferous."

No sooner had the well educated prince said those fatal words did the sound of impending doom arrive on the soles of heavy, worn, leather boots that Rosabella certainly didn't approve of and with an electric guitar no less. Before either Rosabella or Dexter could even hope to try and silence him, Sparrow Hood had strung an earth-shattering cord on his guitar the drew many startled yelps and screams from the other patrons of the cafe as much as it did their attentions, much to Dexter's embarrassment and Rosabella's frustration.

It only got worse when the singing started.

As if that wasn't bad enough, it was off-key as well.

"This is the night, it's a beautiful night! And we call it bella notte!" Sparrow crooned atrociously as he strode up to them in what he must have thought was a charismatic manner; to Rosabella it looked like he was in extreme pain and trying to show off as much of his pelvic region as possible. Granted, the future thief's arms and face were pockmarked with scratches and gouges from what must have been wickedly sharp talons and he was doing his best to hide the limp he was carrying in his left leg as he serenaded the princess and prince, but that hardly meant that any of them were impressed by his musical talents.

"Look at the skies, they have stars in their skies on this lovely bella notte!" Sparrow wailed as he struck a thundering cord that jarred Dexter to his core and made every window in the cafe quiver and tremble at the threat of being shattered by such a sonic boom. The remaining patrons that hadn't fled at the first sight of the Son of Robin Hood were now thoroughly disgruntled and got up to leave regardless of whether they had finished or even gotten their meals. The waiters and employees that weren't currently tucked away in the limited safety of the kitchen all but simultaneously decided to go on their breaks without so much as a word or complaint, coming to the conclusion that simply asking or demanding Sparrow to leave was more trouble than it was worth.

Before long it was only Dexter, Rosabella, Sparrow, and a few more determined customers left in the nearly abandoned Hocus Latte Cafe, its employees seemingly not coming back any time soon if the 'CLOSED' signed hastily placed on the front door was any indication.

Words failed to describe how humiliated Dexter was feeling right now as Sparrow continued to play his divertimento for them, refusing to leave the two of them alone and ignoring any of their pleas or empty threats. Why the Son of Robin Hood was so adamant on serenading them with his romantic lyrics and off-key voice was beyond either of them, but he had the sneaking suspicion that whoever had forged the two letters that had lead them into this trap in the first place had also managed to get Sparrow involved; unfortunately, any attempt to try and divulge such information from the conman was only met with even louder and more tone deaf singing.

Ignoring the stratagem that he and Rosabella had managed to get themselves into, Dexter had never felt more embarrassed in his entire life. He was use to being overshadowed and compared to his older brother and thus having most of his accomplishments seem pathetic and monotonous in comparison to the sibling that had slayed his first monster – a rather greedy harpy that had taken interest in the young prince's shiny toys – when he was but a child, but this was beyond that. This was worse than trying to casually talk to a girl that he didn't personally know, worse than trying to ask Raven out on a date, worse than the dream where he went to all of his classes in his underpants and didn't realize it until Blondie had broadcast it out to the whole school during her 'EAH's Funniest Moments' segment.

The timely tingling of the bell gave the Son of Prince Charming but a glimmer of hope that his current nightmare would be over, only to have that faint spark be crushed into dust when he saw who had inadvertently intruded upon them. Ginger Breadhouse, Venus, Jane, Skelita, Whisp, and C.A. Cupid stood just inside the entryway of the cafe – seemingly ignoring the sign that advertised the restaurant's temporary closing – with masks of shock, confusion, and even amusement upon their faces . . . at least most of them; the goddess of love looked absolutely devastated while attempting to look as neutral as possible.

Dexter felt his throat go dry when the young immortal's crystal blue eyes flickered on him for the briefest of seconds. "I, uh, have to use the little prince's room." he excused himself from the booth while hurriedy making his way towards the back of the cafe, leaving Rosabella alone with Sparrow; the young thief didn't even seem to notice that his private concert for two had expanded its audience.

The Daughter of the Beauty and the Beast couldn't blame Dexter for being so anxious. It was practically common knowledge that he and Cupid shared some sort of infant, awkward feelings for one another and she could personally never really recall noticing the young, technical prince taking an interest in herself as a result, much less even speaking to her. She had indeed seen him around school – it was kind of hard not to ignore how Dexter had gotten the same treatment as his former, unrequited crush – but beyond that they had never interacted despite now seeming to share a destiny and future together.

The princess felt a frown come to her lips as she thought about what the future held for her. She had never understood the whole idea behind forcing two complete strangers that might share nothing in common with one another to fall in love and marry at the end of their tale, whether they liked one another or not; and then they would be pressed into producing an heir to continue their legacy, if not by their own relatives then by the Grimm clan or Grand Council as if that wasn't awkward enough. Granted, she had yet to hear of any fairy tale couples ever filing for divorces or expressing extreme distaste in their spouse, but her parents and their fellow classmates were almost brainwashed as it was into believing that their personal interests and desires didn't matter at all, that they were meant to be nothing more than playing pieces in a complicated game that may or may not exist.

Still . . . Rosabella did have to admit that Dexter was attractive and rather endearing as well. He certainly wasn't as handsome as Daring or as brave and stoic as Ever After High's latest and most bizarre addition, Ben Tennyson, but that didn't mean he wasn't tolerable. For starters, he was a gentleman – albeit one who stuttered a lot – and was quite polite, which couldn't be said for Daring as he often preferred to amuse himself with his own reflection than the girl he was taking out on a date and currently admiring himself in the reflection of her eyes. He was also rather intelligent as well, something that Ben lacked in general when he wasn't transformed.

It was just . . . Rosabella wasn't sure she felt the same way. She was indeed prepared to go through with her destiny for the safety of Ever After if necessary, but she just didn't feel that spark her mother had felt when she and her father begun to bond during her imprisonment in his castle. Maybe if she spent more time with him something would happen?

A light tapping on Rosabella's shoulder tore her thoughts away from her as she turned her head and came face-to-face with a set of venomous, green eyes with hints of neon lilac and electric blue all swirled into a dazzling, hypnotic display that was a tad too close for comfort.

"Can I help you?" the princess asked politely, unnerved slightly by the mesmerizing gaze. Her gaze briefly flickered away from the genie and towards her companion, none other than C.A. Cupid herself . . . Rosabella had an inkling of an idea at where this was going.

Whisp respectfully took a few steps back as she playfully tapped her chin in thought. "Weeeeeeeell, I just wanted to ask you something . . ." she trailed off innocently.

Rosabella had dealt with her younger cousins – Briar Beauty's younger brothers – long enough to know that tone of voice all too well. "I'm listening . . ." she lifted a wary eyebrow, her gaze drifting slightly behind the genie where Sparrow had thankfully stopped playing his awful music and seemed to be currently entranced by a flirtatious Venus, much to a certain shape-shifter's annoyance and reluctance.

The djinni didn't skip a beat. "Be honest with me, Bella – can I call you Bella? You look like a Bella to me," Whisp mumbled to herself. "Anyway, be honest with me: do you like Dexter as more than a friend? A boyfriend? Maybe a future spouse?"

The Daughter of the Beauty and the Beast immediately knew the answer to that one. "Well . . . not particularly. Don't get me wrong, he's very nice and rather endearing in an adorkable way, but I just don't feel anything special when I look at him." she sighed. "I know that might make me seem shallow, but I honestly don't think I'd ever be able to build a healthy relationship with him in my line of work . . ."

"Then you wouldn't mind if say, oh I don't know . . . Cupid took your place?" Whisp asked eagerly with a wide smile on her lips, making the young love goddess flush a deep crimson with embarrassment when the djinni playfully elbowed her ribs.

The princess remained silent as she contemplated the genie's words. She wasn't overly committed to following the destiny her parents had laid out for her like the devious Faybelle Thorn or sweet and innocent Cedar Wood, preferring to focus her attention on more pressing matters such as the treatment of creatures and beasts everywhere. That being said she had told herself that she was prepared to set aside her own personal beliefs and desires to follow in her parent's footsteps if such a decision had the potentiality to do more good than harm. But here, someone was willingly coming to her with a chance to live her life how she wanted, to pass the baton onto someone else . . . she immediately knew her decision.

"Not at all. In fact, you would probably be doing me a favor," Rosabella let a small grin cross her lips as she hurriedly gathered up her clipboard and papers and turned to face Cupid with that same, comforting smile. "Believe me, Chariclo, you would make Dexter much happier than I ever could." she reassured the love goddess.

Cupid was reeling from the sudden choices that had just transpired, almost feeling the urge to lean on Whisp for support while Ginger and the ghouls bustled and busied themselves behind her back. "I . . . I-I don't know what to say . . . thank you . . ." her voice was hoarse while on the verge of tears of joy.

Rosabella pulled the young deity into a hug. "Just promise me you'll take good care of Dexter for me, alright? He's a nice guy who deserves the affections of someone as devoted to him as you are." she praised Cupid before giving her one final hug and taking her leave of the Hocus Latte Cafe, oblivious to the sudden disappearance of certain wailing guitarist and the mysterious figure watching through window outside that ducked out of sight when she passed by . . .

A pair of hands clapped briskly, calling all attention that wasn't currently seated at a table and enjoying the sudden peace and quiet towards Ginger of all fairy tales. "Alright, girls, we have a date to make right!" the witchling declared as she hastily took charge and started giving out orders. "Skelita, you and I will tackle the kitchen and cook for our two guests – nothing too fancy or romantic, more along the lines of casual – while Whisp will act as the waiter."

The genie saluted and promptly snapped her fingers, engulfing herself in a puff of sweet smelling smoke that oddly smelled similar to cotton candy. When the vapor dissipated, she now wore a tight, black tuxedo with a crisp, white dress shirt and a red rose planted into her left breast pocket for appearance purposes. A notepad and pencil were held in her hands and a crudely drawn mustache had been scribbled on her upper lip with black marker; despite this little fact, Whisp seemed fully capable of twiddling it like a stereotypical mustache-twirling villain. "You can count on me, mon amie!"

Ginger nodded gratefully as the djinni bustled herself off to the kitchen. "Now, Venus and- where are Venus and Jane?" the Daughter of the Candy Witch looked around, noting the distinct lack of a certain shape-shifter and plant-monster ghoul.

"Ay caramba," Skelita sighed. "If I were to guess, I would say taking care of Sparrow."

It was noted that the young witch cringed slightly at that. "Alright then . . ." she acknowledged before turning to a certain love goddess. "And Cupid?"

"Yes?" the Daughter of Eros perked up.

Ginger smirked and gave her a small wink. "Just relax and let us take care of everything, alright?

Cupid felt herself turn a light cardinal in color as Skelita and Ginger disappeared through the swinging doors and into the kitchen to make themselves scarce before Dexter got back from his self loathing in the bathroom. The young deity was sure the cooks might need a little persuasion to cooperate without question, and if Skelita's skeletal appearance or Ginger's notoriety didn't do the trick she was pretty sure a private concert from Sparrow would be more than enough to seal the deal; the only issue would be convincing the conman to play for a bunch of nameless chefs he didn't know after the little . . . surprise . . . they had in store for him.

That left Cupid to nervously take the seat Rosabella had been occupying mere moments beforehand. She anxiously twiddled her thumbs as the seconds ticked by, her leg bouncing up and down while she waited for Dexter to return and wondering whether this was actually a good idea or not. The young goddess wanted to remind herself that she was probably just getting last minute jitters and that the butterflies in her tummy were at fault for her sudden anxiety, but she truly had no idea what she was doing. None of the dating advice she so freely gave out to others without diffidence was coming back to her, only thoughts and worries of whether she looked good or not, what Dexter would think of her, and if she possibly had something stuck in her teeth or not because ancestors forbid she had a piece of spinach or whatever they served in the Castleteria stuck between-

"Cupid?"

The Daughter of Eros immediately tensed up upon hearing the young prince's voice, doing her best to try and remain calm when he sat himself back down in his seat across from her with an even more baffled expression than before. "H-Hey, Dexter," she tried to start a mild conversation. "Wh-What's new with you?"

The Son of Prince Charming sighed wearily. "I'm not sure I should say anything . . ."

Cupid sat there for a few seconds, contemplating over what she should do. Her eyes flickered over Dexter's shoulder and towards the kitchen at the sound of the door squeaking open and Whisp and Skelita peeking out at her; the genie snapped her fingers and engulfed herself in a puff of smoke, making over a hundred different sets of ears sprout all over her body.

"You can tell me anything," the love goddess got the idea from the rather unsettling image and reached across the table to lay her hand upon Dexter's fingers, a comforting smile on her lips. "I'm all ears." she urged.

Dexter looked at her with an almost unreadable expression before a smile of relief crossed his tired features. He had thought that today would have been simple with maybe only a few small surprises here and there that in the end he would barely notice. Instead, everything had spiraled out of control into some bizarre and crazy romantic set up worthy of Wonderland's talents and he just wanted everything to end so that he could get a moment's peace. To him, Cupid's cool, alabaster skin and gentle touch was an anchorage to the cyclone of chaotic events that had surrounded his day thus far; he instantly much more relaxed in her presence and with a quick sip of his coffee and a pleasant smile on his face, began to fill her in on the day's shenanigans.

"Well, it all started when Daring decided wearing breakfast was the latest fashion trend . . ."

---

F.N: Even if the ruler ruling is a fool-

M.N: A rule's a rule at any school! Hahahahahaha!

T.P: Um . . . what? Mom? Dad? You're making, like, zero sense.

B.P: Ugh. It's the Wonderland Fever I was telling you about, remember?

T.P: Oh, right . . . thought that would have cleared up by now . . .

B.P: The flying playing cards, dancing knights, and howling monkeys wasn't an obvious enough hint?

T.P: Um . . . what?

B.P: What, you haven't seen those floating pictures that pop up at the beginning of every chapter?

T.P: Are you sure you don't have Wonderland Fever?

B.P: Yes, I'm sure! Do not stick me with those knuckleheads!

M.N: The wolf and raven hand in hand-

F.N: Have fun together wherever they can! Hahahahahaha!

T.P: *sigh* Fine. Lets just get narrating.

B.P: Thank you. *ahem* Ben, Raven, Apple, Lizzie and the rest of the girls passed all their classes, but Courtly Jester, the student vice principal, still won't let them graduate, because she's planning on overthrowing the Queen of Hearts and ruling Wonderland for herself!

T.P: Yeesh, this story has spiraled out of control . . .

B.P: I know right? *sigh* If only narrators were allowed to help . . .

T.P: You just want to talk to Ben, don't you?

B.P: NO! I mean, uh, maybe . . . what I meant was . . . er . . . if I add five plus seven Man-Bats, how many banana is the purple you've nenurpdeburped!?

T.P: Oooooooookay . . . either you've got Wonderland Fever on the brain or it's that time of the month.

SLAP!

T.P: Okay, definitely the Wonderland Fever.

SLAP!

T.P: Okay, now I don't know what to believe anymore.

---

Briar wasn't sure she would ever understand Wonderland logic.

It wasn't because of the day the lot of them had been having either – though that did play a significant part in her opinion on the chaotic state of the place – or of the rumors that she had heard of Wonderland customs and culture. No, it was mostly because as soon as she, Lizzie, Apple, and the others had been dragged out of the vice principal's office, they simply stood there in the hallway right outside her door for a solid five minutes without so much as twitching a muscle or expressing any form of boredom before the door opened once more – thankfully they had left through a march large version instead of the mouse-sized one in the wall – and the playing card guardsman marched them back in.

Apparently Courtly liked to gloat to herself in private.

"Courtly Jester!" Lizzie snarled like a rapid bandersnatch while her captors kept a firm grip on wrists, lest they be cut to ribbons. "You may be a joker, but this isn't funny! You'll pay for this!"

The smile on the jester's face however said otherwise as she all but danced over to the Princess of Hearts and leaned in as close as possible, less than an inch away at best and close enough for Lizzie to lunge forward and bite her stupid, dumb nose if she wanted to; it wasn't uncommon for Wonderlandians to use such cheap tactics when backed into a corner and without their spiked croquet mallet. "Hah! Not when I am the new queen!" she stated as if it were obvious.

"Not gonna happen, Courtly!" Raven growled.

"We'll never let you become the queen!" Apple chimed in.

"Fat chance, you she-devil!" Smashface barked abrasively from beneath the pile of playing card guardsman that had thrown themselves upon him. It was a rather impressive feat for nearly a full deck of guardsman to somehow dogpile themselves on top of the Satyrian and hold the position while simultaneously dragging him and his friends out into the hallway without getting up and risking an escape, but they had somehow did it much to both Smashface and Skurd's annoyance.

"Oh, really?" Courtly purred as she sauntered over to them in a slow and overconfident manner that was just screaming for the hand of the universe to come down and screw her over, that Smashface was sure of when she specifically walked over to him and leaned down so that they were face to face, less than a foot away from that irritating grin of hers. "This is my school and we follow my rules and I can do whatever I want!"

Apple was more than happy to object. "That's abusing your power!"

Courtly however, was more than happy to ignore the princess' complaints as she expertly backflipped through the air and landed on her desk with the greatest of ease. "If you really want to graduate to leave here," her cocky smile seemed to grow ten times crueler as she grabbed a dangling piece of rope and gave it a sharp tug. "Then it's easy!"

A hatch opened up high on the wall, at least twice of Courtly's height from the floor, to reveal a pink parchment scroll sitting comfortably on a pedestal. The paper quickly unfurled from its position on high and clattered to the floor, rolling several dozen feet before coming to a stop at Lizzie's feet with great grandeur; the full length of the scroll was almost absurd, nearly ten times as long as Courtly was tall and the jester seemed to be enjoying oh, so very much. With a quick flip, she was off the desk and back standing in front of the Princess of Hearts, quickly rambling on in a voice that Smashface would have associated with a shifty car dealer . . . if Ever After had cars that is.

"This contract stipulates that you've signed over all your right as the heiress to the Queen of Heart's throne . . . to me." Courtly giggled victoriously; now she was beginning to remind the Satyrian of a certain deity of the Underworld and he was pretty sure that if her wrists were restricted that Lizzie would have mauled and maimed the taunting jester a long time ago without much hesitation.

"Never!" Lizzie hissed, her fists clenching to the point where she was sure she was drawing blood. Probably for the second or third time in the last twenty minutes or so.

Courtly would not be deterred so easily however, and did her best to try and hide her annoyance and come across as friendly as possible, regardless of her otherwise unfriendly intentions currently and beforehand. "It's a simple choice, Lizzie Hearts," she waved a pen tantalizingly out of reach. "You and your friends can spend the rest of your lives here at school . . . or 'voluntarily' sign on the dotted line!"

Lizzie barely felt the contract and pen being shoved into her suddenly numb and cold hands as she stood on the brink of losing her destiny. She knew that she didn't want to do it, she wanted to refuse and deny it with all her heart and tear the contract to shreds and shove the pen up Courtly's nose as a proclamation that she wouldn't be dealing with this kind of insanity today or ever, but . . . there was a catch. The princess felt conflicted while her gaze flickered back and forth between the pen in her fingers and her captive friends, her teeth nervously biting her lip as she contemplated what she was to do. She loved Wonderland with a passion, she loved it with all her heart and then some, and she would anything to protect it. But then there were her friends . . . the closest thing to a family she had had since the Fall of Wonderland, the closest thing she had had to a family ever since she had been cut off from her mother in aspects of the matter. They stood by her through thick and thin, picked her up when she was down, and were ready to defend her with tooth and nail whether they were of Wonderland of not . . . was it worth it?

There was a chance that Courtly would double cross them and keep them locked away in some ungodly classroom of a deathtrap while she took her sweet time overthrowing her mother, but . . . there was the chance that they could gain their freedom and be off to warn her mother of the impending doom as well.

"I . . . but . . ." Lizzie sighed warily. "My friends will be free?"

Maddie cried out. "No! Don't do it Lizzie!"

"She'll become Queen of Wonderland!" Smashface exclaimed, the pile of card guardsman trembling violently as he fought even harder and threatened to send them flying in all directions like autumn leaves in a gale.

Lizzie chewed on her lip. "But, Ben . . . she'll let us go." she tried to reason with them. "If we stay here, we're doomed anyway!"

"Lizzie, listen to me." Raven commanded as she wrestled herself free of her captors and spoke in that tone of voice that was just the slightest bit laced with the sinister vigor of her family heritage that terrified even the rowdiest and most uncooperative of fairy tales to shut up and listen to what she was saying. "You have to be the Queen of Hearts. It . . . i-it's your . . . destiny!" she blurted out.

A collective gasp resounded around the room as everyone starred and gaped at the Daughter of the Evil Queen. The subject of following ones destiny was like acid to Raven – she tried to avoid talking about it as much as possible and respectfully declined any and all of Blondie's requests to discus the matter on her show, sometimes with a little . . . incentive . . . if the blonde was being too persistent for her her own good again – and for her suddenly proclaim that someone had to follow their destiny, to suddenly and unexpectedly denounce everything she had been fighting for with a single sentence, was more than enough to boggle anyone's mind.

"Raven?" Apple felt her jaw drop.

The witchling sighed with guilt. "I know, I know. I've never really been big on destiny," she admitted. "But look, sometimes following your heart and following your destiny are the same thing! Your heart has always been set on being the next queen, Lizzie. You can't give up on it now!"

Courtly gave a sarcastic laugh before turning as nasty as a harpy. "How heart-felt . . . just sign the contract!"

"Someone has issues . . ." Skurd mumbled from beneath the deck of security cards as he slithered his gelatinous makeup for Smashface's right arm and back in an attempt to construct the Bloxx-lobber weapon that had been so useful as of lately. The playing cards were displaced just the slighjtest by the sudden shift but managed to keep their hold on the severely annoyed Satyrian.

The Daughter of the Princess of Hearts heavily contemplated her choices, the horrible screeching of Courtly feeling like hedgehog barbs in her skin as she glanced back apprehensively at the contract in her hands. If she signed the contract, there was the chance that Courtly would double-cross them and throw them in some unspeakable deathtrap that she had been planning for years on end. There was no telling what the jester might do once she gained truly persuasive power as the position of one of the Three Queens held and that worried Lizzie greatly; for all she knew, it would be the downfall of her homeland. Her family would be forced to leave their home, banished beyond Wonderland's borders and helpless to watch as everything they once loved and held dear to them crumbled into an unstable pile of ashes around a queen who was even madder and more twisted than her mother.

Who knew what would happen to the ones she cared for . . . Maddie . . . Alistair . . . Kitty . . . Bunny . . . Ben . . ?

Lizzie could feel her heart rate rising as those images came to her and her grip on the pen was iron clad as she started to hyperventilate. Kitty and Maddie knew that look in her eye and couldn't help but let wolfish grins cross their lips as everyone that was clever enough to notice the signs wisely took a few steps back while the princess gritted her teeth. Her alabaster features were starting to turn a bright pink in color that was slowly turning into a deep crimson of pure rage as nearly all the blood in her body rushed to her head.

"I won't!" she roared, chucking the contract at the floor. The pen was snapped like a toothpick in her hand and Courtly allowed herself to yelp with fright when the two halves were launched at her head with deadly accuracy and embedded int the wall behind her a good four inches or so. Smashface couldn't help but with whistle with admiration as the Omnitrix beeped and swallowed him in a blast of green light, timing out and returning him to his human form; the guardsman refused to get off of him.

This didn't mean they weren't trembling in their boots when Lizzie let lose a torrent of cursing so foul it might as well have come from Phlegethon river of the Underworld. A few of them were worryingly clutching their necks, the very thought of being decapitated being less than appealing.

Even Courtly was taken aback by the flood of profanity that fell from the Daughter of the Queen of Heart's lips and for a brief moment a mask of fear slipped across her face at the thought of what might become of her if her wicked plot happened to just fail; the results would undoubtedly be dangerous for her health. "Then . . . you are condemned to detention!"

Ben grunted as he managed to pull half of himself out from beneath the pile of playing card guardsman, propping himself on his elbows to glare angrily at the cruel jester. "As they in Russia, 'fat chance, Igor'!" he yelled as he raised a hand and slammed down on the Omnitrix, expecting himself to be bathed in the familiar blast of green, genetomorphic energy. He expected himself to be turned into Diamondhead, Mindmesser, Brainstorm, even Nanomech would be acceptable . . . if the Omnitrix wasn't currently be uncooperative. "Oh, come on, a recharge!?"

A victorious smirk sat itself on Courtly's face, but before she could snap her fingers and command the troublesome girls and Ben to be taken out of her sight – never to be heard from again if she could help it – a timid, gentlemanly voice with a slight stutter caught her attention. Looking down over her shoulder, the jester set her steely gaze upon the White Rabbit, her eyes boring into him for such insolence as interrupting her in her moment of triumph.

"Uh, v-v-vice p-principal," the rabbit stuttered with terror. "Wonderland school r-rules say, you cannot give them detention without . . . uh, without-"

"Without what?" Courtly snarled in a manner very similar to that of a very hungry and perturbed gorgon that had just about enough of her prey's antics and was looking for a meal. Her crooked stature as she loomed over the the herald was eerily serpent-like and that venomous look of her eyes and cruel curve of her nails only added to this effect, of which was absolutely terrifying to anyone shorter than her.

The White Rabbit, to his credit, managed to not faint on the spot and merely cowered in his fluffy boots. "W-W-Without a d-disciplinary trail at th-the school c-c-court?" he swallowed anxiously.

The vice principal's response to laugh maniacally, as if she had just been told a funny joke. "Why would I permit that?" she snorted.

"A-Actually, it's your rule?" the little lagomorph reminded her, seemingly more brave than before.

Courtly rubbed her chin in thought. "Is it? Well, then it must be followed!"

"This can't end well." Briar sighed warily.

The Daughter of the Joker Card didn't seem to have heard the princess as she proceeded to pace about on the floor, tapping her chin in thought. A Cheshire smile continued to form on her lips the more she thought about things and this only made Briar stand by her statement even more. "Yes, a trail will be a fun way . . . to find you guilty!" she giggled joyously, drinking in the startled gasps that followed like sweet Fairy Wine.

"You can't do that!" Kitty hissed viciously.

"This is rigged!" Apple protested.

"OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!" Lizzie roared loud enough to shake the entire room to its core.

Courtley pretended not to hear them as she turned on her heel and clapped her hands. "Summon the witnesses! Prepare the court!" she ordered. The security cards all saluted in unison and snapped to attention, quickly and roughly escorting the latest troublemakers of Wonderland High out of their superior's office at her command. The jester watched with a cruel, malicious smile as her rival fought and struggled against the cards, spouting off threats of decapitation at the top of her lungs; it gave her so much pleasure to watch the once mighty fall so soundly.

If there was one thing that made her uneasy however, it was when the Daughter of the Joker Card caught the eye of the strange shape-shifter currently in her custody. He didn't fight or struggle as he had before when he was being forced to leave the room and instead gave her a cold, hard look that was enough to send a shiver up her spine. If her plan was to succeed, then she would have to play her cards just right.

After all, no one ever suspected the wild card.

---

T.P: This isn't looking good, is it?

B.P: What was your first hint?

T.P: To be fair, there isn't much of a story if there isn't a conflict of some kind. Most stories or fairy tales are about their protagonists overcoming their problems and the obstacles laid before them in achieving their goal.

B.P: All I hear is, "Blah-blah-blah I'm so much smarter than Brooke, blah-blah-blah, I'm not doing anything to help solve the current problem, blah-blah-blah, I'm so much better, blah-blah-blah!" and not enough narration.

T.P: You're sure it's not that time of the month?

SLAP!

T.P: Me and my big mouth . . .

B.P: *sigh* Moving on . . . meanwhile, back at Ever After High, Alistair Wonderland and Bunny Blanc still think that Raven's misfired spell transported the girls and Ben somewhere inside the school . . .

---

Alistair sighed wearily as he hiked up the spiraling set of stairs that led up one of Ever After High's tallest towers. The school was rather notorious for using every available space for storing and stashing away old pieces of furniture and junk that the headmasters couldn't bear to throw away or magical artifacts that should have really been kept under more careful lock and key than just shoving them away into a cardboard box and hoping some knucklehead didn't stumble upon them. To be fair however, most of the artifacts stored away in the dust laden recesses of the attics and closets were quite harmless and usually couldn't cause much more damage than permanently turning someone's hair green if used by inexperienced hands, which was a good majority of Ever After High's student body.

"C'mon, Alistair!" Bunny called from farther up.

"I'm coming . . . I'm coming . . ." the Son of Alice in Wonderland panted as he trudged up the flight of stairs, exhausted. He and the Daughter of the White Rabbit had been searching for the better part of the afternoon for their missing friends and companions, even going so far as to skip lunch; in hindsight, that probably wasn't the best option as Alistair's stomach growl in complaint. He was mentally cursing Bunny for being so athletic and light on her feet, cursed her perky chest for bouncing for every step she took, cursed her sweet, sugary smile . . . he really didn't know why he was cursing when he knew he was falling for her hard.

With a grunt, he finally clambered up the last step of the towering turret and stopped to catch his breath while Bunny frantically began to rummage through boxes and ancient, wooden cabinets that had seen better days before they were infested with termites. It might have seemed like an odd thing for one to search in a drawer for friends who would have never fit in there in the first place, but with the nearly infinite possibilities of magic – one of which was being able to maximize space in even the most unlikely of places – Alistair wasn't one to argue when his crush dug through an old hat box for a possible answer.

With a frustrated sigh, Bunny tossed the hat box aside. "They have to be around here somewhere!"

Alistair drew in a deep breath as he stood up and stretched his aching muscles. "There is no more 'around here somewhere', Bunny. We've searched the entire school! Even the dungeons!"

Bunny felt a light blush cross her face as she sat down on an old stool. She always loved it when Alistair got serious, the way his brow furrowed and his lips curved just the slightest into a contemplative frown always succeeding in making her hot under the collar. The Daughter of the White Rabbit wanted nothing more than to jump up and kiss him and finally confess the feelings he had for him for the longest time, but . . . her skittish, rabbit nature always got the best of her. Being the only boy in their group of friends, Alistair had been the object of nearly all of their affections at one point and it was only now with Ben picking up girls left and right that she finally had a chance to take a crack at him; if he liked her back that is.

With that ever lying question hanging in the air, Bunny spoke up. "Well . . . we haven't searched-" she attempted to say before she was cut off when the trunk she had been pointing at suddenly snapped shut like the two halves of a giant clam. The chest then began to jump and rummage around quite violently, a muffled voice coming from within that sounded none too pleased when it began to fire off unfamiliar curses that neither of the two Wonderlandians felt they should repeat. Before Bunny could reach to open the lid however, a blast of golden light leaped forth from the the cracks and keyhole and the wooden trunk was promptly demolished in bits of splintered wood seconds later.

Alistair starred with astonishment at the creature that stood before them, dusting itself off with a pair of scythe-like claws that took the place of the hands and fingers that would normally be found on a humanoid being. Spikes jutted forth from the joints of the blade-like arms and legs while it balanced on the very tips of a pair of feet similar to that of its hands, blinking at them with a pair of wide, yellow eyes from a tri-horned skull. The color palette of the strange creature seemed to be a deep violet in color with golden patterns tracing themselves along the spine and the limbs. To top it off, a familiar disk with a sharp, hourglasss like design sat firmly between the creature's eyes, almost as if it were . . .

"Ben?" Bunny asked hopefully.

The Parae Cortarix shook her head. "Nope. Clawdeen." she said as she reached with one of her scythe-like hands and carefully tapped the Omnitrix on her skull. The device timed out in a second blast of yellow light and returned the werewolf back to the world, a frown of annoyance upon her lips to clash with the mask of concern that she wore on her face.

"What were you doing in that trunk?" Alistair wondered.

The werewolf drummed her fingers irritably on her arm as she folded them over her bust. "I was lookin' for Ben and the others when I heard you two and . . . sorta fell in."

"From the ceiling?" Bunny asked with disbelief.

"Hey, when you're looking for someone like Ben and someone as new as the Charming girl you don't leave anything out of the question." she retorted with a slight scoff. "I've seen things you wouldn't believe."

"Believe me when I say we might have an idea." Alistair admitted with a slight smile before realizing something that made his amused facade falter. "Wait, Darling's missing, too?"

Clawdeen nodded and sighed tiredly, rubbing her brow as she did so. "The Hatter girl – Maddie if I remember correctly – wanted her to sit with us at lunch, but she never showed up; said something about a future chapter with lots of fan service or somethin'. Me, Cerise, and Daring have been lookin' for 'em ever since."

Bunny and Alistair shared a look with one another with matching, crimson cheeks. If there was anyone who was blunt enough or mad enough to suggest something like that from out of the blue, it was definitely Maddie. "We saw her in the study hall just before Raven, Apple, Briar, Kitty, Maddie, and Ben all disappeared." she remembered.

The werewolf's expression suddenly became greatly concerned. "Wait, what do you mean disappeared? I just found him again! Why in the name of Ra would he disappear again!?" she roared with terror as she grabbed Bunny by the shoulders and violently shook him with desperation.

"Yo! Clawdeen!"

A thunderous roar followed by the sudden blotting out of all available light in the small tower was just enough to get Clawdeen to stop throttling the Daughter of the White Rabbit long enough to Alistair to catch her as she stumbled and try to make sense of the multiple duplicates of a worrisome werewolf while she rushed over to the bantam window of the turret. She was met with a blast of smoky, hot breath that made her cough and gag and glare irritably at the mighty, purple dragon with soft, lilac wings bespectacled with bright flashes of green and magenta upon which none other than Daring Charming sat. With the proud prince taking the seat on the dragon's head, Clawdeen found Cerise Hood sitting farther back between the great wings of the fire-breathing reptile with her thighs tightly clenched to prevent herself from falling; her hands were otherwise occupied keeping her precious hood firmly attached to her head.

"Good news! I've guessed where Darling is!" the Son of Prince Charming grinned proudly. "Climb on!"

Cerise growled angrily from behind him. "Daring, you just got your damn license to fly this thing! You're lucky I'm still even here!" she barked out.

"Oh, come on! You only live once upon a time!" he tried to goad them on.

Cerise gave him a cold glare that made the overzealous royal flinch just the slightest. "You did not just YOLOUTme."

"Maybe . . ?"

The Daughter of Red Riding Hood sighed wearily and rolled her eyes. "As much as I hate to say it, this is probably faster than us just wandering like three blind mice." she gave in as Daring pumped his fist in triumph and then proceeded to direct the gigantic dragon to land on the roof of the small, teetering tower; the rafters creaked and groaned under the dragon's immense weight. With no time to waste, Bunny, Alistair, and a reluctant Clawdeen hurriedly climbed up the dragon's waiting tail like a ladder and scrambled to seat themselves as soon as possible.

Daring flashed them all a dazzling smile, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively towards the two fairy tale females that were aboard and earning either a fierce blush or fiery gazes. With a quick pat to the dragon's head, the beast gave a massive flap of its wings and shot off into the air at such a high speed that Bunny could have sworn sensitive ears popped from the sudden rush, her grip white knuckled and her heart pounding in her chest as while she hung on for dear life. Her ragged hyperventilation steadily began to decline when she felt Alistair's familiar hands slide around her shoulders and waist and pull her closer to him, giving her a more secure seat upon the dragon's back. The loud thumping of his heart had a calming effect on the Daughter of the White Rabbit and she soon found herself daring to glance down at the world far below in between attempts to look at her comforter without giving herself away.

Clawdeen personally wanted to gag – she hoped to Ra that she hadn't been that dopey-eyed when she and Ben first started dating – and decided to settle her stomach by inquiring exactly just why she should trust Daring of all fairy tales in the first place. "So, Sherlock Bones, just where are you takin' us?"

Not understanding the reference or torrent of sarcasm behind it whatsoever, the royal smiled proudly and puffed his chest out in triumph. "The way I see it, my canine companion, Darling just ran off to the . . . way for it," he paused dramatically. "LiFairy!"

Alistair hummed as he rubbed his chin in thought. "Dexter did mention that she had been doing a lot of research lately . . ." he thought aloud.

"Bookworm Darling and Klutzy Dexter," the older Charming sibling gave a pretentious chuckle. "It's hard to believe those two are my siblings, sometimes."

Those were the last words – and undoubtedly the most famous – Daring uttered before he carelessly and blindly flew their dragon mount right through the grand bay windows of the Headmasters' office – which was strangely empty and devoid of either of the Brothers Grimm – and a good portion of the opposing wall. An untold amount of damages were caused that day by the prince's negligence, everything from gaping holes in walls and classrooms to tremendous scorch marks mild injuries from any and all that didn't get out of the way of the out of control dragon in the nick of time; even Madame Yaga wasn't left unscathed and had every last strand of her long, gray locks burnt off with a single blast of searing hot flame. It was also on that day that the Charming family had a mysterious – or not so mysterious, if one thought about it – dent put into their fortune and that Daring found himself the proud owner of a traffic ticket and the school's record for the longest detention known to fairy tales.

Needless to say, Alistair, Bunny, Cerise, and Clawdeen decided to walk the rest of the way to the LiFairy.

---

Ben grumbled irritably at the golden, heart-shaped cuffs that were digging into his wrists as he, Raven, Apple, Maddie, Kitty, Lizzie, and Briar were all led down a far too long hallway by a procession of heavily armed playing card guardsman, the vast number of which concentrated their numbers in the middle where he was being led along. "Are these really necessary?" the brunette wiggled his fingers.

"I-I'm afraid so," the White Rabbit called from the front of the group. "I have been appointed as your defense counselor for school court. Now please, hop along, we're late!" he called out upon taking a look at his gold pocket watch and finding the unreadable numbers and minutes to be far ahead of where they should have initially been.

Lizzie sighed and continued down the seemingly endless hallway, taking little to no note of the grand portraits that lined the walls of vice principals from days past whose names she couldn't be bothered to remember for the like of her; she was too busy worrying and fretting over how the day's turn of events had gone. It had all started out so mournful when she woke up that morning to realize it would be the first time she wouldn't be able to be with her mother on her birthday. Then it become a small ember of hope that exploded into a crackling flame of joy when she had returned to the land she loved so dearly with friends that she cherished so much. And then . . . it had gone downhill from there so quickly. It seemed everyone and everything was against her and she couldn't even begin to fathom why it felt like she was being led to her own execution by the people her family had so kindly and justly ruled over for as long as anyone could remember.

"Hey."

She felt a slight, rough nudge that felt like someone was poking her with their head and turned to see Ben briefly trying to readjust the position of his hat without his hands while Skurd sat on his shoulder and watched with amusement. "Don't sweat it. We'll find a way out of this." he tried to comfort her.

"Yeah, it'll be all over before you know it," a faceless playing card guardsman chimed in. "Just keep yer face down, play your cards right, and maybe they'll cut ya a deal."

Skurd sighed wearily and pinched his slimy brow. "And I thought your puns with awful." he mumbled to himself.

Ben scowled in the direction of his gelatinous partner before softening as he returned back to Lizzie. "Look, my point is that we're all behind you one-hundred percent. Through thick and thin, through light and dark, we're with you."

"You got that right!" Maddie laughed loudly.

The White Rabbit abruptly cried out with exasperation from the front of their procession. "Must you dawdle? We're late! We're late! We're late for a very important! No time to waste, we must make haste, we're late!"

Before any of them – namely Briar or Kitty – could come up with a witty comeback, they came to a stop at a pair of tremendous doors so immense that it looked like even the biggest of giants could have walked through without the threat of striking their head on the towering frame; one would have to strain their neck just to even attempt to see the top frame. Despite this small matter, the White Rabbit had no trouble planting his back against the two, great doors and slowly pushing them open with great strain and effort as the playing card guardsmen waited patiently on either side of their accused party. The door groaned on their hinges in protest, having been disturbed from their great slumber, and banging in anguish against the walls with enough force that an echoing boom! wound its way around the now silent court room for a far longer than it comfortably should have.

Apple took a few tentative steps forward, nervously biting her lip and wringing her hands while her bright, blues eyes flickered anxiously around the room. It wasn't so much the fact that they were in a Wonderland courtroom – from what her political classes had taught her, the most outlandish of punishments could be issued here without problem and when the judge "threw the book at you", they literally chucked the biggest and heaviest book they could get their hands on right at the guilty party without much contempt for the outcome – but it was that they, herself included, were in trouble once more.

It made her insides squirm uncomfortably and the butterflies that had once again found themselves into her tummy flutter obnoxiously so that she unable to keep herself calm. The last time Apple had been trouble, she had been nearly split from her destined prince – at least, if the rules of battle were taken into account – and separated from her closest friends and surrogate family that she had come to love and appreciate more and more with every day of shenanigans and chaos they managed to find themselves in; the princess didn't like being in trouble. At the same time however, she felt a sudden rush course through her veins, the same rush she had gotten when she had nearly pulled the fire alarm the day that she had gotten detention for a different reason entirely. It made her feel alive and she was dimly aware that her senses were suddenly heightened with the swift rush of adrenaline; if this was how Ramona Bad Wolf experienced the world every day, she could see why the Daughter of the Big Bad Wolf seemed to have a permanent stay in detention.

The soft, whispering murmurs of rumors and accusations in their direction felt like manticore spikes assaulting the Daughter of Snow White's poor eardrums as they led past a viewing audience of students of various shapes and sizes and species who were all starring at them with quizzical expressions; the teachers were far more brooding and gave them looks of contempt and scorn.

Apple gave a startled yelp as a bronze railing suddenly snapped up in front of her, blocking any further attempt to move forward and found that the lot of them had been encircled in a stand of some kind. The platoon of security cards that had been placed to watch over them stood at attention in neat rows on either side of the podium; a guard kindly removed Ben's handcuffs and allowed him to freely take the stand mere moments before the podium abruptly rose into the air and nearly caused Apple to lose her balance.

The princess almost lost her composure when she saw the judge slowly rise from behind his tower desk, having to hold back a slight smile as the pudgy form of an enormous caterpillar managed to squirm his entire bulk into the far too small chair. Once he was seated, the massive insect grabbed a pair of gavels with his two, right arms and banged them down on the desk to call order, ceasing any and all volume in the room as he cleared his throat.

"Well, lucky for our headmaster friend, there is someone out there who is in far more need of a dietary plan then him." Skurd mumbled quietly.

Kitty hissed at the Slimebiote. "Be quiet! You'll get us into even more trouble!" she mewed worriedly.

Thankfully, the judge didn't seem to have heard them.

"I am the high esteemed and honorable judge Catterick R. Pillar and I call this court meeting into session!" his voice roared loudly through the quiet courtroom, as if he were unsure if anyone could have possibly misheard him as he learned over the desk and glared incredulously at the group of Wonderlandians, fairy tales, and abstract alien shape-shifter. "Now then . . . who are you?"

Lizzie brushed off the annunciation of every other word that dripped from the overweight caterpillar's mouth and pushed her way to the front of the stand. "I am Lizzie Hearts, Daughter of the Queen of Hearts!" she declared deafeningly, a scowl of vexation crossing her lips. "And you are allin a lot of trouble!"

The threat should not have been taken lightly; Ben certainly knew it was nowhere near being a mere empty warning. From what he recalled from the private lessons with the Princess of Hearts on her homeland's traditions and customs that he found strangely enamoring, the royal decrees and proclamations of the royal family were often as demanding as they were obscene. And yet, they would be followed without hesitance, no matter how ridiculous it was. The Queen of Hearts could quite literally demand that the entire palace be remodeled in a day and the near infinite number of playing cards at her beck and call would scramble to obey, notwithstanding the near impossible time constraint.

Those that somehow got on the wrong side of the Hearts family – mostly public enemies and criminals – or failed to fulfill their orders were subjected to horrible methods of death, most of which involved terrible accounts of decapitation through various means. It was unknown why the Hearts were so fascinated were the removal of a victim's head, but not many bothered to question their methods lest they lose their own skulls.

Despite this however, the entire counsel and jury laughed uproariously.

"What's so funny?" Briar wondered, befuddled.

"Why do I get the feeling that that's not a good sign?" Ben muttered softly. His fingers absentmindedly began to fiddle experimentally with the Omnitrix fastened on the sleeve of his jacket over the familiar soft on his wrist while the laughter died down.

The overly rotund judge Catterick R. Pillar sighed as a he wiped a tear from his eye, his jowls and great belly still jiggling like layers of jello as he tried to recompose himself. "Ha! If we were in trouble, it stands to reason we would be the ones on trial. And yet, there you are!" he pointed out, earning the ire of some of the staff in their direction. "Therefore, it follows that you, and not we, are the ones in trouble. That's logic!"

"Oh! Makes sense to me!" Maddie shrugged cheerfully.

"Whose side are you on!?" Briar hissed at the Hatter.

Lizzie sighed and pinched her brow, unable to bring herself to berating her dear friend for only making the matter worse by agreeing with those that were accusing them. "I don't suppose you have any experience in court, Ben?" she asked the brunette.

"Oh, sure," he shrugged. "This one time, I was accused by the Galactic Council."

"What!?" Skurd exclaimed incredulously. "Why was I never told this!?"

"You never asked."

"Ben! What happened?" Lizzie pressed urgently.

The wielder of the Omnitrix hummed and rubbed his chin in remembrance, briefly ceasing with his anxious fiddling of one of many copies of the alien metamorphic device upon his cuff. "Lets see . . . I was found guilty and naturally had to fight my way out. Apparently you can do that in some courtrooms . . . I doubt we can do that here though, even if this is Wonderland we're talking about here."

Lizzie sighed and allowed her shoulders to slump in defeat while Raven scratched her chin thought, as if an inkling of an idea were just within the witchling's grasp yet so tantalizingly out of reach. "Let me try something," she spoke up after a few short minutes. She then turned to address the corpulent judge, trying to ignore the fact that she suddenly had everyone's attention. "Your honorable, um . . . bugginess?" she tired, not exactly sure how she was to approach the looming caterpillar. "This is all just a big misunderstanding-"

"And what don't you understand?" Judge Catterick interrupted her.

"No! No! Not us! You!" Raven tried to correct him. "See, we came to this school by accident and we aren't be allowed to graduate!"

The avoirdupois arthropod's voice rumbled like thunder from his looming seat. "Why should you graduate when you've missed understanding? Understanding is the point of an education!" he shouted. "And you said yourselves, you've missed it!"

Raven looked like she was going to pull her hair out at any second and Ben looked like he was going to lose it far sooner than that even. Lo and behold however, it was the perfect princess Apple White that lost her cool first and suddenly exploded into a panicked fit of suppressed rage. "You're twisting our words!" she protested. "This is all happening because of that . . . that . . . that horrible Courtley Jester!"

A collective gasp abruptly swept through the courtroom at the Daughter of Snow White's harsh words, looks of complete shock and dread swiftly making their way through the gathered crowds while everyone seemed to shrink back from the trembling, breathless princess as she sank back into the comforting embrace of her in awe boyfriend. Even her companions and lover were taken aback by such foul language used by someone who was almost abnormally sweet on a daily basis. For the future ruler of Ever After, the one to always keep herself calm and composed in the face of chaos and pandemonium to suddenly lash out like a vicious viper . . . well, it was almost unthinkable, almost un-Apple-like.

"Well that sure got their attention . . ." Skurd mumbled as Ben gently threaded his fingers through his girlfriend's golden locks in an effort to try and restore some semblance of whom she had been mere moments before suddenly exploding like a volatile volcano.

Apple huffed almost childishly into her boyfriend's chest. "I don't care. It's true and everyone knows it." she squeezed Ben a just a little bit tighter. "I mean, who does she think she is? She's practically running this school like a prison!"

Before any further discussion on the matter of the differences between a high school and a maximum security mirror prison could be further contemplated, the all too familiar sound of a set of all too familiar heels clicking ominous against the floor echoed through the eerily silent courtroom. Like the hoarse caws of the crow and the wailing of the strings of the cinema's shark attacks, the sound heralded alarm and apprehension and left nothing but devastation and terror in its wake wherever it went. The silent courtroom seemed to unanimously hold its breath when the clicking of the heels fell eerily quiet mere moments before a second set of doors positioned next to the jury banged open with a thundering boom!

The White Rabbit was the first to break the taciturnity that befell the counsel, his voice even and laced with fear when he tried to keep himself calm in the face of almost certain doom. "All rise for her prosecutorial excellence . . . Courtley Jester!"

It took every last shred of Lizzie and Ben's willpower not to throw themselves at the approaching joker in an attempt to strangle her.

The smug, innocent smirk upon Courtley's face as she made her way down to the main floor of the courtroom was aggravating beyond belief with the constant jingling bells of her bright, flashy costume only adding to the grating of nerves. "No need to rise on my account! I am but a humble public servant!" she laughed cheerfully as she approached the jury stand before her voice dropped low and threateningly. "With vast powers over each and every one of you . . ."

With the staff thoroughly intimidated – Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum had instinctively hugged one another and clapped over the other brother's mouth while Mr. Gadus Morhua quivered in his seat with a wet, squishing noise – the jester then effortlessly bounced and cartwheeled and somersaulted her way up to the judge's desk without a care in the world. She even went so far as to playfully tug at the roly poly caterpillar's thin mustache and white, powdered wig before getting down to business. "So, where were we?"

Catterick R. Pillar huffed and readjusted his wig so that it stopped itching his sensitive antennae so much. "They've plead their case," he sighed with boredom. "I'm not convinced."

"What!? We hardly said anything!" Ben exclaimed as he let go of Apple and pushed himself to take the front of the stand. "You're our counselor! Aren't you supposed to be helping us!?" he hissed with irritation at the White Rabbit.

The royal herald nervously checked his pocket watch. "Yes . . . in time."

"Time? Time for what!?"

"Time to read the charges!" Courtley declared loudly as she threw herself off from the judge's high desk and popped back up from a perfect somersault. "We, and by we I mean I, the vice-principal and future Queen of Wonderland, hereby charge these six girls and devilishly handsome young man," she purred teasingly as she approached the podium and curled a finger under Ben's chin for emphasis while she hungrily licked her lips. "With: unruliness!"

A second, collective gasp of shock made its way through the courtroom and Ben soon found himself banging his head repeatedly on the bronze railing out of sheer disgust. Was it just him, or would these people believe just about anything? With no disrespect to his Wonderland spouses and friends, these people had to be some of the most gullible he had ever encountered in all his year's of being a galactic hero.

If it was any consolation, Skurd seemed just as upset as him and looked like he wanted to tear himself in half.

Courtley merely chuckled to herself at the amusing display and continued on with the false truths and lies that flowed from mouth as effortlessly as water flowing over a waterfall. "If found innocent – yeah, no way, won't happen – they will be allowed to graduate." she proceeded to explain, taking a brief moment to smirk in Ben's direction. "When found guilty . . . then it's detention for life! Or . . . off with their heads!" she roared, slicing her hand across her throat for emphasis. "Whichever comes first."

Ben gritted his teeth and gripped the bronze railing with white knuckles as he glared venomously at Courtley, as if hoping she would suddenly self-combust right there in the now chaotic courtroom that Judge Catterick R. Pillar was so desperately trying to return to 'disorder' with his two pairs of mallets rapidly pounding the desk. "When I become queen, I am never going to get tired of saying that!"

Eventually however, things became quiet once more as Catterick gave a tremendous bang of all four of his gavels and finally brought silence to the courtroom. "Call the first witness!" he ordered.

Courtley grinned maliciously. "The prosecutor calls the Red Knight, Chase Redford, to the stand!" she bellowed.

The protesting creak and steady clanking of metal was enough to draw Ben's ire away from the accusing jester long enough for him to turn his attention towards the aforementioned crimson warrior as he stoically approached the witness stand. For the briefest of second, the Ben caught his regretful gaze as he slipped off his helmet and took his seat as instructed with a stoic expression upon his features.

This wasn't going to end well.

"So, Chase Redford, the Red Knight," Courtley stated his name once he had gotten comfortable for emphasis. Her tone of menacingly and maniacally whispering threats and sinister warnings had flawlessly fallen into the roll of the innocent, public servant fulfilling her duties that she had just about everyone warped into believing her to be, something that Ben took especial note of. "From what we understand you caught these six girls and one boy sneaking onto school property!"

Skurd grumbled irritably. "Is there no respect for the Slimebiote?"

No one seemed to have heard him over Apple's protest. "Not fairest! We weren't even students here!"

"But of course you were students here, because you were on school grounds!" Courtley smiled cheekily. "Isn't that rule?"

Chase sucked in a deep breath. "That is, and I am duty bound to follow it." he recited. "Rules are rules."

Ben didn't dare to tear his gaze away from Courtley as she backflipped up onto the judge's desk and casually lay on her stomach and continued to question her witness without much care for her posture or manners. "When they received their class assignments, what did they do?"

"Um . . . I guess they sort of sped off down the hallway?"

"So, you might say they were running in the halls?" Courtley leered with the toothy grin of a predator that had managed to corner its helpless prey mere moments before tearing them to shreds. Much to Ben's annoyance – he found himself becoming less enthralled with Wonderland once he actually experienced it – the entire courtroom gasped with revulsion, as if they had just learned they had attempted to brutally murder their beloved vice principal; he was pretty sure that if things didn't turn in their favor Lizzie was going to come quite close to dispatching the jester herself in a few moments.

"Technically . . . yes?"

Lizzie scoffed incredulously. "That's ridiculous!" she shouted. "The halls were running; we were just standing on them!"

Courtley gasped with mock horror. "Oh, you naughty, sassy girl! Now you're talking back?" she feigned grief as she leaped off from the judge's desk and down to the floor to heatedly pace back and forth in front of the jury of staff. "These seven heathens first sneaked onto school grounds, and then were seen running in the hallways, and now they're talking back! And that isn't even beginning to cover all of the reckless damages they have made to our beloved school in the process! One rule heedlessly broken after another! Can there be any doubt? These girls are unruly!"

That was the last straw.

Before anyone could attempt to stop him – not that Lizzie would have, given the deep shade of red her face had rapidly turned – he had slapped a hand down on the Omnitrix located on his left cuff and enveloped himself in the familiar blast of green energy and light. He felt his skeletal system groan and splinter sickeningly as his frame expanded and grew taller, his arms simultaneously pulsing and swelling when fresh tissue and muscle threaded and weaved themselves beneath his rapidly changing skin. His chest became bigger and more barrel-shaped to accommodate his greatly increasing lungs and he could feel the familiar sensation of his bones crunching and snapping like broken cornstalks as they reconfigured and rearranged themselves inside of him; the brunette sooner enough had a second joint to his legs and he could feel the endurance and stamina building as he continued to change. Ben's skull gave a series of soft crunches while it was forced out into a powerful, pointed muzzle similar to that of a canine as each of teeth ground and morphed into razor-sharp fangs. He felt his jaw then split into four, flexible flaps that opened and closed on a whim of hinge-like joints located in his mouth. His fingers trembled and exploded into wicked, black claws and his toes tore through his shoes in the form of curved, gripping talons. A long, fluffy tail sprouted from the base of Ben's spine as a mane of dark, coarse fur rose from his shoulders and neck while spikes popped out of his elbows and shoulders; a green and black body suit materialized upon his settling form with green wrist bands and a collar around his neck with the Omnitrix and Skurd located at its center.

"I'll show you unruly!" Blitzwolfer snarled.

The courtroom could do nothing but watch in stupefied horror as the Loboan bunched up his powerful legs and pounced through the air, abruptly crashing right into Courtley with a startled yelp from the joker and pinning her to the floor. His claws dug into the carpet on either side of her wrists and his dexterous talons tightly clamped themselves around her ankles while Blitzwolfer drew his head in closer to Courtley and growled; he was pleased to see a brief flash of panic cross her face at the sight of the railroad spike-like teeth that lined his jaws.

This was quickly masked with the familiar mask of mockery that the jester so often wore. "Ooh, you are a naughty boy, aren't you?" her voice purred and curled like wisps of smoke from a hookah when she took note of the submissive posture that the Loboan had unconsciously taken. "What say we add assault and battery to your list of crimes, hmmm? Or maybe some bestiality? Perhaps just catergorize the whole thing as sexual assault? Are you going to publicly humiliate me in front of all my subjects? Teach me a lesson I'll never forget? Please, I'm dying to know . . ."

Blitzwolfer experimentally flexed the jointed flaps of his jaws in an effort to try and regain some form of terror from his current victim. "You are sick in the head, ya know that?"

"Ben!" Raven's voice snapped his attention away from the taunting jester like lighting. "You're not helping! Stop before you make things worse!"

"As if the lad could possibly make things worse than they already are." Skurd mumbled to himself before realizing something and wearily rubbing his slimy brow. "Then again, he always does, doesn't he?"

Before the Loboan could attempt to even defend himself he was suddenly grabbed by his powerful arms and shoulders and roughly pulled off of Courtley by the security cards that had been placed to keep watch over him. Their grip was tight and white knuckled while they poked and prodded him threateningly with their spade-shaped spears, as if daring him to try and attack their superior a second time. A pair of playing cards then proceeded to help the jester to feet as she sniffled and attempted to hold back false tears like a frightened child, which only drew a savage growl from the back of Blitzwolfer's throat while he was forced back onto the podium with the rest of his 'convicted colleagues'.

The disturbed courtroom was now left in a chaotic state as the members of the jury and audience mumbled incoherently among themselves, throwing innumerable disapproving glares and glances at the six girls and one alien that had the audacity to come waltzing into their own school and turning it on its head without so much as common courtesy. Lizzie got the sickening feeling that a vast majority of them were looking straight at her more than the others, as if they were trying to burn it into her head that they didn't approve of this sort of rambunctious behavior from their future leader and that there was a distinct possibility of her being removed from the throne. Then again, it was rather hard to tell when a good portion of those stares rapidly turned away upon taking one good look at the sharp fangs and claws of a certain Loboan that growled at them like a protective guard dog when one of them had the temerity to try and silently scold the Princess of Hearts.

With his superior now putting on a grand show of pretending to be violated and greatly disturbed while being consoled by her security cards, the judge was having a hell of a time restoring order to the greatly discontinuous counsel. "Disorder! Disorder! Disorder! Disorder!" Caterick repeatedly banged his four gavels until he was finally granted sweet silence. "How do you plead? Guilty, extremely guilty, or outrageously guilty?" his voice getting increasingly more violent with each option.

The White Rabbit – who had just about fainted at the sudden appearance of an enormous, extraterrestrial that bore an uncanny resemblance to the canines that his kind so greatly feared – hopped forward, baffled out of his mind. "What? Guilty?"

"Very well then!" Judge Catterick R. Pillar bellowed as he brought all four of his gavels down on his desk with a tremendous bang! that rattled the very courtroom. "Guilty as charged!"

"N-No! No! That's not what I meant!" the White Rabbit wailed with desperation.

The obese caterpillar ignored his pleas of mercy and proceeded to roar at the top of his lungs. "Eternal detention for life!"

Perhaps not so strangely enough, it was Kitty Cheshire's snarky voice that had enough guts to snap back at the powdered wig-wearing insect. "You'll have a hard time taking over Lizzie's destiny without the Storybook of Legends! And my mom, the Cheshire Cat, has it! So there!" she hissed, as if trying to spite the overweight caterpillar for his absurd punishment. It only took mere moments for her to realize what she had just said but by then it was already too late.

The rapid jingling of bells was like the rattling tail of a rattlesnake before it struck when Courtley suddenly cut the flow of mendacious crying approached her with swift interest. "The Storybook of Legends? Here in Wonderland?"

The joker could hardly believe her good fortune. It just wasn't possible – it never was that easy – but if what the loose-lipped cat had just let slip was true, then her scheme to take over all of Wonderland was easier than she could have ever dreamed! She was so absorbed with sudden giddy and glee that she almost didn't notice when Blitzwolfer eyed her hungrily and make a mock snap of his jaws at her, only missing her nose by mere inches as the security cards restraining him just barely managed to hold him back from sinking his fangs into Courtley's face; he normally would have never resorted to just brutish and criminal behavior, but for the jester he was certain he could make an exception.

"Ooh-hooo!" Courley giggled mischievously to herself while she tented her fingers. "How the plot thickens!"

"Nice going, Kitty." Briar frowned with a low sigh.

Needless to say, the Daughter of the Joker Card was ecstatic with her sudden discovery. "Sorry, Lizzie, the deal if off." she grinned toothily as she pulled out the document she had so desperately tried to get the princess to sign almost an hour prior and watched it all burn up in an abrupt eruption of flame. "I don't need you to sign the contract! I just need to sign your page in the Storybook of Legends and your destiny is mine!" she cackled cruelly. "As well as other things . . ."

Blitzwolfer snarled when he felt the jester's claw-like nails trace themselves across his collarbone and crawl down his sternum and chest like the creeping legs of a stalking spider. The seductive, mocking grin that she flashed him tied together with her leering look was more than enough to make him heavily unsettled and for roughly four of the six girls currently looming up behind him clench their fists tight enough to draw blood; the other two consisted of a woefully confused, narcoleptic princess and a witchling that was attempting to keep her cool lest her dark powers flare and perform some unpredictable act of unholy black magic on the unsuspecting courtroom.

The maddening cackle of Courtley Jester as she left the courtroom with an even bigger smirk upon her lips was the last thing the small group of aliens, fairy tales, and princesses heard before they suddenly took note that the floor had abruptly and unexpectedly opened beneath their feet and sent them plummeting into empty, black space with a furious howl rising above the rest of the terrified screams of their decent.

---

She was still utterly exhausted from her prior attempts of escape and could do little else but sit on the edge of the large, queen-sized bed and wait as she slowly regained her energy reserves. She had spent what felt like almost weeks – but could have very well been only a mere day or two – wandering through the endless hallways and sprawling plains of her abyssal prison with her only light coming from the infinite number of mirrors that shone and sparkled like stars in the night sky. There was nothing else for as far as the eye could see, nothing but mirrors and blackening void the farther she traveled away from the mirror of her imprisonment; she was alone.

After coming to reluctant terms with this, she had settled down with a more clairvoyant mind and discovered that she had been granted a bed to rest herself in, a few changes of clothing identical to the wicked extravagant dress she had been wearing when everything had spiraled out of her control, and a small supply of basic foods and beverages to supplement herself with for at least a week before she ran out and another supply would magically appear upon her bedspread.

Considering the other places in Ever After where she could have been imprisoned – there were several nasty gulags out in the middle of the freezing tundras run by brutish trolls and twisted goblins that were none too pleasant to be an inmate of – she had a rather nice setup going for her; a bed to rest her head on, clean clothes that somehow managed to magically clean themselves every few days when she was beginning to contemplating on wearing a previously worn outfit a second time, a steady income of food to keep her from starving. The one thing it lacked however, was a means of entertainment and escape.

If she had her way, she would be granted at least one of those things in the coming weeks. At least, she thought it might be weeks. It was so hard to keep track of time in a place where there wasn't a sun or moon to signify day and night and the mirrors that levitated and floated about in what had been her home for the past ten years or so didn't always give her a good idea at time intervals. Her usual evil and dark spells were nearly null and void in the Mirror Realm, dampened by the place between world's natural effects, and she was left with little more than party tricks and the most basic of spells that young witchlings learned almost before they could even walk.

With a sigh, she got up from her bed and stretched her long, ivory arms in an effort to get rid of the kinks that had set into her tired muscles. She had nothing better to do, so she might as well make her rounds through the maze of mirrors and see if there was anything remotely interesting to watch – there was this pair of old, crotchety wooden puppets who heckled the fairy dust out of anyone that came within five yards of them and she found them to be greatly amusing.

Her heels clicked nosily in the silent void as she began to slowly trail her way through a corridor of mirrors that weren't particularly organized by location or significance; the Mirror Realm didn't work that way. Most of the time it was absolutely quiet, leaving her to try and fill the awkward silence that permeated the foreign realm like a foul stench bury itself into ones nostrils. The only other noises that accompanied the sound of her voice and the clicking of her heels were those of the mirrors themselves whenever she 'tuned in' and listened, though this only lasted as long as she was within a few feet of the desired mirror and standing still. The deafening silence was so bad sometimes that she occasionally had to – with great strain – move one of the stubbornly floating, magic mirrors near her bed so that she could fall asleep to at least something other than the sound of her own breathing and the rustling of the sheets as she tossed and turned.

It was maddening to be in this place for so long. It was a wonder she hadn't gone mentally insane yet.

"Red Knight, to my office at once!"

Speaking of going mentally insane . . .

She approached a familiar mirror that was greatly askew when compared to its surrounding brothers and felt a sinister smile slither its way across her alabaster features when she caught sight of a familiar jester giddly plotting to herself on the other side, blissfully unaware of who was watching her with intense curiosity. She occasionally wondered what might happen if those that she watched discovered just what lurked on the other side of the looking glass they spent hours preening themselves in front of, the reflection that they spilled all their darkest secrets to when they thought they were only talking to themselves, the mirror that they performed the most embarrassing of habits in front of – namely singing into a hairbrush with nothing but a towel on that sometimes unexpectedly dropped. The thought made her cruelly smile while she tented her fingers and watched.

"Once I crash the Queen of Hearts' birthday party, I'll take the Storybook of Legends from the Cheshire Cat." the joker card chuckled gleefully to herself as she used a stick of ruby red lipstick to draw a crude crown on the mirror, only to add a broad, cheerful smile just underneath it. "We'll see who's grinning then!"

She felt her sinister smile grow just the slightest bit bigger. "My, my, my dear, Cardilia Hearts, how you've grown since we last encountered one another," she hummed with dark amusement to her tone while she watched Courtley absentmindedly detail her crude drawings just the slightest. "Scheme, my little fool, scheme to your hearts desire. You have been quite a pleasant surprise, to say the least. My own daughter may resist the call of evil, but you see more than game . . ."

She could never quite grasp why her own flesh and blood seemed deaf to the haunting calls of villainy and transgression. True, there was the near constant threat of those that weren't aligned with her ideals gaining the upper hand and defeating her – she continued to insist that those dimwitted brothers and that old mummy of a hag had merely gotten lucky in catching her off guard with the imprisonment spell that bound her to the Mirror Realm for as long as they dictated – but as far as she was concerned, the pros far outweighed the cons. After all, one didn't simply gain complete and utter control over all of Ever After by sitting back and being a proper prince or princess, that just wasn't simply how it was done. Only those had the initiative and lusting desire to conquest and conquer until all was within their grasp had their dreams recognized and their goals achieved, no matter who had to be stepped on an order to obtain it.

And if her own darling daughter couldn't see that, well . . .

The sound of Courtley's voice drew her out of her thoughts and back to the ailments of the sinister jester. "Rats! I forgot!" she cursed to herself. "The Cheshire Cat can turn invisible! How can my card tricks compete with that?"

She hummed in thought, a slow smirk creeping its way across her lips with a small chuckle slithering its way from her throat. "Hmmm, looks like Courtley could use a little help," she mused. "My evil influence, of course, speaks volumes."

With a swirl of her hand and the soft murmuring of words long forgotten and cast away into the most ancient of texts upon her poisonous, pomegranate lips, she curled her ivory fingers and claw-like nails into a fist and gave a single punch to the side of the mirror she had paused in front of. Her grin broadened just the slightest when rings of crimson and dark magic radiated outwards from her hand and the dull thump! of a book tumbling from a shelf came from the other side of the looking glass. It was of course, an easy spell for one of her caliber but it was also one of the most forgotten spells that had ever been crafted in all of sorcery; the Grand Council always did want to keep the most powerful spells out of the hands of the . . . common folk, as they sometimes referred to them within their private sanctums.

Oh, if the people of Ever After only realized just how judgmental their own protectors and guardians were.

"Who's there?" she heard Courtley's voice call from the other side of the mirror. She reveled in the tone of apprehension and immediate suspicion as the joker's eyes flickered about for any sign of intrusion. "Read, little jester, read your fill. Then rule over Wonderland while I bend the world to my will . . ."

She grinned to herself as she watched the joker card stare intently at the book, marveling over the ancient and worn cover whose leather binding was adorn with the foreboding image of a horned skull with crimson, ruby eyes placed in the sockets. She delighted in the feeling of watching Courtley's face light up with malicious intent and wonder when she realized just what had 'stumbled' into her hands and the near infinite possibilities at her disposal when she called in a pair of ignorant security cards.

"Time for you to prove your worth, I curse you now to crawl the earth!" Courtley recited and it felt to her like she was watching the daughter she had always wanted, the daughter she always knew she was to have cast her very first spell for the first time. She watched as the pairing of unfortunate security cards shrank in a blast of noxious, purple smoke until they were only the size of mice – just the right size for one to step on. The sound of intruding, heavy footsteps and the soft clanking of metal caught her attention and she felt a frown take the place of her once proud smile when she saw the Red Knight march into the office and stand at strict attention. Honestly, of all the henchmen her new pawn could have under her thumb, it had to be one of the two Protectors of Wonderland.

She hoped to the ancestors above – or below, if one took into account of a certain Ruler of the Underworld with breathtaking anger management issues – that the two of them weren't in a romantic relationship. That was just sickening.

"You, ahem, summoned me?" the Red Knight attempted to pretend he hadn't just seen his superior talking to a pair of miniature security cards the size of rocking horse flies.

The Daughter of the Joker Card quickly recomposed herself and attempted to cover her up her once sadistic behavior with a quick wave of her heel to send the two shrunken playing cards scurrying off into the corners of her office. "Ah, yes, Red Knight." she cleared her throat while she climbed to her feet. "The Queen of Heart's birthday party starts in half an hour. I am placing you in charge of the school until I return." she instructed as she slipped by her underling and made her way over to a trapeze bar that hung low from the ceiling, her preferred choice of entering and exiting her place of power.

The Red Knight saluted proudly. "Yes, ma'am! In charge."

She watched with dwindling interest as her new pawn spun around on her heel and promptly back flipped onto the trapeze bar with ease, her legs hooking over the rod and effortlessly pulling her up with spellbook in hand. "You know my rules: you're not to break a single one of them." she hissed threateningly with a stern look in her eyes.

With that said and done, Courtley Jester disappeared from view as the trapeze bar was lifted up and out of sight, leaving her underling to heave a great sigh and make his way over to his superior's desk where he sat down in her chair with his helmet on the table. "Rules . . . are rules." he mumbled.

Seeing that everything else of interest had swiftly left the room, she decided it was time to take her leave and check back in to see the fruits of her labor. With her pathetic excuse for a daughter and her pitiful friends trapped within Wonderland's grasp and a joker with newfound power seeking to wreck havoc on an unsuspecting realm, things were bound to get interesting some time later.

After all, the Jester line hadn't failed to entertain her before.

---

"Like a lit candle, the dodo flies again!"

"What does that even mean?"

"I think it means she's comin' around."

"Alright, everyone, stand back and give her some air! Let her breath!"

Raven moaned weakly as she tried to make sense of the voices that were so insistently beating her pounding skull like a drum. When the distorted, echoing voices didn't become any clearer, she instead decided to simply focus on the malformed images that her eyes were trying and failing to process. She groaned with discomfort as she reached with a hand to press her fingers to her throbbing temple and leaned a little deeper into the war, furry pillow that was kindly holding her steady while she recovered. It took a few seconds for her greatly confused mind to remember that pillows weren't necessarily covered in fur, nor did they have cold, sharp claws that sent odd little tingling sensations across her ivory skin while they gripped her shoulders.

She was also then aware that her feet were soaking wet and seemed to be submerged in some sort of liquid that reached up to only a little past her ankles, missing the hem of her greatly disrupted dress by several inches; her entire body hurt, as if she had a dragon dropped right on her back and had somehow survived the bone-crushing weight. "Ugh . . . my head is killing me . . ." she hissed.

"Yeah, fallin' and breakin' everyone else's fall 'll do that to you." she heard Blitzwolfer's voice chuckled sheepishly, his throaty growls sending vibrations from his chest through her back; it was an oddly pleasant feeling, like a relaxing massage for her weary muscles.

Her vision finally cleared up by that point and granted the witchling a clear view – it was admittedly still a little fuzzy around the edges – of Apple's concerned faces as she anxiously fussed over her like a worrisome mother hen, as if she were going to shatter at any moment. "Raven, are you alright?" she fretted.

"Yes, that was a rather nasty fall you took." Lizzie added.

"I'm fine . . . for the most part." Raven gave a low hum of relief as the pulsing pain in her head started to ebb away.

"Are you sure?" the Princess of Hearts pressed with tightly clasped hands. She couldn't help but feel responsible for the witchling's safety while in such an unfamiliar place – at least unfamiliar to her Ever After friends – that she had insisted on bring them to. After all, had it not been for her begging and pleading with Raven to try and reverse the horrible curse her horrid mother had placed upon Wonderland they wouldn't currently be in this mess, being treated like common criminals by a psychotic joker who seemed to run everything with an iron fist and then getting hurt in the process. Had she just kept her mouth shut and just cried herself to sleep that evening instead of pressing the witchling into bring them all here, none of this would have happened.

Raven sighed and rolled her eyes. "Yes, Lizzie, I'm fine. Other than a giant-sized headache, I'm totally fine." she mumbled as she took to attempting to suppress the thumping sensation within her skull that stubbornly refused to leave her alone as quickly as she would like.

The gruff rumble of Blitzwolfer snapped everyone's attention towards the Loboan before any of them could repeat the question a second time and attempt to turn Raven just as insane as the Wonderlandians from frustration. "I think a more important question is, where the heck are we?"

"Finally, the lad's using his brain and asking the important questions." Skurd mumbled.

The group of maidens and resident alien ignored the Slimebiote's sarcastic remark and took in their surroundings. They were in a large room of sorts with a low ceiling through which rusted pipes covered in layers of mold and slime ran through and thus made the space feel even more small and cramped than it really was. A few drains and pipes opened up and allowed a disgusting, murky water that had the uncomfortable viscosity of fine mud or maybe even mucus to flood the room to about ankle height, giving off a faint, fetid odor not unlike that of rotting vegetation. Giant lilypads bigger than a wagon wheel were scattered about the indoor bog, upon which their party had taken shelter on. Bookcases that were falling apart and decrepit shelves were pushed against the walls with poorly kept books attempting to seek dry ground upon their shelves; the continuous sound of dripping water made Blitzwolfer cringe with every drop.

"What is this place?" Briar gagged, pinching her nose in disgust. "It smells awful in here!"

A loud snore drew their attentions towards the front of the room where a very peculiar creature sat back in his chair behind a desk, taking a nap without a care in the world. The odd-looking creature had the familiar shell of a turtle or perhaps a tortoise covered in small patches of moss that had mistaken him for a rock; given how little he seemed to move, Raven couldn't say she was surprised. The creature's arms were instead replaced by the flippers of a sea turtle with three dull claws along the edge that must have acted as fingers for when the bizarre looking creature was actually awake. The head was shaped like that of a bovine with a pair of ox-like horns sprouting from either side of the skull with moss and vines draping down like a thin veil. A simple neck tie hung around the dozing creature's neck, as if he were attempting to give off some sense of class while in near eternal slumber.

"Who or what is that thing?" Blitzwolfer raised an eyebrow. He had seen some rather unusual people and creatures ever since they had fallen into Wonderland, but this by far had to be one of the most strange.

As if on cue, the creature stirred with a loud snort and sleepily awoke from his nap with a wide yawn. "I am the Mock Turtle." he introduced himself with a smack of lips, as if tasting his own breath. "But do not mock me for I am every bit as good as a real turtle!"

Maddie beamed brightly. "Hiya, nice to meet you Mr. Mock Turtle, sir! Would you telling us where the schoodle-"

"This is detention. There is no escape." the Mock Turtle cut her off with a sluggish yawn while he fell back into slumber, earning an ireful pout from the interrupted Hatter. It were as if the entire introduction had sapped him of all his energy.

"Quick! Lets escape!" Kitty hissed, nudging Briar in the shoulder and pointing towards an unattended door at the front of the classroom beside the sleeping Mock Turtle. The princess initially had her hesitations about sneaking out of detention of all places – the Evil Step Librarians handled generic detention back at Ever After High and they watched those entrusted into their temporary care like hawks, as if they didn't trust the troublemakers that had ended up under their watch for a second – but given how lazy the Mock Turtle was, she hardly doubted they would have much trouble leaving.

After helping Raven to her feet and listening to her explain to a still worried Lizzie that yes, she was fine and yes, she could walk just fine on her own, the group hurriedly made their way to the door as quietly as possible. Surprisingly, it wasn't even locked and all it took a quick turn of the knob for them to open the door and make a dash to freedom; it sounded a little too easy.

Apple quickly discovered that it was too easy when she stepped through the door first and found her shoes submerged in ankle deep swamp water for the second time that day. She wasn't sure how it was even possible, but they had ended up right back where they had started, right in the middle of the detention hall where they had been unceremoniously dropped like yesterday's garbage. Everything was the exact same, as if they had never left and were only just returning, everything from the bubbling cesspool of revolting bog water and leaky pipes to the overly humid atmosphere and thunderous snoring of the Mock Turtle, who was still asleep and completely oblivious to their escape attempt.

"What? No, it can't be!" Apple tugged at her blonde curls in bafflement.

"Come on!" Briar anxiously tugged her on the princess' arm as they ran at the door a second time. She was getting a bad feeling in her gut and if there was one thing her father had told her, it was to always trust her gut no matter the situation or matter at hand. With as much strength as she could muster, the Daughter of Sleeping Beauty rammed her shoulder into the door and banged it open with all her might . . . only to find themselves once again on the other side of the room from the door they had just left through and an absolutely ignorant Mock Turtle still sleeping on the job.

Lizzie was getting more and more frantic now. "This cannot be happening! This cannot be happening!"

"Like hell it is!" Blitzwolfer growled as he pushed his way to the front of the group. Raven instinctively jammed her fingers as deep into her ears as possible, knowing exactly what was coming next. The rest of the girls were quick to follow as the Loboan drew in a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and firmly planted his hands as deep into the bog as they would go. A thunderous, ultrasonic howl that seemed to decimate the sound barrier erupted from the back of his throat and smashed into the door with enough force to blow it clear off its hinges and giving them yet another opportunity to escape. Blitzwolfer quickly bounded for the open door with the rest of the girls stumbling through the swamp right behind them . . . only to once again fall into the same trap for the third time in a row!

The Mock Turtle hadn't even stirred and continued to snore.

"Damn you, you accursed door! Damn you and your vexatious, infuriating, comedic ways!" Skurd shook his little pseudopod with fury from the collar placed upon his host. The series of dying beeps and blast of green light signaled that the Omnitrix had timed out and returned Ben to the world in the process, but if anyone noticed they didn't make any remark.

Their attention was instead quickly caught up by the shrill, heart-rending wail of absolute tragedy and despair from Lizzie as she collapsed to her knees and wept for all she was worth. She wept for the loss of her realm. She wept for the loss of her beloved homeland. She wept for the inevitable loss of dear mother and father. She wept for all the trouble and hardships she had put her friends through on this stupid quest on some off-kilter belief they of all people could return Wonderland to its previous glory. She wept for the pure sake of shedding as many tears and anxiety in as little time as possible to relieve herself of her sorrows. Even when Ben crouched down and pulled her into a strong, comforting hug in an effort to try and bring the flow of salty tears to an end, she buried her face into his shoulder and let him run his fingers through her hair while she continued to weep her hardships away. Her entire frame trembled with every sob she gave and her throat was dry and rasping from her eternal grieving.

"I'm sorry, Lizzie," Raven whispered while she knelt down and embraced the woebegone Princess of Hearts, unsure of what else she could do to show her just how sorry she was. One by one the rest of their rag tag group of heroes put their own anxieties aside to be there for the weeping princess who would lose everything she had once known in but a matter of hours; all they could do was offer their pity and comfort while they enveloped Lizzie in a tight embrace. "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry . . ."

The dripping pipes and the continuous snoring of the Mock Turtle refused to offer any solace.

---

Cerise only felt the hairs on the back of her neck relax when she had safely stepped over the threshold of the LiFairy doors and entered the silent sanctum of scholar. Massive floor-to-ceiling shelves covered a good portion of the LiFairy's upper floor space shrouded in shadows and dim lighting before leading to a short stair case that led to a more bright and well lit area that was used for reading and larger solitary studying; a good majority of the book shelves there were still knocked over and being slowly repaired after the incident with Apple.

"Lets split up. We'll cover more ground." Alistair instructed.

"Shhhh!"

The Son of Alice in Wonderland sighed and muttered a soft apology to the Evil Step-Librarians while they threw a pair of stern, hawk-like glares at him that could have sliced him to ribbons like a pair of throwing knives. Why the two diabolical women wouldn't tolerate even the slightest of sounds was beyond him – it might have had something to do with the bitterness that came with being related to a far more successful step-sibling who was now a queen instead of a librarian – and he currently didn't care to further investigate the matter. He instead decided to take Bunny's hand and head off in one direction while Clawdeen and Cerise were left to take a different route through the labyrinth of books.

Cerise took a deep breath and sighed a second, weary sigh as she looked at the task before them, taking note of how long the aisle of books they had ended up in was and how high up it went, going several stories up into steady darkness that was only lit up by a few, spare lanterns filled with fireflies hung at the beginnings and ends of the bridges and walkways that criss-crossed their path overhead in a tightly knit pattern of intricacy. She wasn't exactly sure why Ever After High even required such a massive space for books and old texts, but she had heard rumors of a forbidden section of books that were kept high above and out of the prying hands of students that were only available to a select few of the staff members; and even then, it was a quest all in itself to even retrieve one of the legendary books of prohibited knowledge. As far as hearsay went, no one had been allowed into the forbidden section ever since it had been constructed, which often confused Cerise as to why it had even been built in the first place.

That mattered little to her now. At the very least, it narrowed the amount of space they would have to search, as she was quite certain that a princess of Darling's upbringing would never attempt to reach the forbidden books section unless given a hexcellent reason to break rules. That being said however, there was the possibility of her being teleported there by chance if what Alistair and Bunny claimed was true . . .

The Daughter of Red Riding Hood groaned in frustration and rubbed her temples. She hated it when things were far more complicated than they needed to be – the one exception being her boyfriend on most occasions – and loathed it when questions she asked never had simple answers. The half-breed wanted nothing more than to scale the towering bookshelves – she knew she could do it, she just never had much of a reason to – and begin searching the darkened, upper levels where she would be fear to explore without inhibition of her bloodline being revealed; she could have blazed through the entire forbidden section with blinding speed with her sensitive nose put to work and on all fours and her ears fully exposed for maximum effort, but she was stuck among those that would see her as little more than a monster if they knew the truth.

But searching the forbidden book section would require both of the headmaster's permission and then an explanation as to why they wanted to look through the prohibited books in the first place. And if Headmaster Grimm learned that they had been delving into the affairs of Wonderland against his wishes and after such a strict warning only several hours prior . . . it was going to be messy.

It was times like this that she envied the ghouls that she shared a man with. Even though they had been torn away from their world and dumped in a place that was only familiar to them by the vaguest means, they were free of any restrictions that kept her and her fellow fairy tales pinned down. They didn't have the pressure of following a predetermined fate, whether it was desirable or not, and even though they constantly received segregation from their now fellow classmates, they weren't the least bit bothered by it and tended to keep to themselves; they all lived under an uneasy truce.

"Even with our noses this is gonna take forever!" Clawdeen suddenly exclaimed, tearing her from her thoughts.

"Shhhhh!" Cerise hissed violently. The Riding Hood fearfully glanced over her shoulder to see if anyone had overheard her partner and instinctively tugged her crimson cloak just a little tighter over her head just in case someone had happened to look their way.

The werewolf chewed her lip anxiously, waiting a full minute while her ears attempted to pick up any signs of approaching feet before relaxed just a few degrees. "Sorry," she whispered. "Forgot about the whole 'Big Bad Father' issue."

"Shhhhhhh!" a pair of more violent hisses came from several bookcases over, earning an ireful growl from Clawdeen as a response. How the Evil Step-Librarians managed to hear her yet remain completely unaware of the young couple currently making out with one another on the other side of the bookshelf to her left was beyond her. With a low snarl from the back of her throat, Clawdeen flexed her fist and thumped heavily against the bookshelf to her left. Her lips curled into a satisfied smile when a pair of surprised and barely suppressed yelps came from the other side followed quickly by the impactful smack! of a weighty book of some genre falling right between the startled couple and the ever insistent shushing of the Evil Step-Librarians.

"Don't worry about it." Cerise murmured quietly with the faint traces of a smile on her lips. Without another word she turned and continued down the corridor of books, leaving Clawdeen a tad perplexed.

The Riding Hood gave a deep sigh while she tried to push the images of a make out session between herself and a certain witchling out of her head. She had already come to terms with the fact that she had a crush on Raven – she was so amazing to be around and it honestly surprised Cerise that more boys weren't practically throwing themselves at her the way they approached Apple – she was just nervous about what would happen when she worked up the nerve to express her feelings towards her. Raven was someone she deeply cared about and she couldn't bear the thought of her closest friend even remotely disliking her for any reason; she was after all the only that she dared to openly share her secret with.

Cerise just didn't know how long she would be able to keep up the false facade she had constructed to obscure her feelings before she would go absolutely mad; she just couldn't get Raven out of her head. She wanted to hug the witchling like a child embrace a well loved stuffed toy, she wanted to kiss her all over and tell her how much she adored her, she wanted to mark Raven as her own and protect her from the dangers of the world like a guard dog protecting their master. The Riding Hood wanted so much out of Raven . . . she just wasn't sure if Raven was ready to give anything in return.

The half-breed was so immersed in her thoughts that she almost didn't noticed the smell. The familiar smell . . . that familiar smelly smell that smelled . . . smelly. It was the smell that Cerise realized with wide eyes and swelled heart that belonged to the ashen and amaranthine goddess that she worshiped so secretly worshiped, the mortal celestial whose aroma of dark magic and sweet lilacs made her pulse pound and her throat dry up. Her sharp, hazel eyes flickered about for any sign of her quarry as she hurried back out onto the main floor of the LiFairy until she set her sights on a table stacked high with books under which a pair of familiar, faint, lavender leggings sat.

She couldn't express her relief as Cerise rushed over to the table with an excited smile. "Raven!"

What she was met with when she pushed the books aside however, was anything but her magically-gifted demigoddess. Instead it was the vindictive, spiteful, and all around bitter face of Duchess Swan babbling away on her Mirrorphone without a care in the world before she had been so rudely interrupted that Cerise was unfortunate enough to meet. "As if! And no talking in the LiFairy!" she honked indigently. "So anyway, she was like 'yes way' and he was like 'no way' and she like 'uh yes, way' and he was all like . . ."

The Daughter of Red Riding Hood sighed in exasperation and bit back the furious growl waiting to be unleashed at the back of her throat and walked back over to the section books where Clawdeen was waiting for her with a confused expression. "They're not here." Cerise grumbled sourly.

"I take it you didn't find anything either?" Alistair guessed when he and Bunny caught up with the two wolf-born a few moments later, earning a pair of ireful glares and a faint growl from the werewolf as an answer.

"Hexcuse me!? This is a LiFairy! Stop people are trying to study here!" Duchess abruptly snapped rudely before returning to the rather obnoxiously loud conversation she was having on her phone. "What? No, not me! Now, as I was saying, he was all like 'no way' and she was all like 'yes way' and then she grabbed that new pair of shoes she got at-"

"SHHHHHHH!" the Evil Step-Librarians furious hissing sliced through the air, finally silencing the disruptive princess.

With the two calamitous curators of books practically breathing down their necks and threatening to burn searing hot holes right through their skulls if they so much as made another peep, the three fairy tales and werewolf stalked off to a more quiet section of the library to discuss their next move of action. This unfortunately, didn't generate many ideas as they had quite literally searched the entire school from top to bottom and everywhere in between, everywhere from the rooftops and the headmasters office to the school's rarely used dungeons and the dorms and even the Castleteria kitchen just in case their missing friends had somehow ended up stuck in an oven or one of the oversized cooking pots used to prepare Tiny Giant's lunches and meals.

"They couldn't have just vanished from the world." Alistair rubbed his chin in deep thought. He hated it when a mystery never presented clues or hints to aid in finding in the proper answer and it only aggravated him further when the solution was just out of reach; they were clearly missing something, but whatever it was it still eluded him.

Bunny sighed dejectedly. "But where else could they have gone? We looked everywhere!"

Clawdeen crossed her eyes to seemingly glare at her the tip of her nose accusingly, as if it were a traitor to their cause. "The nose knows an' if there's one thing my nose knows, it's that they ain't here."

"There's just something we aren't getting." Alistair mumbled to himself. "But what?"

Their answer soon came in the form of a book. A very large catalog of healing balms that could be made from various magical plants with a myriad of effects falling from the top of a high shelf and landing on the floor right behind them with a thundering smack! to be exact. Despite their initial surprise, the four of them instinctively craned their necks upwards and watched with amazement as books and manuscripts of varying titles and genres came flying off the shelves like a flock of disturbed birds before plummeting to the floor and landing all in a winding line one after the other; Bunny flinched every time a book struck the floor and Cerise and Clawdeen clapped their hands over their all too sensitive ears until the din had finally died down.

"Well . . . that was weird." Cerise narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

It was then that Alistair noticed something peculiar about the fallen books, ignoring the fact that they had seemingly flown from their designated shelves on their own accord. With his pulse quickening he removed Bunny's tight grip from his shoulder and hurried over to the start of the winding trail of literature, taking note of a very large and emboldened letter on the open page: an intricately written 'R'.

"Look at this," he gestured for Bunny, Cerise, and Clawdeen to come over. "Each book is open to a page that has an illuminated letter . . ."

Bunny gasped with recognition. "They must spell out a message!" she exclaimed joyously.

Alistair grinned and eagerly began to take in the highlighted letters while he followed the trail. "Raven's spell to Wonderland did fly . . . in a Mock Turtle's dungeon at Wonderland High . . . seek help from the tea and hats guy-"

Clawdeen cut him off before he could read anymore. "Wait, hold up. Isn't this that crazy Riddlish language that you guys speak?"

"It only sounds like a crazy language because you aren't a Wonderlandian," Alistair explained. "But yes, it's Riddlish. If my hunch is correct, Maddie must be sending us a message."

"What do you think it means?" Cerise wondered.

Alistair momentarily hummed as he put the words together in his head before speaking. "Raven's spell sent them to Wonderland and they're in detention. And we need to talk to the-" he translated before he was cut off by the voice of a hoarse vulture.

"For the last time, shhhhh! What are you, mad as a Hatter?" one of the two Evil Step-Librarians rasped violently from behind her desk, only backing down with a very noticeable cringe when Clawdeen offered a ferocious growl and a good look at her fangs and claws as a rebuttal.

Bunny gasped with realization. "Wait . . . mad . . . mad! I know where we have to go!" she exclaimed excitedly. Taking that as their cue that they had overstayed their welcome and would no longer be tolerated – no matter how much the two librarians were threatened by a certain lycanthrope – the three fairy tales and werewolf hastily left the LiFairy to make their way to the Village of Book End.

Had they stuck around a little longer, they might have enjoyed watching the two Evil Step-Librarians faint in shock at the sight of the fallen books flap their pages like wings and expertly shelve themselves once more without complaint.

---

The Mad Hatter's Tea Shoppe and Haberdashery was still as lively and colorful as ever, despite the fact that one of its most devoted employees was certainly missing in action. Top hats with wings absentmindedly flitted about through the air while tea cups and tea pots happily skipped and hopped about across the floor, eager to offer their services to any of the tea shop's customers whether they were requested to or not. Doors located on the walls next to stairs that led up and across the ceiling would occasionally bang open and offer a glimpse to some far off, exotic place of origin before clapping shut once more; Alistair could have sworn he saw a coral reef on the other side of one of the doors and mermaid give him a friendly wave and flick of her tail before the hatch snapped back shut.

The Mad Hatter himself busied and bustled about like a brightly colored bee with his extravagant suit and iconic top hat. "Oh, now that is hat-larious! Maddie? In Wonderland? I don't believe!" he laughed with glee. "Even with the worlds sealed, she still manages to get locked in eternal detention! That's my girl! I'm so proud of her!" he chuckled. "She's just like her old man, you know, I was in detention every other day and every other day as well!"

The mountain of sweets and tea cakes and the teetering towers of flowing tea cups the Mad Hatter flung forth with surprising grace and accuracy was astonishing and soon enough, Alistair, Bunny, Cerise, and Clawdeen were practically buried up to their necks in food; naturally, the two wolf-born were the first to dig after murmuring a polite 'thank you' in between bites.

Alistair however, was not feeling all that hungry. "Okay, if you were there so often," he attempted to steer the conversation back towards the matter at hand while pushing aside a stack of tea cups. "How do they get out?"

The Mad Hatter laughed as he tossed the half-full tea kettle he was carrying into his hat and sat down in a chair at the table they had claimed, his long, lanky legs bunched up against his chest so that he looked like a jack-in-the-box just waiting to pop out and surprise someone. "Oh, that's easy! I use to do it all the time!" he grinned. "There's a Wonderland High rule that not many people know about! In fact . . . I don't even know!"

"'ou canthnot be theriosth." Clawdeen glared with exasperation through a mouthful of food at the Hatter's realization.

"Well, you see, I have a rememory problem. I forgot!" the Mad Hatter explained.

Alistair sighed and tapped his chin in thought. While he was grateful to the Mad Hatter for acting as their temporary guardian and keeping tabs on them as a service to her majesty, the Queen of Hearts, as well as their respective parents, there were times when the Hatter's child-like enthusiasm was less than appreciated. Namely, when the Son of Alice in Wonderland was so embedded in solving a mystery that potentially involved the lives and well being of his close, childhood friends. Thankfully however, growing up with the nonsensical whimsy that was considered normal in Wonderland – as well as a mentally unstable mother – helped him build up impressive levels of tolerance and patience.

"Well, I know a rememory game." he said. "Just say the first word that pops into your head!"

"Foot!" the Mad Hatter replied eagerly. "Oh, I like this game!"

"Jabber . . ." Bunny prompted.

"Walking!" the Hatter answered.

"Horse . . ." Cerise joined in once she had swallowed.

"Fly!"

"Diamond . . ." Clawdeen goaded.

"Ring!"

"Dragon . . ." Bunny attempted.

"Fruitfly!"

"Escape . . ." Cerise tried.

"Tea-scape!"

Now that they had gotten the hang of the game, Alistair then made an effort to try and help the Mad hatter fully jog his memory. "Detention . . ."

"Tiddlywinks . . ." the Hatter trailed off, his finger unconsciously tapping his knee as if he were on the threshold of her discovering something new that was just out of his grasp before he gasped with remembrance. "That's it! Tiddlywinks!"

Clawdeen gave the cheering bedlamite a skeptical look as he happily performed a victory dance that was none too short of embarrassing. "You're sure we wanna go with this guy?"

"Unless you've got a better plan in that massive chest of yours, yes." Cerise snarked with a teasing grin. Much to her amusement, the werewolf huffed indigently and subconsciously folded her arms over her large bust with a fierce, mahogany blush upon her cheeks.

"I withdraw the question."

---

The rattling of the pipes as volatile liquids and substances flowed through them provided little alleviation to the greatly distraught Daughter of the Queen of Hearts. Even though Lizzie had long since run out of tears longing for release from their tightly knit prison, she refused to even consider letting go of Ben even after the other girls had left her to aimlessly wander about the Mock Turtle's dungeon of eternal detention with nothing better to do. With her spike-like nails digging into the fabric of his suit and the flesh of his arm and shoulder, Ben was left with the duty of acting as Lizzie's makeshift security blanket, not that he minded that much.

The Princess of Hearts was, in a word, broken. She was like a shattered mirror whose pieces had been thrown to and scattered by the four winds, never to be returned to their rightful place or shape. Her mind was blank, her emerald orbs locked wide open, her jaw clenched, and her voice barely more than a raspy whisper as she murmured incomprehensible things too quiet for Ben to pick up to herself. He was her last lifeline to sanity, the one constant that was keeping her from utterly falling apart and descended into the darkest depths of madness.

The clock whose hands always seemed to tell the wrong time that was looped around Kitty's tail rung ominously.

"Four o'clock. Brillig. My mother's birthday party starts in a few minutes." Lizzie sniffed softly to herself, her voice strained and devoid of empathy or emotion; she was dead inside, a hollow, tormented, china doll of her former self.

"Isn't there someway to get out of here?" Briar wondered with exasperation.

Kitty sighed. "I would teleport out of here to get help, but my powers aren't working." she offered before she flashed a bright smile and swiftly disappeared in a fluttering. Shimmering shower of sparkling light, only to reappear mere seconds later in the exact same spot she had been. "See? No good."

Briar moaned. "This could take a hundred years!"

"Ah, chin up. You could sleep right through it, Briar!" Maddie giggled, oblivious to the way the Daughter of Sleeping Beauty groaned and cradled her frustrated features in her hands.

Apple sucked in a deep breath to try and calm herself before speaking up. "Okay, everyone, we just need to stay calm and think about the problem logically. Maybe there's something in this room that could help us escape. Or give us a clue?"

"The girl has clearly lost her mind." Skurd mumbled. "There is nothing logical about this."

"Still, you have to give her points for a positive attitude." Ben shrugged before returning his attention back to the greatly perturbed princess in his arms. Her nails were starting to really dig into his skin and cut off the circulation to his arm, but any attempt to try and loosen Lizzie's hold just long enough for his skin to return to its normal color was beyond hopeless; she was too cracked and he couldn't stand seeing her, much less anyone else like that. It didn't sit well with him, not at all. She had once been the mighty and powerful heiress to a country whose very nature justified her almost apocalyptic temper . . . and now with everything crumbling around her, she was but a hollow husk of what she had once been with nothing but him to keep her from fully falling apart.

Ben ran his fingers through her ebony and crimson locks and she responded just the slightest by leaning further into his embrace, as if she were trying to bury herself in him to hide away from the horrors of the world. He knew she was scared – it was as clear as the stuffed flamingo perched upon her head – and he honestly where she was coming from. He hid it well, but he was always scared whenever he ran into battle with that tiny voice in the back of his head questioning his every move and wondering whether this would be the fight that would finally claim his life. The brunette attempted to mask it with overconfidence and sarcastic wit mixed together with that charismatic charm that seemed to draw the girls towards him like flies to honey, but deep down . . . he was just as scared as Lizzie.

The loud hiss of an unstable tea kettle cut through his thoughts and he looked up to see the small, decorative teapot in the brim of Maddie's oversized top hat whistle violently as the steam pouring from the neck forced it to shoot off like a rocket. The kettle bounced and ricocheted around the room, banging and clanging off the pipes overhead before it finally knocked the end cap off of one of them and released a fresh torrent of unidentifiable sludge down upon Apple and Raven, dousing them in the stuff.

"Ugh, this place is hextremely icky." Raven shuddered in disgust as she wiped some of the grim from her face. "Somebody better think of something fast."

"We tried everything." Kitty mewed disappointingly.

"And the only door out leads us right back in!" Briar added.

"We really will be here for life!" Apple panicked.

"That's longer than forever!" Maddie exclaimed hysterically.

Ben watched in near disbelief as the girls descended into absolute delirium and pandemonium, yanking and carelessly tossing books off shelves in a frenzied search for a secret passage of some kind to aid in their escape or desperately trying to rouse the dozing Mock Turtle from his eternal slumber with little to no success. Kitty had somehow ended up on the ceiling and was slowly making her way down the walls, leaving deep claw marks where her nails had heavily gouged the wood in a panicked recklessness. Maddie was repeatedly taking running starts and throwing herself at the only door to the detention cell over and over again, only succeeding in breaking it down occasionally and ending up right back in the middle of the bog-filled dungeon where she had started, only to charge blindly at the door again without pause until there was a continuous stream of Maddies and broken doors running nonstop.

"How long has it been?" the wielder of the Omnitrix glanced at Skurd.

The Slimebiote hummed for only a brief second before answering. "One minute. Give or take a few seconds."

Ben shook his head. "This is madness."

"We're all mad here . . ." Lizzie muttered quietly into his chest. "They're mad . . . I'm mad . . . even you're mad . . ."

"How do you know I'm mad?" Ben raised an eyebrow.

"You must be, or you wouldn't have come here . . ."

"She's lost it." Skurd sighed.

"I hate to agree with you, but . . ." Ben trailed off as he place his hand upon Lizzie's delicate, ivory digits and rubbed soothing circles into the back of her wrist with his thumb in an effort to try and calm the worrisome princess. A comforting sigh of relief came from her as she nestled just a hair deeper into his frame, deeply inhaling the scent of his suit jacket and squeezing him just a little bit tighter; it were as if she was scared that he, her one constant, her rock, her unbreakable pillar, would be torn away from her when she needed him most.

At this point, they needed a miracle. Any miracle would do really, but what . . ?

"You can push books? Why, that's hat-tastic!" Maddie suddenly exclaimed.

The natural reaction, of course, was for everyone to stare at the Hatter for having the gall to disrupt their carefully constructed chaos. "Um, who is she talking to?" Briar wondered.

"She thinks she can talk to 'narrators'." Raven explained with a pair of friendly air quotes to match.

"Hey, with the stuff she knows, don't knock their existence." Ben lightly defended the Hatter. He was still apprehensive of the existence of beings that dictated the very actions of him and his friends and lovers – even if he was aware of beings that could quite literally wish all of existence away with but a thought and then bring it all back with but a snap of their fingers – but given how Maddie was aware of some of the more . . . intimate moments between him and his ghouls, he wasn't about to fully denounce them just yet.

"Quiet in class if you please!?" Maddie shouted with mild irritation. "I am trying to communicate with our invisible friend."

"Yeah . . . right." Briar took a few steps back . . . just as a precaution, of course.

Naturally however, this went completely unnoticed by Maddie – that or she just didn't care – and expectedly turned her attention towards the ceiling. "Narrator? We need your help!" she proclaimed.

"As you humans say, 'another one bites the dust'. Now we've got too complete loons." Skurd muttered depressingly.

Regardless (or ignorant) of the Slimebiote's quiet heckling, Maddie gasped and clapped her hands excitedly. "Look at the teacup drawing!" she pointed eagerly before spinning around and turning her finger's attention towards a faint scribble upon the wall. "And there! And there, too! And there, there, and there! And even there! That's it!" she cried happily.

"What's it?" Apple raised an eyebrow in confusion.

Maddie bounced over to the slumbering Mock Turtle's desk and pointed towards a teacup drawing that had been carved into the lower right hand corner like some sort of Wonderland graffiti. The image started out in a spiral to form the 'bowl' of the cup before curving into a fancy handle and then descending down into a small, matching platter that ended with the hastily written letters 'M.H.' engraved into the wood. "Those are my dad's initials," Maddie explained. "He used to be in detention all the time! In fact, he was famous for getting out of detention."

"You mean 'getting into' detention?" Raven asked with apprehension.

"Nope, getting out!"

Apple was the first to catch on. "So there is a way out!"

"But how can we ask the Mad Hatter if no one even knows to look for us here?" Kitty moped.

Maddie once again turned towards the ceiling for answers and fell silent for a few seconds, as if she were listening to a debate happening overhead; Raven rolled her eyes towards the ceiling as well, but was met with nothing more than the already too familiar sight of interlocking pipes filled with volatile substances overhead. "Good!" Maddie suddenly proclaimed. "Narrator, if you can push a book, then I have an idea!"

With further ado, the Daughter of the Mad Hatter then proceeded to begin knocking random books off shelves.

"Not a word, Snot Rocket." Ben murmured out of the corner of his mouth.

The Slimebiote folded his arms over his chest with a dignified huff of annoyance. "I'm not the one dating her, lad."

Before the brunette could offer a retort, he felt Lizzie's grip on him tighten just the slightest that it pulled his attention towards her. A wave of relief washed over him when he looked into those stunning, emerald orbs of hers and found just a hint of a shining spark of the former princess that he once knew not too long ago, the one who wouldn't stand for anyone – not even a petty court jester – to steal her birthright and lay claim over the land that she loved with all her heart, the one who could make even playing cards as lethal as a sword and look absolutely stunning while doing it, too.

"You gonna be alright?" Ben asked even though he knew it was a stupid question. The burning desire to make one Courtley Jester little more than a sorry little smudge that crackled and smoldered like a hungry flame in her eye was more than a good enough answer.

"Of course. What kind of future queen would I be if I let me taken over by a literal fool?" Lizzie scoffed, though her grip never faltered on him when she turned to look at him directly. "This isn't exactly easy for someone of my lineage to say, but . . . thank you. I honestly don't know where I would be right now if you hadn't insisted on coming with me to save my mother."

Ben flushed a bright crimson in color as a response. "Well, uh, you know . . . the others, um, helped, too . . ." he chuckled bashfully.

"Still," Lizzie sighed deeply while she rested her head in the crook of his neck and rested herself upon him as if he were a portable mattress, much to his embarrassment. "I appreciate you the most. To think the great Ben Tennyson helped the humble heir of Wonderland's throne save her mother from dethronement." she drawled with sarcasm and wit at her disposal.

"Please, the lad's ego is already big enough. Stop inflating it while you still can!" Skurd practically begged of the Princess of Hearts.

Before Ben could think of a descent retort he was once again cut off, this time by an overexcited Maddie – arguably however, this was the Hatter's natural state of being. "TIDDLYWINKS!" she exclaimed at the top of her lungs.

Apple blinked with disbelief. "Tiddlywinks?"

"You mean like the game?" Raven wondered.

Maddie simply nodded. "Yep! That's what they said he said! 'Tiddlywinks will free you'!"

As if she had spoken the magic words, the Mock Turtle abruptly and finally awoke from his slumber – Ben was beginning to wonder if the odd-looking creature had actually had a heart attack and passed away in his sleep after remaining so oblivious to their shenanigans without even being disturbed once – with excitement in his tired, rasping voice. "Oh, a challenge!" he cried with glee. "It has been so long: 'An obscure school rule: if you declare a challenge and then pass the proficiency test, you are released from detention'."

"So . . . it's like a 'Get out of Jail Free' card?" Ben raised an eyebrow.

"Not sure you're what you're talking about, but it sounds right to me!" Kitty flashed that ever familiar Cheshire smile of hers.

Much to Ben's surprise, Lizzie hurriedly climbed to her feet and proceeded to then all but practically drag him through the slime-filled bog that covered the floor and over to the Mock Turtles desk where a game of Tiddlywinks, complete with brightly colored chips and a waiting, plastic cup, sat and waiting. "If I win at Tiddlywinks, we get out?" she bargained while Ben righted himself and attempted to shake himself free of the excess moisture in his pant leg.

The Mock Turtle leaned down to regard the Princess of Hearts with narrowed eyes, as if she were a fly that had landed on the tip of his nose that he had only just noticed and was struggling to see. "Actually, any kind of trial by combat will suffice. The acting vice principal today is the Red Knight, so . . . that would be swords! Oh, what fun!" he clapped his flippers together like a happy seal.

"This does not bode well." Skurd remarked warily.

The Slimebiote was quickly proven right when the Mock Turtle then yanked down on a worn, rusty chain whose protesting groan was quickly followed by the shrill whistle of hot steam slicing through the sleepy, afternoon air high overhead. A faint, low hum of confused chatter accompanied the sound of ancient gears groaning and moaning in protest as they were forced to finally be put back to work after who knew how long of a rest. The rumbling of pistons whose slumber had been disturbed after an age filled the air and a frighteningly loud noise blocked out any other noise that attempted to be heard over the awful din.

Lizzie quickly realized this to be quite similar to the sound of water gushing and rushing down a suddenly unclogged drain and instinctively clung to Ben with a white knuckle grip when the lilypad they were standing on suddenly shifted underfoot and threatened to send them toppling into the disgusting cesspool of slime that covered the floor. Yelps of fright came from the other girls as they all attempted to stay balanced on their own lilypads, only to suddenly be blinded when the entire wall opposite of the gleeful Mock Turtle's desk slowly began to rise from the floor with the steady grinding of gears long forgotten.

"Why does this always happen to meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!?" Ben screamed as they went over the ominous lip of no return and were sent plummeting over the edge of the revolting waterfall of sludge and swamp water. It absolutely baffled him that a school – even if it was Wonderland of all places – would allow this much falling to happen to its students between classes. Generally, falling was to be avoided at any and all costs and if there was no chance to escape it then there usually was the comforting presence of a parachute or other means to slow ones descent. Wonderland however, did not offer such luxuries that he was pretty sure he would have killed for by now.

They were dumped unceremoniously in a heap of entangled arms and legs at the center of one of the many hedge mazes that covered the ground of Wonderland High, encompassing and walling them in with leafy barriers carefully grown and maintained to form intricate patterns of hearts and aces and clubs when viewed from the right angle. Ben was considering himself quite fortunate that if there was only one thing he could be glad he was lucky for since they had started their crazy adventure was that the Omnitrix had mistransformed him during any of their sudden falls; the thought of accidentally turning into Way Big and crushing his girlfriends into a bloody stain upon the ground did not sit well with him.

"That's it, someone get me a lawyer! I want to file a lawsuit with whomever runs this joint!" Skurd complained.

"I'm afraid any confrontation with any form of government will have to wait for a later time." Lizzie groaned as she peeled a large lilypad from her face. A faint sound came to her ears and her nerves were instantly set on edge when she realized with a chilling reality what it was. While she and Ben and the fairy tales apprehensively climbed to their feet, the noise got louder and her assumptions quickly proved to be correct when it was found that they were the voices of many eager and excited students all chanting the same thing over and over again, popping out form the labyrinth of green and cheering them on an almost blood lust quality:

"Challenge! Challenge!"

"Challenge! Challenge!"

"Challenge! Challenge!"

"Challenge! Challenge!"

"CHALLLEEENNNGGEEE!"

"Stay back! Back, you barbarians! Back you ruffians!" Skurd demanded threateningly.

Briar swallowed nervously as she and the others were forced back to back at the center of the small clearing they had landed. "What does this mean? What's happening?" she asked nervously while Ben briefly contemplated one of the many Omnitrix disks fastened to his suit while Lizzie anxiously clutched his hand tightly.

"I could be wrong, but . . . I think it's a challenge!" Maddie guessed.

Skurd of course, was sarcastic as always upon having the obvious stated one too many times. "And just what, dear girl, makes you think that?"

As if right on cue, the very large and very sharp point of a sword was thrust through the hedge wall directly in front of them, expertly carving out a perfect square in the wall of greenery before it suddenly exploded out in a shower of leaves and foliage that fluttered haphazardly to the ground at the feet of none other than the Red Knight; it may have just been the perhaps too dramatic lighting that was tricking his eyes, but Ben could swear that the crimson warrior actually looked much more threatening than the last time they had encountered one another.

"This is just off the top of my head, but how about him?" Maddie replied, only earning a groan of defeat from a weary Slimebiote.

Chase Redford's deeply distorted voice echoed across the hedge maze. "As acting vice principal, the rules decree that I must battle you!" he declared while he tightly gripped the hilt of his sword with both hands and assumed a fighting stance.

"I guess this is where I come in."Ben frowned as he cracked his knuckles, stepped forward, and proceeded to slap the Omnitrix fixed firmly to his breastbone, swallowing him in a bright, green glow of metamorphic energy. His skin began to harden into a smooth covering, the little hairs on his body solidfying and rearranging themselves into little, spiked diamonds that rose up from his arms and fused together into a solid layer of crystal. With a series of loud crackling noises they traveled up the brunette's arm, traversing across his skin as his bones amalgamated with his shifting form. Ben's frame bent and warped loudly with a loud cracking noise when his height and size increased by several feet, his shoulders broadening and adding to his already impressive frame; his jawline pushed out into a large, charismatic fashion and his teeth melted together to form a pair of hard plates. The back of Ben's skull was pinched back into a sharpened crest and a pair of sharp blades tore out through the back of his shirt, adding to his considerable bulk. A black jumpsuit with a wide, green stripe down the front that highlighted his crystalline chest and muscles materialized upon his body with a green belt that held the Omnitrix and Skurd completing the transformation.

To his credit, Chase bravely stood his ground when the Petrosapien finally opened his eyes, as if he had just been awoken from a deep sleep, and slowly drew up to his full height. He easily towered over the Son of the Red Queen by a few feet and made his crimson armor look like little more than a cheap, cardboard costume that a child might craft out of masking tape and crayons. It was only when he watched Diamondhead's bulky, right arm crackle and tinkle like broken glass and morph itself into a curved and sharpened blade nearly as long as his own body did Chase very nearly lose his cool; the newly forged weapon easily dwarfed his own sword!

Swallowing nervously, Chase watched as the Petrosapien assumed a similar fighting stance to his own, his weapon of choice raised up and behind him in preparation for a devastating beginning or demolishing block and parry. For the longest time the two of them seemed to stand there, silently feeding off of the rousing chants and cheers of the gathered crowd to fuel themselves for the inevitable fight; the Red Knight felt his fingers twitch nervously and his grip falter just the slightest for a split second.

That was when he struck.

It should have been impossible for anything that hulking and massive to move that fast, but that was exactly what Diamondhead did and with surprising swiftness as well. Chase only just barely brought his sword up at the last second and blocked the attack, his breath caught in his throat as he strained to keep his blade steady under the Petrosapien's great strength and the intense pressure he seemed to so easily exert upon his sword. His heart was hammering in his chest like a drum and adrenaline coursed through his veins like fuel through an engine, sending him into overdrive as his survival instincts kicked in.

And like that, they were off. Like lightning and thunder they endlessly clashed with one another, expertly swiping and blocking and parrying every strike that was aimed at them before returning the favor full force, only to have the same motions repeated in a never ending circle of sweat and violence. The cheers of the gathered crowd served to sustain their dwindling energies as Chase attempted to go for a decapitating motion that involved exposing himself to the danger of being struck, but with the reward of defeating his opponent and maintaining the order he sought to uphold; he had no intention of actually injuring or hurting the Petrosapien – even though he highly doubted it could be done – but he was the only remaining agent of law and order. It had be enforced at all costs.

It was quite unfortunate then that Diamondhead took advantage of his exposed front and suddenly drove his foot into the Red Knight's stomach, forcing the wind out of him and sending him skidding back as his sword clumsily fell to his side, nearly falling from his grip. He felt a sudden breeze and he glanced out of the corner of his helmet to see the curved, crystalline blade of his opponent but a breath away from his neck, specifically where the jugular vein would have been beneath the armored suit. The Petrosapien laughed tauntingly with a smirk upon his features.

Chase gulped and sucked in a deep breath, pushing out the roar of the crowd in his ears and suddenly brought his broadsword up to smack the Petrosapien's blade away from him before expertly diving in with swift and rigid strikes and swipes of his blade in an effort to land a blow to his crystalline opponent. He could hardly believe how fast they were moving, two beings that should have been reduced to sloppy, but powerful swings and crushing blows rather than the lightning fest of fury they were putting on for everyone's amusement.

His heightened senses alerted him to the attempted downward swing that Diamondhead was trying to pull – a move that would be devastating if executed correctly – and he jumped backward at the last second just as the crystalline behemoth drove his weapon deep into the ground. Taking the momentary pause the Petrosapien made while he tried to free himself, Chase rushed forward with a yell and threw his entire weight into his opponent's chest, knocking him free and flat on his back where he then proceeded to thrust his sword at the Petrosapien's face; the blade hovered but an inch away from impalement.

Raven winced as the crowd became ecstatic at how the tables had turned, how the once mighty had fallen. Her throat was dry and she watched with tightly clasped hands as Diamondhead swung the curved blade that had once been his right arm and smacked the sword away from him long enough for him to hurriedly scramble to his feet and engage in combat once more. Sparks flew like lighting bolts as the weapons clashed with further fury and ferocity between them, blinding the Daughter of the Evil Queen with every strike so that it was like starring into the blazing light of the sun.

The height of the scuffle came when Chase made a daring dash and thrust of his weapon and just barely nicked the side of the Petrosapien's face, bringing the battle to an abrupt halt as the two of them stood there, absolutely breathless. The crowd had fallen silent and watched as Diamondhead slowly brought up his left hand to run a finger along the shallow groove that had managed to scar itself along the side of his skull. The Red Knight couldn't shake the feeling that he had just crossed a line that was never meant to be crossed.

"He's in trouble, isn't he?" Lizzie was unable to look away from the spectacle as what she could have sworn to be a low growl of sorts rumbled from the back of the Petrosapien's throat.

"You have no idea . . ." Apple whispered. Was it just the Princess of Heart's imagination or was that a faint smile upon the fair maiden's lips among a light, cardinal blush?

The crowd erupted into chaos as Diamondhead suddenly whipped his arm around and nearly knocked the sword from Chase's hands and proceeded to ram his shoulder into the Red Knight, nearly setting him off balance while the Petrosapien swung his weapon of choice a second time; the crimson warrior only just barely managed to block the second strike, wrestling with the blade in an attempt to turn things in his favor. The Son of the Red Queen's breath was in his throat now when he realized that his foe was barely even using the full of extent of his strength, not even using his free arm to try and steady his hold while they struggled; it was like he was being toyed with.

That only served to enrage the Red Knight even further. He had been relentlessly trained from the day he could walk and hold a sword in his hands to be his mother's living weapon. He lived to serve her and the other Two Queens, swearing his life to the blade and pledging his honor to protecting his majesty. Where most Wonderlandian children had spent carefree hours having endless tea parties, picking on the caterpillars, playing with the wild bandersnatches, and running about without a care in the world, he had been ruthlessly trained day in and day out without rest. He grew up without friends, only learning how to attack and defend, to serve and follow orders without hesitation, to always strive to be better than he had been yesterday no matter how much his body and mind ached without rest. Every night he would flop back into bed only to be woken up at the crack of dawn to resume the training that had gone long in to the night before.

Chase Griblig Redford was not about to let some random changeling make everything he had worked so hard for go to waste.

With a warrior's battle cry and a herculean surge of strength, the Red Knight unexpectedly shoved upward on his broadsword and succeeding in making Diamondhead stubble just the slightest, giving him an open to slice his sword out in a wide arch that forced the crystalline behemoth to take a step back. Another swing forced him to take another step backwards and a third was quickly blocked and disarmed by the Petrosapien as they hastily got back into the rapid rhythm of repeatedly attacking and defending themselves without end. The crowd of students was whipped into a frenzy by the chaotic display, their relentless cheering only fueling Chase's aggression as his swipes became more hostile and desperate.

It wasn't until he managed to deal a blow that Diamondhead just barely managed to block did things start to take a turn for the worst. With the Petrosapien briefly disoriented for the just the slightest moment, Chase roared with fury and thrust his sword forward with all his might.

SHLING!

"WHOA!" Diamondhead grunted.

"BEN!" Lizzie screamed.

The crowd fell absolutely silent and the Daughter of the Queen of Hearts felt her hands fly to her mouth in shock. Her face seemed to have paled several shades, as did Apple and Raven's while Kitty, Maddie, and Briar all cringed and winced at the grievous wound that Diamondhead had been dealt. The blade of Chase's sword was buried through the Petrosapien's gut straight up to the hilt, thrusting out from the other side amid a small shower of crystalline flakes that had been shaken free from the sudden eruption of cold, hard steel. For the longest time no one moved, as if none of them could quite believe that Diamondhead had just been stabbed right before their very eyes by the one they saw as a protector and enforcer of rules and law.

If it was any consolation, Chase looked just as horrified at what he had done.

After what felt like an eternity however, Diamondhead finally shook his head free of the mask of stupefaction he wore and grabbed hold of the sword's hilt with a heavy hand. His large fingers effortlessly and smoothly pulled the blade out as if he were merely sliding it out from its scabbard; there was no blood, no sign of extreme pain. Just a small flaking of crystalline dust and a tinkling sound like that of shattered glass as the Petrosapien easily filled and healed over the wound, much to everyone's shock and relief.

"Looks like we're getting' serious then." he remarked before turning to his parasitic partner. "Skurd? Mind hittin' me with your best shot?"

"As you command!" the Slimebiote faithfully saluted his host. He quickly proceeded to slither and ooze his gelatinous body over the massive, curved, and jagged blade of the Petrosapien while simultaneously tapping into the genetic database of the Omnitrix and selecting a suitable sample. A cracking, clattering noise like that of splintering rock filled the air as sharp, jagged cracks and rifts split themselves across the surface of Diamondhead's weapon, rapidly cutting deep grooves and channels that formed steadily darkening and fading islands of rock and stone. Bubbling, hot magma belched and oozed through the labyrinth of cracks, instantly catching fire and baking the air into an almost unbearable temperature that already had the Red knight sweating with fear.

Being stuck inside a portable, tin can didn't help matters, of course.

"Ooh, flaming sword!" Diamondhead grinned with the demeanor of a predator that had finally managed to corner its helpless prey as he glanced over his Pyronite-enhanced weapon. Chase couldn't decide which he was more scared of, the new weapon his opponent had just acquired or the fact that his broadsword had been pulled out of his foe's stomach with such carelessness, as if it happened on a regular basis."I take back half of everything bad I ever said about you."

"At your service." Skurd bowed with a hint of humor.

"Keep it up and I might take back everything."

"Don't tempt me, dear boy. I just might take you up on that offer." the Slimebiote seemed to smirk. "Now then, I believe we can both agree that this lad requires a good thrashing?"

"Word." Diamondhead concurred wholeheartedly. With a thunderous yell the crystalline behemoth thrust his flaming blade forward into a sharp, upward arc that effortlessly brushed off Chase's feeble attempt to block, batting him aside like he were a discarded toy that he no longer wanted. With surprising speed the Petrosapien brought the searing flames of the sword crashing down with the sound of breaking stone from where he had missed his initial target.

The Red Knight yelped as he ducked beneath a blindingly fast horizontal swing that had the potentiality of beheading him had he not moved in the nick of time – the scarlet plumes that decorated his helmet were just barely grazed and sizzled hotly like fresh bacon strips. At the last second he grabbed his sword by the blade with his gloved hand and held it over his head just as Diamondhead brought his own blade down like a mighty hammer upon the broadsword, threatening to snap it like a twig. Flames spat and hiss with every following blow as the Petrosapien repeatedly threatening to melt the crimson warrior's broadsword from the sheer heat that was being exerted.

Perhaps had Chase not been so busy cowering in his suit of armor and desperately trying not to give under the sheer amount of force that was being pounded into him he might have seen the kick coming. Well, he wasn't entirely sure what hit him until after he was sent sprawling across the courtyard and lying on his back, dazed, disoriented, and with a large dent placed in the breastplate of his armor. Propping himself up on his elbows he saw a large crystal thrusting out from the ground directly in front of the spot where he had been moments before, the blunt end almost matching the dent in his armor perfectly.

He also found himself but an inch away from the blazing hot tip of a Pyronite-encursted sword.

The Red Knight swallowed and looked up at the Petrosapien looming over him, a triumphant smirk upon his face that only broadened when the crimson warrior had finally noticed that his trusty broadsword had slid just out of reach. "As a not-so-friendly friend of my says, 'Game. Set. Match.'" he grinned, the flaming sword flaring up with heat for emphasis.

Chase was sweating in his scarlet suit of armor, though he wasn't sure if it was due to the extreme heat pouring forth from the smoldering sword or if he was just nervous. He had been bested by the changeling again, and in the same day no less. He wasn't sure who he feared more at this point, the crystalline behemoth standing over him, his mother when she would learn of his defeat, or his employer when she realized that the girls she had spent so much time keeping in line escaped from his clutches; he quickly decided that he was more afraid of Courtley than any of the other two. The jester was notorious for being absolutely brutal when any one of her rules was so much as disobeyed, becoming a hurricane of pain and punishment beyond anything he thought possible of a mere mortal.

Frantic to recover victory from the jaws of defeat, the Red Knight desperately swung his legs around and delivered an unexpected kick to Diamondhead's knee, causing him to buckle under the unexpected blow. This gave Chase enough to make a mad scramble for his sword and hurriedly climb to his feet just in time to catch the Petrosapien's flaming blade, locking them in stalemate once more.

"Don't you ever give up?" Diamondhead grunted.

"Never!" Chase shouted.

"You're starting to rub off on the lad, dear boy. He's starting to sound like you." Skurd commented. "Truly a frightening thought, if you ask me."

"And that half of everything bad I ever said about I took back, I take back." Diamondhead grumbled sourly.

"Don't paradox yourself, lad! Fight!" the Slimebiote urged.

The two warriors of crimson metal and pale green crystal, as if in silent agreement with one another, simultaneously drew back their respective swords for another clash of molten rock and cold steel . . . only to suddenly be interrupted by the presence of a third sword!

The Red Knight's eyes widened and his voice seemed to take on a higher pitch of anger. "You!"

"Oh, now you show up! After I did all the hard work!" Diamondhead complained.

The White Knight merely bowed apologetically. "My sincerest apologies, but I had to wait my turn. It would be against the rules to do so, now wouldn't it?" he seemed to ponder for a brief moment before he swiftly undid the stalemate he had tied the three of them into with a single, upward thrust of his sword. "Now go! The queen needs you!"

"No one is going anywhere!" the Red Knight roared gruffly. "The rules clearly state that I must battle them!"

The crimson warrior's ivory counterpart lightly tossed their sword in his grip and thrust it threateningly out at Chase. "Then you know that the rules also allow a champion to take their place!" the White Knight defiantly before hurriedly turning towards Diamondhead and the group of stunned fairy tales. "Run! Get to the queen's birthday party and save her! I'll hold him off!"

"Oh, no you don't! We're not going anywhere until you-" Diamondhead growled as the White and Red Knight's lunged at one another with a mighty clash of their swords, reinvigorating the crowd of entertainment-deprived students once more. The White Knight gave a mighty swing of his blade, the weapon clashing soundly against his scarlet counterpart's broadsword with a burst of sparks that forced him back in order to regain his balance.

Lizzie urged the Petrosapien. "Ben, come on! We must hurry!"

"We must make haste! We're not too late!" the voice of the White Rabbit cried frantically from one of the hedge maze's many inlets and outlets, the lagomorph anxiously hopping from his left to his right foot and wincing every time the swords of the two knights clashed over the din of the crowd. "Come with me! To the palace!"

Diamondhead took another glance back towards the battle just as the White knight blocked another attack aimed at his torso, his alabaster armor rattling as he struggled and strained against Chase's fury. He looked back the other way and saw the retreating backs of Raven, Briar, Kitty, and Maddie as Apple led them after the fleeing White Rabbit between the roaring crowd and through the hedge maze's leafy corridors; only Lizzie remained restlessly waiting for him, wearing a pleading look that he cursed himself for being unable to resist.

"I'm not retreating! I'm just running away in a manly fashion!" he barked over his shoulder while he made a mad dash for the lingering Princess of Hearts and took her waiting hand in his gigantic, crushing digits as delicately as possible. Using her other hand to hike her skirt up to keep pace with the Petrosapien, Lizzie led them through the winding, confusing layout of the labyrinth of greenery, always remaining just a few paces behind their friends when they turned corners and whipped around bends. Eventually, after much running, they came to another courtyard in the middle of the maze from which a large bush carefully trimmed into the shape of a teapot stood proudly in the very middle.

The White Rabbit bounced and scrambled his way up to the lid of the hedge and pulled out his pocket watch from the depths of his coat. "Quickly now! Down the rabbit hole." he frantically gestured for them to follow him while he drew his finger counterclockwise along the watch face of the timepiece. The top of the teapot-shaped bush suddenly opened up in a blast of bright, golden light like a secret hatch. "There's not a moment to lose!"

Lizzie panted lightly as she struggled to keep her dress from tripping herself up, only now just beginning to mentally curse the outlandish dress code they had been given. Had she not looked up in time, the Daughter of the Queen of Hearts probably wouldn't have noticed the way Kitty had fallen behind the rest of the group until she was running even with her and Diamondhead with that ever present and leering smile upon her lips that almost always signaled that trouble was soon to follow. "I'll go ahead. Cheshire cats travel light and always with a smile!" her grinned seemed to broaden as she gave a sudden jump and delivered a quick peck to the Petrosapien's cheek. "Be safe!"

By the time the frisky feline had vanished in shower of glittering light, Lizzie and Diamondhead had already made it to the teapot-shaped hedge just as Raven and Apple grabbed the others hand and jumped in unison down the waiting rabbit hole, with Maddie gleefully tucking herself up into a cannonball and Briar merely hoping there would be a soft landing when they soon followed suit.

Lizzie gave a startled yelp when Diamondhead gave a sudden tug on her arm and effortlessly hauled her into the air and onto his back between the two sharp blades that sprouted from his shoulders. "You ready?" he asked the princess.

"Do you even have to wonder, Ben?" she smiled adventurously, securing and locking her grip around the Petrosapien's thick jawline with determination in her eyes. With a running leap, the two of them jumped straight down the rabbit hole without hesitation, plummeting down towards who knew where as the White Rabbit hopped and closed the secret entrance behind them.

---

Sparrow Hood was in absolute bliss.

At first, he had been so apprehensive of the smooth, green-skinned ghoul with the bright, fiery hair and cute, curved fangs when she beckoned him to follow her with that alluring curl of her claws and pointed nails that seemed to pull him closer and closer like a fish on a hook. As he faintly recalled, the ghoul wasn't particularly fond of him for . . . some reason that he couldn't quite remember; he just knew that she hadn't liked him back then. Now however, she seemed to have taken a sudden interest in him . . . it was rather unexpected, but the Son of Robin Hood felt that it felt almost . . . natural.

"Trust in meeeeee . . . just in meeeeee . . ." her voice was absolutely hypnotic when she sang, the way it seemed to curl itself around him and wrap in a sudden chill that sent shivers up his spine. "Shut your eyes . . . trust in meeeeee . . ."

Sparrow found himself helpless to obey – not that he would have hesitated for a chance to continue listening to her mesmerizing voice – and felt his eyes slowly droop shut. He had been so stressed out before, wasting his time belting out off-key melodies for . . . someone or something that he couldn't remember, but now he felt so relaxed, it was unlike anything he had ever felt before. His legs might as well have been made of melted metal as he slowly, sluggishly, blindingly followed the sound of the ghouls entrancing voice as she sang. The curl of her claws just barely grazing his skin felt like an electric charge as her fingers agonizingly walked themselves up his chest and gave a teasing scratch under his chin.

"You can sleep, safe and sound . . ." the mortal goddess' voice felt like it was gently caressing him with her oh, so soft hands. "Knowing I am around . . ."

His eyes felt so heavy. The conman couldn't help but wonder how in the name of the ancestors he managed to continue following the sound of the ghoul's hypnotic tones whenever they were just too far out of reach of his ears for his liking. His body felt so tired but in a way that it felt good, like all his worries and concerns were simply being washed away by the vexing vixen's vox. Her voice felt like it was slowly and proactively wrapping itself around him, the sweet sound of her singing only being highlighted with her taunting and teasing touch that impinged in all the right places and released so much stress; the thief's muscles might as well have been soup by now.

"Slip into silent slumber . . . sail on a silver mist," the siren's song continued on. "Slowly and surely your senses will cease to resist . . ."

Sparrow was quite certain he didn't want to resist. That would mean tearing himself away from the ghoul's gorgeous voice and he most certainly didn't want to do that. Her singing was sweetly sensational and the accompanying, provocative motions only solidified her sway over him. Her skin was soft beyond words, like that of silk when her cool hands slowly slid their way across his warm, limber arms while they occasionally felt him up just to see how muscled he was. The very tips of her claw-like nails patiently glided their way around his collarbone, striking all the right points as her hands descended upon his shoulders and began to work out the tense knots in his tissue; she was giving him a massage.

"Just relax . . . be at rest," her voice purred in his ear, the very tip of her tongue lightly digging its way into the auditory cavity and sending a pleasurable shiver up his spine. "Like a bird in a nest . . ."

At this point the Son of Robin Hood was absolute putty in her hands, his body going completely limp and inert while he felt a big, dopey smile creep its way across his face. He was in heaven right now, being waited upon hand and foot by the goddess of his dreams as she serenaded him with a voice as sweet as sugar to please his musical senses. He just wished he could open his eyes to gaze upon her beauty once more, but he didn't dare disobey her alluring, tantalizingly, hypnotic tune for fear of her ending the song preemptively.

"Trust in meeeeeee . . . just in meeeeeee . . . shut your eyes . . . trust in meeeeeee . . ."

He could sense that her voice was waning, that she was ending her performance long before he was ready to let her go. "More . . ." he begged, his voice little more than a whisper.

"Hmmmm . . . nah." was the last thing he heard before he was suddenly blasted in the face by a wet spray of something that vaguely smelled like sugar but was sticky like honey at the same time.

Sparrow gave a sharp yelp and awoke from his trance with a start, instinctively bringing his hands up to wipe the odd concoction from his face, only to find that they were firmly pinned to his sides. The conman struggled and wriggled about like a worm when he realized that his legs were bound as well and something was preventing him from fully screaming out in panic.

The thrashing about came to an abrupt halt when he heard that familiar, sickeningly sweet voice call to him. "You can struggle all you want, little bird, but you'll only make them hungrier."

"V-Venus . . . you're starting to scare me." a second, less familiar voice shivered uncomfortably.

The Son of Robin Hood's eyes widened with fear and shock when he was suddenly spun around and came face to face with the aforementioned plant-monster ghoul as she lounged on a large rock in the warm rays of the sun. Now that he at least knew who his captors were, he was able to take in his surroundings and current situation and realized that he had been taken – or walked, he couldn't really recall – Enchanted Lake, the shaded pond a fair distance from the Village of Book End that was unofficially claimed as Duchess Swan's property. It was a place where he had been ocassionally invited/dragged to by the swan maiden and it was where she went to calm her mind and dance upon the water's surface through means no one quite fully understood. The pond was of considerable size, sheltered by ancient oaks and an apple tree that offered fresh fruit whenever Duchess got hungry, looming over stands of cattails and reeds that offered protection to smaller fish and frogs from the fishing birds that occasionally stopped by for a light snack.

There were two things that Sparrow was quite certain of however. The first was that the thick, thorny vines that were tightly coiled around his body and slowly squeezing him like some kind of enormous python most certainly didn't belong there. The second was that there was a pile of discarded clothes at the base of the rock that Venus sat upon by the water's edge, an amused and seductive expression upon her lips.

"I know you like it, Sweet Mango," her voice purred and it sent shivers of fear up the conman's spine now that he was in her web of greenery. "But I'll try and dial it back for you."

Sparrow's eyes flickered about as he tried to pinpoint exactly who the plant-monster ghoul was talking to before he set his sights on a head of damp, unkempt, mauve and magenta hair beneath which a pair of crystal blues starred skeptically back at him just above the water line. It took little time for even the Sparrow's nigh microscopic brain to put two and two together, to which he was greatly horrified.

The thief groaned with despair. "Why does Sparrow always see the creepy monster chicks naked?"

The surface of Enchanted Lake bubbled and frothed slightly when Jane released a severely irritated growl from the back of her throat. "If I recall, your first encounter with a 'naked, creepy monster chick' as you call us was entirely you're fault. I am not to be held accountable for any injuries that may involve mutilation by talons or severe pecking simply because you could not mind your own business."

Venus gave a flattered smile. "Awww, did my little Sweet Mango get jealous while I was having lunch?" she smiled sweetly. "I didn't know you cared so much."

Jane blushed a deep cardinal as a response and sank a few inches deeper into the pond. She was already embarrassed by the fact that Sparrow had come to while she was having a swim – they still hadn't had a chance to purchase a proper swimsuit for her, even though they had talked about going to a place called Looking Glass beach one of these days when things were relatively peaceful – and Venus' affectionate ribbing was doing little to disperse the heavy shade of crimson upon her features. She was already envious that Venus had been forced to work her irresistible charms on the Son of Robin Hood in order to get him to cooperate with them – even though her ghoulfriend greatly expressed how much she hated seducing someone that wasn't her boyfriend or any of her other spouses – and honestly couldn't wait to be rid of him; his atrocious choice of music was absolute murder on her heightened ears.

His voice, even when defeated and captured, was just as grating. "How'd I get here? And for that matter, what do you two chicks want with a hot man like Sparrow? That Ben guy not treatin; you right or somethin'?"

Venus scoffed with a roll of her eyes. "As if," she grumbled with disgust. "For your information, we've been assigned to keep you away from Dexter's date while Ginger and the ghouls set him up with Cupid. A much more suitable match than Rosabella, if you ask me; as for how you got here, all it took was some 'Pollen of Persuasion' and the rest, as they say, is history."

Sparrow frowned angrily, mostly because he had been manipulated so easily by someone who was so outrageously gorgeous. "That was not in the deal!" he spat.

Jane suddenly became very interested and cocked an eyebrow as she swam towards the pond's edge, where the conman was suspended high above the ground by a series of monstrous vines that wrapped and curled themselves around the branches of the canopy overhead, as if he were a pinata of sorts just waiting to be whacked. "Deal?"

The musician promptly clammed up right then and there. If there was one thing that his employer had made clear when they "liberated" him from his lengthy detention sentence in exchange for a private concert by the 'Sparrow-man', it was to keep their identity a secret at all times. Should the secret be revealed, the 'Sparrow-man' was going to find himself with an even longer detention sentence without any hope of escaping.

"Uh, what deal? Sparrow doesn't know any deal." he quickly attempted to cover his tracks. "Unless you're talking about the deal, which would be me, Sparrow Hood, because Sparrow Hood is totally the deal! And a big one, too!"

"You're a big something alright . . ." Venus muttered under her breath as she shifted herself up to sit on her knees. The plant-monster ghoul then proceeded to beckon him towards her with a slow, seductive curl of her claws and Sparrow found himself being lowered from the treetops and brought up nice, close, and personal with his captor as the vines obeyed their mistress. "Enough games. You know what we're talking about here."

"Sparrow doesn't know what you're talkin' about. Ohhhh!"

Jane instinctively jammed her fingers in her ears, finding the conman's off-key crooning to be incredibly abrasive to her sensitive senses. It set her nerves on edge, and not in the good way whenever she was getting nice and cozy with Ben, Venus, or Robecca; it felt instead like she was being attacked by hundreds of freezing needles being jabbed into her skin. "Is there not someway we can keep him quite while we question him?" she pleaded with her ghoulfriend.

"I guess it's time for some more 'Pollen of Persuasion'." the plant-monster ghoul relented. While it was considered unethical and taboo by many monster species – including herself in most cases – Venus didn't have much of a problem when it came to manipulating the minds of those around her, as long as the outcome justified the means. She was a natural when it came to mixing together various spores and pollens into noxious concoctions, creating everything from insecticides and growth formulas to fungal removers and natural herbicides; making some more of her 'Pollen of Persuasion' came second nature to her.

Sparrow tensed up as Venus drew in a slow, deep breath from which she would expel the concilium concoction directly at his face and overwhelm his senses, from which there was a chance there might be no recovery; at least, in his mind. The conman instinctively shied away from the approaching plant-monster ghoul and began thrashing and struggling about once more, trying to get loose of his bonds and make a run for it before any of his secrets could be spilled. With sweat starting to trickle from his brow, Sparrow opened his mouth as wide as possible and bit down on the vine that was currently keeping him – mostly – gagged. The creeper immediately let go and the rest of his bonds quickly unraveled lest they receive a similar punishment, allowing the musician to drop down and roll across the ground.

"Later, bithces! Sparrow out, peace!" he called over his shoulder.

In hindsight, he probably should have kept his mouth shut. It seemed for whatever reason that the normally shy and anxious Jane that he knew was not putting up with any of his nonsense today, much less his irritating insults. Before Venus could even attempt to stop her, the jungle ghoul had lunged out of the pond and after the fleeing conman – stark naked – just as she brought a hand down on the waiting activation button of the Nemetrix. A flash of hot, crimson light enveloped her and began to distort and change her genetic code at the molecular level.

She felt her bones grind and groan as they were forced to shift about her internal structure, her organs expanding and disappearing as needed. Her skull cracked and splintered in response when her face bulged out into a short muzzle, her bottom jaw jutting out just a little bit more while her teeth crunched and sharpened into needle-like fangs; her gums pulled back with a disgusting slurping noise. Muscles coiled and threaded themselves together along her chest and back as her skin paled several shades until it was a nearly blinding white that was quickly laced over with inky, black stripes and red spots and slits. Jane's arms and legs reconfigured themselves, forcing her down on her hands and knees while her nails tore through her fingers and toes and came out as wicked, crimson claws that looked to be much sharper than was needed. A loud tearing sound filled the air in response to a row of serrated fins rose from the top of her vertebrae, running down the length of her spine as a long, reptilian tail whipped out from her tailbone. The jungle ghoul's once blue orbs dulled into a fiery red and quickly split into a second pair of eyes when a row of gill-like slits juxtaposed to a set of sack-like organs opened up on her neck. The transformation was completed with the addition of the Nemetrix in the form of a heavy, spiked collar around her neck.

The Buglizard gave a breathy bellow and gave chase after the fleeing Son of Robin Hood, eliciting a terrified scream from Sparrow when he foolishly dared to take a peek over his shoulder to see if he was being chased. The musician pushed his body into overdrive as he charged almost blindly through the underbrush of the Enchanted Forest in the hopes of loosing his pursuer in the thick brush and vegetation; his heart was hammering in his chest, threatening to come bursting out of his chest like some sort of alien nightmare that had been feasting upon his organs.

At the moment however, he was more terrified of the enormous extraterrestrial chasing after him. He didn't know how far the Buglizard was behind him, but he could swear that he could feel her hot, wet breath breathing down his neck every few seconds while he blindly charged ahead with reckless abandon, his only thought to escape being horribly mauled at the hands of the vicious predator. He could never quite understand how he managed to always get himself into these situations, where he always seemed to be risking his neck for some stupid reason or other that he wasn't entirely sure of. He wasn't sure if the Great Goddess of Karma, or whatever it was that Ben claimed to have it out for him, had turned her sights on him for the time being, but he could be certain of one thing.

Karma was a bitch.

"Sparrow! Stop running! You're only making her angrier!" he heard Venus' voice call from behind him.

"Yeah, because that totally makes sense!" he sarcastically shouted over his shoulder. "Sparrow'll hold still so she can tear me limb from limb!"

"That's only if you make yourself look appetizing!"

"Oh, that makes Sparrow feel so much better!" the musician yelled before suddenly giving off a girly shriek when a black shadow the color of night soared over his head and Buglizard slammed into the ground in front of him, cutting him off. The Son of Robin Hood very nearly ran into the greatly irritated alien animal and just barely managed to come to a screeching halt in front of her crook maw, less than a couple yards away from her wicked fangs. They had stopped in the middle of a small clearing of sorts with nothing but towering trees that gave way to a small patch of sunlight in near stark contrast to the comforting shadows of the forest and what looked to be an old, stone well positioned at the base of a gigantic oak tree; what the well was doing there in the first place, Sparrow could care less about.

The Buglizard took his temporary hesitation as a sign to attack and instinctively flexed the internal muscles in her neck, expelling a foul smelling gas the faint color and odor of regurgitated digestive fluids into a thick cloud that enveloped her and the entire clearing, obscuring Sparrow's view and leaving him blind to her whereabouts.

Sparrow felt his heart skip a bit as he was swallowed in the fog, his vision lost and his sense of smell easily overwhelmed by the noxious fumes produced by the Buglizard. He was madly searching his brain for any wilderness survival tips his father had attempted to pass onto him while he had been too busy taking a fancy into learning how to play the toy guitar his mother had crafted for him, but he was coming up with nothing. His attempts to try and recall anything he might have learned in this Beast Training and Care classes or his Heroics 101 course but he once again drew a blank. He was now mentally kicking himself for not better paying attention to information that had the potentiality to save his neck from being brutally mutilated at the hands of a ghoul he should have never attempted to tick off.

It was always the quiet ones that snapped first, after all.

He heard the sound of footsteps through the fog and only relaxed a few degrees when he realized with relief that they were lighter in comparison to his predatory pursuer. "Sparrow, don't move and just tell us what you were talking about earlier!" he heard Venus' voice plead with him.

A menacing hiss snaked its way through the steadily dissipating smokescreen of noxious fumes that had Sparrow gagging and choking for fresh air and sent a shiver up his spine. He couldn't make sense of where the noise was coming from in the thick fog, his senses disoriented and distorted beyond their natural means. One moment he could have sworn he saw the faint image of a shadowy sharp lurking through the noxious gas and then the next it would be gone, only to be replaced by the rattling hiss of a predator on the hunt from directly behind him. The Buglizard was closing in on him from all directions, seemingly taking her time and prolonging the inevitable short time it would take to pounce on him from out of nowhere and scare the living daylights out of him . . . or worse.

The Son of Robin Hood froze on the spot when he heard another breathy whisper of a growl from directly behind him and whirled around to come face to fang with the gigantic beast, close enough that he could have reached out and run a finger along the length of one of Buglizard's wicked fangs, close enough that her awful breath and foul-smelling saliva that dripped from her jaws was nearly enough to knock him out from the powerful odor. Sparrow could just make out Venus' form from behind the Buglizard's enormous frame, just out of reach of helping distance should the alien reptile choose to press those lethal jaws of hers but a few inches closer.

With little other choice, Sparrow gave into his primal instincts and promptly decked Buglizard as hard across the face as possible before turning tail and fleeing towards the other side of the clearing as quickly as humanly possible. The savage roar of Buglizard made the hair on the back of his neck stand straight up and only served to make him run faster when he realized that the predator was practically on top of him and seemed just about ready to tear him to shreds. With his heart in his throat, the conman gave a running leap and jumped atop the rim of the great, old well on the other side of the clearing, taking another quick jump and grabbing onto the lowest hanging branch. He attempted to use the trunk as a means to help him get up but his boots worked against him on the slippery trunk and gave little to no traction, leaving him hanging there like bait on a hook.

The horrible screeching of Buglizard was practically in his ears now and Sparrow swallowed what felt like a boulder lodged in his throat; he had but one chance to by himself time. If he could react fast enough, he just might be able to evade the Buglizard at the last second and buy himself but a few, precious seconds to make a run for the undergrowth and try and loose her in there. It was a stupid and dumb plan, not to mention highly risky if he didn't pull it off correctly, but at this point he didn't much of a choice. The conman doubted that Venus would try and rein in her rampaging ghoulfriend with the necessary force to subdue her and with no one else around to help him, he was left to his own devices.

"ROOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWRRRRRRAAAAAGGGH!"

It was now or never. With a final breath for courage, the musician waited patiently for the raging Buglizard to come to him, the adrenaline pumping through his veins sending his senses into overdrive; he noticed everything about the enormous extraterrestrial. He took in the way her lean, powerful muscles rippled along her powerful legs, the unconscious flickering of her tail as it swept low over the grass like a snake waiting to strike, the way her chest and those fume-producing organs embedded in her neck puffed in and out like a pair of inflating and deflating balloons, the way her claws twitched every few seconds, the strands of disgusting drool that hung from those powerful, lethal jaws.

The Buglizard suddenly charged like a runaway locomotive at him, her lean, muscled frame effortlessly powering her forward and into a startling, acrobatic leap. Sparrow felt like he was going to faint when the alien reptile came hurtling at him through the air with claws outstretched and jaws wide open, ready to slam into him and clamp down on some unfortunate part of him with those wicked, curved fangs of hers. At the last second however, the Son of Robin Hood gave every last surge of strength he had left in his body and pulled his body up as fast as possible before swinging the heel of his boot down and driving it into Buglizard's skull. The gigantic beast screeched in pain and plummeted downward . . . straight into the well beneath them!

"Jane!" Venus screamed as Buglizard bellowed and plummeted down the old well. The plant-monster ghoul shot across the clearing and dove for the tip of the Buglizard's disappearing tail, just barely managing to grab onto the end and jam her heels into the earth at the last second. Her flora muscles strained to hold onto the predator's incredible weight while the alien reptile desperately scrambled to dig her claws into the ancient, stone bricks of the reservoir. This proved to be fruitless against the slick, strangely rainbow water-stained surface of the walls and the Buglizard found herself slipping further and further down the well despite her ghoulfriend's best efforts.

Venus struggled to keep her footing as she was suddenly pulled forward and braced her feet against the rim of the old well, the slick scales of Buglizard's tail slowly starting to slip through her fingers. She frantically attempted to reach the Omnitrix clamped onto her left wrist in an effort to transform into a more powerful form in order to keep her ghoulfriend from falling; it was all for naught, however. With a final, horrible screech, Buglizard went plummeting down the well and into the abyssal darkness, dragging a screaming plant-monster ghoul with her.

Silencing soon overcame the fading screams, leaving Sparrow dangling over the gaping maw of the old well with stupefaction written all over his face. His grip faltered for just the slightest when his muscles slackened and nearly gave way, sending him falling just a few inches closer to the waiting gullet of the superannuated shaft. The Son of Robin Hood gulped when he felt his fingers tremble and start to weaken even more, his pinky and ring fingers unable to take it anymore and releasing their hold on the branch overhead. Sweating trickled down his broke like melting ice as his middle and index finger went next, leaving him dangling by nothing but his thumbs for the briefest of seconds before he was sent plummeting towards the ground and down towards his doom; maybe Venus and Buglizard would cushion his fall?

Sparrow soon found he didn't have to worry about such trivial matters when he landed flat on his back on the ground below. For what felt like an hour he simply lay there in shock, unable to believe that he had been able to survive an ordeal with all his major body parts and beloved guitar intact, if not merely a little worse for wear. Once he was over the revelation that he was indeed alive and not torn to shreds by some alien beast, he then found himself trying to fully comprehend what had just happened. Had there not just been a well beneath him a few seconds ago? The conman was pretty sure there had been a well, otherwise what had his two pursuers fallen down when they tried to grab him? But if they had fallen, where had they fallen to if what they had fallen into was no longer there.

"Sparrow thinks he's just gonna lie here for a little while . . . oooooh." he gave a pitiful, mocking cheer from his spot on the ground before he promptly fell asleep from over exhaustion.

---

B.P: And so Raven, Apple, Maddie, Kitty, Lizzie, and Ben "graduated" from school and were finally on their way to the Queen of Hearts' Birthday Party, where the sinister joker in the deck was planning to steal the throne and rule Wonderland!

T.P: You know, you're getting pretty good at this sis. But, um, why are you shivering?

B.P: Stop patronizing me, will you? Honestly, you're just as bad as that Courtley Jester card is creepy and unsettling.

T.P: Um . . . what?

B.P: *sigh* Am I the only one that sees the pictures at that beginning and end of every story!?

T.P: I have no idea what you're talking about, so I'll say yes.

B.P: You just don't want to get slapped again, do you?

T.P: Maybe . . .

B.P: Maybe if you stopped asking me such personal questions and constantly making me look bad you wouldn't get hit so much.

T.P: What do you mean 'constantly making you look bad'?

B.P: I see the way mom and dad look at you. They obviously like you more than me, all just because I want to make the stories have better, more happy endings! Is that so wrong!?

T.P: Brooke, there's a time and a place to follow the script and a time and a place to improvise and write your own tale. Just like there's a Happily Ever After for every Once Upon a Time, there has to be conflict in order for there to harmony and peace. You can't have one without the other without major consequences . . . or at the very least, a disinteresting plot.

B.P: You keep telling yourself that.

T.P: *sigh* You're just as stubborn as Ben. I'm beginning to see why you have a crush on him.

B.P: I don't have a crush on him!

T.P: You keep telling yourself that.

B.P: Shut up!

F.N.: The mango ripens and blooms and then begins to flowers-

M.N: Before it becomes smothered in hot dragon fire! Hahahahahahaha!

B.P: Oh, no, they're out of bed again!

T.P: I came back from collage for this?

---

And there we go!

Finally! *collapses* And just before the holidays, too! Consider this an early Christmas present to you all after neglecting to update after four months of absence. To be honest, I am really burned out and cannont wait for the holiday break; it's when Hades becomes a little less nasty and I can take a break from writing. Provided Lady Persephone isn't in one of her baking moods again. Every year, she and Hestia go on a baking spree to celebrate the holiday and I always somehow end up getting dragged into the whole process . . .

At least you're working with cookies! It's a dream come true!

Speaking of a dream come true, it's nice to finally have some peace and quiet around here without Wade constantly interrupting everything. Wait, did I just say what I think I just said?

Yep!

Damn those Omniversal Laws of Karma. And if my suspicions are correct, that ominous screaming can only belong to one person . . .

'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!' *WHAM!*

Oh, come on! The coffee table again? Is there seriously nothing of mine that won't be broken!?

'I could break something else if you like . . . once I stop seeing double of everything and my internal bleeding stops.'

You are the only guy I know who could be optimistic about having internal bleeding. *sigh* Welcome back, Wade. Just so you know, we had fun while you were gone and didn't miss you at all. It was the greatest Christmas present ever.

'Oh, I would totally be emotionally wounded by your lack of empathy over my disappearance . . . if I had emotions that is. At least other than hunger. And anger. And the happiness I get when beating the ever living /censored/ out of some unlucky /censored/. And lust. Lets not forget lust.'

You feel emotions? I'd sooner believe you were Batman.

Yeah, well, thanks to that stupid Mephistopheles guy, I'll never be able to sing!'

You're a bounty hunter/assassin/fourth-wall obliterating anti-hero. Why would you ever need to sing? And what does that have to do with anything other than your greatly appreciated disappearance?

'Hmmm . . . a bounty hunter/assassin/fourth-wall obliterating anti-hero you say? Thanks for the reminder, Four-Eyes!' *cocks guns* 'I got me some ass to kick. Toodles!'

Did he say 'toodles'?

I think we should be more concerned about what he's actually planning on doing than what he's saying . . . although now that I think about it, both are something to be worried about. At least for a later time, because I'm bushed and all I want to do now is spend some time with my girl before the insanity that is the holiday festivities gets sent into overdrive.

Aw, Creaty, you know how to treat a girl just right!

Living two lives will do that to you, babe. So without further ado, comment, review, suggest, and request down below!

Happy Holidays and Seasons Greetings from the Underworld!