Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story save my own characters and creations.

Hello, everyone. Remember that Bigby's Den thing I tried at the end of some of my chapters? Well I decided to mix things up a bit and create an entire story based on it for the sake of convenience, inspired by works such as ThatGuyWithTheGlasses' Video Game Confessions, Incredible Muffin's Times with the Muffin, and Count Kulalu's Character Confessions at the Krazy Kulalu.

Bigby's Den

Chapter 1

Hello, everyone and welcome. As you probably know, I go by the username Bigby the Big Bad Wolf. Sadly, I am not the Big Bad Wolf of Fable legend; just a simple storyteller who thought using his name would make me look cool. I am also the creator of Bigby's Den. At first the Den started out as a talk-show where I interviewed my fictional companions, especially those who were starring in my work. First there was Korra and Asami and then Elsa and Hiccup after them. I tried doing my Den more often but I just couldn't find the motivation to. At first I wasn't sure why but eventually I realized that I wanted something more, something really special. And so I turned Bigby's Den into a House of Mouse-esque club where my pals from all across fiction could gather in one place and interact with each other. And with me of course.

…

I'm pretty sure my face was hurting from how hard I was smiling, as I watched from my spot backstage, at the amount of people pouring in. So many were gathered here tonight: there was Steven Universe and the Crystal Gems, Alice Liddell and the Cheshire Cat, Princess Bonnibel Bubblegum and Marceline the Vampire Queen, several of the keyblade wielders, Queen Elsa and her sister Princess Anna, Jack Skellington and the citizens of Halloween Town. Good grief, the sheer amount made it hard for me to make every individual out.

Unfortunately, I had forgotten that I don't do well in large crowds. Normally I was more comfortable around friends and family but the vast number of people wasn't sitting well with me. My mouth felt dry, my stomach was churning, my knees were weak; all I needed now was some sweat and I would look like a complete wreck.

"Get it together, Bigby," I firmly told myself under my breath, despite my nervousness. "These are your friends, not total strangers. There is no reason for you to be this freaking nervous!"

"Aww, is the Big Bad Wolf having stage fright?" a disembodied, yet familiar voice teased. Normally I wouldn't be startled by this but due to how distracted and anxious I was, I flinched, my heart was pumping like a jackhammer, and my eyes were scanning the area wildly. The fact that I didn't jump out of my skin was a miracle in of itself. I looked around but couldn't find the speaker. Just then Marceline appeared next to me, having decided to use her invisibility while I wasn't paying attention.

"Hello, Marceline," I muttered dryly, already feeling my cheeks redden as my heart started beating to a slower pace. I hate getting startled, especially when I'm nervous. Or any time for that matter.

The Vampire Queen chuckled. "Relax, Bigby, just having some fun. You looked pretty tense from what I saw so I thought I'd come help you loosen up."

"By trying to give me a heart attack?!" I hissed at her.

"Just relax, Bigby," Marceline told me. "Don't want to meet your public looking like you're about to have a breakdown."

"Indeed," another disembodied voice said before the Cheshire Cat materialized next to us, that unsettling wide grin on his face. "It's rather unbecoming of one calling himself the Big Bad Wolf to be acting more like a whimpering pup, wouldn't you agree?."

"Oh thanks for the encouragement, Cheshire," I grumbled. "I feel so much better now."

Marceline flew up in front of me, giving me a small smile. "Seriously though, Bigby, you have nothing to worry about. We're all here for you. You've got our support."

Despite how annoyed I was at Marceline for startling me, I couldn't help smiling back. The encouragement only calmed my nerves about a fraction but it was still very appreciated. All the same, why didn't I just start out with a few people tonight?

Marceline noticed how nervous I still was. "Come on. I'll help you out." Then before I could say anything, she flew on stage to address the patrons.

"Hey, everyone!" She called out. "Are you ready to get this show started?"

"Yeah!" everyone responded to her.

"I said, ARE YOU READY TO GET THIS SHOW STARTED?!" Marceline urged them.

"YEAH!" everyone shouted, louder than before.

"Well then give it up for our host Bigby the Big. Bad. Woooooooolf!"

A round of applause went out through the crowd, signifying my cue. Marceline then looked back at me, smiled, and gave me two thumbs up.

"I believe the proper word for this situation would be "showtime"," The Cheshire Cat said to me. I tried to come up with some sort of witty comeback when he pulled his typical disappearing act.

"I swear he enjoys being a pain in my ass," I muttered under my breath. But seeing that it was too late to even think of backing out, I gave my suit a quick brush off and made my way on stage. The applause picked back up once they saw me. I put on the biggest smile I could and waved. Marceline nodded to me before flying over to a table Bubblegum was sitting at. I turned to face the crowd, my nerves already starting to kick up again as I saw so many eyes on me. Taking a deep breath through my nose, I gathered up all the willpower I could muster and forced myself calm. Then I raised my arms.

"Hello ladies and gentlemen!" I shouted to my audience. "And welcome one and all to the grand opening of the one, the only, Bigbyyyyy's Deeeeeen!"

I was treated to an even more thunderous applause, which definitely lifted my mood up So far so good, but I still felt like I was walking on eggshells. I better keep the ball rolling before I lost my nerve.

"We've got a lot of stuff to talk about today so I guess I'll get down to the nitty gritty," I began, clasping my hands together. "As you are all no doubt aware by now, and this has been long overdue, I have gotten back to writing Bleach: Ultimate Alien as a remake. So far we are nine chapters into the story, eight if you take into consideration that one of the chapters is just an Author's Note. But all the same, I have resumed writing."

"About time!" Amethyst shouted playfully from where she and the other Crystal Gems were sitting. "Are you actually going to update it again or just leave us hanging like usual?"

"Amethyst!" Pearl predictably cried out, preparing to admonish the smaller Gem, who was putting on a look of faux innocence. This brought about some chuckles from the peanut gallery.

I shrugged, having expected somebody to comment on that particular topic. "Relax, Pearl. I'm used to it."

"All the same," Pearl said, still annoyed at her fellow Gem's words. "Her behavior was uncalled for."

"It's probably common knowledge by now that my writing schedule leaves something to be desired and I think I've come up with some ways to help me overcome it. But right now, let's focus on Bleach: Ultimate Alien. First off, in the long awaited honor of my story's comeback please welcome to the stage Ben Tennyson!"

The crowd let out another round of applause as the wielder of the Omnitrix got up from his table and made his way to the stage. I clapped along with the others as Ben joined me.

"Hey, Ben," I greeted them. "Glad you could make it."

"No problem, Bigby," Ben said, warmly. "I was surprised though, I haven't heard from you in a while."

"I know, I know," I said, raising my hands. "When I last updated the remake, right? When was that again?" I scratched my head in an exaggerated way for humor. It seemed to work since I got some laughs.

"I'd say about four months but who's counting?" Ben shot back playfully, earning some more laughter from the crowd.

"Alright, fair enough," I conceded. "So, Ben, I know I'm a little late in asking this but do you feel about my story being revived and staring in it again?"

"I'm a little disappointed that you decided to drop the original since you put so much time and effort into it but honestly, I'm just glad we're working together again," Ben admitted.

I beamed. "Really?"

"Well, yeah," Ben put his hands in his pockets as he smiled sheepishly. "I really thought that you didn't want anything to do with me anymore. I heard you complained a lot about some of my shows like Omniverse."

I cringed. "Ooh." I rubbed my neck. I wasn't expecting that to be brought up. It took me a moment to collect my thoughts. "Sorry I made you feel that way, man. As annoyed as I was, I was never upset with you; the team behind the show, maybe, but not you personally. You're my pal, Ben. I wouldn't just toss you or any of my friends aside like that."

"Heh," Ben smiled. "Thanks, Bigby."

"No problem, man," I said. "That aside what are your thoughts on the remake?"

"I'm okay with it but I'm always going to enjoy the time I had with the original version. I'll admit, it had its' ups and downs but I still had fun." Then he grinned. "Course hooking up with five really hot girls didn't hurt either." This earned him a lot of laughs, some whistles and catcalls, as well as a few eyes rolls and head shakes. I couldn't resist looking over at where the Bleach characters were sitting, especially at Harribel, her Fraccion, and Nelliel. Nelliel was smiling with a faint blush on her face; Harribel remained with that stoic expression of hers (as far as I could tell due to her face being covered) while her Fraccion were among those rolling their eyes, though they did have small smiles. "That reminds me, how come you're just interviewing me? I thought you'd be talking to the whole cast. Especially now that Bleach is over."

"I'm gonna wait until I get further in the story, possibly when I complete the first volume," I explained. "Since you're the lead character, you deserve first shot. As for your harem, hope you're not too upset over hooking up with just one girl this time around."

Ben shrugged playfully. "Well, I might be a little disappointed." More laughs. "But it's your story, Bigby, you call the shots. Course, considering who you're hooking me up with, I'm not complaining too much." More whistles that time around. Ben looked at Harribel and smiled at her. The Arrancar just crossed her arms.

"I wish you luck with that," she said with the faintest hint of a challenge in her voice. A collective "Ooooh" went through the crowd. Ben raised a brow, but his smile remained.

"So how does my story look so far?" I inquired of the lead character.

"It's still early so I can't say much about it yet," Ben said and I nodded, that sounded fair. "The biggest thing I want to know about though is that Thorn guy. We are going to learn more about him right?"

"Oh definitely," I replied. "Let's just say I've got some big plans in mind with him. And that's all I'm saying."

"What, Bigby actually being secret about something?" Ben grinned as he ribbed me. "That's new."

I frowned. "Beg pardon?"

"Well no offense, Bigby, but subtlety's not exactly your specialty," Ben stated. "Course it's more because you like standing out and making yourself known than because you're bad at keeping secrets."

"I wear my heart on my sleeve," I said casually. "Now I can keep secrets but I just choose not to because I don't want any misunderstandings about me. I want people around me to have the straight facts."

Ben raised an eyebrow. "And being the center of attention has nothing to do with it, right?"

I gave him a deadpan look. "You're one to talk."

"Hey, what can I say?" Ben shrugged. "The people love me. Most of the time anyway."

"Yeah, Yeah. Well, Thorn aside, what other thoughts do you have about the story?"

"Well, I feel the beginning was a little rushed," Ben said truthfully.

"Rushed? How so?"

"Well the chapter was okay but there wasn't any real buildup. It's just about me being bored, getting some new upgrades, and then literally blasted to another universe. I don't know what but I feel there could have been…more."

"Yeah…I can see that. I guess I could have added some extra foreshadowing, maybe fleshed out Thorn some more." I scratched my chin. "So…any other parts you think could have been improved?"

Ben mused over the question. "Probably the part where I meet Aizen. Someone complained about how I reacted to his group being ghosts, right?"

"Right."

"I mean I'd definitely be surprised but I've seen enough weird stuff that actual ghosts wouldn't be that big a deal," Ben continued. "Your explanation about me being used to aliens that were like ghosts but not real ones was okay but, no offense, still weak."

"Yeah, I agree," I acknowledged. "I can't quite remember but I think I might have thrown that in after the complaint as some means of an excuse. I really wasn't in the mood to change the entire thing. Whether it's because I thought you'd be surprised or because I was too lazy to change that entire scene, I don't remember."

Ben laughed. "Sounds like you might need to work on that."

"The laziness or the remembering?"

Ben grinned. "Exactly." I found myself rolling my eyes once more. Ben then crossed his arms and tilted his head. "I also think you could have done more with my first encounter with Harribel. Like showing more of my reaction instead of just telling the readers how hot I thought she was." He quickly looked back at Harribel herself. "Not saying you aren't!"

We all chuckled at that. Harribel's Fraccion scowled at him but nowhere near their usual level of hostility. Guess their time working with Ben had mellowed them out to his antics.

"Yeah, yeah," I said again. I really needed to come up with some new phrases. "I did focus more on describing her than your personal reaction, I accept that and I'll make sure to keep it in mind for the future. Back to your first encounter with Aizen, I think I can guess what you might plan on saying next."

"What?" Ben asked. I wasn't sure if he was honestly being curious or testing to see what I'd come up with.

"The whole thing about you being against killing; some readers have pointed out how you've been willing to kill previous enemies. The problem is I was focused entirely on the whole "Super-heroes don't kill" thing that I've seen in other Ben 10 fanfics. Though to be fair, I doubt you'd be willing to just kill people that you don't know enough about, even if you heard first-hand accounts of what they have done. Usually you have to be pushed really hard before you resort to things like that. Do you think I should have written you being uneasy but not actually speaking up about it yet?"

"That might have worked better," Ben said.

I was kinda hoping he would elaborate a little more on where he did stand on killing bad guys, so I was put out when he didn't. I did notice he looked a little out of it. Did my words affect him somehow? I wanted to find out more about it but at the same time I was worried that I would be pushing things. So I decided to move on. "Alright, I'll keep that in mind too. Anything else?"

"How about when Harribel's girls came after me," Ben suggested.

I blinked. Out of all the possible things Ben could have found wrong with the story, I honestly wasn't expecting that. "Really? What did you think was wrong with that part?"

"I felt that whole talk about me being single, not looking for a relationship, and Harribel being out of my league wasn't really something I would do. I mean, yeah that's what was going on but come off like a remainder to the readers that Harribel and I aren't hooking up anytime soon."

I winced. "Okay when you put it like that. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if that was why I even made that scene in the first place. Man, what should I have written instead?" I directed the question to myself but Ben answered for me.

"Maybe you could have written that they attack me, I defend myself, and then Nnoitra shows up." he suggested.

I smacked my forehead. "Okay now that sounds so much better. Andit makes a lot more sense."

"The only real complaint I have about the Nnoitra fight itself was that it was short," Ben started to say before he was rudely interrupted.

"No kidding!" Nnoitra roared from his table, glaring daggers at me. "What the hell, Bigby?! Back in your old version I was Ben's nemesis, but when we fight in your new one, all we did was have us hit each other a few times and then Starrk stops us. And if that wasn't enough, you give Ben a longer and better fight with Grimmjow! Grimmjow!"

"Like I said in the Author's Note for that chapter, I was testing the waters!" I snapped in annoyance. "I'll give you better fights in the future!"

"Really?" Nnoitra sneered.

"Really," I shot back. Nnoitra was always one of my least favorite characters of Bleach and I wasn't gonna let myself get pushed around by the likes of him. I swear, one of these days I'm gonna lose it with him so bad that I'll take the end of...whatever his weapon is and shove it right up his rear end.

"But you really made up for it with the Grimmjow fight didn't you?" Ben added, probably to prevent me and Nnoitra from possibly duking it out. "I was not expecting him to tear off my arm."

Grimmjow himself grinned. "Now that's something I would do. Hell, the whole fight was pretty much something I'd do." He laughed. "You did good, Bigby. I'm actually impressed." Nnoitra glared at him but Grimmjow ignored his fellow Arrancar.

"Thanks," I replied, wondering whether I should feel flattered or disturbed. "Anyway it felt like something that would happen in Bleach and as Grimmjow said, something that he would do. At least I made sure that you were using an alien who could afford to lose an arm. Sorta."

"Sorta?" Ben repeated. "What? You couldn't wait until I was Swampfire before I get my arm ripped off?"

"I thought it was more impactful with one of your aliens who couldn't regenerate," I explained.

"Oh, "more impactful". Right," Ben grumbled half-heartedly under his breath. This brought up some more chuckles from the peanut gallery.

"What about the training with Tōsen, Gin, and Harribel's Fraccion? Were those alright?"

"Those were pretty good fights," Ben reassured me. "I liked when I buried Gin up to his head and how I got Apacci, Mila Rose, and Sung-Sun as Upchuck. Those parts were hilarious."

"And what was funny about it?!" Apacci yelled at him from her table. All this succeeded in doing was getting some more laughs from the rest of the audience, making her temper flare up even more. "Let's put you in somebody's mouth and see how you like it!"

"Sorry, Apacci!" I called out to her. What can I say? I hate it when pretty women are mad at me. Call it a weakness. "I didn't mean anything bad by it, I swear! I just wanted to write something funny."

"Something funny?!" Apacci shouted indignantly. She looked like she was ready to launch herself right at me.

"Apacci," Harribel said in that soft but authoritative voice of hers. The other Arrancar froze at her lady's voice.

"But Lady Harribel…" Apacci started to plea.

"It's already happened so there is no point in still being upset," Harribel reprimanded her firmly but gently. Apacci was clearly upset that she wasn't going to throttle me, but she sat back down in her chair regardless. "At least he didn't write something worse." Harribel narrowed her eyes at me, which made me flinch. Like I said, I don't like when pretty women are mad at me. Makes me depressed. And hurts my self-esteem.

"Another thing I was curious about," Ben said, directing my attention away from Harribel's gaze. "You know the part where Aizen gives me all that information about the Captains and their powers?"

"What about it?" I asked, although I was more eager about finding something to distract me from Harribel's possible fury.

"I know in the story Aizen didn't give me information about their Bankai or anything about the lieutenants is because he didn't want to make things too easy for me, but is that the reason you didn't include them?"

"Nope," I said. "The real reason is because Kubo never showed us readers Ukitake's Bankai or some of the lieutenants' powers. It would be better to just leave those parts out."

"Huh. Well that makes sense."

"Be honest with me though," I said quickly. "Do you think that maybe that whole information scene was unnecessary?"

"That's a tough one," Ben said evenly. "On the one hand, it's a good idea to let me know what I'm up against but at the other hand, it did feel like an info-dump."

I sighed yet again. "Yeah, I had a feeling you were going to say something like that but I wasn't sure if you would."

"To be fair, I'm not sure how something like that could've been handled without looking like one," Ben added, giving me an encouraging smile. "Don't worry, Bigby. You still wrote a lot of cool stuff; you need to stop letting a few mistakes get you down." He looked at the audience. "Right everyone?"

"Yeah, Bigby," Sora called out. "Besides, the story's not even halfway done. You still have plenty of time and chapters to show how great it is."

"And you know you always have us for support," Goofy threw in. Nods and murmurs of agreement went out from the crowd. Well how could I not smile at that?

"Thanks, guys." I told them gratefully.

"Any more questions you want to ask me?" Ben questioned.

"Just one more and it's the big one," I declared. Once again an "Ooooh" went through the crowd. "How do you feel about the upcoming crossover within a crossover between Bleach: Ultimate Alien and Incredible Muffin's Unlimited Justice?"

Ben laughed. "You were waiting to ask that one weren't you?"

I just smiled at him. "Well yeah. You've already been interviewed by the Incredible Muffin and we've both been eager for this dual-crossover thing. But I still want to know what you yourself think of it."

"Well I enjoyed being in Unlimited Justice so I'm sure I'll enjoy this crossover."

"Oh really?" I asked hopefully.

"Sure. Wonder how you and Incredible Muffin are going to pull off me meeting my son from an entirely different timeline and universe."

"I'll have to check with Incredible Muffin about that," I said. "This is a joint effort after all."

"Good point," Ben agreed. "Still, this won't be easy trying to juggle two different crossovers at the same time. Especially when you're using really different shows like Bleach and Justice League. You up for the challenge, Bigby?"

My grin grew. "I say bring it. I've come too far to back down now or ever again."

Ben grinned back. "Sounds good to me. So anything other questions you want to ask me?"

"Err," I scratched my head as I tried to think of anything else to ask Ben but I couldn't think of anything. "Sorry, man. I'm all out."

"It's cool," Ben told me.

"You sure?" I asked him.

"I've got one!" Kevin Levin called from where he, Gwen, and Ben had been sitting together. "Are Kevin and Gwen going to have a bigger part in the remake?" Now this definitely got some laughter from the others.

"Kevin!" Gwen chided him as per usual.

"What?" Kevin asked her. "Bigby keeps letting Ben have the spotlight and we get shoved to the side. Sure we can't do a lot of the stuff he can but we're not useless."

"That… is actually a fair question," I told him. "Uh at the moment I don't have any plans for you guys. The first part of the remake deals with the Winter War, so Ben will get all the focus. I'll see if I can give you guys some more in the second arc when Ben returns."

"Here's hoping," Kevin said grumpily as he crossed his arms. Gwen elbowed him in the side.

I put my hands at my sides, feeling a little put out by Kevin's words. Ben seemed to notice this.

"Don't worry, I'll talk to him later," Ben told me. "Remember, it's your story and you stick to what you think is best. As long as you do us all justice of course."

"I'd say that's a fair trade," I said. "So, Ben is there anything else on your mind? Any questions you want to ask me?"

"Nah, I think we covered everything," he said. "Besides, you still got some other stuff you want to talk about right? Don't let me hold you up."

"Alright, alright," I said before turning towards the audience. "Well thanks for being here, Ben." I held out my hand.

"Anytime, Bigby," Ben shook my hand. "Anytime."

I turned toward the audience. "Ben Tennyson, ladies and gentlemen!"

Everyone cheered and applauded the hero, who bowed graciously and waved at the audience as he made his way back to his seat.

"Okay, now let me see. What should I talk about next?" I asked, both to the audience and to myself.

"Bigby! Bigby!"

I turned to the direction of the voice and saw Anna at a table with Elsa, Kristoff, and Olaf; her hand raised high like a kid in school.

"I guess I'm doing Q&A next," I stage-whispered, which got me some light laughter. "Yes, Anna?"

"When are you going to get back to your story The Snow Queen and the Winter Knight?" she crossed her arms and huffed in mock anger. "You left that one unfinished too!"

"How did I know you were going to say that?" I said, pretending to be exasperated. Anna scowled at me thought to me it made her look adorable rather than intimidating. Kristoff grinned, Elsa tried covering her giggles with a hand, and Olaf just had a big smile on his face. "I'm playing, Anna, I'm playing. Coincidentally, I was actually going to bring that up next."

Anna raised a brow at me, clearly unconvinced. "Oh really?"

"Well that is the only other story I'm working on besides Bleach: Ultimate Alien so of course that would be my next priority," I explained. "It's just…not as important right now."

Anna narrowed her eyes at me, causing her sister to put a placating hand on her shoulder.

"Anna, I'm sure Bigby knows what he's doing," Elsa said soothingly before looking over at me. "Right, Bigby?"

"Err, I don't know one hundred percent what I'm doing," I confessed before quickly adding. "But I am making progress!"

"So you're going through with the remake plan?" Kristoff asked.

"Yeah, it's for the best," I answered. "I like the story but I couldn't help noticing a lot of weak points. It's better for me to just start over."

"Anything you can, or want to, tell us about it?" Jack Skellington asked.

"Only that the story is going to start out as a non-crossover first," I replied to him, surprising everyone. "Yeah, my plan is for Daniel to have some adventures in Arendelle first, then I'll turn the story into a multi-crossover."

"Say, where is Daniel anyway?" Anna asked, looking around, as if she suddenly became aware that he wasn't with them.

"That's a good question," Elsa said as she started looking around too. "I'm surprised he's not here."

"And what about the Story-Keeper?" Olaf pointed out. By now everyone was looking around. Huh. I guess everyone wanted to meet Daniel and the Story-Keeper more than I thought they would.

"Err, they're not here right now," I admitted, rubbing my neck. "I honestly wasn't sure if you all wanted to meet them."

"Awww," Olaf whined. Anna and Elsa also looked put out. Now I felt bad for not having Daniel and the Story-Keeper come for at least their sake.

"So when are you going to start writing the story anyway?" Olaf asked, quickly getting over the absence of his friends. I was wondering when he was going to speak up.

"Err, good question," I said. "I haven't gotten that far. It's…still in the development stage."

Anna groaned, putting an arm on the table and resting her head against it. "You always say that, Bigby."

"I mean it this time!" I insisted. "I'm just a little disorganized, that's all."

"Oh a little?" Kairi asked playfully.

I shook my head at the sudden ganging-up. "What I can tell you is that I'm going not going to post the story until at least the first story, arc, segment, volume, whatever it is, is complete." Now that took everybody by surprise, judging from the way they were all staring at me. Guess it was time to elaborate. "I'm doing this so I don't starting posting a story and then lose interest in it before it's done. And so that I can triple-check my stories to make sure they're one hundred percent ready before uploading."

"I'm fine with your decision but I think you're trying too hard to see what's wrong with your work," Elsa said softly. "Sure your stories can be improved, that's the case for any story, but if you only look for the bad, you'll eventually stop seeing the good. Like Ben said, don't let a few mistakes get you down."

I crossed my arms. "I know, Elsa, I know. I just want my story to be great."

"It sounds more like you want your story to be perfect. Flawless," Kristoff added his two cents. "Sure there's nothing wrong with making something the best it can be but trying to make something absolutely perfect is impossible."

"I'm well aware of that," I said with a scowl. "But I want to make it as close to perfect as I possibly can."

"There's nothing wrong with wanting to do your best," Garnet said. "But don't let your need for perfection stop you from doing what really matters: having fun."

I put my hands in my pocket. I knew they weren't going to let this go but I didn't want to dwell on it. This was supposed to be a time of fun, not melancholy. "I understand, Garnet. But yeah all things aside The Snow Queen and the Winter Knight is going to have a remake. That is a definite fact."

"This all sounds like quite the task, Bigby," Jack commented. "Are you sure you're up for it?"

"To be perfectly honest, I don't know," I confessed before I put on a determined look. "But I won't know unless I try. And besides, I already said I wouldn't back down anymore."

"That's the spirit!" Jack encouraged me. I couldn't tell if he was making a pun or not.

"Oh by the way, I'm twenty-six now," I said nonchalantly, waiting to see everyone's reaction. And they did not disappoint at all.

"What?!" Steven Universe shouted from his seat. "It's your birthday?!"

"September 11th was." I corrected.

"Why didn't you say something before?" Steven, the lover of birthdays that he was, cried. "We could have thrown a party for you!"

"Relax, Steven. It's okay. Besides I've been working a lot lately so we couldn't really do much if I had said anything."

"Wait, were you working on your birthday?" Marceline asked. "Why didn't you request the day off?"

"My manager wanted to give my birthday off but as she was making the work schedule for this week, she had forgotten. Besides, I'm used to working on my birthday so it wasn't that big a deal."

"Did you at least have cake and ice cream?" Steven pressed. He looked like he was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that he missed my birthday. Poor little guy. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything.

"Of course I had cake and ice cream, don't be silly. I also had some pizza for dinner and my manager got me cupcakes and ice cream cups to make up for having me work yesterday."

"Did you get any presents?" Jack inquired.

"The Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack from my mom," I said, causing the citizens of Halloween Town to smile happily "And a two big bags of candy corn from my manager."

"Why candy corn?" one of my newest friends, the superhero known as Ladybug asked, sitting across from her partner Cat Noir. (Or was it Chat Noir? I could never really tell)

"I don't know," he said, smiling mischievously at his partner, who he was also infatuated with. "Sounds like a really sweet gift to me, my lady." Ladybug rolled her eyes at her partner's flirtatious nature and love of puns.

"Agreed Cat Noir," I said to the young hero. "The reason why my manager got me candy corn as a gift is because she knew it was my favorite candy and wasn't sure what else to get me. I certainly wasn't complaining about it."

"That sweet tooth of yours, Bigby," Riku joked, making everyone laugh again. They all knew that sweets were some of my biggest weaknesses.

"Oh ha ha," I grumbled.

"Well Happy Late Birthday, Bigby!" Steven said. "Sorry we missed it!"

"Happy Late Birthday, Bigby!" everyone shouted after him.

"Thanks, guys," I said gratefully, touched that they were still willing to wish me a late birthday. I clapped my hands together. I had one last surprise up my sleeve. "Well guys, I think that's enough of me talking. And while you might have missed my birthday, you guys can still celebrate the official part of the grand opening to Bigby's Den!"

Everybody cheered at the news. It might not be a birthday party but it was still going to be fun all the same. Food and drink were passed out by the staff of the Den. I made sure nothing alcoholic was served due to several underage participants being here, plus I don't drink myself. I'm too scared to think of what I might do if I ever did get drunk.

...

All in all, not a bad turnout. Maybe I could try and extend the invite more. Maybe the Normandy crew, the Vault Hunters from Pandora, hell maybe I could even see if the Outcast Blades could attend. Now that would be cool.

Once the food and drink were finished, it was time for everyone to be heading home. I waved goodbye as the crowd poured out from the Den and back to their respective worlds. I sat down in one of the tables, my legs and feet all but tired from today's events.

"Not bad, Bigby," I said to myself. "Not bad. But now I'm gonna have to bust my butt to make sure I can keep my guests entertained. And…" I grimaced as I thought of all the dirty dishes and cups leftover from the celebrating. "I really need to get a staff for this place."

End of Chapter

Well, guys. This was the first chapter of the official Bigby's Den fic. Like I said in the story, I tried doing this thing more often at the end of some of my chapters but for some reason, it just didn't interest me then.

How was the fic? I'm not gonna lie, I have a feeling it could have been better. But I've been so eager to get this out for a while. Aside from this and Bleach: Ultimate Alien, all my future work will only be posted if I manage to complete the entire thing, or at least a significant portion of it, first.

And yeah, September 11th was my birthday. I am now officially 26 years old. Sheesh, time goes by, huh? I actuallyhadmeant to post this on my birthday but due to working on my birthday combined with proofreading this over and over again, the chapter was, as you can see, delayed.

I'm just happy to get back into writing. I noticed that inspiration and motivation comes easier when I write by hand. I was going to try handwritten rough drafts and typewritten final drafts, but I felt that would take too long. So instead I just handwrite drafts of specific scenes. So far it seems to be working.

I know they were only briefly mentioned but yes, I too have taken an interest in the cartoon Miraculous: The Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir aka Miraculous Ladybug. I recommend at least giving it a watch. The first episode is a little cheesy but it has an interest premise and so far pretty fun.

On that note, I also have a request/challenge/thing. Would anyone be willing to write a Ben 10/Miraculous Ladybug crossover? I had considered writing it myself buuuut I already have projects I'm working on. If anyone happens to be interested in writing this, please feel free to PM me.

Well that's really all I can think of for now so I'll let you guys go. See you all later!