What's up everybody? Everything's going great on my end so far, though still chaotic. I've started the new job and moved into the new place, so things should eventually calm down. Some ups and downs have occurred, but I'm otherwise fine.

I hope you're all doing okay. Sorry again if the quality has gone down, but the new job can be tiring. I'm sure it'll get back up soon, though.

Without further adieu, let's get on with this chapter!

Stoker- not Lord Stoker, he had lost the right when she planned on using her student as a puppet- had been acting odd all day and Bloodgood wasn't sure why. Of course, considering he was at the center of an entire investigation, that could only mean bad things.

"Maybe him having go through that much curriculum tired him out. Just because he's undead doesn't mean he can't get exhausted, right?" Grimm wasn't wrong, but Bloodgood didn't want to agree with him on anything. "There's no possible way he figured out things this early. We used to run better cons back in high school, and he doesn't appear to be that smart anyway."

"Even if that turned out to be true, I highly doubt he'd stay in so late. If he wants to keep up appearances, he'd continue acting like he was a civil person." Bloodgood rolled her eyes, doing her best to not have her head roll off by the force of it. "Considering how you play at being a good person as well, I would think you'd realize that."

"Are you really starting an argument right now? In the middle of all of this?" Milton fought the urge to yell. He knew he was considered petty and childish sometimes, but they really didn't know a lot about Bloodgood, did they? "I'm just suggesting here. Can you please treat this as seriously as I am?"

"You're only helping me out here because it's a matter of 'destiny.' Don't pretend that this is for anything else." The dullahan wasn't ungrateful for the man's help, but that didn't mean it was enough to change her own opinions about him. "And possibly as a political move. It's most likely a layered play with you. Sometimes I can't tell."

"Is that really such a bad goal? The amount of chaos happening at our schools does require order, and maybe this would bring an example to those wanting to disrupt it." Milton may not have said the word 'Rebels,' but it was definitely implied. "If everyone followed it, certain things would probably have been avoided since day one."

"Is that the logic that helps you sleep at night? I always wondered since high school why you acted like this." Bloodgood felt the stitches in her neck itch. It always did that when she was irritated. "I'm assuming you thought that when you decided destiny was better than letting your own friend keep her head on her shoulders."

That put a damper on what was already a sour mood. Talking about the past tended to do that, especially the uglier parts. Milton grumbled for a few moments before speaking up again.

"Is there anything I can do to make sure we get past that? We've grown much too old to argue about this anymore." It may have been motivated out of convenience rather than genuine need to make up, but he meant it. "Burying the hatchet now would be beneficial for everyone at this point."

"Tell me where your brother is." Bloodgood didn't bother looking at him. She expected the hitch in his breath and the flinch at the question. "I think I might stomach forgiving some things then."

"… No you wouldn't."

Bloodgood scoffed. If that was how he wanted to play, then so be it.

The finally made it close to where the hotel roomed Stoker, getting ready to knock. Bloodgood raised her hand, though stopped when she overheard something from the other side.

"…Well I don't know when they took it! I figured no one would be stupid enough to sneak into my hotel room and search through my things like some common criminals."

Bloodgood winced, mirrored by Milton at the same time. He must've been talking about the evidence. They thought they'd have more time to deal with this before he figured it out.

"I've checked around. The 'heiress' has apparently disappeared and I'm starting to suspect it was her and some local students. We can't exactly call it a kidnapping, otherwise then I'll be investigated."

"…No, Ygor, they couldn't have gone far. Make sure those keys are found, otherwise we will have a major incident on our hands. We can use the heart as a bargaining chip if need be."

"…Oh, now that's a good suggestion. Send a few of my more loyal soldiers my way. If things do go bad, I think we might need some muscle."

"Some people like the old regime for a reason."

Bloodgood put her hand back down, scowling as she turned and started heading back down the hallway.

"I'm going to send a message to the kids. This immediately became so much worse." The dullahan had her phone out already, typing something to the boys. They were the only ones she had any contact information with. "You distract him for a while. Make sure he doesn't suspect anything."

"Right. I'll do just that." Milton was thinking on what kind of reinforcements he could gather quickly, favors or not. This was amounting to a bigger confrontation then he originally planned. "This is not what I planned to do this week. This isn't what I planned at all."

Bloodgood hadn't either, but she wasn't complaining about it. She did briefly wonder why all of this insanity was happening the year she decided to do her little exercise.

"Maybe those boys are trouble magnets after all." She sent the message, hoping one of them got it fairly soon.

She still didn't regret her decision one bit.

Eddy frowned, the latest news fueling the urge to just teleport back home and turn Stoker into a frog becoming a lot stronger than it had been lately. Or maybe he could set the guy on fire. There was a world of possibilities out there, and he was looking to let off some misplaced aggression on someone who deserved it.

"Alright, people, it looks like we've officially started on a time limit here!" Eddy raised his MirrorPhone up, deciding to take the lead. "Stoker knows somebody is onto him and is looking for those keys in the cities. We're going to need to beat his men there and make sure the keys are with us."

"If we're correct on everything involving the keys, their investigation, and Elissabat's riddle, then they shouldn't be hard to find." Raven tried to ignore the wince from Draculaura in favor of getting things going. "We'll all line up and Eddy will send you in groups right into the Monster side of each city. We'll do our best to meet again in twenty-four hours if we can't call before then."

"Clawdia has set up some things for us in Hauntlywood and New Goreleans. Ed, Ghoulia, Clawd, and Hoodude will go with the latter, while our group goes with the first city." Apple pointed to Clawdia. "Since she doesn't have any contacts in Londoom, her group will go there for the time being. You already know your locations, so we should start this immediately."

All of the groups got together, literally letting Eddy do his magic. Cleo watched as Draculaura hugged her friends quickly, giving an extra-long one to her boyfriend before they disappeared.

"I'm going to take a guess and assume you're not taking any of this well? You can take a break if you want. Your fathers castle can't be too far from here." Cleo assumed that, but it was an educated guess. She knew a few things about Monster royalty out of necessity. "At the very least, you deserve some time to yourself."

"I'm not happy about what's happening, but I can't really do that right now. That message did say Stoker was looking for me, so I can't really stop now." Draculaura had grieved the loss of Elissabat, even if she was sure the other vampire wasn't dead. At least after this was over, she would hopefully get some closure about her disappearance. "This isn't just for me now. Elissabat needed me at one point, and I couldn't help her then."

"You shouldn't blame yourself at all, you know. I don't think your friend expected you to find that message that easily." Raven certainly wouldn't have blamed Draculaura if she were in Elissabat's shoes. "She's probably fine. Hiding and maybe in a personal blackout, but still fine."

"Wherever she is, maybe we can get her to take the throne before Stoker goes completely off the deep end. I doubt he's going to say anything to his superiors now." Eddy handed the crystal off to Raven. He'd used a decent amount of magic and didn't want to be empty before the day was over. "Probably stalling for time to make sure nobody knows what's going on."

"…Eddy?" Draculaura looks off into the distance. "Have you ever lost anyone important?"

The entire group flinched. Nobody could see the boy's face as he paused.

"Not anyone important enough."

Raven decided to teleport them now. There didn't need to be any further questions.

The teleportation process only took seconds, a blink, and they were instantly at their location. They'd made sure they were in the Monster part of town, but they all kept their guards up to make sure the crystal didn't drop them off somewhere else.

They heard a gasp, causing some kind of alarm, but it was diminished when they realized that the new girl was clearly a gorgon.

"Wow, I didn't actually think you'd appear like that. Especially in front of me and- you know what, it's good that you're here." The gorgon put her hand out to one of them. "I'm Viperine Gorgon. Clawdia called me because you needed help finding a place around here?"

"Preferably. It would also be appreciated if you were able to get us into those places fairly easily if you could." Cleo decided to take the handshake, eyes narrowing slightly. "Any relation to a Deuce Gorgon? I believe he's mentioned you before, but I could be getting the name wrong."

"Oh, you're Deuce's little girlfriend! I didn't think I'd get to meet you like this." Viperine actually moved to hug her, causing the mummy to stiffen up. "Then again, Veronica didn't exactly explain too much about what's going on. I'd actually like an explanation if you can give it."

"We'll gladly try to, but we are on a bit of time limit. We'll have to do it on the way." Apple opened up a piece of paper, the note they made written hastily but clearly. "If you wouldn't mind taking us to the El Capitan Theatre, then you'll certainly have an interesting story to tell."

Viperine seemed to accept that, even if she clearly wanted to know more. Judging by the fact she didn't call for some kind of taxi service, it must've been in walking distance. One of them did start talking about what they were doing here and why, with some significant paraphrasing.

The reason why they were heading to the El Capitan Theatre was mainly due to the mix of the riddle and the investigation that Stoker had already started. The mention of "where theatre lives, for the living and dead," became easy to consider when the locations were brought up.

Elissabat, to Draculaura's knowledge, had been a big theatre nerd and always loved going to live plays and similar venues. She had most likely banked on her friend knowing this and decided to best place to put them were famous theatres, whether they related directly to plays or not. There was only one main problem with that theory…

"How would Elissabat be able to put the keys in certain theatre's, though? Some of the ones we picked are definitely famous, but they didn't exist when she fled almost four hundred years ago." Apple did raise a good point. It was a massive hole and one that could cost them. "She wouldn't have known that they exist until they were built."

"We're going off of what directions they had in the email, so maybe Stoker knows that something is off too. Every kind of magic has its own signature, so maybe he's trying to detect them through something like that." Raven was rarely thankful when it came to magic classes, but it did come in handy now. "Not to mention that if she is still around, she probably does try to move them occasionally to keep Stoker's hands off of them. Considering Stoker's leads point to this place, then there might be hope after all."

"Really? That… actually makes a lot of sense." Draculaura felt herself lighten up at that logic, though it was quickly dampened. "That means she's been running for about four hundred years. I can't imagine running that long."

"She's most likely found a way to keep herself comfortable. I can't imagine vampires keep an exact number on people they turn each year or something." Eddy didn't actually know, but he had a feeling immortality did give people time to develop some serious skills. "You said she was a theatre nerd. She probably knows how to pretend to be someone else pretty easily. I can do that, and I'm at the age I'm supposed to be."

"True. Even if you get stuck in one place, you tend to build up a skill set. I wasn't the best at languages until I had all the time in the world to learn them." Cleo didn't say why she was able to get that time, but considering her status, it should've been obvious. "There is a strong possibility that she's still around. Hopefully if we find her, anything she picked up will be good for royal duties."

"Not that this conversation isn't interesting, but we're about get to our destination." Viperine had taken them through a lot of back alleys and well-worn areas where humans likely didn't tread. "We're going through the Monster entrance, which can be pretty dark. I'd suggest watching your step."

The group was able to get a glimpse at the actual El Capitan Theatre for a brief moment, the lights dazzling them briefly before they moved on. A few more alleys and they were near the back, a dingy garage greeting them. Viperine grabbed a key from her pocket, opening a lock before motioning them to get inside.

"It'd usually be kept locked until later, but I got permission to start it up for you guys. Make sure to be quick, though." Viperine warned carefully, keeping her eyes out. "We really don't want any humans finding the underground routes. Mind wipes aren't cheap."

A round of thank you's later and the group started their trek inside.

This was going to be a long day.

Ed was not too thrilled to be in New Orleans again, even if it was the Monster side of it. While he made sure to keep his hood up and eyes everywhere. He definitely made sure he didn't look at a cop for too much longer than he had to.

"Jeez dude, why are you acting like we're already in serious trouble? We haven't even gotten to the Bijou on the Bayou yet!" Clawd clapped the guy on the back, trying to get him to loosen up. "What, you commit some crimes here."

"Yes. Not sure if the cops in the Monster community know that and are willing to charge with me with fraud though." Ed didn't notice Clawd stumble at the casual admittance, giving a quick look towards Ghoulia. "Can I be charged for stuff I did in the human world by people here, or am I safe?"

"Generally, if a Monster or Legend lives in the human world, some crimes have to be committed. So unless it's something heinous, you should be clear." Ghoulia would've been shocked by the question if it hadn't confirmed a theory she had that the Ed's were probably criminals already. "You probably shouldn't ask anyone one of them that, though. They might try to."

"I'm not sure how to feel about this conversation." Hoodude nervously remarked. Casually talking about crimes wasn't exactly something he considered a fun activity. "What exactly haven't you done?"

"You're all really a bundle of stories, aren't ya?" Their guide laughed, effectively pausing the conversation. "I figured Clawdia was joking, but maybe her little project will take off after all."

When they arrived in the Monster section of New Orleans, they were able to find Clawdia's fairly easily. A swamp monster named Honey Swamp decided to lead them to their destination, mostly since this was her hometown. It was supposed to be her vacation, but apparently she'd been excited to hear about this.

"Not that I don't enjoy talking about our past rap sheets, what exactly do you know about the Bijou on the Bayou?" Ghoulia hadn't had the time to properly research, but it was nice to have a source of information nearby. "Especially in terms of theatre and acting history."

"Don't ya know? It's where all the greatest stars in the Monster world perform." Honey Swamp stopped, thinking it over before shrugging. "Well, at least it's where most congregate for parties. It's a ghost ship that works within the bayou, of course, and you can find anyone that wants to be anyone there."

"Isn't it where Veronica Von Vamp actually made her debut or something? Draculaura mentioned that after she saw that movie." Clawd hummed, scratching behind his ear. Despite knowing little about their benefactor, she did seem to pop up everywhere. "I guess if this doesn't pan out, she could probably tell us some other places to check out."

"I'm not the only one that finds it weird that she seems to know a lot about all of this, right? Don't get me wrong, she's been really generous and all," Hoodude couldn't help but voice his fears out loud. "You don't think she might be working with Stoker, right?"

"Doesn't seem like it. It could all be a coincidence." Ed didn't exactly believe that, but he didn't want to make any assumptions. It wasn't like they were all defenseless either, so any betrayal was going to go down in flames. "Let's just find the ghost boat. Not something I thought I'd be doing at Monster High, but there."

"None of us expected us to do this in high school. Or even as a part of their job." Hoodude had gotten out of it, only to be sucked right back in. At least he was able to film easily through a body camera. "Let's just get this over with before somebody starts looking for us."

Nobody bothered to remind him that somebody already was.

It took some time, but after getting out of the New Orleans city limits and eventually into a good bayou. Finding the ship was a little harder, but not impossible as it was out on the horizon, nearly covered by fog.

"…Okay, that's going to be a problem." Clawd pointed at the ship, trying to think things through. "Does it come by the shore anytime soon?"

"Not really. It depends entirely on if you have an invitation or not, and even Veronica can't get one to us without pulling some extreme favors." Honey watched the boat rock in the distance. "Best place to look for if everything you're talking about is correct."

"…Are there any crocodiles around here? Or is it alligators?" Ed looked confused for a couple of seconds before shaking his head. "Doesn't matter. Is there anything swimming in there we need to avoid?"

"Usually anythin' supernatural is going to scare away some critters. Big ship like that is going to keep them miles away." Honey looked towards the water with a frown. "Though I don't think all of us are willing to swim, hon."

Ed shrugged, already shifting in his monster form while she was talking. He and his friends did make the suit waterproof.

After quickly picking everyone up (much to some's surprise), he got into the water, making sure that everyone was above the surface and swam. He had to act like he was a squid for the most part, but he was able to do it fairly easily.

Getting onto the boat was surprisingly a lot less hassle. No one expected someone to break into it from a lower level.

"I completely forgot that your monster form was that big." Hoodude had suffered some splash damage but was otherwise fine as he rinsed himself out. "You're already tall. How can it be so big?"

"Whatever it is, we'll talk about it later. Right now, we need to keep a low profile since we are on this place without an invite." Ghoulia knew some things about spirits, and that they usually connected themselves to strict rules. Violating them could have untold consequences. "We need to make sure nobody figures out we don't belong here. I doubt they'll just toss us off, but they certainly won't take kindly to our intrusion."

"Okay, that's doable. Should we go top to bottom first or-" Clawd stops, ears twitching. His eyes go wide. "Somebody's coming."

They instantly move towards a door leading to a supply closet. They were barely able to squeeze in before the sound of footsteps became clear to everyone. Two voices followed with it.

"Are you sure the detector said it was here? I'm still convinced some of these are busted." One voice stated, wary. "Stoker isn't exactly known for adding to the security budget. I'm convinced that thing is older than I am, and that's not an easy feat."

"It's old, but reliable. Doesn't mean it looks pretty." Grumbled another, sounding older and a little bitter. "And don't worry about it. This is probably just busy work that the old bastard is putting us through. Worst case scenario, we'll leave empty handed, like all the others."

"God, I hope so. Actually succeeding might mean more paperwork."

"Yeah, and if you find it, you're the one doing it."

"Hey!"

The voices drifted off, the banter dying as quickly as it came. Everyone, despite being cramped in the closet, was able to look at each other with cautious, if tired, glances.

"Alright; new plan." Ed started happily, the tone being the best act he's come up with so far. "We need to take care of some party crashers."

This had just gotten extremely complicated.

Double D found the entire thing about underground cities and secret societies to be a ludicrous, especially with so much of the world being known already. This went doubly so since this was considered the age of information, along with surveillance.

Now he was not only a part of one, but actively going into hidden cities and societies like it was nothing. It was a strange world he lived in and he'd gotten used to it extremely fast.

"Hey," Cerise sent an elbow into his gut, an easy feat since they had to remain close while in public. "You're brooding again. Only one of us can do that at a time and it's my turn. What's up?"

Double D fought down a blush, remembering the system they'd come up with whenever the group had to go through an area where humans could see them. As long as they didn't act too suspiciously, they could just pretend they were a pair of couples with a chaperone after coming from a costume party. That required them to get close to one another and pretend.

They'd switched off plenty of times at this point and each one almost made him a stuttering mess.

"It's nothing. Just a strange thought came to mind." Double D did his best not to shrug. Whether or not it was holding hands or holding onto his arms, the contact was oddly nice, so he tried not to knock it off when one of the girls was close. "I've lived an entire life among humans. I can't help but find it weird to hide from them so much now."

"Aren't you always hiding from them? I mean, sure, you're not exactly going underground or anything, but you aren't exactly being open about yourself." Clawdia didn't really get the logic. She technically worked with humans sometimes due to her job in Hollywood, but that was only part time. "I always feel cagey when I can't be in my monster form. I definitely can't be relaxed if my fangs aren't out."

"It's not exactly the same thing, sis. For all we know, Double D's human-passing." Clawdeen did know the answer to that, but she'd cover for him. "Besides, he actually lived in a human community. He didn't keep to himself like most of us do."

"That is something to think about. Did you know this is the farthest I've ever been out of Bookend?" Maddie nuzzled into Clawdeen's neck, dazzled by the city lights. "It's kind of a shame really. We're all so closed off from one another and don't actually know a thing."

"You're forgetting a lot about history, you know. The more we expose ourselves, the more likely we are to get burned at a stake or something." Clawdia scoffed. She was one for wanting to experience new things, but she felt the need to point that out. She is the adult here. "Humans are still dangerous and in the majority. The fact that they're killing each other so often is because they don't know about us."

"Yeah, humans are pretty terrible."

Cerise looked up, face scrunched as she saw Double D's face twist. He said that without a hint of irony to it.

"We're nearing the Globe Theatre, right? Or the Monster equivalent of it?" Double D wanted to move on from this conversation. Right now. "What exactly is the situation with that?"

"Like everything else, it's hidden near where the modern version is. Except ours is actually made from parts of the original theatre." Clawdia was awfully proud of that, especially as she recounted its history. "Veronica was a part of the restoration project on the human and monster sides but was only able to actually make any parts from the original go to the latter. It's more of a museum than an active theatre, though."

"It has everything on all Monster actors that were famous on either side. You'd be surprised to see who's who, I can tell you that." Another section obvious to the public made them all change. Clawdeen was able to switch to Double D this time, watching with amusement as Cerise squirmed in Maddie's arms. "Name a few household names and there's a good chance they were supernatural."

"Doesn't that also mean there's going to be a ton of security? I doubt they're going to believe a word we say." Cerise was really starting to wonder how her parents would react to all the crime she was committing. Ramona had already freaked out about the Hellscream thing. "Let's maybe not hospitalize some guards if we can avoid it."

"I'd say that's half the fun, but I don't actually want to hurt anyone either." Maddie had been dying to use her new staff on something, but not against someone else just yet. "I'd like to satisfy my craving for violence on someone who deserves it, thank you."

"Mads, I love you, but you really do make me worry sometimes." Clawdeen took a step forward, stopped, and then moved back into the alley quickly. "We're here. Don't get caught by the cameras."

It was obvious that they made it due to the guards surrounding the place. While it didn't look like the place was surrounded, there was a lot more people at the front entrance than they would expect.

"Stoker probably did something to get them angry. We're probably going to have to sneak in through a window." Cerise, again, wasn't looking forward to this. Would she get pardoned for any of this after they were done? "We don't even know what kind of security is on the inside too."

"I can deal with the camera's from out here. Put them on a loop pertaining to an entire sweep, and nobody will notice." Double D was not going to explain how he knew that. He looked towards Maddie. "I'm sure I don't need to ask which one of us would need to cause a distraction."

"Distraction is my middle name! Along with xylophone, but that's only the tip of the iceberg." Maddie already had her staff out, twirling it with a chaotic grin. "I've been dying to use this one something."

"That's all well and good, but how are we even going to reach the windows. I know Cerise has her leg things, but those windows are pretty high up." Clawdia didn't need the night vision to see that. She was starting to wish that Ed guy had joined up with them since he was the only one who could change into something tall enough. "I mean this in the best way possible, but I doubt she's strong enough to take every single one of us up there."

Even if Cerise was strong enough to carry a full-grown woman easily, that didn't account for how she'd have to jump up there four separate times. Once was risky enough, but four times would push their luck much farther than they were willing to risk.

"I might have a solution to that." Double D reached into his pockets, pulling out some parts to a different machine. He had been smuggling them with him ever since they left, and it looked like they would finally be of use. "Just wait a few moments, if you would."

As Double D got to work, he couldn't help but thank the fact that they hadn't stopped at building things for the girls. It was about time he got to show off.

Yeah, not a lot of action, but that'll be made up in the next chapter. Hopefully the lore will satisfy you guys for now.

Oh, and I did reference "The Witching Hour" earlier in this fic. You know, the fanfic that someone wrote based off of this one? Make sure to show that author some love too. Leave a comment for them too, they deserve it. They also right for EAH too, so they have some more content out there than just that fic. I'll link it here: /works/28897068.

Also, I've decided on what fanfictions I'll work on after this one and the other current one I'm doing. Either message me here or check out my tumblr later if I make a post there.

Alright, I'll see you all next chapter!