Hello everyone, looks like I finally got the second chapter up. Sorry it took so long, but a combination of taking another class, finally getting and starting a job, and other stuff just caught up with me. To make up for it, I made sure this one was long enough so that you guys would get plenty of content to satisfy you. This is mainly to set up the base for future interactions, but I think it's a good start. The next chapter will be much shorter and also posted sooner, if things go according to plan. Now, I hope you all enjoy and that have a good day and you enjoy the chapter.

"Yeah, this places just reeks of old money. I'm seriously not the only one thinking that, right?" Eddy made a mental note of every person they walked past, noting everything he could catch. The clothes were a dead giveaway, most of them obviously made by material he couldn't hope to afford in his lifetime. Not to mention how everything smelled so clean here compared to virtually any other town he's been in. "I'm supposed to go to school here?"

"Yes, Eddy." Double D rolled his eyes. This was the third time Eddy was going on about this place and it was starting to get quite annoying. "It's a little higher class than what we're used to, but you and I will simply have to get used to it. It's a good school, so we cannot afford to make any mistakes here."

"It's real pretty too." Ed made sure to stop at every window they went past, making sure to check each shops inventory. "I mean, just look at these cool looking stores! Oh, maybe we could go to that nearby forest. Maybe there's some cool stuff in there to check out. Or we could look for a comic bookstore!"

"Doesn't look like this place has a lot of those, Ed." Eddy put his hands behind his head, relaxing a bit at the atmosphere. A brief glance didn't reveal much of anything like what Ed was looking for. "Even if there was, we're low on cash. Maybe if we swindle a few bucks out of some people who won't miss it…" A gleam slowly formed in Eddy's eye.

"No." The sudden dismissal from Double D caused Eddy to sputter. "We'll have plenty of things to do at our respective schools and shouldn't have to resort to scams for a long while. We can't afford to get kicked out of these places Eddy."

Eddy snorted. "Well, excuse me. Not like I can turn the switch off Sockhead." He looked down to the ground, kicking it. "We've been doing it for months anyway, what's the difference?"

"He's got a point Double D." Ed nodded, not really getting the mood of the situation. "We are running low, especially after the last city."

Double D groaned but attempted to stifle it. He turned to his friends and began to walk backwards. "Alright, we apparently need to establish some rules now. One, we cannot swindle, cheat, or lie to anyone to get money while we're here. We need to be on our best behavior."

Eddy rolled his eyes and began looking around the area, Ed only nodding away while Double D continued.

"Two," Double D paused, getting his bearings. "We need to keep our past a secret. It's rare that we can make a first impression, we should keep it good."

If he had been paying attention, he would have noticed the two had stopped listening sometime before he finished rule one. However, he also would have noticed Ed suddenly perk up, trying to look at something behind him. Ed suddenly slapped Eddy on the back, startling him. Before Eddy could complain, his friend seemed to point at something behind Double D that kept him quiet. "Uh, Double D?"

"Three, we have to remain respectful to the teachers while we're here and keep up decent grades. If we don't, then we will be kicked out for sure and that won't be good in the long run. I will make you two do your homework, I swear it on my life!"

"Sockhead." Eddy narrowed his eyes, while Ed seemed to be jumping with glee. Just what the hell was he looking at right now? There was no way in hell this was real.

"Four." Double D barely looked at Eddy for a second before moving forward. "No fighting with other students, especially if it's trivial. Best behavior on all accounts. We do not need another Kevin situation."

"Sockhead, I'd really suggest turning around." Eddy said, starting to point lazily behind him, eyes still narrowed in disbelief.

"Really." Double D stopped moving and crossed his arms. "Now why should I do that?"

"Because there's a castle behind you! Come on Double D, look!" Ed seemed ecstatic, jumping on one foot as he excitedly pointed behind his friend.

A sigh escaped Double D's mouth. "I'll look, but I would suggest coming up with something better in the future. Besides," He turned around and continued to talk, amused disbelief in his voice. "The brochure didn't mention anything about a… castle?"

The Ed were near the foot of large hill, surrounded by trees that cut off the school from the rest of the town. The vegetation thick, they could not see far in to indicate any signs of life within. At the top of said hill, lay what was probably the most impressive building they would ever see in their lifetimes.

A castle stood there, white with red roofs at the top, with various towers and buildings consisting of the exterior. In a strange mix of medieval and modern architecture, many modern buildings seemed to connect to tall towers straight out of a children's book. The campus, while slightly obscured by the trees, were not far away and showed a large expanse of cobblestone walkways, a fountain in the middle.

A truly beautiful place, at least to the outside observer.

The Ed's weren't sure what to say and were almost rendered speechless.

"What the hell?!"

Except for that.

"Is-is that the freaking school?!" Eddy ran his hand through his hair incredulously. "Who designed this place? Sockhead, did the brochure say anything about this?"

"No, nothing! How in the world does this exist? I certainly would have heard about it before, I researched everything about this place up and down." Double D flipped through the brochure once again, not finding a single mention of the place.

"Yeah, well how do you explain this! Jesus, the rich people here must be way to loaded to care. Are you sure we can't get some cash out of them?"

"We are not going to try anything here, Eddy. Even if you appear to be right. Who in their right mind would build a castle like that?"

"That's what I was asking you?!"

"Hey, guys." Ed said, trying to interrupt the screaming match. Nobody seemed to hear him, though, as his friends only continued.

"Maybe this isn't the right place. I mean, this could be some historic building that's been through several renovations. Going to school at a castle would be absurd. We should just- we should just leave."

"Hell no. I walked all the way over here, we might as well visit Hogwarts preppy sister school while we're here."

"Guys." Ed's pleas went unheeded once again. He started tapping his foot, hoping the fight would be over soon.

"Eddy, this obviously can't be it. This might be someone's private property for all we know. Maybe it's a summer home."

"Who owns a castle as a summer home?!"

"Yeah, you guys have fun. I'm going on an adventure!" Ed proudly set forward, heading for the castle in the distance. The fight continued behind him uninterrupted.

"Look, we shouldn't argue over this." Double D sighed and rubbed the sides of his head, staving off an incoming headache. "We're supposed to meet someone at the front gates of the school soon and I don't want to be late. Let's settle this the old fashioned way."

Eddy smiled. "Fine. Ed, you're the final vote. Make your choice!" He turned around, making a sweeping gesture and pointing at whatever stood in front of him.

Dead silence and empty air were the only things to greet him.

A beat was taken as the remaining Ed's stared at where their friend was, like they were awaiting a response from nothing.

"He left while we were talking, didn't he?"

"Most likely."

"…Great."

Apple was a little nervous, though she didn't necessarily know why. She'd done the orientation for new students a million times over by now, even when school was in full swing. It was routine at this point, especially since she became class president.

"That argument must have thrown me off." She mumbled to herself, checking her phone for the third time since arriving in the courtyard. She wasn't exactly given a specific time to come here, but she hoped they arrived soon. It was around noon and she was free for the next few hours, but she still always wanted to be at the ready in case she needs to help someone else.

Apple couldn't help but feel a little curious at the newcomers. If they were coming into school this late, the two that would be attending here wouldn't necessarily know their destiny yet. The fact that one of them would be going to both school's part time would be interesting, but it was still unusual. Also, a monster was joining them too. Would she know what type of monster when she sees them, or would they still be in disguise?

She sighed. She closed the calendar full of events on her phone, making note of some upcoming projects she was a part of. She'd most likely know them when she saw them.

"ED! For crying out loud, Lumpy, wait up!"

The sudden shout made her jump, causing her to juggle her phone. She's definitely never heard that voice before.

Looking in the direction of the shouting, she could see two boys running after a third one, who seemed to be ignoring them happily. As he was walking, he looked around himself peacefully, blissfully unaware of the two people rapidly catching up with him. He seemed to be completely in his own world.

Until the short one tackled him, that is.

Apple sighed. Looks like she found them.

"What in the world were you thinking, Ed? We're in a completely new and strange place without a map, wandering around is definitely not a good idea! And Eddy, what did I say about being on our best behavior."

"He's the one that decided to run off. I was just trying to make sure he didn't do anything crazy before we got here." Eddy was dangling off of Ed's neck, obviously not impeding his giant friend in the slightest. He still tried his best to pull him down, but Ed was still too heavy to move.

"And dangling off of our friend won't cause attention to ourselves?" The sarcastic response from Double D was accompanied by a raised eyebrow and crossed arms. However, he couldn't help but look around himself. "Though I can't say this place isn't beautiful at first glance. Not a lot of people around, thankfully."

"Yeah." Ed responded, turning around, causing Eddy to swing along his neck. "It's almost deserted for a cool place like this."

"Like a lot of people are going to willingly come to school a month early, Sockhead. Not everyone's a nerd like you." Eddy let go of Ed, dropping to his feet carefully. He stretched, looking around as well. He could see a football field in the distance, along with a stadium nearby. "Maybe this is the place. Still, freaking rich people."

"Indeed."

A pause took over the group as they looked around, drinking in the strange sights around them. Eddy then sighed, starting to get impatient. "Should we start lookin' for an office or is someone gonna show us around?"

"I think that would be my cue."

The sudden new voice jolted them out of their conversation. The Ed's tensed at the sight of a strange, blonde girl walking towards them carefully, wearing the frilliest dress they've ever seen in their lives.

Apple White has entered the scene.

Headmaster Grimm felt a chill go down his spine. He didn't exactly know why, but he felt like there was a major disturbance or a premonition was coming on. A premonition of what exactly was the fact he couldn't put a finger on.

"Damn it, Bloodgood." He growled. That meeting he had with her must have set him on edge. Why exactly she wanted these students in so badly confused him, especially since this also dealt with his school. Sure, the idea of a student going to both sounds good on paper, but actually trying it would be extremely difficult.

But she was so insistent! Just wouldn't give up on the idea, even if he had said no for the millionth time in a row. The only reason he caved was because they were already here.

"Right." The reality set over at remembering that detail. He would have to finish up the transcripts she brought in. Just what was she planning? Why was she so insistent on this blasted idea?!

…Oh. He'd almost forgotten about him.

Milton Grimm looked in the direction of the picture frame facing downward on his desk. He would have to move that at some point, at least so it wouldn't clutter things up. He promised himself that yesterday, yet he hadn't.

…He'd move it tomorrow, he promised himself. Getting up from his chair, Milton moved to the bay window behind him, looking over the school. His school.

"Whatever your planning, Bloodgood, expect me not to play nice." He looked over past the courtyard, past Bookend, the city of New Salem catching his eye. The fog surrounding it seemed thicker than it had been before.

The chill returned.

"I'm sorry to keep you all waiting. Headmaster Grimm didn't exactly tell me when you would get here." The polite and gentle tone got them off edge, thankfully, but she couldn't help but notice the weird looks they gave her. Apple knew how people generally looked at her, but these ones were unreadable.

"That's, uh, that's okay. We just got here." Double D straightened out his jacket hesitantly, starting to feel… underdressed all of a sudden.

"Oh, good. I was hoping that I wasn't too early." The polite demeanor was disarming to say the least, if the Ed's could admit. She seemed genuine in her worry.

A little too genuine if Eddy could say so himself. He couldn't help but narrow his eyes at the new stranger, looking her over carefully. Beauty products, expensive-looking clothes, and what he could only assume to be a crown? She had to be a stuck-up rich kid.

"Yeah." Eddy reigned in the suspicion from his voice. "You said you were supposed to be the one taking us around the school, right? Mind telling us your name?"

"How rude of me. My name is Apple White. It's nice to meet you three."

Yep, definitely a rich kid. Only rich parents would give their kids a name like that. Eddy noticed Sockhead wince. Looks like he came to the same conclusion too.

"Nice to meet you!" Ed extended his hand, oblivious to the tone of the conversation. "My names Ed."

To Apple's credit, she didn't exactly shy away from shaking Ed's hand, but the strength behind it caught her off guard. Eddy snickered, earning an elbow to the ribs from Double D.

"Good behavior." He whispered, before turning to their host. "Sorry, Ed is a bit stronger then he looks. My name is Eddward, but to avoid confusion, you can just call me Double D." He extended his hand also for a much gentler handshake.

"You two have the same name? That's a little odd." Apple raised an eyebrow curiously, the irony of her saying that completely lost on her.

"Three actually." Eddy stepped up to the plate, still keeping his guard up. He didn't believe the sweet girl act for a second, but it made things easier for now. He shook her hand too, looking her in the eyes carefully. "We're all called Edward, but I personally prefer Eddy. Remember it, you'll probably hear it a lot."

"Not if I have anything to say about it." Double D mumbled, their guide hearing it anyway. She didn't necessarily know what to make of the last statement, but at least they seemed friendly.

"Oh, so you'll be attending here! I hope you have a great time, especially when school officially starts." She looked between the two's demeanors and was immediately trying to determine what story they were involved in. She didn't necessarily remember any characters being missing, so new students were definitely a surprise.

"Yes." Double D attempted taking over the conversation from Eddy, giving his friend the side-eye. "Our friend here is joining us before we take him to the other school. I'll be the one attending both, so I figured it would be easier if we all stayed together."

Apple nodded, humming in acknowledgement. She looked over the Ed again, this time a little more pensive. She didn't know much about the school in New Salem, but Ed didn't exactly look like a normal student there. A little strong, perhaps, but he otherwise appeared normal.

Maybe he was wearing a good disguise? Hopefully she'd have the chance to ask later.

"That's fine. We should actually start soon, I have a few appointments later. Class president duties never, after all."

"Right." Double D adjusted the bag on his shoulder carefully. The Eds moved a little closer together, Ed smiling as usual while Eddy looked around lazily.

"Lead the way, princess." Eddy said confidently, causing the group to move forward. As they started to head for the entrance of the school, they passed a slab of marble, a plaque containing a name. Eddy read over it.

"Ever After High? These guys take spirit week way too seriously."

If Apple could say anything about the state of the tour, she would have to say it was going well. Not the most eventful, but it made things easier to say the least.

However, the group was certainly odd. The shortest one seemed to get more and more irritated whenever she introduced certain buildings such as the stables, the sports field, and the stadium. She swore the phrase "freakin' rich people," came up multiple times. The tall one seemed endlessly fascinated by nearly everything, like he hadn't seen any of it before.

So far, the only normal one was the boy wearing the beanie, but it looked like he was starting to err on the his short friends side. At least they were mostly well behaved.

"Ed, please get your hand out of that vase."

"I can't, it's stuck!"

Well, mostly.

Eddy was laughing hysterically as Ed and Double D attempted to take a vase off his arm. She only looked away for a second!

"Um, is your friend alright? How did he get his hand stuck in there?" She asked Eddy, who was stifling his laughter into small chuckles and wiping at his eyes.

"It's just Ed, he'll be fine. He thought there would be candy in it." Eddy didn't make any move to help, watching as Ed panicked relentlessly. Another laugh escaped his mouth as Ed bonked Double D on the head. "This isn't the first time. He'll get out of it eventually."

Ed hopped on one foot, using the other to pry the vase off of his hand, with Double D trying to pull it off. Unfortunately, Ed tripped up and fell backwards, taking Double D with him, sending Eddy into another fit of laughter.

"If you say so." Apple was unconvincing as it appeared, she was biting back a laugh herself. It wouldn't be proper to laugh at this, of course. Still, it appeared Eddy almost caught it.

She changed the subject.

"Excuse me, if it's not a hassle," The Eds stopped from getting the vase off and looked to their guide. "There's probably something in the potions room that can slip that right off. We just have to head this way."

Before they could say anything, she turned away from them and started to head off. A second of scrambling occurred as the Eds began to follow a bit away from her.

"The potions room? They're calling the chemistry lab that? Seriously they are definitely going too far for a spirit week." Eddy huffed, putting his hands behind his head in a relaxed manner.

"Eddy, please stop complaining. I cannot say that it isn't a little strange how dedicated they are to this, but I thought that was something you appreciated when it comes to the street performers we've met."

"Yeah, but they do that for a living. Isn't this supposed to be a school?"

"Okay," Double D stopped, turning towards his friend. "You've said for years that school is virtually the most boring place in the world. Now when one does something that could be considered quite theatrical, you ask for professionalism."

"…I'm allowed to change my mind." Eddy grumbled, crossing his arms.

Double D threw his hands in the air in defeat. "There is no pleasing you."

"C'mon Eddy, this place is so cool. They have horses here, Eddy. Horses." Ed got close to his friends face, looking almost intimidating for someone that got his hand stuck in a vase.

Eddy sighed. "Fine, whatever. This place is kinda cool, but that doesn't erase the fact that this is a rich kid school. Especially for that Apple girl." He looked around himself, noticing something particularly alarming.

"Hey, where is her Highness anyway?"

A moment of silence occurred before a resounding curse was collectively shouted, causing them all to head down the hallway.

Clawdeen was still trying to calm down from earlier. A part of her was still seething from the fight, but she was still pushing it down for later. She got off easy this time, especially for destroying a locker room, but she knew she wouldn't get lucky twice. Even if it was getting back at Cleo.

…She'd have to apologize to the other fearleaders later. She hadn't necessarily done anything to them, but what happened back there wasn't pretty. At least no one was caught in the crossfire.

"Dammit," Clawdeen muttered to herself, messing with her ICoffin. Her schedule would be a little messed up today, so she'd have to miss the appointment with her fabric girl. She'd have to delay some commissions from her buyers online, which will definitely cost her some cash.

Why did Headmistress Bloodgood want her to tour some new kids around anyway? It was better then detention, sure, but she figured someone else would be better for the job. She was probably recruited because someone cancelled on short notice. It wasn't like she couldn't do it either, but she wouldn't mind some help. Maybe someone more acquainted with the school somehow…?

"Clawdeen, you've been muttering for several minutes now."

The werewolf jumped, almost dropping her phone. Turning around quickly, she found the gloomy face of a very familiar zombie.

"Jesus, Ghoulia, you almost killed a ghoul. How are you this quiet?" She should have heard her friend a mile away, but she must have been really distracted. She might have to correct that if this was any indication.

"You weren't exactly being subtle, Clawdeen. Something on your mind?" The werewolf was glad she had sprung on the zombie language course a couple years back, which made understanding her friend so much easier. Still, she hesitated at the question.

"Nothing much. Just got a job from Bloodgood. Wanted me to show some new students around on campus for a bit. Not sure why she picked me though."

"Probably because you and Cleo wrecked the girls locker room."

Damn it, she already heard about it.

"Yeah, that too." She nervously laughed, trying to brush off the subject. She put her hand on Ghoulia's back, starting to lead her down the hallway. "Anyway, what's up with you? Finishing up your summer project?"

"The finishing touches will start soon, but I have to take a break today since Cleo has been texting me for half an hour about having to clean everything up."

And, it looks like she won't let go of the conversation. Still, good to hear that Her Highness was suffering a little.

Clawdeen sighed though, steeling herself. "You gonna tell me getting' into a fight wasn't the smartest decision? That I should try to forgive her and everything?"

"No." Ghoulia calmly flipped through a book, scanning the pages faster than one might think. Her tone was surprisingly flippant.

"Well, I doubt you're going to say I was right, either." The werewolf folded her arms, huffing slightly at the calm demeanor of her friend.

"Also no." A particular page caught her attention, a more thorough scan being required. After seemingly absorbing the information, she pushed forward in her book once more.

Clawdeen groaned, stomping her foot on the ground. "Then what are you going to say here? I can't learn anything if you don't tell me."

The zombie sighed, closing the book with a small thunk. "There isn't really much I can say about the situation. As much as I don't like either of you fighting, it's hard to say neither one of you have a point. You have a right, and even good reason, to be angry."

"Couldn't you just pick a side. Would make things so much easier if you did." The two began to slow, the atmosphere starting to weight them down. "At least if you sided with Cleo, I'd understand. Wouldn't be happy about it, but I'd understand."

Another deep sigh escaped Ghoulia, eyes facing forward. "We both know I'm not the confrontational type. Besides, that's not what I'm here for." She slowly turned to her friend, signaling for her to stop. "I might as well help both of you during this time and I already gave Cleo some tools to make cleaning up the locker room easier. You said you were bringing new students along?"

Clawdeen nodded, deciding to drop the subject for now. The only thing worse then getting into arguments with Cleo was trying to push Ghoulia into agreeing with either of them. "Yeah, some new guys are coming along. Bloodgood said they won't be used to this place and to go in human form. Not exactly sure why and what she expects me to show them."

"I already have a few ideas as to where you can start. I can help plan a good route for you based on the schedules of everyone else in the school to prevent traffic and conflict, depending on how you want to go about it." Somehow, there was a phone already in her hands, which she was tapping at furiously. "Especially for whenever Cleo gets done cleaning."

Clawdeen chuckled a little, the miserable air disappearing completely. Looks like things were finally looking up.

"Alright, looks like the chemistry lab should be right up ahead. So, no Ed, chewing your arm off would not be a good idea." Double D said, exasperated. The tour was still going well, considering there wasn't anything exploding as of right now. However, the vase on Eds hand was still a present issue.

"How did you get your hand stuck in there? Who just puts their hand in a vase?!" Eddy continued to lecture Ed as they walked, waving his hands in the air sporadically. His amusement had long worn off at this point. Ed looked guiltily at the floor, not meeting his eye. "Why did you think candy was going to be in there in the first place?

"It was colorful and pretty. That's usually where the candy is." Ed mumbled pitifully, rubbing his arm. Eddy facepalmed, cursing under his breath more, while Double D couldn't help but sigh at his friends answer.

"Alright, can we please just make it to the chemistry lab? I'm sure our guide there is worrying about us and we should just-"

As if the cosmic forces of the universe aligned to interrupt Double D, an explosion rocked the ground beneath as the door to the chemistry lab flew open. A flash of burnt pink flew out, landing on the wall opposite of the door. The Eds, while used to explosions, instinctively moved back out of the blast radius.

The pink blur was revealed to be a teenager around their age, who other then her strange coloring, was notably wearing a large hat. She coughed out some ashes and started to giggle, getting up while smoothing out her dress.

"Well," she said, the smile on her face becoming larger by the second. "Maybe missing wormroot with dragon spit was not the best idea, but still fun nonetheless."

This was followed shortly by two people quickly moving out of the room. "Maddie, are you okay? I thought I said not to use that stuff! Seriously, if you weren't you, you would probably be dead by now." A girl that the Eds could only call an elegant goth ran toward her friend, helping her brush off the leftovers of the blast.

"Raven, her ears are probably ringing. I don't think she can hear a single thing you're saying." A girl wearing a large red hood moved at a more leisurely pace, watching as the girl in pink started getting up.

"Hey girls!" The pink girl, known as Maddie, shouted with no awareness of how loud she was actually being. Clearly, her hearing was a little shot during the explosion. "Wasn't that amazing? Not what I was going for, but still pretty fun."

"See." The hooded girl pointed out, Raven pinching the bridge of her nose while sighing fondly. "Completely fine. Ready to bounce back at any moment." Raven gave a small glare to her sarcastic friend before going back to checking over Maddie.

Meanwhile, the Eds were simply just watching this all go down. They looked at each other speculatively before Eddy decided to helpfully quip.

"Looks like we won't be the only ones causing things to explode around here." Eddy smirked, which was quickly wiped off his face as Double D punched his arm. "Hey, I meant that as a good thing!"

"Eddy, don't make fun. We should probably help them. Besides," Double D pointed at the figure of their tour guide frantically running out with bandages and other supplies, already trying to dress Maddie up in them. "It looks like our guide is her."

"You sure? Looks like this isn't their first explosion. Besides, it looks like Ed almost has the vase off already, we can just bail and head to the other school." He pointed at his friend, who kept pushing the vase off with his foot, gaining inch by inch.

Suddenly the vase popped off. Ed looked at his friends and raised his arms in victory, ignoring the vase as it, somehow began bouncing around everywhere.

"I did it!" Ed celebrated, bouncing around on his feet as the vase ricochet off a locker and flew up towards the ceiling. The vase then fell, the open end facing downward, falling right onto Ed's head and engulfing it completely.

Ed stopped celebrating before patting the vase having a hold of his head, carefully and checking it over. He then sighed and slumped forward. "False alarm guys."

His friends groaned in unison, with Eddy stomping the ground in anger. "Fine," he said, irritated. "Let's get some help from the rich kids."

As they moved forward to deal with the issue, they couldn't help but hear the frantic muttering of Apple as she attempted to bandage her pink friend. It almost looked like she was mummifying her in the process.

"How does this keep happening, Maddie? I always tell everyone to properly label the chemicals after every explosion. I should just do it myself. I am so sorry, I'll buy you some tea later to make up for it."

That was at least some of what they could hear, the rest being said in a hurry. Eddy figured that it would be best to end this train wreck now and get the interaction over with.

"Hey, uh, princess? Everything alright over here?" Eddy looked over the other students carefully as they turned his attention to them. "I mean, seems like you got this down to a routine already but…" He trailed off at the end, sarcastically pointing at the victim in question.

"No, this happens all the time… oh dear!" Apple seemed to stop mummifying the poor girl for a second, realizing they were there. "I left you behind in the hallway, I'm so sorry. I assumed you were behind me-"

"Woah, back up, it's fine." He backed away from the frantic girl, hands in front of him. "We made it, that was the point anyway. Is Pinks here okay, or does she need to go to the nurse or something?"

"Hi, nice to meet you! I'm Maddie!" Maddie decided to interject, having not heard a word of the conversation thus far. She extended a mummified hand to Double D, almost karate chopping him in the face in the process. "What's your name?!"

"Maddie, your shouting again." The goth said, tapping her friends shoulder. This received a questioning glance from Maddie. She sighed. "Maddie, your hearing is shot right now. You're shouting." She said it slower this time, making sure her friend could read her lips.

Maddie seemed to realize this and nodded, giver her a thumbs up. "Got it!" She said, no change in volume whatsoever.

The goth sighed once again. She turned to the boys. "This happens a lot. I'm pretty sure she's immune to explosions."

"Uh, it appears that she is quite alright, despite the temporary hearing loss." Double D began to respond, trying to steer the conversation into something manageable. "To answer her question, though, my name is Eddward. Double D for short. The charming one right here is Eddy."

Eddy gave a sarcastic peace sign, rolling his eyes. "Yo." Double D punched his arm, causing him to rub it, glare at him before sighing. "Fine. Nice to meet you or whatever." He could tell Double D wasn't satisfied by this response but figured that was the best he would give.

"Nice to meet both of you," The hooded girl started, noticeably staring behind them. "But I'm a little more curious about the guy with a vase on his head."

"His head? Don't you mean on his hand?" Apple looked to where the hooded girl was staring, finally seeing Ed. "How in the world did that happen?"

"He got it off his hand." Eddy deadpanned.

"Why was it on his hand?" The hooded girl asked again, narrowing her eyes.

"I thought there was candy in it." Ed scratched his neck where the skin met the vase.

"Why did you think there was candy in it?!"

"Irrelevant!" Double D yelped out. As the silence engulfed the hallway, he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Ms. White, do you have the lubricant to move the vase off of Ed?"

She nodded and handed it to him, not taking her eyes off of Ed. Double D thanked her and started to move to Ed, guiding him away while unscrewing the bottle.

"But why did he think there was candy in it?" The hooded girl looked at her friends with an incredulous expression but was only met by shrugs.

"It's Ed, you get used to it after a while." Eddy waved it off, much to her annoyance. "Besides, you never said your names. I think Pinks here is Maddie or something, but I don't know a thing about the rest of you guys."

"He's got a point." Raven shrugged, extending her hand. "I'm Raven, and yes, the girl who launched herself across the hall was Maddie. Nice to meet you and your friends, nice to know we aren't the only ones with weird friends."

"Good to meet'cha." Eddy felt himself ease a little. She seemed a little bit more normal in comparison to Princess over ther. Maddie seemed to friendly too, though she didn't seem to be paying attention as Apple was bandaging her once again. "Anything to add, Red?"

"Is that the best you could come up with?" Red raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms. The snicker from Eddy brought the eyebrow down to a glare. "It's Cerise. So you're going to school here?"

"Yeah. One of my friends is going here too."

"…Which one?" She looked behind him to see Double D slowly trying to pull off the vase from Ed's head. It was a slow process, but it looked like it was going moderately well.

"Relax, it's the one with the hat. Why?"

"Just trying to understand what to expect." Cerise shrugged. "We don't actually need any help here, but thanks for at least coming to ask, I guess. Hope this doesn't exactly turn you away from here."

"Not really," Eddy smirked a slight bit. "Nice to know I'm not going to be the only one getting in trouble for blowing stuff up."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Raven raised an eyebrow jokingly, but cautiously at Eddy. He just laughed and turned toward Apple.

"So, is there anything else to this tour, or should me and my friends go. We gotta get Ed to the other school and I think we're reaching our time limit."

"Oh, um, I think I did show you most of what the school had to offer. Maybe I could show you more tomorrow? I have some student council duties to start within the hour."

"Then we'll probably have to go. Hey, Pinks." He waved in front of the girls face who focused on him. "Hope you get your hearing back soon. Happens to me a lot. Should be permanent by now, but still."

"Thanks! Hope to get to know you guys more later in the story!" She started to skip away, a trail of bandages following her. Raven frantically moved after her, trying to prevent her from tripping.

Eddy, thoroughly confused, just decides to nod. He turned to the other two. "Yeah, what she said. Later Red, Princess."

Walking away to his friends, he looked to see Double D finally getting the vase off of Ed's head. With a loud pop, Ed's face was finally free of its prison, due to the mix of lubricant and sweat dripping off Ed's face.

"Finally! Thank goodness!" Double D lifted the vase above his head in triumph.

"I live!" Ed lifted his hands above himself as well, beaming ear to ear.

"Glad to know that's over." Eddy deadpanned, fighting a smile at the sight of his dumb friends. "By the way, what time is it Sockhead?"

"Oh right, it should be…" He looked at the nearest clock. "Dear lord, we're going to be late for the next tour!"

"Yeah, already cleared it out with Princess over there. We'll ask her more stuff tomorrow." As Eddy talked, Double D and Ed scrambled to get off the floor. They were already heading down the hallway at the end of his sentence.

"Hey, don't leave me behind you idiots!" He started to run after them. Thankfully, it was easy to catch up, but he couldn't help but notice two other people in the hallway.

It was Raven and Maddie, as she was wrapping up the bandages. He could tell it was frustrating Raven, as the loose ends kept falling off. She huffed, tapping her foot on the ground before just simply rolling her eyes. He could see her snap her fingers.

He blinked and the bandages were on Maddie, tight as if done professionally.

"What…" Eddy paused for a second, blinking away at the sight. Before he could properly think through what he just saw, he was pulled from his position by Double D, continuing their little adventure.

"You sure this tour is good?" Clawdeen was looking over her iCoffin, looking at the plans with a critical eye. "I mean, I practically trust anything you make to work, but this isn't the most exciting plan."

"Bloodgood did say to introduce them to things slowly. It sounds like they didn't grow up with other monsters." Ghoulia was going through her book again, which Clawdeen figured out was a quantum physics book. She was looking over a particularly fascinating chapter, due to how much slower she was taking the information in.

"True. That's gotta be weird. Hope they don't have a panic attack. I mean, little Howlthorne has those sometimes, and I can deal with those, but at least he's family. Not sure what to do when it happens to strangers."

Ghoulia took a look towards her. "It'll be fine. Bloodgood wouldn't pick anybody that unprepared. Or xenophobic for that matter." Another page turned. "Also, you'll be fine. You've dealt with rowdy boys before."

"You talkin' about my brothers or anyone tryin' to ask me out?" The joke came out easily, a fanged smile coming easily. She then sighed. "Too bad I'll have to switch to human form, though. I like to have my ears ready at all times."

"You're hearing is the same as it is when your real ears are in the open, though."

"Still uncomfortable." She scratched behind one of them, ignoring the twitching. "Besides, how much trouble could three guys be, especially enough to get into human form?"

Her answer came in the sound of a large crash from across campus, along with a ton of cursing in the general direction. She couldn't necessarily see who caused said crash from her position, but her instincts told her it might be related to her "assignment."

"Well, that's probably my cue. Thanks for the help, Ghoulia, wish me luck." She sighed, walking away while thinking of her transformation on the way. "Sounds like I'll need it."

The Ed's thankfully did make it to the school on time, though almost as explosively as they did when they arrived at the first one.

"We probably should have left the vase back at the other school. Think they'll miss it?" Eddy laughed as Double D frantically tried picking up the pieces of porcelain lying on the floor.

"Oh dear, oh dear, not even one day in and we already stole and broke a vase. How is it possible for us to mess up this badly? Maybe curses are real, oh dear, oh dear, oh dear…"

"Come on, Double D, cheer up! I'm sure we can fix it. I mean, we got the van on the road, so this'll be easy." Ed looked around at the scenery, smiling. "Gotta admit, this place is cool too. Especially with all the fog."

"Yeah." Eddy started to check out the place too. New Salem was a hell of a sight compared to Bookend, especially up close. The buildings he could see were gothic, black, and seemingly straight out of a classic horror novel, with the fog only adding to the ambiance. "How did we get here so fast, anyway?"

"Plot convenience." Ed said simply, ignoring the looks he got from his friends. "Pretty nice place. Where's the school though?"

"Not far from here, actually. Can't blame ya' for not seein' it, the fogs been pretty thick lately." A new voice seemed to spring from the ether, causing the boys to jump. Thankfully, the fog seemed to part for her just a little.

Thankfully, at least to Eddy, she looked a fair bit more normal. At least she wasn't wearing a ball gown, instead wearing a more normal skirt and jacket combo. However, they could have swore her eyes were glowing a second ago, though it could be just because they were unusually yellow.

"As much as I like the mysterious stranger thing you got going on, and trust me, I do, I'm guessing you're the tour guide here." Eddy, as usual, took the lead on this one.

"Pretty much. Your friend okay?" She looked over at the other two boys. Double D seemed almost done picking up the shattered remains of the vase (and his life) and Ed was happily still looking around.

"Yeah, this is normal. You'll get used to it quickly."

"At least this time there isn't any confused screaming involved, like any other accident involving us." Double D finally joined the conversation, the shattered remains of the vase now in a plastic baggie.

"…Yeah, gonna pretend I didn't hear that last part." The girl smiled nervously, keeping track of the three guys carefully. "I'm Clawdeen. I was picked to help bring you around the school and show you around, though I thought only two people were going here."

"Oh, that's me." Ed waved excitedly while Double D also raised his. "Me and Double D will be going here. New Salem seems cool, and I haven't even seen most of it."

"Good to hear." He seemed friendly at least, Clawdeen thought to herself. Double D also seemed polite, but she hadn't really gotten that much information out of him yet. The weird short kid tagging along, though, she couldn't help but get a really familiar vibe off of him. "So, what brought you around here, then?"

"Bookend is too colorful. I could feel my eyes begin to bleed from all the saturation." Eddy looked around. "Besides, staying in a dorm would be too boring." That, and it he could have swore he saw something back there, but he wasn't going to bring it up with her.

"That's fair." She turned to the rest of the guys in attendance, relaxing a smidge. "Well, if it works with you guys, I'd say we should start going. This might be the preparation period, but some of the buildings still close at certain times."

She turned around and started heading into the fog. The boys followed cautiously behind her, squinting and looking around for the aforementioned building.

"How are we close? I can't see a goddam thing." Eddy tried to wave the fog away futilely. "I mean, I can't imagine it's more noticeable than that other school."

"You do realize you're setting us up for another dramatic reveal, right?" Double D deadpanned simply following behind their guide. He could have swore he heard her snort. She couldn't hear them, right?

"Yeah, probably, but fog can't be this frickin' thick. I mean, seriously, how humid does this place get?"

"Don't worry guys, it's gonna' show up for us any second now!" Ed said, kicking some rocks around with a relaxed smile.

"Yeah? What makes you say that, Lumpy?"

"Easy!" He stopped, raising his hand with three fingers up, he started to count down. "It'll happen in about three, two, one." He then snapped his fingers, smiling wider.

Double D raised an eyebrow, slightly amused. "Ed, it really can't be that simple. I mean…" He stopped as he looked back in front of him, face frozen. After the moment of shock, he couldn't help but sigh and pinch the bridge of his nose. "You have to be kidding me."

The Ed's followed his gaze, realizing several startling facts. One, the fog was gone. It had seemingly cleared up in seconds, leaving the area completely visible. Two, the lighting of the area had, while still decently dark, become brighter to leave in an eerie glow. Three…

Well, the school was another fricking castle.

While somehow just as grand as the first, the style was wildly different. With the first being a grand spectacle consisting of white walls and towers that reach the clouds, this one was covered with dark stones that look rooted to the ground. The windows looked dark, lights struggling to reach outside of it, the shadows moving behind not making any clear shapes.

"…Cheery." Eddy said, eyebrows raised. He started walking behind their guide, resigning himself to the weird scenery.

"Cool." Ed smiled, skipping right after his friend. He looked like a kid in a candy store, smile reaching across his face.

"Wait, stop the alliteration!" Double D followed close behind, flailing his arms. "Why is there a second castle?! Why is it located so close to the first one?! WHO BUILT THEM?! Don't either of you have any questions?!"

"This place is weird, Sockhead. Roll with it." Eddy said, shrugging lazily. He didn't even bother looking back, arms moving behind his head.

Double D sputtered, trying to come up with a comeback. When the perfect one didn't fall into his lap, he just facepalmed. The sigh was imperceptible.

"Come on."

Headmistress Bloodgood sighed as she looked towards the courtyard, the sunlight barely breaching in through the window. She scratched at her neck, the enchanted threads literally keeping her head on her shoulders rubbing her skin. She remembered the when she didn't have to scratch her neck every few minutes, though the memory was dull by now.

She shook her head (not too hard, otherwise the threads would rip apart). No time for reminiscing now.

She had work to do.

"It looks like everything is going right." She watched as Clawdeen guided the boys to the doors of the school and smiled. She really did love her students, especially ones as creative as her. Bloodgood knew she would get far in life.

The boys seemed to be doing well too, the headmistress thought. They didn't seem to have caught on to things, though. That would surely cause some issues later.

She felt the pang of guilt. It was sharp and quick, creeping around in her gullet. She would have so much to explain as soon as they figured things out. Of course, she would do everything in her power to explain to them the importance of this, but that didn't guarantee they would understand it. Humans were very…

She bit back the thought as fast as it started. Doubts were like weeds, she thought. You had to be careful to prune them and treat them properly, otherwise they will rise again. Sometimes in greater numbers.

She knew that she made the right choice. They were capable kids. Smart kids.

Bloodgood sighed once again, the feeling of doubt still sprouting within her.

"Giles, I really hope this plan of yours works." She muttered, watching the boys disappear into the school. "For both our sakes."

The school was somehow even more intimidating on the inside, if it made any sense. Despite the normal sounding names of the classrooms, the place was somehow borderline the set of a horror movie. The Eds could appreciate the Halloween theme as much as the next person, but the cobwebs on the walls seemed to have actual spiders on them.

Ed thought it was cool though, despite his friends thinking it absolutely insane.

"I swear that spider just moved, Sockhead. It was looking me in the eye and everything. I think it wants to eat me."

"No Eddy, it wasn't looking at you." Double D looked straight ahead, trying to ignore the accusations from his friend. He mentally mapped the corridors of the school, making sure to note everything of importance.

That and he was keeping a close eye on Ed to keep him from getting his hand stuck in another vase.

"Yeah, don't worry about the spiders. They've been fed… I think." Clawdeen snickered as she heard the groan from Eddy. "Kidding. But seriously, they're tame spiders."

"Yeah, it's fine guys. They're kinda cute!" Ed went up to one of the cobwebs, looking closely at one of the spiders with big smile. Against all common sense, he started to pet one of them with one of his fingers.

"Ed, don't pet the spiders. We don't know if they're poisonous." Double D passed Ed and dragged him away from the spiderweb casually. "Speaking of which, Claudine?"

Clawdeen slowed down, turning her head casually to him. "Yeah, any problems?"

"Well, no." Double D said, moving up to walk beside her. He pointed at the webs. "I'm simply wondering why exactly spiders are crawling about the halls. A fascinating species you have here, but I'm sure somebody would have complained by now."

As he said this, he looked over at a spiderweb, watching one of them. He didn't actually recognize the species, which was a little odd. He was sure he'd studied many kinds of arachnids in his youth, but these were… different somehow.

"Trust me, I'm not big on these either." Clawdeen shrugged. "Unfortunately, a student here didn't like how we kept them in cases or killed them when they got out, so the school lets them out for some free time." She narrowed her eyes as she passed one going between the two.

"…Alright, that's somehow not the weirdest thing I've heard today." Double D chuckled wearily.

Clawdeen raised an eyebrow at that. "Probably not going to be the strangest thing you see today either." Her lips quirked into a smile. "Hope you're up for a particular brand of crazy."

Double D laughed, looking at her with a small smile of his own. "I've known the two people behind me since I was six-years-old. After one of them asked me to pay them to watch the other eat a television." His smile widened. "I think we'll do just fine."

The disguised monster blinked at that statement, looking behind them for a brief second. Before the boy next to her could begin to worry that he weirded her out, she snorted and started to laugh. Double D relaxed, glad to have made a first impression.

"Okay, if you actually stay here, you're gonna have to tell me that story at some point." Clawdeen herself couldn't help but relax herself. The guys didn't seem like they were up to taking down their disguises, but it looked like they were going to fit in anyway.

"Put the spider down, Lumpy, we aren't taking you to the hospital to get the venom out!"

"Oh, come on, Eddy. It's cuddly! Pet it!"

"Hell no! get that thing away from me!"

…They'd fit in just fine.

"So," Double D drawled out. "Anything other then rampant spiders we should look out for? Bigger, more intimidating, with an abundance of testosterone perhaps?"

"Oh, we have a small infestation of those." Clawdeen rolled her eyes. "Manny. Tall, blond, plays basketball. Not the brightest bulb." She looked her new friend over. "Hates the color red, so if you plan on wearing that outfit often, you'll have to learn to run fast."

"Noted." He needed some more exercise, he supposed. "Any little followers to keep track of?"

"Not really. You'll get the occasional jerk, but Manny's the one to watch out for. When my brother gets here, might be good to stick with him and you guys won't get bothered as much." She frowned then. "Well, except if some of the Vamps from that prep school start getting hectic."

Double D raised an eyebrow. "Vamps?"

"Long story." She sighed, not meeting his eye. "Either way, you guys should be fine as long as you don't directly decide to make the next person you see your enemy."

"I certainly hope it doesn't come to that." Despite laughing after saying this, he couldn't help but feel a chill down his spine. He looked briefly behind him, watching as Eddy furiously attempted to keep the spider that was being shoved into his face by Ed.

"Too bad that's our specialty." He mumbled, already planning ahead for what he was going to assume to be the next catastrophe.

"Oh, my, Ra, how does Bloodgood expect me to clean all of this up?!"

Ghoulia sighed, pressing the button on the stopwatch. Twenty seconds, she noted. She hummed thoughtfully as she noted that Cleo had almost reached her record when it came to time between complaints about manual labor.

"Seriously, how did that little chihuahua get the job of taking a few stooges around, but I get stuck with cleaning up this?!" Cleo waved the mess behind her, which despite working at it for a good while, had nary a dent.

"Maybe you shouldn't have put the rats inside of her locker." Ghoulia said, typing away at her computer.

"Maybe she shouldn't have filled my locker with clothes from the boys locker room after casketball practice." Cleo ineffectually kicked at a stray pair of shorts, looking at them suspiciously.

"Yes, that was a little cruel. Pulling out a cursed artifact and trying to use it against her was taking it a step too far. Speaking of which…" Ghoulia opened her bag, making sure the box with the magic seal was still holding out. Bright red lights were still coming out of the gaps in short bursts. "It's still going off, by the way. Where did you get this particular artifact, by the way?"

"It's something my father traded with some undead Mayans a while back. I took it from his personal collection." Cleo attempted to sweep the area once again, pushing back the mess slowly. "Besides, it's not I was the one to start this whole thing. She should the one in trouble here."

At this, Ghoulia couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. She gave a sarcastic look to her friend, watching as she kept on cleaning the area. Cleo groaned at Ghoulia's silence.

"I didn't! I'm not the one with a problem here, she's the one that went all feral after I started dating Deuce."

"I will admit her reaction to it was a little extreme." Ghoulia admitted, looking away. However, she steeled herself and continued. "You two did start dating not long after you broke up with her brother."

"He didn't have a problem with it though!" Cleo threw the broom down, stomping her feet. She started to pace she began to rant. "So, what, is it her duty to defend the honor of her brother? No! Is it her job to but into my business? No!"

And, she was going off again. Third time since they started too. Ghoulia would complain, but it wasn't like she had a point.

But that didn't mean Clawdeen didn't have a point either.

"Cleo. Focus on the mess." The warning came out easily has it had the third time once again.

"Ugh!" Cleo stomped one final time. "Focus or not, it's not like I'm going to finish this before closing time. At this rate, fearleading practice will be canceled tomorrow."

The zombie, despite herself, couldn't help but nod. The destruction had been fierce alone with the rats, dirty laundry, and cursed Egyptian artifacts. The modified bath bombs certainly didn't help things when Clawdeen pulled them out. A nice lavender smell was added to the mess, but it was a mess nonetheless.

"You know, if we got that little living vacuum cleaner from downstairs."

…Oh no.

Cleo smiled deviously.

She dozed off again, dammit, she dozed again.

"If you'll excuse me, old friend-"

"Cleo, please don't do what I think you're doing-"

"Oh, I am."

…Ghoulia wished she was faster sometimes. She honestly wished she did.

"You sure your friend is going to be alright back there?" Clawdeen watched as Ed let the spiders crawl all over him. She wasn't sure if she thought the fact he was laughing instead of screaming was cool or not, especially since Eddy looked positively terrified.

"Maybe." Double D's reply came out strangled, while his face was absolutely failing to pull off a calm façade. "None of them are poisonous? Not like I'm asking for a particular reason."

"No." The werewolf actually wasn't sure, but she figured it would make him feel better. She looked to Eddy. "You going to have a heart attack back there, dude?"

"Yeah, no, this is a completely regular thing that happens. Ed makes friends with weird stuff all the time." The short Ed sounded sarcastic, but it really was the truth. He just really didn't like this. At all.

"Yeah, come on Eddy, they don't bite." Ed moved towards his friend arms outstretched with spiders crawling down. Eddy moved bolted immediately behind Double D and Clawdeen.

"I'm good. Come on, let's get moving, plenty more of the school to see." He grabbed the two, dragging them further down the hall. Ed only shrugged, happily following them at a decent stroll. When the three in front were far enough ahead, Eddy started to whisper conspiratorially

"Alright Sockhead, we're shoving him into the shower before the day ends."

"Agreed."

Clawdeen nodded. "We have the gym coming up. You guys can corner him in the boy's locker room and shove him under one of the showers."

The two nodded. Ed, of course, didn't hear any of this, and just kept moving along. He kept looking around at the architecture, noting all the gargoyles lining the halls and arches for each class door.

"Hey, do you know who built this place?" Eddy asked, unprompted. "I mean, who just builds a castle out in the middle of the countryside? Looks old too."

"Yeah, place is older than dirt. Place is owned by a friend of mines dad. Built it sometime in the 1800's." She shrugged. "Not sure why he built a school here per say, but it didn't exactly make the other one happy."

"Family feud?" Double D asked, having already procured a notepad from somewhere on his person.

"Kinda." Clawdeen frowned. "The two schools just didn't necessarily get along. Ideological differences. You'll learn about it sometime later probably."

"Hm. Great. Studying. Just what I wanted to do." Eddy grumbled, putting his hands behind his head. "You sure it isn't a class thing? I don't know why, but that place just felt like a private school with all the fancy stuff."

That earned a snicker. "Little bit of that too, but this isn't a public school either." She stopped, taking a second to read the sign. "We're at the gym. Any of ya' want to look inside?"

"Oh, me." Ed waved and dove through the doorway. The other Eds sighed, already getting ready to commit to the momentous task of pushing Ed to take a shower.

As the rest entered the gym, they couldn't help but take a look around either. Eddy couldn't help but give a low whistle at the large size.

"You guys do a lotta sports here?" Ed asked, noting the basketball hoops and volleyball nets. Ed may have been the comic book type of guy, but that didn't mean he didn't like to play a game or two when he was bored.

"Big on sports. Not a lot of 'jocks,' but pretty much everyone plays something if they can." Clawdeen subtly motioned to the other Eds where the locker rooms were. She noted their subtle nods as they inched to move Ed.

"Cool, cool. Anything in particular that you play?" The two Eds moved behind their friend, ready to tackle him. Ed didn't really notice as

"All sorts of things, but really I stick to fearlea-"

*BOOM*

The noise interrupted Clawdeen before she could finish, with her already whipping to face the locker room doors. She saw Cleo and Ghoulia in front of the doors leading to the girls side, pressing up against the door.

"…Hello, Clawdeen." Cleo nonchalantly locked the door behind her as she moved walked forwards, letting Ghoulia to droop against the door. "Didn't think I'd see you here."

"Yeah, well I expected you." The werewolf's personality shifted to a noticeable degree, at least to the Eds.

"Oh no." Double D slouched, feeling the tension.

"What?" Ed cluelessly looked towards his friends, not getting the hint as clearly.

Eddy, who was beginning to smile, replied in one word with a singsong voice. "It's drama."

Despite how low Eddy had said it, Clawdeen still spared a small glare at him before turning back to her 'friend.'

"So, I'm not gonna pretend that you got out of cleaning duty. Or even got started." Clawdeen slowly moved, as if to circle the girl in front of her. "Got tired of finally doing some hard work for once?"

"Oh, no, no," Cleo followed suit, moving in the same pattern as the werewolf. "I just found a way to work smarter. You know, instead of wasting away for hours on a…" She looked to the boys, narrowing her eyes. "… mundane endeavor."

"…Did that livin' Bratz doll call us 'mundane." Eddy said, eyes narrowing and smile thinning. Yeah, he wasn't going to like this one. Not one bit.

"I believe so." Double D moved his eyes between the scene and his friend, ready to stop him from intervening. "Better to just let it slide."

"Yeah," Ed responded. The response sounded muffled as he shoved a handful of popcorn into his mouth. The other two looked at him bewildered.

"…I don't even wanna ask where you got that." Eddy grabbed a handful himself, tossing one into his mouth. After checking for spiders of course.

The girls ignored the boys, still focused on each other. They were still circling one another carefully, neither one making a move towards each other.

Clawdeen smirked. "You got your servants to pick up the slack again? I thought Bloodgood decided to kick them out when you tried to get one to take a test for you."

"Nothing of the sort." Cleo brushed her hair behind her shoulder, arrogantly smirking back. "Just decided to call up a favor so I can get back to important things. Spending hours in a locker room doing menial labor is no job for a queen."

Clawdeen rolled her eyes. "You mean you wanted to cheat out of a punishment. Classic rich girl." She tilted her head. "Never worked a day in her life and expects everyone to do as she says. Way to live up a stereotype."

"At least I don't have bags under my eyes. Really dear, would it kill you to just get some beauty sleep for once in your life?" Cleo faked a giggle, holding her hand in front of her mouth. "I mean, even if you were getting enough, I don't think it would be quite enough."

Clawdeen let out a guttural growl, stopping their little dance. She looked about ready to pounce on Cleo, eyes narrowing and teeth baring-

SNAP

The loud noise startled the occupants of the room, leading to notice that Ghoulia had finally made it over. She looked exasperated at her friends, giving the best glare she could.

They tensed.

They two parties looked at each other silently before Ghoulia dropped her arm, sighing. She then started to move her hands slowly, somewhat sarcastically, into using sign language.

"Calm down. You do realize we have guests here, correct?" She pointed to Eds, who were still standing to the side awkwardly. Well, when they weren't munching on popcorn.

"And?" Cleo raised an eyebrow defiantly, but her bravado fell as the zombie turned her glare to her.

"And, we need to behave. You two are not setting a good example for our school."

"She's right, you know." Eddy interjected with a mouthful of popcorn. "I mean, I can't say it isn't funny, but can we just get on with it? Queenie's whining is starting to get on my nerves."

Clawdeen narrowed her eyes. "You know sign language?"

"Yeah. Long story. Have to be a level 5 friend in order to get that part of my tragic backstory." He sarcastically said, taking another bite out of the popcorn bag Ed had summoned. "Anyway, as I was saying…"

Cleo apparently decided to snap out of her stupor. "Excuse me?! Whining?!" She stomped over to Eddy, who already looked tired of whatever she was going to say next.

"Yeah, whining. And not a good listener, apparently." Eddy threw some popcorn in his mouth nonchalantly. He munched with a smug smile on his face as he saw Cleo fume.

"You really don't have any who I am, do you?" The mummy narrowed her eyes, putting her hands on her hips. "You would not be speaking to me this way if you knew who I was."

"I'm pretty sure I'm talking to an egotistic girl whose used to getting what she wants from 'daddy' or something." He looked to Clawdeen. "Am I in the ballpark here, or is there a slight chance that I'm wrong?"

"Nah, that's pretty accurate." The werewolf nodded appreciatively. Cleo briefly turned to her, but the mummy only received a mocking smile in return.

"Good, I've got plenty of experience with those. Right guys?" The smile he sent towards his friends was wide and mischievous but was only received by a sigh.

Double D, the origin of said sigh, only gave a small glare. "I thought we agreed that you would be on your best behavior, Eddy. No making enemies, remember?"

"I didn't make any enemies at my school. You never said anything about making ones outside of it." Another piece of popcorn was launched in his mouth, celebrating his work around. "Besides, I ain't goin' to school here."

"Aren't me and Double D going, though?" Ed questioned, who had been playing with the spiders still on his person the entire time.

"Exactly!" Double D exclaimed, glad that someone was making sense. "Now can we please move on?! I'd like it if we could move forward so we can make enemies another day."

Ghoulia snapped her fingers to get the attention on her. She started signing once again. "We should just let them go, Cleo. As I said before, they are new here. Of course they don't know who you are. Maybe just exercise some mercy and let them have a good start to the year?"

"Thank you!" Eddy put his arms up into the air, causing some popcorn to spill on the ground. "Someone is taking initiative here. Popcorn?" He offered the bag to the zombie, though she politely declined, causing Eddy to shrug and continue eating it.

"Oh no, I'm going to make sure you know who you're messing with." Cleo huffed, moving closer to Eddy, attempting to tower over him. Eddy, unintimidated, looked up to her with an annoyed scowl.

Suddenly, a bang could be heard from the locker room that the two ghouls previously exited. However, the only ones to not notice was Eddy and Cleo.

"What was that?" Ed said curiously, looking towards the other two girls in the room.

"Not sure." Clawdeen replied, sending a curious look to Ghoulia, who positively looked a little scared by the sound. "Got any ideas?"

"I have no idea what makes you think I know what's going on." The zombie signed quickly, trying to catch Cleo's attention. "I think it might be time to leave now, we've got plenty of work to do."

Unfortunately, the mummy hadn't been paying. "Let me spell it out for you, you dwarf. My father, and I by proxy, are from a long line of royalty, prestige, and wealth."

"Old money you never worked for." Eddy replied, not even remotely phased.

Another bang came out from the locker room door, though he paid it no mind as he watched Cleo implode.

"I have more control over this school and can make these peasants do my bidding if I asked. I have their fear and respect." Cleo spat out, narrowing her eyes even more. If Eddy had listened a little better, he would have noticed a small echo in her voice.

"No real friends outside the girl behind me and controls everyone through blackmail." Eddy replied back, rolling eyes. "And peasants? Really? Pretty cliché there, Queenie."

Another bang echoed from the locker room. Double D couldn't help but finally voice his concern. "Is there some kind of wild animal in there? It sounds like it might get out of there any second."

"It's like a wild animal." Ghoulia was starting to panic. "We should seriously consider moving on with the tour right now. Clawdeen, how far along were you on our plan?" Her attempt at a distraction failed however, as the werewolf seemed to be laughing too hard at watching the fight between the two.

"I have more power in this school then you hope to ever have in your measly existence! You have no clue the powers I have and how willing I am to use them." The echoes were getting a louder now, but again, Eddy, failed to notice.

"Bold words." He clapped with an appreciative smile but deadpanned a second later. "But again, don't care, doesn't matter if you can't back it up."

The next bang was accompanied by a screech of metal, causing the other occupants of the room to jump. They all looked at each other and moved backwards. Double D and Ghoulia tried to motion to their respective friends.

To no one's surprise, they failed to listen once more.

"Oh." Cleo was chillingly calm, the echo now out of her voice. She put on a plastic smile, eyes turning cold as she lifted her hand up slowly, looking ready to snap it. "Let me introduce to The Help then."

However, before she could officially snap them, one final bang against the locker room door caused it to give way. The occupants of the gym jumped and turned towards the creature the stumbled out.

As silence enveloped the room, the people of the room observed the creature. To the Eds, the creature looked like something that would only come out of the edge of their nightmares, with a human like body with too-long legs and too-long arms. The arms ended in claws with curled nails, a face that seemed to split open. Eddy couldn't help but think of the monster from the first season of Stranger Things, which he had watched when he was pirating his neighbors Netflix account.

To the monsters in the room, it was called Fluffy.

The silence in the room would have continued if Ed, who didn't seem to be afraid of the creature, smiled.

"What is that?! That looks so cool!" Ed said excitedly, causing the creature to look towards him. That seemed to break the spell over the teens.

"What in the world?!" Double D yelled, pulling Ed back. The beast started sniffing the air, moving in the general direction of the Eds. "What is that thing?! Why were you keeping it in there?!"

"Relax." Cleo tried to wave off the yelling, attempting nonchalance that was barely hiding her panic. "I have this completely under control." She turned to the beast and raised her hand in front of her, attempting to put on a regal air. "Fluffy, I command you to stop."

Fluffy appeared to be too preoccupied to listen. He kept sniffing the air slowly, making steps forward at a slow pace.

Cleo faltered, looking unsure. "Fluffy, I said I command you to stop." When it continued to not give a response. She started to get frustrated. "Stop I say!"

"You let Fluffy out?! God dang it Cleo, you know what happened last time. He got to the cafeteria and he made a mess everywhere!"

"Why the hell is it called Fluffy?" Eddy deadpanned, eyes zeroed in on said creature. He attempted to move to the side, but the creature sniffed once more. It stopped and looked to him and changed to where he currently stood.

Eddy's eyes widened. "Oh s***."

At the curse, the creature then growled and suddenly sped up to the short boys position, almost in a sprint. Eddy screamed, throwing the popcorn bag at it while sprinting away himself.

In a rare turnabout, the popcorn bag landed on the creatures head, slipping on without trouble. Fluffy stopped at the flood of butter, salt, and starch that assaulted its senses, sniffing madly. It waved it's head around as an attempt to rip it off.

"Oh for crying out loud." Clawdeen moved towards the creature, grabbing the bag off of its head. The popcorn spilled out unceremoniously, scattering across the floor. Fluffy, obviously unable to speak English, seemed to be grateful as he headbutted the werewolf gently before beginning to eat the food on the floor.

"Ok, now that this situation is over with," She said calmly, before turning to the other two monsters in the room. "What were two thinking?! I'm especially surprised at you, Ghoulia."

The zombie smiled nervously, not looking her in the eyes. "In my defense, it wasn't exactly my idea. I was simply trying to help out Cleo with her punishment."

"As much as I'd like to disagree, she's not wrong." Cleo checked her nails, back into diva mode. "As if I should be expected to do menial labor. Besides, I figured Headmistress Bloodgood wouldn't notice for at least an hour."

"Unfortunately, Miss De Nile, that is not the case."

The three couldn't help but jump, fear instantly infecting them. The headmistress herself casually walked into the open doors of the gym.

"Hey, Miss Bloodgood!" Clawdeen tried to hide the popcorn bag behind her. "Good to see you. Look, there's a good explanation for this-"

"Cleo took the Fluffy out so he could help eat the trash within the gym and you caught her in the act?" The administrator raised an eyebrow, making sure to send the stinkeye to the mentioned student.

"It's my fault that he can and will eat literally anything." She pointed to the creature as it attempted to eat the popcorn bag out of the werewolf's hands, who just simply sighed and handed it to him. Fluffy, again, hummed gratefully as he munched on the paper.

"Believe it or not, he did do a good job. He only started to frenzy for some reason when Clawdeen's tour group showed up." Ghoulia said, attempting to defend her friend somewhat. This caused everyone to pause. "Oh, that reminds me, sorry about the schock you- where did they go?"

An excellent question, as the spot where the three boys were standing minutes prior was now empty. The only sign they had been present was the spiderwebs left on the floor and the open door that led outside of the building.

"…Oh dear."

"What the hell was that?!"

"Eddy."

"Seriously, can someone explain why everything went full on Stranger Things back there?! Are we going to make friends with an 'Eleven' or something?!"

"Eddy."

"Are we going to have our mystery solving group form up and beat a government conspiracy?! I don't want to do a Scooby Doo thing- wait, we go the van, all we need is two girls and a dog-"

"Eddy!"

The kid in question stopped his rambling, noticing his friends shout. "What?! I can't be the only one questioning what we just say back there."

"You're not." Double D pinched the bridge of his nose and frowned. "Trust me. We just have to think about this logically. Ed!"

The tall Ed boy, who was picking the spider webs off of him finally, looked to his friend. "Yeah, Double D?"

"You've looked into practical effects before. You know, like the ones in your movies?" At the nod, the smart Ed boy continued. "Do you believe that it could have been something like that? It could have been completely possible that it was just a hazing ritual."

"Who does hazing like that?" Eddy questioned, looking at his friends. "Hazing is making someone eat ten pies at once or making them run through the forest naked, not making them think they're gonna have their face ripped off by a monster."

"It's just a suggestion!"

"He's kinda right Double D." Ed didn't seem as cheerful or as out of it, taking the situation seriously. "If it was effects, it wasn't anything I've ever seen before. It actually looked real."

"Preposterous!" Double D's voice was starting to become shrill and tone desperate. "This place could just have an excellent art program with a focus on film. Yes that has to be it." The smart one smiled shakily, seemingly trying to convince himself more then the others.

"What no, that's," Eddy paused, shaking his head. "If even Ed doesn't recognize how it works like that, then it probably not some freakin' trick!"

"You know what?" Ed raised his hands, looking between his two friends carefully. "Maybe we can just head to the other school. Cool off there. Wouldn't you like that, Double D?"

"Yes." Double D said it in a rush, already heading to the other school. He couldn't help but note that when they were running out of the Merston High that they must have run pretty far as they were already on the outskirts of Bookend. "I would like that very much."

Eddy sputtered before following, slowing to walk beside him. "Wait, wait, wait, I don't know if that's a good idea. I'm pretty sure there's something weird about that place too."

"Eddy, you're being ridiculous. I'm sure that Evelyn Aster High is a completely normal-"

Double D was then interrupted by a deep roar coming from the forest nearby. The Eds stopped, already on the defensive as they turned every which way to figure out where it was coming from.

The beast in question flew out of the forest seconds later, heading high into the air. What appeared to be a purple and blue dragon flew across the sky, moving gracefully in the air. It flew above the boys and headed off to the woods across the way, a roar reverberating in the air.

The Eds had stopped to watch it fly by, their eyes wide and remaining quiet. When the dragon was far off into the horizon, Double D fell to his knees and watched it go.

"That was a dragon." He said, a statement rather than a question. His green eyes were shrunk to pinpricks, mouth drawn into a line. "That was a real dragon."

"Yep." Eddy said, just as shocked. He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. He felt numb by the revelation, unable to yell at the moment.

"Yeah." Ed, who should have been excited, didn't seem to know how to react. Awe, shock, and a little fear morphed his features constantly.

They remained in silence there, which allowed them to hear what sounded like the galloping of a horse within the distance. The three turned towards the sound numbly, watching as a woman atop a dark colored mare. If anyone of them could come up with a coherent thought right now, they would have thought it graceful, but somehow intimidating.

As Headmistress Bloodgood slowed to a stop in front of the three boys, she read their faces carefully and sighed. A more gentle introduction would have been better, but getting their true reactions to the situation was crucial to figuring out the next phase. At least they didn't appear to be lashing out.

She cleared her throat, looking at them all with a measured gaze.

"I suppose you three have some questions?"