Hello everyone, I hope you're all having a good time. This chapter finally brings an end to the Prep Arc and soon we'll be going at the canon stuff in short order. Hopefully you'll enjoy the change and we'll all stick together while we move forward.
Also, a quick word about some of the real world stuff going on. If you don't want to read anything about the real world stuff right now, feel free to get on with the story. Otherwise, continue reading this note.
I hope that everyone out there is healthy right now and that you're making sure to stay clean during this epidemic. While the Coronavirus is probably not something that will cause a lot of devastation, it is important not to spread it for the safety of the young and the elderly. Make sure to wash your hands and to not freak out about the situation while it develops. As long as you do that and can hopefully get treated if you do somehow get it, everything about this should blow over and the year can be as good as we want it to be.
Other than that, enjoy the chapter!
Eddy knew that he wasn't really scientist, but he felt like he was becoming one each time he made more progress on his little invention.
The suit had been slow going at first, but it felt like he was going to be finished with it very soon. When he wasn't working on that concert, he was mainly focusing on this. He was determined to have it finished before the school year began and he was pretty close to finishing the design.
The glove had evolved into a suit that would to his basic frame, extending to both arms and part of his back. The base of it had to be widened considerably to hold on to eleven gems, all arranged in a pattern that might help the magical current that would sort through it (it was only a guess at this point). The first six were arranged in a hexagon, the smallest on the outside surrounding a diamond shape made of four larger gems. In the center was a bright blue one that was essentially the most powerful if his readings were right.
It was similar to Double D's set up when it came to his octo-arms, except he went with an octagon with a singular gem inside it. It was enough to power it without actually overloading the device itself.
Eddy was actually making the final adjustments to it when Double D apparently decided to surprise him by using his own.
"Eddy?" said a voice from above him, causing him to jump out of his seat. Looking up from his position on the floor, he saw Double D looking slightly embarrassed as he watched from his position above him. "Sorry, I was about to ask you where one of the wrenches are."
"Maybe don't ask while you're on the ceiling then!" Eddy hadn't mean to shout, but he was running on three hours of sleep at this point and his friend rubbing the success in his invention in his face wasn't helping things. Rubbing his eyes, he narrowed them at the boy on the ceiling. "You don't have to flaunt your little cosplay, Sockhead, I'm pretty sure carrying that stage was a pretty good debut for it already."
"Sorry." To the hatted boy's credit, he did look pretty embarrassed. "The effect of this hasn't worn off for me yet." He moved down to ground smoothly, smile present on his face. "You have to admit, this is pretty amazing that we could build something like this."
"Yeah, but we can marvel over it until I can get my thing to work." The short Ed boy glared at the suit before getting up himself. "I'm almost finished, and I think I got the right amount of power for it, but I won't know until I can test it later."
"I'm just happy we were able to come up with these so fast." Double D was delighted with the inventiveness they'd shown thus far and hope that it would be something that continued until later. "It looks like we'll be able to pull this off fairly well with little issue. Any idea how you're going to explain your 'new' magical core, by the by?"
"I'll just say that I knew I had magic, but I wasn't able to use it that often at home." He shrugged, taking off the gloves for now. "It isn't like they'll be able to check on that. We've been giving that excuse so far, why stop now?"
"I suppose consistency is something that we need to practice while we're conducting this scam." Double D retracted the metal arms into the device on his back, a frown appearing on his face. "I do worry that we're setting up a bad narrative though."
"The heck are you talking about?" Eddy turned around and leaned onto the table with a raised eyebrow. "Consistency is the best part about all of this. We need to make sure there's no holes in the story."
"Yes," Double D said with trepidation in his voice. "However, with how often they we talk about how we weren't told anything about our 'heritage,' I'm afraid we might be presenting our parents as abusive, which would only invite more questions."
Eddy waved it off with a roll of his eyes, turning back to the project and started to put it away. "You're worrying too much, I'm pretty sure they won't jump to that. It's fairy tale land, nothing bad ever happens here."
"I don't think you understand." The smart Ed boy felt irritation seep into him at the casual dismissal. "I'm glad that the lies we're coming up with are consistent, but these are real people, Eddy. They're going to assume something went on when we lived at home, which will lead to questions."
"Fine." The short Ed boy set down his tools loudly, turning abruptly towards his friend. "We'll come up with better. I'll just say my magic came in late or something and I've been trying to catch up. Happy?"
Double D shrank back at the aggression, though he nodded firmly. "That's acceptable." It seemed to sooth his friends temper, who went back to his work at the table quietly.
"Not like they'd be far off anyway." Eddy mumbled, thinking Double D couldn't hear it. His friend did but decided not to comment since that would only dredge up another fight that neither of them were willing to deal with right now.
Thankfully, even though it wasn't on purpose, Ed deescalated things by barging into the conversation and their workshop.
"Guys!" He ran in and grabbed the two into his arms, shaking them with intensity. "Daring and the rest of crew are doing the investigation, we got to get there."
"Charmless is going to make a fool of himself?" Eddy felt his spirits lighten immediately at that, a crooked smile moving onto his face. "Count me in. They already start?"
"Yeah, so we got to move now!" He picked them both up, running with them out the door without consulting them.
"Ed, wait, we need to clean up the shop!" Double D said futilely as he was dragged away, Eddy laughing along with the chaos.
Admittedly, when the Eds got to the ruined castle, the fun was lost a little bit after feeling the tense atmosphere surrounding it. Everyone else had arrived at a timely manner, but it was mostly because some of them didn't have much else to do since most of their work for the concert was finished.
The finances and logistics were finished by Ghoulia and Cleo not that long ago after the Ed's finalized their designs. They made sure that most of the additions to the makeshift stages were affordable and able to function, with a lot of the budget being used to invest in other areas such as Maddie's catering, which had largely gone off without a hitch.
The auditions had been sorted through eventually by Eddy and Apple, with Raven even being able to add her two cents when she could. Some acts had to be dropped due to various reasons, but they were able to come up with a decent set of rock bands that would keep people entertained. It was general enough to apply to everyone's taste and any effects they asked for were put to the test by the Ed's whenever it was needed.
As for the stage itself, it had turned out better than most would've thought.
Since there would be a lot of shifting parts, the stage was kept minimalist in nature. Set pieces were behind some curtains thrown up to make sure each band had their own theme to themselves. However, the backdrop to the scene was made of swirls of differing shades, going from black and blue to white and gold. As long as the lightshow went off without a hitch, the colors would appear to change with the right timing and the right amount of lighting.
Of course, all that work could possibly mean nothing if the inspection of the castle was considered a failure. Something that everyone was wishing that it wouldn't be considered one.
It was a stressful time that was only compounded by the work they put in, something that Cleo did not help in the slightest with her complaining.
"How long does it take an entire platoon to inspect one castle?" Cleo was filing down her nails and watching the group go to work with a bored expression. "It isn't exactly that large. It can even be considered cozy for a normal castle."
"They are trying to make sure there's no immediate danger within the area, so it's better that they're thorough." Apple did her best to explain, trying to calm the irritation of the mummy. She looked to Raven quickly. "You two did get every trap that was within there, correct?"
"Yeah, we checked the building three separate times." Raven shrugged, foot tapping on the ground. "There no physical traps Cleo didn't spot, and no magical ones are there anymore. As far as we know, it's clean."
"Hopefully that will turn out to be the case." Ghoulia counted up something in her head, nodding, and continued. "It would turn out to be very costly if we had to change venues all of a sudden. I'd hate to see all the hard work the boys did go to waste."
"I know, right?" Maddie huffed. "Me and my dad spent hours preparing what exactly we'd serve at the concert tonight and it'd just be wasted inventory. We had to eat cakes for a week after this one client canceled on us." A giddy grin moved onto her face. "It was a good week though."
"I've scouted a couple of places, just in case. I have an idea where we can go next, but I'd need help rounding up animals to get away from the scene." Cerise looked to the others with skeptical eyes. "I could try to get Daring and his goons to take over keeping people back, but like I said, they aren't allowed to have swords."
"That won't be a problem." Clawdeen didn't look too worried, though her exhaustion was palpable. Maddie had already set her up with a caffeine fix hours ago and was starting to get used to that fact. "I can smell the boys coming here, by the way, so it'd be a good idea to maybe lay off the concerns. I'm pretty sure they all have anxiety about this already."
"What do they smell like?" Maddie asked curiously, tilting her head to the side.
"As a group? Metal and ink." She shrugged, sticking her tongue out at the hatter. "Hard to say how they smell individually, though."
As if on cue, the three were seen running down the trail, Ed carrying the other two with gusto as they approached. Stopping at the gathered group, Ed caught his breath as his collaborators moved off of him and moved towards the rest.
"Good evening everyone, I hope that you've all had a good day so far." Double D started politely, pretending like he wasn't just carried here like a sack. "I suppose things are going well so far with the inspection."
"I don't see Charmless around like his butts on fire, so we're probably fine." Eddy casually moved up, frowning. "Hopefully he isn't petty like Headmaster Grimm. I really don't want to deal with two of them."
"Oh, there's no need to worry about that." Apple waved off the concern literally and figuratively. "I've known Daring for years and he's more accepting than you think he is. He does have his own skills too."
"What, you have a crush on the guy too?" Eddy attempted to tease but was disappointed to get a noncommittal shrug. "I'm just saying, nobody acts like he does unless he has some agenda to it. That pompous attitude doesn't exactly bring up any good thoughts either."
"I can't say I think he's a good guy either, but you're not totally wrong." Raven chuckled, leaning forward to faux whisper to him. "He's kind known as the school womanizer for a reason."
"Why am I not surprised?" Clawdeen rolled her eyes, looking over Double D. "I'm guessing Ed dragged you guys out of the workshop?"
"Yes, unfortunately." He shifted the machine attached to his back to make it more comfortable. "Though we are just as eager to have this done. I'm assuming you had to leave from your work as well?"
"Yeah," She frowned but gave a shrug. "I've made it pretty far, so maybe I can take a break soon. I'll probably try to work through the night, maybe…"
"I wouldn't suggest that." Maddie tutted, moving between the two. "As much as I appreciate you liking my family's tea, I'll have to cut you off for today. Anything else will have to be decaf."
"She's got a point. I've never seen anyone drink as much as you have in the past few days." Cerise laughed as the werewolf in front of her pouted. "Least you got the guy's stuff done, right?"
"Yeah." Clawdeen's ears flitted up in interest, looking over at the Ed's. "They'll be coming in through tonight. If you guy's wear it to the concert, make sure you tell anyone there who made it."
"Heck yeah we will!" Ed jumped in, smiling ear to ear. "We'll look so cool! Everyone will be wondering where we got it."
"I thought the point was to fit in?" Ghoulia questioned, raising an eyebrow at the statement. Then again, she was kind of eager to figure out how they looked in their new outfits as well.
Ed just rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, but it'd be nice to have a change of pace. We don't have that many different changes of clothes."
"Why am I not surprised by that statement?" Cleo said, catching everyone's attention. She pointed at several figures leaving the structure. "I'd suggest we meet with them. I'd rather not stay here any longer than I have to."
"Keep your pants on Queenie, I don't want to talk to Daring any more than you do." Eddy grumbled, bounding down the hill to meet with the blonde prince. He felt a sense of satisfaction when he saw the boy's face scrunch up at his presence and smirked. "So, Charmless, what's the damage? Kinda hoping you aren't going to shut us down."
"That won't the case." Daring wasn't sure why Eddy disliked him, but he might as well get through it whenever he talked with him. "None of the members of my team found anything dangerous in there or anything that could become dangerous. I'm not exactly sure how that happened, but congratulations."
"Excellent. I suppose that means we have free reign to use this space?" Double D questioned patiently, moving beside his friend.
"It seems like you were already using it before we got here, but yes." The Charming teen said, looking over the stage not far from where he stood. "I don't know how Grimm will react to the placement of the stage, though."
"He'll suck it up like a grown up. Headmistress Bloodgood will have his head if he doesn't." Eddy laughed, not noticing the fearful grimace on the boy's face as he went back up. "You heard him, everyone! We're good to go for tomorrow, so rest easy!"
The group members seemed happy about this as they talked and moved away from the scene. Talks about what was going to happen tomorrow and what they had planned were abundant as they went their separate ways, leaving the Ed's behind.
Staying back, the three boys did a look over the area, especially their work on the stage. Despite the headache helping to organize this caused, especially on top of their own projects, they couldn't help but feel accomplished in what they created. Not bad for something they had to organize within a single week.
"I actually have a good feeling about this." Eddy said, putting his hands into his pocket. "I'm still expecting something to go wrong, but I feel like we can get past that you know?"
"It is the first time we've been able to put our talents to good use outside of one of our scams." Double D winced after saying it. "Well, at least not directly. I suppose when it comes to this, virtually everything we make we'll be a part of the scam."
"The ongoing scam of life!" Ed said triumphantly, causing his friends to laugh uproariously. He laughed too, a proud expression as plain as day on his face. "At least what we're doing is good, right? I don't think we're hurting anyone."
"You got a point, Lumpy." The short Ed boy replied. His smile remained on his face for a couple of seconds before it fell slightly, an uneasy expression on his face. "This just became real, didn't it? As soon as the concerts over, we're going to commit to the act fully and leave absolutely nothing to the imagination. We're attempting to fool two entire schools into thinking we're one of them."
"Yes, it appears so." Double D felt the dread seep into him too. He had known that this was coming for days now, but the weight of it hadn't fully rested on him until this moment too. After the concert was over, they would fully slip into new identities consisting of fantastical concepts he previously thought weren't possible.
Ed looked over, frowning as he watched the two begin to panic internally. He moved in front of them, putting on an easy smile for them. "I thought we were going for this. Are you guys already having second thoughts?"
The two didn't say anything, not looking directly into his eyes. Ed frowned deeper before switching back to his earlier behavior. "I think this'll be a great start for us. No Peach Creek, no parents, no old schools! Come one, Eddy, you're the man with the plan, and Double D, you know virtually anything! We'll do just fine."
The other two still felt caution override their senses, but it ebbed away slightly at the enthusiasm from their friend. Double D gave a smile while Eddy simply started to walk away from the scene, thoughts going through his head.
"Come on guys." He said confidently, a grin entering his face. "It's time to make our debut."
The next evening was a special one to everyone since it pretty much showed all of their hard work coming into fruition.
It was honestly very hard to control it, if they were completely honest.
The concert itself was going fairly well, with the bands picked out having been playing for about an hour now, with various amounts of success in getting the crowd into it. The food had been set up by Maddie and her father not long ago and had a wide selection that everyone seemed to like well enough. The decorations and any pyrotechnics were going smoothly under the direction of everyone involved, with no malfunctions.
Nothing seemed to be out of place or working against the hard work everyone did.
The attendees, seemingly cut off between the groups of Monsters and Legends, were the main problem.
It wasn't like anyone was being purposefully antagonistic or rude. In fact, most of the interactions thus far had been mostly polite at the very least, but those were few and far in between. The groups mostly stuck to themselves otherwise and never really talked unless interaction was forced.
This distressed Apple greatly since this made the entire goal of the operation of setting up a relationship between both sides as being much more difficult than it should've been.
"Why isn't anyone talking to each other?" Apple was already starting to get frantic, muttering to herself as she tried and almost failed to not chew on her nails. "The whole point was getting people to talk to one another. This is a disaster."
"I wouldn't say that." Cleo had joined her, looking over the crowd with a critical eye. "As idiotic of a plan I thought this was, nothing major has happened so far, so something is working. Most likely because the more confrontational idiots decided not to come."
"Free food and live music does bring in plenty of people, but it isn't like they have to force themselves to actually interact." Cerise looked down around the perimeter once more, not seeing any invading animals. "I'd still say that this was a success if no one gets hurt. Heck, as long as no one actually looks at each other wrong, it'll be a miracle."
Raven had been relaxing and having one of the drinks provided by Maddie's catering service when her expression shifted. She grabbed a walkie-talkie that she had been assigned and pressed a button. "How's everything going, everyone? Smoothly, I hope." She said to it. She felt an itch at the back of her head telling her something was about to go wrong.
"Everything's good down here!" Maddie said through the device, cheerful voice ringing. "Still plenty of food to go around and plenty of people that want to eat it!"
"I'm keeping an eye on things at the dance floor. Couples are having fun, but people are sticking to cliques more often than not." Clawdeen mumbled, a slight amount of disdain in her tone. "Not like we worked hard to get everyone here. Or spent hours trying to come up with how to get this nice."
"It'll be fine Clawdeen." Ghoulia 'said.' "It appears that everything is in working order. The Ed's seem to have everything under control, though they've been tense about things going wrong."
"That makes four of us then." Raven mumbled to herself, but not into the walkie-talkie. She leaned back into it. "Anything we should watch out for? Doesn't look like they've brought out the big guns just yet."
"Not yet. We didn't necessarily plan out a big finale or any acts that required too much of it, but-" Ghoulia paused for a second, a ringing could be heard from her end. "Excuse me for a moment."
"Is everything alright?" Apple moved to Raven, eyes alight with concern. "Calls like that aren't usually signs of good things."
"She usually doesn't take calls when she's on the job either," Cleo did actually sound concerned about the prospect, having known the zombie for years. "She's usually focused too much on her work to notice anything else."
This caused some anxiety within the present group. Cleo didn't seem like the type to worry about something and she wasn't really invested in this, even if she had dutifully disabled the traps that were set out.
The device came to life suddenly, some unidentifiable groaning coming from Ghoulia that Cleo only understood. "She's cursing?" The mummy said, surprise evident. She snatched the walkie-talkie out of Raven's hands, pressing the button. "Ghoulia, only I can understand you right now. What's happening?"
"I spoke too soon when I said things were under control apparently." Ghoulia let out a few small curses before she typed some more into the speaker. "One of the bands had to cancel last minute. They didn't explain why and now we're short one."
"That doesn't sound so bad." Maddie chimed in. "It just means we're ending the show a little earlier than planned. I don't think anyone would mind, honestly."
"That would be true if the other bands were here. The band that's supposed to come up after them isn't even close to being ready." This caused a great deal of panic to be brought up, anxiety reaching each of the team members as they realized the gravity of the situation. "And it's not like I can call up another group since they're even less prepared then the last one."
Right after she said this, the device buzzed in as another person, male this time, decided to join in. "Which one was it? I swear if it was that idiot with the bowl cut-"
"Good to hear from you too, Eddy." Cleo rolled her eyes, tapping her foot on the ground in annoyance. "I wouldn't necessarily complain just yet. Don't you have some magical way of fixing things?"
"I wouldn't tempt him, Cleo. He is a protagonist." Maddie warned, to the confusion of everyone on the call. After a few moments, she ringed back in. "Actually, yeah, do taunt him. Protagonist powers would be great right about now."
"I have no idea what that means, but okay." Eddy decided to brush over that apparently, having already had to deal with one weird guy for about ten years of his life. Having to deal with her was a piece of cake. "Is there any chance that if me and the other guys hurry up and set things up, one of those bands will be ready to go up Ghoulia?"
"Unfortunately, no. While you could possibly set up most of the set on the fly and have some of the pyrotechnics ready as their bit goes on, it doesn't change the fact that they wouldn't be here to play."
"I really hope those guys who canceled had a good reason, otherwise they are so blacklisted." The Ed boy grumbled. He went silent for a few minutes, most likely discussing their option with his friends. Eventually, he came back, sighing. "Any idea how long it'll take for either one of them to get here?"
"Unfortunately, it's hard to tell."
"Dammit." He said finally, going back into silence again gruffly. Again, a few moments passed by with radio silence before Eddy came back, grumbling. "We got an idea that might give us enough time to get them here. Try to get them off their buts and maybe we can pull this off without having to admit anything's wrong."
"What exactly are you planning on doing?" Cleo asked, but didn't receive an answer. She looked at the others and gave them a concerned look. "What exactly is he planning? And why does it make me so nervous?"
"Your guess is as good as ours." Cerise felt a shiver go down her spine, noting that the current band was starting to move off the stage. The lights began to dim, signifying that another act was supposed to come on stage. "I have a feeling we're about to figure out pretty soon, though."
The lights didn't come on for a minute or so, causing the crowd to get a little restless. Some whispers were shared as some questioned if the show was over or not, while others wondered about a technical malfunction. The answer was provided not long after, the lights turning back on when three particular people took the stage.
The Ed's, now in their new regalia, stood proudly with a slight hint of awkwardness.
Ed was in the back, fiddling with some device in the back, a soundboard that played various drums patterns if some could listen closely. He was wearing an outfit similar to his old one, though this one had a hood with fur on the edges. The tail of it was slightly torn and ragged, though in a way that looked purposeful. His undershirt had the previous colors of white and red muted, a Monster High label put on an added pocket. His pants were in a similar state of being muted, with some purposeful tears. The black collar around his neck only added to the punkish look Clawdeen seemed to have created for him.
Double D, messing around with a guitar that he only knew how to play because of his experience with string instruments, had a different twist to it. For the most part, it appeared that he dressed up as a scientist, a lab coat that reach to his feet and a comfortable looking suit with a red shirt, white vest, and a whit tie. They were accompanied by a fine pair of black slacks and black shoes. As for the stitching, it was hard to tell how exactly it was done; one minute, it appeared to be spotless and perfect, while the next, it appeared to have random stitches built into it. It seemed to change depending on the lighting surrounding him.
Standing confidently in the front and holding the microphone stand was Eddy. Taking a full-on nosedive into a new style, he seemingly took a few notes from punks young and old, wearing a leather jacket with purple accents, a mustard colored shirt, and a black pair of jeans. He wore boots too to accentuate his height, black and imposing if only to him. He was the only one to add any jewelry to his ensemble, having silver rings on his ring fingers and a necklace containing a small purple gem in its center. While somehow the least complicated of the trio's, it spoke louder in how he acted in it, something he had made sure to perfect.
"I did an awesome job on their outfits." Clawdeen reported in, receiving no response from the confused organizers.
"Alright." Eddy simply started, looking over the crowd carefully. He was, so far, breaking standard protocol when it came to have another band come on stage, but screw it. It's their time to shine. "Sorry to but in, folks, but due to some trouble on the next bands end, they won't be showing up tonight."
Some groans could be heard at that, but Eddy smirked and rolled his eyes. "Oh, quiet down. They did it last minute and it looks like things need to be shaken up a bit anyway. Whole point of the concerts to introduce yourself to some new people, and I haven't seen any of you making some new friends."
"He's got a point." Double D added, having finished messing with his guitar. "Hopefully, you'll consider this before the concerts over, but I think it would be nice if some of you at least had a few different dance partners before the night ends. At least it might make an interesting story to your friends coming in for school this coming Monday."
"And we're not just saying all of this because we're stalling." Ed added, receiving a few laughs from the audience and glares from his fellow Eds. Eddy threw an empty water bottle at him, which he dodged, much to the delight of the audience.
The short Ed boy only rolled his eyes, turning back to the audience. "Now that we've had a nice laugh, I think it's about time get the ball rolling here. Can't stall forever, right?" Eddy smiled as the joke landed, standing up straighter as the smile turned devilish. He lifted a hand, priming it into a snapping position. "Now, I have one thing to ask all of you to do one thing; Dance!"
Eddy's fingers snapped with a bright purple light that spread a bright flame over the audience, causing their eyes to glow alight.
That's when they started to play.
[Play Dance, Dance by Fall Out Boy]*
Cleo blinked, feeling a bit of fear in here as she watched the performance begin. "Did Eddy just do magic?"
"I believe he just did." Raven answered, already feeling a good amount of fear entering her as well. It only increased when the people on the dancefloor started to move to Eddy's voice.
"She says she's no good with words, but I'm worse,
Barely stuttered out a joke of a romantic stuck to my tongue.
Weighed down with words too overdramatic,
Tonight, it's it can't get much worse,
Versus no one should ever feel like-"
Eddy then slammed down his foot, grinning wildly as the fireworks started to be set off around him and envelop the scene with a wild blue light.
The crowd cheered as he continued to sing with wild abandon.
"I'm two quarters and a heart down,
And I don't want to forget how your voice sounds,
These words are all I have so I write them,
I need them just to get by."
As the three Ed's launched into the chorus, the crowds began to mix together for the first time that night, some dance partners grabbing onto each other with wild abandon. Whether it was the energy of the song or Eddy's enchantment was hard to determine to the partygoers outside of the mosh pit that seemingly formed.
"Dance, dance,
We're falling apart to halftime.
Dance, dance,
And these are the lives you love to lead.
Dance, this is the way they'd love,
If they knew how misery loved me."
Double D played a small riff on his guitar, shyly looking out to the audience. He sent a quick glance to Ed, who was having the time of his life at the soundboard he was given. Despite the hesitance to this plan, he couldn't help but smile as he began to get more into it himself.
All the other group members on the balcony watched in rapt attention, almost failing to notice the footsteps behind them of the rest of the group feel behind them, some laughing (Maddie), others wondering what was going on (Clawdeen), and one relieved (Ghoulia).
"You always fold just before you're found out,
Drink up its last call, last resort,
But only the first mistake and I-"
Eddy snapped his finger into the air, causing a rising pillar of purple flame to erupt out of his hand. It swirled and furled, followed by small fireworks being rained down upon him. The cheers of the crowd fueled him and the other two Eds.
"I'm two quarters and a heart down,
And I don't want to forget how your voice sounds,
These words are all I have so I write them,
So, you need them just to get by."
Eddy moved back from the mic for a second, checking on the crowd below him. They were still dancing to the beat, the crowd having fully mixed together now. His eyes drifted to where the rest of the group stood, causing him to lean back in with a flirty, joking smirk.
"Why don't you show me a little bit of spine
You've been saving for his mattress, love ~."
He winced at the end and felt a deep sense of satisfaction as Apple looked scandalized and Cleo just looked absolutely enraged.
"Dance, dance,
We're falling apart to halftime.
Dance, dance,
And these are the lives you love to lead.
Dance, this is the way they'd love if they knew how misery loved me."
As they went back into the chorus, the rest of the group laughed along. "Gotta' admit, they're weird but kinda' awesome." Clawdeen said, raising an eyebrow as Double D played the guitar with all of his effort. "Didn't think anyone of them knew how to play."
"Probably should've expected it." Cerise nodded, appreciating the guitar riffs as well. "Maybe we should get them to play more stuff. They certainly made the school year start off amazing."
Maddie only nodded along, looking at the crowd below. "Everyone's dancing together! They actually did it!" She gave everyone a mad smile, an insane twinkle in her eye. "You think if I jumped down there, I'd be able to crowd surf."
"Maddie no." Ghoulia said, moving her away from the railing. She motioned them to all keep looking at the stage, though she was tempted to dance herself.
"Why don't you show me a little bit of spine,
You've been saving for his mattress (mattress, mattress).
I only want sympathy, in the form of you, crawling into bed with me."
Eddy sent one last glance to the crowd, all cheering and having a good time. Enchantment or not, he felt like he did a pretty good job of riling them. He sent a quick glance to his friends, who gave nods of encouragement.
It was about time for the finale.
"Dance, dance,
We're falling apart to halftime.
Dance, dance,
And these are the lives you love to lead.
Dance this is the way they'd love (way they'd love),
Dance this is the way they'd love (way they'd love),
Dance this is the way they'd love if they knew how misery loved me."
The Ed's took a collective step towards one another as Eddy prepped another spell. As they did, Eddy began to wind down the crowd as he sang the final notes of the song. The crowd began to calm as the enchantment left them, but they still danced along, though it was somewhat tiredly they did so.
As he sang every line, they moved closer together.
"Dance, dance.
Dance, dance.
Dance, dance.
Dance, dance."
Eddy then snapped his fingers, cutting the song short as he teleported them off stage. The roar of the crowd was infectious as they cheered, clapping as they did.
Meanwhile, the Eds appeared on the same balcony the girls were, landing not-so-gracefully on their backs. They breathed heavily at the strain of what they just did, but Eddy soon shot up with a loud laugh.
"Two successful spells in one night!" He cheered, whooping as he excitedly jumped in place. He turned to the others, eyes wild and grin wide. "Somebody high five me!"
Maddie was quick to give him one, the both of them laughing wildly. The other two Eds were slower to get up, but albeit did after a few seconds, disoriented.
"I've only been teleported twice, and I can already say that it isn't my favorite activity." Double D said, feeling nauseous as he got on shaky legs. "I do ask that if you decide to teleport us again that you give us fair warning, Eddy."
"No promises." Eddy said, grabbing Ed to pull him up the rest of the way. "So, Lumpy, you enjoy being on stage? Sounds like you had fun with the soundboard."
"Heck yeah I did!" Ed laughed, still somewhat dizzy, but otherwise fine. "It was all fireworks and rocking out, and just," Ed couldn't help but continue laughing as the adrenaline went through his system.
"It certainly looks like you made an impression on the audience." Ghoulia was standing at the railing, prompting the others to look her way. Most of them moved beside her to look over the side and into the crowd below.
While the chaos of the Ed's introduction been sudden, it did bring the two groups together despite the previous hang-ups. Plenty of friendly conversations were taking place between Legends and Monsters, a big difference in comparison to before.
"You think this'll hold out before the night ends?" Cleo asked, deciding to withhold any complaints about the situation until later. The sight was a surprising, yet welcome one that would've warmed her heart if it still beat.
"I'd like to think so." Apple answered happily, fondly watching the scene before her with a hint of pride.
And, thankfully, the rest of the night went fairly smoothly.
Deep within Ever After High, inside winding tunnels and half-lit passageways, a lone man stood over a glowing book. The book itself was worn and seemingly used till it was nearly in threads, but the inside showed no words, but an image.
It showed the ten teens at the concert, standing over everyone else as they teased, laughed, and worried about everything below them. They didn't know they were being watched and the man knew this.
Despite knowing that their journey would be a difficult one, the old man smiled hopefully at what they would hopefully one day accomplish.
I swear, the endings always escape me while I'm writing them.
I know, a little cheesy to add a song bit, but I've liked some in the past and I figured it would be fun to add this in. Even if the song is almost fifteen years old at this point (I am so old, it's not even funny). I hope you guys think it was fun and fitting anyway.
Well, now it's time to get into the canon content that I'm sure all of you were hoping for. Starting next chapter, it's all canon baby!