And the new chapter is up! Sorry if this took a little bit longer then usual, but my sleep schedule has gotten a little wonky these past couple of weeks. Everything will be fine as long as I get back into the swing of things.

Also, you know how weird it is to figure out that out of a certain subset of a tag on AO3 and that you're one of the few people to write for a crossover? It certainly is for me sometimes, but it almost makes me feel like a pioneer. Just a thought I wanted to share.

The plots beginning to pick up in this one, though they still have a long way to go. Check out this week's chapter and find out!

"Have you tried poking him with a stick yet?" Eddy watched with a raised eyebrow as everyone of their friend group (if you could call some of them friends) were standing over Double D's prone on the grass. Other than the occasional groan, he hadn't said a word when meeting up today and it didn't look like he was going to.

"I'm pretty sure that won't help in any whatsoever." Ghoulia made sure to grab Ed's arm, which had been carrying a stick, and lowered it. "He's been like this for ten minutes now, though, so we should probably attempt to get him back on his feet."

"How the hell did this happen, anyway? Been a few months since he's done something like this." Eddy lightly kicked his friend, not entire enthused about the situation. "It'd be funny if it wasn't sad."

"Some members of my fearleading team apparently decided my leadership style wasn't fitting for lifestyle." Cleo said, not even attempting to hide her bitterness, sitting on one of the ruined castles broken down walls. Deuce, who was particularly new to their 'meetings,' sat behind her as her chair. "I don't understand what their problem is. They want to win the cheer meet, then our group needs to be perfect for it."

"Gee, I'm surprised they weren't grateful for the fact you made them do the same routine ten times in a row." Clawdeen's sarcasm was lost on no one, though everyone chose not to mention it. "It'd almost be funny if they hadn't quit at the worst possible time."

"Doesn't really sound like it's funny at all. Plus, this sounds he's been stressing longer than that." Cerise felt some pity for the hatted kid, though she didn't exactly have any experience with this type of thing. "He probably needs to take some time to unwind for a bit. One school wide civil war is one thing, another would be really hard on him."

"Cerise has a point. He seems like the type of overwork himself." Apple pulled out her MirrorPhone and started typing some stuff into it. "I could offer a possible solution for your leadership problem, though I can't really do much when it comes to recruitment. That's out of my jurisdiction, I believe."

While they were talking, Maddie poked at Double D with a stick herself, rousing the boy from his anxiety induced faint. She raised in her hands up in victory. "He's risen from his slumber, everybody! Quick, act like we weren't talking about him."

"I wasn't sleeping, Maddie, I was completely awake. I just wasn't in the mood to talk about this." Double D shifted from his position to standing sluggishly. "I suppose none of you are wrong when it comes to saying I've been overworking myself, but I assure you that I'm fine."

"Didn't you say that before we had final exams at our old school? You didn't sleep for a week after they done." Ed shrugged at the indignant look he got from his friend. "What? I'm telling the truth."

"The way I see it, we'll need to get this done as quickly as possible. Things have gotten a little less hectic at Ever After, so it'd be nice to focus on something else." Raven moved up from her seated position near the others. "I guess we should probably split up into teams or something for this."

"Is this how conversations with these guys always go?" Deuce asked Cleo in a whisper. She gave a brief nod, grabbing his hand so that he could follow behind her.

"It's better to just go along with it. Otherwise, Eddy might curse us or whatever." She cleared her throat, ignoring the perturbed look on her boyfriend's face. "I suppose I'll go with Apple on whatever she has planned. I don't exactly care who joins us, as long as it isn't Eddy."

"Isn't that too bad, because now I have to." Eddy spitefully went to Apple's side. "You coming with us Ray? I'd like some backup here if I have to deal with Queenie for longer than I have to."

"Fine, but if anyone starts to run in fear, that's not on me." She cringed at her wording for a second after sparing a glance towards Cleo and Deuce. "Poor choice of words."

"It's fine. I'm sure that's what Cleo wants, actually." Ghoulia completely ignored Cleo's denial, turning to Ed and Clawdeen. "I'd suggest that we go on a bit of a recruitment drive in order to make up for the lost members. Assuming we can't get the old ones back on, of course."

"Makes sense, I guess. Maybe we can get some of our friends into it and go from there." Clawdeen sighed and looked away for a second. "If we can get past the fact our leader practically drove the last ones out."

"We should get this done pretty quick. Maybe we can get Frankie and Draculaura in on it." Ed shrugged at the surprised looks he got. "What? They're both positive and popular. Pretty good fearleading material."

"I'm really proud of the rise in competence, Ed. Keep it up." Double D chuckled but turned serious. "I'm afraid I don't know exactly what to do here. There really isn't any assignment to do right now."

"That's because you're taking a break." Cerise grabbed his arm, pulling him away from the group. "Maddie, would it be okay for us to crash at your dad's tea shoppe? It'd be a nice place to relax."

"I'll be sure to have some chamomiles set up! Or maybe something else? I've been dying to experiment with some flavors for a while." Maddie chirped in, tapping her chin in thought. She kept mumbling as they headed to her tea shoppe. "Probably should keep the more volatile ones in storage. Wouldn't be a good time, too many explosive elements."

"Good, glad that's decided!" Eddy started walking in Bookend's direction, not bothering to check if anyone was following him. "Make sure not to blow anything up when I'm not around. I want to help if that's the case."

"You'll be the first one we call!" Ed followed Clawdeen and Ghoulia, who only shared some worried glances before shrugging it off.

They all left hoping something would come out of this.

They weren't sure if they would turn out to be right on that.

Cleo was beginning to have some second thoughts about all of this if she was completely honest with herself. It was one thing having to actually seek out help to get her fearleading situation back under control, but another to actually come over to the other side of the border for it.

She didn't see the others as friends yet, but she did realize that they were very resourceful, though. Despite the weird amount of adversity they faced, they had been able to work out certain goals that would've been impossible to do alone.

Even the Ed's had been helpful, if somewhat unpredictable in how they conduct their business. Ed was strange and unknowable in nearly every aspect, except that he's mostly kind until provoked. Eddward was seemingly a mad scientist with a surprising amount of charisma that he used to his advantage. And Eddy…

A lunatic with ambitions. She was wary of him the most if only because he tended to irk her and still succeed in his endeavors. Her reach didn't go into Ever After and that may have driven her a little insane.

It's honestly why she brought Deuce over to their 'meeting' this time. She wanted to get his honest opinion of Eddy since he could be amazingly perceptive when he wanted to be. Getting his opinion would help her find a way to even the playing field in whatever game Eddy was playing.

That and she hasn't been spending as much time with him as she could, which made this all a bonus.

"Got to admit, this ain't a bad place. Surprisingly bright though." Deuce adjusted his sunglasses, trying to take in his surroundings. "Maybe a few less stares would be nice too."

People were indeed looking in their direction, whispering amongst themselves as well. It wasn't a foreign concept to Cleo, though. "Let them. It's not every day they witness greatness like us walk upon their campus."

"I think it's more that you're two monsters hanging out with the Evil Queen's daughter, Snow White's daughter, and the local 'mediator.' Then again, if that keeps you confident." Raven quipped, looking more resigned at the stares. "Doesn't help that we're in the middle of a school civil war but go off I guess."

"We're here!"

"We can see that, Princess, you don't have to shout."

Cleo made sure to stop and assess her surroundings. While she was still cautious around Legends, she did have to admit their set up was wonderful. It was just a simple bookball field, but it still weirdly looked more fantastical than any other sports field could be.

"Holly!" Apple walked over to the cheerhexer team, hugging her friend with a smile on her face. "Sorry to have this all happen so fast, but I figured you would be the best help here."

"I don't mind. I'm glad you asked for me help, though I don't what we can actually do here." Holly turned to Cleo and put a handout. "I've heard a lot of good things about you from Apple, so I hope we can get along well enough."

"Let's hope so." The mummy replied neutrally. She wasn't sure if she should be impressed or not yet, so she was going to forgo judgement until this exercise was over. "I'm not exactly sure what's wrong with my 'leadership' style, but I'll try anything once."

"Good!" Cleo didn't have enough time to figure out whether this cheery disposition was going to be annoying or not before Holly started calling over the other cheerhexers. "Come on, girls, this is the person Apple was talking about earlier."

The mummy grimaced and decided to accept her fate. She felt a hand move onto her shoulder, causing her to jump before realizing it was only Raven. The sorceress gave her a shaky smile, apparently intending to join her on whatever hell she was about to go through.

Cleo actually felt a moment of gratitude right then.

Eddy, Apple, and Deuce stood not too far away from them, watching the scene unfold. The gorgon himself could only look with a raised eyebrow as things went down so quickly.

"I'm still surprised that she agreed to do something like this. She's usually can't take any criticism." Deuce looked at the other two warily. Ed and Double D were the only ones he had any knowledge of, but anyone involved with this school were essentially a mystery to him. "Any idea if this'll work?"

"Nah, I bet Queenie will get ticked off pretty quick and call it quits before the day ends." Eddy put it out there pretty bluntly, so the gorgon had been caught off guard. The fake sorcerer looked back at him and smirked a little. "Don't get me wrong, she sounds determined and all, but you did say she can't take criticism."

"That's a little pessimistic. I'm sure she'll leave with something today." Apple tried to interject, though Deuce could tell she had an inkling that Eddy was half-right. "If anything, at least Raven could learn something from them too."

"If you mean that Faybelle chick might get her to go full dark side, you're out of luck Princess. I'm pretty sure she's after the top spot anyway." He leaned over to her and talked in a stage whisper. "She's very interested and putting Briar to sleep too, so I wouldn't really trust her to do anything you want to do."

Deuce didn't necessarily know what they were talking about, but he could follow along. "Seems like she's trying to be a good friend. Cleo certainly seems like she appreciated it."

"Yeah, Ray's got a bleeding heart though. Might want to take that with a grain of salt." Eddy watched the 'training' happen from far away. "Guess I can give your girlfriend some credit for not going off as soon as getting help was mentioned."

"Because it was a good idea." Apple did something that an outside observer would've called a huff, but obviously princesses didn't do anything like that. "Plus, Monster or not, she is royalty, and royalty knows when to bow out and ask for help. I've had plenty of classes teach me about that."

"Getting help and acting like a damsel are two different things princess."

Deuce really didn't know what to make of this conversation, so he couldn't help but tune it out for the time being. These people were really strange, but ambitious. Of course, Cleo would try to work with them, especially since two of them had magic. Double D and Ed were nice, he's known Ghoulia and Clawdeen for a couple of years, but the only one he had any concrete idea on being okay was that Raven girl. The others were people he hadn't really talked to yet.

He felt an itch at the back of his head, causing him to straighten up. Somebody was staring at him. He looked around and nearly met eyes with some of the guys carrying swords not too far away, most likely a hero student. It looked like some of them were watching him carefully, clearly suspicious.

Deuce couldn't help but feel grateful that Greek myths weren't a part of the stories they tell. He could already feel his neck begin to itch.

Suddenly, the swords of those hero students flew out of their hands and started to bend into one another, causing every single one of them to jump back in fear. They were eventually curled up into one little ball before their very eyes, causing them to run back into whatever locker room they'd been residing in.

"As much as I approve that you'd stand up for him, can you please not destroy school property?"

Apple's voice caused him to jump out of the trance of watching the swords curl up, turning to catch Eddy's magical fire dying out.

"Yeah, but I didn't like how they were looking at him. Real itchy trigger fingers on those guys." Eddy waved it all off. "Not my fault they can't get over the fact Monster can actually visit the place."

"Daring has been trying to get them out of that habit, believe it or not. I didn't even have to ask him to do so." The princess retorted. "Though I guess they'll need a better lesson next time."

"I guess Charmless does have some redeeming qualities after all. What do ya' know?"

As they continued to bicker, Deuce sighed in relief. Guess these people were good after all.

Now if only he could get a read on those other two girls that left for the tea shoppe.

"I honestly don't get what everyone is so worried about. Yes, things have been pretty stressful, but what isn't nowadays?" Double D rubbed his temples, sitting the table provided at the Wonderland Haberdashery & Tea Shoppe. "That doesn't mean I should slow down. I should still be working."

"I'm sure everyone appreciates the spirit, but I don't think you'll be able to do much if you drop dead of exhaustion… unless you come back." Cerise shrugged, rolling her eyes at the boy's tirade. "Besides, we got other people working on it. Just let them take over for a little bit."

"She's right! The others are very capable, and we can trust them to know exactly what they're doing." Maddie set down a teapot, the smell wafting out of it being somehow calming. "I've chosen chamomile right now until I can make something else. Earl Grey is helping me out, but his tiny little paws can be hard to work with."

"Thank yo- wait, your pet mouse is helping you make tea?" The boy received a nod from the hatter, then deciding to gloss over it for now. "And yes, they're all very capable people, but that doesn't mean I like sitting in the back and waiting for something to happen."

"I feel like something else is going on here." Cerise took a sip from her tea before setting down the cup. "Did something else happen before the fearleader thing? Ed seemed pretty stressed about something too. His heart was beating kind of fast."

"How did you hear his heartbeat?" Maddie asked, though Cerise waved it off with a nervous look in her eyes. She just shrugged herself and continued. "It would be best to get it off your chest. Some things can't be locked away forever, and some beastly problems are best dealt with if you let them out voluntarily."

Double D felt his jaw set and lips turn into a straight line for a second, considering that statement. After a careful moment handling his cup, he wilted slightly. "I suppose I may have had a stressful conversation with Headmistress Bloodgood before the situation with the fearleaders unfolded."

"Really? I thought you liked her better than Grimm. Plus, she seems pretty chill for someone working her job." The hooded girl thought about what she said and backpedaled a bit. "Okay, she's not as stressed as Grimm. I don't know what she's like outside of that."

"Was it another job?" Maddie put in some sugar into her tea, swirling the spoon with a careful precision. Like she was making sure the mixture of the two was correct. "It wouldn't do if the headmistress was overworking one of her students to a near death."

"Nothing of the sort. We were actually finishing up a favor for Cleo to let a friend on her team." The hatted boy soured at the memory of it. "She was asking us some questions about where we used to live. Said it was out of concern for our wellbeing. Ed and I weren't able to give her the answers she wanted."

"Was it a particularly bad place?" Maddie's pet mouse must've finished whatever job it had, climbing up into her hair till it reached her hat. She didn't seem to notice it nestle near her pink curls. "A woman like her wouldn't ask unless it was for good reason. A wise woman, that one."

"I wouldn't say that. It was more of why we didn't want to stay there. If you haven't noticed, our introduction here was quite rushed." Double D was doing his best to mete out information as slowly as possible, but it was slightly difficult doing so in real time. "We left a little suddenly. Maybe didn't exactly have a plan for what to do later, but we the main purpose was to get out of there."

At the concerned looks, he quickly added something else. "Nothing bad, I assure you. We just… needed to go."

"Eddy kinda mentioned some stuff about how you guys got here. Said you had to pull a few schemes to not be hungry or something." Cerise may have said it casually, but the weight behind it was not lost on anyone there. "He didn't seem to think that was weird or anything. Was he actually telling the truth about that?"

"…Maybe?" The boy knew it wasn't satisfying to hear, but he couldn't help but feel like this conversation was steering to places he didn't want it to. "As I said, it was a sudden departure. We might have had to make a trinket or two to sell in various places. Honestly, we're not the only ones to do it."

"I guess that's true, if everyone sold knockoff lotion to make sure they had food the next day." The hooded girl wasn't proud of it but having Double D balk at that was somewhat satisfying. "Look, I get that you don't want to say anything, but you can't say what we know already doesn't ring any alarms in our heads."

"Emphasis on getting why we he won't talk about it." Maddie grabbed Cerise's hand and squeezed it carefully. "Maybe we should back off right now. He's not going to say anything."

At Cerise's questioning look, the pinkette sighed and stirred her tea for a few seconds. Contemplative silence took over the room as the three sat there. Double D and Cerise were obviously tense, keeping their eyes on Maddie, whose silence was putting them on edge even more.

"I had to get away from home too, y'know. Probably not for the same reasons you did, but I had to leave all the same." A long sip of tea took place before she continued. "I'm assuming you know of the Wonderland curse. It didn't happen that long ago."

"Right." Double D went over the facts in his head before speaking hesitantly. "The Evil Queen was trying to win a war against the Queen of Hearts, but it became clear that it was a losing battle. When she started to suffer too many losses to recover from, she supposedly decided that it would simply be taken out of her way entirely."

"And she cursed it." Cerise had the decency to look uncomfortable about all of this, not looking at Maddie at all. "Made Wonderland even more dangerous than ever before, causing a mass migration. Eventually, every path to Wonderland was cut off just in case the curse spread."

"Correct." The pinkette didn't have a sad look on her face. If either of the two could describe it, they would probably call it more of a forlorn look then anything. "My father and I were one of the lucky few to make it to Ever After before they decided to close everything off for good. We luckily didn't leave anyone we knew behind. It was one of the few times I was glad not to know my mother. But I did suffer the loss of my home and the life we had."

Double D looked into his cup; the tea having gone cold at this point. He frowned deeply. "I appreciate you telling me this, but I can't say that this is the same issue. Very different, if I'm being honest."

"But I can say that I understand what it's like adjusting to dealing with that change. The tea shoppe didn't start up overnight. My father and I had to work hard to get it to this kind of success while being refugees in a land that wasn't sure what do with us." Maddie shrugged. "I'm not saying this to guilt trip you. I'd never do that in my wildest dreams. But I am saying that I've been there to some degree."

Double D still didn't look convinced, hands tightening around the piece of china in his hands. He didn't look up either, like he was willing this conversation to simply not exist at all.

Cerise sighed. "I'm sorry that I tried to pry. I've got my own secrets to deal with too, so I should've understood that you didn't want to talk about it." She reached over, grabbing his shoulder, and giving it a squeeze. "Talk about it when you're ready too, okay? Let's have a relaxing time until then."

The boys jaw was still tight, but he nodded eventually, straightening himself out. He put a smile on his face. He was willing to forgive for now, especially since no actual damage was done. "I'll think about it. Thank you for your concern, but I'm not willing to talk about it at this time."

This satisfied them for now, though he could tell that Maddie saw through it There was no way in hell he was going to talk about Peach Creek any time soon. It was all still too fresh for him and for the other Ed's too.

"Besides," he thought to himself, finishing off the rest of the tea. "I'm not the only one that has secrets to protect."

The recruitment wasn't going too bad if Ed was honest to himself. At a least a few people looked interested despite the fact Cleo's reputation preceded her at every turn. A few more heads were likely to turn with Clawdeen and Frankie at the helm of it too, but it didn't look like even that would help them.

"At this point, I'm think I'll just have to join." Ed mumbled, sorting through some flyers they'd printed up. Ghoulia was an absolute wizard when it came to designing, printing, and getting them out so quickly. "I don't think I'd be able to go to the top of the pyramid, though."

"If Cleo's reputation keeps getting in our way, we might have to. Who knows, a boy might be a good addition." Ghoulia sullenly put up a flier or two on the cork board, sighing. "We seriously do need some help, otherwise Monster High won't be able to attend any of the events set for most of the year."

"Not to bring the mood down more, but we got another rejection." Clawdeen grumbled, moving next to the two with a huff. Frankie wasn't far behind, neck-bolts sparking in frustration. "Though, I wouldn't mind if you were at the bottom of the pyramid. We wear athletic shorts under those skirts, and I'd appreciate a solid base for once."

"I get that Cleo is pretty bossy, but I don't understand why everyone was willing to turn us down." The electric girl put the fliers down and sat down on the floor with a depressed look on her face. "We should've had at least one person say yes. Maybe I should look at those magazines again…"

"Didn't I tell you that everything in those is ineffectual?" Ghoulia reminded, sitting down right next to her. "Though, you do have a point. Cleo is a very controlling person, but that shouldn't scare off nearly everyone from wanting to join. We used to have requests to join the fearleader squad every month, but she always said no."

"I don't know, I heard some horror stories from my brother. He always complained about how she acted to pretty much every server on their dates, how she'd force him to dress, what he did at school." The werewolf paused for a second before rolling her eyes. "You know, maybe it was a good thing that she broke up with him. He's probably more relaxed being single then he was in the relationship."

"I wouldn't let Cleo hear that, or she might kick you off the team." Ed did stop rifling through the fliers, giving her a quizzical look. "Why did you join the fearleader squad anyway? You and Cleo really don't like each other at all, and I can't really call you two friends."

"We were friends at one point. Things just sort of got complicated after high school started." Clawdeen looked wistfully down the hallway, mentally going back. "We met in middle school a year after she got out of her tomb. We got along mostly because our sisters sometimes hung out and we shared some of the same hobbies."

"What changed? Other than dating and breaking up with Clawd." Frankie added the last part in a rush.

The werewolf frowned deeply at that. "I don't honestly know. I know a few things about her home life thanks to me being her friend, so I knew her dad was finally putting on some pressure. Her sister's a piece of work too and having her around for senior year wasn't great. In the middle of freshman year, she just sort of changed."

"Her father was a major stressor and her sister only made things worse. She started to assert her 'authority' before freshman year ended and eventually took over the school. You know the rest, of course." Ghoulia sighed once again. Ed plopped down next to her, prompting the zombie to lean her head against his side. "It's not a fun story. Not our story to tell either, so don't say anything to her next time you see her."

"Okay. It's not like I don't relate. I don't like my parents either." Ed blinked, seemingly not registering what he said before turning towards Frankie. "You think we should just stick with friends as temporary recruits? I think Draculaura might want to join just to help us out."

"Hey, ghouls!"

Ed identified the voice coming from Lagoona, a sea monster he hadn't had the time to get to know. She was running towards them, holding a flier that looked like it was ripped up and thrown into the trash.

"Someone's been throwing away your fliers. I followed the trail and I think it might be Toralei and those other fearleaders that quit." Lagoona stopped eventually, handing over the ruined flier to them. "I don't know why, but it's been happening all day. I think she's been badmouthing the team too. Was the split that bad?"

"I don't remember it being too bad. I mean, they did prepare a sign and everything. And music." Frankie trailed off, not looking anyone in the eye.

"Okay, I get badmouthing Cleo, but why the entire team? Fearleading practice could be brutal, but they can't really blame the entire team for that." Clawdeen looked at the paper with a close eye. "Plus, she ripped it up enough to know it's sabotage, but not enough to actually hide it. Was she hoping one of us would find this?"

"It appears so. I wondered if her quitting was just her way of making a move, but I originally dismissed it." At the confused looks the others gave her, Ghoulia moved her glassed up her nose and explained. "Toralei always had an acerbic relationship between her and Cleo. The two fought on quite a lot of issues while she was on the fearleading squad. I'm starting to think that this is going to end in her attempting to take over as queen bee of the school."

"Seriously?" Ed didn't really believe it, but something in the back of his mind couldn't help but agree with that logic. With a heaving sigh, he pulled out his iCoffin, already dialing in a number. "I'll start looking into this. You guys keep on going with the recruitment drive."

He left hearing some goodbyes, along with Lagoona mentioning how some of their mutual friends would be happy to join. He couldn't help but feel glad about that, knowing that one problem was practically solved.

Apparently, though, another one was deciding to jump up on them.

Ed finished dialing the number and held the phone to his ear. He talked quietly, but slow enough to make sure he was heard.

"Hey, Bloodgood? Can I ask you something about some students you know?"

I hope you enjoyed! For some of you, some of the things talked about may not be surprising, but I hope you still enjoyed it nonetheless. I hope it at least adds some sort of drama that you didn't consider before.

Also, playlists! As a writing exercise, I decided to make a playlist for Ed, Double D, and Eddy in order to capture their personalities and get to know them better. I'll provide a link below so you guys can listen to them as well. Though I do warn you, some of them are technically explicit or may not make sense yet. But some of the songs mentioned will make sense in time.

Ed Mix: playlist/0dQGVRiVo5fNjzi7EVOP3C

Double D Mix: playlist/3oxjXLhVcmIOMUyreQo8qq

Eddy Mix: playlist/3hnE8X86py3JGyp8a9US8e

More will come out in time for the other characters (Cerise, Maddie, Raven, Apple, Ghoulia, Clawdeen, and Cleo), though I can't say when. This exercise was pretty spontaneous.

Either way, I'll see you all soon on the next chapter!