And this officially starts the newest arc! It feels like it was only yesterday that I started writing this story, having it start up from a old one and a vague one shot I started out on here. Do you know how weird it is to go into the crossover section for these fandoms on and find that this specific crossover only has five of it? And four of them are yours?

Anyway, I'll quit rambling. You all enjoy the chapter and I'll see you at the end!

The True Hearts Day party was an overall success, something that could be shown from how the schools presented themselves in the following days. With the Hellscream Incident put behind the towns of Bookend and New Salem, students were able to freely talk to each other without fear. Paranoia about humans being in the school fell and jokes were shared about some of the awkward hookups from the dance.

On a personal level for a select few at the schools, however, things weren't that great.

"Have either of you heard anything from Eddy since True Hearts Day?" Apple messed with the edges of her notebook, looking around the cafeteria as she talked to Cleo and Raven. "I know he's mostly been working at the Ed's workshop, but I haven't heard much on what he's actually doing."

"Anytime I try to talk to Ed or Double D, they usually brush us off." Raven was almost just as anxious, poking at her homework for her Evilnomics class. It wasn't really interesting to her, but she'd figure that she'd give it a shot. "It's not like they don't seem to care, but they obviously don't want us messing around with it. I don't know why. We're their friends, right?"

"Considering Eddy almost had a meltdown at the party, I think they're trying to get him to calm down first before talking to us about it." Cleo kept going through her Dead Languages book casually, barely looking up from it. "Besides, it's usually never a good idea to anger a magic user. I'm sure you know that better than anyone, Raven."

"Yeah, but I've learned to control that. Letting this keep going is not going to make this better." Raven swirled a finger around, magic dancing off of it. "Bottling up emotions is like creating a time bomb. Defusing it is our best priority."

"Now if we only knew what exactly we were dealing with. It seems like whatever relationship Eddy had with his brother is extremely complicated." Apple looked over their friendly mummy carefully. "Cleo, what's your relationship with your sister like? Raven and I are only children, so…"

"I get what where you're coming from, but you don't want to open up that can of worms. Trust me." Cleo pointed a finger threateningly in the blonde's direction. "All I'll say is that I'm glad she isn't here. That modeling contract was very advantageous to everyone in the family."

"Sorry we asked." Raven sipped some soda, putting her homework away. She wasn't going to get her work done today, so why pretend she was? "It wasn't good, whatever it was between Eddy and his brother. Sounds like he was a real bastard though."

"Hey, we shouldn't speak ill about the recently deceased. Especially since there's a strong possibility of them hearing it at some point." Apple didn't want to tick off a newly formed spirit if she could avoid it. "Even if it does appear that might be true."

"Oh no, feel free to speak about the newly deceased. The rates of humans turning into an undead or a spirit have been dropping lately." Cleo laughed, getting back into her book again. "Besides, a bastard is a bastard, dead or not."

"Who's a bastard?"

The girls nearly jumped as Briar decided to join them, moving her own set of books down too. The dark-skinned princess raised an eyebrow at their grim expressions, the vibe generally throwing her off.

"I thought you girls would be a lot happier after True Hearts Day. What's going on?" Briar opened a can of soda, taking a swig before continuing. "I haven't heard much from the Ed's either, so I'm assuming something went down."

"Just some inner-agency troubles. Nothing too serious." Cleo didn't feel the need to explain anything and figured it would be worse to include other people in on this. "Just need to figure a few things out before rolling out on a solution."

"Briar, do you have any family that you have a complicated relationship with?" Raven's change in subject didn't completely seem natural, though it was good at catching the girl's attention. "Just something that came up. Weird topic, I know."

"I think my relationships are pretty normal. My parents get on my back sometimes, but that's normal." Briar shrugged, just rolling with the punches at this point. "Rosabella and I are pretty good right now too, at least for cousins. What brought this on?"

"Oh, nothing. Again, just something we started talking about." Apple wasn't that good at lying, and this was her best friend she was talking too. Briar obviously wasn't buying it, no matter how much the blonde waved it off. "It isn't anything special, I promise."

Thankfully, any follow up questions were interrupted when familiar footsteps followed by the rude intrusion Eddy caused everyone's attention to whirl towards him. His appearance out of his workshop was a good sign, though his actual physical appearance wasn't.

While it still looked like he was bathing regularly, it was obviously not due to actually caring about his looks. His hair was disheveled, and his clothes were wrinkled, giving his normally daredevil look a depressing downturn. The bags forming under his eyes indicated an obvious lack of sleep, something that immediately concerned everyone.

"Morning girls! Just got off from finishing a few inventions." His cheerful words were immediately counteracted by the yawn he let out seconds later. Not to mention it was well past noon, his greeting instantly nullified. "I think we'll be able to test out a few tomorrow. That includes your staff, Queenie."

"That's good…" Cleo narrowed her eyes at the boy, looking him over carefully. "It looks like you've been working hard on that. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Never better. If anything, I've never been more productive in my life." Eddy rolled his eyes, like the question is ridiculous. He sent a narrowed gaze towards Briar, who was looking at him like he rolled out of a grave. "Something wrong here, Briar Patch?"

"It looks like you attempted to go emo and gave up halfway through." Briar hadn't really dealt with grumpy Eddy before, and it showed. She didn't even seem phased when she was sent warning glances by the others. "Something is definitely eating at you."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Eddy's defensiveness rose at that, grin showing more teeth than usual. "Projects keeping me up at night, need to get them finished. Taking up a lot of focus too."

"I've never heard you be productive like that the entire time you've been here, so that's a little hard to believe." Briar wasn't going to drop this, even if the girls were literally begging her to. She did her best to have her concern show, even if her sarcasm was apparent. "Come on, I like to think we're friends. You should be able to tell us what's bothering you."

Briar was being genuine and anyone that could think clearly could see that in how she worded things. She wasn't a malicious person either, something that most people in the school knew already.

Unfortunately, Eddy wasn't thinking clearly and had terrible coping mechanisms. So a when a dangerous glint in his eyes started, the girls knew it was too late to stop it.

"Actually, something has been bothering me for a while now." Eddy put his chin into his hands, tilting his head at her. "Why are you a Royal?"

Briar blinked at the question, thrown off guard. "What?"

"You. Being a Royal. That never made any sense to me." Eddy unceremoniously took a drink from Cleo, taking a swig before she could protest. "I mean, aren't you supposed to sleep for over hundred years or something? That seems like something any reasonable person would rebel over."

"Hey, wait-"

"You do know that most of us aren't even going to be around in a hundred years, right? Apple, Raven, and I aren't immortal. Cleo kinda is, but I think she wouldn't want to live too much longer." Eddy continued. His tone wasn't angry, but the eerie calm was somehow worse. "You're prince won't be born for until, like, eighteen years before you wake up. That's certainly an age difference."

"Okay, yeah, but-"

"And you'll be way behind virtually everything. Culture, social change, all that. Not to mention all the shots you'll probably need so you don't reintroduce an old disease to a new society." Eddy drank the rest of Cleo's drink before setting it down. "I'd suggest making some vampire friends or something. They'll be the only ones that'll help if you decided to keep going with this."

There was silence as Eddy slowly blinked, as if he didn't register what he said. Briar was on the brink of an existential crisis herself, the reality of her destiny being shoved into her face so quickly.

"Just a thought." Eddy got up, looking at everyone with a sweep of his head. A manic grin passed over his face. "I'll see you all later."

Eddy walked off quickly at that, whistling to himself as if nothing had happened. Everyone watched him go in a daze, not snapping out of it.

"…Okay. Can somebody explain what just happened?" Briar looked at the exhausted expressions of the other girls, staving off the existential questions for later. "Because I'm pretty sure that isn't normal."

"His brother is dead and he's not dealing with it well." Apple's head was on the table, trying to hide her face from her friend. There wasn't any use hiding anything right now. "We're trying to figure out how to deal with it."

"…Oh."

"And he's making weapons for us while like that, so we're probably going to have a real interesting day tomorrow." Raven wasn't that excited for it, even if she was interested to see what they'd be given. "Hopefully it doesn't explode either. But at least that's a normal problem to look forward too."

The group stayed quiet after that, contemplating tomorrow and what it would bring. A student dragging one of the trash cans around passed by, which Cleo used to throw away the drink that Eddy had taken.

"He owes me a soda after he gets better." The mummy murmured. "Several if he keeps this up."

The joke got a short laugh from some of the people there, but it was brief before the quiet took over for the rest of the period.

Clawdeen didn't usually walk with a bounce to her step, so anyone passing by did stop to give her a look. This was a welcome change to the paranoid anger that had taken over for the past few weeks, so nobody was willing to question it too much.

This change in demeanor was due to two reasons; the first was that she decided to let go of her paranoia and just accept the situation as is. She did still have some concerns, but she figured she'd get answers eventually depending on how Double D and the other Ed's felt. Plus, holding onto that paranoia forever would've made her snap and that wouldn't have ended well for anyone.

The second reason for why she was happier was simpler; her sister Clawdia was finally visiting.

"I still can't believe you were able to get some time off from Hauntlywood." Clawdeen led her sister throughout New Salem, making sure to point out some new businesses around the town occasionally. "Seems a little surprising, honestly. I thought they'd try to stop you since you seem to be doing well there."

"I was able to negotiate some time off after that last movie I helped write the script for became popular." Clawdia pawed at a key chain hanging off her phone, looking at the town and counting all the changes going on. "I also wanted to check up on you. I hear you've been having a pretty interesting year so far."

"That's an understatement." Clawdeen chuckled, wincing inwardly at the observation. Of course she'd hear about all of that. "You're gonna have to be more specific, though. I've been involved with a lot of things."

"Does that include that whole thing with a monster hunter getting kicked out of your school?"

The werewolf cursed under her breath. Of course she heard about that.

"It wasn't that big of a thing, so you can relax." Clawdeen knew that wasn't entirely true, but she really didn't want her big sister to worry. "If anything, Hellscream was a wimp. Barely went down without a fight."

"Yes, he did run away for the most of it if this video isn't doctored." Clawdia showed her iCoffin's screen, the video of the Ed's taking down Hellscream and Crabgrass. "Is this real, though? If it isn't, I might have to recruit whoever made it for some CGI."

Clawdeen rolled her eyes at the mention of her sister's work again. It would've been annoying if it wasn't genuinely impressive.

Clawdia Wolf, the werewolf's older sister, was a writer for many different studios in the Monster side of Hollywood. The older sister was arguably just as driven as the younger, working hard to gain the recognition for her writing. She even vamped up her image by dying the hair on her head to make herself stand out more to certain execs.

"I can't say that I'm happy it happened, though. Mom and dad talked about like as if it was the end of the world." Clawdia put her phone away with a frown, humming softly to herself. "Are those guys real, though? Can't imagine they aren't popular after that."

"They are, kinda. Everyone's a little bit afraid of them now, but they're mostly alright." That fear had backed off somewhat too, even if some people wondered what they were doing now. "You'll probably get to know them, actually. Not like they're that subtle."

Clawdeen knew saying this was jinxing herself. This was especially true when she saw that they weren't far from the Ed's workshop, a center of chaos if any.

This proved true when a small explosion could be heard, along with some smoke pouring out a rapidly opened window. Double D was soon getting out through a garage door, taking off some protective gear with Maddie and Cerise following behind.

Clawdeen laughed, thanking the fact they didn't appear to be hurt. "Speak of the devil."

The werewolf walked over, followed closely by a concerned and very confused Clawdia. Double D was mumbling to himself as Maddie was trying to clean the little amount of residue that got on a very flustered Cerise.

"Maybe adding that kind of fuel was a bit extreme, especially since testing stages are too early." Double D wrote off a few schematics on the notepad, tongue sticking out. "Maybe something a little less volatile should be used until further stages. That should prevent a few fires."

"I certainly hope so." Clawdeen didn't need enhanced hearing to get that part. "I'd think a few less fires would nice, personally. Especially if you're causing them."

"To be fair, Maddie wanted to see that thing fly more and tried speeding things up." Cerise brushed off the pinkette's hands, still red in the face. "He really didn't want to wait either, so it his fault too."

"Oh, don't be a tattletale Cerise! It's not like we can hold back on scientific progress!" Maddie gave an oblivious Double D a squeeze before shrugging. "Besides, he was the one that had the idea. I just egged him on."

"I may have gotten a little overeager. Sorry." The boy didn't look all that sorry. He was only glad he decided to put the lab coat away and roll up his sleeves so they wouldn't get dirty. "Ah, are you showing someone new around? If so, welcome to the neighborhood."

"Actually, this is my sister. She's visiting from Hauntlywood." Clawdeen motioned to said woman, who still looked completely perplexed. "Clawdia, these are some friends of mine. Guys, this is Clawdia."

"Nice to meet you!" Maddie had already grabbed the woman's hand, shaking it vigorously. "I'm Maddie and that grumpy girl is Cerise. Double D is the one that blew up the workshop."

"And you said I shouldn't be a tattletale?" Cerise was quick to follow up, a lot more calmly than the hatter. "I'm generally the sane one here, other than your sister. Especially since that guy does tend to blow things up."

"Only on occasion! This is just one of those times." Double D was the calmest one, smiling earnestly at Clawdia. "Usually I'm the one putting out the fires from my friends experiments. Hopefully you won't have to deal with that while we're here."

"Yeah, I've actually heard of you. Weren't you that guy that chased down Hellscream?" Clawdia waved her phone again, off this time. "I saw the video. At least that guy didn't seem to be too hard to deal with."

"Oh, that video is going to outlive me, isn't it?" Double D was slightly embarrassed at that, but just shrugged. "Clawdeen and the others did the legwork on rescuing Bloodgood, so I can't really take much credit there."

"Way to be humble there. Though you are right." Cerise laughed, knocking on his arm a little bit. She did give the woman a quick look over with a raised eyebrow. "So, any reason why you're here? I'm pretty sure Hauntlywood types are pretty busy trying to get on the next big thing."

"Is there some kind of project going on? Oh, oh, are you hoping to make a movie at one of the schools?" Maddie waved in the general direction of Ever After High. "I don't know what you'd like, but I'm sure Grimm would be okay filming there if it made the school look good."

"That's not far from the truth, actually." Clawdia shrugged, getting used to the energy the group seemed to exude. "I may have had an idea for this place after my mom and dad told me what you guys were doing. I thought it would be an interesting idea."

"Wait, I thought you were coming down to visit the family." Clawdeen ears twitched at the confession, eyebrows raising. "Or did you trick your bosses into trying to find something here?"

"Both, actually. Since some interesting stuff has been happening around here lately, I figured I'd convince my boss to let me make a documentary based off of it." Clawdia shrugged. The idea had been a half-baked plan to get some vacation time. "I figured even if it didn't work out, I at least got to see everybody for a little bit. I have good job security either way."

"Gaming the system. I can respect that." Cerise did seem to respect it if the nod she sent was any indication. "You'll probably get something, though. That Royal v. Rebel stuff is a good thing to start with. Not to mention whatever project our group is doing."

"I think Ed and Ghoulia are still coming up with a name for us. It'll be nice if the finally get something." Maddie giggled, petting Earl Grey as he appeared out of her hat. "I think you'll enjoy your stay, however long that'll be."

A rocket burst out of the garage then, but it wasn't able to get very far. Double D grabbed it with an octo arm, pulling it down and ripping out the parts that kept it running. It died shortly after, him frowning at the thing in frustration.

"You might see a few more explosions than you'd see in your average documentary, though." Double D sighed, moving back into the garage with the parts. "You might even get enough footage for an action movie, honestly!"

Clawdia just blinked at that, watching him go. That had happened way too casually and she was starting to think her stay would be a lot longer than she was originally planning for.

"Yeah, that happens a lot around here now. You might as well get used to it." Clawdeen clapped her sister on the back, rolling her eyes as a new explosion could be heard in the workshop. Looks like the rocket hadn't been fully disarmed. "The other two aren't even here now, so I think you're in for some bigger surprises."

"I'm starting to realize that." Clawdia made a reminder to herself to text a few of her regular crewmates when she had the chance. Most likely they'd want to help out with this project when they got wind of it too. "It sounds like it'll be a hell of a time, though."

The werewolf would prove to be correct about that assumption soon enough.

"I still can't believe that movie even made it to theatres!" Draculaura groaned, laying on her boyfriend's chest as she complained. She was grumpier than what her usually cheery self would let herself be and it was showing. "All the inaccuracies in it were just horrible! I mean, Veronica Von Vamp should know, she was alive when some of those events happened."

"As much as I agree with you, that's just a reality when it comes to historical movies. Or any movie that's based off a book." Ghoulia was an expert on this and wasn't a stranger to leaving a negative review on worse offenders of this trope. "But unfortunately, people would rather have a good story than an accurate one. That's why the Alexander Hamilton and P.T. Barnum musicals are so popular."

Ed and Ghoulia were trying to figure out an official brand name for their group when Draculaura and Clawd decided to hang out with them. The zombie had figured their vampire friend was determining if Ed and Ghoulia would make a good couple, something that she would've normally been peeved about if she hadn't thought about it too.

Of course, that plan went off the rails when she asked about the movie the couple had seen.

"What movie are they talking about again?" Ed was finishing typing up the last draft for an article that'd be put on the Ghostly Gossip. They went to the trouble of finding Spectra, they might as well use her for what she's worth. "All I know is it's about vampires."

"It was called Vampire Majesty. I can't say the acting was that great, but she really didn't like some of the historical stuff." Clawd talked to the other boy in a whisper so it wouldn't interrupt the girl's conversation. "Seems to really hate the lead actress too. Not sure why, she actually did an okay job compared to some other performances."

"I can hear you, you know that right?" The little vampire stuck her tongue out at him, though it was without malice. "And I can admit that she wasn't the worst actor in there, the fact that it mangled vampire history makes her just as guilty as the directors."

"If that is true, can you explain it then? It's been a little while since I brushed up on vampiric history, especially with as many conflicting accounts." The zombie sighed, glaring at a history book briefly. "The problem with having immortal people at the epicenter of history means a lot of observer bias being thrown about."

"I barely know anything about it, so I you'll be teaching me something new." Ed decided to pull out the iCoffin, setting it to record just in case. Double D would want to know about some this if he could. "What was the movie really about? Other than vampire royalty, I'm guessing."

"It had something to do with a thing called the Vampire's Heart? Am I saying that right, babe?" Clawd got a nod from his girlfriend, prompting him to continue. "Something about picking the next ruler of high society vampires, I think. Some of that got lost on me."

"Okay, let me start then." Draculaura waved her arms around, as if it was going to physically cause a flashback to appear. "The Vampire's Heart is basically one of the most important artifacts of vampire history. Not only is it one of the most sacred, but it's also a key part of our government. Why? Because it picks out our ruler every time there needs to be a change in leadership."

"I still can't believe that. A jewel chooses who rules over all vampires somehow?" Clawd just shrugged. His girlfriend didn't seem to be offended by it, so he kept talking anyway. "I guess if it isn't broken, don't fix it, but I have a feeling nobody wanted anyone to know that for a long while."

"Strange women lyin' in ponds distributin' swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony." Ed didn't notice the stares he got from saying that for a few moments, shrugging them away when he did. "Sorry, Monty Python quote. Pretty good human movie."

"If it says stuff like that, I might just have to give it a watch." Ghoulia did write down a reminder for herself later to find it, if only to understand what the heck he was talking about. "Though I'd be less concerned about how the leaders are chosen than how you have to keep finding people to replace them. Vampires are supposed to be immortal."

"Well, long life doesn't exactly protect you from political manipulation. Or assassinations. Or just plain old accidents." Draculaura didn't dwell on the morbid implications of that, moving forward. "Not that we've had to worry about that much. The Vampire's Heart hasn't found a ruler in about four centuries, so whatever vampire is supposed to be on the throne is lucky to not have the attention."

"…So there wasn't a fight between three vampires chosen by the heart, leading to them exploding the castle?" Clawd laughed at the pout that crossed the vampire's face, squeezing her softly. "Okay, I get it, it was a bad movie. Are you gonna still complain about it online later?"

"Your darn right I am!"

Ghoulia chuckled at the couple's banter, leaning back to check on Ed's progress. "Do you think Spectra would allow movie reviews onto her website? I think Draculaura will want a good platform."

"I'll check, but I don't think she wants more outside articles than she can handle. At least, not without a staff." Ed paused in his writing before a gleam in his eyes appeared. "Would it be a good idea or a bad idea to get her and Blondie in contact? That seems like it'd be a really bad or good idea."

"…I'll have to get back to you on that."

The terrifying idea aside, the rest of the evening went on without a hitch. Ghoulia still wanted to press a few things, mostly about what she and the girls had overheard, but she had a feeling it wasn't time yet. The Ed's would say something about it soon enough, they'd just have to be the ones to do it.

Hopefully, that would be sooner rather than later. She had a feeling things would get really hectic around here soon enough.

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, an old office was left unoccupied, if only for a night. The office itself was fancy in all the ways it could be, not a speck of dirt to be found in its cleanliness. While not unusual at first glance, a more observant onlooker would notice something very strange.

The desk nestled in the middle of the office would emanated a deep beating sound, as if something was trapped within one of its drawers. The beating would occasionally quicken until it knocked something off of it. Other times it would barely beat at all, making nary a sound as it stayed within the confines of the mahogany, as if it had died slowly.

In that desk lay the Vampire's Heart, beating as it had been for about four hundred years. And it was beginning to tire of waiting.

Yeah, for those familiar with Monster High (pre-reboot), this arc deals with Frights, Camera, Action! Of course, it's done my way and you'll see that soon enough.

Just a reminder, if anyone writes or draws anything based on this fanfiction or other stuff I've written, feel free to link me to it! I'd love to see it and it certainly helps me get through the harder days when I need it most. It's always fun and I'm always glad to see it. Not to mention it might get more for you guys to talk about it with.

Also, make sure to check each other out in the reviews/comments! If you all like this specific crossover, then you probably will like what each of you have written/have favorited before. This is a pretty specific crossover, so I imagine some of you share specific tastes.

Anyway, I'll see you all next chapter! I hope you all enjoyed!