This was an interesting chapter, though things are certainly being set in motion. I hope you enjoy it, especially with some of the stuff I gave the others.

Without further ado, here's the next chapter!

The Vampire Court was an interesting form of government when you thought about it. Despite having gone through many changes throughout the years, like any working government should, many things were also kept the same according to tradition. The head of the organization would have a most of the power, most vampires would listen to mandates no matter where they live, and the court follows the will of the Vampire Heart.

That last one was giving interim leader Lord Stoker a headache as of right this moment.

"Gentlemen, I am trying as hardest as I can to find the new leader as much as you are. The leader position has been empty far longer than our liking, and I understand this." Stoker knew how long it had been. Four hundred years was certainly a long time. "But you have to remember, more vampires are created every year and unless something happens on a wide scale, that isn't likely to change."

"Yes, yes, Stoker, you've given us this argument over the past four hundred years. But that doesn't change the fact the heart still beats." Stoker didn't really know which of the other members of the court spoke on their conference call. The faces and names tend to blend together the longer you live, something that is especially true for vampires. "All we've done since we let you become leader is stagnate, and we need a strong leader now!"

"I can't say that things have been moving forward lately." Stoker bristled at the complaint, though he didn't bother getting mad. That wouldn't suit his purposes at all. "But you can't say anything bad has happened during my rule! I've been a fair and just leader… even if you won't allow me to have all the powers available."

"Considering the amount of the treasury you spend a year; we might have to disagree." Another faceless representative. Stoker almost wished for name tags to be employed, if only to know which ones he would curse out later. "Speed up the search for our next ruler. While you haven't been a bad leader, so to speak, we will hold an election on who to replace you."

"We do appreciate the service you've put in, especially since the previous leader abdicated the throne," A more pleasant one interjected. The tone was appreciated, though Stoker was still agitated, nonetheless. "But tradition is tradition. We've put this off for far too long. We'll contact you within the next few weeks to make our decision."

"I'll be sure to find the next ruler before then…" Stoker watched as each member of higher council logged off, a scowl moving onto his face. "…you impatient idiots. Can't they just be satisfied with no trouble whatsoever?"

Lord Stoker moved away from his desk, growling to himself. He was able to bluff to keep his position for centuries, yet they always whined about finding the next leader no matter what. Couldn't they see he was a good enough leader as is? He'd been doing this job for longer than some of them have been elected!

The vampire sighed deeply, grabbing a drink. He figured that this wouldn't last forever, but he was quite sure he would be able to avoid having to find the next leader for another century. But of course, vampires just had to be sticklers for the rules.

Lord Stoker wasn't going to get rid of this seat without a fight, though. He not only deserved the right to rule after the last one decided to give up, but he certainly earned the benefits of having the power after having the office. He just needed to find a way to get the Vampire's Heart to do what he wanted.

…Or there was another way.

Stoker reached a handout to the buzzer on his desk, an idea forming in his head.

"Mrs. Lariat, you wouldn't happen to have the records on the members of the vampire court dating back about four hundred years ago?" The vampire tapped his foot on the ground, the idea still taking time to make shape. "Just as a matter of recordkeeping."

"We have records dating back since the Vampire Court formed, sir." The tired voice of Lariat grated on his nerves. He'll need to fire her for the sass later. "If there's one thing vampires can do, it's hold on to old junk."

"That's excellent to hear, Mrs. Lariat. Quite excellent indeed." Yeah, Stoker was definitely going to fire her later. He deserved much more respect than this waif was showing him. "Can you please send a digital copy to me as soon as you can? I might have an idea for the search."

"Right away sir."

Stoker took his hand off the button, glaring briefly at the drawer where he stored the Vampire's Heart. That thing has given him more problems than he would like, but if this plan worked out, maybe he could find a way to be rid of it once and for all. It would have to be taken out soon anyway and brought with him wherever he went, so it could possibly be "dropped" into the ocean on a return trip.

He did note that he would need to make a replica, though. He needed to fake finding their next "leader" well enough, and he needed a good placeholder until then.

Stoker wondered which place would work best in "finding" the next Vampire Courts ruler. With the entire world to go through, he had plenty of places to look.

His eyes wandered his desk for a bit, his eye catching a stray article he had cut out due to the title. He felt a smirk form on his face at the sight of it.

Monster High seemed like a good place to start…

"…I'm not saying I don't trust Maddie, but did you really have to give her that kind staff?"

"I figured it would be fitting."

The conversation between Clawdeen and Double D certainly highlighted the chaos of the scene in front of them as Maddie played with the new magical device she'd been given. Blasting some random targets they'd set up, some turned into bubbles or simply lighting on fire, the boy still couldn't find a reason to regret giving it to her.

Double D had handed out the "weapons" today, and to say the least, some were pretty impressive.

Maddie's was a deceptively simple looking staff that was primarily dark in color, with four white masks on the top of it. Four emotions were represented by a happy, sad, confused, or angry expression on it, made to be harder than the rest of the staff itself. The main appeal of the weapon was that, when blasted on an object or person, would have a randomized effect on the target.

Technically it did have a function that would let the user pick something specific, but having it match the user was too tempting of a prospect to him.

For Cerise, he decided that the best thing to focus on would her speed. He'd fashioned a device that would fit around her leg, covered in plenty of metal that would focus on a kicking style. The device would also give her a great boost of speed the more kinetic force she expended while wearing them.

She was mostly using them to bounce from one platform to another. They could probably be used as prosthetics too in the future, but Double D did need a reference to work with.

Clawdeen was technically the strongest and had good claws that could tear through a lot of things. He'd focused on that and gave her upper body armor that could change from simple armor covering her knuckles to sharp claws that could tear through so much more. It pretty much relied on her own muscle memory whether to activate one or the other.

This was mostly to give her an edge if she needed to move equipment around. She hadn't actively used hers yet and had only used it to help her sister take out some camera equipment for her sister. Clawdia only had one of her assistants to help out and she wanted to see what kind of footage she could get from them alone.

"Seems like a bunch of this stuff is pretty good on its own. I get the feeling these aren't just weapons." Clawdia watched with an impressed look as Clawdeen picked up some of the normally heavier equipment. "Is there another reason you made this stuff?"

Double D did his best to ignore the camera that had put in his direction. Hoodude seemed like a nice guy, but the camera itself made him a tad bit cautious. He gulped and did his best to answer carefully.

"W-Well, it's not like I intended them to be weapons in the first place. That was more of a secondary objective if anything." Double D never completely felt satisfied when it came to explaining his thought process, but he figured it was working pretty well so far. "We- my friends and I focused more on creating tools that could be used constructively as well as offensively. Clawdeen's could be used for helping move large and heavy equipment, while Cerise's could help people with motor skills or actual lost limbs."

"And Maddie's staff?"

"That one was admittedly for fun." Double D chuckled heartily at that, which earned an eye roll from Clawdeen. "I probably don't have to explain why I figured it would be fitting for her. The others certainly have good uses, though."

"That they do." Clawdia watched as Cerise tried to use an enhance jump, which almost ended up causing her to jump over a tree. "I think I'll have to pause this interview for now. I still have questions, but I think a few action shots would be nice. Hoodude…?"

"Already on it, ma'am." The Monster, made of felt and other fabrics, followed the blonde werewolf dutifully. He was doing his best to remain steady on his feet since the camera was expensive. "Just tell me where to shoot!"

"That guy either has a crush on my sister, or really wants a promotion." Clawdeen whispered, finishing up the heavy work for now. She raised an eyebrow as the living voodoo doll nearly tripped over a pebble. "I hope you didn't hand him a pen or anything. If he has anything you technically own, you'll feel all the pain he can't for him."

"I'll make sure to keep that in mind." Double D rubbed at his eyes, feeling tired more than usual. He hadn't given the intern anything, so he was in the clear. "And it could be very likely that it's both. He seems pretty excited for the project, so maybe we can keep quiet about that."

"Hey, I didn't say I was going to rat him out. He already looks enough like a chew toy as is." The werewolf laughed but had noticed the hunched over form of her friend. "Are you okay? Been rubbing your eyes a lot lately."

"I'm… fine. Some stuff sort of popped up lately and I've had to make sure that E- a friend didn't go overboard." Double D wasn't going to say who it was, but the werewolf already had a clear idea. "I also wanted to get these projects in the final stages, along with a personal one. Just a lot of work going around."

"…Is Eddy that friend that you're talking about?" Clawdeen didn't want to play any games here, which made the boy flinch. She narrowed her eyes as she could see the excuses start to come out. "We know he hasn't been exactly okay lately. It's pretty easy to notice the loudest person you know being quiet."

"…It's a personal thing. I can't talk about without his permission." The werewolf had figured as such and really didn't expect anything. Acknowledgement was as far as she expected to get, actually. "I guess that means Cleo, Raven, and Apple hanging out with him more often isn't just a new trend?"

"We're pretty worried, so yeah, it's going to be a new trend until something happens." Clawdeen just shrugged at the annoyed expression she received. "I do want to know what you and Ed are doing, though. I can't exactly tell what it is, so enlighten me here."

"We're doing the only thing we can do; keep an eye on him until he eventually breaks." Double D didn't sound proud of the plan, but it was truly the only one they had. "Ed and I have known Eddy for over ten years, and one thing we know about him is that he won't do anything he doesn't want to do under normal circumstances. That only becomes worse during troubling times."

"And he's just going to keep doing his own destructive thing until it knocks him out. I really hate how that tracks with everything we know about him." Clawdeen pinched the bridge of her nose, sighing. "I guess as long as he doesn't pass out alone, that should work. Unless the other find a solution."

"If they do, make sure to tell me. It would certainly help in the future." Double D decided to change focus, attention switching over to Cerise and Maddie. "Maddie, please don't fire the staff towards Cerise! I may have lowered what it could do to people to avoid permanent damage, but it's still dangerous!"

"We're just practicing, Double D!"

"Yeah, just try and make us stop!"

Double D groaned, getting up and letting the octo-arms out. "The kids are acting up again, dear."

"Well, we'll just have to make them behave then." Clawdeen flexed her armor, deciding to roll with it. Whatever the boy would be willing to tell would be determined later. "I'll grab Cerise, you get Maddie. You made the staff, it's your responsibility."

"Whatever you say."

The two teens immediately went after their friends, deciding to have fun for now. Besides, Clawdia did need the action shots.

Ed hadn't been sure about his plan to bring the two biggest snoops of the schools together would go, but so far nothing had gone wrong. The day was still young, so he wasn't going to discount anything just yet.

Blondie and Spectra had gotten off to an iffy start, but it was remedied pretty quickly when they started comparing ways of gathering information. Granted, some of those methods weren't completely normal, ethical, or polite, so maybe that wasn't a great subject for them to talk about. Especially since they were possibility going to collaborate in future projects together.

Then again, he wasn't exactly the most ethical person in the world considering he was scamming two entire schools, so maybe he should just stop thinking about it. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.

Ed watched the two with a raised eyebrow, hoping that whatever they came up with didn't result in being arrested. Ghoulia did so too, but she was looking over their websites all the while. They weren't planning on merging anything but having them connected to each other would encourage some sharing of knowledge.

"I think we should definitely have a few safeguards to prevent them from being arrested. Can't have our star reporters in jail." The zombie wasn't joking, though the statement came out in a laugh. "Or set up a bail fund. Would Bloodgood be willing to make one for them?"

"I don't think so. She'd probably give them a lecture on ethics for hours before she let that happen." Ed didn't really want to test that theory out. Besides, they hadn't told her about the news they got, and he didn't want to blurt it out now. "Maybe we should have someone keep an eye on them. Dexter does that with Blondie, but maybe we should find someone for Spectra."

"That actually does make a good amount of sense. Though I think that Humphrey guy is the one that keeps things together. Dexter can be an enabler sometimes." A fair point. So maybe they should make it two people then. "Setting up some signs about a journalism club might be a good way to find them. Or Spectra can run an ad on her blog."

"Speaking of keeping an eye on people," Ed grabbed something from his spare pocket, sliding it over on the table for the zombie. "Me and my friends got you a present~."

The zombie laughed at the playful tone, grabbing it carefully. It was rare when someone would make a gadget for her rather than her making something for someone else.

Ed had been the main inventor on this one, at least on the idea side. Since Ghoulia wasn't exactly the most physical person, she had to make do with ranged stuff. She was mainly given a controller that would pilot three orbs that could float and fly across the sky, all equipped with cameras and several darts meant to take someone down. More could be made, but he figured this would be a good start.

He really was getting used to dealing with venom of some kind. A worrying hobby now that he thought about it.

"Oh, this'll certainly have some interesting uses. It's been a little bit since I've messed around with anything like this." Ghoulia did quirk an eyebrow at boy, trying to figure something out. "We do have permits to use some of these things, correct?"

"Don't need a permit if there's nothing else like it in the world!" It was true, and something Ed and his friends usually abused at nearly every opportunity. "As long as we don't do anything that creates the need for a few new laws, I think we're good."

"I'll make sure to keep that in mind." Ghoulia did activate one orb at the reassurance. She really did try to hide her glee at having the new device. "That does remind me, how do you feel about that docu-series that Clawdia girl might be running. I've been thinking about advertising it, but since it's only still in the early stages, it might not be a good idea."

"I mean, I would. The thing is being bankrolled by that Veronica Von Vamp, so it's going to get some attention." Ed shrugged. Everyone had gotten the memo about it from Double D and it was a pretty interesting offer. He would've been surprised that Eddy hadn't capitalized on it yet if it weren't for… well, Evan. "We might want to not tell that Draculaura, though. She might not want to know about that."

"That reminds me, she wants us to check out another movie with her and Clawd." Ghoulia knew it was a transparent attempt to get them out on a "double date." She wasn't sure if she was offended or not. "I'm not sure what it's about, but I maybe if we go, we can swing that new superhero movie coming out. I don't know if she's into that, though, so it might be calculated risk."

Ghoulia really didn't want to do it right now, especially with Eddy acting how he was now, but it looked like Ed needed a break anyway. From what she could tell, he and Double D were keeping an eye on their friend as best they could, and it was taking a toll on them. Double D had the whole docu-series to work on, but Ed was running low on options. He needed something to do.

Whether this helped her get an idea on what it would be like to date him was a selfish bonus, but that didn't make the previous reason ring true.

"That might be a nice change of pace, considering everything that's going on." Ed rubbed the back of his neck. He had a feeling there was something else to this, but he didn't necessarily know what. "I can make sure Double D keeps an eye on Eddy depending on what night they want us out."

"Good. I'll make sure to talk to them about it next time I see them." Ghoulia sighed, thanking the fact he hadn't figured out her motives. "I'll make sure to call them as soon as possible."

With a quick flick of her wrist, she made one of the orbs shoot out a dart towards Spectra's phone. The ghost yelped, having been caught taking a recording of their conversation with Blondie's help.

"What did we say about recording people's conversations when they don't want you to?"

"Sorry!"

The zombie sighed as the two girls talked in unison. They still had a lot of work to do with them.

Cleo, Raven, and Apple weren't exactly sure what kind of things would await them when Eddy decided to show them his inventions, but they were pleasantly surprised to find that none of them would explode. At least, they wouldn't right now.

Cleo had been happily surprised to see that one head of the Worshippers Staff had been finished, primarily the lionesses' head. The rubies it had for eyes were beautiful, though the power it had was much better. Apparently, with the right cursed jewels in place, it could actually force people back and make them "bow" in a way when the right force is used. It certainly made sense since this apparently came from her father's treasury, so the fact it was so powerful wasn't surprising.

Apple received a wand shaped simply with a white rod and jewel at one end, though the end with the jewel was surrounded by a golden ring. At the top of the ring, it had a small circle with a red cross on it, which glowed faintly. Eddy had simply designed it to help repair wounds, whether they're internal or external, though it wouldn't do a thing for ailments. He said he'd come up with something later to remedy that, but Apple was satisfied with it for the time being.

Raven's was the simplest, simply having a few braces put onto her arms with some cursed jewels attached. While everyone had been confused about it at first, Eddy had been able to explain that since she didn't have good control on her magic yet, this would help be more controllable. It was also supposed to make her magic usage more efficient, letting her use more spells at any time.

Overall, the inventions were nice, beautiful, and well made. They just wished they didn't know it was made this well because he used it to avoid sleeping.

"I'll admit to having my doubts about this, but it looks like there might be some uses to this other than simple weaponry." Apple may have not chosen what he built, but she was glad it was the wand. At least it could heal people outside of a fight. "Maybe you could go into business with some of this? I can imagine having a healing wand in every household would lower hospital visits."

"Eh, Sockhead is trying to see what we can do at a patent office. Not sure if we can actually do anything about it yet, but we'd make a killing." Eddy shrugged, having decided to lay down in the grass for now. Doing this at the ruined castle was a good idea. "Of course, he's going to want to make sure the stuff that can help people is cheap. Which I can't really say no against. I have some morality."

"Just jack up the prices of anything that can be considered a luxury item. That should up the profits." Cleo tried to see how far she could send a stone flying, with varying amounts of accuracy. So far, the staff hasn't disappointed yet. "Depends on what can else you're all inventing, really."

"Yeah, you wouldn't mind us asking what that might be, right?" Raven's better control over her magic was appreciated, but she did want to make sure whatever they made next didn't blow up. "Just for reference, really. It'll be nice to now."

"I'm just making a couple more rings this time. One of them is going to be an Evocation spell, but I haven't decided on what field I want the other to be." Eddy wanted one hand to focus on the spell tree, while the other helped with spells in the others. "Transmutation is already handy. I only have one more ring to decide on right now, so I'm putting it off for now."

"Well, I guess we'll be left in suspense." Raven sighed, that answer not exactly thrilling. At least it showed he wasn't shutting down for now. "You have been putting a lot of work in lately. Maybe it's time to take a break?"

"Yeah! I've heard about this new restaurant that opened up. It appeals to both Monsters and Legends, so all of us can go!" Apple did her best to latch on to this line of thought. The only reason she didn't physically latch onto Eddy was because he still avoided being touched. "Or we could go somewhere else. There plenty of places too…"

The princess would've said more, but a faint voice caught everyone's attention.

"Legend? Legend? Please, roar for me! I'm starting to get worried!"

"Is that Daring? I thought he didn't go into the forest that often." Cleo snorted, rolling her eyes. It was strange behavior, though, something that needed correcting. "And why is he yelling after his dragon? I'd think he'd keep it on a better leash."

"We should probably go after him. A loose dragon isn't exactly good for anybody, much less the people around it." Raven started heading where the Daring was shouting. "Cleo, come along with me. Apple, you don't mind taking Eddy to find the dragon, right?"

Eddy would've protested, but Apple was already grabbing one of his arms and leading him to some random direction. "That sounds wonderful! We'll make sure to find Legend before he starts causing trouble."

Eddy grumbled out a goodbye, wondering what the blonde was up to. They normally didn't hang out one-on-one, so this was kind of a new area for him.

The two remained mostly silent, trying to listen for the sounds of a dragon stomping about. Apple had mentioned some other signs for finding a dragon, but he barely listened to any of it. His mind was still hazy since he barely got sleep the past few nights.

Rubbing at one of his eyes, he wondered if he should just turn in early tonight. Most of the inventions were finished now and maybe he could-

"Want to play a game of Say Uncle, pipsqueak?"

-work on a few more. There were more projects to do, after all. even if he'd done his homework for the next week.

"So," Apple started, and Eddy welcomed the distraction. The silence was beginning to make him think, and he didn't want that. "While we're out here, can you tell me a few things about those friends that decided to visit? And maybe about Peach Creek?"

Eddy blinked at the sudden line of questioning. "What's with the sudden interest, Princess?"

"I don't feel like I know you as well as I should. You've been here a good while now and we haven't had a lot of time to talk without the others." Apple did speak the truth there, but she knew what she really wanted to hear. "I know a thing or two about what the others know, but I haven't heard anything from you. So, anything interesting?"

Eddy frowned, thinking over the question. As far as he could tell, it was honest curiosity, but then again, this was still new territory.

"It was a dying town, mostly." Eddy felt a little angry at himself for saying that about his hometown, but it was the truth. "A nice place to live, but still dying. Most of the people that lived there only stayed because they didn't want to live in the city."

"That can't be all there is. It sounds like you lived there for a good while." Apple knew needling things out of him wouldn't work completely, but this was as start. "Isn't there something that kept people there?"

"All the good stuff started disappearing." Eddy scoffed, the memory of certain places dying running through his head. "The candy stores, the drive-in movie theatres, all of that started getting torn down. Barely anything good was staying, meaning it was time for us to go."

Apple raised an eyebrow, though she didn't comment on that. She tilted her head, deciding to poke at another vein. "What about your family? Are they still there?"

"…Yeah." Eddy debated something for a few seconds before sighing. "Did I ever mention that I have a brother-"

A loud groan from something certainly inhuman caused the boy to pause, and the princess to nearly curse. The timing was imperfect, causing them to stop. Eddy immediately moved towards the new distraction, thoughts of talking immediately put to the wayside. Apple followed with a pout.

They were able to find Daring's pet dragon easily, the animal curled around a tree. It barely opened up one eye, quickly closing it at seeing Apple's familiar face. They walked carefully up to it, Eddy keeping a spell ready just in case it suddenly went feral on them.

"That's strange. Legend is usually a lot more energetic around me." Apple pet the dragon on its snout, humming softly. "He doesn't seem sick, but he's certainly more lethargic. Maybe he ate some spoiled meat."

"Uh, Princess?" Eddy had moved closer to the dragon's stomach, noticing that it was curled around something. "We might have to start calling Legend a she."

"…Wait, why?" Apple moved suddenly to where Eddy was standing, seeing his look of confusion and wonder. "Why would we start calling him a her?"

"Because I'm pretty sure male dragons don't lay those."

Apple blinked, looking over whatever he was watching over. The young princess then leaned back, eyes widening.

Legend laid eggs. The first dragon eggs to be laid in over twenty years or so.

"…Charmless is going to have a field day with this one."

I'll admit, I question some of my choices here, but I think it works out. Just few notes:

1. Dragon Games isn't starting yet! I'm introducing the dragons this early for a reason and I wanted them there for it. It'll be a while before we get to that part of the story.

2. Some of the inventions are references or at least something similar to stuff from pop culture. Maddie's staff is based off the Wabbajack from Skyrim, Cerise's enhancements are based off of the leg replacements in Portal, and Apple's wand is based off of something from a magical girl anime, but the others are mainly original.

3. Somebody made a fanfic based on this one! It's called The Witching Hour by dragons_SRSunn. Take a look, it's very good! Link here: /works/28897068

Other than that, nothing much else can be said. I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you next chapter!