Summary: Trouble officially hits Ever After and Monster High once again, this time simultaneously. Dangers working unknowingly creates a dire situation on both ends.

Kieran Valentine would not consider himself a good person, but he would also not say he was a bad one either. He had bad days, sure. But they usually balanced out when he made sure his prescription was still being kept up, and he didn't have to resort to more barbaric ways of feeding himself.

Until recently, that is. Stoker had made sure that wouldn't be easy for him.

"I hope you're calling me with some good news for once. Even layabouts like you should do decent work when pressed." Stoker said it with no irony whatsoever. Despite being in captivity, he didn't seem to be suffering judging from his own voice. "Or is that girl too much for you?"

"More like her friends are too much! You didn't warn me at all about their eccentricities." Valentine hissed back. He was risking so much for this moron! He could at least extend some curtesy despite blackmailing him. "They caught on too quick and now I can't do a thing to get her attention. Her boyfriend called them up near immediately."

"And whose problem is that? I don't believe it's mine, considering I'm still remaining well fed." Stoker said smugly. It was enough for Valentine to imagine knocking his teeth out, despite it being uncouth. "Though, I suppose I can extend some sympathy. Those children were too much for my idiot guards after all."

Valentine didn't dare say that they also took him down quickly too. He bit his tongue before responding with something that sounded more compliant. "I still don't know how you expect me to do much better."

"I didn't hire you to be a combatant, boy. I want you to rip their bonds into millions of tiny pieces." Stoker hissed out, letting his hate become clear. "But I suppose I'll accept that the original plan is out. Correct me if I'm wrong, but your species gets stronger the hungrier you get, right?"

"To an extent. It's not usually a wise idea, though." Valentine knew what the old vampire was implying, and he was going to cut this idea down. "It's generally a recipe for disaster that results in a few unsavory incidents. Not ones that benefit either of us."

"Yes, but it can get anyone to fall for you and all of your foppishness." Stoker didn't much care for whatever excuse he was trying to produce. "If you can't get to them personally, I'd suggest trying to see how many other people you can get instead. I'd say my biggest fault was not getting enough people to deal with the problem."

"Do you not understand the logistics of taking over a school with emotional mind control? That isn't an easy feat, even for me." Valentine had done some pretty impressive feats when he was focused on feeding himself. That didn't mean any of it was simple. "I'd lose any hunger induced power before I even got through a quarter of the school."

"Oh, I made sure to account for something like this. Student rosters aren't usually made public, but I do know of some notable students." Stoker was already sending data over to Valentine as he was saying this. The phone dinged with whatever he sent. "There's one student by the name of C.A. Cupid, and she has connections to literal love gods. It stands to reason that she'll have something that can help in your mission."

"The cherub? You want me to steal from someone who collaborates with gods?" Valentine was now past worrying if the man was psychotic; he was now panicking, because that basically confirmed it. "I don't believe you're stable, sir."

"Maybe not. But then again, imprisonment for someone who cannot die can make anyone a little mad, even if it hasn't been long." Stoker stated, moving back to threats. "Remember, if you don't do this, I will make sure you don't have any other options when it comes to feeding. You're 'medicine' isn't made by many people, after all."

Valentine growled, hanging up in short order. The old bastard was right. His hands were tied.

As an emotional vampire, he required a specific cocktail of nutrients that required specific emotions to receive. Valentine had a specific need for love, and while that would be good in most situations, it was hard to get ethically or for an extended period of time. However, modern times did provide modern solutions, mostly in the form of medications and supplements he got from a company that helped people like him.

A company that was unfortunately not well-funded and could be bought out. Which it was. By Stoker. Specifically to get him involved with a half-baked plot to get back at some teenagers, which included his ex.

"Their relationship is too serious. I can't break those two up unless I did something far too obvious." Valentine muttered to himself. His hunger was spiking. He had to feed on something soon, or at least move forward with this. "I need to- I need to find that girl's room. If I can get enough people involved, I'll be too love-drunk to care."

Valentine looked at himself in the mirror and nearly flinched back from the sight. He'd have to use an amulet of his to put the illusion back up. He wouldn't charm anyone looking like that. And despite any part of him that wanted to do otherwise, he needed to. He had to.

He was hungry. And there was nothing worse than a hungry Monster, after all.

"Eddy, I can respect being thorough here, but that really doesn't seem-"

SPLAT

"-necessary."

"Everything is necessary in the name of science, Ray. Or whatever Sockhead usually says."

Raven could only raise an eyebrow as Eddy reconstructed the gel dummy. As much as she hated to look at it, Cleo was doing her best to outright ignore it as she studied for her Dead Languages exam. Kitty, Alistair, and Bunny were a little way away, giving off little cheers at seeing the explosions. Despite no one technically inviting them, they apparently wanted to stay around so the latter two could have things explained to them in peace.

"Should you really be running your experiments in front of them like this? This isn't something we even do at Monster High, much less Ever After." Cleo still pointedly looked away as Eddy stuck probes into the gel dummy, flinching at the sound. The dummies were made to simulate a human body, and it squicked her out to see what Eddy did to it. "It's not like we can just sit around either. We should be trying to get access to that book."

"Cool it, Queenie. There's nothing we can do about it until we can get the ok from Bloodgood or someone else in authority." Eddy knew how that sounded coming from him. Then again, it wasn't like they didn't know he was doing it on purpose. "And you're forgetting that we're dealing with Wonderlandians. Kitty is insane, and those two don't even know what we study, so this is just entertaining to them."

"Make it explode again! I can probably catch a piece next time."

Eddy gestured to the excited Kitty and morbidly curious Bunny and Alistair. Cleo just went back to her book for her own sanity. He had told her what he was doing in advance, and she was free to leave, but she figured it was better to remain close.

Besides, Eddy's reasoning was sound. They really couldn't do a thing about the book unless something could be done about Wonderland. And they weren't likely to get permission either unless there was a sudden lift on the ban on travelling to it. The Book of Legends was important, but important enough to risk something from it getting loose in the real world?

…Maybe. Still completely out of reach for now.

"Shouldn't this be the slightest bit discouraging to you?" Raven figured that this would turn around saner people. Then again, Eddy wasn't entirely sane. "Exploding bodies would turn anybody away at least for a little while."

"That's because most of them aren't resourceful like I am. That, and they're just quitters!" Eddy set up the experiment once again, checking the readings. They'd be important later. "Besides, it's the beginning stages. Have to work up to the main event by figuring out how it goes in and out of the body."

Eddy knew the main problem with the magical transference itself was the effect on the body, and he wanted to know what kind of current it ran through the body, and then find a way to regulate it. That and the readings would help him figure out which organs and other body parts were likely to get damaged the most.

"Not exploding doesn't mean you won't die." Cleo supplied unhelpfully. "Still need to think about that too."

…That was a good point, though. A surface level scan of the readings did show that a lot of it was going through the brain and the heart, and if he prevented it from getting out, then it would mean having to deal with the damage within. He needed to either figure out how to stop that damage from being internal or make a backup plan.

Eddy paused, eyes wandering over to the bandages on Cleo's arms. Yeah, a backup plan might be a good idea.

His musings were cut short as he heard some loud crashing from the distance. As well as some cursing from someone who really wasn't the type to do that.

"…Is that Cedar?" Raven couldn't believe her ears for a second, especially as the cursing continued. "That's not- we should probably go over and help. Must be bad if she sounds like that."

"You're just saying that because you don't want me working on my research." Another bang could be heard, and Eddy did have to stop and look to where it was coming from. "Eh, might as well. I hope it's something funny."

Turning off his devices, it didn't take long for the three to catch up with the Wonderlandians that had already moved to the sound. Predictably, the only one who looked entertained was Kitty, who was delighted.

"Stupid freaking walking house. Can't even take two steps before you fall over? Defeats the purpose of having a mobile home if it can barely move."

The image of Cedar kicking at the scared form of a house with literal chicken legs was eye catching for certain. It was odd, though. She wasn't normally this assertive. Or mean.

"Can't even move around some important stuff…"

"You feeling okay there, Pine Tree?"

Cedar would've had a heart attack if she wasn't made of wood. She whirled around, obviously freaked out as she put something behind her back. Her eyes darted around at everyone in attendance as her nerves looked shot.

"Real mess you made here. I can respect taking Baba Yaga's house for a joy ride, but I'd suggest practicing first." Eddy's eyes shifted from the house to Cedar, pausing. "…You okay? You look like you're ready to puke. I don't want to see you hack up a pinecone."

"I'm fine! Better than fine. What are you talking about, anyway? I don't know what this is." Cedar tried to ineffectually kick some leaves onto the house, as if to hide it from them. "I found it like this. Had nothing to do with it."

"Really? Had nothing to do with it all?" Kitty did look at the chaos appreciatively, wondering how she could put her own spin on it. "Then I have to say, you did pretty well for someone who did absolutely nothing."

Alistair leaned over to Bunny, whispering, and deeply concerned. "I think I miss having the librarians around. These guys are nuts."

Bunny just nodded along. "Ditto."

"Uh, are you sure you're alright Cedar? Usually you can't… well, lie." Raven interjected. She was the only one to notice that thread, mostly because it was wrong. "It's nice if you can lie now, but you're also not really good at it."

"I don't you should encourage people to lie better… well, unless you're me." Cleo shrugged. Out of character or not, this really didn't concern her. "If you wouldn't mind, we're going to go back to our nonsense. You have fun with your own, though-"

"Cedar! I was wondering you were so late."

The sugary-sweet voice of Apple caused all momentum to stop. It was oddly jarring to see her hurriedly walk over, a book clasped tightly in her arms with a cheerful look on her face. No sign of the misery from the past few days was apparent, the smile on her face looking razor sharp.

"Looks like Baba Yaga's house took a bad spill. You do realize it needs to be on its feet for it to actually move, right?" Apple tittered. It sounded fake the moment it left her mouth. "Though, it's fine. I probably should've expected some difficulties."

Apple's gaze went over to her friends, smile still tight. "And how are you guys doing? You guys are missing the celebration!"

There was dead silence for a few moments as everyone looked over the two. It was ready to get awkward before Cleo sighed, made her Worshipper's Staff appear in her hands and pointed it straight at Apple.

"Alright, who are you and what do you want?" Cleo just looked tired despite holding a weapon at a friend. "Just give up now and maybe I can enjoy my day at least a little bit."

"Uh," Kitty's ears twitched, not feeling comfortable being in the splash zone. "Did I miss something? Is this what you all do for fun?"

"I mean, not for fun, but I guess it's a past time for us." Eddy would've thought Cleo lost her mind to old age, but… well, Apple was too cheery for someone that was depressed not that long ago. "Ray, is that the cursed book Cerise was supposed to give you? Because it certainly doesn't feel uncursed."

"She had to leave for Monster High. I should've known I missed something while she was talking about the Book of Legends." Raven made a mental note to apologize later. "I didn't take it, so Apple must've… dammit."

Apple, for her part, didn't say much as she watched the exchange. Her smile fell into a scowl, looking disappointed.

"Not even for five seconds. I'm almost impressed." Apple turned to look deeper into the woods, letting out a sharp whistle. "Hunter, Ashlynn, skip to Plan B!"

The confusion that would've settled on everyone was quickly destroyed as a literal boulder flew down in their direction, causing everyone to dive out of the way. A wave of dust flew over everyone, with Apple and any of her other cohorts disappearing before it could settle. As everyone got their wits together, Eddy couldn't help but think about one thing.

"Dammit," Eddy cursed to himself. "Why did she have to take my advice this time?"

"…So, has anyone heard from him in a while, or-"

"Nothing so far."

"Nada."

Clawd tapped his foot on the ground, looking back at the bathroom door with some amount of worry. Ed and Ghoulia didn't seem as concerned, though they at least had some entertainment with whatever game they'd summoned up on an iCoffin.

"If it wasn't for Draculaura gushing to me about it, I'd almost assume nothing changed for you two." Clawd wasn't judging. Heck, it was nice to see them this casual. "Any advice? My relationship is fine and all, but you two are pretty chill already."

"Maybe lower the amount of unnecessary jealousy and you'll be fine. Might lower your risk of heart problems in the future as well." Ghoulia was close enough to the high score to not need to pay attention to the game directly. "A little creep Valentine might be, you really are worrying too much."

"He seems to have gotten the hint, though. So maybe we can get through all of this without causing another incident." Ed considered that a win in his book. "Maybe you and Draculaura's relationship can be a lot stronger after this."

"You mean if Clawdeen doesn't kill her for setting up that speed dating thing." Clawd was still unsure how that would pan out. "Or Draculaura goes to jail for killing one of Clawdeen's party crashers. I'm almost scared to go back actually."

"Eh, it'll probably involve a lot of flirting and some people running in terror. Typical day for them." Ghoulia gave Ed a shove with her elbow. "I forget, have we set up a betting pool with the others about who ends up with who in that situation?"

"Not yet. I was thinking betting DoubleClaw and Ceraddie personally."

"Really? I would've guessed Claddie and DoubleCerise."

"We are speaking language, right?" Clawd wasn't exactly fluent in gibberish, or ship talk. "Are you two trying to set up my sister with someone too?"

"Nah, just making up ship names." Ed didn't give Clawd enough time to ask why he was naming boats, reaching out a hand and knocking on the bathroom door. "You good in there, Valentine? If you're sick, we do have a nurse's office nearby."

There was no response, prompting an annoyed grunt coming from him. He disentangled himself from Ghoulia, sighing as he opened the door. "Let's check on him. Maybe he slipped and knocked himself out."

"Okay, fine. At least that would lower his cool rep a little bit." Clawd moved to follow Ed, pausing to point at Ghoulia. "You stay here for now. No way I'm going to explain why we let a girl into the boy's bathroom."

"Trust me, I don't want to see what's inside either." Ghoulia let them go, letting the rest of the round on her game end before switching over to school news. "Might as well make sure nothing is going wrong on the other side of school-"

"Ghoulia!"

She glimpsed briefly to see a blur of pink heading her way and sighed.

"-or maybe the news will come to me." The zombie shut off the news app before it could even load. So much for a nice quiet moment. "Cupid! I'm assuming this isn't a social visit."

The blur did stop, Cupid breathing heavily as she finally settled down, wings flapping hard as she stayed in the air. Her face was red from the exertion, obviously anxious.

"I'msososorry,butIthinksomebodystolefrommeandIneedtofinditbefore-"

"Cupid. Take a breath."

"-right! Calming down now." Cupid stopped flying, landing on the ground and taking a deep breath. She looked borderline twitchy. "Sorry. It's just- I think my studio was broken into and we really need to find who stole it before something bad happens."

"What was stolen exactly? And how do you know somebody was in your studio?" Ghoulia felt instantly worried about what a demigoddess could have. Especially if it made her look ready to have a heart attack.

"My bow and a lot of my arrows. Magic ones that are way too easy to abuse, especially when put in the wrong hands." Cupid waved her hands around at the look Ghoulia gave her right after saying it. "I always make sure to have them secure in a safe and the room locked, but I found the door open! I wouldn't misplace those at all."

Oh. Oh, that didn't sound good. Ghoulia's mind ran. "Was there any way inside other than the main entrance?"

"No! I mean, I did have a window open since it can get muggy when I'm doing long recordings." Cupid rambled. She did stop to think about it before shaking her head. "But nothing could've gotten inside. Unless rats can use lockpicks."

Ghoulia felt dread creep in, a realization creeping in. It made her fail to notice Ed and Clawd walking out of the bathroom, puzzled looks on their faces.

"Okay, not to alarm anyone, but we didn't find him in there. Almost like he vanished." Clawd's hackles were raised, and he didn't know what to do next. "I'm not sure if that's a bad thing for us or him."

"Window was open, though." Ed scratched his head, looking back inside quickly before closing the door. "…Quick question; can emotional vampires turn into bats, or is that only the blood drinking kind?"

"AHHH!"

The answer was punctuated by the sound of a loud scream and the distance that all of them could recognize.

Double D was up to bat as the next "date" for the fourth time already, and Draculaura wanted to scream. Clawdeen looking smug only wanted to make her scream louder.

"Just because you're wearing a wig and a fake mustache doesn't mean I don't know it's you." Draculaura checked off another absence on her list of people. Not a single person who applied got in so far. "Especially if I can hear someone being terrorized on the other side of the door."

"I don't understand what you're talking about, young lady." The wig didn't even cover up Double D's hat, and the mustache was barely staying on. "I only came here to see if me and your friend here are compatible."

"Might be some chemistry here, though I do want to meet whoever's out there playing with a chainsaw first." Clawdeen could hear Maddie laughing on the other side of the door. "She isn't actually chasing anyone away, right? That might get her arrested."

"No, she's doing a juggling act. Admittedly much more dangerous, but I'm sure she knows what she's doing." Double D dropped the act for a brief moment, looking at the door nervously. "Cerise has the first aid kit on hand just in case."

"She won't need it!" Maddie kicked in the door, putting a chainsaw back into her hat, flipping it up so it landed on her head. "I nailed it! Everyone was speechless after they were done running out the door screaming."

"That was the most terrifying thing I've ever witnessed. Why did you have to set them on fire, Maddie? Why?" Cerise followed behind, first aid kit held in a death grip. "I really hope those guys can afford therapy, because they're going to need it."

"You at least got a recording, right? I at least deserve a reward for getting through this." Clawdeen gestured at Double D and his disguise. "I appreciate the gag, but I think you got really lazy after the second disguise."

"To be fair, I happened to go through some of my better ideas first. Plus, it broke up the monotony." Double D finally took off the wig and mustache, giving a sheepish smile to Draculaura. "Very sorry for all of this, but there is a price for surprising one of us."

"Besides, we called dibs!" Maddie sped over to jump into Clawdeen's lap, getting comfortable. "You really are soft, you know that? What conditioner do you use for your fur?"

"Hey, don't leave me out. I need to sit down after moving around in these heels all day." Cerise stole a chair, groaning as she got off her feet. "After I change into something I can actually move in, you all want to head back to the festival? We can watch Sparrow struggle to survive the dunk tank he volunteered for."

"Count me in. Though, I wouldn't mind seeing how Heath is doing since he's trying to do a kissing booth this year." Clawdeen chuckled, ears twitching as she heard a pen scribbling on paper. She looked to Draculaura, eyes narrowing. "What are you writing over there?"

"Nothing!" The vampire threw away her clipboard, panicked and flustered. She clasped her hands together, moving towards the group. "I'm all for seeing my ex get slapped for the kissing booth idea. You all want to wait for the others first?"

"Might as well. Unless something changes over at Ever After, I think we should be clear for the rest of the day." Cerise sighed. That whole Wonderland situation could wait. As far as she was concerned, they needed the vacation. "As long as your boyfriend gets over his jealous phase, we should be good."

"Oh, he'll get over it. Trust me, there's a reason why me and Valentine broke up." Draculaura didn't elaborate further. "Though, they have been away for a while. Hopefully, they didn't get into some kind of fight."

Double D raised an eyebrow, taking out his phone and checking over his texts. "Ed says he's been in the bathroom for a long while. Looks like Ghoulia is sending over some stuff too about Cupid too, but there's an uncharacteristic amount of typos…"

Clawdeen rolled her eyes, relaxing for finally ever since the word "speed dating" was uttered in her presence. She looked around, letting Maddie get comfortable as she tuned everything else out. It was nice, even if the "romantic" decorations Draculaura put up were a little tacky. Plastic hearts, white banners, all the flower petals…

Thunk!

…It was distracting enough that she almost didn't see an arrow fly and hit Cerise square in the back.

For a brief second, nobody moved. Then Cerise tried to stand up, let out a gasp and fell onto the floor.

"Cerise!" Maddie was able to catch the other girl, zooming over before her head could hit the ground. "What was- where did the arrow-"

THUNK!

Maddie didn't get to finish her sentence as another arrow flew out and hit her in the chest, causing her to scream. Everyone else was quick to get up also, Draculaura moving to check on the two as Clawdeen and Double D the nearest tables and chairs.

"I'll set up a barrier! Clawdeen, find out who's doing this and- and…" Double D saw another arrow fly and nearly land near his head. His metal limbs came out, putting up a wall of chairs and tables before another could be drawn. "Just make them pay!"

The werewolf didn't need to be told twice. After another arrow flew, and she grabbed and threw the nearest table at it, activating the armor Double D had given her in the process. The table stopped the arrow, burying itself in the wall. She could hear scrambling of feet and was tempted to follow before she could hear shallow breathing behind her.

"It-it looks like they're fine. There doesn't appear to be any bleeding." Draculaura wouldn't be awake if that wasn't the case. She turned Cerise over, checking her for wounds. "I-I don't see the arrow anywhere. I saw it go in her."

"The one in Maddie isn't there either." Double D was the one breathing rapidly, close to a panic attack. "She's not bleeding either. Are magic arrows a thing? Someone tell me before my heart stops."

"Doesn't matter. Let's take them to the nurse's office and check them out there." Clawdeen grabbed Cerise while Double D was able to get Maddie. "Just make a barrier around us until we get there. Draculaura, lead the way."

The group hurried away from the scene, readying themselves for another attack. They failed to notice a little bat flying away from the scene, holding something in its claws.

"Damnit," the little bat said, cursing up a storm. "I'll get the other later. Two is better than none, after all."

The day, unfortunately, was far from over for everyone.

Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Still generally updating and will always be moving forward on this, as well as doing stuff on the side. Make sure to keep an eye out in the future.