OSWALD'S POV
At some public event I'm obligated to attend because I am mayor. I wish I weren't but I'm glad I am. Victor and Gabe are here with me. Normally, I could say Ed is here with me too, but only physically. When I had jumped the gun earlier, he'd tensed. Only, I felt him tense as I talked now that I think about it. He must've already known. Someone told him and that someone probably rhymes with Parpara Yean.
"Did you feel the knife?"
I jerk my head up at the sudden but familiar voice. Ozzie is lying across the couch in the break area, drinking yet another glass of Chardonnay. Not many other people are around, so I drop to a love seat by him. I shake my head fervently with a sigh as I pour myself a glass.
"Oh, please." Ozzie scoffs. "There was a silver pocketknife in his front left pocket. I know you felt it. It was pressed against us when he hugged, and it wasn't even closed all the way."
"I didn't feel a thing." I argue, lying to myself a tenfold.
"Quit playing the idiot, Oswald."
Ozzie growls, slamming the Chardonnay to the table so hard the glass shatters. Oswald is about to jump initially, but he keeps himself in check. He levels his angry gaze at his twin. The doppelganger only laughs.
"He told me I'm his best friend too." I remind the man before me.
"He also said 'Don't forget that.'" Ozzie imitates Ed's dark voice to a T. "As in, code for 'The only reason you're still alive is we're best friends.' I don't suppose he's ever really had a best friend before. You must feel so lucky."
"I do." I answer less-than-confidently, taking a rather large swig of the alcohol.
Ozzie tilts his head. "I told you once, if he hates you with one iota, I would take. Him. Down. Are you still holding me on that?"
"He hasn't said he hates me."
"Not yet."
.
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ED'S POV
I had to leave that celebration. Oswald had been too happy, but I'm angry. I'm angry at Oswald for killing Isabella, but, I was also mad at myself for killing Kristin. I fell down a dark, dank hole when I accidentally murdered Kristin Kringle and I was terrified I would do the same thing with Isabella. Maybe instead of a curse, Oswald killing Isabella was a blessing in disguise?
"Don't be an idiot."
An eerily familiar voice creeps up from behind me in the alley. I discreetly pull out my knife and swivel around. There is no one there. I take a few steps to ensure this, but the only sound is a cat rummaging through a dumpster. I shake it off and turn on my heel, only to crash into someone.
"You want to destroy him."
"Go away, Eddie."
"I'm afraid I can't do that, Ed."
I cringe as my meticulous twin corners me off. He grabs my wrist because he knows he is stronger than me when I am without love. Or clear determination. His grip tightens as if his hand were the Arkham cuffs. I scrunch my eyes shut but I keep walking. I let myself be dragged into the darkness.
"I know who can help us."
"Who?" I am genuinely confused, especially with my eyes still shut. "Falcone?"
I can hear the eyes rolling. "I'll give you a hint: you cut off her hand."
I plant my feet firmly on the ground. "No, no way. I'm not going to Tabitha for help. She may not have killed Isabella, but I don't trust her by a longshot. Or Butch. Or that crabby bitch of an ex-wife the detective had. Besides, they'd kill Oswald. I don't think I could."
"I'm not saying we break out Riddler." Eddie pushes me toward the Sirens. "If we go there and you let me slide in, I can be the greatest actor. We can lull those three pathetic losers into a false sense of security. Remember junior year?"
START OMNICIENT FLASHBACK
There are only two weeks left of junior year for sixteen-year-old Edward Nygma. He has taken a lot of the advanced classes and is also enrolled in four different college courses. He works as well: an attempt to keep his mind off the fact that he has no friends. He is a lonely geek, a skinny beanpole some call him. Those are the nice kids. He has to wear expensive special prescription glasses and carry around a bulky inhaler. He also wears hideous braces, now crooked and bent.
He is walking through the ghosted halls, since he is late as per usual. Suddenly, the two meanest witches of the school, Traci and Bonnie, advance on him from either side. Ed tries his best to ignore them, keeping his eyes glued to the ground. Then, Barry is in his way. Barry is a head taller than Ed, but is much more muscular.
"Where ya goin', Shrimp? The ladies is talkin' to ya."
Ed visibly gulps and turns to face the tormenting cheerleaders. He bares himself, ready to experience some form of pain or extreme humiliation. Instead, Bonnie gets very close to his face, causing him to uncontrollably sweat.
"What I'm about to show you, you can't tell ANYONE, okay?"
Ed nods, attempting to back away. He only crashes into Barry, who grabs Ed's shoulders and plants him in his spot in the hallway. Bonnie reaches into her purse and pulls out a small photo album on a keychain. Ed raises his eyebrows and tries to look over. Bonnie nods and Barry lets go, but he doesn't move. Bonnie is hesitant but she shows Ed the picture.
He sees a blonde girl, maybe thirteen or fourteen. She has long, frizzy pigtails with mud, gum and other gunk stuck within. She has worse braces than him, sticking out of her mouth so she is essentially drooling everywhere. She is wearing taped-up thick glasses with one of the lenses shattered and her outfit is a repulsive plaid patterned dress. The girl is attempting a smile in the photo as she badly twirls a baton.
"What did you do to her?"
Bonnie gasps and Traci slaps him across the face. Ed recoils from the sudden contact, not expecting her to react that way at all.
"That WAS me." Bonnie exclaims. "I was a total geek fest. Till Traci here cleaned me up and look at me now."
This Bonnie is sixteen. She has bleach in her hair and it is cut pixie style. She wears contacts and has white shiny teeth. She is a lot skinnier and is wearing a pink halter top with bedazzled blue jeans. Boys want to be with her and girls want to be her. Ed nods.
"Great! So, Olivia thinks you'd just be the bomb if you just looked a little less ick. So, you help us pass trig and Traci'll turn you from frog to prince." She holds out her hand. "We got a deal?"
Ed takes her hand in an instant. He has a major crush on Olivia. She isn't like the other girls, all preppy and pseudo-anorexic and such. She wears a lot of dark clothing but no makeup. Though she is a bit of a pessimist, she does smile from time to time and she is a pretty good fighter. She isn't sociable, though she doesn't object to having lunch with Ed under the stairwell from time to time.
After school that day, Traci takes Ed to the girls' bathroom where she proceeds to dunk his head into the toilet. He screams at her, but she only laughs, reminding him that the toilets are cleaned with bleach and this is the cheapest way for him to get bleach-blonde hair. He returns to the hall, drenched in toilet water, where he explains a few basic formulas to the girls and Barry. When he is about to leave, Traci reminds him to get to school early tomorrow.
He does. Traci has Halloween paint ready for him. He complains that there are toxic chemicals in the stuff, but Traci brushes the comments off and Barry holds him still, against the ground. Traci spreads the paint on a toothbrush and covers his teeth in the stuff, including his braces. The back ones lock up, causing his mouth to freeze. For the first three class periods, Ed's mouth is wired open, with white frothy paint drizzling out. At lunch, Ed cannot eat, so he heads toward the stairwell.
Before he can reach it, he is ambushed by Barry and Traci, since Bonnie doesn't share their lunch time. Traci hands Ed an energy elixir, informing him that is will help him lose weight. He refuses and Barry snatches it up, only to pull Ed back and thrust the drink down his open mouth. Traci cackles and the two leave. The liquid had burned the way down, possibly mixing with the paint.
Ed makes his way to the stairs once again, only to have an unsettling feeling in the pits of his stomach. He vomits violently. It is too much force and he continues. He falls into his own waste and slides toward the open area with more people to tease and harass him. The vomiting continues and it occurs to Ed that the energy drink must have been spike with ipecac. He vomits the paint and bleach he had accidentally swallowed from the day before. He is sent to the hospital and is released a day and a half later.
When he returns to school, he is skinnier but weaker. His braces are gone, but only because they had been so contorted in the bullying. His teeth are stained unnaturally white and his hair will not return to normal color for quite a few years. Traci, Bonnie and Barry confront him suddenly as he reaches the steps. They order him to teach him more math or he'll never be popular. He storms past them with a little bit of newfound courage, causing Bonnie to drop her purse, and a certain photo falls out.
Instead of returning the photo, Ed grabs it and runs wild through the building, finally entering the copy room and locking the door. Ed eagerly and greedily copies said picture over a hundred times. He then races out and starts throwing the copies everywhere. Once he makes it to a stairwell, tossing the papers maniacally, he notices the trio smirking up at him. Barry has his arms crossed with a thin line of amusement across his lips. Traci is smirking, with her arm linked around Bonnie, who is so close to full-blown laughter. Ed ceases tossing out the picture, staring at the maybe thirty left in his arms.
He looks around at the many faces in the crowds. Most people are laughing at the picture and nothing more. Ed doesn't get it. The picture isn't too old and he's only been in this town for two years. Surely someone knows who is in the picture. Surely someone remembers how the queen bee used to look. No. It isn't Bonnie. Ed lets out a gasp as he comes to the realization and his eyes focus on the teary eyes of Olivia. The girl in black angrily glares at him, swears to him and storms out. Ed wants to go and chase after her, but he is frozen in place. He vows to get revenge on the witch-types who run school, work, even life.
END FLASHBACK/RETURN TO ED'S POV
"I remember." I shudder. "What about it?"
"Remember that promise you made? About getting revenge?"
"Yes? And?" I ask confused.
My twin groans loudly. "Do you not see Butch as the star quarterback and Tabitha like his homecoming queen? And what about Barbara? Do you not see her as the head cheerleader?"
I gasp. I honestly hadn't thought about it, nor reflected on that year so much more than a glance. My past is coming back at me. It has circled back around. Those three used me to make my life a living hell and ruin my chances with the girl I thought I loved. Now, these three hate me but they hate Oswald more. If I can get them to believe I hate Oswald as much as them, I can come out on top this time.
"So," Eddie grins mischievously. "Whattaya say I go out for a test drive?"
"Swear you won't hurt Oswald any more than necessary."
Eddie holds his right hand up in mock trial. He nods. "But others might not be so lucky."
"Deal."
.
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[][][][][] Well, this is going to be a long one. Not a one-shot. What do you think of the flashback? Did it seem right? Those boys have been tortured so. Please review! [][][][][][]