Author's Note: Welcome, one and all! I have recently finished my Gorillaz story Some Hideous Story where the Guardian Dies, which means I'm now ready to work on the prequel to Ed Edd n Eddy's Nightmare Before Christmas, which all of you have patiently waited for!
First of all, I want to thank everyone who have reviewed and given me praise for my other Ed Edd n Eddy/Nightmare Before Christmas stories, all of which I'm sure will review and (hopefully) praise this story, too! This might be one of the few Ed Edd n Eddy stories starring Eddy's brother, and I'm glad to be writing it.
Now, without further ado, I give you the story that started all the madness (at least with Jack Skellington): Baron and the Pumpkin King! Happy reading! ;)-AMX
Prologue
Reunited: A Hero of Times Past
Twas a long time ago, The hero of this town
Longer now than it seems,
In a town that's best known
For bringing shivers and screams.
Is called the Pumpkin King.
He's known far and wide
For just doing his thing.
You already know.
One's about how he discovered Christmas,
Sandy Claws, and snow.
The second tells the story
Of how his town was overrun
By skeletons and ghosts;
That surely wasn't fun!
The third takes a twist
To another town at unease
A tale of friendship, switcheroos,
And . . . dang dirty hippies?
Though these stories are about
The Pumpkin King and his fame,
A few other things
Also remain the same.
One's the evil Oogie Boogie
Made of cloth, bugs, and threads.
The other is a trio
Known as the Stouthearted Eds.
Ed Edd n Eddy.
Three boys, that's who.
The helped the Pumpkin King defeat Oogie
One time plus two!
But before the Stouthearted Eds,
This foreign town knew one other
This story's about how the Pumpkin King
Met a certain Stouthearted Ed's brother. . .
---
It was a beautiful Saturday morning in October in the small town of Peach Creek. The little cul-de-sac in the center of the town seemed the most at peace this morning. A stranger would never have guessed that the very night before, the whole town was under siege by an army of possessed skeletons and their horrifying leader; a great monster known as Oogie Boogie.
However, there were no signs of any skeletons. No bugs. Nothing out of the ordinary.
That's because Oogie Boogie was gone. And hopefully, he wasn't coming back.
And it was all thanks to a trio of stouthearted boys with the same name, a group of kids rehearsing for their school play (Hair), a skeleton, a living rag doll, and a cranky mad scientist in a wheelchair.
If given these details, a normal stranger to Peach Creek would probably not get it.
However, there was one person who would make perfect sense of the events. He was from Peach Creek, but he left a few years before to go to college.
But things were different now. He was coming home.
The man slowly opened his eyes and was overjoyed to see the bus stopping at the bus stop near Peach Creek's cul-de-sac. It had been a long bus ride back to his hometown from his college, even if he had only brought only one suitcase with him.
As the bus's doors opened, the man stood up, grabbed his suitcase, and quickly got off the bus. He watched the bus drive away, then turned to the other direction down the sidewalk. He finally found the house he was looking for; a pink one. This was his house, and he hadn't been here for ages.
He quickly ran up the driveway and up to the front door. He didn't know if his parents would be there or not. He guessed not; they were usually at work by this hour. But he did know one thing; he had a little brother, and he would definitely be home on a Saturday morning.
The man knocked on the door. He waited. He put his ear to the door.
However, he didn't hear any approaching footsteps. He tried knocking again, this time a little louder. When he still didn't get an answer, he rang the doorbell.
Still no answer.
The man looked around nervously, then glanced at his watch.
"Come on, little bro," the young man mumbled. "Answer the door already. I came all the way down here to see you. I've been wanting to tell you this story ever since you told me you met him. The least you could do is answer the door . . . "
Let the sunshine, let the sunshine in, the sunshine in
Let the sunshine, let the sunshine in, the sunshine in
Let the sunshine, let the sunshine in, the sunshine in!
The man perked up when he heard something behind him. It was singing! And even better, he vaguely recognized one of the voices. He quickly turned around, pleading with his mind to be right.
He was right.
Coming up the sidewalk were three boys.
One of them was tall, with one eyebrow and a blank expression on his face. He didn't look too bright, and his clothes seemed dirty. His name was Ed.
Another boy looked much neater. He was wearing very neat-looking clothes, and wore a hat that looked like a sock on his head. His name was Edd, but to avoid confusion, everyone called him Double D.
The third boy was the one the man was happy to see. He was the shortest of the three boys, with a big mouth and three lone black hairs on his head. He was Eddy, the leader of the three Eds.
Collectively, these boys were known as the Stouthearted Eds.
As the Eds came closer, the man saw they were dressed like hippies! Peace necklaces, multicolored sunglasses, ripped jeans . . . and was Eddy wearing his old jacket?
"Man, what a night, huh?" Eddy was asking Double D and Ed.
"I must say, it was quite invigorating," said Double D. "Despite all the drama."
"Oogie is vanquished once and for all!" Ed exclaimed.
"That's for sure," said Eddy. "I tell ya, I feel a whole lot better knowing Oogie's gone for . . . "
"EDDY!"
Another voice stopped Eddy in mid-sentence. He looked ahead to his house. Standing on the sidewalk in front of the driveway that led to his house was somebody he hadn't seen in a long time. His eyes widened and began to water.
"Bro. . .?" he managed to squeak out.
Ed and Double D's jaws dropped.
"Your brother, Eddy?" asked Double D.
Eddy gave a numb nod.
"Not quite yourself there, eh Bucko?" Ed asked Eddy.
But Eddy wasn't listening. He was already in a mad sprint up the sidewalk, nearly pouncing on the older man. His brother.
Baron was home.
"It's really you . . . " Eddy moaned as he hugged his brother. "I. . .I've never said it before, but . . . I really missed you . . . "
"I know you have, dude," said Baron. "I missed you, too."
"What the heck are you doin' here?" Eddy asked, breaking the hug. "It's the middle of the school year!" He then turned behind him and saw that Ed and Double D had caught up to them. "Oh, that's Ed and Double D, by the way," he added, gesturing to his friends.
"Well, I wasn't planning to, but when you told me about finding Halloween Town and all the crazy adventures you've been having with Jack, I knew I had to come here," Baron explained. "Now I want to tell you about my adventure. About when I first met Jack."
"Well, in that case . . . " said Eddy. "Shouldn't we all hear this story?" He gave a sly grin to his older brother; that same grin Baron taught him to successfully give.
"What are you . . . " Baron began to ask. Then he stopped. The same grin appeared on his face. "Oh . . . I get ya." He turned to Double D and Ed. He took a lone key out of his pocket and tossed it to Double D. "This is the key to my room. Take it and wait for us there. Eddy and I . . . are going to pick up an old friend."
"We get to go in Eddy's brother's room again!" Ed exclaimed.
Double D looked at the key, which was attached to a disco ball keychain. "I always suspected as much . . . " he muttered.
He then looked up just in time to see Eddy and Baron running off at top speed. They were headed toward the woods.
The brothers knew exactly where they were going. They knew the path so well, they no longer needed the map that had brought them to that special land in the first place.
A/N: There you go! Reviews are greatly appreciated! ;)-AMX