Chapter two:
Doorway to another world: MAR!!!
Author's note: Sorry if the chapter seems a bit lengthy, but this is basically as long as most chapters will be, so if you don't like reading long fanfics, then don't read this series. But if you don't care about length or are a big fan of the anime or manga, Mar, or Ed, Edd n Eddy, I believe that you will greatly enjoy this series!
In the last chapter, Ginta Toramizu had just gone through his first day of American school with his new friends, Carrie and the Eds. The Eds tell him that this was the day they first met each other and formed their little group and ask Carrie and Ginta to join in on the fun. But, Double D has something new planned for his friends. What is it? Let's see…
Double D, Carrie, and Eddy reach Double D's garage first. Ed finally arrives with Ginta thrown over his shoulder like some sort of rag doll. He's panting heavily.
"Oh, dear! Is Ginta okay, Ed?" Double D asks.
"I don't know, Double D!" Ed puts Ginta down and he sits on the ground.
"I…can't…run…too…tired…" Ginta gasps.
"Ginta needs faol krop!" Carrie says. Ed immediately pulls out a pan with pork loaf on it and puts it in Ginta's lap. He nearly throws up from the smell and look of the stuff and jumps to his feet. Carrie grabs the faol krop and eats it in one bite.
"Nice to see your feeling better." Eddy says unsympathetically. "Now, Double D, what do you have for us?"
"Is it more faol krop?" Carrie asks, her mouth covered in meat juice.
"Um, no, but it's…"
"A bus driver?"
"No, Ed. It's…"
"Buttered toast!?" Carrie exclaims.
"A new Star Wars movie!?" Ed adds, refusing to give up.
"Ed, Carrie, please! Now, I've been working on this in secret and have had a few parts shipped to me from May."
"You traitor!" Eddy snaps.
"Not that May, Eddy, the May who moved next door to Johnny a while back."
"She was fun! She had this fancy lab like Dexter's, but whenever I went to play in it, she yelled at me and beat me up."
"She beat me up a lot, too!" Eddy adds with disgust. "All I did was ask her out."
"You also stole things from her lab, egged her house on Halloween, and blew her mailbox up on the Fourth of July! And not to mention Ed sneaking into her lab at night and blowing her house up, causing her to move back to Japan!"
"Whatever. Let's just see what you've been working on for the last five weeks!"
Double D pushes a button on a small remote control and the garage door opens up. Sitting inside is a large, metal ring, part of it made of junk and part of it made of really high-tech pieces.
"It's a Star Gat-, um I mean Space Door!" The sock-hatted Ed-boy announces proudly. "I thought that we could celebrate the day we first met each other by traveling to a different universe for the week, since this coming week is fall break."
"You mean this thing can take us to any other world?" Ginta asks excitedly.
"Uh, I guess so…" Double D answers with a tad of uncertainty in his voice.
"That means I can prove to everyone at my old school that Mar really exists!"
"Mar? What kind of place is that?" Eddy asks.
"It's this amazing place with three-headed birds, talking trees, and fairies. I have dreams about it every time I go to sleep." Eddy bursts out laughing and Ginta's face turns red with embarrassment.
"EDDY!!!! That was very cruel of you!"
"Wow, this place sounds like fun!" Carrie says. "Can you tell me about it?"
"Yeah, me too!" Ed jumps in Ginta's lap. "STORY TIME!!!! STORY TIME!!!!"
"This place does sound quite intriguing." Double D says.
"It's almost like back home." Ginta pulls a photograph and a bar of chocolate out of his pocket. The photo has a picture of a blue-haired girl the same age as Ginta. Her hair is cut short. "This is Koyuki, the only person who ever showed interest in Mar other than you guys."
"Is she your girlfriend?"
"Eddy, show some manners!"
"Um, no, not really…" Ginta answers.
"Sweet! Maybe I can go to Japan with you and meet her…" The kids of the cul-de-sac gather around to look at Double D's magnificent creation.
"What are you dorks up to?"
"Rolf is amazed by the giant ring made by the brainy Ed-boy."
"Dude, that thing looks awesome!"
"Okay, I've taken the liberty in packing your things, Eddy. Ed you'll have to…" Ed runs away and returns with a gigantic suitcase. "Um, Ed, I really don't think you'll need all of that stuff." Ed somehow crams his suitcase in his jacket pocket.
"Well, then, I guess we're ready to go." Double D is about to push the button when the entire garage suddenly turns pitch black. A red-cloaked creature wearing shackles on its wrists and a white mask that has the tongue sticking out appears out of the darkness.
"What did you do, Double D?!"
"Nothing, Eddy! The space door isn't even turned on!"
"Cool!"
Carrie looks around. "Is it bedtime already?" The other kids exit Double D's garage and group together around the outside.
Eddy grabs Ed, Double D, and Carrie. "Let's get out of here!"
"But Eddy, what about Ginta?"
Carrie frowns. "But I wanted to play with the funny clown in there…"
A large metal door appears in front of Ginta. It has a stone version of the red-cloaked creature hanging over the doors. Ginta looks on in amazement.
"Look! It's the world from my dreams!" Everyone but Ed and Carrie just see unending darkness.
"It looks cool!" Ed exclaims. "Can you see it, Carrie?"
"Yeah, it looks like a fun place!" The cloaked creature looks on Ed and Carrie with amazement.
"So, you are able to see it too."
"See what? Darkness?" Eddy asks. The creature throws a single green die and it lands on one.
"There. Only one person may pass through the gate! You in front of me! The reason you saw the vision is because you want to escape this world and because you believed in it. As for the other two, they have a remarkably strong imagination that allowed them to see it, too."
"Um, what goes on, Ed- boy?" The Eds are speechless.
The creature continues to talk to Ginta. "Since you are the one who first believed in this world you will be the one to enter."
"Hey, wait a second! Ginta's part of our group, so wherever he goes, we go!" The creature turns towards Eddy.
"If more people than the number on that die on the floor enter the gate, I can't guarantee their safety." The creature chuckles almost sinisterly. Ginta turns towards his four new friends and looks at them sternly.
"I don't want the first new friends I've made in a long time to get hurt…or worse."
"But I want to go too!" Carrie whines. Ed tries to go back inside Double D's garage, but there's some kind of force field in front of the entrance.
"I really wish you could go with me…"
Eddy gasps in shock. "Y-y-you're not going to go in there, are you?" Ginta nods his head.
"If I don't go now, I might not have another chance to go."
"Is he crazy?" Sarah asks.
"Don't ask me what's going on, Plank."
The door unlocks. "You may enter when you're ready."
"Goodbye! I promise I'll tell you all about it when I come back!" Ginta opens the door and walks through them. The doors close and lock behind him and the gate disappears along with the red-robed creature. Double D's garage returns to its original state.
"Quick! We must follow him!" Double D scrambles to the controls of his space gate.
"Are you nuts!? Did you see that monster? What if we see it in that world Ginta was talking about and it tries to kill us?"
"Don't you remember the last time we celebrated today, and we went to find the legendary Golden Jawbreaker? When Ed eats it, he temporarily has unlimited strength and invincibility."
"Yeah, Eddy, it's like a cheat code for a game!"
"Fine, we'll go, but we're only going because of Ginta." Eddy grumbles. Ed and Carrie jump into the air with excitement.
"Well, Rolf wishes you Ed-boys the best of luck!"
"Same here, dude!" Nazz adds.
"Man, just bring the Japanese dork back safely, or I'll pound you!"
"Let's go play, Jimmy!"
The kids of the cul-de-sac leave the Eds and Carrie to their brief preparations. Double D throws a switch, but the battery May sent him is too strong. The portal opens up, but it destroys Double D's space gate. Carrie randomly presses a button and the portal expands to a great size and hovers over the cul-de-sac. Before anyone can do anything about it, they are sucked into it, along with the Kanker sisters' trailer.
In the middle of a field, a robed skeleton holding a long-handled scythe, a short boy with a big nose and a red baseball cap on his head, and an equally short girl with blonde hair and an intimidating scowl on her face. The black-robed skeleton uses his scythe to rip open a portal and the three of them jump into it and vanish. Nearby, a guy is hiding in some dense vegetation. His face is barely visible. A ring on his finger in the shape of the gate suddenly shatters into millions of pieces.
"Someone has entered this world from another." He says.
Another portal opens up and the Eds and Carrie are thrown out of it in the middle of the field. In another part, the rest of the cul-de-sac kids are flung out of the portal, and in some dense woods far from the kids and the Eds, the Kankers' trailer is thrown.
"HEY, WALTER!!!!!! KEEP IT DOWN OUT THERE!!!!!" Lee yells, not noticing anything different.
Last, Ginta comes tumbling out of the sky and lands on Eddy with a loud thud. His glasses fall off and land next to Carrie.
"Get off me!!!" Eddy yells, throwing his friend off him.
"Eddy!? What are you doing here? And Carrie, Ed, Double D are here too!"
"We didn't want you to get hurt, so we used the space gate to come after you."
"That's great! But where are my glasses?" Suddenly, Ginta hears a crunching noise coming from Carrie. He turns around to see the last part of his glasses disappear into Carrie's mouth to be chewed up and swallowed. Double D watches this.
"CARRIE!!!!! How many times have I told you not to eat stuff like that!? I guess Ginta won't be able to see Mar for himself. Sorry Ginta. Carrie just can't control herself." Ginta ignores Double D and looks around in amazement.
"Whoa. I can see clearer without my glasses!" He continues to stare out beyond the grass-covered hills at the far-away mountaintops of Mar. He pulls on his face and punches himself. "NO WAY!!!!! I'm not dreaming this time! I'M NOT DREAMING!!!!!" Carrie and Ed jump up and celebrate with Ginta. "Guys, this is awesome!!! It's Mar, the world I told you about!"
"This is incredible! A parallel world similar to ours!" Double D says, looking around. Eddy looks rather unimpressed.
"So, where's all the cool stuff? If I wanted to see mountains and plants, I would've stayed home and sat in my back yard. What a rip-off!!!" Unable to hold his excitement in any longer, Ginta runs off with Ed and Carrie chasing after him.
"Ginta, Carrie, Ed, wait!!!" The brainy Ed-boy calls out to them.
"Come on, Sockhead! Let's go follow them!" Eddy races off after his three friends and Double D follows.
The five of them run down a path cutting through some dense woods. They look at all the bizarre fruits growing on the trees, the blue sky, and even a three-headed bird flies overhead.
"Man, I wish I had a camera!" Ginta exclaims, jumping in the air. "This is the greatest day of my life!"
"I wish I had a camera, too! Think of the money we'd make if we had proof of another world!" Eddy says.
The five friends continue their run, Double D falling behind.
"I'm so tired. I can't go on," Double D gasps. Ed grabs him by the arm and drags him along behind him.
"Come on, Double D! I don't want you to miss anything!"
Ginta relishes his run through the forest, as does the Eds and Carrie, but little do they know, someone is watching them. Following overhead on a flying besom (a type of broom with twigs tied to the end of it instead of straw) is a mysterious teenage girl who's watching this odd-looking group very closely.
Ginta finally stops to catch his breath and is quickly joined by the Eds and Carrie.
"Why did we stop running? I was having fun!" Carrie says.
"I've never been able to run that fast or that long in my whole life," Ginta says.
"Well, maybe this place isn't so bad after all!" Eddy says. Ed lets go of Double D and he stands up and brushes the dirt off of his face, shirt, and pants.
"I hope this place has a shower." He says. "Ginta, I don't mean to change the subject, but are you sure your eyesight is okay?"
"Yeah, it's almost as if I never needed to wear glasses at all," Ginta answers.
"Gravy!"
Suddenly, Ginta hears a noise. He and the Eds turn around and are met with a figure that appears to be wearing a suit of armor. The five of them stare at it with wonder, trying to find out where it came from.
"Hi, who are you? My name is Carrie!" Carrie smiles and waves at it, being her usual, friendly, outgoing self. "Do you like pork loaf?" Without a word, the suit of armor rushes forward and attacks Ginta. Ginta catches it and holds it back for a few seconds.
"What's wrong with you? What do you want?" He throws it back and it lands on its neck. Amazingly it gets back up and attacks again, but this time, it's met by Ed who wants to join in on the "fun". He picks up a large tree and sends it flying several feet away. This time, the armor lays on the ground motionless. Ginta looks at his hands, amazed at his sudden increase in strength.
"Yay! Do it again!" Carrie cheers. Suddenly, they hear what sounds like someone clapping. They look at each other and then look up in the air. Sitting on a flying broom is the girl that followed them to that spot. She is wearing a black dress and black armbands that are attached to her middle fingers. On top of her hair is a black hat similar to Double D's but it doesn't cover her whole head and has a black ball attached to the end of it. Her pink hair is in long, unbraided pigtails that almost drag the ground and are separated at the middle by two large, purple beads. Two more are near the end of each pigtail. Her fingers and wrists are covered in bracelets and rings, but amazingly, they lack any precious stones on them.
"Not bad, not bad! That was pretty impressive for a bunch of kids!" For what seemed like hours the five stared into her red eyes. Carrie is the first to speak.
"Hey, does that mean we win a prize!?"
"Um, who are you?" Ginta asks awkwardly, unsure of how to react to seeing another person there besides the Eds or Carrie. The girl jumps off her broom and lands gently on the ground.
"I'm Dorothy."
"Hello, my name is Ed, friend! Well, it's just Ed, not Ed Friend. You are friend and I am Ed, so…" Eddy shoves Ed out of the way.
"My name's Eddy. I'm the strongest guy here, and the best-looking!" Eddy flexes his muscles. "So, do you want to…?" Dorothy bashes him over the head with the broad side of her broom. Next she looks over at the defeated suit of armor.
"This is astounding! She appears to be very intelligent and she speaks English!" Double D's comment almost makes Dorothy blush. She quickly regains her composure looks back over at the armor.
"Wow, it's not broken." She holds out her hand and the armor transforms into a ring. It floats to her hand and she places it on her finger. She looks at the group and smiles. "Even though it's the weakest Guardian ARM that I have, nice job!" Once again, Ginta's excitement overpowers him. He grabs Dorothy's shoulders and starts shaking her.
"What was that thing!? How did you do that? Do it again! Do it again!"
At first, this catches Dorothy by surprise. "Ginta, please, mind your manners! Now Miss Dorothy, would you please tell us what that armor thing was?"
"What are you talking about? It's called an ARM." She answers like someone would answer a little kid who asks an obvious question. Ginta lets go of her.
"ARM? What's that?" He asks.
"Hey I have two of those!" Carrie says. "See?" She shows Dorothy her arms.
"You mean none of you know what an ARM is?"
"Is it magic, like they do in Las Vegas with those white tigers?" Ed asks.
"Well, I guess you could call it magic." Dorothy answers. "But I'm not sure about all that other stuff you said…"
"Ed, you're confusing her! She probably has no idea what Las Vegas is or what a tiger is."
"ÄRMs are accessories engraved with magic, so, I guess it is magic." Dorothy explains.
"Accessory? Do you have any more of these ARM things?"
"Cool! I want to see! I want to see!" Carrie chants, jumping up and down.
Dorothy takes a good look at the group's arms, wrists, and fingers. "That's odd. None of you have any ÄRMs." She notices Eddy's wallet chain. She yanks it off and examines the unfamiliar object. "What is this?" She opens his wallet and turns it upside down. American dollars flutter out and are taken by a mole.
"No! Look what you did!" Eddy shouts.
"What? It was just green paper."
"NO!!! That was money!" Eddy snatches his wallet back. "And this is my wallet!"
"Money!?" Dorothy pauses for a moment to take all of this in. She reexamines these strangers, looking for any sign of an ARM. "I attacked them thinking that since they were in a large group, figuring that at least one of them had to have some rare ÄRMs." She says in her head. She takes another second to think. "Wait a minute!" She snaps her fingers.
"Weapon ARM, Ring Dagger!" One of her rings transforms into a small throwing dagger. Ginta, the Eds, and Carrie look on with amazement. Double D feels of it, and amazingly it's solid. He gives it back to Dorothy and in a puff of smoke, it turns back into a ring again.
"Would one of you like to have this?"
"Yeah!"
"That's pretty cool, but I want that armor thing!" Eddy says.
"No! It's either the dagger or nothing!"
"Thank you, but I just couldn't accept it," Double D says modestly.
"No thanks! I'm allergic to butterscotch!" Ed exclaims.
"Can I have chocolate pudding instead, ma'am!?" Carrie asks. "Ppppplllllleeeeeeeeaaaaassssssseeeee!?"
"Well, I guess you're the only one who wants it, um, Ginta. That's your name, right?"
"Yes, miss."
"Then follow me. The rest of you can come along, too, I guess." Ginta, Ed, and Carrie follow the pink-haired girl. "If you do that, I'll give it to you, Ginta."
"Are you coming, Eddy."
"Of course! She owes me money!"
"Eddy, she didn't know any better. Besides, you're in a different world now. American currency isn't worth anything here."
"Fine, I'll go, but I won't like it!" Eddy and Double D catch up with the rest of them.
The mysterious man whose ring shattered is watching from some thick vegetation. "Oh, no! They're going with her!" He says with alarm.
"What's wrong?" Another voice asks him.
"That girl's an infamous witch!"
Later, they arrive at some ruins. Old stone pillars lay everywhere and they appear to be standing on an old foundation of some sort.
"This is it! I knew it'd be here!" Dorothy says, looking at an old map.
"Is this were they keep the Oreo's for breakfast?" Ed asks. "I'm hungry!"
Dorothy ignores the Ed-boy. "This is where Babbo is sealed."
"What did you call me!?" Eddy snaps.
"Hey, Dorothy!"
"An extremely powerful ARM is sealed in these ruins!"
"DOROTHY!!!!!!!" Ginta yells.
"What do you want, boy?" Dorothy asks, annoyed.
"You promised you'd give me that ARM thing from before."
"I'm sorry if this offends you Dorothy, but you did promise Ginta that…" Dorothy kisses Double D and Ginta three times each on the cheek.
"Wait just a bit longer."
"Oh-kay!" Ginta answers. Eddy looks on with jealousy.
"Nudge, nudge! Wink, wink, Double D!" Ed says, elbowing Double D in the arm, who's too surprised to even move. Eddy stands beside Dorothy.
"Hey, where's my kiss?" Dorothy fakes a smile.
"Right here!" Dorothy slaps him in the face, leaving a red hand print on his cheek. She checks her map again. "Now, we don't know what awaits us in that cave where Babbo is sealed. But, since Ginta and Ed are strong enough to defeat a guardian without any ÄRMs, they might be useful." She glances back at the group. Ed is pulling his lip back and letting it recoil back into place, Carrie is eating a strange white rock, Double D is scolding her, Eddy is recovering from his well-earned slap, and Ginta is…RUNNING TOWARDS THE ENTRANCE!!!!???
"Hey, you, I TOLD YOU TO WAIT!!!!!!!"
Ed picks his friends up and chases after Ginta who has stopped at the entrance, which is sealed with a wall of solid rock. "Follow the leader!"
"But, this is a cave, right? I have a hunch that there might be some sort of treasure in here or something!"
"Treasure!? Count me in!" Eddy says.
"I'd rather have chocolate pudding…"
"Well, he's right, but…" Dorothy says in her mind. She finishes her thought out loud. "I WANT TO GO IN FIRST!!!!!"
"Whoa, this world is great!" Ginta thinks. "I can hardly hold in my excitement. And the best part is I have four witnesses to back me up when I tell Koyuki about my adventures in Mar."
Ginta uses his new strength to lift Ed up. "Ed, let me borrow you for a second." He uses Ed's head like a battering ram and busts the stone wall down. "Wow, it's only been a short time, and I've already changed so much. I'm much stronger here than back home and I can see even though Carrie ate my glasses! I just hope I don't need those later…"
"Glad to be of service!" Ed says.
"All right! Let's explore this cave!" Ginta runs inside.
The Eds follow with Ed yelling, "Tallyho!" Dorothy runs in after them.
"Wait, I said I wanted to go first!"
Realizing she's alone, Carrie runs in the cave last. "Wait for me!"
A short time later, Ginta has sort of calmed down. The six are walking through what appears to be a dungeon.
"Wow, this is amazing!" Double D says.
"We're spelunking!!! Ha, ha! I like that word!" Carrie says. "Um, Double D, what does it mean?"
"So, where's this 'treasure' you were talking about, Dorothy?" The greedy Ed-boy asks.
"So, what exactly is this treasure like?" Ginta asks.
"I am after an ARM called 'Babbo'. It holds a mysterious power and is one of the rarest ÄRMs. Many have tried to search for Babbo and have never returned. If you help me get Babbo, I'll give you my Ring Dagger in exchange…" Suddenly, they hear the sound of something heavy hitting the ground behind them.
"Um, Dorothy…" Ginta had been too excited and fell down a hole. "Whoa, that was kind of scary. This hole took me by surprise!" Ed and Double D help him out.
"You should've been watching where you were going, kid."
"I like ham, too, Dorothy!" Carrie exclaims. Ed laughs.
"Are you all going to be extra baggage? The only one here who hasn't caused me any delays is Double D. Would the rest of you like to go home?" Double D's face turns red in embarrassment and Eddy glares angrily at him.
"No, no! We won't be any trouble for the rest of the time! I promise!"
"Please forgive us, Dorothy. We're kind of over-excited right now and, on top of that, we aren't familiar with our surroundings. You see, we're from another world."
"You're from another world!?"
"Yeah, Eddy, Carrie, Ed, and I all come from Peach Creek."
"And I'm from Tokyo!" Ginta adds.
"How is this possible? It can't be! These people must be crazy!" Dorothy says in her mind. She dismisses the subject and they continue deeper and deeper into the dark, mysterious dungeon.
"So, I take it there are many types of ARM, right Dorothy?"
"That's right, Ginta, and I'm collecting only the rarest and the most powerful. There are Weapon ÄRMs that become weapons and Guardian ÄRMs that summon Guardians at their owner's command, as well as Darkness ÄRMs that curse those who use them and Holy ÄRMs are used to cure wounds and remove curses. ÄRMs can take the form of bracelets, rings, and pendants. But Babbo is a special ARM and many people would do anything to get their hands on it."
"Hmm, it sound like it might be very valuable…" Eddy thinks.
"I want that one, too!" Ginta yells, getting over-excited again.
"NO, I TOLD YOU I'D GIVE YOU THE DAGGER, AND THAT'S ALL YOU'RE GETTING!!!!!!!
"And why do you want it!? You have a lot already. You're just stingy! What are you going to do with all of them?" Dorothy glances back at the group intensely.
"That's a secret." Ginta's eyes widen with surprise.
Ed hides behind Double D. "She scares me, Double D!"
The group presses onward, going deeper and deeper into the dungeon. As they make their way through the underground labyrinth of rock and darkness, Ed falls down a flight of stairs on purpose and Eddy becomes impatient because he doesn't see any treasure. Finally, they come to a large chamber.
"Well, this is it," Dorothy announces. The group looks around at the gigantic room. The ceiling is so high that it's hidden in a blanket of darkness over their head and at the very end there was a pedestal with a wooden chest resting on it.
"Finally, the treasure!" Eddy tries to run past Dorothy with Ginta and Ed on his heels, but she stops them.
"Hold on! It's too easy. Usually when ARM makers and bandits hide their ÄRMs, they set traps to keep robbers away or to test a potential owner."
"What are you talking about? I wasn't paying attention." Carrie says.
"In other words…" Before Dorothy can continue, a jewel on the side of the pedestal begins to glow and seemingly out of nowhere, a giant golem appears in front of them. It appears to be made of a suit of stone armor and is heavy set. It towers over the group, gazing at them with its two glowing yellow eyes from beneath its stone, cylindrical helmet. The Eds and Ginta look up at it in shock.
"Hi, mister! Do you know where the chocolate pudding is?" Carrie asks it.
"I knew a guardian would come out! Luckily I came prepared!" Dorothy pulls out her broom and points the end of it at the golem. Eddy laughs at her.
"Wow, that's going to do damage!" He mocks. "Maybe if you hit it over and over again nonstop for a few hundred years, it'll finally crumble!" Dorothy ignores him.
"Way big!" Ed says.
"Yeah, it is pretty big, but…"
"But what?" Dorothy asks Ginta.
"IT'S SO FREAKING AWESOME!!!!!!!!" This one comment is the straw that breaks the camel's back.
"THAT'S IT!!!!! ALL OF YOU GO HOME!!!!!!! I can handle this myself!" But the golem decides that the intruders have talked enough. It attacks them, sending Ed-boys, a pink-haired witch, an overexcited otaku, and a confused girl flying backward.
"Why you…" Ginta gets mad and punches the golem, but he hurts his hand and rolls on the floor with pain. Ed tries next and tries to wrap his arms and legs around the golem's ankle, but he just slides off. Carrie walks up to it and starts banging her head on the side of the golem's leg over and over again.
"Well, I guess physical strength is out of the question… It must be a natural ARM, since it appears to be at a higher level than my Ring Armor. So, luckily, I brought a stronger guardian just in case! Guardian ARM, Flying Leo!" One of the bracelets on Dorothy's wrists transforms into a giant winged, blue lion.
"Whoa, that's amazing!" Double D says.
"Umm, go get 'em Flying Leo!" Dorothy says, almost distracted by Double D.
"Cool!" Ed says.
"I wish I was a fish!" Carrie says.
Flying Leo flies into the golem and digs its claws into its chest and tries to bite the golem's face. The golem grabs it and throws it in the air, but it catches itself. It swoops down for a second attack, but the golem ducks. Flying Leo still manages to get a hit, and the golem falls down. Ginta watches with amazement.
"Wow, these ARM things are amazing! Calling on a monster like that from a bracelet. And that golem…if something that amazing is needed to protect Babbo, then Babbo must be even more amazing." The golem stands to its feet and sees Eddy who is sneaking over to the chest. It steps on him and he screams in pain. Dorothy laughs at the Ed-boy's misfortune.
"I want to see Babbo!" While the golem is distracted, he, Ed, Carrie make a beeline for the chest. Dorothy notices them out of the corner of her eye.
"What the heck are they doing? Hey, what do the three of you think you're doing!?"
"We just want to see what we got for Christmas!" Carrie shouts.
"I'm supposed to be the one that gets to see it first! But unfortunately, I can't leave this spot as long as my guardian is out. Maybe I should've sent them home when I had the chance…"
"Here I go guys! I'm opening the box!" Ed and Carrie crowd over him like two buzzards eyeing a dead animal lying in the middle of a highway.
"What did you get?" Ed asks, jumping up and down, using Ginta's shoulder to push himself up as he jumped.
Ginta opens the box and what he sees isn't quite what he expected. There laying on a velvet cushion at the bottom of the chest was what appeared to be a mallet with a metal ball attached to the top of it by a chain. The ball appears to have a mustachioed and goateed face with a long nose. Drool oozes from its mouth as it snores peacefully in its container. The light from the room wakes it up and it stares up at Ginta, Ed, and Carrie, who are now joined by Double D.
"Who the heck are you clowns? Where am I? Ugh, I can't remember anything… Do any of you know how long I was sleeping?"
"Um, Dorothy, question please!" Ginta says.
"Uh, Ginta, I don't think she can answer your question right now," Double D says.
"What do you want now!?" She asks, annoyed. "Was Babbo in there?"
"Are these ARM things supposed to talk?"
"What are you talking about? Nothing like that exists. An ARM doesn't talk unless it's activated, and if it does, it's freaky and unnatural! Just the though of an ARM talking makes me sick!!!"
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'FREAKY AND UNNATURAL'!!!!???? Have you looked at your hair lately!? I demand an apology right now!!!!!" Dorothy is speechless, as in her entire life, she's never had an ARM talk back to her like this one just did.
Whoa, talking ÄRMs, traveling to different worlds, and meeting witches with pink hair! This day just gets weirder and more amazing to Ginta and the Eds. But what exactly is Babbo? Will Dorothy, the Eds, and Carrie escape the dungeon, or will that golem squash them like bugs? And how will the other cul-de-sac kids adapt to this new world? All I can say is stay tuned!