Ooh, I wonder who's gonna help our Eddy-boy out now, huh? Guess we'll all just have to wait and see! Oh, yeah, you remember how I said this took place before Static? Well, it sort of does, except they all know about the Machine.

--

Their eyes shot open. Each at the same time. None of them had nightmares or, for their knowing, any specific reason for being jolted awake. But someone, somewhere, was in trouble.

And the Dojo couriers knew it was Ed.

--

"What's wrong with him?!" Bedlam yelled over the boy's shrill screaming. Ed lay on his bed, eyes closed tightly, screaming his lungs out for no apparent reason. His eyes opened and they looked like they did when he used his optigogs.

Cora's mainframe was being intercepted by his wail so her form was sketchy. The lights even flickered throughout the tower.

"I'm not sure! His vital signs are normal… Wait! There's something wrong with—" Cora started.

"What?!"

"I said there's something wrong with his—"

"What?!" Bedlam felt as though his ears were about to explode. He saw his artificial intelligence hologram's lips move but no sound come out. Her voice wasn't loud enough to break the wall of corrupting screams. Or maybe he was just gong def.

By glancing outside, he could see the entire city glowing on and off. Cora's system shut down and she disappeared.

Suddenly, without warning, the scream grew higher, louder, then abruptly stopped. The lights in the entire city and inside the tower shut off instantly, like a massive power surge. All at once.

Ed dropped back into his bed, his eyes closed, panting harshly, but completely unconscious as Bedlam quickly rushed him to med bay.

--

In the lab, Ol' Skool was slumped back in the chair. After watching that scary show that just took place he knew something bad just happened—or was probably still happening. He knew with no doubt that it had to do with Ed. His Ed. No time for rest now.

Just moments before, all the systems inside the lab fizzed and erupted with overwhelming power. Ol' Skool was completely surprised the container didn't explode into bits and shards. Everything in the lab was complete chaos—even though it seemed fine now—except for the pallet that contained Ed's DNA signature. That stayed perfectly fine.

Glowing ever so slightly a deep shade of red.

--

In Sector 9, Dr. Hong stood atop a pile of garbage. A frown was set deep in his features as he watched the sight before him die down. And what exactly was that sight?

The Machine.

The portal into the Machine cannot open unless opened by someone with Ed's exact DNA signature with his Link. Bit the portal opened—Dr. Hong dared not to venture to close to it—and the entire machine glowed a faint red, instead of its normal blue.

Something bad—no, catastrophic—was happening. All because of his old 'friend' Bedlam. He had done something to Ed and it was time he set things right.

Dr. Hong headed off toward the lab where he knew he would find Ol' Skool. Where he knew he and himself could find something, some bit of hope left underneath all this tyranny, to fix Ed and the future.

Or else there is no future.

--

The Dojo crew was already on their way. They now figured out why they were each jolted awake. Something was wrong with the Machine.

Worse yet something was wrong with Ed.

The Creator (the person who controls the machine is called that, right?) said that Ed was the main link to the machine. She also said that they were links as well. So they knew something bad had to be going on if even they were alerted to it.

"Why is the city so dark?" Burn asked, squinting against the pitch blackness of the night. Even with his headlights, it still seemed too dark.

Fizz glanced around. "I don't know. Maybe there was a power surge?"

"Why would there be a power surge?" Deets questioned.

"Maybe the monkeys finally took over?" Loogie suggested, half-heartedly.

Dr. Pinch put his head up. "Don't be ridiculous! We all know the hover squirrels would be the ones to take over."

Fizz merely shrugged, unknowing the true answer, but knowing it couldn't be good.

Almost there. They were heading to the lab where Ol' Skool said he would be. None of them were sure what help they could actually provide, but it was better than just sitting back without doing anything.

As soon as they reached the door and walked inside they were shocked to see…

"Crouch?!"

--

Bedlam frowned as he walked out of the medical room. He decided it was best to let the corrupted boy sleep for now. But something was bothering him... After checking all of Ed's vital signs, he still couldn't find the problem. Not even the one Cora was trying to tell him about before she shut down.

He entered the main large room (you know, where the gene splicer is?) and typed in some buttons. Maybe this time the machine wouldn't try to electricute him while trying to turn Cora back on.

The machine started up, then the familiar face of the artificial life form known as Cora showed up. He spun once, stretched, then smiled to Bedlam.

"What took you so long?" She asked in that usual cocky voice.

"Quiet," Bedlam rubbed his temples as a headache began to form. "Tell me what you were about to say about Ed's screaming before you went off-line,"

Her smirk instantly changed into a frown. "Where is he now? Did he stop screaming?"

"He's in med-bay. And, yes, he stopped screaming about two hours ago. What is it?" His famous short-temper was starting to get the best of him now. He felt as if Cora was keeping important information from him and that was completely unacceptable.

"Okay...that's a little good at least. This is much more serious than we thought." Cora looked her master straight in the eyes, past his dark glasses. "Ed's DNA structure is completely corrupted. It's tearing him apart from the inside. If some miracle doesn't occur soon...he's not going to make it."

--

Who doesn't love a cliffhanger? Bet you guys weren't expecting that! Bet you were expecting Dr. Hong or someone, too, right? Well, it's not! Ha! Twisty!!