This is it...the big one...the one you've been waiting for...it's time for a boss battle, SUCKAZ! Get comfortable, too. This is gonna be quite the read. Also, before we begin, I have a message to Neo H.B.B. Sam if they're reading. I just wanna say that, although I never thought you'd actually take the time to read my story, I just want to thank you for taking the time and sending that review. Also, I do plan on some special moments for Eddy, so no worries there. Anyway, enough talking.
Enjoy.
Normally, in a stark contrast to the perpetual state of filth that the rest of the boys' dormitory was in, one would be able to walk into the Eds' room and be able to comfortably walk inside, sit down on any piece of and not have to worry about sticking to the surface. The day after Halloween, however, was an exception to the norm. A majority of candy wrappers from the previous night were scattered throughout the floors, creating a makeshift bed of plastic for a snoring Ed, who cuddled the empty punch bowl. While Double D and Eddy had enough sense to retire to their respective beds, only Double D was in the state of mind to change into his pajamas and crawl under his sheet. Eddy, like Ed, was blanketed with candy wrappers and still in his costume from the previous night.
Double D was the first to stir from his sugar induced slumber. He slowly rose his head from his pillow, rubbed the remaining fatigue out of his eyes, and looked at his friends. While he almost convinced that he was still dreaming and he wasn't seeing his and his friends' room littered with evidence of a night of binge eating, reality managed to reclaim its grasp on the sock-headed Ed and remind him of the actions he partook in the previous night.
"Messy, messy, messy," he muttered as he pushed back his covers. He dropped his feet down to the floor, intending on cleaning the mess as quickly and quietly as he possibly could. The sound of crunching plastic under his feet dashed his plans, the sudden sound breaking the silence and shocking Ed and Eddy awake.
"Who's there?" Ed asked, releasing his grasp on the bowl. Meanwhile, a less-than-enthused Eddy glared at the clock. The face telling him 7:00 A.M. only fueled his morning disposition, which he turned towards Double D.
"What's the big idea, Sock Head?" he groaned. "We don't have school today! Why can't you sleep in like a normal person?" While the shortest Ed ranted, Double D was beginning his self-imposed task of cleaning the room.
"It wasn't my intention to disturb your sleep, Eddy," Double D explained as he began to place the waste into the punch bowl. "But I'm certain that it was only a matter of time before one of us had disturbed our collective slumber. Now, if you don't mind, we must collect these wrappers and find a way to dispose of them without calling any attention to the fact that they were stolen from the faculty."
"Too early for big words, Double D," Ed complained. While Double D dropped the last few wrappers into the container, Ed looked down into the bowl. His tired gaze soon turned into a look of awe as he realized that he had fallen asleep with the bowl empty only to wake up to it full.
"Magic bowl!" Ed shouted in glee. Before anyone could correct him, their friend began to shovel wrappers into his mouth and swallow them whole.
"Well...That will take care of the evidence, I suppose," Double D awkwardly chuckled.
"I want to know how he doesn't get indigestion," Eddy muttered, slamming his head back into the pillow.
The boys walked out into the hallway of the dorm, and even though the Eds didn't have to go to class that day, they were dressed in their full school uniforms. Ed and Double D showed no signs of caring either way, while Eddy was more than willing to voice his disapproval of the current attire.
"This sucks," he muttered as he scratched at his collar. "Explain to me why you made us wear these things on our day off, Sock Head."
"Don't you remember the time we tried to wear our usual clothes on school grounds?" Double D asked his friend. "Even though it was a weekend, we were promptly sent back to our dorm room by the prefect. So, it's safe to conclude that the dress code is enforced on school grounds at all time." While Double D explained his decision, Ed was tossing another wrapper into the air and catching it in his mouth.
"This candy isn't so good the second time," Ed commented as he licked his fingers. "Do you think that it'll be better tomorrow?"
"Ed, you do understand that what you ate wasn't candy, but their wrappers?" Double D asked. Ed responded by staring blankly at his friend, reached into his pocket and tossed another wrapper into his mouth, much to the dismay of Double D.
"There's no reasoning with the human goat," Eddy said, waving his hand flippantly at his friends' minor debate. "Come on. Let's go grab the TV before someone else does." Without waiting for an affirmation from Ed or Double D, Eddy proceeded to the common room, his friends dutifully following behind. Much to their surprise, they found a student sitting at the couch with the TV off. He was rocking back and forth in his seat, muttering and chuckling under his breath. The three boys looked back at each other, all recognizing the student as their common ally, Gary.
"It would appear that Gary's suffering from a fit of hysteria," Double D whispered to his friends.
"I don't know what that means, Double D," Ed whispered back. "But Gary's looking crazy, guys."
"I couldn't have said it better myself, Ed," Double D sighed. "I wonder what's driven him to such a state."
"Who knows?" Eddy responded. "Let's just go before he sees us." The trio then turned towards the door, all silently agreeing to tiptoe back to their room. However, a floorboard, being less than cooperative with the Eds' plan, made an audible creak that alerted Gary and froze the boys in their tracks.
"There you are!" Gary smiled devilishly. "I was waiting for you three to wake up!" The Eds turned around and smiled politely back at the boy.
"You don't say?" Eddy remarked. Gary rose to his feet, his bizarre smile still etched on his face. As he walked towards the Eds, the boys began to feel a slight twinge of fear creep up their spines.
"Come on," Gary said, gesturing towards the exit. "I've found something that'll make taking over the school that much easier." He walked towards the double doors, not knowing that the Eds were standing in the common room hesitantly. When Gary finally realized that he was walking alone, he turned around and gave them a bewildered stare.
"What's taking you three so long?" he snapped.
"If I may be completely honest, Gary," Double D began. "I think that I speak for all of us when I say that last night's little misadventure has left us all more than filled up on our quota of delinquency."
"My head is tired and my stomach is full," Ed explained. "Ed needs more sleep."
"I gotta agree with the boys, Gary," Eddy added. "Whatever it is, can it wait until tomorrow?" This question turned the look of bewilderment into a face that slowly became twisted into one of anger, putting the three Eds into a state of fear for their well-being.
"It's always about you three, isn't it?" he growled. "You only think about what you want, what you got planned, what you like. You three are so selfish and short sighted, you aren't anywhere close to realizing the bigger picture that I see." Eddy's memory flashed back to the argument he had the previous night with the angry boy, and began to worry that the wrong words would be said again. Immediately, the shortest Ed stood in front of Gary, doing his best to act as a shield for his friends.
"Alright, Gary," Eddy began to say. "We were just thinking about getting some rest, but if this is going to help us take over the school then lead the way." The Eds watched as Gary's face returned to the eager demeanor that they found him in earlier.
"Great!" he exclaimed. "Follow me! We gotta get there before it's too late." The Eds watched as Gary beckoned them to follow as he walked out the door.
"Let's go, guys," Eddy said as he started to follow Gary's path, his friends following behind, although they were extremely hesitant to do so.
"Eddy, I'm not so sure about this," Double D whispered as they exited the dorm. The group saw Gary, who was already rounding the corner of the path to the school, wave at them to reassure that they were following him and that they knew which way to go. Eddy waved back, waiting for him to disappear from their sight.
"Look, you know that Gary can get a little nutty," Eddy whispered as the trio slowly made their way towards the school. "Do you really want him to get mad at us?"
"I'm certain that even he could understand the desire to take a break from this plan of his and focus on physical and mental rejuvenation," Double D said. "The human mind is not capable of taking on this much strain without showing..."
"Come on, guys!" Gary shouted, interrupting Double D's explanation. "This way!" The Eds watched as Gary ran off in the direction of the parking lot.
"We've been to the parking lot a bunch of times..." Eddy muttered. "Unless Gary's got a new car or something, there's nothing there that's gonna help."
"Maybe there's an anti-gravity tank that shoots negatively charged particle rays that give the target a bad case of athlete's foot," Ed fanaticized.
"Well...wouldn't that be a nice surprise?" Double D politely asked, mentally reminding himself that he wouldn't be able to rationalize with his well-meaning friend.
"Prepare for disappointment, Lumpy," Eddy muttered as the trio approached the parking lot. "'Cause I don't see any tanks around here."
"Not only that, but it seems that Gary is nowhere to be found as well," Double D said. This observation prompted his friends to look around the assortment of faculty cars, finding no sign that an anti-gravity tank, let alone Gary, had been there that day.
"I don't get it," Eddy muttered. "What's Gary up to this time? If he's got another bag of dog crap, I'm going back to the dorms."
"Maybe he wants Eddy to stick bananas into the mufflers of all these cars," Ed theorized. "That way, when the detectives try to follow us, their cars will stall out." As the well-meaning Ed explained his plan, his friends were turning around to give him a bewildered stare. He replied to their disbelief with a simple grin, not realizing that Double D and Eddy had no idea where he came up with an idea like that.
"Ed..." Double D slowly began. "Why would Gary want Eddy to do that?"
"Because Eddy did it before, remember?" Ed retorted. "He went to Beverly Hills and tried to solve that murder case, but the local police didn't want a cop from another precinct investigating in their jury...Jiraiya..."
"Jurisdiction?" Eddy suggested, causing Ed to clap his hands in approval.
"Yeah!" he cheered. "See? You remember!" Eddy turned to the smartest Ed, silently asking for some clue as to what their friend was going on about. The sock-headed teen hung his head in response, shaking it slowly as he approached Ed and placing his hand on the deluded boy's shoulder.
"I'm fairly sure that you have the wrong 'Eddie', Ed," Double D sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You've blurred the lines that separate reality and the first of a popular action comedy series from the 1980's."
"I did?" Ed asked. Double D nodded at his friend, while Eddy was starting to feel his patience run dangerously low.
"That's it!" he shouted, throwing his hands into the air. "Gary's obviously left us behind. Unless he magically appears in the next ten seconds, I'm going back to the room and going back to sleep!"
"There you guys are," Gary's voice said. "You three are pretty slow if you keep losing me." The Eds turned around and saw Gary standing in a doorway at the bottom of a small flight of stairs.
"Strange," Double D wondered aloud. "All this time we've been around this area and I've never noticed this door before."
"Is the door going to help us stop the bullies?" Ed asked as he walked towards the metal object, swinging it on its hinges and observing the rust-induced creaking.
"It's what's behind the door, big guy," Gary said, putting his hand on the door to stop Ed's antics. "Come on! We're wasting too much time." He beckoned for the Eds to enter the darkened room, holding the door open as he smiled. Ed and Double D began to look at each other nervously, then turned their attention to Eddy, who couldn't help but look nervous as well. However, he shook his head, regained his composure, and began to walk through the door.
"Come on, you sissies!" he mocked. "What's the worst that could happen?"
"Besides not knowing what's waiting for us on the other side?" Double D rhetorically asked his friend as he took overcautious steps into the darkness.
"The League of Super Duper Eds boldly go where no one is dumb enough to go!" Ed exclaimed, dashing after his friends at his full speed. His overzealous nature managed to help him not only catch up with his friends, but bowl them over onto the dusty concrete floor as he skidded to a stop. While Ed was raising his fists in preparation for whatever enemies his mind could dream up, Double D and Eddy picked themselves up off the ground and began to dust their clothes off.
"Filthy, filthy, filthy!" Double D muttered in between his coughs.
"Where the heck are we?" Eddy asked. "Geez. This place is dirtier than Ed's basement." The Eds looked around the dimly lit room to see that the walls and ceiling were also made from concrete and more, if not equally, filthy. The cobwebs managed to connect the concrete block with the metal shelves, each holding some weather worn boxes and propping up a push broom that looked like it hadn't seen the sunlight in years.
"Welcome to the Bullworth basement," Gary answered in dramatic fashion, letting the heavy metal door slam behind him and further darken the atmosphere. "The dungeon of the dungeon."
"So, this is what you've been dying to show us?" Eddy muttered. "What? Is Ed going to use the broom to fly over the school and rain his pit sweat on the football team?" While Double D and Gary were able to pick up on the sarcasm, Ed turned his focus to the push broom and began to grin.
"You shouldn't be so quick to jump to conclusions," Gary sighed. "What I'm trying to show you guys is further inside the basement." The brown haired teen pointed to a set of double doors at the opposite end of the room, just beyond the tallest Ed frollicing around the room with the broom between his legs.
"Up, up, and away!" he laughed as he lept into the air. As gravity took over, he didn't let his feet come down. As a result, he landed in a sitting position onto the broom snapping it in half. The sudden sound caused him to look down and see the splintered wood, which he picked up and showed to his friends with apologetic eyes.
"Sorry, guys," he said solemnly. "I guess we need to make another plan."
"No worries, Ed," Double D said. "As it turns out, Gary has another plan ready for us!" The sock-headed teen's quick thinking effectively purged his friend of any guilt he was feeling, returning Ed to his happy state.
"Oh boy!" he exclaimed. "What is it?"
"How about you just follow me and find out?" Gary suggested, his voice showing that he wasn't prepared to go along with the antics much longer. Without waiting for any confirmation from the Eds, he made his way towards the double doors and walked through.
"Guess we've done enough fooling around," Eddy remarked. "Let's go." The boys wasted no time and hurried after Gary, not sure how the basement was designed. As they passed through the doors they found themselves in a long hallway. There were no working lightbulbs in the few sockets that hung from the ceiling. The only source of light was radiating from the other end of the hall, along with a symphony of low groaning, flickering flames, and hissing. The atmosphere began to take advantage of the Eds nerves, causing them to become extremely hesitant to continue forward.
"It looks like we're walking into a portal that leads to the deepest levels of the bowels of Hades," Ed commented nervously.
"I highly doubt that there would be a portal under the school that leads to the underworld," Double D said as he sweat bullets. "And if there was, no one would be crazy enough to enter it...right?"
"Only one way to find out," Eddy gulped, grabbing his friends by their vest collars in case they decided that they were going to chicken out. He dragged them towards the hell at the end of the hall. As the fires became brighter, the Eds felt their courage begin to melt in the heat. Yet, through some unknown force, the boys continued on until they found themselves inside what appeared to be a boiler room. The open flame from the furnace spitting out a few embers, combined with the random bursts of steam from the tangled pipes above them did the Eds no favors in settling their nerves. However, the boys managed to look past their fears and find that there was still something, or rather someone, missing.
"Now where'd he go?" Eddy groaned.
"He's rather good at disappearing, isn't he?" Double D wondered aloud.
"GARY!" Ed shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth. "DID YOU VANISH AGAIN?!"
"No!" Gary's voice called out. "I'm over here!" The boys followed his call and discovered that it was echoing down another hallway. At the end of this path, however, was a fluorescent light that shone down upon a giant steel cell. The Eds blindly walked down this path, finding themselves standing on a raised concrete edge, seeing Gary standing down in the center of the cell just above a drain.
"Come on down, guys," Gary said, gesturing towards him. The Eds responded in various manners, with Eddy raised a curious eyebrow, Double D gave a slight frown, and Ed began to scratch his chin.
"Alright," Eddy eventually shrugged. "Come on, boys." Eddy walked towards the opening in the cage and, ignoring the small wooden ladder, jumped down into the pit.
"Come on, Double D," Ed said cheerfully as he walked towards the door. "This could be fun!" He didn't use the ladder, but also forgot to prepare himself for the fall and ended up falling flat onto his face. Fortunately for the strongest Ed, his threshold for pain allowed him to pick himself up and happily join Eddy.
"Well, this does seem like a storm drain..." Double D theorized as he approached the ladder. "Better than a sewer, I suppose." He carefully made his way down into the pit, and held a disgusted face as he stepped into the damp floor and joined his friends. Meanwhile, as the boys converged around the drain, multiple students from all the various cliques began to walk into the room and surround the cell, much to the surprise of the Eds and the indifference of Gary.
"What's going on, Gary?" Eddy asked. "What's with the peanut gallery?"
"So, here we are," Gary dramatically stated for the crowd to hear, spreading his arms out wide and ignoring the question. "The Hole. This is the place that we separate the men...", he took the moment to gesture towards himself, "...from the boys." As he finished his declaration, he violently pointed towards the Eds.
"This is starting to get strange," Double D said. "Gary, please drop the theatrics and explain what it is you're up to."
"Well, you deserve that much, I suppose," Gary muttered just low enough for the Eds to hear. "You three...have been planning to stab me in the back." The statement forced the Eds to collectively shoot their eyes wide open, shocked at how Gary had seemed to truly believe what he said.
"Where in the world did you get that idea?" Double D asked.
"Well, I've had my suspicions ever since you three walked through the gate into this hell hole," Gary explained. "But last night was extremely revealing for me, as I'm sure it was for you, Eddy." His words began to drip with his familiar venom, getting heavier and heavier up until he said Eddy's name. Ed and Double D looked towards their friend, who had began to stand his ground between them and their newest enemy.
"Listen, Gary, I made it clear last night that me and the boys are a team," he said. "It's been that way since we were kids, and I told you that that wasn't gonna change anytime soon. I never said that we hated you."
"You didn't have to," Gary said with an evil smile. "I could tell this was your plan all along. All three of you were in on it from the beginning."
"In on what?" Ed asked.
"I know you're the dumb one, but come on," Gary sighed. "YOU THREE want to run this school, and I want to run this school! There's only room for one at the top...and IT'S GONNA BE ME!" As he delivered his speech to the Eds, Gary had walked around them so that he was positioned right next to the ladder, taking the opportunity to climb out of The Hole when he knew that his enemies couldn't get in his way.
"I got a bad feeling, guys..." Ed whispered as he looked up at the capacity crowd.
"Feeling's mutual, Monobrow," Eddy scowled. "Any ideas, Sockhead?"
"The only thought that I can come to a solid conclusion on is that we're in for something that none of us truly want, Eddy," Double D said solemnly as he watched Gary reach the concrete stand, joined by a nervous looking Pete.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" Gary shouted, surveying the diverse crowd. "BOYS AND MORONS, I GIVE YOU...RUSSELL!" The Eds looked up in shock and terror as the brown haired teen pointed to the hallway they had entered through only to find the boss of the bullies blocking the entire doorway. With heavy stomps that managed to surpass the volume of the cheering crowd, Russell walked towards the ledge and rose his fists up to the sky, letting out a confident and mighty roar. The Eds became petrified, unable to move save for the slight bounce in response to the giant dropping onto their level.
"Ok...NOW I hate Gary," Eddy muttered.
"I c-c-can honestly s-s-say that it has been a p-pleasure knowing you, fellows," Double D stuttered. Ed remained behind his friends, however his previous terror seemed to fade away as he became lost in the cheers and atmosphere. No one noticed at the time, but a look of familiar determination began to grow on his face.
"Alright, Eds," Gary sighed cockily. "It's been fun, but now it's time for Russell to rearrange your faces."
"Russell owes puny punks a beating..." Russell muttered as he punched his fist into his hand. "This time, no one will stop Russell!" He began to slowly march his way towards the trio, cracking his knuckles and neck with each step. Double D and Eddy immediately began to cower, believing that their legs had given up on them.
"STOP WHERE YOU STAND, YOU OVERSTUFFED FREAK!"
Eddy and Double D opened their eyes to find that Ed had made his way between them and the leader of the bullies. He pointed a defiant finger towards Russell and held an equally defiant scowl. Much to the disbelief of Double D, Eddy, Gary, and the rest in attendance, Russell appeared to obey the order. At that moment, all eyes were locked on the boy who would stand his ground against a monster.
"When I came to this school, all I wanted to do was be with my friends and have fun," Ed began to declare, his words echoing throughout the hole. "But the first thing we saw when we walked in was really disgusting. We saw people who take their power and abuse it to their own ways, using it to hurt innocent people and being happy about what they did! One of those villains turned their sights on me and my friends, but we were able to strike him down into the dirt!"
"When we thought it was all over, that jerk told us that it was only the beginning!" Ed continued, pointing towards Gary. "He told us that what we went through was just the surface; the first stinky layer of an onion that is rotten to the core! After that, we were told that we could help out in a plan that would rid this school of the foul odor, and all we had to do was stand up to those who put others down and strip them of their power! We accepted, but not so we could have power, but to bring peace!"
"Now I look up at all of you, hungrier and thirstier than a demon wolf for blood and gore, and many of you are a part of the problem we want to fix! So this is a warning to all of you! If you continue down your paths, know that they will all end the same way...with us at the end, ready to fight anything you throw at us until we meet our goal! That includes...you." Ed turned his focus back onto Russell, who began to stare back at the boy with a confused stare.
"You might be the strongest, biggest, meanest, baddest bad guy this school has, but you hear me and don't forget what I say," Ed growled as he punched his fists together. "With Eddy's plans, Double D's brains, and my muscle, the three of us will be able to defeat you! So here, in this underground cage, where the blood of many has been spilt and sucked down the drain, the League of Super Duper Eds will prove to this entire school that our power is...ULTIMATE!" As he finished his speech, Ed raised his still connected fists above his head, breaking them apart and flexing at the very end. The inspiring words struck the hearts of a few of the students, mainly the nerds and the non-clique students, causing them to jump and cheer for the underdogs. Even Pete, who normally wouldn't side against the majority, silently nodded his approval to Ed, who was turning to face his awestruck friends with a confident grin.
"Ed...that was..." Double D began to say, but couldn't find the words that properly conveyed his thoughts.
"That was some speech, Lumpy," Eddy said in an attempt to finish his friend's sentence. Ed responded with a serious grin and a thumbs up.
"Pipe bomb 101," he said. "Now, let's show this villain that we mean business." His friends began to feel a rush of confidence unlike any they had felt before. As they joined Eds side, they began to mimic his confident smile and stared down their opponent. Seeing Ed raise his fists reminded Russell of how he had wanted to fight and, with a pound of his chest, he resumed his slow approach towards the Eds.
"Alright, Ed," Eddy said. "Since you were the guy who got us going, how about you take the first swing at him?"
"Bring it on!" Ed triumphantly cheered, taking off into a run towards the larger opponent. Russell stood anchored in his place, unfazed as Ed jumped up and grabbed onto the bully's collar. While he wasn't able to pull his head down, Ed quickly made up for that by digging his feet into Russell's chest and rose his right fist, ready to rain down heavy handed hooks onto the giant's head.
"Prepare to eat defeat!" the strongest Ed growled as he delivered the first blow to Russell's temple. While the titan's head bounced back against the blow, the Eds were surprised at how Russell didn't respond like a normal person would. He didn't cry out in pain, he didn't grunt, he didn't even draw a breath. Instead, Russell growled in response to the punch. Before Ed could follow up with another attack, he felt two massive hands grab his shoulders and pull him away from Russell. Double D and Eddy marveled in fear as Russell manhandled their friend with no sign of strain, and as Ed tried to break free of the grip to no avail.
"RUSSELL..." Russell began to shout as he reared his head back. "...SMASH!" He brought his forehead crashing onto the bridge of Ed's nose. Even the crowd winced along with Eddy and Double D as Ed's nose began to bleed profusely, dripping down onto his shirt and vest. Russell, taking the moment to admire his handiwork, pulled Ed back close to his face.
"Your power is weak," he grunted. "It's nowhere close to Russell's power. You and your friends will..." The bully was cut off by Ed's head coming down onto his nose in return. The bully relinquished his grip on the boy and focused on checking the flow of blood coming from his face. Ed took the opportunity to attempt to lift Russell off of his feet, grabbing him at the waist and beginning to lift. Before he could manage the feat, however, Russell regained his fighting state of mind and brought down both fists onto Ed's spine in a double axe handle blow that sent the boy to the ground.
"This is getting bad, Sock Head," Eddy said. "If we don't do something, the only thing that we'll be able to save is his eyebrow!"
"What can we do, Eddy?" Double D nervously asked. "If Ed can't beat him with his might, how could we manage to stop him?"
"You're the one with the slingshot, Quickdraw," Eddy shot back. "Give him a headshot!" Double D eyes widened as he silently cursed how he had been overtaken by fear to such a degree that he forgot about his slingshot. He reached down and readied his slingshot. As he took aim, he saw that Russell had his back turned to him and Eddy, taunting Ed as he laid at his feet. The sock-headed teen looked through the scope, hurriedly taking aim for the back of the bully's head. He let the pebble fly from the sling, watching as it knocked against his brown hair and fell to the concrete with a slight clatter. Russell immediately froze, slowly turning to face who had attempted the pathetic attack, finding Double D and Eddy staring back at him.
"Uh...Double D..." Eddy muttered as Russell began to kick his feet up, imitating a bull just before the charge. "Maybe we should run."
"RAAAAAHH! RAAAAAHH!" Russell roared as he began to beat his fists against the ground.
"...Agreed," Double D eventually managed to squeak out. The boys wasted no time in turning around and sprinting as fast as they could while Russell put his head down and began to barrel towards the boys. As Double D and Eddy began to lead the bully around the perimeter of the Hole, the students began to burst out in an uproar of laughter at the spectacle.
"How is he still running?" Eddy shouted as he looked back and saw Russell maintaining his momentum, glaring back at Eddy. Double D couldn't find the energy to answer his friend as he was focusing all he had on keeping his legs moving and fighting the fact that he didn't have much left to burn. His panting and wheezing caught the attention of his short friend, causing him to think about what Russell would do to him when he eventually caught the smartest Ed.
"You're gonna owe me big for this, Sock Head!" Eddy shouted, snapping Double D's focus to his side.
"What are you talking abo…" Double D began to say before he was cut off at the sight of Eddy stopping dead in his tracks. Before the sock-headed teen could stop and protest, he watched his friend charge towards their attacker.
"Come and get me, you freakin' gorilla!" Eddy shouted, mustering up as much courage as he could. It didn't take long for the two to collide, with the results being Russell burying his shoulder into Eddy's midsection and driving him into the concrete wall. The crowd let out a combination of cheers and wincing groans as the smaller fighter's head bounced against the stone with an echoing thud.
Crap, this hurts, Eddy thought. I gotta try something to get this guy to back off... As he looked down, Eddy realized that his knees were in the best position to strike at Russell's head, most specifically his tenderized nose. He began to alternate raising his knees up as fast as he could, taking slight satisfaction in not only how the bully's head bounced back from the strikes, but how he was starting to groan from the pain. Eddy's victory was short lived, however, as the titan grabbed him by the chest and legs and lifted him over his head with the utmost ease.
"Lemme go!" Eddy demanded, struggling against the mighty grip he was under. Naturally, Russell refused the cries and began to strut around the Hole, growling at the cheering crowd above him.
FHWIPP! FHWIPP! FHWIPP!
The sound of three quick shots as they flew through the air and smacked against the back of Russell brought his attention, as well as the crowds, towards Double D. He stood in front of Ed, who was on his knee and wiping his face clean.
"Put my friend down or face losing your eye!" Double D stated to his target as he loaded the sling with another pebble and took his aim.
"You want puny punk?" Russell asked. "Then Russell will give you puny punk!" Double D barely had enough time to drop his slingshot and prepare himself as the bully heaved a thrashing Eddy towards the smartest Ed.
"Aaaaaahh!" Eddy screamed as he went through the air and collided with his friend. The force sent both Eds to the ground with their grunts echoing over the roaring crowd. As they laid on the cool concrete, Ed managed to ignore the pain in his back long enough to stand to his feet and offer his friends a hand, taking advantage of Russell's overconfidence as he began to boast to the crowd.
"He...is really…strong, guys," Ed commented between painful breaths as he hoisted his friends back to their feet.
"Tell me something I don't know, Lumpy," Eddy groaned as he clutched the back of his head. "We gotta figure out a way to take him down before he kicks all our asses!"
"Eddy, I'm not sure that we can defeat him," Double D said solemnly. "Everything we do to Russell has little to no effect against him. He seems to be capable of ignoring all pain we inflict on him."
"The only person strong enough to hurt him is him, guys," Ed wondered aloud. At that moment, Eddy's eyes shot wide as he realized that Ed managed to discover the way to bring the bully down without realizing it.
"Ed, that's perfect!" the shortest Ed exclaimed. "We just gotta get Russell to hurt himself!"
"How are we going to accomplish that, Eddy?" Double D asked.
"Maybe if we ask him nicely, he'll do it," Ed suggested.
"Whatever he had, once again, was short lived," Double D sighed. "That monster is incapable of performing any action other that succumbing to a blind rage and…charging at anything in front of him." The realization slowly dawned upon Double D of what his friend was planning, causing a gap-toothed grin to grow on his face.
"Glad to see you're on my page, Double D," Eddy smirked.
"Page?" Ed repeated in a confused tone. Unlike Double D, the strongest Ed wasn't able to pick up on what was being planned.
"Just follow our lead, Monobrow," Eddy said. Ed nodded as if he understood and followed as his friends began to slowly move back towards the nearby concrete wall, both keeping their focus on Russell in case he managed to bring his focus towards them.
"Now what?" Ed asked.
"Watch and learn, Lumpy," Eddy whispered. He then cupped his hands around his mouth and took a deep breath.
"HEY, RUSSELL!" the loudmouthed Ed shouted. "IF THAT'S ALL YOU GOT, THEN YOU WOULDN'T LAST A DAY IN PEACH CREEK!" The large bully stopped his flexing and turned around to see the Eds standing together, the shortest of them staring back with a cocky glare.
"Huh?" Russell grunted as he tried to wrap his head around what Peach Creek meant.
"What, do you have so much muscle that it's cut off your ears?" Eddy asked. "I'm saying that I know girls that hit harder than you!" The crowd began to murmur and chuckle at the widely proclaimed "strongest kid in Bullworth", who started to realize that he was being insulted.
"Yeah!" Ed shouted, catching on to Eddy's plan. "My baby sister hits harder than you when she's sick with the flu!" As the words began to take their desired effect on the bully, Ed and Eddy began to nudge Double D, whose nerves had yet to allow him the ability to follow along in the plan.
"I m-m-must concur with Ed and Eddy," Double D finally managed to stammer. "S-surely a specimen of y-your stature should be stronger than a younger f-f-female." While his tone was less than convincing, his extensive vocabulary was enough to push Russell over the edge.
"Russell no understand!" he growled as he began to smack the side of his head. "Russell smash talking punks!" He beat his fists against his chest and slammed them against the ground, signaling to the audience and the Eds that he was ready to rush his enemies.
"Ok, when I give the word…move," Eddy said. His friends nodded, and the trio prepared themselves for the freight train attack. Russell wasted no time and, with his heavy footsteps booming along with the cheering crowd's voices, he sprinted towards the Eds. While he was able to notice that they were standing their ground when others would run in fear, he showed no suspicions to their actions and continued his charge. As he reached the point of no return, Eddy began to bend at the knees.
"JUMP!" he shouted. At the sound of his voice, Ed and Double D followed Eddy's lead and jumped towards the side, rolling on the ground as they made contact and leaving Russell on a collision course for a twelve foot thick wall of concrete. The bully wasn't even able to register what was going to happen before he collided face first with the perimeter of the Hole, a sickening thud silencing the crowd. Russell reeled back and saw that the entire room was spinning, but much to the Eds dismay he was still standing.
"He's stunned!" Ed shouted.
"Now's our chance!" Double D added.
"We gotta knock him down!" Eddy shouted. "Sock Head, how do we hit him?"
"If one of us were to get behind him and stoop down," Double D hurriedly theorized, "the remaining two could push him over if we attacked his upper body."
"Hope this works…ED!" Eddy called out. "Get behind Russell and duck down!" Ed nodded and took off to his position, leaving Double D and Eddy as they rushed towards the dizzy titan. The boys jumped up and, with all their combined effort, hurled their bodies against the chest of Russell. Fortunately for the boys, Russell's physical state assisted in allowing Double D's plan to succeed as Russell tripped over Ed and was sent crashing to the ground. As Double D and Eddy rose to their feet, they noticed that Russell was still stirring.
"Geez...What's it gonna take to knock him out?" Eddy groaned as he attempted to catch his breath.
"Eddy, look!" Double D said, pointing towards the cage's exit. Eddy looked up and saw that Ed had managed to scare away the students that were crowding the ladder and stood triumphantly at the edge. He was patting his right elbow with a confident smirk, allowing everyone to know what he was planning to do.
"The power cries out to me and my friends!" he shouted as he pointed towards the still grounded Russell. "It tells us to defeat you! So take this…our courage…our fears…and all our might…ERIDIUM ELBOW DROP!" The strongest Ed jumped into the air as he finished his speech, preparing his attack as he soared while his smile stayed etched on his face. The crowd and his friends watched in awe as Ed came plummeting to the ground, dropping his elbow directly onto Russell's chest. The beast's arms and legs flew up from the impact, only to return to the ground and remain motionless while Ed remained pinned on top of him. Eddy, seeing the opportunity to end the fight in the eyes of the spectators, dropped to the ground and began to slap his hand against the wet concrete.
"1…2…3!" he, along with the crowd, counted aloud. At the count's conclusion, the students in attendance began to applaud the results of the match. While some were able to show happiness for the Eds' victory, others merely showed a brief moment of respect for what they thought was an impossible feat. To Ed, Double D, and Eddy, however, they were too busy enjoying their victory to care about telling the difference.
"THAT'S RIGHT!" Eddy cheered as Ed began to raise his fists to the sky and Double D brushed the dirt off of his clothes. "We ain't gonna take any more crap from anybody around this dump! It doesn't matter what you throw at us, it's all gonna end the same way! Just ask this clown here!" He pointed to the largest bully, who was starting to stir back to consciousness.
"Good to know," a voice from the crowd called out. "Honestly, I was hoping for some sort of challenge." The Eds turned their focus up towards the ladder and saw Gary smirking down at them, slowly clapping his hands. His presence brought back the fighting instinct of the three friends, causing them to prepare for another round.
"Why did you do this to us, Gary?" Double D inquired. "We never planned to go behind your back at any point in our friendship."
"Friendship?" Gary repeated with a dry chuckle. "Is that what you thought this was? I've met better material for friends in the toilet than you three put together."
"Big talk for someone who standing up there," Eddy scowled. "Why don't you come down here and we can see if you can back it up."
"You know what?" Gary began, kneeling down at the edge of the concrete wall. "I prefer to let other losers fight each other. See you around, morons!" He gave the Eds a sarcastic wave goodbye and left the area, prompting many of the other students to follow his lead. The Eds watched as the kids all made their way out of the Hole, leaving them alone with Russell laying on the ground and Pete standing at the edge of the cage.
"Way to go, guys!" he congratulated with a weak smile. "You managed to beat Russell. No one's been able to do that since he got here."
"Well, ain't that just great?!" Eddy groaned. "We go through the fight of our lives to have that jerk who got us into this mess in the first place give us the finger and run off!"
"Well, Eddy," Double D said. "I'm honestly able to say that none of us were able to see Gary's betrayal coming. The only thing we can do now is…Oh, Lord…" Double D and Eddy turned their heads and noticed that Ed was still standing over Russell, the latter of which was sitting up and rubbing his head.
"What happened?" Russell asked, not speaking to anyone in particular.
"We just had a big fight," Ed answered. "You're way strong!" Ed extended his hand towards the defeated bully, which was hesitantly taken. The strongest Ed strained slightly as he lifted Russell to his feet, while the titan just shook the pain out of his head.
"What do you mean?" the bully asked, not sure why someone he fought was still talking to him.
"You should be a good guy!" Ed exclaimed, extending his arms in excited fashion. "That way, you'll fight bad guys! They put up a better fight, anyway…kinda like how you did for us when we fought."
"Russell…be good?" the giant slowly asked. While he wasn't able to follow most of what Ed was saying, he managed to translate the gist of the strongest Ed's message. While he continued to scratch his head and think, Ed was joined by Double D and Eddy, both of whom were just as confused as Russell.
"Ed, what are you thinking?" Eddy asked his friend.
"I'm letting Russell know that he can use his power for good," Ed explained to his friend.
"Commendable, Ed, truly," Double D sighed. "However, I'm certain that we would be better off if we returned to our room and try to recover from this debacle."
"Double Doctor Dee has a point, Lumpy," Eddy said as he rubbed his shoulder. "Let's go back before we run into any more trouble." While Ed initially felt saddened that his attempt at taming Russell was going to be ignored, he eventually shrugged it off and joined his friends as they began to walk towards the ladder.
"He's still down there!" The Eds recognized the voice of Trent as it echoed into the cage.
"Of all the rotten luck…" Double D muttered as Ed and Eddy raised their fists in preparation for the worst. The boys watched as Pete ran out of the way of the cage's entrance, allowing the entirety of Russell's gang to approach it.
"Come on, boys!" Davis shouted. "We'll kick their asses for what they did to Russell!" The other bullies cheered in agreement as they began to jump down into the Hole.
"Ready, boys?" Eddy asked. Ed nodded as he punched his fists together, while Double D had already loaded a pebble into the sling and focused his sights at the bullies. The Eds stood their ground as the bullies took the charge, rushing towards the boys with their fists ready to strike. Before they could clash, however, Russell had moved himself between the two factions, causing his boys to stop in their tracks and the Eds to stare in wonder.
"What are you doing, boss?" Ethan asked. "We need to defeat those jerks before they get away!"
"No," Russell commanded. "None of you will go after the Eds anymore." The bullies and the Eds managed to share a major similarity in that moment in how they all couldn't believe what they had just heard.
"Russell has beaten many puny people, all of them put up no fight," the titan continued. "When the Eds came here they stood up to all of us. They even beat Russell. Russell the strongest, but Eds are better than Russell. They want Russell to become good guy, and smash only bad guys. They say beating them up will be more fun. If you still want to hurt the Eds, then that makes you bad guys." As he finished his speech, he balled his fists up and cracked his neck further making his stance known to his allies. While none of the bullies had seen their leader speak so highly about anyone, they knew that when he threatened violence in an ultimatum, he would be more than happy to deliver.
"Ok, Russell, we're with you," Wade said. "But how are we gonna know who to fight?" The bullies all looked inquisitively at their leader, who looked back towards the Eds. Ed was smiling that his words were able to reach their past enemy, while Double D and Eddy couldn't believe the sight that they were witnessing. After a brief moment to think, the leader of the bullies turned back towards his allies.
"Eds will tell Russell, then Russell tell you," Russell told the group of now-reformed bullies. "Let's go." The large boy slowly walked around the crowd and climbed out of the Hole. The Eds watched nervously as the rest of the bullies stuck around and turned their focus back towards the boys that had been fighting against so passionately.
"Damn it…" Wade muttered. "I guess if Russell respects you enough to side with you, then you three can't be that bad."
"Yeah," Trent added. "If you ever need backup, just let us know." The Eds watched as the group that they once called enemies climb out of the Hole as their friends.
"GOODBYE!" Ed cheerfully called out, waving his hand over his head.
"Man, what a weird way to end the day," Eddy said.
"We've managed to make a completely sociopathic enemy and replaced him with an army of brutish allies," Double D thought aloud. "I don't know what's worse, that fact alone or the fact that their roles were reversed when we first got here."
"Right now, I don't want to think about Gary, Russell, or anything related to this day," Eddy sighed. "Let's just go back to our room and get some rest." Double D and Ed nodded, their bodies reminding their minds of the ordeal's damage. The Eds remained silent as they climbed the wooden ladder, followed Pete out of the Bullworth basement, and walked back to their dorm room. Each boy laid their head on their respective pillow and drifted off to sleep, grateful that the day ended with victory and wary as to what could be in store for them now that they had a new opponent in their former friend.
You're the best...AROUND! Nothing's gonna ever keep you down! Had to get that out of my system, sorry. This concludes the Running with the Bullies arc of Higher EDucation. Anyone whose played the game should know what's coming up next, but I won't spoil the surprise for those who don't. But before then, let me know how you felt about the action, the drama, the comedy, and the obscure references in a review.
Peace.
