The Final Ed-Down

Chapter 14: Shades of Grey

… "Johnny!" Edd said in shock, seeing the kid he knew well. Johnny stopped as he ran- and looked back, seeing Edd, Ed, and Rolf- and he smiled.

"Double D!" Johnny said, as he jumped over a log, and ran towards the group. "Have you guys seen Plank?" he asked- and Edd shook his head.

"No, sorry," Edd said, and Johnny looked down, somewhat disappointed. "Do you remember where you last saw him?" he asked, and Johnny nodded.

"It was near the clearing that way," Johnny said, pointing towards an area where Edd could tell there was more light- and the four began to walk that way.

"Well, Johnny, he's probably there then," Edd said, as he walked by a bush- and Ed stopped. "Ed?"

"I see Plank, guys!" Ed said, pointing at a tree branch- and in it sat Plank, as if he was watching them.

"I'm comin' for ya, buddy!" Johnny yelled, running towards the tree, and began to climb it, reaching for Plank. "What's that?" he asked as he grabbed Plank, and sat in the tree. "Alright- I'll tell them that," he said, as he jumped down- landing on the ground. "Plank said that he saw a tower rise from the ice over there," Johnny said, pointing towards the center of the cul-de-sac, which was the way from which Edd, Ed, and Rolf had come from.

"A tower?" Edd said, confused. "I really don't see how a tower could possibly have been there, but after half of what I've been through, that seems possible," he said, as he turned. There wasn't a tower now, and he turned back. "Are you sure there was one?"

"He says it went back down after some time," Johnny said, and then looked around- as he heard screaming from the direction he had come from. "I think I hear Eddy or Nazz!" Johnny yelled, running towards he direction of the scream- Edd quickly following, and Ed following, helping Rolf as the two quickly followed as well.

"Follow me!" Johnny yelled, as he jumped over a log- grabbing a tree branch above and swinging forward, and looked behind him, as Edd clambered over the log clumsily, and quickly ran towards him, as he walked- Ed and Rolf climbed over the log a bit more… gracefully, before rushing towards Johnny. "We're close to where me, Eddy, and Nazz were before we got separated," he said, looking around, when a voice was heard- Nazz's voice.

"Johnny!" Nazz yelled- and the two Eds, Johnny, and Rolf turned, seeing Nazz running towards them. "Ed! Double D! Rolf!" she yelled, seeing the three, in shock. "Eddy's gone missing- I've been looking for him, but I can't find him!" she said, as Edd stopped.

"What way did he go?" Edd asked, looking around. "We could find some tracks probably," he said, after looking down and seeing they made foot prints.

"I'll show you guys where I saw him last and what way he went," Nazz said- and then stopped as she opened her mouth again. "Oh…" she then said, seeing Rolf's foot. "Rolf, your foot is gone," she said, seeing the severed body part was missing.

"Yes, Rolf has lost his foot as a great beast from the ice covered waters bit it off," Rolf said, and Nazz looked behind her.

"You guys follow me- we'll get that fixed up, then find Eddy," she said, and then turned to Johnny. "Johnny, hurry and get one of those apples- we'll be getting there a little bit after you, so wait for us and hurry to get to Rolf when you see us," she said, and Johnny nodded.

"Me and Plank are on it, Nazz!" Johnny yelled, running ahead of the group towards where the apple tree that had the apples that, somehow, could heal people was.

"So what exactly are the apples for?" Edd asked, walking behind Nazz- he caught himself from letting his eyes wander downwards, as Nazz turned her head, and quickly focused his vision to her face- hoping that she wouldn't notice.

"Well, me and Eddy had set up a little by this apple tree, and when we found Johnny he was dying- we got him to eat one of the apples and he was healed," Nazz explained, as they approached a clearing- in the distance was an apple tree, from which Johnny was grabbing an apple from- and Ed grinned.

"It's like the Apple Orchard of One in I Am APPLESEED!" Ed declared, racing towards the apple tree, as Johnny turned and ran towards the others- who continued walking towards the tree.

"What exactly have you all been doing?" Edd asked as Johnny approached, before waiting as Johnny handed Rolf the apple.

"Rolf thanks you, Johnny-the-wood-boy," Rolf said, taking a bite- and then, he stretched his arms out, as if yawning- and then, looking down, he found his foot had grown back. "Rolf is amazed! The fruit has made his foot come back!"

"It fixed me up even more," Johnny said, before Nazz began to answer to Edd's question.

"Well, me and Eddy sorta started to live life by that tree- then this… person or something attacked, and then Johnny showed up," Nazz explained, remembering Luna's attack on the two earlier. "Then Johnny ran off to find Plank, we found you, and Eddy got lost," Nazz finished- to which Johnny nodded.

"I see… We should start looking for Eddy like we talked about doing, shouldn't we?" Edd asked, and Rolf nodded.

"Rolf, Johnny-the-wood-boy, and his "Plank" shall look for Eddy in this direction!" Rolf declared- as he began to walk into the woods, leaving the two Eds and Nazz.

"We should probably look this way, then," Edd said, nervously- he wasn't used to being around Nazz with only Ed there, and as Nazz took off in the way he meant, he followed- Ed between the two.

"We got separated around here," Nazz said, stopping at a log. "He continued to go this way," she said, going over it- following the trail Eddy had followed.

"My Lord!" Edd yelled- and the two in front of him stopped. "I think that Eddy may be in some form of trouble," he said, as Ed gasped- and Nazz almost let out a yell.

On the ground, in front of them, were scratch marks, claw marks. And on a near by tree, it looked as if something had clawed at the bark… with claws…

With Eddy

Eddy opened his eyes- finding himself to be in a void. There was no feeling, as far as he could tell. He couldn't tell if he had his eyes opened or closed, until he touched his eyelids after closing them, and then opening them. "Hello?" he asked- the sound quickly dissipating into nothing. And then, he heard a horrifying sounding whisper.

"Heeeeeelllllllllooooooo?" it asked, whispering- the sound seeming to come from everywhere but nowhere. Eddy gulped, as he looked around, still seeing nothing. "Waaaallllkkk foooorrrrrrwaaaaarrrrd," the voice whispered, and Eddy nodded- or at least thought he did, before taking what he thought was a step forward.

"Wh-who are you?" Eddy asked, as he walked forward- feeling almost as if he was flipping through air as he did so, which was enough to make him feel somewhat sick.

"I aaaaammmmmm…. I aaaaammmmm," the voice whispered. "I haaveee noooo nammmmeee," it whispered, as Eddy continued. "Stoooopppp… I will ssssshowwww mmmmyyyssssselfffff toooo you," it whispered, and Eddy stopped, before a swirl of color began to be visible. Or was it a color? He wasn't sure.

And then, Eddy screamed- closing his eyes as sinister laughing went throughout the void he was in, and as he opened his eyes, he found himself, in the woods, alone. He stopped- and looked around. "What the HELL just happened?!" he yelled, before hearing footsteps.

"I heard screaming this way!" a familiar voice yelled, as Eddy turned- and there, he saw Ed, running into his sight. "EDDY!" Ed yelled, seeing the shortest of the three Eds, and he ran towards him- grabbing Eddy in a hug to end all hugs.

"ED! I'm glad to see you too, but your killing me with this hug!" Eddy yelled, struggiling before Ed let go- and then Edd and Nazz came into his view. "DOUBLE D!" Eddy yelled, running towards the two. "NAZZ!" he yelled, hugging the two, before quickly letting go after kissing Nazz on the check- causing her to blush and giggle a bit. "I thought I'd never see you guys again!" he said, excitedly.

"You were only missing for an hour or two, Eddy," Nazz said, surprised that he thought that.

"Are you sure?" Eddy asked, stopping. "But… I swear it was at least a year! How else would I have gone through half that… that… that nightmare?" he asked, before Edd opened his mouth- only to have Ed speak first.

"Where'd you get the cool sword, Eddy?" Ed asked, butting into the conversation.

"What sword?" Eddy asked- giving Ed a confused look, before feeling his back. Sure enough, a sword was there- and Eddy pulled it out, to look at it. Its hilt was ancient looking, with symbols that Eddy had never seen- a red gem at the bottom that he looked at, a feeling of attachment to it in him. "I… I don't know where… But it's awesome looking," he said, looking at it as he moved his hand with it, playing with the sword a bit.

"This is… strange. Maybe Rolf will be able to help," Edd said, looking at the hilt as Eddy held it up, doing the same. "We should probably get Rolf to know that we found Eddy somehow," he added- before hearing the voice of Rolf in the distance.

"This way, Johnny-the-wood-boy!" Rolf's voice said, before through the trees jumped Rolf- followed quickly by Johnny.

"Eddy!" Johnny yelled, seeing the short Ed-boy and grinning. "I knew we'd find you!" he said happily.

"Rolf is glad that all three Ed-boys are safe, Snake-in-the-gra—" Rolf said, before his eyes slipped to the sword- and he stopped in shock. Where did you get that sword?" Rolf asked, seeing it.

"It just appeared, I guess- We were hoping you could figure out what the stuff on the handle is," Eddy said, and Rolf looked at it, before holding the sword.

"Rolf will be able to- yes. But it will take time. We must go back to that tree, and Rolf will figure it out there," Rolf said, and began to walk off- Johnny following.

"Wait up!" Nazz said, grabbing Eddy's hand and running after him, Edd and Ed following quickly behind…

Unknown Location

Chaos unfolded in a mysterious pocket dimension, as shadows and shapes drifted. And then, in the center, two glowing red eyes appeared, before suddenly, as shadows swirled around them, slowly forming a body, a being seemed to be "thrown" through a hole in it.

The being was female. And the size of the two eyes, as the shadows stopped swirling- clouding the obviously there body that these two eyes were on. The girl, with blue hair and a black shirt, looked around nervously- terror in her as she saw the two eyes, looking at her. "Hello," a voice said- as if in her mind.

"Who are you!?" the girl yelled- thrashing around, unable to move somehow. "Where the hell am I!?" she hollered, after there was no response.

"I am a nightmare to all mortals- and this, this is my realm," the voice said in her head. "You have been taken here by my forces- I hope they did not too badly hurt you- if they did I apologize. They can be… vicious," it said, before a sinister laughing echoed- and the female stopped moving. "You are… Marie A. Kanker, correct?" it asked- and the girl nodded.

"Y-y-yes, why?" Marie asked, before some of the shadows swirling around the giant figure's body vanished- revealing a grin.

"Because, you are one of Them," the figure said, before Marie gulped, its mouth big enough to eat her in a single bite without chewing. And then, it threw her into its mouth- and everything went blank, as Marie screamed, her scream fading out slowly…

The Kanker's Cave

Marie woke up, sitting and looking around, her heart beating in fear, sweat on her face. Lee rolled over- still asleep, as she looked around and saw her sister May snoring. "It was just a dream," she muttered, before looking around- seeing Kevin, sitting in the far back corner of the cave, staring at her. "Uh… why are you staring at me?" she asked, as Kevin got up.

"You… you aren't normal," he said, backing up against the wall- as Marie got up too. "I have to get out of here… Something's not right," he said, sliding against the wall. Marie smiled. "What are you smiling about!?" he yelled, panicking, as he slid towards the entrance. Marie just kept walking towards him. "WHAT ARE YOU SMILING ABOUT!?" he yelled- and Lee snapped awake, seeing Kevin trying to get out of the cave and Marie walking towards him.

"What's all the hubba about?" Lee asked groggily, as she rubbed her eyes.

"Nothing," Marie said, before turning, and walking back to where she was.

"Uh…" Kevin said, looking around, still slightly afraid. "Uh," he said, and Lee sighed.

"You can go to sleep," Lee said, sitting up. "Or, since we're both up…"

"No, I'm pretty tired," Kevin said quickly, as Lee laughed to herself.

"Men," Lee said, before lying back down. Kevin slid down the wall, still staring at Marie, who was glaring at him, before he shook his head- and tried to fall asleep. But there was something that he could tell was wrong here… Something…

"I'm going outside," Kevin said, standing up and leaving the cave- and he walked onto the ice. He shivered as a cold breeze came by, as the full moon rose in the sky, making the world look black n' white almost. As he walked, he thought. Why did Marie have a strange feeling around her, Kevin wondered, as he walked onto land- and then, he heard a blood curdling scream across the ice- and turned. He saw a tall tower, and a thought occurred- something wrong was here. "There's something wrong here," he muttered, before running towards the tower. "Someone is in trouble, though, I can tell," he said, as he ran towards where he heard the screaming. In the cave, Marie Kanker stood, watching with a grin on her face.

Kevin looked back to see this, before he ran faster- the feeling he had in the cave with Marie was diminishing- and then, he tripped. Under the ice, he saw a large, black shape moving, and quickly he scrambled to his feet, seeing it turning and coming back. He ran- fleeing back towards the rocks he had stepped off. The ice bent up, as it rose- and he leapt through the air- landing just barely on the rocks, and Marie looked as if she was laughing, as the creature burst from the ice, trying to grab him. But, he wasn't there- and it didn't succeed, the long eel-like creature sliding back into the water. Kevin breathed heavily, shocked by the monster- before looking back. Another cave was behind him, and he got up. "The HELL?!" he yelled, as he walked towards it- and Marie's face clearly frowned.

Kevin looked on with interest, approaching this cave. And then he saw a glow- much like the sphere the Kankers were using, which he noticed had begun to grow weaker that night. He approached it- and then, he saw there was a clearly pyramid-like object there, glowing through rocks. He threw some rocks off it, and picked it up- looking at it strangely, before suddenly, he turned.

Standing there was a creature that he jumped back upon seeing. It was pure black- with a round head at the front of its body, that he could see was more of a saucer-shape. At the back of the head were black streamer-like appendages, and it had read markings, the body having clawed hands on arms with similar appendages. And then, it screeched- Kevin held the pyramid up in self defense, and a beam of light shot out of it- hitting the creature, and it screeched again, holding its arms in defense, as it began to smoke, before it fell apart- literally. Shadows floated into the air, as Kevin looked around.

"Woah," he said, looking at the pyramid. "I wonder what this is," he said, looking back up, and walking towards the cave.

He didn't know how close he was to have meeting some more cul-de-sac locals. For this was the cave that Jimmy and Sarah were in before…

Atvaria's Balcony

"J'hnonah, K'velin," Atvairia said, as the two came into his chamber. "Do you see- there, that glimmer of light moving?" Atvairia asked, pointing out to the furthest he could see in the balcony, and J'hnonah and K'velin nodded.

"I see it, Master," K'velin said, as J'hnonah nodded. "Do you want us to go kill it?" he asked, and Atvairia grinned.

"You ARE catching on," Atvairia said, smiling. "Yes, I do want that. Both of you, go and find whatever is moving that light, and exterminate it," he said, and K'velin nodded, and J'hnonah did the same.

"We will do so with pleasure," J'hnonah said, as Atvairia grinned, before gesturing for them to go. K'velin took the lead, hurrying out of the room, and down a large fleet of stairs, into a metal room- quickly grabbing two swords, before J'hnonah opened the door.

"Let's do this," K'velin said, grinning as he stepped out onto a platform. He closed his eyes, as he transformed into a raven- J'hnonah too transformed, but he was becoming a vulture, before the two now- avian demonic fighters nodded. They took flight- off towards the gleaming light that was… a boy.