Hope you all enjoyed that little appearance from the Kanker sisters. I never originally planned to include them in the story, but their role came about through a sort of mental block, where I wasn't sure how to advance the story.

Naming chapters really seems to be out of style. I like chapters having names; I feel it's like a little teaser of what's to come ahead, or perhaps a little blurb that can hint towards an author's own personal own interpretation of his chapter to come. I also think it helps give each chapter its own identity, independent of the story itself. Lately, I've seen very few stories on this site doing it all. In fact, many books have turned away from it as well. I for one support naming chapters!


Ed, Edd n Eddy's Quest for the Pure Hearts
Twenty-Nine: Metamorphosis

I've begun to question my purpose in this tribe. Who am I? What am I to them… and Timpani…?

And what is Timpani to me?


Nastasia watched the scene unfold with a sort of glaring indifference. One goomba had been assimilated quickly and forcefully while the other goomba had cooperated willingly without the need of her hypnosis. The third and final insubordinate, a male human with a tall, skinny disposition, clad in green with a large cap and thick mustache, had been restrained by a small battalion of hypnotized minions, squirming helplessly beneath their clutches as he cried out pitifully for his friends.

As the bespectacled secretary prepared to indoctrinate the belligerent man under the authority of the Count, the green man, in a burst of adrenaline and fear, broke through the mass of koopas, goombas, and other creatures and broke into a mad sprint as he fled the siege of villains.

Nastasia made no attempt to stop him, letting him run aimlessly past her as he sped down the castle hall back to door where he'd come from. Her minions prepared to give chase, but she held her hand up, stopping them before that could act. "Yah, that won't be necessary." She told the battalion in a frank manner.

Before the poor man could make it back to the door, a small dainty figure lurched from the shadows and stopped the man in his tracks with a quick chop to the neck. "Mamma mia…" the green clad man groaned before he collapsed.

"Excellent." Nastasia said as she walked over to the shadowy figure and the downed noncompliant human. "So uh, he's still alive right? Cause if not, you're gonna be in deep trouble, 'kay." The short figure was silent, but the secretary needed no reply, as the man let out a soft groan of pain in his unconscious state. "Good." Nastasia answered plainly. The shadowy minion still did not respond. "You're doing well. A few more sessions and I think you'll be ready. Strange, you were so resistant until just a few days ago. Wonder what changed." Nastasia shook her head. "Ah well, it doesn't matter. You've done your job well, Kid J."

"I- I'm… I- Kid… J." the minion said in a soft, scared voice that contrasted greatly with his dark, shifty appearance.

Nastasia shifted her glassed and peered at the man on the floor. "Now for you."

As he mused over the contents of the Dark Prognosticus, the Count heard a faint whoosh from behind him. Closing his book and turning around, he found his short statured blue secretary standing before him, ready to give him his report. "What is it, Nastasia?" Count Bleck asked with mild interest.

"We've apprehended the final belligerent within the Castle, 'kay." Nastasia reported. "Also, um, those two humans will be ready soon. The kid will be ready in a couple of days and I think the green one will be fully indoctrinated by that time too."

"Excellent work Nastasia," replied the Count with strong appraisal. "And of Mimi?" he continued.

"Um… yeah… Mimi left me a pm awhile ago. It said, 'I messed up bad!'" the secretary told her master.

"And her whereabouts?"

"Oh, she's somewhere in the castle. So yeah, I'll get on straightening her out later."

"Blehehehehe!" Bleck chortled. "So even Mimi failed to best these pitiful heroes; my powers I granted her were not enough. The strength of these four Light Prognosticus heroes had been unprecedented…" he mused.

"COUN'!" a thick Irish accent bellowed. The beefy O'Chunk clad in his newly repaired of red armor and neatly groomed beard suddenly barged into the room, interrupting his master and his master's assistant. "I 'eard 'bout Mimi! C'mon Coun'! Gimme one mer chance. 'Ey promise dis time I'll spank those naughtly little cherbils into oblivion; I swear it on me chin whiskers!"

"Oh, so does that mean that you've finished your report on your own inadequacy," Nastasia inquired. The bulky minion froze up, his face turning a deeper shade of red than it already was. "Because I do recall assigning you one-thousand pages to complete."

"'Ey, 'ave a heart, lass!" O'Chunks begged. "I'm almost done, I'm jus' on deh last couple o' exposition pages I is. One-thousan' be a lot to hand write, it is!"

Count Bleck motioned for the bulky minion to be silent. "Calm yourself, O'Chunks. Finish your assignments and train. I have other means of dealing with these meddlesome fools." He tapped his scepter against the platform, getting Nastasia's attention. "Fetch Dimentio if you will."

"Uh… yeah. I'll get-"

Suddenly, the air rippled like a disturbed pool of water and as the air stilled, a floating clown appeared. "Ahaha! I arrive like a sudden windstorm to ruin the day of picnicking kindergartners!" Dimentio chortled.

"Dimentio…" Count Bleck muttered, the jester's arrival a bit too coincidental for his liking. "Not eavesdropping, I hope," Bleck asked suspiciously.

"Why would I dare intrude, that would disrespectful master," Dimentio answered without flinching, dragging the word 'master' with his tongue, almost with scorn. Count Bleck searched to clown's face for disdain, but as usual he found nothing but that untrustworthy smile. This particular minion was starting to bother him, but just couldn't explain why.

"Dimentio, um… it's not polite to interrupt without, ya-know- explaining yourself, 'kay." Nastasia reminded the subordinate crony.

"My apologies; I am but a fool, ha!" Dimentio sneered at his own pun. "My intrusive arrival was an unfortunate happenstance. I'm itching for a battle, you see. And since you've sent your other two lackeys to stop our foes with… trivial success…" Dimentio emphasized the last two words, giving O'Chunks a restrained glance. "I figured it would only be fair if I were dispatched to meet with these so called heroes who dare to oppose us."

Count Bleck nodded. "Fair enough, I'm sending you to the Bitlands. Don't fail me Dimentio."

"Of course! I'll be gone in a jiffy," Dimentio promised. "Ciao!" he said quickly before teleporting out of the room again.

"You two may see yourselves out," the Count said, waving away the other two subordinates still in the throne room. O'Chunks crept out, leaving through the double doors at the end of the room while Nastasia teleported out of the room.

The room was silent and empty. Without his minions of anyone else around, the room was totally devoid of color. There wasn't even a window to let in the faint purple glow of void. The throne room was without light, but one could still see where the walls, floor, and ceiling were connected, or where the platforms were formed by thin white lines that separated the shadows and gave them form. Count Bleck was alone in a black, shadowy hell.

'Heh, just like my heart,' he thought melancholically to himself.

By his lonesome, Count Bleck readjusted his top hat and frowned. The blue man opened his cloak and removed a large black book from inside it. He studied the Dark Prognosticus, admiring the jewel sealed on the front cover and the intricate glyphs etched on the edges of cover. He caressed the spine slightly, sensing the dark aura bound to it between its pages. He wanted that aura to consume him. Leafing through the closed books pages and flipping the text open at no particular place; the Count sat on the edge of his floating platform and began to reread the book's evil secrets, letting the pain and despair fester in his heart.

He was alone in his cell. Kid J no longer had any need to be restrained. He was sane enough to keep from rampaging or hurting himself. When he wasn't eating, training, or relieving himself, Kid J simply stared at the corner of his cell, lost in his thoughts, trying to understand who and what he was and what all these subconscious thoughts lost behind a wall of reprogramming from Nastasia meant.

Suddenly, Kid J heard a soft whir behind him. Knowing what it meant, he instinctively curled into a ball and began to bite at his hands. It wasn't Nastasia… she always made her presence known, and he no longer feared her sessions. But Kid J knew this wasn't Nastasia; this was a monster that lived in the shadows of his cell. Only he could see the monster, or so he assumed, because no one else ever noticed him, even when the monster was there when other people were in his room. Kid J didn't like sessions with the monster.

"Closing you eyes won't make me go away," the monster chortled.

Kid J didn't turn around. He didn't like looking at the monster. It had no face; only demented eyes and a twisted mouth that always smiled, except for that one time when Kid J struck the monster. That was only time the monster frowned. Kid J never struck the monster again.

"So, how was your session with Nastasia today? I heard she gave you a mini-mission. And you talked, did you? I'm so proud of my little project." The monster continued to rabble on and on while Kid J shook with fright in his corner, never looking up from his corner.

"You know, you're turning out better than I expected," the monster mused. Suddenly, a pulsing noise filled the room, accompanied by a soft blue light. Kid J trembled. The session was about to begin.

"Aw… you're shaking. Don't worry. You won't remember any of this once I'm done with you." Kid J dared himself to peek. A gloved hand surrounded by a stream of blue energy was right in front of his face. "But for now, we'll reenter my madness."

Eddy ducked, then blocked, then jumped back, and then he got socked. He instinctively brought his hands to his face, only to feel himself get knocked off his feet with a swift trip.

"Don't-a stop now!" Mario coaxed the short statured child.

Eddy snarled and pulled himself onto his feet. He cracked his knuckles as a show of dominance, though the portly Italian was put off in the slightest by the boy's meager show of attitude. This time, Eddy put himself on the offensive. He ran straight for the Mushroom Kingdom native and swung for the man's face. Mario simply pulled himself backwards as the boy tried to swing for his face.

Eddy tried jab at the man's gut, but Mario stopped his fist with an open palm. Grabbing tightly to Eddy's fist, Mario stood on his tiptoes and began to spin in a compact rotation like a dancer or a skater. The force of the spin brought the kid's entire body into the air, making him essentially weightless. After gaining some momentum from the spin, the Italian simply released his grip on the child and sending him careening outwards.

The tiny Ed-boy collided with the wall and slid to the ground, dizzy and confused. Mario simply slowed his rotation, planting his feet firmly to ground before coming to a halt, facing his opponent. Eddy blinked, trying to steady his vision. To his anger, Mario didn't appear to be the least bit disoriented from his spin attack.

Though slightly off balance, Eddy was not one to accept defeat. He launched another attack against the older man, stepping in a swayed, drunken motion as he tried to right himself while running head on at the more experience foe. Eddy suddenly stopped his run, skidding into a slight crouch before springing upwards, trying to perform a flying kick. Unfazed, Mario crouched down, and once the boy came within striking distance, he rocketed himself into the air. Mario soared right over Eddy's kick, coming at face level with the stunned child. The Italian man then delivered a swift kick right to the boy's face, knocking him backwards in midair.

Eddy smashed against the ground with a painful thud as his sparring partner landed gracefully back into a sparring stance. "Ugh! That hurt!" the short child barked, pinching his nose to check for signs of blood, heaving at the loss of wind from the impact against the floor.

"I've-a worked the same-a sequence with o' you four times all-a ready." Mario groaned. "Yet you still get-a caught by-a the same o' moves every-a time!" Mario sighed and offered Eddy his hand, but the short tempered Ed-boy swatted the gloved hand away and pulled himself to his feet, not eager to be helped.

"I don't get why we started trained again so quickly." Eddy complained. "We only got back to Flipside this morning and all we've been doing is stupid training. I'm tired!"

"You got-a to rest all-a day yesterday. Today, we need-a to train and tomorrow we got to-a be o' out of here." Mario reminded him. "We're-a working on o' schedule here."

"I know, I know!" Eddy groaned, wanting to skip Mario's lecture. "But why are we practicing fist-fighting? I can throw knives and I can run and jump again now that my leg's almost better." Eddy displayed his leg for Mario; his once prominent gash was now just a faded red streak running the length of his shin. "I don't need to do this stuff."

"Eddy, you may-a not always have-a your knifes or o' maybe you might-a bet caught in a close o' combat situation. We've-a been relatively lucky so-a far, but it's-a only going to get-a worse. You need to know-a how to defend-a yourself if o' the time-a comes when you're-a forced to fight fist to-a fist." Mario explained.

Eddy rolled his eyes, hating the feeling of being lectured when he knew he'd come so far already. Then out of nowhere, a blunt object struck him in the back of his head. He winced slightly and grabbed the back of his head, rubbing the spot where the object struck him. Looking at his feet, he saw a single arrow which had been fitted with a rubber ball at the end. "Watch where you're shooting, Sockhead!" Eddy yelled in an enraged tone.

"Sorry Eddy!" Double D called back, firing another shot at Sarah and Princess Peach who busy trying to dodge and counter each incoming projectile.

Sarah glanced over at Peach, slightly jealous of the blonde princess' prowess at this training exercise. Peach, having her hybridized parasol-spear weapon and intangibility powers to act as extra lines of defense from the arrows, was having a much easier time protecting herself than Sarah was, who felt the embarrassing stings of the tiny welts where the safety fitted arrows had struck her.

Suddenly, another arrow zipped past her face and Sarah focused back on the task at hand. 'Ugh! Something like that would get me killed when we're finding a Pure Heart.' Sarah cursed herself.

"Pay attention, Sarah! This is supposed to be an arduous task to advance both of your dodging abilities and my aim." Double D grabbed another two arrows and fired simultaneous shots at both of his teammates. Sarah ducked to the side and somersaulted out of the way while Peach opened her parasol, shielding herself from the incoming arrow.

Another two arrows rocketed towards Sarah who dropped to her stomach in order to avoid being hit. Then Double D released a third arrow at Sarah, who had to roll like a log in order to avoid the projectile. The next arrow went to Peach who popped open her umbrella to shield herself. Double D fired three more arrows at Peach, who instead of dodging simply made herself ghost like in order to avoid the stream of weapons whizzing at her.

Feeling his quiver, Double D found it to be nearly empty. He reached into the sack and retrieved what appeared to be the final two arrows. 'I started with precisely forty arrows,' Double D recounted. 'I've gone through thirty-eight arrows in barely fifteen minutes. Even if I only fired one arrow for every shot, I'd still run out of arrows in a battle far too quickly!' The sharp witted boy pondered whether or not he could solve this dilemma. Carrying a second quiver was out of the question. He wasn't near strong enough for that and it just seemed selfish to dump more supplied on Ed, who was already responsible for carrying most of the heavy gear. 'Oh…! This is the most confounding conundrum.'

Shaking off his concerns, Double D refocused his attention on Sarah and Princess Peach. Taking his first of his final two blunt arrows, he loaded and fired his weapon at Peach. The royal figure simply careened left, opting to evade rather than use her powers or shield.

After loading his final arrow, Double D released his blunt projectile at Sarah's gut. The girl readied herself to pounce to the side, but foolishly tripped over herself, falling flat on her butt. The arrow, now at face level, continued to rocket towards the girl. Sarah gasped; flinching slightly as she instinctively pulled her arms to her face and shut her eyes. Suddenly, she felt her hands began quiver and the warm sensation that she'd come to associate with her powers overcome her arms. Much to Sarah's surprise, she heard the arrow that was supposed to her clash with what sounded like a blunt piece of metal.

"My word, Sarah- how did you…" Double D trailed off.

Sarah opened her eyes and found that she'd forged a large silver shield that was shaped like a concave circle and about the size of her torso with her pixl magic. She grabbed the large, concave piece of metal and studied it with firm interest. Peering at the face of the shield, she saw that the front was etched with golden patterns that encircled the rim of the shield and in the center of the shield, there had been a golden cherry blossom engraved into it. 'Jimmy's favorite flower…' Sarah mused sadly.

"It's beautiful," she said quietly to herself.

"Sarah! How did you do that?" Peach asked, sounding astounded.

"I don't know." Sarah replied simply, admiring the engraving on the plate.

"Way to go baby sister!" Ed cheered from over by the weight racks. "Nazz! Did you see baby sister create that cool shield?"

"Ed… help…" Nazz heaved, trapped underneath a weighted bar at a bench press station.

"Oops," Ed replied, returning to his position as the blonde's spotter and casually pulling the bar off of his friend as if it weighed nothing. "Sorry Nazz." Ed said earnestly as he racked the bar.

"It's okay, dude," Nazz sputtered, coughing a few times as air flooded back into her lungs. "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, or something." She stood up from the bench, stretching her back out as she got to her feet. "Okay, we've gone through squat presses, dumbbell curls, push presses, hang cleans, dumbbell punches, and bench presses," Nazz noted, counting on her fingers. "So like, what do we do next?" the blonde beauty asked her companion.

"Uh…" Ed mumbled to himself, scratching his chin. "Ooh! I know!" He exclaimed with a big grin. "Next we do some front squats with a heavy bar! Oh! And then, we can punch a bag and see how hard we can hit it!" Ed said excitedly. Nazz returned Ed's enthusiasm with a smile.

Nazz, in many ways, envied Ed. Though he wasn't too bright or hygienic; the simpleminded child had such a positive outlook on life and his dopey smile was just plain contagious. She also envied how strong the boy was. Any training he did would only yield marginal results at best because he was already ridiculous strong and coordinated, if not a tad clumsy. Nazz really couldn't have asked for a better strength instructor.

"Don't tell me you admire that dope." Thoreau asked

'He's one of a kind.' Nazz reminded her pixl. 'You can't help but love the guy.'

A voice then pulled Nazz out of her inward conversation with her pixl. "Hey-a Nazz!" Nazz turned around, looking towards the source of the thick accented voice's call. "Shouldn't you-a be getting some-a cardio or o' evasive training in-a as-a-well?" Mario shouted his junior teammate.

"No! I need to get stronger!" Nazz replied frankly. "I'm going to be a melee fighter, dude! That means that I gotta be strong, or else I'm gonna get hammered out in a real fight. Besides, I'm a cheerleader so I can already do all the flippy stuff." Mario didn't look impressed. Nazz tried to convince him. "I'll get some of that training in later." Nazz promised. "But right now, I've got a few more sets, and then Ed's gonna show me how to box with these babies!" Nazz reached down to the floor and snatched two identical tools.

The items Nazz had procured were a set of brass knuckles, supplied by the always generous Pick Aksz who stated that, "A young lady shouldn't go around punching men… without a pair of these" before promptly handing the girl the bronze colored weapons guaranteed to double the force of Nazz's blows.

Mario was absolutely fine with Nazz using the weapons like the rest, but wasn't totally happy with her lack of regard for the other disciplines of fighting and survival. Finally, Mario gave up and replied curtly, "Just-a make-a sure you do-a your other o' training!"

Mario returned his attention to Eddy. "All-a right, now I'm-a going to-a come-a at you with o' series of-a aerial attacks and-a I expect o' you to-"

Before Mario could finish his instructions, a series of thunderous booms followed by a heavy fit of shaking struck the Flipside gym. Weights began to fall of their racks, weapons clattered against the ground, and pieces of the intricate climbing wall began to topple from the obstacle fitted tower. Cracks began to form in the floor as the shaking agitated the structure of the building. Then as quickly as it began, the quakes stopped.

Mario was taken aback by the sudden disturbance that shook the town, but the rest of the heroes were all too familiar with the quaking sensations. Peach had felt them at her forced wedding and the kids had felt them back on Earth in the cul-de-sac.

No sooner than minutes after the quakes had ended, Merlon and Tippi burst through the doors of the Flipside gym. They looked grimly at the heroes, worry stricken about their faces. "I need to speak with you all, posthaste," Merlon said quickly, before waving for the heroes to follow him and his pixl.

Mario, the Eds, and company followed the old wizard outside of the gym. On the streets of Flipside's second floor, chaos had erupted. The native Flipsiders had gone into a deep state of panic, hustling each other and pointing fingers at the sky as they ran about, screaming at the top of their lungs.

Much to the heroes despair, the black void of nothingness had swallowed up more of this dimension's infinite skyline.