Part 6


Chapter 54


"My, this is quite innovative!"

Doctor Andonuts sat cross-legged on the grassy surface of the Windy Island, as Ed had named it. He held up his arms and linked hands with Jimmy and Ed, completing a circle formed with them along with Edd, Kevin and Sarah. Eddy's Brother, Rolf and Nazz watched nearby from the tree in the center of the island.

"The sanctuaries on my version of Earth were discovered by my son and his friends seemingly by chance along their travels," Doctor Andonuts said. "Ever since their journey—and even a little before then, since some of my dear childhood friends were psychic—I have studied PSI. I deduced that those with PSI are naturally drawn toward nearby sanctuaries, as the energy from these places resonates on a deep level with one's psionic energy. However, no one had ever thought to actively seek these places out by using their very energy to look on a global scale." He smiled widely behind his thick mustache. "Very creative, I must say!"

"Less talking more mystic-ing," Eddy's Brother groaned, lying on his back underneath the tree.

"He said that exact phrase the last time we did this," Edd muttered under his breath. He cast a curious glance over at the man, wondering what Eddy's Brother would do now that his stated reason for joining them had been fulfilled.

The thought soon faded, though, as Edd began to concentrate. Like the last time, he sensed an alien energy travel from his arms to his mind, and he felt the presence of everyone around him in the form of glowing lights in a blank void. It was a bit unnerving, as he could sense the emotions of everyone in the ring with an unnatural clarity. He noticed how Jimmy and Sarah enjoyed feeling the other's hand grasping theirs. He felt a warm, almost giddy excitement from Doctor Andonuts, one that reminded Edd of himself when he discovered something new to study or experiment upon. Kevin himself seemed even more excited, as a bright energy burned within him. One wouldn't have needed psychic powers to tell that he was excited at the prospect of saving the world.

Ed simply emitted a continuous warm, simple feeling of content. However, something caught Edd's attention, and when he focused on it, he felt something cold and icy. It was barely perceptible, but as Edd observed it, it became apparent that the feeling was very deep, only barely poking through surface of Ed's psyche like the tip of an iceberg. Before he could question what it was or investigate it, Kevin tapped into the power of the sanctuary around them, and suddenly Edd felt the alarming sensation of his perception growing to encompass the earth.

Like last time, everyone strained as the planet's surface in its entirety crammed itself into their consciousness, but Edd was quick to partition it into separate chunks. As he drew latitude lines, he felt Doctor Andonuts draw longitude lines, apparently having grasped how to do it much quicker than Edd had his first time around. Though his eyes were closed and the man's glasses appeared to be completely opaque from the front, Edd could feel the doctor giving him a mental wink, which he warmly returned.

"Okay, this'll be just like last time," Kevin said. "Doctor Donuts—"

"Andonuts."

"—we're looking for somewhere on the earth that feels just like this place does. Now we've already found four others, so don't get too excited if you find one."

"Yeah, wouldn't want the old man to blow a gasket," Eddy's Brother mocked. Edd suddenly felt a small, disturbing sense of longing come from Doctor Andonuts, and the image of what looked to be some sort of flamethrower appeared in his mind.

Edd shuttered, and silently prayed that no one be fool enough to cross the strange man sitting across from him.

Everyone resumed concentrating on searching, spreading out from the section of earth they were on. Edd and Doctor Andonuts had to focus on keeping the sections divided and couldn't concentrate on any one part for long, so they left it up to the others to look for the remaining sanctuaries.

Kevin, in an act of curiosity and a little homesickness, shifted his focus to the Americas. He found Blueberry Bay, where he and the others had boarded the Talastsbo Express, and then headed west toward Lime Lake. As he scanned south toward Lemon Brook, he gasped. He felt a tinge of icy darkness as he scanned over the town, just like the darkness he'd felt last time. Unlike last time, though, this was less of a black void and more of a thin veil. It tugged at his consciousness, but it wasn't strong enough to pull him in.

With butterflies in his stomach—very, very angry butterflies made of iron, more like—he treaded past Lemon Brook. A tingle of fear went down his spine, and he quickly searched for the Crystal Clearing sanctuary. He found it in the form of a beacon of light, chasing away the veil of darkness around it. Despite its warmth, Kevin couldn't shake an unnerving feeling that seemed to swarm around him. He looked down the mountain toward Cherry Falls, and suddenly the hair on the back of his neck began to stand on end. A wave of inexplicable terror suddenly washed over Kevin, and he broke from the others to stand up.

"Something's wrong," he said, feeling his breath leave him. The others in the circle broke from their trance and Nazz, Eddy's Brother and Rolf gave him questioning looks.

"What's wrong?" Edd asked, standing up as Kevin quickly made his way toward his bike behind him.

"I don't know, but I got this really bad feeling when I looked at Cherry Falls," he replied. His face was covered in cold sweat, and he stumbled to grab his bike. As he walked it toward the edge of the island, his steps became staggered. His legs seemed indecisive on whether to slow him down enough to talk or break into a mad sprint on the spot. "I'm going to check it out. Check on my parents."

"We'll come with you," Nazz said as she began to follow Kevin. "It could be dangerous."

Kevin turned and opened his mouth to protest, but everyone was already getting on their feet and heading toward the edge of the island with him. He felt himself giving a small, grateful smile, and he turned back around to jump off the edge. The powerful column of wind that kept the island aloft slowed Kevin's and everyone else's fall as they descended to the base of the Boulder Mountain.

When they reached solid ground below and found a place to exit, Edd turned to see Eddy's Brother behind him.

"What?" the man asked.

"Oh, erm—" Edd tried to think of something to say. The last thing he wanted was to remind the man that he had no reason to stay with them, but in a fit of nervousness, he ended up blurting out, "Why are you coming with us?"

"Uh, 'cause he's kinda my ride outta this dump?"

"Oh, right."

When they left the mountain and entered the sunny planes beyond, Doctor Andonuts suddenly stopped. "Ooh, I know how we can get there faster!" he shouted. Everyone turned to face him, and he said, "I managed to evade Porky as well as travel here using a makeshift copy of my famous flying machine, the Skyrunner." He quickly made to circle around the mountain to the other side, prompting the others to follow him. Kevin opened his mouth to protest, but he found himself following everyone else as they followed the doctor.

When they reached the other side, the man said, "I believe I left it—"

Everyone stopped when he did, right in front of a large wreck. Pieces of metal laid scattered around a small crater in the hill, which held what looked to be a once-spherical machine of some sort. A small trail of smoke was pluming from the wreckage, and the doctor tilted his head to the side.

"I can't believe we missed that earlier," Edd remarked.

"Oh, I forgot," Doctor Andonuts said casually, "I never was too good when it came to landing." Before a suddenly curious Nazz and Kevin could wonder how the man didn't seem to have any sort of grievous injury on him, he chimed, "But not to worry! I can fix this in but a few hours!"

"We don't have that kind of time!" Kevin shouted. "I think something really bad is happening! Just line up behind me and we'll teleport there."

"Oh, you can teleport?" The man beamed behind his mustache. "That's an exceedingly rare PSI ability. Only a select few PSI users can successfully perform it! That, and certain species of monkey, I believe."

In one fluid sequence, Kevin smiled, scrunched his face in confusion, then shook his head and mounted his bike. He pedaled down the large hill and everyone followed behind in a long line. Kevin found it somewhat difficult to speed up, as if he was physically pulling along everyone behind him, but the worrying feeling in his gut steeled him and made him pedal hard.

The whirring-gargling noise around everyone quickly crescendoed into a low boom, and the scenery immediately changed from bright, sunny grass to smoke, fire and brick buildings. Kevin braked hard on his bike to slow down, wincing as everyone behind him clumsily slammed into each other—

Wait, fire?

Kevin's mouth hung open in shock as he gazed around him. Several buildings were burning, darkening the night sky above Cherry Falls with smoke. People scrambled around in a panic, their clothes scorched and battered. They dashed to find shelter as buildings began to crumble to the ground around them. Nobody seemed to notice the nine strangers that had appeared from thin air in the chaos.

Ed and Jimmy immediately ran toward the nearest building and cast PK Freeze to put out the flames. After an initial powerful burst, however, they noticed that the excess ice clinging to the building's surface expanded quickly, and it damaged the building even further. They wordlessly proposed that they use less energy, and quickly moved to put out more fires.

Edd and Doctor Andonuts attempted to get one of the frightened citizens' attention, but they couldn't get anyone to stop for long enough to ask what was going on. The doctor noticed that everyone was looking at one another in their panic more than the burning buildings themselves, as if they were more worried about running into someone in particular than escaping the fire.

Nazz heard a short, tiny ringing noise over the roar of the fire and panicked shouts. A second later, a massive ball of ice fell from the sky, slamming into one of the buildings from high up in the air.

Kevin felt his stomach tighten, and his mind went blank. He recognized the small hotel he'd spent the night in after getting George's journal back from the crows, and stared at it from afar. Bright flames poured from every opening except the front entrance, which bore a large, broken window around the door. He could see the front desk inside the hotel. It was burning, and a black telephone nearby melted in the heat.

Oh god.

Kevin burst from his trance. He saw the giant ice boulder that had been launched from somewhere high up, and he immediately swiveled to see a large hill looming over the town. On top of it stood a line of houses. Grabbing his bike, Kevin wordlessly sped away from everyone else and to the road leading up the hill.

To his parents.

~γγγγγγ~

"How about this building?"

Edd and Doctor Andonuts stood before a squat, brick building a short ways away from the inferno engulfing the rest of the town. It looked sturdy enough to withstand any debris from collapsing buildings close by, and large enough to hold several people.

"I believe it should suffice," Doctor Andonuts said. Quickly, the two returned to the town, where the others nervously waited.

"What foul terror has plagued this place?" Rolf asked. He, Sarah, Nazz and Eddy's Brother stood close to one another in the center of the town, in the middle of an intersection farthest from any of the dangerous buildings around them. Ed and Jimmy continued to try and put buildings out with their PSI, but it proved to be a difficult task for the both of them.

"Quickly, everyone!" Edd called as he carefully sidestepped a burning plank of wood in the street to approach them. "We've found a secure building down south. Help Doctor Andonuts and me round citizens up and evacuate to it!"

"Does it really take a bunch of kids to do that?" Eddy's Brother hissed. "Let these idiots handle things themselves. We should be finding out who caused this and kicking his ass!"

"That's not important now," Nazz replied. "We don't even know if a person is even behind all this. It could've been caused by a lightning storm or an earthquake!"

Eddy's Brother stepped closer to her, and bent down so they were at the same eye level. "Ever heard of hail the size of trucks coming down, one gigantic ice chunk at a time?"

Nazz scowled. "These people will still be in danger even if you stop whoever or whatever's responsible. We've got to help them to safety first!"

"Yeah, herd them all into one convenient place so another giant chunk of ice can kill everyone at once!"

Nazz scowled, and opened her mouth to retort, but Edd quickly stepped in between them. "Arguing will get us nowhere," he said calmly, quickly alternating his gaze between the two. "It is imperative that we help vacate the area, but it is also equally important that we put a stop to whoever caused this to prevent further destruction. Fortunately there are enough of us to do both."

Everyone gave Edd with a surprised look, and they watched him step back as he gave out orders. "Nazz, you, Rolf and I will help evacuate the area."

As he spoke, he beckoned Nazz and Rolf over to him. "Eddy's Brother, you take Doctor Andonuts and Sarah and follow Kevin to his parents' house. I'll send Ed and Jimmy as well once they're finished putting out the fire."

Eddy's Brother put on a sour look. "I have a name, you know," he scolded. "It's—"

Suddenly, a tall building nearby collapsed. A large iron beam slammed into the road between the two groups, further damaging the buildings around them.

"We can't keep standing here," Nazz shouted over the noise of destruction. "Let's go!"

Everyone in her group turned away and began guiding others toward the safe building, leaving Eddy's Brother, Sarah and Doctor Andonuts behind.

"What was your name, again?" Doctor Andonuts asked.

Eddy's Brother simply shook his head and stormed off toward the hill. The doctor wondered if this sort of thing happened to him a lot.

~γγγγγγ~

Kevin pedaled hard up the steep hill he'd ridden down an eternity ago. Back then, he was propelled by gravity. Now, he was propelled by terror, and that proved to be a more powerful force. In between the houses he passed by on his right, he could see the bright inferno of the town below. The smoke stretched up above it, covering half of the otherwise clear night sky with smoldering black.

His eyes locked upon the house he recognized as his parents'. His breathing grew heavy and sweat began to form on his head. Kevin couldn't tell whether it was from biking so far uphill or from the terror clenching his stomach.

Finally, finally, Kevin reached the house. He hopped off of his bike, wincing at the sound it made as it tipped over and crashed into the lawn. He didn't slow down, however, until he reached the front door. He gently grasped the knob, choosing to paralyze his hand in fear rather than have it tremble and make noise. His heart pounded in his chest as though it was attempting to break out of it, and he slowly, silently turned the knob. After half a turn, it wouldn't turn any further, and Kevin pushed the door open.

The house was built so that most of the kitchen was visible from the front door. The back wall of the kitchen was comprised mostly of a large, panoramic window to view Cherry Falls in its entirety from high above. Currently, the light from the burning town illuminated three figures. Two of them lay on the kitchen floor, motionless, and one stood over them. It glared at Kevin, the bright, orange fire reflecting off its black helmet.

Kevin let out a tremendous scream.