Chapter 12: Breakfast in a New Place

Edd and Eddy exchanged glances as they watched their friend hungrily down a bowl of unidentifiable food; looking back down at their own breakfast, the two of them had the sudden inclination to nearly gag.

"Ummm. Pardon me," Double d began, feeling a bit ungrateful, "but what exactly is it that we're eating?"

"Oh!" Max exclaimed, turning around from washing a few dishes, "I'm glad you asked. It's octopus tentacles mixed with organic peanut butter and sea weed, topped off with roasted onions and graded cheddar cheese."

He said that as if he was proud of the meal he had prepared.

"Oh….I see," Double said. He was honestly at a loss for words; whatever had been plopped in the bowl in front of him didn't even look edible.

Taking a small whiff of the food, Double d recoiled back in horror, placing his hands roughly over his nose. Thankfully, Max has resumed cleaning the dishes, so he hadn't seen the teen's sudden reaction.

Double d glanced over at Eddy, who apparently looked like he shared Double d's sentiment regarding the dish. Although the food did in fact look utterly horrible, the only thing that disgusted them even more was the fact the Ed seemed to be enjoying it – like, REALLY enjoying it. Thick coats of peanut butter was splattered across his lips, while some of the octopus tentacles dangled from his mouth. Setting the bowl down after practically chugging its contents, Ed let out a huge burp.

"BUUUUUUURRRRRRPPPPPP!"

"Dude, nice one!" Ben chuckled, giving the Ed boy a thumbs up as a sign of approval.

"Ugh! boys," Gwen muttered to herself, rolling her eyes.

Letting her eyes wander across the table, the orange-haired girl found herself looking over at an obviously disgusted Double d who was now using his fork to determine if the octopus was still alive or not. He then leaned back into his chair in thought, placing a finger over his chin; he looked like he was contemplating whether the meal would kill him if he ate it.

Feeling friendly, and a bit remorseful, she leaned over to him and whispered, "Hey, if you don't want it, I can take it off of your hands."

Double d glanced over at her with an initial look of confusion; however, that confusion soon turned into gratefulness.

"Really? Are you sure?" he asked.

"Sure. I've been having Grandpa's food for years, so I'm pretty used to it by now. In fact, I'm sure I even had to evolve in order to consume his food," she replied with a smile.

Nodding his head, the smart Edd slid the bowl across the table to Gwen, careful not to alert Grandpa the object into her hand, Gwen then proceeded to pull the dish closer to her with an equal amount of stealth. Doing the same thing with her plate, which was already finished, Gwen passed it over to the Edd boy.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Double d quickly mouthed the words 'thank you' just before Max finished the dishes and turned back around to face the table.

"Well, guys, how is it?" he asked, scanning the Eds' faces.

"Mmmhmm. It's good," Ed said, some peanut butter still on his face.

"Ummm…y-yes..it was quite…scrumptious," Double d jumped in, hoping his earnesty would serve to shield him from suspicion. He was never very good at lying to people – in fact, he hated doing it – but this was an emergency situation.

"Well, I'm glad you liked it," Max said with a smile.

Looking over at his friend beside him, Double d gave Eddy a sheepish grin while the other simply shook his head in faux disappointment. After the meal was over, and after Eddy was forced to finish his breakfast, Max cleared the table and collected the dishes to put them in the sink.

As Max tended to the dishes once again, the teens had all started to do their own things. Ben and Ed had suddenly gotten into a conversation about superheroes and video games while Eddy had passed out due to the ungodly taste of the food. Gwen took out her laptop and once again began typing feverishly on the keys. Double d was the only one who had nothing in particular to do and simply glanced around the room like a lost puppy.

Finally, the dishes were finished and Max had retired from the sink. Wiping the remaining water off with a nearby towel that hung just to the right of him above the sink, Max headed to the driver's seat.

Double d, being quite bored and wanting any kind of distraction, quickly got up from the table and headed over to the older man; he seemed to be focused on the dashboard, checking the status of the vehicle to make sure everything was on the up-and-up.

"Hey," he greeted upon seeing Double d's approach, "come sit down. I've got a few more things to do before we can leave; you seem like a smart kid, I might need your help on some of this stuff."

Sitting down somewhat meekly in the passenger seat, Double d remained silent as he watched the man continue to examine the dashboard. To be honest, his quiet disposition was a combination of not wanting to distract Max and of not knowing how to start a conversation.

"Ummm, so…" he finally started, searching for the proper words, "where exactly will we be headed?"

Max looked over his shoulder at the teen, "Well, for now, we're gonna need to get some more gas. The tank is almost empty. Once we get that done, we'll hit the road."

'Hit the road' kind of sounded to Double d like, 'I don't know where we're going, and it'll probably take a long time'.

But the beanie-wearing teen didn't want to sound rude, so he instead decided to slightly change the subject, "You said you could help us control our powers. How exactly might you be able to achieve this?"

Max leaned back into the chair, placing his full attention on the teen in front of him, "I may not look like it, but I've dealt with things like this before; aliens, extra terrestrials, or whatever you want to call them – I've had multiple run ins with them before. You see, Ben - my grandson - was just like you when he found the omnitrix. Heh - well, maybe not EXACTLY like you. He was confused, innocent, and a little scared at first, but when he had someone who could help him control his powers, he realized that he could use his abilities for good – he could use them to help people. That's what I'm going to do for you."

"Ok," Double d said with a slight head nod. He was aware of the fact that Max hadn't answered his question in the slightest, but it was nice to see that his intentions were coming from a good place.

Max's face then began to soften as he looked up at Double d, "Hey son, are you sure you want to come with us? You'll be leaving your family behind, you know."

Double d licked his dry lips as he considered his answer; of course it had been a concern that his parents would be horribly worried about him – a worry for both himself and his friends. He didn't want to purposely hurt anyone, but he felt this was the best way to go about things; he could easily see himself or his friends accidentally hurting someone because they couldn't control their powers, so gaining control over these abilities was top priority.

"Yes," he said, raising his head with a confident tone in his voice, "I'm sure."

A genuine smile crossed over Max's face, but Double d hadn't seen it – he was too focused on looking out at the lot through the window.

"Alright, guys, you'll need to buckle up," Max suddenly shouted to everyone in the back, causing Double d to jump in his seat, "we'll be leaving in just a moment."

"Buckle up? Where's the buckle, then?" Eddy complained, looking down at his seat.

"It's an expression, dude," Ben said with a smirk. Eddy didn't like this kid.

The sound of the engine roaring to life echoed throughout the vehicle, vibrating the van from the inside out. Realizing that he should probably join the others, Double d hoped out of the passenger seat and walked back to the table.

"Hey," Max called, turning to face the teen before he left, "Leaving your home isn't an easy decision. You're a pretty brave kid – you all are."

Double d awkwardly nodded his head and tried to give the most comfortable smile he could without looking weird – he didn't know what to do when people gave him compliments. After giving what he hoped was a normal smile, Double d rejoined the others back at the table.

"Hey, what'd he say to you?" Eddy asked as he sat down, slowly recovering from the food coma he had been in.

"Hm? Oh, nothing much, I suppose. I inquired as to whether he had any criteria by which he may teach us how to control-"

"Boring! Never mind," Eddy interrupted, placing his face down into his crossed arms.

Smacking his lips disappointedly at Eddy's response, Double d let out a long sigh and looked out the window; the sun was fully up now, judging by the intensity of the light, and he could practically see the heat from its rays rising up from the concrete lot. The sounds of Ben and Ed conversing in the background were something of a minor distraction to Double d, but he tried his best to keep his thoughts organized.

Slowly, the RV pulled out of the lot, leaving an empty parking space in its wake as it rolled out onto the road. Although it was still relatively early, Double d could still see cars meandering through the street, but it was probably just early enough for most people to head to work. Glancing at the houses that lined the sides of the street, Double d absentmindedly let his eyes fall on all of the unmowed lawns and broken picket fences that decorated the abodes – it was like he was trying to take in all the details of Peach creek before he left. One final look upon the place that he called 'home'.

Before they could leave however, just like Max had pointed out before, the RV pulled into a gas station that looked like it hadn't been used in ages. The rusty surface of the metal frames on the gas containers and the chipped paint that had long since left the exterior of the colored columns, were all signs that pointed to this place being a dump – not at all worth trying to find gas of any kind. Max must not have noticed this and was already on the outside of the vehicle attempting to figure out how to pay the machine.

"What about Sumo Slammers?" Ben asked with an excited grin.

"Oh! Sumo Slammers is so cool," Ed replied with an equal amount of excitement, "I like the show and it's also my favorite game."

"Dude, same here," Ben exclaimed, "I even have the portable and a few of the trading cards."

"You have the trading cards? Can I see them?" Ed begged, prompting Ben to respond with an enthusiastic "yeah!" as he stood up and headed for a backpack in the corner.

Pulling out a small device and a deck of cards, he walked back to the table and heavily sat down; sprawling the cards down on the table's surface, Ben watched with pride as Ed fawned over his massive collection. Then, after turning the device on, the two of them watched as a game logo appeared on the screen with a fairly fat sumo wrestler bending down beneath it – "Sumo Slammer".

Excitedly, the two teens couldn't help but geek out at the game's logo and font as if it was more important than life itself; Ben was the first to play the game, getting pretty far in his first go. Next was Ed, who didn't get nearly as far as Tennyson, but was still nonetheless having fun. The sounds of digital beeps and in-game combat noises were enough to awaken Eddy, who angrily lifted his head up from his arms.

"Hey could you keep it down, I'm trying to sleep here," he mumbled in a groggy voice.

"Sorry, dude – No-can-do," Ben said in response, "I'm already on level 20."

"What the heck kind of game are you guys even playing?" he asked, too tired to argue with Ben.

"It's 'Sumo Slammers'," Ben said, glancing disapprovingly at Eddy, "Don't tell me you've never heard of Sumo Slammers."

Eddy shook his head, albeit somewhat hesitantly, as Ed and Ben reacted in shock.

"Eddy, you've never played Sumo Slammers?" the large, Ed-boy gasped.

Eddy stared at him with a deadpan look, "Nope."

"Never?" Ben reiterated.

"Nope."

"But, Eddy, it's so fun and cool," Ed stated, raising his hands into the air for emphasis.

"Yeah, you may as well say that you don't play video games at all," Ben chuckled.

"Whatever, dude," Eddy snarled as he placed his face back into the embrace of his folded arms.

Felling a tap on his shoulder, the irritated teen raised his head once more, "What?" he asked with a bit of warning in his voice.

"Wanna give it a try?" Ben asked, holding the gaming device out in front of him.

Staring at the portable apparatus for a few moments, the small Ed boy paused before finally letting out a sigh and taking it from Ben's expecting hands. Holding it firmly in his hands, he stared at the screen.

"How do I even play?" he questioned, experimenting with a few of the buttons.

"Figure it out," Ben said.

Tightening his lower lip as an expression of mild anger, Eddy decided to ignore the boy's comment as the game began. Not even a few seconds later, there was a series of fighting sounds before the message 'You were defeated' popped up on the screen followed by a melancholic 'you lose' tone.

"Ohhhh, you lose, Eddy," Ed said, stating the obvious.

"Wait, wait, wait. Let me try again," Eddy growled.

Ed and Ben both exchanged smiles as if to say 'we got him' before turning their attention back to a focused Eddy.

In almost an identical fashion and similar time, the same words of defeat popped up on the screen. Eddy's left eyelid twitched in frustration.

"One more time!" he said; although this was more of a demand than a question.

Again, defeat was inevitable.

"God f#*%ing Damnit!" Eddy cried aloud, causing Ben and Ed to giggle.

This time, without even asking, he jumped immediately back into the fray, trying his absolute best not to die like the three other times before – no luck. He eventually was defeated and Eddy just set the device back on the table with a shaking head.

"No, no, no – I am done with this game!" he screamed, crossing his arms in anger.

Ben looked down at the screen on the device and then looked back up at Eddy, "Dude, at least you did WAY better this time than you did on the other ones."

"I did?" Eddy questioned, realizing that he hadn't really been keeping track of the score.

"Yeah, dude, look – the game shows the scores of the past five games along with the most recent one. You beat your last score by almost double," Ben explained.

Eddy's angry disposition was now replaced by a genuinely curious expression; it was true that he hadn't exactly excelled at the game, but to him it would be enough to just improve. Taking a look at the device in Ben's hand, Eddy watched in surprise as he scanned the current and past score – it seemed Ben wasn't lying; Eddy had done much better with his most recent play.

"You wanna try one more time?" Ben questioned.

"Uhhhh…..yeah, sure," Eddy said, a small smile appearing on his lips.

A few minutes later, Max had finally filled the RV's tank with gas; he was beyond thankful that he was able to get any fuel out of this venture. Opening the door once again and sitting down in the driver's seat, Max pulled the buckle across his chest and snapped it into its place on the other end. Placing his hands lightly on the wheel, he turned around as if he had forgotten something.

"Does anyone have to go to the bathroom? I'm sure this place has one," he said.

Ben, Ed, and Eddy were way too involved in the game to respond, so he turned his attention to Gwen and Double d.

Judging by the state of the gas station, Double d was confident that if it had a bathroom, it was probably in the worst hygienic condition imaginable.

"Umm. No, I believe I'm quite fine," he said, hoping Max wouldn't push any further.

The man nodded before turning his attention to his granddaughter, "Gwen?" he asked.

"I'm fine Grandpa," she said with a wave, "Besides, this doesn't look like the most hygienic place to go to the bathroom."

Double d couldn't have agreed more.

Max simply shrugged his shoulders before he turned around and turned the key in the ignition, starting up the engine once again. Pulling the humming vehicle out of the bleak area, Max turned the wheel as the van pulled out once more unto the street.

Heading down the road, Double d kept his eyes focused on an upcoming sign that simply read: 'Leaving Peach Creek'.

End of Chapter 12

Author's Note: Hey, guys. I'm aware that I haven't been able to add a lot to this particular story, but I have a good excuse – I mean – Reason for that. (phew, saved it). One of the reasons why I haven't been updating this particular story is because I've been focusing on a few other stories of mine. I would really enjoy it if some of you guys checked it out, although it's really up to you. I can't exactly guarantee that the chapter uploads for this story will be consistent, but I'll try to add to it when I can - which is basically whenever I feel creative enough to write anything. Lol.

Anyway, you guys know the drill - comment on this chapter and tell me what you thought about it.

P.S: Here's a hint - I work mostly on the stories of mine that get the most comments, so if you really want this series to continue, I suggest you leave somethin'. Bye!