Task 1: The Three Ed Boys Grunt
Chapter 7
Fifteen minutes had passed since the boys had chased down and unmasked the suspect responsible for releasing the rats into the sewers. They had found their way back to the surface, and we're currently conversing amongst themselves as they stripped off their soiled overalls and gloves. Julio had reunited with his family, who were quite happy to see his smiling face, especially his little sister Amanda.
Most notable, the entire neighborhood seemed to be in a state of relief and bliss. In the middle of the street, several police officers had arrived and were conversing amongst themselves as they took interviews with the neighborhood residents and filed the necessary paperwork to book the suspect.
In the midst of the hustle and bustle characteristic of the neighborhood street corner, Julio approached the Ed boys with Amanda by his side.
"Boys," said Julio, "I can't thank you guys enough for the help. If I didn't find you, I probably would have never tracked down the source of the rat problem."
"Ah it's nothing," said Eddy, "I gotta give this one to Ed and Rolf. Without Ed finding that rat, and Rolf's sniffer, we would have probably still be searching down there!"
Double Dee sighed.
"Still it's quite disappointing that those who you trust often turn out to be your greatest misfortune!" said Double Dee, "Who could have possibly known that Debattista was releasing the rats into the sewers in an attempt to have this entire city block condemned, after which he would repair the damage and sell the properties for his own personal gain!"
"Don't worry," said Eddy, "The jerks getting what's coming to him. Now that the city is actually aware of the issue, they agreed to come in and clean up the neighborhood."
"Yep," said Julio as he rubbed the top of Amanda's head in a brotherly fashion, "And now we can stay in the neighborhood we've loved for all these years."
Julio and Amanda shared a brief smile at which point their attention was drawn toward the end of the street, where Debattista was being placed into a police cruiser as a detective read him his Miranda rights. The detective was a middle aged balding man; the little hair that he had was reduced to a brown fringe around the side of his scalp, with the color matching the mustache adorning his upper lip. He donned a white button down shirt, accented by a monochromatic blue striped tie, and a brown shoulder holster, cradling his standard issue Glock in the area of his rib cage. A golden police badge was mounted on the area of his right pectoral muscle. Overtop of the white shirt he wore a brown dress jacket, accented by a pair of lighter brown dress trousers. In his right hand, he cradled a large steaming mug of black coffee.
The detective followed the police officer to the cruiser, reading DeBattistas rights as he did so. As the police placed DeBattista into the cruiser, the detective posed a question, in a timbre eerily similar to that of Walter Matheau.
"Now, do you understand these rights?" asked the detective.
"I would have gotten away with it," said DeBattista in an angry intonation, "If it weren't for those meddling kids and their little rat too."
"Yeah yeah," said the detective as he closed the door to the cruiser, "Save the Hanna-Barbera stuff for the judge."
A few seconds passed, at which point the police cruiser pulled away, ushering Debattista to the prison cell that would act as his new home. As it did so, another officer approached the detective, offering his praise for the arrest.
"Another fine pinch sir," said the cop, "Great detective work."
"I'll admit, those kids did most of the work," said the detective in a slow manner, "But I'm happy to see yet another reckless criminal see justice."
The detective gazed forward with a blank stare.
"Now if I can only round up those five dangerous thugs I've been after since ninety-four," said the Detective to himself, "They all say I'm crazy, but mark my words that crazy mixed up gang of hoodlums in boxer shorts will see their day."
At the conclusion of his statement, the Detective lifted his coffee mug to his lips and proceeded to take a long drawn out slurp. As he did so, the Ed's, currently standing at the opposite end of the street corner, took notice of a stout figure emerging from the shadows of a vacant lot. This particular individual was just as pale as the entities that each boy had encountered in the sewers an hour earlier, but sported a hunch back, a head of grey curls, and a perpetual toothy smile. Like his brethren, he wore a pair of black and white wingtip shoes and a pair of shorts, his colored red with accents of yellow.
As Kevin and Rolf conversed with Julio, the Eds observed with confusion as the individual poked his head out from behind the adjacent house, his eyes darting back and forth as he did so. After ensuring the coast was clear, he proceeded to tip toe across the street, as if he were attempting to avoid being seen.
Unfortunately for him, upon passing over one of the round sewer grates adorning the street, he was met with quite the surprise. The manhole cover suddenly spring open in a cartoonish fashion, at which point all five of his brethren ( Frank, Tony, Bing, Dean and Sammy) suddenly emerged. In an instant, the group retrieved a large burlap sack from hammer space, engulfed the new individual inside, and drug him down into the manhole, closing the cover behind them; a process not unlike that of a trap door spider snatching its prey.
The three Ed boys stood in silence for a few moments, after which Ed decided to comment in an absent minded manner.
"The Chosen One has been returned," said Ed as he giggled dopily.
"Yep," said Eddy, "And it only took twenty four years."
Double Dee turned towards his friends with a stern expression.
"Alright," said Double Dee, "Am I the only one here who is not in the proverbial loop, and has the sense to actually question who those strange individuals actually were? Am I supposed to just forget that we had even encountered them?
"Sure are," said Eddy in a casual manner as he placed his arm around Double Dee, "Sweep it under the rug, just like MTV and Antonnucci did once it was over. Just be thankful that we were his success story!"
Eddy laughed as he delivered a playful punch to the shoulder of the confused Double Dee, at which point he returned to his conversation with Julio.
After another fifteen minutes, the crowds and police presence had finally dispersed, leaving Julio, Amanda, and the cul-de-sac occupants as the only inhabitants of the dark street. The boys had spent their time assisting Julio in cleaning up the majority of the mess caused by rat activity within his home, and were in the process of saying their final goodbyes to their new acquaintance.
"Well Julio," said Eddy as he shook Julio's hand, "Unfortunately we have to go, but it's been real man!"
"Thanks pal," said Julio as he returned Eddy's handshake, reaching his arm upward to deliver a slight brotherly hug, "You guys got my digits right? I gotta stay in touch with my sewer brothers!"
Julio laughed as Double Dee removed his cell phone from his pocket.
"Absolutely," said Double Dee, "I have recorded your phone number in my cell phone contacts, and we will be sure to chat often!"
"Awesome," said Julio, "Dont be strangers now. Hit me up wheneva your back in the city. I'll be sure to pay a visit out to Peach Creek someday."
The boys shared a slight smile as they shared their final goodbyes. After doing so, the boys began their trek down the street in the direction of the bus stop.
"Alright boys," said Eddy, "Thats enough adventure for one day. Let's go get cleaned up."
"I cannot agree more," said Double Dee, "In my opinion, poor hygiene is the equivalent of pain, and being covered in raw sewage is the definition of excruciating! That and the fact that we still have yet to find ourselves a mentor for our service project has me in quite the tizzy."
"The sludge filled adventure has made Rolf's keester weary," said Rolf, "Rolf can no longer wait to be back in the arms of his Sweet Babushka."
"Well ya better clean up well dude," said Kevin, "I'm pretty sure hot girly girls like Lindsay don't go for guys that smell like an outhouse."
Kevin giggled slightly.
"I don't suppose anyone, regardless of their gender, would find us in an acceptable condition for socializing," said Double Dee
"Whatever," said Eddy, "I'm beat. Let's stop talking and get back to the cul-de-sac."
Eddy paused prior to continuing.
"Still, I can't help feeling like we forgot something," said Eddy.
At that moment, in a speak of the devil like manner, the slight sound of scratching filled the air from behind the boys, accompanied by a small squeak. This prompted all five boys to turn around in surprise, at which point they spotted familiar a modest sized, white and brown furred rat, staring up at them as it balanced itself on its hind legs using its long pink tail.
"Mr. Sniffles!" yelled Ed as he reached downward, grabbing the rat below his front paws and lifting him up to eye level, "You came back!"
"Ed, what are you doing!?" yelled Eddy, "Put that rat down, we gotta go!"
"No way Jose," said Ed, "He's my friend, and he's coming with us!"
"You gotta be kidding me," said Eddy.
"Please Eddy," said Ed, "We can stop at the pet store down the street and get him a nice big cage, a water bottle, some food, and a nice big wheel for him to exercise on. C'mon, he's the one who helped us find all the bad rats. Besides, look at his fur, it's different than all of the other rats. He was probably an abandoned pet!""
Double Dee approached Ed with an expression of curiosity, closely examining Mr. Sniffles.
"It's true," said Double Dee, "This rats fur pattern seems to be more in tune to those kept as pets...much different than the unkempt grey/brown fur of the feral variety. I would have to agree that this particular rat is a domesticated rat that had unintentionally been released into the sewers. Poor thing."
"So I can keep him?" asked Ed, as he stared toward his friends with a slight pout, "I promise I'll take care of him, and keep his cage clean, and feed him, and...
"Alright already!" yelled Eddy, "You can keep the damn rat!...geez, your acting like I'm your mom, she's the one you're gonna have to explain it, to not me!"
"Yay!" yelled Ed as he jumped up and down, happily following his friends down the street as he addressed his new pet, "We are going to have so much fun. I can't wait for you to meet May, she's gonna love you! Oh and Marie, and Lee, and Lindsay, even though she probably won't want to hold you, and Nazz, and..."
Eds rambling and excited voice slowly faded out as the boys rounded the corner, on their way back to Peach Creek after a quick, unplanned pit stop at the pet store to pick up items for the care of Ed's new friend.