Quick AN: Okay, so I WAS going to write out Double Dee fighting his first bad guy in this chapter, but then I thought I might as well give Riot himself some more screentime before I go thrusting Double Dee into the heat of battle. And so, this chapter came to be. Next chapter will be all about our favorite Low-On-The-Totem-Pole-Ed-Boy, Big Ed, and his first adventure on Ysmault: the homeworld of the Red Lantern Corps. Now, with that all out of the way, enjoy the chapter!
Disclaimer: I still don't own Ed, Edd n' Eddy, Marvel, or DC Comics.
We Are Riot
Double Dee didn't understand why he was leaving Eddy alone at the hospital or why he was leaving in the first place. Hell, he didn't even know where he was going at all. What he did know was that some sort of slime creature bonded to him and healed his injuries, all while taking on the form of a humanoid with big white eyes, a long, worm-like tongue, and a mouth full of needle sharp teeth. And when he and the creature spoke, they spoke in the third person referring to themselves as 'We' and by the name 'Riot', though he doesn't know why yet.
With that big brain of his, though, Double Dee will figure it out soon enough.
As Double Dee, or rather Riot, ran through a forest on his way out of Peach Creek he didn't seem to have any sort of rational thought going through his head. With each footstep there was a tremor as his feet left deep indents in the ground, and he just bulldozed his way through anything that got in his way. Trees, rocks, even a billboard. All of them got crushed or knocked aside by the frenzied monstrosity.
Eventually, the fused entity made its way to a cave where it could hide and finally explain things. Riot slowed himself from a frenzied run to a jog as he walked deep into the cave to make absolutely certain that he wouldn't be discovered. His body began to recede like some sort of sludgy water as most of it seemed to be absorbed into Double Dee's body with his more grievous wounds healed almost instantly. Although the scars still remained.
Double Dee gasped in shock and asked "Wha-Wha-What just happened?".
"I happened, that's what." snarked Riot.
Double Dee almost screamed at the sight of a sharp toothed, floating head right in front of him before his eyes traced the tar-like substance connected to it coming from his shoulder. He wasn't sure if he was dreaming, or if he had suffered a harder hit to the head than he had initially thought. Either way, it still freaked him out.
"Um, okay, who and what are you?" Double Dee asked while trying his best not to outright freak out.
"I am but a single member of a race of symbiotic organisms. We bond to host bodies, keeping ourselves alive while granting our hosts a plethora of powers that can be used to defend others, or to wreak havoc across the galaxy. Preferably the latter. You may call me Riot, and I have bonded to you, Eddward." the symbiote explained.
Riot honestly expected the boy to start screaming while calling him some kind of alien booger or something. Instead, he broke out into the biggest smile Riot's ever seen on any sentient life form.
"What a discovery! I'm speechless! I mean, this is an absolute coup! Actual extraterrestrial life right here in front of-"
Double Dee was stopped from ranting when Riot manifested a hand that pinched his lips shut.
"I thought you were speechless." he said playfully. "Now listen carefully, Eddward. You did not find us, we found you. Think of yourself as my ride."
"And where are you going, exactly?" Double Dee asked.
"We need to meet up with a man named Cletus Kasady. You know him?" Riot asked.
"I've read about him in the papers. He's a madman who murdered countless people with only eleven of his victims being known." Double Dee said.
Riot floated to the side and said "Correct, Eddward. And he is harboring a fugitive of my race that has bonded to him through his very bloodstream. A Symbiote who, when bonded to Kasady, became as insane and bloodthirsty as he is. What's worse is that he has taken my position of power from me, and turned my whole species against me!"
Double Dee started walking deeper into the cave, glad that Riot chose one that didn't have any mountain lions or bears in it. He hung on to every word that this symbiotic entity said to him as his ever insatiable thirst for knowledge was made apparent.
"What do you mean?" he asked the Symbiote.
"You see, back on my home planet, I was what you would call a team leader. It was my job to look after and do what was best to ensure my people's survival. Until Carnage came along and usurped my power. I was ejected from my homeworld and am now something of a loser, just like you were amongst your peers. I want to destroy Carnage and reclaim my rightful place as ruler of the Klyntars, that is what my species is called, but there's a problem. As Carnage has bonded to Cletus Kasady, he has been on the move here on earth for a long time now. And every time I manage to track him down he runs off! I managed to track him here to Peach Creek, but now that the Joker has attacked and destroyed your cul-de-sac and everyone in it, with the exception of you and your friends, Cletus has gotten away once again! And I have no idea where he is or how to track him down again so I may finally rid the universe of Carnage!" Riot explained as he went on an angry rant.
"Calm down, Riot! I'm sure that if we put our one and a half heads together, we can…"
"YOU THINK OF SOMETHING, SMART GUY!"
Double Dee quickly shushed Riot before settling himself against the wall of the cave.
"So?" Riot demanded.
But the smartest Ed-Boy just narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms as he stared at the wall of the cave. Riot didn't take too kindly to being ignored and persisted in goading his new host into finally giving him an answer. And the best way to do that, as far as the Symbiote knew, was to annoy the living hell out of Double Dee.
"Think! Think! Think! Think!" Riot began to chant.
He continued his chant of 'think' while getting progressively louder, forcing Double Dee to scrunch his eyes shut and cover his ears. This was Ed, Eddy, and the Kanker Sisters all over again! But he didn't care about that little factor so long as he managed to shut down the slimy parasite that now infested his own body.
"Think! Think! Think! Think! Think! Think! Think! Think! Think! Think! Think! Think! Thi-"
"VERY WELL, THEN!" yelled Double Dee.
Riot was certainly startled silent by the boy's sudden outburst, but he wasn't about to allow himself to be intimidated by this weaker life form.
"And it better be good." snarked Riot.
Double Dee didn't say anything in return. He just started walking out of the cave with his hands behind his back as he started walking back towards the remains of the cul-de-sac. He was hoping that it might have the answers he was looking for.
"Where're we going?" Riot asked, annoyed that he couldn't do anything to stop him.
Thanks to his astonishing memory, Double Dee was able to make it back to the ruins of the cul-de-sac without running into anyone. He started his journey of answer-seeking by going to the lane where Rolf had been smashing rocks with another rock. Coming upon a pile of gravel that was once a larger rock, Double Dee picked up a piece and put his thinker to the test. At least until a certain Symbiote made himself known again.
"You're on to something, aren't you? Oh, wait, wait, don't tell me: we hit 'em with a rock, and…" Riot paused as he realized something. "That's stupid! I could'a thought of that!"
He was broken from his angry thoughts as Double Dee walked off in another direction, dragging him along for the ride.
"NOW where are we going?!" Riot angrily demanded.
As Double Dee approached one rock in particular that was, amazingly, still in one piece, he began to see events play out before him as he saw Rolf taking a smaller rock and trying to hit the larger rock, but stopping himself just in time as Ed appeared in front of him.
"What is with the rock, Rolf?" Ed asked.
The son of a shepherd landed on his feet and smiled at the dimwitted Ed-Boy.
"Hello, bundt cake for brain Ed-Boy. Rolf is using this small rock to crush this bigger rock." Rolf explained.
"Bundt cake crushes rock?" Ed asked in confusion.
"No, only rock will break rock." Rolf replied.
And like that, Eddward was struck with inspiration.
"By George, that's the answer!"
"Pizza slice breaks rock?" Ed asked stupidly as he held up a slice of pizza.
"Ed-Boy, no pizza, ROCK!" Rolf growled, losing his patience.
In response, Ed put the pizza slice back into his jacket and pulled out a different snack food.
"Half-eaten pretzel bagel breaks rock?" he asked again.
"Must Rolf beat some sense into that overcooked noodle that you call a head?!" Rolf demanded as he raised his rock to strike.
However, he was quickly prevented from doing so as Double Dee grabbed one of his hands and rapidly shook it in gratitude. Even though these are just memories that he's viewing and he really shouldn't be able to interact with them. But this also allowed Ed to once again take the rock from Rolf while he wasn't looking.
"ROLF! Thank you for once again being an unlikely source of inspiration!" thanked Eddward as he ran off.
"I'm a noodlehead, and you're not!" Ed said dumbly, as he tossed the rock into the air and vanished.
"OOF!" yelped Rolf as the rock landed on his head and sent him to the ground. "Rolf too yearns the simple life as a noodlehead…"
And like that, he too faded away as the miniature flashback ended. Meanwhile, Double Dee felt the immediate need to report his findings to the Symbiote that has bonded to him.
"Riot, I've formulated a remedy to our rogue Symbiote dilemma, because only a rock can break a rock!" Eddward proudly declared.
"You spent all this time thinking PLUS a flashback, and THAT'S what you come up with?" Riot demanded.
"It's just an analogy, Riot. Rock breaks rock, fight fire with fire?" Double Dee said as he rook a familiar book out of his beanie. "We use reverse psychology."
Riot stared at Double Dee with a blank look for a moment. Then with a toothy grin, he said something that Double Dee would have honestly expected from Eddy.
"Oh, now I get it. We hit 'em with a book! That's a good one!"
"Perhaps a demonstration is in order." Double Dee sighed before clearing his throat. "Riot. Listen carefully now. Do not eat that dirt."
Riot looked to where Double Dee was pointing and scoffed at the sight of the dirt. But he soon started to sweat as the temptation became too great. Then, with the savagery of a beast, Riot shot out from Double Dee and started eating the dirt! It only took him a few bites to realize what he was doing before he spat it out.
"What did I just do? You told me NOT to eat the dirt!" exclaimed Riot as he got in Double Dee's face.
But Eddward wasn't scared as he started walking along and Riot receded back into him. If anything, he was pleased to see that his little trick worked.
"That's reverse psychology, Riot. In order to defeat our enemy, we must become our enemy." Double Dee said. "So, here's the deal. I will help you defeat Carnage because, like it or not, he's too strong for you to take on alone. And in return, you help me and my friends rid this world of the scum known as the criminal underworld for good! Deal?"
"Seeing as this is the only real option available to me, you've got a deal. But you're going to need training if you're going to master the powers that I possess." Riot replied.
Double Dee nodded as he realized that he was going to be particularly busy with getting stronger if he was going to eradicate the Joker and all others like him. This cleansing of the criminal underworld was something that he knew had to be done if future generations wanted to live without fear of constantly being attacked by homicidal maniacs who would gladly put them through a woodchipper if it meant satisfying their sick sense of bloodlust.
But there were some exceptions to the rule. His, Ed, and Eddy's old babysitter, Harleene Quinzel, or Harley Quinn as she's called in the field, wasn't with the Joker when he attacked the cul-de-sac. Supposedly, she'd given up the life of crime and was putting her skills in psychology to good use as a licensed therapist. But could it be possible for her to revert back to the criminal that she once was, hanging off of the Joker as his girlfriend? Double Dee knows that there's good in her, but with everything that's happened recently and Harley's own past, he just doesn't know anymore…
He was broken from his musings by the voice of someone he never thought he'd meet in his young life.
"Hey, don't you ever give up on your friends and loved ones. Either of you." said a familiar man known as Stan Lee.
Double Dee nodded and replied "We won't."
Though, inwardly, he was quite shocked that this man seemed to know about Riot. But, then again, he must've seen quite a few interesting things in his many years alive. Oh well, Double Dee just decided not to think too much about it.
"Who is that guy?" Riot asked from within Double Dee's mind as the boy pet Stan Lee's dog. "Wait, this thing looks delicious."
The beanie hat wearing Ed-Boy was quick to move on and prevent an accident. If he was going to be a hero of any kind, especially one that would get real results, unlike the Justice League, he'd need to have a serious talk with the Symbiote that has bonded to him.
"I have absolutely no objection to you sticking around, but if you do we're gonna have to have some ground rules, alright? You cannot just go around eating anyone that you want to." said Eddward.
"I cannot?" Riot asked.
"No, you cannot. Okay, um, we need to reiterate this, there are good people in this world. A lot of them. And there are bad people, you have to tell the difference. The deal is you will only ever be allowed to touch, harm, hurt, possibly, very POSSIBLY, eat very, very bad people. But never, ever, ever, EVER, good people! Alright?" explained Double Dee.
"Fine."
"Good."
"But how does one tell the difference?" Riot asked.
Ah, that was certainly a good question. One that Double Dee would need to answer through real life experience rather than a simple textbook answer.
"Oh, it's quite simple. I mean, you just have to… you can intuit it. You can sense it, sometimes you can even feel it." he tried to explain.
"Whatever you say, but can we get something to eat now? Otherwise your liver… it's starting to look really, really good… and juicy…"
Double Dee paled considerably, as he could tell from the tone in Riot's voice that he was not kidding.
"Alright, alright, hold on, I know a place where we can get something."
After a five minute walk, Double Dee entered a convenience store ran by a middle-aged Japanese-American woman. She was actually someone who Double Dee has known since he was a toddler, as she was good friends with his mother before her death at the hands of the Joker.
"Hello, Missus Cee!"
"How you holding up, Eddward?" Chen asked.
"Oh, about as well as one can be when everything they've ever known has been virtually erased from existence. Not to worry, I make it a point to try and not dwell on the past." Double Dee replied as he did a formidable job covering up his pain as he walked a little deeper into the store before asking his tenant "So, what shall we place on our culinary palettes today?"
"Tater tots. And chocolate." replied Riot.
"Very well, then. Seems like a dinner of champions if I've ever had one. Better than Mother's brussel sprouts, at least…" Double Dee said, mumbling that last part.
"The payment is due, Chen!"
Double Dee stopped in the middle of the aisle and looked towards the register to see Mrs. Chen getting harassed by a rough-looking man who seemed to be a gang member. Now the Double Dee of the past would either remain out of the conflict due to his own fear, or he would try to resolve the problem peacefully. But he wasn't that same scared child that he used to be anymore.
And he wasn't about to let a friend of his family get mugged like this.
"Please… I can't keep doing this!..." whimpered Chen.
"Now!" snapped the gangster as he pulled a gun on the poor woman.
"Bad guy, right?" Riot asked.
"Yup!" Double Dee replied simply.
The man kept his eyes and the gun trained on Chen as she scrambled to open the register, but his arm was suddenly grabbed by this slimy gray substance as he was swiftly yanked towards… Riot in full Symbiote form! And he did not look happy as he kept a firm grip on the would-be robber's arm.
"You come in here again, in fact you go anywhere in this city, prey on innocent people, and we will find you and eat both your arms, and then both of your legs! And then we will eat your face right off of your head, do you understand?" Riot asked, clearly making a very doable threat.
"Please…" the man silently whimpered.
"Yes, so you will be this armless, legless, faceless thing, won't you? Rolling down the street like a turd in the wind. You feel me?" threatened Riot.
"What the hell are you?!..." the man asked.
The right side of Riot's face peeled away to reveal the scarred face of Eddward 'Double Dee' as they gave the man bloodthirsty grins.
"We… are Riot." they said in unison.
As the man silently began to beg for his life, the Symbiote covered Double Dee's face again as Riot's 'eyes' narrowed in anticipation, a look of hunger appearing.
"On second thought…"
Chen watched in morbid fascination as this creature quite literally bit her would-be attacker's head off and ate it in one bite! Right before reverting back into the sweet young boy who used to come here all the time with his parents! And he didn't seem fazed at all by what had just happened!
"Eddward? What was that?" asked Chen.
"Well, you see, Ma'am… I have a parasite." Eddward replied. "Good night, Missus Chen."
With Riot's hunger satiated, for the moment, Double Dee left the store without further incident.
"A parasite?!" Riot asked in anger.
"Yes, it's a term of endearment." Double Dee said.
"Apologize!" demanded Riot.
"No!" denied Eddward.
But the Symbiote was having none of this parasite nonsense.
"APOLOGIZE!"
"Oh, very well then, I'm sorry. Anyway, it's time for us to begin our training in earnest." Double Dee said as he apologized.
"Yes. For soon, we shall lay waste to all who dare to commit such atrocities across the stars. And we shall do so with style, as they say."
"I just hope Ed and Eddy are doing okay on their own…" Double Dee mumbled under his breath.
"I still find it to be a humorous coincidence that you and your friends all have the same first name." commented Riot.
Double Dee chuckled his iconic chuckle as he replied "Humorous, indeed.".
***To Be Continued…***
And so we have truly introduced Double Dee as Riot into the story! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, because I had a lot of fun writing it! But until next time, be sure to like, follow, and review. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time.
