Eddy woke up with a start.
"That… was new…" he muttered, breathing heavily and wiping a bit of cold sweat from his brow. After a few moments of catching his breath, Eddy glanced at his clock. Ten thirty-eight.
Eddy swallowed another small lump in his throat and lied back on his pillow, still dazed and not quite ready to get up yet. He couldn't get Edd's uncharacteristically callous expression out of his mind.
What the hell was that? Eddy thought, bringing the covers up to his chin. Why had it changed? He'd been having that dream for weeks now, why had it suddenly changed? First it was all the kids; now just one. And why Double D? What had he been so angry about?
Eddy blinked and sat back up. "It was just a dream," he scolded himself in an attempt to calm his nerves. "Jeez, Eddy, get a grip."
He yawned and was about to get out of bed, when his door was violently thrust open. The sheer sound of the sliding door slamming against the wall nearly sent Eddy into heart failure.
"Rise and shine, Eddy!" Edd chirped cheerfully as he stood in the doorway right next to Ed.
"Eddy!" Ed exclaimed, seeing Eddy sitting up in his bed. Before Eddy knew it, he and Edd were running towards him. Eddy knew what was coming.
"Guys, no! Wait!"
"Dogpile!" his two friends cried in unison, jumping on his bed with as much force as they could. This sent Eddy flying to the ceiling. He made a grab for the mirror ball dangling above his bed, but he missed.
"And again!" Edd and Ed exclaimed, jumping on his mattress just as Eddy hit the bed. This sent the startled boy flying up again.
"Woah!!!" Eddy yelled, midair. Dogpiles were one thing, but this was ridiculous. "Stop it!"
"And again!" Edd and Ed chanted, amused, as they continued to jump in synch, tossing Eddy in the air with each landing they made on his bed.
"Would you two-"
"And again!"
"Hey!!! I said for you to-"
"And again!"
"Ah! Ed!! Double D!!!"
"And again!"
"Enough!!!"
"And ag-"
Before Ed and Edd could continue their new game, Eddy landed on Ed, who bumped into Edd. The three went tumbling off of the bed and onto the floor.
"Would you cut it out, already!?!?" Eddy yelled at his friends, pinning the two of them to the floor. Ed was grinning widely while Edd was attempting unsuccessfully to suppress a giggle. Eddy froze for a moment, reminded of his identical giggle in the dream. He shook his head quickly, trying to dislodge the memory.
"That was fun, Eddy!" Ed said. "Can we do it again?"
"No!" Eddy jumped off of his two friends and straightened out his shirt. He glanced at Double D quickly before walking to his closet.
"You had caffeine this morning, didn't you, Sockhead?" he asked as he entered the walk-in closet to change, knowing that Edd was rarely this playful unless he'd been subjected to soda or some other caffeinated beverage.
Edd chuckled, sitting on his bed. "Is it that obvious?" he asked, kicking his feet of the edge.
Eddy poked his head out from the closet. "Obvious? You have one sip of soda, and you go off the walls, Double D. You're worse than Ed sometimes," he complained, ducking back into the closet. He finished putting his clothes on and came out, grabbing his comb and standing on a chair in front of his dresser. He began to groom his hair. "I thought you didn't believe in soda in the mornings, anyway? Isn't that breaking rules?"
Eddy half-expected a witty retort, but he didn't get it. Instead the hyper Edd merely grinned and jumped on Ed's back, taking the big guy for surprise.
"Ed did it!"
"I did it!" Ed agreed proudly, wobbly from the sudden weight of Edd on his back. "Uh, what'd I do, Double D?" he asked as he regained his balance.
"You, Ed," Double D began to explain as he leaned over Ed's head, putting his upside-down face right in front of his, "… need a breath mint. But you also substituted my caffeine-free iced tea for soda when I went to prepare my waffles this morning!" he explained perkily. He hopped off of Ed, sending him falling to the ground.
"Waffles!" Ed cried out as he hit the floor. "Yum."
"Thus sending me into this easily entertained and exceedingly hyperactive state you are witnessing right now!" Edd finished as he bounced over to Eddy, who had been watching the spectacle from his mirror. "Here, let me help you with that," Edd said, grabbing the comb and about to comb his friend's hair for him.
"Uh… no." Eddy grabbed the comb back, but nearly fell of the chair. He stabilized himself and looked at the two. They were now standing next to each other, both wearing a goofy grin. It looked normal on Ed, but on Edd… it was just freaky.
Eddy sighed and jumped down. Double D was hardly tolerable when he got like this… but it was a welcome distraction, nevertheless. He was going to need all the distractions he could get to keep his mind off of that freaky, almost evil look the same boy had given him in his dream.
"So, Eddy." Edd's sprightly voice jolted Eddy out of his thoughts. "What's on the agenda for today?"
Eddy walked to the door leading to his hallway. "Pigeon hunting, what else? But I can't think on an empty stomach. Let's get some food, boys." He placed his hand on the doorknob and turned to his friends. "Uh, guys?"
Ed was watching Edd, who was sitting in a swivel chair and slowly spinning himself around in circles. "I wanna spin, Double D!" Ed pleaded.
"Are you having fun?" Eddy asked irritably. He crossed his arms and raised an annoyed eyebrow at his unusually easily amused friend. He was hungry, and Edd's little caffeine high was wearing thin on his nerves. "I'd really like to get going sometime today, Sockhead."
Edd looked at Eddy as best he could while spinning in circles, then came to a slow stop, wearing a somewhat sheepish grin. "Heh heh, sorry, Eddy."
Ed was grinning a more playful grin, however, as he stood behind the chair.
"Skip to my lou, my darling!" he said as he took hold of the back of the chair and gave it a mighty spin.
Edd held on to the seat for dear life as he spun wildly around. Eddy couldn't help but laugh as he watched - the look on Edd's face was too priceless.
The force of Ed's spin caused the chair to glide across his room. It continued spinning around until it hit the side of his bed, causing the chair to abruptly stop, which in turn caused Edd to fall to the floor in a dizzy heap.
Edd stood slowly, having a difficult time keeping his balance. "My, the world seems to be rotating at a faster velocity than normal…" he mumbled as he dizzily stumbled about Eddy's room.
"Good one, Ed!" Eddy praised, still laughing.
"I wanna ride!" Ed declared, jumping onto the chair. "Spin cycle! Whites only, don't forget the bleach!"
Eddy finally stopped laughing and caught hold of Edd, who was about to stumble into him. "Not now, Monobrow," Eddy said, still grinning. He patted Edd on the back. "We got breakfast and a scam to cook up. Come on," he said as he led the still wobbly Edd out of the room, motioning Ed to follow.
"Aw, but Eddy!" Ed protested, getting off the chair and following his two friends. "What about the stubborn grass stains?"