Canto II
In which dear Eddy learns a difficult lesson about life, and the beast within us all and within himself.
"That which is done out of love always takes place beyond good and evil." -Friedrich Nietzsche
The sun beamed down through a cloudless, deep blue sky, and joined with the balmy breeze from the sea as it danced over the shoreside buildings and the people therein, not that many were inside. Much of the residents were out enjoying the season and their time off from work or school. It was, simply, a typical Ocean Shores day.
The youthful of the bunch chose to while away their hours at Mad Town, where their aerial gyrations nicely complemented the ocean breeze on their faces. It was here that the Rocket siblings entertained themselves. It was here their friends and enemies imitated and attempted to outdo each other in stuntwork. It was here Eddy would find them.
He skidded into the park on his roller blades, hefting his old hockey stick over his shoulder. He kicked off towards the half pipe, picking up more and more speed. Otto noticed as the boy approached.
"Yo, Eddy!" he did a small somersault in midair and sped back down the slope. "What's up, ma--"
His greeting was cut off, along with his head, as Eddy leapt up into the pipe just as Otto's descent leveled out, the relations of harmonic oscillation dictating that he be propelled into the point of greatest velocity. Eddy swung his stick out with full force, added to his own momentum and that of Otto's as it made contact. The blade glimmered slightly, for Eddy had made some modifications. The chipped and taped end and been replaced by a metal blade taken from his father's lawnmower. It cut into the shaft and was held in place by a crudely taped knot of thick rope. The makeshift joint held, as the resistance offered by Otto's neck was less than that of the adhesive and hemp. The blade slid neatly through the gap between vertebrae and exited the other side, neatly severing the spinal cord and all major veins and arteries. The smallest were cauterized by friction and the heat of the blade that had been dragged through the afternoon sun, while the others remained open to the pressures produce by his still-beating heart.
His pulse, quickened by his day of sporting activity, pulsed blood out of the open tubes in rapid, lengthy jets. The detached head, having been given some rotational velocity by the blow, began spinning counterclockwise even as the body continued sliding forward down below. The top portion of the body, too, had been knocked back, causing it to travel more slowly than the bottom, leaving the corpse to make its own clumsy attempt at rotation. This failed rather quickly, and the body slumped onto its back, continuing to squirt out hot streams of blood, which painted the sides of the pipe and even reached the top ledges, where the former boy's three friends still stood, their minds not having yet processed the event transpiring below.
Reggie was the first to spring into action, just as the severed head succumbed to gravity, and bounced and rolled along the base of the pipe. "Otto!" she yelled as she pushed off from the railing. As she slid sideways her roller blades lost traction on the steaming puddle that had recently grown at her feet. She was carried forward, and knocked her head on the edge as she fell. Her neck snapped, crushed by her full body weight as she landed on the wooden slope below. She continued sliding feet-first, the splinters of the pipe catching and tearing at her shirt, pulling it up mercifully to cover the deformations just above her shoulders.
"Oh no!" cried Sam.
"Dude!" joined Twister. The Twist-Cam was still rolling, and he watched the scene through its lens. His eyes were drawn automatically to the action below, and the growing heap of flesh. His mind dimly noted that her shirt was not where it was supposed to be, leaving her still-developing chest to be exposed to the open air and reel of tape in the camera.
It registered a few seconds later that this was no ordinary beef.
Eddy had vaulted over the pipe completely with his one graceful leap, leaving death and chaos in his wake. His wheels touched earth again and he rolled onward, his cape billowing majestically behind him. The rail was next in his path. He executed a quick change of direction and leapt up onto it. He continued on for several yards more before colliding in a not so graceful way with Trish, who was thrown from the rail. Eddy kept after her, stomping his roller blades into her stomach, and twirling his makeshift scythe over his head before slashing it down and across her eyes.
She screamed in pain and horror, while still trying to process what had just happened and to come to grips with the fact that she could no longer see. Her screams were joined by those of Sam and Twister, who had just realized their friends' fate.
Eddy was aroused by the noise. He spun around and skated back towards the two boys to finish the job. Twister stood over the body of his best friend, wondering how it could be lying so strangely that he couldn't see the head. Sam tended to Reggie, confused as to whether it was more decent to expose her mangled neck or her bare chest.
Twister looked up as Eddy stood over them. "Eddy! Go get help! I think something's wrong with Otto." His eyes rolled over towards Reggie's general direction. "And Reggie too..." Eddy simply stood and looked down, scythe in hand. "Dude, did you hear me?" He felt a sudden jolt as a gloved hand shot out, knocking his wing helmet off and seizing a fistful of his hair. His head was jerked back, and he was aware of an alien sensation as the blade was lodged in his throat and completely blocked the trachea. He was vaguely aware that he could no longer breathe, even as blood leaked down into his lungs.
"Twister!" Sam cried as he looked up to see his remaining friend dangling from a blood-soaked blade. Eddy tilted the blade to allow the body to slide off and fall in a heap next to the others. He turned. "Eddy, what are you doing?!"
"Sam." He rolled slowly towards the boy, who quickly turned to run but slipped on the growing and congealing puddles of fluid around him. The distinct, acrid scent of urine reached his nostrils. Whether it was his or his friends', he couldn't tell. "We aren't so different, Sam. We're both...unappreciated. Our talents go unnoticed. Our path is unclear." Sam scooted backwards as the boy drew closer, and threw his arms around himself in defense. "Only by the grace of the Netherworld was my true purpose made clear to me. It found me. Maybe it can find you." He raised his mask up to the top of his head. "I think I want to spare you." He planted the blunt end of his weapon on the floor of the pipe and extended his hand. His clear and logical mind finally failing him, he automatically and dumbly grasped at the hand before him. "I think I want to, Sam. But I can't." Sam's arm was jerked upward, exposing his torso. Eddy swiped horizontally, disemboweling the boy. Indistinguishable organic matter slipped out of the wound, and Sam's analytical eyes stared at it, widened, while the life drained out of him.
Satisfied, Eddy turned around to find that the crowds of Mad Town had finally become aware of what was in their midst, and were busy fleeing the area, giving wide berth to the boy and hopping the walls and fences on the opposite ends of the park.
But still one remained. Sherry crouched over her fallen and moaning friend. "Trish, it's okay. I'm here. You'll be okay." The blinded girl sobbed. She covered her wounds with one hand and clutched at her friend with another. "I won't leave you."
Eddy unstrapped his roller blades and kicked them off to the side. He growled as he walked towards them, and tightened his grip. "Stay back, man!" Sherry yelled. Trish shrieked at the thought of him coming back for her. He took a step closer. Sherry looked around wildly for some means of defense. With a grunt she hurled her skateboard. Eddy brought the scythe high overhead, and swung it down as the board approached. It proved to be the stronger this time, and the battered wood of the scythe splintered. The skateboard flipped end over end and landed behind him. Eddy stared at the blade on the ground for a moment, then picked it up and slipped it into a sheath on his pant leg. He turned the now jagged end of the stick toward the girls.
He lunged forward and stabbed at Sherry, who quickly hopped out of the way. She was preparing to grab for the stick when it struck her across the face suddenly, then from the other side, then jabbed into her stomach in several places before it crashed into her left knee and sent her crumpling to the ground. Her resolve broken, she limped and crawled over to her skateboard, and feebly kicked away from the scene.
He watched her go, watched her abandon her friend who still sobbed behind him, and waited.