A/N: Ten! Ten! Ten! Hello there! This is tendaysromeo and welcome to the ninth chapter of DreamTheater Intermix: The World Within! Nothing much to say, so let's start this chapter!
10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Countdown is over, so let's get this chapter on the go!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything in this story aside from some OCs, the plot and the settings.
Eddy Skipper McGee had no idea what's going on right now.
One minute, he was just appreciating his new found physique on a mirror when all of a sudden his reflection spoke and the next thing he know is that his reflection reaches a hand towards him and then everything went black.
And when he opened his eyes, he found himself in a wide spacious area with nothing but pure whiteness.
Eddy scratches the top of his head, "Am I dead?" he asked himself, "Am I in heaven or am I in hell?" he assumed.
"Neither my boy." a voice answered and when Eddy turned around to see the owner of the voice his eyes widen in utter shock, "You're currently in a special area that only a few had the privilege to enter." some person revealed.
Standing in front of Eddy is a person that looks exactly like him except the person is wearing a white blazer jacket over a white-collared shirt with a black necktie, white trousers, and black leather shoes.
Another difference between them is that his lookalike speaks like Morgan Freeman.
Eddy took a step back while raising a finger, "W-Who are you?" he asked, "And why do you like me?" he added with a nervous tone.
"Rest assure you that I'm no doppelganger of yours." the lookalike reassured, "I had my own appearance but I don't like showing it to everyone, so I often take the form of any person in front of me." he explained, "And currently, I'm taking the form of you." he added.
Eddy's eyes wandered around for a bit, "O-Okay..." he uttered.
"As for your first question..." the lookalike mentioned, "... I am known as the Presence." he introduced himself, "And I happened to be one of the many pillars of justice in this city and by extension the world." he revealed.
"So, your some sort of God or something?" Eddy assumed.
"A little bit of column a and a little bit of column b." the Presence answered.
"Okay that's helpful." Eddy uttered in annoyance before shaking his head, "Anyway..." he said, "... what am I doing here?" he asked.
"You are brought here for a reason." the Presence replied, "You had been chosen to become one of our champions." he revealed with a smile.
"A champion?" Eddy uttered in confusion.
The Presence raised a hand forward when a large image of massive city surrounded by a dodecagram-shaped walls while surrounded by a thick forest and a large body of water.
"W-What is that?" Eddy asked in surprise.
"It's an image of the City Saints Academy." the Presence answered.
Eddy shook his head in surprise, "It sure is big." he commented.
The Presence nodded in response, "Indeed it is." he said in agreement, "The city is a big as the multiverse itself." he described, "Anyway..." he uttered, "... do you have any idea why this city is covered with walls?" he questioned.
"To prevent immigrants from entering?" Eddy assumed with a rather dumbfounded expression.
"That was rather a discriminating answer but it is a common one, so I can't really be angry at you." the Presence said, "But you're right with one thing." he admitted, "Those walls were made to prevent some things from entering." he said.
"Like what?" Eddy asked in confusion when the Presence zooms in the image where he saw some dark-colored shadowy figures outside the walls, "W-What the hell are those things?" he asked nervously.
"Shadows, fiends, malevolence..." the Presence listed off, "... these creatures comes with many names but we mostly call them the Forsaken Entities." he explained, "These things are dangerous and while proven to be nothing more but a mindless beings, they can still harm people and do worse things to them if they get caught within their grasps." he furthered.
"Holy sh-" Eddy was about to say a curse but stop when the Presence looks at him, "... cow." he corrected before letting out a small cough, "I'm so glad that this city had walls to keep them out." he stated.
"That's true." the Presence admitted, "But sometimes a few of these beings would slip through the cracks from time to time." he mentioned, "During the day time that is." he added.
Eddy raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean by that?" he asked.
"Rarely any of these beings could get past through the walls and if they did, these beings would be dealt quickly and no one would notice a thing." the Presence explained, "The same thing can't be said on a certain time of the night." he mentioned.
"O-Okay, I'm confused." Eddy confessed.
"You see, the walls are powered-up by a magical barrier, doubling the city's protection and preventing these beings from entering." the Presence explained, "But on rare occasions, the barrier would create a small crack through various circumstances which allowed a being or two in entering the city." he admitted, "But like I said before, these minor influxes are dealt very quick." he reminded, "However during the certain time of the night, the barrier would be shut down for four hours to do maintenance purposes and during that time, these beings can freely enter the city and create havoc." he revealed rather grimly.
Eddy gulped in response, "But why lower the barrier?" he asked.
"To keep it from weakening." the Presence answered, "The barrier maybe powerful but we can't keep it going for 24-hours straight, so it can undergo maintenance purpose in order to power it up before activating it again." he explained.
"I see..." Eddy uttered, "So what time does the barrier goes for a maintenance period?" he inquired.
"Around 11:00 P.M. to 3:00 A.M." the Presence answered.
"And during that time, you let these beings walk around the city?" Eddy asked in disbelief, "Do you realize that people are sleeping at that time?" he pointed out, "They're extremely vulnerable and might get attacked in their sleep!" he added.
The Presence nodded, "That's true." he acknowledged, "Fortunately, each houses and buildings are powered-up by another protective barrier which prevents these beings from breaking-in." he explained, "And at the same time, the gallery of champions will be patrolling the streets at that time to clear this city from the threats until the barrier is back up again." he concluded.
"Clear this city from threats?" Eddy uttered, "As in fighting them?" he assumed.
The Presence nodded once more, "Indeed." he confirmed.
"You said I've been chosen as a champion, so that means I'll be fighting these things?" Eddy pointed out.
The Presence chuckled, "Correct." he confirmed.
"But why me?" Eddy asked in confusion, "I'm just a normal guy!" he pointed out, "I mean I'm honored that I got chosen to become part of your gallery of champions but you should choose someone whom is special and I'm not even one." he explained.
"Actually..." the Presence uttered, "... anyone can join the Gallery of Champions." he revealed, "People can just filled out a membership application form on the Gallery of Champions Coolstargram account." he explained with a smile.
Eddy looks at him in utter disbelief, "Coolstargram account?" he uttered, "What the heck is that?" he asked in confusion.
"An exclusive social media platform in this city." the Presence answered, "Anyway..." he uttered, "... at times, we the pillars of justice chooses who to join the Gallery of Champions." he shared, "... the reason you were chosen because despite your rather rude personality, you have a good heart deep inside." he reasoned, "And these kind of people is something I often taken in consideration." he stated.
Eddy rubs the back of his head, "T-Thanks..." he uttered in gratitude, "But still..." he uttered, "I don't have any powers or any means to fight." he pointed out, "So, I'm not really suited for battle." he admitted.
The Presence chuckled in response, "Which is why we bestowed you some powers during your sleep." he pointed out.
"Is that the reason why I suddenly became muscular when I woke up this morning?!" Eddy exclaimed in surprise, "So, does that means I had some sort of super strength?" he assumed.
The Presence shook his head, "Not quite." he replied, "You actually gained one of the most rarest powers ever." he said, "God-Like." he revealed.
Eddy raised an eyebrow, "God-Like?" he uttered in confusion.
The Presence smiled in response, "Why don't you go and test it yourself?" he beckoned while raising a hand up, "I'll see you in a bit." he said before snapping a finger.
"Wait!" Eddy called out, "What the do-" he was about to ask when his eyes were greeted by a bright flash of light and when everything subsided, Eddy found himself in a middle of an alley. He looks around in confusion and noticed that he is wearing fresh new clothes, "W-Was that all a dream?" he asked himself, "Did I sleepwalked and woke up here?" he assumed.
Shaking his head, Eddy quickly walks out of the alley and saw a bench with a car behind it, Eddy quickly walked towards the bench and sat on it, massaging his face while trying to comprehend what just happened.
"Okay..." Eddy uttered, "... did all of that just happened?" he asked himself, "Did I really got chosen to become a member of the Gallery of Champions?" he furthered, "And that guy mentioned that my powers are God-Like." he pointed out before letting out a snort, "Yeah right~" he said sarcastically, "If I had God powers then that means I can do anything like becoming Clint Eastwood." he joked when all of a sudden, he heard a loud gunshot and the windows of the car behind him exploded to pieces, "Holy hell!" he cursed before ducking down to the ground.
Eddy cautiously looks around before noticing his reflection on a broken piece of a mirror, "Be Careful What You Wish For..." his reflection spoke with a Clint-esque demeanor, "... punk." it emphasized.
Eddy quickly stood up from the ground, "Nope." he quipped while standing straight, "Uh-uh, nope." he uttered in denial, "I am a reasonable, sane human being." he reasoned before pulling out a gun, "With a .44 Magnum." he said with another Clint-esque demeanor, "The most powerful handgun in the wo-" he was saying when his eyes widen in shock, "Woah!" he shrieked before hiding the gun in his pocket, "I am not Clint Eastwood." he whispered, "I'm Eddy Skipper McGee!" he declared before walking towards nearby trashcan, "I'm Eddy Skipper McGee! I'm Eddy Skipper McGee!" he chanted over and over again before pulling the gun out from his pocket only to be replaced by the Book of Scams, "Nope!" he shrieked before tossing it inside the trashcan.
Eddy looks around in panic before taking notice of the Pop's Moon Palace at the other side of the street and quickly made his way towards the diner.
Entering the diner, Eddy looks around and noticed that only a few people are inside the place. At one table, he saw three boys named Edd Gould, Tom Ridgewell and Matt Hargreaves having some sort of argument while at the counter, he saw Pops Drake having a lively conversation with a man named Dell "The Engineer" Conagher and at the left side of the counter, he saw an old man named Eustace Bagge eating breakfast.
Eddy quickly took a seat at one table while taking a deep breath and so far, the only person whom noticed his arrival is Eustace and the old man just looks at the boy as if he was the most disgusting person on Earth.
After Dell left the diner, Pops made his way towards Eddy's table, "Morning, Eddy." the owner of the diner greeted with a coffee kettle in hand, "Want some coffee?" he offered.
Eddy nodded in response, "Sure, I want some." he accepted.
Pops then proceeds to pour a steaming-hot coffee in a mug, "Would you like to try our tomato soup?" he offered with a smile.
Eddy nodded again, "Yeah, I could use some soup." he accepted.
And with that, Pops left to prepare the soup while Eddy took another deep breath and at the same time, Eustace glanced at him while chewing his food. Eddy took a sigh before opening a hand to reach a box milk only for it to move towards his hand, much to his shock and at the same time, Eustace saw this and raised an eyebrow in response.
Despite his shock, Eddy opened his other hand and the sugar container moved towards his aforementioned palm, making him gasp in silence while Eustace made a baffled expression.
Eddy shook his head before pouring sugar on his coffee, he looks around and noticed that an item for missing, he then turns his attention to the counter, "Excuse me?" he called out, "I need a spoooooo-" he was saying before letting out a squawk when a golden-colored spoon came out from his mouth which creeped out Eustace upon witnessing it, Eddy then pulled out the spoon from his mouth, "That's okay, I got one!" he reassured.
Keeping his creeped out expression, Eustace grabbed his plate of breakfast and glass of ice tea before moving towards another part of the counter when Pops returned to Eddy's table with a tray of tomato soup in hand.
"Here's your soup, buddy!" Pops presented before placing the tray on top of the table.
"Thanks." Eddy said in gratitude.
Pops then left the table and at the same time, Eustace glances once more at Eddy while chewing a piece of chicken, Eddy was about to scoop some soup when an idea came to mind.
Eddy looks around for a bit before placing the spoon down and then placing a hand above the bowl of soup in a 'healing hands' position while closing his eyes at the same time.
Taking a deep breath, Eddy started to concentrate when all of a sudden, winds began to blow around him and at first, the winds were tame but as time goes by it becomes stronger and stronger that papers began to fly all over the place.
And for some odd reason, Edd and his friends weren't bothered by this as they kept on with their argument but the same thing can't be said for Eustace whom shielding himself from the strong winds and flying papers, he then turns to Eddy in utter disbelief.
Back on Eddy's table, he opened his eyes to see the soup inside the bowl is parted in two and for some reason, Eddy felt satisfied at the result as he let's out a silent laughter as this goes on.
"Having a fun?" a voice asked.
"AAAAHH!" Eddy screamed in surprise while everything abruptly stops when he saw the Presence sitting in front of him with a smile, "Fun... how?" he uttered through his gasps.
"Finish your soup and come and take a closer walk with me." the Presence beckoned.
A/N: Thank you very much for reading this chapter, I hope that you all enjoyed it.
Character Debuts:
Original Character
The Presence - The Presence takes in many forms but he is mostly depicted as hexagram-shaped diamond with a blue & green color design.
Eddsword
Edd - Edd is a young man with a round face and a fair complexion, he had a straight brown hair with points in some parts and he had round white eyes with black dots. He wears a green hoodie jacket with laces over a white t-shirt with the words 'Smeg Head' written on it, he wears brown khakis and green & white rubber shoes.
Tom - Tom is a young man with a round face and a fair complexion, he had a brown spiky hair and he had hole-like black eyes. He wears a blue hoodie jacket over a gray t-shirt, gray pants and a black & white checkered rubber shoes with gray soles.
Matt - Matt is a young man with a square-shaped chin and a fair complexion, he had a spiky ginger-colored hair and he had round eyes with black dots. He wears a green overcoat over a purple hoodie jacket and black t-shirt, he wears blue jeans and black & white rubber shoes.
Team Fortress 2
The Engineer - The Engineer is a middle-aged man with an average height and a medium build, he had balding head and a thin black facial hair, and he wears a black goggles with dark-brown lens. He wears a baggy brown-colored overalls with a utility belt wrapped around his wait over a red t-shirt, he wears a pair of brown-colored kneepads, black boots and a yellow-colored construction hat. He wears a brown oversized glove on his right hand.
Courage the Cowardly Dog
Eustace Bagge - Eustace is an old man with a pale complexion and an average height, he had bald head, a large chin and wears white-colored glasses. He wears an olive-green overalls with black buttons over a pale yellow t-shirt, black leather shoes and a brown-colored flat newsboy hat.
Please look forward for the next chapter! I'll see you then!