Chapter 2: So Far, So Good...

All four boys worked together to get the machine in a more finished state. Ed played with the anchor a few times, pretending to do a captain role play, but helped out Chris when he needed help lifting something. Eddy really only assisted Double D with passing him items he needed to fix/put something in.

Although he thinks the idea is great on paper, Chris questions if this machine will even make it past a concept stage, as this is a much more difficult idea to execute than it sounds. Either way, he is more than happy to provide assistance to this project, regardless of where it goes in the future.

For the most part, the crew of four lads didn't have many large troubles working on said machine, the only thing that could be said was a problem was... time. It was almost 8:30 PM, and the boys decided it was a better idea to wait until tomorrow to finish the machine.

"Well, I must say our machine has been improved by a large amount. Thanks for your assistance Chris!" said Double D.

"No issue really, it's all fine." Chris responds. "I really hope that this machine doesn't take that long to get up and running, because we are in for a really long project if that's the case. Anyways, I must get going, been away too long from my place so, see you all tomorrow!"

"Wait! Why don't we go crash at your place my guy? After all, we only met today, no?" said Eddy, stopping Chris, who was making his way to his house to rest up.

Chrie thought about how it would be inviting the Eds over, as he didn't exactly know how they would act. Then again, surely they can't cause THAT much ridiculousness anyways, right? He then decides to allow it, and invite them until 11:00 PM. However, if any issues arise... well it won't be a hard decision for him to make.

"Oh what's the issue? Heck, if you want a sleepover I'll be up for it, just be sure that we are all organized about it." Chris responded.

"Well, I'm not sure if your parents will approve..." Double D responded to Chris.

"They aren't home right now, they left the house to me, as they are getting things for the house." Chris explains to Double D. "They'll be back soon enough, but until they return, I'm charge for now."

"Party at Chris's house!" yelled Ed.

The boys agreed and made their way to the new house of Chris. Admittedly, the Eds are excited to see the place of where their new neighbor moved into, as it's not everyday that someone new moves into the cul-de-sac. Before they all went to the house however, the Eds went to their homes real fast to get a sleeping bag, seeing as they agreed to the sleepover. However, Chris and Ed had completely forgetten about returning the anchor, along with the other object that came along with said anchor, but it's something that they would return to most likely tomorrow.

Meanwhile...

Remember that trailer that the crew of four entered in? Yeah, well, at around 9:10 PM, the people that live there returned, and noticed that the anchor, along with another object, was missing! Needless to say, the people there aren't exactly happy about that. Then again, who would be?

"Alright, which ones of you grabbed the ship-in-a-bottle!" said a voice, demanding an answer.

"It wasn't us, so shut your mouth!" yelled another voice, responding to said earlier voice.

"Maybe we should give our 'friends' a visit, right girls?" said yet another voice toward the other two.

"Yes, good idea. Let's go." responded the first voice that spoke originally. "But be sure that the trailer is locked this time! Unless they broke in..."

All three of them group up, making sure that their trailer is locked well this time, and decide to go on a quest to find out what exactly happened to said objects that are missing currently. They can't be far, they think, as literally no one from miles away would bother stealing from them, so it has to be someone at the cul-de-sac. If it isn't, we might have a large problem awaiting the people nearby.

Back At Chris's house...

The crew of four enter Chris's house, and the Eds like the appearance of this house, as before, it was more commonly known as a "haunted" house, merely because of an incident where someone thought they saw a ghost in said house.

"Wasn't this the house that the kids said was haunted? It looks all made over!" stated Eddy, surprised.

"I'm not sure what you mean by that, but yeah, this house wasn't pretty when we first bought it." responds Chris, after which he further explains, "It used to look like... my god, I don't know, like decades old, but then, my family and a couple other friends of theirs managed to give this place a complete remodel, and everything just turned out really well, and appears more up-to-speed, let's say."

"I should probably clarify, before you moved into this house, it had rumors going around about it that it had some sort of curse, or general haunted history behind it. The details change drastically, but let's just leave at... that simply turned out to not the case luckily!" responded Double D, clearing up any confusion Chris might've had.

Chris facepalms, afterwards saying, "Haunted... really? I thought we stopped believing in that stuff once we got to middle school! Guess I was wrong!"

Everyone shares a small laugh at that statement, before Chris asks the Eds, "So, what do you guys wanna do?"

"Holy cow!" said Eddy, as he went into the living room. "Look at all these systems! Let's try one of them!"

"Alright, sure. Let's see how good you guys are at one of my favorites." Chris responded.

Chris decided to turn on one of his systems, and put in one of his favorite racing games. While he is very good at the game himself, the Eds were random. Double D, not playing games much, was making several mistakes that made the other 3 laugh. Ed, somehow, not playing games about racing much, was really good at the game, going so far as to win the "Dream Car Championship", something Chris planned to do, but didn't mind all that much. Plus, he was impressed by how Ed successfully won all 7 races. Eddy wasn't bad, but he drove in an aggressive manner, making him go off-track a lot of the time. Chris made fun of Eddy for constantly thinking that ramming cars was the correct way, as if he was playing some ridiculous demolition derby game.

After all of the Eds had their turn, Chris gave it a shot himself, and needless to say, he ends up getting the best results, tied with Ed. While he was enjoying this hangout session with the Eds, he wanted to see if he could perhaps teach a thing or two to Double D, seeing how he is struggling ridiculously to adjust to this. Once Chris wraps up his turn, Double D decided to try again, wanting to give it another chance, and not back down that easily.

"Double D! Quit playing before my grandma puts your driving to shame!" Eddy said laughing at Double D's driving.

"Ha ha ha, very funny Eddy." responds Double D, sarcastically. "Also, driving in the real streets is much different than in these sort of games, I hope you realize this Eddy!"

"Yeah yeah yeah, I got it already. Maybe Chris can help you out, you're a mess right now!" responds Eddy, chuckling a bit.

"I think Chris should give Double D a sandal. It is always baked fresh!" Ed said, randomly.

Chris couldn't help but slap himself in the face, saying, "Ed... I have literally no clue where you're getting this idea from, but that wouldn't work. I can't even believe I have to say that."

He then turns to Double D and tells him, "Let me teach you some stuff Double D, as golly, you're like a fish out of water currently. Although, if you won't listen, forget it."

"Well, I welcome the opportunity to expand my intellect to become better!" Double D responded.

"Relax with the words, I'll just teach you what you should know for the most part." Chris simply said.

Chris then taught Double D the correct buttons, the ideal ways to move the car from turn-to-turn, how to correctly adjust the suspension and explaining to him what certain things do to the car, the purposes for certain upgrades, and many other things that helped Double D out. He tried the same championship Ed did. While he came 2nd place overall, it was a massive improvement over being last place all the time, heck, he even beat Eddy, as Eddy himself got 3rd place overall on his turn. Chris got a sense of relief, knowing he successfully helped him improve by a mile. Obviously not perfect, but who said that perfection was the goal? Exactly.

However, while they are playing...

(9:50 PM) The other group of people from the trailer have been barging into the other houses of the cul-de-sac, trying to get clues, or just a flat-out answer, as to where their belongings were at. They have tried almost every house, with three of them being empty along the way, which didn't help matters. The only house they haven't checked yet is Chris's. To say that this strategy was beyond ineffective thus far is a bit of an understatement, don't ya think?

"It ain't here either, and the kid wouldn't talk." said one voice.

"Hmm... maybe our boyfriends have it!" said another voice.

"Alright, let's find them!" yelled yet another voice.

And so, the three of them abandon the house they were at, and decide to pay their so-called "boyfriends" a visit, just to see if they have what they are missing. However, who those boyfriends could be is anyone's best guess. Regardless, their goal now is to get them to spit it out, or if not, make them help, by force if necessary.

This might not go well... oh dear.