Sorry for the long wait, but just be glad I finally decided to update. I will try to update more often, especially since christmas is over. Now enjoy chapter ten!!!
Chapter Ten: The Living Ed
Eddy, Ed, and the soldiers stared up at Rolf, who stood so still it was as if he was a wax dummy. Rolf? I hope to God he's on our side... Eddy thought, tension building inside of him. "Rolf, it's... good to see you." Eddy said.
"Yes, Rolf thinks it is nice to see you too, big-mouth Ed-boy.", Rolf said, unsmiling.
Eddy leaned toward one of his men. "Cover Ed and me while I talk to this guy, got it?" Eddy whispered to him. He nodded, and quickly told the others. They then turned around toward the horde of vampires behind them, and watched them, incase of attack. Eddy turned back toward Rolf. "Rolf, what's going on here?"
"The day of reckoning passed upon this town, and the people were tested by Rolf. Their faith did not hold under the pressure of Rolf's judgment, so they failed. They now have joined Rolf in his journeys across the land, where more villages shall be tested by the underclass fury that is us." Rolf said, in a serious tone of voice.
Eddy gulped. He now realized that Rolf was one of them. The words that the vampire had spoken back at his village came back to him. It all started last night when a strange, foreign man came to our village... Eddy now knew that Rolf was that foreign man. Eddy slowly reached for his daggers.
Rolf suddenly began to speak again. "Rolf, however, will be merciful with you. Rolf will not command his children to attack, if you leave this town now, and never come back." Rolf said, his fangs glinting in the moonlight.
"I can't. I have a job, and that job is to remove evil from this town. And right now, you're looking pretty evil, stretch." Eddy said, as he drew his daggers. Ed pulled out his battle axe, and got into a battle stance.
"Oh ho, so the Ed-boys wish to challenge Rolf? Do you not recall what happened last time you attempted to duel Rolf?" Rolf said.
Memories of the fish duel flashed into Eddy's mind. "This is different. I had made you mad because of me throwing that stupid fish ball. This time, you've made me mad because you attacked this village. So this time, I'll win." Eddy said.
"Well then, Ed-boy, Rolf accepts your challenge." Rolf said solemnly. He then jumped from off the fountain, and landed right in front of Eddy. Eddy was startled, so he accidentally dropped his daggers. Rolf then kicked Eddy in the stomach, and leaped on top of him. Rolf hissed, and tried to bite Eddy. Eddy desperately tried to hold Rolf's head back with one hand, while reaching for one of the daggers with the other. The vampires, seeing Rolf's actions, decided to attack too. They leapt toward the soldiers, hissing and screaming all the way.
"LOTHAR WILL SAVE YOU!" Ed yelled as he ran over and kicked Rolf in the side. The blow didn't even seem to faze him. Ed, realizing that it didn't do anything, then swung his axe at Rolf's back. Rolf suddenly jumped off of Eddy and caught the axe in his hand.
"Rolf will teach you how to properly wield an axe, no-brain Ed-boy.", Rolf said as he punched Ed in the arm, causing him to let go of the axe. Rolf then took the axe, and hit Ed in the face with the hilt. Ed fell over, and landed on his back. Rolf then lifted the axe above his head, preparing to bring it down on Ed. Suddenly two daggers stabbed him in the arms, and Rolf screamed, letting go of the axe. The axe fell behind him, hitting Eddy on the head while he was trying to get his daggers out of Rolf's arms. Rolf quickly recovered, and swung around and whacked Eddy in the face. Eddy reeled backwards in pain, and Rolf kicked him in the gut, causing him to kneel.
"Rolf tried to be merciful..." Rolf said as he grabbed Ed's battle axe off of the ground. "...but the scheming Ed-boy would not listen." Rolf swung the battle at Eddy's head, but Ed caught his arm just in time. Ed then punched Rolf in the face, and Rolf fell over, knocked out. Ed helped Eddy up.
"Thanks Ed.", Eddy said.
"It won't nothin' homie!" Ed said.
Eddy stared at him. "Don't ever, and I mean EVER, say that again Ed."
"Roger that!" Ed said happily.
"Alright, Ed. Now that Rolf is out cold, we can go help our soldiers." Eddy said.
"What soldiers?" Ed asked, scratching his head.
"What do ya mean "What soldiers?"? Those soldiers over..." Eddy stopped mid-sentence. Ed and him just sat there, staring at their men. They had all been bitten, and had already turned into vampires. "Oh..." Eddy said.
"Yes, Ed-boy. You too will be consumed, just like you're men." Rolf said, standing up.
"Why Rolf? Why are you doing this?" Eddy asked.
"Why, you ask? Rolf would not normally reveal such a thing. However, you are about to join Rolf and his children, so Rolf can tell you. Rolf was sent to convert this land's people into children of the night." Rolf said.
"Who? Who sent you?" Eddy asked nervously.
"The alchemist." was all that Rolf said before walking toward Eddy and Ed. The other vampires followed suit, and Ed and Eddy began to get scared. What are we gonna do? Eddy thought nervously as the vampires continued to advance on them. Eddy looked around, desperately trying to find some means of escape. Ed stood there with a huge smile on his face.
"WE'RE GONNA BE VAMPIRES, EDDY!!!" Ed yelled happily as he ran around in circles.
"That's not a good thing Ed..." Eddy said as he drew his bow. We can't take them all... Eddy thought, weighing his chances of actually winning the fight. As Rolf got closer, something around Rolf's waist caught his eye. It was a belt that looked exactly like the one Sarah had on! That's it! All I have to do is destroy that stone on the belt, and this will all be over...
"Okay, Rolf. Give me your best shot." Eddy said.
"Very well, Ed-boy.", Rolf said as he leapt toward Eddy, fangs bared.
Ed yelled, "HOORAY!" as the vampires closed in on him.
Rolf grabbed Eddy by his shoulders, and Eddy kicked the stone on Rolf's belt. It didn't even leave a scratch. "Uh oh..." Eddy muttered as Rolf lurched toward his neck. Eddy kicked Rolf in the stomach, and Rolf reeled in pain for a split second, giving Eddy just enough time to wriggle free of Rolf's grip. Eddy grabbed a brick off of the ground, and swung around to face Rolf. Rolf wiped some blood off of his face. "You are all alone, Ed-boy. Abandon this hopeless fight and Rolf will make sure your turning will not be painful."
"All alone?" Eddy said, puzzled. He looked at where Ed had been cheering hooray. Ed stood beside the vampires, several bite marks covering his neck. "Ed? Not you too!" Eddy said, backing away from the countless vampires that stood before him.
"I WANT TO SUCK YOUR GRAVY!" Ed yelled happily, as he whipped out a can of gravy and sunk his fangs into it.
Eddy turned to face Rolf again. "I'll never give up!" Eddy yelled.
"Then Rolf has no choice..." Rolf said as he began to walk toward Eddy.
I only have one shot at shattering that stone on his belt, or I'm toast... Eddy thought as he lifted the slimy brick, preparing to toss it at Rolf's belt. I hope luck's on my side... Eddy said as he threw the brick with all his might. Rolf caught it, and crushed the brick into dust.
"Looks like luck has chosen to be on Rolf's side, Ed-bo..." Rolf suddenly stopped talking. He looked down at his belt, and Eddy did too. An arrow was sticking out of the stone on his belt. "Rolf has been... defeated..." Rolf said weakly as he fell to the ground. All the men, women, and children who had once been vampires, were now all hissing and screaming, as they transformed back into their former selves.
"But... how?" Eddy said. He turned around, and saw Jimmy, Sarah, and a small squad of men standing behind the fountain. "Jimmy? Sarah?" Eddy said, shocked at their presence. "What are you doing here?"
Jimmy walked toward Eddy. "I had a feeling that you were in trouble, so Sarah and I brought a small force of men with us to seek you out." Jimmy said as Sarah came running over.
"Where's my brother?" Sarah said, trying to hide the worry in her voice.
Eddy pointed to where Ed lay panting and gasping after he had transformed back into himself. Eddy turned back toward Jimmy as Sarah ran over to Ed. "I see you found Rolf...", Jimmy said, looking past Eddy at Rolf, who was laying on the ground.
"Yeah. He was the foreign guy that that vampire was talking about..." Eddy said.
"You mean that man who came to our gates was a vampire?" Jimmy asked.
"Yeah, Ed told me that he saw his fangs. Not only that, but he tried to kill me.", Eddy said as Sarah came walking over with Ed in tow.
"I WANTED TO BE A VAMPIRE, SARAH!!!" Ed whined, sad that he was no longer a vampire.
"Shut up or I'll rip out your teeth." Sarah said as she turned toward Jimmy. "Let's get the heck out of here, Jimmy, before my idiot brother acts like even more of an idiot."
"You guys can go, but I'm stayin' ", Eddy said.
Jimmy and Sarah looked at him with puzzled expressions. "Why would you want to stay in this dump?" Sarah asked.
"Because..." Eddy began.
"...it looks like your room?" Sarah said.
Eddy turned red with anger, and began to open his mouth to yell. "WAIT!" Jimmy yelled. "Don't do it, Eddy, there's already been enough fighting lately. Just tell us why you want to stay."
"Before you guys came and saved me, Rolf said something about being sent here by an "alchemist" or something." Eddy said. "Know anything about this guy?"
"I don't recall ever hearing about an alchemist..." Jimmy said.
"I've heard of him." a voice said from behind Eddy. Eddy, Jimmy, Sarah, and Ed turned around and saw a woman about thirty.
"You mean you know who this alchemist guy is?" Eddy asked.
"Yes. In fact, most of the people around here know him." the woman said. "He lives in a tower to the west, across a wide stretch of wasteland."
"Can you take us to him?" Jimmy asked.
"Not unless you want to be killed." the woman said.
"But I thought you said..." Eddy said before the woman interrupted.
"We may know the alchemist, but that does not mean that we are friends with him. He likes to cause havoc among our townspeople, and is constantly sending those cursed machines down here in an attempt to destroy us." the woman said.
"Then why have you not tried to stop him?" Jimmy asked.
"Normally we would, but the collectors patrol the stretch of land between the town and his tower, and many of us who have tried to confront him have been attacked by the collectors." the woman said.
"Then why don't we go and see if we can't "convince" this alchemist to stop?" Eddy said, turning toward Ed, Sarah, and Jimmy.
"Can I convince him using the powers of buttered toast?" Ed said, as he pulled out a moldy piece of toast, with what appeared to be butter on it, albeit a bluish color.
Jimmy's face turned green as he turned the other way to puke, and Sarah whacked the toast out of Ed's hand. "LOOK WHAT YOU AND YOUR STUPID TOAST DID TO JIMMY!" Sarah screamed as she pulled Ed into a headlock. Jimmy turned around once he was finished puking his guts out.
"Aren't you gonna try and stop her?" Eddy said as he watched Sarah pulverize Ed.
"No, it would just result in me getting hurt too." Jimmy said as he turned toward Eddy. "What I'm more concerned about is whether you're serious about this whole "confronting the alchemist" business."
"Yeah, I'm serious! I can't wait to kick me some more butt!" Eddy said.
"Okay then, but I want to come with you." Jimmy said.
Sarah then stopped beating on Ed, and walked back over to Eddy and Jimmy. "If Jimmy's going, then I am too." Sarah said.
"ME TOO!" Ed said as he ran over.
"Oh great! Now I got two brats and an idiot going with me!" Eddy said. Suddenly Sarah's fist came whizzing into his stomach.
"Shut up, fish face, or next time that'll be your face." Sarah said as Eddy knelt on the ground in pain.
"It's settled, then." Jimmy said as he turned toward a nearby soldier. "Take the foreign man back to the village and tend to his wounds."
"Yes sir!" the soldier said as she ran toward the other soldiers and told them what to do.
Jimmy turned back to the others. "Before we go, however, we better go back to base and rest for a while." Jimmy said.
"Right.", Eddy said as he got off the ground, the pain gone. The four of them began to follow the soldiers and the rescued townspeople as they made the journey back to the village.
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