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Ch.4 Close Encounters

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Back at the forest…..

Double D walked the forest path, lost in his thoughts.

"What happened? What was that creature?...and that mist? and…Okay Double D settle down, take deep breaths. There must be a logical explanation to this……..somehow. I hope I find the others. I hope there is no more of those monsters…, wait, what am I saying, there are no such things as monsters. It was probably just…….just an escaped mental patient. Wait, no that wouldn't explain the wings…..So maybe it's a mutation…."

Double D sighed; he couldn't believe that he was starting to sound like Ed. He closed his eyes for a moment and continued to walk. As he was walking, he tripped over something and felt how hard the ground was as he landed.

He got up with another groan and looked around. He had walked into another clearing, one that was much bigger than the one he had previously found himself in. He turned around to see what he had tripped over and saw a brown back-pack in the middle of the path.

Double D eminently recognized it as Kevin's back-pack. He picked it up and looked inside. There was a baseball glove and eight baseballs.

Kevin, he remembered, had the back-pack the last time he saw him.

Double D threw the bag over his shoulder and continued his journey. After all, if Kevin's bag was here then Kevin couldn't be far behind.

He left the clearing and returned to the wooded area. He hadn't gone much farther down the path when he noticed that there were baseballs littering the ground.

"These were probably the same ones from the scam," he figured.

He carefully picked up each one and neatly placed it in the back-pack.

"You never know," muttered Double D, "these may come in handy."

He got up and was about to leave when a metallic gleam coming from a bush caught his eye. He searched the bush and found the aluminum baseball bat. He placed it snuggly into the back-pack and (once again) continued his journey, making sure to keep an eye out for anything else he could salvage.

He hoped that these items were a good sign that he was coming closer to his friends. He noted that he was now entering a thicker area of the woods where the trees and foliage made it almost impossible to see the sky. Double D stopped and stared up at the shreds that were remotely visible. He didn't like what he saw either, because it was dark and cloudy just like the sky at Peach Creek.

A small breeze picked up. Stray leaves blew past Double D's feet as he struggled to keep his hat from blowing away.

He looked up and froze with fear. A few feet ahead of him, a large yellow wing emerged from the bush. Double D stood there paralyzed as he was sure the bright yellow monster would claim his life any moment.

Then the breeze died down and the yellow wing disappeared behind its bush. Double D felt his body relax a little and curiosity enter his mind. He stood there waiting to see if the creature would make any other movements.

After ten seconds of waiting, something occurred to Double D that hadn't before. He held his breath as he approached the bush making sure to be extremely cautious, just in case he was wrong.

Double D came to the bush. He shut his eyes and turned his head as he spread the branches with his hands. When he finally found the courage to look, he could only mentally slap himself in the face. The large, yellow wing was really the yellow, inflatable raft from their fishing display that had been blown up by the wind.

He unhooked the raft from where it was caught on the branches and deflated it. He was happy that it was still intact and he folded it up and stuck it in his pant's pocket. It was a tight fit, but he figured it was the most accessible place for it.

The wind picked up again, but this time it was much weaker than the first but this time it carried a forlorn sound with it.

Double D noticed the sound and tried to judge where it was coming from. He could tell that it was definitely off in the distance but it was in the same direction he was going. He got back on the path and ran toward it.

As he got closer and closer to it, the joyless sound turned into a sad whimper and then into steady crying.

He stopped suddenly as the path ended at a wall of tall bushes. The crying was more than clear now and Double D was sure that its source was right behind the wall.

He took a deep breath and got a small running start. He busted through the bushes and came face to face with Jimmy.

Double D grinded to a holt to avoid hitting Jimmy who, in reaction to his entrance, screamed and fainted.

Double D looked around. Eddy, Nazz, Kevin, Sarah and (now) Jimmy were all on the ground, unconscious. He ran over to Eddy first.

"Eddy!...," he yelled, "Eddy wake up! Can you hear me, Eddy!"

Double D grabbed Eddy by the collar of his shirt and shook him hard enough to wake up.

"What happened? Did our scam work?," Eddy asked, still drowsy.

"I'm not sure and I'd have to say 'no' to the second one," replied Double D, "Help me wake the others.

The two awakened everyone and re-wakened Jimmy, who immediately started to cry again.

Sarah instinctively came to his side and tried to comfort him.

"Don't worry Jimmy," she said, "We'll think of something."

Everyone stared at Double D, hopeful for answers.

Double D only returned their stares as hr did a quick head count.

"Has anyone seen Ed, Rolf, or Johnny?," he asked.

"Oh, they landed in the trees," said a familiar, foreign sounding voice from above.

Everyone looked up to see Rolf making his way down a tall elm tree. Next to that elm tree, Johnny was climbing down a tall maple tree with Plank in hand. On that same tree, was Ed clinging to on of the lower branches. His teeth were chattering and he was shaking violently as he opened only of eye to look at his friends.

"Great," said Eddy, "how are we going to get him down?"

"Let's worry about that later. I think we need to do over what happened first," said Double D and he motioned for the others to take a seat.

Nazz, Sarah, Rolf, Jimmy, and Johnny all sat in front of Double D. Eddy just leaned up against a tree while Kevin stood on the other side of it. Ed, being too afraid to get down, stayed in the maple tree.

Double D started to explain everything about the crystal and some of his theories about the monster.

Everyone but Ed listened intently to Double D. Ed hadn't heard a word of what Double D or anybody else was saying sense his attention was directed to a small blue beetle that had crawled out on the tree limb.

"Hello bug," he said happily as he laid his hand in the beetle's path and it climbed on.

All his fear of falling was forgotten; he sat up on the tree branch and watched the beetle explore his hand. When it was finished, the insect crawled into the middle of Ed's palm and lifted its shell to reveal small, transparent wings and took off into a gloomy purple sky.

"Awwww…," Ed signed as he watched his playmate fly away.

Ed tried to keep his eyes on the beetle for as long as he could. When it was out of sight, Ed finally noticed the view he got from his tree branch.

Ed, as well as the other kids, was on the top of hill. The sides weren't very steep and the ended at the beginning of a small, grassy plain. Cutting through the middle of the plain was a small canyon that was left by a dried-up river.

Off into the distance was the faint outline of a large city. This city silhouette was what amazed Ed the most. His eyes stayed glued to it as he tried to see how much of it he could make out.

He continued to scan that horizon until six dots caught his eye. These dots were hard to make out because they were moving very fast and they seemed to be dressed in black, but as the came closer they took on an almost human form.

When they finally stopped, hovering above the canyon with what appeared to be jet packs, Ed could fully make them out. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped at what he saw. There was two bunnies, one yellow and one pink, an orange duck, a green dog, a red bird that Ed thought looked like a chicken but its neck was too long, and a purple creature that Ed didn't have a clue as to what it could be but he still thought it was cool. The red bird was the only one that didn't have a jet pack but he still seemed to fly well without it.

He crouched down and tried to hide himself among the leaves trying to make sure they couldn't spot him but he could still see them.

They were discussing something now and Ed wished he knew what it was.

The discussion ended as the group split-up. The duck and the purple one went to the other side of the hill, the pink bunny and the red bird went to the far end of the plain, and the yellow bunny and the green dog went directly down into the canyon.

Ed stepped down from the branch and turned toward the other kids. He opened his mouth to tell them of his plan but he quickly shut it and slapped both of hands over it.

He glanced at the group if kids.

"Double D looks busy," he thought, "baby sister looks upset, if Rolf sees them he may try to take them back to his farm, and the others probably don't like fuzzy animals with jet packs like I do."

Ed now saw only one option; do it alone. He turned around and carefully make his way down the hill.

Only one person saw Ed leave.

"Where's that lump going?" Eddy muttered to himself.

Eddy had been watching Ed for awhile and now the curiosity was eating him alive.

He stood up from his leaning position and started to walk backwards. He glanced around to make sure no one was watching him and then he turned around and started to run after Ed.

Only one person saw Eddy leave.

"Where's that dork going?" Kevin muttered to himself.

Kevin looked around to see if anyone was watching him and when the coast was clear, he started to follow Eddy.

By this time, Ed had made his way to the canyon.

He walked along the edge until he heard something that sounded like the faint talking echoing against canyon walls. He quickly dived behind a pile of large stones and peered over the top to see the canyon floor.

He held his breath and waited to see if the bunny and the dog would make an appearance.

Suddenly, Ed felt some one tap his shoulder. He spun around to come face to face with Eddy.

Ed smiled wide at the sight of his friend.

Eddy just scowled and said, "What do you think your doing, you…."

"What do both of you dorks think your doing," yelled a voice from behind Eddy.

Eddy jumped and spun around to see Kevin standing right behind him.

"What am I doing?!" Eddy yelled back, "You're the one sneaking up on people like Jack the Riper! Who said you could follow me while I was following Ed!"

"Listen dorky, I just wanted to see what you and your dime-wit friend were doing!"

As Kevin and Eddy argued, Ed returned to his surveillance and not a moment too soon as he instantly saw two swiftly advancing figures on the canyon floor.

Ed turned toward the arguing boys and grabbed them by their mouths. He proceeded dragged them to his position near the rocks.

"Ed, what are you..." Eddy yelled as he pulled away from Ed's grip.

"Shhhhh…" Ed simply replied before Eddy could finish.

Ed pointed over the rocks to the bottom of the canyon. Kevin and Eddy just shrugged and inched their way over to the rock wall to peer over.

All three looked over just as the rabbit and the dog (their jet packs now in the form of what looked like back packs) ran in front of them and stopped suddenly.

"Now I'm positive I heard something," the rabbit stated as he looked around.

"Ace, the energy levels are off the charts here," said the dog as he lifted this band on his harm that displayed all the information.

Both the dog and the rabbit, whose name was apparently was Ace, turned their backs away from the three boys to observe the data on the charts.

Eddy inched closer to the edge in an attempt to see what they were looking at. As he leaned over the edge he placed his hand on an area of loose stone and nearly fell as it gave way.

Ed and Kevin quickly reached out and grabbed Eddy's arms to steady him and pull him back. Once Eddy was safe, all three pressed themselves up against the rocks from fear of being seen.

Ed held his breath as he looked in between the spacing of the rock. He watch as the loose soil tumbled down and landed at the feet of the rabbit and the dog.

Both of them briefly stared at the ruble and then looked strait up at the boys hiding spot. Their bodies grew tense as they waited for any other signs of movement.

Suddenly, the rabbit's wrist band began to ring.

He lifted it and said, "Hey Lex, what's up?"

A female voice came over the other end and said, "You and Tech might what to get over here fast. You'll wouldn't believe what me and Rev fond."

"Where are you guys?"

"We're at the far end of the canyon."

The rabbit and the dog glanced at each other and then up at the boys' hiding spot.

"Should we investigate the cause of that miniature rock slide?" asked the dog.

"I have a feeling that Lexi and Rev are going to need our help," replied the rabbit and without another word the two took off toward their new destination.

As soon as they were out of hearing range, Kevin and Eddy looked at each other and said in unison, "We need to tell and others!"

With that the two sprang up had started to run for the top of the hill, leaving Ed all alone.

He stared in the direction Eddy and Kevin went, and then in the direction the rabbit and the dog went. He wade his options.

After all, he did get to see Eddy and Kevin almost every day, but how many opportunities would he get to see real humanoid animals with wrist communicators and jet packs?

With his mind made up, he stood up went in the direction of the rabbit and the dog while muttering, "Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy,…"

Notice: I'm sorry that it took so long to update. I'm also sorry for yet another poor description of the Loonatics, but I wanted to try to describe them the way Ed or any of the other cal-de-sac kids may see them as. Have no fear, however, for I promise that Ed will know the difference between a chicken and a super powered road runner by the end of this Fan Fiction.