Disclaimer: Ed, Edd N Eddy and all its characters are copyright AKA Cartoon. I am not using them for profit; I am simply using them to practice my own writing skills….

Author: Merry Christmas, everyone! Sorry I haven't updated in so long…. But, finally, my break has come and I can upload these chapters!

This chapter also features Double D too. What's going to happen at this meeting? I could tell you but then you wouldn't read the fanfic, silly. On a side note, I hope my description of the secret layer is okay… (I'm bad at describing buildings…) Another note: I don't think energy radars have been invented…. Have they?

Oh, as a third note- when Nazz was speaking to Number 22 and Kevin on the walky-talky, they weren't speaking English. Wouldn't want someone to overhear them, would they?

Chapter Seventeen- "We've Rescheduled the World's Destruction"

Nazz and Double D walked down the halls. Double D noticed that, with each turn, the halls became emptier and darker. Eventually, they reached an abandoned hall that was completely dark except for a single flickering light dangling from the ceiling. There were no doors or windows and, for some reason, Double D had a feeling they were below ground level.

"You've dragged me to a dead end," Double D said, giving Nazz an odd look.

Nazz smiled and grabbed the walky-talky from her pocket. She started speaking in an odd code which Double D didn't recognize (though he was sure he'd heard some Greek and Spanish thrown into it). When Nazz finished speaking, Mizuuki's voice responded from the walky-talky in the odd same code.

"Agh, Number 22!" Nazz suddenly yelled in regular English. "Didn't I say you don't need to announce when you're signing off?"

"Sorry, it's a force of habit," Mizuuki's voice responded. Double D simply blinked as Nazz sighed and put the walky-talky away.

Nazz took a couple of steps away from the right wall, nodding at Double D. "You might want to stand back," she said. Startled, Double D jumped back and nearly tripped.

The walls in front of them suddenly started rumbling. Double D yelped and Nazz yawned a little. "This takes too long," she commented casually, "but we had to use outdated technology or risk being discovered. The walls contain an alloy which hides most of the energy in here from being seen on energy-radars, but we can't be too careful."

"En..energy-radars?" Double D stuttered as the wall slowly opened before them.

"You created it," Nazz explained. "It, as you could guess, measures energy rates. Nothing special, really, you made it in two days. However, as I was saying, this alloy blocks the energy-radar. That's how we have avoided being discovered for so long. But the secret passageway opens and closes so slowly, it'd be far too easy for someone to sneak in or out."

"Do you think someone has?" Double D asked hopefully. Maybe Mission Destruction could be stopped after all. If someone on the outside knew about it…

Nazz laughed. "Not likely. Besides, we won't have to fret about this inconvenience much longer."

That's worrisome, Double D thought. "Please tell me you're getting a secret passage that opens and closes quicker."

Nazz grinned mysteriously. The floors around them stopped rumbling. "Finally, it's open."

The wall opened up into a large, dark staircase. Double D couldn't see far into the secret passageway, but he had a feeling it was very deep underground. Nazz grabbed a small flashlight from her pocket. "Follow me," she said solemnly. Double D nodded and the two walked down the metal staircase, their footsteps echoing behind them.

As the secret passageway slowly closed, Double D thought for a split second he heard a third pair of footsteps. "Did you hear that?" he asked Nazz.

"Hear what?" was her response.

Both stopped walking for a second. They were deep underground. Double D could tell because the sound of the passageway entrance closing had grown very quiet, despite the fact that it was very consistently loud as it had opened. He could hardly hear it at all… and he couldn't hear a third set of footprints. Nevertheless, he told Nazz to direct the flashlight behind them. They saw nothing. "It must have been my imagination," Double D laughed.

"Whatever you say," Nazz said with a sigh. "Hurry up, we're already late."

The two started walking quicker. Twice, Double D thought he heard something else, but decided not to mention it to Nazz. For five long, silent moments, the duet walked silently. Both were left to their thoughts, and with every passing second, Double D's fear increased.

He was almost relieved when he saw the end of the staircase. However, as he took a closer look, his heart froze in fear.

The end of the staircase opened up into a small room. Above them, a light bulb cast off a blue light that made Nazz's blonde hair seem almost purple in color. A semi-transparent wall with a metallic door blocked them from going anywhere. The door was featureless except for a handle and a complicated device that looked like a scanner.

It wasn't the tiny room that frightened him, however. It was what he could see through the semi-transparent wall. The wall showed a giant, circular room. The sides were made of rocks which glowed blue due to the odd lighting. The ceiling was similar to an observatory's; it looked as if it could open at the press of a button.

Along the sides, he saw a narrow pathway, leading to a large landing. Throughout the narrow pathway, many people sat on chairs, holding papers and apparently discussing plans. The center was a large, empty pit. Double D thought he saw something near the bottom of the pit, but it was too dark to tell what it was.

But even that didn't completely scare him. It was the large, empty throne in the middle of the landing. It was his throne. He could tell.

Nazz walked up to the door with a slight smile on her face. She put her finger against the scanner, which glowed bright yellow. Then the yellow light moved away from her thumb and towards her eyes.

"Welcome, Second in Command," an electronic voice stated, coming from nowhere.

The door opened, and Nazz merrily stepped inside. As it slung shut behind her, she indicated the scanner.

Reluctantly, Double D stepped up to the scanner. His breath seemed to echo throughout the room. He noticed that he was shivering as he put his thumb against the scanner; it was cold, too. Only a stereotypical villain from a cartoon could appreciate a layer like this.

The light scanned his thumb, and suddenly moved towards his eyes. He almost blinked, but prevented himself from doing so; the last thing he wanted was for this door to glitch on him. Who knew what kind of safety previsions his parallel had put on the door against intruders?

Though maybe he wasn't too concerned about keeping the mission a secret. Why would he make this wall transparent?

"Welcome, First in Command, our great leader," the electronic voice cheered robotically. The door swung open and Double D stepped in. He noticed that the wall was transparent one way, but not both ways; he couldn't see back into the tiny room. This is beyond poor design… It's like he wanted someone to spy on them….

He almost gasped. It was obvious! His parallel, in a moment of weakness, had gotten everyone together to start this crazy mission. Then Parallel Eddward realized he was wrong, but wasn't able to stop the mission directly. Maybe someone was spying on them right now! That would explain the extra footsteps he heard!

Nazz grabbed his hand, and everyone watched as a small pathway formed in the middle of the cavity, connecting the area in front of the wall to the large landing. As the two waked over it, Double D almost felt a small amount of joy. Someone was going to prevent the end of the world, he was sure of it!

Then he looked down.

The ditch was lit, but one couldn't tell from looking through that transparent wall. Nor could one could see part of the space shuttle that occupied the void, though it was clear as day from where he stood.

They've gotten this far… Double D thought with a gulp. The silent moment of joy he felt faded.

Nazz indicated for Double D to sit in the throne. As he did, the pathway that connected the door to the landing disappeared. Someone handed Nazz a chair, and she sat down next to him. Everyone stared expectantly at Double D. Nazz gasped slightly, and said, "Since Sir Eddward is unaware of his job, I shall fill in for him. What has this emergency meeting been called for?"

A lone man on the left side of the chasm stood up. He was a dorky looking man with cruel eyes and an official outfit labeled NASA. "Number Four speaking. Well, technically, Second in Command, the meeting was rescheduled."

An annoyed sigh escaped Nazz's lips. Double D gulped slightly.

"Anyway," Number Four continued, "We have rescheduled the meeting because tonight in the best time to start."

"To start what?" Double D cried.

Silently, everyone's attention turned from Number Four to their leader. Double D laughed self-consciously. "The final phase of Mission Destruction," Nazz explained almost nonchalantly. However, the nonchalant tone was quickly replaced with a worried one: "Why are we leaving tonight? I thought we were heading off next week."

Number Four sat down, and another man stood up. Double D gasped; it was the Vice President! He seemed like such a nice, warm person. In fact, he was the last person Double D expected to see in this room. He'd be less surprised if Santa Clause was sitting there! "Number Three speaking. The president has rescheduled the night we will analyze the skies to make sure pollution levels are low. He has changed it to the night of the launch, and our launch would certainly cause a disturbance in the atmospheric pollution levels."

Double D listened to this worriedly as he looked around the room. He spotted Jimmy, Johnny and Rolf. They didn't look that different, although they all looked older, and were (obviously) dressed in work clothing. However, he couldn't find Kevin anywhere. Is Kevin the spy?

"Number Four speaking," Number Four almost squawked as he stood up. "The NASA satellites have, for some reason we cannot figure out, been moving at a slower speed then normal. Tonight is the only night they won't be facing out path."

Nazz listened and nodded as Double D saw more famous faces. He recognized actors (who were older in this universe, but still familiar), a few political figures, and many scientists that he once loved. How…? Why?

"I understand this," Nazz said officially. "As Second in Command, I declare that we will leave tonight, at twelve midnight."

Double D froze. He wasn't the slowest person, but it took him a moment to realize what Nazz and the destroyers were talking about. "WHAT?!" he panicked. "TONIGHT?!"

Everyone turned to stare at him for the third time. He realized that this was his chance to stop Mission Destruction once and for all.

He stepped up and away from his throne. "People! How can we do this?" Double D cried, heartfelt. "Certainly, we've been forced through some hard times by the government! But this isn't the answer! Murder isn't the answer! We need to take non-violent means!"

A murmur crossed the crowd. It's working! Double D thought excitedly. He continued on with his speech: "What if it was you? What if you were one of the uniformed citizens, forced to die simply because the government was demanding? Please, listen! If we want change, we should go up to the President and demand it!"

Two rather large men holding some rather dangerous looking devices stood up and started marching rather quickly towards him. "Toxin D is evil," Double D continued yelling as the two guards grabbed him. A door he hadn't even noticed opened up behind him, and they threw him inside before slamming the door shut.

"Impossible," Double D thought aloud, staring dazedly as the door in front of him changed colors and melted into the rock. "They didn't listen to me at all… and I'm their leader. So many people are going to die…"

Tears filled his eyes. No, I can't cry. He stood up and paced around the room. I'll have to sabotage this mission. But how?