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: Woo! Will Ed survive these two?! Or is this his final battle? I think my author's comments from last time gave it away, but, er…
Chapter Twenty-six: The Lost Ones, Part 2
Ed smiled triumphantly. Then he turned to demand that Sarah let him go.
But the expression on Sarah's face made his blood run cold.
"HOW DARE YOU HURT JIMMY?!" Sarah screamed with such ferocity, the room shook. Ed's blood no longer ran cold; it froze. Another mist filled the room, swirling around his head towards Sarah like a tornado. Screaming still, Sarah stomped on the floor and the black mist swirled together in front of her, becoming a thicker and thicker tornado until Ed could not see even inches in front of him. Ed gaped; the weapons clattered against the wall.
Then, rapidly as the tornado appeared, it took on a solid form: a large black gem. The sight of it was more horrifying then the tornado, or even the horrible red light: it seemed to steal the light, the energy, the very air from the room.
The crystal upon Ed's own chest-plate started glowing, counteracting the black gem's light-absorption. Then Sarah screamed louder, and the EdCrystal turned a vibrant shade of red. Ed doubled over in pain, screaming. It was the most painful thing he had experienced in his life. He couldn't even think of a heroic thing to say.
"THIS IS THE ANTI-CRYSTAL," Sarah screamed, holding the black gem above her head. It began to float menacingly. "AND IT IS THE ONLY THING STRONGER THEN YOUR STUPID EDCRYSTAL!"
The pain was bound to tear Ed apart.
The crystal started moving towards Ed, causing the impossible pain to increase. Sarah screamed, louder: "YOU SAID YOUR PRAYERS WHEN YOU HURT JIMMY! PREPARE TO DIE-"
"Sarah."
Jimmy's voice was unexpectedly calm. Sarah turned around, shocked by its calmness. Ed, if he could have, would have looked up with a similar expression. "Jimmy?"
"Stop it," Jimmy said calmly. The stunned girl simply nodded, and the Anti-Crystal dropped into her hands. It seemed to turn into a regular stone- at least, the room felt less like it was going to be destroyed molecule by molecule. Ed's own crystal abruptly stopped glowing, and with it, the pain disappeared. He silently stood up, almost prepared to thank Jimmy. However, when he looked up he saw that Jimmy's face was redder then his cut.
Jimmy marched up to Ed. "So, you're good with a sword? I guess I'll put some effort into this game then." And, with that simple warning, he swung. The hit, in an almost comedic manner, flung Ed across the room. His movement was stopped, though, when he hit something…
…The wall. It was the wall that Jimmy had created, blocking his exit. Something vaguely resembling a plan filled Ed's head as he stood up. Jimmy swung again, and Ed ducked, or rather, collapsed. He was in the worst condition in his life. …But at least, it seemed, his plan would work. The second Jimmy's tiny little sword hit the rock wall, it filled with cracks.
Ed jumped away. "If you evil Kankers have your icky glowy pain crystal, why do you need mine?!"
Foreseeing Ed's plan of action, Jimmy managed to corner him on the opposite side of the room from the exit. Ed's attention span was short, but anyone would have agreed: the Jimmy of the universe was quick. This stinked. In his home world, SARAH ran after him with (toy) swords, not Jimmy; and she wasn't nearly as fast and the sword didn't leave nearly as many wounds.
But he couldn't be defeated by these two. Dorothy went home after defeating the Wicked Witch of the West; Ed was certain that he had to defeat the Kankers if he ever wanted to see the real Jimmy and Sarah again. However, he realized their was a chance he might not beat the Kankers; at the moment, Jimmy was holding a sword against his neck. "Too easy," Jimmy muttered disdainfully. "I can't believe you actually hit me."
"Why do you want this crystal?!" Ed repeated.
Sarah nodded, and even though Jimmy was facing the opposite way, he nodded back. He then let his sword down… just a little bit. Enough for Ed to know that he wasn't going to kill him yet. "The person," Sarah explained, in a tone implying that the only reason she was saying anything to Ed was out of boredom, "that holds the EdCrystal is the ruler of the universe. This is a fact, just as gravity is a fact. Besides that, if my leaders have both the crystals, they will be unstoppable. They will be the strongest force not only in this universe, but in any universe."
"Any universe?" Jimmy asked. "Oh… Is that the Kanker's top secret plan?"
"It is," Sarah smiled, and then she burst into laughter.
Ed stared. "Are the Kankers going to use their magic powers to mutate mash potatoes and-"
Jimmy put the sword up close to his neck; within a centimeter of his skin. Ed wisely silenced. "You're stupid," Sarah grumbled. "We're going to use the Fairixies and their dimension-traveling powers to take over the entire multiverse, idiot. But now that I had to explain it, it's not as fun anymore. Why'd my brother's parallel have to be so dumb?"
"We'll take over every single universe," Jimmy said with a smile, over Sarah's rantings about stupidity. "Starting with yours. And we'll kill off all your friends and family, for you dared to challenge us…"
Ed's attention was, for once in his life, completely and utterly undivided.
"Ed!" the young and youthful Jimmy of his home universe cried.
Even Sarah seemed unusually vulnerable. "Save us, Ed!"
Monsters pushed Double D, who was blabbering on in technobabble, and Eddy, who was holding onto a jar full of money and stammering…
The monstrous Kankers pushed the whole of the cul-de-sac- even their suddenly weak and defenseless counterparts, the Kanker sisters- into a corner, and then lifted up the Anti-Crystal… A dark beam of energy- designed to kill- ripped towards the defenseless kids…
"NO!" Ed yelled, shoving Jimmy away.
Sarah growled. "Why don't you kill this Space Ranger pawn, Jimmy?"
"I don't know why this has taken so long, ma'am," Jimmy admitted. "But gladly." He lifted his sword up and prepared to strike Ed's head.
Ed caught the sword. Jimmy's eyes widened. And, with a simple motion, Ed threw the sword across the room. Whilst Jimmy just simply stared at the sword in utter shock, Sarah smiled. "Are you giving up the proper way?"
As a response, Ed pulled the EdCrystal out of his chest plate. Sarah laughed. "As fun as it would have been to watch you die, I have to say that surrender is far more amusing. So much for being a hero!"
"Where did the AntiCrystal come from?" Ed demanded to know. "And why do you have it, Sarah? If it's so valuable why did the Kankers just let you summon it?"
Sarah's smile faded. Somehow, she had mistaken determination for surrender. And now he was actually making some sense. But why was he determined at all? He had no chance of escaping! That idiot…
"I'll answer your question," Sarah smiled. "But this will be your last question anyone ever answers. This was a trap, you idiot. The Kankers knew that if you were separated from those other demons that call themselves Space Rangers, you could be killed just by being in the sight of the Anti-Crystal. And you know how they knew?" Her smile grew darker. "Because I designed the Anti-Crystal, Ed. And I was around to see how you made the EdCrystal. I made the Anti-Crystal in the opposite way. They put their magic into it, buy my power was what-"
The EdCrystal was glowing. Darn it! Ed's stupidity had tricked her into blabbering on without paying any attention. "What are you doing, you- you-?!"
Jimmy's eyes focused blankly on the sword. "Sarah… Why are we doing this?" he suddenly asked, in a daze.
"D-Doing what?"
"Working for the Kankers," Jimmy said, a look of horror crossing his face as he mentally reviewed the last few years. "They're murderers!"
The color drained from Sarah's face. Angrily, she whirled around and glared at Ed. Brainwashing magic! Then she whirled back. "Don't be fooled, Jimmy! That moron is using brainwashing magic! He's the real murderer!"
Ed smiled light-headedly. His plan was working. He imagined what Eddy and Double D would have said if they were there… Nothing, for they would have simply been staring, mouths open in shock. Then Double D would have said: "You had a plan?!" The "plan" had truly been a moment of: Wait a minute, if this EdCrystal thing can do anything…
"I'm not brainwashing you," Ed said. "I'm unbrainwashing you."
Sarah opened her mouth to protest, but she couldn't. However, she could see how weak using the Crystal was making him. She simply had to outwait that murderer. Clutching onto the Crystal, she began thinking to herself, You're-a-murderer-you're-a-murderer… Give up, give up, I know the truth, murder, murderer…
Fun memories returned to Sarah, memories that had turned into a hazy fog long before. She ran her mind through every life that her older brother had ended. And she ran her mind through every life that the ones Ed murdered had murdered- every one she knew about, anyway.
"Sarah," Jimmy pleaded. And she knew there was no point in fighting for the Kankers anymore. They had murdered for fun; Ed had murdered in self defense, or in defense of others. With a reluctant sigh, she loosened her grip on the AntiCrystal, which, despite her tries, would not activate. Ed lowered his own crystal, knowing he had won.
Jimmy smiled, and turned around bravely towards Ed. "Sir Ed, I have been misguided in fighting for the Kanker Alliance. I would love to fight for you, if you could possibly forgive my sins."
"OKAY!" Ed shouted, delighted. Jimmy smiled. And they both turned, expectantly, towards Sarah.
She burst into a run, and before Ed could duck, she had caught him. She was hugging him! "Thank you, fake big brother," Sarah said affectionately.
Ed yelped. First this Sarah was attacking him worse then the Sarah from his universe ever did. And now she was being all huggy! This was really weird, and for some reason, it made him homesick.
However, the affection did not last long. Sarah stomped on Ed's foot, yelling, "Why'd you let me get brainwashed in the first place, you idiot?"
Jimmy paled. "S-Sarah! This isn't the same Ed from our dimension, and even if it was, he thought we were dead all these years-"
"Sarah's back!" Ed smiled, hugging her. Jimmy sighed, glad that Ed hadn't interpreted the violence as a betrayal. Sarah scowled; her real older brother was affectionate at times, but this was annoying.
"Leggo of me, Ed!"
"Fluffy, cuddly sister!"
"You weirdo!" Sarah pulled away, stomping towards the other wall. "We don't have time for your weird other-universiness! We need to get to the Kanker Headquarters! We're still in the middle of a war, you know-"
Suddenly, she froze. Her pupils became the same color as her iris. Ed drew in a sharp breath. "Has my sister been brainwashed by the evil Decogonials from-"
"No!" Jimmy cut off Ed's comic book reference, in annoyance. Even though he now respected Ed, comic books still irritated him. He walked past Ed, grabbing his sword. "Sarah can see the past and the future. She's having a vision."
"Cool," Ed responded simply. He wondered if the visions were more like in the Slime Demons series, where visions only came at random, plot-convenient times, or the sequel series, where it bothered them every second of the day. The first one, he quickly concluded.
"The Space Rangers," Sarah began, sounding much older and more mature then Ed ever remembered Sarah sounding like. Her voice had an otherworldly quality to it. "Will arrive at the Kanker Headquarters in twenty minutes." A few seconds passed. Then her voice and eyes returned to normal: "It would be best if we arrived first. There's a secret passage in here that leads straight to the Headquarters."
She illustrated by placing her hand against the wall, the other clutching the AntiCrystal. Colorful lights danced upon the surface of the AntiCrystal, causing Ed to wince lightly. The lights dashed through Sarah's body and into the cave wall. The wall completely crumbled, revealing a passage. "It should take us about five minutes to get there."
"Okie-dokie, Sarah," Ed said cheerfully, placing the EdCrystal back into his chest plate. He skipped over to the wall of weapons and grabbed a blaster.
"The blasters aren't loaded, Ed. You'll need to use magic," Jimmy said. Ed dropped it, disappointedly. Then he turned to Sarah. "Aren't you going to put the AntiCrystal away, Sarah?"
"I'll need it to open the other wall," Sarah said, shaking her head. "And I plan on destroying it the second we no longer need it." With that, she stepped into the passageway. Jimmy did too. The two walked for a few moments before realizing Ed hadn't joined them. With a sigh, Jimmy ran back and grabbed him, dragging him into the passageway.
"This will be the last battle those Kankers will ever fight!" Ed yelled determinedly. Sarah and Jimmy nodded. They hoped he was right.
