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: The final battle! Can Ed survive the Kankers' wrath? I hope so! Can he get home? Maybe…

Chapter Twenty-seven: The Final Fight

"Ouch."

Ed was leading the way. He was running, but something had suddenly appeared, causing him to fall over. It was… a cavern wall. "Hello, wall!"

"Step aside, fake older brother," Sarah said, almost cheerfully. She was letting Ed's amusing antics distract her slightly from the upcoming death sentence. Not that she was doing it on purpose; Ed was rolling backward… on the walls. The universe he came from was rather cartoonish, but still… Sarah sighed and touched the wall. The AntiCrystal sparked, and the wall crumbled. (Ed shuddered slightly at the dark magic.)

They were greeted with a horrifying view of the palace. Ed gaped at its crystalline black walls, standing hundreds of feet tall. The crystalline palace was practically built into the surrounding mountains and volcanoes. Evil brownish clouds oozed from its ceiling, reeking of death and decay. A scream emerged from the palace, ear-shatteringly loud.

But the volume level made sense, for the palace was less then three yards away. "Sarah, I knew you said this path lead to the Kanker Headquarters, but isn't this rather… dangerously close?" Jimmy asked nervously, clutching his sword tighter.

Sarah chuckled, also nervously. Faking casualness, she tossed the AntiCrystal back and forth between her hands. "I forgot the entrance was this close."

"This is the palace of Hades," Ed said. It was a simple fact, for he had seen this castle in the Hades comic series.

He was dutifully ignored. "I better destroy this Crystal while we still have the chance," Sarah muttered, glaring at the AntiCrystal. With a vengeful yell, she raised the Crystal high above her head, and prepared to toss it to the ground.

"You go, girl!" Jimmy yelled in support. Ed was still staring nervously at the palace, trying to remember what had happened in the comic book. The only problem was that Hades was so long and had so many spin-offs, Ed wasn't sure what issue this universe might have been paralleling-

Something moved. Before Ed had a chance to yell out a warning, the three Kanker demons had appeared atop the highest- and closest- peak of the castle.

Lee-der-dum flew downwards, laughing evilly. She pointed her barrel-like fingers at Sarah and fired. "SARAH!" Ed yelled. Sarah span around, but she was no match for the speed of the bullet of poisonous slime. It slammed into her, pushing her into the ground and tossing the AntiCrystal into the air. Hand poised in air like an evil baseball catcher, Lee-der-dum caught it.

"Stupid Space Ranger!" May-toe-jam shouted mockingly as she joined her older sister. Marie-mop-plop flew behind silently; her smile was more mocking then any words could have been. "You'd think you would have been wise enough to see our trap, even if you weren't psychic! We used the Anti Crystal to alter Skuashi's powers! Your weak little army wasn't teleported to some random place in space, it was transported here! On purpose!"

In the time it had taken May-toe-jam to brag this, Sarah and Jimmy were already in battle position. It was even enough time for Ed to catch on and get into a tough, heroic stance.

Lee-der-dum slapped May-toe-jam upon the back of her head. "Ow! Whatdja do that for?!"

"You're just like Sarah," Lee-der-dum scolded, "always unnecessarily revealing secret plans. I'd punish both of you, but we need to focus our energy on the traitor and her brother."

"I told you the brainwashing magic would fail us," Marie-mop-plop mumbled.

"Oh well," Lee-der-dum shrugged, holding the AntiCrystal high above her head. "It's not like these losers will take that long to eliminate!"

Laughing, the other two grabbed hold of the AntiCrystal. Jimmy predicted the attack just in time, grabbed his teammates, lifted them up ("Jimmy's strong as a bear!" Ed commented randomly in surprise), and ran. The shock wave of the blast flung them into the palace's walls. However, sitting up, Ed saw that they had avoided the worst of it: the secret entrance- and the huge volcano it was in- was gone. The volcano was as flat as a two-by-four plank.

Sarah and Jimmy were undeterred by the blast's strength. In fact, they seemed slightly underwhelmed; almost as if the mountain-flattening blast was a weak warm up. They nodded to each other, and then to Ed, who nodded back, unsure why he was nodding. Then they charged at the Kankers, jumping impossibly high into the air. Lee-der-dum made a motion with her head, and her accomplices let go of the Crystal. They flew down, laughing wickedly, and attacked the two reformed Space Rangers.

May-toe-jam's fingernails and toenails- or rather, the five knives at the end of her hands and feet- clanged loudly and unpleasantly with Jimmy's tiny rapier. Somehow, Jimmy was able to keep track of all twenty of the knives flying at him. And Sarah- whose eyes, Ed noticed, were as blank as when she had seen the future before, and who had grown angelic wings the same shade as her blank eyes- agilely ducked the blade of the gigantic flail that Marie-mop-plop called an arm. Screaming in frustration, Marie-mop-plop fired the blaster that was her other arm. Ed yelped, but his fear was unnecessary; Sarah emerged completely unscathed, a glowing white shield surrounding her.

They seemed about even. Sarah and Jimmy might win. No- they were the good guys. And the good guys always won. They would definitely win! Ed cheered in delight at this thought.

A bolt of poisonous slime hit his left cheek, causing him to yelp in pain and shock. However, the bolt had, for the most part, missed; it did not knock him over as it had Sarah. Jimmy and Sarah, though, did not know this; they glanced sharply over their shoulders at their leader's yell, for the slightest second. It was enough for their Kankerian counterparts to get two swift attacks in. They returned to their fight, but the distraction had given May and Marie the upper hand…

"What are you celebrating for, sweetie?" Lee-der-dum chuckled, floating overhead. She held the AntiCrystal, glowing with ominous power, overhead. "We're winning here, you moron. Your celebration is an invitation to death."

"The good guy always wins!" Ed yelled triumphantly. He began to pull the EdCrystal out of his chest plate. However, he saw the smirk that crossed Lee's disgustingly mutated face. Was it possible? Was this a trick to get him to pull the EdCrystal out?

Laughing, Lee-der-dum said, "It seems you've looked through my trap, honey. A bit too late, though. Let's see if you can look through THIS trap!" And, with that, a tornado formed above the AntiCrystal.

It didn't move. It simply grew in power, size, and loudness. Lee laughed as it floated above her head, imposingly, but harming nothing. Yet the use of the AntiCrystal was too much for Ed. Screaming in pure agony, he dropped to his knees, holding his hand against his head. What kind of perfect universe was this?! Who knew that the hero's journey would be so terrible? There was nothing fun about this.

The AntiCrystal used far more power in the Kanker's hands then in Sarah's. Ed could not see a foot in front of him, let alone think straight. He couldn't think to put the EdCrystal, halfway removed from his chest plate, back. He couldn't hear Lee-der-dum's laughter as she floated down. He could feel that the AntiCrystal had moved closer, and somehow, that increased the impossible, blinding agony. He didn't even feel as she shoved him to the floor, or notice as Lee-der-dum removed the EdCrystal from him.

Somehow, though, he became aware that the EdCrystal was not only the greatest strength of the Ed of this universe, but the greatest weakness. If it was removed from his body for too long, he knew- he instinctively knew- that this Ed's body would die. And he would die with it.

And then the pain was gone. All faded to black, and then there was nothing.

"ED!" Sarah screamed, her voice echoing across the volcanoes. The distraction should have given Marie the chance to kill her. But she didn't. Both Marie-mop-plop and May-toe-jam flew up to where Lee-der-dum held the two crystals above her head.

"NO!" Jimmy screamed, looking away from Ed and toward the Kankers.

---

"Do you feel that?" Kevin asked, shivering.

A blast of pure, bright light, accompanied by a tornado, appeared from a group of volcanoes and caves, and hit the sky, changing its colors.

"No," Nazz responded, "but I see that!"

A monster snuck up on Kevin. A group of Space Rangers hit it, and it disintegrated.

"That's the last of those monsters," General Rolf announced. He pointed at the light ahead. "But we must hurry there!" The Space Rangers responded with a loud, "Yes, sir."

"Kevin, Johnny," Saraline ran up behind them, almost gasping for breath. "Have you seen Ed recently? Neither TargonTroi nor Skuashi have."

"Could he be dead?" Johnny asked, horrified. Nazz gasped in fear.

"No."

"No, Kevin?" Nazz asked, sounding relieved. Saraline, also sounding relieved, said, "You've seen him? Where is he?"

"Don't you see it? That fake is with the Kankers!" Kevin yelled, clutching his fists in anger. Nazz stared blankly; Saraline and Johnny simply gaped at him in disbelief.

"Kevin, he clearly wasn't bright enough to-"

"Anyone can fake stupidity, Johnny," Kevin muttered angrily. "I know, I KNOW he is with the Kankers, giving them the EdCrystal! I wouldn't be surprised if that was the Kankers using the EdCrystal over there!"

Nazz mumbled, touching Kevin's shoulder, "What are you guys talking about?"

Kevin pushed her away and ran ahead, past General Rolf. He ignored the cries from the others; General Rolf, confused at Kevin's rush, decided to make the Space Rangers run faster, too.

They passed around the corner, getting a perfect view of the horrifying palace. But the palace was nothing compared to what they saw in the sky; the three demonic Kankers were floating high in the air, holding the EdCrystal and a floating black crystal that seemed to suck the light right out of the EdCrystal.

"The AntiCrystal!" TargonTroi gasped in realization.

The tornado and the light were coming from the two Crystals, and they were surrounding the Kankers. Two dozen Space Rangers were already flinging magical attacks at them, but the attacks were simply deflected.

"Dude… is that…" Nazz began.

"Sarah? Jimmy?!" Skuashi gasped.

"They're still alive?" Saraline gaped. Then she saw Ed. "He's almost dead!" She forgot about the horrifying scene above and ran to him, already preparing the healing magic.

The other Space Rangers stared in horror- and then began uselessly attacking- as the three Kankers began merging into one giant being. Their evil laughter shook the nearby volcanoes- setting some off, and impossibly quickly, they grew in size. They grew and grew until the malicious castle seemed tiny in comparison. Their flesh molted, as did their clothes, and they became a mishmash of wings and scales and weaponry-feet. Their hands, however, were two five-fingered hands holding the crystals above their head. They did not look complete.

That was why it was a shock when the Crystals above fired, a beam of light mixed with a tornado. Half the Space Rangers scrambled away just in time. There was nothing left where the other half was- absolutely nothing. Even the volcano behind them was gone, as if it had never existed.

A large group of Space Rangers- Kevin, TargonTroi, Skuashi, Johnny, General Rolf and Nazz- noted that Saraline was standing above Ed, trying desperately to heal him. They joined her, standing next to- and inches away from, as if the two were ghosts- Sarah and Jimmy.

"Come on, Ed… wake up, you idiot," Sarah muttered.

---

Pain. Searing pain. Everything around him was impossibly painful. Yet he focused. Ed saw the faces of many people. Sarah… Jimmy… Nazz… Kevin… Rolf… They almost looked the same, as at home. But no, their expressions were that of battle weary adults, not of carefree teenagers.

He forced himself to stand, in a daze. Pain everywhere. Bad for Ed… but letting it get to him would be worse.

"I knew it!" Kevin screamed, and Saraline and TargonTroi had to pull him back to prevent him from attacking Ed. "I knew it! You're a Kanker spy! You gave them the EdCrystal, you bastard!"

"What are you talking about, Ambassador?" General Rolf shouted.

"He's a fake! He replaced the real Ed!"

"Is that true?" Nazz gasped.

"It is suspicious," Johnny admitted. "But I can't just believe you without proof, Kevin! Where did you go, Ed?"

"What are you talking about? Why didn't anyone report that he was a fake, if this is so?" General Rolf demanded.

Nazz, almost tearing up, demanded to know: "Are you really a fake? What did you do to the real Ed?"

"Calm down!" Skuashi squeaked; he was ignored. Saraline began to answer General Rolf's questions and TargonTroi tried to get the others to stop talking all at once, which was hard to do when he was also preventing Kevin from using a water spell on Ed.

Ed stared, dazed. The pain was searing. He'd have to get rid of it. He was aware of Kevin making accusations- followed by the others demanding explanations. But what came to mind was the question: how could he get this Kevin's trust? Simple. Even in the mind-wrenching pain, he knew the answer: solve the problem. But how? A simple look up and he could see that the Kankers were too high up. He couldn't even reach the Kanker-demon, let alone kill it.

The Kankers were preparing to strike. Sarah noticed this, and forced all her energy to form a shield; the shield absorbed most of the damage, but everyone was injured by the time the shield faded. Sarah nearly collapsed.

Wait… Hadn't she sprouted wings before?

"Johnny," Ed suddenly spoke up. The entire group silenced. "Is there a type of flying magic? One that doesn't involve wings?"

Everyone was deathly silent. After a second of stunned silence- for that was not what Johnny, or anybody, was expecting Ed to ask- Johnny answered: "Um, y-yes."

"Good," Ed nodded.

"U-Uh, to do it-"

Johnny's instruction, however, was apparently not needed. Ed began to float. "W-Wait! You're not going to fly up to the Kankers, are you?"

Ed's lack of response was answer enough. Everyone began speaking at once, and Ed began to float away, collecting all his energy and trying to focus.

"You can't do that, Ed!" Johnny yelled above the rest. "It's suicide! You can't just grab the crystals-"

"EVERYONE, RUN!" Jimmy screamed. Johnny, on instinct, began running. The blast wave pushed him into the castle walls- now cracking under the Kanker's raw power. He turned around, quickly, to try and talk sense into Ed. But he could no longer see him.

---

Where was Ed, again? Oh right, he was flying upwards. He was going to look the Kankers straight in the eye and stop them. Somehow. He was flying, using his own magic, which was probably a good sign. Ah… Now he was face to face with all six eyes of the merged Kanker demon. The crystals were still yards above, and though he could only just see their outlines, he could feel the power building within them. The Kankers were preparing another strike, and this one was going to take less time.

Suddenly, the Kankers began laughing in unison. Their noise was so loud that Ed was surprised he didn't go deaf. Suddenly, the crystals began glowing brighter and brighter. Ed's eyes widened- "Oh no!" He was wrong. They weren't preparing another quick, small blast. They were preparing a blast of magic so strong that…

"Hah, you're still alive?" May-toe-jam chuckled.

Marie-mop-plop laughed louder: "Hardly! Look at him! He can hardly stand up straight!"

"How're you going to stop us, little boy?" Lee-der-dum laughed, deepest and loudest of them all. "We have double the power you ever had!"

"And with this blast," all three said in unison- or, almost in unison- their voices were a little off. That made sense, Ed thought. They had three heads, and three different personalities. Hmm…. "ALL THE SPACE RANGERS IN THE UNIVERSE WILL BE DESTROYED!"

Ed was tired of this. The pain that stupid AntiCrystal produced. The corny lines ripped straight from his comic books. Every part of him wanted to quit. Yet… he'd watched the movies. If the hero gave up, the bad guys would win. He had to think… think clearly…

The three hadn't been speaking in unison. If he could distract one…. "Well, you're ugly!" Ed countered their deadly threat.

It was clear that no one had dared insult these monsters to their face before. Marie's face turned bright red, and she stared away from the crystals above. May-toe-jam angrily pulled her hand down, in an attempt to smash the Space Ranger. It would have worked- Ed was about the size of their pupils, and he was flying within the range to be crushed by her gigantic, hulking hand.

However, that hand was the one holding the EdCrystal. She ended up dropping it.

"MAY-TOE-JAM! YOU MORON!" Lee-der-dum and Marie-mop-plop screamed in unison.

"Hahaha, I took that right from a movie! You need to watch more TV if you want to take over this universe!" Ed said, posing triumphantly and woozily.

---

Everyone stood, staring at the chaos above. They could not see what was happening- the growing tornado and lights were too bright. However, they could hear the Kanker's dark laughter. And then they heard two of the Kankers let out an eardrum-bursting screech.

"I-Is he attacking them?" Kevin gasped in surprise.

General Rolf frowned. "Possibly. That's a yell of frustration."

Inexplicably, Sarah pointed at something in the haze of dust and smoke caused by the tornado above, which was ripping the dust right off the face of the Kanker home world. "Jimmy… do you see that?"

Everyone turned; no one saw anything in that fog. Jimmy shook his head. No one could see that far… it was impossible! Except… perhaps… a seer? "What do you see, ma'am?"

Sarah gasped, and, despite the fact she had used most of her energy in creating that shield, began running. "It's- It's!"

The EdCrystal landed smoothly in her hand. "Wait- if you have that- does that mean that-" Saraline gasped.

"-that the Kanker's limitless power has disappeared?" Skuashi added, almost squeaking.

As if to dash the Space Ranger's hopes, Lee-der-dum laughed in a deranged fashion, loud enough to be heard above the tornado: "IT IS TOO LATE, ED! THE ANTICRYSTAL HAS ABSORBED ALL OF THE EDCRYSTAL'S POWER! WE CANNOT BE STOPPED!"

"Oh no…" Johnny whispered, reflecting the dark feelings all the Space Rangers shared. The entire group stared at the ground, with the exception of Kevin, who glared defiantly at the sky.

"WE'LL KILL YOU ALL! WITH THIS BLAST, WE'LL KILL EVERY SINGLE SPACE RANGER IN THE UNIVERSE!"

As was expected of Jimmy at a time like this, he looked up, prepared to ask Sarah if she was alright. "S-"

Her eyes were glowing. Jimmy blinked. Her eyes were glowing. Was it a vision of the future, of the imminent destruction ahead?

Words filled the air. They did not come from Sarah. It was clearly Ed's voice, though he was miles high in the sky. Nonetheless, it sounded like he was right in front of Sarah. "Sarah, I need you to use the EdCrystal on them. Please…"

"No!" Jimmy yelled. "No, that'll kill her! If she tries to stop that kind of power-"

Sarah spun around, smiling lightly. Her beautiful green eyes- not her mystical white eyes- reflected an inner calm and determination. That smile- those eyes- were enough to silence Jimmy, to make him trust in her more. He smiled a dopey smile back. (TargonTroi, Skuashi and Saraline shared a look. Jimmy hadn't changed. Even facing imminent destruction, he was still a hormonal teenager with an overpowering crush.)

No one, not even Kevin, spoke up as Sarah held the crystal above her head.

---

"D-Did you feel that Lee-der-dum?" Marie-mop-plop suddenly asked, breaking off from the evil laughter. Lee-der-dum and May-toe-jam stopped laughing too, for they felt it: someone was using the EdCrystal against their AntiCrystal… Sarah! Ed was astrally-projecting himself to Sarah, telling her to attack them!

Their demanding stares turned to Ed. Any normal boy stuck in his position would have run away at the look they gave him. However, due to a particular combination of the influence of weird heroic-adventure movies and pain-induced delirium, he smiled. It surprised the Kankers that such a bumpkin-face could manage such a snooty smirk.

Surprised? Did I say it surprised the Kankers? I meant it infuriated the Kankers. "Stop, girls-" Lee-der-dum commanded her other heads, who were about to stupidly loose focus and attack him. "Why should we focus our energy on killing him independently? Let's focus on using the AntiCrystal to kill him… That is, if INFERNO-" She yelled the name out, as if calling to a pet- "doesn't kill him first!"

The other Kankers joined Lee-der-dum as she burst into evil laughter. Ed wished they would stop. He was trying to remember what 'Inferno' was.

He remembered just in time to feel the dragon's breath run down his back. Before he had a chance to turn around, the dragon had fired its fiery breath at him. Skin black as ash (almost ready to disintegrate into ash), he fell to the ground.

"Good boy, Inferno!" May-toe-jam applauded.

"Don't talk to my dragon," Lee-der-dum scolded condescendingly. Inferno turned around, as if hurt by the fact someone as lowly as May-toe-jam would take notice of him. May-toe-jam pouted; Marie-mop-plop laughed, only cut off by Lee-der-dum's stare. Then they all began bursting into evil laughter again.

---

As Ed fell, certainly to his death, he began to wonder how many powers the EdCrystal had. If it could heal brainwashed people, and create entire universes, maybe it could heal wounds? But wouldn't he have to be holding it to heal his wounds? The fall would kill him long before he reached the ground.

Wait a second. Hadn't he flied, despite not holding the EdCrystal? Maybe… just maybe…

Ed focused. Flying had come easy- far easier then summoning a blaster. Maybe this universe's Ed was weakened by holding the EdCrystal near? The only advantage was that he would die if he didn't hold it near. And even this seemed to be a lie, because a simple healing spell brought him back.

It was obvious- the Ed of this universe held the EdCrystal close not because it would kill him if it didn't (he could heal himself in the seconds it took to remove the EdCrystal), but because when it was farther away, it was more erratic… harder to control, but magically stronger. In other words, because Ed was not holding the EdCrystal, it should have been easier to use magic. Encouraged, Ed focused on healing himself.

By the time he gently touched the ground, the damage of Inferno's blast- and the pain from the AntiCrystal- was gone.

A plan came to mind. Wait till Ed told Double D- he was almost as fast-thinking on his feet here as Double D was at home! Eddy probably wouldn't even believe him! A smile crossed Ed's face, because he knew he would be arriving home.

"Ed!" a chorus of Space Ranger cries- minus Sarah- yelled as Ed touched the ground.

There was no time for silly comments or happiness at seeing the others alive, though. He had time for that when he got home! Now he just had to get home- first step, killing the evil Kanker trio! "Everybody! Gather around Sarah! Focus all your energy into the EdCrystal!"

"Ed?" TargonTroi asked, eye widening. He seemed so much more like… a leader now. Like the true Ed from their universe. And he was completely unscathed! He'd faced the Kankers in a weakened state, and escaped, completely unscathed!

"We have no time for questions," Ed said commandingly. General Rolf repeated Ed's commands to the Space Rangers, though they were already moving to surround Sarah. Everyone, that is, except for Kevin.

"What are you planning?" Kevin demanded.

"You're hurt," Ed pointed.

Kevin blinked. "Huh?" He looked down at his chest. There was a large wound there. When did that happen? Blinking again, Kevin realized it must have happened relatively early. He ignored it, and stared at Ed, demandingly. "So?"

Waving his hand, Ed explained how being farther away from the EdCrystal made the Crystal more powerful. Kevin's wound healed completely- not even a scar remained.

"Why are you telling me this, you traitor?"

"I am not a traitor, Kevin," Ed said simply. He walked to join the others. Kevin, left staring at nothing but the dirt separating from the earth below him, finally sighed and turned around to join the others.

Ed joined the other Space Rangers, who were holding their arms, fins, hooves and so on up to the EdCrystal. It glowed brighter and brighter. Ed, too, joined his energy, and the EdCrystal- shining millions of different colors- began floating above Sarah's hands.

The Kankers, at last, were ready. With a particularly wicked laugh, they unleashed a deadly beam of black, tornado-like energy that encircled the entire universe. The Space Rangers, too, were ready. Their blast of light, however, only hit the area surrounding the Kankers. Inferno immediately disintegrated.

"What?!" Lee-der-dum winced, not at the brightness of the light, but at its pure power.

The tornadoey beams of the AntiCrystal began to dull.

"Focus harder, you idiots!" Lee-der-dum scolded. She would not let them get distracted at a moment like this. All of the Space Rangers in the galaxy- no, the entire universe- were now putty in her hands. With the AntiCrystal, they could eliminate them all. Ah, the chorus of an entire universe's worth of heroes screaming, as they die in unison! She would not let her idiotic siblings stop the magnificent sound!

"But it's so bright- so much more powerful then before-" May-toe-jam whimpered.

Marie-mop-plop glared at Lee. "It's your fault, Lee! You should have killed him when you had the chance!"

"It's May's fault! She dropped the EdCrystal!"

"No, it's yours!" May-toe-jam screamed.

Ed smiled. Three disunited minds certainly couldn't beat hundreds of united minds. (Maybe the three Eds weren't united enough, and that was why Eddy's scams always failed? Ed blinked at the odd thought, and promptly forgot it, because it was distracting from the moment at hand.)

The EdCrystal's brilliant light was made brighter then ever before, for it had become 800 times stronger then ever before, and was becoming stronger as every Space Ranger in the universe received the message, and started focusing their energy.

"Stop it, you two! You're arguing with me is letting him win!"

Marie-mop-plop turned bright red. "No, it's your crappy leadership-"

The AntiCrystal above them cracked. The three simply stared, jaws hung open, as the universe-encompassing Space-Ranger-killing tornado disappeared, leaving them defenseless against the EdCrystal's power. They did not have the chance to revert to their individual states. They only had the chance to scream as the light encompassed them. It erased the darkness from their souls, and there was nothing left- they disappeared.

When the bright light finally died down, and the EdCrystal floated lazily into Sarah's hand, the surrounding planet had changed. Beautiful blue lakes and bright green trees were seen, as far as the eye could see. The sun shined brightly and softly upon the exhausted, but beaming, Space Rangers. The dark, looming cliffs had become softly rolling hills.

"Huh. We Transformers had a legend about a place like this…" Saraline murmured. "An Eden turned into Hell by the Devil…"

"Knalp, too, told of this place," Johnny mumbled dazedly.

"So… we've killed the Devil?" Nazz mumbled. "Interesting…"

"Hey, Skuashi," TargonTroi- even TargonTroi's voice became a hushed whisper as the beautiful place lured him into a peaceful state- whispered, "You used your magic, but the planet wasn't destroyed. Does this mean you've controlled your power?"

"Well… the Kanker's planet was destroyed. But I do think that my power has finally been controlled," Skuashi murmured calmly.

Everyone was silent, enjoying the scenery. It was as if the whole universe was at peace, now. Maybe this was true; after all, if the Kankers were supposed to be the Devil, and they had just been killed… Ed smiled calmly. He stood next to Sarah. "Are you okay? You had to use that Crystal by yourself for awhile."

"I'm fine," Sarah smiled. She looked at the peaceful, vibrant green grass below her, suddenly wishing that her real brother was back. Something caught her eye. "What's this?" She reached down and picked it up. It was the cracked AntiCrystal. "Of course, my copy couldn't beat Ed's original."

"I bet you could repair it," Jimmy suddenly piped up. Ed and Sarah stared, and Jimmy blushed. "I-I mean, not make another AntiCrystal, but fix it, and, uh, make..."

"-a SarahCrystal?" Ed offered.

Jimmy nodded, along with a few other Space Rangers. "That's a great idea!" Nazz cheered.

"Or maybe a SvadorVolume64Crystal, because this is just like the ending to-"

"No," Nazz, Jimmy and Sarah answered in unison.

A large group gathered around Sarah to help her recreate the AntiCrystal- no, the SarahCrystal. Ed was a bit tired- after all, he'd just went from a cruddy magician to a top level magician in less then a day, a process that normally took years, if not decades. However, he had one vital question. He noted that Saraline, TargonTroi and Skuashi had not joined Sarah. They walked up to him, instead. Of course- they were the loyal Cabinet members, and he was the Cabinet leader.

"We need to talk politics," TargonTroi said firmly. "Sorry, but it has to be done. The Kankers were finally eliminated, and two powerful members of our court we presumed dead are now alive again."

Saraline handed him the EdCrystal, which Sarah had hastily tossed to her while creating her own crystal.

"Er… I think the original Ed should do that stuff," Ed said. "They don't talk about politics in sci-fi movies!"

"True," Saraline nodded.

"But how can we get him back?" Skuashi muttered. Then, correcting himself, he said, "Well, of course, the EdCrystal can move people through time and space."

"Really?! I could have gone home the whole time? Like Dorothy?" Ed cried.

TargonTroi rolled his eyes. "No. Your two friends, your parallel, and your friend's parallels switched dimensions, too. You'd have to move all of them, and that would be impossible unless…"

"Unless… a constant is met between you and your parallel?" Sarah offered, walking up to them. She held the AntiCrystal- now a dark pink color- the SarahCrystal- up. "If that constant is met, you and my brother will switch places. I'm not sure how powerful this Crystal is, but if it is anything like the EdCrystal, I can put a spell on you to encourage that constant to be met quicker. As… As a thank you from our universe for getting rid of the Kankers… and as a personal thank you for unbrainwashing me."

Ed considered saying something heroic about how he didn't do it alone, but decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth. He wasn't very successful though, because he couldn't help but ask: "Will it work on Eddy and Double D, too?"

"Your friends? I don't know, you idiot," Sarah's face scrunched up. "I've never used this Crystal before!" At the sight of Ed's puppy dog face, she sighed. She couldn't deny the puppy dog face. "Yeah, it's pretty likely," she mumbled.

"Thank you, my squish, huggy, magical-powered parallel universe sister!" Ed cheered, hugging Sarah.

Rather discretely, General Rolf pulled the three members of the Cabinet aside. "Care to explain what's been going on here?"

The three shared looks. TargonTroi rather bravely said, "The 'comic' isn't over! Don't ruin the moment with politics!" Rolf, despite being taken aback, stared at the scene with the others.

Sarah, after finally pushing Ed off of her, held the SarahCrystal up high. A pale pink light fluttered about it, but it seemed it would not work. Jimmy blinked, remembering the lesson of how Ed had defeated the Kankers using all of their powers combined, and walked up to her, focusing his own power onto the crystal.

A brighter pink light floated towards Ed. Ed smiled. "It tickles!"

"Now we just need to wait for the constant to be reached," Saraline muttered. "But that constant might not be met."

"What is the constant?" Johnny asked.

"He must meet a parallel from his own universe," Saraline explained. "The Ed of our universe and this Ed must interact with this person at the same exact time in their universes. And for Ed's two friends to be switched, their parallel will also have to be talking to an equivalent person."

"It might never be met. What are the chances that the same guy will exist in four different universes?" TargonTroi asked.

Suddenly, Ed wondered: "What time is it?"

Skuashi peaked at his watch. "3:12 in the afternoon, local time. Why?"

Ed did not answer. Instead, he instinctively skipped in place- the utopian atmosphere of this Eden prevented any other type of transportation.

Kevin sighed. He'd finally accepted it. This Ed wasn't a Kanker minion. He was just some little boy from a parallel universe. One that read a lot of comics and somehow knew everything about this place. He'd saved his universe. And he deserved… he deserved… Sighing, Kevin walked up to Ed, who continued skipping. Ed opened his mouth to say something stupid. Kevin spoke before he could say anything: "Ed… I'm sorry… for thinking you were a traitor."

Ed beamed a huge beam that some later joked was almost as bright as the EdCrystal that fatal day. Squealing, he leaned over and gave Kevin a huge hug. Kevin mumbled something, uncomfortable. "It's okay, Kevin!" Ed said cheerfully. "I just wish that the Kevin from my universe was the type that COULD apologize!"

Kevin couldn't help but laugh. Hey, this version of Ed wasn't that bad! Ed began laughing too, and everyone joined in.

A blinding flash of white light filled the peaceful field.

In a comic-book like universe, recently saved from destruction, a constant was reached. If Ed had asked, Skuashi would have said it was wasn't asking, though; he was too busy laughing with Kevin.

In a scientifically advanced universe, where the Earth was in peril, a constant was reached. If Double D had a watch, it would have said 3:15, because that was the time in the area where his spaceship launched from. He was too busy trying to distract Kevin from a question he could not answer.

In a capitalistic universe, where a bajillionaire's life was in danger, a constant was reached. If Eddy had thought to check a watch, he would have seen it was 3:15. He was too busy telling Kevin the answer to a question he could answer.

In a cartoonish universe, where three parallel's sanity and dignity was in danger, a constant was reached. If the three had thought to check the time, they would have seen it was 3:15. They were too busy yelling at-or perhaps, with- Kevin, though.

When the bright light was gone, Ed was also gone. No one was alarmed, however. Their universe was too peaceful to feel such things as danger. Sarah smiled. "That constant was reached pretty fast!"

And she smiled- along with everyone else- in expectation. Finally, they would see their real leader once again…