WELL IT'S CERTAINLY BEEN A WHILE
But now my three-week posting break is over and here we are, back with weekly chapter postings and all the more mystery!
Also, you really should check out what's been happening fic-wise on dA and tumblr, quite the ride has been happening over there: self-interviews, new ref sheets for Cora and Emily (I'm working on Em's, hold on!) amongst other things.
Anyway, for this chapter, I unfortunately don't have any music from the playlist that fits this chapter to my liking. Oh well, you can mentally insert whatever music you want in here, haha.
I only own Cora, Emily, and the plot. Everything else mentioned belongs to the respective owners.
Day Two out of Five for the celebration break.
"Eduardo, is that popcorn done yet, or is your microwave really slow?"
"Hey, watch it blue loser, just give it another minute!"
"Oi, gramps, you better stop lying and just give it to them. I know you want to give them the burnt stuff and have the decent bowl to yourself, but Cora's gonna play the marathon without you if you do that."
"Okay, okay Emily! Here you go, jeez. You're not my mom."
"I am your great-great-granddaughter with the decency of Leonardo da Vinci. I'm surprised this actually came down from your family line, since you have the decency of Leonardo the ninja turtle times negative infinity."
"OOOOOOOOH GET WRECKED EDUARDO!"
"…shut up. Let's settle before Cora hits play."
I give Emily a knowing smirk as my finger hovers over the left mouse button, ready to play the Star Wars Saga marathon. Tord and Mark are making polite conversation, Matt and Jon are blabbing on about past happy memories, and Edd? Well, he's right next to me, trying to rub my shoulder with his pixel-y holographic-like hand, the both of us smiling and giggling as he miserably fails to do so.
I'm glad my assumptions of anger from my ancestors were proven highly wrong. In fact, yesterday after I confessed, all we did was try to snuggle together (fully clothed, mind you) in a blanket fort while watching a Steven Universe marathon without me falling through them…which was very hard to do. However, I'm still pretty wary that I may stuff up something and lose trust, making my heart gently beat a little faster than usual.
Finally, Emily comes into the living room, hauling soft blankets over her shoulders, a notebook and paintings in one hand and a bowl of popcorn in the other. I recognise the notebook as her copy of the Eagle's Cross research, but I don't ask as Edd points at my phone, vibrating as it pings, signifying a text. I smile when I see it's from Laurie, but it dissipates within milliseconds.
'Bad luck confrmd'
"What does she mean?" Edd asks, peering at the text.
"Felix Larsson is the mole," I sigh, but the disturbing information is forgotten very soon as Tom and Eduardo bring in the other 6 bowls of popcorn and we all settle in the soft blankets, but I'm never able to press the play button as Emily shows off two pieces of art: one of a child's drawing with the name 'SuperEdd' (and mysterious tiny holes in it) and the other a canvas painting of an adorable little duckling.
"Once again, stories are true," She grins, "I never knew that you were a painter, Eduardo!"
I'm not too sure, but I think his cheeks go red as Edd takes the 'SuperEdd' drawing.
"I was wondering where that was… what's with all these holes?"
"He used it as a target for darts-ow! It's true though!"
"Eduardo, you're going beyond the decency of negative infinity now. Just apologise."
"Fine. Sorry Jon."
"S'alright…"
"But really though," I butt in, "What's the deal behind these works? They both look awesome!"
"Well, it all started back in kindergarten when an art contest was nearing the due date…"
"…And that's how Eduardo and I got temporary superpowers! And these artworks too."
"So that would mean…Cora and I have superpowered DNA that could be activated with a nicely-shot blast of nuclear radiation?"
"That's the gist of it."
"Wow."
"Y'know, the art stories remind me of that one tumblr story about this John Morris kid who had a box of marbles stolen because he dunked some kid's head in Year 7, is that the one?" I recall.
"Oh, THAT one!" Tom guffaws, "Classic. Completely classic."
"But still," Eduardo sighs, "I wish I hadn't given up painting because of that contest. Who knows what could've happened if I just kept going…"
"Oh, work would've been so much easier to get away with that artistic background," Em points out wistfully, "But really, is that what you wanted to be at some point? A painter?"
"It would've been real nice…Hey Red, what about you?"
"It's Tord. Me? Well…I don't know really. I'd rather be someone out of the public eye entirely than be popular for anything. I like my privacy."
"I feel you," I smile at him in sympathy, "Jon, what about you? What did you wanna be when you grew up?"
"I'm with Tord on this one. But I'd would've loved to own a candy store! Or maybe even horror movies!"
We all slightly back away from the seemingly innocent blue buttoned-up ancestor and Em even gives off a low whistle.
"Kinda daring coming from a cinnamon roll like you."
"What about you, Em?" Mark pipes up.
"Me? Well, a singer or lead singer of a band would be pretty awesome, I think. I wanted to be a gymnast, but smuggling got in the way and I'm kinda out of practice. I used to dance a lot too and you three have seen me do my morning stretches though, so you already had a decent guess at what I wanted to be. Maybe I could be doing an act where I sing while doing all those moves and poses!"
"Em, your voice alone would just murder the billboard charts and the dancing would put everyone in a coma, it's that good!"
"Oh, shut up Cor! That's not true!"
"Yes it is! Seriously! My best friend here could've been making dosh for days with that sort of talent!"
"Coraline!" Her cheeks are a dark red and her arms are crossed around herself, even as her small smile and giggle escapes her lips.
"Okay, okay. You don't have to sing for us right now. Matt, what did you want to be when you grew up?"
"Well, I'm-I mean, was-am, an animator, but directing and doing live-action sketch comedy is more my forte. I even had a youtube channel with a couple videos."
"No way!" I exclaim, "Were you popular?"
"Eeyup! A whole lot of views on my 'Please Stand By' series and I did work with Tom and Edd did on a few collaborations."
"You were filmmakers too?"
"Well, Edd's an animator, but I became a director of sketch comedy and action, starring in a lot of them too. I also directed cartoons and was a voice actor in most of them. You know the asdfmovie saga, right?"
Our jaws drop.
"No. Freaking. Way." Em manages out, "You were the director and creator of the asdfmovie saga? You're THE TomSka?"
"You didn't guess that already? I mean, who else would I be? Plus, Edd animated asdfmovie2 and its deleted scenes. He even was the 'I Like Trains' kid." He high-fives said ancestor and I can tell by the clenching of fists and a glance in her eyes that Em is going to freak out if she hears any more bombshells.
"Okay…to try and get over that, Mark, what did you want to be?"
"Well, a librarian would've been nice. Or maybe even an author. A job that's quiet, I guess. What about you Cora? What do you want to be?"
"Me? Well…I dunno, really. There's a lot of options out there. Something freelance and…well, not stressful, I guess. There's a lot of different jobs out there with that description and Cola-smuggling isn't one of them. If only I could quit…"
"Speaking of that, Cora? Have you checked your hair in the mirror recently?" Em asks, eyes wide with sudden realisation.
"No, I haven't paid attention. Why?"
"Your streak. Your physical ties to Cola-smuggling. It's nearly gone."
The revelation slaps me in the face.
All this time as I discovered secrets that were long-buried…
I was forgetting my ties to the business.
I was letting them fade out to nothing.
A smile spreads across my face as I realise I'm able to say something that I only dreamed of revealing ever since I was 12.
"You know what? I quit. I'm not cola-smuggling any longer."
To my surprise, everyone breaks out in cheers and polite clapping, even Em is throttling me with a tight hug.
"Think of it!" She exclaims, "Give it the rest of the month and the streak will be gone! You're never going back to the business! You're free!"
"And," Edd butts in, "If you're thinking of alternate jobs, I'll be happy to teach you animation and drawing."
"Really?"
"Honest! In fact, I had an entire webseries!"
"So the family stories are true! Let me guess on behalf of Emily's excited sanity and composure-"
"Oi!"
"-Are you the one who created, oh, I don't know, let me guess…Eddsworld, is it?"
"Give her an award already, she's just hit the nail on the hammer!"
I blush profusely as I ask,
"Those stories-I mean Eddisodes, they're all true, right?"
"Eeyup. But one always just keeps me confused."
"Say what?"
"Well, a future version of me tried to-you know what? Let's watch it. It'll be just confusing if I try to explain it."
"But, but the marathon-"
"Can wait," I finish, "Here, let's see if I can pull it up…what's it called?"
"WTFuture."
"Okay… got it up. Huh. The guy in the thumbnail looks like my dad. Almost exactly down to the beard."
"Don't be silly, only Tom's family can grow beards."
"Excuse you. He's my family too."
"It's a disorder!"
As all nine of us watch the Eddisode, two of us start to make dangerous and risky connections to Eagle's Cross. As it plays on, Em keeps writing in her notebook and I mentally keep my notes.
-Future Edd looks and sounds EXACTLY like my dad. If memory serves me right, this is also the exact outfit he was wearing when he left for the Eagle's Cross Operation. My dad also has aggressive moments when having withdrawals from Cola when we have to lay low and pause deliveries for the sake of the police not catching us.
-Future Tom can be easily mistaken for Uncle Thomas. Tom did take a laser to the face, but so had Uncle Thomas. Uncle Thomas had later gotten cancer and had to have digital eyegoggles afterwards...Exactly like Future Tom. Uncle Thomas also had an electric bass named Susan, after the legendary one that Tom owns in the metal compartment.
-Future Matt looks like a vaguely familiar version of Uncle Matthew before the change/pop in time, when he has hair on his head as well as a mechanical chin and eye, but after the pop that swaps the hair for balding and the cyborg eye and chin for the natural ones, I'm able to say that Uncle Matthew and Future Matt could easily be the same man.
-I'm not able to make proper connections yet, but the mention of 'Red Leader' sends chills up my spine. Future Tord as the assumed Red Leader? Or…Uncle Thor as the Red Leader, the former policeman that is rising up in British politics now?
Sure, it's hilarious at the end with Matt changing time to his liking and the rest of us wondering what had happened to make time return to normal, but five seconds after the credits and reading over Em's notes, it all falls into place instantly.
My eyes widen in shock.
Em and I exclaim it at the same time.
"He lied?!"