OCWaGH: Chapter 4
About five minutes passed by after the Eds met Usagi's friends. The group of teens was now walking away from the Cul-De-Sac and towards the entrance to the small town of Peach Creek, which was only fifteen minutes away by foot.
It was while they were walking that they came up to the outskirts of town where there were a few apartment buildings and condos, "Huh, I guess they finally finished building those new apartments," Double D stated aloud, "I can see that some cars have parked there already."
"They're probably for any celebrity or rich folks wanting a getaway place for the summer, if I had to guess," Eddy commented to Double D, "Savannah is about an hour away by car, right?"
Usagi kept looking ahead until she noticed two familiar people standing near one of the apartment buildings, "Haruka! Michiru!"
The other girls perked up their heads as they rushed over to the two young adults while the Eds were walking a bit behind them.
"It's good to see you're alright, Usagi," Michiru stated with a smile.
Haruka was the one who noticed the three new faces in the back, "I'm guessing these boys are the ones you mentioned in the call?" she asked Rei.
"Yes," Rei replied with a nod, "They're the ones who found and helped out Usagi."
"I see," Michiru mused a little before making a small chuckle, "Thank you for finding her, little heroes. We were very worried."
"It's no problem!" Ed stated with a big smile, a hint of pride in his voice, "It's now my new job to help her!"
"Is that right?" Haruka questioned with a bit of a serious tone, "Well then, guess we'll have to wait and see you in action to judge."
"… Wow, that sounds more like a threat than anything," Eddy stated with furrowed eyebrows.
"Either way, come with us. we'll talk more when we get to our room," Haruka stated as she and Michiru started to walk off toward the apartment in front of them, much to the confusion of the Eds.
"… You know, somehow I'm not surprised that they already found a place for us to stay," Minako commented.
The group then followed Haruka and Michiru inside the building and up the elevator to a higher floor where they entered one of the apartments. The apartment itself was huge on the inside and was already furnished for anyone to move into.
"This is our place, but there's sadly only three bedrooms," Michiru started to say, looking towards the girls, "Because of that, we also got two smaller apartments to rent for you, but they are both on the floor below us."
"Whoa…" the three Eds awed a little as they looked around, "This place must have cost a fortune to rent out!" Double D said.
"It's not that big a deal for us," Haruka stated with a shrug of her shoulders, "Trying to do the conversion rate from yen to US dollars on the fly was annoying. Thankfully it worked out faster than I thought it would."
A thought then clicked in Eddy's head, "Wait, are you two, like, rich or something?"
"Well, I race cars from time to time whenever I get sponsored to, but I mostly do it as a hobby," Haruka stated before looking to Michiru, "Michiru, on the other hand, plays the violin for a living. The sales from her records are pretty much our income."
"… Oh!" Double D gasped a little in realization, "A-Are you really Michiru Kaiou?!" he asked the teal-haired woman. You could tell he was a bit starstruck, "I've bought some of your CDs due to some recommendations online! They're all fantastic!"
Michiru chuckled at his compliment, "That's very sweet of you to say."
'Geez, they really ARE loaded!' Eddy thought in disbelief before a smirk came to his face, you could see dollar bills in his eyes.
Rei glanced at Eddy to see his mischievous smirk, making a small frown at him while twitching her eyebrow a little, 'Oh no, please don't tell this kid is really a greedy little—'
"Anyway, we should sit down and discuss what's been going on," Makoto stated to everyone. The teen girls sat down while the Eds, Haruka, and Michiru stood up.
"So, Usagi…" Haruka started to ask, "Do you mind telling us how you got here?"
Usagi looked down to the floor, biting her bottom lip before replying, "I… I was not feeling well, not thinking like my usual self," was her vague reply, "But, I think Mamoru sent me here. Maybe because of the new enemy, or because…"
Michiru glanced at the three Eds before noticing that Ed's left eye was different from his right eye; his left eye was the same color as Mamoru's eyes. Michiru started to walk over to the table that she sat her hand mirror on, taking it in her hands to use it. She held up her mirror to the three teen boys, much to their confusion.
"… I see now," Michiru sighed, looking into her mirror; she could see Mamoru standing there where Ed stood, "It seems like Mamoru gave this child his crystal, along with his memories. They both must have led Usagi here. But something also seems off about this child's power…"
The girls all grew pale in the face while Double D and Eddy looked even more confused.
"Oooh, so that's what the tingly feeling was in my chest?" Ed asked as he held his hand over his heart.
"I-I'm not sure I follow exactly what's going on here…" Double D started to say before he took out his notepad and the pen, "But according to what you said, and what everyone else mentioned before, this 'Mamoru' fellow gave my friend some sort of powers to help you defeat a new enemy?"
"That seems to be the case," Hotaru stated with a nod of her head.
"We can try to explain it the best we can to you two," Ami started to say to Double D and Eddy, "So please just bear with us for a moment, okay?"
"Oh… o-okay," Double D muttered, lifting his notepad to the wall behind him to continue writing his notes down on a flat surface. He was trying to hide the blush on his face from everyone, even if it was for a short moment. Of course, only one person in the room noticed, which was Makoto.
The girls then began to explain a lot to the three Eds; about the Silver Millenium and how it came to be destroyed. About how they were all reunited later in this life and all the enemies they've faced so far over the past two years: The Dark Kingdom, the Black Moon Clan (at least some of it), the Death Busters, the Dead Moon Circus, and finally Shadow Galactica. The only thing they left out of their story was the future of Crystal Tokyo in the year 3000. They were unsure of how to explain that can of worms; at least for now. They then explained what Usagi told them a little while ago; that Mamoru passed away a week ago for an unknown reason.
"And that's how we are here today," Rei finished explaining.
Both Double D and Eddy stood there for a moment, trying to take in all the lore that was dropped on them.
"Now that we've said our pasts and what we know so far…" Haruka started to say to the three Eds, particularly to Double D and Eddy, "What are your roles in all of this?"
"Oh!" Ed perked up at that statement, taking out his golden medal as he did, "Do Double D and Eddy have the same jobs as I do?" he asked.
Everyone stared at him before realizing he might be right, "Mind showing us the medals you have on you?" Michiru asked.
Double D and Eddy took out their medals from their pockets once again; the Mercury and Mars symbols on their medals started to pulse again in a weird light.
"… I thought what I sensed a moment ago was weird, and now I know why," Michiru started to say as everyone turned to her, "I could tell that Ed's power was not as strong as Mamoru's. Either Mamoru or Ed split his powers into these medals for his friends to use."
The room fell into silence for a short moment.
"So, let me get this straight," Eddy stated, trying to wrap his head around what was going on, "When this new enemy of yours showed up, we were chosen to take someone else's place to help you?!"
"Looks like it," Haruka replied nonchalantly, "Don't worry, we'll teach you what to do and help you out over time."
Double D and Eddy were stunned at this turn of events as they were both pulled into a hug by Ed, "Yay! You have the same job as me!" he cheered.
Michiru chuckled a little at their behavior, "Now then, my friends and I have something we need to discuss about the rooms we've rented for them," she stated, "Do you mind stepping out for a moment?"
"Okay!" Ed replied as she walked out of the apartment with his friends still in his hug, much to their annoyance.
The others in the room all made a heavy sigh, "Well, that was awkward," Hotaru stated.
"You can say that again, geez…" Rei grumbled in annoyance. Minako noticed the tone in her voice before making a little smirk.
"W-Well, despite the circumstances, I think having additional help is a good thing," Ami stated with a small smile, trying to lighten the mood a little.
Usagi continued to stay silent from where she sat, 'So Ed really IS Mamoru's replacement…' she thought, 'But if that's the case, what will happen to Chibiusa? No one can replace Mamoru because of her… Will she even exist in the future because of this?'
She shook those thoughts out of her head, 'I don't need to think of this right now! We have a new enemy to beat!'
Meanwhile, back out in the hallway, Ed sat his two friends down on their feet, only for Eddy to pull Ed down to him, shaking him by his shoulders, "Why the heck did all of this have to happen?!" he shouted in a small panic.
"Eddy, please calm down!" Double D gasped at him, stopping Eddy from violently shaking Ed's shoulders, "There's no reason to take your anger out on him! This is not his fault."
"But you DO know what this means, right?!" Eddy stated to Double D with a glare, "This means our normal teenage life is over! Now everything is going to be weird and full of monsters that could kill us!"
"T-That's true…" Double D stated in a bit of a quiet tone before shaking his head from side to side, "But I think it would be worse to just ignore what's going on; we HAVE to help!"
"Yeah! And we can all be heroes!" Ed chimed in with a toothy smile.
"… Heroes, huh," Eddy hummed, thinking about it more for a few seconds before saying, "Eh, what the heck; I'll help out!"
Double D was surprised to hear this, "Really?" You will?"
"Yeah!" Eddy stated with a grin, 'I can prove to the other Cul-De-Sac teens that I'm NOT a useless dork! And maybe I can ask Rei out; it's perfect!'
Double D noticed the grin Eddy started to make, 'What the world is he planning now?' he thought with an internal sigh, 'I swear if it's another scam, I will slap him. He needs to stop that.'
Ed stood there next to his friends, making a big smile to them. It made him happy to see his friends acting this happy.
Author's Note (September 10th, 2023): Oh hey! A new chapter to this! Happy birthday to Sailor Mercury/Ami Mizuno!
