Hope this next chapter was worth the wait. I'll respond to reviews before anything else.

Guest: Glad you like my story, and here's some follow-up!

keveddxkeveddy: Thanks, and do you feel the same after reading Chapter 2?

Lightblade1121: A major disaster for sure! There was no way I could resist exploring its details when writing about Big Picture Show.

Let the story continue!

With absolutely no time to lose, I gathered as many valuables as I could find upon getting home and stuffed those into a suitcase. It sadly was impossible to fit everything I cherished, so I had to make some sacrifices. After that, it was still difficult to close the suitcase even when I tried jumping on top of it. Once I barely managed to get this shut, the thing was quite heavy, and I struggled to remove that from my bed. It ended up collapsing on me and burst open a few seconds later, so my efforts were all for nothing. Right afterwards, I heard knocking on my back door and panicked, believing the injured ones had found me. In a very desperate and weak attempt to hide my presence, I grabbed a vacuum and tried to impersonate my mom with "Uh, my little Eddy's not home right now."

A foot kicked the door open anyway. I shouted with fear "Don't hurt me!" right before hiding behind said vacuum, worrying that Jonny, Kevin, Nazz, or Rolf were about to barge in.

It instead was Ed who arrived. The guy sounded very scared when saying "Trouble, bad!"

He ran into the vacuum, knocking it onto me, and it burst open with lots of filth. Not noticing who this was until that point, my next words were "It wasn't my fault, I swear!"

Once I did notice, I got angry for a moment before getting up and saying "Ed, you idiot! I thought it was those sore losers!" while trying to regather my packed items.

My single-eyebrowed friend nervously asked me "What do we do, Eddy? What do we do?"

I didn't have an answer right away and inquired "What happened to sock-head?" while running around my bedroom.

He responded by reaching into his stretched-out sock full of belongings, having taken that and his right shoe off for packing it, and pulled out Double D. Our brainy friend was covered in filth and sneezed some of that off. I gave the latter my suitcase with a few items inside and requested "Here, hold this."

As I ran around to gather more stuff for repacking, the hat lover panicked "We're fugitives, Eddy! Are you aware of the consequences we're about to endure, all because of our misguided chicanery?"

Ed was also running due to anxiety, and stopped for a moment once we each saw shadows pass my blindfolds. All three of us knew exactly who they were. I subsequently blurted out "Too late! Quick, my brother's room!"

We were sweaty and panted while dashing over to his bedroom without any of our packed items, getting upstairs just before the front door opened, and now seems like a good time to tell you things about him that I never felt safe sharing with my neighbors until years after the whole ordeal had ended. This sibling of mine is named Benedict. Before my adulthood, he didn't want anybody other than our parents to call him that. Aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents just call the guy "Ben", and so would I sometimes when nobody outside of the family could hear us.

That dude would flip out whenever any non-relative used his formal name, or at least while I was growing up. For unclear reasons, he chose to conceal it whenever possible, sometimes deliberately misleading others into thinking our parents instead named him Benjamin. I deliberately avoided even using the guy's nickname in front of my pals to protect them from his wrath.

Anyway, we let out some screams of fear before getting to Ben's room and I opened the door with some hesitation, knowing he doesn't want anybody to touch things from it without permission. That's why I was super paranoid that Double D or Ed could get us all into trouble on the day we explored it and found a treasure map that ended up being fake. Before entering the bedroom, I nervously glanced around to see whether anything had changed since I last entered. The answer was no. Mr. Smarty Pants sounded scared when asking me "Eddy, do you think this is wise?"

I insisted "They'll never find us in here!" and went inside to look for a fake wall covering as my pals followed me, proclaiming "Aha!" upon finding it.

Monobrow quietly gave a confused "Huh?", not knowing of my plan.

I grabbed his tongue and used it to lather up the door with saliva before placing the covering over that and silencing them with "Shh!"

Before anything else, I had to see whether anyone else was nearby. Upon seeing the halls were empty, I closed the door and prayed nobody would ever discover our hiding spot. After turning the lights on, I promptly secured all five locks the door had. You readers can understand me wanting to minimize the chances of others barging in, right? Once those were locked, we silently backed away from the entrance, with Ed holding onto us both out of anxiety. As the guy with one eyebrow walked back even further, I whispered to Double D "This is all your fault, sock head!"

"My fault?" he asked in disbelief. "Funny, isn't it, how it's always my fault when yet another one of your amazing scams goes awry?"

I retorted "Yeah, well, I didn't see you try to stop me! You should've known it would go bad!"

My friend with one eyebrow added "And, boy, did it go bad." before we heard some footsteps.

No matter how much Double D wanted to be seen as a saint, he most certainly wasn't one, and neither was I. Ed can't truthfully say he's a completely innocent person either. At the same time, the three of us also aren't heartless or entirely evil folks. When I look back on it, every person in Peach Creek did bad things at one point or another. That includes all our parents. However, the big failure of our amusement park had worse outcomes than any of our previous ideas and is the only time we thought anybody would outright try to kill us in retaliation, so we kept our noises to a minimum.

It was impossible to guess how long we would have to wait for the others to stop searching within my house. With that in mind, I found a nearby glass atop Ben's bed-in-a-refrigerator and silently gestured for Mr. Smarty Pants to use it for listening through the door. He understood my idea and went along with it as I nervously hid inside one of Ed's pockets. Unfortunately, a piece of buttered toast slid off his back when I pushed him to the door, and monobrow couldn't resist picking that up and eating it. Talk about horrible timing! Double D started sweating with anxiety, which the toast crunching might've prompted, and soon afterwards dropped the glass. I couldn't say for sure which of these gave away for our location, but regardless we soon heard lots of loud bangs on the door.

We all knew who that was and felt lots of dread, believing our end was near. It was easily one of the scariest times of our lives. Double D just backed away from the door. Ed panicked "We are not long for this world!" while running around the room and into Ben's car, unintentionally flinging me out of his pocket and into a stuffed camel in the process.

Our hat lover subsequently recommended "The window!" for a way out.

Unfortunately, it was blocked off with bricks when he pulled its curtains. I tried pushing a couple out, hoping maybe they'd be loose. Since none of them were, I lamented "What's with my brother and these stupid bricks!?" as Double D and I backed up.

Not seeing what was behind us, we fell onto a rug that peeled back. Underneath it was a vent that tripped us up. As monobrow ran around some more, Edd seemed to act on impulse when pointing and suggesting "Eddy, look! This heat vent will lead to an escape!"

Monobrow in the meantime had gotten atop Ben's stuffed camel and anxiously told us "Over here, guys! My lumpy mutated horsey will save us!", kicking the thing's sides in hopes of getting it to start.

His idea was completely out of the question, and we didn't bother going along with it. The camel couldn't even move! Quite honestly, I expected better from the guy, even when I had previously heard him say many dumb things. Maybe he was too scared to think straight? Either way, each of us knew they'd stop at nothing to get through door, and the banging continued relentlessly. I heard one of the locks snapping as well as someone breaking through the doorknob as I desperately tried to pry open the vent. Double D warned me "Eddy, the door won't hold for much longer!"

My response was "Don't just stand there; do something!"

He tried to help by grabbing my torso and we pulled it together, but this still was quite difficult. As I screamed in agony when continuing to pull, Ed rocked back-and-forth on the camel and exclaimed "Giddy up, horsey! Do not let your mutated lumps slow you down!" before flying off it towards the back of the room.

With help from sock-head, I finally managed to pry off the vent, accidentally sending it into his face. Excited at the prospect of escape, I jumped down only to find bricks had closed that off as well. I turned around and told him "More bricks, Double D!"

Monobrow called out "Oh, oh, oh! This-a-way, guys; look!"

He grabbed us and showed us a glass container with an accompanying hammer placed in the room. Double D read is caption aloud: "In case of movie, break glass."

I shouted "Bingo!" and broke that before saying "My bro's always prepared!", only to find one peanut inside the thing, questioning "A peanut?" afterwards in confusion.

Ed remarked "Cheap movie."

What movie was this, aside from being part of a series? Well, one thing I neglected to mention before is that we recorded the events of our amusement park, and the footage stopped with that concrete machine going haywire. We assured everyone involved that things would all be safe, stretching out our certainty on the matter, and mentioned they each would have copies to take home afterwards. The truth was we didn't know how to replicate any recordings. That was the trickery or "chicanery" part Double D had been talking about. Anyway, the door banging stopped for a bit. Someone touched around it, grabbing the chain before getting ahold of a lock and unlocking it. I could hear Kevin say "Let me through. End of the line, dorks!"

We turned around to see him and the others prying open Ben's door. That's when things got even scarier! The three of us panicked, and I tossed the peanut aside where it unintentionally landed inside Ed's mouth. As he struggled to chew on it, my next words were "It was just a scam, Double D! How could it go so wrong?" and hugged my hat-loving friend out of fear.

He replied with "Eddy, the laws of probability can be a real mean-" before getting interrupted.

What cut off those words? Monobrow declaring "Shut my mouth!" and using one of his arms as a crank to chomp down on the peanut, finally cracking it open.

Once he finally got the peanut open, we were very relieved. What gave us a sense of hope? Double D excitedly proclaimed "Eddy, a key!"

This explained why the thing was tough to bite through. I quickly deduced "It must be for my brother's car!" and promptly went to start it up using this as the other kids kept hitting the door and broke bits off from it.

Kevin, Nazz, and Rolf had their heads through while Jonny had only gotten one arm inside so far. The four jointly yelled so much it was hard to distinguish anything they said. A third lock had also somehow been dislodged during their attempts to break in. Once I first got into the car, Edd blurted out "Eddy, we're too young to drive!"

While it is true that the three of us were only 13 at the time, I was more concerned with escaping in one piece. My response was just "Get in, get in!"

Our single-eyebrowed pal wasn't worried about age minimums either and didn't hesitate to join me. Double D complied shortly afterwards. When struggling to fit the key inside, I anxiously muttered "Come on, come on!" while fiddling with it some more.

Once I did get the key to fit, the ignition to Ben's car unfortunately wouldn't start up. Mr. Hat Lover cried out "It's no use, Eddy!" as the other kids continued to beat on the door, and Jonny got his beloved piece of wood Plank inside.

Panicking for my life, I shouted "It ain't working!"

Right after that, our son of a shepherd bust his face through the bedroom door, destroying one of the locks. He said in the third person "Rolf's vengeance will be slow and painful, like Papa's charcoal anecdotes, Ed boys!"

As soon as those words were uttered, the guy burst through the door, shattering it to pieces. He and the others didn't hesitate to run into Ben's room and said so many things at once I again couldn't decipher it. All I know is that Double D and I screamed in terror. Mr. One Eyebrow on the other hand declared "I am Ed! Cheese and macaroni!" while pushing his feet through the car floor and subsequently running, much like what one would find in The Flintstones.

Kevin managed to grab onto the bike when Ed was running out of the bedroom, taking out pieces of the wall in the process. This surprisingly didn't damage the car very much. There was no turning back now! After bursting out through another room and the ceiling, we landed onto the street, and Monobrow simply kept on running without bothering to stop. He was quite reckless at first, crashing into a lamppost, a fire hydrant, and a garage in quick succession before running right through a picket fence.

I don't know why I bothered trying to use the steering wheel at that point, but it was useless when I had a foot motor running and turning the vehicle. Sarah and Jimmy in the meantime appeared to have noticed us, though we didn't know or care whether they said anything when briefly passing by the duo. All we focused on was getting out of Peach Creek alive! The other kids quickly gained speed and weren't far behind. Ed became more cautious with his movements, though still knocked over a row of garbage cans along the way. A worried-sounding Double D complained "I think I'm gonna be sick!"

Not wanting to deal with a mess, I blurted out "Not in my brother's car, you're not!"

The next thing we knew, a damaged Plank with cut marks had landed on the front window shield, not doing much to block our view. Even so, it was obvious that Jonny was near, so we screamed in horror. The three of us could faintly hear the wood lover call out "Let 'em have it, buddy!" when passing him.

For a long time, we thought that guy was delusional for treating that piece of wood like a living being. Plank proved us wrong once he somehow told Jonny about a big mess in his kitchen. What none of us could ever understand is how nobody else can understand anything the board says. In the meantime, Ed managed to shake the board off the wind shield, and later ended up running in the air once jumping off the top of a hill before landing the car wheels on top of an alley's boards. The momentum helped them start rolling and gave his feet a rest.

It wasn't long until Rolf caught up with us, riding on his pig Wilfred. Double D was hyperventilating, and I felt shocked to see how well the car's width matched the alley lane once I looked outside the driver's seat window. Sock-head lamented "So much undone, unsaid! Mother and father will be so annoyed!"

We were lucky our parents were out for the day, or they would've grounded us for life! As soon as he finished, we heard a chomp from below. Monobrow cried out "Ye-ouch!" and started to sink out the hole while saying "They got me, guys; I'm a goner! Save yourselves! Don't forget about me!", desperately trying to hold onto the car doors before losing his grip and adding "See ya!"

Neither of us were willing to leave a cherished friend behind! That would inevitably be a death sentence for the guy. Double D and I promptly reached through the hole to grab his arms and simultaneously called out "Ed!" before pulling him back up.

It was no easy task with Rolf biting onto his right leg tightly. We grunted during our struggle, and accidentally yanked his face into the car's bumper at one point. Upon freeing him, we could hear the shepherd's son shout "Curse you, Ed boys!" shortly before running into a garbage dumpster that we somehow glided above.

To this day, I still can't fully grasp how physics worked like that for us, but it regardless was a miracle we got out of the alley. However, the car went flying into the woods and we screamed as it crashed through lots of trees. It was hard to tell at the time how much the car could endure. Once out from the forest, we flew across a gap above some water, our momentum carried us into the junkyard. Since it wasn't going to last much longer, Ed started to run again. I would guess we had a minute to ourselves there after entering. That changed once Kevin snuck up on his bike and rammed the driver's door with it, prompting me to yelp in fear and Mr. One Eyebrow whined "Oh, help me!" before we came across a scrap pile.

Unable to see what hit the car, Double D asked "Oh dear, now what?"

Going past the pile, I cried out "Help!" and futilely tried to steer the driving wheel again while looking out the window.

Kevin had moved further away from us, not wanting to hit any obstacles. He grunted when pedaling closer to the car. This hit damaged it more, and we screamed out again when drifting away from him. It began to smoke, and I yelled "He's a maniac, I tell ya!" while turning the steering wheel some more, temporarily forgetting how it wouldn't move the vehicle at all.

This was when I realized the car would eventually collapse. The only uncertainty was when. Mr. Bike lover came up close for another hit, making us swerve and scream some more. It got worse when we went along a curved junk pile that made us spin upside down. I held onto the wheel to help stay inside the car, but still fell through the passenger window. It hurt when I landed on my stomach and the car on the passenger side, dragging me along with momentum before I got back on my feet and ran to keep up with the thing. That was no easy task, and I'm still not sure how I didn't lose my grip! Behind me, I could just barely hear Rolf catching up and telling his pig "Run like my worn stockings, Wilfred!", who squealed in response.

Looking behind, I saw Kevin had caught up again and was further ahead of him. Ed managed to retrieve me by spinning the wheel. I got painfully wrapped around it, though didn't hold this against him when no other ideas would've worked, and I managed to untangle myself before long. We continued to scream when breaking through a junkyard fence. Mr. One Eyebrow subsequently bumped into two wooden house outlines and a steamroller on the way out. Our one of a shepherd warned us "Prepare for Rolf's water-laden bovine bladder!"

Behind him were Nazz, who used rollerblades to catch up, and Jonny was furthest back when running on his feet. I faintly heard the lattermost declare "Plank's freaking out!"

Feeling even more anxious now, I asked "Double D, you got any bright ideas?"

When I turned to face him, he was puking into a paper bag. His face showed concern upon noticing Mr. Biker approach us. With a devious smirk, Kevin menacingly asked "How do you like your faces, fried or scrambled?" before opening the driver's door.

I panicked and cried out "Ed, the door! The door, lumpy!" while hiding behind Mr. Puke.

Not far behind, our pig rider declared "Rolf will assist you with the Ed-boy flogging, Kevin!" before somehow taking his pig and forming a wheel to roll ahead faster.

Following that guy was the roller-skating girl, who was carrying the wood lover piggyback and cheered "Go, Rolf, go!" while shaking one fist.

Once Monobrow closed the driver's door, I slammed down the lock. No way was I letting the biking enthusiast get it open again! As I began to roll up the window, Double D cautioned "Ed, fingers!", and he quickly complied.

However, that didn't stop Kevin, who grunted while leaping off the bike and onto the car. I don't know how, but his bicycle managed to park itself near some pieces of wood without any damage. Shortly afterwards, the Rolf-Wilfred wheel knocked into the car trunk and flung both into the air, prompting us to yell in fear once more. Our shepherd's son landed on the hood and his pet landed on the roof. A few seconds later, Nazz caught up and grabbed the car's bumper. Mr. Biker told us "You're going down, dude!" while reaching through the window, which sadly wouldn't roll up all the way beforehand.

Rolf used Wilfred's tail to drill a hole into the roof, much like a corkscrew. He grunted a bit when yanking it all off at once. Right after that, Kevin stated "Time for payback!"

Jonny showed up with his wooden companion and declared "Plank wants first crack at 'em!"

Mr. Speaks-In-The-Third Person added "Rolf will use their hides as a crutch for Nana's goiter!"

An irritated Nazz gave a sarcastic "Like, thanks for the help up here, guys? Duh!"

Ed blurted out "It wasn't me; Eddy did it!" and hid within his shirt.

Yes, I was the one who set off the cement mess, but out of fear I followed up with "In your dreams! It was Double D!" and hid under the passenger seat.

As we got closer to the playground, Edd's next words were "Um, excuse me. I'll be right back." and he reached out to grab its merry-go-round.

Here was the point where his knowledge of physics paid off! As we spun in loops, Wilfred was the first to fly away, and squealed in the process. Jonny told Plank "Hang on, buddy!" as he and Nazz went flying once the part of roof they held onto tore off.

Mr. Wood lover landed outside the park and made a big dent in pavement while Ms. Van Bartonschmeer was sent right towards the playground's fence. Both outcomes looked quite excruciating. Rolf followed in quick succession and made a painful slide through the dirt and grass before crashing into the slide. Mr. Biker held on longest by a narrow margin. He insisted threateningly "You dorks ain't seen the last of me!" while losing grip of the steering wheel.

If I took a shot of alcohol for every instance that Kevin used the term "dork" or "dorks" to describe us, then my liver would get ruined beyond repair. Anyway, I caught a glimpse of him flying towards Rolf at the slides, crashing into the guy painfully after the initial impact sent our Shepherd's son flipping around a bit. With only us three Eds left in the car, Double D let go and we quickly went soaring high into the air ourselves! This also went much further than that leap from the top of a hill earlier, and we screamed when scared of what could follow.

Since it would've felt incomplete to have the car chase scene without the failed attempts to hide in the brother's room, I combined both into one chapter. The name for Eddy's brother of course is just my speculation. It was disappointing how none of the canon writers brought that up. I therefore decided to give an in-universe rationale for other characters not identifying this. It's a random guess, but the best I could come up with.

Chapter posted: December 23, 2023