Hey everyone! TheKingHHH100 here, FINALLY back with another chapter for this story. Now, I was originally not writing this chapter, as I let my beta reader SoulReaver1999, who also helps me with ideas for the story, write this one on his own as a thanks gift for his help, however he went through some personal issues plus some computer problems that caused him to lost most of the progress he'd made so far, which caused this chapter to be delayed. I ended up completing the chapter myself, which took even MORE time, so if you notice some changes in the writing style halfway through the chapter, it probably is because of that.
Anyways, no hard feelings for SoulReaver1999 as most of the ideas on this chapter are his. Hope you're going through a better time now dude, take this as a thanks for all the help you've given to this fanfic. You're awesome!
But I do promise to get the next chapter done FAR sooner than what this took. As a compensation for all fans of this fic, this is going to be the LONGEST chapter (and also the longest thing I've wrote) so far.
On to the story!
Chapter 6: A Small Ed
Ah, the Cul-de-Sac, such a calm and inviting place, especially during summer time. BUT, do not let appearances fool you, it can be a VERY chaotic place sometimes. But now we will move our attention to the trailer park, who doesn't even bother to seem peacef—
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" that, dear readers, was the scream of Grey Matter as he busted through the Kankers trailer on his motorized reinforced ex-remote controlled toy car, going at high speed as far as away as possible from that cage of girl hell.
"Our frog-thing is getting away!" May yelled, as she and her sisters got out of their trailer with ropes and chains.
"That little swamp swimming brainiac BASTARD is gonna get it!" Marie yelled as she held a hand on her bruised left eye, as she gripped her hooked chain. There's gonna be frog legs for dinner!
"Let's get him!" Lee commanded, her already very little patience gone as the back of her 'perfect' hair, and the shave machine stuck in it with super glue.
Grey Matter held the steering wheel of the mini car and hitting the acceleration pedal hard. "HA! IN YOUR FACE SIMPLETONS!" he breathed out in complete relief, he finally got away from those stupid, psychopathic, F.A.S. (Fatal Attraction Syndrome), Kankers! And to be honest, it went A LOT better than how he speculated it would end up like. Now, all he had to do is to get to a safe place, contact Ed and Double D, and find a way to turn ba—?!
Just a few meters away from him, a Cam-action hook hit the ground and stuck in the pavement, threatening to cause him to crash. Thinking quickly, and reacting even more quickly, he took a sudden turn to the right, just an inch away from an unwanted impact.
"SON OF A—NO, GREY MATTER, you have standards" Grey Matter shouted as he hit the pedal again. Taking a quick glance to his right, he could see the Kankers approaching his ingenuous automobile, and with a 'I WILL RIP YOU TO SHREDDS' expression on their red faces. "Alright gotta lose them, can't let them be there when I go back to human form" Grey Matter said to himself. And he had to admit, while the thought of being killed by Kankers was downright horrifying, the thrill of driving at fast speed was stimulating! And good experience for when he would get his driving license.
While he was driving, the bloodthirsty Kankers where approaching slowly, but not enough for their likeness. So Marie used her hooked chain to hit the car, which it did, as it hit the back where the motor was.
"Ok, if I get to live long enough to get my driver license!" Grey Matter shouted mentally. This was bad, they hit the motor, and they were soon to pull the chain, and him back to them. He turned to see their maniacal grins, and gulped in terror. He had no other choice but to push the button, which he did. That button, used all the motors power for a super burst of speed which resulted in him and Marie going up to the skies like the Saturn V rocket that went to the moon. Up, Up, and their gone, screaming their lungs out, one in fear, one in rage. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Everything around him seemed to be frozen in time.
"Hi! Yep, that handsome amphibian extraterrestrial life form right there is your favorite Eddy. Now, You're probably wondering how I got here... well... it's a long story. So sit back, relax, grab your reading glasses (if you need them) and enjoy this…interesting, piece of literature. Ugh, talking like Double D makes me want to puke math or something."
Flashback:
Our story begins back at the Cul-de-Sac, the sun has risen for a while now and everyone began their day, except for Rolf who was already awake when the sun first risen, working hard and proud in his garden, and Double D who also was awake and hard at work at a…side project of his, that will prove beneficial for their future endeavor.
But unknown to anyone in the Cul-de-Sac, the wearer of the watch was also awake, hiding behind Ed's backyard fence, planning his next prank. While he promised Double D he would stop, but this was more than just some prank. NO, this, was about gaining back his honor, dignity, and respect! At least what's left of it…
Flashback in a flashback (Wow, how original, I know):
We see our trio of Ed's, and surprisingly, a majority of the Cul-de-Sac kids, enjoying a meal and a few drinks outside the new opened outlet restaurant. The place was called Mr. Smoothie, after it's mascot, which looked like a white coffee cup with a 1930s cartoon face on it, a red straw on his head, gloved hands, and brown shoes, holding ANOTHER smoothie with the same face on it.
The Ed's, mostly Ed, enjoyed the tons of French fries with chilly, and the Lamb and Sardine flavored smoothies that he ordered (this place has weird flavors) while Double D settled for a Grape flavored smoothie, and Eddy for a Mango and Blueberry one.
"Well, Ed seems to enjoy himself at this fine establishment. Right, Eddy?" Double D asked as he took a sip out of his smoothie.
"This place has junk food Double D. Put Lumpy in ANY place that has junk food and he'll be happy" Eddy said with boredom in his voice. With crime on put for a while since the Circus Freaks, there hasn't been much to do, for him at least. Ed had his video games and comics, Double D had his science and nerd stuff, and him, well he mostly did patrols around cities as XLR8, or just sitting on his bed and listening to music while time flew away. This was a lot better, but the place still weirded him out. "This place is weird. I mean, who puts MEAT, in drinks? What? Did they know Ed would be here? They probably have gravy flavored smoothies here too."
Ed gasped and nearly chocked at the mixture of fries and chilly in his mouth. "THEY HAVE GRAVY TOO?!" Ed asked in joy, this was the best place in town! His smile so big, showing the other two Ed's the chewed food in his mouth and between his teeth, much to their disgust.
"Ed, please! Chew with your mouth closed, thank you very much!" Double D exclaimed, not a fan of Ed's eating manners. Thankfully Ed did just that. "Now that disgusting showcase is over, let's change the subject. I know it was hard for you to leave…Nestor Jr… back at your house, but I wish to thank you for understanding that I still have some mental scars from that traumatic experience, and…" Double D stopped himself talking when he saw Ed didn't pay much attention, as he continued to eat his food. Sigh, lovable oaf.
Unknown to either Double D or Eddy, whenever Ed would pick the fries, one or two would fall from his hand, intentionally, into a pocket from inside his jacket, in which would be enjoyed by the resident inside the jacket, that of course being, Nestor Jr. He just couldn't go without him and leave him all alone again, not after the fun he had back at that fair with the little zappys.
While all that was happening, Sarah and Jimmy where approaching the Ed's table from behind, both smirking playfully, but also a tad evilly. "Hey flathead~!" Sarah called out, getting the attention of the Ed's
"Hiya baby-sister!" Ed waved at them, only Jimmy waving back.
Double D remained silent, as he saw the look on their faces, he didn't like it.
Eddy groaned in annoyance at the stupid nickname. "Oh goody good. It's half-pint and shrimp. What do you twerps want?"
"Well, flathead" Sarah began, that smirk growing wider so slightly. "Me and Jimmy where bored, so we decided to make things fun. We want to make a bet with you."
Now this, got Eddy's attention. "Bet? As in, cash?" Eddy asked.
"That's right, Eddy" Jimmy said. "If you win this bet, we will give you this" Jimmy then took a twenty-dollar bill from his pants pocket, at which Eddy drooled at a bit. He tried to take it but Jimmy yanked it away from his grasp. "And this" Sarah continued showing a jawbreaker, at which Eddy drooled even more. "If you win" they both said at the same time.
Eddy was about to accept, until Double D put a hand in front of him. "And please do tell me, what would happen if he loses?" Double D asked with an accusing look.
"Well…" Jimmy began, and Sarah continued. "You get no cash, and I will be enjoying this Jawbreaker."
Eddy, would NOT let the opportunity of a Jawbreaker pass away, not like that time with the 'haunted' house, stupid Kankers. "I ACCEPT!" Eddy shouted getting the attention of all the cul-de-sac kids, who were watching with anticipation of something good.
"Good. I bet you…" She pulled a smoothie from behind her back. "Can't drink this smoothie without getting a br—"
"GOT IT!" Eddy said as he took it from her hand and slurp it down his throat without a second thought, much Sarah's delight, and Double D's horror.
"EDDY WAIT! YOU'RE GONNA—" Double D shouted but it was already too late as Eddy finished it whole, with a victorious look.
"HA! Too easy" Eddy said, then looked at twinkle dweeb and twinkle dumb. "Alright little munchkins, fork over the ca…" He stopped his sentence when he felt a sudden sting in his brain, a very, very cold sting.
"What's wrong Eddy?" Sarah asked innocently while Jimmy began chuckling. "Can't take a Double-guava-gumball-gulp smoothie?" Jimmy began to laugh a little at seeing Eddy's left eye twitch from pain, as the others chuckled (minus Double D, Ed chuckled because others chuckled). "I mean, it's not a surprise, it's their best BRAIN FREEZER drink here."
Eddy used every single ounce of will power he had not to scream in pain, but unfortunately for him, the brain freezer's power was far too great for him to handle.
"Eddy? are you alri—" Double D tried to ask but was stopped by Eddy finally snapping.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! BRAIN FREEZE!" Eddy shouted as he began running and screaming around like a maniac even knocking a table or two down. This got the laugh of everyone at there as they pointed at him for looking like a loser, and once again, Ed laughed too because everyone was laughing, except Double D, and of course Eddy.
Eddy continued to run around, until eventually he hit a nearby light pole face-first. And falling to the ground. The pain was still there, but not as bad. He could hear the mocking laugh of everyone around him. Sarah and Jimmy appeared in his sight as they looked down at him. "Oh, what's the matter? Did Eddy go boom?" Sarah asked mockingly, with Jimmy chuckling. "Jeez Sarah, guess Eddy lost the bet."
"You're right Jimmy!" Sarah said as she took the jawbreaker and began enjoying the candy's sweet's flavor, much to Eddy's sadness and anger.
"Oh well, let's go get fudges, Sarah" Jimmy said as he waved the dollar bill to Sarah and for Eddy to see, before running away from the scene giggling.
Double D came in rushing to help Eddy get up. "Come on Eddy, I'll get you home and get something for the brain freeze" Double D reassured Eddy as they walked away, leaving Ed 'alone'.
"Are you guys going to finish those?" Ed called out as he pointed at their smoothies, but got no answer, but didn't come back either, so Ed served himself, and let Nestor Jr. out to enjoy the rest of Ed's meal outside as he chirped in joy.
End of the flashback in the flashback (yeah, original, I know):
'If those two brats thought they could just get away with it, they were WRONG!' Eddy thought as he looked around to see if anybody was near or came in his direction, but didn't see a soul. Good, that means his plan for revenge can begin. He knew from 'observing' the brats for the past three days that Jimmy is planning a surprise tea party for Sarah, so while they enjoy it without a worry or care in the world, Eddy would turn into Ghostfreak and have a little 'fun' too. They wouldn't know what hit them!
Just then, he heard from the distance a humming jingle he would recognize from a thousand jingles. Smiling wildly and peeking at the corner of the fence, he could see Jimmy coming to Sarah's house. "Bingo, show time" Eddy said with a trickster's smile as he activated the watch and switched silhouettes until he got that of Ghostfreak. With anticipation he closed his eyes and slammed the core hard… but he wasn't able to push it back down. "What the…?" he questioned with a raised eyebrow, as this hadn't happened to him ever before. He forcefully tried to push it down several times, with no results whatsoever. He heard Jimmy approaching and gritted his teeth. With no time to lose, he decided to smash the watch's core against the fence, finally bringing it down and activating it. He heard the transformation sound… but something was not right. He didn't feel like he was levitating, or having just one eye. In fact, his body didn't feel like Ghostfreak at all! Opening his eyes, the world around him was HUGE, which could only mean… he looked down at his body and much to his frustration and annoyance, THE WATCH TURNED HIM INTO GREY MATTER!
"OH COME ON!" Grey Matter's squeaky voice shouted. "STUPID EXTRA TERRESTRIAL DEVICE! I NEEDED TO TRANSFORM INTO GHOSTFREAK, NOT GREY MATTER! THE NECESSARY STEPS IN MY INGENIOUS AND COMEDIC PLAN FOR REVENGE REQUIRED LEVITATION, POSSESION, INTAGIBILITY AND THE 'SUPER NATURAL' ELEMENT, WHICH GREY MATTER DOES NOT POSSESS AT ALL! YOU KNOW, FOR SUCH A SOPHISTICATED DEVICE, YOU'D THINK SOMETHING LIKE "GETTING THE WRONG ALIEN" WOULD NOT BE AN ISSUE!" Grey Matter continued to rant at the watch symbol on his back, not realizing that his ranting, though squeaky and barely understandable, still caught the attention of the oncoming girlish boy.
Jimmy peeked his head from the corner to see a weird grey and yellow frog with a bit of red on it, that seemed to be angry, must have had a bad day, and no one should have a bad day, except for Eddy of course because he was a meanie. "Hello there, mister frog!"
Grey Matter stopped his ranting the second he heard Jimmy's voice, as his blood ran… cold? Was this species blood cold or warm? Couldn't tell as he had a far more important situation at hand, slowly turning around, he could see Jimmy staring at him with his youthful curiosity look in his eyes. He had to think quickly.
He set on all four of his limbs and just stared back at jimmy for a few seconds before doing his best impression of an earth frog. "…Ribbit?"
"Are you alright mister frog?" Jimmy asked as he knelt down to get a better look at the frog, never in his life has he seen a frog that was so skinny. "Are you mad because you're hungry?"
"…Ribbit" That was all Grey Matter could say in the situation at hand, and didn't plan on saying anything else, as he turned around and tried to hop away as quick as possible, but of course, the machinations of fate just had to say nope! As he was grabbed by Jimmy and held him in his hands, and started to walk back to his house. "You can come along with me at Sarah's house for our tea party!" Jimmy said as he resumed his walk to Sarah's house, much to Grey Matter's worries.
"NO, NO, NO! I have to get out before I time out, which is just 8 minutes and 21 seconds!" Grey Matter thought as he struggled to get out of Jimmy's grasp, and Jimmy struggled to keep him in his hands.
"Don't worry mister frog, I won't hurt you, neither will Sarah" Jimmy reassured as he reached the front door and pressed the doorbell, while barely managing to keep Grey Matter in his grasp.
It didn't take long for the door to be answered, as Sarah showed at the door, smiling seeing her friend. "Hey Ji—mmy?" Sarah then saw what Jimmy was holding. "Uh…what's with the frog?"
"I found him near your house, he was angry, so I thought it was starving seeing how skinny it is, I also wanted to surprise you with a tea party, so I thought, he could join!" Jimmy said in excitement, much to Grey Matter's frustration and Sarah's confusion.
"Ok? But I thought you hated frogs? That they are ugly, wet, and gave you warts?" Sarah reminded Jimmy, who shrugged it off.
"Yeah, but mister frog here is not wet at all, he's not ugly like other frogs, plus his skin is smooth so it can't give me warts" Jimmy explained to Sarah, while Gray Matter just WISHED he had wart skin, like a defense mechanism, but alas, this species did not evolve to have it as a need.
"…alright" Sarah shrugged. "Let's go outside!"
And that is what they did, they got in Sarah's backyard and prepared the tea party (except Grey Matter who was tied into a baby chair).
"Do you wish more tea, Jimmy?" Sarah asked politely as she held an empty kettle
"No, thank you Sarah, but Mr. Yum Yum and mister frog would like too" Jimmy said as he waved his hand at his bunny doll and the tied up alien who groaned in annoyance.
"Sure thing!" Sarah said as she poured the non-existing tea into their cup, this was the FOURTH time they done this, and Grey Matter wondered if he will survive the boredom. But then he noticed that Jimmy was looking at a toy watch on his wrist. "Jeepers, it's been half an hour already, the cookies are ready!" Jimmy said as he run inside the house. But when did he had the time to make…. cookies….
"HALF AN HOUR!? AND I HAVEN'T TIMED OUT YET?!" Grey Matter mentally shouted. He was so bored he forgot about the timer! But why hasn't he timed out yet? Something happened to the watch? Oh God, HE COULD BE TIMING OUT AT ANY MOMMENT! HE HAD TO GET OUT NOW!
"Think, Grey Matter, think! Thinking is your forte!" Grey Matter told himself, but then he noticed something that had fallen, huh, an acorn, a Northern Red Oak to be precise. It reminded him of that time… "Well…Jimmy can now visit that nice therapist he talked about again, so not THAT bad…ah crap I'll feel guilty for a week. Curse this new sense of guilt obtained by moral events. And curse speaking like Double D!"
"Brought the cookies!" Jimmy called as he came with a plate of cookies, clearly baked in a toy oven. "Should our guest have the first bite?"
"Sure Jimmy" Sarah said as she took the cookie and showed it to the grey frog.
"Okay, now's the time!" Grey Matter thought as he leaned in to take a bite, but made a quick move and bit off the rope with his sharp teeth, and he was free! But why didn't he do that from the beginning? "What? And ruin the plot?"…fair point.
Using the opportunity, he hopped away from the baby chair, to the near tree, made a few squeaky sounds, almost like a squirrel, jumped off and run into the grass. "He's leaving!" Jimmy said in a sad tone, he didn't try his cookies yet!
"I'll get him Jimmy!" Sarah reassured as she began searching for the frog in the grass.
Just then, something fell right in front of Jimmy, who picked it up. It was just an acorn, he looked up, and smiled. "Oh! Hello mister Squ—" It was then Jimmy went dead silent and paralyzed by fear, as memories, painful memories returned to him…
"Just where are you, you little…" Sarah said as she grew impatient, that thing was nowhere to be seen!
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Sarah turned around to see Jimmy screaming in horror looking up and a squirrel on a branch. Oh no, he just recovered from that months ago! She then saw Jimmy running away and she followed, forgetting completely about the grey frog. "Jimmy! Come back!"
Grey Matter couldn't help but giggle at the scene before him, he still got his revenge, just not the way it was supposed to go. Also, now he owed a squirrel a bag of acorns for its services. He used the opportunity to run to the fence crawl on it, and make it to the top. "Alright, now that is out of the way, gotta get home and contact Double D and Ed" Grey Matter said to himself as he jumped off the fence. He was so excited by the fact that he got away, that he failed to notice the oncoming speed of Kevin's bike, as it hit him in midair, the speed forcing him on the head tube. "AAAAHHHH!"
Kevin, who just enjoyed riding his bike in this nice day, without any dorks to bother him, and after a minute or two, he heard a squeaky sound, it reminded him of Jimmy a little. It also sounded like it was in front of him all time, and saw that on his bike's head tube was some…weird, yellow, red, and grey frog thing, or whatever. He picked it off his bike and to get a look at it, as the frog stared back. "Ribbit"
"…whatever" Kevin simply said as he threw the frog away. Frogs land on their feet, so he wouldn't worry. Or was it cats? Meh, it will be fine.
Grey Matter was not fine. He just escaped Sarah and Jimmy, only to be hit by Kevin's bike, and then threw away like some ragdoll. Luckily, this form had quite the reflexes, as he managed to land on his feet, like a cat. "WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING YOU SHOVEL-CHINNED, BRAINDEAD, APATHETIC—GRRRRHH!" Grey Matter shouted as Kevin rode in the distance.
"-sigh- Okay, focus. Gotta reach home" Grey Matter said to himself as he looked around. Ugh, Kevin rode all the way to the candy store, normally he would use the opportunity to swim in jawbreakers, but for the first time in his life, he didn't feel like having a jawbreaker. It will take half an hour to get back home, 25 minutes if he ran. "Well, better be going" Grey Matter thought as he began running. He's been Running for five minutes now, and so far nothing happened, with the exception of hiding from a person or two. It would seem his luck has finally turned aroun—
He thought too soon, as a box fell on him. "What the?! I can't see a thing" Grey Matter shouted as his vision turned black from the lack of holes in that box. It didn't last long however as it was lifted off! …Only for a transparent cup with small holes, probably for breathing, to be placed above him, with a carton sheet underneath. "Again, WHAT THE?!" Grey Matter shouted again. The cup was turned around, revealing Grey Matter's capturer… was none other than Jonny 2x4, with his piece of wood Plank.
"Heard that Plank? It can talk!" Jonny said in excitement, as Grey Matter gulped, and tried to save himself from this.
"RIBBIT, RIBBIT, RIBBIT, RIBBIT!" Grey Matter continued to make frog sounds, hoping Jonny would think otherwise. And for a few moments it seemed like it, but then PLANK had to open his—IT'S mouth.
"What's that Plank?" Jonny asked his friend as he listened carefully, and Grey Matter did NOT like this. Jonny's eyes widened for a second before taking a look at Grey Matter's back, and his eyes widened again when he saw the symbol on his back. "Holy Moly! You're right Plank, he is one of the aliens! He has the symbol on his back!"
"Crap. Crap. Crap. Mega Crap. Crap…" that was Grey Matter's only thought at the moment, as Jonny figured out he was an alien, and hopefully not WHO he really is.
"Thought you could have fooled us huh?" Jonny asked as he looked at Grey Matter right in the eyes. "Sorry buddy, but the three of us will have a chat" Jonny said as he began to walk to his intended destination, and the imprisoned Grey Matter was NOT looking forward to it.
Meanwhile:
With all chores done, his work on the project for today, and a complete breakfast, Double D got out of his house and went to Ed's to start a new day. He tried to call Eddy first, but then remembered he took night patrols around the cities to calm his nerves from the incident from a few days ago, it was rather…humiliating. So he let him be, he needed rest. When he knocked on the door, he was met by Sarah, much to his discomfort. "Hiya Double D~!" Sarah said in a daydream tone.
"Oh dear…" Double D whispered to himself. "Hello Sarah, is Ed here?" Double D asked, wanting to get to the point quickly and get out of this… awkward situation.
Sarah smile immediately faltered and a small frown appeared on her face. "Fine" Sarah said annoyed. "ED! GET HERE RIGHT NOW!" Sarah called out as she went back in the living room
And just in a few seconds, Ed appeared at the front door faster than you could say buttered toast. "What is it baby—Hi Double D!"
"Well hello Ed, ready to start a new day?" Double D asked his friend.
"You bet your sweet bippy I do!" Ed said enthusiastically.
"Well then, let's…" It was then Double D saw behind Ed and in the living room, sitting on the couch was Jimmy, shaking a lot, with a blanket on him, and a glass of water with a straw on it. "Dear goodness, are you alright Jimmy?" Double D said concerned as he entered in the living room, Ed followed behind.
"I-It was ho-ho-horrible... tea…frog…squirrel…" that was all Jimmy could muster, as he took a sip from his glass of water. It was Sarah who gave better details on the situation.
"We were having a tea party and Jimmy saw a stupid squirrel" Sarah explained. Both Ed's knew Jimmy had a rather, painful and traumatic experience with a squirrel before, how can a member of the Sciuridae family take down an entire tree was still a mystery for Double D. Wait… "Didn't Jimmy mention a frog?" Double D asked.
"Jimmy found some skinny grey frog, and brought it to the tea party, then it ran off" Sarah said. A skinny grey frog? Could it be…
"And do tell, Sarah, could you give us a little more detail on this…frog?" Double D asked.
"Yeah, what did the little fella looked like?" Ed asked too.
"It was skinny, grey, with yellow and red on it, green eyes. Why you ask?" Sarah questioned.
Both Double D and Ed stiffed at this a bit, but got their composure back. "Oh nothing. It just such a specimen must be a rarity, I must do some research on it. Shall we Ed?" Double D said as he and Ed exited the house. Sarah raised an eyebrow at this, but ignored it as she needed to take care of Jimmy.
After they made it out of Ed's house, they quickly made it to Eddy's house and knocked at his door from the backyard, no one was there, it was not good. "Oh dear, what have you done now Eddy…" Double D murmured, then turned to talk to Ed. "We need to find Eddy, Ed. I have a bad feeling about this" Double D told his friend. "We will need to cover more ground, so we need to split up. You check around the Cul-De-Sac, while I check outside" Double D instructed as he ran away to find his friend. Meanwhile Ed stood there for a bit, before opening his jacket, revealing Nester Jr. who flew out of his pocket-nest and onto Ed's shoulder. "Alright Nestor Jr, Eddy is in trouble and needs our help" Ed told his bird pet, who chirped affirmative in response. "Look for the little cute, grey with yellow and red, frog Eddy!" Ed said as Nester Jr. flew up into the skies, in search of the third Ed, with Ed looking around the Cul-De-Sac.
Meanwhile with Grey Matter:
The still trapped alien had his mind at work as to find a way to get out of THIS mess now, he tried a few, but Plank blew them all off! He could time out at any moment, he HAD to find a way. "We're here!" Jonny said, capturing Grey Matters attention, they were at a tree. He looked around, he was in Jonny's backyard. Jonny hops on the swing, looks to the sides and sees nobody. Good. He yanks on one of the ropes holding the swing twice. The swing responds by ascending skyward, and another one descends, carrying a replica of Jonny and Plank.
"Just when the heck did he had the time to make that?" Grey Matter thought as he watched with great interest. Now at the tree branch, Jonny looked at the eggs from a bird nest near him. Touching each with care, and a thoughtful look, until he stopped at one egg. What happened next shocked Grey Matter even more, as Jonny split opened the egg, revealing it was fake, with a red button inside. Once he pressed it, a sound came from the other side, as they both saw the tree's skin taking a rectangular shape, the skin sinking in, until it went up, revealing an entrance. "What…the…heck?" Grey Matter thought out loud.
"Hehehe" Jonny chuckled. "You're gonna love what you're gonna see next"
They entered inside, it was pitch black, until Grey Matter felt Jonny descending down, and stepping in something…squishy?
He then heard a sound as light illuminated from below, looking down he saw that Jonny was stepping down…. on an illuminating…watermelon…staircase…
"Alright, from all the things that had happened since summer began, this is by far the WIERDEST of them all" Grey Matter mentally thought.
Once they reached the end of the melonstairs, the place illuminated on its own, revealing that…that they were in a freaking CAVE! The 'cave' is far larger than it appears. It has a large melon-logo printed on the floor. The room is lined with lamps (complete with melon-like bases, lamp shades, etc.) to illuminate it.
…Okay…a few things:
This Guy clearly has an obsession with melons.
WHEN AND HOW DID HE HAD TIME, RESOURCES AND INGENUITY FOR HAVING HALF OF ALL THIS STUFF?
And are his parents like that guy who makes gadgets for Batman or something? What was his name…. Ed mentioned him a few times… Lucius Pox or something?
And lastly…how he can get something like this?
"Liking what you are seeing?" Jonny asked Grey Matter, as he placed his prison on a chair made of melon.
"It's…something…" Grey Matter said. While he liked the idea, he still didn't like all the melons. But why melons of all things…oh God.
"Glad you like it" Jonny said, then he looked at Plank. "What's that Plank?" Jonny asked his friend, and after a few seconds of silence he smiles. "Exactly! Glad we are on the same page. Now…" Jonny approached Grey Matter with a serious look…until he smiled back and barraged him with a dozen question:
"WHERE DID YOU COME FROM? WHAT'S YOUR PLANET LIKE? DO THEY HAVE TREES? WHAT DO YOU EAT? ARE THE OTHERS FROM THE SAME PLANET OR DIFFERENT ONES? WHY ARE YOU SO SMALL? WHAT'S THE SYMBOL ON YOUR BACK SUPPOSED TO MEAN?" Jonny asked in excitement, as Grey Matter looked at him with a blank face and a sweatdrop.
"OKAY ENOUGH ALREADY!" Grey Matter shouted, thankfully stopping Jonny from asking for a few seconds. "Here's the deal, Jon-Human child. I'll answer your questions, if you answer mines. Sounds fair?"
"Fair enough!" Jonny said.
"Alright, first of all…Why, did you capture me? Why bring me here? How do you know of the symbol on my back? And most Importantly…. HOW IN A MILLION YEARS DID YOU MANAGE TO OBTAIN ALL OF THIS?!" Grey Matter shouted the last one as he threw his arms up in a dramatic way, signaling at the cave they were in.
Jonny giggled at the anticipation, he was so close, he had to do it right. "Well, to answer those. Sorry for capturing you, but I had to so we can talk. You alien heroes don't stick around so I saw an opportunity and had to take it! I brought you here to talk, nothing more, as for the symbol on your back, you guys have been on the news and in the papers for quite a while, and you can see recordings with the other aliens, and each has that symbol on some part their bodies" Jonny explained to Grey Matter, and it made sense.
"And for how I made the Melon Cave, well I've been working on it since last summer, I was digging holes, trying to follow some moles to learn why they're always traveling in the underground. One day, after hours of digging right on spot where the stump is now, I hit the limit and fell right here, but don't worry, I just dug up my way out of here, and hit the tree's roots system we used to get here. To be honest I was scared when I fell, so I wasn't really thinking where I dig until Plank told me to stop. But don't worry, I took good care of the tree" Jonny reassured Grey Matter, who couldn't care about the Dendron they came through. "After that, I managed to fill back the hole I made, and put that stump there, which I got from an already took down tree from the forest, and after a long and tiring process, it became my base of operations that it is today" Jonny finished his explanation, and it was enough for Grey Matter, for now at least, there were still things he didn't understand, but he will leave them be for now.
"Also" Jonny began. "I took you here because you see, you and your friends are not the only heroes around here…" he grinned.
"What do you mean J-I mean human?" Grey Matter asked.
"I have a little secret of my own…" Jonny said cryptically before spinning his chair, taking Plank along with him before running into a closet, then coming back a few minutes later with some costume put on which had, of course, a melon at the top of his head, however it was twisted the other way around, rendering him blind. "Shed a tear, cause Captain Melonhea-Holy Toledo! My vision is gone!" Jonny, now going by his alter ego name 'Captain Melonhead', exclaimed as he flailed his arms around, desperately trying to find the lights switch.
Grey Matter watched in utter astonishment at the sheer stupidity of his captor and sighed profoundly. He would be laughing so hard at this if he wasn't in this predicament. Of all the people that could have captured him…
"What's that, Splinter?" 'Captain Melonhead' asked his sidekick, who was actually Plank tied to a broomstick with some cloth with eyes drawn on acting as its mask. A silence followed before Melonhead spoke again, "Oh, you're right!" he said as he turned the melon-half on his head around, showing it had two eye-holes from which he was now actually able to see through. "Ta-da! I'm actually Captain Melonhead!" he declared proudly.
Grey Matter rolled his amphibian eyes at this. Of course, he had forgotten how Jonny liked to put on his pajamas and a watermelon on his head and pretend to be a superhero. He even remembered that time he ruined his Thingamajig scam, which had been one of his better ones! Still, he tried to act like he didn't know who this was, since he didn't want Jonny, or more possibly Plank, to find his secret identity. "Captain Melonhead?" the brainiac alien asked with feigned curiosity.
"Yes! And this is my sidekick, Splinter the Wonderwood!" the melon headed hero said as he showed Plank on his hand. "Have you heard of us before?" he asked in a tone full of hope and excitement.
Grey Matter stared at him for a few seconds and decided to shrug. "Sorry pal, doesn't ring any bells" he responded. It was actually kind of satisfactory seeing Jonny's face turn upside down as he fell from his superhero cloud.
"B-Bu-But we saved the Cul-de-Sac countless times! We protect it from those scammy Eds, the wicked Kanker sisters and any other evil doers that threat it!" Melonhead explained, before deciding to add, "Apart from that giant robot your big green friend took care of before we could…"
"Yeah, like you could have done anything against that thing…" Grey Matter thought before an idea struck his mind. Maybe he could use all this hero stuff in his favor… "Oh, the Eds you say? I've heard of them before, they're a pretty evilsome trio, especially their leader, who I've heard is devilishly handsome and cunning…" he un-modestly observed.
"Really?" Captain Melonhead tilted his head, surprised that this little alien knew about the Eds but not about him. "Well, then you'll be glad to hear I have beaten their leader Eddy, aka Professor Scam, all by myself!" he proudly stated before turning his head towards Splinter, who was apparently telling him something. He 'listened' for a few seconds before muttering, "Okay, maybe I did get a bit of help from my sidekick…"
"Oh, you don't say…" Grey Matter clenched his teeth, restraining himself from shouting that if it hadn't been for Ed sticking his nose in his business, he'd been swimming in a gravy tub, but nonetheless he controlled himself in order for his plan to work. "Tell you what kid… would you be interested in joining our… superhero group?" the smart alien asked.
Captain Melonhead's eyes widened at the question and a huge grin formed on his face. "For real?" he asked, to which Grey Matter nodded. "Oh boy! Oh boy! We were actually going to ask you if we could join but you beat us to it!" the bootleg superhero exclaimed as he jumped up and down in excitement. "Did you hear that Plank-I mean Splinter? We're going to be part of an actual superhero team like all great heroes do! We're going to be…" he then stopped his frenzy for a moment before turning back to the alien and asking, "What's your team's name by the way?"
"Uh… our team's name…?" Grey Matter was taken aback by the question since he hadn't really thought about an actual team name, since all the aliens were actually him anyways so he didn't really need a team name. "It's… uh… the alien… Alien… Alien Force! Yeah, that's the name, Alien Force!" he managed to come up with. He wasn't sure if that name was actually good, but luckily for him, Jonny fell for it regardless.
"Yeah, we're gonna be part of the Alien Force! That's what I'm talking about baby!" the superhero wannabe cheered as he got up from his chair and did a little dance to celebrate.
Grey Matter tried not to cringe too hard at this. "Don't get your hopes up, kid. I still have to talk it with the others, we're ten after all, and then we'll put up for vote whether you'll join us or not. Still, I'll try to sweet talk them about you, but you'll have to let me go in order to do that…" the brainy alien explained. He hoped this trick would be enough to fool Jonny into letting him go.
"Sure thing, buddy!" Captain Melonhead extended his hand towards the cup with Grey Matter inside, having fallen for it just like in a scam… Hook. Line. Sinker. However, he didn't take a certain piece of wood in consideration, as Melonhead suddenly stopped and got Splinter the Wonderwood on his ear, seemingly speaking to him. After a few seconds, Melonhead turned back to Grey Matter but looked at the alien more suspiciously. "Wait a minute, how do we know this isn't an alien trick so that we free you and you just ran away?" he questioned.
Dang it. Just how could an inanimate object rival his most intelligent transformation? Grey Matter mentally wondered. "Oh, I wouldn't do that… Trust me" he tried to convince, but the fruit-themed superhero still seemed a bit reluctant about it. Then Splinter seemed to 'speak' again, giving him another idea.
"Oh, well thought, buddy!" Melonhead complimented his sidekick before talking to the alien again. "Why don't you call your friends in hear so we can all talk about it?" he asked.
The small alien narrowed his eyes. "Uh… I-I can't tell them to come here…" he tried to explain, but couldn't come up with anything on the spot. This was going to be harder than he thought… how was he going to convince him to let him go now? Stupid piece of wood…
"Why not? This is a safe place after all" Melonhead assured.
"…I can't tell them to come here because…" Grey Matter used all the power of his namesake organ to try and come up with some pretext to fool Jonny into letting him go. It wasn't an easy task do to the pressure of knowing he could time out at any moment and get exposed. Wait, that gave him an idea as he took a glance at the watch symbol on his back and remembered something Jonny had asked previously. "Because there's no signal in here, for my communicator. You see this symbol on my back you asked about, that's one of the communicators we use to contact each other on the team" the brainy alien lied.
"Wow! An actual alien communicator? Will I get one if I join the team?" the fruit themed hero asked excitedly.
"Uh, sure! But you need to get me out of this underground cave and to a high enough point for the signal to reach my friends, then they'll come over so you can meet them and I'll explain the situation. I'm sure after they hear how you defeated those evil Eds and helped one of their own, they'll let you join in no time!" Grey Matter assured, trying to hide any possible smirk from showing on his face.
"Awesome! Let's go!" Captain Melonhead exclaimed as he took the cup with Grey Matter on it before spinning his chair around, while also spinning Splinter's chair as well. Suddenly, the floor opens beneath the chairs and they drop, with the tiny alien screaming as they fell. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Outside the Melon Cave, a tree stump's top slides opened and the 'heroes' bursted out of it. "What? How did we get outside if we were falling down?" Grey Matter wondered, not understanding the wacky physic logics of cartoons.
"Is that tree a high enough spot?" Melonhead asked as he pointed at the top of the tree they just came out from.
"Uh, sure!" the small alien nodded and the melon headed hero started climbing up the tree all the way till the top.
"Okay, we're here. Now call the other aliens, please!" Captain Melonhead asked impatiently.
"First you need me to get out of this cup, the communicator won't have enough power unless I'm in an open space" Grey Matter quickly lied, and it seemed to have fooled Jonny again as he put his hand on the carton sheet at the top and was about to remove it, but then paused for a second as Splinter seemed to speak again. The smart alien clenched his sharp teeth again, thinking that damn plank was going to ruin everything again, but luck surprisingly worked in his favor at least for this moment…
"Don't worry Splinter, I'm sure we can trust him, he's one of the good guys after all!" Captain Melonhead assured his sidekick before removing the sheet from the cup, freeing Grey Matter who quickly climbed out of his glass prison.
"Good job, boy…" the alien assured as he pretended to use his 'communicator', even doing some beeping sounds to make it seem more believable. "Okay, I sent them my coordinates, they should be here at any time…" he then pretended to look in the distance opposing Jonny. "Hey, isn't that Four Arms already leaping towards here?" he feigned and pointed in that direction.
"Oh boy! Another alien is coming!" Captain Melonhead turned around excitedly, but saw nothing coming that way. "Hey, where's-?" he got shut as suddenly Grey Matter leaped onto the melon half on his head and pushed it down before twisting it around, rendering him blind once more. "Who turned the lights off?!" Melonhead exclaimed as he flailed his arms around once more, trying to grab the tiny alien on top of his head, but Grey Matter slid out of his grasp and onto a safe branch down the tree.
"Sorry Melonhead, but there's no vacancies for the team! I'm sure you'll understand, thank you!" Grey Matter mocked as he leaped down the tree branches towards the ground.
"Splinter! Do something!" the blinded hero demanded, but his sidekick did little to nothing since… well, it's an inanimate piece of wood. Melonhead finally managed to turn his mask and see once again, only to find the small alien had run away with no traces left behind. "You don't need to make that 'I told you so' face Plank" he said as he stared at Splinter, who seemingly retorted back at him. "Who's an idiot?" he asked.
Meanwhile with Ed:
Here we can see Ed walking down the street with a pair of binoculars, given to him by Double D in order to help find Eddy in case he was flying around as Stinkfly, though he's using them in the wrong way...on the ground. "GASP! nothing. GASP! nothing. GASP! nothing. GASP!" he repeated as he walked around with the binoculars on his face. Then a loud 'BUMP!' was heard as he collided with something. "... street light" he muttered.
Back with Grey Matter:
Having escaped from his captor, the small alien had crawled through the fence and was now running down the lane. "Okay, if my calculations are correct, I should be home within a few min-" he thought aloud before stopping as the ground around him started shaking. "What?! An earthquake?!" Then he heard a thunderous stomping, like something gigantic was coming his way. He turned around to see a horde of unidentified creatures, they were pretty big (as was anything to him at the moment anyways), had feathers on their bodies and seemed like something Ed really like…
"CHICKENS!" Grey Matter shouted as a horde of chickens stormed over him. He tried to heave himself out of the parade, but it was too late as he was being trampled by the birds. Some would just walk by, but others would take notice and try to peck on him, mistaking him for some small insect to eat. "Hey, watch where you put that beak! Help! I'm submerged in a preponderance of poultry!" the alien shouted as he continuously dodged the chicken legs and pecks, while drowning in the sea of chicken.
He then held onto one of the chickens' beak before jumping over it, leaping from chicken to chicken in an attempt to escape from the barnyard fowl. Suddenly he jumped high and grabbed onto something yellow, with a red stripe on it. Then he heard a familiar voice yell, "Yah, fowls, hiyah! Come along, Leghorn! Hiyah!"
"Is that Rolf?" Grey Matter said aloud as he struggled to hold onto what was transporting him.
"Who said that? Is one of Rolf's ancestors trying to communicate with him?" Rolf, who was leading the chicken drive, wondered. He then noticed something clinging on his shirt and went to grab it with his hand, taking a closer inspection at it. "Uh? What are you, tiny-headed gremlin?" the Son of a Shepard asked Grey Matter, who quickly tried to think of a lie to come up with.
"I-I am…. Uh… a… an elf! From… your village?" Grey Matter invented. "Listen, if you throw me faaaar away from here, a secure place if possible, I… I… I will grant you a wish!" he tried to convince.
Rolf just looked at him utterly perplexed, before turning his stern look into a happy smile. "Oh! You're one of the throw-a-way elves from the Old Country! Rolf's Papa has told him about the mythos! This must be Rolf's lucky day!" the foreigner exclaimed as he prepared to throw the small 'elf' to a faraway place.
"You mean it's an actual thing? Can't believe this worked out!" Grey Matter thought, but then he realized far too late that Rolf had extended his arm in the opposite direction to his house. "Wait, that's not the direct- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" the alien was thrown into the distance before he could finish that sentence.
Ed continued his searching of his missing friend, this time exploring the houses on the suburbs. "Eddy? Are you in there?" the big lump asked as he leaned against a house's front window, before being repelled by the sprinklers that just activated. "Aaaaaaaah! Acid spitting mutants!" Ed screamed as he ran away after being splashed with water. Then he heard a screech as a certain tiny genius went flying over him.
"Eddy?" Ed seemed to recognize his friend screaming, immediately realizing what was going on. "Oh no! The mutants got Eddy!" he exclaimed and started to run in the direction he heard the screech going. "Don't worry Eddy! I'm coming!" he said while jumping over a fence, landing face first at a garden. Then he heard a growl and lifted his head from up the ground to see a small white dog in front of him. "Goody doggy, nice boy…" Ed tried to calm it down, but ended up being bitten by the dog, who clenched onto his jacket sleeve with his teeth. "AAAAAH! Get off, off! Off! Off!" he shouted as he flailed his arm around in an attempt to get the dog off him.
Meanwhile, Nestor Jr. was flying in the sky when suddenly a screaming frog flew past him. The bird tilted his head and chirped in wonder as he saw that the frog looked exactly as what his master had described for him to look. Speaking of said frog, who is actually Grey Matter, OBVIOUSLY, he continued to soar through the skies until inevitably, thanks to the laws of physics, started to descend to the ground. He expected to get squashed against the hard floor, but much to both his surprise and relief, instead he felt landing on something soft and fluffy, and apparently safe. He couldn't tell what it was, only that it was very hairy and messy sea of red in which he was currently entangled. But then of course, because landing on a safe place would have been just too much asking, he heard another familiar but not so friendly voice shout, "MARIE! SOMETHING JUST FELL INTO MY HAIR!"
Grey Matter froze up entirely upon hearing that voice, that voice scared him far more than any giant robot, mutated animal, sea monster, zappy alien or even psycho clown could ever do. It was Lee Kanker's voice, the leader of the Kanker sisters, a trio who sole purpose was to torment the Eds with their 'amorous' feelings and do things to them that would change the rating of this fanfic to M. They were his and the other two Eds' banes of their existences ever since they moved into that trailer park near the Cul-de-Sac last summer.
"I'm coming, quit flappin' your yap!" another voice responded, this one belonging to the blue-haired sister, Marie Kanker.
"Take it off! Take it off!" the elder sister demanded as she shook frantically, with poor Grey Matter all tangled up in her hair bouncing along for the ride.
"I think I'm gonna puke!" the dizzy alien thought as he had his mouth covered by all the hair. Just then, Marie's hand extended and grabbed him, starting to pull him out of Lee's hair.
"Hey, what are you fighting over now? You better have not eaten the last hotdog!" the buck-teeth blond and youngest of the sisters, May Kanker, exclaimed as she came out of their trailer.
"Shut up, airhead! Lee's got some gum stuck on her hair again!" Marie responded as she tried pulling whatever her sister had on her head, which she thought was gum since it was sticky and hard to pull out.
"Be careful, Marie!" Lee grunted as her sister pulled from her hair.
"I'm trying, it's stuck!" the blue-haired girl said through gritted teeth before finally managing to pull out whatever that thing was. She was surprised to see it looked like some kind of weird frog, all covered in Lee's red hair curls, with a particular curl on top of his head even looking like a hair-cut. "What's this thing?" Marie asked as she looked at the, unbeknownst to them, alien on her hand.
Grey Matter coughed a full curl of red hair before muttering, "This is officially the worst day of my life…"
"I don't know, it looks like some sort of squeeze toy" May responded.
Marie took what her sister was saying and squeezed the frog-like thing, which actually yelped in response and, much to her surprise, actually started yelling at her. "AH! WATCH IT, YOU PUNK-HAIRED IGNORAMUS! THOSE ARE MY RIBS! HAVE YOU GOT ANY IDEA HOW EXTREMELY PAINFUL THAT WAS? I AM NOT A TOY FOR YOU SIMPLEMINDED GIRLS TO PLAY WITH!"
"It can talk?!" Marie gasped in utter astonishment, as not only was this frog-thing yelling at her, but also talking so eloquently. The only person she knew that talked like that was her 'boyfriend', Double D…
"…oh shit!" Grey Matter thought as he realized he'd blown away his cover.
"Who are you?" the middle Kanker asked while holding him in her hand.
"Like I'll ever tell you… let me go! I have places to be!" the small genius replied as he struggled to break free from the bigger girl's grasp.
"I don't think you're going anywhere, short stuff…" Marie laughed. "What do you think this thing is, Lee?" she asked her elder sister.
"Beats me, but whatever it is, it owes me a haircut!" Lee said angrily as she combed her hair with her hands. How dare this little freak ruin her perfect hair?!
"I say we take it as our new pet frog!" May suggested eagerly. Her sisters smiled evilly in response.
"Yeah, that's a good idea. Let's go inside and give it some food! Poor thing must be starving seeing how skinny it is" Marie darkly chuckled and the three sisters laughed wickedly while walking back inside their trailer.
"What?! No! Let me go! I'm no pet of no one! Heeeeeeelp!" Grey Matter exclaimed as he was taken inside by the Kankers. Sigh, that fat orange cat was right, Mondays are the WORST!
Once again, Grey Matter was tied up to a baby chair just like he was with Sarah and Jimmy, but the danger was greater than ever before, he couldn't just bite off the rope, not yet, he needed an opportunity. Maybe—"UGH! WHAT IS THAT STENCH THAT INFILTRATED MY ALIEN NOSTRILS?!" Grey Matter mentally shouted as a bowl of…for all the knowledge this form possessed, there was NO telling whatsoever of what was in that…thing. By all that is holy in the universe, he swore he saw with his amphibian eyes that thing move!
"Alright freak, it's time for lunch!" Lee said evilly as she took a spoon of the thing, while the other two Kankers where giggling. "Here comes down the crashing plane!"
With every millimeter Lee approached the spoon to Grey Matter, he would tilt his head back until he hit the back of the baby chair. He moved his head to the left when the spoon approached, mouth closed. The spoon went to his face, he moved his head again, also up and down. And so on for a whole minute.
"Looks like we got a picky one, eh Lee" Marie told her sister, who started to get annoyed at the little prick.
"Seems so" Lee then snapped her fingers. "May! You know what to do" she said with a devious glee.
May giggled deviously as well as he approached Grey Matter with an innocent look on her face, looking at him curiously, as he started to look back at her in the eyes. Just what was she planning?
Because of his focus on May's eyes, he didn't notice May's right hand, who used two of her fingers and SQUEEZE Grey Matter's feet.
"AAAAHH-HNGH?!" Grey Matter shout of pain was interrupted by Lee, who shoved the spoon in his mouth, finally getting the "Food" in it.
…NEVER, in his life on this cosmic orb called earth, has Grey Matter tasted something so…so…so REPULSIVE! It tasted worse than broccoli, brussel sprouts, cauliflower and cabbage COMBINED. He would have puked his guts out right then and there, if not for Lee throwing ANOTHER spoon of that stuff, then another, then another, after that he lost all power to puke. All the while the Kankers laughed in joy at the alien's suffering.
Enough was enough for Grey Matter. He knew he had to escape, and he had to do it now. He quickly thought of an escape plan, before putting his two feet together and knocking down the bowl in front of him with a kick, spilling all the repugnant food over the table.
"OH! JUST LOOK AT THE MESS YOU'VE DONE!" Lee shouted angrily as she quickly took to clean up the table. "Marie! Go get something to clean this mess up!" she ordered her sister.
"You're no boss of me, why don't you clean it yourself?" the most rebel Kanker retorted, which predictably got her a smack on the head from her elder sibling. The two quickly started brawling onto the ground.
"Knock it off you two!" May demanded as she tried to pull them apart, quickly joining in on the sisterly fight. Having taken the Kankers' conflictive nature into account, Grey Matter correctly predicted that the sisters would soon start arguing and fighting with each other, so with them distracted for the moment, the smart alien used his sharp teeth like he'd done earlier in the day to bit off the rope tying him and hop over the baby chair he was on.
May was the first to notice him getting away. "Hey, our frog is getting away!" she yelled from the ground, the sisters tried to grab him as he leaped over her hands, but each one failed to do so, except for Marie who actually managed to grab him with one of her hands, only for the frog-like alien to bit her and escape from her grasp.
"Ouch! Why you little-!" Marie yelped in pain after being bitten, then quickly got up and ran after the small creature, trying to crush him with a stomp, but failing as Grey Matter rolled out of the way. She was about to try and stomp him again, but was stopped by her younger sister.
"Wait, Marie! You're going to squash it and we'll get no pet at all!" May told her.
"Serves it right for biting the hand that feeds him!" Marie responded.
"Girls! Stop it!" Lee shouted at them before another fight could start. "We've got to clean all this before mom comes back or else we'll get on trouble! I'll clean up the table while you two find that little twerp and beat some manners into it! Got it?" she told them, to which both sisters nodded before running after Grey Matter.
Speaking of him, the small alien had actually hide behind a plant past the kitchen, so when the two other Kankers ran back to the living room, they completely missed him. "I gotta get out of here and find Double D and Ed!" Grey Matter thought as he got out of the plant and crawled under the Kankers' sofa, where he went past lots of fluff and trash, and even a remote control, before coming out the other way coughing a little due to all the fluff there, then jumped into an air vent on the wall and started to climb his way up.
While climbing, he pondered about the possible reasons the watch could be malfunctioning, as it hadn't turned him back to normal yet (not that he would prefer to be trapped inside the Kankers' trailer in his human form…). "What's your malfunction? Probably something stupid like the DNA splicing replicator copying a fragment of amino acid sequence…" he theorized, then he stopped for a second to take into account what he just said. "So THIS is what it feels like to be Double D…" he gasped in shock, before resuming his climbing.
He managed to come out from another air vent to find himself in a small dark room, which on closer inspection was the Kankers' closet. There was many girl stuff in there, like clothes and shoes, but also a small treasure chest. Upon opening it, Grey Matter found many old toys inside. "Uh, seems the Kankers keep all their stuff from when they were children…" the alien muttered, before an idea came to mind. Maybe it was time to put to use what he learned from seeing Double D build so many scams before…
Working his way around with the toys was simple enough, he was a genius after all, changing and reassembling them into mechanisms that would protect him from them, but also help him escape this wretched place. Thankfully the Kankers hadn't checked the upper floor, yet. If all of his calculations and foresights were correct, they wouldn't know what hit them! After a few minutes of tampering, all trapes were in set, now all he had to do is to go back in his hiding spot and continue working on his life saving project.
Ten minutes later, the door of the Kanker's room was opened wide, courtesy of Lee Kanker's foot. "Alright girls, this is the only place we haven't checked yet, so start searching for that filth of a frog!" Lee ordered as the other two Kankers marched into the room, beginning their search.
May was first to fell prey to one of the traps Grey Matter made, as she went to search in the drawer on the left side of their bed, seeing that it was slightly opened, she thought the little frog hide there. Looking inside, she found nothing even remotely close to a frog, but she did find…something familiar…
"Ms. Berry! I thought I lost you!" May said as she picked up the doll she thought long lost, but too late she noticed the thin wire attached to the doll, which when strained, activated a machine. May looked behind her, wow, that old tennis ball machine they found at the junkyard works! But wait, why did it activated just, now… "Oh cra—" May was interrupted when she was hit by a barrage of tennis balls, pinning her down to a wall, and hurting a lot.
The other two Kankers were stunned for a second. "WHAT THE HECK?!" Lee shouted. After that Marie took action, and threw an old mounted spearfish that laid around there, destroying the machine once and for all.
"That mud swamp freak put traps in here! So he must be near, watch out Marie" Lee told her sister while she continued searching.
"Gee, thanks for the warning, Lee. I would have never thought of that" Marie told her sister sarcastically. She then looked around, and saw the closet door opened, she approached slow and carefully, and took cover by the right of the closet, she couldn't see anything, it was far too dark. So, she took a risk, and opened them wide, not leaving her position, expecting something to hit her, but nothing happened.
She steeped in the front of the closet, no sign of that damn frog, but there was a jack in a box, sitting in in a mountain of stuff at the top, practically inviting her to open it. But she was not an easy prey like May. "Nice try, froggy!" Marie called out. "But I wasn't born yesterday…" After that, she decided to search the closet, first she had to throw away that stupid Ja— BAM!
Little did she know, Grey Matter redesigned the jack-in-a-box (or rather punch-in-a-box), and ALSO, reworked its mechanisms that it would not activate by the turning handle, but by the smallest amounts of pressure put on it! That hook was so strong it sent her flying across the room, into a wall! Leaving her with a black left eye.
Lee had enough of the little twerp. "That's it! You are snake food after all of this!" Lee shouted furiously. Just where the heck was that thing?!
She then heard a buzzing sound coming from under their bed, which could only mean one thing. "so that's where you were hiding…" Lee said with an evil smile and giggle as she approached the bed, and looked down, it was dark, but she could hear the sound and she had it at her gra—?! "—WHAT THE F—"
Apparently the buzz was a waywire shaving machine, that launched itself (with a junk made canon) at the surprised screaming Kanker. It bounces around the room a few times before hitting the back of her 'perfect' hair!
It stopped itself, but didn't come off her head! She touched the back of her head only to feel something sticky on the shaving machine, looking at her hand and the smell she knew too well, she used it in her Kanker rubber cement recipe…oh god…that little prick put SUPER GLUE ON THAT SHAVING MACHINE! AND NOW IN HER HAIR! IT WILL TAKE DAYS BEFORE SHE CAN GET RID OF IT!
"THAT'S IT! I'M GONNA MAKE YOU WISH YOU WERE NEVER BORN!" Lee shouted at the top of her lungs. Just then, she heard another sound from under her bed, and it sounded like a…car engine?
Before she could react, a tiny toy blue car, with some metal pieces on it ride out between her feet and out of the room, which of course, was driven by none other than Grey Matter himself. "YEEEHAAAWW! the frog-like alien shouted.
"MAY! MARIE!" Lee quickly called out her sister, who just recovered from their traps. "WE HAVE TO GET THAT THING BEFORE IT ESCAPES! AND GRAB SOME GEAR!" Lee said as they exited the room with murderous intent, all the while Grey Matter speed up with force though a weak spot of the trailer and busted out!
Which brings us to…
"Soooo, that's pretty much what happened this entire day, and let me tell you, it SUCKED" Grey Matter told the audience while everything was still frozen in time. "So, let's move on, continue forward with the story, and cross our fingers that I survive all of this" Grey Matter said with a bit of frightful uncertainty on the last part.
Toki wa ugoki dasu. Time resumed its flow, and Grey Matter resumed his screaming.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Grey Matter closed his eyes and screamed as the power of the motor died down and the speed of the car started to slow due to them being practically flying the skies in the air, before inevitably both he and Marie, once again thanks to his GOOD friend the gravity, started to fell back to the ground, screaming even more as they did so. But then, at the last possible second, something came flying out of nowhere and picked the small alien from out of the car, while Marie continued to plummet down to the ground, falling onto her sisters who were there trying to catch her and making a huge crater on the ground.
"Ouch…" the bruised Kankers muttered from inside the crater.
Grey Matter expected to have DEFINETELY been squashed against the ground by this point, but instead he felt flying through the sky on top of something. "What the-?" he opened his eyes to see who just saved him: Nestor Jr, who flew in and took him on his back, FINALLY bringing him to safety. "IT'S OFFICIAL! I HATE ALL BIRDS, BUT YOU!" the smart alien exclaimed as he hugged his tiny arms around the bird's neck, something he thought would never do or even be physical capable of doing. Nestor Jr. chirped positively in response and started to flew down.
Meanwhile, Double D was wondering around in the forest near the trailer park, still looking after Eddy. Truth be told, he didn't want to be in here considering that the Kankers lived so close and a possible ambush could happen at any time, but this was the only place he hadn't searched yet. "E-Eddy? Are you in here?" he asked a bit scared as he continued to walk around. Suddenly, he heard some strange noises and turned around to see a creature clinging down from a tree, which made him yelp in fear until he realized that it was only one of the many spiders that lived in the forest.
"Haha, silly Eddward. How could I get scared by this innocent arachnid?" he sighed in relief, before turning around and seeing a giant mutant bird charging at him. Double D yelped in fear and quickly took cover on the ground, covering his eyes with his beanie while shaking scared. Then, a squeaky voice spoke, "Double D? It's me!"
The scared Edd lifted his head to see that the giant bird was in fact a regular sized one that stood in front of him, and one he was very familiar with… "N-Nestor Jr? Y-You c-can talk!" he exclaimed in disbelief at hearing the bird seemingly speak to him. Perhaps this was some residual effect from his mutation…
"Not him, Sockhead, me!" Grey Matter said as he walked from behind Nestor Jr. Oh…
"E-Eddy? Is that you?" Double D regained his composure and got up from the ground. "I had a feeling you'd turned into Grey Matter based on what Sarah said, but why are you still in this form if I may ask?"
"Because the watch isn't working properly. Look, it's a long story, I'll tell you about it but let's go find Ed first, and most importantly let's get out of here before someone else catches me!" the small alien said before getting on Nestor Jr's back and taking to fly again, but this time closer to the ground. Double D followed while keeping a safe distance from the bird.
Later On:
Having found Ed, the trio, alongside the pet bird, decided to go to his room in the basement for the moment. Eddy was still in Grey Matter's form and explained everything that had happened to him that day to his two friends, who were more than surprised to hear about the misadventures his friend had gone through.
"And the watch still hasn't turned me back to my regular form yet" Grey Matter finished explaining.
"Wait, so Jonny has been Captain Melonhead all this time?!" Ed said with surprise.
"Ed, please, focus on the matter at hand" Double D told him before turning back to precisely Grey Matter.
"Any idea on how to turn me back to normal, Sockhead?" the alien asked.
"Well, I suppose I could put my… other projects on hold to work on some device that can detect the watch's malfunction and possibly repair it, but since I'm not familiar with this technology at all it may take a few weeks, or even a month…" the smartest Ed theorized.
"What?! A month?! I can't be like this for a month! There has to be a more effective method that can solve this far quickly!" Grey Matter exclaimed desperately.
"Oh, don't worry Eddy, you can live in a soda can! I even got some action figures you can be friends with!" Ed enthusiastically said, oblivious to his friend's predicament.
"Shut up, Neanderthal! I'm not staying like this! And I definitely won't live in a can!" Grey Matter protested.
"But Eddy, what else can we do? We don't understand this alien technology, and we don't have the resources to…" Double D began to explain. While the Eds discussed Eddy's situation, Nestor Jr, who'd been perched on top of Ed's sofa, flew behind Grey Matter and, curious about the hourglass symbol on his back, touched it with his beak. Then a bright green light engulfed Grey Matter and the entire room. After it died down, instead of the small alien, Eddy had finally returned back to normal and stood in his place.
"What?! I'm me again?!" Eddy wondered as everything around him now seemed least big than a second ago. Then he realized his voice sounded like his normal self and, after inspecting his hands, legs and the rest of his body, realized he was human once again, and he'd never been more relieved to be one ever since he found the watch. "GUYS, I'M ME AGAIN! IT'S GOOD TO BE TALL AND HANDSOME ONCE AGAIN!" he cheered loudly, the irony of calling himself 'tall' going completely past… well you get the picture.
"I quite frankly don't know what happened, but it's good to see you're your regular self again, Eddy" Double D smiled at his friend having gone back to normal. Well, as normal as they could get.
"Awww! Does that mean no playing with action figures?" Ed asked, a bit disappointment that he didn't get to play with Grey Matter like he was his own living alien figure.
"Forget it, Lumphead!" Eddy shut him down, before turning to look at Nestor Jr, who stood next to his leg. "You did this as well? That's it! You're officially part of the team! Welcome to… the Alien Force!" Eddy said as he picked up Nestor Jr. and put him on his arm, then stroke his belly with his finger.
"Alien Force?" Double D asked, not entirely thrilled with the idea of Nestor Jr. being 'part' of the team.
"It does have a ring to it, doesn't it?" Eddy asked.
"Sounds awesome!" Ed cheered, and Nestor Jr. also gave an enthusiastic chirp.
"I think I owe you a sack of bird seeds after everything you've done for me, pal" Eddy told Nestor Jr, who was still perched on his arm. He also remembered that he owed a certain squirrel a bag of acorns, but that was for another time. "Hey, let's go to that Smoothie place to celebrate I'm normal again!" he announced before turning around and starting to walk out of Ed's room.
"Yay! Smoothies!" Ed happily exclaimed, with Nestor Jr. also giving a happy chirp in response. He also started walking behind Eddy, before Double D stopped them.
"Hang on a second, mister…" Double D called for their attention. The two turned around, with Eddy raising an eyebrow as he wondered what his friend could possibly want now. "We still need to have a talk about you triggering Jimmy's PTSD" he said in a reprimanding tone while folding his arms.
"Oh, give me a break, Sockhead! After everything I went through, I think I will have PSDT or whatever that is!" Eddy protested, not in the mood for his friend's usual scolding after everything that happened to him on that particular day.
And that's chapter 6, hope you enjoyed it! Here's some trivia facts and also some references given by SoulReaver1999:
Trivia:
1) The title of this chapter is based on the original Ben 10 episode "A Small Problem" and its plot is somewhat similar with Eddy trapped as Grey Matter like Ben was, but rather than introduce the Forever Knights (which will appear later on), I took a more EENE style approach and had him be captured by different Cul-de-Sac kids, with the main antagonists being, of course, the Kanker Sisters (who made their first appearance on this story).
2) This plot is also inspired by the Cartoon Network EENE short "The Incredible Shrinking Day" (for those of you who remember it).
3) Mr. Smoothie is actually a restaurant franchise in the Ben 10 universe. It was Soul's idea to introduce it early on as a place for the Eds to hang around and discuss stuff. It was also Soul's idea to give some participation to Nestor Jr. in this chapter.
4) The prank with Ghostfreak Eddy is referring to is a call back to my first EENE/B10 crossover "OmnitrixEd", where Eddy pranks both Jimmy and Sarah that way.
5) Jimmy's PTSD on squirrels is based on the EENE episode "Cry Ed" in which he's seemingly attacked by a squirrel and a tree fells on top of him because of it.
6) According to Soul, the Crap, crap, crap, mega crap line is from Raimi's Spider-Man movie in 2002 told by J. Jonah Jameson. Also the I have a bad feeling about this is a famous quote from Star Wars (Double D is saying it like Obi Wan in episode 1).
7) According to Soul, the toy car Grey Matter made is based on Jerry's car in Tom and Jerry: The Fast and the Furry.
8) Toki wa ugoki dasu. Yep, it's a Jojo's reference, the second one in this fic if you're counting (I think).
9) Also the Alien Force name is obviously a reference to the famous Ben 10 sequel series of the same name. I was thinking of it being the name for the Eds' superhero team, let me know if you like that name or would prefer a different one.