HT: Chapter 2
It was now morning here in the seaside town of Sunflower Shoal, where we could see a small fairground next to a beach by the Atlantic Ocean called Mondo-A-Go-Go. It is here where we could see three teen boys, the three Eds as they were called, who were all running around the area, desperately trying to find the person they were looking for.
It had only been a day since they ran away from their neighborhood after a scam had gone wrong. The other kids of the neighborhood that they hurt by accident were out for blood for what happened… The three Eds genuinely hoped that they would be saved once they found Eddy's older brother, who potentially lived here as an employee for the fairground.
Double D was currently searching around the area of the concession stands. He noticed how silent the park was due to what time they had arrived there. He looked across from where he was only to see Eddy shouting aloud to get his older brother's attention from wherever he was.
Double began to make a small smile to Eddy, thinking about the journey they had to make here along with the small talk all three of them had last night. Double D had woken up from a nightmare, causing him to yell in fright and break out in a cold sweat. Of course, this woke Ed and Eddy up due to their current circumstances; they thought he was being attacked by the other kids. It was then that Double D explained the nightmare he had, along with finally talking about something that had happened to him in the past. It was about an incident in P.E. class that had hurt him very badly, leaving the other kids to laugh and taunt him while he was hurt… The dodgeball incident left behind a scar on his forehead that would never fully heal. Double D always wore his trademark black beanie to hide his scar; only Ed and Eddy had ever seen the scar, but he never told them how he had gotten it in detail until last night.
When Double D finished his story, Eddy seemed very upset at the fact that he kept this trauma to himself, telling him he should have told them much sooner. Judging by Eddy's anger and upset tone, Double D could tell that Eddy was also hiding some sort of secret, but he knew he would be too stubborn to talk about whatever it was. He began to wonder what that secret would even be but decided not to try and question it.
A stray thought then crossed Double D's mind and heart when he fell back asleep last night, it was something that he felt a few times in the past but would always brush aside… A thought Double D considered 'impossible and illogical' for him to have; for both him and Eddy.
Either way, Double D was very hopeful that their problems would finally go away once they arrived here to find Eddy's brother. But as they kept searching around the fairground, Double D began to feel anxious about something; he could already sense something awful was going to happen, but he did not know what it could be…
"Hey, Sockhead!"
Double D perked up to see Eddy standing next to him with a peeved look on his face, "Stop spacing out and help me find my bro!" Eddy stated loudly before rushing off.
Double D stared at Eddy as he ran ahead, making a small sigh to himself, 'Still impatient as always.'
Double D jogged over to a part of the fairground where there were a lot of mobile trailer homes, presumably for some of the employees who worked and lived there. He soon saw both Ed and Eddy up ahead, with Ed looking at something ahead of him and Eddy about to yell at him for stopping, "Hey, what're you even—?!"
"WHALE!" Ed suddenly shouted as he pointed to a trailer close by. The house was shaped just like a cartoon whale, presumably made to be like that due to being on the fairground.
"A whale?" Double D questioned before turning to Eddy, "Eddy, didn't you say your brother was once a whaler?"
Obviously, Double D did not believe most of Eddy's claims due to how ridiculous most of them sounded. He always had a feeling Eddy said these random feats to try and make a positive impression on everyone in the Cul-De-Sac on both him and his brother. Double D never once called him out on it or asked any further questions; concluding to himself that this was just how Eddy was about most things. Besides, it was possible that most of the things he claims about his brother could still be true… right?
Eddy widened his eyes at the whale-shaped trailer, "That's his place!" Eddy cheered as he made a big smile, "That's gotta be his house!"
"Oh boy, oh boy!" Ed cheered as he hopped up and down with excitement.
The three Eds began to run over to the house in front of them. As Eddy was about to knock on the front door of the house, all three of them felt a hand on their shoulders. They were forced to turn around, only to see something that they did not want to see. Standing behind them were Kevin and Rolf, both glaring angrily at the three; Nazz could be seen in the background along with Sarah, Jimmy, and Jonny 2x4 with Plank; they were both dressed as their superhero alter egos they made ages ago. Kevin had both Eddy and Double D in his grasp while Rolf had Ed pinned from where he was standing.
"We finally caught up to you!" Kevin started to say with a growl gripping onto Eddy's wrists even harder as he pushed Double D aside to the ground, only focusing on Eddy, "I think it's about time you Dorks get your punishment!"
"N-No! Wait a min—" Eddy started to say before Kevin forcefully slammed his back up against the whale-shaped trailer next to them.
Double D widened his eyes in fright when he noticed Kevin was going to punch Eddy. He turned to the front door of the trailer, quickly getting up from where he fell and rushing over to it to knock on the front door in a panic, "E-Eddy's brother? Sir?!" Double D called out as he continued to knock on the door, "Do you live here? Please, w-we need your help!"
Everyone there froze in place when Double D mentioned Eddy's brother.
"Eddy's b-bro? Seriously?!" Kevin stuttered in disbelief, quickly letting Eddy out of his grasp and backing away along with Rolf.
Eddy looked at Double D in shock; he never expected him to take the initiative to call out to his brother for help, 'Oh no, I really hope Evan isn't—'
The door of the trailer began to open slowly, the person inside had the door locked with a chain from the inside, "… The park doesn't open till noon, kids," stated a male voice from behind the door, they still could not see his face.
Eddy regained his composure from what happened earlier, "Bro? I-It's me! Eddy!" Eddy greeted him with a big smile; masking away how scared he was currently feeling.
"… Pipsqueak?" questioned the man, "Why'd you come here? Do Mom and Dad know?"
That statement sounded a bit off to Double D. The tone Eddy's brother had when he asked that question almost seemed bitter. It was sort of hard to describe.
"Nope, just my two best friends and these other chumps!" Eddy replied as he gestured to the kids behind them, "They've been trying to beat us up over nothing! Do you think you can help us out, Evan?"
The man was silent before closing the door for a second to unlock it. The door finally opened to reveal Eddy's brother and how tall he was compared to everyone else. You could tell they were related due to having the same hair and eye color; both being the same shade of dark blue.
"… Trying to beat you up?" Evan asked before looking down at his brother, extending out his right arm to push Eddy's shoulder in a teasing manner, "Heh, still gettin' into trouble back home, aren't you?"
It was then that Evan did something unexpected. He extended his hand to Eddy again, this time grabbing him by the back of his shirt collar, "Say, you wanna play a game?" He began to ask as he turned Eddy around to face him, "You know, for old times sakes?"
Eddy's body froze in fright at his words before he began to try and squirm himself out of Evan's grasp, "N-No, Evan! Please don't—!"
Eddy's words were cut short; Evan began to violently toss him around, almost like a rag doll. Everyone looked on in horror as they watched the scene in front of them unfold, with Eddy's screams being heard as he tried to tell his brother to stop. The final slam that Evan made to Eddy's body sent him straight to the ground in front of him, finally letting him out of his grip for a short moment. They could see Eddy struggling to try and stand back up; he was in immense pain, both physically and emotionally.
Double D could not believe what he was witnessing, 'Why…? Why is he hurting him like this?! I don't understand!'
"Evan… S-Stop…" Eddy muttered in pain.
"Huh? You want me to stop?" Evan asked as he grabbed Eddy once more by his right arm, "I thought you said you wanted help from your hero, Pipsqueak!" A smirk began to form on his face, side-eyeing Eddy's friends as he did, "Or would you rather we try a new game for a change?"
Eddy recoiled at that statement before making a low, angry growl to his older brother, trying to act tough to him, "If you do anything to hurt my friends, I swear I'll…"
Evan began to laugh at Eddy's threat before grabbing him by his throat, lifting him higher into the air, "You'll what now? Do you wanna repeat what you said to me?!"
"S-Stop this madness! PLEASE!"
Both Evan and Eddy widened their eyes at the voice. Double D rushed over to the brothers, glaring at the older man with his bright green eyes in anger, "Mr. Eddy brother! Why on Earth would you do this to your brother? Do you not see that he's hurt?!" Double D shouted to Evan, "We've been trying to find you all day yesterday and this morning, only for you to treat him like this! Have you no shame?!"
'D-Dee…' Eddy thought with disbelief before realizing what might happen next; whenever anyone tried to stand up to his brother, he would always lash out, no matter who it was, 'I gotta protect him from Evan! E-Even if I…'
Evan furrowed his dark blue eyes at the kid who approached him, "Not really. But why the hell should you care?" Evan began to ask as he lowered Eddy back to his feet, despite keeping him in his grasp by gripping his right arm once more, "I don't think a girl like you could stop me from playing with my little bro."
Double D was stunned for a moment by what he said before narrowing his eyes in anger once more, hiding the fact that was beginning to feel uncomfortable, "I-I don't know why you called me a girl, b-but I am a boy."
"… Is that right? You're not his girlfriend?!" Evan replied before making a sneer, "Ha! You really had me fooled there for a moment."
Evan finally tossed Eddy aside, throwing him in the direction of everyone else further away. Eddy screamed before landing face-first in the dirt and grass.
"EDDY!" Double D gasped when he saw Evan toss his friend aside. Before he could run over to him, he could feel Evan grab his beanie to prevent him from running away! Double D yelped as he quickly gripped onto the brim of his beanie when he was lifted into the air by Evan, "L-Let me go, please!" Double D pleaded to the man who now held him captive, struggling to try and break himself free.
Evan laughed at the boy's feeble attempts to free himself, "Why would I let you go when I still have a game to play with Pipsqueak here?"
Eddy slowly began to get back up from where he was tossed, glaring at his older brother. Double D could easily escape from Evan if he let go of the brim of his beanie, but then everyone would see the scar that he was always hiding. Everyone else there was terrified to try and help Double D, even Ed was frozen in fear…
Evan noticed Eddy and the glare he was making; the look in his eyes was something he would see often when someone they loved was in danger. A determination to save them. Another smile slowly crept onto his face at an idea he had.
"Well? What do you say?" Evan began to ask Eddy as he held out Double D to him, almost like a taunt, "If you and these other kids can find me again in this area before the sun sets, you can have your girlfriend back! She'll be safe, you have my word on that!"
Double D stopped trying to set himself free when he heard what Evan said, 'Huh…? W-Why does he keep calling me a girl…?!' he thought in both confusion and disbelief.
"I'm NOT gonna play your dumb games anymore!" Eddy roared to Evan as he began to run toward him and his friend, "PUT DOUBLE D DOWN! Y-YOU—"
Evan swatted Eddy away with his other arm, making him fall back to the ground once more. That was when Evan began to dash away with Double D toward his car, which was parked nearby.
"Eddy! H-Help me! PLEASE!" Double D cried out as he continued to try and set himself free but was still unable to.
"DOUBLE D!" Everyone else shouted out as they all tried to run toward Evan's car, finally deciding to help after being frozen in fear this whole time.
But it was too late, Evan had reached his car. He threw Double D inside before sitting down in the driver's seat, getting out his keys, and driving away from the group of teens. The whole group could only stand there in shock and disbelief at what happened.
Ed began to panic before turning back to Eddy, who was still on the ground where Evan swatted him aside. It looked like he was slowly getting back up again, "Eddy!" he cried as he ran over to his side.
Eddy was silent as he finally got back on his feet; both his face and arms were covered with bruises and his clothes were ripped slightly with many dirt marks on them due to Evan. He had his eyes closed in pain before he began to grit his teeth in anger.
"… E-Eddy?"
Without saying a word, Eddy grabbed Ed by his right jacket sleeve as he began to run off in the direction that Evan's car had driven off towards, surprising everyone with how he still had any energy left. The others tried to run after him and Ed, but Eddy had gotten a head start compared to them. They eventually lost sight of both two Eds and Evan's car.
Author's Note (July 4th, 2024): Oh hey, a chapter back-to-back! That's it, that's all I got for now.
