...Nope, still haven't lightened up yet.

This chapter might feel a bit janky, so sorry in advance.

Also, I figured out the posting schedule!

It'll be twice a month, so long as I have a five-chapter buffer. Any less than that, and it'll be only once a month!

Not that it really matters, not many of you seem to be here for the long run.

If you are, or you enjoy my chaotic context-less continuity, don't forget to favorite and follow.

You don't have to, there's no pressure on that, but I would love to see if anyone is enjoying my story!

Anyway, with that said, let's return to the Eds being kidnapped :D

(Also can someone tell me why I can't properly put in paragraph spaces in these docs? This is really starting to bother me)

"Wh- Who do you think you are!? The furry mafia!?" Eddy snapped, making Double D gasp.

"Eddy!"

"What? I can call them furries, can't I?" Eddy huffed, before another click caught their attention.

"Alright, listen here you four." An owl started, taking a step towards them with a firm scowl, "You're gonna empty your pockets and hammerspaces, and then you're gonna follow us to our world, got it?"

Double D gulped, wracking his mind for ways to escape these… traffickers.

There's a good chance that their invulnerability doesn't count for gunshots.

Well, maybe it does.

They would have to ask the old-

Wait! That's it!

"S-Shouldn't it be in the opposite direction?" Double D stammered with a weak smile, "A-After all, if we were to remove everything from our pockets, w-we could easily leave some evidence behind!"

"Double D!" Eddy hissed, his mom sending him a horrified look.

But Double D didn't look back, only hoping they would take the bait.

He reached into a pocket without looking, taking a scrap of paper and writing as best he could.

The group glanced at each other, before the owl sighed.

They pulled together for a moment, seeming to consider the statement.

Oh, just take the bait, please-

"Oh, I'm so tempted to just shoot him…" She mumbled, sighing as she pulled away from the huddle, "Fine then. Start moving."

Eddy shot Double D a sharp glare, before they started moving forward.

Double D discreetly dropped a piece of paper from his hands, seeing the three identical lionesses behind him just step over it.

Hopefully someone with some common sense will find it.

Hopefully…

"Oh, this is gonna be so good!" A raccoon laughed to himself, holding out a hand for someone to hive-five, "I bet people are gonna pay big for a bunch of outverse overlanders!"

"They're called humans out here, Max." The Owl corrected, keeping her gun pointed directly at Marylin's forehead as she smirked at Max, "And of course people are gonna pay big! We're going to be the first to put outversers on the market! Remember what happened when we got into Rom after Bug took it over? We made hundreds selling anyone that creature didn't fuck up!"

The Owl chuckled to herself, shaking her head, "Maybe we'll get real lucky and Nega will be there again. Like when we sold that burnt corpse from…"

The owl squinted at nothing, quietly groaning, "Ugh, what was that bastard's zone again? Steam? Hunger? It was something really stupid…"

"Does it matter?" A beetle of some kind snapped, keeping his gun pointed to Ed's side, "After this, I want my cut and then I'm out! I'm sick and tired of waking up at 4 am for this!"

"It's not our fault the Cloudy Zone is a few hours off from Underground!" The raccoon snapped, making the beetle scowl, "We either go by my schedule, or I risk being robotized! There's no way around it!"

"No way around it my foot…" The beetle half-growled, shoving the golden door wide open.

The three lionesses behind the Eds and Marylin tapped their guns on the ground, coaxing them through a portal into a dark, green landscape.

It was clearly late, the area covered in utter darkness thanks to the cloud cover above.

It was the perfect night for nefarious deeds such as this.

Or… perhaps… a perfect night to make an escape from a bunch of psychos.

The forest just beside the golden door was calling their names, and they knew a good escape route when they saw one!

"You could, oh I don't know… MOVE THE FUCK OUT OF THAT HELLSCAPE?!" The beetle yelled, making the owl shoot at the ground before the beetle.

"Enough, Reggie." She scolded, "Max is still waiting for that 'friend' of his, remember?"

"He'll be back! He'll be back, and he'll bring back the boss too!" Max scowled at the owl and beetle, "Manic's all 'loyal' like that! I know he'll come back! I believe in him!"

"Or maybe you're just stupid for 'believing' at all." Reggie mumbled, just loud enough for the raccoon to hear.

"THAT'S IT!" The raccoon snapped, tackling Reggie to the ground and taking one of the felines with him.

"Hey!" One of the lionesses exclaimed, her and her sister's focus turned to the fight before them, "What the fuck, Max?!"

"Keep Olivia out of this!" The other growled, ready to hop into the fight herself.

"Damn it! Both of you, stop this now!" The owl scowled as she rushed forward to break the argument, leaving the four unguarded.

Eddy's eyes widened, and he shared a grin with Ed.

Oh, this was too easy!

Double D gestured to Ed, the tall boy quickly scooping his friends up and taking off into the forest.

Eddy's mother wasn't too far behind, wrapping her arms around herself as they ran.

She was half-hyperventilating now, horrified at what has come of their attempts for a vacation!

They should have known this was too convenient!

She should have known-

"Hey! Where'd they go!?" They could hear a voice exclaim, their voices echoing menacingly within the forest, "Oh god, don't tell me they went into-!"

"The Forest." The owl's voice turned ominous, "If we take one step in there, we're as good as dead."

"No! I am not giving up my ticket to riches! I'm going in there!"

Protesting voices echoed as the buzzing sound of wings began to follow after them.

Eddy let out a hiss, leaning over to Double D.

"Got any ideas, Sockhead?" He asked, a desperate edge to his voice.

Double D gulped, which Eddy took as a 'no'.

Crud.

For a few minutes, they were running with the echoes of beetle wings growing closer by the second.

It was anxiety-inducing, especially since they seemed to be slower than the beetle.

Then, they stepped out of the forest and into an open plains.

There was a slightly snowy road, alongside a bright bus station…

But no real civilization.

Crud-!

"Ah-HA!" The beetle suddenly took Eddy from his friends, grabbing him by the collar with a manic grin, "Gotcha, you little bastard!"

"Hey!" Eddy let out, punching at the beetle as best he could, "Let go of me, you jerk!

"Let go of him!" Marylin almost screamed, which made the beetle smirk.

"Nobody move," The beetle chuckled, holding the gun to Eddy's temples, "Or the brat gets it."

Marylin went pale, her eyes wide as she startled to tremble.

"Eddy!" Double D and Ed shouted out, Eddy fruitlessly reaching out to his friends.

The beetle lifted Eddy further into the air, sending the boy a horrible smirk as he prepared to pull the trigger.

"Got any last words, brat?" He taunted, making Eddy gulp.

"I got one." A different voice cut in, another gun click making the beetle whip his head around.

A bronze-skinned man stood, sunglasses covering over his eyes.

He scowled, blowing his dark hair out of his eyes as he lifted his hands…

And pointed a gun right at the beetle's back.

"Welcome to Eldritch, Reggie." He told, before pulling the trigger.

The gun fired, and the beetle let out a pained sound before his wings gave out.

The beetle's grip loosened as he fell unconscious, releasing Eddy without any warning.

The teen fell in silence, silent and still.

As if he had stopped processing anything around him.

Ed was quick to catch Eddy before he could hit the ground, he and Double D practically smothering him in an instant.

Eddy gasped as he was surrounded by his friends, before pulling them as close as he could.

Quiet whispers and mumbled reassurances surrounded the three boys, with hands gripping onto the others tight.

Marylin was silent, wide-eyed, and still trembling like a leaf.

The man watched the beetle fall, before smirking.

"[Eru owes me ¥30k.~]" He sung to himself, letting out a quiet laugh, "[I told her I'd end up shooting someone this month.]"

He then shook his head, pulling out a phone and calling someone.

"[Yo, boss. At the Prime's Forest stop. Well, close to it anyway. It's Reggie the Stag Beetle from the Cloudy Zone. Already incapacitated. Mind calling the queen while I get his victims outta here?]" He questioned, getting garbled words in response, "[Three kids and their mom. They look pretty terrified.]"

Marylin jolted back to the bushes, abruptly upending her dinner into it.

The man winced, before turning away and listening to his boss' voice.

"[You think so? I was thinking of calling Eru about it, but those apartments are pretty small. Especially for four people. And who knows where these lot are from! They might be outversers for all we know! They might not be even able to afford-]" He exclaimed, listening to his boss' response with a raised brow, "[Wh- They already added something for it? How the fuck- The doors only opened last week, didn't they!? How'd they already get the transfers set up!?]"

There was more muffled garbling, before the man sighed, "[Alright, alright. I'll call Eru and set it all up. I'll talk to you after the Winter Festival, boss.]"

Confused muttering made the man roll his eyes, "[Yeah, after the festival. You know the rules. Driver gets into a self-defense fight on the job, they get a week off work.]"

The man leaned back at a yell, before resigned grumbling.

"[Happy Winter Festival to you too, boss. Thanks. Bye.]" The man hung up the call, before approaching the older woman and raising a brow, "Hey, you done throwing up?"

Marylin slowly removed herself from the bush, her face an almost comically pale-green shade now.

It'd be funny if it wasn't so sad.

"Come on, let's get you out the cold." The man coaxed, holding a hand out to her.

He spoke with a heavy accent, English clearly not his first language, "Name's Alex. Bus driver."

Marylin gagged, barely holding back more bile as she took the hand.

"M-Marylin Mc-" She gagged again, letting out a nauseous groan instead.

Alex winced, before shaking his head as he patted the woman's back, "It'll be okay."

Marylin wrapped her arms around herself, slowly getting to her feet.

She glanced over at who Alex assumed was her sons, the two taller having curled themselves into the shorter.

They held the… younger? boy close to them, probably terrified that they might lose him if they let go.

…Always had to be siblings in situations like this, huh?

"Hey, you kids too." He called, two sets of eyes immediately glaring at him.

Oh great, they were protective too.

Chaos below, help him…

Marylin shakily gulped, slowly stumbling over to the boys before stammering out, "B-Boys… c… c-come on."

The two sets softened at their mother's voice, reluctantly releasing their brother so they could stand.

But even then, Alex could see the three boys clinging to each other.

And that the short one was zoning out.

Yep, that kid's gonna have a lot of trauma.

If Eru keeps in touch with these four after they get settled, they gotta get them to a therapist.

Alex quietly sighed, before gesturing to the bus station.

He then started towards the building, hearing four sets of footsteps crunching in the snow.

As he let the four inside, he could see two white bats and a blue hedgehog taking the unconscious beetle.

They were visibly grinning, even from a distance.

Alex scoffed, rolling his eyes at the sight.

And then he smirked.

"[¥70k. Shot someone and saw the chosen. At this rate, Eru's gonna be paying my rent for months.]"

"Reggie the Stag Beetle, huh?" Thaeif mused, seeing her daughter tie the beetle into a tree, "Well, that should be the last of the traffickers from the Cloudy Zone. Your friend Recovery will be happy to hear about that… But where's the rest of Cobalt?"

Rouge chuckled evilly, pointing to the forest, "Probably just outside like a bunch of cowards. I already sent Sonic after them, so he should be back in three, two-"

Sonic sped back to his cousin and aunt, dropping four tied-up Mobians on the ground.

Wait, four?

"Sonic…" Rouge started, before Sonic groaned.

"I had to leave that Underground Mobian alone. Request from Manic." Sonic explained for the lack of raccoon, which made Rouge huff.

"Oh, yeah. That stupid favor." She rolled her eyes and shook her head, "Manic's really just gotta visit his stupid boyfriend before he gets himself arrested."

"Manic or the raccoon?"

"Boyfriend!?" One of the lionesses exclaimed, before groaning, "Ugh! No wonder Max was always defending him!"

"It makes more sense, that's for sure." The other grumbled, trying to pull herself upright to glare at the three, "So what now!? You gonna ship us out to the Zone Cops? We already got away from the Zone Jail once!"

"With help from Scourge." Sonic pointed out, making the lioness growl, "Nah, we're not sending you back to jail."

The owl abruptly shot up, her heart pounding in her chest.

Thaeif harshly moved the owl's head around to meet hers, giving her a deceptively kind smile.

"It's been a long time, Susanna." She greeted, her blue eyes glowing bright, "You should really visit more often, dear."

The owl let out a yell, desperately trying to get away from the bat.

Thaeif grabbed her shoulder, squeezing it tight as her smile began to lose its kindness.

"You aren't going anywhere, Suse." Rouge chuckled, leaning over her mom's shoulder to grin at the owl, "You and your team are gonna have a… 'heart-to-heart' with the queen before we cart you off to the Tomoko Empire."

Susanna went pale, as did two of the lionesses, squeaking out a, "Wh-What!?"

"…What the hell's the Tomoko empire again?" The second lioness whispered to her sisters, who had both paled.

"Th-This zone's Eggman Empire, Vera!" The first told, making the second gulp.

"Oh. Great."

"Y-You're going to kill us!?" Susanna exclaimed, making Rouge and Thaeif laugh, "What's so funny!?"

"Nah, here's the thing, Suse." Sonic chuckled, circling the owl as if she were his prey, "Our Eggman's not too keen on killing anyone we've brought. They're not exactly useful if they're dead after all. The only way someone dies in his experiments is if they do it themselves, if you get my drift. Nothing like the genocides that dear ol' Robotnik pulled."

Susanna looked nauseous now, Sonic letting out a grunt and shaking his head.

*Let me at her! Let me at-*

*Only if you swear not to kill her.*

*Kill her- what's the fun in killing someone!? You don't get to torment them if they're dead!*

Rouge raised a brow at Sonic, seeing the twitch in the hedgehog's quills.

She nudged her mom, gesturing to Sonic with a raised brow.

*Fine. Go ahead, Fleet.*

He closed his eyes with a breath out, his body shifted golden.

Rouge chuckled, taking a step back and grinning to the hedgehog, "Evening, Fleets. She's all yours."

Thaeif released Susanna and stepped back as well, smirking maliciously.

Fleetway opened his eyes, his spiraled red eyes spotting Susanna.

Susanna whimpered, trying desperately to wiggle away.

"Aw, what's wrong, Susie? Don't want a taste of your own medicine?" Fleetway cooed to the owl, grabbing her jaw and pulling her close, "To feel what you've been puttin' EVERYONE you took through? Hell, it'll be BETTER than that! Eggman isn't as bad as Nega after all!"

The beetle groaned as he slowly gained consciousness, instantly becoming aware of the fear wafting through the air.

"Eggman's got a new project he's toyin' with, and a few subjects is just what he needs to REALLY start workin' on it!" Fleetway laughed, making the owl squeak in horror.

He then tossed her into the tree that the beetle was tied to, hitting him and knocking both of them back out.

The three lionesses watched in horror, eyes twitching up to the three Eldritch Mobians.

Thaeif chuckled, her smile placing fear into each of their souls.

Rouge hummed as she wrote something down in a notebook, twirling the pencil in her hand as she smirked at her cousin.

And Fleetway laughed at the three lionesses, his red-spiraled eyes wide and excited.

This was going to be fun.

"…Ugh, where are they!?" Kevin groaned, stomping over to Ed's house and preparing to pound a fist on the door…

And then hesitated.

He slowly knocked instead, getting an annoyed but musical 'Coming!'

The door opened to reveal Ms. Hill, who hummed at him.

"Kevin! What a…" Ms. Hill started, before letting out another hum, "…well, do you need anything?"

"Is Ed home?"

"Oh, no. He's over at his friend's house!" Ms. Hill pointed to Eddy's place, getting out a strained chuckle, "My son hasn't gotten into any… mischief… has he?"

Nope, nope, nope, abort-!

"Nope!" Kevin spoke quickly, his voice cracking from mild stress, "H-He and the dor- his friends have been pretty tame! No mischief!"

"Oh, good! Hopefully that means this 'scamming' business has finally come to an end!" Ms. Hill laughed to herself, before a ringing sound caught her attention, "Oh! Sorry, Kevin! I need to go finish dinner! Have a nice evening! Tell your father I said hello!"

"Will-" Kevin started, the door being slammed in his face as Ms. Hill rushed back inside, "…do."

He cringed to himself, starting towards Eddy's house.

"Man, I can't imagine havin' a mom like that." He mumbled to himself, "No wonder Sarah and dork-o-brow are always at someone else's place."

He stopped at Eddy's door, preparing to knock-

"Whatcha doin' Kev?" Johnny suddenly asked, making Kevin yelp in surprise.

"Johnny," Kevin seethed, turning to the younger boy with a scowl, "What did I say about startlin' me?"

Johnny was unfazed by the unstated threat, glancing at Plank with a raised brow.

"Hey Kevin, Plank says: 'The Eds aren't here!'" Johnny told, holding up the silent piece of wood, "And that they ran away!"

"Ran away!?" Kevin snapped, grabbing Johnny's shirt and holding up a fist, "Johnny, I swear-!"

"Plank says he saw them and Eddy's mom leaving with bags!" Johnny shoved Plank between him and Kevin, wincing back from the threat of being punched, "All I know is that Eddy's mom's car isn't here, and that the phone inside's been ringing for almost an hour!"

Kevin huffed, dropping Johnny as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Alright, Plank." Kevin poked at the wooden board, "Tell Johnny what you saw."

Johnny held Plank up to his ear, listening carefully to his friend.

"Plank says…" Johnny started, before gasping, "That's a terrible idea, buddy! What if somebody sees him!?"

Johnny was silent for a moment, staring at Plank, before groaning.

"Plank says: 'Get Mandy and start lookin' all over the Center'! He thinks they were jumping worlds to try and get away, since we got them banned from the bus stop!" Johnny told, making Kevin blink at the latter portion.

"Wait, you got them banned from-" Kevin started to ask, before shaking his head, "Ugh. Fine."

Kevin then shoved his face into Johnny's, making the boy mumbled nervously.

"But if the Eds aren't there and I get into trouble, I'm blaming it all on you and Plank." Kevin jabbed a finger into the wooden board, making Johnny gulp, "And you know what happens when Mandy gets angry."

Ed Edd n Eddy belong to...

...okay, you know what, we all know this already. I'm not gonna bother.

So.

Trauma.

...Yeah the Eds are ooc if you couldn't tell.

They had some off-screen character development and got a little attached to each other.

Therefore, they cling.

Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed and I'll see ya'll in two weeks!