I'm back!
...With barely any progress on the draft.
Well, at least I got some time off.
Happy Halloween to anyone reading on the 31st, and happy whatever else to those reading later on!
I've realized the upcoming 'holiday' chapters are not going to be synced with Christmas!
Whoops!
Anyway, this chapter MIGHT be a little rough?
I dunno, my confidence is in hell and that's probably affecting how I'm viewing my story.
Anyway, enjoy this light-hearted multi-parter!
Double D blearily blinked awake, his mind whispering for him to just go back to sleep.
But he knew better than to give in to those wishes.
Even if it was surprisingly comfortable, sleeping practically on his friends on the futon mattress.
It was surely an odd thought, but he gave it no mind as he began to wake up.
Double D yawned and stretched out a free arm, stretching the fabric of his white and green-striped pajamas.
He still didn't know how or why Ed conveniently had a set of pajamas from each of their ensembles, but he certainly wasn't going to complain!
Not having to sleep in his clothes was a godsend, it truly was.
Double D hummed to himself, slowly removing himself from the tangled limbs around him.
Ed's arm, Eddy's left half, Ed's arm again, oh, Eddy's clinging to him again, why-
Double D grinned in victory as he stood, walking towards their shared closet and opening the top right cabinet.
As odd as a separated closet was at first glance, it really came in handy with separating their belongings and clothes from each other.
Meant that Ed and Eddy could organize as they deem fit, even if he despised their… chaotic systems.
The three sets of clothes were folded up neatly on the bottom of his closet, each holding a label for how many times he'll be forced to wear each set.
The very idea of wearing clothes more than once made his skin crawl, but they all needed to make sacrifices!
Double D hummed however, unsure if his truly cold-weather set was necessary today.
He'd bought it in case the temperature in the city dropped significantly, and although it's only been two days, it doesn't seem like-
"Guys, it's snowing!" Ed gasped from out of nowhere, making Double D yelp in surprise.
The big teen had very abruptly elbowed Eddy in the stomach as he shot up, leaving him writhing on the futon as Ed stared out the window.
Double D's gaze lingered on Eddy for a moment, before walking to their window and seeing…
"…There was no snow on the ground last night!" Double D exclaimed, seeing that the park behind them was covered in snow, "How on earth did this much snow fall in the matter of…"
Double D paused to take out a watch, blinking as he realized he'd never changed it to this world's time.
"H-How did so much fall just overnight?!" He exclaimed instead, making a mental note to fix his watch at some point.
Eddy managed to get up with a groan, stumbling over to the window and huffing.
"Clearly, the writer wants us to have a 'snow day episode'." He grumbled, still feeling winded from the elbow in his gut.
Double D hummed, tapping the windowsill with a thoughtful look, "We never truly had a 'snow day' sort of episode in the show, did we?"
"Creators only got to the snow in the end, and that was for… what? One episode?" Eddy complained, crossing his arms in annoyance, "One lousy episode of winter, and then we got canned."
"Eddy, our show had one of the greatest endings in that particular era of animation history-!" Double D exclaimed, before pinching the bridge of his nose, "No. I'm not going to argue with you over this…"
Eddy watched as Double D moved back to his closet, taking out the cold-weather set.
Ed was still staring out the window with a giant smile, feet stomping slightly on the ground in excitement.
"You know, Ed. The faster you get ready, the faster we can go out into the snow and-" Double D started, making Ed perk up and rush towards his closet.
Which, unfortunately for Double D, meant the boy had to move.
Ed shoved Double D into his closet, before leaning down and crawling into his closet and closing the sliding door.
His closet was below Eddy's, one of two smaller ones on the ground.
Ed had been a fan on the lower closet, stating that it apparently reminded him of his bedroom back home.
And since Eddy and Double D were more likely to need the larger closets anyhow, they let their friend take the lower closet.
Double D groaned as he stumbled out of his closet, Eddy letting out snickers.
Eddy stepped away from the window, walking over to his own closet and opening it.
"I'm not saying a 'snow day' isn't a bad thing." Eddy told, taking out a shirt and his old pants from the closet, "Just that this is pretty sudden. All the snow and that sorta thing."
He closed the closet door and started pulling his pajama shirt over his head.
"It makes sense in our world," Eddy grunted as his head popped out of the pajama shirt, taking a yellow shirt with an odd logo and throwing it over his head, "But does it really snow that fast in this one?"
Double D hummed, leaning slightly on the closet as he pulled a leg through the purple pants, "Universes with real-life cartoons tend to have qualities much like ours, Eddy."
"Yeah, but I'm pretty sure only one of this place's shows had a snow episode." Eddy rolled his eyes as he threw his pajama shirt onto the futon, "That… 'adventures' show, I think?"
"Don't make unverified claims, Eddy." Double D scolded, making Eddy scoff, "Besides, does it really matter if a universe's real-life cartoon had an episode with snow or not? By that same logic, our universe doesn't have the season of spring!"
"Alright, alright. I get it." Eddy grumbled, before shoving his friend aside, "Move it, Sockhead. I gotta get to my shoes."
Double D stumbled slightly, before sighing as he brushed off his clothes and adjusted his coat.
Eddy took out his red shoes, throwing Double D's blue ones at him.
"Thank you, Eddy." Double D nodded with a thankful smile, Eddy only rolling his eyes.
He stepped over Ed, who was trying to put on his pants while lying on the ground half-in the closet, and moved out of their shared bedroom.
So sharing a bedroom wasn't as agonizing as he thought, big whoop.
Sockhead was fine, so long as he got to label a few things so he didn't feel 'disorganized'.
Ed wasn't bad, so long as he kept his mess in his closet.
Eddy yawned as he reached into the cupboard and took out some cereal.
"Morning, sweetheart." His mom yawned too, still wearing her nightgown as she grabbed bowls, "Mind if I take some cereal?"
"Whatever." He grumbled, yawning again as he grabbed milk from the fridge as his mom poured some cereal.
Eddy snorted, wishing his friends were out here with him so they could talk about that stupid 'milk-cereal' argument.
But unfortunately, that fourth-wall break will have to wait for another day.
They've probably done enough of that for one chapter anyway.
"What's the plan for the day, Eddy?" Marylin asked her son, who took his bowl of cereal and began to pour some milk.
"I think Ed and Double D want to go play in the snow." Eddy shrugged, "And we got a whole park behind us to play in."
"Not a bad idea." Marylin chuckled, taking her dry bowl and moving back towards her bedroom, "I'm going to go eat and get dressed. After that, I'll be at the corner store if you boys need me."
"Gotcha, mom." Eddy gave his mom a thumbs up, before sitting onto the couch and grabbing the tv remote.
The tv was a smaller sort of flat screen, something that would be worth a lot back home, but had a small crack along the plastic-ish frame.
He turned the tv on, seeing a red panda reporter yammering about something or other.
Eddy quickly started switching through channels, trying to find something he'd like.
Cooking show, holiday movie, cooking show, morning news, news, some weird sport, more cooking, more holiday stuff, a weird kids movie…
…most of these channels aren't in English.
"…But personally, I'm just hoping that mother and father aren't too worried." Double D told Ed as they walked out of the bedroom, "Depending on how Jimmy Neutron is going about trying to find us, he may have forced Kevin to tell our parents what happened."
"I hope not!" Eddy exclaimed from the couch, "If my dad finds out about this, he'll flip out!"
"If your father finds out about this and attempts to blame your mother, I have a feeling my parents will sue him into poverty." Double D chuckled evilly, "I've told them stories about your father, and the information that I previously deemed 'exaggerated' have worked very well in convincing my parents about your 'worth' and how he's stifled it."
Eddy quietly grumbled, taking a bite of his cereal.
Double D grabbed a cherimoya from the fridge, before settling down beside Eddy.
"What about me, Double D?" Ed called, taking a bowl of cereal from the table and joining his friends on the couch.
"Mother is convinced, father is not." Double D sighed, slicing the fruit open with a dull knife and balancing the other half of the fruit on his legs, "Last Christmas, I had shown her some of your drawings. She was very impressed!"
"Really?!" Ed exclaimed in excitement, before blinking at his lack of spoon.
He shrugged, instead taking a straw from nowhere and slipping his cereal.
Double D shuddered at the sound, before nodding.
"Mother particularly liked your concept art." Double D explained, taking his spoon and cutting into the inside of the soft fruit, "But, as usual, mother still has her complaints."
"The comic books, right?" Eddy huffed, rolling his eyes, "Man, your mom can be a ƥᶉỉ- jerk sometimes."
"I wouldn't go that far, Eddy." Double D sighed, picking a seed out before humming, "She has started to come around though."
"Sockhead, she's only getting better because of what happened last spring." Eddy pointed out, making Double D wince, "Remember?"
"I'd rather not." Double D stated in a firm voice, an unsaid warning floating in the air, "Well, at least Ed isn't sleep-eating anymore."
"Because half the time he's eating at my house." Eddy grumbled, placing his empty bowl onto the floor and leaning back, "I still think Ed's mom is starving him on purpose."
"Aw, Eddy. You know my mom doesn't mean to be mean." Ed stopped in his cereal-sipping to sigh, "She just-"
"Always takes Sarah side, even when it's obvious she's in the wrong?" Eddy interrupted, making Double D shoot him a glare, "What?! I'm right!"
Ed looked a bit annoyed too, speaking with another unstated warning, "Don't be mean, Eddy."
"Just because you think you're in the right, does not mean you have to say it." Double D huffed, before blinking at the abandoned bowl, "…Eddy, you aren't planning on just leaving your cereal bowl on the floor, are you?"
"I'm just waitin' until the end of this show!"
"Eddy…"
"Alright, alright. Sheesh…"
Eddy pulled his purple coat over his shoulder, unable to help the edges of his mouth twitching up.
He really liked this coat.
It was comfortable, it fit him with some wiggle room, it got pockets outside and inside…
Eddy grinned as he stepped back, looking at himself in the mirror.
He pulled out finger guns, pointing to his reflection with a smirk.
"Looking good!" He exclaimed to himself.
Still looked like a new man, and he was loving it!
"Eddy? Are you ready to go?" Double D knocked on the bathroom door, Eddy rolling his eyes as he opened the door.
"I though me and Ed were the impatient ones." Eddy insulted in good-nature, making Double D roll his eyes too.
"Har-har, Eddy." Double D couldn't help the small smile on his face, "Come on, before Ed decides to leave without us."
"Leave where? We could probably see Ed from our bedroom window."
Ed waved to his friends as they approached, happy that they were on their way out to the snow.
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"Oh! Hey!" Monica waved at the three boys at the bottom of the stairs, the deer mobian having switched out her cyan sweater for a cyan coat with a faux-fur hood, "How's it going?"
Ji grinned as she waved too, looking… a bit too extravagant for a wintery day such as this.
She was wearing a long pink coat with more faux-fur on the edges, wearing white heeled boots.
There was also an almost excessive amount of make-up on her face, her lashes looking larger than usual.
"Good morning, Monica! Good morning, Ji!" Double D greeted, Ed and Eddy audibly greeting the two as well, "My friends and I are going to the park for some wintertime merriment!"
"Aw, shit! Really?" Ji gasped, before groaning, "Damn it! Why did I have to have a shoot today!?"
"A what?" Eddy squinted at the mobian, making her laugh.
"That's right, I told your mom, but not you!" Ji exclaimed, before grinning at the trio, "I'm a model! It's the only job I could take with Moni getting pulled every-which-way for her job!"
"A model!?" Eddy's face twisted, making Ji laugh even harder.
"Shit! Don't make me laugh too hard, I'll mess up my make-up!" Ji waved a hand, before sighing to her wife, "I guess you'll have to call your brother and tell him you'll have some tag-alongs!"
Monica gently shoved her wife, before shaking her head.
"Oh Ji-Ji…" She sighed, before chuckling at the three boys, "My brother invited me out to go sledding with his family, and-"
"YES!" Eddy shoved his face into Monica, making the mobian stumble back and her wife to roar from laughter.
"Eddy! Mind your manners!" Double D scolded, pulling his friend back to him and looking to Monica with a slightly hopeful expression, "So long as your brother is alright with it, we'd be happy to join you on-"
"I wanna sled!" Ed interrupted his friends, "We haven't gone sledding in so long, guys!"
Eddy snorted, despite the weird aching in his chest, "That's because we've been too busy to sled."
"Too busy?" Ji's face twisted at the excuse, "You're all… what? 12?"
"Hey-!" Eddy started to protest, before Double D cut him off with a sigh.
"Monica, ma'am, the three of us are 14-." Double D explained, before being shoved aside by Eddy.
"But I'm gonna be 15 in just a few months!" Eddy gestured to himself with a smirk, making the two mobian ladies glance at each other in shock.
"You three are 14?!" Monica exclaimed.
"You're the oldest?!" Ji exclaimed too, making Eddy scowl.
"Hey, just because I'm the shortest, doesn't mean I'm the youngest!" He snapped, making Monica shake her head with an amused sigh.
She held a hand out between the two, sending her wife a look, "Shouldn't you be heading out, darling?"
Ji blinked, before sighing dramatically as she leaned on her wife with a hand over her forehead, "Oh, if only someone could give me a reason to-"
"Ji-Ji, you've already used that trick once this month." Monica huffed at her wife, sending her a glare in good nature, "Just go deal with the shoot and meet me at Snow Ruins, alright?"
Ji sighed again, her dramatics leaving in an instant.
"Fine. I'll go see if Jun's here yet."
Monica mumbled over the phone to her brother, Ed vibrating in excitement as they waited for the approval.
"…So, maybe it wouldn't hurt to stay an extra week or three-"
"Or three?!" Double D scoffed at Eddy, "If we stay too long, we'll miss the entire first month of school! The most vital days of the school year, may I add!"
Eddy rolled his eyes, crossing his arms as he mumbled, "Like that's an issue…"
"Also known as the 'easiest' days of the school year?" Double D tried again, getting only a yawn.
Ji whistled as a floating car slowed at the sidewalk before the apartment, making Monica and the Eds glance over.
The window in the front rolled down, and a blue head of hair popped out of the car.
She looked similar to Teruya, but her eyes were cyan instead of orange-gold and her hair was cut into a short bob.
"Oh! Hey there, Koan!" Ji grinned at the overlander, "Jun dropping you off to see Eru?"
"Nope!" Koan chuckled, hopping out of the car and giving Ji a big hug, "I'm here to see everyone today! We got approval to head back to Art for the holidays, so I'm here to say goodbye to everyone until the new year!"
"Oh, that's great to hear!" Monica smiled at Koan, having muted her brother for the moment, "That you get to see your family back home, I mean! I am kinda disappointed you're leaving now! Ji-Ji and I just got home!"
"I know, but I can't pass up a free ticket to visit my grandparents!" Koan giggled, "Is Eru awake yet?"
"Considering Ed almost crashed into her and her art supplies in the hallway, I'd say she's been up for a while." Eddy cut in with a huff, making Koan blink.
With a sigh and an amused eyeroll Monica unmuted the phone, resuming her chat with her brother.
Ji let out a loud laugh, while Double D facepalmed.
"Why me?" He mumbled, before stepping forward with an outstretched hand, "My name is Eddward Vincent, ma'am! These here are my friends Edward Hill, and Eddy Mc-"
"Ed, Edd or Double D, and Eddy." Eddy shortened the introduction, making Double D squawk in horror.
Koan giggled again, amused at the three boys before her, "My name is Koan Teruya! I'm Eru's cousin-from-another-zone!"
"Cousin from…" Double D mumbled in mild confusion, making Koan chuckle.
"My mom and Eru's mom are part of the same family, just different timelines." Koan explained, a grin on her face as she laughed, "So when Eru's mom met my mom, my mom decided me, my sisters, and Eru were all cousins!"
Ji ruffled each of the Eds' heads, sending them a two-finger salute and a wink before hopping into Jun's car.
"Hey, Koa!" Jun called from the car, making Koan blink up, "Want anything from the store?"
"Cheap art supplies! Last I checked, my aunt was trying to make a masterpiece out of cheap paints!" Koan told her boyfriend, before waving, "Have a good day at work, Jun-Jun!"
The car took off, and Monica waved to her wife as she moved out of sight.
She then perked up, grinning at her phone, "Really?! I'll have to ask Koa and Eru about it, but I'm sure they'd love to play with Sebby and Reggie!"
Koan blinked at Monica, before gasping.
"Wait! Moni, is that your brother!?" Koan exclaimed, rushing over to Monica and grinning at the phone, "Hi Morris!"
Monica laughed at Koan's enthusiasm, handing the phone over with rolled eyes and moving over to the Eds.
"Good news, boys!" She started, making Ed perk up, "Morris gave me the a-ok to take you with us to Snow Ruins! We're even gonna grab an extra sled, since I realized you boys wouldn't have one yourselves."
"Oh, you don't need to do that!" Double D exclaimed, much to Eddy's annoyance, but Monica chuckled.
"The only one who can stop us now is Ceci, and she's at home sick so…" Monica sighed, shaking her head, "Turns out my brother was actually hoping I'd bring one of my neighbors to help reign his kids in. Sam's entering a 'moody' stage, and of course this is happening while Sebby and Reggie are starting to become really energetic! That, combined with winter vacation, is driving Morris and Ceci nuts!"
Monica laughed to herself, before sobering up and clearing her throat.
"But still, so long as you help keep an eye on Sebby and Reggie, my brother is more than happy to let you boys join us!" Monica told, before turning her attention back to Koan…
Who looked awfully sad now.
"Uh-oh." Monica mumbled, walking back over to Koan and taking the phone from her.
"Great." Eddy grumbled, "And I thought we'd gotten out of babysitting by coming here."
"Eddy, I doubt Monica's nieces or nephews will be as bad as… others." Double D skirted over the obvious name, making Ed scoff.
"Guys, just say it's Jimmy." Ed told his friends, who blinked at each other, "He can be really, really bad sometimes. Badder than Kevin even!"
Eddy pulled Double D's collar down, whispering, "Well, he ain't wrong. I mean, you remember 'If it smells like an Ed'-"
But Double D cut him off with a sigh and a shake of the head.
"Enough with the fourth-wall breaks, Eddy. We're reaching Looney Tunes levels of fourth-wall breaking, and I'd rather keep within our own minimal standards, thank you very much." Double D quietly scolded his friend, who grumbled in annoyance, "Besides, that's an episode that we wouldn't have experienced yet, remember?"
"The readers don't know that, and I don't think the writer's figured it out yet either." Eddy pointed out, before speaking louder to the two mildly distressed ladies, "So, is that blue-haired chick joining us or what?"
Monica sighed sadly, patting Koan's shoulder.
"Hey, don't feel too bad, Koa." Monica told her friend, who smiled weakly, "You just have fun on your trip, okay? And don't hesitate to call us if you wanna talk. You know, Ovle phones have multi-zone calling now…"
Koan let out a sigh too, before perking herself up and starting towards the doors.
"I'll see you after New Years, Moni! It was nice to meet you boys!" Koan waved as she stepped inside, Monica chuckling as she ended the call with her brother.
"It'll be around 20 minutes until we head off, so make sure you're ready by then!" She called to the boys, before starting down the street.
Ed waved back, before blinking twice.
And then he turned to his friends with a confused look.
"I think Friendship Day did happen, Eddy! It's just in the wrong season in the episode list!" He told his friends, who both sighed.
"Just drop it, Ed." Eddy muttered, while Double D ran a hand down his face.
"Enough with the fourth wall breaks, please!" Double D plead, before attempting to change the topic again, "Let's… just go tell your mother about the change in plans and get ourselves ready for the trip."
"Works for me." Eddy grumbled, starting to the corner store his mom was working on.
Double D followed after, careful to step over an icy patch on the sidewalk.
He would have taken out an icy surface sign over the patch, but he unfortunately left the signs at home with his usual winter apparel.
Ed blinked twice, before asking, "What season are we in again?"
"Our ending to this chapter, if you would please, miss writer…" Double D sighed into a hand, before getting bowled over as Ed slipped down the sidewalk.
Eddy rolled his eyes, nudging Double D with his foot as the hatted boy got to his feet.
"And make it snappy, would ya?" Eddy grumbled.
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"…Oh good lord." Double D mumbled to himself, seeing that the chapter hadn't quite ended yet, "The chapter isn't over yet, gentlemen! I-I believe this chapter may be a long one!"
"What!? Again!? Didn't she learn her lesson the last time?!" Eddy exclaimed, before groaning to himself, "Okay, new rule. Until the chapter ends, nobody is allowed to break any walls! Got it!?"
"Aye-aye, Eddy!" Ed saluted, while Double D nodded in agreement.
Monica blinked at the three boys' odd conversation, before rolling her eyes.
"Ignoring that." She huffed to herself, before catching sight of her brother's van, "Oh! That's Morris!"
She leaned out into the road and waved, getting two honks in return as the van parked next to the sidewalk.
The passenger window was rolled down, and Monica rushed over to grin at her brother.
"Morris! How's my favorite big brother doing?" Monica laughed, hearing her nephews call out greetings, "Oh, and how can I forget my favorite little nephews!?"
Eddy rolled his eyes, ignoring the odd ache in his heart.
He heard Double D quietly cough to himself, looking a bit bothered himself.
…Must be weird, seeing an aunt who actually cares about her nephew.
"So, are these three the new neighbors you were talking about?" Morris spoke up, making Eddy jolt back to attention as Monica moved into the car.
"Hop on in, boys!" Monica waved to them, "There should be space for you three in the back!"
Ed opened up the van, grinned as he moved to the back.
Double D and Eddy blinked, seeing that the inside of the van was a bit larger than they expected.
Reminded them of a particular dimension-travelling box, but they agreed not to make any more fourth-wall breaks.
Wait, would that count as a fourth-wall break or as a reference?
Regardless, there were three seats in the front, middle, and back, with the front and middle seats taken by deer-antelope hybrid mobians.
The oldest of the four children, an orange deer with short, curly blue hair, fairly large antlers, and a gothic-sort of outfit, sent them harsh glares as they passed.
"What's goth-deer's deal?" He muttered to Double D, ignorant of how said deer let out a quiet growl.
Double D hushed his friend, the seat being slid back into place and the orange deer tried to move his blue brothers back into place.
The light-blue mobians seemed to be antelope of some kind, although Double D was unsure due to the young age and lack of antlers.
One was wearing a purple snowsuit, his wildly curly blonde hair pulled back with a snowflake-patterned hat.
The other, who was giving his older brother a lot more trouble, had a green snowsuit and somehow wilder uncovered blonde hair than his twin.
Both had white and brown markings on their faces, and their oddly bright eyes were blue on one side and brown on the other.
"Can't catch me!" The rambunctious twin teased, making his older brother growl, "Can't catch me!"
The little antelope was hopping around the middle seat, just fast enough to avoid his older brother.
"I swear to Chaos, Sebastion…" The deer growled, looking ready to snap at his little brother.
Double D hummed, before looking to Ed.
Ed blinked in return, before saluting.
With one fell swoop, Ed managed to pull the rowdy child back, allowing the orange deer to situate his brother in his car seat.
"Thank you." He sighed in exhaustion, leaning back into his own seat and buckling up, "Seb's really starting to get on my nerves…"
"Don't worry, Sam!" Monica chirped to her oldest nephew, who huffed, "Once we're at Snow Ruins, the twins will tire themselves out!"
"Chaos below, I hope so." Sam groaned, making his father sigh.
"It's Sebby today, huh?" Monica chuckled, making Morris shrug.
"They keep switching." He told, starting the car back up and moving back on the road, "One second, it'll be Sebastion, and the next…"
"It's Reginald." Monica hummed, before shaking her head, "I'd hate to be Ceci right now."
"Why do you think I'm taking them out for the day?" Morris mumbled quietly, making Monica wince.
"Yeesh, fair point."
Eddy stared out the window as the car moved, seeing people rushing from place to place as they finished their Christmas shopping-
Oh, excuse him… he meant 'Winter Festival' shopping.
Because that ain't just a knock-off Christmas or anything…
Whatever, it didn't really matter anyway.
They… they're just here until it's safe to go home.
As much as he hates to say it, Sockhead might actually be right for not wanting to miss the first few days of school.
After all, anything they miss they'll have to make up later.
And he is not dealing with that!
…Or maybe he could?
Maybe they could just… not go back?
Nah, that won't do them any good, will it?
Eddy let out a sigh, leaning further on the window and feeling the cold on the glass.
Cold glass, a quiet rumbling on his cheek…
Cold glass…
Cold…
Cold metal was pressed against his head, barely hearing the growl from the bug holding him up over his pounding chest, "Got any last words, brat-?!"
Eddy shot upright with a yell, slamming a fist on the side of the car and startling his friends and the orange deer in front of him.
Morris and Monica let out alarmed sounds at the loud thump and yell, although Eddy couldn't hear them over the pounding in his chest and head.
"Eddy!?" Double D exclaimed, trying to reach to his friend despite Ed being in the way, "A-Are you alright?!"
"You look paler than swiss cheese!" Ed worried, staring at his friend with wide eyes.
"Hey shorty! What the fuck was that?!" Sam snapped, trying to glance back at the trio.
"Language, Sam!" Morris scolded his son, who scoffed in return.
Eddy breathed heavily, a hand clenching his purple jacket as he tried to figure out what the ⱨẻᶅꞎ just happened!?
Monica let out a quiet sigh, glancing back with a sad look.
The other two boys were now distracted with their friend, who was almost hyperventilating now.
"Sam, be nice." She told her nephew, who let out frustrated stammer in return, "Sam, they didn't mean to come here."
Sam paused, glancing at his aunt in interest.
"It's not my story." She told, making Sam grumble in response, "But just… keep that in mind, alright?"
"Yeah, yeah." Sam huffed, crossing his arms as he pointedly didn't look back at the three weirdos, "I got it, Aunt Moni."
Eddy let out a shaky breath, his hand held by both Ed and Double D's.
The warmer, familiar touch was…
Well, it was helping him get a hold on himself.
Seriously though, what the ⱨẻᶅꞎ was that?!
Did he just-
Wait.
Oh for the love of-
Don't tell him he's got-!?
"Eddy, are… a-are you alright?" Double D's quiet voice cut into his thoughts, Eddy pulling his hand away from his friends and huffing.
"I'm fine. It's nothing." Eddy excused, starting to pull his head back to the window.
He paused just before the cold glass, an unsure look on his face.
He could hear Ed and Double D whispering to each other in worry.
Worry for him-
"Hey."
Eddy glanced between the back of the middle seat and the car, seeing a hat being held out to him.
"To stop you from yelling again." Sam grumbled from in front of him, "I had a friend who… who got brought here under gunpoint."
Eddy let out a quiet 'huh!?', making Sam sigh.
"He got dragged out of his zone by some freak who wanted to use him and his sisters for…" Sam trailed off, before seeming to shake his head, "My point is, Jack couldn't put his head on anything metal or cold for a while. So he always put something between him and it. Be it his backpack, a shoe, his coat… a hat…"
Eddy slowly took the hat, seeing that it was a deep purple trapper cap, before placing it between him and the glass.
…The fact that this guy knew this just off-hand is gonna bother him, isn't it?
Why is this world so messed up!?
"…You should let your brothers help you." Sam quietly told Eddy, who jolted slightly.
"They're not-!" He started to protest, before Sam scoffed.
"Blood and not-blood siblings are the same thing, dude." Sam told, letting out a scoff.
Eddy quietly stammered, eyes twitching to the still-distracted Ed and Double D.
They were slowly relaxing, their conversation clearly turned from their worry to something else entirely.
Probably Double D asking about Ed's new project back home.
Ed was working on this model city of one of his monster movies.
They were hoping they could use it for a future scam, probably around Halloween so they can-
"Ⱳⱨƴ śⱨơᶙꞎᶁ Щẻ ɓǫťⱨẻᶉ ᶊƈᶏḿᶆỉᶇɠ ỉᶂ ᶖť'ś ảᶅꞎ ĵᶙśƫ ᶂơᶉ ᶊɦǫⱳ?!"
Eddy blinked, pulling his attention back to reality.
…What the heck was that?
"They're really close to you, huh?" Sam's voice grew lower even still, making Eddy sigh.
"How'd ya tell?" He whispered, humoring this idiot so they could talk about anything else-
"They reacted the moment you yelled." Sam quietly told, "Not-blood-bonded family tends to do that. At least the ones here do. Trauma-bonded, that's what my aunt calls them."
"Trauma… bonded?" Eddy squinted out the window in confusion, "What the heck does that mean?"
"Means that you and someone else are close because of something you've been through." Sam explained, "My aunt… she sees a lot of trauma-bonded kids at the schools she works at. She probably knows it just by seeing someone at this point. Wouldn't surprise me, honestly…"
Eddy blinked at the ground, remembering the pity in Monica's eyes when they first saw her.
Did…
Did she see something that they didn't?
"…Sam Deer-Impala." Sam introduced himself with an unseen nod.
Eddy hummed back, before giving the mobian an unseen grin, "Eddy McGee, leader of the Eds."
"The Eds?" Sam chuckled, "Is that what you and your friends call yourselves?"
"What else do you call it when there's three handsome dudes with almost the same name?" Eddy snorted, making Sam quietly laugh.
"Okay, now you're just overselling yourselves."
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean!?"
Monica gasped, hearing Sam laughing in the middle seat.
She patted her brother's arm, before mumbling.
"Mori, Mori!" Monica whispered, leaning over slightly to whisper, "Sammy's talking with the Eds!"
Morris blinked at the whisper, keeping his eyes on the road but raising a brow at his sister's statement.
"And the Eds are…?" He asked, before realizing who she was talking about, "Wait. Those new kid neighbors of yours? Sam's talking to them? Like actually talking with them?"
"Yes!" Monica quietly cheered, "They're getting along, too!"
Morris sighed, rolling his eyes at his sister's enthusiasm, "Moni, it's too soon to say that."
"You said the same thing about Jun and Koan!" Monica grinned, making Morris snort.
"To be fair, the last time I talked with Jun before then, he pushed me into the fountain during your reception. Ruined a perfectly good rented suit." Morris chuckled, Monica laughing with him.
And in the back of the car, Eddy and Sam let out a laugh too.
"…Wait, what the hell is…?"
"Something wrong, Sage?"
A blue hedgehog hummed as she looked over the screen before her, summoning its time line into her hand.
A Sonic stood on the ground not too far away, looking a bit worried.
Sage pushed her hair into her quills, scanning over the time line.
"…It's just a Construct Sub-Multiverse, Sonic." She concluded, her hand still hovering over the line, "A non-cross."
"A non-cross, huh?" This Sonic hummed, zipping himself to his sister's hovering form and grabbing her shoulder to lean over it, "Aren't non-crosses usually just boring splits? I mean, Corrupt's got dozens of 'em."
"Doors and Construct are the exceptions, remember?" Sage reminded her brother, who hummed.
Sage twisted the line slightly, allowing the monitor in front of them to resume its picture.
Eddy and his friends, alongside their new friend, seemed to be chatting with each other about something.
Sage narrowed her eyes at the line again, seeing… something along the line-
Oh.
Well, well. This is interesting.
"Hey, isn't that the 'Author's Line' you were talking about?" Sonic blinked the line, making Sage chuckle.
"Yeah, that must be her. I wonder what she's doing now?" Sage questioned, tilting her head slightly, "Last time she intersected like this, we had a massive timeline split."
"That's how we ended up with the others, right? Doors got split into Corrupt, which intersected a newer side-line of Circulavi, and things got all divided up from there?" Sonic asked, making his sister snort.
"Nice exposition." She rolled her eyes, making Sonic nudge her with a grin.
"Oh come on! Those watchin- reading are probably confused, and we don't know what we can and can't talk about! I might as well try and explain something!"
Sage chuckled, before noticing something further out in the timeline monitor.
And then her smile fully faded, forcing the screen to shift into a full-scale timeline grid.
Six different time lines were pulling towards one-another, with her own Multiverse sitting right in the middle.
Aaand she still can't properly see her own damn time line, great-
Wait a fucking minute.
"…Oooh crap." Sonic mumbled, seeing the six primary timelines moving just a bit too close to each other and their own blurry one, "Should, uh…"
He glanced over to Sage, who had gone a little pale, "Should I call Doors?"
Sage gulped, glancing back at the timeline she was holding before sighing, "Doors and Construct. Construct has to have an extra time-keeper to watch the other multiverses for us."
"Sis, these time lines were unwatched for probably a couple thousand years! Heck! All the other ones beyond ours aren't watched at all! What's a week or two gonna do?" Sonic reassured, making Sage sigh.
"If you say so." She relented, releasing the time line and allowing it to vanish back into the monitor, "I just hope we don't miss anything while we're gone."
The two floated back to the ground, unaware to how a past portion of the time line began to glitch.
It shot upwards, towards the Multiverse it had stemmed from, before returning to its spot.
Two distorted images of Dora appeared on two adjoining monitors.
One had the Latina girl walking by her door without glancing back, with Mandy arguing with the Eds on the other side.
And the other had her crashing through the door, leaving shards of a long-held lock behind as she rushed in to argue with Mandy.
"You think Construct's doing alright? Their Multiverse's stability has been awfully shaky recently." Sage's voice questioned from afar, making her Sonic snort.
"You said it yourself, sis." Her Sonic stated, unaware to how the time line on the monitor glitched again, "Construct's fine so long as it's line doesn't start freaking out."
She's... not looking back, is she?
Oh well.
Good luck to you, Sage!
Hopefully nobody doesn't give you too much grief for interrupting them again!
...I wonder if she'll see what I have planned?
Well, here's a first look at the multi-multiverse and how multiversal timelines work around here!
Though, Sage wasn't supposed to notice that intersection until the chapter I'm currently on!
Then again, I did add two chapters and made this one longer with my edits so...
The math maths?
This is probably immensely confusing, but this IS going to be slightly important later!
I uh... just don't know how MUCH later.
My plans are only detailed up to the end of Arc 3.
And I'm like 90% sure Sage and her Sonic are gonna be busy for a WHILE.
...Okay, enough weird wall breaking bs.
tldr of below: Ooh, new friends! Trauma! Fourth-wall breaking! Slowly updating old chapters! Low confidence! ...Wait, that's a bad thing. These notes being a wreck! ...Nope, that's bad too.
Hey! Our bois got a new friend!
And its another OC!
...Not sorry.
Also, we got a snow day, trauma, and a LOT of fourth-wall breaking!
And more lore!
...Wait didn't I call this a LIGHT-HEARTED chapter?
Whoops.
Anyway these beginning/end notes are a fucking mess and I'll probably change these later, but this is what ya'll will get for now.
Also, I'm working on potential updates/edits to the older chapters, but actually POSTING those updates/edits might take a while.
Like I mentioned before, my general confidence is in hell and that is fucking with my writing confidence so...
Eh, whatever.
Hope ya'll enjoyed the chapter and my clear descent into insanity at this point, and I'll see ya'll next month!