SWD: Chapter 11

Content Warning: There's needle usage in this chapter, but I don't consider it too graphic or severe. Still be cautious, of anyone squeamish about such things.

An hour later, we soon came upon Sunflower Shoal. We could see many police cars and ambulances near an empty parking lot that was close to a seemingly abandoned building. This was the headquarters for the Martel Family, the place where they were holding people as hostages.

Outside the building, we could see a group of folks by the entrance, preparing themselves for the worst before going inside. The teens who were going inside to help were all wearing bullet-proof vests, just as a safety precaution. Professor Layton decided to stay outside with the police to help anyone who exited the building.

"W-Why can't I go with you?!"

Unfortunately, Ed was not permitted to join the rescue group.

"Ed, I understand you're worried about our friends, and I'm sorry you can't come with us…" Double D started to comfort his tall friend, only for Ed to back away, swatting his friend's hand away in anger.

Ed did not say anything, but Double D could tell that he was beyond angry and upset. He had only seen Ed be this angry once or twice (one time was because of a pebble in his shoe). Ed then ran off in the other direction, much to Double D's dismay, "Oh, Ed…"

Double D turned his attention back to the group, walking over to his parents, "Are you three ready?" Wendy asked.

Double D, Zoey, and Matthew nodded.

"Good, we'll be right behind you," Aiden said.

The group of seven people began to run toward the entrance of the building. Everyone else watched as the rescue squad entered, but not without noticing an eigth person sneaking by them, entering the building from a side entrance. Ed was NOT going to stand outside while his friends were in danger!

Meanwhile, elsewhere, darkness was all that Eddy could see as he felt himself waking up from being unconscious. He began to stir from where he was resting. His head was hurting a lot.

"Hey, kid! Are you good?"

He felt a man's hand on his shoulder, shaking him to respond. Eddy turned his head to see Phoenix was with him. They both looked like they were in some sort of sterile room that you would see in a medical clinic. Eddy was lying down on the bed in this room.

"You took a nasty hit on the head from the guy who brought you here. They just left a minute ago," Phoenix said before making an angry frown, "It was some of Mr. Martel's men."

Eddy looked around slowly as he sat up, "Sorry, my head still hurts. I…"

"I get it, just lay back down for a sec," Phoenix replied before rubbing the back of his head, "Man, one of those guys was really strong. He also seemed to know who you were."

Eddy stared at Phoenix before a sense of dread started to form in the pit of his stomach; he remembered seeing the person who put the rag to his mouth and nose before passing out, but it was a blur to him when he tried to think about it, "W-Wait, one of those guys knew my name?"

"Yeah."

Eddy was silent before widening his eyes in horror, "The guy who brought me here; did he happen to look like me?!"

Phoenix stared at Eddy before widening his eyes, "Wait, he did look like you, but he was a lot older!"

Eddy's body jolted up in pure shock, "NO WAY!" He vaulted off the bed and tried to open the door of the room they were in, only to see that it was locked from the outside. Eddy started to try and break the door down on his own, ramming his shoulder into it with all his strength.

"H-Hey, calm down!" Phoenix yelped as he went over to Eddy to make him stop, "You're still hurt—"

"I-I don't CARE that I'm hurt!" Eddy replied in a panic as he continued to ram the door, "I gotta find Zoey! That guy is my older brother! A-And she NEEDS to know that he escaped! HE'S PROBABLY AFTER HER AGAIN!"

Eddy was about to ram into the door once again until he was stopped by Phoenix, who had grabbed Eddy by the back of his shirt collar. Phoenix slapped the teen across the face, "Snap out of it! I already tried, but we're both stuck here!"

Eddy rubbed his left cheek before looking back at Phoenix.

"Listen, we need to think of a way to escape once the door is opened again, but that means waiting until one of those guys comes back," Phoenix explained. He then gestured toward the bed he was lying on before, "In the meantime, try and rest so we can both make a run for it when they arrive."

Eddy glared at the man before making a defeated sigh, "Y-Yeah, I know," he looked at the bed until he noticed there were several medicine cabinets and shelves with a ton of medical supplies, "Maybe there's something in here for my aching head…"

As Eddy walked over to the countertop, he opened a drawer that was next to a sink. His eyes then landed on something inside. It was a needle that was next to a vial; the liquid inside had a bright yellow color to it. Eddy weakly took the medical stuff out of the drawer to look at it in detail. There was also a note that was under the needle and vial, which he picked up to read what was written.

"Mr. Carson, as you already know, this is one of the last two serums those scientists made for us before they were caught. I used the wind serum a few days ago on little Camilla but haven't found a suitable subject to give the last lightning serum to. I briefly considered testing it out on Camilla once again, but she needs to recover from the earlier injection first. Please keep this on standby until she recovers or when we find another lab rat to use it on. — Rufus Martel"

Eddy's face grew pale at the note, realizing what was in this needle and vial in his hands, "T-This is the drug Vergil and Rita made! The one they used on Zoey!" He choked out.

"Are you serious?!" Phoenix asked as he walked over to Eddy.

"We can't let these assholes use this!" Eddy retorted as he walked over to a recycle box for used needles, "We should throw it in the garbage before they… can use…" his voice began to trail off as a thought suddenly came to him.

Eddy looked down at the serum in his hand, staring at it before narrowing his eyes. His eyes were not filled with anger anymore… but with determination.

"Hey, Phoenix. I need your help," Eddy started to say as he turned to the man next to him, gesturing to the serum and needle, "How good are you with using stuff like this?"

Phoenix started to frown, "Wait, don't tell me you're thinking about using that serum on yourself, are you?!"

"Yeah, I'm dead serious!" Eddy yelled back, "I've seen what this stuff can do, and I don't want anyone to go through that ever again!"

Eddy curled his left hand into a fist, "If I left this here, they'll take it and use it on Zoey again! I-I…" he closed his eyes with his face scrunched in pain, "I'll never forgive myself if that happens!"

Eddy looked back at Phoenix, "I'll probably pass out afterward, but I GOTTA do this! I'll use this to fight back and protect everyone! PLEASE!"

Phoenix glared at the teen boy before faltering, "Okay, okay! Just sit there and I'll find some alcohol pads."

Eddy nodded his head as he sat back on the bed in the room. Phoenix searched around the cabinets to find what he was looking for in another cabinet close by.

Phoenix went over to Eddy to give him the alcohol pads he found, "You do know how dangerous this is, right?"

"Yeah, I'm aware. I'm not that much of an idiot," Eddy replied as he rubbed one of the pads on his left forearm near his elbow (the area where you usually have blood taken), "Zoey told me how much pain they made her go through when she took this shot…" he then grabbed the needle with the serum with his right hand, "But I think I can take it!"

That was when he did the deed. Eddy used the needle and pressed down to inject himself with the serum. Eddy widened his eyes; he felt the effect of the serum happen as soon as the needle left his arm… But then it instantly faded away. Nothing happened.

"Huh?!" Eddy questioned in confusion, looking down at his left hand for a second, "Oh god, PLEASE don't tell me this dumb serum was a dud!"

Phoenix scratched his chin, "I think it's as you said before; you can take the serum without your body violently convulsing."

"B-But I was just bluffing when I said that!" Eddy yelped, "I didn't think…?!"

Eddy's body suddenly jerked forward as he began to gasp in pain. Phoenix went over to Eddy to see what he could do but had to step back when he saw sparks starting to come from the boy's fingertips. Strangely, the color of the electricity was not yellow in the slightest, but a mixture of dark and light purple. Eddy balled his fist as he continued to take deep breaths, trying to help himself control what was going on with his body. Eventually, the purple sparks around him began to die down. Eddy soon fell back onto the bed he was sitting on; he had fainted from what happened.

Phoenix made a sigh of disbelief, "Unbelievable! How can kids be so reckless these days?"

Phoenix took the used medical supplies, throwing them away in their proper containers, "I really hope they don't notice that the serum was used! Now THAT would be very bad."

Author's Note (January 4th, 2025): A NEW RECORD!

Three chapters in one day for the same story! Thankfully I already had this chapter drafted out beforehand, just to settle on what to do for certain future scenes. Very fortunate I did that!

Anyway, happy 26th anniversary, Ed Boys!