The Secret of Edd "0rigins"

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A light flicks on, and turns to illuminate a nearby wall.

The author of this story does not own the show Ed, Edd and Eddy, nor the canon characters or premise of the show. All non-canon characters that appear in this or the previous fanfic are creations of the author. If you want to post this fic, OR if you want to write your own possibilities for TSoE's story-line, I really can't stop you. If you want to be polite, feel free to do so after sending me a quick message saying so and where you want to post it. Thanks----Kyinsky.

The light turns off, and blackness fills the readers' mental imagery.

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*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* TSoE: Alternate Paths *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Edd shook his head, without passion, looking listlessly at the houses.

“I… don’t think I can do this.” He murmured, shivering.

None of the others from the neighborhood had comments to add; all were looking around in varying, yet similar levels of discomfort.

“Well… We can at least convince ‘em you guys are telling the truth.” Edward’s words were expectedly awkward, as he probably didn’t often try to help or comfort people.

Ed frowned. “Still…”

Nazz nodded, her arms wrapped around one another. “It doesn’t… It’s not that we’re not grateful to you guys for being here, but… with Eddy…”

Sarah made a loud sniffling noise, looking both annoyed and unhappy when the others watched her. “This is so stupid! I mean, it’s Eddy! We were all so ready to be angry at him, and he... this kind of thing isn’t supposed to happen…”

A car approaching cut off any responses; they could see it was clearly a police vehicle. More cars than normal had filled the parking space available in the cul-de-sac, and all of the lights in Ed and Sarah’s house were on.

“…Let’s go.” Kevin remarked, still standing in shadow, with the ‘cape’ now hanging off his head as a hood.

*~*~*~*

Oh, yeah, people… One thing was different for us, when we got back to the neighborhood, which we noticed pretty quickly.

You see, when Kevin first grabbed the remote from Eddy’s throw off that building, he never pressed any buttons. Kevin didn’t attempt to solve the problem on his own, he tried to get it to me—after all, I had already used our remote a number of times. Logically Tony’s, which had been based off of ours, would be similar, and I would know what to do with it.

Logically.

Therefore, we didn’t have the, *ahem*, luxury experienced by those versions of ourselves whom you are already familiar with. When we came to in the clearing, in our own universe, we didn’t have any incident involving a mirror and an unexpected reflection.

After all, Kevin still had no reflection. He never would again.

*~*~*~*

The door slammed shut behind Edd, and his eyes closed, as he leaned against the wall. //This… this isn’t happening…//

“Well, fuck you, all right?! If you want to believe we hypnotized you, go ahead! The other, responsible adults here are going to listen to us and learned what happened to your son!” Trip’s voice had risen significantly, with murmured voices suggesting that the other kids were trying to calm him down.

Edd felt a bit grateful for the attempted help, but there wasn’t much need for Trip to lose his temper. After all, if Eddy’s parents refused to listen, there wasn’t much that screaming was going to do about it. Consider the way Eddy’s first response was to scream, and all the luck it ever got… that it had ever gotten… they probably didn't listen to it anymore...

He whimpered, and slid slowly down, wrapping his arms around his knees, and staring up at the sky. For all he knew, he was probably rocking back and forth.

The door slowly opened, and Ed emerged. The taller boy’s eyes were staring vaguely in different directions, like they normally did. They were also bloodshot... which wasn't normal.

“Double D… Are you gonna stay out here?” His voice had more concern than usual, too, and the strangeness finally got Edd’s attention.

Looking up at Ed, he couldn’t help but sigh. This was going to hurt, for a long time. It wasn’t even as though Edd was the worst off—Ed had been the one holding Eddy before Tony had started breaking the rooftop. Ed had been the one who couldn't hold on.

“I…” No words, no articulate structured sentences nor poetic rants came to mind. Edd simply felt increasingly numb. His eyes closed, as if in prayer, and he pulled himself to his feet. “…I had needed to, to get out of that room for a few moments."

“Look, we don’t know what Tony was doing there! The only crap he gave us was something about hypnotizing his guards to sleep and breaking out of wherever he was being held!” Kevin’s voice rang out now, almost surprisingly indignant. Gasps went around, and it occurred to Edd that talking probably wasn’t the best choice Kevin could have made, at the moment. After all, the boy did still have fangs.

//Maybe he’ll learn to retract them to avoid notice, somewhat…// Vampires wouldn’t have been such a frequent cultural reference if there was some easy, convoluted cure that Rolf could whip up like he had with the pimple—Kevin’s state was very likely permanent.

“Okay.” Ed didn’t seem to have much to say, and was rather content to follow Edd back into his own house.

*~*~*~*~*

The scene that followed was rather predictable. The parents of all the kids in the cul-de-sac, and eventually the Kankers’ mom, all were arranged throughout the living room. Two or three police officers had been present, another joined partway through the explanation.

Edd was careful to avoid mention of hacking mainframes, but did refer to the project regarding lycan vaccinations. A few of the parents and one of the officers seemed to recognize the topic, and nodded through his brief explanation on why Kevin’s vampiric state wasn’t entirely otherworldly.

Dismay and dismissal arose at the idea of a machine, copied from comic book ‘specs’, being able to transfer matter and people between alternate universes; those dismissing the idea similarly frowned on the kids’ offer to bring them to it and demonstrate. After all, hypnotism was hypnotism; anything could seem real, and they were doubtful that a vampire stood in the room.

The idea that Tony had broken out from his cell, wherever he’d been held, was quickly supported by the most recent police officer; evidently there were reports of a mass breakout from wherever-Tony-had-been-held (the name and location of the institute were classified.) As the information was pertinent, though, bare details were revealed in support of the kids’ explanation.

Eddy’s parents suggested a more realistic interpretation that, instead of alternate universes, monsters, and psychic powers, maybe Tony had simply abducted and drugged Eddy, and the others—there was a reason for the court order, after all. Edward then stood up and waved his arms at them; Edwardo, Maria, and Trip quickly waved and commented to add to his point. Essentially, if there weren't alternate universes, it left the question of where the four of them had come from. They were stared and glared at by the various parents.

“I… I realize that this is not the kind of awareness you would choose to come to, but… I’m afraid I must assure you that this is real. We haven’t been out in the woods or other parts of town for the last two days; we’ve been trapped, walking and fighting for our lives in another world, another universe..!” Edd pleaded, speaking up again at last.

Sarah and Jimmy covered each other’s ears at the frustrated string of expletives that Eddy’s father, Rolf’s father, and Nazz’s mother offered in response.

Edd’s father slammed his hand down on the table, shaking his head, and growled something to his mother. They both expanded to the other parents some of the details of the lycan research, and alluding that werewolves hadn't been the only supposedly supernatural occurrence that had been studied in recent years. Essentially, the entire story could be true.

The parents who were refusing to believe the conversation shook their heads. One got up, reaching for a cigarette, and slammed a door to the outdoors before staring out at treetops in frustrated, pained silence. Those who were inclined to believe stared again at the doubles, and at Kevin's shadowed face, and began to murmur about what this meant, and how to protect the other children, and what it meant for the world. The police officers tried to verify what had happened to Tony---was it likely that he'd managed to follow them back? No? Then they believed he too---err, rather, they believed that he had been left when that rift began destroying the world?

Sarah, upon hearing their unintentional 'too', realized that they meant 'Tony went where Eddy had', began to cry. Even as she did she tried, barely, to hide her tears... Jimmy began crying too, and both of their mothers held them close.

"Look, we only got out because Eddy gave us that controller---and I don't think you can have more than one gate open with the same one. Double D's thing was that rift... right? So that other controller was useless, right?" Edward tried to prod Edd to an answer, and the boy nodded, then shrugged slightly, before looking helpless and unhappy again.

"I... No, one gate. Just one, and... you're right, the rift was it--the gate. Was that one's... Yeah. He shouldn't have had anywhere to go but... where Eddy did." Edd put a hand to his eyes, trying to squeeze them tight enough that tears couldn't leave.

Even the parents who didn't believe the story knew that something wrong had happened, that all the kids were hurting, and to varying degrees tried to calm them down or comfort them. Nazz sniffled again, with more of the emotional impact getting to her, and Rolf murmured things the other kids couldn't understand.

"So, I mean, if Eddy's gone... then Tony is too. They were both there, and we watched Eddy. We fucking watched him, okay?! And the four of us are here, and Kevin's here, and---I mean, some of you know about this werewolf stuff! We weren't hallucinating, we know what we saw!" 'Edwardo' burst in, glaring at the adults who didn't believe them.

Kevin stood off to the side silently, staring at Edd meaningfully, and went to the doorway to a different room in the building.

"I... no, really. You guys know Plank was real... he was... I just... I don't know. Tony, Tony was talking through him, but I really don't think he was always Plank. I don't... I can't think that, I just can't." Jonny rubbed at his eyes, talking to his parents, and glanced at a few of the other, listening parents. "What else can we say..? What else do you want to know?"

The conversation began to return to a single thread of conversation, and the adults began rehashing their understanding of the kids' comments.

"I... excuse me, mother, father, I need to... I can't..." Edd shook his head, and backed away from the room to follow Kevin. Behind him the conversation continued, Rolf and Ed trying to explain in more detail the kinds of creatures they'd run into, and the crying or silent sobbing of some of the others began to slow.

*~*~*~*~*

Kevin's eyes were darkened, and he shook his head as Edd came in. Sunlight shone outside, sickeningly bright to either one's eyes (if for different reasons) and Kevin went about pulling down some of the kitchen's shades.

"What was it, Kevin...?" Edd asked, watching the sunlit shapes on the floor disappear.

"...There's nothing we can do now, is there?" Kevin turned to look at him, and pulled his hood down deliberately. Longer red hair framed the pale face, and he shook his head. "I mean... that vaccine of yours isn't working... I don't think they've got one for vampires..."

"I..." Edd bit his lip. "Kevin--"

"No, no..." Kevin cut him off and shook his head again, moving to sit down and stare down the hall towards the other room. "Not just that... that crap you and the Kankers were pulling... that Tony was pulling... Zombies, whatever. All of that. It's here now, isn't it. And Eddy's gone... and there's nothing we can do about it."

"Kevin!" Edd exclaimed, and put a hand to his face again. "Please... don't just, just..."

Kevin's eyes tracked up, staring as the boy struggled among many, flurrying and painful emotions, and blinked slowly. His increasingly amber eyes stared down at the table. "I just mean... it's not the same. The world. The way everyone's acting... the way everyone's gonna be. What we're gonna be. You know?"

*~*~*~*~*

In retrospect... I suppose I underestimated the scope of Kevin's remark. I was preoccupied... but, then, he wasn't even the first of us affected by the changes. He was right, after all, in that our world.. our universe.. had been 'polluted'. That stronger feel of the supernatural that I later discovered, that Edward had fixated on for a time? That sense had carried over to our own world.

That, by itself, wasn't life-threatening for human kind. I mean, one of the other worlds... was it Edward's or Trip's...? I don't recall, but they'd been having troubles for a while. Giant lizards and werewolves... but society as a whole still seemed to be running in his world.

But, over time, I began to remember things... Kevin's behavior when his newer instincts rose up... my tendency towards a significantly shorter temper... the comments a Rolf had made in some other universe had made about how a werewolf 'youth', I suppose you'd call it, wasn't the threat of legend that one older would be---I think it was our Rolf, trying to convince another not to kill me, or Edward, or 'Maria'. Yes, now I recall, that's what it was. That didn't surface in my memories for a while. And Rolf didn't bring the matter up for a while... I suppose he was trying to be sensitive to all our losses. While I wish he hadn't, suddenly it occurs to me that for every possibility there is a universe. So, in some universes, Rolf decided to sit down with Kevin, Marie, and I to have the 'talk' about what it means to be a supernatural being feared in olden times, and explain to us why that fear had lingered. Our Rolf, unfortunately, didn't think to do so for quite some time. It made a difference.

*~*~*~*~*

//Hey, Double D.//

Edd recognized the thought tendril's feel---the mental 'knock' the three had established, a probing touch that passed blocks but didn't sense---bringing the awareness of another's mental presence to any of their attentions.

//Jonny...? Hello.//

Edd glanced up from his book, and glanced around the cafeteria. Most of the faces were people from other parts of Peach Creek, and he paid them no mind---their faces seemed gray and indistinguishable from each other, anyway. The 'knock' resounded again, and he glanced towards the left of his and Ed's table.

Jonny was standing with a lunch tray, and tilted his head. //Mind if I join you?//

//Telepathy was necessary to ask..? Go ahead, sit down.// Edd gestured towards one of the empty seats, and glanced over at Ed. The other boy had a pile of what probably should have been completed homework assignments... but the blank parts of the page were filled in with shapes that seemed suspiciously more like skeletons and running people than letters.

//Uh... I didn't want to distract Ed, he seems... busy with something.// Jonny was approaching the table, and Edd mused again on the relativity of time when these kinds of conversations took place. Sometimes you couldn't move your body, the talking was so quick, and other times it was nearly normal speed. Lately, the speed of their mental conversations seemed slower and slower. It briefly occurred to him that that suggested a mind or minds running at a slower speed than normal, and shrugged. It wasn't as though he understood the physical or psychological components of a human mind well enough to try and increase their speeds like he might a computer.

//...Doubtful. I believe that he's recreating some of the fights instead of doing his homework... and I haven't the slightest idea what to say to him about it.// Edd mused, to himself, that the second statement wasn't something he'd intended to project---that was supposed to have been a private thought.

//So I guess that was private too, right?// The third voice that took place in these conversations wafted in, and Jonny and Edd glanced around.

Jonny blinked. //Wait, Kevin? Are you back in school already?// He glanced at Edd with a look that suggested he understood what Edd was going through---or, rather, communicated similar slips in his own thoughts being projected. Edd wasn't even sure if Jonny'd meant to do it, and they shared a brief, weary mental sigh.

//Eh, sorta. I think some of the other kids' parents are trying to petition me from coming to school, and make my parents get me a tutor, or something... I'm here, but they don't have me in any classes yet.//

Soft gasps and whispers began rising around the cafeteria, and the two could see Kevin coming into the entrance. Against ordinary school code, Kevin was wearing another hooded garment---like he'd been wearing whenever awake during the day---and was approaching Edd and Jonny's table. Ed hadn't taken any notice of the sound, new presence at the table, OR the added presence to the cafeteria---he was fixated on the drawings.

//...I suppose that makes sense. Little of the whole story's gotten out yet, but with you...// Edd didn't want to finish saying that it was more obvious that something was 'wrong' with Kevin, but the other two understood what he meant, and nodded.

//Yeah, you're safe in that... you and Marie don't look any different, and after what happened, you acting different just makes sense...//

Edd didn't have any response, and frowned down for a moment. Jonny looked briefly sad, and watched as Kevin finally reached the table. As he sat down the whispers continued frantically. Ed finally looked up, and waved slightly.

"Hiya, Kevin..."

"Ed."

Edd shook his head. "It's---probably---only a matter of time before everything gets out, though, and I'm sure more petitions will be written up then. Especially since father's attempts to revaccinate either of us failed... they're working on increasing the strength, but, it's not just us... All over the country, there's stories getting written up of wolf-like creature prowling streets or woods, of livestock going missing, and 'werewolf' has come up enough times..."

Jonny shrugged, and folded his arms on the table. "I dunno, guys. But, I think if a lot of us get kicked out of school, a lot more people will get angry about it and try to get us back in."

Ed's eyebrow raised as he glanced between them. "What... like in X Men, or something?"

Kevin snorted, and covered his smile with a fist. "Sure, Ed. Like X Men. But we don't have people going around killing each other because of it."

"Well, not yet." Ed poked his pencil against the paper. "But... there was that other you and Rolf in Edward's world... and people always want to kill the monsters, because monsters usually want to kill people. Or need to..." He stared at Kevin for a minute, frowning.

Edd blinked, and glanced over at Kevin. "...He has a point. Kevin, what have you been doing for... you know..."

"It's not like it's hard to get raw meat.... and, go on from there. C'mon, you want me to be graphic? I make you guys look like vegetarians, but I don't go running around in the night biting peoples' necks."

"Anymore." Jonny tried to laugh about it, but it sounded loud and harsh, and he cringed. "Just..."

Kevin's eyes darkened, and he laid his chin on his folded hands, silent.

"...Regardless. Ed's right in that some people will---do---feel threatened. And they'll continue to. And that's merely with regards to physical safety. What about privacy, when some of us can enter their minds? It's not just werewolves in the news... No, that comic---that movie, whatever---it's probably the best example. People with powers, people without, and panic resulting from fear of each other..."

"Whatever." Kevin frowned further, and shook his head. "It's not like we can actually do anything about it, unless you feel like going on the news and telling everyone that they're not afraid of all this..." He stared at Edd again, and when Edd merely looked down, he exhaled.

"Heyyy---- cul-de-sac party...!" Nazz's voice, more enthusiastic than usual, sounded from behind Edd and Jonny. The four looked over to see others from the neighborhood approaching their table; specifically, Nazz and Rolf. Jimmy and Sarah, or the Kankers, were nowhere in sight.

"Like the others, Rolf is surprised to see you here, Kevin... In school again already?" Rolf asked, sitting down next to the vampire, and putting a utensil in a pile of food.

"Not really." Kevin shook his head, and reached in a pocket to pull out a 'Visitor' badge. "A bunch of the parents don't want me here, but my parents figured I should just come in and get kids and teachers used to the idea... see what happens, and all. What's the worst that could happen?"

"Someone throws garlic bread at you and pulls out a piece of wood?" Ed suggested, and crumpled up the paper his more recent doodles were on.

"Ed!" Edd and Nazz hissed, Jonny shortly after. Rolf winced at the comment, and Kevin just shook his head, glancing at Rolf.

"See what I'm putting up with? And Ed's one of the nicer ones about it. Some of the idiots down in the office, kids who were in to see the vice principal? All kinds of crap. And I said something like that to Dad, but he dropped me off anyway..." Kevin shook his head, a weary, sarcastic amusement on his features, and shrugged. "What can I do?"

"Well..." Nazz frowned, and winced at the intensity with which he looked over at her. "I.. I don't know, Kevin, I really don't. I mean... They can't do anything like what they did with you, Double D?"

Kevin snorted again, muttering something about deja'vu in the conversation, and Edd shook his head. "No, Nazz... to tell the truth, the vaccine's failed."

Rolf and Nazz blinked, startled, and leaned in.

"What do you mean, Double-D-Boy? It no longer..."

"No, it's not. Not for me, not for Marie... and, let's see..." Edd reached down into his backpack, and pulled out some newspaper clippings. "Look here. Minnesota, a few... Boston... Here's an article from the Herald, and look---it's not just about local incidences, but national---even here, a few international cases. All over, the vaccine's unexpectedly failing. No one knows why, and trust me when I say my parents are working on understanding why. It's all they've been doing, lately, especially with the hospital still closed down."

Nazz shook her head, looking between some of them. "But... Double D, these aren't all just werewolves..." Her eyes widened, and Edd nodded.

"That's what we were talking about when you guys came over." Kevin commented. She looked at him, and he waved a hand over the pile. "This crap's going on all over. It's not just us----if it was, it might not be a big deal. But since it's all over..."

"Ed said it's like in X Men." Jonny said, reaching over to take the crumpled piece of paper in front of Ed. Ed didn't stop him, and just nodded at them.

"With weird powers and people not being human and other people knowing about it... super heroes and mutants and monsters and stuff... lots of people will get scared." Ed said, and they all watched Jonny uncrumpling the paper.

Skeletons and zombies marched in the multiple choice sections, and bat-like shadows hovered above where Ed had written his name and the date. Ruined buildings filled the text boxes, and fleeing human shapes only ran into giant plants with mouths, or forests full of howling shapes, or rocks reaching up to grab them. In the upper right corner of the page a large swirling shape had tendrils reaching all over, with little people being pulled up by them.

The group shivered, and Edd touched a finger to the upper right corner. "Ed... this looks like..."

"Yeah..." Ed picked up his pencil again, and drew a dark oval in the swirls.

0.

The others didn't really know what to say, anymore.

*~*~*~*~*

It wasn't as though Ed was prescient in any fashion, not to my knowledge. Yes, his comic books had, over time, repeatedly been shown to have truth to them. A ritual involving pancakes.... the gate itself... but I was the only one who'd had apocalyptic dreams that proved within days to be true! Or, if Ed ever had dreams like that, he didn't share. The only time I remember Ed sharing frightening dreams with us had something to do with Jonny being mad at him, and wanting to hurt him. Or, as what little we came to understand later revealed, Plank wanting to hurt him. And while 'Plank' did hurt us, Tony's intent had been focused on Eddy, Jonny, and I. Ed? I don't think Ed had ever even entered his attention.

And, really, Ed's easy to want to ignore. To succeed at ignoring, especially when he was running around and yelling, that was a different matter. But to try to ignore.. yes, you tended to ignore Ed unless you were his friend and felt obligated as such to want to aid him.

That drawing spooked all of us. Yes, it was, largely, a recreation of our understanding of the world 8-3-2 (as of that time), but given what we'd all been talking about, what Ed had been drawing... It seemed eerily prophetic.

Now... well.

Kevin came back to school for a while, with debates raging in the local editorials... OUR story got out, and shortly the only children who'd interact with Marie, Jonny, Kevin, or I were the people from our neighborhood or people like Ed---supernatural enthusiasts, some of whom hoped the oddness would rub off onto them.

Why it is that May and Lee weren't bothered much, I suppose is because most people---or most kids, at least---believed that the two of them had only had 'powers' because of Tony's manipulation of us. By this point enough things had been happening around the country, enough self-declared super-heroes and super-villains appearing in urban, suburban, and even rural areas that what we had to say was clearly the truth. Enough of the incidences traced back to before our creation of the gate that we weren't even blamed by the general populace for the changes...!

Our parents and certain governmental people did lay a certain amount of blame on us, and the physical structures for my gate and Tony's were seized... Mine was fried, blackened scorch-marks coating the main body of the thing, and the computer would only relay what had been entered---it wouldn't reopen the gate.

Edward and the other 'doubles' had left for the trailer park at some point before the gates were taken (it took the officials and agents a few days to ascertain an official story, get approval, and actually take the gates) so I presumed that they went back to their own universes. I'd hoped so. Until I finished building the new one, I wasn't able to go and check on them.

Oh, yes, I did build a new one. Given that neither mine nor Tony's blew up without being set to 0, there didn't seem to be any radiation affects, or... Well.. To tell the truth, I simply didn't care whether I was following safety procedures. I felt certain there wouldn't be any real problems, and hid the new, smaller structure. It didn't go in the woods, but in my closet---on the other side of the wood of the doorway, cut into the wood. Narnian. Out of sight, out of anyone's notice. Simple enough.

This brings me back to Kevin's concerns, though. The world had changed... We had changed. It wasn't simply that he now drank blood and avoided sunlight, or that Marie and I turned into wolves on full moons---or other times if we forced it---or that Jonny kept picking up stray thoughts despite his increasingly powerful mental blocks. These were just things... but our natures, our personalities... we changed. My not caring as much about the welfare of people around me, or my assumption that I knew what I was doing... And, I did, but I didn't know that I did with enough experience behind it to warrant my arrogance.

Time passed. The school year had begun the day before Kevin came in as a 'visitor', and everything was changing. Unlike counterparts in a universe I would eventually contact, Ed and I had been placed in the same homeroom--- after all, we were hardly going to cause problems on the usual scale without Eddy there. Scams..? Neither of us had much enthusiasm for them. Making money could be done with newspaper routes and the like, so jawbreakers weren't an all-consuming passion anymore.... I suppose the absence of Eddy replaced the older obsession. So, likely, the teachers had put us together to try and let us support each other.

I did try to help Ed with homework, especially after that blatant pile of empty assignments he'd carried with him that second day----well, empty of the answers, not empty. Most of us, including Ed, had been asked to talk to the guidance counselors during the year. I already knew her fairly well from the occasional after-school discussion of recent psychological theory, and... we talked. I'm not certain what else to say about it than that.

Ah, yes.... my birthday. That was an interesting week. My new gate was already operational by that point, and a few days prior to any official celebrations I'd brought Ed, Jonny, Marie, and Kevin with me when I went to check on our doubles... Heh. A very, very interesting day, that was.

*~*~*~*~*

Edd displayed his closet door with a degree of excitement on his face, looking to the others for their reactions.

"You're kidding, right? You built another one? Why?" Kevin stared at the small terminal on the 'closet-lock' in disbelief.

Edd sighed, and folded his arms across his chest. "Well, for one, after the immediate few days, Edward and the others vanished. I've been hoping that they found a way back to their own universe, but for all I know they were taken in by some research branch or another and since then scientists have been testing their blood and general physical samples for a means to measure the universe of origin of a person!"

The others blinked at him, and Ed raised his hand.

"That sounds like something I'd say... But, Double D, did you mean a wavelength or something?" Ed wiggled his hands in the air, imitating the visual signals that'd been on the board in some science class recently.

"...Yes. Precisely. If they 'vibrate' on some other wavelength and that's what divides the universes..." Edd realized that the others' eyes were increasingly glazed over. "And, anyway, since building this was easier than trying to break into random research facilities across the world, I decided to simply build a gate and go into their worlds to look. Preferably Trip and Edwardo's first, considering the manner of our departure from Edward and Maria's...." Edd rubbed at his neck, grimacing.

Marie shook her head at him, glancing in the closet at the rectangle of metal. "So, here's a question... how did you build it? Didn't you guys use that comic before, and didn't that comic get recalled and burned?"

Edd blinked at her, bemused. "Well, I memorized it---"

"--Of course." She sighed.

"... And this is hardly the same design that Ed and... and Eddy, and I, built." He swallowed, shaking his head. "I mean, I had to have something to do during Reading class, so I've been improving the specs. This one's somewhat more comprehensible of a design, and it's smaller, and this time I can activate a DNA lock on it to however many people I want to restrict its access to---especially on the remote. Certain...certain worlds we believe to no longer be in existence have been automatically banned from entry..." Edd trailed off, and looked around the group. "Look, can you honestly tell me you never want to see those four again?"

"I'd like to see them, I guess. It'd be cool. And we can see what the world would be like if some of this stuff wasn't going on...." Jonny glanced out the window, as did all but Kevin, to watch a police car driving up the cul-de-sac. "But... Double D, how do you want to do this? You put it in here so no one knows, right?"

"Right... and so we're not always known to be using it, as people coming to my room is less suspicious than wandering out in the woods.... and it's indoors, away from any likely light, so Kevin's not going to have safety concerns..." Edd nodded at the older boy, who smiled faintly and shook his head.

"But how are you going to do this so no one knows we're gone?" Jonny finished.

Marie's visible eye widened, and she glanced between them. "Ooh, that's true. If people see us come up here and not be in here for a few hours, they'll figure it out..."

"Well... time seemed to be different between the different universes... Essentially, just because time passes in one universe doesn't mean it passes in another. They generally do, or did when we traveled between them, because of the sheer number of things I had on default. If we're passing through a tunnel in space time, though, it's not just space you can decide the coordinates of."

The others blinked, not seeing the connection yet. Ed ventured, "So.... you can choose where in time you go, too...?"

"Essentially. We can have zero minutes pass here, with any amount of time there." Edd smiled proudly at his discovery, and the other four exchanged glances again.

//Wow... Double D's really, uh, getting into this, huh?// Jonny directed the thought at Kevin, pleased when it only went to him.

//Seems like. He's probably been working on this the whole time... man, but he needs another hobby. Like one that involves people, not just playing with time travel---// Kevin's eyes began to widen, thoughts expanding from what this thing meant.

//Like you with Nazz?// Jonny pointedly remarked, not catching Kevin's train of thought, and distracting the older boy into glaring at him.

//That's something else---and I think it's a little bit healthier than him sitting up here tinkering, or Ed drawing people fighting and dying all the time! At least I'm trying to talk to people, whoever still will...// Kevin shook his head, and Jonny let it go long enough for Kevin to repeat to himself---//Time travel...? What could you do with that...?//

"Okay... You know what? Let's just test it out. I mean, it doesn't blow up or anything, right?" Marie asked Edd, crossing her arms. Edd shook his head, and she smiled. "Then, let's go."

"Already...?" Ed looked surprised, then scratched at his hair. "Uh.... I guess so."

Edd glanced around, getting nods from all, and turned with a smile to his closet door. "Then, let's revisit Eight-Three-Two-Zero-Zero-One...!" He scrolled down the list of 'Known Worlds' he'd compiled, and activated the gate.

True to his word, it didn't blow up, but rose out from the center and filled the doorway with light. Kevin squinted and adjusted his hood, reaching back with his other hand to close the door to the room.

One by one they walked in, noticing differences in the feel and style of it----this time, they didn't simply step into another world, but walked for a few steps on a surface that looked the same as anything around them---the light of the gate, all around in a kind of tunnel. How any of it was solid none of them could see, but Edd stepped forward confidently, as though he knew what to expect ahead.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* End of Part 1 *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

This is the beginning of a brief story I wanted to do for a long time, but didn't want to actually write without first finishing my edit of TSoE. Eh, well. Edd from some period of time in the future of this world is the narrator in italics, and it explores three of the infinity of alternate universes possible once the gate's been made. It's not a happy world, and gets less so as time goes by... I think the Narrator Edd might be on his deathbed, or about to deliberately lose his sanity, or something, and is just reminiscing on how things get to be the way they will.

To amuse myself, at some point he'll be using the time travel function to visit with the Eds of the TSoE main universe (that any real sequels will be written in), Tony, and maybe his parents some years ago. Maybe. I want to minimize the amount of time that the adults show up in these fics, just because of how much the show avoids it.

Eddy (startled): So... I'm, you know, gone in this story?
Edd (bemused): Seems like it... and your death seems to have had an intense emotional impact on people. Not surprising, really, but it's rather... morbid. I prefer our world.
Ed doodles on the wall in his room, drawing a happy sun and flying chickens---until a black hole opens up in the sky and the radiation begins changing everything---and narrates what's happening in his drawing until Eddy puts a band-aid on his mouth.
Edd (hesitantly laughing): Uh, heh heh... Yes, well, Ed, you don't really want to be drawing things like that too, do you?
Ed (pulls the band-aid off his mouth) Uh... This one's Nestor again, because he's been so important in our story.... And, um.... (begins nibbling on the eraser, staring at the other chickens)
Eddy (groans): What, the same chicken again? It only showed up, like, twice, in out show! Why do you obsess about him so much?
Ed: So?! I luv Nestor! He's so cute, and fuzzy, and luvable, and I like to hold him and pet him....
Edd: ...Ah. Yessss... Anyway, readers, we hope that you continue to read these stories, and enjoy!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* On to Part 2 *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

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Last updated: 7/14/07 at 5:04 pm