DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters from Ed, Edd n Eddy. Nor do i own Nat Goldberg, he belongs to C1ndy1c2d.

Ah, the long awaited 5th chapter! Lol it's a bit shorter than the others but hopefully I can make up for it in the next chapter!

Chapter 5

It took Eddward about fifteen minutes to surpass the highest level any of the other players managed to defeat. It took about twenty minutes for him to be the only person from both teams even still in the running, the Lemon Brook team having exhausted all their resources. Now everyone's eyes were glued to the dork's screen.

"How the hell are you doing this?" questioned Kevin, watching in awe as Double D beat yet another level without losing even one life. "You're blowing through this game like its nothing. And you haven't had to fight nearly as many henchmen as everyone else did in the other levels…"

"It is really quite simple, Kevin," Eddward said without stopping his gameplay. "While observing the others play I noticed that the game had quite a few paradigms. There are several paths that all lead to the boss at the end of each level and while each all hold different types of perils for the player there is always one that has less obstacles to overcome. If you follow that path every time then you save on lives." He went on to explain how certain tactics were more effective and some other stuff, using a bunch of big words the jock didn't understand. But Kevin didn't care; they were winning!

There was a loud throat clearing from behind them. "Can you NOT reveal all the secrets of my game?" demanded the ticked off looking game-maker. Kevin frowned as he looked the dude over. Slicked-back dirty blond hair, a snotty expression, and a medium build dressed far too formally for a small high-school competition. Kevin already didn't like him.

"I don't think you have anything to worry about, dude. It's not like anyone could actually understand half of what Double Delight said anyway," said Nat, throwing his arm around the guy's shoulder. The "Snob" as Kevin mentally dubbed him, made a disgusted face and shrugged the arm away. He crossed his arms and glared at them. Kevin had to cover his laugh as Nat made a rude gesture behind the guy's back. They all turned back to watch Double D annihilate the second to last boss with relative ease.

Everyone watched with baited breath as the genius boy started on the last level.

Left at the barricade; slow creep down the hall, keeping low and to the left, run and jump over the fallen bodies (so morbid, Edd thought) shoot out the video cameras and keep an eye out for the hash marked pathway.

So far this final level was a dozy. The patterns Eddward followed in the previous chapters were altered in this installment. He had already lost two of his six lives. This level had twice the number of pathways and complications, not to mention a much larger amount of henchmen hiding around nearly every corner. Edd eliminated four out of the eight pathways and was cautiously working his way to the next crossroad.

Almost there…turn right and duck down, quick scout to see if how many gunners are hiding behind the crates; two…three…hmm…ah another three hiding in the far right (Edd bit his lip in concentration.) Take out the guards and pick up their spare weapons. Exit through back door. And now…simply pick the right path.

Eddward examined each choice closely. There has to be some kind of clue as to the right path. He looked at everything, from the number of visible hurdles to the small patterns on the floor tiles. It took him 3 thorough studies before he finally saw it. There was a tiny blue X on the ceiling of in the third pathway. "Yes!" whispered the raven haired boy, before he lead his character down the correct passage. Ten more minutes to get through the maze, fight off the minions and dodge traps before he finally made it to the Final Boss. Here we go, thought literally everyone in the library.

Alright, allow boss to make the first few moves while staying out of the range of fire. This way you can get a good idea of how it moves, what attacks it has and what weak spots there might be in its armor. Oh, oh crap, avoid the guns hidden in the walls as well! Not paying enough attention to the surrounding area almost lost him another life. Focus, Eddward. The armor is weakest around the neck and under the arms, focus your aim there. The Boss mainly uses fire and electric type attacks which means water should work best. There is a several second delay after a power attack; that is the best time to fire shots of your own….

The audience let out a grown as The Final Boss hit Eddward with an attack powerful enough to kill him. He only had three lives lift. Edd shushed them, he needed to concentrate. He looked away from the screen for a moment when he felt something on his shoulder. It was Kevin's hand. "You can do it, dork," Kevin whispered. Double D felt warmth blossom in his chest at the jock's vote of confidence. He turned back to the game with new vigor.

Boss throws a fire ball, duck. Shoot a water blast at weak point beneath left arm. Dodge gunfire. Sidestep bolts of electricity. Send another Blast, this time at the right arm. Oooh, he's stumbling, gives me more time to shoot again; aim for the neck! Duck fire ball, shoot, dodge, shoot, sidestep, shoot. Yes! Left arm is out of commission! (CHEERS in the background) Keep going, keep going! Target the right arm now! Several more evasions and blasts later and the right arm was history! (More cheers) So close to the end!

"Good Lord!" shouted Double D as the Boss seemed to have a conniption. Its head turned around on its shoulders a full 360% before it opened its mouth and let out a horrible scream and fire, lightning, and acid spewed from its mouth. The attack hit Eddward's character and knocked out more than half of his HP points. He could not afford to take another hit like that again. Think, Eddward, Think! AH HA!

Run around and get behind the boss, make sure to avoid gunfire. Alright, hide under the balcony and switch to the most powerful weapon, the Ice Ray. Fully charge it. Wait for the right moment to run back out…wait for it…the timing has got to be perfect; just as it's about to fire. It's do or die…

Eddward held his breath as he charged around to the front of the Creature just as it opened its mouth and prepared to fire again. Edd waited until the exact moment the fire bubbled up the throat and then he fired his weapon at full power. Everyone froze, waiting. The Boss stumbled…groaned…wobbled…and finally crashed to the ground, dead. Eddward released the breath he was holding and broke the trance everyone was in. The whole room burst into shouts and applause. Even the loosing players from Lemon Brook were celebrating!

Kevin whooped and picked Double D up in the air and twirled him around! Both boys laughed ecstatically. Nat jumped onto Kevin's back, causing him to tumble to the floor still holding the dork. They heard Ed shout, "DOG PILE!" and were then crushed by the whole Peach Creek team. Kevin did his best to keep the small boy under him from getting flattened and yelled at everyone to get off.

Eddward looked up into Kevin's eyes and smiled his brightest smile and Kevin couldn't hold back his answering grin. The jock reached up and flicked Edd on the nose one more time and softly said, "You're awesome, man."