Author's Notes: I know that I've been trying to do this story for about, three times, but this time I have actual help. So this time, I'm going back to my original idea. Only this time, it's Cartoon Network that's at war with itself. It's new school vs. old school in a fan-fic of epic proportions... or at least inside 36 chapters at the most... or maybe 9 or 10,000 words per chapter. Listen: to those out there who are obviously going to start attacking about this, I like some of the new shows. The idea is just an excuse for a civil war. Anyway, as to be expected, the stars of this story are most definitely going to be about the Eds, and another member of the cul-de-sac and others of various other shows.

As for the whole fighting part of the series...well, excuse any references to FF or other RPGs, but one thing that is certain is this: it is influenced by Kingdom Hearts. It has elements similar to it but remember: THIS IS NOT A KINGDOM HEARTS/EEnE CROSS-OVER! So, without further ado, I give you the first chapter of Cartoon Underground.

Chapter 1: Evicted

The morning sun rose slowly over the horizon, its warm rays bathing over the darkened land. As its reach spread, it was suddenly reflected harshly back at it. As the glare slowly calmed, the visage of a magnificent city came into view. Tall towers of steel and glass loomed over sleek black, paved streets dotted with traffic lights and vegetation. Dozens of shops littered the streets as signs slowly turned over, readying themselves for what they hoped to be a busy and profitable day. Before long, the town itself began to stir and was so a buzz with activity from its happy, blissful citizens. Such a peaceful, picturesque city... One would never suspect it was built from the spoils of war.

Yes. This city, this paradise, had been ripped from the hands of its rightful owners. Left to live out their lives far away from the place they had once known as home. How all of these events had fallen into place was all due to the unforgiving march of progress. Because of it, the humble city of the Confederation of Nations had slowly, but noticeably, swelled in size as more and more citizens flocked to the ever growing city, bringing with them all the burdens they had in their own worlds. As the city expanded to accommodate the rising needs of its citizens, and so did the tension between them. First it was simple, one-sided arguments and small brawls between two citizens. Soon this escaladed into street fights between rival groups, resulting in property damage and numerous injuries. Finally, the newer, more advanced generation made their move against the older generation. In no time, their superior technology had won them not only a war, but also a city. New Metropolis: a city built over the sacrifices of the older generation and stripped from their homeland.

But our story lies far away from the bright, glorious city; instead our story takes us to the doorstep of an ordinary house in a small cul-de-sac. While the city was already starting to buzz and blare loudly, the neighborhood was still with light tweets of morning birds and the gentle swaying of leaves in the breeze. Inside one of the many uniform houses was a boy, lazily sleeping atop his perfectly made bed. Yes, this boy was indeed 'special'. Not only did he possess an amazing intelligence for someone his age, but he also held a high regard for order, authority, and everything else a boy his age would normally be trying their hardest to disrupt. But what really separated him from others was the fact that he had a vast understanding of the complex and sympatric relationship between technology and magic, which was explicitly banned by the New Metropolis Council.

Magic, as they put it, was the craft of naives and inherently inferior to all works of technology and thus, was beneath the citizens. But the real reason for such a strict and forceful law was that they were afraid of it. They feared the pure power such a craft held and thus made sure that any citizens that dared to defy it be severely punished. The boy, known by his associates as Double D for the dual letters in his name, held high admiration for the law and would never dare to disobey them... But the law never said anything about studying it.

The loud call of the alarm slowly woke the boy, who tiredly planted his hand on the clock and ceased its insistent ringing. Gripping the nightcap over his head, the boy groaned lightly as his eyes lazily read the numbers on the clock.

"8:15," he grumbled under his breath. "That's unusually late for me."

He normally would have been deep into a pseudo-metaphysical debate over the properties of astral energies when applied to theories of the sub-conscience. Nodding off the tempting call of sleep, he made his way out of bed and towards his closet. Stepping onto the weight-activate pads beneath his feet, the door whooshed open and revealed a neat layout of hygienic clothes. Picking out what he needed, the boy made his way out of his room and towards the door clearly marked "Bathroom" in bold letters on a label. Minutes later, he emerged fully clothed in his signature outfit of tropical orange shirt and purple shorts with red socks. Walking back into his room and locking the door, he carefully plucked a book from the book self and stared intensely into the black pages. Giving his paranoid eye sweep across his room, he focused and, in a hushed whisper, cast a spell.

"Focal Lens."

Suddenly, the black pages ruffled in a breeze, revealing a gorgeous array of images and words. A small voice in the back of his head, clearly his morals, snapped at this action and pestered him with the endurance of a yapping dog. His reasoning soon snapped back with an even and reasonable tone. Sure, he had broken the law by using this spell, which he learned from a small handbook with the basic spells any mage needed, but that law only clearly enforced offensive and defensive spells. A simple Learning spell such as this couldn't possible be considered dangerous. With his morals pacified, the boy gave a small smile.

Time to get to work!

Back in the city, the streets were now alive and well with citizens and patrons, some marching off to work while others while wondered about the concrete pathways. One pair in particular was walking eagerly towards their next destination. At least one was.

"Come on, Cap'n! It's just around the corner!" yelled the smaller citizen.

The citizen was a young boy with bright blonde hair with a white, sailor's hat perched precariously to the side. He wore a red and white striped shirt with blue leotards that completed covered him down to his feet and a green scarf wrapped snuggly around his neck. His rosy cheeks brightened as he smiled merrily at the man behind him. The man was certainly different. He had a blue complexion all over his face and ended at the base of his neck where it met his less then fit physique. But what was even stranger was the fact that every other part of his body was made of wood. His hands were dull, wooden claws and his legs were thin sticks, which strangely seemed to support his entire weight. His attire consisted of a red hat with pointed edges with a matching jacket and orange and dingy white striped undershirt.

"And it'll be there when we get there," the man retorted, pulling out a flask of maple syrup and took a swig.

"But Cap'n! We have to hurry or we'll be late for work!" the boy reasoned.

"... Don't remind me," the man groaned, taking yet another gulp of syrup.

As the two came around the corner, they met with a long strip, stores lining every inch. However, their attention was directed at one store in particular, trimmed in red and white swirls of peppermint with a clear, glass door. "The Candy Barrel", written in bright red letters with two peppermint sticks crossing in a coat of arms fashion, stood in front of them. Simply being there made the boy giggle in glee and dance lightly in place, eager to have the familiar taste of sweetness upon his tongue. Grunting behind him, the man walked passed and pushed open the door. The small sound of a bell rung faintly ran across the room as they entered into the establishment.

Small, round wooden tables littered the room as four seat booths lined up against the wall. A large barrel was planted in the middle of the room, dozens of glass mugs covered the shelves as well as an assortment of candy filled barrels jetted from the larger one. Truth be told, this was in actually the second of the Candy Barrels shops and it was easy to tell from the many different patrons that sat, laughed, and chatted about the room. Walking up to the corner, the boy and his Captain took a seat in front of the bartender. Upon hearing the familiar squeak of the seats, the bartender turned and smiled at the two. The man was tall with brown hair wearing a white and red striped shirt with blue pants and a green smock. His thick-rimmed glasses covered his eyes, which were now fixed on the two.

"Well hello, Flapjack!" he said happily. "... K'nuckles."

"Hey Larry," the captain, K'nuckles, replied. "Give us the usual!"

"Mmm-hmm..." Larry said with a knowing leer.

He turned behind himself and quickly grabbed two mugs. He briefly held them under the faucet of the first two barrels and turned them on, filling them to the brim. The two stared at the mugs as he set them down and quickly reached for them…

... only for Larry to pull them just out of reach.

"And would your usual also include not having money?" he asked with a sly smile.

"We've do too have money!" K'nuckles yelled, slamming his fist on the corner.

"But Cap'n, we spent it all yesterday on your hat," Flapjack remarked, remembering how the old one had been devoured by a strange rabid, creature.

"Shut up Flap," the man whispered, before turning back to Larry. "Just put it on our tab!"

"Your tab was due two months ago!" Larry screamed. "And until you pay back every pence, I don't wanna see your faces again!"

"Oh yeah? Who's gonna make us?" K'nuckles asked confidently.

Larry briefly stared at him before snapping his fingers. Almost instantly, a large man rose from behind the two, grabbing their shoulders. This made the two look up slowly before grinning nervously and gulping. Seconds later, the two were propelled out of the store and onto the hard pavement of the street. Flapjack groaned and rubbed his hand against his head, body slightly numbed from the experience. Looking next to him, he saw that his captain was also up, cursing at the store and angrily shaking his fist. A small beeping noise caught Flap's attention and turned to the small black watch on his wrist, the alarm signally the fast approaching time of two O' clock.

"Cap'n! We need to go! Or the boss'll be mad at us!" Flapjack yelled, pointing to his watch.

"...Yeah, yeah," K'nuckles grumbled and followed the lad off to work.

Knock.

Double D briefly looked up from his studies and looked around the room. He knew that even if he was technically wasn'tdoing anything wrong, it wouldn't be easy to explain it to the people who kept it. Slowly, he returned back to his studies, which at the moment included the application of Fire-elements to standard engines. In theory, if one managed to seal in the right combination of Fire spells, the thermal output when combined with a various number of gases would allow for an exceptional increase in momentum. The problem was that the force of such a powerful discharge ran the risk of destroying its container, thus endangering the driver and anything within the immediate vicinity. He tapped his pencil lightly against his ski cap, thinking over the process to see if he can think of a way to overcome this problem.

"Maybe if I used a metal with a strong heat conductance," he said mused, jotting down several notes on the matter.

"Or maybe a super cooled substance to counter the thermal output…" He jots down some more notes. "But that might interfere with the Fire's ability to generate heat, thus decreasing the maximum continual thrust. Perhaps if I were use steel engraved with Wind Seals, to act as a heat converter and could power other functions such as Temperature control, Shield generators, and Navigationaldevices. I should make a Prototype to test this theory-"

Knock.

Double D's thoughts are once again broken as he hears the knock ring clearly into his ears. Waving his hand over the book, he re-casts Focal Lens and shelved the book. Slowly, he walked towards the front door.

Knock. Knock.

As the knock rang out again, Double D couldn't help but feel a tinge of fear in the back of his mind. Every time he hears those knocks, he always feared it be a soldier there, weapons armed and ready to take him away. He shook his head. He knew that anytime he thought this, it was always one of his friends, waiting impatiently at the door so that they could begin their latest scam. Of course, no matter how well planned or thought out this scams were, they always ended in the same way: the local kids would always end up chasing them, catching them and beating them up. He smiled at this thought as he neared the end of the hallway.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Coming!" Edd shouted politely as he descended the stairs.

As he neared the door, he prepped his most sincere greeting face and fixed his posture. He then opened the door and smiled.

"Good day! And how may I-" he couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence.

Standing in front of him was a man, somewhere in his mid-twenties, clad in dull bronze and red trimmed armor with a red suit underneath. His chest had a strange, round plate in the center with visage of a red raven engraved in solid, blood red. His hair was jet black and his deep, crimson eyes reflected not an ounce of compassion as he stared at the child in front of him.

"Eddward of Peach creek?" he asked in a blunt, professional voice.

Double D nodded slowly. The then quickly reached into his pocket and revealed a folded piece of paper. He them unfolded it and cleared his throat.

"Mister Eddward, as the representative of Peach Creek, it seems only appropriate that you be the first to receive the news," he started before reading. "Dear residents of Peach Creek, as of yesterday, at the refurbishing of the New Metropolis Qualification for Citizen Contract we reviewed all cases of borderline citizenship, including yours. We are sorry to inform you that at 2:35 p.m., your citizenship was revoked. We wish you the best of luck in your search for another home. Sincerely, the City Council."

Double D was speechless. He'd always envisioned this fear whenever he was deep within his studies, but to experience it was another thing entirely. It was far more frightening then he could ever have imagined it. Never had he felt so afraid, so numb, and so fearful. He must have stood there for some time because the man had snapped his fingers to regain his attention.

"As with standard Evictions, you have twenty-four hours to pack your belongings before we are forced to physically evict you. You are allotted a small moving team for your heavier objects, which is to be returned immediately upon completion. Any permanent objects such as statues or in-ground equipment are to be left behind. If you have any other questions or concerns-" the soldier stated from memory.

"Hey! Let go!" a loud voice shouted.

The two turned to see the sight of a boy wrestling against another soldier. The boy was wearing yellow bowling shirt with purple trimmed sleeves and collar with a red stripe down the right side. Blue pants and red shoes made up the rest of his clothing and his three black strands if hair stood high as he growled in anger. The boy yanked himself away the moment he saw Double D in front of the soldier.

"What the heck's going on here!" the short boy yelled.

On cue, other children also started to emerge from their houses, some by themselves while others had the escort of a soldier. The children all stared at the three; all looking confused and worried for their lives. One of them, a tall boy wearing a green jacket with a red and white under-shirt and dark blue pants, ran towards his friends, only to be stopped by a pair of soldiers. The soldier with the two boys, obviously the leader of group, turned towards the mass of children and spoke.

"All of your citizenship to New Metropolis has been revoked. You are hereby order to leave within twenty-four hours before we are forced to remove you ourselves," the soldier stated.

It was to no surprise that the kids all immediately let out a series of gasps. They were just as scared as Double D had been when he had heard the news, although they all didn't understand the full impact of the situation. Eviction was quite possibly the worse thing that could ever happen to a member of the older generation. It meant not only did they lose citizenship, but they also lost any say they might have had in what happened in the city. Shops closed, houses were foreclosed, and land was paved over to make way for more expansions to the city. But worse still was the fate of those evicted is that.

Some were lucky and were taken in by some citizen. Most, however, weren't nearly as lucky. They were forced to either work for the military or a work camp where they're forced to build upon the very land that was taken from them. As this possiblity ran through his head, Double D noticed that his short friend was now inches away from the leader's face.

"Look here, whoever you are. We've been here for forever and we're gonna keep being here! You hot a problem with that?" Eddy yelled, pointing a finger at the man.

"Sir, I'd advised you to back away before I'm forced to act in self-defense," the soldier growled lowly, grinding his teeth.

"Shut up! I'd like to see you tr-" and before Eddy could, finish he was thrown onto the ground.

The tall boy panicked and attempted to run towards his friend before two clicks of twin rifles stopped him dead in his tracks. The short boy groaned until the sudden presence of a boot knocked the wind right out of him. The leader sneered at the boy beneath his feet, applying more pressure and was rewarded with a deep shout of pain.

"Eddy! Please, Sir! We'll corporate! Just let him go!" Double D shouted

"I would..." the soldier faced suddenly contorted to a menacing leer, "but this kid needs to be taught his place! Because last time I checked, we won the war, not you! If there's anything I hate more that anything else is dogs that don't know when to sit down!"

At this, he rose his foot and slammed it into Eddy's backside, who coughed roughly as a result. The kids all now started to shout, yelling for the man to stop harassing the poor boy. They fell on deaf ears as when they replanted his boot into the boy. After another series of kicks, the man finally stopped.

"I guess you should all thank him," he said, darkly sweeping his crimson eyes about. "Because you now have One Hour to move off the premise before you are forcibly removed! And you better pray I don't find you here when I get back."

A snap of his fingers and he and his men vanished, most likely through some form of teleportation. All that was left now was silence and all eyes, even those of the beaten Eddy, fell on Double D. All he could do was stare, completely at a lost as to how to deal with this situation.

"I hate my life," came from K'nuckles muttered to himself.

The reason for his statement was solely due to his job:Sanitation Officer, which was a fancy way of saying Clean-up Crew. It was the only job he and his boy could get, with their limited experience and lack of physical strengths. But the job wasn't all bad. It allowed them chances to go to a great number of places that they'd never been to before and showed them just how vast the world was. And he was sure that somewhere out there was the fabled Candied Island. He'd been searching for it his entire life, always coming up short in his pursuit of it. But now he knew why: it wasn't in his world! It had to be somewhere out here and he'd be the one to find it.

"Hey!" an angry voice screamed on the ground.

K'nuckles looked down to see the form of a walking gumball machine, wearing a bright orange and yellow vest over himself. The man had his most furious glare fixed squarely on the Captain.

"Yeah, Boss?" K'nuckles called from atop the high structure he was working on.

"That's Mr. Benson to you!" the man screamed. "And you should be glad I didn't fire you for being late today!"

"Yeah, yeah," the captain retorted before returning himself to his work.

… Or rather relax, while Flapjack does his share of work. The lad had proven himself to be incredibly gullible and being eager to become a full-fledged adventurer didn't exactly help either. All it took was the promise to become an adventurer more quickly and the boy went straight to working his arms off. But something about the lad today seemed off. He wasn't working nearly as fast as he normally would and his normal annoying, up beat humming was nowhere to be found. Raising an eyebrow in concerned curiosity, he lightly tapped the boy's shoulder.

"Uh Flap, are you all right?"

No response.

"Hey, Flap."

He looked over his shoulder and saw that the boy was mopping up a splotch of a dried, red liquid: blood. He could only yet out a sigh before Flapjack finally spoke back to him.

"This was where they fought..." fear made his tender voice quivered, "... isn't it Cap'n?"

"... Boy, I don't see why you're getting so worked up. It ain't our problem anymore," he said and placed the wooden hand on Flap's shoulder.

"BUT IT'S WRONG!" Flapjack shouted, voice hoarse with anger.

"Why do we have to fight at all? All they wanted was to have their land back and look what we did! We hurt them and tortured them and made them feel worthless! I can't keep pretending that it didn't happen and I know I'm not strong enough to do anything..." the boy's words wavered as tears threaded at the boarder of his eyes. "… I miss Bubbie."

"Look Flap, we can't do anything about the war, but the least we can do is make sure we don't do anything to help it," K'nuckles said, placing his arm around the boy "Besides, how are we suppose ta find Candied Island if you break down every time you see something about the war?"

Flapjack only looked at him briefly before reburying his head into the arms. The captain sighed before a sly smile formed on his face.

"How about this? After work, I'll take you to go get some candy ta cheer you up," he said with a smile.

"But Peppermint Larry banned us from the Candy Barrel."

"There's more than one way to get candy in this town Flap my boy!" the captain declared proudly.

And with that, Flapjack's mood instantly brightens, as it always did whenever there was the promise of candy. True, he may have second guessed his captain on several things, but if there's one thing the blue faced man knew how to do, it was finding candy. Wiping the tears from his eyes, the boy went back to his work, vigorously scrubbing away at the crusted life fluid before jovially humming a joyful tune to himself... which of course, annoyed his captain.

Click went the suitcase as it snapped shut as it held in the mountain of supplies inside. The smart Ed quickly went over his mental check-list: clothes, books, loufa, some spare hats, label maker, disinfectant, goggles, plenty of bug spray, sticky notes, extra pencils, pencil sharpener, note pad and his trusted magnifying glass. Making sure that all was accounted for, he slung the items over his shoulders and headed out the door.

Once out of the house, he found that the others had left for the entrance and quickly followed suit. After a quick walk, the boy found himself in the mass of kids, all looking back at there home.

"Hey! What took ya?" Eddy asked loudly, gripping his backpack tighter around his person.

"I just needed a few minutes to gather my things. It was so hard to say good-bye to all my precious things but I could only carry so much with my limited strength," the smart Ed explained.

He turned back and stared deeply at the home he had so recently departed. All the memories he and his friends spent in the house easily brought mist to his eyes. He was not by any means alone either. All the kids were holding back tears, save the fragile Jimmy, who at the moment was pouring his heart out into his friend's shoulder.

"...No point wasting tears over what's done, I propose," Double D announced as he wiped tears from his eyes. "We best be off. I wouldn't want to invoke the wrath of that soldier from before."

Eddy growled lowly at the memory of the man, his wounds flaring up as he clenched them. Bidding the cul-de-sac one final farewell, the group was off into the city.

OOO

It took all of two hours before the group dispersed into four. When they had reached the city, Johnny, the local 'nature boy', had taken it upon himself and his good friend Plank, a piece of 2x4, to look for shelter in the unforgiving city. Seconds after he vanished from view, Kevin, Rolf, and Nazz had volunteered themselves to also look for shelter (not exactly trusting the boy to come back). Sarah and Jimmy were also off after the promise of toys and sweets drew them towards the pulsing beat of the leisure section of the city. Which only left Ed, Edd and Eddy, leaving them in the middle of the sidewalk, with no clue as to what to do next.

"Come on boys! This place is ripe with pigeons and I have just the scam that'll pull 'em in!" Eddy wrung his hands greedily.

"I don't think we should push our luck, Eddy. Remember that we already have one citizen enraged at us," Double D reasoned.

"Killjoy," Eddy huffed before the three started their trek through the large city. Five minutes later, they were utterly lost.

It was only natural. They had never been to the city that often before it was turned in New Metropolis and the new layout of the city made it impossible for their limited and out-dated knowledge to serve in any way to help out. Edd scratched his head as he tried to read the map he had bought from a rather shady character, Eddy gripped his head in aggravation as shouted to himself, and Ed happily jogged around chasing a butterfly.

"I can't believe we're lost!" Eddy shouted to the heavens.

His voice echoed off the concrete structures as bits and pieces rolled down and land into a pile in front of him. It was at this time that the trio finally took the moment to get a good look at the area around them.

Shoddy, concrete buildings decorated with wooden boards and cement replaced the gleaming towers of steel. The streets were filled with debris and the scent of decay lay thick in the air. Trash was scattered and the far off sounds of violence rang in their ears. It was blatantly apparent from the darkened sky that this was definitely not the New Metropolis they'd seen every morning.

"It would appear that we're in Backwater District," Double D commented as he read the map.

Looking around, Eddy found that it was appropriately named. The place gave the district the feeling that he was being watched... and that he could be mugged at any given moment. They took a step backwards when the crush of glass caught everyone's attention.

"Well, well, well," a voice said in a slight accent. "Looky what we've got here."

Out of the shadows stepped a lanky teen with a brown, tattered vest slung over his shoulder under a faded white T-shirt. Ruined pants stopped just short of his ankles and a dusty cap sat at an angle on his head. The messy black hair on his head hung over deep brown eyes that stared menacingly at the boys.

"Well... Hello there, good fellow. My name is Eddward but you can-" Double D's attempt to break the ice was met with a hard push to the ground.

"What's your problem?" Eddy said, helping his friend up. "If you want a fight, I'll give ya one!"

The teen huffed and snapped his fingers. Suddenly, eyes appeared from every nook and cranny of the ruined area. Slowly, they moved from the shadows to the less-than-perfect-light; revealing kids of various ages carrying homemade weapons of wood. Eddy's confidence drained from him in an instant and he walked back into the circle with his friends.

"Now, here's the thing," the teen announced and strolled up to the Ed. "This town ain't big enough for every punk like you who thinks he can just show up and own the place."

"But weren't trying to-"

"Quiet! Now here's how'd it is gonna go down: we're gonna rough ya up a bit, take ya stuff, and then you're gonna thank us for leaving you intact," suddenly the group of ruffians moved closer around them. "Oh, and feel free to scream. No one around here much cares anyway."

And like dogs set free from their leash, they lunged at the Ed boys; who screamed at the top of their lungs at the mob approached. After what seemed like an eternity, the Eds opened their eye to see that a yellow, triangular shield had been placed between them and the mob now crowded on its surface. A quick blast of green and red energy sent them scattering as a figure stepped in front of the shield.

She was wearing a green sweater with an orange collar and waists zipped up with a pair of green and white pants. Fiery orange hair hung slightly over one as its frizzy texture swayed in a gust of wind. The girl gripped the weapon in her hands tighter and narrowed her gaze.

"I don't know who you are, but no one makes me look like a fool! Get her!" the teen ordered.

The kids all rushed at the girl and she tensed her muscles in response. As soon as they were close, she quickly threw up another shield and aimed her gun at the crowded screen. She squeezed the trigger and an explosion of energy sent them flying across the area. A kid approached from the side, but she dodged and round kicked the lad in the face.

The trio simply watched, speechless, as the girl single-handily laid waste to the mob of ruffians. Within seconds, the last ruffian had fallen, groans and moans filling the air. The teen glared at the girl and gritted his teeth. No way was he gonna lose to a kid, especially some red headed girl!

"You little brat!" he yelled and picked up a steel pole from the ground.

He raised it high a swung at the girl and missed. He swung again and missed once more, anger fueling his blows as he recklessly threw blow after blow. When he tried to jab at the girl, she twisted and grabbed his arm. He let go of the pole in pain and the girl planted her shoe size into the teens face. He fell backwards and collapsed on the ground, unconscious.

With a flick of her wrist, the shield fell and the boys looked on at her with wonder filled eyes. Never had they'd seen such a display of power; never had Double D seen a person cast a shield so effortlessly and maintain it while simultaneously fighting off opponents. The girl gave the boys a look before returning her gaze to the downed ruffian.

"Bloody teenager," she said and gripped her sweater back in place.

"Um...thank you, Miss?" the smart Ed said to get her attention.

"Numbah 86. I came here because my superior told me some new recruits were in the area," she gave the boys a look over before giving a groan. "They never told me they'd be a bunch of stoopid boys."

"Hey, who're you calling stupid!" Eddy roared.

"Now, now. Miss… 86, who is this superior you speak of? And better yet, where'd you come from and how'd you learn that powerful defensive spell?" Double D's curiosity had over-whelmed him.

A loud crash sounded in the distance, yells and jeers not too far behind.

"Not here. We need to get someplace safe first." the girl quickly ran off down the street.

Not wasting time, the Eds followed her until they stopped behind her. As they peered over her shoulder, they saw only a circular manhole in the middle of the street. She then bent down and scooped the metal lid into her hand, dragging it across the pavement. Double D squinted his eyes and hoped that she wasn't going to propose what he was thinking she'd-

"Get in."

The boy let out an auditable groan as he ran his hands over his head. He simply detested filth and here he was about to go down into a sewer! He'd needed hours of rigorous cleaning to ever feel even halfway decent again after this.

"Hurry up."

Edd opened his eyes to see Numbah 86 pointing impatiently at the open hole in the ground. Gulping, he slowly walked to the hole before descending down a ladder inside. It was only a few short seconds later before the sharp scrap extinguished all light as the lid fell back into place. Double D closed his eyes once more, nervously twitching as he made his way down the rusty ladder praying to himself that it wouldn't suddenly give way and he'd be sent hurling to his death.

After a few agonizing minutes, the boy was startled as his foot hit the ground. Opening his eyes, the boy was greeted to his two friends staring breathlessly at the visage of a massive structure in the distance. The smart Ed could only stand there, slack jawed, at the sight before him. Numbah 86 fell to the ground, turned, and smiled at the boys' shocked expressions.

"Welcome," she said and waved her arm grandiosely out before him "to The Underground."

Author's Notes: Lots of thanks to Private Corp for being my beta reader. New chapter to be out...well, whenever I guess. TTFN!