future shenanigans | eddsworld

Chapter 1, From The Yellow House.

—What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck, —

To say Edd is panicking would be an understatement.

At first he didn't think too much about the red car. The model is way too common in England, in fact, he himself owns a car very similar to it – but when its owner stopped in front of his house and asked for his neighbour, it took him a whole minute to answer, having recognised the woman's grey eyes from somewhere else.

—Yeah. —why is he saying yes? —Yeah, no, I mean, no, he's not here. He's, uh, Mark, —should he say where to find him? —Green house. That one. —he points at it, —There. —

Alex looks to her side, nodding. She has finally found her goal. —Oh, okay, thanks. Have a good day. —

Her accent is terribly familiar and so is her hoodie, her hair, her car – oh, that car, it's only the sound of its gear that barely snaps Edd back to reality. Then, the voice of his housemate, too excited to have seen the interaction,

—Hey, Edd! —Matt grins, walking past the lobby. —The movie is about to start. Tom didn't want to come down, but I'm sure we can watch it without him! —

Oh, Matt. Edd smiles when the ginger looks at him momentarily. —Yeah, I'll be there in a second. Tell me whatever I miss. —

—Okay! —

God, Matt. Edd is thankful he didn't see the woman; last time the ginger saw a red hoodie, it triggered something inside he never thought possible. Matt doesn't remember anything about The End. He's lucky to forget. But Edd is pretty sure Matt can remember the red hoodie in a way the others cannot, in a way that makes him turn into the aggressive man he hasn't been for the past nine years.

Why can't Edd forget?

He has to make sure he's not hallucinating, though. Hopefully, he is. —Tom! —he calls out for the second housemate, starting to walk up the stairs, —Tom! Don't ignore me! —

The man's room is locked, but Edd has a spare key, saved for emergencies. This counts as an emergency, right? He opens it, too distracted to debate the answer.

Tom is tuning his bass, not even looking up when the door swings open. He's had a headache since he woke up and only music can help him ignore it. No outside light is entering the room, and water bottles are scattered around the floor, along with many other mystery items.

Sobering up has been rough. His therapist and Edd coerced him into it, and ever since, days have turned too long for his liking.

But the boys assure him he's doing a good job.

Edd stays quiet, and Tom frowns, —What's up? —

Maybe he has no words to explain himself, or maybe he thinks he's speaking when he's not. Tom is used to it. Edd sometimes isn't the best articulating his thoughts.

—Was the movie that bad? —Tom finally looks up, immediately noticing Edd's staring eyes and fidgety hands. —Is something wrong? —

—I don't know? —

After a second, Edd pulls Tom's arm, leaving the bass behind, and dragging him to the closest front window. In silence, he points at the neighbours house, and the red car parked right in front of it.

Tom doesn't know when he starts sweating.

The biggest con of sobering up is facing emotions he hasn't awknowleged since high school. Sure, most of his time he feels numb, too tired to even notice his thoughts - until he does.

He knows that red car. He hates that red car.

—What's he doing here? —

It barely comes out as a whisper, his hand subconsciously holding onto the ledge of the window.

Edd shrugs, —It's not him. —when Tom's nails start digging into his palm, Edd grabs his hand, keeping it inside his. —It's some girl. She asked for Mark. But she looks like him, like... Concerningly like him. —

—Relative? —Tom questions, starting to consider any way he could be connected to her, —A spy? Advanced robot? Transition? Hell, what if it's his girlfriend? —

Noticing Tom starting to ramble, Edd takes the cue to try to lighten his mood, —I don't think he gets those. —watching his friend scoff (his version of a chuckle), he lightly smiles. —But I don't know. Like, are we sure that's his car? Maybe it's just the same model? All a coincidence? I don't know-—

Edd didn't want Tom to panic. Edd made Tom worry. Now Edd is regretting showing him his own panic.

—Look at the plate. —Tom mutters.

NØR5K1

—Oh. —

That license plate is unforgettable, unfortunately. That's his car, his plate, and a woman with his looks, showing up to what used to be his street, too, interacting with the people he interacted with.

Maybe they should panic, thinks Edd.

Through their neighbours' window, they can see a discussion. There's movement. They can hear some faint shouts. Then, the neighbours move to another room, and a door is slam shut – their front door.

The woman walks back to her car and throws the hoodie into the backseat. Instead of entering the vehicle, she stands outside, leaning her body on it.

—What the fuck? —is only a whisper.

When they see Matt leave their own home and walk up to the girl, waving, they run out of the room in a record-breaking time.