Realms Adjoined 03

Ah, the first Saturday of Summer.  Peaceful serenity encompassed the Cul-de-Sac this morning, only a select few inhabitants of Peach Creek actually active at the moment…

…and, of course, one annoyed blonde.

Mandy took her time trying to find out where she was, realizing that Billy probably screwed up big time in what he did; knowing that they had better come find her, she took to walking near different paths and such, gathering some form of bearings.

With but a glance to the creek near the site, she ignored the trailer park in the distance and made her way down the sidewalk.  Eventually, she came to a playground, no one inhabiting it as of yet.

“So many pieces of equipment to play on,” she said, cutting through the playground, “and yet no one actually making use of it.  I guess everyone is still inside, either watching T.V. or still asleep…lazy bums.”

She continued to walk along the sidewalk after leaving the playground, passing the Lane on her right.  She soon noticed roofs from beyond the fences, a sign that there were indeed inhabitants in the area.  As she came to the end of the sidewalk, she stepped out into the middle of the street and took a look at the houses in the area.  The whole thing looked like a thermometer to her, and there was still no one to be seen since she got there.

“Suburban kids are supposed to be lively and carefree on the weekends,” she said softly, “isn’t there anyone to confirm that assumption?”

To her left, she heard a door open and close, someone finally coming outside into the morning.

“Once again, that was almost too predictable of a setup.”

She walked over to the kid that exited his house, taking note of his apparel as she did so:  a pair of purple shorts, a red T-Shirt, and some red socks that seemed to resemble stockings going into a pair of light blue shoes.  Upon his head was a black ski hat, the sides of which having two white lines on them.

“Ah, such a wonderful morning,” the boy said, looking up to the sky, arms held wide, yet to take notice of the girl approaching, “I wonder what recreations shall be partaken upon today?”

“If I had to guess, the foreshadowing of a denouement that has something to do with the two of us in the grand scheme of things.”

Shocked to know that someone had actually used a proper string of words that early in the morning, the boy looked in the direction of the speaker, finally taking note of Mandy.

“Oh, heheh, good morning.”

“Yeah, well, it’s a morning alright.”

“Hmm…I don’t remember seeing you around here before.  I take it that you’re a new resident of our nice community?”

“For as long as it’s gonna take, I assume.”

The boy already felt a tad bit uncomfortable about the mood that she was in.  Still, first impressions are what counts, and he wanted to give her the best impression of the neighborhood.

“Well, my name is Edd.   That’s spelled with two ‘D’s.  My friends call me Double D.”

“Quite clever of them.  Well, ‘Edd’, where exactly are these friends of yours?”

“Umm…well, I was just about to go find out myself.”

“Alright, then let’s go,” she said, taking a few steps ahead of him, “My name’s Mandy, by the way.”

“Oh…umm, nice to meet you…I guess I can show you around for a bit.”

With introductions out of the way, Double D started walking alongside Mandy, giving her a quick tour of the Cul-de-Sac as he headed for the house at the end of the enclosing.


*Meanwhile*


Location:  Charles Darwin Middle School

It was a break between classes as both Jake and Adam were heading to their lockers, still debating over a topic since earlier that day.

“I’m telling you, Jake, animals can be found just about anywhere, be it in a city or town,” Adam continued, opening his locker in the process, “they’re all over the place.”

Jake P. Spidermonkey used his tail to hang over Adam as he opened his own locker.

“Sure, you say that now,” Jake countered, “But you seem to forget that humans are running wild all over the streets too, even more so than we are.”

“It’s not that I’ve forgotten, it’s just that we aren’t as overrunning as you may think we are.”

“Oh, sure, and I bet those cities of your just happened to appear overnight too.”

“Look, Jake, it’s not as though we’re always moving in from one place to another; we do tend to stay in one place for quite a while before even considering going elsewhere.  To say that we’re always on the move in this day an age is about as absurd as another human popping up in this school right now.”

Just then, a multicolored flash appeared beside the two, a boy seeming to appear from out of nowhere now standing with them.

“Whoa!” he said, neon sparkles still emanating around him, “Psychadillyo!”

The two looked on at the boy before them, not knowing what to say.

“Hi, I’m Billy,” he began, “you don’t know me and I don’t know you but I’m lookin’ for a friend of mine and I thought that she’d be here…well, not here, but somewhere around here ‘cause I don’t know where ‘here’ is and I thought that she may be somewhere around here or there and what smells so founkay up in here?”

The two continued to look on, each of them speechless until Jake finally spoke up.

“Well now, it doesn’t look all that absurd right now, does it buddy boy?”

“Um, hi,” Adam began, “I’m Adam, and this is my friend, Jake.  I…don’t know who you might be looking for, but I’m the only human in this school.  If there were another human here, then I’d probably know about it by now.”

“Aww, nuts,” Billy said, snapping his fingers as he did so, “I guess I’ll just have to look elsewhere now.”

It was then that a second multicolored flash appeared beside Billy, a tall figure dressed in black standing behind him.

“You know,” the figure spoke, “you should really wait for me next time.  There’s no tellin’ where you were gonna end up if…”

He stopped momentarily, noticing his surroundings.  All of a sudden, animals from all around were starting to come out and look in his general direction.

“…uh oh.”

“Grim?” Billy questioned, “What’s wrong?”

“Yeah,” Adam asked, “why is everyone acting strange all of a…”

His sentence went unfinished…or, to be more specific, unheard.  At that very moment, an enormous uproar began emanating from the halls of the school.  Jake, along with his other friends, began to point and yell at Grim, all seeming both angered and afraid of him.  Both Billy and Adam had to hold their ears to try and drown out the uncontrollable racket.

“Grim!”  Billy yelled out, his voice barely being audible, “What’s goin’ on?!?”

“It’s dez animals, mon!  They have an innate ability to sense when I’m commin’, and they go nuts whenever I’m around!”

“Whaaaaat?!?”

“Nevermind!  I’ll explain later!”

Forming another portal with his scythe, Grim kicked Billy through it first before following shortly after.  When both were gone, all got quiet again, most of the animals going back to their business as though nothing had happened.

“What in the world was all of that for?” Adam asked, finally able to hear decently after smacking himself in the ears for a bit.

“Oh, that?  We creatures tend to have an innate ability to sense death, and that guy was DEFINITELY bad news.  He gave us all the willies.”

“The ‘willies’?  The ‘willies’ doesn’t do justice to all of the commotion everyone made.”

“You know Adam, this could start an entirely new conversation about how man brings death with him wherever he goes…but class is about to start; let’s go, before we’re late.”

It was at his very words that the bell rang, everyone going on to their next classes.  Adam looked around again, questioning the brief event that just took place.  Shaking his head in misunderstanding, he started off towards his next class.

“Man, I never seem to understand anything that goes on around here.”

And so, with one world down, Billy and Grim have many more to go.  And what of Edd and Mandy?  What possible exploits could they get into?

“Umm, Mandy, do you hear something?”

“Oh, him?  Don’t worry about it just yet, Edd.  He always makes himself more outspoken as he wraps things up.”

Do you have to do this every time?

“Hey, don’t try to pin the blame on me.  I’m just glad that I’m not the only one who knows that you’re here now.”

Well…anyway, make sure to stay attentive for the next chapter of:  Realms Adjoined.

“You know, Mandy, I’ve only known you but for a short time now, and it already seems as though things are getting much weirder than usual.”

“Keep in mind that this is just the beginning; you haven’t seen anything yet.”