It’s that time again this week! 😄 Here’s the newest chapter for the DisplacEdd AU fic, and you can read all of the previous parts here!
As Future Edd finally uncovers Tord’s hidden lab, he finally starts to achieve one of his ‘plans’ to save this timeline. Perhaps everything isn’t doomed, unlike his original timeline…..
*shump!*
Although it wasn’t that much of a large drop, the force in which Future Edd is deposited out of the glass chute into the cockpit’s seat was still quite forceful. He lets out a bit of a groan, as his body’s internals try to readjust itself after the impact. The addition of his steadily growing migraine and nosebleed combo isn’t helping him much either, as Future Edd struggles to refocus his vision.
While sitting in the chair of the mech’s opened cockpit, he still rubs the sides of his head and temples, moaning faintly in genuine pain.
It certainly won’t subside for some time, but at least his plan is going smoothly for now.
As Future Edd’s aching body and slightly blurred vision seem to finally settle, he looks around his new surroundings. It was a bit of a cramped cockpit, as Tord’s old mech wasn’t that large, well, at least in comparison to what he’ll end up making later on in his life.
Ugh, I’m STILL bleeding….. I don’t think my hoodie’s dark green color can help hide these stains, the more and more I bleed on myself….. well, I can begin to destroy the mech though so that’s a win at least……
As Future Edd begins to look around for the first time in the dimly lit and confined space, he first notices that suspended via mechanical arms in front of the exposed cockpit, was a large grey roll cage. It looked as if it was almost ready to be properly installed within the cockpit, but instead was just left waiting, probably waiting for a certain someone to come back and to finally install it.
Future Edd scoffs, realizing that even with that sense of foresight, Tord never could’ve imagined that the mech will be pierced by Tom’s beloved harpoon, with it instantly shredding everything apart by a subsequent explosion, thus making the safety provided by the roll cage worthless.
If only any of these metal beams and pipes actually went through and killed him upon impact, instead of just mutilating his already horrid face……
The cockpit’s windscreen was left open, due to the fact that Future Edd didn’t press the activation button, thus the mech itself is still left in a sleep mode-like state. He leans forward, peering over the control panel of the mech, to get a sense of how high up is he, in comparison to the floor.
It’s a sizable drop. One that would easily shatter the legs of anyone foolish enough to jump directly from the cockpit, straight down to the concrete floor.
I hope he installed a ladder in this thing.
As Future Edd leans back into the seat, he finally takes a proper gander at the mech’s control panel. It looked way too simple for such a weapon of mass destruction to be controlled with, as it barely consisted of some random buttons. To each of his sides were some simple looking levers as well, which felt somewhat rudimentary to control such a massive mech with.
Granted, at least the control panel in front of him was bolted to a singular metal plate, which meant that destroying the most critical internal wiring in this mech would be an easy job for Future Edd to do.
Without hesitation, Future Edd punches one upper corner of the control panel, immediately denting it so severely that the metal looks as crumpled as a crushed tin can.
At least my ‘normal’ strength isn’t tied to my powers. I should definitely find a random screwdriver to keep on myself through, as that could’ve been kinda helpful in this very moment. Whatever, it’s not like this mech is gonna stay in pristine condition for long.
As Future Edd begins to tug on the crumpled side of the control panel’s cover, some wires immediately began to spring out of it, as if they were all sloppily rushed to be placed inside of the console. Of course, they were all colored red, just in various shades to differentiate from each other.
After tugging on it for a tiny bit, still wincing in pain as his combined migraine and nosebleed lingers, Future Edd tears off the panel’s covering, throwing it forwards out of the cockpit, as it loudly clattered against the room’s floor. Now all that lay before him is a cluster of bundled up wires, with some loose ones in the mix as well.
It really doesn’t matter what wire does what. He just wants them ALL gone.
With his face in a stern yet dedicated look, he ravenously starts tearing the wires out with his bare hands, not even stopping to consider if this is a possible electrocution hazard. Even so, the hypothetical risk of being shocked to death still feels like it’s worth it in his eyes.
There’s the occasional stray spark as he continues to shred through the wires, but it doesn’t deter Future Edd at all. After just a few minutes, the control panel’s insides are completely hollow, with the little few remains that are still in there, being the now-ruptured ends of the longer lengths of wire that are threaded throughout the mech itself.
Future Edd shifts in the seat for a bit, trying to readjust his feet in place, as they’re now covered in a mass of torn wires and some random bolts and screws as well. He promptly closes his eyes and leans back, letting out an elongated exhale.
For once in a very incredibly long time for him, it was a genuine sigh of relief.
I did it. I ACTUALLY did it. The mech is now non-operational. Hopefully. All I need to do next is to start dismantling some of the external metal panels and internal weapon parts to be EXTRA sure, but even so…… without it’s control panel being operational, this mech is dead in the water.
As echoey silence bleeds into the vast underground room, a small tear begins to wells up in the corner of Future Edd’s left eye.
This is good. Tord can’t hurt Edd and his friends with this mech anymore. The house won’t be destroyed. Edd won’t be destroyed. I won’t…… well, too little too late. It doesn’t matter anymore. Nothing Tord does now will matter. If I can render his mech useless, I can render his entire existence to be useless next.
Future Edd’s mouth begins to curl into a smirk, seemingly proud at both his current achievement and what will be the next phase in his grand plan to stop his future from occurring within this timeline. He was utterly hopeless and out of luck in his original timeline, so to at least have some sort of ‘positive’ impact in the one he’s been displaced into….. Future Edd now doesn’t feel like he shouldn’t even exist as much as he used to, at least.
As he cracks his eyes open, he briefly swipes at the small singular tear in the corner of his eye, with the sleeve of his blood stained hoodie.
Yeesh, I really need to throw this thing into the laundry immediately before Edd notices. I don’t want him to be fretting over me so goddamn much, and I especially don’t want him to see my nasty tainted blood either.
While his nosebleed has slowly begun to subside, the annoying migraine still lingers. He rubs the sides of his head yet again, before beginning to look side-to-side for a possible exit. If there was one way that could’ve been activated from the control panel, it was now long gone.
In the midst of looking through, a small glint of something catches his weary eyes.
Sticking out from one of the unknown purpose panels on the sides of the cockpit, a small picture has been taped to it. Out of curiosity, Future Edd tears it off, as the poor lighting in the room had obscured what was printed on it.
His breath hitches, as it’s himself with Tord.
Well, back when they were both youthful.
Future Edd stares at it, looking at his past self standing alongside with Tord. He cannot remember the exact context of the two of them in this snapshot of the past, other than they’re both wearing some winter gear and were covered in snow, as if they were pelting each other with snowballs.
Tord’s face is beaming with a massive smile, with his diastema on full display, which was incredibly rare for him to do, as Edd always known that Tord was a bit shamed to have a noticeable tooth gap. Edd’s gleeful looking face on the other hand was slightly flushed pink, as if he was laughing his ass off at whatever the two of them did at that moment.
The two of them were waving at the camera, as the picture was probably taken by Tom, since he’s always been a a bit of a shutterbug, even as a preteen.
Future Edd just stares at the picture in his grasp, as the uneasy silence within the massive room grows.
Where did it all go wrong?
A part of him wanted to immediately shred the picture into a trillion pieces, or to set it ablaze with his laser vision. Another part of him wanted to leave it in the mech, acting as if it never existed.
He places it within the front pocket of his hoodie.
I need to leave. Now.
Future Edd swallows some spit in his mouth, before proceeding to leap out of the front of the exposed cockpit, as he pushed himself against the pilot’s chair for some extra momentum.
Normally a fall from this height would immediately injure or flat out kill any other individual, but considering what Future Edd has been through, this was nothing. He had actually aimed for a loading arm that was positioned directly against the torso of the mech, as it was possibly what was holding it up in the first place. He spotted this loading arm earlier, as the uninstalled cockpit’s roll cage has been rigged above it.
Future Edd’s body slams heavily against the loading arm, as his chest flares up in pain from the impact. Even so, this sense of relatively mild pain was better than immediately crashing down against the concrete floor itself.
He slowly shifts his weight around, using his abnormal strength to firmly brace himself the sides of the upper half of the loading arm, up until he finally hit some massive cables that threaded down the back side of the arm, all the way into the floor itself.
Honestly, a fall from this height wouldn’t be lethal at all to him, but the possibility of accidentally knocking himself out upon impact against the floor was a genuine concern. As Future Edd begins to descend against the incredibly wide metal cords of the loading arm, there is seemingly nothing going through his mind.
*thud*
As he finally sets his worn out shoes against the concrete floor, he looks upwards towards the cockpit of the surprisingly armless mech. He stares at it for a second or two, before carelessly stepping on some of the discarded wires he threw out from there.
He looks around the massive and bare room, trying to spot any sort of exit door or ladder to leave the nearly barren space. He finally spots two possible exits, with the first one being a massive ladder that’s been installed against one of the incredibly tall walls, which was also painted fully in red. A small sign that says ‘NØDINNGANG TIL LAB’ is posted next to it, as at this point in his life, Future Edd is very well aware of how to read Norwegian.
The second possible exit seems to be a mechanical loading platform, as implied by massive square shaped plate installed into the floor, alongside it being traced by yellow and black caution tape. ‘LASTINGSFASE I BAKGRUNNEN’ is spray painted onto the flooring surrounding it, and there’s yet another small podium with a large red button upon it.
There MUST be a way I can access this loading platform from outside. I can possibly use this as a ‘entrance’ instead, so I don’t need to always wait to sneak back into Tom’s room…..
He proceeds to make way to the ladder leading to the lab, as the room is soon filled with the audible thumps and clangs of his hands and shoes, being heavily placed against each rung of the ladder.
I’ll begin to dismantle it piece by piece another day, once I figure out that alternate way to get in….. It shouldn’t take long to do so. Totally.
As Future Edd makes his way up toward the ceiling of the hidden room, a closed emergency hatch is above his head. He places a hand against it, and it effortlessly swings open, revealing the stark white lights of the lab he was formerly in. He pulls himself upward, making sure not to accidentally fall off the ladder at the very last second.
He turns to close the hatch, before stretching his back as it felt a bit strained while he climbed, and it cracks quite loudly.
The emergency hatch had placed him in a far corner of the lab, as everything in it looks the exact same way as it should be, including the chute’s hatch he tore open, still being there.
Note to self, get a piece of spare plywood or something to cover that up, so I don’t accidentally fall into it the next time.
Future Edd clasps his hands together, promptly rubbing them before proceeding to step out of the formerly hidden lab. As his shoes cross over from the incredibly cold hard tile floor into the comforting embrace of his old house’s red carpet, he turns his attention to the niche that held the lever that once concealed Tord’s lab out of their sight.
He firmly places his hand against it and pulls it upwards, as the faux wall began to stir in motion, suddenly revealing itself again to hide the lab once more.
Future Edd then turns his attention to the picture frames that he left along the bedroom floor, as he proceeds in placing them back in their proper order, still making sure not to accidentally pull the nail that held both frames against the wall.
It’s like as if Tom’s room wasn’t disturbed in the first place.
As Future Edd steps towards the bedroom door to unlock it, he looks back at the entirety of the room, making sure that nothing looks as if it was moved into an incorrect spot or position.
Eh, Tom should be absolutely trashed tonight, I doubt he’ll be wary about ‘somebody’ rummaging through his things. If not, I can just say he’s not thinking clearly.
——————————————
The living room was still left in the dark, as the only current source of light within it was from the TV, with it playing their movie’s DVD menu on loop, as the film had finished playing quite some time ago.
Future Edd begins to faintly smile, once seeing that Edd is still soundly asleep on the sofa, even wrapping himself further in his ‘blanket’.
As Edd’s future self stands there, he begins to clean up the living room table, as their dinner’s scraps were left lying around. He dumps most of it into the takeaway bag they received it in, just keeping the cola cans out of it, as the two of them genuinely do recycle their cola cans, whenever possible.
Future Edd tosses their dinner’s trash into the kitchen’s large trash bin, before shuffling into the laundry room. He makes sure to wipe the last traces of blood that was still stuck to his face onto his hoodie, alongside removing the photo from the front pocket and moved it to his pant’s front pocket, before placing the bloodied hoodie into Edd’s laundry basket. He’s banking entirely on the fact that Edd usually just throws his clothes without usual care into the washing machine, as he does not want him to see how suddenly bloody his future self’s hoodie has become.
Wait, I should just do the laundry myself tomorrow so he doesn’t see all of this blood. Edd can perceive it as me being open to do shores in the house and that I’m not mooching off of him too much?….. yeah, yeah that could work.
Future Edd makes his way back into the living room, as he immediately grabs the TV’s remote and ejects the DVD, moving in a meticulously slow enough manner to not accidentally startle Edd awake with his noise.
As the player spits out the DVD, he gently clicks it back into it’s respective DVD case, before proceeding to place it and all of the other scattered DVD and VHS cases, back underneath the TV’s cabinet.
Maybe we can see The Thing next time? Or maybe Shawn of the Dead, that’s a really good one. Hm, I’d like to get a strawberry Cornetto to eat while watching it, that would be nice…..
As Future Edd squats by the TV’s cabinet to finish slowly placing all of Edd’s movie collection back into place, he turns his head to double-check the clock on the wall in the room. It’s only been about two hours or so, so Tom and Matt should be returning soon.
Future Edd knows he could’ve been in the lab for way longer, but he simply didn’t want to test his luck and mill around for way too long, as he knows things usually don’t go his way anymore.
That, and the picture definitely fazed him.
Upon the completion of cleaning up the small mess that the two of them made earlier, he plops his weary self onto the red recliner, as he begins to stare at his sleeping younger self.
He really does look quite cute when he’s sleeping, aww……. Wait, WHY am I thinking this? I think I need more painkillers.
Future Edd leans back in the recliner, feeling compelled to continue staring at his younger self, until his eyes start to become heavy.
———————————
As the night slowly marched on, Edd’s roommates had finally made their way back home, by making their presence known by slamming the indoor entryway door to the garage open.
“wwEEEE’REEEE!!! *hic* HOme!!!~”, a deeply drunken Tom blurts out, as he is gripping onto dear life against Matt.
“SHUSH. It’s already past midnight…. *hic* BLEGH, I can’t believe you convinced me to have some of that wretched slop you call a ‘pint’….. it was so foul!”
“HEH HEH YEAH!! G-goT anyyyyy lefffttt?…”
Matt looks down at Tom with a stern look, before his face begins to crack into a goofy looking smile.
Against all odds, looks like Matt got partially swept up in wonderful chaos of the ska concert as well.
As the two of them shuffle slowly out of the hallway that leads into the living room, they’re both giggling non-stop in the process.
Matt’s the first to notice the sleeping duo in the living room though, as his face begins to droop in mild confusion.
“T-tom, shut up!…. Don’t wake them up, especially since we almost got caught earlier, alright?…..”
“HUH?”
With his final tone deaf outburst, a lightly sleeping Future Edd violently jerks awake, nearly falling out of the recliner as he gasps in terror.
His eyes wildly dart all along the darkened room, before landing on two shadowy figures in front of him, across the living room table.
Without a word, he launches himself forward and tackles the two intruders, as the three of them all loudly squeal in equal parts of confusion and fear.
Edd, of course, is still sleeping soundly on the sofa.
“GET OFF EDWARD!!!! IT’S US, IT’S US!!!”, a petrified Matt shrills out, as Tom is just too drunk to process what’s going on, other than that he’s on the floor and is being pinned down.
“MATT?!!?! Oh, oh shit.”
Future Edd quickly removes himself from the past versions of former friends, as Tom and Matt are still splayed amongst the carpet.
“Is….. is this what Edd felt like when you tackled him before? Ooogghhhh my ribs…”, Matt says, as he wraps his arms around his chest.
Tom now looks like he’s on the verge of passing out there on the spot, as he begins to dig his face into the fabric of the carpet, as if it was a blanket.
“Get up, the BOTH of you.”, Future Edd spits out, but not loud enough to wake Edd up, even though he should’ve been startled already.
Future Edd picks the both of them by their scruffs of their necks, before dragging them to their respective rooms. He plants the slightly tipsy Matt at the bottom of the staircase leading to his attic bedroom, while he opened up and tossed an instantly sleeping Tom into his bedroom.
Can we not have a MOMENT of silence in this house?!? Well, at least I can see that they enjoyed themselves….. I’ll leave Edd alone as well, he really deserves the rest.
As Future Edd’s simmering internalized rage dies down as he walks into his bedroom, he falls face first into his bed.
Well at least the first phase of my ‘plan’ is over. Now, will I be fortunate enough to still be here to finish the rest? I guess it’s up to time and reality itself to decide……
He faintly shudders at the thought of fading out of existence for today’s actions before being lulled back into his burdened sleep, ignoring how the picture he placed into his pant’s front pocket is slowly digging into his sides.
germansingergirl
areudirty
jacobvanloon
2087
blakekathryn
prguitarman
romaincrisis
janainaart
vaporwave
