Chapter Text
As Jonny was reeking of decreased sanity, spying on the Cul-De-Sac that had FINALLY accepted the Eds as one of them, he had no idea of what had happened to make it so. After that long trip to chase down and practically kill the Eds, everybody had a change of heart, thanks to the Eds changing. Double D had finally shown the courage and willingness to put aside his logic to stand up for Eddy, despite knowing it was a terrible idea, and he was repaid with a completely unwarranted beating, one that even Sarah and the Kankers didn't like. Ed, despite acting beyond stupid, and was generally unhelpful beyond belief, managed to show that he wasn't all brawn and no brain by pulling a pin that Eddy was pulling on to stop his brother from beating him anymore. And Eddy... Eddy had the most humbling moment. After seeing everybody, even Kevin, try to protect him from his brother, only succeeding thanks to Ed, he finally showed his true colors. Admitting that everything he had EVER said about his brother was a lie, making things up so people would like him and think he was cool. Sure, he was wrong to do that, but at least he recognized it. And for that, Ed, Edd, and Eddy were FINALLY one of the kids of the Cul-De-Sac.
But Jonny... if only he had gotten there a few minutes sooner, he would've learned the truth, and it would've changed everything. He wouldn't have ever needed to take the beating from the other kids, either! But his timing was off, and it rendered his attempt at justice against the Eds useless and moot. His heroic ways destroyed, his faith in the others shattered, he had retreated in the "Melon Cave", giving an insane laugh as his battered form looked back at his only true "friend".
"This is your CRAZIEST plan ever, Plank! We'll show THEM!" He said.
Then, a moment of silence as Jonny "listened" to Plank "speak".
"They DID, didn't they?!"
Another silence for Jonny's attention towards Plank.
"Yeeaaaaaaaas! The goody-goody- two-shoes days of Captain Melonhead and Splinter HAVE come to an end! From the darkness will rise... the villainous days of The Gourd, and his evil cohort Timber the Dark Shard!"
Jonny donned a hollowed out gourd for his face, making his "transformation" complete, approaching Plank as he aided in changing his "friend" to the dark side as well.
"Together! We shall exact revenge on the ENTIRE CUL! DE! SAC!"
Jonny shared a maniacal laugh, declaring his darker side the most dominant, not knowing that he was being watched by a monkey walking out to him. He stopped laughing, noticing he wasn't alone, but focusing his attention to Plank "telling" him something.
"What? We're gonna have a hard time doing that without an orignal character?" He asked as Plank "said" something else.
"We're going to a war zone in a huge crossover story?! WHAT crossover story?"
The monkey cleared his throat, getting Jonny's attention. Plank "noticed", too.
"Who goes there?! Who DARES to interrupt The Gourd and his cohort in crime, Timber the Dark Shard?!" He shouted.
"I... am just a lab monkey. Name's Chris Moldenhauer, not relation to that other monkey, Brock Moldenhauer." Said Chris.
Jonny just glared at Chris in confusion.
"Oh. So you don't know. Okay, so here's the thing..."
Chris told Jonny 2 x 4 about the looming threat of the bloons coming to Peach Creek, and that he needed his help to activate conduits.
"What the heck are conduits?!" Asked Jonny.
"Basically, they're people with superpowers because of a gene that gives them superpowers." Replied Chris.
"Wowza! That's so cool!"
"Yeah! And you know what's even cooler?! You're ONE of them!"
"Holy toledo! Do ya hear that, Plank?! I'm gonna get superpowers!"
"Whoa whoa whoa there, kid! You can't get those powers just YET! First, I need to recreate something called a 'Ray Sphere'."
"What the heck is THAT?!"
"It's what'll give you your powers, that's what it is!"
"Oh, boy! Now I can use them against the entire Cul-De-Sac when I get them!"
"Wait! Against people?! That's insane! That's unethical!"
"Uh... no, not against the OTHER kids! Against those bloons you mentioned!"
Jonny laughed nervously, trying to pretend he wasn't planning to skewer the others.
"Oh. Good! In that case, I just need to head back home, get some materials, head BACK here, and then start building it! Once we build this Ray Sphere, we'll be able to save this world! Everybody wins!"
"... Yes... EVERYBODY wins! But Looks like ya better hurry, big guy! They could get here eventually, right?!"
"By my calculations, in about 3 years approximately. More accurately, two years, seven months, and couple of days."
"Wowzers! Can ya believe it, Plank?! I mean, Timber?! We're gonna have SUPERPOWERS!"
"Yes, it's a wonderful thing to be able to use your gifts to help your fellow man. Now, excuse me; I need to go grab my materials."
"Not a problem!"
Jonny let out Chris, and the monkey doctor went right to his homeland through a teleporter.
It seemed to only take a few minutes, but he actually took hours to get all of his materials needed. He grabbed several phase crystals (energized and inert), multiple power inverters, plenty of scrap metal, many tools to perform the necessary work, blueprints for the Ray Sphere, an unstable source of Doom Energy sealed within 2 things named "power blops" and "bloonstones", and multiple other things to ensure the recreation of the Ray Sphere.
Jonny was quick to help the unsuspecting doctor, masking his true desire to take on the entire Cul-De-Sac out of revenge. No hesitation was present as the two got to work.
Much testing was done to see whether it would work or not, but it seemed that in all cases, the energy drained from the power blops and bloonstones and transplanted into the inert phase crystals turned them a jade green, priming them to place inside a center for the Ray Sphere. Sometimes, it worked, sometimes it failed, other times, it backfired. In all cases, a lot of trial and error had occurred from a distance.
Then came the day two years and six months after Chris had first came to Peach Creek. The Eds and kids were growing up and somewhat more friendly with each other. Ed had gotten some glasses, despite him still acting dumb (but not quite as much as he used to), Eddy became less nasty towards people except in self defense, and Double D had grown somewhat more of a backbone. Overall, the Eds were actually enjoying their new status of acceptance.
"Perfect. It's finally ready!" Said Chris.
"I'll say! Who would've thought two and a half years was all it took to finally make this thing work?!" Said Jonny.
"Our efforts were all worth it, sir. Now, the time has come to aid in the fight against the bloons! Find as many conduits as you can, and activate them with this Ray Sphere. The fight to protect this world has only just begun. And not a moment too soon. Peach Creek will be invaded any second now, and we'll need all and any conduit on our side to fight back!"
Chris handed Jonny the Ray Sphere, and Jonny gave off a crazed, malicious grin, finally having the power to take revenge on the Cul- De-Sac. He left with the Ray Sphere, but not without taking Plank with him to "witness" this momentous day. He laughed as he made his way outside, and Chris had a moment to himself, having finally had a strange feeling that he had ignored until now.
"Why do I feel like I just made a terrible mistake?" He asked himself aloud.
"Is that kid hiding something that I should've been more aware of?"