Chapter Text
It all began where you'd least expect it; with Henry.
Henry used to be a young, adventurous, goofy fellow with the curse of both recklessness and clumsiness. Though despite all the misfortunes he had faced, he continued his jolly, confident attitude, always wearing that signature smile on his face, baring the dreams of a future tennis champion. But, why does any of this matter? Why should we care about Henry? He didn't really stand out much compared to his fellow neighbors and the remaining town citizens. Well, you would be right. You see; unlike Edd, his friends and or the others, Henry wasn't any different from your typical 'average Joe'. He worked as a simple cashier at a grocery store and often seemed to miss out on everything. He didn't face anything unusual, he didn't do anything unusual, he was always just..there. Not very significant to the main four or anyone, really. Almost as if he was just part of the background, a prop waiting for someone to interact with. Not that he mind it though; he was pretty content with his 'plain' little life despite it coming off as boring sometimes, which makes up for the irony of this whole story. Today was gonna be like any other for Henry, yet, his aforementioned recklessness would turn things around harshly. A mistake that would cause the unavoidable doom to the whole town. A mistake that could've been easily prevented.
-
It was 9 o'clock, a fine, sunny Sunday morning. Henry, now awoken by the sound of a screeching alarm clock, got up, ready to start the day; he was rather content with the fact that he had nothing important to do that day. After his regular morning routine, he slowly walked up to the living room, taking the prepared bowl of cereal with him, just so he could sit on the couch, grab a remote from the table next to him and put on his favorite TV show. He also grabbed a book while he was at it, peacefully reading through each page whilst the TV served as a soothing background noise. It was a perfect way to start this, so far fine and peaceful, day. From his window, he could see the neighborhood welcoming him with all the bright colors and the warm sunshine surrounded by today's cloudless sky. Almost as if it was asking him to peek outside and take a nice, relaxing walk in the park. Of course, Henry couldn't resist the idea of stepping out for a bit; it would be a waste to stay inside when it's such a beautiful day. And so; Henry finished his breakfast, placed the now empty bowl into the washing machine, put on his favorite light teal shirt and grayish tan jeans before he ran off to go outside. Like always, he locked his door before heading past the neighborhood. All of this was bringing him such a good mood that he pretty much greeted everyone with that big smile on his face. Not everybody returned the happy smile to him though; for instance, he just so happened to pass by Mark, who was about to head home with the groceries, showing a large smile on his face while waving at him. As the only response, Mark had ended up staring at him with confusion, not that he knew the guy anyways.
-1-
This whole day seemed to put Henry in a much brighter place so far. So much so that he thought he could do things differently today. He danced his way near the park, like originally intended, except he wasn't planning on stopping by this time. He then proceeded to take a strong turn as he continued walking past it instead with the intention to find a new pathway to explore or maybe even a new shortcut. He kept walking through streets he rarely put a foot in, hoping he wouldn't end up getting lost in any of them. He was continuously bumping into places he'd encountered at least once 'til eventually, finally, he faced a new, very unknown area; a pretty distant area that just seemed unnoticed for the most part. It was what seemed to be a small abandoned field practically located in the 'nowhere' side of his town. Or at least what he thought was an abandoned field judging by not only the fact that nobody was in or near it, but also its horrendous unkempt state. Its general empty, grayish appearance really stood out from all the other, more colorful streets in the area. "No wonder people don't put a foot in there!'' Henry thought out loud, "This place looks awful!". Yet, it sorta fascinated him in a way; Deep down, Henry always had a soft spot for abandoned empty places, it's a nice way to turn off from the world sometimes. "But you know what?" Henry kept on talking to himself as he shrugged his shoulders and continued walking further,
"I kinda love it."
As he got farther from the entrance, he began to feel a little uneasy, as if the place was abandoned for a certain reason; not a good one at that. He couldn't really put a finger on it, but there was something oddly unwelcoming about that place, as if there was someone, or something, watching him and did not seem to enjoy his presence in the slightest. He eventually found out that the field wasn't as large as it seemed and was actually an entrance to a forest, a dark, ominous looking forest full of tall, straight, naked trees. And, to make things even worse, it was completely silent. There were no sounds of chirping birds, not even a single wheeze of wind passing by, despite the fact he could feel its chilling presence creeping up on his skin. It almost felt like entering the void.
-2-
"Eheh-..No wonder no one comes here.." The young ginger chuckled nervously, trying to make his situation somewhat easier. However, logical thinking soon began to battle with curiosity as Henry started considering if he should continue exploring or leave for the greater good. He did want to see something new after all, but is it really worth a shot? Maybe it really is just an abandoned area and there's nothing more to it. Maybe. Or maybe it is the other way around and it's something Henry should definitely see for himself. If so, what if this is the one and only chance he'll get to see it? Should he risk it for whatever's on the other side? Is there even any 'other side' back there? So many questions, yet none with a clear answer. And so, Henry stood there considering for a few seconds, perhaps a whole minute, before making his final decision. He turned his back against the forest, ready to leave. But, as he got closer to the park's entrance, his naturally strong curiosity got the best of him and he ran all the way back to the forest. He stood there for a while before taking a deep breath and said with all the gathered mix of courage and confidence;
"Get it together, Henry! You don't get a chance like this everyday!"
And just like that, he ran in without a second thought. Though to his surprise, the forest seemed less sinister the second he stepped inside. It almost felt peaceful in a way, comforting even. But none of this lasted long as Henry's determination started fading away with the sudden realization he got pretty far from the park, alone. He began to regret his choice. It's not like he was lost though, he was holding onto the only pathway there was to make sure he wouldn't take the wrong way. Well, if you could call it a 'pathway'; It was barely visible and Henry had to try his best to hold onto it through how dark the forest was. After several minutes, maybe even a whole hour, of aimlessly walking through what seemed like an incredibly large forest, he finally found the end of it. It was...nothing out of the ordinary, just a road with all the cars passing by. Henry felt a little disappointed yet relieved at the same time. As mysterious as the whole place felt like, it really was nothing more than just a shortcut to a roadway. Disappointing, but satisfying. Or so he thought.
-
Henry was about to turn around and finally head home, but, thanks to his clumsiness, he gets his foot stuck in a tree root, trips and slams his body onto the ground. Though, to his unpleasant surprise, he didn't feel the softness of the dirt nor moss. No, he felt something way harder than that. He would think it was just a tree branch or some sort of a stone, but it was none of the two. Below him there laid a wooden door; a door that seemed to be hiding whatever was on the other side, probably some kind of basement as he assumed. Hell, the door itself was hidden in all the dirt, Henry wouldn't even notice if he hadn't tripped over that root.
"Aha! Now we're talkin'!"
Henry's child-like wonder squeaked in excitement as he tried to open the door. The door was surprisingly pretty heavy, so much so that he'd believe it was locked. That was until, after his last, strongest attempt to open it, the door finally let loose with such force causing the little man to hit the ground once more.
-3-
After a second or two, he decided to peek and see what's hiding down there. All he could see were stairs leading down a dark path, each stair getting darker and darker until they could no longer be seen from out there. Because of this, Henry had to pick up his cellphone to turn his flashlight on. He hesitated for a bit before he audibly swallowed his remaining fears, carefully walking down the stairs with the flashlight helping him see what's in front of him. Soon, as he got lower and lower, the cellphone's light was the only light source and the only thing Henry had encountered so far were the stone walls covered in mold and spiderwebs accompanied by that abhorrent wet moldy smell. Yet, despite how unwelcoming and eerie it was, Henry still had enough courage to finally see whatever's down there. Finally, his foot had touched the last stair causing him to finally reach the end of the entrance. He found himself in a short, thin hallway with what seemed to be a tint of red light radiating from the upcoming room. At first, Henry hesitated if he should go any further, but then again, he got so far, It would be a shame for him to just turn back and miss out. And besides, the light itself seemed so oddly inviting; almost as if it was just asking, no, begging him to come and take a closer look.
-
So, he managed to walk some more just to inspect it. The closer he went, the clearer everything got, the whole room getting brighter as well to the point he didn't even need the flashlight anymore. And, finally, after everything he'd faced so far, he got into what seemed to be an old, wrecked basement. Black mold and moss were growing, overlapping each other on the cold, stone walls. Old dusty books, torn off papers and demolished wood pieces were scattered all over the place as well as the remains of said paper seemed to be torn off the walls as well. But the one thing that instantly caught his eye was the room's one and only light source.
Not so far from him, there was an hourglass, or what he thought was an hourglass, placed on a large, black, wooden stand at the corner of the room, treating itself as some sort of an artifact. Though the strong red glow coming from it was strange enough, upon closer inspection, Henry noticed this wasn't your average hourglass at all; instead of sand grains laying at the bottom side, like hourglasses usually supposed to have, it was some sort of black, runny goo just carelessly floating around, like it would in a lava lamp, except much smoother and slower than an actual lava lamp could. It was all so fascinating to watch. Could this be an abandoned museum of some sort? If so, where are the other artifacts? And how come no one had even mentioned the place? He was born near it, surely at least one of his family members would mention it at least once, right? Whatever the case may be, he had to see it for himself and find out how this thing even works. Once he got close enough, he slowly put his shaky hand near it. Not knowing what's about to happen, he'd waited for any kind of reaction; nothing happened. He decided to give it a gentle touch with the top of his index finger before wrapping it between his fingers; still nothing. His hands stopped shaking and his trust towards the object grew a little stronger as he was finally able to quickly grab it and hold it in his hands for a while. He then proceeded to longingly stare into the flowing black goo surrounded by the bright red light; he obviously never saw anything like this before. It sure was weird, but not as weird as it was comforting. Just how warm the light felt, the way the goo flew in all the different directions it was allowed to go...It was all so hypnotizing..
..So....
..peaceful.
"Heheh..worth it!-" Henry mumbles, still taken away by its mysterious, yet calming nature. But of course, this nice moment couldn't last long. That would just be too easy, wouldn't it?
-4-
As he stood there, still holding the hourglass, a few images flashed in front of his eyes; the first being nearly unrecognizable, a chaotic order of black and white scribbles to be exact. The second being..his hometown, except it seemed wracked, abandoned, more cold and distant than it ever was before. The third being dozens of red eyeballs staring back at him followed by the fourth, last and the worst image, it was Henry; his skin so pale it was nearly white as a paper sheet. His eyes soulless pitch black, leaking black substance, potentially blood. The same substance was leaking from his mouth. He showed no expression whatsoever, yet you could still see the pain in those empty void-like eyes. This 'vision' caused Henry to yelp and jump in fear, quickly stepping back. While doing so, he lost his balance causing him to roughly hit the ground once again, followed by a sudden
C R A C K !
He dropped it.
It all happened so quickly, he just sat there, with no time to process any of it. Until he finally came to his senses and realized what he had done; the hourglass-...or whatever it was, was almost completely destroyed. The bright light faded away and the black liquid was no longer kept inside, absorbing all the smaller pieces of the glass. Almost immediately the red light began to shine again, except this time it wasn't as inviting as it was when Henry first got there; it was much brighter and felt more aggressive as if the human was its target. Once it started spreading across the floor towards him, Henry's body didn't even hesitate to quickly turn around and run as fast as he could to get back up there. Once he managed to desperately crawl up the stairs, he continued running away, leaving both the forest and the 'park', dashing towards his hometown. He did everything so recklessly that he forgot to close the basement door.
-5-
"Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit!"
Henry's mind continuously screamed as his body kept on running, trying to get him as far from that thing as he could, though his mind was just as confused as it was horrified from whatever happened back there. His distracting thoughts were cut short for a while, however as he harshly stopped himself to witness the chaos that was the current state of his neighborhood. He could see the two, completely wrecked homes smoking hopelessly into the air, two men mourning the loss of their third friend and the remaining three staring silently at the sky, watching a giant red robot getting blown to bits. The sight was the last straw for Henry's fragile mind at the moment, evoking panic;
"AARGH DAMMIT! I JUST WANNA GO HOME!!"
The now desperate little man screamed out before carelessly running past the three, bumping into both Edd and Tom in the process, not a single 'sorry' coming from him. All they could do was look at him back wearing displeased confusion on their faces, questioning why he's in such a hurry. They didn't have the time to process that though, as the large chunks of grayish clouds began forming in the sky, merging together to create a one, massive, charcoal black cloud covering all of their surroundings in shadows. Matt was the first one to notice such an anomaly, pointing at the sky whilst whimpering out a shaky; "Uhm-..Guys..??" The remaining two decided to join their now worried friend, helplessly staring at the large cloud, which continued spreading across the sky, letting out a deep, intimidating thunder. "..What is this now??" Edd yelled out, more desperate than anything at that point. "I don't know, but we definitely shouldn't stay here any longer..!" Tom answered, showing as much worry in his tone. As soon as he did so, he could feel more than one raindrop falling on his face, followed by a heavy rainstorm almost immediately. By that point, the trio quickly ran off to get themselves into a drier area.
-6-