#god why is posting things so nerve wrecking. aaaaaaaaa

[anything-that-isnt-nails]

Uhhh Kryptonite AU? I guess?

Never really expected to actually have enough (non self-insert) AU ideas to actually write any of them down but I’m actually lowkey kind of proud of this. So uh here it is!! This entire thing is inspired by the song Kryptonite by 3 doors down which I heard and went ‘oh I remember this song. I wonder if I could PowerEdd AU this song’. And OH BOY CAN I!! It’s 3AM when I’m writing this in my notes app and apparently I have a lot of ideas.

This sat in my notes app for weeks until I mentioned it on @minkshame ‘s post (as they also had it on the love square playlist) and she said they wanted to see it! So thanks for giving me the push to actually put it out there! (Side note omg cool eddsworld person noticed me? Be cool, be cool. Uhhhhhh Spare Changes is really really good I love it). AU ideas under the cut because it’s kind of long! Featuring cliche lyric inserts because I can! I think this could be viewed as romantic or platonic EddTord. Had romance more in mind but sometimes you do have that absolutely insane bond with a best friend yknow? Attraction is weird. Anyway here goes!

So Future AU with Tord as Red Leader. Edd, as PowerEdd, has been the figurehead of the rebellion against the Red Army ever since he made his first appearance. No one watching him knows that this hero-villain rivalry is a lot more… personal.

After all, I knew it had to be something to do with you

When the Red Army was first making moves, Edd knew that Tord was behind it, and despite the giant robot incident still felt fairly conflicted about facing his ‘old friend’. He was tentatively okay with just pretending that Tord hadn’t existed after the robot incident, and his resurfacing led to the resurfacing of …feelings that Edd didn’t really know what to do with. Edd is able to put his feelings aside when fighting against Tord’s army mainly because he knows everyone else is suffering (and he needs his cola).

PowerEdd succeeds in defeating Red Leader… or at least in taking him down. The regime collapses when its leader suddenly goes missing after the destruction of Red Leader’s flagship combat robot. PowerEdd is largely viewed as responsible for this, and is even more of a hero than he already was to the rebellion. But what no one saw was PowerEdd pulling Tord from the wreckage of his robot, dragging him down to the one resistance base only he knew the location of, and trying to patch him up as best as he can.

Tord, of course, is baffled. Why is Edd, who he has been fighting against for the past however long, nursing him back to health? He’s don’t all this shit to him, to them, and Edd is at his side?! The radiation must have driven him crazy, because he certainly doesn’t deserve this. But he had to admit that it was nice being able to talk to Edd again. He hadn’t had someone talk to him as an equal since he became Red Leader, and certainly no one had taken care of him before. Of course, Tord tries to figure out a way to get back into power, but keeps getting distracted by Edd and his constant worrying.

Edd… Edd doesn’t know what he’s doing. Tord has tried to kill him and his friends multiple times, and may have succeeded, since Matt and Tom, originally serving under Tord, vanished some time before Tord was defeated (I’ll be honest I don’t know what to do with Matt and Tom here, but I think having them absent in some way would explain Edd’s mental state. Does Tord know what happened to them? Maybe, but he’s not telling). By all logic Edd should have blasted Tord away along with his robot. But some bizarre part of him is holding onto the hope that if he could just talk to Tord, just get through to him, they could reconcile and find Tom and Matt and things would be like old times. The past few months of battle had almost felt familiar to him, and if Tord felt that too, then maybe they could stay together this time. Maybe the radiation did make him nuts.

I really don’t mind what happens, now and then/As long as you’ll be my friend at the end

After the initial celebration after the downfall of the Red Army, the public realizes that Red Leader himself is still at large. Practical minds are alarmed at a dictator roaming free, while the rest of the public is angrier. To them, the regime only truly ends with Red Leader dead. PowerEdd, as the last person to see Red Leader alive, comes under a bit of scrutiny, but is mostly able to keep it under control. That is, until he’s spotted with Tord in civilian form after a badly-planned attempt to get him to a real doctor. Faced with the leftover weapons of the Red Army in the hands of new governments, Edd has no choice but to use his powers to get Tord (and himself, he supposes) back to safety.

If I go crazy then will you still call me Superman?

The public is outraged. Betrayed. Their hero, harboring the Red Leader? What had PowerEdd been fighting for? Hadn’t he saved lives? Had he been working for the Red Army the whole time? PowerEdd goes from beloved to hated in a very short time. Any appearances he makes, even doing the most stock-standard heroic things like saving people from a burning building, are met with scorn. Edd isn’t sure anymore if he’s the hero they need, but he’s certainly not the one they want.

Edd and Tord have run-ins with the law and the public more than once after this initial incident. Each time, Edd is fiercely protective of Tord, even as Tord regains his strength and is capable of defending himself. Tord has to admit that it’s nice having someone protect him of their own volition rather than because they’re following orders. Edd still doesn’t know why he’s doing this. Isn’t he supposed to be the hero? Surely this goes against everything he’s been doing up until this point? Tord is Edd’s personal Kryptonite, and the rest of the world is just going to have to deal with it.

I keep you by my side with my superhuman might, Kryptonite

And that’s about it!! I have no idea what I’d ever do with this AU considering I like cannot draw and haven’t written a fanfic since middle school but I felt like this was an actually cool idea that I wanted to put out in the world in some form!! At the very least maybe now you have something to think about if you ever listen to Kryptonite by 3 Doors Down. Great song btw.