Question: I was awakened last night to a thump on my front door. When I turned the knob, I found none other than my close friend Dmitri! Before I could begin to inquire what he needed at this late hour, he uttered this nonsense:

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> Eggs rotting, guns shooting: I smell hell!  
> 
>  Let's not eat the crust's abundant; it's toxic when pure!  
> 
>  Everyone knows how to buy a Coke (in 1944)!  
> 
>  Map-making Vespucci says his name's been misspoken!   
> 
>  Evil (quite Great) awaits red-headed hero (from Texas???)!  
> 
>  Newsflash: young male's fall ends years of strife!   
> 
>  Take charge, keep your eye on the battery!   
> 
>  Sooth us with something from Lawrence's Noiseless!
> 
> 
> 

I scarcely had time to write down this moonlit lunacy before he strolled away without so much as a wink or a nod! I'm certain my friend is trying to tell me something, but my Encyclopedia collection was recently stolen!

**What word was my friend trying to convey, and why did he visit at such a late hour??**

Answer: 
As @IanMacDonald pointed out in a comment,

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>  The first letters of each line spell out ELEMENTS. We can see that each line describes a chemical element. Combine their symbols.
> 
> 
> 

Eggs rotting, guns shooting: I smell hell!

> 
>  Sulfur (straightforward) -> S
> 
> 
> 

Let's not eat the crust's abundant; it's toxic when pure!

> 
>  Oxygen, the earth's crust's most abundant element -> O
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> 
> 

Everyone knows how to buy a Coke (in 1944)!

> 
>  During WWII, American nickels were make made from Manganese -> Mn
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> 
> 

Map-making Vespucci says his name's been misspoken! 

> 
>  Amerigo Vespucci gave his name to America, which gave its name to Americium -> Am
> 
> 
> 

Evil (quite Great) awaits red-headed hero (from Texas???)!

> 
>  The red-headed hero (from Texas???) refers to Leeloo (Dallas), the Fifth Element, i.e. Boron -> B
> 
> 
> 

Newsflash: young male's fall ends years of strife! 

> 
>  The atomic bomb "Little Boy" helped end WWII. Uranium -> U
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> 
> 

Take charge, keep your eye on the battery! 

> 
>  charge + "eye on" (ion) + battery = Lithium -> Li
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> 
> 

Sooth us with something from Lawrence's Noiseless!

> 
>  Googling brought me Bill Lawrence's Noiseless guitar pickups, made from Samarium -> Sm
> 
> 
> 

Together, they spell

> 
>  SOMNAMBULISM, i.e. sleep-walking.
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> 
>
Each line seems to refer to some element(s):

Eggs rotting, guns shooting: I smell hell!

> 
>  Things that smell like Sulfur (S)
> 
> 
> 

Let's not eat the crust's abundant; it's toxic when pure!

> 
>  Oxygen is the most abundant element in the Earth's crust, toxic in high enough concentrations (O)
> 
> 
> 

Everyone knows how to buy a Coke (in 1944)!

> 
>  Coke cost a nickel for 70 years (Ni)
> 
> 
> 

Map-making Vespucci says his name's been misspoken! 

> 
>  Americium is named after America, which is named after Amerigo (Vespucci) (Am)
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> 
> 

Evil (quite Great) awaits red-headed hero (from Texas???)!

> 
>  No clue, all I can find is about a centipede...
> 
> 
> 

Newsflash: young male's fall ends years of strife!

> 
>  Humpty Dumpty brought all the king's men together; his shell is made of Calcium (Ca)
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> 
> 

Take charge, keep your eye on the battery! 

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>  Lithium rechargeable batteries (Li)
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> 
> 

Sooth us with something from Lawrence's Noiseless!

> 
>  Cobalt-Samarium noiseless pickups (Co/Sm)
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> 
> 

All together, I have:

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>  "Son I am...calicosm"
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> 
> 

Clearly not there yet, but kind of stuck.