Return
Summary: On a visit, Fi discovers that she has to save her family and her destiny from an evil Mary Sue…Annie.
A/N: 'K, when watching some Annie episodes on Youtube, the "Detention" episode, I realized that Annie is totally a cannon-Sue. She's perky, pretty, has a great singing voice, and everyone in the group likes her right away, to the point where Molly doesn't hesitate to call her a surrogate daughter. She also has an open mind about the paranormal. It just seems like Annie has no trouble swooping in and replacing Fi and has a "how can you not like me?" attitude about her. With Fi, "So Weird" was a show about a girl who researched the paranormal. With Annie, it was about how a girl kept running into strange things. For Fi, you could see the passion there…for Annie, she just went with the flow. Not to mention that she's "traveled all over the world and her parents are in a foreign country" – classic example of a Mary Sue "interesting/tragic past."
But what cinched it for me was when Annie made her own flute in the "Detention" episode, and played it expertly even though she never did before. Come on! Who does that?
Yeah, I realize that probably only like two people will read this rant…
"… and then everyone remembered me again!" Annie exclaimed.
Seated cross-legged on Annie's bed with her laptop in her lap, Fi barely looked up as she replied, "Oh, yeah that's really weird, Annie."
It wasn't that Fi had lost all interest in the paranormal. Even though she'd given away her gift of sight, she'd still retained some of her old interests. Her room in Seattle was adorned with alien stuffed dolls and spooky wallpaper. So why was she struggling to stay awake through Annie's stories?
Because the blonde was so boring.
When she first met Annie, Fi had liked her. She seemed nice and cool enough. But then, now that Fi was visiting a year later, she found that Annie bored her. The stories about the supernatural were all about how Annie dealt with it, how she managed to save the day at the last minute every time. After the initial run in with the supernatural was explained, Fi lost interest fast.
Noticing Fi's lack of intrigue, Annie decided to ask, "So, how's Seattle?"
"Different. It took some time to get used to regular school again, but I managed to make some friends," Fi answered. She tried to look at Annie while she talked, but the information on website design she'd found was distracting her. "Maggie and Miranda are like the little sisters I never had…"
"Uh huh, that's great. I've got to go practice a song with Molly now, but you can fill in all the details later, okay?" Annie asked. She was out the door before Fi could answer.
Fi shook her head and leaned back on a poster of a panther tacked on Annie's wall. There was that twinge of jealousy again. Fi wasn't a jealous person, but she couldn't ignore the way Annie fit in so easily with her family…better than Fi ever could. She knew that she'd aggravated her mother, and everyone around her, more often than not with her need for information about her father and the paranormal. She'd figured that was the way things were…paranormal curiosity always caused some friction.
But then she'd seen Annie. Here was another girl who loved the supernatural, yet…she fit in so well. Of course it helped that she had a great singing voice. And a peppy, optimistic demeanor that Fi couldn't compete with.
There's something off about that girl…Fi thought suddenly. It wasn't just the panther spirit that protected Annie. There was something…else, something not right. No one was that perfect.
While she'd given up her sight, Fi still had some pretty good instincts. And those instincts were warning her like crazy.
Typing in the address of a search engine, Fi went to her old website. She didn't update it anymore, so she'd handed control over to some of her most frequent visitors. They'd continued the site with their own experience with the paranormal and posting feedback of other users. Logging into her old account, Fi went into the chat room. There were about ten users online.
After they got over the initial shock of seeing the site creator on for the first time in a while, she gave them a basic summary of what was going on.
Rockerbaby: Hey everyone, I need some help identifying a supernatural being. At least, I think she is…or it could be the result of jealous exaggeration, you tell me. See, this girl, Annie, is a family friend came to live with my family right after I left. After I let her borrow my ring, weird stuff started happening to her too! She's just so perfect I can't help but think she's not really human.
It didn't take long for people to reply.
Truthseeking: Is she pretty? Is she sickeningly sweet and nice?
Rockerbaby: On the surface, yes.
AlienInvader: Can she sing?
Rockerbaby: Yes, very well.
Truthseeking: Does everyone like her?
Rockerbaby: Uh huh.
AlienInvader: Does she have a tragic past?
Rockerbaby: I wouldn't say tragic…but interesting. Her parents are paleontologists so she traveled all over the world with them. She came to live here since they would be in a third world country.
Truthseeking: …wow.
AlienInvader: I hate to tell you this, Fi, but…
AlienInvader: She's a Mary Sue!
Truthseeking: She's a Mary Sue!
Fi stared at the screen. She'd never heard the term before, only in…
Rockerbaby: You mean like in fanfiction?
AlienInvader: They also exist in real life, as an evil supernatural being. They swoop into your life and basically take over. They cause your family and friends to care more about her than you, and all drama in your or your family's life revolves around them.
Truthseeking: And they make you act differently, too. They warp your brain and cause you to make decisions you would never make, for the sole purpose of making it easier for them to take over. They're super nice, though, so you never see it coming, and don't think to blame them when you find yourself kicked out of your own life.
Annie's a Mary Sue! Fi realized, fear and indignation overcoming her. Now it made sense. The demons after her must have sent in Annie to convince her to give up her sight and move to Seattle. The idea did only come to her while Annie was there, and when she'd settled into her aunt Melinda's house, she wondered for the longest time why she'd made the decision in the first place. Of course, that didn't explain Bricriu telling her to give up her sight, but she'd address that later.
Rockerbaby; So what do I do to get my life back?
There was a long pause before anyone replied.
AlienInvader: You can't, I'm afraid. Mary Sue's aren't easily vanquished. Your main objective is to win back your friends and family. But they're under her spell. Anything you to try to get rid of her, she'll expose to turn them against you. She may act nice on the surface, but a Mary Sue will fight back. Even if you do go back home, she'll always manage to be the center of attention.
Rockerbaby: Thanks. But there has to be a way. I'll find it.
Fi logged off her website, wondering what she could do to solve her latest problem. And it was probably the biggest she'd ever faced…
"Hey, Fi, are you going to come downstairs?" Jack asked, standing in her doorway. "Annie, Mom and Carey are rocking out to the new song, it's awesome!"
There was indeed music coming from downstairs that Fi hadn't noticed. It was some pop tune that Annie had undoubtedly composed. Her mother never played that type of stuff before Annie came along. Managing a smile, Fi replied, "No thanks…I've got to check my email and stuff. I'll be down in a while."
Jack frowned at her. "Same old Fi, I see. You know, don't think I haven't noticed that you're jealous of Annie. But you could have her life…you just chose to leave us." With that, he turned around and went downstairs.
Letting out a deep breath, Fi reminded herself that her brother was just under the spell of the Mary Sue and hadn't meant what he said. Well, knowing Jack he probably did…but he wouldn't have been as harsh. "This has to stop," Fi whispered.
Her gaze drifted to Annie's desk, where her spell book sat. When chatting over Instagab Annie had insisted that Fi bring it with her because it would be "so cool to try out the spells, just for fun, you know?" Well, Annie's ignorance might be her downfall.
Fi grabbed the Book and, rather than looking for a spell, opened it to the middle. She'd stuck in Bricriu's disk the last time she'd checked to see if the spunkie was still there. Popping the disk in her computer, she grinned when the ball of light appeared on the black screen.
"Ah, little duck, once again deciding to check on your prisoner?" Bricriu seethed.
"Actually, I have a proposition for you," Fi began. "If you give me the truthful information I want, I'll let you go."
There was a pause. "The wee duck must be in a tight spot if you're offering me freedom. What paranormal pest is after ye now?"
"Annie," Fi answered.
Another pause. "Ye mean, something is after Annie? I remember her…"
"No. Annie is a paranormal pest, in every sense of the word," Fi interrupted. "I talked with some people online, and I think she's a Mary Sue."
"A Mary Sue? But that's…" Bricriu trailed off, as if realizing something. The ball of light glowed red with anger. "That….that…that sneaky little…those demons didn't trust me! Oh, me pride is hurt!"
Fi's jaw dropped. "Those demons? You are evil, I knew it!"
"No, no, not evil. Just willing to do whatever suits me at the moment," Bricriu replied, ignoring her outrage. "Look, last year, the demons after ye hired me to convince ye to read the spell and give up your sight. Ye were supposed to have an entirely different life after that one visit, where ye continued digging into your father's past and discovered ye own destiny, and finding out some interesting bits about your mother and brother as well. But demons knew that would be their ruin if ye did that, so they sent me to get ye off their back. They just sent Annie in to make sure ye stayed away for good…in case I failed. Aye, that burns."
"So this whole year was supposed to be different…" Fi said. She didn't know what hurt more – that Bricriu pulled one over on her, or that evil had won and she'd missed out on her destiny.
Seeing her devastation, Bricriu said, "But there is one way to reverse it."
"How? And…why would you want to help me?" Fi asked, understandably suspicious.
"For the moment, me on the side of good!" Bricriu stated. "After the way those lousy demons underestimated me, they deserve misfortune to befall them!"
Fi considered the argument for a minute, but reasoned that unless she wanted to stay in this timeline forever, he was her only choice. "Alright, what do I do? Confront her? Tell her to leave, or else?"
"No!" Bricriu insisted. "That would ruin ye! Mary Sues act all sweet and nice, but try to banish one, and ye will find your own family and friends going to her side."
"That's what AlienInvader said," Fi muttered to herself.
"Besides, Mary Sues will never, ever admit they're Mary Sues," Bricriu continued. "Because by doing so, they'll be admitting they're evil. And that means that the human who knows about it won't think they're perfect…a Mary Sue's greatest fear and one true weakness."
"So…to beat her, I just have to expose her weakness, right? Make everyone realize that she's too perfect to be real?" Fi reasoned.
"Well, that is how to banish a Mary Sue. Normally. But in ye case it would be impossible to banish her now and still achieve ye destiny, not when the timeline has been altered so much. It's easier if ye just cast the 'To Reverse Demonic Influence Spell.' That ought to take care of anything. But it can only be used once, and only on up to a year of events," Bricriu answered. "But ye still have the problem of invoking your sight. The evil pest still has ye ring."
"Right," Fi said. "Is there a time travel spell in my book? You seemed to know about the spells in it when you told me to read the sight spell."
"Aye, there is. But it takes a great deal of power, and normally anyone with the power to read it, like ye, would be in trouble with the Powers That Be for reading it. But in this case, changing would be for 'the greater good,' and probably okay, especially since you are reading the time travel spell to correct a demon's interference rather than the one for personal gain. But then again, what do I care about the rules of the high and mighty? Do it, little duck."
Fi hesitated, taking in the fact that she may get in trouble from this. But, like Bricriu said, this was for the greater good. And she wanted her life back. She placed the laptop on the bed and took the Book in her lap. "Where is the spell?"
"Well, first off, ye need your ring back. It's one of the keys to your power. Then ye need to cast the spell that gives ye your sight back. Without it, ye are just another puny human," Bricriu reminded her.
"Got it. Be right back," Fi said. Composing herself at her door, she went downstairs as calm as could be. All the while she reminded herself to be civil to Annie and not let on that she knew what the blonde really was.
She found the whole Bells-Phillips clan and Annie gathered in the living room, talking about the new song and others that were in development. Annie of course was in the group's center, squeezed in between Molly and Jack. Ignoring the twinge of jealousy and resentment, Fi cleared her throat to get some attention. The entire group glanced up at her as if just noticing she'd walked in the room. "Hey, look who finally decided to join us," Jack remarked.
"Take a seat, baby – there's room…somewhere…" Molly trailed off, realizing that the group had taken up most available seating.
Fi shook her head. "No, uh, in a little while. I just wanted to borrow Annie for a second."
"Can't it wait, Fi?" Clu begged. "Annie was coming up with some awesome lyrics!"
"No, Clu, it's okay. I'll remember them until I get back," Annie said with an annoying giggle. Always gracious, she got up and followed Fi into the kitchen. "What's up, Fi?"
Clenching her fists at her side, Fi answered, "Annie, I was wondering if I could please have that ring back. You know, the one I gave you with the engraving on it?"
"Aw, but it's so cool!" Annie pouted. Just when Fi thought this was going to be difficult, Annie's face went back to normal and she giggled. "Just kidding. It is a cool ring, but it's yours. You did say you were only letting me borrow it."
"Thanks Annie, that's really nice of you," Fi said. To her horror, her tone had been sincere – she'd had a momentary lapse. Watch yourself, Fi. Don't let her get to you.
Annie pulled the ring off her finger and placed it in Fi's waiting palm. "I'll miss it, though. Just like I'll really miss you when you go back to Seattle."
"I'll miss you too…" Fi trailed off, this time her words all fake. Then she decided to have a little fun before she turned back time. "But I was thinking of moving back. After all, I did tell my mom that I was only going to be gone for the school year."
"What?" Annie asked. Fi could've sworn she detected some panic in Annie's voice. "B-but I'm here…w-what I mean is, we're going back on tour soon over the summer…Clu will be with us then, the bus will be packed. You have your own room in Seattle."
Her smile wide, Fi argued, "But I mss my mom and my brother so much…I think Jack resents me for moving."
"Oh, no, of course not! You come for visits!" Annie said.
"Not often enough," Fi said. Tightening her grip on her ring, she shrugged. "But it's just a passing thought, you never know. Tell everyone I'll be down in a few minutes, okay?" Before Annie could answer, she ran back up to Annie's room and locked the door behind her. She plopped herself down in front of Bricriu and laughed. "That was amusing."
"Amusing? Since when is confronting an evil spirit amusing?"
"Let's just say I had some fun playing mind games," Fi said.
"Ah, the little duck has a dark side," Bricriu said with approval.
Chuckling, Fi replied, "A little. But there's one thing I don't get. Does Annie know she's a Mary Sue? Or that she was sent by demons?"
"All Mary Sues are aware of the fact that they're Mary Sues," Bricriu explained. "But they don't really have ulterior motives…that would make them less than a perfect being of good, therefore defeating their existence. They're like mosquitoes. Mosquitoes don't know they're annoying humans when they bite. They just know they need to bite to stay alive."
"So Annie doesn't have anything against me, she just needs constant attention and acceptance from everyone around her," Fi said, working out the logic in her head. "Then how would she agree to do work for a demon?"
"I've seen higher evil powers do this before. The Mary Sues don't know they're being sent…chances are that the demon after ye fixed it so that Annie's parents were sent to that third world country and planted the idea in her mum's head to place Annie in Molly's care. Then he probably sat back and watched the Mary Sue weave her spell. The technique is used when a demon wants to replace a stronger human adversary with a weaker one – not as noticeable to the higher powers of good, and tilts the scales to their side."
"Evil. And sneaky," Fi commented. Briefly she wondered what she would be getting herself into if she reversed time and chose to keep her gift. Then she would still have the demon after her. Now she was robbed of her destiny, but at least she was safe. She shook her head with determination. The greater good was more important.
Slipping the ring on her thumb, she gasped when she felt the small surge of power. It was barely noticeable, but it startled her since she hadn't felt it in so long. At Bricriu's jump, she explained, "It's been a long time since I felt power in me. I guess I never realized how different I was until I read that spell."
"But ye power isn't fully restored. Look at the ring."
Fi glanced down to see that the ring's engraving had vanished once again. Returning her attention to the Book, she read:
My spell before removed my sight
But in the darkness is still the light
Use my light to restore
What sight I had once before
The spell took instant effect, ten times more detectable than the spell to remove her sight had been. Power awakened deep inside her, spreading throughout her body like the blood in her veins. "This is amazing," she whispered.
"Aye, your power has had much time to rest and revive itself," Bricriu said.
Fi glanced at the spell again. "'But in the darkness is still the light'…hey, how did Mom…"
"Read the time travel spell quick, little duck!" Bricriu insisted. "The moment demons sense that you have your sight back, it's all over for ye!"
But Fi had to pause and think for a moment. By reading this spell, she was saying good-bye to the past year…which hadn't been all bad. Her aunt and cousins were like a second family to her now, not to mention the friends she made at school. Maybe, if she visited Seattle, she could find them again. At the very least, she promised herself to talk to her aunt and cousins much more. Fi let out a deep breath and read:
Demons came from every side
Pushed me off time's one straight line
Reverse to before I felt the demon's wrath,
Before my life strayed from its rightful path
Again, she was mystified by the similarity to her mother's lyrics. But she didn't have long to contemplate it.
At least, in anywhere but her dreams – the spell had caused her to lose consciousness.
Fi woke up in her old bedroom. In her old house.
The spell worked! She thought, taking a moment to relish the feeling of her familiar surroundings. Her laptop was on its usual spot on her desk, her Book out of sight…supposedly in the closet where she always kept it.
Getting out of bed, Fi tried to think of when exactly she was. She jumped out of bed and went to the calendar on her open laptop. The date was the same as when Annie first arrived with Mrs. Thelan.
Fi then realized that while she could choose not to move to Seattle, she couldn't easily prevent Annie from joining them on the tour. After all, her mom made the decision to let Annie join them, not Fi. And any protest on Fi's part would be uncalled for and hard to explain.
Unsure what to do, Fi tried to work out the words of the spell. Before my life strayed from its rightful path…but then, wouldn't that bring me back to before the demon interfered and caused Mrs. Thelan to ask my mom to take in Annie?
She went downstairs into the living room to find her mother and brother in the living room, watching something on television. "Hey, Fi," Jack greeted. "How are you feeling?"
"Feeling? Why?" Fi asked, trying to remember her previous behavior of this time.
Jack shrugged. "You've been quieter than usual after…New York."
"Oh, that. I think I'll be okay," Fi assured them. After the incident, she'd been a little shaken up at being attacked by a demon and seeing her father. But everyone else just thought she was recovering from falling off the side of a building.
Overwhelmed by the joy that her life was back in order, she spontaneously wrapped her arms around her brother. "I missed you, Jack!"
"Um…I've missed you, too?" Jack said, hugging her back. Once they broke apart, he started to say something about her strange behavior, then chalked it up to typical Fi weirdness and closed his mouth.
Fi, meanwhile, turned to her mother. "Hey, Mom? About Annie…and Mrs. Thelan…when are they coming?"
"Oh, that's right, I meant to tell you," Molly answered. "Lisa just called five minutes ago. Apparently the flight to their next job site was bumped up and they won't be able to make it after all."
Forcing herself to keep from jumping up and down with happy excitement, Fi gave a silent thanks to the Powers That Be for setting things right on their own. "That's great! I mean, uh, great that Mrs. Thelan will be getting to her new job site promptly. It, uh, would've been fun seeing Annie again…"
"I doubt it. Annie was such an annoying, perky kid the last time we saw her," Jack said.
"Jack! That's not nice!" Molly chided, but then laughed. "But she was a perky kid."
Smirking, Jack reminded her, "And if I remember correctly, she dubbed your music 'boring stuff for old people.'"
"She definitely wasn't my biggest fan," Molly admitted. Realizing that Fi was just standing there with a huge smile on her face, she asked, "Anything else you wanted to ask, baby?"
Yeah. Is it possible to be happier than I am right now? Fi thought. Her life was back in order, and she had a whole new year of supernatural explorations ahead of her. "Nothing. I just want to say that…I'm really looking forward to going back on the tour."
A/N: Originally this was going to be a silly Annie-bashing parody, but somewhere along the line it changed gears into a serious "re-enter Fi" fic. Eh well, Annie is still gone, right? Isn't that what matters?