01:(New) New Beginnings

Timmy Turner woke up early on this Friday. Today was special. He knew today was going to be great, not matter what, this day would be one for the ages. Cosmo and Wanda were still asleep, which was unusual since they were the ones who normally woke him up, and on a school day no less. Yes, today was a school day and Timmy was actually excited for it, because it was the last day of school before summer vacation. He decided that he would let his fairy godparents sleep in today. They could meet up with him after school once they woke up, they deserved a good rest every now and then. Besides, it was the last day of school, in the young man's opinion he couldn't think of a situation where he would need their intervention.

He was happy, it was the day before spring break and his parents had actually included him in their plans for their vacation this year. A trip on a cruise, two whole months living the life. Though Timmy could visit any continent he wanted with the help of his fairy godparents, this would be an adventure he could actually have with his family and be able to speak openly about afterwards. This would also be a story he could tell his friends about when he came back, though his story wouldn't be the only exciting one. It was shaping up to be an eventful summer for everyone.

He stretched lazily and stumbled over to his closet, he was in no real rush. Being up early certainly did have its advantages but it wasn't something he planned to start doing regularly. He pulled his signature pink shirt over his head and donned his lucky pink cap before making his way out of his room and downstairs. He plopped down on his seat at the kitchen table, a bowl of cereal resting before him. Honestly by this point Timmy was sick and tired of cereal, but it's all he's ever known so he wasn't going to complain. He wasn't going to let something so trivial bring down his spirits. As he poured milk into his Crash Nebula Bites, he finally noticed his father peering mindlessly into his morning paper.

Mr. Turner, seeming to have noticed him as well, let out a tired acknowledging "Ugh." And took a sip of his coffee before disappearing back into his newspaper.

Timmy smiled to himself, he wasn't surprised by his father in the slightest, because he really wasn't a morning person unlike his mother who was already zipping around the kitchen preparing her lunch for the day. She nodded in his direction with a smile as she snapped the Tupperware lid closed on what Timmy assumed was their leftovers from his parents' date night yesterday. She certainly was no cook so he couldn't imagine her making anything to eat, even for herself.

She certainly is chipper this morning, she must be just as excited as me, he thought. As she tucked her lunch into her small cooler, she greeted him, thankfully far more coherently than her husband, with "Good morning! Are you excited?"

Timmy nodded, though as he did, he felt his excitement ebb away and all his energy came crashing down. He now regretted going to sleep so late, but he couldn't really help it, this was going to be a summer unlike any other and he just couldn't wait for it to start. He yawned before settling down to finish his cereal while his parents were gearing up to get out the door. Meaning Timmy was left to clean up after his parents and put the food away before it spoils. He yawned once again as he got up to put his dish in the washer. All this yawning was just making it worse. Maybe he should just walk to school today instead of taking the bus, the cool morning air would definitely help wake him up and it wasn't like he didn't have the time on his hands. He smiled as he grabbed the box of children's cereal, Crash Nebula Bites. Though he hadn't watched the show in years, he still ate the cereal every morning, which only now struck him as odd as his childhood cartoon hero smiled back at him. He placed the box in the pantry before lazily heading to the stairs and plopping down on the first step to put on his sneakers and grab his backpack. With one last yawn and a final thought to occupy his mind as he stepped outside, he locked the door and smiled wide. Today is the day that everything changes.

The brunet had finally fully awakened as he arrived at the steps to Dimmsdale High, it wasn't anything special, far from it. The school had been open for nearly a hundred years and it had only been remodeled maybe once or twice in that time. In Timmy's opinion it was long overdue for a cleanup. The paint was chipping from the walls, the seats were cracked and scuffed, and they even still used chalkboards. Now that he thought about it, they might even be the original chalkboards from when the school first opened. The grounds were unkempt, the football field was a disaster and the baskeball gym was in serious disrepair. It didn't bother him that much since it didn't directly impact him as he didn't play either of those sports. Though one thing they had done right was keep up to date on textbooks which suddenly made a lot of sense as to why the rest of the school was in such poor shape. Timmy shook the thought from his head as he climbed up the steps and made his way inside through the double doors.

Class was going very smoothly, it was already fourth period as Timmy sat in his history class. It was a class that he both loved and hated, it was the class he looked forward to the most because this year he was able to share it with his friends. His two best friends, AJ and Chester McBadbat, and to a lesser extent of friendship, Tootie Valentine. The major downfall with this class however, was their teacher, who was surprisingly absent as the class got into their seats. Timmy and Chester turned around to face AJ as they all exchanged greetings. They talked hopefully that perhaps their teacher would miss today but before they could get too deep into the conversation the boys were nearly startled out of their seats as the classroom door was kicked open.

Denzel Crocker slithered into the room and sat calmly at his seat with a wicked smile slathered across his oily face. The class sat in awkward silence as the man adjusted his glasses to read of the roll sheet, Timmy drifted off in his thoughts. He thought he had finally escaped this lunatic when he graduated from Dimmsdale Elementary School but it turns out Crocker had retired from there the year following. With nothing to occupy his then vast free time, he soon suffered a psychotic break and was shipped off to an insane asylum where nobody heard from him for years as he was getting special "help" for his crazy notions of fairies. To everyone's surprise he had been released last year after finally being deemed "sane". Even more surprising was when he was hired to teach History at Dimmsdale High, though there was talk that a certain redheaded woman in his life had pulled some strings for this to happen. As it stood, he was Timmy's history teacher last year, this year, and it looks like he would also be his teacher next year as well. There was just no escaping this madman it seemed though, to Timmy's relief, he was far from the threat he once was. Now he seemed to be significantly calmer, he didn't spaz into a mass of jittering limbs at the mention of fairies, though that was probably due to the medication he had to take now. As it turns out, when he isn't going on crazy tirades or being a general mad man he is actually a pretty effective teacher. Timmy was actually learning things and although he wasn't passing the class flawlessly, he was maintaining a high B+.

"Turner!" Crocker boomed from his desk, snapping him out of his thoughts as all eyes were now on him. The thin man put the papers aside on his desk and stood up as he walked over to the chalkboard before continuing, "This may be the last day before summer vacation but don't think I can't still give you one last detention before then! Now stop daydreaming and pay attention!" Timmy could only nod as Chester and AJ snickered at him, much to his annoyance.

Crocker adjusted his tie, before taking a deep breath, now addressing the whole class, "This year I have opted out of giving you a summer paper to write-" Before he could finish the class broke out into a roar of delight at having yet another class where there was no summer work to be done.

Mr. Crocker's lips cracked into a dry smile as he hushed the class before continuing, "However! Don't think this means I'm going easy on you, expect to write a paper upon your return." Crocker's smile split even wider as despondent groans graced his ears.

He scoffed, "Pfft, teenagers, there is just no pleasing you, would you like a paper to write over the summer and another upon your return?"

Expectedly, the resounding reply was a shouted, "NO!"

He adjusted his glasses and pursed his lips, "Then don't complain, but don't believe that I'm doing this out of the kindness of my heart."

Chester couldn't help it, he snorted a laugh at Crocker's words. To his dismay, his attention snapped to the freckled young man who instantly regretted his outburst. Timmy and AJ simply hung their heads as they awaited Crocker's wrath to come crushing down upon their friend. He spoke through his gritted teeth, "Is something I said humorous to you, Mr. McBadbat?" Chester's mouth opened, probably about to deliver a smartass remark but Crocker cut him off, "Keep in mind that your answer not only affects your summer workload but that of your fellow classmates as well…"

Beads of sweat rolled down Chester's forehead as he could feel the death glares of every pair of eyes in the room lock onto him and dig into his skull. If looks could kill. His voice cracked like a prepubescent boy as he stuttered, "N-no, Sir. I apologize for my interruption."

Crocker smiled smugly at this, before turning around to return to the chalkboard, "Good, now as I was saying, I'm not doing this out of the kindness of my heart, I'm going to take this opportunity to enjoy this summer as much as you all would."

Many students arched their eyebrow as they scratched their brains trying to imagine the thin disturbing man in front of them doing anything even remotely fun. "I'll be blunt, I've met someone who has given me purpose, and she has convinced me to "take it easy" as she would say, so I'm going to do just that." The girls in the class oohed and aww'd at Crocker's sentiment and Timmy found himself significantly relieved at this news. Though he had to stifle his laughter as Chester and AJ pretended to vomit. If this mystery woman is able to keep him occupied, then I have nothing to worry about anymore it seems. He glanced over to Tootie's desk two seats over only find it empty. He frowned before averting his attention back to Crocker. Before the man could continue, the bell rang ending the class. As all his students hustled out of the room, Crocker shouted at them not to run while no one heed his words.

Timmy, Chester, and AJ made their way to the cafeteria and got seated at their usual table and soon afterwards they were joined by Sanjay and Elmer. For being such a small group they chatted noisily about their summer plans, each asking what the other would be up to but with everyone talking all at once it was hard to have a word be heard, they decided it would be better to just take turns.

Going clock-wise they started with AJ, who was nearly bursting with excitement and pride. "Gentleman, it seems like everyone will be quite preoccupied this summer, Crocker even has his hands full as it seems. I'm rather excited to inform you that I will be attending a science convention for the beginning of the summer. It's going to be amazing! The event is being held by the best scientists on Earth. The most thrilling part is that it's a two week long event where I will be showcasing my own inventions at my own panel. The world is finally taking notice of my brilliance!"

The guys all nodded, clearly happy for their brainy friend. Chester merely gave a single nod with a smile before suddenly standing on his chair and planting a foot on the table while slapping his hand over his heart, "That's great an' all but I've got that plan beat by a mile! Hear this! Me and my dad already packed up our camper and as soon as school lets out, we're going on a cross country trip to visit every single flapjack joint in America!" Clearly lost in his desire for flapjacks, he stared excitedly off into the distance as drool escaped the side of his mouth.

The others leaned in, waiting for him to continue with what else they would be doing on their trip, Timmy was the next to speak anyway so he broke the silence, "Aaaand?"

Chester snapped out of his flapjack induced daydream and wiped his sleeve across his mouth, "and what?"

Timmy and the others facepalmed before Timmy smiled at his friend, "and is that all you'll be doing?"

A wide smile broke across his face, "Well, yeah, what else would even be worth doing?"

The boys laughed at his simple answer and AJ patted him on the back as he took his seat. "To each their own?" Chester nodded at him as he too joined in the ruckus their table was making.

It drew the attention of the other students but they paid them no real mind, the cafeteria was already loud to begin with anyway. As the boys settled down, Timmy cleared his throat as he was ready to let everyone in on his plans for the trip. "You know, even now I still can't believe it's true but my parents are taking me with them on their vacation this year." Sanjay dropped his fork and everyone's mouth was left agape as their minds had been effectively blown away. Timmy gave a light chuckle, "I know, it sounds crazy, right? We're leaving pretty early tomorrow since we have to drive to the airport in a town a little ways away from us, I think it's called Tremorton, where from there we'll fly first class to a little town in Colorado called Amity Park-"

Elmer cut in, "Amity Park? There's really a town called Amity Park? Isn't that a little weird? Did it start as a park and then the town grew around it?"

Timmy shrugged, "How should I know? I mean it's not like I looked the place up or anything, we'll only be there for like an hour or two. Anyway, like I was saying, from there we'll board another flight to touch down in Sheltered Shrubs, Connecticut where we'll finally be able to board our cruise ship. It's going to be great, we'll float down south to stay at the Bahamas for a whole month before climbing all aboard to snake our way back up and over North America, I don't know how many stops we'll be making along the way but I do know we'll be stopping really quick in Alaska. I think the cruise ends in a little beach town, I think it's called Ocean Shores, my dad has been talking about some restaurant he wants to try really bad when we get there, it's called The Shore Shack. From the way he's been talking about the menu, I've got to say, I'm pretty excited too. After that, we'll take a flight back to Dimmsdale and I'll have the last month to spend with you guys. It all still seems too good to be true."

Sanjay let out a chortled laugh, "Well of course it does, this sounds like it will be your first real trip to anywhere fun. No Crocker, Francis, or…" Sanjay looked about nervously as if speaking her name would summon her to their table, "Vicki." The teenage boys shuddered at the mention of her name, well, all but Timmy that is but no one seemed to notice.

"Yeah, man. I'm sorry, man, that you're the only one she still 'babysits.'" Chester quipped as he patted him on the back.

AJ added, "Indeed, which doesn't really make sense since you're quite capable of taking care of yourself, our parents have come to realize this about us but it seems your parents are still oblivious to this fact."

Timmy was still annoyed by his parents' ignorance but he was thankful that at the same time, like with Crocker, Vicki was nowhere near as brutal as she once was. He was even starting to think she had some redeeming qualities about her. He wasn't just about to out and say that, his friends would go and think he's lost his mind and developed some kind of weird crush on her. That being said, he wasn't about to jump on the bandwagon either. He merely shrugged his shoulders, "Eh, it could be worse. The point is, for the next three months, Vicki will be the last thing on my mind."

The others nodded in agreement, happy and relieved with the fact that he wouldn't be stuck with the red headed demon for the whole time. Chester turned to Elmer and launched a macaroni shell at him with his Spork, "What about you, buddy? What are you doing this summer?"

Elmer took off his glasses and wiped the lens gingerly where Chester's food had landed, a small smile spread across his face, "If you must know, I'm going to visit my Grandmother in France. I haven't seen her since I was eleven-years-old. I've been practicing my French for this trip."

Sanjay perked up at this, "Aha! I've been wondering why you decided to take that French class this year."

Elmer nodded, "Well I want to be able to adapt easily when I get over there."

Chester quirked an eyebrow at him, "You totally wanna impress the ladies when you get over there, don't you?"

The boys glasses fogged up as he blushed, once more taking off his glasses to clean them as he stumbled over his words, "I.. I h-have no idea what you're talking about, I'm simply learning French to better acquaint myself with my Grandmother. Last time she was here, I couldn't understand a single word she said." The side of his mouth curled into a smile, "…But, if a certain member of the opposite sex happens to find my accent charming while I'm visiting, then who am I to deny them company?"

"Thataboy!" shouts Chester as the boys erupt into hollers at Elmer's bold remark.

Sanjay looked glumly down at his lunch tray, Timmy noticed this and prodded, "Hey, what's wrong, Sanjay?"

The boy nodded and shifted in his seat, "Compared to all your plans, mine doesn't sound all that exciting anymore."

Timmy scoffed, "Hey, now listen to me, we're all going to have a story to tell by the end of this vacation, and when we meet back here I know you're going to have a great story to tell us, no matter what your plans are for this summer. So spill, what ya' got?"

A smile appeared on the boy's face as he lifted his head, "I'm just going to go visit my sister in Europe, is all."

"See, that's exciting, and we can't wait to hear how it all goes, right guys?" Timmy motioned to the rest of the group who all nodded in agreement. Timmy closed his eyes and stretched in his seat, the school day was already half way over. As his eyes drifted from the ceiling above him, they came to rest on the empty seat at their table. "I still can't believe Tootie was allowed to miss the last two days of school. That is so unfair."

The rest of the guys only nodded in agreement before Sanjay chimed in, "Even luckier are the populars, I overheard them last week, they were leaving a whole week early to go skiing in Switzerland! Can you guys believe that?!"

Chester rested his head on his hand as he joked, "Of course I can. They're practically made of money so why should they have to follow the normal rules of society?"

Timmy chuckled, "Yeah, well lucky for us, we won't have to deal with their snooty attitudes bringing down our spirits."

Sanjay scanned the room and then spoke in a hushed whisper only the group could hear, "Even luckier than that, I think Francis skipped again today. Which means we're home free guys, we won't be tending any wounds for the beginning of our trips." Everyone shared in Sanjay's excitement as he almost cheered, "We're in the clear!"

As he spoke, the bell rang, and the boys said their goodbyes as they headed hurriedly to their separate classes. Sanjay was right, the rest of the school day passed swiftly with no snags or problems. Timmy was now seated front row in his last class watching the time tick away on the clock. No one really saw the point of this cruel torture, as all throughout the school, every single eye was set on the ticking clock. It slowly ticked away, creeping ever closer to that magic number when the bell sounded and like racers from the gate, they would all sprint and dash to escape the school grounds to begin their own adventures. Timmy had never been as happy in his life as he ran with the mob flooding out of the school doors.

He opted to skip the bus and take a leisurely walk home since he would just be bouncing in his seat the whole way home otherwise. He waved his friends off as they disappeared onto the bus and he started on his way home. He was antsy, so the walk would do him some good to burn off all that energy. As he neared the midway point of home, he was walking along a wooden fence when a dark sensation descended upon him.

Today had been perfect so far, too perfect... Not a single thing had gone wrong, hell, he hadn't even stumbled or misspoken all day. It was wrong, it was a nagging feeling that he could not shake. He now regretted not taking the bus home, though maybe he had dodged the bullet there too. His thoughts were now drenched in paranoia as he pictured the bus getting a flat tire and careening into a ditch somewhere, he soon shook the thought and tried to focus on just getting home.

He picked up his pace to make his was home faster, he soon found himself sprinting down the sidewalk along the fence. He was desperate to get there. He was tempting fate, and almost as if the universe had read his mind, Francis the gray skinned bully rounded the corner. It was too late for Timmy to stop however, as he collided with the hulking tyrant and bounced off of him and onto his back. His head bounced off the sidewalk hard, leaving him in a blurry daze. Not only that but the force of landing on his back had knocked the wind out of him and he gasped for air.

His eyes darted around him to see if there was anyone who would be able to help him. There was no one but him and Francis on the quiet street, he was completely on his own. Francis was bad enough when they were ten but now he was virtually a giant who only found joy in the misery and pain of others. He hefted Timmy to his feet, apologizing with a mocking tone of concern, "Oh, I'm so sorry.. I didn't see you there. Oh looks like you've got a little something on your shirt there."

As Timmy was still struggling to regain his breath, Francis reeled back and hurtled his fist into Timmy's stomach. Any breath Timmy still had left soon left his body as the corners of his vision dimmed and blurred. He doubled over in pain as Francis hooted in laughter at him, "Oh! Who would have guessed, it was just my fist!" As Timmy swung his head up to gasp in vain for air, Francis smirked and reached down to grab him by his shirt collar and hoisted him up into the air. Timmy wheezed as he struggled feebly against the gray giant's grasp.

With a menacing smile plastered across his face, Francis's words dripped with malice as he whispered, "Oh, no! It looks as if you have something else… on your face... Allow me to get that for you…" His lips split to reveal his crooked yellow teeth.

In Timmy's hazy consciousness, his oxygen deprived brain contorted Francis into a gnarly toothed abomination intent on killing him. Fear filled him as the Francis's words finally clicked in his head, though his brain struggled to decipher the distortedly message his ears were relaying, it came to the conclusion that things were about to get even worse.

Francis slammed his fist into Timmy's skull and for a moment Timmy didn't feel anything and momentarily wondered if perhaps this was just some horrible dream that he would soon wake up from. Then, all at once, he came crashing back to reality as pain danced across his face and his vision faded briefly. Why was he still conscious after that punch?

Francis boomed with laughter as blood flowed freely from the younger boy's nose. "Oh, silly me, it was just pain. Let me clear that up for you with my fist!" he once again drove his burly knuckles into Timmy's face. Timmy gasped and cried out in pain, his lungs burned and pleaded for air as his brain, against his wishes, continued to keep him in this conscious plane. His face contorted in pain but he was in agony with every moving muscle. His lip had split, he knew that much. There was a constant ringing in his ears but he wasn't sure if that was really just Francis laughing heartlessly at his pain, reveling in every second of it. Timmy choked out whimpers of pain as it pulsed across his chest and face.

"You know, Turner, I'm impressed. Most people can't even handle a single punch before passing out, but you've taken three. Three! You must be a real glutton for punishment, and I'm more than happy to serve but I'm going to have to cut you off after this last helping! You thought the other ones hurt, you ain't seen nothing yet!"

Timmy shut his eyes, well, he shut his right eye. His left eye had been swollen shut as the bruising had already set in. Blood sprayed from his mouth and nose with each labored shallow breath. His pink shirt had a blood stains streaking down from his collar. His body was limp in Francis's grip and blood pooled and stained the concrete below him. This was it, Francis was going to kill him. The brute laughed madly as he smiled at his victim who was bracing for the punch. His asphyxiation was finally getting the best of him and Francis saw this as one last chance to get a good punch in while he was still conscious.

It was all becoming one dark blur as all he could hear was muffled sound. Timmy felt the gentle breeze run through his hair and absentmindedly noticed that his hat must have fallen off at some point, as his vision blurred even more, he opened an eye to witnesses what must have been Francis's face tenderizer drawing back into the distance, he was readying his final blow. He shut his eye once more, bracing for the inevitable. Timmy heard what must have been a woman shouting from over Francis's shoulder from down the road.

Help finally had arrived and Timmy found himself thanking God for this miracle. Surprisingly, he soon after heard Francis scream out frantically in pain and the next thing he knew he was falling limply to the hard concrete sidewalk, his head smacking hard against the cement once again. It all happened so suddenly he didn't have a second to brace himself, not that he would be able to in his current condition anyway. He thought he heard an unnerving cracking of bone. Timmy didn't feel anything though, he was so far gone that a startling thought entered his mind. Is this what it's like to die?

Francis screamed again, even louder. Timmy tried to move, but his body was numb. Francis's screams seemed to wane off into the distance after a moment, as Timmy coughed on what he could only assume was the blood pooling in his mouth as he laid on his back. A blurred figure soon appeared in his vision, though he had no way of making out who it was, what looked like there mouth seemed to be moving rapidly. They were talking to him and he could swear he had heard his name uttered by a woman before darkness overtook him.