Cold wind brushed through the open window, teasing and tossing the young boy's wavy black locks in front of his thick-lense glasses. He brushed his hair our of the way and watched the rows of houses pass solemnly outside like a funeral procession.
Dennis mused at the fact that he should be feeling lucky at the moment. He had avoided being lost into the nightmarish adoption system thanks to the small favor of his mother's secrets that nearly followed her to the grave. She had written down the names and addresses of her true parents, a mother who dropped her off at the orphanage steps and a father who never knew. She covered them up with changing subjects and skillful avoidance of her son's questions on the subject, deciding that they weren't worth the effort of hunting down and forcing into her life. She was going to move on and raise her son without the overhanging shadow of abandonment on either of them.
Funny how that works out.
At her passing, the names were discovered and blood relatives hunted down to take the homeless boy in. His grandmother had a very busy messaging machine and never returned any of their calls. His grandfather took some coercing, but it had apparently all been worked out over the phone.
As they pulled up to the house, Dennis couldn't help but scowl at the broken windows, dying grass, patched up roof and over turned trash cans. It all just screamed "Welcome Home"in the most blood-curdling voice imaginable. He almost thought he saw lightning strike over the house.
The child services lady opened the passenger door and took his meager suitcase in hand. She walked beside him all the way up to the front steps, trying to be as comforting a humanly possible, but it just came off as pity. Dennis clutched his laptop, the only object he bothered to care about any more, as the woman rang the doorbell.
The man who opened the door surpassed his expectations of disappointment. Pale, frail, tall but hunchbacked, a head tattered with stringy black hair and freckles, and behind his thick glasses were eyes mixed with both disdain and confused mourning. He was dressed in a white shirt, black pants, and a black tie- all of it very corporate, very cold. It was as if Dennis was staring face to face with a version of himself that had jumped into a time machine and experienced the trials of a dark, heartless future.
Just as he was about to introduce himself to the uncomfortably similar man, the child services lady did so herself, dragging the man into a full-blown conversation and leaving Dennis to just stand there awkwardly like another piece of baggage. He listened to their conversation for a quick moment, surprised at how lively the man's voice was in contrast to his dead appearance. But he quickly became bored of their stiff small talk, and he quietly made his way past them and into the house.
He half expected the building to be in shambles, but was at least proved wrong in that aspect. It was unorganized, but not yet at hoarders status- papers and boxes littered the living room, but the overwhelming amount immediately turned off any desire to read it. The tacks on the walls made it seem that much of these papers had once been plastered all over the house, but were torn down and shoved away before Dennis arrived.
Being a naturally curious boy, he continued to study and explore the rooms of the run-down house. He stumbled across a small spider hatchery nestled in a birdcage in the living room, smudges of unreadable writing that had been scrawled all over the hallway and then washed off into faint stains, and a locked door with the sign "KEEP OUT"plastered in red letters. This house was clearly full of mysteries and loneliness, but Dennis was too drained at the moment to delve deeper into it. He concluded that while this new home was odd.. it wasn't terrible. It all struck a strange chord with him, one that left him feeling both secluded and on exactly the same page as the man, as much as he hated it.
But for all of the dust, ancient furniture and madhouse bizarreness, the most interesting thing he found were a series of colorful, blurry photographs spread out along with other papers and files over the coffee table. They were so indecipherable they put Bigfoot evidence to shame.
Boredom striking again, Dennis made his way upstairs and toward what he had found to be a hastily-made guest room. His room, now.
He creaked open the door and counted his belongings- dresser, naked mattress, window, electric socket. The bare minimum, but the electric socket made it all okay. He quickly plopped down on the hardened mattress and plugged in his laptop, becoming lost in the light-blue sanctuary of the computer light. He was gone from the world, gone from the ramshackle house and the dead mom and the grandfather that looked too much like himself to be normal. He was in a familiar, safe place. The internet home page was like the home he would never have again- clean, safe and normal. There was no pain attached to what wasn't real.
A small smile snuck it's way back onto his face as he scrolled through the bookmark list, his possibilities for freedom were endless. But before he could make the sweet click to his internet journal and let the world know of his crummy situation- something caught his eye. A banner ad on the homepage glistened and sparkled with animated glitter gifs over a golden background. In bold, violet letters, the ad read-
Virtual Magic 9 Ball
see the future - learn the truth
For whatever reason, Dennis stopped what he was doing and clicked the ad. A small twitchy pang in his heart was the only thing that gave him any reason to, but it spoke with such bold purity he knew he needed to act. The web page loaded to a solid black background, with an animated, golden Magic 9 Ball hovering in the center. Just beneath it was an empty rectangle for typing into, most likely for inputting a yes or no question to receive some sort of "mystical answer"
Dennis thought for a moment and decided to test it out with something arbitrary and bland. "Do I have black hair?"
He waited patiently as it loaded in clear white letters below, "Yes."
He tried again. "Is the man downstairs my grandfather?"
Again it loaded, in a slightly more mysterious manner: "Yes, only recently."
Dennis felt a warm feeling as his heartbeat increased. It was probably a lucky, random response, but he felt strangely hopeful. The weird and proof-less belief in something that clearly wasn't real gave him a feeling of unspeakable joy, he felt alive.
And he had no idea why.
His fingers trembled as he tak-taked another question. Out of the core of his soul, the words arose- there was not thinking taking place as he typed, it just suddenly appeared. As he registered what he had just written, tears welled up in his eyes as it all sank back in again.
"Will my life get better?"
He clicked enter, expecting the response like a puppy waiting for a steak. But the answer he got back ripped the air right out of his chest into a powerful reverse gasp; and the tears that had been teetering on the edges of his eyes went running, splashing against his glasses to muddle his vision into colorful blobs. But it was too late, the answer got in, and it was turning the hopeful clouds in his soul into a black hole.
"No, it won't get better. It will get worse."
Rage flashed through his body like lightning, and the force of it made him grit his teeth into a painful scowl. How could he have been so stupid? He invested his hopes into a thing that wasn't real and watched as it all came tumbling down. The whole process had been so quick, but it left such smoldering emptiness behind. He felt like he had just sent prayers to an uncaring god- an omnipotent being that could have given him anything he ever wanted!
But it left him.
And all that was left was pain.
In a tearful fit, Dennis lifted the computer above his head and threw it full-force at the wall. As it snapped directly in two, he marveled at the power he had in his twiggy little arms. But his breath taken amazement of both the strange website and his intense emotional explosion were suddenly replaced by bowel-spewing fear. The computer's exposed wires and machinery were sparking and spewing fire, catching onto the wooden floor boards and peeling wall paper. Dennis squeaked with fear and instinctively ran for the door. As his back was turned to the busted laptop, he saw a bright flash of purple light fill the room. He thought for sure that the computer had just exploded, but was confused at the lack of sound or force hitting him.
He whipped back around and gaped in terror. Instead of a fiery beast creepy up the wall, he witnessed what could only be described as a tornado of light. Dennis felt his clothes ripple in the spontaneous windstorm that filled the room, pulling toward the spiraling pillar of purple lights. In a second blinding flash, the lights erupted and cascaded down as drop-like sparks. His room was now back to normal, save for the small humanoid hovering in place of where the lights had been above his mangled computer. The person was child-sized and dressed in a white shirt, black pants, and a black tie- much like his grandfather's outfit, but it was incredible how much nicer it all looked on someone who was happy. Dennis initially thought the mysterious person was someone his age- or at least human, until he noticed the small bee-like insect wings beating on his back; the short, bright purple hair curled up over his forehead, and a small golden crown hovering above his head.
They had a ridiculously ecstatic grin on their face as they flew in closer to Dennis, speaking in an excited, but charismatic voice. "Heeeey, Dennis! Pleasure to meet ya, kid! I'm Poof, and I'm.. Your Fairy GodParent!"
As he spoke, the words "Fairy Godparent"appeared in bold purple and gold letters behind him, flashing like over achieving Las Vegas lights.
Dennis of course responded to this in the same way any normal person would. He screamed as hard and loudly as his vocal chords would allow.
Poof panicked and slapped his hands over the boy's mouth. "Shhh! Whadda ya think you're doing?"His nervous expression mirrored Dennis'for a moment as he carefully pulled his hands away. "Keep it down, you tryin'to get us caught? You've gotta be more secretive, Denny!"
Between the mind-scrambling confusion and the fact that he almost ripped a throat muscle, Dennis'voice was reduced to a quivering croak. "Wh-what are you?"
Poof rolled his eyes and sighed. "Were you not listening?"He pointed back at the sign. "FairyGod Parent?"With a flick of his wrist the words vanished and a wand appeared in his hand, just a simple black rod with a star at the end.
He smiled as he looked back at the boy, saying, "Yup, I'm here to grant your each and every little wish, Denny-boy! What ever you want, I can make it happen!"
Again, Dennis felt that strange pang of excitement and doubtless hope, but he was scared of showing it. This all felt like some sick prank. He spoke up, his voice collecting itself again.
"Why'd you choose me?"
"Fairy GodParents exist to bring happiness to children who need us most! Shoot, I saw you driving around the neighborhood and thought- hey! That kid looks miserable!"He laughed as he glanced around the pathetic room, spinning the wand in his fingers. "Looks like I was right!"
The fairy's eyes caught on the sparking laptop and he chuckled. "Woah, oops! Here, let me get that for you."He flicked the wand and the computer hovered in the air, pulling itself back together in a small blast of purple sparks. Cracks vanished and it fell to the floor with a light crash. Dennis scrambled to his repaired computer, and as he flipped it open he was staring face-to-face with the Magic 9 Ball website from before.
It was proof enough.
Before he could ask his new guardian any more questions, a loud knocking suddenly stopped them both in their tracks.
"Dennis? Are you alright?"
He turned to his fairy, freaking out for what must've been the third time today. How was he going to explain this? Poof looked surprised as well, but at least he was a quick thinker. In a puff of smoke he had vanished.
The older man opened the door and glanced around the room, an eyebrow raised. "What's going on in here? I heard screaming and crashing!"
"I fell off the bed."were the words that stumbled out of Dennis'mouth, which made absolutely no sense considering he was standing on the opposite side of the room and the mattress he called a bed was a total of two inches from the floorboards.
The man frowned at his grandson, not out of anger or annoyance, but bewilderment. "Yes.. Well, Dennis! I know these past few days must be pretty shocking for you, I mean I certainly wasn't expecting any of this, but we should.. try to make the best of it, yes?"
Dennis nodded, his heart still racing.
"I.. suppose I should introduce myself! My name is Mr. Denzel Crocker."
Dennis flinched at the similarities of their names, becoming unsettled once again.
"Is it okay if I just call you Crocker? I mean.. this is all so sudden, I don't think I'm comfortable with calling you grandpa."
"Good, because that makes me feel old!"
Dennis laughed a little bit, but froze when he noticed the sudden stone-cold look on his relative's face as his eyes scanned the room. The phrase "smelling fear"shot through his head as Crocker stepped closer, studying the laptop very intently. Dennis could immediately recognize the look in the man's eyes- hopeful, sparking with life; but cautious. "Is something wrong?"
Denzel ran a finger over the computer and then checked it closely, brows furrowed. "Hmm.. I thought I sensed.. FAIRY GODPARENTS!"He spasmed violently and his voice shot into a scream at the words. It came absolutely out of nowhere, making Dennis jump back in surprise.
In normal circumstances, that sudden outburst would've made him think the man was crazy. He might've even nervously laughed at how ridiculous and seemingly random it was. But instead it felt like he'd been splashed with ice water. How did he know! It made no sense, Dennis hadn't said anything about the purple-haired wish granter!
"Oh well! False alarm."Crocker was smiling and shrugged it off, as if that was a normal, regular happenstance. "Anyway, Dennis, I know it's not.. the best situation that we finally were able to meet, but I hope you'll feel somewhat welcome here!"He seemed a little more cheery and less awkward than before. "Oh, I'll get a real bed in here later too! I suppose I should let you get back to,"he twiddled his fingers as he motioned to the laptop, "Whatever it was you were working on before."
Dennis was still locked in a state of petrified shock, but he somehow managed to nod. Crocker turned to leave it at that, making a small comment to himself about ordering a pizza before shutting the door behind himself. As soon as his grandfather was out of sight, Dennis staggered back and plopped on his bed, all of the air escaping his mouth in a horrified groaning sigh. He was positive that Crocker was a mind reader, or magic, or something; that was the only explanation!
A small purple cockroach crawled up to the foot of the mattress, transforming back into the curly-haired fairy in a tuft of smoke. Dennis was extremely happy that Poof wasn't just a hallucination, but he suddenly got a sinking feeling of dread at the look on his Godparent's face. His eyes were wide and his skin had turned as pale as his starch-white shirt. He shook his head and stared at the door. "Mr Crocker?"Under his breath he muttered, "Wow, he hasn't aged a day!"
Dennis was struck by the statement- If Crocker was looking good for his age, how old was he? But more importantly, "How do you know my grandpa!"
Poof ran his fingers through his hair, staring down at the floor. "It's... kinda fuzzy, I mean- my parents were still God Parenting when I met him! But, all fairies know about Mr. Crocker! He's the world's greatest fairy hunter!"
He drug his hand down hi face, groaning, "No, no, this is so messed up! Wow, Dennis- how didn't I notice before? You're the spitting image of him!"
Dennis sat up, suddenly becoming worried. "Has he caught fairies before? Does he kill them?"
Poof shook his head, "No, no. He's come really really close, though! And he's the only not-god-kid who believes we exist. Which is fine, since no humans take him seriously, but if he catches one of us, he'll finally have proof! And he's not going to stop until he does!"
"Are you sure he's as scary as you're making him out to be? I mean, he seems kinda... goofy."Part of him wanted to add "And crazy" but for some reason he just couldn't bring himself to do it.
"Why does he need to catch fairies, anyway? What's he need the evidence for?"
"He might try to expose us to the world! He'd be able to gain fame and fortune for proving we exist! But even scarier than that would be if he used our powers in the wrong way! Either situation is bad news; but if all humans found out about fairies, we'd all have to leave or else other fairies could be caught too!"
"Okay, if we have to keep this such a big secret from the world, maybe we can just... talk to him about it?"Dennis didn't want to believe his grandfather was as evil as he sounded. It must've been the fact that he saw so much of himself in the man, he understood that look in his eyes- the addicting high of belief. He honestly didn't think Crocker was after power or fame, that was all secondary. Maybe all he needed was to know that he was right, that magic really existed and good was still somewhere in the world. The search itself could be enough to power someone for a long time, but the spoils that came with it would power someone to infinity.
"Look, maybe there's a way we can settle this logically, let's just talk to him like normal people and.. I dunno, tell him to keep this secret too? I think he would!"
A loud buzzing filled the room, as if Dennis had just answered incorrectly on a game show. "Wrong-o, sport."Poof crossed his arms and shook his head. "Noooo, no, that would be breaking rule numero uno!"He snapped his fingers and caused a hulking purple-bound book to appear out of thin air. The words "Da Rules"were embellished in gold on it's cover. Poof flipped open the tome and held it in front of Dennis'face, showing what appeared to be an ancient illustration of a pair of fairies flying away from a child as he wept.
"Rule #1 for possession of Fairy GodParents, Dennis! You can't reveal you have GodParents to anyone, or else I'll have to go away forever! And any memories you had of me will be erased!"
Dennis tugged at his hair and flopped back onto the mattress, letting out a mix between a groan and a scream. Poof hovered over and sat down next to him, frowning. "Aww.. cheer up! This.. This isn't so bad! Yeah, we can handle it. Fairies are masters of disguise! I can still be your GodParent, we just gotta.. be really careful."Poof sighed and flopped beside him.
"It'll be difficult, but if you're up for the challenge.. I'm more than happy to stick it out and be your GodParent."He held up his fist in the air, waiting for a brofist back.
Dennis raised a brow at the strange show of comradery and loyalty. He laughed and bumped his fist into Poof's, suddenly feeling more at ease than he had been in days. There was no telling how long this whole fiasco would last, but he was willing to follow through, for better or for worse.
Author's note: Heya, ! I'm still sorta new to sharing fanfiction, but I hope that folks like this one! I have no idea where the idea came from, but I loved it so much I knew I had to get it out!
I normally hold extreme dislike for fanfics containing OCs, especially ones that are relatives to the characters. But creating Dennis was the helpful tie to bring a fairy into the Crocker household; and most importantly to act as a sympathetic viewpoint toward Crocker, while having the issues and secrets that all GodKids need to hide.
I tried to provide logical and reasonable explanation for how Dennis could possible exist in the FOP universe, so hopefully it won't get on too many people's nerves. (And just- don't think too much about it.) Also, there honestly is a reason that #1: Crocker is not a crotchety old geezer despite this taking place a bit farther past the events of FOP, and #2 Poof is older despite the fact that fairies age incredibly slowly. There's reasoning behind both, but it's key to the plot if I want to take this story farther. If I keep this story going, it'll be revealed and make total sense! ;D If you guys really have a bone to pick about it though, post a comment and I'll try to get back to you on that!
Also, for those wondering what Dennis and Older Poof would look like: .com/albums/l54/Myo-_