3

Remy paced back and forth in his room, a pensive frown on his face as he thought over the meeting with Timothy at his own home base. Juandissimo stood before a vanity mirror, primping again, or so he thought. In actuality, the fairy godfather was watching his godchild carefully, worried over what could be going through his mind. The blonde would utter a small 'Hmph' at random times, eyebrows furrowed together in thought.

It still didn't make much sense. Why was Timothy so intent on destroying the Dark Spires when he had no ties to Dimmsdale whatsoever? And why is he suddenly willing to step away if Remy brought them down on his own? Had something in his line of thinking changed?

"Could it be that he's recognizing the futility of it and is looking for an easy escape now?" Remy mused to himself and shook his head, "And these anti-fairies... shouldn't they have been taken back to Anti-Fairy World already? Why are they still here?"

He continued pacing, mind spinning with questions and puzzles. This was all far too complex, even for him. For a brief moment, he mentally wished for his younger days, when all he had to worry about was getting back at Timmy Turner for some reason or another. Those days were simple, fun, and didn't have to have this endless watching of his back to be sure his secrets weren't spilled for the world to see.

And what secrets he held. He paused and shivered, rubbing his hands as a cold feeling washed over him, a feeling he hadn't had for the longest time. He'd spent so long convincing himself that he wasn't wrong, he wasn't really responsible, but could it be that his own words were beginning to fail him? No one else knew the truth; only him and his benefactors. Speaking of which, they would be arriving soon for a progress report. They provided information and technologies that aided him and Crocker in the Dark Spire Project, and in return they wanted...

Remy shuddered again and gripped the back of a chair so tightly he felt sure he'd leave fingerprints in the fine wood. Just thinking of the price he would have to pay made him feel that old sick feeling again. It had horrified him at first, but he talked himself into agreeing, convinced himself that it wouldn't affect him. After all, he wasn't the one who was going to suffer through that price.

But he only paid half; they wanted the other half and they weren't pleased with the idea that it was gone forever. So, how was he to pay? How was he supposed to finish the payment for all this power? Power that didn't seem to do much to the immortal that moved in and began ripping his plans to pieces.

He had to be gotten rid of; that mongrel orphan was making things far too complicated and, as things stood now, Remy was walking a very fine line between everything he ever wanted, and utter destruction.

"This is all Timmy's fault, and Timothy's too." he whispered to himself, trying once again to rebuild his frame of mind and his bravado, "They were in the way, they were always in the way. It's not my fault. It's not my fault. They should have known better. If they had just done what I wanted, they wouldn't be like this. They would both be just fine. A little miserable, but then they're peasantry. It doesn't matter to me."

The memory of Timothy curled on the ground, glaring up at him weakly as ribbons of pink drifted away from his body, came to mind again and he swallowed hard, shoving the image away. It wasn't his fault. That brat was the one always trying to interfere where he didn't belong. Why didn't he just give up and go back to New York? Things would be so much better for everyone if they just did what Remy wanted and not try to rebel or anything like that.

People wouldn't be hurt.

"Remy? Amigo? Something the matter?" Juandissimo's voice brought him out of his thoughts and he glanced over at the Latino fairy as he flew from the mirror towards him.

"It's nothing." Remy returned in a harsher tone than he intended. The fairy winced and he sighed. "My apologies, chum, but truly, it's nothing. Go back to your primping. I'm just puzzling over homework." he amended and waited until Juandissimo judged he was okay and flew back to the mirror before resuming his train of thoughts.

Really, the root of the problem was the fact that no one was cooperating with him. All Dimmsdale would have to do was acknowledge him as the new Heart and the city would be revived. Granted those Dark Spires would still be there, but it's not like they were hurting anyone. Besides the fairies, of course, and only because they were stupid enough to not have the protection of his benefactors or were living in the nullification fields.

Which brought him to the problem of Timothy again. The boy kept getting bent out of shape when exposed to the field, but he kept insisting he wasn't a fairy. Obviously he had to be lying, but he didn't have any proof that would confirm him as a fairy beyond the fact that when a nullifier went up, Timothy went down. Hard. And yet, there was that rare instance where the nullifier did nothing to him, besides blowing up in his face and peppering him with shrapnel. His magic had not been blocked, he didn't seem weakened by the field, so then what?

What was he, this boy who couldn't die and alternated between being fairy-like and not almost at whim?

There was an electronic noise, a burst of smoke erupting just beyond his peripheral vision, and Remy turned to look at his guests with some amount of scorn. Their fault, too. Ultimately, it was their fault he didn't get what he wanted. Theirs and Timothy's... and yes, even Timmy Turner's, damn that dead brat.

"What do you want?" he growled at them, irritated by the questions in his head, his current situation and the fact that he, Remy Buxaplenty, richest boy in Dimmsdale, was in debt to these obnoxious beings.

"Progress report. Have you obtained the rest of the payment? We want to get started processing it." one of the guests remarked dryly, "We didn't come for a social visit. We expect to be paid for aiding you."

"And we're going to want a report on the damage done to the tank we gave you as well as your explanations on why you let it fall into enemy hands." another of them added and turned towards his comrade, "I can't wait to process that as well. The detailing is going to have me up for hours tonight."

"Do it yourself!" Remy snapped, "I've lost half of the Dark Spires because that arrogant Timothy brat is gathering up more of that infernal Turner's allies and sending them all after my beautiful towers!" He waved an arm out at the city. "And these blasted anti-fairies are constantly interfering with daily routines! I can't even move around in school without having a whole flock of the vultures show up and sap this loony black whatever-it-is from me!"

"Negative energy." the first visitor supplied dully, "We know. They are most probably collecting it to heal Anti-Cosmo." Remy and Juandissimo both gave the group their full attentions, eyes wide with surprise.

"Anti-Cosmo? Why would he need healing?" the Latino fairy demanded, "What have you done?"

"A warning. The anti-fairy really shouldn't have been snooping around in files that he wasn't authorized to view." one of the females returned calmly, almost as if she was just listing off the minutes to a last meeting, "All it took for authorization was the completion of Form XB104-A. However, given his connections, the form would most probably have been denied." Remy tilted his head in confusion, a blank look on his face.

"We left him alive. It serves us no purpose to destroy what we want." the first visitor added, "But that is beside the point. We've lost four of the Spires. We're going to have to look through the records of those Spires to identify the weaknesses and damages."

"Joy." the group of them said collectively.

"Have I mentioned to you, mi amigo, how much I detest being around these creatures?" Juandissimo whispered to Remy.

"About as often as you rip your shirts, Juandissimo." the blonde returned under his breath and looked back at his benefactors, "Well, ladies and gentlemen, since you now know that the Dark Spires are failing to withstand Timothy's attacks, what are you going to do about it?"

"That metal we delivered to your underling was going to be used in a device of some kind, correct?" the lead visitor questioned. Remy nodded. "We'll be taking some of that metal for ourselves. We have the plans for an additional device that can be tested on your adversary." Remy glared at the group warily, folding his arms over his chest.

"Really? And this device will be the one to destroy him for good?" he asked, mentally telling himself that 'destroy' was used in a good context. After all, Timothy was supposed to be dead; it would be beneficial for the both of them if he was put back in Death's hands. Remy would be free to do as he pleased and Timothy would get the oblivion he no doubt required.

"No. We don't want him destroyed. We want him captured." the female corrected, "Upon successful capture of 'Timothy', your payment will be complete." Remy blinked in surprise.

"It will be? But I thought the payment required you to obtain...!" he began and halted as one of the visitors lifted his hand for silence.

"This one will do just as well. That's all you need to know. The contract is very clear on what you had to pay us." he amended, "When the device is completed, we will bring it to you. Be sure you use it well to capture the boy. We want him as whole as possible. He's no good to us if he is too damaged for processing." Remy sighed harshly and tossed his head.

"Fine. Whatever. Just take the metal and your reports and get out of my house. If you won't grant my wishes to just take him out of my sight, then you're useless to me." he declared in agitation.

"It's not that we won't grant the wish to simply acquire him." one of the group told him as they began leaving for the data collection, "It is that we can't. Timothy is too well protected... and gaining power quickly. Soon, not even our technology will be able to contain him, and we must have his power for ourselves before the fairies discover the truth."

"What truth?" Juandissimo demanded, "What are you planning for Fairy World this time?"

"Nothing you haven't already tried to plan yourselves." the female returned icily, "We are simply evening the odds, and negating the greatest weapon Fairy World produced." With that, she and the others disappeared. Remy huffed and turned his back on the last place he saw them, frowning as he thought over what he had been told. A truth. They were only helping him to gain hold of a power that revealed a truth. How valuable was this truth? Perhaps...

"Perhaps if I obtained Timothy's power for myself before they do, I can rule more than just this world." Remy mused with a half-grin, eyes glittering with the idea of it, "Think of it, Juandissimo! With all the power he possesses in my hands, I can do anything I want! And you can have that silly pink-haired fairy for yourself!"

"You would use that power to give Wanda to me?" Juandissimo asked dubiously, "What of Cosmo?"

"What of him? He's nowhere here, right?" Remy remarked idly, unaware of his fairy godfather's paling face and obvious flinch at those words.

"R-right."

"Then, forget him. Besides, he's an idiot and useless to any child he comes across. And if the facts about anti-fairies and fairies are true, then right now he should be on the brink of death." Remy went on, "Those anti-fairies will fail to heal their leader and will fall to pieces once he turns to dust, and Cosmo will follow him into blissful oblivion. Perhaps they'll find that Turner brat along the way, won't that be lovely, hm?" He walked off, waving a hand eagerly as he did, "Come along, then! We have wishes to make and grant, and much work to be done! We only have four Spires to do the job of eight and one of them needs to be reconnected to the network!"


Ivory Tower~

The days passed on in good time, though fewer anti-fairies were allowed to go out into the city for gathering energy. Timmy was insistent that Dimmsdale be given a chance to recover a bit from the scares and though the anti-fairies didn't like the orders, they still obeyed. The majority of them clustered in the guest rooms in the higher levels of the Ivory Tower, on occasion peeking out the windows to watch the humans below them work to clear off the rubble and debris from Remy's attack.

Vicky was enjoying herself immensely, using a pickaxe to unleash her frustrations on the larger chunks of white granite while Chip used them as target practice for his Teeth Fu. Some of the teens were startled by the beams of light firing from his shiny teeth, but once it was explained by Timmy that Chip had the Tooth Fairy looking out for him they settled down a bit.

"So this magic light is something from the Tooth Fairy?" the adult singer asked in confusion, pointing at his teeth. The brunet nodded, holding a hand out to one of the larger pieces of rubble and focusing on it.

"The Tooth Fairy said that you were her greatest achievement, so I'm guessing that all those years of her bestowing blessings or whatever on you infused your teeth with some of her power. What you have is like a defense beam or something." he returned, watching the white granite dissolve into water, "Anytime you're in trouble, it goes off. Kinda cool to see that you're teaching yourself to use it more as an offensive attack." He watched Wanda and Cosmo fire bursts of magic at various other piles of rubble, turning them into butterflies or, in Cosmo's case, random dangerous creatures that Wanda would have to poof away immediately.

"Snowball!" he exclaimed once, then wailed when his wife sent the three-headed hydra back to Fairy World, "I didn't even get a chance to play Frisbee!" Timmy grinned at their antics and sighed tiredly, looking for a place to rest. He knew that the group was still waiting for the chance to go back to the elementary school and snoop around for clues, but he was just too exhausted to give the order. It was almost as if his energy was being drained, but why? And where was it all going?

Sitting down on the grass, he uttered another sigh and looked up at the Ivory Tower, wincing at the gaps in its armor. Patches of dull gray-black stone peeked out from among the cracked white granite, evidence of the poly-carbonate that was hidden behind the stone to act as a defense against direct magic attacks. It did nothing to protect the Tower from physical blows; that was the job of the still-in-development mana shield generator. The mana field generator only saturated the area with extra mana to nullify nullifiers and revitalize magic-users in its vicinity.

"Hey, Timmy!" Chester called out and the brunet turned his head to watch a few of his friends run up to him excitedly, "The elementary school is totally empty now! You feel up to going over and checking it out for clues?" Timmy gave them a weak grin and got back up, hoping he didn't look as tired as he felt.

"Sure, why not? We've done enough work cleaning up here, and I want to put off calling Genis about this as long as I can." he returned, "Let's take the bus and go check it out." He looked over at the singer. "You wanna join us, Chip?"

"Nah. I'm not ready for a public appearance yet. I'll stick around here with Icky Vicky and work out my Teeth Fu some more." Chip answered with a gentle smile, "You just take care of yourself, okay? Don't want to lose the Heart of Dimmsdale again." The brunet nodded and waved towards his fairies, catching their attentions.

"Cosmo! Wanda! We're heading to Dimmsdale Elementary! Can you guys stay here and help Chip and Vicky train?" he called out and the fairy couple looked at each other, back at him, then flew up with concerned expressions. Wanda put a hand to his forehead as Cosmo peered at him closely.

"I don't know if that's a good idea, Sport. You're losing magical energy. We should stay with you and give you boosts whenever possible." she told him and held her wand out at him, firing a burst of pink magic that quickly disappeared into Timmy's body. He immediately perked up and looked at himself in confusion.

"Losing energy? Really? I just thought I was imagining things." he echoed in surprise, "Why am I losing magic?"

"You're not losing it; your magical energy is leeching out." Cosmo added, circling his head with a strange expression on his face, "You're doing something that's taking a lot of magic to do and it's kinda going out bit by bit to do it. What are you doing?"

"Nothing! I'm not focusing on anything right now!" Timmy sighed in exasperation, "But if you guys are worried about me, then just come along and help me stay alert." The fairy couple poofed into their respective guises on him, Cosmo as a green iPod slung around his neck and Wanda as a pink wristwatch on his free arm, the other bearing the Adventurer's Map 3000 Mk II armband computer. Tootie gave him a worried look as well.

"You're going to be okay, right? Have you ever had this happen before?" she asked, lavender eyes wide with concern. The brunet blinked at her, blushed slightly, then shook his head.

"No, but I should be fine. What's the worst that could happen?" he asked and looked back up at the Tower, "Anti-Wanda! Come here!" Another burst of smoke and his godmother's anti-self appeared. She held a plush doll of her husband in her hands, cuddling it cheerfully. "Hey, Anti-Wanda, how are you?" Timmy greeted softly, reaching out to rub her head much the same way he did with Wanda.

"Aw, shucks, ya'll! Ah'm peachy!" the anti-fairy giggled, "Anti-Cozzie's been movin' more, so he oughtta be wakin' up purdy soon!" The brunet grinned.

"That's good to hear. How much has he healed?"

"Dunno, but that girlie in the big glass room said he's not in critical condition no more, whatever that means!" Anti-Wanda declared, leaning into the petting happily, "Ah can'ts wait till he wakes up! Ah miss my lil' Anti-Cozzie so much! He says such nice stuff in his fancy talk, it makes me feel just like a purdy lil' princess from onna 'em anti-fairy tales!"

"Well, keep an eye him and I'll be right back." Timmy told her and began walking off with the rest of Team Turner.

"Shore thing, sunu!" Anti-Wanda replied brightly, waving her arm excitedly before vanishing in another blast of smoke. Timmy halted and looked back in shock.

"What? What did she call me?" he exclaimed in surprise.

"Nothing! Ignore her and let's go! We don't have all day!" Wanda barked and the brunet shook his head, uncertain. That was strange; where had he heard that word before? It sounded so familiar...


Dimmsdale Elementary~

"I never thought I'd be back here again." Chester murmured quietly as the members of Team Turner walked slowly across the lawn of the elementary school. Trixie walked by him, nodding sadly as she kept her gaze down.

"It's all like some horrible nightmare." she whispered.

"So much media attention." A.J. mumbled, "Yellow tape..." Sanjay shuddered beside him as Elmer winced at the words.

"That day... we should not speak of it..." the Hindu whimpered, "Such bad memories..." The group glanced over at Tootie, who looked as if she were fighting back tears as she walked with them, one hand placed on her dagger's sheath in ready position. She was responsible for guarding Timmy, and nothing was going to reach him without tasting her steel first. But even back then, with her eagerness and fire, she could not save the brunet from Death. Timmy led the way, silent and unresponsive to anything the rest of his friends had said. He finally stopped at one point and turned to look back at them.

"Okay. Does anyone remember exactly where I died?" he asked calmly and blinked as the group collectively pointed at one single spot without fail, the patch of earth sectioned off from the rest of the playground by four pillars and velvet rope.

"No one can forget that place, Timmy. It was where all of Dimmsdale's hopes and dreams were stolen away." Elmer told him solemnly, "Everyone in the city knows exactly where you fell..." The brunet stared at him for a moment, a faintly horrified look on his face that quickly vanished as he glanced away guiltily.

"I'm sorry." he murmured, "You're all miserable because of me."

"No. It's because of your murderer that we lost our dreams." Tootie told him sternly, "You were a victim, and so was all of Dimmsdale. But you're here now, and we're getting our dreams back." The group moved towards the spot they had pointed out and knelt down to study it. It looked just like any other patch of ground, covered in grass and everything. Nothing particularly special seemed to jump out at them from it.

"Doesn't look like mu-." Timmy muttered, reaching out to touch fingers to the earth, before jerking his hand back in shock, "Wha-? What was that?"

"What was what?" Tootie asked and he looked over at her in alarm.

"You didn't feel that?" he demanded shakily, "There's some really negative energy here." The Goth shook her head and Timmy swallowed hard, holding his hands out over the ground, skimming the grass and flinching every second or so. "It's all over the place, and it feels familiar. Covers this much ground." he murmured, spreading his arms out to measure the earth.

"Dude, that's how big you were when you died." Chester pointed out softly, his voice cracking just a bit, "That stuff is all over the exact place you were lying when you fell."

"It's from me." Timmy realized with a start, "This negative energy... it came from me? Why? I don't remember feeling angry or anything when I fell. I barely remember feeling pain." He closed his eyes and took on a look of concentration. After a moment, his nose wrinkled slightly. "I sense magic." he finally said in a stronger tone, opening his eyes and looking over at his friends.

"Magic? You can sense it?" Tootie asked in surprise and Trixie nodded.

"Yeah, Timmy can tell if there's magic and mana in a place by smelling it or feeling it. He told me about it." the Popular explained, "It's like a perfume the world wears when everything is okay. If it isn't there, something is wrong. Can't you do it too? You learned magic." Tootie shook her head and the girl looked puzzled. "I thought you'd be able to, but I guess only really good magic-users can do it."

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?" Tootie hissed, eyes flashing dangerously.

"Do you always have to fight like this?" A.J. asked them grouchily, "How long have you two been at odds? It's not like either of you bothered to give Timmy the time of day when he was alive." Trixie blushed in embarrassment as Tootie turned on him angrily.

"That's not true and you know it, Tech-Head! I liked him back then and I still do!" she snapped and blinked, face flushing as she realized what she had just revealed, "Wait, I mean-!"

"Ah-hah! I wondered why you kept staring at us all those times!" Sanjay laughed teasingly. The group snickered playfully as Timmy carefully crawled about on the grass, his attention more focused on sniffing delicately at the area than on what was going on with the girls.

"It's magic, but not the kind I'm used to. Wanda, Cosmo, any ideas?" he finally asked his fairies, "Whatever this is, it's really faint, but still here."

"We feel it, and you're right. It's just lingering shreds of magic." Wanda murmured, "This is..."

The iPod suddenly dropped off from around Timmy's neck, poofing back into Cosmo as he stood there on the grass, head hanging down and wings fluttering weakly. Both Timmy and Wanda looked at him curiously as he turned his head from side to side slowly, seeming to scan the earth.

"Them again. Why am I not surprised?" the fairy godfather finally murmured darkly, "I suppose they believe third time will be the charm."

"Cosmo?" Timmy called in concern and the fairy jumped, startled. He looked back over his shoulder, blinking up at them dumbly.

"Huh? Is it time to play the 'Not Study' game?" he asked in confusion. The brunet tilted his head, giving him a wary look.

"No. You were just acting a little weird. You okay?" he asked in return and Cosmo nodded brightly.

"Just fine!" he chirped and flicked his wand, firing off a blast of magic that blanketed the area in green smoke and sent the whole of Team Turner into coughing fits.

"Hey! What was that for?" Apollo yelled from his guise as Trixie's pendant, "Idiot!"

"Whoops." Cosmo chuckled, rubbing his head bashfully, "My wand slipped." A briefly annoyed expression flashed across his face but vanished in favor of an innocent look. "Are we still gonna play?" he asked instead. Timmy sighed and stood back up, patting his shoulder to signal the fairy.

"Never mind. Whatever that was, it's gone now. Let's see what else we can find here." he remarked as Cosmo flew up to sit on his shoulder. Elmer traced the edges of the patch of grass where Timmy had fallen so long ago, then paused in confusion.

"There's this. The ground here is kind of sunken in." he pointed out and poked at the earth as the other teens gathered around with him. There was a short indentation in the earth roughly two inches long. A.J. studied it carefully, then sat back, unimpressed.

"It's from the jungle gym. That's where the legs were put into the ground." he clarified as the stockier boy let out a small yelp of pain and jerked his hand back. "What now?" A.J. asked, one eyebrow lifting at the exclamation.

"Something poked me!" Elmer blurted and scooted back as Tootie took her dagger and began to dig at the spot, "It felt weird." They watched the Goth work for a few moments, then peered into the hole she dug out. "What is that?" Elmer finally asked as they stared at the small trench and a mechanical looking gadget buried in the earth.

"I dunno, but it looks broken. See the rough edges here?" Chester murmured, pointing at the jagged edges of what appeared to be a hollow metal rod run through with thin tubing and wires. A.J. studied it with a practiced eye and snapped his fingers.

"That's it! This must be the mechanism that made the jungle gym move!" he cried, "That explains the little trenches where the legs of the jungle gym had been. This thing gouged part of the earth when it moved the jungle gym."

"More proof that my death wasn't an accident; I really was murdered." Timmy mused aloud, rubbing the end of his nose with a fingertip, "But how did this thing move the gym? And who made it do that? And why?"

"Why don't we look around some more and see if we can find other clues?" Trixie suggested as A.J. reached into his pocket for a pair of gloves.

"And I need to get part of this device out for evidence. Tootie, can you help me dig out more of it?" he asked her and the Goth grinned.

"I'll do one better." she replied and brushed her hair aside, revealing a single crescent moon earring dangling from her right ear, "Romi! I wish the device hidden in this ground was up on top of the grass for us to see!" The earring poofed into the form of Tootie's fairy godmother and she held up her wand to grant the wish. In a blast of dark blue smoke, the hidden device was lifted up.

It was a ring of some sort, with short pegs decorating the top, some of them broken off, and a thick base where all the tubing and wires came from. Trixie glared at it with sudden animosity.

"I've seen this before." she growled, "I know I have, but I don't remember where or when." Timmy blinked at her, then at the machine.

"What the heck is it?" he asked as A.J. studied the device carefully. The boy shrugged silently and he turned to the rest of the group. "Let's leave him to check it out. Where should we start looking for more clues?"

"How 'bout we check out that room?" Chester asked, jerking a thumb towards the window that stood right across the yard from them, "It's got a direct view of the jungle gym, so maybe we can see if it's possible to get another angle on this crime scene."

"Good idea. Elmer, stay here with A.J. I don't want him unprotected from anything. Remy attacked us on our own turf, so he might pull more crud on us out here in no-man's land." Timmy ordered and the boy nodded quickly before rushing to join the African-American examining the device. The rest of the group headed towards the school doors.


Entering the building was easy; just wish for the doors to be open and that was that. The teens walked down the halls, searching for the room as they listened to their footsteps echoing in the empty corridors.

"I wonder if they fixed that one room I accidentally blew apart." Timmy remarked suddenly, a faint smile on his face, "That was the first time I saw Crocker's new fairy traps. It destroyed my first staff, a training bo, and it slammed a pretty big piece of shrapnel in my stomach. I never thought Vicky could turn that white until she saw the damage it did to me."

"You were here before? Hunting traps?" Tootie asked in surprise, "And Vicky was with you?" The brunet nodded.

"Actually, she followed me in and didn't see anything except what happened after I destroyed the traps. Good thing, too; I passed out from the blood loss and when I woke up again..." he paused and blushed, "Oh, yeah. That was the day we met again, when I woke up in your room." Tootie turned a bright shade of red as the other boys snickered and Trixie frowned in disapproval.

"This hall looks familiar. Are we going the right way?" Chester suddenly asked, looking around warily. Tootie held up her armband and studied the map.

"Yeah. According to the layout, A.J. and Elmer are here and the room with the direct view is only a couple of doors ahead of us." she returned and looked up at the walls as they walked, "Ninety-nine, one hundred... here it is. Room One-Oh-One. The window with the best vantage point is here." She heard Chester and Sanjay gulp audibly and turned to blink at them, her concern increasing as she spotted Timmy's paling face. "What?"

"This is Mr. Crocker's room." Trixie murmured for them, her face displaying confusion openly, "His room could see straight into the playground and had the best view in the whole school." She looked over at the brunet as he unlocked the door with a wish and silently pushed it open.

It was different; the walls were decorated with cheerful posters and leafy green plants sat on various pieces of furniture. The only thing that had not changed was the bust of Crocker grinning on the desk. No one had been able to remove it and just left it there as a warning to children to behave themselves. In eerie silence, the team entered the room and walked straight to the window, gazing out at A.J. and Elmer as they worked with the strange device. They stood for a few minutes before Sanjay finally worked up the courage to speak first.

"So what exactly are we doing here?" he asked and winced as the group turned as one to look blankly at him, "Well, here we are, but we do not seem to be doing anything to collect clues and evidence."

"Crocker's room." Timmy murmured suddenly, his eyes taking on a puzzled, distant look, "He's always been scheming to steal Cosmo and Wanda from me. Most of his plans involved destroying me, otherwise known as flat out killing me. If he could put me in that position, or just put me in enough danger, Cosmo and Wanda would have no choice but to reveal themselves to help me and then they'd be vulnerable to his traps."

"So are you saying Crocker murdered you to get your fairies?" Chester asked darkly. The brunet shut his eyes, fingertip flying up to tap against his teeth as he thought it over. Finally, he shook his head, though uncertainly.

"I don't think so. He was in here muttering to himself when I went outside for recess, but I don't see how he would be able to make a jungle gym move from in here." he finally answered. Trixie blinked and held her finger out, flicking it.

"How about a finger flick? That thing he always did before he cried?" she asked, "Maybe he had been talking about a switch he flicked while he was in here?" Tootie brightened up in understanding.

"Oh, yeah! He'd laugh, then flick his fingers, then cry, right? He must have been laughing when he hit the switch that moved the dome, then..." she paused and looked confused, "But then why would he cry? Wasn't killing Timmy the reason why he went through all this?"

"And he said he didn't mean it. A murderer wouldn't show remorse for the death of his victim, right?" Romi added thoughtfully.

"Plus, we don't know for sure that Crocker was the one who hit the switch. Remy's the one who had it." Apollo agreed as Timmy turned his head and studied the wall by the window, frowning thoughtfully as he ran his fingers along it.

"There's something strange about this wall. The paint is lighter here." he remarked and the teens joined him in looking at the coloring. He traced out a large section. "Right about here. Someone repainted this part of the wall." he added and undid his watch, "Wanda, I wish this wall was the way it was before this new paint was put on it." The fairy godmother poofed out of her guise and waved her wand, granting the wish. In a burst of magic, the lighter color paint melted away, along with several pieces of plaster, leaving a squared-off hole cut into the wall and a pair of wires hanging free. The group gasped in shock.

"Those wires are the same as the ones that were attached to the switch in Remy's possession!" Sanjay exclaimed, "And that hole is the right shape for it too!"

"So it was Crocker." Chester growled, "If I ever lay eyes on that crazy old man, I'll...!" He stopped as Timmy held up a hand suddenly.

"It doesn't make sense." the brunet murmured, "The switch is here, yes. Crocker flipped it, yes. But is it really the one connected to the thing outside? Why would Crocker be devastated by a plan actually working? And why would Remy be the one holding the switch and treating it like a treasure when Crocker was the one who created the thing that killed me?" He looked back at the other teens, confused. "It doesn't make sense." he repeated, then took on a faint expression, "Oh crud, I'm getting light-headed. Wanda..." He uttered a soft moan and fell back against the teacher's desk, using it to hold himself up as he pressed a hand to his forehead. Cosmo flew off of him as he fell and spun around to watch his wife fire another burst of magic at him.

"We should get you back home to rest." Wanda told him worriedly, "Are you sure you're not doing something that's taking up so much magic?" Timmy nodded, standing back up and rubbing his head. "Think harder, Timmy. Maybe you know, you just don't recognize it."

"I'm not doing anything!" the brunet sighed in exasperation, "But you're right about getting home. I wanted to check out the Crocker Cave, but we can do that when I'm feeling better."

"We should take that thing to the Ivory Tower." Trixie remarked, pointing at the device as A.J. and Elmer waved at them from outside.

"Wish it there." Apollo suggested, holding up his wand, "It's got no direct ties to Timmy, so I can affect it." Trixie nodded and promptly made the wish, watching as the ring vanished in a burst of red smoke. With that done, the teens quickly hurried outside to rejoin with the other boys.


"Warn us next time one of you makes a wish." A.J. grumbled as the group reached them, "I thought Remy was here, snatching away evidence again." He held up a camera and pointed at it. "I got a few digital shots of it, and even though I'm gonna need more time to analyze it, I can tell you a few things about it right now."

"Sorry. So what'd you learn?" Timmy blurted out, eager to get things done so he could go home, rest a bit, then head to New York and see if his cousin had gotten any better. A.J. showed the group the photos in his camera, scrolling through the images.

"Well, first of all, this technology isn't normal for Crocker. It was built by someone else." he began, "Secondly, it has a logo on it that I don't recognize. It's written in a strange language. I can't translate it right away, so I'll need to scan it in and do an online search." Cosmo, Wanda, Romi and Apollo all peered down at the camera with the teens.

"Weird. It looks like gibberish." Trixie muttered. Her fairy narrowed his eyes at it and huffed.

"It looks almost runic." Tootie murmured thoughtfully as Romi gave it a puzzled look, tilting her head.

"It ain't English, that's for damn sure." Chester grumbled and looked at Sanjay, "Can you read it?"

"What are you implying?" Sanjay growled back at him, "I do not recognize those symbols."

"They looked kinda official to me." Elmer added in a puzzled tone, "But other than that it was all crazy-looking."

"I don't recognize them either." Timmy mumbled slowly, peering closely at the image, "Guys?" Wanda and Cosmo both gave it steady glares before they finally shook their heads in unison. "Well, I guess we'll just have to wait until A.J. works his techno-magic on 'em." he sighed and looked to his friends, "I'm heading home for now. I'll see you guys tomorrow." They nodded and wished him well as the brunet made a wish to head back to the Neogene Manor, leaving them to their own devices of going home.