A/N: New chapter. I wrote this before Wishology, which is why Timmy still doesn't know where Crocker gets his stuff.
Disclaimer: Fairly Oddparents copyright Butch Hartman, Billionfold, Federator, Nickelodeon andViacom.
Despite what many people assumed about him, Crocker was not stupid. There was some truth to the fact that he was insane, but he was not stupid, at least, not anymore. He had been foolish twenty years ago when he unraveled his belief in fairies to his college professors, but he had learned since then. He had been mocked and ostracized, which is why he would no longer use magic to help people. They had their chance, now they wouldn't get anything other than life under his rule.
He ran through the school, clutching the squirming butterfly net, and stopped at what was supposedly normal school locker. He looked down at the butterfly net containing what he assumed to be a fairy, he could only smile. "Finally," he said dreamily, staring intensely at his prize. "After all the years of being mocked, I had captured what I have been looking for." He trembled with excitement. "Soon I'll harness its power and I'll rule all!" He shouted the last part.
Opening the locker door, he stepped inside and fell down a shaft. "Whoa!" he exclaimed as he fell down, coming to a soft landing on his mattress, for once right where it was supposed to be.
Crocker chuckled gleefully as he crossed the floor until he came to a large glass sphere supported by a metal stand that he intended to imprison his captive in. It had been laced with butterfly net strands, ensuring that fairy magic couldn't break through it. He pressed a small red button on its top, the only distinguishing feature to an otherwise normal sphere. The top then popped off, which Crocker held in his free hand. With the other, he turned his net upside down and began shaking it.
"Come out you…" Crocker froze in shock. It was a very unpleasant surprise to see, instead of the fairy he longed for, it was a little toddler (who looked familiar, but Crocker wasn't pondering why) tumble out of the restraints and into the open sphere.
Trixie looked up in fear at her captor, clutching her little fists to her chest, her face full of dread.
"What?" Crocker screamed in disbelief, dropping the lid, which was durable enough to survive the drop thanks to the mad teacher's designs. He instantly reached into the sphere and grabbed Trixie by her sides and lifted her up to eye level with his, glaring at her with the angriest expression he could muster. "What are you doing in my net?" he screamed, his teeth bared, his eyes bulging behind his glasses.
"I…I…I don't…" the toddler managed to stutter. "WAAAAAHHHH!!" Before letting loose a loud wail of fear and sadness. Cringing from the loud noise, the sadistic educator placed his captive on the ground and covered his ears, though it did very little to relieve his eardrums.
"I must have grabbed you by mistake!" he muttered unhappily, still covering his ears. "Blast! My plans are ruined! I can just hear Turner and his fairies mocking me, I can…" His rant trailed off when suddenly it struck him. "Turner…"
"Yes," he muttered with evil glee, rubbing his hands together, now not minding the girl's cries. "Turner, he'll come looking for you," throwing a hungry look at the terrified girl, then he turned away, rubbing his hands with anticipation. "He must have seen me leave the scene when I captured you by mistake!" He trembled with pride at the plan formulating in his mind. "And when he comes, he'll have to bring his fairies with him!" he shouted loudly.
Now back in his previous good mood, he turned to Trixie, whose cries had subsided somewhat and she was now looking up at her teacher with a fearful expression. Grinning a sadistic grin, he spoke, "Don't cry, girl, we're about to have all kinds of fun…"
Todd had heard stories about Crocker, as had Krystal. It was inevitable that they had. Despite being treated like a joke now, even being the star of Fairy World's biggest reality show, but everyone knew what he could really do. Every fairy and godchild lucky enough to escape his magical enslavement of Earth remembered what he was capable of, and everyone who was in Fairy World at the time remembered his attempted conquest of their home. Needless to say, they were a bit nervous having to face him. Timmy and his godparents, however, already dealt with him on a regular basis, so they were more relaxed, although they were still on their guard.
Now across the street, with the three fairies disguised as squirrels, the small rescue team looked at Dimmsdale Elementary. Seeing the situation, Wanda had wisely decided to leave her son with Cosmo's mother. For a while they looked at the school, wondering what to do next.
Fortunately, Timmy had a solution. "Alright, look," He told them eagerly. "Crocker's probably realized he doesn't have a fairy by now, and either way he's probably expecting us. That's why me and Todd should go in alone."
"What?" Wanda exclaimed, looking up at Timmy. "Timmy, are you crazy?" she asked, scampering up to her godchild, staring up at him. "You can't go after Crocker alone!"
The pink-capped boy resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Wanda could be overprotective at times. While he enjoyed his fairies concerned for him, seeing as his own parents were so unconcerned about him if it meant a sacrifice of their free time, he still found it frustrating that she could forget what he was capable off.
"In case you've forgotten," he reminded her simply. "I've fought him when he had control of both you and Cosmo's magic. Now look, he's probably got a lot of magic detectors, which means if you three went in there, he'd probably detect you and catch you, then things would just get worse. We need to be careful here."
Todd turned his head, staring at Timmy in surprise. "…You act like you've done this too many times," he commented with a sort of disturbed awe.
Wanda sighed, her shoulders sagged. "You don't know the half of it," she muttered softly, shaking her head.
"I don't know any of it!" Cosmo chirped happily, oblivious to the situation.
"Be careful you two," Krystal told the two boys softly, a worried look on her face. "I've heard stories about this guy, and he can be completely ruthless."
Timmy smiled confidently. "That's only when he gets some magic," Timmy assured them happily, holding a finger out to empathize his words. "Otherwise he's pretty easy to beat."
"That's true," Wanda conceded softly, nodding her head. "Crocker usually only acts that way when he is drunk on power, without it he's a sadist, but relatively harmless."
"Now, Todd and I will go in alone," the bucktoothed boy continued, gesturing to Todd with his left hand. "We can probably get Trixie and sneak back out if we're quick and quiet enough." He threw a glance at Todd and then looked serious. "If we're not out in thirty minutes, we can call Jorgen. I think two godchildren getting kidnapped is enough reason for him to step in."
"Where exactly in this school will he be?" Todd asked curiously, his eyes darting to and fro. "I find it hard to believe he could have a fairy-hunting lab inside a school without anyone noticing."
"He's built his lab underground," Timmy explained, touching Todd's shoulder. "Don't ask me how he did it, I can't even figure out how he pays for everything."
"Right," the black-haired boy nodded. "Then how do we get there?" he asked, frowning.
"He has an entrance in one of the lockers," Timmy told Todd, pointing at the school building. "We'll use it. If we do this right, maybe we can sneak and get Trixie without anything bad happening."
"Well, just stay safe," Krystal pleaded, clutching her wand anxiously with trembling hands.
Timmy gave a cocky smile. "Hey, if this guy couldn't beat me with all that magic power, what can he do now?"Trixie sat, curled into a ball, in a corner of the Crocker Cave, only absolute fear kept her from trying to make a break for it. She didn't know what was going on, only that a strange man had taken her away from the nice people she was with. She sighed sadly clutching her sides, as her mind recalled those people she had met.
They were cool, She thought to herself. The four that could float in the air, she smiled wondrously. The two of them (one with purple hair and the other with pink hair), were sweet and kind...like… She stopped as she recalled her mother.
That thought made her sob for reasons that she didn't understand. She rubbed her eyes, sniffling, though her eyes were tired from crying earlier.
I had a mother who was sweet and kind to me, Trixie thought through her sadness. Didn't I? She seemed to remember doing something to make her angry, something that made her stop being a mother. But that was impossible; her mother was always with her.
Then, why didn't I see her with the others? Trixie's mind asked while she was rubbing her left eye with her left fist. And where is Daddy? Try as she might, she couldn't remember doing anything to make him upset, he had no reason to leave. Maybe he had just had to go away for awhile, she concluded, her shoulders slumping sadly. Maybe all those people were babysitters. she guessed.
Then she remembered another one, who was only a baby. A small bundle of energy, incredibly fond of the word "poof" and who giggled and floated in the air, always happy. He played with her, and he was sweet, but he was far too young to be a babysitter. He was fun, she remembered, a smile touching her lips, her pudgy arms hung at her sides.
She remembered the last floating one, a green-haired man who said funny things. He was dressed like some of her father's employees, and was as warm and affectionate as well. He seemed to be just as unaware of what was going on as she was. He was funny, she commented, her tear-stained eyes glistened with amusement, raising her hands together.
Then she remembered the two boys, the ones that didn't float. Her hands turned into fists, a look of rage filled her tiny face, as she thought the boy with black hair.
He is bad, Trixie thought angrily, but then frowned as she realized that she didn't know why. Her face skewed with confusion. She just remembered that he did something that would qualify him as a bad person. Still, try as she might, she couldn't remember what the bad thing was. And he seemed to be very nice, she conceded thoughtfully. He was concerned about me when that other boy brought me home and…he was glad I was OK. Her eyes narrowed in wonder. Could it be that he wasn't bad?
Maybe that was true, especially since he seemed to be friends with the last boy with the pink cap. Even given her situation, she couldn't help but give a small smile when she thought of the boy named Timmy. She vaguely remembered seeing him before, and from what her memory gave to her she concluded that he was interesting. She remembered thinking about him for long periods of time, but she couldn't remember exactly what about him she thought about. I have to find him and ask him about it, she decided thoughtfully.
Then she remembered her situation. The strange man wouldn't let her leave. She got up, and took a few steps to the strange man, working at a computer on a desk, his fingers typing.
"Please, let me go," she pleaded softly, clutching her trembling hands.
"Will you be quiet?" Crocker snapped furiously, turning his head to face the little toddler, glaring down at her through his glasses. "Don't you understand I'm not going to do anything to you, or are you still too young to be smart?"
Trixie became silenced out of fear; she cringed as Crocker returned to his work. She was even more confused by this strange man. Her eyes squinted, I know… remembered him, she thought to herself, flexing her pudgy fingers.
Trixie knew this man well, yet she still didn't know who he was. Once she had thought he was funny, but now she couldn't imagine how anyone could see this man as entertainment. She went back to her corner, curled back into a ball, and she let loose a silent prayer. Someone, anyone, please help me! she prayed sadly, her blue eyes focused up at the ceiling above.
Todd looked into the locker door, his face squinted in surprise. "We're supposed to jump down there?" He asked incredulously, pointing into the tube that led to the Crocker Cave.
A few months ago, Timmy might have answered this question with an enthusiastic yes. However, he remembered when such reckless actions at Pixies Inc. and Anti-Fairy World had alerted their enemies to Poof's existence. As such, he wisely decided to play it a little safer.
"No," Timmy answered seriously, shaking his hands dismissively. "If we go in that quick Crocker would probably see us. Let's go in slower. Here, get on the other side of the hole."
Todd was baffled by the request, but did as he was told. "Now here's what to do," Timmy continued, gesturing to the edge above the bottomless darkness. "Climb into the tube, but keep a grip on the ledge."
Todd scowled. "Alright, but this better be good," the black-haired boy muttered as he obeyed Timmy. Timmy did the same, leaving the two hanging with their backs to each other.
"Alright, now press your feet on the side, and push your back up against mine," the older boy ordered. As he followed the command, Todd smiled. "Hey, it's just like that Disney movie!" he said happily.
"Yeah, that's kind of where I got the idea," Timmy admitted humbly as he and Todd pressed their backs against each other. Wordlessly, the two locked their arms into the other, bracing themselves. Leaning into each other stopped them from falling into their enemy's base.
"Now, start with your right foot. Ready?" Timmy asked in a tight voice, his body tense as he and Todd hang in the tube.
Todd nodded, and with that they both lowered their right foot to a lower position, it hitting the metal with a soft clang. They repeated this process as they began a slow descent down into the villain's lair.
For the next minute they continued their descent into Crocker's lab, each step giving a thud or a clang. It didn't take them long to reach the end of the tube, and pretty soon they were at the rim, their legs sore from what two young boys would consider a workout.
"Now, we have to look down there and see if Crocker would see us if we went down," Timmy informed.
"Great," Todd commented wearingly, tired from climbing down. "So how do we do that without exposing ourselves?" he asked in a strained voice, trying to not lose his position.
Silence greeted Todd's very valid question. "Well?" he asked impatiently, wishing he could relax.
"Uh…heh…I," Timmy stuttered, realizing his miscalculation. "I guess I didn't think this through all the way," he admitted, grateful he was facing the other way so his blushing face wasn't visible.
Todd groaned irritably. "And you're the guy whose saved Fairy World more times than anyone can count?" the black-haired boy growled, letting his exasperated feelings get the better of him.
"Don't worry," Timmy assured Todd, his voice sounding strained, due to his aching muscles. "I'm working on it."
Timmy looked down at the mattress.
"Alright, look," he gestured with his head, though Todd couldn't see it. "It's a short fall now, and Crocker's just a normal guy. We're going to have to take a chance. We'll drop down, and then try to find cover. If Crocker sees us, we'll have to rush him," he smirked, though he was tired. "He probably knows we're coming, but maybe we can throw him off enough to grab Trixie."
If Timmy could see his friend's face, he would have seen his annoyed expression. Still, Todd sighed and resigned himself. "I guess it's as good a plan as we'll get," he conceded, throwing a glance at the mattress below them.
"Alright, on three, we drop down," Timmy told him in a tight voice, desiring to rest his muscles.
"One…two…three!" On that number both boys pulled their feet back and began to fall and hit the mattress.
At the same time, something very alarming happened. The floor underneath the mattress suddenly shifted, flipping over to reveal a steel cage with a hinged top that was currently open. Instead of coming to a soft stop on a mattress, they crashed on the steel floor. Fortunately, their fall was a small one, so there was no serious injury. Still, that was little consolation, as at that point the top of the cage swung and closed, trapping them inside.
"Ouch, that hurt," Todd groaned, as he sat up, rubbing his hips, with his hands.
"No kidding," Timmy agreed, rubbing his sore hips too.
Both boys then looked up and as they were grasping had went wrong, Crocker walked up to the cage, his smile showing off his crooked teeth.
"Well, well, look what I've caught," he commented smugly, his eyes focused on the two young boys.
