This is going to be a very sad and horrifying chapter, so I'm pre-warning you now. Sorry for the very late update, my internet has been cutting in and out for the past week, and just thinking about how to continue this story makes me sad.
The guys, meanwhile, were trying to reassure Timmy that it would be over soon. Their heads turned back to Zoron, who once again, had the sharp knife in his hand.
"I told you not to put that thing anywhere near her!" Timmy demanded.
"Well, it's either small, painful scrapes all over her body..." Zoron began, inching the knife closer to Tecna's fair, delicate skin, " Or I can use this very knife to end her life right now." As he continued, he moved the knife up closer to her neck, close enough to choke her.
"Fine!" Timmy shouted out in total heartache with tears in his eyes, " Just... don't kill her."
"I knew you couldn't resist." He smiled, lowering the knife down to her arm.
You are one sick f-" Riven began angrily, but Musa cut him off before he could say anything more.
"Riven!" She scolded him, "As much as I agree with you, watch your language!" But Riven did not feel the need to apologize for expressing his anger. And so, the physical torture began, Timmy forced his eyes open and watched as the sharp knife cut his beloved's soft, fair skin, covering her arm in blood. He could hear her try not to scream in pain, and it came out as a loud, tortured groan. This continued endlessly until Tecna couldn't hide her pain anymore, her groans became agonizing screams every time the knife cut her skin. Everything that Timmy ever feared was happening right in front of his eyes, and he struggled even harder to get out of his chains. After what felt like a lifetime later, Timmy couldn't stand it anymore, he was in so much heartache that it felt like he was dying.
"I can't do this anymore, I just can't!" He yelled.
"Yes you can, Tecna knows that if you could stop this, you would in a heartbeat." Musa tried to reassure him.
"I can't put her through this any longer, I have to do something... I could lose her if he keeps doing this to her." He protested, then he turned to Zoron, "Take me in her place! I don't care if I die here... Just stop hurting Tecna!"
"So the deal is off? I told you at the very beginning, that you have two choices... You either watch her be tortured, one of your greatest fears... Or you watch her die, your other greatest fear. There is no other way out of this." Zoron reminded Timmy. By now Tecna was covered in blood, and was in so much pain that she had collapsed and could not move a muscle. This was probably worse than anything the convicts in the Omega Dimension would do to her, and what's worse is that Zoron actually found pleasure in seeing Timmy face the fear of Tecna being hurt. The ginger haired Specialist fought desperately to be free of his restraints as he saw his beloved girlfriend the way she was. He wanted to hold her, soothe her pain, take it all away, but he couldn't, he was trapped.
"Just kill me... This is some kind of nightmare I can never wake up from... So just set Tecna and my friends free and put me out of my misery, you wanted me to face my fears, well I have now... And I can't live with the guilt." Timmy finally spoke after moments of silence.
"Tim... my..." He could faintly hear Tecna say his name, it sounded like she was in so much pain that it shattered his heart to pieces.
"Tecna... Cupcake... this is all my fault, I'm so sorry. You know how much you mean to me..." Timmy just wished this was a horrible nightmare and he would wake up collapsed on his bed after the long battle class with Cordatorta, and Tecna would be safe and sound at Alfea, unharmed. That was not the case at all, and watching Tecna be tortured made him feel like he was suffocating. She then tried to get back on her knees, but with his newly found source of power, Zoron shot her from behind and she landed on the ground once more. She felt that it was no use trying to get back up again, so she just let the pain surround her.
"How much longer until the sun rises, Stella?" Sky asked quietly.
"A couple more hours, Timmy can't keep this up for much longer and if I had my powers I would give this guy a piece of my mind!" The sun fairy answered the Eraklyon prince angrily.
"Now... we still have time... How else can I abuse her. I've already ripped out her pretty little Believix wings, taken away her source of magic, and cut every inch of her body until it's covered in blood... And yet there must be more I can do to her." Zoron thought wickedly to himself, "I know..." And with that, the wizard turned back towards Tecna, taking a vial from around his neck, and extending his arm. Using his powers over fear, he made the vial begin to glow with a light purple aura. As the technology fairy lay weak on the ground, everyone could see a soul like figure emerge from her body and encase itself in the vial. Tecna now lay on her back, her eyes wide open, but blank... her enchanting teal irises were gone, they were just white.
"Tecna!" Timmy yelled out in horror, "What did you do to her?"
"I took away her life essence, everything that is left of your precious girlfriend is in this vial... and if something were to happen to the vial... Well you can guess the result." Zoron explained as he dangled the brightly glowing purple vial in Timmy's face.
Timmy gritted his teeth furiously as he watched the loosely hanging vial swing delicately in the wizard's hand, just waiting to fall, and shatter into a million pieces, and along with it, Tecna's very life.
"Don't you dare drop that vial!" He threatened the wizard of fears.
"Oh, I won't drop it, but I do enjoy watching you squirm just thinking about it." Zoron laughed. The ginger haired Specialist got infuriated with every passing minute, the thought of Zoron taunting him with destroying the very thing that contained the life essence of his treasured beloved made him sick to his stomach. Suddenly, as the wizard of fears turned around, Timmy inched his wrist around the cuff it was in, and the laser in his watch went off. It burned the cuff and set his hand free, now he could do what he wanted to do all night. Once on his feet, he grabbed his laser gun from his cape, he was enraged, and ready to fight for Tecna's life.
"How did he get out of his chains?" Helia whispered.
"That doesn't matter, Timmy let us out, we can help you!" Layla shouted.
"He's not going to listen, I've never seen him this furious before." Brandon told her.
"Finally, I can be free from your torture, and now... this is for Tecna!" Timmy shouted as he fired his gun wildly at Zoron. He jumped out of the way of Timmy's aim, and suddenly the chain around his neck that was attached to the vial broke, and the very thing containing Tecna's life essence shattered into a million pieces. All that was left was a pile of fairy dust.
"No!" Timmy cried out as he ran over to the shattered glass, trying to gather the purple dust in his hands, but it slipped through his fingers and disintegrated into the air. He then turned toward Tecna's lifeless body, her eyes were now deeply shut, she was gone. Timmy stood up and continued to fire his laser gun at Zoron, and once he was on the ground, the Specialist jumped right on him, strangling his neck and punching him in the face.
"Now I can avenge my Cupcake... I hope I never see your twisted face again!" Timmy hissed. Then, he took his laser gun and stuck it right in Zoron's chest, where his heart would be if he had one, and with one final shot, the wizard of fears was motionless. Timmy looked around, wordless, and heartbroken.
"Timmy, we're still chained up here!" Riven yelled, irritated.
"Leave him alone, couldn't you see what just happened?" Flora told him.
"Sorry guys, I was too involved in getting my revenge that I wasn't focused." Timmy confessed, running back to his friends, and setting them free, one by one.
"We forgive you, Timmy, revenge is a dangerous thing that can control a normally good person." Bloom replied sadly as they all gathered around poor, sweet Tecna.
"I promised her I'd get her back safe and sound... and I broke that promise... I'm never going to forgive myself for this." Timmy began sadly, forcing back tears, "I just need to do one last thing before I know I've lost her." He took out all of his electronic devices, and placed his handheld controller in the palm of her hand, and turned it on.
"What are you doing?" Flora asked him softly.
"If Tecna is able to sense the presence of technology, it could restore enough of her magic to bring her back to life." Timmy explained in a hurry, grasping Tecna's hand in his own, both cupping his handheld device within their palms. Everyone watched, but after minutes of silence, nothing happened.
"When is it supposed to work?" Stella asked worriedly, but Timmy was too scared of the result to focus on anything else.
"Come on Tecna, you can do it... please come back to me... I love you."' He pleaded, but still, nothing happened.
"Tecna's life essence is gone, Timmy." Riven replied coldly, "Once it disintegrates, that's it... I didn't think it would go this far."
"Riven, how can you be so heartless?" Musa scolded him.
"We should at least take her back to Alfea, tell the headmistress what happened." Sky suggested, "And... give her a proper send off."
"No, I'm not giving up on her! I am not breaking my promise to Tecna and I will do anything to get her back!" Timmy protested.
"I know you meant all the love you could when you made that promise, but some things are just out of your control." Helia replied. All Timmy could do now was gather the love of his life in his arms, she was so cold, motionless, and getting paler by each passing second. The ginger haired Specialist couldn't take it any longer, he pulled her close to him and placed the most passionate kiss on her lifeless lips, and finally, tears fell from his eyes when he realized that not even true love's kiss could bring Tecna back to him.
The idea for Zoron taking away Tecna's life essence was inspired by this fanart.
art/Tec-Subordination-of-power-199697272
