Fairly Oddparents and Jimmy Neutron copyright Viacom

Chapter 9: Vicky's Guilt

Written: 6 Nov 2005-14 Nov 2005

Posted: 14 Nov 2005

"That's crazy, Mr. Crocker," Cindy said. "If Timmy had any fairy godparents, he would have told me. Right, Timmy?"

Timmy felt the sweat on the back of his head. "Umm… yeah." He relaxed though. She didn't suspect him of hiding fairies from her.

"And Timmy would never lie to me. So you see?"

"No," Crocker said.

Cindy looked uncertainly at Timmy. "It seems perfectly clear to me."

"Then let me make it clearer for you, child." Crocker drew closer to her. "Just what do you know about fairies? Hmm?"

"What's there to know? They float with wings and hang out with lost boys."

"Wrong! There's a lot more to fairies than what you read in fairy tales you know. Fairies grant wishes to children. Children like you."

"How is that different from fairy tales?"

Crocker didn't seem to hear her question. "And does Timmy seem lost to you?"

Cindy looked at Timmy uncertainly. "I don't think so… He does have magic that of his."

"Well, he's not lost. Because he has Fairy. God. Parents." He went into all sorts of painful-looking contortions. "And they tell him where he is all the time."

"But sir," A.J. pointed out. "There's no such thing as fairies. So why are we wasting time talking about them?"

Crocker fixed the boy in his sights. "It's my time to waste."

"Of course," A.J. replied promptly.

"Jeez," said Cindy. "Where did you get your teaching license anyway?"

"Dimmsdale Community College of course," Crocker answered calmly.

"Figures."

"And another thing, what-ever-your-name-is, since when did Turner have magic?"

"I don't know. He never told me." She looked at Timmy with a curious look.

"All my life?" he ventured.

"Okay, Turner." Crocker twiddled his hands. "You can continue with your story of your holding magic. But just you remember, Turner, I will be watching you."

Crocker started class with a math test. As Timmy took that test, he began to worry that he would look like a complete moron in front of Cindy. If that happened, she might not love him anymore.

He needn't have worried. She was too busy watching Crocker like a momma hen to pay him any heed. He took his test, taking an occasional sly glance in Cindy's way. She was still watching Crocker every time he looked. But when it was time to hand in their tests, Cindy gave him a smirk.

What was that for? Not like she had had to take the dumb test.

Class seemed to take forever of course. But Timmy didn't let it get him down. There was a girl sitting in the desk who didn't think was a big dork or was completely creepy. He really didn't want her to start think he was dork just yet. Crocker gave boring lectures, interspersed with insane tirades about fairies, all through that morning.

Eventually, forever, it was time for lunch. And Timmy escorted Cindy to the lunchroom with pride. Now he could show off his new girl to everyone in school.

An empty table laid to one side of the room. "Come on, Cindy." He waved her toward that table. He grabbed her hand and started for it.

Cindy let herself be pulled along. "Why? What are you going to do?"

"Introduce you of course."

Timmy climbed onto the table and helped Cindy up. And cleared his throat. "Ah, can I please have your attention?"

No one even looked in his direction.

"Hey, listen up, you stooges," Cindy yelled. Everyone looked. "Timmy has to say to you." She turned to him. "Okay, they're all yours."

Timmy nodded. And turned to his new audience. "Hello all. This is someone I like you to meet. Her name is…"

"I know who that is," Veronica huffed. "It's that skank, Mindy Vorten."

"That's Cindy Vortex!" Cindy didn't look very happy.

"This might be harder than I thought," Timmy whispered to her.

"Yeah," she nodded. "Maybe you should tell them about your magic."

"Umm… yeah." He raised his voice. "I have another announcement to make. I, Timmy Turner, have magic."

"Well, that explains a lot," Trixie retorted. Everyone laughed. "And just what do you think you are doing with her? You're supposed to be my boyfriend."

Timmy held his breath. "Uh oh."

-OOO-

"I think I'm losing control of the situation," Jimmy told his lunch.

"You might be under a lot of stress," Libby approached him carrying her own tray, "but that's no reason to talk to your food. And besides, don't you have a couple of guests to take care of?"

Jimmy looked up with a deep frown. "They weren't even supposed to be here. They were supposed at home."

"I know that, Jimmy. But it wasn't your fault that they were sent to our universe."

"I meant my home. Where they would stay out of trouble."

"Oh."

"Why did even they show up anyway? Don't they know how to follow instructions?"

"Maybe they're just too used to going to school I guess," Libby shrugged. "But don't look now, but here they come."

Jimmy looked. Elmer and Tootie were following Carl away from the lunchroom carrying trays and toward him. Jimmy sighed.

"Might as well see what they want, Jimmy," Libby said.

He nodded. Tootie, as she seemed to be the spokesperson of the two, had a lot of explaining to do.

"Jimmy," Carl said as sat across from him, "these two have been following since we left class. How do I get them to stop?"

Tootie sat down beside him. "Actually, Jimmy. We were only following him because we knew that he led us to you."

"I was following Tootie," Elmer pointed out.

"But why, Tootie, did you go to school?"

"That's what little kids like us have to do during the day. Duh!" she explained once again.

"Yeah," Jimmy said once again as well, "but these are hardly normal times. And this far from her universe. I don't want you to get hurt, or worse, before you get a chance to go back home."

"Oh, gee. I wouldn't want that happen." Tootie smiled. "But what are the chances of that happening?"

"Quite good of course." Sheen had appeared out of nowhere and sat on Jimmy's left. "It's usually about here where we go on globe-spanning adventures."

"Sheen, what are you talking about?" Jimmy asked.

"You know. Everyone gets into an argument and that sends on adventure around the world."

"That's crazy, Sheen. Where would a crazy idea like that?"

"Well, there was the time we all went to the island with the pygmy cannibals."

"Besides that?"

"And the time you were trapped with Cindy on that deserted island."

"Well, that…"

"And the time our parents were kidnapped by the Yolkians?"

"Yes, I get the point, Sheen?"

"Who's these Yolkians?" Elmer asked.

"Wait. I don't remember a big fight before our parents were kidnapped." Jimmy looked sharply at Sheen.

"Our parents wouldn't let us go to the Grand Opening because it was a school night."

"Oh yeah."

"They had their Grand Opening on a school night?" Tootie looked incredulous.

"Yeah, Tootie," Libby observed. "There are some real whackos in the world."

-OOO-

Vicky stepped softly down the hall. Her parents didn't want her to, but she just had to check up on her new baby sister. Make sure that she was all right. Mommy had said that the new baby was a special gift from above. And the little girl wasn't inclined to doubt her mother. Mother was always right.

She made her way to her baby sister's room. She cracked the door open. Her sister had kicked off her covers in her sleep. Vicky smiled. Tootie always did that. Vicky tip-toed in and went to Tootie's crib and looked contently on her. Everybody needed a baby sister, she decided. Or maybe a baby brother. Vicky didn't know too much about boys.

"You're lucky, Tootie," Vicky said softly. "You have your entire life ahead of you. While I have waste so many months of my life."

Vicky pulled up Tootie's blanket up to her chin and kissed her on the forehead. "Don't worry, Tootie-Cutie, I'll protect you and let nothing happen to you."

"Now how are you going to do that, wee one?" Something about that voice chilled Vicky's blood. She slowly looked up. A man in a dark grey suit and sunglasses. He seemed to be floating.

"Who are you, mister?" Vicky tried to keep her nervousness out of her voice, but she didn't know how successful she was.

"A massager. A delivery boy. Whatever my duty entails."

"Why are you here?" Vicky would do anything if only this creepy man would go around and leave Tootie alone. Perhaps Daddy would come and hurry this creep away. She opened her to yell… and suddenly she couldn't breath.

"We can't have any interruptions now. I can release you if you promise not to scream?"

Vicky nodded.

"Good."

She could breath. "How did you do that?" she asked nervously after she had regained her breathe.

"I have to take the child."

"Why? What did she ever to you? She's just a baby!"

"No, it is she might do to my masters is the issue here. She must not stop their plans."

"Plans? What could their plans possibly do with us?"

"That is no concern of yours. And soon neither will your sister." He moved toward Tootie.

Vicky got between him and her sister. "Over my dead body, jerkface."

"That won't be necessary, I assure you." He stepped forward. Running out of choices, Vicky drove her foot toward his crutch. Which he promptly caught in mid-air, causing Vicky to lose her footing and flip over. "Very well, wee one. I'll make you a deal. I won't take away your sister if you agree to abuse her."

Vicky gasped. "I can't do that!"

"It's either that or I take away your sister."

Vicky answered.

By screaming.

Or she would have had she not lost her voice before she could.

"Breaking our promise, eh? That doesn't speak well of our relationship, now does it, wee one?"

'Stop calling me that,' she wanted to scream, but she couldn't. A million dirty that she had heard on the playground and in the lunchroom, but none of them went to her lips.

Nothing came out.

"I'll tell you what, wee one. You can sister if you beat her tonight," the creep smiled, "and you get your beautiful voice back if you beat your sister every night for the next month."

Vicky looked at her sister, tears already falling. Please forgive me, Tootie. I know I won't. She balled her hand into a fist and drove it toward Tootie's tummy.

-OOO-

When Vicky woke, she was screaming. When she realized she was in the park, on the bench she had decided to rest her eyes on, and hardly alone, she slowly began to settle herself down. There was something about that nightmare, but that was impossible. It was the kind of nightmare that would you until the end of your days, and Tootie was never nice to Tootie. Not once.

Maybe that was the part that she found familiar. Being so loving to Tootie. But that wasn't the part that really disturbed her. In the dream, she had been willing to hit a baby.

But why would she worry? It had been only a dream. Wasn't it? No matter what Vicky told herself, she couldn't shake the feeling that she had been through all that before.

Vicky sighed. Might as well get on with the chase for her AWOL parents. They might even be in the park that she had found herself in. She studied the faces in the crowd, seeing if any were at all familiar. She didn't see any.

She got up from the bench to continue her hunt, when suddenly she heard, "Why, Vicky Spain, just what are you doing here?"

Vicky's jaw dropped when she turned. "Mrs. Turner? What are you doing here? I thought you would be at work at this hour."

"Lunch break." The twerp's mother sat down on the bench that Vicky had been on. "Shouldn't you be at school?"

Vicky looked away. The crowd was thinner now. "I just didn't want to go school today. That's all, Mrs. Turner."

Mrs. Turner patted a spot on the bench beside her. "Alright. So why don't you Auntie Maria all about it?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"That's a good reason, I suppose."

A moment passed in silence. And Vicky began to feel uncomfortable.

"Fine. I'll sit by you." She sat down. "But I'm doing any talking."

Mrs. Turner sighed. "This reminds me of when I babysat you. Back when Timmy was just a baby himself." She smiled wistfully. "You used to help me change his diapers."

"Excuse me?" Vicky shrunk into the bench.

"Oh, you don't have to be embarrassed, Vicky. It's a normal, healthy part about raising a baby. And sometimes you even gave him a bath." Vicky was horrified by what she was hearing. Changing the twerp's diaper and giving him bathes? Impossible. Mrs. Turner watched the last of the park patrons disperse. "And to think that my husband hadn't heard of you until he saw your babysitting ads."

"That is odd, Mrs. Turner." Anything to take her thoughts from the fact she used to wipe the twerp's butt. She shivered.

"What's wrong, Vicky? Are you coming down with something?"

"No, nothing." Only disgust, Vicky thought bleakly.

"Well… you're not shaking now. So it must have been the wind."

"Yes. It was the wind."

Mrs. Turner looked toward an oddly round elm tree and sighed. "Have you heard from your parents lately, Vicky?"

"No. I haven't." She paused. "Why?"

"It seems they have disappeared. When I came by, nobody was home."

"They were home when I left for school this morning," Vicky lied.

"But you said you didn't go to school."

"I said that I didn't want to go, but I went anyway." She lied once more. She was really good at lying.

"Then what are you doing here?"

"I don't know." This was the truth. She didn't remember ever falling asleep on any park bench. Ever. And what was Mrs. Turner doing taking her lunch break in the park? Was this chance meeting meant to be? Suddenly Vicky felt very uncomfortable. "Do we have to talk about that, Mrs. Turner?"

"I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable, Vicky? What would you rather talk about?"

"Boy bands." She hadn't needed to think about it at all.

But before they could get started with that, Mrs. Turner's cell chirped. "Hello," she answered, "what can I do for you?… No, I don't where to reach them, Geraldine… I'll let them know when I see them." She put her cell away. "Vicky, it seems that your sister never showed up at school today."

Vicky shook her head. "I haven't seen her either."

Mrs. Turner sighed. "It's not the olds when you and your baby sister were as thick as thieves." Vicky's heart stopped. No, it couldn't be. "You would always pick her up when she fell." Vicky grew more antsy as Mrs. Turner listed off Vicky's good deeds of the past. "Wipe her face when she got carrots all over it. Get fresh diapers for whenever one of your parents change her diapers." Vicky relaxed. "Tuck her in at night when you thought nobody was looking. That sort of thing. You were the best big sister a girl could ask for."

Vicky slapped the woman and sprung from the bench, running and not bothering to hide her tears. She had made a terrible mistake and there was nothing in the world she possibly do about it.

Especially now that she had sent Tootie away.