Fairly Oddparents and Jimmy Neutron copyright Viacom

Chapter 10: There has to be a Solution to This Problem!

Written: 18 Dec 2005-22 Dec 2005

Posted: 24 Dec 2005

Maria's cheek still felt warm from where Vicky had just slapped her. That girl's in a lot of trouble, if she could ever find her parents. Imagine. Slapping an adult like that!

She stood up. She was going to take the rest of the day off. Something very strange was going on, and she didn't like a single bit. She started making her way back to the office.

-OOO-

"Told you it wasn't a good idea," Timmy told Cindy after they found themselves a table.

"I'm sorry, Timmy. I hadn't thought there would be so many unbelievers around." It also didn't help that Timmy himself didn't believe. But he kept that particular concern unspoken.

"Would you have believed if I didn't give you a demonstration?"

Cindy looked thoughtful. "I'm not sure. But why didn't you give one of those demonstrations when everyone was jeering at you?"

The reason was that he wasn't prepared to give one. It was his fairy godparents who did the magic. But he couldn't tell her that. As it would entail revealing their existence. And that would be bad. Instead he said, "I don't think they should know."

"What? Why not?"

"They wouldn't believe me."

"They would if you showed them your magical abilities."

Timmy said nothing. It was something bothering him. If he kept with displaying "his" magic, then sooner or later, he (or Cosmo) was bound to slip up and expose his fairy godparents and make them go away forever. Timmy wasn't about to let that happen.

"Well?"

"It's… embarrassing."

"How embarrassing can it be? It's not like you have fairy godparents like your crazy teacher accused you having."

"Yeah," Timmy agreed uncertainly. "It's not I have fairy godparents."

Trixie appeared on the other side of the table. "Just what is this girl to you anyway, Timmy Turner?" she asked point-blank.

Timmy looked up. "What do you mean, Trixie?"

"I'm your girlfriend. Not her." She shot an accusing finger at Cindy.

"She's from out of town, and I'm showing her around."

"I can see that, Timmy Turner. Are you sure that it doesn't go further than that?"

"Yes, Trixie, I'm quite sure."

"She's not your girlfriend?"

"She's not my girlfriend."

Timmy heard Cindy gasp beside him.

Trixie still didn't look satisfied with Timmy's answers to her questions. "Then what is she to you?" she repeated.

"She's a friend. A real good friend. But not my girlfriend."

"Then why is she looking at you like that?"

Timmy looked at Cindy. The sight gave him pause. Cindy was giving him the same exact look that Tootie gave him. "I don't know…"

"Oh, don't listen to him, Trixie. We're going to get married some day," Cindy said dreamily. "If I don't marry Nick that is."

"Why wouldn't you marry this Nick kid?"

"I can't think of a thing," Cindy boasted.

"Then marry him. Timmy's mine!"

Timmy was surprised by the vehemence in Trixie's voice. Just a couple of days before, she would have nothing to do with him. What was this secret that had her so obsessed like that? It was his secret. He should know! "Let's discuss this years from now. You know? When we're old enough?"

"Timmy's right, Trixie," Cindy said. "We should wait until we meet with Veronica to have that discussion."

Timmy sighed. "Don't forget Tootie."

"Oh right. Her. What do you suppose happened to Tootie?"

"I wish I knew."

-OOO-

Tootie listened attentively to Jimmy as he talked about his latest invention. It might be just the thing to get her home. Though that didn't seem very likely. "This is my greatest invention ever. The holographic wish simulator." Jimmy showed the class a hair-dryer with a calculator slapped to its side. "It simply reads your thoughts and creates a hologram of your deepest, dearest wish."

"Just what good would that do?" Libby demanded.

"What good it will do? What good it will do?"

"Yes," the teacher said, Mrs. Fowl was it? "I was wondering the same thing. Wouldn't it have been more productive just to make something to make your wish come true?"

"Actually, Miss Fowl, this is something I just put together the other from leftover parts from other experiments, so, Libby, I don't know what it's for."

"Then why did you build it then?"

"Libby, please stop. I know what you're trying to do. But it's not working. You're not Cindy."

Libby looked down. "It just seems so quiet in here without her."

"This is all very interesting and all," a boy with an overbite said, "but will just show off your invention, so that we get on with our lives?"

"Oh, sure thing, Butch." Jimmy squeezed the trigger of the "hair blower" and an image of a blonde girl appeared in the desk next to Jimmy's.

Libby snickered. "It seems that I'm not the only one who misses Cindy."

"Obviously there's some kind of malfunction." He turned it off and the image disappeared. "I'll get home and work on it right after school."

"No, you ain't, Jimmy. You're supposed to working on getting Cindy back to us."

"And me and Elmer back home," Tootie whispered. Her eyes grew misty. She hated to admit it, but she was beginning to miss even Vicky.

-OOO-

Vicky had never been to this section of Dimmsdale, but she knew exactly where she was going. The group she was working with had given her direction to the place in case of emergencies. She would say this was an emergency. She no longer trusted those people. Fortunately she knew how to make people do what she wanted them to do.

She stopped in front of a metal gate. "1123 Wilson Way," she read. "This is the place." She put the note in her pocket and opened the gate and looked in. It was a Victorian mansion set in a well-manicured lawn. As Vicky walked the stone walkway, she admired the lawn. She wondered how many little kids they forced to mow it. They seemed to have their priorities in order, she reflected. She came up to the front door and knocked.

The door was cracked open. "What do you want?" The voice was, even in its quietness, menacing.

"I want my sister back!"

The voice chuckled. "So you must be little Vicky Spain."

Vicky narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean?"

The door opened, and Vicky gasped when she saw who was behind the door. "Oh my how have we grown!" It was the bastard who had made her promise to abuse her own baby sister.

She swung her foot upward. Without a doubt she was about to hit his balls, which she was aiming for. But he did impossible. When her foot was about to be planted, he caught it and twisted it, causing her to flip around and land right on her face. "While I understand you trying to neuter me, be rest assured that violence will do you no good here."

Vicky sat up and nodded. "I see what you mean." She made no attempt to stand back up. "But I want my sister back. We made bargain, you and I. I've abusing my darling for your sick pleasure, yet you still took her away. You bastard."

The man raised his hands in a supplicatory gesture "I'm sorry, Vicky. But it's out of my hands. If I had my way, you would still be abusing your sister."

With more speed than Vicky had ever before contemplated, she managed to slug him. He doubled in pain, but he didn't fall. He smiled weakly. "I see you're a woman with conviction. There may yet be a way. But I don't think you're going to like it."

"Try me." Vicky smiled back.

The man recovered some of his posture. "We can send you to her. But we will have to send you…"

"Do it."

The man bowed. "If that is what you want."

"It is."

"But," the man raised a finger, "first you must do a favor for me."

"Name it."

"Come inside and I'll tell you."

The man led Vicky inside and the door closed behind her.

-OOO-

Britney chewed the eraser on the end of her pencil. She knew that math wasn't her best subject, but this particular problem was especially odd. The man who had invented long division ought to be drugged out onto the street and shot, she decided. Sometimes Cindy had helped with her with the math, but she was gone now. Due to Jimmy's recklessness no doubt.

Jimmy Neutron was the source of trouble in her life. He was probably the one who had invented long division for all she knew. She wouldn't be surprised if he was.

But she still needed help with her math. The problem she was currently working looked impossible. 1040/52. "There has to be a solution to this problem!" she said.

Libby looked over the back of her chair. "You need help, Britney?"

Britney nodded.

"It's quite simple, Britney."

"It doesn't look so simple to me."

"It's the simplest thing in the world, Britney. Let me see what you got." Britney turned the sheet around so that Libby could see. "I can see that you got the idea. It just takes a lot of divisions. That's why they call it long division, Britney."

"Ah. Of course." Britney almost got it. But not quite.

"Look. 52 goes twice into 104, and it goes into zero zero times, so the answer is twenty. You see?"

Britney winced. She did see. It was all very simple. That particular problem at least. That left fifteen more of them. She sighed. She looked up at Libby. "Could you help me with a harder problem?"

Libby smiled. "Sure thing, Britney."

-OOO-

"Guys," Timmy told his fairies after walking into his bedroom, "Tootie has been gone for far too long." Cindy wasn't in sight, and having his room, even for just a minute, felt great.

"I thought you wanted to do nothing with Tootie, sweetie," Wanda said.

"Well, I don't," Timmy admitted. "But I'm afraid something's happened to her."

Cosmo cocked her head. "What makes you say that?"

"Tootie hasn't bothered me all day long."

"You're right, sport. That it is odd. But maybe she's sick."

Timmy nodded his head. "No, I don't think so." Could it be? Wanda wondered. Does he have the power? "Wherever she is, I'm sure that she's perfectly healthy."

"I'm sure he is," Cosmo agreed. "Why don't you wish to know where Trixie was? You know she likes you."

It seemed to be too much for him. "I wish I knew where Tootie Spain was," he said.

Wanda would often get the feeling that things were about to go spectacularly wrong. And she was often right. It seemed to be one of those times just now. "Are you sure, Timmy?" she cautioned. "You might not like the answer."

Timmy eyed her suspiciously. "What do you mean?"

"I have been trying to locate her since this morning when Cosmo noticed that Tootie hadn't bothered you."

"Huh! Why didn't tell me?"

"We didn't want to worry you, sport."

"Yeah," Cosmo said, "and you don't seem the type to have anything to do with her."

"Not if she's missing!" Timmy absently rubbed his arm. "I have a little confession of my own to make."

"What is it?" Wanda asked.

"Vicky's parents came by last night and told me that she had sent her sister away."

"Ah, Timmy, I like to remind you that

"Did you ask them how they knew?" Wanda pressed.

Timmy shook his head.

"Don't you find that a little strange that they would know?"

"Not really."

Wanda sighed. "All right. Let's just ask them ourselves then."

"But…"

Wanda reached up with her wand and tapped on the ceiling. And two very surprised adults fell out of a trap door that Wanda knew Timmy was completely unaware of. She had already disguised herself as a human. And Cosmo… was back in the fish bowl. "Look at what we have here. Two runaways."

Mrs. Spain looked terrified. "You won't tell anyone that we're here, are you?"

"That's the last thing I would do." Wanda lowered her voice. "Especially since you're both hiding from Vicky and all."

Mr. Spain gaped. "How did you know that we're hiding from Vicky?"

"Why else would you hide in the Turner's attic?" Wanda shrugged.

"That makes sense, I guess," Mrs. Spain admitted. "But who are you?"

"A friend of the family," Wanda replied. It was even the truth. It was just that neither Wanda nor Cosmo had talked to Timmy's parents in awhile. "Perhaps you should press charges against her."

"We can't do that!" Mr. Spain's eyes grew bigger.

"She'll find out!"

"Good God in heaven, people. Are you her parents or not?"

The Spains looked at each uncomfortably. "Uh…"

"I promise. Whatever happens I'll protect you from her."

"Not from her!" Mrs. Spain wailed.

"Oh, I have ways to deal with her," Wanda promised.

The Spains looked at each other for support. "Alright, we have a deal." Mr. Spain held out his hand. And they shook.

"So now what do we do?" Timmy asked.

"We wait," Wanda told him. "And plan."

"Wait? Wait for what?"

"For Vicky to make her move."