Here's a new chapter for you all! ...Yeah, I'm feeling better now! ;D
Why's that? Oh...umm...I really shouldn't say... ;)
Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly
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Sam stood there, startled by the appearance of the old man. "Great," she muttered. "As if my day couldn't get worse." The old man shook his head.
"Miss Puckett, you know why I'm here," he replied to her. Sam sighed and sat back down in the chair.
"Yeah…'cause me and the dork broke up," she replied flatly.
"Correct. Now…why is it that you felt it necessary to break up with Mister Benson?" But Sam just kept staring at the lizard. The old man just turned to the lizard-like creature on his shoulder. "Ah…you are curious about Grendel, are you?" Sam just kept staring at it.
"Is that's what it's called? I've never heard of a 'Grendel' before," she replied. The old man chuckled.
"That's his name," he replied. "…Say hello, Grendel." The little lizard-like creature poked his head at Sam and upon closer inspection, she noticed that his eyes were like a kaleidoscope - spinning and whirling, changing colors and sparkling.
"…Hello," he spoke in a small, squeaky voice. Sam jumped back and shook her head.
"I'm hearing things," she muttered. "…Did that thing just speak?"
"Uh huh!" Grendel nodded emphatically. The old man chuckled.
"You'll have to forgive him…he's…enthusiastic." Sam just stared at the creature, wide eyed. She crept closer to him, in order to get a better look, but he just quickly did his best to hide behind the old man. "Grendel…relax! Miss Puckett is a friend!" He poked his head out from around the old man's neck.
"She is?" he asked and the old man nodded. Grendel turned back to Sam. "…I'm Grendel!" Sam just looked at the creature curiously.
"What…what the heck are you?" she asked.
"Grendel is my familiar," the old man replied. "But…you mean as in what is he…well, he is a pseudodragon."
"…A what?" The old man sighed and rubbed his eyes that were shielded behind his glasses.
"Grendel is a tiny dragon that is the size of a housecat…how does that work for you? Any better?" Grendel cocked his head to the side, glancing up at the old man.
"I think you might have confused her more, Master," he said.
"I know, Grendel," the old man replied. "In any event, Grendel is my familiar. And wherever I go, he goes with me." Sam just shook her head.
"Okay then! Well…I think I've had just about enough of this session of craziness! I think I'll go home now, where things are a lot saner!"
"Sit down, Miss Puckett!" the old man spoke again. "For you will find that everyone in this building isn't going anywhere." Sam just made a beeline for the door and dashed out of the Principal's office. She headed for the one place that made sense to her - Carly's locker.
"CARLY!" she shouted, as she reached her brunette-headed friend. "Oh thank god! Listen, that creepy old guy is back, and he did something to Principal Franklin and…" her voice trailed off as she looked at her friend. Carly was in the middle of putting books away…or at least she was. There she stood, putting away a text book as if she was frozen in time. Freddie stood to the right of her, leaning against the lockers. He too, was immobile, but there had been no sign of Columbine anywhere. Sam just poked at Carly's shoulder, seeing that it did nothing. "Holy chizz," she muttered. "It's like they're frozen…"
"In time?" the old man finished, causing Sam to jump. He took out his pocket watch, checking the time on it. "Miss Puckett, as I told you, you and I need to have a little chat about things." Sam shook her head, refusing to believe any of this was happening.
"Look…however you managed to get my friends…let alone the entire school to stand perfectly still, I don't believe it!" The old man just shrugged.
"I would advise you to start believing it," he replied. "Now…we have quite a bit to get through and all the time in the world with which to do it," he added, still looking at his watch. "Let's go back to a few weeks ago, shall we?" The scenery around them seemed to melt and blur, shifting to that of two weeks ago.
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From two weeks ago…
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Carly was walking down the steps of the second floor, Sam at her side.
"That stupid Laura," Sam saw herself mutter. She knew what this conversation was about. "Where does she get off calling me 'girly'? I'm not some 'weak' girl like she is!"
"Sam…don't let her comment bother you! Just remember that Freddie makes you happy!" Sam shook her head.
"But that's not the point, Carls! Do you know both Sarah and Lilly called me 'girly' as well today?" She growled and flung her locker open in frustration. "I mean…Freddie is great! But…maybe…" She never did finish her sentence, as Freddie came bounding up to them both. He wrapped his arms around Sam's waist and nuzzled her neck.
"Hi Sam," he said sweetly. Her response was to elbow him in the stomach. "Ow!" He broke off his embrace and rubbed his stomach. "What was that for?"
"You know the rule, Benson!" she replied to him. Carly giggled at her two friends and got the books she needed. The old man pulled out his watch, glancing at the time as the Sam that was with him saw the scene freeze.
"What exactly is that rule, Miss Puckett?" he asked her. Sam walked up to the frozen Freddie from two weeks ago, seeing that despite his pain, he was smiling.
"…No affection in front of Carly," she muttered. Grendel turned towards the old man.
"I thought she liked Freddie, Master?" he asked. The old man sighed.
"Not helping, Grendel," he whispered. "Miss Puckett, I understand that you have a problem with affection in front of others. But Miss Shay is your friend! Why would you not want to show affection towards Mister Benson in front of her?"
"I dunno…I guess I just didn't want to rub her face in it," she sheepishly muttered.
"Well…do you recall the events from last Tuesday?" Sam made no response. The old man sighed and closed his watch as the scenery once more around them melted away and re-formed itself.
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Last Tuesday…
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Sam and Carly had been sitting in History together, when Helen Robbins came up to them both. "Hey Carly, Sam," she began. "Word is that you haven't been giving your nerdy boyfriend wedgies or tormenting him as of late!" Sam's eyes narrowed and she could feel the rage starting to boil inside her. Carly sensed this too, and quickly intervened.
"That's actually not true," Carly quickly spoke. "I told you before, Sam! You can't fill Freddie's locker with pudding!" Sam gave Carly a curious glance, but quickly caught on. She rolled her eyes at the comment.
"Come on, Carly! It's not like the dork didn't have it coming! He stole the grill out of my locker!"
"Sam, he said he was sorry for that and gave it back!"
"Yeah, after I nearly broke his arm in two places," she said with a smirk. Helen just shook her head.
"Well…sorry to have brought up that rumor. I'll talk with you two later!" The scenery once more froze and the old man turned to Sam.
"Miss Shay did a wonderful thing for you, Miss Puckett. And yet…you felt it necessary to blow up at her?" Sam just shook her head slowly.
"She was trying to keep me and Freddie from breaking up?" The old man nodded.
"That she was," he said and once more pulled out his watch. Sam looked at the old man with great interest.
"Why is it that when you make all the weird stuff happen, you have that watch out?" The old man glanced back at Sam.
"…No reason," he replied to her. But Sam didn't believe him for a second. She made a quick dash for him and snatched the watch out of his grasp. "Hey!" he shouted, as she backed away from him rather quickly, his watch in hand.
"All right, I don't know what's going on or how you're even doing all this, but either I get some answers or I use this thing to get myself home!" The old man sighed.
"You can't be serious," he muttered to her. Sam nodded.
"Oh, I'm definitely serious!" She then glanced at the watch. "Now…tell me how to work this thing!" The old man sighed and shook his head.
"You really don't understand," he began.
"Well, you pull that knob at the top out and twist it! Then, when you're done, you push the knob back in!" Sam just looked at Grendel.
"Thanks," she began, "you've been very helpful!" Sam did as Grendel instructed, muttering to herself as she worked. "Let's see…if the watch is reading at 2:45 now…I want to go back further, so let's say…an hour?" She set the watch to 1:45 and pushed the knob back in. Yet, much to her disappointment, nothing happened. "Hey!" she shouted at Grendel. "I thought you said to work this thing I had to pull out this knob, twist it and push it back in!" Grendel nodded.
"I did! That's how you set the time!" Sam just stared at Grendel and the old man. "…Oh…did she want to actually go back in time?" The old man nodded his head slowly. "…Ohhhh," he added. The old man chuckled and held an outstretched palm. Sam, on the other hand, just growled in frustration and handed the watch back to the old man.
"My thanks, Miss Puckett. That watch has great sentimental value. My wife gave it to me for one of our anniversaries."
"But…how did you make all the people frozen and hop back through time?" she asked.
"Miss Puckett…I am a wizard. Well…and Illusionist, by trade, actually. But, I have mastered the arcane arts. I have seen countless dimensions in my travels, especially several pertaining to you, Mister Benson and Miss Shay. Nevertheless, I have chosen to arrive in this particular dimension." Sam just stared at the old man, unsure of what to say next.
"…Let me get this straight," she began. "You're a wizard?" The old man nodded. "And you came here…to this…dimension…for whatever reason you may have…and you've taken it upon yourself to help me and the dork get together?" The old man nodded again. "And…let's not forget the whole time manipulation thing you have going on!" She spun around, facing him and added, "Is there anything I left out?" The old man grinned.
"Yes…you left out the real reason you broke up with Mister Benson." Sam took a step back.
"You…you know why I broke up with him! I couldn't stand the 'girly' comments!" But the old man shook his head.
"No…it's not that at all. It's because you love him, Miss Puckett. That's why you didn't want to show any affection in front Miss Shay. You didn't want to rub her face in the fact that you had someone and she didn't." Sam quickly threw her hands up to her ears, pressing down on them, trying to block out the sound of the old man as best she could.
"NO! It's lies! All of it!" she screamed. But the old man went on.
"And that's why you broke up with Mister Benson. That after so long of him pursuing someone like Miss Shay, you felt that you had to become what you hated the most! All because you love him! That's why you stopped all the name calling, the pranks, the torment, the beatings…all of it! You were afraid of letting him know the real you! Letting him love the real you!" Sam dropped to her knees, her hands still pressed up against her ears.
"Liar!" she screamed. "I hate him!" she repeated over and over again. But the old man just shook his head.
"Miss Puckett…allow me to show you the conversation that took place the night you broke up with Mister Benson," the old man replied. He lifted his cane and made a circle with it in the air. A translucent light appeared, in the shape of a circle, and in it, were the events of that night. Sam glanced up, watching what happened as she stormed out of the iCarly studio. She watched as Carly tried to stop her, but she ignored her best friend. She also saw the look on Freddie's face that night. A look that tore her own heart out.
"Why didn't she tell me?" she saw Freddie ask Carly. "I would have been okay with helping her keep her reputation!" Sam could see just how badly she had hurt Freddie.
"You know how Sam is, Freddie! Just give her a night to cool down. She'll be back together with you tomorrow! Just wait and see!" she heard Carly reply. Then…she heard the four sentences that made her cringe the most.
"You don't believe what you just said for a second, do you?" Freddie asked. Carly sighed and shook her head.
"No…I'm sorry. But we both know how important Sam's reputation is to her."
"Yeah…and I know I didn't help."
Sam wanted to lash out; she wanted to scream. She wanted to do something to release all the pent up frustration and rage she felt inside her. "Oh Freddie…" she muttered. "I'm sorry…" The old man put a hand on Sam's shoulder.
"Now, now, Miss Puckett. It's never too late to change the future! All you simply need to do is go to Mister Benson and apologize! I know he'll take you back." Sam looked up at the old man, who had been smiling at her warmly.
"…He'd better, old man," she said with a grin. "Otherwise, I don't care how old you are! I'm going to kick your butt if he doesn't!" The old man laughed.
"There's the Miss Puckett I know!" His phone began to ring and he held up his finger, indicating he would be one moment. "Yes? …Slow down, Columbine! Tell me what happened?" Sam's smile faded slightly as she watched the expression on the old man's face get a little more grim with each passing second. "…I see. How bad are we talking? …Uh huh…and you and Miss Shay are there with him now?" Sam's smile was completely gone at that moment. She knew that the old man was talking about Freddie. "We'll be right there," he whispered into the phone. He closed it and then turned back to Sam.
"What is it?" she asked. "What happened to Freddie?" The old man was taken back a bit, but he knew that he had to be completely honest with her.
"Mister Benson…was not paying attention to where he was going. He was struck by a moving vehicle and taken to the hospital. Miss Shay and Columbine are both there now. Spencer and Mister Benson's Mother are also en route. Come," he said, offering her his hand. "I will get us there, post haste!" She took his outstretched hand and he merely tapped his cane upon the ground but once, and the two of them vanished from where they stood only moments before.
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Okay...this chapter was kinda depressing probably at the end. But, it's all good! I promise!
Just tune in next chapter for what happens next! I promise, you will be pleased! ...And you'll maybe even get a laugh or two...
Until next time! Thanks for reading and reviewing! :D