Vicky was baffled. This cannot be real.
Trixie Tang, General First Class, right-hand woman of Vicky; was in fact the leader of resistors against her all along?
Nonononono, this was just a joke. A silly prank. Trixie was in fact her savior after her devices were disabled, right? Wait, the pantyhose woman disabled her devices, and she just revealed herself to be Trixie. That made no sense.
…It had to be a bad dream! Nothing makes sense in dreams, after all!
Then again, AJ's arms felt realistically tight.
"Wh-what's the meaning of this, General Tang", Vicky begged. "I demand an answer!"
"Told ya it would scar her", Trixie muttered to Chloe. She then said: "Alright, enough fun and games. Let's tell Vicky what's happening, okay?"
At that moment, Chester arrived with a hovercycle, courtesy of a blonde Vicky knows as well.
"General Starblank?! You too?" Vicky gasped when she recognized Veronica.
"It's Veronica Star- ugh, does it even matter, anymore", Veronica said. She held her cellphone and continued: "Anyway, Trix, I got your text and went immediately. Also picked up this lonesome fella and unfroze him." Veronica gestured towards Chester.
"Perfect, you're just in time for me to tell Vicky a little story", Trixie said.
"Could ya hurry up", Vicky bellowed. "I'm getting trust issues!"
"You deserve that", Trixie commented. "Anyway, you might be wondering: 'Hey, Trixie and Veronica are acting very different from what I'm used to', correct?"
"Yeah, as if that wasn't obvious enough", Vicky said.
"Well, we actually lead a resistance team that's been founded since, um, one, two, three, twenty years ago", Trixie began. "We've secluded ourselves from society for a long time to train ourselves, and we eventually moved in this one house that used to be AJ's home because this area appears to be totally deserted, and this one actually still had a working lab."
"Get to the point…", Vicky demanded.
"Don't interrupt me, please", Trixie said. "Anyway, several years after we moved in, we realized that a time belt was just what we needed. Our goal had always been to undo this mess of a dystopia that is your empire, and time travel was the perfect way to achieve our goal. A few years ago, I had assigned three of my members to sneak inside your castle for parts, but you ambushed our team! One of my members had a mini-camera so me and Veronica could see the whole thing. Now the team escaped with a majority of the needed parts, so it would've been fine and dandy… if not for the loss of one of the members. I was distraught and mad when you actually killed her yourself."
A silence followed after Trixie's bitter words.
"So… that's it", Vicky asked. "You joined because of a pity party"
"DON'T MOCK ME, YOU JERK", Trixie roared. She then cleared her throat and continued: "First of all, I pretended to be on your side for more than just the loss of our ally. We still missed a few parts to complete the time belt, including the most important one that allows time travel in the first place. I hoped to get them sooner, but I had no access to Crocker's lab."
"Second", she explained, "the ally meant a lot to our resistance. She was the one that saved three of my requested members from execution, all three of them becoming invaluable. She was actually able to sneak past soldiers in creative ways. She was our most reliable source of intel. She basically was the second-best member of our resistance. And you just killed her!"
"Why are you making such a big deal out of it", Vicky intercepted. "What makes her different from my other victims, aside from those things I don't care about."
Now Trixie turned to Vicky with a grim expression.
"…She was your darn SISTER, Vicky", Trixie stated. "Doesn't the name 'Tootie' ring any bells, anymore?"
Now Vicky laughed loudly. "Tootie hasn't been my sister since I became empress, darling", she said. "My parents had been locked up in the dungeons for years. Now, anyway, are Tootie and time belts really the only reasons you joined?"
"…No. There was a third motive", Trixie said. "Gaining trust. Veronica and I tried our hardest to gain your trust, so it'd be easier for us to gain the hottest news. I became the most important bringer of intel after Tootie, as Veronica had to stay behind. We also did it so we would be able to turn against you when you least expected it."
"So, wait, that video where you whipped the slaves…"
"Faked", Trixie said. "The video was recorded with a green screen, so AJ would be able to change the scenery quickly, and Chester volunteered to play the slave."
"Those whip cracks were real, though", Chester winced. "I can still feel them…"
"Anyway, you can tell that gaining your trust had been a total success", Trixie beamed. "I was so satisfied, that I decided to let someone else play this game too."
Vicky looked puzzled. So did Chester, AJ and Chloe.
"Granted, I hadn't told everyone about it, but that was to convey the effect to be as realistic as possible", Trixie said. "After all, he would be portraying a soldier."
"Wait a minute, a soldier was betraying me, too?" Vicky asked.
"Why yes, a soldier was betraying you, as well", Trixie confirmed.
"…Who was he?" Vicky growled grimly.
"Oh, I think you might know that", Trixie said. "Have you noticed someone missing in this room?"
Chester, AJ and Chloe widened their eyes. They suddenly knew who Trixie was talking about. Vicky, however, still had no idea.
"Honestly, I thought this was it", Vicky admitted. "I didn't know you had another member."
"Are you sure", Trixie asked. "I remember quite well from the past year that you were talking on and on about this guy. But maybe you need a hint. Do you remember who else was in that group of scouts when you killed Tootie a year ago?"
"I think I saw that blonde girl beside you", Vicky answered.
"And who else", Trixie pressed.
Vicky thought. "Oh yeah, him. My archnemesis, Timmy Turne-"
Vicky's eyes widened. "Wait, you're telling me, that my archenemy was under my nose THIS WHOLE TIME?!"
"Exactly", Trixie answered.
"So that's why we rarely see him nowadays", AJ said.
"Precisely, AJ", Trixie told proudly.
"WHERE'S TIMMY? WHICH SOLDIER IS HE PORTRAYING AS?" Vicky roared into Trixie's smug face, pulling AJ along. Trixie was unfazed.
"Do you really wanna know", Trixie asked. "It would scar you just as much as when you found out I was the resistance boss."
"Yes, of course!" Vicky yelled. "Once Soldier 20-20 comes back when I become ruler of the entire planet, I want you guys and that wretched Turner's heads on a silver platter! Tell me now and I might delay your execution."
"Oh, I'm not sure about any of that", Trixie said. "You see, Timmy is, how do I put it, 'not available right now'."
Vicky raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" she asked.
"Well, you just sent him away to a place where none of us cannot contact him, that's all", Trixie said.
"But I didn't send him away", Vicky argued. "The one thing that comes even close is that I sent Soldier 20-20 back in time, to aid past me."
Trixie, in response, made a smug smile.
"…why are you smiling like that", Vicky asked.
Trixie continued smiling smugly.
A realization struck Vicky. "W-wait, d-don't tell me…"
Trixie's smug smile grew wider.
"Dude, I'm beginning to think that this soldier Vicky sent back in time was Timmy all along", Chester said.
Trixie nodded, smiling even wider.
Vicky responded by making an indescribably priceless face. It appeared to convey shock, betrayal, anger and feeling like a big idiot at the same time.
"Told ya", Trixie said smugly. "That it would scar you, remember?"
These final comments appear to be the last straw that broke the camel's back. Vicky's face transformed into pure rage, as she tried to lunge into Trixie, roaring ferociously. "I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU!"
"Chester, I need some help here", AJ said, struggling to keep Vicky in check.
"I gotcha", Chester responded, grabbing Vicky's legs.
Trixie remains unfazed. "Yes, it turns out that Timmy Turner and Soldier 20-20 were one and the same the whole time", she said. "Honestly, I find a lot of amusement in the fact that you sent your worst enemy back to the past in hopes to solidify your tyranny, when the opposite in fact would happen, evidently dooming yourself. It's funny due to the irony of the whole situation."
Trixie saw that Vicky was still raging within AJ and Chester's grasp, struggling with her limbs.
"…Chloe, do you have some water", Trixie asked.
"Yeah, Boss, a bottle right here", Chloe answered.
She handed the bottle over to Trixie, who unscrewed the cap and splashed water into Vicky's face.
"WHAT", she asked.
"Stop raging like a wild monkey", Trixie said. "Do you really want your last moment to end in a childish tantrum, before anything in this timeline fades away?"
"What do you mean by that", Vicky asked.
"Well, Timmy's job is to stop you from taking over the world", Trixie said. "When he succeeds, this timeline shouldn't exist anymore and shall fade away."
"You really want to no longer exist, then?" Vicky asked. "I mean, you'll lose all your memories and such when this timeline fades away."
"Past me would still exist", Trixie said. "Maybe still a snobby jerk until the teenage years, but Trixie Tang won't magically disappear when your reign is averted. Besides, this sacrifice has to be made for the better future."
"And what if Turner fails", Vicky said with a grin. "I mean, if he succeeds, wouldn't we all be gone right now? I'm not gone yet, you're not gone yet. He might've failed his stupid mission easily, meaning I'm still the ruler of this planet and you'll be executed."
"Time will catch up, Vicky", Trixie said. "Erasure doesn't start immediately, nor will it be done immediately. Oh, and um, by the way, you look a little, umm… pale. Here, I'll get you a mirror."
Trixie pulled out a hand mirror and showed Vicky her face. Vicky looked surprised, as she saw herself being almost translucent. She looked at AJ and Chester, who appeared as translucent, then at Veronica, who looked more translucent too, and she finally, she looked at Trixie and Chloe, and noticed they were translucent too. She blinked a few times, and noticed that they were even more translucent.
She looked at other objects. Translucent. She looked at the house. Translucent. She looked outside. Translucent.
Nothing was opaque. Everything became more translucent by the second.
"E-everything's transparent!" Vicky panicked.
"Oh yeah, now I noticed, too", Trixie said with faux-surprise. "Everything is fading away, meaning that Timmy must've succeeded. I'm so proud of him."
"Why aren't you panicking", Vicky said. "You're fading away, too!"
"I have nothing to lose, compared to what I'm gaining in return, Vicky", Trixie said. "I told you this would happen, I knew that it would. The bad future's been averted, so time is cleaning up to make room for a new one."
The world was getting darker and grayer, as light and color faded away too.
There wasn't much of anyone left by now.
"…Goodbye, Vicky", Trixie's last words echoed.
"NOOOOOooooo", Vicky yelled, as she faded away into nonexistence.
And then, nothing was left.
Author's Note: I liked writing this chapter. Must've been the villainous breakdown.
Anyway, you might've noticed in a few earlier chapters that there was an ally of Timmy that got killed during a mission. That ally... was Tootie. Vicky killed her own sister.
Next flashback chapter will be about Tootie. Not only that, it will further dive into Timmy and Trixie's relationship, highlight Tootie's death, denote how Trixie got the idea to pose as a General and fill some other miscellaneous gaps. It's going to be even longer than last chapter! Tag changes will be applied then, too.
After that, there's three more chapters to go.
Alright, see you until then!