Chapter 11

Timmy panicked. "Guys, I wish we knew where Anti Cosmo took Lexi!" They raised their wands, eyes narrowed in determination.

Pfft. The wands wilted, and Timmy groaned. "Why didn't that work?" he demanded, and Wanda shrugged.

"There's probably a magic block here, sport."

"Hey, what's this thing?" It was Cosmo who discovered the single piece of paper, floating in midair, right where Anti Cosmo and Lexi had disappeared moments before. He picked it up, only to have Timmy snatch it out of his hands immediately.

"It says, 'If you want to find your girlfriend, you must pass through the obstacles in your way. You won't succeed. Signed, Anti Cosmo, evil genius. Mwahahaha.'"

Cosmo, who had been "reading" over Timmy's shoulder, looked more confused than usual. "So who's it from?"

His godson ignored him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

It was Diamond who supplied the answer. "I think we have to go through some kind of obstacle course to find Lexi. Come on, let's hurry; I don't even want to imagine what those horrid anti fairies are doing to her!" And with that, she led the way down the hallway and up the very obvious flight of stairs that appeared at the end, right in front of them. A sign beside it read, in ominous dripping black lettering, "This way."

So on they went.

Timmy's hand hovered reluctantly over the doorknob at the top of the staircase. "Do you think we should?" He turned to the fairies behind him. "I mean, what if this was whole some big joke, and we'll get eaten by some giant anti fairy monster that's waiting right behind this door?"

Cosmo shoved Wanda and Diamond in front of him. "Take them first! They're girls – they'll be easier to digest!"

Ignoring him, Wanda said to Timmy, "Knowing Anti Cosmo, I don't think that's the case, sport. He seems to love sending us on wild goose chases to find him."

"It's a risk we'll have to take," Diamond agreed with a firm nod. "Maybe you're right, Timmy. But maybe you're wrong, and we really will find Lexi at the end of this twisted obstacle course. Open the door."

He did as she ordered, and braced himself for whatever horrors lay on the other side. A monster, most likely. Or possibly some kind of ghost or spirit that they had to get past.

Boy, was he wrong. For the only thing they could see when the entered was blue cornstalks. High, high cornstalks, stretching as far as the eye could see. Black husks of corn hung from the tops, at least eight feet in the air, only an inch from the ceiling. Immediately, Timmy realized what this was: a maze.

Cosmo's face lit up instantly. "Oh boy, corn!" He scrambled ahead, but Wanda grabbed him by the back of the shirt and yanked him back.

"We have to stay together," she advised, "at least until we figure out where we are."

Little Poof, who was feeling quite tiny compared to these gigantic plants, agreed with a mutter of, "Poof, poof."

"It's a maze," Timmy informed them, and cautiously reached out to touch one of the stalks. It felt like a regular plant, except it was blue. Like everything else here. "Like the ones at Halloween. We just have to get to the other side, I guess."

That made it sound easy.

Nobody said anything else, but nobody moved, either. Timmy sighed. "Come on!" He ran into the maze, and the others followed.

Five minutes later, they had been running aimlessly, making sure to stick together in one big group, when they came to a dead end. It was the first one that they had encountered since entering. But before any of them could even think to turn around, a flash of light, resembling fierce lightning, struck the air above them. Zap. Electricity shot down their spines, and everyone screamed.

"What was that?" Timmy yelled, and another note appeared, floating in front of Wanda.

She picked it up and read it aloud. "It says, 'Dear Ignorant Buffoons, you may have noticed that you were struck by lightning when you reached a dead end. I feel I should inform you that every time you come across one (a dead end, that is), you will face a danger. They will worsen each time. Enjoy the impossible maze! Signed, Anti Cosmo, evil genius.'"

Diamond frowned. "Then we'd better watch out. If getting electrocuted was supposed to be the most non-dangerous hazard, who knows what we'll face next time?"

For the next twenty minutes or so, the gang traveled at a cautious speed. On the bright side, they faced no more dead ends. But on the other side, they were getting absolutely nowhere. Finally, Timmy turned, growing fed up with this horrendous maze. "Okay, guys, at this rate, we'll never find Lexi. I say we split into groups."

"I'll go with Cosmo," Wanda volunteered, then leaned closer and whispered to Timmy and Diamond, "Just to make sure he doesn't get lost. Or killed. And we'll take Poof with us." She scooped up her baby, and the little fairy waved at Timmy as he and his parents started off.

"Then that leaves the two of us," Diamond declared, and Timmy gulped. So far, Diamond had been practically hysterical, only just managing to not tear through the rows of cornstalks to the end. She had suggested it at one point, but the others had reminded her that if they did, something awful was sure to happen. It was a risk they couldn't afford to take.

So Timmy ended up nearly running after the female fairy as she floated quickly between the rows of plants. More than once, he had to stop her before she took a wrong turn and ended up cornered in a dead end.

For the first few minutes, the two could hear Cosmo and Wanda's voices floating over from somewhere nearby. But soon all sounds from the other team faded. The silence between Timmy and Diamond was terrible, and made Timmy feel like he was alone in some kind of wacked Halloween funhouse. In a way, though, he was.

Things were going pretty well, in fact, and Timmy was just thinking how they might get out of here with a minimal number of injuries, when they turned a corner, and froze. Because they had just ran into what they had been desperately trying to avoid – a dead end.

Diamond squeezed her wand so tightly her knuckles turned white, and Timmy mentally braced himself. No lightning struck. Instead, a blue and black, metallic looking tiger materialized in front of them, crouched low, and let out a piercing roar.

"Use magic!" Timmy shouted, backing up into the cornstalks. The second he began to sink into them, a magical force field shoved him back into the open. Figures.

"Right!" Diamond replied hastily, waving her wand. The tiger's head exploded, but reappeared seconds later. Its teeth bared in anger. "It's magic proof," the fairy explained in a panic to Timmy, who groaned.

"Of course it is. Well, now what?"

"I guess we'll just have to try and get past it," she replied uncertainly, and Timmy agreed. He took off, running straight towards the tiger, and, understanding what he was getting at here, the second the demented animal whirled around to face him, ready to pounce, she floated over and knocked it over the head with her wand. The tiger, paused, fazed, granting Diamond enough time to produce a sword (using magic, naturally), and swinging it across the tiger's throat. Its metallic head swung off, rolled a few feet, then disintegrated, as did the body of the creature.

"That was easy," Timmy commented as he and Diamond raced out of the dead end and turned the corner, happy to get away from the danger. "I didn't know your wand works in here."

She shrugged. "Yeah. I guess Anti Cosmo forgot about that. Or maybe he just wanted to make sure we all lived to find the end." As soon as the words left her mouth, she happened to glance up, and grabbed Timmy by the shoulder roughly. "Wait. Look."

"What?" he asked nervously, and followed her gaze. There, at the end of the path they were currently walking on, was a light. Upon moving closer, he realized that the brightness was radiating from a large blue sign, which read, "Congratulations, you have reached the end of the maze. But that doesn't mean you're not still losers."

Timmy turned to Diamond. "Whoa. We made it! Listen, I know you're not technically my fairy godparent, but you think you could grant me a wish anyway?"

"If it helps to find my goddaughter, I'll do anything."

"Good. I wish Cosmo, Wanda, and Poof were here." God, he hoped it would work.

Poof. It did. Thank goodness. "Hey, we're at the end!" Cosmo exclaimed in glee, and Poof clapped happily.

A door appeared in front of them, and Wanda held it open without hesitation. "Well, let's go on, then."

Timmy and the fairies trooped through the floating door, towards the next challenge. None of them knew exactly what it would include, but one thing was for sure: They were one step closer to finding Lexi.

Author's Note: Well, I got this chapter up early, didn't I? I got some time to write tonight, and managed to finish for you guys. Thanks for your reviews; you people inspire me to keep writing! I didn't have enough time to check over the chapter, so, knowing my writing, it's probably littered with spelling/grammar mistakes. Whoops. Hopefully it's not too bad.

I'll try and have the next chapter up sometime next week. It depends on how much homework I receive as school progresses. Dang, I wish it was still summer. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. R&R!