I do not own any of the characters from Fairly OddParents, or Jimmy Neutron!
A/N: Continuing the drama of the of the previous chapter, with a hint of lemons to come.
Fix Me Please! Chapter 21: Conversations
Rocket sat slumped on the ground as the police hauled Branson away, and watched as emergency personnel applied smelling salts to Tootie. He spoke wistfully as Detective Roselli listened.
"She was just some cute kid that wanted to hang with me while I was drinking, so I offered her a can. I think she drank about four before she passed out on the table. I covered her with my sleeping bag while I went back to my campsite to grab a couple of six-packs. When I returned, she was moaning, and I could see she was also bleeding. I got scared and ran back to camp to get my friends, but they were already packing up to go . . ." he sighed, ". . . I couldn't have been gone more than twenty minutes . . . I'm sorry."
"Was Branson with you at the time?"
"My other friends said he went into the forest to take a leak."
"A twenty minute leak?" Cockett just shrugged his shoulders. "I'll need you to come down to the station and make a statement." Rory nodded. All these years he had suspected, but never questioned Branson, even about the three girls on the opposite shore.
Detective Roselli knew that even if the evidence confirmed his guilt, there was a chance that Branson could possibly get off with a slap on the wrist due to the young age at which he committed the crime. Maybe he was linked to other unsolved rape cases that also happened in the years since. It didn't sit well with him that Tootie might have been one of his victims.
Missing
Betty had vanished, and Libby was especially worried.
"Where do you suppose she is, Cici? She looked terribly distraught." Cindy hugged her tightly.
"I don't know. She could be anywhere. With her built-in transporting ability, she could be back in Retroville for all we know."
"I don't want her to hurt herself." Libby sniffled.
Poof was also worried. He was at the game, also, but because Betty had surrounded herself with her friends, he didn't dare get too close. He had followed her through the exit, but she disappeared before he could reach her. Betty's ability to open a portal was based on fairy magic, and as such, even he couldn't predict where she would end up. There was only one person he could think of that might be able to help. His Uncle Jorgen.
Poof zipped back to Fairy World, to Jorgen's "secret" room below the Fairy World prison, and knocked on the door. He didn't want a repeat of the awkward intrusion of the other night, so he waited outside patiently. He could hear his uncle rushing around frantically, knocking things over, making sure all evidence of his "pastime," was gone.
"W-who eez eet?"
"It's me, Poof! I need your help, Uncle Jorgie!"
The heavy door slowly opened, as Jorgen straightened out his clothes.
"Does thees have anytheeng to do weeth your mechanical friend?"
"Yes. Something happened at the football game, and she ran away. Now I can't find her!"
"Ah. I was afraid something like thees would happen! The same theeng happened to Pinnochio when he became a real boy! He tried to 'off' himself because he couldn't handle beeng human!"
"I didn't know that!"
"Eet's not sometheeng we fairies like to talk about! Poor Blue had to go through years of counseleeng to get over eet!"
"Blue? You mean the Blue Fairy?"
"Yes! The problem weeth your friend eez she has no history behind her existence! She eez still very much like a littul child, but tryeeng to deel weeth mature human emotions!"
"But . . . but she didn't get any of that from me!"
"You gave her additional memory space and more processeeng speed. Now she's trying to recreate emotions from personal observations! While she eez very close, eets not quite the same. I have geeven her physical sensations, but emotions are sometheeng children learn to deal weeth as they grow. Your friend was never a child! Geeveeng her emotions is like putteeng a kid in a candy shop! In her mind, she wants to experience eet all, and she wants eet now!"
"C-can you help me find her?"
"Oh ho ho! You've become quite attached to her, haven't you, littul Poof!" He put his hands on his nephew's shoulders. "I promised you I would help you weeth her, so let us search for her together, okay?"
"For old times sake"
Vicky sat up in the bleachers, unaware of the drama that was taking place below. All of Dimmsdale was celebrating on the field, and she could see Timmy and his friends in the thick of things. This was their moment of glory, and she would rather not intrude on it. She just hoped that he would be all right, and the slight concussion he suffered wasn't too serious. It might be a while before they could get together for some private time.
The bleachers were beginning to empty as people left their seats to go on the field and extend congratulations to the team. Vicky smiled as she pulled her overcoat tightly around herself. From out of the corner of her eye, she notices a lone individual approaching from the left, and she turned slightly for a glance.
"Hello, sweetheart." a familiar voice spoke. She blinked twice as her eyes opened wider.
"G-Gerald! W-what are you doing here, you rat!" He just smiled, a twinkle in his eyes.
"That's what I love about you, Vicky, that fiery temper of yours! You've certainly become a lot prettier since I last saw you!" The red-head put her hands over her ears.
"Don't say that! I don't want to listen to your sweet talking! Why are you here?!" Gerald was taken aback by her reaction.
"I just wanted to see our alma mater win a championship, that's all!"
"That's not what I meant! Why are you here, talking to me?"
"Honestly, I came to see the game! I can't help it if you're here, too! I was up at the top of the stands with my friends when I spotted your flaming red hair. I said to myself 'only one girl I know has red hair that beautiful', and sure enough, it turned out to be you! I- I just wanted to hear your voice once more."
Vicky turned away from him. She remembered his scent, and that silky soft, soothing voice of his that, once upon a time, made her heart beat a little faster. She closed her eyes tightly, trying to drive the thoughts from her mind, but he put his hand on her shoulder, and all the memories came back in torrents. She sighed softly.
"I was so in love with you . . . but you left."
"I had to."
"You could have taken me with you."
"I had a scholarship, and I had to move far away. You were still in high school then. I was sure you'd get over me." She looked into his eyes.
"I did . . . eventually." There was a moment of awkward silence.
"I'm sorry . . . but things like that happen."
"S'okay."
"But hey! Look at you! You look gorgeous! Bet you have guys knocking down your door now!"
"I have priorities now, and boyfriends aren't on the top of the list." she began to smile again.
"But you enjoy sex! You always did!"
"Why you little shit!" she chuckled, "Thank you sooo much for bringing that up! Now I feel all 'dirty'!" They both began to laugh as all her barriers went down in flames. Gerald took her hand, squeezing it warmly.
"How about I take you out to dinner, so we can catch up on each other's lives!"
"I-I couldn't. I have too much school work to do."
"It's just dinner . . . for old times sake?" Vicky gave in.
"Sure. Why not . . . for old times sake." She went to kiss his cheek, but he shifted slightly, bringing their lips together.
Dimmsdale was still celebrating their victory on field, when Timmy began feeling nauseous once more. That whack from Branson was still having some effect on him. He looked up towards the bleachers as his vision began to blur, and thought he saw a familiar figure, in the arms of another guy. The next thing he saw was grass. He heard a girl scream, then everything went black.
It was a bittersweet night for everyone. While Dimmsdale won the game, most of the team was beat up so badly, they probably wouldn't be able to give a good accounting of themselves in the playoffs. Francis was out with a broken leg, and God only knows what else. Timmy suffered a mild concussion and most likely wouldn't be allowed to play. Tootie was still traumatized, and her parents took her home straightaway. Cindy, Libby and Lia were worried about Betty, who had left the stadium very upset, and had vanished. They had no idea where she could have gone, or where to even start looking for her.
Even Jorgen was having a hard time pinning her down. He could only find her whenever she opened a portal, but only if she remained at that one spot. It appeared she was popping up randomly throughout the city, then ran for miles before jumping through another portal.
"W-what's she doing, Uncle Jorgie?"
"Eets hard to say. Eet may be she's lookeeng for sometheeng . . . or someone. I hate to say eet, but she may be tryeeng to run her batteries down!"
"But . . . but if she does that, won't she . . .?"
"I don't know the answer to that one, littul Poof. I would theenk her programmeeng would be geared towards self-preservation." Tears began rolling down the young fairy's cheek.
"This is all my fault!" he sobbed, "I should never have given her more memory!"
"Calm yourself, nephew! If we let her drain her batteries, then maybe she'll slow down and not run so much. Right now she's going farther and farther out of the city, so we need to be patient, and just wait!"
Conversations with a fairy
Far away from the stadium, Betty continued running. Soon she would be weak enough so that she couldn't hurt anyone. She was now in the Hudson Heights area, a part of the city full of large, stately mansions, some a century or so, old. Lia lived up here, and the android was trying to find her home. Lacroix was at least as smart as Neutron, and had a lab and workshop where she invented things as well.
There wasn't much time left for her. She had given Libby her spare batteries for safe-keeping, and the ones she had left were nearly depleted. With her supersensitive hearing, she picked up Lia's voice coming from a house just ahead of her, and went to ring the bell. Lia answered, having only minutes ago been dropped off by Cindy and Libby. She gasped, surprised by the disheveled appearance of the android, and threw her arms around her.
"Betty! Where have you been? We've been searching all over for you! Everyone has been so worried!" The robot smiled weakly. The patch over her shattered eye had fallen off, and her hair, so hastily cut, was a bedraggled mess.
Lia quickly brought her into her workshop, noticing patches of hair missing from the sides of her head.
She placed Betty onto an examination chair, and checked the bare spots of her scalp.
"What have you done to yourself?" The android stared blankly into the glare of the light in her face.
"I think it's due to depression. I can't cry, you know, I wasn't built with that ability. I did what seemed the next best thing: I began pulling my hair out." Lia stood there, momentarily stunned. "Oh, don't worry, I won't be doing that anymore. I can barely lift my arms now. Seems I got here just in time."
"What's happening to you?"
"I deliberately ran down my battery so I wouldn't be able to harm anyone."
"But you have others! Can't you just replace them?"
"Libby has my spares. I gave them to her to hold, so I could fit into Timmy's shoulder pads." She pushed the examination light away from her face. "I've another favor to ask. You helped me break free of Jimmy Neutron's control, and made me autonomous. Since I've been here, I've physically hurt a number of humans. I have violated rules one and two of robotic conduct. I would also disregard rule number three if I could, but it is the one most deeply ingrained in me . . ." Lia thought for a second.
"A robot must protect its own existence . . . ?" Betty nodded weakly.
"You've always wanted to examine this body of mine since the time we first met, and now you will have your chance when my battery dies. All I ask is you remove my hard-drive, and erase everything on it."
"I-I can't do that, Betty! You're too unique!"
"But I can no longer do it myself. I feel so sad, . . . yet I don't even understand why." As the last bit of energy began to leave, her one good eye slowly closed. "If you should somehow ever meet Poof, will you please tell him I said . . . I'm sorry . . . and . . . goodbye."
Back in Fairy World, Jorgen turned off his computer. "Let's go Poofie! I found her!"
Lia sat there for a few moments before leaping into action. She grabbed a voltage regulator off her shelf, then sliced open Betty's windbreaker to access her breast plates.
"Like hell am I going to let you do this, Betty!" she thought as she opened up the robot's chestplates, and connected the leads. She hooked up some cables to the ports behind Betty's ears, and turned on her computer.
"Now then, let's see whats been going through that complex brain of yours!" Lacroix began scrolling down the jumble of symbols that to an untrained eye would be meaningless gibberish, then hit a roadblock. "What the hell?"
Betty seemingly had begun to write her own language, using a system of symbols only she could understand. A message began to form on her monitor.
Hello Lia,
If you are reading this message, then you must be trying to revive me against my wishes.
You will have an hour to try. After that, a self-destruct virus will begin to destroy my
memories, and even this body along with it. I would like you to record everything about my
construction before that happens. To do this, you must dissect me to prevent the virus from
reaching my external components. There is enough backup power in my system to carry this
through. I wish you luck, but I cannot go on like this. Farewell.
"Dammit Betty! You're going to make it hard for me, huh? Well, I'm not ready to roll over and watch you disintegrate! It's time to break out 'The Doctor'!" From the corner of the room, she rolled out a black cabinet. In it was a computer whose only job was to analyze and identify codes and viruses. Hopefully it would be able break down Betty's new language in time to stop the virus. If it failed, Lia would have little choice but to cut the robot up into pieces. She readied some lasers just in case.
Betty was still in stasis as Lia searched for a way to get inside her head. She looked inside of her chest cavity trying to find a button, or switch, that might do the trick, and found something quite remarkable. The mechanisms that controlled the android's motor system had been greatly enhanced from the last time she saw them. More compact and sleek than she remembered. Was the robot adding or improving things on her own? Cindy's camper didn't have a workshop, just some run of the mill computer system. How was Betty able to streamline her internal workings without the necessary tools? It was almost like magic.
A bright flash of light suddenly filled the room, and the startled teen stepped back, away from Betty-bot.
"Eets fairy magic!" said a deep gravelly voice. Two figures appeared before her, a large muscular man with white hair, and a smaller one with purple hair, who looked for all the world like a miniature Timmy. He immediately ran up to Betty and wrapped his arms around her face, hugging her tightly, as tears of joy fell from his eyes.
"Wha-what did you say?!" the surprised Lia reacted.
"Eets fairy magic. Eets what you were theenkeeng about when you were examineeng the robot girl, no?"
"You . . . you're real f-fairies?"
"Yes. Ordinarily we aren't supposed to appear before adult humans like thees, but thees eez an emergency! Besides, there eez only you heah, and hardly anyone evah believes just a single person! I am Jorgen Von Strangle, the enforcer of 'Da Rules!' I may not make them, but sometimes I'm forced to bend them!" He looked at the programming that now started to scroll down her monitor once more. "Hmm. Thees program eez written on FairyOS. How deed you get ahold of eet?"
"It's not coming from my computer, it's coming from her."
"Eet eez a self-destruct virus that will begin in fifteen mineetes!"
"Fifteen minutes? But her message said I had an hour!"
"She lied."
"Is there anything you can do to stop it?"
"Aside from pulleeng her hard-drive out and destroyeeng eet? No." Lia sighed.
"Then I guess I have no choice but to start dissecting her." Upon hearing those words, Poof jumped onto Betty, protecting her with his body.
"NO! Don't you touch her! You'll have to cut me up first!" Jorgen snapped his fingers.
"That's eet! What we need eez a sacrifice!"
"Seriously?! You'd be willing to sacrifice him?!"
"No. We need a different kind of sacrifice!"
"But you're fairies! Couldn't you just wave your wands over her and make the virus go away?"
"Eet doesn't work like that. First of all, eet has to be weeshed for!"
"Then, can I make a wish?"
"No. You are too old!"
"How about if I guess your name! Would you grant me a wish?"
"I've already told you my name! Who do you theenk I am anyway? Rumplestiltskin?"
"What if I guess the little guy's name? It's Poof isn't it?"
"You already knew that, cheater! We need a sacrifice! A human sacrifice!" Lia gulped. "A female human, sacrifice!"
"I-I'm a f-f-female h-human!" she stammered. Jorgen narrowed his eyes at her.
"Are you . . . a virgin?"
"Hey! Now that's going a little too far!" He smirked.
"Can I check?" Lia punched him in the nose.
"Owtch! . . . okay . . . I deserved that one. Look, eet's not like we are goeeng to cut your heart out or anytheeng! We need someone to share their memories weeth her. She eez not human, and has no idea what eet's like to actually be one!"
"W-why does it have to be a virgin?"
"Hey, I don't make Da Rules, I only bend them! Eet has to do weeth purity of thought. Een the magic world, intention is ninety-nine percent of what makes magic work!"
"What's the other one percent?"
"Porn . . . I mean, . . . desire!"
"I want to help her, but I-I'm just not sure about this virgin sacrifice thing!" Poof looked up at her with pleading eyes.
"You need to decide soon. Her time is running out, and I don't think we'll be able to find another virgin female in time!"
Lia sighed as she looked at the hapless android before her, and her forlorn little friend.
"I'll do it." Poof smiled, and helped her into a chair next to Betty, interlocking their fingers together. Jorgen waved his massive wand over the pair.
"Eet eez painless, so you needn't worry. She will share in your memories, as you will hers. Just close your eyes and relax . . . relax . . . relax . . ." Lia began to drift off into a trance.
In her dream-like state, she met Betty as a child, and took her by the hand. A very lucid dream, much more vivid, more colorful, than any she could remember having. They walked together through the meadows of her childhood, watching as she took her first steps, listening to her first words, "Checkmate!" She saw faces, some long forgotten, of childhood friends, and of her parents, who towered over her. Tricycles turned to bicycles. Halloweens gave way to Christmases. Birthdays came and went. Betty the child looked on with wonder, and began to smile and laugh. She took Lia's other hand, and whispered into her ear. "My turn!"
Lia found herself engulfed in darkness. Stray sparks of lightning seemed to be everywhere. It frightened her at first, but she had Betty's hand to hold onto, and she soon relaxed. A face appeared, of a big-headed teen, wearing goggles, and holding a small pen laser. Somehow she knew it was Jimmy Neutron, Betty's creator. No doubt she was witnessing the android's earliest memories, noticeably devoid of emotions, her life as his robot slave, and her graduation into a sex toy for Jimmy's experiments. Just as Betty had experienced Lia's life as a human, Lia was experiencing Betty's life as a machine, stored like a broom in a closet until needed. There was no emotion in her, even as she watched Betty screw her boyfriend on a park bench across the street. She had done it matter of factly, on orders from Neutron, a seduction program driving her actions. Everything about her was programmed, even the three laws of robotics. This is where the contradiction began. "A robot must protect its own existence."
Jimmy had told her she was to be disassembled when she returned, and this is where Betty's "fight or flight" behavior originated. She had to free herself from Neutron's control if she was to survive. She became autonomous with Lia's help, but things really didn't start to change until she met her little fairy guardian, Poof. Betty's capacity to learn increased a thousandfold, and she began her quest for human emotions.
With that realization, Lia found herself sitting beneath a shady tree, the child-like Betty pranced around her, balancing a pretty present on top of her head, and giggling. She sat down next to Lia, then handed her the box. "Thank you." she said. Lia also had a present of her own to give, sitting on her lap. "For you, too." With that exchange, she opened her eyes, and was back in her workshop once more. Jorgen stood close by.
"She eez out of danger, thanks to you." Lia looked over to the android. Her damaged eye had been repaired, and her hair was once more long and lustrous. Lia got up from her chair.
"That was an interesting dream."
"Eet was no dream, my deah!"
"She handed me a present, but I never got to open it."
"Eet was sometheeng that she really wanted you to have . . . all her knowledge! You also gave her sometheeng you wanted her to have, though even I find eet amuseeng."
"What did I give her?"
"Your cherry." he chuckled.
"My . . . what?"
"I know you like to delve into the 'paranormal', which to supernatural beengs such as us fairees, eez normal! When you have a vision like you did, you must interpret eet. Her geeft was placed on top of her head, indicateeng knowledge that she wanted to geev you! Your's was on your lap!"
"So you automatically assume I gave her my virginity?!"
"Metaphorically speakeeng! I call 'em as I see 'em!"
"But I was saving it for Timmy!"
"Turnah?! He doesn't deserve you!"
"But I promised myself to him."
"Well, that eez good then. One should always keep promises made."
Lia excused herself, and went into the bathroom to check. Her hymen was still intact. She gave a sigh of relief. Jorgen smirked as she returned.
"You were wrong! My hymen is still there!"
"Of course eet eez! What would a robot need a hymen for when she could use duct tape!"
"But you said . . ."
"Remembah what I said about intentions? Eet was your intention that made littul Poofie's friend here, a virgin! In a sense, you were giveeng her the chance to staht ovah!" Jorgen straightened himself up as he made ready to leave. "The two of you have become sistahs, . . ."
"Metaphorically speaking, of course."
". . . , because you now share in each others memories! Because of that, I cannot wipe your memory clean, and you will be able to see us when we appear before you. Besides, you both look kind of alike! A word of caution, though, lest people theenk you are crazy, like that Crockah idiot, try not to mention anytheeng about us!" He turned to his little nephew, "Shall we go then, Poofie?" Poof shook his head.
"If you don't mind, Uncle Jorgie, I'd like to be here when she gets up."
"Fine by me. I will let your folks know!" He vanished in a cloud of sparkly dust.
Lia checked the battery charger. It was nearly done. Poof eyed her nervously from behind the android. He had never before spoken to an adult human, young as she was, but circumstances required it. The teen saw his reticence, and smiled to break the ice.
"Hi! I'm Lia!" He began to relax, and crept out from behind Betty.
"H-hello, Lia. I'm Poof!"
"You're cute! You remind me of my boyfriend!" He blushed at her words, and flitted up to her for a closer look. He reached out to touch her cheek.
"Thank you for helping her!" Lia disconnected the leads to Betty's batteries, which were now fully recharged. She motioned for Poof to turn around so she could close the android's breast plates.
"Be a good boy now, and look the other way. I need to close her up and restart her." Poof spun around, and whistled nervously, as Lia closed her chest, then pressed on her nipples to reboot.
It amused her slightly, recalling the enormous breasts she had when they first met, now only slightly bigger than a pubescent girl's. They reminded her of a young Trixie Tang's, and she cupped them in her palms, before releasing them, embarrassed. She covered Betty with a lab coat as she removed the windbreaker and jersey she was forced to cut open. Betty was beginning to stir, and the teen turned to the monitor, which showed activity returning. The strange symbols, written in fairy language, that worried her so fifteen minutes earlier, were now understandable thanks to their shared knowledge. Now Lia understood how they got there. They were placed there by Poof when he used his fairy magic to boost her memory and processing speed. It was only natural that he would use a system he was familiar with.
As Betty came back online, Poof rushed into her arms, and smiled happily. Betty blinked to check the visuals in her previously destroyed eye, looking around the room to triangulate distances for her optical measuring system. She was still very much a robot in body, but now had a new and better understanding about being human. She toyed with his purple hair.
"What's up, Twinkie Pie?"
"Dummy . . . you made me worry." he grumbled.
Lia watched the two teasing each other. She could tell Betty came out of the ordeal changed, the look in her eyes were softer, more human-like than ever. Poof was ecstatic, but restrained himself well, pretending to be upset at her. The teen had gained the android's ability to face-read, and turned away, a rosy glow burning her cheeks. What else had she gained from Betty-bot? Her sexual programming? Lacroix smiled inwardly as she continued to put her equipment away. She now felt like she wanted to make love with the pair.
End Chapter 21
A/N: In an earlier chapter I had made mention that Betty and Lia were similar in height, and both were brunettes, and from the back, they could be taken for sisters.
And you all remember Gerald, Vicky's very first boyfriend from chapter one? I'm going to take you guys on a short side track for awhile. Timmy will be back, and so will the lemons!
You sci-fi fans may be familiar with the "Three Laws of Robotics" as set down by science fiction writer Isaac Asimov. 1. "A robot may not injure a human being, or through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm." 2. "A robot must obey orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law." 3. "A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law." For the sake of the story, I have not followed the laws strictly!