Chapter 29: Time is of the Essence
Angel scolded "Vanessa!"
Vanessa defensively replied, "I meant dead as in it's funny!"
Angel narrowed her eyes at Vanessa.
Vanessa said, "This isn't making me sound any better is it?" She began giggling "Y-You gotta admit, it's kinda funny, S-Sakura just told them all to shut up and they all fell down in slow motion and now they got foam in their mouths… Pfft!"
Vanessa burst into laughter.
Luna made another "Mreow!"
Angel yelled "Vanessa, say the spell!"
Vanessa got closer to the bell tower and began to say "Begone proportion-"
The clock tower began to chime, and Sakura began clapping and stomping her feet until…
"Ow!" Sakura's hands were red like they got burned.
Vanessa asked, "Are you alright? What happened?"
Sakura said "I don't know… I think I got shocked… Ahhh!" Electricity began to cover Sakura's body.
"Sakura!" yelled Vanessa and Angel.
Luna ran over and shone a golden light over Sakura's body, healing her and preventing her from being shocked by the clock tower.
As the chimes from the clock tower got louder and louder, the prom attendees on the ground regained consciousness as they all groaned and slowly got up. Their faces looked sickly pale and they groaned and began to push Vanessa, Sakura, and Luna.
As the crowd pushed, Vanessa had to move further and further away from the group.
Angel pushed through the crowd and spread her arms out, surrounding Luna and Sakura with light, and making the prom attendees look away.
Cindy finally arrived and the prom attendees changed their target to her as the chimes got louder.
"Oh no, Cindy!" yelled Vanessa.
When Cindy heard the chimes, her eyes became empty then she went on her knees, crying "What am I doing here? I'm no help at all… I'm useless…"
Vanessa got closer, waved her arm which sent the prom attendees flying, and yelled "Don't say that Cindy! It takes courage to come here! And it takes a strong heart to come and help!"
"No, I'm not brave, I was foolish to think I could help…"
Vanessa yelled "No, it's the thought that counts. Everyone has something to offer and I'm sure you can do something!"
The prom attendees got back up and tried to get closer and Vanessa threw them back with her telekinesis.
Cindy replied "No, I'm foolish and my thoughts are foolish. They're meaningless."
Angel's light barrier got weaker due to prolonged use and half of the prom attendees began to attack Angel's group.
Angel and Sakura called "Vanessa! Help! Vanessa!"
Vanessa sweated. What was she going to do? She had to protect Cindy, but her other friends were in danger…
Without thinking, Vanessa began to run but her dress was held back. She turned back, intending to push someone away but it turned out to be Cindy.
"Am I really meaningless that you would just leave me here?"
Meanwhile, on Angel's side, Angel asked "Sakura, can you do that thing again where everyone got knocked out? I can't keep up the light barrier for much longer."
"I can't, I'm really tired. After I knocked everyone out, I used my powers again so I'm running low."
With every chime, the light barrier got thinner and thinner while Angel's and Sakura's eyes widened in horror and their mouths were open from shock.
There wasn't much time and with Vanessa busy defending herself and Cindy from the other half of the possessed prom attendees, Angel decided to do something desperate.
Luna called "Mreow!" But Angel ignored it, she placed her hands on Sakura's back, surrounding Sakura with a golden light and it burst like a flash bomb. Angel had used up all her power when she used it to rejuvenate and protect Sakura at the same time, so her legs gave in.
The flash bomb of light made the prom attendees go down to the ground but after some minutes, they tried to get up again.
Sakura got scared so she closed her eyes and opened her mouth.
Luna began meowing "Use your power wisely, if you exhaust your powers, we can't fight the clock tower anymore. And this world will surely fall into ruin!"
Sakura said, "Stop meowing at me!" She began to take a deep breath then Luna scratched her hand.
Sakura was now distracted by her pain but got scared as the prom goers began to close in on the group.
Vanessa yelled "Cindy let me go! Cindy let me go! I'm not going to leave you behind, but I have to help them!"
Cindy's grip finally loosened when a pair of hands covered her eyes. It was Fairy Godmother!
Geez, Fairy Godmother. Great timing." thought Vanessa.
Cindy turned and hugged Fairy Godmother as she exclaimed "Godmother!"
Fairy Godmother waved her wand and the tarot card in Cindy's pocket floated and aimed a bright light that hit Cindy's heart and covered the rest of her body.
"Oh, my dear. You're not the negative things you think you are. Vanessa is right, you have a strong heart and you need to believe in that. She believes in you and I do too. You have many gifts and you can use one to help me. I need you to sing dear."
"Alright." said Cindy smiling with a hopeful tone in her voice.
She began singing "Sing, sweet nightingale, sing sweet~"
Fairy Godmother waved her wand which enchanted Cindy's song into white music notation filled with sparkling musical symbols which surrounded the prom goers and made them fall asleep.
"Ignore the pain..." said Sakura.
The clock chimed loudly, and Sakura's sound powers activated, due to her will and the stress of the pain from her scratched hand. It was like two loud sounds were clashing against each other before their very eyes. The noise was so loud, everyone covered their ears.
Cindy ignored her pain and began to sing loudly while Fairy Godmother enchanted her singing voice to amplify it even more.
Cindy and Sakura's combined efforts broke the clock bell, resulting in a loud crack!
Luna meowed and Angel said, "They broke the clock bell!"
Vanessa moved forward then said "Alright."
She held her hands in prayer "Namo Amitabha Buddha."
She held out her left hand in front of her and said "Begone distortion! Bring the world back to proportion!"
A soft pink light began to sweep over the scenery, changing the prom location back into the blue castle and the prom goers reverted into the ball attendees. Cindy now looked like the iconic Disney princess wearing glass slippers and Fairy Godmother was an old woman again.
