Chapter Twelve: Breakdown
Lorenzo prided himself on brainwashing Trixie Tang, in addition to Timmy. Were she not befuddled, she might have noticed him raping Timmy after practice, or the ominous practice sessions themselves. As it was, she sat up and watched Timmy deliver a roundhouse kick to the Wanda dummy's face…and Timmy frowned, halting. Lorenzo frowned too, sensing something amiss. His eyes cleared for a second and The Other backhanded him.
"Distractions can prove deadly," he chastised.
"I know but…" he shook his head and started again. Magic buzzed around The Other's head and he paced the room to detect its location. Trixie's eyes followed him and he stopped, staring at her. She didn't have her usual vacant expression.
"Yes?" he said. She shook her head and he grimaced, going back to his former activity. For a split second, by the ceiling beams, he thought he saw two pairs of eyes gazing steadfast. They were gone when he inspected closer, and he scoffed. They weren't brave enough to face him or Timmy right now, only when Timmy was alone. They thought he didn't know, but he knew exactly when the frach laid a hand on his beloved. Sneering, he looked back at his protégé, who had misaligned the blade and cut Cosmo dummy's cheek from side to side instead of his throat. This was what he had to deal with. What a waste.
"Get it right," he snapped. "Get it right or else."
"Or else…" Timmy swallowed hard and The Other backhanded him again. He yanked Timmy up off his feet and kissed him roughly, not bothering with mind control this time. Timmy fidgeted, and, for the first time, Lorenzo sensed someone else in Timmy's body. He pressed the advantage and pushed him up against the wall. He should be punishing him, but he wanted this so badly. Thinking about him as his prisoner, unwilling or otherwise, made him hard. He had to have him, he had to have him right now, and there was no recourse for it.
"I've sat here while you disembowel these weird dummies you say are Timmy's fairy godparents," a female voice complained. Lorenzo dropped Timmy in surprise. Trixie stared back at him.
"I've sat here and watched you beat the crap out of Timmy. And now, you expect me to stand here and watch you rape him?" Trixie stared at Timmy. Her lower lip curled. "What kind of sick monster are you? I have half a mind to call the police and child services on you."
Timmy's eyes cleared too and Lorenzo snarled. Great, now he had two problems. He rounded on Trixie with the transistor and the stupid bitch had enough sense to recoil and back up. Using the massive energy he'd pilfered from various sources, he generated a shimmering magical shield to prevent her from escaping. Then he shut his eyes and focused on battering at her mind with a vicious onslaught of emotions. Trixie crumpled instantly, no match for his prowess.
"What…what did you do to her?" Timmy gasped. The Other rounded on him.
"Nothing more than she deserved for being so nosy," he said. "She's only a woman, Timmy. I've told you time and time again women are not to be trusted and she was going to break up our love nest. She has no business interfering."
"But…you hurt her…" Timmy looked uncertain and Lorenzo growled, sensing a crack in Timmy's lining. He brewed up another mental onslaught, this one designed to carry Timmy back under, and stopped. Cosmo and Wanda floated directly in front of him; they scowled at Trixie and Timmy stepped back, staring at them with wide eyes. Lorenzo bit back a snarl. He didn't have time for this.
"Get the hell out, frach," he spat. "You're in my way."
"We want to talk to Timmy," she said. "And since you've banned us from the mansion unless he calls us, we thought we should do it here."
Despite her words, a fine tremor built along her body and Cosmo clung to his wife. He shook too, kissing her neck to mollify himself, and running his hands along her back. The Other noticed he was careful not to touch her wings, which he found a little strange. However, there was a bigger problem here. Assuming Wanda was telling the truth which, despite Lorenzo telling Timmy she lied, he knew she hadn't, this meant his surveillance had more sizeable gaps than he'd reckoned. There was no other accounting for what had happened.
"You've been calling them to the mansion," Lorenzo growled. Timmy backed up, paling, and his faeries flew in front of him. His temper mounted and he snarled, "You've been calling the frach and her idiot to the mansion!"
"I…I…" Timmy swallowed hard and his eyes scanned the area frantically. The Other advanced and slammed Timmy with a mental attack that brought him to his knees. Timmy gasped and The Other raised him back up, filling him to the brim with his power. Cosmo and Wanda jerked, and The Other smiled- he could actually see the power slipping away from the faeries', despite their efforts to contain it. At their current levels, they could barely fill a lemonade glass. He sneered.
"I will deal with your insurrection later," he said. He handed him the transistor. "Finish what you started."
Cosmo squeaked and Wanda raised her wand, shifting it into a large sword to battle him off. "Stay away from my godson, The Other."
He formed a giant fist to pound her into the ground and she flew away. Their eyes met and he chuckled, amused at the hatred consuming her. He could make them hate him more, but no, he wanted their loathing directed at Timmy. The transistor transformed into the twin of Wanda's blade and Timmy set forth, wielding it with aplomb, but Wanda's eyes were on Lorenzo. Her body shook in a fine rage.
"Yes, he called us to him," she said. "He called us, sobbing, in the middle of the night, and then suddenly he tried to kill us. But I suppose you wouldn't know anything about that."
"A trap," The Other said. "Just like before, frach. A pity you can't see it, but your defenses are already so low, and you'd fall for banal garbage any time."
((Timmy, listen to us,)) Wanda said. ((You have to snap out of it.))
"You dare speak to him mind to mind!" The Other snarled and sent out magic to squeeze her by the throat. "Attack Cosmo while I deal with this!"
Timmy whirled into action and Cosmo growled, shifting his wand into a sword too. The Other flicked a gaze at Cosmo and Timmy- this should be quick. He drew Wanda to his side and relished the pain in her eyes; for added measure, he clamped down a wall between herself and Cosmo. Both faeries gasped and The Other wrapped his actual hand around her throat. She struggled and he broke the hand holding her wand. It dropped to the floor and he kicked it away.
"I will only say this one more time, before I leave you a permanent reminder," he hissed. "Timmy belongs to me. He is mine. And there is not a goddamn thing you can do about it, you fucking bitch."
She spat in his face and he retaliated by yanking on her right wing. Unable to cry out because he was strangling her, she turned blue and struggled, kicking him in the chest. Her blows were weakened, lessened by the magic drain and his superiority. He dropped her onto the floor and dug his foot into her back. Squirming, regaining her breath, she clawed at his leg and he responded by kicking her. Unfortunately, this brought her closer to her wand and she seized it, healing herself and rising to slap him across the face. It happened so fast, he hadn't realized she'd shifted her hand into a dragon's paw and left claw marks across his cheeks. Blood dripped down and he snarled, reaching for her only to have her fly back.
"Motherfucker!" he cursed.
"Actually, that's my job," Cosmo said and The Other glanced back at him. His stomach twisted unpleasantly. Not only hadn't Timmy succeeded in unarming his godfather, against all odds, the godfather was actually good at dueling. He had fended off any and all attacks without concentration. Cosmo was an idiot savant. He smiled at Lorenzo, but the smile didn't reach his eyes, which were surprisingly cold and feral.
"You see, I'm the father and she's-"
"Don't help!" Wanda snapped.
The Other took advantage of her irritation to blast her with magic, which she ducked. She swung around to Timmy's side and touched his shoulder. What little patience Lorenzo had left flew out the window. Wanda was touching him, which he had explicitly told her not to. She was trying to talk to him, talk sense into him, and Cosmo was nearby, trying to draw him back into their little family. All they needed was Tootie now…and he could sense her, waiting for the results. Lorenzo exploded.
He funneled his fury into Timmy and Timmy's hesitation vanished. He grabbed Wanda and dislocated her shoulder. Cosmo, still holding the blade, looked fit to run it through his godson without thinking and The Other stepped forward, to rip out Cosmo's left wing. Sufficiently distracted, Cosmo forgot the blade and turned to face Timmy's anti faerie. Meanwhile, Timmy used the surprise element to launch attacks at his godmother, which put her on the defensive.
"Timmy, this is insane," Wanda said. "You can't do this."
"If I kill you, I'll get my mother back," Timmy retorted. "I hate you, you and Cosmo. You killed my parents."
"Should I wait until Halloween, or should I do it now?" Lorenzo taunted, circling Cosmo. Cosmo squeezed his wand, healed himself, and glared at The Other. He hadn't noticed the Bond's disruption and Lorenzo wasn't quite sure why. He touched Cosmo's mind and was stunned to discover not only were there thoughts present, but Cosmo had a keen focus he hadn't thought possible. Cosmo launched himself at Lorenzo and forced him backward, putting him on the defensive.
"We didn't do it on purpose," Wanda shot back. "Timmy, please, come home with us and we can discuss it however long you like. But come with us."
Out of the corner of his eye, Lorenzo saw Timmy bounce off the walls with the transistor and plunge the blade into her neck, right beneath the jugular. Cosmo, who had been actively pushing The Other back with a combination of magic and dueling prowess, stopped in his tracks. The Other did too. Blood poured from Wanda's neck and Timmy gasped, yanking the transistor out. Blood drained from his face and The Other quickly filled Timmy's mind with fog, because the severe emotional shock was not going to disappear. Timmy fought him, trying his best to push him out, and The Other upped the ante. He shoved Timmy's personality and Timmy shoved back, tears glimmering in his eyes.
"Wanda!" Cosmo screamed and, unable to continue the Bond disruption, Lorenzo let it go to focus on pushing Timmy to do what he wanted. Timmy growled, crying softly, and The Other knew there was only one way to force him to stay with him. It would be a lesson to warn him never to fight him again, though it'd probably do more damage in the long run when Timmy wasn't under his control. He picked Timmy up and screamed- Timmy had actually bit him to get away and rejoin his godparents. Lorenzo punched him in the back of the head to daze him.
Faerie dust polluted the air and both boys coughed. Timmy stared up at him with huge eyes and The Other responded by punching him in the face. He pounded Timmy's face into the floor and panted, shoving him with magic and violence to convince him to stop crying, damn it, and to stop calling Cosmo and Wanda. With every gasp, he choked their names and The Other couldn't let him change the magic flow, couldn't let him side with his godparents again. The sheer horror was too much, and Timmy wouldn't submit.
He ripped off his pants and underwear and spread his legs. Timmy spun around and Lorenzo pressed his entire weight into Timmy's insubstantial weight. He hadn't fed his sire enough, this was true, and Timmy was weaker than he ought to be, like his godparents. Thinking about Cosmo and Wanda made him angrier and he missed a couple notches on his belt because his hands were shaking so badly. Finally, he succeeded in taking off his belt and pants, and Timmy twisted his torso. The Other put a knee in the middle of his back and applied pressure. Timmy cried out and The Other, ready and wishing for a split second he'd thought to delay this by using lube, entered him.
"You do not ever call them!" he snarled. "Do you understand me, you goddamn little bitch? You do not ever feel sorry for them. You do not love them. They are the enemy and must be killed. Do you understand?"
Timmy was crying still and The Other thrust harder, knowing how much it hurt him. It wasn't entirely pleasant for him either, without lube, but it didn't matter. The point was to teach him a lesson, not to show him a good time. In the back of his mind, he knew he shouldn't be doing this, shouldn't be hurting Timmy like this, and should show him mercy. Especially since Timmy had stopped fighting entirely and just cried, sounding like a lost child without a friend in the world. It couldn't possibly be him with a conscience, no.
He finished and rolled him over. Timmy curled up in a ball and hugged his knees. His backside was bleeding profusely and he was crying so hard, he couldn't breathe.
"I wish…I were…at home…" he gasped. "Cos-"
He stopped and Lorenzo smiled. The lesson had taken. He thought, however, there might be a need for additional practice. He lowered himself to Timmy's mouth and felt a subtle change in the air. Suddenly, someone, who was decidedly not Timmy, chomped down and damn near severed his penis off his body. Screaming in pain, The Other tumbled backward and a boy with the same color of eyes, but projecting a completely different, magical aura, glared at him.
"Hate you," he spat. "I hate you. It's one thing for you to be abusin' Tim-Tim, and it's another to force him when he's like this. You fucker. You almost killed Wanda, too."
"…Gary?" The Other gasped, manipulating the magic within him to heal himself. Gary seized the transistor and turned it into a blade again, pointing the tip at The Other's throat.
"You touch us like that ever again and I will rip your fuckin' throat out," Gary snapped. "I don't care who you think you are. Back. The Fuck. Off."
The Other rose unsteadily, pumping magic into himself to heal the cut, and Gary shoved the sword point into The Other's neck.
"You'll rue the day you shoved me back in, Lory-poo," Gary growled. "I will make it my personal mission to turn your life a living hell."
Cosmo and Wanda had adopted the role of surrogate godparents. They didn't grant wishes, but they protected Tootie from solitude, in case she suffered a relapse. At the moment, they traveled the school grounds. Cosmo and Wanda were taciturn; they only commented after Tootie spoke, and clung to each other in cat form. They nearly tripped walking; they could have molded into one creature. Loud noises startled them and sudden movements made them jump. In terms of actual magic, they had very little, so really, they weren't godparents, just companions. It was all right. Tootie would rather be with them than be by herself.
"There's magic in telepathy, right?" she said.
They didn't answer her. She heard, almost below the human range, a faint buzzing. Turning on her heel, she stared at them. "Guys?"
"Oh, sorry, sweetie, could you repeat the question?" Wanda said.
"There's magic in telepathy, right? So I can do magic if I have telepathy," she said. The faeries exchanged a look and Tootie scowled.
"I'm not sure I'd jump to that conclusion," Wanda said.
"For all we know, sure," Cosmo said brightly. "Have you tried?"
"No," she said. "But if I have magic, I can snap Timmy back to normal."
Cosmo and Wanda exchanged pained looks. Wanda spoke, "Tootie, honey, we have magic and we almost got killed again today. I'm not sure how much help magic is going to be."
"You're not his soul mates," Tootie said. Timmy could never completely ignore her, since they were destined to be together. She had to find a way to remind him. Assuming she had magic, maybe she could work a spell. Cosmo and Wanda didn't appear to have anything useful, after all.
"No…" Wanda admitted.
Cosmo scoffed. "What kinda weird stories have you been reading?"
"And you guys only have Da Rules at your disposal," she said, growing enthusiastic. "I bet The Other has all sorts of books in his library."
"Tootie, no," Wanda said. "The last thing you want to do is bring yourself to his attention."
"Timmy won't hurt me," she said confidently. "He'll stop The Other from hurting me too. You guys worry too much."
"What part of 'we almost got the business end of a sword' are you not getting?" Cosmo said.
"You aren't his true loves," she said. "I'll think of something. Don't worry. Worse comes to worst, you guys can always come in and bail me out."
"Um…" Wanda grimaced. "We can't transport into the mansion without an invitation."
"So I'll call you and you'll come," Tootie said. "Seriously, guys, chill."
Wanda groaned and slapped a palm to her forehead. "Children…"
Remy Buxaplenty was cutting school, but it didn't matter. No one noticed what he did, not if he paid them not to say anything. His parents left town on extended business trips every week, and he almost never saw them. He had a dull ache nothing would quench, and he felt hollow and useless. Males speaking Spanish made him turn his head and whimper, longing for something and not knowing exactly what. He couldn't remember, needed to remember, and there was a block. Someone had tampered with his memories and he yearned for this missing person so badly he thought he might die if he didn't see them again.
"Aren't you supposed to be in school?" A man wearing all black inquired. He had a black sweatshirt and t-shirt, along with long unkempt brown hair. His eyes were a clear, cold cerulean blue and reminded him of someone else, someone with buckteeth. He had to crane his neck to stare at the man, because he was easily six feet tall.
"Aren't you?" he countered. The man looked vaguely familiar, like Dimmsdale Junior High School's principal. Whoever he was, he had power and charisma. Remy found himself drawn to him.
"The memories aren't entirely lost, you know," he said. "Neither is the faerie behind them."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Remy sniffed. "And I make it my policy never to associate with hoodlums."
"You know Timmy," Lorenzo said and smiled. "I can sense his presence."
"I don't know how you're talking about," Remy shot back. "If you don't mind, I have…"
He stopped. The man stepped forward and rummaged through his mind. It was the nearest metaphor he had, for the careless shuffling of memories and then tugging, bringing a concealed one to the light. Remy saw before his eyes a muscular Latino fairy with piercing purple eyes and black hair. His knees weakened and he crumpled to his feet. Now, too quickly to stop or control, he saw himself with this man- no, not man, fairy, a fairy named Juandissimo, and he'd been kind and gentle to him. He'd treated him with love and respect and Remy had fallen in love with him, and then lost him to Turner.
Gorge rose in his throat and he looked at the man before him. Magic emanated like nothing he had ever seen before. It paralyzed him. The Other smiled and snapped his fingers.
"You know Timmy," he said. "Your faerie knows Wanda. You are useful to me. You will come with me."
On a level he couldn't process, the absolute control the man had was downright terrifying. He couldn't say 'no', couldn't speak at all, and the time to run had long past. It had disappeared the moment they made eye contact.
But who was Timmy to him?
"We need to talk," A.J. said. He, Chester, Sanjay, and Elmer had gathered outside Timmy's classroom. Timmy had an enormous headache and his body responded sluggishly. Lorenzo wasn't present, and had taken a personal day. Without him, Timmy felt raw and violated, knowing the night before, The Other had had his way with him and then forced him to suck him off. Cosmo and Wanda were with Tootie; he knew these things without asking now. The Other was using him as a conduit. Free will no longer existed until The Other grew distracted.
Then he sensed it. The Other had found someone else, though he didn't know quite who, and withdrew enough for Timmy to take several shaky breaths and look at his friends.
"No, dude, we don't," Timmy said.
"Yes, we do," A.J. said. "You've been acting weird."
"And brushing us off," Chester said.
"And you do not even answer your phone!" Sanjay said.
"Don't you want to be friends anymore?" Elmer asked.
"I'm kinda going through some stuff right now," Timmy said. "I'm not at home anymore."
"You can tell us, you know," A.J. said. "We're your best friends. At least, we were until you ditched us for the principal. What is up with that guy, anyway?"
"I don't want to talk about it," he said and chills ran through his body. This morning before school, he- no, he wouldn't let himself think about it while he had free will and mobility. Instead, he searched the posters on the wall for signs of pink and green. Cosmo and Wanda wouldn't come to him anymore, he was almost certain, but now that he could speak, he needed to talk to them. He needed out of this deal. The only problem was, he couldn't break The Other's hold on him, no matter how badly he wanted to, and the only time he was aware of it was when he had ten seconds to think for himself.
"You're going to have to tell us something," A.J. said.
"Look, dude, as soon as I can say something, I will," he said. "I promise. Right now isn't a good time."
His friends appraised him and he shuddered.
"When's the last time you ate?" Chester asked.
"I don't know," he said.
"How do you not know?" A.J. asked. "If you ask me, something really strange is going on here."
"Nothing more than usual," he said and forced a smile.
"You usually spend long hours with a creepy man inside a basement preparing to kill something?" Chester said. "I thought you just played video games and hung out with us."
"He is preparing to kill someone?" Sanjay shrieked.
"I don't know, dude, but he's preparing to do something," Chester said. "I saw those dummies. They had some weird pink and green sparkles on them, too."
Timmy's stomach churned. "As soon as I can tell you, I will. I promise. But you gotta lay off for the moment."
"This isn't like the time you got those two people to replace you and make you super popular, is it?" A.J. said. Timmy flinched.
"No," he said. "I swear I'll tell you when I can."
"Can you at least come and play the new Crash Nebula game afterschool?" A.J. said. He scowled. "Or are you too busy for your friends?"
"There's a new Crash Nebula game?" Timmy said.
"Where have you been?" Chester said. "They've only been advertising it for three weeks."
"I haven't been watching TV," Timmy said. "I've been busy."
"Doing what, exactly?" A.J. said. "Avoiding us?"
"Stabbing dummies?" Chester added.
"Pretending we don't exist?" Elmer said.
"Abandoning us all for some futile effort you know will fail?" Sanjay asked.
"I told you, I'm going through some stuff," Timmy said. "I'll see if I can come over later."
"I hope so," A.J. said. Timmy grimaced, He looked at the walls and thought of calling his faeries to him. Then he remembered the previous day and trembled violently, hugging himself and bile rising in his throat again. He couldn't call them. Lorenzo would rape him if he called them. Hell, he'd rape him if he didn't, but last night…
The bell rang and his friends filed into the room.
"You coming?" Chester called.
"Cosmo, Wanda…I'm so scared…" he whimpered.
The first four school hours passed quicker than anticipated and Tootie had Cosmo and Wanda on her tray as a milk carton and a straw. Cosmo was the straw and bouncing up and down inside the circular inset. Wanda blushed scarlet.
"Stop that," she said. "Don't give her ideas."
"What ideas?" Cosmo said innocently. "I'm just a bendy straw. I like to go up and down…and up and down…"
"Ahem," Tootie said. "Are you done?"
"And up and down…and up and down… and look, you're already filled with a white liquid."
Wanda's face grew so hot Tootie could feel the heat coming off. For a second, her eyes vanished and she groaned. "Cosmo, stop. We are not pornographic food products."
"And up and down…and up and down…"
"Cosmo!" Wanda hissed. She shifted into a lunch box and left Cosmo as a stray straw. He whined and she rolled her eyes.
"As I was going to say, I know The Other has a vast repository at his disposal, but walking into the lion's den is not a good idea, Tootie," Wanda murmured. "You could get killed."
"Or worse!" Cosmo piped up, transforming into an apple.
"Timmy still loves me. I need to remind him and in order to do that, I need that book," she said, holding her chin haughtily high.
She sat down by herself and glanced over at Timmy's friends, who had crowded around him. Timmy looked wan and pale, picking at his food and jerking every time someone touched him. His lips trembled and he hunched in on himself, to lessen the target. Wanda frowned, nudging Tootie with her handle. Cosmo hopped up and down on the tray and Tootie unwrapped the sandwich she'd brought.
"I don't sense The Other around him," Wanda said. "Should we…"
"And have him snap at us again?" Cosmo scoffed. "Leave him alone."
"I don't know…" she said. "He might be receptive now."
"Have Tootie talk to him," he said. He also sent something via telepathy, a light buzzing in her ears, and she frowned, sending Timmy a message.
((Timmy? Where's Lorenzo?))
Timmy looked up and at her. It was the first time she'd seen his blue eyes unclouded in weeks. His brow furrowed and he excused himself from the table. He approached and Cosmo and Wanda flinched, preparing to disappear.
"He won't do anything here," she muttered to them. "Guys, chill."
"Did you try to talk to me?" he said. "The only voice I can hear in my head is Lorenzo's."
"Convenient," Cosmo snorted.
"Where is he?" Tootie repeated aloud. "Where's your 'master'?"
Timmy sat down and up close, she saw he looked emaciated and weak. She stroked his hair and his lips twitched, but he pulled away from her. Cosmo and Wanda hovered, nervous, changed into moths. They fluttered near Tootie and Tootie cupped his cheek. She couldn't help it. She'd missed him horribly and he seemed receptive, for the moment.
"Why are you doing that?" he said.
"We're soul mates, Timmy," she said.
"Yeah, but…" he said and then stopped. He glanced at Cosmo and Wanda and they shuddered, pulling back.
"Can I talk to them? In private?"
"Anything you have to say to them, you can say to me too," she said, scowling. "The last time you had them alone, you almost skewered them."
He shook his head. "This time is different. I swear. I promise I won't hurt him."
"Oh, like we haven't heard that one before," Cosmo scoffed.
"Please, Tootie," he said. "I'll do anything you want. Later. Just let me have Cosmo and Wanda. They're my faeries."
"And you're trying to kill them," Tootie countered. She folded her arms across her chest. "Besides, I want to talk to you too, and there's only twenty minutes before lunch is over."
He sighed. "What do you want to talk about?"
"What you're doing is wrong," she said. "You know that."
He ran his fingers through his hair and she pushed her lunch at him. He stared at it and then at her. Biting her lip, she sensed someone else around, though the sensation was there and gone an instant later. Confused, she stared at him and he stared back, picking up the apple cautiously and gnawing at it. He choked and froze, staring at nothing.
"Timmy?" she called. ((Timmy?))
He didn't answer the mental summons and his breathing grew shallow. Without a word, he rose to his feet and she jerked him back down. Not fighting her, he breathed shallowly, tensing entirely. Cosmo and Wanda exchanged glances and nudged Tootie. She frowned at them, concentrating on Timmy.
"What the…" he breathed. "Remy."
"Um…who's Remy?" Tootie asked. He didn't answer her. He snagged his sleeve back, but she wasn't willing to let him go that easily. After all, she had barely exchanged ten words with him since he'd fallen under The Other's spell.
"I have to go," he announced.
"Like hell you do," she snapped.
"Tootie, you don't understand," he said and paled.
"I don't care," she snarled. "You're staying here. You wanted to talk to Cosmo and Wanda, right? Well, talk. Don't hide behind your master."
((Impudent bitch,)) The Other snarled in her head. ((How dare you presume anything. How dare you use telepathy on him.))
Timmy's eyes glowed and he grimaced. Pink and green faerie dust shimmered around him and he stepped back, looking less like himself and more like a puppet. His flesh filled out and he had the appearance of being a fully nourished, healthy young boy. Tootie's eyes narrowed. So Cosmo and Wanda were supplying him with energy only when The Other paid attention to him. She shuddered, sensing The Other's presence though he wasn't physically near them, and Cosmo and Wanda shuddered too. They looked up at her with huge eyes and she retreated, holding the tray to her chest.
"Timmy?" she whispered.
"The Other has a message for you," he growled. "Stay out of his business, or pay the price."
He stomped off and this time, Tootie was content to let him go. Cosmo and Wanda shifted into moths on her shoulder and she swallowed hard. This only cemented her determination. Timmy was in there. He'd proved it. She'd go to the mansion and get a book to break him loose. It was the only way.
A.J. had appointed himself leader of the group foraying into the 'unknown' or, more importantly, into Lorenzo DeMedici's dark past. Their first order of business was to investigate Miss Waxelplax's strange disappearance. Rumor had it something smelled quite foul emanating from the forest, and Sanjay, Elmer, A.J., and Chester set off forthwith to inquire further. Chester thought at first something had rotted and died in there. He was right. Something had.
"She's dead," A.J. said, frowning in puzzlement. "Without a scratch on her."
"Dude, she reeks," Chester said. "What are we supposed to do about this?"
"Move to higher ground?" Sanjay suggested.
"But how'd she die?" Elmer said and grimaced. His boil whispered, "Murder!"
Sanjay, A.J., and Chester stepped away from him.
"She's definitely dead," A.J. said. "No doubt about that. But what killed her?"
"We're twelve," Chester pointed out. "I kinda doubt we're qualified to figure it out on our own."
"True," A.J. said. "And we'd have to take it somewhere for analysis."
"We cannot even prove Mr. DeMedici was behind this," Sanjay said.
"No…" A.J. said. "But we can't prove he wasn't, either. Think about it. Right after this guy shows up, all sort of strange things happen. First, Timmy's parents die, and then Vicky's and Tootie's, and then Miss Waxelplax is suddenly gone, he's head of the school, and Timmy turns into a zombie. He has to be the common link."
"Not to mention Timmy's parents as ghosts…" Chester said. A.J. winced.
"I was trying not to think about that," A.J. said. "Though there has to be a logical reason for that."
"Even if we could prove all these things happened because of him, what are we supposed to do?" Elmer said.
"Yeah…" Sanjay said. "He emanates power."
"I don't know…but we're going to find out," A.J. said. "Somehow."
Cosmo and Wanda were not happy. Tootie had no intention of abandoning her plans, regardless of what the faeries and her sister might say. She knew she had to break Timmy out of his spell, and she knew she could do it, because they were true loves. And also…she knew she sounded insane, but she was getting desperate. Cosmo and Wanda were at an all time low, they could barely float upright, and shape shifting was their limit. Hell, a baby could shapeshift, which didn't say much. Without ammunition, they had no defense, and though Wanda assured her they had a trick up their sleeves, she had yet to see it.
The night was cool, with a wintry breeze. Tootie had worn a purple windbreaker and approached the iron gate. She had no idea what Cosmo and Wanda had done with Calente's body, but it probably hadn't involved returning to The Other's mansion or mounting his head on a pike. Tootie's stomach turned. Magic had preserved it, so his lifeless eyes stared out at her. Dried blood was on his neck and his mouth was permanently agape, frozen in a shocked expression.
She stepped back and The Other projected a translucent image near the gates. "Welcome…Tootie. I trust you don't plan on staying long. At least, if you value your livelihood."
Her lower lip curled. "What if I told you I planned on stealing Timmy away from you and breaking your spell over him?"
"I'd tell you that you were foolish in the extreme…and should you touch a single hair on his head, I will punish you. Severely."
Tootie smiled with a confidence she didn't feel. Cosmo and Wanda had almost died numerous times in the last few weeks, and it was only his insistence on waiting for Halloween keeping him from following through. Tootie had no magic in reserve. Lorenzo could kill her at his leisure, like he had Calente. Tootie's stomach clenched and she forced herself to look away from her poor, decapitated faerie. His face had gone blue and she whimpered.
"Atta girl," The Other said, smirking. He vanished and she shuddered, hugging herself. Her eyes lingered on Cal's disembodied head and she tore her eyes away with a sinking sensation in her stomach. The gates opened and she headed up the cement walk. The trees surrounding the house were weeping willows, and no birds cried. No squirrels skittered along the grass, crunching beneath her feet, and no crickets chirped. Dead air pounded against her eardrums and her hands dried; she rubbed them on her skirt.
Swallowing hard, she approached the front door. Cosmo and Wanda's disembodied heads hung from a hook on the door and she screamed, drawing back. They vanished; an illusion like Lorenzo's projection earlier, and she shuddered uncontrollably. Choking back tears, she pushed the front door open. Confidence fled her- this might help Timmy, but she wasn't sure her nerves could handle it. She tasted blood in her mouth, smelled death and decay in the front hallway, and felt the dry, unmoving air.
The front hallway was short, with a red flat carpet and four plain oak doors leading off. Next to each door was a picture of a notable anti fairy- Tootie saw a fairy with reddish brown hair, brown eyes, and a nasty smirk staring back at her. She shifted a couple feet along the hall and could have sworn the eyes followed her. Swallowing hard, she stared at the doors and tried, for the first time, to sense what lay beyond them. Timmy flashed into her mind- he was hugging his knees and sitting on a large bed with carved wooden posts. He started shaking uncontrollably.
Surprised, she shook her head and the image disappeared. Timmy lay distantly beyond the fourth door, the second on the right, and the door up against the furthest wall. The library, however, was not in the same direction. She knew it intuitively and instead touched the left door, nearest her. Heat flared against her hand and she withdrew it. Not right, then. Rubbing her palm against her skirt again to rid herself of the sensation, and loathing the goosebumps along her body, she tried the next door, which yielded before her touch. Was the house aiding her, or ultimately leading her into a showoff against Lorenzo?
No, she'd wipe that from her mind. She didn't need to worry now what The Other would do once he caught her. At least she still had Cosmo and Wanda to transport her out, if need be. Assuming they had the power…
Her stomach clenched.
Lorenzo was in an incredibly foul mood. He hadn't exerted his control over Timmy tonight, though he'd shown rare kindness and permitted him to eat dinner. He might have been more distracted than good intentioned, however.
The Other entered the room and smiled, predatory, at his sire. Timmy shrank back against the pillows and saw blue eyes in his mind- not his, not Lorenzo's- they belonged to…Gary? Startled, he let Lorenzo pin him.
"You haven't spoken to your parents, have you?" he asked, covering his cheeks with kisses.
"No, why?" he said, shivering but knowing he couldn't possibly escape, and shouldn't bother trying.
"What about Cosmo and Wanda?" The Other's tone turned severe and he nipped Timmy's neck too hard. Timmy yelped and The Other smiled, licking at the abrasion.
"No…" Timmy blinked. "You don't want me near them."
"That's right," The Other said, smug. He divested Timmy of his clothing and his eyes shone darkly. "But just in case, perhaps you need to be punished."
Tootie pushed open the library doors and her jaw dropped. Rows and rows of pilfered books ascended to the ceiling. A curving mobile ladder stuck to a bookcase to aid with the harder to reach tomes. It could take her forever to find the correct book. The hairs rose on her arms and neck and she swallowed hard. Maybe she'd have better luck pulling books off the shelves at random and searching through them.
She headed for the first bookcase- the books were arranged along the walls, with tables and chairs in front of them. To her right was a roaring fireplace with an iron grate in place before it. It stood about three feet tall and its heat suffused the room, yet nothing could touch Tootie's inner chill. A brick chimney encased the fireplace and she looked away from it to the bookcases, ten feet tall and all seeping magic. One particular corner pulsated dark power and she clenched her teeth, avoiding it and choosing the section right next to her.
Overhead, a candelabra with a faerie's head carved as the centerpiece provided ghoulish light.
The library's floor had a deep scarlet plush carpet, with dark green surrounding it. Her feet sank inside and tension gripped her, prompting her to pivot and stare. She sensed nothing, though she suddenly feared for Timmy. Panic rising, she ran her fingers along broken, cracked spines and pulled books off the shelves at random. None of them felt right, and she gathered a stack to peruse. Her stomach clenched painfully and she doubled over, certain for a second she'd vomit. The sensation passed, but she felt horribly weak, like a newborn kitten. Gathering the books, she hastened her steps and started tearing through them.
This session was more violent than any Timmy had ever encountered. It turned out Lorenzo not only suspected his parents of colluding with Cosmo and Wanda, but believed it. It also seemed he had no real power over his parents and was immensely frustrated, because Cosmo and Wanda threatened to unravel his whole plan. Timmy didn't comprehend how, but it was also hard to fathom this while his lower lip bled, his body throbbed, and he had more bruises than he did during practice. Lorenzo hadn't just raped him- he'd thrown in a free beating.
The Other rose from the bed and seized Timmy by the throat. He then dropped him and spun, divided. He collapsed on the bed and cradled Timmy to him.
"You know I only do this because I love you," he said. "I want to protect you. Cosmo and the frach don't know what's good for you the way I do. I love you, Timmy. I only hurt you because you'll never learn otherwise. Please don't hate me."
Timmy stared at him. Aside from his lower lip, The Other hadn't touched his face. Black anger surged through him and before he knew, he wasn't himself.
"You hurt me 'cuz you love me, huh?" Gary spat through Timmy. "That's rich."
It was fortunate for the two of them The Other wasn't listening. He stroked Timmy's hair and kissed him on the temples. "I can't stand the thought of anyone taking you away from me. Cosmo and Wanda want you, and they can't have you. Only I can. Only I know what you need. I know you need me. No one else will tell you the truth. No one else will care for you the way I do. Especially not that whore."
Gary didn't know whom Lorenzo was talking about, but Timmy did. He was also indignant at being shoved aside in his own mind, not by The Other, whom he had expected, but by his imaginary friend.
"Perhaps you don't understand well enough," The Other said and filled Timmy's mind with mist. It knocked Gary back and brought Timmy, blinking, to the forefront. "Maybe you need another lesson."
"No!" Timmy choked. The Other smiled.
"Yes."
Why hadn't anyone told her magical books were in French? Not only were they in French, but also they were in Old French, which was more irritating still. She didn't know any French, and she had yet to locate English translations. None of the books struck the right cord and she was tempted to read at random and hope for the best. Caution impeded her, for if these were books faeries didn't normally have access to the magic within must be potent.
After digging through about ten tomes, she finally located an English text. She whooped and leafed through it excitedly. One spell compelled her and she grinned, scanning through it. It was called "Reverse Through the Looking Glass". This place was full of magic- she didn't see a reason why she shouldn't give it a try.
Besides, what was the worst that could happen?
Lorenzo struck Timmy so hard he heard bones crack and he screamed, backing away and his chest feeling heavy, oppressed by the dark magic. He'd had another mood swing and in a few seconds, Timmy knew why. Lorenzo could always tell when someone enacted magic and a poor fool had been stupid enough to start a spell. The mental swirl eclipsing him withdrew and The Other snarled, shoving Timmy off the bed. Memories flooded back of the recent past and he shuddered, vulnerable and violated.
"I shall deal with that stupid little whore," he declared and vanished with a crack. Timmy hugged his knees and cried, still bleeding and his body raw.
"Cosmo…Wanda…" he whimpered. "Mom, Dad…anyone…please…I need you."
Lorenzo pinning him to the bed and striking him about the face while he…
"Cosmo! Wanda!"
"You should have never come," Lorenzo announced, stalking like a large cat on the prowl. "Yet you had not only the audacity to come, but to flaunt your presence."
The air rippled and Tootie realized he was using faerie glamour. It angered her, but she was too terrified to feel much of it. She backed up and he strode forward, one stride of his matching three of hers.
"You know, I've often thought about killing you," he said. "I don't think Timmy would miss you much."
"Just add me to the list, huh?" she said, stalling and hoping he'd let her escape unscathed. It was unlikely, but maybe she had a chance.
"No," he said. "Because you're not important enough to kill. You're worth nothing. You're a stupid little whore, but you're not good enough to kill. You're beneath Timmy's notice, and the only reason I'm here is because you have a source of magic. I want it. And you'll give it to me…or else."
He smiled unpleasantly. "You'd be surprised by how much magic there is. You can derive it from unusual sources too. For example, did you know there's magic in sex? Especially if the victim is unwilling. You can feed off their fear. Non sexually, you can feed off fear from beatings too, as I plan to show you."
He seized her wrist and twisted her arm behind her back. She hadn't seen him move, he'd shifted so fast. "However, there is an option. Relinquish to me your paltry magic and I'll let you go. Should you choose not to, then there will be consequences. Dire consequences."
"You don't have enough magic?" she gasped. "You have all of Cosmo and Wanda's power-"
"Almost all," he corrected. "Once they die, I will. I have Calente's power, which was subverted. It seemed he suppressed it to the point of insanity. And I have Timmy's, but Timmy doesn't have much. It's a matter of using it to subdue him."
"And if I told you to go to hell?" she said. "And I'm not going to stop fighting for Timmy?"
"Then I have only one thing to say to you," he said and grinned. "I'll enjoy listening to you scream."
Timmy staggered to the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. His whole back was bleeding from welts and whip marks, as well as forceful entry, and his legs wouldn't support him. He crumpled, gasping, and hugged his knees. Displeased, his stomach protested and he yelped, releasing them in favor of lying on the floor with his face against the cool bathroom tiles. His body ached and he felt like a cheap whore. Tears welled and he knew if he started crying now, he wouldn't be able to stop.
"Cosmo, Wanda…" he whispered. The words choked and died in his throat. "I'm sorry…"
The Other dominated the battle arena. He squashed Tootie against the floor and twisted her arm behind her back until they heard it snap. Blanching, she squirmed and he squeezed her shoulder until it dislocated. She couldn't even fight back. It was like the instant she moved, he was there, anticipating it. He'd started with a jab to the solar plexus, continued with a swift uppercut, slammed his hands down on her ears to jar her head, and came precariously close to snapping her neck twice, to prove he could do.
Disoriented, eyes watering, and shaking, she whimpered. Lorenzo dug a knee into her lower back and pressed on her kidneys. Gasping, she flailed, but none of her blows hit. He twisted her wrist back and it snapped too.
"Now," he said. "I'm a generous anti faerie. I'll give you another chance. Will you leave my Timmy alone?"
"Go to hell," she gasped. "Cosmo and Wanda!"
He didn't know how much lower he could sink. Cosmo and Wanda probably weren't going to answer. His parents weren't here, might not even exist anymore, for all he knew. And he could only be himself when The Other was distracted…not that he was bothering to distract him for their 'sessions'. Timmy's throat constricted, tasting bile and worse things, and vomited. He couldn't even lift himself to the toilet seat.
"Cosmo and Wanda…" he whimpered.
"Wow, we're in demand tonight," a very familiar, welcome voice said.
"I don't know…" Wanda answered. "Maybe we should have gone to Tootie. She sounded like she was in pain when she called us…"
Timmy fought to sit, couldn't manage, and stared at his godparents, floating above him. They sank to the floor, unable to stay aloft, and gazed at him. Wanda's eyes roved his body and, cautious, she touched his wrist. He jerked back, afraid of physical contact.
"You could wish yourself home," Wanda said very quietly. "We would take you."
"Yeah, Timmy," Cosmo said. "You don't have to stay here…"
Wanda's hand trembled when she touched his forehead, slick with sweat, and he whimpered, pulling his head back. Frowning, she held her wand, glowing, before her.
"We could heal you," she murmured.
"Yeah, but you have to let us," Cosmo said. Their eyes narrowed. "Since The Other has all our magic."
He breathed shallowly.
"Cosmo! Wanda!" Tootie yelped, her voice echoing strangely and Timmy frowned. Cosmo and Wanda flinched, looking at each other and talking telepathically.
"What's so bad she needs you guys?" he scoffed.
"I don't know, sport," Wanda said. "We're technically only standing in for Cal…"
" 'Cuz Jorgen's ignoring us," Cosmo scoffed.
"Cosmo and Wanda- help!"
"Oh…" she looked at her husband. "Cosmo, what do we do?"
"How should I know?" he said. "You're the brains. I'm just the pretty face."
"If we don't show up, he could kill her," she said, swallowing hard.
"And if we do, he could kill us," he retorted. "Plus, Timmy's our godchild, not Tootie."
"Don't you think I know that?" she shot back.
"Cosmo, Wanda- please, for the love of-" her cry was choked off and the faeries exchanged a look. They waved their wands and vanished, spreading faerie dust everywhere. Even though Timmy was in collusion with The Other, even though he'd spent the entire summer ignoring and belittling them, even though he'd originally plotted to kill them…he couldn't help but feel betrayed.
To no one, he muttered, "But…Cosmo and Wanda are mine…"
Hand around her windpipe, he had changed his mind on not killing her. The world would be better off without her. He'd severed the link between Tootie and Timmy, and he could draw the magic out of her this way. He looked up to discover Cosmo and Wanda floating there, wands in front of them. Wanda had cast away the precious book Tootie had recovered and sent it elsewhere, probably to Timmy's house. He released Tootie's throat and, for a moment, shared the same confusion as Timmy.
"You're not her godparents," he said. "Why should you come for her?"
"Because, at the moment, Tootie needs us more," she answered. "And it's your fault she doesn't have Cal."
Cosmo landed at Tootie's side and held up his wand to heal her. Lorenzo opened his mind to Timmy and his lips twitched.
((Yes, beloved,)) he sent in answer to his emotions. ((They're traitors too, so you needn't worry about hurting their feelings. They chose her over you. They love her, not you.))
He opened his eyes again and Cosmo, Wanda, and Tootie were gone. Goddamn it.
The first thing they did was heal Tootie, and then shoot off to the tree house. Once there, they collapsed on the bed.
"We shouldn't have left Timmy," Wanda said. "You saw what The Other did to him."
"Tootie needed us too…" Cosmo said. He stiffened. "Besides, she isn't trying to kill us."
"We have to tell her about the What-If Spell," Wanda said.
"Or we could let her-" Cosmo stopped, seeing the look on his wife's face. "Never mind. We should tell her."
Wanda sighed. "I just wish we had our magic back. I feel like there was something else we could have done, if only we could have broken through to Timmy."
"What makes you think we didn't?" Cosmo said and Wanda stared, mouth dropping. She blinked and he smiled at her, wrapping his arms around her. They lay side by side on the bed and he rubbed her wingtips.
"I thought…"
"Call me naïve, but if Timmy called us, there's gotta be a part of him that still wants us around, right?" he said.
"I thought you were the number one advocate of Timmy being completely under Lorenzo's control," she said.
"Oh, I am," he said. "But still…the look he had when we left…and all those weird feelings we've been getting from our wands because of him…"
"And the marks and bruises on him…" she frowned. "But how do we really know what's going on when we can't even see him three quarters of the time?"
"We don't," Cosmo said. "We have to take it all on faith." He grinned. "That's how you married me, baby."
"Yes, but you weren't plotting to kill me," she pointed out. She groaned and snuggled up against him. "I'm so tired now."
"Me too," he said. "I can barely keep my eyes open."
She sighed and shut hers. Cosmo nuzzled her neck and kissed it.
"I love…" he murmured and passed out next to her. She had a word on the tip of her tongue, but she too passed out before she spoke it.
"You saw The Other, didn't you?" Vicky snapped. Tootie, who was still recovering, gaped at her sister. Vicky yanked her up by the throat and strangled her. It was almost a shame Lorenzo had started off his relationship by raping her. They employed similar threat tactics. Tootie conceded defeat this round, however- there was no fighting Vicky in a particularly bad mood.
"Didn't you?" she shrieked. "That's why Cosmo and Wanda disappeared and you suddenly reappeared looking like shit."
"Why are you keeping an eye on Cosmo and Wanda?" Tootie asked.
"Because they're Timmy Turner's stupid fucking godparents and if I have to be stuck with them, I want to make sure they're not poofing off to help him hunt me down," she said.
There was no logic in that sentence and she chose to ignore it. "I brought back a book I think can help."
Vicky laughed humorlessly. "A book. A book is going to convince the twerp not to waste you and everybody else in this house. A book. What have books ever done?"
She tossed Tootie back on the bed. "You're wasting your time. He almost skewered those rotten faeries three times already. Think what he'll do to you. But oh, look, here's a book!"
She spat in her face and laughed. "Idiot."
"It will work," Tootie said stubbornly.
"And I'm the Queen of England," Vicky snapped. "But oh well, enjoy your little delusion while it lasts. Maybe if you're lucky, Timmy will pay attention to you long enough for him to kill you."
A small, muscular purple bird watched Cosmo and Wanda from the tree house window. He cocked his head at Wanda, who was far weaker than he had ever seen before. In his sleep, Cosmo was running his fingers over her hair and nuzzling her cheek. Bile rose in his throat. Cosmo's affection toward her sickened and angered him.
"Soon, mi amor, soon," Juandissimo whispered. "Soon you shall be mine."