A/N: Gotta type while the inspiration's hot! Or...something like that? Ah well, thanks for the reviews. :-) Oh! Check out my deviant art gallery! The link's on my profile page and there's lots of Fairly OddParents stuff up there!
El Poof!
Wandissimo: Fear not dear readers! For it is I, Wandissimo Magnifico! I and my well toned rippling muscles of sexiness shall provide an entertaining pre-story segment for you all to enjoy!
:Mama Cosma poofs into the room.:
Mama Cosma: :spots the handsome fairy: Ooo...there you are!
Wandissimo: Aahhh! Stop following me woman! I need my beauty space!
Mama Cosma: :giggles: My but you're a feisty one.
:Wandissimo flees the room with Mama Cosma flying after him.:
Poof!
Wanda: Well...that was disturbing.
Cosmo: :left eye twitches: I wish my dad would buzz back into town. I really don't want your ex for my step father.
Wanda: Yeah I could see where that might get weird.
Phantom of the Music Biz: Genie Gypped
Chapter Six: All's Fair in Love and Magic
The curtain drew back to reveal the storage room Vicky's character was forced to use as a backstage dressing room.
"So much for the glamorous life of a singer," she mumbled to herself.
"Okay, so Mark—I mean—Chevy has just entered to compliment you on your success and invite you out to dinner." Mr. Bickles directed, "And—action!"
Clearing his throat Mark took his place on stage standing across from Vicky and began reciting his lines.
"Icky Vicky let her mind wander..."
Vicky growled, Curse that wretched nickname!
"Icky Vicky thought: am I fonder of jewels...or of trust funds, of Chevy..."
Both Vicky and Chip huffed at that little piece of improvising.
"...or of money, of fame...striking fear into young ones...or of Chevy..."
Rolling her eyes Vicky replied, "No moron, what I like is when I'm away from you losers and the phantom of the music biz trains me to get famous."
Mark blinked and scratched his temple, "Um...okay. Wanna go to the nearest trash receptacle and chow down?"
Vicky made a disgusted face, "Ew...gross!"
"Aw...c'mon!" he insisted. "That music biz dope won't mind!"
Chip stormed down from the balcony and headed straight for the stage with balled up fists and a look to kill.
"Um..." Mr. Bickles tugged at his red bandanna scarf, "...we'd better skip ahead to the part where Vicky returns and is visited once again by her mysterious singing coach."
"Aw," Timmy whined, "just when it was about to get good."
Oh I wouldn't be in such a big hurry if I were you Turner, Norm sniggered inwardly from the front row, after all you'll be taking the fall after I wreck this play!
Mark grudgingly walked offstage as Chip approached and took his place behind the mirror. The guy at the piano cracked his fingers before playing. Just seconds into the song Chip's melodic voice boomed out in an uncharacteristically deep tone.
Treacherous heart!
Cheating dreamer!
Unfeeling shrew!
Contemptuous schemer!
Vicky blinked, Is he mad...at me?
You've tested our love
You've tried my patience
And as for Chevy
That guy will get his!
You belong to me
I have it in writing
Once again Vicky grew steamed. How dare he blame her for Mark's incessant flirting! He was the one who dragged that overrated pop diva into this!
Who you callin' a shrew?
You shiny toothed fool!
Timmy, Wanda, and Cosmo cringed as Chip sang his infuriated reply.
Let him try to steal you
Bribe you with words
I won't be thwarted
It's not over til the fat chick sings!
The redhead stared at him with half-lidded eyes of boredom. "I can't believe that songs with lyrics this bad are actually big hits."
Instantly (and without malfunction) the mirror slid open to reveal 'the Phantom'. Taking her hand Chip dragged her through.
"And hit it!" Mr. Bickles squealed excitedly.
One day he came to me
This dork that sings
That's when he promised me
My share of fame
Why do I follow him?
I'm in a bind
The phantom of the music biz is here
Toying with my mind
Chip (mini-spasms and all)...
Rehearse again with me
Recall our bet
With all the fame I bring
You shall submit
And though you scowl at me
And lag behind
The phantom of the music biz is here
Toying with your mind
Vicky (unimpressed, as usual)...
What's the deal with your face?
Your mask looks weird
And that cap in your hair
Chip...
Has always been there
Both sang in unison...
My/your talent and your/my voice
Both intertwined
The phantom of the music biz is here
Toying with my/your mind.
A handful of other students sang the two-line chorus.
Look there
The phantom of the music biz
From offstage Troy muttered in a barely audible tone as he worked the pulley.
Who cares?
He's only here cuz Mr. Bickles flipped.
The curtain closed followed by sounds of scuffing and scraping and then it reopened to reveal the phantom's lair. Vicky watched from the edge of the 'lake' (some blue carpet squares) as Chip walked over and picked up his personalized electric guitar.
Anything for love!
I'll do anything for love!
According to the script Chip was 'blocking the exit' so Vicky decided to pretend to look around. At the same time she was supposed to 'absently' sing to herself.
I'm sick of being called names
Especially by nerdy no names
And what's up with all the posters
Are you stalking Chip Skylark too!
Chip strummed his guitar and kept singing.
You promised to stay with me
So you and Chevy can never be!
With a snort she replied.
Hey that's just fine by me.
Chip...
Is your love so much to ask?
Vicky...
Ugh, take off that stupid mask!
Chip...
Not when there's more you haven't seen...
He pulled a drawstring which spread a small red velvet curtain apart revealing a manikin modeling a wedding dress with an 8x10 close-up of Vicky taped over its face.
The pink eyed girl appeared unimpressed by this. But when she saw the pile of unpaid bills lying around it she gasped.
Whoa...is all of this your debt?
Look at the due dates you haven't met!
The room is spinning from all the red
The stench of poor is way too strong here!
Unable to take the sight of debt she fainted. Chip moved to catch her but was a split second too late.
THUD!
Wincing he quickly scooped her up and carried her over to the heart-shaped bed where he carefully laid her beside a pile of Chip Skylark plush toys.
At last this evil teen is mine
My plan has worked to a tee
There's only one loose end to find
Before she's my girl permanently!
"Psch, in your dreams pal." Mark scoffed.
And I'd do anything for love!
I'd confine it in tight chains
I'd do anything for love!
Even reveal myself again...
"Um...okay," Wanda muttered, "that just went from sort of romantic to pretty darn creepy in nothing flat."
After getting no response she turned to find that Timmy and Cosmo were both asleep and snoring loudly with their heads slumped against each other.
"Ugh...men." she sighed.
"TIMMY TURNER!" an angry female voice cried.
"Wha-" the twelve-year-old instantly jolted awake, "-Mom? Dad? What are you doing here!"
"We thought we might find you here young man!" Mrs. Turner scolded, "You know you're not supposed to run off and join the cast of a college production without getting our permission first!"
"Yeah, and if you didn't want us to find out then maybe you shouldn't have marked it on your calendar!" Mr. Turner added.
"Oops," Timmy cringed, "I thought that was a bad idea."
"Too bad your attention span is so short," Cosmo grinned, "or else you might've just been able to remember on your own."
"Mr. and Mrs. Turner," Mr. Bickles frowned, "not to sound rude but you are ruining our rehearsal!"
"Mr. Bickles!" Mrs. Turner gasped, "You allowed Timmy to travel all the way to Drizzleboro on his own just so you could cast him in your play?"
"Well of course not," the director answered smugly, "he was traveling with those other two oddly colored kids."
Timmy's parents glanced over the teacher's shoulder and spotted Cosmo and Wanda who grinned sheepishly and waved.
"Can I stay Mom, please?" Timmy begged.
"Well..." Mrs. Turner placed a finger against her chin in thought, "...I suppose it's alright, so long as you travel with friends and arrive back home early on school nights."
"Ooo...Chip Skylark!" Mr. Turner pointed excitedly to the famous singer he'd just spotted onstage. "You're delicious!"
"Uh...thanks?" Chip arched an eyebrow at his strange middle-aged fan.
"Hi Vicky!" Mrs. Turner called.
"Hi Mrs. Turner," Vicky reluctantly waved back to her as the cast started to snicker.
"C'mon Timmy," Mrs. Turner said returning her focus to her son, "you've got school tomorrow so you'll have to come back to Dimmsdale with us now."
"Okay Mom," Timmy muttered feeling embarrassed, and in front of college kids too!
"Um...can we come too?" Cosmo blurted out.
"Yeah," Wanda nodded, "we've got lots of homework to finish!"
"Oh very well," Mr. Bickles pouted, "but you'd all better be here by five o'clock sharp this Friday! The big night is almost upon us and we need all the practice we can get!"
That night in the woods just off-campus...
A small campsite went unnoticed in the lush greenery of the forest beside the college. It consisted mostly of a small purple tent, two pink sleeping bags with heart-shaped pillows, a fire, and two backpacks full of supplies all courtesy of Cupid.
"I hate this junk," Norm muttered from inside his sleeping bag. "And pink? How girly can that geeky little cherub be?"
"I think it was nice of Cupid to give us all this stuff to camp out with." Tootie responded snippily.
"Hn, what he couldn't spring for a hotel?" Norm scoffed, "He's the spirit of Valentine's Day for cryin' out loud! With all the royalties he must get you'd figure he'd be a little more generous with the field agent accommodations."
"If you hate it out here so much then go sleep in your lamp." Tootie groaned pulling the flap of her sleeping bag up over her head.
"Or...you could WISH us up some nicer surroundings." Norm hinted with that mischievous glint returning to his eyes.
"For the last time NO!" she snapped, "I don't trust you Norm. And I know you're up to something and I won't let you hurt Timmy!"
"Oh blah...blah...blah...poor Turner," Norm yawned, "What the heck do you see in that buck toothed kid anyway?"
"Lots of things," Tootie replied as she traced hearts in the dirt with her index finger, "he's sweet, friendly, DREAMY, heroic, cool, and cute...even in a dress!"
Norm shoved a finger inside his mouth and gagged, "That's all smoke and mirrors squirt. I happen to know for a fact that Turner only has eyes for that pretty and popular rich girl Trixie Tang."
"Okay so he's a little shallow right now," Tootie admitted with a bitterly bummed out expression, "he'll grow out of it. And then he'll see that we were meant to be together. I can't wait for him to like me!"
"Two words fruitcake," Norm smirked, "WISH IT."
Tootie seemed to consider this for a moment before shaking her head, "No way, you'll just twist the wish around like you did with the bug thing. Besides, I want Timmy to like me on his own, not because of some wish I made."
"Ugh, kid that fairy of love has you brainwashed," the genie groaned, "Trust an old pro, if you want something to go your way you either wish it or kiss it good-bye."
Frowning Tootie rolled over in her sleeping bag so that her back was facing the troublesome jerk, I don't believe him. I'll win Timmy's love eventually and I'll do it without magic! He'll see...love conquers all!
Amanda/Artiste: I apologize for the cruddy lyrics in some of these songs. But the ones Chip was singing were kind of foreshadowing what's to come in later chapters. Next Chapter: It's opening night and word has spread of the two hit singers (and Vicky) starring in the play. Will Norm succeed in ruining the nationally televised production and getting Timmy blamed or will the genie's scheme be exposed and thwarted? Can Tootie really handle this mission on her own? Will Cosmo ever learn to stop eating things off the floor? Find out...after a word from our sponsor.
