June 2015
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PRISON BREAK! Or at least an attempted one . . .
FOP doesn't belong to me.
"Are you okay?" Cosmo asked quietly as the group huddled in the shadows outside the Anti-Fairy Prison. The soft radiance of twilight cast him in an orange glow as he offered his wife a worried look. "You look kinda . . . funny."
They had gone over the plan one last time before poofing to Fairy World, and now waited until night fell completely before putting it into motion. Wanda nodded slightly, forcing a small smile to her lips.
"Yeah," she said in a strained voice. "I'm just a little nervous about tonight."
Her husband gave her a concerned look. "Should we call it off?" he asked, unconsciously pulling Tabby closer to him. "Do you think that something bad will happen?" Wanda gave him a look so strange that he backed off slightly. "What?"
The truth was she DID think something bad would happen, but it had nothing to do with the actual prison break.
"Nothing," she said instead, uttering a small sigh and shaking her head. "Let's just get this over with."
Cosmo watched her for a few seconds more before turning back to watch the front gate. Two fairy guards were floating back and forth before the only entrance to the large prison, each armed with a large, menacing looking wand. As the last of the daylight faded from the sky, the starry tips of the weapons flickered to life, illuminating the area with a soft glow.
Showtime.
"Okay, Cosmo," Wanda said, cupping her husband's face in her hands. "It's time. Remember, if anything goes wrong, grab Tabby and poof out of there right away."
Cosmo nodded within his wife's grip, and she placed a gentle kiss on his lips for luck before releasing him and turning to her goddaughter.
"You remember what you have to do, right sweetie?" she asked, and the little girl nodded, causing the tight curls in her hair to bob madly.
"I hafta be thweet and adorable tho no one won't thee you and Uncle Acie letting Auntie go," Tabby said as Cosmo took her hand.
Wanda cocked her head, a small smirk on her lips. "The lisp is a bit much, kiddo," she said and Tabby smiled guiltily, a small blush crawling across her cheeks. "We want cute, not cavity inducing."
"'Kay."
"You be careful," Cosmo quietly told his wife, his voice unusually serious. "I don't want you getting hurt." Before she could respond, Anti-Cosmo placed a firm hand on his double's shoulder, making Cosmo jump slightly.
"Wanda shall come to no harm, Cosmo," he said softly, his face solemn. "On that, you have my word."
The green haired fairy nodded slightly as he raised his wand. "Don't pound on the cell door," he reminded Anti-Cosmo as his wand began to glow. "You'll get shocked." His dark twin nodded once as Cosmo turned back to his wife.
"Good luck," he said softly before he and Tabby disappeared silently.
Wanda sighed. "This is gonna take a whole lot more than 'luck'," she muttered as the light green puff of smoke cleared. "I'd welcome a miracle."
Anti-Cosmo floated closer to her, wringing his hands nervously. "Will she be able to keep them distracted for as long as we need, do you think?" he asked quietly.
Wanda shrugged, looking back towards the pacing guards. "On the few occasions her parents actually took her out with them, they usually . . . 'encouraged' Tabby to perform like a trained seal," she said sourly. "When she stopped performing the 'uber-cute moppet' routine, her parents were less likely to take her along. But that girl still knows every Shirley Temple song from 'Animal Crackers in my Soup', to the old standby 'On the Good Ship Lollipop'. So it really depends on who's watching the monitors. If it's Binky, we should have plenty of time. If it's Jorgen . . ." She shrugged again, adding a shaky sigh. "We may need to move much quicker than we planned."
Anti-Cosmo nodded, his attention returning to the prison entrance. The thought of his wife in custody made him anxious to get moving, but haste would only spell sloppy actions. If this plan—such as it was—was going to succeed, he would have to put personal feelings aside. As hard as that had suddenly become.
Soon. His beloved wife would be by his side once again. Soon.
A papery whisper drew him from his thoughts and he turned in time to see an old piece of parchment float to the ground at his feet. He watched as it landed gently, coming to rest in the soft billowy cloud the prison rested on. A hard lump had suddenly formed in his throat, and he swallowed in an attempt to dislodge it.
"'When the blue moon shines full and equal magics combine, a child shall hold the key to change'," Wanda said as she recited the faded words she had memorized from the paper. "Equal magics—fairies and their anti counterparts. And gee, lemme guess. There's a full blue moon tonight, isn't there?"
"I can explain," Anti-Cosmo began, holding his hands up in a calming gesture.
"I can't believe how stupid I was," she continued, frowning deeply. "Did I actually believe that the ONLY reason you wanted to free your wife was because you 'missed her'?"
"Wanda—"
"That's why you kidnapped Tabby. Not because of some invented story involving your inability to have children. You needed her AND us! You had this whole thing planned from the beginning!"
Wanda's voice was steadily climbing in volume, causing the guards to pause in mid pace to look around curiously.
"Wanda, the guards, they'll hear!" Anti-Cosmo whispered as he floated closer.
The pink haired fairy scoffed. "Maybe that's for the best!" she replied, but kept her voice hushed. "Maybe I should simply turn you in right now for making a fool of me!"
Before Wanda could say another word or move more than an eyebrow, Anti-Cosmo threw himself at her, pinning her to the 'ground' and clamping a hand over her mouth. They struggled briefly, stopping only when one of the guards came uncomfortably close to their hiding spot. Lying frozen in place, Anti-Cosmo slightly on top of Wanda, they watched the guard with wide eyes. He paused, a mere few feet from where the two lay entangled. After a few glances around him, the guard slowly floated back to his post, shrugging his shoulders at his partner's queries.
Anti-Cosmo and Wanda slowly began to breathe again, and the dark fairy turned to his companion angrily.
"I find a number of inconsistencies in your assumptions, Wanda," he said coolly, his hand still firmly in place over her mouth. "But allow me to begin by admitting that, yes, I had planned to take advantage of this recent discovery to re-assume my place in the anti-fairy hierarchy. However, I had not discovered that file until AFTER I had . . . 'borrowed' your Tabitha."
Above the hand that securely covered her mouth, Wanda's eyes practically glowed with anger. She whipped her head back and forth quickly in an attempt to shake his hand free, only to have him tighten his grip.
"Don't believe me? Don't bloody care," he continued, casting a quick glance toward the guards. "Time is passing quickly and with it is lost a higher chance of success. My point is I HAD planned to use you three, but no longer. Our talk earlier today has shown me that I am not the anti-fairy I once was. I don't have to BE the anti-fairy I once was. For heaven's sake Wanda, why do you think I GAVE that paper to you in the first place?"
Anti-Cosmo released his hold on both her mouth and body a split second before she bucked him off. She regained her feet quickly, and the two glared at each other, locked in a face off.
"Considering how much delight you get out of showing off your superior intelligence, the answer should be self-explanatory," she hissed through gritted teeth, eyes narrowed. "How do I know you didn't have THAT planned from the beginning too? For all I know, the whole 'I've changed!' thing could have been an act concocted who knows how long ago! Make up some sob story, do a few good deeds and WHAM! Good ol' bleeding-heart Wanda trusts you enough to help you break another anti-fairy out of the most secure and heavily guarded prison in the history of Fairy World."
"Oh yes, Wanda," Anti-Cosmo replied with an exaggerated eye roll. "You've found me out. I've effectively portrayed myself as a traitor to the rest of my kind, suffered through a very confusing and mind-twisting identity crisis AND stood by as Jorgen does who-knows-what to my wife just to make YOU look foolish. Congratulations, you are both paranoid AND egocentric."
Wanda growled. "Don't push me, pal. I'm thisclose to turning you in and grabbing Cosmo and Tabby to poof home."
"Then why don't you?" the anti-fairy asked, closing the gap between them. "Why did you even come and maintain the façade that everything was still a go?" Wanda blinked, her cheeks turning flush. "Because deep down you still believe me. Deep down you know that even I would never stoop so low as to claim infertility unless it was actually true."
Anti-Cosmo paused, glancing quickly at the prison with a troubled expression before turning back. "Wanda, please. Time is slipping away quickly. We don't have time for this!"
"You're an anti-fairy," Wanda said quietly, brow furrowed. "Why should I trust you?"
"'Anti-fairy' is WHAT I am, not WHO I am," he replied softly, repeating Wanda's words from earlier that day. "Don't confuse the two. Yesterday I myself wouldn't have been able to differentiate between them, but after speaking with a couple of quite intelligent ladies, I've discovered that there IS indeed a difference. My wife is in that big, imposing building, and I intend to do whatever I can to get her out. Your assistance would be greatly appreciated, however I would understand if you have changed your mind. Just please, let me know quickly. Time is of the essence."
Wanda frowned. She really shouldn't trust him. Whatever small amount of trust she had for him had shattered the instant she had read that file. A file he had—admittedly—freely given her, knowing full well that if she was aware of it, she could prevent him from carrying out any 'plan'. Of course, THAT could very well have been part of his plan from the beginning as well. But why would Anti-Cosmo complicate matters by letting Wanda in on it?
With a soft grunt, Wanda shook her head. She was thinking in circles, and coming very close to giving herself a headache.
"Would you give me your word, your honest-to-goodness-may-lightning-strike-you-down-if-you're-lying word, that you are not planning on double-crossing us?" she asked quietly, regarding him with narrowed eyes and a firm gaze.
His face became somber, his right hand coming to rest on his chest, over his heart.
"Freely," he replied, giving her a slight bow. "You have my solemn word that I have no ulterior motives regarding tonight. My only goal is to free my wife. She is all that matters."
Wanda studied him for a moment, searching for some sign he was lying—a flicker of an eyebrow, a small twitch at the corner of his mouth, a quick glance away. He looked back, unmoving. Wanda raised an eyebrow, feeling more curiosity than shock or surprise.
He was telling the truth. And she believed him.
"All right," she said with a slight sigh. "Let's watch for Cosmo's signal, then."
Without another word, the fairy and anti-fairy hidden in the shadows of the Anti-Fairy Prison looked toward the building, watching for their sign to move.
-X-X-X-
When Cosmo and Tabby had appeared in the security room, he was thrilled at his luck. The room had been empty except for Binky, who was sitting at the control board, watching the various monitors that kept watch over all the anti-fairies. When Tabby had gone into her Shirley Temple routine, Binky had been happy enough to turn his back on the screens, often singing along with the disguised little girl.
A quick glance of the wall-o-televisions and Cosmo had found the camera trained on Anti-Wanda. He had tucked his wand behind his back and was about to black out the monitor when Jorgen had entered the room with a loud thunderclap.
"WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?" the Head Fairy bellowed, making both Cosmo and Binky flinch. "Who is this child?"
Cosmo resisted the urge to burst into hysterical tears and swallowed hard.
"I-I thought you might need some entertainment," he stammered, and Jorgen studied the little girl with narrowed eyes. "You know, because of your hard work watching for Anti-Cosmo?"
"She looks familiar," Jorgen muttered, moving closer to Tabby. The little girl instantly assumed her character's persona, dipping into a little curtsey and holding the hem of her little sailor's dress in her fingers.
"I resemble—but am legally distinct from—Shirley Temple!" she replied, and Cosmo uttered a silent sigh of relief at the fact that she had remembered to disguise her voice. "Would you like me to sing a song for you?"
Jorgen opened his mouth to say something when Binky piped up from behind the large wingless fairy.
"YES! That would be super!" he cried, a wide smile on his little face. Jorgen rounded on him, pegging the little fairy with an annoyed look. "What?! I'm bored just staring at these monitors! And I love when cute little girls sing songs!"
"Did you forget just WHY you're staring at those monitors?" Jorgen boomed, and Binky flinched.
"NO, but come on!" the little fairy whined. "We've got alarms all over the place! If Anti-Cosmo tried to get in here, we'd know it!"
Jorgen glared at Binky before flicking his eyes back to the little girl. There was something familiar about her, but the Head Fairy just couldn't put his very muscular finger on it. He glanced at Cosmo, who looked incredibly nervous and uncomfortable, but then again, Cosmo ALWAYS looked nervous and uncomfortable around Jorgen, so there really didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary.
Besides, if Cosmo was here, and Anti-Wanda was locked up in an escape-proof cell below them, the knowledge on the stolen file couldn't exactly be used, could it? Keeping an eye on Cosmo might be a good idea.
"Do you know the teapot song?" Jorgen asked, and the little girl smiled.
"Sure!" she cried, and proceeded to sing about her handle and spout.
Two childhood favorites later, Cosmo tucked his wand behind his back again. Once assuring himself that Binky and Jorgen were both engrossed in Tabby's little show—Binky looking a heck of a lot more excited about it than Jorgen—he made it flash twice. Once to black out the screen showing Anti-Wanda, and once to signal Wanda and Anti-Cosmo.
It was now or never.
-X-X-X-
"There's the signal," Wanda said as her wand flashed once. "Let's go."
Anti-Cosmo nodded as Wanda changed shape.
-X-X-X-
"Who's there?" one of the guards called as a large shadowy figure approached the gates. They both brandished their wands threateningly at the newcomer. "Identify yourself!"
"Put those down you puny fairies!" a voice called as Jorgen entered the light thrown off from the starry tips. "And let me pass!"
"Mr. Von Strangle, Sir!" the other guard said as they both went into a rigid salute. "We're sorry sir, we didn't expect to see you out here. We thought you were up in the control room."
"I was called away on urgent business."
The two guards exchanged a glance. "Business, Sir?"
"I've caught Anti-Cosmo," Jorgen said, and thrust forward his right hand. Held tightly in the curled fist was the anti-fairy, looking sour and struggling weakly.
"Luck!" the dark fairy cried, glowering at the guards. "'Twas simply luck that allowed such a muscle head to capture me!"
The guards looked up in awe.
"Well done, Sir!" the one on the left exclaimed, a wide smile on his face.
The right one nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, well done!"
"Yes, yes, I am an example of perfection," Jorgen said with a wave of his free hand. "You may bow down to my mighty feet later. I must take his prisoner to his cell at once. Now LET ME BY!"
The guards jumped slightly, quickly going back to their assigned positions at either side of the entrance. The rigid salutes were back as the door opened.
"Very good, Sir!" they cried in unison as Jorgen stormed inside, slamming the door behind him.
After a few seconds, one guard turned to the other.
"Did his voice seem a little . . . strange to you?"
His friend shrugged, and silence returned as they resumed their watch duties.
-X-X-X-
"You didn't have to hold me so tightly," Anti-Cosmo hissed once Jorgen/Wanda released him.
"I had to make it believable, didn't I?" Wanda replied, still in the form of her superior. "Now where's Anti-Wanda's cell?"
The two moved quickly, being careful not to cross the path of any of the cameras focused on the cells of all the other anti-fairies. Wanda noticed how the other dark fairies glared at Anti-Cosmo, their eyes filled with anger and hatred. He didn't seem to notice, his attention focused solely on finding his wife.
Some of the anti-fairies glanced at her, and she shuddered unconsciously. The look in their eyes never wavered, even though she was still in the form of Jorgen. It was as if they could see through her disguise and recognized her as the little pink haired fairy she was. It was unsettling, to say the least.
"There she is!" Anti-Cosmo whispered, and moved quickly to the front of her cell. She was sleeping, curled into a tight ball in the middle of the floor, and he tapped gently on the door to wake her. "Darling? Darling wake up! You'll be all right now! I'm here!"
Anti-Wanda stirred slightly before waking with a violent jerk. She glanced around herself, still slightly dazed from being awoken so suddenly. Anti-Cosmo smiled, near tears at seeing her again.
"It's okay, my darling," he soothed, drawing her attention to the door. When she saw him, she smiled widely. "Everything will be all right soon."
"Anti-Cosmo!" she cried as she hurriedly crawled to the door. Tears were starting to leak from her large pink eyes, and she placed her hands against the clear door so that they rested near her husband's. "How . . ?"
"Nevermind that now," he said with a slight shake of his head as he stood and began to examine the outside of the cell. "I'll explain everything later. Right now we've got to get you out."
Anti-Wanda nodded, and was about to say something when her face changed. The smile dropped and her eyes grew wide and fearful. She was looking behind her husband, a scream caught in her throat. Wanda had just come into the light, and she was still disguised as Jorgen.
"LOOK OUT!" Anti-Wanda cried, and began to pound on the door without thinking. "JORGEN'S RIGHT BEHIND YOU! GET AWAY! RUN—"
A buzzer began to sound, and the door to Anti-Wanda's cell suddenly flashed blue-white as a bolt of electricity flowed through her. Her screams reverberated down the empty hallway, coming to an abrupt end when she was thrown across the cell.
"NO!" Anti-Cosmo cried as he slammed his fists against the door, in spite of the security system. "Anti-Wanda! Are you all right? ANTI-WANDA!"
Wanda, shocked out of her disguise by the sight of her duplicate in pain, rushed to pull Anti-Cosmo back before the same fate could befall him. He fought her, struggling hard to return to the door. He was still calling his wife's name.
"AC, stop it!" Wanda hissed into his ear, but might not have said anything for all the good it did. "AC!"
With an annoyed grunt, Wanda spun the dark fairy around and slapped him across the face. Hard. He stopped instantly, staring at her with a kind of dumb fascination.
"Y-you struck me . . ." he said quietly, and Wanda gripped him by the shoulders to give him a stern shake.
"Get a hold of yourself," she said, locking eyes with him. "We need to keep our heads or everything will fall to pieces!"
He stared at her for a few seconds before blinking hard and giving his head a good shake. When he looked at her again, his eyes were clearer.
"I'm sorry, Wanda," he said, straightening his jacket with shaky hands. "Seeing her hurt . . . I just . . . I lost my head for a moment. I'm better now, thank you."
"'Better' is not exactly the word I'd use for our current situation," Wanda replied as she released his shoulders and stood in front of her doppelganger's cell. "Cosmo was wrong. These panels near the cells aren't door releases. They look like intercoms or possibly power controls for the electricity circuits."
"Are you telling me we got this far only to fail because your husband offered false information?" Anti-Cosmo asked, his fists clenching tightly.
Wanda offered him an annoyed look. "He didn't do it on purpose," she hissed back, curling her lips at him. "How was he supposed to know what these were? And why on earth would he even pay attention to door releases? He had no idea we were going to try to break her out until AFTER he had been here!"
The two glared at each other for a moment, and Anti-Cosmo struggled to control the angry replies flashing rapidly in his mind. It was all well and good to blame Cosmo, but ultimately, Wanda was right. He made a mistake, but it wasn't intentional. The information he had provided up until now had been most helpful, in fact. Cosmo had actually done more than Anti-Cosmo would have ever expected.
Closing his eyes tightly, Anti-Cosmo uttered a heavy sigh.
"You're right," he said as he turned back to look into his wife's cell. She was getting shakily to her feet, her skin healing slowly. "It wasn't his fault. I'm just . . . disappointed that this was all for naught."
Wanda said nothing and watched as Anti-Wanda made her way back to the door. The two anti-fairies gazed at each other through the clear barrier, the look of longing evident in each of their eyes. The little pink haired fairy's heart twisted and she wished she could do something to help. But they were stuck. She suspected that the only way to open these cells was on that big control panel in the security room, and getting a message to Cosmo would be way too risky.
With a heavy sigh, Wanda wondered if they could get out as easily as they got in.
-X-X-X-
As Tabby hopped and skipped her way through the second rendition of "On the Good Ship Lollipop"—per Binky's request, of course—Cosmo glanced nervously at his superior. Jorgen was watching the little girl as well, but with a much more shrewd look.
Cosmo recognized that look. It's the look someone had when they KNEW they remembered someone, but couldn't quite remember where. If they didn't get out of there soon, Jorgen might figure it out and then there would be trouble, and lots of it.
Besides, it's been a while. Wanda and Anti-Cosmo HAD to have gotten Anti-Wanda free by now, right?
"Hooray!" Binky applauded, laughing happily. "That was fun!"
"Yeah," Cosmo laughed shakily, moving closer to the little girl. "Fun. But I think we'd better get going and let you guys get back to work." He tucked his wand behind his back and flashed it once, bringing the screen overlooking Anti-Wanda's cell back to life. "You've gotta keep an eye out for Anti-Cosmo—"
Cosmo stopped, his eyes wide. He had glanced over at the monitor covering Anti-Wanda's cell and found it still sealed. That would have been bad enough, but Wanda and Anti-Cosmo were still standing outside of it, in plain view of the camera.
This was not part of the plan. Not at all.
In his panic, Cosmo unconsciously clenched onto Tabby's shoulder, bringing a pained cry from the girl.
"OW! Cut it out, Cosmo!"
That did it. Tabby had not disguised her voice and Jorgen's eyes went wide as recognition clicked home. He leveled his wand at the little girl, and—before she or Cosmo could say anything—blasted her with a light yellow bolt. When it dissipated, Tabby's disguise was gone, revealing the little girl in her normal garb. Jorgen exploded.
"I KNEW YOU SEEMED FAMILIAR!" he bellowed as he lifted up the little girl. She offered him a weak smile.
"Wanna hear 'Itsy Bitsy Spider'?"
"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?" Jorgen demanded of Cosmo, who shrank away, trembling.
"I-I—I-I—I—" the little green haired fairy stammered, too terrified to think up a good excuse.
"SIR, LOOK!" Binky called, pulling Jorgen's attention. The large Head Fairy tucked the little girl under his arm like a football and moved toward the control panel. Binky was pointing to the camera over Anti-Wanda's cell, and Jorgen's jaw dropped.
"It's a prison break," he said, mostly to himself. "ALERT THE GUARDS! SCRAMBLE THE FAIRIES! SURROUND THE PRISON AND—"
Jorgen broke off in mid command, nearly drowned out by the sound of a very loud alarm. Startled and confused, he looked down at the little girl hanging in the curl of his right arm. She was staring at the monitor that showed Wanda and the two anti-fairies. Her right arm was extended out, with her hand resting atop a large, red button. Tabby knew the plan was to get Anti-Wanda out of the prison. She also knew how to read. Sort of.
Below the button, printed large and bold in black letters, was the word 'OPEN'. What she didn't see were the words beneath that, printed in smaller letters. Those words were 'ALL CELLS'.
All three fairies in the control room watched the wall of monitors in stunned silence. In each screen, a cell door swung open.
All the anti-fairies were free. And Wanda was trapped with them.