Author's Note: Another one of those 'will I or won't I' continue fics. I'm not sure about this one, especially with its grittiness (it reminds me of a fic I wrote for JN, which is up on my LJ).
There will also be hints of things. (The squint and you'll see it deal).
Tell me what you guys think and we'll take it from there. Oh, and set during season five. So you know.
Faerie Monster Ball
Chapter One: Jet Black
The sun had set and the stars had yet to rise over Dimmsdale. Timmy walked home from A.J.'s house with Cosmo and Wanda disguised as Siberian huskies. There was a bitter, astringent quality to the atmosphere putting his godparents on alert, also prompting them to continue sniping at each other as they had all day. Aside from whatever was bugging his faeries, Timmy was in a good mood and didn't really mind his parents had forgotten to pick him up again. The world was secure, Cosmo and Wanda were at his side, and nothing could hurt him. He had faeries at his back and confidence in his invincibility. Nothing could possibly happen to him.
The temperature dropped and Timmy shivered. It was unseasonably cold for Dimmsdale and he half expected a winter storm. He glanced over at his godparents, flanking him on either side, to supply commentary. Instead, they were quiet, with an accompanying mild buzz like a TV on mute. Since this phenomenon wasn't uncommon with the pair, he ignored it. They hadn't explained it and he hadn't asked, because he wasn't interested.
The streetlamps died in quick succession and plunged the street into darkness. Blinking, Timmy looked up and gasped, his vision fading out completely. Cosmo and Wanda yelped.
"I wish we had light!" he called. He imagined them holding up their wands and heard the accompanying air plopping out sound matching an impossible wish. He wasn't going to panic. This wasn't a big deal. So the light had died for a few seconds. They'd be fine.
"Cosmo? Wanda? What's going on?" he said, hysteria increasing his voice's pitch.
"We don't know…" Wanda said.
Sudden light blazed and Timmy's vision shot from black to red. Groaning, he clutched his head and doubled over. Eyes watering, he waited for the sensation to pass before he dared uncover his eyes. The sun had returned overhead and blazed like noon. The temperature dropped further, closer to the thirties, and Timmy shuddered. Cosmo and Wanda drew closer to him and shivered, Cosmo sneezing.
"I smell magic," Cosmo said.
"Aren't we normally the ones who do the big, environment changing wishes?" Timmy said.
"This doesn't feel like any magic we know," Wanda said.
"Which would mean what, exactly?" Timmy said.
"Uh…we don't know?" Cosmo said. Ignoring his eyes watering, he wiped them and they started home again. Cosmo and Wanda fell silent again, the buzz returning, and he jumped at every corner. Nothing cast shadows, which he found peculiar, and he kept expecting to find Crocker lurking and waiting to snag his faeries. Trepidation made him sweat and his stomach clenched; he rubbed his palms on his pants. There were only a few more blocks until he reached his house. He could do it. Whatever weird stuff was happening wasn't his problem.
His mouth dried out and he turned to his godparents to wish for a drink. Blinking, he spun and discovered Cosmo and Wanda hadn't moved from the intersection. They focused on a point beyond a white picket fence and both faeries' fur stood on end, their hackles raised and teeth visible in a snarl. Glancing both ways, Timmy crossed the street again and stared through the fence at a blue and purple striped wolf with keen violet, almost black eyes.
"Guys?" he called. "What gives? I want to get home before midnight."
The fence swung inward and the blue and purple dog leapt over it, landing in front of Cosmo and Wanda and growling. Timmy's hair stood on end. Cosmo and Wanda matched him snarl for snarl and Timmy did a double take. He almost never saw Cosmo and Wanda aggressive; they situated themselves protectively in front of their godchild.
"You don't belong here," the being snapped. A faint broken crown glimmered above his head. "You should leave."
"We don't belong here?" Cosmo huffed. "What about you? We live here, pal. And we have for almost forty years, so clear out."
The being blurred and formed a ring, identical wolves growling and snapping their jaws at the trio. Timmy gulped. He rubbed his palms on his pant legs again.
"I wish I were home," he said. "Right now."
The wolves leapt at Cosmo and Wanda's throats and a random wand blast sent Timmy flying about fifty feet, away from the fight. The duplicate wolves took on new characteristics, the clones warping into new beings with the same navy blue fur, only with different streaks. Timmy's heart hammered. He'd crashed through the picket fence and into someone's yard and he dashed back to the fight. Wands flew into the air, crackled, shooting magical sparks, and he held out his hands to grab them.
"I don't think so, Turner," a serene, familiar voice called behind him. Knocking aside a dog house, Ms. Doombringer appeared out of nowhere, much like the wolves had.
"What are you doing here?" he squeaked. "You got hit by a bus."
"I wasn't killed," she scoffed. "And neither will your godparents be. They'll just be more cooperative when I'm done with them."
The wands landed in her hand and Timmy head butted her in the stomach to grab them. She pointed one wand tip down and black ropes wrapped around him. Gasping, he jumped up and down, bound, to nab them back. She knocked him over and the wands vanished with a pop. He gulped and shuddered.
"Aw, man, that is so not good," he muttered.
Ms. Doombringer grinned and yanked him up by the rope binding near his neck. Cosmo and Wanda fought viciously, this time not to defend Timmy, but to protect themselves. Without their wands, they couldn't heal and it was obvious Wanda was more adept at fighting than Cosmo. For her troubles, she'd fended off two wolves and had two more at her flanks, drawing gashes near her right hind leg and her underbelly. One wolf leapt on top of her back and dove for her throat. Yelping, she bucked him and another one snapped her already weakened right hind ankle. She nearly collapsed and sagged into Cosmo, who was having problems of his own.
Cosmo's face was bloody, puffy, and scarred. Timmy only recognized it from the color, not from the loveable faerie he'd known for two years. One wolf leapt at his tail, he spun around and snapped his jaw at it, and the second wolf, one with orange and blue fur, succeeded in snapping his left front leg and, leaping over him, his right front leg too. Cosmo collapsed, howling, and Wanda, running on three legs, charged the now six pursuers. The original wolf grinned at her and Timmy's stomach churned.
Within seconds, it was over. Three wolves pinned Wanda to the ground and came precariously close to tearing her jugular open. Timmy went cold inside.
"Leave her alive, we need them both alive," Ms. Doombringer said. They settled for tearing a sizeable amount of flesh from her torso and moved onto Cosmo, who was whimpering now and had peed himself in terror. Ms. Doombringer scoffed. The pack descended and severed Cosmo's tail from his body. Faerie blood, sparkling in the bright, unnatural sun, was more prevalent than the small urine Cosmo had expelled. Both faeries fainted, though Timmy could almost swear Wanda was still conscious. Her neck twisted and she nudged her head forward.
"You I have plans for," Ms. Doombringer said, shaking Timmy. "The others will serve as bait."
Timmy awoke cold and alone in a prison cell. Tasting blood, he spat and blinked, eyes encrusted. He wasn't sore, only stiff, and he patted the floor, which proved to be cold, hard packed dirt. Spitting again, he heard a faint protest. It was too dark to see his hand in front of his face and he groped, hairs rising on his arms. The cool air reminded him of the winter and he heard water dripping far off. The floor was smooth, but whatever his hand had come into contact with next was soft and furry, but matted. In addition to tasting blood, he smelled it too and sniffed, trying to identify the source. He hadn't been cut, he knew that much.
"I left you a companion," Ms. Doombringer's bodiless voice echoed. "For now."
She laughed and he heard no more, so he assumed she'd gone. He inched closer and ran his fingers over the fur. The figure whimpered, retracting its legs, and Timmy eased his hands down. The fur was warm and moving up and down; he assumed he'd reached the stomach. Moving his hand upward, he brought it to the shoulders and the figure hissed, inching away from him.
"I'm not going to hurt you," Timmy said. "I'm just trying to figure out what you are."
"Timmy?" Cosmo's weak voice replied.
"Cosmo?" Timmy answered. He remembered vividly what had happened right before Ms. Doombringer had seized him. "Cosmo, are you okay? What happened? Where's Wanda? Where are we?"
"I don't know..." Cosmo moaned. "I can't feel my legs."
Timmy bolted upright, shock taking over. Teeth chattering, he groped for the legs he'd seen the wolves bite and eased his fingers along the marks. Cosmo whimpered again and sobbed. The bone felt severed, but he couldn't tell in the dark. He cried harder.
"Okay, don't panic," Timmy said. "We'll find Wanda and-"
"I can't feel her either!" he screamed. "And our wands are missing and those things that attacked us, they're half breeds..."
"You need to rest," he said. "You said faeries can heal at abnormally fast rates, right? So you should rest and I'll see if I can find a way out of this place."
"I don't wanna rest..." Cosmo protested. "I...I'm afraid. Hold me."
"Not now," he reprimanded. He stood and paced the cell. Within a minute, he had the dimensions mapped out. There weren't bars barricading him in. It was a solid brick wall. Moaning, he rubbed his hands along it and found no entryway, no exit route, nothing. They were surrounded by four walls and a standing bowl of water, which he knocked into. He also tripped over Cosmo, who sobbed harder and curled into a ball.
They'd been in worse situations, but they'd also had magic. Whatever was going on, they were at the mercy of their captors. Shuddering, Timmy drew Cosmo's head into his lap to calm his godfather down. He stroked the fur on top of his head and Cosmo turned, burying his face against Timmy's left leg. There was sticky blood in between his ears and Timmy winced.
For a while, Cosmo's wails were the only noise, aside from the faintest dripping. He rested his arm on his shoulders and the other he draped on his neck. His tears were soaking into his pants and he was distantly grateful Cosmo wasn't still bleeding. Even without his wand, he was slowly healing.
The weight on his lap shifted slightly and Cosmo cried himself to sleep. Timmy looked at where he knew the wall was and wanted to run his fingers over it again, but he also didn't want to move him. In his sleep, the faerie was whining and crying, rubbing his head on Timmy's leg. Okay, so then he'd just sit here in the darkness and wait. And hope help would come.