6
A.J. looked up at the sound of the alarm going off in the Ivory Tower, startled out of his examination of the wreckage of the Aces High tank and the strange device uncovered from the school. Having the two set side by side in the Tower's larger lab had made him notice several odd things about them. But there was little time to pursue his investigation on them; something was up.
"Members of Team Turner, please report to the conference room." the communication lines announced in a calm, collected tone, "Be prepared for mission briefing and tactical preparations for tonight's assault of the fifth Dark Spire."
"What? Tonight?" A.J. exclaimed in shock. That was way sooner that Timmy had originally called for! What made him change the schedule? Snatching up his laptop, he made a dash for the door, already trying to figure out what could have caused the change in plans along with trying to keep his findings in mind.
The rest of the team had yet to arrive when A.J. hurried in. He scanned the room briefly and lit up at seeing Cosmo and Wanda already there, floating above the table as they talked. They paused in their conversation once they noticed him run up to them.
"You two are already here so can I ask a favor?" A.J. blurted out in a rush, "Can you get Timmy here right away? I have to tell him about what I discovered!" The couple glanced at each other, puzzled.
"Uh, well, I'll give it a shot, but Timmy's not quite in the best of moods right now." Wanda replied slowly and lifted her wand, poofing away in a burst of pink smoke. Cosmo blinked and his lower lip quivered, eyes tearing up as he grew weepy.
"She left me all alone! Waaah!" he bawled, fists lifted up to his eyes as tears poured out in literal rivers. A.J. winced and sighed. Crazy fairy. He searched the drawers of the table for the bag of cookies Timmy usually had on hand and pulled one out for him.
"Here. Now will you stop crying?" he asked as Cosmo snatched the treat from his hand and began munching on it.
"Crying? Who's crying?" the fairy asked in return, looking baffled as another burst of pink erupted nearby, dissipating to reveal Wanda and Timmy in the room. A.J. breathed a sigh of relief and lifted an eyebrow as he watched the brunet pull a phone from his ear and clap it closed, returning his look with a puzzled expression.
"What was so important that I had to get poofed back here in the middle of a phone call to Caleb?" Timmy asked, mildly annoyed by the interruption. A.J. blinked, then shook his head, holding out a clipboard of notes.
"This. I've been doing research on both that tank that Remy left behind and the ring that we dug up at the elementary school and you're not gonna believe what I discovered." the African-American replied in a dark tone, "Both of them share the same maker; they came from the same company!" Timmy stared at him in alarm.
"You're saying that the same guy or whatever that gave Remy the tank to attack the Ivory Tower also built that thing that killed me as a kid?" he asked and A.J. nodded. "But who? Why? What'd I ever do to them?"
"Dunno. I haven't made any positive IDs on the logo and the language isn't anything the Internet can help us with." A.J. returned with a sigh, "I still have more tests to run, but I can already tell you it doesn't look good for us." The brunet gave him a puzzled look and A.J. tapped at the clipboard. "The design isn't anything like what's been recorded in human history. We're looking at something non-human... maybe even magical in nature." he explained and blinked as Timmy stared at the clipboard before groaning in dismay.
"This isn't fair!" he complained as the doors to the conference room opened and the remaining members of Team Turner came streaming in hurriedly. Tootie lifted an eyebrow at the comment and looked between the two boys.
"Something going on? A.J., why does Timmy look like he's gonna puke?" she asked.
"That's what I'd like to know." the boy genius muttered as the brunet shook his head and walked off to the head of the table, hands waving around in irritation.
"We'll deal with this later!" Timmy finally declared, whirling around and giving the team a grim look, "Right now, we have to get ready for the next attack! I've gone back to the elementary school to check out the Crocker Cave, and the evidence there points to a whole new mess of problems!" He pulled a folded up blueprint from his back pocket and flicked it out onto the table, watching it unfold as the other teens reached out to pull it open. "Crocker built a trap that was supposed to capture Cosmo and Wanda by putting me in danger again, but the trap that killed me wasn't the one he designed. Somehow, an entirely different trap was put in place of his and that's the one he triggered that day four years ago." the brunet went on seriously, "My murder goes far beyond him; somebody else is pulling the strings and both Crocker and Francis are the scapegoats in this. I have to warn Crocker about it."
"Why? Crocker's always been a jerk to us." Elmer remarked in confusion, tilting his head at the sight of the spring-loaded butterfly net in the blueprint, "Especially to you, considering you were the one with fairy godparents and he was always trying to prove they existed."
"Because I care about the lives of everyone in Dimmsdale, not just you guys." Timmy told him seriously, "I may have been a selfish punk when I was alive, and I think it took the shock of me losing my life to get me to realize just how precious it is, but if I'm going to be a Hero and save people, then I should make the effort to save the lives of all of them, not just a few friends." The group looked up at him in surprise.
"That's not how the twerp I knew talked." Vicky finally murmured, a strange expression on her face, "What about taking revenge for what happened to you? Or making a wish to really make someone pay for being mean to you?" She rolled her eyes in thought and frowned. "Like what you must have done with me. I figured there were a lot of weird things in my life history that I couldn't figure out. Guess you were the one to blame for it all." she added.
"Yeah. Sorry." the brunet sighed, "And I don't want revenge. Maybe I did once, but that was a long time ago, before I chose to be a Hero." He shook his head and resumed his 'Heroic' face, "But that's the main reason why I ordered your suit and Chip's to be brought here immediately and why I want that tower taken down tonight." He glanced out the window at the city skyline, then back at the group. "I have to let Crocker know that he wasn't responsible for my death. Maybe I can convince him that he doesn't have a reason to keep these towers going for Remy and that he should shut them down." The brunet gave a weak smile and shrug. "For Timmy Turner's sake, if nothing else, right?"
"Good plan in theory, but aren't you forgetting something?" A.J. remarked flatly and pointed at the map on the monitor behind the immortal, "We cut the connection between that Spire and the rest of the network. There's no way of contacting Crocker using that Dark Spire!"
"And what if he just ignores you?" Chester added dryly, arms folded over his chest, "He's old and crazy; he's not gonna listen to anybody who lives here, what makes you think he'll pay attention to you?" He shook his head before the brunet could answer. "And don't try pulling that whole 'What if Timmy Turner says' crap on him. It might be okay with us 'cause we're your friends, but this guy killed you!" the blonde added grimly, "If he finds out you're still around and kickin', he might try it again!"
"But Crocker didn't kill me! That's the point!" Timmy shot back, "I'll find a way to get a message to him using one of anti-magic units; I have to get in touch with him!" The doors slid open once again and the team looked towards it in collective confusion. A tall boy dressed in red clothing walked in with a box in his hands, whistling cheerfully as white streamers trailed from the collar of his shirt. He stopped before Timmy and gestured with the box.
"Yo, Timmy! Where do you want me to put the stuff?" the newcomer asked brightly. Timmy stared blankly at him.
"And you are...?" he asked in response.
"Lloyd Irving Aurion, android duplicate number two oh nine, usually stationed in South Africa!" the boy replied with the same carefree tone, shouldering the box and pointing at it as Timmy lit up in recognition and nodded, "I brought those magitech suits you called R & D about today. The mana shield generators that were supposed to be attached to these and the other ones you've already got aren't done yet, so you're pretty much screwed when it comes to that." He grinned broadly, a faint air of ignorant bliss surrounding him. "And we also got that transmission about the Fairy Portal and the other stuff, so Klarth and the gang are already tearing into it. Man, you found some really cool stuff! I so wanna see Fairy World now!" he chattered and Timmy scowled, holding out his hands to the carton.
"Oh, shut up and gimme that! Geez, you really are a dummy! Caleb recreated you perfectly!" he exclaimed and took the box from the android, "Go get your dad and go back to wherever you came from! He freaks me out every time he makes an announcement!"
"Awesome! Knock 'em dead, Timmy! Then tell me all about it, 'cause I love a good story!" Lloyd chirped and ran off, cheering happily. The brunet sighed and looked over at the stunned team in irritation.
"Don't ask, okay?" he growled, "Just don't ask. Four years with that guy and I still haven't gotten used to all the robot copies Caleb's made of different Heroes. You should see the one he made for that Flash guy; he gets on my nerves every five seconds." He set the box on the table and shoved it towards Vicky and Chip, "Anyway, your suits are in there and made to fit your fighting styles. They're made of mythril, which is this special metal that's practically everything-humanity-throws-at-you-proof." Timmy explained and watched as the adults pulled the suits free and examined them, "They also have the Heart of Dimmsdale emblem etched onto them to keep them from getting wished away, so that makes you immune to all wishes except mine."
"Hey, whoa, whoa, wait up!" Chester exclaimed in shock, eyes going wide as he slammed his hands down on the table, "This is gonna be the first time we attack a Dark Spire without any help from Caleb and Danny Phantom! We can't do that!" He waved his arms around in a panic. "We don't have the strength to do it! All we have is you and Tootie and the fairies, and the nullifiers will wipe you out if they get close to you guys!" He shook his head. "And with Anti-Cosmo down and out, he can't help take out nullifiers either! We're stuck until they come back to help us!"
"We shouldn't be relying on them so much." Tootie pointed out darkly, "Danny Phantom isn't Dimmsdale's Hero; he belongs to Amity Park. And he's sick right now, so he can't even protect his own home territory. Sam and Tucker and Jazz and even Timmy's cousin, Danny Fenton, are doing that for him." The Goth tossed her pigtails aside, a frown on her face. "Caleb is the Guardian Angel of Heroes, so all he's supposed to do is make sure every place that has a Hero keeps them healthy and safe and happy. He makes sure those Heroes stay Heroes and gives them backup every now and then, but he isn't a Hero himself." she added, "So begging them for help at every little thing is just stupid! We're Dimmsdale's Heroes now! We're the ones who have to save the city!"
"Tootie-Fruitie has a point there." Trixie muttered begrudgingly, "We're the Dimmsdale kids, and this is our town! We're not gonna get pushed around on our turf!"
"Then it is agreed that Vicky and Chip Skylark shall be taking the places of Caleb and Danny Phantom!" Sanjay cheered happily, "How wonderful that Dimmsdale will have its beautiful Voice again!" The team gave him faintly exasperated looks, smiling only enough to humor the boy.
"Uh, right." Timmy chuckled, "They'll be official members of Team Turner when that Spire goes down. Since Vicky's gonna be attacking units with Chester and the Others, her suit is fine for now."
"What about me?" Chip asked, eyeing the boots and gauntlets that came with the suit.
"You're going to be in the front lines with Timmy, Tootie, and Trixie." Wanda told him seriously, "Since Caleb is refusing to leave New York until Danny Phantom is fully recovered, we're on our own with this next assault." She held a hand out to him, motioning to his teeth as the singer pulled his lips back in response. "You've received multiple blessings and gifts from the Tooth Fairy for taking such good care of your teeth and being an advocate for dental health, so part of her power was infused with them. That's why they're so valuable to her and here on Earth." the fairy went on, "You're a human with a fairy's power; that should be enough to have the anti-magic units lock onto you for targeting."
"Kinda like me, huh, Wanda?" Timmy asked with a laugh, "Humans with fairy powers! Kinda like a halfa!" Wanda and Cosmo glanced at each other, then laughed as well, faintly nervous giggles.
"Sure. Let's go with that." the godmother agreed with a smile and poofed up a pair of scissors, "Er, but since that's not really the case, Chip's gonna need strands of Cosmo's hair to get him to be a target. Just like you." She started snipping away as the brunet huffed and twined his hands behind his head.
"Try telling that to the other units back at the last Spire. They kept locking onto me even though I didn't have you or Cosmo or Anti-Cosmo or the magitech armor! Where the heck do I have Cosmo's DNA on me that I didn't think of checking for?" he grumbled irritably.
"Your clothes. Cosmo's hair gets everywhere." Wanda sighed in exasperation and waved her wand again, attaching the strands to Chip's uniform in a solid green band over the right shoulder, "He sheds a lot when he's in his cat disguise, you know that!"
"I do not!" Cosmo complained, waving his own wand to poof his hair back to normal, "I shed more when I'm a squirrel!"
"So we go with the same plan as last time? Shoot the control units and nullifiers down, then lure the rest of the units until the servers overload?" Elmer asked uncertainly, "Is that right?" Timmy nodded and the russet-haired boy looked faintly ill. "I'm going to have to be shooting things again, aren't I? You know I hate guns, Timmy, sir! What if I shoot you by accident? Chester'll kill me!" he complained halfheartedly.
"No, I wouldn't." Chester corrected dryly, giving him a glaring look, "I'd maul you, but I wouldn't kill ya. Timmy's immortal, so if you nick him once or twice, he can shrug it off and heal up on the run." A.J. grinned slyly and held up a hand in a stage-whisper to Elmer.
"But if you shoot Trixie by mistake, you're dead where you stand." he snickered and the blonde bristled, shooting the African-American a withering glare.
"Yeah, and you with him, A.J., seein' as how you're the one who built those laser blasters!" he growled, then blinked and stiffened with a faint blush as Trixie gave him a puzzled look. Tootie scowled faintly and shook her head with a sigh.
"Boys are so predictable." she muttered.
"We'll be fine." Timmy finally told the group quietly, "I have faith in all of you. You've lasted this long without me, so I'm positive that you'll do just fine if anything happens to me again." He managed another smile, forcing a cheerfulness that wasn't readily felt from him. "Well, I want all of you ready for the attack by sunset. The Spire should be taken down to free another section of the city, a message will be sent to Crocker somehow about his being framed, and I can start looking for the next member of our team in the area that gets freed." the brunet added and gave a small wave to the group as he headed for the door, "In the meantime, I'm gonna go check on Anti-Cosmo and Anti-Wanda. The other anti-fairies have been bringing in as much energy as they can for Anti-Cosmo, but I'm still kinda worried about him." Cosmo and Wanda blinked in surprise and fluttered after him.
"What? You're going to see them?" Wanda asked in alarm, "But... they're anti-fairies!"
"Really evil ones!" Cosmo agreed, eyes looking large and teary, "Anti-Cosmo always makes me feel like an idiot! He's so mean! Stay with us! You need to have our magic on your side, not some icky black magic!"
"They're not all bad. Well, technically they are all bad, but... you know what I mean!" Timmy replied, somewhat baffled by his own words. He bit his lip as a deeply thoughtful look came over his face, then scowled and shook his head in exasperation. "They're my friends just as much as you guys are! I care about them too!" he finally blurted and raced out of the room. The two fairies gasped as two more puffs of smoke exploded into sight.
"Did he just say...?" Andromeda exclaimed in horror as she floated near Tootie.
"...that anti-fairies are his friends?" Apollo finished in the same shocked tone, red eyes wide with alarm as his wings beat furiously to keep him hovering by Trixie.
"That's nuts! Heroes don't make friends with evil things!" Trixie cried and held her hands open in confusion, "That's just not how things are done in all those stories about Heroes and stuff!"
"Does this look like a storybook adventure we're living in?" Tootie growled irritably, lavender eyes flashing with anger behind the cat's-eye glasses, "Wake up! This is real life! Timmy's just following the best sense in any kind of battle! Keep your friends close and your enemies closer!"
"I'm never getting used to all these weird flying toys buzzing around whenever the twerp is in the room." Vicky remarked to Chip, eyes half-lidded in annoyance. The singer just grinned.
"Just another day of hanging out with the Heart of Dimmsdale!" he laughed and struck several poses excitedly, "Our first mission! Sweet!" Cosmo and Wanda only stared at the closed door, still dazed by the outburst.
"Timmy..." the pink-haired fairy murmured softly, a faintly worried expression flickering across her face.
"...And if you want to stay in my good graces, you had better not question me and my abilities when I call you to the battlefield!" Remy declared into the phone, "Yes, I said 'battlefield', you bumbling twits! If you are so intent on getting those sparkling dentures crammed in that brainless singer's head, then be ready at a moment's notice to arrive at any of my Dark Spires with what remains of your toothpaste monster horde!" It was something that had occurred to Remy just as he walked through the massive front doors of his mansion; if Chip Skylark was hanging out with that Neogene mongrel, then chances were very good that the former singer would be joining the efforts to tear down his Dark Spires. All in the name of Timmy Turner, that long-dead but not long-forgotten bastard. He listened to the pitiful burbling at the end of the line and rolled his eyes. "I don't care if you get squeamish at the thought of being in a battle, you will be there when I call for you or so help me, you'll experience the power I possess as the new Heart of Dimmsdale!" he snapped and scowled at the faintly disgruntled sound that eked out from the dentist, "Don't start with me." With that, he hung up and glared over at his fairy godfather.
"What? I'm not the one with the obsession over a deceased muchachito." Juandissimo remarked dryly, floating nearby with a mirror and hairbrush in his hands. Remy began to launch into another tirade when a burst of smoke and digital noise appearing out of the corner of his eye stopped him abruptly. The fairy straightened and thrust the items behind his back, scowling, as the blonde turned to see his visitors with a begrudging nod of acknowledgment.
"Good afternoon." the group intoned in unison, hovering before Remy as a unit.
"What's so good about it? I'm practically at a stalemate with that blasted Neogene mongrel!" Remy growled, "Four Spires down! One is obviously next! What are you to do to capture him before my plans are utterly decimated?" The group parted before him and held their hands out to a floating prism of crystalline metal.
"We made this capture unit out of the metal for use on Timothy. It will activate automatically when it gets close to him and siphon away his magical potential for storage. When the two are separated, he will be sedated enough for us to lay claim to him." the lead visitor explained the device as it floated forward and stopped within Remy's reach. He took it in his hands and studied it. It looked like a large diamond prism made entirely of metal that had been polished so finely, it was mirror-like. The size of half-gallon milk carton, the device didn't look all that spectacular when compared to the teen it was supposed to encase.
"Are you sure?" he asked before he could stop himself, wincing at how stupid it sounded.
"Quite. We spent time and money perfecting this. The research was fascinating." one of the females answered dryly, "I'll remember the fun I had for centuries to come."
"And when you have Timothy in your possession, my debt will be paid in full?" Remy pressed, staring at the group intently, "Free and clear, I can use the Spires to plunge the world into eternal darkness and misery for punishment?"
"Of course. That is what the contract stipulated." the lead visitor remarked with a smile and a sheet of parchment appeared between them. It was completely binding, unbreakable, and taunted Remy with his signature at the bottom. The blonde glowered at it; that detestable paper haunted him with all that it put him through. How he longed to tear it to pieces!
Juandissimo fluttered closer and peered at the parchment, gasping as Remy snatched it away from him and shoved it behind his back.
"Yes, yes! I know! Damned thing! The price for power and all that!" the boy millionaire snarled at the group, "I'll get that mongrel, of that I can assure you! Now get out! Before I activate every nullifier I possess!" The group began to float away, disappearing in puffs of smoke one by one. The last to vanish, the leader, held back for a moment, still smiling.
"Nullifiers don't work on us. We're the ones who originally designed that technology, before we sent the blueprints to your little puppet. Do you really think we would make something that we would not be immune to?" he murmured. Juandissimo narrowed his eyes at the lingering figure.
"Something only your kind is immune to... What, exactly, are you planning? It cannot be anything good for fairies, if you created the technology that cancels our magic." he questioned suspiciously.
"With Timothy in our possession, we will equal Fairy World's greatest weapon in destructive power. We are simply balancing the scales." the visitor replied, "As for the Spires... we are just granting a little boy's wish to make him happy. Isn't that what you are supposed to do? Grant the wish to make him happy? As long as Timothy exists, as long as Timmy Turner's memory lives on, your godchild will never be happy. And you will fail as a godparent yet again." With that, he vanished in a burst of smoke, the faint ping of his exit echoing in the silent room.
The fairy godfather ground his teeth together in controlled fury. Something was going on. Something very wrong and muy mal for Fairy World, and his godchild had somehow gotten involved in it very deeply and very quickly. What was it? He glanced over at the blonde as Remy shoved the parchment into a drawer and locked it, pressing a button next to the lock. Juandissimo flinched as he felt the barest edges of a nullification field bloom around the desk containing the contract. His gut told him that the answers to it all lay in that paper, but there was no way he could get to it like that. What could he possibly do to gain access to that contract?
"Blasted creatures." Remy growled and spun around in a huff, coattails fluttering in his wake as he strode purposefully out of the room, "Juandissimo! Come! I have to be sure Spire Three is still undergoing repairs to the network and is fully secured against future attacks! I'll triple the security! That mongrel won't even be able to get close enough to spit on the lot without me knowing about it!" He held up the trap and eyed it with a malicious grin. "And with this on my side, I'll have exterminated the second pest to stand between me and all I dreamed of! After all, they wanted Timothy to pay the debt; they never said anything about his magic being part of the deal!"
Master Control Spire~
Crocker looked up at the screen of his vast console, tools in hand as he continued work on the chamber that would soon be the place of Timmy's rebirth. The computer had beeped; without the aid of the servers in Spire Three, the continued calculating of the perfect nullification field was even slower in going than before, but it still progressed. They had worked out another set of formulae and the strength of the field jumped from 91% to 92%. The efficiency was climbing, and soon the world would fall into perpetual sorrow, joining Dimmsdale in their fate as the city spiralled onwards to destruction without its Heart.
He couldn't let that happen. Not if seeing Dimmsdale die, the world die, could possibly cause Timmy pain in whichever plane of bliss he was supposed to be in. Crocker frowned, welded the last of the boards in place and stood back from his creation, fingertips tapping together out of habit. A smile grew on his face.
It was complete. After so long and so much effort, his greatest masterpiece, his final masterpiece, was finally complete. Once the software to run the device was written, which shouldn't take that long, then all he would have to do was get the boy to step into the chamber, along with the mysterious fairy from his fragmented memories, and Dimmsdale's Heart would beat again.
He turned away from the machine and walked towards his desk, picking up the framed photo of the Turner boy, then made his way towards a second device. This one had been easier to make, smaller, with less of the aionis than the chamber. The second device had only one priority; to track down the new Timmy via his DNA, capture him, and bring him back to the Master Control Spire for Turner's resurrection. In the process, the mystery fairy should appear. After all, they were forever bound together.
"See, Turner? See what lengths I will go to for you? You meant everything to me alive and you still mean everything as you look down on us from Paradise." Crocker murmured to the photo, the shining blue eyes of the brunet staring back at him lifelessly. He tilted his head as if listening to the image. "What is that you say? If you meant so much, why did I kill you?" he asked and lowered his eyebrows, eyes glazing in distant memory, "I never meant for you to die, Turner. I only wanted to capture your fairies, the source of all your magic and possessions. I knew you'd fall from that jungle gym; you were so uncoordinated whenever you had that Tang girl's eyes on you. If you fell, you'd be in danger, and your fairies would never allow harm to come to you. My trap would capture them once they appeared to save you and I would have my proof."
He sighed morosely and hugged the photo, eyes shutting tight against the tears that always came.
"But it all went horribly wrong! The trap failed, and you fell to your death. Every night, I curse myself for dooming you, and thus dooming us all, to such a fate." the teacher wept, "All of the misery, the suffering, the despair and sorrow; all of it because I was stupid enough to not see you for who you really were, who you really are!" He brought the photo forward, pleading eyes turned on the frozen moment of Timmy's laughter. "But all of that will vanish when I bring you back." Crocker promised and laughed maniacally, "I will sacrifice your namesake and his fairy ally to bring you back with all of that power transferred to you! And you will use that power to punish that spoiled brat that never cared for you and bring Dimmsdale into a golden era! You'll see! This city will have its Heart restored and we'll become the most prosperous city in the world! And you will always be here, to make us happy.
"Forever."
A/N: Just lots more hints here. Oh, look. Crocker's really lost it, huh?