8
Dark Spire Three~
"Oh, bloody hell, they're pulling that same stunt again." Remy growled as he and his group reached the battlefield. He looked around, taking in the scene as Bender and Wendell scanned the same field in hopes of seeing Chip Skylark somewhere out there. Already the landscape was peppered with fallen units, mostly nullifiers, and a few of them were controllers. That seemed to be proof that the new defenses were working, if there were more nullifiers on the ground than controllers.
Still, why depend on Crock-Pot's hare-brained ideas of protecting the Dark Spires when he could easily do it himself, now that he had the trap in his hands?
"All right. Bender, Wendell, take your squadron and move in to the right. With any luck, Mr. Skylark will be wandering about the less chaotic sector of this lot." Remy began ordering, sweeping his hand in the direction he selected. He swept it the other way then. "Veronica, be a dear and head into that direction, into the fray as it were. You will find Trixie there attempting to curry favor with that loathsome redneck." he added as Bender and Wendell scurried off with their toothpaste monsters.
"Heh, heh! Like, this one's for Timmy!" Veronica declared and bounded towards the battle, pompoms clutched tightly in her grips.
"And as for you..." Remy began and looked around. Francis was nowhere to be seen. "What the-? Where in blazes is that madman?" he fumed and lifted his hands to his mouth, "Juandissimo!" A blast of purple smoke and the fairy was at his side, wincing at the surrounding field but glad that he was able to pull off simple magic. "Where is Francis?" the blonde demanded and Juandissimo shrugged.
"I am not sure. He was here when we arrived and now he's not. I do not keep track of him; he is not my responsibility." he returned bluntly. Remy glared at him and shook his head.
"Why do I even bother with asking you about things like this? I can't have him wandering about in public and free to talk!" he snapped and the fairy suddenly took on a more serious and sharp look to him, staring intensely back at the boy.
"About what, mi amigo? What is it that he knows that you are afraid of him sharing?" he asked in a low, dangerous tone.
"Nothing! None of your business! You answer to me, Juandissimo! You're my godparent and you obey me! I don't have to answer to you! I hold all the power here!" the blonde hissed scathingly. He turned his back on the fairy and ran out onto the field, the special trap tucked under one arm as he began his quest to get rid of the brunet immortal.
"You hold something else, Remy, and I want to know what it is. This is not healthy for you, mi amigo." Juandissimo muttered, shooting after his godchild as his own eyes began the search for Wanda.
They were definitely using the other units as shields. Timmy scowled as he swung Hanuman's Rod once again, batting away a destroyer as he glared at the controller flitting about before him and hiding behind the wall of nullifiers. Not only were they using the other units for protection, but the lousy things had decided to have a self-preservation program or something kick in. Anytime he tried to get close to one to use Freosan or Ofer Hoetu, both of them forms of mana manipulation that could not be cancelled by the fields, the control unit would shoot back out of reach and a half-dozen nullifiers would jam themselves between him and it and, man, did that wreak havoc on him!
"Will you cut that out?" he snapped at this particular unit he'd been chasing for quite some time now. Tootie's spell to boost his personal mana supply had been of immense help, but that energy would only last for so long when these things kept chipping away at it by flooding the area around him with anti-magical wavelengths. He'd studied it carefully, watching its movements and testing its reactions to what he did. Every time, it shielded itself and nothing could get through the barrier to hit the unit itself.
All in all, very irritating.
Fed up with having the nullifiers face him each time he pressed for an attack on the controller, Timmy slammed the staff against the group of them, sending several skittering across the concrete in a flurry of sparks and broken circuits. He glared back at the control unit, and blinked as it seemed to flash its little lights wildly, almost as if it were in a panic, assuming the machine could be capable of feeling anything. It spun in place and a few destroyer units rushed in to take the place of the fallen nullifiers. Timmy dug in his heels, shrieking in pain as he skidded among the blades and spikes and emerged from them with his face bloodied and torn.
"Light of mana! Fill the air with your blessing! Healing Circle!" Tootie's voice cried out and Timmy halted where he stood, dropping to his knees and bringing his hands up to cover his face. A burst of light seeped through the cracks between his fingers and he felt a slender hand come to rest on his shoulder. "Timmy! Are you okay? I saw what happened; how bad is it? Do you need a stronger healing spell?" the Goth blurted out in shock, "What were you doing?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine." Timmy returned shakily, fingertips pressing gingerly against healed skin to be sure everything was in place. He'd felt a good portion of his cheek get ripped away; thankfully, healing spells tended to rebuild flesh if cast immediately after the injury was inflicted. He looked up from his stained gloves to blink at the girl. She winced and he managed a weak grin. "Red's not my color." the brunet joked and immediately put out a shield to cover her and himself, spying a small squad of traps dive at them. Watching the control unit and cleaning his face as best he could, Timmy studied it and its 'guards', puzzled over its earlier reaction.
He had destroyed a portion of its shield, then it panicked, then it called in destroyers to replace the nullifiers. It still had a couple of aerial nullifiers, but the rest of the squadron was aerial destroyers. He glanced over at the fallen units. One, two, three... three nullifiers down. Timmy returned to the flitting controller. One, two, three destroyers and one, two, three nullifiers. There weren't any others in this set of units.
Six units guarded the controller, and it freaked out if it had less than six on hand. How was this information useful? Timmy thought harder on it, then, in a burst of annoyance at the units still ramming his shield, altered his thoughts on the appearance of Boltzman's Shield. Tootie gripped his shoulder in surprise as the crystalline blue force field erupted into spikes of its own, spearing through every device that shot at it.
"Good God, Timmy, what pissed you off?" Tootie breathed, eyes wide as she took in the sight of shimmering spears impaling the aerial units and several ground units.
"This situation." the brunet grumbled and tilted his head, "I think I wiped out this whole squadron, except for those six and the controller." The Goth pressed her free hand out against the field and peered through at the control unit.
"You scared it. Look, it's using the last of the squadron as a shield just like you." she remarked. Timmy stood at last and watched it with her, a slight frown on his face.
"Yeah. It sent all the other ones after us, but it kept those six. Like it always has to have six units, or else it'll panic. If I destroyed those last six, what would happen to the controller?" he mused and winced as the Fenton Phones came on.
"Hey! Timmy, what the hell's wrong with you? You just wiped out a whole friggin' squad of units! Don't copy Cosmo! We need those to overload the servers!" Chester yelled out.
"Don't order me around! I know what I'm doing!" the brunet snapped back and reached up to adjust the frequency, "A.J.! I just learned something about the control units. What can you make of this?"
"What's the situation?"
"These things seem to always want to have six aerial nullifiers guarding them, and if they don't have any units in the squad, they get kinda panicky and then they call for other units to take the nullifiers' place." the brunet explained carefully, "Do you have any ideas on how this could help us?"
"One second!"
On A.J.'s end, the boy tapped at his laptop, searching for additional information as his other hand dropped the blaster and reached for the Fenton Phones, adjusting the frequency.
"Who's covering Timmy?" he called out and Elmer responded immediately, "Do you see the controller?"
"Yeah, but every time I shoot at it, the other units block the laser."
"Keep shooting at it. I want you to destroy all the units that are with the control unit. I have a hunch on what might be happening..." A.J. told him. There was an affirmative sigh, then several seconds of silence and...
"A.J., the control unit is making a run for it!" Timmy exclaimed.
"It's really freaked out now. I think it's trying to get to one of the other squads of units." Tootie added in surprise. A.J. grinned and put his focus back on his laptop.
"I think I've got it! I bet they have a self-preservation protocol running that has the control unit set to be guarded by six nullifiers at all times." the boy remarked proudly, "If they run out of any units and are completely alone, the protocol commands them to retreat to the nearest squad for protection. I can spoof the aerial nullifiers' transmission signals to make the controllers think they already have the required units acting as the shield. They'll send the real ones off to attack and be completely open to our attacks!"
"Great idea! How soon can you start tricking the units?" Timmy returned excitedly.
"Give me a few minutes to grab a set of nullifier signals and take over some local Wi-Fi stations. I'll have them all broadcasting enough to confuse the control units!" A.J. declared, setting his own adapter to begin searching the local businesses and homes for unsecured connections. "In the meantime, pull everyone back so we can get more snipers!"
"I'll send Trixie and Chip back to help. Tootie and I will keep drawing the attentions of the units so the real nullifiers are too busy to replace the fakes." Timmy agreed, "Man, am I glad you're on my side!"
"What are friends for?" A.J. returned with a chuckle as he continued working on his laptop.
Trixie made her turns a touch slowly when it came to this area. If she was in any trouble, it would be okay, because the sniper in this particular sector would always drop everything to help her. She just wanted to see how he was doing. And he was doing okay, from what she could see, just standing there with the blaster aimed directly at the units flying and stomping after her. Such a serious face!
She laughed and waved her arm to catch his attention, basking happily in the shy smile he flashed her before returning to shoot away a nullifier. He was so bashful, despite that strangely powerful aura he possessed. She giggled as she ran on and Apollo picked up the sound in the Fenton Phones.
"Trixie? Are you giggling?" he asked and she hummed her response, "Can I ask what brought this on? Did you score points with Timmy?"
"No, I don't think so." Trixie returned with a sudden disheartened sigh, thoughts turning from the blonde Leader of the Others to the brunet immortal, the leader of Team Turner. No, getting on Timmy's good side was far more difficult to do now than it had been when they were in elementary school. Back then, all Trixie had to do was flutter her eyelashes at him and Timmy was putty in her hands. Now if she tried the same thing, the boy barely blinked back. At the least, he would ask if there was something in her eye; at most, he'd glare at her and tell her to knock it off. A kiss was different. He used to have that familiar lovesick look to him when he got one, but now he'd just stiffen and look confused, then a strangely trapped expression would come over him and he'd start looking for an escape.
Often that escape was Tootie. She ground her teeth in sudden anger.
"Whoa! What's with the evil growl there?" her fairy godfather asked.
"I wish Timmy didn't try so hard to run away from me." Trixie grumbled under her breath. A sigh of exasperation transmitted through the Phones.
"Trixie, what have I told you about making wishes that directly affect Timmy?"
"To stop doing it. I can't help it. Wishes are kinda automatic for me." the former Popular sighed helplessly and blinked as she noticed movement ahead of her, "What in the world-?"
"Hiiiyaaah!" a slender form screeched out as it vaulted into the air, spun and twisted a few times, then landed in front of her gracefully. Trixie skidded to a halt and stared in shock as Veronica stood in a partial crouch before her, grinning crazily as her pompoms tinkled from her motions. "Hiya, Trixie!" the blonde greeted brightly, "How's my former best friend doing tonight?"
"Veronica? What are you doing here?" Trixie exclaimed, taking in the sight of her once closest friend, "What is that thing you're wearing? It looks like the Aces High armor!"
"Don't call me that!" Veronica shrieked furiously, shaking her pompoms wildly and making the bell-like tones louder, "Call me Trixie! I'm gonna be the new Trixie and Timmy will love only me!" The Asian's eyes went wide.
"What the hell are you babbling about? I'm Trixie! And what do you mean that Timmy will love you?" she blurted out, "How did you find out he was even alive?" The blonde thrust out an arm, pointing at her with one of the pompoms as she laughed.
"I knew it! See? See? Like, that's totally proof right there that Timmy Turner is alive! My former best friend has seen him too!" she cried exultantly, "I knew all along that Timmy couldn't die! He's here in Dimmsdale and he's gonna be mine!" She straightened and the smile turned menacing as she gathered herself for what looked like a cheer routine. "Remy promised to help me take your place if I get rid of you for good. Once I become the new Trixie permanently, Timmy will have no choice but to come out of the shadows and love only me." she purred darkly, "Remy will take care of the rest with Bender and Wendell and Francis, but I get the pleasure of killing you myself."
"Trixie! What's going on? How did Veronica get here?" Apollo called down in alarm and she put her hand up to the Phones.
"Alert the Others! We're under attack by Remy and his gang!" Trixie cried and screamed as the cheerleader launched herself at the Asian, twisting in the air before coming down in a drill kick that Trixie barely dodged in time. Flipping backwards several feet, she collected herself and took up a battle stance, glaring at the blonde that transformed everyday cheerleader moves into a strange and deadly form of martial art as she sped closer to her.
"Hyaaah!" Veronica shrieked and lashed out with one of her pompoms. Trixie jumped back, yelping in astonishment as several strands of her hair were suddenly sliced shorter. The blonde laughed viciously. "Like my new accessories? Remy gave them to me! They're, like, made out of ribbon-cut steel!" she declared haughtily, "And they're totally gonna rip your face to shreds!"
"If it's a fight to the finish you want to steal my identity, then bring it on, Little Miss Psychopath!" Trixie snapped, gripping the steel bars in her gauntlets tighter, "But it'll snow in Hell before I let you lay a hand on Timmy Turner!"
And the two girls dove for each other, screaming in feminine fury.
"I'm not getting an answer from Trixie." Timmy growled as he and Tootie ran alongside one another, "You?"
"Nothing. Chip's already gotten the word and should be heading back right about..." the Goth began and both teens flinched at the yell that came through the Fenton Phones.
"Team Turner! We've got trouble! Veronica's here and she's attacking Trixie! Somebody help her! I'm already on the way, but I'm being tailed by fairy traps!" Apollo barked out. Tootie immediately pulled her lips back in a disgusted snarl as Timmy shuddered, then shook himself off.
"Wait, wait, wait... Veronica? Veronica? Miss 'I-Wanna-Be-Trixie' Veronica Star? The Crazy One? She's here?" he questioned dumbly, "Why the heck is she here? How did she even know to come here to find Trixie?" Tootie huffed and tossed her head, pigtails swishing by her shoulders with the motion.
"I give you three guesses, but I bet you'll only need one." she grumbled and the brunet pulled one hand over his face in exasperation.
"Remy." he groaned, "Why won't he just let this go already? We're gonna take out all of his towers anyway; why the heck is he putting us through all this stupidity trying to save them?"
"Duh. He's a Dimmsdale native." Tootie returned, casting a glance back at the units trailing them, "And we might wanna pick up the speed here."
"What the hell is this?" Chip's voice suddenly broadcast in fury, "Hey, Timmy, what the hell are Bender and Wendell doing here? Not again! Not again!"
"Oh, that's it!" Timmy hissed, eyes flashing angrily as a flare of mana burst around him, "He's gone too far!" He halted, spun around and threw a hand out at the units following him and Tootie, sending out a rush of mana that blew the devices away in a violent burst of wind, Gail Fortia. He touched fingers to the Fenton Phones and Tootie stared at him in amazement as the brunet began issuing orders to the team.
"Cosmo! We've got suspicions of Remy being here! Stay out of sight and keep destroying nullifiers!" Timmy declared, "Wanda! As soon as you're able, break free of the attack and come with me! I'll need you to distract Juandissimo! Andromeda! Break loose and return to Tootie! Apollo, continue pursuit of Trixie! I'll be on my way to help!"
"What?" the Goth cried, a surge of jealous anger rushing through her. He barely glanced at her as he went on.
"A.J., I need you to hurry up on the controllers! We don't have much time before Remy and his gang screw things up for us! Chester, Sanjay, Elmer! Double up on your efforts to shoot those things down and move with the units! Standing in one place isn't gonna cut it anymore! Vicky, keep them covered and move with them! Destroy whatever comes near them!" the brunet fired off the orders rapidly, "Chip, retreat from the field however you can; I'm sending Tootie to help you out! Move it, people; Dimmsdale's counting on us!"
"I told you Combat Timmy was gonna be a pain." A.J. muttered.
"I'm not leaving you to get the crud beat out of you by Remy's tricks again!" Tootie snapped at the brunet, agreeing internally with A.J.'s observation on him, "I'm going with you!"
"I'm not going after Remy right now; I'm gonna help Trixie deal with Veronica! At the least, I can be a distraction to Veronica so Trixie can get out of that mess!" Timmy shot back, "You go and act as backup to Chip! If his teeth get stolen, Remy will have a stronger weapon to use against us and the Tooth Fairy will never forgive me for letting that Dental Laser power fall into the wrong hands!" He slung his pack around and unzipped it, dipping his hand in to grab a small satchel, then handing it to her.
"What's this?" Tootie asked in confusion. The bag had a weighty feel to it, similar to a sack of marbles.
"Some healing items I carry around. I heard how you used Caleb's mana crystals to pull mana and heal me that one time, so I made a few small ones for emergencies." the brunet remarked as he slung the pack back on, eyeing the skies to be sure the units didn't rush back at them too soon, "They didn't come out quite right, but if they can help you out, use them." He motioned towards the other side of the Spire. "Go, Tootie! Hurry!" Timmy exclaimed, "The units are coming back!"
"All right, I'm going! But be careful, okay?" Tootie returned irritably and darted off. The young immortal sighed in exasperation and raced off himself. He would be fine; it's not like there was anything out there that could seriously hurt him now!
Remy searched the battlefield field with his eyes, hugging the precious trap in his arms as he sought out the specific blur of black that had annoyed him for so many months. Tonight was the night; tonight, Neogene would finally be dealt with, and that precious power the immortal possessed would belong to him alone!
Of course, things weren't going exactly as planned, but that wasn't his fault. Veronica was tending to Trixie rather nicely, and she would soon be dead for betraying him so many times. Remy winced a bit at that thought; Trixie would be 'taken care of', yes.
Juandissimo was off catering to the southern head again. Bloody over-sexed Latino...
The dentist duo and their monsters were chasing after Chip Skylark somewhere nearby. Regardless of whether or not they got him, they would have to stay in debt to him. He'd just wish up something else to dangle over their heads.
And where the bloody hell did Francis go off to?
"Oh, bother! Bugger him, then; without protection, his life will end just as quickly and I can finally rest easier at night." Remy muttered. Jogging closer to the Spire, he continued looking around himself. With all the craziness going on, Neogene was bound to appear at one spot or another to 'save the day' or something. It was just a matter of spotting him first. He continued turning his head one way, then another, trying to find that particular blur of black and brown that was the annoying little immortal.
Immortality. Ludicrous idea. He couldn't really be immortal, right? He was just really hard to kill because he could use magic to heal himself and junk, that's all. Still, if such a thing was possible, and if he could get control of that along with Neogene's magic...
Remy grinned broadly as he finally spotted the young immortal racing towards the dueling girls. Bingo. Of course he'd go and help Trixie. What boy wouldn't want to do something to curry that little slut's favor?
He dashed forward with the armor's enhanced speed, picking out a flash grenade from the small armaments attached to his waist. As he got close, Remy threw it fiercely and laughed as it exploded near Neogene, sending him tumbling aside in shock and surprise.
"Well, well, well!" Remy purred as he walked towards the fallen magic-user, juggling the trap in one hand, "Fancy meeting you here on this fine night!"
"Remy!" the brunet snarled, leaping up to his feet and calling up several red-gold spheres that spun around his hands, "What the heck are you thinking? Attacking Trixie and Chip like that, you're gonna get someone killed!"
Internal wince. This guy was jabbing at him, talking like that.
"It's their fault for getting involved with you. Not my problem." he replied coolly, quelling that sick feeling he got at the idea of someone dying because of his commands. He was just a kid, really, and a rich one at that; he wasn't supposed to be dealing with things like this!
"Call them off! Don't force me to do anything I don't want to!" the other boy snapped at him.
"You're the one who forced me to do things I didn't want to!" Remy snapped back, "Always interfering with my plans, tearing down my beautiful Spires, ruining my wishes! You're as horribly annoying as Turner had been! Thank God he's not the immortal one I have to deal with or I'd go absolutely batty!"
The brunet stared at him, head tilted curiously, then began laughing. Remy stiffened indignantly, hugging the trap close to his body. What the bloody hell was this brat's problem?
"So, you're glad that Timmy Turner hasn't returned from grave, huh?" Neogene asked after he finally got over himself, the spheres of fire spiralling around his hands still, "Funny. Would you like me to recommend a few good asylums for you? Y'know... just in case he happens to come skipping back here in his little pink hat again?" He grinned cruelly, "Because I know more about what happened to Timmy than you think."
Remy froze, eyes wide. No, he couldn't know! He kept everything secret, so very secret. There was no way he could know...
"You're bluffing!" Remy finally shot back shakily, "Timmy Turner died falling off that toy when that Francis brute pushed him! He's good and buried and he's not coming back!"
"People thought Chip died. He's still here. I was killed in my home town, yet here I am, walking the earth." Neogene returned bluntly, "And you can try to kill me all you like, I can't die again." Remy blinked, then smiled.
"You're right. I can't kill you. So I shouldn't bother anymore." the blonde remarked grimly, "And you won't be needing to bother with this little city anymore, either. You won't be around for it after tonight." Neogene blinked at him in confusion.
"What? What do you mean? What are you-?" he began questioning and Remy held out the trap, preparing to throw it.
"With this, I won't have to deal with you anymore and I'll have everything I want! Your power will be mine!" the boy millionaire yelled and hurled the trap at the brunet.
It looked just like a crystal at first, but as it sailed through the air towards the brunet, it changed...
"DNA match confirmed. Initiating capture." the device suddenly beeped out dully and the crystal exploded in brilliant light. Remy held up an arm to protect his eyes from the blinding flash, listening in a mix of delight and confusion as Neogene screamed in horror.
"Let go of me!" the brunet shrieked and Remy dared to peek out at him.
He was held in place by the four faces of the crystal, steel-like tendrils wrapped around his arms and legs. A console of some sort just grew from each facet of the crystal, forming before the teen as a glass bubble pinged into place beneath it. Remy blinked rapidly for a moment, then approached the trapped figure with a shaky grin.
"I don't believe it! It actually worked!" he chuckled nervously and reached out to the console with a trembling hand, "Now, what was that input password again?" He tapped at the keys as Neogene struggled furiously to get loose.
"Let me go! What the heck is this thing? I can't move a single inch!" the brunet snarled and clenched his fists tightly, a pinkish-red glow beginning to form around them, "If this is what you want out of me, then let me show you just how much power I really have!" Remy only smiled as he finished typing in the password.
"You dolt..." he murmured and stepped back, grinning at the brunet, "That's exactly what I wanted you to do." The console beeped and the faces of crystal began to glow eerily. For a moment, Neogene looked puzzled, head twisting to look at each of the glowing facets. Then the tendrils shimmered around his limbs and he uttered a sharp cry, body tensing as he tried to struggle again.
"Waaaah! What is this?" the young immortal screamed as the glass bubble began to fill with pink smoke. Remy bent to study it, smiling.
"It's a type of extraction trap, mongrel." he replied, "A gift from my benefactors, this will drain away all the magic power you possess and make you nice and docile." He glanced up at the shaking brunet, smile growing wider. "And once all that is in my hands, Dimmsdale will have no choice but to declare me its Heart, or it will die by the same power you used to 'save' it!" he declared, the night air filling with his laughter.
"Five, six, seven... eight local Wi-Fi spots opened!" A.J. exclaimed in triumph, "Now I just have to send out the signal to each one and force them to broadcast it all at the same time!" He tapped at the Fenton Phones to check in on the rest of the group, winced at a sudden shriek that seemed to be taking up the frequency, then shut it off. "Okay, I don't know what the heck that was, but apparently nobody heard my latest triumph." he grumbled, "A genius is always unappreciated. Ah, well. Here goes!"
He tapped at the keyboard and looked up to watch how the units would react. Only a minute before the signals permeated the local area...
Sanjay picked off several more units as he watched the fairies swoop down from above and split apart to rush to their assigned godchildren, all save for Cosmo, who remained high and out of sight to continue his one-fairy rage against the machines. Vicky yelled out ferociously as she attacked each wayward destroyer unit that came too close to them, and with Elmer alternating between shooting them down and just beating them to inactivity with his fists, there was hardly anything to really threaten them. So when Chester yelped in angered surprise and declared he was leaving them, there was little resistance offered to stop him. Especially when he yelled the reason why he was leaving.
"She's still fighting that crazy cheerleader! Why isn't anyone helping her? Didn't Timmy say he was gonna go and help?" the blonde exclaimed in shock and confusion.
"Maybe he's got problems of his own, ya ever think about that?" Vicky snapped back, slamming her twin blades down onto another unit. She glared over her shoulder at him, "I'm pretending I'm smacking his undead head over here since he sent my kid sister off to deal with some nutjob dentists! If you find him, sock him in the head for me!"
"I'm going over there to break that fight up! You guys keep attacking the units and distracting them!" Chester called back as he raced away from them, "I'll be right back! And somebody contact Timmy and let him know what's going on!"
"Eeps!" Elmer squeaked as Sanjay and Vicky stared back at him. He rubbed his head, a puzzled expression on his face. "I tried that just now. All I hear is someone screaming." he explained and looked worried, "I hope that wasn't Timmy, but it sounded an awful lot like him."
"Then I shall go and investigate. You two keep attacking!" Sanjay immediately declared and darted off in another direction, holding his laser rifle aside so it wouldn't slow him down.
"Ready? Heeyah!" Vicky snapped, kicking at one floating unit to send it crashing against another. Glaring at the boy that was left behind, she snorted in disdain. "If I didn't know better, I'd say this night was shot all to hell." she remarked scathingly. Elmer sighed in resignation.
"I think it might be already." he agreed quietly, then took on a fearful expression, "But don't tell that to Chester or Timmy! Last thing I need is to panic at the idea of them getting mad at me!" Vicky only grinned.
He watched the unit before him slide apart into two halves before it exploded in a fireball of twisted metal and melting silicon, the Windcutter held easily, loosely, in his hands. This was one of few times he relied on that dark voice inside him to help guide him through this. Almost like they were synched up, moving him through battlefields fluidly, with deadly grace. He sighed and shook his head.
No, he couldn't think like that. This was just something he learned to do after promising to protect Timmy and Wanda, especially since he failed so miserably to protect Timmy, prevent his death...
...again...
"I suspected you would be up here, hombre." a husky Latino voice crooned behind him. Chuckling in an oddly dark tone, Cosmo slowly turned to face his rival, his grip on the scythe still lazy. Unafraid.
"And here I thought you'd be chasing my wife." the green-haired fairy mused uncharacteristically, "Or is it that you've had your eyes on me all this time?" Juandissimo took on a startled look, switched to indignant, then looked fairly repulsed once his words sunk in.
"Gah, you are even more éstupido than I thought if you would dare to say such things to me!" the muscular fairy retorted and pulled his rapier forth, directing it at Cosmo in challenge. "I am here to battle for my beautiful Wanda! She is to be mine, and I have the blessings of my godchild, who has promised her to me when this unsexy plan is finally over and done with!" he declared in a booming voice, "You do not deserve her!" He paused in suspicion as Cosmo only laughed again, a wry and haunting sound that just didn't seem natural coming from him. But then again, Juandissimo was seeing a lot of things surrounding him and those he knew as being more and more unnatural, abnormal. Sometimes, he wondered if he ever really knew them all to begin with.
"Heh, you're right about that." Cosmo finally murmured, "I don't deserve her, and my reason for that will remain my own. I don't deserve the beautiful gift she gave me, the one I lost because of who and what I am. The one I regained by stroke of fate, and lost again because of the jealousy of others. But they are mine and mine alone. I won't let you take either one."
"Eh? This doesn't sound like the Cosmo I know." Juandissimo remarked in confusion, a worried expression coming over him. An intelligent Cosmo? God save them all if that was true.
The green-haired fairy blinked suddenly and shook his head fiercely before giving him a puzzled look.
"Huh? Was I saying something?" he asked and Juandissimo felt the tiniest bit of relief. That was more like it. Cosmo blinked again, then frowned, tightening his grip on the Windcutter. "Hey! It's Muscles McGoo again! What do you want? You're not getting my wife! Beat it!" he yelled and waved the scythe at him amateurishly, "Shoo! Shoo! Go away!"
"I told you, I am here to battle you for Wanda!" Juandissimo snapped back.
"Yeah? Well, why didn't you say so?" Cosmo declared in irritation, "Man, and they call me stupid? I'm not the one floating around and wasting people's times with ripping shirts and blah blah blah!" He glanced aside, whipped the Windcutter with one hand, then watched coldly as the remnants of yet another nullifier rained down in a fiery demise before returning to his original train of thought, "You wanna rethink that, maybe?"
"What happened before was a fluke! Dumb luck! Someone as sexy as me cannot lose to one as empty-headed as you!" the Latino fairy shot back, "I demand a rematch!" The fairy before him seemed to shudder, head bowed enough to hide his face, then lifted narrowed eyes to lock onto him.
"Then don't bleed too much on my blade." Cosmo hissed in a strangely icy tone, "I just cleaned it." With that, he shot forward, the scythe lashing before him in a silver blur as Juandissimo yelped and hurriedly brought the rapier around to parry the hit. He flitted backwards, swinging the sword to block the incoming shots as fast as he could see them coming in. Definitely not like the Cosmo he knew!
Juandissimo grabbed for his wand, waved it and conjured up a familiar toy and distraction.
"Cosmo! Look! String!" he exclaimed in hopes of swaying the other fairy's attention. That hope was quickly snuffed out as the floating bit of twine was sliced to ribbons and the invisible blades of air just kept coming.
"Look! I'll give you a nickel! A shiiiiny nickel!" Juandissimo blurted out, waving his wand to conjure the silvery piece of currency. Another slice of air and it, too, was little more than useless metal.
This wasn't good at all! Not only was Cosmo just ignoring everything that would normally grab and hold his attention for hours on end, but...
He wasn't talking.
The Latino fairy raced madly across the skies, evading the air blades and the scythe as much as possible, mind fracturing at the revelation. Never in all the centuries he could recall had Cosmo ever kept his mouth shut for more than a few seconds. He was a blithering idiot for good reason: he babbled nonsense almost nonstop. But this was new; this was unheard of; and it terrified Juandissimo.
What could have changed Cosmo so much that his focus was entirely set on a single goal? So much that he didn't bother to babble, to stop and play with bits of string and coins? To giggle and snicker like a naïve baby? It was almost as if... Cosmo wasn't Cosmo anymore.
But that couldn't be, right?