A/N: All right, there's a lot that's happening here, including a quick jump to see what Caleb's been up to since we last ditched him and poor comatose Danny Phantom. Wow, they've both been out of active roles in the story for a pretty long time now, huh? Well, there's a lot of juicy clues and hints here to something big, so let's see if you can catch them. Bet you won't see them right away, heh heh. That's okay. I just hope this chapter isn't a big fail, after all, this will be my first foray into writing for Mark Chang. Oh! My hubby came up with how his introduction should go, so blame him for the brain-breaks. XD Enjoy!
12
It wasn't until near sundown that Chester had gotten a call from the Ivory Tower, asking that he return for an update on Trixie's condition. His conversation caught his father's attention and Chester scrambled for another cover story, this time claiming that he was being asked out on a date.
"Aw, shoots, my boy's growin' up and gettin' himself a lady friend!" Bucky exclaimed tearfully before recovering in an instant and grinning at his son, "So who's the lucky gal goin' out with future best baseball player the world has ever seen?"
"Trixie!" Chester blurted out the first name that came to mind, the one that had just been told to him over the phone. He immediately winced and mentally slapped himself for that one. Yeah, like anyone would believe a redneck was going on a date with Trixie Tang, the still undisputed Queen of the Populars no matter which set she hung out with.
"That Tang girl?" Bucky asked in surprise. Chester bit his lip and nodded hesitantly. There was a thick silence for a moment before his father grinned and thrust a fist into the air. "You go for it, boy! Make your Pops proud!" he declared, then turned back around in his chair and returned to watching the sports channel.
'Either Pop really believes I can get a date with Trixie, or I must be a darn good liar.' Chester thought to himself and wondered if he should feel pride or guilt over that. He shrugged it off for now. He could have his moral breakdown later; right now, he had to know how Trixie was feeling. Grabbing his jacket off the back of the sofa as he ran by, Chester headed for the door and made a beeline for the bus stop, hoping to catch one that could take him close to the Ivory Tower so he wouldn't have to walk the whole way.
Ivory Tower~
"How is she? How is she?" Chester shouted excitedly as he raced through the door to the infirmary. Trixie blinked one eye as she rubbed at the other, sitting up in her bed as Raine stood by with a glass of water and a bottle of medication. Apollo fluttered his wings in annoyance, but remained seated on the bed next to his godchild.
"Huh? Chester? What's going on?" the Asian asked in confusion, looking around herself, "I don't remember falling asleep here. Or getting hurt."
"You can discuss this after you've taken your medicine." Raine told her and handed her the glass. Trixie accepted a pair of pills from the bottle, gulped them both and drained the glass of water before handing it back. "That's a good girl." the half-elf added with a smile, "Now, I'll be helping Mint with Anti-Cosmo, so just ring for me if you need anything." With that, she bowed and left the room. As soon as she was gone, Trixie turned her attention to the blonde again.
"So what happened? Did we blow away the Spire?" she asked eagerly, "Did we beat up Remy and his gang? And what happened that got me stuck here?" Chester blinked at her in surprise, then sighed as he pulled up a chair to sit by her.
"You might wanna brace yourself, Trixie. I have a faint idea of what's going on because of our meeting today." Apollo murmured. She looked down at the fairy, then up at the blonde, a worried look crossing her face. Chester sighed again, more heavily this time.
"Trixie, what are the Black Hound Files?" he asked grimly, "And what do they have to do with the machine that killed Timmy four years ago?" Trixie stared at him, face paling as she lifted her hands to grip herself by the arms.
"I remember now... Francis talked about that last night." she whispered, "I must have fainted then." She closed her eyes, nibbling at her lower lip delicately before nodded slightly. "The Black Hound Files are a set of files and articles I stole from Remy's computer when I was still part of the A-List, before I convinced Timmy to let me be an S-List member." Trixie began softly and threaded her fingers together nervously, "Most of the files are about Timothy Neogene, since Remy was trying to find out as much as he could about him. He was nicknamed the Black Hound because he wore dark clothing and pursued the anti-magic devices like a bloodhound, accurate and relentless. Some were about the Dark Spires; blueprints, network schematics, assigned units and their designs. The rest of the files were about Timmy Turner; the obituary, various schemes to make him lose his fairies, hate mail that never got sent... that kind of stuff."
Chester leaned forward in the chair, face carefully masked by a stoic expression as he took in the information.
"I heard about all that. You and A.J. and some of the assistants here used that information to help us with strategies against the Dark Spires and the anti-magic devices." he replied, "What does it have to do with that machine? A.J. said it was made by an outside company; the Dark Spires and its units are designed and manufactured by Crocker." Trixie shot him a tearful glare as she twisted the white sheets of her bed in her hands.
"The machine that was in the playground... the one that turned the jungle gym so that Timmy would die from a broken neck..." she growled fiercely, "I had seen it before, and now I know why. That machine was designed four years ago by Remy Buxaplenty!" And Chester's mask broke under that, an expression of pure shock taking its place as he reared back in his chair. "Remy designed that machine and commissioned some company to build it, then had it buried under the jungle gym in a plot to murder Timmy Turner!" Trixie shouted angrily, "It's all his fault the Heart of Dimmsdale died!"
Apollo cringed at the sheer fury in her voice, twisting his wand in his hands as Chester stood up, hands clenching into fists. He'd regained his stony expression again, glaring down at the tile in silence while Trixie lifted her hands to her face and sobbed quietly. The fairy looked between the two of them, unsure of what to do now. Should this be put into his report, or would it be better to leave it out?
"Heh." Chester suddenly chuckled. Trixie stopped her crying and looked up at him in alarm. "Heh heh heh." the blonde laughed again, soft and dark, "Heh ha ha ha ha!" The former Popular blinked and twisted her face in anger.
"Chester? Why are you laughing? This isn't funny!" she demanded angrily, "We practically have proof that Remy set things up to have Timmy murdered!"
"And that's why I'm laughing!" Chester finally exclaimed, throwing up his hands and laughing loudly even as tears ran down his cheeks, "Don't you see, Tricks? We have a suspect and proof! All we need is motive and decisive evidence and we can reopen Timmy's case!" He grabbed Trixie's hands and held them between his own, eyes shining brightly. "We can have it reopened and changed from 'accident victim' to 'murder victim'! And we can have Remy arrested and charged with murder!" he blurted out joyfully, "Closure, Trixie! We can have closure and all of Dimmsdale will know the truth behind Timmy's death!"
The Asian stared at him in shock before realizing what he was saying and squealing in a mix of joy and sorrow, throwing her arms around his neck in a fangirlish hug. Apollo yelped and rolled back out of the way, narrowly avoiding being crushed in the middle. The two teens hugged each other tightly, laughing and crying as the knowledge sank in.
"You're both crazy." the fairy sighed, grinning for a few seconds before letting it fade, "And it seems like you have a good shot at making that happen. However, you need to hammer everything out and make it solid and ironclad, or else Remy will find a way to cast doubt on it and get away scot-free again." The teens pulled apart and sat back in their respective seats, rubbing tears away as they regained their composures.
"Right, right." Chester breathed and stretched his arms out before dropping them onto the armrests of his chair. He couldn't help his grin. "So, let's review. Four years ago, Timmy fell from the jungle gym and broke his neck in a fall that was totally wrong since the bars moved around to make him hit them; it ain't natural. That was 'cuz of a machine buried under the thing that got switched on from Crocker's room at school. The machine was also built by some mystery company, using a design that Remy Buxaplenty came up with." he counted off the facts on his fingers, "Since then, Remy's been giving everyone hell trying to make himself a replacement for Timmy so Dimmsdale would focus all their attention on him and practically worship him. That's gonna be our motive for him; he was jealous of Timmy's position and wanted his competition gone!"
"Nope." Apollo declared and poofed himself into a buzzer that filled the room with a loud and aggravating blast of noise before poofing back. "That's not gonna work. Timmy's importance wasn't established until after his death, so Remy wouldn't have reason to kill him. In fact, if he'd known that Timmy's death would cement him as a martyr for Dimmsdale, Remy would have done all he could to keep him alive and deny him the title." the fairy pointed out, "Try again."
"Remy never liked Timmy; they were rivals at everything ever since they met." Trixie suggested, "Maybe he got tired of being beaten at everything and decided killing Timmy would enable him to finally win?" Apollo shook his head, transforming into a giant sign with two red 'X's painted on the white cardboard.
"Strike two!" he announced, "Childhood rivalries aren't strong enough in public opinion to be cause of a murder motive. Ten-year-olds don't understand the concept of death and murder, far less plan one that is so complicated." Both teens went back to thinking hard about their situation. Chester toyed with his braces, running his tongue along the mythril wire on his lower jaw, until he blinked and grinned at another idea.
"I've got it!" he exclaimed and glanced around to be sure he had Trixie and Apollo's attentions, "Okay, we know Timmy has two fairy godparents and Remy only has one, right? And we know that Remy hates it when someone else has something he thinks that only he can have, right?" He sat back and folded his arms over his chest in victory. "So maybe it was that he was trying to get rid of Timmy's fairy godparents, so he murdered Timmy himself 'cuz you can't have fairies if you're dead!"
Apollo exploded in a plethora of red and gold fireworks, the buzzer blaring even more loudly than before.
"Absolutely not!" he shouted angrily, "That will never hold up in human courts!" He poofed back to his normal self and shot over to stand on the table, glaring up at the blonde in grim determination. "There is so much wrong with that, I barely know where to begin." he growled, "First of all, no one on Earth is supposed to know about fairies except for their godchildren. Second, adults refuse to believe in magical creatures like fairies to begin with, and will abuse their powers if they do. Case in point, Crocker." He held up two fingers and lifted another. "Third, revealing the fact that there are fairies, especially if those fairies are Cosmo and Wanda, will instantly result in the destruction of Timmy's mission and the recall of every fairy godparent on the planet, followed by the order to have Timmy brought up to Fairy World to face punishment of his own." Apollo hissed, "Are you willing to sacrifice Timmy Turner to convict Remy of murdering him?"
Chester and Trixie both stared at him in horror, then looked at each other helplessly. It seemed like nothing they could come up with could be used to make a murder charge stick to Remy. The Asian pulled her hands through her hair in despair.
"Well, then, what do we do? We know he's responsible for this, but how can we prove it? How can we say for sure that Remy murdered Timmy without revealing everything about what we've been doing?" she wailed. Chester sighed harshly and sat back, drumming his fingers against his arm as he considered the situation again.
"Friday night." he remarked bluntly, catching the attentions of fairy and godchild at once, "On Friday night, I'm meeting with the Chief of Police to request a new investigation of Timmy's death. That's why I was so happy to hear about the Black Hound Files; I want to use parts of them as ammo in the new case." He glanced up at Trixie, "Nice to see that we already have a good chunk of it all wrapped up, just need the last pieces and the Chief to make it all neat and official." Trixie gasped in surprise and leaned forward, eyes wide with awe as her hand lifted to her mouth.
"You can meet with the Chief of Police?" she whispered in surprise, "You sound like you know him personally!" Chester gave her a roguish grin, tilting his head coyly.
"That's 'cuz I do." he replied and laughed, waving a hand in dismissal of any more questions of it, "Meantime, we should put together what we have to present to the Chief, and then figure out a motive for Remy." He checked the time on his cell phone and sighed, "It's getting late, town curfew is almost here." He managed a vague smile at the Asian. "You think you're up for heading home? I can walk you there." Trixie blinked and glanced away shyly, a faint blush coloring her cheeks.
"Um, I was gonna wish myself to the front door..." she mumbled and Chester sighed, rubbing the back of his head.
"Yeah, I keep forgetting you can do that. Oh well. See you tomorrow; Timmy will probably want us all back here so he can introduce us to whoever it is he's been gung-ho on finding." he remarked and got up, waving absently as he left the room, "'Night, Tricks!" Trixie watched him leave, mouth moving silently as if unsure whether to give voice to her words or keep it shut, falling back on the uncomfortable middle ground instead. Finally she sighed and hung her head, shoulders drooping in defeat, as Apollo shook his own with disapproving clicks of his tongue, twirling his wand in one hand.
"Trixie, Trixie, Trixie, poor little rich girl." he remarked with an exaggeratedly dramatic sigh, "Torn between two lovers and all..."
"I am not!" Trixie snapped at him, suddenly all fire and fury again as her eyes flashed angrily, "What are you talking about?" The fairy shrugged with a grin that was eerily similar to the one Chester had worn only a few minutes ago.
"Just saying, you might want to decide who you really want before you break too many hearts. It was all fine and good in your early years, being the shallow Popular you were, but now you're dealing with two people in positions of power." he remarked lightly, "So you might wanna stop sending out those mixed signals and focus on what it is that you want and feels right, rather than what you want for the sake of wanting it to make yourself look good." Trixie gave him a puzzled look, eyebrow lifted in confusion. The fairy swordsman sighed again, this time in defeat. "Never mind. You'll get it eventually." he grumbled and looked over at the doorway, "He's a good kid. Might not be the greatest catch out there, but his heart's in the right place. Must be the Turner kid's influence rubbing off on him."
Trixie looked towards the door herself and tilted her head slightly in thought. That considering look came over her face again, but only for a moment and she lifted fingers in a gesture she'd seen Timmy make several times before.
"Apollo! I wish I was dressed in a nice outfit and I wish I was standing just outside my door so that my parents think I've been out and nothing bad happened!" she declared and the fairy waved his wand to grant it.
Archives of the Twin Blades~
Caleb stood before the glass wall that overlooked the infirmary, gazing through it at the sleeping halfa. Despite the promising results of Timmy's reversal of the corrupted ectomana, there had been little change in Danny Phantom's current condition. He remained in slumber, still healing from the injuries caused by his resistance to the initial attack of the relics in the Ghost Zone. The android sighed and turned away at last to watch the other halfa float in with a pair of boxes in her arms.
"So, how were things in Dimmsdale? Did you get what I asked for?" he questioned softly. Danni set the crates down on a table with a muffled grunt and rubbed her arms.
"Not too good, I'm afraid." she sighed, "The tower went down as Timmy said it would, but they lost Tootie and a fairy named Romi, both of them kidnapped by one of the opposing forces. Also, the stolen aionis had been used to craft some kind of mana transferal system. It was used on Timmy and a large amount of his personal mana was stolen. Someone named Remy is now in possession of it and is using it as part of a staff of some kind crafted out of some remnants of the aionis. Whatever was left of the original device was picked up by local authorities and stored as evidence." She reached out and patted one of the boxes. "Evidence that I brought back less than legally, as requested." the girl ghost remarked with a grin, "Along with something else that I remembered Danny mentioning to me one day."
Caleb frowned deeply at the report, folding his arms over his chest as he took in the information and processed it.
"Just when it seems as if we gain an advantage, we fall back several steps. Not good. Anything else?" he muttered. Danni nodded as she separated the boxes and opened one up, peering inside it.
"Yeah, something about Apollo trying to recreate Cosmo's Doom Ribbon. He was successful but discovered soon after that the magical drain of that attack was enormous, suggesting that Cosmo's got more magic power than he's letting on. Oh, and I think they said something about his scythe being destroyed, so he's gonna need a new one." she added absently, "They also mentioned that Trixie fainted after saying something about the Black Hound Files, but she's in the Ivory Tower and recovering well." She reached into the box and pulled out several pieces of burnt wood, depositing them carefully on the table, talking all the while. "Also, Timmy's blaming himself for the disaster and is refusing to let any other Heroes into Dimmsdale to finish the attacks for him. Such a stubborn boy." Danni went on, eyeing one of the fragments before setting it down as well, "On top of that, while I was moving through Dimmsdale invisibly to get this evidence out of the police station, I caught wind of a news conference that Remy kid set up. Apparently, he's using the Spire's destruction as a launch pad to convince the city into naming him Heart of Dimmsdale. Not sure how that went, I didn't stick around to hear the whole thing, but the police radio in the station reported several outbreaks of mass rioting, so that probably means it wasn't well-received. Some of them were really bad riots, too; I heard that a couple of punk kids set fire to a dump or something, or set off some kind of explosion over there."
She paused when the android's shadow fell over the scraps of wood, then looked up to see him stare down at the pieces in confusion. He reached out and picked one up, studying it before giving her a questioning look. Danni shrugged sheepishly, putting on a bashful smile. The redhead sighed and set the piece back down, gesturing for her to continue her report.
"There's not much else to say, beyond that Remy's threat level went up because of his holding Timmy's mana in his hands." she sighed and blinked, snapping her fingers, "Ah! Speaking of threat levels, is it true that Timmy's casting changed? Should he be reclassified?" The halfa looked faintly troubled. "The last time you tested him, he barely made it to Level Four. But everyone over there keeps insisting that Timmy's a lot stronger than that." she added worriedly, toying with her index fingers as she floated there, "Like he could be a Level Two, like Cousin Danny."
"We won't know until I re-test him and check his strengths. I'll do so once his missions are done with and Dimmsdale is freed. How is Team Turner covering for the fact that they're missing three members?" Caleb asked instead, steering the subject away from Timmy's unknown potential, "Considering the fact that two of them are human and have families?" Danni shrugged.
"The Trixie girl should be fine. Just a day of rest and she oughtta be home by now. The Tootie girl, on the other hand; no plans were told to me about her, just her sister wanting mondo revenge to the point that she punched Timmy." she remarked and scowled, folding her arms over herself, "I wanted to get her back for that, but Timmy wouldn't let me." Caleb sighed and shook his head in exasperation, then gestured to the wood.
"What is this? I've run an analysis on it, but beyond the fact that this wood has far less mana in it than usual, there's nothing significant about it." he remarked and Danni smiled brightly, holding her hands out to the fragments.
"These are the remains of Timmy's bo!" she giggled, "The one that you said got burned up? Danny said that the first time you and him and Timmy had a meeting about dealing with the first Dark Spire, Timmy had said that he lost his bo in a classroom and the police took it away." She winked as she patted the second box, "So I went and grabbed it along with the aionis pieces. Think there's a chance that it can be rebuilt?"
"From these burnt remnants?" Caleb questioned, poking at a fragment of wood, "Hmm. It might not be easy, but I'll call some people and see if something can be done." Danni clapped her hands together eagerly.
"Great! Then I can give it to Timmy as a present!" she exclaimed and flew over to the glass wall, peering through it at her 'cousin', "So how is Danny doing? Any signs of him waking up yet?"
"None yet, but he's healing nicely." the android murmured as he began leaving the room, "You should head back to Amity Park and help the rest of Team Phantom keep things in check. His parents are having a difficult time as it is, having to pretend the androids I sent over really are their son and Danny Phantom. They could use some support from a surrogate niece. I'll be working on replacing the Windcutter, so I won't be available for a while." Danni nodded silently, sighing sadly as she pulled back from the glass to teleport away.
Morning~
The Dimma-Dump had seen better days. As it was, the dump was a mess, moreso than usual. Garbage was strewn everywhere, smoldering from the attacks of the previous day; whole piles of junk collapsed and spread out in a manner that suggested the place was officially ground zero to a battle. In one section of the dump, a portion of garbage quivered before melting into liquid metal and plastic that swirled in a whirlpool before solidifying into a perfectly round iris of shining metal.
The iris opened with a faint whisper of a whir, allowing a figure to rise to the top of the layers of trash on a round disk of transformed metal, one hand pressed flat against the disk, free arm wrapped around a bundle of dark blue fabric. It coughed a few times, then sighed in annoyance.
"Darn it, Remy. When I said I couldn't die anymore, I kinda meant it. Stop trying to 'do me in' and stuff!" Timmy grumbled irritably, setting the bundle down to stretch his arms out and pop several kinks out of his back. He'd spent all night curled around his fairies, thankful that the garbage had fallen on him in such a manner that it built a dome over the three of them and kept them from being crushed. However, the blast of magic that Remy had fired on him had definitely knocked him, Cosmo and Wanda for a loop. The two fairies had fainted from the blast, but the weak Boltzman's Shield was enough to dampen the blow for Timmy so that he could just fake being unconscious.
Surprising to know it fooled even Juandissimo when he came in for a closer look.
Sadly, it wasn't enough to satisfy Remy, as the jerk decided to add insult to injury and bury him in garbage. But it formed the dome and Timmy managed to squirm about enough to get Cosmo and Wanda free, hugging them close as he drifted off to sleep, too exhausted to try escaping right away.
Then morning came and he set to work on the pile, reaching out to focus on the trash and transforming it to help him get free. First, he melted the garbage around himself, converting everything to metal and forcing it to create a more stable dome to keep it from collapsing. Then came protecting his fairy godparents while he worked on the rest of the tunnel. For that, Timmy just pulled his shirt off and wrapped them in the fabric. Cosmo and Wanda didn't bat an eye at it, dozing on as they snuggled against each other. He'd grinned, picked them up and touched fingers to the top of the dome, concentrating on transforming everything above him into a shaft for an elevator.
It was hard at first, all the converting he was doing. It gave him headaches, and now and then he would stop to catch his breath and let the pain recede. His skin would crawl and itch along his back, but the feeling would fade after he stopped working and then he could resume converting the trash. When the iris at the top opened and showed him the clear blue sky, Timmy set his hand down against the ground, concentrating on turning several cans that had been left there into a disk that he would use as the elevator. One disk and a lot of effort into making it rise through dead air later, Timmy, Cosmo and Wanda were out of the trash and in the fresh air.
"I so need a bath after all this." Timmy sighed, opening the bundle and gently shaking his godparents awake, "Cosmo, Wanda! Hey! It's morning and we're clear now!" Still nothing, and he would be going shirtless until they got up. The brunet sighed harshly, propping a cheek on one fist, not relishing that thought. As he looked around, wondering if the riots from the previous day had finally ended, he caught sight of a torn blanket on the heap of garbage, forgotten and lonely-looking as any scrap of fabric. Timmy blinked at it, then grinned as he got an idea.
If he could turn garbage into a dome and elevator, then why not make clothing out of it too?
Cosmo and Wanda finally woke up, looking around themselves groggily before laying eyes on their godchild picking up a dirty blanket and touching a finger to it. The blanket glowed softly before turning into a white light that shifted shape in his hand. When the light faded, a fresh, royal blue turtleneck was left behind, which Timmy immediately pulled on to cover himself with a sigh of relief.
"Agh! I told you to wish for things you want or need!" Wanda yelled angrily, waving her arms about wildly before falling back with a groan of pain, "Ugghhh. My head..." The brunet gave the fairies a faintly exasperated smile.
"Shouldn't have done that then. Hey, don't worry about my converting things. It's not conjuring, so it shouldn't set off any warning bells, right?" he remarked offhandedly as he returned to pick them up and tuck the other shirt around them both, "Remy took off last night and left the dump in one piece, mostly. So, let's get to looking for Mark. Sooner we find him, the sooner we can head home and clean up." Wanda glared blearily up at him, freeing one hand to try salvaging her dirtied hair, mussed from its usual curled style. Cosmo looked back and forth between her and Timmy, as though uncertain as to whose side he was on, before deciding sleep was everyone's friend and promptly went back to it.
"We're going to have another talk about this when we get home." the fairy godmother finally told him, "But for now, you're right. Let's find Mark." Timmy rolled his eyes with a good-natured shake of his head.
"Whatever you say, Mom." he teased and began walking around in search of an abnormally large junked car, the last thing he remembered Mark disguising his ship as, knowing that Wanda would make some kind of face at the taunt and make it all the more amusing for him.
The search didn't take that long, but it certainly felt that way in the beginning, as Timmy had completely forgotten about breakfast and dinner the previous night, cringing as his stomach growled in protest. Wanda pulled him back at one point and waved her wand in front of his face, prompting him to wish for a meal that all three of them shared in. The brunet wasn't fond of eating while still a mess, but he was grateful for something in him nonetheless and resumed his poking around in the dump on a more cheerful note.
A giant junked SUV loomed over him as he spotted it perched precariously on the top of a large pile of garbage. Timmy lit up at the sight and scrambled up the pile eagerly, ignoring the multiple little cuts and scrapes he picked up from scrabbling over broken metal and glass. He ran his hands over the vehicle upon reaching it, searching for the real door under the hologram. When his fingertips found a gap in the smooth metal, the brunet grinned and reached his other arm out to find the opposite edge. Once both hands had discovered the sides of the ship's entryway, he focused on the metal and tried forcing it to bend outward. His concentration was broken, however, by Cosmo rapping on his head with the star of his wand again.
"Hey! Heeeyyy!" the green-haired fairy called out, "Heeeey, Timmy!"
"Ugh, god, what is it?" Timmy griped, wincing as his godfather continued rapping on his head, "And keep it down! We don't want the whole city to hear you call me that!"
"Use a wish! Use a wish!" Cosmo told him brightly, "Why have a headache using your mana magic on Mark's ship when you can wish the door was open?" Timmy sighed harshly, still wincing as the rapping continued.
"If I wish it, will you stop hitting me?" he grumbled.
"Ding ding ding ding ding!" the dapper fairy chanted, "But this is so much fun!"
"I wish Mark's ship was open!" Timmy yelled and both fairies shot up over him, waved their wands in sync, and the hologram flickered away, revealing the door that was beginning to shake in preparations for opening. Timmy blinked and hurriedly stepped back from it, raising a hand to summon a shield if it tried to fall on him... only to groan in exasperation when it slid to one side with a faint hiss. "I swear, it's like everything's out to get me lately..." the brunet grumbled as his godparents snickered over his reactions, "Come on. I'll heal once we're inside." And with that, the trio of magic-users entered the opened ship to search for their Yugopotamian friend.
Ivory Tower~
"Weirdness. Timmy isn't here yet?" A.J. remarked as the group reconvened in the conference room. Vicky took her place at the table, grumbling softly that she had to halt her personal search and rescue to see what Chester wanted. Elmer and Sanjay were both still fuming over the previous day's news. Chip, having no place to go, was given a room in the Ivory Tower to stay in and made himself right at home. He came downstairs wearing a robe over his clothing and holding a mug of something hot and steaming in one hand. The other members stared at him, aghast that he, of all people, would drink something as harmful to teeth as coffee... only to smack themselves collectively when the singer lifted an eyebrow at them and showed them a box of white tea that he used to make the drink. It was the only hot beverage he would ever drink, as it was good for teeth and kept his shine pristine. Trixie and Apollo showed shortly after the tea incident, with the girl refreshed and ready to fight and the fairy still looking slightly worried. The young immortal that led them all, however, had yet to be accounted for.
"I called his cell phone earlier this morning, but he never answered." Chester remarked, "So I left him a message in voice mail. He'll show up whenever, I guess, and with his buddy, too."
"Hopefully sooner than later!" Sanjay declared in irritation, arms folded over his chest, "We need to make motions to halt Remy's newest attempt to take the title of Heart of Dimmsdale!" Chester sighed and rubbed his head.
"Yeah, that too." he muttered and tapped at the keypad again, bringing up the map of Dimmsdale he had built up yesterday, "We have lots of stuff to deal with on our list. First, we gotta find out who took Tootie and where she is. Next, find a way to get Dimmsdale back to its senses and remind it that Timmy's the Heart and no one else can be allowed to have that title." He gestured at the holographic map. "Once we have those dealt with, we can focus on trashing the next Dark Spire."
"Also, we have to recompile all our info on what happened at the playground four years ago." Trixie added with a vicious grin, "Including your scenario simulator, A.J.! With all that, we can reopen Timmy's case and prove he wasn't killed in an accident!"
"We can bring somebody up on murder charges?" Vicky asked hopefully, lips curling up in a cruel smile, "I'm loving the sound of that!"
"As fun as that sounds, we have to divide up our workload for today and get the other stuff done too." Chester pointed out and began singling out members for their missions, "Okay, Tricks, Apollo and A.J., you guys have had the most contact with the Black Hound Files. Get back to it and pull together everything that could make a good case for us. Evidence, the scenario simulator, everything." They stood up, grinning at each other over their mission.
"Let's make a rock solid case that any prosecutor will be proud of!" A.J. laughed, throwing the girl and fairy a thumb's-up.
"And make someone pay for what they've done!" Trixie agreed, winking at him with a giggle, "Come on, Apollo! We've got work to do!" They rushed out of the room, eager to get started. The rest of the team laughed brightly at them, then turned back to Chester for more orders.
"Vicky, you started up the Charity Babysitters in Timmy's honor. Elmer, you're in charge of acting as stand-in Timmy, and Sanjay, you've got tons of Timmy Turner memorial stuff." the blonde remarked thoughtfully, "You three can be in charge of coming up with something to counter Remy's claims and making sure there's no doubt in Dimmsdale's mind as to who the Heart is around here." Vicky snorted as the three chosen for that mission stood up.
"Great, but shouldn't the twerp be in on this, too?" she asked dryly, planting one hand on her hip, "As far as Dimmsdale knows, Timothy Neogene of New York City is the head chairman of the Timmy Turner Foundation. All he has to do is say the word and 'Timmy' remains undisputed as the Heart of Dimmsdale." Chester sighed and shook his head with a shrug.
"That's what I wanted to do, but he hasn't called back or shown up." he remarked, "You can try giving him another call and letting him know what's up." The carrot-top huffed with a grin and gave a short nod as the group began to leave the room. Chip looked around the empty room, then up at Chester with some confusion. The blonde only smirked as he held up a fist, brushing his fingers against the black wristband to summon his magitech armor.
"Now, the two of us are gonna make a few house calls," Chester chuckled, "and find out exactly where the heck Tootie and Romi are being held." Chip blinked a few times, then matched his smirk with a cool smile, summoning his own armor in answer.
"Yeah. Let's." he agreed.
Undisclosed location~
Tootie stirred, awareness returning bit by bit as she re-tested her limbs. They still felt deadened and heavy, and she groaned at the headache that spread through her mind. She was getting sick and tired of being drugged just to get moved somewhere, and as soon as she was feeling better and got free, she was giving Remy a piece of her mind about it.
"Twenty thousand volts worth of it." she growled hoarsely, "A nice shot of Thunder Arrow oughtta do it."
"Uughhn... Keep it down... please..." Romi whimpered from beside her. Tootie managed a small smile as she kept her eyes closed in hopes that it would help relieve her migraine.
"Romi, you're awake. Are you okay?" the young Goth asked softly.
"N-not really. We passed through a heavy nullification field." the fairy whispered, "So my magic is rather low. I... I barely have enough to stay alive." Tootie gasped in alarm and struggled to move her arm, trying to reach out and find her fairy godmother.
"Help me find you, Romi! I'll cast a healing spell and maybe that will recharge you and...!" she urged.
"No. You can't mix magic. It'll make it worse." Romi murmured sternly, "I'll be fine for now. We just need rest, both of us."
"Do you have enough for a wish? So that I can at least shake off these stupid side effects?" the Goth asked, shifting herself to get a better look at her surroundings.
"Whether I do or not doesn't matter now." the fairy whispered, "My wand is gone. Someone took it." Tootie sighed harshly, dropping her head back against the floor and wincing at the pain.
"Dammit. So I can't wish for anything. That's okay. You need to conserve magic anyway." she muttered and clenched her hands into fists, "As soon as we regain enough strength, I'm gonna bust us out. Let's just get some rest." Romi mumbled an agreement to that, sidling close to her godchild for some warmth and comfort.
It was dark inside Mark's ship, like everything had been powered down and abandoned. Cobwebs draped themselves over the computer equipment and various gadgets that Timmy had no hopes of ever understanding. The shimmering light of the Cure spell faded and the brunet shook himself off, half-heartedly trying to get some of the grime loose before looking around. Cosmo and Wanda fluttered close to him, Wanda holding her hammer close at hand and Cosmo aiming his wand into the darker corners of the ship. This place may be the home to a friend of theirs but they wouldn't take any chances that the computer's memory might have degraded and forgotten that Timmy and the fairies were friendly to its occupant.
"Mark? Mark Chang, you out there?" Timmy called out as he ventured deeper into the ship. It was very simple in design; one massive room with the controls to the bow and plenty of empty space where Mark usually kept his toys, furnishings, and alien technologies. Picking his way around stacks of canned broccoli and a beaten up refrigerator, Timmy searched the room for signs of a green and blobby alien. Wanda hissed at her husband to catch his attention, then shook her head away from herself as a signal for him to move ahead. Cosmo blinked and stared at her blankly before seeming to understand, setting his face in grim determination as he floated forward to scout the rest of the area.
The brunet sighed after a minute and sat down on one of the couches scattered amongst all of Mark's belongings, bringing both hands up to prop his cheeks onto as he gazed glumly at his shoes. Maybe this was a dead end; for all he knew, Mark had called up his parents at the first sign of Timmy's death and took off for Yugopotamia, figuring marriage would be a less horrendous fate compared to living alone and friendless on Earth. Or worse, he could have just taken a smaller ship to another planet and waited for F.L.A.R.G. to roll around to end himself. Either one of those could explain the deathly quiet of the ship and the spooky state of unkemptness, the lack of someone yelling 'TUR-NER!' at him the way only the Yugopotamian Prince could, placing emphasis on all the wrong syllables and mistiming the stress to create a dialect that was Mark's and Mark's alone.
Wanda looked down at her godchild in commiseration and sorrow as he finally buried his face in his arms, pulling up his legs and uttering a barely muffled sob. The idea that he'd lost a friend entirely was hard on him and she couldn't help the maternal instinct that rose in her. Fluttering down, she put away the hammer and reached out to hug him as best she could in her small form, wrapping her arms around one of his and laying her head against his shoulder.
"It's okay, Sweetie. I miss him, too. Sometimes, things don't work out the way we'd like, and we have to make do the best we can with what's in front of us." she murmured with equal pain, letting personal experience slip through in the form of her own tears. "Maybe, if Fate is kind again, we'll be reunited with Mark Chang in another time. We'll live forever, and you can keep wishing yourself young so that he'll recognize you. It'll be okay, sunu." she whispered comfortingly.
"It's been four years... I was stupid to think he'd stay here even one day without me to help him or entertain him..." Timmy sobbed bitterly, "What kind of friends are we, to abandon each other like that?"
"Hey! Wanda! Can I have a Mark Chang-flavored popsicle?" Cosmo yelled out suddenly, destroying the somber mood with his upbeat voice. Wanda jerked back in alarm when Timmy's head snapped back up, eyes wide and bright with still unshed tears, an expression of confusion and shock on his face.
"Mark Chang-flavored popsicle?" he echoed strangely.
"Cosmo! What are you doing?" Wanda shouted in exasperation, "Timmy's not feeling good and you're making it worse with a stupid joke like that!"
"But there's a big glass freezer with a Mark Chang-shaped popsicle in it! I wanna know if it's Mark Chang-flavored so I can get one!" Cosmo wailed back in a childish tantrum and Timmy launched himself from the couch, leaping over furniture and alien gadgets in a desperate race to get to where the dapper fairy floated.
"Why didn't I think of that?" he yelled in anger, whether at himself or at Cosmo, Wanda wasn't sure but she shot after him nonetheless, "Aliens have all kinds of technology and junk! Mark might have just done some weird alien-space-freeze thing to himself!"
"Cryo-stasis." Wanda corrected him and the teen threw his hands up in exasperation between jumps.
"Whatever! The point is that Cosmo found him!" he declared and ran on. Wanda sighed, mentally filing away the flicker in the air she had seen and flying after him to be sure he stayed safe.
She made it to the scene in time to see Timmy press his hands against the glass capsule that supposedly held Mark Chang, peering in at him with his nose barely touching the glass. Cosmo floated nearby with a proud grin on his face. The brunet breathed on the capsule and rubbed at it with one fist, trying to get a better view. Even through the film of ice crystals layering the interior of the glass, Timmy could make out the green squid-like form of his friend, the clear dome that held his brain in place, the garish pink 'Image Fakifier' belt that allowed him to change forms, and the multitude of tentacles that acted as his hands and feet to help him move around and interact with the world.
"Well, that's him all right. Now how do I get him out of there?" Timmy wondered aloud, looking over the rest of the capsule. There were some computers attached to it but the symbols scrolling up on it were unknown to him. Lights were flashing and there was the consistent beep-beep-beep of a monitor that Timmy was familiar with, but nothing that really clued him in on what to do. He peered at the computer screen, fingers hovering shakily over the various buttons on the console below it. There had to be something that could wake Mark up, but what?
"Make the buzzy sound!" Cosmo exclaimed right in his ear, sending Timmy flailing in a panic and crashing into another computer, elbow jabbing a panel that lit up with a bright pink glow.
"Cosmo! You idiot!" Wanda snapped at her husband and chased him around the room wildly while Timmy cradled his injured arm, frantically trying to assess what damage he had done. All three of them were unaware of the happenings to the other computers and the glass capsule until it began belching white fog and tubes popped off with loud hisses. They froze in alarm, watching with wide eyes as the glass capsule opened, sending the freezing cold mist out to blanket the room and drop the temperature and visibility. Timmy winced, hugging himself tightly as the cold dredged up the unwanted vague memories of death.
Something touched the metal flooring of the ship, almost soundless and easily lost among the hissing of the cryo-stasis tubing were it not for the out of place tone of flesh touching metal. Timmy squinted into the fog, watching the shadowy form of a large, upright squid make its way forward. And then the fog suddenly was whisked away by fans as the rest of the ship abruptly awoke, lights and sounds coming on in the wake of the capsule opening, and Mark Chang stood before the brunet in all his alien glory, staring right at him with flat glare and mouth pulled into an annoyed frown, as though accusing him of the crime of waking him up in the middle of a pleasant dream. Timmy stared back, fear creeping along him as he started to see himself from Mark's point of view.
An unknown human, having broken into his ship and woken him from sleep, had seen things no other human should. Such a thing was dangerous to him and would need to be 'dealt with'.
Timmy barely opened his mouth to cry out his identity when Mark beat him to it, the alien throwing his two main tentacles up into the air as his face took on an elated expression, switching moods faster than Timmy could blink.
"TUR-NER!" the Yugopotamian Prince declared, "Chocolate-eating warrior of Earth!" The fairies dropped out of the air in a mix of shock, stress and relief that no blood would be shed that day. Timmy only gaped at the alien, eyes widening further at his words.
"You recognized me? You know who I am?" he exclaimed, gesturing to himself in his dark Neogene wardrobe. Mark laughed smugly, waving a tentacle around in mocking as he rolled his eyes.
"Ch-yah! Like, the silly pink hat's a dead giveaway, Dude." he replied in that odd surfer's accent that no one quite figured out how he obtained, given the mannerisms of his family. Timmy blinked again, one hand going to his head out of habit to check for his hat. Nothing, just his hair and empty space.
"But... I'm not wearing my hat..." the brunet remarked inanely, confusion crossing his face at the alien's explanation. The Yugopotamian Prince laughed again, waving his tentacles around as though enjoying some immense joke only he was privy to before finally winding down and wiping a tear away with the tip of one appendage.
"Haaa, just messin' with ya, Brah." he sighed with a grin before switching back to his menacing glare, "Seriously, who are you?" And Timmy's face hit the floor at the dizzying turnabout of moods.
Maybe waking Mark up without wearing his Turner wardrobe wasn't the best thing to do.