13
Dr. Bender's Dental Office~
Wendell sat blissfully in his recliner in the waiting lounge, caressing a black cylindrical device against his cheek. His father was in his office, pulling yet another tooth out in his never-ending quest to cause pain and torment. They were on shaky grounds when it came to Remy, but if things worked out the way the rich boy wanted, then Tootie would eventually be given back to them and Wendell would have his Gothic angel again. Ahh, sweet bliss. Until then, he made do with keeping a memento of her after her dagger had been taken and tossed into the trash.
"My little beauty with your perfect teeth," he sighed dreamily, "I promise we'll be together again! And the whole town will see us as perfectly matched with perfect teeth more perfect than even Chip Skylark's!"
The door to the office exploded inward, sending dust and debris flying as a brilliant blue-white light shone in and blinded the replacement secretary at her desk. Wendell shrieked and dove behind a sofa for cover, peering out shakily as Chester and Chip strode into the lounge with scowls on their faces, clad in the Heart of Dimmsdale armor that emphasized their greatest strengths, Chester's power and Chip's agility. The singer swept his gaze around the room before spotting the quivering young dentist and grinning in a faintly malicious manner.
"Whose teeth are the most perfect ever?" he asked in deceptive sweetness.
"Uh, um, yours?" Wendell stammered back, clutching the black device in his hands. Chip grinned wider at the response.
"Yeah. Let's keep it that way." he purred and followed Chester as the blonde wrenched the other office door open, roaring inside for Bender to get out and face them.
"We know you two paste-heads had something to do with Tootie! Tell me where she is!" the Leader of the Others raged. The patient screeched in terror and fainted on the spot, leaving Bender free to retaliate.
"Like we're telling you anything! Toothpaste monsters! Attack!" the dentist ordered. Pale blue and mint-scented paste oozed out from under the closet door, forming into several of the smiling creatures. Chester and Chip vacated the doorway for the lounge, preferring the more open space for confrontation. It filled quickly with the presence of the monsters, Bender and Wendell, once he scrambled from his shelter to join his father with a new smug grin on his face.
"Same old routine." Chester muttered unconcernedly, lifting one hand to let his fingers dart in a series of motions that made no sense whatsoever to most of the occupants in the room. Chip shifted stances, turning his head slightly as he kept an eye on the toothpaste monsters.
"Ha! Now we've got you surrounded!" Wendell taunted from his father's side, "Whose teeth are the most perfect ever?"
"Still mine." Chip retorted and smiled widely, firing the Dental Laser at Chester, who bared his own teeth to display the gleaming metal braces that reflected the laser in a shower of beams that cut through the last of the monsters shielding the dentists. Paste exploded and splattered the walls, furniture, and people, sending the still blinded secretary screaming into a wall in a panic over the sounds, promptly knocking herself out in the process. Bender and Wendell ducked, covering their heads as holes were punched into the ceiling and walls, showering them all in still more dust and debris.
When the Dental Laser finally faded and the dentists looked around themselves, the tables had abruptly turned, leaving them at the mercies of the redneck and the singer. Chester grinned at them both, a sinister sight that more than matched the cruel smirk Remy often sported during their meetings.
"Right. Now, I'm telling ya again, and this is the last time I'll do it nicely. Tell me where Tootie is, right now." he remarked icily. The dentists huddled together, quaking before the two of them in fright.
"Okay, okay! We'll talk!" Bender wailed, "Just don't blast us with that light either!"
"How the heck did you even get that mask off? Tootie said only the one she loved could get it off!" Wendell added in defiant fury, "And I couldn't get it off!" Chester ignored him, lifting a hand as though to make another motion, and the dentists yelped, shaking even more violently than before.
"All right! I admit we took her and that flying fairy-looking thing that night, but she didn't stay with us!" Bender shouted, sweating bullets as his eyes remained locked on the uplifted hand, "Remy made us give her to him! He's got her! He's got her!" Chip and Chester looked at each other grimly. This just confirmed the Leader's worst fears; Tootie and Romi were being held in that room at the mansion, the hall leading towards it filled with nullifiers. It was hard enough for Timmy to sneak them in that first time; doing it again would be nearly impossible without a huge distraction that would also provide them with plenty of cover.
"Well, now we have to do something about Remy." Chip sighed, folding his arms over his chest, "Like he hasn't got us doing enough to deal with him." Chester nodded and the two made to leave... when the sight of the black object in Wendell's hand stopped him cold.
"Give me that!" Chester snapped suddenly, glaring at the dentist in full fury as he stabbed at the device in his hands, "If you want to keep those teeth in your mouth, you will give that to me!" Wendell clutched the device more tightly in his hands.
"Over my dead body! This is a memento of my lovely Tootie!" he shouted. For a moment, it seemed as though the blonde was about to honor that first remark. Then, he stilled, standing there in frozen silence as he bowed his head, hair shadowing his face and hiding his expression. For a moment, the three other occupants of the lounge wondered if he was standing in defeat over that. Chip reached out to touch his shoulder, jerking back when Chester snapped his head back up with a cold and intense look on his face aimed right at Wendell.
"You will give me that thing in your hands, or you will pay penalty for keeping it from the Others." he told the other teenager in a low tone, holding out his hand towards the device, "Under Timmy Turner's power, I am the second most powerful influence in this city. Do not deny me when I give an order. An order you will obey."
And Chip watched with astonished eyes as Wendell silently and immediately held out the black device, gaping up at him in some mix of terror and awe. Chester took the object from him and clipped it to his belt before turning from them and breaking whatever spell he'd cast on them.
"Let's go, Chip. We're done here." the blonde muttered and they left the wreckage of the dentists' office behind, unanswered questions still hanging in the air.
Cosmo and Wanda were welcomed by Mark right off the bat. He recognized them, knew them, was friends with them and thus they were graced with a rare hug that the Yugopotamian spent a few minutes pumping himself up for to get over his ingrained aversion to the vile idea of a 'kind embrace'. Timmy, on the other hand, for being dressed in unrecognizable clothing and not explaining fast enough who he was, was promptly dropped in a vat of the most horrid thing in Mark's collection of weapons and torture items.
"Will you stop dipping me in chocolate already?" the brunet shrieked after having been coated several times in the stuff. Mark stayed by the lever on the wall, shaking a curled tentacle at him.
"You have dared to steal these floating friends from the greatest warrior the universe has ever known!" the alien yelled back, "You will be dipped in this disgusting chocolate until you beh-ehg for mercy!"
"But I am Timmy Turner! I keep telling you that!" the young immortal snapped, shaking his fists back at his friend, "Yeah, I died, but I was brought back to life and now I'm using a different name and different clothes to hide myself! It's an Earth version of an Image Fakifier!"
"LIAR!" Mark screeched, waving four tentacles in the air wildly as Cosmo and Wanda floated by him, giggling behind their hands at their godchild's plight, "The real Tur-ner would use his friends' power sticks to make a better Image Fakifier! You don't even look like him!"
"That's the point!" Timmy yelled in exasperation, screaming as the alien pulled the lever again and dropped the brunet back into the vat of chocolate for another coating. A minute passed and Mark hoisted him back out, watching impassively as he sputtered and coughed, kicking his legs and swinging the rope that suspended him back and forth. "Oh come on!" Timmy finally shouted, "What do I have to do to prove I'm Timmy Turner to you?"
"Why not ask him a question that only Timmy can answer?" Wanda whispered to the alien suggestively, "Then you'll know for sure." Mark considered this for all of ten seconds before raising a limb into the air.
"Right! Human!" he declared imperiously, "I will ask you a question that only Tur-ner can answer! If you can answer this, then I will accept you as the chocolate-eating warrior of Earth that was defeated most ungracefully by that evil human contraption!"
"Great, half-drowned in chocolate and I have to take a pop quiz." Timmy grumbled in embarrassment, lifting one hand to his forehead to try hiding the expression, "And I wasn't defeated; I fell off and broke my neck, for crying out loud!"
"A-hem!" Mark cleared his throat loudly, "Question! What totally awesome Yugopotamian holiday did Tur-ner celebrate with me on this planet?"
"F.L.A.R.G.!" Timmy yelled back in relief over being asked something he knew and remembered far too well to forget, "We celebrated F.L.A.R.G.! And how the heck did you avoid blowing up the Earth for four straight years without anyone to help you celebrate it?" Mark screamed in horrified girlish tones, startling Cosmo and Wanda as they waved their wands to transport Timmy from his suspended state to the floor before them. The brunet sighed, pulling off a glove to wipe some chocolate from his face and study it disdainfully. "I don't know how many showers I'm gonna need to ever feel clean again." he grumbled and deliberately licked his fingers clean of the chocolate, eliciting another horrified scream from the alien watching him.
"TUR-NER!" Mark yelled in joy, "Like, Dude, it is so totally you! The gnarliest, chocolate-eating warrior the universe has ever seen!" He waved his tentacles at the teen's hands, "You even devoured the most lethal concoction of the dreaded liquid without burning or melting into human goo! Only you can do that!"
"Of course he can! It's chocolate!" Wanda exclaimed happily and poofed beside her godchild to eagerly scrape some off his face with a finger and taste it herself, licking her lips afterwards, "Mmm-mm! Dark chocolate!" Timmy rolled his eyes and sighed, but smiled anyway at his godmother's antics.
"So, we're in agreement that I'm really Timmy Turner?" he asked the alien. Mark waved an appendage in dismissal.
"Ch-yah. I knew it was you the whole time." he replied offhandedly, "The controls that woke me from cryo-stasis were locked with Tur-ner's DNA. Only the same DNA can unlock it and raise me from my radically hideous slumber!" The fairies and immortal stared at him in disbelief.
"Then why-?" Timmy finally squawked, waving his hands wildly at the rope, vat, and alien. Mark laughed heartily, wiping his eyes free of tears as he waved again.
"The look on your face, Brah. It is the most priceless thing in my memory collection now!" he declared with a grin, "It will make a most hor-ren-dous dream!" Despite wanting to do something violent and 'explodey' to the alien, Timmy found himself more puzzled by those words.
"Dream?" he echoed and Mark wiggled in a manner that suggested he was nodding.
"Ch-yah. How else did you think your planet survived four years of F.L.A.R.G.?" he asked in response and tapped at the dome on his head, "I played back the memory of our first Earth F.L.A.R.G. whenever it was time and the elation of experiencing it was enough to keep my AP-pendix from exploding into a planet-destroying explosion." Timmy scratched his head absently, momentarily forgetting he was still coated in chocolate.
"That makes total sense." he remarked softly, blinking at his friend, "And knowing it scares the heck out of me." He paused and looked down at himself as if realizing he was covered in chocolate for the first time before smacking himself in the forehead. "Duh. Fairy godparents." he berated himself, "I wish I was totally clean again!"
"I wondered how long it was gonna take for him to remember he could do that." Cosmo remarked to his wife cheerfully and they waved their wands to grant it. Mark slid over to a couch and perched himself on it, tapping at a gadget nearby to make a pair of broccoli shakes pop up.
"Right, so..." he began, gesturing for Timmy to sit in another chair as he picked up one of the shakes and began sipping at it, "Tell me, Tur-ner; what has happened to the world since I have been sleeping?" The brunet took his place at the opposite chair, leading his godparents to sit on the armrests with him and absently accepting the offered shake as he began recounting what he knew. A sip of the shake, a quick shudder and mental preparation to grin and bear the 'treat', and Timmy went on to tell the stories he'd collected.
From the time spent in New York, establishing his identity and training in the use of magic, to the discovery of the Dark Spires in Dimmsdale that threatened the world's supply of magic and mana, to the discovery that his supposed accidental death was actually a manipulation of events to have him murdered, Timmy told his alien friend everything. It was actually refreshing not to have someone explode in anger over learning that he, the Heart of Dimmsdale and source of life to the city, had been the victim of a murder. Mark only lifted an eyebrow at the revelation and tapped out the order for another shake.
"You, my friend, need serious firepower on your side." the alien finally remarked once all was said and done. Timmy nodded tiredly, slumped against the chair after his energy was spent in talking and gesturing. Mark waved a tentacle absently. "Then, it is decided. I shall join you in this quest of yours to re-conquer your planet and make it your domain once again!"
"What?" Timmy questioned in alarm, sitting up, "Wait, no, that's not what I meant!" But Mark had already made up his mind on it, waving again.
"There is no shame in admitting that some weaker human used tricky tricks to steal your planet from you; there is shame in not doing anything to vanquish your foes and conquer your planet back!" he declared and sipped at his shake with a grin, "So at least you're doing one thing right, Brah." Timmy sighed in defeat and slumped back against his chair, gazing over at his fairy godparents as they looked up at him in sympathy.
"I'm not winning this one, am I?" he asked and the two fairies shook their heads in unison. Timmy closed his eyes and sighed again. "I thought as much. What time is it anyway?"
"String!" Cosmo chirped as Wanda rolled her eyes and pulled Timmy's phone from his pocket, opening it up to check.
"Three forty-five in the afternoon. We've missed lunch." she reported and jumped when the brunet leaped out of his chair.
"Ack! And I was supposed to be at the Ivory Tower this morning! Everyone must be in a panic over me being missing!" he exclaimed and grabbed the phone, studying it carefully, "I knew it! I've got two missed calls and a voice mail here; when the heck did the alarm get turned off?"
"You have others helping you conquer Earth?" Mark questioned, puzzled by Timmy's behavior.
"Saving the world, Mark; we're saving the world. But yeah, my other friends are helping. You remember them, right? Chester and A.J. and the rest?" the brunet asked. Mark tapped himself below the mouth with a tentacle before wiggling in a decidedly 'shaking his head' manner. "Blonde kid with braces, smart bald kid..."
"Oh, those guys." the alien remarked in an unimpressed tone as Timmy slid the phone back into his pocket and looked around himself for anything else he might have forgotten, "Ch-yah. So, they're looking for ya, Brah?"
"Pretty much, yeah. Hey, you want to meet them too? Get caught up on things?" he asked, "You still have your Image Fakifier, right?"
"Normal human Earth child, coming right up!" Mark declared eagerly and spun the atom-shaped dial on his belt, popping into the form of a ten-year-old boy with pink shirt, green shorts, hat and sandals, curly black hair and red eyes. Timmy rubbed his head with a wistful grin, remembering early childhood days where the two of them had crazy adventures trying to keep him in check.
"Pretty good, but you need to make yourself look a little older. My friends will recognize you if you show up as a little kid. You need to be the same age as me to blend in more." he pointed out and Mark blinked at him before twisting the dial again. He popped into an older version of the same human form, standing at equal height to Timmy and sporting green wristbands in addition to the previous wardrobe.
"Ch-yah! No one will ever suspect me of being anything less than a normal human Earth child!" he laughed and pumped his fists into the air, "Bring on the buckets of government food!" Timmy laughed with him.
"Great! Cosmo, Wanda, I wish we were at the Ivory Tower!" he exclaimed and the group disappeared in a puff of pink and green smoke.
Ivory Tower~
Apollo looked over the small collection of evidence a few more times, finally nodding his head in approval. Rather than looking elated, however, Trixie and A.J. only gave small sighs of dismay. After picking apart the information they had collected, the fairy swordsman had cut and slashed out everything that could connect the murder incident to fairy involvement, resulting in the abysmal amount of evidence that could be used to reopen the case.
"So the only heavy hitters we have left is the scenario simulation data, backed by a few notes, the sketch of the device, pieces of the device itself, data on the switch and a photo of the hole in Crocker's room." A.J. sighed, shaking his head, "That could be enough to cast doubt on the case and call for another investigation, but without a motive and decisive evidence, we can't pin it on anyone."
"Remy." Trixie corrected, chewing on her thumbnail nervously. A.J. blinked in shock and stared at her. She noticed his look and pulled her finger away. "We're pinning the murder on Remy. Why do you think I was pulling all this evidence from the Black Hound Files?" she added grimly, "Remy plotted Timmy's murder and had it carried out. We just have to prove his motive and connect him to the jungle gym device." The other boy sat down in a chair, too stunned to say anything else.
"And he's been trying to usurp Timmy's title ever since." he finally murmured, "The bastard." Apollo nodded again, this time more grimly.
"Let's hope we can keep gathering new clues and that Chester has some stellar contact with that police chief." he agreed, folding his arms over his chest as he hovered in the air, "Otherwise, your case will fall apart in court and you'll never be able to charge Remy for Timmy's murder again." He paused and frowned, pulling his wand from his sheath to run his fingers over it. "Picking up a signal..." he muttered and looked up in surprise with the others when the intercom snapped to life.
"Please gather in the war room. Timothy Turner has returned with a new ally. Repeat, all personnel please gather in the war room. Timothy Turner has returned with a new ally." a young girl's voice announced in a blunt, almost emotionless tone. Trixie lit up, hurrying out of the lab as A.J. scrambled to collect the evidence, pack it into a box and follow her out. Apollo watched them leave, then held his wand out to allow a light to shine up from the star. A fuzzy image formed within it of someone standing at attention. The fairy saluted quickly.
"Special Agent Apollo, reporting. Here are the latest developments..." he began, eyes narrowing the slightest bit.
The war room had become crowded now that everyone had gathered within its confines. Well, almost everyone. Timmy glanced around himself quickly, noting with some alarm that Chester and Chip were missing. Mark was busy with holding his hands over his mouth at the sight of Vicky, turning a shade of green that mirrored his normal flesh color.
"Oh gosh! What happened to my evil babe? She is, like, totally hideous now!" he exclaimed in dismay and Vicky shot him a glare.
"Hey! I heard that!" she snapped and scowled angrily, folding her arms over her chest, "Stupid Europeans! Why'd you drag him into this, twerp?"
"Where are Chester and Chip?" Timmy asked instead, ignoring the question in favor of trying to locate his missing friends. The team looked at one another in confusion and concern, finally giving him a collective shrug. Timmy sighed and shook his head. He should have kept better track of his time. "Never mind. I'll just wish them here. Cosmo, Wanda, I wish Chester and Chip were here in the war room!" he remarked with the usual flair of thrusting a finger outward. The fairy couple spun their wands and lashed them out, summoning the two teens in a blast of magic smoke.
"Oh, so that's what you mean by random recall?" Chip remarked to Chester almost casually as they waved away lingering remnants of smoke and magic. The blonde nodded and Timmy rolled his eyes at them.
"I'm afraid to ask what you two were doing running around in your armor, so take a seat and let's get this meeting started." he sighed and blinked when Chester thrust a fist out at him, gripping a familiar hilt in his hand.
"We were 'running around' trying to find Tootie!" he growled, "And this is what we got back from those dental idiots!" He tossed the Laser Blade to Timmy for inspection as he looked over the rest of the team grimly. "Remy was the last person who got her. Chances are pretty dang good she's been taken into his mansion and stuck in that little room where he had me held for a while." he added and folded his arms over his chest, "So what's the plan?"
"Right now, we don't have one. Let's see what the others have first. We can come up with a strategy once I know exactly what everyone's been doing while I was out dragging Remy's attention all over the place." Timmy growled and looked to the rest of the group, "Hit me with it, guys! What's been happening?"
Team Turner looked at one another in concern, then collected themselves in preparation for whatever may happen next.
"The rich twerp's trying to make another play at taking your title." Vicky started off with a growl, nails digging into her arms as her eyes flashed angrily. Some of the team members swore later that they had seen little fiery daggers in them, she was that infuriated. "I've been trying to come up with some gimmick for keeping the city on your side, since Dimmsdale's tearing itself to pieces trying to get a Heart. Figures it finally got the idea that its dying without you here and these Spires are some kinda omen of bad crap right when we need it least!" She shook her head after a minute, glaring at the table, "I couldn't think of anything. Not when twerpette is being held hostage at that punk's place. The Boil Kid and Army Brat here weren't much help, either." Timmy sighed heavily, running his fingers through his hair.
"I know about that first part. I was at the scene of his little publicity stunt. Missed the speech, but he caught sight of me and tailed me all the way to the Dimma-Dump." the brunet agreed and grimaced, "The only way I could think of to get him off my case without destroying the whole place and possibly killing Mark here was to make him think he beat the holy crud outta me. So I've kinda been buried under garbage since yesterday afternoon, I think." He flinched as his friends glared at him and gave them a sheepish smile. "Well, I didn't think anything bad would happen! I mean, I'm already dead, what more could a few tons of junk do to me?"
"A lot." A.J. grumbled and waved a hand to draw attentions to himself and Trixie, "We've been gathering evidence to reopen your case and build a new one, changing your cause of death from accidental to homicide. You were a murder victim, Timmy, and like it or not, we're gonna press charges to get some justice done in this city." The rest of the team let out whoops and cheers, eerily ecstatic with the news as Timmy slapped his palm against his face in exasperation.
"Oh, for crying out loud!" he complained over the ruckus of pats on the back and calls for a toast, "Haven't I taught you people anything? What's throwing somebody in jail supposed to do? It's not gonna undo my death and it's not gonna fix what happened to Dimmsdale!" Trixie huffed, hands clenching into fists as her face reddened in anger.
"Maybe not, but it will teach Remy that he can't get away with murdering you!" she shouted and the entire room went absolutely silent and still, all eyes staring first at her in utter shock, then slowly moving to look at Timmy and his godparents. The brunet stood there, stunned and eyes wide, as he continued staring at the Asian teen. Cosmo ground his teeth and turned abruptly from them, fist tightening on his wand as if he were about to march off to kill the boy himself, stopping only because Wanda grabbed his arm and clung to it tearfully.
"Broke Da Rules, he broke Da Rules...!" the green-haired fairy hissed darkly, "Broke them, the bastard, and they dared to take my life, our lives, as punishment!"
No other sound came from the young immortal, who had yet to break eye contact with Trixie, now seeming to see through her into the distance before finally, finally closing his eyes with a sigh that sounded as if it reached from all the way to the very center of his being, full of defeat, acceptance, and relief, a strange combination of emotions. His shoulders lifted, dropped, relaxed, and an oddly sad smile crossed his lips as he opened his eyes, his entire stance taking on a relaxed, easy-going air.
"I see. Somehow, that doesn't really shock me as much as it should have." he remarked, startling everyone in the war room, "I mean, I've sort of known it the whole time, and I sort of didn't. The little clues and hints, the little bits of information Remy himself gave me when he was confident in his plots... it all adds up now. The answer had been there from the get-go and I just ignored it." The group gaped at him in disbelief.
"Why?" Elmer finally exclaimed, the first to cry out the very question that had leaped into their minds collectively. Timmy shrugged, giving a little laugh as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"I dunno. Seemed like a good idea at the time, I guess." he replied simply, "I mean, the whole point of me being here at all was to bring down the Dark Spires and free Dimmsdale, not get revenge. So even knowing who killed me, after learning my death was planned, after all that, it still doesn't change my plans."
"It doesn't change ours, either, Timmy." Chester growled, hands clenching into fists again, "We're pressing charges, we're getting Remy arrested and convicted of your murder. We're getting our revenge for you, with or without you liking it." He glared at the brunet, as if daring him to try opposing him. Timmy lifted his hands and shrugged again, dismissing the subject almost carelessly.
"Whatever. We still need a plan to rescue Tootie, or you'll be building two murder cases against him and I do not want anyone else sharing my fate at his hands." he returned and folded his arms over his chest, glaring at the map that Chester brought up while he was talking, "Okay, so Tootie's in the mansion? We won't be able to sneak inside for a rescue mission. He'll be expecting that now and he's still got my mana in that scepter; if we go in now, he'll start blasting away with it and get all of you, and possibly himself as well, seriously hurt."
"We could use a diversion." Trixie insinuated, gesturing over herself with a seductive look on her face that quickly turned to a scowl at the brunet's disapproval.
"No. Last time we did that, you got yourself into a wish fight. We need something big this time. Something that's bound to draw all of his attention and leave him so open, we can just walk into his mansion, pick up Tootie, and walk right out." Timmy mused aloud and jumped as Mark threw his hands into the air with a whoop.
"We can all get Image Fakifiers and transform into creatures of his worst nightmares! Then he will be like a quivering human of fear while we get the Tootie from his dungeons!" he declared and looked around eagerly for applause, "Whaddya think, Brahs? Is it not brilliant?" Chip lifted an eyebrow at him, scratching at his goatee in thought.
"Europeans sure are funny people." he remarked, "You mean, go to his mansion in Halloween costumes? That'd only work if we went next Tuesday; that's when Halloween starts up." Trixie shook her head.
"No, Remy closed off access to his mansion when the Dark Spire Project began. Only people he invited could get past the gates, or you guys whenever you did your sneaking into it." she pointed out, "To get him to open his gates to the public and leave him completely vulnerable would take something pretty drastic." Vicky cried out and slammed her fist on the table, laughing maniacally.
"A Halloween party! For the public's attention! That's how we'll do it!" she declared and flashed a shark's grin when all eyes went to her in confusion. "It's perfect! Dimmsdale is split over the Heart, so we'll throw a party in Timmy's honor and invite anyone and everyone to show up! We'll use the Dimmsdale Park as the site and throw a shin-dig that'll feature the return of Chip Skylark!" The singer pumped a fist into the air with a shout of excitement at that. "That'll get the city to stay with Timmy! They'll claim Chip's comeback as a Miracle of the True Heart!"
"How does that help us with rescuing Tootie?" Timmy grumbled, drumming his fingers against the table. Chester puzzled it over, then snapped his fingers with a grin.
"Remy will try to outdo the Timmy Turner Foundation by throwing a bigger, glitzier party! He'll be so busy with schmoozing that he'll never even notice us poking around his mansion!" he exclaimed and pointed at the map, "We'll split into two teams to handle this mission on Halloween. Half of us will handle the party situation, the other half will go into the mansion to get Toots out."
"No." Timmy growled, shaking his head, "That's too many people going there; he's bound to notice that. Most of the team will be at the party to run things, another two or three to infiltrate Remy's party to watch him, another two or three to get into the mansion and rescue Tootie." He counted quickly on one hand and frowned. "I'm going in with the group rescuing Tootie. If Remy breaks away from his own party to cross paths with the rescue team, I'll need to be there to match magic with magic."
"But you will be expected at the party as Timothy Neogene!" Sanjay blurted out in a panic, "You are the chairman of the Timmy Turner Foundation; it will look most bad for you if you are not there to support you!" He stopped and thought over what he just said. "That did not seem to make much sense." he commented idly. Timmy sighed, rubbing his neck again.
"Actually, it made perfect sense. Timothy Neogene has to be in public eye at the party to support Timmy Turner as the Heart. But I still need to be with the rescue team." he muttered, "Or someone equally as strong as me in magical alchemy."
"Too bad you can't be in two places at once, and it would take ages to clone you." A.J. sighed in commiseration. He brightened suddenly. "Hey! What about asking Caleb to build a robot copy of you? The copy could be at the party posing as you, and the real you could be at the rescue!"
"Already thought of it and that won't work either." Timmy muttered, resting his chin on one hand as he sat at the head of the table, a bland expression on his face, "Michael can take my place at a moment's notice, but if Remy runs to stop the rescue and sees me there, he'll wonder how I can be in two places at once. That exposes me and Caleb as being more than who we are to the public, and Caleb won't pull any punches to clear himself of whatever mess comes up because of that." He frowned deeply. "Perfect neutrality; he'll do whatever it takes to protect himself and his mission first, even if it means abandoning a Hero to work without support."
"So we need you in two places at once, but in a way that Remy won't be able to put two and two together and make four." Apollo remarked casually as he flew into the war room, "Hey, did you miss me? Heard what was going down and decided to add my two cents in." Trixie grinned up at her godfather as he settled onto the table by her, polishing his scimitar as though getting ready for a battle. Timmy blinked at him, then rolled his eyes upward in thought.
Timothy Neogene was needed at the party and on the rescue; Michael, his robot copy, could take his place at the Halloween bash easily, but how could he go on the rescue as himself and at the same time, not? Mark suggested a disguise, but what disguise could he use that would let him still use his magic and not be ruined by sudden damage to an alien device?
"Be me and not be me. A me I can be that Remy doesn't know." he murmured to himself, "Not Timmy, not Timothy..." He stopped suddenly, eyes wide with realization. There was another identity he had, one that Remy had never had contact with and had also not been seen in four years! He slammed a hand down and whooped, catching everyone's attention again. "I've got it!" Timmy declared with a grin, a cover story already forming in his head, "Someone else can take my place at the rescue team while I hang out at the party in the park."
"Who? No one else has the power to stand against the aionis scepter!" Chester exclaimed and Timmy grinned wider.
"My other cousin, of course!" he laughed, "Timantha!" And the room erupted into a mix of delighted shouts, startled cries, and fairy laughter.