Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

What could possibly be worse than Vicky or Mr. Crocker? Well, if Timmy had a penny for every time he caught himself saying such things, he would be dead, buried under all that weight. And yet, these words slipped off his tongue like ‘I wish …’ and he still didn’t learn.

After elementary school, there is middle school. After the age of ten comes eleven, then twelve … You know. And even without Vicky, school was still stupid, the teachers were unfair and apparently, he also had the bad luck of attracting every school bully there was. Not just Francis, but also his new friends. And well, now that they played football it did indeed give that boy a tan, but his character was still shit. And high school wasn’t any better. He could barely keep up with everything and his parents more or less convinced him to join the football club so he could maybe earn a scholarship, because they had spent a little too much money all these years that they left him alone and spent on their dates and a babysitter. He wondered why they even thought he would be able to get a degree in the first place. He had no idea what even for. Becoming a spy, a superhero or famous wasn’t that easy to achieve in real life, as he had to realize. And any nearly interesting career proved to be much more difficult to get there than he anticipated.

No matter how much his fairy family encouraged him, he just couldn’t improve his grades above D’s or some rare C’s if he was lucky. Crocker was still pestering him outside of school every now and then with his ambushes (he knew where he lived after all), the occasional Pxie- or Anti-Fairy attack was also still a pain in the ass and Mark Chang and his home planet Yugopotamia also needed his help a few more times. But what was worse than all that, was his new ‘part time job’, as he liked to call it. And it was as good as his lie would get to justify his disappearance on several occasions without his friends and family questioning him further than asking what part time job it actually was. He simply said babysitting because that was the first thing that came to his mind. Oh, the irony. But this was still just as painful, if not even more, as he recalled …

“Run faster, puny Turner!” Jorgen Von Strangle flew with his jetpack above, while Timmy was running for his dear life as the lava chased after him, while he had to jump over several rocks. And no, he was neither on an active volcano nor any other prehistoric place. The lava was simply there, made from magic, like any other obstacle on this oval shaped running course above the clouds. Just the small ball of planet earth under him as he had to run in circles, never slowing down or otherwise he would end up in the fairy hospital. Again. “You are slacking off – last time you had already run five miles by now. You know what awaits us tomorrow!”

“Well, last time I didn’t have practice before that!”, he yelled back, regretting how it made his lungs burn even more. His stomach still hurt from where Francis had shoved his elbow in on purpose during practice. He wished he could just quit, but all that training at least upped his stamina and maybe he wasn’t that bad at something for once. Whether it was at football or as part time apprentice was to be decided – he hated both either way. Meanwhile, Jorgen simply huffed and raised his wand, making the lava disappear.
Finally, Timmy could breathe and collapsed immediately on the pink rainbow-like ground. It was a little transparent, so his racing heart skipped a beat as he stared down into the abyss. Having no magic or way to keep himself floating didn’t ease his stress level, even if he got used to most of that torturous insanity.

“I told you before, you cannot be fairy and human at the same time. Do you give up already, apprentice?” the big fairy stood before him, his big shadow the only cooling shelter he had. With all that running and the lava, he was soaking wet with sweat. “This is merely my daily warm up.” From his memories of Jorgen being his parttime fairy, he knew the extent of his extremeness all too well. And yet, Timmy couldn’t give up, even if he was so done with everything right now.

“No! I just … don’t have enough time to train … Can we at least make a schedule or something that doesn’t clash with school?” He huffed. Jorgen was about to retort something in the form of a neglecting yell but to Timmy’s mercy, his godparents poofed up in the next moment.

“How is the training going, sport?” Wanda had a strained smile on her face, but it soon faded as she overlooked the state her godchild was in. She immediately stared Jorgen down. “He’s a human boy, not immortal! Did you make him fight mutant lions again?!” Timmy’s godmother was clearly not happy with what was going on and how it endangered and exhausted her child from day to day.

Cosmo looked around, marveling at the clouds, oblivious to the situation since he wasn’t involved. “Hey, isn’t that Abracatraz over there?” He held his arm above his eyes and squinted. It made sense to train near the many jails of fairy world, since Jorgen was the main warden of each one. Timmy had to accompany him inside them a few times when Jorgen went through his usual routine of yelling at other fairies and stopping escape attempts. Today was especially high alert, since it was Thursday the 12^th, which meant tomorrow would be another day the Anti-Fairies would try to break out. “Oh, hey Timmy! How’s it going, being Jorgen’s punching bag – I mean, successor?”

His first response was to say that it sucked, but he just bit his lip and was thankful for the water bottle and towel that Wanda summoned for him. Yeah, his predicament wasn’t what he would’ve imagined after reaching his seventeenth birthday. He just happened to come back home to his universe, after they helped Danny defeating an invasion of ghosts and then Jorgen made himself known in his room.

He had revealed his fairies’ identity on multiple occasions and broken – or rather bended – the rules a few times (it was a miracle he was still allowed to keep his family) and yet, the magic and his wishes were still available … although they became less extreme. Wanda and Cosmo needed to charge their wands more often and quicker, he was on limited daily magic and his little brother still went to spellementary school. And when he visited other universes, such as Retroville, sometimes he went without his fairies. Despite all that, they neither exploded nor had his believe in magic subsided. All in all, life wasn’t perfect, but it was alright.

“If he wants to neglect the offer, he can resign from the contract at any time.” Jorgen simply shrugged. Said contract contained that he was to train under Jorgen to become a fairy warden of honor. It was a special loophole Jorgen offered on his seventh Fairy-versary. Usually, GodParents were not assigned to adults, meaning as soon as he reached 18, he wouldn’t be a kid anymore and therefore lose his family. But since he saved the fairy world a few times and in the last couple of years his selfish wishes reduced to a minimum and more mature level (well, not that much, but he knew better than to wish for world changing matters now), Jorgen offered to make him his apprentice, since he already proved to be able to protect the fairy world.
But back then, he had only done so with help and mostly because he was partly at fault for the events. Now though, he had a binding contract that said he had to undergo the basic academy training and Jorgen’s torment to receive the official badge that he was a warden, which would earn him the privilege of keeping his memories and his own limited amount of magic. It was still up to the future, if Cosmo and Wanda or even Poof would be assigned to new children one day, but at least Timmy would be allowed to still remember and see his family. According to the contract, he would have his own wand to teleport to fairy world and to defend himself with his trusty weaponry. However, if he were to quit, he would lose all that. And then he could count his days to his 18th birthday and not even rely on that, because it could likely be any day with how often he attracted trouble.

Which meant, he had to endure the gruesome training for four years. Then he would earn the badge. But that didn’t mean he could live in the fairy world or that he would be paid for that, so he still had to balance his normal life with his finals coming up and football practice, which was just a fancy word for being the bullies water carrier and punching bag. It had only been a few months and he was already exhausted. Some might say getting a college degree was easier than that, but aside from smashing something with his giant hammer, Timmy had no idea what he would do in the future or what talents he had. And the thought honestly annoyed him. Because he hated thinking about the future and growing up.
Sure, he loved his parents and although A.J. graduated early and was already busy with university, he still had Chester who got his back … but it still kept him yearning for his childhood, when things were easier and he didn’t have to worry about stuff like that. When grades and regular Fs were just a side thing and he wouldn’t have to stress over his homework so hard he felt tears prick in his eyes while he dreaded his adult life regardless. It wasn’t helping that his parents kept musing what they would turn his room into after he moved out when he graduated. That pressure was even more overwhelming than running from lava. The latter just helped to drown it out just enough.

He had thought about asking Jimmy if he could tutor him a few times. But whenever he came to his lab and the boy genius was busy with his complex science inventions or working on his own essays about quantum physics and whatnot, he felt silly and stupid for wasting his time. So he always crumbled his worksheets behind his back or just threw the backpack aside, stating he was simply bored and came over to look if he did anything exciting.
Danny with his 21 years was also busy with college and fighting ghosts, along with Sam and Tucker. Spongebob was already a working adult. Meanwhile Timmy was left questioning what he was supposed to do, being the not even average teenager and struggling so much compared to them. He felt like life was out of his control and if there was the opportunity to at least keep his family and most of his happy memories, then he would see this through.
Even if his normal life was crumbling above him, he could at least achieve something in the magical world, right? He survived a year alone with Vicky before he got his Fairy GodParents, for crying out loud! Maybe being a warden did come with perks. And if not for all of that, at least he would gain muscle and stamina. Lifting his hammer and fighting would be way easier and he could impress Jimmy with his new abilities. He didn’t need gadgets or powers to dodge and run and he already noticed the result of his torture. His arms had gained muscle and his reflexes had improved – being chased by cougars helped a lot with that. The only downside would be possible mutilation and his hair turning grey very early, but the fairy hospital had comfy beds, even if he was the second biggest person around. Who was he to pass on such chances, regardless how small?

“I’m fine.”, he said after emptying the bottle and regaining his breath. He lifted his black shirt a little since it literally stuck to his skin with all that sweat and he would kill for a shower right now. The contract said nothing about a dress code, but Jorgen still made him wear camouflage cargos, boots and black shirts. At least his own clothes wouldn’t have to suffer from the chaos that was thrown at him, like, every Tuesday, Thursday and second weekend. “But can we take a break from all that running? I can’t feel my legs anymore.”

Jorgen huffed, but he poofed up a dark blue, crooked watch, that showed the remaining time until it was Friday the 13^th once more. “You’re lucky I have to check up on the security system and prepare for tomorrow.” He contemplated for a moment, until a sly grin spread across his face. “Now that I think about it, this is great training. Alright Turner, we will cut training short for now. BUT! You will come back here at midnight sharp and stay for the next twenty four hours.”

“What?!” Sure, Timmy had known tomorrow would be an important day, but Anti-Fairies always managed to escape and caused bad luck on earth, even if they could be seen now. Jorgen swore to prevent them from escaping every time but they still managed to squeeze through on that day. And Timmy actually had plans for Friday night for once! Of course something had to come up then …
It had been months since all of them managed to settle on a day were everyone was free. Him, Jimmy and SpongeBob wanted to visit Danny in Amity Park for a sleepover and to watch some bad horror movies. You know, spending quality time and catching up with each other. They could barely make time for such normal meetups that didn’t involve world ending or universe wrecking troubles as it was, now he would have to cancel that. Which was stupid because usually he was the only one always bored out of his mind and asking for it. But since he was busy with his double life now, he had ghosted their group chat from time to time, due to exhaustion and anxiety. They were already questioning him – it must be very suspicious if even Jimmy called him on his own and asked what was going on. Usually it was the other way around, the boy genius too engrossed in his projects and forgetting the concept of time, even if he knew so much about it.

Canceling would just make it worse … Sure they’d understand, but he couldn’t possibly tell them the truth. One rule break would end the contract and although Jimmy told the others about his ‘programs’ they surely had other theories. Well, Timmy could still make something up and lie about it but turning his squad friends down just felt so unfair. He had looked forward to it, craving the presence of his crazy company where he wouldn’t feel like a loser or outsider and could forget about his worries for a while. Sure, it was just a movie night but still! After all this hard work he had earned a normal teenage activity, right? And Jimmy would bring his purple flurp and sit next to him like always. Timmy slightly shook his head to get rid of the imagination. His head was already planning the whole scenario out and although he though his cheeks couldn’t possibly get any hotter, they did anyway.

“Nonsense! Your first shift as a warden in training starts in seven hours, so be prepared.” The warden fairy declared and stomped his big wand for emphasis. Cosmo and Wanda could only look at their godchild in sympathy since the contract forbid them from interfering with Jorgen’s training, as long as Timmy was not in life threatening danger – which was a vague description when Jorgen was involved. Still, after all these years and them being Jorgens ‘friends’ as he described sometimes, he still had a merciful suggestion. “If no Anti-Fairies escape in these twenty-four hours, you may have the next week free to life your normal puny human life. But if you fail, I will double the training and no wishes for that week! And that’s final!” With that, he stomped his wand one more time, poofing away with the faint words ‘final’ littering in the air for a split second.

Finally having a real break, Timmy let himself fall on his back and closed his eyes. He wanted to complain and yell in frustration, but he was too exhausted for any of that. Right now all he wanted to do was to curl up and sleep and maybe a vacation at a beach. He was always up for extreme things like surfing on a tsunami or snowboarding on the highest mountain. Yet he just wanted to realx for once. Too bad Cosmo didn’t get the memo.
“Great, now we can go sightseeing until Poof comes back from school!” cheering, he floated around enthusiastically. His wife only rolled her eyes and focused on Timmy.

“Anything we can make you? Our wands are still fully charged.”

Her godchild dismissively waved his hand. “Nah … just want to take a nap, I think.” Instead of doing so, he searched for his phone. Right, it was I his room with his normal clothes. At least he thought so, because he had no idea where his stuff on his body went when Jorgen transformed him. He really didn’t look forward to that. Also, he had school tomorrow, how was that supposed to work? He could call in sick or something and tell his parents he slept over at Chester’s to study. They didn’t have many courses together but they were still losers so of course they spent most of their time in School together. And since Chester was pretty chill about everything and went along with any alibi Timmy needed, it wasn’t hard to excuse himself for multiple days, especially when he was on missions or just hanging out with Jimmy, Danny and Bob. Chester knew Jimmy and Retroville and had yet to ask about the whole universe travel and his ‘reality alternating programs’ and where he got them from.
Sometimes Timmy wondered why he even put so much thought into his lies. He was pretty good at planning ahead now, since ‘the internet’ wasn’t the universal answer to anything anymore. But his parents didn’t care enough to question him about every single detail. Neutron and the others were a different story, but he could life with telling semi-truths. So why was he so worried the whole time? This stupid contract was making him paranoid.

“Well, we could pay Big Daddy a visit, you could take a nap there while we wait for Poof. But take a shower first.”, Wanda suggested which Timmy thought wasn’t a bad idea, so he agreed. “Alright, let’s get you fixed. Cosmo!” Said husband was flying in circles and taking pictures of the fairy jail.

He joined his family with glee. “Uuuh, maybe we could come back earlier and investigate this place.”

Wanda crossed her arms. “We went there a few times with Timmy already, Cosmo.”

“Really? But have we seen ALL sections?” Of course her husband didn’t remember but to be fair, when they climbed the prison cells of the Anti-Fairies and other creatures, he hid behind her or turned himself into a piece of soap, claiming that would make the prisoners leave him alone.

After he picked himself up, still with shaky legs and feeling a little lightheaded, Timmy recalled his times he went through the halls. He really didn’t feel like rehearsing all that, since he was going back soon and for way too long enough anyway, but there were a few hallways that were for superior staff only, which he wasn’t allowed to enter. Wandering off without Jorgen was big no go and knowing what punishments could possibly await him, dimmed the boy’s curiosity. “Who cares, let’s go. But I wish we were already there, I don’t want to walk across half fairy world.” As he said so, Cosmo and Wanda raised their wands and the next moment, they were gone.

“Well well well, isn’t that interesting. Timothy is in charge for the safety of earth and fairy world. How delightful!” A familiar adversary rubbed his hands together as he watched from afar. He had spent the last few days with planning nonstop. “This will be as easy as stealing candy from a baby. Especially with you, new dispos- I mean, trustworthy partner.” Anti-Cosmo smiled with his sharp teeth at the hooded figure next to him.

The unknown person showed no movement under his cloak. “Just create a distraction big enough so I can get what I want. I don’t care what you and the others do afterwards.”

Anti-Cosmo felt slightly bummed about the lack of enthusiasm, evil laugh and monologuing, but he wouldn’t let that ruin his perfect escape plan. “Fear not, Clarice, we shall both keep up our bargain. Now we just have to wait.” One couldn’t see it under the dark hood of the unknown person, but they most certainly rolled their eyes. No matter how many hours they already spent together, the taller figure definitely wasn’t looking forward to even more.

Chapter Text

Taking a nap was a risky thing to do. Either you slept for about two hours or half the day. And no matter which was the likeliest, Timmy always woke up unknowing what year, time or day it even was. A part of him was still ten, not wanting to sleep the day away and use his holy free time for sleeping. The older part of him, however, didn’t have the energy anymore and thus he still felt tired and not a spark of energy, but his godparents woke him up regardless. And although he slept most of his visit in Bid Daddy’s company away, that scary mafia fairy and his mister Nay-Nay were still as crazy as ever.

He also adored his grandson a lot. Mr. Fairywinkle could spoil Poof just as much as his daughter if he wanted to. Timmy was always a little confused and unsure around him, but since he was probably one of the few people that could even threaten Jorgen, his respect for this guy went through the roof. So yeah, Cosmo was probably the only one who didn’t have a good time whenever they visited Wanda’s dad. But it was less stressing than Mama Cosma.

For now, they were just walking – or floating on his godfamily’s part – through the streets. Back to his prison … sadly, not in a figure of speech.

“Well boys, we still have enough time to stop at nana Boom-Boom’s for some … cake.”, Wanda said, giving her son a side look when they were close to the Von Strangle military base.

Poof, who had a lot more hair and wore purple dungarees with a white shirt instead of baby-clothes now, had made it a habit of clinging to Timmy’s back or sitting in his hood if there ever was one, instead of floating. Although he wasn’t an infant anymore and about seven years old, he still hadn’t changed much. Despite his phase where he quoted and imitated many celebrities and movies. He was in a less talkative phase as of recently.

“No, Brownies!” Poof cheered and added some poof poof’s to make his opinion clearer. For some weird reason, Timmy could still understand what he meant, and it had become sort of their thing. It was especially funny to see the priceless looks on his friends faces when they first met his little brother. He snorted. It was nearly impossible to think about a life without his fairy family. He had known Poof from the first moment he was born and to think about a time where the three would be assigned to another godchild seemed unreal. Sure, for immortal fairies seven years were nothing. Maybe in a thousand years, when he was long gone, they wouldn’t even remember him, his hall of Timmy in their castle replaced with something else. Wanda and Cosmo had their own child, the empty space was filled and having godchildren was a mere job. They were forced to care and keep them save by Da Rules …

His smile faltered. Sometimes he wondered if they loved him as much as he loved them. If Poof thought about him as a real brother like he did. Then again, he had been very ignorant in his childhood and the display of intimacy, affection and being grateful were things he tended to forget in his self-centered head. Not to mention the thought of Wanda and Cosmo as parents was a little strange … they had been more like friends or cool uncle and aunt company along the way. Not like real parents. But well, for the record, his Mom and Dad also had a tendency to goof off and act silly, so maybe he just couldn’t take adults seriously in general. And even if they were pretty much oblivious to everything that was going on in his life, he didn’t want to replace them.
But why did it always end up like that? Why did he have to decide? Couldn’t he have two families or a big one? Was it really that selfish of him to wish he didn’t have to lose everything? Maybe that’s what you get when you get neglected or left behind all the time. He wasn’t that much different from any of the other godchildren, aside from causing much more trouble. And yet he hoped they would really make that exception. The memories he shared with his fairies and all the other unbelievable things that happened in his life were the most joyful he had. And he knew Cosmo and Wanda nearly half of his life. Why should his believe in magic ever decrease if he had a walking sponge and half-ghost as friends? Life was magical and Timmy wouldn’t want to life in one without it. It was a part of him and losing that would … destroy something inside him. He wouldn’t be who he was without it. Also for a normal guy in his school, he was far from being that, but among his universal friends, he was the most average and kind of useless without fairy magic. Jimmy had his brains, Danny his ghost powers and Bob was … well, Bob. He couldn’t keep up with that on his own. Without magic there was no reason for them to call for help. Or to impress, err, assist Jimmy. He had nothing to offer except for good reflexes and a high durability. And buckteeth.

Suddenly, Wanda jerked him out of his thoughts. “Is something wrong sport? You’ve been awfully quiet the whole time.” She floated in front of him. He wasn’t really looking where they headed, probably towards the jails, since he just followed the path they were on right now. They weren’t even close to nana Boom-Boom’s bakery anymore.

“It’s nothing” He shrugged it off. “Just thinking about tomorrow.” He was a trained liar. Always using half-truths. Sometimes it surprised him how easy these slipped from his tongue. And other times he wasn’t because he did such a good job, that he almost believed them himself. Or wanted to, at least.

Despite that, Wanda usually had her mother sense to know it was more than that, but she didn’t pry further. Instead, she gave her husband a side-glance that meant the usual ‘cheer him up’, when Timmy was in such a mood. “Well, the contract said nothing about you needing to be alone, so we could just hang out together during your shift. Like a sleepover! … In a jail with the most dangerous criminals in the world!” Cosmo cheered and for the first half, his wife thought this was actually a good idea, until Poof joined the cheer and she immediately felt her bad-idea-senses tingling as well. But when she saw the way Timmy’s eyes lit up at that, she couldn’t outright refuse.

“I know, It’s been a while since we had time for us, with Jorgen’s training and High School keeping you busy, but I don’t think Poof should stay there.”, she tried to reason with them, but her fairy son shook his head.

“No, going with Timmy!”, he stated. “And Foop lives in jail half the time, it’s okay.” Since him and his anti-counterpart had this sort of truce going on a good number of years for now, they were like regular school buddies and studied together. But usually, it was Foop that came over for playing and doing homework. They were typical frenemies, so yeah, Poof had seen worse and more evil foes than any criminal in that jail – at least in his opinion. He wasn’t scared at all.

“By the way, is Foop participating tomorrow?” Timmy just knew that something would happen. It was Friday the 13^th and never in all these years was there ever one without any incidents. The Anti-Fairies caused enough trouble without it and Foop was no exception, although he kept his shenanigans low and school related mostly. Ever since that scary godchild incident with Vicky they had been on neutral ground so he hoped that little cube wouldn’t try to take over the world again. However, his little brother shrugged, not really bothered by that.
Poof shok his head. Then again, he didn’t take his other half very serious these days so he could be too confident. Unlike his parents and Timmy he thought that bad luck to a certain degree wasn’t so bad, it was just nature. But he couldn’t voice these thoughts well enough yet, which was a bummer.

“I would be more concerned about the annual bake-off anyway. Remember last year when Nana got the 9-hour flu and Jorgen had to take her place?” Cosmo laughed at the good and yet horrible memory, because they had to come up with a different recipe and only won because Anti-Cosmo thought that Anti-Nana would make a better challenge, but since she’s the anti-version … her baking only looked good and tasted great on the first bite, but the spiders inside were still alive, mutated and exploded while the rest of the cookies slowly decayed. The fairy world won but at the cost of a hurricane. A strange day and Timmy had been partly relieved that this time he wasn’t at fault this time. Even if he were able to tell the truth about some things in his life, Jimmy and the others would never, in a million years, believe him that.

“That’s not happening for another three months.” Timmy looked up to see the intimidating dungeon like jail on the higher cloud in front of him. He really didn’t want to think about that right now. It was still about an hour before midnight and he had slept enough that he wasn’t really tired right now – aside from the enormous lack of motivation. “I wish I had my phone.”

It felt easy, just like breathing. He often wished for something and caught himself saying that without even really thinking about it. After seven years, one would think that having nearly every whimsy granted would make someone feel apathetic or bored eventually, but it just became part of the routine. Was that selfish? Was he a jerk for not wanting that to change? He knew he took most of the wonders that he lived through in his childhood for granted. That only made his adventures even more precious to him. Perhaps it was karma that he would eventually have to pay the price for it.
His cell phone was in his hand before he even lifted his arm. Usually, he didn’t have that many messages, aside from the spam of memes that Chester sent him every day. And SpongeBob always wrote good morning and good night in their group chat, he was just sweet like that. Danny was either pretty busy or not in the mood for long texts, so his responses considered mostly of emojis or gifs, while Jimmy’s texts lacked any unnecessary emoticons. Only if he felt especially cocky, he would choose the most complicated words or synonyms just to spite Timmy. Just call it an espresso machine, dude!

13 unread messages: Universal Squad United

[19:32] Phantom: “btw. Sam says there’s a small festival this weekend. You guys still free after tomorrow?”

[19:33] SquareBob: “That sounds great! J I can just work overtime on Sunday.”

[19:35] Phantom: “You work on Sundays? Overtime??”

[19:35] SquareBob: “Only because we close a little earlier on Friday night and I took the day off on Saturday.”

[19:40] Phantom: “Dou you ever get vacation or, like, regular free time?”

[19:41] SquareBob: “I’m the only cook, so we can’t open when I’m not there. Squidward refuses to take my place most of the time – which is for the better, I think.”

[19:45] Phantom: “That’s stupid, he should hire more cooks then.”

[19: 50] SquareBob: “Well, it’s something only I can do. How much do you work?”

[19: 50] SquareBob: “And when do you take a vacation? Do you have a substitute half-ghost?”

[19: 58] SquareBob: “Danny?”

[20: 00] Man Genius: “I can also clean my schedule for Saturday and bring Bob’s hologram projector.@SquareBob It seems like Daniel couldn’t take his own medicine.”

[20: 02] SquareBob: “Riiiight. And when was the last time you slept 8 hours or didn’t work nonstop on an invention?”

[20: 13] SquareBob: “… Jimmy? Anyone?”

Timmy smiled at the chat and the irony. None of them had a normal or balanced life. He was the average kid with the most normal problems – at least to the unknown eye. He would be lying if he said he had slept regularly the last few weeks. He was exhausted and his body was sore all over. But he still had to think about what he should tell them. If he said he couldn’t go because of the Anti-Fairies, they probably would offer to help and he didn’t want to ruin that for them. He couldn’t think of a good excuse … Should he just not respond? As soon as it was Friday midnight, he could poof right in, probably just in time for a jumpscare and tell them something stupid, like he was too engrossed in a new game or hung out with Chester or whatever. Or he could tell them the truth after it was already over and brag about how he dealt with a crisis all on his own and that nothing even happened.

He contemplated if he should respond anything to that. His fingers itched to give his own penny of thoughts and perhaps mock the two of the so called ‘responsible’ half of their squad, even if it was hypocritical. He usually never passed up the opportunity to rile Neutron up and took delight in the way his ears turned red from embarrassment and how he couldn’t find the right words or counter arguments right away. Seeing him flabbergasted or show any of these emotions always satisfied the jerk inside Timmy, as he described it. He really wanted to experience that more often.

[23:23] Flat Turned: “guess being averga ain’t so bad after all, suckers. And yeah, I’m free all weekend.”

[23:24] Phantom: “Look who’s still alive. Hope it’s no problem if Sam, Tucker and Dani come along”

[23:24] Flat Turned: “nah, Im bringin my guys too as alwaxs. Also poof would like seeing dani again.”

[23:25] SquareBob: “Aww, you two are such nice big brothers. 🤭”

[23:28] Flat Turned: “ye we manage”

Timmy flinched as he heard a loud boom nearby and shoved his phone in the back pocket of his cargos. Not far from him, Jorgen had appeared and cleared his throat.

“What? It’s not midnight yet, there’s still plenty of time!”, he defended himself right away. According to Wanda, time went even slower in the fairy world and without any real changes of day- and nighttime, it was sometimes hard to keep track of it. Especially since he was mortal and wanted his gruesome task to be over as soon as possible, while the immortal fairies just did whatever they wanted outside of their jobs.

Jorgen raised his wand and a small yet still as thick copy of Da Rules popped up in the air, to fall right in Timmy’s arms. The force of the impact made him lose his balance and he fell on his knees. “I just came to instruct you, Turner. My shift doesn’t start for another twelve hours after all.”

“Wait, you’re not going to be with Timmy and leave him alone, unsupervised in a prison full of Anti-Fairies?!” Wanda threw her hands up and floated in front of the warden’s face.

“Relax, the Anti-fairies usually don’t start with their rampage until 9 a.m., and I got other business to do.” If the rubber duck was any subtle hint on his business, no one commented on it(or noticed, in Cosmos case). “As for you, Turner!” He pointed his finger at him. “I hope you remember the tour from last time, because I will not do it again. If anything goes wrong, consider this mission failed and prepare for a week of PAIN.” He stomped his wand and suddenly, they were right in the middle of the Abracatraz. The big see-through wall of Anti-Fairies with their red eyes stared at him. Minus Foop and Anti-Cosmo. They hadn’t heard a thing from the latter in well over a year, not even the last Friday the 13^th was he seen. It was concerning, since even Anti-Wanda seemed to be clueless and thought they had kidnapped him. Her plan in overthrowing fairy world didn’t succeed and even the Anti-Fairy council admitted it was doomed to fail – which it did. The only evidence of Anti-Cosmo were cryptic love letters to his wife, according to Jorgen. Some described some evil plans that only Cosmo and Anti-Wanda would execute, because they made no sense.

“So if they don’t do anything until tomorrow morning and you’re not even here, what am I supposed to do?”, Timmy asked, still trying to figure out how he should carry this book around with him.

“Using that time to study, of course. As a warden, you need to know the rules. I will test you about the most essential and important ones when I get back. Surprise!” Upon Timmy’s lack of enthusiasm, Jorgen’s grin widened. “And there are other prisoners as well. Make sure everyone stays were they are and do NOT wander off to the constricted area!” Ironically, the rule enforcer pointed to the very direction with the well-lit sign above the corridor that lead to the ‘superior staff only’ area.

“A test was not part of the deal!”, the teen protested as the heavy book slipped through his fingers and landed on the ground. If Vicky was cruel, Jorgen was being close second, if not even more unfair. He knew he bended and broke the rules a lot in his youth (which was not even a year since the last time), but he had finals coming up and didn’t even have the time to study for that! How was he supposed to make time for this now? “And what if something happens? I have no magic, I can’t defend myself without their help” He motioned towards Cosmo and Wanda, while Poof on his back glared at Jorgen. Since this counted as part of the training and his duties, the contract forbade Cosmo and Wanda to interfere with it. Which meant, he couldn’t wish for anything major. They would be able to keep him safe and bring him out of here, but they wouldn’t be able to prevent any outbreaks. It was like they were degraded to 3^rd rang all over again.

Now, Jorgen was strict, but not that merciless. “If something happens, you can use this.” He hovered his big wand over Timmy and a tiny floating crown appeared over his head. “This protects you from most bad luck magic. And this –” A big wand, similar to Jorgen’s appeared in Timmy’s hand. It was perhaps a little heavier than the Cosmo-Hammer and almost the same size as him, only the star was white instead of yellow. “is not a real wand, but you can smack enemies with it. Just don’t poke your eye out with the pointy ends.”

“What am I? Six?” Although he felt like a cheap Jorgen cosplayer now, he was kinda glad for this getup and felt at least a little less vulnerable.

“Oh trust me, it hurts and it happens more frequently for fairies than you think.”, Cosmo chipped in, waving his wand around frantically until Wanda grabbed his wrist to stop him. She murmured something about not every fairy and that it was mostly just him – and her, if she was unlucky to be too close.

Jorgen ignored the side banter and continued. “Now, I am not that cruel. As long as you don’t break any rules, there shall be no consequences regarding you as a godchild.” Well, having so little faith in his capabilities soured Timmy’s slightly lifted mood again. “I’ve known you for long enough to know that whenever you are involved, something goes wrong. So, if the alarm is set off, I’ll be back to take care of it. But you better not jinx it!” He poofed up his calendar that was full of post its and appointments, such as his and Tooth Fairy’s wedding anniversary next week, which would explain why Jorgen even offered said week off to him. “I don’t have time for this and if whatever you mess up ruins my plans for next week, the lava will be child’s play compared to what I will think of, if that happens. See you in twelve hours!”

And with that, Jorgen was gone once more. Surrendering to his fate, Timmy checked his phone again. He had received a lot of question marks, which confused him - until he saw that in his haste he forgot to lock the display and had send another message shortly after his last with random gibberish on it.

[23:39] Flat Turned: “sorry was interrupted, need to do something. Anyways, see ya Saturday”

He quickly locked his phone and put it back. Now he had to carry this big ass wand and the big ass rule book around with him. Great.

They settled for the main hall, where he could keep watch on the cells and still be as far away from them as he could. He had only a few minutes left and although it was unlikely something would happen the minute it stroke midnight, he felt the hairs on his neck stand up. He was glad his godfamily could at least offer moral support. Cosmo lightened up the mood by playing out some jailbreak scenes from some movies with Poof that they had watched in the past.
Wanda tried to play it cool that they were stuck in a dungeon surrounded by enemies with her baby and her godchild. She could take Poof with her and bring him to Mama Cosma, sure, but her son wouldn’t like that. He had been very clingy towards his godbrother ever since the whole contract thing started, as if he sensed the stress Timmy was under and wanted to help and cheer him up. It was very sweet to witness how fond they were of each other, but she couldn’t ignore the pang of guilt and worry that their bond as a family could easily be shattered by Da Rules. Of course, she knew it was her job and they learned in the academy that a fairy shouldn’t get too attached to a godchild since they had to leave them forever eventually, but she just couldn’t help it. The uncertainty was unnerving her immensely inside. So even if this was, whether because of the rules or a humans mortality, only a limited time they could still spend together, she wanted Timmy and Poof to have as many good moments together as possible. Even if it wasn’t so cheery to be stuck in a jail and they couldn’t do more than encourage him.

The fairy woman sighed and rose her wand to poof up some blankets and sandwiches so they could make this task as comfortable as possible. Neither the wiser that they were being watched.

[23:40] SquareBob: “Oh, surely you mean Friday right? As in tomorrow evening? 😊”

[23:42] SquareBob: “… Timmy?”

[23:43] SquareBob: “Is this cellular phonie-thing broken? Why does nobody want to talk with me 🥺”

[23:44] Man-Genius: “It most certainly isn’t, I made it extra waterproof, long lasting and durable.”

[23:44] Phantom: “Relax Bob, he means the right thing. We’re just busy today. 👍”

[23:45] SquareBob: “Thank Neptune! But what could you all possibly be so busy with? It’s almost midnight on a school night. Aren’t you guys all supposed to be in bed anyway?”

[23:46] SquareBob: “Don’t tell me you are all still playing videos games, tinkering in the lab and sitting on buildings looking for ghosts.”

Phantom is typing …

…

…

Phantom went offline

Man-Genius went offline

[23:46] SquareBob: “Aw, come on guys! Go to bed already! 😣”

Deep in a pineapple under the sea, a mildly disappointed sponge put down his gifted phone (that had the form of a seashell, which was nice) from his genius friend, with which he managed to keep in contact with his otherworldly friends. He wasn’t remotely better, sitting in his library and drinking tea because he was too excited to be tired. But at least he was already wearing his pajamas and had brushed his teeth.

Deciding to be a good role model, he turned off his lamp and tiptoed up to his bedroom to not disturb Gary. He couldn’t know how on point his assumption was … at least in two out of three cases.

Chapter Text

The panic of having to socialize was enough to prevent Timmy from scrolling on his phone. Now, stable people would use this time to be productive. It wouldn’t be that hard to poof up his homework or the stuff he had to study for his exams. He could train (which, no, thank you) or he could do the thing Jorgen tasked him with and study the rules.

But as any overwhelmed and anxious teenager that had tons of stuff to do and was under immense stress, Timmy Turner felt guilty enough to not fall asleep and yet exhausted enough to not move an inch from his spot on the floor where he was laying on. He was obviously very busy. Which was why he stared blanky at the ceiling, faint static playing in his mind, doing absolutely nothing but spiral thinking about all the things that were on his agenda. Procrastination at its peak.
It was waaay past midnight already and yet nothing happened, aside from the glaring red eyes directed towards him and their whispering. It would be hard to ignore that if Timmy weren’t already used to such stares that just wanted to watch him fail and crumble. He got them from football, from his classmates, from the bullies, from his old Teacher Mr. Crocker, from Vicky whenever they crossed paths and so on – the list was only growing. It was something that had become part of his life. The only thing that still bothered him about that fact was the fear of receiving this stare even from his loved ones one day … The day they would finally peek behind the mask, see his true worth and decided he wasn’t worth it anymore. Even without Friday the 13^th he wasn’t very lucky. Most of his wishes turned against him just like most of his allies thought he was kind of a jerk too and they were sort of right. He probably deserved so for some wishes he made in the past and his behavior.

You know, just the average wandering thoughts coursing through his brain as he silently wallowed in self-pity.

But he was a kid back then. Any child, with siblings or not, craved attention, appreciation and tended to be unaware of the consequences their actions caused for themselves and others. That was normal, right? Being blunt, easily riled up, emotional, seeking companionship, wanting to be popular and have fun. Acting considerate and making responsible wishes was like asking a baby to stop being so dramatic – it fell on deaf, or rather not understanding, ears. He couldn’t possibly grasp the whole concept of wishing for nearly and literally anything a kid ever wanted and dreamed about and still hold back for the sake of everyone else. If you had so much power, anyone would (ab)use it for their personal interests, right? Like going in a store and buying everything you want without having to look at the price tag.

Why give kids fairies if the risk was so unforeseeable in the first place? Well, he certainly had his fair share of consequences through selfish gains. Aside from his friends and fairy family, he didn’t really care about what others thought of him or what he did to them. At least he didn’t realize it. And he still didn’t, probably … So he was at least lucky in that regard of having Cosmo and Wanda as his moral compass and guidance when all he had from his parents were white lies and oblivious forgetfulness … or rather indifference.
It was easy and fun to do what he wanted and go on magical adventures of course, but sometimes he was mad at his parents. They either acted like morons or like they didn’t care, giving him dangerous chemicals or letting Vicky chain him to a doghouse and crying about how they were stuck with him and so on. When they did care, however, that fluke was over the next week.

He didn’t blame them, though. He never did. He knew they loved him and maybe he should’ve just called them out on their bullshit, since that worked a few times back in the day – even if it had to be reversed. Because part of the whole fairy godparents thing was, after all, that his life had to be miserable. If his parents were normal and caring all the time and if he had gotten rid of Vicky and Mr. Crocker – where he had plenty of chances to do so – or his bullies, then his life wouldn’t be miserable. And he only managed to have his fairies for so long mostly because of that!
Now, if his memories were lost, he would only have the miserable parts left. After all these years when he was about to be an actual adult, it was too late to change that. Too late to have a real and happy childhood with his family and the few friends he had. Now with A. J. barely keeping contact and Chester and him having different schedules and responsibilities, he not only felt misunderstood, but more like the leftovers of something that once was … or could have been.

Sadly, not all memories he shared with magic were also magical. Knowing just what chaos he unleashed and that wishing to never be born would result in a much better world and life for everyone else was just cruel. Only now that he was older and knew what it truly felt like to not be appreciated, regardless of what you did, it just made him sad. And sometimes not even the supportive words oof his godfamily helped with that, because the fear of loss filled every syllable with bittersweetness.
The contract changed most of it, of course. He had no excuse to be miserable anymore, it was just his personality now. Great. If he wouldn’t know how much trouble it caused, he would like to wish for not having emotions again. Because feeling nothing made it easier to not care about anything than now, being stressed and torn apart. If he could be like his family, immortal and forever young, that sounded nice. But then again, he cared too much about his parents and his friends. He wouldn’t want to lose them and the thought of not going on missions with Jimmy, Danny and SpongeBob or watching movies with Chester and A. J. just hurt too much.

He was so tired of being split apart and having this whole puberty inducted emotional rollercoaster.

“Alright, let’s get this over with.” Sick of laying around sulking, Timmy pushed himself upward. The sore muscles in his arms made themselves known, but it was manageable. His hair was tousled, and he was glad only his training clothes were in such poor condition and dirty, not his real ones. He was sitting on a blanket but still, since fairies flew around everywhere, he could literally see the only footprints of Jorgen on the ground in a small film of dust if he paid attention to it. And well, also his own now. Although he didn’t walk in through the entrance since he was poofed in by Jorgen … Well, that only proved how little the strangely absent staff cleaned this place. Whatever. It wasn’t as if a prison had an image to uphold. He shrugged it off and looked over at the rule book, lazily using the star-end of the fake wand to draw it closer to him.

Cosmo perked up from their card game. The three had played go-fish since they knew that if Timmy was in one of these silent moods, he wasn’t up for talking so they left him alone for a while until – usually Wanda – decided that it was enough, and he could use some distraction. She would have given him not much than ten more minutes anyway. It was still going to be a long night, after all. “I can’t believe it! Our Timmy, studying on his own?! He must be an impostor!” Cosmo let his cards fall as he flew upward in shock. It wasn’t like he was about to win anyway; his hand had been bad and he lost all earlier rounds too. “He must be an anti-version or something! Quick Wanda, we need to find the real one!”

“Stop that Cosmo, you know only fairies have anti-versions.”, she reminded him. “Jorgen will test him later, so it’s good he’s taking the training serious.” She smiled at her godson proudly and together, they hovered over to accompany him. Timmy didn’t bother, it was just their way of showing affection and he appreciated to tension diffusing antics, such as Poof who curiously poked at his lucky-crown charm.

Timmy flipped listlessly through the pages. Logically, the most important rules had to be on the first ones, so he only needed to learn a few paragraphs, right? Or maybe Jorgen was aiming for the rules that were added specifically because of him. Knowing the rule enforcer, he would make this stupid test unnecessary unfair und tough anyway, no matter how much effort the teen put in. The only rules that really caught his interest, however, where the really ridiculous ones. Oh well, if he was going to fail, he could at least entertain himself a while.

So that’s what they did. He flew over most or the pages and stopped whenever he read something that seemed a little … out of context. It was a fun little game, since him and Poof actually learned something while hid godparents – mostly Wanda – explained them. “Why can’t I wish for Tom Cruise?”, Timmy asked as he raised an eyebrow. Thus far they had managed to pass the time until 3 a.m. at least.

“Well, silly, that’s because everyone would wish for him, and the poor guy can’t be everywhere at once.” Wanda floated above him to see the page better. Cosmo joined her, adding. “Yeah and he has more important things to deal with – family always comes first, you know?”

“That’s Vin Diesel, Cosmo … And no, you can’t wish for him either. Or Arnold Schwarzenegger.” Poof visibly deflated at his mother’s words. “We just had many bad experiences with celebrities in the past since they draw a lot of attention to them.”

Timmy figured every strange rule was based on a wish and its history. He was a prime example for that. “Alright, that makes sense.” Unlike the breakfast-wish rule, because he liked to sleep in on weekends now and getting up at lunch should be socially acceptable in his humble opinion.

“And since we can’t change the rule book all the time and add every newcomer, we mostly just warn about the risks of wishing for famous humans to appear.”, she concluded, evidently shoving the memories of events were they had brought many famous people into their mess aside to not ruin the message behind the rules. Just because they were a bad example didn’t mean every fairy with a godchild made these mistakes.

“Especially Elvis!” Cosmo pointed at the paragraph that contained not wishing for Elvis Presley with not one but three exclamation marks. Timmy raised an eyebrow at that but didn’t question it any further. He flipped through another few pages but, as it was always the problem with reading and his attention span, was starting to get bored of that. It felt almost like that time when he had to learn the atlantian law to bail Cosmo out, only that he just needed to study the parts that were needed for. This was a gigantic book however – the lone act of running his fingers along the sides made his body recoil and his brain beg for a fun hyperfixation instead. He had done at least something, so maybe that would be enough?

He fancied the thought of streaming some K-Drama or watching videos on his phone since that would help to pass time. His gaze roamed over to a rather unnoticeable clock above the exit. It was still only 3:30 in the morning. This was horrible.

Timmy groaned in frustration and stood up to stretch his legs. Even if he was exhausted and his muscles still throbbed from the earlier training, he was getting restless. And sleep deprived from all that reading. If he blinked for too long, he wouldn’t be able to open his eyes again. The more he thought about that, the more he needed to suppress a yawn. His long nap had lost it’s fleeting purpose. Or the sheer, absolute boredom was at fault for that.
“Maybe I should check on the cells or something.”, he thought out loud. Of course, Poof was excited by the idea, much to Wanda’s dismay. He wanted to reassure her by saying ‘Come on, what’s the worst that could happen?’ but thought better than to jinx it. Things always went wrong when he said that.

His eyes wandered around the hall, most criminals just glaring or turning away from him. Even if they had something to say, most of the cells were soundproof to a certain degree. They didn’t do anything either, most of them slept, which only affirmed Jorgen’s statement that they wouldn’t try anything until 9 a. m.

The hallway Jorgen mentioned earlier caught his attention. Of course, he wouldn’t succumb to his curiosity, he wasn’t a kid anymore. Grownups followed rules and he wouldn’t go against them. Since Jorgen clearly said that he failed if he did exactly that. Only a fool would consider taking advantage of Jorgen’s absence. Who knew, maybe he would set an alarm off if he went that way? He was basically told to stay right here and do nothing but keep an eye on all these creeps. So that’s what he was gonna do. Right.
Yet, he couldn’t turn away and there was this itch in his fingers. The thrill of childish adventures and mischief he hadn’t felt in so long. A whispering voice in his head lured him with toneless promises. A sudden urge overcame him the longer he stared in that direction and goosebumps overtook his whole body.

“I wished I knew what’s down that hall.”, he mumbled to himself on autopilot before he even realized it and was jerked out of his daze when he heard Cosmo next to him say “Okay!” as he simultaneously lifted his wand. Since that technically had nothing to do with his training or the task directly, it wasn’t interfering with the contract’s rules, but Timmy tried not to rely on wishes that much anymore, since he wouldn’t be able to have them granted for much longer, if they got reassigned someday. But old habits died hard, as it seemed.

“Wait, no –“ Before Timmy or Wanda could stop Cosmo, a magic cloud surrounded them and he was teleported to what looked like some sort of security surveillance room. Monitors of nearly all corners of the prison were on the wall and a dashboard with too many buttons and lights was in front of it. “Oh great, it’s actually helpful and convenient. No wonder Jorgen didn’t want me to know about that.” He crossed his arms. Why wasn’t he be allowed back here, where he could keep an eye on everything at once without being among the sharks? Jorgen had never shown him this place! And besides, why were all these chairs empty? Was he literally the only guard in this giant dungeon?!

He was so mad that he completely forgot to ask himself why the wish earlier slipped right off his tongue. But oh well, apparently, it was a good thing that happened. Otherwise, he would still sit on the dusty floor.

“Jorgen takes his job very serious, he wouldn’t make it harder for you on purpose.”, Wanda tried to reason with him, but the more she thought about it, the less she believed it herself. Timmy was alone in this prison to guard over 80.000 Anti-Fairies by himself with nothing but a charm and a fancy bat. Perhaps Jorgen actually wanted Timmy to give up up his fairies on his own He always told her godson to quit whenever it would become too much, which wasn’t that surprising since he had to hold up his side of the contract too. Wanda wanted to believe the warden was above petty revenge, even if Timmy did the same to Jorgen when he was his parttime fairy; forcing him to grant childish wishes until he quit. “Well, we should still head back anyway. If he visits unannounced, we’re in trouble.”

“Are you kidding? This is obviously better than sitting in that hall! And look, nobody is here – not a single warden! He wants me to fail no matter what I do – it’s not fair!” So much for acting like a grownup. Timmy was furious. And also stubborn enough to think that if Jorgen used some stupid loophole to his advantage just to make it harder for him, then he would do the same. He was already stressed enough with his human school life and had barely any free time to relax and meet his friends as it was! And NOW Jorgen forced him through that? What the hell?! “Two can play that game. He said nothing would affect me as a godchild even if something went wrong. And if there is no breakout, he has no reason to be mad at me.”
Timmy stubbornly sat down in one of the much too small chairs. They would probably still have the right size if he were ten, but now it was like sitting at the children’s table. The contract only mentioned Da Rules, so if he broke Jorgen’s personal or any other rules, that wasn’t so bad. Yeah, sure, he had to listen to his mentor, but he could find an excuse for that later. Like always, he would find a way around it. Maybe he’d also search for fitting loopholes in the book or contract that he could use to his advantage? All he had to do was reading the paragraphs more thorough again and … wait a second. That was exactly what he was supposed to do in the first place. Ugh, studying. Disgusting.

… Or was Jorgen aiming for that outcome, figuring the best way to make him do his job was by learning out of spite? No, that was too smart, even for Jorgen. Timmy was probably just being paranoid and thinking too much into it. The warden had a sadistic humor and could be a real jerk if he wanted to. He liked to rub his superiority in everyone’s faces when he got the chance – he was the one that pulled this sick joke when he wished to never be born after all. And Timmy was still, to this day, not sure if Jorgen would’ve actually gotten rid of him if he had failed that test. So one could never be certain if the muscle-fairy was on his side or not.

His train of thought was interrupted by a loud and rusty creak nearby. A heavy metal door with a red lightbulb above opened seemingly by itself, revealing another, but dark and unlit hallway to their left – it fitted the jail’s dungeon setting more, unlike this high-tech room. Cosmo immediately hid behind Wanda, while Poof clung to one of Timmy’s shoulders. Okay that was … strange. Fairies had no real need for doors (and stairs) except if they wanted to lock something in or out and this door seemed like it wasn’t intended to be used regularly, if ever.

Maybe it was the gloomy atmosphere or the tense situation, but the hairs on his neck stood up and Timmy couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched off.

“W-we should go back. What if something happens while we’re gone?” Wanda once again warned, her senses tingling. “Cameras can be tricked easily by magic, after all. We can’t be sure that everything is alright in the cells.”

“And I don’t think heavy metal doors are supposed to open by themselves out of nowhere.” Cosmo bluntly stated, while he still used his wife as a shield. “That’s too creepy!”

Now, these moments were rare, but his godfather was right. The jail was obviously abandoned except for the prisoners behind thick magic proof glass and them – so the only conclusion was that someone or something else was also in here. Since Anti-Wanda had been oddly quiet and unnoticeable in the mass of Anti-Fairies, Timmy would take a hot guess and say it was probably either Anti-Cosmo or Foop that played tricks on them.

His fairy brother seemed to have a similar thought. “Bad guy! Poof poof.”, Poof shouted and pointed with his tiny wand towards the door.

“Poof is right. What if someone is in there and tries to … I don’t know, break a hole in a wall to let them escape?” Timmy tried think of a solution. Unfortunately, he wasn’t as good with strategies and planning as Jimmy. He would know what to do for sure, because he could analyze any situation with several possible outcomes. Like for example, in difficult missions he would stay behind and monitor them, while the others split up and – “That’s it! Alright, Wanda, you and Poof go back while Cosmo and I check this hallway out.”

Sadly, Poof didn’t agree with him on that one. He clung even tighter with his small pudgy hands on the fabric of Timmy’s black shirt and frowned in an adorable similar way his mother did at the same time. “Bad idea. Poof stays!”, he declared before Wanda even opened her mouth fully.

Even if he could only watch his brother’s expression from the side, the human teens heart warmed at that. As an only child, he wasn’t used to be the responsible role figure or had any idea what it felt like to care for someone so much … or that someone else looked up to him and cared about him in the same way. It had changed something in Timmy over the years. He learned to be considerate of another one’s feelings and wellbeing. He learned what it was like to be happy over even little things, such as seeing the little guy laugh and smile at him. And, of course, he learned how much panic and fear it carved into his chest when even the thought of losing that smile or seeing Poof injured because of him crossed his mind. Sure, the cosmic child was able to defend itself well enough on its own, much better than Timmy could ever by providing protection with only his fragile mortal body … But it didn’t change the fact that Timmy Turner would put the lives of his loved ones before his own. An act of selflessness he sometimes still doubted was genuine.

Aside from all that mushy stuff, it was – as Jimmy would put it – only logical to send them away. Wanda wouldn’t leave them behind, especially Poof. Cosmo alone in the main hall would be … contra productive and Poof alone instead was also not ever happening. And Timmy wanted to have at least a little moral support and protection, thank you very much. Going in the dark hallway by himself with no weapon to defend himself was … Oh shit.

Only now he realized that he left the fake wand with the book behind. That was probably not a very good thing if he had to fight. Not to mention his legs were still sore and a stupid crown wouldn’t help at all unless he could throw it like a boomerang (how were these things even able to float ovver the head without falling off anyway?).

Okay, okay. Think. Think, like Neutron would. Or just don’t mess this up. He could do this. He could just sprint back and – no wait. Right, he should take advantage of that while he was still able to do so. “I wish I had my … err, the wand-thing Jorgen gave me.”

Cosmo and Wanda both held their wands up and luckily the wish wasn’t off their limits. The weapon landed heavily in his hands but Timmy managed to fall on his knees this time.
“Alright, I know you think this is a bad idea but we don’t have time to discuss everything beforehand.” He gently ruffled through Poof’s hair, displaying his best almost-convincing-smile. “You can protect Wanda and make sure no one escapes. We’ll be back in a few minutes. Alright?” When neither Poof nor the other two agreed, he added a soft “Please.”

His little brother’s big eyes bored into his very soul for a long moment, until the young fairy caved in and nodded.

Cosmo, naturally since he had to go into the dark and creepy hallway, wasn’t thrilled about the idea. “I don’t know Timmy, maybe we should just call Jorgen. So far, no one has escaped yet, so it shouldn’t count as failing, right?” He had a really bad feeling about this, so bad he couldn’t diffuse the tension with his usual random and quirky behavior. There was this strange pull in his chest and his head automatically turned towards the corridor. He swallowed. Something was seriously not right, and it was very untypical for him to be so silent all of a sudden.

On one hand, Wanda wanted to go with them, but she wasn’t sure if Poof should come along. And leaving him alone was also out of the question in a jail. Sure, they all dealt with worse, and Poof was used to crazy and dangerous things – much to her dislike. But leaving the cells unattended would also cause her godchild trouble and he tried so, so hard to keep their family together and he deserved a break. “Alright hon, only if Cosmo is fine with it. I leave you guys to it, but if you’re not back in ten minutes, I will call Jorgen!”

Timmy supposed he could life with that threat. It probably was just another boring hall, and they were being paranoid. He really didn’t want to jinx anything, he really didn’t. “Okay, fair enough. Cosmo? If you really don’t want to, I can go alone, it’s fine.”
It was totally not fine and his grip subtly tightened around the handle of his newly acquired weapon. But it was his job and if they weren’t here he would’ve had to investigate alone anyway. Time to be a responsible and grownup, brave, manly man. He wasn’t scared of creaking doors, dark hallways and unknown threats – he overcame worse things. He ate danger for breakfast. And he most certainly wasn’t panicking, mentally running in circles, screaming bloody murder, and asking the heavens why it always had to be him that got into these kinds of situations.

After what felt like an eternity of nerve wrecking, Cosmo, although still not facing them and keeping his head locked in the feared direction, surrendered rather unproblematically. “Y-yeah no, it’s okay. I can do this, I’m a distant Von Strangle after all.” A strained smile plastered on his face while he waved his son and wife goodbye. His mock-bravery couldn’t hide the horror in his eyes.

“Are you sure?” Of course Wanda knew if anything happened, Cosmo could poof them both back to safety and since he would get this over with as fast as he could … but it was Cosmo, they were speaking of. No, she sould have a little mor faith in her husband and godchild. They wouldn’t take long anyway. So even with her senses screaming at her, she took Poofs hand. “… Alright. But you better be careful, you idiots.” She masked her worry and ported herself and Poof to the main hall before she could decide against it in the last second. Maybe, hopefully, this was all just for nothing and Jorgen simply decided to prank them … or whatever unlikely scenario she wanted the reassure herself with.

Chapter Text

Now with only the two of them left, he quickly looked at the many screens to make sure Wanda and Poof were back in the main hall. And they were, safe and sound and nothing out of the ordinary was happening. So much about not trusting cameras. They could’ve just stayed here to observe, and it would’ve made everything much easier and less uncomfortable! He could even see a few of the cells on display, one focused on Anti-Wanda who used a spoon to scratch what looked like bad graffiti on the wall. If he knew how this control panel worked, it would help a lot with his task. What if there was something like a button or switch that could turn on the lights in that hallway? It surely would make everything less unsettling. And maybe there were more cameras to see inside so they wouldn’t have to go in after all? Man, why hadn’t he thought of that first … Jimmy wouldn’t have made this mistake if he were here. But he wasn’t. Maybe that’s why everything was totally chaotic.

Almost out of reflex he grabbed for his phone in his back pocket. Nothing remotely even happened and he was already about to call his friends or Jorgen. It wasn’t even 4 a.m. yet! Was there really nothing he could do on his own without magic or help from others? That was so frustrating … Usually he was always so blunt and didn’t even care about possible outcomes. So when did he start actively doubting himself? This wasn’t such a big deal! Just some moving doors and creepy criminals. He could still figure this out! He could … he …

He couldn’t do it after all. Why wasn’t his brain functioning the way he wanted it to? Why was he frozen in place with only static in his mind?

“Quick, let’s get this over with.”, Cosmo suddenly reminded him, before Timmy was even able to gather his thoughts. The teen would guess it was nervousness that forced Cosmo to rush, but he looked very pale contrary to what he claimed. Timmy got no chance to question him about it further, tough, since the fairy man didn’t even wait for a reply and hovered through the door without any second thoughts. Okay, weird.

“Cosmo, wait!” Timmy yelled, quickly running after him. Since there were no windows in this hallway, it was pitch black. The only light source were the signs that lead towards the exit and his crown charm. It was just a plain corridor, yet the small glowing man managed to disappear in the blink of an eye right under his nose. “Where are you?” So far there were no other doors, not that the teen knew of … Okay well, he found a door, alright. Or rather his face did first, because his teeth sure made a loud clunk noise, as he forcefully kissed the metal frame when he apparently reached the end of the hallway. The impact was enough for Timmy to fall on his butt as he tumbled backwards. He rubbed his throbbing forehead. At least his eyes started to get used to the darkness and he could make out the sign above the door from his position.

“CMI? What does that stand for?” Wondering, he checked if his buckteeth were still in the same place. Afterwards, he reached for the phone in his back pocket as he stood up. Great, the display was cracked. Man, he really should ask Jimmy to make him an indestructible one. Or wish for his to be repaired when this was over (so much for relying less on wishes). Not even a stupid charm could prevent his daily bad luck. Well, at least the thing still worked fine enough, even if the screen was all funky now. So he did the probably first smart thing ever since they got here and turned the flashlight function on, which made it a little easier to see.

He dared to take a look back down the hallway. Halfway down, someone had forgotten to take a ladder out of the way, which was conveniently placed so that anyone running though the darkness straight ahead would’ve run under it. Alright, some well-known Anti-Fairies definitely had something to do with that. And hopefully, Cosmo wasn’t unlucky enough to run – or hover – into them. Speaking of which. “Cosmo?”

Timmy reached for the knob only to find that there was none, the side was full of opened latches and locks like someone really wanted to keep others out. Or something in. What made this even more suspicious was the fact that he never, in the short timespan that he ran after his godfather, heard the door being opened prior to his arrival – and the thing didn’t look any less heavy or rusty than the one before. Then again, they had no need for stairs or doors so Cosmo probably poofed in just like that. Or he had opened it on his own, since he had worked as a magical key before he became a godparent, apparently. But that was back then when … no, not the time.

If the situation were any less overwhelming and tense, Timmy would’ve spent a good few moments trying to figure out what was going on and maybe prepare himself a little before he carelessly walked into the unknown. Not to mention Cosmo’s weird behavior … or at least not the usual Cosmo-kind of chaotic acting. But he had to shove these tiny doubts aside, because whatever was going on, the answer was in the next room. And he was getting tired of overthinking.

As predicted, the metallic door creaked just as much, if not more. The latches were still somewhat half closed and Timmy had to use both hands to even move them to make enough space for him to squeeze through, while he carefully placed the phone in his mouth. Afterwards, he crouched down to grab for the handle of his wand to pull it in. If that didn’t caught the enemies attention, he didn’t know what would, because his ninja skills were a little rusty nowadays.

Unlike the surveillance room, this place was huge. The ceiling was probably just as high as the main hall. Similar to the Unwish Storage, this area was filled with rows upon rows of closets, lockers, chests, boxes and even piles of bags – some more securely wrapped in chains or ropes than others. A few even had warning- or skull-signs taped over. Okay, maybe finding Cosmo in here would be a little more difficult than he had assumed, like, five seconds ago.

“Cosmo? Come on, we don’t have time for this!” It occurred to Timmy that, since the whole point he went in here was because an intruder could also most likely be around to hear him. So calling out and giving his position away was maybe a bad idea. Well, too late for that. And apparently, they were expecting him regardless, if the ladder was any giveaway. Great lucky charm he had. What was this stupid crown even good for? Okay, well, considering stepping on a crack could wreck a whole area and he only managed to almost knock his teeth out and scratch his phone so far, that was probably not as bad as it could’ve been otherwise. There was no magic involved with these accidents, so that should count for something.

He started to walk down the center aisle, wand in one hand, loosely balanced on his right shoulder, phone with flashlight in the other. Timmy’s curiosity was spiked by all these mysterious items, and he found himself exploring and getting a little off topic. Most boxes, lockers and all that stuff weren’t even labeled. Others looked so old, he couldn’t read them while some had paintings instead of words. Many of the heavier secured things also gave off really bad vibes. He felt a shiver run down his spine as he stood in front of a big black vitrine that was literally entwined in chains. The label had the form of a fancy crown drawn and, out of everything he had seen so far, was the only one where he could clearly read the label.
“Royal Jewel?” For some reason, that sounded very familiar. But for what reason had someone decided to put something like this in a damn – and he couldn’t stress this enough – JAIL of all places? That’s like locking thieves and treasures into the same room: A nice metaphor, but once they got out, it saved them a lot of time.

The good thing about such big walls was, that any tiny noise echoed far and loudly, which was why the sudden rustle drew his attention away from the covered showcase. As if someone was rummaging through a pile of trash or whatever. Timmy turned off his flashlight out of reflex and put the phone away so he could hold the wand with both hands, prepared to bash someone’s head in. Or hit a homerun. Whichever was more likely.

Wanda’s threat still played in the back of his mind, reminding him that he couldn’t afford to waste time or think too much about it, unless he wanted to have Jorgen chew him out for going against every order he gave him so far. So, he quickly sneaked towards the direction where the noise came from. If he strained his ear enough, he could hear someone whispering but it was still too far to make out who it could be or what they were saying.

Squinting his eyes, Timmy saw someone floating over a bunch of knocked over rubble. Their hands rummaged through a big chest, chains carelessly laying on the ground around it. Judging by the silhouette and form of hair, even if it had changed over the past years a little, it could only be his godfather.

“Okay Cosmo, what gives?” As soon as he got close enough, the teen’s shoulders relaxed a bit and he lowered his weapon. “You almost gave me heart attack. What are you doing?” He walked closer, the figure visibly flinched, and something fell out of its grasp. “We don’t have time for this. Have you seen anything or anyone suspicious?” Since he thought it was save enough with one of his fairies, he took out the phone to turn on the flashlight again, finally illumination the person. The little nervousness that still clung to his chest dimmed as it turned out be the actual body of Cosmo – green hair, white shirt and all that.

For a short moment, the fairy man looked around, stunned, shivering as if he had seen a ghost until his eyes focused on Timmy. “Oh, hi Timmy! Nice seeing you here.” He quickly flew over to his godchild, rubbing his sweaty hands on his shirt. “Finally.”

“For someone who’s scared of dark places, you sure were in a hurry to go by yourself.” Timmy teased him. Maybe he was paranoid, but he couldn’t ignore his suspicion and held the light a little too close to be comfortable in Como’s face. “What’s going on with you?”

Even though he had to squeeze one eye shut and the smile on his face looked obviously forced, Cosmo still gave nothing away. And he was a terrible liar, so that should mean he had nothing to hide. Usually. “Nothing, what do you mean?” Cosmo tilted his head, while one hand still clutched his now wrinkled shirt.

“Are you serious? … You know what, forget it.” Timmy rubbed his forehead in frustration. He had no time for that and it would lead him nowhere. “Where are we anyway?”

“I don’t know, but there is some really cool stuff in here.” Cosmo said, not a sign of unwellness or fear on his features anymore, unlike seconds ago or back in the surveillance room. “Look!” He didn’t even wait for Timmy to respond or anything, so his godchild had no other choice but to follow him.

He showed him the chest, most of its contents already spilled out on the ground because of his careless digging. Most of that stuff seemed like broken toys or other machinery that Timmy couldn’t make out. Jimmy would have the time of his life here because some of these looked really interesting. Gadgets that seemed like weapons and bottles with strange liquids and even some cloth-like armor. Some too big for even him, others the size of the average fairy. While many looked much older than he was, other things were rather new, judging by the choice of design.

“What’s with all this stuff?” Curiously, he picked one thing up that he accidently kicked with his shoe as he wandered around in the semi-darkness. He wanted to hold his flashlight on it, but the illumination flickered frantically, until the phone seemingly died. Weird, last time he checked it wasn’t in need to be charged and he was sure the fall on his butt only damaged the screen.

His eyes had accustomed enough to make out a tiny bottle with sand-like stuff that spilled on the floor. Oh no. A saltshaker. That meant that their enemy was close, probably around the corner. Timmy had a bad feeling about all of this and now with his phone dead it felt like the darkness around him wanted to swallow them up whole.

What was more disturbing than the saltshaker, however, were the other items that he saw inside the chest, as he peeked over it. It appeared to be stuffed toys. Dolls maybe? They seemed oddly human, with many familiar details. One of them was laying in front of him, probably the one Cosmo dropped. It missed half of one of its legs. Goosebumps crawled up his arms as he slowly picked it up. “That one looks like … Jorgen?”

“Really? Uuh, let me see, Timothy!” with surprisingly quick movements, Cosmo was behind him and grabbed for the doll, but Timmy held it out of reach just in time. Even without that mistake, his suspicions had proved to be right, and the realization hit him full force. Only a little too late.

“… You’re not Cosmo.” Timmy glared at the fairy as he carefully tucked the You-Doo Doll underneath the belt of his pants so he could get into a fighting position.

‘Cosmo’ stared at him for a moment, confused and still rubbing his sweaty hands on his chest, until he started to laugh. It didn’t reach his eyes and seemed strained. The noise resonated around until it was too synchronic to be a mere echo. And also too present. As in right behind him.

“Well, Timothy, I wouldn’t be so sure about that.” Another voice just like Cosmo, only with an heavier accent, made itself known. The average teenager turned around, wand ready to smack at the other, when he felt a sudden cramp in his stomach. He let the weapon fall.

Anti-Cosmo hovered above him, a Timmy-Doll gripped tightly in one hand and a Cosmo-Doll in the other. His godfather at least managed to clench his chest but seemed oddly quiet otherwise.

“Aren’t you a few centuries too old to play with Dolls?” Timmy felt the all too known and dreaded knot in his stomach, as Anti-Cosmo made his threat clear. He remembered the dangers of these puppets and completely forgot about them the last six years. “How did you even get in here?”

“I had a little help from a few old and new comrades I met on my recent trip. A place called Unwish Island - sound familiar?” The evil version of his godfather seemed very eager to finally be able to talk about his diabolical plans. “As for how I got in here, that’s simple: I carry a part of the Von Strangles in me. Tricking the security ray at the staff-exclusive back entrance was child’s play.” Anti-Cosmo lifted his blazer to reveal the star-shaped scar from the Fagiggly-Gland transplantation. All he had to do was transform himself into Jorgen to get access. “All I had to do was disguise myself. Not even the magic sensor could detect any anti-energy. Finally, our detailed evil plan, after weeks of preparation, is set in motion. And without any warning -”

While the Anti-Fairy ranted about his plan and praised himself, Timmy couldn’t help but make a face. There was a damn back entrance. And no one told him about it! No, Jorgen was it who hadn’t told him anything. The teen was glad his little brother was absent, because he had a few harsh words on his tongue he’d like to tell the world who middle-fingered him for weeks on end now. Without getting dinner first. He was so mad, he didn’t even bother to pay further attention, since it would be the usual spiel as always either way.

“But I don’t mean to bore you. My dearly beloved will soon have finished our last step.” Anti-Cosmo physically pulled Timmy out of his thoughts by squeezing the dolls tighter in his grip. “Now, since I have both my hands full and occupied, I could use the extra help. After all, this hall is full of confiscated magical items – not using them would be a crime!” He held the puppets in front of him and made them walk in the air, which ironically really looked like he was playing with them. Suddenly, as if his body wasn’t his own anymore, Timmy moved on his own and so did Cosmo, although he rather hovered from one side to the other.

This was messed up on so many levels.

✧ « ★ » ✧

“I knew this was a bad idea! They’re taking way too long.” Wanda flew in circles impatiently looking at the flat side of her wand with which she tried to magically call Timmy on his phone or Cosmo on his wand. To her bad luck, it seemed like she either got no signal because the constricted area could have some magic disturbance like the insides of the cells, or Cosmo’s wand was out of energy. Still, not being able to reach Timmy was too much bad luck for her taste, especially on a day like this. “Alright, we do this the old-fashioned way and get them in that case.”

Poof, who was tired of watching his mother worrying herself, had focused on the Anti-Fairies, mainly Anti-Wanda. She still scribbled something on the wall that looked like a mandala with many circles and patterns, he guessed. The absence of his frenemy Foop was also unnerving. Usually he was either part of the crowd or did something solo to get attention.
When his mom mentioned she would get them herself, his focus directed back to her. Part of him wanted to come along, but his gaze hesitated on the book that still was where they had set up their poor version of a picnic earlier. Deciding that wasn’t the top priority for now, he hovered over to his mother she poofed away. But as she was raising her wand, she kind of froze midair. Her eyes widened and Poof felt the presence of someone else.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” A tall person stood in the main hall, with a long cloak that covered their face. The style of their outfit was mostly black and purple, with a little turquoise on the gloves and inside of their robe. Their hand was directed towards Wanda, glowing with dark energy. “In fact, you are very sleepy.”

Poof watched as his mother clenched her teeth, glaring at the intruder until her mouth opened seemingly on its own, and she repeated the words. “I am very sleepy …” and her eyes drifted shut as she slowly descended to the dusty floor, snoring silently. The person paid neither her nor him any further mind, as he strolled towards the rule book on the ground. He had scissors in his other hand.

“No!” Poof vividly remembered how messing with Da Rules could affect their universe, which was frightening enough to get rid of the paralysis and he quickly hovered in front of the person, arms stretched out to protect the book. His wand turned into a tiny laser sword. “Bad guy! Back off!”

The intruder lifted their gaze, a pale face and dull blue eyes that showed no sign of impression. “If what he said is true, you also carry the Von Strangle bloodline. We can’t let that interfere with our plan.” Their voice sounded oddly familiar, a little scratchy and hoarse, like Timmy when he had a bad cough, or his tonsils needed surgery.

Poof was ready to defend himself, his mother and Da Rules book, as he lifted his little sword, only to hesitate as the person took off their hood. It was Timmy! Or … someone who looked like him. The dark shadows around his eyes and the dead eyes reminded him of that time when he joined the Dark Side because of this evil Dark Laser or whatever his name was. The suit surely supported that theory.

“Ahem! Sorry to interrupt, edgy sci-fi Timmy.” Anti Wanda knocked on the glass while she waved with the clearly rusty and bended spoon around. Her voice was loud and infiltrating enough that not even the improved glass could muffle it. “I finished carving them symbols from the letters. Now, let us out!”

The Timmy-impostor glared at her with a blank expression. Said painting she made now complete, a huge circle within a circle and a lot of different foreign symbols. When Poof concentrated enough on the details, he could make out a faint green glow emitting from them, but his short yet crucial distraction was all the evil version needed to use his dark powers on him. Poof felt his body stiffen and he couldn’t move a muscle, not even speak.

False Timmy just stared him down, tired as if he would rather do something else than waste his time babysitting. “You just made your own way to freedom, what else am I supposed to give you?” He didn’t even bother to look at Anti-Wanda and her fellow prisoners. “I have bigger plans.” He redirected his hand towards the wall, which made Poof unintentionally follow the motion and he was flung against the cold bricks. It hurt and he felt a throbbing sting in one of his wings. Had his mother been awake, she would’ve been livid seeing her son hurt by that person. Even if the guy looked like Timmy, he was mean and Poof wanted to cry out for his father and brother to come back, but he couldn’t even whimper at the moment. His eyes roamed around the room, scanning for anything that could help. He only found cells, the entrance, the clock and a lever next to the front gate with an alarm sign above.

Anti-Wanda seemed to be in conflict upon seeing the opposite version of her own son in peril, but she directed her anger elsewhere. “Why make me work for days when you took all of them guards out in a few hours? We could’ve escaped ages ago!” She waved her arms around for emphasis, while flinging the spoon into the crowd, which hit Anti-Binky in the eye, who was in the cell next to her.

Not-Timmy rolled his eyes but still turned his head towards her this time. “Because it has to be today. Not yesterday, not hours ago, not any other moment. Now stop complaining and be glad I didn’t just blow up the whole place.” The threat was heavy in the air, but Poof felt the concentration of the doppelganger lessen enough so that he could lift his laser sword, which turned back into his tiny wand. Dark Timmy heard the magic ping-sound the wand made and faced his target again. Too late, as Poof had summoned a purple army boot that kicked the lever down to set off the alarm. It was a loud goat-scream that rang around every corner of the dungeon-prison while flashing red lights illuminated everything in a crimson hue. It was so shrill and disturbing that Poof’s Attacker had to cover his ears, releasing the grip he still had on him. Somehow, his mother still managed to snore through all of that and Poof had trouble floating with his injured wing while also needing to cover his ears. Was this really the only way to save his family? Was it worth to put his eardrums on the line? The answer was yes, though it didn’t make it any easier.

“TURNER!”

The surging voice of Jorgen echoed through the jail, even the bricks rattled under the force and miraculously managing to even outdo the goat-alarm. The strongest fairy of this universe broke literally through the ceiling, twice his usual size. He looked beat up and, overall, not in a nice condition. What was even more weird, was that half of his right leg was missing, which made him look a tiny bit less intimidating.

“I don’t know what is going on, but I’m sure it is your fault!” The warden pointed an accusing finger at the impostor, not yet realizing this one wasn’t the real deal. “As if protecting the Big Wand from these freaks in their Death Ball isn’t already pesky enough, now you fail the one and ONLY task I gave you!” He glared down at the prisoners and spotted Wanda snoring on the ground, while Poof still had to cover his ears because it was hard to concentrate on both the danger and the lecture when there was still a shrill goat scream paired with the red flashing lights going on. It was finally nerve wrecking enough to even make Jorgen notice. “And who on Fairy World thought this alarm was a good idea?! Binky, turn that off!”

The warden looked around for his assistant that usually accompanied him with a recorder for his dramatic effects, but the little fairy was nowhere to be seen. And for someone that loved scrambling the fairies, the lack of such was also strange. Shouldn’t there be a bunch of his soldiers to supervise the kid in the surveillance room? Because if they hadn’t called him then who – nevermind. He was missing a leg and the Big Wand was also under attack. The warden couldn’t possibly be everywhere at once, so hopefully the fairy task force and Cupid’s cherubs could stall them long enough while he was busy here.

With a low grumble, Jorgen punched the ringing alarm at the entrance wall, which also turned off the obnoxious goat-screaming and red lights. “Alright, which one of you is messing with You-Doo Dolls and who is responsible for this mess? Step up, so I can punish you!”

With the sensory overload gone, Poof had finally regained his midair balance, witnessing Not-Timmy also recovering from the assault. He needed to warn Jorgen about it before he also got caught with the dark powers!

“Bad Guy!”, he yelled as loud as he could and pointed towards the Timmy in his evil suit. Jorgen raised a brow at that.

“Nice try, but it’s a little too late for that.” The other Timmy partly pulled the hood back over his head, while a mild explosion inside the cells caught their attention. The drawn symbols of Anti-Wanda, who was knocked away from it because of the implosion, were positively glowing green and cracks formed in the center. Strange green smoke squeezed through. The gaps slowly widened, eating away the bricks and making way for more green, only in the form of a glowing swirl that looked like a portal. “And now ...” The strange kid lifted his black glowing hand again, this time making the rule book on the ground flying to him. He scrunched his nose in distaste and casted the heavy thing aside. The force of his powers threw the book with so much force, it left a crumbling dent in the wall next to him, which showed the extent of what he was capable of, and that Poof had gotten away lucky with just a bent wing. “Summon the real rule book for us.” The impostor held two hands for good measurement towards Jorgen.

Chapter Text

Ouch. Just … ouch.

Right now, all Timmy ever wanted to wish for, was a single moment where nothing was going on around or inside of him. To just exist in the state that was an angsty teen with a somewhat midlife crisis. Sleeping in, staring at nothing, having no particular thoughts – especially no worries – running around in his mind. That sounded very appealing, and it was so unexpected to be meet with this dulling quietness, that he almost couldn’t believe it. It was too good to be true. Mostly because Timmy never expected his mental break to be so suddenly and throbbing.

For how long was he out? What was the last thing he remembered?

Oh right, he had to play guard in that dungeon prison Abracatraz with its lousy sign ‘Abandon all hope’ or whatever. The name was apparently program. Because he felt positively hopeless right now.

Alright, let’s see, what happened in the last few hours.

There was this surveillance room, the big ladder, salt, dolls, his broken phone, Cosmo and … Anti-Cosmo. Right. The last thing he recalled before everything turned black was that he was forced to dig through the chests, boxes and lockers, while Cosmo turned into a magic key to open them for him. He held multiple dangerous things and put them in a bag. And at some point, he just … blacked out? No, there was something missing. Something important. He just couldn’t put his finger on it. There was this obnoxious alarm, Jorgen’s ever so tenderly voice screaming his name in the distance and … an explosion? And then there was just a flash of pink. He was forgetting something crucial here. But it just wouldn’t pop up in his head. He had it on the back of his tongue and the creeping feeling of dread. Ugh, inf only his head wouldn’t hurt so much.

“Ugh, I need a vacation.”, he murmured, attempting to rub his temples as the headache made itself known even more only to find out he couldn’t move his hands. That’s when he took in his surroundings.

Metal and beeping machinery all around him, the fast view of stars and space while he was chained against a wall, a kind of blueish force field trapping him. His eyes were out of focus and the pain in his head definitely had to be the source of some kind of injury. Where was he?

This place was not Fairy World. Or at least not the jail. He had travelled in spaceships before and also visited different worlds – and also created some, if he counted the wished mom and dad planets. This looked oddly familiar, like a scene from a movie. Cold, white architecture, the outer space in front of him … Yep, this was totally a spaceship. And not the kind he liked.

“Timmy!” a high voice squealed from the side and the teen tried to turn his head without getting too dizzy. “You okay?”

His eyes slowly regained focus on another blurry dot, in a similar tube-like prison made of a force field. Sitting on the cold ground, chained by a single collar that went around the whole torso and his arms, was Poof. In the tube next to him, which was bigger, sat Jorgen. While Timmy was merely cuffed by his wrists against the wall and Poof to the ground by a chain, the fairy warden was restrained on a chair, which was attached to both the ground and wall, bound by several chains and cuffs around his limbs and a giant collar on his neck that seemed to be under electricity. However, Jorgen was still fighting his confines with all his might, although he still seemed to miss half of his right leg, as the loose trouser leg with at knot at the end gave away.

“Turner! What did you do this time?”, Jorgen yelled and was promptly shocked by his collar.

Timmy felt too exhausted and nauseous to be angry at the unfair accusation, so his voice remained flat. “I didn’t do anything. You left me alone in that prison … With an unguarded back door and a room full of dangerous weapons that apparently exist in a high security prison. How was I supposed to know about any of that?” he gritted his teeth since even his own voice made his head spin. “If anything, this only happened because you want to make my life as hard as possible!”

“Oh, you have no idea how hard life can actually be, puny human.” The warden also seemed in a rough condition and the shocking had at least made him stop yelling. The only good thing about their situation, in Timmy’s opinion.

“Stop! No fighting.” Poof was easily overlooked between these stubborn meatheads, but he was more worried about other urgent things. “Not important now – they have mommy and daddy.” Unshed tears shimmered in his purple eyes as he tried to stay strong and bit his lip.

“What?!” Timmy had to close his eyes for a moment as dots tainted his vision. His arms were all numb from the reduced blood flow and he felt as if he had run five miles over a cliff with lava chasing him again. “Where are they? What happened after we split up?”

“I’ll tell you what happened; I was busy fighting these silly robots and this giant toy of yours, that attacked the Big Wand with their blasted Death Ball thing.”, Jorgen growled, hiding his shame behind his anger that he had also failed his job. “I gave you one task and yet you failed. If we survive this, prepare for the most painful training I ever came up with!” The collar shocked him again as he stretched his neck towards the boy.

“Poof poof!” Timmy’s fairy brother glared at Jorgen as the elder groaned from the pain, while the teens fried brain had trouble figuring out what he meant with toy and Death Ball … Oh no. Dark Laser. Had he teamed up with Mr. Crocker and Foop as L.O.S.E.R.S again? As silly as that sounded, and regarding how little success they had, it still meant great danger to Fairy World if they got here and managed to free the Anti-Fairies on a Friday the 13^th.

“Fine.” Jorgen sighed deeply. He sounded tired as well. “When I heard the alarm, I saw you – or another version of you, whatever …” And so, he began to re-tell what happened earlier, with a little help from Poof to fill in the details.

✧ « ★ » ✧

Jorgen didn’t take the impostor very serious, but he still seemed to have trouble to control himself. As he had to focus all his willpower to keep his hands from using his wand, which he slowly did anyway. His hands trembling, he slowly shrunk down to his original size. “Must … stay … persistent!”

From his position, Poof saw the dark circles around Fake-Timmy’s eyes and how he clenched his jaw. Sweat ran down his temples and the glow around his hands turned from a purplish black to a sparkling blue. It seemed to exhaust his mortal body by a great deal, but he was so stern, that it was only a battle of willpower now.

In the end, Jorgen couldn’t withstand the dark powers and his wand flashed in a bright light. The ceiling above them rattled as if it was about to collapse when a swirl or magic opened midair, like a black hole. Just in reverse. A giant rule book landed flat on the ground, almost crushing the false Timmy. This action compelled him to jump out of the way, which stopped the control he had over the strongest fairy in the universe. But it was honestly hard to believe he would’ve been able to use his powers for much longer anyway, judging by the way how hard he was breathing.

“Foolish human! Messing with Da Rules can lead to a universal collapse! I will never let that happen!” Jorgen was ready to aim his wand at the Timmy-imitator, now realizing he was led into a trap. He had a surprisingly steady aim for someone who was trying to balance his weight on one leg. “You are not our Turner – that makes it even easier to annihilate you!”

“Now, now, let’s stay civilized and solve this like true gentlemen.” A big, intimidating figure entered through the front gate. For some reason, that was the moment the effect of the other Timmy’s dark powers had lost their control over Wanda as she stopped snoring. It wasn’t the explosion or Da Rules that woke her up, no, it was the arrival of no other than Dark Laser, but with a different accent.

“What … is going on?” She blinked rapidly, taking in the chaos around her. The force of that makeshift portal had caused many cracks in the magic-proof glass of the cells and there was a hole in the ceiling with Jorgen under it, but he was somehow missing part of his leg and there was an exhausted Timmy on the floor, looking horrible and emo, her son had a bended wing and also sat on the ground … Needless to say, she was furious and her glare directed towards the closest enemy responsible for this. “You! How dare you?!” She poofed up her pink samurai armor and charged at the toy-overlord. She had no clue if Timmy and Cosmo were in danger as well, but no one hurt her family if she could do something about it. There was no time to ask questions, only to take action.

Just as she was about to slice at the artificial villain with a mighty roar that could even put Jorgen’s to shame on his best days, she simply flew right through him as Dark laser turned intangible.
“A really feisty woman.” The suit began to glow in a pinkish light and another figure stepped out of the overlord. Wanda knew from experience that only ghosts from Danny’s universe were able to do that. He called it overshadowing, if she remembered correctly. Said ghost looked familiar, yet in rough condition. A torn red cape, messy hair, sharp teeth, blue skin and red eyes. These were all a dead giveaway. “Now, about that fancy book of yours: A little Anti-Fairy told me, it contains the strongest magic in the universe. That it could alter this universe even. Care if we borrow it for a while, Mr. Von Strangle?”

Meanwhile Dark Laser, the real one this time, held his head as if he had a terrible ache and mumbled something under his mask while hunched over. He then proceeded to look around, as if he had no idea what was going on, until he noticed the other Timmy half-conscious on the ground. “What have you done with my student? I still need this one, Vlad! And where is Flipsie?” However, he was ignored as Jorgen and Vlad Plasmius stared each other down.

“No, you must not temper with it! The magic is too strong to be controlled without restrictments.” Jorgen was ready to blast the intruder with his magic, but he was soon notified of the familiar fart-sound as his wand defied him. If the power was gone, this could only mean one thing. “The Big Wand … ” Right as he mentioned it, Wanda automatically returned to her original form, her own wand showing the symbol of a red blinking battery.
When this night had started with her having a bad feeling about this, she never imagined just how overwhelming the situation would be. Cosmo and Timmy were probably also in danger! She had no clue how to contact them, simultaneously protect Poof and help Jorgen fend off the enemies. To make matters worse, the gash in the portal behind the cells finally grew big enough for other creatures to step through.

Another ghost, dressed in a white suit and fedora stepped out of it, followed by his minions. “Well, what a fine prison we have here.” Of course, Walker had to make this whole chaos even worse. Since the glass was only magic proof, the ghosts had no issue blasting the cells wide open. As soon as that was done, the hordes of Anti-Fairies escaped, giggling along the way to fulfill their purpose – despite some of them lacking behind, yawning and scratching their backs. Now it was only Anti-Wanda, who sat on the ground, confused and wondering where her husband was now.

“At last, your savior is finally here!” As if the situation wasn’t already messed up, Foop decided to join in on the gathering, poofing in out of nowhere, armed with a bomb that had a bunch of dynamite attached to it. Just like his other version, he had a more Anti-Fairy like shape and hair nor, even though he still had some blocky features on him. “Fear not, for I – wait.” He watched the bunch of Anti-Fairies flying away through a portal that led to earth, not sparing him a glance. Of course he spotted his nemesis Poof and also his ally Dark Laser among the many different people. “Is there a L.O.S.E.R.S gathering I wasn’t invited to? How dare you!” He pointed his tiny wand at Dark Laser. “What is the meaning of this? I spent all week planning and prepared so many spider-chests for the foolish humans. This isn’t fair!”

Dark Laser had no clue what to say to this, while Vlad rolled his eyes. Walker ignored him completely, ordering his minions to capture every normal Fairy and set up the new prison cells. Only his mother awed at his antics and said, he did a good job anyway.

“Enough with this! I will not let you destroy Fairy World, nor the universe! Whatever your plans are, it will stop right here!” Jorgen put up a fight, even as he had to hop on one leg, but he was eventually overpowered.

In the end, it all went black, as more of Walker’s ghosts went out to capture the fairies with the help of Dark Laser’s androids while the Anti-Fairies went on to their – a little early – trip to the human realm to cause the usual chaos …

✧ « ★ » ✧

“What. The. Fff-“ Timmy luckily remembered the presence of his younger brother just in time. “Frick. And how is any of that my fault?” So, all of that happened. Timmy didn’t know if it was his nausea that urged the need to puke his guts out or if it was the shock that made hist stomach drop. Anyways, he sure felt like the end of the world was just about to happen. Of course that was the case when he was trying so hard to be responsible and do the right thing. Life was so unfair.

Jorgen shrugged, as good as he could at least. “These ghosts are from on of your friends’ world, aren’t they?” Well, he wasn’t wrong about that, actually. “This is exactly why humans shouldn’t mess with universal matters – it only causes chaos and invites creatures from other worlds or dimensions here. Do you have any idea how many millennials we fought against other beings just to create a save universe for us and you puny humans?” He gritted his teeth, remembering his ancestors. Most of them retired or died and now the Von Strangle family was the only active bloodline of fairy warriors that was left to protect this universe, which meant Da Rules. Ever since the defeat of The Darkness and the Eliminators, he hadn’t seen any of the protectors from the three legendary wands again and it was unlikely they would return to help them. But, alas, there was no time for self-pity, his wife could also be in danger and captured by those minions. “It was you who started this whole dimension-hopping with that big headed kid from Retroville, so of course you’re to blame, Turner!”

“Oh yeah? If that’s so risky, why give irresponsible children magic and unlimited wishes in the first place, if you value control and order so much?” Timmy sure had enough of all these accusations and still couldn’t comprehend that there was another version of him running around. Again. Though he felt slightly sorry for his brother being stuck in the middle of all this. Alas, his frustration made it hard to be considerate. “Because that’s not save at all and a stupid book being the only thing necessary to mess everything up is even worse! Not to mention the CMI. Who keeps dangerous magic stuff together with the most dangerous criminals at the same place anyway?”

“How do you know about the CMI? Oh wait, you weren’t there to stop them, since you had to disobey and break rules as usual.” Either the electrocution or his anger made the veins on his temples pulsate, but Jorgen clearly wasn’t any less unhappy about their plight. “As for the CMI, I can’t be everywhere at once. It makes it easier to have several things close to each other, since clearly neither you nor the other puny fairies are any help.”

“Maybe you’d have more hands to help you, if you stopped treating other fairies like sh- crap! Not to mention your constant bragging and showing off, as you did at the Oddlympics.” Timmy tried to wiggle his wrists, but found that he had no way of breaking out. He was so done with Jorgen’s lectures when the fairy was not any better at the job than him. “But no, you like making others miserable just as much as Crocker and Vicky – you pick on the weak and you enjoy seeing others in pain. It’s no wonder nobody wants to be your godchild or work with you – or that you don’t have any friends!”

Jorgen’s face turned red with rage and it was only for the restraints and electrocution, that he wasn’t able to live up to his surname and grab the sassy teen by the neck. “Turner …”, he growled with dangerous calmness. Poof also looked at his brother with wide eyes, silently begging him to let it go, but Timmy wasn’t having it. Even if he felt like shit, he wasn’t going to back down on this one, too consumed in his emotions to care.

“Well, it’s the truth, so put me through a week of torture or whatever, I don’t care. Use your power and the contract to your advantage all you like, but I refuse to take the blame for this one! I worked my a- my butt off to stay with my family, enduring all your crazy training sessions and I’m still not quitting!” He had to take a deep breath and close his eyes, as the room began to spin once more. “But this stupid paper never said that I had to be your slave and wordlessly take everything you throw at me, so deal with it.”

“If I had my magic, you would be dead meat now, Turner.” Jorgen narrowed his eyes at the average teen, but the anger seemed to have drained from his features. He had to acknowledge the guts of this kid, which was the main reason he even considered training him in the first place. “You’re lucky I can’t undo the contract, because that right now would’ve gotten you fired otherwise.” What Timmy said had hurt his ego more than he wanted to admit, but he didn’t let it show. “For now, my priority is to escape and punish the enemies, but I’ll deal with you and your big mouth later.”

Poof, who still sat on the floor between the lines, felt the burn that Jorgen had to swallow while Timmy looked far from feeling guilty or regretful about it. His human brother tended to ignore consequences and feelings of others when he felt wronged or when he was treated unfairly. It was understandable, but that stubbornness and short thinking often lead to more trouble along the way. It was mostly the reason he made rash wishes and decisions that resulted in chaos afterwards. In the earlier years, there was always a moral or lession to be learned from that, but now the angsty puberty driven teen just felt like the world had decided to plot against him and make his life as complicated and miserable as possible. Sometimes the little fairy thought so too, considering the daily obstacles his parents witnessed their godchild going through. He figured that one had to turn out the way he was, if Timmy was either ignored and not valued by anyone or if they paid attention to him only to see him struggle.
All Poof had to offer in his youthful innocence and desire to cheer him up, was a smile and encouraging nudges during these times. Which he couldn’t do right now. And he was also worried about his parents, since he had no idea what happened to them. Before one of the ghosts captured him, he only saw Wanda getting caught in a glowing green net and then someone also caught him from behind. He guessed his dad hat met a similar fate. “Mommy and Daddy need help.”, he tried to reason with the two and they finally looked down to notice him. His lips quivered but he still wanted to be brave and strong. He wasn’t a baby anymore!

“And we’ll help them.” Timmy reassured. He just had to figure out a way to escape. He really did his best to ignore the ache in his head as he looked around, searching for anything that could help them escape. Since it was never night in Fairy World, he had no idea how much time had passed in reality. “How long have we been here, anyway?”

“Clearly not long enough, that’s for sure.” A voice that sounded just like his own answered and a door to their right shifted open, revealing the ominous doubleganger of Timmy. “While it was fun to hear you bickering, I’d like to have a word with you too.” The dark suit wearing teen walked inside, followed by a few robots and Dark Laser.

“Who are – no, who made you? Why are you after us? And more importantly, why are you siding with these losers?” Timmy honestly couldn’t believe why a version of him would work for Dark Laser, out of all people. He couldn’t take the toy warlord seriously ever since the guy teamed up with Crocker and Foop only to end up dating his teacher’s mother. He still got the creeps just thinking about it.

“And who are you calling a loser?!” Dark laser pointed angrily at his prisoner, not liking how the teen still put up a front even if he was behind digital bars and in pain.

“Shut up and leave us alone.” Other-Timmy flatly stated and the bigger foe visibly deflated at that.

“Wha?! Err-“ He stuttered, his anger easily deflating at the other’s glare. Dark Laser coughed into his fist “Sorry. I … guess I’ll be going then, Flipsie needs his daily walk anyway.” He awkwardly rubbed his metallic neck and left the room with his robots again, who also didn’t like being near the edgy kid.

Sighing, as if he had finally gotten rid of an annoying fly, the new rival continued. “As for who made me, that’s simple and really ironic.”

Jorgen had none of that ominous talking. “Who cares about that – state your business and let me out, so I can take my anger out on both of you!”

With a simple snap of Other-Timmy’s fingers, the sensor in Jorgen’s collar went off, shocking him once more but not stopping, so he could hardly say anything anymore. “I don’t like being interrupted. Now where was I? … Oh, right. Anti-Cosmo probably bragged all about his evil plans already, didn’t he?”

At that, Poof looked up to his brother expectantly. Timmy remembered he still hadn’t talked about his side of the story when the events happened. Besides the CMI he never mentioned what happened to him and Cosmo. Both Poof and Jorgen probably wouldn’t like to hear all that. “He … said something about Unwish Island.”

“Ah, no place like home. Sweet memories of being a slave and treated as a punching bag, seeing dozens with the same face and fate being tortured for the pure fun. How nostalgic.”, Dark Timmy mused and the real Timmy’s eyes grew larger as he recalled the place. “The ‘We hate Timmy club’ was especially fun to work in, you know?”

“You’re … a copy I made.” The feeling of nausea intensified as the teen only now remembered what happened ages ago. To get rid of his old enemies and unwished wishes that formed an alliance to get rid of him and chased him and his loved ones down. “But you’re not supposed to –“

“Be able to have a mind of my own? Have real emotions? Feeling pain?”, the other finished the sentence before he could. “Well, next time you shouldn’t leave a magical copy machine unattended on a deserted Island. It malfunctioned, so I was different from the start as I was made to replace yet another one that was destroyed for fun.” He shrugged, fending off the events that replayed in his mind as he spoke about it. He had no intention on sharing more of his pity story, he just wanted to see his creator suffer and realize his many selfish mistakes he made in the past. It just bothered him to no end how the boy was allowed to go on with his life with zero consequences despite him altering the laws of space and time and life of other beings just for his own gain. “You’re not so different from Jorgen, you know? But don’t worry, I have no intentions of taking my revenge out on you – I already had my chance to even things out with the Islanders.” The sinister grin on his pale face implied so much more behind these few words and it made Timmy’s skin crawl. Seeing himself act so cold and controlled was confusing and made him nervous. That, and the fact that Jorgen was still tortured with electrocution and starting to turn blue instead of red in the face. “Really, thanks to you, I got where I am now. With powers and freedom to do what I want. And now, I can even travel through worlds without stupid fairy magic.” He crossed his arms and for, a split second, he almost looked the same as Timmy when he pretended something wasn’t cool, only to be jealous and longing on the inside. “I don’t care what happens to all of you, so farewell.”

“Wait! I’m sorry that happened to you, okay? I didn’t know magic copies could have emotions or feel pain. I just didn’t want to endanger my family and friends.”, he tried to reason with him, but that was apparently the wrong thing to say, because all Timmy got in return was a glare.

“You don’t care about anything but your own problems, stop lying to yourself.”, Other-Timmy spat with disgust. “While I appreciate your honest lack of sympathy … You should probably save your empty apologies for your friends that you left behind to pick up your trash. A portal works both ways, you know?”

“Amity Park.”, Timmy concluded. If there really was a portal to the Ghost Zone in Abracatraz, then their enemies could also infiltrate Danny’s world. And worse, the Anti-Fairies could also get there, as soon as they were done causing chaos in Dimmsdale. “Please, if you really don’t care, then let us out! I promise you Tim- err, me, to set everything right again when I have Cosmo and Wanda.”

“Oh, and how will that turn out to be? Would you wish ‘everything was back to normal’, as you usually do? Would you wish us copies away – which wouldn’t work, since we’d be right back at Unwish Island anyway? Go on, tell me.” Dark Timmy snapped his fingers again and Jorgen was finally able to breathe properly again. He was too exhausted to yell at any of the Timmys. But now the other Timmy smiled, just a little. “The fun thing about all this is – I’m not even the true enemy you should be afraid of. Like you, I just don’t care what happens to the mess I make, after I moved on from it. And I’m done with you and this world.”

Timmy felt bad about it. He had dealt with villains and their smooth talking before, but seeing his own face as a twisted reflection reminded him of bad times. Like the clone Norm made, who treated Cosmo and Wanda so bad that they quit. The only thing that made these events worse was, he had gone through a phase were he just didn’t care about anyone but him. And his godparents had been on the unintentional receiving end of it. Well, such things happened when he was always met by indifferences. Eventually, he decided to do the same, even though his closest friends never deserved it. Yeah, he had been a real jerk many times. If it weren’t for his formed friendships with Jimmy, Danny and SpongeBob, where they teamed up and trusted each other during missions, he probably would’ve never learned what it was like for someone his age and size to have his back.

“Timmy, I never meant for this to happen. I was a stupid kid, I never thought ahead and … and …” He was running out of ideas. It seemed like his copy didn’t have any interest in what he had to say and there was no option of escaping without any other help. They were chained up in cells and had no magic – it was hopeless. On top of that, his phone was dead, so he couldn’t even call his friends for help. Now that he thought about it, he also completely forgot to tell his parents or Chester where he was and today was still a school day. He never came back home and his parents and best friend would probably think something happened, not being able to reach him as well. Just this once, Timmy wished they didn’t care enough to notice. Usually that was the case when he wanted attention … but regarding his bad luck today, he should probably start to think of a good excuse. If the city still stood when this was over, that was.

“Don’t call me that.” The copy didn’t turn around and the door opened again. “It’s Tiberius. You know, because you neither like nor ever use your second name, so I thought that one fitted best. Until we meet again, Turner. Hopefully never.” He turned around, as the small room behind that door seemed to be a sort of elevator. “Because if we cross paths again, I won’t be as nice to you - or everyone you hold dear.” He lowered his eyes to Poof, who nervously tucked his tiny legs towards his chest. The little hints of amusement that showed on Tib’s face before vanished. He didn’t look particularly monotone, more tired and exhausted.

Now alone with the two fairies again and the adrenalin receding, Timmy felt a throb in his head come back full force and he sunk even deeper down as the tension left his body, putting more strain on his wrists. The chat with his copy had drained Timmy emotionally more than he would’ve thought. Usually, such big reveals didn’t happen right at the start of a crisis and he wasn’t sure if that was even the worst that could happen. Then again, he didn’t want to know what else there was.
Cosmo and Wanda were somewhere trapped against their will, every fairy was being chased and captured by robots and ghosts, the Anti-Fairies were on the loose … he could only hope Danny would notice that something was wrong with the Ghost Zone or whatever and maybe they would also be worried that he never showed up. They wanted to meet around 6 p.m. so, given that he was usually late by a few minutes to half an hour because he either forgot or couldn’t poof because of other circumstances, they might text him and start to get alarmed around an hour later.

So what, was he supposed to hang around and just wait for them like a damsel in distress, while their enemies did whatever they had planned with Da Rules and the fairy magic? Was this really how it went and what he had trained for? How was he going to be a warden if he couldn’t even protect anyone on his own without messing it up?

So many questions flooded his head and each one made him feel more stupid and incompetent. He was nothing without magic or his allies. He always had help and lucky coincidences to do what he needed to do, but now he was at a loss.
Perhaps the clone was right. He always cared and worried mostly about himself, if his only worries were focused around him. Maybe he wasn’t fit for the job. He didn’t even deserve to be the one lucky kid in the world to keep his memories, magical items and wishes he made since he was ten. He was just an average kid with the attention span of a goldfish and never thought about others and the consequences. No, he made so many bad wished that resulted in added rules and his own Unwish Island. Not to mention all the junk he still had in his closet and the powers he had wanted, like …

An idea hit him. Maybe it was stupid, maybe the effects had lessened over the years because he forgot and/or the powers of Cosmo and Wanda had declined gradually, but if there still was something left, then he had to try it.

Timmy focused. Even if the headache got worse, he looked at one of the cuffs of his wrist and stared intently at it, trying to remember the feeling. If the wishes and magical items he got weren’t affected by world altering wishes, or if the changes weren’t required to be actively powered by magic-energy, then he should still be able to use them.

“Timmy, he’s wrong.” Poof took the long silence in the room as a sign to talk his brother out of his self-loathing that he was probably doing. “You’re better than him.”

Jorgen kept quiet, just watching the two interact. Some of the things both Timmys had said made him thinking, and even if he enjoyed seeing others struggle, he wasn’t one to add salt to a wound or kick someone that was already down. Not that much at least. He supposed his wrath for the teen could wait and he should rather save his energy to let it out on their actual enemies. But only this once.
However, when Timmy still didn’t respond to the tiny fairy child, the rule enforcer got suspicious. Was the kid about to cry? He couldn’t deal with that! Emotions weren’t his thing and the eyes of the human looked red and watery, as he stared unblinking upwards. Perhaps he should console the kid? He had undergone godchild training too, even if it had been a while. A very, very long while. “Turner, warriors don’t cry. That’s a sign of weakness! Buckle up and think about how we can escape and punch them instead.” Alright, nailed it.

Timmy didn’t listen to any of them and stared until his eyes burned. Literally. He was trying to activate a skill he completely forgot he had. Again. So he had to concentrate and give it all he had, even if the lack of magic probably made it harder for him. The only thing he felt above the burn was the increase of his headache.

And just as he was about to empty his stomach, a tiny ray of his heat vision finally fired from his eyes, even for a short span. But his blurred vision made it hard to aim, so not only got his cuff, but also his skin burned. The good thing was, the intensity wasn’t as strong as it used to be. He would need to stare very long if he wanted to do actual damage, but it still burned and left a bright red mark on the side of his right hand were his thumb was. He was mostly left-handed, but it didn’t make it less painful and he closed his eyes on reflex.

“Poof poof!” His brother cheered as he saw the act and tried to encourage him.

“The child’s right, aim for the conveniently placed lock mechanism in the corner instead, before you maim yourself.” Jorgen nodded towards some kind of fuse box on Timmy’s left, which seemed to control the whole thing that activated the force field and – hopefully – also the restrains. Well, it was worth a shot, even if Timmy felt as if the headache and burn in his eyes got worse by the second as he forced his eyelids open to concentrate the ray on the fuse. It was bad design to put something like that right next to a cell, but who was he to judge and complain anyway.

Agonizingly three minutes later – he counted the seconds to distract himself – the fuse was finally melted enough to deactivate the force field, or better yet, all electricity in their room. The blueish wall disappeared and the collars around Poof and Jorgen’s neck came off just as his and Timmy’s cuffs. While the teen fell flat on his face, barely keeping himself from hurling, Jorgen wasted no time using his unmatching muscles to tear of the chains. Poof attempted to fly, only to see that his wing was still a little crooked, which didn’t hurt that much, but he had trouble hovering steadily.

“Alright, time for payback.” Jorgen punched his palm and if it weren’t for his odd way of jumping on one foot and the faint smell of roasted skin, he looked just as always – like he hadn’t been spasming for a whole villain monologue straight.

“Yeah, just … give me a min-“ Timmy couldn’t finish the sentence, as he hunched over on the nearest corner and spewed out what little was left in his stomach. Jorgen had enough sympathy to not strangle him for the things he said earlier and instead looked around for something big and long like his wand, so he could at least support his right side. Poof would’ve liked to summon a glass of water for his brother, but his wand was as useless as a back scratcher right now. His Fagiggly-Gland still allowed him to transform, but what good would that do?
“Alright, let’s go.” Rubbing his sore eyes, Timmy felt better now that he got it out of his system and was able to breath more freely. He was a little paly and his knees shaky, but he got it together. “We should arm ourselves first and check out what’s going on.” That was something Jimmy or Danny would suggest, he assumed. He never missed them and their input more than he did right now.

To their odd luck, the little blackout went unnoticed, no alarm was going off or anything, which gave them a little time to prepare. The room was mostly empty, safe for their cells and a few control panels at the windows. From there, they had a good view. Fairy World was just beneath them, the Big Wand in the distance was dark, apparently unplugged and ghost minions chased the few remaining fairies around. So far, nothing else had happened. They only noticed that Abracatraz was glowing in a green light and a tiny army of robots stood in front of the gates as guards.

“Come on, this is a spaceship, there has to be some weaponry like lasers and stuff.”, Timmy grumbled, as he dug his nails into the slits on the wall, hoping to open a hidden cabinet – which was futile, because it wouldn’t open without power anyway.

“This is a waste of time.” Jorgen had ripped a slim decorative pipe from one of the walls to use as a makeshift staff. He even twisted one of the ends with his bare hands to make a handle for better grip. “We should find something to get off this thing and head straight towards the Fairy Amory. It has its own power supply, so it should still work without the wand and contains all sorts of weapons.”

“That’s the place they would take over first thing, going there would just be another trap.” Even if this was not as easy as it looked, their escape was too swift and Tiberius’s words still left him on edge. “Anti-Cosmo made me and Cosmo pack a whole bunch of stuff from the CMI – if they need it, it’s probably around here somewhere or still in Abracatraz. So if we just find a way to sneak in and use that portal, we could get to Amity Park and ask my friends for help. Danny has more experience dealing with ghosts than we do.”

Jorgen brushed the kid off. “The CMI stands for confiscated magical items. These things are locked away for good reason, using them would go against everything I stand for! And I’m not trusting you and your puny human friends with the fate of Fairy World – or our entire universe.”

“So what?! Better we use these weapons instead of them! And my friends helped save Fairy World before, you know they’re capable of it!” Timmy threw his hands up in defense. “Stop being so stubborn.”

“Oh, because your plans worked great so far and nothing went wrong?” Jorgen raised an eyebrow, bending down to be at eyelevel with the teen. “Last time I was in the universe of one of your friends, I was stuck with this annoying little human fused into my body because of the chaos and imbalance YOU and your FRIEND caused!”

Even if the fairy had a point, Timmy wasn’t going to back down. He angrily chewed on his lip and clenched his fists. They didn’t even notice Poof tucking on their pants to get their attention. “Fine, if you think you can do it alone and your plan is better, go ahead! See how long it takes until the ghosts put you in chains again! I thought it was my job to protect the fairies, but you don’t even listen to me! You’re just like all the other adults.”

“Brave words for someone who’s 18^th birthday isn’t that far away anymore.”, Jorgen growled with the implied threat that made Timmy pale once more and the teen felt like he was about to hurl for the second time. “And you’re far from meeting the standards of a true warden.”

Timmy was thinking what he could retort to that, when Poof literally clung with his entire body to his leg and looked up with a pout. “Stop fighting! Mom and Dad need help! Poof poof.”

“I know, you’re right. Us fighting won’t help them either and it shouldn’t matter how and with whom we make it work.” Timmy relaxed his hands again, ignoring the burn on his hand to pick his little brother up. He looked at Jorgen, who seemed just as guilty. “You may be the toughest fairy in the universe, but your people need help. It shouldn’t matter to you who’s it is and standing here won’t solve anything either. I’m going to help my godparents and asf my friends for help, no matter what you say.”

Seeing Timmy’s stern look of determination and Poof’s puppy eyes, Jorgen couldn’t argue with that. He only groaned with frustration. Being persuaded by a bunch of tiny children was humiliating, but he was also worried for his wife, so the rational part inside him could understand their motives. “Alright, fine. Let’s find your chaotic parents and see if we need other help. But first, let’s get out of this stupid place.”

Chapter Text

Since their enemies were busy down on the clouds, the Death Ball was mainly empty, safe for the few robots and Dark Laser, who pouted on his commander-throne, mumbling something over his missing toy and that students these days had no respect for teachers anymore. So, his excuse with his dog was a terrible lie. Figures.

Sneaking around with a giant fairy on a metal, clunking sound making, cane was tricky, but Timmy managed to navigate through the ship just fine, since it wasn’t his first time in one of those. Dark Laser apparently never bothered to change the structural design.

“I don’t understand.” The toy warlord talked to himself, staring out at the panorama front window from his seat to watch the chaos unfold. “I thought getting one of these copies to be my henchman would make everything easier. This Ghost from the other world must’ve infected him with all this nonsense about rewriting the universe. But Tiberius never had respect for his superiors, general Flipsie and me, to begin with.” The man crossed his arms and slumped down on his throne. “At least the L.O.S.E.R.S acted like a team instead of just using me for my weapons and transport-devices. Why don’t they want me with them down there?”

He then just grumbled gibberish into his mask, that made Timmy, Jorgen and Poof raise their brows and share a look. The guy obviously seemed too distracted to even notice them, even his robot guard faced the front. All they had left to do was sneaking out his chair towards the exit and be as quiet as possible doing so.

Timmy was about to hit the switch to the door that would hopefully have the exit-port to zap them back on the clouds, as Jorgen not so gently grabbed his shoulder. “He said weapons and transportation. We should go there and make us our own exit.” The poor attempt of Jorgen trying to keep his voice down succeeded by what could only be a miracle … or the lack of intellect on this ship.

The teen refrained from pinching his nose the way Jimmy always did when he was frustrated with his stupid mock-questions. “We agreed to go stealth mode.”, he angrily whispered back. “Just sneaking out, simple as that.”

“Poof Poof.” Poof, who was clinging to Timmy’s back pointed at another door at the other end of the room that had a sign spelled ‘arsenal’ above it.

Timmy sighed. “Fine, let’s go.” Usually, he was all about brawling and big entrances and all that, but since everything he normally did only backfired or caused bad things to happen today, he tried to refrain from his usual style. When he was with his quad, each of them had a role. But on his own he felt like he had to play four parts in one. Or mostly just the mature part. He felt like an impostor, as if he was just pretending to be capable of something, when in reality, he was just a mess. The more he thought about it and suppressed his gut and intuition, the more he held himself back, paralyzed by spiraling thoughts and the fear of failing. But he couldn’t afford that now. They had to be quick.

Because Jorgen was drawing the most attention to him with his sheer size and the cane, Timmy signaled him to wait until he was at the door and opened it. It turned out to be some kind of elevator again. With more agility than he would’ve given the rule enforcer credit for, the man swiftly did a dodge roll and the door closed right behind him in a smooth motion. Well, he wasn’t dressed in a military uniform for nothing. From all the fairies that usually flew he was the most used to physics, so that made sense. And Timmy had to admit, the way he casually managed to carry on with a handicap that was a fricking missing leg, was a little badass. Still, he wouldn’t admit that out loud because he was still mad at the fairy for always treating him so unfair and his whole attitude in general. He didn’t care if he wasn’t any better, he wouldn’t apologize for telling the truth and expected none from his coach in return. A mutual truce, so to say.

The tension between them and the general situation was so thick, Poof could cut it with a knife if he had one. Being so close to his brother, the tiny fairy felt the slight tremble and heavy breathing. Something happened before they got arrested and the human teen could either not remember it or he wouldn’t tell them. But he looked like he needed some rest and something to eat. He really wished he knew how to help him.

The design of Dark Laser’s Death Ball was always something else, but the stupid elevator music that suddenly played and the ding sound, as they reached the underside of the thing, was really unfitting for a place of war and doom. The only thing that made the situation serious again, were the metallic faces that stood right before them when the doors opened.

“Intruders!”, one of the androids yelled and the other corrected. “The prisoners have escaped! Set off the alar-“

“No, you won’t!” Jorgen didn’t hesitate to smack them with his makeshift staff. The robots fell to the ground, making a lot of noise in the process. Hopefully they still had time before other robots noticed that. “I take care of these, you go and find us something to fight and get out of here.”

Timmy was too stunned to retort anything and simply nodded. Poof pointed towards a wall that was plastered with laser weapons and light swords. And of course, in a little box not far from there, was some ‘Lost and Found’ stuff. Timmy quickly dodged a severed robot arm and hurried over to the box. Dang, Jorgen didn’t hesitate.

“Great, they kept the useless stuff too.” The teen wasn’t very pleased to see that this thing contained none of the fairy weapons or the confiscated stuff, but only junk the Anti-Fairies left behind in their cells and his fancy – not working at all – crown charm, together with the fake wand. Well, better to take them than nothing.
Upon touching said crown, it began to glow a little pink and, like some magnet, hovered over his head again. He had no idea how the physics of that thing worked, but he would take what he could get. If anything, Jorgen could use that one instead, even if it was fake. Better than a stupid pipe after all. Now, as for the weapons on the wall, they were secured behind a similar force field like the one that trapped them earlier. “Okay, where is the switch to turn that off?”

He and Poof searched the whole wall, with all this neat stuff on display but nothing to get access to it. He could try his heat vision again, but the adrenalin and the sound of more robots coming their way told him he didn’t have enough time nor concentration for that. Poof decided to dive into the box, where he found his own tiny wand between all the sharpened forks, crooked spoons and plates – they must’ve mistaken it for toy. He also found something that looked like car keys. “Poof poof!” He showed them to Timmy, pressing the button that would unlock a car usually. The beep sound came from not too far away, just behind another sliding door that was big enough to lead to some hangar or garage.

“Nice one.” Despite their situation, Timmy took the time to give his fairy brother a thumbs up as he took the fake wand. “Jorgen, we’re outta here!”, he yelled.

“And I got something to deliver pain!”, the fairy responded with a mad grin, showing off the laser canon that still had an artificial arm attached to the handle. It was nothing like his trusty wand, but it would do for now.

Right as they finished the small fries, the alarm was set off. Poof surely had enough of this loud ringing and the red lights, since it happened twice now. He still had to cover his ears as Timmy scooped him back up and ran towards their exit.

Behind that door was indeed a hangar and the unlocked vehicle was none other than one of Dark Lasers hover-jets. The smallest one out of them, true, but still better than nothing. It was big enough to fit them all inside and was also heavily armed, judging by the many buttons and switches on the front.

“Move it, Turner. I’m driving!” Jorgen pushed the teen to the side.

“Hey! Unlike you, I have a driving license!” Timmy looked under the wheel to notice there were no pedals and he had no idea how that thing functioned, but he had many experiences in flying spaceships from his adventures and that usually worked out fine. A little crash landing never hurt anybody. Judging by his shaking hands, he shouldn’t be trusted behind a vehicle for a while, though (and he barely passed too, because his dad was a terrible teacher and the genes ran in the family).

“And I used to be a five-star ranged soldier – Cupid’s puny army has nothing on me.” Without waiting for any further arguments, he just smashed his fist on the control panel, turning the vehicle and all its arsenal to life. A much bigger laser cannon emerged from the roof only to blast a big hole into the Death Ball.

“So much for stealth.” Timmy grumbled, looking out the windows to see a horde of robots piling over each other as they all tried to get inside the hangar at once. “Good thing Dark Laser and his goons are still losers.”

With that done, they took off.

Jorgen turned out to be a horrible pilot and managed to crash into every ghost or flying robot along the way, until he finally figured out how to maneuver this thing. It had either been a long time since he flew a jet, or they worked very different from the fairy ones. “Now, where do you two puny children want to go?” Despite his authoritative manner, Jorgen complied to Poof’s plea earlier. He was probably still set on the armory, but at least he gave them the choice.

Timmy scouted the area, spotting the armory and the unplugged big wand in the distance. With ghosts flying all around and robots in the city, it was hard to determine the situation there. He just noticed a lack of ghosts near the jails and Unwish Storage. The military base was suspiciously empty and the few fairy soldiers left that fought the ghosts got cornered easily. It could be a trap, but he had to make a decision soon. “Poof?” It was weak to push the responsibility towards his younger brother, but he really couldn’t decide. His palms were sweaty, and his heart was beating so fast, he heard the pounding in his ears. Still, Poof looked just as lost and scared as he was, sitting on his lap and hugging his small legs. He should stop being such a coward.

“There’s Abracatraz!” Refraining from smacking himself, Timmy pointed at the jail and saw just in what short amount of time Walker’s minions and Dark Laser’s robots managed to turn the dungeon into a real one. The whole castle-like prison was coated in a green aura. And a swarm of ghosts seemed to come from the hole in the ceiling, floating in a circle around the jail like a small tornado to shield it from above. If he squinted enough, Timmy could see the robots and minions carrying glowing nets with fairies inside through the front entrance. “Shoot.” There was no sign of the big enemies, such as Walker, Vlad or Anti-Cosmo, but that didn’t have to mean anything. He just hoped his evil copy wouldn’t show up out of nowhere again. Guessing by the intimidating picture of this place, he sure hoped he wouldn’t regret his decision. Maybe the armory would’ve been the better choice to at least get decent weapons …

“Alright, I’m going in.” Jorgen pushed the steering wheel forward, not slowing down no matter how many ghosts splashed against the front or how the vehicle rattled. Something was definitely messing with the tech and somehow pushing them back, as if the Dungeon wanted to keep them away itself. But the stubborn madman ignored that.

“Are you nuts? We can’t just crash in!” Timmy actually didn’t mind such drastic measures, but with a child on board and no magic that would keep them somewhat safe and alive, that was too risky, even for his standards. “What about this fancy back entrance you never told me about?”

“I doubt they’ll let us waltz in just like that, since we’re already being followed.” Jorgen pointed at the radar on the panel that also had a rear camera, so Timmy could clearly see Dark Laser, followed by his robots behind them. He seemed to have taken a substitute jet, that was shaped like a dog – just a rounder and bigger version of Flipsie. As if that stupid toy needed its own ship.

Timmy was too overwhelmed to form a plan or think of any other way they could deal with this, so he just made sure Poof was safe on his lap, gently holding him in place. “But there are other fairies – we could crash into them. Let’s use the hole and get in from above.”

Jorgen seemed to ponder that idea. Maybe the constant stream of ghosts coming out from the hole could slow them down enough so they wouldn’t dive head first into the main hall. It was worth a shot and would save them a little trouble. “Fine, but I need to get closer for a better angle. Can this stupid thing fire missiles or something?”

Timmy looked at the complicated and dented panel. The lasers were still active but seemed to have only little effect on the enemy ships with their enforced cover. Jorgen’s laser cannon wouldn’t work either. As for his fake wand … he doubted this fancy bat could do anything useful. Maybe there were some weapons on board? Behind them was another seat under a tiny dome made of enforced glass. It had joystick-like controls, which gave Timmy an idea. “Alright, I got this.”

He carefully lifted Poof, buckling him up in his seat as he crawled to the backside of the cramped jet to sit in this weird chair. As he had thought, this thing a manual laser cannon. Well, it would at least buy them some time, so why not. Firing and aiming the lasers by himself wasn’t that hard, considering his expertise from all the video games. His lips twisted to a sly grin as he pressed the buttons to fire projectiles and bombs at Dark Laser and his troop. It didn’t do a lot of damage, but he was mainly going for the lasers and cannons, who weren’t enforced. Left and right a few smaller ships were going down too. All was well and Timmy allowed himself to enjoy the confidence it gave him, knowing at least something he came up with worked.

Until his dome was blown off by Dark Laser.

He ducked just in time to avoid most of the shards and the pressure, but this made him target number one. As soon as the toy warlord saw his buckteeth, the he glared at him and more lasers than should be possible popped out from every angle of his stupid dog-ship. Okay, this made it a lot more difficult and he had celebrated too soon.

“Poof poof!” His brother gently yanked his pants, turning himself into a tiny bazooka. Timmy was too conflicted to cheer because he had no idea if he would hurt Poof by using him as a weapon. Cosmo and Wanda were no problem, but … What if it didn’t even work? He wasn’t a kid anymore, the magic had receded enough that Cosmo could only turn into the Star Flinger for short periods of time, because shooting projectiles was using up more energy than the simple Cosmo Hammer.

Hesitating, he looked at the small and cute face of Poof on the deadly weapon. His brother just smiled encouraging, he wanted to save his parents just as much as he was.
“Okay, fine. It’s worth a shot.”, he sighed, straightening again. The headwind was stronger than he anticipated, but Jorgen’s ridiculously extreme training had strengthened his balance and back muscles enough so he could aim somewhat steadily hunched over. Ever since he had his crown charm back, it was like a fog had lifted from his brain for some reason (how that thing managed to not be blown off by the wind was beyond him). It could still be better, and this wasn’t the type of fresh air he was going for, but oh well.

“I sure hope this works.”, he mumbled, aiming the Poof-Zooka directly at Dark Laser’s face. Of course the enemies wouldn’t watch it happen just like that. Now that he was exposed to them without any protection, they opened fire on him with all they got. Red rays and projectiles were aimed at them and some only missed him by a hair – literally, a few were singed at the end from these hot lasers. They were definitely more extreme than his now lame heat vision. The only thing it would probably do well was boiling soup slightly faster than a microwave.

“Surrender, Timmy Turner!”, the warlord yelled over his speaker, to which the teen obviously retorted with “Never!”

Timmy pulled the trigger, making Poof giggle as if it tickled him. Contrary to that sweet childish laughter, a big missile exploded from the end, shooting for the lead ship right behind them, thus making it not hard to miss it.

“Oh, fiddlesticks.” Dark Laser muttered, not surprised by this turn of events and yet pissed off all the same, as his ship blew up and he escaped barely by ejecting himself.

Timmy’s victory was short lived, as Poof couldn’t contain his form any longer and transformed back, almost dropping off. The average teen quickly caught him and placed him inside his shirt, his head sticking out at the collar.

“You two might want to come back inside, if you want to keep your heads attached.”, Jorgen barked as they dove down, right above the jail and about to enter the ghost cyclone. Among other junk, the sign of the jail ‘Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Here Enter’ flew by them, broken and torn off. Ironic, since the portal inside the prison was actually the only hope they had left. Timmy quickly dug back inside, hissing as one of the minion’s lasers grazed his cheek. Nothing a little magic or a band aid couldn’t fix, but it still burned.

Bracing for the impact, Timmy put a hand over Poof to shield him from the crash, who clung to his neck like a lifeline. He should’ve put the safety belt on, in hindsight. Because his lame crown charm didn’t protect his head from hitting against the windshield when they broke through the ghost swarm and went into the hole.

They managed to land somewhat parallel on the cobble stone ground, the engine still taking them a good distance further, scraping to a sudden halt, eventually crashing the front against a wall. The pounding of his heartbeat in his ears was replaced with a shrill ringing, as Timmy was knocked back in his seat.

“-immy?” The world was spinning once more, as he slowly stretched and held his forehead. That wasn’t pleasant at all. Poof gently tugged on his shirt. Man, he wished he were in his bed, wearing his own clothes right now. He was so tired. “Timmy!” A little hand patted his cheek.

“Turner, get up, we’re surrounded!” Jorgen wasn’t so gentle. He grabbed the teen under one of his arms and practically yanked him out of the vehicle. The elevating doors on the sides had fallen off the hinges, making the jet completely useless.

A bunch of robots surrounded them and pointed their weapons at the trio. “Surrender now or prepare to be annihilated”, one of them said. Almost on reflex, Timmy raised his hands. They were outnumbered and had nothing to fight against so many foes.

The cells around them were filled with fairies. The very cells that were destroyed before and were now remade. Instead of a blue glass, green glowing bars trapped them. Among the imprisoned fairies were also many soldiers and Cupid with his cherubs, all of them watching the battle with hopeful yet pleading eyes that they would set them free.

“Funny, I was going to say the same thing.” The strongest fairy in the universe thought otherwise and leaned inside their wrecked ship to once more punch the control panel, which activated what was left of the functioning defense system. To their dismay, the computer of the thing was nearly destroyed, so the lasers fired random in every direction, also endangering the three. Jorgen used that moment of surprise to grab the laser cannon and started shooting like a madman, using the broken pipe as a cane with the other hand to keep his balance.

The robots also opened the fire on them, soon engulfing the place in chaos. Timmy just ducked his head and grabbed the fake wand that had also dropped out during the crash. To his surprise, it successfully reflected some of the beams with the flat star-side. The lasers not only were deflected, they rebounded with even more force, knocking over a few robots in the process.
“Woah, what?” Timmy stared at the wand in confusion, which was now glowing a little pink instead of being plain white.

“I told you; you can smack enemies with it. It has no magic, but it can reflect and store any kind of energy. Just not for very long.” Jorgen said as if that was self-explanatory, to which Timmy’s eye twitched in response.

“You didn’t say that! I thought it was a nothing more than a glorified bat or something.” The average teen bit back his frustration and rather took it out on one of the robots that got too close. The faint glow disappeared in a shockwave that resonated with the impact as he hit the metallic torso, hurling it a few feet away. Now, that was cool. He totally misjudged his new weapon. Well, Jorgen never did lame things, it shouldn’t be that surprising in hindsight. Regardless, he was still mad.

Said fairy shrugged. “You would’ve known if you had read the manual I left in your copy of Da Rules. That only proofs you didn’t study it well enough.”

Okay if this was over, Timmy would SO go on a vacation and never talk to Jorgen again. “Is there any other information you forgot to tell me? Like, about that stupid crown or something else?!” He ignored that jab about studying. That was just unfair, he could’ve highlighted that or whatever instead of being unnecessarily mean.

Jorgen raised a brow and paid no further attention the side remark, since he was busy blasting robot-faces. While the two fought bravely to defend themselves, Poof looked around. He tried hard to find the pink and green hairs of his parents, but he couldn’t make them out in the crowd of imprisoned fairies. Maybe they had to go further down the hall? And what about the portal?

Poof was frustrated, he couldn’t see a thing from down here. Even with magic, his wing would make it difficult to hover, but he tried his best to have a better view. He avoided a few ghosts as he took off and flew as high as he could. So far, the ghosts mostly ignored them, but a few that acted as wardens fired at the trio. He was relieved to see that Timmy’s wand could also reflect the ecto-beams, even if the force pushed the teen back a little and his hands were shaking. Whether it was because he gripped the staff too hard due to the tension or because he was too exhausted (or maybe both), Poof didn’t know. At least he could finally see the jail in all its glory. Prison cells the whole way down, except for the one far on the left, where Anti-Wanda had been locked away. And it was also the direction the swarms of ghosts came from.

“Poof poof!” He frantically waved his arms to get Timmy’s attention but he wasn’t spared from the fight either.

“Well, long time no see, Poof.” The voice he wanted to hear least of all called his attention. It belonged to Foop. The purple fairy in training glared at his other version, grabbing his tiny wand as hard as he could. Even without magic, he would still poke him. Foop saw the animosity and quickly raised his hands. “Hey, for the record, I had nothing to do with this.”

The little Anti-Fairy stroked his goatee with a smug grin. “Father didn’t fill me in on his plan – but I have more important things to do anyway. Soon, you’re not the only one with a big brother anymore.” Unlike his opponent, he still had magic and showed it off by summoning a blue bobby car instead of his former crip to fly in. “Uuuh, this is going to be so much fun. We will make plans to conquer the world, play board games, blast Fairy World into oblivion and make prank calls on the Pixies!” The blue child giggled merrily.

Poof facepalmed. He had no time for this. “Poof poof!”

Foop shrugged to that. “I have no idea where your parents are. In fact, I don’t even know where mine went, probably home to our castle and take care of him.”

Poof finally had enough of the meaningless chat. “Are we fighting now or not?” Foop obviously just came over to brag about … his big brother? Really? Hopefully he didn’t mean Tiberius, that guy was too creepy and serious.

His other version seemed to think about it, until he pulled out his own little wand. “Sure, let’s go.” Poof avoided the blue beam just in time, as Foop fired his magic at him. Okay, maybe he shouldn’t have provoked a battle between them when it was obviously going to be very one sided.

He hovered down the hall, flying as aimless as a wasp, while Foop followed him with high speed. He was so fast, that Poof only had to drop down a few feet for his enemy to pass him. He had to take a sharp turn, but Poof instead flew over the car this time. It was a little like a matador against the bull.

Their chase took them further, until they were at the makeshift Portal. It had somehow merged with the symbols and the wall, forming a perfect circle now. But it was different from the ones Poof had seen before, although he only saw the one at Fenton Works once, since he was mostly at school while Timmy and his friends went on adventures. But neither Jimmy’s nor Danny’s looked anything like that one. But then he could see it. In a tiny net-globe, in front of the portal, were his parents trapped inside, who looked both shocked and relieved to see him.

“Huh, would you look at that? That surely wasn’t here before.” Foop smirked. Poof wouldn’t put it behind him to lie about that, but his adversary was more than happy to tell him about his evil schemes and they hadn’t been this hostile with each other in years. Poof guessed the L.O.S.E.R.S and his anti-parents were a bad influence, always setting their truce back a few steps when they didn’t meet for a while. As a classmate, Foop acted pretty decent for Anti-Fairy standards. Poof didn’t have many friends in his age … was it really that childish to hope they would just get along one day?

He shook his head. That wasn’t important right now, he had to help his parents!

“I wouldn’t do that, if I were you.” Foop interjected, before Poof could dive down to the sphere. “I mean, you’re all alone, without magic and this looks clearly like a trap. What are you? A foolish baby?” Foop crossed his arms. “I expected more of my nemesis.”

Poof couldn’t tell if Foop just wanted to help in a twisted way or if he just liked to make fun of him, but his anti-version had a point. He gazed back to Timmy and Jorgen in the distance, who looked exhausted and pretty beat up. “Timmy! Here!”, he yelled as loud as he could over the noise, but it was no use.

“Man, what a shame. He can’t hear you.” Foop leaned back in his bobby car, looking at his claw like nails. “Too bad you can’t make him come here, right? Good thing I got some new toys from my Father.” With a swift move of his tiny wand, a doll with the face of Timmy appeared in his hand, together with a Jorgen doll that was missing half of its right leg.

Timmy’s lungs were on fire. Being hit by an ecto-blast sure wasn’t a run in the park and he didn’t envy Danny for one bit, who had to deal with them on a daily basis. His arms slowly lost their strength and his movements became slow and sluggish. The more robots he had to hit and ghosts to avoid, the more he felt his body giving out on him. The nausea came back and he felt so dizzy, he tripped over his own feet. A good coincidence, as it turned out, since a laser blast would’ve hit him in the face otherwise.

“Get up, Turner. We’re not backing down or die trying!” Jorgen grabbed the backside of his shirt and pulled him up. He didn’t look any better and even the great fairy warrior was now breathing heavily. The vehicle was destroyed completely by the ghosts, who had enough of the annoying barrage attack.

Timmy had no stamina left to respond and felt the rest of his air get knocked out of his chest as the familiar pull in his stomach was back, pulling him forward. Not just mentally, but physically, es he was suddenly grabbed by something invisible, just like Jorgen. Trying to fight back, Timmy put all his weight in the opposite direction, but to no avail. His boots squealed loudly on the floor as he was dragged along the hall. He was even colliding with some of the ghosts and robots, which added more bruises to his body until he came to a quick halt. He doubled over several times, feeling blood form and drip form his nose as he landed directly on it. He was really not having a great day so far.

“See, it worked! You’re welcome.” Timmy registered Foop’s voice over him and forced his eyes open. Poof looked scared and worried, his eyes drifting form him to something in Foops hands. Oh no, not these damn dolls again. There was nothing to get rid of them except with magic. Which they didn’t have. This stupid crown charm didn’t work at all! “Now, where were w-“

He couldn’t finish, as Jorgen, who had also been forced back by the pull, was holding onto a ghost’s tail, successfully floating towards the Anti-Fairy. Of course, he was not above hitting the evil child with his cane. “S-someone write down the … n-number of that Tuck …” Seeing bats flying around his head, Foop slowly drifted down towards the ground, totally knocked out. The dolls of Timmy and Jorgen laid next to him, quickly scooped up by Jorgen to not be used against them again. Sadly, his missing doll-leg wasn’t nearby and he couldn’t heal himself without magic. You-Do inflicted damages wasn’t as bad as real one, which was obviously very crazy sometimes with all the possibilities, but it was no problem to get rid of them and turn everything back to normal. But yeah, only with magic, so he had to live with the handicap for a little longer.

“Timmy! Poof!” Wanda yelled from her prison. Cosmo still clutched his chest, but his smile seemed genuine this time, just as his fear. They were mainly relieved to see their boys were fine, until the constant stream of ghosts from the portal stopped and they instead prepared to attack the trio.

Timmy sure felt a huge load of burden lift from his chest, hearing his godparents, but he still couldn’t find the strength to get up. He blindly patted the floor next to him, eventually touching the handle of his wand. Poof came into his vision, hovering above him, waving his hand to make sure he was still with them.

What really gave him chills and brought his senses back to reality full force, however, was the sound of someone slowly clapping.

“My, what Drama you guys have caused in such a short time.” Someone else entered through the portal, the ghost minions dutifully making way for him. It was the one with blue skin, red eyes and the worn look. He had chains around his wrists and neck, his hair a little rough, but Timmy would recognize that man everywhere.

“Vlad Plasmius.” The rage and adrenalin gave Timmy enough strength back to push his body into a standing position. He clutched the wand in his hands like his life depended on it. Which it probably would, soon enough.

“Timothy Turner.”, the half-ghost retorted with slight amusement. “It’s been a long time.”

“It’s a trap boys, you need to get away!”, Wanda tried to warn them, only to yell in pain with her husband as Vlad shot a ghost ray at the sphere. Both Poof and Timmy were furious and, even if it would be futile, prepared to attack.

“I must say, I am surprised.” Vlad watched the pink smoke on his fingers disappear and admired his chains with a dark veil behind his eyes. He seemed to be only partly present in mind. “You managed to lower my expectations even more. And I already assumed you would find a way to break out.”

“What do you mean?” Timmy didn’t know why he even listened to the villain. Perhaps pretending to hear his monologue would give him more time to figure out how he could beat an alpha ghost and his minions. Behind them, Jorgen slowly stood up, glaring at the intruder. He barely remembered this man and had only seen him once, when the Syndicate attacked Fairy World for the first time.

“I meant that I overestimated your capability.” Vlad didn’t even bother to suppress his chuckle. “You see, I thought getting the Big Wand back to power would be the most logical course of action, so I ordered Walker and most of his ghosts to hide there and ambush you as soon as you arrived.” Now he was outright laughing. “But to think you, an old veteran and a toddler would be foolish enough to think barging into the lion’s den with nothing to put up against us, is simply hilarious! Did you really think, you would get this far all by yourself, without any special powers, backup plan, whatsoever? I was simply having too much entertainment to ruin your fun little escape so far.”

He was paralyzed. Why hadn’t he thought of that? Sure, doing one thing at a time would’ve been risky and time consuming anyway, that was a job that required two groups or … maybe it had really just been because of his stupidity? With magic, fighting these guys would’ve been easy and the remaining fairies could’ve defended themselves and help them free the others! But no, they just thought getting here and using that portal was the best course of action. And while Jorgen had intended to got to the fairy armory, which was close to the Big Wand, Timmy had brushed that off. Sure, Vlad had just mentioned that they were going to be attacked either way, but … to think that the only reason none of the big shots were present here was because they didn’t expect Timmy to be THAT idiotic just … left a sour taste in his mouth.

Once again, he had the obvious proof presented to him: He couldn’t get anything right, no matter how hard he tried to not mess up. Most of his being regretted some of his selfish actions when he was younger, but a part of him thought ‘at least it was easier to live with himself when he didn’t care about anything or anyone aside form himself’ and it left him shocked.

Come to think of it, who said the portal could even bring them to Danny and the others? The Ghost Zone was big and had random portals and many hostile ghosts inside. If they got in, there was no way of contacting his friends! Danny was the only one who had some sense of orientation in that place. Timmy could count the times he had been in the Ghost Zone on one hand, while Danny basically had his second home base there! Right, the base … ugh, but finding that would be like walking through a maze, searching for the needle in the haystack.

“Don’t listen to this old prig, Turner.” Jorgen not-so-gently nudged his shoulder. “I don’t need magic to make you feel pain, ghost vampire.”

Vlad calmed down, yet he still had a subtle smirk on his face. “Really? I endured far worse than you could ever imagine. And I won’t be stopped this time.” He raised his hand and fired another blast, aiming for Jorgen who couldn’t doge in time and got his shoulder burnt. But he, out of stubbornness, stood his ground only to glare at Vlad. The next moment, he gripped his cane and charged at him.

With these two now going at each other, Poof finally had the chance to hover over to his parents, only to notice hallway there that Timmy still hadn’t moved from his spot, staring at nothing.

“Sport!” Wanda’s yell brought Timmy back and he quickly shook his head, letting the chaos unfold around him to join his fairy family. He had quite a limb now, but he managed to get there and doge a few ghost-goons in the process. His weapon could rebound and store magic from impacts, but could it also absorb it? Should he smack the sphere with his wand?

“What do I do?” Panicking Timmy touched the orb-like prison, seeking their comfort without being able to have real contact, Cosmo and Wanda mimicking the gesture. The glowing net felt like tiny needles prickling under his skin. He ignored the uncomfortable sensation and looked at Cosmo and Wanda for guidance and help, like they had given him for nearly half his life now. Poof also clung to his shoulder, looking at his parents as if they knew all the answers.

“We don’t know how it works; we just … suddenly woke up in here. But please, don’t think about us, get yourself and Poof to safety!” She looked at him with so much care, worry, fear and anger at the same time. Timmy could understand that, of course she wouldn’t want her kid to be in danger and hurt, yet Timmy brought her son, with an injured wing right into the battlefield. In any other situation, she would be mad at him and … maybe even forbid Poof to ever join Timmy on one of his adventures without them ever again. He was probably exasperating, but still, he wouldn’t blame her for that. After today, he wasn’t even sure if he trusted himself with anything on his own anymore. “We’ll be fine until you guys find a solution. They still need us, after all.”

“No, I can’t leave you guys here!” He was hit by a blast in the back from a ghost behind him. Jorgen was overpowered by Vlad in the background, but the toughest fairy in the universe could withstand a lot and used his size and mass to bury the ghost under him. They rolled on the ground, fist-fighting, until Vlad remembered that he was able to turn intangible and floated over him, shooting more ghost rays. Timmy swung his wand at the ghost that shot him and the impulse tossed it back to its allies. It was a good thing this former cell wasn’t the biggest, so most of the robots just blocked the entrance and the few ghosts were aimlessly attacking everything at random without any orders. “Come on, there has to be a way to deactivate this.”

“Try hitting it with your fancy bat!”, Cosmo suggested. When he had a short breather in between, Timmy did so, before he was avoiding ghosts again. It did nothing except shaking the orb in a tiny earthquake that left the two dizzy and with headaches. “Oh well, that didn’t work out. Man, if only this big wand was charged with magic, then it would be no problem to get us out!”

Despite their peril, Wanda still couldn’t help but respond to her husband’s off-topic comments. “The size doesn’t matter, Cosmo.” It would definitely help if they had one functioning wand, but since this thing had the form of a net, magic probably wouldn’t work on it anyway, but she didn’t want to say that when her godchild was already desperately trying to find a solution. And Cosmo looked guilty and exhausted enough as it was, he went through a lot the past hours, so she couldn’t be mad at him.

“Really? Aww, I love you too, pookie.” Cosmo gave her a smooch, which made Wanda facepalm. Even in a situation like this, leave it to her husband to relieve the tension. Or make a fool of himself. At least it had the right effect on Timmy, as a tiny, broken chuckle escaped his sore lungs.

“Keep telling yourself that, puny fairy.” Jorgen, who had been close enough to hear the small conversation, decided to voice his opinion, mainly to show his opponent that he wasn’t that much of a threat if he could still have conversation with others during their fight. Unfortunately, that also got Vlad to focus his attention back on Timmy and his godparents.

“Enough playing around!” Vlad’s good mood was used up for today and he rose in the air, creating a circle of clones of himself to fire multiple blasts at Timmy, Jorgen and the sphere. Timmy deflected two but got hit by another on his head and was knocked over. “I have big plans and intend them to stay uninterrupted. But in any unlikely case you should survive this, I have a message for you to deliver, Timothy.”

Barely conscious, Timmy lifted his head. What could Vlad possibly want from him? He was at his mercy, he had no strength left to fight and his little brother was probably also in trouble, while Jorgen acted like he would still fight even if he had no legs at all. As much as they didn’t get along and the rule enforcer could be an ass, he was damn tough. “What do you want?”

“Tell Danny that me and my perfect clone are expecting him soon.” He grinned, obviously implying something that only his halfa friend would understand. “I don’t care much about this world, honestly – it’s just an exchange deal for the magic I need. Truly a fascinating form of energy … Like creating a copy machine that can reproduce a person in a split second, for example. What kind of limits are there, I wonder? A marvelous weapon to harvest for my goals – while it was nothing but a waste in Crockers hands.”
He transformed back into his human form, revealing just how much he changed over the years. His beard had grown a little, his hair was cut to shoulder length and not in a ponytail anymore, while the chains still remained on his wrists and ancles. He still had a suit, but it looked old and wrinkled. “Believe it or not, there are greater things than our organization to fear. I don’t have much time until …” He drifted off, staring into nothing as dark memories flashed his vision. “Well, if you’re a smart kid, or have at least any self-preservation left, you should give up on Dimmsdale and this universe.”

The man walked closer to him and he heard the warning calls of Cosmo and Wanda to get up and run away, but he could barely move his body. There was so much noise around him, mostly muffled and in his head. He was so tired. And now that Vlad mentioned it, he didn’t want to imagine what was happening on his earth with the Anti-Fairies on the loose, when there was no one to stop them.

He guessed this was a good time for a nap. ‘Who said quitters never win?’ – didn’t he say that once too? He knew he couldn’t afford to give up, but it seemed so easy and doable now. He was drained and everything hurt. Why was he even trying so hard? All his attempts just resulted in more failures anyway.

“Timmy!” He heard his godmother and godfather shouting. Jorgen groaned, still being under attack by the duplicates. They were trying to hold him down, constantly aiming their blasts at him, until he was laying flat on the ground, not moving anymore.

They lost. This was a suicide mission and he dragged everyone into it the moment he first set foot in this jail.

“I can’t … do it”, he mumbled dramatically, his voice barely audible. He couldn’t do this alone. He was only human. A loser, nonetheless. He wasn’t the right person for the job and underestimated the pressure. He just thought it was neat to keep his memories and fairies and never cared enough to read the fine print. “I … need help.”, he finally admitted, as his vision blurred with unshed tears. Great, now he was even crying in front of an enemy. How pathetic could he be? At least his friends couldn’t see him in his pathetic state. What would Jimmy think of him if he were here right now?

The glow on his crown-charm flickered to life.

How strange was it that even now the genius was all he had on his mind? As if there wasn’t anything more important right now. But he couldn’t help but, in the deepest parts of his consciousness- wish he could be with him. When everything was nicer and okay. When they would bicker about nonsense and watch these stupid horror movies, together with Danny and SB.

Simpler, happier times.

Chapter Text

“He’s not responding.” Jimmy stated with no one but Goddard as his listener.

Even if it annoyed him, Turner had picked up a habit of ignoring messages from the group chat from time to time – or, if he responded, he only answered partly to something or just changed the topic by writing something else. Was he doing that on purpose because he knew how much Jimmy disliked unfinished business? No, if anything, Timmy never ignored him if Jimmy texted the average teen directly. Even if he sent some stupid gif without any relation to the context – in his opinion. At least he usual ‘I’m fine’ with multiple typos would’ve been sufficient enough if that confirmed he was still breathing. He never bothered to check his grammar. And, like unfinished business, that was also something Jimmy suspected Timmy did on purpose. Because there was no other explanation why he would do it or why it would bother the genius so much.

Then again, if it truly unnerved him, he would’ve told Timmy that. Because even if he wasn’t as adequate at explaining emotions, unlike with inventions, there was no reason to not do that. They always bickered about everything anyway and Timmy’s bad grades were enough evidence to proof Jimmy’s point. It was just the fact that … Turner had acted rather sensitive about anything school or grade related. High-School bothered him obviously and even if Jimmy had passed with ease and was currently taking on three majors at once, he wouldn’t rub that in his friend’s face. He didn’t like the face Timmy made when he had to admit defeat. And he recently had this expression a lot – the face of surrender.

Goddard barked next to him. It was only noon, Turner was probably still in school and with the upcoming exams, he had a lot to do, so it was completely reasonable that his friend was exhausted and isolated himself a little. Saving the multiverse during some side quests was something not every teenager had to do and it perhaps added to the stress he was experiencing. But that was even more reason for Jimmy to be upset when he asked him if everything was okay and was left on read – or ghosted, as Danny liked to say. A lot.

to ★ Turner★

Wednesday the 11^th

[16:20] You: “How’s your homework going?”

[18:02] Turner: “dude, don’t tell me you’re spying on me thru these weird universal goggles again?”

[18:03] Turner: “It’s not going, it’s just horrible.”

[18:03] You: “Maybe I was, maybe not. Anyway, want me to help you?”

Turner is typing …

…

…

Turner went offline

[18:18] You: “Turner?”

[18:20] Turner: “Sorry, had to take care of something.”

[18:20] Turner: “nah, you don’t need to, it’s not that hard … I’m just lazy, lol.”

[18:21] You: “Well, if you insist. But you really should take your education more seriously. If you want, I don’t mind tutoring you.”

[18:23] Turner: “yeah yeah, lay off fudge head.”

[18:23] Turner: “well … maybe I’ll get back on it. Or maybe not”

[18:26] Turner: “anyway, see you tomorrow. looking forward to it”

[18:30] You: “Yeah. Good night.”

Yesterday

[23:59] You: “Are you still awake? I can pick you up tomorrow, if you want.”
(unread)

Reading the recent messages left Jimmy with a giddy feeling in his stomach. Timmy’s responses had been odd lately. Sometimes it felt like the average teen wanted to tell him something, but at the same time he kept some distance between them. He felt bad for using the observation goggles to look at Dimmsdale, but he couldn’t help it. He was too curious about the gradually change in his friends’ behavior and if Timmy wouldn’t talk to him, his inquisitiveness told him he had to get to the bottom of this himself then. And as much as the urge to do so now made his fingers itch, he didn’t want to be a creep. It was still early noon, so he had a few hours to spare until they would meet in Amity Park. Although he was free for the whole day, actually.

“Alright, let’s see what we can do now.” Jimmy tucked his phone away, walking towards his big table with all his recent projects and inventions. “I could finish my upgraded backpack.”, he mused, opening it. It was one of his more complex yet efficient gadgets. He used the same materials as he did for his hypercube to encase the inside, making it easier to take a lot of stuff with him. But he wanted to take it even a level further. First, he built a printer that could generate a whole room and then filled it with all necessities. A couch, beds, closets with food rations and water. Literally everything except for a bathroom, because he couldn’t figure out how he would get a working pipe system inside his backpack. Yet.
For now, he just had a trashcan that could atomize junk, but washing and cooking was out of the question. Except for the kettle. For the electricity, he had a separate generator. This whole room was then sucked inside his backpack. It would be like a portable tent, just more comfortable in case they went on longer adventures. The only thing it still needed was an upgrade to his watch, so he could order the hyper-bag to give him everything inside with a quick command, without having to rummage through it for too long or having to enter completely. He even had a few spare hypercubes that he wanted to fill with other things, as in a spare rocket or his hovercar, in case one got destroyed.

Jimmy’s mind was flooded with the endless possibilities. He could pack infinite items inside, creating a pocket-dimension to put pocket-dimensions in. That left only one problem: the case that he could still lose his bag or that it could be destroyed. And with it, everything inside would implode as well, making his hard work for nothing. To prevent that, he should give it a tracker, so he would be able to locate it if he lost it, coat the fabric in spray that would make it water-, fire and tearproof, maybe also safe from radiation, which would also still need some time and then … maybe something that could teleport it to him or a close-range magnet, that only worked on the bag? So many ideas and things to elaborate!

Goddard barked next to him, pointing at all the other gadgets on the table. Jimmy smiled, patting the head of his dog. “I don’t know which I’ll take with me. You can never be sure what troubles await us in Danny’s dimension.” He looked over his weapons. Most of them had proven useless against these ‘ghosts’ so he should take the opportunity to talk with Mr. Fenton about their ghost hunting weaponry. The Fenton Thermos had proved to be very useful, as he was able to re-create something similar. A green hypercube, that could also trap ghosts, but it was still not enough to fight them effectively. Perhaps he could also upgrade his Freeze Ray and Tractor-Beam-Ray to hit and capture them. And create smoke bomb like projectiles to turn them visible too? He would have to test it in the Fenton lab, if they allowed him to use it. He only fought with the rest of Danny’s family on their last mission, but they seemed cool. Not as careful as his own parents, but he respected their spirit for inventions and science. Maybe he could analyze their portal to figure out how he could access the Ghost Zone from his own? Or maybe not, because that would probably lead to more troubles, if he were to accidently release ghosts in Retroville.

“Well, these will do.” He opened the hyper bag and filled it with the Freeze Ray, Tractor-Beam and a bottle of Hyper Mega Rust, because one could never be too sure if they were trapped in a prison again and that would make escaping a lot easier and saver. He scanned each of them with his watch, that way he could test if the command-update worked. “I’ll get the hovercar 2.1, just in case.”

The new hovercar was a little inspired by the model of a red Cadillac Eldorado. Flatter, large enough for multiple people, weapons and with a retractable roof that could withstand a lot of damage. Plus, it made an awesome purring sound and looked super rad, to quote Turner. Ever since the bucktooth teen had earned his driving license last year, he gushed over those old cars and somehow it inspired Jimmy to build that. He had no idea why, but the astonished face of his other dimensional friend made his heart flutter. Remembering that and the praise still managed to make him flustered, although he wouldn’t admit it.

He shook his head, putting a couple of the smaller green ghostcubes in the bag and shouldering it. He pondered if he should open the manual portal and fly through it, just to show off a little, but he doubted Timmy would be there. He always begged him to drive it and Jimmy was tempted a few times to let him under certain conditions, but knowing the unhinged chaos bundle, it would only be a pain to repair the car. And he spent so much time on the design, making it shiny clean, like a forty year old, car-obsessed man in his front yard, that he wanted to spare himself the hassle. Maybe one day. Like, on his 18^th birthday or something. H could plan a road trip – or rather float trip. With them, driving through their dimensions and, maybe some tropical places, enjoying the sunset …

“Holy Heisenberg.”, he groaned out of nowhere, startling Goddard. Usually, he didn’t mind if his thoughts travelled and spiraled because of his inspiration – as long as he had the time and wasn’t too stressed or exhausted, but whenever they were focused on Timmy Turner, they went towards things he didn’t know how to fell about. “I think I have about everything. We’ll take the car outside and open the portal there.”

Tilting his head, questioning, Goddard watched Jimmy half-heartedly making sure he got everything and exiting the lab. The Poofer-Portal that he made with Timmy’s pen and Gameboy many years ago gave him the idea for a portable dimension-travelling gadget, which he dubbed UPMtg, short for universal portal machine to go. It was still a working title but so far, he managed to make one for Danny too and was still working on SpngeBob’s and Timmy’s. The latter didn’t need them because of his holograms, but Jimmy intended to fine tune his nanotechnology so he could implement the system inside their cellphones, which would make them even more useful.

As he threw his hypercube at the hovercar outside and typed in the coordination to Danny’s dimension, he couldn’t help but frantically think that he forgot something. Goddard was next to him, he had nearly everything packed in his bag, even if they still needed improvements, and he made sure to pack SpongeBob’s hologram-bracelet, that he used to put on his human disguise, in his jacket. Even if the citizens of Amity Park were used to strange things happening around them and the common ghost attacks, a walking and talking sponge was still a little too much to explain, so they went with that.

Despite his habit of preparing for any possible situation, he hoped nothing would happen today and that they could spent the next 24 hours in peace. It had been a long time since they were able to meet casually, and he was exhausted with all the work he had to do. He was eighteen now and had witnessed more destruction and chaos than most people did in their entire life. How Bob managed to stay positive all day long was a mystery to even his genius. Working for the government frequently, inventing his own stuff and getting through college was a lot more exhausting than he would’ve imagined. And it had only started for him recently. Danny as a senior however, was literally the embodiment of the ‘dead inside’ look.

✧ « ★ » ✧

It fascinated Jimmy, how similar the structures of Danny’s and Timmy’s universes were. He thought if every universe had a unique color or taste, they would be on the same spectrum, only with little differences in nuance and spice.

The portal opened right in front of Fenton Works. With all the noise coming from the house and the active security, it was evident Danny’s parents worked on something in their lab. He quickly texted SpongeBob he would activate the portal to get him over at 6 p.m. if he was ready. But should he be free earlier, he could just write him since Jimmy had his phone not on silent mode for once.

“Very subtle as always, Jim.” Already leaning against the doorframe was Danny, wearing a green plaid button shirt and ripped jeans with sneakers, his black hair in a ponytail, the ends slowly fading to white. He had subtle bags under his eyes but all in all he looked pretty relaxed for now, which cold have something to do with the security of his parents’ home that provided a little more privacy.

Goddard barked as a greeting and already made his way towards their friend. Jimmy noticed he was still wearing his lab coat over his layered red-black shirt. Well, he could just dump it in his bag. “It’s been a while. How are the finals going?” He politely nodded as a greeting and walked towards him.

“Ugh, don’t ask. I’m glad it’s over soon.” Danny rolled his eyes, letting his friend and his robot dog in. He was glad most people were busy on Fridays and they usually stalked him at Fenton University, so nobody noticed the portal. Ever since his identity was discovered all these years ago, he barely had any minute to himself. It was refreshing when they could meetup in Retroville, since nobody knew him there. But he also wanted to spent time with his friends and girlfriend, so … balancing life was difficult. “Physics is a pain. And I’m the literal proof of the contrary to them most of the time, so … yeah, probably should’ve gone for another major subject.”

“Are you still aiming for the astronaut training? You know I could take you to space any time you want or build a rocket for you.” Jimmy placed his bag on the ground, mindlessly stuffing the lab coat in. The faint blue glow got Danny’s attention, but he was used to the random thigs the genius did sometimes, so he didn’t question it unless Jimmy wanted to officially present his invention. Which he never outright did, if it was still an unfinished project in progress. Goddard just hopped onto the couch, wagging his tail.

“I know. Space actually seems really small once you get to travel through the multiverse.” He led them to the couch, dropping down and leaning back. It was obvious he spent the last night fighting. “But I just want to do something mildly interesting and normal. It’s not like I’m going to be an average working human anyway.” His gaze drifted to the ceiling. When he wasn’t hanging out at his parent’s house or in Sam’s and Tucker’s apartment, he was mostly in his loft in the ghost zone, which had become sort of his home base. He saw no need in moving out into any other place when there would always be fans or news reporters following him everywhere. They even bothered him during most of his more attention arousing fights. It was slowly turning out he preferred the solitude in the Ghost Zone more than being around humans. Being a hero or celebrity could be really exhausting and he was glad when he didn’t have to go to college anymore. “What about you? I thought you would’ve gotten multiple degrees or skip a few years by now.”

“Oh, no. I’m not planning to do that.” Jimmy fiddled with his thumbs and as if on cue, Goddard wiggled over to him and laid his head on his lap. He didn’t like to be reminded of that. “I mostly take online classes and only attend lectures if it’s mandatory.” He wasn’t sure if he wanted to share this, actually. Most of his friends thought he would be happy to finally have a challenge and to quench his thirst in knowledge. Yet, to him, college was terrible too. He absently patted his dog’s head.

“Sheesh. That bad to be surrounded by idiots?” Danny’s dry attempt at humor didn’t reach it’s goal, so he focused his gaze towards the genius again. He seemed troubled and oddly timid. But the halfa could understand. If they’d let him and wouldn’t have so many expectations, he’d also rather take online classes.

“I had the chance to skip elementary school and went college before. It just … turned out, it wasn’t what I expected.” He remembered the broom closet he had to live in, the laughing students and that this one kid made him walk naked on the campus just so he could fit in. And as it turned out, it wasn’t just his age that provoked these negative events. Even if he was among peers, they still acted like buffoons. Initiating rituals, parties, drugs … casting him out, calling him names, being jealous. He preferred to interact with them as little as possible. Knowing his best friends Carl and Sheen faired much better at their colleges and with moving out didn’t help to lift his mood. “When I get my degree in Chemical Engineering, Genetics and General Science, I’ll probably get recruited by the government anyway. It was an implemented deal with them in exchange for funding my projects.”

It wasn’t like there was much to learn anyway – he mainly choose the first three because while he had the engineering, physics and inventing down, he could delve further into other parts of science, such as chemistry. Having knowledge of existing formulars was great, but creating new ones was also sort of interesting. Plus, it was sort of relieving to know he wouldn’t need to worry about finding a job – which he dreaded, because he was terrible at taking orders from others or pretending to be niece to customers or whatever there was that required social skills. And it was also great that he could still do what he loved and not care about payment. Acting as a spy for special missions also had the perk of being able to carry weapons around without getting questioned or arrested. And yet he wasn’t sure if he should trust that. It was too good to be true and Turner forced him to watch enough action movies where the people in power were corrupt and used the technology, wealth and reputation to their selfish gain, causing wars and destruction. He didn’t want his inventions to be weaponized or mass produced to win and/or start conflicts. He wanted to make the world better and more efficient but still satisfy his undying curiosity and inventiveness about the world and its limits. Maybe he was the problem, putting everyone in danger…

Yeah, he could also understand Danny and his need to be by himself, without worrying about prejudice.

“You know, it’s kinda ironic how each of our situation would be solved if we went to the other’s university.”, Danny mused. “But since I’m almost finished, why don’t you go to Fenton University?”

Both Jimmy and Goddard perked up. He could study the ghosts and Mr. Fenton’s inventions to his hearts content, also use the lab and portal, if they let him and he would be among friends again. Still, he would miss Sheen, Carl and his parents too much, even if the thought was thrilling and refreshing. “Maybe, but that’s just shifting the problem, not a solution.”

It was calming to talk with Danny about college, knowing he understood him and his struggles. Timmy probably thought he was having an easy time, not needing to put much effort into his studies, when in reality, it was mostly due to Jimmy’s pride that he never told his friends, family and especially Turner how much it actually bothered him. It wasn’t for the work or the subjects, that was really no problem. It mostly was about the social part and the repressed memories from his childhood he had. Even if he felt like a loser, living in his lab still with parents while Sheen and Carl both had moved into dorms to their colleges, he preferred this comfort zone. It gave him security, a routine and control over the situation and he wouldn’t have to put up with other people. Although his mother berated him for that from time to time. She always said: “James Isaac Neutron, you can’t avoid social interactions forever. Eventually, you have to learn to approach others and how to communicate.” Because it was important for his growth and so on.

She didn’t get that most people just didn’t understand him. Because of his ego, he couldn’t discuss properly or let alone consider the opinions of strangers, even after all these years. He was trying, rally, but it just … didn’t feel right. He was definitely not suited for those kinds of jobs and his attitude clashed with most peers and adults, making even job interviews challenging. He hated that one summer he was forced to apply for one to ‘know what it felt like’. Working in retail was pure hell and he avoided people for a whole week after that. No Karen, global warming was not propaganda and he didn’t care if you wanted one sugar cube instead of the usual two per espresso. Just don’t use the second cube and jabber about your marriage problems with someone else. Why were people taking their anger out on someone they didn’t know and had nothing to do with it? Why were people even calling a café to order when there was no delivery service?! That behavior was illogical and he hated dealing with it. So yes, comfort zone and an easy deal to earn money without much of an applying issue was a good solution in his opinion.

“Well, just think it over. I could definitely get you in, if you want.” Danny stretched as he got up again, his back popping loudly. “I’ll be in the kitchen, preparing snacks for later. Anything you like?”

Oh, that’s what he forgot apparently. He wanted to bring some Purple Flurp because Timmy liked it. “Uhm, no, not really.” He shrugged, blinking a few times. He was so caught up in his head and thoughts, he completely forgot Danny was still here. Goddard barked as if he was scolding Jimmy for it. Only now he realized that his leg bouncing rapidly, which it usually did when his mind hopped from place to place when he was caught up in something. Maybe his dog was just showing concern, Jimmy had told him about the events of his former college experience, and he noticed the fidgeting firsthand whenever he needed to go to a present lecture.

He sent Goddard a weak smile, showing he was fine. The metal canine took that a sign to settle down again, his ears flat on his head as he was pet. Even without fur, the hard surface was calming to his touch, and Jimmy was thankful for his best friend to provide emotional support without ever being programmed to do so. Emotions were something he couldn’t control, but it was less hard to be agitated about it when he was with the people he trusted.

He used the silence to look at his phone again. Of course, SpongeBob replied he was ready to be picked up in an hour or so, while there was still no reply from Turner. Usually, Jimmy was very good at memorizing schedules, but Timmy’s was unpredictable for him, since he rarely talked about school or his mysterious part time job. Once more the teen genius felt the urge to pry into his life so he could get rid of this itch in his brain that he always got when he wanted to know something really bad and also had everything to figure it out, but couldn’t due to morals and ethic. And well, loyalty. So he put his phone quickly away, wondering how he should pass the time.

“Need a hand?” He peeked into the kitchen, watching as Danny put a bunch of snacks into several bowls. His mom had made some pie for them to eat too, which the halfa thought was a little embarrassing and over the top – they weren’t kids anymore. But he appreciated the gesture and it tasted good.

“Not really, but you can put your stuff in my room. Since you’re first, the choice where you want to crash tonight is all yours.” He counted the bowls and contents, debating how much they would still need or if he should make some popcorn too. The one with the most appetite was Timmy and he usually ate at least a bag of chips by himself. Okay, so did Danny and he secretly believed everyone who didn’t was a minor sociopath anyway. SB was more the candy guy and Jimmy just ate a little from everything, content with his coffee or flurp  – that sociopath. “Oh, and there’s apple pie on the table, if you want any.”

“No, thank yo-“ Jimmy was met with the realization what important thing he had forgotten earlier: His spare clothes and pajamas. He pinched the back of his nose, mentally adding that the list of things he wanted to include in his pocket-dimension-room’s inventory. Really, why were his thoughts all over the place today? At least it wasn’t that late, he could still make a stop at his lab before he picked SB up later. “Actually, are your parents home? I wanted to ask your father about his inventions.”

“So that’s why you’re so early.” Danny raised a brow, facing him fully now. Jimmy lowered his head guiltily. He usually never had to dissimulate with his friends, because they knew he would never exploit them or that he prioritized his inventions and ideas over them. He was relieved when the halfa snorted. “Relax Jimmy, it’s no problem. They should still be downstairs, preparing for tonight.”

“For what?” Jimmy was mildly annoyed by Danny’s dry sarcasm. It was hard enough walking on eggshells with other people that didn’t know him, who he in turn couldn’t read either. The anxiety to accidently hurt his friends was always there and even if he never voiced these worries, they knew that. Just as much as he knew Danny liked to tease them as a big brother, which was both endearing and upsetting sometimes.

“Patrol. Since they want me to have a ‘couple days off’ so I could have ‘fun with my multidimensional not-ghost-friends’” The college senior quoted. His parents knowing about his secret and accepting him made a lot of things easier. He didn’t have to make up excuses and they could work together. They even helped to improve his suit with new gear, which was great. So being out in the open wasn’t all that bad. He didn’t have to fight alone anymore with his family, friends and the support of the town’s people. Yet, they could be a little overbearing and sometimes caused even more trouble than if he had handled things by himself. But the intention mattered and he was glad his squad friends got along with his parents. The more, the marrier as they said. “Friday the 13^th is always busy here, so they’ll leave at sunset – for the drama, I suppose.”

Jimmy nodded. “It won’t take long. If I can help with anything –“

“It’s fine, really. I was planning to do a few checkups tonight as well. Just in case.” Even if he really liked to have a little break, he couldn’t fight his old habits. If the alarm went off or if the activity in the Ghost Zone was too high, he would go for a quick flight as well. He’d rather skip a few minutes of bad horror movies and make sure his parents were still in one piece than be antsy the whole time. Even if Sam and Tucker assured him to keep an eye out as well. Oh yeah, and Dani was in town too. He should really learn to take his own advice and relax a little.

The genius hummed in understanding and made his way downstairs to greet Danny’s parents and perhaps offer his help to prepare the Van. That way, they could kill two birds with one stone as he could see the technology up close and ask about their functions. Meanwhile, Goddard decided to keep the halfa company, making the young adult smile fondly at the adorable head tilting.

✧ « ★ » ✧

“Where is he?” Jimmy was looking at his blasted phone for the tenth time in the last half hour. It had come to the point that he was feeling so restless, that leg bouncing didn’t help him cope anymore and he was now walking in circles – in front of the TV. SpongeBob watched him, munching on his popcorn while Danny preferred to look at his own phone in case his parents or his friends texted him – or Timmy, but he didn’t say so out loud. Goddard had gone to rest mode for now, sleeping under the coffee table. “I know the probability of him being late is high, but he’s never been that late. Usually he gives us a heads-up if it takes longer, even.”

“He has been really busy lately, maybe he just forgot.”, SpongeBob tried to be optimistic, but that made Jimmy’s pace even more frantic. How was he not getting dizzy?

“It’s our first real hangout in months! Not even this stupid airhead would forget something important like this!” Jimmy gestured with his hands in the air, phone still in hand with the private chat. “He even told so himself just last night, that he would come.”

“He said ‘see ya Saturday’ but sure.” Danny couldn’t stand Jimmy’s pacing any longer. At this point, he was going to leave marks on the floor. “Look, maybe something important just came up and he didn’t have the time to respond yet.”

“Either something very important, or he’s in trouble.” Jimmy glared at the screen of his cell phone, the chat seemingly mocking him. “It’s a Friday the 13^th, maybe the Anti-Holograms are causing trouble again. Or worse!”

to ★ Turner★

Today

[18:20] You: “Timmy? Did something come up?”
(unread)

[18:25] You: “Turner?”
(unread)

[18:31] You: “Is everything alright?”
(unread)

- unanswered call [18:33] -

- unanswered call [18:36] -

Jimmy was about to make the third call when Danny finally stood up and put a hand on his shoulder. If he didn’t know any better, he would almost guess the genius was vibrating. College really stressed him out if he was this worked up. Then again, the youngest of their squad had a tendency to get himself into trouble a lot. “I’m sure he’s safe, okay? Yeah, it’s Friday the 13^th, but so far there wasn’t any sign of bad luck. Even the activity in the Ghost Zone is pretty low and Tucker couldn’t track any ghost signal in the town either.”

“That does not make it less concerning. It’s even more suspicious! Your universes are not linked or anything, so it doesn’t mean everything’s peaceful in Dimmsdale.” Jimmy had enough, he wasn’t going to sit around and wait any longer. Better safe than sorry and travelling to Timmy’s universe, or at least have a peak through the portal, would only take a minute. Enough things had happened in the past for him to know he should trust his gut feeling and he’d rather be called noisy by Turner than regret not doing anything in the end. “I’ll go outside and open the portal and take a quick look.”

“Wait, we’ll come too!” SpongeBob hastily put the popcorn-bowl back on the coffee table to follow the genius, which in turn woke up Goddard from his rest mode. Danny sighed, following them. It wasn’t like he didn’t share their concerns, he just wished this could’ve been an actual normal night for them to spend time together. Maybe he jinxed it with his lack of trust in his parent’s capabilities. Karma was a bitch.

Thankfully, there was still no sign of fans or reporters around the house. Tucker’s influence as a mayor paid off, since he had told the people it would make the ghost hunting less efficient if they kept disturbing the household. Well, and Sam also threatened to consult a lawyers for restriction orders due to invading privacy rights. Still, that usually never stopped the hardcore fans. And he had thought the hype about him would die down eventually … Too bad he couldn’t get cable in his ghost loft. They would’ve been able to watch the movies over there, although he wasn’t sure if bringing a bunch of humans with him wouldn’t raise too much attention.

As they were about to leave the house, his gaze drifted to towards the basement. It was indeed strange that the Ghost Zone had such low activity. There was always something going on inside and citizens knowing about their existence didn’t stop them from trying to get out. Maybe he should’ve checked it from inside earlier today, to make sure nothing was up? Whatever, he would still get around to do it later, their friend came first.

Jimmy had memorized the coordinates to Timmy’s dimension by now. For some reason, the UPMtg needed a lot more energy to open a portal to that universe than the others, but that could likely be the Fairy Simulation interfering with his technology, disturbing the signal. He had to admit, he was both curious about that but also had a feeling he didn’t want to pry further. For one, it upset Timmy and he obviously preferred to not talk about it and keep his holograms a secret from everyone but them, and secondly … his own conclusions kept him sane. Of course, with different universes there were always different laws of physics and reality, but Turner’s dimension was always a lot more chaotic and illogical, starting with the population.

He bit his bottom lip, as he pressed the button and his device loaded, a few sparks coming from the antennae of the remote. It took longer than usual, if only by nanoseconds. He hoped he was worrying for nothing because that meant Turner and his world were fine. And if that was the case, he would kick his butt for making him worry so much over nothing but his stupidity and/or forgetfulness.

Finally, small lightning emitted from his device, slowly turning in a circle few feet away from them in the air, creating a small white glowing hole big enough to walk through. Normally, he didn’t wait that long in front of the portal to see the other side and just stepped right through, but for some reason, his legs were rooted on the ground, as he heard strange noises behind that portal.

“Are those … giggles?” Bob put a hand behind his illusionary human-ear to hear the noise better. It really sounded like a swarm of tiny, giggling – and most of all creepy – voices. Not just that, there were also crushing and breaking sounds, as if someone was tearing down a house with a wrecking ball and blowing up a mine with dynamite in proximately the same area. “Oh, my!”

The vision cleared, showing the street in front of Timmy’s house. People were yelling, panicking, running around while cars crashed into each other. Black cats scratched the faces of people, mothers were bended over in pain, holding their backs. Somehow there where multiple tons on fire, standing at the sidewalk and a heavy storm with thunder and lightning was going on, just no rain. The lightning, however, managed to hit the power lines and satellites on the roofs, evidently causing a blackout. They could barely see it, but if they concentrated enough on the shadows, Anti-Faries flew everywhere, leaving salt trails and ladders behind where the people with cats on their faces blindly stumbled through. The cracks on the sidewalks grew, tearing up parts of the street. It was like the world was ending in Dimmsdale.

“I guess he was actually busy.” Danny said, mentally slapping himself for the uncalled-for comment. “But where is he? Can you track him with that thing?”

Goddard whined at the scenario, looking up at Jimmy, who tore himself out of hist shocked state. “I’m trying! Usually the remote is connected with our phones, so I can bust you guys out in case of emergencies, but I don’t get any signal. It’s either broken or out of power.” He frantically pushed buttons, hoping to get it to work, but all it did was changing the location to other angles of Dimmsdale, showing the mayor hall destroyed and a weird goat running in front of it, stomping little fires out with his hoofs, accompanied by three other goats with human accessory. Then there was the elementary school, where the teachers escaped from the building, papers flying everywhere.
Jimmy tried to locate Timmy’s high school, only to find unknown people running around, while a few of them were so dead inside they just stood by one of the burning tons to warm their hands, one of them being Chester. Some citizens were probably used to the weekly chaos, especially if they were close to Timmy Turner. Maybe they should ask Chester about Timmy?

“What about Fairy World?” Danny had gone ghost in the meantime, while SpongeBob deactivated his bracelet, putting on his foam gloves. It was concerning how much of a habit it had become for them to bring their weapons along.

Jimmy set the coordinates for the simulation, but it didn’t work, Instead, the UPMtg had a short circuit, leaving a numb and tingling feeling in his fingers as he let the remote fall out of reflex. Goddard growled at the device in front of him.
“Leaping Leptons!”, he cursed as the portal became unstable with each passing second, blinking in and out of existence as only flashes of images were shown to them. The usually bright Fairy World looked dull and not at all in any shape better than Dimmsdale. What converned the trio the most was the lack of fairies and the army of robots walking around. In one of the frames, they could even make out green globs that could be ghosts.

“Shit.” Danny ran a hand through his hair, frustrated as the cold blue breath came out of his mouth, proving the theory. He felt bad for downplaying the situation earlier. If only they had known something was off much earlier! “What are they doing in Timmy’s universe? How did they get in there?!” He knew a few enemies that were able to do that and he hoped he was wrong. After all these years …

“Can we jump through if the thing is all … frizzy?” Bob dared to take a few steps closer, but a quick sizzle of electrocution from the portal’s frame scared him enough to hide behind Danny.

Jimmy stared at his hands. Then at the portal. After that on the remote. And lastly, he shared a look with Goddard, who sat down in anticipation, a small whimper escaping his metallic lungs. “The connection is too unstable, it could split our atoms if were unlucky … which is more than likely today.”

“Well, we can’t just stand here and watch!” Danny walked towards the portal. He was familiar with the feeling of having his molecules rearranged, so that didn’t scare him. Yet, Jimmy stopped him by grabbing his wrist.

“No, we need to find a way to stabilize the portal first.” And Jimmy also had his bag with all the weapons still inside. Boy, a teleporter or magnet would be really useful right now. “And we can’t rush in unprepared.”

“I have all the preparation I need.” Danny showed of the new glove he had on his right arm. “It’s a more handy version of the Fenton Thermos. I can capture the ghosts and bring them back where they belong.”

“But you can’t go alone and SB and I don’t have mutation-abilities!” The genius hoped his ghost friend didn’t notice how his hand was still shaking – and not from the circuit anymore. He wanted to help Timmy just as bad, but he couldn’t do so without his weapons. They should use the little time they had to prepare instead of arguing.

“Uhm … guys? I don’t think the portal wants us to be prepared.” SpongeBob pointed behind them, where the portal was not only unstable, but out of control. The circular tear between these two universes stretched out in every direction only to fold in on itself and repeat it. It even began to flicker from one position to another, until it was no longer in reach but higher above them, creating more and more distance. “Oh no, it wants to run away … I think!”

“Portals can’t run.” Jimmy sighed, as Danny took off, following the, one could only describe it as amoeba-shaped, portal. “Okay FINE! Danny, we’ll catch up with you.”

The halfa looked over his shoulder and nodded, while Jimmy picked his dog up and ran back inside, followed by Bob. He was glad he decided to take his hovercar with him. At least something was working out.

“Wait, you forgot your thingy, Jimmy!” SpongeBob had taken the UPMtg with him. “It’s acting really weird … but not in a bad kind of way.”

Jimmy shouldered his bag, blinking as he looked the little display. A pink blinking crown symbol, flashing for a brief moment until it faded, but still there. A signal. “Goddard, can you link your system with the remote? Try encoding the signal, while we follow Danny.”
His dog was placed down again and nodded, following them outside were Jimmy wasted no time throwing one of his many hypercubes on the ground that contained the hovercar. From his peripheral vision, he could see neighbors looking out the windows with curiosity.

With the bright white glowing of the unstable tear in the air, it was hard to miss Danny, as they flew after them. Goddard hung his head outside the open window, letting his tongue flap in the wind while the radar on his head was extended. He sat comfortably on SpongeBob’s lap, while Jimmy made sure to not crash into any buildings as they followed their ghost friend around the blocks, taking sharp turn after turn.

“For something that isn’t meant to move at all, the portal sure is going places.”, the sponge whistled impressed.

Jimmy couldn’t share the enthusiasm. “I would prefer to skip this annoying goose chase, it’s just stalling us.” He squinted at the UPMtg, that was sticked in the bracket were usually a GPS would be. The pink crown symbol blinked more visible and frequent now. “I don’t understand, it shouldn’t work without the remote – we’re not even in its radius.”

He gripped the wheel tight and wished Timmy and his holograms were okay … Which was ironic since Turner was always the one to wish for something while Jimmy believed more in results of self-made solutions.

Once more he was so distracted, he hardly noticed in time when the portal abruptly stopped moving - and so did Danny. He hit the breaks full force, but the hovercar still managed to fly into their ghost friend. Or not, because the halfa turned intangible, comfortably sitting in the middle of the backseat the next moment after SpingeBob and Jimmy nearly had a heart attack from that surprise.

“You’re a great genius, but the worst Uber ever.” Danny put a reassuring hand on Jimmy’s shoulder from behind, leaning over to get a better view at the portal. The tear stopped behind a gate, over the yard of a building. And not just any kind of building, but the mayor’s mansion. Great. He was glad Tucker never moved into that creepy mansion, even with his career going on. Nobody would want to live at the same place Vlad used to haunt.

Goddard barked repeatedly, alarming Jimmy. “It’s expanding!” They noticed the tear grew much larger, flickering, blinking, various sounds coming out of it. Loud explosions, roaring, screams, battle noises … it was almost as if the thing was about to collapse.

“How do we stop it?” Danny stood up, floating next to the hovercar. Even he wasn’t stupid enough to risk going through it now. Goddard barked, showing his own screen on his chest that presented the pink crown, bright and clear. But before Jimmy could think of a solution, the worst case happened.

With a loud boom, whatever had been behind that portal, now burst through the tear. Purple smoke and fire, a blasting force pushing out everything that was inside. Rubble, metal, body parts of robots, bricks and … people! And they fell a good distance, about to hit the ground. The incomplete’s squad members hearts skipped a beat in unison.

Chapter Text

Timmy had given up. With barely any strength left to move, the shadow of Vlad loomed over him. He could faintly hear the yells of his godparents above the static in his ears. Poof tugged on his shirt, begging him to get up. Jorgen on the other side wasn’t moving. They had lost.

“I must say, that was easier than expected. Without your fairies and their magic, you’re not even close to a threat.” The boy didn’t need to look up to know he was grinning. Timmy’s gaze remained on the ground, as his right cheek was pressed against the stone floor, the faint glow of the sphere in his periphery vision. “And what’s this? A wand and a crown?” Vlad’s hand reached out to touch the floating, pink glowing crown-charm, only to get shocked as the tip of his index finger came in contact with it. He grumbled, his chains ringing as he waved his hand to get rid of the tingling feeling. “Is this some kind of –“

Suddenly, small circuits flashed out of the crown, one hitting the portal. A small, thin line zigzagged through the ground until it reached the portals frame, glowing white and affecting the gateway to the Ghost Zone. The green glow was slowly fading to static, the stream of ghosts ending.

“No, this can’t be! How is it possible for such a silly trinket to interfere with the connection?!” Vlad changed back into his ghost form, floating over to the crafted portal. “Someone from the other side must be tempering with it.” The man grumbled, mumbling about this dimension’s pesky randomness and how natural crafted glyphs shouldn’t be able to be reprogrammed.

Timmy used the momentary lack of supervision to turn his head fully. Vlad’s back was turned to them, since he didn’t consider them as a possible danger anymore. Cosmo and Wanda looked worried, while Poof was sitting on his head, his upside-down face peeking over to make sure his big brother was somewhat okay. He wanted to say something, but lying flat on his chest made it hard to breathe and even harder to say something without suffering a coughing fit.

“Timmy, please get out of here.”, Wanda whispered as low as she could, crouching down in the sphere. Cosmo nodded, his expression oddly mature and grim. It felt so wrong for someone who was usually always smiling and laid back. “And Poof too. Take care of each other.”

Poof was on the verge of crying again. He wanted to help his parents and his brother so bad, but he was too weak to make any difference. So far, he hadn’t been very helpful and Timmy got hurt so much just trying to protect him. He didn’t want to leave them behind, but he also couldn’t stand to watch his brothers’ suffering anymore. Sadly, he was out of ideas and so exhausted, he could hardly hover anymore. Transforming into a weapon again would probably drain the last of his energy.

The white portal frizzled and trembled. Its flow seemed to spiral backwards, sucking everything in instead of blowing it out, but not with enough force to actually absorb anything heavy. Just a little rubble, dust and lose robot parts were absorbed, probably a few ghosts too. A gust of wind blew through his hair, as if the portal itself was inhaling.

Timmy never had a brain blast, but he sure wished he could have one right now. He wasn’t fairing much better at the situation than Poof, but he was still the only one able to fight. The deflect-wand, as he dubbed it now, was still pulsing with a little energy and he still had not a single broken bone in his body – that he knew of – so there was no way he could just sit and wait it out.

His limbs felt like jelly, even lifting his arm, let alone gripping the handle of his weapon took too much effort, but he couldn’t waste the little time frame he had now. Maybe if he pushed Vlad inside the broken portal, they could get rid of him. That still left some of the confused ghosts in the cell, who watched their leader trying to carve new symbols next to the others with a small beam from his finger. Well, Timmy had shown today that he was terrible at planning ahead, so he would get to that issue when it came to him and improvise as always.

The process was speed up for him. The all too familiar pull in his chest and the uncontrolled movement of his body forced him to move against his will. No matter how tired or beat up he was, he felt himself standing up, as if invisible strings were pulling him. No, that should be impossible, the You-Do Dolls were … with Jorgen!
Said muscular fairy had just pretended to be unconscious, although his face was so burnt and swollen, one really couldn’t tell the difference. He held the Timmy-doll in his shaking hand, lifting it up. He made the doll gesture to the sphere, which forced Timmy to point at his godparents in return. He then whispered something into its non-existent ear: “Think fast, puny human.”

Now, where had he heard that before? It had something to do with a muffin and a forget-me-knob, when he threw – oh crap.

Vlad, growing suspicious over the quietness and wondering why his minions weren’t moving anymore or finishing his job (they could at least put them in a cell, come on), turned around. As he noticed Timmy standing more or less, he flew upwards, preparing his ghost rays to do the deed himself now. “Still not giving up? Quite stubborn for a high schooler.”

“No, you’re just bad at your job!”, Jorgen yelled, groaning as he pushed himself up enough with one arm, while he reached back with the other that held two weird dolls. It only confused the half-ghost more.

“We’ll see about that.” Narrowing his eyes, Vlad created duplicates of himself once more, readying his attack. But as all versions loaded their strongest ghost blast, Jorgen threw the You-Do Dolls towards the portal with as much force as he could. Their enemy paid no further mind to it, deeming the action as another form of distraction, so he fired away.

However, he didn’t expect the bodies of his opponents to suddenly decent into the air and follow their mini personifications, the dragging wind of the portal doing the rest.

“Wait, no!” Timmy tried to redirect his course, coiling his free arm around the ectoplasm made pedestal that held the orb. “Guys!”

“Timmy!” His godparents gasped in unison. Poof grabbed tight to his brother’s back, noticing how stretched out and worn the black training shirt had become by now. “Poof!”

“I will not allow it!” While Jorgen slid on the floor, half of his body already passing the portal, Vlad focused his attack on the teen, who was still clinging to his fairies. The pull in Timmy’s chest was still strong, which meant the dolls were probably still falling or being pushed through the weird portal. It felt like he was slowly torn apart inside his chest.

“Timmy, you need to let go NOW!” Cosmo yelled with a stern expression. That alone was confusing enough for Timmy to lose his focus. “If you don’t, you both get fried! Literally! Trust me, that’s not cool!”

Wanda had no clue if she should be proud or scared. She was just as speechless and could only agree with her husband. “We’ll meet again soon. If all of us get caught, who will put these villains into their place?” She tried to smile encouraging with little effort since this felt like a tragic goodbye for them all. “We love you both so much and we want you to be safe.”

“How cute. I always hate to ruin such moments.” Vlad cooed, rolling his eyes. “Oh wait, I don’t.” Now he laughed, finally blasting the center of the room with his duplicates from all angles.

“No, I –“ Timmy couldn’t hold on any longer. He let go, his nails scraping the uncomfortable sizzling top-side of the glowing prison as he fell sidewards into the portal. Just as he was about to be engulfed by the whiteness, Poof clung to his outstretched hand, using all his left energy to transform into a grappling hook.

“Poof Poof!” His hook end shot at the sphere, wrapping around it. Timmy’s weight and the sucking force were enough to tear the round end of the ecto-crafted pillar.

A sudden rush of euphoria coursed through Timmy as he was blown into the unknown – alas, with his whole magical family by his side. The line slowly retracted, pulling his godparents closer to him.

“As if I would allow that!” Vlad followed them, floating through the portal. He fired his ghost rays at the quartet. Timmy held Poof tight with his left hand, using the other with his wand to shield them from the damage. Unfortunately, Vlad was still able to create duplicates, approaching them from various angles.

Timmy’s back collided with something hard. It was … a car? With the license plate of Dimmsdale! He dared to look back, seeing all kinds of junk. Broken things, bags, tons, rubble … Where did all of that come from? What even was this place? It looked like a loop without any end in sight, while the exit towards Abracatraz was slowly getting out of reach.

“Before this malfunction collapses, I’ll leave you here to get dematerialized!”, Vlad threatened, floating around them. By now, Timmy had lost all orientation. While he was busy deflecting (most) of the pink beams, he was wildly float-falling into one direction, turning, twisting, tumbling, cartwheeling … He was only too much in survival mode to get sick from all that. But where was up and where was down? He couldn’t tell. Jorgen was also somewhere further down … or up. But he couldn’t do much from that distance.

“Leave us alone!” Timmy couldn’t understand why Cosmo and Wanda were so important. Was it just a personal vendetta to render him useless? Without magic, that was too much effort, even if he just wanted to psychologically torture him. And from what the average teen had witnessed, he had plenty of other fairies. He had no need to go that far … except if there was an ulterior reason.

“P-poof poof.” With how hard he was gripping the grappling hook, Timmy could hardly see Poof’s face, but by how exhausted and hoarse the little fairy sounded, he was probably not feeling good.

“I know, just a little more.”, Timmy begged, silently apologizing for forcing his brother, whom he was meant to protect, to go over his limits. He hoped this would end soon and pleaded to every little magical thing and wonder he knew of to fulfill his request. He wouldn’t want anything else for Christmas whatsoever. So please …

“This pointless chase ends now!” The original had somehow managed to show up behind Timmy, kicking him. He could smack Vlad away, but he would need to use both hands for that. And if he let go of Poof, he would lose all three of them. No, he’d rather let go of his wand and old onto the lifeline until he was beaten senseless. His hands were starting to get numb with all the vibration the staff of his wand’s recoil anyway. As awesome as the impact and deflect was, it put a toll on his arms and muscles.

Timmy grinned, still not above provoking his enemy even when he was obviously the loser from the start. “I endured worse bullying from Francis and his friends. Do your worst.”

“Timmy stop! It’s not worth it.” Wanda couldn’t hold back her tears anymore. She knew how much her godson endured just to keep them together. Even now. He had matured into such a fine young man over the years … knowing that, he had a bright future in front of him. One that wasn’t worth risking for her and Cosmo in such a situation. Of course, they were all scared and she couldn’t promise it would be okay in the end, but Wanda wanted to believe there would come a better time to save them, all the other fairies and their universe. Just not now and not here. “Poof dear, let go.”

They felt whiny protests emitting from the grappling hook as a response. Almost nostalgic, like the tantrums that he had when he was still a baby. “It’s okay, we’ll all be fine.”, Cosmo promised, pulling his wife close. He hid it well, but she felt his arm trembling. They both put a hand to the sphere, mentally reaching out and giving their sons encouragement.

Whether Poof wanted to obey his parents or not, his energy was fading. And so was his consciousness. He only saw his parents’ teary smiles as he transformed back against his will, clinging to Timmy’s hand.

Too stunned to yell, the teen watched as his godparents were taken by one of the duplicates, various of Vlad’s faces grinning at him in victory. It was then that the portal decided to collapse, the loop they were in twisting and turning even more, shaking them and everything inside around. Without orientation, Timmy blindly swung his wand where he thought Vlad was, only to hit nothing. He was biting his bottom lip hard enough to nearly taste blood, eyes wet and burning.

“So long, Timothy.” Vlad, who was only one now, wasn’t even sparing him a second glance. Not stopping, not turning back, not even wasting time for a witty comeback. Nothing. He just flew at highspeed back the way they came from with Cosmo and Wanda under his arm, who screamed his and Poof’s name.

He wanted to scream. Maybe he did. He couldn’t hear anything, as a sudden explosion flung them all the way down. There was fire. And he could hear the screams of people. But he was so dizzy that he had to shut his eyes, pulling Poof close to him so he wouldn’t be hit or get lost too.

Then, in the next moment, the whiteness faded. It was only a crooked circle-like tear in the night, as he felt the strong wind and gravity around him again. This time, he was falling downwards. Deep and fast.

“Turner!” Jorgen yelled after him. He had yet to catch the dolls again so he could break their fall, but they just kept slipping out of his hand.

When he opened his eyes, he could see a green flash and a red floating thing coming closer. Some kind of energy engulfed him, but it couldn’t stop him from falling, it just slowed him down, whereas something caught Jorgen, who had been closer to the ground than him. By now, he was falling facing the earth head first, seeing the lawn slowly coming closer. Everything happened so fast.

Was this the end?

The crown on his head flickered. An idea, more like a not-known-before muscle memory kicked in and he threw the wand behind him, pressing his unconscious brother to his chest with both hands as the leftover energy deflected, pushing against him moments before they touched the ground. The force knocked what little air was left in his lungs out, but it saved them from a deadly fall.

In fact, Timmy almost landed on his feet, but the wild ride and his bruised body left him with nothing to keep himself upright, so he hit the grass of the mansion’s yard anyway. Above them, the white tear slowly closed, flickering and showing brief images of different locations from his universe. The prison. Fairy world and … Dimmsdale.

Flashes of his home, the screaming people and the destruction left as soon as they popped up. Yet, they managed to inflict even more guilt on Timmy. A blink of an eye later, the tear was gone and he looked at the stars as if none of that just happened. Was it that late already? Where was he anyway?

Poof stirred a little, which eased some of his worries. His brother was okay. In a way, at least.

“Timmy!” The very voice he desperately wished to hear earlier. Multiple footsteps. Timmy couldn’t even bring himself to turn his head. He was hardly managing to stay awake by now.

Well, he got what he wanted, didn’t he? He wanted to meet his friends. He wanted to go to Amity Park. He wanted to use the portal. He wanted to go to the jail instead of anywhere else. And they did it. He was finally here. Just … at what cost?

The worried faces of his friends came into his vision, surrounding him. He could hardly hear their muffled voices over the ringing in his ears as he drifted off. They were saying something he couldn’t understand. Jimmy touched his cheek, a wear gun in his other hand, probably hissing by the display of wounds.

“S-sorry for …”, he muttered. For failing. For screwing it up. For putting everyone in danger. For losing everything in less than a day. “… being late.”

Too late, was it? Hard to tell, one tended to be a little overdramatic in situations like these. And now, for some reason, he felt like he could finally close his eyes and sleep.

✧ « ★ » ✧

“How is he?” SpongeBob peeked into the room, scared of the answer. Just looking at all the bruises, cuts and burns made the empath in him whimper.

Jimmy didn’t turn around as he disinfected a large burn at the shoulder to wrap it up later. “Still unconscious.” His tone was flat and void of emotion to the untrained ear. But SB could hear the little quiver, the way Jimmy’s hands were shaking and making it difficult to properly hold his utensils, thus slowing down the whole process, which probably frustrated him the most. He wasn’t a doctor, having the basic theoretical knowledge of biology and anatomy didn’t make him one.

Goddard was being a great help, both as a support for his friend and also showing a scan of Timmy’s body, the red parts highlighting the more serious wounds that needed attention first, the yellow ones being just mild injuries. There was too much red for Jimmy’s liking.

“I-I’m sure he will be okay. The big one is also pretty tough and he l-looks much worse. I think.” Such tense moments were difficult for the sponge, since he had no idea how he should cheer everyone up like that or what he had to say. Sadly, such moments had happened before, but it was mostly Danny who got himself hurt. The morbidly good thing about that was the stack of medication and first aid kits in the house. Everyone in the Fenton family needed to, at one point or another, patch another member up. Therefore, all of them had decent knowledge and experience with it.

“SpongeBob.” Jimmy had to take a deep breath through his nose. He still hadn’t faced his friend. “If you want to help, get some bandages and cooling gel. See if Danny need’s any assistance.”

Gulping, the fry cook nodded, his squeaky shoes echoing through the floor as he went downstairs again, where Danny took care of Jorgen and rummaged through the rations of meds. He had called his parents and friends; they were on their way. Neither of them had planned for their movie night to turn out like this. And now, Timmy was taking up Danny’s old bed.

Goddard barked in a reproachful manner. “I know.” Jimmy took off his glasses, rubbing the back of his nose. He only needed them for the fine work and he hated that it seemed like he had to stitch one injury at Timmy’s forehead. “It’s just …” He couldn’t put it into words. So much was going on in his head, so many feelings, but he couldn’t communicate them. He was angry. He was sad. He was worried. He was feeling like he should’ve known about that. He felt guilty because there just had to be a way that could’ve avoided all that. And, most of all, it hurt so much to see his friend and former rival like that. Timmy looked so tired and clearly went through a lot and there was nothing Jimmy could do to make it better and take that burden away. It was something he couldn’t fix. Something where he didn’t know what to do. And that frustrated him so much that there was no room for compassion and sensitivity towards others. It didn’t help that the attraction force of his Tractor-Beam-Ray had been too weak. If Timmy hadn’t done something himself, he most certainly would’ve hurt his head even more with the impact an that alone had almost caused Jimmy a panic attack. Knowing he caught them, but it wasn’t good enough.

He just wanted a quiet moment to calm down and think about it, maybe a brain blast that would give him the solution. Just having something to make all of that turmoil go away. If only Turner would wake up and show him that stupid smirk of his, then the tension would melt away, like it always did. As if a switch was turned on and he could almost make sense of these confusing emotions and the sensory overload.

But there was only so much he could do and even if he were able to seal all of the wounds in one go, Timmy’s body needed rest and sleep, just like the little hologram on the pillow next to them on the nightstand.

Finished with the patch up, Jimmy leaned back in his chair. “Goddard, run a scan on these.” He pointed at the large wand that leaned against the wall and the crown that was hung on the pointy end by it. Now that he had time to take a break, the genius finally took in the full image of his friend. From the major anomalies, like his weird training clothes, to the little details, such as the broader shoulders and firm muscles. It was only a subtle change, but to think how stronger he looked compared to their last meeting, Jimmy wondered just what kind of training schedule the average teen had adapted lately.
He still had to look under his shirt to search for burns on the chest and back. Goddard’s analysis had shown that neither bones had been broken nor had he any internal bleedings, so that was at least something.

Spraying some water based disinfectant on a cloth, Jimmy wiped the blood under Timmy’s nose away, looking for any sign of discomfort. He always hated that smell, saying it reminded him of hospitals and giant scorpions. Whatever that meant. But there was no movement, he seemed almost peaceful. His forehead was warm, minding the injuries as he touched it. The crook of his neck was hot, but that was to be expected. At least he wasn’t running a fever or infection.
Maybe he should ask Danny for spare clothes? Those cargos and shirt were beyond destroyed. Although he had to say they suited him, seeing Timmy without his trademark colors was just odd.

“I have the bandages and the gel, Danny also had some salve left!” SpongeBob came back through the door and Jimmy almost jumped out of his chair in surprise. He didn’t even do anything secretive and yet he felt like he was caught in a private moment. “This big guy looks like a crisp, but he’s going to be alrighty says Danny.”

“O-okay then.” His mouth was oddly dry as he swallowed. “Thank you.” Jimmy took the contents and nodded. The sponge wasn’t one to hold grudges or be upset easily, but the genius still felt like he should apologize for his rough demeanor. “SpongeBob, I …”

“How is Timmy?” Whether he sensed Jimmy’s unnecessary apology or not, he didn’t let him finish. “I know it’s only been a few minutes, but still … I hope he wakes up soon.”

Jimmy looked at the dirty cloth and sighed. “The most concerning injuries are on his back and at his head. But if he doesn’t wake up tomorrow or if his state gets worse tonight, we’ll get him to a hospital.” He washed his hands in the water bowl and carefully turned Timmy to the side, lifting the torn shirt enough to get a good look at the burn. He inwardly hissed at the sight and hoped it looked worse than it was. Which it probably should be, otherwise the scan should’ve marked it red. Data never lied. “His parents and friends should be on their way, right?”

“Yeah, Danny had a call with his sister, she’s also coming over. Looks like we’ll have a big sleepover after all!” Bob tried to be cheerful, but his smile soon faltered. Even he had no idea how to stay positive in this situation. “I just hope Dimmsdale and Fairy World are going to be okay …”

It was a conflicting situation indeed. They couldn’t possibly do something if they had no idea what they were actually up against. Even if it meant that their friend’s universe had to hold on a little longer, they needed to wait and give Timmy and his holograms time to recover. And now that he thought of it … where were Cosmo and Wanda? They usually never left his side. Knowing that made Jimmy even more agitated. Something terrible happened and Timmy got separated from his closest comrades. He would not only be in physical pain when he woke up and, again, Jimmy had no idea how to fix that. How to make it easier. How to figure out a solution. How to prevent anything else from happening.

“Jimmy?”, SpongeBob asked, the silence stretching too long as Jimmy stared at the wound on Timmy’s back, his eyes darting to several spots as the gears turned in his head, trying to force a brain blast that would cause miracles to happen. “It’s going to be okay, I’m sure of it. We saved the multiverse a few times already!”

Goddard’s snout nuzzled Jimmy’s side, waking the teen form his haze. “Certainly. Yes.”, he said, mostly to reassure himself. “I think me and Goddard can handle this now. Can you watch Poof?”

SpongeBob saluted, carefully taking the pillow with the little fairy downstairs to the living room. The little guy had only a few scratches and was mostly tired out. It was no surprise, considering how Timmy had shielded him from most of the fall and probably did so even before that. Jimmy thought about building a tiny cast for the crooked wing, but he had no materials to do so and it looked so frail and thin, he doubted anything would hold it properly in place. Maybe he could press it between two sturdy and light plates? How sensitive were those wings? Holograms capable of feeling pain and showing so many emotions was a mystery in itself, he didn’t want to hurt the … child further.

Goddard laid down next to the bed, watching as the genius cleaned the back injury. It was too open and fresh to be wrapped up in gel or salve, so Jimmy scrolled on his watch with the sheer endless list of his bag-inventory. He had to smile briefly as he imagined how Timmy would just associate it with video games and how cool it was. Maybe that was also part of the reason he took all of that with him.
Turner may always argue how bigheaded Jimmy could be, bragging about his latest inventions, but he would always ask first anyway. Even if he groaned and called him a nerd or poser, he still did it every time. And for a while now, the interrupting frustrated groans and the mocking had receded. He probably wasn’t listening to all the details, but Timmy watched him explain until he was finished. If it was something he was actually very interested in, he would ask for easier and short explanations, but at least he didn’t claim to know what it did and just push random buttons. These were small gestures, but Jimmy still appreciated them.

Unfortunately, he had nothing useful in his bag. He added a mental list of several medi-kits he would put into the bag-room when he was home. Something to take care of burns was always useful, like the moisture spray he gave Bob. To keep the wounds wet but cauterized and something that encouraged the cells’ healing process and restoration. Well, at least his study in genetics and chemistry came in handy now. He could always learn something new from the fields that he was already advanced in, but expanding his spectrum was quite useful. His mother’s advice seemed to be right after all.

Now that Timmy’s wounds were mostly taken care of and wrapped up, Jimmy put the blanket over him to maintain the body heat. So … now what?

He took a quick look at his phone, grimacing how his feeling had proven to be right and yet it took him so long to do something. What good was it to be genius if he always had to take care of aftermaths? Why was it that always something had to happen, something had to go horribly wrong or that his own doing caused bad chain reactions that he had to fix in the end? He was always leading and working, but it never helped to prevent anything. Of course, Jimmy was not a fortune teller. He didn’t believe in such things and it was scientifically impossible to know everything that would or could happen beforehand, since there were too many variables. No matter how precise a prediction-analysis AI was, the nature of all things was to be unpredictable. Every single human being, every little decision, phenomena in weather – none of that could be measured. And believe him, it wasn’t for a lack of trying on his side to do exactly that.

He guessed his constant repetitive pattern of unexpected incidents had to do something with the law of attraction. A ridiculous spiritual-believe theory that he had to read about in high school and he originally dismissed as nonsense. But he started to see the point now. Based on the law of physics that stated whatever energy one puts out – negative or positive – is matched with more of the same. According to that, someone like him, with strong ego, firm believes and full of doubt, would only receive doubt and things that would discourage his world view in return. Thus, leading to him being a magnet for troubles and catastrophes, if all he ever thought about was how everything could go possibly wrong. Or as these esoteric people claimed, negative thinking.

Perhaps he truly was attracted to trouble and chaos as much as it was to him in a way. That would explain why he found himself in such situations so often. And also, why it was always with Turner, that it never got boring. So … was that really such a bad thing? Could two negatives create a positive outcome?

“Leaping leptons, what am I thinking?” Jimmy rubbed his temples and leaned back. It was time he got some rest too. He would just stay a little longer and observe. Of course Goddard would also alert him if Turner’s condition changed in any way, but he had to look for himself. See the relaxed features and the gentle rise and fall of the others chest. Because it calmed him down more than any analysis or data ever could. It was real. Coming from him, that seemed even more unbelievable.

✧ « ★ » ✧

Everything was blurry and muffled. He could still hear the explosion, the rushing wind beside his ears as he fell endlessly. He felt the burns on his skin, the pain of impacts and hits. He could see the mad laughter and the chaos in front of him. Flashes and images of his home, destroyed and filled with Anti-Fairies. The pressure and the expectations weighing him down. Once more, it was him against almost everything and he failed horribly.

But there was something else.

A broken and dark memory. Shortly after he encountered Anti-Cosmo. His godfather turning into a key, opening the seals on chests and a black vitrine. A pink glowing jewel, shining so bright and powerful. He saw his own hand extending towards it against his will, Anti-Cosmo doing the same. Then a bright flash. And a shadow.

“Now there is nothing that could possibly stop us. The Anti-Fairies will rule not only Fairy World, but all magic in this universe!” He saw Anti-Cosmo laughing and cheering for his own victory, as he carelessly dropped the Dolls of him and Cosmo. A sudden draining pain shot through his body. Everything was painted black afterwards.

“of course you’re to blame, Turner!” He heard Jorgen’s voice echoing. Maybe it was. Not the way all of this started, but this other version of him, Tiberius … wasn’t he the living proof that his action had consequences? That, even after all these years, his childish past mistakes still made him pay for what he did. “It was you who started this whole dimension-hopping.”

Right, traveling through universes, creating more mortal enemies – all that had his trademark on it.

Awoken from his strange dream and with a sudden rush of panic, Timmy groaned. Everything was dark and he could barely move. His whole body ached. It was so hot. Just lifting his arm felt like it was too much. Something stuck to his head and his face. It was tight and throbbed, but the pain was … better. Not as agonizing as before. It didn’t manage to make the queasiness disappear, but he could breathe easier.

Getting used to his surroundings took way too long and it was hard. He felt sore all over, his back cracked and hurt when he attempted to turn over. Right, Vlad’s ecto-beam.

“You managed to lower my expectations even more.” He could still hear the mocking tone, the grin as these blood red eyes bore into his soul. “I was simply having too much entertainment to ruin your fun little escape.”

He recognized he was lying in a bed. Great, another blackout where he lost consciousness and woke up in a completely different place with no idea how he got here. If he had a nickel for every time that happened today, he would have two now. Which wasn’t a lot, but still weird since it happened twice now.
Timmy clenched his teeth as he pushed the blanket away, trying to get up. The room was lit by a single lamp on a nightstand. Not much illumination but still too hurtful for his eyes. He blinked several times but couldn’t get a clear vision no matter how hard he tried. Maybe because of the layer of tears that creeped up as he felt nearly every injury on his body practically at once.

“Wait, take it easy.” Someone gently put a hand on his shoulder. It was light as a feather, yet his body crushed under its force and his cheek hit the pillow again. The fabric smelled like it hadn’t been used much for a while, but the faint scent of laundry detergent and passion fruit still clung to it. He knew only one person that had soft hair that always smelled like a tropical forest … was this Danny’s place? “Timmy? Can you hear me?”

No, that voice wasn’t Danny. It was gentle, barely above a whisper. Soothing and calm. The first person that didn’t yell at him since the whole mess started. No despair, anger, fear, or evil intent came from it. It was nice, spreading warmth in his chest. Too good to be true. He must still be dreaming. “No”, he grumbled like someone that wanted five more minutes.

The hand came up to his forehead, its palm measuring his temperature. Rough and worn fingertips from endless working and crafting brushed his hair to the side and out of his face. A dot came into his vision. Someone with fudgy hair and small round glasses. Steel blue eyes that were always so intense and seeking answers for unasked questions. Yep, he was still dreaming. Probably dead even. There was no way something like this was happening. Jimmy Neutron’s face so close in front of him, full of worry and acting so gentle. The poor lighting must be playing tricks on him. “Turner, I’m serious. Are you nauseous?” A slight eyeroll and crease of his eyebrows. Timmy liked it when he did that. Annoyed but yet more relieved and amused than anything. In this case, probably relieved he was still alive. But was he, though?

Timmy shook his head with effort, regretting it as the throbbing got worse. Okay maybe he was a little sick. Who wouldn’t be, after all that? At least his vision wasn’t as blurry anymore. Jimmy wore his usual red jacket with his yellow trademark neutron on it and blue jeans with a white shirt beneath. The primary colors, as always.

And they became a blur as the genius got up, getting something from the other side of the room. “Here, drink this.” Jimmy held a glass of water with something sizzling in it. “Can you get up?” The average teen nodded, slowly lifting his head again. Why was gravity twice as strong now? He could hardly keep himself upright, his arms trembled. He had almost no feeling in them and they hurt like hell. Probably muscle cramps. He had used them a lot in his fight and the impact of that deflect-wand vibrated so strong, he felt the big ones in his bones. The adrenalin only made it easier to ignore that.

Despite his best – pathetic – efforts, he couldn’t even lift his elbow to support himself. Just as he was about to give up, Jimmy put his free arm around his shoulder to support him, minding the injury on his back. Timmy attempted to lift the glass from his friend’s grip, only to find out he had zero strength to even wrap his shaking fingers around it. His mouth was dry. His stomach so empty it hurt. And he was still so, so tired. He didn’t even notice his head drifting to the side. His eyelids became heavy on their own. The sudden change in position managed to almost knock him out again.

The cool glass was placed against his lips. “Easy, take your time.” Jimmy was so close to him, he could hear his voice right next to his ear. Now that he thought about it, his head rested against something. A shoulder? He was too exhausted to really care. As soon as he tasted the cool liquid, a sudden urge and undying thirst revoked and he wanted to drink a gallon right this second. But he only managed to gulp down a few sips before he nearly choked on just that.

The gentle hand from earlier rubbed soothing circles on his upper arm as he coughed. After he could finally breathe without feeling like he was internally drowning, Timmy reached for the glass again. He hadn’t even registered how thirsty he was the whole time. Now, he wanted this tiny glass more than anything. It turned out a few sips still wouldn’t restore his gripping ability, so he just guided Jimmy’s hand with the water more than anything.

With it empty, Timmy felt like he could live again. Deep breaths, despite the tight pain in his chest. He still felt shitty all over but … less than before.

“You should rest more.” Jimmy laid him down, tucking the thick blanket over him again. Timmy thought it was too much, but he had neither the strength to stop Jimmy, nor did he care enough. He was exhausted and certainly delirious. He was sick and this was a fever dream, nothing more. Why else would Jimmy be here, after he was the last person he was thinking about? Nonetheless, it was a realistic Jimmy. He had dark circles under his eyes and looked exhausted, almost as if he didn’t rest at all, not taking his own advice as usually. Had he been here the whole time? What time was it anyway? He couldn’t laze around and dream when there was an apocalypse happening in his dimension!

“Jim –“ He must’ve looked desperate, close to a mental breakdown. The genius cringed slightly, running a hand through his hair, petting his head. After all the hurtful hits it had to endure today, this was a nice and comforting change and he let it happen. Relished the feeling of that small gesture.

“I know. But you need to sleep. You can tell us everything when you’re better and then we’ll think of a solution, okay?” A half-lifted smile. Not the smug one, but one that meant encouragement. He thought both were endearing, but this one alone made him believe the genius.

Timmy exhaled, as if the stress and tension that had still clung to him finally left his body. He had made it. At least a part of his plan worked and he was here. He wasn’t alone anymore. He had help. But still … his godparents were far from that salvation and – oh god. “Poof?!”

“He’s fine. SpongeBob is taking care of him.” Jimmy quickly assured him, gently forcing Timmy to lay – and stay -down. Even Goddard had hopped onto the bed next to Timmy, whining with empathy but glad that he was awake. The metal canine licked his palm. The cool and soft feeling was a good distraction. “He has no major injuries and just needs some sleep. He will be okay. All of you will.”

He could just tell him that to give him false hope or to make him rest. But Timmy believed him. Jimmy was a bad liar regarding these things and the average teen wanted to hold onto this good mushy feeling in his chest. A silver ray that told him maybe it wasn’t all lost and that everything would be, indeed, going to be okay.

“Thanks …”, he mumbled, his eyelids getting heavier with each blink. This time, when Jimmy’s face was the last thing he saw before everything became dark again, he felt warm and save.

He could’ve imagined the reply, but so was it with everything else. The soft voice, the gentle touch and the warmth in his chest. But as someone who’s life revolved mainly around magic, he chose to believe. “Anytime, Turner.”

Chapter Text

The second time he woke up, or the third technically, Timmy … still felt like shit. Honestly, what else did he expect? A miracle? Well, yeah, kinda.

After a few moments of regaining his orientation and somewhat remembering where he was and how he got here, he sat up. Slowly, regretting each wrong movement as his soreness and every little injury on his body made itself known. His head was still throbbing and the bandage around it was uncomfortably tight, but it was better than before. Even if only enough to not make him nauseous again.

Timmy carefully shoved the blanket away, noticing that Goddard was also in rest-mode at the end of the bed by his feet. Cute. He wanted to pet the good boy, but he could hardly sit upright on his own. His hands still felt numb and tingly. Upon inspecting them, he could see how much they were shaking just from that little muscle strain by lifting his arms. Experimentally he tried to squeeze them into fists, but it didn’t work. His fingers wouldn’t coil and just a little pressure caused a sting running through his whole arm. His limbs felt like they didn’t belong to him anymore, throbbing and the muscles tensing and twitching against his own will. It was worse than his first training with Jorgen. No, all training sessions combined even. Which reminded Timmy that the stubborn rule enforcer was also supposed to be here somewhere. And so was Poof.

He took a look around. Yep, this was definitely Danny’s room and bed. There was a bunch of stuff on the desk, a first aid kit, a bowl, washcloths, medicine, a bottle of water and a glass … Oh. Hidden in the back of his mind, Timmy recalled blurred images. And not so blurred ones, consisting of steel blue eyes, a soft gaze, a nice and faint smell of aftershave and lavender as his head rested against something. Soothing and gentle. He could swear the scent still lingered in his nose, which made him take a deep breath. Huh, it really was still here. And not just that alone.

How had he not seen the person on the chair next to him sooner? That fudge head wasn’t hard to spot! Timmy’s heart skipped a beat, because the thought of Jimmy watching him the whole time was both weird and somehow embarrassing in a particular way. And here was the culprit, with crossed arms, lumped down in the chair, head tilted to the side, sleeping with a subtle snore. Jimmy Neutron. The teen genius he hadn’t seen in months. Timmy froze in his motions, als air he inhaled quickly leaving his nostrils.

He hadn’t changed much since the last time they met. His hair looked softer and his features had matured a little, but overall he still looked the same. Except for the huge eyebags and the few strands of misplaced hair. His glasses had slipped a little and whenever his torso dared to move a little too far to the side, his subconscious reacted automatically, jerking him a little upright again. It was fun to observe. The slight open mouth, the way his chest moved, how even in his sleep his mind never seemed to shut down as his eyelids and fingers twitched. That position seemed really uncomfortable though. Timmy imagined he would be much calmer and relaxed in a real bed.

Jimmy looked exhausted and overworked. Something that happened too much in the past year, as Timmy figured. Sometimes he shut himself inside his lab to tinker with his projects, running just on caffeine and spite alone after a three-nighter. It got so bad that they had to literally drag him to bed and away from his lab during their last sleepover in Retroville. Somehow it was ironic how the tables had turned, since now it was Timmy who shut the others out. Or rather how all of them were busy with their own life. Timmy knew growing up and getting older had many negative aspects, but the fact that friends tended to drift apart and didn’t have time for each other anymore was just sad. How bad would it possibly be once they became a part of the work-society?

Because he hated to think about this topic and everything around it so much, Timmy avoided it and rather preferred to watch Jimmy instead. His throat was dry and he felt restless, but the average teen just knew once he would try to get up, he would only make a fool of himself with his pathetic attempts to stand and walk over to the desk. It would only take a couple of steps, but to Timmy it was impossible. But sitting here and doing nothing felt wrong. So, so wrong when everything at home was falling apart. How late was it? What was going on in Dimmsdale? What about Poof? And the fact that Cosmo, Wanda and all the other fairies were still kidnapped …
Timmy had to get answers and tell the others about his issue as soon as possible. He remembered Jimmy’s voice, promising him everything would be okay once he was rested and that they would talk it out. That was now, wasn’t it? Which would also mean that his delicious fever dream probably was very much real.

And so were the faint smell, the gentle voice, a shoulder to lean on, the caressing hand and Jimmy’s face, so close to his.

His cheeks became very hot all of a sudden and Timmy wanted to hide behind his hands. He held back a groan and rubbed his temples, forcing the memories to go away so he would still be able to look the other in the eyes without feeling … weird. Ashamed? Uncomfortable? Whatever, it was humiliating.

Next to him, the sleeping boy stirred out of his very unpleasant looking slumber. With a sudden jerk, Jimmy caught his glasses on pure reflex and sat up straight again. His neck and back made a few cracks as he stretched. Was that happening often? Somehow, Timmy could picture Jimmy hunched over his work desk too well, sleeping as papers and drafts stuck to his cheek and his glasses crooked.

Their gazes met. And Timmy had no idea how he should react right now or what the other expected. The hard, analyzing stare of these intense eyes were back on him, scanning his body for any unwellness and one could see in real time how the gears in Jimmy’s head slowly started to turn back on highspeed, as he overlooked the state of his wounds and if he needed any medical attention with just that one expression.

“You look like shit.” Timmy finally settled with a not-so-subtle greeting. He inwardly cringed as soon as he said it, but he had no idea what else he was supposed to say. Thank you for taking care of me and my friends? Thank you for staying here with me the whole night? Are YOU okay? He wasn’t the genius here, words were just as hard for him as for the emotionally challenged Neutron. And man, his voice sounded raspy. From all the yelling yesterday, it shouldn’t be surprising.

Somehow, that made Jimmy huff with something between amusement and bewilderment. “Good morning to you too, Turner.” The genius suppressed a yawn – but didn’t succeed. He slowly got up from his chair, putting his hands against his hip to stretch a little more. Another round of cracking. He either must be really tense or the chair had been more uncomfortable to sleep in than it looked like. “You know, I could say the same thing about you.”

“I know, but you’re not the kind of person to state the obvious.” Timmy rolled his eyes – which he regretted – and got tired of sitting. He had the option between lying back down and getting up, though neither seemed appealing. Hearing his own hoarse voice made his throat feel even more dry. He was once more reminded how thirsty he still was. And hungry. It had been a day since he last ate something and his stomach was more than empty after he threw up in the Death Ball. “I … don’t know what to say, honestly. Or where to start.”

“Then say nothing. Your voice sounds like sh- it sounds bad.”, Jimmy bluntly answered as he got close to him again. Now that Timmy was fully awake and sane this time, he just stared at the genius like a deer in the headlights. “I need to check on your wounds anyway. And after that, you should hydrate and eat something. Can you stand?”

Could he? He would like to say yes, but with his limbs feeling like jello and his earlier attempt, he doubted that, so Timmy only shrugged. A movement he regretted very soon. It took him a few attempts, but he was able to shove the blanket away and move his legs out of the bed. Suddenly, it was cold and he noticed that someone – most likely Jimmy – had stripped him of his shoes, socks and cargos. Somehow, that was understandable, because it was necessary, but he still felt his cheeks burn again. One of his feet was wrapped in a bandage and he had a few bruises. But last time he checked he was full of dirt and sweat. Even with magically cleaned clothes and a shower before his shift in prison, he went through a lot. He must’ve reeked and he could still smell ashes, dust and other stuff from the battlefield. Wasn’t Neutron bothered by all that? Judging by the towels, cloths and water bowl, he must’ve nursed him the whole time. Damn, he felt so pathetic. Even now his hands were shaking as he gripped the sheets.

“Okay, does that hurt?” Forced out of his thoughts, Timmy felt a sharp pain in his ribs as Jimmy touched his side, making him hiss through his teeth. “… I guess that answers it.” Jimmy scooted closer with his chair, lifting the shirt to look at big band aid. He muttered to himself that he might have to change it and if it wouldn’t make Timmy so dizzy, he would look down for himself to see what he meant. Then again, he preferred to not look at Jimmy at all, because he felt so alien and weird, being inspected like that. He was afraid of intimacy, you know?

“C-can’t you invite me to dinner first?”, he tried to cover his nervousness with a joke but to no avail. A part of him wanted to avoid the touch but the other still relished in the soothing yet rough fingers that lightly caressed his skin. His hands had become cold and Timmy was unconsciously holding his breath and tensing his stomach.

“I might.” The joke of course went over his head, otherwise Jimmy wouldn’t act so casually about it as he took one of Timmy’s arms, his thumbs lightly pressing down on his muscles and inspecting his wrist. “Can you make a fist?”

Timmy sighed. Even though he knew the outcome, he tried to do it again. And failed a second time, as he couldn’t tense his muscles for more than a moment, leaving his fingers shaking. But Jimmy didn’t laugh at him or raised an eyebrow. If anything, his shoulders dropped slightly and a frown formed on his face, making him look older and tired. Timmy didn’t like it. “So … what’s your diagnosis, doc?” His legs felt restless and tingly. Despite how light-headed and exhausted he was, this situation left him fidgeting and heart racing. He wanted to recoil and hide under the blanket but at the same time he had so much going on in his head he should rather worry about, than the weird tingle in his body as Jimmy still held his hand, focusing his intense gaze directly on him.

“That you’re an idiot. But I don’t need a degree for that.” The ever hard to read genius caressed his thumb over Timmy’s palm, a huff of amusement leaving his nostrils. Well, it couldn’t be that bad if he was able to mock him. “You don’t have any broken bones or torn ligaments, it’s mostly just sore and strained from overuse. Aside from the obvious minor injuries.” It seemed like Jimmy wanted to elaborate further, probably theorizing how he could possibly get such wounds or maybe he wanted to ask him ‘just what the hell have you been doing the last 24 hours, Turner?’ but he didn’t. His lips pressed into a thin line while he stared at Timmy’s scraped knuckles. “Still, nothing a little rest and some ice can’t fix.”

As if he had the time to rest. “Cool.” Timmy rubbed his other hand on his thigh. Sitting in his underwear in front of his longtime friend wasn’t something he had on his bucket list.

“How is your head? Do you still feel nauseous? Have you been sick before you … got here?” Jimmy questioned further, his other hand carefully touching the bandage on his forehead. Timmy wanted to flinch from the pain, but he had enough willpower to ignore it.

How should he explain all that? His head was fuzzy ever since he woke up in the cell, but that couldn’t have anything to do with an injury … at least not that he remembered. But his head suffered a lot during his fight, so he didn’t think it made that much of a difference when it started. “It’s better, I guess. The room stopped spinning and blinding me.” He shrugged again on reflex, wincing as the motion still hurt. He never learned from his mistakes, did he? “And I may have puked in an enemy’s base, which I’m not sorry for.”

Jimmy didn’t look very amused by that, which made Timmy’s forced smile falter. A frown was added to his intense gaze and he seemed to be in his head again, thinking about the information and trying to come up with a treatment, knowing him. He always had a solution.

Since Neutron was a genius, the average teen shouldn’t be surprised he had a decent knowledge in medicine and the structure of a body. But whenever he pictured the allrounder doing his business, it was something with engineering or lasers. Still, he would pass for a good doctor or surgeon with his skills and precision. A white lab coat suited him already anyway. However, Timmy guessed something that social and people involving wouldn’t be to Jimmy’s taste. Him working for himself and by himself with cold and predictable machines was more fitting. It was less lonely and creepy  and creepy than it sounded. The genius thrived when he was alone and could be just himself without having to pretend or … without being held back by other people that couldn’t keep up with his talent.

He kind of envied Jimmy for his intellect and learning ability. He could basically and theoretically become everything since he had the grades and the talent for that. If it piqued his interest, there was almost nothing Jimmy wouldn’t be able to learn. Meanwhile, Timmy had no special interests or talents that would help him in a human society … and he had also no ambitions. They were on complete opposite sides of the spectrum and yet they had the same problem when it came to being around other people. Although Jimmy wouldn’t have to be worried about any of that. He would most certainly win every Nobel prize there was by the age of forty. If he specialized in medicine, he could probably heal cancer or if he went for environment, he would invent biodegradable gas or something to negate climate change. Jimmy was destined to shine bright with nothing but his own diligence and abilities, no matter what path he would walk on … while Timmy couldn’t even repair a toaster on his own without magically wishing for it.

Ah. Now Timmy remembered why he had the urge to turn away and stopped visiting Jimmy for a while now. Because he felt inferior whenever they met. During their childhood they maybe used to be on the same level in terms of quirkiness, but now that they were older, it was hard not to feel like a failure if someone so perfect and capable was sitting in front of you. And yet that bastard, even with his cockiness and gloating that he had during their rivalry, treated his talents like a regular thing. Like it wasn’t anything special to the genius. Him making miracles happening and creating the impossible was as normal and a part of Jimmy’s life as air. It was just there.
Timmy’s chest burned, witnessing that. How hard he worked because he wanted to. How that young man could do his own magic and create world of his own with a single executed idea.

If it wouldn’t blow his ego up even more, Timmy would tell him how awesome he could be and that he should go for the praise and fame instead of staying in his dark lab. At least that was what he told himself. Otherwise, he couldn’t explain why he had the urge to compliment his former rival and yet refrained from doing so. Was it really the smugness he wanted to spare himself from? No. Not really. There was actually nothing stopping him but his cowardice.

Timmy’s stomach growled. How long had he been staring at Jimmy? Was he still holding his shaking hand?

“I t-think I could use some crabby patties.” Timmy laughed his nervousness off, withdrawing his hand. Jimmy blinked, as if he had also been deep in thought while he examined his patient.

“For breakfast? I don’t think your stomach can handle that right now. I’ll see if I can get you something lighter.” Nodding to himself, the genius stood up. He awkwardly rubbed his hands as he took a quick look around the room, creating a mental list of things he should take with him, refill, and whatnot. Not a single of his movements wasn’t calculated or in vain. Everything he did was with purpose and meant to be efficient. Compared to him, Timmy could walk from one room to the next and entirely forget what he wanted there in the first place.

“Don’t tell my stomach what it can or cannot handle.” Timmy pouted but soon realized that Jimmy was actually implying he would get him something to eat. What, was he going to feed him too? Just like … with that glass of water? God, no! He had no idea how to feel about that other thing, but knowing something like that could happen again made his heartbeat race.

With a new wave of adrenalin, Timmy stood up, supporting himself on the bedframe. His attempt was less than graceful, he barely made two steps before his legs remembered they were out of order and gave out.

“Turner, what in Einstein’s name are you doing?” Jimmy hooked his arms under Timmy’s armpits from behind to pull him up before he could kiss the floor. For someone that looked rather lanky in his clothes, the genius had a strong grip. Figures. Nobody with twigs as arms could build rockets, even if they had mecha suits and gadgets to help them out. One way or another they had to be build in the first place and needed a steady hand. And by means, Timmy wasn’t a lightweight anymore, even if the genius was taller by half a head since their puberty and mutual growth spurts. “I just told you to rest!”

“Yeah well … I can’t just stay in bed all day!”, he defended himself as he was dragged back on the mattress. All this shifting woke Goddard up, who happily wagged his tail upon seeing Timmy. “The others –“

“- Can wait.” Jimmy put both hands on Timmy’s shoulders, staring him down. Which was unfair because his patient couldn’t handle the intense gaze. Not when he was so … pathetic to look at. The genius sighed, breaking eye contact. “Look, just stay here and try not to get any more injuries while I’m gone. I’ll be back in a few minutes with the others and something to eat, alright?” He bluntly grabbed his ankles, forcing the average teen back to lay down – which was met by weak protests of leg kicking. “Goddard will keep you company.”

“You mean make sure I don’t get up.” Timmy translated, lying arms crossed on his side to avoid the burn on his back – not amused.

“Exactly.” Jimmy half smiled as he meanly pulled the blanket over again, tucking Timmy in like a burrito. He then turned to his best friend. “Make sure he won’t do anything stupid.” Goddard barked proudly, placing his square metal body on Timmy’s legs for emphasis. It didn’t hurt but the pressure was enough to evidently pin him down. Not that he was heavy, but with Timmy’s current strength, even SpongeBob would be too hard to lift. “Good boy.”

“Traitor.” Timmy sniffed, glaring at the ceiling. Somehow, he couldn’t be as mad as he wanted to pretend to be. The hand that suddenly ruffled through his hair didn’t make it any better. But before he had fully realized what was happening, Jimmy had turned around to grab a bunch of the utensils from the desk and hurriedly disappeared out of the room in one swift motion. Which left only him and Goddard to stare after the genius and the open doorframe, both with looming question marks for different reasons in their minds.

✧ « ★ » ✧

Jimmy almost slipped with his socks on the wooden floor as he made his way down the stairs, ignoring the hammering in his chest. The gears in his mind turned on highspeed as he dropped the bowl and used medical supplies in the sink. He had to take a few breaths to calm himself down, running a hand down his face after he tore his glasses off.

He needed coffee. A lot.

“Geez, you okay there?” Danny came in with his pajamas. He had slept on the couch in the living room with while SpongeBob used a sleeping bag and Poof rested on his pillow on the coffee table. At some point, the halfa dragged their third guest into his sister’s old room. His parents had returned during the night, working in the lab on the portal to figure out what was going on in the Ghost Zone.

“Yes. Of course. Why wouldn’t I?” Jimmy quickly turned around, leaning as casual as he could against the counter. It looked anything but casual. “I’m not the one with injuries all over my body that almost fell to death and still manages to make dumb choices after just waking up.” He shrugged, his eyes scanning for the espresso machine, as uncultured people referred to it. Yep, he must definitely still be tired.

“Well, sounds like he’s fine … in the Turner-kind of way.” Danny shrugged. At least that meant their friend was doing better, if he was awake and making poor life choices again. Maybe his humor was a bad expression for his relief but fighting everyday with villains and ghosts tended to make someone numb to most things. “At least he’s not missing freaking leg or something like that other guy.”

“Don’t say that too loud, he might get ideas.” Jimmy ran a hand through his now messy hair. He looked really stressed out – because he was, actually. Just imagining how things could’ve turned out if they hadn’t been there at this exact moment … Usually the genius didn’t believe in luck or bad luck, but it had been a suspiciously good coincidence.
Just seeing Timmy in such a bad shape with all these wounds was troubling enough but … when he woke up in the middle of the night, it was bizarre, to say the least. The usually energetic and tough Timmy Turner, barely awake and strong enough to move or hold a simple glass of water. He looked so young and broken. Jimmy had no idea what to do. In theory and while his friend was sleeping, scanning him for any signs of discomfort and taking care of him had been easy. But when he was obviously in pain and half conscious? Jimmy had rarely been this nervous in his short life. The warm, quivering body beneath his fingertips, the anxiety to make it worse with one wrong move … He stayed awake the whole night, making sure Timmy was okay and it was only with the first few sunrays that he drifted off to sleep as well. Yet, even now, Jimmy felt useless and overwhelmed seeing his friend still in pain and not being able to fix it within a second, like Timmy’s holograms did on their adventures.

Now that he thought about it, the average teen got hurt a lot on their missions. He was rather careless and dived into action without thinking most of the time back in the days. So of course he would often end up with bruises and scratches, but Cosmo and Wanda always healed him and the rest of the team after the battle. Although that, too, had become less, just like Timmy’s carelessness and impulsive wishing. Was there a connection? What kind of reason was there to depend less on such efficient and useful skills?

“Earth to Neutron?” Danny waved his hand in front of the genius’s face. Man, he really needed some caffeine, the stress and sleep deprivation were making it harder to focus on what was going on around him than usual. At least the halfa noticed and was kind enough to pour him some coffee out of a can that probably had been made a while ago. After he received his cup, it was still lukewarm. And strong, holy Hawkins. “So, how’s your assigned patient?”

“Better … but his condition is still concerning and should be monitored. He probably has a concussion and two sprained ribs if Goddard’s scans are correct.” Which of course they were. But he didn’t want to tell Timmy that, since the idiot was already blaming himself enough. Beating sense into him was useless when Turner was obviously going to act tough no matter what they said. “A nasty burn on his back too. Well, among the other burns, bruises and strains. Whatever happened there, he overdid it and his body couldn’t physically keep up with it anymore. He can’t even keep himself upright.”

Danny grimaced. He knew how bad it could be to put your own body through so much pressure. If it weren’t for Sam, Tucker and his family’s support, he would most likely overdo it every week. There had been fights that rendered him unable to move for days and overusing his abilities left his human body in a poor state as well. Maybe because he was weaker and healed slower in his mortal form. Even if going ghost meant he was about to fight, it felt … easier than being a human nowadays. He was more alert, more energetic, more alive. Which was pretty ironic, considering he turned into a ghost of all things. But the aftermath of a fight, turning back, left him more tired and exhausted than everything else. “In that case, he should definitely take it easy for a while. The big fairy – err, man is still out too. We can’t do anything until they’re better anyway.”

“He won’t like to hear that.” Jimmy figured if they told Timmy that he had to stay in bed for a while – most certainly a few days – he would argue with them. Honestly, if it was Retroville and his friends and family were in danger, Jimmy would also most likely want to rescue them or do literally anything to be productive, no matter what everyone else said. But for now, all they could do was wait and observe. At least checking the Ghost Portal and his UPMtg would by some more time and unless they had more information on what they were up against or what the enemy was planning, they wouldn’t be able to do anything anyway. Especially not Turner. On the bright side, it would give him more time to heal, so Jimmy was okay with becoming Timmy’s outlet of build up anger and frustration. “Anything else new?”

“Hm, yeah, the festival is canceled for us in that case.” Danny rubbed his neck. Unlike SpongeBob’s jokes, his humor wasn’t easing the tension any bit. Why was he even trying? “Dani is picking up Jazz, Tucker has business to do before he comes over and Sam makes a quick stop at the pharmacy for us. And my parents are still busy in the lab.” He crossed his arms, pondering if there was anything else he needed to update Jimmy on. Oh, right. “The big guy surprisingly has only burns and bruises. Nothing too deep or broken and the missing leg part … its strange, actually.”

Jimmy raised his eyebrows, sipping from his cup as he listened. The fairy holograms seemed to have a unique kind of body-physics and anatomy, such as being solid and yet defying the normal laws of gravity – among other things. It fascinated him at the same time as much as it gave him a negative feeling, like having a stick to poke a beehive. Did he want to know or not? “Strange how?”

“It’s just … gone. There is no injury, now blood, the end is just cut clean off, but except for a small part of bone peaking out, there is nothing but normal skin. It looks like – I don’t know, some kind of doll joint?” Danny leaned against the counter, not sure if it was creeping him out or if Jimmy’s scientific fascination was rubbing off on him. “I have no idea how fairies work, but that’s weird, even for them I think. And they can transform into anything, so … regrowing a missing limb shouldn’t be that much of an issue, right? But from his getup it looks like he has been fighting without it the whole time.”

“Maybe they are cut off from their power source again. It would explain why Timmy didn’t ... ‘wish’ for something, such as contacting us. Or why Cosmo and Wanda aren’t here. We know their abilities are limited in other universes than Dimmsdale, but whatever happened, they were probably caught off guard and got separated somehow.” Jimmy gripped the handle of his mug a little tighter. “That means Timmy had no protection or help and had to fight mostly by himself.”

Of course, there were still the crown and the wand he wore when they found him, but Jimmy doubted Timmy would’ve been in such a poor state if his godparents had been there to support him. As silly as they – mostly Cosmo – could be, taking care of Timmy was always their top priority. Its what they were programmed for, after all. A part of Jimmy’s mind knew it was much more than that, but his logic settled that such thoughts would have to wait for now.

“We can speculate all we want but he will have to fill us in on what happened sooner or later anyway. I have a bad feeling about the ghosts being there and why.” Danny could already tell from what seemingly happened in Fairy World, it probably wasn’t going to be easy for Timmy to relive the whole thing, but they wouldn’t be much of help otherwise. “Alright, let’s get something to eat first. No need to interrogate him on an empty stomach.”

“Yeah, about that –“, Jimmy started, telling Danny about his offer to eat in Danny’s room and taking it easy with the storytelling. Perhaps the genius was smothering Timmy a little too much. Their friend was strong and independent. He wouldn’t want to be treated like a delicate flower or ‘some mushy shit’, as he would say. But for Jimmy, knowing Timmy was safe and looked after lessened the burden on his shoulders a little. He wasn’t a doctor and, by no means, wanted to become one, so if that made him paranoid or overcautious, then so be it.

“Guys, guys!” SpongeBob rushed in, just as the two were about to get everything to make breakfast. He held the pillow with a tired, blinking fairy on it, looking disoriented and confused. “Look, our little fella woke up!”

The little fairy boy rubbed his eyes, squinting at the people he recognized as Timmy’s friends. Which reminded him of something important. “Where’s Timmy?”

Chapter Text

“Poof poof!”

Hearing his brother’s voice had never been so relieving for Timmy ever since … well, all the stress he went through when Poof was just a newborn. Literally on his birthday.

Lying in bed and resting was killing him, but Goddard wouldn’t budge. The mechanical canine was lucky he was so cute and petting him calmed Timmy down for a little while. However, seeing all his friends and Poof coming through the door lifted a pressure from his chest he didn’t know he still had (he had a lot of pressure it seemed).

Seeing Poof reaching out with his tiny arms as he sat on Bob’s square head filled the average teen with so much relief and joy, he couldn’t hold back his smile. The euphoria gave him enough energy to sit up and mimic the motion. Poof wasted no time hopping into his embrace, of course.

His movements were sluggish and zombie-like, but he still managed to put a hand over the tiny figure that nestled its head in the crook of his neck. Now he felt what Wanda went through whenever they worried her sick during their adventures. He was no mother hen, but right now he wouldn’t mind putting the little guy in a carrier to make sure he was safe and sound. Or maybe that was just his big-brother instinct kicking in. Or panic. Maybe a little from everything.

“Are you okay?”, he asked, his raspy voice startling Poof. The fairy boy looked at him with wide eyes, as if he had seen a ghost. The memory was still fresh in the fairy’s mind, so of course he thought the spitting image of Tiberius was staring down at him for a moment. Pale skin, circles under his eyes, a strained voice … it reminded him of all the strain and horrors they endured yesterday. “Poof?”

Quickly shaking his head, the little brother pushed himself away, attempting to hover. His wing still hurt, but he managed to stay in the air, so at least his energy had restored to a certain degree. It had probably also something to do with the fact that Poof was still young and had plenty of it, compared to regular fairies. “I’m good!” He raised his arms, striking a flex pose to show he was alright. It made Timmy smile,even if it needed him more effort than anticipated to do it. “Poof poof?”

“Meh, managble.” Timmy shrugged, still flinching at the stinging pain. When would he finally learn? “Don’t know about Jorgen, though.”

Poof deflated a little. Even if they fought with the big guy a lot, he was still an ally. Timmy didn’t look good either. He was covered in bandages, band aids and there were still some uncovered spots of scratches left. Most noticeable were the ones around his head and torso. “Poof poof …”

“I’m going to be fine in no time, promise.” He pet his little brother’s head as the fairy sunk down on the mattress next to him to rest. He wished he could cheer Poof up in any way. He was probably still scared from everything that happened. And with his parents kidnapped, there was little Timmy could do to lift his mood or to reassure him. How could on cheer up a kid? Heck, rarely any human did it for him when he was one himself, so how would he know?
He looked at his friends, especially SpongeBob. He always knew how to cheer everyone up and lift their spirits, so maybe he could talk to Poof for a while. The older sponge was better suited as a guardian than him anyway. To his surprise, the others only observed the little interaction with mixed emotions. The primary one was confusion, if he had to guess. They always looked like that when they witnessed an interaction between him and Poof – which hadn’t been often, considering this was maybe the first time ever that Poof had been alone with any of them without his parents or him. And even then, rarely spoke.

The smell of pancakes hit his nose and reminded his stomach that it needed its fill. They each carried plates and trays. Well, eating in Danny’s room was probably better than dragging him downstairs, he guessed. He wouldn’t complain though. Even if the tray that Jimmy carried looked like a bowl of oat cereal or gruel even, next to a plate of salad.

“Golly, I’m so glad you’re doing better already, Timmy!” SpongeBob walked in with his squeaky shoes, a sound he never thought he would realize how much he missed it and the feeling of home it gave him. Such as the way Danny smirked and moved to sit on his dresser after, while Jimmy took the chair again. It felt like a nice gathering – finally, after all this time. That was all he wanted and could think of the last couple of weeks. If only it weren’t for yet another mission and chaos that was unleashed. He felt guilty for ruining yet another meetup … and everything else that happened in the last hours. However, the person who deserved his apology the most was his little brother.

“Thanks, me too.”, Timmy said on autopilot, because what else was someone supposed to say to that? Even if he emotionally didn’t feel any better at all. Contrarywise, now the realization started to hit him, slowly but surely. Timmy found he had no idea how to put everything into words. Reliving the memory was one thing, but telling the others about his failures and dumb choices was worse and harder than committing a crime. “And I’m … sorry. For ruining our plans.”

“Stop that.” Danny interrupted' him before Jimmy even fully opened his mouth. “Speaking from experience, it’s something that was beyond your control. We’re glad you’re somewhat in one piece and with us, that’s all that matters.” His stern gaze softened, seeing how Timmy shrunk under his lecture. It was a lesson he still had to learn for himself, but hearing that from one of his friends made him realize how dumb he sounded when he did it.

“Yeah. You’re right.” Timmy didn’t sound fully convinced but arguing with Danny was something that rarely happened and it never ended good for the other person. Not even Jimmy could assert his opinion if the halfa wasn’t having it. He may not be the oldest of the group, but Danny had a sort of big brother role which he excelled in. More than Timmy, that was for sure. They were miles apart in terms of maturity, sense of responsibility and many other things. “Still, I wish this could’ve gone differently.”

“Same. But hey, if I apologized every time a ghost or the press came between me and my dates with Sam, she would’ve killed me by now. Believe me, no one blames you.” Danny took a bite from his sandwich. He decided to keep talking with his mouth full. “Whatever happened there, we know you did your best.”

“And now that we’re here, we can take the challenge on together!” SpongeBob cheered, simply planting his square butt on the floor with his plate of pancakes. He cut a piece off with his fork and offered the part to Poof, who hesitated at first but then happily started to munch on it. “Nothing can defeat the Squad.”

Timmy wasn’t a mushy person. He hated to show his emotions so obviously and he was not a fan of clichés or friendship speeches on TV – he loved romance and drama series, but that was something else and he wouldn’t tell anyone about that – but hearing it from his closest friends did make his stomach feel warm and fuzzy. Although he couldn’t help but feel even more conflicted about that, tears threatening to spill from the corners of his eyes. Somehow, his head turned towards Jimmy. After the other two voiced their support, he kind of expected some snarky comment or wisdom coming from the teen genius as well. He must’ve looked like he craved it badly, but nothing came. Instead, Jimmy’s eyes drifted to the side, his lips pressed together. Goddard, who sat at the end of Timmy’s feet, tilted his head, looking just as expectantly at his creator.

“What they said.”, he mumbled, still holding the tray with their food like he was waiting in line in the cafeteria. Now that Jimmy was sitting down in front of him again, Timmy could finally see what he was holding. Luckily, just a normal bowl of plain, boring cereal with milk and a spoon. Nothing more. Was Jimmy only eating salad or was that for him too? In that case, wasn’t he going to eat anything? “Here. Don’t gobble it all down at once.”

The genius held the dish under his nose. In the meantime, Poof scooted closer to the pillow-edge and received another piece of pancake with a little jam on it. SpongeBob had a whole stack and Timmy kind of hoped they would also share with him – if his newly assigned doctor slash nurse allowed it, that was.

The average teen tried to not make it obvious, but he wasn’t sure if he could hold the bowl properly. With his shaking hands and his bad luck, he would most likely only ruin Danny’s bedsheets. But the imagination of being fed was embarrassing enough to try it anyway.
He slowly changed his sitting position to take the bowl from Jimmy’s offering hand. The porcelain shook menacingly in his grip, but it was over as soon as he tried to lift it over, because the genius decided to take the salad off and placed the whole tray on Timmy’s lab instead.

He felt like a dependent kid all over again, watched by his friends as if he were frail like a leaf.

He must’ve looked silly, holding the spoon within his fist to make sure it wouldn’t slip out between his fingers. The taste was bland and his throat was still indecisive if it considered the soggy liquid a bless or if his sore throat wanted to clamp up and cause another coughing fit. The first bites were the hardest, but it got better with each one. If he had enough strength, he would drink the whole thing in one go.

They just looked at him. Was he that pathetic? Should he say something? His hand was shaking so much, it was so annoying and irritating. He wished it would just stop. That his body was healed and he could jump around fine and well as always.

Now that he thought about it, in the past seven years, he had never been really sick or had more than a cold. Even if he was beat up frequently by Francis and other bullies throughout his life, those obstructions were just a temporary thing. He was no superhero, nor had he perks like invincibility, but broken bones and any other form of injury were gone in record time with fairy magic. The times he had almost been killed during his training and because of his wishes and adventures were too much to count.

Someone was always there to treat him, he thought. With a quick swift of their wands, Timmy was healthy again. He survived Vicky, Crocker and other enemies, he got literally blown up with bingo and was tortured in many ways, yet only temporary. After all this, his current state should be a walk in the park. But it wasn’t. Once more there was the evidence just how much of a liability he could be without magic or cheats or weapons. He was just the average kid.
But if he ever wanted to be anything but that, it was when he was hanging around with his friends. In reality, Timmy’s life was anything except normal, but within their group, it seemed like he was the boring one. Without Cosmo, Wanda, magic and his crazy careless hunger for action and lack of self-preservation, he was just what he was now. A pathetic, weak handicap. He couldn’t even help himself and if he wouldn’t get better soon, he would practically let his friends deal with his problems in his dimension without contributing anything on his end. How shitty was that?

“Poof poof?” His brother looked up to him in more than the literal way, with those bright purple eyes. The rational part of Timmy’s brain knew he didn’t blame him and that he was also worried for his condition, but knowing he was partially at fault for his brother to loose Cosmo and Wanda, he couldn’t bear to look him in the eyes.

“I shouldn’t have suggested to split up.” The cereal and milk tripled down his throat, burning like bile. At least he didn’t sound like a chain smoker anymore “If it weren’t for that … if we stayed together …” He had no idea what would’ve happened in that case. Would they have been able to defeat Anti-Cosmo and Vlad? Would they have been able reach the Big Wand or the fairy armory in time? Would they have been able to poof back to Dimmsdale, Amity Park or even Retroville before they were caught? Why was his brain working like that? Why could he always ask himself dozens of questions but still make the wrong decisions or only do so after it was too late?! “My best … I wasn’t good enough. I’m sorry, Poof.”

There it was again, the ringing in his ears. It was so much worse with his throbbing head and the ache. If it wouldn’t be so much more effort and exhausting to rub his temples, he would do so. Instead, he bit the inner sides of his cheeks and focused on his breathing. Panicking in front of everyone wouldn’t help with anything. It would only harm his dignity more and he didn’t want his friends to figure out just how much of a loser he could be.

“No, Timmy is great!” Poof’s tiny hand grabbed his shaking index and middle finger, that were holding the bowl with the rest in vain. The little gesture made Timmy huff, a mix of relief and bitterness. “Mommy and daddy believe in us both.”

If possible, his headache worsened as he recalled the last seconds before Cosmo and Wanda were taken away from them. Aside from their pained and scared expressions, they had also reassured them that it was okay. That they should be safe. That they loved them. Famous last words, if you asked Timmy. A fitting scene for a drama. A tragic origin story.

Telling the truth was harder than he expected. For someone that was used to lying most of the time, it was even more difficult. His whole life was based on poor excuses.

Having so much nervous energy and yet be too exhausted to bounce his knee or fidget with his fingers was slowly killing him inside. He felt trapped, glued down to the spotlight he didn’t want. Usually, he felt safe enough to share every worry with his friends. But now, he found himself lost. The two voices next to his head were gone, the ones that provided him with guidance and support, trapped by their enemy. There was nobody to take care of his mess or to help him with anything. For the first time in seven years, he felt … truly empty. Lonely. Miserable. Even if he was surrounded by people that loved him. The two beings that took care of him every day, that laughed with him, cheered him up, raised him … were gone. And he could only imagine what torture they had to go through right now.

“Turner?” Jimmy, who was still in front of him, was also giving him a sympathetic glance. His voice was so soft and gentle again, but the warmth couldn’t fully reach him. He was too wrapped up in his mind and self-wallowing “You don’t have to force yourself. It’s okay if you –“

“No, it’s not okay. Everyone keeps saying that but it’s not!” He wanted to grip the spoon as hard as he could or throw the cereal at the wall. But he physically couldn’t and even if he wanted to, he knew he wouldn’t do the latter in realty. He was mostly angry with himself, destroying his friend’s stuff was something not even his brain would succumb to. Now, his own stuff in his own room was something else. Throwing things against the wall or across the room was always relieving on stressful days. Especially his school bag after practice and another round of humiliation from the jocks. “I fu- I messed up so bad! I tried to do everything right, but as always, everything went wrong anyway!”

His headache got worse. He let the spoon fall on the tray to put a hand on his throbbing forehead. It was as if something wanted to burst out of his skull. This was already going badly and he hadn’t even begun with his story. He was so pathetic. Weak. A failure. “The Anti-Fairies escaped, Fairy World got invaded, Dimmsdale got destroyed, an evil copy of me is running around causing trouble, Cosmo and Wanda and all the other fairies got kidnapped … Vlad has all their magi- energy … all because of me!”

He had been so useless in that fight. He lost consciousness, he had to be dragged around, he couldn’t fight properly, he was exhausted, tired, he couldn’t even wish for anything useful. Why couldn’t he just pull himself together and get a grip? Usually, something like that never dragged him down for long. He had ruined so many things and fucked up so many times, yet he always brushed those things off. Why not now? What was different than usual? What had changed?

Everything. Simple as that.

“You don’t care about anything but your own problems, stop lying to yourself” Tiberius’ voice – his own – echoed in his mind, making him grip the roots of his front hair in frustration. What did an unhinged artificial copy even know about him and his life? If that was true, why was it physically causing him pain to know he was responsible for all of that?!

“Probably because you know you could lose everything, if you say or do the wrong thing.” Another voice of his own whispered in the back of his mind. “Admit it, you don’t care what everybody else thinks or what happens, as long as there are no consequences for you.” The voice kept taunting him and it made him stop breathing as he tried to actively ignore it. Yet, the thoughts kept coming. “All you can think about, is losing the only thing in your pathetic life that made you special. The magic. Getting everything you want. All the memories of amazing adventures. If the council blames you for that, you’ll lose it. Of course, you’re afraid of that.” No, that wasn’t true. He had been selfish as a kid, but only because he was treated careless in retrospect – it was a phase, he didn’t know the depth of his actions or how to express himself! He cared so much about Cosmo and Wanda – not just because they granted him wishes. And he cared about his friends and his family – even if the feeling wasn’t mutual or equal. If he wouldn’t care, he wouldn’t bother and panic so much about everything right now!

“Liar.” The voice laughed, echoing in his head like a broken record. No - No, it was true! If anyone was lying, it was the … this stupid hallucination or whatever that was in his mind!

“-immy? Timmy!” Someone shook his shoulders. Intense steel blue eyes shone like a bright light between the dark curtain of thoughts that clouded his vision and mind. When had he stopped holding his breath and started to hyperventilate instead? “Look at me.”

Jimmy carefully took the tray from his lap, one of his hands wandered up to his cheek. Rough, warm fingertips lifted his face up and tucked loose strands of hair back behind his ear. Timmy couldn’t remember the last time he panicked so hard. The most dismay he ever showed in front of his universal friends was a slight meltdown on volcano island, but who hadn’t been panicking at that point? Aside from that, he had mostly just been down on some occasions – back when he wasn’t sure if he could keep his memories and godparents.
Knowing he was on borrowed time took a toll on him and left the average teen with countless of sleepless nights, full of crying and panicking. He hid it well for a while, because he didn’t want to bother Cosmo and Wanda with it. What were they supposed to do against that? They couldn’t change the rules and telling him white lies to make him feel better wouldn’t make a difference. So yeah, starting high school had been the rollercoaster of emotions of his life. To foolishly think that all the stress and baggage would disappear just like that was a mistake. Now he had hope – which made the silver lining at the horizon even more threatening, since he could lose that final straw with just one fuckup.

His pulse made the headache even worse and he felt the anxiety suffocating him. As if the walls in the room were growing darker, imprisoning him.

“Focus on my breathing.” Jimmy directed Timmy’s attention back towards him, inhaling deeply through his nose, then holding it and counting to five, slowly exhaling through his mouth. Timmy thought this was ridiculous. He felt like an idiot. The whole situation was overwhelming and he couldn’t bring his point across or explain why he was so stressed out and stupid fucking breathing techniques wouldn’t just magically solve all of that in the blink of an eye – Like, couldn’t they see how everything was going downhill, how the world was ending and he was slowly dying inside just from all that and –
“Timmy, stop pressuring yourself. You don’t have to force it. It’s going to be okay.” Jimmy once more nudged him, his hand stroking his neck. “Trust me.”

Trust? Y-yeah, he did. If anyone was telling the truth and had always been right in the end, it was Jimmy Neutron. The one who could fix everything. And if the genius was convinced some breathing would make everything better then … he could try to do that. It was difficult to concentrate on it, actually. He had begun to become all lightheaded and his vision was a little blurred, but he managed to replicate what Jimmy did, even if his breath was all shaky. So was his body and his voice. Like a mountain of jelly during an earthquake. But the center was calm and unmoving, just as the genius projected. He was so collected compared to him.

Slowly, his vision cleared. The faint ringing in his head subsided and his heartbeat wasn’t pondering inside his skull like a wrecking ball anymore. He noticed how bright the room truly was – light coming in through the window. The room was bigger than he imagined moments before and so was the atmosphere. It was lighter. Relaxing. Birds were chirping outside, there was not just Jimmy and his eyes, but also Goddard and Foop on both sides of his peripheral vision. And Danny and SpongeBob in the background, right behind Jimmy. All of them looked so … worried.

As Timmy’s rational thinking reinstated, he felt his panic and anxiety being overwritten by utter humiliation. As if being physically weak wasn’t embarrassing enough, no, he also had a mental breakdown right in front of everybody over seemingly nothing. Seriously, he hadn’t said a thing yet. W-what was the big deal even? He didn’t even show that much panic and fear in front of Francis or Vicky – at least none of them caused him to start bawling or having a panic attack or whatever.

“Uhm …” They seemed relieved as he calmed down. It was only now that Timmy wasn’t as wrapped up in his own sensual overload that he felt the slight tremble in Jimmy’s hand, still a warm presence on his neck and jawline. The steel blue eyes held so much emotion behind them, which the genius was never able to fully express with the rest of his body language, let alone even voice it. But Timmy saw the worry, relief and kindness. “C-can we pretend that this … like, never happened?”

His friends exchanged glances, varying from understanding to something that could be described as ‘we know you feel uncomfortable, but this is a problem that needs to be addressed rather than ignored’ in a single look. However that was possible. Or Timmy’s imagination was still running wild, as always.

“Poof poof.” His brother’s small hand tucked at his torn and used shirt. He really needed a shower and some fresh clothes. And maybe also a nap, this outburst robbed all the little amount of energy that he still had left. Thus far all he had done was sitting in a stupid bed, feeling sorry for himself and being pathetic. Fan-fucking-tastik.

“I know, mom and dad won’t let that slide.” He whined, grimacing as his headache reminded him of its existence. He originally meant to say ‘your mom and dad’ but the slip up went over his head. “But I just want to get this over with.” He rubbed his sore eyes, having only so much capacity of patience and deep talking left. He really didn’t want to waste even more precious time by making this all about him instead of addressing the problem itself. And if he had to go through one of these talks, he would rather get them from his godparents. The fact that he would in the first place, implied the moment they were reunited again, of course. Which alone would solve so many of his current problems that there was most likely no need for a talk at all, which was even better. A win-win so to say.

“Maybe you should lay down for little longer.” SpongeBob suggested, twisting his tie between his hands. “You barely ate and you still … look pale.” At least he obviously tried to avert the current topic.

Danny was also unsure, rubbing the back of his head. “Yeah, Jorgen is also not up yet, maybe we could wait for that, and then you guys tell us the whole story together.”

“No!” Knowing how easily riled up the rule enforcer was and that he blamed Timmy for everything anyway, it would only make the situation worse. He had to do this now. It was all he could think of and hope for when he was fighting for his life and now, he couldn’t back down because he was afraid of what they would think of him.

“Turner …” No matter what Jimmy wanted to say, he didn’t finish and it looked like he also had no idea what to say. Goddard simply whined, the metal head nudging his creator’s hand.

Taking another deep breath, Timmy looked at the ceiling. He thought it was better to not look into their eyes as he retold everything, so he took SB’s advice and laid down on his back, which hurt like a bitch at first but compared to earlier, it was definitely more manageable. “Look, I … really can’t get into the details right now, so I’ll just … summarize what I can remember.” His numb yet shaking hands fiddled with the fabric of his worn shirt. He didn’t see it but he could hear his friends taking their previous spots again, listening to him. Maybe they thought the reason he couldn’t tell everything was because of some heavy trauma but it really was just the fact that he was too scared to accidentally spill all his lies or get too deep into his mishaps that would only lead to another round of self-blaming and pity party by his caring friends – which he appreciated. But right now, he just wanted this to be over, go to sleep and hopefully wake up in his room because this wall all just a bad dream. Yeah, that was reasonable.

“Okay, if you’re sure.” The genius sat down on his chair again, picking Goddard up to pet him, while Poof sat on one of Timmy’s legs, still looking nervous.

Timmy was tired of worrying others and being it himself.

“So, I was in Fairy World when it happened. It was Thursday, I was training with Jorgen and then he ordered me to take over his shift in guarding the Anti-Fairies in Abracatraz – on of their jails, build like a castle or dungeon.”

Danny raised an eyebrow at the mention of not one but multiple jails in a place called Fairy World, while Bob grimaced at his friend’s dismay, always the empath. Neither of them touched further their food that they brought with them. “Jorgen said I had to stay there for the whole day, starting midnight. I – he didn’t leave me much of a choice. I wanted to tell you guys but …” Technically, he had a choice. The ultimate one. But he couldn’t tell them that. Just as he couldn’t tell them about the reason why he had to follow Jorgen’s orders. “I thought I could get out of this somehow … But instead, nothing happened at first. Then we went to this surveillance room and split up, because I thought it was a good idea.”

He could smack himself for that stupid thought. When had splitting up ever been a good idea? He left Wanda and Poof all alone and Cosmo was literally used as a puppet. But knowing that even if he had been together with them, he wouldn’t have been able to do anything to prevent all of this in the first place, didn’t make it better.

“Someone was there and opened a door and Cosmo and I went to investigate while Wanda and Poof went back to the main hall to keep an eye out. He started to act all weird and vanished.” He retold everything as much as he could, evidently leaving out details, such as the ladder he walked right through. “My phone died at some point, I don’t know if it was because of my stupidity, and I forgot to charge it or if it was my bad luck. That lucky charm sure didn’t help.” He glanced towards the big wand and the crown that were neatly placed at the wall next to the door. Out of context, most of that probably didn’t make any sense to his friends. Especially when he got to the part where he mentioned the You-Do Dolls.

“W-wait, so that Anti-Cosmo had dolls that looked just like you and the real Cosmo? And everything he did to them forced you to do the same?!” SpongeBob was biting on his hands as if they were watching a horror movie. He knew, back from that one time when Plankton was controlling him from inside his head, how scary it was to move and do things against his own will.

“Yeah, I almost got shredded to bits and had my organs rearranged because of them, like, six and a half years ago. And that’s also why Jorgen lost his leg.” Timmy had his hands folded on his stomach, still facing the ceiling as if he was on the couch of a therapist. Remembering that wasn’t as disturbing as everything else around that, actually. He was used to being pushed around. What really unnerved him was what happened after that.

“But Voodoo isn’t real, it’s –“ Jimmy visibly held himself back. For one, to not interrupt and for the other part to not ridicule Timmy’s explanation. The lone mentioning of a previous event that left the average teen severely injured and almost killed was also not easing the tension that went through his body. Goddard licked his chin as if he wanted to distract him from these thoughts.

Danny on the other hand kept quiet. He had witnessed enough to know such things existed and ever since Timmy firstly mentioned Vlad, he was on edge and – as much patience and understanding as he had for his poor injured friend – wanted to get all the details as soon as possible.

“After I packed all this stuff in bags …” Timmy recalled the bits of his dream last night. If that had been a dream, that was. It could also most likely have happened just as Jimmy nursing him. The Royal Jewel. A shadow. Something that drained him of all his energy. A severe headache. “I don’t remember much after that. I woke up in Dark Lasers Death Ball, locked up behind a force field.”

“Poof poof! Bad Guy!” Poof chipped in, vividly remembering the uneasy meeting with Timmy’s copy. His brother sighed, knowing he couldn’t keep this to himself. If they ran into him at some point, they would find out either way and it was better they heard it from him.

“Right, apparently the Anti-Fairies managed to carve a portal to the Ghost Zone in a wall. Walker and his minions came out of it, Vlad showed up and there was also this evil malfunctioning copy of mine.” He hurriedly babbled in hopes they wouldn’t catch on. “Came with Dark Laser from my Unwish Island in the Bermuda Triangle, calls himself Tiberius, visited me in my prison, promised to kill me once we ever met again, wears a dark suit that gives him unlimited power.” He had to pause so he could catch his breath. “Then he left and we managed to escape because of my heat vision. Then we stole a shuttle and bombed a hole through the wall to escape and –“

“Wait, wait, wait – hold on. A copy from your what in the Bermuda Triangle that wants you dead?!” Jimmy couldn’t contain himself any longer, massaging his temples. He felt Danny’s hand on his shoulder, a stern gaze reminding him to not interrupt. Even if he also seemed quite shocked at the quantity of all the information, they couldn’t let this drag on even more. Jimmy cleared his throat. “Please continue.”

Timmy did just that, although his fingers kept wringing his shirt to suppress the anxiety that was still lingering beneath the surface. He wanted to make it seem like he wasn’t affected at all, but he was a pin drop away from losing his shit again. “Okay so … we flew though a cyclone of ghosts. They and some of Dark Laser’s robot army were chasing and kidnapping fairies all over, Walker technically claimed Abracatraz as his own new prison and guarded the Big Wand, but we went in through the ceiling and then got ambushed. Foop showed up, using the dolls to drag us all the way towards this portal … They had Cosmo and Wanda and … and then … Vlad happened.”

He bit his lip to stop it from quivering. The pained and sad expressions of his godparents and his failed attempt at saving them was still wearing down on him.

“Jorgen and he fought … I tried to get Cosmo and Wanda out of that sphere … I was attacked from all sides and some blasts hit me.” His fingers found a tear in his shirt’s fabric, distinctly tucking on the edges to make the hole bigger. The faint noise somehow calmed his nerves as he imagined a long red thread being pulled out from a huge tapestry, erasing the horrid image that was drawn on it. “We only managed to escape because Jorgen threw the dolls inside the portal. There was this white circuit all of a sudden. And when we got inside, it was just a huge tube, filled with garbage from Dimmsdale. And then we fell out on the other end.”

He didn’t tell how Vlad laughed at him. How helpless he felt. How painful everything was. How much his body hurt and begged him to rest. How he desperately tried to take Cosmo and Wanda with him, only to have them ripped from his and Poof’s grip. He simply couldn’t say that without humiliating himself even more, because he would definitely not be able to keep the tears from falling.

It was quiet for a moment. His friends looking at him, each other and then at no particular spots to dwell on their own thoughts.

“What was Vlad like?” Danny knew it was probably a bad timing and Timmy obviously had other things to worry about, but the last time he had seen the other halfa was when the Disasteroid happened. “Did he tell you how he got there? What is his plan?”

For the first time since he began his storytelling, Timmy met his eyes. “He teamed up with Anti-Cosmo and Dark Laser. I don’t know how, but they met, and he was on Unwish Island. Said something about how he could make more use of the magic instead of Crocker and that he didn’t care about my universe.” He blinked the image of the villain away that was somehow still mocking him. “He had chains on his limbs and looked like he shortly escaped from a prison himself, if you ask me. And he also … gave me message for you, in the ‘unlikely case that I should survive.’”

Danny stepped even closer, now standing right next to him. His tone was flat and his longtime friends couldn’t tell what was going on inside of him at the moment. “What did he say?”

Unsure if he should actually say that, Timmy just stared at his older friend who’s expression seemed so cold and distant. Well, he couldn’t back down now, could he?

“Uhm, he said … he and his perfect clone are expecting you soon.”

A cold shiver went down Timmy’s spine as Danny’s eyes began to glow green and the temperature of the room dropped by a few degrees in an instant.

“Yo, Danny, we’re here! How’s your friend doing?” Dani’s voice called from downstairs and multiple footsteps were heard.

Chapter Text

Danny didn’t stay long enough for his friends to react to his sudden outburst. They didn’t deserve to be his outlet of anger, so he instead turned around and quietly ran a hand down his face. He couldn’t let his ghost side take over now. He felt SpongeBob’s hand hesitantly tucking on the sleeve of his jacket.

“Danny, are you okay? What does that mean?” The ever so innocent sponge asked him, but Danny was unable to explain the whole mess. They knew the rough story about everything that happened, how the world found out his secret and all that, but he never went into detail about his history with Vlad. He told them briefly about his cloning experiments and how Dani came to be, but they didn’t know about the failed attempts. The clones that were horribly disformed. Or the killed animals that the mad billionaire turned into ghost abominations. His adopted little sister had once briefly told them that Vlad wanted to get rid of her, but they couldn’t know just how much he despised Vlad for his sick behavior or what she went through. First he tried to get him and his mom – and when he accepted that he couldn’t have them, he just wanted to make himself a family consisting of him, of all people.

“I need some fresh air.” He turned ghost, simply walking through the door. He was met with the presence of Tucker, Sam, Dani and Jazz down the hall, all of them looking at him with raised eyebrows. He just shook his head, signaling that he wasn’t up for an explanation now and kept walking through the other walls.

The halfa went straight forward until his feet hovered in the air, just outside of his home in the backyard. Of course, he didn’t blame Timmy for any of that. Although him mentioning he had some Island with at least one copy or clone of himself was just as gut twisting.

The idea that some were able to play god, creating lifeforms as they pleased only to throw them away or forget about them once they weren’t of use anymore just made him so … mad. Which was weird, since the person who had more reason than anyone to be furious about that would be Dani, not him. Still, as someone who had seen and endured so many things and enemies, it just made him feel … hollow. What meaning had life if it was just so easily created and snuffed out? For someone that was half dead … or mutated, as Jimmy called his DNA-condition, he should be relived something like that still managed to rile him up. It reminded him he still had his humanity. But then again … why was his first reaction to turn his back on his friends with their welcoming arms? Was it really just the clone topic that unnerved him?

If Vlad was back and had fairy magic to power him, that was already bad news. But how had he been able to get to Timmy’s dimension? What about this painted portal? How was any of that even possible? How could he stop the maniac before he spread his madness in Amity Park too, with Walker, a ghost and robot army, magic and an alliance with the Anti-Fairies by his side?

“Oh my god, it’s Danny Phantom!”, some citizen across the street screeched in awe, a few of the other pedestrians also turned towards him, all of them cheering and taking photos with their cell phones.

“Is he going to fight a ghost again?”

“Can I take a quick photo with you?!”

“Can you sign my T-Shirt?”

“AH, he’s so handsome! Look how cool he is!”

“I wish I also had superpowers.”

Suddenly, Danny regretted his decision to get fresh air. It was never quiet around his home. Or at his university. Or any place in Amity Park. Not even other cities and lands that he went to for vacation. It was so annoying. And even if he wanted to live a normal life and discard his ghost identity, everyone would still pester him. He was the ghost boy wherever he went. And honestly, that alone didn’t bother him. The Ghost Zone had been scary at first, but now he felt welcome and at home. Most ghosts still wanted to kill him, but he met many cool dudes as well and them being … well, dead or just natural born ghosts made them pretty chill. And while Skulker was still a pain in his ass most of the time, they sort of had this sole fighting for the sake of it thing going on, occasionally teaming up against greater foes.

Ghosts weren’t the only monsters. And he had left his fear of the unknown monsters under his bed behind him. The thing that probably scared him most to this day was he himself. About what could become of him if the ghost-half won. If he ever became so tired and sick of the human world that he turned into his dark version. If he ever stopped caring and feeling compassion towards his loved ones.

Danny ignored the nagging yells of the slowly forming crowd. He considered turning invisible, just so they would stop staring at him like he was the main attraction. His dead green glowing eyes locked on the horizon. It wasn’t even lunchtime yet and he could hear the festival music from up here. He really wished he could’ve gone to that thing. Even if he drew too much attention to him, he longed for a little uninterrupted fun. Oh well, maybe another time in Retroville. Retroland was a really neat amusement park where nobody knew him. Why had he even been so stupid to come up with a sleepover at his home? Maybe things would’ve went smother if they were in Jimmy’s universe.

“Seen any ghosts yet, Son?” Jack Fenton called up to him, standing right under the halfa. He shielded his eyes from the sunlight as he looked up with a lopsided grin.

Danny blinked as he was cut off from his train of thoughts that would’ve let him nowhere anyway. He casually hovered down next to his father. “No, not yet. Still nothing going on.” To know how awfully quiet it was since last night only unnerved him more. It meant that the ghosts were escaping to Dimmsdale instead of here.

The gathered crowd of fans took that as their sign to make a run for him, asking him for autographs and pestering them with questions, but his dad simply pressed a button on a remote that he carried in the back pocket of his jumpsuit. A fence around their yard, that Jack had dubbed the ‘Fenton DeFence’, rose beneath the grass. Barbed wire with green glowing electric energy covered the top and pointy metal sticks emblazoned the sides. The people immediately jumped back, some used to it, others shocked at the rude answer to their praise. A big sign in front of it popped up reading:

Fenton Works Property
– please do not disturb ongoing ghost investigation –
and mind our privacy rights!

The last bit had been neatly written down by Jazz. She liked to passive-aggressively remind Danny’s fans that he also had a private life and that they should mind their own damn business. She kind of managed his public performances like an agent or something. He was glad she cared so much. He was often too soft and couldn’t say no or felt bad if he disappointed a kid because he couldn’t take the thousandth selfie of that day with them. Tucker did his best as mayor too, keeping the press at bay. Sam, on the other hand, wasn’t so nice to the people that bothered them and even had some lawyers enact restraining orders on some hardcore fangirls. Better than using her fists, at least, so Danny didn’t mind that much.

Sad groans were heard behind the fence and the people slowly retreated, some more understanding than others. Most residents of Amity Park were used to that by now and Danny was glad some still treated him like a human being – well, not as shitty as before. It was no surprise everyone wanted to become a close friend for different reasons, but they were all equally selfish. The best example were his old high school bullies.

“Thanks, dad.” Danny turned back into his human form and smiled in appreciation. Jack roughly patted his shoulder.

“Well, it always comes in handy. Especially with salesmen.” His father led him back inside, closing the door behind them. His mom was currently sitting at the kitchen table, drinking from her coffee. They spent the whole night investigating and going on patrol and had been in the lab until now. “Now tell me, what’s your mind? How is your friend?”

“Oh by the way, Sam, Dani and Jazz just arrived a few minutes ago. Is everything alright? We can still get him to the hospital with the Specter Speeder.” Maddie added, simultaneously going over some of her notes and diagrams that showed the recent activity level inside the Ghost Zone.

Danny shrugged. It was kind of a dick move to just leave them behind. After Timmy just had a panic attack and his friends just arrived, he shouldn’t have made it look like he was mad at any of them. He needed to apologize. “He’s awake, but … needs more rest, I think. Don’t know about that big guy, but I’ll take a look now.”

“While you’re at it, tell Jimmy he can help me with the upgrade on our RV, if he’s still in the mood.” Jack took a seat, rubbing his left knee. The year of ghost hunting had made him a little slower, but he made up for it with more expertise and badass gadgets. Since ghost hunting was now a full-fledged family business and both his children shared his interests and knowledge, he was always happy whenever they offered to work with him and his wife. And he was even happier to know Danny had friends that were equally gifted and curious, just like Jimmy. Or wanted to blow stuff up with cool weapons, like Timmy. And SpongeBob was just adorable and a great cook, it didn’t need more to gain his trust.

Since both of their kids were rarely home, it was always a great time when the house was full of life. They never minded if Danny brought them all over. They just wished for the sake of their son that the circumstances truly could’ve been different this time. They knew he was dealing with something and they thought having more contact with his friends would help him to open up.

“Sure, will do” He waved them off, but was held back by his father again, as he ineptly cleared his throat. The sort of tone that meant they were still not finished and actually wanted to ask him something else.

“You know,” Maddie started, knowing what her husband wanted to convey but since she was the more sensitive parent, she took it upon her to voice their concerns. “I think what your friend needs to hear the most now, is that he doesn’t have to deal with his problems alone. And neither will you. We’ll help you in any way we can, Danny. And if something is on your mind, you can talk to us – or your friends, if that helps.”

“Thanks.” Danny awkwardly rubbed his arm. He was a legal adult of 21 years now and still felt like a 14 year old kid when she did that. It made him feel both uneasy and reassured at the same time. “I know I haven’t been … myself, lately. There’s just a lot on my mind with the upcoming graduation and stuff.”

He didn’t want to mention that ‘stuff’ referred to his slowly developing ghostification problem. And there was a burning question he really wanted to ask them specifically. One that he had asked himself even seven years prior, before they found out about his secret.

“Would you still love me, if I were a ghost?”

And they would answer: “Sure, of course we would! We love you no matter what and only fight evil ghosts, honey.”

“Even if I slowly develop a more ghost- and less human-identity? Even if I’m not sure myself if that means I’m – my humanity – is technically slowly dying? What if I turn into him?” he would retort and the conversation in his head would stop, because that was the point where he had no idea anymore what they would answer to that. Or anyone else of his close friends and family. Or Sam. He had considered moving into the ghost zine multiple times already, but normal humans couldn’t live there. Even if they hung out in his lair from time to time, Sam wouldn’t be able to move into another dimension. Plus, unlike him, she had plans after her graduation, which was a whole other topic in itself left to be uncovered and talked about. His love towards his family, friends and her was what left him attached to the human realm and even if he wanted to hold onto that with all his heart and being, sometimes it was just so … hard.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure it will be okay. After all, you’ll take over our family business, so there’s nothing to worry about.” Jack smacked the table, grinning and already picturing himself working alongside with his son and fighting ghosts. “You and your old man, working on government funded ghost-technology and kicking spectral butts! There’s no better job.”

Danny sighed inwardly. He had given up on his dream to become an astronaut, just like he had given up on studying astrology before that. And even if the thought of doing what he was good at as his job together with his family seemed intriguing … something inside him wanted to get some space. He felt like a traitor for even thinking a second, that it was too bothersome to have his family and friends with him would drag him down. He mostly didn’t even want to take them with him to the Ghost Zone. He wanted to keep his two lives separate, at least between the two dimensions. Because it was as if he only could be himself as a ghost when he was alone, no pressure or underlying fears of his family getting hurt or getting the wrong impression about him – or worrying too much and endangering themselves. Or that he could only be himself as a human if he was in the human realm, surrounded by them and far, faaar away from the noisy fans and reporters.

He stopped before the stairs and turned around again, putting on a smile to ease his mother’s concerns and pleasing his father. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

Everything should’ve been easier since he didn’t have to choose between one side anymore. It wasn’t. In fact, it tore him apart even more.

If Danny had to choose, he would probably take the ghost life.

And he hated himself for that.

✧ « ★ » ✧

Timmy cursed under his breath, since his fairy brother was still with them and he wanted to be a good role model, thank you very much. Still, he couldn’t help but think it was his fault Danny suddenly got angry. Was it because of Vlad and what he said? Or also because of everything else that he fucked up? He didn’t even mention the really shitty details! Would the halfa kick him out of his bed on top if he did?!

His headache was still flaring up and a few gulps of cereal and milk didn’t fix that. To make matters even worse, he felt so greasy and uncomfortable. He needed a shower. And use the bathroom in general. But he was too embarrassed to ask for help since that was even worse than being fed.

“I’m sure it’s not because of you, Timmy.” SpongeBob assured him. “He’s just sensitive about the Vlad-topic, I think.”

That sounded believable, but the average teen still couldn’t help but think he just made it worse somehow.

“Most certainly. He believed him to be lost in space or dead even. Him appearing in Dimmsdale of all places is the least of possibilities one could think of or even prepare for that.” Jimmy leaned over the bed, so Timmy had no other choice but to look at him. “There is little that you could’ve done to prevent that – unless you were able to predict the future.”

“Gee, thanks Nerdtron.” Timmy grumbled, attempting to hide his face behind his hands in mild frustration. However, Jimmy wouldn’t let him, gently pulling them away. Which was funny because to this day, he had never associated Jimmy with the word gentle of all things.

“I’m serious. From your point of view, I would’ve made the same decisions.”

“No, you wouldn’t! You wouldn’t suggest to split up if it was just you, Carl and Sheen. You wouldn’t go to the ‘lion’s den’ instead of the fairy armory or to the big wand to restore the magic. You –“

“- would’ve messed it up too. I never said that I could do a better job in your place.”

Once more it was a conversation between them, while Jimmy held his shaking hands. Hopefully, that wouldn’t become a habit. However, that Jimmy Neutron of all people just claimed he would’ve failed too paralyzed Timmy. “What?”

“If I was caught off guard, unprepared and without any backup or a way to communicate with someone, there is little I could do to prevent the disaster from happening.” Jimmy explained, his thumbs absently rubbing in circles over Timmy’s palms. “The next logical option I would choose were the one that caused the least damage. With limited power, weaponry and allies it would be a suicide mission to infiltrate an armory. And of course, the main power source would be heavily guarded, because that is the first thing one would try to fix.” Jimmy squeezed his hands, his expression calculated while his eyes seemed so … profound. “When we go on missions, I always try to be prepared for everything and plan every possible outcome beforehand. That’s because I usually have the time to do that and I’m also aware of each of our abilities, what we’re capable off and what pairing would make the most sense in case we need to go to multiple locations at the same time.” He let go of one hand to brush his bangs out of his face. The light touch tickled and caused goosebumps on Timmy’s neck. “You don’t tick like that. You didn’t expect something like this to happen and we weren’t there. If anything, I should’ve suspected something was wrong when you didn’t show up on time or never replied to my messages.” Jimmy grimaced and averted his gaze. When he looked to the side like that, Timmy wanted to cup his cheeks. He shouldn’t look so guilty when it wasn’t his fault. The genius was only human, he couldn’t know and fix everything, even if that was what Timmy liked to think. “So, considering that, could it have gone differently if we acted sooner? Maybe. But the result could also most likely have stayed the same. We can’t change that, but we can make up for it – and we will. Just give yourself and us some more time.”

Timmy’s hands felt cold when Jimmy let go of him as he straightened. He didn’t know what he should say to that. He was still blaming himself to some degree, but mostly he was confused and unsure how he should react now. He saw SpongeBob nodding and grinning at their genius friend with appreciation, while Poof just alternately looked between him and Jimmy with astonishment.

“Are we interrupting something here?” Sam’s head peeked through the doorway and suddenly both Jimmy’s and Timmy’s cheeks felt very hot, while SpongeBob greeted them with innocent joy. “Sorry, Danny’s a little on edge lately, he really didn’t mean to upset you guys.”

The goth girl, Tucker and Danny’s two sisters entered the room after another. It was getting very crowded in here and Timmy wished it was socially acceptable to hide under his blanket until they all left again. Danny’s girlfriend had a white bag full of medicine, taking a little of everything out and placing it on the desk, while the others surrounded the bed he was resting in.

“You mentioned Vlad, right? That explains why he was so spooked and just walked outta here.” Tucker leaned against the chest that was in front of the bed. He looked a little ridiculous with the business blazer and his beanie combined, but the baggy pants and sneakers didn’t really make him look like the youngest mayor in American history. Well, the job was mostly run by the town hall until he was finished with high school, but he did such a good job that he was elected again recently. “You know they have some history, man. Don’t work yourself up over it, he just needs a breather and then he’ll be as good as new.”

“I sure hope I also get a chance to kick Vlad’s ass and give him a piece of my history.” Danielle cracked her knuckles, but as soon as she spotted Poof, she smiled at the little fairy boy. She had a sidecut, a cropped green hoodie and black cargos with sneakers. Poof thought she was really cool. “Well, if that isn’t my tiny Wingman! What’s up, Poofers?” She held her hand in front of him for a high five, which he eagerly returned.

“If Vlad is back, we need to take more precautions. I’ll fill in mom and dad after I had a talk with our ghost-boy. But first,” Jazz didn’t look too happy, seeing the beat up state Timmy was in. Her big sibling instinct kicked in and she couldn’t help but also lean into his space. Again, hiding under the blanket sounded appealing right now. “from what I heard, you went through a lot. It must’ve been traumatizing to be faced with all of that. You sure look like you need some homemade soup, a bath and a weighed blanket.” Jasmine pet his head. It didn’t feel as nice and calming like when Jimmy did it, but she obviously meant well. Timmy never had a big sibling – except for Tommy, the big brother that he wished for many years ago (and also a whole new country named Tibecuador. Man, what a week that was). But with Danny and Jazz he kind of got the idea and it was both annoying and sweet to experience such a form of care. “Get some rest and make yourself at home. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask me.”

“Uhm … fresh clothes would be nice, I guess?” Timmy was kind of obligated to say something. He got the feeling she wouldn’t leave him alone otherwise. “Something that makes me look less like shi- crap.”

She snapped her fingers. “Alright, say no more and rest. We’ll leave you guys alone now.” She not-so-gently pushed Tucker and Sam out of the room, winking at Jimmy. Dani shrugged, waving Poof goodbye for now. At first, they wanted to go back downstairs to talk with Maddie and Jack, but sensing her brother sneaking into Jazz’s room, Dani redirected their group.

“Would you look at that, it’s almost lunchtime.” SpongeBob noted, as he looked at his watch. “I should offer to help with the cooking, now that we’re so many. I’m not a soup expert, but I’m sure I can do that. It’ll be the best and you’ll feel better in no time, Timmy!” The sponge put his hands on his hips as he puffed out his chest.

The average teen snickered at his antics. “Thanks, bob.”

Now it was just him, Poof, Jimmy and Goddard again.

Unsure what to do or what to say, the genius simply stood in the middle of the room, clenching and unclenching his fists as he stared at Timmy from the side. “How are you feeling?”, he asked eventually. For someone so smart that usually didn’t state the obvious, that question was a little unnecessary, considering Timmy was obviously far from feeling awesome.

“Meh, could still be worse.” Timmy shrugged, regretting the motion for the fourth time now and still feeling uneasy about everything that happened today. But he was glad for the encouraging words. The blame and guilt were still present in his mind, but it was dulled. Overshadowed by exhaustion and the warm feeling in his chest and hands. “Thanks, by the way. For … you know. Everything.”

“Hm? Oh. Oh! Yeah, don’t mention it.” Jimmy took off his glasses, cleaning them with the sleeve of his jacket. His usual calm hands that always knew what to do and worked with precision clumsily held the glasses, almost slipping out of his grasp. Combined with his chaotic hair, he looked like a mess, almost as much as Timmy. His dog tilted its head, analyzing the strange behavior. He knew his creator and best friend could be stressed and overwhelmed too, but the fastened heartbeat and body temperature were signs of a different kind of nervousness. One he hadn’t seen in a long time. “I just …” The genius was at a loss for words. He wished he could come up with an idea that would make him feel better. Something to cure him. He may not be a nurse or a doctor, but he was a scientist and a genius, for Einstein’s sake! He could deal with invasions; this was supposed to be a piece of cake!

But there was something else that still bothered him. He wondered why Turner never said anything earlier, because such deep-rooted signs of stress were not simply caused from this one, admittedly truly horrible, day. In fact, it all made sense now. A long-term occurrence of such overwhelming caliber would explain the self-isolation and secrecy that developed over the last months. Not to mention the job as a prison guard and that he had to follow Jorgen’s orders for some reason in the first place. … Okay, well, it made no sense. But it clearly hinted that something had been going on for a while and Timmy wouldn’t tell him the details, even if Jimmy asked now. Because the teen that no one understood always made excuses, which Jimmy could understand, but it still frustrated him because he couldn’t come up with a proper solution if he didn’t know the whole equation. “How is your headache?”

“Killing me.” Timmy rubbed his eyes. His head then turned towards the dresser with his now soggy cereal bowl on it. He was thirsty and hungry, but at the same time he could tell he wouldn’t be able to keep it down right now. “And I really need to use the bathroom, man.” As humiliating as it was to admit that out loud, he had to. Jimmy would probably understand and not judge, it was human after all.

“Uh, sure. Understandable.” Jimmy mentally slapped himself for stuttering so much against his will. He wasn’t a certified nurse and while he knew the basics, he didn’t know – okay, yes, he did know what to do. But carrying Timmy to the bathroom and helping him shower felt so intimidate and he knew he wouldn’t like to be that dependent on someone else as well. He rarely liked to be touched or make other kinds of human contact with strangers, but the thought of having friends do that was even worse. He once more wondered if it wouldn’t have been a better idea to fly Timmy to the hospital. He examined the contents that Sam left, mostly pain killers, antibiotics and a lot of headache pills. “But you still need to hydrate and take a couple of these. And I … wait a moment.”

Right, Jimmy neither a doctor or a nurse. He was a scientist. And thus, he should start to think like one. He didn’t need to know how to take care of someone that was sick if he could think of a way to speed up the healing process. He just needed to think … think …

“Brain Blast!” He exclaimed, surprising everyone and himself by how joyful he sounded. He was met with blank stares and his youthful smile was soon replaced by mild embarrassment. That was until Timmy snickered, which turned into a small laugh that would’ve been louder and more thorough if he didn’t have to hold his forehead, fearing something would burst out of it with every heave. “W-what?”

“N-nothing. It’s just that … I hope this never changes.” Timmy wiped his eyes, suddenly feeling as if all of his problems got taken care of. Seeing Jimmy inspired and hopeful with that enthusiasm and confidence surely was better than seeing him frown and so tense the whole time. Ever since he woke up here, Jimmy had been nothing but considerate and yet also somewhat uptight. Which was understandable, but Timmy was worrying enough for the both of them already. He even preferred the gloating and ego of the genius. “You’re so cute when you do that.”

For all his euphoria because of the eureka moment that he felt a second before, Jimmy was now a blushing mess and all previous thoughts left his head. Timmy was sick and not in the right state of mind, so it wasn’t surprising he said things that he normally wouldn’t or that came out wrong. It was understandable. Really, that shouldn’t bring him out of his concept as much as it did now. Yet, he felt his heart beating so fast and loud, he glanced at Goddard to see if he was catching on to that phenomenon as well. Yet, his friend only panted with his tongue out, clearly excited. Poof was focused on Timmy, surprised but still happy that his brother finally laughed again. Now that he thought about it, Jimmy hadn't realized how much he missed that sound from the average teen until now. It was even more motivation to get him back to his old self.

“Alright.” Jimmy cleared his throat, his voice a few pitches higher than usual. “So, here’s the plan.”

Chapter Text

It was easy to play it cool on the outside, considering his pain and exhaustion that weakened his body and made it too much effort to become a blushing mess (jokes on him, his body betrayed him regardless). On the inside, however, Timmy was freaking out, close to another panic attack. He couldn’t possibly take these words back now – and he didn’t want to. Maybe his state provided him with a lack of filter or something because that was the only thing that would explain why he was so emotional. But further thinking about it would only make it worse. There were things attached to it that he didn’t want to pry further on, just as his fluttering chest and his choice of words. He had other things to worry about, he couldn’t afford to be distracted.

“Goddard has an assistant mode, he can help you move around if necessary.” Jimmy gestured to his best friend, who’s back extracted a set of arms to finger-gun at him, which reminded Timmy of these mechanical tentacles that Jimmy had in his old backpack. “But you won’t have to, if you can wait a little longer and everything goes according to my plan.” Jimmy grabbed the medicine and quickly left the room, leaving Timmy with Goddard and Poof and no further explanation. Just like that.

“He’s lucky I have a strong bladder.” Timmy grumbled, coming to the conclusion that he would just have to suffer in silence for now. So much for the genius elaborating on his brain blast. He probably wouldn’t have understood the science blabbering anyway, but was Jimmy so busy with his brain already or did he just think it wasn’t worth it to even try and explain it to him? Somehow, after he embarrassed himself with his poor choice of words, that was rather anticlimactic. What did he expect? A witty and nice compliment in return? Neutron had probably just used up all his gentleness for this year on him.

He should be glad Jimmy just ignored that. But at the same time, he wished the genius didn’t. Why was he so salty now?

“Poof poof?” His brother hovered above his head to sit at the end of the pillow, looking down at him.

“Of course we get along! It’s not like we fight all the time when we meet.” Timmy could still feel his hot cheeks and he really wished he were able to ignore the headache and just get some sleep. He wouldn’t have to answer Poof’s questions then. Such as: ‘You two get along pretty well. Don’t you guys always fight and bicker over everything?’ “It’s just part of our friendship, is all. We’re both jerks, but … this is serious. And he’s done nothing but help me the whole time.”

Yeah, maybe he shouldn’t be mad because of something so illogical, as the genius would say. He really just wanted to help, and it was a good thing Jimmy was so understanding about his situation. Timmy was just … thinking and interpreting too much into it.

“Poof poof.” The little fairy tilted its head, arms crossed. ‘So you were also serious about him being cute?’

“W-wha? No – yes – maybe?! I’m just honest … I mean, thankful. We’re not kids anymore, we can totally give compliments to each other.” Timmy guessed Poof took more after his mother, with that insight and prying attitude. But that sassy grin was definitely his father’s. “Look, who cares. It’s not important right now.”

“Poof Poof!” His brother now hovered over to Goddard, who happily wagged his tail as the fairy sat on his square back to pet him. ‘I think friends are always important and he cares about you a lot. I like him – and his cool dog.’

Timmy turned to the side, watching the two play with each other as quietly as possible. It made him smile a little. It was nice to know people cared about him. Maybe, if he wouldn’t feel like shit all over, he could enjoy and appreciate it more. The handholding and light touches sure were nice for someone that was mostly touch starved for affection – which he didn’t need of course! It was just a nice contrast to all the bruises, punches and the training he endured both in school and from Jorgen. He couldn’t remember the last time his parents hugged him and his mother stopped kissing his head after he claimed he was too old for that when he entered middle school. They still managed to embarrass him in other ways in front of the other kids, though.

But why care now, he was too old for any of that. He had his godparents that showed him love, affection and hugged him. Of course, he didn’t need all that. He was tough.

“Poof poof.” His brother looked him directly in the eyes, smiling as sweet and innocent as ever. ‘I’m glad he’s so caring and makes you laugh. Jimmy is way nicer than Trixie was.’

“W-why are you bringing her up now?” The average teen swallowed, as much as his dry throat let him. His brother simply shrugged. Of course his guy friends made him laugh! Why wouldn’t they? They got along really well, they fought bad guys and they hung out with each other as much as possible. That was what friends did, after all. There was no need for a deeper meaning or connection to that. Timmy Turner the brat and hopeless romantic was gone, he had matured and was above this mushy stuff now. It was all just entertainment in the form of K-Drama and other series for him. So he could make fun of it. Right. He never cried his eyes out during these emotional scenes, and he wouldn’t even dream of such cliché dates with a sunset on a beach and a picknick and all this.

Been there, done that. Even if it was with the girl of his dreams and now the fuel of his long repressed nightmares. He hadn’t heard of Trixie Tang ever since he graduated middle school. And even if he went all out with his ideas, the dates and everything … in the end, they were only dating for a couple of weeks in their last year.

He knew that back then, in elementary school, she was only a shallow, famous and arrogant girl, but a part of him always believed in the good side of her. The one that he got to know when he was Tamantha for a day. He thought if they got older and more mature, she would start to realize that popularity, money and looks weren’t all there was. And since she had somewhat liked him after the whole ‘defeating the darkness with magic wands’, he thought that maybe a small part of these feelings had survived the memory wipe.

It was just a childish, innocent, not serious love interest. But even with his still developing and easily influenced mind he … really liked her. She was his very first crush as a kid and well, first loves always stuck the most with someone. It was only natural he still pined after her when they went from elementary school to middle school. But even then he was mostly ignored, not good enough or just laughed at.

Until the day she asked him herself if he wanted to spend lunch with her and go to the mall after school. Timmy first thought he was dreaming or that she meant someone else, but she actually remembered his name. He was the happiest guy in the world, not even questioning anything and just agreeing.

Blinded by his feelings, he didn’t even see the signs. If he had, it would’ve saved him a lot of heartbreak.

She treated him like a butler during their ‘dating’, which meant he always carried her books, bought her things and food he couldn’t afford and also had to give her compliments all the time. And since she was also campaigning for school council president at the time, he also helped her with that. So he wished for new and fancy clothes, banners, buttons, advertising and all the great stuff. Not to mention the tons of flowers, chocolates and jewelry. He ignored Wanda’s and even Cosmo’s advice that true love shouldn’t depend on such things and that she didn’t care who exactly did that, as long as she got what she wanted.

She never asked him about how he felt, what they wanted to do or if he was okay with being the laughingstock of her friends, especially Ted and Chad. But he had been used to be treated like a punching back, wasn’t he? As long as she held his hand and gave him kisses on the cheek, he was all over the moon. It was the kind of attention and affection he always wanted and questioning it felt like it would make this dream bubble pop. And it wasn’t all that bad! There were good times and dates – even if her happy moments never included her showing any gratitude or affection towards him. For her, it was probably just as much of a fake teenage love as it had been with Ricky and Vicky.

The day they broke up was after she won the election. She didn’t even bat an eye or showed any sign of remorse. Not only that, but she revealed her only reason to date him was to get more votes for her campaign from other losers like him.

In denial, Timmy didn’t want to believe that what she claimed was true. That she was just peer pressured by her popular friends to prank him, but that she still had a good heart beneath. He knew the times he took her to the comic bookstore or to the arcades were fun to her and that she was genuinely smiling. For a moment, it looked like she actually had a tiny spark of sympathy for him and his personality. But surrounded by her so called friends and half of the school, she claimed she only took pity on him since he was desperate since elementary school and she only loved the neat stuff he gave her, despite being low class and ugly. She just wanted to boost her image. Ted and Chad laughed at him and so was most of the school.

To give her credit, since then she mostly ignored Timmy and never participated in the pranks that the two rich boys pulled on him. She either pitied him as well or she just didn’t care. She never did in the first place.
Even Chester and A. J. avoided him for a while in school since they didn’t want to be bullied and ridiculed as well and Timmy was the center of attention. Especially Ted’s and Chad’s. These assholes even plastered his locker with that stupid popularity chart, making a whole category at the bottom just for him.

He spent so many sleepless nights in his bed, crying and mad that he was so easily fooled.

Sad, humiliated and angry, Timmy did the most logical thing. He wished everyone would forget him and Trixie ever happened, including himself. Wanda unfortunately had to remind him that love-matters were Cupid’s field of expertise and since that one Valentines incident Timmy wasn’t allowed to make such wishes anymore. And this led to a whole new adventure with him invading Cupid’s base and trying to steal something that would help either heal his heartbreak or make him immune to ever fall in love again.

“I know you feel like your heart has been ripped out and torn into pieces right now, but it’s part of being human!” the fairy man in the diaper who busted him with a cup of coffee in hand had said, calmly. Naturally, he had noticed Timmy’s despair. First his love meter had been through the roof and now the fresh teen’s readings were below zero, which shouldn’t be possible according to him. “Teenagerhood is full of ups and downs. You’re still young and growing, there’s plenty of other opportunities to give your heart to someone else that deserves it more!”

“And then what? Have my feelings betrayed again?” Timmy asked bitterly, his eyes bloodshot and with dark circles beneath. “How many times do I have to be the treated like a worthless loser until someone finally doesn’t think I’m unlovable and actually likes me back?”

“Child, giving up on love because it didn’t work out with your first crush is a rather rush decision, isn’t it? I know love can hurt and right now, you might think you’ll never be able to open up to someone that way again. But trust me,” Cupid hovered next to him, putting a hand on his back to lead the thirteen-year-old away from the tray of sharp magic weapons. “One day, you’ll find someone who’s worth it. After all, I still have an arrow with your name on it.”

Cupid showed him said arrow. Timmy wasn’t very fond of the whole love and valentine thing anymore, so he just wrinkled his nose in disgust at the sight of it. “How do you know? All you do is make people fall in love each year. You don’t care what happens after Valentines Day. You just shoot people and they smooch a few hours, but the magic is gone after that. I don’t want to be forced to do that anymore.”

“I beg your pardon?!” Cupid puffed out his chest, flabbergasted. “Valentines Day may be the most central holiday for me, but love is important every day of the year! I don’t randomly shoot people to make them fall in love, it all serves a purpose. And if it turns out it’s not meant to be or if they don’t work out for each other, they are free to give their heart to someone else.” He showed him a big screen with pink blinking dots on a digital globe. “Love is the most powerful and natural magic there is! And I’ll have you know, if my perimeter had ever considered this Trixie Tang a true love interest of yours, I would’ve had an arrow meant for her ages ago.”

If Timmy wasn’t feeling like crap already, he sure did now. “You mean, she never loved me and there was never a chance?”

“Oh, poor Timmy. My arrows make themselves, I just help to guide them in the right direction. Yours just … doesn’t have a target yet.” Cupid couldn’t explain himself why his arrow didn’t have any specific pairing on the list. He didn’t want to make the kid even more miserable, even if he had no idea why there were no suggested love interests, aside from Tootie – which was mostly because she had a crush on him, but not the other way around. Cases like these with unrequited feelings made his job so much harder and that was the reason why he hated soaps with love triangles. “Which is why I gave it to you the last time. To see what you would do and you clearly understood the message.”

“Yeah and that caused me nightmares for a week.” Timmy shivered, remembering the smooches from Tootie. “I’d rather stay single the rest of my life.”

“Now, now. You’re still just a kid. A lot can happen in a few years. With a little time and some hot chocolate, you’ll be as good as new. There are other things to focus on than the love of your life. Really, I thought boys your age didn’t care about such things yet.” Cupid guided the kid out of his base, wondering why his godparents weren’t here to pick him up.

“Not if the person you liked since elementary school dates you for a stupid campaign, takes advantage of you and breaks up soon after, calling you poor, ugly and a loser in front of the whole school and they keep reminding you of it every day.” Timmy could handle the physical bullying, but rubbing salt into his fresh wound was really depressing. “I just wanted them to forget that ever happened. And me too.”

“They did what?!” Cupid let his cup fall to the ground. “That is an insult to love and its purity! I won’t let my favorite love ninja be made fun of by a bunch of pubescent immature hooligans.”

“So you’ll help me?” Timmy asked, hopeful for the first time this week.

“Of course, they shall know love and hatred have one motive in common – revenge.” Cupid had never failed at his job and if he wasn’t able to choose the right person for one special kid, he wasn’t above helping said kid to get his dignity and faith back. “I can’t cure heartbreak, but I have other ways. Now, shoo, get back to your godparents.”

“Really? Thanks!” As long as the pranks and laughing would finally stop, he was fine with anything. “Err, about the arrow … you can put that away for now. I think I’ve had my fill of complicated relationships and emotions for the next few years.”

“If you say so. You can always change your mind, whenever you’re ready, human. After all, love often finds you when you least expect it.” Cupid wiggled his eyebrows, to which Timmy could only roll his eyes. He was done with romantic stuff and he wouldn’t change his mind about that. Sure, he was only thirteen, but surely his mindset wouldn’t change about that, right?

Timmy buried his head in the pillow, aggravated by the sudden memories. He had completely repressed that last year of middle school. It was mostly overshadowed by his almost four years of actual hell in high school, but he was glad he got over that. After cupid made a bunch of skunks and porcupines fall in love with Tad, Chad and the other popular kids, his breakup with Trixie was quickly forgotten. The school even hired animal catchers to get them out, but they kept sneaking into class, stinging and spraying the bullies until they had to change schools, which was why most of the rich kids now attended a private school in Brighturg.

It didn’t make the humiliation forgotten, but it was a good payback and Timmy was glad they left him alone for the rest of the year. Until he graduated, everything was almost perfect. He went on a couple of missions and eventually regained his interests for love dramas. Although he just briefly mentioned his breakup to Danny, Jimmy and SB, but only because they asked how it was going – because he had been so stupid to brag about his relationship as soon as he and Trixie had their first date. He tried to play it off cool, but they could tell it was clearly bothering him. Though Timmy figured Jimmy was probably just concerned he would try to make a move on Cindy again. Which he didn’t. He was over the whole dating thing and instead focused on extreme adventures and smacking enemies with his hammer. A little careless and deranged, but a good coping mechanism. Just him, the boys, his godparents and his desire to blow something up. Good old times.

Of course, there were a few Valentines Days and some parties where a girl had said something nice to him, but Timmy was either not interested or he thought they just wanted to make fun of him again. Sometimes he wondered if he would have less trouble, if he just switched over to guys instead, but most were just as gross and repelling as he was. Objectively, the most handsome guy he knew and would consider attractive was Chip Skylark, but he was an idol and everyone loved him, so that didn’t count. And he was a target of bullies on the regular as it was now, so associating with other queer students would just make it worse. Which was why he just ignored the whole relationship topic, it was too complicated for him anyway.

“Poof poof?” His brother had returned to his bed, lightly tapping his arm. Timmy was still busy moping, so he just grumbled something into the fabric that no one understood. All of that just because he made a simple compliment. Why couldn’t he just have his peace for one minute? Was that too much to ask? Didn’t he have enough going on in his mind already? Did he really have to be reminded of that specific time?

✧ « ★ » ✧

Jimmy almost ran into Tucker on his way down, who was busy taking a phone call. The door to Jazz’s room was open, revealing the large and still unconscious figure of Jorgen in her comparable tiny bed, while the Fenton siblings and Sam were talking inside. For a moment, Jimmy considered joining. He also wanted to give Danny a piece of his mind, how unsensitive – which meant a lot, coming from him – it was to just leave in such a cold way when Timmy was clearly distraught himself by everything that happened. He knew the halfa had his reasons and he would like to know them as well, but he had more urgent matters to take care of right now.

Downstairs, he spotted Danny’s parents and SpongeBob in the kitchen, laughing and listening to one of the fry cooks songs as he was working on the stove.

“Excuse me, Mr. Fenton?” He just barged in, too focused on the plan that was still forming in his mind. If he got too distracted, he might lose his train of thought, so he had no time to waste. Nevertheless, Judy Neutron did not raise a mannerless child. “May I use your lab for an experiment and borrow a few instruments?”

“Why, certainly my young innovative man. Do you need any assistance?” Jack seemed excited and was already jumping on his feet. It was not everyday someone asked him that. “Any ghost hunting weapon or technology in my arsenal is available.”

“Actually, I was wondering if you had an invention akin to the Fenton Ghost Peeler, something to separate a substance into molecules without atomizing them.” Jimmy faintly remembered the list of all inventions that were down in the lab. It was challenging to differentiate when most of them carried the terms Fenton and Ghost in their names. “I intend to work on a medicine based on the contents of these. If I add a few vitamins and other minerals, plus a stimulus to encourage the cells, it would efficiently relieve Turner’s pain and symptoms and hopefully improve the healing process without straining his body.”

“Oh, looks like someone knows a lot about biology and genetics.” Maddie smiled. “It’s so sweet of you to do that for your friend.”

Jimmy blushed at that, especially when SpongeBob also included: “Yeah, he has taken care of Timmy nonstop since yesterday without leaving his side!”

“Well, that seems to be more your kind of expertise, honey.” Mr. Fenton seemed a little deflated now, considering he was more of an inventor and mechanic, rather than a chemist.

“In that case, I think we’ll have just the right materials.” Maddie stood up, leading Jimmy down to the lab, shortly waving at her husband and SpongeBob.

Using someone else’s lab was always exciting and unusual. He knew every inch in his own lab, what each invention did, what quirks they had that needed improvement or where he kept his tools. Sure, his own gadgets were a little more advanced and trustworthy for his tastes, but Fenton Works was like a trip to a science fair. The whole house was filled with gadgets, secret doors and other things. His parents didn’t like it when he made major modifications in their home, which was why he mostly kept to his room or the lab itself. A part of him envied Danny for the ability to have all this freedom, but as his mother said, once he moved out or inherited their house, he could do whatever he wanted with his own place. And honestly, building a house was the least of problems. It was mostly the taxes, bills and all the paperwork that were too bothersome to deal with. And he didn’t want to leave his family home just yet. Maybe he was a little attached … couldn’t be that bad then, right? Regardless, he should spent his time rather working than complaining, there were more urgent matters.

“Alright, let’s see … the beta version of our Ecto-Dejecto serum could help with your plan.” She held a formula and a spray in both of her hands after a moment of digging through drawers. “It was originally designed to weaken a ghost’s power by destabilizing their molecular structure, which would make it difficult for them to maintain a solid form in our world. But the first version had the opposite effect and strengthened their powers instead. It also helped Dani with her unstable condition, as Danny told me.” She handed the contents to Jimmy, wandering of to a cabinet full of vials, bottles and other chemicals and liquids. “Based on that and our equipment, it should be possible to make a human compatible medicine. Of course, not to the same degree, ghost genes and DNA are way more flexible and their healing abilities are incredibly fast and powerful. But it’ll suffice its purpose.”

At first, the teen genius was too stunned to retort. It was not often that he had someone to talk on the same level as him, especially not an adult. Or a mother. Sure, his own mom was also very smart, but since he had recently started his majors in Genetics and Chemical Engineering, he could finally put his knowledge to use. Considering he hadn’t been that interested in them before, it sure came in handy now. And he was always interested in learning new things about this world’s ghost technology.

He scanned the formula, still amazed by all the new information he was getting. “I know from our battles that Danny has many powers and abilities, but I never compared them to other ghosts or humans.” He put them on the worktable and went over to his bag that still leaned next to the RV.

“Well, feel free to have a look at our research when your friend is feeling better.” Maddie handed him a box full of tools and chemicals that she collected. “Of course, Danny can hardly be compared to regular ghosts or other kinds and sub-species. Halfas are an unnatural, artificial occurrence, so it’s difficult to determine his range of ability. But it seems to be limitless, considering how much he improved in all these years. Even his ghost half can evolve and grow along with his human form.” With her goggles it was difficult to determine, but she sounded so proud as if she was holding back tears.

“I imagine it was hard to implement modifications on his ghost uniform if its … sort of a part of his body.” Jimmy wasted no time preparing his new workplace, but the conversation was still intriguing enough to keep his attention on it. “And I would like to see the research. I have been curious about the whole … ‘ghost’ topic in this dimension.”

Maddie crossed her arms, leaning at the table next to him. She had that knowing smile on her lips that told her she knew he was both stunned but a sceptic due to his science belief. She experienced that a lot when her and Jack studied ghosts in college. “When we speak of ghosts, most people just think about the classical spirits from movies and tales. Although they are a little exaggerated, it’s not far from the truth. In our dimension, these two worlds are connected; ghosts are real, but more in the same sense as Aliens are. Creatures from a parallel dimension, that are either born in the Ghost Zone, created through experiments, or manifested through willpower from deceased spirits in our world.”

So far Jimmy had only theorized ghosts were simply mutated lifeforms with the shared abilities to turn intangible, invisible, and so on. The prospect of a parallel dimension and different species was something Danny might have hinted at one point, but he probably dismissed it, still not believing the ghost theory and trying to come up with his own solutions. But if they were considered the same as aliens … he had seen weirder, such as the Yolkians and their chicken god. He guessed in that case ghosts really weren’t that farfetched. However, since his mind was already full with a task that demanded his full attention and priority, he filed the information and the research for later.

He could renew his world view and beliefs another time. With the spare pair of goggles and a few items of his bag-inventory, he began his work. But, just to humor himself, he wouldn’t outright admit his change of heart. Thinking about it now, how annoyed Danny could be whenever he doubted the existence of ghosts, he didn’t mind playing his role of the critic a little longer. Jimmy Neutron was not a petty person, but one who also liked to have some fun every once in a while.

Chapter Text

“Here, drink this and you’ll feel better, Turner.”

Now, this would sound a lot more convincing if Jimmy hadn’t just barged into the room, with wild hair and a crazy stare on his face as if he just spent the last three days in a row on hyperfocus. In reality, it had been only like two hours or something. Maybe less. That didn't easy his suspicion, though. Quite contrary.

Timmy had just begun to doze off a little and now he was squinting at toxic looking, pink glowing liquid in a test tube. But oh well, he was desperate and would do anything to make the agonizing ache go away at this point. “Ugh … okay.”

He slowly pushed himself upward again. Goddard was already about to use his arms to help the teen get into a proper position, but Jimmy was too impatient and instead sat down on the bedside next to him, holding the vial with one hand, while he put the other arm around Timmy to hold him steady. He didn’t need to do that exactly, but Timmy wouldn’t complain about the contact. Or should he?

“It’s a serum that will stimulate your genes and speed up the healing process. It’ll also numb the pain to a great deal.” He held the test tube under Timmy’s nose, who took it with trembling fingers. Okay, maybe he should hurry before Jimmy’s hard work ended up spilled on the bedsheets. “However, I can’t guarantee that you’ll immediately feel better or that you can jump around again. You should still take it slow, Turner.”

Nodding, Timmy wasted no more time and gulped the liquid down in one go. It tasted as weird as it looked, sour and slimy. He coughed, not expecting the texture to be so unusual. In fact, some of it might’ve gotten into his lungs because he couldn’t stop. To make it even worse, he started to feel strange. His head didn’t throb, but his vision got all blurry and his body felt like it was burning up from the inside. His sore legs tingled and if he hadn’t been shaking like a leaf already, he sure was now. “J-jimmy I think –“

He couldn’t finish his sentence, as his stomach started to feel odd as well. Timmy probably had to keep the stuff down for it to work, but he suspected he was about to hurl. Overwhelmed by the strange things that happened to his body, he nearly threw himself out of the bed, only to be grabbed by Goddard’s hands to avoid a hurtful fall on his face.

“Are you okay? What are your symptoms?!” For all his determination earlier, Jimmy was now equally panicked. With his given age and knowledge, his inventions were not as likely to backfire before. He spent more time working on something, canceling out all alternative turns they could take, to avoid any more dysfunctional gadgets. But working with chemicals was something that still held so much room for error. Just a minor miscalculation on the dosing could lead to a drastic failure. For example, he accidently turned his grandmother into a baby once, although that happened years ago when he was still in elementary school. “Talk to me!”

“Poof poof?” Poof also hovered over to Timmy, who was clutching his stomach, still coughing like crazy. The whole room was spinning and everything hurt. Not the sore kind of pain, but more of a ‘boiling his insides’ kind of pain. Was that stuff pure acid or something?

“Can’t breathe … everything burns … Think I’m gonna –“ Timmy’s eyes suddenly rolled back and his body became slack from one moment to the next. Jimmy started to panic, tapping his cheek to wake him up but the average teen was completely out, a light trail of the pink ooze dripping from the corner of his mouth.

“Turner? Turner!” He had been so sure the dose was right. Fine, he was running on low caffeine and maybe he should’ve gotten some sleep and eaten something, but he had worked under worse conditions with spectacular results. He had especially paid close attention to everything because he wanted this to be just right.

Timmy was suffering and he had been through so much on his own that Jimmy wanted to make it up to the unfortunate boy. And now, he could’ve probably killed him … No, that couldn’t be. Data never lied and the results showed that it would work! He was sure it would work. “Timmy, dammit! Wake up.” Numbers never lied and they were never unreliable. If he believed in any higher meaning, it was logic and data. The one thing that would never betray him. And yet he felt doubt and fear crawling up his skin as he watched the unconscious form of his friend. “Goddard, do another scan!”

Goddard barked, his eyes glowing blue as he scanned the bucktooth boy. It was right at this moment that Danny and SpongeBob entered the room, probably alerted by the yelling.

“What is going on here?” Danny asked with a raised fist, instinctively prepared for battle. The smell of lunch carried all the way from downstairs up here with Bob still holding a spatula.

“I don’t know, the medicine I made was supposed to help him feel better!” Jimmy’s hands shook and he had no idea why it wasn’t working. From all the unexpected twists an invention of his could take, this was the worst-case scenario he never dared to think about. “I made this serum for him by altering the Ecto-Dejecto formula.”

“You mean, you fed him with an untested drug that you just made from ectoplasm?!” Danny put his hands on Jimmy’s shoulders. The genius wasn’t even looking at him and instead kept focused on Timmy.

“The equation and the dose were exactly the right amount, it should –  it was supposed to work!” He stared at Goddard, awaiting the scan results with rising anxiety.

Danny had enough about experiments on unsuspecting people for today and he was clearly not in the mood to just let this slide. “Well, it clearly isn’t! Why didn’t you talk to any of us before you gave him something that’s meant for weakening ghosts?”

“He was hurting and his state wasn’t improving … I just wanted to help him!” Jimmy finally defended himself, pushing Danny away. “I had a brain blast and I knew I could fix this.”

“Oh, your brain had a blast, alright. Sorry, my mistake.” Danny rubbed the back of his nose, not believing himself he was going to break it to him like this. “Did it ever occur to you that, just because you have a sudden idea popping up in your head, doesn’t automatically mean that it works and everything’s fine afterwards?” He didn’t mean to lash out at Jimmy like that or treat him like a kid, his patience was just running thin today. He barely slept as well and neither of them really ate anything yet, so it shouldn’t be that surprising they were now fighting. Still, he should be above this. He was the responsible one, after all. Especially since SpongeBob originally asked him to talk with Jimmy and Timmy about his earlier behavior before they had lunch.

Danny wanted to apologize for his outburst, but he didn't get the chance to do so, since the genius rushed out of the lab and straight up the stairs, vanishing into his room without sparing anyone a second glance or whatsoever. Usually, he also had faith in Jimmy’s brain blasts and so far, in all these years, they always worked out. But that was the natural order, wasn’t it? One could be right 99 times in a row, but the 100^th attempt could still fail. It was bound to happen someday – or perhaps that was just his negative thinking?

“Friends, please stop! Your arguing is not helping either.” SpongeBob squeezed between the two, forcing them apart. “I’m sure Jimmy meant well and he’s always right about his science stuff.” The sponge then focused on Danny. “Sometimes, we just overdo it. That doesn’t mean we don’t care, right Danny?”

Caught, Danny’s fury deflated. His reaction wouldn’t make anything better either and if they both started to panic, nothing would be solved. All of them each had their quirks and flaws, it didn’t mean they cared less though. And if there was one thing that could always be relied on, then it was Danny’s competence, Jimmy’s judgment, Timmy’s unpredictability and SpongeBob’s positivity. He should have a little more trust in the genius. “Okay, okay, you’re right. What’s wrong with him then?”

The three looked at Goddard, who was taking suspiciously long with the scan. Poof hovered over Timmy’s face, his hands gently, patting at the cheeks. The metal canine’s screen then appeared, showing a comparison from the readings he made last night. Timmy’s whole body was marked with red and yellow spots, even the ones that had been blue yesterday. “What does that mean, Jimmy?” SpongeBob asked. He couldn’t make much of that. “Is Timmy warm and running a fever?”

“If that’s from a thermal camera, that would imply he’s literally burning up.” Danny explained, hopefully being wrong.

Jimmy shook his head, much to their relief. But he also didn’t look very happy about the results. “The scan shows the areas that are in pain. It does that by reading the cellular activity during the hemostasis and inflammation. As soon as wounds are inflicted on us, the body immediately starts the four-phase healing process. This process is marked on the screen.” Jimmy showed the image from yesterday on Goddards chest. “The higher the cellular activity, the bigger the injury. Logically, bigger injuries also imply more pain, as you can see by these nerve receptors than run though the human body.” Goddard highlighted the extremely thin veins that reached to nearly every part of Timmy’s silhouette. “The serum I made is meant to help encourage the two other healing phases, proliferation and remodeling. The marked areas were supposed to heal and hurt less, not more.”

“But if you stimulate the cells to spread and remodel at such high speed, it’s no wonder he can’t keep up with it.” Danny hadn’t been the best in biology, but he could figure at least as much. After all, he would know how much it hurt to have your DNA tempered with and your molecules rearranged. Spoiler, it hurt like a bitch. And from the pained look on Timmy’s face, he didn’t seem to have a peachy time either. Poor guy, didn’t he went through enough already?

“Well, that’s why I added the ingredients of the pain killers. The dose was specifically made to not overexert his strained body. I don’t know why it doesn’t work as it should.” Jimmy rubbed the back of his head. By now, his hair looked anything but like its usual style, falling down wildly to his sides and neck. “I calculated the remodeling process of a regular human’s body and made extra precautions to avoid inflicting any more pain on him.” Jimmy was now pacing around the room agitated, while Danny watched him deep in thought. SpongeBob just scratched his head, not a clue what that could mean or why it didn’t work.

“Timmy!” Poof yelled at his brother, squishing the cheeks uncomfortably together. He really wished he had magic right now, healing him would’ve been easy. Maybe not for him, he still wasn’t as adapted at handling his magic as his mother, but he would’ve been able to do that if Timmy wished for it. Alas, without a wish and without magic, there was little Poof could do. The little fairy boy felt useless, even during their battle he had only caused Tommy more pain. The teen was so busy protecting him and making sure he was safe, that he got hit by the crossfire of it all and ended up like this. A sudden shiny spark caught Poof’s attention. Something about the crown or the wand that still leaned against the wall gave off a strange energy. He hovered over to it.

“So you didn’t adjust the dose to Timmy’s genes exactly?” Danny offered a theory after a moment of silence, also willing every grey cell of his brain to find a solution for this problem.

“I … no.” Jimmy grumbled in frustration. “I don’t have my equipment here and for that I should’ve taken a blood sample from him, analyze it and consider the slight tolerance gap for errors due to his unstable condition. I thought it would be less time consuming and more accurate if I took the medicine I already gave him into account and used the standard data for an average teen body with his injuries and symptoms.” The genius was about to dismiss Danny’s comment as nonsense. Timmy literally claimed himself to be an average kid, why should it matter? There was no logical difference he should’ve been aware of. “I don’t know how I could’ve made the calculations any more specific than that.”

“Yeah, well, if it’s not working that should mean his DNA is not the one of an average human teen after all, does it?” The halfa shrugged since that wouldn’t be news to him and he could speak from personal experience. Although he couldn’t think of a reason why Timmy should have similar issues. “Didn’t he fall through an unstable portal? And despite what he told us, there is no guarantee something or someone didn’t mess with him while he was unconscious.”

SpongeBob bit his lower lip and decided to add his thoughts too. “But Timmy looks pretty normal and human to me. Even if I’m not an expert about human related things.” He glanced at the groaning teen sprawled over the bed. Aside from the sweat drops that formed on his temples and the hand that clutched his stomach, he seemed normal.

Jimmy pondered over Danny’s words, his tired brain working through every possible scenario. Sometimes others providing an outside perspective was a good way to see the whole picture ... He just often tended to disregard them because they usually clashed with his own stubborn mindset. And yet the portal had truly been malfunctioning, so it was likely that something messed with Timmy’s molecular structure.
Maybe the unstable travel also caused some of the symptoms? He never even considered that, when usually those were the first things he would’ve been looking out for. The possibilities of something going wrong when crossing dimensions were endless, it could’ve torn Timmy apart or split him in half for all he knew - and maybe that even happened without the bucktoothed boy knowing it. Jorgen had also lost a leg due to some … voodoo incident. What if that could also alter Timmy’s genes? They had no information what exactly happened in Timmy’s dimension at all and the average teen, of all people, wouldn’t know what was worth mentioning, since he could barely remember every detail anyway.

“Holy Heisenberg, I’m such an idiot!”, he breathed, pulling at his hair as the realization dawned on him. In his normal state, he never would’ve carelessly made such a rash decision. But Timmy was hurt and the first thing he could think of was trying to tend to his wounds and make the pain bearable for the boy. Ever since yesterday, he was in complete nursing mode, his inventive genius shoved aside. And now he had been so overexcited to finally have an idea to help him heal the best versed way Jimmy knew of – and he completely overlooked the most basic and obvious thing there was! There was no excuse for that. “A great genius am I! What in the name of reality did I even think?! No, I didn’t, that’s the problem!” He gripped Danny by the hem of his shirt, wide eyed and full-on freaking out. “Cross dimensional malfunctioning and enemies taking someone hostage is always a dead giveaway for cell altering sickness!”

“Oookay, it’s … really not, dude.” Danny tried to get the deathly grip on his shirt lose, but Jimmy was far from calming down. “Calm down, Jimmy.” But the genius wouldn’t listen, he kept on rambling.

“How on earth am I supposed to calm down? My foolish actions could’ve killed him! They still might! I was so sure of myself and thought I could pass as a doctor, which possibly gave me a god complex and now I pay the price for it!” Jimmy shook Danny like a madman. It was the first time the halfa ever saw the always collected, and rather silent type of anxiety, genius so desperate. Most of the things he said didn’t even make sense – which was something even more unbelievable coming from his mouth. Even if Danny had put it like that, he never meant it that way. There was no way Jimmy could’ve considered that. He was stressed, tired and only wanted to help Timmy. That’s why he spent the whole night taking care of him and even earlier during his panic attack he didn’t leave Timmy’s side once! If he never had the idea to make a serum for him, they wouldn’t have ever considered that something aside from burn injuries and bruises could also be wrong with him. Not doing anything wouldn’t have been better, and well … maybe getting him to the hospital would’ve also been a mistake. Nothing was ever a guarantee for success.

“Alright Mr. God complex, chill.” Danny might’ve needed to use some of his superstrength to loosen Jimmy’s impressive strong grip. “Maybe it was a good thing you did that. I mean, his condition could’ve suddenly worsened on its own and we wouldn’t have known why and maybe your medicine still works? But if you lose your cool now, we can’t help Timmy at all.”

SpongeBob pat Jimmy’s back, which did little to help the genius relax. “Danny’s right, you can still do it Jimmy! You’ll just fix the serum and Timmy will be swell in no time.”

“Not if he’s dying already!” Jimmy gestured with his hands for emphasis because apparently, they weren’t getting the picture. He could’ve made the unstable DNA worse and Timmy would be burning up, slowly dissolving from inside out for all he knew. Usually Jimmy’s brain process involved simple steps. He was a problem and he wanted to find a solution. The problem was Timmy’s pain and his injuries and the solution was to heal him. Simple as that. But what if Danny was right and he made it worse? Some genius he was, not even considering something so obvious. What did he even know at this point? Could he really call himself a genius? Was his name even Jimmy Neutron: Teen genius at all? Okay, now this was too ridiculous. He shouldn't go that far down the insane route. He just needed to take a very deep breath and have another brain blast. Easy as that. He could fix this. He-

“Who’s dying?”

Three heads turned in the direction of the voice, which was none other than the familiar scratchy one of Timmy Turner. Who was rubbing his eyes and slowly sitting up crisscross like they were just chilling out here. Goddard immediately climbed on his lap, happily licking his face at the sudden recovery. Poof said his name happily, as he hovered above his head where the strange crown charm floated.

They were so busy discussing and panicking, neither had paid any attention to the patient or Goddard, who’s scan was still showing the progress of the serum. While the silhouette of Timmy’s body still sparked a lot of red, the color was slowly draining from the mostly blue frame. Only some parts on the back, chest and head remained, where the deepest injuries were inflicted.

Jimmy’s left eye twitched and he thought he feared he would turn as grey as Einstein before even hitting his thirties. But overall, the relief and joy of seeing this careless idiot alive overtook him. Without thinking, he just walked over to the dumbass to embrace him. The anxiety left his body as soon as it overtook Jimmy and he felt himself inhaling the earthly scent of Timmy’s hair as he finally calmed down. “Can you please stop scaring us for more than ten minutes, Turner?”

Timmy was about to retort something, but the words died in his throat before he formed them and he just stared at Jimmy’s shoulder, blocking most of his vision. He could still see the smiles on Danny’s and SpongeBob’s faces.

“Sure, I can try.” The warmth of Jimmy’s hug and the sudden intimacy made his heart race (which was also shown on Goddards screen, thanks for nothing). Timmy felt nice and safe and … he couldn’t take it any longer. “So uhm … what happened?” He slowly pushed Jimmy away, who was now clearing his throat and somewhat attempting to fix his crazy hair. Talking about mad scientist, he really looked like he slept next to a power outlet and was hit by a blast afterwards. It was really odd and distracting.

“You just fainted after I gave you the serum.” Jimmy said as calm and collected as usual, which made Danny raise an eyebrow. Yeah, just that, nothing else. He made it sound it like it was no big deal and everything was according to plan. He never thought the genius of all people could put on such a convincing poker face.

“Really?” Timmy rubbed the back of his head, noticing he felt really good for some reason. He was still sore, but at least he could control his limbs again and his head didn’t ache as much as before. “I know I felt really hot and dizzy all of a sudden.”

“May I ask how long you have regained consciousness already?”, Jimmy asked, still oddly calm with an unreadable expression.

“Long enough to hear you calling yourself an idiot, I think.” Timmy snickered. “Although I’m not sure if that was either a dream or wishful thinking.”

“Alright, he’s definitely feeling better if he’s up to teasing Jimmy again.”, Danny whispered down to SpongeBob, who nodded, trying to stifle his laughter.

“Well, you hit hour head pretty hard, hallucinations are still very likely.” Jimmy diplomatically folded his hands in front of him, the dark circles beneath his eyes an enigma that gave no way of telling what was going on in his mind right now. Usually, he wouldn't let something like this slide, which made his behavior even more suspicious to Timmy. “Perhaps you should lay down a little more.”

Timmy just tilted his head, slowly uncrossing his legs. “I think you’re the person that could use some rest right now.” He put Goddard down beside him, attempting to get up. The room started to spin again and he almost lost his balance, which made Jimmy quickly grab his arms to support him. After a few seconds of his limbs not giving out and the subsiding need to empty his stomach once more, Timmy found he could actually do this now.

“I think I’m fine. It’s just a little … weird.” He rubbed his forehead in irritation. It didn’t hurt and he didn’t feel necessarily bad, but somehow it was still like … as if his inner battery was empty and his body on autopilot, not really responding in sync or something.

“As I was going to tell you earlier, you might feel much better and stronger now, but don’t rely on that. Your body still needs to heal properly.” Jimmy pushed him back down to sit on the mattress, holding him in place on the shoulders. “You shouldn’t walk around on your own and eat light meals for now.” His hands roamed upwards, touching his cheeks again. They were still cold from the time he spent in the lab, the only thing giving away his remaining anxiety a subtle tremble as he carefully touched the bandages around Timmy's head. “I might need to take a look at your injuries later.”

“At least I can sleep it off in peace now. After hitting the bathroom, that is.” Still hearing Poof's words in the back of his mind, Timmy hesitantly moved Jimmy's hands away. Still, he was glad he could move without excruciating pain again, which would make his life much easier. Finally. No more humiliating himself or being a burden.  He looked at his knuckles, experimentally flexing and clenching them. The muscles didn’t hurt, but they still felt stiff. At least the shaking had stopped. “But if you ever make more of that drug, make it less gross and acid like. I think my stomach almost digested itself.”

“Please stop calling it a drug.” Jimmy took off his glasses, sighing as the last bit of tension left his body. He made a note to himself to do a full and throughout checkup on Timmy later, so he wouldn’t make the same miscalculations again and figure out if the dimension hopping indeed left a mark on him.

“I think, now that everything’s okay, we should celebrate this and eat something!” The sponge suggested, waving his spatula around for emphasis. “Timmy can join us now, right?”

“And a nap afterwards would be just what we need.” Danny agreed, patting Bob’s head as he sent a glance towards the genius. He indeed seemed like he could also use some a shower and some much-needed sleep. Maybe that would help the overworked gears in his head to clear up. “Looks like we get to use the sleeping bags after all.”

While SopongeBob cheered, Timmy couldn’t help but wince. It was the typical ‘be careful what you wish for’ aftermath. Hanging out with his friends was what he wanted all along and now he couldn’t help but feel guilty at the mere thought while his dimension was facing some kind of apocalypse. At this point, he would get a new headache just from overthinking. Which wouldn’t be anything new, but he’d like to avoid piling any more troubles and problems on top of the others if he could.

“Poof poof?” However, it was nice to see his little brother so happy because he was doing better. Timmy smiled at the fairy hovering next to him, ruffling his purple hair.

“Yeah, much better.” Knowing he wasn’t the only one that had to carry this burden, he thought his little brother deserved a break from all the chaos too. He couldn’t help but miss Cosmo and Wanda every time he looked at this cute face. Poof took so much after them. “Lunch, a shower and catching some Z’s should do it.”

Poof countered the smile with one of his own. He was still worried but seeing Timmy a lot better and healthier eased most of that. And together with his friends, they could finally be a little optimistic.

✧ « ★ » ✧

“Are you still not finished?” Vlad stood in the middle of the dining hall, arms crossed, tapping his foot impatiently. “How long can it take a magical creature to use magic and change the universal order?”

“You don’t know a lot about our rules, do you?”, Anti-Cosmo retorted rather unimpressed, getting zapped by the enormous rule book for the tenth time as he tried to mess with the pages. “Only a legitimate rule enforcer can alter the rules. If we temper with it by force, we might destroy the whole universe.”

“I don’t see how that would be my problem.”, the man mumbled to himself as saying that out loud would only cause more tension between their fragile truce. So far, the Anti-Fairies hadn’t been any help. All they did was causing chaos on earth and doing their own thing. Anti-Cosmo had yet to show him how he could fully harvest and use the magic that each captured fairy held.

Said Anti-Fairy had it now and kicked the floating book, which in turn zapped him again and made several other witnesses laugh with delight. “You know, this would work much better if someone hadn’t lost the dolls I gave him!”

Foop, who was still holding his belly from the force of his laugh, turned a few shades of blue darker. “I didn’t do that on purpose! And you still have the Cosmo doll.”

“The Cosmo doll is as useless as the original himself!” Anti-Cosmo glared at the sphere with his captured counterpart and wife inside. For now, they had made the old Anti-Castle their lair to operate from. The sphere dangled on the ceiling instead of the chandelier that once used to lighten the big dining table. “If I had known only sharing the Von Strangle bloodline wouldn’t be enough, I wouldn’t have gone through all the hassle with you!”

Only half conscious, Cosmo couldn’t say much to that. However, his wife had a lot to say in his place. “You rotten, evil -!” And with a snap of Anti-Cosmo’s fingers, the sphere began to glow in a blue light, tuning out everything else Wanda had to say. That didn’t stop her from punching the glass and screaming muted curses. Those who were present ignored her, as such was the routine by now.

“The universal rule book is different from Da Rules. Of course, it would take more than a relative to mess with it.” Another person added. It was Tiberius, who sat at the other end of the long table. He had his arms behind his back and his feet rested on the tabletop. Still, he wasn’t sitting on one of the chairs but rather floating.

“Considering this was your idea, perhaps you’d like to join them.” Anti-Cosmo grinned, pointing up to the sphere. He had spent so much time on trying to force Cosmo to use officially looking green crayon to cancel out the rules that his patience was running paper thin. The rules he wanted to change were for example the ones that made Anti-Fairies visible to humans or the one that only gave them full magic access to their own big wand on a Friday the 13^th. But he also wanted to alter the most important rule: The one that made fairies the dominant magical species to have godchildren. It would save them the next annual bake off or other games and challenges, as there would be not only an open contest, but the Anti-Fairies would fill in immediately. They could finally do whatever they wanted and nobody, not even a Von Strangle, had the power to lock them up behind walls or cages ever again. And yet, the one book who’s rules applied to all magical beings, wouldn’t have any of that, zapping Cosmo and his anti-version all the same.

“Hey, I caused a distraction for you to do your voodoo-thing AND I locked all three of these menaces up in the Death Ball. Not my fault you trusted that toy-idiot with guarding them and decided to have a nice trip in Dimmsdale.” Tiberius lifted his hand, a threatening dark glow surrounding it, which made the Anti-Fairy raise his hands in diplomatic defeat. Dark Laser, who stood next to the fireplace, turned around with an offended gasp once he caught on the insult.

“Now, now, I’m sure whoever’s fault it was, it’s just a minor setback. Once you can bring me Jorgen or the Royal Jewel, our predicament shall be solved easily.” He said, facing Vlad again. “It is the most powerful artifact aside from the muffins. With the jewel, altering reality here or in another dimension should be a piece of cake.”

“If it’s so powerful and important, how come you lost it? Didn’t you have it right then and there?”, Tiberius added his opinion again, huffing at the incompetence of all these old people around him. Dark Laser in the background seemed like he also wanted to say something, but a glare from the boy silenced him before he even fully lifted his finger.

“Oh, you wouldn’t know of course.” Anti-Cosmo gritted his teeth. He had been convinced the jewel was in the bag, where it should be. After that bright light, how was he supposed to know it would backfire so much as both him and Timmy touched it? Regardless, he got what he wanted. In a way.

“Enough.” Vlad slammed his hands on the table. “If it’s this Royal Jewel we need, I suggest we send our new creations to retrieve it. I am already busy enough with building my new domain.”

“Anthony isn’t ready yet.” Anti-Cosmo pondered, tapping the pointy end of his wand against his chin. “He’s still … getting used to his current state and working on our machine.”

“If by state you mean falling apart and talking to himself, he’s far from ready.” Foop complained with his arms crossed. He was mostly salty Anthony didn’t want him to hang around or help him, stating something about him only being a burden and nuisance. When he imagined what it would be like to have a big brother, he didn’t think it would turn out like this. Even if the boy was still getting used to being alive and all, he already acted like he owned the place. Rude. Which should be a good thing, since acting mean was the standard in this world, but Foop thought the new addition to their family could be a little more … welcoming or caring?

Vlad sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Alright, in that case Tiberius can take Damian with him to Amity Park. Spotting the Royal Jewel shouldn’t be so hard, if its energy is as exceptional as you claim, right?”

“Hey, why do I have to do the dirty work now? He’s the one who fucked up, not me.” Tiberius groaned, pointing at Anti-Cosmo. Neither looked amused about being interrupted.

“Do not argue with me young man!” Vlad’s fist smacked the table once more, his sharp ghost teeth on display. “Your suit does not affect me and if you want me to take you in, you ought to listen to my orders.”

“Fine.” Tiberius gave up, floating upright. “But I don’t babysit for free, I want double payment!” He didn’t wait for a reply as he flung the doors open.

“Greedy Parasite.”, Vlad grumbled as he watched the boy disappear, although with a hint of pride. “Now, about the magic, partner.”

“If you insist.” Anti-Cosmo snapped his fingers again, two vials with shining pink liquid inside popped up in front of the halfa. “Anthony managed to extract and synthesize the first batch of fairy magic. We could provide the two boys with these samples and do a little test run.”

A grin spread across Vlad’s face as he turned intangible and sank through the floor, taking the potions with him. Cosmo and Wanda could only watch, facing each other with worried expressions. If only they could warn their children about what was coming for them ...

Chapter Text

SpongeBob wasn’t the most observant sponge on land (and water). Or rather, knew how to interpret things that happened around him. But there were some things that he just knew felt fishy and he couldn’t shake that thought off, no matter what. The bad side was, it usually took him a while to figure out just what exactly was wrong. Now when it came to his friends, however, he always noticed if they needed help or maybe just an ear-hole to listen to. And he was the right man for that job!

The sponge felt bad for Timmy, watching the teen eat his soup while everyone else was eating his famous crabby patties – except for Sam, who stuck to her salad. The bucktoothed teen stirred his spoon while glancing around, his gaze especially drifting to Jimmy from time to time. SpongeBob couldn’t shake the feeling off that something was going on with him. Maybe it was just his bummed mood or his health, but there was such a strange vibe coming from Timmy, to put it in the teen’s words.

Now, the genius wasn’t acting any less strange. He ate his burger with fork and knife, dissecting the bun and everything else apart. If SpongeBob had known Jimmy wanted to eat the ingredients separately, he could’ve just put them on a plate without assembling the patty beforehan. While doing so, Jimmy kept his mouth in a thin line, deep in thought. Which was only natural after such an exhausting emotional rollercoaster. SpongeBob was worried for his friend, he had taken such good care of Timmy ever since the latter dropped out of that portal. He could still remember it like it was yesterday … well, technically it happened yesterday.

From the hovercar, they watched the white flickering tear in the sky, just above the mayor mansion’s lawn. Rubble and broken parts fell out, Jorgen shortly followed. Acting on instinct, Danny quickly dived for the man, using his supernatural strength and telekinetic powers to catch him.
In the meantime, Jimmy, seeing Timmy fall a moment later, quickly took out his Tractor-Beam-Ray and aimed it at their friend. However, the fall was so fast and in motion, the ray wasn’t able to break Timmy’s fall before he would hit the ground. Ever the fast thinking genius, Jimmy figured that out as well and stood up, bending over the wheel, nearly falling out as if reaching for him would make the beam stronger. It didn’t.

And even though Bobby was so scared, barely able to tear his eyes away from the scene, he heard Jimmy scream Timmy’s name. The sponge couldn’t make it out in the short amount of time but the glimpse of Jimmy’s terrified face, his wide eyes, the tears forming in their corners and his sheer desperation … He knew firsthand just how helpless he probably felt in that moment. He couldn’t do anything either. Being a sponge, it would’ve been possible to jump out of the hovercar and blow himself up to volume so they would land softly, but there was simply not enough time to do that – and frankly, it didn’t cross SpongeBob’s mind back then, he was too stunned by everything that was going on. Danny couldn’t decide what to do either, he had his hands literally full with the giant man in his grip. He couldn’t catch Timmy as well, not even with his powers. And putting Jorgen down first would take too long. They all could only stare, hoping for a miracle to happen.

Luckily, Timmy was still conscious enough, breaking the fall by himself with his new weapon. His crown-hat sparkled for a second and he threw the wand beneath him with as much force as he could, a small shockwave pushing him up as it touched the ground. These few seconds were enough time for Jimmy’s ray to properly catch him. It was like that short moment on a swing, when you reached the highest point and it felt like you’re floating before the momentum pulled you back. Hitting the ground still must’ve hurt Timmy, though.

As soon as he was lying safely on the grass, Jimmy immediately steered the hovercar down.
He didn’t even bother to turn the car off and just climbed out, tripping over his own feet as he sprinted towards Timmy, Bob following right behind him while Danny put Jorgen down and joined the group as well. There was so much blood … Not enough to be life threatening – at least he hoped so, he was not an expert – but still enough to make his knew wobbly. It dripped from Timmy’s forehead and nose in thin streams. He was bruised and singed all over, his clothes torn, the usually mischievous sparkling eyes barely having any light in them, staring at the sky as if he saw something horrible – which was the case. The same things they had seen in the portal earlier. Destruction and chaos in Dimmsdale. It must’ve been a nightmare come true for his friend.

A small tear streamed down Timmy’s face as he watched it happen in front of his eyes, before the show was over as suddenly as it started. His head shifted, as if he only noticed them now. A shaking hand clasping his little brother who was hopefully just sleeping and not hurt as well.

“Sorry for … being late.”, he said, his pathetic attempt of a smile fading with his consciousness and SpongeBob could hear Jimmy choke on a repressed sob next to him.

“No … no no no no NO!” The genius bent over their hurt friend, his fingers feeling for a pulse. Then he brushed Timmy’s bangs aside, his hands shaking so bad he was scared to touch the boy in fear of making it worse. “We need to stop the bleeding, his head suffered a severe trauma he –“

Danny knelt on the other side of Timmy, putting a firm hand on Jimmy’s shoulder. “Breath Jim, we’ll take them home. He’ll be fine.” His eyes glowed bright, probably using his x-ray vision to see any internal damage. Maybe he just wanted to alleviate the situation, but sb appreciated the effort and resolve to not loose his cool as well.

Jimmy’s hands had blood on them, clinging to the already torn fabric of Timmy’s shirt. He mumbled things to himself, all kinds of symptoms and outcomes that could be caused by a fall from that height and what other injuries he had with varying critical states that could lead to death. SpongeBob was just as scared for their friend as the genius, but he sensed just how distraught Jimmy was right now, making himself panic even more through his hyperboles. Goddard could only whine and nudge the side of his torso with his snout – to no avail.
“It’s alright Jimmy, we can fix this! If anyone can help him, it’s you.” The sponge hugged him, believing every word of it and hoping it would give Jimmy enough confidence to come back to his senses. He did. As if a switch was activated. Taking a deep breath, repeating it like a mantra. Then he asked SpongeBob for a handkerchief to press on the forehead while giving other instructions to Danny.

They managed to bring everyone back to Fenton Works safe and sound. Since then, Jimmy had not left Timmy’s side for more than a moment to go to the bathroom while commanding Goddard to keep an eye in Timmy. He was such a good boy, providing emotional support for his owner the whole time, staying by his side and encouraging the genius. Bob was honestly surprised how quick Jimmy’s mood adapted from panicked to nursing. Yet, even with masked emotions, the genius perhaps wouldn’t even have sat down on that chair, let alone taken a nap, if it weren’t for Goddard. Whatever the canine did or suggested, he was a great help.

SpogeBob’s night had also been a long one. His friends were both doing their best to help Jorgen and Timmy, so he wanted to contribute something too and made sure Poof was sleeping undisturbed on a comfy pillow. When he was sure the little fairy was in no pain, he went to grab a glass of water, looking after his friends while he was at it.
He saw Danny in the lab, mummifying Jorgen with bandages – he was glad he decided to put the fairy man in Jazz’s room now because the lab was really cold. But in the end, the halfa probably pulled an all-nighter, despite crashing on the couch next to him and Poof for a while, since he was gone when Bob woke up in the middle of the night.

Jimmy was still awake, the door only half closed. Through the gap he saw Timmy moving and mumbling something, which made the sponge so happy that he wanted to cheer and barge in. And yet, he didn’t. Because something about the scene, about everything in there, seemed too intimate. Like a moment that was just meant for them alone in their bubble.
Relief was written all over Jimmy’s face, as he held Timmy in his arm and gave him something to drink. He had a soft yet sad look. It was understandable, seeing their usually hyperactive friend so hurt and weak was something neither of them liked. But he also noticed something else on Jimmy’s expression … It was guilt. As if he somewhat blamed himself for that. As if he made himself responsible for Timmy’s pain and not being able to magically remove it. As if he internally cursed himself for not figuring out a way to fix this mess. And even earlier today when they were in Danny’s room for breakfast, that guilt lingered. Whenever Timmy flinched, groaned or especially during his panic attack, it was Jimmy who absorbed it. SpongeBob knew he was bad at articulating or showing emotions, but he was like the black hole-thingies that Danny had explained to him one time; he was taking it all in but never venting some of the negativity out.

And now with Jimmy having a meltdown just a few minutes ago, he was probably still blaming himself for his medicine, although it actually helped Timmy and they should be happy for that. No matter how quickly Jimmy’s mood changed from freaked out to seemingly collected, the doubt and fear were still present, he just silently dealt with them on his own. Not once openly admitting or showing his inner turmoil. Bob could only frown at that, wondering why his too-smart-for his-own-good friend didn’t accept their love and support to let himself lose. Sure, this was a difficult time, but they were still teenagers, they should be allowed to properly deal with their emotional baggage.

Sometimes SpongeBob wished he had some kind of magic of his own to make his friends feel better. All of them wallowed in doubt and guilt, punishing themselves. Danny for his harsh outburst (and maybe more than just that), Timmy for everything that happened in Fairy World despite not having any control over it and Jimmy for not being able to work miracles or … using his brain logically enough. There were most certainly also other things on their minds that bothered them not just since yesterday. Who didn’t have issues in that time of youth? Neither of them realized it was only natural for humans – and sea creatures – that nobody could think logically under such circumstances. Or that the perfect solution didn’t come to you the moment you needed it. Sometimes people made mistakes, acted before they thought something through or said and did things that they wouldn’t normally do. It happened all the time! But to Jimmy, that was impossible to accept. Danny made himself responsible for everything regardless. And cheering up Timmy was nearly impossible since not even the best soup in the multiverse could distract him from his worries – that being Cosmo and Wanda fairy-napped and his whole dimension on the brink of falling apart and with a bunch of mortal enemies on the loose.

It was indeed a tough nut to crack. SpongeBob didn’t know where to start or how he could help his friends right now. All he was able to do was provide his positive attitude and hugs. And he would provide them, or his name shall not be SpongeBob SquarePants anymore.

“Well, if there’s one bright side to it, this might be the first time in years that there was no ghost incident for two days in a row.”, Tucker threw in his thoughts, the awkward silence dragging on for too long with them all cramped around the table. “I still called the city hall to instruct defense- and evacuation measures in case of some kind of invasion-level attack, though. Better safe than sorry, judging from experience.” Sam hit him in the side with her elbow. “Ow – what? It’s true!”

“You still need to work on your timing, Mr. Mayor.” She whisper-yelled to him, glaring. They all knew where the ghosts went. Because if there was any open portal unchecked or free for the ghosts to pass through, they would take any chance they could get. Besides, they had the opportunity to explore a whole new world now. For immortal ghosts it could get easily boring after a while when you knew only one world – or city – to cause chaos. Amity Park was used to them and they had built defense mechanisms over the years, but a world that was unprepared and unaware of them would be in great danger.

Dani, who had already finished her meal, leaned back in her chair as she crossed her arms behind her head. “We can’t know for sure. I mean, I could take a quick look around the Ghost Zone. We still have some allies there, right?”

“It’s still too risky for you alone. If they can leave, other things can also enter from Timmy’s dimension and we don’t know what Vlad’s plan is yet.“ Danny warned, pulled out from his thoughts. “But Wulf and Frostbite could help us …” Which gave him an idea and he snapped his fingers. “By the way, he still has the Infi-Map. If we can’t access Dimmsdale with Jimmy’s portal machine, we could locate the makeshift ghost portal with it from inside.”

“Really?” Timmy looked up from his soup, hopeful. They had only met these two ghosts and Cujo once when they had to search for Pandoras box during their last mission and he thought they were really cool. And fluffy. Anyhow, with the map, they could bust right into their lair, freeing all the trapped fairies and overrun the ghosts in the process. Sure, most of them weren’t fighters, but many could reach a goal faster and they had been a lot of help when he was fighting against the darkness, so that could actually work out.

Jimmy’s head shot up, finally paying full attention to the converation. “We don’t know if my UPM is still malfunctioning. Whatever could’ve caused the signal’s disturbance, it might be over. And I don’t think directly heading into this … prison … would be a good idea. They could’ve prepared all sorts of traps.”

“True.” Danny rested his head on the palm of his hand. “We don’t know what’s going on over there. S’ides, breaking into the enemies’ home base is never a good idea.”

“Yeah, who in their right mind would march into the lion’s den without a plan just like that, amiright?” Tucker snorted, happily munching on his double krabby patty with extra meat. He didn’t notice SpongeBob’s flinch, Danny hiding his face behind his hand or Jimmy lowering his gaze at him. Timmy subtly shrunk down in his seat, disappointed by the tiny spark of hope that was ripped away once more and also the unintentionally jab against him for his little breakout-and-break-in session with Jorgen and Poof.

SpongeBob noticed Timmy’s pained grimace and he couldn’t let that go unaddressed this time. “Well, I think the advantage of surprise is a good idea. Maybe they’re thinking exactly the same and we would catch them off guard?”, he offered, flashing his most charming and encouraging grin. Timmy either didn’t notice it or was completely zoned out since he barely reacted to that, still staring at his half-finished bowl.

“I like the way Bobby-boy thinks.”, Jack said between chewing and swallowing. “I’d say we grab every weapon in our arsenal and blast this thing into pieces – whatever it is.”

“Dad …” Jazz sighed, rubbing one of her temples. Her father would definitely do that, even if he had no idea who they were up against. And so would Dani, who strangely shared their dad’s enthusiasm about blowing things up. Said halfa gave Jack a thumbs-up.

“Now let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We could also send the drones inside the Ghost Zone to investigate from the lab.” Maddie offered. “Meanwhile, Jimmy could try out if his invention works again.”

The others seemed to agree with that method, although Jazz, Jimmy and Sam seemed more thrilled about it than the others.

“I call dibs on the drones.” Tucker said, much to Jasmine’s and Sam’s dislike who also wanted to do that. They decided to take turns who would control them or watch the cameras.

“Even if they made something to distort the coordinates to Timmy’s dimension, if I had access to my lab, I could modify it – or perhaps we could use the big portal machine, it’s even more accurate and has a greater energy-capacity than the portable version.” Jimmy put a hand on his chin, his brain already circling around his familiar comfort topics: Good ol’ science and cybernetics.

However, Danny wouldn’t let him have that. “Oh no you don’t, Mr. Sleep-deprived. Not before having a few decent hours of rest, at least.”

Puzzled, Jimmy looked at his older friend, a hint of betrayal and incomprehension in his eyes. He was a little tired, but he had long passed the sleepy phase. There was only madness and cafeine left now. Okay … in that case, maybe a short break would actually do him good. Help him sort his emotions out and clear his head. And, well, Danny’s glare seemed like he wouldn’t accept any arguments anyway, so all Jimmy had could retort to that was a pout.

“Look, he has the dad-sneeze and the dad-glare.” Jazz whispered to Sam’s ear, still loud enough for the majority of the present people to hear. The girls still found it oddly amusing how similar Danny could be to his father when it came to be protective over his family and friends, just like back then when she was tricked by Johnny 13. Sam tried to stifle her giggle but did a terrible job doing so.

“Stop saying that already!” From one moment to the next, Danny’s dad-mode turned into that of a young teenager again. Neither Jimmy, Timmy nor SpongeBob could relate to that since they had no siblings, but it was always strange yet amusing to see Danny return to a more childish behavior whenever he fought with his sister, such as blowing raspberries at her, making funny faces or just mocking and annoying her like any other younger sibling would.
SpongeBob wished the halfa would show his playful side more often, but since most of the times they were together was due to serious circumstances, Danny remained professional – except for the jokes and puns, who seemed more like a coping mechanism to deal with all the weird stuff he had to witness on a regular basis.

“Alright, I’ll go hit the shower in the meantime.” Timmy used the change of subject as his cue to leave, still needing more force than normally to push himself up from the chair. His friends perked up, all of them prepared to offer they assistance in accompanying him upstairs, but he just waved them off. “I think I can handle it.”

“Poof poof!” Poof, who was eating his own tiny burger on the kitchen counter until now, immediately took off to fly after his brother. Upon receiving a pleading look from Jimmy, Goddard also started to follow, after he swallowed the last bold out of his bowl that Jack kindly contributed.

It was good to know Timmy wasn’t alone and he was already moving around much less like a zombie, although the sponge noticed that his friend used any chance to support himself he could get on the way, his hands always searching for something to lean his weight on and maintain his balance, like counters, the wall and the railing. He was also slower and missed the slight bounce in his step he usually had. It was still better than the state they found him in. Much better. But the longer Bobby stared after him, the more this weird suspicion overcame him again. Aside from all of that, something still didn’t add up. It was so weird – especially since he was apparently the only one to feel that way, when his two smartest friends (aside form Sandy) didn’t mention anything like that. Maybe the poor lighting was at fault? The sun barely reached that far in, after all.

“I need to look at his injuries and put new bandages on them when he’s done. Then we can nap.” Jimmy said to Danny, his stern and determined expression rivaling Danny’s so-called dad-glare. The halfa had nothing against it, so long these two troublemakers would finally get some rest.

“Sooo … I guess nobody’s gonna point out the floating crown on his head or the little fairy-boy?”, Jack asked for clarification, to which Maddie only hit him with her elbow now. Before he could complain, she shook her head as this was neither good a good time for that. Since aside from Jazz, Dani and their parents, all of the young adults had been present on Volcano Island and knew of Timmy’s fairly odd company, neither had questioned the fact that Poof hadn’t disguised himself. That could be for the lack of magic or low energy, but it also wasn’t like most people here didn’t know him already anyway so maybe there was no point for him to do so.

“Alrighty, I’ll go prep the sleeping bags then.” Feeling the urge to make himself useful because he couldn’t help with the science stuff, SpongeBob quickly put away the dishes before he rushed upstairs as well.

✧ « ★ » ✧

After finally arriving at the bathroom and emptying his bladder, Timmy started to remove his clothing. It didn’t actually hurt to peel all the bandages and band aids off, but he felt uncomfortable viewing his body like that. Not that he usually had an easier time watching himself in the mirror.
It had been ages since he bothered to style himself, put on some eyeliner or literally embrace any other look than the angsty teenager with sleepy hair and oversized clothing. He just didn’t care enough. He was usually late in the morning, too tired or just didn’t feel the need since nobody was going to compliment him anyway. They would judge and find ways to make fun of him regardless, like the boys in his football team. And with his training schedule make-up and nail polish were pointless that also added fuel to the fire of bullying.

Timmy inspected his reflection. Sometimes, when he was still half asleep and saw himself in the mirror of his room, he was startled, still expecting to see a ten-year-old kid, only to be greeted by a tired teenager. It was funny, ironic even, how he once wished to be an adult, finding out just how awful that was and ending up crying for his mommy and daddy. Maybe he wouldn’t do the last part anymore, but his opinion hadn’t changed. It sucked. Sighing, he carefully undid the last bandage around his head. The blood had dried and it actually still hurt to touch the part where he was blasted yesterday.

He decided he had seen enough of himself to know he still looked as shitty as he felt, so he walked over to the shower. And it was then that Timmy noticed he forgot to ask for fresh clothing. Well done, Turner. Too bad he couldn’t cuss with his brother nearby, bathing in the second sink next to him, probably used by Jazz and her mother respectively. Poof was distracted, playing with the bubbles.

Luckily, he could ask for assistance. Timmy went towards the door, creaking it open just a bit to see that Goddard was still where he left him. And he was, panting with his tongue out as soon as he noticed the average teen.

“Uhm … could you be a good boy and ask Danny or Jazz for some spare clothes?” Timmy felt really stupid for making such a request to the little guy but what else was there to do, he could hardly walk around in a bathrobe or towel. Goddard nodded, which was still kind of strange to Timmy, even after all these years. He acted like a real dog and yet he could give advice and understand complicated things like a sentient AI or even an actual person since he had feelings. “Thanks buddy. Just put them down here.”
He watched the robot dog walk down the hall for a bit before he closed and locked the door again. Which also seemed a little unnecessary since there were two ghosts around that could phase through anything if they wanted and the rest was completely capable of ripping the door out of its hinges through several ways. Was that a strange thing to wonder about? That the only thing stopping most people in his life from disturbing his privacy were mere locks and morals? That for sure never stopped his parents, they just busted through walls if they had to while still claiming they respected his privacy.

Thinking about his parents made his half-filled stomach turn. He had no idea what they were doing right now, if they were okay or if they even wondered where he was. Nobody in his hometown knew his whereabouts and the guilt crushed him the more he thought about it. Wanda, Cosmo, mom, dad, Chester, maybe A. J. wherever he was now at college … he left all of them behind. Tucker’s words still echoed in his head. Maybe he should’ve headed to earth instead and try to stop them from there? Something, anything in his closet or any clue must’ve been there. But then he also remembered Jimmy’s words:

“… We can’t change that, but we can make up for it – and we will. Just give yourself and us some more time.”

Timmy really wanted to do that. Really. But it was so hard to ignore all the chaos in his head. And to think that he was bothering his friends with his problems now too just made it worse. Jimmy looked so exhausted, antsy and tense and he still played it down to not upset him. Not to mention how freaked out he was because he thought he accidently poisoned him with the serum. They were all just as tired and stressed as he was. And Timmy didn’t make it any easier for them, being an unstable emotional wreck and a liability to the team with his injuries.

“I wish I could stop being so pathetic.”, he uttered out loud, as he turned on the water. It was incredibly refreshing as it washed away the dirt on his body and cleared his head. So far, everything was going fine. Maybe he spoke too soon and the drug really helped to heal him up. That would mean he could join them down there and help with the research. Yeah, something like that. Or he could just assist and stand around, anything but distracting the others by making them worry for his health or causing even more problems. Which he would most likely do, given his luck.

Talk about luck, the crown was still floating over his head, just far away enough to not get too wet. Why was he even wearing it to begin with? It didn’t bother him, but it just felt … odd to have it. He didn’t notice the charm most of the time but the more he concentrated on it, the more he felt like there was something strange about it. But since it was the second time that he was feeling better while wearing it, he shoved these thoughts aside. As long as it wasn’t getting in the way, he could ignore it, just like everything else.

“Poof poof!” Unlike his brother, Poof could easily change his appearance and poof his clothes back on in perfect condition. Timmy didn’t understand fairy anatomy and powers quite well, but it seemed like this was a different kind of magic that worked without wands, like how he was still able to fly or transform. Maybe wings and fagiggly-glands had their own kind of power source or whatever.

To his relief, there was indeed a bundle of clothing on the ground after Timmy was done with his shower. As much as he liked it, his legs soon grew tired from standing and he had to hurry before his body decided to betray him once more. Goddard barked, wagging his tail happily as the average teen thanked him before shutting the door in the canines face again. He felt bad for doing that, but letting the dog would be weird … He had no problem with his godparents and brother present, he knew them for years, after all and they were his family. But the watchful eyes of Jimmy’s robot dog? As sorry as he was for that, if could avoid that, he would.

The clothes were nothing special, a set of comfy ones to sleep in, consisting of grey sweatpants with white stars on them and a black merch-hoodie of a band called ‘Dumpty Humtpy’ with pink fuzzy socks to complete the look. Not bad. Then there were also day-clothes for later; a pair of blue ripped jeans, a black t-shirt and underwear with … were those hearts? Why was Danny’s owning either boring plain stuff or a bunch or something embarrassing like that? (He wasn’t any better, but his taste was obviously the more cultivated one – aside from the punk stuff, those were awesome)
Not to mention somehow everything in Amity Park looked so dark and gloomy compared to his bright and colorful home. It made him miss it even more, if only for his pink hoodies, jackets, beanies and hats. His head felt naked and vulnerable without anything on it. The hovering crown did little to add to his security.
Recent events had shown him just how important headwear was! Like, maybe it would’ve saved him the injury if he had worn a hat? Ever thought of that? … Alright, Yeah, that was maybe a bad way to avoid thinking too seriously about his problems and an even worse attempt at convincing himself to believe anything that would’ve changed the events for the better, no matter how silly and unrealistic. Could be his bad coping mechanism kicking in, the cynical and sarcastic humor. Danny was right, a few hours of decent sleep weren’t such a bad idea.

When he got back to Danny’s room, followed by Goddard and Poof, only SpongeBob was there, fluffing the pillow on the bed.

“Oh, hi Timmy!” The sponge greeted cheerfully, doing the finishing touches. Three sleeping bags and a bunch of pillows and blankets were placed around the room in a circle. “How are you?”

“Still great … I think.” He mumbled, trying not to show how relieved he was to finally sit down on the soft mattress again. He felt bad for assuming he was going to sleep in the comfy bed while the others were on the ground. It just seemed unfair. “Need a hand?”

“Ah, no, I was done anyway.” He dusted his hands off and smiled, presenting his neatly placed work that would soon be a tangled mess regardless. Bob’s smile faltered after a few seconds and he tilted his head, as much as a square body with no neck could. “Are you okay, though? You look a little flushed. Can I get you anything?”

Maybe the warm shower had messed a little with his cycle, he was a little dizzy and felt hot yet cold at the same time, even with his hair still wrapped in a towel-turban. “Nah, It’s okay. What about the others?”

SpongeBob eyed him with a thoughtful expression until he deemed the teen to be in a well enough condition that didn’t require him running down to get help. “They’re all still working in the lab, I think. I guess we’ll just wait here, since we can’t really help them with their science stuff.”

Timmy scooted a little to the side, making room for the sponge to plop down next to him, which he happily did. “Yeah, we’d probably only be in their way …”

“I wouldn’t think of it like that.” Bob shrugged. “We just have other qualities that we can’t show off right now.”

Timmy snorted. It had been a while since just the two of them chatted and he realized that was also something he had missed but not known until now. Maybe that was also a feeling he had ignored or avoided until he forgot it altogether. “You’re right.” He watched Poof and Goddard in front of them, as they sat down on one of the sleeping bags, the canine nudging one of the pillows to the fairy boy who threw himself onto it, giggling.

“I think Jimmy’s medicine already helped. Compared yesterday, you look … much better!”, SpongeBob suddenly exclaimed, pointing at the injury on his forehead that was smaller and less bruised than before. Instead of fresh, it now looked like it was a at least three days old. Despite inspecting himself in the mirror, Timmy realized he hadn’t paid much attention to his wounds so far.

He experimentally touched the spot, still feeling a sting but without the head-exploding throb and the tightness. Next, he shrugged his shoulders, feeling the tension without causing him to sharply inhale. And for his chest with his ribs, he could still see the purple bruising when he lifted his shirt, but touching the spots felt just numb. Same for his back. All in all he was just tired. “I do feel a lot better, thanks to Nerdtron.” He couldn’t help but return the charming smile with one of his own, even if it lacked the energy. With SpongeBob reminding him of the positive sides, it was hard to think about how most of the stress and exhaustion that plagued Jimmy was because of him and how the repeating physical contact – especially the hug – still invaded his mind.

“You know,” Bob suddenly turned away from him, fiddling with his thumbs. “I know you probably don’t wanna talk about what happened, but if there is something you DO want to get out of your head … I may be not as good at giving advice like Jimmy or Danny, but I’m always here to listen. And to give lots of hugs!”

Touched by the approach and the genuine way his friend wanted to help him, Timmy couldn’t help but put an arm around the sponge, pulling him closer. Of yourse he knew he could talk to him without being judged or ridiculed or any of that. The same would go for Danny and Jimmy, but SpondeBob just had this pure innocence to him that made him trustworthy enough to open up. It was the same with Cosmo. Both of them could be silly and get off topic easily, but in the end, they really cared and had their own way of showing that and would help and protect him with all their might.

Timmy wanted to talk to him, he really did. But he had no idea if he could or how he would do that exactly. “Thanks, Bobby. I’ll … take you up on that eventually. But I’m always open for hugs.”, was all he could answer to that and for SpongeBob, that was good enough. He gladly compelled and wrapped his soft and squishy arms around the teen, careful not to touch any of the bad wounds.

SpongeBob bit his underlip, thinking hard if he should say something as he once more got the sensation that something was really not right. Something that made Timmy stand out from everything and everyone in a subtle detail that he couldn’t point out. But that was a weird thing to ask someone, even more so when he had no idea what it was and how he could proof it. Barnacles, it was right on his tongue!

However, he was soon distracted from it as he noticed someone else standing in the doorframe.

“Aww, a group hug and I’m not invited. Rude.” Danny coed with a lopsided grin. He had also changed to a comfier attire with his pink sweatpants and a white NASA-shirt.

“There’s always room for you too, Danny!” SpongeBob extended one arm to invite the halfa. He didn’t mean it literally, but said young adult had nothing against a hug, so he walked over and joined them on the bed, which was now getting a little crowded, Bob squeezed in the middle.

After a while, Danny stretched and looked at the ceiling. “Well, slight update is; so far we only saw the Box Ghost on the drone’s cam, Dani is doing a little patrol around the city with Jazz, and my parents kicked me and Jimmy out of the lab for now.” Of course, he knew he also needed some sleep, but it was still rude of them while Sam and Tucker did nothing but nod in agreement.

“I guess no news are still good news, as Cosmo would say.” Timmy absently rubbed the spot on his chest. Still numb and a little uncomfortable. As if he could feel something shifting – mending – beneath. “… What about Jimmy?”

Danny raised a brow, smirking as if he knew something the other didn’t and it was irritating. “He’s showering downstairs. I just dumped some of my old clothes there.”

“I didn’t know you had another bathroom.” Timmy pulled the towel down from his head, rubbing the soft material on his neck to warm it up. The least he wanted was getting a cold or a stiff neck after he just healed from most of his aches.

“Since Dani moved in with us a few years ago, we made some renovations. For example, her room is where dad’s old ghost torture chamber used to be.” Danny held back a laugh. “Sam said we should keep it that way because it’s so goth. Dani then offered her a deal to give her all the interior if she paid for her new furniture.” Although Jazz had moved out to study at a university known for science and psychology, they still sort of all kept their rooms and came back. In the end, Fenton Works and ghost fighting was still a family business and it glued them together. It was nice, knowing he always had a place and specially his room to come back to. It was like an actual proof of his existence, a footprint of his human-self that rooted him to his home whenever he felt like he was lost. “But we still have a storage room filled to the brim with old junk and broken machines.”

“This whole house is full of secret rooms and hidden stuff.” SpongeBob squeezed out of the gap he was trapped in, popping back to his square shape. “Just like the biiiig Ops center on the roof that can turn into a … what’s it called? Right, Blimp!”

As silly and uneventful as their conversation was, Timmy appreciated the simplicity. It was nice to finally just talk about whatever came to their mind. It was relaxing in a way. He just soaked the scenery in, relishing the inner piece it gave him. Closing his eyes, he just listened to Danny and Bob as they kept talking about all the crazy features of this house. Right now, there was no guilt or spiraling thoughts chaining him down. It was amazing just how a simple moment like this felt more healing and relaxing than anything else. Was it bad that Timmy thought this was the most comfortable he felt in days, weeks even? Still, without the constant presence of his godparents it just wasn’t the same but … he would make sure that they could all spend such a lame afternoon together again. Very soon.

His head perked as he heard another person walking down the hallway. It was Jimmy, because these rhythmic and carefully paced footsteps could only be him.

“Did I miss anything important?” The young genius stood there, in a red knitted sweater and white shorts that had the line art of a rocket on each side. He was also wearing fuzzy socks, only in blue. But the most notable about his appearance was his hair. It was straight … or well, somewhat. He had actually quite fluffy hair, almost a little curly, reaching just below his neck. Even if he took after his father with the color and little sideburns, he seemed to have also inherited the natural volume of his mother.

If his head was empty of thoughts before, his brain was surely fried now. He completely missed the way Poof and Goddard exchanged glances while Danny and SpongeBob smirked, their heads also darting from one immy to the other.

Chapter Text

Timmy had no idea what he looked like right now, but his dry eyes reminded him to blink and he took that as his cue to avert his gaze. It wasn’t like he hadn’t wondered what Jimmy’s hair looked like without his trademark fudge-style before. Or that his hair never lost its form when they were in the middle of a battle. But it was as if he … how should he put this? Saw Jimmy in another light right now? Yeah. As if he never truly paid attention to that before and couldn’t understand why he hadn’t in the first place. Then again, he wondered why he was making such a big deal out of it now when it clearly wasn’t. It was just the damp hair of his friend that he knew for seven years now. Well, not really years. There were literal months they never saw each other in between and Jimmy didn’t invent the dimensional cell phones until he entered high school.

“Well, how’s it going with the UPM?” Danny asked, breaking the unofficial staring contest between the two.

Jimmy just glared at him. As feared, his universal portal machine didn’t work, the signal was still unstable and he couldn’t get a clear path to Dimmsdale without risking another collapse. He would have to go back to his lab and try out the real UPM and see if that worked or if he could somehow amplify the power. But that would have to wait for tomorrow. Conversely, since this was just another set back and failure on his part, he wasn’t exactly in high spirits. He tried to downplay his anger and disappointment, but he was way too tired to push all that down right now.

The halfa raised his arms in surrender, Jimmy not noticing he had been staring him down the whole time as these upsetting thoughts coursed through his head. “I guess not so good then.”

Jimmy didn’t mean to take his frustration out on the others, they hadn’t done anything wrong after all. But he was just so exhausted and too much was going on in his brain to care about that. He had done a terrible job at saving Timmy from the fall, he couldn’t help him the way he wanted to, he messed up the formula of the serum because he did a sloppy job due to his impatience and enthusiasm and now he couldn’t even get his own devices to work. He was mentally exhausted and so done with everything.

“I think our friend Jimmy could also use a big hug.” SpongeBob mused, walking up to the genius.

However, the genius wasn’t in the mood for physical contact, so he took a step back from him, which was enough for the sponge to understand that he didn’t want one right now. He was already overwhelmed with the sensory overload he had to push down since lunch. As much as he wanted to ignore everything that happened, Danny’s words stil echoed in the back of his mind. They had more of an impact on him than he liked to admit.

“Oh, your brain had a blast, alright. Did it ever occur to you that, just because you have a sudden idea popping up in your head, doesn’t automatically mean it works and everything’s fine afterwards?”

He knew Danny never meant to intentionally insult him, but that sentence left him in a constant spiral of doubt and anger at himself, mostly because that wasn’t the first time someone had questioned his ideas. That was exactly why he tried to keep his emotions out of his work. Because his impulsiveness always led to chaos and he messed it up in the end. The only reason the people he cared about were in danger was because of him. Jimmy could never get it right. He either felt too much at once or not enough. At least not in a way others could understand. His parents and his friends did, but they were used to it since he was a kid. The people at school and now at college? His reputation was known way beyond Retroville, so the gossip behind his back was anything but subtle. They thought he was weird and didn’t even try to socialize with him. Not that he wanted to. He preferred it that way. He was fine on his own. Partners always held him back anyway.

“Oh, it’s okay if you don’t want to.” SpongeBob was probably the only being that never felt insulted or shut out by Jimmy’s unexpected mood swings. He respected the genius’s boundaries and was always understanding when he rather wanted to be left alone, but most of the time he knew a little company was just the thing he needed. Which was why he had a sudden idea. “Well, I guess it’s my turn to head to the bathroom now. Can I also borrow some clothes, Danny?” Bob grabbed the halfa’s hand, tugging him off the bed.

“Sure.” Danny followed the sponge to his closet, opening it and rummaging through the chaotic piles of clothing. He quickly got the hint to leave Jimmy alone for now. Maybe Timmy could get through that thick skull of his. “Although I’m not sure I have any pants in here that would fit you.” Deeming most of his clothes too big or long, he pondered what else they could use. Sam was really good at sewing, so maybe he could just look for some of his old teen clothes that should still be in the garage or the storage room, considering his dad never threw anything away. “I think I have an idea. You guys go ahead, we’ll be back soon.”, he addressed Jimmy and Timmy, leading SpongeBob out of the room. They both exchanged looks, hoping this would turn out okay. They couldn’t deal with two angsty teens at once, at least not in a stressful time like this.

✧ « ★ » ✧

Timmy watched Jimmy stand in the room for a couple more seconds, until Goddard gently nudged his leg with his snout, pulling the genius out of his thoughts. His gloomy face soon shifted to some form of monotone tiredness, but he still put on a faint smile to pet his good boy.

Unsure what he could say or how to break the awkward atmosphere, he just stared at his hands, fingers drumming on his legs to get the nervousness out of his body. It didn’t work. Now with just them, Goddard and Poof present, it was just like before. Hopefully he wouldn’t embarrass himself this time around by saying anything else stupid or corny. But he couldn’t just sit here and ignore him. Ugh, this was hard. He was terrible at opening up to others about his own feelings already, how was he supposed to help Jimmy? He was a hundred percent sure Danny and SpongeBob left them alone here on purpose.

“Uhm … do you want to take the bed? I’m fine sleeping on the floor.” Great. What a way to start a conversation. Not out of the blue at all.

Jimmy faced him, still not unreadable as always. Timmy started to think he would only let others see to a certain degree what was really going on in inside him, depending on how much he wanted them to know about it. Or he was just too prideful. “Absolutely not. You’re still hurt and need all the rest you can get.”, he said with such a certainty that Timmy froze. Especially when he stepped closer. “Besides, I still need to take a look at you.” Now he was right in front of him, his hair falling into his face as he bent over, to inspect the injury on Timmy’s forehead. The latter just froze as Jimmy raised his hand to touch his temple. “Fascinating, the healing process increased even more than expected. Most of the bruises and scratches are gone too.”

At least something was going according to plan. How unexpected, Jimmy thought bitterly.

“Y-yeah. I think so.” Timmy didn’t know if he wanted to back away or not, so he just remained where he was, relieved that Jimmy at least didn’t seem so distanced anymore. But his face was so close and it made his heartrate go crazy. Ugh, why on Fairy World did Poof have to mention Trixie and compare her to Jimmy? That information was just unnecessarily messing with his head! Of course Jimmy only wanted to inspect his injuries to make sure his invention worked properly. There was no reason to feel uncomfortable when he was so close in his personal space. No reason at all!

Jimmy hummed, his gaze analytically roaming Timmy’s body from top to bottom, which didn’t make it less awkward for the latter to be towered over by him. “Can you take your shirt off?”

Timmy’s face turned deep red. Did he miss a few steps here? “W-what?” He quickly scooted out of Jimmy’s reach, almost falling off on the other side of the bed in the process. His reflexes saved him just in time by holding onto the frame, the genius not having any clue what he did wrong to cause such a flabbergasted reaction from the other.

Blinking in confusion, Jimmy thought his sentence over and figured he should’ve maybe elaborated further. Explaining his thought process was something he tended to forget with his brain working so fast and the steps seeming so logical and obvious to him that he didn’t see the necessity to mention them most of the time (since other people usually never bothered to listen to his throughout explanations anyway). “I want to inspect the burn on your back and Goddard needs to scan your ribs.” He rubbed the back of his neck. Out of context, what he said really did sound weird and now he also felt his cheeks turning red, the nervousness slowly creeping up on him. He blamed the sleep deprivation for his slow brain process. “And based on that, I’ll determine if you still need medication or new bandages.”

Timmy mentally slapped himself for his stupid reaction and he relaxed. His mind was just playing some drama out of a series out of nowhere. He needed to get that under control. “A-ah, right! Sure, I mean, as long as it’s not another dose of your drug I’m fine with that.” He did as he was told, removing the band shirt and turning around to give him access to his burn. Despite knowing Jimmy had probably seen him in just his underwear already to patch him up before, he still felt a vulnerable and self-conscious now that he was fully aware of what was going on around him. He shuddered, the sudden cool air after a hot shower on his torso making his skin crawl.

Jimmy went to grab the chair to sit in front of him once more. “It’s not a drug, Turner.” He rolled his eyes, aware that Timmy would keep calling it that just because it annoyed him and he was already beginning to regret ever addressing that. If he would just suppress his impulse to correct the other more often, he wouldn’t figure out what riled him up or bothered him so fast. Maybe he should work on that. But it was hard to keep his initiate thoughts to himself around his former rival. He just had his methods of provoking and teasing him in ways that not even Danny or Cindy could. It made him conflicted, because it was both infuriating and thrilling sometimes.

“Technically, every kind of medicine is a drug, just like alcohol, cigarettes and coffee.” Timmy looked over his shoulder with a grin, glad they could finally get back to the old bickering instead of that awkward silence and Jimmy brooding. “Either chemical or made of herbs, it’s addictive regardless.”

“Well, technically, anyone can be addicted to anything and there are still various differences with chemicals and plants.” Jimmy insisted, his annoyance hardly overshadowing the amused smirk that formed on his lips. He decided to turn tables before he was labeled a coffee addict next. “Still, how come you fail in chemistry class if you apparently know so much about it?”, he purred as he leaned forward, elbows placed on his lap, to which Timmy stuck his tongue out as a response. Jimmy noticed the earthly scent had been replaced with the fresh aroma of pomegranate. And the hint of Timmy’s dimples, as he grinned, more out of spite than amusement.

“Because they don’t ask stuff like that. I just read it on social media once.” Timmy had long given up on understanding anything that included formulas and equations. No matter how many times something was explained to him, he just couldn’t picture it. If the situation called for it or he imagined a logical scenario, his street smarts made him act on instinct, but during a test or exam, his brain was always empty. The judging gazes of his teacher, the pressuring ticking of the clock, the letters on his pages that seemed to mock him and merge with one another – it sucked. “Not that you ever had a problem with our educational system.”

And just like that, the enticing aura that clouded Jimmy’s thoughts was gone.

“I did, actually.” Jimmy knew others in his class usually complained about certain subjects they would teach in school, deeming them as unimportant for their later life, especially math and physics. To Jimmy, it was all his life revolved around, so he hardly could relate to that struggle. In his case, the education couldn’t be enough. It was never enough. Not good enough, at least. Because what he lacked wasn’t theoretical knowledge. It was everything around that and more personal. But for some reason Jimmy, who always wanted to fix everything he thought was imperfect in his life, didn’t see a reason to change that. Ignoring it was the better option, which he would continue to do even now. “Anyway, the burn injury is mostly closed now, but I’ll put some salve and new bandages on it so it won’t accidently re-open.”

Jimmy got up to retrieve said items from the desk while Goddard jumped on the empty seat to perform his own examination now. Somehow, being scanned with the lights of Goddard’s eyes was still less intense than feeling the genius’s steel blue eyes that were just mere inches away from him just a second ago.
Timmy kind of got the impression he said something that offended or unsettled the genius. He knew Jimmy had as much of a hard time fitting in than he did, even if it was under opposite circumstances. He was also not understood by most of his peers and jerkinators gotta stick together, right? So he needed to set things right and hopefully cheering him up in the process.

Alas, apologizing and talking about emotions had never been Timmy’s strength. He always felt weird doing that, almost like a hypocrite. And Jimmy clearly didn’t seem like he was in the mood to open up and share his feelings right now. Maybe he should distract him with another topic? Talking made this whole process less awkward and he could ignore the weird tension while having the other so close to his personal space. He was good at talking his way out of unpleasant situations after all. If only with lame excuses.

“Uhm … well, how’s college going? Met any other fellow geniuses?” He tried to steer the topic in a positive direction. Giving Neutron the opportunity to brag about his accomplishments and how he was finally intellectually challenged, could perhaps lighten up his mood. Timmy tried to channel his inner SpongeBob for once and be the empathetic one, even if he hated to talk about academics, knowing full well he was never getting a scholarship and his future was most likely going to be a dark pit he didn’t dare to step into. This wasn’t about him after all.

“It’s … fine. I’m mostly doing online classes, so I don’t interact much with others. The assignments are okay.” Jimmy realized he never told Timmy what he was majoring in. “I wasn’t really interested at first, but I suppose I can learn a thing or two about genetics and chemical engineering. It’s still only the first semester, after all.”

“What? I though you would go for physics, robotics or something crazy like that.” Timmy pat Goddard’s head when he finished, barking happily. Jimmy was already back, his mouth in a thin line, arms full with the first aid kit, a cloth, disinfectant and the ointment. “Well, I guess there’s no point doing that if you already know everything about it, right?”

“No. Assuming to always know everything is arrogant. Being an expert at one thing doesn’t make you better than everyone in everything else.”, Jimmy repeated Cindy’s words. A sudden coldness befell him. Admittedly, she was right about that in a way. He just hadn’t realized that for a long while. Maybe that was the reason they didn’t work out. After all, he was the emotionally crippled one, so why shouldn’t it be his fault es well? Always too much or not enough. His emotions, what he did, what he tried. It was never a balance. Never normal.

Back when he was a kid and didn’t know any better and just wanted to grasp all the knowledge and put it to use, he never cared what others said and wanted to prove them wrong. But his curiosity and stubbornness led to enough trouble that he eventually learned his lesson. Just because one knew something well didn’t mean he knew literally everything there was to it, and it surely didn’t imply one never could still learn something new. He could be proud of his accomplishments, but being too cocky about it would only make him careless. And his miscalculation with the serum was a good example for that. How his emotions, his pride, his excitement, his urge to help Timmy as fast as possible, could backfire when he was working. Just like his emotions affected his efficiency whenever he had a fight with Cindy. Or after they broke up. That’s why he usually tried to suppress his inner turmoil and instead focused on his inventions. It was just easier and less complicated. Ignorance was bliss, as the people said.

How long exactly had Timmy been staring at him like he had grown a second head? Did he say something inappropriate again? He assumed carrying on as if nothing happened would be for the best. The sooner he could get some sleep, the better. His mind was all over the place right now. “But I admit it would’ve been more fun to work on robotics and AI instead of analyzing cells.” He put the utensils down next to Timmy, avoiding eye contact.

“If you don’t like it, why are you studying it?” Timmy couldn’t understand how someone would voluntarily put themselves through that. One of his biggest fears was ending up doing something he hated for his entire adult life, and he already hated everything in school except art and P.E, especially athletics. Hearing Jimmy say something so downgrading about himself also didn’t sit right with him. He preferred it when Jimmy gloated and took pride in his accomplishments. He would even take the ‘in your face’ dance over that repressed, stiff attitude. Just when had the genius developed such a distanced mannerism? Why was he always so hard to read and understand? It was so frustrating! Why couldn’t that stubborn idiot just be honest for once about himself?

Well, takes one to know one. How was he any better, the biggest liar of them all?

Jimmy didn’t answer right away, studying the results on Goddard’s screen. “Your ribs are fine. I’m glad the serum works as predicted … except for the painless part. I’ll eventually have to run a blood test, but that can wait.” He then opened the salve, gesturing for Timmy to turn around again. The bucktoothed boy wasn’t thrilled about the thought of needles, but after everything he went through the last two days, that should be the least of his issues. “About my career choices, my folks said I should expand my horizon. And the government wants me to work for them no matter what degree I get, so I just … spontaneously made a random decision. I didn’t think too much about it.” And that was also a lie. He spent so many sleepless nights pondering. And then he just gave up, choosing the first thing he stumbled upon. It wouldn’t matter or change anything anyway …

“You and being spontaneous? Agh-“ Timmy hissed as Jimmys fingers touched a particular sensitive spot on the wound while he spread the ointment over it, massaging the sore muscle. Jimmy immediately removed his hand, waiting for the other to react further or just … anything. Timmy couldn’t see it quite well from his angle, but he guessed his friend was still scared to accidently cause him more harm when he actually intended to make it better. “It’s fine. It was just unexpected, is all.”

“Sorry.” The genius mumbled barely audible and dried his hands on a towel to work on the bandage instead. Timmy got a feeling he wasn’t finished yet but wanted to avoid touching him. Was he really that pathetic that the thought he would break under the slightest pressure?

“Carl and Sheen must’ve been really shocked about your impulsiveness as well, right?” He thought it would be better to go on with the conversation, maybe that could distract Jimmy. Next to him, Goddard whimpered, tilting his head to Timmy as if he was pleading to not mention that. What was wrong with asking about Jim’s best friends?

“They were.” Jimmy remembered their exaggerated outbursts, asking him who he was and what he had done to the real Jimmy because the real one would never abandon his passions and go for a lame degree. They were also the ones to ask him if working as a spy or scientist for the government was what he really wanted and he had no idea what to say or tell them in both situations. “They went to a community college. We … haven’t seen each other in a while.”

“Oh.” Now Timmy knew why Goddard dropped his ears and jumped down to sit by his owner’s feet. “A. J. also moved away for university. I guess that’s what happens when you get older …” You have less time to spend with friends and they go their separate was eventually. But he didn’t dare to say it. He knew the loneliness Jimmy must’ve felt and he was still lucky to go to high school with Chester. He had at least one of his best friends still by his side when they had classes together. As much as he hated school, he wouldn’t see him everyday otherwise and he dreaded the upcoming exams, prom and graduation. And every other change that would come after that …

“Perhaps. Can you lift your arms a little?” Now that Timmy knew Jimmy had an equally dislike to talk about his current situation at home, he had nothing against it when he switched the subject. Besides, he was distracted enough by how close Jimmy’s face close to his right ear, as his arms reached around his chest from behind, wrapping the bandage a few times around and over the shoulder so the compress wouldn’t slip out when he moved.

Jimmy’s hair smelled like mango, shining like silk. A stark contrast to the deep circles under his eyes and the pale skin. While Timmy was somewhat healthy now, his friend looked like a zombie, which would be almost comical if it wouldn’t pain the average teen to see that.

“Done. Now turn around.” Usually not fond of being ordered around, Timmy didn’t mind it in that situation and complied. The less he argued, the faster they were finished and both of them could finally sleep a little. Maybe their moods would be less gloomy then. And he was starting to get the feeling right now wasn’t a good time to have a spirit lifting chat, everything he said seemingly having a negative effect. He stepped from one sensitive topic into the next without even trying. His bad luck at its best. What was this stupid crown charm even good for?

Jimmy carefully moved Timmy’s bangs out of the way so he could dab a cloth with disinfectant on his forehead. It stung, but the average teen did his best to not show any reaction this time, instead focusing on Jimmy’s expression. Conflicted and still so damn monotone. Timmy knew he wasn’t the right person for feels talk, but it was getting on his nerves. He just couldn’t leave it like that, the awkwardness between them would only get worse until they had no idea how to talk to each other anymore.

When Jimmy put the band aid on his wound, Timmy clutched his wrist. His fingers were still shaking. Compared to his face, they gave away the nervousness that lingered in his bones. Initially Timmy wasn’t sure if he would only make it worse but, like always, his mind and body reacted before his logic did. “I know you asked me that a lot the last few hours but … are you okay?”

Stunned, Jimmy’s expression changed, his eyes darting from Timmy’s hand to his face, confused. “I …” he couldn’t form the words he wanted to say. His initial response was to neglect the question or to just state he was tired and be done with it. But he couldn’t. Something about Timmy and the way he looked at him with such earnest care kicked something loose. Perhaps his brain was too exhausted to keep the barriers up he had build, but he felt himself crumble and collapse just looking into those aquamarine blue orbs. “I don’t know.”, he finally admitted, huffing at the frustration towards himself, not even knowing how to put his inner struggle into words. “I don’t know what to feel.”

Maybe the reminder of his most conflicted emotions set something in motion. Mentioning Carl and Sheen, remembering the bittersweet romance between him and Cindy, his problems with school and college … had refreshened all the pain and turmoil that he had tried to ignore for months now. Burying it under his logic and work. As long as he kept his mind busy with other things, he couldn’t overthink on all these overwhelming problems. The things he was afraid to tackle.

Timmy on the other hand was glad his friend even responded at all. It was still progress, right? “That’s okay. Sometimes people feel bad without knowing why. Or not at first. You’re exhausted, James.”

Jimmy shook his head. No, that wasn’t it. It never was from the beginning. He just blamed it on that since it was easier. Less complex. One minor inconvenience just added up to another and another and it was starting to become too much. Or maybe he was just being too dramatic about it. He was known for overreacting to things that others thought weren’t as bad while Jimmy thought they were mad for not seeing the problem when it was right there in front of them. Like an itch or a rash only he was affected by. “Have you ever … had the impression that everything you do, no matter how much you try, doesn’t work out the way you wanted it to?”

Blinking, Timmy thought that over, until the realization made him snort, as bitter and sad as the truth was. “Tch, all the damn time, Neutron. I’m a walking chaos magnet, you know that.” Now he was the one to squeeze Jimmy’s hand. “Even when I try to think something through, to make the best choice, to have backup plans, to prepare for the consequences – Things just don’t go the way I wish they would. It’s my curse.”

Of course it was. How insensitive of him. What a fool he made of himself right now. Why did Jimmy even bring that up in the first place? But then again, he couldn’t help but wonder out loud: “… How does that make you feel? How do you deal with that?”

It was genuine curiosity, maybe a little desperation even. Because Jimmy couldn’t for the love of science make sense of it. He remembered from his visits in Dimmsdale just how crazy things could get, especially for Timmy. They could relate to each other’s mishaps, both their wishes and inventions backfiring on them, unleashing consequences they had to undo in the aftermath. He honestly wanted to know from the perspective of someone in his shoes what they went through. if it was the same for them or if he was the problem, being too vulnerable about it.

Timmy chewed on his lip, which he always did when he seriously thought about something, looking to the side. There was always motion on Timmy’s body language, even his expression. Jimmy found it quite fascinating to watch the process and wonder what thoughts rushed through his mind. But after an agonizing eternity, he answered: “It drives me crazy. Sometimes I think the whole world is against me. I’m angry, sad, it feels unfair … and I wonder if it’s all just because of me, what I did wrong or I blame the world and everything else.” He shrugged, meeting his eyes again. “Like, no matter what I do, it’s never good enough. I’m not the popular kid, I’m never the first choice – literally, even rocks are better than having me as a partner, apparently! I fail at almost everything and it’s tiring to know that I can’t change most of it. And when I do try, the universe gives me the middle finger.”

Blushing, Timmy wondered if that made sense or if he was probably oversharing too much. He had no idea if what he was blabbering about even helped Jimmy at all. He didn’t want to accidentally make this about him by spilling his guts. Jimmy had helped him so much to the point of neglecting his own needs, so he just wanted to finally do something right and repay the genius for everything he did so far. Did that make sense? “But when I get this out of my system and I think back, it maybe didn’t turn out the way I wanted, but that doesn’t mean it can’t also be good … you know what I mean?”
Jimmy didn’t react further and simply stared, as if he absorbed every word Timmy uttered. Well, that didn’t ease his nerves. It was both unnerving and also flattering, making his cheeks burn even more. How was he supposed to react when these intense eyes bored into his very soul? “Like, if you have a difficult equation, you don’t just give up after the first try, don’t you? You try again … Or, dunno, use a different approach.”

“I suppose.” Jimmy pondered over Timmy’s words. It actually kind of made sense. He was usually never satisfied with just one attempt and the word ‘impossible’ didn’t exist for him when it came to finding a solution to something that bothered him. “But it’s different if … It involves other people that get hurt because of my mistakes.”

So Timmy didn’t imagine Jimmy calling himself an idiot earlier and this was still about the serum. Or most likely running even deeper. “You’re right. It’s not that easy to get over if it was at the expense of someone else. I still think Cosmo and Wanda could still be here if I didn’t mess it up.”

“That’s not how I meant it.”, the genius quickly added, putting his other hand over Timmy’s.

Timmy was quick to assure him he didn’t thought so. “I know. It’s, uhm, what I mean …” He silently cursed his loose mouth and blinked the tears away that threatened to spill out of his eyes again. He didn’t want to cry again, especially not with Poof in the room and Jimmy here. He would just feel guilty for that too. “I tried so hard to do the right thing. To save my – to save Cosmo and Wanda. I tried so bad and I was so desperate when it didn’t work out. And although I know they don’t blame me for it and they have always been there for me, encouraging me until the end … I can’t help but think this wouldn’t have happened if, like, someone else had been in my place.”
Timmy had no idea why he did that to himself. It just reminded him how much it still hurt – so why was he talking about that, of all things, when it had nothing to do with Jimmy’s feelings? As if there was an impulse he couldn’t control, one that told him he should go on. And he did. “In all these years, we’ve never been apart for that long. It’s stupid and childish and I know I’m here with you guys to support me now but … I’ve never felt so alone and lost before in my life. I just can’t imagine my life without them anymore” Oh, how true this statement was, reminding him just what he was willing to endure just to keep his happiness. “And at that moment, when I fell through the portal, I felt so empty, hopeless and desperate when they were right there and I couldn’t take them with me. I just thought this was it, it’s the end, I can’t loophole my ass out of this one.”

Hearing the usually carefree unhinged idiot say something so serious and depressing formed a knot in Jimmy’s stomach. It filled him with a sort of adrenalin similar to when he saw Timmy fall with his own eyes. Maybe not for the same reason, but he definitely felt equally as helpless back then. And he could also relate to the empty feeling that was left when the people he was used to being at his side were gone just like that. From one day to the other everything changed, like a nightmare coming true. “Turner …”

Before he could think about it, he put his hand on Timmy’s cheek, wiping the single tear away that rolled down the soft skin. His thumb tickled, as if tiny sparks were passed on through the contact.

“All I could think about was to get here. That if I just endured it a little more, everything would be alright. I had no idea if it would work out or if we would make it, but I tried anyway. Because if all that failing taught me one thing, it’s that I’m too stubborn to give up and prove them right. And, well, it worked.” Shaking his head, Timmy got rid of the bad memories, he wanted to make a point and for Jimmy to understand it. Even if it hurt to talk about it – or maybe that was what he needed himself right now, even if he was being selfish. “Still, I could’ve asked for help before all of that happened. I could’ve called or texted but I didn’t. I ignored you all, thinking my problems were my business alone and I shouldn’t bother you with that.”

Gaping, like Timmy did when he first got here, Jimmy stared at him. He didn’t know what to say to that. So he stayed quiet, just listening to what his friend hat to say, trying hard to ignore the pounding of his chest that got louder with each second.

For Timmy, the lack of response only made him more nervous. Was Jimmy still not convinced or did he wait for anything specific? Some life changing wisdom? Boy, he must’ve been really tired if he thought Timmy was the right person to provide that. Which didn’t mean he wouldn’t try at least. “But I don’t have to deal with this alone because we’re friends! You said there was no way I could’ve predicted that and that we can make up for it. And the same goes for you too! Heck, I wouldn’t have gotten myself roasted like a barbeque if I didn’t think you’d be able to save the day.” Frustrated, Timmy closed his eyes to concentrate and gather his thoughts. He had no idea what he was even saying at this point, he just spluttered out whatever crossed his mind. Now that he voiced all that out loud, he also reflected on his own actions. He was so tired of them both guilt tripping themselves and pep talking to the others when all they did was blaming themselves about everything like this was some kind of pity-competition. And Jimmy not applying his own advice to himself was like looking in a mirror and he wanted to shake the genius and tell him how awesome he was.
“Anyways!” He announced more to himself, silently vowing to suck it up and postpone his spiritual journey of acceptance for a more fitting time. “What I’m trying to say is, if things don’t go as you planned, if something goes wrong, it’s okay to feel angry or sad about it. But don’t let that drag you down, especially if it was beyond your control. So what if the serum hurt? It worked out, didn’t it? Could it have gone better? Maybe, but who cares! No matter how many times we screw up, somehow, we still make it through and that’s what matters.”

Goddard barked in agreement, one of his metal paws patting Jimmy’s leg. The genius honestly had no idea how to respond to that. It was true, he had said all that to Timmy because he was still blaming himself and yet he did also a fantastic job at projecting the guilt towards himself. But this wasn’t just about what happened today. It was just the cherry on top of so many other layers of issues.

Sighing, Jimmy discarded his glasses and put them on the desk. “It’s not just about the serum!” He tried to keep his voice down, since Poof was apparently asleep on his pillow, while Timmy would argue the fairy boy was just pretending, seeing him peek over his shoulder every now and then but not daring to interrupt the intimate moment.

Timmy quickly got the hint and guided him towards the bed, both sitting cross-legged and facing each other, Goddard curling up in Jimmys lap. This almost felt like a sleepover where people would gossip and admit their deepest secrets or something alike.

The average teen wanted his friend to know he didn’t need to push himself, that he could take his time or not talk at all if he wanted. They could just sit here in silence. Well, as much as they could, it was never silent in their brains, both active and running wild with ideas or imagination but overthinking all the same. Timmy could see the gears in Jimmy’s exhausted mind turning like the rusty cogwheels of a clock. This was probably a very sensitive topic for the genius and required a lot to unpack, which would mean he was most likely weighing his options if it was even worth to mention it. Now was not really the time for a friendship therapy session, after all.

But Timmy would take the time they needed, no matter how much his dimension was crumbling apart right now. He wouldn’t be able to sleep otherwise anyway.

“Sometimes,” Jimmy finally spoke, his voice almost like a whisper. He stared at the empty space on the blanket between them, keeping his hands busy by scratching Goddard’s back who seemed to like that, which made Timmy wonder just how much the metal plates were able to feel physical touch. “it’s hard not to feel like I’m … wired differently than other people. As if I exist in a parallel universe at the same time and space as everyone else, just never connecting with them. And if I do, I’ll get repelled because I don’t fit in and it starts all over again.”

Hugging his pillow close to his chest, Timmy was glad to be the one listening for once. Yet, what he heard felt like a scar that ran deep throughout Jimmy’s childhood and he could relate to that to a certain degree. Jerks that nobody understood.

“I was always used to being the boy genius, the gifted child, the odd one out and all that.” He had no idea what even prompted him to search for the right words to describe his pain. Jimmy just felt like he could trust Timmy, as if everything seemed warmer and less complicated when he was close by. “But you know how people get sometimes. Talking behind your back, calling you names, pushing you around, avoiding you because you always cause trouble … I thought it was normal for kids, they don’t know any better. But it was just the same in middle and high school.”

“Yeah, I can imagine.” Timmy tried not to think about the bullying and the humiliation, especially the one connected to his heartbreak. Or all the times he was beat up by Francis, who never had to pay for it. Walking home with two black eyes and a broken nose while neither his parents nor the teachers ever did anything. And when he wanted his revenge by wishing, suddenly HE was the bad guy. Yes, Timmy truly understood the frustration.

A sudden itch on his head popped up. He scratched his damp hair, not minding the crown charm the glowed a little as the back of his hand touched it while doing so.

“The only people that understood and accepted me for who I was where my parents and my friends.” Jimmy continued, not aware of how lucky he was that he had attentive parents that always cared and defended him. “I had the opportunity to skip elementary school and go to college when I was eleven. It … wasn’t as great as I thought. For people as smart as they claimed to be, they sure didn’t feel bad about picking on a kid half their age.” He bit the insides of his cheeks. Admitting that was really embarrassing, he never even told his friends and parents the full extent of his decision to never skip a year again, no matter how unchallenged he felt. “I figured, as long as I stay with the people that get me, it’s not that bad to be me. So I stayed with Carl and Sheen as long as I could.” Because being with other weirdos was relaxing and he felt more normal than he did on his own. “But people grow older, they graduate and eventually their interests differ. And then they decide to go different paths. Regardless of what I want or what I did, in the end, I just postponed the inevitable.”

Timmy grimaced, knowing that feeling all too well. “And this semester was the first you were all alone.”

“I wasn’t alone so to speak.” Jimmy downplayed the feeling of utter betrayal and unfairness he experienced once one after the other moved out of Retroville, while he remained, moving completely into his lab. It was an excuse to be somewhat independent, but in reality, he just wanted to shut everything out. Because it wasn’t the same as it used to be, and what was even the point of walking around the town if nobody went with him. He could just stay in his lab and work on things he never had the time for while he was in school. “We still keep in touch and see each other on every second weekend. I can also gather them just like you guys with the UPM in a second or fly over to their dorm.”

Smelling the bullshit from here, Timmy tilted his head. Jimmy may have a good poker face, but he was a horrible liar, especially when he wanted to sound positive about something that he clearly didn’t think was the bright side to a situation. It was just whitewashing. “But it’s not the same.”, he elaborated for Jimmy when the latter went quiet, mulling over his own words, hoping to convince at least himself. “The distance still makes a difference, even if it’s not physically.”

Goddard looked up at his creator, licking his jawline. Jimmy couldn’t fool anyone. It was actually a great deal for him. More than for others, who probably wouldn’t get it and think he was just being overdramatic. “You’re right. It’s different. And I don’t feel comfortable with this changed routine yet. Before, I always … wished I had a day or a little more time to myself, in my lab, where everyone would leave me alone just once. Now, a day turns into a week and if it weren’t for my mom or you guys dragging me out most of the time …”
He didn’t elaborate. There was no need to. The distance was never the problem. If there was a will, there could be a way to meet each other, especially if one of them was a genius with a working portal or just holograms to simply talk face to face. It really was not a physical issue that isolated him from others. It was a mental thing. “Perhaps Cindy was right when she said I seem to like machines more than people. Why else would I lock myself away when being alone bothers me even more?”

It was always illogical to Jimmy when people did or became the exact same thing they hated. So being on the receiving end of this phenomenon left him aimless. He was the problem in this equation, because only someone that wasn’t normal could trap themselves in such a paradox.

Although Jimmy never went into details about his relationship, Timmy remembered they got together in their freshman year and that he couldn’t be genuinely happy for him since that was also around the time his own heart was broken to pieces. Even more so because they were together for around two and a half years, which was longer than any of them would’ve imagined, considering how much they argued.

He noticed Jimmy was mentally drifting away, sinking further down his spiraling thoughts. He recognized this state, finding himself in similar mindsets more often than not due to his own stress with growing up, graduating, the contract, his magical life that was at stake … and yet, despite the need to be with the people he cared about and not wanting to be alone, he pushed others away. Because a very tiny voice inside his head wouldn’t shut up and told him if he screwed this up like everything else in the end, he was at least already used to it. To feel shitty, alone with his misery and having no one to turn to. Because if he lost his godfamily, his friends and possibly also his memories, what else could be left? Just the fragments of being neglected and hurt?

Alright, this wasn’t a pity party. Focus, Turner. Okay, maybe he should say something. Jimmy was already looking at him expectantly.

“Well, people suck. Can’t blame you for that.”, was the first thing that came to his mind. Not the advice he hoped for but saying that just felt right. And he was especially proud that this was what made Jimmy laugh, if only just a little and it was the first thing he could think of to say. He hadn’t seen him so expressive in a while. When had the genius begun to present himself so reserved? “But she’s wrong! You care so much  – and maybe you just get a little carried away sometimes. But who wouldn’t if there’s always so much going on in your thick skull?”

Jimmy should be insulted but instead, he felt his heartbeat rising. If anybody could relate to that, it was Timmy. His randomness was as annoying as it was endearing sometimes. And he was thankful for it this time.

He hadn’t really talked to Cindy since their breakup and since she went to study abroad in China after their graduation, he hadn’t heard about her. At least not directly, he still had to guiltily admit that he programmed his bots for any new social media activities of her. The pictures she posted online both made him happy for her to finally be able to be her own person but at the same time he was incredibly … jealous. Like a part of him didn’t want her to be happy but just as miserable as he was after she left.

It was so great and awesome at first. They worked together, did research and went to the same classes. But they also fought a lot. He had really tried to be a good boyfriend. He made her so many gifts and inventions and supported her on her martial arts competitions, but that was never enough. He had so many discussions with her, not just about relationship topics but also Cindy’s need to remind him that women are also good at this and better at that and that he should support her in that certain way and step back to let her shine at this and that event for once. It was a good thing they mutually decided to end it and remain as friends of some sort. They were just too likeminded in some ways and too different in others. They both needed someone to calm their egos down, not rile them up even more.

“I sometimes wanted to care less, actually.” Jimmy admitted. “She also called me an ‘insufferable know-it-all that has the emotional capacity of a brick wall’ once because I’m apparently too self-centered to understand her feelings. I don’t even remember what it was about anymore.”

He took a deep breath, not liking these memories.

Even if that was the right decision, it still hurt and he couldn’t help but think it would’ve gone differently if he was normal. Just when he thought he was having something casual in his life like everyone else, it was gone, leaving a black hole. All these memories of holding her hand, fooling around, having a picnic under a cherry tree, kissing her, holding her in her arms, sleeping next to her, doing normal couple stuff and also having someone that shared his interests. It should’ve been perfect. And it was, for a while at least. It filled Jimmy with so many emotions that he couldn’t even describe or begin to understand. At first young and blooming and now wilting away. “I just figured relationships are too complicated. It clouds my judgment and it makes me irrational. I make careless mistakes I wouldn’t otherwise and … I just don’t know what to feel, with everything that changed now. I guess even though I’m not I … also feel lost and alone.”

“And you ignore it, pushing that hurt away by keeping yourself busy.”, Timmy finished for him and they both stared at each other. Slowly but surely, Jimmy’s poker face crumbled, his lips quivering, eyes moist and nostrils flaring with how much he tried to keep his breathing normal and not too erratic. “I can relate to that … Not just the heartbreak and the ‘everything changes’ part.” Unsure how to consult someone, because he wasn’t as experienced at that like SpongeBob or Danny, he put a hand on the others knee. “But that’s normal! You have feelings, you’re not perfect, you can be overwhelmed and you can screw up or have bad days and relationship problems like everyone else.”

“It’s not normal and I hate that! Not for me … I” Jimmy squeezed Goddard even closer to his chest, who didn't mind licked his cheek. He tried to stay calm but he couldn’t stop the shaking and the grimacing, although he wanted to keep it to himself. “I can’t fix it. I can’t control it. I don’t understand it! I can’t deal with social activities on my own without my friends, I can’t deal with emotions, I can’t deal with a partner … and apparently now I can’t even do what I’m usually good at. It all just adds up and I – I don’t know what to do or how to make it stop and it’s so frustrating that I keep failing, regardless of my precautions! How can I be a genius or fix anything when I’m so chaotic?!”

At some point, Jimmy had squeezed his eyes shut. These feelings just wouldn’t let themselves be pushed down anymore and spilled out of him without stopping and he felt like a loser. Because once he admitted he wasn’t good at something, it was like acknowledging that he wasn’t smarter, superior and better than the emotional child with mood swings that he used to be. He had ignored all of that baggage for so long, it was as if this big hole would swallow him up once he faced it. That whatever was awaiting him down there would change something permanent. That he wouldn’t be able to return to be the perfect prodigy that everyone expected him to be. It was unknown terrain and, for once, his natural curiosity was replaced with fear of diving further.

Why did it feel like he was running out of air? Why was he being so dramatic now when everything should be okay? Timmy said he was fine and the serum worked. Everything that happened before that was supposed to be irrelevant!

“Okay, listen here, idiot.” Two hands grabbed his face now, forcing him to stare into Timmy’s eyes. “I know you’re not flawless and that you can’t fix everything.” He looked so stern and yet concerned, Jimmy didn’t know how to respond to that. “But that doesn’t make you worth less! You always put so much effort into everything, you always try your hardest with good intentions – I wouldn’t sit here if it weren’t for you caring so much!” Timmy took a deep breath and his face turned soft, just like his warm hands that Jimmy was highly aware of. “So what if you struggle with something like adapting to change or understanding emotions? You’re not less of a genius because you don’t know everything or because you make mistakes. You’re so much more than just your smarts and you should be proud of what you already accomplished instead of focusing on your failures – you’re the perfect version of yourself and … that’s enough, it doesn’t need more than that, Jimmy.”

Jimmy’s arms practically went slack and Goddard, who had been between them the whole time, dutifully hopped out of the way to sit next to Poof. The canine could hardly express himself, but he seemed sort of happy, proud even.

What could Jimmy possibly respond to that? His heart was racing with no intention of slowing down soon and his emotions were a mix of admiration, confusion and something strange he hadn’t felt in a long time. He didn’t believe in a higher being or something like that, but right now, Timmy seemed to glow in his vision. The background blurred and faded compared to how colorful and bright the other appeared. He sensed so much warmth and attraction coming from Timmy that all he could distinguish from the mess in his head was to focus on these sparkling aquamarine eyes, the way his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed and how soft his lips looked. Once he focused on them, he couldn’t tear his eyes away. He was drawn to them.

Slowly breaking out of his trance, he clasped the other’s hands. “Thank you.” It didn’t even come close to what he felt or what Timmy deserved to be told, but it was all Jimmy could think of. Gratitude for these words no one ever told him before and he didn’t know he needed to hear. It was adorable how Timmy turned red and immediately retraced his arms.

“S-sure, no problem! I just … wanted to help. No biggie.” Since his hands had become all sweaty for no reason at all, Timmy rubbed them on his pants, unsure what to do with himself now. He’d be lying if he said all these wise words came from the bottom of his heart, most were inspired from his K-Dramas and Anime he watched and he wasn’t the best at following them either, so maybe all he did was making a fool of himself.
And why was Jimmy looking at him like he hung up the stars in the sky? It wasn’t like he did anything special, he was just average, after all. He had no big accomplishments to be proud of, unlike the young man in front of him. It was weird when the genius was staring at him with such a dopey smile now. Completely off putting even. He had been close to another meltdown, almost – almost – crying and now he was just … observing. And too close! Their legs practically touched and it was – just weird. “Anyway, uhm … Yeah.”

Well done, Turner. An outstanding move, peak social interacting to not even be able to form a coherent sentence. Jimmy could really learn something from that.

“You did. It really helped a lot to ‘get it out of my system’ as you put it.” Jimmy blurted out when he noticed Timmy awkwardly scooting away. Well, okay, if it did, good for him (although Timmy felt like he had been the most emotionally venting here, crying like a wimp). “May I still ask for a favor?”

“Absolutely!” Timmy answered just as fast, clasping the fabric of his pants.

Jimmy rubbed his neck, unsure how to continue. He hadn’t thought that far. Actually, he didn’t think this through at all, which was something he hadn’t done in a long time. He just wanted Timmy to stay with him, to be close. His mind felt at piece with him and if he weren’t so exhausted right now, he would just sit and talk with him for the rest of the day. “I … think I could use that hug now.”

It wasn’t exactly what he wanted to say, despite not knowing what else he could’ve asked. He just felt this urge to end this on a good note. And what would be better than a hug? A pat on the shoulder? A high five? Holding his hand? A ki- Oh pukin’ plutonium, what in the Charles Dickens was he even thinking?!

“Nevermind!” as if the mattress had turned into a stove, he jumped up, his clenched fists swinging impatiently, waiting for their friends to return so they could pretend none of this ever happened.

To his surprise, Timmy actually stood up, wrapping his arms around him and Jimmy melted. For one, he had many hugs before, but never had it felt so good. And on the other hand, Timmy was still shirtless. It shouldn’t matter that much, considering there was nothing surprising or unsettling about it, but it did. It was everything. And his mind was both blank and exploding with so many emotions at the same time, he was surprised how it didn’t crush him like it usually would when he was overwhelmed.

And all the while, the strange item above Timmy’s head sparkled for just a second.

Chapter Text

Jimmy felt both his pulse quicken and his mind easing at the same time. It was strange how much Timmy’s presence affected him and he couldn’t help but bury his face in the crook of the others neck. He could almost feel the heartbeat of his friend, which was also faster than it should be. That was probably normal, considering they just went through a lot emotionally wise.

After another few seconds had passed, the genius found it hard to let go. Since he asked for the embrace, it was possible Timmy was just being polite enough to let Jimmy collect himself and therefore didn’t move an inch before that was accomplished.
It was sweet and yet … it was like Jimmy just took advantage of the moment. Because he really, really didn’t want to end this. For all the chaos that was rushing through his mind, he knew that for sure. And while he was already at it, feeling comfortable with the physical touch, he focused his concentration on his hands. The warm and soft skin of Timmy’s back, the subtle muscles that moved beneath his fingertips and the bandages. He had to practically force his curious mind to hold back so he wouldn’t let his hands roam all the way from the shoulder blades down to the hip, where the flesh highlighted his waist in all the good ways. At least as far as he could tell, he had no idea what counted as attractive, never really paying attention towards these superficial things before.

Finally pulling himself together, Jimmy let go. He was too overwhelmed with confusing emotions to say something, so he just stared into nothing, with just happened to be Timmy’s bandaged chest. It looked also soft and firm. Like a small layer of body fat with toned muscle mass beneath. Squeezable, as if he could just – Oh dear, this was getting out of hand. What was wrong with him all of a sudden? What was he thinking? Did something flip a switch inside him?

“Feeling better now?”, Timmy asked, a sheepish smile on his lips. The sunlight from the window was just in the right angle to reflected on his floating crown now, making it impossible to hide his flushed face. It made Jimmy feel guilty for some reason, as if he objectified the other without intention. But, like every new discovery or breakthrough, he couldn’t stop examining and was too blunt to mind his manners.

At first, Jimmy thought he imagined Timmy speaking, still too thunderstruck from his emotional state and the strange thoughts that made his heart race. “I do.” Unsure what to do now with himself, he looked around while Timmy went back to the bad to retrieve his shirt. Somehow it felt weird watching him putting it back on, so Jimmy occupied himself by claiming one of the sleeping bags for himself, picking at the blanket as he awkwardly sat on the floor, ignoring Goddard’s nudges and side glances. The canine seemed eager to show him something on his screen but the genius was beat for today and he just wanted to process what was going on and why he was still to agitated despite feeling … giddy.

“Something still bothering you?” It wasn’t even a real question at this point. Timmy simply sat down in front of him again, forcing himself into Jimmy’s vision and mirroring the way they sat just moments before on the bed.

Shrugging, Jimmy still found it hard to maintain eye contact. Something about the earnest way his friend’s eyes practically bored into his soul was unnerving. It was a little frustrating, because the genius had gotten so much better at controlling his old habits and now he felt like, with all that progress, there were some buried traits that began to resurface as well. “Usually I found it always easier to adapt to … these things … by keeping to myself.” He scratched his dog’s ears, thus giving him an excuse to not face the charming image in front of him.
Was it really the sunlight or did the crown glow on its own? It had to be one of these options, there was no way a person could emit such an aura. He wanted to look away but at the same time not. He feared if he dived too deep into these new uncovered seas, he would drown and unravel something that would change something. Him, them, everything. “It’s irritating to talk so much about myself when I don’t even know for certain if that’s accurate. I just want things to make sense and it’s annoying that, of all things, I understand myself the least.” His hands gestured around, as if attempting to make his explanation easier and more understandable. But nobody could see what he did, all the equations and blueprints that didn’t add up. “It’s like being able to invent a portal that provides access to the multiverse but not being able to fix Dad’s car. One has priority and should be simple, but I postpone it every time. Only I have no excuses in this case, I just don’t want to deal with it.”

Timmy snickered at that odd example. “Yeah, I can imagine how much that sucks. But humans aren’t projects, you can’t predict them, not even yourself.” Goddard decided to betray his owner and hopped over to Timmy now. Rude.

“Of course I know that. Believe me, I tried.” Jimmy rolled his eyes. “Or at least I had considered the possibility of inventing something that really could turn off my emotions. To care less and just take things as they come. To be normal.” Maybe he wouldn’t have such a hard time in college or his daily life then, if he could just stop overthinking and ignore the unpleasant encounters and circumstances. The breakup with Cindy had sparked this idea and when he graduated, if it weren’t for him keeping in touch with Timmy, Danny and Bobby, he would’ve probably started working on it. The research about it and the human brain were already saved in a folder on his laptop and he pondered over it whenever he felt too overwhelmed or overloaded. It gave him some kind of coping, like he was working actively on his problem with another approach to a solution. It wasn’t the right way but still better than ignoring it or dealing with the pain. He didn’t blame Cindy for that, though. She was a reminder of how good it felt to be intimate with someone you trusted, but it was also the introduction to how much it hurt when that was ripped away. If he hadn’t known about it in the first place, maybe that would’ve been better. He wouldn’t be so hung up on it.

Timmy inhaled sharply through his teeth, as if Jimmy just gave the wrong answer to a quiz. “Actually, that’s not as great as you think it is. Having no emotions, I mean. There’s a huge difference between giving less fucks and not caring at all.” Timmy ducked his head at the unpleasant memories, which made the genius raise his eyebrows. “Trust me, been there, done that, wouldn’t recommend.”

“So let me guess, you wished to not feel anything at some point?” Although he had no explanation how Timmy’s fairy programs worked, knowing just how much they were able to do was a little worrying sometimes. And even more so the things Timmy did with that power in his youth. His mind knew barely any limits, but imagining Timmy without having his emotions or usual persona was just impossible. Or maybe it wasn’t, and he just didn’t want to imagine Timmy in any other way than how he was, with all the quirks and qualities that he liked about him. It was ironic, considering Jimmy never thought about it before and even less about liking faults and flaws – especially not his own.

“Uhm, well, the good thing about screwing up so much is you learn a lot about life and yourself.” Timmy chewed on his bottom lip again. “I was tired of being humiliated and bullied. There had been a … situation, where I wanted to impress Trixie and I failed. Everyone kept laughing at me about it and I was tired of feeling afraid and embarrassed, so I wished I wouldn’t feel anything at all. And I did. I thought my life would be less miserable without emotions.” Which he almost did again after she dumped him. But thanks to Cupid, at least a little justice was served. And the diaper wearing fairy was right, it really got better over time and there were so many other happy events in between that not having the emotions to enjoy them would’ve been even more of a loss. Although it wasn’t like he hadn’t tried anything to care less. He had some really embarrassing pictures of his short emo phase to prove that. He was just glad the rest of the squad didn’t see most of his thirteenth year, aside from the jewelry and collars or wristbands with spikes he still had somewhere in his closet.
Timmy squeezed the pillow a little tighter. “It wasn’t. Because if you don’t feel anything, it’s not even a life. It’s just empty. I mean, I couldn’t even be bored about it. I just … existed. Sure, I had no distractions, and I could focus on studying and all that stuff, but there was no joy, no satisfaction, no meaning to anything. You wouldn’t be able to appreciate your clear head at all, because you couldn’t even feel passion for your inventions anymore.”

“That’s … depressing.” In retrospect, it made sense. If Jimmy really did have no emotions, the new routine wouldn’t even bother him, thus not even creating the need for a lack of emotions in the first place, since they were the main reason that drove people forward to having and fulfilling their goals. Resulting in an endless loop.

“Well, no, at that point it couldn’t have been.”, Timmy snorted while Jimmy needed a few seconds to process the joke behind it until he couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “But that’s the catch if you’re a kid with average problems and the ability to change your reality. You think everything’s gonna be so much better or easier if you do that and then your wish slash invention goes wrong and you learn a sappy life lesson afterwards.”

“I think you’re right.” Jimmy rubbed his chin in thought. “My inventions almost always had consequences for others. For example, I learned not to talk to strangers after I unintentionally got my town invaded by aliens that wanted to sacrifice all parents of Retroville to their giant chicken god.” And since he attempted to drain his brain once to be normal as well, which turned him into a complete idiot, he also technically knew he preferred himself the way he was. But that didn’t mean it was easier to fit in.

Timmy was about to retort something to Jimmy that involved ‘and you doofus don’t believe in ghosts and magic’ but he held himself back, shaking his head with a smirk. He would only dig his own grave and Jimmy’s denial was kind of the only reason Cosmo and Wanda could reveal themselves to Jimmy and the others. He would’ve never thought about reality altering programs. And he would’ve hated himself if he ever had to wish that his friends forgot about his godparents. They were a part of him and he felt more like himself, more whole, when all members of his found family could be together. “It’s weird that alien invasions are a common thing for us. But at least you didn’t destroy your town on multiple occasions on accident. Like, really destroyed.”

“I don’t know if reverting the world almost back to the ice age or letting it be absorbed by dark matter counts as destroying, but my point still stands.” Was it strange how smug Jimmy felt suddenly, even if this situation was anything but not weird and the circumstances weren’t something to laugh about back when they happened? Probably. But talking about it so freely now was refreshing.

Timmy quirked one of his eyebrows with a lopsided smirk. “Is this some kind of competition which one of us caused the most trouble in their universe?”

“Maybe.” Jimmy leaned back, his confidence rising again. It was macabre, but the fact that he could talk about such sensitive things without being frowned at or ridiculed was liberating. “Am I winning?”

Too taken aback by that retort, Timmy blinked a few times, before he started to laugh. So hard he wheezed, gasping for air. It wasn’t even that funny in Jimmy’s opinion and maybe it was the exhaustion but for Timmy, that was apparently the funniest thing ever. All the joy he expressed made the genius admire the dimples and he was soon infected by it, chuckling more because of his friends’ behavior than his own … remark. “Seriously, I doubt if we were normal, we would have any of these problems.” Timmy slowly calmed down, wiping a stray tear away. “But honestly, screw that. It would be hella boring and I’m glad I’m not the only jerk around here. So … I don’t know if anyone ever said this to you, but I like your weirdness.”

Jimmy’s confidence was blown away just like that, his eyes growing huge at the unexpected compliment. He didn’t know what to say to that.

“I-I mean we wouldn’t have even met otherwise, you know? So, as much as I hate being the chaos magnet sometimes, it has its benefits.” Suddenly, Timmy was also unable to face his friend and he instead resorted to holding Goddard up by his front paws, doing a little dance with him which the latter didn’t seem to mind, barking in a low tone to not disturb Poof.

“I prefer you not being normal as well!” Now Jimmy knew what he wanted to say. It was the first thing that popped up and, for once, he didn’t think much into it as he blurted it out. “ … You’re also perfect.” He was reminded of the things that were said to him a few minutes ago. “And you’re right, no invention or issue would be worth changing all of this.”

For a few moments, neither spoke nor looked at the other, at least not at the same time. They were both still riled up and shook from the raw emotions that they had to process, but at the same time, it felt like they truly connected in what had been a very long time. With them having their own lives, families and respective best friends to go to, it was always sort of a circumstance friendship whenever they united or met. Like penpals. But over the years their bond became stronger and with them experiencing problems far from normal, they had something in common, something to share. Be it just average teenage problems or another world-ending apocalypse. And in SpongeBob’s case, he just thought of everyone as his friends and treated them as such from the beginning.

But ever since … was it his sixteenth birthday? Or shortly before his seventeenth? That connection had become a little unstable and weak, due to their private lives getting busier. Regardless, Timmy was just genuinely happy. Despite the hardships and all his problems, he was truly relieved. And once more he found all of that was worth enduring if it meant he could have these moments. To think they started out as rivals, he would’ve never thought to sit here with Jimmy and have a heart to heart. He would try everything to make sure he could keep that.

Finally, before that moment could turn into an awkward silence, their friends returned. Well, not in the way they expected.

“Alright, we’re back and ready!”, SpongeBob announced as they slowly emerged from the floor, Danny holding him up in his ghost form like a lion cub. He was wearing a white hoodie that seemed to have been cut and sewed together to make a jumpsuit out of it and fluffy pink bunny slippers. To make the look even crazier, the top of his square head was tousled, yellow strands of hair sticking up like sea grass, showing he also had hit the shower in that time frame. That would explain their long absence, they obviously did a lot. For how long have they been up here alone again? “Let’s get the slumber party started.”

If Jimmy and Timmy weren’t so exhausted and caught off guard, the latter would’ve keeled over with laughter once more. Bob looked like he was ready to play in a boy band or something and Danny was incredibly proud of what they did, smirking wide. Okay, yes, Timmy did snicker into his hand as he watched the duo do their silly lion king reference.

“It’s not much of a party.” Danny placed the sponge on the ground, turning back into his human form, although the transformations was a little slower than it was the other way around when he told him about Vlad, as Timmy noticed. Had it always been like this? “It’s still early afternoon and we’re just getting some sleep until dinner.”

“Riiiight.” SpongeBob pointed his finger guns at him, hopping onto another sleeping bag. “So, did we miss any anything important?”

“No!”, they both answered at once way too fast.

Danny and SpongeBob exchanged glances with each other first and then with Goddard, who tilted his head. They weren’t sure what happened, but some major character development had definitely been going on here. It was just the vibe they were getting. “Okay, nevermind that. Anything not world endangering can wait for later. You two,” He pointed at the Immys “shut eye. Now.”

Usually met with protest during their sleepovers, neither of them complained this time. Timmy plopped down on the mattress while Jimmy watched him for a few seconds until he laid down as well, Goddard curling up next to him.

Danny just raised his eyebrow, closing the shutters of his window. He couldn’t sleep when it was too bright in his room and just assumed the same applied to the others as well. Meanwhile SpongeBob couldn’t deny that he was a little too excited to sleep just yet and he would’ve loved to talk a little more with his friends and maybe play a few games. Still, he understood the importance of rest and that his friends needed it, so he dutifully threw himself in his sleeping bag, landing perfectly without moving an inch from its spot.

Timmy watched his friends making themselves comfortable on the ground, pouting. He didn’t need nor deserved the special treatment of taking Danny’s own bed, in his opinion. Sure, he could’ve died yesterday, but that happened like every second month and they were equally tired. As they all laid down, he made a decision and bluntly grabbed his blanket and pillow, plonking them in the space between Jimmy and Bob, while Poof looked up from his own cushion that was placed in the center. He knew the little guy had pretended to sleep all along, but he appreciated his brother giving them the space they needed. Although he probably would have a few words with him too, since the the kidnapping of their his parents also scared Poof and he needed someone to hold on to as well. Timmy really wanted to provide that, even if he wasn’t as good as Wanda.

Danny sat up, his unimpressed look only emphasized by the circles beneath his eyes as he watched him. “And what do you think you’re doing?”

Shrugging, for which he was glad to be able to do now without pain, Timmy wrapped himself up in the big blanket like a burrito (he had slept through worse circumstances). “It’s a slumber party, after all. And since we already missed movie night and the funfair, that’s as good as it’ll get.”
With that, he curled himself up as if that answered everything and did the same his brother was doing: pretend to be asleep in a matter of seconds. To be fair, him and SpongeBob could actually pull that off so they might as well could’ve bought that.

“Give me one good reason to not tie your stupid ass the bed.” Groaning, Danny rubbed his temples. Apparently, he knew it wasn’t real.

SpongeBob quickly sat back up as well. “I appreciate your commitment, but what Danny means is you need top quality of rest Timmy.”

Oh well, no can do in that case. “So? As far as I know, I had more sleep than you two combined the last two days.” Timmy drew his arm back out of the roll to particularly point at Jimmy and Danny. “Though unconscious, but still.” He then put the effort the kick his leg until he had the right angle to pull the pillow with Poof towards him so the fairy was lying next to him, approximately the same distance his nightstand with the fish bowl would be if he were in his own bed. It just gave him some sense of comfort and he could swear his brother felt the same. “Deal with it.”

“You know what, I don’t care.” Danny more or less accepted the random behavior, it wasn’t the first time Timmy would do something random like that, he was always good for a surprise and nobody could really tell what was going on in that unhinged head of his. So, sparing him the nerves, Danny just disappeared inside his sleeping bag, zipping the thing all the way up until he looked like a covered corpse in a crime scene.

Although Timmy had his back turned towards him, the sponge smiled. He probably would’ve done something similar, and he was mostly relieved the bad tension from before was gone. Jimmy and Timmy seemed far less agitated or guilty. From his position, he could still see Jimmy stiffen, as he was facing Timmy and Poof directly, but it was a different kind of mood. He couldn’t tell what exact kind of atmosphere it was, but it wasn’t bad, so to say. “Well, good night everyone!”

“It’s only, like, 2 p.m. dude.” Came the muffled voice from Danny’s body bag.

“Well in that case, good afternoon, everyone.” After getting affirmative responses from the others, SpongeBob also pulled the blanket over his head.

✧ « ★ » ✧

About half an hour later, Jimmy was still unable to sleep. And it wasn’t for the snoring in this room.

SpongeBob had this unique one, while Danny was obviously the loudest and somehow the bag didn’t muffle any of that – at least it proved that he was still alive and getting air. Timmy on the other hand also snored a little, though it was more of a nasal breathing. Which was part of the problem. He couldn’t look away and knew how creepy that probably was. Poof’s pillow was just far enough positioned for Jimmy to have look at the bottom half of Timmy’s face and he found it impossible to turn over.

With all that happened in these last two days and especially an hour ago, he was tired beyond capacity, both emotional and physical. And yet here he was, staring at the rising and falling form of the burrito that was his friend. Well, if this was going to continue, he might as well go down and make some black coffee. It wasn’t like it should bother him. Statistics clearly showed that going 24 hours without sleep was fine, since a rough night happened to everyone sometimes. And his personal record was staying awake for about 48 hours, which was about the time microsleep attacks right over his worktable occurred and he began to make more mistakes than progress. And he was still doing fine back then (his mom would be to differ, though). Sure, being irritable made things a little difficult, but it was still merely the 24 hours mark. He just … couldn’t find the peace of mind to drift off.

He thought about leaving and getting a little fresh air, but he wasn’t really in the mood either. This restlessness just couldn’t be explained.

“What’s wrong with me?” He muttered, burying his face in his hands as he finally convinced himself to roll over. Now he was looking at Goddard, who was also still awake and tilted his head. The front of his square chest opened to reveal a screen.

“Are you still upset?”

Jimmy shook his head. Of course, his robot dog had a little trouble to define his mood. One thing a machine couldn’t predict were emotions and he was having an unusual amount of those right now. “No. Its … better.” He dared to take a quick look at the others, making sure they were fast asleep. The last thing he wanted was to wake them up. The snoring continued. “It definitely feels better than locking myself away.”, he admitted, his cheeks burning a little as he thought just how weird it was that despite everything, lying on the hard floor, exhausted and drained from his outburst, he still felt a sense of relief. Like things were actually going to be better. Maybe it was the euphoria that kept him awake? Was he too exhilarated?

“Talking to someone you trust generally helps. Timmy is a good friend.”

“You’re right.”, Jimmy muttered as low as he could, resisting to peak over his shoulder. Now with the shutters turning the room dark, the crown that vertically hovered over the others’ head was like a nightlight, still illuminating Timmy’s features and when Jimmy closed his eyes, he could envision the aquamarine depths that captured him in an endless sea. It was fast, unknown and unpredictable, but so intriguing at the same time.

“Alert: Irregular heartrate […] Known problem detected […] Filtering for solutions.” Goddard’s screen showed. Jimmy waited in anticipation. Goddard wasn’t his best invention for nothing, he constantly learned and absorbed knowledge, recording everything. If something had slipped Jimmy’s mind, his best boy was sure to find an answer to his unusual and self-contradictory behavior. “Result: Second stage of crush development […] Proposal: Courting.”

The suggestion made Jimmy sputter and he had to clasp a hand over his mouth to not make a loud noise. He was still for a few seconds, waiting for the others to make a sound but the snoring still went on, telling him it was safe to answer. “W-what gave you that idea, Goddard?!”

“Records matching with similar data known from previous encounters” The canine tilted its head like it was something very obvious. His screen then changed to show a comparison of pulse readings next to muted videos which just happened to be mostly him on a date with Cindy or just watching her doing martial arts and other things – back when they were still in their young blooming relationship. Then there were also some recordings of him drooling over his first crush in elementary school, Betty Quinlan (who was now dating Nick in the present). The clips viewed Jimmy in an undeniable similar way, sputtering nonsense, getting flustered and irritated when Cindy was flirting with Nick or when he wanted to impress Betty by auditioning as Macbeth in their school musical. He felt like an eleven-year-old kid all over again, cringing at the embarrassing evidence.

Just as Jimmy was about to follow Danny’s example by hiding in his sleeping bag, the screen changed again, viewing recent videos, or rather some from only a couple years ago. Since the camera was mostly focused on his face from the dog perspective, it was hard to tell who he was talking to, but the older ones and those from what seemed to have taken place only recently were still matching. Humans tended to have repetitive patterns and mannerisms, after all.

Jimmy contemplated hacking into Goddard and deleting some of the files because he was clearly sentient enough to not only notice such things and patterns to determine how Jimmy was actually feeling, but his dog had also started to analyze and use all that information on his own accord to provide better emotional support. The genius just wasn’t sure if he should be amazed and proud of his greatest invention or if he should be disturbed by the AI he created that was adapting and evolving on its own. It reminded him of Cosmo and Wanda, who also acted as individuals despite not being real.

Nevertheless, the revelation was unsettling. Because he could hardly scold Goddard for being insensitive, which was hypocritical, and yet it was also unnerving to see the evidence. The glowing, the different vision … was he really developing a crush? No … not that couldn’t be. He never showed any interest in guys before! And Timmy obviously didn’t meet the standards or shared any other variables with Cindy or Betty. Well, maybe he was just as stubborn like Vortex and knew how to rile him up but support him at the same time. And yes, perhaps he was just as nice and understanding as Betty when it came to accepting him. Perhaps he was also handsome in his neutral opinion, but Timmy was still completely different from them. He could write an entire essay about that in an hour! All the facts and obvious distinctions!

“I think you need an upgrade.” Jimmy stated dryly, deciding to just lay flat on his back and facing the ceiling would be the best option. Now that it was mentioned, he couldn’t stop thinking about it and he was forcing himself to fall asleep just so that he could give his brain the needed rest. Anything was better than dwelling on this info-dump.

Whining, Goddard closed the screen and curled up at Jimmy’s side regardless. It was completely dark now, safe for the soft glow of Timmy’s charm. Now that Jimmy thought about it, while their friend briefly mentioned how he got possession of it and the wand, it was still unclear what kind of purpose they served. The wand was apparently absorbing energy, but what was it about the crown that made it seem so … mystic?

He knew he would probably regret it, but Jimmy couldn’t help but turn his head to the side, watching the strange object as it floated midair, almost unmoving. He didn’t have the time to view Goddard’s screenings of Timmy’s new weapons, but knowing that all of the bucktoothed teen’s stuff was abnormal, they would probably also bust the scale somehow as well. Yet, somehow, he thought if he just stared long enough at it, the answer to his unasked questions would pop up in his mind.

At least until Timmy started to stir in his sleep.

Remembering other slumber parties in the past, he knew Timmy was even active while he slept, often ending up upside down on his bed or not even staying in it properly. He also knew the idiot had no trouble falling asleep, unlike him. Timmy could just place his head on a pillow and close his eyes and he was gone. Compared to him or Danny, he also needed less sleep and was much more energetic in the morning. Well, not the borderline early bird like SpongeBob, but he could wake up and be a decent person without coffee, which alone was witchcraft in itself. Jimmy envied him for that. If he could sleep more efficiently, having a set schedule would make his work-life balance easier. But who was he fooling, he would still not go to bed at decent times, even if he could fall asleep as easy as Timmy.

The same Timmy that started to curl up in e fetal position now, scrunching his face. Was he in pain?

Alerted, Jimmy sat up on his elbows to see better. The crown was bright enough to give a good look at his face. The light snoring had stopped and he began to mumble incoherent gibberish. Sweat was starting to form on his temple and the twitching of his face and head got stronger.

“No …” Jimmy heard him whisper as he leaned closer, careful to not disturb Poof between them. “Stay …”

Oh. He was having a nightmare. Of course.

It was nothing out of the ordinary. Now that his body and mind weren’t as busy with the injuries anymore, his brain had time to process the recent events and such experiences were the perfect fuel for unpleasant dreams. And from the things Timmy told him earlier, it was obvious how much the disappearance of Cosmo and Wanda affected him and how much he missed them, so it was probably revolving around that.

Jimmy didn’t dream often and when he did, rarely remembered what it was about or they revolved around inventions and things that happened during the day, just more exaggerated. But nightmares were something he could always recall, which seemed very unfair.

Grimacing, he scooted a little closer, not sure how he could provide comfort. He didn’t dare to wake Timmy up, he needed the rest. But Jimmy couldn’t just ignore it either! So … he did the same he did last night when Turner started to panic.

He slowly reached out his hand to pat the others’ head, soft and gentle touches as he brushed the bangs out of Timmy’s charming face. Since Jimmy wasn’t really sure if he should say something to soothe him, he just didn’t. He instead simply caressed the others cheek and pretended to not notice when Timmy leaned into the touch as he straightened his form again. It was probably just too uncomfortable for him, no need to overthink and read too much into it.

“It’s okay.”, the genius whispered nonetheless, barely audible with the snoring of their other two friends. “Everything will be alright. You’re safe.”

It was hard to ignore the loud pounding in his chest as he saw Timmy slowly relaxing, sighing. Suddenly, Jimmy’s hand felt so heavy and glued to its spot that he had just as many difficulties to take it away like his eyes before. And it wasn’t just his hand that was feeling heavier by the second. His eyes also opened less with each time that he blinked, feeling his restlessness fading as he calmed down as well.

Trying to find a somewhat tolerable position, Jimmy laid back down as he felt the exhaustion finally catching up on him. For some reason he was happy that Timmy was the last thing he saw, highlighted in the golden glow of his sparkling crown, Goddard’s analysis disregarded for now.

✧ « ★ » ✧

Timmy had been plagued yet again by Vlad’s maniacal laughter, the screams of his godparents and the twisted faces of Anti-Cosmo and Tiberius. Their voices mixed with each other, echoing around the empty darkness he was surrounded by.

This time was a little different, though. He wasn’t just a mere spectator now and could see his hands. Yet, everything felt sluggish and alien. He had a feeling if he attempted to run, he wouldn’t be able to move from his spot. Everything was out of focus, he had no idea how he ended up here or what happened prior. Typical nightmare clichés.

All he could do for now was take a look around and wait for something to happen. Maybe he would just wake up if he convinced himself long enough that he was dreaming. Which was something that usually never happened right? Normally one didn’t know they were asleep, except for these lucid dreams. And he doubted he was skilled, let alone lucky enough to have them in the first place.

To his dismay, Timmy didn’t wake up. Instead, he was thrown into another scenery. Or rather, his surroundings changed while he was unable to walk more than a few steps. Instead of pure blackness, the nonexistent ground he was standing on disappeared, leaving him floating in a space that turned brighter with each passing moment, until it was completely white.

He recognized that place as the realm between his and Danny’s dimension. The tube-like vortex, where the Ghost Zone was supposed to be. But unlike before, he wasn’t falling vertically without orientation. He was still stuck in this one place, forced to watch the trash and broken pieces appear around him. Damaged cars, bins, paper and other garbage passed by, everything surrounding him and slowly dissolving to ashes. Vlad’s laughter and the screaming of people – humans and fairies alike – were heard in the distance, as if they blamed him for their suffering. He had no idea how he could be so sure of that, he just knew it was the case. Although his mind seemed to be aware of what was going on, he still felt other knowledge and emotions mix with his sense of reality, clouding his judgement.

“No …” Timmy wanted to hide his face in his hands. He wasn’t responsible for this. He never intended for this to happen. He couldn’t know about any of it! If it was anyone’s fault, it was the villains! They planned to destroy everything and they were known for causing even more trouble and chaos than him, so he wasn’t the problem. Right. None of this was real, it was just a stupid dream and his subconscious was playing tricks on him.

“Don’t you think you’re making it a little too easy for you?” A voice, much louder – and closer – than any of the others spoke right behind him. And what made it weirder was the fact that recognized the owner. It was him, just raspier and with the hint of an accent. “I mean, it’s always convenient to blame others for your bad luck.” The scratchy voice seemed to not only come from next to his ear, but it seemed to originate almost entirely inside his head. Paralyzed, Timmy couldn’t even focus on his own thoughts, let alone turn around.

He didn’t have to. Something wrapped around his body, transparent and dark, a texture unlike anything he ever knew. It was liquified and yet hard as a rock, the dark tendrils crawling up his legs and torso. He couldn’t make out the beginning or the end, it seemed to stretch itself in all directions. Shapeless.

“Seriously, how can someone be so pathetic? I don’t get it.” A hand grasped his shoulders. No, not a hand. Inhuman fingers, long sharp claws for nails, knuckles and bones toned as the skin clung to it paper-thin. It forcefully turned him around to snatch his face, cold sharpness forcing Timmy to look at the being that invaded his mind. It was … him. And yet, not at all. “What’s so special about you, Timothy?”

“Who are …” Timmy had a hard time to speak. Not only was he immobile, his mouth and mind were also spellbound.

“So you finally recognize me.” The doppelganger let go of Timmy’s face to step back, presenting himself in all his glory. He was … a kid. Not looking older than Timmy when he was thirteen. Just with black, messier hair and tanned skin. The most noticeable features were probably the pointy ears and nose, the fangs – and the fact that half his body was melting. Right, priorities. “I must say, it’s a shame to meet like this. I was just too excited to test my new abilities out, I couldn’t hold myself back. And you provided such a good opening to your mind.”

Timmy had no other choice but to watch this version of himself pace around, walking on nothing while the dreamer was hovering over the white abyss, tied up by dark matter that stretched all the way to the feet of the boy, connecting like a shadow. The younger teen wore what looked like old fashioned British boy clothes. Shiny leather shoes, long socks, shorts and a blazer, all in black, white and dark blue hues. His scratchy voice was the only thing throwing him off, the appearance not matching the aura he gave off. His right side looked like he was turning into a shadow creature himself, his arm long stretched and bony, the dark liquid dripping from his claws. Timmy barely felt or saw it, but he probably had handprints from these monstrous fingers on his shoulder and chin.

“You know, it’s quite hilarious how much of an expert liar you are, convincing even yourself.” The other version hummed, tilting his head as he grinned, his smile stretching unnaturally wide from one ear to the other, showing off his white and sharp teeth. He then proceeded to lick his fangs with a split tongue. “It makes me wonder which one of us the supposed deceiver really is.”

Feeling dread and nausea coursing through his body, Timmy wanted to fight his restrains, but he couldn’t break free. A fight or flight instinct kicked in, internally commanding him to do something, anything. “Please –“ He had no idea what he wanted to beg for, his existence in this realm uncontrollable.

Their surroundings grumbled, all the floating trash and everything else disappearing at a rapid pace until only dust and ashes circled around. The dark-haired boy clicked his tongue in displeasure. “I thought I had more time. Oh well, it can’t be helped.”

The shadowy texture spread, crawling up the other’s shoulder, engulfing him. His body seemed to stretch until he and Timmy had about the same height, minus a few inches. His face was soon unrecognizable, Only a black figure with his trademark hair and long monstrous limbs, no clothes or any human trait left. “Such an unpleasant sight.” The creature’s voice became hollower, forcing shills down Timmy’s spine as it staggered closer again. “I hope next time we meet, it’ll be when the both of us are in top form. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be much fun to defeat you in reality.”

Now that it was close enough, Timmy saw the blood red sclera. As if he was looking in a mirror, his own face reflected in them, dark and tainted.

The other being snapped its fingers, the shadow-string releasing Timmy within seconds. It hardly made a difference, he still couldn’t move from his spot, but at least he was able to move his arms again. For some reason – his mind was so blank, he moved on autopilot – his hand reached out to the monster, desperate. He could see his own mimic in its eyes, tearing up and longing. Why on Fairy Worlds name would he want to keep something so horrible close instead of doing everything to run away from it? He had no idea. His mind was split and he had no access to the other half.

The whiteness sported cracks, crumbling, collapsing on itself as everything vanished slowly. Now, of all times, the vertical suction from the malfunctioning portal occurred, pulling him away from the creature. Inch by inch, he was falling backwards, no matter how much he struggled and tried to dive forward.

“No!”, he yelled grasping for the creature, still allured by the red eyes. The ethereal duplicate looked confused, taking another step back. It felt so, so wrong. “Stay!”

The version in front of him laughed, distorted and wrong. Everything was wrong. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. It was missing. Something was missing! “Do I look like I was born yesterday, Jekyll? Oh, wait …” Chuckling, the monster shook the irritation off, turning around. “That’s right.”

It was incomplete. Horrible. A buried memory. The pink flash, the pain, torn apart and separated. It hurt so much. It was missing. Lonely. And so, so cold.

Timmy wanted to cry, yell, beg for it to stay. It was familiar, it belonged to him. He couldn’t think clearly, only recognized the emotions. It was the same he felt without his friends and godfamily by his side. All alone in the darkness, as the cracks grew bigger and the vortex swallowed him, taking him deeper into the unknown. But the monster didn’t listen. It wasn’t bothered by the emptiness around them and continued to stray further from him, taking Timmy’s sanity seemingly with it. And within a blink, it was gone. And so was Timm’s hope.

He was all alone. He had nobody. It was worse than the yelling, screaming and the accusations. The crushing silence was louder and more painful than anything else, his mind and emotions all over the place. He was losing himself, breaking apart, shattering like glass all over, not able to pick himself up.

“It’s okay.” Another person said. Calm and gentle. Someone he trusted. A blessing to hear when the silence was so deafening. “Everything will be alright. You’re safe.”

Nothing was there as he kept falling, but something warm touched his cheek, holding him together. His inner instinct reminded him to trust the voice. A faint golden glow erupted through the cracks, providing shelter. Timmy felt like a burden was slowly lifted from his chest. The loneliness and the fear were still there, but metaphorically wrapped in a blanket. Is frightened inner child steadily collected itself, making room for the voice of reason.

Timmy noticed the rapid suction had decreased. He wasn’t falling anymore, more like swimming on his back, floating in the stream of ashes and dust. Closing his eyes, although it wouldn’t make a difference, he concentrated on the warmth, embracing the cozy light. Absorbing it. It was nice. So comforting. He felt the dread wash away like a fading memory.

It could’ve been mere seconds, maybe hours as well. All Timmy knew was that he had drifted off into a dreamless and relaxing sleep.

At least until …

“TURNEEER!”

Startled out of his sleep, Timmy sat upright, something soft and heavy falling from his chest as he did so. He didn’t really pay much attention to it, looking around.

Across from him, the sleeping bag of Danny also sat up, his intangible upper body neatly sliding out of it. To his left, SpongeBob literally tossed his whole sleeping bag in the air as he jumped up in a karate defense stance. To his right … The sleeping bag was empty. Or only half used, as most of Jimmy was lying next to it, his head almost next to Timmy’s blanket with an outstretched arm. The position looked anything but comfortable, with his torso twisted to avoid crushing Poof between them.
His little brother was also wide awake now, hovering next to him. The genius slowly rubbed his eyes, turning on his back as his mind slowly returned to reality, blinking. Except for him, all of them were on high alert.

“What’s going on?” Jimmy mumbled, patting around for his glasses, which woke up Goddard as well who extended a mechanical arm to retrieve them from the desk and hand over.

A soft knock on their door drew the attention of the group towards it. “Sorry to bother you guys, but we … might need a little help over here.” It was Sam, clearly feeling bad for disturbing their needed break.

Danny groaned, looking at his alarm that showed it was at least around 7 p.m. now. “This better be important.”

Another yell across the hallway answered before she even opened her mouth. “PUNY HUMANS! Unleash me at once!”

“Great.” Rolling his eyes upon hearing Jorgen’s lovely screaming, Timmy let himself fall back on the ground, already done with everything. He really wasn’t in the mood for that drama now. “Well, it was fun while it lasted.” He took his pillow to press it against his face, hopefully drowning out the awaiting lecture that would surely follow.

“Poof poof.” His brother hovered next to him, patting his hand in sympathy. Knowing he couldn’t avoid it forever and stay here, Timmy had no other choice but to get up and calm Jorgen down before he destroyed Jazz’s room completely – judging by all the shuffling and rumbling close by.

Nonetheless, he still needed a moment to collect himself. He may have been woken from his slumber unexpectedly to not have the time to process what happened yet … but he felt a lingering sadness clawing at his chest. He couldn’t tell what the reason of it was. As soon as he had opened his eyes, it was as if someone cleaned the blackboard. He couldn’t remember anything, but he was sure whatever he had dreamed about was important. Essential, even.

Just why was he so frustrated all of a sudden? It was almost on the tip of his tongue, hidden behind a thin and transparent veil … but he couldn’t recall any of it.

Like a shadow looming over him.

Chapter Text

“You don’t have anything to knock him out for a couple more days by any chance, do you Danny?” Timmy asked after he was done contemplating his life decisions while the noise continued. Sam decided to go ahead and inform the others while the squad had a few more seconds to gather themselves.

“With how many injuries he had, he should’ve been asleep for like a week or something.” Said halfa ran a hand through his hair. Without his ponytail, the messy strands pointed in all directions. “Seriously, he lost a leg and he was grilled like toast when you guys got here. I don’t know how your programs function, but that guy sure is tough.”

Groaning, Timmy threw the pillow away. “Yeah no kidding, Jorgen’s the toughest fairy-program in the universe! He lives out of spite just to make it harder for everyone else – or just for me.” Well, he could complain as much as he wanted, but at one point or another, he would have to deal with him anyway. Even if he wished he could just have a few more hours of peace. “Alright, I better go before he wrecks the hole place.”

With much more ease than he would’ve expected, Timmy stood up. His body still felt sore and a little stiff, but that could be from his uncomfortable sleeping position as well. For emphasis, he stretched a little, his back cracking like an empty bag of chips – but the good kind with satisfying pops.

“As long as I have a say in this, I won’t let him.” Danny assured, his eyes glowing in a light blue hue as the air around him got colder. The noise from the other room continued, Tucker’s and Sam’s voices of reason apparently falling on deaf ears as they tried to convince Jorgen to stay in bed and rest.

Timmy had a feeling he probably should change out of his pajamas, but there was always later for that. He needed to talk to Jorgen, as exhausting as that would be. There were some urgent matters he never got to discuss with him when they were still mid-breakout and fighting.

As he went to go ahead, Jimmy hastily put his glasses back on and grabbed his wrist. “Wait!”

Upon receiving the attention of everyone for his sudden behavior, the genius quickly retracted his hand. Honestly, Timmy thought he looked worse than before their nap, if the barely less noticeable dark circles under his eyes were anything to go by. “H-how are your injuries? You still shouldn’t push yourself too hard, since your condition might still be … unstable.”
He still had no idea how much Timmy heard during the conversation between him and Danny, but he hoped he was wrong and nothing was tempering with Timmy’s body that they couldn’t see or treat. He didn’t want to cause him even more stress and panic, Timmy had plenty of that already. Not to mention how clammy his hands were. Bad dog and his statistically inaccurate analysis.

“I’ll be fine.” Timmy brushed the concerns off, knowing full well if Jorgen had one of his episodes, he would most likely blow him and the whole room up should they get into another argument. However, there was a slim chance that the rule enforcer was still too weak and injured to do that, so he was optimistic to make it out unscathed. “In fact, I don’t feel bad at all.”
He experimentally patted his chest, noting his ribs didn’t hurt anymore. It tingled and they felt numb, but otherwise it was all good. He should still be careful to not get too reckless just because of this, but he was glad to not be a liability anymore. “See? That drug worked just fine.”

“Oh, for Newton’s sake, it’s not a drug!” Jimmy pinched the back of his nose, taking a deep breath. It was weird how he wasn’t as annoyed as he thought he would be. “And still, the serum was meant to speed up the healing process, but not that fast. We should still monitor the progress.”

Shrugging, Timmy was about to retort something, but another yell from Jorgen cut their conversation off. On cue, Poof hopped on his shoulder as he rushed to the Jazz’s room, leaving his friends no other choice but to follow him.

Tucker stood outside in the hallway, holding his PDA close to his chest, mumbling something like ‘Don’t worry, honey, he won’t get you too’ while Sam was heard trying to calm the fairy down – in vain.

Steeling himself, Timmy headed inside. His ally was more or less strapped to the bed, his bulky figure too big for it. The nightstand and her desk were knocked over by his attempt to get up. For her own safety, Sam had pressed herself against the wall. A room never seemed so small to her. Well, many felt kind of intimidated in the presence of an over two-meter-tall immortal soldier.

“Where am I? What is this puny girlish room?” Jorgen finally ripped himself free of the bandages, revealing his almost completely healed skin, safe for a few black spots at his forearms. Judging by the way he clutched his head, he was also sporting some kind of bad migraine. Timmy could relate to that form of pain, glad he finally didn’t have to deal with that anymore. “Turner, what is the meaning of this?”

Sighing, Timmy turned around to his friends, silently telling them he would handle this. “You literally threw us into the portal, remember? We’re in Amity Park, in my friend’s dimension.” Timmy calmly stated, pointing behind him as he walked closer to Jorgen. “And this is Fenton Works, Danny’s home.”

“I see.” Sniffing dismissively, the fairy warden took a look around until his eyes roamed over each of the present friends of his trainee. Some knew him more than others. Sam and Tucker only had heard of him a few times, while Danny and SpongeBob knew him from their adventure to take down the Syndicate. Jimmy, however, knew firsthand just what the fairy was capable of and the power he held – even if it was just brutal strength.
On Jorgen’s side, he didn’t remember much about them. The lifespan of a human was just a mere blink of an eye compared to the ones of an immortal magic creature, so he had already forgot about them mostly. “So, care to tell my why you are all here, standing around in pajamas? Have you not made any progress defeating our enemies yet?” Then his eyes landed on Poof. “And why are you not in disguise, little one?”

Feeling his left eye twitch, Timmy still took a deep breath to stay calm. With their explosive tempers, it would be better if at least one of them stayed rational. He had to swallow his stubbornness and hold his own anger back, so they could make progress. While he still looked for the right words, his brother already explained himself.

“Poof poof.”

“That is not an excuse! Your fagiggly-gland is still functioning even without our wand-magic.” Jorgen criticized, dusting himself off the remainders of his bindings, standing straight as if he was the one to be in charge now – even with just one leg he had incredible core strength. Timmy willed every ounce of patience in his body to not snap at the fairy. The four of them could handle this just fine, they never needed much support from others before, aside from SpongeBob’s and Danny’s friends. Without his magic, he was just as useless as Timmy, so the big guy shouldn’t act like he was their commander or something (technically he was still his boss, but they weren’t in Dimmsdale now) “Humans must not see us, EVER.”

“Well, it’s a little too late for that. Besides, most in this town have seen weirder stuff.”, Tucker commented, his head peaking inside. Upon receiving the fairy’s glare, he quickly hid again, not wanting to have his bones or his tech crushed as well as Jazz’s laptop on her desk.

“It doesn’t matter. You know the rules.” Jorgen nodded at Timmy. Before the average teen even had the chance to complain, he raised his hand and added: “Although circumstances like these allow exceptions. As long as normality is restored once this is over.”

Knowing the implication, Timmy stood between him and his friends, extending his arms. “No, we don’t need exceptions. We already saved our worlds more than once without extra help.” Even if it were only short-term, he wouldn’t let Jorgen or the fairy council erase his friends’ memories. It was bad enough they did that to Chester and AJ after they got back home when they were done dealing with Shirley. Or back when he had to fight the Darkness, with his parents … Okay, that one wasn’t so bad actually.
Because once they found out about his secret, the first thing they did was complain why he never spent wishes on them. And Trixie only wanted a unicorn and showed interest in him just because he was the chosen one. Ugh. It was always the same. He couldn’t have both and once he thought everything was just perfect it was ripped away from him or turned out to be not what he wished for.

“How mature of you, Turner.” Knowing he hit a soft spot and was clearly in the advantage, the big man stared him down. Neither of them really paying any mind to the confused glances they received from the others. “But with the original copy of Da Rules in the hands of the enemy, our whole universe is at stake. And no one except me knows how to undo all the damage that was caused in our universe – or has the power to fix it.”

“I …” That was true. With just one smack of his giant wand, Jorgen could always turn everything as it was before whenever Timmy screwed up. And since Wanda and Cosmo were on limited magic, they couldn’t grant him huge reality alternating wishes anymore – ironic, since that was exactly what Jimmy called them all the time.
What should he do? Agree with him? Jorgen would undo the damage anyway, that was his job after all. But maybe they could make a deal or some sort, similar to the contract they shared. “Okay, fine, we need your help, but you’re not erasing their memories!”

“Wait, why would he do that?” Raising a brow, Danny tapped Timmy’s shoulder. The other couldn’t turn around and face him. He just … couldn’t.

“I won’t allow any more destabilization under my watch, Turner. Which includes enforcing the rules once we get back to Dimmsdale. And if you disagree or interfere with my enforcing, that would be against the rules – and you know what that means.”

The threat hung in the air, making Timmy’s stomach fall. Usually Jorgen was more lenient and just went with whatever happened, heck, even Crocker was their ally a few times as well and he still remembered having fairies as a child. But this was a delicate situation, with them having to stick to the contract. It would be a validation against its laws, thus breaking it. It was either his friends lose their memory – which was still undefined how much they would forget – or he would lose Cosmo and Wanda and probably his own memories in return. The council had made itself very clear, since Timmy was not a kid anymore and could comprehend the situation and what was at stake.

That was what Jorgen was implying with it, right? It just had to be, what else could he mean.

The air seemed so could and suffocating. And oddly known feeling, like a far of dream that still clawed at his brain deep in his subconscious.

“Tim?” Danny shook his shoulder again, the lack of response concerning him. Now it was Jorgen who watched in confusion, for once not glaring or yelling at Timmy. Instead, he just observed. “What does it mean?”

Shaking his head, Timmy still refused to look at any of them. Once he would tell them about it … it could be over. Sure, the damage could easily be undone and it wouldn’t be a big deal with no consequences, but he really wanted to make sure his friends wouldn’t be dragged into this. No, there had to be a way! A loophole! Anything!

“… We won’t break any rules.” Grinding his teeth, Timmy looked over his shoulder at his brother, who silently understood. Poof clenched his eyes shut, concentrating very hard until he dissolved into a small cloud, only to have transformed into a purple earring in the chape of a star at Timmy’s right ear. He was barely noticeable but so close that he could still talk to Timmy without bystanders overhearing. “And you can’t interfere with other universes, you said it yourself! And since my friends don’t belong to our universe, the rules don’t apply to them.”

Feeling at least a small sense of control, Timmy mirrored Jorgen’s stance, crossing his arms and puffing out his chest, still not reacting to Danny’s questions.

Not in the slightest impressed, Jorgen bent down to his level, their faces close to each other. “Do not give me that attitude, human. The damage is already done. Especially with all these witnesses” For some reason, the warden speaking in a low tone was even more unsettling and intimidating than his yelling, but Timmy did his best not to let his anxiety show. Yet, Danny probably felt the tremble of his shoulder.

“The contract clearly said that only I am not allowed to break the rules. Except, and I quote, ‘a situation of grave emergency would leave me no other choice and if the trainer evidently and unmistakably approves’ – and you helped me hijack a space shuttle, break into Abracatraz and took the You-Do dolls – which is considered contraband – to travel into this dimension. Technically, it wasn’t me that revealed you to the humans in this realm, I didn’t do anything wrong when I was unsupervised … it was always you.” Timmy’s nervousness was slowly overridden by the buildup anger he had stored up for so long, finally venting. “You forced me into this against my will! the shift in the dungeon, leaving me alone with the most dangerous criminals of Fairy World and everything that happened because of that. So, for what it’s worth, we’re both at fault. And as my instructor, you would also have to answer to the council.”, he concluded his statement, feeling like the K-Drama with all these lawyers and businessmen finally paid off. And well, Cosmo never did a good job as his lawyer, so he had to learn to bail himself out eventually. “I rest my case.”

Gaping, Jorgen stared at him. The great Jorgen von Strangle was speechless and it was oh so satisfying for Timmy. Meanwhile, SpongeBob had no idea what was going on or what they were even talking about, but he still patted his friend’s leg, silently cheering for him.

Jimmy just stared at the side of Timmy’s face. He always knew the average teen was clever in the street-smarts way, a quick and outside the box thinker. Just … witnessing it firsthand, although that wasn’t the first time, made his heart flutter and as much as he wanted to voice his opinion too, he was urged to just watch and see the situation unfold, prepared to interfere should it get to heated but trusting in Timmy’s capability to handle it.

Danny on the other hand couldn’t take the awkward conversation anymore with them acting like he wasn’t even here in his own goddamn house. “Okay, can I just ask what the deal with these rules is and why should they be so important?” He rubbed his temples. “Tucker’s right, why do we even make such a big deal out of it now. I swear, after everything we’ve seen your ’programs’ do so far, it’s very obvious, you might as well admit the whole mag-“ He caught himself when he noticed Timmy’s pleading side glance, begging him not to elaborate on their adventures. Well, they could still ask him about it later once they were alone. Besides, even if he knew nothing about this weird contract, Timmy had always been secretive – though terrible at it without Wanda’s input – about the way his world works. They had no idea how or why a child would possess creatures capable of endless wish granting, but it was the truth. “I mean … after all these multiverse adventures and the crap I deal with on a daily basis in my world, it doesn’t make a difference for me. I’m a half ghost and travel between two dimensions all the time, fighting all sorts off monsters.”

“What my illogical friend Danny here is trying to say,” Jimmy added before Jorgen fully opened his mouth, trying to mend the heated mood that was forming in this room since the beginning. It was already cramped in here with so many people, so they already stood close to each other, but Timmy still thought Jimmy hooking one of his arms around his wasn’t necessary. At first, Timmy wanted to push Jimmy away or pull his arm out of the hold, but he ignored it. It didn’t feel bad. Just … weird. And it didn’t calm his anxiety one bit either. “Your world and your rules may not be our business, but Timmy is one of us and we’ll do everything we can to help. Furthermore, without your main power source, you guys need allies. Therefore, it would be less of a hassle and more efficient if we’re all on the same page and work together.”

The fairy took a moment to let the various opinions sink in. At seemed his stance and body language lost some of its tension. Yet, he shook it off, remaining stubborn.

“As endearing as your little friendship is – sharing our classified knowledge is against Da Rules.” Jorgen bended over Danny to intimidate him, which didn’t work. The halfa had seen far bigger monsters to be scared off and Jorgen didn’t count for him as one. Timmy, on the other hand, gulped. “No matter what you say, the rules cannot be changed. However, it’s very suspicious how much you already know. Perhaps my supervision on Turner was indeed poorly … Well, that can always be resolved, once the world order is restored.”

“You know, you and Walker would really get along. Your stupid ideologies are all you both care about!” Danny also started to square his shoulders but was held back by Timmy. The usually bratty teen had horror written all over his face and didn’t want the halfa to make it worse. As much as Timmy gave into the urge to argue with Jorgen these days due to that contract, the bucktoothed boy knew what the warden could do. Jorgen had less limitations and much more powerful magic than any of the other normal fairies. He was even able to keep a tear open between dimensions during their Friday the 13^th dance party in both Jimmy’s and Timmy’s dimension, which meant his magic could actually influence other universes to a greater deal if he wanted to.

Yet, Jorgen didn’t erase their memories. Maybe because he couldn’t, maybe because he actually did hold his promise of owing them something for freeing him – despite them being the cause of everything in the first place. As strict as he was, he could be just as nonchalant as the other fairies. Probably something that came naturally when they worked with children every day for centuries now, but despite all his flaws, Jorgen was a man of his word. And Timmy was counting on that right now. It was hard to guess what was going on in Jorgen’s mind and he often acted contradicting, but as a soldier, he knew about honor and wouldn’t punish them if all they did was help. At least not Timmy’s friends, hopefully. They had absolutely nothing to do with their problems and didn’t have any obligation to offer their support but did so anyway, after all.

“Okay, look, can we just …,” Timmy had no idea how to get this situation solved peacefully. If something didn’t happen soon, they would get nowhere with this if they couldn’t even agree on working together. As much as it scared him, saving Cosmo and Wanda was more important than anything else, even if it meant he had to sacrifice something in return. “talk about the details when this is over? If you leave them alone and let my friends help, you can punish me instead, I don’t care with what.”

“Anything?” Jorgen was actually caught a little off guard at that. It was rare moments like these when Turner decided to be selfless, putting the lives of others before his own. He respected that. “You know your 18^th birthday is almost around the corner? If the contract is nullified, you would receive the ultimate punishment.”, he dared him with a challenging undertone, scanning him from head to toe, doubting the teen’s earnest intentions.

“I don’t care. Just leave them alone … sir.” Even if Jorgen was technically his boss, he mostly refrained from addressing him like that out of principle. It reminded him too much about his time at military school with Remy and that Sergeant. “SpongeBob here always believes in the good of people, so I leave the decision up to you.” He smiled reassuringly at his small friend, who looked beyond scared at the mention of an ultimate punishment. Of course, Timmy was also afraid but that didn’t mean he couldn’t hope Jorgen would simply forget about it eventually. Or he could find a loophole, maybe hoping they would reward his efforts since this time the ‘worst godchild in the world’ wasn’t the cause of their world’s apocalypse. A childish part of him always dared to wish, no matter what. But for now, he would have to be the yielding part in this fight.

“Poof poof!” His transformed brother quipped loud enough for the other to hear.

Still taken aback by that oddly mature behavior, Jorgen scoffed. “I can’t simply ‘ignore it this time’ just because it’s an emergency, small earring. We have these rules for a darn good reason and any more imbalances could be our doom – who knows what they already did to Da Original Rules!”

“Mr. Von Strangle, sir?” SpongeBob skillfully squeezed through the legs of his friends, his hands folded. “I know how important classified knowledge is, but if my friends lives and my home were in danger, I would rather save them instead of the secret formula.” He shuffled with his feet, still intimidated by the size difference but willing to stand up for his friend. “And if it means my memories have to be wiped when everything’s over, I don’t mind it, as long as Timmy won’t be punished for it.”

“I …” Confused by the fact that a walking sponge was talking to him – he still didn’t get used to it, even if he interacted with Bob before – Jorgen couldn’t find the words. Usually brutal strength and strict commands were all that was needed for him to be done, but faced with so much … caring and protecting each other … it was weird. He had no idea how to react to that. And he was a sap on the inside, as much as he loved rules and being strict. He couldn’t yell at someone so innocent. Perhaps there could be an arrangement –

“Who cares what that jarhead thinks?!” Danny obviously had enough of his friends trying to take the blame for each other and he wouldn’t let that idiot bully them any further. He was surprised Jimmy hadn’t objected first, but the genius was busy enough gaping at Timmy like he grew a second head and unintentionally clinging to the others arm. “We don’t need him or his permission to do what we always do and what we’re good at. Without us, he could’ve died and yet he still thinks he’s the one in charge here! But I’ll tell you what -“ His eyes started to glow blue as his hair turned white from pure fury. A chilly breath escaped his mouth, eliciting a shiver running down several spines. “You’re in MY world and not yours. So we’re playing by MY rules! Which means, as long as you’re here, I won’t let you boss my friends around!” An almost evil grin spread on his face as his body slowly transformed, the most menacing the others had ever seen. “You may be the toughest fairy in your universe, but without a fancy big wand and powers, you’re no match against me. And I’m not above punching a disabled veteran-asshole!”

As Danny challengingly touched Jorgen’s chest with his index finger and the fabric of his shirt (that was actually one of his father’s old nightgowns) began to freeze, Sam took that as her cue to be the voice of reason. “Danny, calm down. I know you’re upset, but you’re not better than him by threatening him back.” Shuffling around the others, she put her hand on his outstretched arm, which did little to break his staring contest with the warden at first, her hand burning from the stinging cold.

“Yeah, dude. You need to chill, but not that hard.” Tucker didn’t bother squeezing into the room as well. He knew if anyone could reach him mentally and physically better than anyone, it was his girlfriend.

“Danny?” SpongeBob wasn’t used to such outbursts from his friend. The halfa was mostly the calmest person in their group and he especially never outright swore – outside the battlefield, that was.

However, Danny was still glaring at Jorgen and vice versa, though his cryokinsesis had toned down on instinct to not hurt Sam any further. By now, he had fully gone ghost, his expression showing nothing but animosity. Even on one leg, Jorgen stood tall and sturdy like a wall, not backing down, although he did seem impressed.

Cursing under his breath, Timmy tried to think of a way to de-escalate the situation. This was exactly what he didn’t want to happen. Could this situation get any worse?

“OH MY GHOST, BRO!” A voice from the distance yelled, all heads snapping to the window where the intangible Danielle stuck her head through. She looked a little beaten up, ectoplasm dripping from her nose. “We got a … situation here.”

Alerted and his beef with the fairy forgotten for now, Danny’s big brother senses that he developed over the last years kicked in. “What kind of situation? Where’s Jazz?” His legs turned into his ghost tail as he followed her out of the window, opening it so the others would overhear.

“Well, we went on patrol and while you slept, mom and dad called us, saying there was a signature of rapid activity in the Ghost Zone, so we were about to head back, but then this portal at the funfair opened and a bunch of Walker’s goons and some other freaks came out of it –”

“Wait, hold on.” He looked into the direction where the loud yells of excitement had turned to fear and panic. Right, they had soundproofed then windows because of the fans and press. Shit.
While he was already outside, he also spotted the open garage and the missing Fenton Assault Vehicle. So the whole Fenton family, minus him, had joined the fight. “For how long?” He turned around to Sam and Tucker. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“Well, we wanted to, but you all needed the rest and we stayed down in the lab for support and to keep an eye on the radar.” Sam started to explain.

“But then this big guy woke up and chose violence on stuffed toys and poor laptops and furniture.” Tucker concluded.

“So if that jerk’s bitching hadn’t woken me up, none of you would’ve?” Danny facepalmed. “What were you thinking, in a time like this?” He turned back to his little sister. “And how many times do I have to tell you not to underestimate the enemy!”

“Hey, you’re not the only Phantom here.” Danielle crossed her arms, though her statement was weakened by the ghost-blood dripping from her chin. “We – and the citizens of Amity Park – can’t just always count on you and your friends. You can’t always be everywhere to play the hero! They literally don’t want to evacuate just to watch you beat these ghosts up and take pictures!”

Danny understood her frustration, of all people he really knew firsthand how annoying that could be. Still, he was mad they just left him out of it on purpose and something inside him believed they just used Timmy’s problem as an excuse for it. As much as he complained or as tired as he was lately, he wouldn’t just let his family deal with enemies on their own when he was there to help.

A crash in the distance got his attention, from his height he could see the ferris wheel spinning freely down the street, more blasts and noises coming from the park. There was no time for discussions and arguments now.

“Alright, we’ll talk about this later.” He ran a hand through his floating, nearly flame-like hair. “I’ll go ahead with Dani, you can take the specter speeder.” He then addressed his best friends, his tone just a little disappointed. “You two keep an eye on the drones and see if anyone else wants to join the party. See if you can reach Frostbite or Wulf.”

“Danny, wait.” Sam leaned out the window, not happy about the situation at all. “I’m really sorry. I just thought it would be good for you …”

“I know.” The halfa looked over his shoulder, his stern gaze growing soft, yet still distanced. He hesitated, seemingly wanting to add something but took off as the ferris wheel continued to circle down the street.

“I’ll go down and get the Specter Speeder.” Jimmy let go of Timmy’s arm and speedwalked out of the room, mentally making a list of what else they would need. His hyper-backpack was in the lab anyway, so he could as well take as much stuff as needed. Surely a few more weapons and healing items wouldn’t hurt. SpongeBob simply followed him.

“Hold on, we weren’t done yet.” Jorgen grabbed Timmy’s newly freed arm, who was about to follow the others. “Saving Fairy World is our top priority, and the original copy is –”

Timmy didn’t like the contact and shook the fairy off, sternly meeting his gaze. “Look, I don’t care what you do, but I’ll help my friends, magic or not. Because that’s what friends do. Even if Amity Park isn’t my business, it doesn't mean I don’t care what happens here. Unlike you!”

He left without turning around, leaving the old fairy behind to mull over everything. He could come along and help in the fight, or he could do whatever he wanted instead. Consequences be dammed, Timmy had enough of ducking his head and being considerate over all his actions.

He didn’t see the thoughtful expression on Jorgen’s face, nor the way his eyes widened when the crown on Timmy’s retreating form started to pulsate. But that alone wasn’t the thing off about him. The warden faltered, leaning against the cracked bedframe.

“This is why I told her I don’t want children … they always attract trouble.” Not like they could, even if they wanted to. Rubbing his forehead, he weighed his options. “Turner, what have you gotten yourself into now?”

✧ « ★ » ✧

“Don’t tell me these small fries gave you such a hard time.” Danny used his telekinetic powers to stop the ferris wheel long enough so Dani could fly to the seats and free the last trapped people inside. Further down near the haunted house, his parents were currently catching more of the underlings while Jazz used the Fenton peeler to tear the ones out that tried to overshadow the bystanders.

A mix of screams of glee and terror rang through the early night, some crazy enough to stand around and watch, filming Danny and his family in action while others completely panicked. It was a usual Saturday in the life of Danny Phantom, honestly.

“No, but Technus and Skulker did.” She blasted one of Walker’s minions with a fingergun. “They fused into a sort of mecha, I lured them back into the ghost portal and escaped out before it closed. It’s a mess in there, I’ll tell ya.”

“… They fused?!” A horrid feeling overcame the halfa. Once this was over and they had time for a breather, he might have to pay a visit to Clockwork. The thermos should still be in his care, there was no way the future would turn into that.

“Duh.” Dani rolled her eyes. “Sharing a brain cell hasn’t made them any smarter, though. As long as no other portals open, this shouldn’t be so bad.”

“When were you even going to tell me about all of this, if Jorgen hadn’t woken us?” He asked with a flat voice, too shaken to be angry at her. Instead, he activated the thermal blaster on his arm, sucking the defeated goons inside his new ghost trapper as if vacuuming a carpet.

Shrugging, Dani floated next to him, using her own Fenton Thermos. “Uh … Not until you saw the news on TV at least.” Ignoring the strict stare of her brother she continued. “Come on, when was your last day off without any trouble? Ages ago! Maybe the first week after the Desasteroid or one lazy afternoon, like, once every second month. And the one time you want to spent a couple days with your friends, a whole damn apocalypse starts. It’s so annoying!”

Despite everything that was going on and how it riled him up, Danny couldn’t help but snort at that. She really had a lot of his traits. “Shouldn’t I be the one upset about it?”

“You should be! But you’re not, even when it’s not the ghosts but the fans pestering you at university. You just resign and accept it. Big bro, you don’t have to please everyone as the hero, you know that, right?” Dani led him towards the other members of their family. “It sucks. I sure couldn’t deal with that. Guess I don’t take after you in terms of selflessness.” She accepted a found handkerchief from her brother to finally wipe her nose clean. “Maybe it’s worth a shot to ask the ghosts if they would agree to a summer-vacation truce, not just the Christmas one.”

A small laugh escaped Danny. Yeah, as if his life could ever be this easy. “Sure and next we’ll have adventures in deep space.” Their short moment was cut as the communicators strapped to their belts activated themselves, Tucker’s voice calling for them in static.

“Guys, we have a problem.”

“Tuck? What’s wrong?” Danny looked at the walkie talkie, shaking it a little as if that would help stabilizing the signal. Dani didn’t even bother to get hers out.

Jazz also joined the call, apparently the line was open for all of them. “If you meant the new portals, we’ve already got that covered, Mom brought the portal gun and put it on reverse.”

“Nah, not that. Well, yes, but …” Tucker seemed a little stressed, a lot of noises in the background muffling him. Danny could hear Timmy and Jimmy, one saying they were already on their way while the other nagged they could’ve already taken off if someone hadn’t insisted on changing clothes before. “There’s some crazy activity in the Ghost Zone, portals across the whole city open at random. But that’s not the main problem.”

“Spit it out, mayor, we’re a little busy at the moment.”, Jack said, blasting at ghosts while doing so.

There was more static. “Tucker? Sam?” Danny and Dani exchanged glances.

“Most of the drones were destroyed, but the footage of their cameras was sent to the computer. They managed to reach the Land of the Far Frozen, but … it looks like a tornado blasted through. No trace of Frostbite, Cujo or Wulf.” Sam concluded for them. Tucker was obviously busy trying to increase the signal. “There must be an entire army!”

“Something’s heading for your coordinates, Dan-Duo” Tucker said from the distance. “Oh … Damn, guys, you need to get aw –!“

The line went dead.

“Tucker?!” Danny shook the communicator again. “Jazzy? Dad?” Nothing. No one answered.

“Wait, there’s only one guy able to mess with technology like that.” Dani gulped, regretting how much she had provoked them before she left. She frantically looked around, spotting what Foley had predicted. “Look out!”

They evaded a green ecto-blast just in time before it could hit them. Something was weird about it, but Danny couldn’t focus on that right now as another blast was fired, missing him again as he dodged. The blast hit the building behind, not exploding but melting the concrete at the spot of the impact. Another portal had opened across the street on a billboard.

“Huh, I guess my aim still needs some improvement.” A gruff yet all too similar voice said. A ghost in black and white hovered above them, covered mostly in green flames. It was accompanied by another person, not spectral-like but still floating in a weird suit with a hood covering their head.

The masked figure shrugged, revealing something that almost looked like a PDA “You’ll get enough practice here. But don’t forget about the target.”

“Yeah, yeah.” The green fire around the ghost faded, revealing a mirrored face. The other person simultaneously took off their hood, revealing their identity as well.

“Danny … Why do they sound and look exactly like you and Tim?” Danielle asked, not taking her eyes off the boys that ignored them for now, focusing on the weird gadget the Timmy-clone had.

The halfa in question didn’t have an answer to that. He, too, was staring at the ghost that shared his face, the only grave differences between them being that the doppelganger appeared to be a few years younger, with longer flame hair, black instead of white. His eyes also had completely green sclera. The monochrome reverted suit sported a long cape, resembling too much a combination of Vlad … or his evil future version.

Was that why his alternative identity never disappeared? Was evil future Dan inevitable and, in the end, it didn’t matter what version of Danny existed because one of them would turn into him one day?

So many questions rushed through his mind as he was staring at probably yet another clone of him.

“Why?” Clenching his fist, an unspeakable amount of rage swallowed him. He had no idea what he wanted to ask, what he wanted to be answered or what he should think right now. There was just confusion, frustration and anger as he was met by a sly smirk of his own face, red irises appearing in the green hue of the impostor’s eyes.

The other Danny opened his mouth to say something, but Danny rushed forward without thinking any further, both his hands preparing large balls of ecto-energy to fire at him.

The Timmy-clone (Timmy had called him Tiberius, right?) simply hovered to the side, choosing to leave the battle between the Dannys as he instead focused his attention on Danielle.

“Too bad we don’t have enough time for a proper introduction, Daniel.” He grinned, his pale face cold and indifferent, nothing like the real Timmy would ever act. “But I have better things to do. And I don’t want to ruin the Fenton-Family gathering.” He snapped his fingers, the Infi-Map appearing in a dark cloud of energy, somehow influencing the scroll as it caused several other portals in the sky to open, making way for more lesser ghosts, even some weird android-robots that fell down, armed with laser guns.

Among all these goons was, however, one of the serious threats and the reason their connection to the others was cut off: Skultech, the combined version of Skulker and Technus.

“Well, we would be pleasured to ruin her day.” They spoke in their combined voices, yet sounding oddly robotic.

Gulping, Dani also prepared for the fight while Tiberius took off, taking the Infi-Map with him. “Shoot.” She tried to get closer to Danny so they could back each other up but was attacked the moment she moved an inch.

“Dani!” Danny called after his sister, worried for her safety since he knew how tough that enemy had been back then. He was thrown back into reality by a burning punch to his face.

The other Danny laughed. “Don’t you know it’s rude to ignore your opponent?” He fired another of his weird ecto-projectiles at him, the acid-substance leaving a burning mark at the grazed spots on Danny’s body.

“Who are you?!” The real one asked, holding his injured arm. Usually he healed unnaturally fast, but the inflicted injury seemed to get worse instead of better with each passing second, corroding his suit. “Did Vlad make you? What fake promises did he feed you to become his loyal puppet?” He turned intangible, evading another punch of the younger version of him. It was still likely he was also influenced and lied to by his archenemy, just like Danielle had been once. He didn’t want to hurt someone that was only created and used for a vendetta without having any choice to decide for themselves. He still remembered the other failed attempts, being in pain, melting, mindless.

Temper boiled beneath his skin – no, beneath his shell, coming from an unknown core. But he couldn’t direct his hatred at someone that probably didn’t deserve it. He had to stay in control.

“Puppet? How dare you!” Through gritted teeth, the other one turned his ecto-beams pink, firing them at Danny – hitting despite him being intangible. “I’m more than just a perfect clone – I’m better than you’ll ever be!” He rushed forward, creating a duplicate of himself. It wasn’t hard to tell them apart, the copy being just a transparent, faceless blur. Yet, it still punched just as hard. “And since I’m here now, father clearly doesn’t need you anymore. You should’ve taken his offer when he still wanted you.”

Danny was kicked against a wall, his energy-field protecting him from the impact. “Vlad is an evil lunatic that just uses and gets rid of anyone he wants.” Still holding himself back, he tried to reason with his clone. “I don’t know with what kind of insane illusion he convinced you, but he’s an awful person and incapable of truly caring about anyone but himself! You’re not his son, so whatever he did to create you, that won’t change it, …. Danny.”

“The name’s Damian, you outdated fool!” Damian grabbed him be the collar of his suit. His green-red glowing eyes glaring at him. “And once we have the power to alternate reality, father and I will build our own empire and get rid of you all!”

Well, as grumpy as that one appeared, he had the same temper of a wealthy, spoiled teenager, blurting their evil plots out like any conceited villain. Or maybe he was still too young, too confident and underestimating his opponents. And if Danny couldn’t convince or reason with him, he had no other choice but to fight.

If there was one thing the halfa knew for sure, it was that he would make Vlad pay for this. And maybe it was concerning how easily he overcame his moral doubts.

He told himself it wasn’t his fault and it couldn’t be helped as he inhaled, roaring his ghostly wail directly into the face of this misguided half Phantom, half Plasmius clone, the shockwave sending him flying.

No more holding back.

Chapter Text

Jimmy wished he were a little more rested, since he usually didn’t have so much trouble to think under pressure, but his mind was clouded with several nonsensical thoughts. He heard the footsteps of the others behind him as he rushed down to the lab, almost slipping on one of the stairs with his fuzzy socks – again, at the same step if he noticed correctly. Luckily, Goddard was there to pull him upright, his extending mechanical hand grabbing the back of his sweater. He should probably put on his footwear before they left, at least.

“Goddard, can you get me the first aid kit and my shoes from upstairs?” He turned to his best friend, who barked and went back the way he came from. Tucker and Sam arrived shortly after him. The area was full of weapons and lose parts lying around, the screens showing several areas of the Ghost Zone and a monitor close to the portal with red dots showed the activity on the other side. Under different circumstances, he would’ve been intrigued to inspect them. However, there was no time for that now.

He went to the corner where he left his backpack and the other gadgets he had started to work on, venting his frustration about the inability to open a portal to Dimmsdale with his UPMtg earlier. The Fenton Peeler, dissembled parts of the Fenton Bazooka and his serum vials laid on a desk, mocking him. He regretted not testing the substance before using it, but at least the outcome was still the same.

“Need a hand, Jimmy?” Tucker asked, offering him the keys to the Specter Speeder.

Declining, Jimmy shook his head, realizing only them, Sam and SpongeBob were present now. Timmy had been right behind him, hadn’t he? Obviously not, but where could he be if not here? Why was that fact unnerving him so much even? “No, I have no objections with Danny’s plan. You should focus on the communication and surveillance.” He turned to Bob after that. “Where’s Timmy?”

“I think he went the other direction to Danny’s room.” The sponge pondered, which relieved Jimmy more than it should.

While Sam and Tucker got back to work, then genius overlooked the inventory on his digital watch. He didn’t have much time to upgrade the Fenton Peeler, but if the modification on its nanotech was a success, he should be able to combine it with his other weapons, such as the freeze ray and the tornado blaster. Perhaps that one evening where Danny convinced them to watch Avengers had inspired him, but he was still far from inventing a suit like Iron Man had.

After unlocking the Speeder, Jimmy threw his bag and the Fenton Peeler inside. He contemplated taking the serum with him, but it was a failed attempt, hence there was no use for it anymore. And hopefully no need for it as well. He wasn’t keen on playing nurse and dealing with … all that.

Shaking his head, he focused on his task at hand. He had seen the Speeder before, but he was still unfamiliar with the controls. Using the hovercar would’ve probably been easier and faster due to his experience with it, but his new design still lacked the needed ghost-weapons, so it made more sense to use a vehicle packed and prepped for spectral enemies. And while he was at it, he could make himself more familiar with the gear and have inspiration for his own adjustments on the hovercar. However, all these plans had to wait for a little longer.

“Alright, I’ll go get Turner.” Dusting off his hands, Jimmy headed for the exit. He didn’t have to go himself and could’ve called Goddard or sent SpongeBob instead, but he didn’t for some reason. It was probably even a waste of precious time that he could’ve used to park the Speeder outside while someone else did it, but then again, overthinking this and trying to reason or explain anything would also be time consuming. “SpongeBob, do you have your foam gloves with you?”

“Of course I … no wait, I took the thingy-wristbands off before the shower.” The fry cook looked at his naked wrists that usually had the modified bracelets on when he left his dimension. Even worse, he was still wearing the home-made jumpsuit from Sam and the bunny slippers. “Oh no, I can’t fight like this!”

“Don’t worry, I gotcha man.” Tucker put a hand on the square head with the weird spongey tousled hair. “Danny’s mom and I worked on an improved version of the Ghost Gauntlets. It’s still a prototype, but it’ll probably do more damage to ghosts than foam.” He then opened a cabinet next to the portal with many works in progress, such as the Jack O’ Nine Tails (without Jack’s face), some belts, lipsticks, the Fenton Phones, a skateboard and more jumpsuits – as well as the mentioned gloves. “You can be my beta-tester, if ya want.”

Amazed, SpongeBob admired the much smaller and handier version of the Gauntlets that were probably still too big for his small hands, but at least not too heavy. “That’s amazing! Though I’d still love to have my trusty gloves with me as well, they were a gift from my friend Jimmy after all.”

Said friend who had waited at the entrance stared back, a tender smile on his face. It wasn’t often he got appreciated so earnestly. Sure, Bobby was easily impressed by most things, especially his inventions, but it always made people feel special to hear his praise, even when they thought they didn’t need to hear it. Because Jimmy knew how great his inventions were, of course. Still, it was … very nice.
“I’ll get them for you on the way back.”, he called over his shoulder as he took two steps at once on the stairs, careful not to slip on the same one for a third time. It sure would be practical if he could find a way to transform or change his appearance as Danny was able to, just without the … pain that caused his state in the first place. Like the Fenton Peeler, a small gadget that could turn into a whole suit. Man, these superhero movies really did influence him. If Sheen were here right now, he would’ve had a blast. And so would the entire lab, because it wouldn’t survive a day with him under the same roof. Good old times.

As Jimmy went to Danny’s room, ignoring the confusing and unfitting rush of nostalgia and bittersweetness, he saw Goddard waiting outside, kit already grabbed with the mechanical arm. The door to Jazz’s room was still closed and neither side of the hallway made any noise. It was too quiet.

Deeming the curiosity about Jorgen and his threats earlier as not important right now, he simply barged in Danny’s room. There weren’t many options where Timmy could’ve run off to and given the silence he most likely wasn’t with the rule enforcer. And boy, was he in there.

“Gah!” Frozen midmotion, the black shirt over his head that he was just about to put on, Timmy stood in the middle of the room in nothing but white underwear with red hearts printed on them. The bandages were gone, Timmy’s body left with nothing but subtle bruises and a small crusty spot on the forehead. Without the blood, ashes, dirt and wounds tainting it, the skin looked really smooth, the small illumination from the hovering crown highlighting the outline of subtle, delicate pecs and biceps that were rarely seen but on full display in this stretched position. “Man, don’t you know how to knock?”

Flushed, Timmy contemplated if he should hold the shirt in front of these embarrassing boxershorts or if he should just continue what he was going to do but much faster. It didn’t ease his nervousness that Jimmy was just standing in the doorway, gaping at him as if his mind had shut down. He mumbled something under his breath that sounded like ‘habbada’ or some other gibberish, until he violently clenched his eyes shut, fake-coughing into his hand. “I just, err … wanted to go out with – I mean, get you. To come downstairs. With me.” Internally, the genius facepalmed so hard, he felt the phantom pain already. Why couldn’t he form a coherent sentence, let alone why did he add the last one? Like … why? This was a serious situation!

“Huh?” Deciding it was too weird to stand around half naked any longer, Timmy continued to dress. “I thought that’s what you sent Goddard for.”

“Right!” Why was he talking louder than necessary? Jimmy ran a hand through his messy hair as he gave his dog a side glance. How could a robot without the need to blink or rarely any expression look so judging? Only Jimmy’s dignity held him back from glaring back with a ‘this proves nothing’ look. “I … also wanted to change. That’s why I’m here. To get shoes. And you. And … uh, anyway, I’ll be in the bathroom.” Searching for his own stacked pile of spare clothes from Danny, the genius gathered his things and turned around, almost slipping on the wooden floor with these cursed fuzzy socks as he shut the door with more force than intended.

As soon as he locked himself in, he slid down the door, counting primary numbers to himself so he could calm his heartbeat. What in Einstein’s name was wrong with him? Why was he acting like a total idiot ever since … yesterday? He never acted like that in front of Turner before, not even with Cindy – except under a pheromonic influence. And the other times with Betty. “Ugh, why did you have to propose this thesis, Goddard?” Jimmy banged the back of his head against the door, puzzled and frustrated.

That couldn’t be normal. They had more than plenty of other problems to worry about and yet here he was, having a crisis over a hypothetical stupid crush that had no justification. Someone couldn’t just have a whole different conception of a person in less than 24 hours or so. Jimmy blamed it on his exhaustion, his still tired and caffeine deprived state, the stress or basically anything else, because he had no explanation for it aside from Goddard confusing him with false logic.

What was different now? What had changed?

He just happened to be in a bad and unstable mood for a while. And Timmy had been there in the right place at the right time saying the right things. Words that inspired him, with these shiny blue eyes engraved into his mind, the voice he could still hear and the warmth of his hands on his cheeks …

Jimmy went to the sink to splash his face with cold water. The breakup with Cindy had been a while ago and he only recently had to deal with Carl’s and Sheen’s absence. It was just his hormones and illogical loneliness that made him crave for things that he knew and missed. If he never got together with Cindy or if he had been accustomed to being by himself for a longer period, nothing of that would’ve affected him. But his primitive instincts longed for someone to hold, someone to kiss … And it was only because of Goddard that Schrödinger’s cat was now waiting in its box right in front of him. Waiting, daring Jimmy to open it and find out the undeniable facts. But …

He couldn’t. This was just a stupid illusion, a trick his tired mind plagued him with. Nothing about his behavior made sense and it surely wasn’t important right now. Both Dimmsdale and Amity Park were in danger, so: “Get a grip, Neutron!” He told himself as he steeled his nerves to function like he was supposed to in these kinds of situations again. “Focus.”

✧ « ★ » ✧

Awkwardly holding the wand, Timmy waited with Goddard in the hallway for Jimmy, leaning against the wall. He had no idea what just happened and what he should think about it. If the conversation with Jorgen moments ago wouldn’t weigh on his mind so much, he probably would’ve spent more than a quick thought how suspicious Jimmy’s staring was. Well, he had to wear these stupid shorts and it was probably a surprise how well his wounds healed. Of course, that would attract the other’s attention. Yeah, that was it.

“Poof poof?”

Although he couldn’t see his brother, still dangling from his ear, he heard him loud and clear. Timmy wasn’t sure if he liked that, because it was hard to ignore voices when they came directly from his side, almost as if they were inside his head …

“It’s always convenient to blame others for your bad luck.”

“It’s nothing. We should go.” Timmy bend down to pat Goddard’s head, ignoring the sudden feeling of dread. He waited in front of the door, contemplating if he should knock or say anything. He didn’t want to leave things awkward like that, but standing around here while their friend and his family were fighting outside, in a battle they had nothing to do with, made it hard to be considerate. “Tell Jim we’re downstairs, waiting with the others.” An affirmative bark. “Thanks Goddy.”

It felt weird, walking around in these otherworldly clothes. Not his first time but it was always strange. The formfitting black shirt, the jeans, everything felt like it didn’t belong to him. He didn’t care that nothing was pink, although it would’ve probably been more familiar. It was just that … as if something was missing. And he couldn’t shake it off. His head was so full of snippets and information. He had been so sure of himself after his talk with Jimmy, even standing up to Jorgen, but somehow Jimmy’s strange behavior and the reminder of the threat that was actually going on around him managed to unnerve him.

Timmy rubbed the back of his head, the cold feeling of a missing hat bothering him more than ever. Something wasn’t right. Ever since Dani showed up, he couldn’t shake that uneasiness off. Sure, well, with their enemies the source of it was quite obvious. Wasn’t it?

Perhaps he should’ve asked Jorgen to accompany them. The more allies they had, the better. But he … how was he supposed to act now? What was the right thing to do?

Shaking his head, Timmy entered the lab. Apparently, SpongeBob had also quickly changed his clothes, although his ‘hair’ was still a little messy. Unlike the upper floor and the stairway, the lab was mainly dark, only illuminated by the screens and machines. There was another door open, leading to the garage. Sam was talking to someone over her Fenton Phones, probably Jazz or her parents.

“So, how’s it going?” He asked, forcing the troubling thoughts away as he stood in the entrance. Probably due to their intense focus, Tucker and SpongeBob both jerked around. “What?”

“Geez, way to sneak up on someone.” Tucker put a hand on his chest in a dramatic gesture, but took something from the examining table to hand him, a sort of walkie talkie. “Here, take that. We’re still working on the Fenton Phones’ update, but these babies work even if you’re in another dimension.”

So it was like the cellphones that Jimmy invented. Well, Timmy’s was busted anyway, so this was probably a good substitute. “Thanks.” He attached the communicator to his belt. His attention drifted off to the screens, viewing the cameras attached to Maddie’s and Jack’s jumpsuits. He could also hear them talk, the transmitter having the same wavelength on all devices. It was pure chaos out there. And for some reason, Timmy still couldn’t help but feel partially guilty for that. Well, it wasn’t like they came specifically for him now, weren’t they? It was Vlad they had to deal with and that guy obviously had some vengeance plan going on.

As he waited for the genius to return, he spotted the abandoned table, with spare parts, syringes, test tubes and vials crammed in a corner, the suspicious pink fluid glowing in its own toxic way. Then his gaze wandered to the open wardrobe with the prototypes and gear. Perhaps he could also use some upgrades or take something with him that might come in handy later …

While Timmy put the fanny pack on as a finishing touch, a shadow loomed over him, spreading across the floor long before the casting owner even announced his presence. Jimmy stood in the entrance, holding Goddard in his arms, his back illuminated by the light. The red coat and olive-green cargo pants seemed old and a little too baggy for his stature, but the goggles couldn’t fit better for a crazy scientist like him.

Now it was Timmy who stared, a subtle smile forming on his lips as he took in the attempt of a hairstyle close to his original fudge-head. It honestly looked like Jimmy just hastily combed his hair and put a load of gel in, caressing it back so nothing would fall into his face. He kind of missed the usual style but this one wasn’t so bad. It was just different. More natural and chaotic, the opposite of the known tidy and controlled one. He could only imagine how much that probably bothered Neutron.

And yet, as soon as their gazes met, Jimmy looked away, his mouth pressed in a thin line. His dog friend was hard to read, but it was almost as if he let his head drop in disappointment. “Alright, we wasted enough time.”, he said in a flat tone, walking over to the Speeder. The smile on Timmy’s face disappeared due to the mixed signals he was getting now. Or maybe his gut feeling that he tried to ignore since the Trixie-reminder had been wrong all along and Poof’s comment had him left wondering for nothing. Even more of a reason to push it down now.

“What about Jorgen?” Sam asked, turning away from the computer.

“Who cares.” Timmy shrugged, his voice spitting more venom than necessary. For some reason, his stressed mood had changed to pissed off and the source was standing next to him, still not sparing him a direct glance. “He changes his opinion and morals faster than our weathermen. Like some other people I know.” While often an ally and helping him – especially when he was fighting the Darkness – Jorgen could also be cruel and uncaring. Fairies were known for their inconsistent behaviors, but one could never be sure what the warden was going to do next. He might punish him, or he might help him bend the rules. But right now, he was glad when he could spend a good fight with his friends and not focus on his problems, which Jorgen constantly reminded him about with just existing next to him. “For now, we’re better off without him.”

Finally, Jimmy looked at him, but Timmy was busy balancing the wand in his hand, trying to swirl it with his fingers without dropping. He ignored Poofs questioning hum as he did so. The genius appeared to have an inner conflict, his hands clenching to fists and his mouth opening several times, only to close again. Goddard let out a tiny whimper.

And just when Jimmy was about to actually say something, he was interrupted.

“Oh no, that’s not good!” Sam exclaimed, standing up so fast the chair got knocked over. “Tucker, I got access to one of the drone’s footage! Look.” She pointed at the monitor, showing a frozen land with destroyed sculptures and no living – or undead – being to be found.

“That’s not good, we better tell Danny.” The young major went to the communicator …

✧ « ★ » ✧

“Ugh, I can’t believe one of them is able to render all electronic devices in the entire city useless.”, Jimmy cursed, his grip tightening on the steering wheel. At least the ghost shield on the Specter Speeder and Fenton Works protected them from this tech-ghosts, but they weren’t able to contact anyone. They even had to leave Goddard behind, since his sensors had begun to act up the same time the signal was disturbed and Jimmy didn’t want to endanger his buddy.

Timmy looked at the loaned communicator. “Well, so much for that. We’re on our own until that guy’s defeated.”

“I hope Danny and his family are okay.” SpongeBob clenched his gloved fingers, getting used to the new weight. “Why are there so many portals all of a sudden?”

“That could have many reasons, Bob.” Jimmy took a hard right turn, ignoring the small fries and heading for the park. “We’ve fought with Wulf in the Ghost Zone before, remember? He can tear a hole into the veil between these two dimensions with his claws. And the Fenton’s have a portal gun. Our enemy must have a similar way to gain access as well.”

“It’s not just that. In my dimension, Anti-Wanda was able to sort of make a portal by just carving one with a spoon into the wall.” Timmy pulled one leg up on his seat, drumming on the knee to vent his agitation. “Maybe they got here the same way we did. Just that their portal didn’t … go crazy or whatever.”

Humming, Jimmy mulled over the new info. A makeshift portal was possible, but carving one? As far as he knew, the Ghost Zone followed its own laws of physics and science. Carving symbols into a wall sounded more like a ritual, more medieval, more magical. “It brings up the question if the Ghost Zone is the only dimension they can enter manually. Or if, perhaps, the Ghost Zone has more than just one exit into one single dimension.” Jimmy wondered out loud. It was as if they didn’t talk with each other but just so happened to ask questions about the same topic at the same time. SpongeBob, sitting in the middle between them, just glanced nervously from one to the other. “But that would mean they have an advantage and know something about the Ghost Zone we don’t. And if that allows them to enter other worlds as well, it makes it just more complicated to track them down, let alone stop them.” The genius preferred to be the one a step ahead of his opponents, not being the one at a disadvantage.

“Well, maybe we should talk less and –“ Before Timmy could finish his sentence, the Speeder was hit by a blast, shaking the entire vehicle to the side. At least SpongeBobs soft body pillowed his fall because Turner didn’t think about fastening his seatbelt when they departed.

Jimmy maneuvered to the other side to prevent a somersault. The ghost-shield provided enough protection for their landing to avoid a serious crash, but the Specter Speeder was damaged badly enough to not being able to fly anymore – sliding across the pavement for a short distance until they hit another car. Just one attack out of nowhere was enough to get them down.

Since it wasn’t safer to stay inside the vehicle, Jimmy activated the emergency exit button – at least he hoped that’s what it was – which ejected the windshield so they could crawl out easier. “That’s not possible, the radar didn’t alert us of any ghost presence!” He yelled over the subtle pounding in his head. He should’ve made some coffee to go, a small handful of cold water couldn’t fix his exhaustion. Man, now he was the one sporting a headache. Everything was still spinning and shaking, although he had worse crashes before.

“Not a ghost exactly, but that doesn't mean I’m not here to haunt you.”, Timmy’s voice spoke behind him, not even trying to hide its amusement.

Annoyed, Jimmy rubbed his head as he looked over his shoulder. “Very funny, Tur … ner?”

A shiver ran down his spine. Next to him, SpongeBob dusted himself off, also regaining his orientation. As for the third one in their gang … he was hanging around right now. As in midair. Unmoving. Engulfed in dark glowing matter, held up by someone with the same voice and face as himself: Tiberius.

He tried to fight the dark energy that was holding him paralyzed, but Timmy couldn’t even move his hands. Not only that, but he also had dropped the wand when the Speeder was knocked down. “Let me go!”

“Sure, why not.” Tiberius said full of sarcasm, only tightening his grip. A quelching sound was heard, as if Timmy’s entire body was compressed in a vacuum. It probably also felt like it, if his yell was anything to go by. “Now, I think I remember warning you that portals work both ways, didn’t I?” His grip got a tad tighter, hand visibly shaking with the resistance his powers met since more force would crush bones and organs next. “And I also remember specifically telling you that if we ever cross paths again, I wouldn’t be as nice to you – or everyone you hold dear.” Raising his fist above his head, ready to clench it as hard as he could, the copy lowered his gaze, relishing in the face of utter shock and fear his original gave him. That was, until something above Timmy’s head caught his attention, averting his concentration just enough for a moment that lowered his guard.

It was only one second, but that was enough. A blast hit him and he had to let Timmy go in order to rebound it. Since the bucktoothed teen was used to falling down short distances, he quickly got back on his feet with a dodge roll, searching for his wand. With Poof’s help to navigate, he found it soon after, sticking out of the Speeder’s front.

“Not if I have something to say about it!”, Jimmy snarled, his right hand holding the modified Fenton Peeler that slowly wrapped around his arm, exposing an array of small gadgets, such as a visor, laser and the standard ray-gun. Timmy had read enough in Da Rules to recognize a copyright infringement if he saw one – and this was suspiciously close to an Anime-Mecha style.

Next to Jimmy, SpongeBob also had the gauntlets activated, their blue glowing energy coating his arms. Tiberius wasn’t a ghost but he bet a karate-chop would still hurt him, no matter what attire he had. “Yeah, if you mess with our friend, you mess with us!”

“How cute.” Tiberius clapped, slow and unimpressed. “Two fools playing heroes. And wasting my time no less.” He squared his shoulders, the dark aura surrounding him intensified. “But since this is a matter between me and myself, I’d rather even out the numbers.” With a snap of his fingers, the Infi-Map appeared once more and a portal behind him opened, revealing more armed androids jumping down to attack them. “Let’s see how much your ghost weapons fare against them.”

Since Timmy already knew what these things were capable of (or not, they came from Dark Laser after all), he dived right into action, swinging the Deflector Wand at one before it could fire its laser. Unfortunately, his weapon had no power, still used up from cushioning his fall yesterday, which was why the impact wasn’t as spectacular as before. Whether it was luck or not, though, he didn’t have to wait long until another blast was aimed at his head.

“Turner!” Jimmy ran towards him, followed by SpongeBob. He fired his – henceforth dubbed – Neutron Peeler at them, while Bob jumped on the back of another robot to chop his head off in a family friendly PG13 way. “We need to stay together!”

Deflecting the ray just in time, Timmy rolled his eyes. It wasn’t as if he disagreed with that, but Tiberius was clearly out for him and would try to separate them regardless, so what was the point? Yet, he couldn’t help the satisfied grin as the familiar vibration of his staff notified him that he was definitely getting some payback. He was in a much better shape than last time, so he was optimistic to kick some mecha-butt today. It was probably a bad timing to try out just what his weapon could do, but he hoped the deflect-ability could also absorb and repel the dark force. Or something else, as long as it helped.

His other self was still floating in the air, yawning while watching them fight. For someone who was busy, he was suspiciously stalling a lot. “Say, why don’t we make this quick?” Tiberius started, hovering over to Timmy, who got into a defense stance, ready for a homerun. “You’re not that smart to think ahead, so just tell me where you hid the jewel.” He took something out behind his back that looked oddly like the radar that Crocker used to locate his fairy-versary muffin all these years ago. “We can do this the hard and painful way, or you just give it to me – Doesn’t matter, I’ll get it regardless.”

“Jewel?” Jimmy was close enough to overhear the conversation – he didn’t plan on letting Tiberius hurt Timmy again, but the androids kept him busy. “What is he talking about?”

“Don’t look at me like that, I don’t know!” Timmy didn’t need to yell nor sound so annoyed and yet he couldn’t help it. Nervous sweat ran down his temples. The active part of his brain was in complete denial, not having a clue what this was about, but another part of him … felt guilty as if it knew exactly what Tiberius meant. As if there was something he should know. Something he should’ve told the others. But he had no idea how his secrets and the details that he kept to himself would affect everything around him so much. Jewel … what did he mean by that?

“You’re so dense. He was right, you really fooled even yourself.” Tiberius raised his hand, the Infi-Map dissolving, but the aura not fading. Instead, it only got stronger, now directed only at Timmy. “Now, tell me where the Royal Jewel is.”

A strange sensation overcame Timmy. He never experienced mind control on himself, only remembered the weird and yet powerful rush it gave him when he did it to Trixie. Of course, he was aware now that it was completely wrong, as much as he wanted her to suffer these days. Now that he understood firsthand what it was like, he probably wouldn’t do something like that ever again, even if he had the chance.
The sudden pressure in his mind, his body freezing and moving on its own as if he was just a spectator … it was terrible. No matter how hard he wanted to fight it, his arms lowered the wand on its own as he stared unblinkingly at the purple-black glow that surrounded Tiberius. “I don’t know where it is …”, he heard himself say monotone, which seemed to anger the other. Royal Jewel … he recognized that name. Wasn’t that the thing in –

“Tch. I guess it’s the hard way, then.” Another blast from Jimmy was fired at him, the genius now next to his friend, shaking Timmy’s arm as he told him to snap out of it. “Of course it’s always the jerk duo, no matter what multiverse. Why can’t it ever be easy?” With a heavy sigh, Tiberius extended his arms to either side, dark energy gathering in his palms and growing with each passing moment until they were as big as beachballs. Around them, cars, trash and other junk started to levitate, surrounding the copy like the Jupiter’s rings. Timmy could feel the ground shaking beneath his feet as small pebbles and even dirt were lifted from the earth.

While the average teen was still too paralyzed to do anything, Jimmy wasn’t planning to wait for the attack to be launched, so he instead aimed his laser at him, shooting. Yet, the junk that surrounded Tiberius acted like a shield, not letting anything through, no matter how much and how fast the genius fired away.

“This is useless, I need to get closer.” Through gritted teeth, Jimmy activated the jetpack at the sides of his hyperbag, whilst SpngeBob did his best to fight the small leftover army of androids.

Shaking his head to get the brainwash out of his system, Timmy protested. “He can literally manipulate everything around him, what if he does the same to you?” He pointed at a mailbox that was thrown against a streetlamp, the force leaving more than a dent; the metal construct was completely mangled like a squished soda can.

“What other option do we have? I can’t just invent something to nullify his abilities.” Technically, he could, but this was his first encounter with Tiberius and he had no clue how his powers worked as of yet. “And he’s clearly targeting you, so you should stay behind, if you don’t want to end up bedridden again!”

Offended, Timmy grabbed Jimmy’s wrist before he could take off. “And how would it be different if you attacked him instead? Do you think he’d ignore you, Neutron?!”

Jimmy had no idea what to retort to that. To him it was obvious, since Timmy clearly had something the copy wanted and was after, no matter if they fought or ran away. And it was just logical for the genius to jump in the way and try everything to prevent another incident. This wasn’t like yesterday. Because now they were together. He could protect Timmy and help him save his universe. That was what mattered. And neither ghosts, clones copies or an apocalypse could change that!

… Not even the off-putting results about the items in Timmy’s possession that Goddard showed him on his screen before he went down to the lab again …

“Just … go. Find the Fenton’s and stay away from that guy.” Jimmy forcefully tore his wrist free, activating the jetpack, leaving no further room to argue. While not the exactly elected leader of their group, it was mostly him or Danny that made the decisions. Jimmy since he was great with strategies and planning and Danny since he had the most battle experience. This time, however, Jimmy couldn’t help but cringe inwardly as he played the leader-card, ordering his friend around with no further explanation.

He heard Timmy’s protests as he dodged another car that was used as a projectile. Getting closer to Tiberius was harder than he thought, but no matter how strong his telekinesis was, he couldn’t bend physics.

Thinking fast, Jimmy typed something on his wristwatch, electing the Freeze Ray in his inventory. On command, the lid of his backpack began to lift, a sudden blue flash coming out of it as the weapon was released from its four-dimensional space. He caught it just in time before the unnatural twister that he was in could fling it away. With a few adjustments, he attached the handle to the rest of his armor. It wasn’t perfect and looked too bulky and uncomfortable (it was) but he literally couldn’t properly hold the gun elsewise with hid dominant hand, so that ought to do it for now.

He fired it on instinct as a bench was coming right his way. It didn’t slow down at all, which was to be expected. With a hint of panic – he had underestimated the velocity – he shot with the laser next, successfully blowing the bench into small ice cubes. They were still pointy and sharp, one of them scratching his cheek as it passed by, but at least he found a weak spot that could effectively do some damage, which Tiberius also noticed. Needless to say, he didn’t look happy at all and that only painted a bigger target on the genius’s chest. He now was a threat that had to be dealt with first. Good. That was Jimmy intention.

A quick glance down showed that Timmy hadn’t moved an inch away from his spot, still glaring up at him and bashing robot-heads or deflecting lasershots in between, most likely thinking of a way to interfere. “What are you waiting for?” He yelled down at both him and SpongeBob. “Go and find Danny, I’ll keep him busy.”

He didn’t hear their protests anymore.

“Oh, are you now?” That sounded way too close.

Jimmy ducked just in time to avoid having his own head chopped off. Tiberius’s powers may only manipulate objects and minds, but, apparently, he also had a few weapons of his own at hand. Two red laser swords with stars at the tip in each hand, to be exact. And he was floating right behind him, the small cyclone of objects surrounding them – almost like they were trapping him inside now, instead of keeping him out.

With the copy so close now, Jimmy found it a little difficult to think clearly. Sure, compared to Timmy, Tiberius was pale, with dark circles around his eyes and he looked kind of ‘faded’ in general, but he still had the same voice, the same buckteeth and eyes, even the same height and build – the dark suit probably made him look more buff than he was. It only reminded Jimmy of his own experiences with doppelgangers and moral issues. Could he really fight him? Well, obviously he had to, if he didn’t want to get sliced into bits, but … it probably wouldn’t unnerve him as much if he were fighting himself instead of Turner. Was that perhaps too morbid? That he had less of a problem fighting and eventually destroying himself instead of a friend? Maybe.

Before he had realized it, he was trapped in a spiral, too occupied avoiding the attacks of his opponent and simultaneously trying not to get hit by the flying objects. He had long lost his orientation where up or down was. His jetpack didn’t even keep him in the air anymore, constantly battling against the centrifugal force of the paranormal storm, its engines starting to act up, smoke coming out of his bag. In order to not accidentally blow up his entire pocket dimension full of items and arsenal, he had to deactivate it, which only ripped away more control about the situation from him.
Frustrated, he tried to get his footing back on the roof of a dented car that he was thrown against. Close combat wasn’t his choice of fighting style and he had no fitting gadgets at hand. Perhaps the Tornado Blaster, but taking his focus off Tiberius for a second time would perhaps be the last thing he ever did.

He tried to fire the Freeze Ray at one of the laserswords, but all it did was causing a huge cloud of steam, blocking his vision. Tiberius didn’t need to see what was in front of him, mercilessly swinging and eventually turning the car into a cabriolet. At the loss of his high ground – and almost his kneecaps – Jimmy jumped out of the way, once more caught in the swirl of junk.

“Dammit, I just can’t get a clean shot.” Through gritted teeth and narrowed eyes, the genius looked around. He had lost sight of Tiberius and his improvised weapon was starting to fall apart. It had still been an unfinished work in progress with no field test, so it was foreseeable that the Neutron Peeler couldn’t withstand a serious fight for long. And maybe the copy even had managed to grace the control panel with one of his swords, if the tiny sparks and the limited movement in his wrist were any indicator.

“I think it’s time to get rid of you, so I can finally finish my mission.” Tiberius’s voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once inside the vapor. “Of all the idiots, I get stuck with the know-it-all. So annoying.”

Ignoring the insult, Jimmy thought he could buy himself some time to think of a plan B by entertaining the enemy. “What mission? To find this Royal Jewel?” After all, villains loved monologues and talking about their grand schemes. “What would you even need it for?”

“I don’t need it for anything.” The source was right above him. Tiberius hovered over his head, arms with swords extended as if he wanted to give him a hug. One that would kill him. “The Organization needs it and I get paid. It’s just a deal we have, nothing more.” He could descent and strike any moment … and Jimmy was unable to move. But he also had a clean shot now. It was just a matter of speed and reaction, like a western movie standoff. They were practically daring each other to make the first move.

“Are you a kind of assassin? I don’t get it, even for a copy, you’re still a Timmy.” Now it was Jimmy who provoked, waiting for his chance. “What happened on this Island that you’re so full of … revulsion?” Although he had nothing but the little details from Timmy’s story to go by, he hoped to get some answers from the other perspective. Even if it was just for a distraction, his curiosity still wanted to be satisfied.

“Oh, has my dear Original not told you about Unwish Island and the dozens of copies he made?” Huffing, Tiberius continued the staring contest. “Or did he just leave out the details, about how this Island was specifically made for his most dangerous unwished Enemies and how the copies of himself were made to be tortured by them so they would leave him alone and he didn’t have to deal with them himself?” The vortex became weaker, heavier things already falling down. Jimmy noticed that he wasn’t sinking despite that. Shit. Now he was the one trapped by the dark force. And he couldn’t respond to that statement either, not knowing what to do with that information. A sinister smile spread across Tiberius’s face as he watched his dumbfounded expression. “Figures. You both don’t ever think about the consequences, but at the same time, you wouldn’t dare reveal your secrets and mistakes. It makes me sick!”

Before he realized it, Tiberius had kicked him in the chest, pointing both ends of his laserswords at his head, about to punctuate his eyes with them. “Why care about the mess and the aftermath you leave behind? Just move on, ignore it, push it away. You two really are made for each other.” He pressed his boot down, while the force kept Jimmy firm in place, even pressing him against it, knocking the air out of his lungs. “I wonder how guilty he would feel if his carelessness ended up killing one of his friends … Well, since none of them need nor want you alive, we’re about to find out!”

“NO!”

The moment Tiberius’ arms started to move, something rushed with full speed at them, tackling him from the side: A big purple hoverboard with a face on the underside, flown by Timmy.

“Wha-?” Jimmy’s troubled mind couldn’t process all the new input at once and he just gawked at his rescuer. With Tiberus’s concentration thrown off, his telekinesis was broken, everything obeyed the laws of gravity again – him included. In the short time span, he didn’t think about activating his jetpack and barely had the chance to react as he was scooped up bridal style midmotion before he hit the bottom.

Blinking, Jimmy saw the less than enthusiastic face of his friend – and SpongeBob, who clung to Timmy’s shoulders while they escaped on the Poof-Board.

“For a genius, you act really stupid, Neutron.” The average teen said, his worry probably overweighing the fact that he was pissed off at him. All Jimmy could do was to continue his gaping. “And your ass is heavy!” Okay now that lifted the spell.

“Hey! I just wanted to help, okay? And I thought I told you guys to leave.” As offended as he was, he noticed Poof had trouble flying steady and fast with three people on him. In fact, Jimmy was surprised the little program was able to transform into something that big without any wand-energy. But then he noticed that Timmy wasn’t carrying his wand with him and the crown was suspiciously glowing above the others head. Was it more than what the readings indicated? An amplifier?

“As if we would leave a friend behind!” SpongeBob yelled over the rush of wind. “You said it yourself, we need to stay together! If we had left, who would’ve caught you, hm?”

“Yeah, can’t argue with that logic, idiot. If not for Poofers here, you’d be shish kebab now.” Lifting his chin with a pout, Timmy let go of Jimmy when the latter squirmed in his grasp, turning the jetpack on with his watch. Luckily, the engine still worked. He didn’t want to slow them down or exhaust Poof too much. “Speaking of the devil, he’s still right behind us, isn’t he?”

SpongeBob turned around. “Hmm … yeah, pretty much. He looks also really mad.” He didn’t need to specify that, Tiberius was already hot on their heels, throwing cars and anything nearby on the streets after them – the excess use of his powers had tried him out a little, it seemed. If there would be any civilians, there was no doubt he would yeet them as well. “Are we there yet? I think he’s catching up.”

“The funfair should be ahead, I think I can already see – what the heck?!” Timmy’s skateboard skills were a bit rusty nowadays, but he could evade one of Walker’s ghosts with little trouble. That wasn’t what surprised him, though. It was rather the person who send them any many others of its kind flying in the first place: Danny, who was in the middle of a battle with his own foe. Meanwhile, Dani was chased by the culprit that fried their signal.

“Oh no, another evil copy!” SpongeBob shouted, almost letting go of Timmy’s shoulders as he held his square head in shock.

Groaning, Timmy hooked his arms around Bob’s legs to prevent him from dropping. “Great, can this day get any better?”

Chapter Text

After howling his clone away, Danny didn’t waste any more time, following the other ghost and shooting his beams at him before the other even hit the ground. The halfa wanted to get this over as soon as possible, he had other things to worry about and didn’t want to slow down. Because if he did, he would think too much about it, questioning what he was doing, hesitate and therefore endangering his family close by even more. He couldn’t afford that. A crime fighting life was never easy and sometimes decisions had to be made that weren’t exactly good, but meant for the greater good, if that made any sense.

Unlike his clone, he had the advantage of experience. Damian couldn’t be older than a few days, compared to Tiberius who was probably around for much longer than any of them knew. His clone couldn’t control his powers just yet and he tended to overestimate his strength. It was almost too easy once Danny fought serious. He had the duplicate technique practiced enough to make at least one double, which was a perfect mirage of him. With enough control over it, he could even decide how much of his own power and life force he wanted to give it. In a way, it was as if he was creating clones of himself. And ordering it around was just as weird, as if his mind had split in two and if he closed his eyes tight enough, he could almost see through the eyes of his double. Truly his most disliked technique, since it left him with an uneasy gut feeling whenever he used it.

“What’s wrong? I thought you were so much better than me.” Danny delivered another punch, forcing Damian to retreat further until it was more of a chase than anything. “What happened to that big mouth of yours?!”

Clenching his jaw shut, the clone had no time to create his own doppelganger as he was now attacked from both ends. Apparently, he couldn’t take his own medicine. It really annoyed him to no end, having his butt handed to him by the half ghost. “Don’t worry, I’m just getting started!”

With great effort, Damian swung his arm to the side, a long green ecto-acid trail hitting one of the Danny’s directly on the head. Fortunately, not the real one. The mirage screamed in phantom-pain, both hands clutched to its melting face, causing a weird tingling feeling for the real Danny at the same spot. His duplicate dissolved, giving Damian enough room to escape the combo-attacks. He turned intangible, hiding inside the wall of a building.

“You’re nothing but a poser. Vlad clearly didn’t teach you a thing about humility!” Danni yelled, scanning the area. Aside from the goons, he spotted only his family members. Jazz was still freeing the citizens down by the carnival, giving them directions to evacuate, while his parents were over at the food-booths. His mom used the portal gun to close the gaps between their dimensions while Jack fought the ghosts with one hand – the other held a half-eaten corndog. But there was no sign of Dani. She was probably still running from Skultech. It was no use, together they wouldn’t have such a hard time against either of their enemies, but that was the reason why they were separated. He just hoped his friends had an easier time or stayed safe behind the ghost shield in Fenton Works. Of course, Tucker had worked with the city hall and his family to install a shield that could surround the entire city, if something like Pariah Dark ever happened again, but with the ghosts already inside and so much chaos and unstable dimensions, it was better not to risk it. “Were are you?!”

Running low on patience – he just wanted to get this over with and search for his little sister – Danny aimed at every lurking shadow and ghost, which turned out to be mostly goons. Wow, he would never call Jazz overbearing ever again. Who would’ve thought being an older sibling was so stressful? He owed her something for all the trouble and sleepless nights that he gave her back in his high school days …

Hovering over the area of the carnival was unsettling. To think he wanted to spend this day here with his friends and now everything was destroyed, crying children and scared teens running around everywhere.

When he heard an ominous laugh – one that reminded him a bit too much of Dark Dan – Danny used another ghostly wail to make sure he hit Damian this time. But unlike the villains, he couldn’t let loose and wrack havoc with his powers, since he didn’t want to cause more destruction than necessary. And especially not hurt innocent bystanders. He didn’t consider that enough, as it seemed. The instable built booths collapsed under his howl, the joists nearly hitting a young woman. She looked at him with fear in her eyes, probably someone from out of town.
Everybody knew him nowadays and usually they cheered and smiled when they saw Danny. It had been years since they looked at him and ran away in fear, so it took him a little by surprise to see the girl screaming at his sight, throwing her arms up and running as fast as she could, calling for help and to safe her from the rogue monsters.

For some reason, Danny felt included in that insult. And he hated himself for the part inside him that felt relieved since it meant they would leave him alone, thinking just for one second that it wouldn’t be so bad if things were back to the good old days.

Shaking his head, Danny regained his focus. But not fast enough, as he felt an unimaginable pain in his back where the acid hit him. This time, his wail was for the sole purpose of venting his agony, his concentration slipping enough that his flight-ability failed him and he hit the ground. Hard.

“Hah, look at you.” He heard Damian land smoothly behind him as he dragged himself through the dirt, searching for something to pull himself upright again. “Crawling like a maggot, all helpless and fragile.” The pain increased as a boot stepped on his open injury, pinning him down. “Where did the fierce warrior go? Don’t tell me that girl managed to scare you. Pathetic.”

“Oh, now you spit big words again. You’re such a coward.” Danny suppressed another yell as the boot put more force on his back, rubbing into the injury in response. He didn’t need to see Damian’s face to know he was furious. “At least I can hold my own!”

Danny subtly activated his ice powers, cooling his body and the injury down, which also affected Damian, freezing his foot to the ectoplasm. At least that caught. him off guard, creating an opening to shake the clone off and deliver another blast at him.

“Danny!” He heard his sister from the distance calling down. She was in the middle of fighting Skultech, but at least they weren’t separated anymore. And she looked scared. Not only her, but also his parents and Jazz that were drawn to their location with all the damage and riot the two of them caused.

He wanted to tell them it was alright, that they didn’t need to worry about him. But he couldn’t with Damian giving him no room to breathe. With a last attempt to shake him off – they were effectively wrestling in the dirt now – Danny used his telekinesis to throw one of the broken beams from a fortune teller’s booth at Damian. It worked and with the clone finally off his tail, Danny attempted to fly, which succeeded with great effort.

Instead of following him right away, Damian wiped a mix of mud and ectoplasm from his face. “You know, if you don’t want to play, I wonder how your parents and sister fare against my acid.”, he said calm and with a devilish grin. That alone was enough to stop Danny in his tracks. He didn’t turn around, but his shoulders shivered with newfound rage. “Just imagine them, screaming in agony and slowly melting to puddles and bones. I might just do that, since you’re already –“

Another ghostly wail was directed at him – well, more like a roar, actually.

Danny’s eyes glowed icy blue, his body steaming with a mix of hot ecto-energy and cold kryokinesis. His hands were covered in blue flames and he wasted no time wiping that grin off of his impostors face. “Leave. Them. Alone.” The green Highlights on Danny’s suit also turned blue, his hair getting buoyant …

“What the hell?” Once more Damian found himself attacked relentlessly. Danny literally pounded into him, his cold burning fists digging into his stomach, flinging him across half the park. Some of the goons tried to slow him down or avert his attention, but all they did was turning themselves into projectiles that Danny grabbed by their ghost-tails, swinging them at Damian while blasting the others off with his free hand. He was like a one-man army, wood burning, steel bending and earth crushing under the force of his attacks.

In the distance, he could see his friends approaching, Tiberius close behind. He had to focus on Damian first, though. At least Dani had an easier time since Valerie joined the battle, helping her to keep Skultech busy, as he noticed her flying by. She was probably asking his sister ‘What’s up with him, girl?’ or something like that, but not planning to be involve herself in the feud, knowing her

It was chaotic. They all fought off ghosts, yelling over the noise at each other for support, looking up at him, his communicator was still giving off nothing but static … but he ignored it, his eyes only spotting Damian – a threat he had to get rid of in order to keep his family safe and his sanity intact. The pain on his back was nothing compared to the thought of losing them. Especially not to an evil version of himself. No. He wouldn’t let that happen. Not now, not in the future – Never!

“Fuck.”, Damian cursed, spitting ectoplasm. “Why can’t I beat him?” Although his question remained unanswered, he had an idea what the difference between them was. He thought he could break his spirit, but instead, he gave him a motivation to destroy him. Foolish. Father would be ashamed. And he was supposed to be the perfect and superior Phantom! He hoped he wouldn’t have to rely on cheap parlor tricks, confident in his unique abilities, but now … he had no other choice but to use a power boost, if he didn’t want to get fired.

Using his double as a decoy, Damian turned invisible, searching for an opportunity to get close to Tiberius, who was still throwing cars and other junk at the remaining three idiots. He heard Danny’s growl of frustration. Instead of another ghostly wail – which took would exhaust him too much at this point – the halfa took a deep breath, blowing cold air out. The temperature dropped multiple degrees in the area and whatever surface was hit by his icy puff, sported a thin layer of frost. It not only extinguished a few fires but also caught Damian, the momentum of his ghost tail turned into visible clouds, covering him in a dusty layer of crystals. Of course, unlike him, the original had fought a few ghosts with the same powers before. Yet another setback. And to make it worse, most of the goons were defeated now or had escaped back into the Ghost Zone and everyone was present – they were outnumbered. Now it was just him, Tiberius and … no, Skultech was about to be caught in a Fenton Thermos by Danielle. Yep, it was just them.

Spotted and with not much stamina left to fight back, Damian was about to be hit in the face by a blue fireball, but the tarp of a booth caught him like a net, dragging him away from it in the last second.

“Seriously, how incompetent can you be?! You had one job and everything to make it work!” The fabric was removed, he was now floating next to Tiberius. The copy was breathing hard, the circles around his eyes deep black and he looked not just pale but transparent and wrinkled, as if he was running out of ink. Damian didn’t look any better, ectoplasm dripping from almost every hole of his head, a deep burn wound on his stomach and his flame like black hair had become more human. He was slowly transforming back against his will and it made him furious. “This is why I work alone – I hate playing the babysitter.”

“Just give up, it’s over boys!” Dani yelled over at them, floating next to Val. They had also seen better days, although they were still in better shape than Danny. Beneath them a little more left stood Jack holding his Nine Tails, Maddie reloading her gun and Jazz cracking her knuckles – all of them equally covered in dirt and bruises.

And to complete the triangle, the Squad was reunited with Timmy on his Poof-Board and SpongeBob on his back, Jimmy floating next to them with his Jetpack and Danny joining them. They looked worried for their friend, oozing ectoplasm from his back and mouth and several other acid-wounds that couldn’t heal properly.

With Skultech gone, the electricity in Amity Park was back. The reception worked again, the lights turned on and distorted carnival music started to play at the spot where the ferris wheel used to be, blaring loud in the deadly silent area, void of goons and civilians now.

“No, it’s not.” Glaring at Danny, Damian clenched his fists. He shook with rage, hating how humiliated and humbled he was, his first mission a complete disaster. That was it, no more games. “Over your dead body, Fenton!”

A red ring surrounded Damian, turning him back into his human form. While still hovering, he was now looking exactly like the spitting image of Danny, just with white hair, tied back into a ponytail like Vlad used to have and a black tuxedo. In that form, he was the same age as Dani and less bulky compared to his original. This was the true form of Damian Masters. And he was pulling something out from his inner pocket, a vial that – ironically – glowed in a toxic pink hue.

“About time.” Tiberus grumbled, deciding to sit this one out.

“Pah, you didn’t take yours either, Tib.” Damian opened the lid, not taking his eyes off Danny for one moment. “You couldn’t even scratch them, let alone find the jewel. I’ll take it from here on.”

✧ « ★ » ✧

“What are they doing?” SpongeBob asked out loud, shielding his eyes to see better.

“Don’t know, but we better stop them.” Danny tensed his muscles, the blue flames on his hands roaring back to life. His movements had gotten slower and sluggish, due to the strain on his body. His usual formable incorporate form felt like rubber after it was put in the freezer, stiff and porous.

Timmy couldn’t take his eyes off the gushing wound on Danny’s back. First Jimmy was targeted and now him. He didn’t mean for this to happen! Why was he so useless? If Poof hadn’t offered his help, the genius would be dead now. All because he couldn’t fix his own mess!
Trying to get to him so badly, wishing for something that could help him get through the spiral, he had cursed under his breath, not able to help Jimmy. It was all thanks to Poof’s quick thinking, suggesting to transform into something that could fly him up there with speed. But due to his small size and nearly nonexistent magic, he couldn’t. That was until Timmy had the sudden gut-instinct to try if he could release the absorbed energy in his fake wand in a different way. As if his brother had read his thoughts, he let himself be absorbed by the weapon and kinda fused with it. And that was it. He had been so ready to fight and hold his own and now he just watched everything crumble and his friends being hurt … instead of serving as a punching back like it was the case yesterday. He also wanted to help and fight! But with no weapon at hand or magic left, he couldn’t do anything. He felt so utterly useless, as if Danny and his family had to shoulder his burden all by themselves and now he was almost in a worse state than Timmy had been yesterday. Just because his friend was superhuman and had powers, didn’t mean he had to take over his responsibilities.

It was as if everything around him happened all at once; Danny charging at Damian again who drank the odd liquid in one gulp, while his big sister yelled after him to be careful, his parents rooting for their son, SpongeBob audibly gnawing on his fingers from all the tension, Jimmy being oddly quiet, probably mulling over if there could be a better and more efficient way that wouldn’t endanger their friend …

And yet, before the halfa even reached his new nemesis, a sudden burst of energy pushed him back as Damian began to glow, a bright pink and sparkly aura engulfing his body. To make it worde, his injuries slowly recovered, which meant the already exhausted halfa had to fight his clone that was now in top shape once more, with the only difference being that it seemed as if someone put a rainbow-filter on him. Something that looked so kind, wonderful and familiar, yet it would be used for nothing but evil purposes.

With a manic laugh, Damian shot a pink beam at Danny, almost knocking him down from the sky for the second time. Timmy guessed the halfa was running on pure spite alone at this point, there was no way he could still move after that otherwise.
“Hah, this concentrated fairy-magic isn’t bad!” Damian raised his fist in victory, pink cloud-like smoke surrounding it. “I can do anything I want. Every unimaginable thing … With just a simple wish.” His laughter got even louder and the magic was spreading through the air.

So that’s what it was. The liquid was extracted fairy magic. And it was pink. Timmy’s heart skipped a beat and not in the good kind of way. He was overwhelmed with emotions, hearing Poof sob quietly, both hoping that this wasn’t the extracted magic from their mother.

Seeing red and not wasting any more time figuring out how he could fight, Timmy shrugged SpongeBob off his shoulders to drop him in Jimmy’s arms, urging the Poof-Board to dash towards Damian.

“Are you mental, Turner?!” Jimmy called after him, pursuing immediately.

“Back off, guys!” Danny didn’t like how they were suddenly all butting in, since this was his fight and he was probably the only one capable of defeating another halfa – especially one that was a combination of him and Vlad.

SpongeBob, clinging to Jimmy’s waist on order not to be burnt by the jetpack engines, was the only concerned one for their combined wellbeing. “Can we please talk about this first, friends?”

But his plea fell on deaf ears, just like the concerned shouts of Danny’s family. While the four of them got closer, a shockwave of pink poof-clouds was released, trapping the four with Damian and Tiberius inside a pink version of the ghost shield – only that it trapped them inside and let nothing in from outside, Danny’s family knocking and pounding on the jelly-like surface in vain.

Damian cracked his knuckles, determined to fight all of them together. He felt incredible, unstoppable even. “Finally, I get to finish the job.”

“Fairy Magic can’t kill, don’t forget that.” Tiberius reminded him. Although magic allowed to bend laws and rules, it still had its own that couldn’t be broken. At least not yet.

“In that case.” Damian took advantage of the moment, his enemies confused and paralyzed by the new force field they found themselves in. “I wish I could do the most horrifying and spirit breaking thing to Danny Fenton possible with this magic.”, he said, his body glowing golden like a wand for a moment until he aimed his pink ray at said halfa.

Of course, Danny’s friends witnessed that, each trying to get in the way or safe their friend as he was targeted by Damian, but then Tiberius grasped all of them with his dark powers, although it seemed to drain his last power reserves.

Danny did the most logical thing in this situation, which was turning intangible, only to notice that the acid on his back prevented him from that. Either the pain was too much or he was too weak now, but he couldn’t. And if this was a magic blast, dodging would be out of the question anyway, he was too slow. Still, he wouldn’t go down without a fight. And if it wasn’t something that could kill him, then it wouldn’t be that bad, he guessed, turning around a 180° to meet Damian head on, delivering his most painful punch as he was hit by the pink flash as his friends called out for him.

The magic slowly wore off, Damian’s body returning to its natural color scheme. Danny shielded his eyes from the bright light. As far as he was aware, whatever Damian did to him now, it didn’t hurt. What was even more weird was that he felt no pain in general. In fact, his body probably didn’t feel anything at all.

Although he wasn’t sure what the magic could’ve done to him, a part of his brain knew, dread and emptiness flooding his mind.

“Danny are you okay? Talk to us!” SpongeBob called over but all Danny heard was muffled noise, as he took his hands back, inspecting them. His suit hadn’t changed. Or rather, nothing that he could see with his own eyes had. But he felt the difference.

“His skin is green.” Jimmy stated with rising confusion. The white hair also resembled even more a flame than it was the case with Damian’s. The green eyes of his halfa friend glowed more unnaturally than they usually did, his whole sclera affected.

“He’s …” Timmy gulped, not able to finish his sentence in fear that alone would turn it into reality when the evidence was already there. He didn’t have to finish that thought, though:

“How dumb can you be?!” Tiberius yelled, losing his cool completely. “You turned him into a full ghost!” They couldn’t fight him like that. At least not Tiberius, since incorporeal beings were the natural enemy of his powers – he couldn’t hit or manipulate something that had no substance. As if the ice powers weren’t already a pest in itself. And Damian wouldn’t be able to change him back since the wish had been too powerful, using up all the magic. “We have literally one job and all you do is make it harder for me!”

“How was I supposed to know that’s what would happen?!” The clone defended himself, crushing the empty flask in his hand. He was about to ask his comrade for another dose, but he already knew the answer to that.

While Tiberius was cussing out his partner, who began to realize his mistake, the others watched their friend, still unable to escape the dark powers. Danny still wasn’t moving – he had turned into his own worst nightmare which just happened to give him the upper hand against their enemies. How ironic.

“You …” Words couldn’t describe how much Danny loathed Damian right now, his eyes glowing red with pure built-up emotions he didn’t know he still had left. There was nothing but that. After all, ghost turned humans often were tortured souls with unfinished business, hardly capable of being merciful or reasoned with. Giving in to his vengeful intrusive thoughts, Danny rushed forward, grabbing the shocked by the throat. “YOU!”

Damian desperately clawed at Danny, trying to break lose, but he was headbutted, punched and smacked left and right relentlessly. Before he even fully realized what was going on, Danny unleashed a roar that had enough force to fling Damian across the area until he hit the jelly-wall, leaving him with ringing ears. Danny’s friends might’ve called out for him, but he barely heard anything above the static in his mind, repeatedly beating the clone’s face to ecto-mud. There was no blood rushing through his head, no heartbeat pounding in his chest, no harsh breathing. He didn’t even need oxygen as a halfa necessarily, but the lack of need for anything at all scared him. It was the only thing beside his anger that he was able to express. And yet, he couldn’t stop taking it out on Damian.
Something inside him craved satisfaction by the sensation of crushing bones and hot ectoplasm on his knuckles. As if that would give him some kind of relief from all that rage. But if he was honest to himself … couldn’t this all just be an excuse to act like his evil future-version? To give in to his violent thoughts and destructive intent so easily, without even the slightest sign of remorse. Or humanity.

Timmy could merely watch the riot his friend was caught in. If only he had magic … he could reverse this and turn Danny back to normal. He had to get through to him somehow, assure him that everything would be alright – whatever, he just wanted to do something!

“Fuck, now I have to save that idiot’s ass if I wanna get paid.” Clicking his tongue, Tiberius had to let go of his hold on the other three with one hand to take something out behind his back, hidden in his cloak. Another vial with pink magic. Hopefully not from the same fairy – or maybe that was the standard color. That’s what Timmy convinced himself, pushing the images of Wanda and Cosmo trapped in the sphere down. He didn’t want to remember their pained cries.

An idea struck him. If he could move enough to throw Tiberius off, maybe there was a chance …

“Poof, turn back”, he whispered low enough for his brother to hear. Said fairy couldn’t move, but that didn’t prevent him from concentrating. Since maintaining his transformation was more exhausting than going back to his original form, it was no surprise he poofed back to his old state in the blink of an eye, separated from the Deflecto-Wand.

With nothing to stand on anymore and holding him in the air, his guess proofed to be right. With Tiberius’s weakened powers and only partially concentration, Timmy slipped just enough to fall under the dark glowing sphere they were trapped in, catching the fake wand just in time before it fell down. He used what little was still stored in the star end to direct a pulse wave at his copy, sending him flying, thus releasing them.

Yet, Timmy hadn’t thought this through enough. Without anything to keep him in the air, there was also nothing to stop his fall … Until Jimmy caught his hand, that was.

Dangling, the average teen looked up at his savior, who stared back, puzzled and somehow a little amazed. Alas, the gaze wasn’t directed at his eyes for long, soon turning above him to the crown. Yeah, that thing was also glowing for quite a while now. When had it started? So far, that was all the stupid broken charm did, so Timmy didn’t pay it any further mind.

“Can you haul me at Tiberius?”, he asked, hoping the said copy wouldn’t appear the next few seconds, still trying to push himself back up from where he landed. Jimmy didn’t seem convinced, let alone agreeing with that plan. “Or at least let me down.”

“And then what? Are you just going to smack him with that fancy bat?” the genius asked, the engines of his jetpack clearly under pressure with three people attached to it now.

“You don’t get to judge me, Mr. self-sacrifice!” Sticking his tongue out, Timmy used his own body weight to swing himself back and forth, forcing Jimmy to sink anyway since keeping them upright and in the air that way was impossible. “If we get that magic, we can turn Danny back – and he can’t stop all of us at once. Not in this state, at least.”

Surprised by that much sense and strategy, Jimmy obliged, landing them safely on the ground, immediately letting go of Timmy’s hand. They hoped Danny wouldn’t turn into a murderer while they were busy dealing with the other opponent – who also looked more than pissed off right now.

“Remember, don’t let him drink that stuff.” Timmy said to his two friends, who nodded in response. SpongeBob activated his gauntlets, Jimmy discarded the broken Neutron Peeler from his arm, selecting the good old Tornado Blaster from his hyperbag. Hopefully they could also find a way to get rid of that force field soon. If the battle noises from the two fighting (half)ghosts were any indicator, it wouldn’t be easy to break … not with brutal force at least.

With practiced movements, the three sprinted towards Tiberius from different angles, knowing he wasn’t powerful enough to summon another one of these paranormal storms. As long as that magic potion wouldn’t heal him and give him a free wish, they had the upper hand in this.

Jimmy turned his blaster to maximum power, repelling the rubble that was thrown at him and sending them right back where they came from, while SpongeBob and Timmy got close to Tiberius, attacking him from both sides. Poof hovered nearby, evading flying trash. If he was lucky enough, he could also get the vial when the others distracted him. But since it was obvious what they were trying to do, the copy was prepared, hiding the vial in his suit to have both hands available. Clasping his fists, SpongeBob and Timmy could both feel their throats constricted by an invisible force. Since Tiberius had to dodge another attack from Jimmy, however, he couldn’t do much damage.

“You are seriously getting on my nerves.” Deciding that wasting any more power against them wasn’t worth it, Tiberius drew his laser swords again. Hoping the hot beam wouldn’t cut his wand clean in half, Timmy swung his weapon at him. To his luck – for once – the wand wasn’t melted and soon the both of them were in a heated sword fight.
It wasn’t as easy as it used to be like when he was younger, though. Compared to Dark Laser, Tiberius was more skilled and deadly, plus he had two swords, and the wand was rather heavy and unhandy to parry blows. But what it did, on the other hand, was slowly and subtly absorbing the energy of the laser. As much confidence as that gave him, Timmy noticed that his body, although healed and not injured safe for a few scratches, couldn’t keep up with the intensity of this battle. His bones and muscles felt sore, the wand getting heavier with each swing. He wouldn’t be able to keep doing this for very long.

In his peripheral vision, he saw Jimmy circling them, waiting for the right moment and position to blast Tiberius away. It was better to keep his distance, since the laser swords would probably slice the Tornado Blaster and SpongeBob’s gauntlets with ease. But it obviously unnerved the genius, if his stressed expression was anything to go by.

Tiberius growled, eyes narrowed. Even with his weakened state and his shaking hands, he was just too stubborn to let them have the upper hand. “Just give me the damn jewel, or I’ll take you down with me!”

“Yeah? How would you do that even?”, Timmy retorted, shoving his entire body weight against the wand, pushing back the crossed swords, their faces inches apart. And for crying out loud, he had no idea where that gem-shaped crystal could be! Last time he was it, it was in that showcase, when Anti-Cosmo …

A shallow laugh. “Like this!” Tiberius suddenly let lose, crouching down to avoid the wand and slicing Timmy’s leg with one of his swords. It happened so fast, Timmy barely felt the pain, only losing his balance and yelling in shock as he slowly realized the burning sensation of a deep cut in his shin.

A kick against his ribs caused him to land on his back. He had been too absorbed in his thoughts and now it probably cost him a limb. Well, he wasn’t sure, but he couldn’t move his leg, a gross crunching sound and stinging pain preventing it.

“Timmy!” SpongeBob was rarely mad, but right now, he had a few dolphin cusswords for the copy on his tongue he would’ve liked to say out loud, if his worry weren’t outweighing that.

“Ah ah ah.” Tiberius shook his index finger, not needing a second sword for that. The other was directed at Timmy’s throat, one boot pressed on Timmy’s ribs to keep him pinned down. “If you don’t want another friend of yours to turn into a ghost, you better stay back.”

If only Danny weren’t busy right now, his powers would’ve been able to safe Timmy and beat up Tiberius simultaneously. But the halfa … no, the ghost boy, was currently still fist fighting with the roughed-up Damian, whose face was almost unrecognizable now, half of his body turned to goo but still managing to give Danny a hard time. They were in their own world right now.

Jimmy had no idea what to do, his breathing erratic. Seeing all the blood gathering around Timmy’s leg gave him flashbacks of the state they found him in yesterday. He couldn’t bear to witness that again. He couldn’t let this happen … there had to be something he could do!

“Now.” Tiberius took out the vial, facing Timmy again. “Any last wishes, before I turn you into a snail to crush under my boot?”

“Actually, yes.” Perhaps it was the adrenalin, but Timmy had no idea where he got the willpower from to keep a crooked smile on his face, despite the agony and situation. It annoyed Tiberius, so that was a win already. He still had an ace up his sleeve. “Poof poof.”

“What?” Confused by that last statement, Tiberius raised an eyebrow.

Suddenly, something moved behind his back and before he was aware of the small fairy, he was bitten in the ear. Poof’s surprise attack served its purpose, the clone swatting at him and accidentally dropping the flask as he did so. But also at the cost of hitting him on the head.

Like he used to do with the pillow a few hours before, Timmy angled his healthy leg enough to pull the handle of his wand within reach, using the star end to drag the magic away. Of course, that wasn’t unnoticed by Tiberius and he dived forward, Poof pulling the arm back that still held the sword. The fairy was shaken off harshly, but before the copy could snatch it, Timmy threw himself over the vial, resulting in a melee between them.

“Jimmy, now!” SpongeBob gently tucked at his friend’s pants, forcing the genius out of his trance. He readied his Blaster as the sponge took Poof’s place, wrapping himself around Tiberius’s arm to hold him back, trying to take the sword away from him. Jimmy prepared to shoot, but his hands trembling too much for a steady aim, which the genius couldn’t explain, only adding to his panic. In the end, he didn’t trust himself enough and instead went to grab the other arm, deeming it the better option to force these two apart first, but …

“Let me GO!” Using the last bit of his power, Tiberius used the close range to his advantage, mind controlling both Jimmy and SpongeBob. Although they tried to resist, their muscles twitching from the inner aversion, they did as they were told.

His appearance had lost all color, he was now as gray as a pixie-suit. And yet, Tiberius chuckled, hardly able to walk straight as he kicked Timmy again for good measure. A pink vial was exposed under the average teen’s belly. “Enough with this drama. I’m done for today. And I think I found just what I was looking for too.” Stumbling, he plucked the hovering crown from Timmy’s head as he picked the potion up as well, struggling to hold his own balance. “Did you really think such a pathetic attempt would defeat me?” He looked over his shoulder, spotting Poof on the ground as well, disoriented and holding his bruised head. “Although Anthony said not to kill you, that’s just too tempting right now.”

Certain of his victory, he popped the flask open, emptying it before anything else could interfere.

“Now, where was I? Oh right –“ The mask of confidence slipped away bit by bit, as Tiberius’s frown deepened. Was it supposed to feel like this? Damian had some major issues if he had been this ecstatic about it. No … this didn’t feel right. “What is … this.” Bending over, he clutched his stomach as agonizing pain began to course through his body, petrifying him.

Timmy subtly closed the zip of his fanny pack.

Released from their mind control, Jimmy and SpongeBob blinked a few times, glad to be able to move on their own accord once more. To say the sudden turn of events was surprising for them was an understatement. Things were happening so fast, even Jimmy struggled to put two and two together – but then again, he was pretty tired.

“What was in that vial?!” Crying, Tiberius sank down to his knees, he felt as if his whole body was on fire, incinerating him from inside out. And the taste in his mouth was awful too! He couldn’t think clearly anymore, the crown slipping through his fingers.

“Just a freaky drug Jimmy invented. Neat, right?” Timmy smirked, strained with pain but satisfied that their little switch-prank had worked. Gaping, Jimmy stared at his friend, running through all kinds of emotions varying from amazement to disbelief – mostly because he was still messing with the enemy when he was still bleeding and unable to walk. “Well, cheers to that.”

“Wait, perhaps we should test it first –“ Jimmy’s advice from experience was ignored. To make sure nothing else went wrong, Timmy downed the magic without giving it much further thought, partially feeling guilty for abusing it and partially thinking that it was at least in the right hands now. Okay, maybe his hands weren’t exactly the right ones, but still better than their enemies’ and he would be able to help this way. Anything to avoid being turned into French food.

Hunching over because of that paralyzing ache, pink liquid dripped from Tiberius’s mouth as he watched it happen, gaping but no words coming out. How could he be defeated in such a humiliating way by his wretched original? Even without fairies – That should’ve been impossible!
And still … despite the torture, he could feel his powers and health restore nonetheless. Whatever that was that he drank instead, it may not have given him magical powers, but: It was still healing him.

✧ « ★ » ✧

“Timmy?” SpongeBob kneeled next to his friend, inspecting the wounded leg. He couldn’t tell how deep the injury was and he didn’t dare to lift the torn fabric, but at least he still seemed to be able to bend it a little as he sat upright.

Said teen waited for the effect to happen. That something would change or feel different. Yet, nothing came. At first. “Huh, that’s pretty underwhelm-“

Just like with Damian before, a wave of pink coursed through Timmy’s body. It was super weird; he was seeing sparkles and rainbows and all the silly stuff he liked when he was still a child. Comics, heroes, extreme sports … it was as if a shot of pure childhood was pumped through his veins, making his stomach and mind all giddy. He felt … powerful. Filled to the brim with energy. As if he could archive absolutely anything! If that was what it felt like to be high on magic, he didn’t mind it one bit.

With the confidence and sass he used to have as a kid, Timmy couldn’t help but giggle. His fricking limb was still bleeding and half chopped off, but he felt absolutely great!

“Are you alright? Do you feel dizzy?” Jimmy crouched down as well, his rough yet warm hand leaning against his forehead, slightly shaking. The concerned expression was just too funny for Timmy to take serious. Then again, the attention was really nice and he could probably stare into these steel blue eyes all day. And he looked to stressed out, Timmy just wanted to take his hand and pull him close. Wait … wasn’t he meant to do something important?

In the distance, right in front of him, Danny and Damian still battled, slamming each other against the barrier, while Tiberius in his peripheral vision slowly regained his muscle control.

Oh right, he was about to kick someone’s ass.

“I’m fine! No, even better!” Timmy smiled brightly, leaning in close to Jimmy who still didn’t know how to feel about the sudden change of behavior additionally to everything else that happened in, like, half an hour tops.

“Poof poof?” His brother joined the small gathering, still plagued his acquired headache. This miserable image remined him of their parents, probably tortured and drained of magic right now. Despite the fuzzy feeling inside, Timmy still glared at Tiberius, craving revenge. And now, he had the power to do just that!

His instincts requested the magic what to do and that was to be able to fight. So, with a loud crack, he stretched his leg, the blood still clinging to his pants but at least the injury was gone – not like he minded the pain much right now.

“Timmy, you shouldn’t move.” Jimmy gently tried to prevent his friend from standing up but was mindlessly shoved away. Timmy’s pupils were dilated, irises glowing in the same toxic pink color.

“And waste more time? Nah.” Timmy picked his wand and crown up. As soon as the charm was placed over his head again, it glowed pink instead of golden, infected by the extracted magic. It was hard to notice, but with the sleeveless shirt, Jimmy definitely didn’t imagine the flexing muscles increasing in mass. And didn’t Timmy use to be a few inches shorter than him? Why did he have to lift his chin now to look into his eyes?

“Big brother?” Poof hovered next to Timmy, anxious and hesitant. Was that really still him?

Timmy just laughed, patting his brother’s back. He didn’t get why they all looked so concerned for his wellbeing. That had been the plan after all, right? Now he just had to … what was it again? Whoopsie, he forgot. Maybe if the others stopped distracting him, he could focus on it, but he was just so hyped and jittery with all this overflowing power that his mind was all over the place, embracing the nostalgia.

On the other side, Danny yelled, acid flowing right through his incorporeal body as he was kicked in the stomach. Damian somehow combined his acid-power with his own internal ectoplasm, turning him into mud monster. Funny. And then there was also Tiberius, slowly standing back up and no longer looking like death itself. Good for him. And even better for Timmy, who could mess him up all over again! The question was: Where should he start? What to do with all this contained and overflowing magic? … Wish for something?

His question answered itself as Tiberius summoned the Infi-Map, tossing it far up into the air.

The scroll itself was swallowed by a mix of the dark force and the green portal energy, therefore creating another gateway. Not just any, but one similar to the portal that Timmy, Poof and Jorgen fell through. Just more stable and gloomy.

“This better be important, boys.” A husky voice called, echoing through the force field. One that made Danny tense up. “Why am I not surprised? If you want something to be done right, you need to do it yourself.”

Stepping through the portal, walking on nothing but air, was Vlad, accompanied by Walker, his minions and, surprisingly, Ember McLain.

Knowing full well even he couldn’t beat all of them combined, Danny just stared at his mortal enemy. The cuffs on his limbs, the chopped of shoulder long and white hair, the small beard, the tired and dark circled eyes. It had been years since he last saw him and yet it was as if nothing had changed, aside from their respective fashion-standards.

“Father!” Damian cried out for him, his voice cracking as he did his best to stand up, half his body semi-fluid.

Seeing his creation actually caused a hint of concern to appear on Vlad’s face. “Have you found the jewel?”, he asked, his artificial son bowing his head in shame. Sighing, the paternal halfa turned his head towards Tiberius, who still clutched his stomach, but nodded towards Timmy, who’s crown glowed suspiciously rosy, now that it came into contact with magic from its original dimension. “I see. In that case-“

Before snapping his fingers, Vlad’s eyes landed on the other Fenton’s, specifically his former college friend and sworn enemy Jack and the lost love of his life Maddie. A hint of humanity, regret even, flashed on his mimic, especially when he noticed Dani and Val, the girl that he had also used for his own gain. But he had to do this. His goal was all that mattered, all that he could think of for the last years, especially when he was a prisoner himself, enslaved by …

A bright pink flash was directed at him, which he could evade just in time by turning intangible. The shooter was, surprisingly, not a ghost, but Timmy – still pointing the wand at him that had absorbed all that energy from his former fight against his copy. Although a wide grin was still plastered on the teens face, his death glare practically spit venom. Oh, right. He had kinda tortured him and kidnapped his fairies. Well, at least he wouldn’t be able to do much from down there.

“Alright, I need that bucktooth boy alive. Get him, you can do whatever you want with the others.” He commanded his fellow ghosts, Ember wasting no time to blast her guitar soundwaves at Timmy, Poof, SpongeBob and Jimmy, while the reinforcement of Walker’s goons went after Danny, some retrieved the half-collapsed Damian – under protest. That only left Vlad and Walker.

Danny looked over at his friends. Ember’s attack was blocked by a silly shield that Timmy summoned by stamping the wand on the ground in a Jorgen-like fashion. The outline of his defense seemed like a whacky version of the Crimon Chin’s head.

Jimmy’s mouth moved, perhaps trying to talk some sense into Timmy while SpongeBob glanced back, not knowing what to do but wanting to help regardless.

Over his own thoughts, he couldn’t hear much. He wanted to fight Vlad just as badly as Timmy, but it was hard to set one foot after the other, let alone fly. For someone with as great powers as he had, it was nearly impossible to hold his ground against a couple of small fries now. How pathetic. But he was so exhausted and one thing happened after the other that he couldn’t keep up with it anymore. He was barely able to keep his eyes open, his muscles sore making every movement a challenge.

Maybe it wouldn’t be bad to close his eyes just for a few seconds. He was already dead inside and out; how much worse could it get?

A gun blast from a minion hit his head, knocking him over like a bowling pin. He felt his senses slipping. As much hatred as he possessed for Vlad and Damian right now, that alone couldn’t provide him with energy. He was spent.

“Leave Danny alone!”

Through his blurred vision, Danny spotted his small sponge friend, the radiant gauntlets grabbing the attacking minion’s ghost tail, throwing him in a group of his comrades that surrounded them.

“Bob?” With great effort, Danny sat up, using his elbows as support.

His friend smiled at him with his trademark teeth, although it didn’t quite reach his eyes due to the circumstances. Torn between staying safe or rushing to his aid, SpongeBob had decided for the latter, since Danny needed assistance right now, so he jogged and dodged all the way here. “It’s okay, you can take a break. I’ll protect you!”

He shouldn’t have to, Danny thought. It was his job. His dimension. His home. His family. And since he was the main target of most ghosts around here, they would try to get to him first anyway, which only put his friend in more danger. Sure, he was glad and appreciated the help, but … unlike SpongeBob, he didn’t have anything left to lose. Protecting the people that were important to him was all he was able to do, all he cared about – all he was good for.

And yet … he couldn’t stop his mind from fading, grateful that he wasn’t alone.

Chapter Text

“Timmy, you need to calm down.” Jimmy put a hand on the other’s shoulder. That soundwave could’ve done some serious damage if it weren’t for the invisible shield cast by Timmy with the shape of Crimson’s Chin. “We don’t know what the substance does to your system.” Perhaps it healed Damian, but he was an artificial half ghost, so it was still unknown what the ‘magic’ could do to Timmy. Although he had to admit the changes were hard to explain rationally, instantly healing his leg and turning him into a full-fledged athlete.

Only a few minutes earlier, they had the advantage, outnumbering their foes. And now the tables had turned. Walker had repeatedly been a pain for them from the very first adventure and the few times they encountered Ember didn’t end well either, although Timmy apparently liked her music.

“They have my parents!”, Timmy insisted stubbornly. Which, well, yes in a sense they probably already enslaved Dimmsdale and Jimmy could relate to that worry, but – ugh, if he could have just five minutes to think and figure something out! Nothing made sense right now!

“I know, but it’s you they want! And the crown …” Jimmy desperately gripped Timmy’s shoulders trying to reason with his newfound childish temper. He already had his suspicions from Goddard’s scan-results that the thing was somehow messing with its surroundings. While the wand seemed to absorb all kinds of energy, converting them into its own and apparently also being able to fuse with fairy-programs, the readings for the charm were off the charts. None of the measures followed any code or logic, arbitrarily varying on the scale. It seemed to also attract something or gave off a strange aura. And since Timmy had been exposed to it for the longest time and Jimmy had been close enough to it to be affected as well (he even touched it when they took Timmy to Fenton Works), Jimmy figured the strange feelings came from that thing. Because whenever he lost himself in Timmy’s eyes, felt his warmth or was just drawn to him, it was always that crown that highlighted it. Not to mention that he had developed this strange attachment to his friend only recently; ever since he arrived, wearing that thing.

He had wondered what could’ve changed between them and it always led back to this trinket. Sure, Timmy’s words of encouragement and his understanding and supporting company did cause a weird chemical reaction, that could’ve been just twisted or amplified by the charm. Which meant nothing of this was plausible. Or real. They were under the influence of something. That was the only explanation he could come up with. And it would also explain Timmy’s odd presence and unstable behavior.

“Who cares? I won’t let them catch me or that stupid broken charm.” Timmy shrugged the hands off, focusing back on the shield that was still under the attack of Ember’s soundwaves, which cracked the chin to a good degree in the meantime. Another blast might break it for good. “What’s so special about it anyway?”

“Well, wouldn’t you like to know.” To their dismay, Tiberius was still here. And in a much better state now as well.

Groaning, Timmy threw his head back. “Get in line, man. We’re kinda busy here!” With Vlad present, he had found something to focus his attention on, but everybody just kept cramping his style, it wasn’t even funny anymore. The geezer didn’t even take him serious, just observing with Walker from above, while the pink barrier locked Danny’s family out. And it wasn’t as if they weren’t trying to find a way inside, but there was just no weapon powerful enough to crack it!

Oh right, he had a free wish, didn’t he? Maybe he should think about it … Man, it felt like an eternity since he had been able to do that. But what should he wish for? Just one try and then it was gone. Usually, he never thought about it beforehand, since he had unlimited wishes. And he had to phrase it correctly if he didn’t want to end up like Damian. Phrasing was always important.

But it seemed like none of his opponents wanted to give him time to figure it out. Another wave destroyed the shield around them, Poof alerting him of Vlad and Walker turning around to leave through the weird portal again.

“Oh no you don’t!” Evading the wavelength of Ember’s attack and ignoring Tiberius for now, he ran. With all that power, maybe he could turn the wand in a hoverboard without Poof’s help, since his brother was hurt and too exhausted. But then he wouldn’t have a weapon again. And he didn’t have a fancy jetpack or anything else … Rats, if only he could fly like the ghosts and fairies.

Suddenly, his vision was flashed by various colors and he felt a tingling sensation on his head. Before he knew it, his feet weren’t touching the ground anymore. Wait, what? What was happening? Should he even care at all?

“Poof poof!” His brother hovered next to him, agitatedly pointing at his back that suddenly had bug-wings. Or was it fairy wings?

While he turned around to see better, he also spotted Jimmy, firing his tornado blasts to cancel out the soundwaves from Ember’s guitar. Because someone with common sense had to have his back, obviously. Still, Timmy could see even from up here that the genius was close to popping a vessel. And Tiberius was also using his restored powers to pursue by hovering.

Torn between two sides, Timmy sulked. Vlad thought he already won and this stupid copy just wouldn’t leave him alone. If this jewel, crown of whatever really were so powerful, how come it never helped him before the magic was turned off in his dimension? Or when he was about to be obliterated by Vlad?

Through gritted teeth, he mentally urged his weird wings to fly faster. It wasn’t his first time, so he kind of got the hang of hit pretty fast – although he looked anything but graceful, probably. He had no idea what was going on or why all of that was happening in the first place. All he knew was, that he had nothing to do with it this time and that he was fed up being helpless or used as a punching bag. As if Francis’s bullying and his regular life as a soon-to-be high school graduate weren’t bad enough already.

Luckily, he caught up with Vlad before him and Walker could go through the portal again. He pointed his wand at them, casting another pink beam that blasted right between the two to block their path. Of course, they saw it coming and dodged, but it was still annoying.

“I see you had a taste of your own medicine.” Vlad said with a low chuckle before he turned around. “Although we spiced it up with Desiree’s energy. How does it feel to feast on your fairies’ essence?”

“Shut up!” Timmy yelled, shooting another ray. Vlad transformed, duplicating himself to mock as he shot one decoy after another, always missing the real one while all of them laughed in union. “What did you do to my godparents?!”

“Oh, these pawns? We simply locked them away for our entertainment. We have so many fairies, we barely need them, although the Anti-Fairies and their newest addition have quite big plans with them. And you.”

The real Vlad appeared behind Timmy, each hand grabbing one of the bug wings, pulling them apart with force. It was a foreign feeling, but since they were a part of his body for now, Timmy felt a sensation in his back as if someone wanted to rip out his scapulas. But the pain vanished as soon as it came, overshadowed by his immense fury. His imagination was running wild, playing all sorts of situations out that involved his fairy parents tortured and miserable. He wondered if he could use his wish to bring them here. But would that be fair? With Danny being in that poor state and thousands of other fairies still locked up? What if it didn’t work and he ended up powerless instead?

Squeezing his grip around the handle of his wand, he unleashed another wave of energy to push Vlad away. This time, the average teen didn’t let him escape, swinging his weapon but missing by a hair as the evil halfa turned intangible. Vlad’s experience had even increased with the years, his powers a second nature to him.

“You’re gonna regret that, Plasmius!” He pointed the wand with both hands at Vlad, the recoil pushing with so much force that he did a sloppy backflip which ended with him hovering upside down. Okay, maybe he didn’t have as much expertise with flying and wings as he thought.

Vlad had shielded himself from most of the damage by pulling his cape over his head. “What a splendid weapon you have. Not to mention that crown.” Vlad took advantage of his speed, dashing towards Timmy and punching him in the stomach. So far, Walker and Tiberius were only watching. If things would get really heated, they would interfere, and Timmy slowly came to the realization that even with all this power he still wasn’t good enough. “Perhaps it would be even better if it were in more capable hands. You never even noticed its true potential, didn’t you?”

Timmy attempted to smack him on the head, but the handle was caught while Vlad used his other hand to choke him. The old halfa then gave Walker a nod, silently commanding him to take the crown away.

The warden ghost obeyed, teleporting behind Timmy, his big gloved hands reaching for it, but as soon as his hands touched the gold, he was zapped in a similar way Anti-Cosmo got fried by the Real Rules. “It seems to be attached to the boy.”, Walker assumed. Which was suspicious, since the crown had been touched and removed from him before. The only difference was that he drank some magic now.

“It doesn’t matter, we’ll just take him with us.” Vlad tightened his grip around Timmy’s throat. Black dots began to invade his blurring vision as he struggled to stay conscious. Even in his buff-mode, he was too weak. No matter how much force he put into it, he just couldn’t stop his muscles from convulsing! That couldn’t … wait a second.

To his right, he spotted Tiberius who wasn’t just watching anymore. His hand glowed, shaking as it was directed at him. Regardless of being healed, the copy looked progressively exhausted. That managed to put a small band aid on Timmy’s ego – he wasn’t such a wimp after all. Still, it was three against one and he couldn’t do anything about it. Even if he unleashed another burst of power, they would just surround him again. Unlike him, they weren’t running on borrowed and limited energy, so all they needed to do was wait until he tired himself out.

He could see the battlefield from up here. Jimmy seemed distracted, had been tired before they even left and now appeared to be on the brink of collapsing, while Danny was already knocked out and layered in bruises and ectoplasm, his semi-transparent form flickering like a candle with each breath. At least SpongeBob seemed somewhat okay, just out of breath but still doing his best to protect Danny. They obviously saw Timmy’s misery but couldn’t do much to help him, just like the Fenton’s outside the barrier. If this continued, he would end up imprisoned again, separated from his friends after going through all the trouble to find them …

Why was this happening? Why was the universe so mean? What did he do to deserve this? … Aside from destroying his own town by causing multiple disasters that was. This wasn’t fair. He had no clue how he could get out of this mess. It was so frustrating! And even worse, he still felt so … restless, as if he could do and be more than just that. But no, he was here, helpless and choking. All he could still do was talk – Oh! Crap, the wish.

“I wish … all of this would just end … I don’t care how. Just make it stop!”, he heard himself croak. Hopefully his friends would forgive him for such a poor choice of words and using his one wish like that. His brain just wasn’t able to come up with anything else right now, like a blackout during exams.

It was as if a threat had been torn apart – something snapped and all that saved up energy practically exploded out of him, somehow filling him with great relief. Not just because he was able to fill his lungs with air again:

The force that bounded him was dispelled, the presence of Walker and Vlad near him gone, flung away by the sudden burst. The fog surrounding his mind cleared up a little, making him fully aware of his body and surroundings as if he sobered up little by little. He could feel the weight of his wand in his hands, the prickling air around him, the amount of strength his strange wings needed to keep him in the air, the burnt smell invading his nose. Somehow everything seemed less vibrant and exciting to him now, aware of how sore his body was.

The explosion had drawn enough attention towards him that both the enemies and his friends were now looking up, expectantly waiting for his wish to become reality. Sadly, aside from that, nothing had happened. The pink shield was still trapping them and although Walker, Tiberius and Vlad had been pushed away, they were still mostly unharmed. Well, at least the commotion distracted Ember long enough to give Jimmy the opportunity to blow her away.

“Ha, what a waste of so much potential!” Vlad laughed, shaking the little damage he endured off as if it were nothing. The portal above them flickered, starting to close, they didn’t have much time left. “Now, how about you accompany us back without making a fuss? I’ll make sure to reunite you with your dear fairies.”

Blinking, Timmy had to concentrate hard to make Vlad out. Somehow the thrilling high started to turn into a sugar crash. “No!” As much as he missed them, he had promised to take care of Poof and find a way to help them. Yeah, he could still remember this task. It was very important, so he needed to focus on that. But why was hovering and maintaining a steady grip getting harder with each second? His body practically begged him to lay down.

“I guess it can’t be helped then. At least that makes it more entertaining.” The halfa that carried his maternal grandfather’s name stretched his fingers out, already glowing in their signature pink ecto-energy. “I’d say this will hurt me more than it’ll hurt you, but that would be a lie … Oh, and I don’t care.”

Before he could fire his beam at the teen, however, something beneath them clawed a hole into the barrier, therefore causing the whole constructure to fall apart. The jelly bits rained down on them, dissembling into sparkles and dust.

“Amiko!”

Someone howled, barbaric and inhuman upon seeing the Phantom knocked out. A big werewolf like creature stepped through the small dusty cloud that the falling particles had created. It carried two humans on its shoulders.

“Wulf!” SpongeBob cheered, remembering their fuzzy and sociable beast-ghost friend. Throwing his arms in the air with joy, he almost forgot about the goons he was still fighting. And to his – and also Jimmy’s, Timmy’s and their enemies’ – surprise, he wasn’t alone.

Sam and Tucker, being the two holding onto Wulf’s back, were rightfully distressed at the sight as well. But it wasn’t just them that had arrived.

Limping forward next was Jorgen. “Turner, what have you done this time!” he yelled, the phrase being more a force of habit than meant serious. His missing leg had been temporarily replaced with something that looked like a quickly tinkered prosthetic out of metal parts. What made his appearance even weirder was the fact that he wore one of Jack’s jumpsuits, although only the pants with the upper part hanging loose and sleeves knotted around his waist, a green muscle shirt covering his pecks.

Their gateway, a blue claw-portal, closed with a cartoony poof sound – and letters. When the clouds dissolved, the last reinforcement’s addition was revealed, stepping through with a sad expression. “The Great One …” Sensing the pain and change in Danny, Frostbite’s eyes glowed. “Not only have they stolen the Infi-Map and hurt my people, but they also tortured my friend.”

Deliberately absorbing the situation with their friend seriously hurt and changed, their other friends being shocked and agitated as well, they finally all looked at the person responsible for this.

With the barrier now broken and the reinforcement here, Vlad and his group had lost their advantage. Not only was he facing all of the Fentons plus Valerie and Danny’s friends, but also these three thickheaded bulky pests as well. He had vivid memories of the two guardians and how much they bothered him in the past. And Walker didn’t seem to handle Wulf’s presence well either.

“Perhaps we should’ve recruited the Fright Knight after all”, the jailer helpfully offered, to which his partner could roll his eyes – which went unnoticed due to his full red sclera. It was a little too late for that. Even if they had brought more of the prototype magic-potion, this would’ve been a tough battle. Oh well, they could still use the goons to cause enough of a distraction to take Turner and the crown with them through the portal. Tiberus was still useful, after all.

“We’ll take the boy and leave.” He ordered in a low voice to not make it obvious, but with his enhanced hearing, Wulf picked up on that. He said something in Esperanto to his group, their angry faces inquiring that they understood him.

“I don’t think so, puny Plasmius.” Jorgen took something out of his jumpsuit that looked like a box … or a small casket with a green skull, set on ‘reclaim’ mode. As soon as the lid was opened, a bright light came out of it, sucking the goons closest to them inside. Since only ghosts were affected, it didn’t harm any of the Fenton’s that the box was pointed at. The power of it reached so far, Walker had to hold onto his fedora so it wouldn’t get drawn inside. Knowing the device and what power it held, Ember took that as her cue to leave and, along with the rest of small army, fled through the portal to avoid getting trapped inside Pandora’s box.

Timmy was only half aware of what was going on around him right now. So much happened at once and his fuzzy mind couldn’t keep up with it. Despite being able to think more clearly – and not seeing vibrant colors anymore – it got harder and harder to keep his brain braining. What he did know, was that Vlad was fucked and he still had the wand in his hands to deliver some hurtful blows, even without enforced rebound.

“It’s over, Vlad.” Jack said, reloading his bazooka. For him to look with such disgust at his old college friend and not calling him Vladdie anymore even made the billionaire gulp.

However, his confusion didn’t hold on for long. Knowing he still had a trump up his sleeve, Vlad raised his hands in mock surrender. “Oh, foolish me, how am I ever going to win against the great and competent Fentons? Ah, right. I still have something of great value, if I remember correct.” He then turned to Timmy, the teen that glared at him even as his muscles deflated and the wings started to disperse slowly. He wouldn’t push his luck by that opportunity, especially not with all these death glares directed towards him. Still, he had the audacity to smirk and hovered closer.

“You shitty Dracula.” Timmy slurred, lifting the wand with effort. His hands were shaking and the tip felt so heavy he thought it would slip out of his grasp.

“Don’t even bother to embarrass yourself further, kid.” Vlad dismissed, simply knocking the weapon out of Timmy’s grasp with a slap of his backhand. It fell to the ground, cluttering and drained just like its owner. “I suggest you come to Dimmsdale on your own. Otherwise … you might not have a reason to come back at all anymore. I’m quite curious how much magic can be drained from one fairy alone.” He contemplated, stroking his goatee with that devilish grin. “But should I grow bored of torturing them, I could get rid of your ’godparents’ with no issue, I have more than enough replacements.”

As soon as the threat sunk in, it was as if time stopped. The sounds around them became muffled, nothing but a long bleep inside Timmy’s head getting through. He had been so full of hatred and ready to bash his head in – and he still was – but the realization that his family was at the mercy of Vlad, Anti-Cosmo and their organization left him … petrified. He could only stare through his enemy, thinking about the last time he had seen Cosmo and Wanda. The immense loneliness, as if something was missing, gnawing at his soul more than ever. He still remembered the time Wanda was abducted and hurt by Crocker, and he was a moron. Just imagining what they already did to them and would still do was enough to make his stomach drop because Vlad was the most capable and witted foe he ever encountered.

“Well, I see myself out then. Tata!” As multiple loaded weapons were aimed at him and Walker, Vlad still had the courage to grin and waved like he did back in his days as a mayor. Him and Walker exited through what was left of the hovering portal, which left only Tiberius.

The copy glared at his original. He could still try to force Timmy or take his anger out on him, but hell nah, he wasn’t getting paid enough to put up with all this shit. And while his body might have recovered somewhat, his endurance and abilities were still another thing. “I guess our rematch has to wait for another day.” He shrugged, playing it off as if the situation and its drawback weren’t affecting him at all. “Although I’m not the first in line … Can you even still understand me?”

As Tiberius came closer, a sudden gush of wind, fired by the Tornado Blaster, forced them apart, creating a safe distance between the two. Yet, aside from an annoyed look, Jimmy was mostly ignored by the pale version.

“Wha … doya mean?” Timmy started to feel the gravity pulling at his feet, dragging him down. His mind still hadn’t comprehended everything and he wasn’t sure how he was supposed to feel or act anymore at this point. Mad? Sad? Desperate? He was literally drained of everything. The unimaginable joy and ecstasy were gone.

Tiberius ran his fingers through his hair. “Hm, well … Anthony sends his regards. And a challenge.” He pulled something out behind his back again. A long red piece of silk – a big ribbon, maybe. Or a neckerchief. “To a royal duel” He let the fabric slip through his fingers, the air carrying it towards Timmy.

With his hands now empty, he caught it, although his motoric skills had declined greatly. It was hard to even wrap it around his hands, the fabric so soft but also emitting a prickling sensation on his skin, almost like the surface of the sphere Cosmo and Wanda had been trapped in. Like tiny needles poking his fingers. And the name, Anthony … it wasn’t mentioned for the first time but he got the feeling that he should know who that was. Deep in his chest, something ached. But he didn’t understand any of it.

The last thing he noticed clearly was Tiberius departing through the portal. As it closed, the Infi-Map returned to its original state, falling down as well. Timmy was sinking, falling before he even realized it, now for the second time since he arrived here. But was caught in strong arms by someone he never thought to see here of all places. Jorgen looked at him, for once not mad or mocking but with actual seriousness and perhaps even a hint of sympathy.

“Tim!” Jimmy came to a halt next to them, worried and overwhelmed with the illogical and randomness of the latest events. “Are you hurt?!”

Even shaking his head was too bothersome. But in his favor, Jorgen answered. “He’s probably suffering from magic overload … or more like a magic-hangover.” Which the genius knew about, since that happened to his friends years ago when Timmy had lent them Cosmo and Wanda for a few hours. That was relieving news, because that was something that he could deal with and would pass on its own.

“Good.” Jimmy then proceeded to smack the back of Timmy’s head half heartedly. “Are you mental?! That stunt could’ve killed you! I thought we learned the lesson about not consuming unknown substances.”

“Sorry …” Timmy mumbled. Jorgen’s body was like a radiator, but hard as stone. He kind of missed the embrace from last night when Jimmy nursed him. That one felt so soothing and relaxing … thinking about it was much better than thinking about all the thwarted incidents. Who was Anthony and would he challenge him? Did he miss something? Well, aside from his godparents. A far of dream maybe … or a memory.

“Now what is it that I hear about magic and fairies? Care to explain?” Jorgen took a step back before Jimmy lost it and threw another tantrum. It was hard to sleep through that, when it happened next door and he was still only half aware where he had been. And he certainly didn’t mean to overhear the motivational speech Timmy gave Jimmy.

“As much as I’d like to know the details as well,” Dani interrupted them, landing next to the warden. “I think what’s more important is to make sure nobody else is hurt and take this somewhere private.” She gestured around where still a few citizens had gathered, attracted by the fuss and giant pink jelly sphere at the funfair.

Jack nodded, walking over to his son with the rest of his family. SpongeBob had long discarded his gloves, carefully trying to touch Danny. His body felt very, very cold and almost transparent, like Bob could reach right through him if he put more force into it.

“Danny?” Jazz asked, blinking the tears away as she kneeled down as well, gently shaking his shoulder, only to experience the same astral phenomenon.

Sam and Tucker both couldn’t believe it, especially not her. “M-maybe … the Fenton Specter Deflector could help?” She asked hopeful, remembering that Danny once told her it prevented him from transforming into a ghost when he wore the belt, so maybe could also turn him back into a human as well?

“Or it would only torture him more, if he’s really a full ghost now.” Tucker responded, ducking his head at the hurtful look Sam gave him. “Sorry. I mean … he’s got healing powers, so p-perhaps all he needs is a good old nap?”

“I fear this might be more complicated than that.” Frostbite joined the group, his ice arm planted on Tucker’s shoulder, a shiver running down the human’s spine. With permission from his parents, the leader of the Far Frozen bent down, inspecting the acid wounds his friends suffered.
As assumed, they didn’t heal. Like a poison the acid prevented the wounds from closing, but it was hard to tell with all the ectoplasm. Which was weird in itself. “While I have seen many ghosts with unique techniques and abilities, I have never seen someone with an acid form of ecto energy.”

As his claws trailed down from the chest to Danny’s stomach, where most of it had hit him, he could feel the burning sensation on his skin. It was nearly impossible to tell if the green liquid was the acid, Danny’s ecto-blood or a mix of both. But as far he could tell it hadn’t lost it’s effect even, after contact – which meant it was still burning and hurting Danny. Of course he couldn’t heal like that. His body was constantly trying to close gaps that were torn open over and over again.

“Isn’t that like … shooting his own body fluids at someone? Like blood or, I dunno, a part of him.” Dani vividly remembered what it felt like to slowly turn into a goo-monster herself. Either that Damian really was a stronger kind of clone, or he could endure the immense pain while battling. A part of herself felt sorry for him, as she witnessed how desperate he called out for Vlad, his father. But the majority in her despised him and just wanted to help Danny right now.

“It needs to be neutralized and cleaned; he cannot recover otherwise. A constant state of transition will strain his form to the point of losing matter, until …” Frostbite couldn’t finish that thought. His family was already riled up enough. “Such a major loss of ectoplasm isn’t good.”

“And how can we help him? Do we just wash it out?” Jazz asked anxious, not able to hold the tears back anymore. Her parents were more collected, but it was obvious they only did so to not make their kids panic further. Jack held Maddie close as she, too, wasn’t able to think clearly right now.

“That would only spread the acid. Maybe it wouldn’t burn as much, but it’s still in his circulation.” Jimmy said as he joined the group with Jorgen carrying both Timmy and Poof, who rested on his brother’s chest. “I could make an antidote, but that needs time and …” He had to look away. The ectoplasm wasn’t red but it didn’t change the truth. And from his previous mistake with the serum, he didn’t know if he could make something out of thin air without testing it first. He yet had to understand ghost molecules and Danny’s entire DNA structure changed, so if he made it worse, he would never forgive himself.

“It’s my fault …” Timmy muttered, clenching his eyes shut. If only he had used his stupid wish to turn Danny back to normal. That was the whole reason he drank that stuff in the first place! His mess up was the reason Amity Park and Danny were now under attack – all obecause of him. Fuck, so much for not guilt tripping himself anymore.

“No it’s not!” SpongeBob sniffled. His friend was bleeding out and in a constant state of agony and he couldn’t do anything about it. And his other friend had been through so much already and thought he was the only reason for all their troubles. And his third friend felt just as helpless, losing his confidence in his own abilities and genius because of one mistake and all the pressure he endured. This had to stop. He couldn’t watch this anymore. “And it’s going to be fine, or my name isn’t SpongeBob SquarePants!”

“Buddy, I know how you feel, but …” As much as Tucker wanted to believe that, he couldn’t break it to him. He couldn’t even look at his best friend without feeling helpless and angry himself. “Things just can’t be solved that easy. It would be nice if they did …”

“Then we make it easy!” SpongeBob insisted, stomping his foot. “Mr. Frostbite, if we were to remove the acid, can you heal Danny or not?”

“I … think it’s possible. He lost a lot of energy, but nothing a transfusion couldn’t fix.” The yeti-ghost had no clue what the sponge was implying. How could they remove all of it without spreading or leaving traces behind?

“Alright.” SpongeBob made up his mind and turned to Jorgen. “Sir, can you squeeze me with your hands as hard as you can?”

Raising a brow, the warden looked down at the yellow square demanding his deadliest hug. “I can wring you to the size of a softball – Why?”

“Well, obviously to get the poison out.” SpongeBob said, looking around. “I’m a sponge, it’s what I do.”

“As noble as your idea is, I’m afraid it could harm you as well.” Frostbite warned. Of course it was obvious that a sponge would be perfect for the job, but …

“And it would be super gross.” Tucker mentioned, shuddering at the idea of being pressed to a bleeding person and absorbing that stuff into his own body.

“I can wash it out, no problem!” While his friends still protested, trying to talk him out of that idea, SpongeBob was persistent, ignoring the vivid explanations from Jimmy and Tucker about the risks. But perhaps due to their own desperation and anxiety about Danny’s condition that the Fentons ultimately accepted his help. What else could they even do in so little time? “Okay I’m ready!”

Jorgen put Timmy down, who was supported by Jimmy and wasted no time to pick up Bob and use all his might to squeeze him. SpongeBob didn’t say much aside from grunting. Although he had no real bones or organs, all of him made of squishable material, that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt to be rearranged and compressed.
But he endured it, even as he was placed on Danny’s stomach and started to concentrate. His friend was already half transparent, his cold from not feeling more than it did touching cotton candy. He had closed his eyes but he could feel one of his arms even going into Danny’s body through the wound in his stomach, absorbing what had spread from one side to the other on the back. A clean interpolation, which meant the acid couldn’t have spread far beyond that.

Feeling the prickle and burn on his own body, SpongeBob knew it was working. He just hoped the moisture layer from Jimmy’s spray would survive this. And even if not, he was happy to help his friend.

✧ « ★ » ✧

When Danny woke up, he was staring at the ceiling of his room, lying in his own bed. For all he knew, this whole mess could’ve been just a stupid dream … if it weren’t for the fact that he was still in his ghost form, from the looks of it.

“Shit.” He didn’t necessarily feel bad or anything, just sore and very tired. He wondered for how long had been out and tried to remember what happened before someone knocked the daylights out of him. Oh right, Damian happened.

His body moved languidly as he sat up. Trying to push himself upward proved to be a challenge, since his body turned intangible against his own will if he put too much weight or force on a limb. It was almost like his rookie time after the incident, when he had no idea what he was capable of and how to control his powers. He assumed nothing much should’ve changed, aside from feeling numb and cold, but it was as if he had overshadowed a random person, trying to get used to feeling it. Danny was a stranger in his own body.

“Thank goth, you’re awake.” Standing in the doorway with a green glowing bag and a slim tube, Sam quickly put the things away to hug him. “We were so worried about you!” Danny noticed her lack of make-up and the way she sniffled into his shoulder, trying hard to stay calm, but failing to control her emotions. She was just so relieved.

Rather awkwardly, he pat her back, not in the right state of mind to show compassion. He appreciated the empathy, of course, but he wasn’t quite feeling it, right now. He couldn’t even stay mad at his new clone and Vlad right now, he was just too … burnt out. “What happened?”

After a few more breaths, Sam let go of him to wipe the tears away. Her hair was tied in a loose bun and she was wearing one of his old hoodies. Some time must’ve passed at least. “I don’t really know.”, she admitted. “When the signal went dead we kinda lost all connection to you guys because of Technus.”

“Skultech.” Danny corrected, rubbing her upper arms to at least give some physical assurance. He doubted his touch was warm or comforting, but it was something practiced and familiar. He wondered if it still felt the same for her or if she also noticed how different and wrong it seemed. At least to him. Danny had touched her so many times in his ghost form but never had the experience been so unnatural to him. As if they were truly from two separate realms now.

“Yeah, that idiot.” She avoided looking at his face. Was something wrong with it? Oh, yeah. Jimmy had mentioned his skin was a shade of green now. Probably reminded her too much of him. “We tried everything, but it didn’t work. And we couldn’t just stay inside Fenton Works without helping or knowing if everything was okay. A bit after Jimmy, Timmy and SpongeBob left to help you, Jorgen came down and demanded to know what was going on and then Wulf showed up out of nowhere.”

“Wulf is here?” He was glad to know they hadn’t been in danger or under attack by evil ghosts as well. He knew Tucker and Sam could hold their ground, but leaving them was never easy for him. Just like the rest of his family. “Does he know what’s going on in the Ghost Zone right now?”

“Well, my Esperanto is a little vague, but he wanted to show us something. Strangely enough, the big fairy guy could understand him, though. He said Frostbite needed help and he knew how to stop the invasion.” A weak laugh escaped her at the strange adventure they went through. It didn’t reach her eyes and she kept her gaze mostly on the logo on his chest. “We left Goddard in charge since Jorgen doesn’t know anything about the Ghost Zone and things got a little hectic after that. Most of the Far Frozen took refuge at Pandora’s place after they were attacked by the androids. They had weapons that could harm them but since they weren’t ghosts and especially not from this dimension, they couldn’t do much damage, even with Ice Powers.” Sam tucked a loose hair strand behind her ears. “The Ghost Zone was mostly empty, we helped to get rid of some robots and minions … and Pandora lend us her box after a bit of bargaining with Jorgen and Frostbite. Didn’t quite get it, something about the Ancients, Councils and emergency protocol.”

“Okay that’s … a lot to take in.” While a few of his questions got answered, he got a bunch of new ones instead and Danny had the urge to rub his temples.

Sam nodded, a little tension leaving her shoulders. She was a little baffled how well Danny actually took the news, considering what he was going through already. “Tell me about it. Since they stole the Infi-Map, we had no shortcut back and most of the androids blocked the way towards the Fenton Portal, but then there was this magic poof and we were right in fron of this big jello dome and then we saw you and … that’s about it.”

“I see. So, how long was I out?” Danny had lost count of the times he woke up in his bed because he fainted during or after a fight, so that was usually the second question after ‘is everyone alright?’ but asking that would be more of a rhetoric thing.

Sam looked on her wristwatch, it was a little after midnight. “A couple hours. We haven’t talked about everything yet. Most of us are still patching each other up while Tucker’s busy handling the cops and citizens, trying to get things up and going again.”

“Okay.” Danny let go of Sam’s shoulders, simply staring out the window. It was pitch black, safe for the working lights on the street and in the other buildings. He still heard the screams of the shocked people, saw their scared faces, feeling guilty for destroying so much during his fight. But at the same time, he felt as if he was still dreaming – as if Nocturn had trapped him in a bizarre sleep world again.

Slap.

“What was that for?!” It didn’t even hurt that bad but Danny still held his stinging cheek where Sam had smacked him. She was still breathing erratic, shaking her head. Did he do something wrong? Why was she so suddenly so upset again, he thought she calmed down already?

“Is that all you have to say? Danny, you could’ve … you died! I don’t know I – I have no idea what happened to you, what they did to you and –“ She rubbed her eyes, frustrated and overwhelmed. “You were hurt so badly, I just saw you lying there, in pain and with all that green stuff around you! If it weren’t for SpongeBob absorbing the acid and Dani donating some of her ectoplasm, things could’ve gone so, so wrong. How can it be that I’M the one upset about it and not YOU?”

“… What?” Processing, Danny scooted back in case Sam wanted to blow off more steam on his other cheek. Being hit by acid as a ghost was one thing, but his friend absorbing the stuff without any protection and Dani – who already had trouble with the topic – sharing some of her own life energy with him was something he didn’t want to be responsible for. He had failed as hero of Amity Park, as a big brother and as a boyfriend, apparently. “Are Dani and SpongeBob okay?”

“Stop that!” Obviously Sam didn’t mean to hurt him or put much strength in her slaps, as she repeatedly hit his arms that he rose in defense.

“Stop what?!”, he retorted, growing tired of this nonsense.

“Acting like it doesn’t bother you and never putting yourself first!” She persisted, ceasing her little assault. Sam was always the one to tell him to stop caring about his image and what the world, the press or everyone else thought about him, but Danny was always busy trying to be a people pleaser.
And now he was acting weird, surely had to work through a traumatic experience and his lack of reaction toward any of it just made her snap. She knew him better than anyone and had been aware something was bothering him for a long time that he never wanted to talk about. Sam always made it clear that she was there and would listen to his problems like she always did, offering support and help … However, right now she was beyond stressed and couldn’t understand his behavior at all. He always cared so much about them but never wanted it to be mutual. Most times, Sam thought he was too good for this world. But on other times, like right now, she just wanted to shake him very hard and talk some sense into his thick skull. “Please just … stop pretending that it’s fine for you. Just talk to me, I don’t care if you blow up, get angry or scream! Just anything, Danny.”

Not knowing how to respond to that, he kept staring at her. A faint urge wanted to pull her close, consult and whisper in her ear that everything would be alright, another wanted to smash the whole room to pieces. And yet, the most present impulse just felt detached, wanting to be far away from this situation as possible. His worst nightmare had become reality and he couldn’t talk about it and neither could his friends or family understand what was going on because he never told them about his fear.

“I can’t, Sam.” He said slowly, choosing his words one after another. “I’m sorry I don’t know. I – It’s just so messed up and I don’t want to talk about it now. None of you should’ve seen me like this or any of that and – yeah I know, I’m doing it again right now but – can this just … wait?”

“For how long?” Trying to keep her temper down, Sam stood up, pacing through the room. “We don’t know if this” She gestured at him. “is permanent or what else it did to you. And we have no idea how to help you with this.”

“Then don’t!” Danny couldn’t watch her further and attempted to get up as well, leaning against the wall for support so he wouldn’t collapse due to his poor balance. At least a second dose of Dani’s ectoplasm wasn’t necessary now. He wouldn’t allow that anyway. “I don’t know any of this either, but what I DO know is that the best way to solve this is stopping Vlad and his plans.” Maybe everything could be reversed once the fairies got their magic back, it wouldn’t be the first time and right now thinking positive was all he had. Not to mention he had been in his ghost form full time on several adventures with the other guys, it wasn’t news to him.

“Danny …” Sam stopped in front of her boyfriend, worried he might overdo it like he always did, but he just clasped her hands, squeezing them with his cold gloves. It was so different from usual. She knew only his appearance had changed and that he was still the same guy on the inside, but something told her the events also did something to his mind as well – of only psychologically.

“I know it’s a lot to ask, but you can’t do anything about it right now. Neither can I, my sisters or my parents.” He said to her, their eyes meeting for the first time during this conversation. He looked sad and his eyes didn’t have this lively spark that they used to. They were dead. And maybe that was the reason he didn’t want her close. How was he supposed to hold and soothe her with a body like this? He didn’t have a beating heart, he didn’t even know if that made him a walking corpse or spirit, knowing the rare former human ghosts only evolved through one way … But fairy magic couldn’t kill, right? That was a rule. So there was still hope and he had to hold onto that. “We have to do one thing after another. And right now, I just want to stop Vlad and this Damian before they cause even more damage. And we – the city must be prepared in case they get more of this stuff and try to overtake our dimension again.”

Although she didn’t quite agree with that, Sam nodded. “Fine. But how do we start?”

Shrugging, Danny separated from her again, already heading for the door. “For now, get answers. And after that … we’ll probably pay Dimmsdale a visit.”

Since the ghost boy still walked on shaky legs, Sam hooked her arm under Danny’s, walking down the hallway together. From the unknowing perspective, it seemed like something any couple would do. But it had never felt so awkward between them before.

Jazz was relieved to see Danny and wasted no time hugging him as they walked by the kitchen. So did his parents.

“Sweety, I’m so glad but don’t you dare ever scare us like that again, understood?” Maddie said, fawning over Danny and showering his forehead with kisses. Usually he didn’t like it, but right now the soft and warm pecks on his cold skin felt like a glimpse of life. And while he always knew his parents would still love him no matter what, it was soothing to witness firsthand that their feelings hadn’t changed a bit and he hated himself for not being able to return it with the same amount.

“Son, I’m not old enough to go from grey to bald already, so go a little easy on your old man.” Jack ruffled his son’s flame like hair. Although it was weird and unlike all the other times he did that, his father still smiled, with a hint of worry in his eyes.

As much as Danny wanted to say something to them to feel like he earned all this care even a little bit, he was still unsure how to deal with the whole situation. He just hoped Sam would fill them in, because he really couldn’t wait any longer.

“Thanks I’ll … uhm, try not to?” Moments like these after serious battles were always the worst and probably the main reason he wanted to fight alone without his family involved. “If it’s okay, I’ll e on my way. I need to talk with the others.”, he poorly excused himself, walking out of the embrace and kitchen altogether and went to the living room, only to find it empty.

“They’re down in the basement. Dani’s room.” Jazz said, scaring her little brother by standing right behind him now. Of course, she knew this was something personal and there were already too many parties involved, but she really wished Danny would just let them join and help. “Please, don’t push yourself.”

“I’ll try.” He managed a little smile. Of course, his big sister always knew what to do, when to give him space and what to say. It was both scary and charming and he loved that about her. “Thank you, Jazz.”

She returned the smile, caressing his shoulder one last time before she left. Danny had the feeling he should’ve said or reacted more but shook it off before he got lost in his thoughts again.

✧ « ★ » ✧

The sight of Dani’s room was … odd, to say the least.

Wulf waited outside, jumping up to hug his amiko the second he spotted him coming down the stairs, which was nice. But the inside of Dani’s room, only illuminated by the lamps on her desk and nightstand, was a whole other bunch of stuff to take in.

The first being Frosbite and Jorgen, sitting cross legged on the floor playing chess. The second being Jimmy and Timmy both sleeping on Dani’s bed, having Poof and Goddard respectively resting on their stomachs. The third one was Dani sitting in her beanbag with a bandage around her wrist, attached to an IV pole next to it while she was reading a magazine. And the fourth and last thing was a round sort of fish tank (with a filter and all, a long cable going all the way over the floor towards the lab) with SpongeBob: Smiling as usual but with a partially fucking melted off face, slowly regenerating cell by cell. The top right of his square body and eye were missing, which was a little disturbing.

“What the heck did I miss?!” He couldn’t help but yell, staring at the display, waking the Immy’s up and drawing the collective attention towards him. Wulf put one of his big claws on his back in sympathy. “I swear, I’m unconscious one time and you all–“

He was cut off by his sister, crushing him in another hug. Since she was also in her ghost form right now, it felt more real, like she could really suffocate him with that mighty grip around his neck. But then again, he didn’t need to breathe at all since he woke up. Or blink. Maybe that was what weirded Sam out?

“Damn, you really scared us for a sec, bro.” Dani wouldn’t let go, snuggling her face in the crook of his neck.

“See, I told you he would get better.” SpongeBob’s voice was muffled from the tank and water but still audible. “Hi, Danny!” He waved at him as if nothing had ever been wrong.

“I …” Timmy looked like he wanted to say something, but he decided against it, holding his head as a wave of pain hit him, still groggy from his slumber. Next to the teen, Jimmy had a much harder time properly waking up. It was funny how his hair looked more tousled with every nap he took. At least it seemed the few hours managed to help him clear his mind a little.

Goddard barked, happy that Danny was also with them again, while Poof simply smiled. At least they didn’t outright seem as if they went to a funeral, like his family upstairs. No matter how much they tried to be positive, he could tell they pitied him and were just as scared.

All in all, this was still a much better reunion than the one yesterday … or was it two days ago now? It felt way longer than that either way.

“Great, so we can finally start, I presume?” Jorgen had to watch his step as he discarded the game board rather violently – he was losing. With two bulky creatures, it was difficult to walk around the room, despite Dani already having the biggest with the highest ceiling.

“It’s good to see you up and well, my friend.” Frostbite nodded at him, giving the ghost boy the needed space. Danny appreciated that and was glad to see so many friendly faces, although he much likely would prefer to be alone for a while. Then again, he had a feeling it wouldn’t do him any good mentally, so he might as well stay here and figure out a way to do his most favorite coping mechanism: beating up the bad guys and save the day.

“Thanks guys. For everything.” He nodded at each of them, although Timmy averted his eyes. He didn’t deserve a thank you, not when he was the whole reason all of that happened. “Especially you two. You didn’t have to do that.”

“But you’re my friend, I would do it again.” SpongeBob declared proudly as if he hadn’t almost ended up as sludge, only his left-over arm with the thumbs up indicating that he was alright. To his luck, Jimmy still had some of the moisture spray in his fancy bag, so he wouldn’t have to worry about drying out once he got out of the tank. Nevertheless, he needed to recover first.

“Yeah and other people donate blood all the time, it’s no biggie.” Dani lightly punched his shoulder, turning back into a human since her ectoplasm wasn’t needed anymore. That thing sticking in her arm was getting itchy and annoying her anyway. “And if you feel guilty for it, make sure to take care of yourself more.”

Well, he couldn’t argue with that.

“So … what now?” Danny took the offered beanbag, although he figured it would be just the same if he simply hovered around – if it weren’t for his drained energy, he’d probably end up sinking through the floor. “Do we just go to Dimmsdale and finish this?”

Jimmy suppressed a yawn, sitting up properly. “We could, but the portable UPM can’t get a signal.” Now that his brain got a taste of the sweet dream-juice, it demanded more or it. He didn’t bother reaching for his glasses or the goggles. “We can try the original version in my lab.”

“Didn’t they use this Infi-Map to get here?” As far as Timmy recalled, they left it behind. “Maybe we can use it.” Them leaving it behind as literally an invitation. Maybe that was even more of a reason to not use it?

“That would be possible. While tainted with their strange powers, the Map is still a powerful item for dimensional travel. However … it’s not up for me to decide.” Frostbite looked at Jorgen, who seemed deep in thought as he looked at the crown that still hovered over Timmy’s head.

“If it’s that Royal Jewel they want, they couldn’t even touch it, so that’s fine.” Timmy urged, his leg bouncing impatiently.

“That’s because only fairies and the ones with permission can.” Jorgen said, clearly trying to keep his voice down to avoid blowing up at the exhausted teenagers. Despite having missed most of the fight, he definitely knew more about it than anyone present. “The Jewel never should’ve left Fairy World nor its containment in the first place!” He glared at Turner, his self-control shrinking. “It was triple locked and had an ID scanner – only a certified warden or Von Strangle could’ve opened the vitrine – what did you do?!”

And here they went again with the spiel.

“How many times do I have to tell you, I didn’t do anything!” Timmy regretted raising his voice, his head spinning as he still had to deal with the aftermath of his magic-high.

“Well, obviously you did, or it wouldn’t be in your possession!” The rule enforcer yanked the crown away, the gold giving off a protesting pink sparkle. The only difference to before was the tiny jewel that was now visible on the front of the crown, five times smaller than its original size.

“I don’t know what happened! It’s … all I remember is Anti-Cosmo with these stupid dolls and that Cosmo turned into a key, opening chests and all this stuff. He made me help putting them away and … he was looking for something.” His head throbbed too much, making it even harder to remember. “What’s so special about it anyway? And why is it in this stupid broken charm all of a sudden?”

“You tell me, kid!” Jorgen inspected the jewel, which was apparently completely fused with the crown, ironically very fitting to its title. “The only good thing about this situation it that it can’t cause trouble, since it’s still cut off from our dimension and sealed by Da Rules.”

His head turning from one to the other like he was watching a tennis match, Danny had enough of cryptic talk for today, especially from the two he wanted to help but made it really difficult by acting like a cheap version of the Men in White.

“Can you two PLEASE just make sense for ONE minute?!” Danny snapped, his breath visible through the chill air he was creating as his eyes glowed blue, almost like they used to when he was still human. “What is this crown charm, what’s so special about this jewel and why do they want this – and that rule book? Just spill it – all of it!”

“I already said it, but I can’t tell you.” Timmy sighed, not knowing how much he could say until it would break the contract. He supposed as long as Jorgen was the one talking, it wouldn’t count. And maybe the blabbering about magic went over their heads in the heat of their discussion. Yeah, he just had to believe in that. “It’s –“

“Against the rules, whatever.” Danny turned to Jorgen. “Vlad is in on this, he knows what it can do and Damian said they need it to alter reality or something. He wants to use it on my dimension too, so I think we have a right to know that secret now.”

“The Great One is right about that, old comrade.” Frostbite added. “This is what our ancestors prepared us for and if they find a way to break Da Rules, both our universes are in danger.”

“Ugh, ALRIGHT!”, Jorgen surrendered looking at the ceiling and asking for patience instead of strength. “I hate history lessons.”

The warden decided to sit on Dani’s desk, turning the head of the lamp so that it shone uncomfortably in Turner’s face for good measure as the wood creaked in protest. If the situation were any less tense right now, Danny would’ve wondered how Jorgen and Frostbite knew each other and what they meant with ancestors, but if he changed the topic now, they would never get to the point.

“For the protocol: I declare this a stratocracy. And once the order is restored, everything is set back to normal. No buts about this, understood?” He looked especially at Timmy, who only nodded with a grim expression. The only time the warden had been so open about sharing the secrets of Fairy World had been when the Darkness attacked, and he knew how it ended once everything was over. He just hoped there were no consequences after this …
Jorgen inspected the crown, almost laughing at the irony as he was reminded of why the jewel could’ve possibly ended up there. “The charm I gave you was meant to attract only good ‘vibes’ as you kids call it. It was never meant to block bad luck magic, but rather attract fortune, like a magnet. Anti-Fairies have no use for something like that.”

Now that Jorgen mentioned it, Timmy could recall a blurry image of Anti-Cosmo, ordering some of his freed comrades around, telling them to get rid of the wand and crown, as they were mostly useless for them anyway – so they threw it in a lost and found box.

“And even with all the precautions, the Jewel is a very powerful artifact, capable to influence each and everyone around it, even with the tiniest connection to magic. It’s uncontrollable and chaotic, having a mind of its own. So, for whatever reason, it probably chose to fuse with the charm.”

“Is it possible that it can influence people if they are exposed to it long enough?” Jimmy asked, his tired brain deciding to live in blissful ignorance towards the whole nonsense about magic right now. He could argue about it all he wanted later, but at the moment this was too important to waste time by listing all the reasons why something like magic and fairies and all that couldn’t be possible.

Jorgen raised an eyebrow to that. “Technically, yes it does.”

“I KNEW IT!” Jimmy immediately said, pointing his finger at the warden as if he was a detective. He looked at Goddard, his doubts about the canine’s hypothesis on him having a crush on Timmy being justified now. It was indeed completely illogical and wrong. “So this jewel can alter someone’s personality and genetics, doesn’t it?” Because that would explain Timmy’s unnatural molecular structure and his charming aura.

“Err … No? What are you blabbering about, big headed human?” The warden shook his head, moving on. “As I said, most of its abilities are sealed. The only notable side effect is that the jewel unveils the hidden talents and personality traits of someone’s soul, or so they say. But that’s not what makes it so infamous.”

Jimmy’s enthusiasm immediately deflated; his smug grin replaced by something that could only be described as … fear. No, this had to be a hoax. He’d deny all of that before he accepted this. And the judging tilt from his dog was also conscientiously ignored.

“Uhm, excuse me Mr. Von Strangle?” SpongeBob asked, but the warden didn’t seem too happy to be interrupted by his speech once again. Usually people were supposed to ask questions after the presentation, weren’t they? And what happened to people cowering in fear of him? “Is that also why Timmy changed?”

“You mean the wings and pink eye thing?” Timmy asked, not knowing what the sponge meant, but he shook his head. That had been just a temporary transformation. Jimmy pinched the back of his nose. If this was still about the malfunction of the portal and Timmy’s genes, he was too demotivated to ask for clarification.

“No, not that.” The sponge bit his tongue in concentration. He had the same feeling he had several times since they found Timmy, but he couldn’t pin it exactly. Not while directly looking at his friend, it was the whole picture that felt off. “Even before that. It’s not something that was added but more like …” He thought really hard, his gaze roaming around. He was surely missing something really obvious. Wait, that was it! “I got it now! It’s not that something has changed, but its missing!” He formed a frame with his thumbs and index fingers, picturing Timmy and taking a step back until he his back touched the other side of the fish tank. “I don’t know, but if the jewel is so special, that would explain everything!”

“Explain what?” Danny looked between the fish tank and Timmy, not getting what the sponge meant. Until he stood right next to him, staring tat the bed and the illuminated wall behind it. Then he saw it too. “Damn you’re right.”

“About what?!” Now it was Timmy who desperately demanded answers, but even Jimmy could only shrug with his shoulders.

“You don’t have a shadow.” Both Danny and SpongeBob said, pointing at the reflecting wall that the desk lamp was aimed on, where only Jimmy’s and Goddard’s shadows were seen. And Poof, resting on one of Timmy’s legs, seemingly sitting in the air.

Okay, maybe there were a lot of new questions that needed to be answered. They might as well start a checklist now.

Chapter Text

“What do you mean I don’t have a-?” Timmy turned around to see the wall and indeed, his silhouette was the only one missing. He didn’t cast a shadow on anything he touched, not even on his own palms when he clenched his fingers for good measure. It was hard to tell when the crown had been over his head, slightly illuminating him from above all the time, or in the sunset from the windows, or outside during the blackout at night, or even inside the well-lit house he was staying in. And SpongeBob had been the only one subconsciously aware that something was wrong whenever his taller friend walked in front of or turned his back towards him.

“This cannot be possible …” Jorgen only stared, the crown slipping through his big hands. Instead of falling down, however, it simply poofed back on top of Timmy’s head. With the new revelation, it felt more creepy than relieving to feel the slight warmth on his scalp. “Turner, this is catastrophe!”

The warden immediately followed his namesake, limping forward to grab Timmy by the shirt, yanking him up to shake the daylights out of the kid . Since the teen was still exhausted and his mind not fully functioning, he had barely time to react.

“What are you talking about?” Timmy still felt Vlad’s hand around his throat. Slightly panicking, he tried to free himself. At least Frostbite had enough strength to pull the warden away, while Goddard bit the prosthetic leg, pulling on it.

They eventually succeeded to separate them, Jimmy catching Timmy before he could fall off the bed. The genius looked like he was about to von strangle the big man himself. Timmy appreciated that, although he was highly aware of Jimmy’s arms around his waist with no intention of letting go any second. Maybe it was just a form of comfort, but it still felt weird. He was too confused and worried about other things to pay it any further mind, though.

“Did Timmy turn into a vampire?” SpongeBob asked Danny, who had jumped out of the beanbag and was ready to punch Jorgen as well if it wasn’t for the sudden dizziness, making him clutch his head and leaning against the tank. Dani put a hand on his shoulder, worried for both her brother’s health and the condition of her room at the same time. But she felt like this was something between the main cast, so she saved her own questions and opinions for later.

“Vampires aren’t real.” Jimmy answered instead, his voice vibrating close to Timmy’s ear, purposely ignoring the fact that he had once managed to turn Carl into one on Halloween all these years ago. Or that Miss Fowl apparently had been married to a werewolf at some point. “There has to be an explanation.” Although he felt stupid for not noticing that either. He had been too absorbed in his own thoughts that it never stood out. Technically, something within Timmy had changed, as the data proofed. How it happened and what caused it were entirely different questions, though.

“Oh, vampires are real in Scary World, puny human.” Jorgen continued, freeing himself from the icy grip of his comrade. Frostbite narrowed his eyes, warning him to stay calm and continue, “And so is magic and every other thing in our universe.”

Knowing where this was going, Timmy buried his face in his hands, groaning. He was so not ready for this. How much information did they really need to learn about the jewel? And should he even care so much, knowing the others would most likely get their memories wiped of the events anyway? He felt sick just imagining it.

“The problem is, if you lost your shadow, this means the seal has been broken already!” Jorgen yelled while waving his arms around, smacking Frostbite in the process. “Even worse, you probably helped to unleash one of the most chaotic, dangerous and ancient spells to ever exist!”

“A spell?” Now that made Timmy look up, feeling the arms closing around his stomach. He didn’t dare to look at any of his friends directly. Not when, after this was over, they would probably think even less of him.

“Yes! And you don’t even seem to remember performing the ritual in the first place!” Jorgen tried to yank the crown away once more. However, this time it zapped him, as if it sensed the tension and negative emotions from its carrier towards the warden. “See? It’s completely out of control even without any connection to the main source in our world! Now, try again – what happened in the CMI?”

“I …” Timmy focused, hearing laughter in the depths of his mind. The more he tried to recall the events of that night, the more his headache increased. Poof patting his leg with his small hands and Jimmy still holding him was the only thing mentally rooting him. But now, all things considered, he couldn’t push these feelings away anymore. Ignoring wouldn’t help this time. A missing shadow, this guy called Anthony, Anti-Cosmo controlling him … It was all coming together.

Suddenly, his mind was flooded with images and events. Anti-Cosmo, the vitrine, the jewel, the looming shadow on the ground, something being ripped apart from him, the bright pink flash …

✧ « ★ » ✧

“Where is this rotten jewel?” Anti-Cosmo would’ve put his hands on his hips if he weren’t still holding the dolls of Timmy and Cosmo. “Most of the relicts here are garbage compared to it.” He could barely see anything with the lack of light and he didn’t have much time left until the Big Wand would be turned off. “This place is too big! It’ll take forever!”

Timmy just stood around, not in control of his own body anymore, watching as the Anti-Fairy cursed this place with his British accent. Cosmo, being forced to do what he hated so much about his former job, being stuck into dark holes as a key, whimpered, not able to transform or use any magic to defend himself. It pained Timmy to see his godfather like this but he couldn’t even say anything right now.

“Timothy, find the Royal Jewel! … A pink brilliant gem, not that you would know about it.” The Anti-Fairy ordered half serious, assuming the teen wouldn’t be able to accomplish that task either way when Anti-Cosmo, the evil genius himself, had spent most of his time here looking for it himself. He had no idea Timmy found it purely on accident after not even a minute. And it wasn’t even like the giant vitrine had been hidden. In fact, how was it the supposedly smart anti-version of his godfather hadn’t seen it already?

While his body moved on its own to the location he last had seen the nametag, his mind had the time to wander, trying to come up with a plan how he could get out of this mess. And when he did find the black casket, Anti-Cosmo had been furious, calling him a waste of time. Did he really not see the big thing right in front of Timmy?

“Mind controlling just isn’t what it used to be. I thought the dolls were supposed to follow orders, not making the original act as idiotic as alway-“ As he was ranting, Anti-Cosmo hovered in front of Timmy, his nose held up high. Until he hit the vitrine headfirst, that was. “What in the – Bloody hell, of course they made it invisible for Anti-Fairies to protect it! The irony!”

“Of course we used a magic cover that would make it invisible to Anti-Fairies, just as we made the rule for them to be invisible to humans.” Jorgen interrupted, crossing his arms as he was biased if he should be proud of his ancestor’s plan that ultimately still failed. “But as I said, neither you nor Cosmo should’ve been able to unlock it! Except …” The warden facepalmed, ashamed of being reminded that him and Cosmo were cousins and therefore also carried the Von Strangle bloodline.

Timmy just rolled his eyes. He wasn’t sure if he should keep explaining, because that was a can of worms he had been afraid of opening the entire time for a probably good reason.

Timmy was forced to pull the cover away, revealing a second box with a lock that Cosmo opened and then it was just a tinier box made out of glass, a hovering shiny jewel inside. It was glowing so bright and enticing, even without the doll, Timmy would’ve been too mesmerized to move. So pure in its original shape and only protected by a thin layer of see through glass, he felt a strong pull, as if it called out to him with promises, awakening his deepest desires and wishes. As if it told him once he was in possession of it, all his problems could’ve been solved. He had felt a strange sensation about it before, but now it was nearly irresistible to not listen to its calling.

Anti-Cosmo cheered, being so close to his goal to rule the universe as the dominant magic species and finally also being a godfather soon – only to quietly ask himself if he said the last part out loud. Meanwhile, Timmy couldn’t help but think about his split life and remembered that one faithful day where he was truly happy …

back when his parents found out about him having fairy godparents and spending time together with all of them. The day he was beyond relieved and giddy, openly helping his parents with their chores through Cosmo and Wanda, for once in his life not forced to lie or having to fear the ultimate loss. Oh how he appreciated these few moments now, where he wouldn’t have to choose.

Timmy also remembered the most selfless and loving thing his parents ever did for him: Asking Jorgen to wipe their memories so Timmy could keep his godparents.

How different would his life have been if the rules didn’t forbid him from keeping his fairies and sharing his magical adventures with others? Maybe his parents would’ve paid more attention towards him from that day on. Maybe his relationship with them could’ve always been so happy and loving instead of the wall of secrets building up between Timmy and his parents. Perhaps he wouldn’t have ended up reverting further into his shell, seeking comfort from other dimensions and people more and more over the years, feeling like an outcast in his own homeworld. Oh, how he wished he wouldn’t have to fear about forgetting or losing Cosmo and Wanda and having to constantly lie about everything to even his closes friends …

If only he could keep this love and magic to himself forever and ever, never worrying about growing up or having to face a dull and depressing life as an adult in his human world, where he was just a nobody …

“I can alter reality. Grant all your wishes. Make your dreams come true – form a bond, you only have to wish for it” an ethereal voice whispered inside his head and somehow Timmy just knew it was the jewel that talked to him. Somehow it was sentient and sensed the most desperate parts of his soul – both the good and the bad sides.

“Eureka!” Not able to withstand the promises himself, Anti-Cosmo dropped the dolls to hover to the jewel, yanking the glass away. “Finally, reality will be just as it should be!”

But Timmy couldn’t let this happen. He told himself he was solely running towards Anti-Cosmo and trying to get the Royal Jewel before him to avoid a possible apocalypse, but the selfish and immature part deep in his soul claimed that he just wanted the power to himself. And yes, it was tempting indeed.

He didn’t think about it much when both him and Anti-Cosmo reached for the jewel, both trying to steal it out of the others grip. He just heard the whisper in his head, motherly comforting like Wanda and his mom when they wanted to cheer him up. A warmth that he just wanted to reach out and keep close. A lonely inner child longing for affection and the spark of hope it was given right before its eyes. Was this even the right thing to do?

“Timmy!” Now that Cosmo was also free of the mind control, he hovered to Timmy, trying to help him by planting his hand on top of his.

“Oh no, you don’t!” Anti-Cosmo did the same, trying to win the tug of war all by himself. But as soon as both Cosmo’s, the good and bad half, touched the gem, a cracking sound was heard. Before their very eyes, the Royal Jewel split, crumbling as if it hadn’t been made out of nearly indestructible mystic material before. Like an egg, it was split, the shards dissolving before they even touched the ground. Floating magic, pure liquid essence emerged out of it, surrounding the three. Mostly pink but colorful like a rainbow and bright as the stars all at once, nearly blinding.

“Ack!” A sharp pain coursed through Timmy’s body as the stuff passed over his body. It was as if his own mind and mass had been split as well. Falling on his knees, Timmy hugged himself in a poor attempt to keep it together. But he couldn’t shake it off; the cold feeling, as if something had suddenly been torn away from him.

“Timmy, are you … okay … Ugh.” Panicking, Cosmo hovered to his godchild to check up on him, but suddenly, he felt so exhausted as soon as he touched the child. It seemed as if Timmy’s body sucked his very own energy sources up to compensate for his loss on its own.

Suddenly exhausted and very tired, Cosmo sank down next to him.

“Nooo! The jewel … it’s impossible, it cannot be destroyed!” Anti-Cosmo seemed oblivious to his own powers being sucked up in the mess trying to grasp the floating stuff. A mix of pink fog and stardust sparkles in all kinds of hues it, slowly separated into two halves: blue and red essence, circling around them like a yin-yang symbol. Whenever Anti-Cosmo tried to touch it, the stuff couldn’t be held or contained in any form. It just moved freely and erratic, not more than a ghostly touch.

The blue shade loomed over Timmy while the red stuff seemed to trap Anti-Cosmo, but the teen could hardly see through his tears. He felt heartbroken all over again, like when he was tirtheen, but only for an entirely different kind of loss. He wanted to scream and craved for something to be returned … not even knowing what it was.

But then, it emerged. His shadow, created through the illumination by the glowing magic around them. It stretched far, all the way over to the spot Anti-Cosmo hovered, still mourning his probably failed plan. It had the same shape as him. The same features. But it moved. And not just that, it was rising.

Half conscious, Timmy saw … himself staring back. Just in a twisted version. It was a being pitch black and with red glowing eyes, grinning wide with rows of sharp teeth. It giggled like a merry child.

A pull in his chest told Timmy that this creature wasn’t supposed to move apart from him. That it belonged to him. That it shouldn’t look so twisted and monstrous.

He reached out for the creature’s face. It did mirrored the gesture, its appearance shapeshifting to something more corporal due to the energy it absorbed from Anti-Cosmo and its surroundings. Red eyes blinked as both touched the other’s cheek. Confused. Conscious. Alive.

“Interesting.” Anti-Cosmo had finally stopped his desperate attempts, staring at the duo. Drk circles were also slowly forming beneath his eyes. “I guess dreams come true after all.”

Convinced the Royal Jewel must’ve taken on a physical form, the Anti-Fairy used his wand, magically pulling the shadow-twin away from Timmy, who’s pleas were ignored.

As his vision blurred and started to turn to black, the bright flash of magic slowly disappeared, his crown charm falling uselessly to the ground as Timmy, too, collapsed. Before he felt his consciousness slipping, he saw Anti-Cosmo talking to him. He picked up the dolls and told him to take his other half with them – Cosmo, not Timmy. Sadly, for some reason. Over were his hopes and dreams as soon as they had been ignited. The serene call from the jewel snuffed out just like that.

He wished he could forget this moment. All this pain, this hollow feeling, the knowledge that he failed … and that his godparents was now suffering because of him. As much as he had a phobia of forgetting, since he couldn’t do anything to make sure this day never happened, he would be glad to pretend that it did. To fool himself that this was all just a bad dream one would forget after waking up.

The crown flickered for a second before the power went out in the entire building – in all of Fairy World.

✧ « ★ » ✧

“And that’s it.”, Timmy concluded his story, purposely leaving the part out that involved the voice in his head and his thought process. Or the wish and how much it had hut.

By now, he was hugging one of Dani’s pillows, preferring to keep his gaze fixed on the blanket, Jimmy’s warm presence and Poof forcing his face into his vision the only confirmation that they listened.

“That’s it?! Are you serious Turner?” Jorgen once more stood up, the limited space preventing him from pacing around. “Do you have any idea, what that means?”

“No. That’s the problem.” Timmy looked away like a child after being scolded. Being reminded of that moment left him … sensitive and open. The panic and sadness were back, hitting him full force. It all made sense now. Why he had been so exhausted and sick after waking up in the cell, why he was so desperate and felt lonelier than ever. Why he couldn’t find the motivation and stubbornness he used to have. Why he felt like he wasn’t himself anymore. It still wasn’t confirmed, but he knew it; the creature that had been born in that very moment was Anthony. And he had somehow seen him at some point again – in a dream he still couldn’t quite remember. Because his subconscious still coped by pushing all of it away, ignoring the truth and lying to himself.

“I can’t believe it!” Throwing his hands in the air, Jorgen had half a mind to smack the kid again, if it weren’t for everyone else present. “The chances of two fairy halves and a mortal touching the jewel simultaneously and breaking the seal were zero to none! And, of course, the Turner-luck made it happen anyway!”

“It is indeed very unfortunate.” Frostbite scratched his chin. But so were the chances of someone finding the Skull-Key, the ring and the crown or Pariah Dark, but legends were meant to be repeated withing history, it seemed.

“That’s an understatement. If the council finds out about this …” The warden was suddenly overtaken by fear as the truth hit him: He left his trainee unsupervised (although he didn’t know Anti-Cosmo took care of the ones in the surveillance room) and let the second most powerful magical artifact be taken. “I might get fired!” Having a full blown identity crisis, Jorgen sat down on the ground, hugging his legs close as he rocked back and forth. That would be his worst nightmare coming true.

“What a tragedy.” Danny said with sarcasm, surprising even himself how cold he sounded. “But what does all that even mean? What’s the deal with this jewel anyway?”

“The Royal Jewel is an artifact that grants its possessor unlimited power to change reality – and its influence is not limited to its home dimension, which is the reason why it’s so dangerous to the multiverse.” Frostbite explained, surprising the Great One how he could know about this when he wasn’t even from the same dimension.

“This is bad. All the precautions, all our work, will be demolished in seconds if they fuse it back together.” Jorgen breathed heavily through his nose, trying to stay calm. “Congratulations, Turner. Even without wishing for anything, you managed to mess our entire world order up once again.”

“How is any of this his fault? He was forced against his will!” Jimmy suddenly defended, although he had been the first one to deny magical voodoo-dolls. And he still had the boiling desire to repeatedly knock his head against the wall to wake up, knowing this was just a silly dream.

“And what happened to Timmy’s shadow now, Mr. Von Strangle?” SpongeBob asked, curious about this particular detail. “And why would it challenge him to a duel?”

Groaning, the warden rubbed his eyes. He never thought he would give a bunch of half grown humans a history lesson.

In the end, he sat down on the desk again, looking for the right words. “I might have to start from the beginning for this.” He looked up at the ceiling, trying to remember what Nana Boom Boom told him when he was about their size thousands of years ago. “As you know – or don’t – us fairies gain their magic from human belief. That’s only possible because our worlds are connected … since they used to be one. Sort of.”

“Woah, woah, woah, slow down!” Timmy interrupted, not sober enough for this kind of infodump. “Are you telling me Fairy World and the human world used to be one and the same?!”

“Stop interrupting me!” The warden yelled, loud enough for the furniture to shake. “Alright, let’s start with the basics. As you know, Fairies are assigned as godparents to children and grant them unlimited wishes. Have you never asked yourself why we do this in the first place? What business we have with the human world?”

“Uhm … no.” Now that Jorgen mentioned it, he had only been a kid with wild imagination and shenanigans. He never asked why and he just rose to the occasion and always relied on it. So much that he even suffered from Over Wishing Disorder once.

“So you’re telling me not just Turner but several other immature children have been assigned to reality alternating programs? No offense, but who in their right mind thought this was a good idea?!” Jimmy seemingly wanted to let go of Timmy at first but decided against it, his hands fiddling with the fabric of the black shirt. “All this magic-nonsense – your entire dimension defies every kind of logic.” Instead of freaking out, Jimmy leaned his forehead against Timmy’s shoulder blades, probably because he was still too tired to be agitated.

Jorgen was about to lose his patience again, but Timmy spoke up before the warden could. “I know it’s strange, but it actually has its own laws! Like …” Okay he would have to think of it as a video game to explain it. The only way to convince Jimmy was by giving him something to reference from. “Think of it as a server. The fairy council would be the admins, Jorgen is a moderator. And the godchildren are users that have to … ugh, meet certain qualifications, I guess?” Yeah that analogy made somewhat sense.

“What kind of qualifications?” Although the whole scenario was triggering Jimmy’s fight or flight very much, the fact that Timmy tried to explain it in a different way just to make it easier for the denying genius to comprehend was … endearing. He leaned over Turner’s shoulder to better look at his face but the other still wouldn’t meet his gaze.

Timmy bit his lip. “They … are assigned to miserable children. Like, unhappy, abused, neglected or bullied … or all of the above.” He felt the stares of his friends, even heard SpongeBob gasp, bubbles rising to the top of the fish tank. “B-but … they can’t do everything they want. Heh. We have guidelines – Da Rules. They make sure that we can’t, like, abuse these powers by cheating to win a competition, hurt others or wish for money.”

“And if everyone had the same unlimited rights, the server would shut down eventually and result in total chaos.” Jimmy added, his voice very close to Timmy’s left and it had no business causing such intense goosebumps. Especially not right now. Still, the genius didn’t let go. And since he mentioned the conditions that had to be met to become a ‘user’ to this simulation, Timmy felt the genius clinging to him even more.

Jorgen nodded at that, almost proud and certainly more level headed now. Not only had Turner apparently finally understood the reason for these rules – proving he had matured from the state of a ten year old mind – but one of his friends also shared the mindset of order, for which the warden gave the genius a little credit. “Not only that, but Da Rules are also much more important. And Da original Rules hold power that even surpasses the bounds of the worlds in our universe. And it is now in the hands of the enemy.”

The warden picked up the fake wand that leaned against the desk, its star end grey and drained of all energy. Holding it up by the left and right points, he offered the weapon some of his own life force, creating an image on the flat side that showed their world from space, surrounded by several other worlds. One obviously being dubbed Fairy World, residence of fairies and anti-fairies. The one beneath being the Bucket full of Acid world – to which Jimmy was about to throw hands – and many little ones; Dairy World, Scary World, Hairy World, Pixie World, some with trolls and goblins, the leprechauns apparently also had their own world (Timmy felt a hint of dislike to a world full of lucky-charms for some unknown reason – as if it wasn’t his entirely own opinion) and so on.

“Technically, eons ago, all our worlds used to be one single Magic Earth – a mirrored dimension compared to the human realm, much like the Ghost Zone is in this universe.” Jorgen nodded to Frostbite. “It was a time and reality before we had a council or Da Rules – before we even worked as godparents to grant wishes. When we were still warriors to fight the darkness, standing guard among the stars to protect our home from otherworldly dangers”

The image changed, showing two worlds next to each other, one simulating a planet like the earth, but much more colorful and chaotic. Many big magical beings with wings and weapons hovered around the space, fighting the Darkness or other monsters and aliens form the same dimension or even other universes. There was one particular race without faces even.

“Back then, there was no dominant magical species. Each race had a leader, but mostly everyone minded their own business. The fairies were ruled by king Oberon and the anti-fairies by queen Titania. Siblings that always fought with each other, yet we lived in one kingdom.” The image then proceeded to show said king and queen, a kind looking elderly fairy with a beard and a snobby looking dark fairy dressed in black with bat wings. “Aside from the anti-fairies causing problems in the human world, we were neither good nor bad and mostly settled our own disagreements by games and battles.”

The two fairiy kinds were shown, battling each other in a colosseum, the siblings arguing and choosing a champion that would fight in their name to settle the said arguments, which mostly turned out to be trivial things.

“The humans, their imagination and believe in wonders, was what fueled our world with magic. Especially children, who are known to have a big amount of fantasy. However, it was too raw, emotional and got easily out of control. To prevent it from running wild, we had artifacts that absorbed the ancient magic, granting us all our abilities and immortality. With it, we could basically do everything we can today. It was just … more chaotic.” Jorgen switched the image, showing a bunch of trinkets, the gem among them.

“Us Fairies had the Royal Jewel, which was made of pure human desire for wishes – just as unpredictable as them. The humans had such strong feelings and desires that the jewel noticed, becoming more and more powerful. We absorbed more magic than we spent ourselves, since fairies didn’t have many wishes, which was why the jewel became too full, starting to affect the earth.”

They watched the wand as it showed them how waves of rainbow-colored sparkles and dust transferred from magic world to the earth. Especially kids with their curiosity and wild fantasy desired the most crazy things and came up with stories, which the jewel seemed to like. Therefore, the chaos only spread, furniture magically turning into strange objects, people suddenly gaining powers and whatnot.

“You see, once humans came in contact with it, they went crazy. Mostly the adults, because their minds were so … mature, not able to handle unimaginable imagination. And magic tends to do random things if it’s not controlled. Especially in the hands of those that are not built to handle it. Some humans lost their minds completely or their mortal bodies couldn’t handle it.”

Images of mediaeval people having typical Crocker-spasms popped up next, chasing magical creatures to catch them in greed of their magic. They hunted unicorns, killed other human-like beings such as witches and wizards by burning them because they were jealous or simply afraid of the unknown. Ultimately, like the fairies when they couldn’t grant wishes and suffered from magic built up, some humans were shown to also explode and turn into confetti, creating even more chaos on earth. Soon, the magical creatures feared the human world and closed the rainbow bridge to prevent the humans from coming to their realm.

“Before that, magical beings never really cared about consequences, traversing through the worlds and dimensions as they pleased. They thought they could just use magic to turn everything back to normal, but history repeated itself over and over again, no matter how much reality was altered.” Jorgen lightly shook the wand, doodles with humans going nuts and destroying their planet and themselves was shown like a flip book. “In the end, the leaders decided that this couldn’t go on anymore. They scheduled a meeting, deciding that magic should be contained. They reduced the chaotic magic to a minimum, which was only possible by separation of our different species and magical abilities – and excluding the human world.”

The protecting wardens in the sky lifted their wands, creating a giant shield, the magic earth splitting apart to the several smaller worlds, a thick layer plastered over the dimension they lived in to prevent other creatures from entering it. But instead of worlds, they were dubbed as ‘zones’ during that time.

“Wait a moment!” Danny lifted his finger since ‘Fairy Zone’ could only imply one thing. “Does that mean the Ghost Zone was part of that Magic World too or something?”

“No, my friend.” Frostbite said quickly to prevent the young man from having a meltdown. “As mentioned, before Da Rules were made, traveling throughout the multiverse was a common thing. While dubbed magic, in the end, it’s just a power source that alters reality. But it is strong enough to even have impact to a certain extend in other dimensions as well.” He tapped the wand, the star shape turning to an icy blue, showing ghosts with robes. “We used to interact often in the ancient times, due to our similarities. For example, when the ancients were busy trying to fight the Ghost King, they were only able to defeat him by combining their forces – and with a little help from the other side. While mine and Pandora’s ancestors were part of the ancient ghosts, Jorgen’s blood line also trails all the way back to the first warriors.”

Timmy and Danny looked at each other, both speechless. They knew their universes had something in common but never would’ve dreamed to what extent. They used to be connected! And Timmy wasn’t the first one in his dimension that used magic to travel to other ones. But if that had been no issue back then, why was Jorgen so against him doing that now? Because he thought he would carelessly show off his godparents over there and cause chaos?

Nodding, Jorgen let the interruption slide this time. “Anyway, without human contact, the magic became limited. Soon, we were fighting each other because queen Titania demanded that instead of hiding, they should use the humans to gain more magic. She became greedy and obsessed, trying to steal the jewel and use it to rule over everything – and even gained some followers in her coup aside from the anti-fairies.”

King Oberon and Titania were shown, fighting over the jewel. One wanting to destroy it, since they shouldn’t be able to have so much control and the other wanting to rule the entire universe. Both held the gem, yanking it back and forth.

“But the jewel couldn’t be destroyed and had somehow become sentient from absorbing to much humanity. It wouldn’t grant the queen her selfish wish. And instead, she was cursed.” The sketch of the jewel had an angry face drawn on it, zapping the queen, who in turn was dipped in pitch-black, her own shadow absorbing her while the kings robes changed from red to pink. She turned not some kind of cursed monster.

“So it knew she was evil and refused to help her?” Timmy asked, mind blown at the revelation.

Jorgen shook his head. “Nah, it just had an attitude and didn’t want to be ordered around, like a bratty kid. Showing her true nature was just a side effect. Still, the curse didn’t just affect her. Everyone present who hadn’t been an anti-fairy, lost their shadows, creating the twisted copy-versions that we know today as anti-fairies, while the natural born ones were absorbed as well, also turning into monsters – because everyone knows that shadows are evil.”

Jorgen especially glared at Timmy, who ducked his head at the remark. Yet, Jorgen didn’t elaborate on that.

“The queen was banished after that, along with the other demons. And since the jewel turned out to be too dangerous, altering reality with a simple whim, king Oberon decided to lock it away. But that didn’t solve the problem with the magic deprivation. Fairies started to age and die, so in desperation, the king came up with the idea to do what the jewel had done: Harvesting human beliefs and desires in exchange for granting wishes. The job ‘godparents’ was created, since children minds are pure and adults tend to not believe them. And once they get too old, their memories are wiped and all magic traces get erased. That way, they don’t end up as kooks or risk exposing our identities.”

The creation of the first wand was shown, the king declaring that, in order to not overload the magic again so humans and fairies wouldn’t explode from magic built up, they would spend it by granting children wishes who they thought deserved it. And to prevent the cycle from repeating itself, strict rules had to be made. A guide that all residents of the magic community had to follow.

“He gathered the leaders and they used the artifacts for one last time: To alter reality by employing rules that would control the magic they needed to exist. The creation of Da Rules.”

Several beings shook hands, signing a contract on the very last page of a giant book, sealing their deal. The formed councils then proceeded to change reality that each world would have its own rules as well to create as much order as possible.

“A seal that could contain all kinds of ancient magic, dividing it to each species with their unique abilities – turning it into something artificial. Not just the fairies but all creatures had to follow its orders to ensure that the magic would never get out of control like that again while still being able to interact with the human world. And in case they would get caught, Da Rules had the power to reverse everything back to a state like the events never happened. It used up nearly all magical artifacts – except for one.”

The jewel was shown to have survived. The newly formed fairy council made sure that the rules were enforced. The universe was rebuilt by time magic from Father Time, ensuring that humans always had fairy godparents, from the stone age to the modern age and that they did their job correctly. The jewel, meanwhile, was locked away, in the care of someone that looked like Jorgen’s ancestor. It still hadn’t lost its power and unstable nature, which many other species wanted for themselves, especially the evil and power-hungry ones that would challenge the fairies. But even without the jewel’s influence, the fairies were the most magical above all, the dominant wish granting species and thus were always victorious in defending their position.

The presentation ended with fairies and children smiling and holding hands.

“That’s why Da Rules are so important. If broken or messed with too much, it can destroy the universe. And if Da Original Rules are tempered with, one could alter reality to their liking by destroying the contract on the last page. We have no idea what that would do to our world if that happens. They can’t, under no circumstances, have the jewel or me, since I am the certified warden and rule enforcer.”

“But what happened to the king? And what about the Anti-Fairies?” Timmy still couldn’t understand most of it. While he never had wondered about the origin of fairy godparents, the news still made his head throb. “And what is a Royal Duel?”

“Well, the anti-fairies kept messing with the human world, not following our guidelines or caring if they were seen, so we added a rule that would make them invisible and built jails to keep them locked away. Still, queen Titania had invented many ancient or forbidden things- like Friday the 13^th, the plague, the invention of dark arts and bad luck overall. So they kept escaping and challenging us for the title of godparents, as you already know.” Jorgen remembered that he was a kid when the annual battles started. “At some point it was too exhausting. The fairies rebelled against the monarchy, settling on competitions that decided who had the right to be godparents for the following year. Which evolved from wars to Royal Duels to simple games until we settled on a bake-off. The king retired way before all that.” Jorgen turned the wand, inspecting the red fabric that was tied around it.

“The Royal Duel is one of these competitions and was invented back when the queen and king had their usual arguments: each would chose a champion that represented the fairies and anti-fairies and would fight each other one on one – and like the bake-off, the winner decided our fate for that year.”

“Okay this is … a lot.” Timmy leaned back, glad for the sturdy support of Jimmy’s chest. “And no pressure at all.”

“And it’s not even the end.” Jorgen said, making the teen groan at the implication of even more lore. “The jewel was locked away, cloaked to be invisible towards anti-fairies and its magic sealed, which could’ve only been broken by both a fairy and its own counterpart – but for that to work, they would need an amplifier: Strong human emotions and desires. And you just happened to be in the crossfire.”

“Yeah, you mentioned so. But what does that mean exactly?” Danny asked, feeling like he would join the two on the bed soon because he really needed to lie down after all this.

Jorgen glared, ignoring Danny completely. “Somehow you managed to separate yourself from your shadow, splitting your soul. That would explain why the jewel's magic reacts so … irritatingly. Something like this never happened before, but it shouldn’t have been possible for your to create a twin, since only fairies have a counterpart – which means that, whatever the jewel did when it broke free, you’re no longer entirely … human anymore.”

Now that made Timmy gulp. He wasn’t faint of heart, but fright now, he felt like fainting would be an adequate reaction.

✧ « ★ » ✧

“Okay, one more. Who is this?” The Anti-Fairy pointed his long stick at a picture of a red haired young woman with malice in her eyes and an evil grin. A presentation through an old overhead projector was reflected on a stone wall.

“Ugh, this is so boring. How does that even benefit our plan?” A teen groaned, letting his head fall on the desk. He was sitting in a chair far too tiny on an equally small school table in a room that could only be the dungeon of a castle. Never in his short life – which was only a few days – would he imagined humanity to be so utterly boring.

Anti-Cosmo narrowed his eyes. “Sit up straight, this is important! We need to know how much knowledge you inherited and where your talents and preferences differentiate.” If he couldn’t put his education to use on his blood child, then he would try it with his new godchild. Although the Anti-Fairy never would’ve imagined how much work he actually had to put into it. Well, he was practically newborn after all, not knowing what he was supposed to do yet. Of course, Omsoc would gladly teach him all he knew. Starting with his fashion taste and manners. Even villains needed to have standards, after all. “Now, again. Do you know this person?”

“Don’t know, icky Vicky or something.” A seventeen year old boy with black hair, pointy ears, nose and fangs planted his chin on his palm with zero to no interest in this lesson. While physics and engineering were some of the few human literatures he took a liking in, the inhabitants of that world didn’t. Not many of them, at least. Especially these Turners left a thick knot in his stomach and he just wanted to destroy something when he saw their smiling faces on that flickering screen

“Very good Anthony. I see you have most of the basic memories your counterpart has. Now, let’s just check the minor characters for good measure.” He poofed up an array of more pictures to project. “You probably recognize them. A.J. and Chester – they’re Timothy’s best friends in this dimension. Mr. Crocker – his former teacher and fairy hunter, he’s not a threat, sometimes an ally, most of the times a moron. This one is Remy Buxaplenty, former godchild and nemesis of Timothy. He moved away years ago so let’s ignore him. Aaand this one is Trixie Tang – his former crush.”

For some reason, Anthony was both a little impressed but felt immense hatred for her at the same time. He wanted to scratch her eyes out on the photo and feed it to the alligators. And if his hand with its claw-like nails left long and deep scratches on the table, he didn’t care.

Regardless, Anti-Cosmo continued. “This is Mark Chang, he has several disguises, also known as Justin Jake Ashton. His current location is unknown, but he’s an ally of Timothy which we need to keep in mind.” A picture of an alien, a kid and a blonde teen appeared, he seemed rather good looking in the last one. “Then we have the residents of Unwish Island, although most useful monsters have sadly been banished to Hocus Poconos. That one is Imaginary Gary.”

A kid with swirly black hair was shown doing finger guns. Anthony hated that guys guts instantly, no matter how cool he seemed … in a stupid way. Ugh, these mixed emotions were starting to annoy him and he couldn’t wait for this to be over and return to his lab. Tempering with dangerous magic flesh eating plants and testing his new potions were much more fun than this.

“And lastly, we have Chip Skylark. Not important, but he’s –“

“Delicious.” The shadow blurted out of sheer boredom, not knowing where that even came from. He had to admit, the young man was very handsome. But still not interesting. Nothing about this was!

“Famous, corre- wait, what?” Anti-Cosmo turned around from his presentation – which lacked a lot of aesthetic design, effects and other things that would make it at least somewhat more appealing.

“Nothing.” Anthony got up from the narrow chair, his knees cracking with relief. “I’ll see how our special guests are doing then if we’re finished.” He waved, not waiting for an answer as he left. His … guardian(?) seemed a little disappointed at that, but it wasn’t like he cared about that either.

If there was one thing he hated most about this castle, it was the lack of stairs.

“Uuuh, we are so magical, we can fly and poof from room to room.”, he mocked in a higher pitched tone, loosening the neckerchief around his throat. He actually liked the neat and traditional suits, but they lacked … something flashy. All this black and blue in this place was just pissing him off and his access to the internet that he got from a pink broken phone, which he found in this box of garbage, had opened many new windows of inspiration for him. He just wanted some spare parts and scraps for his machine but instead he found the gate to hell and heaven called world wide web. The only thing he would keep around this universe once he was unstoppable. Aside from that, it was just annoying to be stuck in this place. And he would prefer to pick his choice of clothing himself. Or food – he couldn’t consume critter or rat poison and had no intention of changing that.

The castle was always crowded, many anti-fairies poofing and hovering inside and around from place to place before they left to get down to earth again. Unlike Anti-Cosmo and Anti-Wanda, they didn’t seem very fond of him, instead looking down on him as if he was a lower species. A dark elf, as they would describe it. Just because he had no magic of his own or couldn’t fly. Pesky insects – he would show them what he was capable of. Both humans and fairies. Just they wait.

“So, how does it feel being daddy’s favorite?”

Foop had his arms crossed, his poor attempt by leaning against the wall ridiculed by the cheer size difference. Oh right, this one was also still there.

“Why, does it bother you?” Anthony – the name he had received from said ‘father’ since it was just a pun for ‘Anti Timothy’ – also crossed his arms, moving his weight to one leg. The blue Victorian suit with its black boots didn’t highlight his intimidating aura the way he wanted to at all.

Foop grew tired of looking up at his supposedly new brother, hovering directly in front of his face. “Well, actually – “

“Then yes, it feels great. Now move, cube-head.” He had no dislike towards the little fairy in particular; if they had one thing in common, it was the mutual suffering from Anti-Cosmos bad naming choices. But to be called a godchild or brother or synonyms like father, mother and family in general just gave him the creeps.

Discarding that train of thought, Anthony just kept walking deeper down into the dungeon until he was in front of a thick metal door. He shut it rigt in front of Foop’s face, locking it. Since the inside of its walls were covered in a net, there was no way for any of them to poof in or out with magic. Served them right. At least he could work in peace like that.

Taking a deep breath, he took off the coat and traded it for an apron around his waist. In a swift movement, he hauled himself on a vintage office chair, using the momentum to roll across half the room. The place was filled with steaming machinery, tubes and syringes, books and scrolls about ancient dark magic and alchemy. That stuff was actually useful, since most of the old symbols were able to open portals or summon banned creatures, known as demons. They weren’t just used in this dimension but also known around the whole multiverse – and also responsible for opening the gate between Dimmsdale and Amity Park. Even a child or someone as dimwitted like Anti-Wanda could do that!

It was so much more fascinating and he still had much more to learn. Anything that would help him to fulfill his own, selfish plans. Why would he want to help these ungrateful, judging insects to rule over a universe if he could just have it – and all of the magic – for himself instead? Nothing else mattered. He had as much reason to side with them as he had doing his own thing. He didn’t know what else there was to do, just that he could. Why let this potential go to waste?

“How are my dear auntie and uncle doing?” He asked, putting on thick leather gloves before he took a piece of meat to throw it at a plant that gladly devoured what hopefully was just pork. He grinned widely at them, showing his shiny fangs with pride.

In a sphere, Cosmo and Wanda watched, not happy to be in a secluded place away from all the other fairies. They knew where the glowing liquid was coming from and didn’t want to find out how he got their fellow comrades' essence.

“We could use some fresh air.” Cosmo mumbled in response. He was still exhausted but since his wife had already used up most of her strength to cuss them out, he felt obligated to talk back to their tormenters in her place.

Huffing, the anti-human cut off a few leafes from said plant, putting them on a pile with other herbs he collected. Hopefully a little DNA from Scary World would show better results for his drug than pure child friendly fairy magic and a little bit of Desiree’s energy. The side effect had nearly turned Damian into a puddle of ectoplasm. Anthony didn’t want to end up as a mere shadow or something like that, once he used the liquefied magic himself, so it had to be perfect. Let the idiots have their fun and play his test subjects. “Well too bad. You have to make do with the glass dome.”

The only light source, a round glass cupola where the moonlight and stars shone through.

He wondered if they would even be able to fight him if they were free. He was, just like Gary, a part of Timmy after all. Maybe they even had to grant him wishes? But once he were to turn the big wand back on and let them out, they would just return to their beloved sons, so he couldn’t try that out.

Another knot in his stomach. The feeling of dissatisfaction and frustration boiled up again, a similar feeling he had when he looked at his twisted twin’s mother and father. As if this Timmy, the person he knew better and had more memories off than of himself, had something he didn’t. As if he was superior and Anthony missed out on something. He craved and desired that unintentionally without even knowing what. He guessed it was his imperfect body that made him long for more. More magic, more fulfillment, something that could fill the void inside him. It was so, so cold. And whenever he looked at the two fairies inside their prison, he was remined of it again, relentlessly working on his machine to push these distracting thoughts away.

It had been 48 hours without sleep already. Did he even need that at all? He wasn’t hungry, he wasn’t tired. There was just this … urge. Not to forget the knowledge that he was just on borrowed time. He had to defeat him before it was too late. Before he lost the only thing he obtained and had to loose: His existence.

One of them had to go if the other wanted to remain whole.

“Don’t worry, you’ll see your precious godchild again soon.” He said picking up a wrench to work on the monstrosity that was supposed to harvest and modify this dimension’s magic once finished. Especially from this Royal Jewel. That would make his dreams come true for sure. “I’m looking forward to it.”

He laughed, turning to an old gramophone. The worn vinyl record was already in place and soon blaring out the good old classics. As Anthony got to work, he hummed along to the melody of Paint it Black from the Rolling Stones, the music echoing around the big room, creating a church like atmosphere midst the steam and machinery.

Chapter Text

Not knowing how to respond, Timmy stared blankly at Jorgen. What did that even mean, he wasn’t completely human anymore? He would’ve noticed that! Except if he couldn’t, since the magic was turned off while he was unconscious. And he could use his heat vision since he was ten, he just frequently forgot about that. But aside from that? The only difference he noticed were the … voices in his mind. Or rather the people judging him. And not just phrases and snippets from words that he already heard, but rather mocking comments about his most private thoughts. But that was probably just his inner demon talking trash and nothing else.

“A fairy-human hybrid … You’re basically something that shouldn’t exist and neither is your twin.” Jorgen continued when he didn’t receive a response. “But as soon as we have our magic back and the council is free, fixing that will be no problem.” The warden then turned towards Danny. “As much disrespect as you give me, you will also be reverted back to normal as well.”

Now that was at least some good news, Timmy saw Danny visibly relaxing. It was something that he could look forward to. Something to hope for. Something to fight for. And while the average teen still had no idea how he should feel about all this, it was probably better that way. Then again …

“And what happens to Anthony? Are we just going to … melt back together?” Out of all the questions he had, this probably didn’t have the most priority. Or it shouldn’t. Yet, it was the one that bugged him the most right now.

Jorgen thought about it for a moment. “That’s not up for me to decide. This is the first time the seal was broken and nothing like that happened before in magic history.” He gestured at the crown. “Honestly, I have no idea. Usually, one cannot exist without the other. If we can’t undo this, he’ll probably get locked away just like the others. Or banned to Hocus Poconos.”

The magic limbo, where all erased wishes ended up. The result of the ultimate punishment and the place were both Poof and Foop ended up after … Huh, he couldn’t quite remember that. He knew he made some kind of secret wish, which was forbidden, but it was all blurry. However, it awoke something inside him. Loss, anxiety and self-loath. Timmy almost lost everything that he held dear for some reason and it was his fault. It always was. He was the worst godkid. And nothing could guarantee that he wouldn’t receive a punishment this time around too once the order was restored. And if both him and Anthony were hybrids, who said they wouldn’t try to lock him away too when they couldn’t fix him? Or maybe they would take everything away and –

Suddenly, adrenalin kicked in and the room started spinning. Nausea hit him hard and Timmy just couldn’t sit around anymore. Before he even realized it himself, he broke free from Jimmy’s grasp, stumbling out of Dani’s room and speed walked to the bathroom to lock himself in.

Timmy leaned over the sink, his hands gripping the sides hard, knuckles white. He was breathing too fast and still had the impression he didn’t get enough oxygen. The rules, the limbo, secrets. Everything was out in the open, he was vulnerable and they all knew it. Perhaps they pitied him now, but his friends had no clue how much he actually fucked up in his time as a godchild. Heck, after everything he messed up, not even he would give himself special treatment over the other godchildren.

How much he fucked himself up. Shit … 50 years? Had that been also reality-altered? Was that before or after he met Jimmy and the others? He couldn’t remember, his brain either too much in denial or hit by an amnesia spell. Whatever, that shouldn’t be important right now.

He wasn’t human anymore.

He had an evil twin, created out of his own shadow – which he didn’t have either now.

He was challenged to a Royal Duel that would probably determine the fate of his dimension, according to Jorgen.

Everything he knew was altered or could easily be changed. What was even real? Could he still trust himself and his memories? How much had been altered already? How much had he pushed down or ignored himself?

“Cosmo … Wanda …” Tears streamed down Timmy’s face as he tried to suppress hiccups. All these years he had never been a day without them and he really wished, more than anything, that they were here right now. To hear Cosmo’s stupid nonsense that relieved the tension. To hear Wanda’s advice. To feel their love and compassion. But no, he was alone. His godparents were kidnapped, his real parents and home were probably also in danger and he also had lost a part of himself that was important … as much as he sometimes loathed that selfish, bratty side. It was still him, after all.

He was alone. Nothing made sense. He couldn’t understand any of this and right now … it felt like it was all too much. As if that wall was too high to climb and he couldn’t unscrew his mess. What if he failed? What if he lost? What if he couldn’t do it? The real problems and battles hadn’t even started and he was already spiraling down a hole that he just wanted to crawl inside and hid away from the harsh reality.

Realty. Yeah, he was starting to hate that word. What good had reality ever done him? It was always taking and never giving. Reality was something that showed him that everyone’s life would be better without him in it. Reality always made his life so much harder. Reality forced him into this stupid situation in the first place, aside from all the crap he had gone through over the years in his daily life. Reality was the real curse, not the jewel.

“Timmy?”

Someone knocked at the door, but Timmy didn’t feel brave enough to face said reality right now. He just wanted to be alone. No wait … he didn’t. He wanted Cosmo and Wanda. Heck, even his real parents. Just someone that told him he shouldn’t give a shit about any of this and go home. And he would laugh bitterly, agreeing although both sides knew he wouldn’t do it, but it still made him feel better. Seen. Understood. Alas, Timmy would not be the average teen if he were understood. Not even by himself.

Timmy tried to concentrate on the breathing method that Jimmy showed him, but he always lost focus by himself, too occupied with his anxiety. He remembered his fist real panic attack when he was thirteen, right after the Trixie-incident. Cosmo and Wanda always knew what to do or how to calm him down and they had been with him during these episodes – which luckily didn’t occur that often, only when he was too stressed or something bad happened. But they weren’t here right now. His friends were here but … he had no idea how to face them, with all his secrets and probably even more questions about him and his life on their tongues. He couldn’t deal with that now. And he didn’t want to bother Poof with it, who needed a strong big brother more than him (a Tommy would be nice right now, really). And showing that pathetic side of him with Jorgen and other adults present was even worse.

Like always, he ran away from his problems and issues, pushing it down until it flowed over and overwhelmed him. Taking the easy way out was the only thing he was good at, it seemed. He was such a coward. A weakling.

“Timmy, please come out. Let’s talk about it.” That was Jimmy. Of course it was him. He had been nothing but a nurse to him since he was here. The genius was already exhausted and probably close to a mental breakdown himself and even after HE had been pep talking to him only a few hours ago, it was once more Timmy that drew all attention on him. Won’t the other get tired of that attitude someday as well?

Timmy turned the sink on just to have some noise that could filter out his sniffles. He didn’t trust his shaky legs enough walk over to the toilet and flush instead. He didn’t even trust his own voice to be steady enough to answer. He didn’t want to talk. He just wanted to hide away from the world and its responsibilities.

“Ugh, can’t you quit your pity-party for one second?” A voice much like his own spoke up. It had a little more … edge to it. It was familiar, as if he spoke to it  already. And it yawned. “I don’t know what your deal is. You have no reason to panic just yet.”

Timmy looked up, since the only origin that voice could be from was inside his own head, like it always was. In front of him, he saw himself in the mirror. Not only did he feel like a helpless thirteen year old kid again, he actually looked like one. Or his mirage, at least. The only difference were the red eyes.

“I mean, you have the crown, don’t you?” His younger self said, smiling wide. “You’re basically the luckiest person in the world at the moment.”

Another knock on the door, this time it was Danny, also calling out to him, complaining about the water bill and that they could figure something out together, whatever it was that he was afraid of right now. Timmy ignored it, too enamored in his double. At least it distracted him enough from panicking further.

What did he mean with that?

As if the other one had read his mind, he laughed, revealing his fangs. The image of that little Timmy changed; he grew almost to the same height, black and wilder hair, tan skin, a black shirt with a red moon on it. Just from the first impression (or was it?) he knew: This was Anthony.

“I say screw the rules and the consequences.” His evil twin appeared to lean forward, as if he wanted to whisper something to him in secret. He looked like he had been asleep himself just moments ago, and a blue moon-shaped like crystal peeked out beneath his shirt – glowing blue. “Everyone else wants to do it, so why don’t you use the jewel yourself?”

That was … no, he couldn’t do it. That wasn’t the right thing to do.

“Why not?” Anthony exaggeratingly rolled his eyes. “You already meet all the requirements: You’re an uncertified warden in training and you have something of a Von Strangle inside you.”

That – no, he didn’t. What was he even talking about?

“Timmy, I really don’t want to be like that, and I know you need space, but if you’re not out in five minutes, I’m coming in.”, Danny warned, his light steps retreating. The other person, Jimmy, shuffled a little but also left eventually.

Relaxing, the average teen let his shoulders drop. He didn’t have much time, but at least his attention wasn’t diverted anymore.

“Look, I don’t want to be erased as much as you don’t want to lose your magical life. And I don’t give a flying fuck about these old farts and their plans.” Anthony folded his hands diplomatically, his shape shifting to the original mirror version for a split second, indicating they really didn’t have much time. “They want to destroy the contract to alter reality. But what if we – you – do that first? If you use the jewel, you’re not breaking any rules. You can change them. Everything can be what and how you want it to be.”

That was … unexpected. The person he was supposed to hate and fight was actually offering a truce behind everyone’s backs. But his twin was evil, he couldn’t trust him right? All shadows are evil. And using the jewel for himself was wrong. No one should have that much power.

“Really? So you think after saving your sorry ass and the multiverse a few times you’re a selfless hero now, huh?” It was scary how that guy could read his mind. But well … they were two sides of the same coin. Perhaps he could do that too and just hadn’t figured out how. Or it was because the other one was in his home dimension and the anti-magic was still on. The most important thing to wonder about was how that guy was even able to suddenly conversate with him in the first place or if he simply hadn't seen a reason to do so before. “Tch, who are you kidding. You’re not a hero. You’re not a chosen one. You’re not even anything special without your magic. And even if they kiss your feet for a day when you manage to set things right again, they never intended to let you keep your godparents or your memories. You always knew that.”

The words hit right home – only his twin would be able to know just how insecure he felt about these topics. Timmy swallowed hard. While he had feared that most of the time during the hardships of his training the last few months, he always held onto that hope. A human life was nothing to a fairy, snuffed out in the blink of an eye. Sure he didn’t want to think about Cosmo and Wanda smiling at his deathbed when he was old, but that wasn’t too much to ask, right? Just a bit more time?

“It’s unfair, isn’t it? But you know they’ll just find a way to make you like the other godchildren, show you that stupid coping DVD again on your fucking birthday. And you will lose everything. Even if you keep your memories of Jimmy, Danny and the sponge-guy, what use will they have for you? You’re no help without your magic and fairies. You’re less than average. You’ll be nothing after that.”

Timmy clenched his eyes shut. He didn’t want to hear that! But he also couldn’t ignore it, since the voice was still coming from inside his brain, whether he looked at his twin or not. He was wrong. That wasn’t true. The contract was real, they wouldn’t betray him! And he didn’t do anything wrong to be unworthy of it! He wasn’t the worst godkid … he's … he …

“I mean, you thought it yourself: You’re not the only miserable kid in our universe that has a tough life. You’re not the only one that got assigned godparents to make their pathetic existence more exciting. Why should you, of all these kids, be the great exception? Why should you be able to keep your fairies and memories, despite everything you caused with your wishes?” Anthony leaned even closer, serious. Timmy mimicked the motion unintentionally, the red glowing eyes mentally attracting him. “Be honest, do you really believe Jorgen or the council will keep their end of the bargain? Come on, if anything the last months did to you, it was to make you exactly what they intended – you became an anxious, miserable young adult; considerate and responsible.”

“No …” That couldn’t be true. That wasn’t their plan, right? If Timmy weren't clinging to the sink already, he would’ve dropped to his knees again. But what Jorgen had said about simply using the jewel to reverse everything or banish Anthony did make it seem like the council wouldn’t hesitate to do what they perceived as right, no matter what everyone else had to say about it.

“You’re more troubled with your fears about the future and growing up than maintaining a childlike mind.” Anthony started to list, looking at his claw like nails with mild interest as if he talked about the weather. He had dark circles beneath his eyes, as if he hadn’t slept for a long time - if at all. “You relied less on wishes and magic to be a good student, didn’t you? Which means you meet all the requirements the council needs to take them away when you’re eighteen, simply trying to appease you until the inevitable happens. Easy calculation to reduce your and your godparent’s protests.”

Timmy remembered when he wished to be an adult and had to act like a child in order for Cosmo’s and Wanda’s magic to work again. What if the magic hadn’t declined because they were degraded due to his age and contract? No wait – his age. Right, he had matured. He hadn’t felt this much freedom and carelessness after he drank the magic potion in like … forever. His sense of responsibility to do a good job and make sure he held his end of the bargain was supposed to be the thing that weakened his godparents? No, not even Jorgen or the council would stoop so low, they –

“You’re just a pathetic and useless kid, clinging so much to the magic and your godparents.” Anthony started to taunt him, a sinister undertone coming through. “Because you’re scared of the real world and growing up – knowing that you have no talents, that you’re not special or smart and that you have nothing worthwhile. You’d rather keep that fairytale alive, no matter what cost, right?”

As much as he wanted to avoid crying in front of his new arch nemesis, he couldn’t stop it. Nobody understood himself and his issues better than another version of him. Was that a weakness? Or was that guy serious? If he wasn’t truly good or a hero, then maybe Anthony wasn’t as evil and villainous. Or, because he was the opposite of him, he was even more cunning. Playing with his emotions when he already hit rock bottom. Nothing made sense. It was so confusing. He was tired of information and voices echoing in his mind, leaving him no room to just be.

“Honestly … I can understand that. Why would anyone want to be a boring, hollow grown up? Why would anyone want to abandon such great power and thrilling adventures in exchange for a normal life?” The other continued, softer this time. Almost sympathetic. “Believe it or not, you and I are not so different in that case. It’s a childish dream, to be able and do whatever we want and live how we please – without caring for consequences or mortality. It would make everything so much easier and less complicated.”

Timmy kept telling himself that he shouldn’t listen to that hallucination. That he was just using the old cliché manipulation tactic. But if he said that wish never crossed his mind, he would be lying. The jewel even offered it to him in the storage hall. So, it had to be true, right? That was his true nature that the jewel had exposed.

As he opened his eyes again, Anthony smiled. It was genuine, friendly even. It could be an act, but it did make him feel … better somehow. “It doesn’t have to be a simple dream, Tim. You would do anything to save your friends and family right? It’s worth breaking a few rules, seals and making sacrifices here and there all the time, isn’t it?”

It could be a coincidence, but Timmy thought Anthony purposely showed him the moments he broke the rules or sacrificed himself for the others in his mind, where it always turned out fine. He could keep his fairies and everything had a happy ending, no matter how dire the situation looked.

“Anyway, I could help you with that.” Anthony quickly interjected with his thoughts, his hand reaching out to him. It came out of the window, but only in the form of a transparent shadow. His shadow. “Together, we can redefine the rules of our universe. We can become more than anyone would’ve ever expected of us.

The teen stared at the clawed hand. “But how can I trust you? You’re just messing with me.”

“Oh please, you have the jewel. You could just erase me like I never existed. I have more to lose than you – my fucking life.” Anthony stated flatly. “I don’t have anything. I don’t know what it’s like to be …” He trailed off, looking to the side. It was getting harder and harder for Timmy to figure out if this was just a front or if Anthony was being honest. Unlike his twin, he couldn’t look inside his head. “Whatever, I haven’t figured out that part yet. I actually just want to ruin their great plan for the funsies. And to be my own person.”

Now that … sounded like something an evil Timmy would do. Right? He wouldn’t know. But he could play along. In the end, Anthony was right. The jewel had seemed to favor him back in the CMI, so if the opportunity arises … maybe, before it was Vlad or Anti-Cosmo that would use the jewel … he might consider it. An intrusive thought. But if he acted out on it was still up for him to decide.

It seemed he really had the upper hand in this pact, if he agreed. It was too suspicious. And yet, what Anthony said and with all the things that happened these last two days, Timmy’s head was just so full and this sounded like the ultimate, uncomplicated solution that he had so separately wished for.

“So … how is your plan?” He asked, humoring him.

Grinning, showing his teeth, Anthony preened. “We’ll see each other soon enough. I’ll help you get everything you need and all you have to do is come to play a little, keep the charade up.”

That seemed like a plan he could follow. Not too risky, but too easy.

“Fine.” He agreed, sighing. “We’ll both get what we deserve.” He reached out his own hand, still unsure.

“Sweet, it’s a deal then.” Anthony practically squashed his hand with the monster-like claws. It felt alien, like a mixture of fog and silk that wasn’t supposed to have a physical form. His hand, no his entire arm burned with a weird sensation as if he had just sold his soul. “I’ll see you soon, brother.”

Anthony let go of him, slowly fading. Timmy was still confused with too many emotions and the underlying panic that hadn’t disappeared but rather changed – shapeshifted, just like his … Ugh, calling him twin or brother was still too weird.

“Call me what you want, I don’t really care since the name wasn’t my idea. Anti or Tony will do, if we’re already doing nicknames.” The shadow winked at him. Again, this telepathic communication was freaking Timmy out so much and he had no clue how to control or  prevent it.

The last thing he heard from Anthony was a raspy laugh, saying they should both catch up on their beauty sleep if they wanted to be prepared for their big day. Well … that was probably the first thing Timmy truly agreed on.

The next moment he looked into the mirror, Anthony was gone, only his real mirror-self left. With puffed cheeks, red eyes and pale as a corpse. Although he told himself he didn’t trust nor believe this guy more than he could throw him, the seed of doubt was planted. And the thought that he could use the jewel for himself to change the rules so he could keep his fairies and take the easy way out hadn’t even crossed his mind yet. That actually … calmed him down a little. To know he had a plan B if everything else failed.

As he turned around, Timmy looked at his hand in thought. It tickled, like tiny needles crawling through his flesh. A strange and gross association. Yet it was distracting enough to overshadow the amount of emotions he was going through right now.

When he opened the door, he almost ran into Danny, who had just started to focus his little regenerated energy to turn intangible, Jimmy behind him. Right, there was that.

“Are you … okay?” Danny asked concerned, visibly deflating, his chest and shoulders sagging. Poof was also hovering next to him, looking just as worried.

Timmy honestly didn’t know how to answer that. Saying he was fine would be an obvious lie but he didn’t have the energy to talk about himself now. As sudden as Anthony had appeared, he was gone without leaving a trace. If the teen didn’t know any better, he would’ve thought it was all a dream. But then again, the feeling in his hand was real. That didn’t mean anything, but at the moment it was all he could focus on without fearing that he was going nuts. Or maybe he already was.

In the end, he just shrugged, rubbing the tearstains from his face. With this obvious evidence, there was no point in trying to hide it. “I … panicked a little.”

“I can imagine.” Danny said, crossing his arms as he still analyzed him with his dad-gaze. Even if he didn’t look like his father on the outside anymore, they still shared the same mannerisms and body language. “Finding out that you’re half human, half … something else tends to freak people out.”

If anyone knew what it was like, it would be Danny. Timmy felt a little stupid for … well, everything. He wasn’t as brave and used to it like the other was. Even now the halfa – err, the ghost boy, kept it together well and he had faith that everything would go back to normal once they won. But him? No, Timmy was overwhelmed, had dragged his friends into this mess and everything right now … it was just too much, his head overflowing with problems and information. Just for one moment, just for a glimpse, he wanted to feel content. Not worrying about anything for a change.

He felt the crown pulsating over his scalp. Remembering Anthony’s words, it really was tempting; to know that he could have the solution to all his problems. That he could be the most powerful magical being in the multi– no, that wasn’t his goal. Not at all! Where did that come from?

He was disgusted with himself. If he could, he would just walk out of his body and out of the situation right now. Far away, where none of his problems mattered.

“Timmy? You’re … kind of disassociating here.” Jimmy took the teens tingling hand in his. He hadn’t noticed that it was shaking. Nor how cold it was. “And I thought I would be the one to have a breakdown after hearing all that.” It sounded like the feeble attempt of a joke, but the genius’s frown made it clear that he himself was also surprised.

“I thought so too.” Timmy stared at their hands, not sure what that was supposed to mean now. What did anything even mean anymore? He was tired of questioning, doubting and … he didn’t want to think about the possibility that he might’ve been tricked with the contract. Or the deal with his twin that may or may not end in betrayal - if he even played along. “You’re handling the magic and fairy stuff much better than I thought you would.”

“Oh, I still think it’s nonsense. Or rather … that there is an explanation. People just started to call it magic in your universe just like they call mutated incorporeal creatures ghosts.” Jimmy looked to the side, chewing on his bottom lip. That was the exact same thing scientists always did; looking for an explanation to something that was beyond their comprehension, just like people used to call something witchcraft when they didn’t understand the science behind it. Two extremes of the spectrum, but in the end, they were just deniers. Timmy couldn’t blame him, he supposed hearing something that sounded like a fairytale was different from experiencing it first hand. “And I’m … still convinced something might have just messed up your molecules.” Although he couldn’t explain how someone would be able to lose their shadow. Wherever light was, a shadow would be cast. And the closer something was to the light, the longer their shadow. Even Danny who, as a ‘ghost’ according to the telltales wasn’t supposed to, had one. “Perhaps you should lay down a little longer.”

“Yeah … I’m kinda drained.” Timmy admitted, his chances slim, but maybe he was only dreaming or hallucinating and once he woke up, Cosmo and Wanda would greet him like they always did. A comforting lie to feel better about his shitty situation.

“Well, it’s in the middle of the night. We can figure out our next move once we recovered from the battle.” Danny pondered, although he seemed neither tired nor really satisfied with that. For him, every moment he had to spend longer as a ghost was a moment too much. But as impatient as he was, his body also needed a little more rest and the Immy’s didn’t look fresh either. Not to forget SpongeBob, who was still missing an eye. “You can go to my room. And sleep in a bed this time, Tim.”

“Yeah, yeah dad.” Timmy just waved him off, slouching. He didn’t see the raised eyebrow due to him still holding Jimmy’s hand and pulling him along. If he had a queen-sized bed like Dani, something told him they would share that space as well. He also didn't see the other eyes following them from Dani's room.

✧ « ★ » ✧

Jimmy watched Timmy from the side, yawning. It felt like an eternity until they were upstairs all the way. This was probably the first time the two of them were alone since he had watched him last night, falling asleep on that uncomfortable chair. Goddard and Poof both stayed behind, for some reason. Maybe they should’ve asked them to come along, especially the little … fairy … went through a lot. Perhaps he would’ve been more capable at lifting Turner’s mood. With everything going on, he was probably the last person that would provide sufficient help for his friend.

A low rumble. Timmy clutched his stomach.

“When was the last time you ate, aside from this morning?” Jimmy recalled that his friend only had sipped a little soup. Not that he was any better, coffee wasn’t a substitute for water either and it was also part of the reason for his headache, he supposed.

“Don’t know. I ate a sandwich yesterday … or the day before? Err … in the jail. And I didn’t drink anything aside from a water bottle the same day and … the glass you gave me.” Jimmy noticed the slight blush on Timmy’s cheeks. He remembered the night, how Timmy had clung to him and leaned his head on his shoulder. Thinking back, it gave him some sort of adrenalin. A weird undefined gut clench.

“It’s after midnight,” Jimmy stopped, looking back to the stairs they just walked up. He didn’t see Jack or Maddie, but the light in the kitchen had still been on. “but I can go back and get us something.”

“Not for me.” Timmy let go of Jimmy’s hand, the loss of contact making him initially move forward, wanting it back. His hand hesitated at the last moment, his brain deeming this action as too ridiculous. “I don’t think I can get anything down right now.”

Turner threw himself on the mattress face first, his back with its torn holes that had grown wings turned to him. Jimmy told himself it was the scientific curiosity that had wanted to touch and examine them just as he wanted to caress the shoulder blades now, rubbing out the tension that was visibly poking out. But the genius willed himself to focus on the really important things. He typed something on his wrist-watch, commanding Goddard to bring some water regardless. Turner looked like he needed it. Along with sleep and a few days off. He might consider a vacation as well, while he was at it.

Not knowing what do to, the Jimmy stood around a few minutes, until a gentle knock from on the door alerted him. Patiently waiting outside was his good boy, the crane arm handing him his backpack with Poof riding on him instead of flying.

The little fairy looked at the bed through Jimmy’s legs, focusing his big, adorable eyes on the genius after making sure his brother was somewhat okay. “Poof poof?”

“Uhm …” Jimmy could fluently speak five languages, but Poofish wasn’t among them. He had no idea how Timmy and seemingly everyone in his dimension could understand the little fella, but even if reading body language was a little challenging sometimes, he could guess what the boy wanted to ask. “He’s going to be okay. Don’t worry.”

Not the best at handling kids, Jimmy awkwardly pat both Goddard’s and Poof’s heads before he moved to the side to let them in. But his dog wouldn’t move and neither did Poof. Just like they didn’t follow before. Opening his screen, Goddard typed ‘talk to him’ and whined as if it were obvious Timmy would only open up to him in private.

Jimmy grimaced. He really wasn’t equipped at pep talks, usually being on the receiving end himself. Besides, he had no idea what Timmy might be going through right now – not to forget how much he ridiculed him by his disbelief in magic and for saying stuff like ‘irresponsible children shouldn’t have reality alternating holograms’ while knowing full well how much Cosmo and Wanda meant to Timmy. And apparently the whole extend of his secrets was that he could lose them, according to what Jorgen said. He had just learned that knowledge, but Timmy lived with it for years … If he was already having a hard time processing that, regardless of logic and everything involved, Timmy must’ve been … very lonely.

Not being able to share your worries with someone or feeling – knowing – that nobody would understand what was going on inside your head was just lonely, even if you were surrounded by a bunch of people that loved you unconditionally. He could relate to that.

“I don’t know how.” He admitted, whispering to make sure Timmy wouldn’t hear him. Maybe he had already fallen asleep? Goddard and Poof just looked at him, silently begging to just try. Even the screen said ‘Find conversation starter. Listening is enough’ and something about a wooing-guide flashed on his chest, but it was written so fast, even his photographic memory couldn’t memorize it. “… Fine. But that still doesn’t confirm your theory.”

They left before he even closed the door again, Jimmy looking after them, wondering if he should really consider that update idea. His dog was getting a little too sassy with his body language nowadays.

Standing around with the backpack, Jimmy didn’t know what to do next. Except for selecting a few water bottles of his rations that he stored inside. He figured purple flurp wouldn’t help if they were going to sleep soon.

“Here.” He held the cool bottle against Timmy’s neck, who jerked up from the sudden temperature change, glaring at him. He still took it, making sure to show that he only drank under protest.

They both sat on the bed’s end, quietly taking sips. Jimmy not liking how absent Timmy seemed, his bottle still nearly full. With all that action today, his thirst should be as urgent as it was last night. A brief intrusive thought passed the genius’s brain, wondering if Timmy would obediently allow his required water intake if he made him, holding him close again. Just without the tension, the dependence and Timmy’s bad condition. A moment where Timmy willingly let him take care, actually looking and responding to his gestures and words.

No. No, he didn’t believe a thing about Jorgen and the crown and some kind or revealing a soul’s desire or whatever. Feelings like these weren’t natural, they didn’t evolve overnight after knowing a person for several years. He was just feeling lonely recently. Right. They both did. He dismissed his former theory about the jewel influencing him. It was purely from overworking and multiple other psychological factures. He should use the little energy he had left on the more important matters instead of wondering about such ... feelings.

“So …” Breaking the silence felt like overstepping a fine line between them. And Jimmy wasn’t the best at reading the room, finding a conversation starter would be like asking for his opinion about modern art - it was overrated. “You got Cosmo and Wanda because you were … miserable?”

Okay great job, Nerdtron. Way to lift the spirit. Congratulations. His first Nobel Price would be for the peace category for sure. He should write a book: How to deject someone with ten words or less.

“Yeah.” Timmy answered flatly, looking to the side.

Jimmy couldn’t refrain from smacking his forehead, groaning. “That was so stupid. Sorry.”

“You acting stupid is starting to become a thing.” Timmy couldn’t help a bitter laugh, patting the others back. Once more he was comforting the genius instead. If the jewel truly revealed someone’s talents … Jimmy would take a hot guess that the supposedly childish and bratty teen was in reality very deep and emotionally intelligent. Again, if he believed in that nonsense. “I guess I … really was a miserable kid.”

“I didn’t mean that.” Jimmy squeezed his bottle, just enough before the liquid spilled out from the lid. “It just … kind of doesn’t surprise me. And it makes me mad because I should’ve seen that or at least done something about it sooner.”

“It was never your business, Neutron.” Timmy let himself fall back on the mattress to stare at the ceiling, balancing the bottle on his stomach. “You know how crazy my dimension is. Everyone is an asshole. Everything is messed up. I’d say you’ll get used to it someday but … you’re probably not going to remember any of it when we’re done anyway.”

Now that was something he hadn’t considered before. “What do you mean?”

Taking a breath, sorting through his thoughts, Timmy stared at the ceiling. The cat was out of the bag. He could finally spill everything. It didn’t matter anymore. Nothing mattered. He was so tired of literally bottling it all up. And if everything was eventually undone ... what did it matter if he vented now? It was only temporary.

“It happened a few times already – I even ended up in fairy court for a few things. But in the end, the council always makes sure that everyone’s memories are altere so nobody finds out the truth. My parents, Chester, A.J. … If the people in Dimmsdale remembered every apocalypse or destruction of our town, they would’ve moved away by now or chased me out with forks and torches … again.” Timmy had a faraway look in his eyes, dull and void of the usual energetic spark - even more than lately. “And when I turn eighteen, I'm a legal adult. Which means I'll be too old to have fairies and they’ll probably erase my memories too. Not because my life won’t be a shithole anymore, I’ll just be a miserable adult instead.” The tears wouldn’t let themselves held back anymore, falling down. “Every good thing will be gone. I’ve known that for years and should’ve gotten used to it ... I even ran away to the TV-dimension so I wouldn’t grow up, but … I can’t avoid it. And it scares me. It’s unfair. And now you guys also got dragged into this – so they might even erase everything you all know about me, my dimension or fairies altogether to prevent another disaster like this from happening again. And it’s my fault because I can’t solve my problems on my own.”

He was probably interpreting too much into this, but all his worries and fears overtook him, every thought he wasted on this topic popping up in his head. Every scenario. Him not remembering, them not remembering or both ways. The contract was supposed to make sure none of this happened, but Anthony’s words unsettled him and now the only silver string of hope was gone. He couldn’t rely on anything anymore. Was using the jewel to change the rules really his only option to get what he wanted? … Did he even deserve that? Why him? Why, for fuck’s sake, was he always the trouble magnet if he wasn’t even a chosen one or anything special?!

“Timmy, I promise it won’t end like that.” Jimmy tried to assure him immediately, leaning down next to the teen to properly look at him. “I’m sure I can find a way to fix this or work around the rules.” If only he understood how it worked … And that was the main problem. The reason why he refused to believe in something as illogical as magic. Because it was something that he couldn’t calculate, predict, or counter. It was something his genius mind couldn’t understand. Something that made him feel … amateurish and lost. There just had to be a law or mechanic behind it! Frostbite said it himself, it was dubbed magic but it was just another kind of power or energy like anything else. He had also been able to create a portal to travel between dimensions, without any help or that so called ‘magic’ so why shouldn’t there be an advanced science behind it? “Aren’t you the expert with loopholes? The stubborn dumbass that doesn’t ever quit? If someone can wiggle his way out of trouble, it’s you. You did it before, you’ll do it again.”

Jimmy went to grab Timmy’s hand once more. Yeah, Turner always fought tooth and nail, no matter how dire the situation looked. He wasn’t scared of throwing himself headfirst into the unknown or calling their enemies out. He was stoic, dumb, brave and a good fighter. Cosmo and Wanda may have had the ability to change into any weapon, but even with Jimmy’s gadgets or ancient swords or other relicts, Timmy could always fight as if he had decades of training - the natural agility reflexes. He always got back up and he was the first one to support the others without questioning it. Jimmy always … admired that, wishing he could be as bold and acting on his instincts like him.

“Maybe.” Timmy also turned round so they faced each other. Danny’s bed was smaller and cramped, so they were really close, noses almost touching. “I’m just … confused. And tired of always pushing through. It feels like I’ll always get knocked down anyway, so why even care anymore.”

The tears didn’t stop and the sight hurt Jimmy. He preferred the careless snicker or the sometimes even mocking hyena laugh or the snort when he drank and instantly regretted it, milkshake coming out of his nose – which was gross, but still managed to put a smile on Jimmy’s face. His dorky and clumsy attempts of trying to impress everyone but falling on his face when he messed up a skateboard trick. How easily riled up he was at board- or video games. That was the real Timmy. The Timmy he liked knew. The Timmy he hadn't seen in so long and missed dearly, now more than ever.

The few times he had been in Dimmsdale and seen how they treated Timmy left Jimmy with an itch to pull out his shrink ray and put them in a glass to shake violently. Still, the reveal that Timmy’s life had to be that terrible formed a knot in his stomach. He should’ve done something about it. Ask him more. Visit him more. Offering his help and support more.

Yet, he couldn’t think of any words that would cheer him up. He wasn’t good at motivating others verbally, so instead, he hoped that squeezing his hand and listening would get his point across – urging Timmy to tell what was weighing on his mind.

At first, it didn’t seem like Timmy intended on sharing any further information. But the longer he stared at Jimmy’s nose, gnawing on his lips, suppressing his sniffs … the more something seemed to boil. Build up frustration, anger and unfairness.

“When I was eight, my parents hired Vicky. She made my life a living hell for a year.” Timmy eventually started to talk about his version of the story. “I was nine when I was at my lowest. Frustrated and lonely because nobody was listening. And that’s when I got Cosmo and Wanda” He suppressed a hiccup, rubbing his cheek on the blanket so the tears stopped blurring his vision. “So yeah, I was never smart enough to invent something or a true chosen one. I just had the quality of being pitied enough. Timmy, the average kid that no one understands.” Timmy wanted to hide under the blanket or clench his eyes shut. Seeing Jimmy’s face only made him aware how painful it was – how real it felt to share his years long suppressed emotions. He eventually put his other arm over his eyes, not bearing the sight of Jimmy’s sympathy. “My parents love me, I guess. But they’re too oblivious and self-centered to take my problems or me serious. I suck at basically everything, I was beat up in elementary, middle and even now in high school from bullies … The girl I had a crush on and her rich friends humiliated and pranked me many times and I still went after her, just wanting someone to care about me … But nobody thinks I’ll ever make it on my own when I’m an adult. I fail at life so hard – I’m the only kid in my universe that got to keep their godparents for so long, but only because I’m still a loser.”

“Don’t say something like that!” Jimmy took Timmy’s arm away, looking at the red puffy face with newly shed tears.

“Why?” Timmy even felt like a weeping kid right now, highlighting his statement. “It’s true, I suck. Without Cosmo and Wanda I can’t do anything right on my own! Today was a total disaster. Yesterday I was in charge for one time and I managed to lose everything. And now I’m … so fucked up, because of that jewel-thing going on. And the w-worst thing is that no matter how hard I try to be better, I still mess up. A-and the only ‘adults’ that always loved me unconditionally are suffering right now because of me.”

Jimmy pulled him close, hugging him despite mild protests. He could feel his own eyes stinging with tears from sheer anger and frustration. If he could alter reality as well, he would do anything to make Timmy happy right now and forever. Nobody, especially no kid, should have to suffer so much and worry about these things.

“Cosmo and Wanda practically raised me. They were always there, everyday. No matter how selfish I could be – they never left. I love them but still … My best wasn’t enough to save them.” Timmy was full on bawling now, spiraling the same way he did at their breakfast and in the bathroom. He was barely aware of Jimmy caressing his head and pressing his own lips in a thin line to keep it together himself. Great, now his pity story was dragging his friend down emotionally as well. Wasn`t he tired? Timmy thought he sounded like a broken record in his head, always blaming himself and regretting things. His life was full of poor decisions and regret. And, despite all his flaws and his share of the blame, he couldn't ignore how upset he was, the more he spoke about it out loud. “I made many stupid wishes, I know but … how messed up is it that I literally had to wish people would want me instead of choosing a stupid rock? That I wished one time I was never born because nobody appreciated my efforts, only to see that instead of being miserable, everyone had a better life? That my parents would willingly let me live in a doghouse on a leash so Vicky and her family could live with us? And still … some part of me was glad about that because I could keep Cosmo and Wanda as long as everything sucked.”

Jimmy pulled Timmy closer, reminding himself not to put too much force in, but his fuming rage made it difficult. He wanted to blast something to pieces. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing with his own ears. How grave the situation was his friend had been in for years without ever sharing any of that, always downplaying everything. It wasn't fair.

“I couldn’t talk to anyone. I couldn’t change it … For seven years. And everything just got more difficult and pressuring – school, my relationship to my parents or my friends. Everything drifted away and I couldn’t keep up anymore.” Timmy eventually buried his face in Jimmy’s hoodie, his voice muffled and barely understandable, but the genius listened to every word. “When I was around you guys, I could ignore my problems and push it down. I really tried not to care about everything and have fun while it lasted, but it was eating me up inside.”

Timmy remembered how his life drastically got more complicated once he entered middle school. As a kid, he didn’t have as many problems or worries, easily getting over them. But every time he was neglected, made fun of or lectured for his bad grades or the trouble he got in, it left a mark. And soon, he ran out of space. Breaking down after school, clinging to his wishes, travels and avoiding his human life with its overwhelming responsibilities. He hadn’t even noticed how much he internalized the thought that he was just a worthless idiot who had nothing to offer aside from Cosmo and Wanda. Who even was the three headed boy without his godparents? How could he make it all by himself in the harsh, real world?

“Until my seventeenth birthday. I thought Jorgen would threaten to take Cosmo and Wanda away from me as a birthday gift again, but instead, he offered a contract.” When he finally calmed down enough, listening to Jimmy’s heartbeat and the hushes, he revealed his last secret (or second last, considering the deal with Anthony). “If I let him train me to become a warden, since I saved Fairy World many times already, they would let me keep my memories and I could still see them, even if they were reassigned to another godchild. I was so happy. It was the only thing that gave me hope. A reason that growing up wouldn’t be so bad after all. And I worked my ass off for months now, to manage everything on my own without relying on anybody. I wanted this to work out so bad …” Even muffled, his sobs were loud. “And now I could still lose everything. It was useless, thinking I could change my fate. I’m so tired of trying …”

Timmy practically clawed at Jimmy’s shirt, his overwhelming despair getting the upper hand. A younger voice screamed at him, telling Timmy to shut up because he would only make it worse by saying these things out loud. A broken spell. But he had come so far, he couldn’t stop the flood now. If the contract was honest or not - these fears had stayed with him the whole time regardless.

“When you said you wanted to invent something to get rid of your feelings … I felt like a hypocrite telling you that it’s not the solution. Because sometimes, even if I hate it, I wonder if it would’ve been less exhausting if I had wished I wouldn’t care about forgetting everything. Or that, maybe, wishing to never be born was the better alternative. I’ve seen it … how everything is better for everyone without me in their lives.”

“Shut up!” Jimmy said, surprising even himself with the volume. “Timmy, look at me.” He didn’t leave the other much of a choice, pulling the other into a sitting position to properly grab his shoulders. “You were only a child, dad gum it! Kids mess up, you said it yourself - you make mistakes, you act selfish, you get in trouble. But that doesn’t mean you’re worthless or that you deserve a life of misery!” He could feel his hands shaking and the hot tears trailing down his own cheeks. He was really trying to keep it together, but it was too much. Logic and science be dammed, whatever the reason or history was behind those events he had heard snippets of, he couldn’t bear seeing the other like this anymore. “You’re not stupid or a loser! And if they didn’t appreciate you, it’s THEIR fault and they had no right treating you like that!” Especially the part about Trixie made his stomach clench with fury. Because as subtle as it was thrown into Timmy’s rant, there was this underlying pain that just made it obvious it hurt the average exceptional teen more than he let on. Because Jimmy knew how much it could break someone’s heart to pieces, if you let yourself be vulnerable and the person closest to your heart left the shards for you to pick up yourself. “You deserve to be appreciated, loved, happy and treated gentle. And I’m glad that you’re a part of my life – so are Danny and SpongeBob. We won’t let some stupid laws or rules change that!”

Too stunned to speak, Timmy stared at him. Aside from drawing in shaky breaths, he just gaped. He knew they felt like this. He knew. He would’ve never dared to assume otherwise from his friends, Cosmo and Wanda. Yet, hearing it directly and for real – it drowned out the mocking voices that wanted to convince him he was good for nothing. It clicked open like a door. Just a small creak, but the room was so much brighter already. Jimmy was so much brighter.

“No matter what happens afterwards, we’re here for you. You can talk to us. You’re not alone. You matter, Timmy. You have so many qualities!” Jimmy felt the need to repeat it, each time believing it more. Admitting something he had denied for the longest time. Realizing how important Timmy was to him. How much he made him feel. He might not understand how, what or when it happened - but he did and was ready to accept it.

Timmy was very important to him. And the thought of losing or forgetting him, or Timmy drowning in his depression and turning into an entirely other person … was unacceptable for Jimmy.

… By Newton’s law, Goddard’s assumption was right. It wasn’t pity. He was, perhaps, really in love. But most of all, he didn’t feel guilty anymore about taking his time to rest and take care of Timmy’s emotional condition while Dimmsdale was invaded. If everything was going to be set back to normal as if nothing ever happened, they would survive this. They deserved that. Because right now, this was more important than the multiversal order. Timmy was worth that.

Chapter Text

It took him a while to calm down from his overwhelmed emotional state, giving them both enough time to gather themselves, simply focusing on the closeness and physical comfort.

“Thanks … I needed to hear that, I guess.” Timmy finally swallowed the thick rock that was stuck in his throat. He didn’t expect to spill so much. He was already tired, but after draining himself out even more with that outburst, he was positively beat. Maybe he had dug his own grave by talking about the contract, but Anthony’s words still resonated in his head. What if everything would end regardless? What if using the jewel to change Da Rules really was his only way? His mind was full of thoughts and problems that he had to keep track off, he just couldn’t take it anymore …

It was normal to think about not existing sometimes, right? Like, he wasn’t suicidal or anything, but if life was hard, people usually wondered if it would be easier to quit a stupid game instead trying to futilely fight the end boss over and over. Everyone frustrated and stressed enough did that. It was normal. “And sorry for oversharing. You got your own issues and I’m … just being a drama queen here.”

Although he missed the warmth Jimmy’s hands provided on his shoulders as soon as he withdrew, like a comforting blanket, Timmy slowly realized what exactly he had talked about. It was too late to take it back and cave in again, but it didn’t stop him from trying. He wasn’t used to being coddled or handled with care. Especially if it involved all these mushy feelings he could hardly tolerate when it was his turn. Not to mention he somehow felt bad at the same time for not sharing everything, like the voices and his deal with Anthony or about the … less heroic wishes he made. He still harbored secrets and baggage, but he couldn’t possibly share even more. There was no time for that much group therapy.

“I mean it Timmy. And you can share everything with me.” Jimmy watched as Timmy pulled his legs close to his chest, hugging them. He was emotionally distancing again, probably becoming aware how much he exposed himself and how awkward it was between them now. “It’s not overdramatic.” Jimmy’s gaze roamed around the room, trying to find the right words. He didn’t want to end their conversation like this. “Look, we’ll figure something out. But right now, we’re all in this together. We share the burden, alright? And I’ll do everything I can to … I don’t know, make my own miracles or something to alter the universe. I’m certain I can achieve that.”

Despite how miserable he felt, Timmy couldn’t help but snort at that. “Of course, you’d take it as a challenge.” Hearing a word like ‘miracle’ coming from the genius himself was unbelievable. If he were to tell Danny and SpongeBob about it, they would never believe him. “I’m looking forward to it. Yeah, it would be nice if … you could trick Da Rules out of pure spite.” Maybe it was because of his emotional roller coaster, but Timmy still laughed just thinking about it. It was a nice dream. Another false hope – just like the contract. But his brain longed for peace, even just the tiniest break at this point. And if everything failed again and they wouldn’t remember … what did it even matter? He should make the most of it before he went completely insane.

Unconsciously he rubbed his cold wrist, looking to the side. Jimmy didn’t know if he succeeded in cheering the boy up. He just wanted to do anything that would make him feel better. And confessing seemed like a bad timing – not that he planned to do that, it was just an observation.

“Spite is a good reason. Very tempting, especially if you want to prove the haters wrong.” Jimmy shrugged, reaching for his backpack. “They want to see you fall but seeing their faces when you best them is the sweetest kind of victory.”

“I didn’t know you could be so vengeful.” Timmy bumped his shoulder against Jimmy’s, the tension leaving his body, glad that the topic was slowly drifting to something normal. At least he didn’t sound like a whining loser anymore. He still felt embarrassed about everything, but it was … good to have finally let it all out, both physically and verbally – he was positive he didn’t have any tear-juice left in his body. “I thought you were always the better person.”

“Most of the time, I am. But you’ve never seen me participate in a science fair, I can be just as competitive. And when I really want something, I’ll get it.” He inspected his backpack, a few cinder-stains today’s battle token. Well, he did a good job making it nearly indestructible, so the involuntarily field test was a success. “I actually wanted to own NASA when I was younger.” Snorting, Jimmy thought back to his childish needs. When encyclopedias and children chemistry playsets were everything he desired. How had the topic changed from both of them crying and hugging to talking about his childish wishes?

“And now you don’t?” Using his shirt to wipe away the remaining wetness on his cheeks, Timmy followed Jimmy’s movements with his eyes. He had been wondering about the weird bag for a while now, but so much happened that he never got to ask what it was. It seemed different from the one he usually had – the one that stored his Tornado Blaster and had this crane like mechanic tenacle arm.

“Don’t know. Since I worked as a spy, everyone just kind of expected me to join the government. So technically, I do what I love, even if it’s not for my own interests. Grandma used to say work and fun don’t align most of the time.” Yeah and getting what he wanted didn’t work like that. He could build so much more advanced technology if he didn’t have to use scraps, cheap substitutes, or his parent’s toasters all the time. But that required money, which Jimmy wasn’t great at earning through part time jobs. And owning something that the government clearly needed was nearly impossible, obviously.

“That’s stupid! I could literally become everything I wanted for a day as long as it was fun and nobody expected anything from me in return, even when I was good at it and it didn’t go wrong.” Internally smacking himself for oversharing again, Timmy shook his head. “If I had your smarts … I would do what I like. You could find a cure for cancer or solve global warming for all I know. And if the government wants you so bad, they have to beg and you should hire them instead.”

Funnily enough, that thought was intriguing. Jimmy knew it was silly and reality didn’t work like that, but when had he ever followed the norm? “Maybe. Besides, I can travel through any space in the multiverse already. I don’t need NASA for that.” He smiled, patting his bag. He had no idea if it could cheer Timmy up, but if anything, at least he could finally share a passion project of his own. “Actually, I have something to show you.”

He opened the lid, loosening the cord that was keeping the bag closed. Blue light blinded Timmy, forcing him to shield his sore eyes.

When his sight adjusted to the brightness that even put his crown to shame, he gazed inside. It was nearly impossible to see the bottom of it – or anything else for that matter. “What’s up with that thing?”

“Originally, I wanted to present it on our sleepover. Or well … I don’t know, it’s not perfect yet.” Jimmy stretched the opening, far beyond of what looked like to be the norm for that size. One could easily stand inside it with both legs now. “Remember the old one I had, when I started to experiment with the hypercubes? This is basically an upgrade. But instead of storing more inventory without adding weight, it’s-“

“Sorry, Marry Poppins, you’re losing me here.” Timmy, far too tired for science talk and his mind full beyond capacity already, rubbed his forehead. He couldn’t even muster an honest apologetic smile, too stressed and worn out that he wasn’t sure if he still had enough compassion to match that amount of enthusiasm right now. “I … just show it to me.”

Nodding, Jimmy fumbled with the straps a little. Of course, how could he forget? With barely any sleep, nutrition and exhausted from a battle both physically and mentally, it probably wasn’t the time for showing off his invention. How inconsiderate of him. Perhaps he shouldn’t have brought it up at all.

“Come on, we don’t have all night.” Timmy urged him, holding onto the bag as well, sensing Jimmy’s deflating ego. “So, what can it do? Do I just stick my hand inside or something?”

Despite what Timmy thought was possible, he put effort into showing his interest. Any distraction was better than to wallow in his thoughts and self-hatred. Although that apparently still wasn’t an ideal coping mechanism. But as people said, ignorance was bliss. And he could use some of that now without having to consume magic drugs or something alike. He only shared a joint with Chester once in their first year of high school and he got chewed out for it from Wanda, knowing he had a problem with getting addicted to things that he thought were good for him but weren’t in the long run and could escalate pretty quickly. In hindsight, she was right about so many things. He should’ve listened to her more. Especially when she and Poof said splitting up was a bad idea …

His train of thought was stopped before it could turn into a spiral, as he was suddenly engulfed by blinding blue light. Jimmy had put the bag over his head, his whole upper torso fitting inside.

“What the –“ If this was a bad kidnapping prank, Timmy wasn’t in the mood for that. And the blue glow was starting to hurt his eyes, so he had to close them. In an attempt to stand up and pull out of the thing, he lost his balance, tumbling forward.

Instead of his head hitting the floor, however, he was falling entirely through the bag. The bright light disappeared and suddenly everything turned dark.

Timmy hit something soon after, landing somewhat soft on a mattress. It took his overworked brain a second to regain his orientation. The first thing he saw when pushing his body upwards was a red X mark on the mattress. And he missed the warmth on his head, indicating the crown had somehow fallen off or stayed behind.

“What in Da Rules?” Gaping like a child at the sight of a Christmas tree filled with presents underneath, he clumsily staggered to his feet again, looking around. He was in a whole new room. A big one at that!

There was a corner with beanbags and two bunk beds … another one had a sort of weapon wall, an array of green and blue hypercubes, along with Jimmy’s recent weapons of choice, the Freeze Ray, the Tornado Blaster, his Neutron Peeler (although broken) and many other gadgets. Then there was another part of the room that had many cabinets, storing various stacks of water and food – not to forget the purple flurp. Damn, there even was a shelf with other kinds of secured cubes; one containing a miniature image of Jimmy’s new hovercar and other things that would be too big to fit into the room, like his rocket. But aside from the one with the car, they didn’t glow, implying that they were empty. And while the room in itself didn’t seem to have electricity, the ceiling was painted with fluorescent stars, aside from small LED-looking lines on the edges. As if he were in a hypercube himself, just … not an endless void, but a filled and limited space. Everything looked like it was part of a dream, unreal and – strangely enough – like Jimmy’s childhood room had been the inspiration for it, the clear preference of primary colors, mainly blue, evident.

Not long after Timmy, Jimmy also joined. He was prepared for the landing and managed to cushion his fall a little more gracefully, as the humble falling-expert would estimate.

“Dude, this place – what? How?!” Clasping his head in amazement, Timmy still couldn’t believe what was going on. Everything drew his attention to it, he wanted to touch everything but was at the same time afraid it would pop like a bubble if he did.

Jimmy shrugged, oddly timid about bragging over his latest creation. “It’s nothing too extraordinary. I started to work on it when I entered college. I figured our travels would be more comfortable and handier if we had a portable tent or something.” Jimmy looked around, only seeing the errors that could be improved in his opinion. It was like a sandbox game, still a work in progress. Playable but not delivering the experience he had in mind. “While a camper is more classic, it seemed convenient to create my own pocket dimension. Something to carry everything I might ever need so we could always be prepared for every situation. I thought about everything … except the first aid kits.” Still beating himself up over it, Jimmy avoided to look at Timmy. Instead, he walked over to the only empty space on a wall that would be perfect for a door. “I still haven’t figured out how to solve the power and water issue, so there’s no bathroom or real electricity yet.”

When he touched the wall, a blue glowing hole appeared in it, and he pulled something out that seemed to be a battery powered night light. It was, in a way. After the projector was turned on, a literal galaxy flooded the big room, tinting everything in purple, blue and other shades sprinkled with thousands of white dots, adding a calm and amazing atmosphere to the unbelievable surroundings. “I thought about putting a generator in here. The food is kind of frozen in the cabinets of this place, so we don’t have to worry about it expiring. Although time still is the same as it is on the outside and – Sorry.” Catching himself rambling again, Jimmy placed the nightlight on a coffee table close to the beanbags.
If he had a generator, he could build in a TV and some other things to pass time. This place didn’t have to be used solely for adventures, but also regular travels. And yet, it felt like a bunker. Like something he built to hide away from the world and his problems. Like a made-up fantasy, giving him the comfort he desired. No matter how much he expanded this place, no matter how much he would stuff in to be prepared, it would never be perfect. It could never shield him from the unexpected things that happened in life … Which made it hard for him to be completely proud of it.

“That’s incredible! It’s … just like magic!” Timmy’s hype wasn’t receding, the galaxy light making his eyes sparkle with wonder. Hopefully, this really wasn’t a dream. “You literally build your own dimension!”

“Pocket dimension.” Jimmy corrected, his hands forming a box. “It’s also like a server, it can only store so much until it falls apart. And it really isn’t magic, just efficient use of advanced science and quantum physics.” Connecting Jimmy with magic was like trying to mix water and oil; it didn’t work. It was really simple and explainable, seriously. But if it made Timmy smile with awe about something he did, Jimmy wouldn’t outright refuse it. After all, he had used science to perform real magic tricks before.

“Well, since I don’t understand this science stuff, it is like magic to me.” Timmy said, smiling brightly at the genius. Perhaps magic truly did have some reason or upbringing to it. And if Jimmy could do that all on his own, claiming it was no big deal, then maybe he didn’t have to be afraid of putting his faith into something one more time. Because if it was his friend, he would find a way to solve the problem. He was literally manipulating reality and creating his own world – what couldn’t the genius do? “You’re always making wonderful things others couldn’t even dream of … it’s awesome.” Timmy walked to the projector, playfully running his hand over the casting starlight, as if he dipped his hand into the milky way for real. Of course, he felt nothing, but it was so cool! And he was already too tired to care about acting like a responsible adult – considering today’s events, he shouldn’t even feel bad about giving in to his childish intrusive thoughts. “You’re amazing, Jimmy.”

“T-thanks.” Feeling weak in the knees, Jimmy sat down on one of the beanbags, simply watching Timmy as he waved his hand as if it were surfing over the andromeda galaxy, slowly pacing the room. Even without the warm light of his crown charm and in the cold artificial illumination, Timmy still radiated a unique aura. As much as the genius painfully knew that he couldn’t fix or know everything, Timmy’s unconditional support and belief that he was capable of it, filled him with such pride and the need to uphold to these expectations that he swore to himself he would do everything he could to ensure Timmy wouldn’t have to worry so much anymore. That he could be happy and his true self. That he wouldn’t feel that way about himself ever again, like he was a failure or stupid or any of that nonsense. But most importantly, Jimmy wanted Timmy to hold onto that childlike nature. The curiosity, the boldness, the imagination … everything that made him so wonderful.

He wished he could tell him all those things directly and at the same time didn’t because it was so sentimental.

“If you want, we can stay here.” He gestured to the bunk beds, prepped and ready to use. It was far less cramped than sharing a single bed. Not that Jimmy had intended to do that, of course!

Distracted from his little mind-break, Timmy looked at the neatly made beds. “What if someone outside takes the bag? Could they take us without them or us knowing it?” Because that was a reasonable question to him. The least he wanted was being thrown around, kidnapped or trapped in a half-finished pocket-dimension.

“I haven’t tried that yet. I don’t know what happens if the bag is moved while somebody is in here, but since nothing is destroyed or broken yet, even after our battle, it should be fine.” He typed something on his wristwatch, letting Goddard know where they were and to keep an eye on it, mostly because the jewel had to be monitored at all times, in case another ambush took place. Why it had fallen off just like that when it was practically constantly hovering in the crown over Timmy’s had so far, he had no clue. “It’s not like we’ll go anywhere for the next six hours at least.”

With that settled, Timmy threw himself on the beanbag next to Jimmy, passively refusing yet another request from Danny to get proper sleep in a real bed. He didn’t do it on purpose, honest! That way, he could just better gaze at the fake-stars.

“You know,” Timmy mumbled, shifting and pushing his heels against the ground until their beanbags collided so they laid right next to each other. “For someone who always claims to be unreactive, your ideas are far from that.”

Still not sure how to take all these compliments, Jimmy merely swallowed, watching the other subtly from the side. “I … still wouldn’t describe me as imaginative as you.”

Humming, Timmy stretched, making himself more comfortable as he turned sideways, so he could better look at the genius. “Well, crappy comic doodles and half thought out wishes are nothing compared to this.” Although he knew how good they could work together whenever they combined their ideas.

“Stop.” Jimmy lightly shoved Timmy’s shoulder, giving him a stern gaze. “Not everything has to be clean and crafted to be great. The world needs different perspectives.” He chewed on the inner sides of his cheeks. “I always enjoyed your drawings. And your wishes, even if they backfire on us sometimes.”

“You mean like that one time I made it rain literal buckets?” Not knowing how to act in this mushy situation, Timmy laughed nervously, laying on his back again so he wouldn’t have to look ad Jimmy anymore and expose his blush. “Hmm … maybe I’ll pick up where I left off, once everything’s normal again. I’m … not much of a football fan anyway.” He had bigger problems than that, but with his graduation, there still were more worries ahead of him after the apocalypse. Still, it was nice to dream a little. Although he purposely didn’t say anything about wishes, since he couldn’t tell if there would ever be a next time he got to make one.

The projector turned itself in circles, the galaxy spinning in a soothing rhythm. It was nothing but a holograph, but Timmy still felt the need to reach out his hand when another bunch of cosmic dust passed above him. He had been to space so many times, but watching a lot of cartoons, anime and other fantasy movies always influenced his brain. Naturally, it was also impossible to touch actual stardust in space as well, he knew that. It was cold and stars were nothing but glowing gas or rocks or whatever, but he liked to imagine what it would feel like. Just like a surfer, riding a wave through the tube, running his hand along the water. In his life, thanks to magic, he had done things that most people would’ve never experienced … but now, he couldn’t help but wonder if he really did everything. If he appreciated it enough. All these extreme wishes and travels and yet he was still missing out on something, he was sure. And even if his last wish could be another adventure with his friends full of fantastic moments, it still wouldn’t ever be enough.

Yet, this moment right now was perfect to him somehow. The tranquility he craved so desperately …

“Timmy?”

Said teen looked to the side with half closed eyes, the tiredness creeping up on him. “Hm?”

“Magic or not, we’ll be okay.” Jimmy held his hand again, his thumb moving in small reassuring circles. They were on the same eye-level, the genius appearing almost astral-like in the special atmosphere. “Take all the time you need.”

“Right back atcha”, Timmy mumbled; half his face buried in the soft oversized cushion. Jimmy liked to take care of everything and take matters literally into his own hands, but he was also only human. More human than he gave himself credit for. “Sleep with me here.” The last word was barely audible, Timmy already dozing off, so he didn’t see the blush on Jimmy’s face. He only noticed the squeeze on his cold hand, slowly warming up with the contact. He just felt so content and didn’t want to be alone.

“I’ll be … here when you wake up.”, the genius finally said, but the guest in his own little world only hummed, the tension and strength leaving his body as the exhaustion finally did its work.

✧ « ★ » ✧

For a good while now, Jimmy was only staring at Timmy. As tired as he was, he couldn’t sleep. Not with so much going on in his mind. It was such a mess that he had to break it down into a list, just to avoid having a breakdown himself. He couldn’t lose it now, not if Timmy was already mentally unstable.

Timmy was granted his fairies because his life was terrible. It wasn’t even ridiculous anymore but apparently adults in Turner’s universe were just a bunch of incompetent, blind idiots. For some reason, Timmy once had been so unappreciated that he wished he was never born. And then there was a contract he made on his seventeenth birthday that was supposed to allow him to at least keep his memories and keep in touch with Cosmo and Wanda.

So that was why Timmy had been so happy to party together that day. Usually, the bucktoothed kid never liked to have fun on his birthdays, mostly celebrating a day early or later, for reasons unknown. And it also explained why Timmy had been so distant the last few months, always tired and barely responding to texts. He was managing both his normal teen life and the training that Jorgen put him through at the same time.

However, what was worrying Jimmy the most was the reveal that Timmy was heavily bullied all the way from elementary to high school. Damnit, even now! And he never mentioned it or did anything because he thought it had to happen in order to keep his fairies as long as possible. How outrageous was that?!

Jimmy remembered his own bully Terry. Thanks to his reputation, most citizens of Retroville knew him and, while making side comments, mostly left him alone since everyone had experienced firsthand what his mad genius was capable of if triggered enough. But the people in Dimmsdale? They had no idea. The secrets maybe protected the fairies’ identities, but they only painted a target on Timmy’s back. He had to go through all of this by himself. Even if Timmy exposed a glimpse of his burden, the few things he shared were probably only the tip of the iceberg. How many times had he wished for something that probably any kid wanted at one point? Having a sibling, running away from home, being famous … endless possibilities. Expecting a child to use their wishes for selfless reasons or be responsible about them was impossible. Not even Jimmy had been aware of the consequences his inventions had when used wrong. It just … felt so unfair to blame kids for all these things. He didn’t ask for it to go wrong and would’ve done something different if he knew about the whole chain reaction! And apparently, this so-called magic was even supposed to be silly, since it was mostly crafted from children belief anyways!

Taking a deep breath through his nose, Jimmy tried to remain calm and not break into a tirade where he’d point all the flaws and issues out about this strategy.

He wanted to understand Timmy better. Know what was going on in that chaotic head. Perhaps … he had been too absorbed in his own space that he never truly saw what Timmy was going through. That he never realized how important the boy was too him. Jimmy had been so afraid of change and emotions that he shut everything out, neglecting even his own aspirations.

Jimmy shook his head, feeling ridiculous. Accepting his feelings for Turner was one thing, knowing Goddard had seen something between them way before was another. It wasn’t like the idea of being in love with a guy, especially Timmy, deterred him. He was a man of science and logic and had soon begun to realize that hormones wouldn’t just cause boys and girls to fall in love with each other, as he predicted to Carl when they were younger. Technically, he hadn’t been straight from the beginning, if he counted the ‘trust-kiss’ with that alien girl who was an entirely other species. So, what did that make him now if he developed feelings for another man? Before he picked genetics as a major, he never bothered too much about hormones, sexuality and all these topics. He just knew that his heart skipped a beat when he was with Becky and that he couldn’t stop thinking about Cindy and being jealous when she wanted to impress Nick. But he had been a kid back then, not knowing any better how to decipher these emotions.

He had the experience and maturity now. Knew what it was like to make out, to hold someone close, to share special moments together … like this one. And it felt right – wasn’t that all that matters?

Perhaps this concept was too much to wrap it up and put a label on it – just like this magic. It defied all logic and yet it was there. And he couldn’t deny it, even if he wanted to. Even if he had no idea what he was doing, if it would work out … even if he knew how much it hurt to have your heart broken when the chemistry between two beings didn’t match as much as they thought it would at first.

No. No he had made a promise to find a solution. He wouldn’t give up. Whether Timmy returned these feelings or not didn’t matter. What mattered was that Timmy was important to him and that he wanted to do everything he could to make him happy, even if that would be with him just as a friend … but then again, he was an expert. And there was nothing that he couldn’t solve. “If I can handle and survive Vortex, getting Schrödinger’s cat out of the bag shouldn’t be that hard.”

Jimmy had to make a plan. W-well, not just one about wooing (he could do better than Goddard’s manual if he seriously tried, really) but one that would make sure everything went smoothly in Dimmsdale. Which meant ruling out every possibility of their enemies taking them by surprise. And most importantly, improving his weapons.

Although this would mean he’d have to leave Timmy, despite saying he would be there when he woke up …

It was a hard decision and Jimmy could feel the lingering weight on his body pulling him down, begging him to rest. But there was no time to waste, especially with that new goal that he had in mind now. Make Timmy happy and achieve his dreams.

As Jimmy finally managed to push himself out of the maxi-comfy beanbag, he noticed that Timmy didn’t let go of his hand. In fact, Timmy was clinging to him, his grip and sheer strength still there, even when he was deep asleep. For a moment, Jimmy wondered if Timmy had never noticed the changes he went through since he entered high school. He doubted the jewel or the lack of a shadow had made him stronger and he knew that Timmy was in his football team – even if he claimed that he was mostly benched during each game.

He underestimated his own skills too often, telling himself he was a failure. It hurt Jimmy, knowing how internalized that self-doubt must’ve been. Even now. He just played it off as a joke, but now that Jimmy knew the whole extend to it, hearing Timmy talk down on himself, his interests, skills and experiences just made Jimmy irritated.

If only Timmy could see himself the way he did. A handsome young man with a good mix of well-defined muscles under a slim slayer of baby fat, a mixture of maturity and childish features, such as the round nose and cheeks in contrast to the broad chin and frown that he had. Along with the shaggy yet spiky hair … that was all over the place, the bangs nearly covering most of Timmy’s face, probably the reason for his scrunched expression.

Giving in to his immediate desire, Jimmy carefully brushed the hair out of the way, the soft tickling touch causing Timmy to wrinkle his nose like a bunny would. The genius barely held back a snort, finding the expressive sleeping technique quite endearing.

The same idea from last night hit him, a sudden image that flashed in his mind, which he wasn’t sure if he should act on that as well. Would that count as taking advantage of Timmy’s state? Doing it without consent? Oh, for Hawkin’s sake, doubts and consequences be damned – He was too tired out to give a shit and Turner clearly needed some affection.

Jimmy planted a quick kiss on Timmy’s scalp, inhaling a smell that reminded him of strawberries and freshly mowed grass. He originally wanted to wiggle out of Timmy’s hold, but the latter had somehow snaked both hands around Jimmy’s arm, trapping him even more and closer to him now.

Perhaps … he could afford to stay for a couple more hours. His heart might explode at that pace if he were to depart now with how fast it pounded against his ribcage. Especially when Timmy moved again and snuggled his cheek against his shoulder, mumbling something he couldn’t understand but it made his heart flutter nonetheless.

Jimmy was by no means religious, but oh lord, he had fallen hard for this doofus.

✧ « ★ » ✧

Just once. Only once did he want to have pleasant dreams. And it had started out so well, for the majority of the time.

Dreams truly were a weird thing. One moment he was cuddling a big fluffy dog that licked his face, next he was somehow fantasizing Chip Skylark giving a concert with walking teeth nearby and then there was this mysterious guy in a white spy suit offering him a prom dance, where Timmy was wearing a dress and flip flops that totally didn’t match his nail polish … and then everything turned gray like the landscapes of Ustinkistan – bleak and barren. He never got to learn the identity of that handsome man with the rough hands, which was even worse than not being declared queen of the skatepark.

Regardless, Timmy found himself in this new place. This time dressed in plain white shorts and a pink shirt, his usual sleepwear.

Wherever he was, it was getting darker and the temperature dropped by several degrees. By now, he should’ve been used to all this – being thrown into random environments and scenarios. Perhaps he was in a different place once more. Timmy was not an expert at dreaming, but he had a feeling this one was quite … different. He shouldn’t be so aware of them, right? Like waking up in the middle of a narcotic surgery. He had no control over his body, his surroundings or what he said, but he knew it wasn’t real. It shouldn’t be.

Everything was black around him now. And it was freezing cold, a soft wind caressed his face. Not only did the shiver come from the outside, but seemingly also deep inside his core. A sudden icy pain like thousands of tiny needles piercing his chest, spreading. Intoxicating. Cold. So, so cold.

Rubbing his upper arms to keep himself warm, Timmy took a few steps in this new area. Despite the coldness, not even his breath was visible – as if the darkness swallowed everything. His shivering made it hard to move properly, his muscles sore and rusty as if he hadn’t moved in six months from a single spot. His feet almost burned from the pain, walking on a seemingly sleek ground. Aside from the cold sensation and the wind, the only weird thing was the sudden numbness in his right hand. But it was too dark to see anything, so he just clasped his palm with the other one, trying to massage the joints to get any feeling back in as he had no other option but to keep walking forward.

An intuition told him that if he were to stop now, he wouldn’t like what was coming next.

This strange scenario really stood out among the other brief snippets of his dream that he experienced. Still surreal and nothing close to reality, but it definitely felt more real. And it was so very similar, as if he only recently experienced something alike. Almost like this was some kind of lucid dreaming. Happening in real time with him as a player and not a mere spectator inside his own body. As if he could consciously make decisions and more.

“F-fuck … what is this place?” It was pointless to look around, he couldn’t see where he was. He couldn’t even move properly, as if some unknown weight dragged him down. Again, this was oddly familiar. “Hello? Jimmy?!”

Was this yet another place inside this pocked dimension? Of course not, but he wasn’t even sure that to believe anymore. This didn’t feel like a dream at all, but it couldn’t be anything else because that made no sense. Why couldn’t he just force himself awake?! Usually, realizing it was all a dream or that he had control over it, was enough to end everything, right? That’s how it worked in movies.

Then again, did he really have any control over anything at all?

Not knowing what to do, Timmy kept walking with great effort, his knees weak and buckling under the cold pain. Something beneath his feet cracked and crumbled, as if he walked on glass or ice, which made walking barefoot even more uncomfortable.

“Ah, if it isn’t the boy who never wanted to grow up!” A distorted voice greeted him, echoing from all directions with a rough, impish sound to it. “Welcome to Neverland!”

Squinting his eyes, Timmy tried really hard to make something out in the black area, but it still didn’t work. He could be walking towards a cliff for all he knew. But that voice definitely was familiar to him.

“Anthony? Is that you?” He asked out loud, his weakened ancles losing their footing as he turned around. He slipped, his behind landing uncomfortably on the hard ground. Another loud crack, rough enough to open a gap beneath him, dim purple light shining through. It wasn’t much, but just enough to highlight the shapes and corners of his surroundings.

He was in … an endless void. At least he couldn’t see far enough, sitting on smooth ground made out of black stone or something.

“Don’t think all it takes is the ‘power of friendship’ to solve everything.” Anthony warned again as a shadow stretched beneath Timmy’s feet, inhuman clawed hands pushing itself upward. A black and transparent creature with a similar shape to him. Bloodred glowing eyes, sharp teeth, a bony figure with long, thin limbs. Hunched over, stalking towards him. Timmy knew he had seen this monstrous creature before. That monster – this … this Hyde! “Seriously, you don’t want me to really become your enemy.”

Oh no, not this again. The details from his last trip to this weird place all came back in a vivid memory. The swallowing shadows, how helplessly he was at the other’s mercy. And the ache in his chest was still the same, throbbing as desperate as ever.

“W-wait I –“ Timmy quickly got to his feet, noticing how small and weak he felt. The place he was in seemed to drain him of his strength, the icy core inside his chest and his numb hand creating a burning sensation greater than the imaginary frostbite. “We can find a way! I swear you won’t be erased or something!”

“Oh, you mean like Gary? Or Tommy?” The creature tilted its head, its mouth unmoving aside from a small gap that emitted a deep growl. The voice still seemed to come from everywhere. Was that creature perhaps … no, this was just a dream, his mind still processing all the information of an eventful day. It was pure coincidence that the monster had a striking resemblance to these transformed original dark fairies and their queen from Jorgen’s presentation. Twisted demons, consumed by their own shadows through an unleashed curse … fuck, what if that would happen to him too?! No, not the right time to panic now. “Everything you create ends up on Unwish Island or gets destroyed. And what is left behind, is just garbage nobody cares about. Why should it be different this time? Why should I trust you?”

Suddenly, Timmy bumped into something. Or someone. The being was just as cold as him, but he felt a strange connection. Like them standing side by side was meant to be. No, not just that. They should be one and the same. Two puzzle pieces clicking together. But at the same time, it was wrong, because the creature and Anthony as two different beings was even more concerning. His troubles had doubled.

“It’s just like Tiberius said; you don’t care about anything but your own problems. That’s all you think about.” Slim fingers with long sharp nails were placed on each shoulder, digging into his flesh. If it weren’t for the freezing pain already, that would’ve been enough to immobilize him. “Consequences he says? Well, you do think about them, I have to admit. But aren’t those revolving solely around you as well?”

“I changed. I don’t make reckless wishes anymore!” Timmy pleaded, wishing he could finally have some control over this place and his body. It was what Jimmy had said, so this had to be true, right? “I’m not who I was, I didn’t know any better … I had no idea …”

“Oh, don’t worry, I believe you, brother.” The threatening claws released him, instead hugging him around his chest. Far from lightly, as if Anthony wanted to crush his ribs and lungs. “Of course, you were only a kid. And while Tiberius can’t see that, I do. In fact, I want you to be reckless. Make selfish wishes.”

Timmy couldn’t say anything, trying to breathe but getting no air in his lungs.

“I want all your wishes to come true … What a great world that would be, I wonder?” Anthony whispered in his ear, causing yet another cold shiver to run down his spine.

Just as he finished that sentence, more whispers echoed around them. His own voice, distorted and childlike, chanting all the wishes he ever made in a chaotic cacophony.

“I wish my parents wouldn’t lie to me anymore …”

“I wish I had parents that couldn’t care less!”

“I wish everybody looked the same.”

“I wish I had a big strong brother, who would protect me!”

“I wish I were the most wanted child on earth.”

“I wish everybody would stop aging and nobody noticed.”

“I wish I were never born!”

The last one was repeated over and over, getting louder each time. The pressure around his chest was removed, causing Timmy to topple over, coughing. He noticed that something had been bound around his neck – a red ribbon. Or was it a scarf perhaps?

“Sheesh, some tough things you’re working through in the dreamscape, aren’t cha? Anyway, I’d like to keep in touch and make sure you don’t chicken out.” Anthony grinned, hands still midair, a mixture of red and black liquid dripping from his nails. He looked exhilarated while his twin was panicking, adding more to his joy. With him standing right behind Timmy and the monster slouching towards them, the latter had nowhere to run. “I’m sure dear auntie and uncle wouldn’t like that either.”

With a snap of his fingers, the whole place got cracks all over, purple light shining through. Not just the ground, they seemingly shot up into the air as well – he was inside something. A sphere?

“Timmy!” The all too familiar voices of Wanda and Cosmo shouted in unison, flickering into existence above them, just out of his reach and faceless. With all his strength, Timmy wanted to get up and try to reach them, but his legs couldn’t move from the spot. The smooth ground beneath him had changed into a tar-like puddle, his naked feet stuck inside. It was alive, crawling up his ancles, inking his skin as if his body absorbed it.

Shadows danced in the glowing cracks, surrounding the teen and chanting wishes. Some even had the shape of personas or wishes he made, like super bike, Gary, Tommy, Timantha, Gah and all the copies from Unwish Island – not to forget the one that looked like Tiberius. This version of him, however, didn’t have the dark suit. He was so scrawny, wrinkled like that last piece of paper that got stuck in the printer when the ink run out.

They circled him, wide smiles in a marry-go-round.

“While James may have made some empty promises, I hope you’ll stick to our plan, Timothy. Or else … I will take you down with me.” Anthony suddenly took him by the chin, squeezing his cheeks. His crimson eyes had this hypnotizing effect that he couldn’t look away. For a moment, they only stared at each other, silently. Slowly, Anti’s malice seemed to fade. It was just like before in the storage hall, until they were separated. A connection only they could have. Timmy wondered if he would be able to understand Anthony the same way the other seemed to know him, once he found out how it all worked. But what was there to understand about him anyways? He had just been born recently, so there was nothing to understand.

As if Anthony read his mind again, he let him go, taking a few steps back to let the monster and the other shadows surround Timmy. His expression became indifferent, looking down on him. As if he remembered what he was supposed to be doing and how to act again. However, he couldn’t focus on that, his desire to see and hug his godparents too severe with the lurking dangers around him.

“Cosmo! Wanda!” He yelled, the images of them fading like ashes in the wind. Too soon, it was dark again, the lights switched off just like that. “No – nonononono! Mhf!” A bony hand clasped around his mouth, muffling him. A deep snarl. The monster.

It had caught up to him. He couldn’t run away from fate anymore.

In the distance, he heard whistling and receding steps. Timmy did his best to escape, but the forceful grip didn’t leave him any space. He was only able to angle his head a little to the side, watching as Anthony left him behind once again.

“I’ll see you in Dimmsdale, then. You can try to be the better person all you like.” He looked over his shoulder, baring his fangs with a smirk, a small set of batwings spreading on his back. “Or you can break free with me.”

He couldn’t speak, but his mind was racing on its own. What if it was all a lie? Why should he trust him? Everything that happened right now was far from building trust in their deal.

Humming, the raven-haired Tim tilted his head to the side without a care in the world while the monster was still strangling Timmy. Strangely enough, he didn’t choke, it only kept him still enough for the black mud to engulf him, creeping up his legs. No, wait – it was pulling him down! The soft surface he had been standing on changed into a puddle of that goo-stuff.

“Since when did you start to think so much? I don’t have any memories of you acting all considerate and insecure. Say …” He snapped his fingers and the audience of wicked shadows disappeared in the dust as well. “aren’t you tired of always playing by the rules?” Anthony kept walking, his silhouette swallowed by the sphere’s void. “Depending on others and never making your own decisions – how pathetic have we become over these years?”

Wait! He wanted to scream and will it with all his might, but the icy hand of that thing was still grasping his lower head-half and he was afraid if he were to open his mouth, the icky stuff would creep inside. If only he could do something …

“You know, I’m not the one who made you the prisoner of your own heart. I didn’t create this place, I’m merely taking advantage of what has already been here.” Anthony was too far to be seen anymore, but the voice still resonated clear in his mind. “A world full of pure imagination – A playground practically made for you, going to waste. Why don’t you buckle up a bit?”

Easier said than done. He was scared and disgusted, he just wanted to wake up. He didn’t have the knowledge how all of this worked – he was just an average human!

“That’s what you want to believe”, Anthony’s voice said. “And that’s why you need me. Make sure to remember that.”

A third snap turned out the light as if somebody switched it off. Everything disappeared. Everything ended. A sharp pain in his chest and right hand.

✧ « ★ » ✧

Drenched in sweat, Timmy woke up. This time fully aware of what happened during his slumber. It took him a few moments to notice where he was and that he was okay. Or somewhat at least …

“Jimmy?” Anxiously, the teen looked around, dimmed starlight lighting the dark to a certain degree – still, with the shadows in the corners it didn’t ease his racing heartbeat. Jimmy was nowhere to be found, adding to his anxiety. The beanbag next to him was empty and he couldn’t see a switch or anything nearby. The spiraling holographic shapes dancing in the half dark room just made it worse.

With shaky legs, Timmy got to his feet, trying to ignore how heavy and rusty his joints felt. He could still hear the laughter and growling of that monster, paranoia picturing wicked eyes in every crook and gap his gaze landed on.

Reaching for his throat, he couldn’t feel anything restricting it, but he still had the phantom feeling of something tied around it. The red ribbon on his wand … the shadow monsters from the tale … his wishes he specifically talked about with Jimmy … Jimmy telling him he would be here when he woke up and then wasn’t. This –was this still a dream? What if he had been thrown into yet another place? What kind of inception shit was that?!

“Alright, calm down.” Timmy held his breath, refraining from insulting himself because he was anything but about to calm down. “Count to five. Breathe.” Once more, he tried the method Jimmy showed him, simultaneously pinching his arm to wake up in case this really was another fantasy. It wasn’t. “This is … it’s not real. Everything’ll be a-okay.”, he said to himself, like a person that wasn’t about to lose their mind and appeared completely normal to the untrained eye. Or he tried to, at least. “Jimmy said so himself. And he’s always right!”

Since the dancing shadows creeped him out after that experience, he walked over to the table, keeping close to the light source. Without Jimmy, he was literally stranded here, having no idea how to get out of the bag.

Speaking – or thinking – of the traitorous genius, he spotted a note next to the projector. Along with another water bottle and granola bars, how odd.

Sorry for leaving early ...
Need to repair and organize a few things.
Didn’t want to wake you up. Please eat something!!
There are spare clothes in the cupboard next to the beds.
To exit: pull lever. Meet me in the lab.

XO Jimmy

“Wha-?” Timmy had no idea what the crossed-out part was supposed to be, perhaps some kind of formula, maybe a used note he just re-used. Whatever, more important was for how long he had been asleep. There were no windows in this place, neither sunlight nor anything to tell him the time of day. And without any electricity, a clock wouldn’t work even if there was one.

Knowing that Jimmy hadn’t been abducted and that he wasn’t in any immediate danger, Timmy went to said dresser, searching for clothes. His chest still pounded with adrenalin, also a bit dizzy from getting up so fast, but he eventually found something that seemed to be his kind of style. It was hard to tell, but he recognized some pink fabric.

“Wow, he really does want to be prepared for everything.” Amazed, Timmy held the pink shirt with a white collar and sleeve- ends in front of him. It was simple, but still the same trademark color he always wore. There was a drawer dedicated to each of them, it seemed. He also found some baggy pants, which looked like they were straight up duplicated from a street fashion magazine. “How did he even get these?” Did the genius actually design them himself when he invented all this stuff? Or did he have programs and robots to do that? Either way, he wouldn’t have taken Jimmy, of all people, to be interested in fashion trends or care about particular styles his friends would like and wear.

No matter how he made them, Timmy held the shirt close to his chest, inhaling the scent of fresh and new clothes. It seemed ridiculous to be so emotional about holding a pink shirt in his hands, yet it gave him a feeling of security. A piece of home and comfort. And when he noticed a pink-white-green cap with a cartoonish crown-patch in the drawer as well, he choked, holding back a sob.

He didn’t think twice changing the torn clothes for the spare ones. They felt so nice and comforting … he didn’t have a mirror to look at himself, but he could kiss Jimmy with the amount of joy he felt from just gazing at them. Finally, he felt a little more like his self.

Yet, his smile soon faltered when he took a look at his right hand during his inspection. It appeared normal on the first sight, but even in the poor lighting he could see the darkened veins on his wrist and the back of his hand. Long, thin threads shifting and moving beneath his skin. Was that also a gift his twisted twin had left him with?

He sneaked a pair of fingerless gloves from Danny’s drawer to cover them, swallowing the lump in his throat. No, not now. He just woke up. Couldn’t he have one good thing for once? He had no idea if Anthony could hear his thoughts or voice, but he just faced the darkest corner of the room, flipping it off with an expression that couldn’t describe more how done he was with everything, emotionally exhausted from all this mess.

To be frank, Timmy didn’t have the nerves left to freak out about it. He was so frustrated, he wanted to scream and thrash something, but … Jimmy didn’t deserve to have his hard work ruined. And that wouldn’t bring Cosmo and Wanda back either. Yeah, maybe he had become too considerate. Or just too apathetic. Well, it couldn’t be helped. He only felt bitter about keeping yet more new and old secrets from the others because he had no idea how to explain all this. Would they be mad if they found out about the deal? That he didn’t tell them anything about what happened in the bathroom or his dreams? … Would Jimmy be disappointed in him?

“Fuuuuuck”, he hissed, at least a little glad he could now hide his eyes behind his bangs and a cap again as he pulled the reversed hat down, ruffling his hair a little. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!”

If only he knew what was going on with him and how he could control it. Anthony apparently knew way more about his – or their – condition and it couldn’t be a coincidence that this guy repeatedly showed up in his head, whether through illusions or dreams. Especially since he drank that magic potion ...

Rubbing his sore eyes, Timmy fought the urge to crawl back into the beanbag and hide. He wanted answers! And he wanted this nightmare to finally be over! No more waiting, no more consideration – just answers and maybe a little good ol’ brutal action. He wasn’t a kid anymore, afraid of a stupid boogey man!

But first, he had to get out of here, before he could dash off. Now … where was that lever?

While he inspected the walls for anything that would perhaps indicate an exit, he stuffed the bars in his pockets and took a sip from his water – he didn’t want another lecture about the importance of staying hydrated and so forth.

The only thing that even remotely resembled something that could get him out of here, was near the marked mattress. A figurine of a rocket with the tip rammed into an artificial moon half, stuck to the shelf along the vehicle-cubes. Welp, only one way to find out.

Munching on one of the surprisingly not desert dry and bland bars, he twisted the rocket in its bracket. At first, nothing happened. He just heard clicking metal, as if something shifted around the room – or the crafted space itself moved entirely. Afterwards, just like he suddenly fell through the ceiling, a round hole opened in the ground, swallowing him whole, like the entrance to Jimmy’s lab in Retroville did and everything was blue again. Great.

Chapter Text

“And you think that might work?” Danny leaned against the worktable, sipping his coffee. He felt neither tired nor did the caffeine anything to excite him, but he liked the warm feeling it provided in his hands and stomach. It was something real to ground him.

Jimmy, hunched over on said worktable, used a smoldering iron for the finishing touches, careful not to burn the Infi-Map. “It will. Combining my universal portal machine and the map should have the same effect as Tiberius’s … so called dark force.” He held up the newly invented portal gun – the map stuck inside a round tube, combined with his UPM remote and a handle added for better aim. With the little time he had to invent this and upgrade his Neutron Peeler, it looked unprofessional and sloppy, but it would have to do. Not to forget he had limited resources in an unfamiliar lab, but there was no time to jump back to Retroville, so he had to use what was already here.

“And where do we want to go with it? From what Timmy said, the link between Amity Park and Dimmsdale through the Ghost Zone ends in this fairy jail. Walker probably renovated it to his liking already.” It was a suicide mission to end up there, surrounded by minions and robots and they both knew that.

“They could also open portals in specified locations, so we’ll just have to use the link to our advantage.” Jimmy inspected his gun, his finger carefully tracing the outlines. They would probably expect them to appear near the Turner house, since it was the safest option and the area most familiar. Hm, if he could choose the place of their appearance, like he would with the UPM, then he would pick the elementary school. It was the only place Jimmy knew besides Fairy World or the Turner’s neighborhood. But he should talk to Timmy about his plan first, before they made a decision. It was his home and he knew it like the back of his hand, so maybe he had an idea.

“Well, I used the Infi-Map on several occasions, but I leave the portal hopping up to you.” Danny shrugged, sipping from his mug. His green skin turned a shade darker from the heat inside his mouth. “By the way, where’s Timmy?”

Sputtering, Jimmy almost dropped the gun as his fingers tensed up. SpongeBob was still napping inside the tank, luckily with most of his body recovered while Frostbite and Jorgen had decided to return Pandora’s box to their rightful owner along with Wulf. That left only them and Dani, who decided to join her family for the damage control outside. It was his right to ask since Jimmy kind of didn’t elaborate where they suddenly disappeared. Goddard apparently just told him everything was alright and when Jimmy popped out of his own backpack, the ghost boy didn’t ask any further questions. Or maybe he wanted to, but Jimmy was so absorbed in his mind, already three steps ahead with all the improvements he wanted to make as soon as possible, he might have left Dany hanging as he rushed down to the lab again.

“He’s in my … err, still in the pocked dimension” Jimmy quickly placed the still fragile invention on the worktable before he really broke something. It was very unlike him to be so … easily startled, especially when he worked on his gadgets. His hands may have suffered from many experiments, leaving burn marks and other little scar tissue on his hardworking hands, but they were still as steady as an expert surgeon – not that he wanted to test that skill literally. “It’s a long story … basically a compact camper for traveling. It’s where I stack my inventory and uhm … there are beds.”

Danny made a humming noise, intently watching the genius from the side. His stern parental gaze made Jimmy squirm involuntarily, as if he did something forbidden. “You could’ve told me about that. And I made you guys sleep on the floor like a bad host.” Then again, if that happened, he wouldn’t have been able to help Dani and the others in their fight if she hadn’t found them right away, so maybe it was for the best they didn’t divo into another dimension or something. He was just a little disappointed Jimmy didn’t tell him about it, regardless of how little time they had for a calm chat since they were here. “Well, as long as you guys got some rest, it doesn’t matter.”

“Yeah, it was really necessary.” Jimmy started to tinker on something else, just so he had something to keep his hands busy and an excuse to not make eye contact. It was one of the many Specter Deflector Belts from the storage.

They may have only been able to get a few hours of sleep, but they really helped to clear his head. When he woke up with Timmy in his arms he almost choked on his own spit, wide awake and paralyzed until the memories kicked in. Maybe his jumpiness came from his guilt since he stared at Turner for most of the time and touched him without consent. It was only a light peck on the forehead and accidental cuddling in his sleep, but he still thought it was a little too soon for that. He didn’t want to make a move before it was clarified what their relationship status was or … before he had the opportunity to talk to Timmy about it in the first place. Alas, they had more important things to work through first. “He should rest as much as he can before we leave. And he also needs to eat properly. Or take more care of himself in general.” Jimmy preferred the engorging, messy and loud teen over the stressed out, starving kid that kept everything to himself. Now that he knew just how much pressure was placed upon Timmy’s shoulders, he wanted to keep an eye on him and make sure he didn’t overdo it.

“Well, takes one to know one.” Danny patted the other’s shoulders, his hand only warmed up through the coffee but void of any living presence. “I lost track of how many times Timmy asked me to help drag your ass out of the lab.”

“He did?” With how quick Jimmy turned in the office chair around, he had to clear his throat to not make it too obvious how curious he was. Well, he remembered Timmy spamming him with messages and when he didn’t reply for too long, it wouldn’t take more than a day for the others to show up at his entrance, but he thought it was a mutual thing and not Timmy being the driving force behind it. “Uhm … sure. But I’ve gotten better at it – Or I aspire to be, at least.” He quickly corrected himself when he observed the dad-frown appearing on Danny’s expression.

“Yeah, I can see that. To be honest, it’s crazy how you both can be such stubborn troublemakers without noticing and lecturing each other about the same bad habits. And with everything piling up so far …” Maybe he wasn’t the best role model either, always receiving the same criticism from his sisters as well. He put the mug away, half sitting on the table to indicate they were going to have a talk now, whether Jimmy wanted to or not. “Is there anything you want to talk about?”

“What do you mean?” The genius stubbornly attempted to keep working, but he soon gave up, feeling the stare on him. With Danny’s green ghost eyes, it was even more intense than usual. “I … don’t have time for this.”

“But something’s bothering you.” Danny correctly guessed. “Ever since we found Timmy, you’re acting like his life depends on you … or you at least think that it is. I understand it, seeing him in that state was brutal but there’s something else, right? Is it about the whole magic thing?”

Jimmy leaned behind, the chair’s reversible back falling with him until Jimmy faced the ceiling. It was uncomfortable and made him feel like he was on the couch next to a therapist. “I don’t know … why exactly, okay? We had these dangerous adventures before and we also got hurt, but neither of us ever had to fight alone. Seeing him covered in blood and injuries … screaming in pain … and then this absurd fight with Tiberius and Vlad – his fucking leg was almost cut off! You didn’t see it, but he was also choked by Vlad and I couldn’t really do anything efficient to help him. This whole ‘magic’ thing is so unreal and I …” Jimmy sat back up, looking at his palms, already shaking from the mere memory of the past events. “I don’t know how to counter or prepare for that. My serum worked, but at what cost? And to make it worse, I failed to see how much he was already suffering before even that, for several years now. I didn’t realize any of it – what kind of a genius am I?”

Clenching his fists. Jimmy pressed his mouth into a thin line. He had made up his mind to keep Timmy safe. He wanted to help him. But how could he fight something that he didn’t understand? He wasn’t able to stop Tiberius or Vlad or prevent Timmy from going into a drugged berserker state that only made things worse. He made such a big promise to the person he liked without any proof that he could hold it. “All I could do so far was patching him up, but I don’t want him to get hurt in the first place! … That’s why the plan and my inventions need to be perfect now.”

“Man, I missed out a lot in these few minutes, didn’t I?” Running a hand through his flame like hair, Danny sighed, processing the information. “Dude, you really don’t have to blame yourself for something that isn’t under your control. I know seeing someone you care about getting hurt is terrible, but … speaking from experience, being absorbed in your fear won’t help Timmy. You can’t protect everyone from everything and trying to do so will only wake you miserable.”

“And how do you do it? How would you get over it if you saw your sisters or Sam hurt like that, not knowing how to make it better?” Jimmy argued, so far not appeased with that advice since he had figured as much already.

“I would be there for them any way I can. Not knowing the solution won’t stop me from taking on the challenge.” Danny leaned forward, a hint of a bitter smile on his lips. He lost his human form, but not his humanity after all. At least he hoped so. “Don’t let your fears stop you or question your abilities. You’re not just smart, you can improvise and make something out of anything, Jim! You’ll figure something out, I’m sure. Just give your brain a break too, okay?” It was then that Danny realized something important. “And I’m sorry for making you doubt yourself so much in the first place. I shouldn’t have yelled at you yesterday with that serum … You always try to help and I trust your judgment.”

“It’s fine. T-thank you, Danny.” Still not handling compliments and apologies well, Jimmy looked to the side. He had no idea how much the affirmation meant to him until he heard it. It actually made him feel lighter around the older boy. “You’re probably right.” If he could make a time machine from scratch without electricity, he could come up with something to fight magic and dark forces. He just had to believe more in himself, as SpongeBob would say.

Like always, Danny was right. He was the big brother Jimmy never had and as much as he could criticize him sometimes, he was always there and just as selfless if it came to it. Even now, he had enough of his own issues to deal with and still took the time to help and listen to him. “Uhm, while we’re at it, can I ask you for another advice? I know, we have urgent matters and it’s perhaps not the best time now, but-“

“Just spit it out, Neutron.” Danny huffed with slight amusement, shoving his shoulder a little. “The end of the world won’t run away if we have a normal conversation for a few minutes.”

“Okay, err … how did you confess to Sam exactly?” Jimmy suddenly found it very interesting to fiddle with his hands again. Danny almost lost his balance, falling from the table. He was prepared for any question but certainly not that one. “I mean, you two have been best friends for many years so … when did you realize your feelings for her were more than … you know?”

“Okay that’s an unexpected question.” Having a hinge where this was going, the Phantom fixed his posture, a sly grin on his face as he realized where this was probably going. “Do you have a crush on a longtime friend or something?”

He didn’t need an answer, the heavy blush on Jimmy’s entire face spoke for itself.

“Oh my ghost, you finally want to confess to Timmy?!” Danny almost knocked the mug over with his excited jolt, grabbing the younger teen by the shoulders. He probably owed Sam twenty bucks now.

Jimmy quickly used his foot to push the chair in the opposite direction, breaking free and creating a little distance between them. “I just – nevermind. This isn’t important right now.”

“Fuck no, I want to hear everything! I didn’t even think you were into boys at all until you guys got so touchy with each other a year ago.” Which was about the time after Jimmy got over his break up with Cindy. Sam had predicted they were both too wrapped up in their own worlds and heartache to notice what a perfect match they were for each other. Danny just thought she was teasing, but since Timmy’s seventeenth birthday, when the boy was so giddy and happy that he danced with Jimmy, Danny had started to see it too. However, it never was that obvious before a couple days ago, so it was easy to ignore the subtle pining. What happened since Friday the 13^th, however, was something else. And boy, were they down bad. “What happened to Mr. my only love interests are science and Marie Curie?”

“Don’t be so loud!” Jimmy finally stood up, holding a finger to his lips, listening for anything other than SpongeBob’s unique snoring from Danielle’s room in the distance. Nobody was here, not even Goddard or Poof who guarded the backpack in Danny’s room. “It’s … I’m not sure, I just realized it because of all that. Seeing Timmy hurt and knowing how much he suffered … I want to … I don’t know ...”

“Fix him?” Growing suspicious, Danny crossed his arms, still a little amused but also protective. He had to make sure they both had the right intentions and mind sets, after all. He didn’t like playing favorites, but he didn’t want for Timmy to have even more mentally conflicting struggles piled up on him.

However, Jimmy furiously shook his head. “Absolutely not, he’s perfect! He just … Uhm, he needs to heal. Emotionally and physically. I have no idea when it started or why, but I don’t want him to be hurt anymore. And when this is over, I was thinking if – how – Ugh.” Hiding his face in his hands, Jimmy groaned. This was so embarrassing to talk about and it was certainly not the right timing. “I want him to be happy, no matter how it turns out. I was just wondering what I should do and your situation was similar, right? And you’re also the only one of us in a healthy, stable long time relationship, so asking you is technically the best option.”

“Can’t argue with the facts.” Danny didn’t even try to hide his smirk. “Honestly, it was weird for me too. I tried to ignore and suppress these feeling for a long time. I was afraid of ruining our friendship, confusing my alleged platonic feelings for love or reading too much into Sam’s actions when she was being just a supportive friend.” Reminiscing in these nostalgic memories, he sighed. “It’s ironic but without me becoming a ghost, I don’t know if we would’ve ever realized it we were more than friends without these major plot events or … I dunno, our bond wouldn’t have ever become so close at least.” He rubbed the back of his head, feeling a little guilty now for distancing from her recently. Not just now with his current condition, but with his detachment from his human life altogether and not telling her anything about his problems. Sure, Sam was never the clingy or prying type, but he probably should’ve at least confessed about his fears. “It sort of developed slowly from subtle jealousy and overprotectiveness to fake out make outs. With the impending end of the world, a Disasteroid on the way and everything, teenager make rushed decisions.” Danny walked around Jimmy, lightly elbowing him. Like his friend, he tried to shove these thoughts aside. He could still make up for it once everything was normal again and he had the time to talk with Sam, his friends and his family about everything. “But hey, you’re the smart guy, you’ll figure something out. And it took you so long to realize your feelings, maybe don’t rush it and give yourself some time to sort your thoughts. And maybe, when things are less stressful, you can pour your introverted heart out to him.”

Somehow, Jimmy didn’t imagine confessing his feelings to be so difficult. He had no problem to tell Cindy she was all he could think about when he was under the pheromone influence. But then again, his brain hadn’t been able to think rationally. He really made a fool of himself whenever he actively tried to impress someone, be it that cowgirl, Betty or Cindy … but Timmy knew him. His flaws, how he felt, how awkward he could be – maybe it didn’t have to be so complicated? He was a guy, that should be easier, right? They knew each other for several years and the last two nights they had both shown each other from their most vulnerable sides … He just knew Timmy had to feel at least something more than mere friendship for him. As exhausted and sleep deprived as they were, the mood last night under the artificial starlight … Timmy’s dreamy face and the nice compliments he gave him … He didn’t read too much into this. Probably. Certainly.

Ugh, the more he questioned the past events, the less sure Jimmy was. Heck, he was distracted, his stupid crush made it impossible to think straight now, of all times when he had be one hundred percent concentrated on the mission.

“Perhaps you’re right.” Clearing his throat louder than necessary, the genius went back to work on his new invention. “I’ve got other things to prioritize for now anyway.”

“Yeah, sorry I can’t give you better advice or support.” Lifting his hands in defeat, Danny gave the young man his space to work, sitting on another office chair – the big one his dad usually sat in. It was comfy enough to hang his legs over one arm rest and casually lean back. “All I’m saying is, that it may be a little weird if you develop feelings for a yearlong friend and don’t know how they’ll take it. But in you case, I’ve got a pretty strong feeling it’s mutual.”

“Leapin’ Lap-!” Not expecting that kind of information, Jimmy burned himself with the end of the still hot smoldering iron he wanted to put away. Waving his hand to cool it off, he was too stunned to think of a better way to treat the injury on his index finger other than sucking on it. It wasn’t damaged enough to draw blood, the skin was merely irritated so would be just a minor inconvenience. At least he was wide awake now. “W-whaff gave you fath idea?”

Shrugging, the ghost boy remained secretive. “Dunno, just a hunch. I mean, you’re anything but subtle and his eyes literally light up when you … Ah, nevermind” He left the unfinished sentence hanging heavily in the air, making the decision to not involve himself any further than this. Jimmy was good at analyzing, so he would figure it out.

“Oh, come on!” Like a moody child Jimmy whined, his expression displaying the same curiosity and frustration he had when he really, really wanted to know something but couldn’t for some reason and he would mope around until he got to the bottom of it – which ended with him giddy and smug, his mood meter scale off the charts. Sometimes it was annoying to his friends, especially the ‘in your face dance’ but then again, it was nice to see Jimmy act a little childish and boastful and it didn’t happen in so long that Danny kinda missed the Immy’s quarrels. “When I do what?”

“Ah, crud, I forgot about it.” But not enough to be less of a menace. By now, Danny was merely teasing, enjoying the bewildered reaction. The blush was replaced by anger and if he squinted, he could almost see the smoke coming out of his ears. “Well gotta go, I think I hear my parents calling me.”

“Daniel!” Jimmy stomped his foot, walking after the hovering ghost, trying to grab his arm to pull him back, but his hand went right through him, giving the genius goosebumps. “I swear to Da Vinci, I’ll put you in a vacuum cleaner if I have to – tell me!”

“Not a chance buddy.” With his arms behind his head, he floated lazily from one end to the lab to the other, his angry friend following.

“Did I miss something?”

Halfway down the stairs, Timmy leaned over the railing, confused by the sudden loud voices. The suspicious crown was back to hovering above his head, illuminating his face. It wasn’t any day Jimmy could be so flustered. The rare times the genius was Danny’s victim of teasing and not him usually included something really funny or embarrassing and would lead to threats of using a memory wipe gun or the hypno beam on them. Jimmy would never do that, of course, but it was really cute to see him like this.

“Not really, Jimmy’s just about to become a full-fledged Ghost Bust- I mean Getter – now.” Danny smirked, his legs turning into his ghost tail which he held just out of reach from Jimmy’s wrath. It was nice to forget his trauma and act like an actual young adult when he was far from being that right now. Physically at least. “How was the pocket-slumber?”

“It – err, it was good. Really good.” Timmy looked to the side, cramping his right hand deep inside the pocket of his new pants. “And thanks for the new clothes. They’re awesome.”

“No problem.” Fixing his posture, Jimmy did his best to play it cool as if the last few minutes didn’t happen and he hadn’t been about to jump on Danny’s back like he was on a Texan bull-rodeo. “And I’m glad you like them. You look good – I mean, they suit you.”

Timmy wasn’t sure if that was supposed to be a flirty compliment to him or if Jimmy indirectly praised himself for his taste and invention. He decided to brush it off, scratching his cheek with the other hand. “Thank you. And also for the snacks.” He presented the empty wrapping to proof he had eaten them, feeling obligated to do so for some reason. Jimmy’s note was also still cramped in his pockets too somewhere. He didn’t want to leave it behind or throw it away so it was just … there.

“Good. You look already healthier.” Besides the golden glow, he was still a little pale, but together with the poor lighting in the basement it could easily fool him. Jimmy was just glad to see his crush in a more natural form, with a pink shirt and a cap. Although he wouldn’t’ve taken Turner for the kind of guy to wear fingerless gloves when he wasn’t skateboarding. “I’m sorry I left you inside by yourself, though. I wanted to be there and show you around but …”

“Nah, it’s alright. We’ve got things to do.” Unsure what to do with himself, Timmy moved his body weight from one side to the other impatiently. “As long as you also got some sleep.” The teen noticed Jimmy had less present eyebags and his hair wasn’t as messy as before. Still just slicked back with hair gel but tidier.

“I did. And I worked on the modified Peeler, the new portal gun and some other things.” Jimmy gestured behind him to the lab. “Everyone else is – uhm we’re meeting soon, I think.”

“Huh, ok.” Not sure what else to say or do in this situation, Timmy just looked around. After yesterday, he didn’t seem as eager to talk now. It was also strange that he brought neither the backpack nor Goddard and Poof with him.

“… You guys are hopeless.” Not able to witness this awkward conversation any longer, Danny facepalmed. They had it so bad for each other, it almost hurt. Whatever happened since last night, this was even worse than the unintentional pining. “I see you two outside when you’re ready. I gotta meet Tuck and the others before we leave.”

And with that, Danny took a shortcut by turning intangible and flew through the ceiling. Okay, that was weird.

“What’s his problem?” Timmy asked, raising his brows. With just the two left, the mood was even more odd now. Not like the serene silence in the pocket dimension – or bag dimension?

Jimmy shrugged. He also experienced a sudden change compared to last night. As if he had somehow missed his train and now he was stuck at the station, waiting for the next chance. “I’m a genius but people’s intentions are one thing even I can’t always figure out.” He said as relaxed as he could, hoping the other wouldn’t catch on what they were talking about mere minutes ago. But now since they were alone, he just had to ask. “Are you really feeling better?”

Huffing, Timmy averted his gaze. Lying was useless in a situation like this, but he couldn’t possibly tell the truth either. He felt already bad with even more secrets weighing him down and he knew he could trust Jimmy, but … he would have to explain so much and with the situation, his connection to Anthony (this guy could spy on him the whole time for all he knew) and his dreams … where should he start? He was so done with it. He could be as stubborn as he wanted but it always ended with him falling flat on his face whenever he gained confidence and hope. As if the entire universe had made it their goal to make him miserable when he was finally thinking he could be better.

“Tim?”

Oh right, he spaced a little out there for a moment. “I’m … better.” Even as he said it out loud, he didn’t believe a single word himself. “Better than yesterday, really. Talking and eating helped, surprisingly.”

“I suppose mom was right when she said a full stomach lifts the mood.” Jimmy mumbled, subtly checking Timmy’s frame for any other injuries or something he might’ve missed with his tiredness. “If there’s anything else I can do – or if you just want me to listen, I’m here.” Jimmy shoved the hands in his pockets so he would resist the urge to take Timmy’s hand or brush the bangs out of his face. “Well, not here exactly, we’re actually planning to leave in an hour or so and I wanted to wake you up before that – I hope you didn’t have trouble exiting the room.”

“Okay, okay, I get it.” Timmy lifted his hands in defeat before quickly shoving them behind his back. “And thanks, I’ll take you up on that offer when this is over. But could you do me a favor?”

“Anything – I mean, of course.” Jimmy proceeded to rub his clammy hands on the fabric of his pants. He was somehow only making this worse for him, the conversation with Danny and the memory of last night clouding his judgement. His usually analytic eye wouldn’t have missed the suspicious behavior otherwise.

Timmy smirked, the genius’s nervousness having its own unique charm. If it weren’t for that stupid dream and his encounter with Athony, it would’ve been easy to shove his worries aside for now. But, especially with the shadow figures of his undone wishes, it was hard to forget – something he never thought he would crave. “What I told you yesterday about … everything … can this stay between us? I know, secrets are stupid and Danny and Bobby wouldn’t judge or anything but …” He didn’t know how to properly communicate it, his eyes darting around to find the right words. “I can’t afford to … Iet it drag me down? Just … can we postpone this until all of this is over?” If there was a moment after that, that was.

Well, how could Jimmy deny this pleading look? He understood the stress and how unpleasant it must be for him. Right, this wasn’t the time for emotions and deep talking. Get a grip, Neutron. “No problem, it’s your decision, after all. I won’t say anything and you decide when you want to share more.” He attempted to give him an encouraging smile but felt the strain as his lips pulled upward. His high-speed brain had already been ahead of itself. Just two days ago everything was normal between them and now in the short time being Jimmy became aware of his crush, accepting said crush last night, hadn’t even come to terms with his identity and what to make with all this information and now he had been distracted building his weapons, wondering how he could win Timmy over. He was going too fast, wasn’t he? How silly of him. He had no room for … feelings. The irony.

“Thanks, Jimmy.” Timmy’s tense shoulders relaxed a little. Once more there was a beat of silence between them, both wallowing in their own guilt-ridden thoughts. Until Turner remembered to ask something important. “Uhm, so, Goddard and Poof are in Danny’s room, but where is everyone else by the way?”

“Oh. OH! Yeah, right. Let me just grab a few things.” Jimmy speed walked back into the lab. Since he didn’t have his backpack with him, he just shoved most of his gadgets inside his coat or held them in his arms. He could’ve asked Timmy for assistance, but that thought didn’t cross his mind now. “We still have some time until we’re heading out. I still need to test the portal gun and – err, we’re meeting the others in the backyard.” He didn’t want to ramble again, shutting off his external monologue and instead focused on his mental To-Do list.

Timmy was soon by his side again, looking over his shoulder. It was a little like the good old times when he visited him in Retroville, peeking to have a look at Jimmy’s newest invention inside his own lab. “Need a hand?”

“It’s fine, I just …” With his arms full, the genius looked over the endless work benches, tables and the big room overall. It was so different from his own lab. Unfamiliar area, unknown machines and other things, plus he didn’t want to just take everything from someone else without permission … It confused his brain. At home, he could maneuver through the lab blindfolded, everything had its designated place and most of his work was just autonomic. With practiced ease, he could let his mind wander and think about nothing or ponder about something that bothered him. And now, it was hard for him to keep his attention on a specific thing. Which didn’t happen often, unless he was stressed, anxious or – under rare circumstances – with his head in the clouds. Yeah, maybe accepting and dwelling on his emotions wouldn’t do him any good in the long run.

A left hand was waved in front of his nose, pulling him out of his head. “Just let me carry the stuff, ‘kay?”

With a dry mouth, Jimmy nodded, handing Timmy the things and running around the lab to get some more. When he as sure he had everything they would need, he suggested to go upstairs and store them in his bag, which Timmy agreed on. On his way out, Jimmy had just about enough of his mind left to turn off the lights. Hopefully he didn’t forget anything.

“Hello? Is it still nighttime?” SpongeBob’s voice echoed through the now empty and dark basement, followed by a long yawn. He was still in the tank in Dani’s abandoned room. “Can someone let me out of this tank now? Anybody? … Hellooo?”

✧ « ★ » ✧

Of course, SpongeBob was eventually released from the tank, glad to finally have more room to move. For someone who spent most of his life living underwater, he sure was glad to breathe some air again. And, with a new fresh coat of Jimmy’s moisture spray, he was as good as new. The evidence of Damian’s acid were nearly gone, only a slight burn mark on the right corner of his head left over.

However, now that he could freely move again, the first thing he did was to give his friend Danny a big and tight hug, not fazed by the lack of warmth or the shiver it caused him. The young adult had a harder time getting comfortable, hesitating before he moved his hands to pat the little guy on the back.

Everyone had gathered by now, even Jorgen, Frostbite and Wulf returned from the Ghost Zone through the portal. Danny’s family stood by the Assault Vehicle along with Sam and Tucker while Timmy and Jimmy stood next to the hovercar, leaning against it while Goddard and Poof already sat inside.

“Alright, so here’s the plan.” Danny spoke up as all of them were up to date with everyone’s wellbeing.

According to Frostbite, the traces of their enemies and all the androids in the Ghost Zone had left or were neatly sucked up inside Pandora’s box. From their point of view, there had been no direct passage or portal that led to Dimmsdale. Tucker and Sam were back from the city hall, after dealing with the police and his vice-mayor that was in charge for now. Jimmy and Timmy had spent the last hour packing their stuff and trying out the new gadgets while brainstorming a little about their enemies’ weaknesses. The Fenton’s had completed their patrol, helping the fire fighters to clean the roads of rubble and trash. All in all, the aftermath of their battle at the not-so-funfair went smoothly. Yet, strangely enough, there was no noise of any fans or news reporters outside the Fenton DeFence – confirming to Danny that the citizens were too scared of more attacks (or him) to hinder their plans. Or, well, it was still late morning.

“Me, Bob, Timmy, Jorgen, Jimmy, Poof and Goddard will use Jimmy’s new portal gun to travel to Timmy’s universe while you guys all stay here and make sure Vlad and the others don’t try another secret invasion.”, he finished off, fists in his hips as he addressed his friends and family. It wasn’t a plan exactly, he had just vaguely talked about it with Jimmy in the lab and made the decision on his own, but … well, there was no time for a big conference with everyone.

“What? You’ve got to be kidding me!” Dani loudly protested. “There’s no way we let you guys go there all alone after everything that happened.”

“Especially not with Vlad and his new clone on the loose.” Sam added, clenching her fists. “What would make you think they’ll come back here when they’re clearly trying to lure you into a trap anyway?”

“Not to mention Skultech, Walker, Ember and probably even more of your old enemies backing them up.” Tucker concluded, crossing his arms. “You can’t handle all of that yourselves, man.”

Still, stubborn as ever, Danny knew his family and friends wouldn’t agree with him, which didn’t mean he was going to give in just like that. He had already figured they would want to come along. “And what if they do try to invade Amity Park again while we’re not here? They may not have the Infi-Map anymore, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have other ways to travel. And if we’re too many, we’ll just draw more attention to us.” His stern gaze softened as he saw the doubting expressions of his parents. “Please, we stopped the Syndicate all by ourselves already. Another organization won’t change that.”

“Maybe, but they weren’t able to turn you into a full ghost by just wishing to do so!” Jazz insisted, stepping closer to her little brother. “What if they have more of that stuff? How do you plan to counter that?” This was different than the Syndicate or Volcano Island. They could prepare before throwing themselves into the final battles and it was stupid to leave them behind because Danny worried about them when he was clearly the ghost’s target.

Like always when his sister had a fair point, Danny deflates, not knowing how to counter her argument. He just didn’t want them to end up hurt as well. He had no idea if he could focus on fighting and protecting at the same time. He wouldn’t be able to give it his all when he had to hold back or couldn’t concentrate. Even if they could hold their own, he didn’t want them to fight his battles. And most importantly: He didn’t want them to treat him like a fragile raw egg just because of what happened to him the night prior.

“With magic-proof armor, of course.”, Jimmy suddenly answered to Danny’s surprise. He pulled the latest invention out of his backpack that Timmy originally helped carry out of the lab with him. The belts. Right, he had been working on that and scribbled something on his paper with words like jerkinator or something. “Tiberius actually revealed the potion’s biggest weakness in our battle. He said that fairy magic can’t be used to kill people, so it’s still bound by the same rules and laws, right?” He glanced over to Jorgen, who nodded slowly, suspicious of the strange belts the genius had in his hands. “I installed the net launchers from the Fenton Grapplers inside the buckles of the Fenton Specter Deflectors. It can either cover the holder itself or the opponent.”

As soon as that information was revealed, both Poof and Jorgen tensed up, eyeing the items even more cautious. Right, despite their adamant differences, all fairy species had the same weaknesses in a way.

Jimmy continued with his explanation: “And since the nets are made with ectoplasm-energy, it can also trap ghosts.” Which didn’t mean they were acid proof, but that was as good and convincing as it would get. He could relate to Danny’s conflicted mind. He wouldn’t have a problem to bring Sheen and Carl along, but he would never want his parents to accompany him …

“Really? Err … See? We’re prepared now, it’ll be fine. And once we defeated them, everything’s going back to normal – me included.” Danny assured his sister, taking her warm hands in his cold ones. Despite the temperature difference, it was her that trembled. “And I need you guys here to keep Amity Park safe. I can’t trust anyone to protect the city but you guys and there are probably still other ghosts that might take advantage of the chaos.”

And judging by the grimace on Jazz’s face, she realized that she couldn’t change his mind, whether through logic or guilt tripping.

Knowing that discussing this matter with their son would lead them nowhere and that he was old enough to make his own decisions, Maddie sighed, the comfort of her husband’s arm around her shoulder not easing her motherly worry. “At least we have the home advantage here.” She said, taking her red goggles off to properly look at her son and daughter.

Nodding, Danny gave her a weak smile. He felt bad for that part inside himself that was glad to have a little distance from his family in his current state. He could barely tolerate looking at himself, he didn’t want to see the pitiful stares of hear their words of encouragement the whole time – one morning was already enough. And he didn’t wand Vlad, Damian or their accomplices to use them as hostages or something like that. He had been a so-called hero long enough to know all the kinds of ways his enemies would try to force him to surrender.

What deeply hurt him in his chest even more than that, however, was leaving his sisters and best friends behind. He really had to fix his issues with Sam and talk to her after that. They were right, he shouldn’t have to sacrifice himself all the time. And he should accept their help more, just … not right away, you know? A bunch of ghosts and minions on city-level threat were no problem, but a multiversal danger? That was a little too much and too soon to crank his protector-complex down.

While Sam averted her eyes, it was Tucker who sighed, walking towards his best friend once Jazz stepped aside. He reached inside the bag he was carrying. “I swear, sometimes I feel sorry for Bobby, dealing with you three stubborn idiots constantly.”, he tried to joke hoping to lift the mood a little. It didn’t reach his eyes and even he couldn’t help but look sad, knowing he wouldn’t be able to convince Danny to take him with them. Worst case was he would grab the portal gun and go on his own if they forced him to change his mind. A little extreme, but he could see his dumb friend doing just that. “Still, we should stay in contact. And if you guys need backup, give us a call okay?” He handed them more communicators like the one Timmy had already. “I don’t know if the signal is strong enough once you pass the Ghost Zone, but Goddard sent me some neat code and blueprints on my PDA, so I’ll work on that with your parents in the meantime.”

“Thanks, Tuck.” Danny smiled, glad that he could always rely on his buddy. He had a thing for running into trouble with his big mouth a lot, but the ghost boy had no idea what he would do without him. “I promise we’ll reach out and take care of each other.” He eyed his sisters, parents and Sam behind Tucker, filled with determination knowing he had their undying support despite everything throughout all these years. “I love you all.”

He wasn’t a fourteen year old boy anymore, but he still cringed a little inwardly hearing himself say such embarrassing words out loud. But … well, he should say that more often. If only for the smiles he received in return – even from Sam.

“Just make sure to get back in once piece. Human, ghost, half-ghost or unicorn – I don’t care, Danny. You know I never did and it doesn’t change anything, right?” Sam called over to him, causing the young adult to stare at her with wide eyes. Yes, he knew that. But hearing it was still something he didn’t thought he’d need.

“Of course, he will get back in one piece, I’ll make sure of that myself.” Dani claimed. While Danny bid his emotional farewell, she had already sneaked inside the hovercar, crossing her legs above the wheel – much to Jimmy’s dislike. “It’s not fair you get to have the amazing adventures all the time.”

“Absolutely not!” Danny turned around so fast, giving his head nearly a whiplash. “Get out of the car, Danielle!”

Jimmy also had something to say against it, though with different priorities. “That’s my seat.”

“Bruh, I don’t need a seat, I can fly just fine. And I’m technically 19, so you can’t tell me what to do.” She insisted, not moving an inch.

“If you’re so grown up, stop being such a brat then!” Danny shouted, already moving to try and get her out, but she turned intangible, making it impossible to grip her, even as a ghost since they were in the human realm. “Mom!”

“Sorry sweety, you know how she gets sometimes. We can’t tie her down when she sets her mind on something.” Their mother shrugged, smiling a little as she put her hands on her hips. The thought of having two of her children in danger didn’t sit right with her either, but at least they had each other to protect. “But if either of you returns with so much as a hair out of place, you’re both grounded. I don’t care how old you are.”

“Yeah, what your mother said.” Jack mimicked her posture, not having much to add to this threat. Except for the most basic sentence. “As long as you both live under our roof –“

“Ugh, oh my ghost, can we go already?” Dani dramatically threw her head back, groaning. Poof hovered next to her, giggling due to her antics. “I mean, if lil’ Poofers here gets to play, don’t mind if I do as well, you know?” She turned back to normal just so she could high five the little guy and hop over to the right backseat. It was both their first adventures that they spent along their big brothers, so he was already on her side, which made Timmy silently pray for strength. Both had a mind of their own but together they would surely cause a lot of work on top of everything.

Gaping like a fish, Danny tried to think of anything that would get his little sister to stay here, but he came up with nothing that wouldn’t make him look like a hypocrite. “FINE! But you listen to me and when I say run or stay back –“

“I’ll run or stay back, got it.” She gave him a thumbs up, which … didn’t convince Danny one bit. She was his biological clone and knowing himself, she wouldn’t do that. He was unsure if he should question either his own or her sense for self-preservation because of that.

A cold and big hand was placed on Danny’s shoulder next. “Wulf and I will make sure to do our part in the Ghost Zone as well. If we find any traces of that new portal or the enemy, we will notify all of you.”

“Thanks, Frostbite.” With at least one wise companion among these lunatics, Danny was sure Amity Park and his dimension were in safe hands. He still walked over to his sister, giving her a light smack on the back of her head to voice his humble opinion about her meddling. She blew raspberry’s at him and fastened the seatbelt for good measure.

“And how are we all supposed to fit in this puny thing?” Jorgen questioned, leaving out the fact that everyone would fit in comfortably with Poof and Goddard on their laps, except for himself. Not that he would fit into a regular convertible red Cadillac Eldorado if he were alone regardless.
He had mostly decided to stay out of this conversation since it didn’t involve him and he, for once, didn’t want to interrupt a touching moment. It was like a farewell episode of his favorite romance and drama shows, and he was a little soft on the inside when it came to emotional things. Not that he would outright show that or anything, his voice was just a little softer than usual.

“Can’t you change your appearance as well?” Timmy asked with a raised brow. As his temporary fairy and on several other occasions, Jorgen had shown his ability to shapeshift just like any other fairy. And he was the strongest one in the universe, it would exhaust him less than his little brother, after all. “Like a mouse or a watch or something.”

“As if I would turn myself into a namby-pamby pipsqueak animal or trinket! I only change into manly things!” The warden squared his shoulders. He would no doubt have an easier time walking around, especially with a missing leg, but he was far too proud for that. “And a rhinoceros or cactus won’t fit either.”

“Poof poof.”

“A Schnauzer?!” Jorgen didn’t look very pleased to turn into a dog again. The last time wasn’t as pleasant – except for the fact that he could beat Crocker with his canines. “Why should I turn myself into a lousy mutt?”

Next to Jimmy’s leg’s Goddard growled. He wasn’t designed after a specific breed, but he still didn’t like such insukts, even if he wasn’t a real dog and they weren’t directed at him.

“Are we seriously discussing this? You’re gonna have to disguise yourself either way when we return, so just change into the smallest manly thing or whatever, we’re in a rush here.” Timmy climbed into the front passenger seat, his fairy brother turning into an earring that respawned on Timmy’s ear. Jimmy, SpongeBob and Danny exchanged glances. Sure, they were busy and Timmy was anxious enough, but he usually had more compassion for such intimate moments. Well, Jorgen probably got easier under his skin, especially with the revelation from yesterday. His friends just hoped the warden and him wouldn’t end up at each other’s throats again.

Jorgen grumbled something unintelligible before addressing Frostbite reluctantly. “Make sure to contact Clockwork and the Observants. If we really don’t manage to stop them from altering our Reality, we might have to use your Time.”

“Only as a last resort. Using one against the other could cause a dangerous rift in space or create an alternative timeline and parallel universe, it still wouldn’t save this one.” The leader of the Far Frozen theorized, nodding to Wulf who used his claws to create a blue makeshift portal to the Ghost Zone. “Save travels, my friends.”

“Wait, what was that about alternate timelines?” Danny had no chance to ask further, his big furry friends already disappearing. Just great, more questions and classified knowledge. “Seriously, what are you guys doing in your free time?!”

“None of your concern for now, puny Fenton. Just hope we don’t have to use that kind of solution again.” Jorgen eyes Timmy with a sharp gaze before he turned himself into a black-greenish Doberman Pinscher with a snap. As if he hadn’t just trash talked about dogs, he climbed into the open trunk of the hovercar with his three legs and closed it from the inside. Apparently, his makeshift prosthetic hadn’t changed with him and was simply gone in this form. But on three legs he at least seemed to move less clumsily and faster.

Sighing, Jimmy went to his car to get the mess on the backseat cleared up and make enough room for Dani, Danny and SpongeBob. A billion questions popped up in his mind upon hearing about time and space alteration, but he didn’t want to keep Turner waiting even more and they would never get going otherwise, so he had to suppress his curiosity for now.

“I guess this is it.” Danny climbed into the backseat on the right, buckling up like a regular person as if he weren’t a ghost that could fly and wouldn’t have to bother about safety. “Well, I won’t be home for dinner tonight so … take care.” He waved sheepishly, while Dani gave their family and friends a salute.

“Sure thing, kids. Make us proud and bring honor to our name!” Jack cheered them on like a Viking or a very passionate football fan. “And I hope we get to work on new inventions together in the future, Jimmy boy!”

“Kick Vlad’s ass for me, dear.” Maddie smiled, clinging to her husband so she wouldn’t dive towards her kids and suffocate them with her hug.

“And you both better don’t die out there or I’ll end you myself.” Jazz threatened her younger siblings, masking her worries as well. Tucker just waved back. And Sam on the other hand … wasn’t able to hide her sadness that well.

Jimmy was just about to press the button to start the engine when she came running towards the hovercar. “Wait!” Before Danny could ask her what she wanted, the goth woman grabbed his cheeks and pressed their lips together. “Go get them, Invis-o-Bill.” Sam smiled teasingly, knowing that Danny couldn’t stand that nickname.

SpongeBob, squeezed between Dani and Danny and with Goddard on his lap, giggled while his sister made a gagging sound. Tucker in the distance just booed something like “Worst pet name ever!” which … yes.

“Lucky bastard.” Timmy watched the couple over his shoulder, arm draped over his seat. Jimmy confirmed with a hum, subtly glancing to the side and taking in the view of a bicep in a pink shirt that was probably a size too small around the torso. After all, Jimmy hadn’t calculated Turner’s growing muscle mass when he made the clothes half a year ago. And he didn’t plan on correcting that either. “Since when are you jealous about PDA, Neutron?”

“Uhm …” The genius could practically feel Danny’s stare on his neck. “We should get going now, we need proper speed before I open the portal.”

Jimmy started the motor, flames coming out of the exhaust as the vehicle started to shake, a loud purring noise emitting when it warmed up which was solely for aesthetic purposes and otherwise unnecessary. But, well, Timmy loved it, so bragging motor it was. Said bucktoothed boy was currently leaning over the side to watch them slowly take off the ground.

“Eyes on the road”, Jimmy mentally scolded himself.

Sam took a few steps back as the hovercar 2.1 rose higher and higher. Just when he wanted to set the gear, a gloved left hand was placed on his.

“Didn’t you forget something?” Timmy asked with an amused grin that left Jimmy stuttering in cluelessness. “I mean your catchphrase.”

Oh.

A blush appeared on Jimmy cheeks. As if being called out for his catchphrases wasn’t uncomfortable enough, now he was obligated to say them? But last time when he had his Brain Blast …

“I hope this never changes” Timmy had said. “You’re so cute when you do that.”

“Why don’t you do us the honor?” He mumbled, reaching behind him so Goddard could hand over the portal gun out of the backpack.

“Nooo, it’s just not the same.” Timmy pouted, blinking with his pleading lashes at him and – how in Einstein’s name could Jimmy deny him that?

“Alright, fine.” Sighing, Jimmy looked to the other side to hide his reddened face. It was easier to convince him than he thought.

As soon as he took his foot from the breaks and stepped on the gas, he did a salute, feeling the secondhand embarrassment by consciously posing like some kind of entertainer. “Gotta Blast!”

Timmy’s hollering as they sped away made it worth it, though. It was almost enough to forget where they were heading and what they wanted to do. As if they really were about to go on that road trip, he had planned to go on with his friends …

Taking a deep breath to focus, Jimmy aimed at the horizon before them with the morning sun and pulled the trigger. A green portal opened, soon turning to white.

Their current destination: Dimmsdale.

Chapter Text

“Oh my Satan~” Sitting on a barstool at a desk, a raven haired teen happily devoured the first slice of his garlic peperoni pizza. “This is even better than he remembers.”

The young man relished in the first meal he had since … well, ever. So much better than the junk they offered him. It had been a great idea to dig in the pit of memories after all, it seemed. Because now, he could eat delicious stuff with so many different flavors – it was like a firework on his tongue! The taste was just incredible! And this sparkle juice – soda was it? It tingled so nicely all the way down. Except for the gas that build up in his stomach, that was a rather un-nice side effect.

“Well, I’m glad you like it, uhm … Antonio, was it?” The cook in front of him said, smiling with his shark like teeth. He was by no means looking remotely like a normal restaurant owner, with the blue flame above his head, the blue suit and the weird tail. At least the apron did somewhat make him look less threatening and rather ridiculous instead. “I didn’t get many customers these last few days. I was wondering if it was the new toppings I added.”

Said teen didn’t bother to correct the cook about his name, instead focusing his attention on the food, shamelessly gorging himself out like a starved wolf. If he were to implement this new world order, he should add pizza to his list of things he would keep. That, and the internet. “An apocalypse is kinda bad for business I guess.” He said with his mouth full. The lack of manners clearly felt out of place for a teen dressed in nice shoes and fancy clothing. Especially with these bright red gloves whose tips were now soaked in tomato sauce and a thin layer of grease, smearing the traces all over his bottle and cheeks as if he had slaughtered something.

“Apocalypse?! So that’s why I didn’t see anyone except for these weird robots lately.” The cook gasped, looking out the window. It wasn’t like his restaurant was right in the middle of Dimmsdale’s shopping mile, but the evidence was too present not to be noticed. Maybe he was just too oblivious to the sudden changes around here. That was something of a common disease in this dimension.

However, Anthony didn’t care about that. “Yeah, it’s awesome. Not as much as this delicious food, though.” He grabbed the next slice, red sauce covering his lip, a forked tongue that reached past his chin in length working to lick the traces off, savoring the taste. “So, you’ve also been brought into existence through a Timmy-Wish and were abandoned afterwards, right Shirley?”

“I … err. Not exactly.” The former villain didn’t know what to respond to that. He had just given the only customer his order and since he had nothing else to do, decided to chat with him. “Wait, you were also made through Timmy?”

“You could say that.” Anthony grinned; his cheeks stuffed like a hamster. The napkin he used to fruitlessly clean his gloves was soon tossed behind him on the ground. After swallowing, somewhat like a serpent would by slightly dislocating its jaw (Shirley saw the small bulge pass down the boy’s throat), he casually continued. “Your adapting skill is very useful, you know that? To put it simple, I’m offering you to join my side. In exchange, you get what you want, like revenge on those who wronged you, yadda yadda and such.”

Still more than irritated by the weird behavior of his customer, Shirley rose his hands in denial. “No, no, no! My days of villainy are long behind me. Besides, I don’t want any revenge.”

“Really? After everything Timmy did?” Anthony’s amused smirk shifted into a serious expression, narrowing his eyes at the other, mentally searching through several files of information from his other half’s memories. “Didn’t he want to get rid of you? Didn’t he trick you?”

“He did, but he and Jimmy apologized and made up for it.” Shirley insisted, the shifted mood causing a shiver to run down his spine. “I mean … they were only kids and I have my own life now.”

“Well, lucky you, I guess. Congrats for not ending up erased or banished to Unwish Island like all the others.” Anthony slow clapped, the lights inside the restaurant flickering, dimming even. The shadows on the walls extended, drawing closer to the center that was the boy. “Not all of us can say the same about themselves.” He tilted his head, the glee no longer present on his features. “Why did he grow a consciousness just for you, I wonder?”

Gulping, Shirley suddenly sensed the danger that radiated from him. It wasn’t that he couldn’t fight or that he was incapable of defending himself, it had just been so long since he did it and he didn’t feel like he had the right amount of anger or motivation to flare him up. More importantly, he knew nothing about this boy so he had to analyze his fighting style first before he could adapt to it. “I-I can’t tell you, but Timmy and his friends aren’t that bad! Once you get to know them, they’re very nice – and I was told Unwish Island wasn’t so bad to go for a vacation. It’s sunny and –“

“Shut the hell up!” Anthony slammed his fists on the table, a nearby saltshaker toppling over. A few lights went out. “You’re just as gullible and useless like all the other fools over there!”

“Language, young man!”

To both his customer’s and Shirley’s surprise, Anthony’s threat was rudely interrupted by a certain anti-fairy appearing out of thin air. Anti-Cosmo. Just when he was about to flip the goddamn table – or counter. Whatever.

“Here I am looking for you, smelling the finest bad luck there is and where does it lead me? Inside this shabby establishment.” The fairy crossed his arms, sniffing in disdain. “And what is that?!” He gestured at the pizza. “You know we have food at home. Anti-Wanda specially made critter-pie to celebrate our first family coup!”

Sticking his tongue out with disgust, Anthony stood up from his chair. The lights went out completely, but that wasn’t his doing alone. His guardian probably didn’t come alone, or some already lurking nearby anti-fairies got a whiff of his bad luck as well. There was still enough daylight coming through the windows, but it was notably darker now. “I can’t stand that shit, it smells terrible!”

“Well, too bad. If you at least would’ve told us about your preferences for today’s dinner, I could’ve made you my special pizza.” Anti-Cosmo raised his wand, turning the half-eaten pizza into a bat.

Mourning the loss, Anthony had to watch it fly out the entrance, his enraged face changing to a pout for a split second before he focused back on their argument. “Tch, no thanks, I prefer pizza that doesn’t make my karma worse than it already is – or blows up in my face.”

“Nonsense, you’re perfectly capable of digesting magic food. And you should eat it – it’s healthier for your body than this junk or the ‘potions’ you make in your dungeon.” Anti-Cosmo hovered in front of his face, green glowing eyes burning with noisy intensity. “Now, don’t throw a tantrum, Anthony Turner, we have to prepare you for the duel.”

The anti-fairy lifted his wand again to poof them back to their castle, but it was canceled out for some reason, a farting sound indicating that it didn’t work.

“Stop acting like a fucking dad or some shit!” The young man yelled, stomping his foot. “I can go wherever I want.”

“And who watches our prisoners and works on the magic formula while you’re on your little excursion?” The old but young looking creature frowned, almost as if he was hurt by the harsh words. “We may not be related by blood, but we’re one and the same – and I took part in creating you! Without the magic, supplies and scrolls we provide, you wouldn’t even –“

“I know that!” Throwing his hands up in defeat, Anthony paced around the room. His dirtied gloves started to annoy him, so he took them off, revealing the claws. His tanned skin was darker near the fingertips, almost black even, naturally painting the nails. Not only that, his right hand looked bony, black veins crawling up his arm and covering the entire forearm in a lighting-pattern. If one looked closely, they shifted and moved ever so slightly. “My time is limited, I’m aware.”

Gasping upon seeing the unnatural change on the limb, Anti-Cosmo floated next to him. “Don’t tell me you went to sleep just because you wanted to try out that ancient spell about entering the nightmare realm.” Among the old relicts and books he found about the former anti-fairy clan and their occult rituals that even regular humans could perform with the right ingredients, there was more than just the manual to open a rift between dimensions. From summoning or opening gates, there also was this one that allowed someone to enter the dreamscape of someone else.
The conditions were for one, both participants had to sleep or meditate and secondly, to create a link between them, you needed to have something of value that belonged to the targeted person – which wasn’t hard for Anthony to get. But since it was dark magic, he had to use a relict, because he had no magic of his own, which meant –

“Just a few droplets of blood and a drawn circle. We’re basically already as connected as can be, it was child splay.” Anthony held the wrist close to his chest, turning away from the prying eyes of his guardian. “And it was successful, I can enter his mind without sleeping. Just needed something to amplify the spell to leave a full impression.”

“You do know how dangerous ancient magic is – losing control can have dangerous side effects! I didn’t give you Titania’s moon-necklace to play around with it and waste precious magic you might still need.” Anti-Cosmo started to rant, hovering in circles with his arms folded behind his back. “Especially that spell, because whatever happens there also affects the real body of both victim and performer.”

Anthony rolled his eyes. He knew all that! He read the warnings on the backside and since Timmy was too stupid and instable to get the hang of it, he had never been in any danger.

“However, this”, the anti-fairy gestured at his hand. “has nothing to do with the spell. I hope it’s not because of your deficiency.”

“That’s why I was actually here in the first place!” Groaning, Anthony pointed at the counter where Shirley still watched their conversation, confused and feeling rather awkward to witness everything.

“… Ups.” The former villain shrunk under their gazes as the boy explained to his new companion that he had the ability to adapt himself to everything and anything. A very useful skill.

“Splendid! Such an ability would greatly benefit our plan.” Anti-Cosmo tapped his fingertips together in an evil manner. “We can recruit him or extract it against his will if he refuses. Our kind could be unstoppable!” They talked about the owner as if he wasn’t even there.

“Sure, your plan and your kind.” Anthony sulked as he suddenly had lost interest in fighting and bringing Shirley with him. He didn’t search for him to use his life essence like they did with Desiree, he wanted to adapt himself, thank you very much. But nobody asked him what he wanted anyway, not even once since he was here. And to his dislike, he relied on the stuff they provided him with for a reason – which he wouldn’t have to, if he could evolve himself further.

He ignored the fairy calling his subordinates and merely watched as Shirley made a run for it and threw himself out the window, followed by a horde of anti-fairies. Anthony was too tired for this and simply leaned back against the counter to watch it happen.

An invisible tuck on his wrist gained his attention. While Timmy only felt a numbing tingle in his right hand, it was the opposite with him. It burned and ached the whole time as if it was eating him up from the inside. Now, however, the pain subsided to warm nothingness, aside from a twitch that he couldn’t control.

“He’s here.” The same pull in his chest he subtly sensed in the dreamscape – the same urge that was the fist thing he ever felt when he gained sentience. It was back. Which could only mean that they entered this dimension, mending the spiritual disconnection to a certain level. Even without the moon crystal, Anti knew that he could find his location by merely concentrating his spirit. But he was still not strong enough to face him.

Yet, just to be sure, Anthony pulled the necklace beneath his vest out. A faint glowing pulse. Turner really was back home. And he wasn’t the only one that returned.

With the relict out in the open, something beneath his feet shifted on the floor. Their His shadow, casted by the light form outside, moved independently. Growing. Grinning. Red dot-eyes staring him down. Almost the entire wall was covered by the monster, its long arms stretching to the side, wings spreading, claws twitching – and he swore he could almost hear the cracking sound of bones.

Swallowing, Anthony stared the beast down. He was its master. He controlled it. They were one and the same. It belonged to him alone.

A deep breath.

“Find Timothy and keep an eye on him.” The shadow grinned wide, with a swift motion flowing down to the ground again, past his shoes, past the door … a long dark tail stretched all the way as the being swam further and further away until it finally snapped off. A gasp escaped Anthony, still not used to the emptiness it left him with. As if something was leaving him incomplete behind – the same feeling he had when he opened his eyes for the first time. The loneliness that he could only numb with …

Shaking his head, the anti-human closed one of his eyes, testing if he could really see through the gaze of the beast to spy on his twin. Hearing his thoughts and seeing glimpses out of Timmy’s perspective when he was in his mind was one thing, but it left him drained and confused – sometimes he got lost in the memories, fearing to lose his newly acquired sense of self. He had to be careful. He had to stay in control. He couldn’t let it happen that Timmy Turner got too close to him.

“Well, that was a bust.” Crossing his hands behind his head, he nonchalantly walked out of the restaurant. He didn’t get to execute his plan, he was still hungry and now he had Anti-Cosmo nannying him. Great. “Hmmm, I should get back to the dungeon. They’re probably already bored without me~” He yawned. Perhaps more distance would make it easier to concentrate on invading Timmy’s mind and keep track of his possession. Truly ironic, the closer they were the less he could control it. That was probably for the better, he didn’t want to give Timmy the time and opportunity to figure out their link wasn’t a one-way road. It would only overcomplicate things.

Anthony took a tiny flask out of his pocket, letting the few drops fall on the moon crystal. The faint glow expanded, coating the entire necklace until he willed it to turn into a rod. Or some kind of long wand in his size, just with a half moon on the end instead of a star.

The usual ping sound erupted from it as he lifted it above his head, poofing himself back to Anti-Fairy World. The sudden transportation, his body magically reappearing at another place and the magic that coursed through his veins filled him with adrenalin. His core screamed for more, to fill the void with it.

He was still hungry.

Without noticing it, he grinned, licking his lips in anticipation as he stared at the rod in his right hand. However, while the smoke still dissolved around him, the sudden rush that filled him was soon replaced with an ache in his chest, making him cough and bend over. His arm trembled, the relict slipping through his fingers, poofing back into a necklace before it hit the ground.

Next to him, the giant doors to the dungeon swung open.

“Finally, you’re back! I was so bored of guarding –“ Foop hovered towards him with the speed of light, excitedly flailing his hands. He had changed his cube form into that of a seven-year-old – with bat wings. “Are you okay?”

“Just peachy.”, Anthony retorted, his voice raspy and out of breath. “You didn’t touch anything, did you?”

“Of course not! In fact, I spent the time by making plans for our future invasions as a tag-team.” Foop pulled a ridiculously big and long scroll out of thin air, showcasing badly drawn stick figures of him and Anthony. His animosity had vanished suspiciously fast once Anthony had offered him his assistance for his own evil plans if he watched the sphere and his stuff while he was out for business. He really was a simple-minded child, evil or not. “See, once we change reality and become the dominant magic species in this universe, we can overthrow father and steal his position – and throw everyone into a black hole full of beetroot.”

Anthony hummed along with mild to no interest, passing by him. Foop didn’t catch on and simply followed, babbling about how they would both crush their counterparts in that epic royal duel with him by his side. The half-mortal did him the favor of nodding along. As long as that fool provided him with his own magic and didn’t ask too many questions, they could play house – or he would at least let him have the illusion. Still, Anti secretly preferred Foop angry and jealous when he could still tease him, that was more fun and less … weird. Now he had Timmy for that but … ugh, why was he suddenly so exhausted?

“I’m gonna take a nap. You keep watching over Cosmo and Wanda.” He waved the little anti-fairy off, strolling to his makeshift bed in the corner which was just a mattress and a blanket, surrounded by machinery and steam. “If anybody wants anything, tell them to piss off. The new potion prototypes are in that case.” He pointed at said trunk near the entrance, a fresh batch of fairy magic mixed with anti-magic.

“What? But I didn’t even get to the good part – Hey, are you exploiting me to be your Igor or something like that?! … Anthony?!”

Alas, said boy didn’t listen to him and instead dropped nearly dead on the mattress, face flat, which seemed to shut up the little assistant. Perhaps he should've taken a shower before that. He still smelled lika pizzeria but he couldn't be bothered to move right now. Not even the end of the world was worth to wake up at this point.

✧ « ★ » ✧

The screams that echoed inside the white tube were almost enough to drown out their own.

It was just like Timmy remembered his last time being, as hazy as that memory was. There was no point of gravity and thus, even with the hovercar, they spun around the tube, falling in an unspecified direction. Only that on his way to Amity Park, there had been a direct passage from one portal to the other, but since they weren’t using that gateaway, they first had to find the right location. And if they weren’t so busy floating through a hypothetical blender, they could have taken their time to appreciate the bizarre realm between dimensions. The chaotic veil, a swirl of endless white.

Usually, using a portal was like opening a door for them. Jimmy entered the code, Timmy wished to go somewhere, or Danny opened a gate to the Ghost Zone at home. This way of multiversal travel, however, was different. They had entered the very core of the Infi-Map’s existence – the realm in between. It was like a long hall or corridor that connected to doors, but they had to reach the designated door first. The good thing about it was, from here they could go wherever and whenever they wanted. This was a reality void of time and space. Everything that once was or once could have been ended up here. Like this one mythology about the river in hell or something, Timmy never cared much about history. Especially if it was made up, he had enough trouble learning the (apparent) facts of his own dimension already.

But yep, this was it. The limbo filled with streams that parted, extended and reached out like branches. Every possibly version, every parallel-, alternative- or related dimension connected in their little universal area. A vast space stretching out endlessly in all directions, easy to get lost in and maddening the more time one spent inside. Whatever it was really called, it was beyond mortal comprehension and probably not supposed to be used as a casual way of travel. They felt like trespassers, as if it was against the law to be here. Or to be exposed and known of its existence in general.

To make it worse, nothing seemed as it was. Strange things floated inside the multiple time-and dimension streams. Some recognizable, like furniture, structures and other not so worldly or common looking items. Yet they all seemed to belong to something – like the rings of Saturn.

“We should be careful, if we take the wrong portal, it could get us to some prehistoric period in a random dimension.” Danny said, fighting the urge to puke his coffee out. He was used to spinning without gravity, but the swirl they were caught in made him nauseous. Dani didn’t fare any better, already hanging her head over out in case she needed to hurl, cold sweat running down her temples. As if this place, without actually doing much, caused their brains to feel dizzy and it became worse with each passing moment. Danny had the impression he needed to concentrate hard on himself to just keep existing, as if he would dissolve into ectoplasm if he wasn’t careful enough.

“According to the map, we’re almost there.” Jimmy didn’t sound very convinced either, the only indicator they were remotely close to their destination was the green glow that increased when he aimed the portal gun in a certain direction, almost like a metal detector. It was getting brighter an quicker, so it shouldn’t take much longer. He also felt the effect of this realm wearing him down, his motions became sluggish, as if he hadn’t slept at all. His usually quick thinking genius was weighed down, so he mentally counted each task of their mission to not lose track. The worst that could happen were if he was too distracted – getting lost would be their doom, the Infi-Map was a shortcut here, not a key.

“Yeah, I think I can see my old school bus from elementary school!” Timmy shouted, pointing at the yellow bus that floated along with a few other cars, trash cans and benches. They all seemed to come from a certain direction. It filled the teen with nostalgia and a pang of homesickness. “But how did that stuff even end up here?” Unlike his friends, he didn’t feel too bad. Quite good actually. Carefree. Everything grasped his attention at once and he was curious to see more, but he had trouble keeping his gaze focused. Everything blurred together and, beneath that sudden lack of seriousness, there was this underlying anxiety that thing weren’t supposed to feel like this. All in all, this was a bad trip for him, mentally and physically.

“Are you sure the portal in that jail was the only one?” SpongeBob asked, seemingly taking the rollercoaster ride better than the rest. He just clung to his seatbelt, flinching when he heard the echoing screams, moans or whatever it was that roamed here. It couldn’t be human or any animal he knew of – and he really didn’t want to find out where it originated from.

“I … don’t know what happened to my earth.” Timmy cringed, mentally preparing himself for the worst. His planet had changed so many times, be it through one of his wishes, a muffin or the Darkness and its footmen … it shouldn’t be anything new to him. Even their adventure on Volcano Island, which sucked up several things from his dimension – including him – was a similar event that happened. But he hadn’t been responsible for them that time.

Ugh, could he stop overthinking and being a responsible adult for one second?!

The reassuring glow of his crown didn’t come this time. It was just a mere object for now and Timmy fluctuated between spacing out and his thoughts running a mile a minute.

Navigating sorely with the blast of his car’s engine, Jimmy steered around, following the trail of Dimmsdale garbage. He supposed they were close to the destination if an elementary school bus was anything to go by. And if he squinted, he could see a small black tear in the whiteness where everything originated from.

“Alright, hold on tight, we’re going in.”, he kindly warned his friends before he dived down against the current. It wasn’t much different from evading asteroids when he was on an adventure in space to collect samples, just a lot noisier. But if even Goddard whined and hid beneath the seats, it really was a bumpy ride. Despite there being no gravity, he clearly felt the hovercar pushing against an invisible stream. It was so strong he needed both hands to clutch the wheel and navigate, so he handed the portal gun Timmy instead.

“If we’re in range, pull the trigger to open the tear.” He instructed, not taking his eyes off the – well, there was no road, but yeah, that. Leapin’ Laptons, his brain really was drained.

Timmy seemed a little overwhelmed with his new task, already having a hard time to not mentally disconnect. He never held a real gun before and Jimmy usually didn’t lend anyone his portal machine remote, which was why he explicitly built the shortcut-wristbands for his friends and they usually used the coordinates that Jimmy send them via phone. But he never left them in charge with that gear. “And how do I know when we’re in range?!”

“You’ll feel and see it.”, was all answer he got back, which didn’t help the teen a bit. He wasn’t very known to catch on easily, to put it nicely. Some would even state Timmy was the more oblivious type of guy. But he trusted Jimmy, so if that proved his point, it didn’t matter right now. Just stay focursed and ignore the sensory overload happening all around.

It was actually very easy to notice. The genius could’ve just said the thing would vibrate and glow like crazy. He almost dropped the gun when it started, so he pulled the trigger only by pure accident. But it worked and a green ray shot right through the tear, expanding it until it was big enough for the hovercar to fit through. And just with the right timing, because not a second later, they went in.

With reality and – more importantly – gravity hitting them full force again, they soon found themselves falling downwards. While they had been proximately floating towards something, it seemed the portal had opened vertically to earth. The schoolyard of Dimmsdale Elementary School, to be exact.

With reflexes trained by years of experiments and adventure adrenalin, Jimmy leaned back in his seat, pulling the wheel with him to get them into a horizontal position. It wasn’t much of a difference yet but he felt the fog in head clearing already. “Press the red button on the dashboard, Turner!”, he yelled over the wind rushing past his ears. It was suddenly so silent except for the whistling and the screams of his friends.

“But you never push the red buttoooon!” Knowledge of comics, games and self-experience had taught Timmy that fact and if they were in any other situation less life threatening, he would denounce Jimmy for thinking a red button was a good design idea. Besides, he was too busy holding on for dear life on the side of the car with one hand, holding the gun in the other, wondering why Jimmy hadn’t thought of extending the roof before they went inside. He didn’t think of that either, but apparently, they could also survive in space without a roof on a rocket in Jimmy’s dimension, so that was that (and the genius complained about a lack of logic and seriousness in Timmy’s dimension) – Oh, shit he was just kidding and meant to press the button anyway but now he got sidetracked again!

“Oh boys, for crying out loud!” Dani had enough of the headless chicken antics and transformed into her ghost form, turning herself and everything she touched intangible, which included the car and everyone in it. She clenched her eyes shut, using all of her mental strength to not turn back unwillingly – that place had made her feel like she went on a rollercoaster for three hours straight.

In the end, that much precaution wasn’t necessary, because Jimmy pressed the button himself - now that he remembered he could - and a big cloud of steam came out from the underside of the car, pushing them up while the not-so-fake wheels at the sides of the Cadillac blew up like airbags.

Once the hovercar was safely parked in front of the entrance, everyone was frozen for a moment, catching their breath. They had only managed to ruin the lawn, but otherwise it was one of their unspectacular crash landings.

Dani was the first one to speak, her body readjusting surprisingly fast. “Is it always like this with you guys?” She dusted herself off, hovering up to look over the area. Not a single soul. It was a lazy Sunday morning, but still, there should at least be traffic, right? “It’s been only like ten minutes and we almost died. Is that a new record or the norm?

“Hey, I would’ve thought of that too, you know. It’s just more fun this way.” Danny claimed, joining her in the air like a drunk bumblebee.

His sister simply rolled her eyes, not believing his childish argument one second. “Yeah, that’s why you all screamed like little girl scouts chased by a bear.”

“That’s oddly specific, but first of all, rude.” The older Fenton booped her nose, knowing that she didn’t like that. “We’re professionals, it’s just …” Danny caught himself, putting a hand before his mouth when his motion sickness caught on with the rest. That white realm really had sucked him out. He wondered why Dani seemed to do so much better than him. They were usually the same in that regard, being tough and all – was it because she had been human in that place? No, Jimmy and Timmy struggled as well.

“Now I know what milkshake feels like.” SpongeBob hopped out of the vehicle, so did Timmy and Jimmy. Goddard followed suit, but he had trouble walking straight. Poor boy, his sensor had been shaken out of place by that spiral.

“I hate that place.” Timmy gasped, the world still spinning. He couldn’t set one foot after the other and ended up colliding with Jimmy, both falling to the ground. The teen’s first urge was to just lay there on the soft body beneath him until the dizziness faded away and the rush in his ears ceased, but he couldn’t let that slow them down. At least his thoughts weren’t as jumbled anymore.

This was the second crash landing he had in a flying vehicle this week and Timmy was not amused. Reluctantly, he inhaled the familiar scent one last time before he pushed himself up, the first thing he saw being Jimmy’s face – lit up in red like ornaments on a Christmas tree.

Slowly grasping the situation he was in now, Timmy stood up as if struck by lightning, half leaning against the car for better support. “I-is that what it feels like to have your molecules rearranged, Danny?”

“That was less sickening, to be honest.” The ghost boy stated, clutching his stomach. Drinking that coffee really hadn’t been a good idea. He tried to distract himself by inspecting the area just like Dani. Aside from fallen trees, burning dumpsters and stray tires at the sidewalk, there was nobody to be seen. “Wait, where’s Jorgen?”

“Oh shoot, did we lose him?” Timmy looked at the trunk, where Doberman-Jorgen climbed inside. Surely if the warden had been there, he would’ve made his presence known. Poof transformed back into his fairy form, hovering to the back of the hovercar and opened the lid.

To Timmy’s relief (or not?) Jorgen was still there, snoring loudly. With an annoyed look, Timmy heaved his fake wand next to him, that he had stored there along with SpongeBobs Fenton Gloves, out and poked the dog with the end of his staff.

“Are we there yet?” Jorgen grumbled, kicking the wand away with his one hind leg as if nothing happened at all.

Watching Jorgen climb out, SpongeBob walked up to the trio. “Wow, and I thought Patrick had a deep slumber.”

“Screams of agony and horror is what I usually listen to before I sleep.” The warden stated with a mean smile as he thought back to the times he made Binky do that for him. A man that worked a dozen different jobs in shifts needed his eight hours of sleep after all. But since he was married now and lived together with someone else, he couldn’t do that anymore, so this trip had awakened those sweet memories.

“Alright nobody’s dead, I call that a win.” Dani descended to the ground. “Now, can we talk about the lack of people here? Or is Dimmsdale always so empty at this time of year?”

Danny was right behind her, ruffling her hair with a grin. “You should probably tone down that bossy attitude, since you being here is just an exception and all.” He didn’t mean any harm, of course. It was actually a bit adorably how she wanted to be part of the gang, but she had to calm down a little bit. “But yeah, what she said.” Dani crossed her arms, groaning loudly. “What now, Jim?”

Said genius still sat on the ground, clearing his throat. “W-we should probably take a look around to analyze the situation.” He looked at Goddard, who extended a tiny satellite form his back and his eyes did the blue-light thing again. It didn’t take the mechanical canine long to report, which was just another whine and shaking of his head. “So far, Goddard can’t seem to detect fairy magic or other energy levels around here that aren’t our own.” He then scratched his dog’s ears, the readings on his screen also showing no results of body heat signatures.

“To be honest, I imagined the apocalypse a little different. More anti-fairies and screaming people, for example.” Timmy stared the building down, many bad but also some very good memories coming to his mind. “But of course, that stupid school has no scratch. I wouldn’t mind if that thing was thrown into the abyss.” He huffed.

“You don’t mean that.” SpongeBob tapped his arm, the other shoving his hands inside his pockets out of reflex, which was odd, but the sponge didn’t question it. “It’s not the building’s fault.”

“I guess so …” Timmy averted his gaze, briefly wondering why the first thing to come to his mind upon his arrival hadn’t been to rush towards his home yet. What if they caught his parents too? What if they had invaded his house? He should be concerned for being so calm about it, but maybe it was because of everything else already weighing on his mind. Still, just to relieve his consciousness, he voiced his thought. “Maybe we should check out my house?”

“Although we would probably find someone there, I think the reason we came here wasn’t to purposely run into a trap but to find a way to defeat them.” Jimmy reasoned, almost feeling bad for how quickly he shut that suggestion down. He didn’t outright want to badmouth the Turner residence, it was just that, with everything he knew about this place and the parents, he just couldn’t feign manners right now. Hopefully he didn’t have to interact with them anytime soon, because he had some things to say to them if he did. “Except if you want to participate in this Royal Duel?”

“Nah, not really. Just a thought.” Timmy suppressed the urge to raise his hands in surrender.

“Come on, he just wants to check if his parents are alright, wouldn’t you do the same?” Dani pat Timmy’s back a little rough, but he didn’t mind it. Probably a Fenton habit. “We’ll just fly over and look if we find any other soul around here. They won’t catch us in the car anyway.”

As much as Jimmy wanted to let Timmy’s parents down like they did him, he couldn’t argue with that. It depended on Turner, really. And, if Jimmy was being honest, he knew that he couldn’t actually be so mean and abandon his potential parents-in-law. If only to rub it in their faces. “Alright, we can take a look. But we’ll stay together, in case of an ambush.”

“It’s okay, we really don’t need to –“ Timmy was just about to tell his friend that he could wait and other things were more important, since he’d rather deal with his parents when everything was normal instead of having to explain to them what was going. Yet, he didn’t get to finish, as SpongeBob suddenly gained their attention.

“You mean like these fellas?” He pointed down the road where a group of robots patrolled, coming right towards their direction. And they had some very mean looking weapons. “Gah, what should we do? Hide in the school?!”

Goddard barked at his owner, whining as he felt like he failed Jimmy for not noticing them.

“It’s okay buddy, ghosts and robots don’t have body heat.” The genius pat his back, taking the liberty to gather his thoughts for a moment. It seemed like they hadn’t noticed them yet, or else they would be running to their location. Maybe someone from the organization had sent them to investigate because they noticed the portal? “I don’t think a confrontation would help our stealth mission right now.”

“So we’re hiding like cowards? Why, we fought them before, they’re just small fries!” Dani punched her fist. “We’ll just have to defeat them before they can call backup.”

Perhaps Dani had been loud enough to be heard or the robots’ vision weren’t as restricted as Jimmy had assumed, but the small troop suddenly loaded their weapons and started to jog to them.

“Fighting it is, then.” Timmy concluded, feeling a sense of dread washing over him. Something about these types of robots was different, they looked bulkier and less stiff – but most importantly, they were a lot shorter than the ones he encountered in Fairy World or Amity Park. “Maybe we can get data from them to know more. That would help you, right?”

He looked at Jimmy who nodded dumbfounded at the suggestion. Hadn’t he thought of that himself or was he just surprised the proposal came from Timmy? The bucktoothed teen had no idea.

“Well, since there are no humans present to see me anyway, I might as well use my mighty hands instead of my teeth to smash them to bits.” Jorgen growled, transforming back into his old form with a poof. They hadn’t even been here for more than five minutes and the next battle already started.

Gripping his Deflector-Wand, Timmy readied himself for the battle while Poof entered his weapon to enforce it a little with his own powers. He could hear Danny lecturing his sister about her overenthusiasm while both of them also got into a their trademark fighting stance. SpongeBob hurried over to the trunk to retrieve his gloves with Jimmy, who got his backpack and Tornado Blaster. And Jorgen … well, he didn’t have a weapon, simply clenching his fists.

The robots started to fire. Their big blasters fired a similar green ray that Walker’s minions had, but instead of burning something, the things that got hit simply … vanished to particles. Another shot – they weren’t the best at aiming apparently – hit one of the tires and it disappeared before their eyes.

That would explain the lack of life around here. Timmy just hoped, with every fiber of his being, that this was some sort of teleportation gun and not a pulverizing cannon or something. He really, really wished it wasn’t. But either way, it was probably better to not get hit by that. Not that he wanted seconds from his last encounter with these, he still felt the phantom pain on his back from the jailbreak.

Their formation was soon dispensed as each evaded the bombardment from about fifteen, maybe twenty androids. It didn’t matter, they weren’t that strong anyway. With just a few shots of Danny’s and Dani’s ecto beams, they were thrown back like dolls, laying flat on their faces. Huh, not even the robots during the invasion had been so weak. He guessed more was probably not necessary for Dimmsdale.

Timmy gripped the wand tighter, glaring at their enemies. Had it been them that made everyone disappear? Had they also gotten his parents or even Chester? Heck, he had no idea. But the sole possibility made him mad – and kind of scared. Without further ado, he rushed forward, dodging another blast as he lunged out to smack one of them on the head.

“You know …” A slurred voice started to echo in his mind, making his ears ring. A sudden pain started to throb in his right hand. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Anthony sounded raspy, void of malice and glee at his conflicted thoughts. “Unless you want to make Tib even more mad.”

Shaking his head to get rid of it, Timmy smacked the robot anyway. It didn’t feel as hollow as he had expected it to be. He could hear a crack as soon as his wand impacted on the helmet, the energy wave both disarming and sending the thing flying.

For some reason, Timmy felt incredibly bad now. He had no idea why, but he pushed the guilt down as he hit another one, ignoring the warm itch on his scalp from the crown that now suddenly decided to act up again. These things didn’t act like the usual AI hive mind, not as calculated or organized, they simply shot at each of them in a sort of panic, like they didn’t know which one to focus on first. Just aiming for whoever was closest to them.

The others didn’t seem to notice because of their long range attacks, except for SpongeBob, who … had a sort of one on one boxing match with a robot? It didn’t last long until the sponge delivered a karate-chop that sent the robot to the ground. And Jorgen? He was not so nice either. With his strength, the warden just grabbed them by the limbs, throwing them away or punching them with such force it left huge dents in the armor, black oil-like stuff dripping through the gaps  – wait, armor?

No … no no no no no no no no no no no!

A rush of adrenalin kicked in and Timmy ignored the pain in his right hand as he dived forward to one of the fallen robots. Only a couple were left, the majority littering the ground all around him, black puddles beneath.

Timmy crouched down next to one of the androids that looked more or less undamaged – it was the one he had hit with his wand earlier, the head part obviously damaged. He hard the fight continuing, the Fenton siblings argued over who got to finish off the last one standing and who defeated more.

They needed their data anyway, right? So where would that stuff most likely be stored– the head of course. So he just had to tear it away and … confirm or unconfirm his suspicions.

But why was he trembling? Hesitating? Why … was he afraid of doing that? No, no way, he was just … crazy. Yeah, his head kept feeding him strange emotions and images. He was probably just possessed or still messed up from the white realm.

Trying to gulp down the lump in his throat, Timmy put the wand next to him, his shaking hands reaching for the headpiece. Black stuff smeared on his fingertips.

He pulled. It went off too easy.

Timmy had expected anything. From sentient robots or more ghost minions to civilians controlled by You-Do Dolls.

But what he didn’t expect was staring at his smiling ten year old self.

The black stuff wasn’t oil – it was ink.

They weren’t robots, they were his copies. The ones form Unwish Island he created. Where Tiberius was from. And the ink bleeding kid just … kept smiling dumbfounded. His own childish self.

“… Sweet memories of being a slave and treated as a punching bag, seeing dozens with the same face and fate being tortured …” He recalled Tiberius’s words from his time he was trapped in the death ball.

The real copies couldn’t feel pain, they were programs with no emotions. They were mere punching bags to be toyed with. And yet … ever since he met Tiberius, the copy that was the opposite of that, he couldn’t help but wonder if these kids, deep inside, were more alive than he thought.

As if he hard burned his hands, Timmy jerked away, falling on his but. He was frozen, staring at the kid that was slowly pushing themselves upwards with practiced ease. No flinching, no complaints.

“Big brother won’t be happy that we failed.” It spoke, the smile never straining, never leaving, even as ink dripped from his nose and mouth.

“B-big brother?” Timmy had no idea how he was supposed to act. There had been a time when the sight of his doubles being beaten by his enemies or them talking didn’t cause him nausea, but it seemed like those were over. “Do you mean Tiberius?”

The copy nodded, it’s head cracking as it did, as if something was dislocated and now back in place. “He promised to free us. No idea what that means, though.”

Did Tiberius lie when he said it was all about payment? Was his real goal more than revenge?

“See? I told you.” Anthony sounded still too tired for mockery but that didn’t make the sitation any better for him.

“What da hell?!”

Timmy felt like a little kid again, scared and jumpy as he was pulled back into the present through Danny’s yell. He could hear several people approaching behind him. Whipping his head around, the teen not only stared at the shocked faces of his friends but also the puddles of ink and empty armor, yet there were no copies. Their bodies dissolved into ink upon recieving too much damage ...

“I was made to replace yet another one that was destroyed for fun.”

Timmy had no idea what he was supposed to say to that. Danny hadn’t reacted subtle at the mention of clones and copies before and with the recent Damian-encounter, that was probably a sensitive topic for the ghost boy now. Devastated as he once more realized the lasting influence of one of his wishes, he could only bow his head in shame. “I’m … so sorry.”, he said to no one in particular, probably Danny, probably the copy in front of him.

But it was too late for apologies. Simple sorry couldn’t undo his mistake.

Before his friends had the chance to say something or ask further questions, more troops of copies in suits came rushing towards them. This time, they were talking too. Maybe they did from the beginning and he just hadn’t listened enough.

“Big brother wants him alive.” One of them said with his pre-puberty high-pitched voice. “Catch the Timmy Turner.” Another even had the audacity to raise his fist and cheer them on like the oblivious child that he was created as.

God, what had Timmy done?

Too petrified to do anything, Timmy just sat in front of the smiling clone. They could literally wipe the floor with them and it would be no problem to dodge the blasts with their inherited shitty aim, but he just couldn’t bring himself to do that. Years ago, it was no issue to watch them being tortured, punched and enslaved by his enemies … but now, he really felt the consequences of his actions that Tiberius had warned him about.

He … was the good guy, right?

“Should we pound them to ink as well?” Jorgen asked, clearly the only unbaffled one of their group. “My muscles can handle them alone.”

“No we won’t!” Jimmy crouched down next to Timmy, carefully tucking on his shoulder. His fairy brother poofed out of the wand, looking at him with concern.

Timmy was only partially aware of the others fidgeting and exchanging glances. Although he literally saw the unspoken questions on their faces, he had no idea what to do. But destiny wouldn’t leave him a choice anyway.

A giant explosion in the distance called for their attention. A floating young man in a suit, surrounded by a dark aura and a tornado of flying vehicles was coming rising up in the distance.

“TURNEEER!” Tiberius called with an enraged roar that put even Jorgen to shame right now.

Okay, well, that was faster than they had planned to face one of their enemies. And he was also accompanied by an army of ghost minions and flying androids in tow. And they also carried these weird guns. Fuck.

“To the hovercar, now!”, Jimmy ordered, hooking his arms around Timmy’s chest to lift him up. He struggled a little but the shout was enough to tear him out of his trance. They all knew it probably wouldn’t work to shake them off, but they could hardly stay here and wait for them to attack.

With wobbling knees, Timmy stood upright, his hands still shaking, one of them burning like hellfire. He looked over his shoulder to the clone that still sat there and now turned his head towards his savior, gullible smile still plastered on his face. He wondered if the copy felt relieved or anything. But then again, a part of him hoped it didn’t. The idea of child soldiers with his face and voice was already sickening enough, he didn’t want them to feel the emotional and physical pain as well.

The moment they reached the Cadillac, the sound of another motor engine from the opposite direction made their heads turn. A motorcycle came to a halt across the street with screeching tires. The driver wore a helmet with a bunch of stickers, dressed in a green patched up jacket with spikes and black pants. He had a worn-out baseball bat strapped to his back … Damn, Timmy would recognize that attire anywhere!

The young man shoved the visor of his helmet up. Timmy’s gut feeling was right!

“Chester!”

The grin full of braces never brought more comfort. Timmy had cried enough last night but he really felt the need to do it again out of pure joy. “Yo, dude! Come with me if ya wanna live!” The blonde played with the gas handle of his bike, turning around to drive back the way he came from.

They stared at his disappearing silhouette for a silent moment until Timmy, with newfound motivation – or distraction – slapped the hood of the car. “You heard the man, follow him!”

Chapter Text

Since there was no time for questions or explanations, Timmy, Jimmy, SpongeBob and Goddard hopped into the hovercar to follow Chester, while Danny, Dani, Poof and Jorgen – with his jetpack for wings – flew after them as close to the ground as possible to not lose sight of the blond and minimize the chances of being shot by the robo – the copies and Tiberius.

While Timmy was really glad to finally see a familiar face from his hometown again, he still couldn’t shake the fear off. Now that he had nothing much to do but grip the wand as tight as possible and chewing on his bottom lip, he couldn’t stop his thoughts from spiraling. It hadn’t been the first time that he faced himself and watched them be destroyed. It just never occurred to him that they could possibly also have emotions and a will to live. Or maybe he always knew that but never dwelled too long on it. Usually, it was him who cheered Jimmy and Danny up along with SpongeBob when it came to aftermaths of fights that involved tough moral decisions or ethical questions. He was always the one to live in the present and not worry too much about consequences or anything, after all. But these times were long over. He had been younger and less understanding back then. Either way, seeing his kid-self slowly turning into a puddle of ink left him feeling sick in his stomach. He willed these pictures aways as much as he could. He wouldn’t be able function if he dwelled on it for too long.

“Timmy, are you okay?” SpongeBob asked from behind. Although they were in the middle of being chased by his prime copy, with cars and other heavy objects fired at them, it was awfully quiet in the hovercar. Jimmy didn’t take his eyes off the road and Chester’s form, while Goddard was busy firing his ion-laser at their enemies to take them out, along with the Fenton siblings shooting ghost rays.

“No.” Timmy didn’t see any reason to lie about it right now and the only thing keeping him from burying his face in his hands was the anxiety, that if he stopped staring at Chester’s back, he would also disappear. “I’m … fuck, I know I messed up in the past, but I never thought it would bite me back so hard now.” He leaned his forehead against the staff of his weapon, Poof’s voice trying to comfort him with little success.

“It’s okay, you didn’t know.” Timmy felt spongy hands patting his shoulders. He smiled weakly at the gesture and curiously eyed Jimmy from the side. He seemed also conflicted, but he was busy enough trying to escape. Wherever Chester was leading them, they should probably get rid of their company first.

Apparently, a long chase sequence wasn’t necessary, as thick clouds of fog suddenly built up above them. If focused enough, he could see tiny flying objects in the fog, but they were gone as soon as he spotted them. The projectile’s aim decreased by the moment, missing further until their enemies probably lost track of them. What in the world was going on? But you know what they say about gifted horses, so Timmy kept his focus on Chester, who was now driving slower than before.

Timmy knew Dimmsdale like the back of his hand, but this part of town was unfamiliar – at least he hadn’t been here in years. When the noise subsided and they had finally lost their pursuers, they could breathe a little easier at last.

“We’re almost there!”, Chester yelled over his shoulder, muffled but still loud and close enough to be heard. He almost lost his balance on the bike as he did so, since they were just taking a sharp right turn, but he played it off with ease, swaying a little from side to side as if he was on vacation. Gotta love the chill attitude, Timmy mused.

Just right after the main street that led out of town, there was this stop near the highway, a familiar drive-in coming into view. The big sign, even through the fog of clouds, wasn’t hard to make out:

Yak in the Box

“Wait, what the heck?!” Timmy stood up so fast and leaned over the windscreen, that he startled Jimmy to the point of almost yanking the wheel upwards again. “That’s my grandparent’s –“ He stopped midsentence, thinking about the possibility of them even being here. Sure, they owned the restaurant chain, but they were retired and filthy rich, they didn’t need to work anymore.

SpongeBob just opened his mouth to ask him something, but the ground of the drive-in suddenly moved, descending like a ramp underneath the restaurant. Not slowing down, Chester drove into the dark gate. Well, secret caves under houses weren’t new to Timmy. He honestly shouldn’t be surprised anymore, he used to have one and the Dinkelbergs also owned a secret cave slash lab, so … nope, it still freaked him out.

With everything that happened so far and especially ever since they passed through the void, the gang was already so used to unexpected plot twists, that neither of them said anything as they went underground. Jimmy turned the headlights of is hovercar on with a mild frown.

Yet, Jorgen still had something to say about it. “Seriously, what is it with you puny humans and your bunkers”, he grumbled unimpressed, the Fenton siblings flying next to him raising their eyebrows while Poof just shrugged.

“How long is this tunnel?”, SpongeBob wondered out loud, only to shield his eyes a second later as the light above them was turned on, the exit closing behind them. The bunker they had entered was much bigger than it seemed. Not as complex as Jimmy’s lab, but still pretty exaggerated.

As they passed through the tunnel, the group spotted many byways to their left and right. Judging by the smell, they led to the sewer-system, hopefully without alligators by now. The most surprising sight, however, were several tents and other makeshift beds, some in good shape, others not even finished.

“No wonder Goddard couldn’t pick up any heat signatures.” Jimmy said out loud, his voice echoing in the long hall and carried by the wind. “They’re hiding underground.” With how thick and far down it was, not even the well-developed system could sense life. His best friend let out an affirmative bark, his tail wagging at the realization that he hadn’t failed.

Since the genius was busy, SpongeBob patted the dog’s head instead, the canine settling down on his lap since his duty was fulfilled for now. Sure, it made sense, but Timmy still couldn’t wrap his head around it. And with the horrifying image of his younger self still in mind, it was difficult to concentrate on the bright side that his best friend and several others were alright. The lack of Anti-Fairies was also something that unnerved him. Some thick iron walls couldn’t keep them out, unless they blocked magic or something …

When they finally arrived at the center, they entered a big hall filled with junk and several people, all wearing some kind of post-apocalyptic clothing, mostly black or camouflage and many of them carried weapons out of everyday-utensils, like sport bats and gardening tools. The most notably weapon were butterfly nets, of all things, which made Poof flinch and hide in Timmy’s arms as they stopped.

Chester’s tires left a black mark on the ground as he hit the brakes with force, doing a one-eighty. “Welcome to the rebellion”, he said, taking his helmet off and flipping his blonde hair back like a Baywatch-actress. It had gotten long despite the undercut. “Lemme show you around.”, he said as if the company of two ghost siblings and other strange people along with Timmy didn’t faze him one bit. Or maybe he just did a better job at setting his priorities, unlike Timmy.

Seeing many familiar faces all at once, he gulped, sinking further down his seat when the Cadillac stopped, landing smoothly in the middle of the room, soon surrounded by all these people. Right on first glance, he spotted several of his old classmates like Sunjay, Elmer, his old principal and art teacher, the mayor with Chompy and his goat family … heck even Francis and his goons along with some others from his high school were here. Compared to this situation, Anthony’s nightmares were child’s play if he had to deal with them at once now. The only good side about this was that he hadn’t seen Crocker or Vicky yet. Hopefully it would stay that way.

Most of them were surprised to see them, mainly because of the two ghosts, the car, the two fairies … it could’ve had many reasons that caused all the stares. However, it felt like all attention was drawn to him – which was weird, since that was all he ever wanted as a child when everyone ignored him. But now they seemed so warry … Why? Did they know that he was partially guilty for this? HOW?!

Alright, no need for irrational panic and running in circles so soon.

He probably should’ve been relieved to see so many familiar faces, but he couldn’t help the dread that spread from his gut, making him nauseous. Even if he was just imagining most of the suspicious glances, it didn’t make the situation any easier. It also didn’t help that Poof was still with him and hadn’t changed into anything to disguise himself, neither did Jorgen (although he just looked like a very big guy with a random jetpack on his shoulder blades). Why go through the trouble of turning into earrings and dogs if now, when it counted the most, they didn’t do it?! God, he was a heartbeat away from another panic attack or fainting. Or both.

“Chester!” Now that was another familiar voice. A welcoming one at that.

A.J. walked towards them, lab coat and gloves on as if he wanted to dissect someone. He hadn’t changed much since the last time Timmy saw him, which wasn’t that long ago actually. He had grown a lot mostly and developed a clothing style that differed from his dad’s nowadays, yet still plain pastels and tame fashion. Right now, he looked as if he had seen better days, coated in dirt and grime.

The smartest kid on this dimension’s earth recognized his old friend as well, his features lighting up. “Timmy! I knew a mere alien invasion wouldn’t be enough to take you out, man.”

With shaky knees, said teen walked to A.J. and returned the fistbump. With Chester next to them it felt almost like the good old days.

“Y-yeah it was … not so hard.” He obviously lied, rubbing his neck. Poof was still with him, clinging to his back and hiding. He seemed scared for some reason and kept looking around but didn’t say anything. His big human brother followed with his eyes, up to the ceiling and walls. And that was when he noticed it: The entire bunker was plastered with a nylon net-pattern. Jorgen and his brother may be able to hover, but they couldn’t use their magic, which was why they couldn’t change forms. Although they managed to escape Tiberius’s wrath, he had led them into yet another dangerous situation. “W-what it this place even?”

“Don’tcha wanna introduce your friends first, Tim?” Chester teased, nodding to the gang behind him as he slung an arm around his best friend’s shoulder – casually as if he did it all the time. “Jimmy, right? We didn’t see each other in, like, five years or something. Time sure flies, eh?” He finger-gunned the genius, who hadn’t moved to leave the car just yet.

“I appreciate your manners, Chess, but we have more urgent matters to attend to.” A.J. sighed, the glare James Neutron send his blond friend not going unnoticed by him. His gaze soon roamed over to the Fenton siblings, his curiosity and interest peaked – especially when he saw SpongeBob exiting the hovercar with Goddard in his arms. “… Although I would really like to hear everything about your little adventure.”

“So would I.” Someone else spoke up, the strict tone sending shivers and guilt down Timmy’s spine and he immediately froze to the spot, too afraid to turn around. “Now, how is that babysitting part time job going, dear?”

The curiosity got the better of him, so Timmy gulped the anxiety down as he looked over his shoulder. He would prefer to fight Tiberius instead now.

His own mother, dressed in a black tight suit like some kind of secret agent (oh yeah, didn’t she use to work as a double agent before he was born?) and with heavy eyeliner stared him down, her arms crossed. Not only was she present, but nearly his entire family: His dad, grandma Gladys and grandpa Vlad, all in similar uniforms or attires. For the record, leather pants still didn’t look good on his father.

“Timothy Tiberius Turner!” His mom repeated herself now, far less calm than before. She did seem to be relieved to a certain degree to see him, but it was easily overshadowed by her disappointment. “Where have you been?! I’ve tried to call you hundreds of times!”

With each word, he hid his head more between his shoulders, slowly backing off until he was next to his friends. He had no idea how to defend himself, no excuse or lie could that he would come up with could explain all this mess.
“Can we please leave?”, he whispered over to Jimmy, fear in his eyes. But Jimmy didn’t even look at him. If anything, his stare could easily outdo the one from his mother as he glared at her in return, his fists clenched so tight they were shaking, which didn’t ease Timmy’s nerves one bit.

“Okay, that’s a big reunion.” Danny whistled through his teeth, not wanting to swap places with Timmy right now. The reveal after the Desasteroid event had been stressful enough for him and he could imagine what his friend went through right now. Everyone was staring at them, forming a circle around the small group and the car. In public, that situation was even more uncomfortable – humiliating even.

Not wanting to wait for her stuttering son to explain himself, she started to walk towards him, but her husband held her back, his weapon – which was a pitchfork – aimed at Timmy

“Hold on, Honey!” Mr. Turner said, hiding his fear as he put on a brave face in the presence of his parents-in-law. “How do we know he’s not another one of these annoying and hideous copies?”

“I …” Timmy was still speechless. He had no idea what to say to that. Honestly, he shouldn’t even be surprised. Not to mention he was still overwhelmed with everything going on and all the questions that kept piling up. “I’m your son.” And since the copies looked and sounded exactly like him as a kid, he felt incredibly insulted too.

“Well, that sounds like something an impostor would say.” Mr. Turner insisted, his pitchfork uncomfortably close to his son’s face. To be fair, it did sound like that. But he was obviously much older and less gullible than the copies. Wasn’t he?

“The man is right, you know.” Francis interrupted, punching his palm in a threatening way that Timmy had grown all too familiar with. During that small conversation, he and his two goons had come closer like everyone else. Part of the gullible crowd truly seemed to be suspicious of him and his company, except for Chester and A.J. that was. “We should beat – err, test him, just to be sure. See how long until he turns into a black puddle and all.” His sidekicks smirked, the one with the piercing in his brow that always shoved Timmy’s head in his locker after training and the other one with the skull tattoo on his neck that always held him in place to be the punching bag for Francis in the showers if they ever lost a match or whenever Francis got in trouble for his behavior towards Turner – for which he certainly had every logical right to blame the latter for and blow off some steam. Obviously. And the coach didn’t care because he was the best player.

He remembered the times they locked him in the showers after training or when they filled his school bag with soda and threw it out the window from the second floor. The insults, the remarks, the graffiti on his school desk … everything came back like a whiplash, as if all the events never happened and he was still at high school, enduring another exhausting week. Only this time, no one was there to make these times better.

If it weren’t for Cosmo and Wanda, who poofed him back home, healed him up or fixed his school supplies … his school life would’ve been hell. Timmy realized once more how lucky he was compared to other teens who didn’t have the support and magic. What made him so special to have fairy godparents anyway? Or, more importantly, … why did these memories still hurt, even though he had help during all these dire times? Why was there still so much underlying pain and bitterness rising like bile in his throat? And how much worse would it have been if he didn’t have Cosmo and Wanda back then?

Timmy wasn’t sure how to feel about it. But the fact that his own father seemed to consider the proposal with a loud hum and the menacing grins of his bullies, along with several other weapons now pointed in his direction, made his stomach drop even further. No matter how strong, big or mature he got over the years, he still felt like a defenseless child again when he was face to face with all these people that did nothing but oppress him over the years. At least he didn't have to deal with Trixie or Vicky on top.

“Are you serious?!” Jimmy stepped next to Timmy, a protective arm in front of him. So did Danny to his other side, silently glaring. As silly as their own parents could be from time to time, neither Hugh nor Jack – at least not intentionally – had ever threatened to torture their respective son just like that. Maddie and Judy wouldn’t even think twice to smack some sense into their husband’s heads for such an idea either. What was wrong with the adults in this universe? “Can’t you tell – he’s real!”

“Hey, isn’t that Not-Timmy?” Mr. Turner whispered not-so-subtle to his wife, who seemed just as confused.

“Aight, that’s enough now.” Grandpa Vlad put a bag over his son-in-law’s head, which seemed to be already filled with something alive and rapid. It immediately attacked the man and he stumbled away, trying to fight off whatever he was now dealing with. The elder dusted off his hands, giving Francis and his goons a hard stare, causing them to retreat as well. If not for his glare, then for Danny’s green glowing fist and eyes or Jimmy’s raised hand with the tornado blaster. “The show is over folks!” He shushed the crowd away. “Come here, grandson.”

His grandpa even talked with his heavy foreign accent, pulling Timmy into a tight hug that his grandma joined. He hadn’t seen them in so long. They could be just as weird, like his Pappy (may he rest in peace), but they cared about him. Not that his parents didn’t, they were just … ha, it was so hard to explain. “How are you? You look so pale and thin – when was the last time you ate something?” His grandmother Gladys squeezed his cheeks, not too tight but embarrassing nonetheless.

“It’s – I’m fine.” The hug had relaxed him a little – enough to finally ask what had bothered him the most since they arrived here. “But why do you have a giant bunker beneath one of your restaurants?”

“That’s what I would also like to know.” Dani whispered to her brother, who nodded in return.

“Oh, grandson.” Vlad laughed. “As much as we love this country, the people here a nuts.”, was all information he gave him and apparently, it was the only and valid reason to build an entire fortress underneath. “We thought having a bunker in case of an apocalypse would be a good investment once we made our first ten million.”

Fair enough.

“But enough about that. Now tell us, where have you been all this time?” Gladys ruffled Timmy’s hair while also inspecting Poof, who still clung to his shoulders with a frightened expression. “And what is with this big wand, the hovering, glowing crown above your head and the tiny kid with wings and purple eyes and hair?”

For a second, the entire bunker seemed to held its breath, including Timmy as he just realized that the crown was still there and so were Poof and Jorgen. Now, two ghost teens were one thing, but him having a magical artifact and two fairies in tow? Boy and he didn’t even confess the loss of his shadow and the new addition to the family they now had … Thanksgiving was gonna be weird this year. Well, unless everything got reversed as always.

“Uhm … It’s a really funny and long story. But to sum it up, uuuh-” Feeling the stares of everyone directed at his head, he wished he could just hide between Danny and Jimmy forever or just disappear without a trace. Why did he want to come back exactly? Just kidding of course, but he really wasn’t good with confrontations. “He’s … the child I was babysitting and we were all playing dress up?” He gestured at his wand and crown, then at the Fenton siblings and SpongeBob like that could explain everything.
His weak attempt at a smile was rewarded by Danny facepalming and a groan from Jimmy. Another pause and continuous staring where one could hear a pin drop. But then, afterwards, most of the still observing citizens from afar nodded like it was the ultimate explanation for everything. Some of the lesser involved even left altogether to carry on with their duties they did before, as if they suddenly lost all interest or suspicions about Timmy and his new companions or the poor excuse made the ghosts and walking-talking sponges less interesting. To be fair, A.J. and Timmy's own wishes caused weirder things to happen in this town.

“Oh, how wonderful dear. We’re just glad you’re okay.” Gladys lightly caressed Poof’s hair as well now, who seemed to slowly warm up to the elder people. Due to their age and good will, Danny and Jimmy could accept them being fooled by such a terrible lie, but the fact that several adults just didn’t bother to be suspicious now after just readying their pitchforks at Timmy prior was simply annoying to the genius and ghost. At least the tension got a little diffused, Chester’s snickering made Timmy relax enough to not faint from all this pressure, for what it was worth.

Perhaps he could turn this around before they were able to prod further.

“And how exactly … I mean, what happened while I was … gone?” He avoided looking at his mother who was no longer busy with trying to get the bag off her husband’s head. He felt more than uneasy in his skin, right in the middle of everything where everyone could see him and his friends. He was a seventeen-year-old boy and yet a part of him wished just someone would take his hand and get him out of here. Although he had missed his friends and had been worried sick about his homeworld, he … had never felt that much out of place as he did now. It was only three days, but a lot had happened and changed in that time. Or maybe it had been going on for longer and he only noticed it now. However, it helped a little that he was surrounded by his friends, nearly all the people he trusted with his life gathered in one place.

“That’s what I would also like to know, puny humans.” Jorgen demanded to know, crossing his arms. He didn’t bother to hold himself back despite risking to expose his identity. He felt the power leave his body with each passing second spent in this butterfly-net bunker and it unnerved him. He just wanted to find a way to Fairy World and leave already, but they needed a plan and had to know what exactly was going on here. So yeah, he would have to cooperate with the foolish citizens for now. It was awful enough he had to watch this pathetic display. He was once more convinced why exactly Turner got to keep his fairies for so long and why he usually didn’t care about the human realm. They were all idiots.

“As if you don’t know that already.” A voice almost the same as his retorted, just as loud and booming. Another person just as big, muscular and rough on the edges stepped into the light, the spitting image of him, only with braided and pinned up hair and a bunch of loose nets draped over her shoulders.

“NANNA BOOM BOOM?!” Both Jorgen, Timmy and Poof exclaimed as the big muscular lady in her old fairy-army gown walked out of the shadows, the five stars on her shoulder pads shining in the dimmed light.

And she wasn’t alone. Not only was there another former veteran warrior fairy present, but also no one lesser than the Tooth Fairy herself. And with her crossed arms and stern gaze, she didn’t look too pleased upon seeing her husband right now. Or maybe she was also pissed that she had to change her outfit for a baggy camouflage uniform.

“I hope you have a good explanation to let something like this happen and leaving us alone to deal with it, Jerk-en” Tooth Fairy proceeded to file her nails with her otherwise useless wand. It was weird to see her standing on the ground.

The strongest fairy in the universe was afraid of nothing and no one, except for the rejection of his love. Needless to say, Timmy was impressed to see how quick Jorgen’s confidence faded away and – although he wasn’t a canine anymore – had the look of a kicked puppy.

“How … when?!” Sure, the others were equally as confused as Timmy was, especially seeing the humans around them not batting an eye at the very non-human creatures, but his brain was fried to the point of having a meltdown - words couldn't even begin to describe his confusion.

“Yo, earthlings! We’re back from patrol at the second hideout –“ Mark Chang in his Justin Jake Ashton disguise popped in through what seemed like a second entrance where Nanna and Tooth Fairy came from as well, accompanied by the person he would’ve expected to see least: Chip fucking delicious Skylark. “Oh, long time no see Timmy-bro! What's up?”

“Heya Timmy.” Cool as ever, although he was older and no longer a teen star, Chip finger-gunned him in his usual way, his shiny teeth sparkling as he grinned with his billion-dollar smile, reviving the tiny celebrity crush the teen didn’t know he ever had.

Okay, that was too much. He could deal with his old human friends, family and other people he knew – heck even Francis or Vicky and Crocker if they were also present – but all these people AND fairies (plus an alien) working together?!

This was too much. Just – no. No it was too chaotic. People around him were staring, talking, he was confronted with several old faces and after all this fucking stress about keeping his secret for seven years and now with that contract an everything lately … he was so done with everything!

He was aware, this wasn’t his first Armageddon. This wasn’t the first time he had to unite some of them to start a rebellion slash revolution. But after all this time, all the stress and EVERYTHING he did to balance his two lives, his secret and spare time … it seemed like he did it all for nothing. How hilarious!

His first instinct was to just walk right outta here. Throwing hands, rather facing Tiberius’s wrath and the traumatizing spitting images of his childhood instead of this. If only it wasn’t for his weak wobbling knees rooting him to his spot, he might’ve done just that. “Can somebody please just tell me what I missed?!” Timmy yelled loud enough to be heard in this commotion, understandably frustrated and shaking with all the bottled up emotions.

The person he trusted most in this room – aside from the people he arrived with together – was Chester. His best friend was at least decent enough to show sympathy. “Okaaay, maybe we should take this somewhere more private, don’tcha think?” Chester put an arm around his unnatural pale friend, leading him towards another entrance, indirectly forcing Timmy’s friends and the rest of the group to follow them.

He was grateful Chester did it, but he couldn’t muster up a coherent response, let alone make a decision for himself. Apocalypse, twins, copies, Anti-Fairies, Cosmo and Wanda being kidnapped, forced to deal with his own family issues and the usual freaky things happening in his homeworld … that was too much to comprehend for one mind alone.

He noticed Jimmy’s, SpongeBobs’s and Danny’s attempts to talk to him, maybe cheer him up or tell him it was going to be okay, but it was all muffled and far away to him. His vision blurred and he could hardly make anything out. It was as if something hit him full force, sucking all the energy out as they marched towards a big metal door, nearly reminding him of the CMI storage hall in Abracatraz. Like a shadow or veil casted over his vision, the numbness in his right hand replaced by a throbbing ache that seemed to draw all his remaining attention to him. Fainting from all of this would’ve been even more humiliating but it wouldn’t take much more than that to make it happen, he assumed.

But then again, he suddenly felt … calm. Or rather, indifferent. Perhaps because he adjusted to his universe. It was always like this, wasn’t it? He would ask himself “What could possibly go wrong? Or “Can it get any worse?” and of course it would happen. That was the norm of his life.

However, even for him, who was born and raised here, nothing in this dimension made any sense at the moment. Well, it did, but even his childlike mind that had seen nearly anything magically possible couldn’t believe what was going on. And he had attended toga parties with Greek gods, destroyed Atlantis and changed the world order several times a month, so that was saying a lot.

For what it was worth, it deserved a reward that things and situations existed that could still shock Timmy Turner. He didn’t feel his eye twitch so much in such a long time, apathy or not.

✧ « ★ » ✧

It seemed as if the numbness from his hand had stretched out to the rest of his body. Now standing in the middle of what seemed to be a big conference room with a round table and thirteen chairs, Timmy just let his gaze roam around, dissociated from all of it. The crowd had expanded, each occupying a chair and and place.

His hand itched and he wanted to scratch it, but he preferred to keep it under the table in case the black marking had worsened or something. The room was well lit, so he didn’t want to jinx and look at it. He wasn’t ready for yet another panic inducted heart to heart from his friends, especially Jimmy. He had emotionally dumped on him enough for the next decades, in his opinion.

One plus was that at least the nagging voice in he back of his mind had finally subsided. The least he wanted to happen was to have another mental breakdown surrounded by the people that didn’t knew that side of him. Not even Chester.

But whether he liked the situation or not didn’t matter. In the end he would have to march onward if he wanted to save his universe and stop their enemies – and most importantly, get Cosmo and Wanda back. Even if that meant to have the talk with his friends and family. Again. Which meant a lot of explaining in a short amount of time while simultaneously gathering as much intel from them before everything went haywire.

Classic Dimmsdale situation.

“Are you alright?” The familiar brown fudge head came into view to his right, steel blue eyes fixed on him. Jimmy still seemed to be on edge, but overall worried. Timmy was getting sick of it. Well, not Jimmy’s face itself, but worrying the others all the time. Always being the troublemaker. The source of the chaos. He didn't want this.

Timmy noticed he was spacing out again, but he was unable to control it – or rather, he didn’t want to. Because experience told him this was just the calm before the storm, and he should appreciate this moment of silence before the next drama started. He could still see melting faces of his younger self, turning into black puddles if he closed his eyelids for too long. Hear Tiberius’s warnings. The echo of Vlad’s, Anthony’s and Anti-Cosmos’s laughter … It kind of reminded him of his nightmares or that strange realm, where he met Anthony … and the monster. Like he was only partially present in real life and another part of him was still trapped there.

A familiar warm glow on his scalp reminded him that his situation wasn’t very … suitable for a long break, so to say. It was barely noticeable, the butterfly effect of the bunker was probably draining the crown slash jewel as well, but it still reacted somehow. Or maybe he was just imagining it at this point, since it happened so many times without him really paying attention to it already. Insanity was just a side effect from this mess. Oh well, he wasted enough time. It was like tearing off a band aid, better do it fast and painless.

Jimmy’s questions about his wellbeing were left unanswered, he didn’t react to them much, but at least his gaze wasn’t so far gone anymore and Timmy began to take in his surroundings fully.

To his right were his friends that accompanied him here, SpongeBob sending him a soft smile, Goddard still on his lap to also be part of the meeting. Dani had her arms crossed and chewed gum, still in her ghost form. Then there was Danny, his worried dad-stare fixed on him. Poof was still clinging to Timmy’s back, a nice comfort that reminded him of his faemily. And Jimmy right beside him, of course

To his left were Chester, A.J, Mark Chang and Chip, the latter two merely paying attention and rather playing cards to occupy themselves. Across the room sat his family, behind them a big flatscreen and some smaller ones, all portraying different views of Dimmsdale, some even moving – A.J.’s doing probably. Him and Tucker would probably get along, with their fondness for drones and tech overall.

Meanwhile, Nanna, Tooth Fairy and Jorgen stood at the side, his wife obviously not happy to stand next to him an ignoring all signs of affections. In the middle of a table were several blueprints and maps of Dimmsdale with circled areas ans also a few bottles and glasses filled with water.

So this was were they discussed everything. It was still impressive just how much they were able to accomplish within three days.

“Alright so … who goes first?” Chester asked the crowd, leaning back in his chair. When nobody answered immediately and everyone just looked at each other in return, he clicked his tongue. “Ah shucks, me I guess.” He turned around to his best friend, smiling to let him know he wasn’t mad. Like the kindhearted saint the he was on the inside. “You missed a lot with that Babysitting job of yours, you know.” He winked at Poof, who ducked his head behind Timmy’s back again, angling himself that he was out of Chester’s vision. The latter didn't mind.

“It’s – a long story. I was somewhere else when … this … happened.” Timmy genuinely hoped he wouldn’t have to explain himself further. He didn’t need them to know he was partially responsible for everything that went down on earth. And he was still avoiding his mom’s eyes like the plague. “So, what was going on Friday the 13^th over here?”

“Oh, I’ll tell you what happened.” McBadbat sat up straight, talking with his hands. “A swarm of these blue creatures came down from the sky, everything was suddenly breaking apart, burning, crashing – accidents everywhere.” He motioned an explosion. “And the next day, there was a bunch of robots with these weird guns – which turned out to be green alien ghost tingies and copies of you – shooting and kidnapping people all around, but we only found that out, like, yesterday or so.” He paused, waiting for others to throw something in in case he was leaving details out, but no one interrupted him, so he concluded: “You didn’t answer your phone, so I went to your house to check up on you, that’s where I met your parents. But you weren’t there.”

“And I was in town to visit my parents over the weekend when it happened. It was meant to be a surprise … and they sadly got shot as well and disappeared.” A.J. added his point of the story. He didn’t seem too phased by it. “But I have already located their and the other residence’s whereabouts. We’re currently analyzing the parts of their weapons to figure out how the transportation works.”

“Well, I was chilling in my spaceship when it happened and just joined the hype – as in, like, running for our lifes.” The Yugopotamian said, turning his fake-ifier to turn into a teen with red eyes and black hair, still wearing the same shorts and Hawaiian shirt. “I can’t reach my planet either and the engine of my ship of broke, so I’m just seeing how it plays out.” Timmy saw Jimmy perking up at that, visibly holding back his questions that he now had. Despite the situation, Timmy found himself suppressing a smile.

“My limousine had a flat tire and my manager abandoned me when they attacked us. But this nice lady helped me escape.” Chip pointed behind him at Tooth Fairy, who dreamily looked at his shiny teeth. Jorgen wasn’t amused.

“That still doesn’t explain any of this.” Danny gestured all around them, drawing the attention to him so Timmy wouldn’t be stared at from all angles the whole time. “And how come they didn’t get you as well?” He pointed at the fairies.

“Emergency protocol Alpha X: We took an escape capsule.” Nanna Boom Boom explained as Tooth Fairy shuddered at the memory of being squished inside with her grandmother in-law.

“And how did you meet each other exactly?” Timmy asked, still not sure how to act around Nanna since she could be just as mean as Jorgen if she was in the mood for it.

“We were all trying to escape from the same enemies, so we just kind of helped each other out from the start.” A.J. stated, his eyes shining with scientific curiosity. “It doesn’t happen everyday you get to work together with nice aliens – err, fairies, was it?” He slightly shook his head at the mention. At least disbelief was common around scientists, although his denial wasn’t as ridiculously high as Jimmy’s. “Anyway, we’re keeping the robots away from them and they help to fend off the bad-luck anomaly of these Anti-Fairies, as they’re called.” He quoted with his fingers.

“It was totally wild dude, there are mini-you’s running around and the flying bat-guys can make ladders, salt and black cats appear out of nowhere and terrible things start to happen!” Chester exclaimed, carried away by his excitement. It was still better listening to that instead of acknowledging the lack of responses from his parents. "Who would've thought their only weakness are nets? I was actually on my way to get more stuff to cover our base, like general Boom suggested, when we met."

Timmy stared at Chester as if he had grown a second head. “That doesn’t make sense, why are they also chasing humans?” After all, it was fairies they put in Abracatraz. They wanted to drain them of their magic essence, didn’t they? The Anti-Fairies pranking people wasn't new, but this seemed more like a game of hide and seek.

“Dunno man. Maybe they’re hunting us for fun. No idea for what they would even need my dad for …” The everlasting grin on Chester’s face faded. He was always too good and pure and also really close with his father. They didn’t have much, but Timmy thought he was very lucky to be loved by at least one parent so much, money or not. He was the complete opposite of Remy Buxaplenty. The bucktoothed teen couldn’t help but feel guilty, knowing he was responsible for all of that in a way – hopefully were able to free his friend’s parents along with everyone else soon. “But once A.J. figures out how to get to them, we can bust them out.”, he said with determination and a raised fist.

“I see.” Timmy really hoped he sounded genuine. Of course, he knew exactly where they might be and technically, there was no point in lying or holding any information back, but he just found it hard to explain and how to handle the situation. He guessed it would be best to just tackle this like any other video game. Ask the NPCs as many questions as available to get all the information you need before heading into battles. Sadly, this wasn’t a game and there wasn’t a list of options. It was much harder to come up with questions on the fly. Even a multiple-choice conversation would be less stressful than this. “So, everyone else from Dimmsdale that isn’t here got caught? Do you guys know if the rest of the world is also invaded?”

“Hard to say, sport.” Vlad spoke up for the first time, him and Gladys having scooted away to create distance between them and their son-in-law. “Nobody can leave the city. There’s usually the swarm of the blue guys circling around town. Our drones are always taken out by them or the robots and green aliens.” It was difficult to see the blue flying creatures, almost as if they weren’t visible at times and appearing out of nowhere. Like shadows.

“Honestly, we’ve been in this chaos from the beginning and it’s still hard to believe all of this is actually happening.” Gladys finished for her husband, their hands intertwined tightly. It was causing them a lot of stress in their old age. “This is the first restaurant we opened, so we come here regularly. As soon as we noticed something was wrong, we contacted your mother and invited everyone that we came across to take shelter here.”

“I tried to reach the government or Russia, but the we have no signal anymore.” His mother explained, looking at her smart watch, her other hand tapping on the table in a steady rhythm. Impatient.

Her husband sighed, his face full of scratches. “And we have no internet, the true horror of this apocalypse.”

Timmy didn’t comment on that. He expected nagging, yelling and just any reaction instead of this silent treatment. No ‘How are you?’ or ‘What have you been through?’ or ‘Why didn’t you pick up the phone?’. It was just like always. A bitter part of him couldn’t help but wonder how they managed to not get caught the entire time. Well, his mom obviously had some skills, but his dad? He was even more of an airhead than Cosmo, sometimes even walking into doors or walls because he didn’t pay attention!

Were they even worried about his wellbeing? Sure, his mom had been mad and didn’t fully believe his babysitting lie, but she didn’t hug him like his grandparents did. Of course, he knew they cared about him, but it had been a few years since they showed any form of physical affection. Maybe it was his fault because he had grown out of it and kept his distance from them for … reasons.

Sometimes he still wondered how their relationship would’ve been if they never did that all these years ago … if they could’ve lived like this. A big happy family. But it was never possible. Never supposed to be. And now, it was probably too late for this happy fantasy. The one thing he wished for the most.

“By the way, dude.” Chester drew Timmy’s attention back to him, making the bucktoothed teen realize he was spacing out once again. “Why are you so calm about all of this? As if you already know what’s going on and who these guys are.” It was pointless to pretend that he didn’t, so Timmy said nothing in return. “I mean, these small copies look EXACTLY like you did when we were ten! What the heck is up with that? And you just … I don’t know, disappear without a trace for three days and come back with the Ghostbusters themselves of whatever.” He gestured at Jimmy and the others, no real malice behind his words but he also seemed a little agitated by all of it. Understandably, his chill attitude had its limits.

“It’s … I don’t know how to explain it.” Timmy pinched the back of his nose, trying to remember how he broke the news to his friends all the other times before. He briefly hoped that Jorgen or Nanna would say something. Every wish he ever made was listed and it was Jorgen that made Unwish Island to keep his dangerous wishes away, so he hat to know.

“Just – how much do you know about them?” He nodded towards Jorgen and his own family drama.

“Uhm, not much. They’re not human, but I don’t judge. And they helped us plenty of times already, so I don’t pry into their business – not that we had much time to get to know each other the last few days.”

“We already have our own hideout at mattress company, where the rest of us are hiding.”, Nanna helped out. “You already know them.”

Timmy nodded, suppressing the urge to ask who the others might be. After being so careful to never reveal his secret for several years, it was hard to break out of this pattern. Especially with the contract he couldn’t afford to slip or make any mistakes, leaving him on edge for months. For someone that managed to land in fairy court so many times, that was a big achievement. The last time he had to work together with fairies and his friends was also long in the past, so … he frankly had no idea where to start.

“One of them is mother nature, she made the clouds as a distraction. We saw you on camera and decided to pay a visit.” Nanna crossed her arms, huffing. “Same strategy as always.”

Realizing that there were still other magical creatures aside from the fairies, Timmy wondered if maybe there would be some of the other holidays or deities as well. And if they all had access to their own type of magic.

“Wait, hold on!” Danny lifted his hand, trying to digest this sudden information. “THE mother nature? Like, literally?”

“Yup, big lady, lot’s of squirrely, puffy white dress. She hosts the annual fairy bake-off.” Timmy said as if that was something completely normal for him, turning to his friends again, who still had a hard time digesting the fairytale from last night. “And if they’re at the mattress company, Sandman is also still there, right?”

Nanna nodded. But this time, Tooth Fairy spoke up “He’s the only traditional fairy that has his usual location on earth. And since it’s near the Bifröst – or rainbow bridge – his place was obviously the best choice to hide.” She looked at her perfect nails, obviously just trying to occupy herself and avoiding Jorgen’s gaze. Even with her flawless skin and hair, she looked exhausted. Which was ironic, since she didn’t have that much spare time in centuries, not able to collect any teeth for three days. “I still don’t know why the entrance is in Dimmsdale, of all places.”

Huh, Timmy always thought the rainbow bridge could appear anywhere when poofed up. But then again, it was weird to walk a long ass rainbow down to earth, which took mostly around twenty minutes when it would be thousands of miles away in reality.

“Poof poof!” His brother finally built up the courage to look over Timmy’s shoulder, excitedly stating that he was learning that in school at the moment.

“So the only ways to get to Fairy World and behind the magic barrier that shields it from space are the bridge, a door, directly poofing in or flying there and getting special access?”

“Poof poof.” His brother nodded, ever the A+ student in his class.

“You … actually understood all this with two words?” Chester pointed at him and the fairy kid in disbelief.

“Yes? It’s called paraphrasing.” Timmy shrugged, never questioning why he was able to understand his brother. Some in his dimension could, right? Or was it mostly just other magical beings? To him, it was like telepathy. Not the same kind Anthony used, Timmy just knew what Poof meant. And so did the others. Usually. He just chose to not talk normally, it was kind of their thing.

His two best friends and family just stared, probably wondering if he hit his head or something. Meanwhile, Jimmy and Danny were just glad they weren’t the only ones not getting it. Because paraphrasing was not an explanation for this. But then again, magic was the ultimate explanation for everything in this dimension, so they stayed silent and observed the meeting. Or at least one of them did.

“Sorry if I still don’t really believe the whole magic and fairies are real topic, but next you’re telling me the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus exist here as well.”, Jimmy just couldn’t help but comment on that. Sure, he dealt with unbelievable things himself but they all had a scientific background and – and it was just too silly to be real. His worry and need to analyze his crush’s weird behavior wasn’t enough to shut down his denial entirely.

“Uhm, … well, you’re about to be disappointed then. Cuz they are.” Timmy awkwardly shrugged, ducking his head as he noticed everyone except for the fairies gaping at him. At this point, he wouldn’t get anything done if he had to explain everything to everyone all over. So, he just pretended everything was normal and ignored the dozens of eyes. “And so is the April Fool and Father Time. And several cultural gods as well, but that’s not the point right now.”

“It is, if it means they didn’t do anything to stop Vlad and his new organization.”, Danny added equally doubtful. And, to be fair, he had a point. The council could bend the rules to their will and the gods also had the abilities to influence reality to a certain degree. But, knowing them, it was probably not their problem.

“Well, the council also doesn’t interfere much and it’s literally their business.” Timmy somehow felt the need to defend himself, ignoring his stiff right hand that throbbed when he moved it too much with his gestures. He had to control himself better. “Somehow it’s always up to … children to save the day.” Timmy didn’t want to say ‘me’ since that sounded too conceited. Yet, that was how it always turned out. He literally saved the earth multiple times a week when Dark Laser had this thing with his death balls and laser cannons going on – okay, the living toy villain was also only a problem because of him so it was kind of his responsibility to make sure he didn’t blow up the planet.

“As if you puny humans have any idea how our system works. There are rules that need to be followed!” Jorgen’s mighty voice echoed through the room. No wonder was he mad, it sounded like blasphemy to him, as one of the most powerful beings in this universe that devoted its entire existence to Da Rules and the fairy law.

“And even with their powers, the enemy has its own weather controlling beast. They cancel each other out, which is why a distraction is all she and Jack Frost can manage before they call him.” Nanna pulled her grandson by his ear to remind him of his manners. He did, under protest. “They already made sure to keep the others from interfering. And some others are jerks that just don’t want to be involved, like the pixies, genies, Greek gods and so on.”

“Do you think they mean Vortex?” Dani whispered to her brother, who had also thought of that ghost. He didn’t pester them in a long time, but some hurricanes the last few years where his fault.

“Possible. Although it’s surprising how many ghosts are still willing to side with Vlad after everything he did in the past.”

“I think we’re getting off topic.” Mrs. Turner remined the group, her fingers still drumming on the table. “Do you mind filling us in why you know them in the first place?” Her husband, being the supportive other half, also crossed his arms and looked at his son with an equally stern expression. “And about these copies that look like you.”

The little spark of peace that had begun to develop was drowned as if someone had dumped a bucket full of ice on him. He knew he had to tell them. But not that specifically … admitting to have godparents was not as difficult as that.

The sudden physical contact on his forearm made Timmy jump in his seat. It was Chester who startled him.

“We’ve known each other since we were five, dude.” He began, which already sounded like bad news to Timmy. “I know you always have your secrets and come up with lame excuses, that’s not unusual. But you obviously know what’s going on so … Even if it’ s a lot, can’t you tell your best friend – all of us – the truth?”

The only thing the bucktoothed teen could think about now, was the fact that Chester held his right wrist. Chesters’s hand was so much warmer compared to his, even with the fingerless glove. That wasn’t important right now. “You both remember Jimmy, right?”, he started with a question of his own directed at Chester and A.J., still warry and unsure how to convey all of this.

“Duh, why wouldn’t I?” Chester looked at him as if he was just playing stupid games to stall or avoid the topic. Not unusual from his confrontation avoiding buddy. But he wasn’t having it now, not after so much crazy stuff happened and he didn’t even know where his friends was and if he was okay, not to mention his missing father. This wasn’t a game, it was serious business!

Timmy glanced at said genius, his expression sour, almost full of regret. His best friends didn’t understand. Neither did Jimmy, Danny, Dani or SpongeBob. But Poof seemed awfully timid, making himself very small to hide behind Timmy’s chair. “Do you remember Retroville? Or anyone else from there?”

“Sure I do, what’s up with these stupid ques-“ McBadbat fell silent the more he thought about it. He recalled some special places and faces, but it was strange, because …

“Do you also remember how you met them?” Timmy pressed further, the growing confusion telling him Chester was starting to realize it. A.J. also opened and closed his mouth several times, even massaging his temples as if that would help him to gain access to information that was simply not there anymore – or at least heavily censored.

Nobody else seemed to get what was going on, Jimmy being the only one to know about the method of erasing people’s memories to protect the secret. He just didn’t think Jorgen would also erase events like the travel to another universe, even if it wasn’t due to magic. Since it didn’t take the genius long to connect the dots, the frown on his forehead deepened.

Taking the moment of silence as an answer, Timmy continued with his confession. “You can’t. And you can’t remember how you entered another dimension or meeting Jimmy’s friends. You can’t remember meeting the fairies. You can’t remember the Anti-Fairies. And so does A.J and everyone else here.” Reluctantly, he pulled his arm out of the hold, not able to look into his best friend’s eyes any longer – or anyone else’s for that matter. “You all forgot. In all these years, this isn’t the first apocalypse nor the first time that we worked together with the fairies. It was against the rules so … I couldn’t tell you before. And it’s –“

It was pointless to fill them all in now if it was only temporary again. It was unfair only his universe, the people he loved and cared about, were doomed to forget. It was stupid that he had to go through this over and over again. And he was tired of sounding like a broken record and repeating himself to everyone. If they just winged it and went along with everything, that would be less stressful. But when was his live ever easy?

“I’m sorry. For lying. For everything that happened.” His teeth gnawed on his bottom lip, fighting the nausea and his urge to bail out of the room. He couldn’t tell the whole truth, not with so little time and if it was going to be in vain regardless, it didn’t matter how he put it into words. “The reason is …” He didn’t need to look at his parents and grandparents to know they, for once in his life, listened to every word he said. The pure irony. “I’m selfish. I had fairy godparents that granted me wishes since I was nine and in order to keep that secret, nobody could know about them or magic or any of it.” People that claimed honesty was reliving were fucking liars. He felt … empty. As if a beautiful illusion was torn to shreds, revealing the harsh reality. With all his mistakes, sins and failures served on a big fat plate. “That’s why Jorgen and the council altered your memories. And sometimes I wished you all would forget myself and that everything returned to normal after I fucked up with another wish.” He tried to distance himself from the moment, recalling the past years as if it was a movie and was merely watching a cartoon with the main character coincidentally looking like him instead of being in the middle of it. Like it didn’t affect him at all.

Magical build up was a thing, but surely he could've made wishes that didn't hurt others in the long run or only served selfish purposes.

“The copies look like me because I made them, since I … also made a lot of enemies in the past. Most of them used to be my own wishes, like Super Bike, Dark Laser or my former-imaginary friend Gary, to name a few.” He fidgeted with his gloves, not sure what the others thought or looked like right now. It was easier to think of this as a monologue he had with himself. “And around six years ago, they kidnapped most of you and brought you to Unwish Island to blackmail me. You probably remember being locked in a cage together at a beach, right?”

“No, that … was a dream.” Chester still couldn’t believe it, thinking this was just a sick joke. “It was ridiculous, you had –“

“Heat vision.” Timmy specifically turned into another direction and concentrated on a stray glass of water on the table. The strain in his eyes got worse and a small, very weak ray shot out of them, boiling the water until a small cloud of steam rose up. He had to blink his dry eyes away and with the loud gasps around him, it wasn’t hard to imagine the baffled expressions, even from his otherworldly friends that didn’t knew he could do that. “Yep. And some of my other wishes affected you, the school, the town -everyone. Not in a good way, most of the time.”

He mustered up he courage to glance over at Jorgen, who nodded with something that almost resembled pity. Weird, he thought the warden would love to rub salt into his wound and humiliate him further at this point, claiming what an irresponsible child he used to be and still was.

“Woah, okay that – that IS a lot.” Not knowing if he should be angry, freaked out or amazed at the same time, Chester leaned back in his chair to stare at the ceiling. That was a chunk of information to digest at once, Timmy was not kidding. Yet he made it sound like he was the villain and not the bad guys outside actually destroying everything.

“Only this time, I don’t have access to magic to revert everything myself ... yet. And It’ll probably be the last time that I caused so much chaos – intentionally or not.” Timmy looked over the heads of his family at the monitors behind them. The lack of said swarm of Anti-Fairies around the town was evident. They would’ve seen them for sure on their way here. And yet, the screens showed a clear sky, safe for a few robots and copies patrolling around. Tiberius must’ve told the rest of the organization that he was here, probably. “Again, I’m really sorry. Even if you all don’t remember what I did – I do.” At least for now.

If it weren’t for the throbbing feeling in his right hand, it was almost like he wasn’t truly here at all. Something was different. Ever since he entered the cave, a change happened. Was this Anthony’s doing? No, whatever connected them, the nets should keep any influence out that wasn't already inside. Yet, it was weird his twin didn’t say anything since the discovering of …

“I made the copies so they would leave you – no, me alone. They were supposed to be punching bags, not able to feel anything. Just some mindless slaves they could torture, boss around and use as servants. They even run a ‘We hate Timmy Club’ and all.” A hollow laugh escaped him, a pathetic attempt at relieving the situation and his consciousness. It didn’t work. “But Tiberius said he was the last one from the magic copy machine. Probably ran out of ink or the paper got stuck, I dunno. He’s defect so, unlike the others, he has emotions and can also feel pain … It’s understandable he wants revenge now.”

Silence.

There really was no good side after all. He felt like a genius back then but now he was realizing that he wasn’t a hero. He was just a dumb kid looking for easy solutions to his problems. If that never happened, if these copies were just like robots or dolls, it would be different. But Tiberius wasn’t supposed to pay the price for it. And Anthony? He wouldn’t have come to existence or … been separated from him if Timmy hadn’t been so stupid to let himself be manipulated by Anti-Cosmo.

What made him different from Francis? He was also a bully, toying with the world as if it was a playground. A simple wish and it was all forgiven and forgotten. No wonder it turned into an addiction at some point.

“Dude, and I thought trying to eat your and your friends’ brains when we first met was hardcore.”, Mark whistled. A confession surrounded by his friends and family was one thing, but the fairies, him and Chip Skylark being also present just made Timmy’s stomach drop. He was on the verge of either breaking down or bolting out of the room.

The decision was made and he settled on the second option. Like the coward that he was.

Timmy stood up so fast the chair toppled over, throwing the door open and leaving a stunned crowd behind, Mark subtly leaning to Chip and asking is he said something wrong. The celebrity clearly felt out of place and decided to not engage further in this conversation. He probably was the last person in this room to know what was going on, but even he knew that wasn't an appropriate response.

Right after he left, an alarm on the beg screen went off, showing a high-anomaly-alert: One drone was currently filming a big swarm of Anti-Fairies chasing someone - which would explain the lack of guarding around Dimmsdale.

Chapter Text

“Timmy?” Poof, still clinging to his shoulder, tried to look at his brother’s face, but the bangs hid his eyes from him. Said teen simply sneaked his way around the rubbish and people, evading the mass and anyone that might attempt to talk to him. Even Chompy nudged one of his hands es he passed by and if Timmy had the mind-capacity, he would feel bad about ignoring him and his cute family altogether.

He expected to run out of air, to feel panic rising in his chest, for the ground to wobble beneath his feet … yet, none of that happened. He saw people, dark walls and no way out of this underground hole. He hadn’t felt panic like this before. He was drowning, sinking deeper with each moment. As if the flickering lights above would die any minute, the dark side entrance swallowing him whole. Disappearing into the darkness, becoming one with the shadows.

A part of him was convinced he deserved this. That he should feel even more miserable. That after everything that happened, which was seemingly just to show him all the wrongs of his ways over the years, he was lucky enough to still have made it this far. That his judgement day was still in the gloom and unknown future. Another part of him still wanted to scream at the void – why him, why now, when would it be over already and for how much longer would he be able to do all that? But the majority of his being was just … tired. In a state of trance and acceptance. Yes, this was happening, no there was nothing he could do about it and maybe there would’ve been other ways to deal with it but right now … he had no idea what to do. Nothing mattered and yet it did more than anything at once. Would everything be returned to normal after this? Hopefully. Would his actions still have consequences? Obviously.

He was torn between wishing that all of this was just a bad dream and being relieved that he had no more secrets from anybody … aside the most recent with Anthony. But overall, he couldn’t tell if he would prefer if everyone, his friends included, forgot any of this happened … or that he himself would, for once, be graced with that blissful cluelessness. Even if the latter was his biggest fear. Oh, the irony.

His feet carried him down the corridor. Where was he even supposed to go? He couldn’t just leave like that. Not after dropping that bomb and giving them no chance to vent their rightful anger at him. And he needed help. He couldn’t possibly run away and try to fight them all by himself, even if he wanted to do exactly that. His chances of saving Cosmo and Wanda were nonexistent – the last fight was proof enough. Vlad had overpowered him twice, even with the help of that magic drug. And Walker, Damian and Tiberius? Oh please, he was dead meat if he were to face all of them again by himself. He was nothing without his wishes and without any support of his friends, he might as well just nail himself a coffin and save his enemies the time if he were to run off solo.

“I’m such an idiot.” He whispered, whether to Poof, himself or no one in particular, he wasn’t sure. He needed space to think, a distance to pick up his face that he lost and yet, he feared that being left alone with all this pressure and thoughts wouldn’t help him at all. But that’s just who he is. He always ran or took the easy way out when things got difficult. Finding a loophole so everything worked out in his favor was the only smart thing he could pull off – although during most challenges, it was his luck or pure coincidence that helped him out. And now it seemed his fortune expired … Exposing the cheater that he was.

Perhaps he should try to meet Anthony and keep his end of the deal after all. He told Timmy to keep the charade up and find him, so if he just concentrated enough on that, perhaps he would talk to him again? Any help or hope was welcome right now … because he was lost, both in a physical and metaphorical sense. As twisted as it was, his twin knew his darkest secrets and didn’t judge him. Or at least Timmy didn’t care if he did, unlike with his family and friends, despite them being acquainted for not even a day. Was he too trusting, perhaps? But more importantly, would they all think less of him now? What if they didn’t want to be around him anymore? … What would his hope of keeping his memories be worth, if they hated him in the end? All his efforts for nothing. Dammit, why had he been so stupid and said all these things?! Surely there could’ve been a less harsh explanation. As always, he only regretted his decisions after he made them. Stupid blabbering mouth.

“What could possibly go wrong?” – Everything, Timmy Turner. Everything!

He was sabotaging himself for some reason. As if some self-pitying part of his soul wanted them to turn away and leave him in the dark. As if being neglected and left alone was the only norm he could rely on. It was hard to break out of old habits, so maybe that childish voice in his head still tried to convince him that he was better off being miserable. From what he had seen and heard these past few days, it was probably what he deserved. Having unlimited wishes was too good to be true, so maybe he had accumulated too much bad karma or something and this was his punishment. Yeah, made sense. It had been Friday the 13^th when everything escalated, after all.

“Why in Einstein’s name didn’t you tell them the whole truth?!”, Someone yelled after him. Timmy hadn’t even been aware of his surroundings, his feet simply carrying him down one of the poor illuminated side passages, far away from the familiar faces.

Poof lightly tucked on his shirt, pointing behind them where Jimmy probably stood, harsh footsteps coming to a halt, loud breathing lacing his voice. Timmy was too afraid to turn around, so he just stopped. A smelling tunnel with few flickering lights was truly the worst place to have another deep and meaningful talk and yet he had a feeling this was exactly what they were going to have right now. This scenery was nothing compared to the amazing little world Jimmy created in his pocked dimension. He wanted to go back there – to this little piece of self-made heaven. A shelter.

“What do you mean?” Still not having the guts to face his friend, Timmy was rooted to his spot. He felt so cold and misunderstood. But it was his own fault. That he always pushed others away with his attitude. That he was always alone. And yet, he couldn’t help but feel watched the entire time. An uneasiness accompanying him since they entered this bunker.

“You’re not selfish, Turner! And yet, you make it sound like you’re a monster, which you’re not!” Jimmy’s steps came closer, his breath loud, only inches behind him, making the hair on his neck stand up. “Not to mention your ability to shoot lasers with your eyes like Goddard, which you had the entire time and never deemed necessary to tell me about before, but … what the hell Tim? Why?!”

Each word somehow stabbed Timmy in his chest. If only Jimmy’s tone was more of the blaming kind and not the ‘I want to understand what’s bothering you’ – he couldn’t deal with that right now. He was used to being stared and pointed at, especially in these situations. “It won’t make a difference. All of them will blame me or hate me. Like always. And they will forget – like always. And if they don’t … then that’s what I deserve.” He feels Jimmy’s hands resting on his shoulders, the other inhaling deeply. He regrets uttering more of these negative words, but he can’t take them back. He can’t unwish them. What’s done, is done.

“Okay listen, I know you’re mentally not in a good place right now. With everything that happened and seeing the clones – err, copies earlier, it’s understandable. But you’re NOT a villain, so stop portraying yourself as such.” Jimmy walked around Timmy to look him in the eyes, clearly upset. “Why don’t you explain it to them the same way you did to me last night? That you were unhappy and you didn’t mean for it to happen? I don’t know Chester and A.J. that well, but they would understand. And your parents –”

“I know that they do, Jimmy.” Timmy did his best to keep his frustrated sigh down, but he couldn’t help the long exhale, spilling more ink on is white vest. “Every time. They’re good people. But … it’s the truth. I wasn’t very considerate as a kid, you know that. And I sure as hell won’t tell my parents that their neglect …. No, I don’t have the nerves to do this right now.” Being honest was exhausting. He never had to be so thoughtful before. It was a lot. All the past events since Friday the 13^th left their mark on him. He remembered his mistakes and he thought he had learned from them, grew out of them, but it seemed like the past was trying to pull him back, clawing at his legs and pulling him under. So much baggage. So much he would like to change or undo. God, if he could travel back in time, he would smack his own child-self for being such an ignorant idiot (and also melting his dad’s trophy). But then again … the brat inside didn’t want to do that. It hated the unfair world and thought it deserved everything if he had to suffer too. What’s a few reckless wishes compared to his pain? Why be sorry for something he didn’t intend to happen? He was just a kid with power and treated poorly, the universe knew what was coming when they gave him magic. They should be even now. Jimmy was right. He had a point! But still …

If they hadn’t met Chester … he would’ve probably preferred to keep their smaller circle instead of joining a small army of weird adults and magic folk. Maybe he should just go to the other hideout and talk to them. He had long accepted that he felt more comfortable around magic weirdos instead of regular people. He practically knew more about fairy rules and lore than he did about human history by now. Well, not quite, but it was stuff that he had no trouble memorizing – unless he was forced to study Da Rules. And, well, most other knowledge came from firsthand experience, paired with a fair share of morals and lessons.

“Running away from conflicts won’t make them go away, Timmy.” Jimmy said, which was ironic since he tended to shut people out and hide in his lab the most. But coaches don’t play, they’re just good at giving advice they can’t follow themselves, Timmy guessed. Or maybe he was now tasting his own medicine, since he had pep-talked the genius a day ago about similar issues. How unfair. “We all have a lot of questions and not enough answers, but we’ll tackle one thing at a time, like I promised. Deep breaths, remember?”

His lungs would burst with how much air he needed to swallow everything that was clogging up his throat. He could inhale as much as he wanted but there was never enough air. But the fact that no one else but him felt this struggle made him think he was the odd one out. Why couldn’t they all see it? Or … why couldn’t he struggle less, like the average humans, if he was supposed to be the average kid. Why was he the only one crumbling and suffering from the pressure?!

“I don’t want to calm down! I don’t want to sit in a stupid circle and talk, especially not with all of them staring at me – even my fucking grandparents are here!” He finally spat, his nonchalant façade breaking. He couldn’t hold up any more charades. He was too worn out. “Francis, Chip Skylark, my old principal – I don’t wanna deal with that, okay?! The only people missing to make this shit-show even worse are Vicky and Crocker!” Timmy hid his face behind his hands, groaning. He had no idea what to feel right now. He had no idea why he was acting so irrational. He had no idea why he couldn’t bring himself to care about others. He was tired of it all. Of panicking, of not feeling the right things, of not being able to just get over his problems. Of making Jimmy nanny him. Of never making the right choice. Why couldn’t things just be less complex? Everything was easier and less serious when he was a kid. Like Anthony said, screw the consequences man. Just leave …

Leave.

Leave!

L E A V E

“If you don’t like this place, we could go somewhere else?” another timid voice asked, the echo of his squeaking shoes almost drowning it out. Not only Jimmy had followed him this time, but also Danny and SpongeBob. Dani, Chester and A.J. weren’t with them, but he was glad it was only his three friends. They weren’t close enough to everything going on and they hadn’t been on the bad end of his wishes that often. He didn’t know if he could deal with another round of spotlight in that conference room. He might explode the next time.

“Easier said than done.” Despite him fleeing from the situation, Timmy knew he couldn’t just pack up and leave right after this conversation. But he couldn’t just return and pretend this didn’t happen either. Him and his stupid mouth, he should’ve just come up with another lame excuse instead. What was wrong with him, making this more difficult for himself than it already was?

“Look, we know your situation with your family and friends isn’t always the best, especially right now … but you’re not alone in this. We’ve got your back!” Danny, like the big brother Timmy had once wished for, ruffled his hair, the cold hand a dark reminder of another sin, making the encouraging smile feel oh so bittersweet.

“You say that so easily as if me messing up didn’t cause you to turn into … this.” Timmy gestured at the full-ghost form. Out of everyone here, Danny should hate him the most. If it weren’t for Timmy, none of this would’ve happened. He would be at peace in Amity Park with his family, without everyone having to experience such trauma. “I had the power to revert you back to your old self, but I wished for something else and …” He couldn’t find the words. Sure, there was no guarantee he could’ve undone Damian’s wish or that anyone else in his position would’ve been able to keep a clear mind under the influence of that substance, but still, he was the root of the problem.

“Oh really? Did you free the Anti-Fairies? Did you let Vlad, Walker and their minions invade Fairy-World just like that?” Danny crossed his arms, giving him the famous Fenton-Dad stare.

“No, but –“

“Did you tell Vlad to make another clone of me? Did you tell them to make these weird potions? Did you know Damian’s wish would turn me into a ghost or knew becoming exactly that was my biggest nightmare?”

“No, but I should’ve  –“

“How do you know that using your wish to turn me back would’ve helped us to win? You brought Sam, Tucker and the others with Pandora’s box to us! We were able to break the barrier and capture most of the goons before the ghost invasion destroyed more than just the funfair, Timmy. They forced Vlad to retreat because we outnumbered them!” Danny flicked his forehead, irritating Timmy too much to properly react to the light pain. “Nobody could’ve expected any of that to happen and you did your best to help – you did GOOD! So what if it didn’t work out the way you expected? It’s not all lost yet, we can still set things right.”

The fact that Danny still wanted to cheer him up despite the horrible things Timmy revealed about himself made his stomach drop. He didn’t deserve all this care. He was the worst or them all, the least fit to be considered a ‘hero’ as those crabs from Volcano Island described them.

“And from what you mentioned, the enemies on this Island really wanted to hurt you and your loved ones. They would’ve done all those bad things to you instead of the copies and I don’t know if I would’ve thought of a better solution in your place.” SpongeBob’s wet hand patted Timmy’s leg, his smile honest as always. “I know how creating a double of you can turn into something unexpected … even your enemy. It’s okay. You didn’t know Tiberius would be a result of this.”

“He turned out like this because of me! What if all my copies suffered the whole time? Am I really the good guy here?” Timmy couldn’t help but look at his hands, the right one trembling noticeably more. It was just like the several clones of his dad he wished for as a kid. They weren’t the real one, but they had feelings. It was possible these kid-versions of him also had them, just like Tiberius. And he let them suffer in his place. “I mean, you hate Vlad because he made clones of you, right? How am I any different?”

“Well, first of all, you know the value of life and you question your actions.” Danny quickly assured him. He didn’t realize his outlashing behavior had left such a mark on his friend, when he had to leave so he could cool down after Timmy explained what happened to him before he arrived in Amity Park. “And you were a damn kid, Tim. I don’t know if you noticed, but you’re far from the thoughtless brat you used to be. You changed. And the fact that you regret it just proves your honest intentions.”

“And if we’re already judgmental … I also made clones out of my DNA when I was the same age, therefore I’m just as guilty.” Jimmy obviously didn’t like to talk about it, shifting his weight from one foot to the other as he avoided eye contact. “And unlike yours, my reason was much more immature, because I didn’t want to waste my time with chores and I had ‘better’ things to do. On hindsight, I realize how careless I was. I treated them as errand boys and … as soon as things got a little complicated, I … de-cloned them.” He couldn’t bring himself to say it was only because they damaged his reputation. They never did anything bad, actually. Not even the evil one, which was why he didn’t bother to chase and capture him after he escaped. Sure, he monitored and kept a close eye on Evil Jimmy, but all this evil fella did was pranking other people. Until the day he decided to capture him after all, only to use him as his school-double and change his DNA again. And THEN the evil clone pulled a stunt that almost destroyed his earth. Technically, he also almost doomed his dimension to a dark fate. Several times probably. And even if he didn’t, he would never think less of Timmy because of that. “Not once have I considered their feelings. It was just … easier to life with it. To not think about how cruel I was to them. Which is why I never wanted to dive into the field of genetics again …. unless it’s for medical purposes.”

“You never told us about this.” Timmy honestly had no idea what to say to that. He could hardly blame Jimmy, since he wasn’t any better. And if he thought about it, how many children actually thought having doubles or clones would be cool since they could do all the dirty work, while you had some fun? Heck, he made a double of himself for emergencies on several occasions, giving your responsibilities to someone else was just too tempting. But he could see why Jimmy stuck to robots more than clones nowadays.

“Because I was ashamed and more or less suppressed that event … I didn’t view that fact as important as it is. But seeing Tiberius kind of kicked some memories loose ... How my mom chewed me out on ethics about creating life and how I had to take responsibility for my actions. Only that it was too late for that.” Jimmy bit his lip, Danny’s stern gaze making him even more uneasy. Timmy wished for copies without emotions, but he did the same thing Vlad did, only to himself. “I once thought my research could maybe help to a certain degree … like cloning organs or body parts so people that needed transplantations would have the exact genetic code that their body wouldn’t decline or that people who lost limbs could have an exact replica of what they used to have, but … it’s too risky. And other people with less morals would most likely abuse it.” He could talk all day about it, how he was working on a thesis about the cellular reproduction based on reptiles and axolotls and how a certain mixture could help the body to heal itself. It would be slower and more complex, but at least there wouldn’t be any risk of a clone war or something. Working on the serum for Timmy had only manifested that idea.

However, he was perhaps getting off topic.

“A-anyway, my point is that neither of us are perfect. Especially not me. And we don’t think less of you because you ‘abused’ the power you had, since we all did that at some point.”

“Weeell … I kinda also split myself in two once with that dream-catcher thing and I obviously also use my ghost powers to my advantage, even to this day. I can’t be mad at that.” Danny sighed, rubbing his neck. Just because the clone-stuff was a sensitive topic for him didn’t mean he had to take it out on his friends (this whole baggage was meant to be unpacked another time). “And you two learned your lesson. It doesn’t make what happened okay, but you’ve changed.” A tiny smile spread on his face. “Man, it feels like yesterday when you guys were half my height and now you’re all grown up.”

“Come on, Danny, you know me. I’ll never grow up.” As weird as it was, Timmy couldn’t help but return the smile. So much happened and as bitter as it was to realize how much him and everything else had changed, he was glad he didn’t have to work through it alone. A part of him was still sad, mourning his lost childhood and the blissful, unaware innocence he used to have. When things were less bothering and tiring. When being a naïve child was the only excuse he needed and his mistakes were forgiven with less fuss. But the other was, despite everything, hopeful.

“So, we have no more secrets and are all friends again, right?” SpongeBob concluded, his hands shaking with excitement as he was barely able to stand still anymore.

“Always were.” Timmy gave him a thumbs up, which made the sponge cheer loudly through the tunnels. He could feel Poof hugging his neck from behind, reminding him that he would have to check up on his little brother’s wellbeing after this. He also had gone through a lot these past few days. “But I think this clone topic … is something we should maybe talk about another time, if you’re up for it.” He reached for Jimmy’s right hand to squeeze it, feeling a little bad now that he had pushed the other away before, when all he wanted was to comfort him. And despite the genius throwing that info in as randomly as he did, he got a feeling the whole ordeal went much deeper than met by the eye. Something that Jimmy wouldn’t have told anyone ever that hadn’t been there when it happened.

Maybe he was thinking too high of himself for believing that Jimmy purposely exposed yet another vulnerable part of his past and his mental image just so Timmy would feel better – especially after he poured his heart out in front of him when he was at his lowest. Still, it was a nice thought and he wanted to return the gesture. He wasn’t smart enough to give good live changing advice, but he was always ready to listen.

“I think … that would be good. Thanks.” Jimmy obviously wanted to change the topic, but he seemed to react positive to the contact, squeezing back as his thumb subtly drew circles on the back of Timmy’s hand. Of course, only Danny grinned knowingly as he noticed the blush on Jimmy’s cheeks – being a ghost had its perks and night vision was one of them.

“So … what now?” After a moment of peaceful silence, which the group had come to cherish as short lived as they were, SpongeBob once more looked around, especially awaiting Timmy’s reaction.

Said teen didn’t want to go back but leaving just like that seemed equally bad. “Ugh, I really don’t wanna talk to my parents now, but I think I need to talk to Chester and A.J. – and also with Nanna, Tooth Fairy and Mark.” Because they were literally the only people in this hole that would effectively help. Although he had no idea how he should explain all of this to his best friends. He wished he could just skip that part and the planning and dive straight into action.

“I’m sure your parents will understand.” SpongeBob tried to lighten the mood but the sour expression on Jimmy’s face said it all. They were all aware of how neglectful Timmy’s parents were and that they practically never cared where and how long he was gone, apparently. Yet, SpongeBob didn’t want to outright believe they were BAD bad. Just … maybe they liked to give him space and freedom? And they didn’t know Vicky was a bad person, right? He stated so once.

“They understand nothing. If anyone should apologize first, it’s them.” Jimmy suppressed the urge to cross his arms, since that would mean he had to let go of Timmy’s left hand, which he still held, taking full advantage of his friend providing emotional support. “He was miserable as a kid, otherwise he wouldn’t have had Cosmo and Wanda in the first place. Especially for so many years.” He didn’t want to outright tell the others everything, since it was very personal what Timmy entrusted him with and his own story to tell, but they had learned so much already from Jorgen’s story and what Timmy confessed, it wasn’t hard to put two and two together.

“Oh, right. I’m sorry we didn’t notice that sooner, Timmy.” SpongeBob faced his friend, his trademark smile fading as he realized what that implication meant. “Maybe if we tell them, they will change?”

“Trust me, they won’t change, Bobby.” Timmy patted the sponge’s head. “But it’s not like they’re … cruel or anything. I know they love me.” His newly found optimism faded the more he thought about it. “They willingly gave their memories away after they found out my secret once, so I could keep Cosmo and Wanda. They helped me fight the Darkness before. They beat up Crocker after the magic-muffin disaster. And they were strict and used to give me rules and all that … when I was a kid.” He stared into the distance, wondering where it all went wrong and when he grew so estranged to them. “Things just changed and now … we don’t talk much anymore. And they just nag at me about everything and … you know, teenage phase and stuff. They never cared much about to begin with.” Maybe it was weird how calmly he thought about this. But he was used to the flaunting attention and care he got from his family, enjoying the good times while they lasted and just dealing with the bad ones, waiting for the next moment his parents felt like giving a shit or let alone acknowledging the existence of their only child once more. “But they love me. They said so and bought me presents and –“

“That’s literally the basics of their job, Timmy.” Danny interrupted him, his fists shaking as his green eyes glowed in the darkness. “They proved that for like three times when you were a child but that’s not an excuse for ignoring you outside these few events! Just loving and caring about your kid occasionally isn’t enough.”

“Okay … can we not do this right now? I think I had my fill for today.” Timmy couldn’t say Danny was right, but he wasn’t wrong either. Far from it. But the child in him still wanted to believe in that fantasy. In his wish. That he could live with his fairy and human family together and in piece, with all his friends. Just a ‘normal’ life where he was surrounded by people that he loved and who loved him. Was that too much to ask? Was it really that impossible? Would … the jewel be able to grant him that? Maybe he was a fool for thinking like this. That if he didn’t have to be miserable anymore, he could be happy without feeling guilty or keeping any more secrets. No strings attached, no backfiring consequences. “And I think I can only handle one crisis at a time. I’d rather face Vlad, Tiberius and Anthony than unpacking this now.”

Speaking of his shadow, Timmy suddenly felt the slight tremble in his infected hand again. Now that they were secluded and being honest with each other, this might be the perfect time to tell them about his deal with Anthony, the nightmares and that weird monster. All of it. They would understand – they just confirmed they would be there for him and believed in his good intentions! If the perfect timing wasn’t now, it would never be.

Timmy squeezed Jimmy’s hand a little, his gaze fixed on his unoccupied hand, hiding the dark markings beneath the glove. “Speaking of Anthony … there’s something you guys need to –“

“TURNER! We have a situation here!” Jorgen’s shadow was big enough, even in the bad illuminated tunnel and with Timmy’s crown – which barely even glowed surprisingly –, to overcast the small group. “Don’t think you can leave me alone with these nagging –“ The warden stopped himself, slightly looking over his shoulder to see if the specified people were in earshot. “Whatever, just get your butts back in there. Your creation, your problem.” He pointed at Jimmy and Timmy. A bit further down the tunnel, Dani was leaning against the wall, patiently waiting as well.

Timmy didn’t know what frustrated him more. The bad timing for interrupting his confession or that he apparently had yet another consequence of his actions waiting for him in line. “What creation now?!” He debated if he should still make a run for it, but with Jimmy holding onto him and surrounded by his friends, he had no choice but to follow back into this cursed room if he didn’t want to cause another scene. One that might end with him being tied down for his own safety probably. “What wish from the past is biting me in the ass now?!” The beautiful moment of consolation he shared with Jimmy, Danny and SpongeBob was gone, poofed up in smoke like an Unwish. Just as fast and underwhelming as ever. As if they didn’t make any progress at all, he felt the stress and pressure return just the same.

“Not just yours.” Jorgen looked at Jimmy, not elaborating on this, while the genius ducked his head, leaving only Timmy in the dark. Literally, as the fairy walked back the way he came from. That’s when Timmy noticed the warden was carrying his wand that he left behind. The faint glow from what little stored energy was still inside it was gone. Perhaps the butterfly nets blocked all the influence out. Hopefully not just fairy magic, he didn’t want to imagine what else aside from ghosts and Anti-Fairies might after him, lurking in the shadows.

Exchanging glances and shrugging shoulders, the Immy’s followed, along with the rest. Jimmy opened his mouth to say something, only to stop halfway. For all his knowledge, he had no clue how to get through to Timmy or how to make the situation any easier. That was until, right before they entered the conference room again, he whispered in a hushed tone: “I’ll keep my promise, you’re not alone with this. Just … no more secrets, okay?” He squeezed back, Timmy only now becoming aware that they were still holding hands … It felt nice for some reason, but a sudden rush of adrenalin made him panic and he pulled it back, not retorting anything. He might break down crying or laughing if he did. He was really going insane. Was that part of being an adult in his universe? Maybe.

✧ « ★ » ✧

The big screen was on, portraying the camera of a drone. And despite the bomb he dropped earlier, he was mostly ignored as they re-entered the room, aside from his friends coyly smiling at him.

What Timmy saw punched the air out of his lungs – how many times did that happen so far already?

A flashing alert called ‘Anomalies’ while viewing a swarm of blue creatures, flying after another, bigger blue creature, one that hadn’t been clear to see before. And frankly, the boys were busy enough tracking after their friend to pay much attention to it before.

“Wait, that’s Shirley!” Jimmy exclaimed, shocked to see his and Timmy’s invented villain flying away from them as fast as he could. So much for wishes slash inventions that caused mayhem.

“Oh no, not the pizza dude!” Mark threw his loser-handcards almost right at Chip’s face. For some reason, he was back to his alien-form. Maybe because there was no point in hiding his identity anymore if the fairies had been officially revealed. It was ironic, knowing that Mark was one of the few wishes that still liked him, even after all these years.

Fainting might’ve been a good idea after all, was what Timmy thought. How was he supposed to stop all of this? He had to save his godparents, fight an army of ghosts, robots and Anti-Fairies with Vlad, Walker and even more threats and now Shirley? He was surprised his fight or flight response was the only thing triggered so far. Another panic attack or losing his shit completely and lashing out again would only make things worse. Still, that nagging whisper in his mind egged him on.

“This is bad. If they capture him, we’re at a great disadvantage.”, Jorgen grumbled, glancing down at the two boys. “You made him adaptable, didn’t you?”

“Uh … yeah, it was a typo but he’s not dangerous anymore.” Jimmy took his glasses off to rub his nose and not see this unbelievable chasing scene unfold. “He’s gullible, but he wouldn’t side with them.”

“That’s not the problem.” Nanna interfered, which wouldn’t have been noticed if Timmy weren’t looking at Jorgen’s unmoving lips. Them having almost the same voice was really weird – for mortal standards. “Even with the magic being turned off, the enemy still captures us to drain our powers. They wouldn’t chase him unless he had something they need.”

“They were able to make this magic potion that turned me into a full ghost.” Danny looked at his semitransparent hand as he held it up towards the lamp on the ceiling, which made the other humans stare at him with big eyes. “Could they also drain other kinds of power, like his adaptation skills?” He didn’t know much about Shirley, Jimmy and Timmy had briefly told them about him and invited him to the pizzeria but otherwise, he had no thoughts on him. He was just like Danielle, made for the wrong reasons but they both made something out of it.

“He was nearly unstoppable until we manipulated him to adapt his powers away.” Jimmy looked at the reflection of his glasses, then facing Timmy. It was weird to see the genius without them nowadays. He was quite sure the Jimmy didn’t even need them because he had bad eyesight, he could easily fix that after all. “If they somehow gain his ability, there’s a high chance they might evolve themselves.”

“Oh no, this is bad.” Tooth Fairy nervously tucked on her hair, but the moment Jorgen put a hand on her shoulder to provide comfort, she still had the reflex to swat it away. “They could defy our rules – they could overpower us and make every day like a Black Thursday!”

“Isn’t that a good thing? Dad loves them.” Chester whispered to A.J. who just rolled his eyes, telling him this had nothing to do with Black Friday.

“So … we just have to save Shirley first, right?” Timmy asked out loud, willing his heartrate to normalize and focus. He was afraid that the others just hearing his voice – making them realize he was here – would draw unwanted attention to him. “I-I mean, if we had him on our side, his powers could help us.”

“Although he was made through a wish, he still seems to have them to a certain degree.” Nanna observed the screen. They didn’t have much time to discuss the matter if they didn’t want them to catch Shirley first. “Turner is right.”

“Shall I call Mother Nature to buy us more time?” Tooth-Fairy suggested before Jorgen could even lift a finger to voice his own opinion on the matter. He didn’t have much to say with his grandmother or his wife alone, but together, the strongest fairy in the universe seemed a little … lost, without all authority. In any other situation, it would be hilarious to observe.

After Nanna’s approving nod, Tooth Fairy was next to leave the room, a weird walky-talky in her hands.

“Sooo … are we fighting or is this another chase?” Chester looked at Timmy, as if he had all the answers, which was confusing enough. He expected insults or to be punished with silence and ignorance … but his best friend, bless him, hadn’t ended their friendship yet. “This … Tiberius guy and his minions are also still out there. And we don’t really have anything to fight them with.”

“At least not enough. I’d suggest a small group, it’s better going unnoticed than fighting a losing battle.” A.J. added, looking at Jimmy specifically, his fellow scientist enthusiast. “Unless you have an arsenal hidden in that backpack of yours.”

The Immy’s exchanged a knowing glance. If the situation allowed it, Timmy would smirk.

“I have some weapons with me and with the right materials, I could make more, but we don’t have enough time for that. With or without Shirley, they don’t plan to let this chaos go on for much longer.” The challenge was still on the plate, along with all the new additions to Vlad’s new organization. No one could say when they would begin with the next phase of their plan or how much more the numbers of their enemies would grow. “A small group would be better indeed.”

“Sweet, the four of us can take the hovercar and we’ll bring Shirley here.” Years of battles in both real life and videogames had given Timmy some sense of strategy, so it wasn’t hard to come up with that, even for an idiot like him. Most of all, this was the perfect opportunity to get out of here without having to deal with his family. Besides, most of their current enemies had a personal vendetta against the four, especially him, so he wouldn’t risk endangering the townspeople if they stayed for too long. Or his sanity.

“While I don’t have anything against bringing … this guy here, I think this is a little too dangerous for you kids.” Vlad spoke up, rubbing his chin in thought. He hadn’t voiced his opinion the entire time and the lack of reaction towards Timmy’s confession didn’t ease the latter’s nerves one bit. Like prey anticipating the final blow of its predator while it circled them slowly. “I believe you said you have fairy godparents, but they’re neither here nor is this ‘magic’ working right now. You could get hurt, boy.”

Alright, maybe it was a little sad how baffled Timmy reacted to a relative be worried for his wellbeing. Oddly enough, telling his family about fairies seemed to remind them more of their paternal role than the stories of a tyrannic babysitter and a crazy teacher who both liked to humiliate him. Or the actual bully that beat him up regularly. Or the teasing in general. Yeah, fairies and magic were much more believable and concerning, apparently. Being born and bred in this universe, it shouldn’t bother Timmy as much as it did, especially after all these years. But it seemed, with all the trauma and stress he fit under his roof, he still found the urge inside him to yell and punch something. He wasn’t sure if entering this hideout and the presence of all these people made him so emotionally unstable, or if it was … something else.

“Oh please, these four guys faced tougher challenges than this for years now.” Dani waved the concerns of the old man off, completely overlooking Timmy’s ‘cut it out’ gesture behind her. “They fought ghosts, monsters, multidimensional threats, got themselves almost killed several times and they survived all of it without cosmic powers on their side.” She winked at the boy, trying to encourage him that he could do it without Cosmo and Wanda – he was bummed enough about their disappearance already. But the look of pure shock and horror, followed by a facepalm, irritated her. “Did I say something wrong?” She only meant to underline how capable her brother and his friends were, assistance or not. And with a family business about fighting otherworldly creatures and twelve missing years of her childhood and life, how was she supposed to know not all families would react with pride to that?

“Is that so?” Mrs. Turner put her hands against her hips again. Her reaction was what Timmy dreaded the most. “Young man, you have a lot more to explain, it seems.”

“Well, right, sure but … can this wait after everything is over before you ground me until I’m 18?” Timmy avoided her hard gaze, fidgeting with his gloves, pulling at the leather that covered his right hand. It throbbed even more now. “We don’t have much time and other things to-“

“Oh, we’ll have plenty of time, because you’re not going with them.”, She continued, her husband nodding. “Don’t think you can just run off like that after saying such things. I knew you were hiding many secrets, but I thought this was a puberty thing, not magic creatures, monsters and battles!”

“But I had to! You wouldn’t have believed me anyway and the rules forbade it.” It was kind of ironic that of all the times he wished his parents cared about his wellbeing, now wasn’t one of them. “Danielle is right, I did this dozens of times, I know what I’m doing.” A complete lie, but Timmy told plenty of them before, so how would they notice the difference. Heck, even he had a hard time telling them apart sometimes. If he were any better, perhaps he could believe them too …

“I don’t care. This isn’t one of your silly video games, comics, or movies!” She yelled, completely ignoring the fact how uncomfortable the situation was for everyone present, Vlad and Gladys included.

Mr. Turner also sided with her, crossing his arms. “Being grounded will be the least that’s going to happen, son.” It wasn’t a threat of violence. Disregarding the pitchfork accidents, unlike with Francis, Timmy never had to fear his parents every hurting him. He couldn’t even the last time they hugged touched him.

For all his fears about the memory wipe, Timmy couldn’t help but long for that time, because then all of this would’ve never happened to them. “You don’t understand, I HAVE to go.” He had the Royal Jewel, they were mostly after him and if he stayed here, the evil Vlad and the others would find them sooner or later either way. And as much as he hated clichés, he didn’t want to endanger his grandparents and friends any further.

“Of course we don’t, why would we? You lie to us all the time! That is if you talk with us at ALL. Ever since we stopped hiring Vicky, you’re barely home or spend time with us.” Mrs. Turner ignored her mother’s attempts to calm her down. “And now we hear that you had fairies that grant you wishes and all you used them for was to be reckless and cause chaos?! Clearly you shouldn’t have access to something like this, however you got them in the first place. Maybe this is also the reason for your irresponsible and childish attitude.”

“She’s crossing a line.” A dark whisper in his mind echoed. “After everything they did, they still don’t want to understand you.”

Clenching both his fists and teeth so hard they hurt, Timmy tried to keep the boiling rage under control. Sure, what he said made him look like an unhinged, destructive kid, but they were supposed to be on his side. What happened to the parents that that offered their superpowers to a made-up villain persona to safe their child? The parents that spent a beautiful, incredible day with him and his godparents together after they found out his secret? The ones that even broadcasted that they wanted him back and loved him when he ran away to the TV-dimension? They didn’t react like this back then. No, they were oblivious and neglectful but when it really mattered, they stepped up … when he was a kid. Right.

Maybe, in between all these years, something had changed between them. Maybe both sides were at fault. Maybe it was magic that caused this. He didn’t know. But along with his childish innocence, he also lost his human guardians. The ones that were meant to support him when Cosmo and Wanda wouldn’t be there to fill that role anymore. But it was just wishful thinking to believe a few granted wishes would actually change anything for the better. All it did was distract from the sad truth. That if he never had Cosmo and Wanda, he would’ve ended up all the same as he was now, maybe even worse. Because the people that mostly made sure he was well fed, healthy and taken care of weren’t his own parents. Not that they ever noticed anything.

He ignored the pang of guilt, reminding him that he also never made any attempts to mend his relationship with his parents. After years of not being listened to, he just gave up and accepted it.

“Oh, I’M the one that never spends time with YOU?” The lights started to flicker, barely noticeable and only for a short second that it went unnoticed with the drama scene going on. “I’M the one that started with the lies? I’M the irresponsible one?!” He didn’t know if he should roar with rage or laugh at the fucking irony. “After everything, NOW is the time you care and start to act like parents?!”

As if the room swallowed everything around him, all Timmy could see and notice were his parents, right in front of him across the long table. Everyone else might as well have disappeared right now. Their shocked expressions were almost priceless. He might have protested to do chores sometimes, but he never outright called them out or yelled at his parents. But his patience had finally run out. He was so done with everything.

“You didn’t care when I was bullied or beat up in school! You didn’t care that I was left alone when you went on another party or whatever. You IGNORED me as soon as I was old enough to be by myself without supervision! You never cared about my boundaries or things that were important to me! You gave my stuff away without asking and even chained me to a fucking doghouse when Vicky’s family moved in one time! And that’s only naming some of the things you did. – or didn’t.” He took a shaky breath. Along with all the good things he remembered about his parents, there were also a bunch of bad experiences that slowly rose to the surface. “I had to listen to you guys complain about how having me ruined your dreams and lives more than once!” He pointed an accusatory finger at his dad, whose stern gaze was now replaced with shame.

Timmy didn’t know what or when it happened. But when he graduated from elementary school, at some point, his parents just stopped caring or loving him more and more. They were busy with other things. At first, Timmy was grateful for the freedom and the opportunities, but he soon realized that he just wasn’t the cute child anymore. Whatever happened, them missing out on school events, baseball games or anything else, soon became the norm. They were less present in his life and the only reason Timmy accepted that was because it … allowed Cosmo and Wanda to fill in the role. To proof he still needed them. He could’ve wished for his parents to act different, but he didn’t. Because, at some point, he internally stopped caring about it as well. So was he any better? Or was that just an indication of how much he took after them, probably growing up to be the same kind of oblivious, neglectful, uncaring adult?

No, that was a lie. In a perfect world, his parents and godparents would all love and care about him, along with his friends. Nobody would hurt him anymore and he could finally be happy without any strings attached.

A sweet dream. Too good to be true. But it could be. The question was if he still wanted that when it came to it. Because right now? He just wished to be far away from here. Eating dinner with the Neutrons, chilling with his friends, going on adventures. Being anywhere but here, accompanied by his faemily.

Unable to look at them any longer, he gazed at the table. Just moments ago, he had vented to his friends. Just yesterday, he had vented to Jimmy. It was like a never-ending tragedy. His harbored anger knew no limits. He could scream for hours on end at the sky for all he cared. Not that it would change anything. “And now, I also don’t care anymore.” What were they going to do? Ground him? Yell at him? Throw him out? The literal end of their world was around the corner, how much worse could it get? “I’m not staying here, no matter what you say. Even when this is over, no matter how it turns out … I’m not staying.”

“Y-you – don’t talk to your parents like that!” Mrs. Turner was taken back by the sudden cold and angry look on her son’s face. It was so unnatural. Tears started to swell up in her eyes, hid dad and grandparents too stunned to speak, along with the rest of the group. Timmy was known for his outburst and calling others out, but never had any of them seen him so mad. Especially towards his parents. Chester and A.J knew he had little to no respect for their opinions and followed their orders with mild enthusiasm, often ignoring their calls with a roll of his eyes, but never had he done something like that. He complained about his parents like any teenager did, about how he wanted them to lay off and leave him alone if they didn’t care usually but … his best friends had never really realized or thought about how broken the relationship between them was. Especially since he used to be so close to his mother. She got that ball back for him from Dr. Blender the evil dentist and … and … well, she used to be so nice, right? And his dad even searched for a cooler job once because he wanted to impress his son’s friends. Where did all of that love go?

“Well, maybe you should’ve acted like that sooner!” He kept yelling and if there wasn’t a table between them, he probably would’ve taken a step in their direction. “Because the people that are like parents to me aren’t here right now.”

Mrs. Turner suppressed her slight fear, still trying to intimidate her child with the anger of a mother. “After everything we did for you … You know we didn’t have it easy, Timmy! We took care of you and loved you when you were younger.”

“That’s the fucking bare minimum!” He slammed his hands on the table, the throbbing ache turning into a tickling itch. Danny had been right. “Do you know WHY I had fairy godparents in the first place? Because I was pitiful enough to be considered a miserable, neglected child that deserved some kind of support – if not from you!” He felt hot tears in the corner of his eyes, finally spewing over. “At least someone that wasn’t a masochistic babysitter or an ignorant adult took care of me. Cosmo and Wanda raised and supported me more than you ever did and the only reason I’m thankful to you is because YOUR attitude allowed me to keep them for so long!” He gnawed on his bottom lip, trying to suppress a hiccup. He didn’t want to show any more weakness to his parents.

“We … didn’t do anything to you, stop making it sound like we abused you, just because we hired Vicky and went on a few trips.” Her bravery was starting to fade, her husband long at a loss of words. It’s true, they weren’t the only ones that hired Vicky. All adults seemed to be oblivious to the dangers they left their children with. And maybe Timmy would’ve been none the wiser, had he not seen how different Jimmy and Danny were treated by their family or experienced the love of his godparents.

“You didn’t have to.” Timmy was tired of yelling. All that was left was bitterness and regret. For not saying these things sooner and voicing his pain or for breaking the little fragile picture of his family he still had, he didn’t know. The voice in his head kept nagging that, if he only did better, things could’ve been different today. “I know you love me, but not enough. Not more than you love yourself. I don’t know why – maybe I didn’t turn out the way you wanted me to, maybe because I’m not a daughter named Sophia or maybe you just liked that I was less of a bother the more independent I got. But now … I’m the one who doesn’t need your love anymore.”

Another lie. He wished he could just go back to the days they were a family. When they went on trips to Adrenaland, when his dad made the effort to build a shitty bike just for him, when his mom was so overbearing just because she wanted to spend more time with him. When they told him to eat his spinach because it was healthy to the point Timmy even wished they cared less. It seemed as if these days truly were over.

“You don’t need them. You can have your happy ending without human parents that only pay attention to you when they feel like it.”

As if he was pulled back into reality, Timmy became more aware of his surroundings. If the other people present in this room had stared at him before, they sure were gaping now. They probably hadn’t imagined things to turn out like this. Him neither. Sure, they neglected him, but was that abuse? Was it really so bad? Yes. They graded his behavior, they invaded his privacy or couldn’t be bothered at all, being oblivious to everything. Right, they were the role models for selfish, ignorant behavior. They probably didn’t do anything harmful in a physical way, but they sure knew how to disappoint him even when he thought they reached the lowest bar. And if Timmy was overreacting and accusing right now, he couldn’t bring himself to be sorry for it. All adults in this dimension, his parents included, had only disappointed him all throughout his life.

“Alright, Mother Nature says she will send the thickest fog around town.” Tooth Fairy stated, greeted by an awful atmosphere the moment she returned. As if her arrival had somehow cut this strange moment off before it could escalate further. Which was weird, since Timmy felt like he had run out of things to say. And he expected nothing in return. No apology or parental thread of an ass whooping could change what had been done. And even if a memory wipe happened after this, Timmy doubted the broken trust and lingering hurt would ever disappear.

“Great, let’s go.” Just as quickly as before, Timmy went out of the room, only that he was going for the main hall where they left the hovercar this time. He was starting to sport a migraine or something, his temples now also starting to throb. Unlike before, he really didn’t feel up for another talk with his friends. He was spent of words and so, so tired already. The worst was still ahead of them and if it weren’t for Cosmo and Wanda, he was almost inclined to surrender. Surrounded by familiar people underground, covered in butterfly nets … he could relate to Poof. This place made him sick. But that was probably more because of the people inside, not the bunker itself.

Knowing his bad luck, the problem was more likely him. The feeling wouldn’t go away when they left. Neither would the chaos. Because it spread wherever he was. The jail, his godparents, the fights, the invasion in Amity Park, the copies, Tiberius, his parents, Anthony …

The moment Timmy jumped into the passenger seat, he slit down as far as he could, staring at the ground and ignoring all the prying eyes around him. He didn’t care who else would be coming along or what they thought. He just wanted to get this over with and nothing, no support his friends would give him, could make any of this better. His current life situation simply sucked and that was that. No fixing it. He would only start to feel truly hopeful the moment he got Cosmo and Wanda back. And Timmy would rather die trying than settle for this.

“Timmy … it’ll be ok” Poof, with his insane ninja skills, had followed his brother. And despite his hug not changing anything, it did indeed feel good to know some people cared about him and loved him unconditionally. Timmy mildly returned the gesture, patting the tiny back of his brother, minding the wings, ad he watched the small fairy clinging to his shirt, wrapping his small arms around his neck. As drained as he was, he still appreciated the comfort.

“Don’t worry, Poof. We’ll get our – your parents back.” He mumbled, only partially aware of other people closing in on the vehicle, their prying eyes less curious and more of the softer kind. Shit, so much for not causing another scene. He did exactly what he was trying to avoid.

Chapter Text

“Well, this seems like a bad case of magic withdrawal if I’ve ever seen one.” Nana Boom Boom mused to herself. “At least the council can’t notice these rule violations, or you would lose your job for sure.” She not so gently smacked her grandson on the back of his head.

“Who would’ve thought the lack of magic would affect these puny humans just as much as an overdose of it.” Jorgen rubbed the aching spot, leaning against the wall. Even with a prosthetic, it was difficult to stand the entire time. He couldn’t wait to put himself back together. “This kid is a real handful.” The bane of his existence for seven years, to be precise. No other godchild in their overly complicated and contradicting fairy history had ever given him such high blood pressure.

“Of course he is, he’s confused because he doesn’t understand anything – and you won’t tell him anything either.” Tooth Fairy crossed her arms, glaring her husband down. She didn’t work directly with children, but even she knew how silly and unresponsible children were. Timmy was by far the most infamous, but over the decades there had been worse cases. And well, children could be nasty brats, but most of them grew out of it. That’s what their job was supposed to do, after all. Guide and raise them, showing them perspectives, opportunities and eventually teaching them lessons that came when tempering with wishes and consequences. Humans got affected by some wishes all the time; most of them were just reversed by the council if they had an impact on the world. Otherwise, their universe would simply implode. Which only made this delicate situation worse by the second. “What did you expect? That they would hug it out and everything would be fine if you just waited long enough?”

“Reducing Cosmo’s and Wanda’s magic over the years was the best solution to the issue!” What did she even know, she wasn’t part of the warriors or council. “Besides, the truth would only make it worse. He might blame himself for that too.”

Jorgen looked to the side, deep in thought. The Turners were still in the conference room, Gladys and Vlad talking to their daughter. They seemed mad but also trying to make sense of the whole situation. They weren’t present enough to judge them and clearly both sides had their fair share of miscommunication to blame for.

How could he tell Timmy the truth? By re-telling their shared history and how crazy humans behaved the longer they were exposed to magic, he had basically already spilled the classified information. Keeping fairy godparents for a year was rare. But having them for seven? That was unheard of. Technically, Timmy shouldn’t have them anymore. It was dangerous for him and everyone around.

The fairy dust that clung to him and everything he owned or that was created by magic rubbed off on his friends and family and the places he went to – especially the city he lived in. His wishes, even the ones undone, influenced Timmy’s surroundings, causing the adults to act sillier, unpredictable and outright crazy. Denzel Crocker was a prime example of what obsessing over fairies, magic and the knowledge about them did to a person if it went to unhealthy dark outlets. Of course, Timmy wasn’t alone to blame, these occurrences were quite common for godchildren all around the world that had their fairies for over a year. And they also couldn’t erase all their traces, since they needed human belief to power their own magic. That’s why lunatics like Crocker were what charged the Big Wand the most, aside from children … but Timmy Turner was something else.

The continuous exposal to magic, traveling to other realms and all the adventures were messing around with the stability of their dimension. While he did his best as a warden to make sure nothing got out of hand, it wasn’t easy to appease both that kid and the council. The former ones especially. Timmy was almost grown up, which meant they wouldn’t let him off the hook for violations that easily anymore by simply apologizing and showing remorse. He was still a teenager, yet still capable of knowing the difference between right or wrong and that some things had their purpose and shouldn’t be changed. And especially that making an exception for one kid just because him and its godparents got too attached while putting their universe at risk was a gamble they would rather not wage on.

He thought that weakening Cosmo’s and Wanda’s magic would reduce the influence over the years … And it worked. But the forming disinterest of his parents wasn’t something that should’ve happened. Perhaps Jorgen shouldn’t just have kept an eye on the wands that expelled magic, but also the fairies and even the kid himself.

The contract was supposed to help. If Timmy had a better understanding of magic and perhaps was trained enough, he would be able to control it to a certain degree. Which meant not going crazy or unintentionally affect his surroundings as much … not THIS! In exchange he would keep his memories and some of his stuff, but the fairy dust and magic that now became a part of him made it impossible to maintain the balance of human and magic realm. There were only two solutions: Either Timmy Turner would lose everything, including his memories and hopefully he wouldn’t end up like Crocker or a depressed adult, or … the contrary. He would be forbidden from interacting with humans ever again, since he was part fairy magic now. Well, these options only applied if the condition wasn’t reversible any other way, of course Perhaps they could turn everything back – and him – to normal without completely  sucking everything out.

Jorgen should really follow his bullying for once and care less, that would safe him so much headache and arguments.

The job of a fairy godparent was simple. They were assigned to deserving, sad children to make their life happier and more magical to help them grow and develop while fueling their imagination and dreams in exchange for their positive belief to keep Fairy World alive and colorful. Nothing more, nothing less.

Sure, their world was silly and maybe they acted a bit unusual, but if about 90% of all magic came from childish fantasy and wishes, it was no wonder everything was full of sparkles, rainbows and silly stuff. That’s how their life had been for centuries! Everyone was used to it and magical beings quite frankly didn’t care about these weird human social norms. The need for air and breathing alone was a weird concept already. They didn’t even actually have to consume food and just did it to their amusement. Otherwise, an immortal life would be dull and boring, so they let themselves get inspired by the humans and their current timeline regarding fashion and all of that. For entertainment.

Fairies weren’t cut out to be parents, acting serious and responsible beyond their job. They didn’t get attached since the status of a godparent was only temporary.

Well, it wasn’t like it was forbidden to get attached to the children, but most fairies just didn’t … care as much. Not that they didn’t love their godchildren! With them never truly aging that much or needing to reproduce, it was like a small chapter that happened in their lives, always over before they realized it.

Aside from Cupid causing love, Sandman creating dreams and Tooth Fairy collecting Teeth fairies rarely felt the need to mingle with human business as much. It was even rare among fairies to get married at all, let alone bond for a lifetime or even have the dire to have babies … Jorgen couldn’t even recall more than a few families aside the Von Strangles, Cosmas and Fairywinkles who did these sorts of things.

Maybe that was reason why most became godparents; to experience what it was like. And not just that, the circle of life in general. Watching the humans grow, learn and change. All of that in the blink of an eye for a fairy. Emotions such as loss, grief and everything else were just fleeting. How boring would life be without humanity? Or would they even survive if they cut all strings? Would they perhaps … start to age and mature? Was cutting Cosmo and Wanda off from the endless supply of magic what created this bond? No, it had already been there, even before Poof. It just became more evident. Maybe due to Mr. and Mrs. Turner’s neglect. Who could possibly know for sure if their behavior truly changed because of magic? This entire family was a mess – or an anomaly as the smart big-headed Jimmy would say.

For an average kid, Timmy Turner was truly special. Not always the positive kind, but it was truly impressive what he accomplished.

Most children grew out of it and didn’t need any magic to live their life. Jorgen couldn’t understand why that brat was so different. There were other people on earth that were also miserable, but it wasn’t up to him to decide who was assigned to a fairy. It was the magic itself – or a computer with a list of names nowadays. And unless the kid didn’t do anything to have his privilege removed, the unwritten contract between godchild and fairy was broken naturally once they matured. Alas, it wasn’t the case with Timmy (although he proved to be very mature and determined the last few months) and a different contract seemed like the best solution. But now? If they managed to reconquer Fairy World and turn the magic on again, what would happen? Timmy had absorbed a part Cosmo’s essence. He lost his shadow. It would take a huge amount of power to revert everything back. And if they couldn’t … well, Jorgen had only seen the last of the battle in Amity Park, but Turnner seemed like he had lost his mind a bit.

However, he had to worry about that problem later. He wasn’t the person to worry too much anyway. That was for puny humans.

“Telling him that his parents – the adults’ abnormal behavior MIGHT be partially because of him, would only upset him more.” As mean as Jorgen was sometimes, he did have a soft spot for the brat. In his position he wasn’t allowed to play favorites, so there wasn’t much he could do without breaking his sacred rules. “And if the council blames the whole incident on the contract and my incompetence to train a human, they might cancel it. Which means he would lose Cosmo, Wanda and everything else. Even if I take full responsibility, most of them were already unconvinced. They won’t take any more risks.”

How could he ever break this news to Timmy? How could he prevent more harm? See, this is why he never wanted kids. Not that he was allowed to have them either way. It was just too much emotional baggage, something a tough brawler like him tended to avoid where he could. It was already weird enough that he was related to Cosmo and Poof … and now Timmy shared the same magic. And he also used to be a temporary godparent to him. Ugh, why was he always involved in that kid’s business?! Even outside of his shifts, it was ridiculous.

“Oh Jorgen, you do have a heart.” Tooth Fairy’s sour attitude changed a bit. As shallow as she presented herself usually, she did like Jorgen most when he showed his sensitive side. Although it was still debatable if it was because he only reserved it mostly for her and no one else. “But it was neither your fault nor Timmy’s. You both tried your best and now we need to work together. I’m sure the council will acknowledge that.” She patted his arm, giving him the first reassuring smile in forever.

“Eugh, enough with this.” Nana rolled her eyes. Although she agreed with Tooth Fairy. Even as a veteran, she would still try to convince the council as well. “Mother Nature won’t be able to buy us time for long. We should head back and make sure Kiss and the others are informed. We still need to think of a plan to find a way back to Fairy World without drawing too much attention to us.”

The three of them were already about to take their leave as well, when they almost ran into the other teens.

“Uhm, actually …” A.J. lifted his finger, throwing Chester next to him a hesitant look. “We might be able to help you with that.”

“Yeah, Timmy is our friend and if this Fairy World needs to be saved, we’ll make it work.” Chester shouldered his baseball bat, helmet already under his arm. He wasn’t sure what to think of this entire event and all the revelations, but he knew deep inside that all the memories from his childhood were real and Timmy had been there. Not always the BEST best friend he could ask for, but he surely changed a lot. And most of all, when it came down to it, always had Chester’s back, even when he was a acting like a jerk himself.

“How much of this conversation did you overhear?” Jorgen grumbled, crossing his mighty arms.

The two of them flinched, avoiding his gaze. “More than enough. You guys aren’t very subtle about anything. Or knowing the concept of an indoor voice”, A.J. stated, eyeing especially Nana and Jorgen. It was honestly a miracle not the entire Rebellion had witnessed the scene in the conference room, with Timmy and his allies repeatedly storming out and going back in. “I may not understand this whole … magic concept yet, but our chances of wining this war are statistically higher if we work together. Without most of your powers or connection to your supply, you need all the help you can get.”

Nodding, Chester added “Yeah and even if Sherley’s adaptation skill could help us somehow, we can’t rely on it.”

Considering Jorgen already worked with these kids during the invasion of the Darkness, he was used to the brats, but that didn’t mean he liked depending on humans. Still, each and every time they helped them and were loyal to Timmy, no matter how many times their memories got wiped.

“So, you think we can find a way? Fairy World is a closed of parallel world next to earth, it’s shielded from humans.” Jorgen bent down to be at eye level with the teens.

“And you said the magic was turned off, which should mean it’s accessible like any other planet or wormhole with a spaceship.” A.J.’s gaze didn’t waver. Maybe his scientific curiosity wasn’t the purest motivation to offer his help, but he really did want to turn the world back to what it was and help his friend out. “Sure, teleporting would also help, but they could easily track the energy signature. Or block it completely. We just need to find an efficient way to sneak in.”

“And you just happen to have a spaceship?” Jorgen asked, unimpressed enough to not even raise an eyebrow.

“He doesn’t, but I sure do~” Mark Chang suddenly appeared between Chester and A.J., his green slimy arms hanging around their shoulders. “It’s a bit wrecked, but nothing these brainiacs here couldn’t fix.” He ruffled Chester’s hair and rubbed A.J.s bald head, which they endured more or less enthusiastic.

“Although I admit, two geniuses would come up with a strategy faster than one … If only Timmy still had his cellphone. I don’t know how to contact Jimmy and the others; they left before I could give them a Walky-Talky.”

Sighing, Jorgen could hardly deny their offer. He reached into his pocket, taking out the Fenton Communicator he was given in Amity Park. “Would this thing help?”

He handed it over to the normal headed genius, whose eyes sparkled with interest upon inspecting the device. Yeah, they could work with that. If Timmy and the others had one, they would at least be able to stay in contact and come up with a plan while covering multiple tasks at once. Besides, they needed someone to keep them updated about the chase and location of Shirley …

✧ « ★ » ✧

Timmy should feel relieved since they left the tunnel shortly after. But he didn’t. The feeling of suffocation was ever so present inside, the voice in his head telling him he wouldn’t be able to run away anymore.

“I’m … sorry it went that way.” Timmy looked out to the side, glad that Jimmy had closed the hovercar’s roof again. The others had sat inside without saying a word, simply squeezing his shoulder and letting him calm down. He appeared harsh and angry on the outside, but they knew well that he was barely keeping it together right now. “I didn’t mean to cause a scene. Again.” He would’ve preferred that things went differently. That perhaps ... his mother wouldn’t have acted so defensive. He missed the times when a hug was all it needed to make everything better.

Well, life wasn’t as forgiving and easy as it used to be.

But it could be.

Instead of transforming, Poof had decided to stay in his brother’s lap, hugging Timmy as they drove off. Timmy didn’t really pay attention to anything and just watched the familiar yet destroyed buildings pass by – as much as he could through the fog anyway.

He was oddly quiet, even if he should feel at least a bit better after hearing Chester and A.J. talk to them through the communicators. Goddard had picked up on the signal, putting them on speaker as they stated that they had a plan. Most of that was blurry but Timmy recalled Jimmy and A.J. coming up with something regarding Marks ship and his own scraps he carried inside his backpack dimension. They were also given the current location of Shirley and his followers, present on Goddards chest-screen as a radar with dots.

The current objective was to collect Shirley. Afterwards, they would head to Sandman’s mattress company and meet up with the refugee fairies there. Jorgen assured they would go ahead to assemble everyone (he really loved ordering people around) and get most things ready so they could start forming a strategy for their coup there. In the meantime, Chester and the other humans would accompany Mark to his spaceship and get most things done. It would probably be easier to meet at the junkyard, but without much to defend themselves and as a big group they were an easy target. However, Jimmy already knew a solution to that.

While Jimmy, A.J. and Jorgen were brainstorming over, the fog had become thick enough to obscure the area, making it very difficult to see anything, aside from large buildings, only shadows and silhouettes shaping the distance.

If Timmy was honest, he was glad Jorgen didn’t come with them. He couldn’t deal with yet another grownup telling him what he did wrong and how he was such a failure. Which the warden wouldn’t do at such a sensitive moment, but still … the teen’s faith in adults and any of his latest plans was crushed. And although Chester and A.J. did ask if he was okay and confirmed they weren’t mad, despite being confused about everything, he couldn’t bring himself to say more than “Sure … thanks guys” and offer to have a real conversation after this, when things were more settled.

He still heard Chester’s response in his mind: “Sure man, we’re here for you. You’re clearly going through some stuff right now, but we got your back – you can count on us!”

They said all these things and yet … Timmy just couldn’t believe it right now. He didn’t even believe in himself anymore.

He thought coming back here and making things right would motivate him or make him feel relieved, but now he almost regretted doing it. He felt worse by the second. It was so cold, yet he didn’t even shiver and his entire right hand tingled and felt numb at the same time. Like static sizzling under his skin. To make things worse, he still couldn’t shake the feeling of prying eyes on him off. Was that really Anthony’s influence? Or yet another treat lingering, waiting to make its move?

“I’m glad you did, they deserved that.” Jimmy mumbled, not taking his eyes off the road as he brough his friend’s mid back to the present. So far, there was no sign of the Anti-Fairy swarm nor Tiberius. Maybe Chester and the others had distracted them or … he didn’t know. They’ve hardly left the bunker a few minutes ago, heading for the plaza, if the map and radar were correct. Aside from a few ghost patrols above them, they hadn’t encountered any other enemies either. Not even the Timmy copies, which they were all thankful for. Jimmy had activated some kind of camouflage on the hovercar to be more stealth. It didn’t cancel the noise the flying car made and they wouldn’t be able to use its weapons, but without sunlight reflecting on the surface, they were nearly invisible. “If you didn’t, I think I might’ve ended up blasting them with my Freeze Ray.”

“I was also about to cool them down for a sec. I can’t believe how they can be … like that.” Danny quipped, arms crossed. As if to underline his statement, his eyes glowed icy blue. “Seriously, if my parents were here, they would’ve applauded … and maybe adopted you as well.” He was only half joking. With how easily they had accepted his ghost identity and taken in Danielle, it wouldn’t surprise him. Their house was big enough to clear out another room – or his own, if he really moved into his loft in the ghost realm.

“So would mine, probably. And my lab is also big enough if you want to crash at my place for a while.” Jimmy said, his voice getting quieter as a faint rosy blush appeared on his face.

“Well, I can also fit into your bag just fine, so …” Remembering last night also made Timmy wet his suddenly dry lips. It was so peaceful and cozy, reminding him that not everything about this adventure was pure trauma. “Uhm – speaking of parents, shouldn’t we, like, check in on Tucker and the others?” He turned back to look at Danny, who cursed under his breath as he fished for his device that was attached to the belt. Since they had already used them to talk with Jorgen and the others, they might as well try to reach Tucker, see if it worked across dimensions just like Jimmy’s smartphones.

“Knowing Jazz, she’s already trying to find a way to follow us or would’ve left a dozen missed calls.” Dani smirked. She had also completely forgotten to turn hers on.

Low and behold, it worked. And They were all talking over each other but still glad they were okay. So far, no further enemy sightings had taken place in Amity Park. Wulf and Frostbite couldn’t report anything either, the Ghost Zone was empty but they confirmed that traces of an army lead to a weird looking portal that had never been there before. It was heavily guarded by Undergrowth’s veins, so they couldn’t get close enough to confirm it was the one that lead into Abracatraz. Currently they were on their way to meet up with Clockwork to ask him if he had seen or heard anything. The Fenton’s on the other hand were still busy with cleaning up the destruction of what used to be the Funfair.

Timmy appreciated that Danny kept their experiences over here short and void of the troublesome details. Of course, that wasn’t right and they shouldn’t lie, but there wasn’t enough time and it would only refresh the pain. At least for the average teen.

With that also out of the way, they could now completely focus on the mission.

“Okay so how do we do it this time? Do we try to lure them away by breaking mirrors or outrun them?” Jimmy asked as soon as he spotted the multitude of dots blinking on Goddard’s screen through the rear mirror.

“Well, we can’t magically summon giant mirrors and throw them over like dominoes anymore …” Timmy wondered if Anti-Cosmo was among them. It didn’t sound like Anthony worked with the rest of the organization, since he had other plans, but it was still most likely a trap to lure him away from the others to get the Royal Jewel or something, but he could hardly tell them to turn around now. Besides, the other option was to wait down there in that hellish hole for who knows what, so he’d take the risk regardless. They would try to capture him either way, no matter if Anti-Fairies, Vlad or someone else. Or at least notify Tiberius to finish the job he started.

“Oh, what if Shirley adapts the camouflage of your car thingy and while Danny and I kick a few tiny butts to distract them, y’all fly away. We could take Goddard with us so he can lead us to this Sandman guy and we meet up there? Or we’ll check on Timmy’s friends in the junkyard and help them out if needed.” Danielle offered, leaning forward to stick her head between the front seats. It was only mildly annoying how they looked at her like gaping fishes. “What? I learned a thing or two over the years … and maybe those DnD family night sessions aren’t as lame and useless as I thought they were.” She leaned back with a pout, which disappeared as soon as Danny ruffled her hair.

“That’s a very good idea, sis. Jimmy might have some serious competition here!”, he teased, winking at him through the mirror.

Said genius only huffed at the remark but was fond of the idea nonetheless, not that they had much time to come up with a second proper plan. “Well, by splitting up the chances of them following us to our destined location are less high.”

“See? And you didn’t want to take me with you – what would you boys do without me?”

“Thank you, Dani!” SpongeBob praised her as well, the smug grin on her face only growing. Oh boy, Danny regretted it already. He was about to object since they clearly made it out alive during all their previous adventures but refrained from doing so. He was a bit harsh on her at the start and while it was unusual, he was grateful for her support and input now.

“Alright, then let’s do this.” Jimmy announced, once they saw a moving blueish cloud ahead of them. “When I give the signal, you both turn intangible and fly after them. While you two shoot from behind, try to direct them around the mall.” He pointed at said fog-covered building in the distance. “I’ll try to take a shortcut and get to Shirley from the other side. But as soon as Tiberius, any ghost minions or copies arrive, get away from there, even if we haven’t caught him yet – we won’t risk them getting near Ti – err, us.”

Ah, so Jimmy had thought of that possibility as well. Figures. Timmy wasn’t even a genius and if he had that thought it was only natural his smarter friends thought of that too. At least he didn’t have any important role in this plan, so the chances of him screwing this up were also less high.

“Roger that.” The ghost siblings saluted, Dani carefully picking Goddard up, who licked her cheek.

Timmy just hoped this would end well. He hadn’t exactly been the luckiest person lately and who said the Anti-Fairies weren’t capable of surrounding a target? They still had magic to poof wherever they desired. Oh well.

He had to try his hardest not to zone out too much, even though his mind felt like it was slipping. Could someone be so emotionally drained that they were about to fall asleep even in a situation like this?

Needless to say, it didn’t take them long to catch up with the anti-cloud. Jimmy steered the hovercar to higher ground, not taking any chances to be spotted easily, despite the camouflage. Timmy’s grip around his deflect-wand tightened while Poof was now busy pressing his cheeks against the car window to look for any signs of Foop and his anti-parents.

Daniel and Danielle turned intangible as planned to let themselves fall through their seats, Goddard clinging to Dani’s shoulders like a backpack. Without wasting much time, they went right after the horde of yelling and laughing Anti-Fairies to shoot ecto-beams at them, instantly earning their attention as some got zapped in their buttocks.

Timmy had to hold on as Jimmy abruptly steered the wheel to fly through a narrow side street. “Hopefully Shirley caught on. The stealth mode will turn off when we open the doors, so we have to be right next to him.” This needed to happen in one swift motion, if they didn’t want any pursuers, especially Tiberius and his copy-army that was also around here somewhere. They didn’t know how much longer the mist would cloud the surroundings to block the light out. Not to mention how suspicious this suddenchange of happened – in the middle of a chase. Surely that wouldn’t go unnoticed by everyone else around, which brought up the question how close the organization members actually worked together. Villains always tended to follow their own goals and not inform the others due to distrust so … would Anti-Cosmo tell Vlad why he needed Shirley’s powers? Or did both gain something from his adaptation-skills?

Anyway, there wasn’t enough time to think about that now and they could ask Shirley himself once they were all safe again.

The Anti-Fairies had no idea what was going on. Some fled from the attacking ghosts, others tried to fire their own magic-lasers consisting of boots at them while another third still went after the just as much confused Shirley. He looked over his shoulder, barely recognizing Danny. He had a more greenish hue to his pale skin but despite only having met him once or so, he still recognized Jimmy and Timmy’s friend. Now the other ghost was new. But they were helping him … sort of. He wasn’t the kind of person to look a gifted horse in the mouth.

He probably should’ve watched where he was flying because next his head collided with something solid, yet he didn’t recognize what it was at first, it was just air. But then, when the fog slightly parted in the sky, a small sunray reflected on a surface that was there and not at the same time, nearly blinding him. Was that some kind of insivible mirror? No, if he looked closely, he oculd make out the shape of a vehicle or something.

Before he could even fully register all of that in this short moment, a door opened out of thin air, exposing the inside of the thing that was blocking his way. It was a backseat, with this yellow fella (SpongeBob was his name, right?) cheerly waving at the former villain.

Next to the open door, a window pulled down, revealing his creators. A smile spread on his face, the confusion instantly leaving his mimic. “Oh, hi Jimmy and-!“

“Either adapt invisibility or get inside – but do it NOW!” Timmy yelled at him, skipping the greeting completely. Shirley, with the laughter and yelling of Anti-Fairies still behind him, didn’t waste any time. He might’ve had a bit too much momentum, but the sponge-guy didn’t mind, only laughing as he cushioned the collision when Shirley tried to make himself as small as possible to fit inside. He was honestly very tired from being chased around and evading their attacks, so he opted to shrink a bit instead of flying beside them.

Next thing he knew, the flying car started to move again, closing door and window. While not knowing what exactly they were going after now, the anti-fairies kept following them. It didn’t help that the clouds and fog were slowly starting to dissolve more and more.

“Even mother nature’s powers have been limited.” Timmy muttered. Of course, this bad luck would only happen to him. Shoot, if the fog disappeared too soon, the minions and Tiberius would find them. It was already suspicious enough there weren’t more of the copies roaming around!

Jimmy huffed, looking at the angry mob in his side mirror. He pressed a button on the control panel, the screen showing ‘Calling Goddard’ as he waited for his buddy or the Fenton siblings to report.

“Did it work?” Dani’s voice was barely audible, blowing wind and firing lasers nearly drowning her out.

“Yes, we got him. Now try to shake them off and see if the other humans need help at the Junkyard, we’ll head over to mattress world” He waited until he got the okay from the siblings. Only when the cloud of Anti-Fairies was slowly vanishing in the rear mirror did Jimmy’s shoulders sag in relief.

“Okay I feel like this is still a bad timing, but what’s going on?” Shirley asked once he felt like the tension wasn’t as thick anymore. “First I have this strange customer who tried to convince me to join him, next I’m chased through the entire city for hours and now I’m here.”

“Customer?”, Timmy couldn’t help but ask, his right hand twitching, already getting a bad feeling about this.

“Yeah, he kind of looked like you and he knew I came from one of your wishes, said he could help me get what I want – like revenge or something. And in exchange, he needed my adaptation skill.” Shirley scratched his goatee. If it weren’t for the silly apron, he would still look like an evil overlord. “I think his name was Antonio or something? He kind of reminded me of you.”

Timmy sharply inhaled but otherwise didn’t interrupt him. He only exchanged worried glances with Jimmy, absently holding his wrist. It could only be phantom pain, but it was starting to get worse ... He definitely preferred the numbness.

“Anyway, strange things happened when he got mad because I refused his offer. Then there was this blue Cosmo, lecturing him. They argued about something called critter-pie and how he was supposed to watch some prisoners … Oh, I completely forgot – I could actually show you the footage of my security cameras, that would be easier.”

“We’ll have to wait for that until we’re safe then.” Jimmy concluded, his grip around the wheel tightening. “To make it short, the Anti-Fairies broke out of their jail in Fairy World and teamed up with several other enemies of ours to take over our dimensions … again. And for that, they need a certain item that can change reality, which is in our possession.”

“But why do they need my skill if they could just change reality with it and make themselves adaptable?” Shirley wondered, not sure why the strange boy felt the need to seek him out if that was their goal.

Neither of them could give a proper answer, only speculate. Maybe watching the recordings would give some more info but for now, all Timmy could think about was that this rescue seemed too easy. They almost got decimated the first ten minutes after arriving here and now they were traveling across the whole city without encountering any threats.

“They want you, idiot. Why would they make it harder for themselves?”

Blinking, Timmy jerked his head in a certain direction, the feeling of being watched present in his mind. However, he couldn’t see anyone outside, nothing was following them and the sky was almost completely clear again. Jimmy had to fly cloder to the ground in the building’s shadows to avoid the sunrays reflecting on the hovercar.

Whatever … this was, it was right. The crown was somehow attached to him, which was why Vlad tried to kidnap him. But since they still held Cosmo, Wanda and many more people captive, it would only make sense they didn’t try to stop them now. It was just like when they escaped from the Death Ball … Vlad allowed them to invade the prison because he was amused by it, not because he ddn’t exect it. And by challenging him to a duel or through blackmail and threats, they tried to lure him to them, so they could take the jewel – and therefore him.

So, there was option one, where he would risk getting caught trying to free his friends and then there was the other option, where he would give the jewel to them in exchange for their freedom, which was rather unlikely. He had read enough comics and seen enough movies to know that villains never kept their end of the bargain. And Anthony certainly wasn’t any different if he tried to convince Shirley to join the organization as well. He was screwed no matter what he did … it was getting harder and harder to not lose himself in despair. Timmy couldn’t even trust himself anymore. He needed Cosmo and Wanda – their guidance, their positive attitude, the feeling that with them by his side everything would be fine in the end.

How was he supposed to help anyone like this? He was the problem – a giant target painted on his back. The crown was hovering above his head, but it felt so heavy on him. Yet, he couldn’t let himself sink too deep, he had to keep going. If not for his believe, then because he wanted Poof to have his loving parents back and turn everything back to normal.

His hope was shattered before he left this dimension, and now it was dwindling again since he returned. But this time, he truly didn’t quite feel like himself without being controlled by a puppeteer. It was hardly noticeable, but even the dark veins on his wrist kept crawling upwards his arm, peeking out beneath the glove. This was a problem.

Timmy quickly shoved his hand in his pocket, trying to think of something to cover it up with. Maybe they would wear armor or something for battle – or surely, he could borrow one of Mark’s Fake-i-Fiers. But who knew how long it would take them to assemble and head to the junkyard?

Instead of looking outside, he stared at the ribbon that was still tied around the staff of his and, crimson red and daring. Well, this could work too, once he got the right opportunity.

✧ « ★ » ✧

“This is getting ridiculous. How long are we gonna spy after them? We should just head over there and capture everyone of them!” Damian’s fist hit the table, watching the big magical screen floating in the sky, its point of view moving fast as it followed the vehicle from a safe distance but yet without any difficulties.

A red gloved hand was placed on his shoulder, cold and firm. “Easy, boy. Let them come to us.” Vlad grinned, his shining teeth illuminated by the blue fireplace. “We could waste more resources and troops to attack them down here … OR, wait for them to attempt their silly plan and prepare a fitting welcome gift.” He laughed, enjoying the feeling of always being one step ahead.

“Finally that edgy freak makes himself useful.” Tiberius, who sat across the other end of the table huffed with crossed arms. “Although I wonder how Anthony can be a shadow and have one at the same time.” Some things just didn’t add up. But he never really interacted much with him and the only one to give them updates was Anti-Cosmo, who wasn’t here at the moment. The magic screen just appeared with Foop briefly stating the other went to bed and they should enjoy the show.

“He can, if it ain’t all his own!” Anti-Wanda barged though the door with a plate full of dead rats. Not the answer to his question he expected but whatever. “Anyone want casserole?”

All three of them pulled equally disgusted faces, declining immediately.

“How does that work?” The perfect Danny clone asked, cringing at the sight of the anti-fairy slurping up a tail ‘cuz now she had more for herself’ like it was some kind of spagetti.

“I dunno, but it’s pretty exhausting.” She lifted another, opening her mouth wide enough to reveal her tusks. “Right, he needs some proper nutrition to regain his strength!” She quickly poofed away with her … dish … to deliver it to her godchild. Damian almost felt a wave of pity for the guy.

With her gone, the three kept watching for a while, but the shadow wasn’t fast enough to keep up with the flying vehicle. It knew where they went, so it couldn’t lose them, but it was bound to the ground. The connection to Timmy allowed it to cling to him, but to not raise suspicions it was always around the corner, observing. Yet it had been fast enough to give them some revelations already, even if they couldn’t understand most things from the distance.

“Say, what do you think about Anthony … aren’t you kind of related or something?” Damian asked as the silence grew and he was mildly annoyed to be forced to sit here and do nothing but wait.

“Or something.” Tiberius repeated through gritted teeth. “I don’t waste my time having an opinion about another Timmy-version. He’s a nuisance, just like Gary.” To that, he balled his fists, dark energy surrounding them as his anger flared up. “And if he gets in my way, he’ll get what’s coming for him all the same.” It was bad enough he had to play mercenary for him. He didn’t outright hate him either … it was complicated.

“You left that entire Island in shambles.” Vlad reminisced the time he found the boy, none the wiser of his inner conflict. “And yet, you didn’t kill them or Dark Laser.”

“They don’t deserve an easy escape. I’ll make sure to punish them with worse than death.”, was all he commented on his revenge plans. He began to hover, facing away from the motion-sickness inducting chase on the screen. “But now that I know where these morons are hiding … we can expand our collection.”

Vlad’s grin only stretched further as he watched the teen leave. “At least we’ll never run out of fuel for the potions that way. Keep going.”

“Hopefully Anthony gets the mixture right this time.” Damian pouted, still salty with how the last fight turned out … and probably also because he was jealous of Tiberius being Vlad’s favorite. He couldn’t wait to use his next wish to make himself stable and stronger than Danny. Clearly, he should’ve focused less on that imperfection and his insecurities and more on himself. It was already pissing him off that they split up and the shadow didn't follow the Fenton's ... whatever they were planning on doing next.

“We’ll get our re-match soon.” Vlad assured him without even looking at the boy. “I need this Jewel, no matter what.”

And he would get what he wanted in the end. He would arrange the world to his desire, even if he had to throw his current allies under the bus. Never would he go back to where he came from …

A slave to another species, tortured and locked away. Chained and humiliated, barely manging to escpae from his captors. The multiverwe had far worse things to offer, these brats had no idea. Fortunately, this wasn’t his problem.

Chapter Text

“There you are my precious grandchild!”

Poof could barely react as he was roughly hugged by his grandpa Fairywinkle. The moment they arrived and the gates to the company closed behind them, a small bunch of old known faces stormed out, along with Jorgen yelling at them that this was far from being secretive … which also wasn’t very subtle, considering the volume of his voice. Neither was the lecturing of Nana Boom Boom yelling at him for being too loud.

Glad to know some things never changed, Timmy mused, a hint of a smile on his face. Even if their unconventional behavior and rules got on his nerves sometimes, he really had missed the silliness that had become the norm for him over the years. Jimmy on the other hand could only facepalm at their antics, but at least once more realized that Timmy wasn’t the oddest of the oddballs around.

“How did you escape the invasion, Big Daddy?” Timmy wondered and no way would he ever get used to calling the Garbage Company CEO (and probably mafiosi) like that.

“I have my ways to escape unseen.”, Bid Daddy said with his usual sinister tone, narrowing his eyes a s he looked sideways. “Sadly, they caught my daughter Blonda and my brothers Piero and Carmine” He took of his hat, pressing it to his chest. Sometimes Timmy forgot just how big Wanda’s family was. “If it weren’t for my good old friend, Franco the Butcher, I wouldn’t have made it.”

Shirley gasped audibly, which everyone around shushed him for. “Oh no, is he dead?!”

“What? No, he survived worse. Some people were just luckier to escape the butterfly nets than him.” He spat, pointing his thumb at Juandissimo, who had seen better hair days.

“They took my best friend Cupid!” he said theatric as usual. Only this time, his shirt didn’t rip of several times but hung in shreds to his body, his messy hair making him look kind of homeless. Figures, with the lack of magic. Or perhaps – and how dare Timmy think that – he didn’t care about his looks at the moment. “I miss my butt-powdered sassy gossip-partner.” He started crying now. “And even worse; I have no access to my skin routine and hair products!” … Yeah, well, maybe he did care.

“Ignore him, he’s been like that since we came here.” Mr. Fairywinkle deadpanned. “Alas! Where is my beautiful bambina, Wanda? She’s a tough woman after all – unlike her husband.” He looked behind Timmy expectantly, as if she would appear out of thin air like usual.

Timmy could only look at the ground, feeling the guilt once more weigh down on his shoulders. “Cosmo and Wanda are also prisoners … We were separated right after the breakout and I couldn’t take them with me … I couldn’t safe them on my own.” He bit his cheeks, knowing how much Big Daddy loved his daughter and despite being a little harsh sometimes, even treated Timmy like part of the family. Not as loving as Poof, but it still felt like he was letting down yet another family member. He didn’t even say goodbye to his real grandparents Vlad and Gladys … they didn’t even do anything wrong (aside from just standing there, shocked). He never gave them a chance to say something to him. He just ran away like always. “I’m sorry. They always protected me no matter what and I let them down.”

Timmy couldn’t bring himself to make eye contact, but he could imagine the look of shock and anger on Bid Daddy’s face. And understandably so, he practically left his beloved daughter in the lion’s den. This would only be the next adult in line who was disappointed and mad at him.

To his surprise, a hand was placed on his shoulder, small and calloused, but warm. He remembered briefly that Big Daddy didn’t like to get touchy with others, except for his family, making him fear the mob boss would make him disappear next or –

“In that case, we have to safe our family together.” The Italian fairy said, his face full of sympathy and determination despite the obviously bad news he had to swallow. “Now stop moping around, we ain’t making revolutionary history with that long face, kid.”

“Poof poof!” Even his brother agreed, cheering loudly until he remembered they were supposed to keep quiet. Somehow, everyone was failing at that and they still weren’t surrounded by their enemies.

To say Timmy felt relieved was an understatement. Every time he was surprised just how much mere words could lift his spirits – at least when they came from people he valued and looked up to. “You’re right … I won’t let you down, sir.”

“Oh please, you’re family, you may call me Nonno Alfonso” He waved him off, like he didn’t just offer Timmy to call him grandpa (well, if he’d understand Italian that was).

But for how much longer are you family?

Subtly clenching his fists, Timmy nodded, using this moment to distract himself and see who else had made it. Compared to the big underground bunker, this group was pretty small but still full of familiar faces.

He stopped at Jimmy and SpongeBob, the latter seemed happy to be here as always and didn’t mind the randomness of the fairies one bit, while Jimmy looked evidently lost and a tad overwhelmed (with all the stupidity of this universe collected in one place it seemed). He had been to Fairy World a couple of times and already met some of the Fairies here, but he never held a longer conversation with them before. And some of them weren’t even fairies.

Yet, the genius still smiled at him, pleased by the brief interaction between Timmy and the fairy that was called ‘Big Daddy’.

“Right, I should probably introduce you guys to everyone else.”, Timmy concluded. “After we go inside, I mean.”, he quickly added, feeling Jorgen’s glare from behind. The warden had given them this moment to briefly talk things through, but he wouldn’t take any more risks by chatting out in the open when they were still not sure if there weren’t patrols nearby after all.

✧ « ★ » ✧

The mattress company was still the same as it had been seven years ago, only dustier. With people buying most stuff online or in furniture shops and watching less TV adds, Sandman didn’t feel the need to advertise his mattresses as much anymore – at least not in person. That’s what pop ups were there for.

At least they didn’t need to sit on the cold floor and instead sat on any bed or matress they wanted; their tired bodies thankful for the rest.

“So … uhm.” Not sure how to start, Timmy went from left to right once he got Jimmy’s and SB’s attention again. “This is Juandissimo Magnifico, you probably remember him. He used to be Remy’s godparent, the rich kid I told you about.”

Jimmy nodded. He surely mentioned Remy once or twice during the years, mainly because the snob sometimes tried to make Timmy’s life even harder and also reminded him of Eustace in a way. But that suddenly stopped after just two years. Timmy himself never knew the full story. It was weird the kid never got a Fairyversary muffin either … maybe because he would’ve done nothing honorable with it or as part of the punishment. Then again, Jorgen did say it was rare for a kid to be able to keep their fairies for one year or longer. So having them for seven years was probably even more unreal. That was something Timmy didn’t know he could be proud of, considering the requirements. But one thing was for sure; for an average kid, he was a really special case.

However, despite everything … Timmy still wondered how that Remy was doing today. If he was still unhappy or finally got what he wanted, whatever that had been in the end. Would he even be allowed to interact with him? Would Remy remember him, with all the magical memories removed? He feared the answer, since that snob could easily be what he was about to become.

“Si, he was my favorite kid. So much that I quit after they made me leave.” He flexed his muscles, telling his sob story without anyone even asking him. “It was hard, but my old job at the fairy spa and the tense ladies made it bearable.”

“You were fired because the other godchildren either didn’t want you or because you neglected to properly supervise the children. Not to mention his cooking.” Another fairy crossed his arms, a bald one with a pointy hat. “Binky Abdul is my name!” He smiled at Jimmy and SpongeBob. “Timmy here kind of took over my old position as Jorgen’s punching ba- I mean assistant. I work at the training academy now.”

Jorgen sighed, reminiscing about the past. “I miss the days we worked together.” Which meant tying Binky to a dart board or yelling at him. “Good old times.”

Binky would probably beg to differ but said nothing to spare himself the pain that would surely follow. In a way, they were still friends and the distance seemed to be good, at least now Jorgen couldn’t order him around on a regular day, unless he assembled the fairies … which still happened often.

Pretending to not hear Jorgen, Timmy continued. “Anyway, this is Mother Nature and Kris Kringle, aka Santa Clause during Christmas.”

SpongeBob’s eyes grew wide as he stared at the thin man with a boring grey suit. “REALLY?! I always wanted to meet you!” He quickly hugged the man tight, who seemed mostly confused by the appearance of a talking sponge but quickly got over it. He had seen weirder in all these centuries. “I’m so happy!”

“Uhm … thank you very much, err –“ He looked to the side, awkwardly patting the sponge’s back.

“SpongeBob”, Tooth Fairy whispered in his ear.

“SpongeBob, right. Santa feels very honored to meet you ... and he would like to breathe air again.”

Timmy carefully pulled his friend away from Mr. Kringle, noticing how flushed the man was from being squeezed so much.

“So, you’re only Santa Clause once a year?” Jimmy asked, his curiosity winning over, the seriousness of the situation briefly forgotten. “How does that work? Do you live at the north pole? How do you deliver so many presents all over the world in one night?”

“Oh, I’ve been asked this so many times already. But your friend should know about this, isn’t that right, Timmy Turner?” He looked really young for an ethereal being, but with kind and wise eyes. Still, Jimmy had a hard time imagining this guy with a long beard and a belly.

“Yeah, probably.” Shrugging, Timmy couldn’t withstand Jimmy’s prying gaze for very long. “Alright fine, I once wished that Christmas would be every day and almost ruined it for everyone.” Because he loves the holiday – his parents were at home, no Vicky, no school and lots of presents to play with. Nowadays he spent Christmas with Cosmo and Wanda hauled up in his room or the fish castle. Danny and Jimmy did invite him to join their family gatherings last year, but he had awkwardly declined. He didn’t want to intrude. Or rather … didn’t want to see what a happy family looked like. To be reminded of lost times.

“How so? Christmas everyday sounds awesome!” SpongeBob cheered with stars in his eyes, still being held back by Timmy to not suffocate Santa again.

“No, it’s really not. Because you just don’t appreciate it anymore. And it was exhausting for Santa since he had to deliver the whole world every night AND make the toys during the day.”, he explained while rubbing his neck ashamed. But how could he have known that as a child? “Fairy World basically lends all their magic to Mr. Kringle for Christmas, which turns him into Santa Clause. He then uses all that magic to create all sorts of toys and uses his powers to teleport around the world. He does have a sleigh, reindeers and elves for mass-production, but most of the work comes from him.”

“I’m actually the CEO of a toy factory for the rest of the year. I donate most of the profit to charity since I don’t really need human money. Alas, outside of Christmas season, I’m mostly just an immortal middle-aged man, so I’m afraid I won’t be of much help for this mission.” If it weren’t for the apocalypse and magic deprivation happening right now, he would’ve been able to pull some strings or provide other weapons, but he had no access to anything so far away from the north pole.

“… Okay I’ll buy it for now. But that still doesn’t explain why you’re here and not at home.” Jimmy made air quotes, still not entirely convinced because ‘magic’ being the general explanation for everything in this world didn’t satisfy him at all. What was magic? Were there truly no limits without self-imposed restrictions? How did the process even work? … Did all that magic make him the strongest of them all for a whole day? Did he stop time to teleport around the world? What about families that didn’t celebrate Christmas? Or did everyone in this universe simply believe in him and no one ever wondered where the expensive presents came from – especially if it was something a child asked for, but the parents refused to buy for certain reasons?

“The same reason all of us are here.” An ominous and very monotone voice said from a dark corner. “We were tricked.” An oddly square pixel fairy hovered out of it.

“HP?!” Timmy took a few steps back, letting go of SpongeBob to reach for his weapon that leaned against a bedframe before. “What are you doing here?” He looked from the Head Pixie to Jorgen for answers since he had arrived earlier, but the warden only shrugged. Right, he had even teamed up with Crocker and Vicky on some occasions, it couldn’t get weirder than that.

“I received an invitation for a business meeting with Anti-Cosmo. I thought he wanted to share his plans and profit with me, but turns out, he was just interested in my magic.” The pixie explained, unimpressed as always. “I ordered Sanderson to engage Pixie World in a lockdown … and they locked me out as well.” He presented his magic phone, which showed no signal, meaning it was also out of battery and thus pixie magic. “He’s even greedier than me now.”

“They tried to steal magic and invade other realms as well. The Greek and Nordic gods closed off their homes but Father Time and even the council were trapped before they could do anything to stop them.” Mother Nature explained. “When I was there, they had already started to abduct humans. Nana helped us flee through escape capsules before they could trap us. The others went back to their homes for safety precautions.” And since magic creatures couldn’t interfere with each other’s powers – unless they were much stronger and/or not bound by Da Rules, they couldn’t do much aside from saving themselves. Which didn’t mean they wouldn’t be able to help but … oh well, they were on their own as it seemed. What else was new.

“I still don’t understand why they would go out of their way to conquer and kidnap all kinds of … magic citizens, if all they need to change reality is the Royal Jewel.” Jimmy mused, rubbing his chin as he thought it over. “Didn’t Jorgen say the other leaders also created artefacts to contain their magic so it wouldn’t be out of control anymore?” He briefly remembered the story about magic history, how it was chaotic and unpredictable and therefore separated and confined.

“I did.” Jorgen confirmed, shrinking just a tiny bit when his grandmother glared at him for revealing so much classified information. “But they were all destroyed to create Da Rules, except for the Royal Jewel.”

“Then it might be possible they’ll try to take as much of it away to prevent others from intervening with their plan. Because even if the Royal Jewel is more powerful, it’s not impossible to combine other forces and stop them by repeating history, right?” Although the chances of creating another thing like Da Rules to define the entire laws of this universe were slim, but with powers from other worlds, that was still a possibility, as unlikely as it was. And according to Frostbite, the ancient ghosts had help from this world once upon a time as well, so why shouldn’t the favor be returned?

“I guess that makes sense. They won’t take any chances even if they have the original copy already.” Not to mention the potions they made with all different kinds of essence they gathered. Power and control were always the main motivation for villains, of course Vlad and his allies would get as much as they could for themselves so no one would be able to stop them. Timmy shuddered just thinking about it. “But why would they need humans? We don’t have any magic.”

“Most likely because you don’t have any yourself, but you create it.” Jimmy concluded as it dawned on him. “Jorgen also mentioned that the Jewel was fueled by human belief and so is apparently all magic in Fairy World … and well, most adults and people like me only believe what they see. So maybe they somehow try to harness that?” The neurons in his brain fired at an incredible speed as he seemingly put all the puzzle pieces together. He felt like he was so close to the truth.

“Well, they can try as much as they want, but with the Big Wand’s power cut off, that won’t work unless they have their own converter. It’s also impossible to recreate another jewel or to imitate it. And as long as Da Original Rules protect the laws of our reality, there’s nothing we can’t undo yet.” Jorgen interjected harshly. “The only way to reach their goal would be to destroy Da Rules. Only then can the jewel unleash its true power.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem then.” Nanna Boom Boom intertwined. “Only a certified warden, or more specifically, a Von Strangle can undo the seal or rewrite the rules.”

“Dada?” Poof asked, tilting his head. Even if they were only distantly related, Cosmo and him still shared the same energy as Jorgen’s direct bloodline. And well, Cosmo did manage to alter the rules once with officially looking green crayon – even if it was Timmy who wrote in the book and it didn’t zap him.

“If what Turner told us is true, he’s in no condition to give them what they want. And you are still too puny, so you’re fine Poof.” Jorgen assured him, subtly looking Timmy up and down. The jewel was unpredictable and even without access to their magic it seemed to have an impact on Timmy, not to mention his current condition after absorbing half of Cosmo’s energy to make up for the part he lost.

“Agh, enough with this chit-chat, this isn’t getting us anywhere!” Sandman interjected, angrily hovering inside the social circle of the small group. “What we need is a plan, not theories! … And you!” He pointed at Shirley. “Why were the Anti-Fairies chasing you?”

“Me?” As if he suddenly remembered why he was even here, the former villain cleared his throat. “Oh, right! Well … like I said, I have the whole thing on footage.” He pressed a button on his wrist, a hologram similar to Jimmy’s watch appearing as he connected himself to his security cameras.

Gathering around Shirley as the hologram booted up, everyone looked expectantly at the static of the hologram, which slowly gave way to a recording from a ceiling camera that hung somewhere in the corner of the restaurant, viewing the entire room and what happened hours prior.

✧ « ★ » ✧

Aside from the otherwise empty room except for Shirley and his only customer, it was also the uncanny appearance of the young man that caught their attention. His back was turned towards the camera, but the vibrant purple suit and the – compared to his entire size – rather tiny dark blue wings were an eyecatcher.

Timmy realized that he had been the only person to ever see and hear Anthony up until this point, yet he was surprised just how … different his shadow seemed. Not as scary and gruesome as the nightmare versions of him, that was for sure. It still felt plenty weird to watch another version of himself devouring a pizza like he hadn’t eaten ins days … or ever.

“So, this is him?” Jimmy wondered out loud, distracting Timmy momentarily with how close the other was. Even if he wasn’t certain Jimmy would notice, Timmy nodded, a lump forming in his throat that he tried to ignore.

“Oh my satan, this is even better than he remembers~”

Hearing Anthony talk was even more bizarre. It was the same voice that kept echoing in his head, but without the demonic undertone and threatening atmosphere, Timmy almost didn’t believe this was real. The monster of his nightmares, the person that plagued his thoughts and filled him with doubt and fear was now flesh and reality. He couldn’t ignore or pretend that he would go away anymore, if he just concentrated enough. Not to mention how close the other was; almost breathing down his neck with the short distance. Anthony could actually appear for real now, not only just in the reflection of a bathroom mirror or in his thoughts.

Subtly forcing himself to pay attention, Timmy tried to ingrain the footage in his memory. He couldn’t see into the mind of Anthony, not that he knew of at least, so this was the only time he got to see the real deal. Perhaps he could get a full picture of his character, see what kind of motives he was truly after. Call him paranoid, but Timmy didn’t trust him and was convinced his shadow wouldn’t keep his promise, even if the rational part of his brain claimed he would never go along with the plans of an enemy for his personal gain. Or he wanted to believe he couldn’t be corrupted at least. Still … it was unnerving how his other half knew so much about him and he didn’t. For some reason he told himself it would perhaps change something if he did – if only to appease his consciousness. Because if he knew Anthony was evil and irredeemable, then he wouldn’t feel bad about … you know.

“Well, I’m glad you like it, uhm … Antonio, was it? I didn’t get many customers these last few days …”

The recording of Anthony didn’t bother to correct Shirley, not interested in anything but the food. “An apocalypse is kinda bad for business I guess”, he said, mouth full, as if it wasn’t even a big deal. The wing of his back fluttered a little.

The next parts of the conversation weren’t really eventful. Timmy only perked up when he heard the mention of Shirley being created through a ‘Timmy-Wish’ or something.

To the question if he knew Timmy, the back of Anthony just shrugged, his wings going stiff. He looked enough to the side to reveal his messy face and stuffed cheeks. Damn, even his elf years were pointed down. For someone so secretive, his body language was fairly expressive – only that Timmy still couldn’t quite read it.

“You could say that.” Anthony took of his greased gloves to carelessly toss them behind him, revealing his claw like nails, the tips of his fingers turning nearly black. “Your adapting skill is very useful, you know that? To put it simple, I’m offering you to join my side. In exchange, you get what you want, like revenge on those who wronged you, yadda yadda and such.”

Shirley proceeded to deny, stating not just him, but also Timmy (and Jimmy) had changed from their careless childish behavior. Judging by the huff and hunched back, Anthony didn’t like that very much and Timmy kind of wanted to see his face to read his expression. Was he angry? Timmy couldn’t feel anything, just mixed signals. Then again, he was confused about his own emotions already, so that could only make things more complicated.

“Well, lucky you, I guess.” The shadow slowly clapped and as he did, the footage lagged, static distorting the image a little, like the HD quality had turned into a 90’s VHS tape. “Not all of us can say the same about themselves … Why did he grow a consciousness just for you, I wonder?”

Shadows started to grow and extend from the walls, being drawn towards the spot where Anthony sat. It was midday and yet the entire room darkened. Goosebumps crawled up Timmy’s arms, the hair on his neck standing. Yep, this definitely felt much more like his nightmares.

But just as the scene started to get out of hand with Shirley trying to make peace and Anthony finally losing his cool by smacking his fist on the table, a blue cloud emitted in the middle of the room. The bad luck of a saltshaker falling over had attracted none other than Anti-Cosmo, who seemed very displeased with his shadow being there.

They all watched as the footage showed the Anti-Fairy leader scolding his new … godchild? Whatever Anthony was to the small man in a top hat and a fancy cane disguised for a wand. Did he change clothes for a special occasion? And why did they argue over food? (To be honest, Anti-Wanda’s critter specialties were literally to die for, so he could understand Anthony mourning the loss of his pizza)

“Nonsense, you’re perfectly capable of digesting magic food! And you should eat it – it’s healthier for your body than this junk or the ‘potions’ you make in your dungeon … Now, don’t throw a tantrum, Anthony Turner, we must prepare you for the duel.”

“Stop acting like a fucking dad or some shit! I can go wherever I want.”

Anthony Turner? Like this wasn’t uncomfortable enough already. But the potions … was his shadow the one who made these wish-potions that him and this Damian consumed? And why were they so adamant on this Royal Duel – he didn’t get it. If they’d managed to overwrite reality by using Da Rules, what was the point of it? They just needed the jewel, nothing else.

“And who watches our prisoners and works on the magic formula while you’re on your little excursion? We may not be related by blood, but we’re one and the same – and I took part in creating you! Without the magic, supplies and scrolls we provide, you wouldn’t even –“

“I know that! My time is limited, I’m aware …”

What did that mean? Timmy watched his other half pacing around the room, wondering what they were hiding. Anthony mentioned he had other goals and was never asked to play along so perhaps he didn’t lie after all … but his hand looked like a claw, almost like the monster from his dreamscape. Timmy could feel his own twitching just remembering the horrors of his nightmare.

“Don’t tell me you went to sleep just because you wanted to try out that ancient spell about entering the nightmare realm.”

“Just a few droplets of blood and a drawn circle. We’re basically already as connected as can be, it was child’s play. And it was successful, I can enter his mind without sleeping. Just needed something to amplify the spell to leave a full impression.”

He knew they were talking about him. It made sense now how Anthony managed to infest his mind. All this torture and for what? However, if Timmy himself could put the implications together, then so could his friends and everyone else here …

He barely glanced to side, already seeing Jimmy’s face displaying a mix of shock and concern – but also a little disappointment, because he hadn’t told him anything. Oof, if only he knew what else he kept from him. Shit, what if he talked about their deal next?! Should he perhaps interfere or something? For now, he could easily play it off as ‘I didn’t know it was real, they were just dreams. Barely remember them anyways’ or something.

“Alright maybe we’ve seen enough”, he said, a strained smile tucking at his lips as he reached for the panel on Shirley’s arm to turn it off, only to be met with everyone’s gazes fixed on him, each with a different expression. Well, he didn’t have any solid reason to stop it, and it would only make this worse. He was already going to be questioned once the video ended – especially Jorgen and, surprisingly, Sandman seemed to be fuming.

All Timmy could do was chewing on his bottom lip es he buried his hands deep in pockets and kept watching. He was so damn tired of this. Poof’s tiny hand patting his shoulder did little to reduce the stress.

“You do know how dangerous ancient magic is – losing control can have serious side effects! I didn’t give you Titania’s moon-necklace to play around with it and waste precious magic you might still need.” Anti-Cosmo revealed, much to Jorgen’s and Nana’s surprise. This Queen Titania from the story, who was the sister of King Oberon and the leader of the first Anti-Fairies, right? Why would they have a necklace of her and what did it do? “Especially that spell, because whatever happens there, also affects the real body of both victim and performer.”

Great, and now they were back to giving Timmy the side eye as if he knew what all of this was about. He didn’t! But would they believe him? Especially if the deal was mentioned? He was tempted to consider his usual tactic and just run away from the responsibility but … he couldn’t keep doing this! Besides, he needed answers. For example, was that the reason why his hand was acting up so weirdly? Because Anthony and the shadow-monster did something to him? How was that fair?! They could affect him in his sleep while he was defenseless, not even able to fight back!

“However, this has nothing to do with the spell. I hope it’s not because of your deficiency.”

“That’s why I was actually here in the first place!”

They turned their attention back on Shirley. Timmy was too enthralled by the scene to think further about a potential weakness. In the back of his brain, he just hoped it would come in handy should they really be destined to fight each other.

“Splendid! Such an ability would greatly benefit our plan. We can recruit him or extract it against his will if he refuses. Our kind could be unstoppable!”

“Sure, your plan and your kind.”

Then the other Anti-Fairies appeared, starting the chase of Shirley, who bolted out the window, leaving only Anthony behind in the middle of the restaurant, his back turned towards the camera.

His twin turned to the side, looking at his right his own twitching right hand and Timmy had to resist the urge to do the same. Anthonys was shaking badly, almost like it was hurting him, yet his gaze remained hidden behind his bangs. Somehow, Timmy didn’t even need to see his eyes to know what was going through his head. If this had happened only hours prior and his own hand had been gradually getting worse since they arrived here, it meant they actually had formed some kind of connection and it was getting stronger the less distance was between them. Ever since … they shook hands in Danny’s bathroom through the mirror, when he first felt this strange sensation … if that had even happened in real life and not just Timmy’s mind. But to him, it was still more like small firecrackers burning away in his bloodstream. Uncomfortable and hard to ignore, but manageable.

“He’s here.” The recorded Anthony said, a wide grin spreading on his face. He tucked uder the collar of his vest, fishing out a shiny golden chained necklace, a blue glowing, moon-shaped pendant dangling on it.

Just seeing the thing made his scalp itch, reminded of the hovering crown above his head that had absorbed the Royal Jewel … somehow. The sense of dread was ever present but there was also this pull in his chest. Like a magnet. He got a weird case of déjà-vu without ever having seen it before.

Suddenly, the image started to glitch again, worse this time. So much, in fact, that the recording froze exactly at the flickering image of his twin, grinning like a mad man, his face illuminated in blue as he held the necklace up, the frame seeming so much darker than before although it was barely lunchtime, like someone had thrown a veil over the camera – or the entire room.

“Oh, I think the footage must’ve been damaged.” Shirley noted, pressing several buttons on the panel in his arms but nothing happened. The haunting grin remained and if this was a horror movie, Timmy would be scared that the person would move or look right into the camera if he blinked only once. It wasn’t … but Timmy still had problems tearing his strained eyes away.

Only when the hologram was turned off did Timmy sigh, releasing a breath he didn’t notice he was holding in. Whatever was left on that recording couldn’t be too much of a revelation – at least to him. He was glad they found some interesting information without spilling all his secrets and it was probably not over yet, but he was tired and frankly didn’t care much at this point.

Of course, he knew it was stupid to keep secrets like this in such a situation, he had watched enough dramas to know that it always bit the protagonist in the butt further down the road, but he just … didn’t know anymore. Where would he start? How would he explain his reasoning? He couldn’t even understand or trust himself, his comrades would think he was more of an idiot than usual. Especially Jimmy! After all he had done for him and with how supportive he was … Telling him the truth would be the right thing but … something held him back.

“Because you’re a coward.”

For a good few seconds, nobody said anything. Timmy could only try to fruitlessly gulp down the lump in his throat and calm his beating heart, ears ringing from all the stress he was put through. Nobody was aware of his inner turmoil; his anticipation was almost worse than waiting for the interrogation. Well … almost.

“What were you thinking you Schmock?!” Out of everyone, Sandman was the first to hover next to him, giving the angsty teen a good smack against the back of his head. “You let the creature inside your mind? Do you know how dangerous the mindscape is?! When were you planning on telling someone about this detail?”

Timmy was just about to reply with poor excuses when he was cut off by Jorgen. “That wouldn’t have been possible if they didn’t have Queen Titania’s necklace! How did they get it? It was supposed to be safely hidden and literally lost to time!”

“The more important question is, how do we stop him? And what if we’re missing something?!” Nana interfered, smacking poor Shirley. “I don’t care how but fix this thing!”

A discussion broke out to decide what to do next, leaving Jimmy, Shirley, SpongeBob, Poof and a quiet Timmy on the sidelines. Of course, Nana Boom Boom and Jorgen were the loudest, one demanding to assemble everyone to attack, the other to retreat and form a strategy until they knew the full extent of their enemies plan. Both had good reasoning too, they couldn’t just rush to decisions but there also wasn’t much time for new plans. Still, with so many stubborn fairies in one room, they were getting nowhere.

“All of you, shut your traps!” Big Daddy yelled, stopping the commotion around them in an instant. “Stop acting like a bunch of headless chickens already! What do you think this is? A circus?” And just like that, a red nose and a rainbow wig appeared on him only to poof into dust the next moment due to the lack of magic.

Everyone quieted down, exchanging glances. Usually, the people to come up with plans (Jorgen and Jimmy in that case) were just as clueless now, so all they could do was to take a breath and think.

“Perhaps I can fix the recording. Whatever caused the disturbance clearly didn’t delete or destroy the footage.” Jimmy offered, raising his hand with his own wristwatch, trying to connect his device with the panel on Shirley. It would’ve been easier with Goddard, but he still had some tools in his backpack, such as a simple, good ol USC cable with adapters. Like a caveman.

“Great, and what are we supposed to do in the meantime? Wait for the enemy to attack us or our friends?” Tooth Fairy asked, filing her nails in agitation. It was completely going over her head that she was siding with her husband on this one, who seemed grateful for her understanding, although she at least pretended to not notice.

Several voices picked up, talking to each other, but they were drowned out with Timmy’s thinking. He caught a glimpse of SpongeBob’s smile but didn’t have the strength or the heart to humor him right now. His friend would definitely understand, he knew so much from their talk in the bunker but … there was this emptiness gnawing at him.

Until he found Sandman staring, the elder bashfully hovering over, his arms crossed expectantly. Well, at least this was a good opportunity to learn something new, as the fairy clearly was familiar with his nightmares.

“You … know about the mind-thing?” Timmy finally asked, his voice barely above a whisper. His friends right next to his side would usually be comforting, but right now it felt like they were suffocating him. Something was wrong. “What does it mean?” He slowly turned to Sandman, a forced smile on his lips that held back the secrets in his shimmering eyes. Even with finding out new information, he appeared to be more lost and confused than before. Poof had seen it the last time they got separated from their parents and considering the fallout with the Turner’s happened not so long ago either, his brother was concerned, clinging to his shirt.

“I do. And it’s important to know about it so you can defend yourself.” Sandman explained, floating down to sit on a random bed. “Look kid, I don’t know how you managed to split yourself, but there is a strong connection between you two.” He said, looking at Jorgen as if to dare him interrupt now. “And it can be really dangerous, depending on how much you two are still attached to each other.”

Knowing all too well how the last encounters with Anthony went, Timmy could only chew on his bottom lip, facing the floor with guilt.

Jimmy, who had been strangely silent until now, took a step forward, his question also mildly causing the others around them to quiet down. “How dangerous?”

To say Timmy was uncomfortable with all the attention was an understatement – it made his skin crawl and he felt the need to hide away. It hadn’t been that long since he was stuck in the conference room, and he most certainly didn’t want a repetition of that.

He began to fidget, his eyes darting around. HP was still there, an enemy of his for several years. What if he was simply pretending to be helpless like the others and secretly worked together with Anti-Cosmo and Vlad? Being vulnerable in front of his friends was one thing, but in front of antagonists was another. They could just use it against him if they learned about his weaknesses, right?

“Well, for example –“ Just as Sandman was about to answer, Timmy scooted over, clamping his hand around the other fairy – causing the ruler of sleep related wishes to tense up.

“How about we talk about this in a more … private session?” Timmy asked the fairy, earning a doubtful glance of Jimmy and others in ear shot who observed his behavior. “I mean, while we wait for Jimbo to fix this and until we hear from Danny and the others, you know … there’s still time for a little break, right?” An empty laugh escaped him.

His friend, of course, wouldn’t have that. “And what if there’s even more important information that we should know and you didn’t think of sharing before?”, the genius argued, clearly not happy with being left out of this conversation, no matter if time worked against them. “Besides, splitting up and keeping secrets never works well in a team. That’s what the villains do, because they don’t trust each other.”

Jimmy tried to be supportive and convey his worry, but the tone of his voice gave away that he was upset Timmy hadn’t told him about the nightmares and Anthony establishing contact, so obviously he wanted to know what that was all about and what he said. He didn’t like the idea of Danny, Dani and Goddard not being with them already, he wasn’t going to put up with more disturbance and imbalance.

Timmy could understand where he came from and it was only logical to fill everyone in so no one would be lured into a trap or fall for any tricks and all so forth … but he was so tired of spilling all his secrets. Timmy lived seven years keeping everything to himself, only sharing his problems with certain people he trusted, the mere thought of openly talking to someone made him want to curl up.

The last time he had been that honest was when he still went to therapy when he was five because of Imaginary Gary. Not because his parents were concerned about him perhaps being lonely and needing a friend (before he met Chester and A.J.) but because they wanted him to act normal so people wouldn’t judge him and therefore them. They perhaps cared but there was always a greater purpose attached. Like a backhanded compliment, but Timmy would take it because scraps of attention and care were better than nothing, as fleeting as their parental side was.

He liked Jimmy, he really did. Timmy trusted him with his life and would tell him everything because he felt safe with him, but not right NOW. Not after all the emotional draining and trauma he went through. He just … couldn’t tell him the truth about his poor decisions. About the deal, the contents of his nightmares. The whole mission was personal enough already. Yeah, they had his back in the tunnels and they made it clear they were there for him but he just didn’t want it right now. It was too much. Too overwhelming.

But how would he reasonably explain all of that to Jimmy and the others without sounding broken or rude – especially since they didn’t have the time to break it all down and take a breather.

So, he tried to form all of his emotions and reason with his next words, as he faced SpongeBob and Jimmy, who had been with him through it all so far. “I can’t …I’m sorry.”

Jimmy stared at him for a long minute, until he relented, sighing as he got back to work, doing what he was best at; focus on the logical stuff and shove everything else aside.

His first instinct was to decline, he didn’t want to leave Timmy alone and his curiosity also demanded of him to know what exactly was going on and what all of that meant. But … he got the feeling that some things just couldn’t be shared openly in front of everyone. Sometimes especially in front of the people closest to you. So, if it helped, he would take the chance. Maybe a bit proximity would help to ground Timmy, although Jimmy’s hands itched to pull him close and never let go again if it meant he was safe and happy.

“But if it turns out there’s something we need to know and look out for, tell us. We’re here, no matter what, Tim.” He said, SpongeBob next to him humming in agreement.

Nodding, Timmy clenched his fists as he followed Sandman into another room, leaving everyone else behind to prepare and come up with strategies. He was actually surprised with how little pushback he received for that. Not even Poof followed him, he simply waved as he sat cross legged on SpongeBob’s head.

“… Perhaps I should’ve left the restaurant closed for today …” Shirley looked after his creator, feeling slightly bad for causing the mood in this room with his footage.

✧ « ★ » ✧

“Alright, I need to know exactly what happened.” Sandman demanded to know as they entered what seemed to be one of these display-bedrooms for commercials or in furniture stores to inspire customers. Well, at least the king-size bed seemed inviting, so Timmy laid down in the middle, his back appreciating the softness. A bit of the tension left him as he breathed in and out. The curtains with stars and planets around the bed that were pulled shut for extra privacy only contributed to that, briefly reminding him of Jimmy’s pocket dimension. It was warming … but not from the inside. Maybe because Jimmy wasn’t here with him -ugh, what was he thinking?

“Well … it started when I was in prison.”, the average kid began, fidgeting with his hands again. He really was getting flashbacks of his therapy days right now.

He then briefly summed up how they got to this point, telling Sandman about what Jorgen explained to them, how this Royal Jewel apparently split his shadow from him and created Anthony, his evil twin. How he was having nightmares and hearing voices that haunted him more and more, how the dreams physically drained him and that ever since they got split, he felt both scared but also pulled towards his counterpart like a magnet. As if he needed him to be complete, but that was mostly because they used to be the same person, he guessed. He wondered if Anthony would become a part of him again if they somehow managed to get things back to normal. Perhaps that haunting feeling would leave then …

He didn’t know why, but talking to a neutral party was somehow easier than Jimmy. It didn’t feel as intimate and he could look at it on a more distanced perspective, explaining without feeling too judged or like he was disappointing someone, but he still missed the security and confidence Jimmy’s presence gave him … and the others too, of course!

“Hmm.” Sandman looked deep in thought, listening to the teen explain his dilemma. “So as the seal was broken, the Jewel separated your Anti from your human body. Which was only possible because both Cosmo and his Anti were there, all of you touching the jewel at the same time. And to make up for what was taken from you, each absorbed a fragment of the fairies – in your case Cosmo. Or something like that, I guess. Whatever, magic happened.” The small grouchy man waved his hand, thousands of years being used to such weird crap. “That part was taken from you and gained a physical form. And this Anthony also has Titania’s necklace, which is bad news.”

“What does the necklace do?” Timmy asked, his voice hoarse from all the talking and holding back his emotions for such a long time. He didn’t feel like he would break apart any moment, but it was difficult to stay out of his head.

“It’s an artefact, like the Royal Jewel or Da Rules. A powerful talisman – both monarchs had one to power up their magic. The moon necklace and the sun-crown. Both were supposed to be gone after the council took over, but I don’t know the details. Classified information and all that.” Sandman coughed into his fist, eyeing Timmy’s fumbling hands. “Anyway, Queen Titania was an evil fairy and used it for curses and to control negative karma. Not just bad luck, but also auras and moods. You know, like when people think of some worst-case scenario, and it ends up actually happening. Like self-fulfilling prophecies … or fate.” He pulled out what seemed to be a scrapbook from nowhere, showing blue evil fairies throwing lightning bolts at the humans who couldn’t see them. “Humans used to refer to them as bad omens. But aside from black magic, her specialty were nightmares. Tainting hopes and dreams with fear and sadness. Anti-Fairies were able to infect the minds of humans. They were also the monsters people later called sleep paralysis demons. But the thing about the necklace is, they’re not just an illusion with it anymore.”

He flipped the page, showing a spiral of a human trapped and surrounded by these monsters.

“Whatever happens in the dreamworld also affects the body. Not in a physical way, but both could technically die in the dream and in reality, if things get out of hand. These monsters are only tools, but if not controlled, they can also harm the wearer.” Sandman grimaced, reminded of the old days when he had to deal with them. Fighting these creatures and the Anti-Fairies off was a pain. Too much for one fairy alone. But unlike Cupid, his job had gotten easier after Titania’s banishment and he didn’t need an army anymore.

Rubbing his chin, Timmy inspected the pictures. “But wouldn’t that be a good thing if Anthony also gets affected?”

“Well, not if you both are connected. See, without the necklace, you two are already two sides of the same coin. The closer you are, the stronger the bond. And if your souls are in the same mindscape … well.” After all, an Anti couldn’t exist without the original and vice versa. Well … unless they changed the laws of their reality, that was. “Something like that thing on your hand is just the beginning.”

“Oh … shit.” Timmy looked at his shaking right hand, now aware that it was the one he put over Sandman’s mouth earlier. Slowly, he pulled the glove off, hissing as if he was revealing raw skin after having bandaged a burn for a long period of time. The dark veins had spread further, both the palm and back having a circle shaped black mark, threads running up his wrists and now also covering the fingers. He wouldn’t have been able to keep it hidden for much longer anyway. Besides, if it continued to get worse, he might as well talk about it before his arm rotted away or something. “So if we, like, touched each other, even if it’s just in our … mind or illusion or whatever … It can curse me? With what?”

Sandman gaped at the sight of the plain hand, the mark worse than he anticipated. He swallowed, trying not to lose his temper again.

“Your shadow can control the mindscape because he knows how it works. He uses your own fears and flaws against you. But, just like lucid dreaming, you can learn how to control it as well. Not let it consume you but using his methods against him, invading his own mind. Although I wouldn’t suggest doing that, your human body – and especially psyche – aren’t suited for that. Better just learn how to shield yourself from his influence.” Besides, no one ever wanted to know what was going on iin the mind of an Anti. Fairies perhaps dreamed too, but those places were too dark, even for him.

Hovering closer, Sandman carefully inspected the injured hand. “I’m sorry, I can’t tell what this mark means. It could be a tracker, a connection or neither. But what I know is that this has plagued you for a long time and if this continues …” He went silent, clearly not eager to voice his suspicions. The fact that it was gradually spreading for unknown reasons was deeply concerning. Would it stop at some point? What happened if the mark reached its goal?

“Then how do I control it?” Timmy asked, pulling his hand close to his pounding chest, pushing down the forming panic.

Sighing, Sandmann continued. “Well, you seemed aware of the fact that you were dreaming, that none of this was real – yet you still couldn’t control yourself or your surroundings. Remember when you were younger and wished for superpowers or other things? You basically made kids dreams come true. It’s the same in there, really. Your powers are only limited by your imagination and willpower.”

Just like back then, when things were easy. How ironic. Something that came to him so easily as making a whimsical wish. But strangely enough, Timmy was at a point where he wasn’t sure if he could do that anymore. Reality had pushed him down so many times these last few months and especially the past three days … His brain was numb.

“And can I get rid of this somehow?” He motioned at the hand.

“I’m … not sure. But only you can, if you figure out how. Anthony is you in a way, so if you understand the connection and purpose, you should be able to break it.” Sandman shrugged, ascending once more to leave the room. “I’d say rest and sleep for a bit, but that wouldn’t be such a good idea right now with your state of mind and knowing what this Anthony did … ”

“So what, am I just not supposed to sleep anymore?” Timmy didn’t want to give in into his frustration, but the plot was making it really hard for him right now. “This isn’t helping at all … I don’t know WHAT to figure out.”

“Sorry kiddo, I can’t exactly tell you how to face your demons. Perhaps the Royal Jewel can fix things soon enough.” The elder fairy unhelpfully retorted, patting his shoulder. “Do a few breathing exercises, mindfulness stuff or whatever you gen Z kids do these days.” He gestured with his hands, clearly not fully convinced of these methods. All of this didn’t calm down Timmy at all, which must’ve shown on his face. Sandman deflated a little. For all his grumpiness – and the sleepless nights he had since the apocalypse started – he could understand just how much pressure was weighing down on the once ten-year-old brat. “For what it’s worth … I think you’re going to figure it out. You were always a sharp kid – bratty and thoughtless sometimes, but not stupid. You made it this far already, you’re gonna make it through this as well.”

“Thanks.” Timmy smiled, despite the situation a little grateful for the words of encouragement. It did little to lift his spirits but at least his efforts were recognized. “Still don’t know if this stuff will eat me up from the inside, though.” He didn’t want to worry his friends even more, they probably couldn’t do anything to help him even if they wanted … He wished Wanda and Cosmo were here. He could always talk to them about everything and they had advice for him, no matter how helpful or not. He just … yearned for the comfort of a parental figure. And without his godparents, no one proved that for him, which just made his fear of losing them worse.

“Well, you and your friends can come up with something, I’m sure. For now, you deserve a break, get a clear head.” And with that, Sandman left him alone. The room went dark, safe for the crown and his wand being the only thing to lighten the place up.

Timmy thought about Jimmy’s pocked dimension. The artificial nightlights that showed an entire galaxy in the middle of the room. For some reason, that place felt more like a home in his memory than his actual room in his house. A place he only slept at in and did nothing else. Ever since he didn’t need a babysitter anymore and was allowed to go out without a strict curfew, him and his parents had seen each other less and less. Maybe his mother had been right. In a way, he neglected them too. It was never his job to put in the effort to maintain a relationship and mend what was broken, but he never attempted to talk with them either. Well, it was proof he was their son; he was taking after them.

Who knew, maybe things could’ve been different if he had taken the first step. If both sides had tried to make this work and bond. To be a family. Perhaps he had distanced himself from the human world too much. There was a reason godkids weren’t supposed to wander off in them, right? But his life had always been so hard and unfair, he couldn’t imagine how miserable he would’ve been without it. But then again, there were also other children without fairies who had to cope with reality and couldn’t escape it. Adults shouldn’t run away. He was about to graduate, hopefully go to college … He should have hopes and dreams for the future, right?

But no. Timmy was too afraid of the unknown, always living with the underlying fear that his happiness was finite, slowly running out. Not to mention all his wishes that now seemed to haunt him. He knew about Unwish Island and all the bad things he did, but they never got so troublesome. And now he had to witness mindless child copies of him being used as soldiers and a defect one being out for his blood.

Not just his right hand, his entire body was shaking. The image of this smiling version of him, black ink pooling down its forehead. The crying and enraged face of his mother as she told him that HE was the one to neglect and distance himself from this family. His shocked and worried friends. And finally, Anthony, who was literally haunting and affecting him in all the negative ways. Then Cosmo and Wanda, as Vlad tore them away from him. He had no control of the situation. Not even about his own body and mind anymore.

The only time he felt remotely good and carefree was when he was high on that magic potion he stole from Tiberius. Fuck, was that how people became addicts? Chasing a quick rush of happiness, illusions to hide from reality? … Was that what Jorgen meant about adults not handling magic well? Was it like a trip, flying high as a kite, carless and free like they used to feel as children? Was that why he felt so weird and numb without it?

… Damn he truly was dependent on magic for his happiness, was he? Maybe Anthony was right all alo-

“Timmy?”

Poof peaked through the veil around the bed, concern on his face. Timmy was so sick of seeing that expression directed at him. He hardly noticed how much he was shivering or how fast he was breathing.

“Poof … do you think I’m a bad person?”, he asked, his voice cracking. Of course, it was unfair to ask his little brother such a loaded question. He had gone through so much as well.

Shaking his head, the small fairy hovered inside, sitting across from Timmy on the bed. He turned from his fairy version into the one of a small seven-year-old, looking up at him.

“No.” He said simply, his small hand grasping his, big purple eyes inspecting the black veins moving beneath the skin. “You’re my big brother. Sometimes dumb, but you care about everyone. You’re strong. You don’t give up. You always find creative solutions … And I love and admire you for all that.” It was rare he chose to actively talk instead of using his name like a Pokémon, leaving others to paraphrase the meaning. If it weren’t so rare, Timmy wouldn’t even notice the difference. And perhaps his brother just wanted him to understand, leaving no room for interpretation.

Timmy only nodded, swallowing hard. It was the only thing he could do without breaking down again. He had to blink away a few tears, not ready to lose his face again. Somehow these words meant more to him than he could understand right now.

“Mom and dad would say so too.”, Poof confirmed with a serious pout. That alone made it hard for him to hold back a choked sob. “We’ll save them together.”

Timmy nodded again, putting his other hand above Poof’s. Once certain of his voice, he answered: “Yeah, we will … I’m sorry that all of this happened and that you’re now stuck with me.” He knew he was repeating himself, but he couldn’t stress it enough. What kind of a big brother would put their sibling through all of that? But then again … Poof was immortal, and time was irrelevant for fairies. He probably wouldn’t even care much about him in a couple thousand years, let alone remember. And Timmy wasn’t sure if he wanted the kid he perceived as a brother to see how he grew old and fragile.

Right, that was the downside. Even if he kept his memories, he would be gone. He wouldn’t matter to them. Timmy’s existence didn’t matter to anything – which he shouldn’t think too hard about, but it hurt.

“It’s okay, happens every year.” The fairy shrugged but his tense shoulders showed how nervous he was. Still, it made Timmy huff bittersweetly. His brother wasn’t wrong about that, there was never a year were Dimmsdale didn’t go through an apocalypse.

The lingering fear of losing his faemily haunted him. It was a weakness he couldn’t control or get rid of. And it was also one of the things that Anthony certainly used against him. How was he supposed to fight it? Everyone said he was strong and that he never gave up, but how could they know? What point was there in fighting if he would be a loser no matter the outcome?

“Timmy?” Poof asked again, tilting his head. Right, he had spaced out again. Somehow, the ominous voice in his head had shifted. It started with phrases of past conversations between him and others, then it turned to intrusive thought like narratives but now … it seemed to have infected his mind to a point where he was coming up with them himself.

Glancing down at his hand, he wondered if this was part of the curse. It would make sense – if he didn’t have the will to fight back, it would just be easier to … corrupt him? Timmy still had no idea what exactly would happen if this kept going, but he wasn’t keen on finding out either.

“It’s … nothing. I’m just scared. And tired.”, he admitted with a half-truth, lying back down to stare at the ceiling.

Poof soon crawled on top of him, pushing himself up to look at Timmy’s face. The weight difference was there, but still not enough to bother the average teen. “I’m scared too … and worried.”

“About what?” Timmy yawned, reminding himself of Sandman’s warning to not fall asleep. Easier said than done when he was so utterly exhausted.

“You.” Poof said it like it was obvious. Which was understandable. “Why didn’t you say something sooner?” Whether he meant about the nightmares or Anthony or both, he didn’t specify. He didn’t need to.

“I thought it wasn’t important. That if we stop this apocalypse soon enough, it would all be over anyway.” He ruffled the boy’s hair, both now lying next to each other. The bed truly was soft and big, he might just fall asleep if he stayed like this. “And I’m sick of being vulnerable.” Of being too weak, too incompetent, too unlucky …

“Is it a bad thing if it’s with your friends and family?” Poof wondered out loud, audibly holding back a yawn himself. He was nearly whispering, yet his voice cut through Timmy’s thoughts like a knife. A good thing, probably.

“No … but they have stuff going on too. And as much as I liked having attention when I was younger and … and the support of my friends,” He swallowed, remembering how Jimmy talked about his issues, about Danny who had a lot of internal struggle to deal with and the literal destruction of reality if they didn’t hurry. “I want to protect them too, you know? I don’t wanna lose anymore.”

It was silent for moment between them until Poof spoke up again. “I don’t think it’s bad to lose in front of them. Maybe frustrating, but that’s the difference of losing in front of the bad guys … Because they just want to see your fall, but your friends help you get back up.” He yawned again, curling up at Timmy’s side to nuzzle into one of the two big fluffy pillows. They were almost the same size as him. “And when you help each other, no matter how many tries it takes, you can be stronger together.”

“Since when did you get so wise, champ?” Timmy asked, both bewildered and full of pride, even if he most likely didn’t have any partake in that.

“Lots of anime and cartoons.”, he answered, which made them both snicker. Little did Timmy know that these times were exactly what his brother valued most, because they played and watched them together. That Poof liked Crash Nebula and other cartoons just because of him – because they all reminded him of his big brother. “We should do that again after this. The others can join too, if you want.”

“Yeah … that would be nice.” A simple movie night like they had originally intended with everyone else. Cosmo and Wanda included. It wasn’t impossible to achieve and something to look forward to. A nice dream.

Right.

Wallowing alone with his thoughts, Timmy stared into the darkness, his brother snoring lightly next to him. Well, semi-darkness. The crown still hovered above his head, soothing yet ominous as always.

This stupid jewel. It was all because of that thing. What had it possibly done all this time except for making his miserable life even more miserable and complicated?! He didn’t sign up for all the lore and emotional baggage!

In a fit of rage, Timmy yanked the hoovering Crown away with his hands, glaring at the thing that apparently had decided to hide in his crown. He was still careful not to rustle too much, at least one of them could use some much-needed sleep.

“Lucky charm my ass.” He hissed through gritted teeth, his fingers tightening around the golden material. So far, this jewel had only brough him nothing but problems. It may have a certain influence on him and people around him, but so far, nothing good had come from it. Why did it even get attached to him in the first place, before the magic was cut off? Why did it offer him such empty promises? “What do you even want?”, he asked the jewel aka crown out loud, glaring at the shining gold. He wasn’t actually expecting it to answer, considering the only time the jewel had ‘communicated’ with him was before it had been absorbed. But as Jorgen said, the thing had a mind of its own.

His tired mind barely registered the faint glow intensifying for a moment. The crown felt so light in his fingers, if his grip got any more lose, it would slip out of his fingers again. His eyes drooped as he forced his braincells to mentally communicate with the hidden jewel. Try to focus on a connection. But of course, it wasn’t that easy. How could he understand something like that if he didn’t even understand himself?

He let his head fall back into the soft pillow, rolling a bit to the side where his eyes laid on the deflect-wand that was still leaning against the frame, Anthony’s red ribbon tied around it. What if that thing was enchanted too? Why had they kept it anyway?

Timmy somehow had a brainfart about some of the shows he watched with his brother, where in Japanese culture it was explained that destinies of two people were connected through a red threat. Or something like that. But it was a physical bond. So maybe that would help? He was more the practical learning type of guy anyway.

The softness of the bed made it possible for him to smoothly shift without disturbing Poof’s sleep much (which probably was part of the advertising of this luxurious thing). Patting his hair once more to soothe him, Timmy let the crown go in his other hand. It floated right back above his head, shimmering in the darkness as he reached for the wand. It dulled as he untied the ribbon, wrapping it around his right hand. While he did so, the numbness was replaced by a burning sensation. Was that a good thing? He couldn’t tell.

He almost believed he had a breakthrough. Channeling every ounce of willpower he had left not to fall asleep and sinking back into the soft mattress, Timmy closed his eyes shut, focusing on the image of his twin. Picturing those features he had spotted on the footage and the ones he remembered from his nightmares – though hazy – in his mind.

If he held his breath long enough, he could hear faint, distorted voices over the heavy pounding in his ears.

“I …#eel so emp## … Need m###  - not en#####! Wh# m#? Ma#e it st#p!”

It sounded like the static from the recording, just as fuzzy in his head. He felt goosebumps crawl up his skin, the hairs on his neck standing. Shivering, Timmy opened his eyes again, breathing rapidly as he had almost suffocated himself.

Even with his eyes wide open now and the fatigue pushed back, he couldn’t make out any of his surroundings. The faint glow that had provided a source of light was gone. Hastily, he reached for the crown – not once had it turned off this entire time. Although he had complained about the jewel being useless moments prior, he felt even more vulnerable without the comforting glow. Like this childish fear of running out of the basement as soon as you turned off the lights, scared of the monsters lurking in the darkness, always at your heels and ready to pounce. You were never sure if there actually was something – probably not, you would tell yourself, but that shred of doubt still prevented you from turning around or slowing down.

Of course, that fear had disappeared once Timmy got Cosmo and Wanda, because with them by his side, he wasn’t afraid of monsters catching him. They made him feel secure brave. However, right now? For the first time without any light to make the darkness look less frightening? He felt that fear creeping up again. No calming presence, no warmth. Not the artificial stars from Jimmy, not the crowns of his godparents and now not even the jewel.

This … surely this was just another trick of his fantasy, right? Another nightmare, playing with his insecurities?

Timmy’s knees began to wobble, his feet shaking up and down. He risked looking behind him, still seeing the shape of his brother sound asleep. To his left, the wand was still there, yet void of any power either.

“Okay … okay, easy. This isn’t bad. You’re not a child anymore.”, he reassured himself, pulling the curtain aside that was surrounding the bed. His eyesight still hadn’t adjusted to the void, but he could make out shapes. Nothing out of the ordinary. “All this shit today just made you paranoid.” Anthony had no power over him. Not when he was awake at least.

His hurting arm with the too tight ribbon begged to differ.

… Wait, entire arm? Too tight?

Timmy wanted to yell in horror, but even as his mouth opened, no sound came out. He didn’t see it, but he felt the texture of the fabric sliding over his arm and the chilling coldness pouring through his veins, as if something was crawling in all directions through the blood circulation. It didn’t burn. It didn’t hurt. But it felt piercing and alien all the same. Like it would either pop out of his skin or devour bone and everything else from the inside into a black hole, pulling him in.

His mind became dizzy as his other hand scratched at the itchiness, trying to pull the ribbon off. He was frantic, but not enough to miss the breeze beneath the bed, something chilly and odd shifting around his feet.

This was just a trick. A hallucination! Anthony was just trying to get under his skin again – literally. He had probably just fallen asleep without noticing and this was yet another dream too real for his brain to comprehend.

The fact that he could barely move like he was petrified would confirm just as much. But when a pair of crimson eyes flashed right at him from the wall ahead, he wished it was.

The shadow that originated from the bed reached all the way under him across the floor, only to grow and stretch on the wall, turning everything it touched even darker, which shouldn’t even be possible. Timmy swore he could almost see his breath when he exhaled, air forcefully pressed out of his lungs.

Anthony’s demon, the creature from his nightmares, had found him.

With one more attempt to call for help, Timmy opened his mouth, trying to move, but the black tendrils of the shadow engulfed him as quick as a snake, sliding around his limbs and his mouth. The eyes bored into him, everything on the wall it touched turning into goo like some kind of hole. Or a door. Timmy thrashed around, trying to alert Poof so he would at least safe himself and get help, but just when he did, the shadow pulled at his legs, which it had completely swallowed up to the knees, yanking him off the mattress, hitting the ground hard.

Even if the noise was enough to draw attention and wake his brother, he couldn’t react fast enough as a strong pull dragging him across the floor towards the portal.

“Timmy!”

Th door was slammed open, light finally shining through the darkness. A beacon of hope in the corporal form of Jimmy with SpongeBob, Shirley and Jorgen behind him. But it was –

“- Too late for that.” His own voice echoed out of the shadow, distorted and sinister. The monster of his nightmares absorbed itself into the portal, forcing him to join. The last thing he saw were the shocked faces of his friends before he was swallowed up … an oddly familiar picture to the last time he had seen his godparents.

Chapter Text

“I just don’t get it, I thought he trusted us! I thought we were getting through to him! Stubborn idiot!” Jimmy argued with himself loudly, busy trying to fix the footage. It was actually more like he was attempting to pull off Shirley’s arm to get better access to his interior as if that would magically repair the camera at the restaurant. Still, there had to be a cloud with the uploaded data somewhere and his creation didn’t seem to mind the yanking much. Shirley was content just sitting on one of the many beds, listening to his rant. And so did SpongeBob, providing emotional support as always.

“Well, Sandy always says it’s important to give others their space.” SpongeBob tried to comfort his friend, “Or was it Squidward? I’ve been told many times, at least.”

Frankly, Jimmy was not in the mood for comforting words and he barely held back a snarky comment. He knew SpongeBob only tried to be supportive and usually, Jimmy was glad to have him around. It was nearly impossible to offend him, so he never had to overthink what he said – the only difficulty being that he had to phrase it in simple words, but that was almost always the case, regardless who he talked to in an everyday basis.

“What I mean is, Timmy knows we’re here for him, but he needs some time alone.”, his yellow companion clarified, which caused the genius to yank Shirley’s arm a bit harder than he meant to. “You get that, right?”

“Of course I do!” Heck, he also needed space sometimes. He even tended to get a bit aggressive if he was constantly disturbed while he was working, especially when he was in hyperfocus. It was the reason he built all these safety measures … and for safety purposes to humans, of course. Carl and Sheen just messed around one too many times for him to neglect his security system again. “But this isn’t the right time for – after everything we went through … everything I said!” Jimmy groaned in frustration, giving Shirley’s arm a break as he let go to switch tools. Perhaps he could hack the program with his wristwatch? “How many times do I have to tell him he can trust me? I thought there would be no more secrets. And I know it’s a lot for him now, really.” His hands were shaking, adding to his irritation – did their talk in the tunnels mean nothing? “But this is a dangerous situation. We can’t afford to make mistakes if we want to safe his and Danny’s world … and they’re certainly not stopping there, the entire multiverse could be affected.”

Jimmy sat down again, brushing a hand through his messed-up hair. At times like this he wondered why he didn’t cut it – would save him time and effort. But then again, he’d regret it once he calmed down, and this was most likely the same thing.

“I wish I could just take all his burdens away and fix everything so that he doesn’t have to suffer anymore … Or at least make him see that I care enough for him to trust me with his burden.” Jimmy had told him everything, even about the clones, all his messed-up experiments and social issues, what else could he possibly say?!

“If I may voice my opinion.” Shirley carefully interfered, joining one of his two creators on the bed as well, his metal weight dipping the mattress to the frame. “I don’t have much memory or knowledge about either of you before I was made, but I think it’s not as easy for him to talk about his feelings and worries.”

“Really? He did a lot of that lately.” Recalling all their conversations over the past day and the advice Timmy gave him, Jimmy couldn’t recall Timmy ever having a problem saying what he wanted, even when they were kids. He still got a warm feeling as he replayed the memory of Timmy holding his cheeks and telling him it’s okay to feel overwhelmed. “Timmy is the most expressive and empathetic person I know.” Unlike him. In fact, it was surprising how well his crush was able to pick up on others’ emotions despite having such inconsiderate parents. Sure, Cosmo and Wanda gave him all the love and support they lacked, but it was still different. It was just another punch in the gut to realize your biological mom and dad couldn’t care less. Jimmy on the other hand was raised by a healthy married couple that always loved and supported him no matter what, who listened to him and – oh. OH! Oooh how foolish he was.

“An average kid that no one understands …”, he mumbled to himself, wanting to smack his forehead. He had to keep secrets his whole life and despite that, no one would listen to him anyway. Not to mention that he outright admitted to fearing intimacy. “I’m such a fool.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. Emotions weren’t easy for him, but Jimmy wasn’t the only one who struggled. Still, he wished he could just … read his mind and tell him exactly what he needed to feel better. If only things could be that easy. Always saying and doing the right thing.

Just sitting around and waiting wouldn’t help either, so despite the foreboding ache in his gut, Jimmy got back to hacking the security camera footage. At least he was gentler this time. And after a few more tries, he finally succeeded, the big holo-screen appearing once more.

Since no one expected that to happen, everyone’s attention was brought back to the footage glitching in the air, continuing were it had left off …

Like an old slideshow the image flickered, each frame showing the room getting darker. Something beneath Anthony’s feet shifted, growing in all directions, crawling up the walls until it flowed into a regular shadow beneath his feet, stretching out in front of the boy. The shadow moved independently, like its own person – or creature. Crimson dots stared at its owner as the creature grew in length, crawling up the wall. Long arms and wings stretching, spreading.

Another sudden glitch made the screen freeze for a moment, Jimmy fearing it might be broken beyond repair now, but no. The shadow-monster reached out, its pitch-black claws not yet breaking through the flat-dimension. The genius couldn’t help but think Timmy might compare it to the movie “The Ring”. … Thinking about his crush only made his gut feel worse the more he watched without him by his side.

“Find Timothy and keep an eye on him.” Anthony said with a hollow voice, back still turned to the camera. However, the shadow on the floor started to grin wickedly, moving over the floor towards the exit in a swift motion. Further and further, until the long black string that still seemed to be connected to Anthony’s feet snapped off, slithering out of view at an impressive pace.

The image got more stable afterwards, the room brightened – it was only lunchtime after all. Anthony was truly left alone, gasping and bending over as he clutched his chest. He just stood there for a few moments, hunched and wheezing. “Well, that was a bust.”

As if nothing ever happened, the teen straightened and crossed his arms behind his head. “Hmmm, I should get back to the dungeon. They’re probably already bored without me~” He yawned and took a tiny flask out of his pocket; a couple drops of glowing blue substance dripping on the moon crystal. The necklace absorbed the fluid, magically turning into a big magic staff, just with a blue half-moon instead of the typical star wands.

And just like that, the shadow-twin poofed away, leaving the restaurant empty for good. That was where the footage ended.

Shirley turned the recording off and lowered his hand again. He didn’t know what all of that meant and certainly not what happened after he left, but he was alarmed. And the way his other creator stood there, silent with wide eyes, didn’t ease his worries.

“This is really bad …” Tooth Fairy gasped, turning to Jorgen. “That kid is able to use magic essence to create monsters – what else could he do by stealing our powers?”

“I think you’re missing the important part – the one where a literal spy is after us, giving away our location to the enemy.” Nana Boom Boom commented, her gaze drifting through the crowd. “We need to inform the puny humans. If the creature found Timmy already, they might know the location of both hideouts by now.”

“Which would explain why they didn’t come after us yet. At least Tiberius.”, Jimmy mumbled out loud, glancing at the room Timmy was resting in. There was no way to properly find out if this shadow creature had been around the entire time, but it would explain the feeling of uneasiness he had for a while – with everything going on, he couldn’t tell for sure. What he did know, however, was that it was a stupid and reckless decision to leave Turner all on his own!

Not only that, they needed to inform Danny and the others. If they had really spied on them from the beginning, there was no way to tell to what extent they knew about their plans. And wort of all, it put Timmy and everyone else in great danger!

Jimmy turned around to frantically type something on his watch, trying to call Goddard who was still with the other group. This was serious, their enemies had the upper hand the entire time they were in this dimension while they were none the wiser. Knowing where to find them, having the magic and allies to just mess with them however they liked … and Timmy already appeared to be one small inconvenience away from a total meltdown. His panic after discovering the copies and the fallout with his family were already bad, but the spiral just seemed to have no end! Jimmy was really getting worried about his friends’ sanity. Heck, even he was having a hard time thinking logically and forming a strategy! How could one not be pessimistic in their hopeless situation?

Nevertheless, Jimmy couldn’t afford to lose hope. If he gave up, who would come up with a solution instead? He never volunteered to be the leader of their group, Danny was most likely more fit and mature for that role, but he felt like he had to deliver and stay composed. Otherwise … things would never get better.

As bad as Jimmy sometimes was with reading the room or feeling empathetic, he couldn’t help but feel frustration and grief bubble up inside him as well. Not knowing how to fix this, how to keep these things from happening to his crush, not being able to cheer him up no matter what he said or tried … It just wasn’t fair. He had the urge to pull at his hair and scream into the endless void of space – just how much worse must Timmy feel in this situation? Without Cosmo to joke around and Wanda providing comfort and advice, there was no distraction from the harsh truth. There might as well still be a ten-year-old Timmy standing in the other room; it wouldn’t make a difference. He was lost and hopeless all the same. Only this time without fairies to mask the misery that was his life.

… No. There had to be a way to make it all okay. Right? Jimmy wouldn’t let this happen. No matter what, he would find a way to fix this.

At times like these, where he couldn’t see a positive side to things, Jimmy turned to SpongeBob. His small yellow friend anxiously chewed on his bottom lip looking just as worried for their friend. The genius was sure they could come up with something if there just was more time and a better situation. But there wouldn’t be. When was there ever a perfect moment or opportunity to do things?

“Alright, this is it, I’ll check up on him.” Jimmy couldn’t shake off this impending urge to see if Timmy was alright with his own eyes. He didn’t even need to tell him anything or explain himself, he just wanted to make sure his friend wasn’t alone. “We’ll call them later”

He made up his mind. His fingers were too twitchy to properly function anyway and waiting a few more minutes to get a status report from the others surely wouldn’t hurt.

“Wait, I’ll come with you!” SpongeBob tailed him, closely followed by Shirley, who seemed to be uncertain what else to do in this situation. What Jimmy didn’t expect was for Jorgen to walk after them as well. It made sense, probably. If they were after Timmy and they would ambush them, he would make sure to prevent that – but well, one could never be sure about Jorgen’s motives.

However, before Jimmy could turn the doorknob, he got a weird feeling. Icy and full of dread. A part of him was certain he was just being paranoid right now, there was no way something would immediately happen after just finding out the truth. Timmy had wandered off into the tunnels down at the bunker and that thing didn’t make an appearance either. Still, there was this foreboding feeling, the pessimistic – no, realistic – knowledge that maybe they had only waited for the right moment.

Oh to hell with it.

“Timmy!” Jimmy practically threw the door open … only to bear witness to a scene that would haunt him in his nightmares later.

Some king of black gooey mass had engulfed Timmy, who was laying on the floor, bound by the entity. The origin of that thing seemed to be on the opposite wall, a large portal like gap opened wide. A mouth, ready to swallow his dear friend.

Timmy’s eyes looked at them, horrified as the shadow completely muffled his scream, half his face covered in black vines. Poof merely had enough time to wake up but before he could float towards his brother … before any of them were even able to process what was going on … Timmy got pulled into the wall, flung across the ground like a wet sack.

No, this couldn’t be happening! Jimmy’s legs wobbled, the second he got them to move into action the last bit of Timmy’s hair had vanished into darkness. He didn’t even get to take more than one step into the room before the portal closed, swallowing itself like it had never existed in the first place.

He took another step, the momentum and adrenalin already kicked in and in full gear.

A third step, his knees became weaker, giving out as if they were suddenly unable to carry his own weight.

Jimmy Neutron collapsed, staring like a deer in headlights at the blank wall. It was just like back then, when he watched Timmy fall through the dimensional tear in Amity Park. His reaction was too slow – what good was a fast thinking brain if his reaction time was too slow?

Timmy was the one to think fast and follow his guts. Jimmy was the one with elaborate plans … but he couldn’t save anyone like this.

“Tim?” He asked no one in particular, still in denial this had happened. He might as well have never been in this room, everything was untouched. No damage, no nothing. Gone as soon as it appeared.

Jimmy didn’t know how to feel. He had failed so many times in such a short period. He didn’t reach out to Timmy although he knew he was ghosting them, withdrawing himself in his lab. He found out just how much his friend had been suffering from his childhood by learning the truth seven years later – despite knowing how harsh Timmy’s universe treated him. If Timmy hadn’t slowed down his own fall enough, Jimmy’s invention wouldn’t have been able to catch him in time, properly sustaining critical damage. The serum he invented to speed up the healing process caused Timmy even more pain … it did work out in the end, but it was Timmy who had taken the failed serum with him to swap it out with the magic potion. It was a lucky coincidence, but Jimmy would’ve never thought of doing that. He couldn’t save him from Vlad either, it was Timmy’s own wish that got them their reinforcement.

All this time, Timmy had to help himself, because no one ever would – except for his godparents, who weren’t able to do so right now. Even in the fight with Tiberius, Timmy caught him as he fell out of that telekinetic vortex. And what did Jimmy achieve so far? Make half assed promises and realizing his feelings?

Jimmy felt so many things. Fear, worry … but most of all, anger. Directed at their enemies, at the circumstances and most importantly himself. This time his gut feeling had been right and he ignored it – now Timmy got kidnapped right under his nose. No matter what, he always made the wrong decision.

Gritting his teeth so hard his jaw hurt, the genius (could he even call himself that anymore?) clenched his hands into fists, nails digging into the fabric of his pants. He was aware that wasting precious time by feeling sorry for himself wouldn’t help anyone, but running after them was just as bad – not considering how they would even be able to do that so fast.

He didn’t have to think about their next step, it seemed. The dark room was lit up by his wristwatch, a familiar barking echoing through the room. Right, he tried to contact Goddard before he ditched that idea.

“Jimmy? Hello?” Danny’s voice followed his dog’s greeting. Jimmy knew he should tell them what happened, ask if they had arrived at Mark’s ship, if everyone was okay. Make a new strategy, just anything … but he felt so numb and wound up at the same time. His own heartbeat was almost louder than anything else.

“Hi Danny!” SpongeBob’s loud voice next to his ear startled Jimmy enough to pull him out of his paralysis. His friend had crouched down next to him, gently holding Jimmy’s wrist up. He found that he didn’t even have enough strength to lift it on his own, so he let the sponge do what he wanted. “Something bad just happened – they kidnapped Timmy!”

While probably not the most sensitive way to explain their situation, it was likely for the best to come clean right away.

“WHAT?!”, the ghost yelled through the device and if possible, his icy cold breath would’ve traveled all the way to them, coming out of the speaker of his watch. But Jimmy was too numb to feel the coldness against his wrist either way.

“Yeah, some black shadow followed us the whole time and now it … err … pulled Timmy through a hole in the wall while we weren’t here – But we gotta help him quick! Who knows what they’re gonna do to him?!” SpongeBob wasn’t even breathing at that point, simply talking nonstop and getting louder with each word.

There was a tense moment of silence until Danny talked again, muffled voices arguing in the background that probably belonged to Timmy’s friends. “Okay … so we’ll have to rescue him as well.” He sounded more collected than Jimmy would’ve expected. Then again, Danny always kept a cool head in tense situations – mostly because he was used to them. “Where’s Jimmy?”

“He’s … uuuh” SpongeBob looked at the genius who still had his gaze fixed on the wall. Although his mind was able to follow their conversation and it helped to prevent him from spiraling, he couldn’t find it in him to move. “He’s a bit down right now.”

Jimmy heard Goddard bark at the mention of his creator’s distress. However, it was Jorgen’s patience running out that finally got him moving “Quit moping around puny Neutron, we need to act quickly now!” The fairy warden not so kindly grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, pulling him back up into a standing position, Shirley and SpongeBob both catching the genius before he could fall back on his butt. “They not only got Turner, but also the Royal Jewel! If they unleash its power and break Da Rules before we get there, it’ll be too late. They will overwrite the laws of our universe – and there is nothing stopping them from doing the same to your worlds too if the extract the Jewel!”

“Jimmy? Talk to me.” Danny still sounded calm but there was an edge to his voice laced with worry. “A.J. is keeping us updated and so far, there’s no sight of Tiberius and his copy-army on the streets. We’re currently fixing Mark’s ship – it should be good to go soon.”

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Jimmy steadied himself. He couldn’t afford to waste more time. He could overthink later but not right now. Who knew what they would do to Timm just to get the jewel?

“… Okay, we’ll meet you there. Get everyone else inside the ship.” he said, typing on his watch to locate Goddard’s coordinates. “It should take approximately twenty minutes or less for us to arrive.”

After another short pause, Jimmy could practically see the Fenton siblings nodding even though he technically couldn’t. “Alright, we gotcha covered – don’t run into any more trouble guys.”, were Dani’s last words before the call ended.

Lightheaded and with shaking knees, Jimmy followed the others back to the main room where the rest of their merry group waited. Big Daddy seemed concerned and not just them. Everyone probably heard Jimmy’s scream and knew there was something up. Poof wasted no time hovering over to him, burying his face in the dusty and torn suit.

“Okay so the shadow monster got Timmy, right?” Sandman asked, slightly feeling guilty since he led the kid away into a secondary place. Maybe he could’ve sensed the arrival of a nightmare if he had access to his powers, but it had happened and there was nothing he could do to undo it. “How are we gonna save them without the chosen one?”

“More importantly, how are we supposed to get everyone across the city without being noticed. They already know our location.” Jorgen looked down on Jimmy, crossing his arms. “Any bright ideas, genius?”

Jimmy looked around; the questioning stares all directed towards him. Right, if they were spotted it wouldn’t be easy to get to the junkyard, let alone travel through space to reach Fairy World. It wouldn’t surprise them if Tiberius was only waiting for them to walk right into their trap. After all, they weren’t in a hurry or needed to get to the ship, unlike them. Okay, think, think, think …

His gaze drifted to his backpack, still left on one of the spare beds where he sat it down earlier. It was easy to maneuver the hovercar through the city, as it was small and agile – most of all, it had a shield for camouflage. But there were just too many to fit into the car, even if the fairies all changed themselves into smaller things. With him, SpongeBob, Shirley, Mother Nature, Kris Kringle and eight other magic creatures, it was a tight fit …

“We can move unnoticed with this.” He walked over, presenting his bag. “I have a pocket dimension installed; you can all basically wait in there.” He opened the lid, revealing the blue glowing entrance. “Technically, I could even adjust the settings to absorb the entire battleship. My hovercar has a special coating that allows short space travels, so we could get everyone there unnoticed.” He nodded at Jorgen. “And once we land, the ship can distract the army while we cause a mass breakout in prison. We just have to split up in teams because someone has to plug the Big Wand in.”

“That doesn’t sound half bad.” The warden raised his brow in mild impression. “But you’ll be on your own while we are … in this thing. What if anything happens to the bag?”

“Goddard will wait with you in the bag later. That way, we keep in contact and if anything happens, he knows how to disband the dimension” Jimmy clutched the bag to his chest, peering inside. “Although that might cause an excessive shockwave. Nothing would happen to you, of course, but this is basically a time bomb so … it’s only a last resort.” Not to mention Jimmy had so many valuable items inside that would all be atomized. He wasn’t much of a materialistic person, but when it came to his inventions he felt like an artist about their creations. Leonardo DaVinci would’ve rather stabbed himself than blowing his paintings and inventions up. But if that’s what was necessary to save his friend … yeah, he would do it. Timmy and the universe were worth more than the world he created for himself.

“Sounds like the kid made up his mind.” Nana uncrossed her arms, looking at Jorgen. “I sure hope we won’t be too late. Not even the council will be able to put a stop to this, once they break Da Rules.”

“All the times the universe was overwritten by a Fairyversary muffin wouldn’t compare to this.” Her grandson added, uncharacteristically silent. “And it can’t be undone unless we use the jewel ourselves.”

“No one should ever have this much power.” HP piped up from the background, immediately receiving glares from every other fairy that was present.

“Oh please, you wouldn’t hesitate to turn the world into a Happy Peppy nightmare again.” Binky hovered next to him, arms in hips. “Who knows what Anti-Cosmo wants to do with it. Or this Vlad-guy.”

“They have queen Titania’s necklace, what do you Schmocks think they will do?” Sandman raised his hands in exasperation. “Another pandemic like the plague, cholera or the Spanish flu maybe? Or perhaps more nightmares to feed off the misery of humanity?” With free reign, a bit of bad luck would be the least of their problems. If stepping on a crack, breaking mirrors or spilling salt was bad, this would throw them back into the dark ages for all they knew.

Tooth-Fairy seemed to have had enough of their bickering, knowing how urgent the situation was. “Well then why don’t you guys quit your whining and get in the science-kid’s bag PRONTO?!” Her yelling almost reveled with Jorgen’s, who was more than mildly impressed at her red face, scaring the boys enough to dash right into the sack. But once she saw the look on her husband’s face, her anger turned to indifference. “Don’t look at me like that, I’m still mad at you.” She probably didn’t even remember why exactly. For being abandoned by him when everything turned to shit, for being so mean to Timmy all the time even though the teen was clearly having it rough at the moment, for always putting his job and Da Rules first … she couldn’t pick one right now.

Jorgen deflated at her cold shoulder and watched the love of his eternal life follow the other fairies and pixie into the bag – tho much more graceful than them. Kris Kringle had enough sympathy to pat his shoulder before he jumped after them with practiced ease – probably used to having his own dimensional bag and going down every chimney once a year. After him was Mother Nature’s turn, then Juandissimo who held his nose like he was about to dive and next was Shirley, who gave his second creator two thumbs up. Lastly was Nana Boom Boom, leaving only Bid Daddy, Jorgen, Poof, SpongeBob and Jimmy.

“Just … make sure they don’t break anything or touch too much.” Jimmy asked the three remaining fairies, sweat running down his temple. Just yesterday, he had spent such a bittersweet moment in there, now he had a bunch of strangers filling his yet finite space.

“Don’t worry, there won’t be any funny business with me there.” Bid Daddy rolled up his sleeves. “And you just make sure to save my daughter and grandson.”

“Poof poof!” His other nephew seemed determined and not at all like he was going to hide in there at all. He had been just a shocked as Jimmy the entire time, still in disbelief how he couldn’t have picked up on it … why he had been so deep asleep … how could this happen?

“It’s too dangerous, you can’t help them without magic, kid.” Jorgen reasoned with the small fairy. Without the deflect wand, that had been sucked up as well, there wasn’t much he could do aside from changing his own form. And even with a natural gift for strong magic, like Cosmo and other descendants of the Von Strangle wardens, he couldn’t be of much help aside from turning into an object like a bat or a board. But with no wielder there was be little he could do  “Not to mention they can probably detect our fairy dust.”

“Poof poof poof! Po- ugh for magic’s sake, I want to help!” the seven-year-old fairy protested, his tiny form tense as his big eyes glistened with unshed tears. “Timmy is sad and hurt and I couldn’t do anything to help him!” He sunk down, his hands gipping the suspenders of his purple dungarees. “It’s not fair – Dani gets to help her brother too, meanwhile I can’t even do much to cheer him up on a regular day because some dumb rules won’t allow it.” He glared at Jorgen, knowing full well he technically wasn’t even allowed to grant Timmy wishes since he wasn’t a godparent.

That was probably the most Jimmy or anyone else outside the Cosma-Fairywinkle family had heard him talk, but it only showed how frustrated the kid was as well. And how intelligent and perceptive too, leaving no room for paraphrasing on his plea to help.

“I know how you feel.” Nono Alfonso put his rough hands on these tiny shoulders. “I would do anything to safe your mom and Timmy right now – well, and your father, I guess.” His grandpa sighed, clearly tired of the situation as well. How were the kids supposed to handle this if the adults were equally overwhelmed? No matter what species, it was a simple fact. “But the best we can do now is to wait for our turn. And once we have our magic back … rules be damned, we’ll save our family and show these bastardi that messing with our family was a terrible mistake!” Poof sniffed as he buried his face in his grandfather’s suit, finally giving up his tantrum. The elder nodded to Jimmy, silently entrusting him to get them there safely.

Jorgen looked to the side, clearly having mixed feelings about this. Never had he thought about having kids (nor was he allowed to), he wouldn’t even make a good father, he was sure of that, but damn, he had grown attached to this chaotic family that revolved around Timmy Turner. Enough that he was ready to ignore Da Rules once to reunite them even after the court decided to separate them. Deep down, he had a soft spot for these puny menaces. And he would surely do his part when it came down to it.

“We can do this.” SpongeBob assured his genius friend once everyone was inside the pocket dimension except for them. “And I’m sure Timmy will be alright – he’s tough!”

“… I hope that’s true” Jimmy mumbled, although he wasn’t the kind of person to pray or beg a higher entity for luck or mercy. They needed all the guidance they could get. “But I wish he didn’t have to be.” Timmy had been strong for so long and Jimmy had to give it all to hold it together. If anything happened to his crush now … He didn’t even want to finish these thoughts, like how he never got to tell him about his true feelings and ask him out or anything. Maybe he should make that a goal, something to look forward to. Inviting him to drink milkshakes and watch some movies or … well, he would have to see. But imagining these scenarios was what at least deterred his mind spiral from going further down.

✧ « ★ » ✧

It was too dark to see anything as Timmy regained his consciousness. Everything hurt, his head pounding as if he’d been hit with a hammer.

Slowly regaining his senses, he noticed that he was lying on a cold surface, moist and stony – a dungeon perhaps? That would make sense with the medieval chains on his limbs. But then again, it was hard to form a coherent thought with his wrecked brain.

“Welcome back to the land of the living, partner.” A voice so much like his own but still different said, a cold shiver running down Timmy’s spine. It was him.

A weird pull in his chest confirmed as much. Although not as strong as it was in his dream or the first times they met. Perhaps because the distance wasn’t that great anymore or maybe because he wasn’t dreaming and his subconscious was more aware of the missing piece of his soul … Yet, after watching that videotape, he couldn’t help but feel dread as he was debating if he should just ignore the voice and go back to La-La-Land or face his problems. Well, it wasn’t like he was ever given a choice anyway. Not on this adventure.

“Come on, I think it’s only fair we finally get to introduce each other properly.” The first thing Timmy spotted was a cheshire grin, white fangs glistening in a dim blueish light. The second were the crimson glowing eyes piercing through the night. Or was it? He couldn’t tell how long he had been out and time seemed to flow differently in Fairy World, or the magic realms overall for that matter. They could spend a thousand years that would pass a day on earth, for all he knew. Time and space were irrelevant, their laws didn’t apply, merely focal points to not lose track. “There we go – rise and shine, brother!”

Timmy squinted his eyes, taking in the person that was supposed to be his shadow; his evil twin, his Anti … a monster from his nightmares. Nonetheless, what he saw wasn’t really what he had expected.

Behind (or rather in front) the bars of this cell stood a boy exactly his age. Tan skin, raven hair, red eyes and – where those tiny blue wings peeking out behind his shoulders? He didn’t appear to be hovering, so he wondered if they allowed him to fly. Even stranger was his appearance. He wore some kind of Victorian suit, mainly purple. It looked rather flashy for Anti-Fairy-World standards, where most things were usually a muted blue or plain black. And from his point of view, Anthony seemed a tad more frail and smaller, if only by a mere centimeter.

Timmy should be scared for his life or probably scream bloody murder at his double, but he only managed to look utterly speechless. In the back of his head was a distant memory of a shadowy substance that had no form. It was weak, barely able to exist without a corporal vessel. Like a gust of wind, fleeting and on the verge of dissolving. He remembered the feeling of emptiness, loneliness and even sorrow upon seeing what once belonged to him, torn apart from his being. Yet, it was still there. It became its own personality, solely sharing past memories and maybe a few facial features.

“Anthony?”, he finally asked, like he was recognizing an old friend passing on the street. The grin faltered a little, his twin’s face soured, maybe even turning grim. As if he expected more … emotion in this crucial moment.

“Yeah, who else?” His Anti asked, tilting its head to the side. “We don’t have the whole day for shit-chat, I was just here to remind you of our deal and plan the next phase.”

Timmy mirrored the gesture, still conflicted about his feelings. He pushed himself into a standing position with great effort, noticing how the chains bound him to the wall, giving him only little room, not nearly enough to walk to the bars - not that he wanted to get too close to his visitor.“How would that even work?”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. We’ll have a chance to get what we want.” Anthony leaned forward, arms behind his back. “All you need to do is what you were always good at – break Da Rules.”

Since Timmy knew it was Anti-Cosmo’s goal to overwrite reality and probably make the Anti-Fairies the dominant wish granting species, he had no intention of doing that. Still, the paranoia of his twin figuring that out kept him from dwelling too much on it. “How?” He decided to lean against the cold stony wall, his balance still thrown off by exhaustion and nausea. He didn't particularly want to sit either.

Anthony rolled his eyes as he took a step closer, the shadow beneath his feet moving suspiciously. “I sent you an invite, didn’t I?” He revealed the red ribbon clutched in one of his hands, which he pulled over his neck to tie it like some fancy old neckerchief for suits. “What do you think the Royal Duel is all about? A fun game? I mean, technically it is, but still.”

Not knowing where his twin was going with this, Timmy wrecked his brain for information. He remembered Jorgen’s story about the old fairies and –

As if Anthony had read his mind – which he probably could – he interrupted him. “King Oberon and Queen Titania used to send a champion, fighting in their name to settle their arguments. And whoever won … became justice.” He chuckled. “Now while the Royal Jewel might have a mind of its own, it has that name for a reason. Even that thing must listen to something, even if it's ancient rules.” Which would make sense. The hierarchie of magic was that they couldn’t cancel each other out unless there was something more powerful or a rule bound to them. The jewel had been used solely for that purpose … at least before it went haywire through human influence, if he remembered right. Damn, his head throbbed so much.

“But how would a duel make sense? You guys already have me, the jewel, Da Rules book AND artificial magic right here! What more do you want?” Timmy just didn’t understand anymore. And most of all, he was tired of fighting … It just felt like he was constantly participating in a losing battle. “You already won.”

His other half tilted its head, confused about the sudden lack of attitude and willpower. It was pathetic, sad even. “Now, now, don’t tell me you’ve already given up?” Anthony huffed but lacked the venom behind it. “It doesn’t have to end like this you know? We can still turn things around, without a fight if you do what I say.” He smacked the bars with his hand, which would’ve looked more Kabedon-like and intimidating if it weren’t for the distance between them. “And I mean exactly to a T– no questioning.”

Since they didn’t have much time, judging by the quick glance Anthony did over his shoulder to make sure they were still alone, his evil doppelganger leaned as close to the bars as possible. Timmy was still a good few feet away, not trusting his legs to refrain from buckling, so he couldn’t really reciprocate it, but he did shut his mouth to listen. Any knowledge was welcome and might give him an opportunity to ruin their plans and get out of here.

“There is still some time left since they need to prepare the ritual. They’ll need lots of my magic potions to amplify it, if they want to alter more than just our own universe.”

Now that did cause Timmy to lift his head a bit more. It wasn’t too late yet! He could still hope his friends would find a way here to stop this madness … although it didn’t make his situation any better, since all he could do was wait, which he rather didn’t. This was his own mess; he shouldn’t rely on others to clean it up. “What is the ritual about?”

“Oh, it’s ancient magic, like I mentioned. If you could call it that.” Anthony rolled his eyes, his ears twitching a little at the irony. “Usually, the only one who can change or bend Da Rules is the fairy council or the official rule enforcer – a Von Strangle, to be precise.” Timmy nodded, still confused as hell about this entire situation. But hey, at least he learned a thing or two during Jorgen’s more or less educational lessons to become a fairy warden. “Well, Jorgen would rather die than do that. And apparently some idiot lost his You-Do-Doll.” Anthony paused, making sure his partner in crime was still in the picture. “As long as Da Rules exist, everything can easily be undone. That’s why they’re preparing to get rid of it –This is where you come into play. Since the jewel is so attached to you, you’ll be the star of the show, dude.”

“They want me to destroy them.” Timmy realized, eyes widening. The last time he had almost done that was when he took advantage of Cosmo covering rule enforcer duties for Jorgen and that almost destroyed their universe … wait. “Our universe will fall apart if the book’s gone! Is that what they need the jewel for?!” This was smore than just altering reality, they wanted to rewrite everything.

“Precisely.” The raven haired boy started to pace in front of the cell. “Really, it’s almost funny. Not only have two artifacts survived the destruction when that book was made but it’s also these very items that will destroy it again. Some kind of poetic shit, isn’t it?” He looked at his gloved hands, claws twitching. “It’s only a short time window they have to destroy the book and unleash the jewel's power before everything collapses. Nothing can stop this – unless you make use of that one opportunity.”

All the input was giving Timmy a headache. “So … how exactly can I interfere?”

Anthony huffed, fishing something out of his pockets, it was an unnaturally glowing potion, not the toxic magenta tone like the other ones, but dual-colored. Like oil and water, the essence was unable to mix inside, a swirl of fuchsia and … green. The average teen could hear his own heartbeat pounding in his ears. This felt way too familiar. Not only that, but his entire body also seemed to quiver at the sight of it. “This is …”

Somehow he just knew it. This was Cosmo’s and Wanda’s essence.

“Relax, I only used a few strands of hair, no blood, sweat or other gross stuff.” Anthony looked to the side and Timmy could practically hear the ‘not this time’ in his mind. Whoa. “Remember when you made that magic lemonade back then? Because I did.” He gently swayed the vial from side to side, the magic sloshing around. That would explain how these potions worked and why everyone who drank them was able to wish for something. Even without the Big Wand, fairies were still made of magic so every drop of blood, every hair, all of it was magical as well.

It was no surprise Timmy didn’t share his twin’s enthusiasm about this. If that guy really wanted to team up and claimed to not work along with Vlad and the others, he wouldn’t hurt the fairies like that. Even if he said he only used hair, what about all the other thousands of fairies? How many were already used against their will? What if it was just like the Burger-Trap Calamitous used … although using their gas was less harmful it still grossed him out.

“So … what do you plan to do with this?” Timmy gritted his teeth, trying not to think too hard about how much he distrusted his shadow. If he really could read his mind or something like that, it wouldn’t end well for him. Who was to say his shadow didn’t lie to him? What if he had tortured Cosmo and Wanda?

Anthony’s gaze roamed over to the crown that barely hovering above Timmy's head, its glow faded to a mere flicker. Perhaps the chains he was bound to were magic or coated with something that blocked out the influence of his charm, he couldn't tell. “We agreed to work together, right? The only way you can keep Cosmo and Wanda, your memories, your friends and everything else is only achievable if you break Da Rules.” He positioned the vial on the ground, kicking it towards his twin. “So, if you want to overwrite the law and make sure Vlad doesn’t get what he wants, the only option is to make a wish.” Anthony crossed his arms. “Not even you can mess this up since no one will perceive you as a threat all by yourself.”

“But what do I wish for?” Timmy retorted, not ready to admit a part of him was really intrigued and willing to listen for another loophole out of this mess. His eyes were glued to the vial in front of his shoes, not daring to pick it up. “For everyone to be free?”

“No idiot, that wouldn’t solve the root of the issue.” Anthony leaned against the bars. Seeing him from the side profile was even weirder, being only used to his Anti staring directly at him all the time. “We can get out of this without a fight, if you do what I say. All you need to do is wait until the book is gone and then pour that potion over the jewel before they can take it. Since it got attached to you for some reason, it will unlock its true powers for you.” He grinned again, eyes fixed on the crown. “Now, I’ve thought a lot about this, and I think the best option is to wish for us to become the dominant magical species. That way, neither the council or anyone else can take anything away from you ever again.”

“But … I’m not magical.” Well, only half of him was apparently. But Timmy felt awful just imagining himself to wish for that. It wouldn’t hurt anyone, but it was just so incredibly selfish –

“Oh, please, I know you guys already figured this whole separating from your shadow thing out. And if there was ever a time to be selfish it’s now, don’t you think?” Anthony snapped his fingers, the shadow underneath his feet moving like a snake towards Timmy, only to stop right in front of him to pick the vial up and put it in Timmy’ pocket - like a dirty little secret it even patted his trousers before retracting.

Feeling the black creature graze his skin was really uncomfortable. “I don’t think they’ll give me much freedom to even do anything.” Heck he didn’t even know how this weird ritual was supposed to work. Would he just sit somewhere because the crown was stuck to him? Did it have something to do with the jewel somehow phasing through his body after he touched it the first time? Would theey exorcise him or what?!

“Well, they’re still preparing everything upstairs; Vlad will most likely make Tiberius use his mind control powers on you. I will take care of that by causing a distraction.” He wiggled his fingers, tendrils of the shadow beneath his feet phasing through the gaps before disappearing again. “Until then, all you have to do is stay put and wait for my signal.”

The small weight of that potion felt like a giant burden, as if it was trying to burn a hole in his pants. Timmy couldn’t believe all this. He wasn’t okay with any of it, but it wasn’t like he was given much of a choice. And in his position, not even his heat vision would help him escape this.

But there was still one thing he couldn’t comprehend above all.

“Why would you want to dominate the magic realms? Without the book or any rules, everything will be thrown into chaos and there won’t be any fairy godparents anymore. Unless you want to take on the job.” He raised a brow, surprised with himself where he got that attitude from. Probably due to his exaustion, that usually made him too reckless.

Anthony had already turned to leave, his pointed ear twitching upon being addressed. “Oh, there won’t be any more fairy godparents or rules – aside from the ones we make ourselves.” Even in the dark Timmy could see the wicked grin as he peeked over his shoulder. “Technically, we would be the new royal siblings, like Oberon and Titania.” He quickly spun around, a wild spark shimmering in these crimson eyes. “Doesn’t that sound great?!”

“No, this is madness! Why would I want that?” It was risky to speak up against his evil twin, but Timmy just couldn’t keep his emotions in check. He figured if this was the goal Anthony had all along, he wouldn’t just change his mind about helping Timmy. He still needed him, even if only as a tool. “I don’t want to dictate –“

“Ababab!” Anthony lifted his finger as if he wanted to shush him. It still worked somehow, mostly because Timmy was too tired to argue so he let his other half do the talking. “Think about it, brother. You’d be a king, ruling over your own people. It’s the ultimate solution to all your problems!” Widening his arms in an inviting manner, the shadow laughed. “I mean, you wouldn’t have to worry about losing your memories or never seeing Cosmo and Wanda again! You would never have to go back to your old, lame and sad life as an average bullied neglected teen.” He gripped the bars of the cage, squeezing them. “I never said you had to be cruel. I’ll just take over the Anti-Fairy world and you can do whatever you want with the fairies - even continuing that godparent-business if you think so highly of it. And the other worlds like Pixie- and Scary-World and so on – we can split them. Or make our own contract instead of rules. Whatever we want!”

“I …” Timmy wanted to keep refusing, tell him this was a stupid idea and he just wanted power like Vlad and the others. There was no guarantee Anthony would try to overthrow him like Titania did with her own brother back then. But right now, he had no idea what to clue how he could get out of this situation. And in a way, this was all he ever wanted and would truly solve all his problems.

“If there is no place in this world where we belong, we can just create our own.”, Anthony spoke up again. But this time quieter as his gaze seemed to go right through Timmy, not even seeing him anymore. “We could live as our own person, no one would tell us what to do; no more chackles pulling us down! I have all your memories, Timmy." His gaze focused on him again. "I know how much you were hurt in the past … and I know how scared you are of your future. You always envied Cosmo and Wanda for their carefree and immortal life. How easy everything is if you have magic … This is your chance, Timmy.”

For a long moment, they just stared at each other, Timmy at a loss for words, Anthony not having any more to give. For all the mental conversations they had the past few days, there definiteley wasn't one going on now. However, Timmy wasn't even given the chance to voice his thoughts as noises from outside the dungeon caused them both to flinch. There was no more time left.

“I hope you’ll make the right choice.” Was the last warning Anthony gave him as he took several steps back and left him alone. The heavy door opened and no one else but Foop hovered around his evil twin, complaining about his absence and leaving him to do all the prep-work. Timmy, however, didn’t catch most of the conversation, too wrapped up in his own thoughts, finally processing everything as he fell down on his knees.