Chapter 10 - Revelations

10


As much as running for her life with a mysterious boy hero holding her hand was both exciting and romantic, Tootie wished silently that they could find a safe place to hide and rest. Her legs were aching and the boy wasn't sounding too good himself. Romi fluttered around them like a moth, nervous and pale. Tootie wondered why her fairy was so jumpy now. She'd always been calm and level-headed, a polite but cheerful fairy. It was Romi who helped her ease out of her shell after Timmy died and, with a little magic makeover, showed her she could be pretty on her own. Though she didn't really approve of the Gothic streak Tootie picked up on, she still remained supportive and was the strong, caring friend the girl could depend on to help her through tough times.

Now here she was, so stressed over something that her fluffy black and silver pigtails had exploded into puffs of frizz. Tootie could only hope that they could work out whatever it was that could be causing the stress.

They were slowing down. The little Goth took on a worried expression as the boy came to a stop and pressed a hand against his side, breathing hard. She looked back in the direction they had come, but the faint forms of the golden ninjas seemed safely far away. Romi whimpered loudly and she turned back to the boy.

"Are you okay?" Tootie asked and winced as he shot her an exasperated look, "Sorry. Standard question. Can I help?"

"Know how to suture?" the boy asked with a weak smile. Tootie shook her head. "Then I'll just have to deal with it." He touched fingers to the green earrings. "Danny, how are things...?"

Danny? As in Danny Phantom, the one who brought this boy back from the dead? Well, it made sense, kinda, that a ghost and a dead boy would be friends.

"Danny! I can't... what?" the boy exclaimed and looked up at the sky, directing his gaze at some strange green fireworks going off several blocks away. Tootie watched with him, puzzled. Were the bursts of green light important? "It's a- what? Danny, you're breaking up! Caleb, what's happening over there?!"

There was a strange smell. Tootie sniffed around, frowning. Instinct told her it was the smell of blood, but where would...?

A trail of deep red dotted the path they took. She followed it with her eyes, pushing her glasses higher onto her nose and letting them slip down as she tried to figure out where the blood-trail was coming from.

"Danny, Caleb, get out of there! Forget the mission!" the boy ordered and cried in pain, dropping to his knees with a gasp. "I'm okay!" he hissed through his teeth, "Just get out of there! Please!" His hand fell away from the earring and braced against the concrete, supporting him as he uttered a second gasp.

"You're bleeding! You're hurt!" Tootie cried once she discovered the source of the trail was seeping through the boy's fingers as his hand remained pressed against his side. Romi flailed in the air, panicked.

"The robots are getting closer!" she screamed, "We're doomed!"

"Not you... just me.... They were ordered to come after me...." the boy murmured weakly, "Danny! Pull out! No, don't bother with Ghostly Wail! Forget it and converge on my position!" He fell silent save for the shallow gasps of air he tried to gulp down before he choked and coughed.

"C'mon! Let's get you to a hospital!" Tootie urged, "You could bleed to death!" The boy looked up at her with a faint grin.

"Tootie, I've been 'bleeding to death' since we left Remy's mansion. Any normal kid would have dropped after a block or two." he told her softly and shifted his weight to free his hand. He removed the watch and iPod, placing them both in her hands. Tootie winced at that gesture of trust; he was giving her his fairies! "I already died, so I'll be okay. Cosmo, Wanda, keep Tootie safe for me."

"What about you, Sport?" Wanda asked, her face taking the place of the digital screen. Her pink eyes were filled with worry and fear, "We're in an anti-magic zone! You can't use magic to heal yourself!" Tootie strapped on the watch and looped the iPod around her neck. She paused, then looked at the boy in confusion as a sudden thought came to mind.

"Hey, I don't think we ever got introduced. How do you know my name?" she asked him. The boy shook his head.

"Doesn't matter. Get out of here." he whispered and lifted his right arm, bloodied fist clenched tightly as he pushed his sleeve aside and tapped at a few keys on a white armband he wore. A map bloomed into the air and Tootie looked at it in awe. "Areas in gold are safe zones. You can use magic there. The closest point is south of here. Take Willow Street down another block. Wanda, Cosmo, when you get there, grant this wish for me." The clanging footsteps of the robot ninjas was getting louder. "Take Tootie home."

The young Goth looked around fearfully. There was a light of some kind coming from where they had seen the green fireworks, red and twinkling like a star. She turned her gaze towards the approaching horde of robots and shuddered. What was going to happen to the mystery boy if he was left here alone?

"I don't want to go!" Tootie whimpered and tried to pick the boy up by the arm, "We'll go to a safe zone together! Come on! Get up!"

"Get out of here!" the boy yelled at her, yanking his arm away, "If you don't leave, you'll die!"

"But what about you?!" Tootie cried and jumped back as he shoved her away.

"Never mind me! Look at your fairy!" he ordered and she turned her eyes to Romi, "The longer you stay here, the weaker she gets! If you don't escape, you'll die and so will she!" Andromeda did seem ill, standing on the sidewalk and practically wilting before her very eyes, wings drooping as her hair seemed flat and dull, her eyes dark and nearly vacant.

"But...!"

"Ugh! Look, if you leave now, I'll do one favor for you later!" the boy growled, "Anything you want; just get out of here!"

Tootie bit her lip and took another look around the area. The red light was getting closer and so were the robots. If the robots showed up before the mystery boy's friends did....

"Okay, but you have to be careful and not get killed!" Tootie finally told him fiercely and blinked as he laughed dryly at her words.

"I wish someone could have told me that four years ago. Would have spared me from all this." he murmured.

"Sorry. Can't grant that wish." Wanda seemed to say automatically. Tootie looked down at the pink watch in surprise. There were wishes a boy who was exempt from Da Rules couldn't have granted?

"All right. I'm going." she mumbled and quickly used up the last of her fading courage to press a kiss to the boy's cheek. He stared at her in shock, mouth open in surprise as she stepped back from him and scooped up her fairy. "For luck. See you later!" she told him and raced away, heart pounding. She hoped she would see him later; he could be the only hope Dimmsdale had for recovering its magic!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

More running. Tootie held Romi in her arms as she raced down the street. Odd, how Dimmsdale's streets seemed eerily vacant the whole time they were being chased by the robots; almost as if the city's people no longer cared to emerge from their homes at night. What was the point, now that the Heart was gone and there was nothing to bring life and excitement to their world?

Tootie didn't know how long she'd been running, but she was getting exhausted. She stumbled, slowed and finally came to a stop, slumping against a storefront as Romi pulled free and shook herself off. Now free of the oppressive force of the anti-magic field, she began regaining color and vigor, wings beating rapidly as she hovered in the air.

"I'm feeling better now. Are you going to be all right, Tootie?" Romi asked her godchild worriedly. The young Goth nodded.

"Yeah, though I wish I knew if the mystery boy was okay." she sighed absently and gasped as Romi flicked her wand up to grant the wish.

"No! Don't!" Wanda cried but it was too late. A shimmer appeared in the air, creating a magical window of events. Tootie peered through and cried out in horror, eyes going wide and hand flying up to her mouth.

The ground was littered with broken gold and robot parts, but several robots were leaving the area in obvious victory. Amid the mess were three figures lying almost lifeless on the ground; a redhead in a tattered green suit lay face down on the asphalt, beautiful red wings of light spread from its back and lying limp; the boy in black and white, Danny Phantom, lay on one side, badly beaten and covered in cuts and burns and a strange green liquid that must be a ghost's version of blood; and the mystery boy was among them in a pool of dark red, gasping for air as he lay half-curled in pain.

"They're hurt!" Tootie exclaimed, instinctively reaching for the window to try to scoop up the boy and hold him close.

"And we have to grant that wish!" Cosmo declared as both watch and iPod poofed back into fairies. The couple lifted their wands, waving them in unison. With another blast of magic, the group vanished from the dark, empty street and reappeared inside a cozy little house. Tootie looked around in surprise, Romi floating beside her.

"Stay here, Tootie! Don't go anywhere; we'll be right back!" Wanda told the girl and poofed out with Cosmo. She only blinked at the now empty space, then took another look around as Andromeda fluttered to the couch for a bit of rest. This wasn't her house. Didn't the boy tell his fairies to take her home? She mentioned it to her fairy godmother.

"I think... this is that boy's house." Romi answered hesitantly, twirling her wand in her grip as she swallowed nervously. Tootie lit up with happiness and curiosity.

"Really?! Wow! So he lives here? By himself?" she remarked and immediately headed for the stairs, "Awesome! That would be so cool, if it was just you and me in our own house! Don't you think, Romi?" The fairy flew up after her.

"I don't know. Wouldn't you miss your family after a while?" she mumbled and squeaked as Tootie grinned at her, standing at the top of the stairs. "We should go back downstairs. Whuh-why are you smiling?" Romi managed to stammer out.

"Two doors." Tootie replied and pointed at a door with the initials 'C' and 'W' engraved on the wood, "That one belongs to his fairies." Romi blinked at it in sudden awe.

"Wow. The stories were true; he did change how he treated them!" she whispered, "They have their own room!" Tootie tilted her head in confusion, calling her name questioningly. Romi jumped and looked at her sheepishly, rubbing her head. "Oh, nothing! Just thinking about something!" she stammered, "Why don't we wait downstairs for Cosmo and Wanda, like they asked?" Tootie began to open the second door.

"I just want to find out some more about the mystery boy. This room must be his." she chuckled, "I wonder what it's like...." Romi sighed in resignation as they passed through the doorway.

It was clean and somewhat neat, with games, toys and comics piled along one wall. The bed was made and an empty fishbowl rested on the bedside table along with a clock-radio. Crimson Chin and Crash Nebula posters decorated the walls. Tootie stepped carefully through, looking around in confusion.

"I don't understand. This is like a little kid's room." she murmured, "He's a couple of years older than me, right? This place is set up for someone way younger." She looked to her fairy godmother for an explanation.

"Oh, how sad." Romi mumbled softly, hand lifting to rub away tears, "Poor boy." Tootie didn't quite understand, pushing her glasses up and letting them slide down again. It dawned on her as they resettled on her nose. Didn't that boy say he wished someone had told him not to get killed four years ago? That meant that he must have died when he was just a little kid!

Just like Timmy....

Tootie walked towards a dresser that held a few framed photos, tears welling up in her eyes. What kind of world was this, to let such innocent lives be lost and let the bad guys get what they want? She picked up a photograph and touched her fingertips to the glass. The mystery boy stood proudly with his fairies, wearing black clothes that showed off the silver jewelry and holding a slender wooden pole in his hands.

"How can you be so happy when you're considered dead to the world?" Tootie asked the picture and set it down. Her gaze fell on another photo for just a moment, but it was enough to make her freeze in place. Her eyes went wide with shock and disbelief. "It can't be!" she whispered and grabbed the photo.

It was definitely Timmy Turner, she'd recognize that pink hat and buck-toothed smile anywhere. But, he was a little older than when he died, and the smile seemed a little sadder. The boy was standing on a grassy field with the red-haired angel she saw in the magic window. The angel, a very pretty-looking man, was reading from an old book, and Timmy was holding his hands out in a familiar way.

Tootie was thoroughly confused. How could this be? Timmy died when he was ten, yet here was a picture of him at about her age, twelve years old. She blinked, then picked up the first photo, looking at them side by side. The hair was the same, the buck teeth weren't showing but they had to be there, and those beautiful blue eyes were the same. Tootie gasped, dropping the photos. The way the twelve-year-old Timmy held out his hands, it was the same way the mystery boy held out his staff to cast his magic!

"Eeks!" Romi squeaked in surprise, "Tootie! You broke his pictures!"

"Romi! It's Timmy!" Tootie cried, tears running down her face, "It's Timmy!" She fled the room, mind spinning with the idea of it, the sudden, heart-wrenching revelation. How could she not have seen it sooner? Because she wasn't supposed to know? Was that why Romi couldn't grant her wishes, couldn't talk about him?

She heard Romi call her name as she ran downstairs but she couldn't stop. Why? Why?! Why did he continue letting the world think he was dead if he'd been brought back to life? Why didn't he say anything? Why did he let the city fall apart like this? Why?!


Tootie halted at the bottom of the staircase, taking in the sight of the group that had just come through the door. The mystery boy... no, Timmy Turner closed the door and locked it, then turned and sagged against it, an exhausted look on his face. The red-haired angel leaned back against a wall, wings gone and one arm cradled in the other. Danny Phantom lay on the sofa, limp but breathing softly, probably unconscious. Could ghosts breathe? Cosmo and Wanda floated near Timmy, equally as tired as their godchild. They spotted her first and paled. Tootie swallowed the lump in her throat as she stared at the battered form of her childhood crush.

"Timmy?" she called out hesitantly, almost afraid that just saying his name would make him vanish again, like he had in her vision and in every single one of her dreams since his death. The boy in black clothes lifted his head to look at her, puzzled at first, then horrified.

"Tootie? How did...?" he began and shot a glance towards the stairs, "Oh crud!"

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