Chapter 8 - Plan of Attack

8


Morning brought a lot of activity once Wanda passed on Cosmo's strange hint. Timmy picked up the phone and dialed quickly as the fairies ate breakfast. It sounded so obvious; if Caleb had a bird's-eye view of the world from equipment set up on Derris-Kharlan, then wouldn't some of that equipment be measuring magical output from the world? Just to be sure that the levels of magic on Earth was sufficient enough to let the mages and summoners and other magic-using people do their thing without fizzling out?

"Good morning, Caleb!" Timmy greeted cheerfully, then took on a puzzled expression, "Huh? My business? What? Pre-programmed response?" He frowned as the chatter on the other end went on irately. "Okay, sorry! Sheesh! You could have told me earlier! Next time I won't say 'good morning'!" he griped, "Listen, I have a favor I need to ask of you." Timmy held up his arm, looking over the virtual map as he went on, "Do you have any aerial scans of Dimmsdale? You do? Of all cities of interest? I just want my town's... look, do you have any magic strength scans of the city?" He made a face. "Magic strength; you know, that graph you showed me the first time we figured out the barrier was up? You only scan for that every six months? Well, I need to see all the ones you have dating back over four years." Timmy rattled off, peering into a wall-mounted mirror to check his appearance.

"My milk turned pink! Look! Look! It matches!" Cosmo's voice cheered from within the kitchen.

"Stop pouring your cereal on me, you idiot!" Wanda yelled back in annoyance. The teen grinned, half-listening to the fairies' conversation.

"Why do I want them? Something came to my attention last night and I want to know more about it. Also, can you get Cousin Danny to meet me at your place? I need to talk to him about some stuff. Thanks. See ya in a while!" he finished and hung up. Finally! Things were starting to go his way! He might have spent his first two months as Dimmsdale's hero complete screwing up, but now there was a chance that he could make up for lost time. "Okay, guys! We're going to New York!" he declared, poking his head into the kitchen and shaking it at the sight of the puddles of pink milk, strewn cereal, and the two messy fairies standing on the tabletop. Wanda scowled as she poofed herself clean again.

"Aww! New York cheesecake goes straight to my thighs!" Cosmo complained as his wife waved her wand a second time to get him cleaned, "It's so hard to keep a girlish figure up there!" Timmy sighed and shook his head again, unable to keep a smile off his face. He needed the cheering up; he had yet to mention to the android that he'd lost his staff. It was just a simple wooden pole that he was given when he first began magic training, but it was also a symbol of his moving on from his old life and accepting his new one. The destruction of it hurt.

"Ready to go?" he asked and the couple flew up to sit on his shoulders, Wanda perched demurely and Cosmo occasionally kicking his feet as he whistled nonsensically. "Okay, here goes!" he exclaimed and stepped onto the teleporter disk set under the stairs.

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

Timmy emerged in the vast halls and rooms of the Archives of the Twin Blades, a museum dedicated to ancient and modern heroes and histories, as well as being the secret home and base for Caleb. He looked around in confusion; where exactly was the android? Weren't they to meet in the teleporter room?

"Hey, Timmy!" The boy looked up in time to see his cousin fly down from the ceiling, "I came as soon as I got the call. What's up?" Danny Phantom hovered before the young immortal, a carefree grin on his face.

"Hi, Cousin. Where's the old robot?" Timmy asked jokingly. The halfa shrugged, circling the younger teen out of boredom.

"Eh, some of the other androids here said he went out to get some stuff. The maps you want are in the library. We can talk there." he replied and held out a hand, "Grab on. I'll fly us there." With all four of them airborne, it was a snap to find the library, especially since ghost powers allowed Danny and Timmy to phase through walls and the fairies just poofed along to follow their godchild's trail.

Once in the room, Timmy raced to the maps on the nearby table, eager to get started. Cosmo and Wanda stood on the tabletop, examining the printouts themselves as they hopped from sheet to sheet as only fairies could, wings a blur as they barely touched the tips of their shoes to the papers. Timmy picked up one of the sheets, studying it carefully.

"These were all taken over the course of four years, right?" he asked Danny. The half-ghost nodded, sitting in a lotus position and hovering just above the table as he looked over the fairy couple with some curiosity.

"Yeah, but why the interest in them? All they do is show the decline in magic in Dimmsdale, which we already know has been pretty steady and even kind of accelerating." he pointed out and lifted an eyebrow, "And you haven't told me why you wanted to talk to me." Timmy lifted a hand to quiet the halfa as he studied the maps. "Okay. Whatever, man." Danny sighed and resumed his study of the fairies. Cosmo hopped about erratically for a bit, then flew away from the table for a higher view, arms folded over his chest and a slight frown on his face. Wanda tiptoed between the sheets, hands behind her back as she looked them all over with an intense glare. "Do they always do that?" the halfa asked his cousin.

"What?" Timmy muttered, comparing two of the sheets from the years between his death and his return to the city.

"This zipping around thing. They can't seem to sit still." Danny elaborated, watching with some irritation as Cosmo waved his wand and changed his appearance to resemble the halfa, "Stop that."

"Look at me! First I'm a fairy! Now I'm a ghost!" Cosmo laughed, then poofed into a butterfly, "Now I'm a bug! Wheeee!" He gave Danny a smug look, "Can youuuu transform into anything?"

"I can turn into a human."

"Oooh!" Cosmo cheered and immediately poofed into a human form, "Now I'm a human! This is fun!" He crashed to the floor moments later as his lack of wings made him subject to gravity. "I'm okay!"

"They're fairies. Comes with the territory." Timmy finally replied and pulled up several more sheets for comparison. The minutes stretched on in silence and eventually Danny agreed to a game of tic-tac-toe with Cosmo to relieve them both of some boredom. Halfway through the game, Timmy let out a triumphant cry. "Got it!" he crowed and pumped one fist into the air, "Hah! I knew it!" Danny drew out a circle in the air with ectoplasmic light to end his turn, then gave his cousin a puzzled look. Timmy laid out a few of the maps and had the group huddle around to see them.

"Look. As the years went by, sections of the city began to lose touch with magic." he began, pointing at the colored parts of each sheet, "But here's something we overlooked. This section right here." He pointed at the upper-class neighborhood. "Despite the flood of anti-magic devices, this part of Dimmsdale still had magic. See?" They peered at the portion of city he called attention to and looked for the same area in each map. Over the course of the four years, colored sections of the scan shrank as magic was drained away, yet the section of color for the upper-class neighborhood remained unchanged, as though under its own protective shield against the anti-magic barrier.

"He's right! That sector was untouched the whole time!" Wanda exclaimed and fluttered over the group of maps, "Only the richest of Dimmsdale's population got to keep their magic!" Timmy nodded, an angry look on his face.

"And guess who among them would do anything to make sure he didn't lose access to magic? Namely, fairy magic?" he growled.

"Mr. Nay-Nay!" Cosmo shouted with a huge smile.

"Remy Buxaplenty!" Wanda corrected, then repeated the name in shock as she realized what that meant. Danny lifted his hand.

"Okay. You lost me." he remarked flatly and Cosmo waved his own arm wildly.

"Me too! Me too!" he wailed, "Someone find me! I don't wanna be lost forever!" He suddenly broke into a smile, flying in to press his cheek against Wanda's own, "Unless I'm lost with Wandaaaa! Then, find me some other time!" The pink-haired fairy blushed and pressed a kiss to his cheek as Timmy rolled his eyes.

"Right. Well, when I was alive as a kid in the eyes of the world, Remy Buxaplenty was one of several rivals and enemies I had made." he explained to his cousin, "He had a fairy godparent, too, and from the looks of these maps, he still does. Remy's goal in life was to make me lose Wanda and Cosmo just because he couldn't stand the idea that I had fairy godparents."

"What a jerk." Danny muttered, "Well, you revealed his secret, right? Doesn't that mean he'll lose his fairy?" Timmy shook his head, setting the sheets back down, then folding his arms over his chest.

"Fairy World decided sometime after we each discovered the other's secrets that your status as a half-ghost made you exempt from Da Rules, so it would be safe to consider you an ally when necessary and fairies wouldn't need to worry if you see them." he told the older teen, "They lumped you with Caleb in that category of 'Not Really Magical, But Not Really Human Either', so you're cool with them as long as they feel you're still on the good side."

"Gee, I feel so honored. Not really human, am I?" Danny grumbled. The young immortal snickered and twirled his finger in the air.

"Well, you fly around and use cool ghost powers, plus you're border patrol for the Veil Between Life And Death. Normal humans can't do that." he pointed out and gestured towards the maps, "But that's not the issue here. Crocker is the one setting up the anti-magic field and all the fairy capture traps in Dimmsdale, yet Remy is safe within the sector of the city that doesn't seem to have Crocker's gizmos." Wanda and Cosmo both touched down on the table and looked over the maps again. "Guys, doesn't that seem wrong to you?" the teen pressed on.

"You don't suppose the two are connected somehow? Remy doesn't have a reasonable excuse to stop Crocker's barrier, not without Crocker suspecting him of having a fairy godparent to protect." Wanda pointed out and walked around the color-coded section of map, tracing the border with her steps, "And if Crocker thought Remy had a fairy, then the anti-magic net would be strongest in his area. Instead, it's nonexistent!"

"If he's rich, he doesn't need an excuse. Just a checkbook." Danny growled, green eyes suddenly blazing with a furious light. Cosmo yelped and shot towards Timmy, who barely had time to open his arms and embrace the little fairy. The boy lifted an eyebrow thoughtfully, cradling his trembling godparent.

"You mean, a bribe?" he asked and the halfa nodded, "That's definitely in Remy's style. I bet he's still under the impression that money can grant him wishes a fairy can't." He paused, a sudden chill running up his back as soon as those words left his mouth. A confused expression came over him; why did that happen? He moved his hand and tapped at the keys on his armband, bringing up the virtual map and shoving the strange feeling out of his mind. Now was not the time to get psyched out for no reason. "Um, that could also explain how Crocker's toys got so much better and more lethal. Sheesh! Look at this! Only twelve hours and already he's trying to muscle in on the industrial sector again!" he griped and shook his head as Cosmo yawned and dozed off, having forgotten his earlier fear already. A knock against wood caught the group's attention and they looked over to the library doors. The red-haired android stood in the doorway with a slightly puzzled look, dressed in his standard servant's uniform of green clothes, the jacket he usually wore with it missing from the ensemble.

"Sorry. Am I interrupting something?" Caleb asked cautiously, looking between the two 'humans' as he waited for an answer.

"Nope. Matter of fact, you might be able to help me, too." Timmy remarked brightly and looked up at Danny, "Now I can tell you why I asked for you." The redhead joined them at the table, adjusting the open-ended sleeves that decorated his arms as he waited. "Oh, yeah...." the boy added sheepishly, "Um, you know that staff you gave me? It kinda got burned up in a fight yesterday against some of the new trap models I told you about last week." Caleb repeated the puzzled look.

"You can't wish it back?" he asked and the boy shook his head.

"It got left in a public area and the pieces were moved into one of the sectors under the anti-magic field. We tried a wish and the net killed the magic." he replied.

"Sorry to hear about it. I'll get you a new one." the android remarked and pulled out a cell phone, pressing a series of keys and speaking into it, "Phantom? Could you fetch me the staff I had stored in Timmy's locker? Thanks." He looked up at the fairy couple, eyebrow raised. "You guys still have those battle wands I made for you, right?" he asked dryly, "Or did those get lost too?"

"We still have them, thank you very much!" Wanda shot back haughtily and gave her husband a glare, "Though Cosmo keeps using the Windcutter Scythe to slice bread!"

"It's pre-sliced, isn't it?"

"Try telling that to the green-haired moron here."

"Never mind." Caleb sighed and looked down at the young immortal. "So what did you call us for?"

"Right. Here's what I had in mind." Timmy began and pointed at the virtual map, "I've spent two months working on those traps in the industrial sectors of Dimmsdale. In that same time frame, Crocker's little gizmos have started to move back into the area Cousin Danny cleaned up." Both halfa and android studied the map grimly. Timmy sighed softly. "I'm not strong enough yet to take out the traps and nullifiers as fast as you, Danny, so I'm asking if you can do another sweep from here to downtown Dimmsdale." he went on, tracing a red line from the edge of the neighborhood being overtaken by gray towards a large patch of black, passing through a half dozen anti-magic sections of the city.

"Ouch. That's a lot of acreage." Danny Phantom muttered with a wince, setting his feet back onto the floor in all seriousness. He folded his arms over his chest and blew a short burst of air to get his hair out of his eyes. "It's a solo run, right? Sam and Tucker weren't exactly thrilled about the first sweep we did. If I leave them out of it, I might be able to clear it in one night." He shut one eye in concentration, "Cutting out the time to carry them from area to area, the need to keep watch on them if things go awry, and the fact that small breaks are needed to let them rest... yeah, I can pull it off."

"Caleb, I'll need you to finish the industrial sector for me. Move along this path to meet with Danny...," Timmy continued, tracing another line from the gray tinted section of the map, across another half dozen patches of gray, and connecting with Danny's goal point, "...here. The two of you together should be able to clear whatever is causing that black patch."

"Sounds good. I'll have to rely on physical attacks and my wings to get around, but I think I can handle it. More so if I take along my Lens weapons." Caleb remarked with a smile, "So, what will you be doing, Timothy?"

"Cosmo, Wanda and I will be checking out the upper-class district to see what exactly is going on there." Timmy answered, "Some kind of deal must be on the table between Remy and Crocker. If we can force it to fall through, we may be able to deal a heavy blow to Crocker's anti-magic and fairy trap supply lines. No money, no upgrades." Danny grinned at him.

"I like the sound of that! Hit 'em where it hurts, Timmy!" he laughed. The younger teen nodded.

"It's open to magic, so we can pull out all the stops if anything decides to surprise us. Since all of Fairy World decided that my continued life is a violation of Da Rules, all effects of fairy magic that could be made to me were halted, except for magic that comes from Cosmo and Wanda." he pointed out, "Basically, they made me immune to fairy magic as a way of showing that I don't exist to them. It's actually going to come in handy, as Remy's wishes won't be able to touch me because of that new rule." He frowned and lowered his head in thought. "Is that what Jorgen was after the whole time?" he murmured and blinked as a younger version of Danny Phantom suddenly flew into the room through the ceiling, clutching a staff in his hands.

"Phantom! How ya doing, kid?!" Danny greeted with a laugh, "Still getting a kick out of that insubstantial technology?" The second 'ghost' floated down to them and smiled broadly, handing the strange staff to his creator.

"I'm doing okay. Just got off my shift for patrol so I'm gonna hang out with Daniel at Rockefeller." the robot copy replied and looked up at Caleb, "Is that okay? I kinda promised my twin I'd help him get the hang of flying...." The android took the staff and nodded. "Great! I'll go change uniforms. See ya!" He sped through the wall, cheering happily.

"Did he get more hyper since I last saw him, or is that a botched upgrade?" Danny asked the redhead.

"Column A, column B. Keeping those two androids in good condition is kinda tough; they keep getting beat up in women's bathrooms for using that technology to steal panties." Caleb muttered and held out the staff to Timmy, "Here you are. I think this should be an improvement over the original." Timmy accepted the new staff, setting Cosmo back into the air where he continued floating and dozing, then stared in shock at the wicked metal hook rimmed with spikes that formed the head of the staff. The wood was thicker and sturdier; the whole staff seemed more weighty and intimidating.

"It's kinda heavy. What is it?" he asked, eyeing the hook warily, "And is that part legal in this country?"

"Battle Staff, and it is in thirty states. Last time I checked, at least." Caleb replied with a grin, "You might wanna train with it some to get used to it. This staff should help you in physical combat a lot more than the old one." Timmy gave it a tentative swing, nearly falling over as the stronger staff pulled his weight more forcefully than he was used to with the lighter pole.

"Y-yeah! I'll do that!" he stammered and laughed sheepishly, "Definitely training with this one." He set the staff down and raised his arm again to display the virtual map. "We're moving in on the plan tonight. Once I finish my end at the upper-class sector with Cosmo and Wanda, we'll meet up with you in the commercial district. Something's up with those black patches and I gotta find out what it is!" he declared and glared at the points on the map. Eight sections of the city were completely blackened, spaced evenly across Dimmsdale in a formation of some kind. Timmy didn't like it one bit. There had to be some kind of connection between Crocker, Remy and the black patches. If he didn't get Dimmsdale freed soon, who knew what more could come? For all Timmy knew, his hometown could just be a first step towards a world-wide lockdown against magic!

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