The Time-Freeze (AJ Fanfiction)

  So, this is a story I started writing a long time ago for The Daily Explorer, AJ's official blog.  It was really popular back then to write AJ fanfiction stories and post them in the comments there XD  I never finished the story, and while I've come back to it several times to write a little more of it, I haven't really gotten far in the story.

  I've wanted to post it here before, but since I have a habit of not finishing stories, I never did.  But I decided, 'This year will be different.  This year I will finish this fanfiction.'  And what better way to inspire me to write than tons of blog readers telling me to?  So here's my Animal Jam fanfiction story, The Time-Freeze, inspired by a story by my AJ friend, Margaret0005 =D


Chapter One

  Fuzzy Bravegem checked her map one last time.  Her eyes sparkled with excitement.  "The location of the legendary Phantom Temple should be somewhere near here!" she said in hushed enthusiasm.  She eagerly searched the horizon for something resembling an ancient temple, but all she could see was the vast, swampy forest, along with a few mosquitos.  One buzzed near her ear, and she pawed at it in an attempt to swipe it away.  It evaded her paw, buzzing out of reach.  Fuzzy huffed in annoyance, then continued to scan the forest around her.  The mosquito buzzed back, and Fuzzy turned to face the insect, growing quite irritated.  She swatted at it again.  The mosquito flew around her head, and Fuzzy continued attempting to swat it.  She chased the mosquito through the trees, running around in a crazed dance, paws flailing, as she tried to swipe at it.  She greatly regretted not bringing bug spray.

  But suddenly, Fuzzy tripped over a rock!  "Oomph!" she exclaimed.   She stood up and shook the dirt off of her fur, then looked at the rock that had tripped her.  It was absolutely humongous!  Fuzzy examined it a bit closer, and then she gasped.  The rock was in the shape of... a PHANTOM!  There were more phantom-shaped rocks laying all around her.  That mosquito had just aided her in the most amazing discovery of the century- she, Fuzzy Bravegem, had found the Phantom Temple!!!!
  Fuzzy grabbed her shovel out of her huge backpack, and immediately began uncovering the buried temple.  Suddenly, her shovel hit something that made a horrible shattering noise.  Fuzzy gasped.  What have I hit?? she wonders, worrying that she had damaged a priceless artifact in her excitement.  But it was far worse than that, she realized, as a dark fog filled the air- a fog darker than the deepest dark she had ever seen.  Fuzzy took a step back.  "W-what?" she whispered in fear, as the dark fog slowly took shape.... the shape of a PHANTOM!!!!

  "Oh.  My.  Mira," murmured Fuzzy, her eyes wide with fear.  A real, live PHANTOM! Released by HER!  She didn't know whether to be amazed- or very, very scared.  The phantom stretched and yawned- a big, long yawn.  It hovered in the air in front of Fuzzy.
"Oh, my!" it said as it stretched out its tentacles, its voice deep and sounding almost... distorted. "Pardon me, ma'am, but what year is it?" it inquired.  Fuzzy stuttered for about a minute before she was able to stammer out an answer.

  "Er, umm, 2017," she managed to say at last.  The phantom's eye widened and it stopped stretching.
  "My, my! I have been trapped in that dreadful prison for quite some time!" it exclaimed.  Fuzzy continued to stare at it in awe.

  "Who exactly ARE you?" she asked it.  The phantom laughed- its distorted laughter giving Fuzzy a deep chill that ran down her spine.

  "Your animal tongue would be quite unable to pronounce my name.  You may call me simply, the Phantom.  Now, I have a little, teeny-tiny question to ask you and if you answer it correctly, I just may let you go," it said.  Fuzzy knew she should have been scared- terrified; even more than terrified!, and she was, of course.  But the scientist in her was completely in awe of the fact that she was speaking to an actual PHANTOM that it blocked her screaming urge to run away, as far away as possible from this creature of darkness.

 "Of-of course!" she said.  This is an incredible opportunity to study a real, true, live phantom, she thought.

  The Phantom smiled- another chill ran down Fuzzy's spine.  She was already starting to regret ignoring that need to get away.  "Good girl.  Now, tell me, did the Alpha's plans to trap all the phantoms in a Dark Realm succeed?" it asked.  Fuzzy nodded.

 "Why, yes! I myself have visited the very portal they used to do it!  Of course, they moved the crystal that powered it to the Museum, but it's still QUITE a sight to behold!" she said, emitting a short, nervous laugh at the end.  A rather irritating trait of hers was to babble on and on whenever she grew nervous- and honestly, what sane being wouldn't be nervous when speaking to a phantom?
  The Phantom smiled that cruel, twisted smile once more, and Fuzzy gulped audibly.  "Thank you very much.  And now, you are going to take me to this portal, and this museum, so that I can free my brethren and we can invade Jamaa!!!" it cried.  Fuzzy gasped.  The amazement was gone- in its place was just that overwhelming fear.

"You're CRAZY!" she exclaimed, and she finally obeyed her primal instinct to RUN.  She tried to gallop away from the phantom, and suddenly, the phantom thought that perhaps, just perhaps, telling the archaeologist about its plans wasn't such a good idea.

  "Come back here!" it yelled at the arctic wolf, but Fuzzy didn't stop running through the trees.  The phantom roared, then attacked  her!!!

***

Chapter Two

  The phantom attacked Fuzzy, and she screamed as its goopy tentacles grab her.  Her screams are heard only by the mosquitoes buzzing around her, and they were still mad at her for attempting to swat their friend, so they ignored her.  Fuzzy's screams came to a halt as the phantom merged with her mind, creating an entirely new being.... a Phantom-Archaeologist!

  Inside Fuzzy's mind was utter chaos.  She tried desperately to fight the Phantom, but it was impossible.  It zapped Fuzzy, then tied her to a chair (yes, Fuzzy had chairs inside her mind. Don't ask, even I don't know why).  "What have you done to me?" she cried.

  The Phantom laughed, his laugh a sound that Fuzzy could only describe as 'evil'.  "It is quite simple, Fuzzy- I have taken control of you.  You are now mine to command, and if you ever want control of yourself again, you will tell me where to find the Portal and Museum you told me about!" Fuzzy struggled against her bonds, but to no avail.  She glared at the Phantom.

  "Your last 'deal' didn't work out so well for me, did it?" she said.  The Phantom laughed.

  "Ahh, the wolf learns.  Don't worry, Fuzzy, my dear, when I have the portal, and have activated it with the Portal Crystal, I will have no further need for you.  I will let you free as soon as I have activated the portal, you have my word," it declared.  Fuzzy glared at the Phantom.

  "Betray Jamaa?  You'll need better persuasion than that," she growled.  The phantom tut-ed at her.

  "I'll get the information from you one way or another.  Give the information to me willingly and spare yourself the pain.  I've extracted information from Jammers' minds before.  They were never quite themselves afterwards..." it said, gathering a large bolt of electricity in its tentacles.  Fuzzy gulped, her heart pounding like a drumbeat.

  Fuzzy didn't trust the Phantom, but the mere idea of being trapped inside her own mind, unable to do anything, for the rest of her life?  It scared her, it scared her even more then the idea of phantoms invading Jamaa.  She wasn't brave enough to sacrifice herself.  She sighed softly.

  "Ok. I'll do it," she whispered.  The Phantom grinned, then laughed maniacally!

  "Excellent choice, Fuzzy!" it cried, and the electricity bolt between its tentacles vanished.  Fuzzy gulped, already regretting her decision.

  "Lots of animals visit the Portal every day, though.  It's a very popular tourist attraction," she stated.  The Phantom's eye narrowed.

  "The portal which trapped my fellow phantoms in a Dark Realm, a tourist attraction?  How.... distasteful.  I don't want any bothersome animals trying to get in my way while I free my brethren.  I suppose I'll just have to... ahh... dispose of them," it said, and simply the way it said 'Dispose of them', as if talking about stepping on ants, shocked Fuzzy.

"Please, no!  Isn't there some way you can get the tourists out of the way without harming them?" she begged desperately.  What have I done?! she thought fearfully.  The Phantom contemplated this for a moment, then grinned.

"Why, yes, indeed, there is a way," it said, chuckling.  "I could stop time."

***

  Chapter Three

"And this is the enchanted Portal Ring, a ring containing the magical Portal Crystal, which was created nearly a thousand years ago by the Alphas!  They used it to trap the evil invading Dark Energy beings, known as the Phantoms, into the Dark Realm, and thusly saved all of Jamaa!" exclaimed Precious, the tour guide, as she stood next to a glass display case containing an ancient-looking ring inside.

  A young otter in the crowd named Flora Berrycat raised her pink and tan paw in the air.   "Precious? Ma'am?" she called out. The tour guide looked over at her.

  "Yes? You, the otter with the pink hair, do you have a question?" inquired Precious cheerfully.  Flora nodded.

  "I thought that the Alphas used the Phantom Portal to transport the phantoms into the Dark Realm during the Great Invasion?" she asked, and Precious beamed.

  "Looks like you've been paying attention in history class! Yes, the Alphas did use the Phantom Portal to transport the phantoms in the Dark Realm, but they needed something to power it, didn't they?" Precious laughed, one of those slightly-too-cheerful, required-for-the-job laughs.  "The Portal Crystal was created to be basically a battery to power the Phantom Portal.  When all the Phantoms had been transported to the Dark Realm, Peck turned the Phantom Crystal into a ring, as sort of a... souvenir of the Invasion," concluded the guide. 

  "Cool," said Flora, gazing at the ever-so-slightly-glowing ring inside the glass case.  Precious continued smiling, happy that someone was actually enjoying her tour. Flora tapped her friend, Little Vineivy, on the shoulder. "Hey Little, I want to draw a quick sketch of the Portal Ring," she said, and Little nodded.

  "Sure," she said, and the two girls stayed behind as Precious and the rest of the animals continued walking onward, the guide explaining about a different artifact to the group of eager museum-goers. 

   Flora opened the small sketchbook that she carried with her everywhere, and started sketching the ring in front of her.  Little was used to her friend's sudden drawing moments, so she entertained herself by inspecting the glowing ring.  Then, all of a sudden, that barely-detectable glow of the Portal Crystal in the ring that BURST into a near-blinding light.

  Flora cried out, raising her sketchbook to shield herself, and Little shielded herself from the bright light with her paws.  The glass case containing the ring abruptly EXPLODED, and the ring flew out and attached itself to Little's paw. Little gasped. "What's happening?" she cried out. She grabbed the ring and attempted to pull it off, but it refused to budge.

  Little looked at Flora, confusion and terror in her eyes. "It won't come off!" she exclaimed.  Flora dropped her sketchbook and tried to help pull the ring off of Little's paw, but it was stuck to her friend's paw like superglue.

  "Omigosh. Umm, ok. Let's go try to find someone to help," she said, chasing in the direction of Precious. Little followed her friend.

  "Hey, wait, Flora! You don't want them to think we stole the ring, do you??" she hissed, and Flora skidded to a stop.

  "You're right..." she said, but then she gasped as she saw that Precious the tour guide and the entire tour group were frozen completely still!

  "Oh. My. Gosh," she whispered.  She slowly walked up to them, but none of them moved an inch.  She lightly tapped Precious, who still hadn't moved or so much as made a sound.  Flora tapped her a bit harder, then when that brought no response, even harder, and Precious toppled over, still frozen in the same position.  Flora gasped and immediately righted Precious.  "Oh gosh, I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed apologetically, but she had a feeling that the tour guide couldn't hear her.

   Little just stared at a fly, frozen in front of her mid-flight.  "This is crazy," she whispered, flicking the fly lightly with her paw. It slowly flipped through the air like an astronaut in zero-gravity, then halted a few inches away. 

  "What's HAPPENED?" cried Flora. Little looked over at her friend.

  "Flora... it kinda seems like... like time has stopped."

***

  Will the cliffhangers ever end?  (They probably won't!)  I have the next 3 chapters written already, but I decided I will post them one-at-a-time so I can catch up with writing XD  (Which I probably won't... Sigh...)

  Be sure to let me know what you think of this story so far =D