Optimum Jenny
"I'VE DONE IT! I'VE DONE IT!!!"
As Shelton Lee sits in front of his computer, there's a grin on his face about as wide as the screen. For months, he's secretly been working with XJ9's a.k.a. Jenny's blueprints trying to see if he can make any improvements to her hardware and/or software. After toiling for so long, he's finally done it.
"It's the perfect algorithm!" He says, referring to what's on the screen. It's an outline of Jenny, only it has a gold color to it. The banner at the top of the screen reads…Optimum Jenny.
"I have to call Dr. Wakeman!" And he does so, picking up the phone and pressing '1' (since Jenny's house is on his Speed Dial). After a couple of rings, someone picks up on the other end.
"Hello?" It's Nora Wakeman, Jenny's 'mother', on the other line.
"Dr. Wakeman! I've done it!" Sheldon declares. "It's taken me months but I've done it. I've found a way for Jenny to become even more powerful!"
"UGGGHHH!!! For the last time Sheldon, it is impossible for XJ9 to become more powerful than she is now." Nora tells him from the other end. "She is operating at Peak Capacity."
"Yeah, but I've discovered that she could reach an optimum level, Dr. Wakeman!" Sheldon counters.
"Sheldon, that is a myth among the science community." Nora says. "There is no Optimum level for robots."
"Please, Ms. Wakeman." Sheldon pleads with her. "Just let me talk to Jenny."
"I'm afraid that's impossible." Nora tells him. "XJ9 is in the middle of her Patrol high above the city, and…" CLICK! "Hello? HELLOOOOOOO?"
Sheldon decides to take the conversation directly to Jenny herself. He grabs his coat & his PDA before rushing out of the door. Logging onto his PDA, he immediately brings up an itinerary, telling when & where Jenny will be on this day. "Let's see, it's 8am, so she'll be near the school now."
The sun is barely above the horizon as he quickly sprints down the street, passing his fellow neighbors who are out either heading to work or picking up their morning papers. As he speeds past Brad & Tuck on their front lawn, they decide to join him on his run. "Hey, Sheldon." Brad says. "Finally getting to that workout to bulk up, huh?"
"No, gotta get some important information to Jenny." Sheldon says, stopping at the corner for a Red Light. Brad takes the liberty of grabbing the sheet of paper from Sheldon and starts to read it.
"What is all this stuff?" Brad asks, before Tuck snatches the paper from him and begins to read it.
"It looks like the blueprints & algorithms to make Jenny almost 100 times more powerful." Tuck says, shocking Brad & Sheldon. "What? So I watch a few Sci-Fi movies from time to time."
"I told you that stuff will rot your brain." Brad tells him, taking the paper back. Sheldon then snatches it back as he notices Jenny flying high above him, watching over the city.
"JENNY!!! JENNY!!!" She looks down to see that it's Shelton yelling up to her, much to her disappointment. Reluctantly, she lands on the ground right beside him.
"What is it, Sheldon?" She asks. "You know I have patrolling to do."
"Jenny, I've finally figured out the algorithms to make you more powerful." Sheldon tells her. "With just a few configurations made to your software, you could…"
"Stop right there, Sheldon." Jenny tells her, putting her hand up. "My mom already said it couldn't be done, and I'm not gonna have you tinker around in my system. It's…just wrong." She cringes & shivers at the thought of it, before flying back into the sky.
"JENNY, WAIT…" She doesn't listen. Instead, she continues with her Patrol, heading towards her High School, leaving Sheldon feeling dejected.
"Don't worry about it, Sheldon." Brad tells him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Jenny will listen. You just have to get her at the right time so you can…"
KRA-KA-BOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!
Brad is interrupted in the worst possible way. Right before their eyes, Tremorton High School blows up in a fiery explosion. Worried about their classmates, Brad & Sheldon dash towards the school, followed behind by Tuck. Jenny is way out in front, already on her way to see what happened. She gets to the scene first, and uses her sensors to try to detect any harmed life forms. Several moments later, Brad & Sheldon get there, followed by Tuck.
"Jenny, is everyone alright?" Brad asks.
"Yeah." She replies. "No one was in the school when it blew up."
"LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE, YOU TIN CAN!!!"
Jenny looks over to see the Krust Cousins stepping off of the school bus that just arrived, along with the rest of her classmates. "Your blatant disregard for safety has finally destroyed our beloved school!" Brit says.
"Oooh, you gonna get it!" Tiff adds with a smirk.
"But…I'm not responsible for this!" Jenny protests. "I wasn't even here when it happened."
"Well, maybe it was the old generator that caused this." Sheldon suggests. "It blew up, and took the school with it."
"No, the school made repairs on the generator days ago." Jenny tells him, thinking of some other cause. "From what my scanners are reading, this was done by a weapon."
"You mean one of your dangerous weapons, Jenny?" Brit asks. "From your almost unlimited arsenal?"
"No, one of mine."
Everyone's attention is turned towards the smoking crater that was once the school. From out of the smoke steps Earth's biggest threat & Jenny's deadliest foe…the former Queen of the Cluster, Vexus. "I needed a fool-proof way to get your attention, XJ9. And I think I've succeeded."
"Vexus!" Jenny says, preparing herself for battle. "I should've known it was you. What're you doing here?"
"I'm here to end this, XJ9." She says, as Smytus joins her from out of the smoke. "You've taken my entire world away from me. Most of my former subjects despise my name! But I still have a few followers." She snaps her fingers, and a moment later, dozens of rebel Cluster ships appear in the sky, as if they had been there all along. "More than enough to conquer this planet and bring you to your knees!"
"We'll fight you, Vexus!" Brad says, joining Jenny's side. "Earthlings don't run away from battles! Right guys?"
"Um, excuse me." Sheldon says, before turning and running away. As Tuck & Brad shake their heads in shame, Sheldon ducks into the nearest dark alley. There, he takes off his book bag and opens it up. Inside there is a remote, and what looks to be pieces of armor.
"I hope I'm in time to help her!" Sheldon says, pressing the blue button on the remote. "Armor activation code: SS Metal Man, save XJ9!" The pieces of armor shoot up out of his bag and begin to swirl around him, attaching to his skin one by one. Meanwhile, Jenny is still facing off with Vexus.
"This is your last chance, unit XJ9." Vexus warns her. "Surrender, and I shall leave this miserable planet with…minimum damage."
"I got a better offer." Jenny counters. "How about you leave Earth for good, or I send you off with Maximum Dam—!"
Tired of trading threats, Vexus ends the banter with a shot to Jenny's gut. Jenny's able to recover and knocks Vexus back, but she's floored with Smytus bulrushes her with a knee to the face. She quickly picks herself up and wipes the dirt from her face.
"You will bow to the Cluster Queen!" Smytus tells Jenny. "Or you will become nothing more than scrap."
"Funny. That's what I see in front of me now!" Jenny goes on the offensive, coming after Smytus with a flurry of punches. He covers up and takes the brunt of the attack, his metal coating becoming covered with dents. But before Jenny can do any more damage, she's tackled to the ground from behind by Vexus. Having her pinned down, Vexus starts to rip through Jenny's back, almost enough to expose her circuits & wires. Jenny tries to throw her off, but feels her system going haywire from the attack.
"It's time I dismantled you, XJ9!" Vexus brags. "Piece by pathetic Piece." She goes in for one last claw slash, meaning to end it, when a blast of solar energy knocks her off Jenny. Jumping to her feet quickly, she becomes outraged. "WHO DARES TO—!"
The words die in her mouth as she sees Jenny's savior. A large Robotic Man hovers down from the air and lands right beside her. It's the Silver Shell. Jenny pushes herself back to her feet and joins his side. "Silver Shell! Come to join the fight?"
"I wouldn't miss fighting by your side for the World." He answers, before noticing Jenny's 'injury'. "Are you OK, Jenny?"
"Nothing a good Vexus Butt-Kicking won't fix!" She answers, charging forward. The two both pick their partners, Jenny with Vexus & Silver Shell with Smytus, and the fight is on. As the crowd views from a safe distance, a lone figure comes rocketing towards them wearing a jet pack. Tuck is the first one to notice it.
"Look, up in the sky!" He says, getting Brad's attention. "It's a bird…it's a plane…it's…"
"DR. WAKEMAN!!!" Brad yells, pulling his little brother out of the way before she crashes down. After a moment, Nora picks herself up.
"UGH! They don't make jetpacks like they use to." She says, taking it off and shaking off the daze. "Where's XJ9? I registered multiple Cluster signals on earth. She may need my assistance!"
"Over there, tag-teaming with the Silver Shell." Brad says, pointing over to the fight. Nora just huffs in disapproval.
"I don't know what that girl sees in that glorified shiny automaton." She says.
"Hey!" Tuck says offended. "That's no way to talk about Shel—!" He covers his mouth, shocked that he almost revealed the secret. But Brad knows something is going on.
"Alright Tuck, spill it." Brad says. "You know something? Keeping a secret?"
"Uh, NO! No! Nothing! Nothing at all!" Tuck denies.
"Talk, Tuck. Or I'm flushing you down the toilet again." Brad threatens.
"OK, I'll tell!" Tuck says, giving in. "The Silver Shell isn't really a robot. It's actually a battle suit created by Sheldon, who's inside piloting it right now, fighting side by side with Jenny…and I was his sidekick once."
"You mean Sheldon is in that contraption?!" Nora says, turning back to the fight. "Oh dear. If they find out that the Silver Shell's not a robot, but a human, who knows what they'll do to Sheldon."
Deep within the fight, The Silver Shell a.k.a. Sheldon is going toe-to-toe with Smytus. The fight was very even at first, but now the Silver Shell is starting to wear down. Multiple dents are all over his suit, but there's barely a scratch on Smytus. "I don't know if I can hold on much longer." Sheldon says, inside the suit. "I need to find…wait, that's it! The Algorithm! JENNY!!!"
He breaks from the fight and flies over to Jenny, who's just pushed Vexus back off of her. "What is it, Silver Shell?"
"Shel…er, I have just discovered a perfect algorithm." He says, almost giving away his identity. "It will empower you almost 100-fold and…"
"Cut it out with the jokes, Shell." Jenny says, knocking Vexus back. "You almost sound like Sheldon. We need to concentrate on this fight!" Vexus & Jenny lock up again, leaving Sheldon by himself. At least until he sees Smytus charging, and barely avoids the attack by flying into the air.
"Come back down here and fight like a robot!" Smytus orders.
"She still won't listen!" Sheldon says, getting frustrated. "Well, it looks like the only way to show her this works…is to use it myself!" Pulling his keyboard closer to him, he begins to type in the command orders to start up the process. A moment later, the Silver Shell suit begins to tremble & shake. Sheldon types in the algorithm, and within moments the Silver coating on the suit begins to turn bright gold. So bright that it gets the attention of everyone watching the battle, including Jenny & Vexus, who have stopped.
"What…what is going on?" Vexus asks.
"Something tells me that Smytus is about to get Smitten!" Jenny says with a grin.
Sheldon focuses his attention back towards Smytus, and prepares to charge. "THIS ONE'S FOR YOU, JENNY!!!" Rocketing down towards the earth at Full-Speed, Sheldon aims for Smytus' torso chamber in hopes of destroying it, and him. Within a split second, he hits his target, driving his fist right through Smytus, and appearing victorious. Smytus has a look of horror on his face…but it slowly turns into a devious one, much to Sheldon's shock.
"I believe it's my turn now…Android." Smytus cocks back, and let's loose a punch of his own, right into the chest cavity. Silver Shell is knocked into the air, almost hundreds of yards away, until he skids against the ground and comes to a stop. The golden glow is gone, replaced with a dull, dented & dirtied up gray. The crowd watching falls silent, as Jenny quickly rushes over to him.
"SHELL! SHELL! ARE YOU OK???" She yells. The entire suit is now far beyond repair. Jenny starts to make repairs herself, but when she removes the chest plate, she's shocked by the truth…There's Sheldon, holding his bleeding arm in pain, entire body banged up, and barely conscious.
"Sheldon…you…you're the Silver Shell?"
"Sorry…Jenny." He says, barely able to struggle it out. "Wanted…to tell you…I…" He passes out before finishing. Jenny becomes filled with rage at this point, and turns toward the two Cluster members, ready to rip them to shreds.
"You're gonna pay for that!" She charges full-speed, almost the speed of sound, and aims her attack right at Smytus. But he stops her by grabbing both of her arms, mere inches away from him.
"Sorry, XJ9." He says.
"But this is where it ends!" Vexus charges up her arms with what looks to be pure electrical energy. Smytus tosses Jenny into the air, and before she can blink, Vexus grabs hold of her. They rocket up to what looks to be 100 stories, before turning downward. The two plummet to the ground like dual meteors, and hit the dirt with such impact, it shakes the entire area. Everyone is knocked off of their feet, and a giant cloud of dust kicks up.
"XJ9!!!" Nora yells, concerned for her daughter. She's the first to reach her feet, and makes her way towards the source of the crash. She hopes to see Jenny back on her feet, victorious. What she gets is Vexus, hovering above the ground. Below her, a pile of rocks which seem to be covering up Jenny. It's confirmed once Nora sees Jenny's busted arm sticking out of the rocks. "Jenny?"
"Is off-line." Vexus says smugly. "Permanently."
"HOORAY FOR VEXUS!!!" Smytus cheers.
"This is a glorious day for the Cluster!" Vexus boasts. "At last. At long last, our greatest enemy has been defeated. What you all have witnessed here…is the destruction of unit XJ9!" Vexus floats over to Smytus and whispers to him. "Come! It's time for my victory speech to my troops!"
As Vexus & Smytus soar upward to address the rest of the rebel cluster, Nora Wakeman falls to her knees in disbelief. Her mind is flooded with the possibility that Jenny, her greatest invention, a daughter to her…might be gone for good.
"I…I couldn't protect her." She says, as a single tear rolls down her cheek.
"Don't worry, Dr. Wakeman." Brad says, trying to stay positive. "Jenny will pop back up! She always does and she will this time…won't she?"
As the crowd huddles closer to the crash area, they all start to believe the impossible may be true. "I know I wanted Jenny out of my life," Brit says. "But…not like this."
"Yeah." Tiff adds. "Not…not like this."
"She's not gone!" Everyone's attention is turned towards Sheldon, whose just regained consciousness. "She's not gone…there's still one chance!" Bringing the keyboard close to him again, he starts to type down, with one hand, instructions on what's left of his cracked onboard computer screen. "If I can just get past Jenny's firewalls…"
"It's impossible, Sheldon." Nora says, sounding as if she's given up. "She's been destroyed. Even if her operating system did somehow survive, it would be nearly impossible to hack through the security I've erected. There's…no way to save her."
Sheldon doesn't listen. Instead he keeps typing, at what's almost a phenomenal 100 words a minute. With each keystroke, he hopes to get through each block that prevents him from Jenny's mind. After a minute passes, he has success. "I'm in!"
Nora lifts her head; astonished that Sheldon has done it. A small glimmer of hope begins to fill her, as she rises to her feet and walks over to Sheldon. Soon, everyone is huddled around him, watching as he feverishly works to put in the correct algorithm into Jenny's programming. But frustration begins to set in for him. His mind can only go so fast, and he feels that he's not putting in enough to help Jenny.
"No…NO! I…I can't remember the rest!" He says. "I have to! I have to remember!"
Nora looks at the computer screen, at what has been typed in by Sheldon. It takes a moment, but she remembers the code on the screen. In fact, it's such a vivid memory; she begins to finish it for Sheldon. "Now's not the time for panicking, Sheldon." She tells him. "Jenny needs us!" Watching her work just as hard starts to inspire Sheldon. He follows her keystrokes, and begins to remember the rest of the algorithm. Now both of their hands work on the keyboard, typing in the rest as a blinding pace. It's not for loss, though. From the pile of rubble, Jenny's hand begins to tremble. Slowly at first, but then more & more. Before you know it, it's fully vibrating, right before it shoots down beneath the rocks. At that moment both Sheldon & Nora finish, pressing the Enter button at the same time.
"Please…please let this work." Sheldon pleads, hoping for the best. Nora holds onto his hand, also hoping. The crowd looks toward the rubble, and notice that the rocks are now shaking. It spreads out to which the ground begins to tremble, like the aftershock of an earthquake. Suddenly, a ray of golden light shoots out from the rubble. Then another. Then another. Until it catches the attention of Vexus, who has just finished her speech to her troops.
"No…it can't be…" She says, hoping for it not to be true.
But her hope is lost. In a blaze of shining light, the rocks are incinerated by a field of energy. In the middle of the field stands Jenny, reconstructed as new, and wearing a golden outer shell. Sheldon quickly checks his monitor to gauge her power levels, only to find that they've gone far off the charts.
"She's there." He says, smiling with joy. "She's reached it."
"Yes she has, Sheldon." Nora says, sharing in the same joy.
"Reached what?" Brad asks. "What's going on with Jenny? Why is she glowing like that?"
OPTIMUM LEVEL REACHED.
That's what her operating system announces, for everyone to hear. Jenny looks at herself, and notices the dramatic raise in power that she has. "Sweet."
"Optimum level?" Vexus says. "It must be some lousy trick. SMYTUS! End that robot!"
"Yes, my Queen!" He says, before zooming downward to combat Jenny. He speeds towards her at a blinding speed. The fastest creature on earth would be left in his dust within a second. But to Jenny, he's slower than a Snail. Waiting for the right moment, she lets him get closer. Then, once he's inches away, she grabs his arm, much like he did hers. Shocked by her speed, Smytus tries to escape her grip, but he finds it impossible. Jenny then raises her free hand, and chops it through Smytus' torso, affectively ripping him in half. With his last bit of energy, he turns back to Vexus.
"M…My…My Queen…"
Those are his last words to her. His body erupts in a fiery explosion, leaving nothing left but few spare parts. Vexus is horrified.
"My…Lieutenant." She utters, before becoming enraged. "CLUSTER SHIPS!!! OPEN FIRE ON THAT ROBOT!!!"
As the ships arm their weapons and prepare to fire, Jenny looks up towards them and holds her arms in the air. "Atomic Cannons!"
Immediately, her arms begin the transformation into massive energy cannons. Nora is astonished by what she's witnessing. "Incredible. It takes half of her energy to form just one Atomic Cannon. Yet she has to armed now, and isn't even close to being on low power."
The massive cannons are aimed in the air. Jenny fires them off and they unleash dual beams of condensed energy. The beams rip through the large Mother Ships, and vaporize the smaller fighter ships. Within seconds, Vexus' armada becomes fiery scrap in the sky. The ships that haven't been atomized take off out of Earth's atmosphere, leaving Vexus alone.
"NO! MY FLEET! MY SOLDIERS!!!" She screams, before turning to Jenny, rage consuming her. "YOU! You're the cause of this! YOU WILL PAY, XJ9!!!" Rocketing towards the ground, Vexus means to dismember Jenny of her wires & circuits. But as she touches down on ground, Jenny disappears. "What? Where did she—!?"
BOOM!!!
Vexus feels Jenny's fist collide with her jaw, with such speed & force that it almost causes her entire body to fall apart. She lands on her feet & skids against the ground, struggling to stay upright. As she comes to a stop, she plans for a counterattack. Instead, she receives a powerful shot to the gut from Jenny that devastates all of her systems. Vexus is barely standing now, and Jenny delivers her final words to her.
"You're right, this is where it ends Vexus!" She says, growing enraged herself. "This is for Terrorizing Earth, Destroying my School, AND HURTING MY FRIENDS!!!!!!" With all the strength available to her, she takes Vexus and launches her into the air.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!"
Vexus rockets into the sky at the speed out sound. Within seconds, her body begins to burst into flames, and breaks apart. She doesn't even make the stratosphere before there's nothing left. Various pieces falling harmlessly to the ground. There's a moment of silence as the crowd takes in everything they've just seen. The silence is quickly followed by uproarious cheers and praise for Jenny, who's just won the biggest battle of her robotic life.
"Let that be a lesson. The people of Earth will never succumb to invasions, not as long as they have Jenny Wake—!"
A spark pops from Jenny's neck, cutting her off. She slowly starts to turn back into her blue color as she falls forward, hitting the ground face first, in a total systems shutdown.
Many Hours Later…
"Ohhh, what happened?"
Jenny slowly opens her eyes and finds herself back home, or more precisely, Dr. Wakeman's lab. She's lying down on what looks to be an operating table, with dozens of sensors attached to her. "Mom…what's going on?"
"OH, you're awake, XJ9!" Nora says. "Thank goodness."
"I had the strangest dream." Jenny says. "I dreamt I was battling Vexus, but she was beating me. But then I became all superpowered. And the Silver Shell was really Sheldon in a battle suit. Weird, huh?"
"Oh no, XJ9. That is all true." Nora tells her nonchalantly. Before Jenny can inquire more, she notices Sheldon standing to her side, his arm in a sling, staring at her.
"This is fantastic, Jenny." He says. "With your new powered up level, we can go crime-fighting together every night. Side by side! Jenny Wakeman, and the Silver…"
"OH, NO YOU DON'T!!!" Nora says, turning towards Sheldon. "That suit has been nothing but trouble. I had a talk with your parents, and they have forbidden you from wearing it. With XJ9's heightened power level, she's more than capable of protecting this planet alone. Besides, you're needed as my new lab assistant."
"New Lab Assistant?" Jenny & Sheldon blurt out at the same time. "You mean…he's gonna be hanging around this house more often?" Jenny asks.
"Oh yes, XJ9." Nora answers. "Him finding the unknown algorithm to improve your power capacity earned him the job. Just think of how many more improvements he can help me make!"
Dr. Wakeman walks out of the lab laughing almost maniacally, showing shades of her young mad scientist days. This leaves Jenny & Sheldon alone. "So, you're the Silver Shell, huh?" Jenny says, not wearing a happy look.
"Jenny, I know I should've told you about me being the Silver Shell." Sheldon confesses. "But…I was waiting for the right time. Kinda like, when you married him and went on the Honeymoon."
"You lied to me, Sheldon." Jenny tells him, causing him to lower his head in shame. "But…you also saved me. By putting in those algorithms, I was able to defeat Vexus and the Rogue Cluster once & for all. And…I guess that deserves a reward."
"A Reward?" Sheldon says, raising his head up.
Jenny looks hesitant at first, but then decides to go through with it. "Oh, what the heck!" She leans in and kisses him gently on the lips, his first ever kiss, human or robot. When she breaks it, Sheldon is wearing a goofy grin, and is barely able to keep his balance.
"Oh, Jenny." He says, before collapsing to the floor, fainting. Jenny just sighs & rolls her eyes, knowing that they'll be more of the same since he's the new Lab Assistant.
"Oh, Brother."