A/N: It's... not the longest chapter so far but this will have to do. It's Jimmy's turn after Spongebob and Timmy and let me tell you guys, this poor boy will not be having a good time due to the supernatural present in his situation. And poor Danny, his parents, while well-meaning, are ultimately lacking when it comes to noticing their children's distress unless it is way too obvious to ignore.
5/12/2018: I added and re-altered certain scenes.
Episode 3: Rifts in the Dark
Jiimmy Neutron: Boy Genius Opening Theme Song
Credits to Nick Animation for the video.
3...2...1 (Gotta Blast)
Into the stars
To buy candy bars
Rides a kid with
A knack for inventions
A super powered-mind
(Bark Bark) of a mechanical K-9
He rescues the day
From sheer destruction
This the theme song
Of Jimmy Neutron
Summary -
What constitutes as a normal day for Jimmy Neutron is to hang out with his group of friends in one moment and realizing his ideas for potential inventions in his personal lab next. Unfortunately, the arrival of a ghostly intruder set forth a series of paranormal activities; destroying any sense of logical normalcy he has left in his poor battered mind.
As for Danny, the argument regarding the field trip to the Ghost Zone took a turn for the worst. Were his parents really that dense to realize the life-threatening risks their latest approach to ghost-hunting is doing? Or is something more sinister at play here?
Basement Lab, Retroville, Jimmy's Earth
*Woosh*
"What was that?"
Jimmy swirled his chair around, twitching blue eyes squinting in the dim light of his lab. He thought he had heard something, or possibly someone, scurrying in the back. He was focusing on typing up the blueprints on screen for the latest invention he had in mind and a random person was intruding in his lab.
During his private time.
Was it Cindy again? How many times does he have to tell her not to bother him when he's in the middle of formulating his plan for the construction of his latest invention. Or was Carl? As much as he likes his best friend, even they knew better than to crash into his lab during this time. He highly doubt Libby would even come here without accompanying Cindy either.
For Sheen... Jimmy mentally groaned. He still had yet to locate his other best friend, who got himself lost in space despite the explicit instructions that Jimmy send to him not to mess around with the prototype space rocket in his lab. Maybe Sheen found his way back home?
However, it was the sight of Godard firmly planting his metallic paws on the ground and growling at the darkness with his jagged teeth bared that made Jimmy consider otherwise. As annoying as his group of friends may be, they were still his best friends and Godard would never pose in such an aggressive manner towards them. Besides, why would they hide? Especially Sheen, since he would definitely declare his return home in a loud manner.
Not to mention, his four friends (and the rest of the Nicktoons, for that matter) were also the only ones to have proper access to his lab granted through the use of the DNA scanner.
Which meant the intruder(s) was not one of them.
"Who's there?" Jimmy commanded harshly, narrowing his blue eyes as he quickly jumped out of his chair and fished out his Tornado Blaster from his backpack.
Why he hasn't put down his backpack while he sat on the chair, he can't exactly remember (in reality, he actually forget about it during his haste to make his new idea into a real-life invention) but he's glad to still wear it in this ambiguous situation.
Arming his Tornado Blaster properly, he pointed his wind-generating gun at darkness (since when was his lab this dark?) and readied his trigger finger in case if the intruder was decidedly malicious.
Jimmy wondered who would come invading his lab and who were they exactly that Godard deemed as a serious threat. It can't be Calamitous because he and the rest of his inter-dimensional friends managed to foil the Syndicate's plans and the diabolical professor hasn't been seen since. Was it his daughter, Beautiful Gorgeous coming for revenge?
...Nah, he doubts it. The villainess never seemed to care much for her father's evil plans for world domination.
Deciding to test the waters, Jimmy took in a deep breath and demanded, "Come on out! I have no patience for this, I have faced worst enemies than you!"
Oddly enough, the syllable on the last word he uttered cracked in fear.
Eyes blinking in confusion, Jimmy frowned as he shook his head. What caused him to lose composure at the last moment? Was it the familiar feeling of dread burning in his chest, constricting his lungs to a point he was breathing too shallowly?
He had seen so much in his admittedly short life that Jimmy wasn't fazed by scary situations, but this feeling of terror he felt was far too intense that it could not be natural.
It felt... Forced. Artificial. Like someone was forcing him to feel fear through some sort of medium.
What was it? A highly sophisticated machine that could manipulate emotions? It was possible creation for Jimmy to invent but even he knew better than to do that. His morals, code of ethics and his own experience with faulty inventions were enough for him not to.
Before, he could ruminate on this further, something weird and not explainable happened.
The shadows that enclosed his lab grew darker for no scientific reason, a hazy green mist appearing out of nowhere as it clogged the air of the entire room into an emerald shade while the lights that were still on began to flicker.
And then, there were the whispers.
Forgive me
Don't hurt me
I won't do it again
I'm sorry
Their voices were laced with terror and torment, the cries for mercy echoed across the room. It was cold and sickening, the torrent of emotions cracking and bursting to the seams.
But for Jimmy, it also doesn't make a lick of sense.
As scary as it was, there no way anybody would just barge in and somehow hijack his indoor speakers to imitate a poltergeist activity that won't look out of place for a horror movie.
And Jimmy hates the supernatural.
(He meant no offense to Danny, but Timmy on the hand...)
The boy genius found himself feeling quite incensed at such an ridiculous phenomena occuring in front of his eyes. If this was the work of that nonsensical force of nature called magic, he was not amused. Jimmy already had enough of Timmy's magic tricks with his fairies and he's not going to let an unknown assailant use that same no-science-can-explain force on him.
"This is getting ridiculous! This cheap excuse of a horror scene is not scary at all! Come on out right now!"
The voices stopped.
Godard went from growling to full-blown barking.
Jimmy tensed as he saw the air shifting in the corner of his lab, it was moving so fast it left dust in it's wake.
It was there and then, a piece of paper fell in front of Jimmy.
Fenton Works, Amity Park, Danny's Earth
Sam was stuck in a limbo between righteous fury and utter disbelief. Yes, she was fuming about the situation after she finally let go of the violent emotions that she had been suppressing since Mr Lancer's announcement. However, Sam had never thought that out of all the people she would get angry at were Danny's freaking parents.
The teenaged goth was torn between wanting to scream at the Fenton couple for the stupidity in agreeing with Casper High's idiotic decision to risk the safety of an entire class of high-school students for an educational field trip in the Ghost Zone or give the two menacing death glares that would put even the toughest of ghosts to shame.
Considering that Danny had beaten her to the first choice, Sam have to make do with the second.
"...-how many times do I have to say it? The Ghost Zone is not safe at all. You can't guarantee everyone's safety on board of the Specter Speeder."
Danny sounded calm, but Sam knew her best friend/secret crush long enough to tell from the undercurrents of his voice that he was livid.
Maddie Fenton, much to Sam's frustration, was not deterred by her son's ire although she does looked rather irked, "Every student on board will be wearing Specter Deflectors in the case of a possible ghost attacks. Jack and I has also modified the Specter Speeder's anti-ghost shield parameters into just affecting the the outer walls of the vehicle and not the general area surrounding it."
"That way, no pesky ghosts will be alerted by the glowing green light of our shield!" Jack Fenton chimed in, sadly oblivious to his son's furious countenance.
Danny clenched his jaw, "That still won't stop the more hostile ghosts from attacking the Speeder. Just one look at it and any ghost in the near vicinity can tell it doesn't belong there."
Maddie attempt to smile in an assuring manner looks too fake as she waved off her son's concerns, "Danny, trust your parents about this. We're experts on this, remember. No ghosts will ever come near our Specter Speeder."
From the way his right eye twitched and his whole body shaking, Danny looked like he wanted to explode right there and then and Sam wouldn't blame him. She had her own trouble trying to not clench her fists in a threatening manner.
It was Jazz who decided to jump into the fray.
"Mom, Dad, Danny made a valid point. Safety precautions or not, we still stand out like a blot of ink on white paper in the Specter Speeder. We're just asking for trouble the moment we go in there."
Jack perked an eyebrow, befuddled at his daughter's negativity, "Jazzy-pants, it's just like your mother said. Ghosts won't dare come near the Specter Speeder because our anti-ghost shields are too powerful for them to handle."
"That's hubris talking. Skulker or Ember could still blast their way in," Sam muttered under her breath, appalled at what the Fentons were saying.
Don't even get her started on the more primal ghosts like Undergrowth or Vortex. Those types were already nightmares to begin with. Combined with the fact that most of their classmates knew nothing about ghost-hunting to begin with, it was a recipe for disaster in case a ghost does breach the Speeder's defenses.
Even if there would be a potential situation of her best friend as Danny Phantom teaming up with both his parents and Valerie in fending off ghostly assaults, there were simply too many defenseless teenagers to account for. Sam and Tucker would try their best to protect Mr Lancer and their fellow classmates as well but that still won't be enough.
Tucker frowned as he added his own two cents, "Do you guys at least have any contingency plans just in case this trip went south?"
The Fenton couple stared at Tucker in bewilderment for a moment before exchanging glances with each other with wide eyes. The scene that played before them was so telling that Danny literally growled and threw his hands up in pure vexation before storming out of the living room.
"Danny!" Jazz cried out, attempting to reach out for her brother. Maddie stopped her by grabbing her shoulder, however.
"Give your brother some time, Jasmine. He needs to think alone for a bit," Maddie spoke quietly.
Jazz roughly pushed away her mother's hand and turned to look at her with teal eyes glazed with tears.
"What do you know about Danny's needs!?" The red-haired girl snarled back before she hurriedly ran up the stairs to Danny's room.
"Jasmine!" Maddie called out for her with her hand outstretched. The look of shock that was on her face slowly shifted to dejection as she closed her eyes and lowered her hand, clenching her shaking hands into fists.
Jack placed his big hand on her shoulder and squeezed it gently. Maddie immediately responded to his comforting gesture by wrapping her arms around his body, embracing her husband tightly while he softly patted her on the back.
Anger temporarily forgotten, Sam found herself blushing in awkwardness at witnessing such a private scene between Danny's parents. She quickly grabbed Tucker's arm and dragged themselves out of the living room despite Tucker's protests.
"Can't you see they're having a moment?" Sam hissed at Tucker as they brisked walk up the stairs.
Tucker blinked before he grimaced in disgust, "Ew, no. Don't give me the details. That's the last thing I want to see with Danny's parents."
Sam rolled her eyes, "When I mean moment, I don't mean that kind of moment."
Back at the living room, there were several seconds of silence before it broke apart with Madeline Fenton's quiet weeping.
Maddie sniffled as she felt stray tear escape her closed teal eyes, "...Jack, I hate this. I hate doing this to our children."
Jack could only hug her even closer as he rubbed his wife's back, "I know, Madds. I know."
He closed his eyes, "I'm sorry."
The Fenton patriarch felt a familiar sense of chilling dread went down his spine and at the very end of his peripheral vision, his somber blue gaze turned into a icy glare at the darkest corner of the room.
Of which a shadowy figure emerged from the shadow, face covered beneath its moth-eaten hood as he sends his own poisonous glare of neon green at the couple.
He smiled.
"Damn you..." Jack swore under his breath, gritting his teeth.
Basement Lab, Retroville, Jimmy's Earth
The paper laid there, mocking.
Far too incensed to consider where on earth it came from, Jimmy snatched the paper and noticed the crudely drawn images of stars and planets. Annoyed blue eyes twitching, he turned over the paper and what saw caused the blood to drain out of his face.
Wide-eyed and pale, Jimmy read the words out loud, "I'm sorry?"
*SMACK*
Jimmy jumped and turned around to see his computer screen glitching in static, a rotting hand that is akin to a corpse laid itself against the glass. The young prodigy froze in shock at the sight as the bloody green splatter on the screen caused by the decomposing appendage.
The rotting hand clenched into a fist.
The green haze grew thicker and the voices grew louder, in which what originally felt like a gibberish static that pervaded his ears transformed the ominous chanting accompanied by a cacophony of screams.
Just leave
You're unnatural
No one wants you
You don't have heart
You are not human
I'm sorry
Suddenly, Jimmy felt his back-spine shuddered. He couldn't move.
Something breathed its decaying breath on his neck.
"I fo͟rgive y͡ou.̷.."҉
Nicktoon Audio Log: Jimmy Neutron - #1
[open]
Jimmy: Aha! It is working. Whew, and here I thought Timmy might have caught on about the faulty audio recorder.
[pause]
Jimmy: So... Spongebob said that I should reflect on what I did for the day. Seems simple enough. But I haven't thought of any new inventions to build today so how am I going to go about this?
Jimmy: Okay, come on, think of something... Think, think...!
[pause]
Jimmy: ... Brain blast! Now, I got it!
Jimmy: Now then, I suppose I can talk about my friends from the Nicktoons. I'm sure it's a decent topic to start with. I'll start with Turner.
Jimmy: Timmy is... Ugh, the biggest pain in the butt because of his obnoxious attitude and how his fairies' [shudder] 'magic' work. And why am I calling them fairies when I used to think they're holograms? Cosmo and Wanda are clearly beings of flesh and blood so holograms are out of the picture.
Jimmy: However, they also have an oddly unique body anatomy that are reliant on their [sigh] 'wands' as a conduit to unleash their powers.
Jimmy: As a side note, I refuse to call their feats 'magic'. I know it's obvious that Cosmo and Wanda are not what they seem but I refuse to believe that there's something unknown about them and I'm only calling them 'fairies' for a lack of a simpler term.[snort] Science makes sense, not magic.
Jimmy: For Cosmo himself, he... uh... can be quite slow-witted at times. He's actually a lot like Patrick Star now that I think about it. Must be why Spongebob likes to talk to him. As for Wanda, she's the sane person in the trio and can be quite motherly when she wants to.
Jimmy: As for Timmy... He's actually not that bad to be around. Always thinking out of the box and is quite fun to hang around with. He's the guy who always eager to help out once in a while and knows how to spice up one's day... That is when he's not trying to pull one up above me. [faintly] Timmy better not hear this. Our audio logs are private for reason.
Jimmy: Moving on... Spongebob is the most fascinating person I have ever befriended with in the team. He's only one among our friends who is not human at all yet he's possibly the most friendliest person I have ever met. He is the type of guy who wants all of his friends, including himself, to get along and is very optimistic no matter what.
Jimmy: Expert in grilling undersea burgers which are called Krabby Patties and is efficient in karate with those deceptively thin arms. Once, Timmy tried to call out on Spongebob's claim over his muscle strength and he responded by giving Timmy a demonstration of karate.
Jimmy: Spongebob [snort]... He [chortle]... gave Timmy a karate takedown! [laughs]
[laughing]
Jimmy: [cough] Wow, that sight alone really makes me smile. [chuckles] I think Timmy himself had a change of heart towards Spongebob from that moment since. I can say the same, as I once underestimated him too and I'm glad I was proven wrong. Spongebob, despite his grating laughter, kept the Nicktoons in high spirits and will always be the core of our group
Jimmy: As a matter of fact, Spongebob was the one who named us in the first place. Nicktoons is actually an acronym, but I will not name each word. We all appreciate Spongebob's earnest efforts and we really do. The acronym is actually quite good too but is just that [sigh] the words themselves are that embarrassing.
Jimmy: I got used to it, as long as nobody else knew the words. Danny was slowly getting used to it but it'll take a while for Timmy to acknowledge it.
Jimmy: Speaking of which, the last person I shall talk about is Danny Fenton. Otherwise known by his superhero alias as Danny Phantom.
Jimmy: Whereas Spongebob is fascinating and Timmy annoying, Danny was the most mind-boggling friend in our group. Not only is he a bonafide superhero, he is also half-ghost. As in, a literal representative of the Schrödinger's cat where he is simultaneously living and dead. Or is he neither?
Jimmy: Ignoring my random musings on how intriguing Danny's situation is, I rather talk about Danny himself. He's a loyal person who deeply cares about others and always goes out of his way to make sure we're okay. He's incredibly selfless at times and though it is an admirable trait, Danny... scared us a lot.
Jimmy: [sigh] While Spongebob is the oldest in our group since he is technically a working adult, Danny has been dealing with a lot of issues in his world. He had seen so much that he took upon himself to be the protective older brother of our group.
Jimmy: Timmy and Spongebob may have not noticed but I did. Danny's physical strength and perseverance, while not far, outmatches Spongebob's by a considerable degree. Like all ghosts, Danny also has some form of natural resistance against Cosmo and Wanda's powers. Combined that with his own powers and he is already the strongest person in our group.
Jimmy: And yet, after the Syndicate was defeated... Every time I see him during our usual get-together with the Dimensional Recaller communication system, he always looked tired on the screen. At first, he tried to hide the state of his health from us but as the blue-black bruises became more visible on his skin, even Spongebob and Timmy were starting to catch on that something wasn't right.
Jimmy: Danny told us he had been handling ghost attacks for a long while now and considering the time differences between our worlds, it has two years for him since the Syndicate. For me, it has only been months. But all this time, I have never thought that his heroism is taking a serious toll on his body.
Jimmy: At this point, I have to stage an intervention for Danny and it will be soon. I decided that tomorrow, I will set up the Dimensional Recaller communication system again with just me, Timmy and Spongebob to discuss. As Nicktoons, we are friends together and we will not leave Danny behind if we have anything to say about it.
[silence]
Jimmy: ... [sigh] I never realized my first recording would end up being too serious. It's just a personal document to showcase my thoughts and yet, it realized the issues that I'm having for a while now.
Jimmy: It's getting late at night and [yawn], I have to sleep soon. I'll record another audio log next week and I'll see what happens. Good night everyone.
[close]
A/N: Well... Things are definitely getting darker little by little. I should have explained that this story might start exploring more and more heavy themes that would force me to put on an 'M' rating if it goes that far.
Apart from that, I can provided a few background info on this particular ghost harassing poor Jimmy and the Fentons in this episode. The unknown ghost is not purely an OC but rather, my own take on a unreleased concept of a unique ghost from Danny Phantom. I hope that you guys won't mind him but as of now, he's the current driving force in the opposition against the Nicktoons.
Pariah Dark is going to deal with the fact that he's not the only Big Bad in this setting, not that he knows since they're working together anyway. The Ghost King has to wait his turn.
See yah on the next episode!
5/12/2018: Not much comment, other than a few alterations here and there.
