"DRINKING COFEE HAS BEEN SHOWN TO BE GOOD FOR YOU!" Cindy screamed at him holding her mocha latte in her hand.

"OH YEAH? IN WHAT WAY?" Jimmy retaliated.

"STUDIES HAVE INDICATED DRINKING COFFEE CAN LOWER YOUR CHANCES OF CANCER!"

"CORRELATION IS NOT CAUSATION, VORTEX! COFFEE CAN'T AFFECT CANCER!"

"IT'S OBVIOUSLY NOT WORKING FOR ME BECAUSE YOU ARE LIKE AN OVERGROWN TUMOR ON MY SOUL!"

All Jimmy had done is point out the proven scientific fact that coffee can decrease metabolism rates. But of course, Vortex had to argue back. Obviously the fact that they had kissed – and twice, for that matter – affected their relationship in no way whatsoever.

"There is more tension between these two than Israel and Palestine, lately." Libby commented to Sheen and Carl as Jimmy and Cindy continued to yell.

"Who's Israel?" Carl questioned.

"And who's Pal S. Stein?" Sheen added.

Libby sighed exasperatedly and rolled her eyes.

"COFFEE HAS BEEN SHOWN TO CAUSE HYPERTENSION IN –"

All of a sudden, the sidewalk beneath them opened up, sucking them down a tube with various twists and turns. They were spat out onto hard, tiled floor in a darkened room. They all lay on top of each other in a heap, groaning in discomfort.

"Where are we?" Libby moaned in the darkness.

"GET OFF OF ME NERDTRON! WHAT STUPID INVENTION OF YOURS HAS GONE HAYWIRE THIS TIME?" Cindy wriggled out from the bottom.

"OW! CINDY! I DIDN'T DO THIS!" Jimmy also struggled to break free.

"CARL! STOP TRYING TO HOLD MY HAND!" Sheen shouted.

The lights flickered to life as the five of them straightened up. A figure stood on the other side of the room, still shrouded in darkness. It slowly stepped forward and light shone off the bald head and glasses of a familiar face.

"Commander Baker?" Jimmy said, confused.

"Hello, Agent Neutron." He smiled warmly, "And friends. I apologize; I meant only to take Agent Neutron here."

"Well, excellent work, Commander." Cindy said sarcastically.

"I'll ignore that comment for now," Baker said, glaring at Cindy. "Agent Neutron, I have a special mission for you."

"It's been six years since I last did a mission for you. I know I've said this before, but why can't you get Jet to do this?" Jimmy said as he yawned, it was already ten o'clock.

"Actually, that is your mission. Once again, you must rescue Jet Fusion." Baker handed him a GPS already programmed with a location. "Attach this to your hovercar and it should lead you right to Agent X."

"Can't this wait until tomorrow?" Jimmy pleaded.

"No. This has gone on for long enough." Baker replied solemnly.

"Gone on for long enough? How long has Jet been –"

Jimmy couldn't finish his question because they were sucked back up the tube and emptied out onto the sidewalk they had been on only minutes before.

"Well, I'll see you guys later I guess. I've got some spy duties to take care of." Jimmy stated cockily.

"Aw! JIMMY! I wanted to be a spy again!" Carl whined.

"YEAH! ME TOO JIMMY!" Sheen jumped up and down.

"Alright, fine." Jimmy shrugged. "As long as Carl doesn't sing the Spy Song."

"But Jimmy –" Carl began.

"That is my condition." Jimmy said staunchly. Carl nodded in defeat.

"We're coming too." Cindy stated, crossing her arms.

"We are?" Libby asked, confused. She pulled Cindy aside. "Why are we going with them? They can handle it."

"What? I've had a thing for Jet Fusion since I was like, eleven." Cindy said hastily.

"Girl, I know you've had a thing for someone since you were eleven, but it ain't for Jet Fusion."

Cindy punched Libby in the arm.

"Alright! We'll go!" Libby conceded as they re-entered the group.

"Are you sure?" Jimmy looked directly at Cindy. "It might be dangerous."

"Please. I eat your kind of danger for breakfast." Cindy met his gaze.

"TO THE HOVERCAR!" Sheen exclaimed.

..^^^..

Jimmy expected the GPS to take them somewhere exotic and dangerous like the Amazon rainforest, or the Rocky Mountains, or the Gobi Desert. Instead, they were on a forty-five minute flight to the suburbs outside of Houston. They eventually pulled up in front of a small blue bungalow with a poorly kept lawn. The gang climbed out of the hovercar.

They began to approach the door warily. Cindy took a karate stance.

"Be careful guys. We don't know what waits inside that door." Jimmy noticed it was open a crack.

"Do you hear that?" Carl whimpered as they got closer. There was a sort of high pitched whining noise coming from inside.

"Yeah…it kind of sounds like –"

Jimmy threw open the door to reveal a disheveled room full of feline creatures.

"- cats?" Libby finished.

"Don't let your guard down! It could be a trap." Jimmy reminded.

"Yeah, for all we know, these are Laser Cats from episode #36!" Sheen added.

They stepped into the entry hall warily, but the cats didn't seem to have any hidden capabilities. A murmur sounded from a room to their left and Jimmy motioned for the group to follow him in that direction.

Jimmy whipped into the room, holding his Hypno-Ray out in front of him. What lay before him was terrifying, but in a completely different way than he had expected.

What seemed to be Jet Fusion lied on the derelict couch in front of the television. He had obviously gained a lot of weight, and his clothes (a white undershirt and basketball shorts) seemed unwashed and filthy. Food covered the couch in forms of potato chips and candy. His hair was overgrown and greasy and his five o'clock shadow had turned into a full beard.

"Jet?" Jimmy said in complete shock and disgust.

"Wha –" The limp body twitched and registered the five teenagers in the room. "Jimmy? Is that you?"

"Um…yeah, Jet. It's me." Jimmy said as he gingerly approached him. "What happened?"

Jet turned away and put his head in his hands as he started crying. Sheen and Carl looked away in revulsion. Cindy stood there and stared blankly at him. Jimmy looked back and forth between his friends and Jet with a look on his face that practically said, What do I do?

"Try being a little gentler." Libby suggested.

Jimmy inched toward Jet and put his hand out. He patted Jet's back a few times with a look of utter repugnance on his face.

"There, there." He managed to say.

Jet whipped his head up quickly, his face covered in tears.

"AFTER BEAUTIFUL GORGEOUS LEFT ME, I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO! FIRST IT WAS THE CATS, THEN THE FOOD... JIMMY, MY LIFE IS A BLACK HOLE!"

Jimmy glanced nervously at his friends.

"Well…we're here to help you, Jet." He patted his back again.

"Maybe you are Neutron, but I'm out. This is the lamest 'adventure' we've been on yet!" Cindy slumped down onto an armchair and crossed her arms. Jimmy glared at her.

"SHE'S RIGHT! I'M HOPELESS!" he began to sob again.

"No, you aren't!" Jimmy stated, lying through his teeth, "You're Jet Fusion! Super spy extraordinaire."

"NOT ANYMORE! NOW I'M JUST A FAT GUY LIVING WITH HIS MOTHER!"

"Wait, you live with your mother?" Sheen said, baffled.

A woman walked in the room from the other door. She basically looked exactly like Jet, but with poufy gray hair and a flowery dress. The effect was rather hideous.

"Oh, Jetty! You have friends over! How nice! I wish you would have told me, I would have cooked up something special. Do you children want cookies?" Mrs. Fusion looked over and Jimmy and his friends.

"OH! I do! I do!" Carl raised his hand.

"Alrighty, then! Be right back!" and she shuffled back into what Jimmy assumed was the kitchen.

"Listen, Jet. You've got to come out of retirement." Jimmy begged.

"WHY SHOULD I? WHAT AM I WORTH WITHOUT BEAUTIFUL?" He continued to weep mercilessly.

"Don't you remember, Jet? Before you even met her, you were the greatest spy on the planet! Not to mention, one of the greatest movie stars on the planet!" Jimmy sat next to him on the couch, trying not to get food on his clothes. Jet seemed to calm down a bit, so Jimmy continued. "You were unstoppable! Not to mention, one of my idols. So obviously, you're worth something without her! At least you're worth something to me." Jimmy gave him the most winning smile he could muster. Jet sniffled a little bit, and then smiled back.

"You're right Jimmy! It's time I turn my life around!" Jet got up and almost fell over. "I'm coming back!"

Jimmy and his friends all cheered, even if it was only because they could go home now.

"Thanks again, Jimmy Neutron. It seems you've saved my life once more." Jet leaned in to hug Jimmy. Jimmy looked away in repulsion and nearly vomited at the stench of the man as he was squeezed. When he let go, Jimmy wiped himself off.

"Alright, gang. Let's go home."

"But what about the cookies?" Carl glanced longingly at the kitchen.

"C'mon, Carl!" Jimmy grabbed his arm and they left.

..^^^..

As they flew back to Retroville, the GPS beeped and Commander Baker's face appeared on the screen.

"Good job, Agent Neutron." He smiled and gave a thumbs up.

"You could have warned me about this! I thought it was going to be a serious mission!" Jimmy complained.

"It was! You have brought our best agent back into the business! Of course…he needs a little time to get back in shape…"

"Seriously, Commander B. This was, like, the most boring and disgusting spy adventure we've ever done!" Sheen complained.

"But, don't you all feel better about having helped a man get back on track with his life?" Baker offered.

"NO!" They all said simultaneously. Baker cringed.

"Well, until next time then, Agent Neutron." He saluted and then the screen returned to its normal GPS capabilities.

"WE'RE SPIIIIIIIESSSSSS! AND WE –"

"CARL WHAT DID I SAY?" Jimmy looked back at him angrily.

"Sorry." Carl stammered, looking down at his feet.

..^^^..

A few minutes later, everyone had fallen asleep except for Jimmy and Cindy. Carl began to snore.

"So, were you planning on doing something about this?" Cindy gestured to the both of them.

"What?" Jimmy raised an eyebrow. She rolled her eyes.

"I don't know if your 'superior' perceptive skills picked up on this, but we kissed a few days ago."

"Keep it down! They could hear us!" Jimmy put a finger to hip lips.

"Please, they're all fast asleep." She looked back at them and then turned to Jimmy. "So, what do you want to do about this?" She looked at him expectantly.

"I don't know!" he said as he shrugged. He was unnerved with this conversation. Where did this come from? She had made no mention of the kisses before now.

"I gave you three days to think about this." She turned away from him angrily. Jimmy looked at her with confusion and frustration.

"I wasn't aware there was a time limit! OR THAT I EVEN HAD ANYTHING TO THINK ABOUT!" Sheen shifted in his sleep at Jimmy's yelling.

"You're going to wake them up!" She said furtively in a hushed tone.

"Sorry." He whispered. "So…did you want to go out on a…date or…something…" he asked awkwardly. That wasn't what he wanted. He could barely imagine all the ridicule they'd get from their classmates.

"No, you idiot! Then everyone would find out!"

"I know that!" he defended. Then, something dawned on him. "Wait…are you saying you want to secretly date me?"

"I didn't say anything. You have to ask." She crossed her arms and legs tightly. He could barely process what was happening.

"Are you serious? Did you, Cindy Vortex, seriously just tell me, Jimmy Neutron, to ask you out on a secret date?"

"I'm waiting." She glared. He looked at her in disbelief for what seemed like an eternity before he shook his head and tried to think of something to say.

"Do you….um…want to come over to the lab tomorrow?" He looked at her nervously, afraid she may punch him at any given moment. "I'll make sure no one knows about it." Jimmy he added quickly. Her expression and demeanor changed immediately.

"Oh, Jimmy! That's so sweet!" She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

She was ridiculous. To command him like that, and then act all innocent…she had to be completely insane. No, he had to be completely insane.

Yet, his cheek burned and he couldn't help but smile. He was unwillingly filled with elation about spending time with his arch rival tomorrow.

Cindy drifted into sleep shortly after. Despite all the anger that she had in her, she actually looked very peaceful in her sleep. And, he hated to admit, she looked beautiful.

..^^^..

Jimmy dropped everyone off to their respective houses. He and Cindy remained in the car until he pulled up at her house. They sat uncomfortably for a moment, not looking at each other. Then Cindy turned to look at him.

"I'll see you tomorrow, I guess." She smiled genuinely, and Jimmy nearly melted. Oh, puking Pluto! Why did she do this to him?

"Yeah, see you tomorrow." was all he could articulate. A goofy smile adorned his face.

Then, their third kiss. She leaned in and her soft lips met his. Once again, it was different. This was a gentle kiss. To Jimmy, it felt like they were frozen under the night sky in a moment of pure bliss where no fighting or teasing occurred. Absolute heaven.

She leaned back and hopped out of the hovercar, waving to him as he ascended into the air. He waved back and nearly drove into a tree. Even as he crawled into his bed that night, his thoughts were clouded with that kiss. It had been so different, so honest and kind. Nothing like their normal relationship.

You know, Jimmy thought to himself as he drifted off into happy dreams, maybe Cindy isn't so bad.

A/N: Hooray! I finally updated! It took me forever to think of a good concept for this chapter...I wrote about three drafts that just weren't any good! But I'm pleased with this, so HUZZAH! And see? A little more action/adventure, right? :) Review, please. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE. Seriously, I LIVE for reviews. And super thanks to all that have reviewed. I LOVE YOU. See you next chapter for Jimmy and Cindy's date... :)