Author's Note: So, here's the sitch. Mom's in rehab, school's halfway toward a disaster, and we've essentially been kicked out of our own house. I'm on spring break, though, so I shall definitely try to update again next week.
Chapter Nine: Game, Set, Match
Although the others passed the time to Dorkus's house with petty banter, Jimmy was silent. After a while, his throat constricted and he couldn't speak, even if he wanted to. When someone personally attacked one of his friends, it was hard to swallow his temper and this could still spell Sheen's death if they didn't handle things correctly. Combatting the rage was guilt. No matter what anyone said, he took it as his personal responsibility Sheen had disappeared and then nearly gotten murdered here. He could find and apprehend this 'Dorkus' and then, well…he wasn't sure. The solution was in a red haze and while he knew, in his heart, he could never really hurt someone, that didn't stop him from thinking it loudly.
Cindy shot him worried looks. Jimmy ignored her. She was walking so close to Libby, to prevent her from jumping down Aseefa's throat that any contact with Cindy would also bring Libby down on him. Carl trotted almost on Jimmy's heels and Jimmy bit back the urge to snap at him too. This wasn't Carl's fault. It wasn't anyone's fault but Jimmy's and maybe Dorkus for whatever stupid insane notion had grabbed him, but if Sheen hadn't had access to the rocket, he wouldn't be here.
"The strong silent type?" Nesmith prompted and Jimmy jumped, startled.
"No…" Jimmy said. "Not usually."
"Normally, you can't get Neutron to stop," Cindy said.
"I think you're confusing me with you," he shot back.
"Yeah right," she said. "Put a new invention in front of you and then the entire fifth grade class and you'll just ramble and ramble."
"Put a new set of clothes in front of you and you'll ramble too," he retorted.
"Maybe if Jimmy weren't so busy inventing, he would have noticed one of his rockets was missing," Libby grumbled. Jimmy flinched and Cindy dropped the subject.
"You know," Nesmith said. "Given Sheen's personality, I think he would have taken the rocket no matter what precautions anyone took. And right now, we have to focus on curing him."
"And finding Dorkus," Jimmy added, his throat tight.
They proceeded again, along the sandy surface. Now that the sun had fallen, the heat had died down, replacing it with a desert chill that made Jimmy shiver. He couldn't see any local wildlife, although he stuck close to the group just in case. Goddard flew overhead and scanned everything, but, like his master, he had nothing to add. Jimmy was grateful for his company, also grateful he was the one creature who couldn't possibly blame him.
Dorkus's house was swarming with security and Nesmith halted, frowning.
"What is it?" Aseefa asked.
"Shouldn't they all be at Sheen's house making sure no one touches him?" Nesmith said. "Especially since we informed the Emperor Sheen was still alive."
"All of your security is here?" Jimmy said in alarm.
"Another demonstration of this planet's brilliance," Cindy muttered.
Nesmith turned on Jimmy and his eyes were huge. "If Dorkus is around and he realizes Sheen isn't dead either…"
"Pukin' Pluto, we gotta get to Sheen," Jimmy said. "Goddard, Flycycle mode!"
"What about us?" Cindy said.
"You go through Dorkus's house, see if you can find any plans, anything lying around that might be helpful," Jimmy said. "I've gotta get to Sheen before Dorkus does. And if I do…"
He didn't complete the sentence. Rage and frustration filled his face and Carl whimpered, stepping back. Cindy gulped and of all of them, only Libby met his gaze head on. Aseefa was looking toward Dorkus's house and then at Goddard, who had adopted a guise that Jimmy hopped onto and grabbed Goddard's ears. Nesmith looked from Goddard to the house and back.
"There isn't room for two on that, is there?" Aseefa said, staring at it doubtfully.
"No," he said. "And I didn't bring my jetpack. Hopefully, I'll be right back."
"Neutron, do you really think we're going to let you go to Sheen's house-" Cindy started.
"No time!" he said and wheeled Goddard about in midair. "I'll be back soon!"
Gunning Goddard's turbo boosts, he shot through the air and raced toward Sheen's house, which he could see on the horizon. It was fortunate, for once, that Sheen had such gaudy tastes. Goddard scanned the house from a distance and told him there were four life forms within, and only one was human. Jimmy gulped. He couldn't fathom the other two, but he'd be willing to bet one of them was Dorkus. At the thought, he squeezed the handlebars and revved the engine. He trembled and didn't know what might really happen if he and Dorkus were in the same place.
He knew what Cindy was about to say, what his friends had really wanted. He also knew he didn't have time to argue semantics with them. Anyone could lay their hands on Sheen now and finish the job. Heck, there wasn't much to finish. If Jimmy was going to save Sheen, he had to do it now, without waiting for a consensus.
Goddard's Flycycle mode was quick and it only took Jimmy two minutes from the sand in front of Dorkus's house to crash through Sheen's bedroom window. There he flung himself off Goddard and waited for his eyes to adjust. The bedroom was bright, offending light after tearing off in the dark, and one of the voices sounded familiar and alien at the same time.
"Stand aside, damn you!" a harsh, older male said.
"Oh…oh…but I can't leave you again…" a younger boy moaned. It sounded so familiar, Jimmy did a double take.
"Carl?" he said.
"Oh great, company," the man snapped. Jimmy stared at him. He wore a black robe, the hood overshadowing his face, and he had a large, beak nose with cruel eyes. His fists balled and Goddard snapped his teeth at the man's face. Jimmy's heart raced.
"Dorkus, I presume?" he snapped. He stared, his vision settled, and saw a green alien looking remarkably like his red haired friend in front of the bed. "Who the heck are you?"
"My name's Doppi," Doppi said. "And…and he's gonna hurt Sheen. And I ran away last time, but I won't now!"
"Hurt Sheen?" Dorkus said. An eyeball with wings flapped frantically around Dorkus's head.
"It was a bad idea, I told you that, master," the eyeball said. "You didn't listen to me."
"Silence, Pinter," Dorkus snapped. "Now, Doppi, why would you think I'd hurt Sheen? I'm just going to give him the help he deserves."
"By finishing the job?" Jimmy snapped. "You're the one who poisoned him. Goddard, sic 'em!"
"Goddard?" Dorkus said blankly. "What's a 'Goddard'?"
In a flash of steel teeth and claws, Goddard flung himself at Dorkus. Pinter moved to protect his master and Goddard shot out a rubber hand to smack the eyeball creature into the wall. Doppi whimpered, withdrawing against the wall and eying Sheen. Jimmy's gaze jumped from Sheen to Dorkus and Goddard; Goddard had his teeth at Dorkus's neck and Jimmy knew he could and would kill him if given the cue. He shivered, but…he didn't tell Goddard to back off. Goddard could hold that position for a while without tiring. Dorkus attempted to smack Goddard off and Goddard responded by injecting him with a muscle relaxant.
"You really thought you were going to finish him off," Jimmy snapped. "What? You get your sick kicks out of hurting a thirteen year old kid? Did Sheen threaten you? How pathetic are you to find him threatening."
The muscle relaxant disabled his ability to move, but not his ability to talk. Dorkus's gaze landed upon him and Goddard moved, shooting out a butterfly net to ensnare Pinter and then trap him within his shell.
"I could tell Goddard to kill you right now," Jimmy said. He hardly knew himself. He was shaking in rage, so consumed by it he couldn't think straight, could barely think at all. He almost thought he could do it himself.
"And you must be Jimmy Neutron," Dorkus said. Of everything Jimmy might have been expecting, that wasn't it.
"Yeah, I am," Jimmy said. "Lemme guess. You've been eavesdropping on Sheen, just so you can know when to strike."
"Bested by a child when the real threat was his friend," Dorkus said. "Ah, the irony."
"You're going to tell me what you gave him and exactly what you did to him, so we can fix it," Jimmy said. "And then, well…I'm sure this planet will find a suitable punishment for you."
"I'm not going to tell you anything," Dorkus said. "What are you going to do? Torture me?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" he shot back.
"The way I see it- even if you capture me and people demand to hear what I did, I don't have to tell them anything," he said, smiling blithely. "Do you have a truth serum, Jimmy Neutron? Can you make me talk?"
He gritted his teeth. The truth serum had never cleared the testing phase, because of various side effects, including diarrhea and upset stomach. Moreover, it was on Earth, where it would be utterly unhelpful. His vision clouded for a second, narrowing to Dorkus with Goddard at his throat, and Jimmy balled his fists, which were shaking too hard to effectively hit anything. His chest ached and he inhaled shakily, not trusting himself for a moment to speak.
"Fine," he said. "Don't tell us. Goddard can take a sample and analyze its composition. We don't need you."
"Then you won't mind my telling you there might be a time accelerant in the poison and he might only live another day and a half, not three?" Dorkus said.
Jimmy had never wanted to throttle someone more in his life. He knew it wouldn't accomplish anything and he knew this smug troglodyte wouldn't tell him anything, but damn it, it was so tempting.
"No," Jimmy said through clenched teeth. "Not at all."
Dorkus's abode looked like a medieval torture chamber. Although they sprang no traps entering, there were a disturbing amount of blades, sharp implements, and poisons lingering, carefully marked, but still disturbing. Aseefa and Libby made a beeline for the desk while Nesmith and Cindy examined the bottles Dorkus kept in a cabinet. Carl stayed out of everyone's way. Cindy tried not to think about the possible trap Jimmy had rushed into and tried not to verbally abuse him in her thoughts. There'd be time to berate him later.
"They're not labeled," Cindy grumbled. "Great. How do we know what's poison and what's a cooking element?"
"Maybe someone could taste them?" Carl said.
From across the room, Aseefa looked up from a notebook. Libby held an identical one and scanned it furiously.
"My Chocktaw could help," she said. "He can eat anything without getting too sick."
"I'm afraid that wouldn't work," Nesmith said. "We're trying to identify what made Sheen sick and locate the antidote. In a species immune to most poisons, we'd never know."
Cindy scanned the bottles. They were clear, various colors, and various consistencies. "What about the notebook, Libbs?"
"This guy's crazy," Libby snapped. "He's been writing out plans on how to kill Sheen since he got here."
"I remember a few of these," Aseefa said. "They seemed unlikely to succeed."
"A backup plan for a backup plan…" Libby said. "There's gotta be a plan in here for every day of the week. Six months' worth of them."
"Maybe if we went chronologically…" Aseefa mused. "For example, the plan with the play happened a couple months ago. Oh, but I wasn't here for most of this…"
"Off romancing another stranded human?" Libby snapped. Cindy grimaced.
"What?" Aseefa said, blinking rapidly. "What are you talking about?"
"That monkey here-"
"That monkey has a name, you know," Nesmith grumbled. They ignored him.
"That monkey here says Sheen has a crush on you," Libby continued. "I'm here to tell you that if anyone in this room is his girlfriend, it's me."
Aseefa did a double take. Cindy could see her assessing the proper response to someone who was just as worried as her about Sheen and the proper species, to boot. Behind her, Nesmith had stopped peering at the bottles and watched Libby and Aseefa.
"Sheen never mentioned you," Aseefa said.
Libby cracked her knuckles. "After he wakes up and I slap him upside the head, we'll see how things change."
"I…" At a loss, Aseefa looked at Nesmith. "Is this normal for human society? Sheen told me he was a great warrior."
Cindy laughed. "The only thing Sheen ever fought was a line at an Ultra Lord convention."
Aseefa stared at Cindy now. "He was the best, the greatest in his generation."
This time, both girls laughed.
"Girl, if you believe that one…" Libby said.
"He was lying, then?" Aseefa said.
"Not lying," Nesmith said. "Stretching the truth. He does like you, after all."
Aseefa glowered. "In my culture, lying can be a serious offense."
"Good, then you can leave him alone," Libby muttered.
"No, I don't think so," Aseefa said. They locked gazes and the hostility was palpable. Libby balled her fists and then grabbed Aseefa by the collar.
"You stay away from Sheen if you know what's good for you," Libby growled.
"You will release me at once if you know what's good for you," Aseefa countered.
"Oh boy…" Cindy muttered.
"I don't know what was going on behind my back here, but it's gonna stop right now," Libby said. Aseefa flung her across the room and into the desk before Cindy had a chance to blink.
"That's right," she countered. "It is."
Libby rolled with it and sprang back to her feet. She didn't have the training Cindy had and raw anger could be channeled, but if Aseefa was half the warrior she claimed…Cindy moved in front quickly.
"I know you're upset, Libby-"
"Damn right I'm upset!" Libby snapped and tried to shove Cindy out of the way. Cindy whirled, wrenching Libby's arms behind her back. Squawking in outrage, Libby fought her wildly and Cindy knocked her feet out from under her.
"If this girl is half the warrior she thinks she is, you're gonna get your butt handed to you," Cindy hissed.
"And I'm supposed to let her keep Sheen and have her walk all over me?" Libby snarled.
Cindy moved so her arm was around Libby's neck and she pressed her against her, the other arm pinned behind her back.
"You're supposed to realize this isn't helping and if we want to save Sheen, you have to worry about this later," she hissed.
Libby trembled and was silent. For the span of a few heartbeats, nothing happened. And then Libby screamed, an animal cry of pain and rage, and fell silent. Cindy shuddered.
"For now, maybe," she said. "But you'd better switch with me."
Cindy released her and Libby glared at Aseefa from across the room.
"I sure hope Jimmy gets back soon," Libby muttered.
