A/N: And here we are, part one of the two part TV Movie! Enjoy!

Jimmy didn't get very much sleep that night.

He was… well, the most appropriate word would be bewildered. Nobody had ever been that absolutely furious with him ever before. And Cindy was always angry with him. It was just so… real that time. It seemed so permanent. Whenever they argued, it was always in the back of his mind that it would be back to normal the next day; all would be forgotten. This time was different.

He had to wonder if it was his fault. Yes he was a jerk at school – though stupid Henry had it coming – and yes, he kind of invaded her privacy. Still, he didn't think that garnered the response he received. She had been crying when he first got there. Jimmy wondered why.

Was it really just him? A wave of guilt rushed over his body. But, no. It couldn't be. He'd done much worse in the past. Why would this time be different? No, there must have been some kind of outside force affecting the outcome, some unseen variable…. But what?

He thought about what might be bothering Cindy. He suddenly realized how very little he knew about her personal life. They didn't spend much time talking in the lab, of course. And though he had known her for most of his life, they mainly argued about this scientific fact or that historical paradigm. Cindy was always something familiar to him – the sound of her voice, the angry look on her face, the touch of her skin during forbidden hours – but now she seemed like a complete stranger. A foreign entity that was most likely to dangerous to investigate.

Well, for once he was determined to make it up to her. He'd win her over with his genius and dashing charm, and maybe she'd open up and tell him. Not likely, but worth a shot. Besides, anything was possible when he put his mind to it. And he had the perfect idea.

..^^^..

"Libby, I'm really not in the mood." Cindy crossed her arms as Libby dragged her down the sidewalk.

"C'mon, we'll get some ice cream and you'll feel better." Libby smiled winningly. Cindy huffed and reluctantly followed her best friend to the Candy Bar.

They made it to the shoddy establishment within a few minutes. Cindy and Libby sat down at their usual booth in the corner and ordered.

"I'm sorry about the valedictorian thing, girl." Libby offered. Cindy blew her bangs out of her face as she rested her hand on her cheek.

"It's not like I didn't expect it." Cindy sighed.

She wasn't delusional. She knew deep down she had no hope of procuring the position of valedictorian with Freak Boy at her school. Still, it stung a little. That wasn't the worst of it, though. The worst was her mother. She didn't yell. She didn't scream. She just sat there at the kitchen table with the notice in her hands. The letter announcing Cindy as Salutatorian had come in the mail earlier that day. And her mother had nothing to say to her. No congratulations, no celebratory hugs, not even a proud glance. As if it wasn't a big deal coming second only to Nerdtron! Time Magazine wrote an article classifying him with the greatest geniuses of all time! And he was only thirteen at the time! But no, it still wasn't good enough for her mother. It was all his fault, really! If it weren't for him, Cindy's life would be perfect! She was forced to hate him!

And yet she found herself walking over to his lab every evening! Why did she do that? What possibly attracted her to him? The simple answer came easily – his intelligence – the very same that commanded her to hate him! Why did it have to be him? Why did they have to meet? He made her life so difficult, so confusing! And then, he thought it was okay to just fly up to her room? The idiot! When she noticed him watching her in her vulnerable state, something snapped. All of the emotions tied up into that moment exploded. She couldn't quite erase to look on his face as she shut the window. He was hurt, and part of her was glad she was. The other part was too confused to determine its feelings.

"Well, if it means anything, I'm really happy for you, Cin." Libby smiled.

"Thanks, Libbs. It does." Their ice cream came and they sat there chatting contentedly about mundane things unrelated to the valedictorian. "You know, I am feeling better." Cindy gave a weak grin after a few minutes.

A bell tinkled, signifying a new customer. Cindy watched as the three of them entered the Candy Bar. She felt her good mood vanish immediately. Her thoughts were consumed by a single hope: maybe he won't see me. Libby noticed Cindy had stopped talking.

"Hey, Cin, what is it?" Libby turned to look in the same direction as Cindy. "Hey guys!" Libby waved the three of them over.

Cindy wanted nothing more than to kick Libby in the shins under the table.

"Hello LADIES!" Sheen exclaimed as he walked over. "Special lady." He nodded to Libby as he scooted in next to her. Carl followed him, leaving the only seat for Jimmy next to the blond girl who was desperately hoping to become invisible.

Jimmy scooted slowly onto the seat. His pants slid across the rubbery cushion material causing a squeak each time he moved. He finally ceased adjusting, giving Cindy a good bit of personal space. He smiled uncomfortably over at her.

"Hey." He said softly. She furrowed her eyebrows and didn't respond. "Alright, then."

"So, guess what guys?" Carl laughed excitedly and let out a snort. "My dad has promised that this summer I can visit El Guapozapato, Argentina! It's the llama capital of the world!" he gushed.

"That's, uh, great, Carl." Libby tried to sound earnest.

"And by that she means TOTALLY LAME, dude!" Sheen laughed openly until Libby kicked his foot. "OW!" he called out. She glared at him. "I mean, totally cool, Carl."

"You know, guys," Jimmy stated to the whole table, but he kept looking over for Cindy's reaction, "I've been thinking we should take a trip together soon. We haven't been up in space for a while. The views from Mars should be spectacular this evening." Jimmy patted himself on the back for a well-placed lure. Cindy loved going out into space. She was always talking about how pretty it was out there. And maybe seeing those views from the unpolluted skies of Mars would remind her of a happier day spent on that same planet years earlier.

"ALL RIGHT, AN ADVENTURE!" Sheen exclaimed.

"Oh, count me in!" Libby smiled.

"I guess it'll be okay as long as we don't run into those scary Martians again." Carl nodded.

"Cin?" Libby prompted.

"No. I don't feel good today." She responded, not looking up.

"But I'm sure this will cheer you up more than a little ice cream! C'mon, Cin!" Libby pleaded.

"No. I don't want to." This time, she looked directly at Jimmy.

"Whatever, party pooper. LAST ONE TO THE ROCKET HAS TO HOLD CARL'S HAND DURING LIFTOFF!" Sheen screamed as he ran out of the restaurant. Libby followed, shooting a sorry look at Cindy. Carl trotted close behind. Jimmy glanced at Cindy one last time before he too left the Candy Bar.

Cindy sat alone at the booth watching the melting ice cream drip down her cone.

..^^^..

Jimmy prepared the rocket for travel back in his lab. He was frustrated his ploy didn't work. He thought that she'd never be able to pass up a trip into space. Now what was he going to do to get back on her good side? He'd have to think about that on the trip to Mars. The stupid one he was taking that had turned out to be pointless. Oh, well. He'd make it quick. Just fly over, do a little stargazing, and hop right back to Retroville. Maybe he could still make up with Cindy by the end of the day.

"Alright! Everybody in!" Jimmy called as he took the pilot's seat.

"I've never made out in space before!" Sheen raised his eyebrows and glanced at Libby.

"EW! SHEEN!" Carl called.

"What? It'll be like a scientific experiment-thingy. Right, Jimmy?" Sheen called.

"Sure, Sheen." He dismissed, hardly paying attention.

"HA! See?" he stuck his tongue out at Carl.

"Sheeeeeeen! You're going to ruin the whole trip!"

"The both of you are ruining the trip now with all your arguing!" Libby interjected.

"Liftoff in 5… 4… 3… 2…" Jimmy began.

"CARL! LET GO OF MY HAND!" Sheen yanked his hand up.

"BLASTOFF!"

They soared out over Retroville. As they passed the Candy Bar, Jimmy wondered briefly if Cindy was still in there. They continued upward, passing through the atmosphere. Finally, they broke through into the glittering vastness of space. Jimmy was normally comforted by the beauty of the twinkling stars and glowing planets, but today he was only conscious of how much Cindy liked space. He recalled the first time the came up together when they were rescuing their parents from the Yolkians. He laughed to himself remembering their immature little exchange. She had been admiring the stars, being one of the few children there to really appreciate their beauty. She had looked over to Jimmy with a smile which he returned briefly before making a gagging sound and turning away.

He thought about how nice it would be for just the two of them to be up there, alone, after recent events… but that wasn't going to happen until he won her over again. He increased speed. This trip had to be quick. They zoomed towards Mars.

"Moon, moon, moon! You're so –" Carl began singing.

"CARL! NO SONGS!" Sheen shouted.

They steadied into orbit around Mars. Jimmy put the rocket on autopilot.

"Alright, everyone. Fifteen minutes and we're heading back." he stated.

"Fifteen minutes? I thought this was a trip!" Libby put her hands on her hips.

"It's a quick trip." Jimmy snapped back. He reached into his backpack and pulled out some small telescopes. "Here, I brought these. Don't break them, they're made of highly expensive – and not to mention flammable – zinc alloys."

Libby and Sheen talked animatedly about the stars. Carl sat humming to himself as he peered through his telescope. Jimmy was slumped in the pilot's seat barely bothering to observe the stars. His mind was whirring about what to do with Cindy. He really should think of a plan before they headed back down to earth. But what could he possibly do? He'd already offered to take her to her favorite place.

"What's the matter, Jim?" Carl asked, noticing his sullen behavior.

"Nothing, Carl. I'm just having a hard time figuring out this problem –" He tried to explain without giving anything away.

"Oh, it's math? Well, okay, you just do that, Jimmy, and I'll be over here looking at stars." Carl backed away. Jimmy laughed quietly to himself.

"No, Carl. It's okay. Here, I'll help you track some constellations." Jimmy followed him to the other end of the rocket. "You see, Carl, constellations are taken from earth's point of view so from this angle it's more difficult to find the same clusters. Take Orion, for example. It's the closest to earth, and therefore looks quite different from this vantage point."

Jimmy took Carl's telescope and held it to his eye, scanning for Orion. He spotted the familiar group of stars. There was Bellatrix, Castor, Pollux, Sirius, and… where was Betelgeuse? Jimmy reexamined the area it was supposed to occupy. There it was! He saw a soft glow. That was strange, though. Even from that angle, Betelgeuse should still have been very bright. Yet, it was dimmer than most of the stars surrounding it.

Scientific curiosity called him to examine it. But he was supposed to be going back soon to confront his problems with Cindy… Oh, he gave up. He had no idea what to do about that, anyway. Scientific discovery beckoned!

"Looks like you're in luck, Libby. We'll be up here for quite a while longer. We're taking a trip over to the star Betelgeuse!" Jimmy announced as he sat back down in the pilot's seat and turned off the autopilot.

"ALRIGHT!" Sheen threw his hands in the air.

"Is it Betelgeuse like that movie with the scary man?" Carl asked nervously.

"No Carl. That's Beetlejuice." Jimmy corrected.

"I don't hear the difference…" Carl looked off into the distance nervously. Jimmy disregarded this and took the rocket out of Mars' orbit and into the vast emptiness of space.

..^^^..

The trip was long. Jimmy knew that it would be a few hours, but he had not anticipated how his companions would react to such a lengthy trip.

"ARE WE THERE, YET?" Sheen asked for the one hundred and forty-seventh time.

"NO, SHEEN. WE ARE NOT THERE, YET." Jimmy snapped back, tired of him asking every five minutes. They were getting closer. The red giant was very visible to the naked eye, now. However, it did not glow with its normal force. It was a glimmering maroon-ish color.

"Betelgeuse is due to go supernova within the next million years. It shouldn't be getting dimmer; it should be getting brighter…" Jimmy mumbled to himself.

Suddenly, a massive asteroid came between them and Betelgeuse, bathing them in a shadow. Jimmy quickly jerked the steering wheel of the rocket in order to avoid collision.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Jimmy swerved around in space, throwing Libby, Sheen, and Carl around the rocket.

"WHERE DID THAT ASTEROID EVEN COME FROM?" Libby shouted over the roar of the rocket.

"I DON'T KNOW!" Jimmy shouted back as he pulled on the wheel. "I don't think I'm going to make it!"

They were being pulled down to the surface of the asteroid by its gravity. The surface was a dusty brown color littered with jagged rocks. Not the best place for a crash landing.

"WHY MUST THE GOOD DIE YOUNGGGGGGGGGGGG!" Sheen called out.

Jimmy pulled up the wheel as far as it would go. His arms were quickly getting sore and he wasn't sure he could hold on much longer.

"BRACE FOR IMPACT!" he yelled as they approached the surface.

The rocket skidded across the surface, emitting a high pitched scratching noise that was ear-splitting. They were hurtling towards a large rock jutting out of the dirty surface. They hit it with a loud clang, throwing Jimmy, Sheen, Carl, and Libby out of the ship. They flew several feet through the air until they plummeted onto the unforgiving ground. They moaned as they stood up.

"Ugh, what just happened?" Libby cradled her bruised arm.

"The rocket!" Jimmy shouted. "It's completely busted!"

"How are we going to get home?" Carl asked, panicked.

"You're not going home." A deep voice echoed from behind them. They whipped their heads around. About twenty feet away stood an exact copy of Jimmy, but without the familiar hairdo.

"Evil Clone!" Jimmy exclaimed. "But, how did you –"

"How did I re-materialize after the destruction of my evil planet? Well, it's a bit of a long story, but I'll give you the basics. After you saved the day on earth and yadda yadda yadda, the remains of the planet and I, barely in existence, floated off into space. I had a lot of time to think of what to do - five years, actually. I waited until we got close enough to a star and then I harnessed the energy. I've been gaining strength from Betelgeuse for the last few years, and when the transfer is complete, we're going to let the energy loose right by earth – causing a supernova explosion!"

"We?" Jimmy asked, confused. "Who's we?"

"Why, we are the survivors of the evil planet's destruction! C'mon, friends! Let's show them!" Evil Clone called behind him.

Evil cloned versions of Sheen, Libby, and Carl appeared. Behind them were many other familiar, but more deranged looking, faces. Ms. Fowl, Sam, Mr. Wheezer… and there, in the back, was an evil clone of Cindy.

"Now, we can't have you all ruining our malicious plan, can we?" Evil Clone smiled devilishly. "GET THEM!" He pointed and an army of evil clones rushed after the terrified friends.

"QUICK! Into the rocket! It might still work if I adjust it!" Jimmy called to his friends.

They ran over to the crushed vehicle. Jimmy immediately began throwing out unnecessary part and altering the mechanics.

"JIMMY! HURRY!" Sheen shouted.

The clones were getting too close. They weren't going to make it.

"There! Got it!" Jimmy cried as he hopped into the rocket. It was too late for the others, though. The evil clones were grabbing them and holding them to the ground.

"Jimmy! Go back and get help!" Libby called out from under an evil version of the Corki Shimatsu.

"But –"

"JUST GO!" she bellowed.

Jimmy looked back at them guiltily for a moment before taking off.

..^^^..

He landed back on earth cursorily. He was in a panic – his best friends were in danger, but so was the entire earth! There was only one person he could think to ask for help from. He ran up the steps to the white door of the pink house across the street.

He rang the doorbell.

A/N: BUM BUM BUMMMMMMMM! Part one is DONE! Please review and let me know if you liked it. I realize this part was a little slow, but I promise part two will be ACTION-PACKED! I might even update later tonight or tomorrow since this is kind of like a single episode and I already know what I'm going to write. Reviews really help me write, so if you want a quick update, the best way to give me motivation is REVIEWING! Alright, see you guys soon when Jimmy and Cindy go off together to save the day! (That's going to be awkward and hilarious, isn't it? :D )