We get the plot moving with this chapter! Do you think they will still have psychologist in the future? Eh…probably not. Learn Max's secret in this chapter…

Enjoy…

Chapter 9: Promise of a Lifetime

Later that day, after their battle with the evil SpongeCog, Jimmy and the others dragged the difficult Max into Fenton Works after discovering he and his robot companion were the mysterious figure the entire time, and that he was actually Jimmy's son from the future.

Max had now calmed down and was sitting at the coffee table in the living room, drawing on a piece of paper with crayons. His robot, SpongeBorg, was doing the same yet just scribbling a bunch of lines on his own piece of paper with various colors.

Dani and Sam were sitting on the couch, presumably supervising the two as to make sure they didn't try to do anything they might consider suspicious- or at least try to run away; while Jimmy and Timmy were on the other side of the room having a discussion with the younger kids.
"So," Jimmy began as he quickly glanced over his shoulder to see Max. "You really believe he's my future son?" he asked the kids.

"Yeah, he has to be." Darry said as he nodded in certain.

"Although, where we're from, he's supposed to be only one-year-old." Tommy pointed out.

"I guess all that milk he's been drinking really paid off." SpongeTron assumed with a shrug.

Tammy groaned in frustration and shouted, "Can't you see it? The only explanation has to be that he comes from the distant future that Clockwork was talking about."

"The distant future? That's gotta be the reason why! He's an older Max." Darry nodded with a smile. "He calls me 'Scottie' since he's a baby and can't say my real name yet." But then his eyes widen in horror and he holds the sides of his head in panic. "Oh man…but if that's really him, and he still calls me that even when he's older… that means he's never gonna learn my real name! AAAH!"

"Wait a minute!" Timmy shouted, stopping his screaming. "How can that brat possibly be related to Jimmy?" he asked, looking over at Max. "I mean the head and the doopy hair make sense, but he's nothing but a loud-mouth little jerk."

"But that can't be true." Tammy said in denial. "Max is supposed to be sweet and smart."

"She's right." SpongeTron said, agreeing with Tammy. "There has to be some sort of explanation for that."

"Well, my son or not, he still has to answer all of our questions." Jimmy said as he turned around to look over at Max. "If he's really from the distant future, I would like to know why he's here and if he has any connection to what's going on. Plus if he's really my son…maybe he has a little of my genetics." He smiled as he tapped the side of his head.

Then the group walked over to the coffee table and prepared to ask Max all their questions. "Max," Jimmy began. "We'd like to have a word with you."

Max did not respond and instead showed them the picture he had drawn with his crayons. It was a crude drawing of a strange object that they probably have never even seen. When squinting their eyes, it kinda looked like a type of laser.

Darry gave an unsure chuckle and said, "Um…that's a pretty picture. Is it a tree?"

But Max did not look amused by the compliment and just continued showing them the picture with the bottom half of his face hidden behind the paper. "You know about this, don't you?" he callously asked.

"Know about what?" Tommy asked.

"I know you read my book." Max said, slamming the picture down on the table. "You know everything about it, don't you?"

"Wait, you mean Platform?" Jimmy asked, now understanding. "That picture is of Platform?"

"Duh, of course it is."

"We didn't see any picture of Platform in that book." Darry pointed out. "Only parts of it."

"Well, I've seen it all." Max said in a smug tone. "So none of you would know what it really looks like, Scottie."

"It's Darry!" he frustratingly pointed out.

"Yeah, so? It's not my fault you have a stupid middle name."

Darry became furious at this, "WHAT?"

"Max," Tammy said in a calm tone. "You shouldn't be so mean to people like that."

Max just turned to her and asked, "And who are you to tell me what to do, four-eyes?"

Tammy gasped, taken aback, as Tommy got between them and angrily shouted, "Hey! No one calls my sister that- except for me!"

"And what are you gonna do about it, beaver teeth?" Max shouted in Tommy's face.

Dani quickly stood up and pulled them apart. "Stop it, you two! This is no time to be fighting!"

Max just stood there and glared at Dani, looking like he wanted to say something. This did not go unnoticed by Jimmy and he quickly warned, "And if you say one insult to her, I'll…spank you, young man."

Max angrily growled at this and sat back down on the floor, pounding his hands on the coffee table. "You'll never be my real dad." He said to the older genius in resentment.

Jimmy, Timmy, and Darry kept a focused expression on him. "Now how about telling us why you're here and what you know?" Darry demanded.

"Why should I?" Max asked as he crossed his arms and turned his head away. "None of this concerns you anyway. None of you should even be involved."

But then SpongeBorg turned his head to Max and made beeping noises. Max stared at SpongeBorg as he listened to his 'words'.

Then Max replied bitterly, "Why should we? Just because he and Scottie are here, doesn't mean we need them."

SpongeBorg made a series of beeps again, but Max turned his head away and refused to listen anymore.

"Need help with what?" SpongeTron questioned to Max after listening to SpongeBorg's pleading, clearly able to understand every word the little robot was saying. "What did he mean about you being in danger, Maxie?"

Jimmy stared in astonishment at SpongeBorg's incomprehensible language that could only be understood by SpongeTron, and even Max. Something about this reminded him of his own beloved robot, but he didn't wanna make anymore comparisons that could possibly make it anymore clear that he was the future father of the ill-tempered boy.

'So what if I tell them everything.' Jimmy heard Max say. 'It's not like they'll believe me anyway.'

"What was that, Max?" Jimmy asked, quickly turning his head to Max to see him with his arms crossed and a pout on his face, not even acknowledging anything going on around him.

But once Jimmy got his attention, his eyes widen in horror and quickly shook it off as he pounded on the table and shouted, "What are you talking about? I didn't say anything!"

Afterwards, Max just continued sulking until SpongeBorg patted his back, prompting him to tell them everything.

He gave a large sigh and said, "Fine, I'll tell you." Max crossed his arms again and got a serious expression. "You guys should have figured out I'm from ten years into the future from Scottie's timeline. But here, that would precisely be twenty-six years from now."

"So you really are Jimmy's kid." Sam said in amazement until she asked, "Does your…other dad know you're here?"

Max did not respond, and just looked away from her as he closed his eyes with a frown. "Anyway…" he continued, "In my timeline, there's this war going on."

Everyone all gasped at this in shock at what he said. "A war?" Tammy questioned in horror.

"Whoa, really?" Timmy asked, equally surprised.

"That's terrible." Dani added.

"A war between who?" Sam wanted to know.

To answer Sam's question, Max responded, "That's easy: you guys." The group was even more shocked- until Max added, "…and DarkEvil LaserPants."

"That's crazy!" Darry yelled, "Clockwork told us he escaped to the distant future, but he didn't say it was this bad!"

"But how could someone like DarkEvil start a war in the far future?" Timmy asked. "I know he's dangerous, but…"

"Relax, I'll explain." Max responded. "That is IF YOU STOP INTERRUPTING ME!"

Though annoyed with his outburst, they all complied and stayed silent to allow him to continue.

"Alright, where was I?" Max scratched his chin and then went on, "Oh yeah, the thing is we thought he disappeared all those years ago. My mom said I wouldn't remember something like that because I was still a baby. But when it was discovered that he had suddenly reappeared, my old man had Scottie lead the Nicktoons to go track down his trail and apprehend him. I don't know why though…I mean, Scottie's such a dumb leader, he can't do anything right."

As he listened, Darry gritted his teeth and growled furiously as he clenched his fist. But Jimmy held his shoulder to calm him down.

"Anywho," Max said, seemingly bored as he leaned on the coffee table, "Yeah, they did capture DarkEvil, and they brought him to HQ to interrogate him, I guess. Of course like I said, Scottie and those idiots SUPPOSEDLY captured DarkEvil."

"Supposedly?" Jimmy repeated in question.

"Yeah. It turned out to be that dumb SpongeCog in disguise and he attacked everyone, stealing a bunch of weapons and equipment in the process." Then Max regained his serious look, "Which is bad because my dad keeps all his dangerous stuff in the Weapons Vault of HQ, and the only way to get in is with handprint analyzer and voice recognition. But for someone like SpongeCog, getting in was nothing. He escaped of course- thanks to Scottie, but when he got back to his creator that's when all the trouble started.

"DarkEvil copied the designs of the weapons, enhanced their features, made his own modifications, and equipped them onto an army of robots called 'EvilGrunts'. So it was afterwards that they all invaded and a war was set between the Nicktoons and DarkEvil LaserPants. It's been going on for a while now, and the good side has been doing their best to keep everyone safe from the danger being set forth by that stupid sponge."

"But what does this all have to do with Platform and that instruction book?" Tommy asked.

"It goes back five years ago." Max explained, "My dad said that with all his traveling he used to do when he was my age, he came up with the idea for a machine that can benefit us all. But it would be complicated, and almost as difficult as some mecha power suit he built when he was also my age. So back then, all he did was create schematics for it, the probabilities for controls and functions, and retrieved most of the technology he needed. Back then, it was something he worked on whenever he had the chance, and he never told anyone about it- except me.

"But because of what happened, he worked to finish it, and told us that he will use it to change the universe and stop the war from happening. However, you were right that he created the book as an instruction manual to show us how it worked."

Jimmy eyes were widened in astonishment as he listened. "So…" he asked, almost speechless, "You're saying that Platform…was created by…"

"Duh, who else?" Max bitterly answered, "I did say it was my dad, weren't you listening?"

"Yeah, yeah, just go on." Timmy insisted.

Max didn't bother to complain this time, and continued, "Yeah, so my dad knew that something like this was delicate when used the wrong way; and if it got into the wrong hands, it could mean the end of the universe for us all. So he inputted a digit security code that would lock all controls to Platform unless the code was entered. He came up with the code himself so that no one would know it but him."

"Isn't the code written down in the manual?" SpongeTron recalled.

"Of course not!" Max shouted in annoyance, "My dad's a genius. Why would he write down something so crucial where anybody could see it?"

"So only my future self knows the code, right?" Jimmy questioned to himself, and then looked back at Max. "But DarkEvil has Platform with intentions to use it. If he doesn't know the code to activate it, why bother having it?"

"Unless he has Max's dad in his clutches." Tammy guessed.

While they were conversing, Max looked down at the table and closed his eyes, looking like he might start to cry.

"Max?" SpongeTron asked, noticing his expression. "What's wrong?"

"NOTHING!" Max hollered angrily, catching everyone's attention. "My dad's fine! Even though he knows the code, he's not the one DarkEvil's after!"

"Wait…does that mean somebody else knows the code?" Darry asked.

Max opened his eyes and had an almost vulnerable look on his face as he began to explain, "It happened about two days ago. My dad was leaving to go help the others in a battle against DarkEvil's forces. I didn't want him to leave. I even offered to go with him to help, but he told me I had to stay at home with my mom and SpongeBorg. I told him that he should stay and use the Platform invention he had been working on, but he said that it had to be used when he got back and all his friends were safe.

"But I still didn't want him to leave. I secretly didn't wanna be left alone in case I accidentally-" but then he shook his head and retained his serious look, "Anyway, I didn't want him to leave because I was worried he wouldn't come back. But my dad said he would no matter what, and knew just how he would show me that he would keep his promise. He pulled me close and whispered in my ear the code to Platform."

Everyone gasped at this except for Jimmy, who just stood there in stunned silence, almost feeling sorry for the ill-tempered little boy.

Max then continued, "Then he made me swear not to tell anyone the code. Dad said he knew he could trust me to keep it secret, and all I had to do was trust him that he'll keep his. Then afterwards, he left and all I had to do was wait."

"Oh Max," Sam said in a comforting tone as she placed her hands on Max's shoulders. "I'm sorry about everything that happened."

"But if you said that DarkEvil wasn't after your dad for the code," Tammy began saying, "then that doesn't mean…"

Before she could try and finish, Max walked away from Sam and stood by himself in the middle of the living room. "If you're not acting like Scottie, then yes it does!"

"I happen to be thinking the same thing too!" Darry pointed out bitterly before his expression turned sympathetic, "He's…after you, isn't he?"

Max hid his sad expression from the others and explained, "Yes. He somehow found out that I knew the code, and has been sending his stupid SpongeCog robots to capture me ever since. SpongeBorg and I ran into my dad's lab, and found his old Wormhole Generator. I managed to activate it and it brought us here, so we can hide. I also took one of the Recallers so I can hide in the other universes if I had to- which by the way, is actually the old Recaller that belonged to Scottie's dad."

Darry growled angrily at this while Dani and Sam looked equally annoyed as him.

"But Max," Jimmy started saying, "You do know that DarkEvil is still trying to find you. That's why his SpongeCog bots have been showing up. They're still trying to hunt you down."

"You think I don't know that, fudge head?" Max shouted bitterly. "I don't even wanna be here anyway. Just let me and SpongeBorg leave and you won't have to worry about it."

"We're not gonna do that, Max." Darry said as he walked over and leaned down to his height. "We wanna keep you safe. None of us want DarkEvil to capture you just so he can get that code. What is the code anyway?"

"That's none of your business, Scottie!"

"It's Darry!"

"I'm still not telling, Sco-tee!"

"Max, stop this!" Jimmy angrily demanded. "Darry's right. If you tell us the code, maybe we can find a way to keep Platform from being used and-"

"NO!" Max yelled out. "Weren't you even listening? I'm keeping my promise to Dad, and I'm not telling ANYONE the code! So quit worrying about me and stay out of my face!"

Then he ran out of the living room and into the kitchen with no one bothering to go after him. SpongeBorg gave a sad moan as he watched him leave.

"Man…" Timmy said in bewilderment. "What a brat."

That pretty much sums it all up, doesn't it? What is the code to Platform, is Max safe with Jimmy and the others, will he tell everyone the code? Please review what you think.