Strange Title. I combined two chapters again, since otherwise they're pretty short. And, yeah, I know my other fic is a lot more popular, but I'm updating this one again since I actually have a chapter READY and I'm still working on the chapter for "Someday"... For those of you biting your nails at the cliffy I left you...DEAL WITH IT:-D

PS Guess what? I DON'T OWN JIMMY NEUTRON! Just thought I'd let ya know.

Chapter 13: Zero Tolerance, Jet Boots, and Milkshakes

Cindy was still leading Libby, Sheen, and Carl deep into the jungle's dark, steamy interior. Strange noises from all sorts of animals and insects surrounded them. The sun barely penetrated to the ground far below the treetops, and every leaf in the jungle dripped with water. Mosquitoes buzzed annoyingly in their faces and their shoes constantly slipped and sank in mud. Panting, Carl plodded along behind the rest of the kids while Libby listened to her CD player to pass the time. Suddenly, Sheen dropped to his knees dramatically and began crawling in the mud!

"Must…see…Ultralord!" he gasped.

Carl held his back in pain. "I think my scapula has irreversible damage!"

Cindy glared at both of them. "I've warned you once; I'm not gonna warn you again!" she exclaimed.

At that moment, Libby slipped in the mud on the edge of a swamp. She dropped her CD player and it sank into the marshy depths!

"Oh, no!" she cried frantically. "My music! I NEED my music!"

Sheen stopped crawling on his stomach and sank all the way down to the ground. "Can't…go on…without…Ultralord."

Libby stared, horrified, at the swamp water and Carl collapsed on the ground beside Sheen. Cindy stopped and turned back to look at them. Even Goddard's ears drooped, his tail hung low, and his energetic trot had slowed to a sad trudge. When the kids stopped, he did too.

"Our lives end here!" Sheen announced melodramatically.

"What's wrong with you, Ultra-nerd?!" Cindy demanded impatiently. "We have food and water! We're all fine! We just have to keep walking until we find some shale!"

"Not without Ultralord!" Sheen protested.

"Not without my music!" Libby panicked.

"Not without my mommy!" Carl whined.

"Libby!" Cindy cried.

"Girl, ya know I can't LIVE without my music!" Libby explained. "That was my new CD of Boys Pretendin' to Be Men!"

"I'll buy you a new CD!" Cindy responded shortly. "Just help me with the two drama queens!"

Libby wiped the sweat and mud off her forehead and gave in. "Fine." She turned to the boys. "Guys, come on! We gotta help Jimmy!"

"But…" Carl started.

"He always helped us when we needed it!" Libby pointed out.

"And now he's gone! Poor guy!" Sheen lamented. "We need to watch Ultralord to console ourselves! WAIT! There's no TV out here! NOOOO!" He dropped back to the ground tragically.

"Will you be quiet?!" Cindy glared at him.

Libby leaned her head on her hand and sighed, exasperated.

"Ultralord…" Sheen moaned.

"I think the wart on the bottom of my foot was aggravated by all this walking," Carl remarked, as if any of his friends cared to hear that.

Sheen continued to lie on the ground and moan. "Ultra—"

"THAT'S IT!" Cindy broke in.

Neither of the boys moved. But instead of heading over to them, Cindy stomped over to a log, crossed her arms angrily, and plopped down.

"Great!" she fumed. "Now we're going to die in a jungle with these idiots because Nerdbomb had to run off and get himself caught! I don't think I can stand these two for one more second!"

Libby glanced down at her mud-splattered clothes. "I don't think I can stand this jungle for one more second, either!" she added.

Cindy's fury and impatience, however, abruptly melted away. She leaned her head in her hands and looked as if she was fighting tears.

"I can't stand any of this," she murmured.

"I know, girl," Libby said comfortingly. "But I'm sure he's fine…I hope."

Before Cindy could object to Libby's comment, Goddard began barking and ran a few feet ahead. Libby and Cindy looked, and to their amazement, saw that the jungle ended ahead of them! But far better than that was what they saw at the edge of the jungle: shale glittering in the sunlight!

"Guys!" Libby exclaimed to the boys. "We found shale!"

Sheen jumped to his feet right away and stared at the rock. "Wow! It looks like the massive chunk of rock that Ultralord uses in episode 403 to carve into a sculpture of his beautiful Ultralady!" He raised his eyebrows at Libby, who rolled her eyes.

"Sheen, ya need to find a better way to spend your time," Libby remarked.

The three kids and Goddard reached the chunk of shale and began picking up the smaller bits surrounding it. Carl followed behind, as usual.

As Sheen held up a piece of shale, he cried out triumphantly. "Aha! Victory is ours!"

"The rest of the ingredients should be easy to find in the jungle near the Hover-Sub," Cindy announced.

"But we still gotta hurry to get back to the Hover-Sub and form fuel outta this stuff," Libby pointed out.

"I know!" Sheen shouted. "In episode 388, Ultralord uses his jet boots to propel himself to the top of a two hundred thirty-seven foot-high cliff!"

Everyone stared at him.

Sheen shrugged. "Well, I'm outta ideas."

"Goddard can just fly us all up there," Carl reminded.

"Come on, we have to hurry!" Cindy ordered. She started to head back the way they'd come, suddenly in a far better mood than she'd been earlier.

"I don't think I can walk any more!" Carl complained.

But Cindy was already far ahead with Goddard trotting excitedly by her side. Either she didn't hear—or she ignored him.

Still standing by the shale with Sheen and Carl, Libby turned reprovingly to Carl. "What did Cin say about talkin'?"

"That we should only discuss thoroughly interesting topics," Sheen volunteered, "like the time Carl sprayed strawberry milkshake out of one nostril and chocolate out the other, at the same time!"

Carl chuckled and snorted. "Oh, yeah! I think I still have some up there."

Libby grimaced. "Gross! You two never have anythin' better to talk about, do ya?"

"Nope," Sheen answered.