Sally smiled, and nodded.

"Finally."

The golden serpents twisted around her, their multi-colored eyes all staring intently at Jimmy.

"Come on, Jimmy. We gotta go a little deeper into the Aden..." said Sally. Jimmy was about to take a step forward, when one of the serpents let out a low hiss. Sally pouted. "Oh... No- I remembered that!" she exclaimed.

The serpents growled at her.

"Oh, shut up!" she growled. She turned around to face Jimmy. "Okay... so, they think I should tell you somethin' before we go on... I mean- it's not much of a big deal but..." she trailed off.

"What is it?" asked Jimmy.

Sally sighed. "Well... you'll sort of be going to the same place I went, when I got sucked up... Which means... Your being... your whole life... it's gunna be as if it's been deleted from you universe. And if you die out here... It'll stay that way. Got it?" she asked.

Jimmy stared at her. Sally looked exactly the same as she did when he saw her last. Her hair bunched up into a pair of white puff balls on the sides of her head, and her pink eyes shining amidst the golden glow of the pathway. Jimmy sighed. "Okay... I guess I'll figure out a way to get out again later." he said.

Sally smiled. "Yeah... I hope so."

Sally and Jimmy walked side by side once again, and as they did- Sally just couldn't help herself.

"So... You've grown up a bunch, huh? That's kinda... disgusting." she muttered.

Jimmy didn't know whether to laugh or sigh.

He did both.


Chapter Twenty-Seven: Cindy Vortex and the Missing Chocolate Swirl

Cindy opened her eyes slowly. It took a moment for the haziness in her vision to fade away. Eventually, she was greeted by the 'Outta Sync' poster that was taped to the ceiling. She blinked at it for moment, and offered it a smile.

As usual the band members on the posters continued to stare back at her with their frozen smiles. Somehow, that made her feel better.

She got out of bed, and made her way into the kitchen. She still hadn't gotten the hang of cooking for herself yet- at least without setting a fire. So, she played it safe and poured herself a nice bowl of cereal. As she ate, she could hear the crunches echoing throughout the empty room. She shifted her attention to the cereal box.

'New! Veggie-O's! Now with no sugar, fat or enjoyment value of any kind!' it read on the front of the cereal box. Cindy blinked. "That new 'truth in advertising' thing is getting kinda stupid..." she muttered to herself.

After her cereal, she picked a fresh school uniform from the closet, and made her way to the shower.

Cindy had always enjoyed having long hair- but only for appearance purposes. Everything else about having long hair, to her, completely sucked. The sheer amount of shampoos and conditioners required for one thing. Then there was the brushing, and the fixing it up- and tying it into a ponytail. All of which usually took a good ten minutes or so to finish. She frowned.

It was so... inefficient.

She sighed.

Her hair wasn't the only thing that she had to take care of. She also had her teeth, her nails, and her skin to deal with before she was ready to go outside and face another day of school.

Cindy didn't really know where the need to look 'presentable' came from- but if there was one person she could blame for it, it would be her mother. Mrs Vortex was obsessed with appearances, and Cindy had grown up watching her spend hours in the bathroom getting ready before going out simply to get groceries. Luckily for her, however- Mrs Vortex hadn't ever really tried to force Cindy into participating in her 'morning routine', and she had never pestered her into starting her own. Cindy just seemed to start all by herself.

But, there were other things that Mrs Vortex pestered her daughter about. And one of the biggest things- was studying. That was why Cindy was living where she was at the moment.

'Curie All-Girls Boarding School' it was called. Cindy had been living in her own luxurious board room in the school for almost a year now- and so far, it was great. Except-...

Cindy sighed, as she stood in the middle of her spacious room. It was fairly big, complete with it's own kitchen and bathroom, and light pink wall paper with little hearts on it- which she liked- but no matter how nice it was, she was still alone.

She bit her lip. The silence would start to feel suffocating if she stayed too long, so after double and triple checking that she had everything she needed- she left her room.

Outside, the hallways only had a few people in it- shifting aimlessly about. It was early in the morning, and classes were probably a good hour or so away. But, the libraries always opened early- which meant that she might be able to do some light studying before class. It also meant that she might be able to meet her only friend before classes began.

Cindy got into the elevator, and rode it all the way to the bottom floor. The dormitories, classrooms and the library were all different buildings on what was a really big campus. As she made her was through the campus, and past the flowerbed that stood in the heart of the area, she began to break into a jog.

"Darn- I forgot my morning calisthenics..." she muttered to herself. She grit her teeth. It was very unlike her to go off schedule like that- ever. As she made her way over to the library, she remembered something else she had forgotten.

The morning newspaper.

She scowled. "Okay... little off my game this morning... c'mon... you can do this!" she muttered to herself. She ignored some of the strange looks she was getting, as she finally made it to the entrance of the library. She puffed for a moment, and peered through the window.

Cindy grinned. 'Good- she's there!' she thought to herself. She slowly made her way into the library, exchanged pleasantries with the librarian, and made her way to her best friends favourite spot.

Libby was sitting in a bean bag chair, with head phones on. Normally this was frowned upon, but Libby had long since befriended the librarian, and was thus 'above the law' of the library. Libby had her eyes closed, and was slowly bobbing her head to the music.

Cindy smiled. "Hey, Libs." she said.

Libby smiled, as her eyes flickered open. "Oh, hey- Cin'. How was your morning?" she asked. Cindy shrugged, "Oh... you know... same old routine..." she muttered. "How about you?"

"Oh, well- Another hour long call with my parents, then I had breakfast- then another call..." said Libby. "The phones off right now- hopefully mom won't think I've gotten kidnapped and call the swat team again..." she muttered.

Cindy smiled again. She could still imagine the worried look on Mrs Folfax's face when Libby said that she was going to follow her friend into a boarding school. She had actually fainted too- which was something Cindy thought only happened in movies.

"Make sure you call her again after class." said Cindy. Libby sighed, and nodded. "Yeah. Hopefully I'll get dad and he'll be able to help calm her down..." she muttered. As the girls continued their conversation, Cindy could feel an immense feeling of gratitude welling up in her chest.

Cindy liked studying- much the same way she liked martial arts training. But only because, for her- there was competition involved. The drive to be the best was in the Vortex genes. Vortex women especially, always seemed to strive to be the best at not just one single thing- but everything. Cindy had a long line of family members who had won gold medals in the olympics, run high in the political ladder, and a few that ran massive corporations.

Cindy's own mother, Sasha Vortex worked for own of the biggest organisations in the world- and it looked like she would probably end up sitting behind the presidents desk pretty soon.

There was, of course- a massive downside with the Vortex's infatuation with always being 'number one'. For one thing, it tended to make them very self centered, and sometimes, borderline arrogant. The biggest proof of that Cindy had ever seen, was in her parents relationship.

Mr and Mrs Vortex didn't seem to talk much. And when they did, it often felt... detached. Cindy had a hard time trying to find an appropriate name for the kind of relationship that her parents shared. Sometimes, it almost seemed like a slave/master kind of relationship. The way that she would order him to do something- and he would do it immediately and usually without question. He had even taken her last name instead of the other way around.

Cindy still didn't know what her fathers 'maiden' name was.

But every now and again, there would be a fight. They could argue like nobody Cindy had ever seen before. But even worse than that- she had also on occasion caught them throwing 'goo-goo' eyes at each other. 'No matter what', she would say to herself- 'I do not want to end up in a relationship like that.'

"So, do you know if we have our art class today?" asked Libby. Cindy frowned. "C'mon, Libby- you've got to star carrying around your timetable! How do you even get to the right classes when I'm not around?" she asked. Libby shrugged. "Oh, well- I remember most days." she said.

Cindy rolled her eyes. As much as she loved her friend, her habit of being 'disorganised' tended to clash with her own... 'habits'. Still, Cindy did what she did every day, and pulled the time table out of her pocket and gave it to Libby.

"Thanks, Cin'. Oooh- Look at that! Looks like we do!" said Libby.

Cindy nodded. "Uh-huh. Did you finish your project yet?" she asked. Libby thought for a moment, and shrugged. "Yeah, I think I left it in the storage room..." she said. "Are you sure?" asked Cindy. Libby nodded. "Yes, girl- I'm sure. Now come on, it's probably about time for class." she said.

As Libby stood up, the school bell resounded throughout the entire school.

Cindy stood up, stretched- and took a deep breath.

It was time to get to work.


Cindy had only had her thirteenth birthday a few months ago- but as she blazed her way through her classes, she seemed more like a desperate college students than a 'teenager'. During the course of the day, she would raise her hand, write as fast as she could, and force herself to go faster.

Even as the teachers threw pop quiz after pop quiz at her, she managed to bat them all away with a flick of her pen- and get back to work.

As she worked with everything she had, she didn't notice the way that the other students would keep their distance, or whisper things behind her back. Once, a group of girls had made the mistake of labelling her a 'bookworm' and trying to bully her.

That day, Cindy had been in a particularly bad mood- and in a way, beating the tar out of them made her feel a lot better. After that day, Cindy had become the unofficial leader of the 'Vortex Girls'- a gang of delinquent students from the ages of twelve to seventeen. It really seemed like a fan club more than anything else- but since they tended to stay out of her way, (and sometimes welcome her to the classroom with a shower of rose petals and a free tiara), she didn't worry too much about them.

Finally, after science, math and english were over, it was time for her favourite class of all.

She opened the door with a yawn, and took her seat next to Libby. Libby flashed her a smile. "Hey, Cin'. How's your day been? Still kickin' butts and takin' names?" she asked. Cindy nodded. "Yup! How about you?" she asked.

Libby shrugged. "Oh, well- I'm getting by. Your tutoring session the other day came in real handy, though. We outta do that again." she said. Cindy hesitated for a moment, but nodded. "Y-yeah... but, well... I've kinda been doing a lot of studying lately and..." she was cut off, when the art teacher walked into the room.

The art teach was a young, lanky man named 'Seymour Nigglefarb'. He was very skinny, with a long nose and thick, round glasses. He had a habit of wearing his pants up too high, and his button up shirt tucked roughly into the front. That- along with a polka-dot bow tie, was enough in itself for him to be labelled the laughing stock of the school.

Unfortunately, he also had a bowl hair-cut, big buck teeth, a sweating problem, and the kind of arrogance in his veins that would make anybody roll their eyes and sigh.

"Alright, students..." he spat, contemptuously. "WHO THREW THAT!"

Cindy sighed, and put her head down on the paint-stained desk. It would usually take about five minutes for the arguing to finish, and the lesson to finally begin. Despite Mr Nigglefarbs annoying tendency to look down on everybody around him, he was actually a pretty gifted teacher. And more than that- a fresh graduate of one of the greatest colleges in the world. This, more than anything, was the cause of his arrogance.

He seemed to regard himself as a 'noble', and everybody else as peasants or worse. But, he was qualified enough to teach multiple subjects at the school- and that was all the principal needed to hear.

As Mr Nigglefarb lectured everybody about history's greatest artists, Cindy groaned. She liked art class, because it was usually a good chance to hang out with Libby. But if he kept droning on like this-

"Now, if you'd all like to go on and make your own pathetic excuses for art- please do."

The entire class breathed a collective sigh of releif before they got up and began rummaging around the store-room for supplies. "Well, look at that. Nigglefarb only lectured us for ten minutes this time. He must be losing his touch." said Cindy. Libby nodded. "Yeah, I heard that he's been having some troubles at home..." she said.

Cindy frowned. "Come on, Libby. You know you agreed not to go around being a 'gossip queen' anymore. You even signed a contract. I still keep a copy of it around here somewhere..." she muttered as she ruffled through her pockets. "Oh, come on Cindy- there's nothin' wrong with a little information gathering. Besides, I was young and immature back then." explained Libby.

"It was last year and you almost got us both thrown out of town!" said Cindy.

Libby smiled. "Yeah... That was a great summer. Anyway- could I get you to help me get my stuff out of the locker room? It looks like it's going full frenzy mode over there." she said. Libby pointed at the group of girls standing around the storage room, pushing and shoving each other- and doing their best to retrieve the one good brush amongst the many old and dirty ones lined up in jars along the shelves.

Cindy cracked her knuckles.

"Leave it to me."

Once the great battle of the paintbrush was over, with Cindy as the victor- Cindy and Libby got back to work. Cindy always seemed to have talent in everything she tried, and painting was no exception. But at least in art, Libby always seemed to have he upper hand. No matter what she did, Libby always seemed to be able to make something of her own that was at least ten times better- and seemingly with half the effort.

Libby also excelled at singing and acting. Cindy, for her part- was 'okay'. Or at least, that was what the judges of the school choir had told her after her fifteenth try. Libby on the other had, was simply incredible. Once every now and again, they would have a karaoke tournament together- and no matter how hard Cindy tried, Libby always won. But- Cindy never gave up, and Libby was more than happy to go along with it- especially since the 'loser' always had to pay for lunch afterwards.

Cindy grit her teeth, as she looked over the wide range of colors she had to choose from. Finally, her paintbrush seemed to stop at 'chocolate brown'. She frowned for a moment, and then shrugged. It was rare for her to try and paint anything ambitious, but there was something inside her that just wanted to draw...

"Is that... a chocolate fudge sundae?" asked Libby.

Cindy finished the painting with a single red cherry on top- and then frowned. "Yeah... But, uh- do you think the cherry kinda... ruins it?" she asked. "What do you mean?" asked Libby. Cindy's frown deepened. "I dunno... I just... I think it kinda ruins the chocolate swirl... y'know?" she explained.

Libby rolled her eyes. "Girl- you really gotta let go of that perfectionism of yours." she said.

Cindy nodded, slowly. Her painting, a large chocolate fudge sundae in a fancy looking glass, with a perfect swirl on top- made her feel... something. She guessed that she was probably just hungry. After all, it had been a long time since she had gotten the chance to visit the Candy Bar. Still, though... something about that cherry ruined it for her.

She sighed.

"What'd you draw, Libs?" she asked.

Libby shrugged. "Oh, just another picture of Grey Star driving their tour bus into the depths of space. Ooh, I know- maybe I'll put Mars here in the background..." she muttered. "Huh... them driving into space like that... does that mean you don't like them anymore?" asked Cindy.

Libby blinked. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well... they're just kinda driving into nothingness, aren't they?" asked Cindy.

Libby shook her head. "Nuh-uh. Look at their faces- they're going on an adventure! They're gunna go to exotic, faraway planets- maybe do some mini-golf... Cool, huh?" she asked. Cindy frowned. "Well... I geuss... when did you get so into space?" she asked.

"I'm not." said Libby. "Yeah, I geuss I can see that. You know, Mars is red- not green." said Cindy.

"Whaaaat-ever."

Art class ended pretty soon after that, and as everybody filed out of the classroom, they left their art projects on the sleeping form of Mr Nigglefarb, who was lying face down on his desk.

After art class, there were only a few more classes, a session of special 'cram school' in the library- and all of a sudden, the sun had set, and Cindy was making her way back to the dormitory- feeling even more tired that usual. When she finally arrived at the doorway to her room, however- she found her best friend waiting for her.

Libby flashed her a smile. "Hey, Cindy. Are you ready?" she asked.

Cindy blinked. "Uh... what?" she muttered.

Libby sighed. "See? And you accuse me of forgettin' stuff all the time. Tonights the big premiaire!" she explained. "C'mon- I've been looking forward to this for months!"

Cindy gulped. "Oh... right... that's uh, tonight? As in... right now?" she asked. Libby checked her watch. "Well, we've got an hour to get there- we'd better get there real soon if we wanna score the best seats!" she exclaimed.

Cindy groaned, and rubbed her eyes. Libby was right. She had been talking about it for almost a month now. She couldn't just make her go by herself... Cindy sighed again. "Alright... let me have a shower and everything... and we'll go." she mumbled.

Libby's excited smile faded a little. "Hey, listen... if you don't wanna go..." she mumbled.

"Don't you worry about me. I'll just make myself some coffee and whatever- and I'll be fine." said Cindy. Libby's smile returned. "Cool! I'll wait out here!" she said.

Cindy walked into her apartment like a zombie, and turned on her espresso machine. Then, she went to her wardrobe for a change of clothes. As she slowly shuffled her way into the bathroom, she frowned.

"Why am I so tired, today?" she muttered to herself. She sighed. Maybe she had been spending too much time studying. And maybe the 'big premiere' would be just the distraction she needed. She rubbed her eyes.

"Or at least... maybe I'll be able to find a chocolate fudge swirl at the concession stand..." she muttered. Something about that made her feel better already.


The 'big premiere' being held at the Retroville Theatre, was the town's special showing of the newest Jet Fusion movie, 'SpaceFall'. Cindy had always had a weakness for spy movies- or really any movie that might feature a karate chop. Libby on the other hand, wasn't all that big a fan of the 'Jet Fusion' movies. Sure, she had seen them all- thanks to Cindy. But watching the newest one wasn't the reason that she was so excited to see the premiere.

Jet Fusion movies were very well known for their opening title sequences. Each one would always contain some special song, usually written by whoever the most popular musician was at the time. Libby had always been one of the worlds biggest fans of a musician named 'Lady La-de-da'. And when it was announced that Lady La-de-da was writing and performing the title song for the newest Jet Fusion movie, Libby had felt an urge of real excitement.

Then, a little while ago- it was announced that Retroville would be having a special premiere of the movie, and that some of the cast were going to be there. And so was Lady La-de-a. Cindy had earned a spot in Libby's heart forever for managing to secure two tickets to what was going to be one of the biggest events in the town's history.

As Libby and Cindy stepped off of the bus, there was already a massive crowd of people clamouring around the theatre. There was a long red carpet laid out on the sidewalk, leading into the entrance. Velvet rope separated the crowd from the carpet on both sides.

By the entrance, stood a pair of extremely tall, burly looking men with the word 'security' plasted across their shirts in big letters. Libby sighed. "Uh, oh... Looks like we're here a little too early..." she muttered. "Well, I geuss we should find a spot in the crowd to sort of... jam into."

Cindy grinned. "Nu-uh. You follow me." she said. With that, Cindy confidently walked onto the red carpet and over to the security people. Libby trailed behind her nervously, as some of the people in the crowd began to take pictures of them with old fashioned flash-bulb camera's and exclaim 'What a scoop!'.

As Cindy stood in front of the security, Libby cleared her throat. "Er- Cindy? I- I don't think we're supposed to be here..." she muttered. Cindy smiled. "Hey, Libs? Can you pass me the tickets?" she asked. Libby nodded nervously and took the tickets out of her purse. "Uh, sure... here you go..." she muttered.

One of the security guards cleared his throats. "Hey, look- Yous two ain't supposed to be here. Yous gotta wait until the important people've arrived." he said in a deep, gruff voice.

Cindy smiled. "Oh, really?" she asked. Slowly she brought the tickets up to the guards faces.

"Yeah, so yous gots tickets. Yous still ain't-" began the first security guard.

"Hey, wait! Isn't that a golden ticket, old boy?" exclaimed the second security guard.

The first security guard squinted at the tickets in Cindy's hand, and nodded. "Yeah... that's right..." he muttered. "Well, don't you know what that means, dear fellow? Why- those are the secret all-star passes!" said the second security guard.

The first security guard frowned. "So?" he grumbled.

"Well, old boy- it means that they must be quite important indeed! Come now, what's say we let the young ladies through?" asked the second security guard. The first security guard rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah- whatever." he muttered.

The security gaurds stepped aside, and opened the door for them.

Libby blinked. "Wha... wow!" she muttered. Cindy smiled. "My mom knows some people. Let's go!"


The inside of the Retroville theatre had been completely redecorated for the special event. In fact, they had even gone so far as to have a chandelier installed. All of the wall paper had been replaced by a special shade of gold, decorated by tiny black patterns all across it, and the old sticky carpets had been replaced by a soft dark black material.

Everything seemed to be sparkling, as Cindy and Libby approached the concession stand. Cindy was glad that she had decided to go. Then- they were greeted by the people behind the counter.

"Shee-een! You're not supposed to eat the snacks!"

"Oh- you can talk! I see those gummy worms in your pockets!"

"Oh... um... h-how did those get there?"

"HIPPO-CRATE!"

"Excuse me?" asked Cindy. The boys standing behind the counter looked to be around her age. They were both wearing tuxedo's- no doubt in order to look as 'fancy' as possible for the big night. One of them was a tall, twitchy boy with brown spiky hair, and the other was a very 'plump' or 'round' boy with red hair that seemed to be bunched together into a group of... ovals. He was also wearing a pair of big wood-framed glasses.

The twitchy one blinked for a moment, and then cleared his throat. "Hello there! How may I help you this evening? Burrito's? Enchilada's? My grandma makes this really mean sauce- basically if you have even a drop too much of it, you'll pass out. It's super awesome. You want a bottle of that? I can go home and get some-"

Cindy cleared her throat. "Uh- no. Just give me some popcorn, and a purple flurp." she said. The twitchy boy nodded. "ONE BATCH OF BLOWN UP KERNALS AND A TRIP TO THE DENTISTS OFFICE!" he bellowed. The round boy frowned. "Sheen! You don't need to yell, I'm standing right next to you!" he huffed. The round boy slowly made his way over to a box full of cups. "Hey, Sheen? Is the dentist gonna be disappointed or disgusted?" he called out.

The twitchy boy turned to face Cindy. "You want small or large?" he asked. Cindy frowned. "Large." she growled. The twitchy boy nodded. "THAT DENTISTS GUNNA BE SUPER DISGUSTED, CARL!" he bellowed.

The round boy nodded, and pulled out one of the big cups. As he filled it, Libby took a step closer to the concession stand, and bit her lip. "Hey, Cin'- what do you think I should have?" she asked.

"My heart?"

Libby blinked, and glanced at the twitchy boy behind the counter. "Uh... what did you just say?" she asked. The twitchy boy coughed, and began to sweat. "No- uh, never- you know, okay? Hey Carl! Get me a bunch of awesome things for the goddess that stand before me!" he called out. The round boy nodded, and began filling up another cup of Purple Flurp.

The boy cleared his throat. "So- uh... I'm Sheen..." he said. "A-and, the guy with the glasses? H-He's Carol."

"It's Carl!"

"Get back to work, soda monkey!"

"I'm going to go tell Mister Neutron!"

"Not if I tell him first!"

"You better not!"

Suddenly, another figure approached the figure. He was a tall man, with a big nose and short brown hair. A small pair of glasses rested on the bridge of his nose. He, like the twitchy boy and the round boy, was also wearing a tuxedo- except that instead of the tiny bow tie that the boys were wearing, he was wearing a bright blue tie, that was littered with hundreds of tiny cartoon ducks.

"Boys! Now, how many times have I told you not to make such a ruckus when I'm trying to watch one of my movies in the special room?" the man demanded. Carl and Sheen looked at the ground. "We're sorry, Mister Neutron." they muttered. Mister Neutron smiled. "Now, come on. I know your all just excited about the big movie night tonight... When is that, anyway?" he asked.

Carl checked his watch. "Uh... it's in twenty minutes, sir." he said.

Mister Neutron gasped. "Oh no! I've gotta go change into my octopus costume! You can't watch 'Attack of the Giant Brain-Sucking Octopus without an octopus costume!" he exclaimed.

"Oh, it's not a monster movie tonight, Mister Neutron." said Carl.

Mister Neutron pouted. "What? It's not?" he squeaked.

Sheen shook his head. "Nu-uh. It's a Jet Fusion movie!" he announced. Mister Neutron suddenly brightened. "Oh, that's right! And look at that! I'm already in my spy-movie costume! Welp- let me know if you need my help with anything." he said. With that, he turned and walked away.

"He's the owner. Good guy. Like ducks." said Sheen.

"And pie." said Carl.

"Yeah. And pie."

There was a long period of awkward silence, until Carl finally placed the popcorn and drinks on the counter in front of Sheen. "That'll be, um... fifty cents." said Sheen. Beside him, Carl frowned and began counting his fingers in order to make sure that his math checked out.

Cindy rolled her eyes. "Don't worry about it. We've got golden tickets." she said.

Sheen blinked. "Really? Cool! Fifty cents please."

"The golden ticket means that I can get whatever I want from here for free." explained Cindy. Sheen scratched his chin for a moment. "Well... ordinarily I'd get security in here to take you down- preferably with a taser- while I figured if you were lying. Buut..." he turned his attention to Libby. "Something tells me... that I can trust you."

Libby smiled.

Cindy rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah- whatever. Can we go now?" she asked.

"Um, yeah- okay. I'll just go open the doors... Um, Sheen? Can you ask the new guy to get the projector ready?" asked Carl. Sheen grimaced. "Aw- why do you always make me talk to Bolbi?" he grumbled.

Carl led Libby and Cindy over to the doors of the theatre, and fumbled with a large ring of keys for a while before finally finding the right one."Oh, okay- here we go..." he muttered.

"Hey, uh- Carl was it?" asked Libby.

"Yeah?"

"Uh- your around... um, thirteen- right?"

Carl nodded.

"Well, why are you guys working here? Aren't there like, child labour laws or something?" she asked.

Carl shrugged. "Oh, well- Sheen and I got to be friends with Mr Neutron a long time ago. We just kinda help out from time to time." he explained. "Mr Neutron's an old friend of my dads... we're neighbours, actually."

Cindy began to zone out seconds into Carls explanation- and as soon as he opened the door, she ran inside to find the perfect seat. From behind her, she could hear Libby saying goodbye to Carl. By the time Libby joined Cindy in the seat next to the best seat in the theatre, people began to pour in. First, it was a group of familiar faces. Cindy smiled when she noticed her friend tense up when Lady La-de-da walked into the room, wearing a long purple dress, quickly followed by Jet Fusion himself, and few other less important people.

After the celebrities, the people of Retroville began to file in. Everybody from Sam to Ol' Betty was there.

"Hey... You mind if we sit here?"

Cindy turned around in her seat, to find herself faceto face with the most handsome boy she had ever seen. Everything from his face, to his teeth and his hair seemed to be perfectly sculpted. The boy flashed her a smile.

Naturally, Cindy reacted as the calm and sensible person she was.

"Oh!? Wha- uh? Y-... Yes, yes you can sit d-down right here, next to me... That'll be great!" she announced, her voice shaking nervously as she spoke. The boy smiled. "Hey, thanks. Betty? C'mon- I've got a seat." he said.

Cindy's smile soured instantly. From the aisles, Cindy could see a girl making her way through the seats until she reached him. The girl looked like a perfect porcelain model. She was wearing a long pink dress, and a few touches of mascara and lipstick. The smile that graced her features looked like something out of something from a high class romance movie- or a toothpaste commercial.

Cindy scowled, as the boy sat next to her- and the girl next to him. As more people began to fill the seats of the theatre, Cindy began to think to herself. 'Now... she could be his sister or something, right? Or-or his cousin, maybe? I mean- just because a boy and a girl go to the movies together, doesn't mean that they're... they're...' Cindy frowned, as the shot a glance at the handsome couple.

They were talking about something in whispered tones. Cindy growled.

'Hmph... I wasn't interested, anyway...' she thought to herself.

"Hey, again. Ooh, you guys got real good taste in seats."

Cindy blinked. Someone from the seat behind them was sticking his head in between her and Libby. Cindy could feel her stomach drop. Sheen glanced at her, then at Libby. Without saying anything, he slowly took a handful of Cindy's popcorn, and receded back to the seats behind them.

Cindy growled.

"You remember when I saw all the Ultralord movies at once in that seat?" Sheen loudly asked the person next to him. There was a short wheezing sound, the person sitting next to him responded. "Yeah... we had to burn that seat and have it replaced." said Carl.

"Nu-uh, you're thinking of the seat that you were sittin' on when we watched 'The Bleedening', remember?"

"Oh... yeah..."

"Hey, you remember when-"

"DON'T SAY IT! I'll have nightmares again..."

As Cindy considered turning around and turning at least one of the pair sitting behind her into mince-meat, the handsome boy next to her turned to face them. "Hey- will you two keep it down?" he hissed.

"Keep what down, Nick?" asked Sheen.

"Yeah- 'Cuz if you mean our self esteem... I think we do a good enough job of that already..." muttered Carl.

"Yep. Oh! Do you mean we should keep our hair down? I've been thinking of making a change- but by hair just goes back to lookin' like this every mornin'." said Sheen.

"Yeah... Mine too. Hey, what conditioner do you use?" asked Carl.

"I don't have an air-conditioner in the bathroom. Dad says it's 'hazardous' or whatever."

"No, not an air conditioner- I mean..."

"Will you two shut up!" yelled the handsome boy. Sheen and Carl huffed. "Now, Nick- that kinda behaviour'll get you kicked out like... like... Sheen, can you snap your fingers?" asked Carl. There was a short clicking sound. "Yeah. Like that. Okay?" said Carl.

The handsome boy scowled. "Wait- don't I know you two losers from school?" he growled.

"Yeah."

"Well, I'll tell you what- if you gys don't put a sock in it, you can spend the rest of the school week in a locker." he growled.

"Oh, come on. Carl and I do that anyway- right Carl?"

"Yeah, but I only do it because of the hall monitors..."

"I keep telling you- hall monitors are just a myth!"

The handsome boy began to twitch, and the beautiful girl next to him slowly put her hand on his. Immediately, the handsome boys angry face was replaced by a deep, blush. "Uh... gu- I mean, what're you..." he sputtered. The girl smiled. "Calm down, Nick. You don't need to get yourself into another fight." she said, softly.

"O-... Okay..." he sqeaked.

The girl then turned her attention to Sheen and Carl. "Sheen? Carl? Could you two please speak a little softer?" she asked. Sheen snorted. "Sure- I geuss." he grumbled. "Oh- Betty? Can I get you to meet me at the Candy Bar next time? Grandma's been gettin' real crazy about having you over at my house." said Sheen.

Betty nodded.

Nick coughed. "Uh... Um... Wh-what're you... talking about?" he asked. "Oh, Betty's tutourin' me and Carl so we don't repeat again." said Sheen. Carl nodded. "Yeah, she's a great teacher... I got a D+ on my last test thanks to her!" he exclaimed. Nick gave Betty a look. "Is that how you got the tickets?" he asked. Betty nodded.

"It's okay, Nick! We'd have given them to Betty anyway, but she insisted that she teach us in return. It was really nice." said Carl.

Nick sighed, and glanced at Betty. "You really are a goody two-shoes..." he muttered. Betty smiled. "C'mon- I know how much you like this stuff. Oh- look! It's starting!" she said, as the lights began to fade.

Cindy sighed. Luckily for everyone, Carl and Sheen did manage to keep quite during the movie. As it played, and Jet Fusion was once again fighting ninja's in an exotic location on the big screen, Cindy bit her lip.

She had forgotten to buy a chocolate fudge swirl. Something about that... gave her a heavy feeling in her chest.


"Alright, what's your name again?"

Libby squealed. Cindy cleared her throat. "Uh... her name is Libby, ma'am." she said. Lady La-de-a smiled, as she scribbled her autograph on the cover of a CD, and passed it to Libby. "There you go. Thank you for your support." she said. Libby nodded, dumbly.

With that, Lady La-de-da climbed into her limousine, and disappeared into the night. Libby stared at her newly autographed CD with a look of shock and awe.

"Uh, Libby?"

"Weeeee-hoooooo!" yelled Libby. With that, she gave the CD a loving hug. "I can't believe it! An actual autograph from Lady La-de-da! This is the best night ever!" she yelled. Cindy smiled. The movie was now over, and everybody was filing out of the theatre in an orderly fashion. Jet Fusion and Lady La-de-da had stayed around to sign autographs for a while before they left.

The movie itself was actually pretty good- at least in Cindy's opinion. As Cindy waited patiently for her friends current fit of giggling and jumping up and down to end, she took a deep breath.

It was a nice night. Cool, and brightened signficantly by the full moon hanging in the sky. The street lights dull orange glow also helped to give the scenery an oddly relaxing feel. She took a deep breath.

"Hello, again."

Cindy groaned. Carl was standing in front of her, holding a massive stick of cotton candy. He took a big bite out of it, and snorted. "What'd you think of the movie?" he asked. Cindy sighed. "Oh... I don't know... It was... cool..." she muttered. Carl nodded. "Uh-huh. Not enough llama's though..." he muttered. They stood there in awkward silence for a moment. "Uh... where's your, uh- annoying friend?" asked Cindy.

"Oh, Sheen? He's talking to her." said Carl. Cindy turned around, to see Libby and Sheen talking animatedly with each other. Sheen said something, and Libby giggled. She said something, and Sheen's smile instantly grew. Cindy frowned. "She is so out of her league." she muttered.

Carl looked up at the moon. "Yeah... maybe..." he muttered. The moonlight bounced off of his glasses as he stared at the sky. "Hey, Cindy?" he asked.

"What?"

"Do you feel like... you're forgetting something? Something... really important?" he asked.

Cindy frowned. "Yeah... I do." she whispered.

A gust of wind washed over them, as they stared into the sky. Sheen glanced over at his friend, and then turned his attention back to Libby. "So- anyway, it turns out that it's not a good idea to play with action figures on a jet runway." he continued.

"And that's how you lost your eyebrows?" asked Libby. Sheen shook his head. "Nuh-uh. That was during a different incident. Involving fire-crackers. It was still pretty cool, though." he said. Libby smiled. "So- what school do you go to?" she asked.

"Oh, uh- Retroville... let's see... Retroville... I think... It's just called... 'middle-school'?" he muttered. "It's kinda... boring."

Libby nodded. "Yeah... I get that." she said. Sheen sighed. "Hey, have you ever- like, looked up at the sky and felt like... just... goin' up there? Havin' some kinda crazy adventure?" he asked.

"Yeah... I think I have." said Libby. "It'd be pretty cool, huh?"

"Uh-huh. Definitely."

There was silence between the four of them for a while. Then, a voice cut through the air.

"You're in danger..."

Sheen, Carl, Cindy and Libby felt a chill run through the air. Their blood ran cold. "You need... to run..." the voice rasped.

In the middle of the road, standing in front of them- was what looked like the silhouette of a person. Cindy squinted to try and see who is was- but all of their features were coated in a layer of shadows. All tha they could make out was an outline. Slowly, the silhouette brought its hand out of its pocket.

It was holding a small white mask. It was blank. No eyes, or mouth.

Nothing.

Suddenly, another one of them appeared- wearing the same mask. Then another. Soon- they were surrounded. Carl let out a frightened squeal. "Wha-... what do you want?" he muttered. "Yeah! We don't want to buy any of your creepy lookin' masks, so get outta here!" yelled Sheen.

The mask wearers drew closer.

"That's the opposite of what I said!" yelled Sheen.

"Cindy... Libby... Sheen... Carl... his most... precious... the last... key..." the mask wearers whispered amongst themselves, as they circled the four of them. "Destroy? Obey... A threat... Must... kill... Kill? Destroy..."they all seemed to be speaking in unison.

Cindy grit her teeth. "Listen- I don't know what the hell kinda game your playing, but cut it out!" she bellowed.

"Game? Game... play... no... play... obey... Kill..."

"Alright, you asked for this!" yelled Cindy. With that, she pulled back her fist- and threw a punch as hard as she could. It landed with a loud 'smack!' on one of the masks, sending it shattering into a hundred pieces. The silhouette behind the mask disappeared in an instant.

They were quiet for a moment.

"Gone... deleted... despair..."

Cindy turned to face the others. "Hey! They disappear if you break the mask!" she yelled. Sheen nodded. "Okay... BANZAI!" he yelled. Libby tucked her CD into her pocket, and cracked her knuckles. "Alright- let's get the hurt on!" she announced.

Carl gulped. "Uh... is it okay if I just... um... stay out of this?" he muttered.

"No! Hit 'em with your llama-doll or somethin'!" yelled Sheen.

Cindy ignored the wannabe comedy duo beside her, and focused on the masks. They were moving quickly now. Their bodies seemed to float through the air. 'Like ghosts...' she thought to herself. She took a deep breath, and shook it off.

"HII-YAH!"

Cindy hit another one, bursting the mask into pieces. Sheen leapt at one of them- broke through the mask and found himself rolling around on the sidewalk. "Ow! I'll get you for that!" he yelled.

Libby had watched Cindy practice martial arts enough to know how to through a punch. But when she caught one of them- she couldn't help but wince. The masks felt like ceramic plates- and they shattered into dozens or even hundreds of tiny razor-sharp pieces when they were broken. Still- she grit her teeth, and punched another one.

Soon, the ground was covered with white shards, and the silhouettes were gone.

Everybody gasped for breath.

"Wha... what was that!?" yelled Sheen.

Cindy wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead, and took a deep breath. She couldn't help but wonder the exact same thing.

* ~ * JN * ~ *

Nick and Betty made their way through the park, heading home. They had arrived by bus- but unfortunately for both of them, they had managed to miss the bus back home. So, rather than wait an hour or so for the next bus to arrive, they decided to walk.

It was a nice night, and a part of Nick- what he considered to be his 'girly' side- couldn't help but gush at how romantic everything looked, bathed in the moonlight. Especially Betty. Her already beautiful features seemed to shine in the light, causing Nick to stare and consequently trip over something on a regular basis.

As they walked past the water fountain, the felt a cold chill in the air. They both stopped for a moment. "Hey... Do you feel that?" asked Nick. Betty frowned, and nodded. "Yeah... Wha-... We should get out of here." she muttered.

Nick nodded. They had just begun to pick up speed when a thick fog began to roll in. They stopped again, and were trying to figure out exactly where they were- when Nick noticed something.

A white mask, floating in the air.

"KYAAAAAAAH!" he shrieked. "Nick! What is it!?" yelled Betty. Before Nick could say anything, the mask was right in front of them. Up close, Nick could make out what looked like the black outline of a person wearing the mask.. He gulped. "H-... hey! G-g-get outta here!" he yelled.

The mask was blank. The silhouette didn't move.

Betty bit her lip. "Excuse me? Do you need something?" she asked.

The mask slowly nodded.

"Oh... okay- can we help you?" she asked.

The mask nodded again.

"What do you need?"

The silhouette pointed at her, and then at Nick. "Destroy... kill..." it wheezed. Before it could take so much as a step closer to them, however- it's mask suddenly exploded. Nick and Betty stood there, dumbfounded.

"Aw, geez. You and trouble oughtta just cut out the middle man an' get hitched already, dollface."

Betty and Nick blinked, and turned to face the source of the voice. There, standing amidst the fog, was a short boy with long black hair, curved upwards- to look like horns. He was dressed in black, and his piercing red eyes seemed to cut through the fog like a knife.

The boy smiled. "Uh-oh. Looks like we got a special appearance by the big 'boss'." he said.

Behind Nick and Betty, a group of masks began to float through the air- accompanied by a boy in a cloak. The boy removed his hood and smiled. "Do you go by 'James', or 'Evil Jimmy'?" he asked. Betty blinked. "Hey... I know you... I saw you on the newspaper... your Eustace Strych, aren't you?" she asked. The masks began to float a little closer to Eustace as he grinned.

"Why, yes- that's me." he said, with a cocky grin. "How do you like that, clone? She knows me."

The boy in black rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah- Look, if you lured me out here just to tease me- then you've really gotta get a life, bucko." he said.

Eustace scowled. "Oh, so you know what this is already, do you?" he muttered. "Well that rather ruins the surprise doesnt it?"

The boy in black shook his head. "Please. You'd have to be some kinda... oh, I dunno- pathetic rich kid- not see that this was a trap all along." he said.

"Really? Then why did you spring it?" asked Eustace.

The boy in black frowned. "Never mind that." he said. "Let's do this." The boys eyes began to glow an even fiercer shade of red, as black smoke slowly wrapped itself around his body.

Eustace rolled his eyes. "Masks? Shall we begin?" he asked. Suddenly, the masks that had been floating around Eustace began to shot shoot towards the boy at an incredible speed. There were a few flashes of bright red light, as all of the masks exploded in mid-air. The boy kept his hand out in front of him, as currents of red electricity ran across it.

"Who taught you how to make slaves, Eustace? Look at them... they're so weak..." said the boy. Eustace frowned. "My darkling taught me. That's who. Why don't you show me what yours taught you?" he asked.

The boy shrugged. Suddenly, a massive pair of wings burst out of his back. To be more accurate- they looked like the skeleton of a set of wings, with a few black feathers and pieces of gore still on them. The wings flexed, and stretched outwards.

"This is just for show, of course." said the boy.

Eustace smiled, as the darkness around him slowly began to wrap itself around his body, and take the shape of a suit of black body armour. In a split second, Eustace closed the distance between him and the boy, and landed a punch directly to his stomach. The sound of the impact echoed throughout the park.

Eustace grinned. "Pathetic." he hissed.

"Really? I was just thinkin' the same thing about you." said the boy. Before Eustace could so much as blink, the boys face had already crashed into the side of his face, with a massive 'bang!'. Eustace was sent flying backwards, and skid across the dirt.

The boy smiled. "Come on now. You can do better than that, can't you? Billion dollar boy?" he asked.

Eustace seethed, as he picked himself up. "I'LL GET YOU FOR THAT!" he screamed. Suddenly, the sky began to darken, and tiny raindrops began to rall from the sky. Eustace leapt at the boy. As he began to punch, kick and scream at him, thunder began to shake everything around them.

"We've gotta get outta here!" yelled Nick. He grabbed Bett's hand a tried to run- only to find himself instantly surrounded by the silhouettes in the masks. He gulped.

"TAKE THIS! AND THIS!" screamed Eustace, as he crimson lightning bolts reigned down from the sky. The boy dodged some of them, and got clipped by others. The boy tried to close the distance between he and Eustace, but every time he did, either one of the masked silhouettes would get in his way, or he would almost get hit by a lightning bolt.

Finally, there was a moment of calm- as they both stood in front of each other, gasping for breath. Eustace grinned. "Getting tired, clone?" he asked. The boy shook his head.

"Well, then. I suppose... I'd best finish this before either one of us gets 'tired'." said Eustace. Eustace brought his hand out in front of him, and looked at his palm. A small ball of red light appeared, and began to grow. The boy grit his teeth. "Damn it." he muttered. He moved his arms around, causing darkness to rise out of the ground, creating a protective barrier. The boy grit his teeth. He could feel his power fading away quickly- but he needed to make sure that the wall would be powerful enough to block the blast.

The boy closed his eyes. He could sense that Eustace was putting everything he had into this one. He grit his teeth.

Eustace smiled. "That'll do it." he muttered. Suddenly, the ball sped out of his hand, and rushed through the air. The boy could feel it coming. He gripped his hand as tightly as he could. The darkness compressed itself together.

Then- the ball curved around.

The boy's eyes shot open. "NO!" he yelled. In an instant, he dropped his shield- and suddenly appeared standing in front of Betty and Nick.

There was a flash of red, followed by a massive explosion. Everything in the park was blown away, the trees uprooted, and large parts of the ground ripped to shreds.

Betty opened her eyes, and glanced at Nick. They were okay. The small amount of space they were taking up looked to be the only part of the entire park that was untouched. Her eyes moved to the boy standing in front of her- and she gasped.

The boy stood there silently. His body was riddled with holes, and other pieces of it appeared to have simply ripped away. Small plumes of smoke rose from the wounds, along with small rivers of blood.

"Well, well, well. Look at that. Looks like I win." said Eustace. "You were really the only one left that could have interfered. But who would have thought that you would show up in person for Betty Quinlin, and not your other little buddies?"

"Ahem..."

Eustace jumped at the sound of the boys voice- as did Betty and Nick. The boy moved a little. It looked as if he was trying to dust himself off. "You know... For your plans... right now... you've done a real good job, Eustace..." he croaked. His voice was raspy, and broken. "It's just... a shame..."

Eustace frowned. "What is?" he hissed.

"It's a shame... you're... not as evil... as you think... you are..." with that, the boy collapsed. Eustace growled. "Oh, I am evil. And I'll prove it to you... to everyone." he hissed.

And like that- Eustace seemed to fade away into the night.

The rain continued to fall, as Betty and Nick stared at the boy's body. They were silent. The sound of the rain echoed in their ears.

"Hey." the boy rasped.

"Y-... yes?" muttered Betty.

The boy smiled. "Be... happy... Betty..."

Slowly, his eyes flickered shut.

The crimson rain continued to fall all throughout the night.


To be continued


(AN: Please tell me what you thought of this chapter, because I put a particularly large amount of effort into this one. Particualrly, I want to know if Cindy and Libby seemed in character here.)

fanfictionstoryreviewer - Hello, again. Yeah, unfortunately I've made the mistake of getting anti-matter and dark-matter confused a bunch of times in this story. It's supposed to be called 'dark-matter' althought it is obviously nothing like dark matter in reality. I'm glad that you liked Sally's confession. Thank you so much for your kind words, and I hope you'll enjoy this chapter. Thanks again, very much, for the review.

TotAlNeRd2000 - Thank you very much for the kind words. I will continue to do my best with updating, but it's probably going to take time. Nevertheless, I *will* be seeing it through, so don't worry about that. On another note- There are some really awesome Jimmy Neutron stories out there. At least a handfull. Check out GaDS2000 in particular. He's one of the authors responsible for my love of fanfiction.

Nicole Luna - Soo, there was something here that I *didn't* tell you about. Interesting, huh? I'd really love to hear what you think of the ending, and how the characters were portrayed. Otherwise, thanks as always for the review, and your continued support. You've really helped me make this story better- at least in my opinion.

Guest - Well, I'm glad you liked it! The next chapter is already planned out in my mind... but it could be a while. We'll see.

Guest - Thank you very much for the compliment. I hope you'll like this chapter too!

(PS: Again, if you can read this... please review!)