Author's Note: I've been so busy I haven't had enough time to do anything I really wanted this week, until the weekend when I finally finished most of my homework. This chapter is named Daphne in honor of Daphne Moon, from Frasier.
"I wonder how many people she's got in there with her."- Frasier, on Daphne imitating her relatives and talking to herself.
Chapter Thirty Eight: Daphne
He launched himself back into the void and landed in the alternate universe on his stomach. Red and purple spots danced before his eyes, rendering vision impossible, and Curie scoffed behind him. Her strong, capable arms maneuvered him into a standing position. His ears kept popping and it was a few minutes before the sensations abated. Frowning, he thought back on his previous excursion, which hadn't resulted in the ears popping, or the visual effects. Chills ran down his spine thinking he might have run into Jimmy, James, or whoever he was today, but surely Curie would have warned him, even if it was just clearing her throat. Surely Curie would have helped him, unless she'd been powered down.
"Curie?" he said in a tiny voice.
"I never thought I'd see myself," a familiar, older voice intoned. It was rougher and had an underpinning Eddie couldn't comprehend. His vision cleared slowly and he saw himself, a few years older, standing in a pair of blue jeans and a black t-shirt. On the t-shirt was an insignia bearing a rocket ship, which Eddie supposed was his alternate version's form of the Neutron symbol. He was about three feet tall, his counterpart, and his brown eyes were not their usual harsh but regular hue. Instead of being loamy brown, they were contaminated with specks of black and grey. Eddie backed up, into Curie's arms, and Curie stroked his forehead. He hadn't seen the signs with his counterpart cousin because he hadn't expected them, but now that they were repeating, he saw all too clearly. A lump rose in his throat and he trembled.
"Did Jimmy send you?" the other Eddie inquired and then laughed. "Of course he didn't. He would have sent me your corpse."
Alternate Eddie cocked his head, listening to a voice only he could hear, and Curie backed up toward the portal. His vision cleared entirely and the portal vanished, deactivated by a watch on his counterpart's wrist. It resembled Jimmy's watch, except it had a transparent band and a black shell.
"You're crazy too?" Eddie said. "Jeez. Isn't anyone in this universe sane?"
"If I'm crazy, it's Jimmy's fault," he snapped. "He wouldn't tell me how he lost his mind. I lost mine trying to figure it out."
"Oh great," Eddie groused. "It all goes back to my cousin. Just what I wanted to spend my time doing- figuring out what happened to my precious flesh and blood. Why did you let yourself get dragged down?"
"I don't know about your universe, but in mine, schizophrenia and dissociative identity disorder are genetic," he said. "And I had the triggers before, but I had no idea what drove my cousin mad."
"Really?" Curie said in an ironic tone. "We just met Jimmy. If you weren't one of the culprits, he certainly seemed to think you were. He almost killed my master thinking he was you."
"I have no idea what you're talking about," alternate Eddie said. His gaze was blank and in it swam the grey and black specks. For a split second, his irises turned completely black and Eddie winced. How many other people were in there with him?
"That's not the point, anyway," Curie said.
"Yes," Eddie said. "We came to find out why my dear cousin implanted this chip in my head and set it for some trigger event in my world. If we remove the chip, I die, end up paralyzed, or turn catatonic. Take your pick."
"That would be James," his alternate self said, smirking. "Jimmy was never that malicious."
"Jimmy was the one strangling me," Eddie snapped. "James thought I was a lab experiment."
"Oh," his counterpart said. "I never pegged Jimmy for vengeance."
Eddie folded his arms across his chest and projected bravado despite Curie pressing up against his back. "Are you going to help us or not?"
The sun was high overhead and Eddie resisted looking at it. His mind drifted, wondering what horror Jimmy had endured that either his counterpart didn't acknowledge or had forgotten. Given the predominance of other colors in the boy's eyes, along with his peculiar mannerisms (he was holding himself rather stiffly right now and his hand motions were jerky), it was entirely possible the memory might be buried. And his counterpart had lost his mind trying to figure out how Jimmy had lost his? What was this: Days of Our Genii?
"I don't know what you want," his counterpart said. Eddie released breath through clenched teeth.
"I want to know why the hell your cousin wants me dead, damn it!" Eddie snapped.
"Babies shouldn't curse," his counterpart said and his eyes turned entirely grey for a second. "You should mind your mouth."
"Don't tell me you have alternate personalities, don't," Eddie said. His counterpart shook his head and the grey vanished. Rubbing his temples, he glanced at the sun to verify the time and then at his lab, where Curie's counterpart emerged. She surveyed the scene, inclined her head to our Eddie and stood behind her master. Eddie shuddered. This was getting quite peculiar.
"I have black outs," he confessed. "And what you really want to know is what I want to know. The two are connected. We should team up. It'd be interesting to have some decent perspective for once."
"I'm going to say this and don't take it the wrong way, because you are my counterpart, but…are you insane?" Eddie stomped his foot and tossed his head, reminding himself of a horse. Perhaps someone who was close to him mentally had spent too much time in the last few days writing about animal symbolism and had it stuck in her head. Or perhaps insanity was catchy.
"Jimmy wants my head," he said. "And he's lucid enough to remember he wants me dead. I've never been afraid of my cousin before, but this Jimmy is dangerous. And you want to walk up to the lion's den and ask him why you lost your mind when he's willing to forfeit your life? Why should I help you? Give me one good reason I shouldn't walk away back into my own universe."
"I've closed off your universe," his counterpart said and smiled, his eyes and expression reasonless. "You can't get back without me. You either help me or be stranded."
Eddie's mouth dropped. There was no point in grousing about it because he already knew his counterpart and his cousin were insane. Aghast, he looked back at Curie, who was shaking her head sadly. No, it wasn't because she found his counterpart's fall from grace terrible, but because she had warned Eddie twice about interacting with this universe. Should she have the time and opportunity, she'd probably lecture him about it. As it was, he looked at his counterpart, who was grinning ghoulishly.
"Shall we?" he said.
"Do I have a choice in the matter?" he grumbled.
"No," he said and grinned from ear to ear. It set Eddie's nerves on edge. He wished he could go back in time and tell his slightly younger self a world without Jimmy Neutron was worse than a world with Jimmy Neutron. Somehow, he doubted he'd believe himself.
"Then what do you propose we do? Don't tell me it involves walking straight into his stronghold," he said. His counterpart contemplated this, narrowing his eyes and folding his arms across his chest. Then he smiled again, deranged.
"We capture him and bring him back here," his counterpart said. "Then we torture the information out of him."
Curie groaned. Eddie stared at him. Though he didn't believe in such sentimental nonsense, the creepy sensation of déjà vu was trickling down the back of his neck like ice melting on his bare skin. For good or for ill, he was stuck here now. Hopefully, history wouldn't repeat itself, if it wasn't already doing so.
For the next few days, Jimmy didn't see Cindy or Libby. Although he understood the emotional backlash, it stung him nonetheless. It was an area she refused to admit him and he knew it'd always be a struggle to penetrate her innermost defenses. He used the time away to work on a new invention prototype, unrelated to the current material, and waited for Monday. Monday began the business week and he knew Sasha Vortex wouldn't stay out of commission, past, present, or future. And he was right. After all, when he was ten, he was right 89% of the time. Now, it was closer to 95%. He still had to fine tune it.
Monday morning started like any other morning. He awoke with Goddard's head on his stomach and his dog yipped, dancing impatient for his walk. Jimmy rolled his eyes, completed his ablutions , dressed and fashioned his hair in its customary style, and walked downstairs. Goddard bounced down the stairs and whined, reminding Jimmy he wanted a walk in no uncertain terms.
Normally, he relegated this to his father, but since his father's absence, Jimmy had done it. Technically, Goddard could walk himself and discard his lug nuts (but not clean them up) on his own, but it usually gave Jimmy alone time to think about his next course of action. Lately, all he'd done was brood.
"I don't believe this!" his mother exclaimed and something slapped against a table. It made a thin 'thwack' and he deduced it was light, maybe paper. Perplexed, he continued downstairs, indicated to Goddard he'd have to wait a little while (Goddard whined unhappily), and continued toward the kitchen. His mother stood silhouetted in the doorway and he halted, wondering what fresh hell this was now.
"Sugar booger, you know how badly she wants Amelia," Hugh said. Jimmy grimaced. His parents had taken to calling the unborn child Amelia thanks to Jimmy's inventions, but after the future time trip, the name jarred him. It reminded him of Cindy's unsightly behavior on Friday.
"But this is ridiculous," Judy snapped. "None of these allegations are true! Who did she get to write such garbage?"
"What garbage?" Jimmy said.
"Look at this!" Judy snapped and stormed into the living room to hold it in front of Jimmy's face. The print was too close to his eyes and looked like random black smattering until he moved it further away.
The article had been buried in the op-ed pieces, but it contained a scathing indictment against the Neutron family. Covering nearly a page, it listed the various crimes and indiscretions the author believed the Neutrons had done. Mrs. Neutron was cited numerous times as a bad mother and wife, allowing Sasha to steal Hugh away and permitting Jimmy to destroy the town (something he hadn't actually done in two years). It stated both parents were unfit, Jimmy was mentally unstable, and the family should permit Sasha Vortex to keep her child if they knew what was good for him. On and on, it harangued them, listing every incident since Jimmy was eight where his inventions had caused a stir and every incident with his parents in the public eye. Although the author was not Sasha Vortex, it had to have been written either by someone sympathetic to her cause or ghost written. He looked up at his mother, who was positively shaking in rage.
Judy Neutron was so angry she couldn't speak. She snatched the paper away from Jimmy and stomped to the kitchen doorway. Hugh Neutron hurriedly jumped out of the booth to follow her.
"Honey, don't do anything rash," he said. He grabbed her arm and she shoved him back. Jimmy recognized the mood, though he'd seldom seen his mother exhibit it. If his father persisted, he was going to get hurt. The next person who dealt with his mother, probably Mrs. Vortex, was going to regret it. In fact, the door seemed to regret it, because Judy slammed it so hard it rocked in its hinges.
"Should we follow?" he asked Goddard in the silence afterward. Goddard whimpered and pawed the floor.
"You're right," he said and swallowed hard. "It might be safer to go for a walk first."
"Girl, you'd better get a good look at the paper," Libby said. For the last few days, Libby had stayed over. Normally, her mother would have objected to a display of weakness, but she'd been distracted. Cindy had spent the weekend avoiding her mother for fear she'd lose control and hurt her. She didn't want to know how far she'd go if she had the opportunity. Deep down, she felt guilty for striking out against Jimmy, but if she hit her mother, she didn't know if she'd be able to stop.
"Who reads the paper?" Cindy scoffed. She was lying on her stomach flipping through a magazine and not thinking about how she'd have to eventually apologize to Jimmy.
"You're about to," Libby said and shoved a paper, folded neatly to the op-ed pieces, under Cindy's nose. "I found this on the kitchen table when I was making breakfast for us. Your mom circled it in red and I heard her on the phone talking about it."
"Is this about Neutron?" Cindy said.
"It's about his whole family," Libby said. "Your mom's gone crazy, Cindy."
"Tell me something I don't know," she groaned. "Wait, his whole family?"
The other girl nodded and Cindy grimaced, looking at the eggs Libby had prepared and then back at the newspaper article. She rubbed her chin thoughtfully.
"I'd better eat and then read, before I lose my appetite," she said. They proportioned out the food and ate, Libby glaring at the newspaper. The food settled uneasily in Cindy's stomach and she had a hard time finishing. The eggs turned to dust in her mouth and she had to swallow several times to get it down. Finally, three quarters done, she abandoned her quest and picked up the paper. She couldn't stand waiting any longer.
After she finished, she was glad she'd eaten first. Her appetite fled entirely and she trembled in rage. Shoving away her plate and glass, she flung the paper across the room. Even though in the earlier days, she'd been Jimmy's staunchest opponent and ready to point out his flaws, this was disgusting. She knew Jimmy's actions had had nothing to do with his parents and pretty much everything in the piece was an exaggeration or a flat out lie. Moreover, the article's claims were ludicrous. Sasha Vortex was the worst example for a mother Cindy had ever seen and the article painted her like a paradigm of virtue.
"This is bullshit," Cindy growled. "My mom's running a smear campaign. No one's going to believe this crap."
"You'd be surprised," Libby said softly. "People believe all sorts of things that aren't true, especially if they don't bother to get all the facts."
"Who the hell would believe my mother over the Neutrons?" Cindy snapped. "It's not like my mom is a stellar example of anything, except how to screw everyone over."
"Girl, you do realize your mom's trying to get custody, right? And convince the jury to drop the charges?" Libby said.
"I wish she'd try a little harder to keep me instead of an embryo," Cindy muttered.
"Anyway," Libby said and squeezed Cindy's shoulder sympathetically, "she's going to try to influence the judge any way she can. If she keeps this up, you're gonna have a hell of a time finding an impartial court."
"But in the future, Neutron's parents get her," Cindy said.
"Didn't you say Jimmy told you that was one possible future?" Libby said. "Maybe it was created before your mom decided the Neutrons belong in the tabloids."
Cindy's stomach turned. The Neutrons deserved Amelia, for one thing, and for another, Cindy didn't think she could live with the girl in the house. Given how Amelia had turned out and her mother's partiality, she would either lose her mind or end up hurting her.
"So, what?" she said. "We help Neutron?"
"We have to do something," Libby said.
"But who the hell reads the newspaper anymore?" Cindy said.