A/N: Argh! Sorry! That's just like me… get to the last chapter and get multi-month long writer's block (and lack of interest). Well, it's the last chapter nonetheless. Please R/R, and enjoy!
Cindy quickly pulled a Purple Flurp from her pocket, opening it and taking a large gulp. Tossing it onto a table for later, she slid a few feet before swinging her weapon in a wide arc, slamming the nearest Yolkian hard into the floor. Another Yolkian lunged at her, but Cindy blocked his swing, delivering a swift barrel kick into his metal casing, dazing him. But it was clear that she couldn't hold them off alone; there had to be almost thirty of the cruel aliens in the room.
Jimmy quickly caught on, taking a quick sip of the Purple Flurp Cindy left on the table. But he was nowhere near as strong or quick as her, and he soon ran into trouble. A Yolkian managed to parry his attack, allowing it to administer a powerful swipe at his head. Jimmy fell to the ground, although he couldn't feel the force of his hitting the floor. His head was throbbing, and he was barely fighting off unconsciousness. The last thing he felt was the collar of his shirt being tugged up into the air, before everything turned black.
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Cindy smashed the casing for one Yolkian before a thud caught her attention. She turned to see Jimmy lying still on the ground, his chest barely moving with his shallow (and painful) breath. She held in her anger as one Yolkian picked the boy genius up by the shirt collar, grinning maliciously.
The aliens took advantage of her momentary lack of concentration to grab her and use the bar of their Shock Prods to keep her in place. She struggled to hit the Yolkian constraining her, but the cold metal bar pressing hard against her neck coupled with the fact that her Prod was forced away from her made that impossible. She had no choice but to go limp, feigning unconsciousness. Her ruse appeared to work, as she was rudely dropped into the ground.
"Sir, the humans have been subdued," one Yolkian commented.
"Excellent," Commander Magoo replied. We shall take them back to their planet where they may be properly executed. I congratulate you, Private. You can be sure to expect a promotion.
"And as for the rest of you, set a direct course for Retroville. I want-"
The commander was cut off by an alarm. Cindy opened one of her eyes a crack, to see every Yolkian in the room staring at the ceiling, red lights reflecting off of their metal casings.
"SELF-DESTRUCT SEQUENCE HAS BEEN ACTIVATED. FIVE MINUTES UNTIL SELF-DESTRUCTION."
This sent the Yolkian in a crazy frenzy, all rushing out through the door to the escape pods. The commander exploded with rage, trying to keep order among his subordinates. He rushed out the door after the others.
Cindy sat up. Her neck was aching, but either she didn't feel it, or she didn't care. She ran over to Jimmy, crouching beside the boy genius. She shook him until he heard a slight groan.
"Jimmy?"
"Wha-"
"Don't move. You're hurt." Cindy tried to get him to sit down, to no avail.
"SELF-DESTRUCT SEQUENCE HAS BEEN ACTIVATED. FOUR MINUTES LEFT UNTIL SELF-DESTRUCTION."
Jimmy shot up like a rocket. Taking the map from his back pocket, he hastily unfolded it and dragged Cindy by the arm out the door.
"Hey! Watch it, Neutron!"
Jimmy didn't answer. He leaned against the wall, eyes scanning the map in front of him. Suddenly, he turned and ran down to the right.
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"SELF-DESTRUCT SEQUENCE HAS BEEN ACTIVATED. THREE MINUTES LEFT UNTIL SELF-DESTRUCTION."
Jimmy rounded a corner, ending up in a large room with several small doors in the wall. Only one was still open. As soon as Cindy caught up, he sprinted down to one of the escape pods.
As soon as he reached the door, however, he felt something hit his ankles. He tripped, hitting the ground with a hard smack. Commander Magoo stared down at him with a satisfied smile.
"Not so fast, Neutron."
The Yolkian was advancing, chasing Jimmy backwards on his hands and feet. The alien pointed his Prod at him.
"A captain always goes down with his ship. But you two are coming with me."
Cindy rushed forward, ready for a fight. But before she could reach the Commander, he jabbed her in the stomach. Hard. Cindy doubled over, walking backwards before falling.
Jimmy stood back up shakily. "What about sacrificing us?"
Magoo laughed. "The time for that is over. You're mine for the two and a half minutes before we all meet our doom."
"Are you crazy?!"
The Yolkian was taken aback by this. He snarled, dealing another blow to the boy genius.
"Don't you talk back to me!" the Commander was fuming, which was showed by the stream of blood trickling down Jimmy's forehead.
"Stop it!" Cindy readied her Shock Prod to attack. Magoo glared at her.
"Will you two ever learn?" The Yolkian lunged at Cindy, ready to knock her out cold quickly.
He was stopped when another Prod flew through the air, smashing the casing protecting his gooey form. Jimmy groaned, before rising to his knees. Painfully, he stood up further, raising his hand just above his hairline. He pulled his hand back to see the crimson blood from Commander Magoo's Shock Prod.
"Still want a fight, Neutron? Fine. I'll give it to you."
"SELF-DESTRUCT SEQUENCE HAS BEEN ACTIVATED. TWO MINUTES LEFT UNTIL SELF-DESTRUCTION."
Magoo grabbed Jimmy's Prod off the ground, making his way towards him. Jimmy didn't budge, and tried to hide his fear. He couldn't let Cindy see him like that…
"Jimmy!"
"Take this!" Jimmy clasped his eyes shut, waiting for the impact. It never came.
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"Jimmy!" Cindy yelled, helpless to stop the oncoming attack against him.
"Take this!" Magoo swung, but a blur sped towards him, swiping the Shock Prod from his grasp. When Goddard turned around, the Prod was held in his mouth. The Commander turned, immense anger burning his eyes. He charged, ready to rip the mechanical dog to shreds. As he started forward, Cindy put her momentum into her Shock Prod. It flew straight as an arrow, piercing the metal casings of the Yolkian, sending sparks and streams of electricity in all directions. He dropped to the floor, obviously disabled.
"SELF-DESTRUCT SEQUENCE HAS BEEN ACTIVATED. ONE MINUTE LEFT UNTIL SELF-DESTRUCTION."
Cindy ran over to Jimmy grabbing his wrist and half-dragging him to the escape pod.
"Neutron!!" The Commander's screaming was cut off by the closing of the pod door, and the sound of it detaching from the control ship. The three looked out the window, gazing at the stars gracing the black void of space. The pod swung around, allowing them to see Earth. They were going steadily towards it, but it was clear that it was still a ways off. They turned to see out the other window, at the control ship 'above' them. An explosion rattled the bottom of the ship, followed by one on the bridge. Soon the whole thing was covered with miniature explosions. The flashes cast a yellowish reflection of the kids' faces, as the watched the rest of the ship go down in a fiery blast.
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"Ow! Watch it, Vortex!"
"Don't be such a baby, Jimmy. We need to clean that cut if you don't want an infection." Cindy rubbed the gash on Jimmy's forehead with a wet rag supplied by Goddard.
"An infection in space? Highly unlikely. The chances of-"
"Shut your yap, will ya? I'm just trying to help."
"Well it hurts!"
Cindy sighed, removing the rag for a moment. She got up in Jimmy's face, making him shrink back a little. But instead of looking angry, she smiled smugly.
"Hey, c'mon. We just made a hundred-plus narrow escapes, brought an alien empire to ruin single-handedly… again, and rescued our friends from mind-controlling helmets. And you're telling me you're afraid of a little washcloth?"
Jimmy let out a defeated sigh, and let Cindy clean his forehead again.
"By the way, Neutron, who put the ship on self-destruct mode anyway?"
Goddard barked happily, proud of his accomplishments.
"Oh." Cindy nodded and went back to work.
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The escape pod was growing ever hotter as it entered the Earth's atmosphere. The ground was rising up at an alarming rate, the calculated time until impact at a couple seconds. Involuntarily, Jimmy and Cindy tightly grasped hands, waiting for the crash. It came, sending clouds of dust and chips of concrete into the air. Opening his eyes, Jimmy slowly and carefully opened the door, stepping into the nighttime Retroland amusement park. Cindy and Goddard soon followed. They didn't have to go far before three others ran up to join them.
"Jimmy! You're all right!" Sheen yelled right in Jimmy's face.
"Hey Jimmy. How're you doin'?" Carl greeted.
"Hey Cindy! Whussup girlfriend?" Libby asked, music blaring from her headphones.
"Hey Jimmy, what's with your head?" Sheen asked bluntly.
Jimmy laughed and shook his head. "More importantly, what happened to the Yolkians?"
"We whooped 'em after we could move again," Libby remarked proudly.
"They flew away, and they took the chicken with them," Carl said.
Sheen yawned. "I'm tired, which is kind of weird. Yet strangely interesting…"
Jimmy stared at him. "So you'll miss the Ultralord marathon that's on in a couple minutes?"
Sheen snapped to attention. "Ultralord? There's another Ultralord marathon? C'mon, guys!"
He ran down the street like a bullet, while Carl panted, trying to catch up.
"C'mon, Cindy. Let's go." Libby waved her hand and started walking away.
"I'll catch up in a minute," Cindy replied. She turned to Jimmy.
The two stood in silence for a minute. "Cindy…" Jimmy began. "Thanks. I couldn't have done it without you."
Cindy stood there a moment, thinking of what to say. "Thanks, Neutro- hey, wait a minute! You couldn't have done it without me? What's that supposed to mean?"
"I was just-"
"You ever think it was me who couldn't have done it without you?"
"No, I just-"
"That's right, you didn't."
The two started walking towards town, back to their constant bickering.
I know, crappy ending. But that' not the end, remember? Sometime soon, I'll start working on the next installment in the NvEoUrTtReOxN series. Keep your eyes peeled for a preview after the completion of Cartoon Anime Survivor!