Chapter 1

"Crying over nothing"

"Do you think Jimmy's new invention will be dangerous?" Carl asked. Sheen and he were walking to their best friend's house from the Candy Bar. Jimmy had urgently called them and told them to go to his Lab because he had just finished another of his great inventions. He sounded rather excited, just like Sheen did… 24 hours a day.

"Most definitely," Sheen answered solemnly, used to Carl's fear for almost everything around him. "Remember last time? It was awesome! Though that squirrel bit you hard, didn't it?" Sheen asked, remembering their last adventure, which involved Jimmy testing his Neutron Hyper-Develop Ray on a squirrel, which grew to a large size and bit Carl's shoulder. Since then, Carl had developed a phobia for squirrels.

Carl winced and rubbed his shoulder tenderly. "Don't… say… squirrel" Shivering when mentioning the word. Sheen gave him an odd look and continued walking, humming the Ultra Lord theme song and kicking and punching the air randomly while doing so. When they reached the Neutron residence, they found Jimmy sitting on his front lawn, holding what it seemed to be a TV remote. Carl felt uneasy. When didn't he?

"Hello guys! I was waiting for you," Jimmy said, holding his new invention up so they could see it. "Gentlemen, I present to you the Neutron BioAdapter 900!" Jimmy smiled excitedly, while Sheen and Carl stared at the machine in confusion.

"So…," Carl started, turning to Jimmy puzzled. "What does it do?" Jimmy was waiting for him to ask so. He backed away from the boys one step and started pressing some buttons in the Neutron BioAdapter 900. Sheen and Carl looked at him half expectantly, half worriedly.

"Define mood and subject," a robotic voice said, obviously coming from the Neutron BioAdapter 900. Jimmy smiled pleased. "Sad, Sheen Estevez," he said. "Mood: Sad, Subject: Sheen Estevez. Is this correct?" Asked the robotic voice. Jimmy grinned. "Correct." Suddenly, the machine started glowing and a flash of light was shot at Sheen, leaving both him and Carl speechless. But what happened next was the real shock. For no apparent reason, Sheen started crying hopelessly.

"Is there something wrong, Sheen?" Carl asked worried. Sheen looked miserable; he was sobbing uncontrollably and tried vainly to talk in a coherent manner.

"I… feel… but… why… no… reason… Ultra Lord…. don't … get… it…," Sheen managed to say between sobs, while Carl patted him friendly on the back and gave Jimmy a desperate look. Jimmy looked relaxed and pressed some buttons on the Neutron BioAdapter 900. The robotic voice once again requested for mood and subject. To this Jimmy said "Human state, Sheen Estevez". The machine then asked if it was correct and Jimmy verified it. And as before, the machine glowed and a flash of light was shot at Sheen, who regained his normal, hyperactive mood.

"Wow! What was that?" Sheen asked, as coming from a trance. "I felt as if the Ultra Lord show was cancelled!" Suddenly, Sheen's expression turned to that of a maniac and he grabbed Carl by his sweater's neck. "Was it!" He asked with fire in his eyes.

Carl looked up at Sheen in the verge of tears. "Sheen, you are hurting me!" He shouted, struggling to free himself from Sheen's grasp, but it was impossible. Jimmy quickly tried to take Carl from Sheen.

"Sheen, it wasn't cancelled!" Jimmy yelled, trying to calm Sheen down. "Now let Carl go!" Sheen did as Jimmy told him, a sigh of relief escaping him.

"Well, you got me there for a second," he said, smiling innocently at Carl, who was glaring at him. "But then why did I feel so…" Sheen trailed off for the perfect word to describe how he'd felt.

"Sad?" Jimmy suggested, a knowing smile in his face.

"Yeah! Exactly!" Sheen exclaimed amazed. "I couldn't stop crying even if I wanted to! I really thought Ultra Lord had been cancelled!" He frowned in confusion. "Why?"

Jimmy smiled, pleased at his work. "Well, that's how the Neutron BioAdapter 900 works. I can manipulate a person's mood by sending an identifying ray that determines what could cause the reaction I want to obtain, and then an hypnotic ray is shot at the subject causing that subject to believe the cause of the reaction is truly happening. In this case the reaction I wanted to obtain was sadness, and the cause of it would be--"

"Don't even say it," Sheen snapped, glaring furiously at Jimmy. "Don't you dare to say it." Jimmy rolled his eyes. "Well, we already know the cause." He continued. "So I made Sheen believe Ul…" He glanced at Sheen, who was still pretty upset. "that happened. Therefore, I obtained the desired reaction."

"Very cruel of you, to play with my feelings like that," Sheen said, hurt. Jimmy felt guilty. "But I have to admit it. It's awesome! Can we test it on other people? Please?" He said excited, this sure could be fun.

"Well…" Jimmy knew he shouldn't manipulate people's feelings, like Sheen have said. But he was convinced by his friend's pleading looks. After all, what harm could he cause? "Sure, why not?"

"Yes!" Sheen exclaimed victoriously. "Who should we try first?" He rubbed his hands in conspiracy, and started thinking of possible victims. Just then, Libby and Cindy came out of Cindy's house, just across Jimmy's, talking, probably about girly stuff. Sheen grinned evilly. "What about… Ms. Vortex?" Jimmy grinned evilly as well, rather happy with the idea. Carl's uneasy feeling turned into pure fear. This is going to hurt, he thought, swallowing hard.

Author's Note: So what do you think? Please review, I appreciate all kinds of comments!