"Operation Rocketboy"

Episode 1 : Rocketboy and the Altar of Peril

part 2

Jimmy Neutron shook his head as his wife sparred back and forth with Betty Quinlan. They had been at it like this for years.

Years and years.

Neither could just seem to let it go. He probably should have felt flattered, the geeky little boy from Retroville being fought over so, but after a while it just got repetitive. Even though he had chosen Cindy time and time again, married her even, she refused to let go of her perceptions of Betty as a rival. Even though she knew her situation was hopeless, Betty refused to give up and just antagonized Cindy further. Sometimes Jimmy suspected that Betty simply enjoyed fighting with Cindy and kept pursuing him for that reason.

Betty really wasn't THAT bad. Sure, she was a jewel thief and technically a "bad guy" but compared too some of the real bad guys Jimmy had run into, Betty barely rated jaywalker. Aside from the skills and tools of her trade, and the all black leather outfit, she still was the same sweet girl Jimmy remembered from elementary school.

Of course if he were to ever express these sentiments to Cindy she'd probably kill him.

Or worse.

He shuddered at the thought, and noticed the two were still fighting and quipping at each other. They could go on like that for hours and probably would.

"Oh well, I'd better get back on track."

He turned and looked away from the squabbling femme fatales and towards the ruby in the center of the room that was the size of a cantaloupe.

"Ah perfect, the Ruby of Santo Caronica. Just the thing I need to finish my Holonet Sky Projector."

He'd worked out the design for the projector months ago but hadn't been able to find a suitable emitter crystal for the plans he had in mind. He had almost abandoned his idea until he remembered the legends about the Santo Caronica Ruby, hidden somewhere deep in the Costa Rican jungles over five hundred years ago. And as it just so happened, Cindy wanted to honeymoon in Costa Rica. A little satellite scanning and a few robot probes and...

Jimmy took a step into the room and instinctively threw himself too the ground as the familiar whizzing sound of poison darts assailed his ears.

Booby traps.

"Good job Neutron, good job. Its not like you've never been in an abandoned temple before. There's ALWAYS traps."

He took a more careful stock of his surroundings. He noticed the point holes dotting the mossy walls that were no doubt where the dart guns were hidden. Where was the triggering mechanism then?

The floor. Of course, pressure release tiles. He noticed the slightly off colored one that his foot had fallen on. Directly to the side of it was a dart hole.

"Hmmm, better watch where I step."

Jimmy stood up and brushed the dirt off his jeans and jacket.

"Or, better yet, why step anywhere?"

He pressed a button on his watch. The anti-grav skates on the soles of his shoes fired up and floated him several inches off the ground. He couldn't help but smile as he maneuvered over towards the pedestal.

"And Cindy said anti-gravity skates would never come in handy."

He dropped down in front of the pedestal in a spot that looked safe and studied the gem. The ruby was resting on another release plate of some sort. He wasn't sure what it tripped, but he didn't really want to find out either.

"The plate must be counter-weighted to the jewels exact weight. Any shift will cause the device to trigger. So, how do I get it off?"

He stood stroking his chin when a loud crash and shudder distracted him. He looked back out towards the outer chamber and saw a giant crater in the floor.

"Oh no..."

Cindy was using her zero-point shoes. And the shockwaves...

"Come here Quinlan, I'm gonna turn you into jam and eat you for breakfast!"

Jimmy heard a shrill scream and realized it was him.

"CINDY, DON'T!"

Her foot slammed into a wall and the gem shuddered on its perch. Shuddered and fell.

Jimmy caught it before it hit the floor but watched in horror as the plate slid downward. Far above him he heard a rumbling and watched as another hidden door slid away in the wall in front of him...

And a giant marble came thundering out.

With no thoughts Jimmy darted back across the chamber, darts flying in all directions.

"CINDY! COME ON!"

"Jimmy, what's..."?

Without letting her finish he grabbed the wrist of her hand that was currently wrapped around Betty Quinlans throat. They both were taken aback as they were pulled off their feet and dragged behind him. Then they noticed the giant ball rolling dangerously behind them.

"Jimmy!"

"What Cindy!"

"SPEED IT UP!"

With a voice command he actived his anti-grav skates. With another, he deployed the turbo-jets hidden in his backpack.

"Brace yourselves!'

Somewhere deep in the Central American jungle, three figures rocket out of a long forgotten cave at roughly half the speed of sound.

A few hundred feet away, Cindy Neutron was spitting leaves and dirt out of her mouth.

"Phaff, flef, flph! Well, that went well."

Above her, her husband was looking slightly dazed as he hung upside down from a tree.

"It always does."

"I'll say."

Cindy spun around at the sound of Betty Quinlans voice. She was emerging from the nearby bushes, staring morosely at the stains on her clothes.

"You still looking for a piece Quinlan!"

Betty brushed dirt off her shoulder.

"I would Vortex, but I'm too tired. I wanted to thank Jimmy for saving my life was all."

"If you hadn't noticed it was on accident."

"Whatever."

She somersaulted over Cindy's head and next to the hanging Jimmy. With quick precision she planted a kiss on Jimmy's lips.

"Thanks, lover."

Cindy roared and charged, but with a flick of the wrist Betty tossed a smoke bomb and was gone.

Cindy was still coughing on the noxious white haze as she helped disengage Jimmy from the tree.

"I'm really going to fix her one of these days."

With a crash Jimmy landed on his back. From the tree, the Santo Caronica Ruby fell next to him. He stood up and brushed himself off.

"Well, at least she didn't get this."

"Oh yeah, the big Santa Clausica Ruby or whatever its called. You still haven't told me why we had to come all the way out here for it."

Jimmy smiled slyly.

"Oh, you'll see."

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Fireworks were going off above the Grand Verde-Surfer Hotel. Fireworks that painted Cindy Neutron's face in the sky. They slowly dissolved into the shape of a heart with the message of J + C Forever inscribed into it.

On the beach, Jimmy and Cindy Neutron sat with their arms around each other, watching the display. Behind them, the Holonet Sky-Projector hummed and pulsed.

"Oh Jimmy, this is the sweetest thing you've ever done."

"See, wasn't it worth the hike through the jungle and battle with the giant statue and trying to outrun a huge mar..."

Cindy placed a finger to her lips. Then she kissed him. She broke away a few seconds later, her husband grinning like an idiot.

"Yes, it was worth all that. It was even worth having to run into Quinlan out there."

Jimmy was still too dazed to be thinking clearly.

"Aw, Betty's not so bad."

All the warmth suddenly left Jimmy's body as he realized what he had just said. Then he noticed Cindy's face had become stone.

"WHAT did you just say?"

"I, uh, well that is, I meant..."

He leapt to his feet and flipped on his anti-grav skates.

"See ya!"

He took off as fast as he could, Cindy right behind him, waving her fist.

"Get back here Neutron, I'm gonna throttle you until your HAIRS BLUE!"

End of Episode 1

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Well, that concludes episode 1, hope people are enjoying it. This was kinda the pilot for the series, just to see if people would dig it and it would be worth writing more. Since I seem to be getting favorable reviews, I guess I will continue writing some more. I'm hoping to do an episode a week, divided into two parts. I'm not sure who else from the real series will be showing up but I've got some idea's. Anyways, stay tuned.