Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.
After Jimmy directed Carl back inside the Candy Bar, he headed back to his house. Unlike the others, he had an array of inventions prepared incase of an emergency such as this. He slid to a stop outside his lab's door and painfully plucked a brown hair from his head. He held it up into the DNA scanner and waited for the door to swing open.
Once Jimmy entered his lab, he walked over to his shelves filled with inventions. He stared at them admiringly for a moment before carefully pulling a couple off of the shelves.
He put a small, but powerful, pair of binoculars in his pocket. He then took off his backpack and dumped the contents of it onto his floor. He put in a device that looked like a laser gun, but was actually a listening device. He threw in a pair of headphones that went with it. He then dashed over to his closet and threw on some sunglasses and a baseball hat. He struggled to stuff the hat over his enormous hair.
Once that was done, he strolled over to Goddard, who lay sleeping in a corner. He patted his head and then slung his backpack over his shoulder. He turned around to stare at the wonder that was his laboratory before going back inside.
As Jimmy closed the door to his clubhouse, he heard a familiar voice across the street. He ducked behind the side of the small wooden building and peered his head out a little. He smiled as he saw Cindy and Libby leave the Vortex's house.
Waiting until they were a short distance away, he sprinted across his yard and dove into some bushes. He pulled some of the leaves away from his face and looked at the two girls across the street. He jumped out, rolled across the lawn, and hid behind a tree.
This little game continued for about twenty minutes. At that time, Cindy and Libby entered the Retroville Mall. A tired, dirty, and slightly bloody Jimmy hobbled after them.
After following the two ladies for nearly an hour, he discovered what most men already know. Watching women shop is incredibly boring. Jimmy was sitting down on a bench outside the store Cindy and Libby were in, hitting his head against it just to have something to do.
At long last, he finally decided to use his inventions. He opened his backpack and pulled out his listening device. He plugged the headphones into it and pulled them over his ears. He aimed the device at the two girls and pressed the trigger. With his other hand, he pulled the binoculars out of his pocket.
"So, what do you think?" Cindy asked while walking out of a dressing room. Jimmy noticed the backpack that lay by her.
Libby eyed her with a smile. "What? Do I think that this dress will make You Know Who fall head over heels in love with you?"
Cindy gave her best friend a playful smirk before spinning around and looking at herself in the mirror. "Jeez, I don't think anyone could resist me in this. Not even him."
Jimmy's jaw hung slightly as he stared at Cindy through the binoculars. She looked absolutely stunning in the emerald green dress she had on. His gaze shifted downwards to her legs before he shook himself out of it. "Alright, focus," he said to himself. "You have a job to do." He paused a moment. "And who the heck is You Know Who?"
He took a few deep breaths and lifted the binoculars up again. He frowned as he saw her go back inside the dressing room. He was about to put the binoculars down when he remembered that he had incorporated an X-ray mode into the binoculars.
Jimmy's eyes quickly darted from the binoculars in his hand to the store. No, he thought. No. That would be absolutely wrong. He put his binoculars down and patiently waited for Cindy to come out of the dressing room. But his finger's nervous tapping quickly changed into his whole hand shaking. He reached for the binoculars, but then quickly drew his hand away.
"What's that?" a boy a couple of years younger than him asked, pointing to the listening device.
Jimmy stared down at the kid. He took off his headphones and placed the listening device down on the bench. "You want something cool for free?" he asked. The kid nodded. "Take this," he said and thrust the binoculars into the boy's hands. "Just don't let me have it back, no matter what I say. Ok?"
"Sure," the kid replied while eyeing his new toy. He started to walk away when he heard Jimmy's voice.
"Kid?" he sheepishly asked.
The boy spun around. "What?"
"Can I have that back, please?" he nervously asked while nervously glancing back to the store.
The kid stared at him, confused. "But you just said..."
"I was kidding. Can I please have it back?" he pleaded while standing up.
The boy took a few steps back, looking at Jimmy with fear. He then turned around and ran away. "Leave me alone!" he shouted.
"Wait! Give it back!" Jimmy shouted while running after him.
"I need an adult!" the kid wailed as he continued running.
"Get your hands off of me!" an angry Jimmy shouted while a security guard led him out of his office.
The obese man leaned down and stared at Jimmy. "If you scare any more little kids, you're going to get it!" he sternly said before turning around and walking back to his post.
"If you scare any kids again you're going to get it," Jimmy whispered in a mocking tone while walking back to where he had left his stuff.
He breathed a sigh of relief as he saw that his backpack and the listening device was still at the bench. He put the machine back in his backpack and swung the pack over his shoulder.
He was about to head out of the mall when he froze. He took a few steps back and looked to his right. He smiled as he saw Cindy and Libby standing in front of food cart. He hid behind a large potted tree and tried to listen.
"Here you go," Cindy said while handing the man some money. She took a bite out of her pretzel and turned towards Libby, who was fidgeting slightly. "What's wrong?"
"I have to go to the ladies' room," she whispered.
"So?"
"I don't know where it is," she moaned.
Cindy smiled and pointed straight ahead. Libby muttered a quick thank you and ran of in that direction. Cindy shook her head and laughed a little as she followed after her.
Jimmy stealthily followed her, matching her movements step by step, hiding behind every bench, trash can, and potted plant. She was only about ten feet to his right. But as he glanced over to her, he froze in shock.
Cindy had just taken a bite out of her pretzel and noticed Cindy run into the ladies' room. Once she was sure that her friend couldn't see her, she reached into her pocket and took out a pearl. She stared at it longingly for a moment before throwing it up into the air a little and catching it. She smiled at it for another second before putting it back inside her pocket.
Jimmy stared in amazement as she did this. My god, it's the pearl. She still has it. Jimmy groaned and leaned back against the potted tree behind him. He slid down it and landed in a crumpled heap on the floor.
It's been over a year, and she still has it. She keeps the pearl, she kisses my cheek, and she barely ever insults me. She calls me her friend and helps me when I need her. Yet I still think she would steal from me? Jimmy slapped himself on the forehead. "You stupid idiot," he muttered.
Jimmy lay like that for a moment. He heard Libby emerge from the bathroom, and then the two girls walking past him. Closing his eyes and thinking, he sadly shook his head. Yeah, I'm an ass. But I better be sure. He paused a moment before jumping up and following the two girls.
He watched as they bought two tickets in front of the movie theatre. Sighing, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a ten dollar bill. He handed it to the man behind the booth. "One ticket to whatever those two girls just bought. And keep the change," he glumly said.
Jimmy walked inside the dark theatre just as the giant screen flickered to life. He smiled a little. It was almost completely dark. He could find Cindy, sneak up next to her, check her backpack, run out, and she would never know. He stood against the wall and eyed the audience. "Bingo," he said as he found her sitting a few rows down. He got down on his hands and knees and began to crawl over.
"Coming this summer," the announcer in the trailer boomed, "the newest thriller. A tale that will leave you screaming with fright."
Jimmy exhaled and roll his eyes. He'd choose a documentary over some stupid horror film any day.
"Someone's watched one too many scary movies." Jimmy slowly continued crawling across the floor to Cindy's aisle.
Cindy and Libby looked at each other for a moment, silently sharing their disdain for what looked like another cheesy thriller.
"He's not trying to kill us. He's trying to separate us," a blonde girl said onscreen.
Jimmy stopped to catch his breath. He was at the entrance to Cindy's aisle. She sat a mere three feet from him. He just had to reach out his hand and grab her backpack.
Onscreen, a brown-haired boy slowly reached towards a doorknob. "The game has only just begun," a distorted voice creepily muttered.
Jimmy stretched as far as he could, trying not to brush his arm against Cindy's legs. Yes! he screamed inside his head as his right arm clenched down on her backpack. He slowly pulled it towards him.
"Bloody Rain. The game's only just begun," the announcer said as a masked killer jumped out of the door and attacked the boy. The audience screamed, including Cindy. She kicked out her legs and covered her eyes, inadvertently kicking Jimmy in the stomach.
"Ow!" he shouted. The shout of pain filled the theater. Cindy looked down at Jimmy, who was stretching over her feet and grabbing her backpack. "Oh. Hi Cind," he said while flashing his innocent smile.
She stared at him angrily for a moment before drawing back her fist.