The news about Retroville was all over around the world. CNN, FOX News, CNBC, every news outlet in America, the UK, North Korea (Which would be saying something), everything. Needlessly to say, everyone was shocked.
But not as shocked as the Kids Next Door was.
Pain.
Anguish.
Anger.
The three greatest emotions that mind readers could sense from the thoughts in their minds.
"I can't believe he went and did it." Nigel Uno said, dumbstruck. "There are rules that the Kids Next Door follow, but this is one of the biggest rules in the history of the KND."
"Granted, he put out a virus worse than the Coronavirus, but he didn't have to die." Numbah Five said, conflicted.
"I dunno what to think of this." Numbah Two said.
"Wait, you really think this is well deserved?! Don't you know there's a THIN line between Justice and Vengeance?!" Numbah Five said, stunned.
"No, I agree, but think of this, we've been helping countries and their Children deal with issues that held them back because of COVID. Lack of Movie Theaters, hunger, providing for communities so they don't go insane, and the list goes on." Numbah Two shrugged. "Especially for Entertainment, it's bad enough AMC may have to file for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, but with parents wanting nothing to do with Netflix after *Shudders* showing that they have that film?"
"That's your primary concern? Entertainment?!" Numbah Four shouted as he came downstairs with Numbah Three. "A kid just killed an adult!"
"But maybe some people can't be redeemed. The war against bad adults like BraceFace, and bad guys like the Delightful Children go on, and on."
"If we kill anyone, how is that Justice? Eventually, more and more crooks are gonna go after us." Numbah four scoffed.
"Look, one of us will have to talk to him afterwards, it's no big deal." Numbah One said, sighing as he had enough of this.
In a city in Massachusetts called, "Peaceful Pines", the town was clearly on Lockdown because of the pandemic, and any form of entertainment, unless you count streaming services and Live TV, was gone. In fact, there were people who woke up every day during the pandemic, thinking, "What shall I do today? I could go out for a walk, but the weather is too shitty for that today. I think I'll just go back to sleep." Eventually, there were people who got so bored, there was a drastic increase in unemployment, insanity and suicide from the increased depression of feeling hopeless in the pandemic.
But if you were a strange and unusual girl who befriended the Ghost with the Most, then you'd still have friends worth living for. Take Lydia Deetz for example, she's known Beetlejuice for a long, long time and they went on wacky adventures in the Neitherworld together, a realm full of ghosts and supernatural creatures, and they bonded over them.
And the Pandemic has not affected her emotional state as long as she still had BJ and her family.
But the news about Retroville had shocked her to a degree.
In her room, Lydia was in shock, watching the report about the incident in Retroville, her mouth agape open, her eyes wide open, with the horrified expression selling everyone what she thinks about this whole incident, what caused it, who's responsible, etc.
But someone ruined the tense emotion in the room.
"Hey Babes!" Beetlejuice was heard as he appeared on the Mirror. "What do you say we hang out in the Neitherworld! I actually have..."
"Beetlejuice, today's not the day." Lydia said, stunned.
"Babes, c'mon." Beetlejuice said, urgently as he pulled out a watch. "Time has been slipping away from me when I first saw you!"
The watch slipped out of his hands. Lydia rolled her eyes as she spoke, "Beej, not now. Something terrible happened in Retroville, Indiana. The Pandemic became worse and destroyed the city!"
"I didn't know a pandemic could destroy that." Beetlejuice said, scratching his head. "Honestly, I thought bad presidents did that." Then he turned into Beetle "Nixon", or Beetlejuice dressed as Richard Nixon. Then he impersonated Nixon by saying, "My Fellow Ghouls and Monsters, I am not a crook!" Then he turned back to "Normal" as he said, "Know what I mean?"
"This isn't funny, Beetlejuice." Lydia said, sternly. "People died in this pandemic, there are others who are in desperate need of help in these troubling times."
"Sorry, Lyds. Guess I'm so full of myself today." Beetlejuice said, embarrassed.
"And, the person responsible for getting that town destroyed by the pandemic was arrested, and then Murdered in a vengeful rage. I don't know what to feel about that..." Lydia said, conflicted.
"Babes, it could be a whole lot worse if you think about it," Beetlejuice said, thoughtlessly.
"B.J," Lydia said, annoyed. "How could it get worse than this?!"
All the while, Jimmy sat in the complete darkness of what's left of his lab. In the 24 Hours that had passed since he killed Cartman, He didn't shower, brush his teeth, and/or ate anything, hell, his hair even looked messy. Whether he knew it or not, he didn't give a damn. He hated himself for what he had done. A town was destroyed, his hometown, because he held back. He moped as he listened to the news.
"...survivors will continue to receive support and help from Indianapolis. In other news, we turn to another part of the world that is dealing with suffering and destruction. The Middle Eastern nation of Bialya continues its relentless bombing of its own city of Gared, in its destructive attempts to quell the various democratic uprisings. The Bialyan President has instilled a nationwide severance of its telecommunications, preventing any and all information to reach past its borders."
"Despite President Trump's reassurance to try to get the nation to cease fire, sources confirmed that the bombing continued unrelenting before the media blackouts," the reporter continued. "Already, thousands of lives have been claimed, and more are expected to be added to the list of suffering as the United Nations has failed to make any progress in peace talks from the side of the Bialyan government."
Jimmy raised his head and opened his eyes. Before the outbreak in Retroville, Jimmy knew of this violent civil conflict in the middle east, how the United Nations were struggling and failing to bring about any peace talks or bring about a ceasefire, mainly because of Donald Trump's irresponsibility to not take it seriously. Because of this, thousands continued to die on a weekly basis.
The Bialyan government was killing off its own people, its own citizens. Lives were being destroyed in a city being brought to its knees.
And it angered Jimmy. Immensely.
People were DYING, being slaughtered and gunned down...murdered by the hands of a government...no, of a MAN who was supposed to lead them, guide them...protect them.
This was unacceptable.
"No."
It was a whisper. But it was filled with something that Jimmy thought he had lost: purpose. He felt something stirring within him, a fire that he thought died with Retroville. He was soon engulfed in it, consumed and fueled by this fire as he took his jetpack and put it on, alongside with his Gauntlets and took off flying.
(Author's Note: I decided to De-age Danielle to being a 5th Grader in this story, so she's 11 Years old in this timeline.)
In Gared, Bialya, several innocent civilians were trying to escape from the wreckage of the War. It was pandemonium, families scrambling to be safe and find places to hide.
One of them was a 4-year-old boy. He was sure he was going to die. No way would he survive the oncoming missile, especially since he tripped. So he simply pulled himself into a fetal position, hoping to see his mother when he arrived in Paradise.
That is until someone grabbed him and saved him from the missile by flying him away.
The one who saved a 4-year-old boy was a Girl Ghost, or as people called her back in Amity Park, Dani Phantom, the Female Ghost Clone and/or cousin of Danny Phantom, the Savior of the Planet. Since being stabilized, she went around the world helping those in need, especially in the Pandemic. She helped with providing shelter, and food for them. Originally, she wanted to help the world, but because of civil wars going on in the Middle East, Danielle felt that she should stick around to help those in need.
"You okay?" Dani said as she landed. The 4-year-old boy nodded in reassurance. "Now go find your mother, I'll see if I could find your friends."
The 4-year-old ran off as Danielle prepared to fly back to the city and try to save more from missiles' impacts. But then, much to her shock, the missiles exploded in midair, cut down to pieces...by Jimmy Neutron's wrist laser watch as the Boy Genius flew in the skies.
Danielle has heard of this "Jimmy Neutron" a year ago, when she read an article about him on her way back to find Danny and bring him to Vlad. She kind of respected him and hoped to be like a friend towards him once things were settled down after Vlad was defeated and she began her own life. But this was different from the Jimmy Neutron she read about, he seemed more serious than usual.
Bialyan citizens walked by to thank Jimmy for helping with the war effort.
"It's okay, I'm here. I should've been here." Jimmy said, reassuringly. Then, his face became stoic and mean as he flew off into the skies, saying, "But I'm here to end it."
At the Presidential Capital Palace, Jimmy flew in, much to the Bialyan president's surprise. The Bialya Soldiers went after Jimmy, only for the Boy Genius to shock them with a taser shockwave on his wristwatch that was activated with a push of a button. They went down, twitching.
"Mr. President." Jimmy said, sternly. "We need to talk."
The Arabian was skeptical as he spoke, "You're just a kid! What are you going to do to me?"
"Let's see, shall we?" Jimmy said, grabbing the president by his shirt, shocking him and creeping him out a bit.
5 minutes and a flight later, the Arab head of state found himself in the war-torn streets of Gared, shirt torn off and surrounded by the same citizens he's condemned to death, and he was getting scared by the cold and ruthless glares in their eyes.
"These were the people you were supposed to protect! You have spent the better part of the past year bombarding this city, besieging and slaughtering the very same people you have sworn to protect when you took power," Jimmy snarled, bitterly. "What do you have to say for yourself?!."
"You…you can't do this," The president yelled in his Arab accent, frightened.
"Yes, I can. I can see that now."
"I am the president of this country! You-"
"Not anymore."
"Stop!" All eyes turned upwards at the new arrival. Dani Phantom touched down, a shocked expression on her face. It wasn't, however, due to the fact that Jimmy was able to effortlessly apprehend a Crook like the Arabian President and without any help. While those were all shocking details in themselves, they weren't her actual main focus.
What immediately grabbed the Halfa Girl's attention was the fact that Jimmy seemed nothing like the stories she's read on the newspaper. He seemed like a ball of rage, repressed and locked inside. A mere shell of himself. What she didn't know is that he lost everything in Retroville, and something lit a fire in his belly.
Danielle had to admit, she…liked this fire.
"What are you doing?" Danielle spoke.
"What I've should've done long ago. I can't stand by while innocents are ruined by assinine jackasses like this man (he smacked the president with his hand) hurt them." Jimmy said, sternly.
Danielle raised an eyebrow as she transformed into her human form, awkwardly saying, "You do realize there are Cameras here, right?"
Jimmy notices everything being recorded by everyone's phone as he spoke, "Fine. I have a few things to say..."
"Are you seriously going to address the world?" Danielle said, adjusting her beanie.
"Why not?"
"Well, not like this. Besides, Bialya is in a media blackout, and you're in no condition to address the world. At least call for a press conference at the UN in five hours. Take that time to wash up, and get that blood off your arm."
Jimmy knew she was right, he can't go out in public like this he should at least clean up.