Chapter 17: A Downward Turn

AN: Happy Anniversary everyone! I can't believe it's been 20 years since the Jimmy Neutron movie came out. I know a lot's happened since then, but the movie and the show gave us a lot of memories to look back to, so I thank the show for the funny and epic episodes that came out as well as the memorable characters that came with it. Here's hoping we can get it revived someday!

But anyway, this is the chapter where things start to change so be prepared for whatever happens and enjoy!

September 22nd, 2006 6:01pm

Retroville Fairgrounds

"I'll let Gruber take it from here," the principal motioned him.

"Let the games begin!" the coach shouted. "First up, Carl Wheezer and Ike Wilderman!"

In the tent, the tournament was about to start with the bracket on a nearby chalkboard showing where everyone competing was in. The first contestants were Carl vs. Ike. They were both outside of the ring on opposite sides. Meanwhile, inside were the two robots. Ike's looked like at least a couple months of work was put into making the robot. It had an indigo color with blue eyes and a block like figure. It sported two small arms with cannons on both sides and two tires on both sides. His robot was voice activated. Carl's on the other hand was a remote control llama car.

"Mechobot! When the bell rings, target the llama car!" Ike ordered his robot.

Once the bell rang to indicate the match, it started. Carl used his remote to move the car away from Ike's robot since it was about to fire it's lasers at it. Ike's robot gave chase, firing lasers at his car. Carl only really had one weapon on him. Days prior to the tournament, Carl spent the day chewing some gum and eventually spitting out some throughout. He then put them in packets to use as ammunition for the fight ahead.

Carl's car kept moving around, dodging every blast Mechobot fired. All the while, he dropped pieces of gum off of his car making the ground sticky. As Mechobot kept moving around, more gum gradually got caught on with his tires, resulting in the robot getting stuck.

"Hahaha!" Carl bragged. "Guess you could say it was grounded-" he was about to say when a laser fired from Mechobot at the car, rendering it disabled. Another five seconds and the bell rung declaring the winner to be Ike. "Nooo!"

"Word of advice Carl," Ike began with a smirk. "Don't let your guard down even when you think the game is over. I do have to commend you for your gum strategy though."

"Thanks," Carl responded glumly with a half smile as he walked back to the bleachers. "At least I tried."

"Hey Carl! You did amazing!" Mr. Wheezer called out.

"You still did your best!" Elke ran up to hug Carl.

"Yeah, not my first idea," Jimmy added on. "I liked how you placed the gum."

"It'll be a bit messy for whoever has to cle-" Sheen was about to quip when Betty stopped him.

"Don't jinx it!" Betty warned while pointing at Sheen. "Not after last time." (See Prepping Time)

A few minutes of ring cleaning later, the next contestants were announced.

"Next up, Skeet Paulsen Vs. Cindy Vortex!"

Cindy's robot was designed around a hypno ray she borrowed from Jimmy and then made arms and legs as well as some armor surrounding it in a pink and yellow color scheme. This was also a remote control activated. Skeet's on the other hand was a remote control deep fryer with legs added onto it for movement and a nozzle in the center to fire french fries. There were also two containers of potatoes on both sides for ammunition.

When the bell rang, both Cindy and Skeet grabbed their remotes and the match began.

"Prepare to get fries with that!" Skeet quipped as his robot fired fries at Cindy's robot.

"That's the best joke you came up with?" Cindy scoffed as her robot dodged the fries being shot at her. She then used the hypno ray on the Skeet's robot which caused it to shut down. Cindy then struck a victory pose.

"Well that's a cheap shot…" Skeet sighed as they shook hands. "Good game!"

Everyone in the group cheered her on, except for Sheen who looked bored, but then he suddenly cheered… at a nearby vendor serving burgers at the seats. Sheen got the vendor's attention and got himself a burger. "Can I get some fries with that?" To this, Libby facepalmed.

"Sheen! And! Libby! Are! Next!" Gruber shouted, as the two headed to the opposite sides of the ring.

"Just because I'm your girlfriend, doesn't mean I'll hold any punches!" Libby said with a smirk as her mech was thrown into the ring. It resembled a black ball, but it was essentially a rolling speaker that she could move around.

"I had a feeling you'd say that Libs," Sheen then revealed his mech. "Which is why I brought my strongest Ultralord action figure into the fray!" It was a R.C. flight Ultralord with a flame color scheme (blue and orange), which had the ability to fly and fire plastic rockets.

"BEGIN!" Gruber shouted as the bell rang.

"Okay Ultralord! Show them what you're made of!" Sheen fired his first rocket at Libby's mech, but it just flew off without even slowing it down. Ultralord then flew to the top of the ring and fired one more rocket, which unfortunately missed. Libby then turned the speaker setting to a frequency that interfered with Ultralord's flight, causing it to fall. She wasted no time in running it over declaring the end of the match. "That's not what I meant…" Sheen scratched the back of his head.

"For the next match… Jimmy Neutron, Vs. Eustace Strych!" Most of the crowd applauded but Jimmy and his friends were shocked in silence for a second.

"But I thought-" Cindy began to say.

"Well, Mr. Neutron, how's it been?" Eustace showed himself with a smirk. "Long time, no see, especially you Cynthia." To this, Cindy scoffed with her eyes staring like daggers at him.

"Eustace?! What're you doing here?" Carl asked. "I thought you were trapped with the others with the dinosaurs!" (See The League of Villains)

"Yeah, how did you get back?" Sheen asked as he got in front of Libby with an arm in front of her.

"An excellent question… for another time I'm afraid." Eustace shrugged with a grin. "But for now I just wanted to join the tournament and have a little fun."

"You know him?" Elke asked.

"We haven't really heard good things," Nick replied.

"What're you up to Strych?" Jimmy glared at him followed by a growl by Goddard.

"Both of you!" Gruber shouted. "Make your way to the match or you'll be disqualified!"

"We better not keep the audience waiting," Eustace smirked as he walked to the other side of the ring. "The show is about to begin."

"You've got this boy!" Jimmy petted Goddard. He licked Jimmy one last time before going into the ring.

Eustace pulls out the RA unit, which resembled the one Goddard fought before. (See Billion Dollar Boy).

"I'm surprised you're doing the same trick Eustace," Jimmy tried to play it cool. "But remember who won that match!"

Eustace in turn said nothing as the bell rang. The two mechs squared each other down. Both fired blasts at each other that matched each other's power. Goddard and RA fired lasers at each other both dodging and blocking their blasts. The spectacle of the fight left the audience in awe, with the exception of Jimmy's friends and family who watched in worry. Goddard then fired a missile at RA only for RA to release an arm and grab the missile and fire it back hitting Goddard. The match was almost even, but over the course of it all, Goddard was noticeable taking more and more damage throughout and RA was perfectly fine.

"Goddard! Initiate maneuver 7-B!" Jimmy ordered which caused him to stop firing anything and start flying around RA at speeds too fast for RA to accurately fire any blasts.

"For you to have all the power you want, you have to buy it first," Jimmy started.

"So?" Eustace asked.

"That's the difference between you and me, Strych!" Jimmy quipped. "I bond with what I make where you get yours secondhand!"

Then when it was too fast for RA's head to turn in time, Goddard attacked from behind effectively biting RA's head off.

"Argh!" Eustace slammed the table.

"Okay that's the game!" Gruber said as he was about to ring the bell.

"Not yet!" Eustace shouted, leaving Gruber confused.

As Goddard kept attacking what was left of RA, a piece aimed for Goddard's leg rendering him unable to move properly. Meanwhile RA was slowly putting itself back together.

"You left me no choice," Jimmy quietly said, then ordered. "Goddard, play dead!"

Goddard suddenly self-destructed close enough to RA in hopes of taking it out since a majority of the robot was exposed.

"No!" Eustace screamed as an explosion took place leaving the ring too smoky for anyone to see. Once the smoke cleared up, Goddard was retracting a little bit as well, but RA was completely repaired. "And that, Neutron is acting," RA found Goddard's core processor still exposed and the cause of putting Goddard back together. "Fire!" RA fired a single shot directly at the processor resulting in an energy discharge which also took out RA, but also resulted in Goddard offline and in pieces. To that, the bell rang.

"GODDARD NO!" Jimmy screamed as he ran into the ring and fell on his knees in tears unable to move from his spot.

The audience was shocked with only slight murmurs. Nick stood up furious with Betty and Elke left silent. Cindy, Carl, Sheen, Libby and Jimmy's parents attempted to run up to him.

"I think everyone else has bigger things to worry about…" Eustace laughed as he fired a blast from a watch not too different from Jimmy's at the edge of the tent. The tent itself slowly disintegrated revealing Retroville under attack by Yolkian forces under a hazy sky. Nearly everyone, except Jimmy, his friends, family and Eustace immediately ran from the tent screaming and seeking shelter.

Jimmy was left kneeling in tears mourning over his lost friend as various memories with him flash in his head. "Goddard…"

To Be Continued…