Time Fixers: Nicktoons of the Future

Episode 12: Hunt for the Future

Plot: Maxwell begins acting more irritable and destructive than usual, and his friends soon realize that he is feeling homesick and they all try to ease Maxwell in their own ways before he fully loses control of his psychic powers. But Eustace is working with Skulker to try and capture Maxwell for him, while using Darry Phantom as payment.

Part 1

In the dark hours of Amity Park, a figure in a hat and trench coat was hiding in the shadows of a tall building that overlooked the docks. Finally, a white van pulled up and parked ahead of the mysterious figure. The doors opened and the Guys in White emerge from the van.

"Are you the one who requested our services?" Agent K asked.

The figure steps out of the shadows, revealing the person in the trench coat to be Eustace Strych. "Yes, I am." He answered with a sly smile.

As they stood across from each other, Eustace then asked, "Do you have what I asked for?"

Agent O held out a small white electronic cube, and Agent K asked, "Do you have what we asked for?"

Eustace responded with a smirk as he held out a briefcase and opened it to reveal huge wads of cash inside. The agents smirk in satisfaction and handed the cube over to him while Eustace handed over the money. Once each side had what they wanted, the Guys in White ran into their van and drove away.

Eustace smiled slyly as he threw the cube on the ground and a bright light emerged from it, releasing the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter, Skulker.

The billionaire approached him and greeted, "Skulker, I presume?"

Skulker turned toward him with a deathly glare. "You! You have some nerve to release me from that imprisonment!"

"Yes, I do." Eustace replied cunningly. "Though I only do so with a proposition in store for you."

"A what?" Skulker asked in surprise.

Eustace continued, "I'm unsure if you're aware, but the Nicktoons have a member on their team that is a boy with blonde hair and telekinetic powers. I want you to hunt him down and bring him to me…alive I might add."

Skulker frowned and responded, "Forget it. In case you don't know, I am a ghost hunter. I won't waste my time hunting down a mere human child."

"I thought you might say that. So I have a valuable payment for your services. I know that for years you have been after Danny Phantom, and that his son is just as worthy to you as he is. You bring me the telekinetic boy, and I'll give you the ghost boy. You have him and his father is sure to come running and you'll have two for the price of one- without failing for the millionth time in your afterlife."

After thinking it over, Skulker smirked and responded, "I think we have a deal."

"Indeed." Eustace stated with a smirk.

In the early morning at the Turner house in Dimmsdale, Tammy and Tommy were still asleep in their bunk bed. Tommy yawned and turned in his sleep until he felt something in his bed right next to him that disturbed him awake.

"Ugh, Poof," Tommy complained as he pulled the covers off. "What have I told you about-" but to his surprise, he sees Maxwell sleeping in his bed, which causes him to scream out of shock, "AAAAHH!"

The noise scares Tammy in the bunk above him and she screams as she wakes up, "AAAHH!"

Rather than being alarmed by all the screaming, Maxwell just sat up and rubbed his eyes. He groaned and asked, "What are you doing?"

"What am I doing?" Tommy responded in annoyance. "What are you doing…in my bed?"

Maxwell's eyes widen and he becomes embarrassed, "Uhh…no, I'm not. What you are observing is only a hallucination."

Tammy climbs down from her bed and states, "No, you are in Tommy's bed. But the question is why."

Maxwell quickly jumped out and responded, "I didn't do it willingly. I just have somnambulism, which I haven't mentioned up until this moment in time. It's not like I have a feeling of solitude that…" he quickly stops and shouts out loud, "I mean… JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!"

When Maxwell left to run back to his own room, Tommy quipped, "Guess he's not a morning person."

Hours later, Maxwell came out of his room with a bored expression and stood at the top of the stairs when he spotted the three Turners in the living room.

"Come on, you two." Timmy said to his kids, "Your mom's got the car ready."

"Coming!" Tommy and Tammy replied in unison.

When they were about to head out the door, Tammy sees Maxwell still standing on top of the stairs. "Hey Max, are you coming?" she calls, "We're going to the Spelling Bee, which I'm gonna definitely W-I-N."

Maxwell rolled his eyes and responded, "No thanks, I'd rather stay here." He turned around and sighed.

Tommy simply shrugged and replied, "Suit yourself." And followed his dad outside to the car.

But Tammy lingers and notices Maxwell still facing away silently. She asks in concern. "Are you sure you're okay, Max? You've been acting weird since this morning."

Without turning to face her, Maxwell just crosses his arms and scowls. "It's nothing. Now go compete in your Spelling Bee."

Knowing that she could never get Maxwell to confess what is bothering him, Tammy just walked out the door to go with her family.

Once Maxwell was alone, Nano crawls out of his coat pocket and sits on his shoulder. He buzzes and Maxwell responds with a frown as he replies, "No way! I can't tell them that. They would laugh at me if I told them I slept in their room last night just because I didn't wanna be by myself." His frown turns sad as he adds, "I used to do that with Mom and Dad, but…since they're not here, I had to…"

He closes his eyes and suddenly everything in the room was lifted in the air by a psychic force. Nano buzzed rapidly until he finally got Maxwell's attention and everything dropped on the floor, including a frame that broke on the floor. Maxwell rushed over to it and saw that it was a digital frame that was a family portrait, only it was now broken, fizzling out half the picture (the half that contained Mrs. Turner and Tammy).

Maxwell turned to Nano on his shoulder and stated, "You saw nothing."

Meanwhile at the Strych Enterprises building in Retroville, Eustace was looking at a tablet as he spoke with someone. On the screen was Skulker as he reported, "I've searched all over town and I've yet to find any human boy with psychic abilities."

"Keep searching." Eustace insisted. "I'm sure he'll turn up soon. If you can, search the area around the Fenton home."

Eustace turned off the tablet and frowned in annoyance. "Even if that hunter does capture the psychic, I still don't have the ghost boy to pay him with, yet there's no telling if he'll fail as usual." Then he smiles with an idea, "Course if he does fail, I can always make a profit by selling the ghost boy to the Guys in White."

Later that day, the Nicktoons all met up at Nicktoon HQ inside SpongeTron's room. Tammy was showing off her shiny gold medal that she won at the Spelling Bee.

"Congratulations Tammy." SpongeTron stated, "I had no idea you were such a good speller."

"Of course I am." Tammy proclaimed proudly. "I even managed to spell 'discrimination', and then I won with the word 'mononucleosis'."

"I thought she was gonna crack under pressure." Tommy mentioned. "But she didn't."

Darry then asked, "Your parents must've been pretty proud, huh?"

"That's right." Tammy cheerfully responded, "They were so proud. They're always proud when I win big competitions like this."

Sitting in a bean bag chair isolated from everyone, Maxwell's eyes widen as he suddenly recalls a time when he was in a similar competition back in his time period. A school science fair just like the ones his dad used to compete in. The judges give the blue ribbon to a boy with a machine that can turn water into breath mints. In the booth next to him was Maxwell whose project was a square robot that sparked and fell to pieces. Maxwell slumped in defeat at having done the one thing his dad never did: lose the science fair.

While Maxwell was lost in this bad memory, a can of purple flurp in front of him began to move and spark with electricity. "Max? MAX!"

He shakes his head back to reality once Darry gets his attention, "I asked if you ever won any big contests before."

Maxwell groaned in annoyance and stood up. "Who cares?" he exasperatingly shouted, "When is that junk ever gonna be important in your life?"

Tommy did not like his attitude. "What's your problem? You're grumpier than usual today."

But Maxwell ignored him and rushes out the door. "You guys are boring me, I'm leaving."

As the others watch him leave and were confused by his irritable behavior, SpongeTron looks almost concerned, sensing something is wrong with his friend from the future.

Maxwell went around HQ and soon spots his younger self sitting in his walker right next to Jimmy, who was working at a desk.

Max hands his dad a wrench and Jimmy takes it gratefully. "Thanks Max. You're a terrific lab assistant to Daddy." He warmly said, rustling his son's small amount of hair.

Seeing this, Maxwell narrowed his eyes and glared straight at the baby. He recalled how he always used to help his dad with his experiments and inventions, even though his help was sometimes less than helpful. But watching his infant self spending time with Jimmy made him feel strangely upset.

Baby Max then yawned and got a tired look in his eyes. Jimmy smiled and picked the baby up from his walker. "Does my future genius need to rest his developing brain?"

After Max falls asleep in his father's arms, the older Maxwell walks up to Jimmy with a determined frown. Jimmy smiles and greets, "Hey Maxwell, how's it going?"

"Fine, fine," Maxwell nonchalantly replied, "I was just wondering…how do you know Max will grow up to be a genius?"

Jimmy answered, "The genius intellect runs in my family, so Max has a good 50/50 chance of becoming a genius just like his father."

"But…what if he didn't grow up to be a genius like you?"

"If he didn't grow up to become a genius like me, that's fine too. If my parents can love me for being a genius, then I can love Max for not being one." He looks down at his sleeping baby and asks, "Isn't that right, Max?"

As Maxwell ponders over everything the commander said, he suddenly hears Jimmy's voice, 'Though I can't help but hope that Max does grow up to be a genius like me. It would be the highlight of my life.' But Maxwell doesn't see Jimmy's mouth moving at all. He quickly realizes that he is actually reading Jimmy's mind.

Knowing how inappropriate it is, he covers his ears in panic, but can still hear Jimmy's thoughts. 'Though I can't help but wonder what Maxwell's parents think of their son getting an intelligence chip in his head that's making him smarter every day. Do they even know about it or where he even is? If I were his parent, I'd be very worried about him.'

Being unintentionally reminded of his parents made his mouth quiver as he tried to hold back tears. He suddenly recalls the last time he had seen his mom, and his dad…his dad…

Without warning, Maxwell screams and his powers suddenly make the glass beakers and test tubes on the table shatter into pieces, and the loud noise makes Baby Max cry. Afterwards, Maxwell calms down and Jimmy turns to him in shock and disappointment. The psychic boy gets a remorseful look and utters, "I'm sorry…" before running away in sadness.

Jimmy then turns away and sighs in displeasure before saying, "Whoever his parents are, I'm sure they have their hands full." And left to try and calm Max down.

Watching the whole thing from behind a corner was SpongeTron, whose eyes widened in shock when he realizes the seriousness of the situation. He quickly runs down the hall and enters his room where the other three Nicktoons are.

"Guys!" SpongeTron cried out. "We have a problem!"

"What?" Darry asked in alarm, "Is the Syndicate at it again?"

"Has SpongeCog resurfaced?" Tammy asked.

"Did Nano revert to his original programming and is set on killing Jimmy Neutron again and killing us after he kills Max?" Tommy asked.

SpongeTron took a deep breath and answered, "Our dear friend and comrade, Max, is homesick."

Everyone fell silent until Darry spoke, "I didn't think living with Tammy and Tommy would make someone sick."

An unamused Tammy responded, "No Darry, it means that Max misses his family and friends back home in the future."

Then Tommy asks, "But why would he feel that? His family and friends are all here."

"Yeah," Darry agreed. "And we've been nothing but nice to him." He looked away and glared, "He just hasn't returned the favor much."

"Come on, guys, think about it." SpongeTron insisted. "Even though we're all in the same time period as Max, he grew up in the future where everything is different from here, including us. He also probably misses his parents because even though they're here, they don't even know he's their son."

After hearing about how troubled Maxwell was feeling, the three Nicktoons gain sympathetic looks and begin to feel bad for their teammate. Darry then suggests, "Do you think maybe we should send him back home?"

Tammy replied, "Even if we did, he won't leave until he finds that schematic, and he still won't tell us how he even got here."

"Then there's only one thing we can do." Darry stated in determination, "We have to do whatever we can to make Max feel more at home."

"You think it'll work?" Tammy asked.

"It could make him nicer." Tommy suggested.

SpongeTron pulled his three friends into his arms and held them close. "I think it's worth a shot, for our Maxie." And the four all smile as they embrace.

Meanwhile at the Turner house, Maxwell had run all the way up to his room and was lying flat on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He muttered sadly, "Mom…Dad…"

Small beeping was heard and he holds up his hand to see Nano sitting on his index finger. After some "words" from his robot friend, Maxwell shot up and retorted, "No way! They would never understand how much I wanna go home. Although…"

He unzipped his jacket and took out the tinfoil-covered medallion that was around his neck. "I could go back for just a short visit." But Nano starts beeping rapidly, getting Maxwell's attention. "But I'm sure Mom's back. And Dad, maybe he's…he's…" Just thinking about what happened to his dad caused him to start tearing up, until he heard a knock at the door.

After wiping away his tears, he got out of bed and went over to his door to see who was knocking. But the minute he opened the door, balloons and confetti fly past him and Tammy and Tommy emerge, wearing party hats. "SURPRISE!" they both shout, "Happy birthday, Max!"

A confused Maxell stares as Tammy and Tommy both run around him and sing, "Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to our favorite teammate, roommate, and friend from the future! Happy birthday to you!"

They both stand on each side of Maxwell and hug him and Poof floats in the doorway, blowing a noise maker. But an unamused Maxwell pushes the twins away and angrily asks, "What are you guys doing? It's NOT my birthday."

"Every day can be your birthday when you live in our house." Tommy mentions.

"Especially when you have a fairy godparent who can give you anything you want." Tammy added while Poof makes a cake appear in his hands.

"You can wish for the latest video game." Tommy suggested.

Tammy chimes in, "You can wish for a pony."

"You can wish for a roller coaster in our backyard."

"You can wish for a bunch of stuffed animals."

"You can wish you were president."

"You can-"

"STOP!" Maxwell shouted over the twins, silencing them and causing the cake Poof was holding to explode with his psychic powers and splatter cake bits everywhere. Once he calmed down, he stated, "I don't wanna request any inconsequential items from your mystical creature. I mean, I…I just wanna be left alone."

Afterwards he dejectedly walks out of the room, leaving Tammy, Tommy, and Poof still in silence over their failed attempt at cheering up Maxwell. Watching from Maxwell's bed, Nano shakes his head in disappointment and sadness.

Later that day, Maxwell was walking through Retroville on his way to Nicktoon HQ. But suddenly, he heard a "Psss!" and he looked around to see no one nearby.

Suddenly, Darry Phantom appears, hovering above him with a friendly smile, "Boo." He playfully greets as he lands on the ground.

But Maxwell frowned and dully asked, "What are you doing here?"

Darry continues smiling and answers, "Well, I was just on my way to HQ when I spotted my very best friend, Max, and I thought 'hey, when was the last time we hung out together?'"

"Let me think…" Maxwell paused, pretending to think, "…Never."

"Well, that's about to change because I thought the two of us can spend some gnarly manly time." He playfully punches Maxwell in the arm.

Maxwell just scowls, rubbing his arm as he responds, "That sounds so dumb, Scottie."

Darry seemed offended, but tried to remain positive for Maxwell's sake, "Come on, Max. I know we've had our differences, but we haven't fought for nearly three weeks. We can celebrate by eating corn dogs, playing video games, and I'll even let you call me 'Scottie'."

"I said NO!" Maxwell screamed, "Why can't you understand I just wanna be left ALONE!" his outburst caused a nearby parking meter to shake from the ground.

Seeing how destructive and unreasonable he was being, Darry's smile disappeared and he looked at Maxwell with disdain, "Why can't you understand I'm just trying to help?"

Maxwell retorted, "I don't want your help!"

"Look, I get it! You miss your home back in the future and we can't replace the friends and family you grew up with. But I just want you know that you don't have to be alone, and we wanna help you and whatever trouble you're having in the future." Maxwell fell silent as Darry concluded, "You just have to trust us; we're your friends."

Afterwards, tears appear in Maxwell's eyes and lightning emerges around his head and it spreads out shocking everything nearby, including Darry who fell on the ground. He looked up in shock that Maxwell would attack him, but the psychic boy just ran away without a word.

Darry grumbled in dismay as he stood up. "Ungrateful little brat."

A person in a trench coat and hat walks past him, dropping a cell phone in front of Darry, and continued walking by without noticing the lost phone. Darry picked it up and flew toward the stranger.

"Hey, wait!" he called before landing in front of the stranger. "You dropped this. Good thing I was around."

"Yes," the stranger said as he took out the white cube. "Good thing."

Darry stared in surprise until he looked at the back of the phone to see the "Strych Enterprises" logo on it. Before he could realize what was going on, Eustace throws the cube on the ground and it releases a light that pulls Darry inside.

"Now that I have the reward, now I must wait for the prize." Eustace said with a smirk.

What will become of Maxwell or Darry? Please review what you think and stick around for Part 2.