Time Fixers: Nicktoons of the Future
Episode 17: Future Tensed
Plot: The time has come for the Nicktoons to travel through time to help Maxwell save the future and his father. However, the Future Eustace has a sinister plan in his enhanced brain and it's gonna take the effort of both Nicktoon groups, the adults, and an unlikely ally to protect the present and ensure a bright future.
Part 2
Back in the present at Nicktoon HQ, Timmy was sitting in a rocking chair with a bored expression as he fed baby Max a bottle. Danny Fenton walked up to him, setting down a basket of clean folded laundry. "How many white lab coats does one guy need?" he tiredly complained.
"This stinks." Timmy complained as well. "Cindy gets to lead the Nicktoons on a mission and we get stuck doing the rest of her work."
"Don't blame me. You agreed to this." Danny responds as he points to the kitchen where SpongeBob is happily washing dishes.
Jimmy then comes into the living room, yawning tiredly as he drank a glass of water. "Hey Jimmy." Timmy greeted. "How are you feeling?"
"Better." Jimmy tiredly answered, "But I should send the Nicktoons to the future before it gets any later."
Timmy and Danny glance at each other before the latter mentions, "Um, Jimmy, they've already left. We knew you'd be too worn out from last night, so we're having Cindy lead them."
Jimmy did a spit take after hearing this. "You're letting my wife run my job without any of my consent?! How could do you this to me?"
"Jimmy, it's obvious that you're not well and someone has to take your place until you feel better," Danny assured.
"Gas planet." Jimmy groaned depressively. "Not only did I lose my son, but now I can't even lead a mission to locate him." He sees the baby on Timmy's lap and leans down to him, "Max, I know you can't understand me, but please don't disown me when you grow up."
Max just stared at his father, confused, but SpongeBob came out of the kitchen with a mop and assured, "Jimmy, don't be so hard on yourself. I'm sure there's another way you can help."
Jimmy crossed his arms and started to pout. "Yeah, like how?"
Wanda then flew over with the TV remote. "How about relaxing with some nice TV?" She turned it on to the news station where they saw Tak standing in town, taking over Cindy's reporter job.
He walks over toward a crowd of people. "This is Tak bringing you the latest news where a large crowd eagerly awaits for the big announcement by billionaire tycoon..." He groans in dismay, "... Eustace Strych."
The camera cuts to Eustace standing at the top steps near the entrance of his office building and was in front of a podium as he spoke to the crowd, "Greetings ladies and gentlemen. You have all come on a great day for I am pleased to announce-" the sound was cut off by the loud noise of Cosmo vacuuming the floor. The adults frown in dismay until Wanda uses her magic to unplug the vacuum so they can hear the TV again.
"...will no longer be a problem!" Eustace announced, "Which is why I give you the very first Strych Cellular Tower!" He signals to a tall building with his company logo in neon lighting far ahead with a large antenna tower on top. "Now anyone with a Strych Enterprises brand device will no longer have trouble connecting."
The crowd breaks out in tremendous applause, except Tak, who reports, "And there you have it. That brekford does it again." He then asks someone off camera, "Can I say 'brekford' on TV?"
The television shuts off and Jimmy's face grows a smirk, "Guys, I'm getting an idea."
SpongeBob got a nervous look, fearing what Jimmy may be plotting. "You're gonna switch phone providers?"
"No," an annoyed Jimmy responded, "We're gonna capture Eustace and find out what he knows about the future."
"We already tried that, remember?" Timmy pointed out; reminding him of the time they talked to Eustace at his mansion.
"But I'm talking full blown interrogation." Jimmy excitedly explained, "We capture Eustace against his will and use extreme measures to get him to tell us about his partner and whatever he may be plotting."
Danny, SpongeBob, Timmy, and the fairies just stared at him skeptically. "Uh huh," Danny sarcastically responded, "And this has nothing to do with the fact that he's connected with Maxwell's disappearance."
Jimmy scoffed at the idea with an unconvincing smile. "Pfft, of course not. I'm doing this for the good of the mission." He then takes Max from Timmy. "Come on, son. Let's you and Daddy spend time together so I can show you how much you mean to me." As Jimmy walks away with Max, the baby wines and squirms in dismay by his father's overly affectionate behavior.
As the adults stare at him in concern, SpongeBob mutters to Timmy and Danny, "Guys, I'm worried about Jimmy."
"Me too." Timmy agreed as he looked at them. "He's sending your kids to kidnap Eustace."
"Maybe this could be a good thing." Danny said, trying to be optimistic. "Yuki and the others can bring Eustace here where he can't pull any tricks or unleash giant killer robots, and we can question him about his motives for Maxwell and his partner from the future, only this time we'll get a straight answer."
SpongeBob smiled in agreement. "That's a great idea, Danny. Plus I'm sure once Darry and the others find Maxwell, Jimmy will calm down."
Timmy crossed his arms and mentioned, "Let's just hope Jimmy doesn't make the Nicktoons do anything crazy."
"You want us to what?!" Yuki, Kida, and Junior ask in shock once Jimmy assigned them their mission while he held Max over his shoulder.
Jimmy repeated for them, "I want to go into Strych Enterprises, take down Eustace and bring him here. Tak is scheduled for a private interview with him at five o'clock in his office, so that's when you'll strike."
"Yeah!" Crash cheered excitedly. "An assassination mission! Now that's the kind of mission I like."
Twitchy jittered as he imitated a stabbing and a machine gun firing. But a nervous Junior asked, "We're not really gonna assasinimate him, are we?"
Jimmy calmly assured, "No, no, nothing like that. You're just gonna capture him and bring him here."
Max tried to crawl over his father's shoulder to get away, but Jimmy held onto him tightly.
"Aww," Crash groaned with disappointment. "That just takes all the fun out of it."
Twitchy chugs a whole bag of mixed nuts while Yuki said, "Well, it may not be like my brother's mission, but at least it's something, right?"
Kida agreed. "And if we stop the guy who made the future bad, then Darry won't need to go to the future."
"So if we stop Eustace in the past, then he won't turn bad in the future." Twitchy deduced, "But then we won't need to go stop him, but then he WILL turn bad in the future, so Darry will have to go and stop him, meaning we'llhavetostophimfromturningbad, whichwillmeanwewon'thavetostophimfromturningbad, soDarrywillhavetogo, andthenwe- then he- then Dar- then-" at this, Twitchy's brain overloads and he passes out on to the floor.
Jimmy took out five employee badges and gave them to the Cadets. "These replicated work identification badges will help you get past security. Once Tak is inside his office to give an interview, that's when you go in."
Junior smiled with joy. "Hooray! It'll be like we work there!"
"Two little girls, two sponges, and a squirrel." Yuki said sarcastically. "That won't be suspicious."
"Max doesn't think it's a bad idea, don't you?" Jimmy said before speaking to his son in a babyish voice, "No, he doesn't cuz he's gonna be a genius when he grows up, only Daddy's gonna make sure he doesn't get Daddy's neural intelligence device in his head." Max got uncomfortable and whined as he tried to push himself away from his dad. The Nicktoon Cadets also started to sneak away from Jimmy's doting behavior.
Back in the future Retroville, the Nicktoons continue to follow the future version of SpongeTron through the near ruined and deserted city as they made their way to HQ. Tammy shuttered, "This place is giving me the creeps."
"Yeah," Tommy agreed, feeling just as disturbed. "It's like a ghost town."
"I live in Amity Park and I gotta agree with you." Darry added, "Max never mentioned that the future was this bad."
SpongeTron ran up to his future self and asked, "What happened here, future me? Did Eustace Strych really do all this?"
Future SpongeTron stopped in his tracks and now wore a somber expression. "Yes, he did. He unleashed an army of high-tech man made robots onto Retroville and they tore through the city, claiming it for Eustace. Some humans managed to escape thanks to the Nicktoons, others weren't so lucky. We weren't sure why he even did what he did, until we found out that he copied Neutron's invention."
"The neural intelligence device." Darry remembered.
Future SpongeTron nodded. "Right. He somehow managed to build his own. It made him smart, but then he started taking over Retroville. We don't know what made him feel the need to do that."
"Well, we all know Eustace is crazy," Tommy mentioned. "But would he really be crazy enough to do something like that."
Tammy became worried when she suddenly remembered something else that Maxwell told them, "What happened to Jimmy Neutron?"
Future SpongeTron shed a tear from his eye and answered, "He's in HQ."
The Nicktoons all glance at each other silently as they all recall the story they heard about what happened to Jimmy's future self, Maxwell's father. But the silence was broken when they see large RA tanks coming around the corner, spotting them. They all gasp in shock and were ready to fight until Future SpongeTron warns them, "No, guys! We gotta run! Follow me!"
They follow the robot's orders before the RAs give chase. SpongeTron asks, "Future Me, those look like Eustace's RA-Units."
As he flies backwards, Darry tries to slow the enemy down by firing a ghost ray at one of them. But while they were directly hit, the RA processed the attack and fired its own ghost ray that nearly hit the Nicktoons. As they ran, Tammy glared at the ghost boy. "RA means it can copy our moves!"
Darry sheepishly grinned, but soon the group reached the familiar building of Nicktoon HQ. Future SpongeTron grinned and exclaimed, "That's it! Quick, everyone, inside!" The door automatically opens for the Nicktoons to run inside, but the four turn in worry that the RA-Units will just follow them inside. But Future SpongeTron just stands still, and the minute the robots approach, they are shocked by an invisible force field that dismantles them.
The Nicktoons stood there, amazed by what they saw, until SpongeTron asked, "What was that?"
Future SpongeTron answers, "In order to keep the enemy out, Jimmy installed a security measure that will prevent anyone not genetically related to the Nicktoons from getting in."
They go further inside HQ and see the place looked almost identical, but with a few more upgrades and changes made. Tommy smiled and said to his friends, "It's nice to see one thing in good condition."
Suddenly, they hear a familiar voice, "SpongeTron, you're back!"
They see Maxwell hop off the couch and run over to the future robot, who assures him, "I told you I'd be fine. Someone has to keep the city safe. Oh, by the way, I picked up a few friends."
He points behind him and Maxwell acknowledges the Nicktoons. Maxwell looks both surprised and happy. "Tammy. Tommy. SpongeTron. Scottie. You're all here."
"Max!" Tammy squealed in delight as she dashed over to give him a hug. "We were so worried about you!"
Maxwell blushed, "You worried about me?"
"Of course, dude!" Tommy nodded, "After what happened with Eustace in the alternate timeline, we thought you were a goner!"
Darry smiled. "You may be a jerk, but you're still part of our team."
"Wow," Maxwell replied with a grateful smile. "I'm surprised."
"That we managed to come all the way to the future to find you?" SpongeTron guessed.
"No. That Scottie hasn't done anything yet to mess up the timeline."
Everyone chuckles in amusement, but Darry growls and angrily says, "You ungrateful jerk." He tries to grab Maxwell, but the latter just chuckles and runs off while Darry chases him around the room.
Future SpongeTron turns to his past self and asks, "Do they do this a lot?"
"More than you think." SpongeTron dully answered.
Suddenly, Nano emerges from Tommy's pocket and attaches itself to Future SpongeTron. He yells in shock when he feels the bug inside. "Gah! Something's in my systems!"
Without warning, his jet boots activate and he flies into Darry, knocking him away from Maxwell. As the two lay on the ground in a daze, Nano exits Future SpongeTron and scurries over to Maxwell. Maxwell smiles with joy as he lays out his palm for it. "Nano, you're here too! Boy, I've missed you."
Future SpongeTron gets off of Darry and groans with dismay. "Any other surprises I should know about?"
"Well," Maxwell cheerfully explained, "I can now read minds, generate psychic electricity, and do a superb job of inventing, though I still have difficulty controlling the urge to spout high level vocabulary...Grrrr!"
Future SpongeTron laughed. "I don't know why I was worried. It would seem you were in good hands this whole time." He then recalls, "I only wish I had known that when-"
"MAXWELL NEUTRON!" A familiar angry voice yelled from the hall.
The door opens to show none other than the Future Cindy Neutron, who marches over to Maxwell and grabs his left wrist. "You are in big trouble, young man!" She scolds to a frightened Maxwell. "First you disobey orders and leave home, and then SpongeTron tells me you traveled to the past! Do you have any idea how worried I was?!"
Everyone shifts awkwardly, wondering what Future Cindy was gonna do to punish her son. Maxwell was equally nervous as he stammers, "I... I..." But he was cut off by Future Cindy pulling him in for a hug.
"But I'm just glad that you're safe right now." She says in a tender voice.
Maxwell fell silent and returned his mother's embrace, happy to see her again after so long. Afterwards, he explained to his mother, "These are the Nicktoons from the past. They've been helping me all this time, and I'm one of them."
"Is that so?" Future Cindy asked, narrowing her eyes at them, making the Nicktoons uncomfortable, believing she would punish them in some way. But when she marched up to them, she hugged Darry. "Thank you guys so much for looking after my Maxie."
Darry sheepishly chuckled and blushed. "Sure, no problem."
Future Cindy lets go and adds, "I'm sorry if Max was any trouble. He was just desperate with what happened here and what happened to his father."
Tammy smiled and said, "It's no problem. Max was great."
"Some of the time." Tommy agreed.
"Wait." SpongeTron said, looking anxious. "You said something about Commander Neutron. Is he really here?"
Future Cindy and Future SpongeTron look forlorn and Maxwell looks close to tears. Future SpongeTron answers, "Follow me and I'll take you to where he's resting." The three Future residents start walking out of the room while the Nicktoons look at each other in uncertainty before following.
Back in the present day Retroville, Eustace returns to his office after his press conference and closes his curtains before taking a seat at his desk and turning on a tablet that showed a holographic image of his partner and, unbeknownst to him, his future self. "Ah, Strych." The hologram said in a deep voice. "I was anticipating your call."
Eustace responds, "I'm sure you would like to know that your time alternating plan failed thanks to Neutron and his band of Nicktoons. I was hoping you had another plan that would work this time."
"About that... I would like to inform you that our partnership is terminated."
"What?!" Eustace yelled in shock.
The hologram just coldly continues to explain, "I now possess what I require to forward my plans. I am no longer in need of your services."
"You can't do that!" Eustace angrily threatened, "You promised that if I helped you, you would guarantee a successful future for me. If you think you can quit just like that, I will hire my best lawyer and once I find out your identity, I'll sue you!"
In response, the hologram laughed and said, "I wouldn't be so certain of that. You will still have a successful future, but it will be me who succeeds the future...and the past. Good day." And with that, he forever signs off.
Eustace growls in anger and swipes the tablet off the desk. Suddenly, he hears a knock at the door and remembers he has an interview today. He stands up and straightens his tie before shouting, "Come in!" The door opened and Tak walked in.
"Uh, hi." He nervously greeted. "I'm here for your interview."
"Oh, the shaman." Eustace realized with disappointment. "Didn't expect you. I was hoping Cynthia would be doing my interview, that way afterwards we could...get to know each other a little better."
Tak gritted his teeth in disgust, but frowned with annoyance. "Sorry, ain't gonna happen. I guess my first question is: Are you planning anything else to mess with the Nicktoons?"
"The honest answer is no." Eustace answered, "As you can see, I'm too busy with my new cellular tower. I know anything Neutron invents can't compete with that."
"But what about your fu- I mean, partner?" Tak asked. You definitely have to be plotting something with him."
"Hmph! I'll have you know that my partnership with him ended. Obviously he couldn't afford me, so I don't care who he is."
Tak was confused by this revelation. "You mean he never told you that-" Suddenly, they heard pounding on the door and the lock breaks off with the door flying open due to the Cadets using Crash as a battering ram to charge in. "Kida?" Tak asked, surprised to see his daughter and the Cadets.
Yuki then pointed at Eustace and declared, "By order of the Nicktoons, you are to come in for questioning!"
"And any other bad stuff ya might be thinkin' of doin'!" Crash declared as well.
"Yeah!" Kida yelled, "So come quietly!"
"Please..." Junior meekly said.
"I see," Eustace said, narrowing his eyes. "So this was all a ploy to take me into your custody. Well, I have ways of dealing with intruders such as yourselves." He walks behind his desk and pushes a button underneath that triggers a loud alarm. They notice two big security guards coming from down the hall, and Twitchy speeds over and shuts the door, so he and Tak can hold it closed.
The guards pound on the door, nearly breaking it down, but Junior runs over and helps hold it closed with his strength. "Crash, go!" Yuki commanded.
With a salute, Crash responds, "Aye aye, Captain!" And jumps forward, landing on top of Eustace and pinning him to the ground.
"Get off of me!" Eustace shouted, shoving Crash off of him.
"Do it, Kida!" Yuki shouted while the shaman nodded and aimed her staff at Eustace, firing a ball of magic, hitting him square in the face and putting him to sleep.
Yuki cheered and hugged Kida. "Awesome! We did it!" Crash also joins in on hugging the girls.
Tak approached them and scolded, "Do you kids have any idea what you've done? We're all in huge trouble!"
The kids stood there with the alarm blaring until Kida explained, "Jimmy said we could."
Suddenly, Tak's disappointment turns to understanding. "Well, in that case, let's get out of here." He uses his staff to create a portal to Retroville. He helps the Cadets drag Eustace's unconscious body out before the security guards can break the door open.
Back in the future, the Nicktoons took a brief break to report to Cindy on their recent discovery. "So you found Max and he's safe? Thank goodness." Cindy said in relief.
"We're gonna go see the Future Jimmy now." Darry informed. "Maybe we can help him out of whatever trouble he's in."
"Then we'll find the Future Eustace and stop him from destroying this future." Tammy added.
Cindy replied, "Great. Report back to me on whatever you find next."
SpongeTron then shuts off his screen and the Nicktoons follow Maxwell and the Future Cindy and SpongeTron into another room where they see the Future Jimmy lying upward in a hospital bed. His eyes were half open, but his face looked blank and lifeless, clearly in a comatose state. The future version of Goddard came out from under the bed and approached Maxwell, who pets him before running over to Future Jimmy.
"Dad!" Maxwell calls as he tries to shake Future Jimmy awake. "I'm back. The Nicktoons are here and they're gonna help you!" Future Jimmy just sat there with no reaction, causing tears to appear in Maxwell's eyes.
Nano watched from on the ground while Future Goddard sniffed him curiously before going back over to Maxwell and his master.
"Is that really the Future Jimmy Neutron?" Darry asked in shock. "How did this happen?"
Future SpongeTron explained, "After Eustace made his neural intelligence device and took over Retroville, Jimmy went straight to his office building to confront him. Unfortunately, he was captured and Eustace used his telekinesis to probe his mind until it left him like this. I managed to rescue him, but we aren't sure how to help the Commander."
Tammy looked close to tears as well. "Oh, no wonder Max came to us for help."
"Uh, actually," Future SpongeTron stammers, "It was me who told him to go to you."
"What?" The Nicktoons asked in shock. But Future Cindy went behind Future SpongeTron and kicked him across the room.
"Future me!" SpongeTron cried as he rushed over to his future self and helped him up.
"It's bad enough that you lost track of my son," Future Cindy berated, "But now you're telling me that you were the one who sent him to the past where he could have gotten hurt?"
Tommy intervened by mentioning, "Technically, it was Clockwork who sent him to the past."
Darry, Tammy, and Poof glare at him, but Maxwell points out, "It's not his fault, Mom. I chose to stay there because I thought I could fix everything on my own. But I realized that I couldn't do it alone." He smiled as he added, "That's why my friends are here to help."
Tammy whispered in glee, "He called us his friends."
"I think we all know what we need to do." Darry said with a confident smile, "We need to find a way to wake up Jimmy. With him, we can find a way to stop Eustace."
"But how?" Future SpongeTron asked. "His mind is broken. We have no way of putting it back."
"We do now." A confident Darry said, pointing at Maxwell.
"What?!" Maxwell asked in shock until he frowned angrily. "Are you nuts, Scottie? I can't do that! I've never tried it before!"
"I think it's a good idea, Max." Tommy agreed.
"Yeah," Tammy added, "Remember when you used your power to save Junior?"
Maxwell remembers that event and looks at his catatonic father, wondering if he could really save him. But hearing about Maxwell, Future Cindy asks, "What are you talking about? What's this about powers?"
Maxwell's eyes widen in shock as Tammy explains, "It's the neural intelligence device. The one Max has that gives him mind powers."
"You mean the brain chip my husband invented? But Eustace has it."
Hearing his mother and the Nicktoons talk about his intelligence chip and his father made his face strain with horror. Darry points out, "His dad gave that chip to him, and Eustace has been trying to take it from him."
"Probably so he can have two and be twice as smart." Tommy assumed.
"Then why would Jimmy just leave HQ and go to Strych by himself." Future Cindy wondered. But unable to take anymore, Maxwell suddenly runs away without a word while Nano followed him.
"Max, wait!" Tammy called. She was about to go after him, but Future SpongeTron stopped her.
"You should probably give him some time alone." He suggested. "He'll be safe as long as he stays inside HQ."
Future Cindy mentions, "I'm gonna look at the reports again. Something about Eustace doesn't add up."
When she leaves the room, SpongeTron declared, "Well, we can't just sit here and do nothing. We have to go out there and save the future. If we team up with our future Nicktoon selves to fight Eustace, we can surely win."
"Gnarly!" Darry agreed with excitement. "Two Darry Phantoms mean twice the pounding."
Future SpongeTron looked nervous about something as Tommy stated, "I'll bet I'm super strong here."
"Well, I'm super smart." Tammy mentioned.
"Uh, guys?" Future SpongeTron intervened, "The current Nicktoons here are Yuki Fenton, Crash SquarePants, Twitchy SquarePants, SpongeBob SquarePants Jr., and Princess Kida."
The Nicktoons are confused, "Wait, what?" Tommy asked.
"Hold up. If you're saying the Cadets become the Nicktoons," Darry understood, but asks, "Then, what happens to us?"
SpongeTron clenched his teeth, "Did something terrible happen to them?!"
"Actually, no," Future SpongeTron said calmly, "All of you are doing alright. From what I heard, Darry has done a successful delivery at Axion Labs."
Darry's eyes widen in surprise when he grinned, "Wait, I work at Axion with my dad and Val?"
"Oh yes," Future SpongeTron nodded. "You took that job right after you graduated college."
Darry squealed in delight until Tammy eagerly asked, "What about me? Do I go to college?"
"Of course. But you don't have a fancy job like Darry. Instead you're doing some internship at a science facility."
Tammy couldn't help but smile as her hands shook with glee. "Oh! Oh! What about me?!" Tommy asked, "Am I a movie star? An agent? President?"
"Tommy, you don't have a job," Future SpongeTron answered.
"I don't?" Tommy asked.
"You never attended college," Future SpongeTron added, but activates a monitor in his chest, "But you do host a web series that talks about video games, the latest trends, and stuff. You get to play and review games, livestream, and your show is so popular, you travel to conventions in different cities so people can meet you."
Tommy looked at the screen that showed a website of all of Future Tommy's reviews, livestreams, and convention schedules. Tommy's face went from shock to amazement. "That is so... AWESOME! This is so much better than any of the boring jobs you guys have!"
Poof floats over to the robot and asks, "Poof with Tammy and Tommy?"
With a chuckle, Future SpongeTron pats Poof on the head and answers, "You sure are, Poof. You mostly spend your time with Tommy, but you always find the time to spend with Tammy as well."
Poof sighs in relief, but his godchildren jump up and hug him, happy that they still get to keep their fairy goduncle in the future.
But SpongeTron has a look of concern on his face. "I'm very happy for you guys, but if you're doing all that in the future, when do we find the time to fight bad guys?"
Future SpongeTron chuckled nervously as he answered, "We... don't." With a pause he added, "We aren't Nicktoons anymore."
"WHAT?!" SpongeTron screamed in shock while his friends look equally surprised.
"Well," Future SpongeTron continued to explain, "As time went on and my friends grew older, they all wanted to take different paths of their lives, so that's why we agreed to split up."
"Whoa..." Darry uttered in stun. But SpongeTron seemed the most distraught out of all of them.
"No..." He whispered before shouting to his future self, "How could you let this happen to us?!"
Future SpongeTron calmly answered, "I didn't want it to happen, but we had no choice. Without the Nicktoons, I no longer had a purpose. So I eventually had to find a new one. Since my programming states that I am to help people, I joined the ST Police Force where I could use my skills to fight crime as if I were still a Nicktoon."
"Well, at least that sounds cool." Darry said to SpongeTron, trying to help the distressed robot look on the bright side. "You see, SpongeTron, we may not be together anymore in the future, but we all still have pretty cool lives."
"Yeah," Tammy agreed, "And our worlds are in safe hands thanks to the now experienced Nicktoon Cadets."
"NO!" SpongeTron cried out. "Don't you guys get it? We aren't Nicktoons or friends anymore because we all grew up and changed, except me!" He pointed at his future self, "There, you see?"
Future SpongeTron looked offended and shouted, "Hey!"
"Our future selves should be together fighting for Retroville! But we're not, and we won't ever do anything together... because of change!"
"But SpongeTron-" Tommy tried to reassure him, but the robot was too distressed.
"It's true! Change is a bad thing!" As he sobbed, SpongeTron ran out of the room.
As the Nicktoons watch their friend leave after a nervous breakdown, Future SpongeTron remarks, "Is he sure about that? Because I don't recall being so emotional."
Outside, Maxwell had left HQ and was sitting at an abandoned bus stop bench by himself, sulking over everything that happened. "I should've known this wouldn't work." Maxwell says to himself with a depressed sigh. "Even the Nicktoons can't save my dad." Nano scurries next to him and buzzes, trying to comfort him. But Maxwell was too sad to pay attention. "What should I do now?" Maxwell wondered.
"Well, well, well," a male British accent said, causing Maxwell to look up and see a levitating tall man with green eyes and slicked back yet unkempt brown hair, bloodshot eyes with dark bags underneath; wearing a tattered dirty lab coat over business suit. "It would seem by fate, destiny, or pure coincidence, you are my captive."
Maxwell's eyes widen in horror upon seeing him. "Eustace!" He immediately leapt from the bench and started running away. But he didn't get far as he suddenly felt his body freeze in place. "I can't move." He muttered in horror.
"Don't depart so soon." Future Eustace sadistically said as he used his powers to hold him still.
Turning his head toward Future Eustace, Maxwell narrowed his eyes at him and stared intently to read his mind and find out what he's planning. He just sees Future Eustace smirk and hears him speak in his mind, 'No use intercepting my thoughts, Maxwell. I have the superior will of mind.'
Maxwell gasps in horror, realizing that he is completely helpless against the strong psychic. Future Eustace then says aloud, "However, I do hear buried memories inside your own mind, screaming to be released. Why don't I just take a peek inside?"
"NO!" Maxwell screamed as he held the sides of his head, feeling Future Eustace penetrating his mind.
Maxwell suddenly saw a bunch of memories flash in his mind of him getting a B+ test paper and one student shouting, "Ha! He didn't pass his test again!" Maxwell then sees a memory of another kid mocking him, "You're not a genius like your dad!" And a third kid mock, "No wonder you're not a Nicktoon!"
He then witnesses another memory of himself in a lab where he finds the neural intelligence device. Maxwell thinks to himself, 'With this, I'll be as smart as my dad. I'll only borrow it for a minute.'
Future Jimmy enters the lab and swipes things off the desk in a panic. "Pukin' Pluto! Where's the neural intelligence device?" He ran out of the lab in a panic, unaware that Maxwell was hiding under a desk with the device in hand.
Maxwell witnesses a memory of the RA-Unit blasting Future Jimmy with a weapon identical to his own. "NO!" Maxwell's voice screams. "DAD!"
He witnesses another memory of Future Cindy getting cut on the arm with a beamsword. "MOM!" he screams again.
He then witnesses Future Eustace mind blasting Future Jimmy into a catatonic state. "NOOOOOO!"
"I see..." Future Eustace states as he finishes reading Maxwell's mind. "You stole your father's device for your own selfish desires. He came to me looking for said device; and because of you, he put himself in danger."
"No, no, no!" Maxwell cried out as he held the sides of his head. "I didn't mean to cause all this!"
But Future Eustace continued to pry into his mind. "You repressed these memories deep within your mind so they wouldn't disturb your mission. But what do you suppose your friends will say when they find out the truth?"
Future Eustace once again pries into his mind, and Maxwell imagines himself being surrounded by the Nicktoons, looking down on him with furious looks. Darry scolded, "This is all your fault, Max! Because of you, Jimmy left HQ and fell right into a trap!"
Tammy scolded, "And now he's in a coma because of you!"
"He'd be here to help us if it hadn't been for you!" Tommy shouted.
"You've been lying to us this whole time!" SpongeTron shouted in disappointment. "This is all your fault!"
"No!" Maxwell cried as he covered his ears to drown out the sounds of his disappointed friends chanting.
"You're a liar! This is all your fault! You're a liar! This is all your fault!"
In the real world, Maxwell was screaming with his ears still covered, becoming more and more disconnected from reality. "Stop it! It's not my fault! It's not my fault!"
Future Eustace floated onto the ground and calmly spoke, "You're right, Maxwell. It's not your fault, and they shouldn't be accusing you of such a misunderstanding. Has your father ever devoted time to listening to your concerns?"
He waves his hand out, and Maxwell's expression grows blank as he views an implanted memory in his mind of his father locking him out of his private lab and Maxwell stands outside the door by himself. "Have your friends ever really valued your genius input?" Future Eustace hauntingly asked.
Maxwell then hides behind corner and sees Darry, Tammy, Tommy, and SpongeTron laughing and having fun without him, despite knowing how lonely he is being away from home.
He sighs heavily with a depressed frown until he suddenly hears Future Eustace, "I've always seen how overlooked and unappreciated you are, Maxwell. I can see the potential that resides in you where others fail to look." Maxwell then sees another false memory of himself turning around to see Future Eustace looking sane and giving him a warm friendly smile as he gives Maxwell the attention that he now remembers never getting.
"I'm your only family, Maxwell, and the only one who can understand your true feelings. Do you ever think those Nicktoons would accept the things that you've done?"
Maxwell closes his eyes and sees an image in his mind of his friends and family looking down at him in disappointment and disowning him for all the mistakes he's made.
Future Eustace halts his mind powers and offers, "If you join me, I can give you all the power and support you require to take down anyone who won't accept your decision and stands in your way. You can show those people what real intelligence is capable of." He holds his hand out to Maxwell, and the mind manipulated boy walks over to him while Nano hops off his arm and buzzes in alarm. But his noises go unheeded and Maxwell grabs Future Eustace's hand.
Outside of HQ, SpongeTron was walking out the front door, sulking after his own breakdown. "Stupid change. First it creeps up in the present and now it's in the future." Suddenly, Nano scurries up to him and starts buzzing frantically to get his attention. "What is it, Nano?" He asks, "You know I can't understand you when you beep that fast."
But he suddenly looks up and sees the sight of Future Eustace grasping Maxwell's hand. "NOOO!" SpongeTron yells as he starts running ahead, but before he could get near them, the two suddenly teleport away.
If SpongeTron thought change was already bad, it is about to get worse. Please review what you think so far and stick around for Part 3 of the finale.