Eventually, school had ended and Jimmy and Carl were walking home together.
"Don't feel bad, Jimmy" Carl put his hand on Jimmy's shoulder "Some of the greatest people of all time got beaten by girls all the time!"
"Thanks Carl...I guess" said Jimmy "At least I don't have to deal with Cindy at home"
Just then, somebody bumped right into Jimmy. It was Cindy, who was walking with Libby. They looked up and saw each other.
"What're you doing here?" they asked and glared at each other.
"I'm going home! What're you doing here?" Jimmy rudely asked Cindy.
"None of business, King Cranium!" Cindy rudely replied.
"Sorry Jimmy, but Cindy has to go home too" Libby replied "She needs to help her mom unpack some more things"
"Right!" Cindy said as she pushed Jimmy off her "And you're in the way!"
Cindy got up, put her books back into her backpack and walked with Libby to the house across from Jimmy's. They both turned around and saw each other in front of their respective houses and stormed to each other for a confrontation.
"You live here?!" they asked each other "Yes!"
"So you're the family moving in!" Jimmy folded his arms "I should've guessed!"
"You live across from me?" Cindy glared at Jimmy.
"Yes!" Jimmy nodded "What's it to you, Vortex?"
"Nothing!" Cindy poked Jimmy's nose "Sorry to ruin this conversation, but I've gotta get home and move my mother's good silver! Then, I'm going to work on my science project!"
"Well I'm going to work on MY science project!" Jimmy poked Cindy's nose as well "And I always get the best grade!"
"We'll see about that, Nerd Tron!" Cindy retorted "I was the smartest kid in my old school and I'm not going to lose that position to some pint-sized, swirly haired egghead!"
"You're on, blondie!" Jimmy exclaimed.
Jimmy and Cindy had been working on their science projects all week and through most of the following week until finally, the due date came.
"JAMES ISSAC NEUTRON!" Judy shouted to her son "Come here this instant! Did you take the spark plugs out of the car again?"
"Come on, Mom" said Jimmy "I just remembered that my science project is due today! I need the plugs for my brand new electro-orbital yo-yo!"
Jimmy took out a seemingly ordinary yo-yo out of his pocket and he did some tricks on it that made the yo-yo glow and spark electro beams.
"I don't care what you need them for, Jimmy! You know the rules; no tampering with the auto parts!" Judy lectured him "Rules are rules! You cant wait till the minute to do things. It doesn't give you the right to break the rules"
"Fine" Jimmy sighed.
He took the spark plugs out of the yo-yo and handed them to his mother. Goddard thought they looked tasty.
Hugh stepped outside as Jimmy ran towards the school bus "Boys will be boys, honey. That is unless they're men...or babies"
Meanwhile, Goddard was helping himself to a nice, tasty spark plug. Jimmy sat down next to Carl on the bus.
"Sorry you lost your science project, Jimmy" said Carl "Looks like your winning streak has ended. But you shouldn't feel bad, some scientists lose all the time"
"No need for pep talk, Carl" Jimmy reached into his backpack "I've got a backup plan"
Jimmy took out his instant popping popcorn and growth serum, planning to use it for his project. He and Carl soon got off the bus and they were in front of the school, where other kids were carrying their projects. One had a TV on a wagon, one had a paper mache volcano and one had a large plant.
"Hey Jimmy, check out my project" Carl said as he showed Jimmy some sort of stick "It's a non-returning boomerang. You throw it and it DOESN'T come back!"
"Carl, that's a stick" Jimmy pointed out.
"I know, that's how I made it" Carl snorted.
"Well I think it looks great, Carl" Jimmy smiled.
"Thanks" Carl smiled back.
"Hey Neutron!" someone said from behind. It was Nick, riding on his skateboard with some mad wheelies.
"Oh, hi Nick" Jimmy turned around.
"These turbo rocket wheels you invented for me are freakin' awesome" said Nick "Thanks letting me have them"
"I said you could BORROW them" Jimmy corrected him.
"Whatever" Nick rolled his eyes.
"So Nick, what are you going to use for your science project?" asked Carl.
"The skateboard wheels Jimmy made for me" Nick replied and rode off.
Just then, Sheen ran up to Jimmy and Carl, holding up a ceramic figurine of Ultra Lord with grass on its head "Jimmy! Carl! Look at my science project! It's an Ultra Lord Chia Pet! It's bound to get me my first straight A!"
"So is my boomerang" added Carl.
"Hello guys" said Brittany, carrying a globe with a dinosaur on it.
"Hey Brittany" said the boys.
"Hi Brittany, whatcha got there?" asked Carl.
"My science project" Brittany replied "It's a representation of what would happen if they found a 100 foot dinosaur. See you inside"
"I'm still confused as to which of my inventions will get the highest grade" Jimmy said confidently "My growth serum or instant popcorn"
"Think again Nerd-tron" said Cindy, carrying some sort of aquarium "Ms. Fowl will like my project the best"
Jimmy, Carl and Sheen gasped in horror at what they saw. Cindy was holding a box of serpents.
"This is my sea snake habitat" she explained "This special lens magnifies the view, making you able to see these creatures in their habitat"
"Cool Cindy" said Sheen "That is one of the coolest things I've ever seen!"
"I-I-I'd rather not see" Carl shivered, trying to cover his glasses "I-I-I don't like snakes"
"You shouldn't be playing with those things, Cindy" Jimmy told her "Sea snakes are venomous creatures"
"I know that! I'm just borrowing them from the aquarium and then I'm going to return them after school" Cindy said as she walked into the classroom.
Jimmy knew that Cindy's project was pretty cool, but he was too determined to win the highest grade to admit it.
"You know Jimmy, Cindy's pretty smart and I think her project's pretty awesome" Libby remarked.
"Only in her dreams" Jimmy rolled his eyes "So what's your project, Libby?"
"It's an extending phone" Libby showed Jimmy a smartphone that was on some strap on her wrist "You just press a button and then the extendo thing puts it right to your ear. That way, you don't have to press the 'ACCEPT' button yourself. Although I still have my password to type in"
"That looks just like my watch, only bigger" Jimmy remarked.
The kids all sat down as soon as Ms. Fowl arrived at her desk, she mainly seemed most impressed by Cindy's sea snake habitat.
"Stupid Cindy, I'll show her that there can be only one 12-year-old genius in this class" Jimmy thought "Brain Blast! I'll add a little serum and make the popcorn grow. It's wrong and sneaky, but if I do this, I'll have the highest grade and a nice tasty snack!"
"Alright class" said the teacher "Time to present your science projects. You may not make any last minute changes! No exceptions"
While Carl was presenting his boomerang project, Jimmy sneakily started to pour some serum on the popcorn kernels.
Cindy saw him "Stop that, Neutron! You heard what Ms. Fowl said! No last minute changes!"
Jimmy ignored what Cindy was saying and started to pour some drops of serum on the popcorn kernels. Cindy yanked his shirt and the growth serum started to fall right onto the popcorn kernels and the floor. The popcorn kernels started grew to the size of beach balls until they started popping all over the place like ping pong balls. One of them hit Cindy in the stomach. She tripped, landed on Nick's turbo-skateboard and started zooming out of control!
She slammed into Carl, which caused the stick to fly right out of his hand and right into Cindy's sea serpent habitat, which broke into a thousand pieces! Jimmy tried to catch the snakes, but he wasn't fast enough and the snakes landed right in the puddle of serum. They started to get bigger...and bigger...and BIGGER! Soon enough, the snakes were the sizes of mini vans.
"RUN!" shouted Carl.
All of the kids and teachers ran out of the building and the giant sea snakes started wrecking havoc in the schoolhouse. The kids were dodging all the vemon that was falling from their mouths. Suddenly, an avalanche of giant popcorn fell onto Jimmy and Libby.
"Stupid Cindy, none of this would've happened if she hadn't made me spill that serum! I've gotta think of something. Think, think, think..." Jimmy thought for a moment, then an idea occurred "BRAIN BLAST! Libby, let me see your phone! I need it to call my folks. I don't have my watch today"
"Okay, but I'll have to type in the password" Libby said as she pressed the button on her extendable phone.
The extension brought the phone to Jimmy and he dialed his mom's phone number "Hello Mom? It's Jimmy! Listen I need you to bring my shrinking potion and make it fast!"
Jimmy's parents arrived with Goddard in a bicycle made for two just in the nick of time. They would've gotten there sooner had Goddard not eaten the spark plugs earlier. They shrunk the snakes down to their normal sizes, Jimmy and Libby were freed and the school was saved.
While the school was being repaired, the class gathered up on the front lawn. Since Sheen's Ultra Lord Chia Pet was the only project that survived, he got the highest grade.
"Jimmy Neutron, do you have something to say to your friends?" Judy asked him.
Jimmy sighed "Yes. The whole thing was my fault, I broke the rules because I waited until the last minute to finish my project. I'm sorry"
"Don't think this changes anything, Neutron" said Cindy "I'm keeping a close eye on you! This rivalry has just begun"
Back home, the Neutron's were having a nice conversation.
"Well Jimmy, Jim, James...son have you learned your lesson?" asked Hugh.
"I sure have dad" Jimmy replied "No more waiting until the last minute. From now on, I'll do all my projects in advance! That's why I'm making plans for my next invention right now! That Cindy Vortex isn't gonna bring me down now"
"You know Jimbo, she's kinda cute" Hugh winked at his son.
Jimmy's expression went blank "What are you nuts? Cindy not cute! She's a spoiled rotten brat! I hate her"
"Sure you do" Hugh chuckled sarcastically.
THE END
Author's Note:
The science fair is over, but Jimmy and Cindy's rivalry has just begun. You'll have to stay tuned for more adventures of Jimmy Neutron and Cindy Vortex!