Disclaimer – I don't own Jimmy Neutron or any other referenced media material.
"Jimmy Neutron, wake up. Jimmy Neutron, wake up. Jimmy Neutron, wake up. Jimmy Neutron, wake up."
After his alarm chimed for a fourth time, Jimmy Neutron did indeed wake up. He had been in a deep sleep, and found rousing from that sleep very difficult. Nevertheless, even in his groggy state, he knew that today was the day, and that he could not afford to ignore his alarm.
Jimmy rolled over to the side of his bed, where he waited a moment before putting both feet on the ground. He wanted to make sure that he could support his own weight. When he was confident, he stood up and stumbled past the sleeping form of Goddard over to his nightstand, so he could take his watch and turn off the alarm. Like most people, Jimmy regarded his alarm with the utmost disdain.
As Jimmy swiped his watch off the nightstand and pressed a button, he noticed the time on the watch's digital display. He stared it for a moment longer and laughed, finding it highly amusing.
He had slept a grand total of ten minutes.
Across the street, in the bedroom directly opposite from Jimmy, Cindy Vortex hadn't slept a wink. She had briefly attempted doing so a couple of times over the past three hours, after she had resolved things with her mother, but Cindy soon found that sleeping was at the bottom of her priority list. There were so many other things that needed her attention.
The blonde was standing on her floor, unable to find a more suitable location. Every so often, she peeked out her window to check the activity going on outside and inside the Neutron residence. She hadn't seen any sign of Jimmy, but she had already seen Carl and Sheen walk up to the Neutron's front doorstep, where they were let in by Mr. and Mrs. Neutron.
A war was raging inside Cindy, and at the moment, she didn't know which side was going to win. Part of her wanted to walk up to the Neutron's doorstep and ring their bell herself, so she could give the departing genius a farewell alongside the rest of his family and friends. The other part of her however, wanting nothing more than to curl up into a ball underneath her blankets and wait for this agonizing morning to pass. She had already said goodbye to Jimmy after all, and hadn't promised that she'd see him today. She was perfectly within her rights to remain in her room and wait it out.
Unfortunately, to Cindy at least, her predicament was not so simple. It wasn't just a matter of whether she wanted to see Jimmy again or not. Rather, it was a matter of what consequences either of those decisions would entail. She could drag herself over to the Neutron residence right now, but what would be the effect? Would they take well to seeing each other again? Would they be able to handle it, being in close proximity with one another? Would Cindy try to convince Jimmy to stay or would she encourage him to leave? And if Cindy chose not to see Jimmy again, she still had questions to face. Would they be okay with it? Would Cindy be acting on her own moral behalf, or was she just clamming up out of cowardice?
That, and a hundred other riddles and concerns swarmed the inside of Cindy. So many things were distracting her mind; it was difficult to concentrate on any one thing. It was like she wanted her brain to work, but the gears simply weren't turning.
In her own, personal experience, there was only one thing Cindy could do when her mind had reached this point. And as it turned out, this thing could actually be very conducive to her situation.
Running over the idea in her head, Cindy withdrew a piece of paper from the tray of her printer. She placed the paper on her desk, snatched up a pen, and sat down. She considered her words for a few seconds, and then began to write.
'Dear Jimmy,'
Jimmy carefully made his way down the steps, bag in hand, Goddard at his heel. He was cognizant of the fact that every step he made, he was closer to exiting the second floor of his house, possibly for good. There was no guarantee after today that he would ever set foot in this establishment again.
As Jimmy made it down the final steps, he found that everyone was already waiting for him. His living room was bursting with people.
"Hey, there he is," Sheen said.
Once Jimmy had been spotted, a dozen lines of greeting seemed to break out at once. It was overwhelming, the smiling, eager faces on so many family members and friends he had gathered during his tenure in Retroville. It was all Jimmy could do to hold back the tears.
"Hey Jimmy, I wanted to give you one of my Ultralord action figures as a going-away present. I thought he could travel the universe with you and help defend the weak!"
"No, take my present Jim. It's a llama of the day calendar from the Lovable Llamas Society. This way, you'll always know what day it is here on earth."
"Jimmy doesn't want action figures or calendars you guys! If he's going to be in outer space for a long time, he'll need to listen to some jams. Here Jimmy, I downloaded all the latest stuff on this MP3 player."
"You can take my ice cream stash kid. The way business is going, I could use some intergalactic customers, yeah."
"Neutron, you gotta take my skateboard with you. If you ever bring it back, you can say my board's gone places no one else has even dreamed of."
"Hey Jimmy?"
"Jimmy?"
"Jimmy?"
"Jimmy?"
"Jimmy?"
"Jimmy?"
"Jimmy?"
"Hey Jimmy? Hey Jimmy? Hey Jimmy?"
"Alright everyone, alright!"
Hugh Neutron had interrupted the escalating interrogations, whistling and raising his hands in the air to catch everyone's attention. He waited until the crowd quieted down before continuing.
"Now I know everyone has a lot they want to say to the Jimbo before he goes, but we're on a tight schedule this morning. Jim-Jam's ride could be here any minute. So if there's anything you want to say, please try and make it brief. Thank you, and afterwards please come and stay with us for coffee and…pie."
Jimmy gazed at all the anxious faces, waiting for the first person to come forward. He visually navigated the crowd, hoping to catch a flash of blonde hair or a glint of green eyes. After he had gone through and examined every head however, he found none.
'Cindy, where are you?'
Still sitting at her desk, Cindy read over the message she had written one last time. It had come out surprisingly well, like it had been laboring inside her head for weeks as opposed to being scribbled out of some whim, early in the morning. Cindy didn't quite know what she was going to do with the message just yet, but it least it was there, and was ready for her whenever she decided its fate. The important thing, for the moment at least, was that Cindy's head felt clearer and she felt more capable of making a decision.
Without warning, Cindy's bedroom door was pushed open and in strolled Sasha Vortex. The severe green-eyed woman settled against the doorframe, studying her daughter carefully. Her eyes went from Cindy's posture, to Cindy's face, and finally to the note lying on Cindy's desk. The blonde considered removing the note from her mother's probing gaze but decided that by now, any attempt at nonchalance was futile.
Mrs. Vortex turned her attention to Cindy's window, where the curtain was ever so slightly parted, so that the viewer could see through to the Neutron house. The green-eyed woman returned her focus to Cindy and crossed her arms. She let the quiet linger for a moment longer.
"Not that it's any concern of mine," Sasha began, "but I believe the boy is scheduled to leave at any second."
Cindy said nothing. She stared at her desk, running her hand over her message. As always, her mother had a way of extracting every last bit of silence, so that when she finally did speak, each word hit its mark.
"It's no secret that I never cared for him Cynthia," Sasha continued. Her eyes were again peering through Cindy's window. "When you were children, I told you to stay away from him. I told you that some day, that boy was going to blow himself up. And while many explosions did occur as a result of his own doing, thankfully, you were never inside any of them."
Cindy began shaking her left foot. She stared down at it, the speed of her movement making it look like she had two.
"But no matter what I said, it seemed you had a mind of your own when it came to him. The more I told you to stay away from him, the more it seemed you wanted to do the opposite. I never believed you disliked the boy as much as you claimed, and once you two began middle school, my suspicions were confirmed."
Cindy sat back in her seat. She slumped a little, unable to find a comfortable position.
"It's been nine years since that family moved into the house across the street. Had I known the consequences of that move back then, I might have protested, but the past can't be undone. Instead, I've gotten to watch you and that boy during these nine years. I've watched as you've gone from supposedly hating him, to becoming his friend, to pining for him while he holed himself in that lab of his to prepare for whatever adventure he's embarking on today. I also watched as he brought you home last night, inside the hover-car, as I believe it's called."
Mrs. Vortex paused. She then sighed, giving Cindy one of the very few glimpses she had ever gotten into her mother's emotions.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but after all those years of watching you two, only one thing comes to mind as I watch this morning unfold."
Ever so gradually, Sasha gazed at Cindy out of her periphery. As she did so, the emotion became apparent in Sasha's otherwise steely, green eyes. The emotion was the tiniest drop of anger.
"Just what, Cynthia, do you think you're doing here, sitting here in your room?"
Cindy made no reply.
"I didn't raise a stupid daughter, and I certainly didn't raise a coward. Perhaps I need to re-phrase the question for you. Why, Cynthia, are you sitting here in your room, scribbling a silly note on your desk, when the boy I can't seem to keep you away from is getting ready to leave the planet, for what may be a permanent leave of absence?"
Cindy jumped to her feet. "I'm doing what needs to be done!"
Mrs. Vortex was unfazed. "Is that what you call it?" Her gaze briefly went to Cindy's chair, and then to the desk where her note still laid. Sasha's green eyes had regained their typical, chilly quality. "Like I said Cynthia, it is none of my concern. Perhaps I don't fully understand the situation. I just can't see what reason would require you to stay put here, while you could be across the street with the rest of them, trying to give yourself some peace."
Sasha gazed one last time at the window. "That's what I would have done at least. When I was your age."
With that, Cindy's mother exited the room, leaving Cindy standing in the middle of the floor once again, alone. Cindy stared at the receding form of her mother, and then at the message lying on the desk. The war that had been raging inside her had reignited, though Cindy felt that it would soon reach its climax. Until that moment came however…
Cindy pressed her hands against her temples. "What am I going to do?" she said, the pressure mounting. She went over to her window, peeking past the curtain at the Neutron house. Her forehead hit the pane "What am I going to do?"
Forcing the smile on his face, Jimmy reluctantly accepted the skateboard. He peered down at it, studying its make and quality, and then regarded the donor with a look best described as polite frustration.
"Seriously though, I want you to take it," Nick said.
Jimmy swallowed one sarcastic retort after another. This would have been so much easier if Nick wasn't actually being serious.
"All you have to do Neutron is take the skateboard with you when you visit an alien planet, roll it around for just a little bit on that planet's soil, not scratching the wheels of course, and then, take it with you when you go to another planet." Nick gazed smugly at Jimmy, as if he had just laid out the most masterful plan in existence.
"Um, Nick?" Jimmy said gently, not wanting to offend the boy. He cleared his throat, though he had nothing obstructing his vocal cords. "As much as I would like to accept this, as I've been telling everyone else, I can't take any nonessential items with me when I go to launch." Jimmy held the skateboard out in front of Nick.
"Just take it!" Nick shouted. He shoved the skateboard back at Jimmy, slamming it into Jimmy's chest. The next thing Jimmy knew, Nick was running in the opposite direction with his hands over his face, bawling at the top of his lungs.
"Oh Scooter!" he wailed. "I'm gonna miss you buddy!"
An eyebrow rose on Jimmy's forehead. He watched as Nick dashed out of the house, onto the street. "Scooter?" Jimmy's curiosity morphed into confusion as he re-examined Nick's gift.
"Wow, that was weird."
Sheen had taken Nick's spot in front of Jimmy, flanked on either side by Carl and Libby. The lanky teen was chuckling, throwing amused glances at his two friends. "I told you guys he wasn't cool. Now do you believe me?"
"Shut up Sheen," Libby said. She elbowed her boyfriend hard in the stomach, and then motioned to Jimmy. The three friends aborted their conversation and acknowledged their fourth friend, who had placed Nick's skateboard off to the side. The four stared at each other silently, the gravity of their situation finally settling in.
"Jimmy," Libby said, unsure of where to begin. "I–"
Jimmy rushed forward and enveloped all his friends in one, giant hug. They stayed in this position, like they were draining every last, possible emotion.
"Stop crying Carl," Sheen sobbed, though Sheen's eyes were the only ones currently leaking tears. "We can't let Jimmy know how much we're going to miss him."
Jimmy squeezed his friends, wishing mere words could express the depths of his gratitude. He had shared almost every day of his life in Retroville with these people. It was impossible to thank them enough for their companionship.
"We're going to miss you so much Jimmy!" Carl exclaimed. Miraculously, his eyes had remained dry thus far. He was trying to remain strong for his friend.
"I t-told you not to say that!" Sheen cried.
As Sheen and Carl exchanged various grievances, Libby leaned into Jimmy and put her lips next to his ear. "Jimmy?" she whispered, wanting to first make sure that he could hear her. When she saw Jimmy nodding, she continued. "Has she said anything? Has she contacted you at all?"
Libby retracted, so she and Jimmy could see one another. Managing a small, sad smile, Jimmy nodded again. "Yeah. Last night we…had a conversation we should have had a long time ago."
Libby's eyes widened. "For real?"
Jimmy nodded again, still wearing his smile. "For real."
"Jimmy that's–" Libby's eyebrows furrowed "–W-Where is she now?" Libby did a quick search of the room but couldn't find her target. Her attention flew back to Jimmy. "You want me to get her? 'Cause I swear, I'll drag her skinny butt over here if I have to."
Jimmy put one of his hands on Libby's and shook his head. "I don't think so Libby." His blue eyes were dreary, but they were accepting. "I think we said everything we needed to say. She said she'd try to come see me this morning, but…it might be too hard for her."
"Oh Jimmy," Libby said. "She should be here right now. You two should see each other…just one last time."
"I don't think there's going to be one last time Libby," Jimmy said.
As if on cue, the doorbell to the Neutron residence rang. Silence ensued, followed by another ringing, and then a loud knocking.
Jimmy froze. The entire living room had gone silent. Mustering up his courage, Jimmy released his friends, went around them, and headed toward the door. His heart hammered with every step, his palms going sweaty. He hoped he'd be able to handle what waited for him on the other side.
Jimmy paused when he reached the door. He drew a deep breath, and then put his hand on the knob. He drew another breath. He opened the door.
Several beings stood before him, one of them being a familiar tall, gray humanoid. They wore long black robes, each emblazoned with a crest that bore initials from a language unknown to man. Translated to English, the initials were 'IM.'
"Nice to see you again Jimmy," said the gray individual. "We must be leaving quite abruptly I'm afraid." The alien gave Jimmy a sympathetic smile. "Are you ready?"
Cindy was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Gone was her will of iron, as was, most likely, her common sense. She was reduced to a cauldron of emotion, each one pushing her in a slightly different direction, leaving her feeling increasingly helpless with every passing minute.
"I don't know what to do," she exclaimed. She was still standing in the middle of her bedroom floor, rooted to the spot by fear. She was so preoccupied, she hadn't glanced at her window in minutes.
"I don't know what to do!"
Bag in hand, one foot away from exiting his house, Jimmy turned around. He looked at his family and friends, who were still congregated in the living room. He gave them a sad smile.
"Well," he said. He couldn't think of anything else. "This is it." The others simply stared back at him. Not one word was said. "So long."
"Knock 'em dead Jimmy!" Sheen said, breaking the silence. He pumped a fist in the air, like his friend had already won some great victory.
"Yeah, bring some order to this universe," Libby said. She crossed her arms and looked at the others, smiling out of the corner of her mouth. "Seriously, there are some messed-up life forms out there."
Carl just looked at his feet. His best friend of nine years was leaving, and there was nothing adequate that he could think of saying.
Jimmy's gaze shifted off to the far right, where his mother and father were standing, alone. He observed them with a little smile. "Mom? Dad?"
"Oh sweetie we love you," Judy exclaimed. Her and Hugh rushed over to envelope their son in a farewell hug.
"I love you guys too," Jimmy said, pressing his face against his parents. "You guys are the best."
"You have our blessing Jim-Jam," Hugh said.
The three Neutrons released each other. Each one wanted more time, more words, and more embracing, but they knew that it was finally over. Their little family, for the first time in seventeen years, was about to be separated.
Jimmy gave everyone in the room one last smile. He hefted his bag over his shoulder and was about to turn around, when he was interrupted by a loud barking.
"Goddard!" Jimmy said. A partition formed in the crowd and through it came the padding form of Jimmy's robotic dog. Jimmy dropped his bag to the floor and went to his knees, so he could properly greet his faithful companion. "Hey boy," he said, taking hold of his pet's face as he was licked. "Couldn't let me forget you again, huh?"
Goddard whined softly.
"I'll miss you too boy." Jimmy wrapped his arms around Goddard's bulky frame, pressing his cheek against the cold metal. As he did, a thought came to mind. There was something Goddard could do for him while he was away.
"Goddard?" Jimmy pulled back. He made sure that the mechanical canine was reading him, and that he fully understood what Jimmy was about to say. Jimmy held Goddard by the head. "Listen to me very carefully boy. I know I told you to watch over Mom and Dad, but there's one more person I want you to keep an eye on."
Goddard's luminescent eyes stared vacantly at Jimmy.
"I want you to watch over Cindy. For at least the next few months or so, I want you to watch over her every day. Make sure she's eating, keeping her room clean, all that stuff. And if she doesn't want to leave her room, or if she's sleeping all the time, don't let her. Libby will make sure she gets out and does things, but I want you to take over when Libby isn't there. When I'm gone, Cindy, Mom, and Dad are your number one priorities. Got that?"
Goddard barked. Jimmy wrapped his arms around his dog one last time, and let him go. Jimmy scooped up his bag and rose to his feet.
"Goodbye everyone," Jimmy said. He gave them what he knew would his final smile for a long time.
The crowd waved and replied with various, out-of-key farewells.
Lowering his gaze, Jimmy turned around and left.
"I have to do it!" Cindy concluded at long last. Her hands were balled into fists. Her storm of emotions had reached a level that she could no longer tolerate, and in the crescendo, she had somehow found clarity.
"Mom was right, I can't just sit here and do nothing. No matter how painful it is or what the consequences are, it just isn't right."
Her mind made up, Cindy glanced one last time out the window.
And was horrified at what she saw.
"NO!"
Cindy dashed over to her window and ripped the curtains wide open. Out on the street, a large and unfamiliar black car was rolling away, due east. In the back seat however, through the window, she saw the unmistakable profile of Jimmy Neutron.
"NO, NO, NO! WAIT!"
But it was too late. By the time Cindy had gotten the words out, the car had picked up speed and was trundling down the street, out of sight. No matter how fast Cindy moved, the car would be long gone by the time she hit the pavement. She would never be able to catch Jimmy's attention.
"How could I have been so stupid?" Cindy erupted. She delivered a kick to her mattress and stormed away from the window, falling into a heap in her chair by the desk. Her vision blurred as she grabbed a hold of her message, burying her head against her arm.
"It's all my fault Jimmy," she moaned, her fingers running over the paper. "How could I have called you a wimp when I didn't even have the guts to say goodbye?"
Jimmy had to admit, the backseat was quite comfortable. He was able to put his travel bag next to him, and there was more than ample room for his long legs. Although he was an experienced mechanic and could tell that the vehicle hadn't been made on earth, the Missionaries had done a good job of making the car nondescript.
He peered out the window one last time, getting his final look at the Vortex house. As with each time before, when his eyes went to Cindy's bedroom window, he found no sign of the blonde. He thought the curtain looked like it had been pulled at, but maybe his eyes were playing tricks on him, and he was only seeing what he wanted to see. Jimmy was well aware of the psychological phenomenon known as the self-fulfilling prophecy.
'If only I could have seen you one last time.'
"Everything going okay Jimmy?" the gray humanoid asked. He was sitting in the seat opposite Jimmy, hands on his knees, the picture of calm. The back compartment of the Missionaries' car was arranged so that there were four seats, with two next to each other and two facing each other.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Jimmy said. His eyes wandered over the back compartment. "Nice vehicle you guys got."
"Thanks. You know, we really appreciate that the people from Retroville are keeping quiet about all this. Though I have to say…" The humanoid made an expression similar to frowning. "I'm little concerned about that Sheen character. He seems to have what you people call loose lips."
"Yeah, you might want to keep an eye on him," Jimmy said. He chuckled, thinking of his friend. His mind then went back to Cindy.
It may have been the length of the previous night, and the ups and downs that had come along with it, but for some reason, Cindy could not produce tears. It was just as well, given that her face was lying on top of her carefully written message. Jimmy said that the Missionaries used a mailing system similar to Warp Mail, so that they could all stay in-touch. A minute ago she thought she could hand the message directly to Jimmy, but since he was now gone, she supposed she could send it to him as she had originally planned.
Cindy forced herself out of her chair, her hand on the paper. She looked down on it, hoping that it would convey what she wanted it to. The only thing left for her to do now was to go across the street and give it to the Neutrons. Jimmy's parents would know what to do. It also might do her some good to go over there. A number of cars were still parked along the street, so Jimmy's farewell party must not have ended yet. Maybe Carl, Sheen, and Libby were still there.
Cindy steeled herself. The love of her life had just left, and now she had to deal with the aftermath. It wasn't what she wanted to do, but as she had told Jimmy the previous night, they were beginning a new phase in their lives. Cindy wanted to start out that phase on a good note.
Her head swimming with memories of Jimmy, Cindy took her note and trudged over to her bedroom door. She had just about made it to the threshold when an ear-splitting crash rocked her to the floor.
Cindy's window, the one Jimmy had gazed at so often over the past several weeks, exploded into a million tiny pieces. After she had fallen, Cindy instinctively placed her arms over her head, protecting herself from the shards of glass. When the glass had stopped raining, Cindy withdrew her arms to see what had happened.
Goddard flew through the gaping hole he had created in Cindy's wall and landed clumsily on the floor, where he skidded among the glass to a halt. He barked urgently at the blonde, in front of whom he had just managed to stop.
"G-Goddard?" Cindy uttered. She was thunderstruck by the mechanical canine's entry into her room, and was even more confused about what could have possessed him to do such a thing in the first place. "W-What on earth is going on?"
Goddard barked again. The panel in front of his chest lifted, revealing the monitor with which he sometimes communicated.
'There is no time to argue. If you want to see Jimmy before he goes, you must come with me immediately.'
"What?" Cindy said. "But no one knows where the launching point is except the Missionaries. Even Jimmy doesn't know."
'At the request of Judy Neutron, I embedded a homing chip in Jimmy's skin when he was eleven.'
"A homing chip?" Cindy exclaimed. "Is that…legal?"
'I am a scientist Cindy Vortex, not a lawyer. Jimmy told me to make you my number one priority in his absence. My senses indicate that you do not wish for Jimmy to leave, so I will use my abilities to make this wish a reality.'
"Then there's no time to lose."
Goddard propelled himself into the air while Cindy scrambled to her feet. She hastily folded up her message and stuffed it into her pocket. "Goddard! Fly cycle!"
The robotic dog immediately transformed himself into an air speeder. Cindy leapt onto the seat he had provided and grabbed hold of the handles. She was going to catch Jimmy if it was the last thing she did.
"Cynthia, what in the world is–"
Mrs. Vortex had appeared in the doorframe behind Cindy, attracted by all the commotion, when she got a good look at the scene in her daughter's room. The broken window, the shattered glass, and Cindy herself, seated in midair on what she thought was the Neutron boy's pet.
"Sorry Mom, no time to explain!" Cindy shouted over the building whine of Goddard's engines. "Gotta blast!"
Cindy and Goddard shot out of the window. After hesitating for a split second, they made a sharp left and hurtled down the street, leaving Mrs. Vortex with her mouth wide open.
AN: One more chap to go guys.