Author's Note: Ok, I'm officially changing the update day to Saturday.
Introduction 4: Jimmy Neutron
"Where do you think you're going Nerdtron?"
"The database is down this hallway, which you'd know if you'd paid attention during the debriefing!"
Jimmy Neutron and Cindy Vortex were sneaking down a darkened hallway, both in superhero getup.
"In case you haven't noticed Brain Boy, there are people down that hall. I thought the objective of this mission was stealth." Cindy said condescendingly. Jimmy rolled his eyes. The blonde girl had started calling him Brain Boy as an insult, but Carl and Sheen had actually liked it, and now he was stuck with it as a superhero name.
"Well Special Girl," He tried to sound just as condescending, but it was hard when she actually liked her superhero name, "The other objective is speed. We need to complete our task in a hurry, so we may have to deal with a few guards. The trick is to incapacitate them before they raise the alarm."
"Shh! Here come some now!" Cindy suddenly pulled the boy genius into a side hall as some guards turned down their own corridor. The two of them flattened into the shadows and remained as still as statues. The guards had just passed their hiding spot when something rushed up to them at super speed.
"Hey Jimmy! I think we found that computer-chip-thingy you said to look for." Sheen said as he held up blue computer chip about the size of a quarter. "Does this mean I get extra points?"
"Sheen!" Jimmy and Cindy both yelled at the boy in exasperation.
"What? Bad time?" He asked before turning and noticing the stunned guards behind him. "Oh. Don't worry, I can take care of this."
Sheen ran around the small group of guards, creating a funnel of wind. While they were all stumbling around dizzy, Cindy picked one of them up and tossed him into the others like a bowling ball.
"So much for stealth! Let's go!" She cried and literally flew down the hall. Sheen zipped after here.
"Hey guys! Wait up!" Jimmy called.
Sheen zipped back. "Whoops, sorry Jimmy!" He grabbed his friend's arm and ran back down the hall.
"Whoa!" Jimmy cried out, but by the time Sheen had heard him they were at their destination. It was a large room filled with computers, although only one was on at the moment. The boy genius used a gadget to unlock the door.
"I'll download the chip into the database, you guys guard the door." Jimmy told the others as he opened the tower of the computer to plug in the chip. He was about done with the download when there was a commotion outside the room. There was a loud burping noise followed by several guards shouting. Suddenly Libby and Carl burst into the room.
"Guys, what are you doing here? What happened?" Cindy asked.
"I'm sorry, I know the guards were right there, but I couldn't hold it back any longer." Carl said sheepishly.
"Libby, couldn't you hide him?" Cindy asked her friend.
"Girl, I can make it so they can't see him, not so they can't hear him." Libby said defensively, "But don't worry, it should take them a while to get out of the rubble Carl's burp made."
"That may be, but the sound undoubtedly attracted more guards." Jimmy reminded them.
"No big deal, you're almost done with the download now, right?" Cindy asked.
"Yes, but that's not the point, the—" Suddenly the computer beeped.
Download complete. Congratulations, objective complete! Simulation terminated.
Suddenly the five of them were standing in Jimmy's lab. The hologram simulation had turned off when they completed the mission.
"Alright, we finished that level on the first try!" Sheen said happily. The others cheered.
"Well, we did complete the mission, but there's still room for improvement, especially in our stealth skills." Jimmy said, "I think we should try the simulation again."
Everyone else groaned.
"Jimmy, we've been at this for three hours. Can't we go home now?" Libby asked.
"Listen guys, I know you're all tired, but if we want to make it in to the North American Super School we've got to improve all our skills." The boy genius said encouragingly.
"Oh please, I'm sure we'll all get in, we've been working our butts off!" Cindy said confidently, "The only one I'd be worried about is you Nerdtron. I don't think they're looking for midgets with a fancy tool-belt."
"For your information Vortex, there have been plenty of successful superheroes who used technology instead of superpowers!" Jimmy berated her. "All of us could benefit from the extra practice in the hologram simulations."
"Yeah, well I think I've had enough 'Benefit' for one day." Cindy insisted, and she left in a huff.
"It is kinda late, I think I'll head home too." Libby said as she too left.
"Hey, I'll walk you home!" Sheen zipped after her.
"Aw, don't worry Jim, I bet you'll get into the superhero school." Carl assured his friend.
"Thanks Carl, I appreciate the support." Jimmy smiled at his friend. "But you should head home too. There's really no point in doing the simulations with just the two of us; they're designed for five people."
After bidding farewell to Carl, the boy genius checked his pulse and other vital signs on his wristwatch. Thankfully they were normal.
After "The N-Men Incident" as the people of Retroville now called it, Jimmy had treated his friends with a chemical that was supposed to remove their unstable superpowers. It had only worked on him; all the others' powers had only been stabilized. The townspeople hadn't been very pleased, so he'd created the hologram simulations to help everyone finally master their powers and stop making so much trouble. Then the North American Super School had been announced, and he'd driven everyone to work even harder.
And through all the training, Jimmy checked his vitals regularly, monitoring any change, whether sudden or subtle. He'd also been trying very hard to try and keep his temper under control. The chemical had apparently worked on him, he wasn't orange anymore at least, but it had only stabilized the others. What if… it hadn't really worked the way it should have on him either?
VERY IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well, I'm back in school, and this semester I'm taking very reading/writing intensive classes, so I'm not going to have a lot of free time to write. I'll continue to update a chapter a week until I run out of new chapters to post, but after that they'll come as they're finished, AKA Once a month, if I'm lucky. Sorry, I'm going to try and do as much as I can before this summer, because I'm not sure if I'll be going a way for a long time or not. We'll see. Hopefully I'll figure out what I want to do soon.
Next time: Danny Phantom
