Author's Note: Writing bad lyrics is fun. Sorry this took a while, I got distracted with other fandoms but I have every intention of finishing this story. Thanks for all the reads, reviews, favorites and alerts. Constructive criticism is always appreciated!
"Girl, this galaxy is a waste, girl I could give you a taste of all the things that you're missin'," Libby had a nice voice, but Cindy was starting to find it grating after the third straight hour of Libby singing nonstop. "and ooh, baby, it's a galactic roller coaster, but this world gonna be our oyster and-"
Cindy turned the radio off. Libby glared at her, but Cindy shook her head. "The world's 'gonna be our oyster'? Seriously, Libby?"
"Just cause you're mad we've gotta go see April doesn't mean you can take it out on Boiz Inc," Libby reached for the audio system, then decided against it. She checked the radar screen, which was currently showing a yellow dot that they were getting closer and closer to each minute. If she was looking at it correctly, she estimated it would only be a few more minutes before they reached Gorlock, and Cindy's mood got more and more foul the closer they got.
Libby's estimation was right. A quick glance out the window showed that they were rapidly approaching the planet. It looked to be primarily vegetation, with trees that were almost identical to the ones on Earth. There was a slight yellow tinge to the air, making Libby wonder momentarily if they would be able to breathe on this planet. "Vox, what's the oxygen level on this planet?"
"Oxygen levels sufficient for Earthlings."
Cindy chuckled. "Since when does it matter? You've been into space with Neutron before, we've never had problems with breathing. Nearly getting blown up or killed or our parents getting eaten, yes, but never breathing."
"Yeah, that doesn't make sense, by the way. How does he manage that?"
"Oh, it's more simple than you'd think. You see-" before Cindy could finish her explanation, Vox cut her off.
"Destination reached. Docking bay signaled to our arrival. Please begin landing sequence."
"Shoot, better take care of that," Cindy switched off the auto pilot and took back the controls. Libby took the time to get back to her seat and buckle in – Cindy hadn't had much practice with landing and Libby wasn't quite sure she trusted her friend to be able to handle it without at least a few bumps.
They continued to glide their craft a few feet above the planet's surface until they found the docking bay – so far the only part of the planet that would not have looked out of place on Earth. While the rest of the planet almost seemed uninhabited, the docking bay appeared to be the hub of the city. The metallic gray towers rose from the ground and extended far into the sky, several stories up.
Cindy reached the first tower of the building, one of forty, then angled the space ship up, climbing back up into the sky they'd just descended from.
"This is Docking Bay one," came a voice over the radio, "Continue assent until at top of Tower One. Then pull in. You have been confirmed but will still need to be checked in."
"Um..noted," Cindy agreed, but she was preoccupied. By all accounts, she was stronger than Jimmy, yet she found it hard to keep pulling back on the steering mechanism at the right angle to keep it accelerating upwards. She was now grunting with the effort, and beads of sweat were starting to form on her forehead. What she didn't know was that Jimmy managed by using the strength in his whole body, while she was limiting herself to just the strength in her arms.
Libby's grip on her chair's arm rests tightened. She was starting to lose the feeling in her fingers and her jaw was clenched so tightly it was starting to hurt. Please, please, please don't let us crash. I will finally go to one of those stupid Ultra Lord movies with Sheen and take Carl to the zoo to see the llamas and even let Jimmy run an experiment on me if we just survive this! She wasn't sure who she was bargaining with, but it helped her to keep calm.
After what felt like an eternity, they reached the top of the tower. Cindy suddenly pushed forward on the steering, forcing the ship from traveling upwards to racing forward. Both girls felt their necks jerk unpleasantly with the sudden change in motion. Cindy muttered an apology, but kept her focus mostly on the controls. She decreased the speed as she looked for a space – it shouldn't have surprised her, but did, that this docking bay on the inside looked more like an Earth parking garage. And just like Earth parking garages, it didn't seem to have any empty spaces.
"Darn it, there should be special parking for rescue missions!" Cindy grumbled after she pulled away from a space that at first glance had appeared to be empty – instead, it was taken up by some sort of anti gravity bike.
"Oooh, there's a space!" Libby unbuckled herself and rushed to the front of the ship, pointing Cindy in the direction of the vacant spot. Cindy gunned the engine and rushed into the space before anyone else could take it.
Before Cindy had even fully parked, Libby was opening the doors and rushing out of the ship. "Land!" she cried, a little dramatically in Cindy's opinion. "I missed you so much! Let's never be away again, especially if Cindy's driving!"
"Hey!" Cindy called indignantly as she exited the ship, "I thought I did a pretty good job with this being my second time piloting. We got here in one piece, didn't we?"
"Visitors, please give name and id badges," Neither Cindy nor Libby had noticed the orb getting closer to them until it was right in front of them. The orb was obviously robotic in design, with a small circle in the middle that appeared to be some sort of camera. It was golden and hovered in midair, everyonce in a while making a whirring noise Cindy guessed was related to what was keeping it afloat.
"Cindy Vortex and Libby Folfax," Libby offered the information. "But we're a little young to have ids on Earth..."
"No visitor with these names on log. Perhaps it would be under your maiden name?"
Cindy sighed. "Try checking under Jimmy Neutron."
"Yes, visitor is on list. Come with me, Jimmy and ...friend," Libby wasn't offended by being called friend but she was trying to hold back the giggles of Cindy being referred to as Jimmy.
"Yeah, sure," Cindy rolled her eyes but followed after the orb, making sure Libby was doing the same. "Libby, it's not funny."
"It really is, girl," Libby chuckled. "You should go as Jimmy for Halloween this year. We'll get you a wig."
"I'll go as Jimmy if you'll go as Sheen."
"Pass," Libby shuddered. "Yo, robot dude! Where are you taking us?" They had made their way out of the parking garage and into an elevator.
"I have been asked to deliver Jimmy to Chee Aaaaaaaaah Doik."
"Ummm...who?"
"Chee Aaaaaaaaaah Doik, Chief Corcheck Slayer, Daughter of the Tribe, She of the Channel Decisions, Slayer of Nick-"
"April," Cindy finally cut in. "He's taking us to April."
"Whoa, could you imagine putting all of that on a name tag, though? And when did she slay Nick?"
"I doubt he means Nick Dean," Cindy said skeptically.
"Nick was a monster who threatened the land and -oh, it appears we are on the appropriate floor."
"Wait, we're at the Docking Bay," Cindy pointed out, "Aren't we going to go see April? Shouldn't she be in another building?"
"The Docking Bay is currently the only building tall enough and with enough security to house the new Intergalactic Cable system. A building is in the planning stages for the Cable building, but is not scheduled to be completed until 2020."
"Convenient, at least," Cindy muttered.
"I have other guests to attend to," an arm appeared out of the bottom of the orb, pushing Cindy and Libby both out of the elevator. "April is already waiting for you, Mr. Neutron. Please have a good day." The elevator door snapped shut in their faces before either girl could protest or ask where to go.
"I guess we just wander around until we find her?" Libby suggested.
"Or we could give up on this and go without her?"
"You know that isn't gonna happen," Libby shook her head and took the lead. "We just keep looking until we find her. We know she's looking for us, so it won't take too long."
"No, she's looking for Jimmy."
"Let it go, girl. You won. We had this conversation. No more Sage Brush Sallys, no more Aprils no more Bettys. We're all good, Jimmy's yours and if you want to keep it that way we have to find him. Which means we have to find April."
"You know, the one thing I really miss about Sheen and Carl is that I usually didn't have to worry about them being right," Cindy exhaled slowly. "All right. Let's go find her."
It took about a half hour of them poking through the hallway. While it had seemed to be short enough to be easily explored, many of the doors lead to entirely different corridors. A few times the girls were shooed out of a room they entered, but never with any real malice behind it.
April had, indeed, found them first.
"Cindy? Libby?" April studied them carefully but kept looking around, her expression hopeful.
"He's not here," Cindy said, her voice flat.
"Have you chased him off so quickly?" April smirked.
"Watch it, girlfriend," Cindy growled, but Libby planted herself firmly between the Gorlock and the blonde.
"Jimmy was kidnapped. So were Sheen and Carl," Libby launched into an explanation of how the boys had gone missing and how they had started their mission, ending with the discovery that Goddard was on Planet Primus and their decision to ask April for help.
"I may not have time to assist you," April shook her head sadly. "Meldar is back and is threatening us."
"So use the matrix generators," Cindy suggested. "Heck, you could get rid of him with those and then help us find Jimmy really quickly if we use them."
"We had them destroyed."
"WHAT?!" Cindy and Libby chorused their shock.
"We believed it would be foolish to chance them falling into the wrong hands again. So they were destroyed. I still believe it was our best course of action."
Cindy considered it. "It probably was. But this isn't a coincidence. Meldar is involved in Jimmy's disappearance, too. We tracked Goddard to Primus, that can't just be a fluke."
"And your suggestion?"
"Help us find him. If we find Goddard, we can find Jimmy. If we find Jimmy, we can all put our heads together and fight Meldar again."
"It is agreed, Cindy Vortex," April extended a hand for Cindy to shake. Cindy took it and shook firmly. "Normally we would do the Gorlockan Seal of Trust, but something tells me you would not be amenable to this."