A/N: I want to give credit where credit is due before I introduce the next chapter. I want to first repeat that I don't own Jimmy Neutron or any other character I use in my story. This story is for fun and I will continue to spice it up with elements of things I have enjoyed over the years. I want to thank the readers that have stuck with me this far and I hope you will enjoy the twist I am adding into the latest chapters. I must give credit for a few non Jimmy related things that have inspired me for this and are owed credit. John J. Rambo and Voltron: Defender of the Universe-(The original anime show). I have debated about introducing these elements into the story but they seem right. I hope none of you disagree. Thanks for your support.
Jet Fusion:
Jet hit the tree hard. He felt the rush as the leaves and branches scratched him heavily as he continued falling. He smacked into one large branch which caused him to flip to one side and into several others until he finally broke his fall against another branch. The pain was excruciating in his arms and side. His arm was gashed open and he was pretty sure he had a broken rib but at least he was alive; at least for the moment; the frustrated screech of the gargoyle proved as a good motivator for him to get moving.
He frantically looked around for his MP5K but he had dropped it when he hit the tree. "There!" he shouted within his own mind. The weapon was hanging from one of the lower branches by its sling. He began climbing downward, every one of his muscles screaming for him to rest. But there wasn't time for that, even now the gargoyle flung itself into the tree line and was clawing its way through the thick crown of the tree to get at him.
He knew he would never reach his weapon in time. So he stood on the thickest branch he could get to and braced himself with his back to the tree. He flipped his thumb unlatching his 15 3/8th survival knife. He tested the edge as he quickly looked the knife over. The blade was 10 inches long with a black matt finish, razor sharp on one side with a saw back. -(The handle was hollow and contained a survival kit: fishing line; hooks; matches; compass)-
He held the knife menacingly in front of him, waving it back in forth in the gargoyle's face as it walked along the branch toward him. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way big fella." Jet said.
The creature roared in response. Its eyes glowed red and it bared long sharp teeth and a forked tongue. Its muscular chest rippled as it breathed.
It was a killing machine but so was Jet Fusion; years of training and real world experience had honed his skills. He decided to take the defense. He waited for the attack.
The gargoyle was hungry for sustenance. It could smell the blood dripping from its prey and it salivated in anticipation. It struggled to be cautious within its primitive mind. It knew that the human was dangerous. It had killed its brothers. But that was with the thing that had made loud noises,that had hurt its ears. But it could see the thunder maker hanging from the branch far below; it would not be an issue. It slowly stepped forward; slightly unsure of the new thing its prey was waving around.
It had closed the distance between it and its prey. The time had come to strike; the time had come to feed. It swung its razor sharp claws at Jet, sure it was about to make an easy kill. The prey ducked, avoiding the strike.
It felt a flash of hot white pain. Its mind raced to understand what just happened. But its thoughts grew fuzzier than normal and a moment later it was choking on its own blood as it bled out the giant gaping hole in its throat. It died on its feet and the red glow in its eyes was distinguished. Those once fierce eyes were now dull and lifeless. The creature toppled over backward and fell to the ground twenty feet below.
Jet descended the rest of the way to the ground, only pausing to retrieve his gun. He flipped the weapon on safe, dropped the magazine, and cleared the chamber. He checked the action and was relieved to find that the weapon hadn't been damaged in the fall. He reloaded it and spun toward some undergrowth nearby. His keen ears had picked up the sound of snapping twigs. He aimed the weapon in the direction, dropped to one knee, and waited patiently. A small furry rodent wandered out of the bushes. "Phew, its just a rabbit. I guess the coast is clear for now."
He had to get back on course and find the crate of supplies that the plane had dropped for him. But first he had to tend his wounds. "My ribs are killing me. They don't seem to be broken, just bruised. I should still wrap my chest with something to protect them for now. I don't have any bandages, but some leather from the wings of that gargoyle should work. But I better stop my arm from bleeding first. But I don't have any sutures here; that's all in the supply crate. I'll bleed out by the time I make it there." He thought to himself as he glanced at the survival knife. "This is going to hurt a lot but it worked in First Blood the movie." He frowned at the thought but got started before he lost his nerve. He threaded the fishing hook with the fishing line and sewed up the gash in his arm. The pain was excruciating but at the least the bleeding stopped. After that a few careful slices through the fallen gargoyles wings provided him with enough leather to wrap his bruised ribs. "This stuff stinks but it's working. Well I've got my barings. I should only be a few kilometers off course. I feel so tired but Jimmy's time is limited. I better get going.
Jet began his journey through the jungle. He didn't know what dangers lay within the interior of the island, but he was going to find out.
The Gang:
Cindy sat quietly in the limousine as she was driven back to the school and the awaiting mechs. Her mind raced over what they would find. "Knowing Neutron they will be astonishing, but then again everything the kid does is." She thought to herself with a smile. But those happy thoughts turned sad as she worried about where he was and who he was with. "Why did it always have to be Betty Quinlan? Miss I'm so beautiful and perfect. Hell even in my dreams that girl torments me. It makes me so angry; the way she flirts with Jimmy, and the way he goes along with it. He's mine and I don't want to let anyone get in the way of that, ever!"
She tried to maintain her anger but it was a losing battle. Her thoughts turned to sad ones. She remembered the first time they had held hands, the first time they kissed. She remembered how he always made her feel, whether it was happy, angry, or sad. She felt her eyes sting as the thought of him seriously injured or worse flashed through her mind. The image of Betty kissing him burned a hole through the very fabric of her being and it made her heart ache.
She didn't notice but Eustace kept looking over at her. He wanted to speak to her, to say something, but words failed him. He couldn't get over how beautiful she really was. In the back of his mind he felt a pang of regret. He couldn't shake the desire to have this girl as his own. But he knew that was wrong; she wasn't from his time. What made matters worse is she loved another, this Neutron.
He thought he heard a sniffle come from her. He strained his ears to listen in. The limo was loud from all the excitement coming from Libby, Carl, and Sheen and it was hard to be sure."How selfish can I be?" he asked himself. "Here I sit and think of my wants and desires while she fears for her close friend and…well boyfriend."
"Cindy." He finally said. "Yes Eustace." She replied as she turned to face him. Her eyes gave away the fact that she had been holding back her tears.
"Are you okay Cynthia?" he asked.
"I-I'm fine. Please call me Cindy. It creeps me out when you call me Cynthia, too much like the other Eustace I know, and he only does it to mock me." She said.
"Alright than, Cindy it is. Anyhow Cindy, don't worry about your friend Jimmy. I'm sure he will be fine. He sounds like a very resourceful chap." He replied.
"I know he can usually take care of himself. But I can't help but worry about him. This thing that has him is a conglomerate of all the hate and malice that I feel toward the real girl she is based on. She is a pure nightmare made real. I mean at least in the dream world she was limited by certain heroic notions that we live within our own minds; you know where the good guy always wins? But in the real world….." she trailed off so Eustace finished the sentence for her. "The bad guy can win." She nodded in response.
"I'm sure we will be victorious Cindy. This Jimmy is lucky to have so many good friends that he can count on to come to his aid. If we all work together as a team I'm sure we will win the day." He said.
She hugged him tightly and said, "Thank you, Eustace. I'm glad you're on our side."
"What are friends for?" he replied.
The limo arrived at the school a few moments later. Every one hurried out and made their way carefully back into the underground facility where they were greeted by the red glowing hologram of Jimmy Neutron.
"Welcome back guys. I see you have a fifth member. That will be perfect considering that there are five mechs after all. I trust you have found the keys?" the hologram asked.
"Yes Jimmy, we found the keys." Cindy replied.
"I've been monitoring activities on the island, and I must warn you guys that the mechs aren't rated for the task I fear you have a head of you. My master had made them to be used specifically for close range combat against the Yolkians. But my sensors indicate that the population of the island is a mix of giant snakes, spiders, gargoyle like creatures, well actually let me bring it up on the monitor."
The monitors flickered on and the group gasped in astonishment. They could see the ground surrounding the pyramid. It was filled with a massive army of snake like men. They wore jet packs and carried laser spears. There must have been ten thousand of them. The base of the pyramid had two of the Jimmy hulks standing guard and t-rexes roamed through the outskirts of the parameter. The monitors changed images as it switched to different camera angles around the area. One showed the sky. The gargoyle creatures were circling around a single red colored dragon as it passed by. The image changed again revealing that there was an army of mimes and it made Cindy shiver. Libby knew of her best friend's fear of mimes, and put her arm around her.
"The mechs wouldn't be much use against such forces I'm afraid." Jimmy's hologram said.
"There has to be a way." Eustace said.
"My master had worked on a better design. But he lacked the financial means to build it. Based on my analysis it would have been more than equipped to handle this event. It seems he was a few billion dollars shy of realistically completing the project." Jimmy said.
"I have an idea. I will invest in Neutron's work." Eustace said.
"That would be great but it would still take months to build and time is something you don't really have." Jimmy said.
"No at this current time I don't, but if I make it home I can set up a trust fund to be put into place for Neutron to use on this project." He replied.
The room shimmered and the lights became brighter in response. Libby shouted "Look!" The Neutron logo on the wall shimmered and changed into a new design that was red and blue with a golden cross with a crown at its head.
"What does that symbol mean?" Carl asked.
The hologram shimmered for a moment and became more solid and lost its red color. For a moment it looked like the real Jimmy was standing before them. "It's amazing what a little money helps bring about. Anyhow to answer your question Carl, that symbol represents an alliance between the Stryche family and the Neutron family. The mechs have been upgraded to fit the situation. I want to point out that Jimmy had debated on making each mech to fit the individual user, but no offense to Carl but it would not have worked if there was a lama in the group."
Carl's eyes lit up for a moment but disappoint made him frown. "I wanted to have a lama." He said sadly.
Cindy hugged him gently and said "I know you did Carl. I know you did."
"Anyhow he decided to go with a uniform approach. He wanted cohesion in the group and for you to have a sense of Pride" So he chose to make the mechs have the form of five colored lions. They are designed to be user friendly but you will have to watch a tutorial before you use them. It would have been better for you to have gotten practice before going into battle but considering that time is of the essence I suppose that the best practice is field experience."
The tutorial was over before they knew it and they stood in the chamber with the pods that would take them to their respective mechs. Each member wore a colored uniform with matching motorcycle style helmet. Cindy wore pink; Libby wore green, Sheen black, Eustace red; and Carl wore yellow.
"How do I look?" asked Cindy.
Eustace smiled and placed his hands together over his heart. "Like a princess."
She grinned and replied "Smart ass."
"Anyhow when you two are done joking around maybe we can get to work?" Libby said.
"You're right. Let's roll. Okay now remember once the mechs are online, Carl and Sheen are going to head out to look for Archimedes and Valerie. The rest of us will head to the island, right?" said Cindy.
The group replied, "Right!"
They each grabbed a key from the collection and climbed into a pod.
"Hey guys if the pods bring us to a colored lion shouldn't we be getting into the colored lion that matches our uniform?" Carl asked.
"There isn't time to worry about such things Carl! I'm sure they are all fine. Just get going will you?" Cindy replied anxiously, failing to conceal her annoyance.
"Cindy is right Carl. We can worry about fashion at another time, and that says a lot coming from me." Libby added.
"Yeah Carl, it will be much more fun if we leave it to random chance to see what lion we get." Sheen added to backup his woman.
Cindy noted that the keys had been reshaped from the time shift as well, and now were circular and had the same symbol etched into them as they had seen on the wall. She made a final check to make sure her headset was working. She could hear Carl and Sheen arguing over the existence of the potty fairy; it made her smile. She checked to make sure her pearl was secured on the necklace around her neck. Once she was satisfied that it was safe she placed the key into the lock. The control panel lit up and the lid closed sealing her in. The world seemed to lurch as her pod rocketed off down a long tunnel.
To be continued….