The inner chamber:
The elevating platform came to a halt. The group of friends stepped out cautiously into the corridor and slowly made their way down the hallway. The walls were lined with circular mirrors. They could see a door at the end of the hallway.
"This could be a trap. I would suggest everyone proceed single file and watch where you step."- Jet said.
"Lead on Jet, we're right behind you."-Eustace replied.
Carl kept pace right behind Sheen. The mirrors gave him the creeps. "How do we know these aren't two way mirrors like you see in the cop movies? Someone or something could be watching us right now."
"The kid's got a point."-Jet said, as he swung his weapon toward the nearest mirror. He was sure he caught some movement in it that wasn't from one of the group. He slowly reached out and touched the mirror. The pane wobbled in a strange way. "It's not glass." Jet said.
Suddenly a hand reached out of the mirror and grabbed onto Jet's arm. "Ahhhh!" He shouted, "Get it off of me!" But before anyone could react he was dragged into the mirror and out of sight.
"Holy Heisenberg!"-Cindy shouted. As shocked as they all were at Jet's disappearance into the mirror all eyes turned to Cindy. She blushed and asked "what? I heard Jimmy say it enough."
The room echoed with evil laughter, as Betty suddenly appeared in every mirror, and grabbed a nearby kid. The room echoed with their screams as they were pulled into a mirror the same way Jet had been. Cindy found herself alone with Carl.
Carl was trembling when he asked. "Where did they go?"
"I don't know, Carl, but we've got to find them."-Cindy said. "Keep low and stay in the middle of the hallway."
"Don't worry I'll find you guys! "she shouted into the empty corridor. Carl and Cindy continued toward the awaiting doorway. They got within ten feet of the doorway when Carl stopped moving forward. "Cindy! Help me!" He shouted as he began to sink into the floor as if it were made of quicksand. That was when Cindy noticed that Carl had stepped on a mirror that had been cleverly placed on the floor.
Cindy rushed toward Carl and grabbed his free arm as he struggled to stop himself from being dragged into the mirror. But it was no use. He vanished with a flicker of light. Cindy pounded against the glass but it had become an ordinary mirror. The glass cracked beneath her fist slicing into the knuckles. She watched as the blood flowed through the cracks before pulling her hand away.
The doorway sung open automatically. She bit her lip and hesitated a moment. She was alone, wounded, and had no idea what lay beyond the next chamber. "These are the moments that make life livable." She mused to herself as she stepped into the room.
She held her weapon at the ready and looked around. She recognized the area as part of the original lab. She could see the test tubes and beakers still lined up near the Bunsen burners. She stood in front of the lab counter and paused a moment. A single tear ran down her cheek as she picked up a small picture frame. It contained a picture of Jimmy and her from a happier time before all this stuff had happened. She placed the picture back where she found it. She continued moving through the lab after wiping her wet cheek.
She heard two low voices nearby. She turned toward the source and found the container that held Jimmy's nano-bots N-1 and N-2. She remembered them from the time Jimmy had created the Jim-tech personal anti-bully device. They stopped their arguing as she approached where they were held.
They stared up at her a moment before N-2 shouted excitedly, "It's the creator!"
N-1 turned to N-2, slapped him off the back of the head and said, "Fool! It's the creator's girlfriend."
"Oh, but perhaps if I do something to please her she will let me out."-N-2 said.
"What do you mean, let you out? Don't you mean let US out?" N-1 asked angrily.
Cindy grinned as they bantered back and forth among themselves before saying anything.
"Hello N-1 and N-2."-Cindy said.
"Ahhh did you hear that? She knows my name. I must be special."-N-2 said.
"She knew my name too moron!"- N-1 replied.
"Oh great creator's girlfriend, how can we serve you?"-N-1 said as he dropped to his knees and bowed.
Cindy chuckled to herself before saying "I'm not sure if you could help me actually."
"Try us, oh great creator's girlfriend."-N-1 said.
"Well first of all you can start by calling me Cindy."- She replied.
"Cindy? Oh very well the great creator's girlfriend, we shall call you, Cindy."-N-1 and N-2 said.
"Well your Creator is in trouble. He's being held by an evil monster and I have to rescue him." Cindy explained to them as they listened intently.
"We can be of service, Cindy. Let us out of here and we will pilot our old module to help defend you and reach the creator safely."-N-1 said.
"I don't know, you guys get a little carried away. Remember when you decided to delete the whole world?"-Cindy replied.
"We have been upgraded since then. We have a better understanding of right and wrong. We promise you that we will obey you and help where we can." N-1 presented his hands while speaking to emphasize that he wasn't crossing his fingers and was in fact speaking the truth.
"All right, I'll let you out. I could use all the help I can get."
"YAH!" the creator's girlfriend…I mean Cindy is going to let us help!" the nano-bots both shouted excitedly at the same time as they hugged each other.
The nano-bots piloted their module and hovered slightly behind Cindy as she explored more of the lab. She rummaged through the cabinets, shelves, and drawers for anything that might aid her.
She came upon his nano-bot solution. The solution he had injected in her system when she was injured. She wasn't a fan of needles but there was no time to waste. She filled the new syringe with the fluid and made sure to remove all the air bubbles before injecting the contents of the needle into her arm. The liquid was cold and hurt her slightly as it began to do its job. Her body began to feel better. The soreness and fatigue was subsiding and all the cuts and bruises went away as the nano-bots repaired her from within.
She entered the next part of the lab which she knew contained the Dream Injector 5000. She was surprised to see that it was still in the same place as it had been, but that didn't surprise her as much as seeing the young scientist that was working on it.
"Jimmy?" she asked him.
"Oh hi, Cindy, what are you doing here?" he asked her.
"I've come to rescue you." She said slightly confused.
"Rescue me? Rescue me from what? Oh can you hand me that wrench over there?" he asked as he continued to work on the machine.
"Rescue you from Betty of course. Are you alright Jimmy?" Cindy asked as she approached him, the concern showing in her face.
Jimmy put down his wrench and turned to face her. "I don't need to be rescued from Betty. Look Cindy, you have to get over this. I'm sorry that you don't like her but I've been dating Betty for a while now. Wait! What are the Nano-bots doing loose?" Jimmy said.
The nano-bots replied. "Great creator we've come to rescue you. We live to serve only you."
"Hold on Cindy." Jimmy pulled out a remote controller and pressed a button. An energy bubble appeared around the module trapping it within. "This stasis field will last one hour. That should be enough time for me to finish up my work and to get them back inside their enclosure. You shouldn't mess around with the nano-bots, Cindy. They can be very dangerous."
"Sorry Jimmy I thought they could help. Anyhow forget about that for a moment. What do you mean, you've been dating Betty and that I should get over it? - Cindy said even more confused. The anxiety in her heart was excruciating as he explained that he had fallen in love with Betty during the three days he had spent trapped on the island together a year ago.
"Jimmy, that wasn't Betty. That was me." Cindy said exasperated.
"You're mistaken Cindy. You suffered a head injury not too long ago. You're just confused. Maybe you should lie down." Jimmy said as he approached her slowly.
"No Jimmy you're the confused one. You and I spent three days on that island! I even asked you to stay there with me. Betty must be controlling your mind somehow." Cindy's resolve was fading as she considered that this all could be from her head injury.
Jimmy softly took her hands in his, and said "Cindy I know you like me but it's too late. Maybe if you had said something earlier we could have been together. I didn't know you liked me back than though. You were just so mean to me."
"But that was a while ago. You and I grew closer over the last few years. We both saved each other's lives countless times. You even went out of your way to find a pearl for me. You can't tell me you forgot all that." Cindy demanded.
Jimmy faltered a moment, staggering on his feet. "Did you say I gave you a pearl?"
"Yes, you had to open 137 oysters to find it. I have treasured it since you gave it to me." Cindy said excitedly. "He's starting to remember." She thought to herself.
"I remember that. You later gave me a pearl as a gift in return." Jimmy replied.
"Yes, yes I did." Cindy said happily.
Jimmy felt around his pockets and his neck. "Regretfully I seem to have misplaced the pearl you gave me. May I perhaps see yours?" he asked sadly.
"Of course Jimmy." She said as she reached into her neckline and removed the chain around her neck that held her pearl. It glinted in the light. Jimmy held it in his hands and examined it a moment. He looked up at her and said "Cindy!", as he stepped forward and hugged her tightly. She hugged him back. They stayed in each other's embrace as she said "I'm so glad I found you. I love you so much, Jimmy Neutron."
Jimmy held her tight as he replied "I love you to Cindy Vortex." He bit into her neck and began sucking gently. The top of her pink suit turned slightly red as a stream of blood slid down her back. She gasped as the venom coursed through her system. She struggled to push him away but her strength faded as she blacked out.
Jimmy shimmered and changed into his large reptilian form as he laid the unconscious girl on a lab counter. Betty stepped out of the shadows. "Very good work my love."
"Thank you Betty. I have the pearl." He said as he placed it in her waiting hand.
She examined the perfect little sphere. It glimmered in the light and throbbed with power. She turned to face Cindy's prone unconscious form. "You have been a worthy adversary, Cindy. But the game is nearly finished." She placed the pearl in the awaiting empty mouth of the second snake on her ring. The ring hummed with energy as it became complete.
"What should I do with her?" Jimmy asked as he gestured toward Cindy.
"Leave her. She's as good as dead. Her sacrifice will not be in vain though. With the power we will channel through this ring we will control reality." Betty said as she pulled a lever on the wall. The Dream Injector turned horizontal.
Betty held Jimmy in an embrace, concentrated a moment and vanished. She had teleported the both of them to the top of a pyramid that was on the exterior of the island.
They stood in front of the large disc at the top of the pyramid. She aimed her ring and concentrated as energy blasted out of the ring hitting the disc. The disc distributed the energy to the other pyramids discs forming a circuit. Each disc sent energy to the next until all the exterior pyramids were connected by the energy. Once the circuit was complete the glowing energy simultaneously flowed toward the center pyramid.
Within the main pyramid the Dream Injector glowed brightly as it filled with the energy. The containment field that held the portal in place collapsed and the portal blasted upward filling the sky with its purplish glow. The glow spread all over the Earth until it was completely encased. The glow faded and vanished. Betty stopped concentrating and the energy faded from all the pyramids.
"Did it work?" Jimmy asked.
"You tell me." Betty said, as she levitated six inches off the ground.
She concentrated a moment and the pyramid changed into a large fortress that looked like a giant cobra. "I am a God!" Betty shouted excitedly.
Somewhere within the newly changed fortress Cindy stirred. The nano-bot solution had purged the poison from her system. She looked around the room and saw the module trapped within the stasis field. She deactivated the field and ordered the Nano-bots to go and find out what was happening outside. "We here and obey, Cindy, you can count on us!" They shouted as the module rocketed off up through the tunnel in the ceiling.
She made her way further into the lab until she came upon another room that contained prison cells. She felt thankful to find her friends safely within.
"Guys are you alright?" Cindy asked as she blasted the locks off the cell doors.
"We're better now that you're here." Eustace said.
"Thanks Cindy, the others were really worried about you. I wasn't because I knew you could handle yourself. "Carl said as he hugged Cindy tightly.
"You're alright, kid. Thanks for the rescue." Jet said as he stepped out of his cage.
"I don't suppose you know where our weapons are, do you?" Sheen asked.
"Unfortunately no, I was knocked out cold myself and they took my sword." Cindy said.
The nano-bots came rocketing into the chamber and excitedly began to tell what they had seen outside.
"Oh no! It's the Nano-bots again!" Carl interrupted.
"Calm down, Carl. They're on our side this time. Sorry Jim-tech, please continue. Tell us what you saw."
The group listened to the Nano-bots unsure of what any of them could do to stop Betty as this point. It all seemed hopeless. Cindy turned and sat down. The tears were brewing and she felt the sting in her eyes that indicated that they were about to flow.
"It will be alright Cindy. We'll stop Betty somehow." Libby said.
"I hope you're right Libby. Wait a minute!" Something on the counter caught Cindy's eye. It was her bottle of purple Flurp.
To be continued…