Nicktoons Unite!
Chapter 12: We are the Heroes
Once the happy heroes exited the warehouse after stopping the Evil Syndicate, they realized it had gotten dark. The streetlights had turned on, illuminating patches of sidewalks in large circles.
Spongebob placed the bubbled-trapped Plankton in one of Jimmy's hovercar compartments and looked around. "Gee, it got dark quick, didn't it?"
"Well, this mission did take us a couple of hours to accomplish," replied Jimmy as he put his Hyper-Cube with Professor Calamitous and Denzel Crocker inside in the same compartment.
Timmy yawned, barely able to keep his eyes open. "Hours!? Man, no wonder I'm so beat."
"Welcome to the club," sighed Danny as he handed over his thermos to Jimmy who placed it in the hovercar.
The genius climbed into the craft along with his friends and said, "I'll take you guys back to the lab and return you home."
Timmy lay back in his seat, exhausted. When he pointed his face upwards, he gasped, "Whoa."
"What is it?" asked Spongebob, looking up. He gasped an, 'Oh my'.
Jimmy and Danny did the same and saw what had amazed the bucktooth kid and the sea sponge; above them twinkled hundreds of stars with the Milky Way stretching from horizon to horizon. Just looking at the amazing sight made the four boys feel calm.
Spongebob lay on his back on the floor of the hovercar and awed, "Wow, so this is what the night sky looks like on land."
"It's incredible," echoed Jimmy as he stretched himself out on one of the seats, "I've never seen this many stars in Retroville before without a telescope."
Danny put his hands behind his head and relaxed. "I've always loved lookin' at the stars. Kinda puts me at ease, ya know?"
"Yeah, I see what you mean." Timmy sighed. Cosmo and Wanda took the hint and transformed into a blanket and pillow respectively, then decided that the three others should have pillows and blankets too. The four boys watched the stars play in the dark sky, completely forgetting about heading home. Almost.
Jimmy quietly taped on his control panel without moving from his position and the hovercar slowly lifted off. With the craft set on autopilot, it transported the tired boys back to the genius's lab. The motion of the hovercar was even more relaxing, sending the heroes into a deep and restful sleep.
The sun rose high in the skies over Retroville, revealing a quiet and sunny morning in the town. In a hovercar next to a wooden shack, three boys were beginning to stir. Danny Fenton opened his eyes and saw the bright, blue sky above. He looked down and saw Timmy and Spongebob sleeping peacefully in his arms. At first he was a little surprised, but then remembered who they were and why they were here.
Smiling, the teen gently shook the others awake. "Hey, guys, wake up."
Spongebob blinked his eyes open and looked around. "Huh, where am I?" Then he saw Danny and beamed, "Oh, hey buddy."
"What happened?" asked Timmy, rubbing his eyes.
Cosmo and Wanda suddenly appeared in a poof of pink smoke. "Aw, you boys were so cute sleeping together," cooed the pink fairy.
"Yeah," agreed her husband, "if I didn't know any better, which I don't, I'd say you guys are the best of friends."
The three guys realized the position they were in and quickly scooted away from each other, embarrassed, except for Spongebob who gleamed, "Ooh, you really think so?"
Danny then noticed someone was missing. "Where's Jimmy?" As if to answer his question, the door to the wooden shack opened, revealing the genius.
"Oh, good morning, guys," greeted Jimmy as he walked up to them, "I'm so glad you're all awake."
"We fell asleep?" asked Timmy as he and his friends climbed out of the craft.
Jimmy nodded. "Sure did; I woke up earlier to work on the portal. Also, I was able to contact your friends and family that you guys were alright, although I made sure not to tell your parents everything."
"What about the Evil Syndicate?" asked Danny.
"All taken care of; I've sent those villains back to their respective worlds in holding cells."
Spongebob smiled in gratitude, "Aw, thanks Jim." He then looked at his watch. "And it's a good thing that I don't work at the Krusty Krab today, otherwise I'll be in big trouble with my boss, Mr. Krabs."
Jimmy motioned at the door. "Well, guys, the portal's ready; let's get you three home." The boys nodded and walked through the door and into the genius's lab.
Once inside, Jimmy looked over at Timmy, Danny and Spongebob and smiled, "Thanks for everything, guys. I'm not sure I would've been able to take on the Syndicate by myself."
The ghost hero placed his hands behind his back and stood tall. "Not a problem, Jimmy, and thanks a lot for helping me save my town."
"Thank you, Jimmy, for helping me save mine as well," chirped Spongebob.
"Mine, too!" added Timmy.
Jimmy smiled proudly, "Of course! Remember, our worlds are connected; one can't exist without the other."
"I wonder if there are more worlds with heroes like us," pondered Danny out loud.
Jimmy exclaimed excitedly, "Sure there are! There are more worlds out there in the multiverse than we can ever imagine!"
The three boys stared at the delighted genius. Jimmy stopped and sheepishly said, "Hehe, sorry, it's just I'm really excited by the possibility of other worlds."
"With heroes in them," added Spongebob, "don't forget that."
Timmy was then struck with an idea. "Hey, we work well together as a team; maybe we should do this more often."
Danny smiled. "I like the sound of that."
"Me, too!" gleamed Spongebob.
"Whaddaya think, Jim?" asked the bucktooth kid in anticipation, "Sound good to you?"
Jimmy felt a little surprised at this, but then looked at his comrades. He realized throughout yesterday's adventure that he had bonded with them, more so than he'd ever had with his friends. Of course the three would never replace Carl, Sheen, Cindy and Libby but he felt a certain kinship between the sponge and the teen similar to the one he had for Timmy.
The genius proudly straightened up and began, "I don't think it's possible..."
Disappointed looks crossed the kid's faces.
"...without a team name!" he finished happily. The others cheered in relief and joy.
"Ooh, what should we call ourselves?" asked Spongebob excitedly.
Timmy piped up, "How 'bout, 'Timmy and Heroes'!"
Danny rolled his eyes and suggested, "Or, 'The Defenders of the Multiverse'!"
"What about, 'The Super Team of the Worlds' Super Dudes'?" exclaimed Spongebob.
Jimmy sighed; this was gonna be tougher than he thought. But the genius humbly proposed, "Maybe we should work on the team name later. Right now, you three should head home. But before you go, I've got something for you guys."
The three boys looked at each other, confused. The genius then gave each of them a strange device. It looked like a cross between a remote control and wireless phone, complete with colorful buttons, a small monitor and an antenna.
Spongebob weighed the hand-sized device in his spongy hands. "What's this?"
"It's a Neutronic Recaller Device," explained Jimmy, "You can use it to open a portal to each of our worlds and communicate with each other. If something like this comes up again, we can use these to work together and stop it."
The three heroes smiled. Even if they were far apart, these devices can still bring them back together. Jimmy taped on the control panel and the portal glowed a blue light. "Spongebob, you ready to go back?" asked the genius.
The sponge was about to step through but stopped, looking at his friends. Tears began to well up in his eyes. Suddenly he rushed to Danny and Timmy and gave them a big hug.
"Oh, I'm gonna miss you guys so much," he sniffed, squeezing the two.
Danny blinked in surprise but returned the hug. "Don't worry, Spongebob, we'll see each again."
"Totally," agreed Timmy, doing the same, "you can count on both of us."
When they broke apart, Spongebob blinked away his tears and smiled, "Yeah, you're right."
He then walked back to the portal. Before he jumped through, Spongebob Squarepants waved his friends goodbye. "See you guys later!" he cheered as he disappeared.
The portal shimmered again and turned green. "Your turn, Danny," said Jimmy.
The teen nodded and stood in front of the portal. He turned and smiled at Timmy and the genius. "I can't wait until our next mission," he stated.
"Me neither, dude," admitted the bucktooth kid. Unexpectedly, he gave Danny a hug. The teen picked up Timmy in his arms, returning the squeeze.
Once they were separated, Danny Fenton turned and said, "See ya, guys!" before disappearing through the portal.
Jimmy taped one last time on the panel and the portal glowed once more with a pink tint. He turned to Timmy and said, "It was great to see you again, Timmy, and thanks for all your help."
"No problem, Jim," replied Timmy Turner as he and his fairies, Cosmo and Wanda, walked up to the portal. With one last goodbye, they disappeared into the device.
After turning off the invention, Jimmy turned to his computer and began typing up a report of his and his friends' adventure. "This is gonna act as a reference for our next missions, Goddard."
His robot dog barked in agreement as he watched his master worked on the computer. As Jimmy typed, memories of yesterday flooded back to him, starting when he first met Danny and Spongebob to his brush with the Ghost Zone's prison warden, Walker. The genius recalled the battle between Vlad and how the ghost hero was able to use his dad as a weapon.
Next, Jimmy remembered the faces on Danny and Timmy as they first tried out his air gum and smiled. He also saw in his memories the Flying Dutchman barking orders at them to get his crew back and how Spongebob was able to destroy Plankton's crab-robot with giant bubbles. Then, the genius recalled how their voices changed at Crocker's fortress and almost laughed out loud. The scene where the four of them were bouncing among the clouds and when they taunted Crocker into a rage filled him with joy.
Finally, Jimmy typed up the summary of their final confrontation with the Evil Syndicate, how they almost lost, how they found the courage to fight on and the expressions on their faces when they saw Spongebob had saved them and their worlds. He also could never forget last night's beautiful starry sky afterwards, making them drift off into a restful sleep.
Jimmy soon leaded back in his chair after a couple of minutes. He never felt more safe and secure than he was whenever he was with Timmy, Danny and/or Spongebob. From the looks of things, they too felt the same way.
A growling sound from his stomach jerked Jimmy out of his daydream. "Man, I'd better eat something before my intestines digest themselves," he said as he slid off his chair. Before he left, though, he saved the adventure summary in one of the computer folders. He quickly typed a name in it before heading to his house for some food.
Goddard was about to follow him when he looked at the screen. He saw the name Jimmy had given to his adventure file and barked happily, racing after his master. The folder blinked onscreen with the words,
"We are the Heroes"
The End