So… it's been a long time and with no updates… I blame burnout! Lol. But, for real, I just lost the inspiration to write for this fic and I was waiting for inspiration to come back since at the end of the day, I do creative writing for fun and enjoyment, and if I am forcing myself to write just for the sake of putting out chapters that probably won't be as good due to said burnout. And I want to make sure I put things out that I am proud of for you all. So, without delay, here's the new chapter! And buckle down because it is a LONG one! Haha. :D This chapter begins the Tuesday following the Saturday evening Retroville Gala. Hope you all enjoy it!
({No POV})
It was a Tuesday evening at the Candy Bar and Carl and Sheen were both sharing a basket of fries, supposedly there to get started on a project for their history class.
But, like most things (especially things that involve Sheen), everything got sidetracked.
However, at this point, it looked like Carl even 'folded' to an extent as he waved down Sam and called out, "Sam! Can I get a chocolate shake, extra cherries?" Sam gave Carl a smirk and thumbs up which prompted Carl to smile and reply, "Hey, thanks!"
Although right as Carl turned back to Sheen, Sam grimaced and shook his fist, despite it mostly being a reaction to his secret internal thoughts on why he decided to start a business decades ago that required this much human interaction in the first place but it was too late to turn back now since he was close to retiring.
Carl took another handful of fries as he asked, "Hey, by the way, did you and Libby end up closing out at Retroland?"
Almost immediately, Sheen's expression looked up toward the ceiling with a smirk, looking slyer by the second as he started, "Pretty much… and then we took it back to my van out in the Retroville Forest preserve for a little 'after-hours action'. If ya know what I mean?"
Carl's eyes went wide as he leaned closer and started, going wide-eyed as he pushed his glasses back up on his nose, "No way. What happened?"
Right as Sheen looked 'primed and ready' to describe his make-out session with Libby after Retroland to Carl (as well as embellish some details in true 'Sheen-fashion'), Libby came over (clearly overhearing the conversation) as she started while leaning on the booth next to Sheen, "Yeah Sheen, what happened?"
Almost immediately Sheen jumped and nearly fell under the table, not expecting Libby to even be there.
But, quick to recover, Sheen smirked and nervously sputtered, "Oh! Hehe… What's up, Libs? I-I uh, I was just gonna tell Carl, uh…"
Sheen was clearly scrambling, but drawing a blank to come up with a 'cover story' that Libby would think was believable. Sure, Libby wasn't that mad, but that still didn't mean she was just going to let Sheen say things to Carl that didn't actually happen while she was around.
Despite the fact that even she really got into that last makeout session before it got cut off, she still wasn't just going to let Sheen 'off the hook' that easily.
Finally, Sheen just looked at her with a sheepish grin and shrugged before passing off nervously or trying anyway, to get the subject dropped, "Uh… I plead the fifth?"
Libby just smirked and rolled her eyes, shoving Sheen playfully on the shoulder, before sliding into the booth next to him.
This prompted Sheen to smile slightly and put his arm behind her on the booth and further prompted Libby to shorten the distance between them with a slight smile of her own, showing there were no hard feelings between them.
Eventually, Libby turned to Carl and started, "Actually, there was something that went down while we were out there that was… weird."
"Weird? Like what?" Carl asks, which was a pretty fair question for anyone who lived in Retroville to ask since 'overtly weird/crazy things happening' was a regular occurrence in their town.
Right then, Sheen chimed in, "Yeah! Some crazy robot walker thing that looked like something outta the "Galactic Battles" Saga turned over the van and almost shot at us with this ray gun thing!"
Carl's eyes went wide, even more so than earlier, before asking, maybe being a bit louder and over dramatic than necessary, "WHAT?!"
For a second, everyone in the Candy Bar went silent until Carl looked around, now seeming embarrassed a bit, before saying, "Sorry."
After that, everyone went back to what they were doing as Carl looked back, desperately trying to keep his voice down now but still looking scared, "Was it the Yolkians again?"
Libby took the opportunity to jump in as she explained, "I don't think so. It looked like a ball on these metallic legs or somthing. But, Yolkians or not, something weird is going on."
While usually Sheen would happily jump in to embellish more details, he stayed surprisingly silent since he didn't want to admit that what happened freaked him out to the point of almost crapping and peeing himself simultaneously in front of Libby when all that went down… as well as needing to call his dad to help him get a tow for the van and also explain why they were even out in the woods.
Even though none of that seemed to hold up to the look he got from Mr. Folfax when he dropped off Libby past curfew, despite Libby texting her parents to let them know they were 'having car trouble' as a cover.
"Although, speaking of 'weird'... have you guys talked to Jimmy at all?" Sheen and Carl both shrugged, as Carl responded, "Not really. He hasn't really said much since Friday after school."
Then Sheen immediately added, "Yeah, even when we saw him on Monday with his face busted up worse than Nick's leg during 5th grade, he hasn't said nothin'."
While they weren't showing it, Carl and Sheen were actually a lot more concerned about Jimmy after they saw him for the first time on Monday since he and Cindy went to that Gala together and looked like his face was hit by a train (as Sheen described).
Then Sheen, being 'Sheen', immediately asked Jimmy what happened and who beat him up so he could 'show 'em who's boss', but Jimmy just kept dodging the subject and saying he 'doesn't want to talk about it'.
The last time either of them saw Jimmy look anywhere near as beat up as he did on Monday was back when Terry Finster would mercilessly bully Jimmy in elementary school… but Jimmy looked ten times worse than the result of any 'Terry beating' he ever endured.
In fact, Jimmy has been almost 'isolating himself' to completion for the past few days.
He's hardly said anything for the past two days at school and immediately goes home and locks himself in his lab when school lets out, putting it on lockdown mode with no chance for anyone to get in, a new mode he created after Libby and Sheen snuck into the lab and caught he and Cindy mid-make out session that one time during homecoming.
Libby looked conflicted as she added, "Yeah, Cindy's been the same way. I texted her on Sunday to see if she wanted to hang out and she just said she 'wasn't feeling good'. I thought she just got sick or something, but… yeah, Cindy is not 'Cindy' right now. Even Brittnay noticed something was up, but Cindy just keeps avoiding us. That and… I think her and Jimmy are fighting."
Carl and Sheen gave her a look and Libby just rolled her eyes before continuing, "I know, her and Jimmy argue and everything all the time. So, what else is new? But… I don't know guys? Things don't look like they are 'okay' right now if you ask me."
While Libby was also just as concerned about Jimmy since he looked like he got beat up, she was still just as concerned about her own best friend.
While Libby didn't think Cindy at all had anything to do with why Jimmy looked beat up personally, considering that while Cindy has been brash and had a bit of a temper for as long as she's known her… Libby knew that Cindy would never beat someone up unless it was in self-defense.
But, Libby knew there was MUCH more going on that neither Cindy nor Jimmy were telling anyone. And just like with Jimmy it seemed, Cindy was also determined to shut everything and everyone out right now despite her and Brittnay offering to hear her out about it.
Even though Libby was concerned, she felt also kind of annoyed that Cindy wasn't telling her what was going on. Sure, Libby was usually about 'giving space' if someone needed it.
But, just before the trio could contemplate anymore over Jimmy and Cindy and 'whatever is happening', Sam came over with Carl's shake and looked at Libby before asking, mainly just trying to make sure everyone was a paying customer and not just freeloading when they hung out in his restaurant, "So, are you buyin' something or what, yeah?"
Back at the Lab
(Jimmy's POV)
I kept trying to focus on the data, trying to give my mind as little room as possible to 'wander' anywhere.
Right after I input my updated figures for the data, I leaned back and called out, "Vox, what's the status on the control group samples?"
There was a brief pause before I heard, "Samples are stable and kept at a controlled 76 degrees Fahrenheit."
"Thank you, Vox." I responded out of habit as I heard the automated reply, "You're welcome."
Eventually, I decided to get up and use the bathroom in my lab before my mind got off track. But, even that was 'aiming too high' to hope for as I started washing my hands and made the mistake of looking at myself in the mirror, feeling my stomach tense as I looked at my face.
Sure the bruises looked a little less apparent and the swelling has gone down, but… agh, gas planet…
Then I just kept looking at myself, getting reminded all over again of what happened on Saturday. What happened with me letting Eustace 'get to me' was bad enough, but… Cindy?
I haven't even talked to her since we fought after I dropped her off at her house.
At school we haven't even been talking either, even during Chemistry class we don't even acknowledge each other aside from handing each other things when necessary to do our lab assignments.
Yeah, Cindy and I have argued and fought even before we started officially dating anyway, but… I think it's over.
I kept staring into the sink until I scrunched my eyes and walked out of the bathroom and back into the lab, determined to find 'something' to distract me from my thoughts I've been determined to ignore.
Eventually, I got to my carousel workbench to observe another set of plant samples I took earlier.
But, as I got to my station and tried to get set up to look at the plant cells under my microscope… I froze. Right next to my microscope was one of Cindy's hair ties, and me knowing exactly how it ended up there since she put it there after I showed her some samples from my experiments before we… I could feel every muscle in my body tense up as I thought back to us kissing on my couch that last time she came over the night before the gala.
Then the more I kept looking at the couch… it was like my thoughts were getting 'warped' the more I kept thinking about it.
All I could think about was her and… Eustace. Just Cindy for whatever reason dating that preppy, pompous-ass pretty boy.
Probably letting him touch her… kiss her…
At that moment, I felt myself snap as I grabbed a beaker and threw it across the lab with a grunt before I just exploded with the magnitude of several tons of trinitrotoluene, "AGH! Who does Strych think he is anyway?! And Cindy admitted going out with HIM?! And ACTUALLY trying to 'justify' and 'explain' to me why she even dated that sadistic sociopath in the first place, just!… Ugh, what do I even care anymore?! How can I even trust her anymore after something like this anyway?! And after she gave ME crap about just 'liking' Betty when she admitted that she dated that slimy, overbred!…"
But, as I kept ranting, my foot caught a wire from a nearby industrial power strip, landing on my ribs that still felt sore from when Eustace literally kicked me while I was down in every way possible.
Almost on reflex, I slammed my fist on the floor, thinking I couldn't possibly get to any lower point than than I am right now.
But, then I froze up when I saw 'glowing' out of the corner of my eye as I heard some reverberating sounds from a power generator.
Huh?
I looked over and saw the Chrono Arch (that I haven't used in a VERY long time and has mostly just been collecting dust in the corner of my lab for the past 6 years) starting to boot up.
I tried to get to my feet and shut it off since it was flashing sporadically (probably from not being used in a long time).
Though right as I got myself upright, I noticed the Arch settled on something. I think because it hadn't been used in a very long time, it looked like it reached back to one of the last functions it performed.
And just from looking at it, I knew what it went to as I saw my 'future-self' looking like I was standing off to the side in a packed university lecture hall.
Huh, I guess the Arch still remembered my DNA signature to keep track of it at the 15-year time incrimant I put in?
Then to confirm my guesses, the professor in the scene motioned to my future-self and introduced, "Without further delay, please welcome world-renowned inventor, engineer, and physicist, Dr. James Neutron."
The students started clapping as my future-self took the podium and started, "Thank you so much. Well, as you heard, my name is Dr. James Neutron and it is my pleasure to share some of my knowledge with you all today about the topic of robotics."
Well, at least I know that my invention is still operational at least.
I was about to shut it off until I noticed something that made me do a double-take.
Almost to the point that I paused the frame and went back several frames in time just to make sure I wasn't mistaken. I saw a frame of my future self holding up the left hand.
Wait…
I zoomed in closer on my hand and my eyes went even wider when I got the visual confirmation of what I saw.
A wedding ring.
"What?" I said to myself in almost disbelief.
I mean, sure being married shouldn't be entirely implausible considering my future self at this point in time is probably about 32. But, I don't even know if I want to get married or even date ever again after this with Cindy.
Right now, I feel like I would be better off and save myself a lot of stress to just be a bachelor for the rest of my life at this point and put all my energy and time into science.
After all, Tesla was a bachelor for his whole life!
But, still… My curiosity immediately took over as I sped through to try to see if I could try to fit the variables together. Although another detail I picked up on was that my future-self also had the same shorter hair that I have now unlike last time I looked when I was 11, proving to me that this was definitely on my current timeline track with decisions I've made translating to what I'll be like in the future.
I kept speeding through, seeing myself get into what looked like an even more modern version of my hover car as I started driving off after the lecture.
Again, I kept fast forwarding until finally it looked like I pulled up to this large modern architectural style house and parked in the driveway.
I played the view mode at normal speed as I saw my future-self walking inside the house, smiling until I felt like I was going to have some sort of an episode as he called out, "Cindy?"
I paused on reflex and immediately felt my jaw practically unhinge and my eyes almost feel like they were going to collectively fall out of my orbital cavities in my skull. I almost had to lean back on one of my lab tables, feeling like I was questioning my entire sanity and existence at this point at 'what I just heard'.
But… then I started thinking.
Eventually I scoffed and rationalized, "Ha! That's impossible! 'Cindy' isn't exactly an uncommon name. It's probably someone else named 'Cindy'. Besides, the odds of anyone marrying someone they dated as a teenager are practically slim to none anyway even now."
I was almost smirking in vindication as I kept going in view mode. I saw myself looking around and waiting for a response until I heard my future-self conclude when there was silence, "Huh, guess she's still out right now."
Eventually my future-self took off his suit jacket and hung it up at the door and kept walking in the house that was very impressive to look at. Not really a mansion, but definitely a home for someone 'well off' and 'successful'.
I mean, not that it's surprising that my future-self seems to have this lifestyle, but still.
Although, my satisfaction with seeing my future lifestyle was suddenly halted by a concrete barricade as I saw something in the background of the hallway my future-self was walking down. I felt like I was hallucinating or having delusions of grandeur again until it felt like both my jaw and stomach drop simultaneously.
It was a wedding picture framed in the middle of the hallway.
My wedding picture.
But, that wasn't what caught me. It was who I saw was in the picture with me.
Even though she looked a bit older older than she did now just like I looked it was unmistakable. The blonde hair, the dark green eyes, the smile… I'd have to be more dense than our galaxy's dark matter to not think it was her.
Cindy Vortex.
I just stood there locked up in place, motionless as my mind took in this information. Well, until I felt my anger and rage build to the point that I could feel my hands shaking.
Until finally, I just completely went on instinct to the Arch's control panel and immediately switched it out of view mode as I said, through my teeth in ominous yet determined rage, "Absolutely not…"
I didn't even care anymore if I was committing to abruptly probably having massive consequences on my timeline at this point. Because THIS is practically unforgivable what I am seeing here.
I ran to get in front of the Arch before pretty much sprinting through. Although in my rage, and because I haven't teleported through a time wormhole in probably 5 years, I forgot how much it throws off your equilibrium and balance in the process.
Sure I got through, but right as I got through to the other side, I completely lost my footing and landed on the ground.
And again, landing directly onto the bruised side of my ribs, causing me to coil up and hold my side as I winced and said on reflex through my teeth, "Dammit."
I was trying to recover and get to my feet until I heard a very familiar and extremely casual, "Oh yeah, I still remember those bruises even now. Probably hurt comparatively worse than when Thomas Edison was proved wrong about direct current… serves him right. Here."
Right then I saw a hand being offered to me to help me up, causing me to look up and be face-to-face with my future-self as I went wide-eyed in shock.
Sure, I wasn't expecting this, but… I didn't understand?
Why was he acting so… nonchalant about me bursting into this timeline to disrupt and yell at him for marrying Cindy Vortex of all people.
Which… yeah, I was upset about this exact thing happening in a different timeline when I was 11.
But… this felt like pouring corrosives onto infected wounds. This felt personal as to why Cindy and I were even married and what POSSIBLE explanation my future-self could give me right now for this?!
But, almost feeling like he was reading my mind, he started, sounding knowing and still very casual, "Look, I know you're angry and confused and want to confront me about the 'current state of things', but trust me… there is a lot that you don't even know the half of right now. So, how about before you consider just yelling at me, we get you standing up first."
Even though I was somehow even more confused that I was before, as well as wondering why my future-self sounded so much like my parents while he was talking to me right now, I unconsciously reached out and took his hand as he helped me to my feet.
Well, or at least as upright as I could be initially since I winced at my bruised ribs again.
It wasn't until now that I looked around and realized I had NO idea where I was. It looked nothing like the house I was just looking at in view mode back at my lab in my present timeline.
Then again, without needing to even say a word, my future-self explained, "This is my personal lab. It's underneath the actual basement of the house. Having my own lab at home was non-negotiable for me when we were designing the house with the architect. Then again, Cindy had WAY more specifics than I did for the rest of the house that I knew she couldn't say too much about me having this one exception for myself."
He just smirked and let out a slightly amused laugh as he crossed his arms and looked around the lab almost proudly.
And although I was still completely confused and still enraged about this current timeline where Cindy and I are somehow married and my current future-self seems to be completely fine with it (if not looking happy about it judging by the wedding picture I saw in the hall that made me pissed off enough to attempt to try and chaotically alter my own timeline in the first place).
But, even I had to admit… this was a very impressive-looking lab.
If anything it looked almost exactly like the design for the lab that I created my own blueprints for even now for when I eventually move out.
Again, it was like he kept on knowing exactly what I was thinking without even needing to give a clue, "To answer your question, this is based on the exact blueprint you drew up back in the day in mom and dad's basement under the clubhouse in your old lab. Although, I think it looks even better than I was expecting. I have my organization and workflow laid out perfectly. I'm able to get so much done when I'm down here, you have no idea."
Immediately, I whipped my head around feeling somehow past capacity of a level of confusion that I didn't even know that I had as I started, feeling like my entire ability to speak was pretty much gone at the moment, "B-but, how did… and when did… and… WHY?! HOW DID YOU POSSIBLY END UP MARRYING CINDY?!"
I pretty much completely exploded at the end as I struggled to try and comprehend how in the name of Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen this future ended up even happening?!
But, I was surprised when all he did was just give me a slight look before holding up his right hand in front of him and saying, "Alright, I'll explain anything I can reasonably tell you within the constraints of time travel to not disrupt the entire Universal space-time continuum, however, I will only answer anything as long as you don't shout it at Sheen-level volumes toward me in outrage. Deal?"
With that, my future-self held his hand out to me, genuinely looking like he was fully prepared to answer my questions about what was going on.
Despite feeling like I had no direct line with my thoughts, it was like my subconscious was guiding my hand up until I eventually shook hands with him.
Then, almost like it triggered a response (and weirdly side-tracking me from 'something else' he mentioned), "Wait, Sheen? So, you're still friends with Sheen?"
He shrugged as we dropped our hands before informing casually, "Oh yeah, I still keep in touch with Sheen and Carl. But… definitely not like it used to be back in the day. But, hey, try asking a South American llama farmer, a world-renowned scientist, and a professional male model to find time to 'hang out', especially Sheen. I feel like I can travel a lot for work, but Sheen and Libby are always traveling somewhere."
My eyes went even wider as I questioned, "Libby?"
My future-self just nodded before saying, "For sure, honestly back when I was 11, I definitely questioned how Sheen became a professional male model since I couldn't see him doing anything but reading comics and playing video games. But, like most scientists who quickly look to conclusions, I realized the explanation was actually right in front of me but I just didn't look any deeper into it. Libby got Sheen into modeling by asking him to model her clothes when she started her own fashion lines. Actually, if I really am being honest, Libby is one of the most up-and-coming fashion designers in the world right now, at least from what Cindy tells me. Even before her and Sheen got married 6 years ago, Libby was traveling a lot as a designer. So, her and Sheen travel all over the world. Then Carl's future was the same. Sure, you know Carl and his llama obsession, but… I realized Elke had more weight in Carl's future that I didn't even look into. But, when I really thought about it, even that made sense. Almost a year after high school Carl actually moved to Sweden to be closer to Elke and learn more about farming until he and Elke got married and immigrated to Bolivia to start their llama ranch and sanctuary. The answers were almost so obvious I was surprised even myself as an 11-year-old wasn't able to figure it out sooner. Even for myself…"
My mind felt like a computer about to fry from all of that.
Well, until I saw my future-self look over and smirk at something that immediately made my blood boil again as I was reminded of how angry I was when I saw what looked like a picture of Cindy and I on his desk that looked like it was probably from some kind of picture from a vacation or maybe even a honeymoon.
And even just seeing a picture my future-self with his arm around Cindy and both of us smiling… it was making me enraged.
But, my internal rage and frustration was cut off when I heard a 'beep' and saw my future-self looking at a watch that started holographically projecting the time in front of him as he started on reflex, "Oh, right, hey, can we go upstairs and continue this in the kitchen? I'm waiting for Albert to get dropped off. Here we can take the elevator back upstairs."
I was still completely in shock as I mindlessly started following my future-self as I kept trying to mentally compartmentalize everything.
Well, until we got into the elevator and the delayed reaction hit me.
Albert?
"Wait, Albert? Who's Albert?" I questioned in total confusion.
Almost off-handedly as he pressed the button to get the elevator going up, very clear cut, "He's my son."
At this point, I felt like my heart was going to go into cardiac arrest as I yelled without even thinking, "WHAT?! ARE YOU?!..."
But, I was immediately cut off as my future-self held up his hand before almost reminding, "Hey, remember my terms? I'll tell you whatever I can as long as you don't yell at me."
Although very begrudgingly, even though I was still in a state of shock and outrage right now that not only did I find out about the fact that I'm not only married to Cindy in this timeline, but we ALSO HAD A KID TOGETHER?!
But, I knew I wasn't logically going to get anyway since my future-self for whatever reason is being weirdly 'cooperative' with me right now after I just barged in.
So, I tried to calm down for the sake of getting some answers before finally responding in the awkward silence, "So… where's Albert right now? He's not here?"
I was trying to take a guess at how old Albert was judging by how old I was currently, but… I was guessing he was at least a little kid probaby. We got to the ground floor as he started, "He's with our nanny. Since Cindy and I both work and if mom and dad are busy, we usually have our nanny look after him during the day and then Cindy and I take over in the evening. I think she took him out to the children's museum today."
We stepped out of the elevator and I kept following until he told me to have a seat at this table and asked, "Want anything to drink? I'm pretty sure I still have some Purple Flurp that I keep for when I want a can on occasion when I'm working."
He started going through this very expensive-looking refrigerator and I was still so in shock that all I got out was a mindless 'sure' in response as I kept looking around at everything. Considering this was probably at least the coolest and most technologically advanced home kitchen that I've ever seen.
My thoughts were cut off though as he put a can in front of me on the table, which led to us eventually sitting across from each other and clinking our cans together in an 'awkward toast' before we just took a respective drink in equally awkward silence.
Eventually, I started, "But, I… I don't get it? How did this all even happen? Cindy and I aren't even talking to each other right now, so… how? And how did you even know I was even coming anyway?"
My future-self just took another sip from his can before leaning forward and saying, "Because I am you. Contradictory to what you're assuming, this isn't some weird timeline where I've been brainwashed or developed amnesia. Everything you are seeing right now is the current timeline based on the choices that 'you' currently made to lead to this here. I know everything that you've done and happened to lead to this point. But, then again, to me that should just go without saying in terms of cause and effect. You should know that."
He just casually took another sip as I just kept looking at him in complete disbelief at how rational he was being with me right now.
I kept my eyes narrowed as I kept getting more and more frustrated as I started, "And those choices were?"
Immediately he responded with a pointed, "You know I can't say that. Especially in accordance with scientific laws that I helped pave the way of, I can't reveal to you what you did to lead to this current future. Those are your choices to make on your own in your own time… and I can't tell you what you should do for this exact said reason."
While I knew deep down his logic was sound and he was 100% correct, it still didn't mean that it wasn't flustering and irritating me to admit it.
We sat in silence for a moment before my future-self started again, "However, I do know how you got here and why you are here since I know what happened to get you here. That's why I was waiting down in my lab for you to come through the Arch. You're here because you got beat up by Eustace Strych outside the Retroville Gala, you and Cindy got in a fight after you found out she used to date him, and then you came all the way here after feeling confused and irate about the fact that you saw Cindy and I were married now and wanted to try to apparently 'talk some sense' into me with no regard for understanding the timeline of events or facts that led up to this and try to somehow chaotically alter it because of how you're feeling right now. Correct?"
My eyes went wide for the thousandth time at every single accusation thrown at me.
Even though I even had to admit that everything he said was true… and I despised it.
I think my future-self could see that too as he kept going, "Okay, now that I can see we're at an impasse, are you ready to at least attempt to listen to me right now?"
Seriously, I sound way too much like my parents. Sure, he technically IS a parent since he told me that he has a son (who is also technically my son by the transitive property) that is apparently on his way here right now, but still!
But, then I saw my future-self lean forward and fold his hands on the table, giving me full view of the wedding band on his ring finger which was still freaking me out and angering me simultaneously since all I could think about was… Cindy.
Luckily my future-self took me out of those thoughts as he started, "Well, just like you were probably inferring, Cindy and I got back together shortly after that fight you just had with her and we stayed together through the rest of high school and all through college. Then we got married when we were 22 right before Cindy started law school. Then about 5 years ago we decided to have kids and ended up having Albert. Actually we're about to have our second child in about three months now."
At this point I felt like I was pretty much thinking out loud, along with going more into shock at the fact that apparently in this timeline Cindy was apparently pregnant again with our second child, as I questioned, "But, I don't get it? How did you and Cindy even get to 'this point' at all? When did you get over the fight? And how did you figure out how to stop arguing?"
Almost instantly, I heard my future-self let out a scoff before quirking an eyebrow at me as he crossed his arms and responded, "Who said anything about us not arguing anymore? Because if you think that you and Cindy are ever going to stop arguing completely, then you're living out of the realm of realism. Believe me, even now, Cindy and I still get into arguments all the time! YOU know better than anyone that you and Cindy pretty much started your foundation together on arguing. Or did you forget about that first argument you and her ever had in Kindergarten when you wouldn't stop arguing over how to pronounce certain words you learned in class? Because I still haven't forgotten and I'm an adult with several doctorate degrees from multiple universities."
Then in further confusion I just instantly spouted, feeling even more outraged after taking in that information and thinking my future-self was fully determined to live in 'ignorant bliss' or something, "Then WHY in the name of all the universal quantum mechanics did you even marry her then?"
There was barely any pause at all between my accusation and his answer as he responded, almost like it was the easiest thing he's ever responded to, "Because I love her."
My entire brain almost felt like a device that short circuited as I froze.
It was quiet for a second between us before my future-self leaned forward on the table and clasped his hands together again before continuing, "I know you are finding it very hard to believe. But, believe it or not, you can't argue with clear-cut facts. And the facts of this reality you are in right now are that Cindy is my wife, I wanted to marry her, and I love her. I've known Cindy Vortex for most of my life and I never felt more connected, or frustrated, with anyone as I've always been with her. And I still am. Because I will reiterate, if you think that Cindy and I ever stopped arguing, then you are living in a pipe dream. I know you're 17 and may not have fully grasped the concept, but there is zero relationship in the history of time that has been without conflict. Think about it. Excluding Cindy, how many times have you disagreed with mom and dad? Or even Carl and Sheen? Did you just stop caring about any of them? You eventually at least talked through it and reasoned things out because you care about them. And Cindy is not any different. She just seems like it to you because there is just something about her that always finds a way to get under your skin about the stupidest things, and it's the same thing for her to when it comes to you. After all, how many times have you argued in circles with eachother about things that did not even matter? In fact, how often were you both technically right, but just couldn't concede and agree to that point? But, that is just what comes with the territory with you and Cindy. You're a scientist and she's a lawyer (and a very good lawyer at that). So, you both are going to have very strong opinions on everything whether you like it or not. Let me give you some examples from when we were just getting married. Even though I still don't understand exactly why she wanted to rush into a wedding right after her undergrad since I told her I was fine with waiting until she graduated, but she insisted she wanted to make sure 'her name was hyphenated like she wanted it to Vortex-Neutron' before she graduated law school so her new name was written out on her Diploma. Even though, again I told her she didn't even have to change her name if she didn't want to, but… I knew that there was no use arguing on those points. It's like the old saying goes 'Choose your battles'. Because as much as you want to keep adding fuel to the fire, sometimes you really don't need to. It's something both of us have realized. After all, I know there are definitely things I do that she doesn't understand either that probably drive her crazy too sometimes. But, we compromise. We talk to each other about it. And we do these things because we both love eachother and we want to make it work. So…"
But, the conversation was cut off as we heard the door opening and heard what sounded like an older woman say, "James? Cynthia? Are either of you up here? I was just about to get Albert out of the car."
Instantly I saw my future-self turn around and call back, "I'm here Clara! I can take him from here if you need to get home. I'll meet you at the door."
He got up and looked at me as he explained, "I'll be right back. I just need to get Albert from our nanny."
At first, he looked like he was about to walk right there until he turned back and asked, "Do you want to meet him?"
My eyes went wide in shock, mainly because I was still trying to mentally process everything he just said, and now he was apparently asking if I wanted to meet who was apparently my child in the future, or one of them apparently since I guess Cindy is pregnant again with our second child in this instance.
Well, until my logical side kicked in as I responded, despite contradicting my previous intentions of destroying this timeline originally, "Uh, are you sure that's okay?"
He scoffed again and said, "Trust me, I'm not worried. He's almost 5 years old. We'll just say you're one of my cousins as a cover story. I guarantee he'll meet you and want to go somewhere else to play within a couple of seconds."
Without another word, my future-self disappeared.
But, it was barely a few seconds later when I heard a little kid's voice call out, "Dad!"
Dad?…
As I was about to spiral into an existential crisis, I was pulled out of it and immediately went into a completely new state of shock when I saw my future self walk back in holding a little boy with short brown hair, looking a lot like I used to when I was in preschool and kindergarten.
Honestly, he looked a lot like I did in general when I was little.
But, what really got me were his eyes.
Green.
Sure, it shouldn't seem like a complete genetic impossibility since my mom has green eyes too and so does Cindy.
But, his eyes matched Cindy's completely without any doubt.
And as much as he looked a lot like me… there was something just as much about him that also reminded me of Cindy from just the look in his eyes alone.
Especially now that Albert was looking right at me… all I did was stare back in both shock and fascination as I kept looking at him.
Eventually, my future-self cut off the silence as he introduced, "Albert, this is one of our cousins, can you say hi?"
Albert just kept looking at me until he finally got out, short and simple, "Hi."
Then, like he completely lost all interest in me even being there, he looked back up at my future-self and asked, "Dad, can I go play now?"
Right then, my future-self put him down and said, "Sure, you can go play. Just try to be quiet while we talk in here okay?"
"Okay!" Albert responded and immediately ran off out of the kitchen.
Once Albert was out of the room I looked back at my future-self as he crossed his arms with a shrug as he smirked and said, "Told you he'd lose interest."
After a second, I almost mindlessly stood up from the table and couldn't stop myself from following where Albert went.
But, I didn't have to go far as I stopped in the kitchen doorway and saw Albert in what looked like the living room area of the house in a corner that seemed to be a 'play area' for him.
It had all sorts of toys in it, but… he didn't seem interested in any of them.
In the same corner, there was a keyboard piano that Albert was sitting on a bench in front of. He had what looked like headphones on as he appeared to be playing it.
"Yeah, Libby gave Albert her old keyboard after she saw how much he liked playing with it when we visited her and Sheen last year. But, Cindy and I decided to make it a rule that he needed to wear headphones when he plays it. During the day it isn't bad, but we noticed Albert would sneak out of his room early in the morning and start playing it. Needless to say, getting woken up by a loud keyboard at 3 am wasn't 'ideal', so we told he just needed to wear headphones from then on. But, he loves it and picked up on it very fast. We even have him in lessons now and his teacher tells us he's better than most of her students who are twice or even three times his age." He explained as I felt my curiosity take over again as I asked, genuinely interested, "So, Albert as in 'Albert Einstein'?"
My future-self smirked again before saying, "Good deduction. But, yes it is. It was the agreement Cindy and I came to when we decided to have kids. We decided we wanted two children so I got to pick the name for our first child and Cindy gets to pick our second child's name. So, we have Albert Hugh Neutron. Our second is going to be a girl and Cindy is determined to not tell anyone what she picked until she's born. And she probably will. You know more than anyone how stubborn Cindy is."
Then completely out of nowhere, almost giving both of us a heartattack simultaneously, we heard a familiar voice call out, "I heard that, mister! Like you can't be stubborn too, you know? Also, who are talking to any…" Right then Cindy's future-self walked in, smiling (showing even to me she was mostly just messing around right now).
But, then she froze and her expression contorted in shock as she looked between us. She looked like she just got back from work judging from the pantsuit she was wearing, along with seeing she was showing pretty clearly that a second baby was coming in the fairly near future.
The three of us just kept standing there and staring at each other in dead silence. Well, until Cindy just put her hands up and closed her eyes as she took a deep breath before responding, sounding confused but also fairly calm, "You know what, I don't need to know the details right now. I'll talk to you later after this is mostly likely going to be done. I'm going to check on Albert."
After that Cindy just walked out and left the room as my future-self informed, "It's okay, he's fine! He's just playing the keyboard in the living room. We're just going to go back to the lab and I'll be back up for dinner, okay?"
"Sounds good!" She responded.
After that, my future-self stood in front of me with a slight smile as he said, "Here, let's go back to the lab."
And, having no idea what else to do, I just started following my future-self back down to the lab.
We stayed silent for most of the way until we got back into the elevator as he started, "Look, I know I already said there isn't much I can tell you, but just remember… 'all of this' you see now, is a result of your choices that you make in the present. Nothing is finite and I can't tell you what choices to make, but… everything is your choice and there are still some things that I can tell you. You might still be angry right now after the whole 'thing' with Eustace, but… you still like Cindy. And you may not believe me completely on this, but just trust me… Cindy still likes you too. Just give yourself some time to think and decide what you want to do. Because I can tell you right now… the whole 'situation' that happened with Eustace is a lot more than you think it is if you just give Cindy a chance to tell you. But, again… this is all your choice on what you want to do from here. And try not to over think all of this. This may be a possible future, but… just try to enjoy the present. Do what you think is right for you."
We got back into the lab and I kept following him all the way to the Arch as I continued to compartmentalize everything he said as he booted the Arch back up and said, "It should be calibrated back to the time you came here so nothing causes disruption with any situational overlap. But, before you go back, just remember, you aren't going to get anywhere by not talking about it. Just give that time to sink in and go for it whenever you're ready."
Eventually, I gave him a nod and was about to walk through the Arch, but… I felt myself involuntarily stop short as I slowly looked back at my future-self one last time, seeing him give me a slight smile and wave.
Weirdly, I couldn't stop myself from returning the same gestures before I looked back into the Arch, preparing myself for traveling back to my current place in the timeline.
But… I was also… thinking about 'something else' as I stepped through too.
Okay, I know this chapter was an absolute dialogue MONSTER, but I have wanted to tackle this chapter for a VERY long time. Originally this chapter was going to be two parts, but I felt bad about not posting for a year, so I wanted to give you guys a 'fanfic feast to digest' for your patience. :) But, anyway, like I said, I have had this chapter in mind for a VERY long time with wanting to reintroduce the concept "The Tommorow Boys" episode gave us with Jimmy and company meeting their future-selves. While it did give us some pretty good comedy when they went to the dystopian future that Libby created once she became evil, I wanted to show a timeline that was more based on the original and true futures we saw for Jimmy, Carl, and Sheen. Now, I think I speak for all of us when I say that Jimmy and Carl's seemed pretty believable… and then there was Sheen's future. Now, I remember first seeing Sheen's future in this episode as an almost 11 year-old at the time and thinking even then that Sheen becoming a famous model was WAY out of left field and thought it made absolutely ZERO sense and was just random as all get out. Sheen is an eccentric nerd with a lot very weird quirks. I'd sooner believe Sheen becoming a comic book artist or cartoonist or something more realistic with his personality and interests. Plus, like Sheen really cares about fashion when this guy literally wears an ultralord shirt and mask to almost any and every occasion with very few exceptions. But… then I started thinking, what if Sheen's male model career in the future does make TOTAL sense if you add Libby into the equation? While I didn't give out too much information, I thought Sheen's future as a model seemed more possible in the context if Libby became a fashion designer and Sheen helped jump-start her career in the men's fashion industry at the start by modeling her clothes for free as her boyfriend and ended up launching them as these eventual household names in the fashion industry for their respective contributions. More on this later. ;) But, back to Jimmy and Cindy, when I was thinking of a way to help lead Jindy on a path to resolve things after their fight, I could think of no better person to help than future-Jimmy Neutron! After all, both Jimmy and Cindy are typically too stubborn and proud to take advice from most people most of the time. So, I thought Jimmy getting some much-needed and mature advice from his future-self seemed very realistic and fitting. Plus, I loved the idea of current Jimmy just being outraged in his current state of jealous and hurt rage to try to impulsively go to the future just to disrupt and attempt to destroy his happily married future with Cindy just because he was mad at her after finding out she dated Eustace Strych. Hey, Jimmy and Cindy can be petty and I thought it seemed realistic. Haha. Anyway, with all the MUCH needed 'advice' future Jimmy dropped, what will present-day teen Jimmy do? Stay tuned for next time! Thanks for reading and constructive feedback is always very much appreciated.
Stay Classy!
Dexter1995