Chapter XI: The Good, The Bad and The Gorgeous

Jimmy was trapped in his cell, trying not to lose his mind. He was sitting on the floor, in one of the back corners, lost in his thoughts: "Come on, Goddard. Why aren't you answering?" he said to himself as he tried to reach Goddard with his digital watch. "I know you're smart, buddy. I hope you managed to get the coordinates to Cindy. Come on, buddy..." he thought as he scribbled things in the dust on the floor. He was still at it when two ninjas came for him.

"Come with us," they said in unison, tying his hands and feet so quickly that Jimmy didn't realize it until he was lying on the floor, completely immobile. They lifted him and carried him out.

"No! What are you doing to me?! Let me go!" he yelled as he struggled uselessly to break free.

The ninjas led him to a blood-red room. It had a computer with two enormous screens side by side, and in the middle of the room, a metal table with shackles for hands and feet sticking out. Jimmy could only see the ceiling because of the way they were carrying him, but as soon as the ninjas put him down, he could see two women with their backs turned, facing the computer. One was tall, and the other, small. It took Jimmy a moment to understand what he was seeing.

"Welcome to the Torture Chamber, Neutron," said Beautiful Gorgeous as she finally turned towards him. "I want you to meet my new ally."

The girl turned, staring at Jimmy expressionlessly. Her face was unreadable to him, but there was something familiar about her. He didn't recognize her until he heard her sternly say, "Hello, Neutron."

"CINDY!" Jimmy shouted, overcome with emotion. "Cindy! You made it here! But what did you do to your hair? And ally? What do you mean, ally? I don't understand..."

Jimmy had a hard time recognizing her. Cindy didn't look like herself at all. He could recognize her by the green of her eyes, but even they had changed; her gaze was empty and sad. To make matters worse, Libby and Beautiful Gorgeous had given her a complete makeover to try and cheer her up. They had painted her eyelids with black shadow and her lips with a new shade of crimson, changed her clothes to tight black pants and a short-sleeved black blouse that showed her shoulders. But without a doubt, the most radical change had been her hair, still tied in an aerodynamic ponytail, but now a shiny jet-black. She looked like a small version of Beautiful Gorgeous.

"Do you like my new color? It's called 'Black as Your Soul,'" Cindy said angrily, making Beautiful Gorgeous laugh.

"But what...? No, Cindy, no..." said Jimmy with deep sadness that moved Cindy for a second, but then made her proud.

"Jimmy, Jimmy," Beautiful Gorgeous said with a mock sigh. "What's the point of being a genius if you don't know how to treat a woman? Cindy has finally opened her eyes and realized she's been wasting her time with you, so she decided to join me."

"What?! Cindy! Is that true?"

"Are you surprised, Neutron?" she replied. "After all, I'm nothing but a dumb girl, right? And you, selfish, insensitive jerk, deserve everything that's about to happen to you."

"Cindy, no... Where's Libby? And Carl? And Sheen? Where's Goddard?"

"Your dog was being a nuisance, so I decided to lock him up, and your friends are lucky to be alive," said Beautiful Gorgeous.

"That's right. She brought them here, and now they're our servants," Cindy added, crossing her arms. "As for Libby, well, she's aware of all this, just like all the others."

"The others? What are you talking about?"

"We came here to rescue you, Neutron! And I brought Britney, Amber, and Nissa with me. But Beautiful Gorgeous made us a better offer: to stop humiliating ourselves for you."

"Cindy," Jimmy interjected, "as the boy who knows you best, let me ask you something: HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?! What is wrong with you? I understood what happened with Eustace back in Mars, but this? This is beyond insane!"

"Insane?" Cindy repeated. "More insane is coming here like a fool to rescue you only to find out the horrible things you think about me!"

"What are you talking about?" Jimmy asked, exasperated.

"For a boy genius, you miss some things," Beautiful Gorgeous chimed in. "You see, Jimmy, this entire base is monitored by closed-circuit cameras, including the one where I interrogated you, and surprise, surprise! We caught you."

"Oh no..." Jimmy muttered, deeply distressed, remembering perfectly every word he said about Cindy. "Cindy! You have to understand! All those things I said..."

"It doesn't matter, it's not like it's anything new to me," Cindy said angrily, turning back to the computer. She pretended to check some indicators but was really trying to hide the tears in her eyes. Pulling herself together, she continued: "You've always treated me like second best, Neutron, and I'm fed up. I've put up with it for a long time, but I thought that when you found out that I... well, what I feel about… Never mind. Enough is enough. It's time for me to finally take my rightful place and do the same as you: stop pretending that I care about you."

"Cindy, wait!" Jimmy pleaded.

"Girls," Beautiful Gorgeous ordered the ninjas who had brought Jimmy in and stood behind him to watch him, "enough talk, strap him to the table. It's time to start with the fun..."

The ninjas grabbed Jimmy from the floor and laid him on the metal table while he struggled to break free. A lamp hanging from the ceiling blinded him, and he couldn't see how they untied him and then chained him up again. He was more vulnerable than ever, and Jimmy began to feel real fear.

"Uhm… I hate to ask, but what are they doing?" Cindy asked Beautiful Gorgeous nervously in a low voice as they both watched.

"You'll see," the villain replied. "Well, kids, let me explain. This is the Torture Chamber, a place where whoever enters never sees the light of day again," she said with a mad laugh.

Cindy forced a laugh that sounded more like a whimper. She felt strange and tense. She looked at Jimmy and saw him lying there, turning his head away from her, avoiding her gaze. Then, as if by instinct, she looked toward the corners of the room and realized there were no cameras. A chill ran down her spine.

"I had a whole series of games planned to entertain us, Jimmy," said Beautiful Gorgeous as she pressed buttons on one of the computer keyboards, and simultaneously, various torture instruments emerged from the floor. "But my ninjas found an interesting object in your lab that, according to them, will speed up my plan. Do you recognize this?"

Beautiful Gorgeous dropped beside Jimmy the Brain Drain helmet he had used to make himself not smart anymore.

"My Brain Drain 8000! How did you get it?" Jimmy asked, turning his face towards Beautiful Gorgeous, allowing Cindy to see his tear-filled eyes.

"You need to find yourself smarter friends, Neutron," said Beautiful Gorgeous. "Those two idiots left your lab open while they tried to rescue you. Anyway, I just received a message from my father a few moments ago. He says it'll take longer than expected to come through the tunnel... Apparently, he hadn't finished it! What a surprise! Whatever. I was going to have some fun with you while we waited for him, but with this thing, we can start the process now. Do you know how this works, Cindy?"

"Yes," Cindy replied proudly, "you just have to put the helmet on him and slide the bar on the control, and in a second, Neutron will be as dumb as he says I am."

"Cindy, no..." Jimmy muttered weakly.

"Alright, you heard her! Connect it to the computer." Then, looking at Cindy she asked "Do you like my brand new toy? Once I convinced the old man to let me live alone, he helped me install this thing. It's identical to the one we had at the Everest base but with some additions," she said and then, leaning on the keyboard, she accidentally pressed a button that caused the strangest thing.

Out of nowhere, all the torture instruments retracted into the floor again, and a fireplace, a bar, and several loveseats appeared in their place. Neon hearts appeared on the red walls, and slow jazz music began to play as a disco ball appeared on the ceiling.

Jimmy and Cindy momentarily forgot where they were and just stared in surprise. The ninjas in the room started laughing, and Beautiful Gorgeous, blushing and terribly embarrassed, tried to fix the situation as quickly as possible, making her look clumsy. In the midst of the embarrassment, she managed to press the button again, and everything returned to normal.

"My apologies for that", she groaned, "that was... the 'Romance Mode.' My father insists I date villains, so he installed that annoying feature in the computer in case I have visits... Anyway, is everything ready?" Beautiful Gorgeous asked her henchwomen, trying to divert attention.

"Ready, boss," one of them responded. "With the way we've connected the controller, it's just a matter of putting the helmet on him and sliding the lever as the little girl said so that all the boy's brain contents transfer into this container. When Professor Calamitous arrives, we'll be ready to start the transfer."

"Container? Transfer? Wait a minute!" Cindy exclaimed. "You said you were just going to dry his brain, which is a process that only slows down the activity of his neurons. But mind transfer is something entirely different! You can't transfer his brain somewhere else and leave him empty! We need the other person to be present; otherwise, it could be very dangerous for him!"

"Oh yes, it's a transfer. Did I forget to tell you?" Beautiful Gorgeous asked, feigning concern. "My father planned a simultaneous transfer, but you see, the old man's taking longer than expected to get here. So let's speed things up, and we can all get home early, what do you say?"

"But this wasn't the plan! You never said you were going to transfer his brain to Professor Calamitous!" Cindy exclaimed, worried.

"Cindy, I'm surprised," Beautiful Gorgeous said. "Have you already forgotten everything he did to you? He mocked you! And he thinks you're stupid. If you're worried about my father becoming a complete evil genius, well, we're on the same side now, remember? There's nothing to worry about."

Jimmy didn't say a word. He was still, as if accepting he was about to face his imminent end, and Cindy didn't even want to look at him. She remained quiet, arms crossed, hugging herself. She was scared, but it was too late.

"This is going to be fun," said the villainess and after letting out a long, crazy, evil laugh, she exclaimed, "We'll begin the sequence in five…!"

Suddenly, an outside explosion shook the room, causing both Cindy and Beautiful Gorgeous to stumble, and the room's lights to flicker. Two ninjas rushed into the Torture Chamber, and one of them exclaimed, "Boss! We had an incident and need your assistance! It seems that there was an energy overload in the Entertainment Room, and we fear it might have damaged the closed-circuit system and your hairdryer."

"My hairdryer?! Jet bought that for me in Paris! Take me there now!" she said, running toward the exit without a second thought; however, as if she nearly forgot something important, Beautiful Gorgeous stopped abruptly and turned back to Cindy. "Take care of this, will you? My father will be here soon, and we need everything ready for when he arrives."

"But…!"

"I trust you!" the villainess said and left them alone.