Author's Note: And this, my friends, is the end. I bid you adieu and beseech you to read Inner Darkness if you like my Jimmy Neutron stories. If not, well, until we meet again…
Jimmy Neutron belongs to John A. Davis and Nickelodeon.
Chapter Twelve: Stranger Than Your Sympathy…
Now, perhaps it would be useful to explain exactly what Flippy had in mind. After all, it wasn't every day that Retroville's native boy genius came to a battle of wits with a dummy. If Flippy's ideas worked flawlessly, then the event need never occur again. Cindy was an incidental, a mere way to lure Jimmy here. Nothing more, nothing less.
What he had planned, in his humble opinion, was diabolical and, because he constructed it, ingenious. Tucked behind his back he held the hyper cube that he had discovered in Jimmy's lab to his delight. It contained Jimmy's DNA separator and, along with it, Flippy's hopes of finally ridding himself of Hugh's influence. Once Hugh was out of the way, then he would be free to act and, after thanking his creator for life, kill him. Why? Flippy had no further necessity for him. He'd played the game admirably, but it was time for things to wrap up.
Thus, Flippy observed Cindy tumbled towards her death and chuckled, enraptured. Humans really were such frail things, when you got down to it. A simple ten foot plunge could kill them easily. Jimmy's hopes, all his dreams and aspirations, were tethered to one girl. She'd given him hope. Thus, like another great evil before him had said, "I let you live because I allow you to foster that hope. Then, I shall enjoy destroying that hope." Cindy was Jimmy's shining light in his dark depression. Flippy, naturally, existed to snuff out the flickering candle.
He rather expected Jimmy to arrive a minute too late, to see Cindy's broken neck at odds with the rest of her body. Oh, the boy hero would sob. He'd cry lamentably like he had the nights immediately after his father's death. The nights Flippy yearned to kill him swiftly and painlessly, but then Hugh had interfered. Fine. Let him have his heyday. He'd just guaranteed his son an excruciatingly drawn out murder. Grinning maliciously, he rubbed his wooden hands together (but not fast enough to start a fire). Cindy's death would be the first of many.
Where are you, Jimmy? Getting bored now.
Jimmy pivoted, straining his mind and Goddard's to locate an exit to this place. Darkness pervaded, matching his mental state before Cindy forced him to seek her help. Grimacing, he shut his eyes to think. Senses could be deceived. His vision and Goddard's might be misguided. On the same token, he didn't have time for guesswork.
Faith. A word science itself avoided like the plague. Science was never a matter of faith. Science demanded answers and the research to prove its hypothesis. Yet if he wanted to locate Cindy before her untimely death, he had a horrible feeling that he had to take a lot more on faith than comfortable.
Also on general principle, Jimmy trusted people, but never fully. He trusted himself wholly, though that had faltered recently too. However, he had to mix the two if he desired completeness and, more precious than that, Cindy. He had to cast aside all doubts and will himself to arrive on time.
Faith. Trust. Hope. Love. A light in the darkness. A portal to the real Retroville. And, beyond that, whatever challenges lay on his path. Because Jimmy knew there was no point in running from them anymore. They'd find him anyway. He just hoped this one had a happier ending than the last.
Warmth blossomed in his arms and Jimmy glanced down to see Cindy nestled inside them. Her tongue protruded from her mouth and her weight itself felt displaced. Nonetheless, she lived and, unfortunately, Jimmy had other matters to which to attend. Brushing his lips atop her forehead, he deposited her gently on the long, wild grass waving in the wind. Her chest rose and fell normally and Flippy chuckled maliciously, redirecting Jimmy's attention to the cliff on which he stood.
There, situated beside the dummy, sat a familiar blue cube, but only its topmost portion he saw. Flippy clapped, smirking inhumanly. Jimmy's anger surged and only inbred caution prevented him from ordering Goddard to carry the two up closer. If that was indeed the hypercube, he could have stowed any number of contraptions in there. And Jimmy had none.
Well, perhaps that statement wasn't entirely accurate. Jimmy, while not packing 'heat', had Goddard by his side; the mechanical dog had proved highly useful time after time. However, right now Jimmy hesitated to place anyone else he cared about in danger. Cindy's tumble unnerved him. Goddard, while not being human, was his first successful invention and indeed, presently his only best friend. He loved him deeply, the way any good master cares about his dog, and was in no hurry to send him into a battle before he deduced the odds. As he'd learned, it was best to study your enemies' moves first and then stage an attack.
"The hero of the show has arrived," Flippy said, grinning maliciously. "I was starting to think you wouldn't show. What's the matter, Jimbo, have trouble finding the place?"
Jimmy's teeth clenched and he glared, all the while mentally calculating the innumerable things Flippy might have stored. Perhaps he should let Flippy ramble on like all good villains did, delivering their mundane soliloquies. Cindy's breath caught in her throat and his heart briefly halted. He had to remind himself that there were other things at stake besides her well-being. Yet all he thought was, what did he do to her?
She should have easily immobilized him. Unless…
Flippy, interpreting Jimmy's silence correctly as suppressed fury, lobbed a peculiarly familiar device at Cindy's head. Moving adroitly, Jimmy rushed to catch it before it struck its intended target. The heaviness surprised him, and, glancing at it, he recognized it as the brain drain helmet, which, if he hadn't rescued, would have crushed her head in. In an ominous way, it was appropriate, that a device used to diminish brain capacity would eliminate it entirely. Jimmy Neutron was in no mood for irony.
"You know, in a few hours, if her brain processes aren't restored, she'll die," Flippy said malevolently, relishing Jimmy's blanching. Fists clenched, teeth gritted, Jimmy reluctantly stepped painstakingly away from her and closer to Flippy. Knowledge, what he spent his life attaining and ignorance, where, lamentably, he stood in a quagmire.
"And, in a few minutes, the rest of your father can too," he added and, pushing a button on the hypercube, revealed the DNA separator. An idea struck Jimmy, but he shoved it to the back burner. Even if that did happen, he'd lose his father entirely. Despite everything, he'd clung to a desperate desire to speak to his father again, even if it was in a controlled, scientific environment like within his computer.
Nodding to Goddard, the boy genius ascended into the air and landed on the cliff. Judging by the hypercube's open top, there was nothing else inside. Appearances, once again, were deceiving, but Jimmy recognized his own invention's when he spotted it. But why would Flippy pack so lightly? What kind of fool took only the bare minimum for his plan and nothing else?
In spite of his anger, Jimmy smiled. A heap of scrap wood.
Punching in the configuration, Flippy glanced back to see if Jimmy would stop him. He wouldn't. He instead glanced down at Cindy and Goddard whined. Whispering to him an order, he watched the dog depart and then returned his attention to Flippy. His stomach twisted into knots. It was the only way for the puppet to learn, but why did it have to come at the loss of his last shred of hope?
"Jimbo," Flippy said, but it wasn't Flippy. The puppet grimaced, mouthing at Hugh to shut up, but he wouldn't. Jimmy's eyes narrowed, believing it to be a trick. Maybe he deserved what was coming to him.
"Jimbo, this is me. Not Flippy using my voice. No matter what happens, remember I will always love you and your mother. I'm not angry with you...I'm proud of you for fighting your fears and coming here. And…"
Much to the puppet's disgust, Hugh moved its body closer to Jimmy and hugged his leg. "I know it's not a lot, but it's all I can manage."
Jimmy gaped, kneeling. The heartfelt words could only be Hugh's. His eyes misted over with tears and he hugged what was left of Hugh to his chest.
"I'll always be watching out for you, Jimbo. Even if you can't see me, I'll be there.
"I love you."
"I love you too, Dad…" Jimmy whispered and let him go. Because all good things had to end. No matter how much it hurt.
Flippy scoffed, knocking Hugh into the background. Shoving himself to the forefront had taken more out of Hugh than he expected and, exhausted, he slumped in the back of Flippy's mind. Limbs clacking, he entered the machine. For one fleeting second, Hugh shone through Flippy's eyes and whispered. Though Jimmy didn't hear him aloud, he heard his voice in his mind.
"Goodbye, Jimmy."
"Goodbye, Dad."
Flippy shook his head, but, before he could pump his fists in triumph, he tumbled to the machine's floor. Smoke filled the air, and, choking, Jimmy waited for it to settle before approaching. Goddard produced a fan, expediting the putrid air away. And, where a doll had stood, fierce in its purported power, a powerless heap of wood laid. And Jimmy, who never believed in anything mythical to begin with, felt ghostly arms embrace him before a white figure burst towards the sky.
Tears streamed down his cheeks and, abashed, through his sobs, he commanded Goddard to restore Cindy's intellect. She'd help him forget. Or, if not forget, at least bother him. She was rather good at that.
Clutching the pathetic remains of Flippy to his chest, as if that could restore his father, Jimmy let the tears flood his cheeks. Let all the sorrow wash over him because he'd never cry like this again. It was over and he'd bury the past. Bury it…
Cindy placed a hand on his shoulder and abruptly spun him around so her arms wrapped about him.
"Let's go home."
They buried Flippy in the yard at Jimmy's behest and, after amending some rather odd situations Flippy had placed Sheen, Carl, and Libby in, the five sat around the picnic table outside. Judy had run into the house since hearing Jimmy's explanation and exited the back door carrying cookies and lemonade. Carl, Sheen, and Libby partook of the beverage and snacks, but Cindy and Jimmy touched nothing. Jimmy didn't feel hungry. He just felt numb.
Asking the others to excuse them, Cindy grabbed Jimmy by the elbow and carted him off toward the lab where they could speak more privately. Her emerald eyes held his sapphire ones and she squeezed his hand. Jimmy shrugged, glancing skyward. Numb. That pretty much summed up his outlook on everything. He was indifferent to his friends' presence, his mother's, and even Cindy's.
"What's up?" she inquired softly, brushing his cheek with her hand.
"It's surreal. Flippy not cognizant of his plan's fallacy, my father passing on, his final words, and the spirit I saw. It's like the end to a dervish nightmare."
"So you regret everything that happened?" Her eyes twinkled, but subdued.
"No," he replied, hanging his head. Hesitantly, he embraced her and she gasped. Smiling weakly, he cradled her to him. Gently, he caressed her face.
"Thank you."
She smiled back. "Any time, Neutron. I'd be glad to knock sense into you."
"What about this?" he answered and kissed her on the lips. Her eyes widened and he grinned. Shutting her eyes, she kissed him back. The "Phantom" of Retroville was gone. And even if he wasn't entirely okay, he was on his way. One step at a time.