Author's Note: Hello friends. Here is a revised, revised, and revised again version of the first chapter. Thank you to those who left great feedback to help me improve my writing. I hope this is more satisfying than the original version. Again, no new update yet. I've got some more revising to do. *sigh* it's painful sometimes.

Enjoy!

James looked at the photo that was taken fifteen years ago. The faded, wrinkled photo was after the first of many adventures he had with his friends in space. He and his old school friends Sheen, Carl, Libby, and Cindy all looked so happy in the picture. That had been a long time ago. Things had changed rather quickly it seemed to James.

Much had happened in the last fifteen years. Through the rest of elementary and middle school, the friends had lots of adventures. While they were in high school, Sheen and Libby dated for a while, but Sheen started messing with the wrong crowd and got into drugs. Libby couldn't stand it. She dumped Sheen and ended up getting early acceptance to a fashion school in New York. Carl had been pretty successful in high school, but despite his good grades, chose to live his life as a llama farmer and moved to Peru with his friend Elke after graduation. Cindy and Jimmy, despite what everyone assumed, never dated. Not once. Cindy had said she was always too busy with her extracurriculars, but spent most weekends at home staring at the genius's house across the street. Jimmy never made excuses. He pretended not to care what people thought. He shut the world out and consumed himself in his work, while taking extra classes at the local college.

James had always wanted more. He wanted out of Retroville, but despite colleges offering him early admission scholarships, his parents said he should stay in high school. "It's an experience you will regret if you don't stay," his mother had said. High school was hell for the genius. He was constantly ridiculed. He found it rather infuriating actually. Anyone who talked to him when he was younger only spoke to him in high school so that he would help them with homework. He felt used and betrayed. Jimmy tried not to care, but due to human nature he wanted to be accepted. Eventually he shut everybody out, including his close friends. A week after graduation, James left Retroville, not a word to anyone, and now it had been eight years and he was back in his old laboratory.

James tossed the photo over his shoulder. He had moved on to bigger things. Better things. Darker things. While college was a much needed improvement over high school, James still felt unfulfilled. He could get over the idiots from high school, but James still felt he had something to prove to everyone who had ever doubted him. He needed a new challenge, something that no one had ever achieved. James kept digging through the dusty boxes unsure of what he was looking for. How did one begin to take over the world? He needed help, and he knew just who to turn to.

James walked out of the lab furiously typing out a message on his phone to his old friend. He figured Sheen was still in town. Sheen had never accomplished much; it wasn't very likely that he had left Retroville.

"Jimmy Neutron," a voice said in that oh-so-familiar way.

James turned around to see a smirk on the face of Cindy Vortex. "It's James actually," he retorted.

"I never thought I'd see you in Retroville again. How long has it been? Eight years?"

James nodded. "Why are you here?" he asked. "I thought you would have left Retroville ages ago."

"I'm just visiting my parents. I live in Boston. I finished up Grad School and started my residency for cancer research," Cindy explained. "What about you? Why did you decide to grace us with your presence?"

"I came back to clean out the lab," James wasn't much for idle conversations.

"Are you working anywhere?"

James sighed. "Yeah, actually, I work for NASA," James stated, which was the truth.

"That's amazing. I always knew you would end up working for NASA," Cindy smiled.

James's phone buzzed. "I've got to go. Good seeing you, Vortex."

"Wait!" Cindy called. James huffed and turned around. "Would you maybe want to grab a drink later?" Cindy asked trying to hide the red beginning to burn her cheeks.

James's stood stunned. He thought he should decline. He had too much work to do, and he felt that he shouldn't try to rekindle any old friendships that he didn't have to. "Sure Vortex. Eight o'clock. We can meet here." James said in spite of his brain telling him otherwise.

"Great! See you later Neutron."

James opened the door to the Candy Bar, quietly chuckling that Sheen had picked such a childish place to meet. He looked around the room trying to find Sheen. He hadn't seen his old friend since high school. He couldn't look that different, but James couldn't seem to find him.

"Over here, Jimmy," a scruffy looking guy waved. James walked over. Sheen had some stubble on his face, and was wearing wrinkled clothing. James wondered if his friend was still into drugs. In high school, Sheen's friends tried to help after he got addicted, but Sheen was insistent that he didn't have a problem. When Carl tried to get Sheen to admit himself to rehab, Sheen flipped. That's when Libby dumped him and the others just faded out of his life. After that, the whole gang just stopped getting together.

"Hey Sheen. How's it going?" James smiled as he sat down across from this unfamiliar friend. "It's been awhile."

"I'm doing good, Jim. I'm clean, I got my GED, and I started some classes at the community college," Sheen answered.

James nodded, happy that his friend was doing better. He hoped Sheen wouldn't ask what he'd been up to. It didn't feel right to shove his success in his friend's face. "That's good, Sheen. I'm happy for you."

Sheen smiled and nodded. "So what'd you want to meet up for? It's been ages since I've seen you."

James hesitated. What did he want to ask Sheen? He didn't know how to explain why he needed information from him without sounding like a lunatic. "I'm interested in learning more about comic books. You still into those?"

Sheen laughed. "Jimmy Neutron wants to read comic books? I never thought I'd see the day. Are you sure you're not high?"

James smiled, "I'm serious."

"Yeah, I still read them from time to time. What kind are you interested in?"

"Do you have any about villains taking over the world? And maybe with a little bit of a back story?" James hesitated. It sounded silly, but studying science fiction might be his best option.

"I've got lots of those. Why did you say you needed them?"

James held his breath. How did he respond to that? "Um, psychology study. It's a little experiment," James lied through his teeth.

Sheen nodded. "I've got work in a couple of hours, but if you'd like, I can show you what I've got." Sheen stood and James followed.

Sheen lived in a small apartment close to the Candy Bar. The two acquaintances walked in silence. They had never had anything in common, and James began to wonder how they were ever friends. Sheen had been a good test dummy. He feared little and lived fully, until high school, when he spiraled out of control.

James always questioned why Sheen had turned to drugs. James's inventing had slowed by high school, but the "Three Amigops" were still partners in crime for a while. It was after Sheen and Libby started dating that James began to pull away. He felt like he was losing his friends. He tried for a long time to stay connected with his old friends, but it became this constant game of James making plans and everyone bailing. It was also around this time that James began to realize everyone was using him. He began to question everyone's motives. James started to shut everyone out.

After borrowing some comic books from Sheen, James began to leave the small apartment. "It was good seeing you, Jim," Sheen spoke quietly.

James only nodded. He felt a little guilty using his friend like this. Sheen had really turned his life around, and James was going to take it over, because Sheen had helped him.

"Whatever you're really up to, just be careful," Sheen whispered when James didn't respond.

James furrowed his brow in confusion but didn't say anything. What did Sheen mean by that? He couldn't possibly know. James took a breath and said, "Well, I'll see you around I hope. I'll be in Retroville for a few days."

"Make sure you stop by to say hi to Cindy. She's back too, visiting her parents."

"Funny you should mention her. I ran into her on my way to meet you. I'm actually grabbing drinks with her in a couple of hours," James sounded almost excited.

Sheen smiled and muttered something under his breath.

"What was that?" James asked.

"Nothing, just I knew it would happen eventually."