The last thing Jimmy Neutron could hear was a cry. His
friend.
“Jimmy!”
Then a sudden pierce at his heart. He could feel his
pulse stop. Blood drained from his body and he could feel his limbs dissolve
into the air. Then, blackout.
It seemed like a long time before he heard the “beep!
beep! beep!” of an ECG machine. Jimmy fluttered open his eyes only to see a
blurred image of a man with a black, metallic coat and the rough shape of a man
holding a popsicle stick. They were in a large, musty storage room. He had only
been half conscious for a few moments before the man with black coat pierced
something else into his wrist.
Surprisingly, Jimmy couldn’t sense any pain but no, he
thought that too late. Suddenly he felt his nerves being twisted and again his
brain with twisted, pulled, stretched, and crushed. He felt his eyes close
again. Then all of a sudden, his vision cleared. He felt his muscles grow
stronger, his senses becoming more alert and his heart was much stronger and
surer. Strangely, he felt like he was pushed to the corner of his heart and
brain and felt like someone else was taking over his body. Also, his mind was
filled with thoughts – evil thoughts that he didn’t want.
“Now what do you want?” asked the man with the
popsicle stick which actually turned out to be gun.
Despite himself, he could feel himself forced to reply
“My so-called friend, Jonah’s life and blood”.
“Good” replied the man with the gun with an air of
satisfaction and handed the other man a small bag which clinked.
“Mr. Whatsoever, you get this thing out, I’m going to
turn you inside out. Clear?”
The other man nodded his head, scared out of his skin
and snatched the bag and shoved into his pocket.
The gun man turned to Jimmy and handed him a knife.
“You want Jonah’s life and blood, I suppose. It’s
yours. Kill him. He’s over there”, he pointed to the corner of the room where
Jonah was tied up like a mummy, including his mouth.
Jimmy could feel himself getting up and saunter
towards Jonah, knife in hand, much against his will. It was more like someone
else was controlling him and he was this tiny creature locked up somewhere
inside his own brain, unable to control it, screaming at the top of his lungs.
He caught his reflection in a nearby mirror and the tiny part of his brain went
into a shock. The boy in the mirror was a complete alien. He had cuts and
bruises all over his body and his clothes were ragged. He looked so much like a
murderer: the way he held his knife and the angry grit of his teeth and… that
hungry glint in his eyes.
Jimmy continued forward again and now Jonah had
somehow removed the rope which tied his mouth and was yelling at the top of his
lungs.
“Jimmy!!!! It’s me, Jonah!!! No, Jimmy, they’ve
altered your brain. You have lost your memories. You were drugged and injected!
No! Wake up! I know this is not my friend Jimmy. You are in there somewhere, I
know. Wake up! Please!”
Suddenly, Jimmy stopped. He could feel the alien
controlling him flicker, like a light, like the alien is going to die out.
Jimmy could feel himself surfacing. Realizing what was going on, Jimmy screamed
at the top of his lungs to Jonah to continue shouting.
Probably Jonah realized that too. He continued
shouting, “Jimmy, please. Remember the time when we set fire to Mrs.
Burntcat’s cat’s tail? What about the
time when we poured pepper all over the pie Mrs. Whatnot gave the mayor?
Remember? Remember?”
Alien Jimmy now broke into a run and reached Jonah.
Jimmy could feel his hands rising and Jonah cringed. Both their eyes met.
“Please”, whispered Jonah.
Jimmy tried desperately to lower his hand. He can’t
kill his own friend. He had overcome so many obstacles and why can’t he do
this? No! I will not do this, he told himself. No!
Suddenly, Jimmy stopped dead in his tracks. He could
feel himself surfacing and the alien dissolving. He dropped his knife and could
feel his muscles withering away, his body becoming weaker and his mind
returning back to him. Just to test he lifted his knee. It lifted! He quickly
untied Jonah and the boys embraced each other. Suddenly again, Jimmy felt his
legs wither away.
“Jimmy, you were injected. You need rest and enough of
heroism. God, villains”, Jonah muttered. “Here, lie on me. Let’s get home”
“We have one more mission left, Jonah”, replied Jimmy
in a determined voice.
“What?”
“Burn Mr. Allout’s mosquito net”, Jimmy replied.
“Sure!” Jonah replied.
Then, blackout.
