A few minutes later the three kids reached Jimmy's house. Nick was now walking on his own. He said that he felt better, but still had a splitting headache.
"Cindy," Jimmy began, "go get the others inside the house and bring them inside the lab. I'll leave the door unlocked." She nodded and ran inside his house. "Nick, come on."
Nick followed James as he plucked a hair from his head and held it up to the DNA scanner. The door opened slightly, and Jimmy pulled it open the rest of the way. He led Nick inside and closed the entrance behind him, but making sure to leave it unlocked.
Jimmy ran ahead of Nick, who stayed behind to admire the wonder that was Jimmy's lab. The whirring of machines, the sound of paper being printed, the resonance of computer keys clacking, it was astounding. It had changed a lot since he had last come in, when Jimmy had dumbed-down his intelligence and a comet was about to destroy Retroville. It was the most amazing thing Nick had ever seen. "Whoa," was the only sound that he could manage to get out of his mouth.
"Make yourself at home," Jimmy shouted while anxiously running around his lab. He held a jumble of pillows, cloth rags, and medical supplies in his arms. He tossed them on the sofa in the lounge and began arranging things.
"You've upgraded a few things since the last time I was here," Nick shouted back while walking through the lab, slowly touching his hands to all of the gleaming metal.
Jimmy smiled as he moved all of the medical supplies to a tray set up nearby. It was good to have someone besides the ignorant Carl and Sheen complement his lab. "I've got a lot of free time."
Nick stopped admiring Jimmy's pride and joy when the rest of the children came in. Jimmy also stopped what he was doing and turned around to look at them. Libby was lying down on a bed's sheet, being carried by Carl, Sheen, and Cindy.
"Over here!" Jimmy yelled as they came into the center of his lab. He waved his arms and they brought her over to him. "Set her down nice and easy," he instructed as they slowly placed her down on the couch.
The three of them stepped back to let Jimmy examine her. "Anything I should know about?" Jimmy asked while grabbing Libby's hand while looking her over. He carefully unwrapped the makeshift bandage Sheen had applied to get his first real look at the wound.
"The bleeding stopped," Cindy told Jimmy while he eyed the wound.
"You feeling ok?" Jimmy asked Libby.
She smiled slightly and nodded her head. "Fine. It's just my leg, Jimmy, not my brain."
Jimmy smiled as he saw that she was doing well. He pattered her hand, and she squeezed it. She looked up at him and smiled as well.
Sheen frowned and began to growl as he saw this. He went to move forward and stop Jimmy, but Cindy blocked his way and shook her head.
Jimmy finally let go of her hand and spun around to the rest of the group. "Alright, here's what we are going to do. Cindy, I want you to bring Nick into another room and talk to him. Nick, we need to know everything that happened today. No detail is too small. You got it?" Nick and Cindy nodded.
"Sheen and Carl," he continued, "I'm almost positive the other kids were knocked out like Nick. I haven't had a chance to examine him, but it seems like he was hit by some sort of knockout gas. You two go around town and get all the kids. There aren't going to be any adults," he angrily instructed.
Carl nodded his head, but Sheen frowned and immediately fought this idea. "No way! Libby's hurt, so I'm staying right here with here!"
Jimmy shook his head. "Sheen, I need you to help Carl. I'm going to be working on her for the next couple of hours anyway. I'm turning the lounge into a makeshift operating room. You can't be in here."
Sheen met Jimmy's gaze. "Well then I'll set up snacks for all the kids coming. Heck, I'll clean your lab. But I am staying right here," he said in a forceful tone he had never used before while pointing down at the floor.
Jimmy finally broke the stare and rubbed his temple. "Alright, fine. Nick's got a bad headache, so the other kids probably will too. Go to all the nearby houses and get all the aspirin you can. Move some of my inventions around and put a cup of water and two aspirin for each kid on the table in the center of the room," he instructed, desperately thinking for some task to keep Sheen occupied.
"Yes sir!" Sheen shouted while hurriedly running out of the lab to get the aspirin. He wanted to get back to Libby as soon as possible.
Jimmy watched as Carl also left the lab and Cindy and Nick went into a separate room. He stared up at the clock on the wall. It's only 10:30. This is going to be a long night.