**The kids follow the white gravel path out of the circle of temples and under a vine-covered archway, out into an endless garden. A sea of white chrysanthemums extends all around, their stems bending in the gentle breeze. The rustle of their petals blends with the sound of the chirping finches that bathe in a nearby fountain. Little droplets cascade from their ruffled feathers, glistening like sapphires in the blue veil of twilight**
CINDY: (breathless) Wow, this place is beautiful…
**She tosses her hair, looking over her shoulder at Jimmy**
CINDY: Wouldn’t you agree, Neutron?
JIMMY: I’ll say! Look at those Bombycilla garrulus in that tree over there! Simply stunning!
CINDY: (glaring at him) Typical…
**Jimmy seems not to notice her irritation as they walk down the gravel path into the deepening darkness**
LIBBY: Uh-oh, guys. I think I see a fork in the road up ahead. I wonder which way Aurora an’ me went?
**The kids stop and squint into the deepening gloom. Ahead, the path splits into two smaller walkways, one lined with white stones, and the other with gray**
LIBBY: Which one should we take?
JIMMY: We’ll have to split up.
**Libby shoots Cindy a sly glance before crossing her arms**
LIBBY: That’s fine with me, but I ain’t lettin’ Sheen out of my sight. If I do, he’ll go makin’ a fool out of himself. Guess he and I’ll take the white path.
CINDY: Hey, I don’t want to go with Neutron!
JIMMY: Well I’m not exactly thrilled about it either!
LIBBY: Will you two get it together? You seem to forget that it was your fightin’ that got both of our universes into this mess in the first place! Now just suck up your pride for ten seconds and walk down the stupid path!
**Cindy and Jimmy blink in surprise, then grouchily head off down the gray path**
LIBBY: (planting her hands on her hips) Finally! Now they can get some time together. If they don’t rip each other apart first, that is.
SHEEN: (wading through the flowers) Man, you could play a sick game of hide and seek in this place! Uh…hey Libs, who are you talking to?
LIBBY: Oh, I’m just thinkin’ out loud. Let’s go…it’s getting really dark.
**Sheen and Libby head off further into the heart of the garden as Cindy and Jimmy follow their path through a grove of gingko trees. The fan-shaped leaves rustle in the night breeze, their fresh scent light upon the air. All is silent except for the crunching of their sneakers on the gravel**
CINDY: (quietly) Jimmy?
JIMMY: Ya? What?
CINDY: Do you think we’ll end up like them…like Aurora and the dictator I mean?
JIMMY: (taken aback by the question) Well, it’s impossible to become exactly the same, since I was never exposed to the Megalomanium, but otherwise I suppose anything’s possible. Why?
**Cindy looks down, her blonde bangs spilling over her eyes**
CINDY: Because I don’t want it to turn out that way. I don’t want to become her.
JIMMY: Well, neither do I, but…it’s not like we can change the future.
CINDY: But…what if we can? Look how much we’ve changed Aurora’s life since we came here. If we hadn’t come, she never would have come to Earth, and she never would have been reunited with her best friend. If we hadn’t come, you never would have come up with an antidote to the Megalomanium, and she would have killed Dictator Jimmy. How do you think that would have made her feel?
JIMMY: I don’t know…happy I guess.
CINDY: (with a sideways glance) You are so clueless, Neutron. You really don’t get it, do you?
JIMMY: Get what? It’s pretty simple. She even said herself that she wanted revenge.
CINDY: Ha! Revenge is overrated. Trust me, I know.
JIMMY: Are you going somewhere with this?
CINDY: Hey! What is up with you? Can’t we just have a conversation without it having to mean something profound?
JIMMY: You’re the one blabbering about the future, not me. If you’d just be quiet then we wouldn’t have a problem.
CINDY: Jeez, how rude can you be?
JIMMY: You’re one to talk….I don’t think I’ve heard one nice thing come out of your mouth since I met you!
CINDY: See, there we go again, arguing! Don’t we ever do anything else?
JIMMY: (growing angry) You’re the one who started it! You always start it!
CINDY: Ya right! You’ve started it plenty of times!
**He whirls to face her, his breath like white smoke in the chilling blackness**
JIMMY: What are you talking about? In case you’re too stupid to remember, I’d like to point out that it was your fault that everything went wrong in the universe in the first place! YOU were the one who sprayed the Megalomanium in his face! Well, Cindy, would you do it to me too? Would you?
CINDY: WHAT? You were the one who invented the Megalomanium, so it’s your fault, not mine! Besides, your future self is the one who killed everyone! He destroyed all our lives, not me!
JIMMY: Pathetic! Always blaming everyone else!
CINDY: UGGHHH, I can’t even believe you! What is your problem?
JIMMY: What do you mean, MY problem? You’re the one with the problem, Vortex!
CINDY: Shut UP!!
JIMMY: YOU shut up!
CINDY: You…you…UGHHHH! I HATE YOU!
JIMMY: Not as much as I hate you! I’ll always hate you! I’ll hate you till the day I die!!!
**Jimmy and Cindy stand facing each other, bristling with rage. The air around them crackles with the intensity of their emotion as the gentle breeze caresses the trees. Jimmy slowly relaxes, then slumps**
JIMMY: (covering his eyes) I just don’t understand you, Vortex. I’ve never been able to understand you.
CINDY: I think you do, Neutron. And I think you’re upset for the same reason I am. Seeing our future selves this way…it hurts, doesn’t it?
JIMMY: (looking away) Ya…it does.
**There is a moment of silence, each absorbed in thought**
CINDY: It’s so unfair …I didn’t want it to be this way.
JIMMY: I know. Neither did I.
CINDY: (softly) Will it ever stop, Jimmy? Will we ever feel anything but hate?
**The two of them stare at each other from opposite sides of the path. The wind catches their hair, and dust dances in the seemingly endless expanse between them. Jimmy’s blue eyes grow sad as they meet her green ones in the darkness**
JIMMY: I don’t think so, Cindy. Sometimes it feels like…the whole world is against us. I think that somehow, we’re meant NOT to be…
CINDY: But…
JIMMY: (smiling sadly) I know, and I’m sorry. Let’s not talk about it now, though, OK? Come on, I don’t think the path goes much farther. We should start back.
CINDY: (sorrow wrinkling her brow) Is it really hopeless then?
**Jimmy looks at her through blank eyes, then wraps his arms around her. No warmth welcomes her in his embrace, merely an aching loneliness in the darkness**
JIMMY: I’m sorry.
**His face cast in shadow, he turns and walks off down the path. She trails a few feet behind him, her heart growing heavier with each step. But somewhere inside her, like a spark in the darkness, is another feeling. She casts him a fleeting glance**
CINDY: (to herself) Hoping…now
there’s something that ISN’T overrated.