Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold or any of the characters. Hey Arnold is the property of Nickelodeon and Craig Bartlett.
A Trip Through Time
Chapter 1: Time Night
It was a typical Saturday morning in the town known as Hillwood. Kids were outside playing or hanging out with their friends, while others were indoors doing something like watch cartoons or, a little more productive, doing their homework or chores. In a very distinct neighborhood, a certain football headed boy and his best friend had just arrived to the boarding house, both were bored out of their minds and annoyed as well.
After losing interest with playing in the house, they had gone to the park for a chance to play some baseball but they had a run in with Wolfgang and Edmund and the two bullies ended up hogging the park. Since today wasn't baseball practice at Gerald Field, they decided to just go home empty handed.
"So now what do you want to do?...'Arnold asked as he turned the corner.
"Heck if I know..."Gerald said in anger... "Man, what's with Wolfgang, why can't he and Edmund get a life?..." The tall hair boy asked to his oblong head friend.
"I wish I knew..." Arnold said as he walked up to his house, to see his grandfather taking out the trash.
"Hey there short-man, back early?..." Grandpa said.
"Yeah grandpa...What happened?...'Arnold asked as he noticed that his grandpa was throwing away a lamp.
"Oh your grandma got carried away again during one of her safaris..." Grandpa grumbled in annoyance before changing tune. Arnold knew then it was better not to ask.
"So anyway, I got business to take care of, I'll let you know when lunch is ready...you staying over Gerald?..."The old man asked.
"Why not?..."Gerald shrugged, not having a problem with it.
"Good, I'll let pookie know..."Grandpa said before heading inside, leaving the two boys alone at the stoop.
"So, now what do we do?...'Gerald asked his best friend.
"Checkers?..." He suggested and Gerald shrugged.
The two boys took out the checkers board and began to play. But one round came, then another and they soon found themselves becoming bored again as their little game came to a close.
"You're move…" Arnold said.
" King me…" Gerald said as he made his move, but he wasn't very enthusiastic.
"That's our third round…"Arnold yawned before putting the board away.
"Got any other games?..." Gerald asked.
"Wanna play go fish?..." Arnold suggested.
"Passé…" Gerald said.
"Darts?..." He said.
"We played that yesterday…" Gerald reminded of the game which he in fact, lost.
"Chess?..."He offered and got a "are you kidding me look?" from his best friend.
"Okay, what do you suggest we do?..."Arnold said with a sigh.
"Anything other than chess, that's for sure…" The tall hair boy said.
" Criminy! That Olga is going to drive me crazy!..." A loud, familiar voice suddenly screeched.
"Now calm down Helga..." A meeker voice squeaked out.
"How can I be calm?!..."Was the rebuttal.
Arnold and Gerald turned around to see their classmates Helga G. Pataki stomping forward, grumbling underneath her breath with her best friend Phoebe right behind her. A typical sight and they had a feeling they knew what it was about.
"Hey Helga…" Arnold greeted when she suddenly came by, though she flinched when she suddenly saw him.
"A-Arnold? Um…Uh…What are you doing here?..."She said a little too quickly.
"I live here…" Arnold pointed out and noticed an embarrassed look on her face.
"Oh yeah, I guess I took a wrong turn…" She said, before putting on her typical scowl.
"Hey Phoebe...'Gerald said suavely.
"Hello Gerald..."Phoebe greeted as she sent him a smile.
As the two dark haired kids flirted silently with each other, Arnold was dealing with a crabbier-than-usual Helga G. Patalki.
"Is anything wrong Helga?..."Arnold asked, used to her grumpiness but noticing that it was worse today.
"What's it to ya, Football Head?...'She said in her typical, grouchy way.
'You just shouted your sister's name and didn't even notice us until I called your name…Arnold pointed out.
He wasn't trying to be nosy, he was just a little curious is all. Helga did her typical "hmpt" before finally addressing them.
'Not that it's any of your business bucko but my sister made another one of her infamous surprise visits and totally ruined my morning and I just had to get away…" Helga said in her typical way.
She wasn't lying. Her sister came yesterday during dinner time and as always, Bob and Miriam swarmed over her as she began to gloat about her latest accomplishments, which includes the award she received for her college food drive to feed the homeless and her appearing on yet another magazine cover for winning yet another contest about whatever. Helga merely just went to her room to avoid her and just threw herself into her poetry to try and filter out the most annoying aspects of her life. It didn't end there, this morning her sister had woken her up at 5:30, interrupting a really wonderful dream where she and Arnold were watching the sunset together and trapped her in a bone crushing hug as she announced that she was going to make breakfast for the family and she wanted to "bond" with her as well by cooking together. Helga then found herself being forced to be Olga's little helper by peeling potatoes and getting the ingredients like she was some mindless little drone.
After that horrible breakfast, Olga made a huge announcement of wanting to take her shopping for some "lovely lady-like" clothes and then suggested they go visit Lila for the day. She couldn't take it anymore and lied that she had to go over to Phoebe to do homework and ran out of there before her sister could offer to "help".
FLASHBACK
"Oh baby sister, breakfast was just splendid..." Olga said in a merry way, totally oblivious to the state Helga was in.
The dark circles under her sister's eyes were visible due to being forced to wake up so early and be put to work just for breakfast. Helga wasn't a morning person and her genuine inherit annoyance with her sister was fouling her mood even more, not that the other girl noticed.
"Oh yes, it was SOOO worth being forced out of bed at the crack of dawn..." She said sarcastically, which was sadly unnoticed.
"Anyway baby sister, I was thinking that maybe we could go shopping later for new clothes for you, find something very lovely, lady-like and flattering..."Olga said.
"And what exactly is wrong with what I am wearing?..."Helga muttered but her sister didn't hear her.
"I saw this adorable yellow dress that will look wonderful on you, maybe I'll call Lila and see if she wants to come as well..."Olga started.
And that's where Helga has had it.
"No stinking way!..." The younger Pataki thought in fury as she tried to find an escape.
She already was robbed of the chance to sleep in on the weekend, there was no way she was going to lose the rest of her Saturday being stuck with her sister and Lila, going dress shopping! She had to get out of here.
"Gee Olga, as fun as that sounds, I just remembered that I have to meet up with Phoebe today...We have to study together. .."Helga said with a fake, calm smile.
"Oh, well if that's the case..."Olga started but was interrupted.
"I have to get going, don't want to keep Phoebe waiting, bye!..." Was heard, before fast footsteps and a loud door closing.
Olga blinked in surprise at how fast her sister was already out of the house before she could even finish her sentence. Olga didn't understand but just decided to go and spend some ore time with her parents, since she had nothing else to do now.
End of Flashback
That was how it all went down. After her grand escape, she had gone to either go spit in the river or throw rocks in the dumpster to blow off steam and by coincidence ran into Phoebe who had come out of the bookstore and the two girls decided to hang out. Even then Helga had been so angry, she didn't even notice that she ended up heading to Arnold's house almost subconsciously. So she had to save some face.
"Anyway, enough about that…What are you two up to?..." She asked with her arms crossed.
"That's what were about to figure out Helga? We just finished a game of checkers and we're bored….'Arnold said plainly, used to her snarkiness.
"Checkers? Well, don't you know how to paint the town red, Football head?..."Helga said sarcastically while on the inside she was swooning over her beloved.
"So, who won?..."Phoebe asked in a more polite tone.
"I did but whatever..."Gerald shrugged.
"Hey there Shortman…."Grandpa Phil suddenly appeared… "You boys finished playing checkers?..."He asked.
"Yep, and darts and most of the board games in the house…'Gerald said in exasperation.
"We're bored, Grandpa…."Arnold confessed, feeling a weird sense of déjà vu.
"Bored, huh? And on a day like this?..."Grandpa said in a strange tone.
"What do you mean grandpa?..."Arnold asked, sensing that this was heading somewhere.
"You both do know what today is, don'tcha?...'The old man asked.
"Saturday?..."Gerald guessed.
"Not just any Saturday…Tonight is "Time Night"!..."He suddenly shouted dramatically, getting attention from the other neighborhood kids as well.
"Time night?..."They both questioned and even Helga raised an eyebrow at that. Phoebe merely blinked at the sudden change.
"What are you talking about?..."The pigtailed girl demanded.
"Take a seat sister and listen…"He said before turning to his audience.
"Every 25 years or so, a cosmic phenomenon occurs where there is a ripple through the fabric of time, where the past and the future begin to intertwine, creating a portal that can take you either to the past or the future…That is why it's called "TIME NIGHT!..."He said dramatically.
"Wait a minute, time travel?..."Arnold questioned.
"Yes, time travel….This portal could let you see things like the dinosaurs of the past or flying cars in the future…'He explained.
"Oooh…"The rest of the children said in awe while Helga looked unconvinced.
"What a load of hooey, there's no such thing as time travel…"She said flatly.
"You think so?..."Phil said in a challenging tone.
"Yeah, if any of this story is real, then where's that portal anyway?...'She demanded.
"As I said, it only happens every quarter century….near the woods a mile from the shore...around sunset…"He added those details in a casual tone.
"There the portal will appear, showing amazing images of events that have yet to have come or have long passed us…"He said mysteriously… 'But you guys don't have to believe me if ya don't want to…'Grandpa shrugged as he suddenly went back into the house.
The kids began chatting and the other children in the audience left, amused by the story while Helga, Phoebe, Arnold and Gerald remained.
"What do you think Gerald? My grandpa does tend to exaggerate…"Arnold mulled over. He didn't really believe the story but a part of him couldn't help but be a little curious. It made him feel a little less bored.
"Well I don't believe a single word of it, I want nice, hard, solid evidence..."Helga said stubbornly.
"I concur, it's highly improbable the very topic of time travel..."Phoebe agreed.
"Somethings just can't be proven unless we see it for ourselves..."Arnold said sagely.
"Yeah right..." The blonde girl spat.
Arnold merely gave her a look, before an amused one came on his face.
"Well, I would understand if you were...scared..." Arnold challenged.
"What? I'm not scared..."Helga said quickly.
"Okay, then why don't we go check it out...Let's all head to the park at sundown and see if there really is a time portal or not..."Arnold announced, surprising Gerald.
"What?..." The tall hair boy exclaimed and Phoebe looked surprised as well but they were both ignored as their best friends continued to talk.
"Then we'll see for ourselves if the legend is true or not..."Arnold said.
Helga blinked at that. She was going to reject and call him crazy, until an idea formed in her mind.
"Sunset...with Arnold?..."Her heart skipped a beat at the thought but tried to maintain appearances. She knew that the other alternative was being forced to help Olga with dinner and she much prefer this...
"You're on, football head,..."Helga accepted the challenge while on the inside she was swooning.
"At long last, a chance for me to share the evening sky with my beloved...oh~..."She swooned while she kept her distinctive scowl on the outside.
Suddenly the door opened and Phil came back, causing the three kids to flinch.
"Almost forgot kids, under no circumstances should you touch the portal or you'll be sucked in..."He said loudly, startling the kids before giving a smile... "Anyway, have fun...heh...heh..."He said before closing the door again.
The four kids blinked at that, before shrugging and went back to discuss their plan for tonight.
Later that evening
Near the woods
Arnold, Gerald, Phoebe and Helga soon arrived to their destination. It was nearing sunset and the temperature was beginning to drop but they brought their jackets and flashlights just in case.
"This is the place..." Phoebe said.
"So where's the portal?..."Helga asked impatiently.
"Grandpa said that at sunset, it will appear..."Arnold said as he glanced at his watch, it was already 6:25 and the sky was already getting dark.
"I still can't believe you talked me into this, I mean...I may be the keeper of the tales but I kinda have to admit that time travel is a little far-fetched..."Gerald said as he kept his hands in his pocket.
"See, even Geraldo thinks this is crazy..." Helga said smugly while Phoebe settled for silence.
"Let's just wait a little bit and see..."Arnold sighed.
"Fine..."Helga groaned while on the inside she was trying to contain herself.
She spent countless times daydreaming of watching the sunset with Arnold. True, this was a little different but the fact remains that she was with her beloved and that was all that mattered to her. The only downside was that Gerald and Phoebe were here, ruining the mood but Helga would take what she could get. She could almost pretend that this outing was a double date, even if it was just another wacky childhood shenanigan.
They waited and waited and soon the sun began to set.
"Now let's wait..."Arnold said as he watched the sun set until it was out of sight. After about 5 minutes, Helga was tapping her foot impatiently.
"So where's that stupid time portal?..."She asked.
"I guess it's not real..."Arnold shrugged.
"Um...Doi! ...That's what I said hours ago..."Helga said in exasperation before sighing. .. "Whatever, this still beats quality time with Olga..."She muttered, although Arnold heard her.
"Let's go home..."Arnold said.
"Don't feel so bad Arnold, some myths have to be proven false..."Phoebe said softly.
However, before either of them could leave, a suddenly huge gust of wind came, along with a flash of lightning.
"Criminy! Don't tell me it's going to rain!..."Helga whined but to her surprise, no storm clouds appear or raindrops. They suddenly heard what could be described as a whistle.
"Do you guys hear that?..."Arnold said in a worried tone as he looked around.
"Helga, are you trying to play us?..."Gerald accused but the blonde girl looked annoyed.
"Does it look like I'm doing anything Geraldo!..."She snapped before something unbelievable happened.
Suddenly the wind and lightning stopped and suddenly, what looked to be a white ball of light appeared before them. The four kids stood there in shock, Helga's being the most visible.
"What...the...heck?..."She barely squeaked out as she stood there dumb at this unknown object.
"Oh my..."Phoebe squeaked, unable to believe her eyes.
Suddenly the light got bigger and brighter and what could probably be described as a "screen" appear and the kids suddenly saw images of their home town but during the day time and they had a sinking suspicious about it.
"I can't believe it..."Gerald whispered in astonishment.
"Grandpa was right..."Arnold said in a similar tone.
He couldn't believe what was happening before his eyes. He was witnessing time itself unfolding before his very eyes. He was completely entranced by the images that he took a step closer to take a better look. Except he wasn't exactly watching his step and accidentally stepped on a rock, making him lose his balance.
"Whoa!..." Arnold said as he fell forward, only for someone to catch him.
It was Helga.
"Criminy! Watch it Football head!..."She yelled. However, even as she grabbed him, Arnold ended up touching the portal by accident.
And that's when things began to go south.
Something weird happened as they portal suddenly began growling and before they could get out of there, it began suck Arnold in.
"What's going on?..."Arnold shouted as he found himself being pulled inside, only for Helga, Gerald and Phoebe to each grab onto him, trying to pull him to safety.
"ARNOLD!..." Helga shouted, her love and concern leaking out of her facade.
"We got you man!..."Gerald yelled as he tried to pull his best friend to safety.
"Hang on!..."Phoebe yelled as she tried to pull as well.
However, whatever force this was, it was too strong, it soon began pulling all four of them inside.
"AAHH! ..." They all screamed as they were soon sucked inside the time portal.
Soon the time portal disappeared and the three kids were no where to be found.
-To be continued-
Next time on A Trip Through Time
Where are we? When are we?!
A/N: I hadn't realize that there was another fic that was similar. I checked it out and did a quick editing and add Phoebe but don't worry. I have my own direction where I want this story to go.
Now to work on chapter 2.
:) Till next time beautiful people, remember to read and review :)