This episode was inspired by a piece of fanart titled "And the Winners Are: The Shortmans!" by Demona-Silverwing, commissioned by HAFanForever, and serves as the cover for this very story. Check out both their work on Deviantart and this very site.
This story is meant to be the finale of my imagining of a sixth season of Hey Arnold! As a few readers pointed out to me, some of the characters do seemingly act just a bit out of character. This story is meant to be a culmination of their arcs in season 6, and since I had the wonderful foresight to start my little project from the end (it was the first story I had fully formed in my mind), here's a little context.
Basically, Arnold has been getting a little more cocky now that the big hole in his heart has been filled. He's still an exceptionally good and big-hearted kid of course, but some of the changes in his life are testing him. Helga by contrast, while still a grumpy cynic is showing a little more maturity on occasion from hanging around with Arnold so much. Miriam kind of hit rock bottom earlier in the season, but with the help of Stella and Helga she's finally getting the smoothie habit under control. As a result of Miriam discovering her true potential, she's started standing up to Bob who is now trying (and usually failing) to be more sensitive and less of a jerk. He's a work in progress, but he's at least making an effort.
As for Stella and Miles, they come across as pretty impossibly perfect in their appearances on the show so I had to elaborate on their weaknesses to keep the drama going. They're both a little goofy from having been asleep for ten years, but Miles is also obviously a klutz, and in "The Journal" Stella exhibited a bit of a fiery temper on occasion, so I figured it would be funny to make those their primary weaknesses in the tournament, with Miles bungling everything and Stella going into a hyper competitive berserker mode. Moreover, I'll probably have Stella and Helga bond with Stella seeing a lot of herself in Helga at a young age.
Deep in the dark jungles of San Lorenzo, two brave swashbucklers furiously cut their way through the underbrush, hotly pursued by their mortal foe. Miles and Stella Shortman were more than just professional colleagues, the bond between them had grown strong since they had first met, and had now forged them into an unstoppable force for good. In his hands, Miles held the mystical Corazon, a sacred relic of the Greeneyes people, that he and Stella had stolen back from the wicked river pirate Lasombra. They had tried to evade him without a fight, but couldn't shake their relentless pursuer. As they burst through the foliage Miles and Stella found themselves at the edge of a cliff, staring down into a misty abyss. From out of the jungle brush behind them emerged Lasombra, brandishing a machete and smiling a wild feral grin.
"There's no escape, you do-gooder gringos." Lasombra said menacingly, "You two have stood in my way for the last time!"
Miles and Stella braced themselves as their deadly enemy readied his weapon. Suddenly from out of the sky, the humming sound of a propellor cut through the jungle air. Lasombra glanced upward to see a red biplane barreling towards him.
"Forget it, Lasombra!" Arnold shouted from the pilot seat of the plane. In an impressive feat of aerial acrobatics, he leapt from the cockpit and and careened out of the sky. With great skill he stuck the landing and stood between his parents and their foe. He struck a fighting stance in defiance.
"No!" Lasombra shouted, "The volcano boy of legend!"
"You're no match for the three of us!" the young boy boldly declared.
"That's right. We're a team. Nothing can stop us." Miles declared, and with a crack of his whip he disarmed Lasombra, sending his weapon flying out of his grip and over the cliff.
"We're unbreakable." Stella said, clenching her fist in a defiant challenge to the deadly pirate.
"Fools! You have defeated me multiple times before, what makes you think you can possibly do it again?" Lasombra retorted.
"You can't win against us!" Arnold cried out triumphantly. "Not so long as we stand together!"
"So presumptuous, as always!" Lasombra grinned maniacally. He reached into his boot sheath and drew a hunting knife, pointed it at Arnold and bellowed, "Then I will have to cut your team down piece by piece!"
He charged forward, bellowing to intimidate them. Arnold and his parents stood together like a brick wall, waiting for just the right moment to counter Lasombra's attack.
"Ready…" Miles said.
"Set…" Stella continued.
Lasombra drew closer and closer until at last Arnold shouted, "Now!"
Just as the pirate reached the three heroes, they all stepped aside, causing him to breeze right past them and over the cliff.
"No! Not again!" He cried out as he fell down into the foggy abyss below. "I'll be back! Same jungle time, same jungle dream!"
Arnold and his parents jumped up and down for joy. Miles lifted Arnold up onto his shoulders and tussled his unruly blonde hair, as Stella hugged them both.
"All right, Arnold!" Stella cheered.
"Yeah Arnold!" Miles chimed in, "Hey, Arnold! Hey, Arnold! Hey, Arnold…"
Miles voice started to taper off as the world around them faded to white, with the sound of his voice replaced by Arnold's alarm clock blaring those same words.
"Hey Arnold! Hey Arnold! Hey Arnold! Hey Arnold!"
Yawning, Arnold sat up in bed and shut off the alarm. Since that fateful day of finding his long lost parents a few months back, he had been suffering from some waking nightmares, reliving the entire adventure in his sleep only to awaken and fear that it had all been a dream. Eventually this recurring ordeal passed, only to be replaced by nightmares of him and his family being tormented by Lasombra the river pirate. Confronting his fears, Arnold had managed to turn the dreams from nightmares into thrilling fantastical adventures, in which he and his parents always emerged victorious. It was an empowering feeling, and one Arnold relished.
Drawn downstairs by the smell of eggs frying, Arnold flew down the stairs to the dining room. He could see his father cooking eggs in the kitchen and his mother setting the table.
"Morning mom. Morning dad." Arnold said as he stepped into the kitchen, "Where are grandma and grandpa?"
"Sleeping in." Miles said as he flipped an egg in the pan, or at least tried to as it flew up and hit the ceiling, "Oops."
"Phil keeps reminding us we've had ten years of sleep and he wants to catch up." Stella joked.
"And where are all the other boarders?" Arnold asked, noticing the empty dining room.
"I don't think they're very fond of our cooking…" Miles shrugged as he scraped a crisply burnt egg onto a plate. "I just can't work these yolks… ah well, what should we do today, Arnold? Wanna go to the park? Play catch?"
"It's a school day." Arnold reminded him, as had become routine.
"Well yeah…" Miles said shakily, "After. I meant… after?"
"Uh, I'll let you know later." Arnold said with a smile.
"Here you go, Arnold!" Stella grabbed a brown paper bag and handed it to her son, "I remembered this time!"
"Thanks, mom." Arnold smiled. He understood why his mother often didn't remember to pack him a lunch, yet he couldn't help feeling like he was in Helga's shoes with a mother who routinely forgot to pack his lunch.
Knowing his parents were around and always had his back comforted him, in spite of their multiple quirks. Being asleep for ten years in a faraway jungle had certainly done a number on them, and they often struggled with basic functions of day to day life, be it school schedules or occasionally flashing back to their days in the jungle. Hillwood had proved to be am entirely different kind of jungle, and one they had no idea how to navigate half the time. They both had a knack for forgetting he had school, and when they did remember it often took some effort to keep them from joining him in the classroom. In spite of their odd idiosyncrasies, Arnold thought they were pretty cool parents, just as he'd always hoped they'd be.
He waved goodbye to his mom and dad and headed out the front door as his pet pig Abner led the usual parade of animals storming out of the boarding house and into the street. As Arnold followed them he spotted his stalwart friend Gerald waiting at the bottom of the stoop.
"Another day, another disappointment." he said playfully.
"Not today," Arnold said, "I've got a good feeling."
"You always do." Gerald retorted, as the two friends initiated their custom secret handshake before setting off for PS 118. Along the way they met up with their now girlfriends Helga and Phoebe. Gerald and Phoebe linked hands and headed off ahead of the others. They had always gotten along well and seemed to like one another, so it only seemed natural that they'd end up a couple some day. By contrast, even after growing to like Helga, Arnold couldn't help but note what an unlikely pair they were. He tried to hold her hand, only for her to rebuke him as usual.
"PDA is not the Pataki way." she asserted.
"Maybe some day." Arnold smiled.
"That's already way too much rhyming for this early in the morning…" Helga groaned, "C'mon, let's get the stupid school day over with."
Arnold rolled his eyes and gestured for Helga to lead the way. Her constant crankiness didn't keep him down. Life was just too good nowadays.