I found Lasombra to be a wildly entertaining and genuinely threatening villain, but also felt his antagonism lacked a certain personal touch. His entire motives boiled down to seeking treasure, and he really just viewed Arnold and his family as obstacles to overcome, and thus lacked a certain dramatic weight. He worked incredibly well from a thematic perspective however, as he basically represents everything Arnold isn't, but more interestingly he's actually kind of an amplified incarnation of Helga's darker side (an idea I'll be exploring in further depth eventually). He wasn't even remotely responsible for their disappearance either which surprised me. I still haven't found a way to make this scene work convincingly but here it is for what it's worth.
Arnold had managed to prevent Lasombra from cutting down the bridge, but the combined weight of Gerald and Helga rocking back and forth had done the job for him as it came crashing down beneath them. Still holding onto the ropes, Helga and Gerald dangled for dear life as they slammed into the face of the cliff. Mustering all her strength, Helga managed to slowly start climbing up. Looking back down she reached for Gerald.
"Gerald! Take my hand!" she shouted.
"I can't reach… just go! I can hold on." Gerald insisted, "You've got to help Arnold!"
"Sure, you just dangle over a crevasse of death where it's safe while I go take on the crazy killer myself…" Helga muttered.
"If any of us could, Helga… it'd be you." Gerald said encouragingly.
Atop the gorge, Lasombra stood over Arnold, pointing his blade threateningly at him.
"Thank you, little partner. You've been so helpful. Now, enough fooling around. Let's finish what we started." he hissed menacingly.
"If I do what you want, please… if you have any human decency…" Arnold pleaded.
"You really are new at this aren't you?" Lasombra laughed.
"If all you want is treasure, fine!" Arnold cried, "Just please let us use the Corazon this once to save the Green-Eyes first!"
"Save them?" Lasombra scoffed, "And risk losing the ultimate prize? For what? The satisfaction of knowing I've helped someone?"
"Well… yeah." Arnold shrugged, "Somewhere deep down, even you have to care about something more than the gold…"
Lasombra looked at Arnold strangely, and then a look of what could only be described as sentiment crossed his weathered and scarred old face.
"You… you really do care about these people. People you've never even met." Lasombra sighed and lowered his weapon, "So… selfless. I may be an old treasure hunter but… I remember a time I was not so different from you, Arnold my boy."
Arnold couldn't believe it. He had managed to win the hearts and minds of unsavory characters before, but he hadn't expected it to work on a guy this deranged and obsessed.
"Really?" He asked.
Lasombra's face abruptly returned to a feral and mad look, "No." He said flatly, then laughed maniacally, "Nice guys always finish last, and bad guys have all the fun, boy. You would do well to learn that. But now I think, fun time is over. Your parents got in my way, and no one stands in Lasombra's way. And I'll be a monkey's uncle if I let their son do the same- OW!"
Lasombra abruptly fell forward as a flying stone sharply connected with the back of his head and knocked him off balance. With Lasombra momentarily stunned, Arnold quickly slipped away, grabbing Lasombra's satchel in the process. Lasombra then turned to see Helga had climbed to the top of the cliff, and was tossing another rock to herself.
"Hey, Labozo!" she shouted, "You just picked on the wrong bully's chump! He's mine!"
"You…" Lasombra growled, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say this ugly little chicka had the hots for you, volcano boy. Let me do you a little favor…"
Lasombra charged at Helga brandishing his machete while shouting madly.
"Eep." Helga said extremely understatedly.
"No! Helga! Run!" Arnold shouted.
The brazen girl realized she was out of her league this time. Helga dropped the rock and tried to run, but Lasombra grabbed her from behind. As he held her in a headlock she kicked and fought against him wildly until he brought his weapon up against her throat.
"Hey, uh… just kidding." Helga giggled in fear, "If I wanted to I could have knocked you stone dead with that rock, so don't say I never did you any fav-"
"Quiet you…" Lasombra hissed, "Unlike the volcano boy, I have no use for you, so choose your next words carefully…"
He stared into her eyes. Helga was naturally more terrified than she'd ever been in her young life, but as a consummate actress she refused to let it show. She glared right back into his eyes, channeling all the fire and fury she had inherited from her father Big Bob Pataki. Her defiance seemed to amuse Lasombra if nothing else.
"Ah yes, such rage for one so young. The fire in your eyes, yes, I've seen it before." he laughed, "A fire that burns with a lover's passion. And yet… I fear it is one sided? What's the phrase… love unrequited? Ha, I can't imagine why. You really think that boy cares about you? He's a man on a mission, and you're not what he's after." Helga's face started to soften as her rage gave way to sorrow, "Yes, I know your sort, girly, just from that look in your little baby blues. You act so tough, but that's a look that says 'mommy and poppy never loved me.' And that's why you'll do anything to please this kid, just so you can feel wanted by someone. Ha!" Helga's eyes were brimming with tears now, "What? Surprised an old pirate can be so penetratingly insightful? Yes, your heart is as dark as my own, and for that... the football headed kid will never return your-"
"Stop! Leave her alone!" Arnold's voice rang out.
"Lasombra turned to see Arnold holding his satchel carrying the Corazon over the cliff. Lasombra's eyes betrayed his fear for a split second but he quickly covered it. Holding Helga tightly, he covered her mouth and threatened to cut her throat.
"Ha, ha, ha… or what, estúpido Cabeza de fútbol… is that a term of endearment or something?" he laughed.
"I'll drop it…" Arnold threatened.
"No you won't." Lasombra said confidently.
"Yes I will."
"You won't."
"I will."
"You won't."
"I will."
"You will."
"I'm not falling for that." Arnold caught his cartoon ploy.
Helga mumbled something in a muffled voice that sounded like, "Arnold, you moron! Don't!"
"No I mean it, go ahead. Drop it. You'd really trade a priceless artifact; the key to saving your precious Green-Eyes friends… for this little gargoyle?" Lasombra grinned, "No, you wouldn't drop it even if I cut her throat. Or shall we find out?"
"Don't do it…" Arnold warned.
Helga again tried to say something that sounded like, "Arnold, you have the worst poker face…"
"Go ahead, Arnold." Lasombra goaded, "Drop it. Risk losing the treasure for this little monkey."
Finally Helga snapped, "I… am not… A MONKEY! With savage force, she bit the palm of Lasombra's hand, drawing blood. In his surprise and shock he dropped his machete and yowled in pain.
"AAAUUUGGH!" Lasombra cried out, "You little rat…"
And with that, he pushed her over the ledge.
"No!" Arnold cried.
"Arnold!" Helga screamed as she fell straight down alongside the face of the cliff. As she fell however, she suddenly felt a tight grip around her wrist stopping her in midair.
"Gotcha!" Gerald shouted, "Forgot I was here?"
Helga looked at him in a daze and murmured, "Gerald… you… you saved me!"
"Hey… you're Phoebe's best friend." Gerald said, "She'd never forgive me. Now grab onto something… you're heavier than you look…"
Arnold looked over the edge and felt momentarily relief that she was safe, relatively speaking at least. Suddenly he felt Lasombra's grip on his backpack, dragging him away.
"Come here, volcano boy." he said casually.
"Let me go!" Arnold shouted, "Let me go!"
Lasombra obliged him and released his grip on him, as he placed the Corazon on a nearby stump.
"Let you go?" He asked, "You are the only one who can open it." He gestured to the artifact.
"No!' Arnold stood up and protested, "We need to save my friends!"
Lasombra drew his machete again, and brandished it at Arnold, "First open the Corazon. Then you can play with your little amigos."
