Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold or any other Nickelodeon shows.

Author's Notes: None.

From where he stood on the desk, the cowering and crying children beneath him brought him immense pleasure and satisfaction, seeing their tear streaked faces gazing up in obedience and fear of his power. He had the power over their lives, and who would be worthy of his guidance and judgement. What was more terrifying is that he already knew who he considered worthy.

They had scrambled for the door, but found it locked. The smell of burning was getting stronger, adding into the scent that made the children gag, realizing that it was the smell of burning acrid flesh of those who had been trapped in the two bombed classroom. Off in the distance, they could hear the sounds of sirens.

"T-the police are gonna get you, C-curly! They're gonna take you away, where all the crazy people go, all the f-f-freaks and psychos like you!" Harold laughed through his tears, his voice high and shaky. Curly, hearing his remark, turned his gaze on the heavy boy, which made Harold break out in a cold sweat.

"H-hey, d-d-don't look at me like that." He trembled, feeling a dampness in his shorts and dropping to his knees as the boy jumped down from the desk. Harold towered above him, but Curly's presence in the room was overwhelming and made all the others feel small. His mouth slowly moved into a smile, reaching out his free hand to the boy, who jumped as he felt his head patted.

"Harold, Harold. How little you know. I don't plan on being taken away, oh no. Not here, persay. When this is all done, I will be whisked away to the great kingdom. My spirit will depart from this mortal body and my kingdom, my new reign will be at hand." His voice came down low in a whisper. "But, I can only take people with who believe in me. Do you...believe in me? Do you, Harold?"

"Yes, yes, I believe in you, Curly! I believe, I believe!" He nodded his head furiously, sweat pouring down his face in fear. Curly watched him for a moment and patted his head once more.

"Do you want to be saved, Harold?" He asked quietly, feeling the gaze of the rest of the students on him, frozen and awaiting the older boy's fate.

"Yes, please! Someone, anyone save me! Mommy!" He covered his face and sobbed before his sobs would be replaced by a shot and a gurgling death cry. The rest of the students covered their eyes and faces, bone and blood splattering around them, much of it covering Curly's robe.

"We're dead, we're dead man!" Gerald looked to Arnold, who couldn't take his eyes off the body of Harold, now a fountain of blood from his neck up. It was more twisted than anything he had ever seen, any zombie movie, any horror story he'd ever heard. This was the same kid he'd played kickball with on the playground. Someone who he would offer the last rice pudding to in the cafeteria. How was this the same Curly that he'd known, someone who could willingly take the lives of his classmates and teacher? He had to do something, anything!

Almost as if able to hear his own thoughts, he felt Curly's eyes land on him. Though the boy wore thick glasses, he'd seen what Curly's eyes looked like, seen the gray tinge to them and how they lit up when he was excited or happy. This...it felt as though he were looking down into his soul and moving his fingers inside. It terrified the 9 year old and he knew that he was helpless.

Helpless.

"Arnold..." The voice felt far away, coming out of Curly's mouth. "Are you afraid?" Words would not leave the blonde boy, only a stiff nod. As he walked closer, Helga curled tighter around him, soft sobs muffled in his green sweater.

"Didn't I tell you, Arnold? You're my only forgiven one. I know you believed me...All of them, they're hypocrites. They only cry out now because they fear the judgement. I've already passed it."

While distracted talking to Arnold, Sid and Stinky had gathered their wits and moved carefully to try and take down the boy. Arnold could see them behind Curly, ready to jump. A fatal mistake, as Curly saw Arnold's face change and whirled around, firing multiple shots into both boys, making them gasp and collapse.

"Oh god, it hurts, it hurts!" Sid writhed on the floor, choking on his own blood in his lungs. Stinky laid motionless beside him.

"Stinky? Stinky!" He cried out, crawling over to his friend's body and laying over him, crying his heart out. "Oh god, why, why..." He looked up in fear, seeing Curly standing over him.

"Join him."

"No-" The last words of Sid were silenced by the bullet in his head and the splattering of flesh and brain over the floor, his body falling over Stinky's and adding to the puddles collecting around the classroom.

"Arnold...I don't wanna die...please..." Arnold heard Helga say to him, keeping her eyes closed. He'd never seen her so afraid and small and it seemed like the only thing he could do was keep her there.

The others were desperately trying to open the door as they saw the two boys fall to the ground. The hopelessness of the situation was sinking in now. Gerald had fallen to his knees and was deep in prayer, reciting it over and over in the hopes that he would be saved.

"Rhonda...my darling."

Cold sweat broke out all over her skin as Curly called her name. She knew just how many times she had spurned the boy, had turned him out and rejected him, as a person and as a lover.

"Cu-curly, you know I...I was just trying to uphold my image, I mean...Oh god, please, please don't kill me!" She kneeled, begging him. "I'll date you, I'll let you do whatever you want to me, I'll buy you whatever you want, please!"

His hand was under her chin and she felt afraid to open her eyes, as though if she met his gaze it would end there.

"Open."

"What?"

"Open. Your mouth."

Trembling, she did so. Her eyes did open as the taste of hot steel and metal hit her tongue. Curly had put the pistol end in her mouth and stood over her. Those who had encountered anything of their parents could see the suggestiveness of the position. She began to cry, feeling doomed.

"But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction." He began to quote, moving the barrel in her mouth.

"You-you sick monster!" Gerald called out, in anger and fear.

"I am the monster?" Curly replied quietly, the smell of burning wood and flesh very strong now and the sirens in the distance. "I am merely the judgement bringer." He looked down to the girl on the end of his gun and smiled, bringing his finger down on the trigger and firing the bullet through Rhonda's mouth. Her hands moved to her mouth as he pulled it out, falling to the side and gurgling in pain before her body ceased to move.

"They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children!" He shouted loudly, abandoning the pistol to the desk behind him and moving the semi to his front, held firmly in his hands. "To what judgement did I have to face under all of you!? The simple act of birth?! Did that give reason for my being judged unworthy, unworthy of your humanity?!"

He smiled softly, hearing the sounds of police and firetrucks right outside the courtyard, knowing they were near.

"Don't worry. Not only will you be saved of yourselves, but this planet and people saved of your unworthiness. I am blameless." A strong barrage of bullets was released across the small group, killing them near instantly.

Now, it was down to the three of them. Stomping footsteps could be heard down the hall. Curly took in a deep breath, leaving the semi at the floor near their bodies. He moved back to the desk, sitting in Mr. Simmons chair and looking to Arnold, the boy who had shown him love, unconditionally. He really was the true believer. Seeing Helga in his arms, he shook his head, knowing that he could not kill her as long as she stayed in his care. He held the pistol in his hand, spinning it and waiting.

"Curly...the police...they'll take you away...for good for this." He managed to speak out, shaking violently.

"No, they won't." He smiled, holding the pistol in his hand and awaiting until they could see him outside the door. "I will go...to Paradise. Join me one day, okay?" He smiled, and for a brief moment, Arnold saw the Curly that he remembered. Helga looked up from Arnold's chest just in time to see the glass of their classroom window break and Curly turn the gun to his mouth and fire.

Everything from that point on seem to happen in a muffled cloud for Arnold. He could hear the police talking, hear them asking him questions, but he couldn't respond. He felt as they carried him out, saw the bodies of his friends, classmates, teacher being carried out. He could see the burning carcasses being removed from the other classrooms and smell death all around him.

"This can't be real..." He said softly, feeling a blackness come over him and his sense of self preservation finally allow the young boy to pass out.