Chapter 31

Adan looked toward his friend and father-figure. "Amigo!" he burst out in surprise as he walked forward. "Donde estabas?! Por que estas aqui?!" he demanded.

Eduardo held a hand up to silence him. Another figure emerged beside him. The class gasped.

"GERALD!" they yelled in unison. Gerald smiled and ran to them. They all crowded around him and hugged him. Mr. Simmons almost fainted at the sight.

"Gerald, where were you?!"

"What happened, are you okay?"

"Where's Arnold and Helga? Did they make it?!'

"Who's this guy you're with, Gerald?" they all asked him at the same time.

Miles and Stella turned their attention to the class at the mention of Arnold.

"Arnold? He was with you?!" Miles asked him, his eyes wide.

Gerald nodded. "Well, he was."

"Well! What happened, young man?" Principal Wartz demanded.

The class grew silent as Gerald looked back at Eduardo. "Well, it's kind of a long story," he started and turned back to his classmates. "Me, Arnold, and Helga split up. They stayed together and were going to look for his parents, while I was supposed to come get you guys," he gulped. "I was running in the jungle, and I got really lost. I wandered around for most of the night when I got too tired to go any more. So, I slept under a tree, but I didn't get to sleep for too long. I woke up to a guy talking to me and shaking me. That's him," he said, signaling for Eduardo to walk up. "He helped me get here," he finished.

"Well, where's La Sombra? How did you escape?" Mr. Simmons asked.

Gerald looked down and hesitated. "He...well, he..." he said, not able to get the words out.

"He what?" Principal Wartz questioned.

"Well, he kicked the bucket," Gerald said grimly. Everyone gasped in shock.

"O-oh my! H-how?" Mr. Simmons stammered.

"We don't have time for that," Eduardo interjected.

Stella and Miles stared at Eduardo. Anger, worry, and confusion filled their minds and hearts. Eduardo looked back at them. He had aged significantly. He had also lost a lot of weight over the years, and wrinkles and scars covered his tanned face. He was starting to grow gray hair, and, like the guards, looked like he had been wandering around the jungle for years. He grimaced when he looked at Miles and Stella. He was ashamed to see them in their state, for he was still strong and they were weak.

"You left us," Stella said bitterly and forcefully. "You left us to die."

Eduardo took a deep breath and looked down. Miles put a hand on his wife's shoulder.

"After everything we did for you," Miles added. "How could you just...leave us like that?"

"I thought I was protecting you," he said quietly. "I sent Adan to watch over you."

"Yeah, well a lot of good that did!" Miles yelled, full of contempt. "Look at us! We're nothing like we used to be! We missed seeing our son grow up! And where have you been? Hiding like a coward!"

"Well, you'd be a lot worse if it wasn't for Adan! He talked to La Sombra and saved you! You would've been killed years ago!" Eduardo argued back.

Everyone had grown silent. Gerald scrutinized their appearance, and assumed they could only be Arnold's parents. 'Where is he?'

"I'm sorry, my friends. Truly," Eduardo quavered, almost inaudibly. "I never thought it would be like this. I never thought you would have been captured, but I did what I thought was best. Forgive me, please," he cried.

Miles and Stella looked at each other, sadness now covering their faces. After a few moments, Miles squeezed Stella's shoulder before walking forward and holding out his hand. Eduardo was overcome with emotion as he took Miles' hand and shook it. Stella smiled softly at him to show her forgiveness.

"Ugh," Francis groaned loudly. "Enough of this. We did not get captured by those stupid villagers and get taken away to deal with this. No more games! It's time to show you, ALL of you, who's in charge around here," he jeered. He started to walk forward menacingly, and turned to his thirty guards. They hadn't moved to follow him.

"Well! What are you waiting for!" he yelled.

The guards looked at each other. A burly guard stepped forward slightly.

"We don't take orders from you. We wait for La Sombra," he chided.

Francis clenched his jaw. "What did I say? La Sombra left ME in charge! That means you do what I say!"

Another guard, the smallest of them all, spoke up. "Well what do you expect us to do? Kill them? They're kids!"

Francis scoffed in annoyance. "What? You're afraid of a bunch of kids?!" Francis bellowed to the guards.

"Not just kids," Eduardo said sternly. Francis turned with a scowl on his face. Eduardo, Miles and Stella stepped forward, their arms spread out to their sides, showing their protection over the class. Mr. Simmons gulped and did the same. Principal Wartz hesitantly joined them. Lorenda hid Adoncia behind Rhonda and joined the adults. The elderly Green Eye man was the last to join them.

Francis started to laugh at them. "This? Haha, this is what we're up against?" he chortled, throwing back his head in laughter.

The elderly Green Eye man took out a flute-looking instrument and blew it. Francis raised an eyebrow. After a few moments, he suddenly started to widen his eyes. The guards started to back away slowly.

Members of The Green Eyes started to appear from the brush of the jungle. Many were armed with handmade spears.

"There must be 50 of them!" one of the guards shouted in panic.

"Silence!" Francis scolded. "We can take them! Forget La Sombra, we do this now!"

For a moment, everyone braced themselves. And then, in the blink of an eye, the battle started. Everyone, the students included, started running towards their enemies.

~

"Do you know where you're going, football-face?" Helga asked, panting. Her hair was flattening against her head, and her hair-bow was starting to come undone.

"Yes, Helga," he sighed. He had repeated this to her about ten times.

"What are we going to do if they're not there, huh? Have you come up with a plan then? How are we going to get past the guards? Have you even thought of that?" Helga asked in a scolding manner.

"Helga," he said through clenched teeth. He was losing his patience with her. "I've told you before. They will be there. Stop bothering me!" he argued.

Before Helga could respond in her anger, they both started to hear screaming and yelling. They both looked at each other in panic and started to run towards the sound. They started to see a clearing and ran even faster.

"The temple! I can see it!" Arnold yelled. He ran even faster with Helga keeping up with him. They ran through the clearing, but immediately came to a halt at the sight. Their classmates were charging forward and fighting with the guards. There was chaos everywhere, they couldn't make out who was who. There were people fighting that they didn't recognize, and weren't sure whose side they were on.

"Criminy, what's happening?!" Helga wailed.

Before Arnold could answer, he caught a glimpse of an elderly man throwing a punch, hitting Francis in the face.