Chapter 32

Francis fell to the ground, his face slamming hard onto the hard earth. After a moment, he picked his head up and felt his jaw. He spit out a tooth and blood. He blinked several times, trying to make his vision clear. He looked around and saw the chaos that erupted in the seconds he was on the ground. Everyone was running around screaming and yelling and fighting. He rubbed his jaw and shook his head. 'How did I not see that old man?' he berated himself.

"ONWARD, SOLDIERS!" Curly yelled as he laughed maniacally and started to attack one of the guards. He jumped on the guard's shoulders and covered his eyes. The guard ran around and reached his arms up, trying to get Curly off of him.

Meanwhile, Rhonda was swatting away at a guard with one of her luxurious Oriental fans. "Get away from me, you cretin!" Harold looked over and saw another guard sneaking up behind her. He immediately ran and shoved the other guard away. Rhonda turned around, somewhat oblivious to what just happened. She saw the guard on the ground and Harold's fists clenched. She smiled at him. "Not bad for a goof-ball," she smirked. Harold smiled back at her before running to fight off more guards.

"No! You. Won't. Be. Hurting. Any. More. Children!" Mr. Simmons spoke each word the same time he hit a guard with his disposable camera and charged after another guard.

"My good sir, may I have one of those things?" Principal Wartz asked a Green Eye member. He was referring to a weapon. The man raised an eyebrow, but gave him a spear. Principal Wartz held it above his head and shouted, "TIME TO SALSA!" He then turned to the Green Eye member. "I've always wanted to say that!" He ran off and charged after a guard.

Eugene was standing still, hoping no one would get him. He turned around when he heard a scream. Lila had just been grabbed by a guard and was getting pulled away to the brush of the jungle. Eugene gulped and suddenly felt very brave.

"HEY, MISTER!" he yelled.

The guard turned around and glared at him for a moment, before grinning. He let go of Lila and she fell to the ground.

"Eugene, be careful!" she shouted.

Eugene put his fists up and started to jump around the guard. "You want her? You have to get through me first!" The guard turned around and around, and tried to keep up with Eugene's quick movements. Eugene kept getting inching farther into the edge of the jungle. As soon as the guard saw a chance, he made a leap for Eugene.

Eugene whimpered, but had his fists ready. The guard jumped at Eugene and they both fell to the ground with a loud and hard thud. CRACK!

Eugene squirmed around at first, trying to get his hands free from under the guard's heavy body. Immediately, he felt something was off. The guard was not moving. Lila came over to help.

"I'm okay!" Eugene grunted. He was having a hard time breathing fully under the guard's weight. He looked up at Lila. "Uh, what happened?"

"I think he hit his head on this tree," she said. Eugene tilted his head back, and saw a tree three inches from his face.

She helped Eugene get out from under the guard. As soon as he was out, she suddenly hugged him. "Oh, Eugene! You saved me!" she cried. She impulsively gave him a kiss on the cheek.

Eugene blushed and rubbed his cheek. "Uh, no problem," he said, his voice quavering.

~

"Let's go!" Arnold yelled to Helga. He started running to help the first person he saw; Sheena. She had two guards ganging up on her. Before Arnold could reach her, he saw her close her eyes, bracing herself, and kick her leg out as strong as she could. One of the guards fell to the ground in pain, grabbing his groin. He crumpled on the ground unable to move.

"Get up, idiot!" the guard said and kicked his side. While the other guard was distracted, a man Arnold didn't recognize hit the guard with a spear. Arnold saw he was wearing a necklace with a symbol on it. 'A Green Eye!'

Arnold looked around and saw the mess that was happening. His classmates were all over the place. They were fighting together with the Green Eyes. He saw Stinky and Sid run back and forth and yelling. Arnold looked around again and froze.

Arnold's eyes came upon Helga. Her pigtails had come off, so her hair was down. It was messy and one eye was covered. Her bow was barely hanging on her head. He immediately thought of Cecil. All of the feelings he felt on Valentine's Day, and the memories of that night came flooding back to him. He was overcome with a feeling he could only assume was passion and walked over to her on impulse.

Helga had just punched a guard in the face when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She flinched and turned around, ready to throw another punch.

"Oh! CRIMINY! I almost punched you, football-head!" She scrutinized him and became confused with his expression. "What's wrong with you?"

Arnold simply looked in her eyes. He was mesmerized and wondered why he couldn't see it before. "Helga..."

"Oh, what?! Spit it out, football-head!" she said, throwing her hands up in exasperation. She looked around quickly to see if any guards were behind her.

Arnold braced himself and grabbed her shoulders. She immediately tensed up and widened her eyes in shock. She was like a deer caught in headlights as she saw Arnold inch his face towards her own.

"What are yo-" was all she could get out before she felt lips pressing hard against hers. She stayed frozen, unable to think clearly. And then she found herself kissing Arnold back. 'OH MY GOSH! IS THIS REALLY HAPPENING?' she screamed in her head.

"Uhh, am I interrupting?" a voice asked suddenly.

Arnold immediately let her go and stepped back. He turned to see Gerald standing with his arms crossed and shaking his head.

"You're a bold kid, Arnold," he said and tried not to laugh. Helga gulped and ran off. Arnold saw her run to Phoebe and help her fight off a guard.

"It's about time you're here, man!" Gerald laughed. Arnold was blushing furiously while Gerald rolled his eyes at his best friend.

"So, what happened?" Arnold asked, clearing his throat.

"It's kind of a long story. And I should be asking you the same thing," he smirked.

Their conversation was broken when a guard stomped over to them. Arnold and Gerald shared a knowing look before turning back to the guard. As he got closer, Arnold and Gerald ran towards him and both punched him in the face. He fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Whoa, I guess we don't know our own strength!" Gerald yelled. They both laughed and did their handshake. "By the way," Gerald continued, "your parents are here."

~

Elsewhere, Miles and Stella were fighting off guards left and right. They were the main target, and despite their looks, they still had a lot of their strength.

"Miles, do you see him?!" Stella screamed anxiously. She looked around desperately. They had their backs to each other and were fighting off guards while looking for Arnold.

"Not yet!" he grunted as he threw a left hook to a guard. Green Eye members also surrounded them, fighting off more guards coming for them.

Stella looked around again and she saw two boys throw a punch to a guard. One of the boys had his back to her. He had black hair that looked to be very frizzy and was flattened. Behind him, all she was blond spiky hair. She tried to move around at an angle to get a better look at the other boy. As the guard fell to the ground, she saw the two boys do a handshake. Then, she saw the blond boy had a foot-ball shaped head.

She gasped so loudly, a few members of the Green Eyes turned around in concern. "MILES!" she screamed. "MILES! IT'S HIM!" she pointed frantically.

Miles moved his eyes to the direction she was pointing. He saw the football-headed boy talking with the black-haired boy and his eyes grew wide. Miles' breathing sped up and he instinctively started to move toward the blond boy. He saw the boy start to look around frantically. Stella joined Miles as he made his way to the blond boy.

"ARNOLD!" they called.

Arnold turned to the sound of his name. As soon as they made eye contact, everything froze. No one was fighting, no one screaming, no one else was even there. It was just Miles, Stella, and finally, their son. For a moment, he was taken aback by their appearance. He looked at their faces and tried to think of who they could be. He looked at their wrinkles and the emaciated faces. He squinted hard and suddenly, it hit him. "Mom? Dad?" he whispered.

Hesitantly, Arnold started to walk forward. Miles and Stella matched the movement slowly. As they moved towards each other, they started to pick up their pace. Each step grew more with anticipation and speed. Stella and Miles ran as fast as she could to Arnold. Tears were forming in all of their eyes until, at last, they were holding each other. Arnold's arms reached Stella first. He swung his arms around her and he felt hers and Miles wrap tightly around him. They all fell to the ground on their knees and cried. Arnold quickly tried to soak up as much as he could; his mother's soft skin, Mile's voice, their smell.

"Oh, my little boy!" Stella sobbed as she cradled Arnold's head into her and Miles' chest.

Arnold looked up and through tear-blurred eyes, took a look at his parents. They were exactly as he saw in his picture of them, yet they were almost unrecognizable. Stella smiled through her tears and caressed her son's face. Miles ruffled his son's hair. They both hugged him again and said many 'I love you's and gave him enough kisses to make up for lost time.

Their moment was suddenly broken when Francis who, in a fit of rage, grabbed Arnold by his arm and shoved him away from them. The two became entangled in a fight as Arnold tried to break free and reached for his parents.

"HEY!" a loud voice growled menacingly from behind them. Francis turned around with a scowl ready to throw a punch, but quickly widened his eyes as he saw who was speaking to him. "Get away from my son," Miles yelled as he sucker-punched him, knocking him out.