Hi everyone! I am so sorry for not posting another chapter last Thursday. I was really busy during these last few weeks. But, never fare, here it is! I will try to post another chapter this coming Thursday
Responses to reviews:
Cre8ivelybankrupt87: lol yup. As for the ambiguity, I'm not sure how it will play out.
Yeah, they do. Given how sad and depressing most of the story has been, I wanted to add a little bit of comedy. Plus I also wanted to actually demonstrate how far Rodrigo's and Rhonda's relationship had developed over the year. I now regret now making any more chapters on Rodrigo and Rhonda in 'Helga's Transference' to show how their relationship develops.
Veganmama:
Thank you! Yes, I didn't want to spill the whole beans in my other stories about Arnold's feelings. I wanted to provide enough information for the reader to understand him, but not enough for him to see that there is more to the story than what I was writing about.
Well if Helga manages to get a grip, then yes, both she and Arnold will have their closure.
Lol, yeah I think Crea8ivelybankrup87 is really rooting for a Rhondrigo. Hm, interesting about Roddy proposing a Plan B if they don't manage to save the neighbourhood.
At the boarding house...
Rhonda and Rodrigo got back just in the nick of time. Everyone else had just arrived at the boarding house. Rodrigo had earlier texted Arnold, Gerald and Helga, saying that he and Rhonda were on their way back, to which Arnold responded that their friends were just arriving. Once the limousine arrived, the two teens quickly got off and ran right upstairs, wasting no time.
"We're here!" Rodrigo exclaimed as he and Rhonda burst into the room. "Sorry we're late."
"It's okay." Arnold said. "Almost everyone just arrived."
"Almost?" Rodrigo asked.
"Ya. Curly isn't here yet." Gerald said. "Did he say anything to you?"
"No, he didn't." Rodrigo said. "Actually, he never responded."
"Well, I think we should get on with this without Curly." Gerald remarked. "Because we uh, we got a bit of a-"
"Problem." Helga finished his sentence.
"What problem?" Rodrigo asked.
The trio said nothing and merely pointed to where their friends were. When Rodrigo looked at them, to his dismay, he realized just how much the damage he and Arnold had caused to the entire group. The group was still split, literally. Although it seemed that Harold and Patty managed to patch things up, the rest of them still had a sense of doubt and mistrust, enough for them to quite literally stick to their two separate groups.
"Oh man." Rodrigo groaned, looking both disappointed and guilty.
"Yeah." Arnold said back, also looking guilty. "We really need to fix this."
"And we will." Rodrigo said. "Alright, let's get this started." He continued as he and Arnold then got into position to address everyone.
"HEY!" Helga then suddenly yelled, prompting everyone to go quiet and look at her. "Pipe down! The two alpha Neanderthals are ready to speak to you."
"…Thanks Helga." Rodrigo embarrassingly and sarcastically groaned.
Arnold too felt embarrassed for her remark and just frowned at her.
Everyone then turned to face Rodrigo and Arnold and it was quite clear that no one was happy to see them. Still upset over what happened, the two groups just frowned at them as they impatiently waited for them to say something.
"Right. Thank you all for coming again..." Arnold began to nervously say.
"So what's the big emergency that you guys forced us to come over for?" Before Sid then interrupted and asked with his arms crossed. "Make it quick. Thanks to you two, I have a lot of packing to still do."
"Me too." Stinky then added.
"Same here." Park said.
"Yeah hurry up and talk." Harold then interjected, followed by practically everyone else who started raising their voices at the two male teens.
"It's both your fault that we're in this mess!" Patty angrily exclaimed.
"This is such a waste of time." Peapod Kid annoyingly exclaimed.
"Why did you even call us?" Sid spoke again. "We're not falling for either of your 'leadership' talks again!"
"Hey, whoa now! Come on you guys!" Gerald then stepped forward in front of everyone. "Guys, we didn't bring everyone here to fight and we are certainly not going to resume to fighting each other again. We asked everyone to come because both Arnold and Rodrigo have something to say."
Gerald then stepped back to allow both male teens to speak. Everyone then impatiently waited again for either of them to start talking.
"Wait!" Arnold then said. "We need to call Eugene and do a video call. He needs to listen to this."
"Oh, right." Gerald said as he then started dialing Eugene's cell and sent him a video call request. After a few rings,
"Hello?" Eugene answered with a still weak voice as the video popped up, revealing him and everyone to him.
"Eugene, it's Gerald. How are you feeling?" He asked him.
"Hey Gerald. A bit better than yesterday." Eugene weakly said.
"That's good. Listen, we got everyone together because Arnold and Rodrigo have something to say and we wanted you to also hear them." Gerald said to him.
"Oh? About what?" Eugene asked.
"You'll see." Gerald said as he then turned around and put his cell in front of Arnold and Rodrigo, allowing the injured teen to see them.
"Hey guys." Eugene weakly greeted Arnold and Rodrigo.
"Hey Eugene." Both teens responded.
"So, what did you have to say to everyone?" He asked them.
Both Arnold and Rodrigo looked at each other and then looked at everyone before responding.
"We're sorry. We were both wrong." Both Arnold and Rodrigo simultaneously said to everyone, surprising each other and everyone else.
"Sorry Arnold, you go first." Rodrigo then said to Arnold.
"No Rodrigo, you go first." Arnold then said to him.
"You've known them longer than I have. It's your floor." Rodrigo insisted and then stepped back a bit, forcing Arnold into the stoplight.
Arnold then gazed upon everyone for a bit before starting. He cleared his throat and with a soft but genuine tone, began to talk.
"Look guys," he said to everyone, "it's like what Rodrigo and I just said. I'm really sorry about all of this. I never meant for things to go this far. I was wrong for being so condescending; thinking that you needed me to protect you, as if everyone were still kids. You're not. I was just so fixated on the past that I let it blind me from seeing how much all of you have changed. None of you are the same person as you were when I left. All of you have not only changed, but matured. I guess I was just kind of...lost within all of this. I guess you could say I lost my way and instead of trying to figure things out as I normally would do, with reason and clarity, I just panicked and grabbed whatever familiar thing I found and desperately hanged on to it."
Arnold stopped for a second to take a deep breath and then exhaled.
"The thing is, after being away for so long, I started thinking a lot about what you guys meant to me. Believe me when I say this that I really missed everyone, so much so that I became homesick. I know some, if not all of you, have some suspicions as to why I just suddenly came to visit everyone this summer. So, I want to make this clear; I didn't just come back to get together with Helga. I came back to see everyone and I mean everyone. Gerald, Phoebe, Stinky, Sid, Patty, Harold, Helga, Lorenzo, Peapod Kid, Brainy, Park, Sheena, Nadine, Rhonda, Lila, Eugene. Even Rodrigo. Why now? Because I finally realized what all of you guys mean to me. I wasn't able to find the right word for it, until Eugene described what I was feeling perfectly; family. All of you guys are like family to me. That's why I came back."
That word, 'family', sent shock waves throughout the entire room. Even Helga was stunned and completely taken aback, which caused her to tense up. Everything made so much more sense to everyone now as it better explained why Arnold acted the way he did. All this time, everyone thought he was being utterly condescending and selfish when in fact, while there was some truth to that, he was mostly acting out of genuine concern and worry for his friends.
"I wish I could say I didn't use that as an excuse to behave the way I did, but I did. I let it get the better of me and all it did was hurt the very people I was trying to look out for." Arnold continued with a guilty tone and facial expression. "So anyways, that's what I wanted to say to everyone. I'm really sorry for being the cause of splintering this group apart like this. I just hope with time, everyone can forgive me."
Arnold then stepped back a bit to allow Rodrigo to step forward and address. Rodrigo did step forward and quite nervously, took off his fedora hat and held it in his hands, nervously playing with it.
"Hey guys," he began, "I'm really sorry too for the way I acted. I never meant for things to go this far."
When his friends said nothing and just continued to stare at him, with less of an angry stare this time around, he continued.
"Look, I have a confession to make. This whole thing for me started some months back, when I hijacked the Mitigators for my own personal use and for exposing Caesar the way that I did. I know some of you are still angry at me because of that and as I said before, I understand why. But, you guys have to understand that the way I was treated by most of you after I got out of the hospital, that wasn't cool. It's one thing if you guys are angry at me and didn't want to talk to me for a few days, but it's another thing if you guys did nothing but scorn and scoff at me repeatedly. This wasn't something that happened one or a few times, nor was it just one or two people who was doing it. I'm not going to name any names, but I will say it was a good chunk of everyone here. And this backlash went on without end. You guys saw me how badly beaten I was at the park, you guys knew I spent a week in the hospital recovering and you definitely saw me bandaged, had to use crutches and couldn't even eat solid foods for a while. Yes, I know I am at fault for that, but I thought the injuries I suffered was punishment enough. I know you guys were mad and although I did expect some backlash, I never expected it to be that severe. What you guys did was essentially just overkill."
Everyone said nothing and just looked at him with surprising looks. Rodrigo noticed this and was equally surprised.
"You guys didn't know?" Rodrigo asked, to which everyone simply shook their heads.
"I had no idea everyone else was doing it." Nadine said. "I thought it was only me."
"Yeah, me too." Everyone else then muttered in agreement and looked at each other in surprise and asked each other if anyone else was also involved in this overkill. To their dismay, most acknowledged it.
In the time since Rodrigo was released from the hospital, the group never collectively made their anger and resentment known to him. Most of them did it individually, or just quietly without the group's knowledge. Aside from a few public remarks here and there, the group never realized that around half of them were giving Rodrigo the cold shoulder.
"Why didn't you say anything?" Sheena then asked Rodrigo. "If you knew a lot of us were taking it out on you and if it was really bothering you, how come you didn't say anything to us?"
"I never said anything because I thought you guys were doing it on purpose. That and because I felt I kind of deserved it, but I also hoped it would soon stop." Rodrigo continued. "But when it didn't, I ended up getting angry and resentful towards everyone, which only made things worse. Actually, things got so bad that I even considered leaving the group all together. Based on how angry you all were, I figured that if I didn't leave, you guys were going to kick me out anyways."
Again, the news took everyone by surprise and instantly began to feel regret and guilt. Even Arnold was surprised by this and also started feeling bad about what he said to him. As he himself knew, he only added fuel to the fire.
"When we were here," Rodrigo continued, "on the night when we split up and Arnold told me that was I was no hero, for me, that was when I reached my absolute limit. That was it. I could no longer take it. It was one thing for you guys to do it, but there was no way I was going to tolerate it coming from Arnold. I don't know why his opinion of me mattered so much. I guess it's because you guys have always highly valued him, so I guess it meant a lot coming from him. That's why I violently launched myself at him on that day. I just got so angry about everyone looking down on me, like I was the culprit, that I nearly took all of my anger out on him."
"Anyways, the reason why I am telling everyone this this is because I realized this whole issue with the Mitigators ended up spilling over to us trying to save the neighbourhood. The group didn't split up just because we didn't like each other's plan. A lot of it was based on mistrust, suspicion and resentment that had been building up for some time and I know that a lot of it was my fault." Rodrigo continued.
"I never did apologize to everyone for hijacking the Mitigators like that, mostly because I never took into consideration how everyone really felt about it." Rodrigo said. "I thought you guys were just being immature and selfish. But, it turns out it was I who was being selfish. So, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for doing that, sidelining everyone and for being an insensitive jerk when you guys began to complain about it. I previously said that the reason why I didn't want anyone involved in the Mitigators was to ensure that no one got hurt. Like Arnold, I was trying to watch out for everyone. But, all I achieved was allowing it to become a self-fulfilling that prophecy. So again, I'm sorry guys."
When Rodrigo finished, he just stepped back a bit in order to allow Arnold have the floor again.
"Look guys," Arnold began to speak again, "this right here," he said as he pointed to the space that was between the two groups, "this isn't us. This isn't who we are. That space should not be there. Rodrigo and I pretty much share the blame for that space, but I'm asking everyone here to please not continue to feed it. Let that space die. Don't allow this whole group to suffer because of our mistake."
"We managed to resolve our differences." Rodrigo then interjected. "We are asking everyone to do the same; to be better than this."
The two groups then began to look each other as each of them thought about everything that they had just heard. This was a lot to take in to say the least. Everyone looked at each other with a both sense of curiosity, nervous and still mistrust. No one really knew what the other was thinking, nor were each of them sure if they should give it a go. The few that did, were not willing to take the initiative. Then, everyone started looking at both Rodrigo and Arnold, who were still standing in front of them, together. It's true, by the looks of it, it did seem that they managed to resolve their differences. Two days ago they were virtually at each other's throats. Now, they are at least tolerating each other. Although that was a bit encouraging, it wasn't enough for anyone to be the first to bury the hatchet. Then they saw Harold and Patty who, right from the start, had been standing side by side, holding hands. Although they never really broke up, it was clear that the split did caused some serious tension between them, but despite it all, they managed to pull it through. Then they looked at both Rhonda and Nadine and were taken by surprise by what everyone saw. The second Rhonda stepped inside the room, she went straight to see Nadine and after happily greeting each other, began conversing. Although the two groups initially didn't see it, they became surprised when they glanced at them, talking, as if nothing had happened. It then became clear to everyone what happened; they reconciled.
"I forgive you." Eugene then suddenly said to both Arnold and Rodrigo, getting everyone's attention.
"We're really sorry Eugene." Rodrigo said to him with a genuine guilty facial expression. "This never would have happened to you if we didn't make things so personal between us."
"You too Nadine, we're really sorry." Arnold then said to her.
"It's okay, you guys." Eugene said with a weak, but genuine positive tone. "It's not the first time I've been injured and I seriously doubt it'll be the last. I'm just glad that you both managed to reconcile."
Again, there was a slight, silent pause throughout the room. Just then, Nadine suddenly began to limp her way towards to both Arnold and Rodrigo. Everyone glanced as her. Arnold and Rodrigo were especially getting a bit tense as she approached them. Nadine showed no emotions on her face and just continued to limp; no smile, no frown. The two male teens weren't sure what she was going to say to them or do. Was she going to forgive them? Was she going to scoff them? Or, inspired by Helga, was she just going to slap them? Probably the latter.
As soon as she was close enough to them, she stopped and just looked at both teens. Again, no explicit emotion was showing on her face, other than a stern facial one, causing the two male teens to become a bit nervous. Everyone else just held their breath. Then, Nadine let out a sigh and then extended her hand at Rodrigo.
"I'm sorry too, Rodrigo." Nadine finally said to him. "I didn't know our criticism was affecting you that much."
Taken a bit back by her sudden apology, it took Rodrigo a while to respond.
"It's okay." He finally said as he shook her hand.
Just then, Lorenzo, who had been awfully quiet and having his own stern face, then began to approach Gerald. The African American teen noticed him approaching and turned to face him.
"I'm sorry Gerald for our scuffle inside City Hall." He said to him and extended his hand.
"No worries, man. I'm sorry too." Gerald responded and with a smile, shook his hand. Lorenzo then smiled too.
Stirred on by Eugene, Nadine and Lorenzo, soon, one by one, people began to approach Arnold and Rodrigo, extended their hand and apologized to them. They then approached everyone else and offered their apology. The sense of mistrust and suspicions began to evaporate and gave way for warm smiles and a growing atmosphere of reconciliation and forgiveness. Everyone then became intermingled as each person sought out everyone else and apologized for their behaviour, shaking hands and/or patting each other on the back, much to Rodrigo's and Arnold's delight and relief.
Stinky and Sid walked to where Harold was.
"Hey Harold." Sid softly and guiltfully said to him, getting his attention. "We're really sorry for roughing you up back at the alleyway like that."
"Yeah, we're sorry Harold." Stinky also said.
"It's okay guys." Harold sympathetically said. "Sorry for busting your nose, Stinky. I didn't mean to do it. It was an accident."
"Don't sweat it Harold." Stinky said. "My nose is tougher than it looks."
The three long time friends, warmed and touched that everyone was forgiving each other, leaned forward and embraced each other in hugs. However, they then immediately separated from each other.
"Right right, that's enough." Sid said as he quickly adjusted himself. "The girls are watching."
"Yeah. Almost got awkward there." Harold said as he also adjusted himself.
However, there was still one more person that he needed to say sorry to, more so than anyone. Seeing the person, he began to walk toward him.
While Rodrigo was busy talking to Lila, he felt someone tapping his shoulder. When he turned around, he saw Harold right in front of him.
"Hey." Rodrigo calmly said to him.
Harold looked at him with a sense of guilt that was explicit all over his face.
"Listen man," He guiltily said to him, "I'm really sorry for being so hard on you. I didn't know you took it that bad. You're always so...strong and brave. I just thought you simply brushed it off. Anyways, ya sorry about that. I never meant to push you up to that point that you thought about leaving the group."
Rodrigo said nothing and merely gave him a friendly smile and extended his hand. Harold, upon seeing it, began to smile back at him and shook it.
"Still think I corrupted your girlfriend?" Rodrigo asked him.
"Nah, I never believed you did." Harold sheepishly admitted. "It was just easier that way; to blame and be angry at you rather than be angry at her. I know you never really did that."
"It's okay." Rodrigo said. "I kind of did deserve it; your anger I mean."
"No, you didn't." Harold countered. "You spend an entire week at the hospital. That was enough."
Harold then began to get teary and emotional over everyone saying sorry and reconciling. Suddenly, he then launched himself at Rodrigo and hugged him, completely surprising the Latino kid.
"I'm so sorry, man." He said tearfully as he tightly squeezed him. "Really, I am."
"Thanks Harold but,...can't...breathe..." Rodrigo barely managed to gasp those words.
"Oh, sorry about that." Harold said nervously as he then let him go, allowing Rodrigo to breathe.
"I got a bit carried away." He shyly said again.
"Its...cool." Rodrigo gasped, still trying to get some air. "No...worries. Patty, we good?"
"Ya, we are." Patty said with a smile.
While Harold was apologizing to Rodrigo, Arnold approached Rhonda.
"Hey, Rhonda?" Arnold said to her.
"Yes?" She said.
"I just want to say, that I'm really sorry for putting you and Nadine in that position." Arnold said. "You were right; it was my fault for what happened to Nadine. I should have stopped all of this earlier. I just want you to know that the guilt is all on me. Not on you. I just hope you can forgive me."
Rhonda initially looked at him unsympathetically with her arms crossed, but given how forgiving everyone has been and considering this was Arnold, there was no way she could hold any lasting grudge against him.
"It's okay, Arnold." She finally said to him. "I forgive you. I'm sorry for yelling at you and if my words were a bit harsh."
Arnold just shook his head. "You had every reason to be upset with me." He said to her. "I forced Nadine to put her friendship with you on the side, something I never should allowed to happen. Friendship means the world to me, but I was too selfish to realize what I was doing."
"It's okay, Arnold." She again said to him. "You need not be so hard on yourself. How many times have we done or said hurtful things to others or to you and yet, you still forgave us? And besides, I also accept responsibility for my part on siding with Rodrigo and for pushing Nadine off of that fence. It wasn't all just you two. It was all of us. So, I'm sorry too, for my part." She continued with a smile.
Arnold also smiled back.
"There's also something else that I want to apologize for." He said. "It's a bit late, but I don't think it's too late."
"Apologize for what?" She asked him.
"I'm sorry for never including you to help us save the neighbourhood seven years ago." He said.
"Oh." She said to him, stunned.
"I never meant to sideline you like that." He continued. "I wish I could say I have a reason why I never asked for your help, but I don't. I just sort of relied on Gerald, like I always do. That doesn't mean I thought you wouldn't have helped us. It's just that, I've always done things with Gerald and it was sort of an automatic thing. I never even approached Helga to help us. She did that on her own. Anyways, I'm sorry for sidelining you like that. I never meant to hurt you."
Rhonda said nothing and merely rubbed her arm, feeling a bit...disappointed. She thought he had some sort of good reason why he didn't include the rest of his friends, but it was unfortunate that he didn't. Rhonda now just had to accept that fact that the thought of Arnold asking her, or anyone else for help just never occurred to him.
"It's okay." Rhonda said with a weak smile. "You don't need to apologize about that. You did what you felt you had to do. If anything, I should taken the initiative and just approached you and offered my help. It wasn't your fault. In the end, you did save the neighbourhood, and that's good enough for me. Besides, with everything that has happened, it was probably best if you didn't include the rest of us the first time around." She giggled a bit.
"Yeah, I guess." Arnold said with a nervous chuckle.
Both teens then smiled at each other for a bit before then leaning in and hugged each other, finally reconciling.
Among those who offered their apology to the opposite camp was Phoebe. But, she then stopped short when she realized that she only had Rodrigo left to reconcile. She waited for a bit until Rodrigo was done talking to Harold. Once Harold then moved on to talk to Arnold, there was only one thing left. Feeling guilty and remorseful for what she said to him a few months back, she nervously approached him.
"Um, Rodrigo?" She shyly said to him, prompting Rodrigo to turn around.
"Hey." He gently said to him.
But, Phoebe couldn't get a word out. She couldn't even bare to look at him, much was the amount of guilt that she was feeling. Rodrigo noticed this and wanting to ease things, extended his hand.
"I'm sorry." He said to her.
Upon seeing this, that gave Phoebe enough strength to look up and with a gentle smile, gently leaned towards him and gave him a hug, surprising him.
"No, I'm sorry Rodrigo." Phoebe said to him. "You've done so many good things for everyone that I blindly overlooked them. I'm sorry about what I said to you. I hope you can forgive me."
"I do." He said to her as he hugged her back.
They then let go and noticed that Gerald was looking at them.
"What? Jealous?" Rodrigo asked him with a smirk.
"Hm, not really." He shrugged. "I'm not really the jealous type. But, you might want to watch out for someone who is." He continued as he pointed to the person who was behind Rodrigo and Phoebe.
When both teens turned around, they saw Helga right behind them, staring at them with a stern, if not frowning face.
"Pheebs, can I talk to you for a second?" She bluntly asked her.
"Sure Helga." Phoebe calmly responded and both went somewhere where they can talk.
"Please tell me Helga did not get jealous over you hugging Phoebe." Gerald said a bit worryingly.
"Nah. I think she wants to talk to her about something else." Rodrigo reassured him.
Just then, Rhonda approached Rodrigo.
"Thank you, Rodrigo." Rhonda said to him.
"No problem." He said back. "So, does that mean you forgive me?"
"No, not yet." Rhonda remarked. "But, it's a start."
"Really?" Rodrigo annoyingly exclaimed. "After that speech I made, you still can't forgive me?"
"As I said, your speech is a start." Rhonda said again.
"Sheesh, you're almost as bad as Helga when holding a grudge." He remarked as he rolled his eyes.
Once they were some distance away from the group, Helga's usual stern face then gave way to a rather sad, guilty look.
"Listen Pheebs," she began to say, "about what I said to everyone two nights ago, I'm sorry if I was being a bit too...blunt with you. I hope you weren't too upset-"
"Helga," Phoebe suddenly interjected, even raising her hand up to indicate to Helga to stop talking. "You have nothing apologize about that." She said to her. "You were right all along and we needed someone's...let us say, 'brutal honesty'? Even though it hurt a bit, it was necessary. If anything, I should be thanking you for talking some sense to not just Arnold and Rodrigo, but everyone, including me. Look at what you did." She continued as she pointed to everyone who by now, had become one group again.
"Thanks to you, the whole group is back together again. This is all you." She continued with a smile. "Thank you, Helga."
Helga's guilty and sad look then gave way for a rather pleasant, small smile. They then leaned in and gave each other a hug, reconciling.
*BANG!*
Suddenly and without warming, the door swiftly swung open, startling Helga and Phoebe who were closest to the door and prompting everyone else to turn around.
"Ooohhh man. Excuse my tardiness." Curly exclaimed as he came running in with his usual, eccentric entrance. "What did I miss?"
"Finally you showed up." Rodrigo remarked at him with a frown.
"Well, you missed practically everything, Curly." Arnold said to him. "We couldn't wait for you."
"Oh good. I missed the boring part." Curly remarked dismissively.
"Where were you?" Rodrigo demanded. "I texted you a while back and never got a response back."
"Hey! Don't get sassy with me, Roddy." Curly retorted back at him. "What I do in my spare time is no one's business. And besides, there was no point in me coming here on time. I'm not the one you should be apologizing to."
"How'd did you know that's why we were meeting up?" Gerald asked.
"Pfft, it's pretty obvious." Curly said dismissively. "I figured you guys were either A) going to end up killing each other, or B) get all mushy and reconcile. Since everyone is still standing, I'm assuming you guys did the latter."
"I see." Rodrigo said.
"So, if you guys are done re-enacting Captain America: Civil War," Curly continued, "I'd say it's now time we focus on the real price."
"You still want to help?" Gerald asked.
"Duh!" Curly said. "I used to live here, you know. Got some good memories here growing up. That, and also of my time with my sugar." He said as he then gave Rhonda a flirtatiously wink.
"I am not you're sugar!" Rhonda angrily yelled at him.
"Pfft! Well, not with that attitude." Curly remarked back.
"I'm serious, Curly." Rhonda retorted as she angrily approached him. "When are you going to get it inside your thick skull that I don't like you. I never liked you! And I never will, you twisted little freak!"
*gasp* "My heart!" Curly then dramatically said. "Oh Rhonda, how could you?! Such strong, stabbing words, right into the essence of my being!" Curly, in his drama, then looked at Rhonda with teary faces and with a broken voice said, "I loved you more than life itself. I was was going to give you a gift, a beautiful, spectacular, rivaled only by your beauty."
"Oh really?" Rhonda asked while rolling her eyes, not at all impressed. "And what gift was that?"
"The neighbourhood." He declared. "I would have given you what you so long sought; the safety and the continued exist of this peaceful, downtrodden, but unfathomably cherished place."
Everyone then gasped and looked at him with wide, stunned eyes.
"What are you saying, Curly?" Arnold asked. "Did you managed to stop Von Scheck?"
"What? No!" Curly exclaimed, removing his dramatic tone and voice. "I meant that I'm going to give her that gift; when we stop Von Scheck."
Everyone then just groaned and grunted in disappointment.
"Figures." Rhonda said as she rolled her eyes.
"But after Rhonda's feisty, yet rude and hurtful comments," Curly dramatically continued, "I can see that I am not wanted here."
"Curly, I'll be more than happy to show the door; by throwing you out of it if you don't cut the drama and stop wasting everyone's time!" Helga then suddenly and angrily yelled are him.
"Whoa, what climbed up your pants?" Curly remarked.
"She's right though." Rodrigo back Helga up. "Are you gonna help or not?"
"Sheesh, and I thought Rhonda can be feisty." Curly remarked as he rolled his eyes. "Alright, alright I'll help."
"Good. And, thanks." Rodrigo said with a bit of a smile.
"Ugh, that's just great." Rhonda complained. "Just when everyone got back together and I thought nothing could go more wrong today, you managed to come crawling back."
"Oh save your whining for someone who cares." Curly then suddenly and surprising retorted back at Rhonda.
"Excuse me?" Rhonda said, clearly shocked by Curly's sudden remark.
"You don't need to worry about me bothering you. I'm over you. Have been for a while now." He said to her.
The news shocked everyone. Curly had been obsessed with Rhonda since the fourth grade and until his departure after the eighth grade, had never ceased in his attempt to woo her. Even Rodrigo knew of this was just as shocked as everyone else.
"Hahahahahaha!"
Well, almost everyone.
"Hahahahaha, ya right Curly. You? Over me? Hahahahahaha! Thank you. You actually made me laugh for once." Rhonda said as she continued to laugh.
Curly however, was not amused.
"Wow, you think so highly of yourself that you can't even consider the possibility that I, Curly, would never get over you? Sounds like you're more infatuated with me that than I am of you." Curly said to her.
"Pfft! As if." Rhonda remarked. "Face it Curly, you have been always been obsessed with me and I seriously doubt you moving would have done anything to melt those sensations away."
"Sure, you keep telling yourself that." Curly said dismissively.
*clears throat* Arnold then cleared his throat to their attention.
"If you guys are done arguing, I think we should finally focus on how to stop Von Scheck." He said with a bit of a serious look.
"Right, right, sure sure." Curly said.
"Wait. You mean you still think we can save our homes?" Sid asked.
"Yes, Sid." Arnold confidently responded. "We still have time and I believe that since we now managed to finally come together as a team, I know we can beat him."
Despite Arnold's enthusiasm, most of the group were a bit weary.
"What's wrong?" Arnold asked, noticing the weariness.
"I believe Arnold," Phoebe incurred, "everyone here is a bit hesitant on getting involved in another Homeric enterprise. The memories of our recent civil war are still fresh in our minds and we, oh how should I put this, lack the full blown capacity to exert ourselves in another attempt, even if it's to save our homes."
"Shot right into the horse' ass." Helga remarked.
"Thank you." Phoebe said with a smile.
Everyone agreed with Phoebe and nodded.
"C'mon guys. We can't give up now." Gerald then exclaimed to everyone. "Think about it. The plans that both Rodrigo and Arnold came up had some merit and would have had some effect on stopping Von Scheck. The only reason why that didn't happen was because we sabotaged each other. Von Scheck practically did nothing to stop us. He didn't need to. We did it all on our own. But now that we managed to come together again, there is a greater chance for us to actually succeed in this and the only person we need to only worry about is Von Scheck, rather than before having to worry about him and the other group."
"Tall-hair boy is right." Helga then said. "I mean look at us. Where else are we going to go? Where else do we want to go? This is our home! This is where we grew up. This is where we went to school and found each other. It's one thing if you choose to move away, but it's completely another thing if someone comes in and tells you that you have to move. Is everyone here willing to let that happen? Is everyone here willing to allow some psychopathic, CEO to come here and tell you what to do? Crimeny, we're teenagers! We don't follow orders; we rebel against them! We don't even listen to our parents, so why should be listen to some corporate swindler?"
Everyone took in what Gerald and Helga just said and feeling a bit reinvigorated, began to frown and nod in agreement.
"I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm not going to stand by and watch that sack of cretin destroy this place. You guys can do what you want; go home and pack with your tails between your legs. But I'm going to fight this, to the bitter end!" She declared.
Everyone then began to chatter and mutter in agreement, now feeling more determined. No one was willing to move and they sure as hell were not going to allow someone just waltz in here and tell them that they have to move.
"So what does everyone say?" Helga then asked. "Are you with us?!
"Yes!" Everyone shouted.
"Are you ready to stand up for your homes, for your livelihoods, for freedom?!" She asked them.
"YES!" Everyone shouted.
"Then by all that is good and sacred in our peaceful neighbourhood, are you ready to leave your own footprint in history by giving Von Scheck a lesson that he and the rest of this city will never forget?!"
"YES!" Everyone shouted in agreement, following by ecstatic cheers and applauds.
Rodrigo and Arnold, while equally ecstatic, stood by the sidelines and watched with amazement how Helga rallied everyone for one final heroic push. Smiling at her energy and resilience, they couldn't be more proud of her, while feeling glad and thankful to have her within their ranks, in their lives actually.
"Alright everyone." Arnold then said. "Let's huddle together and come up with a plan on how to save our homes!"
"Oh, it feels so good seeing everyone back together again." Eugene happily said, who was still on the video call.
"Same here, Eugene." Arnold said to him.
"Well, good luck with everything guys," Eugene then said as he yawned, "but I think I'm going to go now. It's time for my nap."
"You rest easy Eugene." Arnold said.
"And get better soon." Gerald then said.
Everyone then said their goodbyes and waved at him before Eugene waved and with a smile, then hanged up to rest.
Everyone then excitedly and gladly huddled together and began to discuss and prepare. Everything now fell on the shoulders on these brave young few, ready to take on a corporate giant with years of experience in organization, vast political influence, virtually unlimited stock of money and resources, with a CEO whose known for playing dirty. No pressure right? Only time will tell too see who will win this David vs Goliath struggle.
