Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold or any of the characters. Hey Arnold is the property of Nickelodeon and Craig Bartlett.
A Trip Through Time (New Version)
Chapter 5: The Future?!
"Hey...Arnold?..."Andy began.
"Yeah?..."Arnold asked, wondering what the other blonde boy would say.
"Earlier, you said that it was April 15th of the year 2000..."Andy reminded him.
Arnold blinked in confusion before he nodded.
"Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?..."Arnold asked and Andy sighed.
"I'm sorry but…I'm afraid that's not the date today..."He said.
"It's not?..."Arnold asked and Andy shook his head.
"No...it's...it's April 8th…of the year 2025!…" He said slowly, making the four kid's eyes widen.
Wait, WHAT?!
Arnold, Gerald, Helga and Phoebe were stunned by what they just heard but there was someone being skeptical here.
"Wait a minute, are you guys hearing this?! What a load of bologna!..." Helga said, obviously not believing any of this.
The others snapped out of it and they looked confused and unconvinced.
Andy figured that they might have trouble accepting this. So, the young boy sighed before speaking up.
"Look, I get that this is a shock but-..."Andy was cut off when Helga cut him off and started nay-saying again.
"Listen here, Bucko! I don't know what you are trying to sell us but last night it was still the year 2000 and unless we pulled a Rip Van Winkle, 25 years has NOT passed because: A) We would be adults and B)That's crazy!..." Helga said harshly, causing Andy to blink at her harsh tone and hostility.
He figured that she must be upset and stressed out, so he tried to reason with her again.
"Look, I understand if you don't believe me. I don't believe it either but I can prove it…" Andy said as he pointed to the city.
"Just how many of those new buildings were around in the year 2000?…" Andy asked as he pointed to one of the Space Bucks coffee houses that he knew didn't appear until the mid 2000's.
Helga flinched a bit and the others were still confused by that..
"Well...uh...that doesn't automatically mean it's time travel..."Helga tried, still looking unsure.
Andy sighed and tried something else.
"I also have this…" Andy said as he pulled out his cell phone, which earned an interested look from Phoebe.
"What do you have there?..."Phoebe asked, interested in the sophisticated gadget.
"It's my cellphone, the latest model..."Andy said as he showed it to the others.
Now this got Helga's attention.
"Where did you get that thing?..."Helga said as she looked at the phone.
It's way more advanced than the ones her dad, Lorenzo or Princess Rhondaloid have, which are supposed to be "state of the art". But this phone is way more high tech, almost like a small computer.
"My parents gave it to me..."Andy said before deciding to get to the point.
"Look at the manufacturing date…" Andy challenged as he showed it to them.
The three kids saw it and paled when the words said "2025" on the device. Arnold, Gerald, Helga and Phoebe were completely flabbergasted right now.
"N-N-No way!..."A now pale Arnold stammered in disbelief and the others looked just as shocked.
"T-This has to be some kind of trick…I mean…p-people don't just suddenly appear in the future out of nowhere…"Helga said but was obviously shaky now.
She tried to figure this all out, until it suddenly came to her and the others.
"The time portal!?..."The four kids exclaimed in shock as they finally realized what happened.
"I knew it..."Andy sighed as he rubbed his temples.
Kiara, while still stunned herself, sent him a sympathetic look before turning to the other kids.
"So, it IS real?..."She asked.
"Yes, it is..."Andy said, happy that they all finally seemed to believe him.
Now, he had to try and figure things out.
"Okay, now that we got that out of the way, let's start over. My name is Andy and this is my best friend Kiara. We're-..."Andy began but before he could continue, Kiara suddenly placed her hands over his mouth, shutting him up.
"Would you all please excuse us for a moment?..." She said with a forced smile as she suddenly pulled Andy a few yards away to talk in private.
As the girl dragged the boy away, the four accidental time travels could merely look in confusion by her sudden actions.
"What do you suppose that's about..."Gerald asked, getting a strange feeling about the girl.
"She's probably questioning her sanity like I am right now…" Helga said as she dragged her hand down her face… "Criminy! How the heck did we get into this one?!..."She asked out loud.
Meanwhile
With Andy and Kiara
Kiara dragged Andy about 20 feet away from the others, and the blonde boy was getting annoyed.
"What's with you?..." Andy demanded as he pulled his hand away from her grasp.
'Andy, we have a serious problem here!..."Kiara said with concern and her friend rolled his eyes.
"Obviously! We're dealing with actual time travel here..."Andy said in exasperation. "Man, looks like we might have our news story after all..."He joked.
"No jokes! This is serious!..." Kiara scowled.
"I know! I know but we can't just leave them, they're our-..."Andy tried but Kiara cut him off.
"I know, I know! But I don't think you understand something..."Kiara said.
"They need our help!..."Andy pointed out to her.
"I know but it's not just that. We can't let them find out too much about their futures or tell them who we are..."Kiara warned.
"Why not?..."Andy questioned and his friend sent him an even more serious look.
"Haven't you ever seen the movies?! When dealing with time travel, you can't make any changes to the past or you might risk changing the future...usually for the worse..."She explained while her friend sent her a flat look.
"You said that you didn't even believe in time travel five minutes ago..."Andy said as he crossed his arms.
"So, I was wrong! Shut up!..."She grumbled before being more serious.
"I mean it, Andy. This is really dangerous! What if them being here does something bad?! They look like they are our age! What if they find out something they shouldn't? Especially about San Lorenzo, assuming they haven't already gone through that!..."She said with meaning in her voice and Andy's eyes widened at that.
He thought back to what they said and shook his head.
"They haven't...They told me that they came from April of the year 2000, almost over a year before that experience..."He said and Kiara still looked at him seriously.
"I'm worried, Andy. What if something happens that ends up preventing all of that?!..."She whispered seriously, fear and concern evident in her expression.
Andy thought it over and gulped. He knew that she was right.
She's always right.
He hasn't realized that the entire timeline could very well be in danger here, along with many other things that could very well change for the worse if they find out something prematurely. After a moment, the blonde boy calmed down and turned to his intellectual friend, given her a small smile.
"Okay, I get it. Don't worry, nothing bad will happen. I'll make sure of it but either way, we can't just leave them stuck here. We have to help them find a way back to their own time..."He said.
"I know and you're right but the rule is that no matter what, under any circumstances, they cannot know anything about the future. The less they know, the better... although, I think they might notice something..." She considered as she pointed to Arnold.
Andy looked in that direction and realized that she is getting at. The oblong headed boy sighed before turning to her again.
"Maybe we'll be lucky and they won't notice anything..." He said not-so-helpfully.
"I hope... I swear, how do we end up in these situations?..." She asked in exasperation.
"Heck if I know..."He shrugged as he and his friend went to join the other kids.
They knew that this was going to be one heck of a day.
Back with our little time travelers
The four misplaced kids were still in great shock at this entire development, and some of them still had trouble sinking it in as they waited for Andy and Kiara to return.
"The future? Unbelievable!..."Phoebe said, feeling a little faint.
"This is like something out of the Z-Files…" Gerald said as he felt dizzy from this entire revelation.
"The future?…" Arnold said in astonishment, unable to believe what was happening.
He has faced a lot of crazy times in his young life, from dealing with monkey-themed superheroes to reviving Dino Spumoni's career, to even saving his entire neighborhood from an evil CEO with a grudge at one point but it all paled in comparison to this situation.
He couldn't believe that he was in the future and it seems he wasn't the only one still reeling from the shock.
"I still can't believe it! We must be either going crazy or dreaming this entire thing?..." Helga said, in denial now.
"I'm sorry Helga but as impossible as time travel sounds, the evidence is very hard to argue since it's 100% impossible for an entire city to expand so much in less than 24 hours, not to mention the odds of all four of us sharing the exact same hallucination is unlikely. The same going for the dream thing…" Phoebe said in her usual, intellectual kind of way.
"Well, there is only one way to find out…"Helga said as she suddenly pinched herself… "Ow! Well, that theory was a bust…" She grumbled before she suddenly pinched Arnold on the arm.
"Ow! What was that for?!..."The football headed boy asked as he rubbed his arm.
"Just making sure, Football head..." Helga smirked… "Besides, this whole adventure was your idea in the first place…" She said.
"Helga!..."Arnold said in an annoyed tone.
However, before this could continue, Andy and Kiara soon rejoined the misplaced time travelers. Both groups were really nervous but for different reasons.
"Okay, so you guys have traveled through time and need to get back home..."Andy started.
"Doi!..." Helga said in her usual snarky way, trying to hide how nervous she is right now.
"Okay, well, me and Kiara will try and find a way to send you guys back but before you ask, we can't tell you guys anything about this timeline that isn't necessary..." Andy said and the others were surprised by that.
"I'm sorry but it's for the best that you guys don't find out anything that could be crucial..." He explained.
"Crucial?..."Arnold questioned and the others looked curious.
"Yeah, since knowing too much might be dangerous. You might accidentally end up undoing something that was supposed to happen..."Andy said and the group of kids eyes widened at that as Andy continued to talk.
"Okay, so since the fact that you guys are here and have met us...well, this didn't automatically change anything yet, then I guess that it's alright but nothing else..."Andy said seriously.
"Why not?..."Helga demanded.
She really wanted to know what her future was and to see if she either managed to marry Arnold or is destined for a life of heartbreak.
"Because, it's dangerous!..."Kiara explained.
"What do you mean?..."Arnold asked in concern.
"Knowing too much about the future in advance is really risky. You guys being here is already bad enough but if you guys find something important, you might end up undoing it..."He clarified.
"Basically, you guys are risking changing all of time by just being here..." Kiara continued.
"Oh, I get it. It's kind of like in "Back to the future"..."Gerald said.
"What?..."Andy asked in confusion.
"You have never seen that movie?..." Helga asked... "It's a classic time travel flick..."She pointed out.
"Sorry but I don't do retro..."Andy said simply.
"Anyway, back on topic. We will try and help you guys find a way back but first, let's go find a safer spot..."Kiara said before turning to Andy... "I guess this means no movie tonight, Andy..."She sighed.
"Sorry Kiara, maybe next time..." He said to her before turning to the group... "Come on, let's go. I know a great place we can talk..."Andy said as he marched toward the direction of the town with Kiara in tow.
Arnold, Helga, Gerald and Phoebe all followed these two kids who may be their only hope now.
"The future...I still can't believe it..."Arnold said out loud, still reeling from it all.
What he didn't notice is that Helga was looking at him the entire time.
"Me neither…" The blonde girl said in a similar tone but for different reasons before she looked at the boy from the future.
The same one who looks so much like her beloved Arnold.
-To be continued-
Next time on A Trip Through Time (New Version)
Future Hillwood
A/N(1): I hope you all enjoy the latest chapter. I would also like to thank Jay The Average Fanboy for his assistance. You rock :)
A/N(2): If you guys have any ideas or suggestions for this fic, feel free to leave it in a review or PM. I would be happy to consider any ideas you have and will credit you if I end up using your suggestions.
REPLIES to my loyal and totally awesome reviewer:
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