"Dear Arnold,
Science stinks. I mean, why does it matter how things came about as long as they did come about? People have long, drawn out theories about everything, even theories about theories! Why can't we just roll with flow and deal with the cards Mother Nature hands out without studying them so hard? I know if you were here, you'd probably be saying something like 'Even mother nature needs help!' or some environmentalist stuff of that sort. But I mean…"
"Helga!" Phoebe whispered to her best friend from across the lab table that they shared. "Mrs. Sandler is giving you that look again. You'd best put the note away."
Helga sighed, capped her pen, and folded her notebook closed. She leaned forward on her desk, and put her head in her hands, attention fully on the teacher. Mrs. Sandler smiled back, satisfied, and began talking.
"Class," she began as she smiled broadly, snatching up a piece of chalk. "Tomorrow we are going to Elk Island to study all of the elements of its unique habitat." She turned around and wrote "Field Trip: Elk Island, Tomorrow" on the chalkboard in her sharp handwriting.
"Pah-leeze," Helga sighed, looking at Phoebe, "We've been to Elk Island before. Big whoop."
"Helga, I think it is safe to assume that you, as well as the rest of our class, will find the trip interesting. You seem to enjoy a more…" Phoebe paused, as if looking for the correct word, "hands on approach to learning, which I think you'll use to the best of your abilities tomorrow."
Helga rolled her eyes at the comment, but they turned back to the teacher, who was still talking.
"All of my classes will be out all day on this 'adventure'. I've tried my hardest not to put anyone with a person from their same class." Some people groaned, while others cheered.
"Ugh, good. I don't want to be working with him anymore," Rhonda shuddered as she looked at her lab partner, Eugene. He had a neck brace and two broken arms from a freak accident that had happened earlier that same week, involving a coffee maker, salad shooter, and a wad of gum.
Eugene was his usual, chipper self. "Oh, I'm sorry, Rhonda! I didn't know that you didn't like taking notes for me!"
Rhonda grumbled an inaudible response.
Meanwhile, the science teacher was handing out a piece of paper to every student in her class. "On the top of this paper, you'll see your other three group members, and at the bottom, you will see your parent permission form."
Helga read from her own sheet. "I'm partners with Rhonda, Brainy and Curly!" she gasped. "Man, can I get anyone worse?"
Phoebe looked over her papers with an almost sardonic smile. "I'm with Harold."
"Ah, I see, I could have gotten worse." Helga chuckled. "Thanks, Pheebs."
"Harold, Stinky and Sid," Phoebe stated neutrally, looking down at the paper as if she expected the words to change if she so much as blinked.
Laughing, Helga peered over Phoebe's shoulder. "Criminy, you have the worst group possible!" She felt nothing but pity for her best friend. "I feel like I'm working with the dream team now!"
Phoebe sighed, and placed the paper into her purple three ring binder. "I'm sure they will work as hard as they can on the project. I have faith in them..." The bell rang just then, and the other students ran out ahead of the two talking girls.
"Whatever you say, Pheebs. Good luck!" Helga called out, turning the opposite way towards her locker.
The familiar buzz of noise that scraped over the school lunchroom sounded the bells of doom for teachers on cafeteria duty. Nerves pulsing, the unfortunate group of assigned instructors sat in the 'teacher corner' of the cafeteria, exchanging aspirins and classroom woes as they eyed the untamed teenagers over steaming cups of coffee.
Several students waited ruefully in line as a grubby looking cafeteria-lady loaded on the day's special-a questionable, glob of green and brown she called 'Tuna Surprise.' However, this was only a portion of the teenage population that occupied the lunchroom. Many were fortunate enough to pack their own lunch, while few chose starvation over the lunch menu.
Quite a few students from Mrs. Sandler's class sat together, talking about the upcoming "field trip".
"Well, what I don't understand is why we are prohibited from entering those caves," Phoebe said, shrugging as she took a sip of her chocolate milk. "Why has the entrance to the Elk Island caves always been taboo? According to geological reports from the USG's, the caves are perfectly safe in every aspect," she commented, leaning across the table to where the discussion of the project was intensifying.
Sid perked up upon hearing the mention of the caves. "Ah, they're probably afraid we'll run into Meloss or something," he commented, winking at Gerald. Gerald nodded back, and put down his own lunch.
Helga, who did not catch this interchange, asked the question both had been waiting for. "Meloss, huh? What the heck is that, some foreign disease?" she chortled in mockery as she sat at the lunch table.
Gerald took this as his cue. "What? Don't tell me you haven't heard the story of Meloss?" he said, standing up from the lunch table with such a force that he toppled over his chair. The rest of his classmates stared at him in silence, as no one had heard the story before. Gerald smiled and glanced back towards Sid. "Sid, it's time. Lead the way, my man."
Sid took center stage, standing in front of a vacant lunch table with his arms crossed. "The Legend of Meloss; is a legend that has intrigued audiences since the beginning of time - or at least twenty years before we were born. It has been passed from kid generation to kid generation. Now our very own Gerald, Keeper of Urban Legends, will share that story with us. Take it away, Gerald," he said, stepping back and letting his partner captivate their audience.
Gerald, immediately enchanting his audience, used one of the cafeteria chairs to climb to the tabletop, where he stood to tell his tale. "Back in the day, I mean, way back in the day…thousands of years even, before man made his first step on this Earth, there roamed a creature that dominated much in the way that man does today. This reptilian carnivore and those of its species inhabited the Earth in millions, and was the most active predator of many other animals that existed in its time. Then, one day, for no apparent reason, most of the species died out, eventually forcing the active predators into extinction.
"As man began to inhabit the Earth, completing their settlement thousands of years later, it was rumored that perhaps this long-time extinct predecessor of humankind still existed in isolated populations. For years, archaeologists searched for recent fossils of the creature, but the remains were never found and the theory was later dropped. It wasn't until there was an actual sighting in our very own Elk Island caves that scientists begun to take the theory more seriously."
By now, the entire lunchroom was very much enthralled in Gerald's tale. Even the skeptical, among them Helga, did not interrupt as the words passed through his lips fluidly. As Phoebe looked on in adoration, and the rest of the students in admiration, Gerald continued.
"It was on a lonely night that an aimless young man, no older than us, roamed Elk Island after dark. By mere curiosity, the boy wandered into the caves on this night and strolled casually deeper and deeper into the darkness. Finally, when he reached the innermost part of the cave, he began to hear ominous glottal noises. Using a lantern as his sole source of light, he raised it to see a horrifying reptilian creature, standing on its hind legs. It had rough, spiked skin, and a large mouth that could devour a person whole. The boy was able to flee to safety, sharing his account of the dangerous, carnivorous beast with beady eyes and sharp teeth with anyone who would listen. The name Meloss was later coined for this fabled creature.
"Since then, there have been many more isolated sightings of Meloss, though official photographs of this beast are yet to be produced. To this day, though many adventurous types still venture the caves in hopes of discovering him, the caves of Elk Island have been declared unfit for exploration and have been put off limits. Nonetheless, it is rumored that if one is on the island near the caves and is quiet enough…one can hear the terrifying guttural noises of…Meloss. The end."
With that, Gerald ended his legend in a flourish, as he always did, bowing before his audience. His classmates clapped graciously and he took his bow, a moment that was interrupted by one of the lunch supervisors who was standing at the corner of the room. "Hey, kid, get off the table!" she yelled, blowing her whistle at Gerald. He grinned sheepishly and shrugged at the teacher before carefully jumping down from the rickety table.
"Oh, so there's a reptilian carnivore named Meloss, huh?" Helga said, emerging from the crowd with her arms crossed. "I tell you, Gerald, I've heard some pretty bad legends come out of your mouth but this one takes the cake. Criminy, who would actually believe that?" She exclaimed, thus breaking the moment and causing dispersion from the lunch table from which Gerald stood.
Sid leaned over to whisper to Gerald, "I hope Meloss eats her."
His dark skinned friend laughed. "I don't think it would be able to."
"Uh, Miriam..." Helga approached her mom, permission slip in hand. "Can you please sign this crummy paper so I can go on some field trip tomorrow?" She raised an eyebrow as her mother sat down in the middle of the floor, legs crossed and eyes closed.
"Sorry, honey, but not now. I need to," she said as she pulled a book from out behind her and read from it, "take my mind off of all other worldly things and achieve a state of true happiness." Smiling to herself, Miriam took in another deep breath and exhaled.
Helga paused, looking down to read the book's cover. "Yoga for the Unknowing" she read to herself, then shook her head, and walked off. "Maybe BOB can take time off of his intense TV watching to sign a blasted piece of paper," she muttered, walking into the family room. Sure enough, her father was sitting in front of the TV, watching the Wheel.
"'L'! 'L', YOU NIMROD!" he yelled at the television in disgust.
"Um, 'H'?" came the tentative reply from the contestant.
Bob tended to get a bit too involved in his game shows. "YOU IDIOT! Now you won't get the new car!" He slouched forward in his chair, and Helga took this opportunity to approach him.
"Hey, Bob? Can you sign this lousy paper for me?" She held out the permission slip and a pen.
"Oh, huh? Uh, sure, whatever, Olga." he mumbled, grabbing the pen and signing the paper while staring at the screen. "Big Bob Pataki, Beeper King. There you go."
"It's Helga, Dad," Helga said emotionlessly, turning back to the doorway. She was about to leave when an urgent voice broke through the cheesy, game show music.
"We interrupt the current program, 'Wheel of Destiny', for breaking news." the anchorman announced with a painted smile. He looked back down at his papers, then back up at the camera. By this time, Helga was sitting on the ground, next to Bob's chair.
"This had better be good." Big Bob muttered to himself.
"Although reports of a reptilian-like creature living in the caves of Elk Island have been circulating for years, there was no real, documented proof that such a monster could exist. That is, until this morning." The screen changed from the overly perky, news anchor to a snapshot of a rather bulky figure crouching in the shadows. The lighting of the photograph was awful, but spikes and scales were evident as well as a glowing pair of beady eyes. The voice of the news anchor continued speaking over the photograph screen. "The footage you see here is not altered or enhanced in anyway; this is the actual film capture of the fabled 'Meloss' by amateur photographer Don Wilson."
"Why, Rhonda, darling!" Buckley exclaimed, looking at the TV, then back down at the permission slip. "How dreadful! That monster is at the same place your little..." he searched for a proper word, "outing is to be tomorrow. I don't think you should attend."
"Oh, but daddy!" Rhonda gasped. "This project is terribly important! It's worth a good portion of my grade! Please, I'm sure that if it's any threat, our teacher will cancel the trip immediately!"
Buckley looked back at his distressed daughter. "Fine, honey, you've convinced me. Stay safe on the trip, you hear me?"
"Oh, yes, daddy!" she smiled and gave him a small, 'proper' hug.
Reba Hyerdahl gasped, looking at the TV. "How awful!" she drawled. "Why, Elk Island! How can we let you go there tomorrow?"
Kyo put an arm around his worried wife. "I'm sure Phoebe could tell you how highly impossible that tale is, couldn't you, Phoebe?"
Their daughter nodded, though she truly did believe it a bit. After all, Gerald did warn them.
"I'm sure everything will be fine tomorrow," Phoebe said, smiling somewhat, hiding her small measure of doubt. She looked on as her father signed the permission slip. "Domo arigatou gozaimasu," she said, taking the paper, and going back to her room.
The report had finally ended, Big Bob's show coming on at the last minute and making him miss the answers and who the winner was. Ignoring his furious shouting, Helga made her way up the stairs, her hand running over the smooth, wooden rail.
"Meloss." She scoffed midway. "As if any of tall hair boy's tales have ever been true."
When she stepped into the upper hallway and headed to her room, she decided to give a nice tribute to her Arnold shrine to keep her safe, just to be sure…
Some teachers were unpacking equipment, pulling it out of the large number of motorboats. Who knows how they had managed to rent them, considering the school's meager budget. The students were all lined up on the beach that had no sand to speak of, the teachers lined in front of them, and pulling boats high onto the land to avoid any incoming tides taking them away. Mrs. Sandler was the only teacher not doing so; too busy instructing the large body of students.
"Now, everyone, as you should know, the cave is off limits."
"It's because of Meloss, isn't it?" came a shrill voice that Helga could have only guessed to be a panicked Sid. Helga was standing with her so-called group, Phoebe off with hers where the only way she could spot them was from Stinky's height.
The teacher shot him a glare. "All of you should know by now that those are mere rumors and that there is no ancient creature within them. The reason you're not allowed in is because you could easily get lost, trapped, and many other things.
"Now, you all have separate assignments. Stay with your group and meet back here in two hours. The other teachers will be wandering around, chaperoning you. Even if you do not have them for any of your classes, respect them as much as you respect me."
"Which isn't much," Helga muttered, but her comment was ignored. Mrs. Sandler went on for a few more minutes, and eventually wished them luck and sent them off. The groups immediately broke apart, scattering amongst the vegetation.
Rhonda scoffed at the entire trip idea. "I, for one, still think this whole project is positively ludicrous. They expect us to trounce about and possibly get dirty?"
"Criminy, princess," Helga sighed, rolling her eyes and turning to follow the other groups. "I'm sure you'll somehow manage to keep your image up."
"Well, it does come natural to a Lloyd to keep their appearance highly fashionable no matter the circumstance." Rhonda fluffed her hair, following. The two girls disappeared in between the trees, only distinguishable from the slight banter.
Brainy paused, looked at Curly, and then shrugged as he moved to follow the two girls. Curly looked about, considering nabbing a boat and making a run for it, but the thought of getting to stick by Rhonda's side was by far the more overwhelming. "Wait for me, my Queen!" he swooned, and then cackled as he dashed into the trees.
"…" Mrs. Sandler stared after him. "That boy worries me."
"So, what are we supposed to be looking for?" Curly asked, practically clinging to Rhonda's side.
She curled her lip in revulsion, leaning away. "How should I know? Helga's the one with the assignment paper."
Helga frowned over the sheet, trying to read the paper in the dim light that danced between the upper canopies. "I can't remember, something about minerals."
A light fell over the paper and she blinked, looking up to see Brainy holding a pen light for her.
"…Do you carry that wherever you go?"
"Uh…yeah." he wheezed out.
She gave him an odd look. "What for?"
He only shrugged, and then was pushed aside by Rhonda. "Who cares? Now, what's the assignment?"
Helga glared at Rhonda as well as Curly, as they hovered too close for her normal comfort level. "Well, princess, we basically try to find rocks around here and then identify them."
"Rocks? Or minerals?" Curly asked.
Helga gave him a sardonic look. "Minerals, though we might get extra credit for identifying sedimentary types."
"Do we have to dig?" Rhonda's lip curled up again. "If it weren't for the grade, I wouldn't subject myself to such crude matters…"
"I'm sure that you would then leave it for us lesser people to deal with."
"Naturally."
Helga sighed in disgust as they continued to look over the sheet. It wasn't long before another team interrupted them.
"Ooohh…look, it's Helga and her little group," Harold attempted a taunt.
Helga only gave a frustrated sigh, glaring into a sky she couldn't see and not bothering to turn to look at him. "I have no time for you, Harold."
"Yes, go away and do your own project," Rhonda snuffed, waving a hand.
Phoebe stepped forward to try and assuage any arguments that might start. "Actually, Rhonda, our project consists of studying the plant types of Elk Island. More specifically, we are to examine those of the order Filicales…ferns. We were simply looking for subjects of which to make observations and catalogue."
"Yeah, Helga." Harold added on. "What do you have? A bunch of stupid rocks?"
"Yes Harold." she turned to leer at him. "Just like the ones in your head," she snapped, jabbing a finger at his forehead.
"Hey!"
"Enough, Helga," Rhonda stepped between the two, her arms crossed huffily. "I believe my grade is more important than how many insults the two of you can throw at each other."
"I haven't even started," Helga growled, but she took a step back, crossing her arms as well as if to mock Rhonda's stance.
Phoebe sighed a breath of relief.
"Hey, guys!" Sid piped up as he and Stinky made their way through some brush, appearing from seemingly nowhere.
"What's goin' on, fellers?" Stinky drawled, grinning almost as broadly as Sid.
"Nothin'," Harold suddenly snapped, stepping away from Helga's group as if he'd been caught doing something he shouldn't.
"We found us another one of those plants, Phoebe," Sid informed her, his thumb jutted over his shoulder.
Stinky turned back into the plants. "Yeah, come on!" And he disappeared back in between the greens. Sid waved his hand and followed.
Phoebe sighed, looking back and forth between Helga and Harold, knowing what was to come. Deciding an argument was inevitable no matter what she said, she decided that perhaps the best course of action was to hope that Helga would ignore Harold, as she pursued her own assigned project. She followed the other two of her group, thankful that at least they were helping.
The others watched them leave.
"Well?" Helga interrupted the sudden silence.
Harold blinked at her. "Well, what?"
She waved a hand in the direction the other three had gone. "Shouldn't you be following your group?"
Harold thought about it a second. Then slowly, a small smirk began to form on his face. "I don't know…I think maybe I'll go in those caves to look for that creature thing…I heard some of the other groups were going to try."
Rhonda batted Curly away from her, who was suddenly interested in sniffing her hair. "You know perfectly well those dirty old caves are out of bounds."
"Honestly, pink boy. Don't you have any brains?"
"What? Scared?" Harold teased.
Helga scoffed at him. "Hardly. We just have a project to do, and I find my grade more important that proving Gerald's tale to be as tall as his hair."
"I think you're scared." Harold leaned right into Helga's face.
Brainy shifted nervously, not liking where he knew it was going to go. Curly was still trying to attach himself to Rhonda's side. "Get away from me, you freak!" She cried in repugnance.
"No, Harold. I just happen to want to pass this class!"
Curly apparently decided to join in. "We could always study the minerals in the caves."
His only replies were lecherous glares from both females.
Harold went back to smirking at a furious Helga. "Oh come on, Helga. I dare you."
Helga's angry face suddenly melted to one of sarcasm and defiance to defend her pride. "…Fine, Harold, we'll go in. But just to prove that there is no 'Meloss', and that I am not scared of some…legend."
Harold grinned in victory.
"What do you mean we?" Rhonda snapped.
Helga whirled to her. "You heard me."
"There is no way I am going into some smelly, old cave. These are brand new Caprini boots, and they're one of a kind," Rhonda stated, looking down her nose.
"Sure, Princess," snorted Helga. "After all, we wouldn't want you to ruin your nails."
Rhonda looked at her nails and sniffed.
"Think of it," Helga continued, touching an angle she knew Rhonda wouldn't be able to resist. "Proof that the Meloss actually exists. I'll bet Big Bob will have it renamed after him."
"You mean we get to rename it if we find it?" Harold asked. Rhonda wrinkled her nose in distaste.
Helga shrugged, feigning innocence. "Who knows?"
"There is no way the Lloyd Meloss is going to be named after a peasant," Rhonda suddenly said with disdain.
Helga smirked, her own small triumph achieved. "After you, Princess." She then gestured to the mouth of the cave. Rhonda swept by her with her nose in the air.
Helga shook her head. "This oughta be good," she said, and followed Rhonda into the cave.
Brainy and Curly exchanged glances, and then scrambled after them. "Wait for me, my angel!" Curly cried out.
Harold gave a soft snort. Then his face melted to mischievous glee and he went to find his group.
"I am well aware of that," Phoebe muttered under her breath. "In other words, what do you want, Harold?"
Harold looked towards the caves as he saw the figures of Rhonda and Helga disappear into its shadows, and remembered his purpose. "Where's Sid and Stinky?"
"Right behind ya, Harold. We was jus' lookin' 'round the island to see what type of plants there was, and we fell a bit behind," Stinky explained, holding an uprooted premature tree in his hand.
Sid nodded. "Yeah, at least we know which one's the poison ivy this time," he laughed, jabbing Stinky in the shoulder playfully as they both remembered. "So Harold, you bellowed?"
Phoebe then stepped back into the conversation. "Yes, Harold, I believe you wanted to make some sort of proposition concerning our current vegetation study."
Harold scratched his head. "No, actually, I wanted to say something about the project," he admitted.
"Fine Harold," Phoebe sighed in utter exasperation. "Go on."
"What I was going to say is…I think we should move our focus to the caves," Harold said quickly after hesitating. The rest of his group began to protest.
Stinky scratched his head. "Wait a minute fellers, I'm confused. I thought we weren't supposed to be goin' into the caves."
"That's because we're not," Sid confirmed. "Didn't the Legend of Meloss mean anything to you, Harold?" Sid asked, folding his arms. Phoebe, for the moment, was silent as she watched the situation develop.
Harold thought for a while, then said, "Well yeah, but Rhonda's group already made a dare, and they're going in the caves as we speak. I heard them and saw them," Harold said, stretching the truth a little and pointing in the direction of the caves.
Phoebe finally had to exert her authority. "Just because Rhonda's group did something illegal doesn't mean we all have to. If Rhonda jumped off of a bridge…oh, never mind," Phoebe finally relented, as she saw Harold's face contort with confusion. "To be concise, I say we do the right thing and stay out of the caves as we were instructed."
Harold, Stinky and Sid, who had ignored Phoebe up to this point, looked at each other. Harold finally spoke up. "So, once we get into the caves, how are we going to split?" he asked, as the three boys proceeded to walk into the caves, leaving Phoebe alone, maintaining her position.
"Wait guys, come back! Who cares about a stupid dare, don't you want me to get you that 'A' you all wanted so badly on your project? Guys!" Phoebe called out in the loudest voice that she could muster; only in vain as she watched the boys disappear into the caves. Left alone, she had no choice but to follow. "There's not even going to be distinguishable vegetation in there," she complained, after running after the rest of her group in the caves.
"Okay, Princess, you and I go down this one," Helga grunted, flashing the penlight she snagged from Brainy down the passage on the far right. "And Curly, you go with Brainy down that one." She then pointed to the one on the far left, leaving the middle passage alone.
"We're in the cave, isn't it enough, Helga?" Rhonda whined slightly. "I think some mud has already smeared my boots."
"For shame, but psycho-boy," she swung the flashlight to Curly show who she was speaking of, "had a point. We can look for minerals in here and they should be much easier to see."
"Buried treasure!" Curly cackled, whipping a large flashlight from seemingly nowhere and dashing down his designated tunnel. Brainy looked at Rhonda and Helga a moment, shrugged with a small wheeze, and then strolled after Curly.
The two girls exchanged glances, and then Rhonda leapt behind Helga, "You have the light, you go first!" She pointed down the shaft.
"How considerate." she snorted, leading the way.
Several minutes later, Harold's group arrived to where Helga's had split up. They had decided on the same idea, to split into groups of two. Harold shifted a hand into his over shirt, producing flashlights.
"You packed flashlights?" Phoebe asked in disbelief.
"Well, yeah," Harold returned, handing one to Sid.
Sid grinned, flicking it on and off and swinging it about. "Never go to Elk Island without one!"
They had reached the place where Helga's group had split, preparing to do the same. Phoebe still wondered how Harold had hid the two, large, flashlights. The whole adventure seemed absurd to her…but a little exhilarating, though she dare not admit it to them.
Phoebe turned hers on, accidentally flashing it into Harold's eyes.
"Oooow!"
"Harold! I'm sorry!" she cried, putting a hand to her mouth.
Sid stood a little off to the side. "I wonder which tunnels they went down?"
Stinky walked over to him, peering down the same shaft that Sid shined his light down. "Who knows? How's about we go down this one, while you fellers go down the others."
Phoebe sighed. "There are three shafts in all, Stinky. The odds are against us in that we go down the same ones as the others." She shined her own light down the central gallery.
Harold placed a stick of gum in his mouth and stood beside Phoebe. "It is pretty dark…"
"Let's get this over with…" Phoebe sighed, hoping to find Helga and the others and get out of there before the teachers caught them.
Curly was several yards ahead of Brainy, the flashlight swaying this way and that, shining on dull rocky walls, the color of mud with swirls of slate gray.
Brainy sighed between his wheezing; they were going to find nothing down here.
"Ahoy!" Curly suddenly cried, stopping and pointing the light to the floor.
Brainy caught up, a questioning expression on his face as he peered at the floor.
In the soft dirt, a three-toed footprint was heavily imbedded, with a second one to match.
Rhonda kept her pace behind Helga, peering into the pitch black that was barely invaded by the small penlight. The silence, besides their footsteps and soft breathing, was not helping her feel any better.
Clearing her throat, Rhonda strode up next to Helga, picking up with the best topic she knew. "You know, Helga, I've been meaning to speak with you."
"Should I feel honored?" came her sarcastic reply, pausing to scan the floor again as her foot hit a protruding rock.
Rhonda glared at her in the dark, but decided to ignore the remark. "That hat of yours," she pointed at the blue hat Helga wore, her pigtails barely escaping as well as the bangs Helga had grown a little shaggy compared to their old perfect cut. She didn't let Miriam or Olga do it anymore. "You know, it doesn't match your outfit at all! It's just plain…tacky. In fact, you could use a whole make over," she informed her.
Helga sighed in disgust. "Look, Princess, I don't care what is in fashion. I don't care what I look like. All right?" she snapped.
Rhonda huffed. "Well, I was going to offer that I give you a make over for free, but if you don't want my expert advice, then fine."
"I'm sure I'm being deprived of the fine arts of modern fashion. Woe is me."
Rhonda propped her hands on her hips as she strolled along. "Someday, that attitude of yours is going to get you into a great deal of trouble, Helga." She paused, and then her hand snatched out. "At least get rid of that awful hat." And she yanked it off.
Helga spun to grab the hat back, dropping the light. It bounced along on the floor for a moment, and then flickered out.
"Rhonda! You-" came Helga's voice in the dark.
Rhonda scoffed from where she stood in the pitch black. Helga had managed to snag the hat back and Rhonda stared into where she thought the other girl was. "It's just a hat, I don't understand why you got so worked up. And now look, we're stuck in the dark."
"Oh, be quiet. I'll find it," Helga snapped, probing the floor with her hands. "But back to the point, don't you ever do that again."
"It's not like you still have that stupid…" She paused, squinting her eyes into the shadows as if that would help her to see better considering the current situation. "What is that?"
Helga stuck her fingers between small stones, wincing as her finger stubbed into one. Her other hand shifted, hitting cool metal. "Hah!" she cried, snatching it up and flicking the light on. "What's what?" she asked as she stood again.
"That breathing sound? Brainy went off in the-"
Rhonda's voice dwindled as the light landed on iridescent green scales, a pair of eyes glowing red in the darkness, and sets of ivory fangs reflecting the light back at them.
The bloodcurdling screams echoed throughout the entire cavern system, alerting Phoebe, Harold, Stinky, Sid, Curly, and Brainy, who all turned around and ran straight for the cave Helga and Rhonda had meandered down.
Phoebe moved to the front, holding the flashlight out like her fencing sword as if on reflex, her form pulled taught in preparation of any battle that may come. Harold whimpered over by Rhonda, while Curly cackled at seemingly nothing. Helga was pressed against the wall, Brainy standing a few feet away, nearby Sid and Stinky.
"What's going on?" Phoebe managed out, panting slightly.
"We saw it!" Rhonda cried out.
"Saw what?" Phoebe asked.
Sid caught on first. "You saw Meloss? Boy howdy!" he gasped in a strange mix of fear and excitement.
"No, we saw your grandma," Helga snapped, tossing a rock at him. "Of course we saw it!"
"Ow!" he yelped as it hit the side of his head.
"There were scales…and teeth…and…" Rhonda babbled, sniffling. Then she noticed everyone staring at her and stood straight, smoothing her clothes. "I mean…we saw something." Then she jabbed her index finger at the others. "Just remember, I saw it first, so it belongs to the Lloyds."
"Then, by all means, go first," Helga told her, grabbing Sid's large flashlight and pressing it into her hands.
"Hey!" Sid cried.
"Wait just a…" Rhonda stated, but she was already being pushed to the front.
Suddenly running steps were heard and they all turned.
"What…happened?" Gerald gasped out, hands on his knees and a small key chain light providing very little illumination in his hand.
"Gerald!" Phoebe ran over to him as he tried to catch his breath.
"Criminy, does everyone carry a flashlight wherever they go?"
Sid moved excitedly closer to the front of the group. "Rhonda saw Meloss."
Gerald surveyed the group, Phoebe looking worriedly at him, Curly staring blankly at the wall, Brainy wheezing over by an angry Helga. Then again, Helga always seemed angry, so maybe "agitated" was a better descriptive word. Sid was practically hopping in excitement of proving the unknown, while Rhonda was pale and looked less than thrilled. Harold was still against the wall, Stinky not too far away with his arms dangling at his sides.
He stood straight; a small look to Phoebe in reassurance. "Really?"
"No one's quite sure of what they saw, Gerald. I'm sure the truth will come forth in due time," Phoebe said with a soft smile.
"Then let's find out," Harold said, pushing Sid and Rhonda into the darkness. The others shrugged and followed.
"By the way, Gerald, why are you in these caverns as well?"
He gave a lopsided smile. "I saw the rest of you charge in, and I wanted to either try and convince all of you to come back, or at least, you know, make sure…everyone was okay. I had to find a light, or I would have joined sooner."
Phoebe smiled at him as they strayed in the back.
The tunnels grew deep, and seemingly darker. There was more moisture this far down, and a few had already sneezed or had small shivers from the chill.
"Maybe we should go back, fellers…" Stinky said; having to bend slightly to avoid scraping his head against the ceiling as the walls narrowed.
"No way," Rhonda stated. "I've been forced to go this far, we're not stopping until we've found it."
Phoebe stayed close to Gerald, her arms cupping her elbows, as her expression was one of worry. "I don't understand how what you saw could have moved so far away in such a short period of time…perhaps we should head back. It's been some time…the field trip…" she muttered, her voice slowly fading, as she knew the lot wasn't even listening.
"I wanna go home…" Harold whined.
"Suck it up, you bunch of chuckle heads. It can't be much farther."
Gerald frowned. "I don't know guys. This doesn't seem like a good idea…"
The complaints weighed heavily in the air, but half the group paid them no heed, pushing on, insistent on finding the elusive Meloss.
After another ten minutes of walking, Rhonda stopped, sighing in frustration. "That's it, no more. My feet are tired and undoubtedly my boots are ruined."
Helga gave a defeated sigh. "All this for nothing…"
"Actually, I've been keeping track of any minerals I saw in the walls," Curly informed her.
"…" Helga just stared at him, not sure of what to reply with.
Brainy gave a loud wheeze of weariness, letting himself fall back to lean on a wall. As he leaned backwards, he realized that where the wall should be…was no wall and he fell to the floor with a loud thud.
They swung their lights towards him. "Brainy," They all sighed.
"Can't you watch where you're going?" Helga snapped.
"Uh…sorry…" he managed out sheepishly, sitting up, and rubbing a now sore arm.
Phoebe light strayed up from where Brainy was recollecting himself. "…" After a pause, she walked forward. She stepped around Brainy and continued moving onward.
The others watched in silence. "Another tunnel?" Harold whined, trudging after her.
"No!" Phoebe said; her voice tinged with excitement. "I think it's a large…room of sorts," she said, deciding to spare her fellow classmates of the technical terms. "These sometimes occur in caves such as these."
"Maybe it's the place where those fellers kept them counterfeit pennies," Stinky said, following Harold, remembering a time from long ago when they had searched for another Urban legend amongst the caves.
"Counterfeit pennies…that was the stupidest thing I…" And yet again that day, someone's sentence was cut off and followed by several screams.
Lights flickered on to show several costumed teenagers sitting around a table, cards strewn about as well as papers, unused costumes, and several props.
Gerald pushed ahead of them, recognizing most of what was there. "The King Rules," he read off the cover of a book he had gingerly lifted. "I haven't played this game in years."
"They're Meloss?" Sid shrieked, pointing at the small group of costumed card players. There were maybe six in all. "Ahh! Cannibals!" He scrambled behind Stinky.
"I'm confused, fellers. Where's the prehistoric reptile-like creature we were supposed to find?" Stinky drawled, scratching his head.
"There isn't one." Rhonda stuck her chin out in a cross of vague irritation at the wasted adventure as well as to show her 'authority', had she any.
The one dressed like a king stood. "What are you doing here?" he snapped, his shaggy blonde hair bouncing slightly.
"They're the ones I told you about!" a boy said, excitedly pointing at Rhonda and Helga, earning glares. He was dressed in a scaly dinosaur suit, of sorts, rough brown hair poking from around the reptilian mask, a small tooth protruding from his upper lip in much the same fashion as one did from Harold's lower lip.
One of the only two girls there peered questioningly, her curly red hair surrounding her face as she wore an old fashioned dress. "They don't look like ghosts or thieves to me."
"Shouldn't you be in school?" Helga asked them.
They all exchanged glances, but the other girl, wearing a tall ponytail and a princess outfit, shot back the same question. "Shouldn't you be in school?"
"Actually, we're currently engaging in an academic field study of Elk Island," Phoebe piped up.
Harold broke the tension with a sudden outburst. "This is so cool! Can I borrow it?" He stood apart from his group and held up a set of cheap Knight's armor.
"Harold!" Helga growled out.
"I'm sorry, Harold, but I'm afraid that won't be possible," came an authoritative voice.
All fifteen teenagers yelped and looked to where Brainy had fallen in. A dark figure stood there, hiding behind a powerful flashlight. The shadow chuckled slightly, and then the light was snapped off to reveal the art teacher, who sometimes doubled as the computer teacher. Mrs. Kaiote smirked in a way that most adults save for reckless children that only remind them of themselves. "You've been gone for quite sometime. The field trip was over and we noticed a few missing heads. Park saw all of you enter the caves." One hand snapped to point down the direction she had just come. "Out."
The students groaned, filing out and the teacher was greeted with glares, sighs, and a slightly relieved glance from Phoebe. Sid complained that they never found Meloss. She shook her head and rolled her eyes. As her students filed out, she glanced back into the room where the students from some other high school whistled, feigning innocence.
She gave a fierce look, still pointing. "You too. As soon as we figure out what school you're from, we'll be calling your principal. Honestly, skipping school to play cards…getting reporters all worked up thinking mythical creatures exist…" She clicked her tongue as the last one, a boy wearing a joker's suit, left the room. "Kids these days."
Mrs. Sandler looked up from her stack of papers. "Okay, then..." she trailed off after a group finished a not-so-impressive report about wildlife. "Um, Helga, Rhonda, Brainy and Curly are next."
"We'd better get a good grade on this, Helga," Rhonda stated matter-of-factly. "Because if we don't…"
Helga interrupted. "Pipe down, princess, and let me do the talking." With that, she strode out into the front of the science room, the rest of her group behind her. Straightening her papers, Helga looked up at the class. "Our project was over minerals on Elk Island," she began. "And of course, there are many minerals. Identifying them was kind of hard, but, well, we managed."
Curly piped up. "SO GIVE US EXTRA CRED--" Brainy and Rhonda covered his mouth before he could finish. Sighing, Helga continued.
"Anyway, as with most everywhere else you go, there was plenty of Calcite, another name for lime. We also found some iron, of course, quartz. We discovered that there really aren't any rare minerals on Elk Island." Helga turned around to face her group. "Right?"
"Oh yes" Rhonda exclaimed.
Brainy managed to wheeze an "uh huh". The two still had a death grip over Curly's mouth.
Mrs. Sandler, who had been taking notes on their presentation, capped her pen. "Very good. Is there anything else special you learned?"
Rhonda looked down at her shoes. "No ma'am."
"Um, no!" Helga answered nervously, "Just another boring school project."
Mrs. Sandler smiled, "How about you, Curly?" she asked, motioning for Brainy and Rhonda to let him speak. They glanced at each other, and then slowly and almost regretfully, let him go.
Curly smiled broadly, "I learned that some rocks have gas!" he noted, and then ran out of the room.
Helga sat on the dock, the sun setting brilliantly in west. The weather was still warm, the breeze only beginning to chill. Sheena's uncle Earl was puttering about in the lack, heading to places she could only guess.
Pausing to let the smallest of smile show, Helga set her poem book aside and picked up a larger one, flipping it open. The pen paused at the top of the paper and she looked up to peer at Elk Island.
It sat in the same place it always had, the trees barely moving in the breeze that was beginning to wilt.
Looking back down at the notebook, she lost herself in memories and the promise of tomorrow.
"Dear Arnold,
Hey there, football head!
As usual, most of us couldn't avoid getting into mischief and we went chasing after another of Gerald's tall tales of Urban Legends. I'm sure you remember the last time we all went in the caves on Elk Island.
This time, we were going after some prehistoric creature. Can't say I believed in it. The dinosaurs are long gone and it's not like any would survive around here, doi.
Before I tell you all about it, I need to ask a strange question…do you carry a flashlight wherever you go? I mean Criminy, everyone else seems to…
I'll explain later…"
Written By: Old Betsy
Edited By: The Five Avengers
Directed By: Nicole K., Chinyere, and Miss Matched
Produced By: Nicole K.
Based on characters created by Craig Bartlett
Most characters are privately owned by such parties as Nickelodeon, Viacom, etc. and are used without permission, but not without respect.