Ok, I have nothing to say, so, here is chapter 5 and I don't own Hey Arnold or Wild ARMs 3!
They walked out of the small town after they decided that Helga would be the best choice for team captain, since she was the one that got them obsessed with Wild ARMs 3 in the beginning. (They are facing north. Every time someone leaves one of the towns, they end up facing north, no matter if you left through the south exit or any other exit. It's weird.) They then realized they didn't have horses. Helga spun around, frowning at the others. "Oh great, we're going to have to go clear back to Claiborne to get horses! And we don't even have any gella to buy the horses with when we get there!" she exclaimed, then spun around, with her arms crossed. Then she heard something. It sounded like a horse whinnying (a/n: spell check). She turned her head to the side, to see four horses standing next to the four teens. "Well, looks like we do have horses." she said, climbing onto a white horse that had brown patches all over him. Arnold climbed onto a brown one with very few black blotches, Phoebe climbed onto a completely black one, and Gerald climbed onto an Appaloosa.
Helga looked around, scowling, then finally exclaimed, "Where in crimany's name are they?!" then she looked over to Phoebe, who was pointing to the northwest. She looked at way just in time to see the four Drifters disappear over a hill. "Well, I guess Pheebs here is our navigator! Here's a compass I bought at a store." she tossed Phoebe a compass, and then she got her horse to go forward, with the others following her.
They got over the hill just in time to see the other four go into a cave. Suddenly, Helga heard Arnold shout, "Helga, watch out!!" she looked down, and just in time, her horse jumped. She looked behind herself, to see the crevasse that she had just missed being part of. She gulped, and looked up to Arnold, who had just gotten over the crevasse.
"Th... th... thanks, football head." she breathed, with her hand over her heart in an attempt to get it to slow down.
"You're welcome, Helga."
They all got off their horses, and quickly ran into the cave where the other four had entered. They listened to the others' conversation.
"It's beautiful... Although it's rather cold." Clive said.
"Yeah, you're right. There's no doubt about it... This place is as cold as death." Gallows replied, nodding his head.
"I can't feel the warmness in the air we usually get when we come in contact with a medium." Virginia said solemnly, closing her eyes and placing her hands over her heart.
"It reminds me of a morgue, except much prettier." Gallows said, motioning around the cave. They all then began walking somewhere else, lead by Clive, although he wasn't the team captain. Helga, Arnold, Phoebe, and Gerald all looked around the cave. The others were right. It was beautiful, and cold. But it didn't remind them of a morgue. There were blue gems everywhere.
They followed closely behind the others, watching their every move. First from the first part of the cave, they turned northwest and walked down two little paths, then they turned northeast into another area that was similar. They walked southeast, making sure not to fall into the hole in the ground, down another little path, and into another room. They walked in, and they all heard a voice, making Helga and her team back up into the doorway, so whoever it was wouldn't see them. The other four looked up, and on a bridge above them, was another set of four Drifters. Maya, Alfred, Todd, and Shady (Maya is Alfred's big sister, Todd has an afro, and Shady is a cat... email me to find out what they really look like).
"I didn't expect to see you so soon." Maya said, standing on the edge, making the other four look up.
"Maya!" Virginia exclaimed, her jaw dropping.
"So, someone tipped you off about the gemstones, too? Is that what you're after?" Maya asked.
"Y-Yeah, but... Not for the same reason you are!" Virginia exclaimed, an angry glint in her eyes.
"You are always so vague! I don't know what your intention is, but one thing is for sure." Maya said, scowling. Then she continued, "You perpetually appear wherever I go, and pester me! you might have an altruistic reason for being here, but if you get in our way, I won't hesitate to take you down."
Virginia's jaw dropped, as her arms both went out to the side. "I just want to be true to myself and live honestly!" she scowled, and balled her hands up in fists. "I know you tried to stop me, but I want to know the truth behind this world! I want to solve it's mystery!" she shook her head, then looked back up at Maya. "I have to keep going in order to keep up with my father's trail! I want to research the gemstones found in this cave. These shards are pieces of the planet's existence."
Maya just shrugged. "Hmph... Despite your reasoning, you're still after the gems, which makes us enemies." Virginia gave her a pathetic look. "Don't give me that look. Didn't I tell you it'd be no holds barred, the next time we meet? Well, see ya." Maya and her team turned towards the door, and just before they left, Maya turned back towards them, smirking and chuckling. "You'd better hurry. Or else all the gems will be mine." and they walked out the door.
Helga and the others watched as Virginia's team walked north to a bunch of rocks, and Clive set a bomb down. They walked away from the bomb, it exploded, and the walked past the rocks to a treasure chest. They opened it, and in it was 5000 gella. Helga and the others quickly, before Virginia's team could see them, ran up a small ramp-like thing to the east, and into a door. They all hid behind a huge gemstone.
"Helga, move over!"
"You move over! You're stepping on my foot, football head!"
"Shut up, Helga! You're the one that chose this hiding spot."
"How about we don't hide after all, and just go through that door over there?"
Before they could come out from behind the gems, the others came in, and looked around the area.
"What are gems exactly?" Virginia asked, looking right towards Arnold and Helga's gems they were hiding behind.
"Gems are composed of life energy of the planet. This life energy can be likened to the blood of living organisms. This coagulation of the planet's lifeblood becomes what we know as gems." Clive retorted, and they continued walking to the north, to the door. Just as they passed a gem, they were attacked by two Rock Baboons and two Hodacs. Since Helga and the others were following them, they also got attacked, but only by a Hodac and a Rock baboon.
Helga looked around frantically for a way to escape. Like a white exclamation mark above her head, or something! But there was absolutely not escaping. She sighed, and grabbed out the pistol like ARM she was carrying. "Ok, guys, looks like it's our first fight as Drifters on this. Get your ARMs ready!"
"But Helga! I only have a book!" Phoebe cried, holding her book up for Helga to see. She furrowed her eyebrows, and bit her lip.
"Maybe... it's like a guardian's medium. Maybe it'll let you use some magic attack." she called to her best friend, who nodded, and opened the book to see what it had in it. She looked through each page, until she came to a page that really interested her. She read through that page, and suddenly, she was in a completely different ensemble. (A/n: I'm not going to explain it in full detail... I'll just explain the weapon she now has) She looked down, and gasped, because she now had a wooden sword held in a belt.
"Ok, Pheebs, you have a weapon, now lets get this battle over with so we can catch up to the other team." the guys both drew out their weapons, and the fight officially began.
Helga shot at the Hodac, hurting it somewhat. Then Phoebe took out her wooden sword, held it above her head, then charged at the Rock baboon, spun around, hitting it once, then jumped and brought it down on the baboon's head, automatically killing it. Helga stared wide eyed at her friend. Then Arnold, who was next, drew out his ARM, aimed, and fired, getting a critical hit, but not killing the Hodac. The Hodac bit Helga, then Gerald pulled out his ARMs, then shot with one and then the other, killing the Hodac.
Arnold walked up to Helga, and touched her arm, where the Hodac had bit her. "Helga, are you all right?" he asked worriedly. Helga looked at him lovingly, then quickly snapped out of it, and pushed his hand away.
"Yes, I'm fine, hair boy, now get your hand off of me." she spat, making Arnold scowl, and walk away from her, his hands raised in defense.
"Fine! You don't have to get so touchy!" he exclaimed, and Helga rolled her eyes.
"Whatever."
Finally, Phoebe piped up. "Um, Helga, Arnold? I believe we've been found." she said, motioning to the other Drifters, who were staring at them. Arnold and Helga looked over, then Helga looked back to Arnold, frowning.
"You moron! You shouted so loudly they heard us and found us!"
"Me?! You're the one that got all touchy when I was just asking if you were all right!"
"Well I was all right, see? I had a heal berry with me, so I'm just peachy!"
"Come on Helga, I didn't know you had a heal berry! I was just worried that you might be hurt really badly or something!"
"Thanks for the concern, hair boy, but you don't need to waste it on me!!"
"QUIET!!!!!!"
Arnold and Helga immediately stopped arguing, and looked to Phoebe, who had stopped their fight. She scowled at them both, and crossed her arms. "You two need to make amends. I mean, what a nonsensical quarrel! Plus, you two didn't even say hello to the others." she said, motioning to the Virginia and her team. Helga rolled her eyes, and crossed her arms, and Arnold sighed.
"Sorry, Helga."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I guess I'm sorry too. Just don't get all mushy on me again."
Then, finally, Virginia spoke up. "Hello. Who are you guys? I don't believe I've ever seen you before."
Helga rolled her eyes. "That might be because we've been trying to avoid seeing any other Drifters. Well, anyway, I'm Helga, this is Arnold, that's Phoebe, and that's Gerald." she said, pointing to each one as she said their names. Arnold, Phoebe and Gerald all smiled when she said their names. "Now... who're you?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
Virginia smiled, and said, "I'm Virginia, this is Jet, that's Clive, and that's Gallows. Nice to meet you guys." she said, and Helga sighed, nodding her head. Then a thought struck Virginia. "Are you guys here for the gems, also?"
Helga smirked, and nodded her head. "Yeah, we are."
"But!" Arnold suddenly cut in, looking at Helga with a piercing look. "I'm sure there would be enough gems for both our teams. And whoever that other team was, I'm sure there's enough for them, too." he said, and Helga looked at him, scowling.
"Why don't you just be the leader if you're going to be making all the choices?" she whispered harshly, and Arnold shook his head, then looked back to Virginia and the others.
"Then you mean that we won't be enemies?" Virginia asked, smiling. Arnold looked to Helga, who sighed, and slowly nodded her head. "Yay! I hate having too many enemies." she said, then her team and her all turned around and walked out a door, with Helga and the others following.
They all walked across the bridge Maya and her gang were on, and through a door, to see another small area. They walked across the area, and into another room, to find Maya, by herself, standing up next to the door. She frowned at them.
"I just can't seem to get away from you. I can't believe how so much time, energy, and body fat can motive you Drifters this far. I'm really getting fed up. You really want some gems that badly? Then here's a present for you!" she took out a pistol-like ARM, that looked just like Helga's, aimed at the ceiling of the cave, and shot, making a huge boulder fall down right in the pathway leading up to the door where she was at. "Oh, how big and beautiful! Just look at the lovely color and cut! It's perfect for you, don't you think? Well, I'm off to find my perfect gem then. Ta-ta...!" she said, running through the door behind her.
Virginia walked up to the boulder, shot a bunch of Tindercrests at it making it so if you touched it you'd get a REALLY bad burn, then Gallows took out his freezer doll, and froze the boulder. Clive took out as many bombs as possible, and set them all around the boulder, then the four backed away from the boulder. It blew up just as the other four walked in.
The four others stopped, and looked at Virginia and her team, who just shrugged. They continued up the path, into another part of the cave. They walked around, collecting the orange gems that were lying around on the ground, and then out the door. No one noticed the really damaged wall on the west, that looked like Clive could easily blow it up with one of his bombs.
They walked into the next room, and looked around. Virginia's team got right into a conversation, while Helga's team walked on past them. Little did Virginia's team know that the other four weren't really going to just walk out the door.
"As I mentioned earlier, gems can be likened to blood exuding from the planet. Blood that has coagulated. Which in turn means that this place is full of wounds. Wounds translate into the decay of land - an impoverished planet. Gems can be found within ruins and buildings for this very reason."
"So that's why this place feels like a morgue..."
"We feel it even more so because of the medium and the planet's life force. And also because we have been in contact with the guardian's power."
"So this is one of the more damaged places on Filgaia..."
The other four finish talking, so Helga's team continued walking to the door. Clive set a bomb at a bunch of rocks, it exploded, the four all walked in and gathered a few gems, and then followed Helga's team. All 8 walked into a large room with holes all over on the floor.
"I'm more curious as to where these holes lead than to falling in." Clive said, slightly looking down the hole in front of them. Suddenly, Maya came running out of the door they had came through, and shoved them all into the hole in front of them. Helga clutched onto Arnold, screaming her head off. She was the only one screaming, though. They all landed on the ground, and everyone looked at Helga, who still had her arms clutched around Arnold's neck. She pulled away from him, frowning.
"Stupid football head..." she muttered, crossing her arms. They all noticed a type of path going up, so they walked up it, then Helga noticed a treasure chest on a ledge near them. She walk over to the ledge, jumped onto it, and opened the treasure chest to find a lucky card, which she figured would come in handy. She lifting it out of the chest, jumped off the ledge onto the ground below, then walked back up to the others. They walked through the door in front of them, then up the paths to the room with the holes.
They tried several different holes, and finally found the one that got them up to the ledge with a door. They had found a ledge with a treasure chest that had a Amulet in it earlier. They began to walk in the door when they heard someone fall onto the floor. They looked behind them to see a fuming Maya, on the ground below them.
"AGHHHH!! I don't get it!? Why do I keep ending up in the same place!? The mystical mega-sized gem is waiting for me to embrace it! I don't have time for this!" she exclaimed, and began walking towards the same path the others took. Then she finally noticed them, and spun around, more angry than before. "Heeeeey!? That's not fair! How'd you get up there!? I make the path that leads to the treasure! Not you! Stay where you are! Don't move! Take a nap or something! Lock yourself up somewhere!" she commanded, running up the path and in the door.
Virginia looked to the others in her team and said, "Looks like we have the lead for now. But I'm a little worried about what's ahead..." they walked through the door to the next room, walked down the small pathway that lead down, opened a treasure chest that had two heal berries in it, and just as all 8 were about to go through the door, they heard a voice.
"Stop where you are! You're not worthy of the gem!" they all spun around, to see Todd, Shady, and Alfred come out from behind one of the huge pillar's in the room. "If you're going to give it your all, then I'll gladly accept your all, and then I'll crush you!"
Helga, Arnold, Phoebe, and Gerald all backed away, behind a gem, so they didn't have to fight if they didn't absolutely need to. Virginia's group all looked around, trying to find Maya. "Quit hiding, Maya! Show your face!" Virginia exclaimed, balling her fists.
"Hiding...!? I wouldn't want you to think that! Fine, behold the true powers of Maya Schroedinger!"
A book came flying down from where the door they came in from was, and landed in front of Virginia. They looked up, to see Maya standing there in an extremely short red and white dress with black feathers on the shoulders, blue cape, large blue hat, and silver wand. She smirked, and used her index finger to make the hat go slightly upwards.
"I think I'm going to puke..." Virginia said, shaking her head. "What's with the gaudy costume!?"
"Surprised? This is my true power!"
"Milady possesses supernatural powers where she can convert information into her own special abilities. Even nonsensical information can be processed through the medium of a book to wield unlimited powers!" Todd said, his expression not changing once.
"In other words, she is able to channel certain characters from comics or novels?" Clive asked, adjusting his glasses.
"Very good, four-eyes!" Shady said, pointing at Clive.
They all backed up, with their arms forward. "So basically, she's a freak that can mimic the abilities of fictional freaks she reads about. She's gonna freak out!"
Maya's smirk grew. "Heh heh... You all look impressed..." Alfred sighed, and slouched over.
"No, sis... they've been taken aback." he whispered to her, and she pointed at Virginia's whole group.
"I am 'Wonder Witch'! And I have the power to cast any kind of magic!"
While they were talking about the book powers, Phoebe gasped, her eyes wide. "Oh my! I have that same power!" she whispered, and Gerald patted her back.
"That's cool, Phoebe." he said, making Phoebe blush, and look down at the ground. Helga noticed this, and her hands balled up into fists, her eyes narrowing.
The fight between Virginia's team and Maya's team began. It lasted for quite a while, until Virginia's team had only Virginia left. (This really doesn't happen, this is just part of the fan-fiction.) Helga bit her lip, and looked to the others. "Who should help them? I know this doesn't sound very much like me, but, we absolutely need to help them."
"I agree Helga. How about you, Phoebe, and Gerald go? I can just stay as backup." Arnold said, looking back out at the others.
"No, if one of us stays behind, all of us stay behind. Got it, football head?" Helga commanded, making Arnold look at her, smiling.
"Now I remember why we really decided why you should be the leader of this team." he said, glancing to Virginia fighting by herself against Maya's team. 'We better get out there before Virginia falls...'
"Why's that?" Helga asked, breaking Arnold out of his thoughts. He looked back up at her, then embraced her, taking her aback. "Huh!?"
"Because you don't like to leave a team member out. Although, I would normally rather not fight, but if it means helping them, I would rather fight." he said, then looked back to Virginia to see her fall flat on her face. He pulled away from Helga, his eyes wide. "Helga, I think we need to get out to them before Maya does something really drastic and kills them." he said, jumping out from behind the gem and running in front of Maya's team. Helga looked to the others, then jumped out to join Arnold. Soon the other two followed.
"What's this!? Recruits?" Maya exclaimed, obviously miffed. Todd was already down, and so was Shady, so the only ones that they needed to take down were Alfred and Maya.
Helga frown, equally as miffed as Maya. "No, we're not recruits! We're just Drifters, here for the gems, like you and them! And since we're after the gems too, that makes us enemies, too!" she exclaimed, making Arnold hit her across the head. She grabbed her head, and looked to Arnold, who was scowling at her. "What is it, hair boy?!"
"Helga, don't you remember what I said earlier when we first met Virginia and her companions?" he asked, just as miffed as Maya and Helga. Helga just shrugged, and crossed her arms.
"Yes, I happen to remember, but, I don't want to continue thinking that there are enough gems for everyone. I mean, come on! Do you really seriously think that there are just thousands of gems lying around on the ground?" she asked, and Arnold pointed behind them at the gems that they had been hiding behind. "That's not the kind I want."
"That's not the kind I want either! I want one that's big, beautiful, and suits me! and those do not do anything of the sort! Now get ready, because I'm planning on showing you no mercy." Maya said, getting one of her attacks ready.
"Wait!" Phoebe suddenly shouted, drawing all attention towards her. She looked at them, then drew out her book. "I'm not quite fit yet." she opened the book, tossed her hair, read the book, and she was back in the same ensemble as before. Maya's eyes widened, and Phoebe smirked. "You're not the lone one with this supernatural ability!" she said, making May scowl and ball her hands into fists.
"Ok, then!" she said, bringing her wand from behind her back. "Cremate!!" she shouted, and the four others were engulfed in a fire. The fire went away, leaving each one of them with just a little bit of their life missing.
"Ha! Arnold's grandma fights better than you!" Helga shouted, making Maya more angry by the second. Helga drew out her small pistol-like ARM, and shot Maya, making her lose balance, but only for a second.
"Ha, that barely scratched me!" she retorted, sticking her wand straight at Helga, who scowled even more. Phoebe got out her wooden sword, and did the same move as before, this time to Maya. It hurt her quite badly, but she wasn't down yet. "Hey!!" she screeched, looking at Phoebe with fire in her eyes.
Alfred got out one of his homemade explosives, and tossed it at Gerald, who fell onto his knees, then got back up, looking straight at Alfred, with a scowl.
Arnold took out his ARM, and shot Maya straight on, making her fall backwards. She said something inaudible as she stood up, so none of them could hear her. She stuck out her wand, and gripped it with both hands, making the air around them shine brightly. Alfred's eyes widened, and he began running towards his sister. "NOOOOOOOO!!" he shouted, and all of their team, minus Maya, jumped on her. Virginia's group finally had healed enough to get up and see what was going on. "Not here, sis! We'd all be buried alive if you cast something that powerful!" Alfred exclaimed.
Clive walked over to Maya and her team, and bent over a little bit to talk to them, practically face-to-face. "We have only come here with the intent of research in mind. And it has proven fruitful... At least for us." he said, straightening back up as May and her team got up off the ground. "If you're still interested in striking a vein, please proceed. We won't get in your way." Maya and her team began walking towards the door that the others had been planning to go out, when Clive said, "But I doubt you'll find any precious gems..."
They all walked into the other room, and looked around. There were just ordinary gems all around them. Maya glanced every which way, blinking (oh, she's in her normal outfit now, and if you want to see it, email me). "Huh...? These are all just ordinary gems..." she said, plopping down on the hard ground, her legs bent underneath her. "We went through all that trouble to get here, and..." she looked up at Clive, and pointed at him. "How did you know there weren't any special gems of value here? Answer me!" she exclaimed, and Clive sighed.
"We have all been deluded. It was a big misunderstanding on all our parts." he said, and Maya looked down to the ground then back up to him with a almost solemn look on her face.
"You mean... we've been had?" she asked, in a soft voice. Clive shrugged, and sighed again.
"Maybe so... we, and everybody else on this planet, have been deluded." he answered, then they all were quiet for a period of time, looking around at the white gems around them. Helga looked to the side, where Arnold stood, staring at one of the gems. She smiled lovingly at him, until he turned and looked at her. she scowled at him, crossed her arms, and looked forward, making Arnold roll his eyes. Phoebe looked to Gerald, and shuffled her feet so she was standing right next to him.
Finally, Virginia spoke up, in a soft tone of voice. "Then, let me ask you something. So what drives you to face danger?" Maya looked up at her with a smirk, then held her right hand, and rubbed her index finger, middle finger, and thumb together (her hands are in brown gloves).
"That's easy! Gems! Jewels! The more I get a hold of their sparkle, the more I sparkle!" she exclaimed, making Virginia sigh, and look down at the ground, then back up at her.
"But that's just a fleeting glitter."
Maya sighed, rested her hand back down, and said, "The sparkle I'm looking for is the real sparkle. I don't care how many false leads I have to follow. One of these days, I will find it. And I will shine because of it..." her voice faded, and she looked back to her team. She smiled, and stood up, brushing her orange dress off. "Well, I have absolutely no business being here now. The next gem is calling me, so I must bid adieu." she said, and she and her team all walked out of the cave. Virginia looked to her team, and sighed.
"She's trying to find the real sparkle among the many fake ones in this world... Let's head back to Humphry's Peak for now. We don't have time to waste, either." she said, then turned to Helga, Arnold, Phoebe, and Gerald, and smiled. "Well, thanks for coming to our rescue back there. We would have had to fight again, after we had recovered, and no one can do that very well, especially since we used up all of our heal berries."
Arnold smiled, and since he saw that Helga wasn't planning on responding, he nudged her side, making her give him the 'don't ever do that AGAIN!' look. Then she looked to Virginia, and forced a smile (which didn't look that much like a smile, as a matter of fact), then shook hands with Virginia. "Yeah, yeah, well, it was the least we could do. Plus, if we didn't do that, we wouldn't get any gems." Arnold frowned at her, and stomped her foot, making her eyes go wide. "OW!!!" she cried, looking at Arnold with the most vicious look she could muster. He gave her a 'be nice, for once' look, and she sighed, looking back to Virginia with a honest smile. "Yeah, we were... uh... happy to help." she said, trying not to snap back into her normal self.
Virginia smiled, then let go of Helga's hand and turned to her teammates. "Well, like I said, we don't have time to waste, so let's get back to Humphry's Peak." she said, then turned back to Helga and the others. "I suppose we'll probably see you again, so until then, sayonara." she said, and the others nodded theirs heads.
"Yep, see ya when we see ya, which will most likely be the next time you see Maya and her gang." Helga said, and Virginia's team left, leaving the others there. She turned to her companions, smirking. "Would do ya say we follow 'em to the next place they go?" she asked, and Phoebe and Gerald smiled, happy to comply. Then Arnold cleared his throat, getting Helga's attention. "What is it, football head?" she asked, crossing her arms, again.
"Where are we going to sleep tonight?"