Disclaimer: The Arthur characters are used without the permission of Marc
Brown, who owns them. So sue me. Nyaah nyaah.
This story is rated PG. I'm planning on a little mild slash later on, but nothing too serious. Also, in the spirit of Harry Potter 5, a major character will DIE in this story. It's a character you all know and love, who was in the picture books and has been on the show since the beginning, and it's NOT one of Arthur's grandparents. The death will truly surprise and shock you. However, if enough reviewers ask for me to bring the character back to life, I will consider doing so. After all, there's an element of time travel in this story.
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First, a little background. This story, "Arthur Goes Fourth II", is a sequel to the series "Arthur Goes Fourth", which chronicles the first eight weeks of fourth grade for Arthur and his friends. I will now list the characters, both those created by Marc Brown and some original characters who I added, and describe their current situation so that you won't be lost when you start reading. If you'd rather plunge right into the story, then proceed to the next chapter.
Arthur. Not much has changed as far as our favorite aardvark boy is concerned, except he has a suspicion that Sue Ellen is in love with him.
D.W. She managed to sneak a peek into Sue Ellen's diary, which is how Arthur obtained his suspicion.
Nadine. No longer D.W.'s imaginary friend, she is now a real little girl. This merits explaining. In AGF Episode 4, a little girl with the same name and appearance as D.W.'s nonexistent friend came into D.W.'s kindergarten class. At first D.W. was alarmed, but the two soon became friends. Nadine helped D.W. and Prunella defeat Pickles, an evil extradimensional Pomeranian, obtaining a time-traveling tricycle in the process.
Beatrice "Beat" Simon. This new girl in Arthur's class is half rabbit and half aardvark, and is as smart as Alan (Brain), if not smarter. Having grown up in London, she and her family recently emigrated to Elwood City so that her father could take a university position that Sue Ellen's father helped him to obtain. She is also good at soccer ("football"), so good, in fact, that Francine is taking lessons from her. Beat's father, angry over the refusal of Crosswire Motors to refund a defective car that he purchased, has initiated a lawsuit against Ed Crosswire's automotive empire. This led to some animosity between Beat and Muffy, but the two have become friends again.
Van Cooper. The new boy in Arthur's class, he is wheelchair-bound since being hit by a car two years ago. He is quite friendly and plays the violin well, but is still struggling to cope with his handicap. He comes from a large family of ducks, except for his sister Odette (to be described later), who is a swan. Van's younger brother Dallin is in D.W.'s kindergarten class, while his father, Mel Cooper, is the lawyer who Beat's father has employed for the Crosswire lawsuit. Mel's ruthless nature has made him an enemy in Ed Crosswire, who has forbidden his daughter Muffy from associating with her friend Van.
Odette Cooper. Van's twelve-year-old sister, she is not a duck like him, but a swan (nobody really knows how that came about). A graceful dancer, she was once in the same ballet class as Binky, who is hopelessly infatuated with her.
Muffy. Under the influence of Van's friendship, Muffy has realized that money and fashion aren't the most important things in the world. This change in her personality has alarmed her parents, who have decided to enroll her at Uppity Downs Academy, Elwood City's most prestigious private school. Her father has forbidden her from seeing Van, but can even the mighty Ed Crosswire keep them apart?
Buster. The marriage of Bitzi Baxter to Harry Mills took place near the end of the AGF series. The prospect of moving with his new dad to Chicago, plus Harry's attempts to discourage his belief in aliens, has led him to an existential crisis of sorts.
Jean Stiles. She was the fourth grade teacher for Arthur and his friends, but only lasted a few weeks before her problem with prescription drug addiction was revealed, and she checked into a rehab clinic. Four weeks later she was released, but has become somewhat of a persona non grata in the community ever since Bitzi published a newspaper article describing her scandalous past as an ultimately unsuccessful Hollywood starlet. Now Fern, for whom she served as a poetry coach, is her only remaining faithful friend. Species: polar bear.
Bud Wald. He replaced Jean Stiles as the teacher of Arthur's fourth grade class, and his charm, humor, and imitations have made him an instant hit. Species: horse.
Alan (Brain). Alan didn't take well the fact that there was now a girl in the class who was as smart as he was. Making it worse was the fact that Alan's friends were now going to Beat for help with their homework. He eventually overcame his jealousy, however, and now he and Beat are friends. Alan came into possession of the time tricycle that Nadine acquired from the dimension of evil known as Spiritus Mundi, and used it to travel nine years into the future. There he learned the eventual fates of his friends--including the startling revelation that Sue Ellen would die of AIDS as a result of a hospital stay in Africa. When Alan returned to his own time, he refused to tell his friends what he had seen in the future.
Sue Ellen. At Mr. Ratburn's urging, Sue Ellen's parents left her in Elwood City in the care of Carla, her old sitter, before traveling to Indonesia on a diplomatic mission. Sue Ellen's anger over being left behind by her parents led to some problematic behavior, but since then she has adjusted, possibly due to the supposed fact that she is in love with Arthur.
Binky. As a result of spending much of the summer in juvenile detention, Binky decided to clean up his act. He started to read more books and perform more good deeds, particularly for his friend Van. He developed a crush on Van's older sister Odette, with whom he had practiced ballet, but was too nervous to act on his crush, despite some hypnotic assistance from Prunella.
Fern. Having taken up acting, Fern played the title role in Peter Pan over the summer. Her poetry skills attracted the attention of Mrs. Stiles, who began to coach her. When Stiles went into rehab, Fern was determined to contact her, but Rodentia Ratburn counseled her against doing so. Stiles was released four weeks later, but a newspaper article written by Bitzi Baxter had tarnished her reputation. At Bitzi's wedding to Harry, Fern and Bitzi had a heated argument over Stiles' moral character, which led to Fern losing her temper and shoving Bitzi in an undignified scene. Fern's mother grounded her for two weeks and denied her the privilege of acting in the local production of The Sound of Music.
Mr. Ratburn. A nearly disastrous matchmaking attempt engineered by Francine led to Nigel Ratburn making the acquaintance of Sue Ellen's nanny, Carla Fuente. The two have since made an excursion to Carla's home country, Costa Rica, and become engaged to be married.
So, without further ado, on with the story...
This story is rated PG. I'm planning on a little mild slash later on, but nothing too serious. Also, in the spirit of Harry Potter 5, a major character will DIE in this story. It's a character you all know and love, who was in the picture books and has been on the show since the beginning, and it's NOT one of Arthur's grandparents. The death will truly surprise and shock you. However, if enough reviewers ask for me to bring the character back to life, I will consider doing so. After all, there's an element of time travel in this story.
----
First, a little background. This story, "Arthur Goes Fourth II", is a sequel to the series "Arthur Goes Fourth", which chronicles the first eight weeks of fourth grade for Arthur and his friends. I will now list the characters, both those created by Marc Brown and some original characters who I added, and describe their current situation so that you won't be lost when you start reading. If you'd rather plunge right into the story, then proceed to the next chapter.
Arthur. Not much has changed as far as our favorite aardvark boy is concerned, except he has a suspicion that Sue Ellen is in love with him.
D.W. She managed to sneak a peek into Sue Ellen's diary, which is how Arthur obtained his suspicion.
Nadine. No longer D.W.'s imaginary friend, she is now a real little girl. This merits explaining. In AGF Episode 4, a little girl with the same name and appearance as D.W.'s nonexistent friend came into D.W.'s kindergarten class. At first D.W. was alarmed, but the two soon became friends. Nadine helped D.W. and Prunella defeat Pickles, an evil extradimensional Pomeranian, obtaining a time-traveling tricycle in the process.
Beatrice "Beat" Simon. This new girl in Arthur's class is half rabbit and half aardvark, and is as smart as Alan (Brain), if not smarter. Having grown up in London, she and her family recently emigrated to Elwood City so that her father could take a university position that Sue Ellen's father helped him to obtain. She is also good at soccer ("football"), so good, in fact, that Francine is taking lessons from her. Beat's father, angry over the refusal of Crosswire Motors to refund a defective car that he purchased, has initiated a lawsuit against Ed Crosswire's automotive empire. This led to some animosity between Beat and Muffy, but the two have become friends again.
Van Cooper. The new boy in Arthur's class, he is wheelchair-bound since being hit by a car two years ago. He is quite friendly and plays the violin well, but is still struggling to cope with his handicap. He comes from a large family of ducks, except for his sister Odette (to be described later), who is a swan. Van's younger brother Dallin is in D.W.'s kindergarten class, while his father, Mel Cooper, is the lawyer who Beat's father has employed for the Crosswire lawsuit. Mel's ruthless nature has made him an enemy in Ed Crosswire, who has forbidden his daughter Muffy from associating with her friend Van.
Odette Cooper. Van's twelve-year-old sister, she is not a duck like him, but a swan (nobody really knows how that came about). A graceful dancer, she was once in the same ballet class as Binky, who is hopelessly infatuated with her.
Muffy. Under the influence of Van's friendship, Muffy has realized that money and fashion aren't the most important things in the world. This change in her personality has alarmed her parents, who have decided to enroll her at Uppity Downs Academy, Elwood City's most prestigious private school. Her father has forbidden her from seeing Van, but can even the mighty Ed Crosswire keep them apart?
Buster. The marriage of Bitzi Baxter to Harry Mills took place near the end of the AGF series. The prospect of moving with his new dad to Chicago, plus Harry's attempts to discourage his belief in aliens, has led him to an existential crisis of sorts.
Jean Stiles. She was the fourth grade teacher for Arthur and his friends, but only lasted a few weeks before her problem with prescription drug addiction was revealed, and she checked into a rehab clinic. Four weeks later she was released, but has become somewhat of a persona non grata in the community ever since Bitzi published a newspaper article describing her scandalous past as an ultimately unsuccessful Hollywood starlet. Now Fern, for whom she served as a poetry coach, is her only remaining faithful friend. Species: polar bear.
Bud Wald. He replaced Jean Stiles as the teacher of Arthur's fourth grade class, and his charm, humor, and imitations have made him an instant hit. Species: horse.
Alan (Brain). Alan didn't take well the fact that there was now a girl in the class who was as smart as he was. Making it worse was the fact that Alan's friends were now going to Beat for help with their homework. He eventually overcame his jealousy, however, and now he and Beat are friends. Alan came into possession of the time tricycle that Nadine acquired from the dimension of evil known as Spiritus Mundi, and used it to travel nine years into the future. There he learned the eventual fates of his friends--including the startling revelation that Sue Ellen would die of AIDS as a result of a hospital stay in Africa. When Alan returned to his own time, he refused to tell his friends what he had seen in the future.
Sue Ellen. At Mr. Ratburn's urging, Sue Ellen's parents left her in Elwood City in the care of Carla, her old sitter, before traveling to Indonesia on a diplomatic mission. Sue Ellen's anger over being left behind by her parents led to some problematic behavior, but since then she has adjusted, possibly due to the supposed fact that she is in love with Arthur.
Binky. As a result of spending much of the summer in juvenile detention, Binky decided to clean up his act. He started to read more books and perform more good deeds, particularly for his friend Van. He developed a crush on Van's older sister Odette, with whom he had practiced ballet, but was too nervous to act on his crush, despite some hypnotic assistance from Prunella.
Fern. Having taken up acting, Fern played the title role in Peter Pan over the summer. Her poetry skills attracted the attention of Mrs. Stiles, who began to coach her. When Stiles went into rehab, Fern was determined to contact her, but Rodentia Ratburn counseled her against doing so. Stiles was released four weeks later, but a newspaper article written by Bitzi Baxter had tarnished her reputation. At Bitzi's wedding to Harry, Fern and Bitzi had a heated argument over Stiles' moral character, which led to Fern losing her temper and shoving Bitzi in an undignified scene. Fern's mother grounded her for two weeks and denied her the privilege of acting in the local production of The Sound of Music.
Mr. Ratburn. A nearly disastrous matchmaking attempt engineered by Francine led to Nigel Ratburn making the acquaintance of Sue Ellen's nanny, Carla Fuente. The two have since made an excursion to Carla's home country, Costa Rica, and become engaged to be married.
So, without further ado, on with the story...
