Author's Note: The reason why I don't update this story for a long while is because I have second thoughts about this story, since it's not original at all. But hey, as long I have support, I'll continue to write this. Tell me what you think.

Legal junk: I don't own Hey Arnold, but Nickelodeon does and Mr. Craig Bartlett created it. But this fic belongs to me. Clear? Good.

Chapter 2: The Ring Revealed

The Sunset Arms Boarding House… 60 minutes later.

Arnold was playing his portable videogame on the stoop of his house when suddenly he heard a car coming towards him. He then switched his videogame off and stood up, listening to it. Recognizing the engine sound, he smiled broadly and walked up to the sidewalk and saw an old green car, with an old man in it.

"You're late!" Arnold said, crossing his arms.

The old man didn't look at Arnold first, but then he began to turn slowly at him, with an emphatic expression on his face that began to twitch, "An old man is never late, Shortman! Nor is he early. He arrives at whenever he darned well please!"

The gaze was long, but then the both of them began to grin and finally cracked up with laughter. Arnold then opened the car door up and immediately hugged the old man. "It's wonderful to see you again Grandpa!"

"Oh, c'mon Arnold!" Grandpa laughed, "You didn't think I'd miss your Grandma's birthday?" "Actually I wanna but the woman scares me…" he closed the door, and brought the car around the corner to the garage.

"What's the news in Florida, Grandpa?" Arnold asked as he helped his grandfather with the luggage, "Tell me everything."

"Everything? Far too eager and curious for a fourth grader. Are you feeling well?" Grandpa said as he picked up the last luggage and closed the door, "Well what can I tell ya? Old people here and there, Nickelodeon Studios is closing down, election humor still lingering about…" To Grandpa's surprise, he could see the neighborhood busy preparing for Grandma's birthday party in an alley somewhere. They clean, sweep, set up, and remove obstacles to make the place spotless.

"They're doing it in an alley?" Grandpa said in surprise, "How thoughtful of them! Hmm, well now that should please her."

"Half of the neighborhood is invited."

"Good gracious me!"

"She's up to something."

"O RLY?" Grandpa replied back, as if an owl looking at him incredulously.

Arnold chuckled, looking at his grandfather back, "YA RLY! All right then, keep your secrets." As they made their way into the house, the borders then noticed of Grandpa's presence, and they immediately went up to him.

"Grandpa! Did you buy any gifts?" Mr. Hyunh asked.

"Hey, do you have anything for me, grandpa?" Mr. Kokoshka pleaded.

"Hey Gramps, do ya have any souvenirs for me?" Mr. Potts asked.

"What about me, Grandpa?" Mrs. Kokoshka asked too. But all their pleas and inquiry were ignored by Grandpa, as he didn't say a word about it, much to Arnold's surprise, leaving the boarders disappointed.

"Aawwwwwww…" the all said in chorus, disappointed. However, Grandpa was only pretending. He then put a bag full of cheap souvenirs in the middle of the hallway, and the borders cheered wildly. "YAY GRANDPA!"

Upon arriving at Grandpa's bedroom, Arnold put the bags down and said to his grandfather, "Grandpa, I'm glad you're back."

And as Arnold walked away to his bedroom, Grandpa replied, "So am I, dear boy. So am I." Grandpa then knocked the door to his bedroom, waiting for an answer from his wife.

"Arnold, is that you? Don't come in just yet! You're not going to be happy if you enter right now, when you see the state I'm in…"

"What? Even your spouse can't come in too?" Grandpa replied, and Grandma quickly put her clothes on and answered the door.

"Phil?" she said, smiling.

"Pookie!" Grandpa replied back happily.

"My dear Phil!" and they gave one another a hug and kiss.

"Good to see you back!" Grandpa said back, "You're as old as I am!" the statement somewhat annoyed Grandma, as she looked at him with her eyes narrowed, "Uh… you haven't aged a day!" Good thing Grandpa knew how to charm the ladies, and both of the old couple laughed. After Grandma helped Grandpa with his luggage, they then went down to the kitchen to have some quiet snack together.

"You caught me a bit unprepared, I'm afraid." Grandma said. "Why didn't you call me that you've arrived at the airport, anyway? We have some cold chicken and pickles… Here's some cheese here- oh no, it won't do. There we got raspberry jam and apple tart… oh, wait, you can't eat raspberries. Ah, I have some cake. I can make you some eggs if you like."

"Just coffee, Pookie. Thanks." Grandma then made coffee for Grandpa and for herself and served it on the dining table. They talked length and breadth about Grandpa's recent trip and how Grandma handled the boarding house flawlessly. Then the talk came to something that Grandma had been planning for a long time. "So you really want to go through with your plan then?"

"Yep. I've wanted to do it since… well, you know. All the arrangements are made, Phil."

"Ya know, Arnold suspects something." Grandpa said.

"'Course he does, Phil." Grandma replied back, "He's our grandkid for corn's sake."

"You won't tell him, will ya?"

"Of course not. He's too young for us to tell him my situation." Grandma sighed. The scene then changed to night, minutes before Grandma's party was about to start. Both of them were on top of the brick house, sitting and smo— chewing gum. Yes.

"Old Toby. Finest chewing gum in the country." Grandma then blew the gum that she fashioned into a ring away, to her husband and to her amazement that she actually accomplished it. Grandpa then created a sailboat with the gum, with a tooth in it, and the boat sailed through the ring that Grandma created. "Phil, this is going to be a night to remember!"

+1 Grandma's Speechcraft skills.

---

After that stupid, seemingly pointless anti-drug reminder, we are now treated to grandma's block birthday party, attended by almost everyone in the neighborhood, lively and fun as it could get. As Grandma greeted the guests and thanked them for coming, most of the others were enjoying the food and dance to their hearts content to some swingin' jazz music from the 40s. Amongst the crowd, Arnold was there, pleased to see so many guests attended his grandmother's birthday party, indicating that she was well liked in the neighborhood, unlike his granddad. Arnold then saw his best friend Gerald sitting alone, looking sidelong at Phoebe, dancing.

Arnold then sat next to Gerald, and said, "Go on Gerald, ask Phoebe for a dance!"

He got the cold feet, and replied unsurely to him, "Nah… I think I'll just have another Yahoo."

"Oh no, you don't! Go on!" Arnold then pushed Gerald to the dance floor and into Phoebe's arms. Arnold laughed aloud, seeing his friend jittery like that. Grandpa was sitting with the other neighbors, talking about the recent football match. Grandma on the other hand, entertained Arnold's female friends with some story that she elaborately create.

"There I was, at the mercy of three monstrous hyenas! And they were all arguing amongst themselves about how they were going to have us for dinner, into a cub sandwich, or whether they should order us to go."

Helga and the others weren't buying the story at all.

Grandma continued, "They spent so much time arguing the hoo-hahs and brouhahas, that when they were still arguing, Kimba and I made a run for it!"

"Uhh… no offense, but isn't this story of yours a rip-off from the Lion King?" Rhonda asked. "It's not nice to infringe copyrights you know, since we're under Paramount's contract and all…"

Nadine walked up to her and whispered, "Rhonda… and it's not nice to upset the nice old lady, either."

"Man…" Helga spoke quietly to Phoebe, "I hope when I got old, I won't be as loony as she is." The evening was getting late, and the guests and the merrymakers were getting tired. So, in order to close the merry celebration, Grandma then walked up to the stage, with applause from the neighbors accompanying her.

"Speech, Pookie, speech!" Grandpa shouted. And everyone followed Grandpa, asking Grandma to make a speech.

Grandma was now in the middle of the stage, and waited for everyone to quiet down as she waved dismissively. "My dear friends in the neighborhood!" there were cheers, "Harvey, Vitello, Green!" after each names mentioned, there were cheers on this point on, "Kokoshkas, Potts, Mr. Hyunh! Wittenbergs! Hyerdahls, Johanssens! And the others I didn't mention! Sorry!"

The crowd laughed.

"Today is my eighty first birthday!" she exclaimed.

"Happy Birthday!" came the answer from the crowd.

"Eighty one years is far too short a time to live among such excellent and admirable neighbors!" again, cheers from the neighbors erupted, "I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve." The statement was then responded with a dead silence from the crowd, wondering what the old lady was talking about. Grandma then looked at her neighbors and family with sadness. "I, uh, I h-have things to do." She said, while fidgeting with the Ring behind her back. "I've put this off for far too long." She continued, walking to a rope hanging nearby. "I regret to announce this is the end. I am going now. Goodbye." She then pulled the rope down, and the curtain fell. It then rose up again, but Grandma wasn't there, much to the crowd's surprise.

+1 Grandma's Speechcraft skills.

+1 Grandma's sneaking skills.

Grandma actually went backstage and climbed the fire exit to her room. After she entered her room, she laughed to herself, flipping the Ring, caught it back and put it into her pocket. Suddenly, she saw a silhouette in front of her, saying, "Think you're pretty smart, aren't ya, Pookie?" the silhouetted figure flipped the switch on, revealing himself to be Grandpa.

"Oh, come on, Phil! It was just a bit of fun! Oh, you're probably right, as usual. You will keep an eye on Arnold when I'm gone for a while, won't you?"

"If my eyes still hasn't failed me." Grandpa replied back, shrugging.

"I've brought everything that I could."

"Even that Ring of yours?" Grandpa asked back.

"Of course I'm bringing my wedding ring along with me, Phil!" Grandma replied back.

"No, I mean the other Ring."

Grandma stopped at her tracks, and slowly she put her hand inside her pocket, and took the ring out, caressing it. "Heh, isn't that, isn't that weird though? Yet, after all why not? Why shouldn't I keep it?"

"Well, I think you should leave it." Grandpa was beginning to sense something was wrong.

"No!" Grandma opposed back angrily, "Now that I've think about it, I don't feel like parting with it! Its mine, I found it, it came to me! It's mine! My own, my preciousssssssss." She said, caressing the Ring.

"Precious?" Grandpa raised an eyebrow, "Are you… hiding something… or someone, behind me?"

"Bah! What business is it of yours what I do with my own things? You want the Ring to yourself!"

"POOKIE!" Grandpa grabbed her by her shoulders, trying to snap her back, "WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOU? IT'S JUST A STUPID DECODER RING!" That got her to snap back.

+1 Grandpa's intimidation skills.

After collecting herself up, she nodded to her husband and said, "You're right Phil. I have to leave the Ring here. It's pointless to bring it to the place I'm going." Grandma then pulled the Ring out from her pocket. She stared at it on her palm, and then slowly and with a great effort turned her hand, allowing it to slip off her palm. It landed on the floor with a heavy thud. Grandma ran out the door, went a few paces, then stopped and lifted her head. She looks relieved. "Goodbye, Phil."

"Goodbye, Pookie. Enjoy your stay there." After they gave each other a kiss, Grandma then flagged a taxi and went in. After watching Grandma away in the cab, Grandpa then went into the house but stopped for awhile in front of the Ring. He tried to pick it up but stopped short when the image of the CEO flashed in his mind, and cringed at his ugliness. He rose up and proceeded to sit in front of the TV, watching some stupid infomercials. In his mind, he wondered what the heck his wife was talking about.

"It's mine! My own, my preciousssssssss."

"Riddles in the dark…" Grandpa mumbles to himself, "Ooh, a non-stick barbecue grill! Gotta buy me one of those!" Just then, Arnold was heard entering the room.

"Grandma? Grandma?" he called for his grandmother. He saw the Ring on the floor and picked it up. He then noticed Grandpa by the TV watching infomercials, and approached him. "Grandpa?" but there was no answer from his grandfather.

"Grandma's decoder ring, she's giving it to you. She's gone to the hospital. I hope you put that Ring somewhere out of sight." He then got up to leave in haste.

"Hospital? Grandma?" Arnold asked worriedly, "And where are you going?"

"Don't worry about your Grandma, she'll be fine. And I'm going to the library. There're some things that I hafta know."

"Things? What?"

"Questions. Questions that need answering!" Grandpa replied back as he made his way to the front door.

"Grandpa, it's eleven o'clock in the evening!" Arnold replied back, "The library is closed. You can start your search for whatever you're looking for tomorrow morning."

"Oh, yeah…" Grandpa replied back, in realization that his grandson was correct. "I guess I can go there tomorrow. Say Shortman, wanna watch some wrestling on pay-per-view?"

Main Quest Added (Grandpa) – Go to library and seek information about the Ring tomorrow.

---

The next morning…

Curly slowly opened his eyes after a long sleep. In his blurry sight, he could see three big kids looking down at him. He immediately widened his eyes in shock.

"Wakey, wakey, punk!" one of the large kids grabbed him by his shirt collar and lifted him up from his bed. Using the fire escape, they brought Curly to the back alley and started to torture him for information.

"The Sunset Boarding Houseses! Arnold's grandparentsess!" Curly cried in agony, after he couldn't bare another minute of Blue's Clues, being forcefully played in front of him.

"CAN YOU HELP TICKITY TOCK FIND HIS SOUL?" said Steve the devil. "MWAHAHAHAHA!" he laughed evilly as fire rose furiously in the background.

The gate of a shanty looking clubhouse opened, and let loose a team of fifth graders riding on bicycles to find the ring. Meanwhile, after a long bus trip, Grandpa arrived in front of the library and went over to the 'Newspaper archives' section. He was looking for specific news from the 30's to prove his theory was right.

The year was around 1930's. After three years of loss and an unsuccessful marketing ploy, The Honeybees Cereal Corporation finally went belly-up yesterday and filed for bankruptcy. Investors mostly blamed company's demise on the costly advertisement ploy of using decoder rings in a contest as an act of desperation to win the hearts of consumers. The decoder ring was unique itself, as it was wonderfully and skillfully created by hand and only one hundred of them were made. One child was reported saying, "I will never let the precious slipped from my hands!" The rings had some sort of markings on, if you look clearly.

Quest Updated (Grandpa) – Warn Arnold as soon as possible about the dangers of the Ring.

Grandpa's reaction was strong, and he was in shock. "My word…"

Back at the neighborhood, a few blocks from Arnold's residence, a group of large fifth graders on bikes stopped in front Chocolate Boy, asking for directions to Arnold's house. "Arnold… Sunset Arms…" one of the fifth graders said morbidly.

Visibly fearful with the confrontation, Chocolate Boy nervously responded, "Arnold? I-I know him. Yeah. Chocolate. He's there, a-at V-Vine Street. Few blocks down. Chocolate." He then pointed the way, and ran away quickly. The fifth graders continued on their journey.

The scene then changed to in front of the Sunset Arms where Arnold and Gerald said their goodbyes to each other, after playing in the park. He then came up to the stoop, and opened the door. Suddenly Grandpa emerged from the back of the door and grabbed his shoulder from behind, startling him.

"Grandpa, you scared the daylights out of me!"

"Where's the Ring? Is it safe?" Grandpa demanded again.

"Huh? What?"

"The Ring! THE RING!" Grandpa reiterated again. Arnold then led him to his room and opened a small drawer under his computer and began his search for the ring. He then handed Grandpa the Ring as he took a magnifying glass out from his pocket.

Arnold was a bit alarmed, "Grandpa, what are you doing?"

"Look at this." Grandpa said, showing Arnold the markings on the Ring. The markings were written in Chinese.

Arnold shook his head, couldn't comprehend the Chinese characters, "It's some form of Chinese. I can't read it."

"It's Mandarin." Grandpa explained, "In English, it says 'Product of China' 1933. But in the 30's, the country was being hit by the Great Depression, and labor was scarce. If they actually contracted a company outside the States to make this ring for them, it'd be economically suicide due to the high production and import cost! This is the Honeybees Cereal decoder ring! I was a lad when they made this… only about a hundred were made, handcrafted, expensive, and extremely rare by now. Now it's an antique. And do you know how much antique stuff is worth nowadays?"

"Grandma found it, somewhere near Curly's house." Arnold said back.

"Yeah… for three days The Ring lay quiet in your Grandma's… place that you really don't want to know. It made her crazier, and wackier. That's why we need to get rid of this Ring, by selling them to an antique dealer or something. If this is the real deal, Arnold: think how much money we can get from it! We can repair the house, go on a vacation and do lots of stuff to our hearts content!"

"That is so awesome!" Arnold exclaimed. "I have to tell everyone about this!"

"No! Don't tell everyone! Only to your closest friends." Grandpa replied back.

"Right!" Arnold said back, "No one knows it's here, do they? Do they Grandpa?"

"I don't think so. I looked everywhere for the creature Curly. But the fifth grader kids found him first. I don't know how long they tortured him. Amidst the endless screams and Steve's torturous voice, they discerned six words:"

Then there was a flashback where Curly was tortured, "The Sunset Boarding Houseses! Arnold's grandparentsess!"

"My name… our house." Arnold replied back worriedly, "That would lead them here!" he began to panic, "Take it Grandpa! Take it! The fifth graders are going to kill me for sure if they know the Ring is with me!"

Grandpa then smacked his head, "What are, ya? A wuss?" he said back angrily, "Be a man! Stand up to those bullies! The Ring is given to you so it's your responsibility to bring it to the antique store!"

"B-But…" Arnold answered back nervously, "where? I don't know any antique stores. What should I do?" Accompanied by his grandfather, Arnold then began to pack his school backpack with necessities like lunch money and… lunch that his Grandpa hastily made.

"Make your way to Slausen's." Grandpa replied back, "I'll be waiting for you there."

Main Quest Added (Arnold) – Go to Slausen's to rendezvous with Grandpa.

"And where are you going?" Arnold asked again.

"I'm going to see an old rival of mine. He is both dumb and stupid, but he'll know what to do. Walk only on the sidewalk. And don't cross the street, unless there's a crossing, you get that, Shortman?"

Arnold nodded, understanding his grandfather's advice.

Grandpa then suddenly chuckle to himself, smiling softly, "My boy Arnold. You've grown up aren't ya?" Arnold smiled embarrassingly. "You're ready to take on the world." Suddenly, the both of them heard a crashing sound outside the window. "Get down!" Arnold nodded, and he immediately dropped to the floor. Grandpa went closer to the window and peered cautiously outside. Surprised at what he saw, he dragged the person in to the house and plopped him on the sofa. "Darn it Gerald! What are you doing back there?"

"H-hey! Take it easy, man!" he replied back nervously, "I was just looking for some ten bucks that I accidentally dropped from my pocket!"

"Yeah, and it magically find its way to the garbage cans, right?"

"Hey, I ain't hearing nothin', okay?" he replied back.

"Yeah, right!" Grandpa replied snidely, "What didja hear? TALK!"

Gerald was so scared at Arnold Grandpa that he just let it all out, "N-n-n-nothing important. I only heard some things about some expensive Ring and something about it is possessed… Please, Grandpa Phil sir, don't hurt me. Don't make me scrub your toilet…"

"Nope, maybe not. I have thought of a better use for you…" Grandpa said, smiling snidely at him.

+1 Grandpa's persuasion skills.

Well, how was it? Thank you for reading and please leave a review.