And now, it's finally time to wrap up the story! That's right, the final chapter is about to commence! It's been a long road, but I'm glad I was able to at least complete this story when I could! Sorry I took so long on this, but hopefully, the wait for this story was worth it in the end! Anyway, enjoy!
About two days later, Arnold and Gerald were waiting for the school bus as Gerald's eyes widened, with Arnold finishing up the story.
"Man, Arnold, you sure are a bold kid. Not only in romancing, but also in facing that lion head-on!" Gerald pointed out.
"Honestly, I was just as scared when I faced that lion." Arnold sighed. "But when I saw the beef jerky wrappers, I knew that this particular lion had an affinity for beef jerky, so when I ran into the kitchens and found a couple beef jerky slices, I knew exactly what I needed to distract it."
"Still, the papers had Rhonda's parents praising you as a hero!" Gerald said. "...you always seem to be getting into the papers, one way or another."
"You know me, Gerald. I'm just happy to help anybody." Arnold said. "Although, Harold, Stinky and Sid have met me yesterday and kept asking me about my daring 'fight' with a lion."
Gerald could only chuckle. "Well, that's the boys for you. They like to imagine what it would be like to be you. I know I usually do."
Arnold shook his head with a smile... before sighing. "I just feel a LITTLE sorry for Curly, you know."
"Why?" Gerald frowned. "Arnold, he tried to kidnap Rhonda, who just agreed to be your girl! And besides, you know how psychopathic he can be when things aren't as they seem for him!"
"I know, I know..." Arnold sighed. "But he really went through all the trouble for her, and... in the end, he just overreacted as always... but you are right about one thing, and Rhonda's parents agree, Curly simply doesn't deserve Rhonda with the attitude he put up."
"Paranoia is one thing, man, but use it too much, and maybe you'll lose a friend as well..." Gerald said in a profound voice.
Arnold looked at Gerald with surprise... as he looked over at his backpack and paused. "Hmmm... that's actually pretty good advice. Thanks for telling me this, Gerald."
"Sure thing, man." Gerald smiled as the two saw the bus coming up and opening. "So, how about we try to compare arithmetic homework and see if either of us made a mistake?"
"Er, maybe later." Arnold said as he went inside the bus as he spotted a familiar figure sitting in the front of the bus. "I have someone important to talk to."
Gerald paused in confusion as the football headed boy walked over to where Helga was sitting.
Indeed, at the moment, Helga was sitting down alone, seemingly trying to look down at the ground as she seemed to move her hands around. It was right around then that she heard the familiar voice of a friend approaching.
"Hey Helga."
"Huh? Oh... hey football head." Helga said, looking up.
"Mind if I sit with you for a while? You look like you could use the company." Arnold offered.
Helga looked up in surprise at Arnold... before sighing. "Take a seat."
Arnold nodded as he sat down next to Helga as he raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing?"
"Just playing a little game called Checkerless Checkers. You could say... a friend introduced me to this game." Helga shrugged.
"Hmmm... you have to show me how to play sometime." Arnold said, a little interested. "Listen, Helga, about that contract I gave you a few days ago..."
"The one that you gave me saying that I can't come within a few inches of you and your girlfriend while you two are dating? Yes, I'm well aware of that contract. What about it?" Helga frowned. "I haven't even violated it ALL week!"
"That's what I want to talk about actually... I..." Arnold sighed as he opened the backpack and pulled out the contract... before, much to Helga's surprise, he started ripping it up in pieces. "I've decided to forgo the contract. And make a little apology to you. It's just... things have been going a little crazy all week, and I have been going out with Rhonda for the past couple of weeks and..."
"And you came to actually... like-like her?" Helga said.
Arnold nodded. "Considering our... little thing we have going, I guess I was afraid that you would try and interfere and I put a lot of pressure on you that I shouldn't have."
"You did have every right to be paranoid, Arnoldo." Helga sighed. "Sure, I'm not perfect, but I only want what makes you happy. I do have pride, you know."
Arnold gave a sigh of relief before saying, "So, here's the new deal I'm proposing, Helga. I do still plan on dating Rhonda, and just so you know, we are officially a couple. All I ask is that you give a little respect for me going with her, and not to overreact if things go awry."
Helga gave a smile towards the football headed kid as she thought about it. "All right. I guess if that's how it's going to be, I won't be like Curly and try to steal you away from Rhonda."
"Thanks, Helga. I know it's... tough for you, but... hey, I'm sure there are other boys that are willing to go with you." Arnold offered. "I know Brainy has some fancy to you..."
Helga paused as she lowered her unibrow. "I'll... look into other options... but just promise me one thing. If you and Rhonda don't work out, promise me I'll be the first to try to comfort you. As best as I possibly could."
Arnold looked at Helga... as he gave a nod. "Fair deal..."
It was at this moment the bus stopped as everyone turned to see Rhonda entering inside the bus, looking for an empty seat. Helga gave a nod as she got up from her seat. "Well, I better go sit with Pheebs and maybe introduce her to this game I'm doing right now. I'm sure your girlfriend would want to sit with you."
"Oh... well, thanks Helga." Arnold smiled... before pausing. "Er, one other thing, Helga. There was something that was on my mind."
"What is it?" Helga said, looking over to Arnold.
"Well, Curly mentioned something strange as he was trying to kidnap Rhonda Saturday night, and I want your honest opinion." Arnold said as he looked at Helga. "Curly said that you were involved in his plans in someway."
Helga's eyes widened in shock. "He did?"
Arnold nodded. "But I just want you to answer me honestly and truly, as a friend. Were you actually planning to break me and Rhonda up, with you sending Curly out?"
Helga stared at Arnold, wide-eyed for a brief moment... before giving a laugh as she said, "Please, Arnoldo, like I would associate myself with the little freak! I didn't even know WHAT he was planning."
Arnold narrowed his eyes towards Helga in suspicion, but let it pass as he gave a nod. "Well, thank you for being honest with me, Helga."
"Yeah, yeah, no problem, football head." Helga said as she moved off as she motioned over to Rhonda. "Yo, princess! Arnold wants to see ya!"
"Oh!" Rhonda smiled as she walked over and sat next to Arnold as Helga went off. As Rhonda sat next to Arnold, she giggled as she gave him a kiss on the cheek, causing him to blush. "Hey, sweetie!"
"Hi, beautiful." Arnold gave a warm smile towards Rhonda. "Are you feeling okay?"
"Are you kidding? I feel a lot more reinvigorated after the whole fiasco at the party." Rhonda gave a smile. "Do you have any idea how much Mommy and Daddy were singing praises about you yesterday?"
"I can only imagine." Arnold gave a laugh.
Rhonda giggled as she held her boyfriend's hand. "Yeah, they keep telling me that I should be marrying you right now..."
Arnold's eyes widened in surprise as Rhonda giggled, "It's true, they said that. Though, I'm sure they were probably joking, but I guess it was because they prefer you than Curly right now..."
"Yeah..." Arnold sighed. "Say, do you know what happened at the party last night?"
"Well, the other parents of the rich kids were a little dazed upon their brawl, not even realizing about any of the scenario that had occurred. Lorenzo, Alan and Rex III stayed with us to ensure that the three recovered nicely, and my parents explained the story of the lion and you being a brave, heroic man for distracting it... how is it you're always at the right place at the right time, my handsome boy?" Rhonda fluttered her eyes towards the blushing football head.
"Well, you know me." Arnold said. "I'm always happy to help..."
"Still, I think I want to keep you around." Rhonda giggled as she nuzzled his cheek. "After all, the hero always gets his fair maiden..."
"Rhonda, please..." Arnold blushed as Rhonda giggled before holding back on herself.
"By the way, my parents said that because the party had been cut due to the... embarrassments Saturday, we'll be holding another one this Saturday once again, hopefully things will go easy this time." Rhonda said.
"Yeah, I'm sure Mr. Bones and his band will probably be psyched at the chance to perform for real." Arnold gave a smile. "I'm just sorry Curly had to ruin everything... what's going to happen now?"
Rhonda paused as she said, "Well, my parents are currently working on getting a restraining order... making sure there's no way he can violate it."
"Well, at least it's something..." Arnold said as he pulled Rhonda closed to her and stroked her beautiful hair. "Still, I'm sure the other kids are going to think I beat up a lion, and they're probably going to say that Curly was the one who released it... but I know what truly went on... poor management on the circus's part. That WAS what the radio said."
"Yeah, but who listens to the radio nowadays?" Rhonda shrugged. "Well, don't you worry, Arnold. I assure you, we'll be getting this right for next time. Until then... you and me are a pair."
Arnold looked over at his girlfriend and smiled as the bus stopped in front of the school as the kids were getting ready to get off. "Yes we are, my beautiful raven-haired woman, yes we are..."
As both Arnold and Rhonda stepped outside into the warm spring air and headed straight for PS 118, both of them knew that this potential relationship had just begun, and neither of them regretted the day they have united one bit...
Orange Ratchet Story
"That's All, Folks!"
An Orange-Ratchet Fanfiction
And with that, this story is finally done, and it's another one for the 'Complete One Story a Month' Pile! How did you guys like it? I have to admit, it was nice getting back into the groove of things after a couple of years, and I'm glad I was able to have this story be the start of the project I'm doing, of completing a story a month! Although I said I'll be updating my Fairly Oddparents fanfiction "Magic Wonders" next during the month of February, I already made arrangements for next month's story!
More on that later though, as I give my overall thoughts. I really did enjoy writing up this story, and I regret I didn't finish it sooner. The reason I stopped the first time was because admittingly, I got a little stuck on a few ideas, and I didn't know how to incorporate it. So I left it sitting there until I could get some ideas. When the poll for this month's complete story selected this for the winner, I looked back on it, and I started to get some ideas flowing back into me. Some of it thanks to MaxGentlman1, who suggested some ideas for this story, and the idea of one of his characters making an appearance... even though he only appeared in three chapters. Sorry, man. Regardless, I'm glad I was able to complete the story, and figure out something brand new... plus, writing a song parody was always fun.
And now that this story is done, what do I have plan for next month? Well, as you can see from the poll, I had a three-way tie, but on Deviantart, I used the power of the randomizer to help me out! And here's the next story I'm planning on completing... "Spring Break Adventure", which is a Perils of Penelope Pitstop fanfiction! That's right, I'm jumping from Nickelodeon to Hanna-Barbera! For the other two stories, don't worry, if 'Spring Break Adventure' is finished before March is over, I'll focus on the other two stories. Until then, stay tuned!
Anyway, thank you all for reading, and have a very wonderful day!