CHAPTER 24: CLASS REUNION
The public elementary school designated P.S. 118 has had is share of students throughout the years, educating many generations past and many more to come. At this night in the city of Hillwood, it is not being used to educate any young minds with the fundamentals of the world, but instead is the unintentional reunion of two former students so they may fight.
One of these two is the one who put his own stranglehold on the school, the Freak, holding its students and teachers hostage so he may bring out the other.
The other of these two is the one who he is trying to bring forth and fight, the Green Eye, dedicated on stopping him and saving all hostages inside.
As the Green Eye made his way inside the school, he heard the sinister noise of the Freak's laughter echo throughout the halls, taunting him as he began to enter. Staying vigilant and ready, the man without pain continued to keep his guard up and his staff tight in his hands, ready to meet danger at any second.
Continuing to step down the empty hallways of the school, he kept himself alert to his surroundings, keeping both his two physical eyes and his third in search of any threats that would come his way. In spite of his elevated awareness, he could still detect no signs of any threats his way, leaving him with very little other ways to react but to carry on forward.
His walk led him to the school's gym, walking through the room to find his way to the auditorium. Making his way across the basketball court, he continued to hold his staff tight and ready, expecting a threat to come his way at any given second, and preparing himself to meet it.
Suddenly, the expectations were quickly met. In the blink of an eye, several mobsters appeared seemingly out of nowhere, all rushing towards the Green Eye. They each held in their hands their own weapons to match his, but their weapons of choice being fully-automatic firearms rather than any melee weapons.
"Hold it, punk! Drop the stick and put your hands up!" One gangster said.
Appearing to comply with the order, the Green Eye began raising his hands in the air, but still holding his staff while doing so.
"I said, drop the stick!" The gangster repeated.
The Green Eye was slower to comply with the second part of the demand, turning his head to study his opponents and discern what his best course of action was. His observation led him to take a head count of something near 10 enemies, each one armed with some manner of automatic firearm.
Being completely surrounded by the enemy, and the fact that the Freak desired to have him alive, he knew that being shot right away would not be a possibility. Continuing to raise his hands up, the Green Eye held his staff above his head, not releasing his grip on his weapon as of yet.
Then, he let his grip go, letting the staff fall to the ground.
[Soundtrack Cue: KMFDM - Juke-Joint Jezebel]
As the staff began falling to the ground, the Green Eye threw a kick to the enemy at his side, followed by one to his adjacent side. Throwing one last kick to the falling staff, he sent it flying to the face of the enemy in front of him, striking him in the face and knocking him back as the past two enemies had.
Catching his staff as it returned to him, the Green Eye threw a kick behind him, hitting two enemies in both of their faces, spinning around with his kick to strike another enemy in the face with his staff. Continuing with his momentum and speed, he lifted himself on the staff and kicked away yet another enemy, landing on the ground after defeating said opponent.
Thrusting his staff at another gangster, he pushed the enemy against a wall, jabbing him in the stomach with his weapon, in turn causing him to spew out chunks of vomit. Seeing another enemy come to his side, the Green Eye threw an eyebrow kick to his staff, launching it off the subdued enemy's stomach and to the face of the oncoming fighter, landing a sharp whack to his face.
Getting tackled by another opponent, he was then pushed into the arms of yet another gangster, cooperating with his ally to capture the Green Eye. Swiping his staff to the awaiting enemy's face, the Green Eye then followed by swinging himself around behind his tackler, pulling his staff against his neck.
Throwing a toe kick to his face, the Green Eye then threw his subdued enemy over his head, sending him flying into another gangster awaiting a fight. Both opponents soon were sent to the floor and unable to keep fighting, allowing the Green Eye to continue moving onto his remaining enemies.
Jumping towards two enemies raising their machine guns to fire, the Green Eye pushed his staff forward, striking both in their faces. As he descended in his jump, he threw his legs forward next and kicked them down, sending them to the floor to join their allies in defeat.
As more came to further challenge him to a fight, the Green Eye took more methods of crowd control to handle the onslaught of enemies coming his way. Driving his staff between the legs of one enemy, he launched his body into the air, crudely striking at his vulnerables in the process, and vaulted himself on his staff to kick his body towards his allies.
The attack method had worked just as intended; the gangster sent flying towards his comrades crashed into the rest of his group, putting the whole on the ground before able to attack their target. Effective as it was, there still remained more to fight as well, leading the Green Eye to continue in battle.
His next adversary he fought showed more cunning than his allies had, evidenced by his decision not to blindly rush in for an attack. Instead, he awaited his target to approach him with his staff; an action which the Green Eye fulfilled as his opponent desired for his strategy.
Where his allies foolishly took hits from their target and were subdued instantly, this one grabbed at the oncoming staff, holding the weapon back from reaching its strike. Pushing back against the smarter gangster, the Green Eye struggled to free his hold on the staff, but found no luck in freeing it once again.
Leading his hands to the center of the staff, the gangster put himself in a tug-of-war with the Green Eye, leaving both to try to fight for the weapon. Unwilling to let his enemy take hold of his stick, the Green Eye released his hold on the grip, snaking his hands under the gangster's arms and pushing him back.
As the gangster stumbled back from the push, he grabbed hold of his staff once again, pushing back against his opponent with a kick and freeing his weapon at last. The Green Eye then threw his staff back towards its former captor, leaving it to bounce off his head and back into his own arms.
Concluding his attack on the enemy, the Green Eye threw his staff towards his legs in a sweeping motion, knocking his body to the ground. Moving further with his momentum, he landed one final strike to the downed enemy, laying a hit to his back and knocking him unconscious, putting him out of the fight.
With all his original enemies in the room downed and unconscious, the situation seemed to be improving for the Green Eye, but this belief lasted shortly and without any ripe fruit to bear. The belief had come to an end with the arrival with more enemies entering the room, all brandishing their weapons with, unlike their now downed and defeated comrades, the intent to open fire.
Concocting a plan to handle his new threat, he took notice of one of his past targets attempting to get off the ground, giving him an idea to deal with the new attackers. The Green Eye began running towards the oncoming enemies, intending to attack them before they had any chance to attack themselves.
Jumping on the back of the nearby enemy, leaping over the oncoming wave, simultaneously putting the recovering enemy back on the ground, the Green Eye spun around with his jump to strike the furthest enemy in the group in the head, sending him falling to the ground. He then threw his staff into the air in a twirl, freeing his hands for his next attack.
Moving to the first enemy in his path, he landed a punch in his chest, knocking him back.
Spinning to the enemy behind him, he swung his fist over to his jaw, throwing him aside.
Continuing with his spin to kneel to the ground, he threw a punch to the groin of another enemy, sending him tumbling back.
Getting up and swinging his fist to an enemy's neck, he followed with another punch to another one's stomach, making both fall down.
Throwing his leg out in a back kick, he knocked away another enemy, landing a hit in his chest.
Swinging his leg across, he threw a kick to another enemy's face, further spinning to land another kick in the next.
His staff finally came spinning back to the ground again, landing softly in the hands of the Green Eye. Retrieving his weapon once again, he concluded his attack by swinging the staff to the feet of the entire group, striking at their legs and sweeping them all off their feet.
[Soundtrack Cue End]
At last, all enemies fell to the ground, laying in defeat at the hands of the Green Eye. Having no more distractions in the way of the Freak's minions, he moved on from the basketball court to the auditorium, heading to the reason that led him to the school and the main priority of his fight:
The hostages.
Quickly making his way down the halls of P.S. 118, he finally arrived outside the doors to the school's auditorium. Stashing his staff on his back, the Green Eye stepped up to the nearest door and reached for its handle, ready to step inside and save the hostages within.
Just before reaching his hands on the door, however, a dash of hesitance moved through his mind, paralyzing it temporarily enough to prevent him from opening the door. The moment of pause allowed him a brief period of thought, making him question what threat would be awaiting him outside the door.
Opening his mind to the astral plane, he carefully scanned the other side of the door, searching for any signs of enemies. Just as expected, he found multiple presences of emotion outside the door, all carrying feelings of alertness and vigilance, with the cold steel of gun metal in their hands.
Knowing that the route before him was not a viable one, the Green Eye looked to find an alternate route, soon finding a means around the enemy before him.
The gangsters continued to wait outside the door, still holding their machine guns tight and their fingers kept firmly on the triggers. Each and every one knew that the Green Eye would soon be coming to them, and knew well what capabilities he possessed, but knew not when he would come for them, leaving the group with feelings of stress and anxiety clouding their minds.
It is not these feelings that the Green Eye takes advantage of to defeat them, but instead a simple air vent which he climbs through to reach the other side of the room.
His entry into the auditorium was met with no acknowledgement from the gangsters, but instead a few of the children held hostage. Temptation rose in their hearts to cheer and gasp from his arrival, but their temptations were silenced by a finger held to the Green Eye's mouth; the children taking to his signal and staying quiet.
Stepping up to the gangsters at the door, he approached the group of four, tapping two to get their attention.
"Excuse me, guys." Green Eye said.
Turning to face the Green Eye, the faces of the gangsters looked to him with looks of surprise, raising their weapons to fire at him. Landing backhanded fists to both of their faces, he followed by grabbing them by their heads and bashing them together, lifting himself on their shoulders to handle the next two enemies.
Throwing his legs up into kicks, he knocked the two remaining enemies in their faces, pushing them against door and knocking them through it. Lowering himself back on the ground again, the enemies he lifted himself on fell to the ground with their fallen comrades, leaving the group defeated.
One final gangster, however, was still not removed from the equation. Staying separate from the group, he had spared himself the trouble of taking on the Green Eye directly, and now had found the opportunity to shoot him from a distance. Raising his weapon to the man without pain, he cocked back pin on his gun, preparing to pull the trigger and fire.
Having no time to approach him to fight directly, the Green Eye instead took his staff from his back, tossing it towards the enemy like a spear. His throw managed to land the weapon directly into his face, knocking out teeth from his mouth and sending him falling on his back.
With no more enemies to hold back the hostages inside, the children cheered in joy as the Green Eye had rescued them from the hostile takeover. Excited to see a real-life superhero come to their rescue, the feelings of fear that they once felt turned to celebration and relief with his presence.
Though the youngest of the hostages were safe, there still laid the family of the Green Eye to be saved. Heading to the stage, he stepped up to the subdued and bound Miles and Stella Shortman, untying their ropes and removing their gags, helping them to stand up again.
Relieved as he was to see his parents safe again, the absence of Helga had not given him feelings of ease yet.
"He's up on the roof with Helga." Miles said.
"I know. You guys get the kids out. I'll take care of Curly." Green Eye said.
The Green Eye prepared to head out and make good on his promise, but was stopped by Stella before departing.
"Hey Arnold. You'll be careful, right?" Stella asked.
The Green Eye responded to his mother by holding her hand in his, giving her a physical comfort to the concerns in her mind.
"Don't worry, mom. I'll be back." Green Eye said.
With a smile and a nod of approval from Stella, the Green Eye left the auditorium to the stairs, rushing up to the roof of the school to confront the Freak and her captor of the Freak. The two currently free members of his family followed through his request to escort the children from the school, guiding them out the door to safety.
As they did so, they also offered silent hopes that their son would defeat his enemy and save Helga at last.
After walking up several flights of stairs, the Green Eye's perseverance paid off as he finally reached the top of P.S. 118, opening the door to the roof. Stepping through the door, he found himself face-to-face with the Freak; holding Helga as his hostage with a gun in his hands.
Holding his hostage tight for his own protection, the Freak danced with her in a sarcastic waltz, humming along a ballroom dance tune as he moved. The sight is one that the Green Eye held with much displeasure, scowling at the cruel treatment that Helga was put in.
Finally able to see her significant other once again, Helga looked to the Green Eye with tearful eyes, hoping for his help to come soon.
"Arnold... Help me... Please..." Helga cried.
Helga's cries for help brought terror to the Green Eye, which only grew as he watched the Freak held a gun to Helga's head.
"Hey Arnold." The Freak said.
"Let her go, Curly. It's me you want." Green Eye said.
Offended by the mention of his former name, the Freak grew more rageful of its utterance, growing more unstable by the moment. The Green Eye sensed the emotional imbalance brought from his name, coupled with the many years of abuse that followed him through most of his life.
"My name is not 'CURLY'! THAT CHILD IS DEAD! HE WAS NEVER ALIVE IN THE FIRST PLACE! HE WAS A WEAK AND PATHETIC LITTLE PIECE OF SHIT THAT DESERVED TO DIE!" The Freak yelled.
The horrible memories that the Green Eye lived through the eyes of the Freak made him put aside his own rage and vengeance, instead making him approach his fiancee's captor with open hands raised up in mercy. He spoke to him not with threats of violence, but promises of forgiveness and hope, praying that his words would help disarm the Freak from harming Helga.
"That's not true. The Curly I know is alive and well, and he's under that makeup. All he wants is what he wanted most of his life: Love and attention." Green Eye said.
The Freak listened to the Green Eye's speech with intrigue, leaning in his head to listen further.
"I can see and I can feel your past, Curly. I can actually live it out like you have. I saw what your parents did to you all those years, how they hurt you. I had no idea they were such horrible people, and I'm sorry that I wasn't there to help you when you were younger. But that doesn't mean I won't try now, and none of what happened to you means that you are unloved. None of what you've done means that you are unloved." Green Eye said.
Listening carefully to his words, the Freak seemed to be more convinced to the Green Eye's speech as he spoke; his finger beginning to ease from the gun's trigger.
"I tried my best to help you back in the fourth grade. I tried my best after that. I've been gone five years, but I'll still try my best now. You're not a freak, Curly. You are still human, and you're still my friend. We can save you. We can show you love." Green Eye said.
The Green Eye reached out his hand to the Freak, offering to save him from himself and help him end the horrible life he chose to live. The very sight of the hand of his victim coming to offer kindness is one that made him raise an eyebrow in uncertainty, not able to fully comprehend the compassion it communicated.
"Curly. Let her go. Come with me. Please." Green Eye said.
The offer made the Freak think hard over it, beginning to seriously contemplate the Green Eye's offer. Despite his horrendous deeds as the Freak, even the persecution and violence he inflicted on the Green Eye himself, seeing him still able to see him more than willing to offer him help, no matter the cost, is one that made him stop in surprise and stand in shock to analyze it.
No one had ever done such a thing for him, and never had he ever expected this degree of kindness offered, leaving him barely able to find his way to make a decision. Looking at the gun in his hand, an urge to drop the weapon was planted in his mind, and the desire to surrender peacefully had been gnawing at him to fulfill the thought to life and leave peacefully...
...and it is those thoughts that led the Freak make the decision he made.
"Well, Arnold, that is an amazing offer, to which I must simply reply..." The Freak began to say.
Contrary to where his thoughts were supposedly leading him, the Freak took his gun to the back of Helga's heart and pulled the trigger.
"FUCK YOU!" The Freak finished.
Feeling the bullet pass through the tissue and muscle of her heart, Helga screamed in agony as she felt the gunshot, watching her blood splatter across the ground. She fell to the ground, continuing to bleed profusely from her gunshot wound, screaming in pain from her injury.
The Green Eye stood stunned and shocked at the sight, watching in despair as Helga fell to the ground. Unable to process the horror unfolding before him, her movements seemed to progress in slow-motion, leaving his mind to take in every detail of the terrible sight playing in front of him.
Snapping quickly out of his trance, he ran up and picked her body off the ground, holding her tightly as she writhed in pain. Helga clutched onto the Green Eye in hopes that his embrace would ward away the pain she was in, but the comfort that he offered was not enough to repair her barely-beating heart.
The Freak, enjoying his own handiwork, laughed at the sight without intention to stop, bringing the Green Eye to look back at him with an expression of pure rage.
"Nice try, asshole. Your whole peace-on-Earth crap might work on everybody else, but it won't work with me. It'll never work on me. I like being bad too much. Y'know, it's funny, isn't it? All this time since we were kids, you were too stupid too see just how much she really did care about you. Now, she's gonna die, and you'll be all alone and unloved, just like me!" The Freak said.
As the Freak continued laughing extremely hard, he began growing careless and inattentive to the Green Eye, not seeming to notice or care if he would fight back. The Green Eye, hearing enough of his share of the Freak's sadistic laughs, gently set Helga down and gave her a kiss, assuring her of her safety before setting out to take his anger out on the man who shot her.
"Hold on, Helga." Green Eye whispered.
Vengefully, the Green Eye rushed to the unsuspecting Freak and landed a solid punch right to his face. The strike made him step back and stumble into a brick wall, colliding with it face-first. Turning back around from the obstacle, he soon found himself back in the arms of the Green Eye, more than ready to continue the assault which he began on his opponent.
The Green Eye continued his initial attack by grabbing the Freak by his head and continuing to land several punches to his face, not holding back a single blow he threw. Each hit managed to draw blood from his face, taking away pieces of skin from each punch thrown at him without any way to fight back.
Putting his focus on the situation at hand, the Freak managed to hold on to enough of his consciousness to retaliate. Acting quickly, the Freak grabbed the Green Eye's oncoming fist, stopping his next punch from landing and pushing it aside. He then followed with several punches of his own straight to the Green Eye's face and stomach, displaying that he had enough of his own strength to use against his opponent.
The Green Eye retaliated by grabbing the Freak's next punch, not unlike how he was initially stopped before. The Freak tried to land a punch with his other hand in response, but his punch was grabbed and stopped by the Green Eye as well. Struggling to free himself, the Freak put himself in a struggle against his enemy to be free, left unsuccessful against the hold he was trapped in.
Making a dirty move in their fight, the Green Eye twisted the Freak's thumbs back, breaking them both and making him scream in pain. Throwing a headbutt to the Freak in his own head, he then knocked him on his back, momentarily leaving him stunned and unable to move any further.
Picking up a loose brick from the ground, the Green Eye approached him yet again, intending to use the hard piece of clay to further punish him.
"I won't kill you, Curly, but you just hurt the woman I love the most. I felt what she felt when you shot her, and, now, you're about to find out what that feels like, too." Green Eye said.
The Freak responded to the threat by placing his glasses back on his face, mockingly begging for mercy from the Green Eye.
"Hey, wait, take it easy, you wouldn't hit a guy with glasses, would you?" The Freak asked.
Picking up the Freak off the ground, he delivered a solid punch straight to his face, giving a heavier, more deadly punch that shattered his glasses in an instant.
"This is for Rhonda!" Green Eye said.
He punched the Freak with the brick again, giving him a severe nosebleed, nearly soaking his clothes in his own blood.
"This is for that little girl!" Green Eye said.
He punched the Freak with the brick again, knocking out some of his teeth and causing them to scatter on the ground.
"This is for Helga!" Green Eye said.
He punched the Freak with the brick again, making his brain jostle around in his skull and begin to lose consciousness.
"AND THIS IS FOR ME!" Green Eye yelled.
The Green Eye finished his onslaught with an uppercut straight to the Freak's jaw, breaking more teeth and caving in more. No longer having enough consciousness to stay on his feet, the Freak fell to the ground, landing flat on his face. The Green Eye, not satisfied with bringing the Freak down, picked him up and placed him firmly on his feet, only to punch him in his chest with the brick again.
Knocking the Freak against a wall, the Green Eye sent him tumbling into an electrical panel, smashing into it and colliding with its circuits. The impact caused thousands of volts to course through his body, causing sparks to fly out from the damaged panel and screams to come out from his mouth.
After suffering through the brutal electrocution, the Freak soon stumbled back towards the Green Eye, allowing him to make one more hit with his compromised weapon. Taking the final hit to his face, feeling it take away more blood from his body, he fell to the ground once again, this time showing no signs of getting back up.
Tossing the brick aside, the Green Eye began walking towards him with an unbridled rage in his eyes, ready to continue beating him down for his heinous act. Though he had promised himself not to allow himself to fall into vengeance prior to the battle, what he did not account for is the possibility that any harm would come to Helga, nor the anger that followed it.
And he has no intention of stopping until the source of his anger is gone.
The Freak, his face now horribly disfigured from the abuse, laughed off the efforts of the Green Eye's attack in amusement, not impressed nor seemingly upset regarding the abuse he took. Breaking one of his thumbs back in place, he reached into his trench coat to pull out a vial of cocaine, snorting the entire contents in one inhale.
Having blood pouring from his nose, the cocaine that entered his body took blood back down into his lungs with it, making him gag and cough the fluids back out. The drug still managed to make its way into his body, fueling himself on long enough to stand up and fight once again.
Wiping the blood from his face, the Freak stood against the Green Eye, letting his opponent approach him to fight. Grabbing the Freak by his shoulders, the Green Eye clenched hard around the cloth of his jacket, putting his own face against his to fully display the look of rage upon it.
"Ready to take more of your punishment, Curly?" Green Eye asked.
"Ha-ha-ha... You call that 'punishment', Arnold? My parents would beat me with a metal pipe for sneezing or hiccuping when they were busy. My parents would drown me in the bathtub and revive me to do it again if I got any grade lower than a 'B'. My parents bought me a pet dog and forced me to kill it two weeks after my birthday as a practical joke. You don't have the slightest idea what pain or punishment is. I, on the other hand..." The Freak began to say.
A knife slid out of The Freak's jacket sleeve, which he grabbed and sliced at the Green Eye with, causing him to release his grip. Moving forward with the knife still in his hand, the Freak slashed again with his knife, trying to take his own ounce of flesh out from the Green Eye.
"I know pain more intimately than the deepest lovers know each other!" The Freak shouted.
Moving forward again with a slash, the Freak's attack missed yet again, and he was met with an elbow landing in the back of his head with his approach. While falling to the ground with his punch, he landed a cut into the side of the Green Eye, drawing his first blood at last. Getting up from the ground, the Freak once again approached him, holding his knife with the intention to stab.
"I know pain better than the most educated scholars know any subject in school!" The Freak said.
Rushed towards the Green Eye, the Freak threw a stabbing motion towards him, planning on landing the blade of his weapon into his chest. The Green Eye managed to catch the knife before it landed in him, but the force of his rush made him fall to the ground, with the Freak standing over him.
"I know pain more intimately than the deepest of lovers know each other!" The Freak said.
Tumbling back and forth on the ground, the two tried to get an advantage over one another, hoping one would dominate and defeat their enemy at last. Landing on his back, the Green Eye threw a punch to the Freak as he stood over him, landing a hit on his face, but gained no reaction out of him save for a laugh.
"I know pain better than you know yourself!" The Freak said.
Keeping the Freak's knife from reaching his body, the Green Eye punched him in the face once again, following by kicking him in his stomach and throwing him off. Marching up to the Freak again, he kicked him against a wall, running to him and pushing him against it.
"I like pain. I love pain. I AM PAIN!" The Freak said.
Taking advantage of his arms being kept on his body, the Freak began stabbing the Green Eye in the stomach, reopening the stab wound he had previously healed from. Feeling the knife make its way in and out of his body, the pain started making his consciousness fade in and out; each drop of blood lost taking with it more and more of his conscious mind.
"I AM DEATH! I AM HATRED! I AM FEAR! I AM LOATHING! I AM THE FUTURE! I AM THE GODDAMN ANTICHRIST! AND YOU ARE MY WORST ENEMY!" The Freak screamed.
Preventing himself from fading out, the Green Eye grabbed and twisted the Freak's arm, spraining his wrist and making him both drop his knife and squeal in pain.
"And I'm sick of your bullshit." Green Eye said.
The Green Eye then began mercilessly beating the Freak with punch after punch to his face, drawing out more blood and teeth with every hit thrown. He then followed with a sharp kick to the Freak's right kneecap along with a punch to his face, bringing him falling to the ground and screaming in pain.
Still acting out of his unrestrained anger, the Green Eye kicked at the Freak while he laid on the ground, drawing as much breath from his body as he could. Grabbing the Freak by the chest, he followed by punching him in the face, knocking him to the ground, and repeated by grabbing and punching him once again.
Finally, feeling his rage completely overtake his thoughts, the Green Eye grabbed the Freak and carried him to the edge of the building, hanging him over the side and preparing to drop him to his death. Seeing himself hang over the edge of P.S. 118 by the hands of the man he knew as Arnold Shortman, the display is one that the Freak looked to with surprise and shock, believing these to be the last moments of his life.
The thoughts and shock are shared by the audience on the ground; watching the show with emotions not unlike the ones that the Green Eye himself feels at the moment. He knows that the feelings both him and those below have are one in the same, but he knows that what they collectively feel give a sentiment he cannot agree with:
They desire the Freak to be dropped and die, which the Green Eye himself feels as well.
Realizing this emotion seeping from the crowd, he knows to follow through with the act will undermine all that he stands for and believes in, and betray himself in the point he sought to make to help his city realize its full potential. The temptation to drop the Freak is strong, but he does not give in.
Remembering his own morals once again, the Green Eye paused in his actions, fighting off the urge to end the Freak's life.
"I should drop you off this roof right now. You've caused so much death and destruction already, and I can tell you don't want help." Green Eye said.
Instead of dropping the Freak from the roof, he instead threw him behind towards a glass sunroof over the auditorium, leaving him to slide against it. Stumbling to get up once again, the Freak put himself in a crouch, watching the Green Eye step towards him to continue his speech.
"But dropping you would make me no better than you. You're not going to jail. You're going to a padded cell where you can't hurt anyone for a long time to come. And you're going to get as much help as you can get. In time, I hope you can also find the will and the way to be a better person, like I know you can." Green Eye said.
"I don't give a shit, I'M TAKING YOU WITH ME!" The Freak shouted.
The Freak then grabbed the Green Eye and jumped back against the glass behind him, shattering through it and pulling him down with him to fall from the school. The Freak laughed hysterically as they fell, gladly accepting his own death with his archnemesis joining him on his journey, but the Green Eye refused to die or allow him to die, using whatever he could to save himself and the Freak.
With all his mental and physical strength, the Green Eye caught hold of a ledge with one hand, catching the Freak in the other. Trying to save his life over his own, the Green Eye used all his strength to lift the Freak to the ledge, straining against the task of lifting his body up.
"Curly... You've got to grab the ledge... You're gonna fall..." Green Eye said.
While the Green Eye gave his plea, the Freak discreetly took a small handgun from behind his back, preparing to shoot him with it.
"I told you once, I told you a thousand times, I'm not Curly anymore... My name... IS THE FREAK!" The Freak shouted.
Pointing his handgun to the Green Eye's head, the Freak pulled the trigger, sending a bullet flying to his head. Watching the gun fire, the Green Eye knew that he could not avoid the shot, and any attempts to do so would lead to him dropping the Freak, leaving him unable to do anything but wait for the bullet to hit him.
Miraculously, the bullet did not kill him, but instead bounced off his skull and ricocheted into a wall; the smaller caliber of the bullet unable to pierce his skull. He lived from taking the bullet, but the impact nonetheless caused him to lose his grip on the Freak and drop him.
Intending for the bullet to kill his enemy, the Freak watched the Green Eye not fall with him, but saw that he still lived and held the ledge. Having failed his one dying goal, the Freak's maniacal laughs immediately turned to terrified screams as he fell, with the Green Eye watching in horror.
"CURLY!" Green Eye shouted.
The Freak descent ended on crashing into the podium of the auditorium, causing it to collapse under his weight. Seeing their captor fall to the ground from the ceiling, the sight of him not moving was relieving from any danger to those left in the building, but the sight of him suffering the fall was still one that was unsettling for the young people in the building to see.
The fall had left the Freak completely paralyzed and severely injured from the massive abuse he had taken, but his body was still shallowly breathing, showing he surviving the fall. Realizing the fact that he survived, the Freak gave a weak, raspy laugh in a final act of defiance.
On the edge of the sunroof, the Green Eye realized this as well from his mental powers, still sensing an emotional presence in his body, albeit one that was now faint. However, he also sensed another dwindling presence on the roof with him, giving him a quick reminder of the one he headed to the roof to save:
Helga.
Climbing back up to the roof, he made his way Helga, wasting no time in his run and trying to help her in any way he could. Upon reaching Helga, he scooped her up from the ground and held her tight in his arms, removing his mask and trying to comfort her as she bled out on the ground.
"Helga! Helga!" Arnold called.
Though Helga was still breathing, her breathing was heavily and labored, and her mind began to lose consciousness, the massive blood loss depriving her heart of the fluid needed to send oxygen to her brain. Unable to stay awake, she spoke in a weak, exhausted voice, but still strained herself to do so to speak to Arnold.
She laid a gentle but weak hand over his face, trying to feel and memorize it one last time before she passed.
"Well, Arnoldo... looks like the wedding's been cancelled." Helga said.
"No, Helga, don't say that! Paramedics are on the way, you'll be fine! We'll have a huge wedding just like you want; the cake'll be 16 different flavors that we've never heard of, we'll have flowers imported from China, we'll hire some expensive Elvis impersonator, we'll go all out, I don't care how much it costs-" Arnold began to say.
"Hey, football head..."
Helga put her finger on Arnold's mouth, stopping him in his speech and reassuring him of all worries, despite her fading mortality.
"You always were too damn optimistic. Unlike me. You really do have a heart of gold. Don't ever lose it." Helga said.
Losing his belief that he could save Helga, Arnold began to frantically tear up, trying to convince both her and himself that she would live.
"Helga, please hold on! You're gonna make it! Please! I can't lose you again! I refuse to lose you again!" Arnold said.
"Hey Arnold... I love you." Helga said.
Helga let out one last breath as she slipped away; her consciousness unable to sustain after her massive blood loss. Barely able to come to realization with what happened, Arnold cried heavily as he held his fiance in his arms, wallowing in complete despair as he held her body.
Feeling emotions of comfort and love in her mind seconds before, he felt no more out of her mind, leaving nothing but an emptiness that he recognized with little pleasure.
Helga is dead.