Here's the next episode of this series, which is 'Door 16'! Anyway, enjoy!
"So, from what I'm gathering, a mysterious man came by, asking for 'Mr. Smith', the guy who never shows his face." I said to Arnold, recollecting what he told me. Of course, I did get a close look at Mr. Smith's face as I was about to go in near Arnold's house today, but I wasn't going to tell Arnold that I saw no face on him... well, at least until the time was right.
Arnold nodded.
"And then he entrusted you with a package to deliver... and it must not be opened unless handed to Mr. Smith, if I'm getting it right?" I said.
"You're getting it right." Arnold nodded.
"And the people who live in the boarding house always wonder about Mr. Smith, and won't rest until they know what's in the package?" I asked.
"Yes, pretty much..." Arnold sighed as he heard a knock on the door. "I'm not giving any of you the package, unless you're Mr. Smith!"
"I am what you call Mr. Smith." An accented voice called.
Arnold and I just raised eyebrows as we looked at each other. Yeah, Oskar Kokoshka, no doubt. Who was he kidding?
"Okay, so I am not Mr. Smith. But come on, Arnold, we all want to know about Mr. Smith. Just give us the package, no harm will be done." Mr. Kokoshka's voice said.
"I'm not coming out unless Mr. Smith comes home!" Arnold frowned. "Scram!"
"Okay, okay, I take a hint, I tell when I'm not wanted. Good-bye." Mr. Kokoshka's voice said.
We waited as Arnold said, "I don't hear any footsteps."
"Oh, of course, of course. On my way, on my way." Mr. Kokoshka's voice was heard as we then heard footsteps going down two steps.
"A little more." Arnold frowned as the footsteps continued. "Little more, I can still hear them. Little more. More than that. More, more..."
We stayed in the room until we heard a crashing sound coming from outside the door as Arnold peeked out. "That's good. Stay there."
Arnold then closed the door as he sighed. "See what I mean about them being obsessed?"
"Looks like they're not going to rest until the package gets opened..." I sighed.
"Sorry I had to drag you into this mess..." Arnold sighed as he sat down next to me.
"No, Arnold, it's all right. To be honest, I need a little excitement from you, and with you and/or Gerald, we can always expect the unexpected." I smiled. "So, if it makes you feel any better, I'll stay with you until the package gets delivered."
Arnold gave a small smile as he... oh wow, he actually put a hand on my shoulder. "Thanks, Rhonda. That means a lot."
I blushed a bit. "Heh, you're welcome."
I paused to think as I stared at Arnold as he clutched onto the package. Would now be a good time to tell him how much I loved him? Well, we were alone, conditions were perfect... I felt a little relaxed, and with me around, Arnold felt a little at ease, even when clutching an important package for one of the boarders. I smiled. I have to tell him! This is the perfect opportunity! Nothing was going to-
We both heard a knock on the door. I groaned. So close!
Arnold frowned as he yelled, "I told you, I'm not giving you the package!"
"It's me, Gerald!" Gerald's voice sounded.
"Hold up." I said, holding my hand to Arnold before he could get up as I went towards the door. "How do we know you're Gerald?"
"What th- Rhonda, are you here, too?" Gerald's voice said in surprise.
"That depends. Are you who you think you are?" I asked.
"Of course I'm Gerald! Who else would have this sort of raspy voice?" Gerald's voice sounded like he was about to burst out with anger.
"Come on, Rhonda, it's Gerald." Arnold frowned. "Let him in."
"Oh, fine." I sighed as I opened the door, letting Gerald in. "But for all we know, he could be a spy."
Gerald just glared at me oddly before turning to Arnold. "So, I hear you got a package for that secret guy, Mr. Smith."
"Yeah, and I alone have been shouldered with the weighty responsibility of its safety." Arnold nodded.
"Cool, let's open it!" Gerald said as he started to head for the package.
"Really? Some friend you are!" I rolled my eyes as Arnold took the package as I looked up... I then did a double take as I saw Ernie Potts climbing up on the window roof with a screwdriver. "Uh, guys?"
"It belongs to Mr. Smith!" Arnold said, not paying attention to me or what was going on up there.
"Yeah, and I bet there's something really weird in there, come on, let's open it!" Gerald said, ecstatically as I watched Mr. Potts unscrewing the top window to open it.
"Guys?" I said, trying to point up to the window.
"I don't know, Gerald..." Arnold paused.
"GUYS!" I yelled, which practically got their attention... that, and made Mr. Potts jumped as he tried to open up the window as he fell straight down from the roof. Gerald and Arnold stared at me as I said, "Just so you know, one of your boarding house guests is trying to get through the top window."
"Uh, yeah. Thanks." Gerald frowned as he popped his ear.
"We better get this package to Mr. Smith, no matter what." Arnold frowned. "Come on, we better get out of the boarding house, as long as the package is here, we're not safe."
"Good idea." I said as me, Arnold and Gerald went out the window (after clearing out a shelf) and dropped down to the fire escape below as we went down.
"All right, let's see..." Arnold paused as we started walking downtown. "What do we know about Mr. Smith?"
"He has no face, for starters." I thought to myself.
"Arnold, we know nothing about Mr. Smith." Gerald said.
"And he has no face." I thought to myself, but I just said, "I saw him coming out earlier in a trenchcoat and one of those bowler derby hats. Would that help?"
"Well, I guess..." Arnold paused. "But where would they sell bowler derbies?"
"Well, the only place I know is Toller's Bowlers on 44th." Gerald hypothesized.
"How would you know that?" I asked, staring at him.
"That's where my man, Fuzzy Slippers, gets them." Gerald smiled.
"...Who is 'Fuzzy Slippers'? Heck, who even NAMES somebody 'Fuzzy Slippers'? Is it like a code name or something?" I nitpicked.
"Well, either way, it's our best shot right now." Arnold said. "Come on, let's get going."
Gerald and I nodded as we followed Arnold to 44th Street.
"Well, this package better be something good!" Gerald said as we kept walking.
"Don't sweat it, Gerald. It's probably nothing too big." I said as I rattled on. "There could be anything in that box, and it's probably nothing interesting anyway... it could probably just be... well... blank address labels..."
We passed by the school as I kept rattling on. "...or stickers, or flash cards..."
We passed by the park as Arnold and Gerald started to get a little bored of me rattling on. "...or a chocolate spoon, or a green eraser..."
We passed by the library as Arnold and Gerald were spinning their heads now, I kept rattling on, "...or a disposable pillow, or a night vision monocle..."
We were now getting close to the shops as I kept going, Arnold and Gerald just ignoring my ramblings at this point, "...or a fake lung, or tinsel..."
"Or a bat, or a hat, or a bat with a hat, or a hat with a bat..." I said as we were getting close.
"Rhonda? If you don't mind, stop trying to make us curious. Please?" Arnold said, turning around.
"Oh, sorry." I blushed.
A few minutes later, we arrived at the destined place where Gerald said it would be. We looked up at the Bowler Derby sign as I asked, "So, we're here. What's the plan?"
"Rhonda, we need you to hold the package and wait for us while we do the work." Arnold said, giving the package to me. "Here's what I'm thinking. I'll go in and distract the guy, telling him I'm looking for a bowler derby."
"Right." Gerald smiled, as I just blinked, rolling my eyes. "Meanwhile, I sneak a peek at his rolldex and see if I can find anything on 'Smith'."
"Right." Arnold nodded.
"Arnold, Gerald, may I nitpick your plan?" I asked. "First of all, why do you need to distract the shopkeeper and ask for a bowler derby, while seeing if you can find anything on Mr. Smith? Shouldn't you just ASK the shopkeeper if he 'KNOWS' a Mr. Smith? Second, why would a kid try on a bowler derby?"
"Don't worry, we have a plan for that." Arnold smiled.
"What's that?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Is a disguise really necessary?" I glared as I saw Arnold and Gerald trying the classic 'stack on each other while wearing a long coat' maneuver. "I still say we go in and ASK the shopkeeper if he knows a Mr. Smith."
Arnold and Gerald just stared at me with blank eyes as Gerald said, "Rhonda, don't be ridiculous. Who would try that?"
"Uh, a sensible person with common sense?" I frowned.
"Don't worry, we know what we're doing. Wait here, we won't be long." Arnold said as Gerald started to walk inside the shop. I sighed as I sat down with the package, pausing as I waited... and waited. I couldn't exactly peek into the windows to check on their progress, so I was stuck with delivering the package...
I waited and waited... my eyes wandered over to the package as I now became really curious. I figured... maybe one peek wouldn't hurt. I scratched a bit of a hole in the package as I tried to peek in... my eyes bulged. No... was that...
"Rhonda?" I asked as I saw... myself staring at the package as the other me looked up... actually, it seemed like every hole showed myself with the package...
All of a sudden, I felt like I was being chased by a pair of socks... because I was literally chased by a pair of socks. I kept hopping past boxes as they opened up revealing hats, bats, bats with hats, hats with bats, and everything was getting sucked in as I screamed. I tried swimming away, but on the bottom of the area was a big box with big red eyes as it roared... and ate me to bits.
I gasped as I took a deep breath. I looked over at the package. No hole was there. I must have been so bored I hallucinated this. I can't let that box get to me. The sooner it gets delivered to Mr. Smith, the better. I wonder what's taking Arnold and Gerald so long...
Arnold and Gerald then came out, still in the disguise as I sighed. "About time. Did you get the address?"
"Yeah, we did." Arnold said as he took off the big coat and jumped off Gerald's shoulders. "We'll tell you on the way!"
As we kept walking, they told me that Mr. Smith's address where he works... and when we arrived, we just stood in front of the huge blue building. I nodded to my two friends.
Arnold was just confused as he asked Gerald, "Are you sure?"
"Positive, that's where the address said he works... 234th Smith Avenue." Gerald said.
"And it says, 'Satellite Industries'." I said, pointing to the sign.
"I'm telling you, man, he's a spy! It just sounds like the name of a government agency." Gerald said.
Man, I wish I could say that was true, and my heart leapt with excitement. My inner James Bond fangirl was squealing in delight. But I kept calm and composed as I said, "Or it just could be a TV company. Look, it's simple. We go in, ask for Mr. Smith, give him his package, then we go out and on our way."
Arnold nodded as he gave me the package. "All right, Rhonda. Short and simple. We'll do that."
"Thanks for actually taking my advice, today." I rolled my eyes a bit, but smiled, actually glad they were taking my advice this time.
We went inside the building and walked over to the receptionist's desk.
"Yes?" The receptionist asked.
"We are looking for a Mr. Smith. We have a package for him." I said.
"Which Mr. Smith? There's about three million, two hundred and forty-seven thousand, six hundred and thirty-five Mr. Smiths working in this building." The receptionist explained.
"There's more than one Mr. Smi-" Arnold started.
"Maybe I should be more specific..." I coughed. "This Mr. Smith we're looking for always wears a trenchcoat and a bowler derby."
"There are thirteen thousand, seven hundred and fifty four Mr. Smiths with a trenchcoat and a bowler derby." The receptionist said.
I glared. "This Mr. Smith has a trenchcoat, a bowler derby... and he has no face."
Arnold and Gerald just raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"There are three hundred and forty-three Mr. Smiths with a trenchcoat and a bowler derby with no face." The receptionist frowned.
"Oh God, Mr. Smith is a walking cliché!" I groaned.
"There, there." Gerald rolled his eyes.
"Do you have any plain 'Mr. Smiths'?" Arnold asked. "We don't quite know his first name, it's just 'Mr. Smith'."
"I'm afraid that information is classified." The receptionist said.
"All right, never mind." I said, dragging Arnold and Gerald out. "Thanks anyway, we'll wait for our Mr. Smith."
"Have a good day." The receptionist said as we walked out of the building.
As soon as we were out of the building, Gerald sighed, "Well, this has been fun. We've been on a wild goose chase halfway across the city, and we still have no idea on how to find that Smith guy!"
"I know things are bleak, but we can't give up, not when we're this close!" I said.
"Rhonda's right, Gerald. I'm going to hand this package over to Mr. Smith if it's the last thing I do!" Arnold said, boldly.
"Guys, it's hopeless! Do you know the chances of finding one single person in a big city like this one?" Gerald said.
"A billion to one, yes, I realize the odds are big..." I nodded.
"Right!" Gerald said. "Let's just face it, we'll nev-"
"There he is." I said, pointing over to a familiar trench-coat wearing person walking with someone as he was hailing a taxi.
"What?" The boys said in shock as he turned towards where I was pointing.
"Have a good day, Mr. Smith!" The person said as the guy we were trying to get entered the taxi.
"Come on, let's follow Mr. Smith!" I said as the three of us started to run over to where the taxi was. We quickly grabbed a bus (after paying and sitting down near the front) as we followed the taxi until he reached a corner. We got off and tried to get Mr. Smith's attention, but he was really good at eluding attention! Because I honestly didn't see the guy climbing up from the ground to a building where a helicopter was stationed.
"Unbelieveable..." Gerald said in shock.
I turned to Arnold, whose eyes just suddenly shrank as he started twitching a little. I looked in concern. "Uh, Arnold, you feeling okay?"
Arnold then jumped in the air and screamed out to the heavens as he could as he was about to rip up the package.
"Arnold, NO!" I screamed as me and Gerald tried to restrain Arnold, but Arnold just grabbed the package as he ran up the steps of a random building.
"You can't box me, Box-da and Box-ald! I'm going to box this box and there's nothing box can box a box box!" Arnold said, going crazily.
"I think he finally flipped his lid!" Gerald gulped.
I looked over at poor Arnold. He went through a lot, only to get all that pulled away from him at the last second. I sighed. "Go ahead, Arnold. Open the box."
Arnold snapped out of it as he looked at me in surprise, Gerald did too.
"Listen, I believe you can overcome this, but it doesn't matter if you don't believe it yourself." I sighed as I sat down. I looked down in sadness, really feeling bad for my boyfriend... who's not really my boyfriend yet, but I still felt really bad. I then noticed a hand being placed on my shoulder.
I looked up and saw Arnold, who put the package next to me, and smiled as he said, "Mr. Smith will probably be home soon. I'll give him the package there."
I smiled as I hugged Arnold. "Proud of you, buddy."
"What about the boarders?" Gerald asked as we started to head back to the boarding house.
"Eh, they probably forgotten about it by now." Arnold shrugged.
"Somehow, with them being obsessed with Mr. Smith...I doubt it." I said. "Besides, isn't your grandmother good at ninjutsu? She could probably whip the boys into shape if need be."
Arnold smiled. "I guess that's true..."
As we were leaving, I could have sworn I heard and saw part of the Satellite Building blowing up, a figure parasailing out a window, and a German-like voice screaming to the heavens, "CURSE YOU, PERRY THE PLATYPUS!"
I shook my head. Maybe it was just my imagination at work.
When we got to the boarding house, we came in to see something pretty shocking... we saw Mr. Potts, Mr. Hyunh and Mr. Kokoshka bruised and tied up as Arnold's grandmother was seen untying Arnold's grandfather.
"Arnold, thank goodness you came home." Arnold's grandfather said. "I don't know what's up with these three, but they just flipped their lids!"
"They almost got me, but I was too quick for them!" Arnolds grandmother smirked.
"Come on, Arnold, just give us the package..." Mr. Potts said dizzily.
"So, this is the elusive package, huh?" Arnold's grandmother said as we set the package down. "Must have been very important."
"It was..." Arnold said as we sighed. "We tried to give it to Mr. Smith in person... but we couldn't get him."
"Oh, don't worry, I'm sure Mr. Smith will come soon." Arnold's grandfather said, sitting down. "We're proud of you kids for being patient."
"As am I."
We all jumped as we turned towards the door, seeing the familiar trench-coat wearing man with a bowler derby hat. It sure looked like Mr. Smith, all right, I looked closer and he had no face. I was right.
"Mr. Smith." Arnold sighed as he picked up the package and gave it to him. "For you."
Mr. Smith nodded as he said, "Thank you, Arnold. This is a fine deed you have performed."
"Mr. Smith, we have some questions for you!" Mr. Hyunh said as he, Mr. Potts and Mr. Kokoshka came out of unconsciousness. "Just, who are you and wh-"
"I'm afraid all can't be explained." Mr. Smith said as he said. "But just know that for the past three years, I've been living under this boarding house in hopes to accomplish my mission. That mission has since been accomplished, and since I am no longer doing this mission, it is time for me to move out and go on with my life."
"You're moving?" Mr. Potts said in surprise.
"Well... where are you going?" Arnold's grandfather asked.
"I'm not sure, yet." Mr. Smith said. "Probably where the wind takes me. But if things go right, our paths will likely cross again. I have come to say thank you all for your patience, and I am now here to say, farewell."
Mr. Smith then got up as he started to leave. I noticed the package still on the table as I called, "Hey, what about your package?"
"Why would I need it? It's for all of you." Mr. Smith said as he picked up a nearby suitcase. "Oh, and Mr. Shortman? The last payment of rent will be in the mail."
"I understand." Arnold's grandfather said. "Thanks for being here, Mr. Smith."
"Anytime." Mr. Smith said.
"Oh, and don't eat cranberries! They always find a way to ingrain your brain!" Arnold's grandfather called, being his usual crazy self.
Arnold, Gerald, the boarders, Arnold's grandparents and I looked in shock as we looked at the box.
"I guess now we can take a look at the box." Arnold said as the other boarders got released in excitement as they tried to rip open the package.
"Careful, careful!" Arnold called as they calmly ripped it opened... and they saw... a picture. We all took a look and saw the picture of nine boarders... nine? Besides Mr. Smith, didn't there used to be at least ten?
"Aw, that is so sweet." Mr. Kokoshka smiled.
"I feel like such a tool now." Mr. Potts said, feeling remorse.
"Mind if I see this?" I said as I examined the picture. "Besides Mr. Smith, wasn't there another boarder that lived with you?"
"No, it was just all of us here, plus my wife." Oskar explained. "We do have an occasional boarder, but they move out in a couple of months. Why?"
I paused. "Just curious."
I know there was another boarder in that house... but why did they forget?
As soon as we said good-bye to Gerald, Arnold and I were about to walk up the room as I looked over all the place... and noticed there was no Room Number Eight. Oddly similar to...
Tucker...
"You feeling all right, Rhonda?" Arnold asked.
"Oh, yeah, I'm fine." I said as we went upstairs and sat down on his couch. "Anyway, what an exciting adventure it was today."
Arnold nodded. "It was. But I wonder what mission Mr. Smith had in mind that he completed... and why he said the package was for all of us?"
"Maybe he did it as a test, to see if you guys can work together as a family." I pondered.
"It could be possible..." Arnold said as he looked up at me and smiled. "Rhonda, I seriously want to thank you for everything... even helping me clear my head. If it hadn't been for you... well..."
I smiled. "Hey, we're friends, aren't we? We can always stick together, no matter the outcome."
"Still, I had a good day, with Gerald and especially you." Arnold smiled as he took my hand and squeezed it. "So, thank you for doing all you can."
I giggled. "Don't mention it. Well, I better go. Another school day tomorrow."
"So it is." Arnold said as I got up and started to go downstairs.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Arnold!" I smiled as I decided to go downstairs. It was clearly the best day of my life, hanging out with my friend!
It was too bad I didn't confess my love to him... well, it wasn't that time anyway.
Oh well, maybe next time... as I was passing on my way home, I noticed a couple of posters as I eyed them. I smiled when I noticed the first poster I saw was of the 'National Cheese Festival'! Sure, I was never huge on cheese, never got why there's a carnival dedicated to it, but it was still fun regardless.
And if next weekend was that festival... oh, I have to practice!
And there is the fourteenth episode! How do you like it? Now, the next episode, despite setting it up, won't be on the Cheese Festival... not yet. No, I'm going to focus on a couple more episodes before I get to them! I know a couple of Season 2 episodes held over from Season 1 I want to fit in the storyline before I do that! Anyway...
I noticed some sort of similarities between this episode and an episode of 'Wander Over Yonder' I watched called 'The Box', so I incorporated a few references of that episode in there!
There is also a reference to the 'Over The Hedge' comic strip where Rhonda says 'Mr. Smith is a walking cliche', in which RJ said the same thing about himself when he tried to get his soul back from the devil.
There is, in fact, a cameo of Perry and Doofenshmirtz in this chapter. Not in the real episode, but in this chapter! Why did I randomly just put them here? Well... guess who actually directed THIS episode of Hey Arnold? Hint, it was one of Phineas and Ferbs' creators!
Also, I changed the ending drastically because I never understood how Arnold's grandmother let down her guard that easy to get tied up like that. Well, either way, I guess that's about it!
And that's all for now! Anyway, read, review, criticize and suggest, folks!