Well, it's been quite a while, but I think it's time we begin Arc 5... and introduce 'Hey Arnold: The Movie'! I don't know how long this arc will be... I figure, maybe twelve to fifteen chapters, depending, but either way, I hope you like it. For now, here's the prologue! Anyway, enjoy!
In the basketball court, we were split into two teams… the fourth graders up against the fifth graders… Arnold, Gerald, Tucker, Lorenzo and… THAT other guy were the five players up against Edmund and his fellow fifth graders. Edmund smirked as he gave the signal to his friends.
"Play ball!" Phoebe said as she threw the ball up. Edmund naturally got it as he started bouncing it around.
"Oh come on, man! Throw it over!" Gerald frowned as Edmund made a basket. "We're shorter than you!"
"Fair enough." Edmund said as he passed the ball to Gerald. "Let's see what you have!"
Gerald smirked as he started dribbling the ball as he passed it over to Tucker. "Come on, Tuck, you got this!"
"No worries, Gerald!" Tucker called as he made a basket, as one of the fifth graders made a grab for the ball.
"Okay, Lorenzo, try to block!" Arnold said as Lorenzo was trying to block the fifth grader from passing.
"Arnold, we are shorter than them!" Lorenzo pointed out. "It is muy hopeless!"
"Try anyway!" Arnold called as Lorenzo tried to jump.
In the stands, I was cheering pretty good as me, Phoebe, Nadine, Lila and Sheena were sitting down to the side, in case they needed to switch out.
"Go, boys!" I smiled as I sat down.
"Gosh, it sure is nice to have a nice spring break together… just us girls…" Sheena smiled. "I never hang out with you girls."
"Oh, Sheena." I laughed as I shook my head. "You may not be an official member of our foursome, but you're always welcome to come in and talk."
"Oh, good…" Sheena smiled as she laid down. "I mean, as one of your first founding members of NO PEOPLE, it would be a shame if I was just left in the dust…"
"Oh, Sheena, I'm pretty sure nobody would ever get left in the dust." Lila giggled.
"Indeed." Phoebe smiled as she was looking at the charts.
"Phoebe, what's the statistics so far?" Nadine asked as she noticed Phoebe was doing a chart.
"Well, if my calculations are correct… one player should be switching, right about…" Phoebe said.
"Time for a switch! Brainy, you sit out! Nadine, come on up!" Tucker called.
"…now." Phoebe said as Nadine immediately ran up, smiling in glee.
"Hey, Brainy." Lila and Sheena smiled as… that guy sat down as he looked around, wheezing.
"Uh… hi." That wheezing guy said as he looked around.
"Hello, Brainy." Phoebe smiled as that guy turned to us.
"Hey, whoever you are." I just waved.
Phoebe, Lila and Sheena glared at me as Sheena said, "Seriously, Rhonda? Brainy is, like, one of the most odd people we know!"
"Yeah, his wheezing may sound odd, and he does have that creeper look to him…" Phoebe said… before smiling nervously towards that guy whose name I cannot remember. "Er, no offense, Brainy."
"None taken." The guy wheezed.
"…but he is a fourth grader like us." Phoebe explained.
"I'm sorry, but I really don't know this guy enough." I sighed as I turned to the girls. "Look, I don't know how he sometimes manages to get on the sports teams, but all I know is that he doesn't really talk to us all that often…"
"I guess we can see your point, but still…" Lila sighed. "Can you at least look at him and remember his name?"
"Fine." I said as I turned to the guy whose name I really cannot remember for the life of me. "Hey, Zainy!"
The guy looked in shock, and groaned. "It's Brainy… my name is Brainy!"
I felt a kick in my head as I heard Helga. "Geez, Rhonda, even "I" know Brainy's name! I should know, he stalked me for all my life…"
"No kidding, the guy whose name I can't remember is your stalker? Like how Curly is with me?" I asked in my mind.
"Yeah, but unlike Curly, he's pretty quiet. Did you know I often hit him when he's behind me? Seriously, when I hear his wheezing, I just hit him in the face!" Helga laughed in my mind. "You know, as weird as it sounds, I actually do miss Brainy. I think he may have been the first person to know my actual secret, and respectfully keep it."
"Don't tell me you actually have a crush on the guy whose name I can't remember!" I raised my eyebrows.
"Nah, he's a little bit creepy for me. But he IS a pretty cool guy, I can say that much." Helga sighed.
I shook my head as I turned to Lila, asking, "So, Lila… how is your little date?"
"Oh, he's ever so sweet!" Lila smiled as we saw Nadine stealing the ball from a fifth grader and dribbling it around. "I can't explain, but… the other day, Lorenzo was playing around with my foot using his. It was really cute! I had to play my foot with his."
"No way!" Phoebe smiled as she leaned closer. "You two reached the foot stage?"
"Well, it was at least a couple minutes… but yes, we have reached the 'foot stage'." Lila chuckled.
"That's great to hear, Lila!" I smiled as Nadine scored another basket, the boys were cheering.
"Uh, excuse me, but… what exactly IS the 'foot stage'?" Sheena asked.
"Well… when you have a certain crush on a boy…" Phoebe smiled as she laid down a chart. "You know you have a boyfriend when it goes through the five steps. First, the first kiss. Second, the dates. Third step… the footsie stage! Fourth step, give hugs whenever you see each other and final step… make the official declaration of couple status to everyone!"
"Yeah… we're going to have a little trouble with that fifth step…" Lila sighed as we watched Lorenzo passing the ball to Tucker. "You know Lorenzo's mom is a bit iffy on her little boy and who he dates… as far as she's concerned, she's afraid it's going to be you, Rhonda."
I groaned as I muttered, "How many times do I have to tell her that even though Lorenzo is cool, I don't see him like that!"
"I know what you mean, I want to tell her that I'm going out with Lorenzo… I even want to tell my dad, but… I just don't know…" Lila sighed. "What if HE doesn't like Lorenzo?"
"Hey, Lila, whether your dad likes Lorenzo or not, you let your heart decide for you!" I smiled. "Just listen inside yourself, your heart will lead you in the right direction."
"Wow… pretty heavy stuff." Lila smiled a bit.
"Switching players! Arnold, get switched, Lila, you're up!" Tucker called.
"Oh, wonderful!" Lila smiled as she started to go up to the court as Arnold went up and sat next to me. Phoebe, smiling, started to go off as she dragged Sheena and Brainy off.
"Uh… where are we going, Phoebe?" Sheena asked as it was just me and Arnold now.
We both looked at each other as we gave quick smiles. I had a huge crush on Arnold for a long time… and I knew Arnold had a crush on me too. The problem was that Arnold is still unaware that I know he has a crush on him… and I knew that unless one of us confesses our love first… we may never be able to achieve that couple status…
Arnold spoke first. "Nice day, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it sure is." I smiled as I looked up in the sky. "It's not every day you see the blue skies up there."
"No, it's been mostly cloudy every day this week." Arnold said.
"Indeed it has been." I said. "Arnold, I want to say thanks for inviting me over to be part of the team. You're a really great friend."
"Thanks, Rhonda… you're not a bad friend yourself." Arnold gave a warm smile to me.
"Oh, buddy, when have I ever been… "bad"?" I giggled as I rubbed his hair a bit.
"Never, Rhonda, never." Arnold laughed as I took my hand off his hair. "Say… uh… Rhonda?"
"Yes?" I asked as Arnold seemed to be looking.
"There's… something that I've… been meaning to tell you… everybody else seems preoccupied, so I think that this may be the perfect time to…" Arnold started.
I was dancing with glee inside. Arnold was about to do it! He was about to confess his love to me! And after that confession will come my confession, and then…
"Switching players! Rhonda, you're up!"
Me and Arnold just groaned. So close! I looked over to Arnold, "Sorry, buddy, we'll have to pick up that conversation another time! It's my turn for play!"
"Of course…" Arnold sighed as I got up. "You go ahead and have your fun…"
I nodded as I started to join the others in the game as I gave a sigh…
At this point… if this keeps going like this… Arnold and I will never get our moment!
It wasn't until about an hour or so later we finished up our game. Edmund and Arnold shook hands as Edmund smiled, "Pretty good game, Arnold. Thanks again for the practice!"
"Anytime, Edmund." Arnold said as Gerald put the ball away in his backpack. "You got any plans for spring break?"
"Nah, I'm just gonna kick back with my friends." Edmund smiled. "But hey, maybe I'll see you next week, huh?"
"Sure!" Arnold said as Edmund and his group left. "See you around."
And so, Edmund's group and our group went our separate ways, the guy whose name I can't remember just went home, I guess, and Sheena was going to the animal shelter to help out any animals, leaving me, Arnold, Gerald, Lorenzo, Tucker, Nadine, Phoebe and Lila walking home together.
"I still can't believe the fifth graders beat us!" Gerald frowned.
"Ah, cheer up. We managed to score quite a few points." Nadine laughed.
"And we didn't go to any rough violence." Lila smiled.
"Lila, you are so weird and funny." Lorenzo laughed a bit. "But yeah, I'm glad there was no rough violence."
"Lorenzo, Lila, I swear…" Tucker shook his head. "But you know, it's like my dad always says… 'Any game we lose… only makes us tougher.' We'll train for the next one."
"I agree with Tucker." Arnold smiled. "We may have lost now… but we'll keep practicing."
I suddenly noticed that Phoebe was observing the area as she was looking up. "I didn't know you had a movie-like billboard across from your neighborhood, Arnold?"
"I don't." Arnold said as he blinked. "What do you mean?"
I looked up and noticed the billboard showing off the screen. "No, she's right, look!"
Curiously, we started to run up to where the building was so we could get a closer look.
It was then the building went on as we saw… for the first time in my life… a man in a blue suit, black hair, and a smile on his face.
I heard Helga gasp. "Scheck… Future Tech… NOW it's coming back to me!"
"Scheck?" I asked in my mind as we watched the screen. I'm assuming the man in the blue suit was Scheck.
"Good afternoon, fellow people of…" The screen then changed to show the words 'Hillwood City', then back to Scheck. "I have some good news in the form of Future Tech Industries. We are about to install a new futuristic mall into this wonderful city! But don't take my word for it. No, to further explain my idea will be one of my good workers who has further intel on the plan itself… let me introduce, Miss Sharlene Aralos."
"SHARLENE?" Me, Nadine, Phoebe and Lila gasped as the screen switched to Sharlene.
"Thank you, Boss. Now, as you may see, we have plans to get a brand new mall where you can get anything your little heart desires… new credit cards! New yogurt marts! Bookstores, VHS and DVD stores… even a Sears!" Sharlene smiled. "Of course, we're going to need a LOT of real estate to make this happen… so Scheck bought out the whole neighborhood of Hillwood City. Of course, it requires people losing their homes and moving out in about… oh… four days from now, but sacrifices have to be made…"
"Losing our homes?" Gerald said in shock.
"Moving out?" Phoebe gasped.
"Our home?" Lorenzo and Lila gasped.
"Thank you, Miss Aralos, you have been most helpful. Indeed, I do apologize for the people that are forced out… but as she says, sacrifices must be made. As of now, you all have four days to evacuate the premises." Scheck smiled as he appeared next to Sharlene. "Thank you all for your cooperation, and have a great day."
"Cut." A voice was heard in the background.
Sharlene then grew angry as she started to yell, "And if you people don't like it, you can take your whiny, sniveling, snot-nosed population, form a line behind me, and kiss my a-"
"Uh, Miss Aralos?" Scheck smiled nervously as he leaned his head towards the offscreen portion.
Sharlene then turned to the left as she blinked. Her eyes widened. "We're still on? WELL, TURN IT OFF, YOU IDIOT!"
The screen then switched off to a timer that had the words 'Time to Neighborhood Destruction: 4:00:00:00.', and it started going down.
"Our neighborhood? Going kaput?" Tucker said in shock.
"Something's not right…"Arnold said. "We need to get to our section of the neighborhood right now."
We nodded as we started rushing, concerned about what was going on.
By the time we got here, we noticed that everyone that we knew was gathered around the TV inside a shop as we started to get close.
"What's going on?" Arnold asked as we joined in.
"It's Scheck. He wants to..." Mr. Green started.
"...to put in a fancy mall and destroy our neighborhood, we could guess that, I think we caught on when we saw that huge screen." Phoebe explained.
"But the question is... WHY?" Nadine asked. "Why is this happening, how long as it been going on?"
"And the most important question is, who's Scheck?" Arnold asked.
"Just take a look for yourself." Mr. Green said as we watched the TV.
"The plan, approved by the mayor moments ago, would allow Future Tech Industries to redevelop a six-square-block area between 33rd and 39th Streets." The announcer said as Oh, I understand the president and CEO of Future Tech Industries, Mr Scheck, is about to make a statement."
We watched as Scheck just gave a small speech as we just kept watching. Even the mayor... who, my God, does she look strangely happy... was watching in delight as Scheck continued on his speech. "Out with the old, in with the new."
Arnold frowned. "What's wrong with old things? Some are great."
Mr. Green sighed as he explained, "This has been going on for about a month now. The plans for Future Tech to make a new mall. The city council recommended against it..."
"...but the mayor's doing it anyway?" Lorenzo asked.
"And we have to move out so that Scheck's thing can move in?" Tucker asked.
"That's... pretty much the gist of it, yes." Mr. Green explained.
Everybody around us gasped as we watched Scheck say, "It's time to put the past behind us. I have seen the future, and it's Future Tech Industries."
We all looked at each other worried as Phoebe said, "But this is our neighborhood."
"They can't just tear it down." I said.
"They can... and they will."
I blinked as I noticed... "YAH! How long have you been standing next to me?"
Curly, who was just tapping his foot, just looked at me as if to say, "Seriously?"
Curly then shook his head as he said, "The situation is really bad, I can understand that... but Scheck... he's a determined character... alive or dead, we are all in very big trouble. Unless we can step up our act, we need to keep our neighborhood... as well as our entire world safe. Our lives depend on it."
Mr. Green nodded as he said, "As crazy as the boy is, he is right. We can't take this lying down. We should do something..."
"But what CAN we do?" Tucker asked.
"Hey, I was going to say that!" Harold called out from the back of the crowd.
"Buddy? Think your magic can work this one?" I turned to Arnold.
Arnold paused... and smiled. "Well... we can always refuse to sell our homes!"
Everybody started to agree to it as Arnold smiled. "Right! Get a petition started! Let everybody know this is our neighborhood, and we are not giving up without a fight!"
Everybody cheered as I started doing the cheer as we all started talking on what to do.
I was heading out on my way home when I noticed Curly still following me. I sighed. "Curly, you live the other way! Unless you have a reason for following me, just say it!"
Curly sighed. "This is a warning to both of you. Remember, things AREN'T going to the be the same as last time. You need help... big help. You know how Scheck lost because Arnold showed the video of the deed?"
"Because of what?" I blinked.
"Call me and Caroline suspicious... but Scheck isn't alone this time. For some reason, he has the same knowledge in your old timeline, knowing where he failed... so the first plan you'll try won't work." Curly said as he walked off. "Just be wary, okay? Me and my other friends, in the name of Marcie, will do our best to help you."
"Help me with what?" I asked... then paused. "Wait, are you referring to Helga in this debate? I'm lost!"
"The point is, don't do it with Arnold and Gerald alone... get a group together! I'm sure you made a good group in the past... use it to your advantage." Curly smirked as he started to walk off. "I'll see you later..."
"A good... group..." I paused as I blinked. "Helga, you have any clue to what he's talking about?"
"Unfortunately, I do, and if Curly's right, I can't try the same trick again... Scheck will know we're coming..." Helga sighed. "Fortunately, we still have four days to plan this..."
"Mind telling me now?" I asked.
Before Helga could answer, I heard my cell phone buzz. I picked it up to see that it was Olga. I answered it. "Hello?"
"Hi, Rhonda? I have an emergency NO PEOPLE meeting tomorrow in the morning. Think you and your friends can come at nine in the morning? It's about the neighborhood and what we're going through right now." Olga asked.
I nodded. "Sure. I'll be right there."
I sighed as I continued walking. "This is going to be an interesting spring break..."
"Agreed..." Helga sighed. "Agreed."
And there's the 'prologue' to Arc 5! How do you like it? More things will come along the way, so don't miss out! Well, anyway, read, review, criticize and suggest, folks! And don't forget to check out/add tropes to the TVTropes page.