And now we get to the infamous 'Beaned' episode! Anyway, enjoy!
It was during those few weeks when I realized I couldn't get Curly's sad face out of my mind... sure, he was acting fine most of the time, but whenever we passed each other... all I could see were sad eyes.
There was also the fact of what Marcie had asked me earlier... and what Helga said...
"Do you remember or at least heard of... personality splits?" Marcie asked.
"Personality splits?" I blinked. "Well... I heard something like that from Helga... but other than that, no..."
"Why do I bother? You didn't listen to me since the separation, you're not listening to me now."
"Separation... personality split... what does it mean?" I thought to myself as I kept walking. I didn't want to ask Marcie knowing Curly was there... so I was left with another option... I had to make a visit to jail...
"Excuse me?" I asked as I arrived at the station.
A police officer working the stall looked at me as he asked, "Hm? Oh, I know you. Rhonda Wellington Lloyd. I hear you're pretty famous around our criminals..."
"Really?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Oh yeah, well, at least a few of them... Lana Vail, Frankie G, hell, even your friends that were with you were famous for bringing in delinquents." The police officer laughed. "What can I do for you?"
"I just want to know... do you know where Brainy is locked up in?" I asked.
The police officer raised an eyebrow as he said, "The white skinned kid with the spiky hair? You sure you want to see him? He hasn't been... normal since we arrested him. When asked why he killed Scheck and how he was managing to run a company, he only speaks in tongue ties... in other words, we can't get any words out of him."
"Did he have another visitor that he talked to?" I asked, out of curiosity.
"Only one... but I'll be damned if I remember what she looked like. She didn't say nothing to the kid, just stared as if she was reading his mind, digging for information. She then left afterwards. I can take you to see him, but... he's an empty shell of his former self. Shame, really."
I paused as I looked up. "I like to see him."
The officer took me to where the jail was as I sat down. A few moments later, that familiar white skinned, spiky haired kid came in, strait-jacket. He looked straight at me, and sighed as he sat down. "Hello... didn't expect you to make a visit..."
I paused as I started to open my mouth, but Brainy shook his head. "No... let me say something."
Brainy sighed as he started to make a story. "Back in your world, there are people that are hurting, the same people that this world has. As I understand, you only need three... and judging from you, I can tell you easily got two, and you're already progressing to a third."
Brainy gave a smile. "I'm happy for that... I just wish I realized this a couple years before..."
"Brainy, what do you know about the Marcie and Solara story?" I asked.
"Honestly? Marcie is like... some sort of angelic person, sort of like... God, except... not God. Solara is sort of like the Devil, or Anti-Christ." Brainy explained. "There are actually a lot of Anti-Christs that are always born, but they're bound to be either lazy or just don't want to take over the world... Solara was the first to attempt trying to rule..."
"Oh..." I paused. "Brainy, listen, I already know the story of how Marcie and Solara were best friends before they became enemies..."
"...since the 1920s? Yeah, that was way back before animation started making its boon, I mean, we had some good cartoons, but none with sound." Brainy sighed. "Anyway, in 1929, just when the Great Depression happened, Marcie and Solara were locked in a battle, which Marcie reigned supreme, but instead of killing her, Marcie just sent Solara to another dimension, because she still felt a part of friendship in Solara. She remained trapped in a dimension where she can easily keep her eyes out on other dimensions. Rumor has it she was looking for three items, but they're hard to come by, so she just harvests souls in the meantime..."
"But... if Solara was trapped in her dimension, how did she get out?" I asked.
"She made something that gave her... an ability to travel through other dimensions... just not her OWN home dimension, unfortunately." Brainy explained.
"Oh..." I paused. "Then... Brainy, were you working for her, and if so, why?"
Brainy tried to open his mouth, but he started babbling like a lunatic.
"Okay, okay, I get it. You can't tell me because somebody with powers of Solara, her or somebody else, forced you to keep quiet." I sighed. "Just tell me this... I want to know something, but I can't because nobody's around. Do you know what a personality split is?"
"Personality split?" Brainy asked. "You mean you still don't know?"
"Just tell me what it is!" I asked.
Brainy sighed. "You know how there's one side of your personality that you want to show off to others, but another side of your personality that's secret that you personally reveal to only your closest friends?"
"Yeah?" I asked.
"Well, let's just leave it at that, and say that when in body possession, having both sides of a personality can be troubling, so... if anybody can keep it together and still manage body possession, they should be fine, BUT... shine one aspect more... and let's just say body possession and having many personalities, like two or more, there's a chance that if you show ONE personality more than the other, eventually, that other personality that you don't show will get shut out, ignored, never to be used. There's even a chance it'll grow into a brain tumor and give you occasional headaches towards people that the other personality didn't like or couldn't stand..." Brainy explained.
"Oh..." I paused. "Well... can someone that had their personality split... reunite the personalities?"
"There is a chance, but it's risky..." Brainy sighed. "Nobody's ever tried it without dying..."
"Oh..." I looked down. "Well... thanks for telling me everything, Brainy. I'm sorry you had to go to jail for this..."
"I deserve it... I was tricked." Brainy sighed as I got up, and nodded to the police officer, indicating I was ready to leave.
When I got back home to the boarding house, I was fielded with a lot of new information... it wasn't just that... it was a little more of Marcie and Solara's story, and the explanation of a personality split. Luckily, Helga didn't experience that when she entered my body. Though I have to wonder why she never tried possessing my body as often...
I just couldn't put my mind on it, I just wanted to go to sleep.
Voices. I heard voices in the middle of darkness.
"Sweetie, why are you acting weird? Just tell us what's wrong."
Mom?
"Uh, n-nothing. Everything's fine!"
That was me... but why did I act so bitter?
"Come on, Rhonda, talk to us!"
I heard stapling of something as I heard the door opening.
"Sweetheart, what were you doing with our stapler?"
"Uh... nothing important."
"Sweetheart, you've been acting secretive ever since we dropped you off at pre-school."
That sounded like my dad.
"So... what if I am? Nothing wrong with that..."
"Honey, I thought we all agreed that we all confide our secrets in each other?" I heard my mother say.
"Why would we do that?" I heard my voice say, in a bitter tone.
"Honey, we just want to know what's wrong. We just don't want our daughter to suffer alone."
"Huh?" I heard myself saying, as if confused.
"Rhonda, listen. We just don't want you to be hurt. If anybody's hurting you in pre-school, just tell us." I heard my father say.
"We love you, Rhonda. We're just trying to be good parents. I don't know what's got into you, but you act like you don't like us. Well, we like you, Rhonda. We love our little girl." I heard my mother say.
"Don't shut us out. Just tell us what's wrong." My father said, as if soothing me.
It was then I heard... grunting... as if I was on the urge of a tug-and-war in my mind... and then I heard a scream inside my mind... a scream that sounded just like Helga's... yet the picture was getting a little more clear as I started to get to a memory I remembered...
"I'm so sorry, so sorry!" I saw myself crying as my younger self was clinging on to my father. "It's just... I made a lot of friends back in pre-school, and they're all so nice. It's just... I don't want to go away from them and forget."
"Is that all?" My mother said in shock. "Honey, we wouldn't do that."
"You wouldn't?" My younger self looked up.
"Judging from the way you've been talking with those two little girls and that football headed kid, I think you're hanging out with the right type of people." My father laughed.
"You really think so?" my younger self asked, looking up.
"Absolutely." My father smiled. "You can still go with your friends, we wouldn't take them away!"
"Oh, thank you! You guys are the best!" My younger self sniffled.
"We love you Rhonda." My father smiled.
"I love you too... Mom... Dad..." My younger self hugged both my parents as I smiled a bit. I remembered that hug... it felt so nice to be around my parents...
But that part in darkness, I don't remember THAT taking place. What did it all mean?
I yawned as I got up. I rubbed my eyes a little as I noticed they were wet. Had I been crying?
"Rhonda? Sweetheart? Are you okay?" Olga asked as she came over to me.
"I'm fine, I just... was having a flashback of my parents." I sighed.
"Oh, sweetie..." Olga sighed as she gave me a hug. I hugged her back...
You know, as of late, Helga hasn't given me a headache for quite a while... maybe she finally saw just how different this Olga was from hers. Don't get me wrong, I still do a holding my head as if I have a headache occasionally if Helga was being bugged by something either Olga or Lila were thinking about, but she hasn't been doing those anymore...
It was storming outside as Arnold and I were waiting by the bus, Arnold holding an umbrella and us standing under it.
"Thanks, buddy." I smiled as I kissed his cheek as he blushed.
"Anytime, Rhonda." Arnold smiled back as I looked up to the rainy sky.
"Heh. Last time it was that rainy, I actually had amnesia." I heard Helga say.
"Oh?" I asked.
"Yeah, I was, as usual, a little jealous to see Arnold being a good helper to everyone but me." Helga explained.
"Wow, spoiled brat, much?" I laughed.
"Shut up. I had a few things I was having trouble with, and Arnold just didn't notice me struggling!" Helga argued.
"Or maybe he just didn't know you were there or right behind him." I pointed out as the bus came up.
"Shut up. Anyway, I felt jealous, and wished Arnold paid attention to me for once. Turns out he did after he accidentally beaned me with a baseball, because the next thing I knew, I woke up in my bed the next morning with no memory of what happened after I got beaned."
"Did anybody tell you what happened?" I asked as the bus opened its doors as Arnold paid the fare for both of us.
"Well, Miriam did catch me up and told me how Arnold took care of me in my amnesiac state." Helga explained as we took our seats. "Then I got the idea to keep the charade going a while longer..."
"...really? I mean, come on, I'm pretty sure he's not that stupid. He saw you in his amnesiac state before, and I'm pretty sure it's hard to replicate it." I frowned.
"Yeah, it was pretty hard for me too, but... fortunately, it worked on my end. Nobody caught on that I was pretending..." Helga smirked.
"Not even Phoebe, who is your friend, and who is smart, and could easily tell that you were faking?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Uh... she got sick that day?" Helga chuckled, but I could easily tell she was lying.
"Right..." I sighed.
"Anyway, it didn't last too long, I felt bad because in my pretend amnesiac state, I didn't realize that I prevented Arnold from doing the things he wanted to do, like watch a game with Gerald. So I 'slipped' on purpose and hit my head just so everything would be clear once again." Helga explained.
"Sheesh..." I paused.
"Eh, fortunately, we don't have anything to worry about..." Helga said. "After all, you and Arnold ARE friends."
"That's true... and you're only in my head." I smirked. "How could you POSSIBLY get amnesia?"
"It's open, it's open!" Someone shouted as we were all playing baseball at recess.
"I got it!" I called as I was about to get the ball, but Nadine was quicker than me as she caught it. "Or, er, she got it."
Nadine gave a smirk as she threw the ball back to Gerald. "Looks like another victory for our team!"
"Yeah, yeah..." Arnold said as he went up to bat. "I'm going to knock this one out of the park!"
"Bring it!" Gerald said as he threw the ball.
Arnold smirked as he hit the ball so fast.
"I got it! I got-" That was the last thing I said before I realized that the ball was going fast and it hit me right in the face, causing me to black out.
I blinked as I looked around, when I realized I was at Helga's door.
"Aw man! I must have been knocked out again." I sighed as I knocked on the door. "Helga! I've been knocked out. Can you help me?"
I paused as I realized I heard nobody inside. I opened the door. "Helga?"
I walked in inside as I saw the conference table and the chairs, which I noticed were moving a little closer to each other. Have me and Helga really gained so much trust that we've been moving closer to each other?
"Helga?" I called as I looked around. She must have been out at the moment. "Hello?"
It was then I was suddenly aware of the monitors. I went up to them as I noticed a few buttons, labeled with the names of all the students. "Hmmm... maybe she took possession of my body when I was hit... she must be confused right now as to what's happening..."
I activated the panels as I turned on the monitors.
Sure enough, I was looking through my own eyes through the monitors, even though I didn't look like I was in possession of my own body. Everyone was gathering around me in concern.
"Are you okay?" Nadine asked.
I paused as I was about to find the intercom... when I heard screaming. I paused. It sounded like a little kid screaming... did Helga panic, not knowing what was going on?
"Hey, hey, what is going on..." I heard Helga say as... wait... Helga? I turned to see her entering through the door as Helga stopped as she saw me. "Wait... what are you doing in here?"
"What are you doing in here?" I said in confusion. "I thought you were taking over!"
"Are you kidding me? I haven't had possession of this body since... never mind! What happened?" Helga asked.
Before I could respond, I heard Arnold talking through to the monitors.
"Rhonda, what's wrong?" Arnold asked in concern.
"Who are you? Who are these people? Why are you all staring at me?" I heard my voice saying... as if in the sound of a frightened little kid.
"What's going on?" I heard Nadine asked. "I haven't seen her this freaked out since the first time we all met at preschool... before me and Rhonda became friends."
"She does seem to act like that, doesn't she?" Arnold paused. "Rhonda, I want you to calm down."
"Why? Who are you?" I heard the new voice say, clearly scared.
It was then I notice Helga's eyes widened. "Holy cra-"
I saw her quickly dart out as I asked, "Where are you going?"
"I'm just checking on something. Keep an eye on the monitors!" Helga called.
I paused as I kept an eye on the monitors.
"What's wrong with her?" I watched Gerald come in as he looked concerned.
"Rhonda, I want you to take a deep breath. What do you remember?" Arnold asked.
"M-my parents... they dropped me off in some strange place... I... I think they call it pre-school... it's really scary, and there were these... other kids doing weird things and... one of them had a scary spider and... I screamed and... and that's all I can remember." I heard the other voice say.
"Okay, so she does remember what happened her first day at preschool... but she doesn't seem to recognize us... I wonder why?" Phoebe asked.
"I think when the baseball hit her on the head, it gave her amnesia." Arnold guessed.
"...Amnesia." Phoebe said in disbelief.
"Yes, it's when..." Arnold began.
"I know what it is, but SERIOUSLY? AMNESIA!? HONESTLY! HOW MANY PEOPLE DO YOU KNOW OR HAVE FRIENDS WHO KNOW OR HAVE EVEN HEARD OF SOMEONE GETTING AMNESIA? ZERO! ZIP! NADA! NONE! NIL! NOOOOOOO-BODY!" Phoebe ranted.
Everyone watched as Phoebe took a few deep breaths, even the obviously scared person who was in my body. Arnold sighed. "I know it doesn't make sense, but our friend is in trouble... we got to at least be there for her... we better take her to Olga."
The scared person in my body just looked between my friends as Arnold lifted a hand. "Just relax, Rhonda. We're going to take you over to one of our friends..."
"Is she a preschool teacher?" I heard the person in my body ask.
"...A really nice person. I'm sure she'll help you... adjust to... pre-school." Arnold said as he lead my body inside the school.
I turned away from the monitors, looking very confused. For a long time, I thought it was just Helga in my head. Who was this... second person? I had to find Helga as I ran out of the room.
"Helga? Helga!" I called as I walked around my own dream world.
"Over here!" I heard Helga call from another room.
I walked over to the room and opened the door as I walked in. It was then I was made aware of a tube standing near the corner, one of those scientific like tubes, I don't know what they were called. I think they were like holding cells. Anyway, I noticed a label on it, but I didn't read it. I looked over as I saw Helga looking through another monitor.
I noticed that the person in my body was looking up right at Olga, who had clearly got most of the information on what happened. For some reason, the person in my body felt relaxed and was sighing in content as Olga was soothing her. "It's okay, Rhonda. Everything's going to be okay."
"Thank you, Miss Pataki. I feel better." The person in my body gave a childish giggle.
"You're welcome, Rhonda. Listen to me, these kids aren't really all that scary out there... once you get to know them, you'll see that they're not scary." Olga soothed the person in my body.
As soon as Olga was leading the person in my body out of the office to slowly introduce the friends I made through the years, I turned to Helga as I said, "You have a lot of explaining to do!"
"What explaining is there?" Helga asked.
"For one, who is that other person that is clearly taking possession of my body! I thought you were the only one here!" I frowned.
"WE ARE THE ONLY ONES HERE!" Helga frowned. "Come on, you can't just tell me you haven't figured it out by now!"
I just stared. "Figure what out?"
"Look at how that other person is reacting! THINK! Just for one second of your lives, THINK! Go back to everything you ever did... every adventure you went on, was there something that you did differently than Rhonda in my world did? Look at a few sentences being said, look at what everybody's said, is there anything that people have said that may have seemed odd? And look at all the times that people ever did something... look closer on a few aspects! Come on, it's like you're reading a long chapter story, then when you read the chapter titles, you notice that something was odd in them, like in one chapter title, you notice the first word, then the next chapter, you notice the first word of the chapter acts like a number... like it was...?" Helga said, waving her hand, as if trying to tell me something.
I didn't understand what was going on... as Helga sighed. "Oh forget it... it's useless trying to lead you to it... I guess you're going to have to figure it out on your own..."
Helga sighed as she sat down. I looked back at the monitors as I saw Olga reintroducing the person in my body to Nadine, who was apologizing to that person for something she did in preschool... the spider thing...
Pretty soon, Olga introduced the person in my body to Arnold. "This is Arnold... he's actually a really nice boy. Don't be shy."
The person in my body shook nervously, but slowly came close to Arnold as my body's hand extended. "Hi. I'm Rhonda. Rhonda... Lloyd."
Arnold smiled as he shook my hand. "I'm glad to meet you, Rhonda. My name is Arnold. Arnold Shortman."
The person in my body just giggled as she hugged him. "I like you, Arnold. Can we be friends?"
Arnold gave a smile as he said, "Sure, Rhonda. I love to be friends with you."
Man, whoever the person in my body was, she sure knew how to adjust to friendship pretty quickly. I sighed. "Even if it is my body that person is using, it's so sweet, just to be reintroduced."
"You said it..." Helga sighed. "Well... let's try to get your body possessed again."
"How?" I asked as me and Helga got up.
"I can't handle possession on my own... you need to be the one to do it... but I'll help you... just try to meditate here and I'll do it alongside you."
"Uh... okay." I nodded as I went into a meditating position and closed my eyes. "What do I have to do?"
"Just relax... just dream a bit... imagine your life... try to reconnect with your brain... and hold it for at least a few hours. By next morning, you'll be back in your body..."
I nodded as I just meditated... on and on and on...
The next morning, I woke up in my bed as I rubbed my head. I looked around in confusion. Did it work?
I then heard a knock on the door as I saw Arnold coming in, as if looking concerned, then coughed. "Hey, uh, Rhonda?"
"Yes, Arnold?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Olga and I tried to contact your parents, and they said it'll be..." Arnold started.
"Arnold, you and I both know my parents are dead. They got killed in a fire." Rhonda sighed.
Arnold stared in shock as he said, "Wait... you're back?"
Arnold smiled as he hugged me. "You're back! Oh thank God!"
"Easy, buddy. What happened?" I asked.
"It was my fault, the baseball hit you on the head yesterday, and you got amnesia." Arnold explained.
"Amnesia?" I asked.
"Yeah, you woke up and acted like this was the first time you met us... and you still thought you were in preschool, even though you have a fourth grader's body." Arnold explained.
"Wow... I must have been hectic, huh?" I asked.
"Well, at first, but after meeting me, and Olga, you adjusted quite well. You kept asking about your parents, and how you couldn't wait to introduce them to 'my new greatest friends and sweetest pre-school teacher'." Arnold said nervously. "We weren't sure how to approach the subject, so... I offered a night stay at the boarding house, and Olga, acting like a surrogate parent, had to pretend to call your... parents to tell them you were spending the night. You thought everything was fine, and it was. We had to treat you like a pre-school... at least, until you woke up."
"Well, just be glad that episode is over." I laughed, then paused.
"Helga, you know what happened to that other person?" I asked.
"She's all secured. It's all fine now." I heard Helga say.
"All secured?" I paused, but shook my head.
I looked at Arnold as I got up. "Hope I didn't miss any homework."
"Just one assignment, but I can help you catch up on it on the bus." Arnold smiled as he took my hand. "Come on, I'll tell Olga you're fine now!"
I laughed as me and Arnold ran downstairs, ready for another day.
And that's episode one hundred and sixty-three! How was it? Anyway, read, review, criticize and suggest, folks!