And now, to get another episode in the background while the main plot is going on, 'Chocolate Turtles'! Yes, I know, I'm as shocked as you are that I didn't do this episode, but here's the thing, I really had no other place to put the episode in Arc 4, and Arc 5 was the movie, so it would only make sense I put it in Arc 6, along with some of the other remaining episodes of Season 4 that I've yet to do. Either way, I still hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Anyway, enjoy!
We entered inside the tumor as I looked around. It seemed pretty dark, the tumor was... until Helga clapped her hands and the light came on, revealing the black walls from within the tumor.
"So, this is what the inside of a tumor looks like..." I said, looking around. "I was expecting to be more disgusting, but..."
"Don't worry, the disgusting blobby part is on the outside. On the inside, it's pretty roomy." Helga explained.
"How would you know that?" I asked.
"I went to this place a few times, but that's not important." Helga said as she took off the watches. A desk appeared nearby as she put the watches right on a desk.
"You know, you never explained how our personality "split", exactly." I rolled my eyes. "I mean, I get it, but at the same time, I don't understand it..."
"Seriously? Isn't it clear by now? You got split from me the minute Rhonda's parents said that they loved her... er, us... er, you!" Helga groaned. "Honestly, what more do you need?"
"Maybe... the other end of the story... how EXACTLY the split happened?" I asked.
"Are you sure you want to see that part? It's completely graphic!" Helga asked.
"Come on, just show me how it happened." I said.
Helga sighed as a screen and projector got conjured up. "Let me know when to stop... just remember, I warned you."
I nodded as I turned my eyes towards the screen.
I saw Helga working the projectioners from my body as she nodded.
"Okay, everything's working good so far..." Helga hummed as she used Rhonda's body to continue writing. She had obviously pulled out the locket and letter from the body she was possessing some time ago as she continued writing in the book. "Who knew controlling a body was this easy? Man, Marcie is really making this good..."
Helga sighed as she turned to the five year old soul of Rhonda's, still stuck in the tube. "Okay, the minute I'm done, I'm getting her released... after all, I still need a little time..."
It was then Helga registered a knock on Rhonda's door. Helga groaned as she said, "What does her servants want now? I clearly told them I didn't need anything!"
Helga sighed as she pushed a button as she yelled in the mike. "What is it?"
Out of the mike came an annoyed voice I heard that sounded like mine, "What is it?"
"Sweetie, it's your daddy!" My father was heard from the other end of the door as Helga pushed a button to turn my head towards the door as Helga looked in worry, which for some reason, must have been the look on my face.
"Oh, uh, what?" Helga said in the mike in worry as the voice of my lips came out panicked.
"Honey, we just wanted to talk about what's been going on. When we heard from the servants saying you didn't want anything, we knew something was wrong!" I heard my mother say.
Helga panicked as she noticed the locket and letter were still out. She quickly pushed a button as my hand quickly grabbed them, knowing they would enter the door at any moment. Helga then spoke in a worried voice as she said, "What's wrong with wanting nothing?"
"Sweetie, why are you acting weird? Just tell us what's wrong." I heard my mom say through the door as Helga pushed a button to put the letter and locket near the beginning of the book.
"Uh, n-nothing. Everything's fine!" Helga said in the mike as my lips said it in my voice.
"Come on, Rhonda, talk to us!" My father was heard saying as Helga grabbed the nearby stapler, took the three pages she wrote in with my hand, and stapled the pages to hide the locket and letter as she heard the door opening. "Sweetheart, what were you doing with our stapler?"
Helga pushed a control stick to swivel my head over towards my parents, who had worried looks on their faces. Helga then spoke into a mike as I spoke the words, chuckling nervously, "Uh... nothing important."
Helga watched as my mom and dad sat down next to me as Helga swerved my head a bit worry, first towards my dad. "Sweetheart, you've been acting secretive ever since we dropped you off at pre-school..."
Helga rolled her eyes as she said in the mike, "So... what if I am? Nothing wrong with that..."
The voice came out of my mouth as if wanting my parents to leave.
"Honey, I thought we agreed that we all confide our secrets in each other?" My mother said as Helga swerved her head to look at my mom.
Helga rolled her eyes as she said bitterly to herself, not realizing she was saying it directly to the mike, "Why would we do that?"
The voice from my lips came out the same bitter tone as Helga yelped, blushing in embarrassment, obviously not meaning to say that. Now, if these were Helga's parents, they would be reacting differently, she expected my parents to be the same... she winced a bit, expecting the yells.
"Honey, we just want to know what's wrong. We just don't want our daughter to suffer alone." I heard my mother say.
"Huh?" Helga said in confusion as she didn't realize she said that directly into the mike... which of course, came out of my lips with that confused look as well.
"Rhonda, listen. We just don't want you to be hurt." My father started as Helga tried to reach for the controls.
"Fine, dad!" Helga said in the mike, but she noticed that Rhonda's body was being unresponsive. "I said, "FINE, DAD!" Come on, why are you jamming up now!"
"If anybody's hurting you at pre-school, just tell us." My head turned on its own.
"Wait, I didn't push that!" Helga frowned as she raised her hand.
"We love you, Rhonda." My mother was heard saying.
Helga's eyes widened as she looked at her hand, which was now growing another finger... followed by a thumb... and three more fingers. "Wha-what's going on here?"
At this point, Helga didn't care about what my parents had to say as she tried to fight it, but little by little, another body part walked out of Helga as it slowly resembled an embryo of some type, then it started to elegate through the walls as Helga held her heart, feeling a part of it go out of her as...
"Turn it off, turn it off, turn it off!" I screamed as Helga turned off the projector.
"I told you it was graphic. Anyway, after Rhonda's parents said that they loved us... er, me, er, you, er, Rhonda, you split from me, and the next thing I knew, half of my heart, which I know is my love and compassionate side, took over as it absorbed a lot of Rhonda's fragile mind. That's why you always acted more mature than the others... because I already experienced everything once... and you wanted another chance, you wanted a family to love you... which I do admit... I wanted one too... I just didn't think you'd jump the gun the minute one family says they love you." Helga sighed. "Anyway, that's the gist of a personality split."
"Ouch..." I looked down. "Do you think we'll be able to get ourselves back together?"
"I need time to think. Do you mind waiting a bit? It'll take me some time." Helga said.
"Sure." I said as I sat near the desk where the watches were. "Take all the time you need..."
I sat around for what seemed like days... with no way to...
Wait, what am I saying? Of course I had a way to entertain myself! It wasn't much, but I kept to watching Arnold's Point of View for the time being. And it seemed pretty entertaining. It seemed that it's been a couple of days since I was admitted into my coma... er, Rhonda's coma... oh, whatever! The point is that Arnold was still pretty depressed when Gerald came in with Tucker and Lorenzo, looking just as confused.
"Hey man... still looking down?" Gerald asked.
"Yeah..." Arnold sighed, looking down. "I mean, I should be happy. Mr. Potts and Miss Tilly are dating pretty seriously, Miss Pataki's doing her best to make sure everything in the boarding house is in check, and even Mr. Kokoshka is turning down his aspects... granted, he'll probably go back to them in a minute, but still, I feel down."
"With your wife in the hospital, I suppose we can't blame you there, amigo." Lorenzo said, sitting down with him.
"Wife?" Arnold looked up. "Rhonda Lloyd is not my wife..."
"Yet." Tucker rolled his eyes.
"Face it man, at one point, you two are going to get married to each other." Gerald said. "Why fight it?"
Arnold couldn't even dignify that with a response as I laughed a bit.
"...I suppose." Arnold sighed. "I just wish she'll make it, you know... so that dream can happen..."
I gave a smile... then a little guilt. What would he think if he saw me as a different character... and what if me and Helga did combine back and we bring the real Rhonda back? Would he still accept her?
"Hey, man, I know how we can cheer you up! You always loved raising money, right? Maybe we can do that, and we can donate it to a nearby charity." Gerald smiled. "One that can specialize in brain tumors."
Arnold's Point-of-View noted Tucker and Lorenzo's disappointed looks as he asked, "What hare-brained idea did you come up with this time?"
"Oh, how little you trust me." Gerald smiled.
"Gerald. Look at me straight in the eye." Arnold said directly.
Gerald did so... and cracked after a few seconds. "All right, I'll talk, I'll talk! Look, it started out as a bit of a scheme to get a new go-kart..."
"Why? We have the Mauve Avenger still in tact." Arnold sighed.
"I know, but Tucker never participated in the go-kart race, and we're still teaching Lorenzo the ropes, so me, Tucker and Lorenzo decided to form our own go-kart team!" Gerald explained.
"May I say that we had practically no say in his idea whatsoever?" Lorenzo said in a deadpan voice.
"Yeah, he just called us, went over to your place to meet him and then told us our plan before we went up to you." Tucker frowned.
"So what's the idea?" Arnold asked.
"My idea... we get the Campfire Lass' official chocolate turtles boxes for sale... that's half-price, then we mark them up for re-sale, we make a profit for fifty percent on every box. See, that's our cut, the rest goes to the Campire Lasses. It's good business, Arnold, everyone wins!" Gerald smiled.
"And how..." Arnold paused as he looked at Tucker fidgeting. "Tucker, look at me straight in the eye."
Tucker did so, and cracked after a few seconds. "Gerald signed us up for the Campfire Lasses just so we can get the boxes at half-price!"
"He did what?" Arnold said in shock. "Gerald, that is the dumbest idea I have ever heard in my life!"
"That's what we both said exactly!" Lorenzo frowned as Tucker nodded.
"What's the big deal? We'll just say we changed our minds about joining, we won't have to go to a single Campfire Lass meeting." Gerald smiled.
Tucker, Lorenzo and Arnold glared at Gerald as Arnold said, "Even if it is for Rhonda's sake, I would not go through with this plan! Call the Campfire Lasses and say you changed your minds... and tell them the truth while you're at it! Have you heard the term, crime doesn't pay?"
"Look, it's too late, we already sold forty boxes." Gerald explained.
"...what?" Arnold said flatly.
"Yeah, before we walked up to your room, he practically forced us to go to each room in the boarding house and they bought a few boxes of cookies... and even BEFORE he ran right to us, he went to Miss Vitello's, Mr. Green's and that mailman guy." Tucker frowned.
"Harvey." Gerald frowned.
"Whatever!" Tucker frowned. "The point we're making here is that we're in deep crap!"
"Don't worry! We'll just go over to the Campfire Lass building, get the forty boxes, deliver them, be done with it, and that's it!" Gerald explained. "Come on, let's go there!"
"Do we get a say in..." Arnold started.
"No." Gerald said in a flat voice. "Now come on, you three!"
I just growled. Gerald's stupidity was going to get Arnold in trouble... I turned to Helga, who was still pondering. "Hey Helga."
"Hm?" Helga raised an eyebrow.
"Can you do something about Gerald? I think he's about to get Arnold into big trouble..." I frowned.
"Well... I guess I could try sending Phoebe a quick message..." Helga said as she concentrated. She gave a smile. "Huh, good timing... it appears she's with Nadine and Lila, equally worried about you, but trying to get on with their lives... hang on, I'm going to tell Phoebe that 'Gerald has a bad idea planned, and she should do something to get even with him'."
"How does that work?" I asked.
"Even if Phoebe never had me in my timeline, my best friend link is still there... I can easily send some messages to Phoebe, giving her a slight mischievous idea. That's how I sent my flashbacks of him going out with Cecile from my timeline on a date right to her head... because of the link." Helga smiled. "I guess it goes to show that..."
"...no matter how far apart I am away from the best friend I made, we still have a connection." I smiled. "I guess you have a point... can you see what's beyond her head?"
"Hmmm... hang on... she appears to have gotten the message... oh, and she's near the boarding house, good timing. Phoebe motions Nadine and Lila to hide... and they're hearing voices... oh boy, Phoebe's looking mad. Gerald must have stupidly blabbed out his plan. She's turning to Nadine and Lila, who are equally mad and... yep, as soon as the boys leave, Nadine's asking her how they should give Gerald his comeuppance."
"And?" I asked.
Helga chuckled. "Looks like she's pulling out her phone and a nearby phonebook and... yep, she's calling the Campfire Lass Society. Let me tell you, they'll get extremely angry if someone were to wrong them..."
"How do you know that?" I asked.
"Remember how you tried to get the message deleted from the answering machine in the boarding house? Well, your way was different than mine. One, I didn't quite have my friends, with one exception of Phoebe, distracting them, and two, I had to enter the house by beating up and stealing Campfire Lass' outfit."
I just stared at Helga in disbelief as Helga shrugged. "Hey, times were desperate... and I did learn the hard way to never underestimate a Campfire Lass."
"Do I have that link?" I asked.
"Give it a try and find out." Helga explained.
I paused as I closed my eyes and started to meditate a bit...
Oh my gosh, I totally see through Phoebe's eyes! I couldn't communicate, but I knew I was watching things through her eyes... and Nadine and Lila, I see their waiting faces as Phoebe was finishing up the call.
"Thank you. Yes, don't worry, we'll be willing to work it out. Sure! Thanks again." Phoebe said as she hung up the phone as she turned to Nadine and Lila.
"So... what do you have in mind?" Nadine smirked.
"Oh, we're going to make SURE that Gerald attends a Campfire Lass meeting... even if we have to keep him there..." Phoebe smirked evilly.
Lila gave a giggle. "Phoebe, you are a clever girl!"
"Thank you, Lila. You know, I bet if Rhonda were here, she'd go along with this idea!" Phoebe giggled.
"I'm sure she would have LOVED it." Nadine laughed. "We will, of course, be lenient on Arnold, Tucker and Lorenzo when we initiate the plan?"
"Don't worry... it wasn't their fault... but we'll see how Gerald reacts to being a Campfire Lass... permanently." Phoebe gave a chuckle as I meditated out.
I opened my eyes as I laughed. "Man, Phoebe, Nadine and Lila are just as manipulative and lovable than ever!"
"Tell me about it!" Helga laughed. "Well, we'll leave their plan be for the time being... anyway, listen, I think I may have an idea we can try out... follow me..."
I paused, but nodded as I decided to follow Helga nearby. Whatever her plan is, I hope it was a good idea...
And that is episode one hundred and sixty-seven! How was it? Anyway, read, review, criticize and suggest, folks!