Man, walking up those stairs was a real pain. Why did they still exist anyway when there were escalators and elevators? Well of course he and the guys could have taken the elevator if he hadn't broken it but still…it was all Eugene's fault. Curly fumed silently as he followed Arnold to their room while carrying his orange backpack and black suitcase.

It was Eugene who stole the pencil, Eugene who turned it into a stub, Eugene who returned him nothing but lead and no words to write to his beloved Rhonda. He still didn't care if he got into trouble for the fire alarm last year…he set it off again after Wartz dragged him to detention anyway. And he would do it again too if given the chance, he thought manically. It was his usual prank.

He could feel his right shoulder ache from the bag, and he could see that his glasses were sliding off. It really couldn't be helped as the frames had been damaged several times over the years from others bumping into him or someone stepping on them in the hallway. And the amount of duct tape he used probably could wrap around Eugene two or three times. That could have been good revenge, but looking behind him and up ahead in the hallway Curly couldn't see any janitors' closets nearby. Sighing, he stared at the back of Arnold's head. And it was obvious that he was struggling too carrying his "matching blue suitcase and backpack" as Rhonda would probably say it. He gulped, feeling kind of bad considering that he was already ruining Arnold's trip.

"Well, I say this because through my own resources, Arnold wants to win so badly because he feels that by winning this contest," he looked back at the door, "well, I'm not exactly sure. But whatever it is, it involves finding his parents. And we do owe him you know."

The red rimmed glasses were lifted. "I'm not sure what you mean. What do we owe Arnold?"

The student lowered his arms. "Curly, Arnold has pretty much been the one everyone goes to when they're in trouble and you know it."

He remembered that day alright. It hadn't even been a month yet since he talked to Brainy about it, or more like got lectured by him as if he were in charge of this whole thing. But ever since then, he never spoke. It was like as if though he went back to his old ways. And sometimes Curly even wondered if that was the only time Brainy ever said that much to anyone in their class. A part of him wanted to ask Arnold why they were all there in San Lorenzo just to see if his classmate was right.

Were they all actually going on a rescue mission? Would he really be the hero and save the day right before Rhonda's eyes? And more importantly…would he get to see wild animals? He had to know. Walking up to Arnold, he was about to grab his arm when they heard a crash coming from one of the bedrooms.

"Woah!" Suddenly the blonde ran ahead and Curly followed right behind him despite the aches he felt. When they got to their door, Arnold pulled the key out of his jean pocket, twisted it into the door, and pushed it open with a grunt while using the suitcase in his hand as Curly held it for him, setting his own things down as door stoppers. It was heavier than it looked. But at least the lights were on, and walking into the room…it was obviously better than his bedroom back home. However, Curly stopped short of himself as Arnold went passed him to help Eugene.

"I'm okay." he said.

Apparently, he fell into one of the brown chairs in the back and slid down to the floor. Curly scoffed. What a jinx.

Walking into the room, he casually set himself on the bed near the other two on the left wall. It was messed up a bit given Eugene's blue suitcase and backpack were on it…and of course it had the "Abdicator" logos on them. Between him and Arnold, it seemed like everyone had gotten blue luggage, even though he knew that was not the case. Not everyone liked blue, so if that really happened…well he was just glad that he had brought black and orange. Like tiger stripes…he smiled.

"Eugene, what happened?" Arnold asked, kneeling down on the floor by the red head, who was rubbing it from the fall. Curly snapped out of his thoughts almost instantly, his grin falling for a second.

The geek looked at the both of them, his eyes kind of dazed but he looked ok otherwise. "I was trying to open the lock on my suitcase, but it got stuck. So when I tried to use a pin to unlock it -"

"It hit you on the head and you fell backward." Curly stated. And he was not surprised when the boy nodded either. At this point, no one was surprised when Eugene got hurt anymore. People who care like Arnold would ask what happened only to know how much sympathy they could hand off to him. Curly knew that Eugene never meant to, but it was almost like he was getting more positive attention from others simply because he was hurt.

If he got hurt, people would show sympathy yeah, but it would not last as long because it would've most likely happened from doing a prank or something else that would seem crazy to everyone else while it was completely natural for him to do it. His chest hurt a bit thinking about that. Seeing Arnold grab Eugene's arm and getting him up to sit on the bed didn't really help either. He didn't really have best friends…or really any good friends at all. But it wasn't like he was going to admit that to anyone. He wasn't a sap.

As Eugene sat beside him on the left, Curly didn't realize that the curtains were open, letting the light on the inside. It was warm and he wished that he wasn't up on the second floor. It was more fun to run around, maybe set some more animals free if there was a zoo or a cage nearby or something…but he had no idea where this country was on a map let alone where a caged animal would be…maybe he could come up with something else later.

Arnold walked around them. "Ok, but just in case let me get you some aspirin from my bag. That should help your head feel better." Going back to the door, Curly turned his head to see him grab both of their things by it and closing them shut in the room. He didn't move the bags much otherwise as he pulled a bottle out of a front pocket. Coming back, he tossed it on the bed he and Eugene were on…but it landed in Curly's right hand.

He had the power to decide whether or not Eugene got his medicine to cure his headache. He had the control. He grinned and held onto the bottle tighter. Getting up, he stood silently as he walked in front of Eugene. Both of the other boys looked at him, obviously not liking his expression. However it didn't really matter of what they thought of him.

Eugene caused injustice, he caused pain, and he caused…well he caused more problems than what most others would admit. But Curly knew the truth.

The jinx reached out his hand, "Uh, Curly?" he asked. And the boy could feel his grin coming back. "Yes Eugene?" He loved to mess with people so much. "Can you please hand me my medicine? I really have a headache from that fall." Instead, he stepped back, and Arnold stepped forward.

"Come on Curly, I know you are upset. We all do, but -".

"But you've been bothering us all day man. Really, just do as Arnold says before I get Harold in here." They all turned their heads around to see Gerald walk in with his new t shirt that matched the sweatshirt he had on in the plane. Of course he would defend Arnold because they were best friends, but defending the jinx? They both insulted Eugene equally for his bad luck – well at least he thought so.

He went up beside him as they did their handshake. How was that a handshake when they only used their thumbs anyway?

Arnold smiled. "Hey Gerald. How'd you get in here? I closed the door." The black haired boy rolled his eyes. "Almost my brother, because one of the straps of Curly's backpack was stuck in between the door and the wall." Looking over their shoulders, he saw that his classmate was right. How dare Arnold not notice his backpack? He gripped on the medicine tighter.

Meanwhile the big head rubbed his hand on his neck. "Oh," he said turning to him, "Sorry Curly. I was so focused on getting the medicine for Eugene that I didn't realize I left it there by mistake." But he wasn't amused in the least. He stepped back further, almost bumping into the table himself.

"Sorry? Sorry?" he shouted. "Yeah right! No one would help me out downstairs! I wanted my pencil back!" And that was when he knew it would all go down, however he didn't care. He was defending his rights of having his property returned to him.

Gerald, Arnold, and Eugene, while he was sitting down on the bed still, looked at each other. Those fools, they had no idea what they were dealing with. The first of the three rolled his eyes. "Curly, that happened last year, as in "it doesn't matter now". There was a trial, you confessed to the crime, and got detention. Can't you just forget about it?"

Of course he would say that. He shook his head. "No, I cannot just forget about it! I needed that pencil back! And I still need it!" And he didn't say much else before Eugene stood up, still rubbing his own head which now had an obvious bump on it that looked red. "Ok Curly, I'll level with you. How about when we get back home, you order a new set of Wankyland pencils since I'm banned from there, but I'll pay for it. That way-"

"No! That does not mean you actually returned it," he stated, "it just means you're taking the easy way out. And I don't like it." He crossed his arms. Eugene sighed. "Ok, then what do you want me to do about then? Because I cannot think of anything else. Can you guys?" He looked at Arnold and Gerald, who were concerned…again probably for Eugene. But they didn't say anything probably because their brains were too small to come up with any ideas. Oh well.

Curly smiled. "Oh, you can have your medicine to fix your headache alright." he said, wanting to draw it all out. He came closer for the first time. "But first, you'll have to do me a favor." And Eugene was smarter than he thought if he went back to the comforts of his bed, backing away. "Yeah, what is it?" Arnold and Gerald came behind him, but that was the wrong move.

"Stay still." He jumped on the bed hovering over him.

It was the moment where he would get his revenge. He would get all of the glory. He may have gotten sent home for this, but at the moment he really didn't care. Curly could feel the anger, the frustration as the other two grabbed onto his arms and shoulders. He managed to shove them off somewhat, and he could feel his fist raise as the medicine bottle dropped.

Eugene's face was priceless – covered in fear and using those skinny arms to protect the little of what he had. It was sweaty and gross, but that didn't matter either…so long as…

"Hey, come on you guys," Helga stuttered, "You know that I, uh, thought that it was a funny… story. Yeah that's it!" She rubbed her right arm nervously. "I wasn't making fun of you guys…really! I swear!"

The girl ducked under one of the boy's arms as they ended up punching the wall with their fist.

And then he suddenly remembered another part of his conversation with Brainy.

"Why are you being so defensive?" Curly shouted.

"Because Helga needs protection!" The last paper was printed. Brainy sighed as he went back to taking both the original and copied essays to staple them.

Curly just stood there in wonder as he flailed his arms. "But she can punch the daylights out of anyone!" Ughh, he wasn't making sense. Which normally he liked, but right now it confused him to no end!

"Doesn't matter. She needs protection from the criticism you guys give her!"

And he wasn't there to protect her, if Brainy was actually right.

Curly's eyes widened. And looking down at Eugene, he was doing the same thing again wasn't he? He was shaking a bit from what just happened, so it wasn't a surprise when Arnold noticed him hesitate. Even Eugene and Gerald were realizing that he wasn't going to punch.

He never hesitated in the past. At least not often enough anyway.

"Curly?" Arnold asked, gripping his right shoulder, "Are you ok?"

His first thought was yes, because then he could actually stop and leave it at that. Just leave it at that.

After Brainy was done, he stood in front. Holding on tightly to the papers, he said, "By simply understanding her; the way Arnold and I do."

But maybe he should've talked to someone about this before. And if Brainy said that Arnold understood her in the same way, maybe this mess could be solved. He turned his head at to look at him. "Well, um -" he bit his lip.

"No!" A scream filled the air. Arnold looked around the room, worried. "Did you guys hear something?"

He could hear Gerald about to say no, but Curly knew that there was something more to it.

"I think that was Helga."

And for the first time that day, he didn't have any other thoughts other than what happened earlier downstairs or what they just heard at the moment. There was something wrong. He gulped. And that grin went away too.

And maybe she needed to be saved more than the wild animals.

Suddenly, knocking Arnold and Gerald, he got off of the bed and ran out of the room. And he wasn't surprised that the others followed him out.