She started falling but was instantly snatched from the air by a flying figure, while Alastor had immediately ran away.
Soon, the flying figure landed in a safe area on the ground. It was Shadow with his armor on.
"Ar- Arnold?! Oh dear lord! I'm so sorry! I- I- How did the tranquilizer not kill you?" She asked nervously.
"At least you aimed at the strongest point of my suit." Arnold pulled out the dart from his vest.
"Hey Arnold, Alastor escaped but we're fine." Trickshot radioed.
"I hear ya." Shadow replied. "Are you alright?" He then asked Brooke.
"I'm so sorry, Arnold!" She hugged him.
POW
BOOM
A loud noise was heard just where they were. Shadow took a brief peek and saw what the noise was. Militia drone tanks.
Twin rattlers, rattler drones, and Diamondbacks were firing their miniguns at the wall they were behind. And Shadow had no way of fighting them off… Or does he?
"Where's that big car-tank of yours?!" Brooke frantically asked while Arnold covered her.
"Destroyed?"
"WHAT?!"
"It's a long story! But lucky for me, Phoebe and Impulse made a spare." Shadow pressed a button on his wrist.
Within seconds, the QR Jet took its name to heart and quickly responded, carrying the new Hybrid. The QR Jet got close to the ground to drop the Hybrid in place and soon flew off.
The new Hybrid consisted of the same weaponry, only with more upgrades… Unfortunately, the paint scheme was rather dull but it was the same ol' Hybrid.
"Sir, that car comes with a full suite of upgrades, including a drone hacking device Ms. Heyerdahl implemented." Impulse informed as he took control of the new Hybrid.
It immediately got into battle mode and started firing at the tanks.
KA-POW
CRASH
"Twin rattler hit!" The Militia commander said
The Hybrid immediately locked on to multiple targets for a level-four missile barrage.
PEW
PEW
PEW
PEW
PEW
PEW
PEW
KA-BOOM
POW
CRASH
KA-POW
CRASH
BOOM
KA-BOOM
CRASH
"Multiple units offline!" The commander exclaimed.
PEW
PEW
The Hybrid had fired its Vulcan gun at the missiles the Mamba drone had launched.
CRASH
KA-POW
"Mambe drone offline!"
CRASH
POW
"Rattler offline!" Several more drones stood in the way.
CRASH
POW
KA-BOOM
BOOM
"Strikes on multiple friendlies!" Two more.
The Hybrid moved around faster than before, making it easier to avoid oncoming hits.
CRASH
KA-POW
"Diamondback down!"
The Hybrid spotted the last drone and shot a direct hit.
CRASH
KA-BOOM
"Otisburg unit destroyed!" The commander exclaimed while the Hybrid approached Shadow and his mother-in-law.
Once the Hybrid was parked, Brooke was absolutely stunned at how the Hybrid arrived. She then looked at Shadow.
"Thanks, Arnold. I'm so sorry for earlier…" He only shook his head.
"Let's get you home to see your daughter." Brooke wrapped her arms around his neck while he picked her up.
"Has anyone ever told you how handsome and charming you are?" Brooke told him while giggling.
"I'm sure I had plenty telling me how handsome I am…" Arnold rolled his eyes. Brooke kissed his cheek, making him blush furiously.
"Could you not?" Arnold asked. "Oh, sweetheart, I just can't help myself when I'm with a knight in shining armor." She giggled. Arnold sighed, rather annoyed.
At HQ
Scarlet and Trickshot were already back at HQ thanks to the QR Jet, and soon, the Hybrid had arrived.
Arnold soon helped his mother-in-law out of the Hybrid.
"I think Rhonda should be upstairs, I think you'll want to see her. She wouldn't want to see me…"
"What? Why? She's your wife, and you're her husband, why wouldn't she want to see you?" Brooke asked.
"Look, just go see her. Ok? I already have enough to deal with!" Shadow took off his facemask (covering his mouth and nose, the same facemask everyone else wears) and started walking away.
Spinelli soon walked over to him after getting checked over by Kliff. "Yo, what's up with you?" She asked. Arnold's attitude soon went back up.
"Am I glad to see you or what?" He finally smiled. She also smiled.
Minutes later, Brooke had finally gone upstairs after Phoebe and Kliff checked her out.
"MOM!" Rhonda ran over and hugged her mother. "Oh, sweetheart! I missed you so much!" Brooke hugged her tightly.
"I'm so glad you're safe and back home!" Rhonda kissed both her cheeks.
"It's all thanks to Arnold and his team showing up when they did, and quite a lot they go through on a daily basis. Did you know-"
Rhonda immediately interrupted. "Wait, where is Arnold? I seriously have to apologize to him about earlier!" She started looking around.
Soon, laughing was heard coming from the lair. Arnold and Spinelli were goofing around and joking with one another as they headed to the kitchen.
"No way that actually happened!" Spinelli laughed.
"And then I said…" Arnold started.
Rhonda's confused expression slowly dropped into a sad/disappointed look. While she didn't mind Arnold hanging out with Spinelli, she noticed that he didn't bother looking for her or even asking about her.
After a minute, Arnold came from the kitchen laughing and drinking an ice-cold soda. He had another soda in the other hand.
"Hey, Mr. Lloyd!" He briefly waved to him as he headed upstairs.
"Hey, Olivia! Sweetheart, you alright?" Arnold asked while heading upstairs.
Rhonda started feeling neglected and pushed aside, but she doesn't blame him.
"I bashed him for your disappearance earlier, insulted and belittled him… And now I'm paying the price of being ignored. Oh God, ARNOLD!" Rhonda decided to head upstairs and find him.
"How's my little girl doing?" Arnold kissed Olivia's forehead and ruffled her hair.
"Oh, Dad…" Olivia smiled and rested against him. "I love you so much, sweetheart." Arnold smiled at his daughter.
"Arnold!" Rhonda came in, but he didn't bother looking.
"Hey, Mom!" Olivia smiled, while Arnold ignored her.
"Arnold, just please look at me! I need to talk to you!" Rhonda begged.
"You know, I actually have something to talk to you about as well." Arnold had a slight frown on his face and finally looked at her.
Rhonda stepped outside. "I'll be back, hun." Arnold kissed Olivia's cheek and soon walked out and closed the door behind him.
"What do you want?" Arnold asked, annoyed.
Background Music: All My Love by London Grammar (Skip to 2:18)
"I'm deeply sorry for what I said to you earlier today, and I want to apologize for what I did. I wasn't thinking straight and I was panicking, I- I'm so sorry for what I did to you, sweetheart! Please, Arnold, all I'm asking for is forgiveness!" She told him, but he only crossed his arms with an annoyed look. "Please, just talk to me! Say anything! Are you even gonna talk to me anymore?!" She pleaded.
He still didn't answer.
"Am I gonna have to kick you out of the bed and make you sleep on the couch for you to even talk to me?!" She said.
Arnold finally spoke. "You won't have to." He replied. "Oh, Arnold! Thank goodness-" Rhonda was about to hug him, but he lightly pushed her away.
"I'm moving out of the bedroom and I'm going to go sleep with my close friend, Scarlet. Nothing is barely an excuse for what you did." Arnold replied. "If you'll excuse me, I have a daughter to tend to and I'll be telling Scarlet about my little problem."
"With Spinelli?!" She interrupted.
"Because unlike you, she has a heart. At the first thing gone wrong, you turn and immediately blame me for everything and turn into an unreasonable asswipe, something you always did ever since we were mere kids! But Scarlet is reasonable and not insubordinate like you." Arnold frowned and walked back into Olivia's room, leaving Rhonda with several tears rolling down her cheeks.
Soon, it would transition to Arnold in Spinelli's bedroom, telling her about the fallout of his problem. And it would transition to him going to his old bedroom, finding Rhonda curled up in a ball and crying by herself while holding the photo of their wedding. Arnold didn't react and only went to grab the things he'd need and soon left Rhonda's bedroom, and left her distraught.
Soon after, Arnold was sitting on Spinelli's bed, with her beside him. While Arnold felt partially guilty about the fallout, he felt like he needed to separate himself from Rhonda in the meantime since her outburst was the last straw for him.
Spinelli rubbed his shoulder, while her other hand slowly crept near his hand. Eventually, they started to hold each other's hands and soon looked at one another. They only leaned forward to the point where their foreheads touched, with their lips nearing one another… They slowly started to nuzzle against each other.
As the music started fading out to dead radio static, Phoebe and Impulse were checking the Militia radio network. No activity whatsoever.
"Alright, I'd say we wrap it up. No activity from the Militia comms network." Phoebe took out her earpiece and set it down and then exhaled deeply.
Soon, it transitioned to Rhonda curled up on her bed with the photo of her and Arnold's wedding. From the happiest moment of their lives to now facing probably the darkest part of their marriage.