The next morning, they were already outside of Sunset Arms and Gerald had arrived.
"Okay, you guys convinced me." Gerald said to Arnold, Cherry, Atticus, and Patch.
"Right," Atticus remembered their plan. "We are going to find that document, show the mayor, prove that the neighborhood is a legal national landmark and stop the bulldozers from knocking it down."
"And we're gonna do it all in the next 46 hours and 19 minutes..." Cherry added as the clock was ticking down, it felt so soon for some, but it would be plenty of time for the young heroes.
"Plenty of time." Gerald said.
"Come on, let's go." Patch said, excited.
"That dog worries me sometimes..." Gerald commented, not understanding Patch, but could tell he was excited.
They turned a corner at Green Meats to catch a bus, but had collided with the rude bully girl from earlier.
"Arnold!" the girl gasped the football-headed boy's name, but then looked very angry with him instantly. "I mean, watch where you're going, football head. Where is the fire?"
"Sorry, Helga, we're just in a hurry, we gotta find a government document that can save the neighborhood." Arnold told her.
The girl laughed at them. "If you think you're gonna save it, you're dopier than I thought," she smiled evilly. "All the papers are signed. In two days, this place is gonna be a parking lot. End of story. Any questions?"
"Yeah, do you think you could loan us some bus fare?" Arnold asked, seeing no money in his pockets, oddly enough.
"We're a little short." Gerald added.
"It's like I'm living in Loser City..." Helga rolled her eyes. "Oh, well, since my dad's Super Beeper Emporium is gonna be built on the ashes of your old lives, and I'm gonna get rich of all deal, I guess I can give you change for the bus." she offered money to Arnold and Gerald.
"Spoiled brat..." Cherry glared at Helga as they got on the bus.
"Yeah, and yet, I can't shake this feeling that there is something more about her." Patch wondered.
"Does she pick on you all the time?" Cherry asked Arnold.
"Yeah, she always calls me names and bugs me more than everyone else in school." Arnold replied.
"Maybe she likes you..." Cherry shrugged. "When I was growing up, if a boy bugged me, poked me, or pulled my hair, then it meant he liked me... Though if a boy ignores me these days, it's because I have the attractiveness of a dead moose and no one would be caught dead with me."
"Yikes." Patch winced.
"No one understands me..." Cherry droned.
"There's one thing you forgot to tell me," Gerald said to Arnold once they sat down, he didn't even seem to mind or care that there was a puppy on board with them. "Where are we going?"
"To the one person that can help us to find that document: Mr Bailey." Arnold informed.
"You mean that guy at the Federal Office of Information?"
"Right. I know he can help us."
"Yep, he will absolutely, positively--" Atticus said.
Scene changes to Mr. Bailey's work.
"I can't help you," Mr. Bailey told them after they stated their business and why they had come before he turned back to his computer work. "C-A-N, apostrophe, T. Can't."
"But, Mr. Bailey, this is important!" Arnold urged.
"I'm sure it is, but so is my job," Mr. Bailey explained. "Look at all this work I got piled up. I have no time to run a check on some tomato document that was probably lost 50 years ago. Now please, leave me alone. I don't know how you got in here anyway."
"But, hey, if we don't get this document, then everything in the neighborhood is going to be torn down." Atticus told him.
"Mr. Green's butcher shop, Mrs. Vitello's flower shop..." Arnold listed.
"The video store, the arcade..." Gerald added.
"How many ways can I say it?" Mr. Bailey replied apologetically. "I can't help you."
Patch whined as he saw something that got his attention.
Cherry looked to him and looked in his direction. "Dolly's Donuts?"
Mr. Bailey overheard that. "What did you say?"
Atticus, Arnold, and Gerald saw what she was doing and decided to join in.
"Oh, we were just saying that it's a shame that the bulldozers are going to tear down Dolly's Donuts." Atticus said.
"Yeah," Gerald frowned to show sadness about that. "Dolly's Donuts. Two days from now, they're history. No more Dolly's Donuts, Mr. Bailey..."
"But I love those donuts!" Mr. Bailey grew hysterical. "Nobody makes a cruller like Dolly. I've been going to Dolly's every day for 30 years. I don't think I can through a morning without 'em. How can they tear down an institution like Dolly's? That's just savage!"
"I know, but hey, what can you do?" Arnold shrugged.
"It's a shame you couldn't help us..." Cherry acted melodramatic, putting her hands under her face as she batted her eyelashes. "Well, we better get out of your way... And they look sooo good!"
They then turned around and began to walk away.
"Three... Two... One." Patch whispered.
"Wait a minute," Mr. Bailey stopped them as Patch predicted. "Where you think are you going? You want to save your neighborhood, don't you? Come on, then. We've got a document to find."
The others smirked that that worked. They had to stay a while for Mr. Bailey now had work to do, hopefully this would all be worth it.
"This is going to work, I just know it." Patch smiled.
Cherry was working at her laptop while Mr. Bailey worked.
"Are you helping?" Gerald asked her.
"Actually, I'm checking my fan mail..." Cherry replied simply. "And I got my first hate comment~... I'm super excited, because it's so lame... These people either need to look critique up... Or... Be a writer... Being a writer will teach you a LOT about what critique is... Look, another contest submission..."
"Wow." Atticus said.
"This is it," Mr. Bailey smiled once he finally finished. "When the computer stops, it'll spit out a card telling us everything the system knows about where your tomato document is."
The computer then printed out a paper which Arnold took very excitedly.
"So, what's it say, Arnold?" Patch asked, excitedly.
"'The location of your document is... Unknown'..." Arnold frowned once he read it aloud.
"Oh, come on!" Patch groaned.
"I'm sorry, kids..." Mr. Bailey replied apologetically.
"Thanks for at least being on our side..." Cherry muttered.
"Yeah, thanks for your help, it's all right..." Arnold added.
"You did your best." Gerald finished.
They then decided to take their leave and let him get back to other work, until, surprisingly enough, they were stopped.
"Kids, it's probably not worth mentioning, but I know a guy, the city coroner... He's kind of, well, a nut," Mr. Bailey offered. "But he's a well-known history buff and keeps all kinds of crazy records on old historical papers. Maybe he could help you find that document."
"Where can we find him?" Arnold asked.
"And besides, how crazy can this guy be?" Patch asked.
Mr. Bailey gave them an address.
"Can't be crazier than my Uncle Emmett..." Cherry said as she looked at the instructions, they were going to leave tonight, they probably wouldn't have enough time tomorrow.
When they got to the address, Patch's question was answered.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me." Patch groaned.
"What is this place?" Atticus wondered.
"It's a city morgue..." Cherry said with a serene smile. "There's dead bodies here until they get buried or cremated..."
"And this is where he lives?" Atticus asked.
"Maybe... He might just work here..." Cherry shrugged.
"They look like they're closed," Gerald sounded spooked. "Let's come back later."
"We don't have time, come on!" Arnold urged.
They went into the cold room and tried to find what they were looking for.
"Hello?" Atticus asked. "Hello!"
There was a covered figure that moaned and rose up in front of them.
"Great Scott!" Cherry exclaimed slightly.
The blanket came down, revealing to be a creepy old man. "Hello, I was napping!"
"You remind me of Uncle Emmett..." Cherry narrowed her eyes then.
"I didn't scare you, huh?" the coroner asked her.
"I don't get scared..." Cherry insisted.
Patch got behind her and started barking.
Cherry jumped in surprise, her eyes bugging a little, but she looked angry. "Stop that!"
Patch chuckled, he did see a little scare in her eyes, so he was satisfied.
"Anyhoo, what can I do for you?" the coroner asked.
"It's about a Tomato Incident." Cherry explained.
"Yeah, do you know where it is?" Atticus asked.
"The Tomato Incident did indeed happen," the coroner told them. "In fact, it was a major historical turning point in the birth of the country."
"What about the document?" Arnold asked.
"There was, as I recall, a document stating that your neighborhood was officially declared a national landmark," the coroner informed. "Not an especially well-known document, but official nonetheless. And I just may have a file on it. I keep my historical records in here..." he pulled out a drawer to show a frozen corpse. "Oops... Wrong drawer."
The body was disturbing and where it caused for Gerald to faint. Cherry was not looking at the body, she looked a little pale though.
"A goth afraid of death?" Patch asked.
"Shut up." Cherry mumbled sickly.
"Aha! Here we go..." the coroner took out a file after looking through a different drawer. "Here we go. Tomato Incident... Tomato Incident, Tomato Incident, Tomato, Tomato, Tomato. Tomato Incident! Here it is. According to my records, there was a document detailing the official status of your neighborhood as a national landmark."
"So, what happened to the document?" Atticus asked.
"Let's see... It was contained in a collection of local historical papers which were sold at auction five years ago to a private corporation," the coroner explained, sounding grave in his speech, but gave a goofy smile. "There's no record of a name, but there is an address. 66613 Riverside Highway. It's out on the peninsula."
"Um, thank you, sir, for the information." Atticus said.
They then left the morgue as the bus was about to pull up.
"I don't know why, but that guy gives me chills..." Patch said as he followed the others outside.
"I don't think I like where this is headed..." Cherry said. "That number started with 666."
"How bad could it be?" Patch asked.
"Six... Six... SIX!" Cherry repeated to him.
They all got on the bus then.
"You going up to the peninsula?" Arnold asked.
"Don't talk to the driver while the bus is in motion." the driver deadpanned.
"The bus isn't in motion." Cherry glared to him.
"Yeah." Gerald nodded.
The driver started the bus. "Now it is... Get behind the yellow line..."
"No one likes a Negative Nancy..." Cherry slowly shut her eyes at him.
"Yeah." Atticus said.
Arnold and Gerald looked out the window and looked for 66613, very eager to get there.
"My stomach has that yucky feeling..." Cherry said.
"Oh, come on, what could possibly go wrong?" Atticus asked.
"Never ever say that!" Cherry scolded him. "It's like you're ASKING for something bad to happen!"
"That only works if you say it..." Atticus teased.
"I swear, someone's out to get me..." Cherry folded her arms, mumbling a little. "Who is this horrible person who goes out of their way to make my life miserable!?"