Episode XIII: The Beginning of the Origami Jedi Student Council

 

Chapter 1: The Case Begins
By Darrell Cummings

Something strange is afoot at Williams Middle School. Just recently, our school had been under constant attacks of vandalism, by kids with Star Wars finger puppets. But what I don’t understand is…why? I’ve heard about those finger puppets before. They helped some school near here to stop using a bad curriculum called FunTime. Actually, they saved us, too. We were bored out of our minds with FunTime until those guys took a stand. When they rebelled, WE rebelled. My question is: Why in the world were the kids who saved our school vandalizing against us?
But then, when I heard that this new kid also went to McQuarrie Middle School, I knew what I had to do. I gathered up my friends Harry, Doug, and Savannah, and once again, we began our investigation.
This is the seventh case taken up by The WMS Private Detective Agency. Code name: Operation Yoda.
Savannah’s Comment: Ugh. You guys are making ANOTHER case file?? Who would even wanna read this stuff?? You boys are such dorks.
Darrell’s Comment: C’mon, Savannah! Why do you have to do this every time? Just comment some nice things once in a while!

Chapter 2: The New Kid
By Doug

Yo Darrell, this new kid you were talking about…I just met him. Literally, just while I was in line in the cafeteria for lunch. He was kind of on the smallish-side, with spiky jet-black hair and a really unsettling mischievous smile. He was holding both Origami Luke and Origami Leia “Star Wars” puppets, even though I thought I read in the news that it was the principal there who had the Leia.
“Hi,” I said, walking up to him. “I’m Doug Phillips.”
“Jake,” he mumbled. He was looking past me, not really paying attention. I think he was looking for someone.
“Gotta go,” Jake hurriedly walked away, leaving me back where I started. But at least I got you a name, right?
Darrell’s Comment: I’m looking in the class registry (don’t tell Mrs. Yavada) for kids named Jake……. There’s two names that pop up. Jake Runn, and Jake Cornelius. I’ll send Harry to research more about them.
Savannah’s Comment: Guys, you’re seriously running your entire investigation on one name?? What if he lied to you? If I got approached by a weirdo like Doug, I wouldn’t give him my real name!

Chapter 3: Meeting Jake
By Harry

I wasn’t really sure how to find Jake in a sea of other kids, especially if there was one other kid named Jake as well. So, I “borrowed” the loudspeaker from the Principal Hardaway’s office, and shouted, “Jake Runn and Jake Cornelius to the principal’s office!”
After getting kicked out of the office, I bumped into someone and fell on the ground. A hand reached out for mine. I took it.
“Thanks, man,” I said. I finally got a good look at him. “You wouldn’t happen to be Jake, would you?”
He matched the profile you wrote in your chapter, Doug. Even that creepy grin.
“Yeah. Jake Cornelius,” he murmured. He really doesn’t seem like much of a talker.
“Well, hey, dude,” I gulped. “My friend Doug saw you yesterday, and he said that you might’ve been looking for someone. If you need help finding somebody, I mean hey, we did find you out of an entire school!”
“Noah Jekan,” he said. “Find me Noah Jekan.”
Darrell’s Comment: We got him. Noah’s technically registered into the school, but I’ve been asking practically everybody I can find, and showing them his picture, and none of them have even seen him before. I’m surprised he’s even on-record being here.

Chapter 4: Minch
By Jacob

Note: This chapter was inserted without the knowledge of the WMS Private Detective Agency. They can not, under any circumstances, read this chapter.

I’ve always wanted to do this. Write a case file, I mean. After the whole Papertine mess, I’m not going back to the “Dark Side,” so I guess this is kind of my way of proving myself to Tommy and the gang.
This case file is meant for you. The Williams Middle School Student Council. I’m writing this to try and get you on my side. My friend Noah is in trouble. He just came out of a big breakup, and it’s only because his girlfriend got kicked out of the school. I’m trying to get her back, so that Noah will stop being so moody and hormonal all the time. So, I guess the first step to having you trust me is if I spill the beans to you guys. My name is Jacob Minch. I used the last name Cornelius as a pseudonym. My brother, Noah Minch, is the kid who I was looking for. I never saw him at school, and when I saw him at home, he just runs up to our room and locks the door before I could even go to bed. With help from Darrell and The WMS Private Detective Agency, I was able to find Noah. He’s alright. Just angry. I’m a little worried he’ll do something irrational and get us all in trouble. That’s kinda why I need your help. Because Noah’s getting angrier and angrier by the day, and we don’t have much time before he does something he’ll regret.
One last thing. You can’t tell anyone in Darrell’s group about who I am. Especially Savannah. If she finds out who I am…..what I’ve done….. Then we might have a REAL threat on our hands.

Chapter 5: Darth Noah
By Savannah

Now it’s finally time for something useful to be in this case file! I was sitting in Spanish class, fighting absolute boredom, when HE showed up. Jake. He sat quietly in the back of the room, isolating himself. Now, I’m quite obviously a very compassionate person, (Doug’s Comment: No way!) so I went up to him.
“Hey Jake,” I said. I’d only talked with him once before, when we helped him find Noah, but I kinda think he’s cool. “Whatcha doing back here?”
Jake didn’t look up from the notepad he was writing on. He was silent.
“Oh-kayyy…….” I said. “Well, now you have company, for whatever you’re doing.”
Within a few minutes most of the students had filled into the room. There was only one seat empty. Jake must’ve noticed it too, because he kept eyeing it. Finally, one last kid entered the room, and took the last seat. Jake slid past me, going over to his seat.
“Noah,” Jake said. “The case file’s working. The Student Council is bound to help you now.”
Noah smiled weakly and shook Jake’s hand. “Thanks, man.”
Suddenly, Jake gasped and recoiled. Noah had something in his hand. It was an origami Emperor Palpatine, with a joy-buzzer duct-taped to it. Noah bolted and ran out of the room, carrying along with the Emperor two small pieces of paper.
“The Skyfolders,” Jake said. “Now Noah has all of them. And—”
Jake reached into his pocket quickly, and turned up empty handed. “Noah stole the case file.”
This chapter was written after the whole confrontation, obviously. I’ll make sure Noah doesn’t steal it.
Darrell’s Comment: Guys, this is even worse than we thought! Noah stole ALL of our case files! The Sinister Science Scandal, The Malicious Masked Muncher, you name it! I have a BAD feeling about this……

Chapter 6: Stopping Darth Noah…..Or Maybe Not
By Darrell

With a Darth Shredious-wielding hormonal 13 year old on the loose, you never know what you’re gonna get. So I decided to personally go and rescue the case files myself. No comments from anyone, this time….. I’m writing this down as I go.
I ran all around the school until I saw Noah. He was walking into the art room. I accidentally kicked a paint can, and fell to the ground, holding my toes in agony. Noah turned around at the noise, but didn’t see me. He walked inside. My toes are still hurting now, but I’m going in.
I noticed Noah was initially tinkering with a piece of paper, folding it into an origami finger puppet, which he looked pretty pleased with. I couldn’t make out what the puppet was. Suddenly, someone else walked in—about Noah’s height—but he/she was wearing a baseball cap, and had their back turned to me, so I couldn’t make anything out as far as an identity. Noah handed the kid his origami puppet, silently. The two of them whispered for a minute, and I didn’t catch anything. The baseball hat kid left. Noah pulled out the Skyfolders, as well as all the case files, and stated at them for a moment. At first, I thought he was gonna snap out of his weirdness and such. Instead, he balled up his fist, crushing the case files as well as the Skyfolders, and threw them into the trash can. I ducked under a table as Noah walked out the door, just as silent as he’d came.
Right now I’m trying to fix the case files and Skyfolders. It’s pretty bad. I think the art teacher had the nacho lunch, and didn’t eat all of it, because Leia looks more like a cheese-covered Chewbacca than a princess.
Oh no. Guys, I am so sorry. Leia just fell apart in my hand. Luke’s all salsa-y and the pencil marks are fading away. I think the Skyfolders just died.
Don’t kill me, but I think “The Big Baseball Baddie” case file just got cheesed. And The Masked Muncher. And, umm……guys, I think the case files are dead.

Chapter 7: The NEW Mini Case File
By Harry

After the tragic loss of the first chapters of the case file, we started re-writing some of it, but we forgot bits and pieces. Meanwhile, Noah was causing all sorts of craziness and mayhem, and we weren’t sure how to fix any of it! So, I took it up personally to re-write the entire case file, into a BRAND NEW, TOTALLY STOOKTASTIC, MINI CASE FILE!!
Ready to read it? Sweet!
Chapter 1
The WMS Private Detective Agency met a new kid named Jake. He wants to help his friend Noah, because he had a breakup with a girl named Francesca. Noah’s hormones and such turned him all “Dark Side,” so we wanna make a case file to show the Student Council that they should try and get Francesca back into the school.
Chapter 2
We found Noah, but he did some bad stuff, so we realized we were running out of time. So, Darrell went to Principal Hardaway to negotiate, but she politely said that it would take a lot more than a few students to change her mind about the matter. But the Student Council….that might just work.
Chapter 3
Noah caused a huge stink bomb explosion in science class, and Jake pulled out an Origami Kanan from “Star Wars Rebels,” and battled Noah’s Oigami Inquisitor. Those two act so in-sync all the time. How long do you suppose they were friends?
Chapter 4
Savannah told me she was suspicious of Noah, and she decided to secretly go to the art room to see the remains of the case file, and find out the truth. I followed her. She walked in recklessly, tipping over the trash bin and spilling nacho cheese on the ground, seeping into the tiles. She brushed her flowing blonde bangs out of her hair, and read all that was in the original case file. Her eyes went from alarmed to furious as she tore the case file into pieces. I quietly backed away, but tripped on a paint can and fell on my butt. Savannah saw me, and ran towards me angrily. She told me not to tell anyone about what happened.
Savannah’s Comment: Yes I did…..so then, what, exactly, is THIS?!?!?
Harry’s (my) Comment: Ohhh…….whoops.

Chapter 8: The Truth Revealed
By Savannah

Alright, Minch. The jig is up. You REALLY thought you could get away from this?? Well, newsflash!
JACOB MINCH IS THEvwjsjdnkensdnsdchjdshknksdcjnshsgsh
Jacob’s Comment: Savannah’s done typing for right now. Technical difficulties. BRB.

Chapter 9: The Student Council
By Doug

Okay, that was a little bit awkward. But obviously Jacob didn’t tell us the honest truth about who he was. Darrell didn’t like that.
“Honestly?! You LIED to us?? What could be so important—y’know, forget it! I don’t care who Noah is to you! I think both of you guys should just leave! You dishonest, stupid-smirking, scruffy-looking, nerfherder!”
“…….Who’s scruffy looking?” Jacob looked offended. He quickly whispered something in Darrell’s ear. Darrell gasped.
“Okay. Fine. You’re staying,” Darrell said. “Just please, don’t—”
“Those days are behind me,” Jacob said with a heavy sigh. “Now, let’s send this case file to the student council. At the very least, they’ll see how crazy this all is, and they’ll realize the only way to end it—and get me to leave the school—is to get Francesca back.”
We went to the Student Council’s room, which is also where the kids play chess. The Student Council had twelve members, each one with a special talent and ability. Just to avoid confusion, I’ll only single out one of them for the moment. Ryan. He’s kind of the leader of the group. When someone reports directly to Mrs. Hardaway, it’s Ryan. He makes the ultimate decisions, and we would ultimately need to win his respect in order to get Francesca back.
“Excuse me,” I said. “I’m Doug…..”
“Hey, man!” Ryan said. “You’re the guys with the private detective stuff, right? That’s awesome work you’re doing, dude!”
I recoiled. “Wait…. You know about our case files?”
“Know about them?? Dude! I personally recommended you guys to Mrs. Hardaway when she needed your help with the Devious Duct Tape Trickster!”
“That was you??” I said. “Wow, sir—”
“Call me Ryan,” he smiled. “We’re all friends here.”
Wow. I guess Ryan was pretty chill! I walked out of the room and let Darrell do the talking. But before I left, I handed Ryan the new mini case file. Then I turned around and walked away.
Darrell’s Comment: Ryan read the case file, and he said he would talk with the other members and figure out the overall answer of whether to bring back Francesca or not!

Chapter 10: The Student Council’s Answer
By Ryan

No.

Chapter 11: Everybody Freaks Out And General Chaos Ensues, OR; The Dark Times
By Darrell

Noah just about zapped us with Sith lightning when he found out. (Not really, but to be honest, Sith lightning would probably hurt less than the icy accusing glare he gave us). His outbursts and wildness only got worse by the day. Soon enough, Noah had become the biggest bully Williams Middle School had ever seen. And it wasn’t just his strength. I don’t know how, but he has this weird ability, like he can read minds or something, because every time he questions you, he shows you exactly what it is you fear. Without the Student Council’s aid, we had no alternative plans. That was our only hope.
“No,” Jake said, almost reading my thoughts. “There is another way.”
I turned to him. “You don’t mean—?”
“Yeah.”
I swallowed. “Dude, do you REALIZE what that would do to you? To your future?”
“My future died when my past caught up with it. Now it’s time to make things right, no matter how long it takes.”
I swallowed. “……So be it.”
Jake and I stood, side-by-side, as we walked up to Noah in the hallway. Noah no longer bothered to keep himself hidden. He knew that for however long that people were afraid of him, he couldn’t get in any trouble. Now he was proud of it. Or maybe he’s just hiding his pain behind a mask.
“Hey, Noah,” Jake said, slowing his pace down to a halt. “It’s time to go home, man. Dad’s waiting in the car.”
Noah sneered at Jake. “It’s 2:30. Why in the world is Dad here NOW??”
“We’re, um……” Jacob’s voice caught. He struggled to keep on talking. “We’re taking you to go visit Francesca. We called her up, and she’s really happy to hear from you.”
“She said…..she said she blamed me for getting her kicked out,” Noah’s voice was empty. “Why would she wanna talk to me?”
“Okay, fine, we had to coax her a bit first,” Jacob admitted. “But she really is glad to get to see you again.”
Noah’s eyes softened. “Alright.”

Chapter 12: Brothers
By Jacob

Noah and Francesca spent the evening at Billy and Dom’s Pizza Parlor. It was the first time I’d seen Noah laugh or even smile since the whole Bounty Hunters incident. I was happy for him. And it was totally worth the sacrifice I had to make.
“Yo Jacob!” Francesca swallowed a bite of pizza. “Can you come here for a sec?”
I complied. “What’s up, Francesca?”
“Noah here told me that you had to COAX me into meeting him…..” She looked at me amusedly. “But I never even talked to you. I talked to Savannah.”
I plopped down in my seat, and sighed.
“Savannah Collins…..Frankie, you knew her?” Noah eyed her suspiciously.
“Noah,” Francesca said. “She’s my best friend. I thought I asked Jacob…” She paused. Standing up from her table, she glared at me with a fire in her eyes.
“Jacob Cornelius Minch,” she said. “You didn’t tell him.”
“I’m sorry, okay??” I said. “It was important!”
“It was STUPID!” she was fuming, waving her hands furiously.
Obviously, I couldn’t tell the WMS private detectives the truth, and I DEFINITELY couldn’t tell Savannah anything. But since Darrell had found out, and Francesca had already blown my cover anyway, I guessed it was time for me to come clean.
“WELL???” Francesca let her angry tone hang in the air.
I told them the truth. And I guessed I should come clean with the WMS kids too.
The next day, I went into Principal Hardaway’s office, to borrow the loudspeaker and tell everybody the truth. When I walked in, she glared at me. “Mr. Minch,” she said. “I thought you were expelled from this school yesterday, correct me if I’m wrong.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I gulped. “But I think my friends deserve to know the truth about me, first.”
“That won’t be necessary, Jake,” someone said from behind me. I turned around. Ryan.
“The Origami Jedi Student Council declines your access to the loudspeaker,” Ryan said. “Your secret is safe with us.” He pulled out an Origami Mace Windu. “This party’s over.”
I walked out of the principal’s office, making my way to the front doors, where my mom would pick me up. I passed by Darrell, Doug, Harry, and Savannah. They were all having fun re-writing their old case files. All except for Savannah, who was just complaining. But at least she wasn’t spending her time planning to feed me to the Sarlaac or anything. I passed by Noah, who was happily studying/texting Francesca in his home room, all while writing down his new instructions for Luke and Leia Skyfolder, Mark II. Noah was alright with everything now. Francesca is happy too, especially since her school is filled with kids who heard about the FunTime Rebellion, and made a rebellion of their own……. So I guess Noah and Francesca get their happy ending after all.
And I sparked an Origami Jedi Council within Williams Middle School. I’m happy that they ultimately dawned the finger puppets, but I’m also a little unsure about this. Could I have just created the second Origami Star Wars school? I have a weird feeling about this.
When I got back to McQuarrie (under a new alias AGAIN), I tried to talk to Tommy.
“Hey man,” I said. He was sitting at a table in the library with some of the other kids. They were all staring at a tiny sticky note laying on the center of the table. I picked it up, and decided to check out what it said;
Origami or not, you must realize….You are doomed. —General Creasous
I guess McQuarrie had another foe to face. Nothing every stays normal at McQuarrie Middle School. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Epilogue
By Jacob

I suppose, whoever is reading this, that you would like to know my secret. Plus some of the other secrets, like who Noah folded that finger puppet for, or why I was expelled from the school. And to be honest, some secrets are just meant to be secret…..for now.

 

Written By SuperFolder JC

 Origami made by Tom Angleberger, YodaMaster, and SF_Gavin

Cover made by: SFJay (Hansel)

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