Fall In Line

Chapter 1: An Unexpected Invitation



Never before had Rudy been as excited as now.

Today’s trip into ChalkZone was originally just going to be routine. Nothing out of the ordinary. Just the usual fare of adventuring, talking with Snap and other zoners, discovering new areas. The same stuff, though yet not the same stuff. They had expected to meet up with Snap and get started on their usual exploriating.

But today had been different. They realized this the moment they had walked into Snap’s house and found that he had been very excited about something. They never saw Snap this happy before, and they immediatey rushed over to him to see what was going on.

What they had seen shocked them. It took them a little while to funny comprehend what had just happened, and what Snap had revealed to them. They thought they were dreaming at first. They thought that they were going to wake up soon and they’d come into ChalkZone and none of this would have happened.

But even after pinching themselves several times, nothing changed. There was no indication that there was anything fake about this. It...it was real.

They had been invited to Chalklantis. By King Zander himself.

Rudy couldn’t help but suck in a breath when he read the letter. The king was requesting an audience with them, and even directions straight to his underwater kingdom. He was hoping that they would come as soon as possible, and said that someone would be waiting at the docks for them at all times for whenever they decided to show.

Rudy and his two friends were stunned by this proposal. They all had wanted to go to Chalklantis so badly in the past. But sadly, they had always been foiled. Something would always come up that would stop them, forcing them to delay their plans. Even when they planned the trip for months, nearly ruined by Penny almost having to go to Spain all summer, it was unfortunately cancelled because other things came up.

It had gotten to the point where they had decided to give up on Chalklantis for a while. It wasn’t a decision they liked. But they were getting sick and tired of being disappointed time and again. It was frustrating how, even when they planned ahead of time, they wouldn’t be able to go to Chalklantis of some convoluted thing would pop up. It irritated them, and there had been a point where they ended up ranting to each other about their bad luck.

But now, things seem to be finally turning to their favor. Now they have a written invitation from the king himself, wanting them to visit. He had given them directions so they no longer need to worry about looking around the ocean floor to find it.

And the fact that the king had requested them... For some reason, Rudy felt this increased their odds of finally going to that lost world.

However, for this reason, not all of them were entirely thrilled.

Penny had reservations against the idea. Not because she didn’t want to go. But it was for an entirely other reason that she was unsure.

“Oh pee shaw, Penny!” Snap waved dismissively at her. “I don’t know why you’re so unsure of this.” He spread his hands out. “Don’t you see? This is an opportunity of a life time!”

“Well yes, but...” Penny paused for a moment. She bit her lip as she tried to think of what to say. “Don’t you think this is all a little...strange?”

Rudy and Snap looked at her in confusion. Neither of them could fully understand where she was getting at. What could be confusing and unusual about being invited by a king?

Well okay, so that wasn’t common. Still, neither of them could really see anything wrong about the king of Chalklantis requesting an audience with them. To Rudy, the king had probably heard of him and his heroics and he wanted Rudy to help him out with something. Or perhaps he just wanted to see the magic halk in action for himself.

Rudy, however, did not dismiss Penny’s concern. Looking at her face, he could tell she had some level of worry about the whole thing. It would be wrong to act as if her opinion didn’t matter. “What is on your mind, Penny?”

Penny furrowed her eyes with concern. “Rudy...don’t you find it odd that a lost king from a lost civilization would send a letter to the surface, directly to us I might add, and ask us to come down?” She looked from Snap and Rudy. When she saw she wasn’t getting an answer, she pressed on, “I mean, think about it. Chalklantis is considered a lost world. Isolated from society. Even many zoners on the surface doubt its existence.”

Rudy nodded his head slowly. Penny was correct on that detail. A number of zoners scoffed at their plans of going to Chalklantis, as it had been reduced to a fable. A fairy tale told to zoners as nothing more than entertainment. Rudy had wanted to believe it was real so badly, and he thought it would be fascinating to meet such an ancient culture of people, regardless of what the others said to him.

But that still didn’t help him understand where Penny was coming from. He was certain that she had a good reason for her doubts. He just....couldn’t fully understand them at the moment. He remained quiet and gestured for her to continue.

Penny looked a little disappointed, as if she thought he would understand right away where she was getting at. “When was the last time that Chalklantis had contact with anyone on the surface?”

Snap rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I think it was probably hundreds of years ago.” He paused. “Definitely way before I was created. I think even before Barney and King Mumbo Jumbo.”

“Yeah, that’s what I heard, too.” Rudy said, raising a finger as he continued from where Snap left off. “They are both at least three hundred years old, and I think they are actually even older than that. Most zoners we’ve met don’t remember that far back.”

“Precisely.” Penny said.

This caused Rudy and Snap to look at each other in confusion.

“We don’t get it, Penny.” Rudy said. “Can you please just get to the point?”

“All right then. I’ll spell it out for you.” Penny cleared her throat. She raised up a finger, gesturing with it as she began to speak to Rudy and Snap, explaining to them exactly what she was thinking about the whole thing. “Since no one in Chalklantis has been to the surface in hundreds of years, and they have been out of contact for so long, then how do they know about us? How did they know where Snap lived to send the notes to? And why, after all this time, would the king suddenly be interested in getting to know someone on the surface? How did he even find out about you?”

Rudy paused for a moment. “Well...Maybe someone reported down to him and...”

Penny shot him a small glare. “How, Rudy? Remember, Chalklantis had been out of contact with the rest of ChalkZone for a long time. Exactly how would they be able to have anyone report to them without exposing their location? Most zoners still think Chalklantis is a myth! If there was regular communication, I could see it being possible. But...what are the odds of that?”

Rudy couldn’t think of anything to say to that. He let Penny’s words buzz inside of his head. Slowly, realization began to grow, starting from the base of his neck, curving upward and across the top of his skull.

Penny had a good point. Just how did King Zander know about him and his deeds? The letter indicated that he had heard a lot about him. But how could he if Chalklantis was separated from the rest of ChalkZone? How would he even know where to send the letters to?

He could now understand why Penny was so cautious about the whole thing.

Snap, on the other hand, had his own ideas. “I think you might be overreacting there, Buckette.” Snap said, pointing his hand towards the girl. Penny stared at him. Snap didn’t hesitate to continue. “I mean, yes...sure it sounds weird. But haven’t you ever heard of legends of your own Atlantis in the Real World? Isn’t it said to have high levels of technology far beyond what you have now?”

“Well, yes, but...”

“Then what’s so odd about Chalklantis having the same thing?” Snap shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe the king has advanced sonar or cameras or something because he and his citizens are curious about surface life and they are just too shy to come up. For all we know, Chalklantis had been attacked time and agin and they have just become wary of newcomers.”

Penny nodded her head slowly. “You might have a good point there, Snap.”

“I know I do.” Snap said with a playful smirk.

Penny then shook her head slowly. “But I still can’t agree. Something about this whole thing just feels too strange. Even if he had that technology like you said, why would he wait so long to speak to us? If he was so worried and if he had that high tech stuff, couldn’t he just send a zoner up here and speak to us through him? He could have gotten to know us that way. Instead of spying on us or whatever else is going on and...”

Penny stopped speaking at that point. She took in a few quick breaths. Her voice had risen in pitch a little. Rudy could hear the emotion and frustration dripping from her voice. Rudy had never seen her sound that worried before.

“I’m sorry.” Penny said softly. “I just...feel really strange about this whole thing.”

Snap shook his head, his facial expression that of disappointment. “I’m really surprised at you, Penny. Here we are, about to embark on a journey of a lifetime, and you want to ruin it by questioning our host!”

Penny glared at Snap. “It’s not that! I just...” She looked away, stumbling over her words as her expression softened up. “There’s just something I can’t shake off about this whole thing.”

Snap eyed her for a few moments. “Maybe you’re just feeling stressed out?”

“Yeah...maybe.” Penny said softly.

Rudy looked at Penny sympathetically. Things had been a little more stressful for her lately. She was getting ready for a contest that was coming up in about a week or two. Rudy couldn’t remember the exact date, but it was a contest to win a large sum of money. Penny wanted to win it for her mother so they could expand her mother’s vet clinic and hopefully hire some more help.

Things had been getting tough for the Sanchezes lately. More animals. More work. More stress. It was little surprise that as soon as Penny heard about the contest, she jumped at the chance to help her mother.

Rudy did think that Snap had a good point. Penny might just be more on edge lately because of what was happening at home. This gave even more reason for them to visit Chalklantis. Penny needed some time away from home, and going to a lost city may be the perfect mini-vacation that she needed to calm her nerves.

He hoped that Penny would be a ble to control her suspicions while there. He didn’t want the king of Chalklantis to become offended by Penny’s accusations, even if they were wordless. They were going to a kingdom. A monarchy. Things will be different. They must tread lightly.

He turned his head towards the ground as he thought about what his friends said. He could feel them staring at him expectantly, eagerly waiting to hear what he thought about the whole thing. They didn’t even need to ask him; just their looks alone were enough for him to know what they wanted.

After a few moments’ silence, he spoke. “I think you both have some good points.” He turned to look at his friends one at a time. He then focused on Penny. “I do think Snap is right. I think you are under a lot of stress lately and that’s affecting your judgment. It’s not like you to accuse someone we have never met of trying to wrong us.”

Penny lowered her gaze. “Yeah, I know...”

Rudy then turned to Snap. “But Penny also has a point, Snap. It is strange that a lost city would try to contact us, when they realistically shouldn’t know we exist. I also agree that if the king wanted to get to know us, and if he had the technology, he could send someone in his place without exposing his kingdom in case we were untrustworthy.” He paused for a moment, and looked down at the invitation. “All of this did seem to happen so suddenly. After all our failed attempts, it’s almost too good to be true for us to finally go there.”

Snap frowned for a few seconds as he processed what Rudy told him. From the looks of it, Snap wanted to argue back his point. He quickly stopped himself, however, annd nodded his head slowly. “Yeah, you might be right, Bucko.” He looked over at Penny. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, Snap. No need to apologize.” Penny said with a smile.

Rudy added in, “I do think that some caution is necessary. But let’s not overdo it. It is best that we show the king proper respect, but not act as if we have something to hide. The worst thing we can do is offend the king.”

Penny nodded her head. “Yeah, I know that. If this king operates like any Real World one, then a single misstep is all that it would take.”

Snap smiled at this. “I don’t think you have much to worry about. We’re always careful!”

“Just be careful of what you say.” Penny stared at Snap, giving him a small frown.

Snap blinked at this. He raised his hands at his sides. “What are you talking about, Buckette? I’m always...”

“Speaking too fast of what’s on your mind. You are really quite bold in what you say, like when you told Rudy to bop Skrawl when he was trying to help him.” Penny shook her head slowly. “Out of all of us, I’m most worried about you screwing things up.”

Snap narrowed his eyes at this. He took a step forward and pointed a hand towards Penny. “Hey hey hey! Where are you getting this idea? Since when have I ever...”

Penny folded her arms against her chest. “Don’t make me give a countdown list.”

“Guys! Stop arguing!” Rudy rushed forward. He stood between his two friends, holding out his hands. “Arguing and bickering will get us nowhere.” He looked at his friends for a few seconds, glaring softly at thim. He then shut his eyes. “We all should be careful in what we say. Any one of us could mess this up.”

It was true. Although Rudy did agree with Penny that Snap was the most vocal and most likely candidate, he couldn’t rule himself out, or Penny either. They had never been in contact with many royals in ChalkZone before. They had little experience. They were so used to speaking freely with anyone, that it would be easy for any of them to mess up with the king of Chalklantis. And since they would be in his jurisdiction and not the surface, there’d be nothing their friends could do to help them.

But he didn’t think they should argue about this. It was just a waste of time, and they needed to focus on getting ready to go. Especially if they want to get there as soon as they could without any more interruptions showing up. After getting the invitation, Rudy did not want this chance to slip out of their fingers.

Not wanting to waste anymore time, Rudy said, “Come on, you guys. Let’s focus on preparing for our trip to Chalklantis.”

Snap nodded his head. “Yeah, that sounds good.”

Though Penny was still hesitant, she didn’t try to argue back. “When do you think would be a good time for us to leave?”

Rudy paused for a moment. Then he said, “That’s what we’re going to find out.”

With that, he and his friends sat down in Snap’s kitchen and started to discuss their plans for what they were going to do regarding Chalklantis and King Zander’s letter.

sss

It had taken a while for them to fully decide on what they were going to do. There were several disagreements on how things should be handled. Even the time of when they should go was debated, whether or not to go earlier or later. Snap wanted to leave as soon as possible. Penny wanted them to wait a little and make sure they were fully prepared. Rudy tried to mediate between the two, but it was hard for him to decide.

Eventually, they came to an agreement. They were going to leave for Chalklantis tomorrow morning. That was the best time for them to go. Not only was it a weekend, but Rudy and Penny were scheduled for a field trip that day. They planned to take full advantage of it.

Rudy and Penny had the brilliant plan of having their parents believe they went, while having the teachers believe they were too sick to come. It would be a little tricky to pull off, but they believed they could do it so long as they timed it right. It wasn’t like the school was going to call them to check on how they were doing anyway.

But they weren’t out of the woods yet. There was still something else they had to do. And that was find a way into ChalkZone without alerting the school or their parents to what was going on.

This took a while to figure out. They discussed it for much longer than any of them would have thought. Their heads began to hurt as they debated and discussed just how they were going to pull this off. Timing was everything. If they did one thing wrong, someone was going to find out and they might as well kiss their whole trip goodbye.

That was when Snap came to the rescue with an idea of his own. Since it was going to be a school field trip, he thought that maybe they could lie to their parents and tell them about how the teacher said that they were going to meet in a different location for the pick up, and just say that they got there really early.

Rudy and Penny weren’t entirely sure how well this would work, but it was the best idea they could come up with. They thanked Snap for the idea, and he simply grinned at them and commented how he wasn’t Rudy’s greatest creation for nothing. This got a brief chuckle out of the two kids.

Now that they had the plan figured out, they could begin to discuss what they would do when they got there. In whatever destination they chose, even after they figured out how to slip away without a trace or any evidence, they still needed to plan how they were going to go about going to Chalklantis.

Penny suggested that they go to the Wait ‘N Sea, around where Rudy and Snap were going to go that one time before Bobby Sue and her family showed up to take Rudy away to a wedding. Rudy and Snap agreed that it would be a good place to go to prepare for the journey. The water levels and the sand height was perfect for creating a submarine to get into to take them to Chalklantis.

At least this time, they don’t have to worry about Bobby Sue and her relatives. They hadn’t been heard from since Snap and some other zoners tricked her into thinking Rudy was having an affair with several other zoners. Rudy felt a little bad about having her hate him like that, but Snap reminded him it was either that, or he would be forced to marry against his will. Rudy eventually agreed it was for the best.

Now that they had a time and location set, the only thing left was to prepare. They didn’t know exactly how long they were going to stay, but they figured it would only be for a few hours. They still needed to bring some supplies with them, especially if they ended up staying longer.

Rudy drew Snap some food and water for the trip, as well as any odds and ends he might need, such as an extra outfit or two, some bandages and medicine on the off chance that he might need them, and whatever else he could think of without overdoing it. He made Snap a couple new briefcases for him to use. Snap promised to have it all packed up tonight so he’d be ready tomorrow morning.

He created a suitcase for him and Penny to use as well. He drew them both some nice clothes to wear in case they need to change. But he realized he wouldn’t be able to draw any medicine, water, or food for them in case they needed it. And they wouldn’t get much from eating the chalk variants. So they would need to pack things from their home.

It wouldn’t be easy. They would have to do this at night, when their folks were asleep. They would need to be as quiet as they can, and make a few sandwiches and pack some snacks for the trip. They would also need to take a few aspirin and at least two water bottles, tightly secured, in case they needed to quench their thirst.

Soon, that little problem, and all three of them would have their suitcases ready for the trip tomorrow morning. They talked to each other for a while longer to rehearse how they were going to pull this off. Only when they had the plan perfected and memorized did Rudy and Penny head off to bed, as well as Snap. They prepared for the day tomorrow.

sss

Rudy couldn’t believe how slow the night had passed. He must have woken up every hour, staring at the clock before sighing in disappointment and shutting his eyes. He wished the day would come faster already. Just how long did it take for the sun to rise anyway?

He was relieved when the sun finally rose. Even though it was a little early, he had immediately gotten out of bed to get ready. This gave him some extra time to place his suitcases in ChalkZone for Snap to hold onto, something that he had neglected to do before. He hoped Penny would remember. He was sure she would, though. She was smart like that.

While his parents were still asleep, Rudy made the crucial phone call. He spoke with the principal and told her that he wasn’t feeling too good and that his parents wanted him to call because they were too sore to even speak themselves. Rudy was surprised when the lie worked, and Principal Stringent let him go and wished him to get well. With that out of the way, he could now begin to focus on the other parts of the plan.

His parents were surprised that he was up so early, but didn’t question it. They just figured he was very excited for the field trip, something that Rudy didn’t attempt to correct them on. His mother made him breakfast. He gobbled it up quickly, complimenting his mother about how good it was.

It didn’t take long for Mrs. Sanchez to show up. Rudy immediately got up to leave, waving goodbye to his parents. He heard his parents comment about how excited he must be for this field trip. Soon Rudy hopped in the car, strapped himself in, and they were on their way.

As they drove along, Rudy let his thoughts wander. He had to admit, he was a little nervous about this trip. He had no idea what to expect. It was so exciting, and yet so terrifying. He could feel his body shake in anticipation. After all this time, they were finally going to Chalklantis.

“Are you two sure this is where the teachers were picking you up?” Mrs. Sanchez’s voice cut Rudy out of his thoughts. “I don’t see anyone here.”

Rudy took a look around and realized that they had arrived at their destination. The local library. Penny’s mom had parked in the lot near the door. She was looking around, her eyes narrowed suspiciously when she didn’t see anyone else here, besides other library goers.

“Oh yes.” Penny said quickly. “Mr. Wilter specifically told us here. They will be by soon. We just arrived a little early.”

“Oh I see. Well, I could stay with you kids until...”

“No!” Rudy exclaimed. Mrs. Sanches gave him a funny look. Rudy smiled nervously at this. He quickly realized what he had just sounded like. “What I mean to say is we can just spend time in the library while we wait for them to come.”

“Yeah, mom. We’ll be fine.” Penny said, trying to reassure her mother.

“Are you sure, Penita?” Her mother asked. From the tone of her voice, Rudy and Penny could tell she wasn’t thrilled with the idea of leaving them alone. “I don’t mind waiting with you.”

“Yeah I’m sure. We will be fine, mama.” Penny smiled the best she could. “Rudy and I won’t be alone for long. We’ll just hang out in the kids’ area while we wait.”

“Well I suppose so...” Mrs. Sanchez paused for a moment, furrowing her eyes as she tried to think of what she was going to do. Rudy and Penny watched her intently, keeping silent as they waited to hear her final decision. Then she gave a smile and nodded her head. “Well okay. I do need to get back home and take care of the animals anyway. They can’t wait that long.”

At this, Rudy opened up the vehicle door and got out. He turned around and looked over at Penny. He noticed she hadn’t gotten out yet. Her mother had leaned over and kissed her daughter on her forehead.

“Have a fun day at the museum, Penita.” Mrs. Sanchez said. “Take care.”

“I will, mom. Don’t worry.” Penny said as she climbed out of the vehicle and joined Rudy at his side. She waved her hand to her mother. “Bye!”

Her mother raised her hand to signal a return bye. The vet backed up her yellow vehicle and began to drive back to Penny’s place.

The two children looked at each other, smiling at one another. They needn’t say a word to understand what their facial expressions were trying to tell them. This was it. Today was the day. There was no going back now. They slowly turned around and made their way towards the library.

Heading inside, they were relieved to see there weren’t too many people inside. And those who were inside were too busy browsing for books, or reading books on the bean bag chairs or regular chairs or at the table to really notice them. The librarian wasn’t exactly looking in their direction either, his face buried in the newspaper.

All this just made their task easier. They simply snuck around the back of the library, moving through the corridors of books, making sure their steps were light, making as little noise as they could. They soon reached the back part of the library, were a small office with a computer and chalkboard were located. Normally this place was occupied by someone, but they had picked the right time and said person was on a bathroom break.

“We need to make this quick.” Penny said in a low, hushed whisper.

“Yeah, I know.” Rudy said, reaching over and opening the door. “This shouldn’t take long.”

Soon they were in the small office. There wasn’t a lot of room to move around. There were a few boxes, some toys, and several books on the ground. The computer area was covered in papers and the computer looked old and dusty. It was a wonder that they were even still using it. The chalkboard itself was pushed to the side and didn’t look like it was used at all for years.

Rudy whipped his head around to make sure he and Penny still had time. He then turned his attention back to the chalkboard. He reached over and he began to draw a portal. In a few seconds, the portal flashed and opened up.

As soon as he did, he and Penny stiffened up at the sound of footsteps. The person was returning. They looked at each other, their eyes widened in horror. They quickly rushed through the portal, causing it to wobble from the shere force. Rudy quickly erased it, nearly losing his hand in the process.

The two children panted heavily for a few seconds, unable to believe what had happened. Rudy could have sworn that he heard the door open just as soon as he stared to erase. He hoped that the person didn’t see anything.

Penny looked over at him. As soon as she caught her breath, she said, “That...was close...”

Rudy nodded in agreement. “Yeah...” Afther he managed to catch his breath at last, Rudy straightened himself up and looked in the direction where Snap was going to meet them. “Well, are you ready?”

Penny nodded her head. “Yeah. Let’s go.”

sss

Denny narrowed his eyes as he heard something from his office. He grumbled softly to himself. He was already having a rough day at work with having to do the stupid paperwork all the time. He didn’t need something else to be concerned about.

The medium sized man, slightly on the heavy side, wearing a blue button-up shirt and dark brown pants, his fingers thick and strong, eyes a near blazing green, his hair long and strawberry blonde, moved down the corridor at great speed without breaking into a run. He formed fists with his hands as he moved his arms back and forth, his eyes focused intently on the door to his office in front of him.

He did see small shadows stretched along the floor. This caused him to grit his teeth in annoyance. He knew exactly what was going on.

It was one of those brats again. He swore, they needed to make this library adult-only. He was getting tired of having to pick up after the kids. Putting things away back in order. Picking up stuffed animals and putting them back. Picking up their disgusting trash and throwing it away. Every day, it was the same thing. He was getting tired of it. And that wasn’t even getting into how those stupid kids treated him.

Well this time, he was not going to take this lying down. As soon as he got his hands on the brats that invaded his office, he was going to call their parents and have a stern talking to them about how they were raising their kids. Good children should be seen and not heard. They should be sitting down, doing nothing, not running around, screaming, throwing things on the ground. None of that.

“You little brats...” Denny growled, hissing through his teeth. “This time, you aren’t getting away from me...” He grabbed the door knob and swung it open. With a twisted smile, he cried, “Gotcha!” His smile quickly faded at what he saw.

Nothing. There was no one here. With wide, shocked eyes, he looked left and right, but saw no trace of any child.

He couldn’t help but get a headache as confusion wracked through him. There was no way he could have imagined that, right? He didn’t just think he heard a child. He knew he did. He wasn’t some deranged schizo. He knows what he saw and heard. Those brats must be hiding somewhere.

He looked over at his chalkboard, and noticed something was wrong with it. He could see some new dust marks. A swirl kind of shape, almost circular. The eraser had also fallen off the easel, landing on the ground not far. He never touched the chalkboard. He could feel his blood heating up. This was proof that someone was in his office.

Well, if those brats think they are going to get away with this, they had another think coming. He would find them sooner or later. He wasn’t sure how yet, but he would think of something.

He would make sure no child ever messed with him again.

sss

“I thought you guys would never get here!” Snap cried as he raced to join his friends. He wasn’t sure how long he had waited for them. The excitement of going to Chalklantis made him lose track of time. “Are you guys all ready to go?”

Up ahead of him, he could see Rudy and Penny racing over to join him. They looked pretty tired, but were otherwise smiling at him. It didn’t take them too long to reach him.

“Yes, of course we are!” Rudy said with a grin. “Did you bring our stuff?”

Snap nodded his head. He stepped aside and motioned with his hands. “I brought them here just as you asked me to, Bucko!”

Situated behind Snap were the suitcases. It hadn’t been easy for Snap to drag them here on his own, but he managed to do it. He organized the suitcases in groups. One was his, one was Rudy’s, and one was Penny’s. He even had a label on each of them so they knew which one belonged to whom.

“Great work, Snap!” Rudy said as he smiled down at his creation.

“Oh don’t worry about it, Bucko!” Snap said. It was hard to fight back the smile spreading along his face, stretching out his facial skin. “So how about it, Bucko? Work out that magic chalk and let’s get going!”

Rudy nodded his head. He reached into his pocket. He looked over and stared at Penny. “Are you ready, Penny?”

The girl hesitated for a moment. There was a brief look of doubt in her eyes. Then she licked her lips slowly and nodded her head once. “Y-Yeah. I’m ready.”

Rudy looked at her in concern. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” Penny said. “Let’s get going.”

Snap frowned softly at Penny. He could tell that she still felt nervous about the trip. While he didn’t really agree with her concerns, he did understand on some level why she was having them. It was always scary going to a new place. It was always wise to hae some level of caution rather than waltzing in as if nothing bad was going to happen.

He walked towards Penny. He stared at her silently for a moment. Then he reached out and placed his hand against her arm. Penny looked down at him in surprise. Snap smiled at her, gently squeezing her arm.

“It will be okay, Penny. I promise.” Snap said, reassuring the girl.

Penny smiled back at him. “Thanks, Snap.”

Rudy smiled at his two friends for a few moments. He then spoke up. “You two ready to go?”

Snap and Penny nodded their heads once and spoke in unison. “Yes!”

“Okay then. Let me get our ride ready, and we’ll be on our way!”

Snap smiled, feeling his heart swell in excitement. He and Penny watched in awed silence as Rudy began to sketch the submarine. As they did, Snap let everything start to sink in. In a short amount of time, they would finally be entering Chalklantis, a dream that he and his friends had been pursuing for a long time. It was still so hard to believe that it was now finally coming true.

This was truly going to be the best day ever.

Chapter 3: Meeting The King



The view inside the castle was absolutely incredible. Whoever had built this, or designed it, sure had good taste. The trio couldn’t stop looking left and right to take in the sights all around them.

The interior had a very tall roof, which made the place look much more expansive than it really was. There were no windows; just decorative empty holes high above, each forming a different, unique symbol. The floors were white and polished, and had the same colorful sparks to them as the stuff outside, which made the place look much newer than it really was.

The place had lots of straights and soft curves. The walls went straight up and had a curved edge near the top most of the time. There was the occasional sharp turn, but it coincided with everything else and didn’t feel very out of place. They could see there were some upper levels of this place, and what appeared to be spiral marble staircase would take them up there.

There were no light bulbs to be seen. Instead, the rocks that made this building appeared to glow themselves. They gave off enough light for illumination. And at the same time, they didn’t seem to be too overbearing. Their eyes weren’t hurting as they looked around.

Several painted portraits of past kings were on the wall. All of them appeared to be some kind of two-legged deer. It was hard to tell if these were actual kings, or if they just came with the design.

There were several zoners that moved about, most of them appearing to be servants. None of them wore any clothes, and the only thing that revealed to them being servants were black bands around their wrists. This didn’t seem like a greek thing and was probably something the zoners, or the creator themselves, came up with.

The trio did their best not to walk into any of the servants. A few of them stopped to look at them. Some had worried expressions. Others were merely curious. It wasn’t easy dodging them because there were so many hallways connecting into this large room and the servants seem to be coming from everywhere.

Kairos, on the other hand, carried himself high with a strong sense of pride. He did not stop for any servant, nor did he even care to notice them, let alone speak a word. The servants near him lowered their heads and averted eye contact, as if they were worried that they might offend him otherwise. Kairos didn’t bother to answer them back with any acknowledgement and just continued on his way to the throne room.

Rudy didn’t really like this kind of behavior. Not being used to royalty, Rudy couldn’t help but deem it rude to be so dismissive of the servants like that. It was bad enough that he didn’t seem to be treating him and his friends well. But did Kairos really treat members of the very palace he lived in this way?

He sighed softly. Well he and his friends did know how different things were going to be. He just wasn’t as prepared as he thought he was. His mind was still used to the friendly, outgoingness of the zoners back in ChalkZone City. This kind of behavior was still...rather foreign to him.

He did his best to keep quiet. He looked to his friends. He was relieved to see that they weren’t talking either. They were trying to distract themselves with the beauty of this place. That was probably the only thing keeping at least Snap from saying something.

“We are almost there.” Kairos said abruptly. “Be prepared.”

Rudy and his friends nodded their heads in response. Upon hearing Kairos say this, they took a good look at where they were headed.

Up ahead, they could see they were headed towards the middle hallway. The shape was quite squarish, different from the others. This likely signified its importance. On the opposing walls at the entrance, they could see what appeared to be engraved, gold hippogriffs, their mouths wide open and snake-like tongues slithering out. Their eyes were red, made out of some kind of red jewel.

As they entered the hallway, they noticed several dark purple flags with various pale purple symbols. It was difficult to tell what they meant. The ceiling above them was purple as well, and the walls appeared to be tainted a pale purple, much lighter than the symbols themselves. The trio again wondered if this was Greece-inspired or something that was made up due to a lack of full understanding of this place.

Soon they reached a large opening in front. The presence of something sparkling on the edges told them that the doors were present; they had just been opened up wide. At the very edge, there was a bright purple carpet with red outlining. They soon stepped on it and they entered the throne room.

Rudy looked left and right as his eyes registered the area. It was more rounded, like everywhere else, except the ceiling was even straighter and sharper-looking than other places they had seen. Decorative pillars with swirling marks lined the edge of the room. There were various seats made out of white stone where his higher ups likely sat when dealing with kingly duties. Huge paintings hung on the walls everywhere, each depicting something increasingly odd and wondrous.

And in the middle, on a raised ledge with a few small steps, surrounded by silver and purple statues of deer, sat the king.

The throne chair was incredibly tall, almost ridiculously so. The throne was gold with some silver and purple for the cushions. It had no arms for it, which caused anyone sitting in it to have to rest their arms at the sides.

The king himself was dressed in a purple robe and a green plant-like crown was fitted over his head. An olive branch it almost looked like, except it bore some resemblance to the seaweed they had seen outside. Rudy could have sworn it had a slight glow to it as well.

The king’s deer-like face regarded them with an emotion that Rudy could not identify. The king didn’t seem hostile, but there was something about him that made him and his friends approach with caution. Even though the king was resting his head on one of his hands, his dark-colored mouth curved into a smile, that did little to reassure them.

Even Kairos himself was nervous. The previously standoffish and prideful zoner now adopted a more hesitant and apprehensive posture. His hands, if they could be called that, came together, the metal wing feathers scraping against each other slightly. His head was lowered and any calm, stoic expression was gone, replaced with a look of respect and uncertainty.

Seeing the bird zoner like this prompted Rudy, Penny, and Snap to also lower their heads to make themselves appear less threatening to the king. The last thing they wanted to do was get themselves in trouble with the highest authority of this land.

Soon they were positioned at the base of the steps leading up to the king. Upon Kairos’s gesture, they all went down on one knee. They bowed their heads even lower, keeping their gaze towards the crown and avoiding eye contact.

Kairos lifted up his head and motioned towards them. “Here they are, sire.”

“Excellent. Thank you, Kairos.” King Zander waved his three-fingered hand towards them. “You are dismissed.”

“Yes, sire.” Kairos said, his voice laced with caution and respect. He backed away, keeping his head low. The bird zoner quickly left, leaving Rudy, Penny, and Snap alone with the king.

Rudy couldn’t help but feel intimidated by this. Here they were, bowing before the king of Chalklantis. It was exhilarating. It was terrifying as well. These few seconds were quite precious. King Zander could say anything and it would fly with the people here. These few seconds were probably the scariest moments of his life, as well as his friends’.

There was some silence. No one said a word. Rudy wanted to so badly. But he refrained from doing so. He did not want to speak out of place, knowing the possible consequences of doing so. Even Snap, who had the hardest time being quiet out of all of them, managed to hold his tongue.

“Rudy Tabootie. Penny Sanchez. And...Snap White.” The king spoke, his voice somehow emotionless and yet filled with emotion at the same time. “I am pleased to see that you finally answered my call for you.”

“Finally? How long have you waited?” Snap blurted out, causing Rudy and Penny to shoot glares at him.

King Zander didn’t seem to mind Snap’s outburst. “That..is not important right now.” The king brought his hands together. His black fingers tapped against one another. “We have much to talk about.”

At this, Penny had worked up the courage to speak. “Why have you called us here?”

This caused Rudy to suck in a deep breath, his eyes widening in horror. He wasn’t sure if they were allowed to speak freely like that to the king. Even though they were called here, he wasn’t sure if they had any right to outright ask the king what he wanted.

Cautiously, Rudy looked upwards to see the king’s face. Thankfully, there didn’t appear to be any sign of anger in his eyes, nor did it look like he was about to punish Penny for speaking. Instead, Penny’s question caused King Zander to close his eyes softly and lower his gaze. His facial furthers contorted into a look of concern. This caused Rudy to glance at his friends nervously. They all wondered just what was on the king’s mind.

“I will admit I called you on important business.” King Zander said after a few moments’ silence. “You see, I urgently need your help on something.”

At this, Rudy found himself straightening up without thinking. He didn’t catch Penny and Snap’s nervous expressions as he did this. “What do you need help with? I’ll be glad to offer you assistance.”

Rudy’s eyes bulged as he realized what he did. He immediately lowered himself down and turned his face away. He didn’t dare look up at the king’s face. Had he insulted him somehow?

But King Zander didn’t lift a finger towards him. “I am glad to hear that. I have heard of how helpful you are to others, Rudy Tabootie. I see your reputation precedes you if you are willing to come all this way to help someone you never met.”

Rudy wasn’t sure how to take that comment. He simply kept his head low and listened as the king spoke further.

“I know all three of you are wondering why I called you here. I do not think this is the right place to speak about it, however.” The king said.

“Why not?” Penny asked in a soft, cautious voice.

“I would feel much better if we spoke at the dinner table.” King Zander said. His smile spread slightly. “I think it would be easier to discuss such manners there. I can have my servants prepare a feast for us and...”

“Actually, that wouldn’t be a good idea.” Penny interjected. She winced at the king’s expression and turned her head away. She continued, treading on very light ground. “It’s...not that we aren’t gracious towards your offer or anything. It’s just...” Penny paused for a moment, as if trying to find the words to say.

“We can’t eat chalk.” Rudy finished for her. “We are humans. Chalk food will do nothing for us.”

King Zander furrowed his eyes for a moment. “Ah...I see. I hadn’t thought of that. We never had humans visit here before, so this is all quite...different.”

sss

Snap remained silent as he listened to the conversation. There had been a few times when he wanted to speak up again. But, fearing that he would nearly ruin everything, he kept quiet.

He couldn’t help but get a little flustered with this king. Despite his seemingly friendly demeanor, there was just something about him he didn’t like. He wanted to chalk it up, no pun intended, to the fact that he and his friends weren’t used to more ‘realistic’ royalty like this. King Mumbo Jumbo didn’t exactly act like any king he had heard of before, and he was one of the very few kings they met. So it was likely the lack of experience that got him.

Yeah, that was probably it. Snap felt he would do better if he had gotten more practice ahead of time. He had been so excited, he didn’t even think about practicing to interact with a king. Then again, neither did his friends, despite knowing what they were getting into. Perhaps the excitement of the whole thing had put a dent in their mind.

Snap hoped that there was good reason for them to get called down here. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to help, and it wasn’t that he didn’t want to come. But it was still tough to get here, even with the king’s help, and it was quite out of the way. For the king to summon them, specifically them, and expect them to travel all this way to see him, there had to be a very good reason for it. Obviously, the king didn’t do this just to say hello to them.

But what could it be? Judging from the king’s expression from before, and the way he spoke, something was up. Snap couldn’t tell what it was, though. Everyone they passed, even the servants, seemed fine. He saw no signs of trouble, no signs of anyone panicking, nothing. Everything seemed to be in order.

Then again, he and his friends had just arrived here. They knew little about Chalklantis and how things are run here. There might be something quite sinister going on right under their noses, and they won’t even know because they were too unfamiliar with this place. Snap bit his lip. He hoped that, whatever was wrong, it wasn’t too horrible. He would hate to see a potentially large threat destroy such a legendary, ancient, and beautiful place.

And of course, he didn’t want to lose his friends. Every time they had to do something that was quite dangerous, even if he hid it well, he always feared what might happen to Rudy and Penny. They were like family to him. He didn’t want them getting hurt. And they wouldn’t want him hurt, either.

At the mention of food, Snap felt his eyes widen and twinkle. All of a sudden, he was aware of how hungry he was. He could feel his stomach start to growl. He flinched when the growl sounded louder than expected. No one said anything about it.

He looked upwards slightly, staring off towards King Zander and wondering when he had planned to take them to the dining hall, or wherever they eat here.

But then Penny mentioned that she and Rudy could not eat chalk food. He gave a slight frown at this. That’s right. They could not. How could he have forgotten? Well, he could always...

“Then I will plan something else perhaps?” Said King Zander.

“Wait! That’s not necessary!” Snap blurted out. He put his hands to his mouth when he realized what he did. He gritted his teeth nervously and lowered his head. “I-I mean..”

He could just slap himself in the face for that. Such a statement was not only out of line, but rude and disrespectful. He dared not to look at his friends’ faces. He knew just how disappointed they would be in him.

“I suppose it wouldn’t hurt.” King Zander said. Snap and his friends looked up at the king with a surprised expression. He looked at Rudy and Penny. “You two can just sit down. Have you brought any food for yourselves?”

Rudy nodded his head. “Yeah.”

“Perfect.” King Zander said, smiling. “You and Penny Sanchez can eat your snacks at the table then.” He turned to Snap. “As for you, you can help yourself to whatever is available at the table....”

“Thank you...” Snap started to say. But King Zander cut him off.

“When the food is ready.”

Snap did his best not to groan in disappointment. He lowered his head and nodded it slowly to acknowledge what the king had just said.

“Well then...” The king clasped his hands together. He looked at each one of the three guests that stood before him. “If you are all in agreement, I will have Kairos escort you to one of the guest room.”

“That’s not...” Rudy started to say.

“Your luggage has already been brought there.” King Zander said, the smile still on his face. “You three have been placed in a nice room. Twin beds, a balcony...”

“But we aren’t staying for more than a day.” Rudy managed to say.

King Zander nodded his head. “I understand. But I still insist. You three are guests of honor here.” He interlocked his fingers together. “I would hate for you to visit my kingdom without having a place to stay, even if it is just for a few hours.”

Snap had to admit, it did feel strange to have a room ‘rented out’ for them for a visit that was, at most, going to be a few hours. Rudy and Penny couldn’t stay here. He could, but it would feel strange being in this new place without Rudy and Penny. But at the same time, he did feel a level of gratitude that the king thought this far ahead. Besides, staying in a nice room during their stay wouldn’t be so bad, really. It certainly helped him feel more welcome here.

His thoughts were cut off when the king suddenly clapped his hands together. “Kairos!” Snap and his friends flinched, unable to believe just how loud the king could really be. Moments later, Kairos reappeared. “Please escort our guests to the room I had set aside for them.” He moved his hand towards the trio in gesture to indicate them. “And tend to whatever needs they may want.”

Kairos nodded his head, bowing deeply to the king. “Yes, sire.” He looked over at Snap and his two human companions. “Follow me.”

Without saying another word, Snap, along with Penny and Rudy, began to follow the bird zoner down the hallway.

sss

Well, credit had to be given where credit was due. The room that the trio had been assigned in was quite expansive and beautiful. It looked like it could easily fit triple their numbers in there. The king had also lied about the number of beds. There were actually two more. Perhaps the king forgot about it, or he wanted it to be a surprise. Either way, they all loved the room.

It was the usual square shape they were familiar with in other places. The walls were made of a marble, just like everywhere else. There was a nice, velvet carpet beneath their feet, so soft, they almost thought they were walking along the furry bellies of puppies.

The beds themselves were quite dazzling. The beds were in pairs. Two on one side, and two on another. They were pressed against each other, and bars stuck out of the ground, creating a complete ring around them. These had dark red curtains around them that could be easily pulled to encircle the beds and provide some privacy. The beds themselves were white with some red patterns that showcased different greek mythological creatures. The pillows were thick with small frilly edges that encircled them completely. And the beds were raised up high, with enough room for them to crawl underneath without problem.

Just like the king said, their suitcases were indeed in this room. All three had been placed on one of the beds, lined up together. None of the suitcases had been opened up, or looked like they had been messed with. Definitely a good sign.

There was a simple yet still pretty door that led to the outside. At the moment, it was open, which allowed the trio to see the small balcony that the king had promised them. The railing was made of smaller pillars supporting a thicker, curved block that went around the entirety of it. The surface was flat and, even from this distance, looked smooth.

The sounds of the outside came in. They could hear the chattering of many zoners. They could hear some screams of delight, shouts of anger, battering, attempts to strike deals regarding items, the sound of younger-minded zoners playing. All of that swelled up to create a practical choir.

Even from where they stood, Rudy, Penny, and Snap could see the flashing lights and the buildings of the city just outside the balcony. They could see the streamers. They could see the small trees that were planted around town. They could see part of the griffin fountain from before, with the faintest hint of some zoners dancing around it. It was quite a sight to behold.

Unfortunately, the noise from outside was becoming a bit too much. Penny couldn’t help but wince as the choir soon became almost booming, and it was too difficult for her to think properly. She and her friends would not be able to talk too much with all that racket going on. She walked over and shut the door, blocking out most of the sound in the process.

Snap let out a sigh of relief. “Thanks. I’m not sure how much more of that I could have taken.” Snap tilted his head to one side and hit against his head a few times. “That was starting to give me a headache.”

“Well at least they all seemed very happy.” Rudy pointed out.

“And that’s just it.” Penny folded her arms against her chest. Her eyes were furrowed softly. “What kind of urgency did the king call us here for? During our time here, I don’t think I’ve seen one thing here that gives me any cause for concern.”

Snap shrugged his shoulders. “Well, maybe he is just trying to prevent a disaster? I mean, if I were a king ruling somewhere, and I saw a problem arising, I wouldn’t wait until everyone in my kingdom knew about it to fix it. I would do something as soon as possible.”

“Snap has a point there, Penny.” Rudy said as he gave a nod of his head. “I’m confused myself, and I’m sure Snap is too.” Snap nodded at this. “But his idea might be right.”

“You may be correct. It would make sense.” Penny said as she thought about that. She hoped that would be the case. Still, a part of her could not completely shrug off something that she felt was a little...off. “I’m still unsure of this whole thing.” She cautiously moved her eyes towards the door. “He still hadn’t told us how he was able to contact us.”

“That’s because we never asked.” Snap pointed out.

Penny’s eyes widened slightly at that. Oh yeah, that’s right. They didn’t. She had meant to ask the king, but she had been too nervous to. She had a hard time knowing when she could speak around King Zander, and it seemed that so did her friends. They didn’t know their boundaries around him yet.

However, that didn’t help her shrug off her feelings of anxiety. Something just felt off, but she couldn’t explain what it was. Just something about how the king contacted them somehow, despite how he shouldn’t have known about them in the first place, just rubbed her the wrong way. Sure, there was the theories they had talked about previously, but none of them helped her feel any better.

She hoped she was wrong. She hoped that she was just getting worked up over nothing. She hoped that she was just overreacting, and that everything would turn out just fine.

She took in a deep breath and sighed. Slowly, she could feel herself starting to relax more. She didn’t want to waste her time feeling too anxious about the visit. She wanted to at least enjoy her time here, and she couldn’t do that if she was too worried.

They were in a lost city, for crying out loud. She should try to make the best of it. Besides, the king was still asking for their help, and she and her friends try to not turn down those in need.

Turning her head towards the suitcase and feeling her stomach growl slightly, she asked, “Do you guys want a snack while we wait?”

Rudy and Snap looked at each other. They then turned back to face Penny and nodded their heads.

“Sure.” Rudy said. He made his way towards the suitcase. “Do you guys want to sit on the balcony and eat?”

“I don’t know. It seems pretty noisy out there.” Snap said, flinching softly as he was clearly remembering the loud noises outside. “Maybe it’s better we eat in here?”

“I agree with Snap.” Penny said. She paused for a moment. Then she said, “It’s too noisy out there. We won’t be able to talk to each other.”

“Talk to each other about what exactly?” Rudy asked as he looked over at Penny. “Is this about the king again?”

“Well..kinda. Specifically, why he summoned us here.” Penny said. She looked towards the ground. She paused for a few moments as she tried to think of exactly what she was going to say. She closed her eyes and sighed, then she looked over at her friends. “Just...how serious does this problem needs to be... if he was so willing to reach out from beyond his world just to get us to come?”

Rudy and Snap glanced at each other. They didn’t say a word. They looked back at Penny, their expressions slightly confused at first. Penny watched as their expressions slightly contorted into a look of shock, intermixed with some level of fear.

With them now understanding where she was getting at, she decided to lay down the next issue on her mind.

“What if this threat makes it all the way to the surface?”

Penny had never seen her friends’ eyes widen as much as they were now.

sss

Denny grumbled to himself as he went through the children’s section to put everything away. Kids... he couldn’t believe how sloppy they could be. He often wondered why anyone bothered to have them. Kids were so useless. They couldn’t even pick up after themselves, the little pigs.

And to make it worse, his boss was a child lover who wouldn’t listen to an ounce of what he had to say. Any complaint he had regarding the kids was met with sarcasm or a cold shoulder. Oh sure, his boss could turn the other cheek with a child. But when it came to him and his genuine suffering because of children? Not worth a bat of an eye.

It was so aggravating. The only thing that kept him coming back here was the fact that he didn’t graduate high school and there were so few places that highered people like him. So perhaps he didn’t have too much of a right to complain like this. It wouldn’t stop him from doing it, though.

He continued to pick up the items from the floor and putting them back where they belonged. He continued to rearrange the books back in their proper order. He continued to pick up the garbage that laid strewn about in the children’s room. The longer he did this, the more he could feel his blood heating up, and the more he began to question why even bother doing this? Or have a children’s section at all?

Children didn’t know how to respect adult authority. They thought they could do whatever they wanted just because they were cute. It was disgusting. And the fact that his boss was such a kiss ass to them made it worse. Oh, if only he were in charge... Then things would be different.

Getting a little tired, he decide it was time to take a little break. He went towards one of the small chairs and sat down in them. He didn’t care if it was too small for him. He could sit anywhere he wanted to.

He needed to figure out a way to shift things into his favor. His boss was so dismissive, but he knew not many people would take too kindly if his boss’s actions were affecting the productivity of this place, even if t was ‘just a library’. At the very least, the parents would be quite upset, especially if their children were doing something dangerous and his boss just let them off scott free. If he could find a way to prove this, he...

His eyes widened. Of course... Why didn’t he think of it before?

Those kids from before. The ones that snuck into his office. He had forgotten that there was a camera placed in the hallway. If he would be able to get a hold of that camera, and if he looked through it, he might be able to not only identify who broke in, but also find enough evidence to get his boss fired.

Then he would take over. He would change it for the better. He would ensure that no stupid little kid would ever get the better of him again. Oh yes, things were going to be different around here.

Unable to hold back, Denny couldn’t help but give a soft laugh. At least, years of grueling labor coupled with being mistreated by the children were finally coming to an end. He hoped those brats will celebrate for as much as they could, because starting oh so very soon, all of that was coming to an end.

He would see to that.

Chapter 5: Helping Hands



It took a while before Kairos was able to lead them to the spot what King Zander wanted the stadium to be placed. Rudy thought it was only going to take about ten minutes walking at least, judging from what he and his friends were initially told. Instead, it took them about half an hour to forty-five minutes to get there on foot. Why they didn’t just use a form of transportation, he wasn’t sure.

Much of his frustration melted away when he arrived on the scene and was able to see for himself what this area looked like. It was quite beautiful. It was little wonder why the king chose this spot in particular to put the stadium.

They were standing on an open filed with a slight dip in the ground. It was almost like a crater of some kind, like an asteroid struck this place long ago. It was in this particular spot that the king wanted the stadium to be in. Likely because he felt it was a perfect fit or something.

It was located near the edge of one of the walls of the underground cave. The wall rose up partially, then did a sharp inward curve before it shot up and over to form the ceiling overhead. A few sturdy-looking stalactites hung over head, arranged almost in a near perfect circle. Another part of the wall jetted out almost like some kind of claw, stretching outward before sharply turning back into the wall.

It took Rudy a while to recognize that there was some kind of opening in the center of this. As they drew closer, he could see what looked to be rising platforms. He didn’t see any zoner using them right now, but he guessed they were still in use. Penny thought that they could be some kind of advanced elevator unit to help them to get up to the tunnels that snaked across the ceiling almost everywhere they had been so far. Snap wasn’t sure why they needed the tunnels up there, but eventually came to agree that it was likely easier traversing large areas around here when they don’t have to worry about hills and rocks and animals and such.

Surrounding the dip were some tall and medium length grasses. The grass itself was blue in color with a slight tinge of green. It was a little stiffer than normal grass they were used to. Rudy winced as he felt one of them slightly scrape his right leg.

Rudy nearly lost his footing when they soon reached the ridge of the dip. His foot got caught on the ridge and he tumbled forward. He gagged when he felt someone yank him back. He turned and was about to thank Penny, but he realized that it was Kairos. The zoner gave him a stern expression. Before Rudy could say anything, the zoner moved forward swiftly and continued to lead them down. Rudy glared softly at him, but said not a word as he and his friends walked down the slope.

Soon they were at the bottom of the crater-like thing. They looked left and right. It was a bit deeper than they had imagined. The ridges themselves were slightly rounder and softer than what they’d expect with a true meteor impact. Exactly how this thing was formed, they weren’t sure. Penny tried to get some answers out of Kairos, but he was not interested in telling them.

The bird zoner only began to speak when they had reached the center of the dip. He stopped abruptly, causing the trio to stumble a little as they tried to stop. He then looked over his shoulder and stared at them.

“This is where you will be building what the king desires.” Kairos said sternly. “I trust that you will be fine on your own?”

“Yes.” Rudy said as he reached into his pocket for magic chalk. “We...”

“Good.” Kairos cut him off abruptly. “I need to return to the king now to tend to some other duties. Once you are finished, just wait here for me. I will return soon.”

Rudy and his friends watched as Kairos spread out his wings. He then rushed forward, jumped into the air, and took flight. They could see the shimmering of light bouncing off his metal wing feathers, and with each flap, they could hear the shing and scrape of metal.

Once he was going, Rudy and his friends looked at one another. Now came the task of figuring out how they were going to start this project. They couldn’t help but look at the plans paper then to the crater they stood in, then to the piece of magic chalk that Rudy held. They took note of the size indicated on the plans paper and the shere size of this indention. They all gulped once nervously, all thinking the same thing.

This was going to take a while.

Remembering what they had talked about before, Rudy leaned forward slightly and stared at the paper’s details intently. He scanned over them, making sure he didn’t miss anything. Then he pressed a finger down against one part of the paper and said, “This whole thing looks like it’s already divided up.”

“I guess we didn’t notice that before. That does make it a lot easier to divide up the work.” Penny said. She leaned in a little closer and stared at the lines that cut through the circular shape of the architecture. “Do you mind if I have the paper for a moment?”

Rudy handed it to her. “Sure, but why?”

“It’ll just take me a moment.” Penny said as she quickly drew a small pen.

“Whatever she has in mind, I suspect it’ll be more complicated than usual.” Snap said with a smirk.

Penny gave him a glare. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Snap raised his arms into the air. “I’m just saying, Buckette. Sometimes you go into a little...too much detail.” He made a swirling motion with his hand. “Perhaps you should try...dumbing it down a little for us?”

Penny chuckled, “If I can figure out how to make even the Doofi understand, would that be good enough for you?”

“Hey... that’s not what I...” Snap started to say before Rudy placed a hand on his shoulder. Snap looked up at Rudy. The small boy shook his head slowly from side to side in disapproval. Snap pointed his rounded hand in Penny’s direction. “She started it!”

“Oh relax, Snap. I was just funning with you a little.” Penny said, smiling at the flustered zoner. “I apologize if I upset you. Don’t worry, these plans will be easy to explain.”

Snap still looked a little peeved, but Penny’s apology had seemed to calm him down. He took a step away from Rudy, staring at Penny as she started to sketch up something. “So..what did you have in mind?”

“You’ll see. Just give me a few moments.” Said Penny.

Rudy and Snap watched as their female friend began to sketch something on the plans paper. They waited patiently as she continued to go to work. She moved at a steady pace, biting her tongue in clear determination as she tried to do this correctly.

It was quite a sight for Rudy to see. He always enjoyed it when Penny made out plans. He liked it even more when he was sitting or standing there with her, watching her. It was amazing the king of thought processes that must be going through her mind, and he felt almost privileged to see her put that intelligence to work. Snap, on the other hand, was looking a tad bored and simply wanted Penny to finish up already. Science related stuff gave him a headache.

When Penny was finished, she held up the piece of paper and showed it to her friends. The two boys moved in a little closer, their eyes focused on the paper.

Penny had drawn a few further cross sections. It was shaded in a darker granite-color so it could easily be seen even on the blue paper. Originally, the stadium was divided into twelve sections. Penny’s sketching overwrote that with darker lines and fewer parts. Eight of them, with numbers on the outside to label them. They were grouped in pairs, some shaded and every other one being left alone.

“I’ll take care of the darker sections.” She glanced over at Rudy. “And you can take care of the white sections.”

Rudy looked at her for a few moments before glancing back down at the paper. He moved his eyes up and down as he took in what she had drawn. She had somehow managed to take the twelve section stadium and divided it into four equal parts, each the same size and the same space apart. It was still a lot of work, but he was impressed with how much Penny had reduced the work load.

Snap said, “That’s impressive, Buckette.” He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “So..how is it gunna work?”

“Simple. First, we mark this land based on what we see on this paper. We will measure out the exact distance and size so we know what we are putting them in their right place. We will then label each section accordingly. Then, using our magic chalk, Rudy and I will begin to draw based on what we see here. We will alternate around, and as we come across each other, we will connect our pieces together.”

“That sounds good, but..” Snap paused for a moment. He then said, “What if your art styles are too different? What if they get upset with how jarring it would look.”

“I think it’ll be fine. Besides, if it’s too bad, Rudy could make a few corrections.” Penny smiled over at Rudy. “Isn’t that right, Rudy?”

Rudy paused, then he nodded his head. “Yeah.”

Rudy couldn’t help but wonder if Penny was trying to remind him of the time when she had asked for his help with some drawings and he hadn’t helped her. Penny had proven herself to be a pretty good creator at that point, and Courtney didn’t look too bad. Remembering that, he agreed with Penny that there likely wouldn’t be as big of a jarring effect as Snap was worried about. And he could always tweak it if it was too off.

Rudy got his magic chalk ready. Penny was finished explaining at this point what they were going to do. He looked down at the plans paper to see where the areas he was assigned would be located. He took mental note of the numbers listed. Then he was about to draw himself some rocket shoes to make the process a lot easier.

Then he stopped when he realized there was something else missing.

“What about that building?” Rudy asked. He looked back down at the stadium and he remembered how the building had connected into the stadium itself. “How are we going to do that?”

“We will make it just outside of the stadium. I don’t think it’ll do all that well if it connected to the stadium itself.” Penny pointed a finger against an area just outside of the circular building. “If we put it back here, we can connect a path over, and it can connect to the center circle. This would give more room to zoners coming in to be entertained, and it would keep the noise from bothering whoever is inside here.” She tapped the paper a few times, then turned to Rudy. “Does that make sense?”

Rudy rubbed his chin a few times as he looked down at the blue tinted paper, thinking about what Penny had just told him. It did make sense doing it that way. He wasn’t sure if the king would like it, however. Didn’t the king say he wanted it exactly as he had shown in the paper?

Well, then again, King Zander did seem like he could be reasonable and flexible. They were still creating the stadium for him, after all. Even if it wasn’t exactly how he wanted, he would still be grateful for the help, right?

“Yeah, it does.” Rudy finally said after a few more seconds. He lifted up his magic chalk once more, giving a determined smile. “Okay, let’s get started!”

“Okay, you two go on and do that. I’m going to check out some of these stores nearby.” Snap spoke up.

Rudy and Penny whipped their heads towards their small blue friend. Snap was making his way up the hill again. He was heading towards what looked like a few medium-sized buildings, likely shops. They narrowed their eyes in disappointment.

“Snap! Why aren’t you helping?” Rudy couldn’t help but feel a little hurt. Usually, Snap was right by him, willing to help. So why was he wandering off this time?

Snap looked over at him and Penny. One eye was cocked higher than the other. He looked confused by their reactions. “Uh...because I can’t use magic chalk? And there’s nothing I can do right now that would be of any help?”

At this, Rudy felt like an idiot. Snap was correct. There was no way he could be of much help to them right now. He couldn’t use magic chalk and he wasn’t exactly a builder or an expert in architect. Rudy couldn’t believe that he had forgotten about that. “Oh yeah... Sorry about that.”

“It’s okay, Bucko.” Snap said with a smile. “You and Penny can work on the building together. I’ll be right in the shops to pass the time. When you are done, let me know and I’ll do whatever I can to help further. If there’s any else that needs to be done, that is.”

“Well, I’m not sure if there will be anything left for you to do.” Penny raised up her hand in gesture. “But I’m sure we can find you something to do.” She turned her head to Rudy after Snap nodded his head and began to walk up the slope. “Are you ready?”

“Yeah, I am.” Rudy looked down at his piece of magic chalk. “Time to make these zoners happy.” He smiled at Penny. Then he lowered himself to the ground to draw a pair of rocket shoes. He activated them and up into the air he began to fly. He nodded to Penny and the two of them went to work.

sss

Snap felt a pang of guilt clutch his chest as he watched Rudy and Penny ascend into the air. They were starting to draw the stadium together. They went to their designated locations, and, almost in synch, they began to draw the different parts of the stadium.

He wished he could help them. He hated that he was not able to do anything. But what could be done about that? Making buildings was not what he was created for. He could not wield the magic chalk like his friends. In this situation, he was pretty much useless.

Besides, Rudy and Penny had it all figured out anyway. They didn’t really need his help. He shouldn’t try to provide aid now, when they already had this planned. He remembered when he nearly destroyed ChalkZone because he decided to play with the vacuum cleaner Rudy told him to watch. If he had just done what Rudy said and not mess with it, nothing bad would have happened.

He felt a chill in his spine briefly. He didn’t want a repeat of that incident, even if the likelihood of it was small. No, it was best he stayed out of his friends’ way for the time being.

He wouldn’t go far, though. He had seen some nice buildings near this place. Some kind of shop, he believed. He could do some window shopping while he waited. Maybe even speak to some of the zoners in there.

He then paused for a moment as he reached the ledge as a thought came to his mind.

He had to wonder...would any of these zoners know what was exactly going on here?

There was only one way to find out.

The blue zoner made his way towards the first building in sight. There were only a handful here. One of them looked something like a hut, only build with stone and pillar-like structures. It was pretty small. It looked like it had only one medium-sized room, still a bit on the small side. There was a platform that it sat upon and a few steps, three at most, that led up to it.

He could see that the door, a bright wooden one, was partially open. There was a small, gold-colored doorstopper hooked at the end that prevented it from closing. There was a single large window, and between that and the open door, he could see there wasn’t really anyone inside, looking around. He would have thought it was abandoned if it weren’t for the female centaur that sat in a specially designed seat.

The female centaur was pretty bulky. Not fat, but muscular. Her large arms looked like they could crush anything she struck. Her muscular body betrayed her face, which still looked delicate, like the stereotypical woman. Her long, blonde hair, coupled with her red lipstick and deep brown eyes, made her look almost too beautiful for the powerful, dark grey horse body that she was attached to.

Snap approached her slowly, unsure of what to expect. She looked over at him, but said not a word. She only flicked her black horse tail from side to side. Snap couldn’t tell if she was irritated, or if she was just waiting for something.

“H-Hello..” Snap managed to say.

“What do you want?” The centaur asked sharply. Snap remained silent. This caused her to raise up an eyebrow. “What’s the matter? Did the mites get your tongue?”

He wasn’t sure what she meant by that. He narrowed his eyes and folded his arms against his chest. “My friends and I are here, helping out your king with...”

“Yes, yes, I saw. I’m not blind, you know.” The centaurs voice had a slight growl to it, as if she was annoyed by Snap’s mere presence. “I meant, what are you doing here? At my shop?” She chewed a few times, and Snap realized she had been chewing on a piece of bubble gum. She popped it once. “Shouldn’t you be down there, helping your little friends?”

“Well yeah. But..I can’t. No magic chalk or...”

“Ah yes. I see. You’re the useless one, right?”

Snap’s eyes bulged at this statement. He took a small step back, stammering as he struggled to find something to say. But he found himself unable to respond. The only thing he could do was stare at her in silence, watching as her eyes narrowed slightly and her mouth ticked to the side, looking further annoyed with him.

Did she really just say that? Did she call him useless? Yeah, she did. Snap could feel his gut starting to burn at this. This hadn’t been the first time that he had been underestimated for being a zoner. But this was the first time that someone had been so rude to him about it. Just because he couldn’t use magic chalk didn’t mean he couldn’t be helpful in other ways. Why couldn’t zoners like her see that?

He then let out a forced sigh. He did his best to force his frown to disappear. There was no point in getting that angry with her. He could snap at her all he wanted to, and it wasn’t going to change anything. He’d only succeed in worsening his reputation with her. Besides, there were bigger things to be concerned about than what this one zoner thought of him.

Snap had soon reached the top of the steps. He looked over at her. The centaur zoner watched him, but she didn’t make a move towards him or say a word. That same look was on her face, and she looked like she wanted to ask him again why he was there.

But he decided not to give her that luxury.

Seeing how she wasn’t even trying to stop him, Snap walked into the building. He winced as he hit against the bell, allowing it to ring.

Snap took a moment to look around the room. This place didn’t look all that bad. It appeared to be a store that sold simple plushies. They didn’t have too much detail to them, but they still looked really nice, and it was still easy to tell what they were supposed to be.

The plushies were all stacked into large piles, pyramid-shaped with some strange signs hanging over them, written in some odd language that he noticed wasn’t present on the plans paper they were given. There were also some shelves that were hooked into the walls, and on there, there were more plushies. These had some more detail to them and they were smaller. He guessed they were pricier, though it was hard to tell.

There was a small area in the corner. A stone curve with a small opening and what looked to be a metal door. He notice what appeared to be some kind of register. A really old one, which he hadn’t seen around for quite some time. This must be where the items would be paid for.

Snap walked further into the store, looking left and right. He couldn’t help but smile, nearly forgetting about his uncomfortable encounter outside. This store was pretty nice, and he liked the look of some of these plushies. Even some of the simpler ones looked good. If only he had the proper money, he would totally buy one of these.

His mind soon ended up drifting back to the centaur woman outside. He couldn’t help but wonder if she was up in a knot because Rudy and Penny were building a stadium near her place. Was she afraid of losing business? He couldn’t help but chuckle softly. Well, that would certainly explain her attitude.

“I’ll be right with you. Hold on.”

Snap froze at that. He looked left and right as he tried to see where the voice had come from. Then he heard the sound of a door creaking open. He looked over and noticed there was a camouflaged door behind the register. He hadn’t seen it before; it was so well hidden.

Stepping towards the front near the register was a human-like zoner. She wore one of those white robes or whatever they were called that the romans were often depicted wearing. Her hair was brown and pretty short, coming down only to about where her shoulders began. She looked far less muscular but appeared to be the same height as the centaur. Her chin practicaly narowed into a point, different from the centaur woman’s more squarish chin.

Her light brown eyes were staring over at him with a soft expression. “May I help you?”

Snap smiled back at her. “Finally. Someone with a proper attitude.” He immediately widened his eyes when he said that.

But the woman didn’t seem bothered at all. She looked down at him and chuckled. “Oh, are you talking about Bronte?” At Snap’s nod, she gave another quick laugh. “Oh don’t mind her.” She waived her hand dismissively. “She’s always in a grumpy mood.”

Snap couldn’t exactly disagree with that. Not based on what he had seen. Bronte could use a few chill pills, he personally thought.

“By the way, my name is Calista, in case you are wondering.” Calista placed a hand against herself. “And this is my shop. Bronte helps me out around here. She’s the one who makes the more detailed plushies over there.”

At this, Snap’s eyes widened in shock. “She...makes those...?” He was having a hard time wrapping his head around that.

Calista nodded her head. “Yep she does. Amazing, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, amazing that none of them have pouty faces on them or look like they want to rip someone apart.”

Calista chuckled at Snap’s statement. “You’re pretty funny.” She paused for a moment as she regarded him, moving her gaze up and down. “Oh, you must be Snap White. One of our visitors?”

Snap stood proudly, puffing up his chest. “Yep, that’s me! Snap! Rudy’s greatest creation!”

This earned Snap another short laugh from Calista. “You’re pretty cute! So..” She got up onto the table, one leg hanging off the side. Snap could see that she was wearing some simple slippers. “What brings you to my shop?”

Snap folded his arms behind his back, kicking his foot once, and smiled. “Oh I was just...looking around.”

“Anything in particular that you like?” Calista asked him, tilting her head to one side. “If there’s anything in particular you are looking for, I can help you with that.”

“Well I already looked around and...” Snap stopped himself for a moment. He didn’t want to leave just yet. Calista was the first openly friendly zoner he had met since he got here. Staying here a little longer wouldn’t hurt. Besides, it would take Rudy and Penny a while longer to complete the stadium. “Do you have anything else besides plushies?”

At this, Calista frowned, tilting her eyes upwards and scratched her chin. “Well, this store does specialize in plushies. But...if there’s something really amazing you want to see. I can bring it out for you.” She smiled at him. Then she raised her finger. “Or..I could show you in the back. It is pretty large anyway.”

Snap tilted his head to one side. “What is it?”

“It’s hard for me to describe in words.” Calista said, a slight tinge of regret in her voice. “But trust me, it’s incredible. Once you see it, you’ll know why I’m so speechless about it.”

Snap stood there for a few moments, pondering what he should do. A part of him wanted to just leave and go to the next store. But the other not only didn’t want to leave Calista too quickly, but he also wanted to know what this item was.

This was Chalklantis. It was bound to be incredible. More incredible than the plushies, that’s for sure. He could visualize it in his mind, and he could feel his heart begin to swell in excitement.

“All right then.” Snap said with a smile. “Let’s go have a look!”

Calista smiledat this. She gestured for him to follow her. Snap obeyed immediately. The two humanoid zoners headed towards the back room. The door was opened and they disappeared inside.

sss

“It’s done... It’s finally done...”

Penny took in a few heavy breaths as she continued to hover in the air. She could feel her chest was on fire. Her right arm felt so sore. She thought it was going to fall off. She was surprised she could even still hang onto the chalk at this point.

Looking over to her side where Rudy had spoken earlier, she could see that he was already lowering himself to the ground. She watched as he deactivated the rocket shoes and he collapsed on the ground as he rubbed his arm. Penny followed suit and took position next to him. She managed to keep standing for a few seconds before she eventually had to rest.

It was amazing how tired their legs were when they weren’t even touching the ground. Was it because of the rocket shoes? They were a tad heavy. And they were wearing them for longer than usual. Normally, Rudy would only wear them for half an hour at most, maybe an hour at least once. But today, it felt like they had worn them for much longer. Maybe they did or didn’t, but that didn’t change the fact that she was pretty tired right now.

Mostly in her arm. She had never had to make that many lines and curves so carefully before. Matching them up to Rudy’s was the hardest part. She guessed that was why Rudy was tired as well. They had to keep in synch and match their parts the best they could. This required extra thinking and more careful manuevering of the chalk. Rudy was rubbing his head. All that extra thinking was clearly giving him a headache.

Same with her. Penny couldn’t help but press a hand against her forehead and gently massage it. She felt like someone had taken a hammer to her head and struck her with it. She hadn’t expected this task to be this exhausting.

But at least they were done now. After they had worked together to draw each segment, and after they did what they could to connect the pieces together, the stadium was complete.

It sort of reminded Penny of a baseball stadium, with a touch of greek in it. It stood up tall and made a complete circle around. The top of it curved inward slightly. There were rows upon rows of seats, more than she and Rudy could count. Her arm ached just thinking about those darn seats. They were the main cause of her and Rudy’s muscle aches.

The areas that connected the slices together were reformed into the walkways that would allow the zoners to move down and find a seat. Railings were added to help them avoid tripping and falling down, since there were at least one hundred steps.

She and Rudy didn’t draw anything else yet. Nothing inside the stadium itself. They were going to have to talk to King Zander after this. She wasn’t sure exactly what the king had in mind and she didn’t want to add anything without his permission.

“Should...should we go to the king now?” Rudy asked.

“We have to wait for Kairos, remember?” Penny told him.

Rudy narrowed his eyes at that name. “Oh yeah...”

Penny could tell Rudy was not very happy with Kairos. None of them were. But they tried their best not to be too angry. That was just the way things were run around here. There was no reason to get upset.

Penny felt her eyes widen when she realized that they had forgotten something. “We still need to draw the building...”

Rudy let out a groan. There was a thud. Penny turned her head. She saw that he had collapsed into the ground. “Great...”

Rudy usually wasn’t one to complain, but he can be pushed to his limits, like how Snap found out when he kept wanting Rudy to do more and more for his dream house. The stadium was a bit more detailed than he was used to, and the fact that it was so big certainly didn’t help things. Perhaps now was a good time to take a break.

“We can rest for a little while if you want.” Penny suggested, supporting herself against one of her hands. “I’m sure the king won’t mind. I don’t think Kairos will be back for a while, anyway.”

Rudy nodded his head. “Yeah. That sounds good.”

Penny nudged herself a little closer to Rudy and remained quiet. She listened to her friend breathing in and out, his rate slowing down as he finally caught his breath. She could feel her own heart beat start to slow down almost in rhythm to Rudy’s heart. She rubbed her throat and chest, hoping that the soreness would go away soon. If only they had brought over some water.

Penny began to massage her arm again. She winced as she felt how sore it was. As her fingers worked on kneeding the muscles underneath, she lifted her head and began to look around. She noticed that Snap still hadn’t come back yet.

This bit of information didn’t strike her as very odd. There were some shops nearby. She guessed Snap was just striking a conversation with one of the locals. He would be back soon. She just needed to give him some time. It wasn’t like he was going to forget so easily that Kairos was coming back. And Kairos wouldn’t leave without him, now would he? The king wouldn’t be happy if he did.

Penny’s attempts to relax were constantly met with failure. She couldn’t get her mind cleared. The plague of disappearances that King Zander mentioned, along with the mystery of how the king even found Snap’s address and knew of their existence, swirled in her head. She could feel her headache get stronger as she couldn’t help but rationalize the whole thing.

“What’s wrong, Penny?” Rudy asked.

Penny bit her lip. “Oh Rudy... I’m still concerned about this whole thing.”

“We all are.” Rudy said as a matter of factly. “But we’re going to be doing something about it soon.” He smiled gently at her. “As soon as we are done with the final piece and we speak to King Zander, we will work together with King Zander and find out what’s going on.”

Penny looked over at him. “I can tell you’re worried, too.”

Rudy paused at this, his eyes widening. Then he sighed and nodded. “Yeah, I know I am. But...we have to try to stay positive, right?”

“Yeah I know. But...that’s not the only thing troubling me. And I know that you and Snap are still concerned about it as well.”

“You mean how the king knew about this?”

“Yeah...that.”

Rudy nodded his head, looking at her sympathetically. “I’m sure everything will be explained soon. We can ask the king again when we see him a bit later on.” He shifted himself so he was sitting up. He reached over and gently touched her shoulder. “It will be fine. I promise.”

Penny, despite herself, managed to smile. “Yeah, I know it will be.”

But will it? So many questions rushed through her head. She could feel her head continue to ache. She could feel her stomach twist. The confusion of how the king knew about them continued to bother her. Despite what her friends might say, she could tell both of them were troubled by this as well.

She managed to push the thoughts aside for now. Rudy was right. The king was sure to tell them eventually. It was only fair, right? The king didn’t even have to go into detail. Just enough to finally put her and her friends’ anxiety to rest.

Rudy, who wanted to change the subject, let out a groan as he rubbed his arm. “I hope my arm feels better before Kairos shows up. We still need to draw that one building. I won’t be able to if my arm keeps hurting.”

Giving Rudy a smile, Penny teased, “Well you could always use your left arm.”

Rudy gave her a shocked look. “No way! You know how horrible I am with my left arm!” He gave a grimace, likely thinking about what wobbly drawings he would end up making drawings with his weaker arm. “I don’t want a repeat of what happened with Jacko!”

“Speaking of Jacko...” Penny’s smile broadened. “Do you think he finally realized the truth, or do you think he is still dating that statue?”

Rudy put his hand against his mouth and chuckled. “Well I’m sure he has snapped out of it by now. But he did seem so desperate for a bride.” He held up his hand in gesture. “Maybe he decided to keep ‘her’.” He motioned downward a few times with his two fingers on both hands at this.

Penny couldn’t help but laugh at that image. While she hadn’t really met Jacko personally, from what Rudy and Snap told her, he was a real piece of work. He was constantly obsessed about getting a bride, and he mistook Rudy’s pumpkin for one, and later cornered Rudy and tried to make him draw another bride. With how desperate he was, she wouldn’t be surprised if he really did just keep the statue bride even after finding out the truth.

Penny realized that a chunk of time had already passed. She couldn’t believe it. Time really did fly sometimes. She let out a groan as she stood back up onto her feet. “Well, are you ready to get back to work?”’

At this, Rudy lowered his head swiftly. “Is it that time already?”

“Yeah, Rudy. Come on, let’s finish this and we can rest while we speak to King Zander.” Penny looked down at her watch, which she had drawn earlier. She then turned back to Rudy. “I’m sure Snap will be hungry soon. And I’m getting hungry myself. Let’s finish this and head off and eat some lunch.”

“Yeah. That sounds like a good idea.” Rudy agreed.

Igniting their shoes, the two children launched themselves into the air. They moved back towards the stadium. Despite their still-aching arms, they raised them up as they prepared to continue drawing. At least this is the final thing before they had to go back to the king. Nodding towards each other, they began their sketching.

sss

Kairos had returned faster than either of them had expected. The bird spun around a few times, as if he were taking in the sight of the stadium. Then he dove downwards towards them. He landed on the ground a few feet away.

“I see you finished already. Impressive.” Kairos said. There was little excitement in his voice. “The king will be most pleased.”

Rudy and Penny lowered their heads in front of Kairos as a sign of respect. He might not be the king, but he was still a royal. A higher up. They didn’t want to unintentionally make him mad.

“Thank you.” Penny said. “We would like to report to the king.”

“Yes, yes, of course.” Kairos tapped his metal feathers together. He motioned his wings forward. “Come along now. We musn’t dilly dally. It’s a long walk back.”

Rudy raised up a finger. “But what about Snap? He still isn’t back yet.”

Rudy and Penny exchanged concerned looks to each other. They hadn’t seen Snap at all since they began to build the stadium. Not even a single word. They thought that he was still in the shops, but it seemed a little odd he’d be in there for this long.

Kairos, however, didn’t look the least bit concerned. “He will be fine, I’m sure. He’s probably just mingling with the shop owners. I have heard he can be quite social.”

This did make sense. Snap did love to socialize with other zoners. It was possible that Snap was just speaking to one of the shop owners and lost track of time. In that case, they needed to go grab him. They could not keep the king waiting.

Rudy began to walk towards where one of the shops were. He didn’t get far when Kairos came into his path. Rudy took a few steps back, startled by the bird’s sudden arrival.

Narrowing his eyes, Rudy said, “What are you doing? I was just going to get my friend.”

Kairos nodded his head. “I understand, but we must leave now. No time to wait for your friend.”

Penny took a step forward. “We can’t just abandon him. We...”

Kairos raised up his hand to silence her. “It will be all right. I will send a ride out here to get him.”

“Well, I guess that will be fine.” Rudy didn’t like the idea of leaving Snap alone, but perhaps it was for the best in this situation. There were a number of shops. Some were pretty large. It could take a while for them to find Snap, and the longer they wait, the more they could risk offending King Zander. “We’re ready to....”

“Wait.”

Rudy and Kairos turned to look over at Penny. She had a slight frown on her face. Rudy wondered what she was so confused about.

“If you’re able to give Snap a ride then...why didn’t we use one to get here faster?”

Rudy blinked a few times at this. He turned and looked over at Kairos and waited for an answer. That was a legitimate question, actually. Why didn’t they use a form of transportation if they needed to get to the king quickly?

Kairos merely smiled at this. “I wanted to stretch my legs. Now come on now. If we start now, we will make it within the half hour.”

“But...” Rudy stifled himself. There was really no point in trying to argue with Kairos. He looked over at Penny, exchanging a flustered and exhausted look with her. Then he turned his attention back to where the bird was walking. “We’re coming...”

With that, they began to head back.

sss

King Zander looked absolutely jovial. “That’s great! You got that all made and in record time, too! I’m sure my people will love it!”

Rudy and Penny couldn’t help but smile at this. Despite their frustrations, they were glad that they were staring to made a different in this place. They felt a sense of pride swell up inside of them. They were both eager to see what the king had to say about their handiwork.

But for now, onto some more serious matters.

“About these disappearances...” Rudy began.

“Oh yes, I will get to that. But first..I...” The king bit his lip for a second. “Is it all right if we see the stadium first? I would be most pleased if I saw for myself what you two have done.”

Rudy couldn’t believe it. They hadn’t been in the palace for more than a few minutes, and already the king wanted to travel all the way back. Rudy could feel his legs threaten to give out. “Right now?”

“We just got here.” Penny said. “And isn’t talking about the disappearances more important than some stadium.”

The king stared at them for a few seconds, completely silent. He soon smiled and nodded his head. “Oh yes it is. You are right on that. I didn’t mean to make it sound like I didn’t care. I still want to see. How about this?” He brought his hands together. “I will take you on one of my rides. You won’t have to walk, and we will be there in no time.”

Although Rudy was annoyed at going back there yet again, especially when he was getting hungry, he decided not to press further. Besides, getting a ride this time certainly sounded better than what Kairos had them doing. “All right then.”

“What about Snap?” Penny asked. “Kairos said he was going to have a ride coming for him. What if he passes us?”

“Then he can wait here at the palace for you.” King Zander offered. “He is more than welcome to stay in the dining hall if he pleases.”

Well that was good to know. Rudy and Penny just hoped that Snap wouldn’t be too annoyed with them for leaving him behind and for missing them on their way back. They would catch up to him soon enough.

Without saying another word, the two children went towards King Zander as he led them down the hallway. In silence, they continued to walk, passing by more beautiful art pieces and statues. This time, the two children were too exhausted to really pay them much attention. Their leg muscles were aching and they just wanted to sit down.

And when they arrived at the room King Zander was leaning towards, they nearly lost the strenght in their legs and collapsed right there.

It was some kind of mechanical horse. No, two of them. They were styled to look very similar to the famous Trojan Horse from the legends. One was silver and one was gold. Both had purple gems for eyes. The horses could not move their segmented necks as they were locked in place. Despite that, it still seemed like they were staring over at them, right into their souls.

“Oh not to worry, you two.” King Zander said with a smile. “Lux and Zephyr are harmless.” He motioned his hand for them to follow him. “Come on now. Get in the carriage. Lux and Zephyr here will take us to the stadium in no time.”

Rudy hesitated. Despite the king’s reassurances, he didn’t feel all that safe around these two robotic horses. He wasn’t sure what it was. Maybe it was their angry facial expressions they always seemed to have. Maybe it was their sharp-tipped hooves. Maybe it was their intense eyes that seemed to stare right through him. Whatevere the reason he found himself unable to move for a few seconds.

Then, taking in a deep breath, he forced himself to walk over. Penny followed closely behind. The two moved hesitantly and cautiously. They refused to take their eyes off of the horses as they made their way towards the carriage where King Zander was waiting.

Soon, they were sitting in the carriage. They could feel themselves start to relax a little as they felt themselves press agaisnt the soft, warm cushioning of the carriage. They could feel the aches from their feet vanish almost completely as their weight was removed from them. They leaned back against the carriage, and got themselves comfortable.

“Are you two ready?” King Zander asked as he looked down at them. He was situated a little further front. He was sitting somewhere that appeared to be a control panel of some kind.

Rudy and Penny nodded their heads.

At this, King Zander turned his attention towards the two metallic horses. He pressed his foot down against what looked like a lever-shaped pedal and the horses immediately began to rush forward. Rudy and Penny had to hold on tightly.

Their eyes widened in horror when they saw they were approahing a wall. They let out a cry and hung onto each other. King Zander merely pressed a button. There was a loud rumbling sound as the wall was lifted up towards the ceiling, almost like a garage. Rudy and Penny watched this in awe, lifting up their heads to look at it as they ran underneath it.

Soon they were outside. Rudy and Penny looked left and right as they moved along the path at such amazing speed for horses. They both wished this thing came with a seat belt, however. It felt like it would be very easy for one of them to fall off.

Rudy turned his head towards King Zander. Although he wasn’t entirely comfortable with asking this now, it just seemed that now might be a good time to ask. He was certain that, by the time they got to the stadium, the king would be more preoccupied with that.

“How did you know about us?”

At this, the king’s eyes widened. Rudy and Penny glanced at each other. They looked back. They waited for an answer.

And for a few moments, there were no answers. No attempts to speak. Just silence. It was as if the king was struggling with finding the right thing to say. Rudy wondered just why it was so difficult for the king to properly respond. Was it really that hard?

The king slowly turned his head and looked down at them. He remained silent for a while longer before he finally spoke. “If you want to know the truth, and I’m sure you do, I sent up a watcher long ago to help keep an eye on things. He relays information to me on a regular basis.”

Penny’s eyes widen. “You were spying on us?”

“If you want to put it that way. But the only reason I did it was to make sure there was no growing conflict or potential for invasion. Rest assured I do not watch everyone twenty four seven. I only have him report important things to me.”

Rudy and Penny looked at each other. Before they could speak again, the king cut them off.

“I will explain more of that later. I do promise you that.” King Zander gave them both a glance. “Everything will make sense in due time. But let’s save that for later.”

sss

About fifteen minutes later, they had arrived at the stadium. Penny was surprised it took them this fast. They didn’t seem to be moving much faster as she and Rudy were earlier when they walked. But perhaps that was just her imagination.

King Zander moved the horses over towards the stadium. He pressed a button, which caused the two metallic horses to neigh and rear up on their hind legs. They soon settled down as the king jumped out of the carriage with each, with such grace. He pulled out some rope and attached the horses to the side of the stadium, the end of the ropes attached wth what looked to be strong magnets.

Penny climbed out of the carriage as did Rudy. She flinched as she felt the weight returning to her feet. She tried her best to ignore the ache as she and Rudy walked towards the king, who was waiting for them expectantly.

“So..what do you think?” Rudy asked carefully.

King Zander looked up at the piece of structure. He rubbed his chin, his eyes narrowing softly as he looked from one side to the other. “It’s quite good. It looks better than how I had imagined it. I didn’t even think that was possible.”

Penny couldn’t help but smile at this. Rudy smiled as well. The king looked pleased with their work. She was glad. A part of her was worried that he was going to take a look at it and tell them it wasn’t what he wanted and make them redo it. Her arm ached at the possibility of having to repeat all this work.

Now that the stadium was finished, they could soon begin to talk about the problems this place was facing. While the other zoners could have fun at this stadium and play whatever sport they wanted, the king and her and her friends could talk about how to deal with these disappearances. She still felt it would have been better if they talked about that as soon as they got there. She didn’t see a point in delaying it. But oh well. At least they could begin now.

These disappearances scared Penny. What could cause so many zoners to just vanish like that? She hoped that they would be able to get to the bottom of it soon. Otherwise, who knows how many other zoners might disappear? What was happening to them? Were they dead? Hurt? Trapped?

And what if it spread to the surface? This thought still sent a chill down her spine.

The fact that Snap still wasn’t with them unsettled her. But she did quickly regain her senses when she reminded herself that he was back at the palace, probably eating. He was fine...at least for the time being. She hoped and prayed that Snap wouldn’t be the next victim of this disappearing plague.

Which is why they needed to start talking now. She turned her head to King Zander, who was pacing around the side of the stadium, a small smile still on his face and his hands folded behind his had.

“Hey, King Zander? We...”

King Zander immdiately interrupted. “Do you two mind if you take me on a little tour of this place?”

“What? Tour?” Rudy tilted his head to one side. “But you designed this place, didn’t you?”

“Well yes, I did.” King Zander turned his head and looked over at Penny and Rudy. “But it’s one thing to design. It’s another to experience.”

“Well that is correct..” Rudy admitted, scratching the top of his head. “Okay then, we’ll do it. Right, Penny?”

“Yeah.” Penny nodded her head once. “And then we discuss your city’s issues, am I right?”

“Of course.” King Zander brought his hands together. “I have not forgotten about that. We have so much to talk about.”

Rudy and Penny nodded in agreement to that. They both knew that it was going to take lots of discussion before they could think of a solution to this problem. The king was going to elaborate later on just what was happening in his beloved kingdom.

“Let’s begin.” King Zanda said. He motioned his hand in front of him.

Penny nodded her head and, with Rudy at her side, led King Zander towards one of the doors. She grabbed the latch and pushed it upwards. Soon, they stepped inside to begin the tour.

Penny couldn’t help but look around in awe and wonder at what she and Rudy managed to accomplish. They had been so tired earlier, they didn’t have a chance to fully enjoy the beauty of their creation. It was absolutely marvelous.

The bleachers that rose up all around seemed to almost glint and glow in the sunlight. There were some sparkles along the metal railings. The stadium itself was a dark blue with a pale white outline around it. The ground they stood on was solid and smooth. It was still dirt, but it felt almost upgraded, even shining like marble did.

And the tall structure behind it, they could see it even from way down here. The building was a deep purple and had a top that had curves and straights. It looked almost like an octagon that someone decided to cut in half and place on top of some random building. And right in front of them as they passed, she could see the red double door that presently closed. Even the door looked pretty, with gold, decorative lines all over it and a shine to it.

Yes, this was one fine-looking stadium. She and Rudy did a great job on it. This was probably their best collaboration ever.

Now, they should begin to discuss matters with the king. They needed to...

Suddenly, Penny felt something heavy hit against the back of her head. Her eyes bulged and she let out a cry of pain. She dropped down onto her knees, wobbling from side to side. She couldn’t tell what was going on, her eyes unfocused and her hearing all echoey. She thought she heard Rudy and the king shout something, but her hearing was too distorted to tell.

Then she collapsed onto the ground about two seconds later. Her vision darkened up and she slowly closed her eyes. Then all was silent.

Chapter 7: Unwelcome




How long had they been in here? How long has it been since the king left them alone? How long had they been trapped in here, waiting for something to happen?

At this point, who cared? The end result was that they were still trapped, still tricked so easily. And now all they could do was sit around and wait for whatever fate to befall on them.

Snap couldn’t help but feel that this had been all his fault. If he had just seen through the trap earlier, he might have been able to get away without arising suspicion and warn Rudy and Penny. They could have gotten out of here faster. They could have escaped this horrible fate.

...or would they? Snap had forgotten to take into account the fact that the zoners here may have sealed up their submarine. He had little reason to believe that they would just leave the submarine alone, unguarded at the very least. Or even ripped apart and dismantled. It could be laying in several pieces right about now, and it would take forever to put it back together.

And even if it weren’t taken or guarded and just left there, he couldn’t forget about the shield around this place. The shield would be impossible to go through. As soon as they tried to enter it, it would hug them in its rubbery substance. These zoners were so paranoid about newcomers that they will not hesitate to shoot if given enough reason. And if the king found out about their escape and ordered them to be caught dead or alive....

Snap couldn’t decide which fate would be worse. To be captured and held prisoner down here, or to be killed. Both fates would result in the same thing: their friends on the surface not knowing what happened to them.

Snap couldn’t bear the thought of his friends wondering where they were, being so worried and in so much emotional pain that they were gone. He could only just begin to imagine all the stuff that they’d be going through as they struggled to make sense of what happened. What hurt even more is that, no matter how good a search party they got, even if they got someone like Boorat somehow to help, it would not be enough. Boorat’s sense of smell might be great, but he doubt even he could find him deep in the ocean.

They were stuck in here. They were on their own. They would have to find their own way out.

Snap could feel burning anger rise in his stomach. It wasn’t just himself he was angry at. He still couldn’t believe that King Zander had done all of this just to get to them. The king hadn’t even told them yet why he did this. His last words to them made it sound as if he had big plans for them. But what were they?

Snap still managed to keep his anger in check, despite how difficult it was. Yelling at the king would only make things a lot worse. The king had so much power here. At the snap of a finger, he could have them tossed into a pot of boiling lava or something. Or whatever else the king might think of.

He looked over at his friends. Penny was sitting cross-legged not too far to his right. She had a contemplative look on her face. She was staring up at the ceiling. From the looks of it, she was trying to find a way out. But she was having trouble. Snap hoped that she would be able to figure something out soon, but he wasn’t holding his breath. The king had been pretty thorough.

As for Rudy himself, he sat near Penny with his back turned to her. His legs were pulled up to his chest, his arms wrapped around them. He rested his chin on his knees, taking in a breath and sighing softly. Rudy had been pretty silent for a while. Although he looked calm, Snap knew that he was in raging turmoil internally. He had blamed himself for this happening. Despite his and Penny’s reassurances, that did little to stop Rudy from being angry at himself.

But the only one he should be angry at is King Zander. It was he who had orchestrated this. It was he who had issued out those notes, tricking them to coming here. It was he who had fooled them into setting this place up. He was the only one at fault. Rudy shouldn’t blame himself.

But Snap would be lying if he said he didn’t understand. After all, he also blamed himself for this happening and felt that he could have done more. He was certain that, on some level, Penny felt the same way, too. But they were here now, and there was nothing they could do to change the past.

They needed to focus on getting out of here.

Just then, there was the steady tapping of something thin and sharp on the ground. Snap gave a soft growl. He knew very well who this was.

“What do you want?” Snap found himself saying.

“I just came to see how you three were...handling yourselves.”

At this, Snap and his two friends turned their heads to glare at Kairos. The bird zoner was approaching their cage slowly. He was holding his head up high. No full on smile, but Snap thought he could see the faintest glimpse of a smirk.

“How do you think we’re handling ourselves?” Penny’s voice was laced in sarcasm. “You all tricked us...”

At this, Kairos’s facial expression seemed to furrow for a moment. Snap thought he caught the glimpse of sympathy in the zoner’s eyes. It was fleeting, and it was difficult to tell that it was genuine. It was gone as quickly as it appeared. This swift sympathetic expression wasn’t enough to change Snap’s mind about this bird zoner.

He had been helping King Zander set all of this up. He was the king’s right-hand man. He was with him until the end. That alone made him untrustworthy. Snap watched him warily, refusing to take his eyes off of him.

Kairos nodded his head once. “Yes. That is true.” The bird zoner spread his wings out. His metal feathers pointed foward, splayed almost like a hand. “But for good cause.”

“Good cause?! How is kidnapping us a good cause?!” Rudy snarled as he climbed up to his feet. “Why have you done this?!”

Kairos gave a tiny, thin smile. It hardly hid anything that they could already see in his eyes. “We have reasons for everything here. You will find out in due time. Of course...” He shut his eyes and flowered his head. “I am amazed you haven’t figured it out by now. A group of your...calibur...should be able to see what’s coming.”

The group just glared at him. What was with these zoners and their cryptic messages? Why couldn’t they just be straight forward about things? Why couldn’t they just outright state what was going on?

Kairos looked back at them. He could see the looks in their eyes. At first, his expression was blank. Then, slowly, he smiled again. This time, the smile stretched a little further and his eyes narrowed slightly.

“Everything has a rhyme and a reason. Everyone and everything has a place. And when a crime is committed, everyone pays their dues.”

“Crime?! We did nothing wrong!” Rudy cried.

“Yeah! All we did was answer the king’s notes! Was that wrong?!” Penny joined in, now on her feet as well. She pointed an accusatory finger at the bird. “If you didn’t want us down here, why send the notes at all?!”

The bird zoner chuckled softly at this. “I see you still don’t get it. Of course we wanted you to come down here. How else were we going to set all of this up for you?” He raised his wings, motioning them to the side to indicate the area around them. “I must say, you did a spectacular job on this place. It was so large, I didn’t think my people would have been able to complete it while you were gone.”

“Your people?” Snap inquired. “You’re not the king.”

“No, I’m not. But I’m still second-in-command. So they are still mine to rule as well.” Kairos placed a wing against himself. “Trust me, if I decide to have them destroy you now...” Snap and his friends widened their eyes. “They will do so in a heart beat.”

Rudy shut his eyes tightly and ground his teeth. Through them he hissed, “Look...all we are asking is for you to tell us why we were taken here...” He stared at Kairos in the eyes. “Why did the king want us?”

Kairos stared at Rudy for a few seconds. Then he merely shrugged his shoulder. “If you can’t figure that out on your own..” He turned himself around and began to walk away. “You really are pathetic.”

The trio couldn’t believe it. What was with this zoner? Why did he feel the need to constantly taunt them about how they ‘should know why they were taken’, and yet not flat out say what it was? Was he trying to allude that it was their own fault? That they did something that they should have realized was wrong? If that’s the case, then how could they fix anything if he nor the king will tell them?

Snap felt his blood heating up as he watched the bird zoner slowly walk away from them. If the bars weren’t electrified, he would be grabbing them right now, threatening to break his own hands as he squeezed them. His body quivered, and soon he couldn’t hold it in any longer.

“You sack of metal feathers! Is this how you treat all your prisoners?!”

At this, Kairos froze. Snap took a step back, Rudy and Penny holding onto him lightly. He stared at Kairos, licking his lips somewhat nervously. Had he gone a little too far with that comment? He and his friends eyed the bird zoner warily, and waited.

Kairos turned his head and looked at them. His bronze beak was tucked downward, partially gritted. He remained like this for several moments. His bright orange left eye regarded them coldly. The large, black pupil moved up and down and side to side, as if studying them.

“We are being merciful to you.” Kairos’s calm voice came. “You should be grateful.”

“Merciful?” Snap hissed. “You call being locked up and left alone without telling us what is going on merciful?!”

A quick, cold chuckle. “If you wish, we could have done worse.”

“Like what?” Penny asked with great caution.

Kairos raised his head up, his beak giving a soft shine in the little light that was available. “If you thought being trapped was bad.... I can have some rather...interesting things for you arranged.” He took a small step towards them, scraping the ground with his sharp talons. “I can...” He tilted his head swiftly to one side. It bent at a further angle than they thought it was capable, making him look almost owl-like. “...make you wish...” He raised his right wing up. He aimed his pointed metal fingers in their direction. He narrowed his eyes dangerously. “...that your only problem was merely being trapped.”

Snap and his friends felt their hearts skip a beat at this. They remain frozen where they stood. None of them dare to say anything, lest they make things worse.

“Those who think being trapped is worse than pain...are wrong. If you three are foolish enough to believe that...” Kairos smiled darkly at them. He tapped two of his metal fingers together, the clang sounding out and making the trio wince. “I can show you just how sadly mistaken you are. I am an expert on pain, and I will be more than happy to show you everything that I know...”

At this, the trio widened their eyes in horror. They gulped nervously and they huddled closer together. They still refused to say anything. They just stared into Kairos’s cold yet bright eyes as he watched them. They watched his wings nervously, the sight of the sharp tips making them shiver in fear.

“Real fear is pain. And pain is real fear. Remember that.”

Kairos didn’t say anything after that. He simply turned and walked away, leaving the frightened trio alone.

sss

“Why do you want the footage, Mr. Yagmur?” The bald man with squarish features and a missing tooth asked. He rubbed his small beared gently, contemplating what had been told to him. “You know that we don’t allow mere employees get access to that footage. Only for emergencies and..”

“This is an emergency!” Denny cried, raising his hands in the air. “Someone had...!”

“I suggest you calm yourself. Before I have you thrown out.” The man said in a darkened tone.

Denny sighed and lowered his hands. Even though this man wasn’t the boss, he was still in charge of the footage room. Libraries didn’t usually have this. It was a nice feature, even if it wasn’t all that necessary.

But right now, it’s the one ticket he had to proving that he wasn’t crazy, and proving that there had been a couple of little brats in his office where they shouldn’t be. He needed this footage to show to the boss. Even he couldn’t argue against it, and he knew what would happen if this footage out, and parents everywhere found out. If parents could rally against something like video games, than they would sure as heck do something about this.

But first, he would need to get past this guy. Ian Drumar was always one tough cookie to crack. He barely budged for anyone, save the boss. And even he sometimes had a hard time getting what he needed from this guy. Ian was very serious about this footage being well taken care of and not falling into the wrong hands or being misused.

Denny thought that he was overdoing it. This was a library, not a national bank. He could learn to let loose a little once in a while, couldn’t he?

Well wishful thinking wasn’t going to get that footage out. He needed to think of something that would convince Ian to give him what he wanted. Surely the guy couldn’t be as dumb as he looked, right? Sure he had a ridiculously short hair-do and his shirt looked a little unprofessional for someone in charge of the security cameras.But surely, his intelligence would exceed all that, wouldn’t it?

“This is important.” Denny said, trying again to persuade him. “I need some of that footage so I can prove that some br...er...I mean, children, had wandered into my office.”

“I should be worried about this because...?” Ian folded his arms against his chest, narrowing his eyes slightly.

“Do you know what’ll happen if parents see that footage?” Denny asked, raising his hand in the air. “They will freak out!”

Ian gave a blunt response. “Then don’t show them.”

Denny stared at Ian wide-eyed. Realizing that he was going in the wrong way with this, he tried a different angle. “What if they find out on their own? What if they somehow stumble upon the footage? Don’t you think that their reaction would be worse in that situation?”

But still, Ian didn’t budge. He looked at his fingers, looking very disinterested in what he was saying. “Eh...what are the odds of that happening? Do you really think that there’s a chance the parents will get a hold of some random footage? You need help if you think that.”

Denny gritted his teeth and growled at that insult. He then closed his eyes and forced himself to exhale. “Look...I know how you feel about me...” He paused as Ian turned his head to look at him. His dark brown eyes pierced through his soul even from underneath those square, thick glasses. “But I am looking out for the well being of the children here.”

Oh man, it hurt to say that. But he knew full well that the man who sympathized and cared for children was more well liked than one that was bitter and cold towards them.

He would not get far if he admitted the truth. Ian was already unlikely and unwilling to help him. Would he really get that much further with him if he tried to tell Ian that he wanted to take over the company? No. The first thing that man would do was report him to the boss. Then he’d have to contend with the boss himself, and he would lose his job.

Just like how in nature, an individual animal that tries to challenge a leader ends up walking away when defeated, he ran the risk of being driven out of the company if the boss finds out what he’s doing. Then he’d never be able to prove anything.

“You and I both know the boss is way too k...I mean...he’s too soft with them. He rarely yells at them or punishes them, even when they run around. Don’t you think that, one of these days, they will get hurt? And what will the parents say when they find out the boss, the guy running this joint, let it happen? It’s not just the boss who will suffer for it. We all will.”

Denny stared at Ian. Their eyes remained locked. Ian didn’t seem to be budging yet. But Denny wasn’t yet finished. He had something else up his sleeve.

“What about you? Do you think another place is going to hire someone like you?” Denny asked.

At this, Ian barely tilted his head. “What do you mean?”

Denny gave a thin smile. “You know what I mean, Ian. With your record, you were lucky to have gotten this place. The boss was nice enough to cover for you. But once word gets out...will he keep doing that? Who else would cover for you? This is the only place you got. If something isn’t done soon, you are about the lose the only place that ever treated you like a person.”

Ian’s eyes widened at this. Denny continued to smile. He had gotten him.

“Give me what I want... And I promise I will ensure no one will ever hurt you again.”

sss

Rudy grunted as he was yanked forward by the guard. He slipped on his feet and nearly lost his footing. The guard grabbed him roughly on the back of his neck and lifted him up and set him back down. He then barked an order for him to stop slipping up and keep moving. Rudy grumbled softly, but he said not a word.

He felt soreness in his arms. The cuffs that were placed on him were pretty tight. They nearly cut into his skin. He tried to tell them they weren’t necessary, but the guards wouldn’t listen to him. With his arms secured behind his back, he felt so defenseless. It would be difficult...no...impossible for him to get away like this.

He heard a few grunts. He turned his head slightly, looking back at his friends with one eye. They had been cuffed just like him. He could see the pained look in their eyes, and from that, he could tell that their cuffs were just as tight. Maybe even tighter.

“Keep your eyes forward!” One of the guards snarled at him before yanked him forward.

Rudy let out a surprised cry as he nearly tripped again. He winced as he felt his foot hit against a small rock that was in the way. The guards did not show him any sympathy when he hissed in pain.

“That was your own fault.” A second guard told him. “Either pay attention, or we will drag you along the floor if we have to! It’s no skin off our nose.”

The first guard nodded his head. “Yeah. You should count yourselves lucky the king doesn’t want you hurt before your little date in the arena.”

Rudy narrowed his eyes. Once again, he kept himself silent. There were a million things running through his head right now that he could say to these zoners. But he resisted the temptation.

He exchanged a quick glance at his friends. He couldn’t look at them long enough, but he could feel his heart clench at their faces. They all looked pretty hopeless right now. None of them were willing to give up. But in the moment, there was little they could do. With each step, their hearts filled with more dread. They still had no idea eactly what waited ahead for them. The unknown was eating away at their souls.

But they did now have a small idea of what to expect. Rudy realized that he and Penny had not been working on a baseball kind of thing like he had thought. Instead, it was a colosseum. An arena of some kind. The one thing that he and friends could be certain of is that they had indeed created a form of entertainment for these zoners, with themselves as the entertainment. It just wasn’t going to be the type of entertainment that they thought it was going to be.

Rudy had a strong feeling that whatever waited for them at the end of the tunnel wasn’t going to be anything good. They were getting closer to the door. He could see the bright light. Unlike other times, the light here was certainly not a good sign.

Rudy was reminded of the time when he went into a colosseum a few months ago. But this time, it wasn’t going to be fun and games. It wasn’t going to be just a race. No, it was going to be so much worse. He gulped nervously, his blood chilling at the thought of what might happen to him and his friends.

Soon they entered in the center of the arena. Rudy immediately averted his gaze. The light was so bright after being stuck for about an hour in the dark room. He clenched his teeth and hissed, remaining like this for a few seconds before he finally turned his head around to look.

The stadium that he and Penny drew still looked the same. Mostly. There were now new editions, such as purple flags being hung, some of them with a deer symbol on it. The seats were occupied by so many zoners. Humanoids and greek animals and greek monsters everywhere. All eyes were on them, and no zoner spoke or said a word. It was just dead silent as the trio were escorted forward.

Soon, the guards stopped them from walking. They grabbed their shoulders and forced them to stay still. Rudy, Penny, and Snap looked all around as they tried to take in their surroundings. There was something more menacing about this place than before, despite it not being too highly transformed. The air around them was tense and unforgiving, and the strong sense of doom seemed to hover over their heads.

Rudy looked back up at the zoners. He noticed something a little strange about them. It wasn’t because they looked unfamiliar. He and his friends just arrived. It would take a while to recognize any one of the normal citizens. But the way they looked at them... It was...off. He couldn’t quite put his finger on why.

He wasn’t the only one who thought that way. A quick glance down, and he could see that Snap was looking all around. His eye brow was cocked up a little and he looked like he was ready to ask them ‘what are you looking at’.

Penny was also looking at the zoners. But unlike him and Snap, she didn’t look all that confused. There was a hint of realization in her brown eyes. Rudy and Snap exchanged glances before one of them broke the silence.

“Penny? What is it?” Rudy asked carefully. “What’s wrong?”

“Those zoners...they hadn’t seen a creator before...”

At this, Rudy and Snap widened their eyes.

“They haven’t?” Snap asked, confused. Then it dawned on him quickly. “Yeah...this place has been in isolation for so long. So few of them, if any, would have seen anything like this.”

Rudy couldn’t believe he didn’t realize this before. He took another look at the zoners. Now he could recognize those looks. It was fearful curiosity. The zoners around them were afraid of them, because they were different. At least him and Penny were. They were humans, entirely different from what they were used to. And because they were different, that was why they were still curious about them. They were regarding them with trepidation, and looked like they wanted to figure out more about them.

A quick grunt and snarl from the guards caused the trio to fall silent. They shut their mouths and lowered their head slightly, averting the gaze of the crowd. As much as they wanted to speak, all they could do right now was remain silent and wait.

Rudy glanced up again, looking from side to side. He felt his heart skip a beat when he noticed that not all the zoners were looking at them fearfully or curiously. A handful of them were giving them looks of pure hatred. Rudy could practically hear the venom off of their words even though they didn’t even say anything yet.

He looked his friends warily. He could see the look of worry shining in their eyes as well. The way those handful of zoners were looking at them... It was chilling. It was obvious those zoners were angry at them for something, but what? What did he and his friends do to deserve such animosity being projected towards them?

Before he could even try to say anything to his friends, he could hear the familiar clopping footsteps. He gritted his teeth, feeling his blood reaching a boil quickly. He looked up and glared towards where King Zander was walking down the middle of the center aisle. The zoner were bowing their heads as he went.

But the king ignored them completely. His cold, brown eyes were focused only on them. Rudy noticed he had a straight, pressed lip, like he was stuck between a frown and a smile. He looked calm, and almost regal as he walked down the steps slowly, his hands folded behind his back.

The crowd turned their heads to watch the king as he slowly made his way down. No one said a word. It remained utterly silent. But now this silence seemed to take on a new meaning. The air around them seemed to change, and Rudy could feel his heart twisting and aching. He watched, biting his lip, his eyes narrowed, as King Zander went to what appeared to be a tall podium that had been crudely placed on the edge of the stadium.

King Zander tapped on it. There was a ringing feedback, causing zoners and the trio to flinch in pain. This, thankfully, only lasted a short time before it dissipated. The king cleared his throat, and he began to speak into the mic.

“My citizens, you are all gathered here today because I have a very important announcement to make. I have intended on doing this for some time, now. But luck was against me and it had to be delayed. I do regret it. But now, as you all stand in here, as I am standing here, I can finally get started.” King Zander’s voice sounded booming in the mic. Even zoners in the way back could hear him. “I am sure that you are all aware of what’s been going on lately. I’m sure you heard the news and seen the articles. I know that some of you lock doors and windows at night to keep yourselves safe.”

Lock their doors and windows? What was happening lately? What was this guy talking about? He had told them earlier that the disappearances were all a lie. Was the king lying to his people? Or was something else going on? Something that the king had chosen to keep a secret from them?

As the king spoke, Rudy and his friends could see the growing fear and anxiety in the zoner’s facial expressions. From the look of that, Rudy guessed that there really was something going on here. It just wasn’t what King Zander said it was.

“Well I am here to tell you that your troubles, our troubles, will soon be coming to an end. For I have captured the ones responsible for all our suffering!” King Zander pointed at Rudy, Penny, and Snap. “There they are before you!”

Rudy couldn’t stop the gasp from escaping his mouth. “Wh-What...?” He squeaked out. No one except his friends heard him. He remained in silent shock with his friends, their eyes bulging as the king continued his rant.

“You all heard the stories! You all heard the legend of the dreaded creators who had reigned down on ChalkZone long ago! You heard about how we had to seal ourselves down here to keep ourselves safe from the intruders! You all know the chaos that the creators on the surface had wrought! Well I am here to tell you that these stories were true! Here, standing before you, are two creators! Two vile creators not even chalk like us! And based on what our little spy has found out, they are the ones responsible for our hardships lately! It was them!”

Rudy hunched his shoulders as he listened to the zoners all around them hiss and growl at them. Almost every set of eyes on them was accompanied by a deep glare and bared teeth. Some of the zoners looked ready to tear them apart, stopped only by the king’s will. The king clearly had something in mind for them.

He and his friends huddled together as soon as their cuffs were removed. They did no try to run; the guards were still present. They put their arms around each other and they pressed themselves against one another as they looked around fearfully. Hearts pounded. Minds raced. Breathing quickened. And still the king continued to rant and rave about them, but one thing become obvious.

The king never specified what they did. Never once did he try to tell his people about anything that they had done. Just that they had been the ones to cause problems.

This fact sent Rudy’s mind into some doubt. Was it possible that he and his friends really did do something that affected Chalklantis somehow? If that were the case, he felt the sting of guilt in his stomach. He wanted to do something to make it up to them. But how could he do that if no one would tell him exactly what happened?

“I promise you that they will not get away with what they have done!” King Zander yelled in the mic. He had it gripped in his three-fingered hands and had it raised up. “They stand before you as our prisoners! And like all prisoners, they will be punished! They will not get away with what they have done! Now they will answer for their crime!”

At this, the zoners all around them began to cheer. They could hear the zoners call out ‘long live the king’, ‘down with the creators’, among other lines. They intermixed together and created an almost thunderous choir. It chilled them to the bone and caused them to huddle ven closer, their bodies starting to shake. They couldn’t even try to put up a brave front at this point.

“Now let us begin!” King Zander motioned towards the guards who still stood behind the trio. The guards lifted up their heads and stared back at the king expectantly. “Bring out the first obstacle!”

Immediately, the guards walked away towards another door. This one, Rudy was certain that they hadn’t drawn. It must have been added in somehow.

“Let us see how well they fair against the mighty hippalectryon!”

Snap stared up in confusion. “The hippa..what...?”

The trio froze as they heard the sound of something scraping and slowly opening. They could hear something clopping and scraping, the sound of something heavy being shifted forward. They slowly turned themselves around as the cheers and shouts and whistles of the zoners raged on, growing louder.

The second set of tall doors was opened up, spread apart to reveal blackness. They could see shadows moving along the ground. As they continued to watch, they could make out the shapes of the the guards from before. They were holding onto some thick rope, which was wrapped around the neck of what appeared to be an enormous creature. It didn’t take long for the creature to come into the light, a foot smashing into the ground to announce its presence.

Rudy’s eyes widened as he saw that it was what looked like a griffin, kind of, but no lion part. It was replaced with a horse, and it wasn’t in its usual orientation; it was backwards.

The creature had a powerful, thickly muscled horse body, the muscles rippling underneath the skin. The main was cut short and almost in a square-like shape with a sharply pointing curve. The wings were a little small for it, but still large. They were pressed against its body, rope wrapping around it to keep it from flying anywhere.

Its tail feathers, so many of them, were spread out in a threatening manner. Its back feet, scaly and bird-like, kicked and scraped the ground. The talons were massive and looked like they could tear through anything. The creature itself was almost all black save for yellow feet and some dark brown feathers on its wings. Its blazing yellow eyes stared at them, the pupils narrowed into slits. It pulled its lips up, its flat teeth bared aggressively.

Rudy and his friends stared at the beast in horror, their hearts racing in their chests. As the guards began strike the best with electrical staffs to further agitate the creature, they knew they were in serious trouble. They began to back away, but they only got a few feet when the horse bird hybrid was unleashed upon them. As they ran, the crowed cheered on.

Chapter 9: Contemplations And Planning




The sound of water dripping from the ceiling was a bit louder, considering the walls that surrounded it. Each drop felt like it was getting louder and louder, and it was becoming harder to ignore. It grated on the ears, and increased levels of agitation.

Not that this was of any surprise to anyone. This place wasn’t meant to be welcoming. It was not a place of virtue. It was a cell. A place that was nothing more than a holding chamber for those trapped inside. A place where hope went to die, and where the only thing to look forward to was another ‘game’.

But not for Rudy. Despite everything that was going on, he refused to give up. He refused to believe that there was no way out. They might be trapped in here for now. But at some point, they will escape. He just knew they would.

The question was how. At the moment, there didn’t seem to be any way out. The sparkling bars all around them prevented them from going too far towards the edges of the cage. They were stuck around the center, huddled together. He and his friends couldn’t try escaping throug there unless they wanted to get electrocuted. And without magic chalk, going down was not an option either. There was no way to break through the ground quickly.

But..there was a way out of here, right? There was always a way to escape. He remembered how hopeless he felt in past situations, like with the balloonemia case. He had never fully given up hope, and in the end, he was rewarded for it.

He had to do the same thing here. He had to stay positive and focus on thinking on a way out, not waste time feeling upset that he was trapped at all.

He looked over at his friends. They had remained quiet not too long after being tossed in. Other than looking a little bruised and scraped, they were fine. They were all lucky, considering what that hippalectryon nearly did to them. It could have been so much worse.

Rudy’s mind stung a little as he thought of that beast. As afraid of it as he was, he did hope that the creature was fine. It seemed as if it finally realized that he and his friends were safe and weren’t the ones who hurt it. The guards realized this, too. Rudy narrowed his eyes at the thought of them. They had attacked the hippalectryon for no good reason, and knocked it out. Rudy could only hope that they didn’t do too much damage.

He wished there was a way for him to help the creature. But for the moment, he needed to focus on helping his friends first. They were of no use to anyone trapped in here.

“Have you guys thought of something?”

Rudy didn’t think his friends would be able to think of anything. They had been trapped in here for a while, all thinking hard on escape, and his friends still hadn’t said anything. Chances are, they didn’t have anything in mind. But there was no hurt in asking, was there?

Snap shook his head. “I’m sorry, Bucko. But we’ve got nothin’.”

“Yeah, Rudy. We’re in quite a situation. Trapped in an electrified cage with no magic chalk.” Penny said sadly. “I’m not sure how we’re going to get out of here.”

Rudy narrowed his eyes softly. While he expected such answers, it was still disappointing to him. “Oh come on. There has to be some way out of here!” Rudy raised his arms into the air. “We’ve got out of tough situations before!”

“Yeah, but Rudy, in those situations, we either weren’t trapped or we had magic chalk. Here, we have neither.” Penny pointed out.

“Are you saying we should give up?” Rudy cast her a soft glare.

Penny shook her head rapidly. “No, of course not, Rudy! I’m just saying that we are going to have a harder time getting out of this. Without at least being free, we stand little chance.”

Snap nodded his head in agreement. “Penny’s right, Rudy. You might be the Great Creator, but when you’re trapped like a dog without the magic chalk, all the artistist skill in the world isn’t going to help much.”

Rudy tried to reply, but for the moment, he wasn’t sure what to say. He let out a defeated sigh and slumped back into the ground. He pressed his legs against his body and pulled them to his chest. He rested his head on his knees and looked towards the ground, his eyes halfway closing.

His friends hadn’t really given up, despite what they were saying. He could see the expression in their eyes. They were desperate for an escape as well. They wanted to keep thinking of a way out. It was just...right now they were stumped. Just like he was. How were they going to get out of here if they didn’t even have access to a single piece of chalk? This was going to be a lot harder than anything else he had experienced.

They had all tried their beast to cheer each other up. They had all tried to remain as positive as they could. They tried to keep thesmelves hopeful and they would keep trying to think of a way to get out. They weren’t going to give themselves in and allow these zoners to win. If they surrendered, if they allowed themselves to cave into these zoners.... What kind of protectors would they be?

They would think of something, somehow. He just...didn’t know how they were going to do it. They never had been trapped in an unknown land before. This place, they knew so little about it. They didn’t know where anything was in Chalklantis. Even if they did somehow escape...how long would they last? He knew full well it wouldn’t take all that long for a citizen to find them and take them back to King Zander.

Then what was he going to do to them then? So far, King Zander was surprisingly nice. At least compared to how he could be. He even was letting them all stay in the same cage together instead of forcibly separating them. But if they tried to escape, would that piss him off? Would that inspire him to do worse to them?

If they got out, somehow, Rudy knew that they had to make it count. One incorrect move was all it would take for all that effort to go down the drain. They needed to say hidden. But in order to do that, they needed someone who was an expert, or at least a novice, on this place’s layout.

But..where would they find such a zoner? And would they even be willing to help them?

Rudy remembered King Zander’s speech all too well. Those horrible words still echoed in his mind. He bit his lip, trying to drive out as much of the anger from his head as he could. But he wasn’t able to stop his head from heating up, and he could feel his body shaking.

“Bucko...?”

Rudy looked over at Snap, noticing his and Penny’s worried expressions. Rudy gave them a small, faint smile, and then quickly looked away.

He couldn’t believe what kind of conniving person that King Zander turned out to be. When they had arrived, they thought he was some kind of regal king who knew exactly how to behave and act like a proper king. The fact that he is manipulating his own people, and getting them to believe that he and his friends were the cause of their trouble, whatever trouble that may be, sickened him.

It was possible that King Zander really did think they were responsible, and he was just as paranoid as the others. That still didn’t make his actions right. The king should not have encouraged and wind up his citizens like that.

And if he was lying... That would be just as bad. Rudy could feel his stomach twist at the thought of King Zander doing all of this on purpose to fulfill some kind of hidden agenda.

But he and his friends had no proof either way. Even if they wanted to, they wouldn’t do it anyway. They did not want to be like King Zander. They weren’t going to spread false rumors about him just to get back at him. That would not be right. They would find another way to bring the king to justice. One that would involve honesty, not lies and deceit like the king might be using.

“I wonder how many spies he has...” Penny said softly, breaking the silence. Rudy and Snap stared over at her. “He mentioned one on the surface.” She continued, not bothering to look at them. “But he never really said if that was his only spy. What if he has more? What if they are all just laying in wait in case we escape?”

Rudy furrowed his eyes in concern at this. He looked over at Snap and could tell he was thinking the same thing.

“That is indeed a problem. I hadn’t thought of that. I do agree that it is possible that King Zander lied about how many spies he has.” Rudy said, nodding his head lowly. “I had been worried about running into disgruntled citizens if we tried to leave. But..spies would be so much worse.”

“Yeah.” Snap raised his rounded hand. “The zoners here know their way around. But we don’t. It would be harder for us to find our way back to the submarine to make our escape.”

“And that’s if it’s even there.” Rudy said solemnly, another thought entering his mind. “They might have moved it somewhere, or have it guarded. If we go there, we might get caught again.”

Penny was silent for a few moments. Then she shifted herself around to look over at her friends. Rudy and Snap flinched at her expression. They had never seen her look so defeated before. They wanted to say something to cheer her up. But nothing would come to their minds. Slowly, she tilted her head upwards a little, a contemplative look in her eyes.

“And we don’t have our allies here.” She spoke softly, her eyes widening slightly. “We are all alone here.”

Rudy and Snap looked at each other nervously at this. They knew right away that Penny was right. They were trapped many miles in the water, far away from the main land where they came from. They had no zoner allies anywhere near this place. Even if they could somehow contact one of their friends, they wouldn’t be able to get here thanks to the Chalklantians’ defense system. The Chalklantians appeared to have some sense of xenophobia, considering their extreme method in dealing with outsiders. They had nearly shot them earlier and no doubt, they would have been destroyed. Years of being in isolation had left them feeling quite paranoid.

“He was smart to bring us down here. He was smart to separate us from the others.” Penny added.

This could not be argued against. King Zander had already proven himself to be quite smart when he was able to trick them so easily, and trap them before they could do anything. He had even thought to take their magic chalk away so that they were defenseless.

It made Rudy wonder just how long King Zander had been planning this. Some of this seemed a little too perfect. It was as if he had been plotting for many years, like, ever since he had first come into ChalkZone in the first place.

That thought made him freeze. Had the king really been plotting to get rid of him since he was eight years old? If that’s the case, then the king was really paranoid. Rudy didn’t even know about Chalklantis at the time. What did the king think he was going to do? Bomb the ocean floors for no reason?

Well, he shouldn’t really dismiss that thought. After all, Biclops wasn’t too friendly or understanding or reasonable when he first met him. Perhaps King Zander was just another byproduct of misunderstandings. Maybe he was assaulted by a creator, and he was just trying to protect his people from another attack.

That still didn’t justify this behavior. That still didn’t justify trying to have three children killed by a wild beast for the entertainment of others. Nothing could ever justify that.

Slowly, Penny’s expression changed. Her eyes narrowing, her face contorted slightly, going from hopeless to determined. “But..I do agree with you, Rudy.” Penny looked at Rudy and Snap. “I do think there might be a way out...somehow.” Rudy gave a small smile at this.

“And when we do get out, we will make that kingly guy pay for what he did!” Snap raised a fist up, giving off a soft growl. “This is no way to great ChalkZone’s protectors!” He paused as he rubbed the side of his head. “Especially the way they treated me.”

At this, Rudy realized that he and Penny never found out exactly how Snap was captured. They knew it would do little good with knowing. But just understanding what happened would help them feel a little better. “What happened?”

Snap placed his hands on the sides of his head. “Oy caloy...wasn’t it something...”

Rudy and Penny couldn’t help but stare at Snap sympathetically as he began to recount his tale of how he was captured.

“I had gone into this one store. Only one store. It had some plushies in it. They were cute and...well anyway, I did run into a less than friendly Chalklantian zoner, but she didn’t do much, other than be a creepazoid. I did meet a much nicer one in the store, and she had wanted to show me somethin’.”

Snap frowned deeply at this. Rudy and Penny could see the growing rage, hurt, and betrayal in his eyes. They both knew that this story was not going to take a pleasant turn. Considering that Snap ended up captured like them, this was of no surprise.

“She..She had tricked me. She had no intentions on showing me anything. She just wanted to trap me. She did say she was sorry, but I knew she didn’t mean it when she had her partner outside come in and strike me until I fell unconscious. I don’t know where they put me while they waited. I’m guessing I was kept in that back storage room where she took me.”

Rudy formed a small fist with his hand. Not much made him angier than someone who pretended to be a friend who backstabbed, and then dare say they were sorry without giving anyone a reason to believe that they were sincere. Such people were some of the worst. He was glad that neither of his friends were like that.

Snap rubbed his head. “I remember waking up and being carried by those guards. I believe you know the rest.”

Penny, looking at Snap sympathetically, moved in closer and placed her hand on his head, where he was rubbing it. “Does it hurt?”

Snap nodded his head. “It’s a little sore.”

Penny peered in closer. “Yeah, I can see a bruise. It’s mostly hidden under your mask. That’s why Rudy and I didn’t see it before.” She gently applied pressure. “Does it hurt really bad?”

Snap let out a yelp and pulled back from her. “Yes! Please, don’t do that!”

Penny bit her lip. “I’m sorry, Snap. Rudy, you...” Penny stared into Rudy’s eyes. They widened slowly when she appeared to realize something. “Oh...that’s right...” She lowered her gaze for a few seconds. “No magic chalk.” She looked back to Snap. “We’ll have to get that checked out later. Head injuries are no laughing matter.”

“Indeed, they aren’t.”

The trio stiffened up at that voice. They turned their heads, their eyes narrowing as they were greeted with the one sight that they didn’t want to see.

King Zander himself.

The deer-like zoner stood a few feet from their cage, his arms folded behind his back. He stared at them in silence, as if to contemplate what he wanted to tell them, or ask of them.

At first, it seemed like he was alone. A few seconds later, they were proven wrong when they could see, in the distance, the shadow of another zoner. The bird-like figure made them all realize that it must be Kairos. The bright orange eyes that cut through the darkness gave this away.

Rudy, Penny, and Snap glared at the king. They were tempted to give him a piece of their minds. They managed to keep themselves from doing so, and kept control of themselves. But just barely.

The king gave a chuckle as he appeared to notice them shaking. “Shaking. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were angry at me.”

“Grr... you’re darn right we’re angry!” Snap took a step forward. “Why are you...” He stopped when Rudy and Penny grabbed onto him and silenced him before he made things worse.

“It is still sad you don’t know. Sad that you aren’t acknowledging what you did.” King Zander narrowed his eyes into slits. “That makes you all far bigger criminals than I would have expected. There’s nothing I hate more than criminals who act like they did nothing wrong.”

Rudy and his friends continued to frown at the king.

“At any rate, I didn’t come here to humor you.” King Zander looked behind him, back where Kairos was standing. He motioned with his hand. “Come on over here.”

Slowly, Kairos walked forward. His body was hunched and head low as he neared the king. Even though Kairos had revealed his true colors as someone who wasn’t afraid of causing pain, and almost seemed a little too eager to do so, he was still subordinate to the king. Seeing Kairos like this made the trio almost forget what kind of nasty and vile person he really was.

“I am surprised that you three did so well against the hippalectryon.” King Zander said in a casual tone of voice. “I would have thought that you would have all been crushed very quickly. Impressive that you lasted that long.” A thin smile spread along his lips. “My citizens were most pleased. They want to see more.”

Rudy growled. “We’re not some form of entertainment!”

“Oh but you are now.” King Zander’s eyes twinkled, his ears twitching once. “I had wanted to finish you all off quickly, but...I have a much better idea. Seeing the ones causing all our problems try to face off against obstacle after obstacle is most satisfying to my people. It makes the happy. And you three are still paying for what you did.” He raised his hand up in gesture. “So I came to wish you the best of luck. Do try to stay alive, and keep things interesting for my citizens. It’s the least you can do.”

Snap was about to lay out another retort, but Penny coverd his mouth and silenced him. Rudy gritted his teeth tightly, biting his tongue to prevent himself from saying something stupid.

The very idea of this king using them as entertainment... It was so disgusting. What kind of sick, twisted individual got kicks out of toying with the lives of others?

“Kairos.” King Zander glanced down at the still bowing bird. “Give them the stuff.”

Despite his anger and fear, Rudy still managed to speak, “Stuff? What stuff?”

In a matter of seconds, the door was opened up. Rudy and his friends had the temptation to get up and flee, but Kairos’s form blocked their path. They could only stand there and glare at the metal bird zoner as he rummaged through a bag slung around his body. They huddled together and braced themselves for a possible attack as the bird zoner pulled something out. Then, with a flick of his wing, something was thrown into the cage and the door immediately shut.

The trio flinched for a few seconds, their eyes shut. When they realized that nothing was happening, they opened their eyes and looked down towards the ground. They immediately noticed that there was a small bag on the ground that looked like it was filled with a number of stuff. Cautiously, they pulled the back open and looked.

There was one of the bottles of water Rudy and Penny had brought with, two sandwiches for the two human children, as well as some chalk water and chalk food that Snap could eat.

They couldn’t help but eye this suspiciously. They looked back at the two zoners before them. They knew that this was not an act of kindness. They couldn’t help but wonder if this was some sort of trap.

Rudy stared at the bottle of water intently. He could feel his chest flutter at this. Perhaps they could...

“Don’t even think about it.” King Zander said before Rudy had a chance to finish his thoughts. “I can see what you’re thinking there. If you dare try it, I will make sure you regret it.” At this, Kairos raised up a wing, the light shining on the metal tips. “Kairos and I will remain here while you eat. And Rudy Tabootie and Penny Sanchez? Finish that water. I don’t want a single drop left in that bottle.”

Rudy growled at this. Of course the king thought ahead enough to consider that. He had known they could use it later on to get out and he was deliberately preventing them doing doing anything with it for an escape.

“Well? What are you waiting for? Eat up.” Kairos told them, his eyes glinting. After just a few seconds of silence, he added, “If you don’t want it..”

“Kairos..”

“Sorry, sire.” Kairos immediately recoiled back.

King Zander stared at him for a few moments. Then he looked down at the trio. He seemed to notice their hesitation. His expression briefly showed a hint of understanding. It was gone almost as soon as it came in. “I promise you that we did not taint the food, if that is what you’re worried about. Now, if you are hungr or thirsty, finish it up. If not, then Kairos will take it back and you won’t be given the chance again for another two hours.”

The trio winced at the thought of not being able to eat or drink anything for another few hours. They could feel their stomachs growling and they felt their mouths get a little dry. They smacked their lips a little bit as they looked back down at the food again.

Come to think of it, they did use up a lot of their energy running around, trying to survive the hippalectryon’s attacks. As much as they hated to admit it, they needed their strength and energy and they had no choice but to take the king’s offer. Even though they had no idea if the king was telling the truth or not, what choice did they have? It was either this, or be hungry for even longer.

If they were going to escape, they needed all the energy they could get.

However, it seemed they waited too long for the king’s liking.

“Hmm... it seems you three aren’t hungry or thirsty yet. Kairos?”

Kairos began to move forward. Rudy, Penny, and Snap widened their eyes at this and leaned back.

“Wait! We’re going! See?”

Kairos paused and glared at the trio as they began to eat the sandwiches given to them. As much as it pained them to smile at their captors, they knew they had to do whatever they could to keep them from taking away the food and water. Thankfully, their act seemed to work and Kairos took a step back upon gesture from the king.

“Good. I knew you three would see reason.” King Zander folded his arms against his chest. “Now consume it all. I want you to have as much energy as possible so you will be able to handle the next round in the colosseum. My citizens wouldn’t like it very much if one of you fell asleep in the middle of the arena.” He gave a soft chuckle at that. “It would be rather boring, don’t you think?”

Rudy cast a glare at the king. He remained quiet, knowing that no about of yelling or snapping at the king would improve his or his friends’ situation. He looked back at his friends, each exchanging nervous, anxious, and angered expressions.

Under the watchful eyes of their two captors, they began to eat slowly.

sss

“Can’t you go any faster?” Denny grumbled.

He tapped his fingers against the table. He leaned against the wall with one hand, supporting himself. He looked down at Ian, who was pulled up in his computer chair, the monitor in front of him. The room they were in was dark, so the monitor provided their only light. The clicking sounds of keys being stroked filled the air, ringing in his ears.

Denny couldn’t remember how long he had been standing here. He could feel his hand start to get sore. He wanted to reorient himself, but he couldn’t; he was too busy looking at the screen to fully pay attention to his own bodily needs.

He wished that Ian would hurry up. He didn’t know how long the boss was going to be gone. The day wasn’t done yet. Not even close. The boss was still lurking around. If he came in here right now and saw them, he wasn’t sure what he’d do. Well, he might let Ian off, since he was part of security anyway. But for him... Denny would have to hope that his boss was in a good mood.

“It will take a little time.” Ian replied. “You must be patient.”

“I’ve been patient for the past hour!” Hissed Denny. “How long does this take?!”

“Longer than you might think. The video files are always encrypted and secured, and it’s all one huge file. Even if we knew an exact time, it would take a while to sort through and find the right place. I’m sorry if you were expecting an automatic ‘point and click and it’s there’ scenario like from the movies and TV. But that’s not how it works in real life.” Ian grumbled to him as he kept on typing.

Denny opened his mouth to reply. He thought better of it, and quickly shut it. What was the use? He wasn’t going to make Ian move any faster. He was certain that Ian could speed things up a little, but it was clear the man was more interested in keeping things going at his current, steady, monotenous pace. The only thing he could do was wait for him to finish.

He couldn’t remember the exact time he had seen those brats come into his office. He remembered it was a few hours ago, near the start of the work day for him. He gave the best time he could to Ian. He hoped that it would be enough to find that footage.

As Ian continued to sift through the footage, Denny could feel his heart begin to pound in excitement. He was getting so close to finally exposing his boss for the fraud that he was. He was getting close to making this library his. Yeah, not much of an aspiration, but he didn’t care. He had wanted to improve things here for a long time. Now he was finally getting his chance. He just needed that footage.

Then, after what felt like forever, there was a loud double click, static, and a video came up, zoomed in. He leaned in closer, staring at it intently. The feed was fuzzy and he could barely make out what was on the screen. He grumbled softly to himself about how they needed to get better equipment. He turned to Ian expectantly.

“This is from the time frame you gave me. This is the camera located in the hallway to your office.” Ian explained. He leaned back in his chair, folding his arms behind his head. “We just sit here and wait. If those children did go into your office, we will see them on camera.”

“I hope you’re right.” Denny said, his voice barely a whisper. “I don’t want to get disappointed again.”

“You won’t.”

Denny hoped that Ian would be able to come through for him. He had suffered disappointment time and time again. Not really Ian per say, but with himself. He had tried in the past to report a child, only to have his boss reprimand him. Even if he thought he had come up with a good way to convince the boss of the truth, he would dismiss it.

Now, it felt as if his whole life was riding on this. Depending on what they find, this might change his life for the better. He couldn’t defend himself before because the brats would just lie about what happened.

But with this... Video footage... There was no way that anyone could lie or deny what happened. If his boss continues to deny what happened, even in light of the evidence...

Denny couldn’t help but smile inwardly. Oh boy, that would be a good day.

“Okay, we got something.” Ian said softly.

Denny looked at the screen eagerly. The footage was still staticky, but that didn’t stop him from seeing the shadows moving along the wall. Two. Small ones. He recognized them as the same ones he had spotted before. As the footage continued to play, slowly, the figures came forward, getting into the view of the camera.

When they were close enough, the man’s eyes widened. He recognized these two children.

It was Rudy Tabootie and Penny Sanchez.

sss

Rudy covered his ears as the sound of scraping filled the air. He tried to block it out, but it continued to grate him, making him cover his ears tightly.

“Will you pipe down?!” Snap called out. Rudy didn’t know why Snap was bothering to try. It’s not like the guards were going to listen. “We can’t relax like you want us to with all that noise!”

Penny put her hand on Snap’s shoulder. “Give it a rest, Snap. You know they are just going to keep ignoring you.”

Snap looked up at Penny. He took in a few quick breaths, then he exhaled slowly. “Yeah...I know...” He cast another glare at the guards. “I’m not going to like it, though.”

“None of us are.” Penny said.

Rudy agreed with both his friends. With Penny, regarding the futility of arguing. And with Snap, regarding the irritation of the whole thing. He wasn’t happy just sitting around, doing nothing. Yet, that was all he and his friends could do right now. Sit and wait until King Zander called them in for another round in the colosseum.

He felt his mind burn. The king thought of them as some piece of entertainment. As if they were nothing more than mere toys that he could play with whenever he wanted to. Like they were just his property. He wanted to tear into the king so badly. Only the worry of punishment kept him from speaking out against him.

He had never met a zoner like this before. Even Skrawl treated them more like people than this king was, and that was saying something. He never thought he’d see the day when that jellybean was the more respectable one.

He turned his head and watched with one eye as the guards continued pushing the cage along the ground. Rudy wasn’t really sure what they planned on doing with it, but the sound it was making was highly grating to him. They had been doing this for the past ten minutes, process being slow and painful.

It was hard for him and his friends to relax. Well, they wouldn’t be doing much relaxing here, in a place like this. But the irritating scraping was making this task even harder. He was tempted to do what Snap did and yell at them to stop. Unlike Snap, however, he managed to hold his tongue, pressing his teeth against the flesh to discourage himself.

He turned to his friends. “What do you think they’re bringing the cage in for?”

“Who cares?” Snap grumbled softly. He folded his arms. “It’s probably nothin’ good anyway.”

Penny took a quick look at the cage, which was about two feet away from them at this point. “They are probably bringing in another prisoner. Perhaps a disobedient slave.”

“Knowing the king, I wouldn’t be surprised.” Snap rolled his eyes in irritation. “That guy is one huge creepazoid.”

“That, I can agree on. But we won’t get anywhere if we sit here, dissing the king.” Penny narrowed her eyes in a contemplative way. “We need to start planning a little more. Maybe we could use the next colosseum ‘round’, as the king puts it, to escape.”

“I’m not sure how we will be able to do that, Buckette.” Snap commented. He pointed a rounded hand in her direction. “Unless you are thinking we can fly out.”

Penny put a hand to her chin thoughtfully. “Well, that is an option. If we could just...”

“Hello?! In case you haven’t noticed, we can’t fly!” Snap cried.

“Shut up!” One of the guards yelled before they walked off, likely to get the new prisoner.

Penny glared softly at Snap. “You need to keep your voice down!”

“Well sorry!” Snap told her.

Rudy, not wanting to risk another potential outburst that would draw attention, stepped forward and spoke up. “I do agree that flight may be our best option. There are some zoners here that can fly, so we won’t be completely safe. But...” He turned his head to look upwards. “Flight would still give us an advantage.” He lowered his head back to its original posture. “If we had some way to achieve it...”

“Oh no you too, Bucko.” Snap looked at Rudy with a disappointed expression. “We need to think of something else. There’s no way that we will be able to find anything we could use to fly w...” A loud creak and the sound of footsteps interrupted him. Snap turned his eyes back, frowning. “Oh what now..?”

The trio turned their heads to see the guards returning. They could hear grunting sounds, and clanging off feet, and they knew that another prisoner was coming in. They turned their heads away, not wanting to see the guards mistreat someone else from the kingdom. They couldn’t help but feel sorry for whoever was being dragged into this mess.

But quickly, only seconds later, something became familiar about the grounds. They started to sound like someone that they knew, even though no words were spoken. And the clangs, it sounded as if there were more than one feet, and yet, they all felt... attached to the same body. They looked at each other, their eyes growing wide. Could it be possible that...?

“Unhand me!” The voice cried. “This is unexpectable!”

It was. They couldn’t believe it. It was him. But..what was he doing all the way down here?

“Shut it, bug!”

“Yeah! You can complain all you want. You are never leaving this place!”

A loud slam. Clanging of a door shutting. The stammering of feet as they climbed back up. “This wasn’t part of the deal! Come back here!”

Rudy, Penny, and Snap turned around. As soon as they saw the figure standing in the cage next to them, their suspicions had been all but confirmed.

“Barney?!” Rudy cried in shock.

At this, the centipede turned his head. His antenna straightened out in shock when he saw the trio in the cage. “My word... Rudy, Penny, and Snap?” He held his hand up in gesture. “What..What are you three doing here?”

“We could ask you the same thing.” Said Snap. “How did you end up here?”

Barney’s antennas curled inward a little. “It’s a long story. It’s... It’s my fault really. I should have known that this would have happened...”

“Oh don’t say that. I’m sure whatever happened wasn’t your fault.” Snap tried to comfort the zoner. He looked like he wanted to give Barney a hug, but he was blocked by the electrified bars.

“Please...” Penny held her hands together. “Why don’t you tell us what happened?”

Rudy nodded his head in agreement. “Yeah, Barney.” The centipede looked away. “Come on, Barney. We won’t judge you. Please..tell lus what happened.”

Barney looked back at them with a hesitant look. He sucked in a breath and sighed. “Well...okay.” He lowered half is body down, his legs sprawling out. He tapped his fingers together nervously, his wings folding flat against his body. “It all started when...”

He began to tell his story.

Chapter 11: Lights Up And Go



“But I already told you, I don’t have anything that would...” Barney started to say.

“Can you at least look?” Rudy cut him off. He held his hands up towards him in gesture. A silent pleading to get Barney to speak more. “You did say you rebuilt some of your internal database after it was messed with, right?”

“Well yes, but...” Barney didn’t get a chance to finish.

“Well isn’t there anything from that you could tell us?” Rudy asked him. “I mean...there has to be something...”

Barney shook his head. “I am almost certain that you would find nothing in here that will help us get out of this place. Nor will it provide enough information to know how to get around these Chalklantians. I would need to gather more information, and I can’t do that locked up in here.”

“Is that how you...” Penny asked before Barney cut her off.

“Yes.” Barney nodded his head once. “Since my internal system is disrupted at the moment, thanks to whoever had done this to me, I can’t store information the normal way anymore. I am sorry that I didn’t get that cleared up earlier. I was just so distraught with what happened lately with me and King Mumbo Jumbo that...”

“It’s all right.” Penny gave him a gentle smile. “We understand.”

Snap nodded his head in understanding. “Please continue.”

“Anyway, I am not able to store bits of information like I normally would. Normally, whenever something new happened in ChalkZone, there’s a sort of...signal I get...” Barney raised his hands up. He paused for a moment, and then said, “I don’t think I can explain it. But that what happens. Well that signal was disrupted, and now everything has to be entered manually. Which for me, just means experience or seeing it for myself.” He folded his arms to himself. “Yeah, tedious I know...”

He tapped his foot a few times, expressing his displeasure towards the idea of manually entering data. Rudy, Penny, and Snap could sympathize, especially Rudy and Penny. That would be like having to go from printing out paper to having to write everything themselves. Their hands hurt as they recalled how much that ached.

Barney turned his head and looked at his different pods that hooked up to him, each one with a different set of letters. He frowned deeply, thoughtfully, as he continued to trail his eyes until they reached his last body part. Then he turned his head away and sighed.

“Well, I am glad that, at least, they didn’t destroy all my internal data...” The centipede mumbled under his breath. “I still have access to everything else. Just not Chalklantis.”

Rudy was relieved by this, and he knew his friends were as well. Barney relied a ton on his pods when it came to information. Rudy guessed that Barney’s own brain is incapable of storing nearly as much information, and the insect zoner had gotten so used to them being in his parts that he had neglected to try to save some of the information in his own brain. Penny did say that brains do have a limited space to store information, even if they could store a ton, and Barney’s design helped to alleviate the burden from his brain.

Unfortunately, this meant a lot of trouble for the centipede if that information was disrupted. If data were continuously erased, Barney would risk reverting more and more into the ‘babbling moron’ from before. This storage type came with a huge cost. At least Barney swore never to disconnect himself again.

Rudy hoped that none of the zoners here got wise to this weakness of Barney and decided to use it against him. What would happen if they erased all entries of King Mumbo Jumbo? Or themselves? How would the centipede react?

Rudy tried not to think about it as he turned his attention back to Barney. He bit his lip. Despite what Barney told him, Rudy still refused to believe that there wasn’t something in there that could help. Barney still had trillions of other data pieces in there. Surely there would be something in there that could help them.

“Please...” Rudy’s soft voice came. Barney looked over at him. “Can’t you at least try to look?”

“Look, I told you. I already...” Barney started to speak.

“Well you can look again, right? After all, sometimes if you look a second time, or third time, you will find somethin’ you haven’t before.” Snap suggested, holding up his hand.

Penny looked at Snap for a second. There seemed to be a flash in her eyes. “Snap is correct, Barney.” She looked at the centipede. “You’ll be amazed at what you can find if you look more than once in the same place. So why don’t you give it a try? What do you have to lose?”

“Well we have time to lose. We need to...” Barney paused for a moment. He gritted his teeth, looking left and right. “Well, I suppose I can try something.”

Rudy smiled at this, glad to hear that the centipede was trying to be more cooperative. He and his friends watched and waited as Barney shut his eyes and started to look in his internal database.

However, there was a disruption.

A loud bang caused them all to jump into the air. They turned their heads over to see that the guards had returned. They were stomping their way towards them, their hands holding the same cuffs they had used on them before.

Rudy hunched his back, narrowing his eyes. “What do you guys want...?”

There was no answer, not that he expected one. He and his friends took on defensive stances while Barney looked at the guards warily. As the door was opened up, Rudy, Penny, and Snap prepared to fight back. They hoped that, maybe if they struggled enough, they could squeeze past and escape this joint.

But the struggle was brief. The guards were too quick and strong. They grabbed onto Rudy’s arms roughly and swiftly, and yanked them behind his back. Rudy winced as he felt the metal press against his skin as the cuffs were in place again. He heard a couple more clicks and he turned his head to see that his friends were already handcuffed as well. The guards then dragged them out, despite their best efforts to escape, and began to take them down the hallway like they did before.

The only difference was that, this time, they had someone else joining them. Rudy looked behind him and struggled to see what was going on with Barney. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see that Barney was being hauled over as well. Rudy expected the centipede to fly away until he realized that his wings had been bound tightly against him. He guessed Barney couldn’t undo them himself, or else they’d be off by now.

Rudy scowled at the treatment of his friends. How roughly they were pulled. How the guards didn’t care if they were making them uncomfortable. But there was nothing Rudy could do about it. He was helpless to stop himself, or any of them, from being dragged back towards the arena. His eyes widened and his heart began to thump as they were being taken place back towards that horrible place.

sss

Well it seemed that the king had anticipated the problem of ringing Barney into the arena. He must have known that they would try to free his wings, so he had taken care of that. The top of the arena was now covered in a dome. It stretched all around, completely blocking out any sign of light from the outside, trapping them inside. This completely cut off any flight route for the centipede in case his wings got free.

Not that flying would have done them any good here. Rudy noticed that there were a few flying zoners stationed at strategic points. They were all glaring at them coldly, their eyes flicking, pupils shrunk. They bared their sharp teeth or gritted their beaks, depending on what they had, and appeared to be waiting for orders.

Rudy gulped as he continued to walk into the arena under the watchful eyes of these zoners. The king had readly thought ahead for this. Perhaps he was concerned that they would succeed in escaping this time, and had taken measures to ensure that didn’t happen. Well the king truly outdid himself this time. Rudy doubted that he and his friends would be able to escape with all this security around them. They wouldn’t get far.

Rudy grunted as the guards pushed him and his friends roughly. He turned to glare at them, but was only meant with a rougher push against his shoulder. He shut his eyes and gritted his teeth. He tried to keep himself from tripping and falling over. This became difficult when he was pushed again.

His friends protested, and they were met with similar shoves. They were pushed around, knocked forward, struck, whatever to keep them moving. Even just pausing for a second was enough to make the guards shout at them and push them and threaten them.

Eventually, as they neared the center, Rudy could feel his foot get caught in some kind of wedge in the ground. He toppled forward a little, but managed to reorient himself. He lowered his head and panted.

Suddenly, one of the guards grabbed him and pushed him hard into the ground. He could hear his friends call out for him. Rudy could hear them being struck, heard them yelping in pain. He tried to turn his head, but one of the guards immediately stepped on his face, pushing it into the ground. Rudy shut his eyes and gritted his teeth, feeling the dirt pressing hard against his head. He struggled to look up at the zoner, but he could barely see much of anything.

The guard slowly lifted his foot up. Rudy turned his head upwards and stared up at the zoner. There was a broad sneer spreading across his face, a twinkle of what looked to be almost insanity in his eyes. Rudy glared at him, but said nothing.

“Get on your feet, vermin.” The guard said coldly. “Or do you want another meeting with the ground?”

Rudy wanted to say something, but he held his tongue. He bowed his head slightly as he climbed up to his feet. He faced the guard, keeping his head down, hoping that the guard wouldn’t strike him again. Though the guard left him alone physically this time, that didn’t stop him from striking at Rudy mentally.

“Hmph. How pathetic.” The guard said in an amused tone of voice. “You’re such a little maggot. I should push you back into the ground, but I think you just existing as you are is punishment enough.”

Rudy shot him a glare, but the guard only laughed at this.

“Come on.” Said one of the other guards. “Let’s leave them to their fate.”

After Rudy and his friends were uncuffed. Not in a very gentle way either. There were plenty of winces and yelps, and Rudy felt as if the cuffs sliced against his wrists. The guards only laughed at them before they walked away, twirling the cuffs in their hands as they disappeared, this time leaving them completely alone.

Well considering the extra security, it was little wonder that they weren’t needed.

But right now, they weren’t Rudy’s main concern. As he looked all around, back in the same, horrible crowd as before, moving closer to his friends, he knew that they had much bigger things to worry about.

The sound of clopping caught his attention. He whipped his head over. He could see King Zander back on that podium. The sight of the deer-like zoner made his blood boil, his hands clutched into fists. As the king got closer to the mic, he started to wonder what other lies he might spew, and what other propaganda he would fuel to his people.

“I can’t believe we are here again.” Penny said softly. Her body was slightly hunched as she looked around. Her wide eyes practically flashed with images of what happened here the last time. “We were so lucky last time...”

“I don’t think our luck’s run out yet, Buckette.” Snap assured her as he placed his hand on her shoulder. Penny looked down at him. “You’ll see. The king might have us trapped, but he’s still far from taking us down.”

Penny smiled at this. “Yeah, I know.” She frowned again, turning her head away. “But how long can we keep this up?”

Now it was Rudy’s turn to try to cheer Penny up. “So long as we remain together, we’ll be fine.” He tried to sound as convincing as he could, but even he wondered how long they’d last. Still, they wouldn’t get far if they remained negative. “And we have Barney on our side now.”

“Yeah...I know.” Said Penny.

Despite what she said, Penny still sounded really worried. In truth, so was Rudy as well. Neither of them had any idea how long this could go on. She was right; they would get worn out if this kept up. They couldn’t keep coming in here and try to survive the arena. They needed some way to get out of here, and fast.

Even with Barney with them, that didn’t really increase their chances of getting out. He just brought him up because he felt that maybe if he reminded Penny they had a little more help, it would help her feel better. He wasn’t really sure how well it worked.

Barney took a few steps towards Penny. Rudy watched him, remaining silent along with Snap. The centipede bit his lip, looking like he wanted to tell Penny something. He opened his mouth to speak, but he soon shut it when there was a loud thump that rang through the air, and feedback that ripped through their heads.

The king had begun to speak.

“My citizens, the next gladiator round shall commense! Our ‘guests’ here may have survived the hippalectryon, but how long do you think they will last? How many rounds do you think they can take? Are you all ready to find out?”

The crowd all around them began to cheer and shriek in excitement. Rudy and his pals cringed at this. They huddled even closer. Somehow, the zoners cheering for them to fight was a lot more terrifying than them calling out for death. These zoners didn’t care about them; they just wanted to see them fight for their lives. The fact that they find all this to be fun was horrifying.

The zoners whistled and shouted at them and at the king, demanding that he release whatever beast upon them so they could see a fight. The citizens were growing restless, some of them looking like they were ready to jump out of their seats and force a fight if they had to. This made Rudy’s heart skip a beat, looking left and right as he half expected some of the citizens to jump down and attack them just to prompt a move from them.

He looked over at his friends. He could see how frightened they were. The sight of this made Rudy clinch his fist at his side in determination. He would ensure that they would find a way out of this. As he looked into their eyes, he could see the same level of determination in their eyes as well. They weren’t going to give up just yet either, even if they did look terrified.

“You want more?!”

The crowd cheered louder and louder as the king egged them on. He was shaking a fist up in the air, deliberatly riling up the crowd to get more excited for the inevitable showdown. His eyes were wide, flashing with something similiar to insanity, just as the guard had before.

As this happened, there was the familiar sound of gates rising up. Low, rumbling, trembling. The trio, along with Barney, turned their heads to look at whatever it was that was going to come towards them. They didn’t see anything yet, but the sight of the glowing eyes was enough to tip them off that they were in big trouble.

“I will give you more!” King Zander called out. A twisted smile grew along his black muzzle, his teeth shining in the light. “Let’s see how our present ‘champions’ do against this next beast! It will not be as easy as last time! Will they hold out, my citizens? Can they hold out?”

“Bring it on!”

“Let’s see them fight again!”

“Start the show! Now!”

Snap narrowed his eyes, growling under his breath. “I’d like to see how much they’d love it if they were the ones here, trying to survive...”

“Well they aren’t here. We are. So let’s focus on ourselves for now.” Barney said, tapping his fingers together nervously. “Whatever it is the king has in store for us...”

“Bring out the manticore!”

All eyes in the colosseum turned to the massive shadow that was coming into the arena. The loud footsteps could be felt. Judging by some of the reactions in the audience, even zoners way up high were able to feel the vibrations.

Rudy and his friends winced with each step. They held their ground, feet firmly planted, as they faced the creature. They all tried to look as brave as they could, but they didn’t know how long this was going to hold out as the creature got closer and closer. The light soon shined upon it, revealing its form. Penny gasped in horror, taking a step back, while Rudy and Barney flinched and Snap held up his fists to prepare to fight, despite looking just as scared as them.

The creature was huge. Its front limbs were as thick as tree trunks, with a huge chest. Its body narrowed and became smaller as it went on, but even the back end was packed with muscle. Its body was covered in brown and light brown fur, with black surrounding the head, which was eerily human-like, save for some non-human characteristics. Pointed ears, long fangs, and an extended mouth to name a few.

A long, red scorpion tail shot out from behind. The segmented tail ended in a horrific-looking stinger, which had some line details on it that indicated that its stinger could be shot. The stinger seemed a perfect compliment to the huge, red bat-like wings, which were spread out, making the creature look bigger. Huge claws started to extend out of its lion-like paws, the tips glinting in the light to show off how sharp they were.

The most surprising feature, which, as Rudy noted to himself, wasn’t a normal quality of the manticore, was the glow. There were several crystal-like structures that jetted out of its body. The shoulders, the back, and hips all had these glowing crystals. As they flashed and alternated, it became apparent that the creature could control the illumination at will.

The beast’s eerily human-like eyes stared down at them, the human-like nostrils flared, and the teeth, razor sharp, were bared. The human-like ears, which had some flexibility, folded back slightly. A low rumble came form its throat, a few ‘pops’ to show just how threatening it was. The fur rose on end, its body rippling with muscle, the scorpion tail swishing from side to side.

Snap took a step back. “That...is one huge kitty cat...” The weak attempt at a joke fell flat as Snap’s voice was lost, fear gripping his mind.

The manticore let out a loud roar, nearly shaking the ground. But instead of charging, it just stood there, pacing back and forth slowly. It was almost like it was thinking, calculating its next move. But Rudy realized this wasn’t the case. His eyes focused on the tail, noticing the way it was moving. He quickly realized what was going to happen.

“Look out!” Rudy cried as he jumped against his friends.

A few seconds later, there was a loud spraying sound, and the hissing of something behind them. They laid on the ground for a few moments. Then, when they worked up the courage, they turned their heads. The sight of what was before them brought several gasps, sickened stomachs, and hands to mouths.

The ground right where they stood had been charred. Burned to a crisp. Blackened. They could see the remnents of green fluid in that spot. It was still eating away at the ground.

The trio and Barney took in several quick, panicked breaths at this. They were unable to turn their eyes away, their bodies shaking in horror. They looked back at the manticore, whose tail was pointed straight at them, the tip threatening to slice them open.

“B-Barney...?” Rudy whispered, leaning his head towards the centipede, speaking through clenched teeth. “Do you have anything on manticores...? How do we stop this thing...?”

Barney fumbled. “Well, let me look it up and...”

Suddenly, the manticore charged forward. Its mouth spread open, far wider than anything human could. It bit down on Barney and lifted him up into the air. It started to shake him hard, its teeth pressing against his skin.

“Barney!” The trio called out.

“Help!” Barney cried as his legs kicked and dangled. “Get me down from here!”

“We’re coming, Barney!” Penny cried out.

“Just hang on!” Shouted Snap.

The trio approached the beast quickly. However, they realized too late that they should have been quieter, as the beast had turned to see them. Before they could react, the manticore kicked them back with one of its hind legs, the foot smashing against them. They screamed as they were tossed to the side.

“Oh come on! You can do better than that!”

“Fight! Fight! Fight!”

Rudy rubbed his head as he picked himself up from the ground. He tried to ignore the chanting as he stared over at the manticore. His eyes narrowed deeply. He believed he had an idea. It was a crazy and stupid idea, but it was all that he had.

Bolting around behind the creature, Rudy soon stumbled upon what he had been hoping to find. A large rock. He grabbed onto it and lifted it up. It was a little heavy and it nearly slipped out of his hands. Holding it against himself with one arm, he pumped his other as he ran towards the front of the manticore.

“Rudy! What are you doing?” Snap called out as he struggled up to his feet. “Wait!”

“Rudy!” Penny hollered. She was now on her feet as she was staggering over to get to him. “I don’t think...!”

Rudy ignored them, his eyes focused on the manticore. Its jaws were still pressing against Barney. Its head was still flinging from side to side as it rapidly shook the centipede in its jaws. The sight of this made his heart clench, especially seeing the terrified look in Barney’s eyes. He couldn’t allow this to continue on any further.

The ten year old boy sucked in a deep breath, preparing for what he was about to do. He took a step forward and, his arm muscles tightening up, he thrust the rock forward, launching it in the air.

The piece of stone whirled through the air, spinning around. It was heading straight towards the beast. The manticore seemed to realize something was happening. It turned its head, its eyes locking onto the rock. Rudy’s own widened when he realized that the change in trajectory would cause the stone to hit something that he didn’t intend.

The beast’s eye.

The manticore immediately shrieked when the rock hit its eye. Its loosened jaws caused Barney to drop onto the ground. The centipede scrambled to get away as the manticore thrashed about, throwing its head from side to side, its uninjured eye wide open in agony.

Rudy felt his body shake at this. This..This wasn’t what he meant to do... He watched, biting his lip nervously, as the manticore continued to howl in pain as it pawed at its eye, trying to get the stone out. Rudy felt compelled to do something to help it, but he never got far with that thought process when the beast suddenly sprayed more acid in their direction. They had to jump out of the way to avoid getting hit.

Penny glared at Rudy. “What did you do?!”

“I didn’t mean to do that!” Rudy cried, his hands shaking. “I-I didn’t mean...”

“It doesn’t matter if you meant it or not, because now that beast is a lot angrier than before!” A terrified Snap cried as he stared wide-eyed at the manticore.

Rudy swallowed. “What are we going to do now?”

Penny watched the manticore for a few seconds. She turned to the others. “We have to stay out of its way the best we can. In this state, its attacks are going to be a lot more erratic and random. If we just...”

Penny never got a chance to finish as the manticore came barreling down towards them, having finished pawing at its eye. The one that was struck still twisted, as if it had something in it, and they thought they could see hint of pained tears in that eye. It lowered its head and rammed against Penny, causing her to cry out in pain.

“Penny!” Rudy cried as he reached out towards her.

Barney attempted to go after her, but he quickly realized that he couldn’t fly. “Oh if only my wings weren’t tied up...”

Rudy and Snap stared over at Barney. They were both tempted to try to untie his wings. But that would take too long, and King Zander would sure notice what they were doing. He could decide to rectify the situation by having the insect’s wing ripped off completely.

Thinking fast, the two began to rush towards where Penny was being held by the manticore. Even though neither of them had much of a plan, they both knew they couldn’t wait any longer, and action needed to be taken. As they got closer, they both began to veer off in opposite directions, heading towards opposide ends of the manticore.

Penny was being pushed into the ground by the large creature. Its paw rested against her chest, pressing down on it hard. Its face, the lips pulled back into the snarl, were threatening to chop her head off with a single blow. Penny was managing to keep the beast’s head away from her, but just barely. Her arms were trembling as she was beginning to lose her grip on the beast’s face.

“Hey! Back off! Let her go!” Rudy shouted at the manticore. He could see the beast turn its head slightly. The head didn’t completely turn to face him, but Rudy could still feel part of an eye staring down at him intently. He took in a few shaky breaths, then he started to wave his arms up and down. “I’m the one who struck you in the face! Remember?”

The manticore’s face now faced him completely. Rudy thought he could see a glint of recognition in its eye. The sight of this made his blood run cold. He realized that he might have made a big mistake. But this was the only way to get the beast away from Penny and he wasn’t about to back down now.

“Well, if you want me, come and get me!” Rudy waved his arms as he rushed back. “Come on, you big chicken! Don’t you want to get back at me?”

The manticore let out a low rumble from its throat. The anger seemed to overflow from its eyes as it recognized him as the person who had hurt it earlier. Mistake or not, it was clear that the creature was not going to let him off the hook. Rudy narrowed his eyes and kept his feet firmly planted on the ground. He hunched himself, preparing for the attack.

The manticore looked down at Penny. It seemed to have lost interest in her completely. It swatted her away, knocking her into Snap, who been attempting to move around the beast for a distraction.

As the two laid on the ground and groaned, the manticore took a step towards Rudy. Its eye stared at him intently, narrowed slightly. It continued to bare its teeth at him. Rudy waited for the beast to charge at him, his body poised to jump to one side. But then something different happened that he didn’t expect.

The manticore’s light crystals suddenly light up. A massive glow swept over its body, spreading throughout the arena. The Chalklantians didn’t seem fazed, as if they were used to this light. But Rudy let out a cry of pain from the extra illumination. He turned his head away, covering his face in desperation as he tried to ride out the pain.

He managed to open one eye partially. Though he could see mostly just white and light, he did see a shape, slight shadows, heading straight for him. He could feel the ground beneath him quake as something heavy was coming toward him. Before he had time to react, something large and heavy had struck against him.

Rudy let out a scream as he was toppled across the ground. He heard faint booing and shouting from the zoners in the audience as he laid there, his head spinning. He pushed himself on his hands, holding his head. He looked back, his eyes slowly blinking as the illuminated beast came rushing towards him a second time. Unable to get up fast enough, all Rudy could do was watch.

Chapter 13: To Blame The Savior



“I will tell you why...”

Rudy glared at King Zander as he stood a few feet in front of them. The sound of the king’s voice made his body freeze and he found it hard to move anything. Not even the fingers on his right hand. It was as if he was encased in a large piece of ice and the king was watching from his outside icy prison.

He could barely fight back the tension and emotion that was rising up inside of him. His mind was screaming at him to respond in some way. Here the king was. They could capture him and force and deal and...

No, that wasn’t like them. He and his friends couldn’t do that. Such an act would only further confirm the Chalklantian zoners’ opinions on them. If they wanted to prove to them that they were wrong, they would have avoid such acts, no matter how intolerable they might be.

He tried to ignore the pain in his arm. That turned out to be impossible. It thundered through his arm like some sort of parade, traveling up the limb and over his shoulder, and back down again. The pain was intense and stabbing, and felt like someone was constantly pounding on the limb until it broke. He hissed as he felt a shockwave of pain move up suddenly and he tried to clutch his arm. He barely managed to stop himself.

A broken arm. Great, just great. That was all that he needed right now.

And the king knew about his broken arm. He could see the way he was looking at him. Those dark brown eyes moved up and down his broken limb. Rudy tensed up, holding his right arm over his broken left. There was little doubt in his mind that King Zander would use this to his advantage.

At least it was his left arm this time. He still had his artistic skills. But he was still at a disadvantage, and the pain... How long would he last in the arena now?

His thoughts were interrupted when the king’s long, tense-filled silence was finally broken. The king cleared his throat, and tapped against the mic that he still held, causing a string of feedback to erupt through the arena. He, Penny, Snap, and Barney tensed up and watched as the king began to make another speech.

“You are responsible for the head deflator disease to strike my beautiful city!” King Zander snarled into the mic. Rudy and his friends looked at each other in confusion. “Many years ago, some of my citizens were struck by this debilitating disease and are no longer with us. I had thought that it was all over, but in recent events, I had discovered the disease had returned. Already a handful of my citizens had perished in this disease, including two of my nobles. I cannot permit this to continue on!”

Amidst the anger-fueled speech that the king was giving, Rudy couldn’t help but feel confusion regarding what he was talking about. He looked at his friends, and they seemed confused as well. None of them had ever heard of such a thing before. A head deflator disease? What exactly did that entail?

Looking over at Barney, Rudy noticed that he was fumbling his hands a little nervously. There was little confusion in his eyes. Instead, horrific realization. Barney seemed to know what this disease was. Judging from his reaction, it wasn’t anything good. The sight of Barney’s expression made Rudy’s stomach sting and churn as he started to feel ill. Was this disease as bad as the balloonemia one?

“I knew I had to find a way to stop this dreaded disease. So I took it upon myself to find out what was causing it and where it had come from. After much research, I had found the cause and the culprits. And that would be you, oh Great Creator...”

“What?!” Rudy cried in shock. “But...”

“How can you blame him? He’s always helping people! He wouldn’t...” Snap stared to say. He was silenced when King Zander rounded on him.

“Yeah, he’s helping alright! Helping to bring about a new apocalypse for my people!” King Zander snagged Snap up by his neck and held him in front. Rudy, Penny, and Barney watched in shock as Snap struggled and kicked in the king’s grasp. The king was choking him. “And I know that you and the girl there helped him!”

“Snap!” Rudy cried.

“Let him go! Please!” Penny pleaded with him.

King Zander stared at her coldly. “Why should I? You murderer...”

Penny bit her lip nervously, pulling her head back. “Please, I...I didn’t mean to...” She shook her head once and glared at him. “You’re not going to try to guilt trip me. Now let our friend go!”

King Zander gave a cold chuckle at this. “You forget who you are speaking to.” His eyes narrowed dangerously as he tightened his grip, causing Snap to gag. “No one speaks to me orders...”

Penny’s eyes widened in horror at this. “Please..”

Rudy took a step forward, ignoring the agonizing pain in his arm the best he could. “Come on! Please spare him! He didn’t do anything to you!” He hissed in pain, and felt a pang of growing worry and horror in his stomach as he watched Snap try to pull the king’s fingers from his neck. His hands kept slipping. “Come on...we’ll do anything... Please let him go...”

Rudy tried to fight back the tears. He tried not to look as desperately broken as he really was. He didn’t want the king to have that kind of sick pleasure.

Such a task was futile. He couldn’t stop the tears from moving down his face. He couldn’t stop his shoulders from shaking. He couldn’t turn his eyes away from his struggling friend. He could feel his heart ache and twist as he watched Snap’s kicking legs slowly weaken. And the blue color spreading across his face...

“Please let him go!”

“Hmm...” King Zander stood there in silence for a while. The only sound that could be heard was Snap’s gagging and struggles to breath. He slowly looked down at the zoner. At this point, Snap looked like he was going to pass out any second. “Well...”

Without warning, King Zander threw Snap into the ground. The zoner laid there in a heap, shakingly holding himself up with one hand while his other pressed against his chest. He coughed and gagged as he struggled to refill his lungs with oxygen.

“Snap!” Penny rushed to Snap’s side, grabbing him gently by the arm. “Are you okay?!”

Snap opened his mouth to speak. But only a cracking gag could be made before he went into a coughing fit. Penny stayed there with him, gently rubbing his back.

Rudy stared at this in shock before swinging a glare at the king. “You...”

King Zander raised up his hand. “Not another word out of you, boy. Or do you want me to be more thorough next time?”

Rudy’s eyes widened at this. He growled softly, then took a step back and lowered his head.

King Zander smiled slightly at this. “I didn’t think so.”

Rudy continued to glare at King Zander. He could feel his blood heating up at the way he was treating him and his friends. But there was nothing he could do about it. If he dare try to take a move against him, he would only incur the wrath of the king and his people would surely come to his aid. So he remained quiet.

Rudy looked over at Barney. The centipede had remained quiet the whole time. He never once tried to defend Snap or get the king to let go. The thought of this infuriated Rudy. A part of him wondered if Barney was even a friend at all.

But the expression on his face made Rudy have second thoughts.

Barney still looked horrified by the whole ordeal. But there was something more in his eyes. Rudy soon realized that it was recognition, as if the zoner had experienced this before and...

King Mumbo Jumbo.

Rudy’s eyes widened at this. Barney must have been in this situation before with King Mumbo Jumbo. They had taken him from him. They had locked him away as hostage. Barney must have tried to plead for him. And it made things worse. It was no wonder Barney remained silent here.

“Now where was I before I was so rudely interrupted...?” King Zander tapped a finger against his chin. “Oh yes, I remember now.” He folded his arms behind his back as he began to circle around the group of four. “After I found out it was you, I had to figure out a plan soon, or else all my people would continue to suffer. It wasn’t easy making a decision, I tell you.” He stopped. “But then I thought... Why not bring you down here..?”

King Zander looked over his shoulders and stared right at them. His smile came back. Thin, fake, hiding so much negative emotion. “Here, away from your...zoner pals up there, you are helpless. I wouldn’t need to fear a retaliation. Then with you isolated, I could make you pay for what you did. I can make you take away the disease that you unleashed, and make sure you are punished for bringing it in the first place.”

“We didn’t...!” Rudy started to say.

King Zander cried, “Enough of your lies, boy!” He swung his hand downward in a demanding fashion. “I’m sick of it! We’re all sick of it! It’s bad enough you come from the surface! Where all of our past enemies had come from! But the fact that you are a disgusting, filthy human makes it even worse! Don’t put yourself in a deeper hole by denying what you have done!”

The crowd all around began to shout in agreement with the king.

“Yeah! We know what you did!”

“Stop lying to us!”

“Admit the truth!”

“Horrible human! You won’t get away with this!”

King Zander raised his hand up. “Silence!” Immediately, the crowd died down. They continued to glare at the group as the king turned to address them again. “I know you get your kicks from spreading chaos and acting like some hero, boy...” Rudy glared at him. “But you should have the decency of at least admitting what you have done...”

Rudy took a step forward. “I didn’t do anything.”

King Zander’s eyes widened at this. Then they narrowed dangerously. “Still fabricating the truth to escape justice, I see. I should have known. You’re just like all the other past creators, who always acted like they weren’t to blame for the chaos that they wrought!”

“But we’re telling the truth.” Penny said softly. “Yes, Rudy accidentally caused some problems, but..he didn’t meant to! And he always fixed them!”

The king cocked an eyebrow at this. “It sounds more like he’s just covering his tracks. Typical creator.”

Rudy gritted his teeth, stifling himself. There was little point in arguing with this madman. If he was so hellbent on blaming him for what was going on in his kindgom, then there was little hope of convincing him other wise. The same went for his people. They all followed the king so loyally and agreed with what he was saying about them. He knew none of them would be convinced.

In the end, he and his friends were still trapped here, a slave to their twisted sense of entertainment. Dealing with an allignment of Skrawl, Craniac 4, and Jacko sounded like a vacation compared to ths. At least those three were straightforward about how they were and what they wanted.

Rudy let out a hiss of pain when King Zander suddenly moved in closer to him. His thick fingers grabbed onto his chin and he pushed him back slightly, brushing against his broken arm. He fought back the tears as he glared at the king.

“It is incredible.” King Zander tilted his head. “How do you hide such evil behind those eyes of yours? You have such beautiful green eyes..”

Rudy stiffened up at that comment.

“And yet it’s all just a mask of hiding how dangerous you really are.”

Rudy rubbed his chin when King Zander released him. The king walked away from him, pacing around the group slowly. He and the others watched him carefully, wondering if he was going to make a move towards them. So far, King Zander didn’t try to attack, but all that could change in a blink of an eye.

“Now I have a question for you, Rudy.” King Zander spoke as he closed in and walked around him only. Bardey chewed his fingers nervously and Penny and Snap looked ready to come over, hesitating only due to the security. “Why don’t you tell me exactly where you found the head deflator disease...”

Rudy turned his head to follow the circling zoner. “What?”

“Tell me where the head deflator disease originated. If you relinquish the information, I’ll be more than happy to consider letting you and your friends go. If not...” King Zander stood behind Rudy, moving his head until it nearly rested on Rudy’s left shoulder. “I cannot guarantee you a mere broken limb will be the worst you’ll get. Kairos will see to that.”

Rudy shot a horrified glance at his friends. He could feel his blood chilling at the thought of what that bird would do to him and his friends. King Zander was willing to have them killed. And all for a crime that he himself did not commit.

Rudy did have a choice. He could lie and act like he was responsible. He could stop fighting the accusations and roll with them, and then try to help them stop it. Maybe if he did that, even if under the guard of the king himself, maybe the zoners here would at least let them go. He wouldn’t mind being banished from here. He and his friends would be fine. They had no intention on coming back to Chalklantis.

But...would that really be fair? He would be convicting himself of something he didn’t do. If someone else had released the disease, he would be allowing them to escape. Then something like this could happen again.

Not to mention, he didn’t know where it came from or how to stop it. His lie would be exposed soon, and the king would realize this and spread mor slander about him and his friends. He could get the whole kingdom worked up, and he and his friends would be in huge trouble. What would be the odds of escape then?

So he did the only thing he could do.

He told the truth.

“I didn’t release any head deflator disease. I had been on many adventures in ChalkZone, and the only epidemic I had ever encountered was balloonemia.”

At the mention of this, several zoners began to speak at once. It was easy to tell that they recognized the disease. There were some worried expressions, but nothing too fearful. This made sense considering these zoners lived underwater, so the infla...the tiny red bats couldn’t get to them.

Rudy continued, “I am, however, willing to try to put a stop to this epidemic. I found a cure for balloonemia. I can do the same for head deflator. Give me a chance, and I can cure the ones stricken, and I will drive out the disease.”

“You can trust him! He will do whatever he can to help you! If you would just give him a chance...” Penny said.

Snap nodded. “He won’t rest until that disease is capoot!”

Barney remained silent for a while. He still had that worried look in his face. He still must be suffering flashbacks of what had happened before. That ordeal with the king...it must have been horrible to keep him silent for this long.

But then Barney started to frown a little. He turned to the king and, slowly, he started to walk forward. Rudy watched, feeling impressed that the centipede was going to stand up to the king. That must be taking all the courage that he had left inside of him. Barney’s trembling legs were a giveaway that he would rather run off. Yet here he was, walking towards the king, trying to look as brave as he could.

Barney soon positioned himself in front of Rudy. His long body stretched across in front of him, while his front and back arched towards the king. Barney glared at the king for a few moments, his brave face doing little to hide the fear that he was feeling.

“Barney, what are you...?” Penny found herself saying.

“Barney, get back here.” Snap said, who kept looking at the king nervously. He rubbed his throat, his eyes flashing with the memory of what had nearly happened to him.

But Barney didn’t listen to them. He just focused on the king. The two locked eyes with each other for several moments. The tension that grew in the area was unnerving. Rudy shivered as he felt it close in all around him, threatening to crush him.

Penny and Snap moved closer together. Penny put an arm around Snap protectively as she looked around. The king had said nothing yet, but there was still a chance that he could snap his fingers and cause the guards surrounding them, higher in the arena, to jump down. Their electrical staffs were raised, sparkling menacingly.

“What do you want, insect?” King Zander said. There was a bit of annoyance in his voice. He sounded tired of dealing with Barney, making the trio wonder the full extent of their confrontations. “And be careful of what you say. Your friend is in enough hot water as it is.”

Barney flinched at that threat for a moment. “I just wanted to tell you...tell all of you...what Rudy has done for me and the citizens of ChalkZone! When the balloonemia was unleashed, he and his friends resolved to stop it! When he found out he caused it, that only increased his determination to do something about it! He and his friends risked their lives to combat the dreaded disease! Rudy was even going to sacrifice himself to stop the bats!”

This admittance caused some murmuring to spread through the crowd. Rudy wondered if some of this was getting through to them.

Barney spread his hands outward. “I know that you are all angry! But rest assured that Rudy Tabootie and his friends would do whatever they can to stop this! Give them a chance!”

Silence fell upon the arena. None of the Chalklantians were speaking at this point. Their expressions were unreadable. Rudy couldn’t tell if they had actually listened or if they were getting tired of ‘hearing their lies’. Despite the odds, Rudy quietly hoped that at least some of the zoners were awoken from this nonsense.

King Zander, however, simply stared at Barney with folded arms. His eyes were narrowed softly, part of his lip curled up. Despite looking a bit mad, the king made no move towards the insectoid zoner. He just stared at him as if he was waiting for Barney to be completely done with this speech.

When Barney said no more, the king pulled his head back. He tapped his fingers against his shoulder. His eyes remained narrowed as he contemplated a response of some kind. Everyone watched him cautiously, waiting for him to make his verdict.

“That was a nice speech there.” King Zander said, a soft smile stretching across his face. “The boy was certainly...heroic.”

Rudy felt a small sense of hope rising inside of him. Could the king finally be starting to see reason?

“Indeed, locking himself inside the temple, and letting him perish due to lack of food... That certainly is quite courageous. Not many people would be willing to do such a thing.”

At first, it really was starting to look like the king had gotten some sense knocked into him. It seemed like he was starting to understand that Rudy would love to help people, and that he would be more useful that way, instead of just being punished and destroyed based on what was likely a misunderstanding.

Suddenly, the king’s face contorted a little, the smile fading slightly as his head tilted. “However, as much as I love a good story...”

“It’s not just a story!” Barney cried. “It’s the truth!”

King Zander ignored him. “I’m afraid it’s not good enough to alleviate the troublemakers.” He folded his arms against his chest. “Accident or not, it was still their fault, and they still must be punished.”

Rudy stared at the king in shock, unable to believe what he just said. Was the king still going to punish them even though they were willing to help out? Was he really going to pass up their offer based upon these beliefs that he was sticking by? Just...why was he doing this? It didn’t make any sense.

He could feel his blood heating up. He could feel his lips spreading to show his teeth. He could feel his body shaking with emotion. He looked at his friends. Penny looked shocked while Snap looked just as angry as he did regarding what the king had said. And Barney himself as a mixture of both.

Rudy took a few steps forward as he joined Barney at his side. King Zander turned and looked at the boy with some interest. His glare had softened up as he waited for Rudy to speak. He gave a nod of his head, allowing the boy to proceed.

“Don’t you think you’re being unfair? My friends and I are offering our services.” Rudy raised his hand up in the air. “We are offering to sacrifice our time to come down here and aid you all in combating this disease. But you...” Rudy moved his hand towards King Zander. “You’re not even willing to give us a chance! How can we prove ourselves and how can the disease be stopped if you think we did it and yet you won’t let us lift a finger to help?!”

The zoners in the stadium were starting to see the point. Loud murmurs and statements spread all around as the zoners looked at one another and spoke.

“He does have a good point.”

“Why don’t we let him clean up his mess?”

“What better punishment could their be than forcing him to own up to his mistakes?”

Rudy smiled at this, looking at the king. The people all around were speaking up, their voices getting louder and louder. While this wasn’t a democracy, he knew that the king would have to be swayed a little by the voice of the people. Especially if he wanted to retain any level of loyalty. If he destroyed the ones that could stop this disease...how well would that reflect upon him?

The king looked annoyed by this turn of events. Rudy could see the scowl on his face, his narrowed eyes looked into his. Rudy knew he had the king, and just folded his arms and smirked at him. The king would have no choice but to comply, or risk an uprising from his own people when he deliberately destroyed the one thing that could save the mall from the epidemic.

Soon the king lowered his eyelids and sucked in a breath through his clenched teeth. Rudy could practically feel the energy radiating off of that breath. The king lowered his ears slightly and stared at Rudy, who awaited for his answer.

“Very well then.” King Zander said. “I will consider your offer.” This was spoken through slightly clenched teeth, and Rudy could detect the hesitation in his voice. King Zander turned his head to the guards. “Escort them back to the cell. I will join them shortly to talk more about this.”

Three winged guards came down, their electrical staffs raised. They pointed them at the group.

“All right, let’s get going!” A guard snarled.

Rudy gave the king one last look before he followed the guards as they were escorted back to their cages. This time, unlike before, he didn’t have that feeling of dread or anger. Instead, he smiled softly, exchanging hopeful looks with his friends. Things were finally starting to look up for them. He was certain that the king would make the right choice, and everything would be straightened out.

sss

As Rudy and his friends were being escorted away, the king glared at them in disgust, his lip raised partially. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt this infuriated and offended. The fact that this boy was trying to shirk out of responsibilities was awful enough, but to make his own people turn on him like that...

He narrowed his eyes. He had to think of something that he could do. His next move was crucial. What he did next, he would need to be very careful. He didn’t want to look bad in front of his people. He couldn’t allow everything to be ruined all because he couldn’t control himself.

What was he going to do now? He already knew what he wanted to do, but if he went through with it, his people might question it if word got out. Rudy and his friends would definitely say something in the next arena. His citizens may be more willing to listen to what they had to say then. If he was going to go through with it, he’d need to update his plan a little.

His eyes began to twinkle as a plan started to formulate in his head. His ears flipped upward and a smile spread across his dark-colored muzzle. Yes, that just might work.

He turned his head to look towards a shadow on the wall. He knew very well who it was. He raised his fingers, placed two in his mouth, and whistled.

“Kairos! Come here!”

It only took an instant for the bird to rush towards him. The zoner lowered his head in respect, only cautiously seeking eye contact with him.

“Yes, sire?” Kairos said nervously. “What do you desire?”

King Zander smiled as he took a step closer to Kairos. “I need you to take care of a couple of things for me.” Kairos stared at him expectantly. “I did not appreciate the way that centipede stood up to me. I would like you to do something about that.”

Kairos gave the slightest hint of a smile. He looked excited, but he managed to contain himself. “Yes. I’ll get right on it.”

“And one more thing...”

Kairos paused. “Yes?”

“Hand me a piece of the boy’s magic chalk.” King Zander said. He held out his hand. “I trust that you still have them with you?”

Kairos nodded his head. “But, what do you...”

“Just hand me the chalk.” King Zander hissed under his breath.

Kairos did as he was told. He reached into his sash and pulled out a piece of magic chalk. He handed it to the king, who gripped it in his hand. King Zander stared at the piece, his eyes practically glowing with desire.

“Yes...” King Zander lifted the piece up, staring at it intently. “Things are about to get a little more...” He snapped the piece of chalk into two. “Interesting...”

sss

Snap wasn’t sure what to think of the situation.

Here they were, back in the cage. Barney was in his own, while he was with his human friends. They had only been in here for a few minutes, already his head was aching from what had happened recently. He wasn’t sure if he could relax any time soon.

The king did let them go. Sort of. They were back here. But it seemed as though their speeches they gave had gotten through to some of the zoners. No.. a lot of them. He remembered the looks on their faces. They all had mosty abandoned those aggressive looks. Most of them seemed interested in making them ‘clean up their mess’ at this point. It was clear to Snap, and to the others, that these zoners cared more about stopping the disease rather than tearing them apart.

But the way the king had looked at them as they left... He could practically see the rage in his eyes. The king did not look happy in the slightest. He wondered if it was because the king was now going to have a tougher time making a decision. The zoners here seem to support him and look up to him, and if he did something that was against what they expected...

Well, he was still the king. Should he even be worried? What could the citizens do? He had all kinds of monsters, or so it seemed, and he had plenty of guards with wicked-looking weapons. Could the citizens really do that much damage?

Well considering they greatly outnumbered them... yes they could.

“I know what you’re saying, Bucko..”

Snap stared over at his friend. Rudy looked quite happy and excited about this turn of events. Even though they were still imprisoned, the idea of being used to help stop the disease did sound like a lot better of a fate than gladitorial combat.

But that didn’t stop Snap from remaining worried.

“But we should be careful.” Snap turned his head and stared down the doors that they had come in from. No use going out that way; a large board on the other side kept the doors shut. “I’m not sure if I like this.”

“I have to agree with Snap, Rudy. King Zander hasn’t exactly been the most understanding person.” Penny looked down at her fumbling hands. “And I did kill that manticore, and he looked angry... And he didn’t look happy with well...any of us. Do you really think he is just going to let that go?”

“I know you’re still upset about the manticore, Penny. But...” Rudy turned to look at Penny. “It wasn’t your fault. Besides, I doubt King Zander is all that upset. He never really shown any sign of caring for these beasts. He was probably just upset that he lost his favorite one.”

Snap chimed in. “That doesn’t mean that he wouldn’t want to get even with her for that.”

“True.” Rudy admitted. He paused for a moment as he thought about what he was going to say next. He looked back at his friends. “I admit, I’m a little nervous myself. But...guys, what can the king do now? If he tries to hurt us and go back on his word to speak to us, then wouldn’t his citizens get upset? Wouldn’t they try to do something? They outnumber him.”

“You might have a good point. But remember, Rudy.” Penny looked at him with a worry-filled expression. “This king has given us very little reason to trust him.”

“I know, Penny. I know.” Rudy nodded his head slowly in understanding. “But let’s not...”

Snap cut him off.

“I know where you are getting at, Rudy. But let me go ahead and offer up this scenario. We all know that Skrawl has those Beanie Boys, right? He rules them. They obey him. But there’s a lot more of them and they are strong. But I’ve never seen a Beanie Boy retaliate. Skrawl has them wrapped around his finger, and he does a lot to abuse them.”

Rudy was quiet for a moment. “Where are you getting at, Snap?”

“What I’m saying is... would the citizens even go against the king?” Snap held up his hand in gesture. “Think about it. Your plan relies on the citizens turning against the king. Even if they did get angry, what are the odds of that? They are still ‘lower than him’, aren’t they? Would the king be all that worried? Yes, I can see for a little while, but..what if he hatches a plan to quickly take care of them? Then what?”

Rudy’s eyes widened at this. “I..I didn’t...”

“You didn’t what?” Snap turned his head to one side. “You didn’t think that far ahead? Rudy, I would expect myself to rush in without thinking a plan through, but not you.”

Rudy narrowed his eyes. “Well, I..”

Suddenly the door opened up.

Penny spoke in a hushed voice. “Someone is coming!”

Snap turned his head towards the source of the sound, where the gate was far up ahead. He could see some shadows forming and stretching. There were a few zoners coming towards them slowly and deliberately.

Snap narrowed his eyes when he saw that it was Kairos and three guards. Kairos himself had a sneer on his face while the three guards wore frowns. They weren’t looking at anyone in particular; just staring out ahead as they awaited their orders.

Kairos stood out in front of them, standing about three feet away from the cages. Snap and his friends glared at the bird, while Barney was looking with an air of caution. The bird turned his beak from one side to the other as he regarded them. This time, he carried no flash of sympathy, if what he had shown before had been real sympathy.

“Why are you here?” Rudy asked, clenching his right fist.

Kairos tilted his head. “Oh such anger... But I don’t think you should be mad at me.” He placed a wing against himself. “I’m not the one who put you in those cages. My king did.”

“Yeah, well your king is...” Snap stared to say.

Penny glared at him. “Snap, hush!”

Snap managed to stifle himself. But this wasn’t easy. As he glared at the bird, the growing anger inside of him made it harder and harder to keep quiet. Oh the things he would say to this bird if he could get away with it...

“Anyway, I am here on official business.” Kairos straightened himself up, an attempt to make himself appear more regal and important. “And as long as you are willing to cooperate, it won’t take very long.”

Rudy took a step back, staring at the bird with caution. “What did you want?”

“You mean, what did my king want?” Kairos tapped his fingertips together. “He was considering striking a deal with you. You see, he has decided that the gladiatorial combat should still continue.”

“What?!” The trio cried.

“But...” Barney said softly. “Didn’t he say he was going to think about it first?”

“Yeah!” Snap nearly grabbed the bars before he remembered the electricity. “I heard him say that he was going to consider the idea of having us help him!”

“Yeah? Well, he’s decided.” Kairos folded his wings. “There’s no changing his mind. I’m sorry.”

Rudy narrowed his eyes. “Like you’re sorry...”

“But why would the king pass up our help? We were going to...” Penny was cut off.

“King Zander has decided it’s too big a risk. Besides..there is one way to stop the disease.” Kairos lowered his head and stared at them intently. “Destroying those responsible...”

This caused a collection of gasps to spread through the room. They all looked at each other, their eyes wide in horror and shock. They couldn’t believe what was happening. Just when they thought things were looking up... Snap knew he was right to be suspicious. He knew that the king would find a way to go back on his word.

King Zander was a filthy coward and a cheapskate. He could have accepted their help and they would have found a non-violent way to take care of this problem. But instead, he opted for the easy way out by destroying them. Regardless if it would work or not, this was still a cowardly way out. He was not willing to consider other ideas. How disgusting...

“More over, he wants you...” Kairos pointed a metal feather at Rudy. “To be the one to tell our citizens the bad news.”

“Me?” Rudy asked.

Kairos nodded. “I’m sure the citizens will be quite pleased to hear that the savior won’t save them...”

“That’s not fair! It’s not Rudy who backed down from the deal!” Snap protested. He pointed a founded hand at the bird zoner. “Why doesn’t the king just tell them himself?”

“It would make more sense if the king did it. After all, he’s the one in charge around here.” Penny was trying to keep her voice calm, likely in hopes of not triggering a violent reaction out of Kairos or the guards. “It would look unprofessional if he made someone who wasn’t even a citizen, let alone a member of his royal court, to make such an announcement.”

Kairos was silent for a moment. He then smiled lightly, raising one wing up, positioned in such a way that the wing blades were verticle, only slightly curving inward. “Yes, well, that’s what the king has decided.”

Snap growled at this. Not only was the king expecting them to continue with the gladitorial fights, but he was also expecting Rudy to be the one to basically tell the zoners in the audience that the deal didn’t pull through, as if it was somehow Rudy’s responsibility. But King Zander was the ruler. He should be the one making the announcement, not Rudy.

He was certain that the king was going to use this as more slander against Rudy. He could make it out to look like that Rudy refused or changed his mind, and get the other zoners to turn on him again. He narrowed his eyes deeper. Yeah, that’s exactly what was going on. The king just wanted to regain the upperhand by being conniving and manipulating. Even if it means to his own people for this one time.

Barney raised a finger up and cleared his throat nervously. “I know it’s not my place to ask, but... Exactly how does the king plan on getting Rudy Tabootie to agree to such a thing?”

“Yeah? What makes you think that I would willingly tell the zoners that I declined the offer?” Rudy asked as he stared intently at the zoner. “How is he going to get me to agree? Why would I want to go through with this?”

Kairos simply stared at them and smiled. A smile spread across his beak, stretching along his face. He didn’t say a word at first. He just smiled, his facial expression distrubing the group as they cringed back, turning their heads slightly to the side as if he was going to shoot out laser beams from his eyes.

“I’m so glad you feel that way! Otherwise, it would have been pointless for me to bring them with.” Kairos gestured to the boar zoners beside them. “How embarrassing would that have been?”

Snap sucked in a sharp breath. He stared wide eyed at the boars. The sight of them, combined with the words and tone that Kairos displayed made his blood start to chill. Just what was the bird up to...?

His friends looked nervous as well. Rudy and Penny exchanged worried glances. Rudy’s frown from before was gone, replaced with confusion and apprehension. He could also see pain, as if the negative emotions were making the agony in his broken arm increase tremendously. Barney was also making a few nervous gestures, his head lowering and his antennas curling up.

“You see, they’re a little restless. And they do need the exercise...”

Snap’s mind raced at ths. He could feel his breathing increasing as he took a step back. He wasn’t liking where this was going. He and his friends move closer together in an instinctual move to protect one another. They kept their feet firmly planted on the ground, staring intently at the squire and the guards. The tension in the room rapidly built up the longer Kairos remained quiet.

Snap slowly managed to narrow his eyes and he bared his teeth. If this guy was going to try to hurt his friends, he would have to deal with him, too. There was no way that he was going to stand idly by and let it happen. And he knew his friends felt the same way. They’d do whatever they could to protect each other.

Kairos seemed to take note of this. He stared at them intently, turning his head to one side. “You three really do care about each other, don’t you?”

Snap nodded his head. “You bet we do!”

“And I take it that you will do whatever you can to protect each other?” Asked Kairos.

With a nod of his head, Rudy said, “Yeah! You mess with us, you mess with all of us!”

“How interesting. How noble.” Kairos commented, continuing to smile at them, his eyes partially closing. “Such true companionship.” He watched them, regarding them with an up and down motion of his head. His eye then shifted to the side for a moment, and he looked back at them. His smile began to broaden. “But I am curious about one thing.”

Penny replied in a cautious voice. “What is that?”

Kairos ran his metal feathers along the bottom of his beak and face in a contemplating way. “What about Barney...?”

Eyes widened. Hearts twisted. Gasps were let out. No..he..he wasn’t going to...

“He has no one to protect him...now does he...?”

A wave of horror washed through everyone. They remained frozen, unable to move for several moments. Their minds felt like it turned into ice. They could see Kairos, but they couldn’t formulate anything to respond to him with. They were just silent, shocked, and horrified.

Barney let out a whimper and cringed back. He remained silent, staring at the bird and the boards in fear. He occasionally looked back at them, as if he was hoping that they would be able to do something to get him out of that mess. Snap wished he could do something to protect him, but they were seperated. Any attempt to help would only result in destruction.

Snap couldn’t believe it. Kairos...he was going to... No, he couldn’t. That wasn’t fair. What did Barney do to deserve that? Why would Kairos do such a thing?

“No!” Rudy cried as he shook his head. “You can’t do that!”

“Leave him alone!” Penny joined in. Her eyes were wide like saucers.

“This isn’t fair!” Snap snarled at them, his body shaking. “You..you can’t just gang up on an innocent zoner like that!”

“Innocent? Bah!” Kairos waved a dismissive hand. “He lost his innocence as soon as he stepped into our land without our permission.”

“Please just leave him alone!” Rudy begged him. “I-I’ll do anything...! Just leave him and my friends alone!”

Kairos folded his wings in front of him. “That is a tempting offer.” He closed his eyes and raised his wing upward, the light glinting. “I am going to have to decline. After all...” He reopened his orange eyes and stared at them intently, a grin spreading across his beak as he watched their horrified expressions. “I did want to make you all beg to simply being trapped...”

Snap held his breath at this. His mind flashed back to when Kairos had first visited them. He had mentioned about being an ‘expert on pain’ and had made it very clear that he had a very strong opinion regarding getting hurt vs being trapped.

“You’re...you’re not going to...” Barney backed away from the front of his cell. “Please...I...” He stopped when he realized he was getting too close to the back. He looked behind him, staring in horror at the electrified bars behind him, and then looked back at Kairos. “Can’t we talk about this...?”

Kairos simply smiled at him. He turned his head towards the guards. He made a quick flick of his head. “You know what to do...”

“No!”

“Leave him alone!”

“Get back!”

But no matter how many times Snap and his friends pleaded, nothing stopped the boars from opening up the cage and dragging the centipede out of the cage. Barney struggled, jerking himself from side to side as he tried in vain to free himself. But the boars just tightened their grip and twisted his arms, causing him to yelp in pain.

Kairos watched the centipede struggle to escape and chuckle. His eyes trailed along the zoner’s body. Then his eyes focused on one part in particular. “...those are some mighty fine wings you have there...”

Barney’s eyes widened at this. “N-No...you’re not...”

Kairos turned his attention to one of the guards. “You guys earn a little reward. Why don’t you... ‘play’ with him for a little while?”

Before the trio could protest, the guards had immediately went to work. They threw the centipede into the ground. The trio’s blood ran cold and their eyes widened in horror as they watched the boar zoners begin to attack Barney’s wings. The centipede’s screams echoed in the room, with Kairos staring with that cold, icy smile.