ChalkZone AU Anthology

Next one, detailing a what-if for Chalk Queen.

sss

The sight before me caused me to cringe. I had never thought I would be placed in such a...horrible situation. The longer I stared, the more I wished that this was all just a bad dream.

Above me, I could see Snap dangling over the vat of boiling liquid, still wearing that jester outfit I had given him. In front of me, Rudy, glaring at me. There was some sorrow in those eyes, and I could see he was reluctant to do anything against me. But that determination, I could tell that if he was forced to fight me, then he would. He cared that much about Snap.

And behind me, Skrawl and the Beanie Boys. Their presence made my skin crawl, and I could feel my heart pound. I don’t know how much longer I could keep up this facade. It hurt me doing this to my friends. But...I had no choice. It was either this, or we would all get captured.

I kept looking up at Snap to make sure he was okay. I know the ropes I drew on him were tight and secure, but I kept fearing that they would break and he’d fall. It was too soon for something like that to happen. I had to make sure everything was timed perfectly. If everything fell into place like it should, and if Rudy reacted the way I hoped he would, then Snap was going to be fine and Skrawl would be swiftly outclassed.

I tried not to smile the wrong way as I thought of how furious Skrawl was going to be once he realizes he had been had. He thinks of himself as so smart and superior. He doesn’t even realize the plan I was cooking up right before him.

“Please, Penny..” I heard Rudy say. “I don’t want to do this. Let’s stop. Please...”

I wanted to stop so badly. I wanted to walk over and give him a hug and tell him everything was all right.

But I couldn’t. It was not yet time to make that move. If I did anything now, Skrawl would realize I was faking it and he would take drastic action. I couldn’t allow him to lay a single claw on my friends.

Doing my best to keep up the act, I gave Rudy the nastiest smile I could muster. He cringed as I began to walk over towards him. I eyed him up and down, which made him nervous. I could see his shoulders hunching as I pretended to examine him.

“It’s too late for that, Rudy.” I said coolly as I began to circle around him like a hawk. Rudy kept watching me, looking as if he thought I would attack him. “You broke a promise and now you have to pay the price.”

“Penny...” Rudy pleaded with me.

I pretended to ignore him and I moved over towards the lever. I think now was a good time to take the next step. It was incredibly risky and I knew the consequences if it failed. But it was the only way to make Skrawl really trust me with the chalk. If he believes I was really trying to kill one of my ‘former’ friends, then he would no doubt give me another peice of chalk to ‘finish off’ Rudy.

I knew Rudy was an intelligent boy. He would know exactly what to do. I knew what he would do. All I had to do was make the move, and he would do the rest.

Grabbing onto the lever, I turned to him and grinned. “How about a little excitement?” I grinned darkly as I pulled the lever, which caused the crank to begin lowering Snap down.

“Snap!” Rudy exclaimed. He stared at Snap in horror as he moved ever closer to the boiling liquid. “Please, Penny... stop this! Let him go!”

I frowned at him. “No can do, Rudy.” I looked up at Snap and gave a chuckle. I turned back to Rudy. “It’s your choice now, Rudy. Do you wish to fight me, or do you want to use your last bit of chalk saving Snap?” I pulled my arms outward as if to invite him to challenge me. “It’s your choice, Rudy.”

Rudy looked from his small piece, and then towards me. I tried to hold back my tears as I saw how he was looking at me. I had never seen him look so broken up before. His body was shaking, and I thought I saw a hint of tears in his eyes. “Penny...” He squeaked. “....please...”

I simply returned with a fake cold glare. “You should have helped me with my homework, Rudy...”

Suddenly, there was a slight rip. I pretended not to be surprised as I looked over. The rope holding up Snap was starting to break. I could hear Skrawl chuckle behind me, the Beanie Boy’s goofy yet twisted smiles waiting in anticipation. I caught my breath for a split second, and I turned to smile at Rudy. I needed to hurry him along. Thankfully, there was still time.

“Have you made your choice now?” I asked tauntingly. “It’s either you try to defeat me and earn your chance at freedom, or save Snap, lose the chalk, and become our slave.” I raised up my own chalk in a threatening manner. “Choose wisely, Rudy.”

I watched as Rudy seemed to debate internally what to do. I could tell his mind was racing. He was clearly trying to decide which course of action to take. I said not a word as I waited. Underneath my contorted face, I was tearing up inside. I never wanted to do something like this to Rudy. Even if it was to save him and Snap, this just felt...way too cruel. I wished there was a better way to do this.

Rudy made his decision. He dashed over towards the acid. I felt my heart flutter in excitement. Come on, Rudy, you can do this. I know you can. I watched him start to draw. Yes, the milk. I knew you could do it Rudy. Now all you have to do is...

There was a loud snap, and then a scream. What happened next went by so fast, it took me a while to fully digest what had occurred. Rudy and I were both frozen, and I could see his eyes widen in horror. It took me a split second to realize the terrifying truth.

Rudy...wasn’t fast enough. I could see the blur of Snap as he went down, and there was a loud splash. I could hear Snap’s horrible screams as the liquid burned him. The vat took on a deep red color as his body was ripped apart, charred beyond recognition. Then his body disappeared completely. I knew what had happened. The spoon that disintegrated earlier gave me a perfectly clear, and rather gruesome, idea of what had taken place.

I felt my heart freeze. No..this is not what I meant to happen. Snap couldn’t be gone... Any moment now, he would crawl out and insult me or something, and tell Rudy to teach Skrawl a lesson.

But that moment never came. Snap’s screams had died down completely, and all was silent, save for the heavy, disbelieving breaths from Rudy, and Skrawl’s chortling at the turn of the situation. I tried not to look at him as I fought against the sickening wrench of my stomach. But it wasn’t my own feelings that had me worried the most. My eyes were locked onto Rudy, watching him carefully.

Rudy hadn’t moved since Snap fell in. It was as if he was in some sort of trance, and his muscles had been frozen solid. He was staring at the vat, his mouth hanging open, his eyes bulging in horror and shock. He was trying to digest what had happened, and his expression shown how much he was in disbelief. This lasted a short time before he slowly turned his head towards me. At first, he had that same look in his. Then his expression altered.

I felt my heart skip a beat as all the warmth and kindness and love he had for me melted away in seconds. His eyes narrowed, flashing with newfound anger and...hatred. I could see his body tremble hard and his teeth clenching. It was then I knew that Rudy no longer considered me a friend. He took a few steps towards me, his body shaking even harder as he appeared to be fighting back an array of powerful, negative emotions. Any restraint he yielded in his eyes was completely gone, and I knew that he would no longer hold back.

“Y-You...” Rudy seethed through his clenched teeth. “You killed Snap...”

“R-Rudy...” I croaked out, which went unnoticed by the laughing Skrawl. “I-I...”

“You’re a murderer!”

I felt as though my heart stopped beating at this. I had never meant for this to happen. Inside, I was mourning for Snap’s loss. It wasn’t easy holding back to the tears. I wanted to fall down to the ground, beg for Rudy’s forgiveness, and cry for Snap. But I knew that Rudy would never forgive me. Not after what happened.

Poor Snap... I could not even hope for him having a quick death, as I knew that wasn’t the case. His final moments were filled with confusion and pain and agony. His screams would forever be engraved in my head. And that look in his eyes... that hurt look of betrayal... That’s all I’ll be able to think about when I try to picture him in my mind. Snap..I’m.. I’m so sorry... I never meant for you to get hurt like this. Please...forgive me..

As my sorrow and horror and disgust at what I did raged on internally, as I scolded myself for not planning better, for not giving Rudy a better chance at fighting back, I tried to keep up the facade. Now, I had no choice. Even if I convinced Rudy it was just an act, my recklessness did still cause our friend to die. He..He would never forgive me for that. He would always see me as a murderer. I had to face facts.

I had shattered our trust and friendship, and now there was no going back.

I became aware of a fist connecting to my jaw. I felt my head being swung to the side and I staggered. I turned my head, my eyes wide as I saw Rudy standing there, baring his teeth. In a second, I knew what had happened. The rage inside Rudy had become too much, and now, acting on pure, raw emotion, he lunged towards me, preparing to strike me again.

In an attempt to defend myself, I brought my hands forward and grabbed onto him. The two of us began to wrestle along the ground. The sudden attack had taken me by so much surprise that Rudy managed to pin me down.

It was hard for me to tear away from those eyes. I could see the fires rage on inside. I could see the hurt and betrayal shining in them. Where there was once love, now only hatred resided.

And it was all my fault. I wailed on the inside, cursing myself for being so stupid. Why did I have to do this? Why couldn’t I have thought of a better plan? If I had just thought more clearly, if I had just found a better way to... Now it was too late. My actions had cost me not just one friend, but two. Snap was dead because of me, and I don’t think I will ever get over the guilt of that. And Rudy... He was no longer my friend. He would never trust me again. The only thing he wanted from me now was blood.

I had seen Rudy angry before, and it was unnerving. But he would usually recover, apologize, and return to his sweet self. I had gotten a taste of what he was like if sufficiently angered, and even then, he had realized his wrong doing and apologized.

This.. This was different. I had killed his first best friend, his creation, the one zoner he had seen like a little brother. And I, the murderer, was now pinned down below him. The anger that he displayed was far greater than anything I had seen before. Not even Skrawl had this kind of anger directed towards him. I had awoken a side to Rudy that I had never wanted to see and I was going to be forced to witness his rage.

And it was all my fault.

“You bitch! How could you do this?! I trusted you!” Rudy grabbed onto my throat. “I trusted you, and you stabbed me in the back! You’re a monster! A lying, disgusting monster!”

“Rudy...” I tried to speak, but Rudy already tightened his grip on my neck. My eyes bulged and I started to push back against him.

“I will make sure you pay for what you have done...”

I could feel my blood run cold at the sound of his voice. He sounded so dead serious there. I could tell that he spoke the truth. I stared into his hate-filled eyes as he tightened his grip on my throat. He was acting on pure rage now, and I knew that the chances of him stopping on his own were slim. It didn’t take him long to completely cut off my air supply.

I tried to take in a breath, but nothing worked. I choked and gagged as my former friend started to strangle me to death. I kicked my legs out in desperation, trying to knock Rudy off of me. It was no use. I could feel my mind start to go muggy.

“Chalk Queen!” I heard Skrawl shout. “Fight back!”

A part of me didn’t want to. A part of me just wanted to let Rudy defeat me, so this nightmare could be over. Rudy could take care of Skrawl afterwards, and everything would be fine.

...or would it? Rudy was still chalkless, and Skrawl could keep the magic chalk from him. No matter which way this would go, Rudy was still trapped. I could help him get out, but at this rate, he wouldn’t even accept my assistance.

My instinct to fight back was growing stronger. There was no way I could fight this for long. Even if Skrawl didn’t order me to fight back, I still would have, simply to defend myself. My heart was racing, my mind pumping with rapid, terrified thoughts. I needed air. I needed oxygen. I needed to get this boy off of me.

In that moment, I remembered that I was a bit stronger than Rudy. There was a reason why he and Snap had trusted me to hold both their weights. Working around the farm certainly helped out. Now it was time for me to show that strength, and turn the tide of this fight. Grabbing onto his arms, I began to push back. Rudy grunted as I applied all my strength in the shove. He struggled to pin me down, but I showed that I was stronger, and slowly, I began to win the wrestle match. Rudy was soon pushed off of me and I managed to climb up to my feet.

I panted a few times as I glared at Rudy. I was hoping the fight would end here, but that was just wishful thinking. I could tell that Rudy still wanted to continue. The desire to avenge Snap’s death was strong in his eyes. He was not going to let me get away with it. And I don’t think I could ever escape the guilt of it.

I really had only one choice.

Turning to Skrawl, I said, “I need another piece.” I tried not to vomit as Skrawl gave me a sinister look.

“Anything for you, my little Chalk Queen.”

I ignored the cold shudder as I grabbed onto the chalk. I turned to Rudy. I kept up with the evil smile, but deep inside, I was being torn apart. I had never wanted to do this. And now, I was given no choice. If only I had thought things through more... It was my fault that things turned out this way. If only I had remembered to close the portal....

...wait... No, it wasn’t me who had drawn that portal. It had been Rudy. He was the one who left it open. He was the reason that I was kidnapped. He was the reason all of this had happened.

Slowly, I could feel my stomach begin to boil. My sympathy for Rudy began to fade as I started to realize just how much he was at fault for this. I gritted my teeth and clutched the chalk tightly. I could see Rudy take a small step back as he noticed the change in my demeanor. I wanted so much to tear into him, yell at him for what he did. But that would blow my cover. So all I could do was seethe at him with the raging fire in my eyes, my mind swimming with thoughts of just one thing.

Making him pay for what he did.

Rudy charged me, trying to get to me before I could draw. I growled and swiftly began to sketch something. I was not as adept at art as Rudy, but I was still smarter, and that more than made up for my lack of artistic skills.

In my hands, I now held a taser. Rudy did not notice. He was still running towards me, letting out a yell of challenge. I pointed it at him and I pressed the trigger. In seconds, Rudy began screaming. He fell to the ground as the volts of electricity moved through his body. I stood over him, glaring down coldly. I could not feel sorry for him in that moment. It was his fault this happened. He deserved it.

I knew Skrawl was right. He should have helped me with my homework, and he betrayed me.

And now that betrayal had resulted in the death of Snap. He suffered a needless and gruesome death because of this boy. Oh how Rudy will pay dearly...

I let out a yelp of surprise when Rudy, still convulsing from the electricity, grabbed onto my leg. I snarled at him and began to draw something else. A thick bat made of diamond, the hardest material known to man. Rudy’s eyes widened in horror, and he barely had time to dodge before I struck down. I ignored Skrawl’s laughter as I struck out towards my former friend, whom I used to love, but now hated.

I eventually managed a blow against him. Somehow, I managed to struck at such an angle, in such a location, that I could hear the crack of bone breaking under the pressure. It took me seconds later to realize that it had been his right femur.

“Aaaaaaahhhhh!”

Rudy’s bloodcurdling scream filled the air. It echoed off the walls, reverberating more so than Snap’s scream did. My ears ached, but I did not cover them. I just glared down at Rudy as I watched him squirm and writhe on the ground. I could hear him bawling seconds later as he struggled with the immense pain. He tried to grab onto his leg, only to cause himself too much pain and he jerked about on the ground.

He looked over at me, his eyes wide in horror, any sign of hatred gone from them. He seemed to be silently asking me why I did this. I did not answer. I watched with an icy glare on my face as Rudy eventually passed out from the pain. Then all was silent.

Skrawl broke it shortly after. “Well done, my Chalk Queen!” I could feel Skrawl’s claws on my shoulder. “Now that we have taken care of our little...chalkboy problem, the rest of ChalkZone will follow suit.”

I did not say anything. I just glared at Rudy, my breaths coming in deep and heavy.

“Beanie Boys!” Skraw called out. “Take our little...guest and show him his new...accomodations...”

I watched as the Beanie Boys took Rudy toward the cage where Fido was being held. They tossed him into the corner. They showed no gentleness towards him. And in that moment, I did not care.

I could hear Skrawl speaking to me again, but I did not pay attention. My mind was swirling with thoughts of what had happened. I had a hard time fully digesting it, and a part of me wondered if this was some kind of horrible nightmare. Maybe at any moment, I was going to wake up and find it was just a cruel dream.

No... Nothing happened. And nothing would ever happen. This was real. This was my new reality. I had no choice but to embrace it.

Even though I did not hear anything Skrawl said, I turned and smiled towards him. “I understand, Master Skrawl.”

Skrawl looked delighted by what I had called him. “Excellent...” He tapped his claw tips together. “You and I are going to get along just fine...”

After that, Skrawl left. I watched him and the Beanie Boys leave. It was only after they were gone that I was suddenly struck with the massive reality of what this had meant.

On this day, I had lost two of my friends, and both for slightly different reasons. I could never change what happened. I will never have them back as my friends. I was now Skrawl’s Chalk Queen, and on this day, I had become an enemy of ChalkZone.

It was all too much to take in. The emotional avalanche had built up inside of me, twisting my gut. My anger washed away, replaced by sorrow and horror-filled realization. I dropped down onto my knees and I began to cry.

A fourth one. This one is about what would have happened if Michelle took greater offense to Rudy's drawing than she did in the actual episode.

sss

I had never felt so scared before in my life. I had faced many enemies in ChalkZone. I had delved into many dangers, fought against some of the most horrible individuals that I knew of. But I would rather face that than what I had to do now.

I waved goodbye to my folks as they started to drive away, leaving me at Michelle’s place. He watched them as they left until they disappeared from sight. I let out a sigh and turned my head towards the large house. I took in a deep breath and sighed. This was it. The moment that I knew was going to come. I could not run from this. I had to face the music.

Walking towards the house was so difficult. Each step felt as though I was stepping on glass. My legs were stiff and the muscles would hardly respond. Even as I heard the children laughing in the backyard, my sense of dread only grew. The air around me began to grow thick and heavy, and it felt as though I had to take a hammer in front of me just to get through.

What was Michelle going to think when she sees me showing up? I swallowed nervously at the thought of what she might do. I could feel my gut twisting in a knot. My heart pounded at the anticipation of what was to come.

I couldn’t believe how far I had went. How could I have done something like this? This isn’t who I am. This isn’t what I like to do.

So how could I have let it go so far? How could I have lost control over myself and just...do something like that? I couldn’t believe what a horrible person I had been in those moments. And Penny tried to warn me...and I didn’t listen to her. Oh why didn’t I listen? If I had just stopped myself from mailing that stupid letter, none of this would be happening. I wouldn’t have to approach Michelle’s place with such fear and dread; it would be like any party she had invited me to. But with that stupid mistake, had I ruined what she thought of me?

It was all because I was so immature and stupid that I didn’t think of confronting her directly. I had thought that she didn’t invite me or Penny on purpose. I could handle her not inviting me, but when she didn’t invite Penny, something inside just...snapped.

I could hardly control myself. I was so blinded by rage that I just...acted. I recall Penny tried to stop me. She tried to reason with me and tell me what I was doing was wrong. But I didn’t care; all I could care about in that moment was making Michelle pay for what she did, as if she had done such a great injustice. I created that stupid poison pen letter to mock her, and I threw it in the mailbox and I just...laughed.

I shuddered at the memory of that. I couldn’t believe just how...creepy I had become. I could hardly recognize myself in those flashbacks. I could only ask myself one thing: was that really me?

And by the time I realized my mistake, it was too late.

Penny had come down to the street to tell me that we were invited. She had gotten an invitation, and so was I. Michelle just hadn’t sent the invitations out yet. As soon as she told me that, I had freaked out. I tried to claw my way into that mailbox, but it was too late. The letter would be sent to her, and she was going to read it and she was going to be so angry...

I wanted to kick myself in the stomach for doing that. How could I have been so stupid? That was a question I keep on asking myself over and over. I couldn’t stop hating myself for what I had done. I wanted to just crawl into a hole and not come out for a year, until all of this blew over.

I could only just imagine how Michelle might react to it. I had wrote that letter to deliberately hurt her. I had drawn such a hideous picture of her, mocking her, taunting her... She would be so hurt by it. I told myself that maybe she would take it in stride, but I reminded myself of how she reacted to ‘my’ drawing of Skrawl. She thought it was hideous and erased it. How was she going to feel about a hideous drawing of herself?

I couldn’t run away from this, though. I had no choice but to face my mistake. Running away wasn’t something I liked to do. Even though confronting her was going to be painful, even though I didn’t want to see the look in her eyes after she sees what I did to her, I would feel even worse if I ran away. I had to confront her.

I took in a deep breath, mentally preparing myself, and I went up towards the house. I moved in slowly, taking care not to make too much noise. My eyes remained glued on that door. I couldn’t look away from it. I kept staring at it, looking all around for any signs of it opening. I looked at the windows, too, to see if she was watching me. At first, I saw nothing, but then I saw a shadow against a curtain and it parted a little.

It was Michelle. She stared out at me through the window. I froze when I saw her glare at me. Then she shut the curtain swiftly. I could feel my gut twist at this. Had she gotten angrier than I thought she would? Should I turn around and leave?

The door soon opened up. Michelle peered out of it. That icy glare of hers was still on me, making it hard for me to move. I immediately cringed, folding my hands behind my back and lowering my head in shame.

“Hello, Rudy.” She said calmly. “I was expecting you.”

I remained frozen where I was, just at the edge of the top step. I stammered for a bit and then waved nervously at her. “H-Hi, Michelle...” I said softly, giving a soft chuckle. “How are you?”

Michelle glared at me for a few moments. Then her expression softened up slightly. “You’re late.” She looked down at the watch on her wrist. “You were supposed to be here about ten minutes ago.” She tapped on her watch to emphasize this.

I stared at her in confusion. She...wasn’t angry at me? The frown was gone, and when I looked harder, it looked more like she was just annoyed that I came later than she wanted me to. I let out a small sigh of relief and gave a smile.

“Come on in.”

Michelle opened the door wider for me. She motioned with her and for me to come through. My smile broadened a little. The relief continued to wash through me. I couldn’t believe my luck. She must not have gotten the picture after all. I don’t know how that could be. Snap and I had failed to get it back. But I didn’t question it. As long as she didn’t get it and didn’t know about it, I was safe.

After I had gotten in, I heard Michelle shut the door behind me. The force was a little greater than I would have expected. But maybe that’s because the door was a bit stiff and required more force. I shrugged it off and continued to move on ahead.

That was when I noticed Michelle was standing there, staring at the small pile of letters on the coffee table. It looked like it was today’s mail. At the sight of it, I felt my gut twisting. Why did she have that expression?

She turned her head and stared off towards me. I did not see anger in those eyes like before. But there was something else in them that I noticed. Something that made me cringe.

Sadness.

“Rudy...did you mean it?”

My eyes widened at this. I took a small step back. I could feel my heart clench. I took in a few shaky breaths and said, “What...What did you mean...?” A stupid thing to ask, but nonetheless it still escaped my mouth.

At this, Michelle’s glare returned. Along with it, the anger from before. She lifted up a torn open letter. One that was all too familiar. “I’m talking about this...”

I gasped at this. So she had gotten the letter. I looked back at her, cowering under her powerful glare. I darted my eyes left and right as my brain instinctively looked for an escape route. I backed away from her, holding my hands out defensively in front of me. I stammered as I struggled to find something to say. I couldn’t think of anything and all that would come out were a bunch of incoherent mumbles.

Michelle approached me slowly. I could see her adopting a slightly hostile stance. Not enough to warn me of an outright attack, but enough to leave me frozen in terror. I moved away from her quickly, but soon my back was pressed against the wall. Michelle closed in the gap, completely cornering me and leaving me with nowhere to go.

For a few moments, we were silent save for our heavy breathing. My heart rate sped up as I stared into her narrowed eyes. I could feel the tension returning, this time making it feel as though a boulder had been dropped into my back. My heart was rapidly turning into ice and my body started to give a few shivers. I couldn’t help but ask myself the same question over and over again.

What was Michelle going to do...?

Michelle’s expression soon changed. I noticed a slight snarl, her lip curling back. She pulled out the letter that had been previously crumbled up and she held it in front of me. “Do you think this is funny, Tabootie?”

I cringed when she called me by my last name. I clenched my teeth and turned my head away, staring at her with one eye. This was not something she normally did unless she was really angry at me. It was then I realized just what kind of trouble I was in. I really wished I had listened to Penny.

Michelle didn’t like my lack of an answer. She shoved the picture against my head, covering my eye so I was forced to see an upclose and blurry picture of what I drew. “Is this your idea of a sick joke, Tabootie?!” I remained silent. She growled at this. “Answer me!”

I shut my eyes and gave a few soft whimpers. “I-I’m sorry...”

“Sorry? You’re sorry?!” Michelle said in a slightly incredulous tone. She lifted her head back, gave a disturbing smile, and scoffed. “You’re sorry...” She turned her back to me and walked away a bit. She stopped for a few moments, remaining silent, before tilting her head in my direction. I shuddered at the sight of that narrowed eye. “Do you honestly think I believe you?”

I felt my heart pounding in my chest. I looked left and right, struggling to find the words to say. How could I convince her that I didn’t mean it? How cold I make her realize it was just a weakness of the moment?

For a while, I could say nothing. I couldn’t think of anything I could tell her. Nothing that would help her understand, anyway. I did think of a few things to say, but I feared angering her further, so I kept myself silent. A part of me wondered if I should try to leave and talk to her in a few days after she cooled down. That may be the best option. Right now, she looked so pissed that even the most sincere apology I could muster would not work.

I looked at Michelle, rubbing the back of my head nervously, biting my lip. I took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Do you...have a phone I can use?”

Michelle tilted her head. “Why?”

“I want to call my parents and...”

“You’re going to leave, aren’t you?” Michelle cut me off. She motioned her hand in front of herself. “You’re going to walk away from this conversation like a coward and hide in your little room with your tail between your legs, aren’t you?”

“What?” I looked at her in shock. “No...that’s not what I...” How could she think something like that? How could she believe that I was being selfish? I just didn’t want to...

Michelle folded her arms against her chest. “Well then, if that’s not what you’re intending to do, then why don’t you stay?” She motioned her hand towards the ground. “Stay right there and talk to me. Let’s get this cleared up now.”

“O-Okay...” I whispered softly. There was no leaving now. “Let’s talk...”

Michelle glared at me for a few moments, eyeing me up and down. Then she leaned back a bit and asked, “Why did you do it?”

I glanced at the picture that she had tossed into the ground. “Why did I draw that...?”

“I don’t know why you did it.” Michelle ground her teeth together. “That’s why I am asking you!” She pointed a finger in my direction. “I hope you have a good explanation for that, Rudy! I did nothing to you to provoke such a horrid, childish display! Tell me, Tabootie. Why did you do it?”

I looked away from her, averting my eyes. I bit my lip as I rubbed my arm nervously. I tried to think of what I could say to her. I don’t know if ‘I lost my temper’ would cut it. It was the truth, but Michelle sounded as if she wanted more. Like there was more to what I did than a simple loss of control of my anger. But...there was really nothing else I could say. What could she expect from me? An entire essay?

I didn’t want to keep Michelle waiting for long. She didn’t want to give another reason for her to be upset. I forced myself to look back at her. I clenched my teeth slightly, giving the girl the most regretful look that I could muster.

“I’m sorry, Michelle. I..I just thought that...”

“You thought what?” Michelle asked, her eyes narrowing.”

I breathed in deeply. “I thought you didn’t invite me or Penny.”

At this, Michelle cocked up an eyebrow. “Why would you think that?” Her head tilted to the other side. “Everytime I had a birthday, I always invited you, and I always included Penny when she had moved here. Why would you think that this party would be any different?”

I took in a few quick breaths. My mind wandered to the unpleasant memories that accumulated in my head from earlier today. “W-Well, you were talking in the hallway and..”

Michelle widened her eyes a bit. “You were upset about that?” I nodded my head once. “You could have just told me that.”

“I know...” I lowered my head in shame. “I’m sorry...”

Michelle let out an exasperated sigh. “I just can’t believe this... You were never like this before. You are quite capable of speaking up when something is bothering you. I’ve seen you do it to Reggie a lot. You two are always butting heads.” She looked at me with a disappointed expression. “If you thought you and Penny weren’t invited, you should have come up to me and talk to me. You know you are always welcome to do that. I don’t bite.”

I closed my eyes, letting all of this sink in. I felt horrible for his childish behavior. Michelle was right. I should have just spoke to her earlier about this, and instead I let my anger control me. I drew that horrible picture and hurt her feelings. I had acted in a way that was unfamiliar to her. I wished he could take it all back. I wished I could go back in time and stop myself from doing such a thing.

But it was too late for that now. I had to face the consequences of what I had just done. I had to try to make this right. I needed to make a promise to her that this would not happen again, and strive to make sure it was so. I needed to fix my mistake and do what I could to help her feel better. I needed to make sure that she understood I never meant to hurt her this badly.

I tapped my fingers against each other, keeping my gaze away for a few moments. I looked at her with one eye. “I know. I really screwed up, didn’t I?” Michelle’s expression answered that for me. I continued on. “I’m so...so sorry, Michelle. I iddn’t mean to... I know I should have controlled myself better. I know I should have talked to you first before making such wild conclusions. I promise...I will be more careful next time.”

There, I said it. I don’t know if it was going to be good enough. I realized that she might remain angry at me for a while. But I hoped that my words helped to ease her aching heart, and helped her understand that I was truly sorry.

Michelle stared at me in silence for a few moments. She didn’t attempt to speak. She just stayed quiet, looking almost as if she was waiting for me to continue. When I did not speak, her expression flashed a bit. I could not really understand that the expression meant, but it was still enough to make me take a small step back. But I did not attempt to leave, and I simply stood there, waiting for Michelle to say whatever it is she needed to.

But when she did speak, it was not at all what I expected.

“So...that’s all you have to say to me?” Michelle asked, her eyes giving a slight glare. “That’s all you can think of?”

My chest clenched. “What do you mean? I was being honest!”

“Yeah I know that...” Michelle turned herself to the side, her arms pressing further against herself. “I’m just not sure if it’s good enough...”

I could not believe what I was hearing. What more did this girl want from me? Had I really hurt her this badly? I know she was upset, but she sounded...more upset than I could detect initially.

I remained silent as I stared at her, watching as she kept her gaze towards the ground. She had a contemplative look in her eyes. I wondered what she was thinking about. I could feel a sharp sensation in the pit of my stomach, making me feel nauseaous. I had no idea what to expect, yet I could not make my legs move. I could only watch and wait for her to speak.

“You know, Tabootie... I did kind of like you.”

I stared at her in confusion. What did she mean by that? She wasn’t even in the same class as me, and she was a bit older. Why would she say something like that about someone younger than her? It didn’t make any sense. I thought she had a crush on that one guy from her math class. Why...

“I do find smaller boys to be pretty cute.” Michelle droned on. “I don’t know. Just call it a preference.”

I wasn’t sure where she was going with this. I took a small step back. I turned my head towards the door. A part of my mind was waving a red flag and telling me that I should leave now. Yet I could not make my legs move.

“Where do you think you’re going, Tabootie?”

I flinched and looked back at her. “Michelle, I...”

“You are going to stay here, and you are going to listen to what I am about to tell you.” Michelle had her arms behind her back again as she approached me. “Because I have a proposal for you.”

I cringed against the wall as I was cornered once again into it. I pressed my arms out at my sides, pushing them against the cold, hard wall. I stared at Michelle fearfully. I could not get myself to speak. I just stared at her, waiting for her to speak.

“Just so you know...” Michelle raised her finger up. “I have nothing against Penny, so don’t think that I am doing this to punish her.” She pointed the finger at me. “I’m doing it to punish you.” I widened my eyes at this. “Don’t look at me that way. You apparently want to know what will help me forgive you for what you did, and I am going to show you exactly what you can do.”

I breathed in and out shakingly. I could feel my chest tighten up as horrible thoughts washed through me. Just what was Michelle going to do to me? “O-Okay...” I managed to squeak, before flinching and turning my head to the side as I waited for more. “What...What did you have in mind...?”

"I am aware that you go to this...alternate dimension called..what did you guys call it... ChalkZone...?”

I took in a sharp gasp at this. I felt my heart nearly stop beating. I nearly fell forward from shock. I stared at her, unable to believe what I had just heard. Did she say what I thought she did? Did she just say that she...knew about ChalkZone...? But...how? That was impossible. Penny and I had been so careful. How could Michelle know about that place...?”

Michelle gave me a small smirk. “If you are wondering how I know...” I looked up at her expectantly. “I will just say I have my ways.” She turned her head to the side, staring at me with one eye. “I take it you want to have it stay as a secret...?”

I cringed underneath her. Suddenly, she looked so much taller and so much more intimidating than she did before. “Y-Yes...”

Michelle’s eye twinkled. “So it does exist.”

I widened my eyes. “What..?”

“I wasn’t sure if it did or not. I overheard you and Penny say something about it once. I wanted you to confirm it. And you did. Thanks for clearing that up, Tabootie.” Michelle said with a small, sly smile.

I felt like such an idiot. I had fallen right into her trap. Now it was too late for me to take it back. Nothing I said would correct this. I would have to live with the consequences of what I had just said.

“You know, if you want me to keep it a secret...I will.” Michelle said. I stared at her with a desperate, pleading expression. “But...you need to do what I say.”

“Okay...” I whispered softly. “What do you want me to do?”

Michelle’s smile broadened. She moved closer to me. She straightened herself up as if to make herself look more intimidating. She placed her hands on my shoulders, gently squeezing them. “I want you.” My eyes widened in shock. “That’s right. You’re going to be mine, Tabootie. Until I decide to forgive you, you will be my own personal little slave, so to speak. You will do exactly what I say, when I saw it, otherwise...” She paused for a moment. “Let’s just say I might... ‘accidentally’ let slip that world of chalk you seem so fond of.”

My heart raced against my chest. My eyes darted around as I subconsciously tried to find an escape route. It was increasingly difficult for me to move, let alone look away from Michelle’s increasingly disturbing grin.

She... She couldn’t do that, right? She wouldn’t... She couldn’t... This wasn’t the Michelle that I knew. She was not a blackmailer. She would not do something like this to another person. She...

Then again... Just how well did I know her? I never spoke to her much. I never watched her long enough to know her limitations. What if there was a lot more to Michelle that I didn’t know about? What if she really would do something like that? What if she was more vindicative and vicious than I ever could have thought?

Struggling to think of something to say, I stammered, “N-No one would believe you...”

“Perhaps not, but I have a trump card.”

I sucked in a sharp breath at this. Of course she would have a trump card. Why did I think any different?

“If they don’t believe me about ChalkZone, then they will believe me about you. The only reason most of the students like you is because I’m nice to you. I’m one of the most popular students here of our grade levels, Rudy. Both you and Penny owe it largely to me to keep the students more civil towards you. But say..what will happen if I were to withdraw my ‘friendship’ from you? How will they react...?”

“They...”

“And what if I were to tell them what you did...? And that Penny was involved?” Inquired Michelle.

I took in several swift, shaky breaths. “They wouldn’t...”

“They wouldn’t what? Believe me?” Michelle gave a light-hearted laugh. “Oh Tabootie.. Being popular means more people are willing to listen to you. And since you and Penny are both near the bottom of the social ladder...” She narrowed her eyes. “Do you really think they would believe you?”

I couldn’t answer that. I knew what the answer was going to be. I knew that Michelle was completely right. The other students would not listen to me. Most of them didn’t interact with me much. They did seem to only tolerate me, and Michelle was very likely that reason.

If I was the only thing to worry about, and if the students did not believe about the ChalkZone thing, then I would have just walked away right then and there. But...she had just threatened Penny, too. Maybe not directly, but she did seem to imply that she would hurt Penny if I didn’t agree to this. As much as this boiled my blood, I knew that calling out Michelle would not work. People would be more willing to believe her than a ‘whiny little boy’.

“So Tabootie...” Michelle asked in a strange tone I never heard her use before. “What is it going to be? Are you going to be a good boy and do what I say, or are you going to make this harder on yourself than it needs to be?”

My mind raced as I struggled to think of some way out of this. There had to be some kind of loophole I could exploit. There had to be something that I could do. There had to be a way to reason with Michelle, get her to understand and call all of this off. Yet, she sounded so serious in those words.... Would she even bother to listen to me if I refused?

Penny and ChalkZone... I couldn’t allow them to be exploited. What kind of guardian and friend was I if I allowed something like this to happen? As my friend, as the place I cared about, I had to put their safety and concern over my own. I could not be selfish. That was not my style. I could not allow my own needs cloud over the needs of others. If my suffering was required for the well being of others... Did I really have a choice?

I did try to think of something else for a while. I remained quiet for several moments. I was glad that Michelle was giving me all the time to think and decide on this. I turned my gazea way as I tried to think as hard as I could. There must be some kind of loophole, right? Something that I could exploit and make her back down. I...

I realized quickly that I could think of nothing. No matter what came to my head, all I could end up with was a plan that either had a very low chance of succeeding, or was more likely to anger Michelle than calm her down. I realized I really was stuck with only one choice.

I hoped that Penny would forgive me. I hoped that the citizens of ChalkZone would understand. I...I don’t want to worry them. I hope that they all understood that... I did this for them.

“A-Alright...” I said. I felt my heart sink to the bottom like a heavy rock. “Y-You win...”

Michelle gave me another disturbing smile. “That’s a good boy...” She turned her back to me. She raised her hand up and motioned for me to follow. “Come with me, Tabootie. I have something for you to do...”

The tone of her voice and the look in her eye made my stomach churn. Dread washed over me as I wondered just what she had in mind. Lowering my head submissively, I began to follow her close behind. I had no idea what I had just gotten myself into. I could only hope that this would be worth it and keep Penny and ChalkZone. So long as they are fine, that’s all that mattered to me.

She stood by the sliding door. Looking over, I could see the other students playing. They all looked so happy. Well most of them. A few looked annoyed because of Reggie. Typical Reggie... My heart clenched briefly as I wished that Reggie was the only problem I needed to worry about. I looked over at Michelle cautiously.

She just stood there, watching the other students. Not smiling or frowning, just giving them all a blank expression. I took a small step forward, hunching my body cautiously. “What...did you want me to do...?”

Michelle stared out at Penny, who was getting some juice from the punch bowl. Michelle got a twinkle in her eye and she looked over at me. I gulped nervously. I did not like where this was going. “You like Penny, right?” I meekly nodded my head. “Why don’t you show that to everyone? Why don’t you kiss her?”

I blinked a few times. “Just..kiss her?”

Michelle shook her head. “Oh no, not just kiss her.” She grinned nastily. “I want you to use your tongue, too. In front of everyone.”

My blood turned into ice as I realized the implications of what she just said. She..she couldn’t possibly mean that I... No, that was just wrong. Penny was my friend, and yeah I did like her. But..I was too young for that. I couldn’t do that to her. It just..wouldn’t be right.

“But I...we...” I swallowed nervously. “We’re only ten...”

“It’s either you do that, or that little world of yours and your friend are going to have some rough waters ahead.” Michelle sneered. “It’s all up to you, Rudy.” She tilted her head slightly. “What will it be?”

I stared at her in horror.

A new AU. This one explores a different take on Indescent Exposure. What if Terry had been just a little more cunning?

sss

Rudy and I tried to run as quickly as we could. We were used to running quite fast and far, especially on some of our older adventures before Penny came into ChalkZone. But never before had we ever had to run quite like this. Then again, our mission had never been so dire before.

It was all my fault. Rudy had told me that crazy lady was tailing him and Penny. I knew the danger of waltzing into the Real World and what may happen if someone sees me coming out. I should have known better. Rudy created me to smarter than this. Still, I had stuck my head out of the blasted portal and got knocked out. Then Terry Bouffant had seen me. She knew I came out of the portal. Too late to try to deny it.

So I tried running away. That didn't work out too well. She had a partner with her. Some large guy whom I don't care to remember the name of. He stepped on me, allowing that blasted woman to capture me and stuff me in her purse. Believe me, that hurt worse than it looked. Try having your back bent backwards and pushed into a tiny space. Not quite fun, now is it?

It hadn't been so bad, though, at the news station. No one really believed I was made of chalk. Anytime Terry tried to tell them, they would just laugh at her or dismiss her. Much to my luck, they just thought I was some kind of clown. A freak of nature. The only thing they wanted from me is to be entertainment.

Terry was none too pleased with this. I enjoyed rubbing it in her face of how her plan to expose ChalkZone had failed. Even with me, a denizen of ChalkZone, they still did not get suspicious. They only saw me as someone with a rare genetic condition that resulted in me being able to flatten myself. And they were content on believing this no matter how much Terry tried to get them to see otherwise. It was almost comical, watching her try so hard to get them to believe her, only to be shot down each and every time.

But despite my attitude towards her, I did constantly remain on the alert. Terry was pretty smart. I have to give her credit for that. She figured out about ChalkZone all on her own; she had never seen the place and there was no way Rudy or Penny would have told her a damn thing. For her to figure it all out on her own... The thought did bring a shudder to me.

I knew that she was going to be much harder to stop than, say, Vinnie. That Vinnie Raton fellow that had gotten into ChalkZone hadn't been all that bright. He had been pretty easy to fool, which allowed us to throw him out. And the second time, he hadn't been smart enough to let go of the bag, and he wound up getting into a ton of trouble with the police.

That's not to say he wasn't dangerous of course. He wanted to build a theme park in ChalkZone. In my home... He wanted to use zoners as slaves and make us do all the dirty work for him. He only saw as huge dollar bills.

Terry, on the other hand, beyond exposing ChalkZone, I don't know what else she is going to do. And in my mind, that made her a much more frightening opponent. How are we going to prepare for something that we don't know much about? Is Terry going to have us enslaved like Vinnie? Or is she going to do something else? Perhaps something even worse...?

But there was one danger that came in the territory of both of them. And that was the introduction of many new creators.

This thought chilled my blood. How was ChalkZone supposed to face a threat like that? How were we going to deal with all those new creators? How were we going to get treated? What kind of dangers would these new humans bring about? I keep thinking of what Biclops said about the previous humans and I can only shudder in fear.

With that motivation in mind, I tried to move faster, carrying my feet as quickly as I could along the ground. Rudy was a little far behind me. We were headed straight for the television studio. The same one I had brought to earlier. The same chilling thought kept racing through my head.

Terry's got the chalk.

I don't know how she got it. I don't know how Rudy could have missed it. But none of that matters now. All that did was the fact that she had found proof of ChalkZone's existence, that she wasn't crazy, and she locked me out of the Real World. I had raced to get Rudy and luckily found him quickly. But by the time we had gotten back so we could stop Terry, the chalkboard had been moved.

I felt like an idiot. Of course Terry would have moved it. If she figured out a portal could be drawn to get in, then she would have known that there was a way to draw a portal to get out. She had anticipated that I would get Rudy and she prepared for it. Damn, that bitch was quite clever...

I tried not to focus on that for too long. I focused on running along with Rudy. It was too late for either of us to correct our past mistakes that led to this, but we could still try to prevent it from getting worse. So long as Terry had not used that magic chalk to get through, then we should be fine, and ChalkZone would remain safe.

Thankfully, it didn't take us too long to reach where the news station would have been. I watched as Rudy felt around to try to locate the chalk surface. He looked a little silly doing this, but I did not dare chuckle. There was nothing humorous about what was going on. If Terry opened up that portal before we could stop her... That was not something to laugh at.

Rudy soon found the surface. I could practically hear his hands scrape along the backside of the chalkboard, his eyes flickering in recognition. He then raised his chalk and he draw a portal. Not a large one, mind you. That would have given us away and proved Terry was right in front of so many people. No, instead he opted for a tiny portal, just enough for him to peak through. This tiny portal was created in seconds and he put his eye close to it and peered out.

After a few moments, Rudy pulled his head back and gritted his teeth. He let out a worried sigh and he looked down at me. "This is going to be really tricky."

I flinched at his expression. Hopefully, I said, "But not impossible...right, Bucko?"

Rudy hesitated for a moment. Then he said in an uncertain tone, "...Yeah I think so..."

"That doesn't sound very promising." I noted, noticing the inflexion of his voice.

"Yeah, there's a lot of people in there." Rudy said.

"We expected that." I told him.

"Yeah I know we did. But this is more than even I thought of." Rudy looked towards the ground. "It's going to be a lot harder getting the chalkboard away from her, let alone getting back the magic chalk. Someone will see us..." He frowned as he stared back at the tiny portal. "We need...something..."

I tilted my head. "Like that?"

Rudy folded his arms against his chest. "I'm not sure. A diversion perhaps?" He motioned his hand in front of him as he spoke. "Something to prevent the audience from realizing that ChalkZone was a real place?"

I frowned at this, realizing that Rudy was right. It would be too difficult finding another way in. There's no telling where another chalkboard might be at this place and it would be too risky looking around to find one. We needed to do something else to stop her. But what?

It was a given that Terry was going to start drawing on the portal. We need to find some way to convince the audience that they hadn't seen anything particularly special. We could try using a wide black surface to prevent anything from showing up, but Terry might do something to stop this, like toss it up in the air or something. There was no way to attack a black surface on the back of the chalkboard itself; it would need to follow its every move.

I had thought about placing the chalkboard in a secure spot, but that would only further give away that something was up. If we trapped the chalkboard in a single area, if that were possible, the chalkboard would be frozen. I know for a fact that would draw more than enough unwanted attention.

I then thought back to when I was at this studio before, when Terry was trying to show me off like I was some sort of prize she won in the lottery. How they had thought I was clown...

My eyes twinkled. That's it. That just might work... If that could work on those higher ups, then tricking the audience with the same should be a piece of cake.

With that in mind, I turned my attention to Rudy. "I have an idea."

"You do?" Rudy asked.

I nodded my head. "Yes, I do. But you have to do what I say." I narrowed my eyes. "This isn't going to be easy..."

I explained to Rudy everything about my plan. I made sure to go over the details as much as I could as fast as possible. I didn't stop until Rudy was absolutely certain of what I had in mind. Some things were a little harder to explain than others, but thankfully, he seemed to fully understand where I was getting at. The plan I came up with was going to be tricky to pull off, but I was certain that together, we would be able to pull it off and save ChalkZone from Terry. We just had to follow the plan exactly.

Once the plan had been pounded in both our heads, we went to prepare. Unfortunately, this meant leaving the portal site for a short time. Even with the transportation Rudy created so we could go faster, it still felt like forever before we eventually found Wiggums. It wasn't too hard to get him to get in. All it took was for the wiggie to see me and the hairy, frog-like zoner jumped right on top of me. I had to hold his leash, though, as he did try to get Rudy's hair again.

We headed back to the portal site as fast as we could. For some reason, despite going faster, it felt like it took us twice as long to get back. To our relief, there was no portal open in that location. Terry must not have gotten on stage yet to start talking about ChalkZone. We still had time to prepare.

We all got into our positions. Rudy hung back, holding Wiggums in a bag to keep him hidden until it was time. I went over and took my place in front of where the chalkboard was. I glared at the seemingly empty space, waiting for Terry to make her move. My body tensed up, and I was poised to take action. I could only hope that I moved quickly enough before anyone in that audience figured out what was happening.

A part of me was terrified. My heart raced against my chest. I could feel my body on the verge of trembling. I tried to keep my mind clear and focused. I tried to remind myself that I had to concentrate. But I could not push away the fear that was eating away at me.

The consequences of us failing were...dire. My blood chilled to the bone as I recalled those horrible images shown to us by Biclops. The crazy and insane creators, the damages they caused, Vinnie's amusement park, zoner slaves... I knew that if Rudy and I failed, all that was going to happen, and so much more. I couldn't get images out of my head of zoners being experimented on. I gripped my arm as I imagined a needle being shoved right into it, them drawing out my chalk blood...

I shook my head. I couldn't allow myself to fall into that mindset. Rudy and I were here now. We managed to stop Vinnie. Surely we could stop Terry as well. I watched the empty space, waiting for my chance to make my move. I couldn't help but smile inwardly. Boy is that news reporter going to be in for quite the surprise.

Then I saw it. The glowing line that indicated a portal was being created. I steadied myself, getting ready. I watched intently as the line moved all the way into a complete circle. Soon it touched. There was a flash of light. Before it cleared, I rushed forward, grabbing onto the newly formed portal edges. As soon as the portal was complete, I pushed my head.

"Hello there!" I grinned as I waved to the audience. "Let the show begin!"

"You...?!" Terry hissed, clenching her teeth as she glared at me. "What are you doing here?!"

I smirked up at her. Yeah, just as I thought. This is exactly how I imagined she would look when I came out. After what she did to me, this was so satisfying. I ignored the urge to rub it in her face, though, and focused on continuing the plan Rudy and I worked out together.

I swung myself around and landed on the chalkboard. I spread my arms out and continued to smile broadly. The people in the audience were paying attention only to me. If any of them were looking at the portal, it was obvious from their expressions that they saw this as one big magic act and they were looking for where the trap door was or something.

Terry was obviously not amused by this. She tried to get the audience's attention again, trying to point out the portal. But I managed to outshine her. I was much better at drawing a crowd's attention than she was. They all thought she was crazy anyway, so in their mind, why would they want to keep listening to her?

After a few moments of tap dancing on the thin chalkboard, I decided it was time to move onto the next phase of the plan. I looked over at Terry and gave her a small grin. She cocked an eyebrow up in confusion, clearly wondering just what I was up to. Oh don't worry, Ms. Bouffant... You will find out soon enough.

I turned to address the audience. "Now let me bring to you our next act, the disappearing news reporter!"

"What...?" Terry whispered.

I didn't bother to reply with anything more than a smile. I knocked the chalkboard against her, making sure that the portal went right on top of her. I wasn't worried about doing this in front of the audience; they were too enthralled with my act to really notice. They will just think it was a trick of the eye.

Soon Terry had disappeared completely. The chalkboard thudded against the ground and I stood on top of it. This was to keep Terry in ChalkZone long enough for Rudy and Wiggums to have their fun with her. While those two took care of Terry, I kept my attention on the audience and continued to entertain them.

I’m not sure how long I danced around like an idiot. I don’t know how many moves I tried to show off. I don’t know how much time was passing by. All I could do was focus on keeping the audience as entertained as possible so Rudy could do his work. The faster we pulled this off and the smoother we make it look, the more convinced these people will be that it was all just an act. All we had to do is get the magic chalk away from her and erase the portal after she comes out. No magic chalk, no proof of ChalkZone. Game over. Well for her at least.

After a couple of minutes, I could hear Terry let out a muffled scream. No one else in this station could hear her, thank goodness. They also weren’t able to hear the telltale signs of hair being sucked. I tried my best not to grin with satisfaction. Looks like Terry is going to suffer another bald period, just like before with the wiggies’ invasion of the Real World.

I decided to give Wiggums a couple of minutes to take care of Terry. I know how much he loves his hair, especially if it’s from the Real World. I could hear Terry pleading with Rudy to make Wiggums stop and I thought I heard Rudy say something. I couldn’t quite make it out, but I’m sure it was something like ‘give me the chalk and I’ll call it off’ or close to that. And of course, Terry resisted. I’m sure she was trying to use the chalk, but Wiggums’s sucking was making this impossible.

Soon, I could hear her cry out ‘Okay you win just stop’ and I could hear Rudy call off Wiggums. I kept on tap dancing on top of the back of the chalkboard for a little while. Then, when I felt the time was right, I decided to move onto the next and final step of the plan. Humiliating Terry and disappearing back into ChalkZone.

The portal was soon erased before anyone could see it. Rudy and I would have loved to open up a tiny portal and watch Terry get laughed at on stage. I’m sure she was screaming and running around, waving her hands about like a loon. I chuckled at the thought. Heh, it serves her right. That’s what she gets for trying to use me as a key into ChalkZone. That’s what she gets for trying to mess with my home. Now that she has no magic chalk, there was no way she was going to be able to get back in here. I let out a sigh of relief.

I looked over and I could see Wiggums licking his long, tube-like mouth. Rudy released him and he hopped over towards me. I lowered myself onto my knees and held my arms out. The wiggie jumped into my arms and I embraced him tightly.

“Oh good boy! Who is a good Wiggums?” I spoke, uncaring if Rudy heard me or not. Right now, I was just too darn happy to care how I spoke. “You’re such a good boy!” I pulled him against me with one arm and I stroked his back with my hand.

I could hear footsteps approaching me slowly. I looked up and I could see Rudy. He stared down at me, his face a little expressionless at first. Then, slowly, he smiled as he brought out the magic chalk. He held it in front of him, pressed between his pointer and thumb. He gave me a look that told me one thing.

It was over.

I couldn’t help but smile at this. I could feel my adrenaline lower down back to normal levels. I could feel my sense of safety returning. I didn’t think we could pull it off, but we did. Just like how we banished Vinnie Raton from ChalkZone, we managed to do the same to Terry. Both of them had no way back in and neither fully understood enough to threaten us from the other side. Yes, my home was finally safe.

Rudy looked up towards the sky, turning his head slightly to look in one direction. “Well I do need to get going.” He turned his head and smiled down at me. “I’m sure my parents are going to notice I’m gone sooner or later, and I can’t very well tell them I was out saving a world, now can I?”

I chuckled. It was nice that Rudy could still have a sense of humor during a time like this. “I’ll come with you, Bucko!” I grabbed onto Wiggums’s leash and started to walk up towards my friend. “After that, I’m sure both of us deserve a little cooldown.”

“Yeah. Sure.” Rudy said. He looked a little apprehensive of Wiggums, but otherwise did not object to me bringing him. “Let’s get going.”

Together, the two of us, or three if I count Wiggums, started to head back to Rudy’s place. The walk was quite peaceful. A little longer than I remember, but it was nice. I welcomed this. It allowed me more time to calm down, and relax. It allowed me to enjoy the tranquil serenity of ChalkZone, especially with the understanding that it was going to stay this way.

I turned my head around and looked at the beautiful landscape. Normally, this would just seem routine. But after our near scare of ChalkZone’s exposure, I took this moment to really appreciate how things were here. I never thought I’d see the day when I would appreciate seeing the flying pencils, or the random zoners in the distance, or the occasional erasure of a new zoner immediately going about his day. Or even just how the landscape was in general. Kind of barren save for the grass and a few sparse trees and zoners. Not infested with money grubbing humans. No offense to Rudy and Penny, of course.

I guess that old saying was true. You really don’t know what you have until it’s gone. I know I didn’t really lose ChalkZone. But I almost did. Now I realize how much I really should appreciate it. It was...rather frightening to know just how close it all come to crumbling downhill.

Ah well. At least that’s all over now.

Up ahead, I could see Rudy’s spot where he would draw the portal. We picked up the pace and headed over there quickly. Despite moving faster, I still took the time to appreciate everything around me. I know I might sound a little sappy talking about this again, but... Well, when your home is threatened by a madman, or in this case, a madwoman, you would start seeing things a little different, too.

“So...what are you going to do later?” Rudy asked, breaking the silence.

“I might continue training Wiggums.” I looked down at the frog-like zoner. “He still needs a bit more obedience lessons.”

Rudy patted the top of his hair protectively. “Yeah, I’ll agree to that.”

We arrived at the spot. Rudy reached up with his chalk and draw a portal. As soon as it was opened, he began to climb out. I winced as he tripped and fell, his feet sticking up in the air. He had climbed in a little too fast. I called out to him to see if he was okay. He waved his hand and said that he was as he climbed back up.

We said our farewells, since Rudy had to get to sleep soon because it was a school night, and I was getting a little tired myself. I may put off training Wiggums more until tomorrow. So I turned and I began to walk away.

I didn’t get far when what appeared to be a paper plane came towards me. It zipped around me a couple of times. I watched it carefully, getting a little dizzy from following it. Eventually it crashed against my face. I winced as the tiny point hit against my skin. I rubbed my face and stared at the downed paper plane. I reached down and grabbed it. I held it up in my hands, scanning it back and forth with my eyes.

This was addressed to Rudy. My eyes fill with curiosity. I wanted to read it, but...it was Rudy’s. He should read it. I turned my head back to Rudy. I was glad to see that he hadn’t yet shut the portal all the way. I rushed over.

“Wait! Rudy!” I called out. “This message came for you!”

Rudy peered his head out. “Really? Who is it from?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “I didn’t read it.” I moved in closer. “Do you mind if I come in? I’ll leave Wiggums out here so he won’t case any trouble.”

Rudy scratched his chin. “I’m not sure. But... Yeah why not? We can read the letter together.” He reached over and he grabbed onto my hand. “I’m sure it’s just some anonymous praise for me or something.”

I wasn’t so sure about that. I hadn’t really noticed any such thing happening in ChalkZone. Oh don’t get me wrong. Rudy does indeed get praised. But in the form of letters? No, zoners usually do that in person. The fact that this was in letter form made it so intriguing. It made us both wonder just what its contents might be and who could have sent it. We looked at each other, nodded and smiled, and we turned back to the letter. We were about to find out.

We unfolded the paper plane carefully. We then spread it out as flat as we could to get rid of the wrinkles. Then we picked it up, me holding one end and him holding the other. We began to read together.

‘Dear Rudy Tabootie,

You are probably sitting there, feeling all proud of what you have done. You and Snap are probably boasting about how you outsmarted me and how I am never going to be able to bother you again. I’m sure you may be in the middle of celebrating, and I do apologize for the sudden mood change. But I feel you should know this.

I am not as dumb as you may think I am. Just because I’m a newswoman doesn’t mean I’m not well hearsed in planning and workarounds. You know, my job kinda depends on those things. You think it’s easy going around interviewing people time and again, especially ones that are quite vicious and not very approachable? Trust me, you learn a thing or two about outwitting others when you are a newsreporter.

And guess what? I outwitted you.

I knew that you two would come. When I trapped Snap back in that chalk world, I was not an idiot. I knew that he would come and find you, Rudy. I knew that you two were going to show up at my presentation. I knew that you were going to try to stop me. So I allowed you to try. I actually had hoped you would show up, and you did. Right on time even. Congratulations.

Another thing you learn is how to act. I was never scared or angry about that stupid hair-sucking varment. I had to put on a good show to make you convinced that you were winning. I willingly gave up the chalk not because of that foul creature, but because it was all part of my plan. Luring you into a false sense of security so I could go on with my next step in my plan. With you two gone and convinced that you had stopped me, you weren’t present to interrupt me when I revealed a little surprise that even the man in charge of the station was left speechless. And it was the one who called Snap a circus freak. What a joke!

I am very good about hiding cameras, Tabootie. I had one in my newscaster outfit. Quite well placed. I hid it quite well. I won’t bore you with the details. I will say this, though. I was able to get footage. Me going into that chalk world, the encounter with you and that creature. It’s all here on my tape. Anyone who sees this will know that it’s not a trick of any kind. A live, shaky feed from a raw camera. The real deal. And I must thank you, Tabootie. Bringing along that frog thing would make it so much more convincing.

I’m sure you are probably thinking of stopping me and getting the video footage back. I suspected as much. So I have taken a simple liberty. Let me spell it out for you in case you don’t understand where I’m getting at.

It’s too late to stop me. I have already showed the footage to that audience your little friend was entertaining. They were all convinced. They were in shock and awe at what little they had seen. You should have seen it, Tabootie. They were asking so many questions, including one thing: how to get in. Even that man in charge was interested.

They saw you, Tabootie. They know you have a connection now. Many of them recognized you. You are going to be quite the star soon. But I do have to wonder how your parents are going to feel. They are going to see the broadcasted footage very soon. In fact, I think by the time you finish reading this, they will have seen the footage. They will come up to your room and you will see their reaction for the first time.

Prepare for a shift in your life. I am no longer going to be the only one tailing you. Others will be after you. Your life is about to get a little more interesting. As will that chalk world of yours that you keep hiding from us. Let’s see how long you can keep that world a secret when you have a mob coming after you.

I wish you the best of luck, Tabootie. Oh and sweet dreams.

From, Terry Bouffant’

Rudy and I dropped the letter to the ground. Our minds raced, our hearts pounding in our chests. We felt so weak and tired and shaken. Our bodies wouldn’t stop trembling. We looked at each other. Our minds raced as our eyes widened. The same question spun in our heads over and over.

Terry couldn’t possibly be serious... Could she...? She was just making this up to scare us, right? Yeah it had to be. Terry was just sore that we beat her and she wanted to get back at us for ruining her again. She wants us to get all worked up so she could sit there with that smug smile on her face and gloat about how she had outsmarted us.

But it had to be a fake. There was no way she could have pulled this off. She...She couldn’t have hidden a camera that easily. Rudy would have seen it. She would have given herself away somehow, wouldn’t she? Then again, she was smart. Maybe she...

No, I couldn’t let myself believe it. Terry wants me to believe it so she’d win. She wants me to feel terrified. She wants Rudy to feel afraid. She just wants us to suffer. She is a sick, twisted bitch who would do whatever it took to get even. She had been humiliated in front of many people and she more than likely wanted revenge for it. And this was her revenge. Making us believe that she had pulled this off and have us lay awake at bed at night. Well it wasn’t going to work. I won’t fall for it.

“Y-You....” Rudy breathed in. “You don’t think...”

I tried my best to smile at Rudy. I wanted to comfort him, despite my own fears. “No, Bucko. I...”

Our meeting was cut short. Without warning, without any indication that they were there, the door was busted down. Rudy and I let out a scream as the door was practically busted off its hinges. We grabbed onto each other and looked over at the door, watching it bang against the wall. We then turned our eyes to face the person responsible.

“D-Dad..? Mom...?”

The sight of Rudy’s parents standing in the door way caused us both to freeze. Neither of us could speak, our eyes locked onto their horror and anger-filled ones. Neither of us had ever seen them like this before. There mere sight of them like this caused our blood to turn to ice. That look they were giving us... We both knew what it had meant.

They had seen the footage. Terry’s threat had been real. It wasn’t just Rudy’s parents who now knew. Anyone watching the news would now. The information would spread. Everyone in town was going to know. We gave each other a brief, horror-filled glance.

“So it was true!” Barked Mrs. Tabootie as she came barreling in. She headed straight for the chalkboard which, to our horror, still had the portal. “That Ms. Bouffant person had been telling the truth!”

“And to think our own son had hidden this from us!” Mr. Tabootie waved a hand about in an almost violent manner. “How could you do this to us, Rudy?!” He stared intently at Rudy, his voice filled with hurt. “We’re your parents! How could you have been going off in that...that dangerous world?! You could have gotten hurt!”

“Well I...” Rudy tried to explain, but he was soon cut off.

I tried to comfort Rudy, but I felt a large hand grab onto me. I could catch a glimpse of Rudy’s horror-filled eyes as I was yanked back by my arm. I winced as Mr. Tabootie twisted it roughly. I looked up at him and I cringed under his gaze.

“Stay away from our son, you...you chalk creature!” Mr. Tabootie’s eyes were blazing with hatred towards me. I wanted to speak, but I could only turn my head away to shield myself from those eyes.

“No! Let him go!” Rudy called out. He reached out towards me. He didn’t get far before his mother grabbed onto him and yanked him back. “No! Stop! Let him go!”

“You’re not interacting with that thing anymore. It is too dangerous!” His mother warned him.

Rudy struggled against his mother’s grasp. “He’s my best friend! He would never hurt me!”

“Y-Yeah... He’s telling the truth!” I tried to explain. “I care about Rudy! I would never...”

I let out a yelp of pain when Mr. Tabootie slapped me across the face. I could feel the horrible sting in my cheek, and I placed my free hand against it. I looked up at the man, my eyes wide in horror. I could see that his arm was still raised up, and I could have sworn I saw it subtly reposition itself so that he could strike me again. I instinctively held up my hands and looked away.

“You can’t fool us. We know you’ve been brainwashing our child. You horrid little...” Mr. Tabootie’s body shook. “You will not get away with this... I swear it...”

I shuddered at the tone of his voice. “Please...I...”

“Shut up!”

I let out a gag as the man suddenly seized me by my neck. My eyes bulged as he lifted me up into the air, squeezing my neck tightly with both hands. He glared down coldly at me as I opened my mouth wider to breathe properly, my oxygen supply disrupted. I kicked my legs as I struggled, pushing against his hands to try to free myself.

“You’re coming with me. I know exactly what to do with you...” Mr. Tabootie said in a frightfully chilling voice. He looked over at Rudy, staring at him with one eye, he said, “And when I get back, you and I will have a little chat. You have a lot of explaining to do...”

Mr. Tabootie began to carry me out of the door. At this, Rudy and I struggled to get free. We tried to wriggle our way out of our predicament. We twisted from side to side, trying in vain to get ourselves free. But no matter what we did, no matter how hard we tried, we couldn’t break free of the adult’s grasp.

Rudy’s mother held onto her son tightly. She looped an arm over him and pressed him against her chest. Rudy twisteda round and he reached out towards me, his arms flailing around.

“Snap!”

My heart twisted as I heard him shout my name. I tried again to get free. I pushed against the man’s hand as he carried me over towards the door. I tried to kick at him. None of my kicks landed against him. He held me too far away. I tried to bite him, but I was not able to angle my jaws well enough to get a good attack in. I desperately clawed at his hands, but his grip on me only tightened.

“Rudy!” I cried out to the boy. I reached my hand out towards him. “Help me!”

Rudy’s eyes bulged at this. He tried to reach out at me again. “Snap! Hold on! I...” His mother yanked him back again.

We stared at each other as we were being ripped away from one another. Our eyes locked onto each other, not daring to look away. We exchanged looks of terror and horror. We continued to reach out towards each other, both of us wishing that we could just reach over and grab each other and hold each other and reassure each other.

Despite our best efforts, the distance between us spread rapidly. We kept looking at each other as our bodies began to get smaller and smaller to the other, the space between us growing as Mr. Tabootie continued to carry me away relentlessly. It didn’t take us long to reach the door way.

Rudy twisted his body from side to side. “Snap! No!”

I took in a few shaky breaths, the realization of what was happening crashing in all around me. I looked at Rudy, seeing the tears in his eyes. I could feel my own forming. I took in a few shaky breaths. Unable to control it anymore, I jerked my head to one side and let out a mournful scream.

“Rudy!”

The door slammed shut.

Another AU. This one is about the red chalk taking a different action than it did in its introductory episode.


sss

I ran as fast as my feet could carry me. I didn’t dare look behind me, worried that Biclops might spot us if we stopped. I just kept on going, despite feeling my lungs set on fire. I only stopped when we were clear away from the Chalk Mine’s entrance. I put my hands on my hands on my knees and panted a couple of times.

I looked over and smiled at Rudy. He was looking pretty winded as well, but he wasn’t too bad off. No surprise really; we hadn’t really run that far. But we were both so worried that Biclops would see us and get upset. This fear drove us to keep running and struggling to remain hidden. Biclops might be our friend and a gentle giant, but he is determiend to keep the mine safe. He might not appreciate it if we waltzed into it unannounced, especially during spring cleaning.

Although I felt some guilt at invading his home without permission, that went away quickly. It wasn’t like we were going to do anything to hurt him. All we did was take a single piece of chalk and fled. What was the worst that could happen?

Smiling at Rudy, I said, “He didn’t even know we were there!”

Rudy nodded his head in agreement. He looked down at the piece of chalk that we took. “I wonder what we got.”

At this, I took a closer look at our ‘prize’, per say. It was something we had never seen before. Something that was shaped like any other piece of magic chalk that Rudy used. But this wasn’t white; it was red. Apart from that, there was nothing else we knew about it. Rudy believed it might have special powers, but looking at it, I didn’t think it was too special. I did hope that he was right, though. It would be a shame if we went through all that trouble take something that was more or less the same as magic chalk. All that worrying for nothing.

We spent a few moments looking at the piece of red chalk, trying to figure out what it could do. Red could mean a lot of things, or it could mean nothing. I thought of the warning before and theorized that maybe the chalk drew extra strong zoners. Red was a power color, after all. That would explain why Biclops would lock it away. He didn’t want anyone, especially those past creators, finding it and using it.

After a few moments, I couldn’t really think of anything. I shrugged my shoulders and stated the blatant observation. “Well, it’s red.” Pretty mundane, but that was still we really knew about it.

Rudy frowned at the red chalk, holding it up closer to his face so he could examine it. “I wonder what the big deal is.” I shrugged my shoulders. I was at as much of a loss as he was regarding this thing.

Rudy decided the only way to figure out this mystery was to draw. I didn’t complain. I had to agree, this was the only way to be certain. He didn’t need to draw anything all that complicated. A single, simple drawing would be enough to figure out the powers of this. Then he could experiment with drawing more things.

Just as I expected, he started off by drawing a simple line. He raised his arm up and he moved it down, biting his tongue in the process. When the thing flashed into existence, it looked like any line Rudy would normally draw. However, the key difference was it was red in color, instead of black. So far, nothing really too special. I frowned and waited for it to drop down so Rudy could try drawing something more complicated. However, as it fell, we were both in for a slight surprise.

“Ow!” I rubbed my head as the red stick hit against me. And not lightly, either. It was almost as though it was a deliberate act, like it wanted to do that to me. But such a thing was ridiculous, right? It was just a piece of chalk.

“Oh, sorry Snap!” Rudy looked at me with some concern, his mouth curled into a nervous smile. I didn’t say anything to him and just waited for him to continue. “Let me try something else.”

This time, he drew something else. A ball. It wasn’t very large and likely made of something kinda soft. It looked harmless enough, but after getting whacked in the head, I didn’t want to take any chances. I took a small step back and waited as the ball materialized. My eyes followed the ball, as well as Rudy’s, as it fell towards the ground. It hit against the ground and was launched back up. It repeated this a few times. I smiled a little. This was a better. Perhaps the first drawing was nothing more than a fluke.

My smile quickly faded as the ball increased in speed. Rudy and I moved our heads up and down as the ball moved faster and higher, becoming almost a blur to our eyes. We tried to stop it, but the ball launched against is. Rudy and I were knocked back by its force before it went towards ChalkZone City. We froze when we heard a loud crash.

There was something weird going on here. But I didn’t have time to stop and think about what that might be. I just ran over towards the source of the sound with Rudy. It didn’t take us long to reach the outskirts of the city where a baker’s place was located. I clenched my teeth nervously as I saw the window was broken and two bakers, one of them purple whom I recognized as Lazlo, were none too pleased with us.

“You crazy kids!” The bakers yelled, glaring at us.

“I’m so sorry!” Rudy came over as quickly as he could. He look one look at the window and his eye glinted. I couldn’t help but smile. I knew what was coming. “Let me take care of that!” Rudy went to work, quickly drawing a brand new window using the red chalk. In a few seconds, he was finished, and it was like nothing happened. “There you go!”

The two bakers opened up their new red window to thank Rudy. But then, without warning, the window that Rudy had drawn closed itself on their heads. The two bakers immediately screamed in pain. Rudy and I stared in horror as the window suddenly got a pair of horrendeous-looking eyes and a set of vicious, sharp teeth. It didn’t spend long on the bakers before it came after us, snapping and snarling like some kind of wild dog.

Now I knew something was up. This was the third time in a row today that Rudy’s drawings had been less than pleasant. This didn’t seem right. Rudy would never purposely draw something so mean and nasty. That wasn’t in his nature. He had promised Biclops that he would never draw anything dangerous in ChalkZone, especially knowing it was inhabited by real people, including myself. The very idea of any Rudy Tabootie original being dangerous chilled my mind. It was something I never thought I would have to consider.

The red window was going to catch up to me. There was no way I was going to be able to run from it for very long. I stopped and turned to face it, hoping to give Rudy a little time to get some distance before the window could grab onto him. I danced around the window, moving in a circle and jumping through its gaping, sharp mouth any time it tried to lung at me. I wasn’t sure how long I could keep this up, but for now, at least the red window was having a hard time sinking its teeth into me.

Although I knew that Rudy couldn’t have done this on purpose, I shot at Rudy, “Why did you draw such a nasty window?!” I immediately regretted saying that.

“It wasn’t me!” Rudy called out. “It was....” Rudy suddenly stopped speaking. I turned my head around to see that Rudy was staring at the red chalk. “...the chalk..” Ominous red lightning bolt shapes shot out from it. Something that was never present in the usually welcoming sparkle of the normal white chalk.

My eyes widened as something clicked in my head. As I struggled against the window, which had managed to grab my cape and was dragging me away, my mind moved rapidly with thoughts, quickly piecing the puzzle together.

The chalk... It had to be the chalk...

What else could it be? It would explain everything. It would explain how Rudy’s drawings had taken on a nasty, unwarranted attitude. It would explain why such a sweet boy like Rudy would create such vicious monsters. Because he wasn’t creating them. Something was causing the creations to go against his original intent. It took me only seconds to realize the conclusion to this.

There was something very wrong with the red chalk.

“If I were you, I’d toss that thing like a hot potato!” My frantic voice reached Rudy in nanoseconds. I pushed my feet against the ground and pulled back hard against my cape. Man, this thing has a good, tight grip.

“Good idea!” I could hear Rudy grunting in frustration and confusion. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I was too busy trying to free myself. I heard Rudy gasp and shout, “I’m coming, Snap!”

In almost no time at all, Rudy came over to my side. I felt a mixture of emotion. There was relief, as he was my best friend and he always helped me out whenever I needed it. But for the first time, I couldn’t help but feel some apprehension towards him. I had no idea how this was going to turn out. I remembered how the last red chalk drawings turned out. Was he seriously going to try using it again, as if something good will happen this time? I have a few choice words for him if that’s the case.

No, he’s not. To my relief, I could see him pull out the white chalk. Ah good old white chalk. You never let us down. Rudy quickly drew bars on the window to hold its mouth shut. It released me in surprise by this new muzzle. I toppled back and watched in silence as the red window, now harmless, began to whimper and move away from Rudy quickly.

I’m not sure if Rudy caught it, but there was some kind of look in the window’s eyes. Something that just looked...wrong. It was almost fear. And not the usual apprehension I see, but raw terror, as if Rudy had it hurt it somehow by muzzling it. Rudy didn’t react to it, so I assume that he didn’t notice the look. I thought of bringing it up, but soon decided it was best to just let it go. The red window was gone now. Now to figure out this red chalk business...

I looked over and was shocked to see that Rudy still had the red chalk in his hands. I thought he had gotten rid of the thing. It still rested firmly in his palm, and Rudy just stood there, making no attempt to try to toss the chalk away. I narrowed my eyes slightly and walked over towards him.

“Why didn’t you throw it away?” I asked him.

Rudy raised his hand up, shaking it. “I tried, but it’s not budging!” I watched him shake his hand, the palm facing down. Just as he described, the red chalk really wasn’t going anywhere. It clung to him like some kind of lost child.

“There has to be someway to remove it.” I tried to remain skeptical. Not that I wanted to say Rudy was lying, but chalk can’t just cling to people’s hands. “We just need to pull harder. Maybe if we worked together...”

I grabbed onto the red chalk in his palm and started to pull. I expected it to be a relatively easy, although still difficult, task. Instead, the chalk wouldn’t move. I tried to pull harder, but it still wouldn’t budge. It was almost as if someone had taken superglue and secured this thing to Rudy’s hand. But I still refused to give up. I kept pulling as hard as I could, eventually resorting to using Rudy’s body as leverage to try to get it out.

Rudy joined in. He began to push me away and pull himself back, hoping to get enough force to dislodge the chalk. We kept struggling together to get this thing out, pushing and pulling as hard as we could. It felt as though we spent several minutes on this and yet, in spite of all our efforts, this darn piece of chalk wasn’t going anywhere. In a last ditch effort, I tried pushing both my feet against Rudy and pulling on the red chalk as hard as I could, but the end result was that we were both flung in different directions. I yelped as I hit the ground. I looked over and winced as I saw Rudy hit the concrete floor with his face. That’s gotta hurt.

“This thing won’t move....” Rudy grumbled as he sat himself up. He stared down at the red chalk, a look of exasperation on his face. “I can’t believe just how much it’s sticking to me.”

“Yeah, it’s like it really likes you or something.” I cracked a weak joke, hoping to lighten the mood up. Judging from the fact that Rudy’s face was still down as he stared at the red chalk, I knew that he didn’t find it very funny. I cleared my throat nervously and went back to the topic at hand. “Don’t worry, Bucko. We’ll find a way! We just need to...”

I froze. I stared at Rudy, who had gone uncomfortably silent. I could feel a chill moving down my spine. You know that feeling you get when you realize something is wrong but you can’t quite pinpoint what it is? Well that was exactly the feeling I was getting right now. There was something....really wrong here. I found myself taking a step back as I watched Rudy’s unmoving form carefully.

“R-Rudy...?” I whispered softly. I didn’t get an answer. “Rudy... Bucko?” I took a step forward, reaching a hand out towards him. “Please...say something...”

It was then I noticed Rudy’s expression. His mouth hung open and his eyes were wide and almost blank, yet fully invested in the piece of red chalk. It was almost as if he couldn’t tear his eyes away from it. I thought at first he was just examining it more closely, but he was holding way too still, and that expression...it just wasn’t right.

It was then I heard something. It was low at first. Barely there, but I could hear it. Despite it being so low, so quiet, there still seemed something quite wrong with it. Something about it was unnerving me, making me lick my lips nervously and move back away. I looked left and right as I tried to figure out just where it was coming from. Slowly the sound began to increase in volume. Not by much, and it was of little help to me. I still couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was.

And then I saw it. Rudy...he was shaking. His whole body was shaking. His head was still low, in fact lower than before. I couldn’t see his face. I watched as he trembled as if he were cold. The sound... I realized it was coming from him. They were a series of quick, short sounds that I was not able to explain. It was almost as if he were struggling to breathe, but...

“Heheheh...”

I felt my blood run cold when the sound suddenly became recognizable. My whole body stiffened, and it felt as if my legs had been nailed down to the floor. I couldn’t move, no matter how much I tried to will my body into trying to get out of here. I continued to stare in Rudy’s direction as I realized what that sound was.

Rudy was...laughing. Not a friendly laugh. Not one out of nervousness. Not any of the laughs I ever heard him give. Ths laugh was different. So starkly different.

It was an evil laugh.

“Rudy...? Bucko...?” I asked, tension filling my voice. The laughter got a little louder and more maniacal. “A-Are you okay...?”

“Oh I’m okay, Snap...”

I shivered when I heard him speak. That voice... It didn’t sound like Rudy’s. Well it was, but it was so...cold and evil-sounding. It was not at all how I expected him to speak. I was used to villains saying things in that tone. Even Reggie. But not Rudy. No, he was too sweet and kind of a child. He would never do something like that on purpose. No, this couldn’t be...

I was cut off when Rudy lifted up his head. I nearly screamed in horror when I saw this eyes. Gone were the friendly, warm and welcoming green eyes I was accustomed to seeing. Those same eyes were now a crimson, sparking in all directions a few times just as the red chalk had been doing before. These eyes held none of the warmth that I was used to seeing from Rudy. These eyes instead held nothing but cruelty and malicious intentions. The twisted smile that was paired up with them made the scene all the more horrific.

My mind raced as I tried to make sense of this. Just...what was going on here? What had happened to my best friend? Why did he look like this? What did the red chalk do to him?

“In fact...” Rudy spoke up again as he climbed up to his feet slowly. “I’ve never felt better.” As he said this, he raised the red chalk slightly.

“What’s gotten into you?” I managed to say in my terrified and confused stupor.

“Oh, nothing much. I’ve just seen the light. That is all, dear friend.” Rudy said. His voice was chillingly calm. Definitely quieter than what I was used to, which provded more ‘this is wrong’ rings to my mind. “What is the matter? Are you afraid of your own creator?” The words were somewhat sympathetic, but the tone used was clearly mocking. I managed to narrow my eyes, which got a grin from the boy. “I see I upset you.”

“What have you done with Rudy?!”

The widened his eyes slightly, but that sickening smile still returned. “I am Rudy.”

I snarled at this. “No you’re not! You’re an imposter!” I raised my fists up to fight. “Tell me the truth! What the fuck did you do to Rudy?!”

The red chalk was responsible for this, I knew. It was what started this whole thing. It was the one which corrupted those other drawings. And now it was trying to corrupt my best friend. I felt my blood boil. The red chalk had gone way too far now. No one tries to take my best friend away. Absolutely no one. If this thing didn’t give back my friend, then I was going to give it a reason.

“What did I...” Fake Rudy blinked a few times, and then he threw his head back and started to laugh. “Oh Snap, you really amaze me! Really, you are a riot!” I growled at this. Fake Rudy tilted his head and gave me a sideways glance. “What makes you think I’m not Rudy?”

A low growl escaped my throat. “Rudy would never act this way! He’s my creator and best friend! I know how he would act! You aren’t going to fool me!” Fake Rudy just continued to stare at me expectantly, as if I hadn’t said anything that clicked with him. This made me angrier. I pointed a fist in his direction. “If you don’t tell me what’s going on, I’m going to turn your face inside out!”

“Oh Snap!” Fake Rudy’s eyes widened, the red glow brightening slightly. He had his hand against his chest. “You would do that to your own friend?” His voice was fake, clearly taunting me.

I stomped my foot on the ground. “You are not Rudy!” My voice practically echoed, despite there not being many places for my voice to bounce. I continued to glare at the boy in front of me, adopting a hostile stance. I took in a few quick breaths before I spoke in a deep, growly voice. “Tell me the truth, you piece of shit...”

Fake Rudy stared at me blankly for a few moments his eyes wide. He soon smiled again, the edges spreading out nearly behind his face. He gave another chuckle, this one just as chilly as all the other ones he gave. He pulled his lips back into a snarl as he did this, sniggering. “I see you aren’t as stupid as I thought you were.”

I took a step back at this, feeling the rush of cold move through me faster than before. All instinct was telling me to run. But I couldn’t. This...thing, whatever it was, it had my friend. I had to try to help. “What are you...?”

“Well, I might as well be honest now.” He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, as if it was no big deal. “You can call me Rory.” His eyes glinted a flash of bright red at this. “I’m sure you’re smart enough to remember that, right?”

I hissed at this, but tried my best to ignore the insult. I took a few steps towards Rud...no, Rory, keeping my defensive stance. I was full on ready to attack him if it meant saving Rudy. I refrained from doing so, however. I didn’t want to do that unless it was absolutely necessary. But based on my interactions with this..this thing so far, it might be my only choice.

“Yes, I am red chalk, but I’m a bit more than that...” Rory said. He stood up straight, holding himself with some sense of regalness. He held up his hand in gesture. “You see, I’m their... well you might use the words king or queen, or even leader. It doesn’t matter, but if I used a term to describe myself, it would be alpha. I am the alpha of the red chalk.” He gave a chuckle as he stared right into my eyes. I simply glared and waited for him to continue. I could tell he was not finished yet. “I must thank you personally. If it wasn’t for you and your little game of ‘let’s sneak past Biclops to steal a piece of forbidden chalk’, I wouldn’t be here right now.” He held his arms at his sides, looking left and right as if to examine. Then he looked right back at me. “I couldn’t have done this without you.”

At that instant, I felt my stance weakening. I took a few steps back, my legs becoming wobbly and weak. Rory’s words shot through my head like a lightning bolt. I took in a sharp breath of horror as I stared at him in shock. I found myself shaking my head from left to right, not wanting to admit that this was true. This couldn’t possibly be...

Then again, it was my idea to go there. I did drag Rudy into the Chalk Mine. I did make Rudy open the door despite the warning clearly written on it. If I hadn’t done any of that, if I hadn’t allowed Rudy into that room and if we had turned back like Rudy wanted, then none of this would have happened. This... This truly was my fault. I could feel my heart sting at this realization. If only I hadn’t been so stupid, I...

I shook my head. What was I thinking? This wasn’t my fault. I shouldn’t blame myself for this. The red chalk... Rory... He was just trying to confuse me. He was the one who took a hold of my best friend. He was the one who was using Rudy like some kind of puppet. He decided that, not me. How dare he try to pass the guilt onto me.... I took a few steps towards him, my steadiness and confidence renewed.

“What do you want with my best friend, you fiend?” I asked in a low voice.

Rory looked down at the piece of white chalk, scrunching his nose in disgust. He tossed it aside like it was something vile. His smile soon returned. “You have no idea how long my brethren and I have been trapped in there. Cut off from the world, cut off from this place.” He raised his arms outward. “We belong out here, not in there. We are better than you pathetic zoners. For we are the ones that create.” He put his hands against his chest. He leaned forward, his eyes widening and twinkling with glee. “We have the power to create anything we want to! We are the very things that give humans their power! It is us! All us!”

I narrowed my eyes at this. “It’s the white chalk that...”

“Don’t you dare mention the white chalk in my presence!” Rory yelled, his voice like a set of sharp knives. I could have sworn they penetrated me. I took a step back and widened my eyes as Rory gave me a death glare. “The white chalk thinks its so special! No wait, it can’t even think! It’s just useless piece of rock!” He closed his hand into a trembling fist. “We red chalk are different! We can do things the white chalk could never do! We are superior!”

Rory took a few steps towards me. I tried to keep myself put, but as he kept getting closer, his eyes narowing, his body stiffening up as if he were about to attack, I found myself moving backwards away from him.

“But that stupid fucking Biclops locked us away! Why? For what?! What did we ever do wrong?!” Rory curled his fingers inward as he glared at them, as if he were hoping claws would pop out. He clenched his teeth tightly, grinding them. “All we were trying to do was enhance the drawings! Isn’t a chalk that can think for itself better than a mindless piece of nothingness that needs the brain of some idiot child to run the show?!” He shut his eyes tightly, but the red glow intensified to the point where it visible even through the eyelids. This nearly caused my heart to stop beating. “Taking incentive.. is that so wrong?!”

I struggled to control my swift breathing. I glared at Rory. I struggled to speak. When I did manage, my voice was strained, although still firm. “You were hurting people. That’s why you were locked up!”

Rory stared at me. His expression was that of shock, as if he couldn’t believe I had said that. He soon smiled again, his eyes remaining narrowed in a malicious way. He let out a few anger-tinged sniggers as he flashed his teeth at me. Despite being Rudy’s teeth, they somehow looked sharper and more dangerous than they usually did. “Believe what you want, blue boy. That doesn’t change a thing.” He folded his arms behind his back, his whole composure suddenly taking on a psuedo-friendly look. Quite unsettling after seeing him so angry before. “And I still want to thank you for all your help. This wouldn’t have been possible without your sup...”

“Shut up!”

I couldn’t take it anymore. Not able to hold my anger back any longer, I dashed towards the fiend, my fists clenched tightly. Rory widened his eyes as I made my way towards him, moving as quickly as I could. Rory soon narrowed his eyes and hunched his body. I prepared myself for the impact. I pulled back my fist and struck.

I ended up hitting nothing but air. Rory had taken a step to the side allowing me to sail past him. I waved my arms desperately, trying to stop. I could feel a foot against my back and then a push. I let out a scream as I slammed into the ground. I could feel my face hit against the concrete sidewalk. I pushed myself up by one hand, using my free one to wipe my face. I turned over and glared at Rory.

He was returning the glare. His red eye glow made me shudder, but I ignored my fear as I pushed myself up off the ground, steadying myself. I glared in his direction, showing my teeth. I made no attempt to back down. Just couldn’t. Not from this. I needed to do something before this creepazoid used my best friend for some thing horrible. I didn’t know what I was going to do, but I knew I had to at least try.

“So you wanna play, punk? Fine! We can play!” Rory raised his hand up, the red chalk sparkling. The red chalk that I knew was his true form. “I waited a long time to be able to use a body like this...and I’m not about to back out of it now!”

It clicked with me in that second. The red chalk was jealous of humans. It was jealous because they wanted to be the creators. Rory’s words showed they clearly had little respect for humans, seeing them as nothing more than idiots. This much was clear from his rant about ‘incentiveness’. That was why the red chalk stuck to Rudy’s hand; it didn’t want to let him go. It didn’t want to let go of the one chance that it had for fulfilling its goal: becoming what it would call a ‘true creator’.

My initial horror washed away into boiling hot anger, my teeth bared. This gave me more of a reason to stop this creepazoid. No one uses my best friend this way. I would teach this stupid piece of chalk a lesson. Then I would haul it back to the Chalk Mine itself. It can’t do anything to me. Then Biclops will be able to take care of the little freak.

I prepared for the charge. I kicked my feet against the ground. I hunched my body. I tightened up my muscles, gathering up as much energy as I could. My eyes narrowed deeply as I stared intently at Rory, my eyes occasionally darting down to his true form, and then back at the red eyes he had given Rudy. He was glaring back at me, gritting his teeth as he prepared to draw. Not wanting to wait any longer, my body shaking with emotion, I charged towards him. I was going to save Rudy, and nothing this creep did would stop me. He...

I was stopped almost midstride as something sharp struck through me. My eyes bulged, feeling a flash of pain rush through every corner of my body. I took in a shaky breath and I could taste something in my mouth. Salty and almost iron-flavored. My heart skipped a beat when I realized it was my own blood. It was trickling down my mouth. Although terrified, I forced myself to look down.

There was a long, wide sword that was stuck through my body, cutting into my stomach and I was certain it went out my back. Blood was pooling rapidly from the wound. I could see the droplets as they fell into the small puddles of the crimson fluids, which stained the ground like some kind of morbid decoration. The pain didn’t register completely yet, my mind still in a state of shock. To my side, I could see Rory, who was giving me a sideways dark smile. I thought I could hear him laughing, but I couldn’t hear it over the sound of my own screaming as the pain fully clicked with me.

This didn’t last long. After a few bloodcurdling screams, I went silent. I realized that this was because I was beginning to choke on my own blood. I coughed pitifully as I struggled to clear my throat. But it seemed as if the more I tried to cough out, the more would just fill my throat.

Suddenly, Rory let out a cold laugh as he yanked the sword out of my stomach. This sudden motion caused a bolt of pain to rush through me, more powerful than before. My eyes widened as I took in a sharp breath, a strangled scream barely coming out of me as I dropped down onto my knees. I pressed my hand against my stomach as I tried to stop the bleeding. I could feel the warm, thick liquid moving over my trembling hand, giving it a thick coating. I coughed as more blood leaked out of my mouth, my breathing becoming even more labored.

The blood loss quickly began to take its toll on me. I could feel my vision swimming and wafering. I could feel my mind starting to spin. I blinked a few times. My eyes were starting to feel heavy and it was getting increasingly difficult to keep them open. My mind was becoming a little unfocused, and it was only getting worse as the seconds passed.

“You should have left when you had the chance...”

I turned my head towards the source of the voice. I could see Rory standing there. His features were distorted and it was a little difficult to make them out. In fact, my whole visual field was becoming blurred and smeared, as if it was just a wet painting that someone smeared.

“Now look at the mess you are in. Bleeding on the ground like a jar of spaghetti sauce that was spilled over. Tsk, tsk.” I thought I could see him shaking his head, but I wasn’t sure. I was too busy struggling to control the strange headache that was forming. “And to think, you were the one who let me out..”

I looked at him with one eye, the other one unable to open. I narrowed it and let out a low growl, ignoring the pain and dizziness that came over me. Despite my increased confusion, a part of me still remembered who this guy was, and just how dangerous he was. My act of defense only seemed to humor him as he let out a series of dark sniggers at my attempts of speech. I tried to rush at him, but I only ended up dropping back down. I could see the blood splashing splashing as my elbow hit against it.

“Oh well, not like it matters anyway. Here...” I could hear footsteps approach me. “Let me take care of that for you. I do still owe you for letting me out. I would hate for you to suffer this way. Let me...take it all away...”

My mind barely had time to register the horror that shot through me. As soon as he said that, I felt something sharp again, this time in my chest. My whole body stiffened up, my eyes bulging so wide, I thought they would fall out. This only lasted a split second before I fell completely limp. In an instant, my mind shut down and I was encased in darkness and silence.