|
|
Post by Bluedramon on Aug 19, 2015 22:28:50 GMT -5
Chapter 42: “Wait! Stop! Please!” But Terry’s pleas fell on deaf ears. Ms. Charlotte made no reaction other than a low growl, her face contorting in anger. The mere sight of it was enough to make Terry shiver in fear. She scrambled to get away, but she quickly realized that she was utterly trapped. Oh how could she have been so stupid? How could she have allowed her anger to get the best of her? How could she have struck Dr. Von Doktor like that? She wasn’t even sure if he was dead or not. Even if he wasn’t, he was still going to need to be hospitalized for a day or two at least after that nasty blow. Her mind kept replaying it over and over in her mind, and each time, she felt her stomach twist in shock at what she did. This isn’t what she had wanted. She only wanted a little respect and understanding from him. She wanted him to understand how important exposing this world was. Yes, she will admit, a lot of it was self serving. But...she still had a legitimate cause going in behind it. After all, wouldn’t they be a lot safer if this world was out in the open? Her mind fell back on those past incidents she mentioned to the man, as well as any others she neglected. Just how easy would it have been for something worse to come through? Would it not be better to have everyone informed so they could stand a chance? Sure, she still wanted to monotenize it, make money off of it however she could. But at least her actions in doing so would lead to a benefit for everyone. Keeping those chalk things under control would make everything so much safer. Now she botched that up. Who would believe her now? Who would want to side with someone who had practically killed an elderly man? Even if said man was not too well respected, still, the principal of it, a younger person attacking someone who was up there in age, too weak to fight back, that would be enough to disgust a lot of people. By attacking him, she just threw away whatever respect she may have had left. People already didn’t listen to her before, but now, once this gets out, she may not even have a job anymore, or any opportunity to get a job. She’d be shunned, left out in the cold, and this time, it would be much worse than before. She wanted to blame the old guy for what happened to him. If he hadn’t been such a blasted idiot and insulted her, she wouldn’t have snapped. If he had just been more willing to listen to her instead of spending time scolding her, then things might have worked out for the best. But no, that was stupid. She could have controlled herself more. She could have done something to prevent herself from snapping like that. Now it was too late. As much as Dr. Von Doktor was to blame, she had to share at least some of that responsibility. However, she might not even get that far. She could see Ms. Charlotte moving towards her in a threatening manner. From the look in her eyes, it was easy to assume that, unless she figured a way out of here quickly, she would be lucky to get away with just a couple of bruises. She managed to dislodge Ms. Charlotte earlier before she could hit her, but that didn’t mean she’d have as much luck a second time. Indeed, Ms. Charlotte was moving quicker this time. She quickened her pace and closed the gap between them faster. Terry managed to move away before the woman could reach her, but that was such a lucky move. She could see how quickly Ms. Charlotte twisted her body before coming back in her direction, almost cat-like in how flexible she was in that moment. Terry tried to get to the door, but Ms. Charlotte beat her to it. She stumbled back as she heard the angered woman give out a snarl, looking at her with those piercing eyes. Terry slowly backed away, raising her hand up in hopes of convincing the woman out of attacking. This didn’t seem like it was going to happen, the woman showing no signs of backing down or calling off her attack. Terry took a couple steps back, unable to tear her eyes away from the furious woman. Just why was she acting like this anyway? Well yeah she expected her to be angry. That wasn’t the problem. The issue was that it felt as though Ms. Charlotte was acting too angry. Disproportionate... After all, this man was just her boss, right? Why was she acting as if she had attacked someone she loved so dearly? Unless... Could that be it...? Was she really...? The thought disturbed Terry. Never before would she have thought that as a possibility. Her and him...together..? There was such a huge age difference and... It just didn’t seem possible. And yet if that is the case, then that would explain why this woman was acting far more vicious towards her than she would have expected. Terry managed to climb onto the old man’s large desk. She backed away some more as Ms. Charlotte attempted to swing a punch at her. She managed to dodge the attack, but she nearly fell off the desk in the process. Ms. Charlotte seemed to take notice to this and tried to strike her again and again. Each time, Terry managed to get out of the way, but with each blow, it seemed the woman was getting closer. She braced herself for another attack, flexing her hand out in front of her in preparation. But then Ms. Charlotte did something that took her completely offguard. She grabbed onto her leg. Terry let out a surprised cry when she felt the woman’s hand tighten around her ankle. Then, with a sharp pull, Ms. Charlotte yanked the leg out, causing Terry to slip on the table and fall down. Ms. Charlotte didn’t even give her a chance to react before she grabbed onto her unbroken arm and yanked her off the table, letting her drop to the ground. Terry hit the ground in a thud, letting out a small groan of pain. She rubbed her head and looked up just in time to see a foot slam against her head, making her roll across the ground. Terry placed her hand over her face, her body shivering a little. The center of her face felt as though it was on fire. She could feel some kind of pain pulsating thorugh her head, focused on her nose and spreading out in all directions. She pulled her hand away and she could see a bit of blood streaks on her hand. Her eyes widened and she let out a horrified gasp at this. She shifted her head towards her Ms. Charlotte was. “Don’t think that’s all I’m going to give you...you bitch...” Ms. Charlotte hissed. Her voice was laced in venom. The one thing that would have completed the image were some long fangs sticking out of her mouth. Terry widened her eyes in horror as Ms. Charlotte hovered over her and pulled back a fist to strike. The woman attempted to strike down. Terry reacted quickly enough to catch the first before it could strike her. She pushed back as hard as she could, her arm shaking from the force she was using to negate the attack. “Please...” She said through clenched teeth. “D-Don’t do this..” Ms. Charlotte narrowed her eyes in disgust. “How dare you try to beg with me...” Terry let out a yelp of pain as she felt Ms. Charlotte’s other hand clutch at her throat. She didn’t encircle the neck all the way; instead, she only grabbed the front and squeezed hard. This did not choke Terry, but instead caused enough pain and discomfort that Terry let out a small whimper. “After what you did... Why should I show you any mercy...?” Ms. Charlotte growled at her. Terry looked up at her fearfully. She noticed how the woman was trailing her eyes over her arm. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the look in the woman’s eye. “Maybe I should break your other arm.. Wouldn’t that be so much fun..?” Terry sucked in a deep, terrified breath at this. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest, sending shockwaves of adrenaline throughout her trembling body. Where was the professional secretary that she had known before? How could she be allowing herself to act in such a...a barbaric way? How could this be happening? Her mind racing, Terry struggled to find a way to get out. She couldn’t even struggle; her mind was too frozen in terror. All the while, Ms. Charlotte was just smirking down at her like she was some kind of catch of the day. She could see the cruel intentions glowing her eyes. This was what a woman scorned looked like. This was what a woman bent on revenge looked like. As much as it disgusted her, she knew that this woman’s love for that man was driving her to do this. And now she was going to feel her wrath. Unless she can find a way out first. But how? She had only one arm. She couldn’t keep both the woman’s arms away from her. She couldn’t defend herself and push herself up at the same time. And her broken arm.. It was such an easy target. Should Ms. Charlotte decide, she could easily strike her arm and send her into deep agony, allowing her time to give another attack. But she still had two legs... Terry turned her head enough to look at her legs. While one was pinned a bit by Ms. Charlotte, the other was free. Terry continued to stare, noting the exact position of the knee in comparison to where Ms. Charlotte was. It took a few moments, but Terry realized that the woman was in prime position for a....rather nasty attack. She hated the idea of doing it, but... Without hesitating further, Terry rammed her knee upward. She could feel it collide with the space between Ms. Charlotte’s legs. The woman’s eyes widened and she let out a cry of pain. She staggered away from her, allowing Terry to push her back and get up to her feet. Terry gave her a quick look of sympathy before she looked towards the door and headed straight for it. Terry felt a sigh of relief rush through her as she got out of that awful room. The feel of the hallway air against her, smelling the faint scents, it was enough to make her almost smile. This moment was ruined when she heard Ms. Charlotte shouting behind her. Terry didn’t bother looking over her shoulder and she immediately bolted away. Unlike before, the hallways were empty. This was both a blessing and a curse. At least she wouldn’t be slowed down. But now who was going to stop Ms. Charlotte if she caught up with her? Who was going to keep the mad woman from trying to tear her apart? Would anyone even want to help her? Terry realized quickly just how dire her situation was. Her only chance now was if she made it to the door in time. If she could at least get out side, then she could take the car and make a run for it. But it didn’t seem that Ms. Charlotte was going to let her do this. No matter how fast Terry ran down the hallway, no matter what turns she made, Ms. Charlotte was constantly right behind her. She could hear the woman’s heavy breathing and her low growls that accompanied them. She could feel the woman’s shadow on her most of the time. She could feel her eyes burning through the back of her head. It seemed like with every step she thought she gained, Ms. Charlotte took two away. She looked over her shoulder for a second. She could see that the woman was gaining on her steadily. Slowly and surely, she was getting closer. Those near murderous eyes were burning through her soul. All it was going to take was one distraction and this woman could close the gap quite easily. Terry tried to focus on running as fast as she could. She tried not to pay attention to the fact that there was an enraged avenging woman behind her. Her racing mind struggled to find ways she could escape, taking turns left and right in hopes of losing the woman. Her feet pounded the ground, practically echoing in the hallway, intermixing with the crazed woman that would soon be tearing into her. The heavy breathing coming out of her mouth seemed to fill up inside her head, rattling her brain inside. Then it happened. The moment that she wished wouldn’t. She had tried so hard not to do this. But in the end, she still slipped up. With a miscalculated step, she turned too quickly. As a result, she ended up banging her broken arm against the edge of the wall divider that separated this hallway from the last one. Severe, horrific agony swept through her arm. Her eyes bulged as she struggled not to scream, forcing her to bite her tongue to prevent this. The pain danced around her arm, concentrating on the break itself. Tears of pain spilled out of her eyes. She staggered forward a little, her feet stumbling over one another. The pain... Oh gawd the pain.. It felt like someone was trying saw her arm in half and then rip it out. Then more pain was added onto it as something hard struck her in the back of her head. Terry felt herself being slammed against the ground on her stomach. She let out a scream as her arm as pressed roughly between her chest and ground. Her weight pushed down on it, causing even more pain. She tried to get up, but something pressed against her back, holding her down. “Now it’s time for your dues...” Hissed the voice behind her. Terry turned her head and looked up at Ms. Charlotte. She could barely see her at this angle. She couldn’t tell just what she was going to do. But at the moment, she was too swamped in pain to really focus on that. She clenched her teeth tightly as she struggled to cope with the pain that had an icy burning grip on her mind. Just then, she heard a shot coming from behind her. “Hey! What are you doing?!” Then another voice, this time in front. “Get off of her! Are you insane?!” Terry wasn’t sure just how these people got here, or where they had been earlier. She couldn’t even think of any logical explaination in her condition. All she could do was just lay there while she heard pounding feet coming over. She could feel the woman being ripped from her. She could see her being pulled back from her. Though her vision was blurred from the pain, she still could see enough to see the woman scowling at her and spewing threats in her direction. “I’m going to get you for this! Hey, let me go! You can’t do this! That woman is a monster! I’m going to kill you, Terry Bouffant! I’ll kill you!” If Terry was in a better state of mind, that would have actually frightened her. But at the moment, she just couldn’t feel all that much fear. The pain that was sweeping through her body was pulling her into darkness, pounding against her mind and making it hard for her to focus on anything else, even fear. She clenched her teeth tightly and seethed, curling herself up into a small ball. Even when one of the guys came over to see how she was doing, still she did not react. She just laid there, her mind swirling in pain, her vision so blurry by this point she was forced to keep them closed to avoid making herself dizzy. She shuddered and struggled to breathe in and out. Her mind was crowded with feelings of agony, wearing her out, making her let out constant whimpers of pain. Any sound the guys were saying sounded like distorted echoes to her. She could barely understand anything they were saying. She might have picked up on one word or two, but they did not form a coherent sentence. Just a ‘what’, or 'she’, or ‘how’. Not much else except maybe another word or two. And these had begun to fade, dissipating in her mind as a tired sensation swept through her body. One of the men suddenly shouted. This, she could understand. “She’s passing out! Someone, get her out of here!” Terry didn’t get a chance to hear anything else. She only had a chance to feel some hands on her before she felt reality slip away from her. With it, came a sense of bliss. The pain was gone. The fear of loosing consciousness was gone as the feeling of relief overwhelmed her. She no longer struggled, and she welcomed the dark quiet that surrounded her. sss When Lars received the call from Blocky for him to come over, he wasn’t really sure what to expect. At most, he thought that Blocky just wanted him to visit. Nothing unusual. After what happened to him and Rapsheeba, this was understandable. He could understand Blocky wanting some company once in a while. But this... He had not expected something like this. He couldn’t stop staring at Blocky, as if he had gone mad. The request itself was simple and yet... He wasn’t really sure how to put it properly. It just seemed...so... How did Blocky think he was going to pull this off, anyway? What made Blocky think that he was capable of pulling this off? Yes, he was a polar bear, but he never tried something like this before, and not for this reason. He didn’t really blame the guy for coming up with something like this. He could very well see why and how he’d reach this conclusion. It did seem perfectly natural after all, especially if other methods were not available. There weren’t really any other options presently available anyway. None that he could think of that is. But still... Tracking Rudy and Penny? It’s not like he had anything to work with. No articles of clothing or anything they touched. Nothing. He wouldn’t be able to get their scent. It also didn’t help that his nose wasn’t exactly made to be great as a Real World polar bear’s. Granted, it was better than most. But still, it wasn’t the absolute greatest and it probably wouldn’t do him very well with trying to track them down. Yet Blocky did seem to believe in him. The little guy was positive that he could find them. He believed in him and his capabilities. The way he was looking at him, that expression... Almost every part of Lars was saying that he should just decline Blocky’s request and find an alternative solution. Surely, there was a much better option out there somewhere. If they could just think hard enough, maybe they could come up with something that would be more doable than him trying to track down scents that he could barely detect. However, with how Blocky was looking at him, he found it difficult to even say ‘no’. He couldn’t bring himself to utter any sort of negative response. He felt as though if he did that, he’d be betraying Blocky. That’s not his intent of course. He’d never do such a thing. And yet... How in the world was he supposed to pull this off? Wouldn’t it be better to just not try this and find something else that would work? Blocky didn’t stop staring at him the whole time as he explained the situation. He mentioned the memotrice and Rudy and Penny’s capture and what happened with Biclops. He admitted there were more details that he didn’t know, meaning that Lars wasn’t even up to date on the situation. This was going to be problematic if he was going to take any part in helping the two creators. Especially if said details revolve around, say, Rudy and Penny actually being dead. He shuddered to think of that thought. He wanted to believe that they were fine. But even Blocky and Rapsheeba admitted that they didn’t know what their condition was, nor did they have any way of making sure. All they could do was hope that they were fine, and that when he got there, he’d actually have someone to rescue. It wasn’t the most comfortable idea, running in only to find dead bodies. But there wasn’t a choice in the matter. In their situation, they had no way of knowing if they were dead or alive unless they actually find them. Lars let out a soft sigh. He knew that, no matter how hard he tried to resist, there was nothing he could do or say that would convince Blocky to try something else. He was adament about this decision. Lars wasn’t even sure if he could back down even if he wanted to. That didn’t seem like an option to him at the moment. He would feel too guilt-ridden if he didn’t at least try. After all, he did owe it to Rudy Penny, didn’t he? They had helped him so many times in the past. It was about time that he did something in return for them, right? It was only fair. He just..couldn’t turn his back on them. Even if it would be difficult trying to find them without any proper scents, perhaps he should still at least try. That was all he could do right now. Try and do his best. Who knows? Maybe his attempt would at least pave the way to their rescue. So he let out a soft sigh and he caved in. “All right, Blocky.” Lars whispered softly. “I will try.” Both Blocky and Rapsheeba gave him the biggest smiles he had ever seen from them. He could practically feel all that emotion jump out of their bodies and intertwine around his own, squeezing it in some kind of invisible hug. He subconsciously took a small step backwards. “Thank you... I can’t tell you how much we appreciate this.” Blocky said calmly. Lars did his best to smile back. “Yeah, I can imagine...” He turned his head in the direction Blocky indicated before. He narrowed his eyes a little. “You say this is the direction Biclops had went?” Blocky nodded his head. “Yeah, he headed that way.” “All right then. I will head in this direction. If Biclops is correct about where Rudy and Penny might be, then if I follow him, I may end up picking Rudy or Penny’s scent.” He paused for a moment. “I hope so anyway.” He looked over at Blocky and Rapsheeba. Wanting to lift up their hopes a little, he broadened his smile a little and said, “Don’t worry. I will do the best that I can.” “We know you will.” Blocky said, smiling the best he could. “We believe in you, Lars.” Lars could feel a jolt of emotion rush through his body at this. He stared at Blocky and Rapsheeba for a few moments. It was incredible how much they believed in him despite knowing that his sense of smell was still a little weak. He felt a warm feeling rise up inside of his stomach. Confidence... He had never felt so much of it before, all thanks to these two. With this newfound confidence, he turned his head in the direction where Biclops was said to disappear. He narrowed his eyes in determination. He didn’t know if he would find Rudy or Penny, but..he was going to try. He had to try. After all, if he didn’t give it a try, then who will? sss Oh.... What happened...? It felt as if someone had dropped something on it. There was some kind of weight all around it, trapping it in some sort of uncomfortable, tight embrace. Dizziness and a pounding ache swept through its skull. It was almost as if it just didn’t get enough sleep, but that wouldn’t explain the unbearable pain. Maybe if it moved just a little... ...why couldn’t it move...? Why were its limbs trapped? Why did it lack the strength to get up? This wasn’t possible. Something was wrong. What was going on? What was happening to it? Thoughtless shifted around, struggling to get up, or at least move an inch. But no matter how hard it tried, it only succeeded in making its limbs ache from the struggle. Something was preventing it from lifting up anything. Even its flexible tail was not able to do much other than twitch a little at the tip. Was it really this weak? What had happened to make itself like this? If only it could remember.. It tried to shift its head a little. Even its head and neck were heavy and could barely be moved. It struggled as much as it could. Maybe if it kept trying, it would be able to see what was going on. From side to side, it moved its head. It kept doing this for a while, but still no luck. But during this struggling, it began to notice that the pressure weighing down on it seemed to remain put, and its neck was rubbing against it. How was this possible unless... ..unless it was strapped down... Suddenly, everything clicked into place. That was why it couldn’t get up. That was why that, no matter how hard it tried, it just could not free itself. It was strapped down. Not by one strap, but by many. Over its half wings and its legs, its body and its tail. Leather straps covered its body, holding it in place. The realization of this caused chilling horror to spread through its body. The same questions from a few moments ago came back, bombarding its mind as it struggled to make sense of what happened. It tried to recall just what had occurred that lead up to this. There had to be a logical explanation for this. There had to be something to explain what was going on. Despite its lapses in memory, it still struggled to recall the specific details. Maybe if it thought hard enough, it would be able to uncover the truth of what happened. Yet, no matter how hard it tried to think, it could only draw a blank. Nothing would come to its mind that made any amount of sense. It was as if it had lost some of its memory in..whatever had happened. It was almost ironic, considering it was a memory-based zoner. Now it was its turn to suffer a bit of memory less. And it was quite horrifying. Things only got more terrifying for it when it realized that it wasn’t just straps that held it down. It soon became aware of some kind of whirring sound. A buzz sound echoed in its skull, reverberating along its brain. It rolled its eyes back and it could see something silver behind it. It widened its eyes when it saw what it was. There was some kind of whirring saw behind it. And it was positioned right over its neck, only inches away. The memotrice immediately froze at this. It could feel its blood turning into ice. Fear swept through its body, paralyzing it, rendering it unable to move an inch. It remained like this for a few seconds. Then, as the reality of its situation sunk in, it was not able to hold still for any longer. Like a trapped bird in a net, it began to struggle. It squirmed around on the ground, trying to get itself free. It thrashed itself from side to side. It tried to pull a wing free, or a leg. Or even its tail. Something, anything. It had to get out of here. It had to get free. It had to run away from here. It didn’t care where it was anymore. It only cared about getting free. It could hear the saw close to its neck. It could almost feel it cut into its body. If it could just free itself... Suddenly, it felt something against the back of its neck. A brief, fleeting flash of pain cut across. It let out a yelp of pain and it immediately fell still. Its struggling was only endangering it further, making it more likely for the blade to cut it. In response, it laid flaid on the ground, trying to keep itself away from the jagged blade the best that it could. It breathed in and out quickly, its beak open as it hyperventilated. There was nothing else it could do except lay here and wait for its captor to show up. Fortunately...or unfortunately, it didn’t have to wait long. “I see you are finally awake. How pleasant...” Thoughtless’s brown eyes scanned around. Out of the corner of its eye, it could see a large, greenish form coming into view. “I was wondering when you would wake up. It’s not much fun torturing someone if they are unconscious.” Thoughtless’s eyes widened when it realized just who it was. <S-Skrawl...?> The jellybean’s toothy mouth spread into a wide smile. Despite not looking too different from what it normally sees anyway, for some reason, seeing it now, in this situation, it just looked far more chilling and disturbing to the memotrice. That look was filled with so many sinister promises. The memotrice could practically see the knifes rise up inside Skrawl’s ice, preparing to cut into its delicate flesh. Thoughtless could feel its heart racing even more. The jellybean hadn’t even said anything more to it yet. He didn’t tell it just what he had in mind for it. All Thoughtless knew was that it wasn’t anything good. It tried to keep itself as relaxed as possible, yet its heart just sped up as if it had shot a load of adrenaline into its body. At any moment, its heart was going to explode and that was going to kill it. Was this how Skrawl wanted to kill it? By stressing it out to the point where it just killed itself? It wasn’t like it could even struggle to get away; if it struggled too much, it was just going to injure itself. Yet it couldn’t just hold still. The look in Skrawl’s eyes, the sound of the spinning saw above it, it couldn’t just hold still for this. Not for long. Without thinking, it started to struggle a little again. It tried continuously to push itself back, scraping its feet against the ground. But no luck, and it nearly sliced into its own neck again. It opened its mouth wide and panted heavily, fear tinged on every breath. “I enjoy seeing you like this.” Skrawl chuckled. “You deserve this...after what you have done.” Skrawl took a few steps closer. He looked at the zoner up and down, curling his lip up into a snarl. “You thought you could get away with it, didn’t you? Using me like your little toy... Well look who has the short end of the stick now, eh punk?!” Thoughtless shivered. It had never felt so afraid of anyone before. It couldn’t tear its eyes from Skrawl, feeling its pupils shrink as it stared upon the jellybean. <No..please...I..> “Oh shut it! I don’t want to hear anymore of your excuses!” Skrawl formed a fist with his hand and then shot it to the side. “You had this coming! If you had just remained my partner and let me do all the work, then this wouldn’t have happened! You have no one but yourself to blame, you stupid feathered idiot!” Skrawl’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “You belong to me now.. Do you understand me, Thoughtless...?” Thoughtless only shifted on the table. It flinched as it felt the device Skrawl gave it push up against its throat uncomfortabley. It had almost forgotten about this. <Please, if you let me go I’ll...> It struggled to think of what it could offer to the jellybean that would appeal to him. <Th-Those swords...I...> At this, Skrawl let out a low growl. “Don’t try to lie to me again. You told me those were not real.” He pointed a claw in its direction. “Trying to convince me that they are in fact real at this point is useless, Thoughtless. You might as well just give it up. I won’t be fooled by you any longer.” Thoughtless couldn’t believe just how far it had fallen in such a short time. Just a little while ago, it had been the most respected and feared member of this whole shindig. Now it was immobilized and petrified in fear by one of the zoners it had taken advantage of during its stay. It should have planned everything out better. It should have been more careful. If it had just chosen its moves more carefully... It suddenly remembered what it was. A memotrice. Why did it have to worry? All it had to do was rewrite Skrawl’s memory and trick him into releasing it. This should not be a problem from where it was. All it had to do was stare at Skrawl intently, concentrate, and... The buzzing noise... It was filling up inside its head. It could have sworn it was getting closer. Thoughtless flattened itself against the table, trying to move its head away. It tried to relax, yet it could still feel its heart pumping so much, it felt as though it was pushing itself up from the ground. It closed its eyes and gritted its beak. Why couldn’t it concentrate? The saw wasn’t getting closer, but it was so loud... and it was so dangerously close that... Skrawl’s chuckle caused it to open up one of its eyes and look at him. “Don’t think you’re going to try any of your mind altering bullshit on me this time.” He pulled up a small device in his hand. It looked to be a small remote with a dial attached to it. “Try it again and I think I will lower this some....” <No!> Thoughtless cried out. “Then hold still and don’t you dare think of trying to change my memory again.” Skrawl said in a low, darkened voice. “I can go on with the plan without you, Thoughtless. Give me one reason, and I will end your life right now.” Thoughtless gulped at this. <I-I understand...> Thoughtless hated to admit it, but this jellybean was quite clever. He didn’t simply lock him away in some kind of wretched cage. Skrawl was too smart for that. He knew that it wouldn’t work very well on it. So instead, he had done this. Put it in a situation where it could not relax and thus weaken its ability to change memories. It was so busy worrying about the saw hitting it that it wouldn’t be able to spare enough time to alter Skrawl’s memories. And on top of that, Skrawl even got a remote to disable it further, lowering the saw down if it even looked like it was trying to do something. Such a clever jellybean... “Now, since I have your undivided attention...” Skrawl began to pace in front of Thoughtless, his arm placed behind its back as he spoke. “I think you should know what I am going to do.” Thoughtless watched the jellybean carefully. It looked to see if Skrawl was going to make any moves against it. So far, Skrawl did keep away. But at any given moment, this could change. Skawl could attack it from any angle without fear. Those claws, they looked razor sharp... It was at that moment that Thoughtless felt a brief flesh of pain in its neck, causing it to shift a little on the table it was strapped down to. It suddenly remembered those claws entering its neck. Yeah, that’s right... It and Skrawl had a fight, and Skrawl ripped its throat out and... How was it still alive? Why did Skrawl leave it alive? The jellybean probably wanted to gloat about how much it lost. It certainly seemed like something he would do. “I admit, I was skeptical of the red chalk thing. That is quite a dangerous chalk there. I tried exploiting it myself in the past. It didn’t turn out so well. You yourself also knew of its dangers, yet you still tried to use it. It nearly resulted in me getting eaten by those possessed children.” Skrawl continued to pace back and forth in front of the memotrice. His mismatched eyes were faced away, as if Skrawl were looking at some far off thing in the distance. “But you know what? Maybe....you had the right idea.” He paused, then made a quick gesture with his hand. “Well, kind of ...” <What are you...talking about...?> Thoughtless managed to ask. Skrawl gave it a sneer. “I’m so glad you asked that! Allow me to explain.” Skrawl stopped his pacing and turned to face Thoughtless. He stood a few feet away, yet somehow he felt so much closer. He held out his hand in gesture, motioning it towards Thoughtless. “You know what you said about ‘population control’...? That sounds...quite interesting...” Thoughtless wasn’t sure whether to take this as a compliment or an insult. <So you agree with me, then?> “Almost. Sure, the red chalk, combined with allowing more creators into this world, could be used for population control. But I have a much better idea.” Skrawl scratched his chin thoughtfully. “What do you think would happen if I were to mold this plan of yours to become something of my own...and what if instead using creators for population control, I do it...?” His smile spread further. “And what if instead for the ‘benefit of ChalkZone’ as you put it, I use it to help establish control over this world?” Thoughtless stuttered, <Wh-What...?> Skrawl’s smile grew twisted. “I imagine they would follow someone who had the power to just...kill anyone he wants to, am I right?” He gave a dark chuckle. “ChalkZone will never accept me as leader on its own, but it will bow before me if I upgrade myself to the Grim Reaper...!” Thoughtless was unable to reply. sss This place... It was absolutely incredible. Never before had they ever thought such a place could exist. Never before had they ever dreamed of something like this. Now here they were, witnessing it for themselves. Any thought of how crazy Terry was for believing in this place were gone. And in its place were thoughts of just how pretty this place was. How awe-inspiring it was just to be here. Even the air itself felt a little different, having an almost different texture to it. And yet at the same time, it was also quite frightening. This place was not like where they had come from. Everything around them looked like some kind of child’s drawing come to life. There were all kinds of distortions that did not make sense if applied in their own world. Things felt off by their looks or the way shadows fell upon them, and even by the outline they could clearly see ringing around everything, shifting depending on how they were looking at them. Everything just felt wrong...artificial..and yet not. It was such a confusing combination, causing their heads to ache and spin. Then there were the inhabitants. They hadn’t yet met an inhabitant directly, but in one direction, they could see a small group walking away, to somewhere they could not see. They looked human, but they had designs that they would see on school chalkboards drawn by kids. Stick figures, they were. And there were so many of them. Looking at them made them cringe; seeing right through their stomachs... how did they function? They soon realized that these were probably some of the more ‘normal’ citizens. They knew just how crazy some kids’ drawings could get. At any moment, they could see some wacky designs that made no sense or logic. Things that could come straight out of their nightmares... And what of any citizen they might run into? What if one of these creatures came up to them and tried to greet them? What if they were confronted? How would they speak to them? How friendly were the natives? How would they know if they were dangerous? None of them knew what the social cues were with this creatures. With so many different types, it was just impossible to tell. It was sort of like being in a room filled with natives from all kinds of countries and then being expected to know how to interact with each of them without offending them on a whim. Only this was much worse. These weren’t just different races. They were different species. There were not just stick figures. They knew there were also animal-based creatures, and mythological ones, and even inanimate object ones, or things that were entirely made up, or plant-based ones. How in the world were they supposed to properly interact with anyone without causing trouble? Mr. Tabootie had no idea. As he and the others walked through the land, following Reggie who was leading them, he had been struggling to come up with answers to these questions. It was difficult thinking of anything. He might be a good people’s person, able to negotiate and bring out the most in a sale. But this was not his meat shop, and his attempts here might end up putting him on the short end of the stick. They hadn’t seen Reggie’s beast anywhere. A part of him was grateful for that. He wasn’t sure if he was ready just yet to be that up close and personal with a beast-like creature. Even if Reggie assured him and the others that it would be all right, somehow he doubted that he would feel too relaxed about that. The other adults remained quiet. Mr. Bullnerd was up ahead with his son, walking beside him and looking as if he were chatting with him. Tilly was a little off to the side. Her eyes were a little furrowed, as though she were in deep thought. Mrs. Sanchez was walking walking off on the other side. She, too, looked thoughtful, but also quite worried. His wife, on the other hand, was walking right next to him. She kept a close distance with him, nearly rubbing up against him as she walked. She was gazing a little towards the ground, hardly looking anywhere. He wondered if it was because she felt so afraid and uncertain about this place. She did look as if she would rather turn around and leave. The only thing keeping her here was the fact that their son might be here somewhere. In an attempt to comfort her, Mr. Tabootie put his arm around her, pressing his hand against her upper arm. His wife looked up at him with those eyes. Seeing just how shiny they were with emotion nearly caused Mr. Tabootie’s own eyes to water up as well. He struggled to keep a stiff upper lip and provided emotional support for his wife. She needed his comfort now more than ever. He gave her the most reassuring smile he could muster. “It will be okay. We’ll find them...” Mrs. Tabootie nodded her head slowly. “I’m sure we will.” There was a slight shake to her voice. His wife was not as positive about this as she wanted to be. “Joe...what do we do about...this place..?” Mr. Tabootie paused at this. He took a moment to look around. This world certainly was beautiful. It felt almost..magical. He could see why Rudy and Penny would want to visit this place so much, if that’s what they indeed have been doing. He would feel awful about taking this away from them. But at the same time, he cared about them and he didn’t want them to get hurt. Especially Rudy. What kind of parent would he be if he allowed his only son to come into a world where he may have gotten hurt before? How could he let him wander around this place, whiere so many dangers could be lurking? The fact that he and Penny may have been doing this along time was of little comfort to him. He was torn now. He didn’t want to upset Rudy, but he also didn’t want to see him getting hurt. Neither decision was going to be easy for him. This was not a clear cut thing. He wanted to make the decision that was best for Rudy, but that decision was not easy to come to. He clenched his teeth and sighed slowly. “I’m...not really sure yet...” He glanced down at the ground sadly. “I thought I knew, but..now I’m not so sure.” “I’m sure that, whatever decision you make, Rudy will understand.” Mrs. Tabootie said in a gentle voice. Now it was her turn to try to comfort him. She reached over and gently touched his face. “Rudy’s an understanding kid. He might be upset at first if we decide to kick him out of here. But over time...he’ll come to understand.” Mr. Tabootie smiled the best he could at this. He could always count on his wife to look on the bright side of things when he could not. It was such a rarity that this happens, but when it did, he was glad. “Yeah... You’re right, Millie.” Suddenly, a loud sound tore through the air that froze everyone in place. They all looked around, left and right, trying to find the source. They heard another roar, this one tearing through their chests, shaking them up inside. With this sound came an awakening of fear in the adults. They all suspected that this place might be dangerous, and now they were getting confirmation of that. “What was that?!” Called out Mr. Bullnerd. “It sounded like a tyrannosaurus!” Tilly exclaimed. Mrs. Sanchez looked left and right. “I don’t see it! Anyone see it?” No one could see the creature making the sound. They couldn’t even tell what direction it was coming from. Judging from Reggie’s expression, this certainly wasn’t coming from the beast he drew. This was something completely different. This realization only made this a lot more horrifying. Then they could hear the pounding of footsteps. They almost seemed to echo despite there being no cave structure around here for it to bounce off of. And it was getting closer, coming in from... They all turned to their right, where they could see some trees. They could see the chalky plants rustling and shaking. They could see a shadow moving along it, and then some flashes of white. Then a second later, something jumped out of the foliage and landed not far away from them. The individual shook itself off and slowly lifted its head to look at them. Their eyes widened as they set their eyes on the polar bear. It wasn’t as large as a regular polar bear, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t just as nasty. Its lips were curled back, exposing its teeth. They looked strong enough to bite off their arms if it so desired. It looked ready to bite them with how it was looking at them. It formed fists with its ‘hands’, if they could be called that. The only way that they knew that this creature was possibly sentient was the tie and the black glasses that it wore. And even that was just speculation. The staredown lasted for a few seconds, but it felt so much longer. The tension that built up between them was intense, thickening the air around them. Mr. Tabootie couldn’t even breathe, his eyes remaining locked on the anthro polar bear. The others looked like they either wanted to speak or run off, yet their fear kept them glued to their positions, unable to do anything except stare at the polar bear. Then, after some time passed, Mr. Tabootie decided to break the silence. If this polar bear was at all sentient, then perhaps it could be reasoned with. Maybe if he just walked up to it and explained their situation, maybe it would understand. It was a risk but..there was only one way to find out. “Joe...?” Mrs. Tabootie whispered when he stared to walk forward. “What are you...?” Mr. Tabootie gave her a reassuring smile. Mrs. Tabootie widened her eyes as she seemed to realize what he was about to do. The others looked at him with similar expressions. Mr. Tabootie said not another word as he continued to walk towards the polar bear. It was an intense moment, getting closer to the bear like this. Each step, he felt like the polar bear was going to attack. He was relieved constantly when the polar bear did not attempt to attack. But a part of him still did not feel safe. He knew that this creature was strong, powerful. Those arms looked like they could easily rip him apart if it so desired. He kept himself as non threatening as possible, not wanting to provoke an attack. Then finally he stopped in front of the creature. He stood there for several moments, keeping his gaze down while at the same time continuing to stare at the polar bear. This went on for several moments, no sound being made other than the low growl of the polar bear. It took a while, but eventually, Mr. Tabootie managed to say, “H-Hello...” The polar bear gave a grunt, and at first the man thought it was going to attack him. Instead, it gave a response. “Hello there...” The polar bear stared at him long and heard, tilting his head to the side. “Who...are you...? And what are you doing here with him...?” Mr. Tabootie noticed the bear pointing a claw towards Reggie. The large child gave a quick shudder and smiled nervously. It was then that it clicked in Mr. Tabootie’s mind. Didn’t Reggie claim to have done some awful stuff in this world? That would explain this polar bear’s rather...icy reception of them. He realized he had to diffuse this quickly before Reggie ended up this guy’s lunch. “He is helping us find our children. He means no harm.” Mr. Tabootie said. “Yeah right...” The polar bear responded. “I’m not sure if I believe that.” He paused for a moment. “Just..who are your children, anyway? Why would they be in here?” “Well..we have a son named Rudy and that woman there has a daughter named Penny and they are friends and...” “Wait a minute...” The polar bear said softly. He stared at him for a few moments, his eyes narrowing in curiosity. “You...You’re Mr. Tabootie aren’t you?” He then looked at the large woman next to him. “And you’re Mrs. Tabootie...and I take it that’s Mrs. Sanchez.” He looked at the vet standing a bit away.” Mr. Tabootie nodded his head. “Yes, we are.” The polar bear’s eyes widened in realization. “You’re their parents...” The polar bear immediately took on a softer posture, making a bowing posture to them in respect. “My apologies. I did not know it was you.” “Wait...you know them..?” Tilly asked softly. “Rudy and Penny?” The polar bear nodded. “Yeah. I’m one of their friends here in ChalkZone. The name’s Lars, by the way.” Mrs. Tabootie spoke up. “Will you be able to help us find our children?” Lars replied, “I’m not entirely sure. I know that Blocky wanted me to help find them. I’m not sure if I can but I will try my best.” Upon seeing the confused and concerned looks on the parents’ faces, Lars added, “I’ll explain it to you on the way. Come with me. I believe I know where your children might be.” |
|
|
|
Post by Bluedramon on Aug 21, 2015 17:52:14 GMT -5
Chapter 43:
Penny coughed heavily as the dust and debris slowly dissipated. Her vision was obscured for a while, the grey dust blocking her view. She had to wait several seconds for it to disappear before she could start to see anything. And for a long while, she couldn’t really see much, just some shadows and lights, but not much else.
She took a moment to look around her. She was able to see enough close to her to tell that she was still not alone. Rudy was with her, and so was Howdy. She could see the Beanie Boys, Zebin, and she could still see Snap being held in Rudy’s arm. Like her, everyone was frozen in place, unsure of just how to handle just what had happened here. It was as if the roof had decided to give way. But..just what had caused it...?
Her eyes constantly scanned around, looking for any sign of movement, any sign that something else was going to give way again. Even when she saw nothing, she couldn’t help but continuously scan the area. For all she knew, something might be just ready to break and if she isn’t careful, it might land on top of her, or one of her friends. Even when seconds passed and nothing happened, she didn’t dare take her eyes off the collapsed area. It might not be done falling down yet. They needed to wait before any of them could make a move.
Slowly and surely, the dust disappeared altogether. And with it, they were all granted the ability to see again. Well minus Rudy... Penny shook off the thought and she stared out ahead. Now that she could see it more clearly, it was possible that the thing stopped collapsing, although she still believed that caution should be advised.
It looked as if a long strip of the ceiling had just decided to fall down, creating a slant. The strip was slightly curved, as if part of a pipe, although it was hard to say if that’s what it actually was. Its tip was pushed up against the ground as if trying to claw at it and dig it up. She saw some grooves in the pipe itself that almost looked like stares. She blinked a few times. This ‘pipe’ did seem a little...large for a pipe. Perhaps it was...
“Hey... That’s where I came in from!” Called out Howdy.
Penny looked down at him. “Really?”
Howdy nodded his head. He moved forward to where the pipe was. He walked around its side a little. He examined it for a few moments and then looked back at them. “Yeah, this is most definitely the one.” He looked around. “Yeah..this place is looking quite familiar now...”
So this was an exit. She had guessed this was the case before, but the secondary collapse, widening the gap, had distracted them. For all she knew, it might have been a trick, which was possible with this place. A false lead. But if Howdy recognized this place, then perhaps this was the right area.
She felt her stomach fill up with positive emotion at this. She could feel excitement wash through her. It was almost too good to be true. It was so hard to believe. After all this time trapped here... After all this time of struggling to get away, it almost didn’t seem possible that they would be out now. A part of her continued to look left and right for any sign of a trap, for anything that would tell her that she and the others were hallucinating.
But no... This was real... What they were seeing laid before them... It really was a way out. Their escape was right within their grasp. So close... All they had to do was run up this pipe...thing, and then they were home free. She could even see light from the Day Zone area right there. It was so close to them. She could almost taste the air outside.
However, there was a little problem. Things weren’t going to be that easy. They wouldn’t be able to just run out of this place. In seconds, she and the others were harshly reminded that they were not all allies here.
A blurry flash of color zipped in front of their faces, catching their attention. They watched as Alpha and Beta rushed in front of them. In seconds, they positioned themselves in front of them and spread out their arms, blocking their path to the outside. The Beanie Boys glared at them harshly. In spite of their injuries from fighting Zebin, they still didn’t look like they were ready to back down yet. If anything, Zebin’s previous actions were only making them more determined than ever to keep them from escaping.
“If we were you...” Beta growled softly.
Alpha picked up, “...we wouldn’t try to leave...” A pause, then a dark smile. “Besides, if you come with us, we promise to go gentle on you. I promise you, Skrawl is more lenient on those that don’t try to cause too much trouble.”
Beta nodded in agreement. “Oh yes. You hadn’t seen anything yet. You don’t want to see what Skrawl is like when he’s really mad... So why not spare yourselves the trouble and just..come with us...?”
Penny growled at this. Like hell they were going to just back down that easily. What made these zoners think that she and the others were going to just hand themselves over like that? After all this hard work of trying to get away, why would they just toss it out of the window? Even Rudy, who could not see and felt the most vulnerable out of them all, did not look ready to just quit yet. And if he wasn’t going to quit, then neither was she.
She could see Howdy positioning himself to run. Not away from the opening, but towards it. His head was turning a little and she knew that he was scanning the area carefully so he knew when he could try to run. All he had to do was wait until the right time and, if he was quick enough, he should be able to make it.
Zebin looked ready to fight. Its head was lowered and its horn was pointed towards the Beanie Boys. The horn itself wasn’t sharp, but it could still do a lot of damage. All it would need to do was ram it hard enough and she knew that it could knock the wind out of these two flying zoners. At the moment, Zebin wasn’t doing anything. Its eyes shifted over towards her, as if it were waiting for her to take action. Realizing that this may be what the others were waiting on as well, Penny took as tep forward, her glare leveling with the Beanie Boys’ narrowed, cold eyes.
“If you think that we’re just going to quit...” Penny started to say. She was cut off by a dark chuckle from Beta.
“Oh please, spare us the dramatic talk, little girl!” His mouth stretched into a twisted smile. “I don’t think we need to hear any lame speeches!”
Penny growled at this. “And what makes you think that listening to you is any better?”
Alpha sneered at this, “Well that is quite simple really.” He placed a hand against himself. “We are the Beanie Boys. Skrawl’s most generous employers... I think you should do what we say...”
Penny blinked at this. She casted a glance towards Rudy. She could see the look of confusion in his eyes as well. She then looked back at the two Beanie Boys, waiting to see if it was possible that he had made a mistake with that sentence. She waited and listened, but the Beanie Boy made no attempt to correct himself. This caused Penny’s eyes to widen slowly. Was it possible that.... No it couldn’t be. It just didn’t seem possible.
And yet... What if it was possible? What if there was the slight chance that they had been wrong this whole time? Maybe a detail they thought was true...turned out to be false. She could feel the question pounding itself over and over again in her head, unwilling to let her go, making her lick her lips slowly.
Was it possible that...
...that Skrawl was hired by the Beanie Boys, and not the other way around?
This slammed in the face of what they thought they knew. This put a whole new perspective on things. Were the Beanie Boys using Skrawl? Or did they hire him as their leader? Was there something else going on, or was she just overthinking things? If Skrawl really was hired by these Beanie Boys, then what how was that going to affect things? Or will it just stay the same?
The others echoed her confusion.
“Skrawl...works for you...?” Stuttered Howdy.
“That’s..not possible...” Rudy whispered. “Skrawl doesn’t work for anyone...”
The two Beanie Boys gave a cackle at this, startling the group. Their laughter hurt their ear drums. The Beanie Boys continued to laugh as though this was the funniest thing they had ever heard. Penny covered her ears and growled in the direction of the Beanie Boys. Her glare, and the others’ frowns, only made the Beanie Boys laugh some more. Just what the hell did they find so funny?
“Well I suppose we can’t keep it a secret any longer..” Alpha said with a wide, twisted smile. “Things aren’t exactly as they seem always.”
“Oh we pretended we were hired. And we still call him our boss.” Beta chimed in. He then put his arm around Alpha and pulled him close. “But Alpha and I...well..” He chortled.
Alpha picked up where he left off. “We are the ones pulling the strings... per say.”
The group glanced at each other, even Rudy who could not see, although Snap still remained unconscious. Penny looked at Howdy, to Rudy, to Zebin, seeing the looks of shock and confusion among them all. This...wasn’t exactly what they thought they’d hear. If this was true.... Just how much significance was this going to have? Was there anything else they needed to keep an eye out on? What other surprises awaited them?
Penny quickly realized that, with all of them staring in shock at the Beanie Boys, they had been wasting time. This whole time they had been staring...they could have been running. Her mind began to burn when she realized what the Beanie Boys were doing.
Stalling time.
Whether or not they were doing this for Snap, since they had no idea if he was poisoned or not wasn’t certain. But regardless, that’s exactly what was going on. The time they wasted could have been used to get Snap to the hospital. Because of these Beanie Boys, that time had slipped away from them. Now who knows if Snap was going to recover from this... She didn’t even know how far the venom’s traveled by now...
The realization that these zoners may have been deliberately stalling for time caused her blood to boil. She formed a fist with her hand, shaking it. Rudy seemed to sense something was wrong and was looking at her warily. Howdy was staring up at her in confusion. She didn’t say a word to them; she just kept her glare towards the Beanie Boys. How dare they try to trick them like this... How dare they look at her all smug like that... Well she was going to teach them a little lesson. They were not going to forget this any time soon.
She could feel the back of her eyes start to heat up. She could feel her vision start to shift a little. She could have sworn everything was turning a light crimson color. But she didn’t pay attention to that; she just focused on the Beanie Boys before her.
“P-Penny... Y-Your eyes...” Whimpered a nervous Howdy. “They’re turning.. r-r-red...”
But Penny did not respond to that. She pulled out the magic chalk, allowing it to glint in front of her. She began to raise her arm up in preparation to draw. She was going to show these Beanie Boys exactly what was going to happen to them for what they had done.
But before she could even get that far, there was a sudden flash out of a corner of her eye. She looked up and her narrowed eyes spotted Zebin rushing in from behind. The Beanie Boys had been paying so much attention to her that they failed to notice the chinese unicorn was moving around them, and launching an attack from behind. Before she could even blink, the chinese unicorn had rammed its body against the Beanie Boys, knocking them into the ground.
For a split second, Penny felt a flash of anger in the back of her mind. How dare Zebin try to steal her targets away from her... How dare it try to interrupt her...
However, as Zebin struck one of the Beanie Boys with a hoof, the sound of the Beanie Boy’s scream was enough to snap her back to attention. She rapidly shook her head and her eyes widened when she realized the thoughts that had entered her mind recently. How could she have thought something like that?
She didn’t waste too much time thinking about it. She could see Howdy was already making his way up the path that led to the outside. He looked back behind him and motioned for her and the others to follow. Penny’s swirling mind was still trying to recover from what had just happened to her, but she still managed to work her legs. Hooking her arm around Rudy’s, making sure that Snap was still being held, she quickly made her way towards where Howdy had gone.
She looked behind her as she ran. She watched as Zebin struggled to fight against the two zoners. She felt guilty about leaving it behind, but it seemed like it could handle itself, at least for a time. She turned her attention back in front of her and she and the others continued to race out of that place.
When they reached the outside, they all took a moment to enjoy the fresh air. Oh how they missed it so... She and Howdy had to shut their eyes a little to adjust to the bright light; they had gotten too used to being in that dim-lit place. Penny didn’t realize just how dark it was there until she had come outside. She blinked a few times, her eyes slowly adjusting to the large amounts of light that were bombarding her pupils all at once. A dull ache spread throughout them for a few seconds until her eyes managed to adjust.
Soon Penny just stood there, allowing the reality of the situation to sink in. She still couldn’t believe that this had happened. After all that time being trapped there... The fact that she was actually standing outside of Skrawl’s hideout was...a miracle. That was the only word she could use to describe it. A miracle. The feeling of the cool air around around her, fresh air that she never thought she’d feel again, it reassured her that she and the others were, truly and for certain, out of that wretched place.
However, she had little time to relax and actually enjoy it when, without warning, she heard a loud, booming voice call out to her.
“Rudy Tabootie! Penny Sanchez! You two made it out!”
She and Rudy stiffened up at that voice. She could hear Rudy let out a small whimper, his head looking around cautiously as he desperately tried to find Biclops. Penny slowly, reluctantly, tilted her head upwards. Her eyes soon gazed upon the large, pale yellow face of the giant. “B-Biclops...”
The giant was smiling down at them, his mouth spread into a wide, ecstatic grin. The giant was clearly happy to see them. But despite his jolly-looking expression, Penny couldn’t help but remain still as stone, her breathing slightly quickening at the mere sight of the giant. She tried not to look so terrified, but she couldn’t help it. How...how did she know if he...?
Howdy didn’t seem as scared of the giant’s presence. She watched as the small zoner moved a little towards the giant. The puppet zoner was wearing a small smile on his face. Biclops smiled back down at Howdy and lowered his his head a little bit as he greeted the puppet zoner. They exchanged a brief conversation. Penny couldn’t really hear it, though. She doubted Rudy did, either. From his expression, he was worried about the same thing as she was.
Were she and Rudy truly safe around Biclops? Was the giant really their ally once more? She wanted to believe it. She wanted to think that they could trust him again. But there was a small part of her that was erring on the side of caution. After all, Snap acted pretty normal even when he was under the memotrice’s control. What if Biclops was just acting? What if Howdy had led them into a trap? What if this was all just some sort of cruel, sick joke?
Instinctively, she found herself pulling Rudy and the unconscious Snap closer to her. She felt the strong need to protect them. She could feel her body tensing up as she felt her friend’s warmth against her. She stared intently at Biclops. If he made any move towards them...
She felt her body stiffen when Biclops turned his head and stared down at her, his large, vertical eyes locking onto hers. She tried to move, do something, but she couldn’t escape the vice grip that was his gaze.
A part of her felt guilty for feeling this way. She had been the one to try to convince Rudy that maybe Biclops had changed his ways and maybe he was on their side again. Now here she was, acting like he was going to rip them apart when he hadn’t even said another word to them yet. She wasn’t going to do much to comfort Rudy if she acted terrified herself. She licked her lips and swallowed hard. She tried to look brave, but she knew that anyone could plainly see her body shaking.
“Penny...?” Biclops spoke softly. Penny couldn’t help but clench her teeth. “What’s.... What’s wrong...?”
Penny narrowed her eyes at this. Was he serious? Did he really ask such a stupid question? Was he going to pretend that none of that horrible stuff from before didn’t happen? Was he going to act as if everything was hunky dory now? No... It wasn’t going to happen like this. She wasn’t going let him act like nothing happened. She was going to give him a piece of her mind, and he was going to listen to her.
“Oh I have something to say to you...”
She proceeded to tell Biclops exactly how she felt. She was shocked with herself at how aggressive she was being. Perhaps she had been more hurt by what Biclops did than she let on. Nonetheless, she spilled out her emotions, laying them bare. And when she was done, she panted heavily, ignoring the shocked looks that Howdy and Rudy were giving her, ignoring the fact that Zebin was still fighting those Beanie Boys. Her eyes remained glued on Biclops only, and she waited for him to respond.
sss
“So...you’re telling us that...Rudy and Penny are...your protectors...?” Mrs. Tabootie said, her voice a little above a whisper.
Mrs. Sanchez said, “And they are well known across this...this world you call ChalkZone?”
Lars nodded his head. “Well, much of ChalkZone knows them. Especially around here.” He raised his hand up in gesture. “They’re quite the heroes here. They’ve saved us countless times, and even when we’re not in danger, they’re willing to help. Especially that little boy. Most humans who come into this world aren’t so friendly, but he turned out to be quite the sweet kid.” His smile broadened a little. “Penny, too.”
Mr. Tabootie listened to this, a part of him not believing what he was hearing. In all his time being a father, he never once realized that this was going on with his son, or his friend for that matter. It was all just too...too much to be real. He wanted so much to just wake up and find out that this was all some really weird dream.
Yet he knew the truth. He knew that this was the reality that they were all faced with. The other adults were just as shocked as he was that this was going on. None of them ever dreamed that something like this was happening. In their own world, Rudy and Penny were just kids. They were normal. Artistic and smart, respectively, but still normal. And yet here, they were saviors. They were, as this zoner put it, creators. Becoming physical gods in a sense, able to make anything on a whim....
The fact that their children were so well recognized and revered here... It was almost like stepping into an episode of that one old show, the one about strange stories and all that. Everything was so...different, so switched around, almost twisted. And their children had kept this place a secret for a couple of years...
He clenched his teeth tightly at this. Why hadn’t Rudy and Penny told them about this place? Was it because they had felt so important here that they didn’t want to ruin it? Did they think that it was better if they kept this world all to themselves? He was starting to wonder if Terry really had been correct in her assumption. Maybe Rudy and Penny had been quite selfish in regards to why they had kept this place a secret. He tried not to think like that. He tried to think of a logical explanation. But at the moment, he was drawing a blank.
They continued walking along, following the polar bear thing as he lead them down through the forest to...wherever they were going. A part of him wondered if this was a terrible, awful idea. Maybe they should try to make a run for it. Maybe this polar bear had something planned for them. He tried not to feel this way. He tried to be reasonable. This polar bear was trying to help them. But at the same time, this wasn’t a person. Not someone real. Just..how was he supposed to take this? How was he supposed to react with this..this thing...?
His wife and the others were a mixed bag. Some looked skeptical and wary of the...zoner as he called himself, while a couple like his wife were a bit more accepting and willing to go along with the bear. He wondered if it was simply because they had gotten so desperate to find their kids that they were willing accept help from any source.
Even this source...
He’d think they’d learn their lesson from Terry...
Well so far, nothing bad seemed to be happening. No more of these zoner things had shown up. There weren’t any signs of dead ends or anything out of the ordinary. The polar bear hadn’t tried to make a meal out of them. Perhaps they were all good. Perhaps, if they continued following the polar bear, they really would be reunited with their children.
“We...appreciate you helping us.” Mrs. Sanchez spoke, breaking the silence.
“It is no problem at all. I’m more than glad to help!” Lars replied, giving a wide smile to Mrs. Sanchez. “After all Rudy and Penny have done for us, it’s the least I can do.”
“They’ve...really done a lot, haven’t they?” Mr. Bullnerd commented. His voice was pretty quiet, as if he wasn’t sure if he should be speaking or not. Did he think that he was going to anger Lars? By the looks of it, Lars didn’t seem upset a tall. Yet Mr. Bullnerd was still rubbing the back of his head nervously. “I never knew a couple of children could..do so much..”
Lars smiled and nodded his head. “Oh you have no idea...” He paused for a moment as if he were thinking about the past. “There’s so much more I could tell you, but...”
Suddenly the polar bear paused. He stared out into the distance, his mouth dropping open slowly as if he saw something. With those dark glasses on his face, it was difficult to tell if his eyes were widening or not. Mr. Tabootie took a few steps forward and watched him carefully. He tried to look for any indication of what to expect from the polar bear. But with those glasses in the way, it was hard to say just what he was feeling.
He turned his head and looked over to see what the polar bear was looking at. For a few moments, he couldn’t really see anything. He knew something was there. He should be able to see it, especially since he was taller than Lars. But...nothing... Why couldn’t he see what the bear was seeing? Just what was...
“Is that...?” Tilly whispered.
“I remember him!” Reggie cried out. “That’s the giant I encountered the last time I was here!”
As soon as Reggie said that, there was a collection of gasps among the adults. Mr. Tabootie’s eyes blinked a few times, and then he saw it. There, in the distance, he saw a large figure standing away. The thing was still quite a bit away, but it was still visible. He could see its yellow skin and red hair from over there.
He glanced over at his wife. They looked at one another, both asking each other the same question. Was this Biclops? Was this whom Lars had said he’d lead them to? Was this the zoner that might know where their children were? Was it possible that their long, tough journey was almost over? Was all their hard work, with the cameras, to interrogating a few people, was it all finally leading up to something?
Suddenly, without warning, Lars started to rush out ahead of them, his feet pounding the ground. He turned his head to look over his shoulder and he called out to them, “Come with me! Quickly! That’s Biclops!”
At the mention of this name, the adults stiffened a bit. It took them a few moments to fully process this. None of them had expected that they would find Biclops so quickly...or that he would be this large. Their minds became crowded with so many questions, appearing one after the other. The adults glanced at one another, exchanging expressions with each other.
Mr. Tabootie glanced at the giant one more time before he joined the others as they took off after the polar bear. There was something unusual about the way the zoner was standing. It was really hard to tell with the design of this creature, but..didn’t it look like his head was tilted downwards a little? Was he looking at something in front of him...below him? And though he couldn’t see his face from here, there was just something about his body posture that told him that something might be wrong....
With his heart twisting up, he immediately took off after the other adults, following close behind his wife as they raced towards the giant. Along the way, Mr. Tabootie hoped and prayed that whatever the giant seemed worried about wasn’t serious. After all they had been through, the last thing any of them needed was more bad news.
Little did he know of just what they were about to encounter when they got there...
sss
Although Biclops understood why Rudy and Penny were reacting this way to him, it still stung him. Just looking at them and their facial expressions reminded him too much of what he had done to them, or what he had tried to do. It served as a painful reminder of what he had been like for a while. Though it was short, it still felt like forever, and it felt like he had just defied who he was for so long.
But the terrifying truth was... he had simply fallen back to how he used to be for a long time. That part of him that Rudy and Penny were forced to watch...that had been what he was long for years. In fact, only recently did he become this friendly overall. He used to be quite the cynic and mistrusting of a lot of people. Even other zoners sometimes got his wrath if he was in a bad enough mood. Other zoners... and he had been wanting to protect them even back then..
He had been one confusing zoner back then. Being like that again was..something else. Even though that had been what he was like for so long, for some reason, it just...didn’t really feel like him anymore. He felt like he was being controlled like a puppet, which of course was what was going on. He was nothing more than a mere toy to be strung up and used at the leisure of that memotrice.
Seeing Rudy Penny also triggered those rather...disturbing memory flashes. The fake ones to be precise. The ones that haunted the back of his mind constantly, telling him that he should get away from these children, that they were dangerous. He tried to ignore this, reminding himself of the truth. He tried to fight back the fake memories with the real ones. The more positive ones that he knew were what really happened. Doing so wasn’t easy. Negative was always stronger than positive. But he still tried his best. He was not willing to give up so easily.
He noticed movement down below. He saw that Howdy was moving towards the two children. He could see him gesturing towards him, trying to get the children to come closer. But Rudy wouldn’t even look at Biclops and Penny just glared suspiciously. There was some reluctance, some desperation in Penny’s eyes, as though she wanted to accept that he was their friend again. Biclops wanted to say something...anything...to help her understand that, yes, he was their ally once more. He wanted her to understand that he wasn’t going to hurt her or Rudy again.
But that was the thing about trust. It was easy to destroy, and so much harder to rebuild. He understood why, even through rational thinking, Penny wouldn’t trust him again so quickly. He imagined that Snap might get the same reaction once he woke up. Rudy and Penny gained good enough reason to distrust him that, even if the real Snap came back, it wouldn’t just make things go back to the way they used to be that fast. It was going to take a lot of hard work and dedication to rebuild what was lost.
So the best thing the giant could do was hang back and try not to frighten them. If he remained back here and did nothing to get closer, did nothing to try to hurt them despite having the ability and power to do so, then maybe they would eventually become more relaxed around them.
“Oh come on... You can trust him...” Howdy said as he stood in front of Penny. He motioned with his hands, trying to get her and Rudy to come in closer. “Come on, you’ll see. He’s not going to...”
Penny looked up at Biclops once more, again giving him that glare. She slowly shook her head. “No thanks..I’m good back here...”
“Oh, but Penny...!” Howdy started to say.
“No, it’s fine. She doesn’t have to come closer if she does not want to.” Biclops raised his hand up. Howdy looked up at him in surprise. Judging from his expression, he guessed that Howdy thought he was going to react a little more negative to this. But despite feeling hurt, Biclops was quite understanding, and gave a small, accepting smile. “We can’t just rush into this. One step at a time.”
Howdy let out a sigh and nodded his head. “I understand...”
Biclops smiled at this before he turned his gaze towards the two children. He studied them carefully to see how badly hurt they were. He flinched when he saw their injuries and how they had accumulated more than the last time he saw them. At least they were still standing, so that was good. Still, he couldn’t help but wonder if he could have prevented this if he didn’t allow himself to be controlled like that.
He shook the thought out of his head. He needed to stop blaming himself for what happened. He was under the control of someone else. There was little he could have done. At least now he was doing something about it. He just needed to stay focused on trying to do something now instead of dwelling on what could have been.
As he stared at Rudy, he began to notice something...off about him. This whole time, he had never once looked in his direction. At first, he thought that this was because the kid was angry and fearful of him. This seemed like a normal response to expect from someone who was nearly killed by him, especially when he had considered him a friend before. But the more he looked at his face, the more he noticed that something seemed...really wrong about it.
He took notice of how Rudy didn’t seem to be looking at anything. He tried to track his eyes, but they didn’t lead to anything; just empty space. His left eye, which was still exposed unlike his injured right one, wasn’t contracting or enlarging its pupil at anything. It was almost as if he wasn’t really seeing anything with that eye, unable to truly comprehend what was around him. It was rather odd, and it made the giant wonder just what was going on to get that effect. It took only seconds for him to come up with a possible idea, and it sent chills down his spine. Could it be possible that Rudy was...blind?
The thought made him uncomfortable. The very idea of the Great Creator being blind was...incomoprehensible. It brought forth many questions, most of them relating to the ‘why’ aspect of how could this happen. His mind ran through the questions, trying to sort them out. His head ached as he continued feelilng himself fill with more and more questions, crowding his mind and making him clench his teeth tightly. He couldn’t help but feel his blood burn as he thought about just who might have done this to Rudy. If he ever got his hands on him, he was going to...
He stopped himself when he saw how nervous he was making Penny. She had hunched her body more, looking like she was going to run away at any moment, Biclops felt a bit of shame strike him in the chest. He should have been more careful with what facial expressions he used while he was thinking of the boiling anger inside of him.
Wanting to end the awkward silence so they could start to get anywhere, he said, “Well, I am glad to see what you two are all right.” He tried to sound as gentle as he could. “I don’t want to keep you here that long, though. I can see that Snap needs help fast.” He looked down at Snap sympathetically. He didn’t know just what happened, but he knew that it was something quite serious. “You better..hurry along and get him to the hospital fast...”
Penny didn’t soften her expression that much. But there appeared to be a sense of relief in those eyes. Slowly, she nodded her head up and down. “Yeah...you’re right... Snap really needs help...” She bit her lip for a second. “You wouldn’t...happen to know any closer hospital..do you...?”
Rudy, who had been quiet at this point, quietly asked, “Y-Yeah... There has to be o-one closer... right..?”
Biclops tapped his chin thoughtfully, his eyes narrowed and his head turned to the side. Now that he thought of it, there was some place that he knew of. He couldn’t recall if it was as close as the ChalkZone City hospital or if it was further away. It’s been so long. But this other hospital may not be as crowded and they might get Snap in faster to treat him for...whatever had happened to him.
“I believe if you go that way...” Biclops pointed a large finger towards the west. “...you might find something. I am pretty sure there was a small hospital in that direction. It might be closer than the one in ChalkZone City.”
Penny nodded her head slowly. She stared up at Biclops for a few moments, and then in an awkward tone, she said, “Thank you...” She paused, and then she managed to choke out the next word. “...Biclops..”
The giant flinched at how hard it was for Penny to say that. This was a testament to how much his ‘betrayal’ had affected her. He tried not to let hit hurt him too much however, and tried to focus on what was more important right now: getting Snap to safety. He was in dire need of help, and the longer they stood around here, the more time they were wasting that could be used to getting Snap the treatment he needed.
However, none of them really had a chance to discuss any plans further of what to do after that because, without warning, there was a loud shout that filled the air, catching their attention. The group looked left and right as they tried to see just who it was. At first, they couldn’t see anyone besides each other. It was only one Biclops put his hand over his eyes and stared off towards one direction that he noticed some movement coming this way. Slowly, his eyes widened.
“I..I don’t believe it...”
“What? What is it, Biclops?” Howdy jumped up and down, hoping to see whatever the giant did. But of course, being as small as he was, his efforts were all in vain.
Penny moved forward a little, still keeping herself close to Rudy and the unconscious Snap. “I don’t see anything, but...” She paused. She turned her head to the side, her ears struggling to pick up whatever they detected. “Someone’s calling out to us...” Her eyes widened and she looked up at the giant. “Biclops..who is it..?”
Biclops didn’t answer at first. All he could do was stare in shock. He had a hard time comprehending this. Nothing like this had ever happened before. Nothing like this had ever crossed his mind in the past. He licked his lips slowly as he tried to think of just how this was possible. Was this some kind of weird dream? Was he still laying down in the Chalk Mine, sleeping? He pinched himself, proving that he was, indeed, awake.
There were figures coming towards them. This didn’t seem weird at first, but with his large eyes, he could see their details with such focus. With his eyes alone, he could tell that they were not like any other citizen of ChalkZone. They did not look like any other zoner he knew.
And that was because they weren’t zoners...
Biclops’s eyes widened in horror for a second as he realized that, somehow, humans had entered this world. His mind locked into an icy panic, his heart pounding in his chest. And not just any humans... these were adults. Larger, smarter, more formidable than children... Out of all the problems he could be facing right now, this was one that he hoped he and the others would never have had to encounter again.
This feeling only got worse when he saw that Reggie was among them. His mind flashed back to the day when Reggie The Red had terrorized ChalkZone. The child had begun to utterly rip the place apart, without a care in the world. Tying him up, throwing trash everywhere, trying to run zoners over.. It was an absolute mess. Seeing him with the adults did nothing to help settle him down.
He was about to issue a warning to Rudy and Penny when he noticed something else about this group. Squinting his eyes, he realized that they weren’t actually by themselves. This group did not compose entirely of just humans. There was a zoner with them. Someone medium-sized and white and bear-like...
Lars...? What was he doing with them? What was Lars doing hanging out with these humans? Were they controlling him? Were they trying to catch him? No, it didn’t look like he was running away.. He was actually leading them towards him. This confused the giant more. Just what was going on...?
Suddenly, he could hear a loud shout come from the polar bear. It was still distant and hard to hear. But when he listened carefully enough, he started to detect enough syllables to make out what he was saying. And what the zoner said caused the giant to freeze in shock.
“It’s the parents! The creators’ parents! They’re here!”
Biclops couldn’t help but suck in a sharp breath at this, his eyes bulging. The parents...? How.. How in the world did they get here...? Where did they come from? Just..how...? Biclops gritted his teeth. He knew that if he constantly asked ‘how’, all he was going to do was make his head hurt even more. Despite all the thoughts running through his head right now, he knew what the best choice was.
He looked down at Rudy and Penny. He locked eyes with Penny. He could see the curiosity in her eyes, the silent questioning of what was going on. He could see just how much she wanted to know what was happening. He couldn’t keep quiet about this. She and Rudy...they deserved to know just who had arrived in ChalkZone.
“Rudy... Penny..” Biclops said softly. Rudy lifted his head at his name, but though Rudy’s head turned towards him, his pupils didn’t meet his. Another sign that he was blind. His gut twisted at this, and then he forced himself to speak. “It’s... It’s your parents...” He said softly. “They’re here...”
At this, Rudy, Penny, and Howdy gasped in shock. Disbelief washed over their faces, becoming etched in their features. Rudy and Penny looked as if they had just heard that ghosts were real outside of ChalkZone. Their bodies were so stiff.... Biclops was amazed that they could even still keep standing there. He did not expect them to be able to do that with the amount of shock that must be pumping through their bodies right now.
Then what happened next, he was both shocked by, and had fully expected it.
Rudy and Penny both made a mad dash towards where the shout had come from. Biclops and Howdy watched as the two began to run to where their parents were. They glanced at each other for a few moments, and then continued to watch the children run.
Biclops thought about going after them. But he decided it was best hang back here. He motioned his hand down to prevent Howdy from following them. He understood that this was their moment. Rudy and Penny deserved some time with their parents and vice versa. Besides, since this must be their first introduction to ChalkZone, the parents don’t need so many zoners coming at them. Lars was enough of a culture shock to them. But how would they react to a puppet zoner like Howdy, or a giant zoner like himself?
No, as much as he wanted to come over, introduce himself, offer his assistance, he knew the best thing was to go nice and slow. Take it easy. Give it some time. If Rudy and Penny wanted to introduce them, then they can on their own accord. After all they had been through, the two children did deserve this.
Suddenly a thought came through his mind. He just remembered that they did not leave Snap behind, and that zoner needed to head to the hospital. Did they forget what kind of condition their friend was in? Had their shock and happiness at their parents being there, of seeing their parents again, make them momentarily forget about Snap? That didn’t seem like them, but considering the situation, it was entirely possible that...
He turned down to Howdy, his eyes bulging. “Howdy.. Go after them!” It was easier for the parents to meet Howdy first, rather than an imposing figure like himself. “Make sure they remember that Snap needs to go to the hospital!”
Howdy nodded his head. Without another word, he zipped off after the children as quickly as he could. Biclops watched him run, biting his lip. He hoped that Howdy would make it in time. The last thing they need was more bad news.
Just then, he saw some kind of movement. Something flashing along the tall grass nearby, mostly situated in front of him. He narrowed his eyes into slits as he tried to see just what was in front of him. He lifted his hand over his eyes once more to try to get a good look. He could see the grass parting in an area, forming a trail and...
It was Zebin.. Biclop’s eyes blinked at this. He didn’t recall seeing it coming out of the hole. Was he so wrapped up with the conversation with the creators that he failed to notice something crawling out of the opening and slinking away? And why did Zebin sneak away if that was the caws? What was it trying to do? And why was it heading so fast in a beeline towards Penny?
Upon realizing what was going on, Biclops gave a gasp of horror, his gut twisting in shock, betrayal, and disbelief. Zebin couldn’t be... But it was... Narrowing his eyes and without hesitation, he took action.
sss
It couldn’t believe it. How did it all come down to this? How did it go from being the top of this game to the very bottom, strapped under certain death and unable to move or even relax? The sound of the saw filled its head constantly, making it difficult to concentrate all that well.
But despite that, Thoughtless was able to gain enough calmness to be able to think a little. It had continous thoughts about what kind of situation it was in, how it got in this position, and how easily it could have avoided it. Perhaps it should have treated Skrawl better. Maybe it shouldn’t have acted like the jellybean was just a mere tool to be wielded. Perhaps if it had strained for a better relationship with him, this mess could have been avoided.
Well, it was far too late for that, now wasn’t it? Skrawl wouldn’t believe anything it said at this point. It had been such a mistake to manipulate his memory. Now almost anything it said, Skrawl might think that it was just part of some kind of trick. Skrawl was not interested in a partnership with it anymore; only karma.
That wasn’t the only thing on the memotrice’s mind. There was also the fact that Skrawl had taken its plan and turned it on its head. Skrawl seemed to accept its plan, but only after modifying it to suit his own needs. That was typical Skrawl. Always thinking only about himself and never anyone else. Skrawl didn’t like the plan before only because it wasn’t focused on him, far as the memotrice knew. With this modified plan, since it benefited primarily Skrawl, the jellybean was willing to go along with it. Only with him as the leader and it... well...
The thought was pretty chilling. This surprised the memotrice. It was already planning something quite awful for this world. Well, awful by everyone else’s standards. Population control was important, but it did make it look like some kind of monster in the eyes of many. It was willing to accept this if it meant potentially stabilizing this crazy, insane world.
But Skrawl’s ideals perverted this. Skrawl took something that was supposed to benefit everyone and changed it so only he came out on top. Skrawl was going to use the red chalk, and quite possibly creators in general, as a means of upgrading himself as this world’s Grim Reaper, killing whatever and whoever he pleased. Even those that served him might be crushed underneath him.
And that was quite disturbing to the memotrice. It had never intended something like this to happen. This is not what it wanted. No single zoner should ever be given the title of Grim Reaper. Especially not to someone as selfish and single-minded as Skrawl.
What disturbed it even more is that... it was the reason Skrawl was like this. Its meddling with the jellybean, controlling him, angering him, giving him information about this plan..all that resulted in this. It was all its fault that this was happening. It had given Skrawl the idea of becoming the Grim Reaper, and it knew that there was no going back now.
Now it had no choice but to face the consequences of what it had gotten itself into. It really had no one to blame but itself for this situation that it got itself stuck in. If only it had been more careful...
There was nothing it could do to change that now. It needed to stop kicking itself for what it did. What good will that do it? It needed to instead focus on how it was going to get out of there. If Skrawl though it was just going to lay here and take this... Well Skrawl must not know it all that well then. There was no way Thoughtless was just going to take this sitting down. If Skrawl wanted to fight...
...he was about to get the war...
Thoughtless didn’t know yet how it was going to get out, however. Such a task was not going to be easy. It could barely move with these straps pinning it down to the cold, unforgiving table. The saw was dangerously close to its neck. It could feel the air current around the blades push against it, and it could practically feel the sharp blades themselves start pushing into its neck.
Yet if there was one thing that it learned when it looked through Skrawl’s mind, well one of the many things that it learned, it was that Skrawl’s plans were almost never perfect. With the exception of the first time, where he could have won easily if he had just left shortly after having the Beanie Boys lift the art museum up to drown everyone, his other plans had some kind of flaw that he did not foresee.
The brain that he had built himself, the way he had abused her and controlled her and treated her like nothing...
..and of course how could it forget how Skrawl’s ‘destroy the Chalk Mine’ failed because he did not comprehend how Craniac 4 would be like?
These incidents proved to the memotrice that Skrawl’s plans might seem so perfect and foil-proof. But if one just looked closely, sometimes where one wouldn’t expect, then flaws could be located and pried out into the open. All it needed to do was sit here as calmly as it could and look around. Sooner or later, it would eventuallly find something that was going to help it. Sooner or later, it would find the opening that it knew was here, around somewhere...
Oh yes, there it was. It was difficult to see from its position, but if it turned its head enough and looked as hard as it could out of the corner of its eye, it could see that there appeared to be something loose on one of the straps on its tail. It seemed that Skrawl did not check the rivets holding it down before he left it be. If it could just wriggle its tail enough, maybe it could free itself.
Without wasting anymore time, the memotrice went to work.
sss
Skrawl couldn’t help but smile. It stretched so far, beyond its normal limitations. He had never smiled this much before. But then again, he didn’t have much of a reason to do so before. Never before had he ever accomplished something like this. Never before had he ever dreamed that something like this was possible.
And now it was his...
He was about to do something that no other zoner had ever accomplished. He was about to pull off something so remarkable, so unprecedented... Zoners who hear this plan might call him crazy. They might say he was insane. They could say that stuff all they wanted to. But in the end, oh boy would they be proven wrong. He was about to show them just what he was truly capable of. None of them would ever call him ‘ugly’ again or question his authority.
After all, why would they mess with a Grim Reaper? The idea shocked him at first. He never had planned such a thing. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized how such a title worked for him the best. He had already tried to kill zoners in the past. He had already attempted to use fear and force to rule the zoners. Would this really be all that different.
This might even work out so much better. The very name alone would be enough to strike fear into anyone. His own name might be feared in these parts of ChalkZone. But not everyone knew him, even here. And elsewhere, he was practically unknown. But with the title of Grim Reaper, all that could change. Most, if not all, zoners knew the name of Grim Reaper. Many zoners would likely cower at the name, and most would be terrified if they knew a real life Grim Reaper was coming.
He knew this because it’s already happened before. There have been some Grim Reaper zoners that showed up in the past. He forgot what happened to them. But it didn’t really matter. The fact that they existed, and that zoners feared them, was enough to convince him that going this route may be the best idea he’s ever had.
Of course, if he was going to do this, he was going to need to be properly prepared. He couldn’t just declare himself a Grim Reaper. He needed something to establish him as such. Something that anyone could look at and see that he was, in fact, some kind of reaper. He needed something that could kill from afar and could also be used to torment up close. Not a gun; that wasn’t scary-enough looking. Something sharp, like his claws, only better. Something that, no matter the distance, would look just as awful and terrifying, and would truly mark his place as the real Grim Reaper.
And he knew just the thing. He should thank Thoughtless for the idea. It was something that Thoughtless itself had used. If it weren’t for that memotrice, he might never have gotten the idea to do something like this. It was thanks to Thoughtless that this plan was coming into fruition. If he were generous, he would reward the memotrice for inspiring such a brilliant plan.
But of course, he was far from generous.
The jellybean continued down the hallway, following this particular corridor down to where he and Thoughtless had that brief talk before. Nothing else mattered. He paid no mind to any distant calls or to any faint sounds. The fact that they might be important did cross his mind, but he was on a mission. Once he established his goals, everything else would come easy. No matter what any enemy zoner did to him, once he got the title of Grim Reaper, no one would miss with him, and those that did would be taught a very painful lesson indeed.
Before he got near where Thoughtless’s chamber was, he stopped himself. Perhaps that wasn’t the right way to go. Perhaps there was better place he could go instead. After all, he did already know, or at least have a good idea, of where Thoughtless had gotten that particularly menacing and painful red shard.
He veered in a different direction, heading down another way. Thankfully this other place was a little closer than Thoughtless’s old chamber. He just needed to go down a flight of stairs or two, which shouldn’t take too long. And once he reached the bottom of that, he continued on down the old corridor, which intermixed with the metal and the earthy rock, creating some kind of strange meld. He hadn’t been down here all too much lately, and yet he still knew this place like the back of his hand. He had made sure to keep himself aware of this place and how it looked and functioned. After all, he never knew when he’d need to come down here again.
Such as today.
Before long, he started to see something familiar ahead of him. A red light that filled him with excitement...but also with a sense of dread. He could feel its energy pumping through his body, making him stronger. At the same time, it was reminded him of just what he was dealing with, and how he needed to exercise caution.
And when the red chalk vein came into view, he had to pause and stare at it in respectful, almost dreadful wonder. He watched how its jagged crimson shape jetted out of the ground, spreading through the underground area of this place, almost as if it were part of living tissue. It was quite uncomfortable to look at, yet he could not turn away. If this material were soft, he imagined it would be pulsating.
He remained frozen for a few moments. Memory flashes of what happened the last time he had tried to control the red chalk surfaced in the back of his mind. He could feel a brief chill running through his body, causing him to rub his arms nervously. He quickly shook this off, narrowing his eyes. What kind of leader shows fear in front of anyone? If he couldn’t control himself here, how would he ever be able to control anyone else? With fists formed tightly and his eyes narrowed in determination, he proceeded towards the red chalk vein.
When he got up to it, he could feel some kind of heat radiating from the structure. It felt so warm and so dangerous. He could tell that it was the anger that the red chalk possessed. The anger of the children that were locked inside...
Yes, he was quite aware of what happened that formed the red chalk. He was aware of how Biclops and some other zoner had locked them away. He had his ways of learning this stuff. And though the thought of being trapped somewhere for that long was unnerving, he knew that it could just work to his advantage this time. He might not be able to bring forth creators in the Real World that would listen to him, but if he were to strike a deal with the creators locked away in here....
He reached his hand over and he placed it gingerly against one of the shoots going up the wall. He flinched at how hot it seemed to feel right now. Yet he did not remove his hand. He kept it pressed there, his eyes narrowed. He had to make a good first impression, or rather, a good reintroduction since the last time, he had foolishly tried to force the red chalk to do his bidding. This time, he was going to do things differently.
It wasn’t like with Thoughtless. He had little idea of how that zoner thought or what its goals were. It was just too mysterious of a zoner and he was not able to comprehend for a long time just what it wanted. But the children in the red chalk.... He knew that they would want revenge against all of ChalkZone. They would be more willing to work with him if it meant a chance at getting back at the zoners who had locked them there in the first place. And of course, he knew exactly who was going to be the first target in all of this.
Biclops.
Regardless of what the zoner’s status was, Skrawl knew that he had to be gotten rid of. That would be part of the deal for certain. The children of the red chalk would want to bring him, and that other zoner, to justice for what they had done to them. He would not be able to forge any partnership until Biclops was gotten rid of.
And he knew just how he was going to do that. What he was about to do next, he knew was a bit of a bold move, especially since he established nothing with them. If anything, it might even anger them further, but once he pulled off this difficult task, once he was able to take care of Biclops, then no doubt the red chalk would start to see him as an ally. All he had to do was get what he came here for and make his move.
Skrawl noticed a small shard that jetted out of the vein. He encircled his fingers around it tightly and, tightening up the muscles in his arm, he yanked on it. He could hear a crack as it gave way in his hand, and pulled out from the vein effortlessly. He thought he could feel a flash of red from the vein snaking up the wall, but he hardly paid any attention; not like it really hurt.
He examined the red shard carefully. He couldn’t help but smile twistedly. With this shard, he would gain the respect he deserved so much. He would gain control over the world that should have been his long ago. No one was ever going to take him for a fool again. No one would ever treat him like he was nothing. And most of all...
He would begin to forge his path as the Grim Reaper...
Suddenly, a loud shout filled his ear. He nearly jolted at the sound of it, almost dropping the red shard that he had taken from the red chalk vein.
“Skrawl!” Cried the voice. “Skrawl!”
Skrawl turned his head to see a Beanie Boy flying towards him. As the Beanie Boy got closer, he began to notice that something seemed off about the Beanie Boy. He was covered in bruises and injuries, cuts and scrapes. The sight of this caused the jellybean’s eyes to widen. Just what had happened that caused the Beanie Boy to look like this? And why did he have such a terrified expression in his eyes? What was going on?
It didn’t take long for the Beanie Boy to reach him. He was panting heavily, his tongue hanging out, his eyes wide and fear-filled. Skrawl just watched him for a few moments, looking at him up and down. Up close, he could see a lot more injuries. This Beanie Boy clearly had gone through some kind of hell. He bit his lip tightly as many thoughts ran through his mind. He could feel his stomach tying up in to a knot. He knew that whatever happened to the Beanie Boy could become a threat to his plan. He needed to find out what happened.
“Alpha...” Skrawl said softly. “What’s going on..?”
Alpha panted, staring off into the distance, not even looking at Skrawl. His eyes had a distant, haunted look to them. “I-It’s... It’s...” He had to stop for a moment, catching his breath. He licked his dry lips, tasting his own iron-flavored blood, and then he looked up at Skrawl. “It’s B-Beta.. He’s...he’s been...”
“He’s been what?” Skrawl demanded. “Tell me!”
Alpha’s lower lip quivered a little. Skrawl thought he could see the faintest hint of a tear. “..k-killed...” He stammered a little and choked before he continued, “The...the ch-ch-chinese unicorn... Z-Zebin...” He gave a few quivering pants. “It...it killed Beta... H-Helped the others to..e-escape...”
Skrawl’s eyes widened in shock at this. He felt his mind begin to swirl as this bit of information swept through his head. Slowly, he could feel his mind begin to burn, his eyes narrowing dangerously. A low growl eminated from his mouth, his teeth clenched tightly. He slammed a fist against the wall, away from one of the red chalk veins. He tightened his grip on the red shard, shifting his head and glaring his burning expression down the hallway.
How dare that zoner come in here and interrupt his beautiful plans... How dare it waltz in here it owned the place and take away what rightfully belonged to him... How dare it injure his Beanie Boys.. How dare it kill one of them... He made it a promise, that it would not get away with what it had done.
“..take me there...” Skrawl hissed softly, his voice laced in darkness and anger. Alpha cringed at the sight of him like this before nodding his head once and proceeding to lead the infuriated jellybean down the corridor.
|
|
|
|
Post by Bluedramon on Aug 23, 2015 17:35:02 GMT -5
Chapter 44:
How long has it been since they started running?
How much distance did they travel?
When would they reach them?
To Penny, it probably felt as though time had slowed down. Everything around her must be moving at such a slow, delicate pace. Her heart rate must be increasing steadily, swirling in the back of her mind, clouding her head. She must be staring at their parents now, her eyes wide in wonder, in desperation, wanting to reach out to them and hug them.
To Rudy, however, it felt like a lot longer. With no visual cues, he had no idea how far he was traveling. He didn’t know just what was in front of him. He could feel Snap hooked in his arm. He could feel Penny holding onto his arm and pulling him with her. He could hear her panting. He could hear the distant calls of their parents. He knew that they were getting closer. He knew it wouldn’t take that much longer to reach them. Soon, he would be held in his parents’ arms and he would feel safe and secure with them.
He just didn’t know how long it would take. All he could see was just blackness and some shadows and lights still. No improvement. The lack of improvement worried him. If this was temporary, then how long was it going to take for his sight to come back? How long would he have to endure being stuck in such a dark and spooky world? How long would he have to feel so vulnerable like this?
He tried to remain positive. He tried to look at the brighter side of things. At least he was still alive. That was a positive, wasn’t it? At least he still had his mind and his friends and family. Even if it would become harder, at least he would be able to try to lead as normal and fulfilling of a life as possible with the blindness. His loved ones would help him with that.
He could feel the grass brushing up against him as he continued to run. He ignored the itchiness that this was giving him and focused as much as he could on running forward, his mouth opened and panting. Although he could not see, he opened his left eye wide, darting his pupil around in faint hope that he would see something. As usual, just darkness. But that didn’t get him down too much as he heard a voice he had been longing to hear for what felt like a long time.
“Rudy!”
“Son!”
His parents. Rudy couldn’t help but smile. He could feel their presence now. They were so close... He could hear them breathing. He could feel their body heat. He could detect the cologne and perfume they usually wore. He could almost feel their breath hitting him against his face.
They weren’t alone. Abuzz in his head, he could hear other voices. His aunt Tilly, Mrs. Sanchez, Mr. Bullnerd....and Reggie. At the thought of Reggie, Rudy nearly stiffened. He tried not to think about that boy and what he did to him and Penny. Right now, he just wanted to focus on reuniting with his parents. What the others were saying, he hardly paid attention. To him, it was just a large cloud of confusion. The only ones whose voices mattered to him in that very moment were his parents.
He could feel Snap slipping from his arms. He guessed Penny had taken a hold of him so he could hug his parents. He was grateful for that. With him no longer holding Snap, he felt a bit lighter. His arms swung outward despite not seeing if he was that close to his parents or not. As soon as he did, he could feel arms move around his body. He could feel himself being pressed against something warm and solid. He stayed there, shutting his left eye, pressing his head against the soft warmness. He remained like this for several moments, feeling the warmth of his parents, feeling comforted by their presence.
He could feel a hand rubbing his back. He could feel another hand move through his hair. He felt another on his cheek. He could hear his parents talking at once, sounding very excited and relieved to see that he was still alive. Injured, but still alive. He didn’t answer any of their bombarding questions. All he wanted to do right now was just remain in their embrace.
He could hear Mrs. Sanchez going crazy over Penny. He thought she heard the woman ask one or two questions about Snap, but it was clear that, during this period, the vet was more interested in her daughter than a stranger she didn’t know. She was doting over her daughter, kissing her, probably touching her face and hugging her.
Hearing the vet’s sounds intermingled with his own parents caused his stomach to twist and his heart to tighten. They sounded so scared and worried for them, and why shouldn’t they? He and Penny had only meant to leave for a short time and...well, look where that’s gotten them. They had ended up making them worry so much worse than before. He couldn’t help but wonder if their parents had nightmares about them. He felt a strong tinge of guilt at this, and he was certain that Penny felt the same way.
It was only after he started to calm down a little that he noticed that Tilly, Mr. Bullnerd, and Reggie had gone silent. He wasn’t sure just how close they were at this point. Had they moved back to give room for the parents? It was a possibility. He did feel bad for ignoring them, but perhaps they didn’t feel too upset about it. After all, who would want to interrupt such a heartfelt moment like this?
Soon, Rudy felt something move, and he realized that his parents had released him. He could feel hear their breathing. They were still close to him. He could feel their hands on his face and arms. He could practically see their worried faces etched in the back of his mind. He could feel them caress him as they whispered a couple more comforting words to him. He wanted to say something to comfort them, but he could think of nothing to say. Instead, slowly, he smiled at them.
“Rudy...just what happened here...?” Came his mother’s worried voice.
His father spoke next. Despite the happiness and relief, Rudy cringed a little when he also detected some anger and hurt in his voice as well. “How could you have done something like this? Why did you run off? Why did you come here?”
His mother chined in, “Just what were you thinking..? You could have gotten so much more hurt... Running off here in this strange world....”
At this mention, Rudy bulged his left eye. He was suddenly struck with realization, washing over him like someone spilling ice cold water on him. He had been so excited about being with his parents again that he had nearly forgotten about that little aspect. His mind instantly began to race and he struggled to think of just what this was going to mean for him and Penny in the future.
“How....how did you guys get here...?” Rudy whispered softly. Recalling a voice he heard earlier, he asked, “Did Reggie..?”
“Yes, son. He helped us get here. He was helping us try to find you.” His dad confirmed. A part of Rudy felt some relief that Reggie was only trying to help. Still he wasn’t sure how he felt with him being nearby. His dad continued, “We ran into some trouble, but...at least we’re here now, and we’re so glad to see that you and Penny are okay.”
“But why did you come here?” His mother asked. “Why did you sneak off to his place all alone? You had us worrired sick!”
Rudy nodded his head slowly. “Yeah...I know... I’m so sorry. I...we never meant to be gone that long...”
“We thought someone kidnapped you! We thought some serial criminal snuck into the yard and took you away! We were so frightened and we tried to find you! Even the security cameras we installed turned up nothing!”
At this, Rudy couldn’t help but flinch. His parents had installed a security system? They thought some weird kidnapper was going around town, nabbing children like him and Penny? He knew that they were so worried about them. But hearing just how worried they were.. He could feel his heart twist into knots. He couldn’t help but feel shame spread through his gut. Oh his poor parents.. Mrs. Sanchez... And the others, too. He never meant to worry them that much.
It was difficult to hear over his parents, but he was certain that he could hear Mrs. Sanchez talking with Penny, asking similar questions. He could detect some questions about Snap. Perhaps Penny was explaining who Snap was and how important he was to them. Perhaps she was also telling her mother more about why they came.
Deciding to follow in Penny’s footsteps, Rudy said, “We...hit a bit of a snag when we got here. You see, we were trying to...” How was he going to explain this without scaring his parents? “We were trying to help someone and...”
“We were told you do a lot of that here.” His dad interrupted.
“Huh?” Rudy blinked a few times. “You did?” He tilted his head. “How did you know?”
“I told them.”
Lars? He was here? Rudy tried to look around for him, but of course, no surprise, he just couldn’t find him. Not in his condition. He could only turn his head in the direction of the voice. He could almost visualize Lars standing there, wearing those usual shades of his, looking all calm and quiet like he normally was. Well unless his fish storage was disturbed.
He could hear a couple of soft sounds from his parents. Confused and surprised sounds. He turned his head towards them, waiting for them to speak. He thought he could see a slight movement in his eyes. Were his parents glancing nervously at each other? He could feel his heart clench. Did something happen? He licked his lips nervously as he felt the air around him grow more intense. It didn’t help that he heard some quiet, worried whispers from the others. What was going on? What did they see?
He then almost stiffened when he felt a hand against his face. Warm and solid, pressing against his cheek. Then he could hear his mother’s soft, trembling voice, “R-Rudy... Why aren’t you making eye contact with me?” A gasp. “Rudy..your right eye...”
Did it really take them this long to notice his eye? Had they really been so preoccupied with being reunited with him that they failed to notice that his eye was injured? Well, he supposed he couldn’t blame them too much. There were just so many emotions running through everyone, it was easy to miss something like that.
Soon his stomach twisted in fear and guilt. He wasn’t exactly sure how to tell his parents the cold harsh truth. He knew he couldn’t keep it from them. They were going to find out soon enough. He wished there was a better way. But...no. There wasn’t. There was only one option that he had.
He opened his mouth to speak. He paused, clenching his teeth. He could practically feel his parents staring at him, waiting for him to continue. Rudy let out a soft sigh, and then he squeaked out, “I-I can’t see...”
He could hear his parents give a sharp gasp at this. He thought he could hear his mother sniffle a little. Even his dad’s voice sounded quiet shaky as though he was going to cry at any second. He wanted to say something to help them feel better, but nothing could come. In that moment, he could feel the weight of depression regarding his blindness start to hit him. Realizing that he could never again protect the citizens of ChalkZone or even create any art... It was starting to become so much for him.
Before he knew it, he started to shed a few tears. He could feel his parents pull him into a warm embrace. He could hear Reggie say something in disbelief. He heard Mr. Bullnerd express his sympathies. He could hear Tilly gasp in shock. He could hear Mrs. Sanchez speak to Penny about the blindness. He could hear Penny’s awkward responses.
For a moment, Rudy could feel a flash of anger rise inside of him. His mind burned as he recalled that it was Penny who had gotten him into this position. At least half way. She was the one who had blinded him in his right eye. It was her fault he was like this. If she hadn’t done something so...so stupid..he would have maybe had at least this eye to work with. She...
He eventually settled himself down with a few slow breaths. He wouldn’t know that for certain. With the blow to the back of his head, which he was certain was the cause of his condition, that may have taken away the sight in his right eye, too. The only thing that would have happened if Penny didn’t end up injuring him was he’d be in less pain right now. But it would have done nothing to stop the temporary blindness. Besides, it was just an accident. He couldn’t keep holding a grudge against her for that forever.
“Rudy...what happened to your eye..?” His mother whispered.
“Why can’t you see out of your other one?” His dad asked. “Wh-What happened, son...?”
“Please...tell us...” His mother begged.
Rudy was about to reply, but Penny, obviously feeling really guilty, had decided to speak up for him. “Well you see....” Her voice was so shaky and emotional. He could feel everyone’s heads turn towards her. “W-we...” But she never got to finish.
Suddenly, without warning, a large...something struck forward. He could feel the rush of air, people shouting to get out of the way. He could feel his parents move him back with them, pulling him out of what seemed to be harm’s way. But without seeing, Rudy couldn’t tell if it was really danger, or if it was an ally that his parents mistook as danger.
“Biclops?!” He could hear Lars shout. Well that identified the individual. “What are you doing?!”
At first, Rudy thought that Biclops had tried to attack them. But then he heard the sound of distant thudding and he realized that Biclops had struck something away from them; he hadn’t been trying to attack. Well this time anyway.
“No! Don’t you dare! Get away!” Tilly cried out.
“Leave them alone!” Shouted Mr. Bullnerd.
Biclops didn’t respond to them. Rudy could hear thudding, and he knew the giant was getting closer. Intermixed with that, he could hear a smaller voice, lighter footsteps, light panting. Then he heard his mother shout about some kind of puppet creature coming towards them. Howdy? Why was he coming over here? On top of that, just what was Biclops doing here? What was...?
Then he heard Biclops let out a low growl. He stiffened at it. But unlike the one he had given him before, this didn’t sound like anger or rage or a threat. It seemed more...determination. As if he were trying to stop something or someone. He recalled the thud and he turned his head in the direction of the sound. He could hear rustling. Somethin was coming up. He could hear Penny gasp in shock, which only increased his tension.
“Stand down, Zebin...” Biclops hissed. “You will not be hurting them...”
Rudy couldn’t help but take a sharp inhale at this. Zebin...?
sss
Upon seeing the giant, Reggie could feel his whole body stiffen up. He felt a wash of fear move through his body as he stared at the large, imposing creature. He stood easily twenty feet high at least, towering over everyone in the vicinity. The fierce look in his eyes and the gnashing teeth did little to comfort him, even though the giant was not paying attention to him.
Reggie remembered him all too well. His only other encounter with him was brief, but memorable. He had found the giant when he was looking around this chalk world for a while the last time he was here. He remembered this was the same giant that guarded that one place where he got more red chalk. The mine thing... He couldn’t remember the exact name of the place. He did recall that he hadn’t been allowed in and he had to force his way into the mine to take anything. He had used the red chalk to tie up the giant and then he stole some red chalk and then he ran into the city to have some fun.
He had to wonder... did the giant remember him? He recalled that Lars, the polar bear, did, and he was not happy to see him one bit. Even though, it seemed that the polar bear didn’t trust him all that much and refused to let up on it. Would the giant act in a similar way? Would he act worse? The large boy found himself moving closer to his dad on instinct at this. If the giant was going to make a move against him, the last thing he wanted was to stand around here and make himself into some kind of target.
But to his surprise, the giant wasn’t paying attention to him. His vertical eyes were focused on something else. He turned his head to try to see what the giant was looking at. He noticed that the others were also staring in this area. Their expressions indicated they saw what it was. Reggie tried to look harder to see what it was.
Eventually he could see something coming out from the grass. He had expected some kind of monster. More reptilian, or even wolf-like or something. When he saw some kind of mythical creature come out, with an appearance he hadn’t seen before, he wasn’t sure just how to take it. The look was...contradicting to put it best. Both peaceful and threatening. Both dark and light. Both fearsome and gentle.
Who was this individual? What was it trying to do? Was it trying to attack them? Or was the giant and this thing was trying to help them? Reggie thought he recalled the giant saying something about leaving them alone, but maybe he was just hearing things. Or, if the giant did say that, maybe it was because he wanted them all for himself.
He wanted to speak up, to say something, anything. But he remained quiet, staring cautiously over at the giant and the mysterious...whatever it was. He listened intently, hoping to catch as much of their conversation as he could.
The giant curled his lip back into a snarl. He glared intensely at the creature. Reggie soon noticed that there was something...different about this expression. It wasn’t just of anger, but instead..disappointment? He wasn’t sure if that was the right word or not. But it did seem as though there was some kind of unwilling anger going on. The giant didn’t look like he wanted to be angry with this newcomer. But this thing had obviously upset him. Reggie leaned a little closer, curious to see where this was going to go.
“You... I can’t believe this...” The giant clenched his teeth tightly. “I asked you to help me...and this is how you.... Oh, Zebin, how could you...?!”
Zebin simply stood there, almost eerily calm. It was hard to tell if it felt any true sorrow at what it had tried to do. Its expression was unreadable. “I know what you are thinking, Biclops. But trust me...I had a good reason to do this...”
“Good reason?!” Cried out Biclops. “What kind of reason did you have in trying to kill Rudy Tabootie and Penny Sanchez?!”
At this, there was a series of gasps. Reggie found himself, along with the adults, whipping their heads in the direction of Zebin. Some of the adults, like his father, were gaping and wide-eyed in shock. Tilly wore a similar expression as well. But the parents were glaring more harshly. Zebin glanced at them momentarily and then just looked away, acting as if nothing was wrong.
Many thoughts rushed through Reggie’s head. Why did this thing want to kill Rudy and Penny? Wasn’t that rather...harsh? Sure, he liked beating up Rudy, but he didn’t want to kill him. That would go a little...too far. What kind of beef did this thing have with these two that it wanted to go as far as take their lives from them?
He noticed that Rudy and Penny... He had to correct himself. Rudy was blind. This realization came as a shock to him, but with the arrival of these two residents, that was pushed aside. Penny was staring at Zebin, looking a bit hurt. Not to the same degree as Biclops, but there was a strong sense of 'why are you doing this’ shining in her eyes. Even from this angle and distance from her, he could see this look in her eyes. This alone helped solidify the magnitude of this creature’s supposed betrayal, and it also made it a little more clear on which side Biclops might be standing on.
“Look, I know it seems bad, but...just hear me out...” Zebin tried to say. It had an almost pleading tone to its voice. And a tinge of guilt. Perhaps it didn’t believe in its actions as much as it was trying to let on. Then why was it...? “I’m just...trying to keep everyone safe here, you know...? Please, try to understand, Biclops. We’ve made the tough decision before. We can do it again...”
“This is different!” Biclops took a heavy step towards the other one. “This was not like last time! There’s no army of selfish, destructive little brats running around! These two are our protectors! There’s no reason to subject to them the same fate!”
Reggie couldn’t help but blink a few times. He could see similar looks of confusion in the adults. Some were looking even more apprehensive than before. The parents moved their children deeper into their arms, as if they feared the giant was going to come after them, too.
“How is it any different? Biclops...they’re still human! They can use the magic chalk! Look, I do not like this anymore than you do... But if we let them roam around, what’s to stop them from wreaking havoc?” Zebin cowered a little when Biclops growled. Still, it did not back down. “A-At least if we kill them...” It paused and looked over at the group. “...kill all of them...” It looked back at Biclops. “We can ensure this place’s safety!”
“You idiot! Even if we did do something like that, there’s no way to know if it would really improve things or not! We might end up leaving ourselves vulnerable!” The giant motioned a little, and Reggie realized that he was indicating him. “Like him! What if he told someone else about this place? What if they find a way in? There’s already those two humans in the Real World. You think that killing everyone here is going to stop them from trying to break in?!”
“Well...it’ll reduce the chances of them getting in...” Zebin tried to say. Its voice was stammering a bit more, a clear indication that it was running out of things to say. “I-I still think that if we...”
Biclops wasn’t having any of it. “Oh shut up! I thought I could trust you, Zebin. But you’ve proven yourself to be such..such a...” The giant gripped his head, pressing his fingers against the flesh. “I have no words to describe how I feel right now... You just...” He let out a loud growl. “You have no idea just how big of a mistake you almost made...do you...?”
Zebin glanced again at the adults. It seemed to flinch a little at their glares. It seemed to look a little guilty at the expression that Penny was giving it. But still, it didn’t seem ready to relent just yet. Something that gotten into its head that this is what it should be doing. Reggie wasn’t sure just how it came to this conclusion. If Rudy and Penny were protectors of this world, why does this thing think they should be killed?
It was unlikey that Zebin was going to explain why. It seemed more interested in trying to convince Biclops quickly to allow it to kill. Biclops didn’t seem willing to allow it to happen. He seemed willing to do whatever he could to keep Zebin from taking any kind of action against them. But how long would he be able to do that?
“Oh Biclops..try to be reasonable here! You and I both know that this place would be better off without creators!” Judging from its tone, Zebin was getting a little more desperate now. “Come on...just let me do this... We can talk about it afterwards if you want. It will only take a few seconds and...”
“No!”
Biclops pounded his fist into the ground. The loud sound it produced startled everyone. It sent shockwaves through the ground, stiffening them all up. They glanced at each other nervously and then looked back up at the giant. They moed back a little to give him some room. Biclops’s face was contorted into rage and anger, and with the way it was looking at Zebin, Reggie could imagine him trying to tear it in half quite easily.
“You will do no such thing! You will abandon this crazy scheme of yours! Make one move towards them...just one move...and I will tear you apart! Do you understand me?!”
Reggie flinched at the tone of voice Biclops used here. He couldn’t blame Zebin for cowering at that. He felt a level of sympathy for it, despite the fact that Zebin had wanted to kill all of them. He still couldn’t fully understand why. He understood that it involved protecting this world or something but... He just couldn’t help but feel as though he was missing some kind of information. Something just felt...incomplete.
He wasn’t sure what it was, but all of a sudden, he felt this strong sense of dread and foreboding. He looked around, left and right, as if something was about to attack them at any time. It was a feeling he sometimes got before. His time as bullying taught him to develop this sense.
“Reggie...?” His dad whispered. “What’s wrong...?”
Reggie didn’t answer him. He couldn’t stop looking around, taking a few steps back. This feeling that something big was going to happen... It didn’t have anything to do with Zebin or Biclops, or the other two chalk things that were with them. No, this was something different... He looked back in the direction they were heading towards before. Then a few seconds later, a loud sound ripped through the land, paralyzing everyone.
“Raaaaawwwrrrr!”
So much fury was pushed into that roar. So much anger and hatred... It practically dripped off the edges. The sound of it caused Reggie’s blood to chill. This roar...it did not come from the creature he had drawn. It didn’t even sound like a mere wild animal. This roar had a...a voice to it... Someone was angry. Someone, or something, that was sentient. And something told him that someone here was the target of that rage.
Even Biclops and Zebin didn’t attempt to speak anymore after hearing that roar. They exchanged nervous glances at each other. There was a flash of familiarity in their eyes, as well as Rudy and Penny’s. The fact that they seemed to know this thing and they all looked nervous did not spell much optimism. Reggie wondered just how big of danger they were in now and just who or what this angry thing that roared was.
“We..we need to go...” Rudy whispered. His body shook a little. “L-Let’s just go...find somewhere safe...”
“I have a place nearby that could work.” Offered Lars. “Should be big enough for everyone.” He paused. “Well..almost everyone.”
“It is okay. I will try to slow him down.” Biclops offered. He reached down and grabbed onto Zebin and lifted him up. He glared at the thing with his vertical eyes. “And you’re staying here with me...”
Zebin struggled a little, but eventually it folded its front legs and said, “Okay fine..”
A small puppet zoner moved towards the giant. He looked up at him in worry. “Are you sure, Biclops?”
Biclops nodded his head. “I will be fine. You just go with them. You’ll be safer with them.”
“But...”
“There’s no time! Just go!” Hollered Biclops.
There was no time of negotiation. No time to get their bearings. No time to fully understand what was going on. They couldn’t stand around asking anymore questions. There wasn’t even time to make a plan of some kind. They wouuld have time to speak more later. Right now, all they could do was, at another shout of Biclops’s voice, turn around and get out of there as quickly as they could.
sss
Skrawl was trying his best not to allow another roar from escaping his mouth. He was struggling to keep his mouth shut, to force the anger to subside so he could think more clearly. He knew that he would not be able to make too much rational decisions if he allowed his anger to overtake him like this. He had to try to remain calm. Otherwise he was not going to get very far. He would only end up screwing up his own plans and...
But he just couldn’t help himself. How was he supposed to remain calm in the wake of what happened? How was he supposed to keep his blood from boiling when the two brats that could and would try to put a stop to him and his plans were free? They still had the red chalk with them, didn’t they? He was certain they did. If they got angry and desperate enough, they might try to use it against him before he had a chance to get at them.
And out in the open, they had a lot more time and a lot more space to take action. Skrawl would be lucky to get within ten feet of them before they managed to create something to stop him. And that was being generous.
It hadn’t taken him too long to reach the spot that Alpha claimed the encounter took place in. It was in one of the back corridors. He had almost forgotten about this place. He hardly used it. Perhaps he could have been paying more attention, though. The way the ceiling seemed to have just dropped from the roof like that... He could have easily prevented it with some more maintenance.
But his mind wasn’t on that right now. His mind was burning too much to comprehend that. All he could see was an open pathway where Rudy and Penny had apparently escaped into. The hole was quite large, and the broken piece of pipe and ceiling provided a perfect walkway to get up there. He could see the light of the Day Zone sun shining down inside, and he could see that some dust was still being kicked up into the air. A testament to just how old this area was compared to the rest of his place.
That wasn’t the only thing he spotted. He could see that there was something else here, too. Or rather, someone else. He remembered what Alpha had said about Beta. He knew right away that this was him. Skrawl was a little reluctant to move forward at first. It was one thing if this happened to some random zoner or even a Beanie Boy in training. But to see one of his own regular Beanie Boys in this condition... Something about that made him fume inside. He would see to it that he lost no more Beanie Boys.
He forced himself to go over. He had to see the extent of the damage himself. He needed to see the extent of the damage upclose for himself. Slowly, he approached the fallen Beanie Boy. With each step, he could feel himself grow more and more irritated. Just the thought of someone doing this to his Beanie Boys... The thought of them letting themselves get hurt like this... It was enough to make his blood boil.
Soon he got close enough to see Beta’s body up close and personal. He flinched. It looked worse than he thought it would. Alpha explained a little bit, but to see it like this, so close up and with all that detail, this was worse than he had initially imagined it.
Beta’s body was all broken up. He noticed several broken bones, mostly in the limbs, though he was certain some ribs were broken too. He saw large bruises over his face and arms. He saw some small cuts here and there. His clothes were a bit torn and his body was covered in dirt and dust. His eyes were wide open and his mouth twisted into an immortal, silent scream. With this combined with the pale skin, it was almost like something from a nightmare or a horror game.
Skrawl clenched his teeth tightly as he stared at this, letting all of this slowly sink into his head. How dare that Zebin do this... How dare it...
He knew of Zebin before. He knew just what kind of trouble it might be. But he thought he had more time. He thought that Zebin wouldn’t take action this fast. Well he had been wrong, and his mistake had cost him another of his own men. How many more did he have to lose before this was over? True, he could always get more recruits. It wasn’t that big of a deal. Still, he’d rather not lose anymore. This was just getting....
“S-Sir...” Alpha stammered. Skrawl turned to face the Beanie Boy. “I’m so sorry... I-I didn’t mean to... I should have tried harder... I-I..”
“Oh spare me your sniveling.” Skrawl hissed. “I don’t want to hear any of it.” Skrawl turned away Alpha. He looked up at the opening. He narrowed his eyes into slits. He then turned to stare at the zoner with a sideways glance. “Go assemble the Beanie Boys and await my orders. I will not be gone too long.”
“Wh-What...?” Whispered Alpha.
“You heard me. Go assemble the rest of the Beanie Boys.” Skrawl repeated, a low growl eminating from his voice. “I don’t care if you’re not a general or what. I do not have time to appoint anyone the new general. We need to move. So just go! Now! We don’t have a lot of time to act before those two brats get back into the Real World! Then we’re all screwed! You don’t want that, do you...?”
Alpha shook his head quickly. “N-No, sir...” He whimpered.
“Good... Now get going!”
Alpha didn’t waste any time. Skrawl watched as the Beanie Boy turned away and scrambled out of there. He moved quicker than Skrawl had ever seen him move. He narrowed his eyes and couldn’t help but give a soft smile. It was a little interesting how much can change. Once, Alpha was his employer, and now, it was he who was giving the shots. Who knew something like this was going to happen?
Skrawl shook the memory out of his head and looked down at Beta. It was such a shame to lose another of his men. The Beanie Boys might seem stupid, but they were competent and quite handy at times. They were good at what they did, no doubt about that. To lose any of them was quite a hinderance. But also personal. He considered the Beanie Boys the closest things he could call friends. And now he lost at least two of them, and who knows how many more? He didn’t know the status of Rho. He might be okay, but what of any others?
Normally, Skrawl would have had Beta taken to his personal hospital so he could get treated. But that was not an option at this point. So the only thing he could do was just figure out a place to bury him. That, however, would be for later. Instead, he forced himself to look away from Beta and glared up towards the opening.
Slowly, he made his way there. Step by step, exercising as much caution as he could, preventing himself from falling, the jellybean walked up the tilted platform and pipe. It was a little shaky, likely due to being subjected to more weight stress when the children had escaped. It didn’t help that he wasn’t that light. As he stepped down, he could hear some creaking. A few times, he had to freeze, making sure that his weight wasn’t causing the pipes to break.
Soon he reached the outside. After being in his comparitively dark and dingy hideout for so many hours, he was not prepared to face the bright light of the outside. He had to raise up his hand and shield his eyes from the Day Zone sun that hung overhead, never changing position. Luckily, hit didn’t take too long for his eyes to adjust, and he moved forward slowly.
He narrowed his eyes and growled softly. It seemed that Rudy and Penny had already made a run for it. Clever children... He wouldn’t have expected less from them. But this was going to be a problem. How was he going to be able to bring them back here if he didn’t even know where to start looking for them? He needed to think of something quickly. He couldn’t give them a chance to....
Oh wait..what do we have here...? Skrawl couldn’t help but let out a dark chuckle when he saw that the children hadn’t been as clever as they thought. There was a detail they had forgotten: their own friend, Biclops.
He could see the giant standing not far away. It looked like he was waiting for something. Probably him or his Beanie Boys. No doubt that Rudy and Penny were nearby. Either the giant was protecting them or they were making a getaway and Biclops was merely looking for them. But Skrawl was not going to take any chances and he was going to assume that Biclops was protecting them. He would need to plan his next move carefully.
But once he got a hold of those children...oh boy...was he going to have fun with them. He wondered just how ‘honored’ they were going to feel being the first ones subject to his new, upcoming job as the Grim Reaper...
“You are mine, Master Tabootie and Genius Girl...”
sss
Biclops held up his hand and put it over his eyes, making it a little easier for him to see what was going on in the distance. His other hand still held onto Zebin, the treacherous, disgusting little thing. He tried to shake off his negative feelings towards it, however, and tried to focus on looking out for any sign of trouble.
He then noticed movement and he realized it was Skrawl. He peered a little closer, his eyes narrowing into slits. Yes, that was Skrawl all right. There was no mistaking that shape or color combination. Skrawl appeared to be moving away, but that did little to settle down the giant. Questions quickly rushed through his mind, the strongest being that..what was Skrawl doing? And how long had he been standing there? Did he notice him?
Yes, he had to have noticed him. He was not exactly a small zoner himself. He towered over most. He could see seen even over most forest coverage. He could not hide from anyone except in large caves. Unless Skrawl was an idiot, which he wasn’t, he had to have noticed him at least a few minutes ago. And the fact that he was running away... Well that wasn’t a good sign.
It was clear to the giant that Skrawl was up to...something. Exactly what, he wasn’t sure. Having not heard anything the jellybean might have said, it was difficult to pinpoint just what was on the zoner’s mind. For all he knew, Skrawl might not have noticed him at all, somehow, and was storming back into his place, angry at having lost Rudy and Penny. Or maybe he was just getting something to eat. It was hard to tell.
But the giant zoner was not going to take any chances. Far as he was concerned, Skrawl had noticed him, and he was moving away not to hide or anything. But instead to plan some kind of attack. Maybe not against him, especially if there was a chance that he still thought that he was an ally. But most certainly, he’d go after Rudy and Penny. In their condition, they would be much easier targets. Rudy was blind and both of them had one hand that was useless thanks to the red chalk. And so long as that red cahlk was on them, they posed a danger even to themselves and to their loved ones.
At this thought, his gut immediately twisted in a knot. He couldn’t believe he had forgotten about that. Though so much was going on, that was kind of really important. He would think that he would have remembered to tell the parents about the red chalk that the children still possessed. Then again, even the children seemed to have forgotten that they were still holding onto red chalk, glued to their hands. They were too engrossed in being reunited with their family to notice that they were carrying around a dangerous weapon.
Something was nothing to have to be done soon. Those two couldn’t keep resisting the red chalk forever. It will take control of them again to try to draw whatever it wanted. The souls of those dead children that he helped to trap..they will not rest for long. They will seek control and they will use Rudy and Penny’s bodies as vessels to strike out against the world that robbed them of their freedom.
He should have told them to try to get out of ChalkZone. He should have told them to open up a portal and get out so the red chalk would weaken and drop from their hands. The children’s angry souls do not have any power once they cross in the Real World, far as he knew. Once they are able to get the red chalk into the Real World, they could lock it up and free themselves from its power. And once that happens, they would stand a better chance at helping to stop Skrawl and Thoughtless.
But...it was too late to tell them now. They had already gone with their parents. They were already quite a distance away. He should have said somethin earlier. He..
Wait, he still could. He could easily catch up to them. He could inform them of what is going on, and encourage them to leave ChalkZone. Rudy and Penny might be reluctant, but they had to leave in order to get the red chalk out of their hands. They’d never be able to free themselves any other way. On their own, they were helpless against the red chalk, and who knows how long it was going to be before the red chalk decided to have another go at them?
Still, someone had to try to stop Skrawl, or slow him down. Biclops couldn’t very well leave to talk to the humans and come back. It may take a lot of talking to convince Rudy and Penny to open up a portal to get the red chalk off of them. And in the amount of time it was going to take for that, Skrawl might have made quite the progress, and he might even be, by then, taking action. He would need someone else to go in for him. Someone who could stand up to Skrawl. Someone like...
His eyes narrowed as they settled upon the chinese unicorn that he still held. Zebin had long stopped trying to struggle out of his grasp. Biclops could feel his lips curling back into a snarl, his eyes narrowing dangerously. The very idea of trusting this zoner again made his gut twist, and he had to struggle not to throw up. The very idea disgusted him..and yet... He knew he might not have much of a choice.
Zebin was the only one here right now. It was the only one that he knew would be able to handle the task. It could go up against Skrawl and fight. It could handle the Beanie Boys. And of course, it could handle Thoughtless. No question about that.
But try as he could, he just couldn’t get comfortable with the idea. Before, this wouldn’t have been a problem. He had trusted the chinese unicorn then. But now, in one swift motion, he had lost nearly all trust in Zebin. All he could see in his fingers was not a comrade from the past, but someone who had tried to take a life. A would-be murderer.
While it was true that he hadn’t been the nicest guy years ago, and he had participated in trapping the old creators and dooming them to a fate worse than death, he had been a different zoner back then. He had been angrier and more stubborn and more hostile. Even with that taken into account, the only reason that he had punished the old creators like that was because there was little other choice. They were wreaking havoc in ChalkZone and they had to be stopped. Trapping them like this was the only way he could think of. True the parents in the Real World were most likely worried sick, but at least ChalkZone was safe.
He wanted to avoid that route. He wasn’t sure how he would be able to handle it this time. It wasn’t like before. Rudy and Penny had been his friends, unlike any of those old creators. How could he even begin to feel comfortable and okay with the idea of killing them or trapping them? That would be..no, he could never do that. They were his friends. He would never want that kind off fate wished upon them.
However, he knew that Zebin, Skrawl, and Thoughtless weren’t the only ones who would want to go after them. The red chalk would want them as well. To consume them, make them one of them. Absorb them as one of their own. When he had trapped the children in the red chalk, it was intended as a punishment. But those kids found a way to make it work to their advantage and now they were like a hive mind, all thinking at once and acting act once. The thought was chilling, and increased the urgency of the situation.
As much as he didn’t want to do it, he knew he had no choice. If he was going to be able to help Rudy and Penny at all and still be able to stop Skrawl and Thoughtless, there was really only one option that he had.
And that was to trust Zebin once more.
He lifted the chinese unicorn up higher, placing him so that it was practically between his eyes. He glared at Zebin harshly, pinching the scruff of its neck, causing it to flinch a little. He didn’t like the idea of trusting Zebin again, but what choice did he have? At least this way, Zebin would be away from the children and there would be little that it could do to get to them without him noticing. And with this method, Zebin would at least be useful for something. Any amount of delaying with Skrawl would be good.
“What..what do you want from me?” Zebin asked, clenching its teeth nervously. “I know you want to do something with me. Why don’t you just spit it out?”
Biclops narrowed his eyes. “I want you to go after Skrawl and do what you can to stop him, or at least slow him down. The same thing goes for Thoughtless.” He tightened his grip slightly. “It’s the least that you can do after what you had attempted earlier...”
Zebin narrowed its eyes back at him. “I see you still won’t listen to reason...” Biclops hissed at Zebin and shook the zoner a bit. Zebin’s eyes moved around a bit from the dizziness before shaking its head and regaining its senses. “Well okay, if that’s what you want me to do...” It lowered its head slightly. Though it still glared, it made no more move to try to defend itself. “So...how should I go about this...?”
“I don’t care.” Biclops stated. “Just...whatever it is you’re capable of doing to slow them down. Buy us some time.” He looked over his shoulder. “I need to warn Rudy and Penny about the red chalk. I think they might have forgotten that they have it. If they don’t get into the Real World in time....” He paused and clenched his teeth. He hated to think of what disaster might come about if Rudy and Penny aren’t warned in time.
A scoff came from Zebin. “If you just kill them, you wouldn’t have to...” Biclops shot him a death glare. The chinese unicorn immediately tensed up, its eyes bulging. It gulped and immediately retracted its statement. “...nevermind...” It cleared its throat nervously. “S-So...when can I get started...?”
Biclops glared at the zoner for several moments. There was so much he wanted to say to it. So much he wanted to express to it. Angry and hurt words buzzed around his head, and he couldn’t help but form a fist tightly. It took all his strength not to strike at the zoner. He knew that this would only make things a lot worse. He had to keep himself calm and relaxed. He had to do what he could to keep himself from attacking this zoner. After all, what would that make him?
Still, he could not completely control his anger. Before he knew it, he pulled the zoner back and began to throw him. He did manage to stop himself in time before he used too much force. But his actions still resulted in the chinese unicorn rolling painfully across the ground. Zebin shook its head and stared up at him, its eyes wide with raw terror.
It was only when Biclops saw this that he snapped out of his anger. He felt a sense of shock at what he had done. He looked down at his hand, his mind swirling. He had never wanted to be like how he used to in the past. Was he really turning back progress on himself? He looked down at Zebin, and though he felt some relief that it wasn’t that badly hurt, he still felt some guilt.
But he didn’t dwell on it for long. He narrowed his eyes again and cleared his throat. Right now, taking action against the enemy was more important than their own emotions towards each other. They could always talk later. “You can start now. Go in there, find Skrawl and Thoughtless, and do what you can to slow them down. Try to hold on for as long as you can.”
Zebin climbed up to its feet. It stared up at Biclops for a few seconds before it nodded its head shakingly. “Yes...I’ll do what I can...” And with that, the zoner turned and fled into the opening.
Biclops stared at this, his eyes still narrowed. Slowly they softened up, and he felt a level of concern for the zoner, despite what it tried to do. He looked over his shoulder and back where the humans were fleeing. He would need to leave now if he wanted to catch up to them.
But he still gave pause, looking down at where Zebin disappeared into. He still felt some kind of connection with it. On some level, he still viewed the chinese unicorn as a comrade. It seemed that spending so much time with someone at any given point had an affect on you, and that was certainly the case with Zebin. He clenched his teeth tightly, and as he stared at the opening, he whispered a single phrase.
“I wish you the best of luck, Zebin...”
After he said that, the giant reluctantly and urgently turned around and headed to where the humans were going. He didn’t know how much time he had. He would have to hurry if he wanted to get to them before the red chalk made its move.
sss
“Do you two have any idea how much we worried about you?!”
“Just what were you thinking?!”
“Coming into this dangerous world without telling us... for shame!”
“You should have known better!”
It was difficult for Penny to concentrate with all the adults trying to speak at once. Her head was bombarded with all the kinds of stuff that they were saying. She wanted to cover her ears and try to concentrate, but she feared that if she did that, she might end up offending them, and that was something she could not afford to do. She did not want to anger them anymore than they already were.
She wished they would quiet down, though. How was she and Rudy to explain more of what was happening? How were they going to inform them of what is going on if they don’t give them the chance to talk some more? If their folks wanted more answers, they needed to be quiet.
Then again, it wasn’t like she could blame them for being this upset. She couldn’t blame them for all the questiosn, even the repetitive ones already asked. It wasn’t that it was unjustified; they had every reason to be upset. After all, with what she and Rudy and told them so far, it was quite frightening indeed.
She and Rudy had to tell them everything about ChalkZone. There was no ifs ands or buts about it. It was the only way to help them truly understand this place and why it needs to be protected. This also meant that they had to tell them all the negative stuff as well. They couldn’t sugarcoat anything about ChalkZone. They had to confess some of the more dangerous areas, and tell them about all the trouble they had been to in this world. This had been quite difficult, especially for certain, uncomfortable events. Such as the balloonemia incident...
Penny winced as she remembered that. She recalled the look on her mother’s face when she told her about that, how she was assaulted by all those tiny red bats, and Rudy’s parents were aghast when they learned about how Rudy nearly sacrificed himself to stop the disease from spreading. Despite the fact that they assured them that it all worked out in the end, it didn’t seem to calm their parents down all that much.
And of course, many of the other events didn’t help either. She clenched her teeth as she thought about the other things that they had to tell their folks about. Like the time that they nearly drowned in taffy, or the time when they were kidnapped by a crazy machine zoner, or the time about how they were targeted by a jellybean-like zoner and how he hated Rudy. And how could forget the time when Skrawl and Craniac 4 sent out a clone of Rudy and had injured her and nearly killed Rudy?
None of those did anything to help settle down the parents. All it did was further cement how dangerous the world was. It also didn’t help that Sophie had gotten into this world and nearly become food to a staplegator. This really roused the adults up, especially Tilly, considering she was Sophie’s mother.
She recalled how she had shouted at Rudy and her for ‘letting’ Sophie into this world. Despite the fact that they made it clear they never let her in here; she had gotten in on her own, Tilly still accused them of being responsible. She had told them that they should have kept the magic chalk locked away. While she couldn’t exactly argue with that, Penny wished that Tilly was more understanding of the situation.
When she had first arrived in here with the others, she had some hope of convincing their parents to let them keep coming. She had hoped that, through explanation, they could inform their parents of how much this world meant to them, and assure them that it was perfectly safe. She and Rudy would not have kept coming here otherwise.
Instead, all she and him succeeded in doing was further encouraging their parents to make them leave this place. She could see it in their eyes. There was little hope left now that they could be understanding and allow them to stay. As soon as they were to exti this world, they would be permanently locked out. Their folks would never let them come back in here again and they would do what they could to keep them out. The thought twisted their guts in fear. They wished they could say something that would help convince them but...what could they say at this point?
She and Rudy had stopped trying to say anything a while ago. Their folks were just...bombarding them with too many questions. No matter what they tried, they just could get a word in edgewise now. Their folks were in full rant mode. All they could do was stand here and take it.
“Of all the irresponsible things you two have ever done...” Mrs. Sanchez gritted her teeth tightly. “I just...” She pressed her fingers against her scalp. “I have no words to describe how I feel right now. You are are just...”
Mrs. Tabootie spoke up. “I know I said this already, but...we were so worried about you. And to find out you’ve been frolicking in this gawd forsaken place...”
“Is this where you go when you disappear for hours, Rudy?” Mr. Tabootie hissed through clenched teeth. Rudy lowered his head at this. “I’ve always thought that you had some secret hideout and I never said anything because I wanted to respect your privacy. But this..” He raised his hand up, indicating everything around them, the fact that they were in a chalky world now. “...this is not what I was expecting. Do...do you have any idea how stupid this was?!”
“What if you were to have gotten badly hurt here? What if something really bad happened?” Tilly folded her arms against her chest. “We would probably never find out... We would be looking for you and looking for you, but you would just...” Tilly let out an exasperated sigh. “Just...how could you...?”
“How could you do this to us?” Mr. Tabootie said, his voice a little calmer than before, but it seemed so...forced. “Don’t you trust us...?”
“Y-Yes...of course we do...” Rudy whispered softly.
“Then why didn’t you trust us enough to tell us about this place before?” Mrs. Tabootie asked, glaring softly down at Rudy. “If you trusted us, you would have told us about this place before. You wouldn’t have hidden it from us.”
Mrs. Sanchez nodded her head in agreement. “And based on what you told us, you’ve given us more than enough reason to kick you two out of here.” She ignored the gasps from the children as she took a step forward. “Don’t get angry with us. You two brought this on yourselves. You lied to us every day. You come here, nearly get hurt so many times...” She shook her head slowly. “Give us one good reason why we should let you stay.”
Penny opened her mouth tos peak. She let out a few shaky breaths before she managed to say, “B-But... mama...”
“No buts, Penita!” Barked Mrs. Sanchez. “You and Rudy have done nothing to show us why we should let you keep coming back here!”
“But...the zoners...” Penny tried to say.
“How fucking cares about the zoners?!” Snapped Tilly, her voice tinged with rage. “They don’t matter!”
“They’re not even real! They’re just convincing drawings! They are not worth anything!” Mr. Tabootie chimed in.
Mrs. Tabootie nodded her head in agreement. “You two are more important than any of them here. You should have considered your own safety first instead of risking your lives for a bunch of...of...chalk dust!”
Penny and Rudy gasped in shock at this. Though they could understand the emotional anger behind their outbursts, it still didn’t do much to settle themselves down upon hearing it. Those harsh words stung them horribly, and they couldn’t help but look around to see if Lars and Howdy had heard what she said. They were glad that they weren’t here in the room to hear this. Neither of them could imagine just how they fould feel to listen to someone dismiss them so coldly like that.
It didn’t matter to them if it was a family member or not saying this. If anything, the fact that it was a family member dismissing the zoners made them even more upset. They could feel their guts burning deep inside as their hope for a peaceful coexistance began to shatter right before their eyes. They had hoped that they would be more understanding than this, but it would seem that they were asking for too much. They had never been so hurt by their parents before.
And with that hurt came the boiling anger. The two children narrowed their eyes and clenched their teeth. They could feel their bodies shaking as emotion raged through. They gripped the seat tightly, threatening to crack it under the pressure of their grip. They ground their teeth in an almost threatening manner. Though their parents now looked a little worried, they still glared back, showing no indication of backing down from their statements.
How dare they say such things... How dare they judge this place... Penny could feel the thoughts burning in the back of her mind. She and Rudy had been in this world longer than they have. They were the ones who came in here and hung out with the zoners. They know them better than their parents. How dare they try to say otherwise...
They did manage to regain control of themselves before they said anything stupid. They both realized that if they said anything angry to their parents, they would only make the situation much worse than it already was. They struggled to keep their emotions in check and try to remain as rational as possible. They did their best to try to see things from their parents’ perspective.
And in doing so, they were able to gain new insight. Looking at things from their parents’ view, they could see why they had gotten so angry. They could see why they would get upset at the idea of them risking their lives for what seemed like just a bunch of drawings. The zoners were so much more than that, but how were their parents to know? They didn’t spend hours in this world, getting to know all the zoners. They didn’t spend time sitting around, talking with them, helping them, learning all about them. They simply had nothing to go off of. They were certain that if they got to spend some time in ChalkZone, they would come to learn that it’s not all that bad, that violence in this area was rare, that most of the zoners from here are docile.
But judging from their facial expressions, this didn’t seem like a possibility. Their parents looked more determined than ever to just shut them out of this world. After all she and Rudy had told them...would they even give them the chance?
“Well...I’d hate to leave so quickly...” Mr. Bullnerd spoke up.
The others looked at him, surprised expressions on their faces. None of them had expected him to say something after he and Reggie were being quiet this whole time. They had almost forgotten that they were there at all.
“But I think it’s time that my son and I tried to head back.” Mr. Bullnerd smiled a little, grinning nervously. “We know you all have much to discuss and, well, I think this is best resolved between parent and child.” He looked down at Reggie and patted him on the shoulder. “Come along, Reginald. We need to get going.”
Reggie hesitated for a moment. He stared over at Rudy and Penny. His expression was pretty unreadable for a while. It was hard to tell just what he was thinking. Soon, though, he did give a little smile. Not much, it seemed to give the strong message of ‘my work here is done’.
And that would be true; he had only come in here to try to help their parents reunite with them. Since he did, the boy must feel like there was no further reason for him to stay. It was probably for the best as well. The zoners would not be happy to see him again. Not after all the trouble he has caused them in the past. Reggie himself seemed a bit nervous about being here, and he did keep looking at Lars quite strangely.
“Coming dead!” Reggie called out.
“Wait!” Rudy said as he listened to their retreating footsteps. “You need magic chalk to get out and you don’t know where you can...”
Mr. Bullnerd cut him off. “Then we will wait outside for you. We won’t travel far.”
“Yeah, Rudy. Nothing to get upset over.” Reggie said, his tone slightly sneering, sounding more like the Reggie that they knew. Despite the tone, it was pretty easy to tell that Reggie was overall uncertain about being here. The fact that he quickly rushed over to join his dad at his side was enough to cement this idea. “So long!”
Soon, the two children were left alone with their family members. They could still feel the glares from them pouring on top of them. They lowered their heads a little, clenching their teeth tightly. They had a feeling that this discussion was not going to be over for a long time. If anything, this seemed to be only just the beginning. The thought caused them to fill with dread. Just how much worse could this conversation get? What else did their folks have to say?
But to their surprise, their folks seemed calmer now. They still had stern looks in their eyes. But the previous rage was gone, replaced by a quieter outlook. Penny watched them carefully, wondering what they were going to say now. Then their folks began to approach them. She forced herself to stand still while Rudy ended up taking a step back, obviously hearing the steps of his parents getting closer. Tilly hung back, watching the scene play out with a softer, more sympathetic expression.
Penny felt her mother’s hands on her shoulders. She stared into her mother’s eyes. She winced as she saw the inner turmoil of emotions rushing through those eyes. She couldn’t help but feel guilty, knowing that she and her actions had helped cause this to happen, that she brought out this look in her mother’s eyes. She wanted to speak, but she couldn’t bring the words out. She could feel her mother’s hands gently squeeze her shoulders. Her mother licked her lips nervously and then she started to speak.
“Penny...we’re...” The woman paused for a moment. She clenched her teeth. “We’re sorry. We didn’t mean to yell like that. It’s just that....” She sighed softly. “You know how much you two mean to us and...”
Penny tried her best to smile at her mother. “I know, mom. You...mean a lot to us, too.”
“We just don’t understand why you two would..do something like this...” Mr. Tabootie said. He looked down at Rudy, his expression softening in concern as he seemed reminded that his son could not see him. He turned his head and stared over at Penny. “This place is so dangerous..and you two had been running around here this whole time... Just.. how are we supposed to take this?”
Mrs. Tabootie put her arms around Rudy gently, not applying too much pressure. She looked at him in the eyes, desperately trying to see if her son could see her or not. After a few seconds, she seemed to accept that he could not. She reached up and gently touched her son on his cheek, moving her thumb along the skin underneath his eye a little. “My poor baby...” She whispered softly. “This..this wouldn’t have happened if you two had just stayed out of this world... Why would you...?” Her voice trailed off into a soft whisper and she held her son closer to her. “Oh Rudy...”
Penny watched this scene play out sadly, biting her lip. She could feel her stomach sting as she watched the saddened mother hold onto her son like that. It was easy to understand why she would be so depressed. Her only son was presently blind, and he could remain like that permanently. There was really no telling. And given that Rudy was so artistic, it would be a devastating blow to all of them, especially Rudy.
“Come on...” Mr. Tabootie said. His voice shook a little, as if he were struggling to keep his emotions under control. “We should...get going now.”
“What..?” Rudy shifted his head to where he heard his father’s voice. “Now...? But...but what about..?”
“No arguing.” Mr. Tabootie cut him off. He stared down at Rudy for a few moments, and he sighed. “Please...son... Don’t make this any harder than it has to be. We need to take this chance to get out of here and get you two to safety.”
“But...the zoners...” Rudy started to say.
Mrs. Tabootie placed her hands on her son’s face. “Honey, the zoners can take care of themselves.” She tried to sound gentler than she did earlier when she snapped. She moved her fingers through his hair. “Please, Rudy... We just want what’s best for you...”
Rudy shook his head and pulled away from his mother. “No you don’t! I-If you wanted what was best for us, you would let us stay here and help out these zoners!”
“Rudy, please...” His mother begged.
“Don’t you get it?! Do you know what kind of damage will be done if we just abandon this place?! There are two dangerous zoners out there that need to be stopped! Penny and I aren’t leaving until we stop them!” Rudy shouted, forming fists with his hands. His two parents stared at him in shock. He panted heavily, “S-So if you want to leave..fine! But I am not going anywhere until Skrawl and Thoughtless are locked away!”
“Rudy!” Mr. Tabootie snapped, his glare returning. “Enough of this nonsense!”
Penny could feel her heart start to race a little as she watched the situation start to get worse all over again. She couldn’t think of anything to say. She forced herself to turn away from the scene and then she looked up at her mother. She could see her mom wearing a similar frown as Mr. Tabootie, and she knew taht her mother supported the man’s idea of leaving. Penny didn’t bother to say anything against it. There was really nothing she could say to convince her otherwise.
Well, there was one good thing about heading back to the Real World. She looked down at her encased hand. She had almost forgotten about it, and she imagined Rudy did, too. They had told their parents about the dangerous red chalk after they questioned why one of their hands were locked inside boxes. They told them about how the red chalk took control of their bodies and made them do things they didn’t want to. This horrified them.
However, the fact that going into the Real World would disable the red chalk was enough to settle down the parents. Even though it was up in the air whether or not they could come back, at least they would not be slaves to the red chalk anymore. They...
“Ow!”
Penny and her mom looked over and saw that Mrs. Tabootie had backed away from Rudy, holding her head. Mr. Tabootie was helping her up. The source of the distress was plain to see. Rudy’s arm was raised up, and it was pulling back, as if to strike.
But the look in his eyes told more of the story. This had not been a deliberate act. The horror was clearly etched on the boy’s face as he stared down at his fallen mother. He was struggling to pull himself back. He gripped his arm tightly, pulling back as hard as he could. But his possessed arm was yanking him closer, trying to strike at his mother again. Although Rudy could not see his mother or father, he was still trying his best to get away from them.
“Rudy...?” Mr. Tabootie whispered in horror. “What is going on...?”
Mrs. Sanchez looked down at her daughter. “Penny... I-Is this..?”
Penny didn’t get a chance to answer verbally. Instead, her mother got a non-verbal answer. Before she could stop herself, her arm, the one that had the red chalk, struck out towards her. She could feel it impact her mom in her jaw. She gasped in horror as she watched her mother stumble backwards, holding her mouth gingerly. She then looked at her, her eyes wide with many questions. Penny tried to speak, but she could only stand there, staring at her mother in terrified silence. It was quite clear to her what was going on.
The red chalk was taking them over again.
Penny could feel her arm’s muscles flexing against their will. She could feel her arm jerking around, the red chalk trying desperately to draw something, anything. But nothing showed up. And as the red chalk began to realize this, the more frantic it tried to draw, as if it felt that if it tried hard enough, it would be able to come up with something.
Eventually, her arm stopped moving and so did Rudy’s. At first, it seemed as if the red chalk had finally given up. Perhaps it realized that it couldn’t draw anything and that it was a waste of time to even try. But of course, she and Rudy both knew the red chalk too well, and it was not the type to just give up so easily. It simply resorted to another tactic.
Penny’s heart nearly froze when she realized what the next attempt was going to be. She looked over at her mother and glanced at the Tabooties. Her breaths came in quick and short. “G-Get out of here! Run!”
“What do you mean...?” Whispered her mother. “What’s going on...?”
“J-Just get out of here! Before....”
Penny suddenly went silent. Such a chance was sudden, eerie. She remained still for several moments, her breathing suddenly taking on a calmer tone. She could feel her eyes warm up and she realized quickly at they were starting to regain that reddish tinge glow from before. Slowly she turned her head to her mother, and she couldn’t help but smile.
sss
Skrawl stood behind the control panel, his feet firmly planted on the ground. His expression was hardened as he stared down at the Beanie Boys below him. They were situated in the training area, the same one where Snap had proven himself worthy at the time to be called a general.
Now instead of training, the Beanie Boys were staring up at their boss, awaiting orders. Most of them appeared to be okay. Not a scratch on them. But a few seemed to have had bad encounters. The worst one, still alive anyway, was Rho. He had found him on his way back in. The zoner had been knocked out and almost looked dead. But when he managed to rouse him up, he was relieved to see that it wasn’t nearly as bad as it looked. Now Rho stood in front of the other Beanie Boys, appointed the new general, the new second in command, and he was ready to lead.
But not yet. Skrawl wanted to first to address the Beanie Boys and help them understand their situation. He needed to make sure they were roused enough to do what he wanted of them to ensure his victory. He could not afford any cowardice, any resistance. He did not want a single one of them questioning his actions. He wanted them focused only on the task at hand. And he believe he knew how to do that.
“I am sure you are all wondering what is going on. I’m sure you are all frightened by this turn of events and you want to know what I plan on doing about it.” Skrawl paused for a moment, looking at the Beanie Boys below him. A few of them nodded while most seemed nervous to answer. He slammed a fist against the control panel, startling them. “Well don’t be afraid! Fear is for cowards! And you are Beanie Boys! You do not feel fear!”
The Beanie Boys murmured softly at this. Though some were reluctant, they did nod their heads a little in agreement. Any Beanie Boy that did not got struck by one of his comrades until he gave in and nodded as well. Skrawl smiled at this.
Yes, this is what he liked to see. The Beanie Boys trying to push away fear, willing to follow his orders. It was only after they cast away their fear that they were able to accomplish so many things. This was something he discovered when he spent some time working with them. Fear made them cowardly and caused them to fly off. But when roused enough, they cast aside their fear and allowed logic to take over. Granted that could come with its own risks, but Skrawl saw more benefit from them not being afraid than allowing them to feel fear.
He continued, “You all remembered what it was like when you didn’t have me, don’t you? How you used to float around the city, trying to fit in? Remember how all those cruddy zoners pushed you back? Treated you like you were trash?” He raised his hand up, arching his claws inward. “Remember the names they called you? How you are all starving much of the time? Remember the looks they gave you? Remember all the crap they put you through?”
At this, the Beanie Boys nodded their heads once more. This time, they were more eager, more energized. He could hear them speaking a little. He couldn’t make out too much of what they said, but he knew they were agreeing with what they said. Being reminded of their past was enough to get them all worked up. He grinned maliciously. He had them right where he wanted them.
“Don’t you want a chance to get back at them? Don’t you want a chance to take back what was rightfully yours? Don’t you want a shot at showing those zoners just what you’re made of?” Skrawl’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “Those zoners still think you’re a joke! It’s only with me that they fear you! But that’s not enough! Why don’t we give them something about you to fear? Why don’t we show them that you all aren’t pushovers? After all, do you not deserve justice?!”
The Beanie Boys immediately roared in approvement. The cheers filled the air, ringing in Skrawl’s ears. He scratched at them as he tried to cope with the high pitched sound. Despite it irritating him, his expression did not change. He stared down at them as the Beanie Boys started to go a little nuts over what he was saying.
“Justice!”
“Payback!”
“Give them what they deserve!”
“We will rise!”
And all this because he had reminded them of their past. The Beanie Boys were usually surprisingly cheerful in almost everything, and almost always smiled. There were only a few things, such as their past, that could make them act like this. Such a thing was quite handy at getting them to do certain things, though he was wise to only use it when necessary, otherwise the Beanie Boys might grow...resistant if that’s the right term.
Amidst their shouts of approval, Skrawl’s mind was working on how to continue on with this. He glanced down at the red shard that he still held in his hand. He clutched it tightly. He hadn’t yet told them what his plans were. Maybe he told one or two Beanie Boys, but that was it. Most of the others had no idea what he had planned, and he could tell they were eager to find out.
Well, now was the time for them to learn.
The jellybean raised up his crimson shard up for all of them to see. He watched their expressions as he allowed them look at it. Eyes widened in awe and surprise and confusion. Some even showed very fleeting expressions of fear in spite of trying not to be afraid. He moved his hand slowly, allowing the red glow to wafer off a little, trailing along with his movements. The Beanie Boys continued to watch, as though hypnotised.
“Well today is your lucky day! Today is the day we reverse our luck! Today is the day we all get back what we deserve! Today is the day that the world order is going to shift! And after that, no one will dare cross us again! No one will ever speak out against us! Everyone will be afraid of us, and we will be their lords and masters! And it will be all thanks to this!”
He allowed them to look at the red shard again. He could see their eyes widen more as realization struck them. They let out soft sounds of interest and awe. He could see some of them smiling a little, the prospect of a better life practically shining in their eyes. He could see their bodies shaking a little in excitement. They were eager to get started. And now for the finishing touch.
Staring down at the red shard, tracing a claw over it lightly, he shouted, “With this, I will become the Grim Reaper!” The Beanie Boys became hushed at this point, staring at him in shock. He continued, “And with this newfound power, I will control the lives of each and every zoner in ChalkZone! They will bow down before us, lest they wish for an early grave! I will become the master of the very concept of life and death! And you all, you will have the same power too! We will no longer be just ‘Skrawl and his Beanie Boys’. We will be the Grim Reaper, the bringers of death! Everyone will respect us and no one will ever try to hurt us again!”
With that, he raised up the red shard into the air. At this, the Beanie Boys suddenly erupted in cheers and howls of approval. Skrawl smirked at this. He hoped that Rudy and Penny would prepare themselves. Things were about to get more interesting.
|
|
|
|
Post by Bluedramon on Aug 25, 2015 15:54:16 GMT -5
Chapter 45: “Rudy?!” Mrs. Tabootie cried. “Wh-What are you...?” Rudy only gave a snarl in response. His blank left eye stared in the direction of her voice. His teeth were clenched tightly and he looked as if he was going to bite her at any moment. Mrs. Tabootie wasn’t the only mother having trouble. Over a few feet away, Mrs. Sanchez was backing away from her daughter. Penny was giving her the most menacing look she ever mustered. It was chilling, more so than what should be possible for a little child. Mrs. Sanchez held her hands in front of herself, moving them back and forth slightly as if she though that this was going to snap her daughter out of it. “Penita...please...” She whispered softly. “This isn’t like you... Don’t you recognize me? It’s me...your mother. Penny...” But Penny wasn’t listening to her. Her eyes blazing red at this point, she just continued to advance on her, looking at her like she was some kind of prey. The twisted smile that adorned her face did little to comfort her. Penny hadn’t raised the magic chalk yet, but she was still advancing towards her mother, her eyes hiding so many twisted promises. All the while, Reggie stood afar, next to his father. The two zoners had already fled the building. He didn’t know if they were getting help or if they were just terrified of the red chalk. Either one would make sense and either way, they still left them here in this building with two crazed children. He wasn’t really sure how he should feel about this. Seeing Rudy and Penny was like this was absolutely chilling. He had never thought he’d be so scared of them before. They had never given such hostile looks before. Both of them looked as if they were ready to tear into everyone in the room. He was honestly surprised when they did not. He kept his distance from them, moving towards his father for support. But what could his dad do against them? There wasn’t really a whole lot, honestly. From what he learned of the red chalk, it was far stronger than even any adult he knew. If his dad tried to do something, the red chalk might hurt him. He couldn’t believe this was happening. He hadn’t even been aware they had red chalk at all. Maybe he should have realized this sooner, given the fact that their hands were covered up. That should have been a clue. He couldn’t believe that he had overlooked that detail. Seeing this reminded him of what happened to himself. He had been under the influence of the red chalk before. But this...this was worse... Far more extreme than what happened to him. He recalled Rudy and Penny mentioned something about red chalk, but he can’t recall the details, especially not in this situation. He had to keep his eyes open, peeled just in case they tried a move against him. But the fact that they were acting like this now, when there hadn’t been a hint before... This was not what had happened to him. The red chalk never controlled him to this degree. It had never made him go crazy. At least, not like this. He couldn’t even reconize Rudy or Penny at this point. It was as if they had been replaced by doppelgangers that happened to look like them. And it all happened because of the threat of going into the Real World. He paused at this thought. That had to be it. That had to have been the trigger. The red chalk must have been dormant, but as soon as it heard Real World, it knew what that meant for it. It was powerless in the Real World, unable to do much of anything. It would do anything to keep itself from going into the Real World so it could keep its powers and influence over whatever human child held onto it. And since their parents wanted to leave this world, the red chalk was controlling Rudy and Penny so this wouldn’t happen. Of course, knowing this wasn’t the same as figuring out a solution to their little problem. It was one thing to learn about what was going on. It was another to think of a probable solution. In order to fix whatever was happening, he needed a plan. But what was he going to do? It was too risky to make a move against them. He doubted their parents would be happy, even if it ended up being necessary. And it’s not like he would be able to land a blow against them anyway. All he could do right now was stand there and watch the scene play out before him. By this point, the parents had no choice but to start fighting back. Mr. and Mrs. Tabootie were doing what they could with Rudy. At least he was blind and chalkless, so he was pretty easy to apprehend. ....well, mostly. He was still reacting quite violently. He was attempting to bite his mother, his teeth open and gnashing. His dad looped his arm around his neck and applied pressure, hoping ot keep him still. Rudy merely turned his head and bit down, causing his father to let out a cry of pain, jerking himself back. With him loose, Rudy turned to where his mother shouted and launched himself at her, colliding his body with hers and knocking her into the ground. Mrs. Tabootie grunted as she hit the ground. Rudy immediately jumped on top of her, down on all fours like some kind of wild animal. He opened his mouth and bared his teeth at her, his lips curling back. He raised his free hand, arching his fingers as if they were claws. He then prepared to strike down when his dad grabbed onto him from behind and started to drag him back. Rudy immediately thrashed about, letting out animalistic snarls and snaps. Mrs. Tabootie managed to climb up to her feet. She turned to face her son. Her expression softened into sadness, intermixed with horror. Reggie could not blame her for having that look. This was not the Rudy that she knew and loved. This was some kind of...beast imposter. And to make matters worse, there was no telling how they would get the real Rudy back. “Rudy! Stop! Please!” She hollered at him. Rudy glared at her with his unseeing eye. “Please...I know you’re in there somewhere. Just please...” Rudy never let her finish. Freeing his arm from his father, Rudy managed to strike at her. The woman yelped as she felt the nails cut across her face. She placed her hands against her face and staggered back a couple steps. The marks didn’t really cause all that much bleeding, but the fact that Rudy drew blood from her at all was terrifying. She looked down at him in horror, the look in her eyes saying it all. Mr. Tabootie looked at his wife in shock before he glared down at Rudy. For a moment, it seemed as though he forget who this person was and he shoved him against the wall. His hands gripped his arms tightly as he pressed him against the hard surface firmly, baring his teeth. “Why you....” “Joe! Wait! That’s our son! Remember?!” Mr. Tabootie paused at this for a moment. This gave Rudy enough time to kick his dad between his legs. Mr. Tabootie hissed and grunted, covering that area with his hands as he dropped down onto his knee. Rudy, released, moved away from his parents before turning back and baring his teeth. If he had fur, he would be bristling it right now, and if he had fangs, they would be fully exposed, ready to sink into their flesh. While they were having trouble with Rudy, Mrs. Sanchez was not having much of a greater time either. Reggie watched as she moved in circles around her daughter, trying to keep Penny from getting too close to her. Unlike with Rudy, Penny not only could see, but she had magic chalk. Reggie might not know as much about this world as they did, but he knew full well that her simply having it gave her an unfair advantage against her mother. So far, Penny hadn’t attempted to draw anything. She just glared up at her mother, her teeth flashing in a dangerous grin. She did not seem intimidated at all by her mother. Even when Tilly joined in to try to help out, still Penny gave no indication that she thought she was in trouble. If anything, it seemed that she, or rather the red chalk, took this as a mere challenge. Nonetheless, Mrs. Sanchez continued to try reasoning with her daughter. Reggie thought this was a waste of time, but he could understand why she felt that trying to do this was a good idea. She wanted to see if she could avoid fighting Penny by trying to snap her out of this current state. Such a stunt was not going to be easy, but Reggie knew that it was still very possible. “Penita...it’s me... Please stop this...” Mrs. Sanchez pleaded with her daughter. She kept her hands raised up, showing her daughter that she didn’t want to try hurting her. “Don’t do this. Just...settle down, and I’ll...” Penny gritted her teeth, giving off a snort. There appeared to be a look of almost disgust on her face, though it happened so quickly it was difficult to tell just what it was. Penny watched her mother as she approached her slowly. Penny arched herself as if preparing for some kind of fight. Mrs. Sanchez stopped at this, confused by Penny’s posture. However, this didn’t last long. Mrs. Sanchez licked her lips slowly, a look of realization in her eyes. Reggie wondered what the woman was going to try now. She looked like she was going to prepare to tackle her, but she was holding back. This was a relief to him; he was worried that she would try something too soon, and Penny was going to attack her. It was then that he noticed that Tilly was walking around behind Penny. He widened his eyes as he realized that Tilly was going to try to tackle her when she wasn’t looking. Was this what Mrs. Sanchez was going for? It certainly seemed that way. Mrs. Sanchez was quite good at it, too. He didn’t notice her moving her eyes to signal to Tilly or anything. Her eyes just remained focused on her daughter, which was a good thing. If she had done anything to make it seem like she was leading her into a trap, it would have been disastrous. “Do you think I’m stupid? I have no reason to listen to you anymore...” Reggie shuddered at this voice. He was glad that Rudy hadn’t attempted to talk. He wondered why he wasn’t, to be honest. It was strange. His confusion regarding that was rather short-lived, however, as he stared at Mrs. Sanchez and waited for her response.” “Please Penny...it doesn’t need to be this way.. Just...” She raised her hands up a little further, moving them a little more vigorously. “Sit down...let’s talk..” Penny curled her lip back into a snarl. “Like hell I’ll listen to you.. So long as I have this...” She raise up the piece of magic chalk. Her eyes twinkled as she stared at it. She then stared back at her mother. “I have no reason to do anything you say. Perhaps you should listen to me..?” She pointed her magic chalk at the woman. Mrs. Sanchez took a small step back, her eyes widening. “What do you say, dear mother...?” Thankfully, there was no chance for Penny to draw anything. Tilly, who had waited for a few moments behind her, had decided to make her move now. The medium-sized woman lurched forward and wrapped her arms around the girl. She managed to pin Penny’s arms at her side, yanking the girl back and holding her. Penny let out a surprised grunt at this before that dissipated into a low, animalistic hiss. She began to twist herself in the woman’s arms, trying to get herself free. She opened her mouth and tried to snap at her. Mrs. Sanchez took this opportunity to move forward. Her eyes were glued on the magic chalk that she still held in her hand. She reached over and she grabbed onto her wrist. She pulled her arm out and attempted to pry her fingers open. Penny’s response to this was a series of hisses and growls as she tried to yank her arm back. Mrs. Sanchez did not relent. Eventually, the vet was ablet to wrench the chalk out of the girl’s hand. She took a few steps back as Penny tried to lunge towards her, trying to snatch back the chalk. Such a scene was pretty scary for Reggie to witness. He found himself biting his lip and cringing back away, unable to tear his eyes away from what was going on. He wanted to speak, say something, do anything, but he just couldn’t. He was just frozen there. Feeling his dad’s hands on his shoulders reminded him that he probably couldn’t do anything even if he tried. His dad would hold him back. Still, Reggie didn’t just want to stand around doing nothing. He...he had to take action. There had to be something he could do, right? There had to be a way that he could be helpful. Despite wanting to leave earlier, a part of him still felt as though he owed something to Rudy and Penny. Especially Rudy. If it wasn’t for him, he’d still be a slave to the red chalk. But how could he...? Wait... Maybe he could... Yes, that might work.... But first, he would have to get closer. He had to be within range in order to be able to pull this off. He stared intently at Rudy and Penny, watching, seeing what they were doing. So far, their folks were able to hold them still now. This wouldn’t last long, he was certain. He had to get over there before Rudy or Penny had a chance to get free. If he acted quickly enough... “Reggie....” His dad whispered softly. He grabbed onto the boy’s arm. “What are you doing...?” Reggie looked up at his dad. He could see the worry shining in his eyes. Reggie did his best to smile, trying to reassure his father. He knew he wasn’t going to be able to all that much. Still, it didn’t hurt to try. “It’s okay, dad. I know what I’m doing.” With that, he ripped away from his dad and started to head towards Penny. His dad reached out towards him. “Reggie! Son, come back here!” Reggie didn’t answer his father’s pleas. He continued heading towards Penny, watching her carefully. He was not as concerned about Rudy. His parents could keep him still. Penny, however, would still be a problem. If she got a hold of that magic chalk, they were all in trouble. That was way, if he could just get in close enough, he might be able to... Suddenly, he heard a loud scream from to the side. He whipped his head over and he saw, to his horror, Rudy biting down on his father’s arm. His teeth had sunk in so much that he was actually drawing blood. The sight of it was absolutely horrific. His mother was frantically trying to pull her son away from Mr. Tabootie. But Rudy simply wasn’t letting go, letting out a series of snarls. The look in his left eye indicated he wasn’t even there any more. “Rudy! What are you doing?! Stop!” Mrs. Tabootie looped her arms around Rudy. She pulled back as hard as she could. But she was no match for Rudy’s enhanced strength courtesy of the red chalk. “Please...Rudy!” “Son, let me go!” Mr. Tabootie pushed against Rudy’s head. His teeth were clenched tightly as his face contorted in pain and agony. “Please... Rudy....stop!” But Rudy was not listening. No matter what his parents said to him, he just wasn’t listening. His teeth sank in further into the man’s arm. Reggie was certain that, with moments, Rudy was going to actually rack off a piece of flesh from his own father. If he didn’t do it, than his mother’s yanking was going to aid in this. Such a horrible, terrifying sight.... Now what was he going to do? He had planned on going after Penny and trying to force the red chalk from her. He felt that if he had pulled it hard enough, he would be able to dislodge it somehow and get her free. He had wanted to go after her first as she posed the greatest threat. But hearing Mr. and Mrs. Tabootie in distress made him give pause. He was then forced to ask himself a question he thought he’d never have to do. Who should he help first? Mr. and Mrs. Tabootie? Or Tilly and Mrs. Sanchez? He bit his lip. This was not going to be an easy choice. Either he helped bring down the more dangerous one to avoid issues with creations but allow a man’s arm to be ripped up, or he stopped Rudy and he potentially allowed Penny a chance to get the chalk back, and then they were screwed. He didn’t have too long to make a decision. So he chose the first target that came to mind. The one that showed the most difficulty: Rudy. Reggie rushed over as quickly as he could, his feet pounding the ground, panting heavily. He stared intently at Rudy, keeping him within his sides. His experience in bullying him was going to come in handy. Or at least, he hoped it would. He tensed up his muscles, preparing to tackle the boy once he got close enough. In moments, his body slammed against him. The force of the tackle was enough to knock the boy to the side. The two of them rolled across the ground. Reggie grabbed onto Rudy’s shoulders and tried top in him down. He felt his blood freeze when he saw the blood on Rudy’s teeth and he half wondered just what happened to Mr. Tabootie. But he didn’t have time to even look. He was too busy trying to keep Rudy from getting away from him. Rudy was trying to get himself free, struggling frantically as though he wanted to get at his parents, and he was certain this was the case. Reggie was confused by this at first, but he soon realized that the red chalk must be wanting to get rid of the bigger threats first. It must see Mr. and Mrs. Tabootie as more dangerous than him. Reggie knew he had to do what he could to keep Rudy from getting at the. Wrapping his arms around Rudy tightly, the boy struggled to keep the smaller boy down. He pressed Rudy against himself, gritting his teeth tightly. A few times, Rudy nearly managed to get away. He grabbed onto the back of his shirt and yanked him down any time he tried, keeping him pressed against the floor. He struggled to keep his grip on Rudy, doing whatever he could to prevent him from escaping. Then, without warning, something changed. Rudy had changed his target. Rudy turned himself around to face Reggie. It seemed to have clicked in the red chalk’s frantic little mind that he was the reason why it couldn’t go anywhere. And it was about to correct that. Before Reggie knew it, Rudy pushed up against him, ramming him into the ground. Reggie hit his head against the hard surface. He remained dazed for a moment before Rudy jumped on top of him, pinning him down. “Reggie! No!” His father cried. Before anyone could take action, Reggie could feel teeth pressing up against his neck. Then shooting pain traveled over his neck, the teeth sinking further in. It didn’t take long before he could taste the salty, irony blood in his mouth. sss No way... How was this possible...? Zebin was certain that one of the stray Beanie Boys it nearly ran into mentioned something about Thoughtless being tied up and trapped. Zebin had traveled through here, thinking that it didn’t have to worry about that creature. But it had been wrong. Thoughtless had somehow escaped. It had no idea how it managed to do this. From what it heard the Beanie Boy say, it should have been impossible. The description was quite vivid, and it had to say, even it wouldn’t know how to get out of that. And yet somehow, here was the memotrice, walking around and acting pretty much fine. Well, almost. It did notice that it had a slight limp to its walk. It looked a little weaker than usual, though it wouldn’t really know from this distance, and from the fact that it hadn’t really seen the memotrice before until now. Maybe this was normal? But the mark on its neck sure wasn’t. This was a cut, and it looked as if it was still oozing slightly. The memotrice’s head was beng forward, as if to try to cover that opening the best that it could. Zebin thought about rushing towards Thoughtless and taking care of it now. That’s what Biclops wanted, right? For it to stop Thoughtless in its tracks and make sure it couldn’t do anything to hurt anyone else? Yes, that’s what Biclops would have wanted. But a part of Zebin didn’t want to do that. At least...not yet. And besides, it was still a little sore at Biclops for his reaction earlier. Zebin couldn’t help but feel a little betrayed. It thought that Biclops would have understood the need for its actions. He always did in the past. Or at least, he’d actually give them some more thought. But this time, Biclops had treated it like it was some kind of criminal. Zebin clenched its teeth at this. Perhaps disobeying some of Biclops’s orders would be a way for it to get back at him without Biclops knowing. Not much of a revenge, but at least it would know about it. It tried its best to keep most of its mind focused on the task at hand. If it wasn’t going to attack Thoughtless, it might as well follow it close behind. Perhaps it would be able to learn something that they could use. Maybe there was something else going on. But overall, following it just might be safer. Maybe Thoughtless would end up going into some kind of small room or something and allowing it to ambush. It had little to fear from Thoughtless. Or at least, it hoped. Biclops had chosen it because of its resistance to having its memory altered. Never tested against Thoughtless, but Zebin could see why Biclops believed this was the case. It was resistant against hypnotic spells for example. This detail might be why Biclops believed this extend to its memory, too. Zebin itself was certain that it was immune, but a part of it couldn’t help but feel a little worried. What if it didn’t work? Well there was only one way to find out. It still wasn’t going to let down its guard, however. It knew full well that Thoughtless was still dangerous even if it didn’t have the power to alter its memory. Those claws on its feet looked wickedly sharp, and it wasn’t going to count out its toothed beak. It would need to exercise caution as it tried to apprehend the zoner. Or kill it. Whichever came first. The thought of killing another zoner did cause it to freeze a bit. It hadn’t enjoyed killing before and it still wasn’t going to. It hoped that it could avoid this as much as possible. But it had a feeling that it would need to kill a few more times before ChalkZone would be safe. It had already told itself this before. Now it had to remind itself again of the grim reality ahead of it. Although it didn’t get a chance to kill Rudy and Penny, it would get the chance at Thoughtless. It just needed to wait for the right moment to strike. If it could get in and crack the thing’s neck, it would all be over. It continued following the zoner down the hallway, remaining as far behind it as it could without losing sight of it. It had to remain close enough so it could see it, but still a good enough distance so Thoughtless doesn’t potentially hear it following. This was not an easy thing to do, especially with its clawed hooves. The fact that it was larger than Thoughtless also didn’t help very much. It didn’t know how much longer Thoughtless was going to continue walking. How much further did it need to go? How many more steps will it take? How many more times was it going to turn? Zebin hoped that there wouldn’t be too many more turns; it was a little hard to follow Thoughtless when it would turn. It would need to rush over quickly so it wouldn’t lose it. At the same time, it also needed to make sure that it wouldn’t trigger its attention. Not a very easy thing to do. As they continued to move down the hallway, Zebin looked left and right. This place wasn’t too badly designed. Quite large and sturdy. Sure some places were hold and withered, but even they held up well. It seemed that only that one spot was a weak point. The fact that in all this area, there had only been one weak point, that was quite astonishing. Zebin had to give Skrawl some credit. After a few more minutes of walking, it noticed that Thoughtless was turning again. It thought it was going to be another hallway, but then it noticed Thoughtless crouching down. The look on its face went from neutral to one of determination and anger. Zebin didn’t need to move in any closer to know that it must have found Skrawl. The cautious look in its eyes was proof enough. Of course Zebin would exercise caution. After what Skrawl did to it, this made perfect sense. Not wanting to lose sight of Thoughtless, Zebin began to quicken its pace some more, but careful not to make a sound. It did like Thoughtless and crouched itself a little low. Slowly, it began to move towards where Thoughtless was going. The memotrice moved in through the door, with Zebin not too far behind. It took a little while, but eventually, Zebin was able to get close enough to peer through the door. Thoughtless was still in that same posture from before. Still moving slowly, still with its body crouched, still glaring ahead at Skrawl, who was standing not too far away. Zebin took notice of how Skrawl appeared to be standing in front of a control box thing. It could see various buttons on it. It appeared to be some kind of machine or something. It was difficult to say from this distance just what it did. It had a feeling it was something of big importance. Skrawl didn’t seem to be the type of zoner to just have stuff like this laying around for no reason. It narrowed its eyes as it looked carefully at the control box. Just what did this thing control, anyway? There had to be something, right? It then looked around the room a bit. The room was quite large. Much bigger than it would expect for this place. It soon realized that this must be in an above area, not underground anymore. Almost right away, it could feel the ache in its feet, realizing just how much it must have walked. No wonder it took a bit longer than it thought. It hadn’t expected Thoughtless to be going up to the surface. That still didn’t help it figure out what kind of room this was. But..well it didn’t matter, did it? Regardless of what this room was for, it didn’t change its mission. It pushed aside its curiosity for this room to make room for the thoughts that mattered right now: Skrawl and Thoughtless. And since they were both in this room at the same time, that would that made this all the more perfect. Now it had a good shot at getting them both. It just needed to wait and watch carefully. It crept in slowly, keeping its body low. It kept an eye on Thoughtless as it continued its advance towards Skrawl. It narrowed its eyes, waiting for the right opportunity to strike. It wanted to be able to take them both out with a single blow. That meant that it may have to try to strike before Thoughtless made its move. But for some reason, it couldn’t bring itself to do so. It couldn’t really explain why. There was just...something about Thoughtless that was keeping it from making a move against it. Zebin scolded itself mentally for delaying what had to be done and tried to make itself charge at Thoughtless before it could reach Skrawl. And yet again, it still found itself being delayed. It gritted its teeth, gnashing them alongside each othere. Just what was going on? Then it saw it. Skrawl raised it up into the air. This thing that he held, this was why it had frozen. The burning cold feeling that it felt wasn’t frustration like it initially thought, but instead fear. It could feel its body start to shake slightly as it realized just what Skrawl was holding. It appeared to be a red shard of some kind. It had hard of this stuff. It was what was used to create the red chalk. This one was clearly shaved off some actual red chalk, and this raw energy that it was feeling... It was those children... Zebin found itself freezing, staring at the red shard with wide eyes. It couldn’t tear its eyes away from it. The shard, though eyeless, seemed to stare at it, taunting it, daring it to make a move towards it. And here, Zebin remained frozen, unable to move or even hardly breathe. It just continued to stare, its mouth hanging open. During this pause, this hesitation, Thoughtless had gotten close enough to Skrawl to make its move. Before Zebin could do anything, Thoughtless charged and lunged at Skrawl. The jellybean was obviously shocked by the appearance of the memotrice, shouting questions and demands on how it escaped. These, of course, Thoughtless didn’t pay attention to as it squawked angrily and struggled with Skrawl. Zebin couldn’t help but flinch when the two broke through the railing. It could hear the sounds of scraping claws as they tried to prevent themselves from falling. It was no use, and soon the two toppled over. Upon hearing the crash, it also heard the sound of gasping from the Beanie Boys that gathered there. Zebin couldn’t just stand around; it had to see just what was happening. It moved over quickly, no longer as concerned about its cover up. It peered ahead and looked down below. Its eyes widened as it watched Skrawl and Thoughtless brawling with one another. It was quite vicious. The snarls and growls. The snaps and bites. The slashes and kicks. All this and more were happening, the two injuring each other more so than they were already. It almost reminded it of just how wild and out of control Rudy and Penny were. Only here, it seemed even more feral, possibly due to neither of them being anything removely human. Not wanting to fall and get dragged into the fight without being prepared, Zebin hung back and watched it unfold. sss Biclops had already expected that something was going to go wrong. He had a feeling that with the red chalk involved, something was going to happen before he got there. But he never thought it was going to be something like this. When he had seen Howdy and Lars, who was holding Snap, rushing towards him, he knew right away that something was up. He saw the terrified looks in their eyes. Even Lars, who was usually a bit calmer, looked like he had seen the most gruesome, horrifying thing ever. Biclops knew right away it must have something to do with the red chalk. His head filled with questions of what might have happened, but he tried not to let his head get too crowded with thoughts before he rushed over. “What is it?” He called out to the panicking zoners. “What’s going on?!” The two zoners didn’t answer him right away. They simply continued to run towards him. Their wide eyes almost didn’t seem to see him, as though he was nothing but air. They didn’t even bother looking behind them, likely believing that if they did, whatever was chasing them would catch them, even though there was nothing there. Biclops watched them, his heart twisting and racing as he saw just how scared they were. Just what had happened while he was gone? How had things escalated this far? Soon the zoners’s eyes seemed to flash, even behind the dark glasses that Lars was wearing, and it appeared that they had finally noticed him. They skidded to stop and stood there, panting heavily. Biclops waited until they caught their breath before he attempted to speak again. This time, using a more gentle voice, he said, “Howdy... Lars... What happened...?” After taking in a few more heavy breaths, Howdy looked up at him. His mouth was partway open and his teeth appeared clenched. There was so much raw terror in those eyes that the giant was surprised that he didn’t just explode right then and there. The small zoner looked over his shoulder, back to where they had run from initially. Then he looked back up at the giant. In a trembling voice, he said, “The r-red chalk... Rudy and Penny, they...” He swallowed hard. “...they’ve gotten taken over...” Lars nodded shakingly at this. “W-We had to run... Get Snap out of here...” He motioned his arms forward to indicate the unconscious zoner laying in his arms. “Rudy and Penny are...attacking their parents... Red chalk..turned them i-into m-monters...” Biclops widened his eyes. He had expected to hear that the red chalk was trying to attack Rudy and Penny to get itself free from the confines of the hand traps. He did not expect to hear that it had fully taken them over. He had flashbacks of when it had happened to Reggie. That had been a pretty easy task; Reggie was never the nicest kid so it did not take much for the red chalk to sway him. But for Rudy and Penny to fall under its power... That took far more strength. For a few moments, Biclops just stood there, stunned, struggling to think of what he was going to do about this. Coming up with a solution was not going to be easy, he knew. He had never been faced with this particular problem before. Had these been enemy children, he would have considered killing them as a last resort. But he couldn’t do that with Rudy and Penny. They were his friends. He was going to need...another means of trying to stop them. If he could figure out a way to apprehend them and lock them in something, that could buy them some time. Oh if only they had gotten to the Real World faster... He should have told them to create a portal right there and then allow him to shove them through so the red chalk didn’t have much of a chance to take them over. He didn’t know why he didn’t think of that sooner. If he had, then they could have avoided this whole mess. He couldn’t help but blame himself for this happening. He should have done something sooner. He... There was no time to think about that right now. Glancing down at Snap, he knew that he had to act much more quickly. He needed to come up with a solution fast before Snap...perished. He didn’t know how long the zoner had, but he knew it wasn’t too long. He did feel a brief, fleeting anger at the thought of Snap. Why didn’t they go to the hospital first? Why did they take him with them to...wherever Lars had taken them? Why would they do something so stupid? Weren’t they going to stop by the hospital first? Something happened that caused them to forego the hospital, and the thought of it burned him up. However such a feeling was cast aside. There might have been a good reason for it. Besides, standing around here, doing nothing, was not going to help Snap’s case. He was only going to delay things for him. The best thing to do was send these two off to the hospital with Snap. There was little they could do anyway. Against the red chalk, or any creator, they were powerless. However, he himself probably stood some kind of chance. With his hand, the giant motioned them towards the direction of the hospital they had neglected. “Take him to the hospital!” “But...what about you...?” Lars asked. “What are you going to do?” Biclops narrowed his eyes and looked over in the direction the others had gone in. “I’m going to try to do what I can for Rudy and Penny.” “What?! But it’s too dangerous!” Howdy wailed, his small frame shaking. Lars looked unnerved as well. “How are you going to go up against...that...?” Biclops closed his eyes. He shook his head slowly from side to side. “I honestly do not know. I’m pretty worried myself.” He opened his eyes and he glared off in the same direction. “But I am not going to just stand here and do nothing. I stand the better chance against the red chalk. I could try to...I don’t know... pin down Rudy and Penny or something while their folks try to restrain them. My size alone gives me a bit more of an advantage.” “But you’re not invulnerable.” Lars pointed out. “Indeed I’m not. And I’m aware of that.” Biclops replied. His expression softened up. A small smile began to spread across his face. “But I’ve got to at least try. That’s the most anyone can do, right?” He turned his head and stared down at Lars with a sideways glance. “Just try?” Howdy took a small step forward. “But, Biclops...” “No buts!” Biclops raised his hand up, stopping the puppet zoner in midsentence. “There isn’t much time left for Snap.” He found himself glaring down at them. “You have wasted enough time for him.” At this, Lars and Howdy bowed their heads slightly in shame. Biclops let out a soft sigh and spoke a bit more gently. “Just...get him to the hospital now. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.” “Biclops...” Howdy whispered softly. Lars said, “But....you...” But Biclops didn’t allow them to finish. He raised an arm up and he made a whooshing motion. He pointed a finger in the direction he had indicated, glaring down at them. The two zoners looked at one another and then at Snap. They looked reluctant at first, but this soon dissipated into realization and they quickly began to move. Biclops watched as the pair walked off, soon disappearing into the foliage. He kept staring in that direction before he shifted his gaze to his own path. He would be taking a slightly different direction. They had been going in a similar direction, but if he calculated right and watched carefully enough, it was more at an angle. And as he moved down it, he soon realized that the angle widened more and more the further he walked. Was this how they had missed the hospital? Did he miscalculate before, and they ended up at...Lars place was it, and never hit the hospital? Well, that would explain that. It was difficult moving through the foliage. Perhaps for the smaller zoners, it wasn’t a problem. But for him, the plants appeared tightly packed, almost twisting around until nearly nothing of the ground could be seen in some places. He had no choice but to start stomping down some trees just to be able to move forward at all. At least he didn’t have to do this forever. After he spent what felt like several minutes walking, he soon came across a white, almost igloo shape structure. This had to be Lars’s place. The igloo looked quite out of place, and to a human not used to how ChalkZone works might think that this defied all logic. Especially with how large it was and still being stable. Even Biclops was surprised, but it had less to do with the logic and more to do with wondering just what Lars had kept in here. Didn’t he say something about this being a storage place or was he just imagining things? The gaint pushed himself through the final few areas of thick trees and other plants. Soon, he stepped out of the forest and into the more open area in which the igloo had been placed. He paused for a moment and stared at it. At first, there didn’t appear to be anything wrong. Slowly, he approached it. He soon paused when he heard something coming from the building. He could feel his blood running cold when he heard screams and shouts echoing from Lars’s place. Screams and shouts and cries, they all intermingled together, creating one singular, horrified sound. It was enough to make his muscles paralyze and unable to move. He stared at the building with wide eyes for a few moments before forcing himself to go forward and investigate things further. He didn’t waste any time. He knew that Lars would not be happy with him, but right now wasn’t the time for anger over lost property or destroyed collections. Now was the time for action. Moving as quickly as he could over to the building, he grabbed onto it, shoving his fingers into the ground where the house connected with the dirt. He too in a few deep breaths, and then he yanked the home upwards and easily ripped it away from its dirt confines. He watched as various dirt chunks and different items, some food related and some not, drop to the ground. Immediately he was greated with expressions of horror as the adults inside stared up at him, as none of them were expecting him to show up. They looked like they were trying their best to stifle a scream upon seeing his towering form over them. Biclops was about to say something, but he was soon reminded that he was not their only source of distress. He could see Mrs. Sanchez hanging onto her daughter, Penny, with some help from Tilly. He could see just how difficult it was. He was relieved to see that Mrs. Sanchez was able to get the magic chalk away from Penny. But he saw just how much Penny was struggling, her eyes glowing red, an indication she was deep under control of the red chalk. How long was it going to take before she managed to break herself free? How long would Mrs. Sanchez and Tilly be able to hold on and keep her away from the magic chalk before she ripped it away from them? Rudy being blind didn’t make him much less of a threat. He might not be able to draw at the moment, from from the horrific scene playing out, he was still dangerous, if not more so in some ways, due to the animalistic nature the red chalk had granted him. An odd choice on the red chalk’s part, considering Rudy was human. Perhaps they thought he was useless blind and thus reverted him to an animal-like state so they could use him as some kind of attack dog? This certainly seemed the case upon seeing Rudy pinning Reggie down, his teeth in his thick neck. He could see the blood start to trickle out of the boy’s mouth, Rudy’s jaw muscles working and grinding to get the teeth in further, trying to rip it out completely. And Reggie, he was still conscious, still struggling to get himself free. His legs kicked out wildly, trying to knock Rudy away from him. But try as he might, Rudy just wasn’t letting go. If anything, he seemed to only be tightening his grip. Mr. Bullnerd was trying to save his son. He had gotten in behind Rudy and was trying to pry Rudy from him. Mr. and Mrs. Tabootie were on the ground, holdong their stomachs. It was difficult to say, but Biclops would wager that the screams he heard were Rudy attacking his parents to keep them from moving him away from Reggie. Their stomachs did look like they stung horribly, and it was likely that Rudy had kicked them quite hard. So now it was Mr. Bullnerd’s turn. He seemed to be a bit more resistant. Even after a couple of kicks from Rudy, the man would not let go. The fact that it was his son whose life was on the line was very likely a factor. Mr. Bullnerd was in full parental protectiveness mode, and he was not going to allow Rudy to continue hurting his son. Not while he had anything to say about it that is. “Let...my....boy....go!” Mr. Bullnerd snarled. It was hard to tell if this was being said towards Rudy or if it was being said to the red chalk. “Release him...now!” Rudy did not respond verbally. Only more snarls and hisses. It was as though his ability to speak had been compromised, which was a very likely possibility with the red chalk involved. Rudy only responded physically, and like before, he just slammed his foot against Mr. Bullnerd, or at least tried, in hopes of getting him away. This did not have as much of an effect, or at least Mr. Bullnerd didn’t show much of a reaction. He just continued to hold on tightly, yanking himself backwards and trying whatever he could to free Reggie. His hands gripped Rudy tightly, his fingernails practically digging into the boy’s skin as the man struggled to gain some kind of leverage. Yet despite his attempts, and despite the viciousness from Rudy, both of them appeared to be at some kind of stand still. Biclops took action. Lowering himself down, careful not to knock against anyone, he lowered his hand towards where Rudy was. Perhaps the red chalk would relent when it sees him, one of the two zoners that had been responsible for how it was now. Bracing himself, he hovered his finger in front of Rudy’s face and moved it back and forth. Rudy’s head lifted up and he stared at his finger. For a few moments, the boy didn’t move. The only sound that could be heard was the raspy breathing from Reggie as he struggled to intake some oxygen, and his father’s growls as he attempted to free his little boy. Rudy completely ignored Mr. Bullnerd’s actions, looking as if he had become a rather placid, rigid thing. Then something appeared to flicker in Rudy’s eyes, and they narrowed dangerously. The low growl that came out of his throat made Biclops shudder. Although Rudy could not physically see anything, the red chalk, and the souls of those trapped children, could sense something and knew what was in front of them. Before he knew it, the boy, under their influence, took action. Biclops felt a rush of pain as Rudy bit down on his finger. The boy’s saliva, acidic to any zoner, burned into his skin, causing small streams of steam come out. Biclops stifled a scream as he lifted Rudy away from Reggie. He held him up, watching as the boy clung on, his eyes wide in rage. Biclops did his best to ignore the stabbing, burning pain in his finger as he glanced down at where Reggie and Mr. Bullnerd were. Reggie was coughing pitifully. It sounded quite horrible, as if something was trying to claw out of his throat. The giant flinched as he saw the puddles of blood moving down the corners of his face and onto the ground. The boy twitched a bit, pain wracking through his body. His eyes were wide, the pupils nearly gone. Mr. Bullnerd was struggling to stop the bleeding. He pressed his hand against the boy’s neck and applied pressure, trying whatever he cold to slow down the oozing of the red fluids. Mr. and Mrs. Tabootie, who had recovered, rushed over to try to offer assistance. But even with their help, the bleeding showed no signs of slowing down. If something wasn’t done soon... Biclops turned his head at the sound of the scream. It seemed that his prediction of when Penny was going to free herself was almost on the mark. The red mark on Tilly’s arm suggested quite a nasty bite from her, and now Penny had pinned down her mother, giving off a series of low, dark threats if she didn’t give up the magic chalk. Mrs. Sanchez was doing a good job at resisting, but it was clear that she wasn’t going to be able to keep this up for long. Rudy bit down harder. Biclops let out a yelp. However, he didn’t allow it to distract him for too long and he immediately moved towards where Mrs. Sanchez was pinned down by Penny. He reached down with his same hand and pushed a free finger against Penny. Not too much. Just enough to loosen her grip on her mother and getting her away before she could nab the white chalk. She looked up at him and narrowed her eyes into slits. “Ah, our murderer has come...” Penny hissed. This caused Tilly and Mrs. Sanchez to exchange looks of confusion. Biclops ignored their questions as he lowered his other hand down. Penny opened her mouth and snarled. She tried to bite, but Biclops reacted too quickly. He wrapped his fingers around her body, pinning her arms to her side. She lifted her up easily. He then grabbed Rudy into the palm of his other hand as well. He held them both tightly, feeling them squirm in his hands. He flinched as he felt them bite, but he still refused to let go. Turning his head to the adults, he called out to them, “Quick! Draw something to restrain them!” He looked over at Reggie. “And draw a form of transportation!” Although looking confused by the events going on, the adults still took action. Mrs. Sanchez, who held the chalk in her hand, immediately raised it up to start drawing. While she worked on this, Biclops casted a saddened expression down at Rudy and Penny. “Don’t worry, you two.” He whispered softly. “Soon, this will all be over. And everything is going to get better. You will see.” He smiled the best he could. He had no idea just how wrong his statement was going to be. sss Skrawl growled and hissed as he struggled to get Thoughtless off of him. He had no idea how the zoner had gotten free of its confines. He didn’t know how it managed to escape. But that hardly entered his mind as he tried to free himself. Thoughtless wasn’t having any of it. The zoner was clearly enraged by what he had done to it before. The fact that it was injured did nothing to slow it down. Thoughtless hardly seemed to notice the gash in its throat. Blood still oozed from it a little, yet Thoughtless hardly paid any attention to that. It simply continued its attack on Skrawl, its sharp claws trying to rip him apart. Skrawl was not going to allow it to succeed, however. He simply refused to allow this zoner to get the better of him. He was Skrawl, the upcoming leader of ChalkZone. No, the Grim Reaper of ChalkZone. Soon, this zoner, and all other ones, would bow down to him, for he will soon control their very lives. This pesky memotrice was not going to do anything to stop him. Try as it might, Thoughtless would soon realize that it was outmatched. However, that was easier said than done. He was still locked in combat with the zoner, his hands gripping it tightly, rolling across the ground. For a small little thing, it wasn’t easy trying to pin it down. Thoughtless was struggling about, showing more strength than it ever did before. Was this due to the fear it had of what might happen if it lost? Possible, but whatever it was, he knew it was causing him problems of trying to hold the zoner still. He needed to think of something and fast. “Oh you’ve really done it this time, Thoughtless!” Skrawl grabbed onto the zoner’s throat, pushing his palm against the wound. “You...You just lost your privilege to live!” <Some privilege!> Barked Thoughtless, showing its teeth at him. <Leaving me tied up like that!> “At least you were still alive! You have to give me some credit for that!” Skrawl replied. Thoughtless gritted its beak into a small smile. <If that is your idea of generosity, I hate to see just how badly you will screw things up if you do succeed in ruling!” Skrawl widened his eyes at this, and then they narrowed slowly. “What was that...?” Thoughtless just continued to smile at him. <You should know this quite well, Skrawly. With this kind of attitude, you will never be able to rule for long. You will just bring ChalkZone to ruin! Besides, do you think you will last long?> Thoughtless raised its wing up in gesture. <You will only last a day before your stupidity will allow for an uprising to bring you down!> Skrawl gritted his teeth tightly. His mind swirled with anger and rage, and he could feel his body start to shake. He was unable to think or move for several moments. His mind was just too clogged up with rage that he was unable to do anything. And Thoughtless took advantage of this. The memotrice wriggled away from him and managed to slash him across the face before he had time to react. Skrawl staggered back and covered his face with his hands. He moved them away and he flinched when he saw the blood stained on it. He then looked down at where Thoughtless was. The memotrice stood a few feet away, its wings raised up, its mouth open a little, ready to attack again. Skrawl growled at it before he charged forward. The two of them collided again. He could feel their bodies mashing and pushing against one another. They moved around in circles, holding into each other, each trying to throw the other one. He could feel Thoughtless’s talons ripping into him several times. He managed to ignore it before he grabbed onto Thoughtless’s leg and swung it around, knocking it against the wall. He panted a few times as Thoughtless climbed up to its feet. “You have no idea what you’re talking about! My reign will be unstoppable!” Skrawl declared. He formed a fist and he pounded it against his upper chest. He stood up straight, showing an almost prideful expression. “You will see! I will rule this place with an iron fist and no one will be able to take me down! Even their precious creators won’t be able to stop me!” <Oh yeah? What makes you think that?> Thoughtless asked as it began to move around Skrawl slowly, eyeing him up and down. <How would you know that you would be able to rule for that long?> “Easy. Because I’m me! And I have come up with the most brilliant of plans!” Skrawl grinned viciously, showing his crooked teeth to the zoner. Upon seeing the memotrice’s confused expression, Skrawl couldn’t help but smile. Of course its pitiful little mind couldn’t comprehend it. So he continued, “I have you to thank of course, Thoughtless. Without you, I never would have known about this...” He raised up the red shard. Thoughtless’s eyes widened. It was almost as if it had just realized what he had, though it was difficult to say considering they were locked in combat before. <That’s...> “That’s correct.” Skrawl’s eyes twinkled. “And I’m going to use this to help me take over ChalkZone! With it, I will be granted the powers of a deity! I will be unstoppable! I will become the Grim Reaper!” Thoughtless shivered slightly at this. It quickly regained itself and took a step forward. <You are insane! That isn’t what I had in mind for this place! You don’t have the intelligence or competence to be able to handle that kind of responsbility!> Skrawl growled at this, but then he smiled. He gave a soft chuckle. “Oh no? You don’t think so?” He tilted his head to one side. “Need I remind you that I had been able to outsmart you, resist your powers, render you helpless...?” He slowly advanced on the memotrice, holding his hand out in front of him, showing it the red shard. “I could easily use this to tear you apart. I could make you the first victim of this new era!” Thoughtless gritted its teeth. <As if...> It waved its clawed wing dismissively. Though Skrawl could still see some glint of fear in its eyes. <Your rule wouldn’t last that long. I’d give you a week, tops, before you are torn down and you are reduced to the pathetic puddle of nothingness you really are...> Skrawl’s eyes flashed at this. “Oh really now? You want to try it out then? You want to be part of this little test to see if you are right or not?” Skrawl could feel the red shard sparkle in his hand. He could feel its power crawling through his harm. Oh how good it was going to feel to use this on Thoughtless. Oh how good it was going to feel to be rid of it... “I would be more than glad to help you with that...” Thoughtless let out a ‘hmph’ sound through its clenched beak at this. The two of them circled each other for a little while before Thoughtless finally stopped. It positioned itself a few feet away, in front of the Beanie Boys, who were hanging back and watching their boss fight. <Oh that will be..splendid!> “So it’s agreed then.” Skrawl hissed through clenched teeth. “Come on, little birdie...” Skrawl motioned for Thoughtless to come over. “Why don’t you try another move against me? Or are you too afraid to continue our duel?” Thoughtless froze at this comment. It then narrowed its eyes further and it charged towards Skrawl. The jellybean smiled at this before he rushed over as well. He pulled back the shard as far as he could. He could feel the sparks moving through it, pulsating through his body. All he had to do was aim this right, and he would not have to worry about Thoughtless anymore. However, before he could attempt to strike, there was a loud sound from behind him. He could hear his Beanie Boys make a few confused comments. Perplexed himself, he turned his head. His eyes rapidly filled with the vision of a chinese unicorn, the same one, as he realized, that had killed at least one of his Beanie Boys. Possibly more. He didn’t have much time to register this before it collided with him and knocked him back. At first, he thought that this thing might be an ally to Thoughtless. He was quickly proven wrong when the chinese unicorn turned itself around and launched at Thoughtless. The memotrice squawked in pain as the larger zoner bit down on its leg and lifted it up. The chinese unicorn, whom he recognized as Zebin, twirled the memotrice in the air and then released it, allowing the small zoner to collide into the hard, unforgiving ground. Zebin stood between them, looking left and right. Its eyes were wide and slightly narrowed. Its teeth were bared and it snorted. Its tail swished from side to side. For a while, silence fell upon the room. Everyone, including the Beanie Boys, stared in shock and confusion at the sudden intruder. They all had similar questions running through their mind, including the most prominent question of how it got in here. Soon, Zebin broke the silence as it turned to glare at Skrawl. “You must be Skrawl...” It then turned to face the memotrice. “And you are Thoughtless. Hrmph... I admit, I did not expect to see you two in the same room together. Thanks you for that. This makes my job so much easier.” <What job?> Hissed Thoughtless. <Who are you to interfere?!> It spread its wings out, its eyes widening in anger. “Yeah! This fight is between me and Thoughtless! You can just wait your turn!” Skrawl pointed a claw in the direction of the chinese unicorn. He didn’t know exactly what this thing wanted, but he knew enough that this thing was no ally to him or to any of his Beanie Boys. It needed to be stopped just as much as Thoughtless. “So unless you want to be my real first test subject on this...” Skrawl showed the chinese unicorn the red, sparking shard. “I suggest you leave....” But the chinese unicorn wasn’t backing down. It didn’t even look afraid. Maybe it was, but it was hiding this quite well behind its hardened expression. It curled its lips up, showing him, showing everyone, its teeth. The chinese unicorn didn’t break out into a laughter like Skrawl almost thought it would. But this didn’t make this situation any less irritating to the jellybean. “I have no intention on leaving. Not until you are both dead.” Announced Zebin. “And trust me...judging from what I’ve seen of you two...” Zebin lowered itself into a fighting position, its clawed hooves pressing into the ground. “This will be too easy..” Skrawl narrowed his eyes at this. He glanced over at Thoughtless. He noticed that it wore a similar expression as well. For the first time in a while, they both shared the same thoughts. They nodded their heads towards each other in recognition of this before they turned to face Zebin. They approached slowly, their teeth gritting against each other, and began to circle Zebin. All the while, Zebin just stood there, watching them, almost uncaring of its present situation. It was as though it had no fear of them, even though it should be, especially if it knew them well enough. Skrawl glanced down at the red shard that he held. He clutched it tightly. Looks like this fight was going to be longer than he thought. He had hoped that it would be quick. Kill Thoughtless and move on. But now a new player had come into the midst. Now this fight had become a three way battle between him, Thoughtless, and Zebin. In the end, only one of them was going to come out on top. The only question was... who was it going to be...? Skrawl narrowed his eyes. There was only one way to find out. Letting out a loud battle cry that caused his Beanie Boys to flinch or move back, he rushed towards the two zoners, raising his hand up in preparation to strike. Zebin and Thoughtless accepted this invitation to a battle and they quickly joined in. And the room was soon filled with the echoes and shouts and cries of the three zoners as they began to brutally duke it out. sss Urgh.... Just what happened....? Why did she feel so awful....? When Peny woke up, she was not aware of too much. Her vision was quite blurred, making it hard to see anything around her. Just colors, shapes, and shadows. But not much else. Her mind was swirled with confusing thoughts, and she was aware of some dull pain spreading through her skull. What had happened? She felt as though she had been drunk, which was impossible due to her age. Yet that’s what it felt like. She could feel her body swaying even as she struggled to keep herself sitting up. Her eyes moved around in her skull and she tried to fight off the dizziness that started to settle in. She placed her hand against her head and began to rub it. Almost instantly, she was aware of some kind of sharp pain in her hand. Her groggy mind was soon filled with panic as the pain brought back some level of awareness in her. She pulled her hand back and she looked down at it. She could see the blood that stained the palm of it. The sight of it caused her to shiver and she clenched her teeth. As she stared at the stitched cut on her hand, she became aware of other pain present in her body. She immediately tried to hug herself as she struggled to think of just how this had happened. Her vision began to clear up. As she did, she looked around the room. She realized, in horror, that this was not her bedroom. Those strange events in her head, the ones she was still struggling to get a grasp on, it hadn’t been part of some nightmare like she thought. It had to have been real. But...just what were they? What had happened? Whatever it was, it resulted in her being here. In this strange room that she didn’t recognize at first. It wasn’t her place, not Rudy’s place, not her mother’s vet room. None of those things. It was all white, with light shining in from the window. She felt the softness of a bed underneath her, and she could feel the thin sheet that barely covered her. She looked down and she could see her bare toes peaking out. She wriggled them, as if worried that she somehow lost control of them. She then looked to her side to see what was there, and her eyes widened at what she saw. Rudy...? He was here too...? Sure enough, there was Rudy. He was laying down not far from her, in another bed similar to his. He didn’t look too good, his body covered in bandages like she was. He was not awake. His eyes were softly shut and she watched as she breathed in and out slowly. He looked so peaceful, and yet seeing him somehow brought forth more depressing memories in her head. Somehow, it served to her as a reminder of something big that had gone down. If only she could remember what it was... “Oh good, you’re awake now.” Came a calm, gentle voice. Penny turned her head. She could see her mother walking towards her. She didn’t know if her mother was always in the room or if she had just arrived. Either way, she was just glad to have someone else familiar in this room with her, someone who wasn’t unconscious like Rudy was. She smiled as her mother approached her bed. “Mama...” Penny said softly. She tried to smile the best she could, despite of her situation. “Y-You’re here...” She hissed softly as she felt pain rushing through her hand. “I...” “Shh... settle down, Penita. You need your rest.” Mrs. Sanchez spoke to her gently. She reached down and placed her hand on her shoulder. She gently rubbed it. “You and Rudy have been through a lot. But don’t worry, everything is going to be okay now. I promise.” Penny smiled at this. She knew she could trust her mother’s words. She tried her best to relax, leaning back in her bed and allowing her mother to stroke her hair. The feel of her mother’s fingers against her scalp and to the back of her head felt quite nice. So soothing and gentle... She found herself closing her eyes and just allowing herself to be lost in this gesture. It helpd to soothe her and relax her mind from the confusion and pain that gripped it earlier. But she didn’t get a chance to relax for very long. As her mind had settled down this had allowed more thoughts to come to the surface. And as it did so, they became more and fore focused, allowing her to have more complete memories of what happened. At first, it was only bits and pieces, but soon she started to remember other things. Less pleasant things. She could feel the burning cold fear rush through her body as this started to go full force. Her mother could see the distress in her eyes. “Penita...?” She whispered softly. “What’s wrong...?” Penny looked up at her mother. She could feel her eyes widening, shining with fear of what could have and might have happened. She could feel her heart race and, as consequence, her breathing increased as well. She struggled to get control over it, but it took a while before she managed to settle herself down. After taking in a few deep breaths, she managed to control the racing thoughts moving through her head. She again looked into her mother’s eyes. She could feel the fear and anxiety that transferred between them, filling the air, making them both feel quite terrified. It was only after a few moments when Penny was able to calm herself as much as possible that she was able to respond to her mother’s question. “Mama...what happened..?” Penny whispered softly. At this, Mrs. Sanchez clenched her teeth tightly. “That’s...a long story.” She turned her head away. Her face contorted with a mixture of questions. Did one of them look like...regret...? Mrs. Sanchez looked back at her. She gave a weak smile. “You have to understand, though. We did what we thought was best for you.” At this, Penny could feel her heart race. More thoughts began to flood her mind, and soon she remmebered the things that had been happening. Her mind was no longer clogged, allowing it to fill with the memories of the recent events. And with each one, she grew more and more afraid. ChalkZone...was in danger. She recalled that there was that evil zoner, Thoughtless, running around. Then there was Skrawl of course. He was up to no good as usual. There was a team up if she remembered right, and then Snap was taken from then and Biclops.. Then there was the red chalk and she and Rudy were controlled and... She could feel terror moving through her body. She could feel her heart start racing even more. She was not able to stop it this time. The adrenaline continued to pump through her, making her body tremble. She wished so much, so desperately, for this to all be part of some kind of horrible nightmare. But the scar on her hand showed that this was not the case. This scar, where the red chalk had been, was proof that her nightmare had been a reality. What happened to ChalkZone? As her earlier thoughts told her, ChalkZone hadn’t exactly been left in such a pristine condition. There was just so much going on right now. This was no time to relax. She and Rudy had no choice but to get out of here so they coud help it. She felt horrible for not getting there sooner. But at least she and Rudy had a chance to leave now and set everything right. But when she tried to get up, she could feel her mother’s hands gripping her shoulder. Her mother pushed her back down gently yet firmly. She saw the way her mother was looking at her. There was that sad, regretful look again. Though this time, it was intermingled with one of sternness as well. “I’m sorry, Penny. But you and Rudy can’t go anywhere just yet. You are still recovering.” Mrs. Sanchez said gently. “Don’t worry though. After all this time, you should soon be ready to go with a few more days time, they said.” Penny felt her heart skip a beat at this. What did her mother mean by that? “Mom...? How long have Rudy and I been here...?” Her mother bit her lip. “Penita...you’ve got to understand. We only did it for you... We wanted to make sure that you were safe. Please... don’t make this any harder than it has to be. We...” Penny cut her off. “Tell me how long it’s been.” She flinched at how forceful that sounded. But she made no attempt to apologize. Her stern glare looked directly at her mother as she waited for her response. Despite wanting to know, she couldn’t help but dread the answer. Then it came. The news that would shatter her world into tiny pieces. “I’m sorry, Penny but...” Mrs. Sanchez paused upon seeing Penny’s glare. She gave a sigh, and she gave the dreadful news. “You and Rudy have been in here for a month...” Penny could feel her blood turn to ice at this. She could feel her heart practically stop beating at this. Everything seemed to freeze, time becoming meaningless. She was unaware of anything around her, as though she were trapped in some kind of black void. She struggled to breathe as her thoughts raced, struggling to grasp the reality of the situation. Oh no... Oh gawd no... It can’t be... “Penny, I know you’re upset but..” Mrs. Sanchez started to say. Penny whirled her head towards her. She could feel her eyes blazing as her emotions swirled through her, coming to a head rapidly. It was her fault this happened... It was her fault that ChalkZone had been left unprotected. Though she tried, she was not able to stop herself from shouting, “Shut up! Get away from me, you...you monster! I hate you!” Mrs. Sanchez gasped at this, her eyes bulging. She took a few steps away from her daughter. “P-Penny... I...” Penny just glared harshly at her for several moments. Her glare was enough to make her mother stop talking. Slowly, Penny’s expression softened up as the despair started to grip her. She put her hands against her face, ignoring the pain in her one palm. The emotion started to pour out of her in the form of tears, loud cries intermixing with it. |
|
|
|
Post by Bluedramon on Aug 26, 2015 17:15:29 GMT -5
Chapter 46:
Mrs. Sanchez couldn’t tear her aways away from the terrible sight. How long has it been since she broke the news to her daughter? How long has it been since Penny told Rudy? A few hours it seemed, but it felt so much longer. The silence that followed was unbearable, twisting her heart inside her chest.
She tried to speak to them afterwards. She tried to explain to them the situation and why they had to abandon ChalkZone. She tried to tell them that they didn’t mean to hurt them, but that thehre was really no choice. But their children simply refused to listen. Nothing they said would make them even stare over at them, let alone speak. Their children didn’t even glare at them. They just...didn’t care right now. They just wanted them to leave.
And that’s what they ended up doing. Their children were clearly in no mood to talk to them. They were giving them the cold shoulder and nothing they did was going to change that. They couldn’t just make their children talk to them. They needed some time. So they gave it to them, leaving them alone in the room together.
Mrs. Sanchez gave a soft sigh. She could feel a torrent of emotions rushing through her body. A part of her believed she had done the right thing. It was just..too dangerous in there, and with their children so badly hurt... She and the ohters just wanted to make sure that they would recover. They couldn’t have done anything to help their zoner pals anyway. They would have been sitting ducks in their condition. If they had allowed them to stay, then all that would have done was granted their children a way to die faster. And they would never have wanted that.
Besides, it was just a chalk world. They were just drawings. Couldn’t they be recreated? All they’d have to do is redraw someone if they died, and it would be just like before, right? That was the gist she got out of it. That was the way she understood how it must have worked. It wasn’t like in this world where death was permanent. The zoners were privileged in that aspect. Why feel sorry for them?
But she had seen the looks in Rudy’s and Penny’s eyes. They were devastated to hear about the abandonment. They had reacted more extremely than she and the others would have thought. They had expected a reaction more similar to a bratty kid losing his gaming console for a week or something. But the reaction they instead got from them... they were surprised that their children didn’t call them out to being murderers...
Why did they care so much about this place? Why did it matter if they left it to fend for itself? Shouldn’t that world be able to take care of itself, anyway? Was it really so bad to leave it alone for a while? Rudy and Penny could use a break from it anyway. And besides, did those zoners even have much value of life, since they could be recreated? No, they didn’t. If Rudy and Penny were gone, that was it. But if a zoner was gone, just redraw them. That’s just the way that it was.
She and the others had tried their best to convince themselves that they did do the right thing. Their children were more important than some chalk-based world. It was more urgent to get Rudy and Penny out of there and getting them treated than trying to help some strange world they knew nothing about. They couldn’t have allowed their children to die... And the hospitals in that world couldn’t have helped, either. It was either get them out or risk them getting killed.
She just...wished that their children would understand this. Right now, both of them were so angry that they refused to speak to them. Well not just angry; they were devastated. She had heard Penny start to cry after her daughter practically chased her out. And those words she said... She never thought that her own daughter would call her a monster...
She felt her heart sting at that memory. She was certain that Penny didn’t actually mean it, and that it was just out of anger more so than anything. But the fact that Penny said it at all... It was just horrible. She loved her daughter so much and she would never endanger her or do anythting to harm her. The fact that her own daughter called her that... It was unbearable. It made her want to march in there and try to get Penny to see reason. Yet she hesitated. She knew that doing so might only make things worse.
So here she was, out in the waiting room area with the other parents. The doctors let them stay as they had plenty of seats available. They chose a spot in the corner, away from the others. They wanted each other’s comfort on this. Being near one another helped soften the situation a little bit, and it helped them feel better knowing that they weren’t alone in this.
Tilly had left earlier to pick up Sophie from school. She said she might be coming back later to help them knock some sense into the children if they still remained stubborn. She did stay as long as she could, speaking to them and trying to help them calm down. She had said to give Rudy and Penny some time and they would eventually come around. Mrs. Sanchez wanted to believe her words, but a part of her wondered if it was going to be so. Rudy and Penny’s reactions before didn’t appear to indicate that these two would be so understanding any time soon.
Mr. Bullnerd, of course, had left well before Rudy and Penny woke up. They had rushed Reggie to the hospital and he was sent into the emergency care unit. She couldn’t quite remember what happened afterwards, other than they declared that Reggie only had a small chance of living due to the damage and blood loss. There was still hope for his recovery, but his condition devastated Mr. Bullnerd and the man didn’t feel comfortable staying here, with them, for much longer. He didn’t want to be near the parents of the child that nearly killed his son. At least he didn’t threaten them like he did before when they accused Reggie of attacking their kids again.
Mrs. Sanchez looked around to the other adults still with her. Mr. and Mrs. Tabootie sat next to each other. Mrs. Tabootie had his hand on his wife’s leg, her hand touching his. They weren’t looking at each other; they simply looked downwards towards the ground. They were lost in their thoughts, neither able to say anything. The only sounds they made were the occasionall sighing, and of course, their soft breathing.
Mrs. Sanchez bit her lip at such a sight. It was so devastating to see these two parents looking so distraught. She wished she could say something to help lighten the mood. But what could she say? She herself wasn’t exactly in much of a talkative mood either. It was not easy being rejected by your child, even though you had a good reason for doing what you did. She hadn’t heard what Rudy said to them, but she had heard it was pretty bad.
At least they had each other through this. She had been a good friend to them since she had moved here, and she would continue to be so. She stuck by their side, looking at them sympathetically, trying to think of something to say that would help cheer them up, as well as herself. She licked her lips slowly, struggling to organize her thoughts. It wasn’t going to be easy, but she knew she had to try.
“I can’t believe he said that to us...” Mrs. Tabootie whispered softly. She sucked on her lower lip. “He’s..He’s never..” She paused, clenching her teeth tightly. A few hints of tears came into her eyes, flowing down her face. “Oh Joe...”
Mr. Tabootie looked at his wife sadly. “I know, Millie...I know..” He let out a small sigh, looking at her for a few moments before turning his head to look down again. He shut his eyes softly, the pain etched clearly on his facial features. “I’m sure he didn’t mean to say those things.”
Mrs. Tabootie raised her other hand. “But he has the right to be angry at us.” She placed her hand against her face, her palm covering her eyes. “We forced them to turn their backs on that world...”
“Millie, that world doesn’t matter and you know it.” Mr. Tabootie tried to reason with his wife. “Our children are far more important than any living drawing.”
“True, but you know how our children feel about it.” Mrs. Tabootie whispered softly in response. She looked over at her husband. The tears on her face seemed to glisten on her cheeks. “You saw the way they looked at us... They cared so much about that world... To them, it was like losing a best friend. They obviously care so much about that world, and we just...” She lowered her head and wiped her tears away. “Oh Joe...I think we made a huge mistake..”
Mrs. Sanchez could feel her heart twisting at this. She’s had similar thoughts herself, about how much their children loved that chalk world. But hearing what Mrs. Tabootie had to say, it helped bring things into even more clarity, and the weight of their actions started to hurt her even more.
She gritted her teeth as she thought again about Penny’s reaction. It was no wonder that Penny said those things. Mrs. Tabootie confirmed what she had thought all along. Those two kids cared so much about that world, and they had essentially forced them to abandon that world to death to keep them alive. To her and the Tabooties, this was a good thing. It mean that they would survive and be able to live another day. But to Rudy and Penny, it was a loss, as though not being there to help save that world, even if it cost them their lives, was somehow a loss.
She couldn’t understand it. Not completely. She knew that the Tabooties didn’t, either. She wished she could understand, though. It would help this situation run much more smoothly. She wished that they could reach and understanding and see eye to eye. She wished that things didn’t have to be this way. She wished that she and the others could, somehow, repair the damaged trust they had with their children.
She knew there was only one way they could do that. They were going to have to try speaking to Rudy and Penny again. They would have to mark up there and try to get their children to understand why they had to do it. If their children still didn’t respond to them...well at least they tried and that’s what was important. By trying, they showed that they did care about them and they just want to see them as the happy, joyful children they had known them to be before all of this happened. They just wanted things to go back to the way they used to be. Was that so wrong?
“Yeah, I agree, Joe...” Mrs. Tabootie spoke up.
Mrs. Sanchez looked over. She hadn’t heard what Mr. Tabootie had said. But she already had a good idea on what they were talking about specifically.
“We didn’t have a choice. It was either that world or our children. There was no way that we could just let our children die, but...” Mrs. Tabootie shook her head slowly. “I wish that Rudy and Penny would understand and see things our way. And I..I can’t help but wonder if there was something else we could have done...”
“Like that?” Mr. Tabootie asked, raising his hand up in gesture. “Wander aimlessly through that world with our injured children? Allow them to get hurt even more? Risk the chance of them being killed? For a bunch of drawings...?” Mrs. Tabootie gritted her teeth and looked away. “Millie, you know there was nothing we could have done...”
“Yes, I know...” Mrs. Tabootie nodded her head up and down slowly. “I just wish that...”
Mr. Tabootie placed his hand on her shoulder. This caused her to stop speaking and she looked over at him, her eyes glistening. “I know... I know.... But unfortunately, that’s the way life is sometimes. It’s difficult, and we can only accept what’s been given to us.” He paused for a moment. Then he gave the best smile that he could. “Don’t worry... Our children will eventually understand why we had do this, and they will forgive us. You’ll see...”
“I hope you’re right, Joe...” Mrs. Tabootie sighed softly.
So did Mrs. Sanchez. She wanted to trust in Mr. Tabootie’s words. She wanted to believe that he was right and that everything would turn out okay. She wanted to believe that Penny and Rudy would come around and they would realize that they had only been trying to help them. Even if it took a while, she wanted to believe that their children would start to understand the necessity o what they did.
But a part of her was worried that this would never be so. A part of her worried that their children may never recover, may never forgive them, and nothing would ever be the same again. The thought caused her heart to twist, and she couldn’t help but clench her teeth tightly nervously. She wanted to believe that it would be okay and that everything would turn out fine. But what if it didn’t? What if there was a chance that they had really screwed things up this time?
Well sitting around here certainly wasn’t going to help. They would have to go and talk to their kids. The sooner they fixed this, the better.
She looked up at the clock. She noticed that it was nearing three o’clock. It had been now three horus since they spoke to their children. She clenched her teeth and sighed softly. Perhaps now would be a good time to try again. She looked over at the Tabooties and spoke.
“Do you...think we should try talking to them again...?”
The Tabooties looked at each other. They had looks of uncertainty and determination mixed in, an odd combination. There was reluctance and yet eagerness as well. They really wanted to fix things with their son as much as she wanted to patch things up with her daughter. But they were worried, like her, that their kids just won’t listen to them.
“I know it will be hard.” Mrs. Sanchez found herself saying. “I’m worried as well. Penny’s never been this angry at me before...” She looked towards the ground for a moment. She then looked back at them. “Just as your son has never been this furious with you...” She watched as the Tabooties got a distraught look in their eyes at this. “But I do think that Mr. Tabootie is right. They are our children and they will come to understand. Even if it takes them a while, they will understand.”
There was a bit of silence that followed. Mr. Tabootie appeared to agree with her, though Mrs. Tabootie was a little uncertain. Not that she could blame her. They were all going through quite some stress right now. This was not going to be an easy thing to recover from and it was going to take a while before they could reach any kind of normality after this.
She turned her head to the corridor that their children were down. She bit her lip. She wondered how they were doing right now. She wondered if they were still fuming in anger, or if they had broken down into crying, or if they were just sitting there, all numbed and quiet. The thought of it made her heart twist, especially considering it was their actions that caused it. Despite knowing they had done the right thing and saved their children, the pain in doing so was going to last for a while, along with the guilt.
But they needed to see their children again. Despite knowing that Penny and Rudy didn’t want to see them again, they had to go to them and help them understand. They needed to settle things now before they allowed these horrible feelings to fester and destroy their relationships with their kids.
Mr. Tabootie had the same idea as her. “Come on, let’s go see them now.” His voice was soft and quiet. “Maybe they will be more talkative now.”
Wishful thinking of course. They were all aware that the two kids may still not want to speak to them. But they had to try at least. They would accomplish nothing by sitting around here. So one by one, each adult got up from their seats and they began to head down the corridor.
sss
Had he really been that unfair to his parents? Did he really go too far in what he had said to them? Was it right of him to speak to them that way?
Of course it wasn’t. Rudy knew this full well. He had allowed his anger to take control and he had lashed out at them like he never had before. Despite the fact that he could see again, the sight of his parents did little to comfort him. What they had done was awful, and he ended up losing control of himself and he had said some...really nasty things.
But could anyone blame him? His parents, as well as Mrs. Sanchez, Tilly, and Mr. Bullnerd, had pretty much forced them to abandon ChalkZone. They had been drug out of that world and forced to leave it alone, vulnerable, for a long time. Okay a month doesn’t seem like much, but with what was going on, a month was devastating. Who knows hat kind of condition ChalkZone was in now?
He couldn’t believe that their folks had dragged them out like that. He couldn’t believe that they had left that world all alone at the hands of Skrawl and Thoughtless. Without him and Penny around to try to stop them, there was little that could have prevented Skrawl from taking over. He was fully aware that the jellybean had to have taken over. He would be surprised if he did not.
And now, he and Penny were still trapped in this hospital, having no idea of just how much damage had spread through ChalkZone, what Skrawl was doing there, or anything. The anxiety of not knowing... It twisted his heart up inside, making him feel sick. He struggled to try to keep himself relaxed and calm. But how can he stay relaxed knowing of what had happened? Knowing that Skrawl and Thoughtless had taken over ChalkZone and turned it into...whatever it is they had planned to from the start.
And the zoners...what was going on with them? Were they okay? What did Skrawl and Thoughtless do to them? He couldn’t help but bite his lip as he thought of what might have happened to them. He doubted that Skrawl and Thoughtless were very friendly to the zoners. There was no doubt in his head that they must have been enslaved and forced to do Skrawl’s bidding. If he and Penny were to set foot in that world...
It was all their folk’s fault. His eyes narrowed as he felt heated anger rush through his mind. It was all their fault that this had happened. If they hadn’t abandoned ChalkZone...
What the hell did this parents mean that ‘ChalkZone didn’t matter’? He recalled just how enraged that made him feel when his parents told him this. They had said it in a quite clear tone of voice, showing no signs of letting up. Their folks had outright told them that ChalkZone was not really all that important, and that saving them was of higher value than some chalk world.
Although he and Penny could understand why they thought like this, after all their parents didn’t have an emotional connection with that world, they still couldn’t help but feel betrayed by them. They had told them before just how much this world meant to them. Their parents were aware of how much they loved ChalkZone, the zoners that lived there, and how much it means to them to keep it safe. And yet despite that, their parents still forced them to abandon it.... Rudy couldn’t believe that their parents had actually done something so...so cruel...
And now ChalkZone’s been without their protectors for a month.. A full blasted month... All kinds of stuff must have happened. He could feel his mind racing as he thought of all the horrible torturous things that must be happening right now. Those poor zoners...
As much as he knew it was going to be hard, he knew he couldn’t remain too angry with his folks for very long. It wasn’t like they meant to ruin everything. They had little reason to care about ChalkZone, and it was true. If they stayed there, totally cut off from that world, it wouldn’t really affect them in a dangerous way. The only thing they would really feel is guilt, but they would still live and thrive and grow up and all that.
That wasn’t a good enough answer for Rudy, though. Same with Penny. They could not abandon that world, no matter what their parents said. They would have to find some way to get back there and save it from Skrawl’s grasp. If they didn’t... Rudy did not want to think of what the consequences were going to be. It’d just be way too horrible.
“I’m...sure they didn’t mean it.”
Rudy perked up at this. He turned over to see Penny. She wasn’t looking directly at him, but her mouth was partially open, indicating that she was, indeed, the one that had spoke. Rudy was surprised to hear her speak at all. She had fallen silent about an hour ago and he hadn’t been able to get her to talk again. He was happy to hear her voice once more.
“Yeah, I’m sure they meant well.” Rudy agreed. He couldn’t really argue with that. He understood that his folks were just trying to help him. Still, he wished they had thought of a better solution. “I’m still angry, you know? I mean... we’re locked out of ChalkZone. They have the magic chalk and they won’t give it back to us. And there’s nothing we can do for ChalkZone.”
Penny turned her head to look at him. Rudy could see the sorrow in her eyes, causing his heart to twist. He wished he could think of something to help her feel better. But nothing came. “I know how you feel, Rudy. I’m just as angry as you are. But...” She sucked on her lip for a moment. “We can’t remain angry at our folks for long. It won’t get us any closer to getting back into ChalkZone.”
Rudy helpd u his hand in gesture. “Even if they did believe us and agreed to let us back, we have to remember that we’re stuck in this hospital.”
“Yeah, you’re right, Rudy.” Penny pulled her head back and looked around. “I don’t think they’ll let us leave this place early.”
“I doubt they would.” Rudy narrowed his eyes. “They will force us to stay an extra few days just to make sure we are okay.” He sighed and shook his head. “Who knows what ChalkZone will be like by then.”
Penny stared at him sympathetically. “At least it can’t get too much worse in that time frame.”
Rudy widened his eyes at this. He stared at Penny in shock. How could she say something like that? How could she say something so...so stupid? Did she have any idea of what she had just said there? “Penny...how can you...?” He took in a few deep breaths, struggling to keep himself from panicking. He couldn’t believe that Penny would even think of saying that. “You know that a lot can happen in that time...”
Penny nodded her head. “I know. Please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying everything will be sure fine.” She fumbled with her hands as she stared down at them. “I’m worried that so much more can go wrong in that time frame.” She looked back at Rudy. She tried to smile the best that she could. “But at least that small window would decrease the chances of something horrible happening, am I right..?”
Rudy stared at her for a moment. Then he sighed. “Yeah, you’re right.”
He couldn’t really argue with Penny’s logic there. As much as he hated to have to wait that long, at least it’d only be a few more days. As soon as they were out of the hospital, they could go back and they could try to fix things. That small window of time did not leave room for too much to happen. The odds were much lower. It wasn’t like the month skip where they know for sure that all kinds of bad stuff had happened.
But there was still one small problem.
“How do we convince our folks about helping this place?” Rudy asked softly. Penny looked over at him, her eyes widening slightly. “I mean... in order to go back, we have to convince them. They have the magic chalk. To go back, we need to get it back from them.” He looked over at Penny, giving her the most haunted look he could muster. “If we can’t convince them to let us back into ChalkZone, then who is going to stop Skrawl?”
This question was going to haunt them for a long time. Even if their parents succeed in keeping them out and forcing them to abandon and forget about that world, the fact that they had left ChalkZone at the mercy of an insane, power hungry jellybean was going to be more than enough to haunt their consciousness for many years to come. They doubted that they would ever truly recover from it. How would that even be possible? They woud have nightmares upon nightmares...
They knew now more than ever what they had to do. They didn’t know how they would be able to accomplish it. But whenever their folks came back, they needed to talk to them. They needed to convince them that they needed to get back into ChalkZone as soon as possible. They needed to convince them that ChalkZone is worth protecting, that those zoners are worth saving. They didn’t know how they were going to do it. But they knew they had to try. Otherwise, ChalkZone was a goner.
Rudy tried his best to remain positive. Despite the worry that he felt, he still tried to remain hopeful that everything was going to turn out okay in the end. “I’m sure they will listen.” He said as he spoke to Penny. “It might be hard. They might be resistant. But they are our parents. I’m sure that, if we explain enough to them, they will listen.”
Penny smiled the best she could at Rudy. “I can believe that.” Suddenly, she frowned softly. “I just..wish I hadn’t spoken to my mother like that...”
Rudy’s expression softened up. Seeing Penny look like this brought back his own feelings of guilt. They both had been quite nasty to their parents. Although it was justified considering what their parents did, they both knew that they should have been nicer about it. They should have controlled themselves more and understood better than their parents had only wanted to help them.
“We’ll fix it.” Rudy said as calmly as he could. Penny looked over at him. He reaffirmed his statement. “You’ll see. They will come back up and we will fix it. Don’t worry.”
Slowly, the smile returned to Penny’s face. “I know it will.”
In that moment, there was a knock on the door. The two children looked over. They saw the door knob turning, and the door was pushed open. Slowly, three figures walked into the room. They recognized them immediately as their parents. They shut the door behind them and they began to approach the beds slowly. Soon they took position in front of the beds and stared out at the children, their expressions that of guilt and uncertainty, twisting their hearts.
The silence that followed was awkward and tense. They did not turn away from each other. They just kept staring, unable to look away. No one attempted to speak as any attempt at this moment was going to fail and they all knew it. So they settled on just staring at each other, their eyes and expressions communicating all the emotions that they were feeling. The hurt, the betrayal, the wanting to make things right, that and more was all there.
Seeing this did help Rudy feel a little better. Although he already knew that his parents wanted to help make things better, seeing that want for himself did help to reassure him that his parents would be cooperative this time and actually listen. Same thing with Mrs .Sanchez.
But cooperation was a two-way street. He and Penny also had to learn to listen to their parents. They had to pay more attention to their side of the story. They had to get this all situated and reconciled before it got even worse. Rudy didn’t want to stay mad at his parents and he knew that Penny didn’t, either. Now was the time to try to make things right.
Before he could speak, he could hear his dad start talking first.
“Son...I just...wanted to tell you that...we’re sorry.”
Rudy blinked at this. It was his mother’s turn to speak next.
“That’s right, Rudy. We..should have taken your feelings into consideration. We knew how much you loved that chalk world and we took it away from you. You have much right to be angry.”
Rudy felt a mixture of emotions move through his body. He started to smile a little, but his own guilt took that away from him. “But I shouldn’t have said those things at you. I was so hurt...but I should have controlled myself more. I should have stopped myself before I said those hurtful things.”
“Yes, you should have.” His dad agreed. Rudy flinched at this. But soon his dad smiled, much to his surprise and confusion. “But we also should have been more careful. We screwed up, too. I do not blame you for being saying those things. You were just angry. I know you didn’t really mean it, did you?”
“No! Of course not!” Rudy shook his head.
“The same goes for you, Penita.” Mrs. Sanchez looked down at her daughter. Though a bit of hurt still shined in her eyes, her gaze contained mostly understanding and love. “I know you didn’t mean to say those things to me. You were hurt and you had every right to be. We did really mess up this time. I’m so sorry.”
Penny’s eyes shined at this. “Mama...”
Rudy watched as Mrs. Sanchez walked towards her daughter. She opened her arms and wrapped them around Penny, pulling her into a hug. Penny returned the hug, pressing the side of her head against her mother’s upper chest. The sight of this warmed Rudy’s heart and he couldn’t help but smile.
He soon found himself in his own embrace. His mother had moved in closer while he had his head turned. He was quickly engulfed in her large, strong arms. He felt her warmth against his body. The feeling of his mother this close helped to relax him. He could feel the remaining anger and guilt he had regarding his parents melt away swiftly. He managed to put his arms around his mother and he returned the hug.
Soon their parents released them and moved back away. They continued to smile at one another for several moments, continuing to stare at each other as they made sure that they had reached an understanding. Only when it seemed that they understood one another did anyone try to speak again.
“There’s..no way we can convince you children not to go back to that world, is there?” Mr. Tabootie said. He didn’t sound angry or accusatory. It was a statement, an observation.
Rudy and Penny shook their heads. They didn’t say a word. Their head shakes were enough to get the message across.
“And you wouldn’t abandon that world, would you?” Mrs. Sanchez asked.
Again, Rudy and Penny shook their heads. They narrowed their eyes slightly. They hoped that their folks weren’t going to try to stop them from going back. They hoped that they wouldn’t try to make them abandon that world completely. They didn’t want their folks to give them more of a reason to be upset with them.
Mrs. Tabootie could sense this from the children. She raised her hand up and spoke before things escalated too far. “Understand that we aren’t trying to convince you of anything. We just want to understand.” She paused for a moment. She then motioned her hand towards them. “We want you to tell us why you want to protect that world. Help us understand how you see this. Then we will explain our view. Is that a deal?”
It didn’t take much for Rudy and Penny to nod their heads. Of course they would agree to this. This is what they wanted. To reach an understanding and try to learn from one another. They wanted to maintain the peace and help each other through this. They wanted to stop being angry at their parents and they wanted to move on.
But the question was, would their parents understand them enough to let them go back? He wasn’t sure, and he doubted Penny was either. It was going to be hard for them to convince their folks that ChalkZone was worth saving. They don’t know if they could ever convince their folks to see the world as more than just a place made out of chalk. Such a task was going to be difficult. And, as much as it hurt Rudy to acknowledge this, some people would never be convinced no matter what was shown to them. His parents and Mrs. Sanchez might be like those people.
It was then that Rudy reminded himself that there was someone else in the fray. Reggie and his dad were in ChalkZone as well, along with his aunt Tilly. Shouldn’t they be here as well? They all needed to talk. There was much to say.
“Where are the others?” Rudy asked.
Penny looked left and right. She then looked at her mom. “Are they coming back here soon?”
Mrs. Sanchez replied, “Well, Rudy’s aunt might. But as for Mr. Bullnerd and Reggie..I’m afraid they won’t be joining us.”
The two children stared at their folks in confusion. What were they talking about? Why wouldn’t those two join them? What was keeping them from joining? It didn’t make any sense. They were a part of this, too. They needed to hear this as much as their folks did. Why would they just...leave like that?
“Why not?” Rudy asked, holding up his hand in gesture. “Why aren’t they coming?”
The two children immediately took notice of the look in their parents’ eyes. Faster than they had ever imagined, their parents all suddenly had distraught looks, biting their lips, clenching their teeth, eyes shifing away. They looked so uncomfortable. The sight of this caused their hearts to twist. Something was very wrong.
Although Rudy was reluctant, he forced himself to say, “M-Mom...? Dad...? What is...?” He swallowed hard. “What’s going on..? What happened...?”
He didn’t like the looks in his parents’ eyes. They glanced at each other nervously before staring down at him. Mrs. Sanchez was also giving a similar look. He and Penny soon realized that they were all staring at him. This caused Rudy’s heart to race a little. Why were they looking at him like that?
It didn’t take long before he got his answer. And what he heard caused him to freeze, his heart turning into a block of burning ice, his eyes widening so much they nearly rolled out of his skull.
“Rudy....you tore out Reggie’s throat...”
sss
In the not so distance past, ChalkZone could be described as a place of freedom. No real governments. No controlling forces. Just zoners living out their lives. Each zoner was created for a purpose, and they all fulfilled that purpose. Fun had been something ascribed to how it had been for a long time. It was almost a cause of celebration; ever since the child creators from long ago, those ancient horrible times, were banished, the zoners had more time to play and frolick and have fun.
It had been a place a wonder and excitement. It was little wonder that Rudy and Penny had wanted to explore it. There were so many places that could be visited. So many areas that were waiting to be mapped and explored. Places that were beyond imagination. Places that those in the Real World could never dream of or hope to accomplish.
But that wasn’t how things were anymore. It was incredible how much a place can change in such a short time frame. The ChalkZone that existed now was almost unrecognizable. Oh sure, areas looked the same, but with a few additions and other quite noticeable...changes, it was not the same place of whimsy anymore. It was beyond recognition at this point, and it did not show any signs of changing any time soon.
The once bright blue skies of ChalkZone City had grown dark. It was as though a permanent storm had been placed there. Indeed the dark grey clouds that now populated it swirled around constantly, as if threatening to strike an unsuspecting zoner with a bolt of lightning at any given moment. Add to this the tall, dark, twisted buildings that seemed to sprout like trees, and that all painted a rather gruesome scene. It was like a picture of some kind of nightmare. If it weren’t for familiar buildings, such as where Chalk Dad worked at, it would be quite difficult to recognize this place as ChalkZone City.
And it wasn’t just this place. It seemed as though the dark storm cloud spread all over. Reaching into the distance and the horizon, it spread. It was no longer possible to recognize Day Zones from Night Zones, making it very dangerous for any Night Zone zoner to travel; as soon as they stepped out of their zone, they risk getting burned. While Day Zone zoners had an easier time regarding that, there had been such a swift rift and the Night Zone zoners began to hate the Day Zone zoners and would attack them if they dare enter their zone. This increased hostility was likely a side effect of the storm clouds that stretched all around.
The zoners themselves looked absolutely miserable. Most of them, from both zones, had their heads low, constantly looking around as if they thought they were going to be attacked. This was likely the case, too, given that they were stuck wearing shock collars around their necks. With how deeply embedded they were, the zoners could not take them off. Any that dared try would get shocked by the collar.
Any other movement the zoners made seemed artificial, as if part of a ritual. They moved like they were part of some kind of plan. Their actions might seem to be normal things, but it was controlled, influenced. They all could not do anything without fear clutching their hearts, showing on their faces as they looked around in fear. What had once been a bustling, beautiful place to live had quickly become a nightmare. Any zoner unlucky enough to live in the grey cloud area was forced to spend the rest of their life taking part in some sort of...plan.
And unfortunately for any other zoner that was more fortunate, the grey cloud was spreading... Each day it grew larger and larger. Soon, it was going to engulf all of ChalkZone. Soon no one was going to escape the dark shade of the grey clouds. Harmony would be disrupted forever, and they would be forced to rely on one zoner to keep themselves from giving into the craziness that was growing inside of themselves.
Skrawl.
Or rather, Grim Reaper as he now calls himself.
The jellybean stood on the balcony of his newly built castle. It towered over ChalkZone City, allowing him to peer down at the miserable zoners below him. He couldn’t help but smile as he watched them suffer. Ah, such a beautiful sight... These were the same zoners that mistreated him. Now it was his turn. Karma tasted so good.
The dark, short cape that he wore, combined with the glowing red lightning bolt shapes that zigzagged around in a spiral helped to complete his new, darker look. The red shard had fused itself with him and now it constantly traveled through his body. He could feel its energy rushing through him. He didn’t realize it was going to be this powerful. And he was quite excited about it. He never got tired of it. He raised his finger and pointed. A small bolt of electricy dashed from it, cracking open a small portion of the thick, stony wall. He chuckled. Ah, that never gets old.
Taking over ChalkZone with Rudy and Penny gone had been very easy. Capturing Biclops was a snap. He was being contained in a large unit, locked into a comatose state. Zebin was also locked away as well, tied to a wall behind electrified bars. Snap was another personal prisoner of his. The zoner regaining some of his previous memories wasn’t a problem and he easily locked the zoner away.
Then there was Thoughtless...
That memotrice had been quite difficult to tame. It still tried to stop him even after he had gained the power of the red shard. It clearly didn’t understand what it was dealing with. Then again, he himself didn’t fully understand the red shard, but that was beside the point.
At least now the zoner was under his control. With the red shard combined with his freedom in ChalkZone, he had been able to do all sorts of things. The storm cloud that the red shard created was just part of it. It was intertwined with the red shard he held and it allowed him to boast his control over the zoners. He could see what they were doing; anyone under the cloud could be watche by him at any given moment. That made the zoners paranoid, forcing them to follow his schedule exactly or risk getting destroyed.
Thoughtless now wore one of those collars. Thoughtless wouldn’t dare try to defy him now. Not while it was in that current state. He thought of killing it, but decided that the memotrice was still good for some more usage. Perhaps he could use it to alter Snap’s memories yet again and turn him against Rudy and Penny, in case they do come back.
Not that he was worried. With all the progress that he made, he doubted that Rudy and Penny could do much to stop him. It didn’t help their cause that some zoners had lost hope in them and probably would not be too happy to see them. The children could try to win back their support, but much damage had been done already. It was going to be hard to win back the zoner’s trust, which gave him even more advantage.
“This won’t last, you know..”
The jellybean turned his head to stare at one of his personal prisoners. He recognized him immediately as Snap. Despite how he looked, Snap still stood up to him. He was gripping the bars tightly, his teeth gritted.
“They will come back! They will stop you!” Snap declared. “Your reign won’t last long, Skrawl!”
At this, the jellybean hissed. He marched over to the small zoner, his mismatched eyes gleaming with the red sparks around his body. Snap’s courageous bravado soon faded as the dark clad jellybean got up to him, towering over the small, weak zoner. The jellybean glared at him for several moments before he spoke to the zoner in a dark voice.
“My name is not Skrawl anymore. It’s Grim Reaper.” He showed him his sharp claws. They sparked with red electricity. “Do I need to remind you...?”
Snap shook his head in desperation. The fact that he bore some marks from previous attacks showed why he was determined not to get hit again. “N-No... Sk...I mean, Grim Reaper...”
The jellybean smiled at him. “That’s much better... Now as for your little friends...” He turneda round and folded his hands behind his back. He leaned a bit, turning his head upwards. “I’m kind of hoping they do come back. I’d love to see the looks on their faces when they see what I have done.” He gave a cold chuckle as he stared down at his hands, flexing his claws. “Oh things are going to be much different this time...”
The jellybean smirked down at the shaking Snap for a few moments before he walked away from him. He headed towards the balcony once more. He pressed his hands against the stone railing and peered down at the zoners below. He watched as they hussled and went busy moving about the lives he had preprogrammed for them. The feeling of control over their miserable lives felt wonderful. He looked down at the red shard that he still clutched in his hand. His smile grew twisted as he continued to feel its energy pumping through his body.
This was how things should be. This was how things were supposed to go down. This is what he deserved. Soon all of ChalkZone was going to be his. And this time, there was nothing that Rudy and Penny could do to stop him. Oh sure, he knows they may put up some kind of fight. But with his newfound abilities, the zoners losing faith in them, and just how far he has gotten, what were the odds that they could turn things around so easily?
Skrawl couldn’t stop his smile from spreading further. He couldn’t stop the chuckles that wracked through his body. He was unable to stop even as he felt them turn into outright laughter. He pulled his head back and cackled, the sound echoing off the walls, causing anyone to hear it to cringe.
Oh yes, the Grim Reaper was here to stay.
|
|
|
|
Post by Bluedramon on Aug 28, 2015 14:02:12 GMT -5
Chapter 47:
Flashes zipped by through his head. Again and again, his brain was assaulted by the memories that began to resurface. The images continuously moved through his head, providing him no chance to escape them.
He could see the boy’s face. He could see how it was contorted in pain. Then he could feel pressure, and then something salty in his mouth. He could feel this increase, his jaws getting a little tired. He could feel something moving against his body, trying to get him away. No matter how hard he struggled to ignore it, the pressure just increased.
He placed his hands against the side of his head, clutching it tightly. He shut his eyes and clenched his teeth, grinding them. He moved his head from side to side in denial. He tried not to think about it. He tried not to allow himself to be dragged down like this. He tried to think of something else that could have happened. Something...anything...
Yet the images continued to show the same picture. The same, horrifying picture zipping around his head, never changing. The salty taste he detected only increased the more he tried to fight it. Eventually he had no choice but to accept reality.
He really had ripped out Reggie’s throat...
Rudy’s mind swirled at this realization. He couldn’t believe it... How could he have done something like that? It just wasn’t in his nature. He’d never want to hurt Reggie, especially not like that. He wanted so much to believe that this was all just some sort of elaborate lie, that his parents must be mistaken somehow. But judging from the looks in their eyes, there was no way that this could be false. His parents were there. They had seen it for themselves. He and Reggie don’t look much alike. They couldn’t have mistaken what they had seen.
Rudy couldn’t stop the cold sensation from moving through his body. From his tingly fingers, up his arm, and in his chest, he could feel that horrible sensation of realization and guilt and horror. It all swirled around, making him feel quite sick. He was able to resist the temptation to throw up, although he wasn’t sure how much longer he could take this. Though the adults had tried to reassure him that it wasn’t his fault, he still couldn’t help but feel guilty. He felt that he should have struggled more to keep himself under control. He should have been able to do..something to stop himself, right?
He wondered what Mr. Bullnerd actually thought of him. His dad had said that Mr. Bullnerd didn’t really blame him for what happened. They had all understood that it was the red chalk’s fault for possessing them. But that man wasn’t even here right now, and when he asked... Well he could tell from the adult’s reactions that the man did feel uncomfortable around him.
And why shouldn’t he? He had practically killed Reggie... Okay, so the kid was still alive. But wasn’t he in an emergency room or something? And wasn’t the damage severe? He had ripped out a chunk of flesh from his neck before anyone could stop him. Reggie had lost a lot of blood. There was a chance that Reggie could die, and it was all his fault.
Rudy wished he could do something to help Reggie. The most he could do was donate some blood to help, or at least he thought so. Reggie had already recieved some blood and his blood type wasn’t a match anyway.
Apparently Reggie was still in the hospital, leading him to wonder just why he was still here. Shouldn’t he have been dismissed by now? The only way he’d still be here was if something else had went on. There had to be more to what happened than just him ripping out his throat. When he tried to ask, the parents were a bit dismissive, telling him that they would inform him later. Rudy wasn’t really fold of being dismissed like that, but it wasn’t like he could make them speak, anyway.
They were going to discuss more about ChalkZone and what they were going to do about it. However, it was clear that Rudy’s stunned state, along with Penny’s, was going to make it hard for them to speak further. Hearing about Reggie’s gruesome injury and Rudy’s unwilling hands was quite a shock that left them even more shaken up. First ChalkZone was abandoned, and then someone from the Real World was nearly killed. Was there any more bad news that could be delivered to them?
At least their folks realized that it might be a bad idea to continue with speaking too much. The parents had wanted to speak more amongst themselves what they should do in regards with ChalkZone anyway. They felt it was best to do it away from them so they didn’t end up stressing them out too much.
That wasn’t what Rudy and Penny wanted, but they didn’t try to argue. It wasn’t like they could, anyway. In their stunned states, they couldn’t come up with anything to say in time to stop them. Soon they were again left alone in this room. Their parents promised to be back within the hour with their decision.
Rudy and Penny remained quiet for several moments. They allowed the information they were just given sift through their heads, coming to terms with it. They glanced at each other, clenching their teeth nervously, as they thought about what they were going to do now. There was no doubt in their minds that Mr. Bullnerd would eventually develop anger towards Rudy’s actions. They would need to figure out something before anything serious happened, especially if Mr. Bullnerd threatened something with ChalkZone.
The idea terrified them. Even if Mr. Bullnerd didn’t go after Rudy, he’d still have ChalkZone to target. And it was technically a ChalkZone item that ultimately caused Reggie’s condition. Would Mr. Bullnerd declare ChalkZone too dangerous? He was part of the town councilmen. His voice had a lot of power around here. If he so desired, he probably could warrant firefighter trucks be brought in and start to erase the world. The thought was quite chilling. They would have to find a way to convince the man otherwise, if he did try to go down that route.
Perhaps he would be more understanding. Perhaps he could try to think things through more before coming to that decision. Sure, it was wishful thinking, but that wouldn’t hurt, would it? But the two children knew the odds of that were slim, and they had to think of something fast before it became too late.
Rudy still struggled to come to terms with what he had done. Penny had done her best to continue comforting him, but it was clear that Rudy wasn’t able to fully calm down. He couldn’t help but continue to blame himself. A part of him expected that Mr. Bullnerd would still blame him for what happened. A part of him almost hoped that this would happen; at least it would shift the blame away from ChalkZone and the zoners might be safe.
At that thought, he, as well as Penny, couldn’t help but flinch, feeling a cold sensation moving through their bodies. They could feel their heads filling with the thoughts of the zoners being alone in ChalkZone. They were still there, still along and without a protector to guard them. They were still trapped with Skrawl and neither of them had a clue just how far he had gotten with his plans. The thought was quite scary, causing them to shiver. Oh those poor zoners... They had to figure out something and fast.
Rudy couldn’t help but wonder just how they were doing. He wasn’t sure how far Skrawl would go if he ever gained control. He doubted that Skrawl would try to go too far, like say, destroy ChalkZone. He was worried about his creations; Skrawl had wanted to destroy them out of jealousy. But he wasn’t sure about the rest of the zoners. What would Skrawl do with them? Rudy couldn’t stop himself from shivering as he thought of all kinds of things that Skrawl could do to them. He did brainwash them once. Would he do something like that again? With Thoughtless at his side, he wouldn’t doubt it.
Despite the fear that gripped his heart, he and Penny still hoped that things would turn out okay. They tried their best to remain positive and worked towards thinking of a solution. Since their parents gave them some alone time, they decided to use this to think of ways they could help ChalkZone once they got back. Thinking of possibilities that the world had gone into and then solutions to each one. Of course, it would still be difficult and they knew that, no matter what, it wasn’t going to be easy. But at least they would try.
Rudy closed his eyes softly as he thought about ChalkZone and his zoner friends. He hoped that they were doing as okay as possible. He hoped that they would be able to hang on for a little while longer. He and Penny would come back soon, and they will fix things.
Until then, he wished them all the best of luck.
sss
Snap let out a soft groan as he felt pain shooting through his body. He clutched his arm against himself tightly. He hissed and seethed in pain as he felt the agony radiating from his arm injury. He looked down at it, noting the dark discoloration around it from where Skrawl had struck. He looked back at Skrawl, his eyes narrowed.
Despite his expression, there was a lot more terror running through his mind right now than any courage. He could feel his blood chilling as he watched Skrawl standing on the balcony, looking down at the zoners of ChalkZone City. He could hear him shout a few things and laughing. He could hear bolts of electricity shooting out of his finger as he struck random zoners below just for the fun of it. Skrawl had really gone so far this time.
Or rather, Grim Reaper. But Snap refused to call that jellybean by that name inside of his mind. Not like he could hear his thoughts anyway.
Snap couldn’t help but feel a level of sickness moving through him as he thought of the new name Skrawl had given himself. The Grim Reaper was a dark title, sure, but they were meant to guide the newly dead to their new resting place, weren’t they? At least, that’s how the legends about them go. Skrawl was destroying that, perverting the title to suit his own twisted, dark deeds. A part of Snap wished that a real Grim Reaper would show up and teach Skrawl a lesson.
But he knew that wouldn’t happen. It would never happen. He was stuck listening to this guy speak. He had the ‘honor’ of being one of Skrawl’s personal slaves. His ‘pet’, to put it in the most dignified of ways. He had to listen to stuff like this all the time, and if he tried to speak out against him, he got struck. Eventually he had just learned to be quiet.
He couldn’t believe that he had actually thought that Skrawl was an ally. He had thought that he had saved his life, was his savior, and that he should serve him as a ‘thank you’.. How disgusting... Snap tried to purge his memory of any and all thoughts of those horrible things.
Oh how could he have been so naive? So stupid? He should have known better. He should have picked up on the signals much earlier. If he had, then he could have gotten out of there quicker. He could have saved himself and he would have lived to see another day as a free zoner. But then again, it’s not like he could have abandoned Rudy and Penny... He had to help them, too, and that still would have left him vulnerable to at rap anyway. So in the end, there probably wasn’t much he could have done to escape this fate.
Still, he wished that he had done something different. He could have tried to do something to save himself from being tricked. It all started when he had gone into that darn cave all by himself and had gotten brainwashed by Thoughtless. That stupid memotrice...tricking him into thinking that Rudy and Penny betrayed him...
Snap still recalled the terrible things he said and did to them. They all haunted him so much... He felt cold shivers, his body shaking, as he thought about how he had nearly killed Rudy, how he had tried to blind him... And he also tried to hurt Penny, too. How could he have done that to his best friends...? He tried to remind himself that he was simply being controlled. Yet he couldn’t shake off the feelings of guilt. He doubted he’d ever feel much better about this for a long time.
Thoughts of Rudy and Penny gave him pause. He wondered where they were and what happened to them. He never did figure it out. He had woke up in the hospital about a month ago and no one knew where they were. They had just...disappeared. It wasn’t until Howdy and Lars showed up that they mentioned about the red chalk possession and getting them into the Real World, but after that...nothing.
Snap felt his mind go numb in fear. Just what happened to them afterwards? Why did they not come back yet? Were they locked out? Were they hurt? Did they just abandon them?
Snap shook his head at that last one. Of course Rudy and Penny wouldn’t abandon them. That was just stupid. They would never do such a horrible thing. As soon as they were able, they would come back and help them. He was confident that they would. Somehow, someway, someday, they would return.
But still, what was taking so long...?
Some zoners had already given up hope on them. Some zoners had even turned against them completely. The thought filled him with unease. This was one of the only times he was glad that he was chosen as one of Skrawl’s personal ‘pets’... The only thime he had to be subjected to the fanatical statements of one of the negative zoners was second hand from Skrawl, who sometimes told him just to torment him a little. As much as he hated those, he’d much rather that than be subjected to one of those zoners.
It boiled his blood thinking about what some of these zoners were saying. How could they think that Rudy and Penny would purposely abandon them? After all the times that those two had helped them, this was how they repaid them? Those ungrateful bastards... Yet despite his anger, Snap didn’t dare wish harm on them. That wouldn’t really make him much of a better zoner, now would it? Besides, he hadn’t been so nice to Rudy or Penny himself. He had spent a while thinking they betrayed him. So he wouldn’t really be one to talk, now would he?
Still, he couldn’t wait for Rudy and Penny to come back. He’d love to see the looks in those zoner’s eyes when they saw the two creators return. He’d love see their expressions when they see just how wrong they had been about them. He would love to rub it in their faces while cheering on Rudy and Penny as they confronted Skrawl.
At least, this was the train of thought he constantly had for a while. But as the days past, the weeks past, as it was approaching over a month now, he started to wonder just how right he was...or if the other zoners were more correct. He clenched his teeth. He didn’t want to go down that route. He didn’t want to consider the idea of Rudy and Penny betraying them. Yet a small part of him couldn’t help but wonder...
He managed to shake the thought out of his head. No, he couldn’t allow himself to believe that. He couldn’t allow those zoner’s thoughts to influence him. He knew Rudy and Penny quite well. He would know that they would never betray him or the others like this. They would come back someday and save them all from Skrawl’s rain. He just had to keep believing that they would.
He just hoped that they would get here soon. The longer they didn’t come back, the more he began to worry. There was still a chance that they were too gravely hurt to come back. It has been a month now and they still haven’t returned. He hoped that this just meant that they were only injured and were recovering. He didn’t want to think that they were dead. No..please...don’t let them be dead...
Yet that was a possibility. They didn’t even send any messages to him via erasing chalk. He highly doubted that they would purposely neglect that. Something had to be wrong with them. The only thing that would come to his mind was that they were...dead, or near death.
He caught a shaky breath in his throat. He could feel his eyes start to water. No... Rudy and Penny... It..It couldn’t be possible... No, they were okay. They just..had to be okay... But what if they weren’t? What if they were much worse off than he had ever imagined?
He could hear Skrawl’s words floating around in his head. He could hear that jellybean taunting him about it. He could just picture that jellybean coming over and telling him about how Rudy and Penny might never come back and that he should just accept that they were gone. Snap would always try to stand up against Skrawl and be defiant. But over time, he had started to weaken, and it was only a matter of time before he would find himself accepting this.
Feeling emotion washing through him, Snap could feel tears moving down his cheeks. He tried to stop them. He wiped his hand against his face furiously. But the tears just wouldn’t stop coming. He doubted that they ever would. His breathing became more and more shaky, his body trembling. He could hear the soft whimpers start to escape from his throat. It only got worse the more he tried to fight it. Then, unable to stop himself, he started to try.
Oh Rudy... Penny... He hoped they were okay. He hoped that they would be able to return. He wanted to see them again so much... He would love to be able to hold them again, to hug them and tell them how sorry he was for being tricked. Although he knew they’d understand, he still wanted to hear it from them, and he still wanted to apologize so they would know that he really was sorry for what he had done.
He hoped that, wherever they were, and whatever was happening to them, that they were doing okay. And if they don’t ever come back, he hoped that they understood just how truly sorry he was.
sss
“Are you...sure that’s okay...?”
It wasn’t that Penny wanted to sway her mother to change her mind. She just wanted to make sure that she and Rudy’s parents were okay with this. She wanted to be sure that there wasn’t going to be some sort of second thoughts going on and the parents suddenly pull the plug on this.
Her mother nodded her head slowly. “Yeah, we are sure. We...talked about it.” She glanced over at the Tabooties, who nodded their heads. She turned back to her daughter. “We do feel that it is for the best.”
At this, Penny glanced over at Rudy, who locked eyes with her. They allowed this information to wash over the. They both wondered if they could possibly be dreaming. Any moment now, they’d wake up and find themselves still here, and still unable to do anything to help ChalkZone, with their parents still forbidding them to go back. That truly did seem like the way everything was going to head, based on their last conversation with their folks before this.
But now it seemed that things had started to shift in a new direction. Penny had no idea just what had happened to make the parents have secondary thoughts. She wasn’t sure what led them to starting to think things differently. But she was glad for it. She was happy that her mother and Rudy’s parents were trying to at least understand them better, and were trying to give this world a better chance. A part of her was still worried there might be ulterior reasons behind this, but at least this gave ChalkZone more of a chance.
She wasn’t sure what she and Rudy had been thinking would happen when their folks came back. But not something like this. Something much worse. She had half expected her mother to try to tell her to just ‘get over ChalkZone’ and move on with her life. In fact, she wouldn’t doubt that this had been on her mind when she and the other adults came back up. She may have been wanting to say that, but only stopped when she reminded herself of just hope much she, as her daughter, loved ChalkZone. Penny was glad that things didn’t turn out that ugly and that they were starting to reach some kind of understanding.
At least, she hoped that was the case. It certainly seemed to be painting towards in that direction. Their parents did just grant them permission to go back after all...
Well kind of. They couldn’t go back right now, of course. They weren’t due for dismissal for a couple more days. It was only after that that they would be allowed in ChalkZone. Their parents must have realized that they would never be able to keep them out of ChalkZone, and that in doing so, they may damage their relationship with them. It was nice that their parents were striving to do what they could to keep their relationship from falling apart.
But still, Penny tried to keep herself on edge. She didn’t really know what else the parents had in mind. They weren’t even sure of the details of them returning. Were they only going to be allowed brief visits? Would they be banned if that world turned out to be more dangerous now than it was before? Would they even be allowed to try to help their zoner friends?
Considering the direction this conversation was going, perhaps she and Rudy could try to convince their parents of this. Since their folks appear to be in a more understanding mood now, she and Rudy could use this chance to try to get them to understand even more. ChalkZone deserved saving. It deserved to exist. It deserved to be treated with respect. She wasn’t sure if their folks would listen to them that far. But she did have hope that, somehow, they would start to understand more, and be more willing to listen to what they have to say and not jump to conclusions, which was quite easy to do since they were dealing with a world they could not fully comprehend.
“We have to admit...” Mrs. Tabootie spoke up. “We’re still not..entirely sure of this place.” She bit her lip a little. “From what we had seen, and from what we were told, that place has so many hidden dangers... I don’t know if I would ever feel fully comfortable with you two running around in there..”
“And yet... we know that this world means a lot to you. We might not understand why...or how... But we do understand enough that we could never truly stop you two from going in there. You two would find ways to get there...wouldn’t you..?” Mr. Tabootie asked.
Penny and Rudy glanced at one another, trying to think of how to respond to that. Eventually, they settled on a very simple nod.
Mr. Tabootie smiled slightly at this. “Yeah, we thought so.”
Penny heard her mother speak next. “That is why we decided to allow you back in after you are released from the hospital.” She smiled for a few moments, and then she frowned. “However...there is something we would like to say to you two.”
Penny felt her heart clench at this. She gritted her teeth. This was it. Here came the restrictions, the negative things, the bad news that they had been waited for. She and Rudy braced themselves for what was about to come. They remained quiet and listened intently to their parents, wondering just what they were going to say to them this time.
“Considering how dangerous that world is...” Her mother paused for a moment. She gritted her teeth as she went into deep thought. “...while we will trust you two to be able to go in there alone...after all, you’ve been doing this behind our backs for a while now..”
Penny and Rudy couldn’t help but flinch at this. They could feel their hearts sting as they detected the hurt in the woman’s voice. “We’re sorry...”
Mrs. Sanchez raised up her hand. “No need to be. We..understand why...” There was some hesitation and uncertainty in that voice. Even when she tried to smile reassuringly, it seemed almost a little fake, as though she was putting up a front to try to help them feel better. The fakeness only went away when the woman’s frown returned. “However, at the first sign of real danger, we want you two to come back.”
“What...?” Penny asked softly. “But...what about...?”
“We know this might not seem fair to you. But we love you, and we don’t want you two getting hurt.” Mr. Tabootie spoke up, his voice stern. “We don’t want you two risking your lives for this world. You may go back, but if it’s dangerous...especially if what you say about this Skrawl guy...then we want you two to high tail it out of here and tell us.”
“But...that’s not fair! If those zoners are in danger, we have to help them!” Declared Rudy.
Penny nodded in agreement. “We can’t just abandon them! We’re supposed to protect them! I thought you guys understood that!”
“We do. Trust me, we do.” Mrs. Sanchez cooed softly, moving her hand up and down. “We understand why you two may be upset by this. You may be wondering why we would force you to abandon this world yet again..” She frowned softly and gritted her teeth, her fingers fumbling together. “We just..don’t want to lose you two again..”
“You were gone for a few days before, and then when we did get you back, you were out cold mostly for a month.” Mr. Tabootie held up his hand in gesture. “How do you think we would feel if something worse happened to you thanks to this world?”
Rudy and Penny felt waves of guilt strike them as they heard this. They were reminded of the times when they really did end up almost badly hurt in ChalkZone, and since their parents did not know at the time, they would have never found out what happened to them. They still felt awful about all the worrying they had made their parents go through whenever they returned home later than usual or had some kind of minor injury on them.
And now that their parents did know, it made them feel even worse. Their parents were fully aware of them going into this world. They could not deny the dangers that it held for them. They would now have to live with the guilt of knowing that their parents know, and how they are risking their lives almost every time they would set foot in here. They certainly could not blame their parents for being afraid for their safety.
Still, they had to figure out a way to convince their parents to let them still come in here. They couldn’t abandon this place. They couldn’t leave it to rot at the hands of Skrawl. They would never forgive themselves for that. How could they carry on knowing that they purposely left the zoners in Skrawl’s hands?
“We hope that you two will understand why we are doing this.” Mrs. Sanchez cut them out of their thoughts and caused them to look at her. “We don’t want to be the enemy here. We don’t want to do anything that would upset you. But...when it comes to your safety...” She held up her hand in gesture. “We must think of you first... Even if that means forcing you to give up something you love...” She paused and looked towards the ground. She gave a soft sigh. “I’m afraid that we would have to consider extreme measures to keep you safe...”
“But we can’t abandon our friends!” Rudy’s voice was filled with much energy as he protested. “Do you have any idea what you would be doing?! You’re forcing us to turn our backs on those we care about! You’re forcing us to leave behind our friends! How could you make us do something like that?!”
“Rudy...dear...” Mrs. Tabootie said, raising her hand up. “They’re just drawings...” That turned out to be a mistake and she realized it fast. She took a step back, her eyes bulging. “Wh-What I meant was...”
But it was already too late. The damage had been done. Rudy looked at her in shock. Penny felt horror wash through her as she heard those words. She felt hope shatter inside of her. She had hoped that their folks were at least understanding enough to know how much ChalkZone meant to them, but that comment.. She couldn’t believe that any of them could say such a thing to them after what happened before.
Poor Rudy.. She couldn’t blame him for reacting the way he was. She could see the shocked look in his eyes and the anger just radiated off of his body. She wanted to reach over and hug him and try to comfort him, but in this state, it was unlikely that he would respond well to physical stimuli. She was better off keeping her distance and hoping that Rudy would be able to control himself before it got too bad.
“You...” Rudy hissed through clenched teeth. “How dare you say that...”
“Now Rudy...” Mrs. Tabootie tried to mend what she had damaged. “I-It wasn’t like that.. I-I didn’t mean to...”
But Rudy cut her off. “Oh shut up! I don’t want to hear it!” He turned his head away from her and scoffed. “Just drawings, huh? Snap is one of my best friends! He’s the first real friend that I ever had! True I drew him, but he’s been a lot nicer to me than any other kid I’ve met, with the exception of Penny! He made me feel special, important! He treated me with respect and he helped me out whenever I was in trouble! How dare you try to diminish the impact he’s had on my life by saying he’s ‘just a drawing’!”
At this, the room fell silence, no one speaking a word. Everyone just stared at Rudy, eyes wide and mouths dropping open. Mrs. Tabootie attempted to speak, but she immediately thought better of it, clenching her teeth tightly and flinching with a flash of guilt on her face.
Penny couldn’t tear her eyes away from Rudy. Her eyes remained wide in shock. She had almost never seen Rudy this angry at his folks before. She listened as he panted heavily, each breath still laced in anger. She feared that if one of the adults tried to speak to him now, he was going to snap at them. She was glad to see that the adults were being wise and not speaking a word to Rudy right now. He needed a little bit of time to recover. Now wasn’t the time to try to speak to him.
She looked back at the adults. She could see the flashes of guilt in their eyes as they looked at one another. They clenched their teeth nervously and murmured a few soft things to one another. She couldn’t hear exactly what they were, but she knew that they had to be related to Rudy and, just as likely, their own actions. She wondered if the guilt they were feeling now woul help them to open their eyes, or if this was just going to lead to more difficulty.
Penny wished that things could be going much more smoothly. She didn’t like being angry with them and she knew that Rudy did not, either. However, the comment of the zoners being ‘just drawings’ was indeed stepping over the line considering what happened the last time. Did their parents really not grasp that they cared about this world?
Well at least it seemed to be finally clicking in their heads now. Or at least, she hoped. Their nervous expressions, glancing at one another, and the looks of guilt in their eyes seem to suggest that they were starting to really, truly, understand their point of view. At least, it seemed they understood enough to know just how far they stepped over their bounds with their ‘just a drawing’ comment. She would have said something, but she decided to be quiet and let this all sink into their heads. She felt it was best to let them speak first.
For a while, they didn’t speak. They were just quiet. They would sometimes look over at her or at the ground, but their main focus was either at Rudy or towards each other. They appeared to speak to each other non-verbally, their expressions changing to coincide with whatever question and answer they were looking for.
At last, what felt like forever, Mrs. Tabootie made her move. She walked closer to Rudy. The boy looked up at her sternly, gritting his teeth slightly. He didn’t try to yell at her, and his eyes did soften up a little. Penny could tell that Rudy hadn’t meant to yell at his mom like that and he did feel some level of guilt in doing so.
Soon, his mother stood right in front of him. The two locked eyes with each other for several moments. Mrs. Tabootie let out a soft sigh and she reached over and placed her hand against Rudy’s cheek. In a quiet voice, she said, “They...really do mean a lot to you..don’t they?”
Rudy didn’t hesitate to answer. With a nod of his head, hes aid, “Yeah... They do...” He lowered his gaze. “I..I don’t think I could live with myself if I didn’t do anything to help them...”
Mrs. Tabootie stared down at him sympathetically. “I see...” She paused for a moment as she gently caressed Rudy’s cheek. “It would...break your heart...if something happened to them?”
Rudy nodded once more. There was a hint of tears in his eyes. “I’d never forgive myself.”
Penny took this chance to chime in. “Please...you have to let us go there. You have to let us help them. You have to trust us.”
The adults looked at her and then back at each other. There was some uncertainty in their eyes as their pupils gazed at one another. They looked back at the girl. It was hard to tell from their expressions alone what their decision was going to be. At this rate, it could go in almost any direction. Penny clenched her teeth tightly and waited for the answer.
“Well....I don’t think we’d be able to stop you...” Mrs. Sanchez finally said. “We already knew we couldn’t. We were...just hoping that you’d see things our way..”
“We do!” Penny said quickly. She stopped herself and calmed down a little. “I mean... We do... It’s just that...” She paused, turning her head to the side, gritting her teeth. She struggled to find the right thing to say. “It’s not a matter of just wanting... It’s also a matter of needing, too. We love you guys. But we also love ChalkZone. Those people there...they look up to us. They need us. Please...” She shook her head once. “Don’t make us abandon this place..”
Mr. Tabootie gave a soft frown. “Are you sure that the only reason you’re doing this isn’t because this place makes you feel..special?”
Rudy’s eyes widened at this. “What? No!” Rudy shook his head rapidly. “We do it because we care about that place! I don’t care if I’m worshipped there or not! I just want to help them! Please... I...”
His dad raised his hand up to silence him. Penny and Rudy watched him carefully to see what he was going to say. He glared softly down at them. He glanced at the two adults. They gave him concerned and worried looks. But there was something else mixed in those looks. Something that the children could not identify.
When the man looked back at them, the two kids noticed how softer his eyes looked despite the glare. There was something else in the man’s eyes that they did not notice before. Something that they couldn’t quite figure out, just like with the other adults. Just what was going on?
Mr. Tabootie didn’t keep them waiting for too much longer. “Well...if it’s that important to you...” He paused for a moment. Then he gave a very slight, almost invisible smile. “..then okay... We’ll allow you to go.”
Penny and Rudy widened their eyes at this. For several moments, they did not speak a word. They allowed this information to click inside their minds. As it did, they could feel some kind of sensation rise up inside of them. Did they hear right? Did their folks really just...give them permission to try to help ChalkZone..?
A part of them wondered if it was some kind of crazy dream. They wondered if they had somehow misheard, and perhaps they were referring to something else. A long shot, but it was still possible. They could just be misunderstanding this. There could be something else going on and...
But the look in their eyes... No, this had to be real. There was no doubt about it. They had to saying what they thought they were saying. They had to be... And with this realization came smiles that spread so far across their faces that it was almost unnatural. They could feel tears of happiness start to form as they realized that their parents seemed to finally, really understand just how important this was to them.
It didn’t take long for their parents to come in to hug them. Rudy was embraced by his mother and father while Penny was engulfed in her mother’s arms. She could feel the warmth of her mother next to her, feel the gentle rising and falling of her ribs as she breathed. These sensations helped to further establish in their minds that their folks did understand, and it provided a comforting, warm sensation to replace the cold, sharp feeling that had occupied their stomachs for a while.
“Thank you...” Penny said after they finally parted from their parents’ hug. “You don’t know...how much this means to us...”
Rudy nodded his head in agreement. “Thank you so much...”
Their parents smiled at them. They didn’t speak a word just yet. That was all right. Their smiles alone conveyed the message that they wanted to see. Complete and utter understanding.
But soon those smiles faded slightly. Their parents now began to look a little nervous. Penny and Rudy started to look unsure themselves. Were their parents going to take back what they said? No, they couldn’t. There had to be something else.
Turned out, there was.
“I know we granted you permission to go to this place and help it out...but we are still...afraid for you.” Mrs. Sanchez said.
Mrs. Tabootie raised her hand up in gesture. “We would feel much better if we spoke more about this later... Work something out, you know?”
Mr. Tabootie nodded. His voice was stern, but still gentle and warm. “After you are released from the hospital, we will discuss this more. We’ll figure out some kind of arrangement. Do you two understand?”
Penny looked over at Rudy. He stared at her. After a few moments, he gave a nod. Penny looked back and echoed Rudy’s gesture. It wasn’t like they could argue back, anyway. Their parents did have a good reason to be concerned. They could negotiate this and figure out a plan that would help their parents feel much better. Cooperation was key here. She just hoped that, whatever they came up with, it wasn’t going to cause problems for them later.
sss
Rudy stared down at the clock situated in front of him. The small, digital clock that he had gotten from Tilly as a means of keeping track of time in a world where days and nights did not exist as they did here. According to it, it was around eleven in the morning. There was still about an hour left before they were scheduled to head into ChalkZone.
Rudy couldn’t believe how much time had already passed. It seemed only like yesterday that he and Penny were still in the hospital, recovering. But he knew the truth. It had really been about four days. Four long, stinking days trapped there, unable to do anything to help ChalkZone...
He had a few nightmares since then. He kept dreaming of ChalkZone being destroyed, ripped apart and barren. He dreamt that the zoners all began to hate him and told him to get lost. He dreamt that he was coming in just a few seconds too late and watching everything get blown up. The nightmares were all so realistic and relentless... He could feel his blood running cold just thinking about them.
Penny had done her best to calm him down and help him. But he found it difficult to relax. He continued to think these thoughts, continued to feel paranoid about what was going to happen. He knew that there was really only thing thing he could do in order to calm himself down. And that was to go into ChalkZone and free it from whatever had happened to it.
At least this time, he and Penny were more prepared. Unlike before, when they were also gripped with hunger and thirst, they were given backpacks by their parents to help them out. Snacks and drinks were stuffed in there so they wouldn’t feel hungry or thirsty anymore. Along with that, they were also given some basic medicines and bandages in case they needed them. Their folks were fully aware that they could get hurt and thus provided something to treat their wounds so they would not get infected.
A part of Rudy was glad that their folks ended up making them stay in the hospital a little longer. With their wounds mostly healed, with little more than a dull ache here or there for the worse ones, he and Penny were in much better condition to face the threats in that world. It also helped that his eye sight was fully restored. Though his right eye still had a slight ache, it could see now, giving him back his full vision. He was fully prepared now to use the magic chalk and go up against Skrawl and Thoughtless. He wondered how they were going to react when they see him after all this time...
But what of the other zoners? Rudy’s heart clenched at the thought of them. He didn’t know how many were injured, if any were killed. And he was worried that the zoners might not be happy to see him or Penny after they’ve been gone for so long. He wasn’t sure just how understanding they would be when they see him coming back after it’s been over a month since he was last there.
He tried to remind himself of what Penny said. She was a little unsure herself of how the zoners would recieve them. But she tried to stay positive. She believed that the zoners would be more happy to see them than with the idea of continuing to live the way that they had before. The zoners might be angry at first, but once they freed them, they would be grateful. At least some of them. Others might be a little harder to turn around. But Penny did her best to reassure him that everything was going to work out in the end. He tried to take up on this, knowing that he couldn’t be so negative all the time. It wasn’t going to help his situation.
At least one zoner knew that he and Penny were going to return soon. Snap had been, or should have been at least, receiving messages from him about returning. He had wrote a few letters to the guy, explaining to him what happened and assuring him that he was returning. He didn’t know when Snap would have read them as there was no way for the zoner to reply. But Rudy could rest easy knowing that Snap was aware, regardless if he was still brainwashed or not. He gritted his teeth at this. If Snap was still under their control...he’ll figure a way to free him. There had to be a way.
Rudy looked down in his bag that his parents helped to pack. Mrs. Sanchez also helped in terms of her daughter’s bag. Not only did they have food and water, but also some different pairs of clothes in case they needed it. Looking at this, it almost seemed like their parents thought that they were just going on some camping trip. But they knew the truth, and they knew the harsh reality of what he and Penny had to do.
That was where the compromise came in. He and Penny couldn’t believe they had agreed to it, but it was the only way for their parents to agree to help them at all. They had a minimum of two days to help free ChalkZone. After those two days were up, they were to head back as soon as they could. If they did not return in the allocated time, their folks were going to draw something to go after them and pick them up. They were quite serious and he and Penny didn’t bother trying to change their minds, as they were clearly made up. Nothing would sway them.
Rudy tried his best to feel confident that he and Penny could save this world in that amount of time. But he couldn’t help but worry. What if something went wrong? What if they couldn’t save ChalkZone in time? What if they were in the middle of a fight and they get forcibly taken away?
All the more reason to fix things as soon as possible...
“Well...looks like it’s almost time...” Penny whispered softly. She pulled the zipper of her bag, creating that loud sound for a couple of seconds. It served as a reminder to Rudy of the limited time that they had. “Are you ready?”
Rudy was surprised that she was even asking that. He looked over at her. He gave a determined look in his eyes. Slowly, his head nodded up and down. “Of course I am.” He looked towards the ground, his frown deepending. “Skrawl and Thoughtless have had way too much fun in that world by now... It is time we crashed their ‘party’...”
Penny nodded in agreement. “Of course. And we will. Just...remember the plan, okay?”
“Yeah I know. We don’t rush to make a move just yet. We look around and see what’s happened.” Rudy was quite aware of this. Penny insisted they did a little scouting first before they tried stopping Skrawl and Thoughtless. This was to just make sure that they weren’t caught off guard or anything.
Penny looked over at the digital clock at Rudy held. She clenched her teeth a little. “Well...I think it’s time we start heading over.”
Rudy blinked at this. “I thought it was...”
“Rudy, that clock says it’s eleven thirty.”
Rudy tilted his head at this. “It does?” He looked down at the clock. Sure enough, Penny had been correct. He was tempted to slap himself in the face. “Oh of course it is... I should have known!” He looked back at Penny. “Where did they say they were putting the portal this time?”
“In your living room.” Penny replied. “They felt it was the best place to put it so they could more easily keep an eye on when we’d be back.”
Rudy wasn’t really sure if he liked that idea. What if they came back at night and their parents did not shut the curtains? Someone could easily spot the bright flash of light and see them coming out of the portal. But then again, the odds of that were slim. And he could see why their parents would want to put the portal there. At least they didn’t do something stupid and put it outside or something.
Not wanting to waste any more time, Rudy and Penny decided to head down into the living room right now. They would like to have a bit of time to say goodbye to their folks before heading out into ChalkZone. It was the least they could do to help them feel better about them leaving them again. They didn’t say goodbye before. This time, they will.
The two of them, holding their backpacks against their spines, the straps pressing against their shoulders, headed down the steps slowly. They noticed just how quiet it seemed. It almost made them think that their folks weren’t there at all. This notion was only disproven after they could see their parents’ shadows and realized, yes indeed, that their parents were there. They just were quiet. A little too quiet, as though deep in thought.
This was further proven when they actually came into the living room. Their parents were sitting on the couch, with Mr. and Mrs. Tabootie on one side and Mrs. Sanchez on the other, her small frame easily able to fit in what little space was left. The chalkboard was situated in front of them, and they were looking right at the black surface that faced them. Slowly, they looked towards them as they heard them approach.
They flinched as they saw their expressions. They were somewhat haunted, intermixed with hidden fear and reluctance. Their parents didn’t have to say a word for the two kids to know just what was going on through their minds. What they were about to do... They all knew that there was a slim chance that they weren’t going to make it back, and even higher chance of coming back injured.
Yet their folks did not say anything to stop them this time. There was something else in their eyes that helped to pinpoint the reason. Their expressions held acceptance. Even if it was reluctant, their parents had finally accepted that they weren’t going to be held back. Even if there was a chance that they might end up badly hurt like Reggie, they were still willing to risk their lives to help their friends. Their parents were right; they wouldn’t have been able to stop them. At least this way, they could maintain a level of understanding.
Rudy took a moment to look around real quick. He was glad to see that Aunt Tilly wasn’t here. Not that he was not happy to see her or anything. But he feared that she’d bring along Sophie and she’d try to sneak into the chalk world with him. He remembered the last time she had ventured there. He wanted to make sure a repeat didn’t happen. Especially not during tough times like this...
For a while, they remained silent. Rudy and Penny remained a few feet away from their parents, looking at them sadly. And their parents looked right back at them, sharing a similar expression. They remained like this for a few moments. The silence that spread made the air thicken up. The feeling of anxiety waved through the air, cutting through them as if they were just butter. It stayed like this for a while before anyone even attempted to take action.
Then, after what felt like forever, someone finally broke the silence.
It was Mr. Tabootie. “So...this is it, isn’t it?”
“Almost. We still have some time to...well..say goodbye.” Rudy said softly. He flinched a little as he said that. It sounded so...final.
“There is no other way?” Mrs. Tabootie spoke up. Her voice sounded so desperate, as if she was hoping and praying that there was another solution. Rudy wouldn’t doubt if his mother was thinking like this. After all, he was her son, and the idea of him heading out into danger willingly must be so frightening for her. “There has to be something...”
Mrs. Sanchez placed her hand on Mrs. Tabootie’s shoulder. Before Rudy could think to reply, Mrs. Sanchez already spoke in his place. “You heard what they said before. There isn’t really much else they can do. And we can’t stop them either.”
Rudy watched as his mother gained a pained look. He felt guilty watching it. “But...” She gave up quickly, letting out a soft sigh. “Yeah..you’re right...”
“Just...be careful, you two...” Rudy heard his father say. The tall, lanky man stared down at him, his eyes soft and wide with worry and acceptance. “I’m counting on you two to be able to return in one piece. Can we trust you on that?”
Rudy gave the best answer that he could think of. “We will try our best, dad.” He smiled the best that he could. “We promise.”
Penny smiled as well. It was a little shaky, but it was still there. “As soon as we save that world, we will come back. You can count on that.”
Mrs. Sanchez smiled at this. “We know, Penita. We are still worried about you... But we do understand that we need to try to be more trusting. You two have proven that you can handle this world, from all that you have told us. We should try to listen to you more. You two are not as incapable as he like to think.”
“It’s just that...you are still our babies.” Mrs. Tabootie wiped a small tear from her eye. “If anything were to happen to you.. I-I don’t know what we’d do...”
Rudy stared at his mother. “Mom...”
“Yeah... We still see you as our little children, and we feel the need to protect you. We can’t imagine you two being so...so grown up that you could go on rescue missions like this.” Mr. Tabootie said as he raised his hand up slowly. “But we know that we cannot hold you back simply because of how we feel... There’s more than enough evidence you told us to convince us that you are capable of doing this on your own. We are still...quite reluctant in doing this. But...we know it is for the best.”
“We just want you two to stay safe.” Mrs. Sanchez said.
“Don’t worry.” Rudy replied. “We will.”
“And everything will be back to normal...mostly.” Penny took a small step forward. “You will see.”
The parents exchanged smiles with their children. They remained quiet for a few moments before the children began to approach their parents. Once they got close enough, they moved in so that their parents could embrace them one more time. They hugged each other tightly, pressed themselves up against one another, and stayed like this for what felt like hours. For a while, all Rudy and Penny were aware of was their parents’ warm embrace.
They soon had to part, however. They could not remain like this forever. Pretty soon, they’d have to leave. But before they did, they remained pressed against their parents on the couch. They enjoyed the feel of their parents’ fingers running through their hair, caressing the soft strands. They found themselves closing their eyes, becoming unaware of anything except for their parents’ gentle touch.
Then the moment had come. It was quicker than any of them had thought it would be. Time was really flying lately. Rudy was hardly aware of the minutes passing by as he held onto his mother. He and Penny only became aware when their parents gently nudged them and reminded them that it was time to go.
Rudy and Penny didn’t leave right away. They remained with their parents for a little while longer. They hugged them again, embracing them. They all shared soft words of comfort and reassurance. They all shed a few tears as they all realized that this could be the last time they’d see each other. As much as they wanted to believe that the odds were slim, the truth was they were all aware of the likelihood of it happening at all. So if this was truly the last time they will see each other, Rudy wanted to make sure that it was memorable. Penny felt the same way.
Then, after a couple of minutes, the two children turned their attention towards the chalkboard. They stared at it long and hard. Many thoughts were racing through their minds. They were both aware that they still didn't know just what laid beyond the portal. They both knew that so much could have happened in ChalkZone and when they stepped through, they might not even recognize the place anymore. Fear momentarily gripped them, and for a very, very split second, they wondered if they should leave it all behind and move on.
They immediately shook that horrible thought out of their heads. There was no way they could turn their backs now. They had been gone from this world for way too long, and Skrawl and Thoughtless were overdue for being captured and taken into custody. They both had a lot to answer for, and he and Penny had to go back and make sure that happened. All those zoners were counting on them.
They narrowed their eyes in determination. It was time that they took action. Rudy raised up the magic chalk and began to draw the portal.
“Good luck, you two!” Mr. Tabootie said from beyond.
“Take care!” Mrs. Tabootie chimed in.
Mrs. Sanchez added, “We love you!”
As the portal opened up, the light shining on their faces, Rudy and Penny glanced over at their parents. They stared at them for several moments. Slowly, they smiled at them. They soon turned their heads back towards the portal they had just opened. They stared at it for a couple of seconds. Then, without further hesitation, they went through it.
sss
Skrawl leaned back in his throne. He enjoyed the softness of the pillows placed against it. He enjoyed the cold feeling of the chair’s arms against his own. It was a sensation that never got old to him. It reminded him of his victory a month ago, and how he had achieved what he always wanted. Oh yes, this would never tire in his eyes.
He was fully aware that this might not last. He didn’t really know how long it would. A month was a decent amount of time, but that was nothing more than a mere speck in the long run. Would he be able to hold his reign for much longer? Despite what he said to Snap before, there was a small part of him that was slightly worried about this. However, with Rudy and Penny’s absense, it did make it much easier for his reign to continue.
He turned his head and he smirked down at Snap. The zoner wasn’t looking at him. He remained curled up in his cage beside him, still wearing that metal collar he had given him. Snap usually had something to say to him right about now. It would seem that, perhaps, he had finally realized that he might be wrong about Rudy and Penny coming back.
Snap wasn’t his only prisoner here, either. He looked over at his other side, and he could see Zebin. The chinese unicorn was a little more restrained. Its back legs were tied with strong rope and its mouth was placed in a muzzle. Not exactly completely secure, though Skrawl had no fear of the zoner getting out. He just wanted to make it uncomfortable. He didn’t want to allow this zoner any chance of full relaxation. Not after what it had done.
Skrawl was able to keep his anger under control. After all, he had won this round. He should spend more time enjoying himself. As this world’s Grim Reaper, he had control over everyone and everything, just how it always should be. Even if Zebin or Snap did some how manage to escape, they wouldn’t be able to get too far. Especially not with his upgraded Beanie Boys moving around, patrolling the city and his castle. They were authorized to kill on sight unless he said otherwise. These two might complain and grumble and argue with him, but they were not stupid. They would not attempt to leave unless they had a death wish.
He was getting a little bored right now. He didn’t want to waste any more energy today tormenting the zoners. There really wasn’t much need to do that. He could accomplish this by doing nothing; the fear alone that terrified the zoners was good enough. Those zoners knew that he could strike at any time, and the swirling cloud above them reminded them all that he was watching them. He smiled, feeling a flutter in his chest as he imagined just how those zoners must be squirming about right now, like little rats being set free in a field. It was glorious.
Maybe he would spend some time taunting Snap some more. Yeah, that would be an excellent way to pass the time. He loved seeing Snap squirm about as his emotions raged through him. He loved to see Snap try to act like everything was going to be fine, and that Rudy and Penny would come to save him, only to start to fall down into despair as Skrawl continuously reminded him of how it’s been a month and Rudy and Penny still haven’t come.
It was just so much fun watching Snap start to lose hope like that. It was fun watching his hope be crushed by the harsh reminder of the fact that his human friends still weren’t here. They were gone, outside of this world, with no sign of coming back in.
At least, that’s what he wanted Snap to think. Skrawl was ware of the letters that Rudy had been sending about their return. Skrawl wasn’t really sure if they were coming back or not. He wanted to believe that they weren’t, but he was not a fool. However, he knew what this would do for Snap if he found out, so he went on acting as though they weren’t coming back. So long as Snap didn’t know they were returning, he could continue to torment him. Maybe if he broke him enough, Snap would turn against him like those other zoners did. And he wouldn’t even need Thoughtless’s help on that.
However, his relaxation was interrupted when he heard the sound of a Beanie Boy coming into his office at a rather quick pace. The propeller was turning very quickly, creating a screeching buzz as the Beanie Boy approached. The air soon filled with his loud panting. It was enough to rouse Snap and Zebin, who turned their heads over to see what was going on.
Skrawl watched as Rho, his current second in command, rushing towards him as quickly as he could. His eyes were wide and his mouth was open as he struggled take in each breath. From the look in his eyes, what he had seen was quite troublesome.
Narrowing his eyes, Skrawl said, “Speak! What is it you wanted to tell me?”
“S-Sir...It’s...” Rho continued to pant heavily. He struggled to keep himself breathing. His lungs sounded almost like they were on fire. Skrawl, however, was growing impatient. He didn’t let the Beanie Boy finish before he backhanded him to try to knock some sense into him. “They...they have come...”
Skrawl tilted his head to one side. He raised up an eyebrow. “Who?”
Rho stared at him for a few moments. His eyes were wide and had a somewhat haunted look to them. “R-Rudy and P-Penny, sir...”
Skrawl froze at this. Of all the news that he thought this zoner was going to bring, that was one that he hoped he’d never hear. His eyes widened and he felt his mouth opening up a little. He allowed this information to was through him, settling in the back of his mind. After all this time of ruling without hindrance, the two individuals that could stop him have finally set foot back into ChalkZone.
“I told you! I told you they’d come back!” Snap called out. Skrawl turned to glare at him. Snap was smirking back at him, his mouth corners curved up into a wide, grinning smile. “Just wait until Rudy and Penny get here! They’re going to kick your a.... Ahhhhh!” Snap was shot by a spark of red electricity, knocking him into the back of his cage.
“Oh shut up!” Skrawl growled at him. He listened to the zoner whimper in pain as he glared at him coldly. “Next time you speak up, I will make sure your heart stops beating...” He smiled twistedly. “Would you want your friends to find your rotten corpse?”
Snap’s eyes widened and his face paled. He said nothing more. Satisfied by this, Skrawl turned his attention back to Rho. Although he looked disappointed by this news at first, Skrawl couldn’t help but stretch a smile across his face. This confused the Beanie Boy and clearly unnerved Snap and Zebin.
“Sir...?” Rho asked in a quiet voice. “What are you...?”
“Thank you for that bit of information, Rho. I am...quite pleased actually.” Skrawl said.
“What? You are?” Rho blinked his eyes a few times. “But sir...didn’t you hear me...?” He held out his hands, motioning towards the jellybean. “Rudy and Penny are back! They’re going to ruin everything!”
Skrawl smirked at this. “I have been waiting for them to return. I want to see their reaction when they see all that I have done. I want to see their looks of despair and defeat as I finish them off myself. I want to see them squirm and hear them beg. I want to see the looks in their pitiful eyes as I snuff the life out of them!” Skrawl raised his hand up, flexing his claws. “It’s going to feel so good finally ripping my claws into them..”
Skrawl could hear Snap gasp in protest. He turned his head to face the small blue and white zoner. He could see the look of desperation in his eyes. He could see Snap shake his head slowly, silently begging Skrawl not to do it. The sight of this only made Skrawl’s smile increase.
“I see.” Rho nodded his head slowly. He didn’t seem so confused anymore, although now he looked a bit uncertain. He turned his head back out where he had come from. Then he looked back at Skrawl. “Should I sent some Beanie Boys over to get them for you?”
Skrawl thought about this. He was tempted to say yes. But he had another idea. “No, not yet. I want to prolong their suffering. Allow them to wander around a bit. Let them see what their absense had cost them. Keep an eye on them, but don’t make a move just yet.” Skrawl grinned viciously as he tapped his claws together a couple of times. “Give them some time to...contemplate their failure...”
Rho blinked at this. Then he smiled himself. “I understand, sir.” With that, the Beanie Boy turned around and took off.
Skrawl turned his head back down to Snap. He took a few steps towards the cage. Snap cringed as he craned his head to look up at the jellybean. “Looks like you were right, Snap. They did come back. But I’m afraid you are wrong about something. It is not me who is going to have their ass kicked. It will be them. Believe me, you little worm...”
Skrawl raised up his claw, pointing the tip towards the ceiling. It sparked with red electricity, thanks to the power of...what did Thoughtless call them.. geomites. The sight of it caused Snap’s face to pale further.
“I will have the last laugh this time.”
|
|
|
|
Post by Bluedramon on Aug 29, 2015 19:07:33 GMT -5
Chapter 48:
The sight that greeted the children as they entered through the portal was absolutely horrific. While neither of them expected anything all that pretty, what they did find was horrible, far more than they ever could have imagined.
Everything just looked...dead. The trees, the grass, the other plants... They were all just...greyed out. It was as though they were turned to stone. Only the soft impact of each footstep they took indicated otherwise. The air around them felt unusually thick in some places and thin in others. It was nonconsistant, adding more terror to their minds as they explored this unfamiliar world, far different from the happy go lucky place that they were used to.
It was hard to tell if this was Day Zone or Night Zone. Only their memories of before were able to tell them just where they were. Everywhere, it was so dark. The Day Zone sun wasn’t visible anywhere. The skies were covered in a thick, grey cloud, blocking out most of the sunlight. This forced Rudy to draw a flashlight so he and Penny could see more of where they were going.
Above them, they could see that the clouds were swirling. It was as though they wanted to form twisters. At any moment, it looked as though a twister was going to show up, ripping through the land like it was nothing. Though it never happened, the two children couldn’t help but keep their bodies arched, ready to bolt at the first sign of a tornado forming. And over along the horizon, they could see that this cloud stretched. There were no openings or breaks. Just nothing but greys and shadows and menacing swirling as far as the eye could see.
Just how far did this cloud stretch and just what was its significance? There was something rather strange about it. Was it drawn by a child? That was a possibility, but the two kids had a strong hunch that Skrawl was behind this. The timing was just too coincidental to be dismissed as chance.
Seeing all of this made them feel even worse about not coming back sooner. If they had just hurried themselves up, maybe they would have been able to prevent this from happening. Maybe they could have reversed it before it got this far. While it was uncertain just what this cloud was doing, the ominous atmosphere that it was creating strongly suggested that it played some kind of part in making the zoners’ lives miserable.
And speaking of the zoners, where were they? The two children hadn’t seen any of them since they entered this world. Not even an animal zoner, like say a small bird or a scurrying little reptile. It was just...bare and empty. It was as though the whole place got evacuated, and the zoners fled some kind of catastrophe. Was all of ChalkZone like this? How far did it stretch? Were there any zoners left? Well of course there’d be zoners. The question was...where were they?
Rudy couldn’t help but bite his lip. He could seel a strong sense of guilt wash through him. He couldn’t help but regard this as all his fault. He should have tried harder to get back sooner. He should have been more careful. He should have done..something...
But instead, he had allowed the red chalk to control him. His experience with the red chalk had ultimately brought on Skrawl’s victory. There was really no other way to interpret it. If he and Penny hadn’t been within the red chalk’s grasp, they could have fought against Skrawl and defeated him, along with Thoughtless. But due to the red chalk controlling them, that was hindered, and caused them to get knocked out and taken out of ChalkZone for a month. If only they had tried harder to control themselves...
Well there was nothing they could do about that now. At least they were here, and they could now do something to help. He just hoped that it wasn’t too late. Looking all around him, it certainly seemed as though they had arrived too late, that there was not much they could do. But Rudy did not want to give up. There had to be a way to turn all of this around.
He and Penny continued their hike through ChalkZone. Left and right, they looked. It was the same story everywhere. Decaying, dead grey plants. No signs of any zoners. A constantly swirling cloud overhead, taunting them with its presence, giving a silent, ominous warning. The atmosphere continued to be relentless. Despite there still being enough oxygen in the air, there were times when Rudy and Penny had a bit of trouble breathing, causing them to clutch at their throats. They couldn’t help but wonder if this was going to hinder their ability to fight Skrawl and Thoughtless.
Eventually, as they continued to walk, they could start to see ChalkZone City before them. The sight of it caused them to bring their hands to their mouths. Even there, it seemed that the disaster had spread.
Some of the buildings appeared to be torn down. They had several holes in their sides, each one having a black ring around it, indicating it was shot by some thick laser. Other buildings simply looked worn and rusted, a couple tilting over as if ready to fall down. Even those that still stood and didn’t appear damaged had something wrong with them. It was hard to pinpoint just what it was. But something definitely seemed different about them. Something unnervingly different.
Things only got worse as the two children walked even closer to the city. They could see more and more things that were wrong. Crimson veins populating parts of the streets and some of the buildings. More decaying buildings about to fall over. Some of the more ‘normal’ ones looking like they were being possessed. Some kind of smoke that rose up from a few large holes, as though the heat from the laser, or whatever struck here, had been so intense that the heat never died down. Had it been recent?
The tall, twisted buildings caught their attention. The dark, rocky buildings sprouted out like trees in a forest. They stretched upwards with spikey ‘branches’ stretching out at its sides. There didn’t even seem to be any windows save for one at the top, and no noticeable entrances. The rocky material that made this stuff up looked too dangerous to even touch. Rudy and Penny had to walk around them to avoid accidentally touching them and possibly getting themselves hurt.
So far, they still didn’t run into any zoners. This place looked as though it was abandoned. Rudy wouldn’t have been surprised if that were the case here. This place did not look very liveable. He couldn’t imagine any zoner trying to survive here. They would have fled, for certain.
He looked over at Penny, noticing the horrified look in her eyes. He could see just how wide her eyes were spreading. He could see how much her mouth was dropping open. He had never seen her look this horrifed before. Just by looking at her eyes, he could tell that her mind was swimming with thoughts as she struggled to understand just what they had landed in. Rudy bit his lip, wanting to say something to her to comfort her. But how could he do that when he was not able to figure out how to comfort himself?
As Rudy and Penny continued to cautiously venture deeper into this strange and unfamiliar city, he looked around at their surroundings. Everywhere, he could see more and more decay and darkness. He could see the dark clouds swirling overhead. He could practically smell the rot all around him. And the more of this that he saw, the more his stomach churned.
It was difficult for him to keep his anger under control. It wasn’t easy preventing himself from snapping and lashing out at the nearest person around him, which was Penny. It was hard to keep his swirling mind from breaking as his body shook with emotion. He settled on grinding his teeth together, pushing them against one another so hard that he almost popped them out of his jaws. He shut his eyes tightly, stopping himself in his tracks as he formed fists with his hands.
“Rudy...?” Penny asked him cautiously.
Rudy didn’t answer her. He didn’t even look at her. He just continued to stand there, his eyes shut tightly. He could feel his body continue to shake, unable to stop. Any time he tried to stop it, the shaking only got worse. It was like he had suddenly gotten cold. He was honestly surprised that his teeth weren’t chattering.
Skrawl...this was all his fault.. Rudy knew that he shouldn’t blame himself for being locked out of ChalkZone for a month. No, it was Skrawl who had done this. He knew that this was the jellybean’s doing. He knew that Skrawl had taken advantage of his and Penny’s absense and conquered this place. All around, he could see more and more of what the jellybean had done. And the more he saw, the more disgusted that he felt. He had to struggle hard not to throw up his breakfast as the anger continued to rip through him as though he were just a stick of butter.
Thoughts raged and danced through his mind. Just how much damage did that hideous, growling jellybean do? Just how much more pain and suffering had he caused? How many zoners did he hurt or even kill? How long had he been ruling them with an iron fist? How long had ChalkZone been in the grips of such a madman..er, zoner?
Well no more. He was going to make sure that Skrawl’s reign of terror ended here. He was going to find that jellybean and he was going to... Well, he wasn’t entirely sure what he was going to do with him yet. A part of him was raging at him to just kill the jellybean while his more sensible and rational side was telling him to just capture the jellybean and lock him away.
His head clouded in anger, his brain aching from all the fast moving thoughts, Rudy was not aware of Penny’s voice calling out to him. As he stood there, shaking in anger, he did not realize that Penny was getting closer to him, nor did he feel her hand on his shoulder. He just barely registered it. He simply glared off ahead into the distance. Staring at nothing and yet everything at once. He seethed through his teeth, the same thought burning through his mind.
Skrawl was going to pay for this.
“Rudy! Snap out of it!”
Rudy blinked a few times as this voice finally cut through his head. Penny...? He then became aware of hands on his shoulders, shaking him. He shook his head moved away, feeling the hands and fingers slip off of him roughly. He turned himself around and he could see Penny standing there. Her eyes were wide as she looked at him in fear and worry. Seeing her look at him this way caused his heart to clench, guilt starting to override the anger that he was feeling.
“Penny...?” Rudy whispered softly as he slowly began to come to his senses. He placed his hand against his forehead, his wide eyes looking left and right. “What...what happened...?”
Penny looked at him sadly. “You were spacing out. You weren’t responding to me. It was like you weren’t even there.”
Rudy clenched his teeth tightly at this, taking in a sharp breath. Had he really been that far gone? Had he really been spacing out like that? He had no memory of Penny shaking him except for a slight sensation, but even then..it just didn’t fully register to him. It was as though he was on a different world, a different plane of existance, unaware of anything going on around him.
How long had he been standing like that? How long did he have Penny worry like that? From the look in her eyes, how horrified and relieved she was, she must have been trying to reach him for quite some time. Had it been just a few minutes? Or had it been hours? He wasn’t sure, and he was too afraid to ask her. He just continued to stand there, his head lowered and eyes wide, his mouth wide open. He took in a few quick breaths as he looked over at Penny. He licked his lips a bit and then, slowly, he opened his mouth to speak.
“Oh, Penny... I’m..I’m so sorry...” Rudy whispered softly. “I-I didn’t mean to...”
Penny took a few steps closer. She reached out and she placed her hand against her cheek. “It’s all right, Rudy. It’s going to be okay.” She said gently. A small smile spread across her lips. “I understand...”
Rudy stared at her. “You do..?”
Penny nodded her head. “Of course. I could see the look in your eyes, Rudy. I could see the anger that flowed from them. You’re angry at Skrawl, aren’t you?” Rudy nodded his head. “So am I, Rudy. I can feel my stomach trying to eat itself. Seeing all of this has me enraged as well. Of course, that shouldn’t surprise you.”
Rudy shook his head. If Penny hadn’t been angry, that would make him feel some concern and worry. He still felt guilty, however, for worrying Penny so much. He bit his lip and said, “Still, I should...” His voice trailed off. He paused for a moment, trying his best to collect his thoughts. Then he said, “I should have realized what was going on and stopped myself. I-I never meant to make you worry so much...”
Penny raised her finger up. Rudy shut his mouth when he saw it. He stared at her, waiting for a response. “Please...stop, Rudy. You can’t...”
Suddenly, there was a loud sound from behind them. Their bodies stiffened up at this, their eyes widening. Just what was that? It sounded almost as though something collapsed. They could hear the sound of rocks rolling down, clanging against the hard surfaces, the sound seeming to echo throughout the area. They remained still for a couple of seconds beforre they slowly turned their heads to look at what was behind them.
Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Well, almost. They could see a small rubble of rocks behind them where they had been walking earlier. The sight of it reminded them of what kind of place that they were in. It reminded them that these buildings weren’t as firm as they used to be, and all around, there were several places that were on the verge of breaking apart. Seeing this rock pile before them served to tell the children just how close they were to being crushedy by those rocks. If Rudy had stopped just a few feet earlier...
He shook his head, trying to regain control of himself. This was not the place to remain frozen like that. This was not the place where they could just stand around for a while and speak. They had to get moving. If they could find a more sturdy building, they could go in there and try to regain their bearings and talk more of what they were going to do. Standing around here just wasn’t safe.
Slowly, the two children began to continue their trek through the city. They didn’t bother saying anything. They remained quiet. They struggled to keep their gaze ahead, trying not to allow themselves to be reeled in by their anger by seeing all the damage all around them. They tried not to allow themselves to be brought down to their knees by their emotion. They continued to push themselves forward, keeping their eyes straight, looking for shelter while keeping an eye out for any further signs of collapse.
They were getting lucky. So far, there wasn’t any other instance of collapse. They didn’t see any buildings trying to come down to the ground. They didn’t see any rocks or boulders or pieces of debris coming down towards them. They didn’t hear anything else that was alarming, aside from the eerie, uncomfortable silence. They weren’t sure how long this luck was going to last, but they took advantage of it and kept on going.
Eventually they came out onto a main road. They immediately stopped and looked around. They could see all the holes in the ground. The sight of them made them flinch, bringing their fingers to their mouths. This place looked horrible, clearly more frequently targeted than the backwater areas they were in previously.
What made this even more eerie is that...they could actually recognize this street. There was no way they could mistake the shop right across the street. There was no way that they wouldn’t recognize Chalk Dad’s butchery shop, where he made all kinds of meat products. Although the building showed little damage, there was something about it that seemed almost..haunted. It was hard to describe, but something felt...wrong about it. It was the same feeling that they got with some of the other buildings. Why was that?
Rudy thought about rushing over and trying to see if Chalk Dad was there. He wanted to see if he was okay. He could feel his heart thumping and racing as he thought about what might have happened to him. He just...had to see if he was all right.
Yet he couldn’t move. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get himself to move towards the meat shop. Something caused his legs to remain glued to the ground, preventing him from going anywhere. All he could do was stare at the shop before him. It was as though there was some kind of large shield before him that was preventing him from being able to walk. Something about the atmosphere just...felt so wrong...
Rudy glanced over at Penny. He could tell that she was having similar thoughts. She was staring longingly at the shop. Her legs were slightly wobbly, ready to sprint towards the shop. Yet Penny never made a move towards it. Like him, she remained stuck on the sidewalk across the street, unable to do anything more than just stare.
Then something finally changed.
They could see movement. It was faint, but still there. Rudy and Penny looked over, their eyes wide, as they saw someone coming out of the meat shop. The door opened up and they could see a short figure coming out. Despite not wearing his usual outfit, the two of them recognized the zoner immediately as Chalk Dad.
The sight of him caused Rudy’s heart to flutter. Chalk Dad didn’t look like he was injured. His facial expression, or at least what he could see with the man’s head turned away like that, indicated a lot of mental haunting. But at least he was physically all right, so that was something at least. Seeing Chalk Dad made Rudy want to rush over and hug him, yet he still remained put. He had no idea just what his mental state was going to be like, and the last thing he wanted to do was start any trouble.
It didn’t take long for Chalk Dad to notice them. As soon as he turned around to begin walking away, he noticed them. His eyes widened and he froze. He stared at them long and hard for a few seconds, his eyes blinking as he tried to come to terms with what he was seeing. He rubbed his eyes and he looked at them again, blinking a couple of times. He then started to speak.
“Rudy...? Penny..? Is that really you...?”
Rudy noticed that the tone wasn’t exactly what he expected, though it wasn’t really a bad tone either. It was...really hard to describe. Regardless, he and Penny tried to smile the best that they could. They wouldn’t be surprised if this was the first genuine smile that this zoner had in a long time.
“Yeah...it’s us.” Rudy said.
“Don’t worry.” Penny added. “We will try to fix this.”
But instead of relief or any kind of comment of happiness, Chalk Dad just looked at them. He remained silent as his eyes moved up and down as he studied them. There was something about his eyes that just didn’t seem right. They lacked the friendliness that they were used to. It was as though his eyes were replaced with ice. This was further supported by the small growl that he emitted, and his hands folded up against his chest.
“Hrmph...you think you can just come back and expect to fix everything just like that? You two have been gone for way too long and too much has already been done. If you had been here sooner...”
Penny tried to speak. “But..we were...”
“Enough of your excuses!” Spat Chalk Dad, raising his hand up. His eyes bored through them as though they were a pair of drills. “I don’t want to hear it! You two have abandoned us in our hour of need! You left us at the hands of an evil tyrant! We waited for you day after day, but you never came back! We tried to resist, but, heh...” With a bitter chuckle and sour smile, the zoner spread his hands outward. “You can see where that has gotten us.”
Rudy stammered, “Please..we..”
Chalk Dad turned to glare at him. “Keep your mouth shut, oh ‘Great Creator’! Heheheh... ‘Great Creator’...what a joke... You abandoned us and left us to rot...” He took a few steps forward. His body shook slightly as the emotion raged through him. “And now you have the gall to come back here and act as though you can fix everything. You came back riding on your ‘brilliant horses like fabulous knights’, metaphorically speaking, and you expect us to be just..okay with it, didn’t you?”
Rudy took in a few shaky breaths. He took a step back, his eyes unable to leave the icy stare of Chalk Dad. He couldn’t believe just how cold he was being towards him and Penny. This...This wasn’t the Chalk Dad he knew and loved. This was...someone else. Some kind of imposter...and yet he knew, somehow, that this was Chalk Dad. But if it was really Chalk Dad...then what happened to make him act this way?
That was a stupid question. Rudy already knew why he was acting like this. Could he really blame the zoner for being upset with him? Could he really be surprised that Chalk Dad was acting like this? No, he could not. He and Penny had been absent for a while and if they had gotten here sooner, maybe they could have changed things around.
Still, he wished that Chalk Dad would give them a chance to speak. They didn’t deliberately abandoned them; they were forced into it by unfortunate events. They really had struggled to get here as quickly as they could. And though they had come way too late, at least they were here now. That..had to count for something, right...?
Apparently, not to Chalk Dad. He just continued to regard them coldly. Even though his voice seemed quite calm, it was laced in rage. It was clear that this zoner had a lot of pent up anger towards them. It didn’t matter if they proved they didn’t leave on purpose; the anger that surged through the zoner’s mind would prevent him from seeing the logic of what they were saying. There was nothing they could do to stop Chalk Dad from releasing some of that backed up anger towards them.
“You two...you are really disgusting, you know that? I can’t believe that you think that you can waltz back and expect everyone to be so happy to see you. Well guess what! Many of us aren’t! Many of us would prefer you just stay away like the cowards you were!” Chalk Dad fumed, forming fists with his hands. “You didn’t care enough to help us before, so what the hell changed now? Besides, you think you can reverse all the pain and suffering? Do you have any idea how many zoners I had seen get killed?! Do you have any idea how many zoners I watched suffer?! It’s not something that you can unsee, though I’m sure that, if you have any amount of a heart left, you’d know that...”
Rudy felt his body shake. He could feel a heated sensation crawl up his body. He could feel his own anger start to rise. Despite understanding why Chalk Dad was talking to them like this, he couldn’t help but start to feel angry himself. Penny was too busy staring in shock, though he guessed that she was feeling pretty upset herself.
How could Chalk Dad continue to accuse theml ike that? How could he not give them a chance to explain? How could he just stand there and rant and rave towards them instead of being grateful that they were back? If Rudy wanted to, he could very easily erase this zoner from existance. And a small, twisted part of him was almost tempted to do that.
Rudy did manage to shake that horrible thought from his mind, but he was not able to completely dissipate all the anger burning inside of him. He was able to keep his facial expression how it was, resisting the urge to glare back at the zoner, fearing that doing so would only make things worse. Penny also seemed to be doing a pretty good job with avoiding such a facial expression. Of course, the lack of such an expression didn’t really do much to slow down Chalk Dad.
“Oh I have so much I wanted to say to you two.. I thought I wouldn’t get a chance until Skra...Grim Reaper decided it was my time to go.”
The mention of Grim Reaper caused Rudy and Penny to look at each other momentarily. Just what was the zoner talking about? Why did he refer to Skrawl as the ‘Grim Reaper’? They weren’t able to even try to ask that question before Chalk Dad cut them from their thoughts.
“But since you are here...” Chalk Dad gave them a slightly twisted smile. “Let me lay down for you my thoughts...”
sss
Snap couldn't believe it. A part of him wondered if he was just hearing things. Could it really be true? Could Rudy and Penny really be..?
Despite his reaction towards Skrawl earlier, a part of him had a hard time fully believing it himself. After all this time, it seemed so...surreal for Rudy and Penny to finally, at last, be returning. It was so unreal. He thought that he was in come kind of dream, and that he would wake up any moment to find that he was still trapped in a nightmare.
But the more he waited, the more he tried to wake up, the more he began to realize that this was no dream. This was reality. Rudy and Penny really have returned. He had seen the look in Skrawl's eyes. Despite the jellybean's brave tone and how he planned on having fun with them, he knew that the jellybean was nervous on some level. And this alone was enough to bring a smile to Snap's face.
He had never felt this happy in a long time. In fact, he didn't really recall feeling happy at all during his stay here. Anger and despair and determination, yes, but happiness? No. It felt as though it had slipped out of his grasp, and a part of him had wondered if he would ever feel true happiness again.
Now, with this wonderful news, he could feel the positive emotion surging up inside of him once more. It felt so good… He closed his eyes and allowed it to overwhelm him. He struggled hard not to laugh. He knew there was still much to do, and Skrawl was still large and in charge. But...for now..he wanted to enjoy this. He wanted to take the time to really enjoy the path to victory that had been opened. No longer was Skrawl ruling unhindered. Now, he finally had something to worry about.
But despite his happiness, Snap did still feel some caution. He realized that Rudy and Penny just being in ChalkZone was not going to be enough to really turn the tides. If they wanted to try to make a difference, they would have to work much harder than this. They would have to actually work towards the goal of removing Skrawl from his so-called 'royal' position.
And that was not going to be easy. Especially not with all the help that he has now…
Snap bitterly recalled how Skrawl had upgraded his Beanie Boys and sent them throughout ChalkZone City. This place had been the first one struck. It had been so easily conquered. He recalled that it only took...what a few days to do so? And that was probably being generous.
Now those Beanie Boys patrolled the conquered city, fully armed and able to kill on sight if the zoners weren't doing what they should. This gave him another reason to be glad to be Skrawl's personal prisoner. At least here, he didn't run the risk of being destroyed by one of those goofy-looking puffballs.
He wondered how Rudy and Penny would do against them. He assumed that they had brought with them magic chalk. It didn't seem likely that they would come into this world without it. They weren't stupid. At least Rudy would be armed, and he would be fully prepared to strike back at Skrawl should the jellybean raise his ugly head. And the Beanie Boys would be in for quite the challenge as well.
But..what if they didn't find any magic chalk? What if they weren't able to come here with any? The thought chilled the zoner's blood. He hoped this wasn't the case. If so….they were all in trouble.
The Chalk Mine was sealed up and guarded. Biclops apprehended and locked up, unable to do anything to help. And the Beanie Boys, some of them, occupied the mines now, keeping an eye on them so that no one could get in. If Rudy and Penny had no magic chalk and they tried to go in there, he feared that they wouldn't be able to make it in too far.
However, despite his fear, he still held some hope that Rudy and Penny would be able to succeed. Even if it took a long while, he did truly believe that they could turn the tides. Regardless of what some of the other zoners were saying, they would turn things around and Skrawl would be defeated.
“Hrmph...I can't believe they came back.” Grumbled Zebin. Its voice was stern, but more on the emotionless side than anything.
Snap turned to glare at it. “What do you mean? Aren't you glad that they came back?” Snap motioned his hand towards it. “Or do you like being tied up like that.”
Zebin shut its eyes and lifted its head up. “If fate wanted me to be like this, then so be it.”
Snap growled softly at this. He had forgotten how fatalistic this zoner was. Believing that fate and the universe decided everything. Just sitting around, doing nothing while everything happened. It was hardly worth talking to. Nothing he said would get through to the zoner. So he just settled with glaring at it.
Zebin noticed this look, but merely shrugged its shoulder. It looked away from Snap, staring out into the distance. It gained a contemplative look in its eyes, which narrowed slightly. Snap wasnt' really sure what was on the zoner's mind, nor did he care. He just hoped that the zoner would be quiet so he could think more. But, upon seeing the zoner open its mout, Snap realized that he wasn't going to be that lucky.
“But that wasn't really what I was referring to.” At this, Snap turned to the zoner, giving it a sideways glance. Zebin picked up on his unasked question and said, “I'm more concerned about how some of the zoners will react tot hem. Rudy and Penny came in so late that I have doubts many zoners would look upon them so kindly.”
Although Snap understood where the zoner was coming from, he wanted to be more positive. He wanted to believe that at least some zoners would be willing to listen to them. From what he recalled, not all the zoners had turned their backs on Rudy and Penny so harshly.
“Are you saying they should give up?” Snap asked, narrowing his eyes at the chinese unicorn. “Are you saying they should have just let you kill them?”
Snap still hadn't fully forgiven this zoner for that. He had learned about it after he woke up in the hospital, sometime before his capture, while he was still recovering from Cornerstone's venom. When he first heard it, he recalled the rage that consumed him. Okay not right away; it was only after he had recovered enough to realize what had went on with him. Still, he was not very happy with Zebin and it took a while before he could settle down in his presence.
Even now, he still felt that boiling anger deep in his stomach. He only tolerated the zoner's presence because there was little else that he could do. It wasn't like he could chase the zoner away or anything, and while he could yell at Zebin, he doubted that would have gone anywhere. So he mostly just ignored it and stayed quiet.
This was one of those few times where he couldn't just ignore it anymore. Zebin's words were getting him worked up. He couldn't understand why it felt that Rudy and Penny should have just never returned. Just what was it thinking? Did it honestly believe that them staying away would have made things any better? Did it think that fate was somehow going to make this all better? Snap struggled not to roll his eyes at this.
He could hear a soft sigh from the zoner. He turned his head, glaring in the direction of the chinese unicorn. He wondered what more nonsense it was going to spout. It was almost incredible that Zebin could even do this, consdering its position. He wished that Skrawl had tightened the muzzle on its face so the zoner could not speak.
“I...do wish them the best of luck.”
Snap widened his eyes at this. He pulled his head back and stared at the chinese unicorn in surprise. He continued to stare, waiting to see if he misheard that. But the more he waited, the longer the chinese unicorn didn't speak, the more he realized that Zebin must have meant to say that. But...why? Didn't it think that Rudy and Penny were better off dead?
“You do…?” Snap managed to say.
Zebin nodded its head. “I know that must come as a surprise to you. But I do care. More so than you might realize. I am sorry you do not see that side of me that much.” It turned its head and stared towards the balcony. “If those two children aren't careful, then we can kiss our freedom goodbye.”
Snap nodded his head slowly. He couldn't agree more. If the zoners out there do anything too drastically, then they were going to lose the one thing that might save them all from this living hell. He hoped that the zoners weren't stupid enough to take that away.
sss
Rho remained hidden behind one of the twisted buildings. The sharp, rocky formations formed perfect places for him to hide while he kept an eye on the scene unfolding before him. He couldn't stop the smile from spreading across his face, his teeth showing in his broad, twisted grin.
“You two are nothing more than disgusting traitors! How dare you come back here!”
The fact that this was from Chalk Dad, one of the creators' past allies, made this all the more rich. It was quite enjoyable to see the usually amiable male zoner go all out against these children. The hurt in his voice was quite apparent. Rho could tell that he had been through so much, although he already knew this as he was one of the Beanie Boys that helped put him in that situation in the first place.
But that was besides the point. It was quite clear right now that all of Chalk Dad's anger towards him, towards Skrawl was now being channeled towards these two children. Even if the zoner was somehow happy to see them, his anger overrid all that and left behind nothing more than an empty shell.
This caused the Beanie Boy to feel a sense of glee rising up inside of his stomach. He could barely contain his excitement. While he didn't like being yelled at himself, it was always a joy to hear when others ended up getting in trouble, especially those who had wronged him.
He had never forgiven Rudy and Penny for all that they have done towards him and Skrawl and the other Beanie Boys. Time and again, those two had stood in their way to a better future. The thought of all those past failures made the Beanie Boy fill up with anger, his teeth gritting for a few seconds. He did eventually get himself to relax, reminding himself that this time, the tides had turned. Now it was Rudy and Penny who were getting a bit of a wake up call.
Of course, a part of him had to thank them in some way. Without them, he doubted he would have gotten promoted to second in command, to general. Their actions, in some way, had led to the death of Delta. How did it happen? Ah yes, Rudy. He wondered, for a moment, how Rudy would react to that.
However, he hung himself back. Despite his personal feelings, he knew better than to try to rush over and do anything. He could not interfere with this conversation. He could not interrupt, no matter how temping it was. He allowed Chalk Dad to continue ripping the two children apart mentally, and he enjoyed every word that he said.
“Oh don't you dare try to explain to me anything! I know exactly why you abandoned us!” Chalk Dad cried out.
“But we didn't! Please...” Rudy held out his hands in desperation. “Just...listen to us!”
Chalk Dad hissed at him. “Why in tarnation should I do that?! Why should I listen to anything that you say?!”
“Because I'm your creator!”
“Like hell that means anything now, traitor!”
Rho smiled further at this. He couldn't wait to see the children's reactions to when they see some of the other zoners. If they thought Chalk Dad was bad, it was only to get a lot worse. Chalk Dad was actually being pretty tame, if the children could believe it. Rho himself had heard a lot worse things from some of the zoners. In fact, he is pretty sure that a couple of them expressed a desire to kill Rudy and Penny if they dared to step back into this world. He wondered if they will hold up to that statement.
He wasn't able to continue watching this for too long. He could feel a rumble in his side, and he immediately pulled out his walkie talkie. He gripped it in his hand as he held it up and stared at it. He looked over at the group, making sure they could not see him. Then he moved away and pressed his back against the rocky, twisted building. He put his hand over his mouth to cover up his sound and he spoke.
“Yeah, boss?”
A crackle and some static sounded out before he could hear the jellybean's voice on the other line. “Did you find them?”
Rho smirked at this, despite Skrawl not being able to see it. “Yeah, I sure did. They just had quite the run-in with Chalk Dad.” He gave a quick chuckle. “He's really tearing into them right now. You should hear it!”
“So he's reacting just as we thought he would?”
Rho nodded his head quickly. “Yeah he is.” Rho took a moment to look over at the children and male zoner. Although it almost looked like they had stopped speaking, Chalk Dad immediately quenched the silence with even more things to say. “Rudy and Penny are just standing there. They were quite mortified, I would say.”
Skrawl chuckled at this. “Good...good… And how are they enjoying their...stay here?”
Rho felt his smile broaden. “They are reacting just like you said they would, sir. Horrified, scared, shocked… I don't think they would be in much fighting condition if you caught them like that.”
“Not that I wanted to. I would rather they try to fight back so I can feel them squirm in my claws...” Rho could just imagine Skrawl flexing his claws as he said that. “Oh that would be most satisfying...”
Rho felt some level of disappointment that he wasn't allowed to do anything against the two children. They were the ones who had tried to rip him apart, and yet Skrawl didn't say anything about him being allowed to even touch them, let alone take any part of vengeance against them. He would try to say something, but he knows how Skrawl is, and thus, he had no choice but to kepe his mouth shut about that.
Still, despite that disappointment, he still felt some satisfactory knowing that Rudy and Penny would be dealt with. Even if he couldn't personally take some revenge for how they had tried to kill him while under the red chalk's control, the fact that he would get to watch Skrawl dispatch them was good enough.
Oh how he couldn't wait to see the looks in their eyes.. Oh how he couldn't wait to hear their screams as Skrawl's claws came down upon them.. Oh how he longed to see their blood spilling instead of his own…
But he would have to be patient. And anyway, the most important thing here wasn't getting revenge; it was stopping Rudy and Penny from ending Skrawl's reign. They had worked too hard to achieve this; they were not going to make it that easy for Rudy and Penny to just take that all away from them.
“What do you want me to do now, boss?” Rho asked as he glanced back down at the radio. “Should I make my move now? Or wait?”
“Continue waiting.” Skrawl's answer came quickly and without hesitation. “I don't want to end their little 'fun' right now. Rudy and Penny can afford a little more time with their little 'friend', now can't they?”
Although the jellybean could not see him, Rho found himself nodding his head in response. “Right, boss. I couldn't agree more.”
Skrawl gave a couple of quick chuckles, but he did suddenly give pause. Rho stared down at the walkie talkie, wondering why his boss had gone silent like that. For a few moments, Skrawl was quiet, causing Rho to fill up with concern.
At last, Skrawl spoke up. “But...if they start heading towards the Chalk Mine...or to Biclops...you know what to do...”
Rho narrowed his eyes. He nodded his head once. “Got it, boss.” He turned his head towards Rudy and Penny. He narrowed his eyes and continued. “You can count on me...”
“I should hope so. You have been quite a fine replacement for Delta. I don't want to have to regret my decision..” The jellybean's voice grew dark. Rho found himself gulping nervously at this. “Do not disappoint me, Rho. Fail to keep them away from those high priority targets and...”
“I know… I understand.” Rho cut him off. He flinched at Skrawl's growling. “I promise, I will not slip up.”
“I should hope not..for your sake...”
With that, the communication line was hung up. Rho stared at the walkie talkie for several moments with wide eyes. He turned towards Rudy and Penny, and glared softly at them.
sss
Penny couldn’t tear her eyes away as Chalk Dad continued to rant at them. It hadn’t really been that long. Maybe a few minutes at most. But there was so much venom in what the zoner was saying... It felt like it was going on forever. She couldn’t believe just how much that zoner could pack in just a minute or so.
She wanted to say something...anything... She wanted to try to get Chalk Dad’s attention and get him to understand that she and Rudy didn’t mean to abandon them. She wanted him to understand that they are here now and that they wanted to help. She wanted him to break through the rage and get him to realize that standing here, yelling at them, was not going to change anything.
Yet she could not speak. It wasn’t like she would be able to get a word in edgewise if she tried. The zoner just kept talking and talking. If she attempted to speak, it wasn’t like it was going to go too far. She wouldn’t be able to speak over him at all. He would just drown her out, forcing her to listen to more and more of his ranting. She gritted her teeth tightly, silently wishing that there was something that would reach Chalk Dad.
“You two should have tried harder to get back! If you cared at all, you would have been back here sooner! You would have returned before any of this happened and you would have saved us! But no...instead you chose to leave us!”
Rudy shook his head. He tried to speak himself, but his voice was shaky and laced in anger. “But...that’s not...”
Chalk Dad sneered at him, “Oh no? Well then, tell me, ‘Great Creator’, what took you so long to get back here? What made you and ‘Genius Girl’ here not come back for a month? What made you decide that it wasn’t worth your time to come when we actually need you? What made you think that it was best for you to return after all the damage was already done? Hmm? Tell me...”
“I-I...”
“Were we not screaming loud enough for you? Were we not in enough pain for you? Were we not suffering enough for you?” Chalk Dad ranted, hunching his body, his fists shaking. “Well I am so sorry about that! Maybe next time, we will remember to scream and cry louder!”
Penny took in a sharp gasp of air at this comment. Did Chalk Dad really just say that? How...How could he...? She placed her hand to her mouth as she stared at him. Anything else he said became a blur, swirling inside her head and dissipating into nothingness. Her mind could only really hear what he said just now, and it could only comprehend the utter horror that she felt that he would even think of saying such a dreadful thing. Did he really think that they would want them to suffer longer? He knew them better than this. Why was he..?
There was really no point in trying to argue with this guy now. He was not going to hear them. He would only continue to spout at them like they were some kind of dangerous weed. She and Rudy really only had two options right now: either they stand here and take getting yelled at and chewed out, or they just leave. She knew which one she was leaning towards.
Turning her head towards Rudy, she was about to get his attention when she noticed his expression. He was staring wide eyed at the zoner, clearly unable to look away. He wanted to speak, say something, anything. Yet he just couldn’t seem to bring himself to do it. With how rigid his body looked, Penny worried that any attempt at getting his attention right now was going to be disasterous. Should she reach out and touch his shoulder, it looked as if he was going to lash out at her.
At least Chalk Dad had finally appeared to settle down. His voice lowered in volume until there was almost nothing there. The words dissipated into low hisses. Chalk Dad was seething in and out. The fact that this was the only sound in the air for several moments certainly didn’t help things. Rudy and Penny stared at the zoner, waiting for him to continue speaking. Although they had tried not to, they found themselves slightly narrowing their eyes. Chalk Dad seemed to pick up on that, and he returned it with a much deeper frown.
“I hope you two are proud of what you did... Are you satisfied...?!”
Of course, Chalk Dad was obviously not expecting an answer. He only said that out of anger. In response, Rudy and Penny frowned a little deeper, unable to stop the anger from etching onto their faces. They wanted to say something to the zoner, but they feared that they would easily lose control if they made any kind of attempt. So they remained still, standing there and just glaring at the zoner before them.
Penny could feel many thoughts racing through her head. If this had been some random zoner, they still would have been hurt, but not so much. There were many zoners in ChalkZone that dont’ know them personally. It would make sense for these stranger zoners to turn on them if they really don’t know them all that well.
But the fact that it was Chalk Dad saying these things... It really stung. Penny could feel her heart suffer a few sharp stabs, like someone was taking a knife and pressing it against her chest. Chalk Dad was one of their allies in ChalkZone, who knew her and Rudy pretty well, though not to the same degree as, say, Snap. Still, he knew enough about them to know what they were like and he should know that they would never abandon them on purpose. Hearing Chalk Dad, a zoner they knew, a zoner they knew was one of Rudy’s creations, make what was said that much worse.
She wondered if they should just turn around and leave. That sounded like a really good idea right now. If Chalk Dad didn’t want them around anymore, then fine. She wasn’t going to do anything to try to stop him or change his mind. She was certain there were other zoners around that did still trust them and did still want to be saved. It was better to just find those zoners and help them instead of sticking around, conversing with a zoner that clearly didn’t want to have anything more to do with them.
She glanced over at Rudy once more. She could see not just the anger, but the hurt as well. Rudy could speak now if he wanted, but he chose not to. Chalk Dad had ripped him apart mentally, saying all kinds of cruel, hurtful things out of anger, and pretty much shattered Rudy’s spirit. This made her even angrier at the butcher zoner.
But there was nothing they could do. She did not want to risk making things worse, and right now wasn’t the time for fighting. Skrawl was at large, and if anything Chalk Dad said was to be believed, then they needed to take action fast.
Before either of them could say or do anything, however, another familiar voice filled the air.
“What’s going on? Who is....”
Penny turned her head, along with Rudy, towards the door that lead into Chalk Dad’s meat shop. Another familiar figure, slightly taller than Chalk Dad, came out. They instantly recognized it as Rapsheeba.
The female singer zoner had immediately stopped talking as soon as she laid her eyes on them. They widened in shock as she stared down at them, shock washing over her face, her mouth hanging open. She stared at them for a few seconds, her mouth opening and closing as though she were trying to speak. Then she appeared to swallow and she started to speak softly.
“Rudy...? Penny...? You’re...You’re back...?” Rapsheeba whispered. The two children nodded their heads and braced themselves. Would Rapsheeba show as much anger and rage as Chalk Dad?
It turned out to be quite the opposite.
“Oh my stars...you’re okay!” Rapsheeba rushed over, brushing past the startled Chalk Dad as she went over towards them and wrapped her arms around them, holding them tightly. Rudy and Penny grunted, surprised at the strength of the singer zoner. “I thought I’d never see you again!”
“It’s...great to see you, too...” Rudy grunted. “But...if you don’t mind... Can you let us go?”
Penny nodded her head. The pressure around her chest from the hugging was making it hard for her to breathe. She struggled a little against the zoner’s grasp, trying to keep her airway as clear as possible. “You’re..choking us...”
“Oh!” Rapsheeba’s eyes flew open and she immediately released them. She took a few steps back and tapped her fingers together. “I’m so sorry!”
“That’s okay.” Penny coughed a few times, clearing her throat. “No need to apologize.”
Penny took note of what Rapsheeba was wearing. The same thing as Chalk Dad. It was a simple outfit. Plain brown and grey. Really dull coloration. Nothing at all spectacular about it. Despite the lack of stripes, there was something very...prison-y about the clothes they wore. Penny had a feeling that this was more of Skrawl’s doing.
“How did you guys get back? What happened? How...” Rapsheeba immediately stopped herself. “I’m going too fast, aren’t I?”
Rudy gave her a small, weak smile. “Well I can’t really blame you. If I were in your shoes, I’d have a lot of questions to ask of me, as well.”
“We’ll be more than happy to answer your questions.” Penny said as she raised her hand in gesture. She ignored the small growl from Chalk Dad as she kept her eyes focused on Rapsheeba. At least some zoners were glad to see her and Rudy. “Just try not to ask them so fast.”
Rapsheeba lifted her head and looked around. The smile on her face briefly faded as a look of concern spread over her facial features. She clenched her teeth tightly, seething. She looked back at them and this time she wore a frown. Unlike Chalk Dad’s however, this look was not out of spite or anger, but instead thoughtfulness and concern. “You need to come inside. It’ll be safer discussing things in there.”
Now Chalk Dad finally did something. He stiffened up at this, his eyes wide in shock. He turned his head towards Rapsheeba, blinking in disbelief at her. Then he said, “What the...are you serious?! Why would you let them inside?”
Rapsheeba stared at the male zoner in confusion. “What do you mean...?” She tilted her head in confusion. “Why shouldn’t I let them in?”
“Because they abandoned us! They left us to die here!” Chalk Dad raved, making a few aggressive, stiff gestures with his hand. “They don’t belong here!”
Rapsheeba widened her eyes at this. Then they narrowed, her teeth clenched. “I can’t believe you...” She took a small step forward, pointing a finger in his direction. “They come back here to help us and you dare to turn them away? For shame!”
Chalk Dad bared his teeth. “They don’t care about us! If they did, they would have come back sooner! Instead, they...”
“Did you ask them why they didn’t come back?”
“Well, no..I...”
“Then how do you know they did it on purpse?” Rapsheeba asked, narrowing her eyes further. “How do you know that this was all planned?”
This time, Chalk Dad couldn’t think of an answer. He stared at her with wide eyes, licking his lips nervously. He glared back, but made no attempt to speak. He took a small step back and turned his head away. The only sound he made were a few incoherent grumbles. It was clear that he was too mad and too disappointed to really think of much else to say. He had already worn himself out before with the long rant.
Though Penny and Rudy did not look forward to hearing more of what the zoner wanted to say, they were glad that Rapsheeba was on their side. At least she would be able to keep the butcher zoner under control and prevent him from going too far. They hoped that there were more zoners like this. The ones that at least tried to understand their position.
After a long bit of silence, Rapsheeba finally turned her head towards them. Her hardened look that she had been giving to Chalk Dad disappeared completely, replied with a look of concern and understanding. Though they said nothing, her eyes seemed to tell them that she had made the connection and realized that they had quite a nasty experience with this zoenr. She gave them a sympathetic look before her mouth curved into a small smile.
“You’re more than welcome to stay with us.” Rapsheeba said gently. “Please...come on in.” She motioned with her hand.
Despite the zoner’s hospitality, the two kids still felt some reluctance. They turned their heads warily towards where Chalk Dad stood. They watched him carefully, waiting to see if he was going to do or say anything.
“What about...?”
“Oh, him?” Rapsheeba gave a quick, soft glare to Chalk Dad. “Pay him no mind. He’s grown quite bitter lately, anyway. It’s not just you. Besides...he has no say in the matter.” She smiled at the two kids. “I’m the boss there. And I can safely say that I would rather have you as my allies than rant about any disappointment I might have towards you.”
Penny blinked at this. Though she was happy to hear that Rapsheeba understood the importance of setting aside personal feelings in favor of getting stuff done, the bit about ‘boss’ caught her off guard. Just what was the zoner talking about? She glanced at Rudy and he seemed confused as well.
Though the children wanted to ask more about this, Rapsheeba didn’t give them the chance. She motioned her arm once more, this time in a wider, swinging motion, a sense of urgency to it. Penny and Rudy found themselves compelled to move forward. They moved closer to the zoner, getting ever closer to that building.
They had to pause for a moment, staring at it, clenching their teeth. There was something about it that just felt...wrong. And this feeling only continued to get stronger the closer that they got. They looked over and glanced at Chalk Dad. He stared at them for a few moments before curling his lip up into a snarl and glaring at them. He soon turned his head away and made a ‘hmph’ sound, showing no indication of wanting to waste more of his breath speaking to them.
Not that Penny and Rudy cared. They were both glad that the zoner finally shut up. Now they could focus on more important things, such as discussion plans to combat Skrawl. Stopping him was way more important than any personal grudges. They just wished Chalk Dad would understand that. They turned their attention to Rapsheeba and they continued to follow her into the building.
|
|
|
|
Post by Bluedramon on Sept 1, 2015 17:47:53 GMT -5
Chapter 49:
When they had entered this place, Rudy and Penny weren’t really sure what they were expecting. They only knew that this building was likely not the same as it used to be. They expected at least some kind of change to have taken place. As they walked in, they expected to be doused by the harsh reality of everything changing.
Well, they didn’t get anything like that...at first.
The butcher shop looked exactly the same as it did before. Rudy looked left and right. He did not notice anything out of place. Nothing out of the ordinary. Well, mostly. He did notice the place seemed a little dustier than before. But he chalked that up to the lack of business. Chalk Dad probably didn’t have as much of a reason to create his meat products if there weren’t as many zoners coming in to eat them.
He flinched at the thought of Chalk Dad. He could hear the zoner moving in from behind him. He could hear his breathing and feel his eyes burning against the back of his head. Rudy tried his best not to think about it. He struggled to keep himself from worrying about it too much.
But such a thing was quite hard. Despite his anger towards the zoner, a part of him still couldn’t help but feel depressed about the whole thing. One of his own creations had lashed out at him... The feeling was quite...uncomfortable. It was not like with Skrawl. That zoner had been accidental; never meant to be like that. It wasn’t like with Craniac 4. He had hardly gotten to know that zoner before he tried to get at him. No, Chalk Dad was different from that, and for a few reasons.
The first and foremost was that he was a representation of his own father. Seeing someone who looked and sounded, and even acted, like his father yelling and saying those horrible things to him... It was unbearable. It was as if his own dad was saying that. And the other reason was that he was pretty good friends with him before. He had gotten closer to him than he ever did with Skrawl or Craniac 4. This made this whole situation hurt that much more. His desire to try to fix this was strong and he really wanted to speak with Chalk Dad when he cooled down, to try to put this to rest once and for all.
But now wasn’t a good time for that. Now was the time to just keep moving forward and try to focus on stopping Skrawl. He wondered just what more the jellybean had done. He wondered just how far the damage had spread, and what the chances are that they could even fix any of this.
He recalled Chalk Dad muttering something about a castle. He and Penny hadn’t seen it, but he guessed that this was due to all the buildings around them obscuring their view. If they could get a location on this building, maybe they could find a way to sneak in and strike Skrawl at his stronghold. It may sound like a crazy plan, but if this was his stronghold, if he managed to escape, then he had little else to go to. Well, unless he had a secondary hideout somewhere...
Rudy tried not to think about it. He tried to focus as much as he could on the present situation. If Skrawl did have another hideout somewhere....well he was certain that Rapsheeba, or even Chalk Dad during another of his rants, will tell him. If they knew, that is. If they did not, well he guessed that meant that they should try to make whatever strike they make next count.
They continued walking through the meat shop, heading towards what looked to be the butcher room. There were still a few meats hanging up. The smell of meat hung strongly in the air. Some of it smelled a little sour, causing Rudy and Penny to place their hands over their noses. They looked at one another, their flinching expressions asking one another just what the heck died in here. Then again, they shouldn’t really be surprised. Again, little business.
“What? You don’t like it?” Sneered Chalk Dad. “Well then, I suppose that..” He yelped when he felt someone elbowing him. He turned to glare at Rapsheeba. “What in tarnation was that for?!”
“Just keep your mouth shut!” Hissed Rapsheeba.
Although he grumbled and made a few comments, Chalk Dad did as he was told and fell silent, much to Rudy and Penny’s relief. They continued walking along, passing all the meat, some of it smelling like it was starting to rot. They didn’t say anything about it or jumped to conclusions. Considering this was ChalkZone, there was a good chance that the meat was supposed to smell like this.
It didn’t take long for them to reach the back of the butcher room. They walked between two large, silver trays and towards a door located right there. Seeing all the white through the window, they could tell that it was the freezer. Rudy and Penny glanced at one another. Why were they heading towards the freezer to speak? They were about to ask, but the door was opened up already and they stepped inside.
Rudy immediately hugged his arms to himself. He pressed his hands against his arms and rubbed them vigorously, struggling to keep himself as warm as possible. He could see his breath each time he exhaled, and he could feel his body shaking terribly. He looked over and he could see Penny reacting in a similar way. If anything, she looked even more cold than he was. This caused him to become confused when he looked over at Rapsheeba and Chalk Dad and found that they did not look very cold at all. Why was that?
“Wh-Wh-Why a-a-are we b-b-back here?” Rudy’s voice was a little distorted from the shaky breathing and the chattering of his teeth.
Rapsheeba walked out further. The two children followed her movements. “This is how we get in. No one ever expects a freezer like this to hold any secrets. For one, it’s too small and kind of plain. If anyone came in here, they wouldn’t really find too much.”
“Yeah, this place d-d-does seem e-e-e-empty...” Penny said. She looked around. Her eyes then narrowed. “B-B-But wouldn’t they f-f-find it s-strange if....?”
Rapsheeba shook her head. “Nope. We were all quite prepared for this. We did install two secret passages here.”
Rudy and Penny exchanged surprised stares at one another. Secret passageways? Well, that would explain why they came all the way over there. They turned back to the female zoner as she continued.
“One of them is more obvious. And the other takes a bit more work.” Rapsheeba explained.
Penny cut her off. “Ohh... s-s-so you put up the e-e-easier one t-t-to lure them away?”
Rapsheeba shook her head. “It’s actually quite reversed. The obvious way is what leads to the real secret tunnel. The other, tougher to guess one leads to the decoy tunnel.”
“Huh?” Rudy tilted his head at this. “Wh-Why? Wouldn’t...?”
Rapsheeba gave a small chuckle. “I can see why you are you so confused. It doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense at first. But if you think about it, it is perfect.” She lifted her head and looked around the small, freezing room, decorated only by piles of frozen meat. “By picking an easy way, Skrawl would think ‘they wouldn’t be stupid enough to do something like that; there has to be something else’. He would see the more confusing way and think ‘hahaha they think they are so clever, well I have outsmarted them!’”
Rudy gave a small, light giggle at this. He enjoyed hearing Rapsheeba’s imitation of Skrawl. Her postures and posing and the tone of her voice made it all the funnier. It was nice to get a good laugh in these harsh times.
Rapsheeba didn’t hesitate to continue, “Anyway, Skrawl would certainly think that we are trying to hide something if a lot of work and effort is put into hiding the passage way. Whereas, if he sees a tunnel that is more easily discovered, he would think that was the decoy and he would not pay any attention to it.”
“Yeah, that does make sense.” Penny nodded her head. “Skrawl does think that way.”
Rudy couldn’t help but smirk. “Turning Skrawl’s way of thinking against him.. That is quite perfect...”
Now he could see why the zoners set things up like this. Now he could see why this place had been kept secret so well. Tricking Skrawl into an incorrect line of thinking was nothing short of genius. Sometimes, the best way to cover something up was by making it look like it wasn’t all that important to start with. Even going as far as putting up a large sign pointing to it might have been affective at keeping Skrawl away, as he would think it was just an obvious trap. He had to admit, the zoners were quite clever with this one.
Though a part of him still worried of what might happen if the hideout was discovered eventually. He could only hope that he and Penny are able to free ChalkZone before then. He would have to think of what might happen if these zoners were captured by Skrawl. He highly doubted that Skrawl was a very forgiving type.
He lifted his head as he watched Rapsheeba heading towards the back of the room. She raised her hand up and placed it against the wall. It was then that Rudy noticed there was a slight protrusion here. He could hear the sound of rocks scraping against each other as something moved. Then there was a shift and a slap moved down, creating a door.
Rudy stared at this for a few moments, blinking. Yeah, Skrawl would definitely think this was way too easy. And the lack of care and detail put into it, this would further add to Skrawl’s mind that this place wasn’t important. He had to wonder just what Skrawl might think this was. Perhaps a hole for Chalk Dad to crawl into and cry in out of despair? Skrawl does think lowly of other zoners. It would not surprise him in the least if Skrawl actually did think something like this.
“Come on.” Rapsheeba said, motioning to the others. “Lets go down.”
The group didn’t hesitate to follow. Rudy and Penny moved in close behind Rapsheeba, Chalk Dad coming in behind them. The group of four remained close together, despite their obvious discomfort of it. They headed down the dirty tunnel, which looked quite worn and dank. They couldn’t even tolerate touching the railings with all the muck that was on it. Rudy and Penny struggled not to throw up, although the two zoners didn’t react too much. They were used to this.
Chalk Dad looked like he wanted to make another biting remark, but he quickly shut his mouth before he even started after Rapsheeba gave him another glare. Upon seeing this, Rudy had to wonder just how much more stuff Chalk Dad wanted to say so them. He tried not to think about it as he continued down the tunnel.
Soon, after passing down the stairs and heading down the hallway, which looked quite abandoned and covered in cobwebs, they reached a worn-looking door. Rapsheeba reached up and knocked on it a few times, each knock in a different location. She looked back and smiled at them.
“This door only looks weak; it’s actually quite strong, and is locked all the time. You need a certain knock to get it open.” She explained.
Sure enough, there was a loud click and a few creaks, and the door opened up slowly. Not by anyone else; the door opened up on its own, as though it were alive. In fact, it almost seemed to be. Rudy thought for sure he heard it groan. He wasn’t sure why, but this somehow gave him the creeps. He felt a cold chill rush up his spine. He tried not to pay attention to the door as he and the others passed through it. The door shut behind them.
Rudy and Penny widened their eyes at what they saw. They found themselves inside a large underground cave. It was quite massive and seemed to stretch for at least a thousand feet in all directions. But it wasn’t just the size of this place that startled them. It was also what else was in here as well.
This tunnel was quite populated. Countless zoners everywhere. Anywhere they looked, they could see at least ten zoners. Many humanoid ones, some beast-like, some inanimate. There was just all sorts of zoners, all gathered around, talking with each other, their chattering intermixing together and filling the air around them. A few of the zoners appeared to be playing. The sight of this caused the children to smile. At least these zoners found a way to find happiness while under Skrawl’s reign.
There wasn’t too much of entertainment down here. No music or movies or anything. This did make sense. The zoners obviously wouldn’t want to draw attention to themselves, and by reducing the amount of loud things here, they decreased the odds of someone finding this place. If they were too loud, the sound might go all the way to the surface, and then they would be in big trouble...
But that didn’t mean there was nothing here. Looking to the right, Rudy and Penny both could see that they had some some stuff here. Some art supplies, some weapons, and of course, lots of food and water. In addition to that, there were more hygenic things like brushes, toothpaste, and shampoo, and they could soon see there were several makeshift bathrooms and showers installed. Then there were some sleeping areas as well. This place did look as if it was made for many zoners to live here for however long was possible.
Even the food issue was addressed. There was Chalk Dad’s meat shop. He could simply make it look like he was throwing out meat, but in actuality, he was bringing it here. And he could see there were a couple areas with crops growing even without the sunlight, which was quite a remarkable feat. They doubted that it was as good as the more ripe stuff, especially with how fast these grew, but it did seem to help keep the zoners going.
Rapsheeba led them down towards what looked to be a large circle with some ridges all around, mostly made out of small rocks. It looked as if this was the place where important announcements were made. Indeed, as they got closer, the zoners nearest them had stopped speaking and turned to stare at them.
Rudy looked all around, as well as Penny. Most of these zoners, they did not recognize. They could only tell that they had to be ChalkZone City citizens, though even this could be incorrect. They turned their heads left and right, noticing the expressions on their faces. Many of them looked pretty surprised to see them. Some others were confused, making Rudy and Penny wonder to themselves if some of the zoners in ChalkZone City somehow didn’t know about them. Strange, but it was still possible.
There were some zoners glaring at them. The sight of this made Rudy and Penny cringe a little. They half expected these zoners to speak out against them, but thankfully, these zoners remained silent. They were still nervous, though, and they silently hoped that these zoners and Chalk Dad weren’t going to join forces to get at them or anything. It didn’t help matters that Bathtub Granny seemed to be one of the zoners glaring at them. Another of Rudy’s creations.
There were some zoners that were actually happy to see them, however. There were several that were smiling at them. Three among them were Howdy, Blocky, and Lars. These zoners waved at them and appeared to be wanting to ask them some questions. Only Rapsheeba’s presence kept them quiet. Rudy and Penny were glad to see that at least some more zoners indeed were glad that they were back. If only certain zoners could see things their way...
Rapsheeba stood in the center of the circle and raised her hands up. “Attention, my fellow zoners! Today, I bring you great news! As you can see, Rudy and Penny, the protectors of ChalkZone have returned, and they are here with me! It looks like fate has finally smiled down upon us, and with their help, I can assure you that we will turn the tides here for the better!”
The zoners remained silent. Not out of disbelief or anger or anything. But it was so that Rapsheeba could continue speaking. All the zoners were looking intently at her, including the ones that didn’t seem happy with Rudy and Penny being here.
“About a month ago, Skrawl reared his ugly head and tried to conquer us all! He thought that he could control us! He was wrong! Here, we have lived for weeks undetected, without disturbance. Skrawl has no idea that a resistance has even formed. And here we waited, dormant, until the moment of action would arise. And with these two...” Rapsheeba motioned towards Rudy and Penny. “I do believe that the time of action will soon be upon us! Soon, we will take back what is rightfully ours!”
At this, the zoners started making sounds of approval, nodding their heads and making comments. They still remained mostly silent, however. Most of their approval was shown in their eyes, how they sparkled with rekindled hope. Even some of the more doubtful ones gained this expression.
Rapsheeba turned to the side to face Rudy and Penny. She walked over and grabbed onto their arms. She pulled them towards her, to the center of the circle. She gave them both a smile before she turned her attention back to the large group of zoners. Rudy and Penny felt nervous with all those eyes staring at them like that. Never before had so many zoners gave them intense stares quite like this.
Then again, they were never faced with an issue as dire as this.
“With their help, we will turn the tides of this war!” Rapsheeba suddenly yanked their arms upward. “Skrawl will fall!”
Rudy and Penny were suddenly bombarded by a lot of cheers. They weren’t sure just how many zoners were cheering and calling for them. It was quite difficult with all the zoners crowded around them, the noise of the cheers echoing inside their heads. They knew that Lars, Howdy, and Blocky were among the ones cheering for them.
Regardless of how many were doing this, however, they were still overwhelmed by just how loud and long it was. They could feel themselves being washed over with emotion, twisting at their gut and filling them with confusing emotions. They weren’t really sure how to feel about this. They weren’t sure how to take it. They struggled to contain their emotions and prevent themselves from being too overtaken. But this task proved to be quite difficult.
Were they going to live up to the zoners’ expectations? Were they going to be able to succeed where they had apparently failed? As much as they wanted to help, as much as they were glad that the zoners were willing to accept their help, which probably had to do with Rapsheeba’s motivational speech, a part of them were worried that they were going to let everyone down. They feared that they would going to be utter failures.
But despite that, they were still going to try. It was the least they could do. They could not simply abandon these zoners, and they never planned to. They would strong strong with them and do whatever it took to help free them.
But as the cheers died down, Rudy and Penny found themselves the center of attention, and they couldn’t think of what to say. All these zoners were looking at them, waiting for them to speak. They couldn’t just keep quiet. They needed to think of something to say to them. Something..anything...
Thankfully, Rudy was able to find his voice. He cleared it, and he began to speak.
“I know you were all wondering what has happened to us. You might be thinking why we took so long to get back.” Rudy paused as he heard some zoners nod at this. “It was not our intention. Penny and I had a rather...unfortunate incident that left us unable to help you guys. It would seem that Thoughtless is more clever than we ever imagined.”
He could hear some of the zoners murmur nervously at this, their bodies shaking at the mere mention of the memotrice. Rudy could not blame them for being afraid. Thoughtless was quite the monster.
“Its actions caused Penny and I to fall under the red chalk’s spell, and we had to be taken into the Real World. We were out of it for a long while and trust me, we were mortified to learn that we were gone for a month. We wanted to kick ourselves and blamed ourselves for our absense. But in the end, we learned it wasn’t our fault. It was Thoughtless’s...and Skrawl’s. Despite how some of you might feel about us, at least we are here now, and I promise, Penny and I won’t be ripped away from you this time.”
He looked around at the zoners. Some of them looked scared, likely from the mention of the red chalk. Others glanced at one another, showing a mixture of emotions. Some were making some comments. He thought he heard Chalk Dad make some kind of protest.
He didn’t speak up right away. He wanted to give them time to let all of this sink in. He wanted to allow them some moments to let their brains digest this information. Now the zoners had a stronger idea of what had happened, and with it, they also had a better idea of just what they were up against. They might have known that Thoughtless was dangerous, but the fact that it ultimately caused their two creator protects to get locked out of ChalkZone... He could only imagine how that must make them feel.
Regardless, he continued speaking. “We will stand by your side this time! We will fight beside you! We consider you our friends and it pains us to see you all like this. So don’t worry, we will do whatever we can to help! We will turn things around, and we will take down Skrawl and Thoughtless!”
Rudy took a few moments to breathe. This was all so rejuvinating, exciting. He could feel the energy pumping through his body. He could feel his body shaking from the shere emotion. His eyes seemed to almost glow and he raised his arm in the air.
“Who is with us?!”
Rudy had never been greated by such a loud cheer before.
sss
That was strange... He could have sworn he saw them come in here. Where could they have possibly gotten to? There was no way he could have lost them. He was a great tracker. He could fly. He had the advantage. How could he have lost them?
Rho kept asking himself these questions and more as he continued to hover in the middle of the meat shop, turning left and right in confusion. He had followed the group quite carefully. He had been really good at keep himself hidden. The only reason he hung back was because he wasn’t sure if Skrawl wanted him to go into the building or not. It would have been quite risky and might have jeopardized the spying mission.
But now a part of him wished he had gone inside sooner anyway. At least then, he wouldn’t be standing, er, floating, in the middle of the room, so confused and uncertain of where they had gone. He didn’t know just how they could have disappeared inside a meat shop. That didn’t seem very likely. This place was a little big, but it wasn’t that ginormous. It should have been quite easy for him to find them.
So..why didn’t he..?
A part of him was tempted to just tear this place apart and look for them that way. But that would not have been a very smart decision. Skrawl wanted him to remain stealthy, at least for now. He didn’t want him doing anything that might end up causing issues for them later on. He knew full well that if he started ripping into this place, he’d give himself away, and his targets would know that he and Skrawl were watching them. He needed to keep the element of surprise. At least for now. Skrawl would tell him when to strike.
Rho wanted to contact Skrawl, but first, he had wanted to do a little looking around himself. Maybe, if he kept quiet, he might be able to find where they are without having to seek his boss’s help. He would much rather that anyway than to interrupt Skrawl. The jellybean didn’t like being interrupted, especially not nowadays.
Slowly, he floated forward, turning his head from one side to the other. He scanned the room that he was in, noting the details and structures. His eyes filled with the vision of this meat shop’s rooms, seeing all the meats that the strange zoner had and all the tables, and of course the fact that it was still a little dirtier than before.
But no matter how much he looked, he was not able to see anything of great interest. There were no signs of anyone being here. He was confused as to how that butcher zoner could even stay in business. Skrawl did permit it of course, but with the way that he runs things, Rho would be surprised if this butcher zoner got even just one customer. Indeed, some of the meat started to smell as though it was going to rot, and he had to place his hand against his face, trying to push the smell aside and ignore it. Geeze, he hoped that this zoner was considering taking out the trash sometime soon. A lot of this meat needed to be tossed out.
When Rho reached the door that led into the freezer, he had to stop himself. He straightened his back and he rubbed the back of his head. He looked left and right once more, trying to see if he missed anything. It took him a few seconds, but he was able to confirm that, no, he was not missing anything. He had just searched the entirety of the butcher’s meat shop and with no sign of those individuals, well minus the freezer of course. But he doubted they would head in there to do any talking. He gave another look around, his eyes furrowing in confusion. It was as though they had vanished...
Or perhaps they just used the back door. He recalled that this place did have another entrance. It was pretty normal for buildings in ChalkZone to have a back entrance. He forgot exactly where it was, but perhaps if he went over to look for it, he would soon find that rather elusive group. He bet to himself that they may have sensed they were being followed and they used the back entrance to try to gain some distance from him.
Well if that were the case, perhaps he should go back out the front and go around. They might have barricaded the back door just in case, and they would be expecting him to come out that way. But perhaps if he went around a different way, and come at them from another angle, he could catch them offguard and...
No, he still had to be careful. No jumping in and grabbing them. Until Skrawl gave the okay, he was not to lay a hand on them. Just stay back and watch them carefully. Skrawl wanted to know as much detail as possible regarding Rudy and Penny’s reactions. The jellybean was quite obsessed.
He couldn’t just float around here any longer. He couldn’t waste any more time staying here and trying to figure out what might have happened. He needed to take action. If they really did try to give him the slip, then he would just have to be smarter than them and follow them a different way. He turned himself around and began to heard towards the door.
He soon stopped himself. He furrowed his eyes as he tapped a finger against his chin. Should he just continue his pursuing of them? Or should he contact Skrawl? He didn’t like the idea. He didn’t know if Skrawl was in the mood to talk to him right now or not. True, the jellybean wanted him to keep him informed, but the Beanie Boy couldn’t help but worry if he were to contact Skrawl at the wrong time and be on the recieving end of one of his rants or something. Especially consider nowadays how...
He stopped his train of thought. If he was going to contact Skrawl, he should do it now, before he wasted too much time. He looked down at his pocket and placed his hand inside. He pulled out his walkie talkie and he stared at it for a few moments. He kept quiet for a bit, biting his lip. And then he pressed the button. After a few seconds of hearing the flash of static, and he heard the click of someone picking up, he spoke.
“Hey boss? I hate to interrupt you, but...”
“Then why did you?” Hissed Skrawl. “Did you bring me some important news?”
“Well...kind of...” Rho hated saying that. He hated how his voice almost seemed to squeak as he spoke. He couldn’t help but wonder just what Skrawl was thinking of him right now. He imagined the jellybean was just rolling his eyes right now and perhaps was getting ready to make some kind of remark. “You see...I...” He hesitated.
“What is it?” Skrawl growled into the walkie talkie. “What did you find?”
“Well...they went into that one butcher’s meat shop and they...” He paused for a moment. He struggled to find the right word. “Disappeared.”
Skrawl was quiet for a couple of seconds. “Disappeared...? You mean, they vanished?” Skrawl didn’t give Rho any chance to reply before he shouted, “That’s impossible! Look harder! They’ve got to be in there somewhere!”
“Sir, I think they might have snuck around the back and...”
“Well if you knew that, then why did you call me?”
Rho gulped nervously. He could detect the anger in Skrawl’s voice. He took in a few quick breaths as he struggled to keep himself from panicking. “W-Well..I thought that...m-m-maybe you had any ideas or....”
“So you’re telling me that you cannot come up with any ideas yourself and you want me to do all the thinking for you?! Gawd, what happened to the second command that I had appointed a month ago?! If you can’t figure this out yourself, then perhaps I should give the second command title to someone else!”
“Wait! No!” Rho called out, his eyes wide in horror. “Please...don’t! I-I’ll get on it, boss! I-I promise!”
A low hiss eminated from Skrawl’s throat. Rho could just imagine him narrowing his eyes in disgust. Rho was smart and kept himself quiet while he waited for a response from the jellybean. The seconds that passed became harder and harder to bear. He could feel the atmosphere all around him thickening up as he waited in baited breath for what the jellybean was going to say next.
He then, at least, heard Skrawl let out an exasperated sigh. Rho could tell that Skrawl was having enough of this. He wasn’t entirely sure what was going on over there at the moment that was making him act this way. Though Rho had some pretty good ideas, most likely having to do with a certain blue kid. Rho had a mind to try to teach Snap a lesson, but Skrawl insisted that he remain his own prisoner, leaving Rho with nothing to do against Snap other than just glare at him coldly.
“All right then... I will allow you to keep the title of second in command...for now at least.” Skrawl spoke softly, slow and darkly. “But if you call me again with another of these useless conversations, then I will have no choice but to give the title to Alpha instead.”
Rho could feel his mouth drop open. Alpha? No, he couldn’t do that... Alpha was not fit for the job. He was too reckless. It was his and Beta’s insistance of fighting the chinese unicorn zoner that the opening had been created that allowed Rudy and Penny to escape their grasp. If they had just did what they were told and hung back...
He didn’t dare voice his protest against Skrawl, however. He knew just how well that was going to go down. Unless he wanted Skrawl’s claws inside his throat, he knew it was best to just skip that and go straight to his short and to the point answer. He spoke in a soft voice, “Okay, boss. I..I understand...”
Skrawl made a ‘hrmph’ sound. It was hard to tell if he was being sarcastic or if it was a genuine sound of satisfaction. Even his voice didn’t give much away. “That is good to hear....” There was a couple more pauses before Skrawl added, “And if you want an answer from before...”
Rho widened his eyes and he listened intently.
“I do think there may be some kind of hideout around here... I’ve always suspected it, and now I am even more convinced. I do not know yet where it is, however.” Skrawl growled, seething through his teeth. “These zoners, they think they are so smart... Well I am about to show them how much smarter I am!”
A secret hideout? Rho hadn’t thought of that before. He felt like an idiot for not considering the possibility. Of course there would be a hideout. There was no way there could not be any, not with how much the zoners hated Skrawl. There would be some that would try to form a resistance and hide somewhere, getting ready to strike.
And those two zoners Rudy and Penny ran into.. They must be part of it. That could explain why, as soon as Rudy and Penny went into the building with them, he had a hard time finding them. Those two were taking them to their hideout. They were going to showcase them to the rest of the resistance and they were going to get hope and they were going to start striking back. Rho narrowed his eyes deeply at this thought. No...not on his watch.
“Don’t worry, sir.” Rho finally said, his voice laced in determination. “I will find them.”
“Of course you will. But you will not do it alone.” Skrawl said. Rho turned his head to look down at the walkie talkie, wondering what the jellybean was talking about. “You are going to locate the other Beanie Boys and you are going to order them to do a full sweep of the area. Do not allow them to leave any stone unturned.”
Rho nodded his head once, despite knowing that Skrawl couldn’t see it. “I’ll be right on it.”
With that, Rho turned off the walkie talkie and proceeded out of the butcher shop.
sss
It was difficult for Terry to rest, especially with this busted arm of hers. It had only been a month, so the bone still had some ways to go before she could even get the cast off of it, let alone use it properly. At least it didn’t hurt her....most of the time. She still occasionally felt a dull pain, especially if she applied too much pressure to it.
Well, she guessed this was the price she had to pay for what she had done before. Perhaps one could say she got a little taste of karma. The word caused her mouth to taste bitter and she couldn’t help but snarl at the mere thought of it. Yet she could not deny that this is what was indeed going on. She was the one who had decided to betray the parents for her own ideals, and it ended up biting her back in the face. Or in this case, her arm. She stared down at her arm and wondered if things would have been different if she had followed through with her promise and actually helped instead of trying to expose ChalkZone.
There was a good chance that the answer was yes. If she had helped the parents out like she had promised, she may not have ever encountered that beastly zoner. It wouldn’t have been created at all. She knew full well that someone there drew that creature to chase her back over to that house. She didn’t realize it at first, but once she did, she felt herself heating up in anger. She should have known it was one of them who had done that to her...
But could she really blame them? Not really. They had every right to be angry with her. She was the one who decided to turn her back on them and betray them. If she hadn’t done that, they wouldn’t have had to draw that beast thing and she would be fine. Instead, she chose to take a risk and she ended up getting hurt as a result of that.
And she wasn’t the only one.
It was difficult for her to sleep at night lately. She continued having visions of Ms. Charlotte trying to kill her. She could still see that woman’s face in her mind quite clearly. She could still see that woman’s vicious snarl, her wild glare, and her voicing her intent on ending her life. That woman had bone absolutely insane, and it was all because of her love for Dr. Von Doktor. Despite this being rather unsettling, she couldn’t deny the effect that it had on the woman. And she ended up nearly becoming a victim of that.
She wondered how that old man was doing. She did still feel a tinge of guilt knowing that he was the reason that he was in the hospital. She hadn’t meant to lose her temper like that. She didn’t mean to strike him, push him back, make him hit his head...
She couldn’t help but shudder at that memory. She could still visibly see it in her mind. She could still hear the crack of bone as Dr. Von Doktor’s skull was smashed against the desk like that. She could still recall the blood, the shout of horror from Ms. Charlotte, the man’s body twitching.... And it had been all her fault. If she hadn’t been so stupid... She was lucky that she didn’t get charged, and that was only because no one believed the ranting, raving woman’s words against her.
Terry gave a bitter chuckle as she realized that the only thing that saved her from jail was this woman’s actions. She recalled how some of the workers in the building had seen what was going on and saved her from the enraged woman’s attacks. Ms. Charlotte had been so far gone, she even threatened her own co-workers as she tried to get at her. This landed her a jail sentence instead of her; all they could see with her was a victim. She was certain that they thought that Ms. Charlotte was the one who punched Dr. Von Doktor. Though Terry felt some sympathy over the whole ‘falsely accused’ thing, she had no intention of confessing the truth. She would rather Ms. Charlotte stay in jail and away from her.
Her thoughts turned back to Dr. Von Doktor. Again, she wondered how he was. She didn’t even know if he was dead or not. She hadn’t bothered looking at the newspapers, and she didn’t dare go back to the hospital. Not because she was afraid Ms. Charlotte might escape jail and try to ambush her. No, she was afraid that Dr. Von Doktor might be awake and positively identify her as his attacker.
Okay sure, he might not remember if it was her or not. He did get a concussion at least. That in of itself would create some problems. He might still be unconscious...or even dead. But she just couldn’t take the risk of going to the hospital and find that he was awake and moving about and pointing an accusatory finger in her direction. She just couldn’t afford prison. Especially not now.
She still had a mission to accomplish. Despite any lingering guilt she may have for betraying the families, she did know, deep down, she was still doing the right thing. That chalk world was too potentiallly dangerous to just leave alone. Action needed to be taken to ensure that it wouldn’t pose any kind of threat to this world. Those things...they had managed to cross dimensions and come through here. They would surely do it again, and there was no telling just what might come out this time. If anything like that beast came through...
Sure she had some more selfish reasons for wanting it exposed. She still had a strong interest to monetize that place. She could feel it in the bottom of her pockets. She would become quite rich if she were to promote that place.
But she had to keep that motivation under wraps for now. If anyone caught wind that her biggest concern was how much money she could make off of this place, she might not gain many supporters. But if the public believes she has everyone’s best interests at heart, and if they believe that her main concern was only how dangerous this place was and what kind of threat it might pose for their children, then she might gain all the help that she needed to expose that world.
A smile spread across her face. Perhaps now was the time to start this little campaign of hers. And she had a feeling she knew just where to start...
sss
Rudy shifted uncomfortably on the rocky surface. He wasn’t sure how the zoners could stand sitting on this stuff. It was so uncomfortable. It was basically just a log made out of stone, and it wasn’t even smoothed out. But he couldn’t really complain. It was the best that they could provide. After all, while being under here has helped them escape Skrawl whenever possible, it still had its disadvantages.
But at least they were making do with what they had. Rudy was glad to see that the zoners were still managing to get by, despite the difficulties presented to them. Despite the situation that they were all in, ruled by such an awful tyrant, at least they were managing in some ways. That was something at least.
But despite how most of the zoners appeared to be fine with him and Penny, he still felt awful about taking so long to get here. Despite what some of the zoners had said, about it not being their fault if they were under the control of the red chalk, he still couldn’t help but feel like he had still let them down. It didn’t help that some of the zoners, such as Chalk Dad, still resented him despite his full explanation of what had happened to him and Penny. If anything, it seemed as though the explanation only made things worse.
At least Chalk Dad had the decency of leaving him and Penny alone. He hadn’t tried to approach them since they got here. He wouldn’t dare make a move towards them, especially not with Rapsheeba around. Rudy wasn’t sure how she managed to become the leader of this place, but whatever it was, it had been impressive enough that even the larger zoners didn’t try to question her authority.
He and Penny sat next to each other on the log, staring out below them, watching as the zoners scurried about. It was difficult to say what they were all doing. Various jobs, they would guess. They did overhear one of the zoners making comments about different chores that needed to be done. Probably some cleaning and cooking mostly. They had to keep this place running somehow. It would not be good if they allowed it to get too dirty. The last thing they all needed was for some of them to get sick.
Rudy didn’t see where Blocky, Howdy, and Lars had gotten off to. They had wandered off somewhere and they hadn’t seen them in a while. Then again, it’s only been about ten to fifteen minutes since Rudy finished his speech. They hadn’t been gone that long. He shouldn’t worry too much about it. He would seen them again soon, he was certain.
As he rested here, staring at the zoners, he couldn’t help but wonder just how everything came to be like this. He doubted the zoners wanted to talk too much about it. He wouldn’t blame them if they got upset if he mentioned it to them. If Chalk Dad was any indication, it was a sore spot amongst the lot of them. He could only imagine just how terrible Skrawl had been. To take over ChalkZone City, to spread that reign further across ChalkZone... Rudy could only begin to imagine all that Skrawl had to have done to achieve that.
He turned his head over and stared at Penny. She had her eyes furrowed, her head tilted downward. She didn’t need to speak for Rudy to know that she was lost in her own thoughts, thinking about what they were told before, and the situation they had been thrust in. While Penny had been doing her best before to remain positive, it was clear, in her eyes right now, that she was just as worried as he was. She couldn’t even think if anything positive to say right now. Not even to cheer him up, let alone herself.
Rudy bit his lip at this. He wished he could think of something to say to her to cheer her up. But he couldn’t think of anything either. He just stayed silent like she did, his own mind clouded with different thoughts. There was just so much going on. It was difficult to relax. Even if he could say something, he doubted that it would have had much effect.
He wasn’t really sure what he was going to do. Despite the fact that he had promised the zoners he’d help them, he was at a loss of what he was actually doing to do. Same with Penny. They had just got here, and without a more clear understanding of what was going on, it was difficult to come up with any sort of solution. He could feel his heart clench at this. The zoners around him were counting on him to help. He couldn’t just let them down.
But how could he help when he didn’t know what he was going to do? How could he be of any assistance when he himself wasn’t entirely sure what could be done? These zoners probably expected a miracle out of him and Penny, and while he hated to disappoint them, the truth was, things didn’t always pan out that way. It was going to take some time. And while he and Penny could stay longer thanks to the food and water given to them, they didn’t know for certain how long the zoners had.
One particular talk had him and Penny really worried, and that was the possible discovery of their hideout. There hadn’t been anything concrete yet, but one of the scouts on the surface returned a couple minutes after Rudy’s speech was done and informed Rapsheeba of one of the Beanie Boys mentioning a hideout. Rapsheeba had gone with said zoner to learn more of this.
Rudy clenched his teeth nervously as he thought of what might happen if these zoners were discovered. It would be absolutely devastating. All these zoners, they just their hope rekindled with his and Penny’s return, and then the chance of Skrawl taking it all away by striking this place.... It was something that he didn’t want to think about.
The lack of an attack wasn’t good enough news. It hadn’t been long enough. Skrawl would strategize. He would try to figure out the best plan of attack. He wouldn’t just charge forward. He wasn’t like that. He’d come up with a plan first. That zoner was intelligent and calculating... He may end up striking when they least expected it, which may mean that he won’t make a move until he was certain that they didn’t know he was coming. Then he’d swoop in out of nowhere and attack.
Rudy’s train of thought was interrupted when he noticed Rapsheeba coming towards him. She had a concerned look in her eyes, her hands rubbing together nervously. He and Penny stared over at her, waiting to hear any possible bad news that might be coming their way.
“How did it go...?” Penny was the first one to speak. As she said this, she motioned her hand slowly to Rapsheeba, her eyes filled with concern. “With that scout, I mean. What more did he have to say?”
Rapsheeba clenched her teeth and sighed through it. “It’s not good. According to the scout, the Beanie Boy was inside the butcher shop as he was talking with Skrawl.” This caused Rudy and Penny to gasp in horror. The Beanie Boy had been that close...? Rapsheeba continued, “Although the Beanie Boy didn’t find anything useful, this was just...cutting it way too close...”
“But...I thought you said that...” Rudy started to say.
Rapsheeba cut him off. “The fact that they were this close is still alarming, no matter how well we hid this place. We can’t afford to have another incident happen like this. Not off guard, I mean.” She lifted her head up and looked over at the zoners moving around behind her. She narrowed her eyes slightly. “We might need to make a move soon. Just in case Skrawl or one of this Beanie Boys comes back to sweep this area. Lead them down the wrong tunnel so there’s no chance of...”
Rudy tilted his head at this. Didn’t Rapsheeba say something a bit different before? “I thought you said that Skrawl wouldn’t try to go don the easier path because...”
“Look, I know what I said!” Rapsheeba motioned with her hands almost aggressively. “It’s just that...” She let out a sigh. She looked at the two children sadly. “It’s just really different when something like this comes up, you know...?”
Rudy and Penny couldn’t really say anything to that. Just..what could they say? All they could do was nod in understanding, remaining silent. They couldn’t help but feel a sense of sadness start to swell up inside of them. At last, they were seeing the more worn Rapsheeba they had expected when they learned she was the leader of this place. She had so much responsbility placed on her shoulders, and so much stress overcoming her, it was not difficult to see why she’d react like this.
They remained silent for a few moments. They did nothing but stare at one another, neither turning their gaze away, none of them daring to speak. Rudy and Penny, silently, moved apart at the sides, allowing Rapsheeba to sit between them. They weren’t sure how the other zoners would feel about seeing their leader like this, but it didn’t seem that Rapsheeba cared at the moment. She immediately sat down between them, hanging her head lowly, biting her lip.
Rudy and Penny stared at her sympathetically, clenching their teeth. Poor Rapsheeba... They couldn’t imagine just how difficult this must be for her. They couldn’t begin to imagine all that she must have been through, and just how much more stressing that this is. Despite wanting to know more about what happened here, neither child dared to ask that question. They just put their arms around Rapsheeba and did their best to comfort her just by being here for her.
After a while, it seemed Rapsheeb was staring to relax. They could feel her body becoming a bit more lax and much less rigid. That was a good sign. To add to that, she was staring to lean back away, straightening herself up. Her expression was still that of concern and worry, but there just seemed to be a bit more life in those eyes now. A spark that had been returned.
Rapsheeba looked at them one at a time, a smile spreading across her face. “Thank you.”
Rudy and Penny smiled in return. Penny whispered, “You’re welcome, Rapsheeba.”
Rapsheeba turned away from them. She let out a small chuckle. “You must think I’m a little crazy, acting like this.”
“What? No! You have every right to be like this!” Rudy told her quickly. He placed his hand on her shoulder in a comforting manner. “You have done so much for them. And now there’s some possible danger coming and you don’t know if or when it’ll strike.. I would be nervous too, if I were you.”
Penny nodded in agreement. “He’s right.” Rapsheeba turned to look at her. “Just because you are leader doesn’t mean that you have to be stoic all the time. You have every right to feel stressed about this. But don’t worry. “Penny smiled the best that she could. “Rudy and I will help.”
Rapsheeba looked at Rudy. She watched as his head nodded up and down in confirmation. She smiled at this, her lips stretching across her face. “Yeah, you are right. Thank you for... well, you know.”
Rudy nodded his head. “No problem.”
“Well, I need to go talk to Jacko.” Rapsheeba started to say.
Rudy and Penny stared at her in shock. “Jacko?!”
Rapsheeba looked at them in confusion before realizing something. “Oh, I didn’t tell you about him? Yeah, he’s one of us.” She paused for a moment, her eyes furrowing. “He’s...kind of one of the only night zoners that we can trust in these times. He’s kind of the ambassador, keeping the night zoners, at least in his territory, from attacking.”
“What...?” Penny whispered, her eyes bulging. “But...why would...”
This made Rudy realize that there was still some more things they didn’t know about what had happened here. Many more questions began to bombard his head, and he couldn’t remain quiet about this any longer. “Rapsheeba...” He called out to her as she started to walk away. The singer zoner paused and looked over her shoulder. “Can you tell us more of what happened here?”
Rapsheeba was silent for a couple seconds. She looked out in the direction she was heading to before, biting her lip. She looked back at Rudy and sighed. “Well I think I can answer a few of your questions. But it has to be quick. Jacko is expecting me and this truce thing with some of the night zoners is rather shaky. All Jacko has to do is give the word and we will have a whole new problem on our hands.”
Rudy and Penny glanced at each other. They both knew what their first question was going to be. They looked back, and Rudy didn’t hesitate to ask. “What is with the night zoners?”
Rapsheeba frowned slightly at this, as if recalling some horrible memory, which was likely the case. She kept quiet at first, collecting her thoughts. Then she soon started to speak. “Well...it started like this..”
sss
“Millie, I thought we agreed to this...”
“I know, Joe. But I just...can’t help but wonder if we did the right thing...”
“It is hard, I know. But we have to learn to trust them.”
“What if something happens?”
“...we will think of something.”
“And if we don’t?”
Mr. Tabootie wasn’t sure what he could say to that. He hesitated as his wife stared at him with those big, bulging eyes. The sight of them made him quite nervous. He turned his head away, gritting his teeth. He wanted to think of something to cheer her up, but...nothing would come out. He knew this didn’t do much for his wife’s nerves, and he did feel guilty about that. It’s just... What was he supposed to say here?
This situation that they were in... It wasn’t like anything they had ever dealt with before. They had never experienced anything like this. It was brand new territory and even know, there were some disagreements on how they had actually handled it.
Mr. Tabootie tried his best to remain positive. He wanted to believe that he had done the right thing with letting Rudy go back there. He knew his wife and Mrs. Sanchez wanted to think this as well. They all wanted to believe that they hadn’t made one huge mistake. It had been quite the hard decision, and it wasn’t like there was any easy answer to it. With their children so...attached to that world, they couldn’t just force them away, and yet letting them go... Just..how were they supposed to handle it.
He did think that the best solution was just to let them go. Not because he liked the idea of Rudy roaming around in that world, but because it was inevitable. Nothing would stop their kids from going. Even if they locked them in their rooms, they would still try to find a way out anyway. They could be in their room one minute and gone the next. At least, by letting them go on their terms, they knew about it and they wouldn’t be caught off guard.
But in doing so, they had brought on a whole new set of problems. They were still caught in the unknown, still trapped with various ‘what if’ scenarios clouding through their mind. No matter how much they struggled, no matter how hard they tried, they just couldn’t get these thoughts out of their minds.
There were so many dangers of that world and so much that could happen.. They couldn’t help but feel their minds fill with dark, twisting thoughts of monsters tearing their children apart, and them not being there to help them. These thoughts were enough to cause waves of guilt to shoot through their bodies. Perhaps they should have done something different. Perhaps it wasn’t a good idea to let them go. Perhaps they should have...
Mr. Tabootie managed to shake the thoughts out of his mind. He continuously reminded himself that there really hadn’t been much of a choice. He tried to remind himself that, in that world, Rudy and his friend Penny were not defenseless and that they had allies. They were going to be fine. He could just feel it. Something was telling him that everything was going to work out and they would see their son again soon.
And yet...he still felt a pang of worry in his stomach. He still couldn’t feel entirely comfortable with this. He still couldn’t fully drop the concerns, or the thoughts racing through his mind of what else he could have done. And until Rudy and Penny got back, he doubted that these thoughts were going to go away.
“Couldn’t we...try to do something?” Mrs. Tabootie asked, her hands fumbling together. “We can’t just sit here, Joe. We need to figure out some way to help them. They are just two children, out there in that...that strange world.” She looked at him in the eyes, her gaze boring deeply into his. “We have to help them.”
As much as Mr. Tabootie wanted to help, he knew there was little that they could do. They didn’t know that world all too well. They might end up making things worse if they stepped in. They would just be a hinderance. He hated to think themselves as that, and he wanted to help his son so badly. But what could they do when they had little experience with that world? And there was something else that bugged him.
“What if we get caught, Millie?” Mr. Tabootie spoke, being right to the point. “I may not know this...this Skrawl character personally, but from what our son has told us, I wouldn’t put it past him to capture us and use as bait, or as a bartering token. Skrawl sounds relentless, and by going into that world, we will just be giving him something else to use to stop our son.”
“But...we could dodge him...” Mrs. Tabootie rubbed her hands together nervously, her eyes darting left to right. Her eyes filled with horror. “Couldn’t we..? Just..stay out of sight, find our son and...”
“Without knowing that world? Millie, we don’t even know what condition it is in! Well, outside of what we saw through the portal. But who knows what else is there...”
“All the more reason to go help our son!”
Mr. Tabootie sighed. He should have known that his wife wouldn’t be fully content with letting their son go alone. He was having a difficult time adjusting himself, but his wife was taking it harder. He couldn’t blame her for that. They did just get their son back only to be taken away again. It really did seem unfair that this was all happening. But in the end, he knew it was for the best to just stay here. Give Skrawl something less that he could use.
And besides, he trusted his son. Or at least, he tried to. Rudy was quite a resourceful child. Despite any difficulties at school, he was a pretty smart kid at times, and he had been astounded more than once by what that son of his could conjure up. He imagined that his son gave Skrawl a run for his money, based on what Rudy and Penny were able to tell them. He believed that his son could handle that evil...zoner they called him, again.
But with how much his wife was fidgeting, he knew that trying to speak to her, trying to comfort her, was not going to work all that well. She wouldn’t listen; she was just too on edge right now. If he continued trying to speak logic into her, she would just counter with something else. He would need to think of something else to calm down his wife.
Then something clicked in the back of his mind. Before Mrs. Sanchez left to tend to her animals, she and him were discussing something briefly in the kitchen while his wife headed into the bathroom momentarily. He couldn’t believe he had almost forgotten about it.
She had suggested that they could probably use Reggie’s beast, if it was still available, to help them. None of them had attempted to make a move regarding it, and it had been such a quick thing, that it didn’t fully register in his mind. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized that it just might work. Reggie did say that a zoner was loyal to its creator, right? Well, maybe not always. His son did say that Skrawl was technically his creation and he hated him...
But still, it just might still work. That zoner might listen to them. It was created to help them out by bringing back Terry. Perhaps it would be willing to help them again. Maybe they could get it to locate Rudy and Penny and keep an eye on them just in case they needed help. He was certain that his wife would feel better knowing there was one more individual that would be willing to help out their children. And so would he.
But what if it made things worse? What if that drew attention to them? What if something were to go wrong? Would he be able to live with himself knowing that he ended up making things worse for his son and his little friend?
Then again... if it gave his son and Penny the slightest chance at victory... If it made victory come that much closer at hand... And at least this way, he and his wife could be helping them out without actually going there. They would feel as though they had done what they could to help the children succeed. They wouldn’t feel as though they had just sat around and did nothing. And who knows? Perhaps this action would be the turning point that their children needed to succeed in this plan of theirs.
“Millie...” Mr. Tabootie placed his hand on his wife’s shoulder. The woman stared at him in the eyes, her own blue ones glistening with unshed tears. “I have an idea...”
Mrs. Tabootie widened her eyes at this. “What is it, Joe?”
Mr. Tabootie said, remaining quiet for a few moments. And then he said, “Remember Reggie’s beast thing that he had drawn?” His wife stared at him with a slightly skeptical look. She slowly nodded her head. Mr. Tabootie smiled at this before he frowned slightly and continued, “I think it might be able to help us out.”
sss
Rudy and Penny remained silent as they continued sitting on the rocky log. Their minds were abuzz with all the stuff that Rapsheeba told them. Some were just reminders while others were new things that they didn’t know before. And the more that they found out, the more dire their situation started to look.
It was unbelievable that Skrawl had managed to take over this city so fast. According to Rapsheeba, it had only been a few hours. The attack was sudden and they had no time to prepare. The captured zoners were forced to build a castle somewhere in the city where Skrawl could rule from, and then he placed electric collars on them to control them. Not long after, he had conjured up the grey cloud. No one knows how he had done that, but it did cause everything to take a turn for the worst. He and Penny knew that huge cloud cover was bad news, but they never thought it would have been this horrible.
Due to it blotting out the sun, the night zoners couldn’t venture out of the zone without getting burnt; they could no longer see the light and some of the sunlight still came through. They began to hate the day zoners and would attack them on sight. Now they both understood very well just why it was important to maintain a good relationship with Jacko. At least he could control a group of night zoners to be their allies and not enemies.
The bad news didn’t stop there. In addition to blotting out the sun, the grey cloud cover apparently made the zoners more aggressive. This caused them to shiver as they thought about it. It did certainly explain why Chalk Dad was unnaturally aggressive. Perhaps it was the grey clouds messing with his mind. Out of all of them, it seemed he had to go outside the most, and thus was more exposed to this stuff than the others. He became a little more sympathetic in this regard. Still, they weren’t too happy about how he was treating them.
It was only after Rapsheeba told them about Chalk Dad losing some of his friends that they let go of any remaining anger that they had towards him. And with it came forth some more understanding. It wasn’t just the grey clouds messing with him; it was the losses that he had suffered. The losses that they may have been able to prevent had they just gotten here sooner. No wonder he was so sour with them.
Another thing Rapsheeba told them about was how the zoners were controlled. Every aspect of their lives was predetermined by Skrawl, not because he cared about their well being, but because he just wanted to entertain himself. She had mentioned this before, but with this elaboration, Rudy and Penny could definitely see just how horrible it actually was. With each day and each second planned, and with death as potential punishment if they didn’t go by Skrawl’s sick script, the zoners hardly had any freedom anymore, putting many on edge.
Learning this, they were worried about what had become of their friend, Snap. They didn’t see him amongst the group and they wondered just what could have happened to him. Rapsheeba informed them of the bad news regarding Snap being captured and becoming Skrawl’s ‘pet’. That would sent shivers down their spines. It was so degrading...but that was just like Skrawl. Keeping Rudy’s closest zoner friend near him so he could torment him. Skrawl had always been jealous about Rudy seeming to care about his other creations more so than him, so what better revenge than by mistreating the one creation that Rudy seemed to love the most?
Knowing that Snap was trapped made Rudy want to go out and rescue him faster. He wanted to jump up from this log, rush over, and save him. He didn’t want to stand around here, doing nothing but twiddle his thumbs. That wasn’t going to save their friend.
But as Penny pointed out earlier, it would be problematic with just rushing over. They couldn’t very well break in and get Snap out without a plan. This whole place was surveillanced. They wouldn’t get near Skrawl’s castle without the jellybean knowing that they were coming. And as far as anyone knew, there was only one entrance into that castle. Rudy hoped that this wasn’t true, but countless scouting revealed this to be the case. Then again, no one’s ever been inside, so perhaps there could be something that no one noticed before.
Another really troubling thing that they were informed of during their time here was the fact that Biclops was captured and the mine was under Skrawl’s control. This worried the two children deeply. How were they going to get more magic chalk if it was guarded? They’d have to get it soon, before they ran out of magic chalk. Otherwise, they...
“Hey!”
Rudy turned his head to see Blocky rushing over towards them. He stopped in front of them, panting heavily. He looked pretty tired. Rudy and Penny watched as he caught his breath, making them wonder if he was tired or if he was just overly emotional right now. They guessed the latter.
“Come over here with me! Quick!” Blocky grabbed onto Rudy and yanked him from the stone seat. “I and the others need to ask you something!”
Rudy and Penny hardly had any time to ask anything before Blocky started to drag them over through the cave. They rushed by multiple zoners, a few tablets and other various items. They got a few stares from different zoners, but they couldn’t stay and chit chat. Blocky was pretty strong, more so than they had thought. His grip was like a vice and he continued to drag them along, past several zoners, up some formations, never once letting go.
Soon, they arrived in a small corner of the cave, sealed away from the rest with large curtains that covered mostly everything, with only a few things such as the feet of anyone inside. Before Rudy and Penny could ask what this place was, Blocky shoved them inside and they soon came face to face with Lars and Howdy. They were looking at them sternly, though not aggressively.
Rudy bit his lip. A part of him wondered if they harbored more anger towards him than he had thought. It wouldn’t have surprised him if that were the case. He and Penny were gone far longer than they had meant to be and they had suffered quite a bit, according to what Rapsheeba had told them.
To his relief, however, they didn’t seem actually angry at him. Though their stern glares were looking towards them, they weren’t the targets of this gaze. Instead, they were peering at what appeared to be some kind of board. There were a few things written on it and Rudy immediately recognized it was some kind of plan. Peering closer, he could see what appeared to be the castle and some closely surrounding areas. And two other boards, both located on either side, showed more things, and on one of these other boards, he could see their location, which was markerd as a large underground cavern that stretched quite far. Not as much as they had thought, but still pretty big.
“Sorry to have dragged you in here so fast. But we need your help.” Blocky spoke up first. He looked at the children for a few moments before turning his head to the board. “We are trying to think of a way to break into this place and rescuing Snap.”
Penny’s eyes widened at this. “But isn’t that too risky? Not that I don’t want to save Snap myself...” She motioned her hands against her chest for a moment before motioning out towards them. “But didn’t Rapsheeba say...?”
Lars nodded his head. “Indeed. It would be really hard to do anything as we don’t know too much about the castle’s structure.” He looked at the boards, narrowing his eyes. He looked back at Penny sideways. “We refuse to believe that there is only one entrance.”
Rudy glanced over at Penny. They exchanged confused expressions before Rudy looked back at them. He opened his mouth to speak, but hesitated for a moment. He did manage to ask the question that he and Penny were thinking. “What makes you think there is another...?”
“Think about it. Think about how Skrawl would think.” Blocky said. “He would probably anticipate someone coming in from the one entrance that we know. He may anticipate that we’d come up with a plan to ambush him. So what would he do? Why, make another exit of course! One that we don’t know about. Hidden somewhere in the castle.” Blocky turned and stared the board. His eyes narrowed and for a few moments, he held an expression that was almost uncharacteristic of him. “And that’s what we are trying to find. I know Rapsheeba wouldn’t approve of taking such a risk, but if it means finding out his secret passageway...”
Howdy took a few steps towards Rudy. Despite his small frame, the month that he had spent living with Skrawl as ruler has made him look tougher. Even the way he walked carried more confidence and determination than it ever did before. Yet he still had that same friendly face and those eyes still carried a similar warmth as they did before. “We were hoping that you two could think of something? You’re so clever and smart...maybe you could think of an angle we weren’t considering before?”
Rudy felt a sense of pride rise up at this and he couldn’t help but smile. Still, he wasn’t entirely sure if he was cut out for this, and he rubbed the back of his head nervously. “Well I am glad you think that, but I’m not sure if...”
“Wait a minute...”
Rudy looked over at Penny, blinking in confusion. She was staring at something on the board. The three zoners looked over at her, each one with a curious expression on their faces. Penny remained silent for a few moments as her eyes moved along the board, studying it. The look in her eyes suggested that she spotted something, but he couldn’t tell just what that was.
He had to wonder just what she could have seen that they did not. He tried looking himself, but he didn’t really see anything of importance. He could see the one entrance to that place, which was located where one would expect an entrance. Not exactly anything that grand or special. He didn’t see anything else that looked like a pathway, but this map was constructed by the rebels, so it wouldn’t really be all that complete. He doubted they would have more luck with any of Skrawl’s maps, though. No doubt that zoner would have hidden the secret entrances and have them memorized in his head. Best way of keeping it a secret.
Penny moved in closer to the map, still staring at it. Her narrowed eyes continued to scan it over, pressing her fingers against her chin. From side to side, she looked, focusing mostly on the building and on their underground section. She stayed like this for what felt like several minutes. The silence that hung in the room was unbearable, making Rudy want to say something just to cast off the silence.
After what felt like forever, Penny finally spoke. “Did you guys ever explore the back of these tunnels?” She pressed her finger on the board. She turned back and looked at them over her shoulder. “How much of this area did you explore?”
The zoners looked at one another. Lars, raising his paw up, answered with, “Just enough to set up a barrier. We didn’t want to expand this too far. Why?”
“Because I have to wonder just how far this stretches.” Penny replied. She gave the map a sideways glance. “According to what I’m seeing here, this looks like it goes in a diagonal shape straight towards the castle.” A few murmurs among the group. “Now I don’t really know if it leads straight there or not, but this could serve our needs just as well.”
“You mean like...getting in closer and spying?” Rudy suggested. “Maybe we could make a hole or something there and put in a hidden camera?”
“That could work, yes.” Penny said. “But I was thinking something else.”
“Oh?” Howdy asked, curiosity laced on his voice. “And what is that..?”
Penny looked at the zoners and at Rudy, all of them stairing at her intently. She looked a little nervous, and yet she still managed to stay standing tall. She kept a stern look in her eyes, an expression of determination. Rudy couldn’t help but feel impressed with how she was able to maintain determination even in the face of such uncertainty.
“There might be a chance that these tunnels do end well before reaching Skrawl’s castle, but we could fix that. If Rudy and I were to create some specialized tools, we could dig a tunnel straight into Skrawl’s place. He may not be expecting a force coming in through the bottom of his castle.”
Rudy’s eyes widened at this. “But we don’t even know what’s there. For all we know, Skrawl keeps a water reserve there and if we dig through it, that would cause it to burst open and then we’d be in trouble.” He couldn’t believe Penny would suggest such a crazy plan. “Why would we...?”
“As I said, Skrawl would not see us coming in from underneath.” Penny’s eyes narrowed. “From what I’m seeing, his castle merges into the ground, and unless he has a secret tunnel there, this is all rock. Quite hard, and any normal drill would make a lot of sound. Skrawl would expect the zoners to not be stupid enough to try to dig their way through the bottm. So that’s exactly what we need to do.”
“That could work.” Lars said, scratching his chin thoughtfully. “Risky, but then again, anything we do against Skrawl is risky.”
Howdy nodded in agreement. “I concur. It’s better than any plan we’ve come up with.”
“There is just one problem.” Rudy said. There was something he had almost forgotten about since he and Penny had arrived. He watched as the zoners and Penny looked towards him expectantly. “We need magic chalk.”
“We have one...” Penny stared to say before Rudy cut off.
“Yeah, but we’re going to need more. If we’re going to combat Skraw, we are going to need a lot more.” Rudy furrowed his eyes. There was no way they could defeat Skrawl with just one piece of Chalk. Not while he was in power like this. He turned his attention to Lars, Howdy, and Blocky. He almost hated to ask this, but he knew it had to be done, especially considering the situation. “Would any of you be able to escort me and Penny to the Chalk Mine?”
The three zoners glanced at each other nervously.
sss
Hmm..where could they have gotten off to...? There was no way they could have covered this much ground so quickly...right?
Rho looked left and right as he and the other Beanie Boys he had gathered searched the city. It was large, but it wasn’t endless. He couldn’t remember just how long they had been flying around. He was only aware of constantly scanning the ground, seeing an endless sea of buildings all around. He did see some movement, but alas, they were just from other zoners, not from their intended targets. He did have a good chuckle at their reactions, though. It felt so good being in charge.
He didn’t waste too much time basking in the glory of this, however, and he focused his attention on finding Rudy and Penny. He knew they had to have come out the back way and he knew this city quite well. He knew the easier paths they could have taken and tried to go on those, all the while staying in hiding of course.
But so far, he and the other Beanie Boys were turning up with no luck. Even when they attempted to search in the buildings, there was absolutely nothing. No sign of those two brats. He gritted his teeth in frustration. He didn’t want to think that they had just disappeared. Surely, if they kept looking, they would be able to find something. They just need to keep going and eventually they should find something. Those two were running out of places to hide. It was only a matter of time before they were found and captured.
He then recalled what Skrawl had told him regarding the hideout. He and the others hadn’t yet tried looking for one. He knew how much harder that would be, and he felt that trying to scour the city, which was what Skrawl wanted them to do anyway, would be a better first act. After all, maybe one of those two children were walking about all alone. Maybe they would actually lead them to where the hideout is. And if they did, then they would...
“Sorry, sir.” One of the Beanie Boys called out. “We haven’t found any sign of them. Are you sure they would be around here?”
Rho turned his attention to the one that had spoken. He narrowed his eyes. “Are you questioning me?”
“No! Of course not!” The Beanie Boy quickly said, waving his hands out in front of him defensively. “It’s just that...” He clenched his teeth nervously as he looked from left to right. “We have been looking around the entire city for a while now and we...”
“There’s still more that we haven’t checked!” Barked Rho. “We are not going to stop until every nook and cranny of this place has been combed through! Do you understand me?!”
The Beanie Boy cringed at this, fumbling his hands together nervously. “Y-Yes sir...”
Satisfied by this, Rho turned his attention to the other Beanie Boys. They were all looking at him expectantly, waiting for more orders. Rho didn’t hesitate to call out, “Continue your searching! Look in every building that you find! Search every street! Remember what our boss said! We must find them!”
The Beanie Boys nodded their heads and they immediately resumed their searching. Rho watched as they branched off in all directions, each one going to a different part of the city to search. Rho smirked darkly at this. With their shere numbers, surely one of them would turn up with something, right?
Rho didn’t stay floating there forever. Since the other Beanie Boys took to other parts of the city, he decided the search the area he was presently in. Despite already having looked all over here, he supposed that it wouldn’t hurt to have another look around. After all, there might be something that he had missed somehow. Maybe a small detail that he had overlooked. The only way to tell was to doublecheck. That’s what Skrawl would have wanted him to do, and he knew this is something that Delta would not have thought of. He smirked. So far, he was proving to be a better general than that fool ever did.
But he certainly didn’t seem to have as much luck as he did. Delta, he hated to admit, often could get the job done. Rho, at the moment, was struggling. He was moving through this section of the city, combing through it, looking left and right, but he still could not find anything of interest. Despite all his searching, he still wasn’t turning up with anything. He still wouldn’t give up. He still wanted to keep trying. But...he didn’t know if his efforts were going to pay off or not. He sure hoped they would. He didn’t want to look like a failure in Skrawl’s eyes.
He zigzagged through the buildings, his body whipping this way and that. He dove down towards the ground, hovering close to the sidewalk. He moved all along it, trying to see if he could detect any disturbance, like a footprint or something. He moved himself up higher and looked through several of the windows. Still nothing. Well other than the usual zoners. Nothing out of the ordinary, though.
Realizing that Rudy and Penny may not be out in the open, but instead still in that hideout like Skrawl believed, he began to search even harder, paying close attention to the buildings and the ground, looking for any sign of indentations or anything that would lead to an opening to the hideout.
No matter how hard he searched, however, he didn’t turn up with anything. He must have been searching for many minutes now. And he did not come up with any results. There was just...nothing here. But this could not be. There had to be something. Maybe he missed something. Maybe he didn’t look hard enough. Maybe...
But what could he have missed? In his aching, spinning mind, he was quite aware that he really had looked quite thoroughly. The panicked zoners he encountered would tatest to that. He couldn’t really say that he didn’t at least try.
But trying wouldn’t be good enough for Skrawl. Just because he tried doesn’t mean that Skrawl was going to be pleased with him. He couldn’t just leave it at this. He couldn’t go back to Skrawl and tell him that they found nothing despite all their effort searching. Skrawl was counting on them to find this hideout and find Rudy and Penny. He had to keep looking. He had to keep trying to find them, and this place. He refused to head back as a loser, a failure. He would stop at nothing to find where those two brats have gone off to. And he most certainly would not rest until those stupid, rebellious zoners were found and captured. They needed to be properly dealt with.
Eventually he stopped searching. He hovered near one of the rocky, spikey buildings and scratched the back of his head in confusion. Where else hadn’t he tried looking yet? There had to be something that he was missing. But just what could that be? He...
“Hey! Sir!” One of the Beanie Boys called out to him.
Rho turned his head to see the zoner zipping towards him quickly, his eyes wide. Something was clearly on his mind. He waited and watched as the zoner got closer to him. Soon the Beanie Boy hovered right in front of him, panting heavily, his mouth wide open. He stayed like this for a while, which looked a little amusing to Rho. When it ended, it felt like it was a little too soon.
The Beanie Boy, once he had finally caught his breath, said to him, “Sir, I think I figured something out!”
Rho narrowed his eyes softly. He hoped that this Beanie Boy didn’t abandon his search to waste his time with some stupid theory. He folded his arms against his chest. “This had better be good...”
The Beanie Boy flinched at this, looking at him worriedly. He then cleared his throat, tugging at his shirt collar nervously. “W-Well, sir, haven’t you thought about looking around the butcher shop?”
“What?” Rho blinked a few times. “I already looked there. Why would I look again?”
“Well, sir...I don’t mean any disrespect but...” The Beanie Boy hesitated for a moment. He stared at Rho, as if expecting to be stopped and chewed out. Rho just glared at him, but gave him time to continue speaking. The Beanie Boy didn’t hesitate to continue. “..don’t you think it’s a little strange that they’d disappear so closely to the butcher shop? Perhaps what we were looking for is much closer there than we realized.”
“That is...”
Rho stopped himself. He thought about what the Beanie Boy had said. He slowly shut his mouth, his eyes darting left and right. He realized that this Beanie Boy may have had a good point. Perhaps the butcher shop was where they needed to go. He had looked at it before, but not more thoroughly. He hadn’t been trying to find a hideout back then. Perhaps it was time to go back and search that place some more.
He had to admit to himself, it did seem rather strange that the children disappeared not long after entering that building. He had thought that they had snuck around the back, but perhaps there was something in there. Something more... Or maybe there was an area very close by that he had overlooked. For all he knew, maybe one of the seemingly smooth pieces of concrete that formed the road was actually a pathway leading to this hideout. And he had passed right over it... How clever of thos rebel zoners...
He turned his head back to the Beanie Boy, who seemed to be waiting for his suggestion to be rejected. But when Rho gave him a smile and nodded his head, the Beanie Boy looked honestly surprised by this turn of events. “Congratulations...” Rho said softly. “You’ve just...given me an idea..”
“I did...?” The Beanie Boy said. He quickly corrected himself and straightened up to look a bit more confident. “I mean...of course I did!”
Rho rolled his eyes at this display before his eyes narrowed. “Go get the others and tell them to meet me here.” He slowly turned his head and smirked off in the direction of the meat shop. “I think it’s time we say hello to our little...friend...”
sss
“Rudy...any ideas..?” Penny asked as she turned her head towards him. “I am drawing a blank here.”
“I...I don’t know...” Rudy murmured softly. “I just don’t know.”
Penny looked at him with concern, her eyes narrowing slightly. “Well, we have to think of something. The longer we wait, the worse everything is going to get.”
Rudy nodded his head. “I know, Penny. I know..”
Rudy folded his arms against his chest and leaned against the wall. His eyes were narrowed deeply as he was surrounded by his own thoughts. He was hardly aware of anyone looking at him. He could barely even see Penny standing not too far away from him. He just kept leaning on the wall, trying sort out his own thoughts.
Just..what were they going to to do now?
Lars, Howdy, and Blocky had just informed them of what had happened with Biclops and the Chalk Mine. What they had learned was going to certainly throw a spanner into everything. The whole chance of victory against Skrawl all depended on the magic chalk. He and Penny simply didn’t have enough. They were going to need more. And the only place to get that was the Chalk Mine.
But...how were they going to get into it? The absense of Biclops was problematic and Rudy would love to help him out. But the top priority was the Chalk Mine. He wouldn’t be able to help anyone without more magic chalk. But it was guarded, controlled. If not by a controlled Biclops, then by something else. More Beanie Boys perhaps. And no doubt, the areas with the white chalk growing were going to be the most heavily guarded of all. It wouldn’t be as simple as just going in and taking a piece.
So just how were they going to go about this? With only one piece of magic chalk at their disposal, only one piece that they could use, they were going to need to be very careful and very cautious. They couldn’t afford to waste the chalk on anything. They had to be efficient. But this was going to be difficult if they didn’t know exactly how the mines were.
But there was something else bugging him. Something else that just wouldn’t leave his mind no matter how hard he tried to ignore it. And that was a simple yet very important question that he and Penny needed to answer themselves.
Which was more important? Which should they go for first? Going after Skrawl and stopping him, or trying to sneak into the Chalk Mine?
It seemed like an easy answer at first, but things weren’t always so simple. It was more complex that it appeared to be. For one, both came with its own set of problems. And the other, they both came with their own benefits as well. Both were difficult for different reasons, and it was more of a ‘pick your poison’ type of situation.
Going to the Chalk Mine seemed like the most obvious solution. Getting more magic chalk to gear themselves up. With him and Penny having several pieces of chalk, they would be able to combat against Skrawl and whatever he could throw at them. Then, once he was defeated and taken care of, this place would be completely free of his control. The Beanie Boys would fall apart without their precious leader, and the grey cloud cover would disappear.
But such a thing would be risky. They would need to go through the Beanie Boys to get more magic chalk and they don’t even know just how many zoners were guarding that place. Not without going there themselves, and apparently there’s some patrolling around the outside of that place as well. So there were even more that he and Penny had to worry about.
Going straight after Skrawl was another choice they were considering. This was just as crazy as going to the Chalk Mine ill-prepared. No, it was even worse as they were going straight to the belly of the beast, straight towards the one that caused off of this: Skrawl.
While getting rid of Skrawl quickly would indeed free up this world, taking care of the most difficult challenge first, it was not a foolproof plan. Could he and Penny even get there without getting spotted and even then, would they be able to handle Skrawl with just one piece of magic chalk? Skrawl, with his newfound powers as the Grim Reaper, wouldn’t be so easily intimidated by a single piece of magic chalk. If they headed there as they were now, and they somehow got in, what would happen if Skrawl ended up defeating them? What would be in store for ChalkZone after that?
Rudy had to make a decision quickly. There wasn’t much time for discussion. They had to be efficient about this, and that meant figuring out a course of action very soon. As in, before the hour was up so they could start to prepare.
After a while of thinking, after several moments of his head hurting, his teeth clenched tightly and a soft groan eminating from his mouth, he did eventually realize what the best route they should take. It still came with risks, as they both did, but this one would likely be the wisest option at this point.
“We need to free the Chalk Mine...and Biclops.” Rudy spoke at last, causing the others to look at him with curiosity. “It’s the most practical path we can take for the time being.”
The three zoners glanced at one another, looking pretty nervous. They appeared to be speaking something to each other, their soft whispers filling the air. Rudy watched them carefully, keeping his mouth shut while they continued to speak to each other. He was not really surprised by this reaction; he expected the same for if they had decided to go after Skrawl right away.
At last, the three zoners looked back at him. Blocky moved in front of them, his hands rubbing together nervously. “Are you...sure about that? There’s nothing else that...?”
Rudy shook his head. “No, I’m sorry. There isn’t.” He narrowed his eyes slightly. “We have to take the risk and head out to free Biclops and the Chalk Mine. Otherwise, we stand little chance of winning this war.” He flinched at that word. War.. He shuddered. He never thought he’d use it in a place like ChalkZone.
“But Rudy...” Penny spoke up. “Where would Biclops go? He can’t fit in here.”
Rudy widened his eyes at this. He wanted to slap himself in the face. Of course Biclops couldn’t hide out here... There was no place for him to go after he was freed. Perhaps it was best that Biclops remained captured for now. At least Skrawl wouldn’t try to hurt him if he wasn’t outside of his cell, or wherever he was being held. “Scratch that then... We’ll rescue him later.” He turned his head to Blocky and said, “How far away is the Chalk Mine from here?”
Though reluctant and nervous, the green zoner still moved towards the map. He raised a hand up and he pointed at a familiar, rocky formation that was pretty far out from the city. “It’s right around here.”
“But getting here will be nearly impossible.” Informed Howdy. “Not unless you want to try to dig a tunnel there and risk having a Beanie Boy hear it. You’d have to be precise to get the tunnel into the mine and then you have to be careful you don’t attract the attention of the guards in there.”
Lars nodded his head. “It is quite risky.”
“But necessary.” Rudy glanced at each of the three zoners. “We need to do this, otherwise we are going to be at a severe disadvantage.” He noticed their nervous expressions. He let out a soft sigh. “Look, I know you guys are unsure of this. But no matter which path we chose, we were still going to run into problems. At least this way, if we succeed, we will have a better chance at Skrawl.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” Lars said as he gave another nod of his head. “And we aren’t doubting you. But..” He raised his paw up in gesture. “Just...how do you propose we do this?”
“Well...” Rudy started to say before stopping himself. He realized he still didn’t have a full on plan yet. He was going to need to think about this a little more before any of them could take action.
Just then, Penny spoke up. “I think I might have an idea.”
Rudy looked over at her, watching as she took a couple steps forward. “Oh? What did you have in mind, Penny?”
“Well...” Penny paused for a moment before she looked back at the map. “Perhaps we could...”
As Penny started to explain, Rudy noticed movement in the corner of his eye. He turned his head and looked over. He spotted a familiar figure moving about. He narrowed his eyes when he realized it was Chalk Dad. The zoner must have returned recently, and now he was running off again. Obviously he didn’t want to be in their presence. He rolled his eyes at this before turning his attention back to Penny.
sss
He couldn’t believe it... Just what did they see in them? How could they all think that they were going to be saved now? Just because Rudy and Penny came back? Oh big whoop dee doo...
Chalk Dad gritted his teeth tightly, feeling burning thoughts rush through his body. He wasn’t sure why more of the zoners weren’t calling out Rudy and Penny for being gone for so long. Was he really the only one with brains around here? Was he the only one who was sane enough to know that these children abandoning them in their time of need was exactly what had brought down their doom upon everything?
Well, if those fools want to trust those two little brats, then he supposed he couldn’t stop them. Perhaps he should allow them to realize their mistake later. Just wait, soon Rudy and Penny were going to leave yet again, and allow Skrawl to do even more damage. Those two don’t really care about them at all. They were just playing with them, mocking them, having a great time. To them, this was all just some sort of sick little game.
A part of him wanted to march back in there and say something to them. But he wasn’t sure what more he could say that wouldn’t just be a rehash of what he had already pointed out before. He had already said so much to them. He had unleashed the brunt of his anger against them, and it had felt so good.
And yet..there was still more. He could still feel the anger swirling around inside of his head. He could still feel the temptation burning in his skull. He could still feel the negative energue fueling his mind, reemerging just from the mere thought of those two brats. They deserved more than what he had given them. They deserved a much better...welcome than what they had gotten before. He wished that he wasn’t the only zoner who could see this.
Oh well. He knew there was nothing he could do to convince them. Most of the zoners he had tried to talk to refused to listen to him. While some did agree with him, they were outnumbered by the vast majority of zoners who believed that Rudy and Penny deserved a chance, and that they still needed them anyway. They kept telling him how now wasn’t the time for emotions and that his train of thought was just going to cause them more problems down the line.
Tsch...they had no idea what they were talking about. If anything, letting Rudy and Penny in was going to lead to even more heartbreak than before. They were going to just raise their hopes up once more, and then, when the time was right, they would leave, letting them perish as Skrawl’s forces struck down upon them. Then what were they going to do?
Okay sure, maybe he was exaggerating. Maybe he was incorrect. Maybe he just didn’t know what he was talking about. But after all that he has seen, he thought that he had a better viewpoint of everything than the others. He had been the one of the rebellion that spent more time outside than them. He was the one who had a tighter schedule and thus was more subject to seeing terrible things.
This was how he knew the full extent of Rudy and Penny’s betrayal. Because of them, he had to see zoners tortured and brutalized. Some of them were even his friends. The thought still made him feel sick. He could still hear their screams echoing in the back of his mind. It was for this reason that he couldn’t really trust Rudy or Penny. Even if he were to try, his mind would just remind him of what their abandonment had cost him. And each time he went out, he would see more and more pain and suffering, including from other friends that weren’t lucky enough to have been killed straight away.
And it was all because of those two...
He gritted his teeth. He could only hope that, soon, the zoners were going to open their eyes eto the truth and realize what they were doing. He could only hope that, soon, they would kick themselves in the face for being stupid enough to trust those two once more, especially after how they had coldly left them behind. He hoped that...
He jolted when he heard a scraping sound. He stopped in his tracks and took a look around. He realized that he was a bit far from the safety of the meat shop. He couldn’t believe just how far he had went. He must have been so enthralled in his thoughts that he didn’t realize he had come out this far. He felt like an idiot. He should have paid more attention to where he was going. Now not only was he out where he shouldn’t be according to Skrawl’s schedule, but he was too far away from the meat shop to get away before he would be spotted.
“Gotcha!”
Before Chalk Dad could react, he felt something rough grab onto him. He let out a yelp of pain as he was smashed up against the wall. His eyes shut tightly as he felt the impact against his back. He tried to struggle, but he felt hands on his legs as well, pinning them against the wall as well as his arms. He struggled to get away, but his efforts were in vain.
When he opened up his eyes, he saw that a familiar Beanie Boy coming towards him. Upon seeing this particular Beanie Boy, Chalk Dad could feel his body shaking from a mixture of fear and anger. He struggled to try to strike out against the zoner, only for his arm to be twisted. He let out a hiss at this, which caused the encroaching Beanie Boy to chuckle coldly at his expense. Opening up one eye, he glared at the zoner with as much ferocity as he could manage.
“Well well well...what do we have here?” Rho cooed softly as he eyed the zoner up and down. “I remember you... Aren’t you the one who was part of that group that foolishly attempted to break into Grim Reaper’s castle...?”
Chalk Dad hissed at this. “His name will always be Skrawl. He is not worthy of that Grim Reaper title!”
Rho shrugged. “If you say so. But say...” He leaned in a little closer. “Are you missing your buddies? I could take you to them..if you know what I mean.”
Chalk Dad widened his eyes at this. They then narrowed into slits. “If you think for one minute that I am going to betray the others...” He jerked himself from side to side, trying to get himself free. “Unlike those two human brats, I would never turn my back on those I care about!” He eventually stopped struggling for the moment and bared his teeth at the Beanie Boy.
Rho blinked at this, and then he let out a laugh. “Is that so? Well then...perhaps we could..strike a deal...?”
“Hmph! Like hell I’d make a deal with you!” Chalk Dad turned his head to the side. “Now let me go! Or I will tear out your tongue!”
“Oh such vicious words! And much too quickly...” Rho tilted his head to one side. “You haven’t even heard my offer yet.”
Chalk Dad scoffed at this. “What could you have to offer me?”
“Oh so much...” Rho reached down into his pocket. Chalk Dad watched with narrowed eyes, feeling a bit curious about what the zoner was going to pull out. Upon seeing the red shard, he couldn’t help but let out a small gasp, his blood running cold. Rho lifted it up into the air, positioning it so that he could see it quite clearly. Rho’s smile spread across his face as he continued to speak in a civil manner. “How about you tell me where Rudy and Penny are...and me and my buddies here will spare the rest of you lot.”
Chalk Dad stared at the Beanie Boy for a few moments. He let this offer digest in his mind. In a soft, somewhat skeptical voice, he said, “You would...leave the rest of us alone...” He tilted his head forward slightly. “...if you were to get a hold of those two..?”
Rho nodded his head. “Oh why sure! Grim Reaper has little fear of you rebels.” He raised his hand up in gesture, his fingers curling inward as he continued his bargaining with the butcher. “But Rudy and Penny are a much bigger prize. Hand them over, and we will not try to harm you or any of those other zoners. We will be out of your hair, as it were. So...” Rho tilted his head as he pulled it back. “What do you say, butcher?”
For once in his life, Chalk Dad was actually interested in what Rho had to say.
sss
“Why don’t you just face facts, you oversized jellybean? Your time is going to come to an end soon!” Snap gave a sneer towards Skrawl. “Do you really think that, with Rudy and Penny back, you will last much longer as our ruler? Oh you’re dead wrong! Just you wait!”
Skrawl rolled his eyes at this. He wasn’t sure how many more times Snap was going to say stuff like this. He had opted to try to ignore him for now, but it seemed like the zoner could talk forever. He had such a motor mouth. It was tempting to turn himself around and wring his little neck. He refrained from doing so, however, as he would much rather make him suffer.
Though it’s hard to do that lately with him going on and on like this. He guessed that Snap was only doing it to annoy him, and drive home the point of how they had come back even though he said they would not. The zoner loved to rub it in his face when he was proven wrong.
This was in spite of knowing that he had plans for Rudy and Penny. Indeed, he could detect some fear in Snap’s voice as he spoke. He guessed that the reason the zoner still spoke up in spite of his fear is so that he could keep up his own hope. Yes, that’s probably what it was. Snap did secretly fear that things wouldn’t turn out the way that he had hoped they would, and he was trying to compensate by being overly certain of Rudy and Penny’s success. Oh, Snap..he could sometimes be quite annoying, but also quite entertaining.
A part of him almost missed having him as his sidekick. He had been such a great addition to the team for a while, commanding his Beanie Boys and helping him fight against Rudy and Penny. He was tempted to force Thoughtless to turn Snap back into his lackey, but he thought better of it. Perhaps something else was in order.
“...and I should mention that.... Hey are you even listening?!”
Skrawl turned his head to look at Snap over his shoulder. He just gave a small chuckle and shrugged his shoulder. “Maybe... Maybe not...” He could hear Snap growl as he turned his head away. He closed his mismatched eyes softly and pressed a hand against himself in a dramatic way. “You are such a bore to talk to, Snap. Always saying the same things. Really...” He looked back at Snap, raising a eyebrow. “Do you ever think of saying anything else?”
Snap’s body shook in anger. He clutched the bars more tightly. It didn’t seem like even the sight of his weapon would be enough to stop Snap from ranting. “Well if you want me to say something else, I’ll be more than happy to, you...”
“Oh give it a rest why don’t you?!” Zebin suddenly snapped. Its head swiveled towards the startled blue zoner, its teeth gritted. “Will you just shut up for once in your pitiful life?!”
For once, Skrawl was happy that he didn’t fully silence Zebin. He listened as Zebin and Snap started to bicker back and forth. He couldn’t help but chuckle at this. It was quite an amusing sight.
However, he wasn’t able to enjoy it for too long. He could feel something rumbling in his black cape. He reached in with one of his hands and fished out his walkie talkie. He pressed the button in the center and his ears were immediately greeted by static. He hissed at this, wishing that he had designed this thing better.
Nonetheless, he began to speak. “Grim Reaper here. Who is this?”
“It’s me, boss. Rho!” The voice on the other end said. It was a bit shaky, but Skrawl could hear enough to know that it was indeed him. “I got some wonderful news!”
Skrawl wondered just how great this news was going to be. Not everything that he was contacted about was all that spectacular. So of course, he gained an air of uncertainty and suspicion. “What did you discover, General Rho?”
Rho gave a chuckle that sounded almost giddy. Skrawl knew that something had to be up. Rho wouldn’t laugh like this unless he had a very good reason to. “I found them, boss! I found them!”
“Found them?” Skrawl asked, confused. “What did you find?”
“Those two creators! And the hideout!” Declared Rho. “And boss, you wouldn’t believe where they had it hidden!”
Skrawl felt a twinkle in his eyes. He chuckled deeply. Yes, this was quite wonderful news indeed. He turned his head over and stared over at where Snap was. The small superhero zoner had overhead what was said and now his confident look was replaced with one of horror and terror. The sight of this made Skrawl’s smile spread further.
He could feel a wave of positive emotion surge up inside of him. At last, he had figured out where some of these zoners disappeared to. There really had been a rebel hideout somewhere, and now, thanks to Rho, that location was now exposed. The addition of Rudy and Penny into the mix just made this a whole lot better. He had thought about letting them suffer a little while longer, but what better way than to bring them here while he tortured their best friend right in front of them...?
Turning his attention back to the walkie talkie, he said, “Tell me more...”
|
|
|
|
Post by Bluedramon on Sept 3, 2015 19:47:57 GMT -5
Chapter 50:
It was funny how things could often zigzag around. One minute, everything was fine and in working order. And the next...stuff like this happens.
Rapsheeba had no idea where Chalk Dad had gotten off to. Normally, he was back here at this time. It wasn’t yet time for him to go out and entertain Skrawl, as some may call it. He should be back in the hideout, working with these other zoners. He had other jobs to do other than making sure that Skrawl stayed off their backs, and he knew this, too. So why wasn’t he here anywhere?
She had already asked several of the zoners. None of them could really say anything to her. None of them had an inkling of where he could have gotten off to. Some were surprised he was even gone. Then again, with all the zoners here, it was quite easy to miss someone if they weren’t careful. It was easy to lose track of who was present and who was not. The only reason that she realized Chalk Dad was gone at all was because she wanted to speak to him more on his attitude towards Rudy and Penny, and now she can’t even find him at all.
She hoped that she would find him soon. This talk was really important and he felt that he needed to hear it. She didn’t like how he had treated them and reacted to them. She wanted to fix this before it got out of hand. She understood that he had bene through a lot, but his attitude was only going to cause more problems than solve. She wondered if he was even aware of this issue.
But it wasn’t like she could do anything about it right now if she couldn’t even find him... She looked left and right, her eyes straining to see among the crowd, and still nothing. She couldn’t see any sign of that little butcher anywhere. It didn’t help that there were many larger zoners around, which easily obscured her view of any of the smaller people in here. And with everyone forced to wear uniforms most of the time, it wasn’t like anyone strongly stood out. Especially not Chalk Dad.
She then wondered if he had gone over to where Rudy and Penny were to rant some more. That seemed like something he could do, if he was mad enough. And he certainly wasn’t in the best of moods earlier. Perhaps she should check with them and see if anything was going on.
As she walked over towards where those two creators were, her mind filled with conflicting thoughts. A part of her hoped that Chalk Dad wasn’t pestering them again. She was getting sick and tired of him antagonizing them the way that he had. She could still feel her blood boiling at the memory of some of the things that he had said to them. But on the other hand, she kind of hoped that’s where he was. Otherwise, she was back to square one, wondering where he could have gotten off to.
When she approached the spot where Rudy and Penny were, she paused for a moment to see what they were doing. It looked like they were making some sort of plan. Her curiosity started to rise up and she wanted to ask what they intended to do. But she pushed that thought aside for now to figure out where Chalk Dad was. She didn’t feel comfortable with plans being discussed when anyone of the rebellion was on the surface. She wasn’t really sure why either; it’s just something that often bugged her. Besides, they probably weren’t even finished discussing the plan anyway and they might want to wait until they got more of the kinks figured out first.
Though she hated to interrupt their thinking process, she cleared her throat and raised her hand up to get their attention. She called out, “Rudy! Penny! Can I ask you two something?”
The two children immediately stopped talking. As she got closer, she could tell that they had been speaking with Blocky, Howdy, and Lars. They, too, had gone silent and stared over at her. They lowered their heads in respect, since she was the leader. Rudy and Penny watched as she walked towards them, obviously waiting for her to continue.
She asked, “Have any of you seen Chalk Dad anywhere?”
The three zoners shook their heads immediately, shrugging their shoulders. She could hear them muttering some soft answers, mostly culminating to ‘we don’t know’. Not that it surprised her. She didn’t expect them to know. But perhaps Rudy and Penny did. But when she saw Penny shake her hread, Rapsheeba could feel her gut wrench in disappointment.
“I’m sorry, I haven’t see him.” Penny explained.
“I see..” Rapsheeba said softly. “Well I hope to find him. I want to make sure he’s down here.” She looked over at the other zoners. “I worry about everyone... and if one of them is missing..” She trailed herself off, not wanting to think about it. She gave a sigh and turned her head towards Rudy. “I suppose you haven’t seen anything either, Rudy?”
The boy frowned softly. She could detect the anger in his eyes. He must be thinking about what Chalk Dad told him. She said nothing, knowing better than to say something right now. She let him work out his thoughts quickly. When he looked over at her, she tried not to flinch at the slight hint of emotion in his eyes. “I don’t know exactly where he went....” Just as she thought. He didn’t know, either. But then when he continued, her interest was piqued. “I did see him heading towards that way.” He pointed his finger in one direction. “He was in quite a hurry.”
Rapsheeba followed his finger. When she saw where he was pointing to, her eyes widened. “Wait...are you sure...?” She looked back at him. “He didn’t go anywhere else...?”
Rudy shook his head. “That was the direction I saw him leave in.” He narrowed his eyes and his voice grew slightly bitter. “I guess he didn’t want to deal with me or Penny, so he just left...”
“So...he went upstairs?” Rapsheeba asked carefully.
“Far as I know, yes.” Rudy said. “Unless there’s another place over there that we don’t know about.”
Rapsheeba shook her head. “No, there isn’t...” She let out a sigh sigh. There was only one conclusion that could be made from this: Chalk Dad had gone up to the surface.
But...why would he do that? He knew the dangers of doing that outside of session. He knew that, up there, it would be very easy for him to slip up and end up being captured, especially with how his attitude had been lately. He knew what the schedule was and when he was supposed to be down here and when he’s supposed to be up there working. Did he really just leave all because of Rudy and Penny? A growl exited her mouth. This just gave her another thing to talk to him about.
Well at least now she knew where he had gotten off to. She struggled to keep her composure, not wanting Rudy or Penny to worry about her if she changed facial expressions too much. She was the leader; she was supposed to keep herself as under control as much as possible. She didn’t want to think what would happen if her fellow zoners saw her panicking or showing too much anger or anything. She didn’t want to lose this position and have someone else take over and potentially ruining everything. Sure it seems pretty power hungry, but the thing was, everything was running smoothly under her control, and she feared what may happen if someone incompetent were to take control....
She shoved those thoughts aside as she went towards the entrance, thanking Rudy for the information before she went. She ignored any zoner that tried to speak to her. She ignored their attempts at figuring out what was going on with her. Right now, she concentrated on just getting out of here, to that exit, and finding where that little idiot of a butcher had gone off to.
It didn’t take her too long to reach the stairs and walk up them. She didn’t even take notice of how long it was taking her or how much her legs were aching. Her mind was singally focused on one thing and that was finding Chalk Dad. The anger she felt towards him was helping to propel herself forward, seeking out that zoner before he did anything else stupid. Of all the things he could have done.... Once she got her hands on him, she was going to...
“Hold up! Nobody move just yet! Gotta make sure everyone is here!”
Rapsheeba froze at this. Those voices... It didn’t sound like anyone she knew in the rebellion. What were they doing in the meat shop? Was Chalk Dad perhaps catering to a customer? She shook her head. No, that wasn’t possible. It wasn’t time yet. Then what was...?
She inched her way closer to the door. She listened intently to what was being said. There was talk of some kind of head count, and some utterings of being quiet. She didn’t hear Chalk Dad’s voice among those, which started to concern her. She then heard a voice that sounded a little familiar, and her heart clenched slightly. She tried to push this feeling aside as she placed her hand on the slab, her finger pushing a button, causing a small opening to appear to let her see through it.
She gasped at what she saw, her hands pulling against her face. She tried not to scream in shock, her pupil shrinking at the scene before her. She couldn’t believe it. She didn’t want to believe it. Yet..there was. Plain as day. She couldn’t deny it.
The Beanie Boys... they were here. Even Rho, the familiar voice that she heard... He was in front of the Beanie Boys, giving them orders. What he said flew over her mind, however, as her skull was too bombarded by rapidly moving thoughts and shock to really register what he was saying. All she could tell for certain was that this was an invasion. She was able to discern enough to know this, and the more she let this sink in, the more her blood turned to ice.
How could this have happened? How did they find out? This didn’t make any sense. They had always been so careful. What could have happened to...?
Then she saw him. When she did, her heart all but stopped. She didn’t want to believe it. She wanted to think that it was some sort of horrible dream. She wanted to close her eyes and open them to realize that she was just passed out somewhere. Yet despite all the pinching that she did to herself, nothing would make this image go away.
There, standing next to Rho, was Chalk Dad. And he didn’t look captured. He was standing there on his own free will. Not only that, but he was actually speaking to him about something, and she could tell, from the bits she overheard, that he was referring to the secret passageway. He was even point in this direction, and the Beanie Boys followed his finger, their contemplative eyes studying the large slab of rock.
Her heart raced in her chest, pounding against her ribs. Her mind went a million miles an hour. Her body trembled as she felt sweat start to pour down the sides of her head. She clenched her teeth tightly, seething in and out slowly, struggling to ease her burning mind. She could feel herself being pounded by a mixture of anger and betrayal, intermixed with a burning sensation in her chest and the top of her head. She formed fists with her hands, shaking them. It took all her strength not to rush out there and get Chalk Dad.
How...how could he do this...? How could he turn his back on them and expose this entrance? What was he thinking...?
She didn’t know, she didn’t want to know, and she didn’t care to know. In that moment, she wanted nothing more to do with the little jerk. He was nothing more than a traitor in her eyes, and she was going to make sure that he got what was coming to him. She would not allow him to get away with this.
But for now, she had something more urgent on her mind to do. The others had to be warned of this. She couldn’t allow the Beanie Boys to take them by surprise. As leader, she had to do whatever she could to save her fellow rebels. She didn’t know where they were going to go from here, but she would ensure that they didn’t go down without a fight. Her mind abuzz and heart beating faster, she turned and she raced back down the steps.
sss
“Rudy, are you sure that there’s enough for...” Penny started to ask. Her voice trailed off as she stared at the chalk Rudy was holding. He was presently in the middle of drawing, so his gaze wasn’t upon her. But she could tell that he was still listening to her. She gritted her teeth and said, “I mean...we have so little left and...”
Rudy cut her off. “Don’t worry, Penny. I know what I’m doing. I’ll only draw what is necessary and I will keep it at a minimum. Just enough to accomplish this task.” He gave a quick, sideways glance. “Besides, we can’t go through with your plan without these.”
“Yes I know.” Penny bit her lip tightly, ignoring the pinch of pain against the sensitive skin. “But I’m just worried that we will leave ourselves defenseless.”
“We won’t. Trust me.” Rudy smiled the best he could. “It’s going to be all right.”
Penny sighed softly. “Okay, Rudy. I trust you.”
A part of Penny wondered if this was even a very good idea. She wondered if she should have thought of a different plan. Something that was better than this. She should have been able to think of something less...risky. Why didn’t she fight harder with herself to think of something that was more doable? Why did she have to go with this plan?
Because there wasn’t much of a choice, that’s why. She knew that simply digging a tunnel to the Chalk Mine was going to be risky. That only left one other alternative to get there. And that was finding a way to disguise themselves to sneak past the Beanie Boy defense. The idea of having to look and sound like those zoners caused her to shudder, and she was almost tempted to throw up as her stomach raged at the mere thought of such a horrible thing.
But there was little other way to get in, and at least this way, they could, hopefully, avoid combat. They had been informed that the Beanie Boys were more free roaming, so it wouldn’t be too strange to see some heading towards the Chalk Mine. So long as they could keep themselves floating with the devices that she had instructed Rudy to draw, the little hover pads on the ground, and so long as their costumes didn’t slip off, they should be golden.
It still worried her, though. Would Rudy be able to finish all this drawing in time? Before he ran out of chalk? She stared cautiously at the magic chalk as it moved up and down and side to side. She clenched her teeth tightly. It looked like it was starting to get a tad low...
But she had to put some more faith in Rudy. He had already finished most of what she had said to draw. The three zoners with them already had their suits resting in front of them. The hover discs were already drawn. He was down to just making his suit as well as hers. At this rate, he would indeed finish drawing before his chalk completely ran out. He was right. He was able to keep it at a minimum and still get what they needed. The Beanie Boy suits were detailed enough to pass for, well, a Beanie Boy, but still simple in overall design and the hover pads were extremely simple; nothing more than round discs.
She noticed movement in the corner of her eye. She looked over and she could see Lars holding his Beanie Boy mask up a little, his paws gripping it tightly. Although he wore dark glasses, she could see the frown on his face. “I mean..aren’t I a little...large for a Beanie Boy...?”
Penny did realize his point. He was a pretty big zoner. Larger than any Beanie Boy she was used to. And this fact might not be lost on the Beanie Boys. They would certainly take notice. The suits for Howdy and Blocky would be less problematic, since Howdy’s was designed to make him look larger while Blocky was closer to the right size for a Beanie Boy.
But there was little time to work out this little kink. At least Lars wasn’t insanely bigger than a Beanie Boy. And it wasn’t like they had to actually directly interact with too many Beanie Boys anyway. They just needed to look like them enough to pass without too much suspicion. Once they got into the mines, then they could start taking more risks. Stragetically, of course. She had already spoken to Rudy earlier about knocking the Beanie Boys in the cave out via a tranquilizer dart. Tricky, but if they were to be careful enough, they should be able to pull it off.
“I hope this works...” Howdy said softly. There was a tinge of fear in his voice. “If this goes wrong....”
Blocky looked at him symapthetically. “I know what you mean. But...we can trust Rudy and Penny.” He turned and smiled at the two children. “They’ve saved us before. They will do it again.” He took a step forward. “Right?”
Penny hesitated for a second. She couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy by all this trust thrust upon her. While she knew that the zoners did trust her and Rudy, well at least most of them, she couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if they failed them. She didn’t want to get the zoners’ hopes up, only to have it smashed into tiny pieces. She would feel awful if that happened.
But she also didn’t want dash Blocky’s enthusiasm. She stared at him, unable to take her eyes away from him. Those eyes bored into hers, and she couldn’t help but smile at him, and she found herself saying, “We will do what we can.”
As soon as she said that, she could hear Rudy give out an exasperated sigh behind her. She turned her head and she saw that he was holding up the final Beanie Boy costume. He was looking at it up and down to make sure that it would work and that it was the right size for him. He was measuring it against himself, his eyes narrowed, looking unsure. She almost expected him to draw the suit again and waste more chalk.
But she was happy to see that he did seem satisfied with it. He laid it on the ground, folded up. He looked down at what remained of his magic chalk. There seemed to be enough left. More than Penny thought there would be. She was impressed by what the boy was able to accomplish with so little chalk. Now if everything else went according to plan, they should have enough chalk for...
Suddenly, Rudy stiffened, his head looking left and right nervously. “Did you guys hear there...?” He whispered as he continuously looked around for something.
“What are you talking about?” Blocky asked nervously.
“We don’t hear anything...” Howdy’s voice was but a whisper.
Lars tilted his head to the side. His ears twitched a little. “Wait...” He put his paw to his ear. “I hear something. It sounds like...I can’t tell... It’s so familiar, but...”
Penny strained to hear what Lars and Rudy detected. It took her a while, but soon she could start to hear something. It was faint, almost inaudible at first. It steadily grew in volume and she could hear it getting ever closer. Her eyes frowned as she tried to discern it was it got louder. It started to sound an awful lot like...
Footsteps. Loud footsteps. Swift footsteps. She could practically detect the urgency in them. Already she could feel her heart clench tightly, fearing the worst. Those footsteps couldn’t have been made by someone who just wanted to quickly get inside just for the sake of getting down here. These footsteps were made by someone who was clearly afraid, someone who was trying to get away from something, who was desperate to get down here. And looking around, she noticed that some of the other zoners, particularly the beast-like ones, had started to notice this sound and had turned their attention to the direction it was coming from. Judging from their looks, they were just as uncertain about this as she was.
Then there was a loud clang. A bang and a loud grunt, and they could see the door swinging open in almost violent manner. The hinges nearly broke, nearly tearing the door away. There, standing in the doorway, they could see Rapsheeba, her mouth open and panting, her eyes bulging in fear. Penny, her friends, and the other zoners only had a brief moment to feel a cold feeling in their stomachs and chests before Rapsheeba let out a shout.
“Everybody! Get ready! They’re here!”
Penny’s eyes bulged at this. She felt her heart skip several beats. No, she couldn’t mean that... It was impossible... She said this place was safe. It couldn’t be that..
Rapsheeba suddenly let out a scream as she was struck in the back. Her body was flung across the room, and she rolled painfully on the ground. From behind her stood a very familiar Beanie Boy. Rho stared down at her crumpled form with a wide grin on his face. He let out a cold chuckle before turning his head and ushering in more of his Beanie Boy pals. In seconds about a dozen of them zipped into the room, going off in all directions.
The zoners immediately reacted. Most of them attempted to run, raw terror in their eyes. They were ill prepared for a confrontation, and many immediately panicked upon seeing the armed Beanie Boys holding up their red shards, sparks flying from them. The few that decided to fight almost immediately began to scream as the Beanie Boys attacked them.
She and Rudy watched this in shock, their bodies stiff and running cold with horror. They looked at one another, exchanging silent questions to each other as they struggled to figure out just how this could have happened. They then turned their attention back to the horrible scene before them. They narrowed their eyes and they immediately reacted. Without thought, without figuring anything out, they charged towards the Beanie Boys.
sss
Mr. Tabootie stood in front of the chalkboard, remaining still, staring intently at the chalkboard. In his hand, he clutched a small piece of chalk. Something that, before, had been just a mere tool to him. Nothing special. But now it potentially had a special power: to bring forth help for his son and his child friend.
Behind him, his wife watched, her eyes glued to him. He could hear her breathing softly, each breath laced with emotion and anxiety. She did not utter a word, although he could tell just from the way she was breathing that there was something she wanted to say. He wanted to speak, too, but he couldn’t think of anything to say. All he could do was stare at the chalkboard, continuing to clutch the chalk in his hand.
They had a brief discussion not too long ago. A few minutes actually, regarding whether or not they should do this. Neither of them had any idea of what to expect or how to even pull this off. None of them had an inkling of how this truly worked. They didn’t evenk now what was going on in that world, making this move quite risky. What if they ended up making things so much worse?
Well it was still worth a try, wasn’t it? Shouldn’t they at least attempt to do something to help their son and Penny? Although Mrs. Sanchez wasn’t here, and neither was Tilly, Mr. Tabootie had a feeling that they would have agreed to do this. Any help they could send to Rudy and Penny would certainly be appreciated. Although they didn’t know everything that was going on in there, getting the attention of one of those...zoners...to try to help them would make them feel better.
There was hardly anything else they could do. They couldn’t go into that world. Their children wanted them to stay out so they wouldn’t get caught up in the fight. They don’t know enough about the world to be of use anyway. At least, by sending for help, they would be doing something for their children.
Mr. Tabootie could feel his gut twisting in knots. He wished there was something else they could do. Not just write a message, but something even better. Something that he knew would help them out. He clenched his teeth tightly as he realized that there was little he could really offer. It was a darn shame that things were happening this way. If only this world of chalk didn’t exist and the problem existed here in their own world... At least here, he had a better chance of helping his son out. Here, he knew what he was doing.
But this chalk world? This...ChalkZone, as they called it? What good was he going to be there? He had no idea how that world functioned. And just from his brief visit alone, he could tell that this world operated very differently from what he was used to. And the fact that Rudy and Penny roamed around in this world a lot without them knowing... He wasn’t sure how to think about that.
What hurt the most was the fact that they didn’t trust them enough to tell them. Mr. Tabootie had thought that they could always trust them. But apparently with this, they could not. Rudy tried to break it to them gently as he explained. He tried to inform them the best that he could why they couldn’t tell. And on some level, Mr. Tabootie could understand. But on another, he still found himself feeling hurt about the whole thing. It didn’t help that this was going on for a couple years, and never once did he utter anything to anyone. Even Penny didn’t know until recently, then again, she wasn’t here two years ago.
What if something happened? What if he was hurt? What if one of those zoners attacked him? The thought continued to surge through his mind, clouding it. He wished that Rudy had said something to them sooner. The idea of losing Rudy and never finding out what happened... He wasn’t sure if he could deal with such a thing.
He tried to push those thoughts aside as he brought himself back to reality, his mind once again becoming aware of the chalkboard in front of him. He needed to write that message now. Before things could possibly get any worse...
Wait... Maybe there was something else that he could do... He hadn’t really thought about it before, but based on what he knew of ChalkZone, he and his wife did have an alternative option. And perhaps this option would be even better. They don’t know anything about Reggie’s creature other than it brought back Terry for them. They don’t know if it even cared too much about Rudy and Penny, and with the boy in the hospital, they couldn’t even ask him.
So..perhaps they should create their own...
Mr. Tabootie’s mind was made up very quickly. He didn’t bother spending time negotiating it with himself or consulting his wife to see if she thought it was a good idea. The decision had already rapidly worked its way through and there was no going back now. Raising the chalk, he began to draw.
Around and up and down the chalk went, the lines rapidly filling the chalkboard’s space. It felt almost strange to him. He was used to only writing words, but to draw something on here...he did not even imagine the day that it would happen. Strange how life could guide you in unexpected directions. Even his wife was confused by this and he could hear her voice in the background as he drew.
“Joe? What are you doing?”
Mr. Tabootie did not answer her. His blue eyes focused intently on the chalkboard, continuing to draw his creation. He wasn’t even sure what he was drawing; he was just letting his drawing instinct take over, if that made any sense. He knew that he was worrying his wife with his lack of responding, but he still continued to draw, flicking his wrist this way and that.
Soon, it was all finished. He could see the intense eyes staring back at him. He took a few steps back to admire briefly what he had drawn. He looked at the large body, the long clubbed tail, the spikes sticking out, the dog-like face, all of it blending together to create one thing. Something that could not exist in this world, but was about to have life breathed into it in another. Something that could be easily dismissed as nonsense, and yet still be fully functional.
This was so...different than how he usually felt when he draw something. Normally when he draw something, it was just business as usual. Nothing strange. Nothing magical. Just a chalkboard. But now, with all that he knew, staring at this thing, he could almost see...intelligence in those eyes. He imagined it so, and he could sense it. It was almost as if the creature was already alive and waiting for its purpose in life. He reached over and he carefull placed his hand on it. Even the chalkboard seemed to radiate with the preplanned intent that he wanted to give this creature.
He looked at the eraser. That was how this thing was going to come alive, right? If he erased it, this creature was going to appear on the other side, ready to take action. All he had to do was grab it and move it over, and then this creature was, if everything turned out fine, going to go after Rudy and Penny to help them. He didn’t hesitate to reach over and grab the eraser and held it up to the drawing.
He paused for a moment. He looked at it up and down once more. His mind flooded with rapidly moving thoughts. Worry for his son, uncertainty if this was going to work, hope that everything was going to be okay. Slowly, he closed his eyes and let out a soft sigh. He whispered something under his breath, directed at the chalkboard.
“Please...help my son...and his friend...”
With a soft sigh following that, he raised up the eraser and pressed it against the board. He stared at the drawing for a few more moments. He thought he could see a flash of understanding in its eyes. He offered up a small smile, and proceeded to erase it. Soon the deed was finished, leaving behind an empty chalkboard and dust hanging in the air.
Now all he could do was hope and pray that this worked.
sss
The first thing that he was aware of was a flash of light. It filled his field of vision, spreading all around. It hurt his eyes and he had to shut them. He tried to move himself around. But his body wouldn’t obey. All he could do was just keep his eyes shut and try to cope with the brief, fleeting pain that filled everything up inside of him, concentrating on his eyes. And then he became aware of sensations that he didn’t know about, coating his body everywhere, brushing against him like something out of a dream.
But this was no dream. He knew that this was real. And as he opened his eyes, becoming aware of things...different things that he could not yet understand, and he looked around, he knew that this was his new reality. No longer was he trapped in a black voice of nothingness. No more could he only simply hear a single voice. New senses were coming into the frey and his once simple world had suddenly boomed, spreading out in all directions. He was in some new void, but this one was filled with...things.
Rapidly, his mind hooked up, things lighting up inside of him. New words and concepts rapidly filled his head, and in seconds, his knowledge database seemed to explode ten fold. Words that he didn’t know before occupied his brain, and it was suddenly as if he had studied for years. The area around him quickly became less frightening and confusing, and he rapidly began to figure out just what this place was.
He was in some kind of field. There wasn’t too much around. Some..trees, yes that’s it. Trees, and other...plants...were around. He lifted his head, his ears raising up as he turned left and right. The grass spread far out, the small plants covering much of the ground. It stretched as far as he could see, soon ending in more trees in the distance. Overhead, the sky was a spooky grey and swirling. Although he had not been therer all that long, he somehow knew that this was not normal.
He remained standing here, his mind swirling with thoughts. Just what was he doing here? What was his purpose? Why had he been let out here? What was his creator thinking? Did he not know of this? Perhaps not...but then, what did he say?
He wanted him to help his son. Yes, that was it... Rudy wasn’t it? Yes, his creator wanted him to help Rudy. He knew that something was wrong with this world, and he was calling upon him to help. But why? Couldn’t he have done something himself? Or was he afraid of something? Then he should be afraid too, shouldn’t he? Yet...somehow...he wasn’t.
He could not explain why. But though he was standing in the middle of this horrible place, the dead plants all around him, the foreboding, swirling grey skies above him, he couldn’t feel much fear inside of him. It was as if he wasn’t created with the ability to feel fear. Was this a wise choice on the part of his creator? Or was it going to make things a whole lot worse? He couldn’t really tell, nor did he really care. The only thing on his mind was accomplishing his goal. He would make his creator proud of him.
But which direction should he go? He didn’t get instructions of that from his creator. Only the order to find Rudy and his friend and help them. He didn’t know from what exactly. Something about a jellybean? Yeah that sounded about right. Skrawl? The name sounded familiar.
But where could he be? He continued to look around, trying to figure out just which direction to go in. He couldn’t see anything that looked like the way to go. His creator must have a lack of knowledge of this place. Indeed, his mind was not filled with too much regarding this world. Was this normal for everyone like him? Yes, it must be. He knew there were others like him. Other...zoners if he remembered right. But if they could adapt to and navigate around this world, then so could he. But where...
There. He saw something in the distance. His pupils spotted it, dilating from the sight. Some kind of tall structure. His newly formed instincts were telling him to go in that direction. He didn’t know how or why. But something was drawing him over there. And he wasn’t about to back down.
He began to run. Something different. The sensation of his legs moving like this was strange..and yet familiar, as if he had done this before. It felt so right. His muscles stretching inside his body felt good, and he couldn’t help but open his mouth, letting his tongue hang out.
He continued to run across the ground, almost forgetting what his mission was. He enjoyed the feel of the air breezing by him. He enjoyed the feel of his feet pounding the ground underneath him. He enjoyed the slight burning sensation in his limbs as his muscles were getting a workout. He enjoyed his long tail flapping in the air behind him. It was as if he had nothing else to worry about. Just enjoy the air rushing by him, the run as his heart pounded. It was the first time that he felt truly alive.
He did manage to snap himself back to attention. He had to remember that he was on a mission. There was no time for him to fool around and just run for fun. No, he had to get his tail over to that tall structure. Somehow, he had a feeling that it was important. He didn’t know how, but he was still going to make his way towards it. Not like he had any other leads.
Suddenly, he felt himself colliding with something solid and furry. He looked up and he saw a large, fearsome-looking face staring right back at him. His hair standing on end, he jumped back a few feet and then arched his back as he glared at this new, strange creature. The beast’s hog-like face, the tusks seeming to glint even with the little light available, stared back at him. The two beastly zoners remained like this, staring at one another in a vice, low growls eminating from their throats.
sss
These Beanie Boys.. All these Beanie Boys... Just how in the world did they get in there? Where did they come from? How could this have happened?
These and more questions kept running through Rudy’s mind. For him, time seemed to almost slow down to a complete crawl as he and Penny continued to rush forward, making their way towards where a few of the Beanie Boys were. Everything seemed to move so slowly, his mind rushing, taking in more information than usual. Left and right, he could see zoners being slammed and struck, screams filling his ears. He could feel a cold shudder rush through his body at this.
Just...what could have led up to this? He couldn’t fathom any possibility. No one here would have dared to give away the location to these Beanie Boys. They all knew how important that was. So that couldn’t have been it. He could feel his heart tighten at the possibility of him and Penny being the cause of all this. He hoped that wasn’t the case. But...there was still a chance that something was done and they were tracked or something...
He tried not to think too much about it, though. The loud screams and shouts around him reminded him that now wasn’t a good time to start questioning how this had happened, and focus more on how they were going to deal with it. He could see the violence all around him, and he could feel his own body shake in rage as he saw just what the Beanie Boys were doing to them. He had known them to be pretty bad zoners before, but this...this was absolute cruelty. It took all his willpower not to lash out at them in anger, lest he lose control of himself.
Stabs and kicks and punches and tosses... He could see that some of the rebels weren’t so lucky and their necks were crushed or other bones broken. He could see another zoner have their eyes gouged out. The sight was horrific and reminded him of his own eye injury. He shook his head, struggling to push the memories of that aside.
Although only a few seconds passed, it felt more like a few minutes to him. In that time, he had been moving his arm. To him, it was painfully slowly, flickign his wrist around and drawing in midair. But in reality, it had all happened so fast and before anyone knew it, he was now holding a long, hard bad made out of strong material. He drew a similar one for Penny, and she grabbed onto it. The idea of using these against another living thing did make him feel a little uncomfortable. But after what’s happened lately, and seeing the carnage all around him, he just didn’t care in the moment; he was too enraged.
The first strike did feel weird. He felt the vibrations through the bat, going through his body. He stopped for a moment, feeling the vibrations infect him, transfer up and down his limbs. He remained frozen for a few seconds while he did this. Then, once he found his bearings once more, he lifted the bat up again and struck down a second time, colliding it with the side of the Beanie Boy’s head. He watched as the Beanie Boy rammed into the ground, his body giving a few shakes of pain before he struggled to get back up.
Rudy gritted his teeth and he rushed forward. The Beanie Boy gasped at his approach and moved back, holding out his hands in front of him in self defense. Rudy could barely register this act as he approached him quickly, his teeth bared in a threatening manner, his mind ablaze from what was happening. The Beanie Boy attempted to dodge him as he struck out at the zoner, left and right. He managed to hit him in the side, causing him to cry out in pain. And then he took advantage of this and struck him in the mouth. The crack of teeth and the snap of a dislocated jaw filled his ears as the zoner crumped to the ground, unmoving. Rudy couldn’t tell if he was dead or unconscious, and he didn’t bother checking; just standing there, panting heavily, his eyes remaining narrowed.
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see someone else trying to come over towards him. He let out a soft growl and he turned over towards the encroaching zoner, whom he recognized as another Beanie Boy. He clutched his solid hard bat tightly as he made his way towards the zoner, raising his weapon threateningly. The Beanie Boy didn’t heed his warning and kept coming. The rage etched on his face suggested he was going to avenge this little budy. Rudy smirked. Well then, if he wants to do that, then....
..so be it.
Rudy stopped in his tracks and waited for the zoner to get closer. The Beanie Boy didn’t stop coming, and increased his speed. He stretched his arms out at his sides, his fingers arched as if preparing to grab something. His teeth were bared, which looked almost comical right now, though Rudy wasn’t really sure why. Rudy arched his body, tensing up his arm muscles. Then, when the zoner got close enough, he pulled his bat to the side and he struck hard.
The bat collided with the skull of the Beanie Boy. Rudy realized he had struck too hard for he could hear the crack of bone. The Beanie Boy could barely make a scream; he fell silent almost instantly as he crashed into the ground, rolling across it like a rag doll. He paused and stared down at the zoner’s still form. His eyes scanned his body, noticing the blood leaking from the injury he had just given him. In that moment, something seemed to click with him.
What was happening to him? This...This is not how he would normally... He stared down at the bat, noticing the bit of blood from when he attacked those two zoners. He recalled how cold his thoughts had been and he could feel his body shaking in horror. The red chalk must have had a stronger influence on him than he thought. What was he...?
He looked over and he could see Penny fending off some Beanie Boys from a group of small rebels. She was standing in front of them protectively, her eyes narrowed in determination. Unlike him, however, she was not attempting to cause permanent damage. She was instead striking less vulnerable areas in hope of discouraging the Beanie Boys from coming back. He wasn’t sure just how long she could keep this up, though, and it was very well possible that the red chalk could start to influence her, just like it had with him.
He then looked around to see how the other zoners were doing. Many were still trying to get away, though most weren’t having much luck. Despite there not being as many Beanie Boys as there are rebel zoners, the red crystal shards, the geomites as Rapsheeba called them, evened the odds quite a bit for the Beanie Boys. They were zapping multiple zoners, injuring many and killing some. Blood decorated the ground, the crimson fluid being quite noticeable among the usual brown. The sight of it caused him to flinch.
Some of the rebels were doing their best to fight back, however. They were doing a pretty good job, too. Dodging the attacks while delivering their own blows to the Beanie Boys. Some had even manage to tackle a Beanie Boy and drag them into the ground. He watched as they wrestled, each exchanging blows with the other.
He didn’t have much time to watch this, however. He could feel something ram against him. He let out a cry of pain as he felt his body being pushed against the wall. He let out a gasp as he thudded against it. He then froze there for a few moments, clenching his teeth tightly, seething. He then trashed against the zoner, pushing him back away. He managed to free his arm and he struck out at the Beanie Boy, his previous fear gone.
This Beanie Boy proved to be more difficult than the other two to strike. He must have been watching him and had learned enough to be able to skirt around him like it was nothing. Left and right, he went, zigzagging, allowing his blows to sail by him as if it were a piece of cake. Rudy could feel his blood start to boil. Forgetting all about his fear of the red chalk, and his horror at striking out against living things, he continuously struck out at the Beanie Boy, furiously trying to hit him. But this Beanie Boy kept dodging, flying around him in circles like this was nothing more than a game to him.
Rudy soon realized what he was doing, but by then, it was already too late. He could feel his arm and leg muscles start to ache, losing their strength. He opened his mouth and panted more heavily, each breath sounding more and more pained. He could feel a saltiness in his throat and he realized just how much he wanted to drink right now. But his backpack wasn’t with him and...
“Ack!” Rudy gasped as he felt something rough grab him by the throat. In an instant, he was shoved up against the wall. He was so confused by this. Had he really gone this far out? He had been so focused on the fight, he didn’t even notice that he was being lead up towards the wall. Had this been what the Beanie Boy was planning?
“You...think you are clever, don’t you?” The Beanie Boy hissed at him. The voice made Rudy shudder and he suddenly realized who this was. He glared at Rho, who put his face close to him, his smile stretching twistedly across his face as he stared down grimly at Rudy. “Well think again, punk! I didn’t get to become general for nothing!”
Rudy grabbed onto Rho’s arms and started to push him back. The zoner was quite strong, however, and Rudy found himself remaining pinned against the wall. He couldn’t even strike the zoner; his bat had fallen to the ground. Yet he refused to show any fear. “Well, perhaps you wouldn’t mind showing me what you can do...” Rudy smirked at the zoner. “I imagine that you learned a little trick along the way? Must be the only thing separating you from the others, am I right, Rho?”
The Beanie Boy detected the insulting tone of the child’s voice, and he glared daggers at him, his teeth bared. “Oh you little....” Suddenly, he gave an eerie smile. “You smart little dog... You almost had me going there for a second.” Rho’s eyes scanned down Rudy’s arm and towards the bat on the ground. “Heh... You were going to distract me with an insult so you could get out of my grasp and strike me with this bat...” He then looked back at Rudy. “Weren’t you?”
Rudy couldn’t think of a response. Rho took this as some sort of victory.
“Well then.. In that case... Maybe I will show you some of my little...tricks as you call them. Trust me, they aren’t something you would want to see performed at a circus.” He paused for a moment, tapping his chin thoughtfully. “Well, maybe a circus of pain but...” He waved his hand dismissively. “Oh what am I doing wasting my time for?” He grinned broadly. “Let us begin...”
Rudy didn’t have much time to react before Rho lifted him up and threw him across the ground. Rudy coughed as dust was kicked up into the air. He spluttered as he crawled up to his feet. Remembering that he had magic chalk, he quickly tried to draw something. He let out a scream as Rho zapped him with the red geomite shard, causing him to drop into the ground, clutching his leg.
Rudy groaned as he lifted his head up. He tried to move his leg, but he seethed as he felt a shockwave of pain zip through it rapidly. He shut his eyes tightly as he rode out the pain. The relief afterwards was only brief as he felt a fist hit against his jaw, knocking his head back. He landed on his back, his stomach exposed. He opened his eyes and looked around for Rho. In seconds, he could see the Beanie Boy launching himself towards him, his fist held out in front of him. Rudy’s eyes bulged at this and he scrambled to get away. He wasn’t quick enough and the fist collided with his stomach. He let out a loud grunt of pain and he curled himself in ward, holding his stomach gingerly.
Then he felt another strike against him, this time across his shoulder. His legs thrashed out in response to this, and he tossed and turned on the ground, trying to cope with the pain, feeling the blood start to leak down his shoulder.
He only opened his eyes when he felt a rough hand grab him. He looked up and he could see Rho’s disgusting face. His hands gripped his face tightly, holding it down affectively, the fingernails digging against his skin. Rudy tried to lift his head up, but this was impossible, the grip on his head too tight. He then saw Rho lifting up the crimson shard, preparing to strike it down towards him.
“I do have to wonder what you would look like without your left eye...” Came Rho’s cruel, dark voice.
Rudy widened his eyes at this. He had flashbacks of when his eye was slashed by Penny and when Snap and Delta had tried to blind him. He scrambled to get away, his feet kicking against the ground, his heart racing. Adrenaline rushed through his body, giving him cold chills. He grabbed onto the flying zoner and tried to pull him to the side. Yet he wouldn’t budge and the red shard was promptly thrusted down....
sss
Rapsheeba panted heavily. She could feel her heart pounding against her chest, nearly jumping out. She could feel her sweat pouring all over her, making her feel sticky. She could feel the cold, burning adrenaline rushing through her body, filling every corner with energy. Her mind raced, moving through thoughts faster, as if she were in some kind of race course.
And speed is exactly what she needed right now. With all these Beanie Boys around her, it took everything she had to deal with them. All around her, she could hear the shouts and screams from various zoners, both the rebels and the Beanie Boys. Most of them were from her fellow rebels, causing her heart to ache and twist. Well there was one thing that was going to come out of this. Now the Beanie Boys were going to learn, once and for all, just why she was made the leader of the rebels.
Two Beanie Boys were coming towards her from behind. She could hear their propellors quite easily. She acted as though she didn’t hear them, making it seem like she was focused on striking against the Beanie Boy in front of her. She held out her solid silver guitar out, a symbol showing what she used to be, but also what she is now, a fighter. She struck out against the Beanie Boy in front of her, purposely missing, though it seemed the Beanie Boy didn’t fully understand her little play act.
“Hehehe you’re pathetic!” The Beanie Boy taunted her. “Then again, I shouldn’t expect anything less from a lady!”
Rapsheeba seethed at that insult, but she kept herself calm. She merley smirked back at him, continuing her fake attacks to keep him busy. She continued listening for the zoners behind her, waiting for the right moment to make her move. “I’m pathetic? You’re one to talk!” She called out, tilting her head to the side. “You haven’t even laid a hand on me yet! If I’m just a ‘lady’, what does that say about you?”
The Beanie Boy widened his eyes. They then rapidly narrowed into slits and he let out a low growl. “Oh you have just made your last mistake...” He pulled the sleeves of his arms back, exposing his large, thick arms to her. “Why don’t I give you a little ‘present’..?” He raised his hands up, his fingers flexings. “I am sure you would look good if your nose was moved to the side of your head...”
Rapsheeba ignored the pang of fear in her chest when she heard that. She simply stood there, smirking tauntingly at the zoner. Her ears continued to listen out for the encroaching Beanie Boys. She noticed the one in front of her have a subtle change in expression. He might think that she missed it, but the reality was, this was exactly what she was waiting for. She could see his movements change slightly, and she recognized these moves as preparing for something. Then she saw the twinkle in his eye and the barely visible nod, and she knew to move then.
To the Beanie Boys’ surprise, she jumped into the air, her feet launching her upwards. The sudden movement made it impossible for the zoners to respond quickly enough and they collided with one another. Rapsheeba couldn’t help but giggle as she watched the Beanie Boys fall into the ground, landing on top of one another. They soon laid there in a heap, groaning softly. The plan had worked out perfectly.
But she wasn’t done yet. With the Beanie Boys momentarily distracted by their pain, she lifted up her silver guitar and she rushed towards them quickly. She raised her arm up, and as soon as she got up, she struck down, not daring to hold back. Not after what they have done to her, and to those she considered her family.
She didn’t flinch as she heard the crack of bone in the arm of one Beanie Boy. She did not react when he howled in pain. She didn’t react when he fell to the ground, writhing and thrashing about. The two other Beanie Boys looked at this in shock before glaring off at her. She just smirked coldly at them. They zipped towards her, attempting to attack.
Rapsheeba, however, wasn’t going down without some kind of fight. She skirted around them, moving around in circles as though they were in some kind of coordinated dance. The two remaining Beanie Boys tried to strike her from the sides, their growls filling the air. She managed to dodge around them, using their high level of emotion to her advantage. They might be attacking harder, but they were also making more foolish moves, making it much easier for her to dodge them.
She raised her arm up and struck down with her instrument weapon. She missed them entirely as the Beanie Boys dodged. She grunted and pulled the weapon out after it got stuck in the ground. She then gritted her teeth as she glared at the Beanie Boys, watching as they moved around her like she was some kind of pole. The Beanie Boys randomnly attacked her, pushing her around like some kind of toy that they had found. She could feel her frustration burning up inside of her. She blindly struck out at them, but ended up missing each time. She growled to herself. She should be able to take them out easily. Why was..?
She was getting too cocky, that’s why. She realized this full well when one of the Beanie Boys pulled her weapon from her. She widened her eyes as she saw him tapping the weapon threateningly against his palm, sending a clear, cold message to her. She struggled not to let herself show too much fear towards him.
“I wonder how much joy you are going to get from having your precious instrument turned against you...” The Beanie Boy chuckled coldy.
“Yeah.” His buddy agreed. “Not so tough when it is you who is going to get hit, am I right...?”
Rapsheeba hunched her body and took a few steps back, her hands forming into fists. She glared intensely at the two flying zoners as they closed in on her, one on either side of her. She had to think of something fast, before she...
There was no time to react before the guitar was struck against her. She could feel it colliding painfully with her side. Her eyes opened up wide as she felt the shockwave of pain echoing through her ribs. She could have sworn she heard one of them snap. She wasn’t able to stop the scream from esaping her mouth. She skidded painfully across the ground and soon laid there, holding her side.
“Hahahaha...!” The Beanie Boy who struck her laughed, his eyes wide and sparking with sick glee. “Not very much fun to get attacked by this thing.” He paused. He then tilted his head to the side. “Well..not much fun for you that is..”
Rapsheeba lifted her head up and glared back at him. “Oh shut up you fat bastard...”
The Beanie Boys stared at each other at this, and then they smiled evilly down at her. They began to advance towards her, cold chuckles escaping their mouths. She just glared back at them. Despite being on the ground, and despite being in so much pain right now from her broken rib, she still refused to show weakness to them. Slowly, she began to rise up to her feet, her legs wobbling slightly. She hissed as she felt a sting of pain in her side. She tried to ignore it as she faced them, preparing herself for another attack.
But then she spotted something that caused everything around her to all but disappear. A single figure had entered her field of vision and her mind could only focus on that.
Chalk Dad.
In that moment, upon seeing him, nothing else mattered. Everything faded away to black except him. Her body froze at the mere sight of him. She could see him moving around the back. He looked as if he trying to guide someone, though whom she couldn’t tell, nor did she care. All she wanted right now was justice.
Her mind exploding with rage, her body shaking as raw emotion rushed through her, she bolted straight towards him, ignoring the confused cries of the Beanie Boys. She rushed through the crowed, pushing aside anyone, be it Beanie Boy or rebel. She didn’t care who she pushed away so long as she got to her intende goal. Her eyes glared at Chalk Dad, her mind singally focusing on him only.
He was the one who caused all of this. He was the one who let the Beanie Boys in. He was the one who betrayed everyone. And now he was going to pay the price for that.
Chalk Dad turned around just in time to see her leap at him. He let out a gasp of horror, his body stiffening. The flash of fear in his eyes told her that he appeared to realize the danger that he was in. Not that it mattered in that moment; it was too late for him. She slammed herself against him, wrapping hear arms around his body. The two of them rolled across the ground before stopping against the wall.
Rapsheeba gripped him by his throat, holding it tightly. She could feel him struggle, hear him gag. That did nothing to stop her from pulling back her fist, baring her teeth menacingly at him. With her body heated up from the anger, she didn’t hesitate to strike him against his forehead. She listened to him cry out in pain. She pulled her fist back and prepared for another strike. Chalk Dad’s eyes widened in terror, shaking his head in desperation. This did nothing to stop her as she struck him a second time.
“You are going to pay for your betrayal, Chalk Dad...” She said in a low, cold voice.
“W-Wait..you don’t understand...” Chalk Dad stammered. “Th-This was the o-o-only way to...”
“Shut up!” Rapsheeba struck him against his head once more, knocking it back. With the third strike, she noticed bruises forming on his head. She regarded them coldly. “I trusted you! We all trusted you! And you did this to us! How fucking dare you try to wriggle your way out of this...”
Chalk Dad opened his mouth to speak, but wisely shut it, realizing that he couldn’t do anything to stop her. He just cowered in her presence, his breathing heavy and quick. Rapsheeba growled softly at him as she pulled her fist back again to hit him, fully preparing to strike him again. He shut his eyes and turned his head away, letting out a few whimpers of fear.
Before she was able to make any other move towards him, a loud shout called out to her.
“Rapsheeba! Stop! What are you doing?!”
She turned her head towards the source of that voice. Her eyes widened when she saw Rudy rushing towards her.
|
|
|
|
Post by Bluedramon on Sept 4, 2015 18:38:10 GMT -5
Chapter 51:
Skrawl’s eyes were closed as he allowed the images to come forth. He concentrated as hard as he could, and in the back of his mind, he could see the visions as they formed rapidly in his head. They moved about, like some kind of miniature movie reeling inside. And the more of this he saw, the broader his smile had become.
Such a beatiful sight. He had never seen anything quite like this in a long time. He never thought he’d see something like this again, but here it was, playing before him as though it was the most awesome movie he has ever directed.
The rebels, like he had suspected existed, had been found. The grey, fuzzy vision of the clouds did little to obscure too much of his vision, and he could see the building being flooded by different zoners. His Beanie Boys pulling out some of the rebels, their bodies creating a mass as they were being collected. Cages held these zoners in place, keeping them from escaping. The sight of the cages made him smile with glee. Yes, this is where those rebels belonged. Locked up like animals. That is what they get when they try to outsmart him.
The fact that this had been going on for a while didn’t really bother the jellybean. He didn’t care that he was late getting all of this taken care of. He didn’t care if those rebels had plenty of time to plan a movement against him. The thing was, they had utterly failed. They had tried to succeed, and yet he still found them in time before they could do anything of a major threat to him. Now they were standing in those cages, looking all distraught and horrified. Skrawl wondered if they were having regrets with trying to defy him. For their sake, he hoped that they did.
But what had entertained him the most wasn’t the mere fact that the Beanie Boys found them. No, what really amused him is just how they did. They hadn’t just waltzed by and located it at random. The only reason that they did see anything was because that one stupid zoner, one of Rudy’s creations, had led them there. Chalk Dad, he believed his name was. The butcher. He did feel some sting at not figuring it out sooner, but that was pushed aside by other ideas that filled up his head.
The very fact that Chalk Dad had betrayed his fellow zoners all just for the price of Rudy and Penny was quite amusing. Well to Chalk Dad, he was saving them. From what he could detect through his grey cloud vision, Chalk Dad hated Rudy and Penny and just wanted to get them away from here, away from him. And he was perfectly willing of going as far as expose the location if it meant getting them out of his life.
Skrawl had to wonder how that zoner feels right now. He must not have planned on having his fellow rebels being captured, too. He must not have expected such a thing. To Skrawl, this was easily foreseeable. If Chalk Dad wanted to be stupid enough to trust the Beanie Boys, well, he deserved this. It was going to be so much fun taunting him whenever he gets caught as well.
But as much fun as that was, it was going to have to wait. Right now, Skrawl was more interested in seeing how many rebels were going to be caught. The more, the better. Skrawl could already think of several different things he was going to do to them. They thought they could mess with the Grim Reaper, and now they were going to get the sharp tip of the scythe. The Beanie Boys had already started to carry them off. Soon they would be arriving at their new quarters.
Sure, not all the Beanie Boys would come back. Skrawl expected that a couple would be killed. But that didn’t matter to him right now. What was more important was squashing any sign of this resistance. To break their spirits and make them wish that they had just obeyed him from the start.
But the one he wanted the most was the leader. Could it have been Chalk Dad? He was the one that seemed to guard the entrance, it looked like. It certainly seemed like he was the one in control, but something told Skrawl there was someone else. He hoped that his Beanie Boys would capture this leader and bring them to him. He wanted to personally take care of them. The leader would be the first one to go.
Oh he couldn’t wait to see the looks on the rebels’ faces when they see just what he was going to do to their precious leader. Seeing their leader get ripped apart, seeing them fall down right before them, that would be enough of a spirit breaker for many of them. As for those who continued to resist, Skrawl had some...plans for them. He chuckled as he tapped his claw tips together, the sound clanging in the air.
Of course, he could not forget who is really the star of his little show. The ones that deserved most of his attention.
Rudy Tabootie and Penny Sanchez.
Such little fools they were to come back here. They should have stayed outside this world and moved on. This world did not need them anymore. He controlled it and he ruled it fairly, as he saw fit. This world was exactly how it should have been, and he had no intention on relinquishing that.
But he supposed he shouldn’t be surprised they tried to come back. They were always a couple of stubborn little brats. He compared them to a couple of mosquitoes. Constantly trying to come back and bite despite being horribly outmatched. And this has gotten even more extreme with his newfound powers. He couldn’t wait for them to be brought over. He was going to grow tired of staying on the sidelines forever. He wanted to have a little fun with them.
But what was he going to do? He hadn’t yet thought of a way that he could have fun with them. He hadn’t really decided a way to torment them, physically or mentally. Other than allowing them to see the damage that their absense had caused, of course. His eyes shut more tightly as he tried to think of something admist the images of seeing the zoners being dragged off.
And then it hit them. His eyes reopened and the images vanished from his mind save for what he had just thought of. He slowly turned his head and stared over at Snap and Zebin. His mouth curling into a twisted smile, he let out a series of chuckles, the crimson lines on his body glowing more profusely. He watched as the two zoners cringed upon seeing him look at them this way, and then he began to make his way towards them slowly.
“What are you going to do now?” Zebin had said this. Its head was raised up, and though its eyes were narrowed, Skrawl could see the fear flashing in those eyes. “You are up to something.”
Skrawl smirked. “Well perhaps I am. But just what isn’t any of your business.”
“We deserve to know!” Snap gripped the bars of his cage tightly. “What the fuck are you going to do this time, you hump backed potato bug?!”
Skrawl’s eyes widened for a brief second when he heard that familiar comment. The same one Snap had used against him when they had first met. Slowly, he narrowed his eyes and growled softly. The sight of this seemed to make Snap realize that he had gone a little too far and he moved back away. But there was little he could do to get away from him and the flash of fear in his eyes made it apparent that he knew this quite well.
Skrawl formed a fist with his hand as he felt the anger surge through him. No one got away with calling him that. Not even someone like Snap. Sure he made an excellent partner before, but now the fates had been corrected and Snap was his prisoner, as he should be. Skrawl controlled him and this was something that Snap needed to remember.
Remember...
The same flash from before came back, reminding him of what he had wanted to do. Now that temptation had increased tenfold, causing him to grin broadly. The sight of this caused Snap to shiver with unease, especially when Skrawl’s claws began to glow.
“Wh-What are you doing..?” Snap asked softly.
Skrawl’s eyes narrowed into slits, glinting at their corners. “I am merely using a lesson that Thoughtless had taught me to its full potential.” He began to slowly make his way towards Snap. “I think it is a lesson that you should take to heart, you blue rodent.”
“And what is that?” Snap asked, trying to sound brave. He swallowed hard and then called out, “If you are going to try to turn me against Rudy and Penny again...!”
Skrawl placed his hand to his chest and let out a cold laughter at this. It was so amusing how Snap continued to show bravery in spite of knowing what may be ahead of him. He wasn’t sure whether or not to consider Snap actually courageous or if he was just a fool. He leaned in towards Snap, his smile broadening further as he watched the zoner move back further into his cage. “As tempting as that is, I think I will go for something a little...different. Something more entertaining than that.”
Snap growled at this. “Oh yeah? Like that?” Zebin stared over in curiosity, although it didn’t open its mouth this time.
Skrawl’s smile stretched across his face further, the ends curling, makig it look like he had a mustache. “I think it would be more entertaining if, say, they believe you betrayed them.” Snap’s eyes widened at this. “Oh sure, they already did before, but..” He raised his hand up in gesture. “What if I gave them more of a reason to distrust you?”
Snap shook his head. “That wouldn’t work! You can’t manipulate their minds! You know Thoughtless can’t...” He stopped for a moment. He spent a few seconds shaking the cage, his eyes blazing as he looked as if he wanted to tear him apart for suggesting such a thing. But then that mischevious smile came onto his face, and Skrawl cocked up an eyebrow. What did the little runt think of now? “And...and besides... They would never believe you... Rudy and Penny would never think that I turned against them for real...”
Skrawl was not at all surprised by this flash of hope. He had thought about just allowing Snap to continue believing that. It would be all the more richer to see it all crumble down when Snap sees how wrong he was. But perhaps he should do a little of the crushing now. Even if Snap doesn’t believe it right away, when he did, oh it was going to be a sight to remember.
“You just don’t get it, do you?” Skrawl asked coolly. He moved closer to the cage. He could see his shadow, as well as his crimson glow, bathe Snap almost entirely. “The memory is a moldable, constantly changing factor.”
He laughed when he watched Snap move back further. At this point, he was about half way towards the cage. He stopped himself and grinned in Snap’s direction. He watched as his breathing increased slightly, his eyes darting around, looking for some kind of attack to reach him. At this, Skrawl raised his hand up into the air, watching as Snap’s eyes trailed towards it.
“All I am doing is giving it a little...” Skrawl closed his hand tightly, the claw tips pressing against his palm. He grinned almost insanely towards Snap before he finished with, “...push.”
In that moment, there was a low grumble in the ground. Snap, as well as Zebin, looked left and right as they tried to find the source of the sound. Then, as they turned their heads, they nearly let out a shout of horror, their mouths hanging open and eyes bulging, at the sight of the bulging, crimson masses that formed behind them. The tips opened up, showing razor sharp teeth, and then they dove down towards them.
The screams that followed, as well as the sight of the two zoners convulsing and stiffening as the red light shot through them, was a glorious thing to behold. Skrawl grinned and chortled as he watched the event display before him. It was over too soon as the light vanished and the two zoners were gone, replaced by scorch marks. Steam rose up from the ground, indicating just how hot the red energy had been. Slowly it wafered and disappeared, and the crimson glow gradually faded.
Skrawl stared at this for a few moments before he turned himself around and walked away. He might as well not keep them waiting. And he certainly didn’t want to waste his own time, either. It was time to visit his most dangerous yet useful prisoner of all.
Thoughtless.
sss
“Rapsheeba!” Rudy called out. His wide eyes were filled with shock as he witnessed Rapsheeba holding down Chalk Dad, ready to strike him. “Stop it!”
Rapsheeba looked shocked by his appearance. She stared at him long and hard, her mouth hanging open. It took her a few seconds to even say anything. “R-Rudy...?” She finally managed to say, her voice a small squeak. “What are you doing here..?”
Rudy soon stood in a few feet away. He paused for a moment, trying to catch his breath. He could feel his throat stinging, the desperation for water becoming apparent. His eyes stared down at Chalk Dad. He could see how startled he was by this. He took note of the bruises that he had. He turned to glare at Rapsheeba. Ignoring her question, he yelled, “What do you think you’re doing?! He’s your ally!”
Rapsheeba took in a few quick breaths. “You don’t understand! He’s dangerous! He...”
“Dangerous?! You told me before that he was a trusted ally!” Rudy moved in closer, his glare intensifying as he moved his eyes up and down Rapsheeba. “What changed your mind? Did you lie to me?”
The singer zoner shook her head, her hands out in front of her. “No, it’s not like that at all! Please, Rudy, I can explain!” She moved away from Chalk Dad as Rudy drew closer. “Please...you don’t understand!”
Rudy narrowed his eyes at this. Rapsheeba was correct in saying that he didn’t understand. All he could feel right now was a strange mixture of anger and confusion. Despite being angry at Chalk Dad himself for how he had treated him and Penny earlier, he just couldn’t bring himself to let Rapsheeba hurt him like this. Not even in the middle of a major battle. But with everything going on around him, all Rudy could focus on was Rapsheeba herself.
He didn’t know just how all this had happened. He didn’t know why Rapsheeba would do something like this. He understood that she maybe a little more hardened than before considering her position as leader of the rebels. But come on.. Even she should know better than to do something like this, and towards one of her own comrades as well. He couldn’t really begin to imagine just how Chalk Dad must be feeling right now. It was never a good feeling having someone who considers you a friend turn against you.
He froze at that. He felt burning flashbacks in his mind as he recalled just what had happened with Snap before. He took that thought back. He did understand how the butcher zoner was feeling. He was likely going through the same emotions as he himself had when he saw Snap attack him for the first time. He would never get that image out of his head, no matter how much time would pass.
And now it was happening again, and this time it was Rapsheeba who was acting out of the ordinary. Her blatant attack against Chalk Dad proved this. He had seen her actually bolt towards the butcher. The confused cries of the Beanie Boys were what drew his attention over here. And when he saw her deliver the first strike..... He could feel a shudder move through his body. He didn’t know why Rapsheeba was acting like this. But this is not the way to behave. Not during a time like this. Had she no shame?
Rudy folded his arms against his chest and glared down at Rapsheeba. For these next few moments, the screams and shouts all around him were lost him on as he focused on Rapsheeba, waiting for her to explain herself. If she believed that she had a good reason for what she did, she had better spill it soon. He hoped that she would not waste this opportunity.
“Well..?” Rudy asked. “What do you have to say for yourself...?”
Rapsheeba looked between him and Chalk Dad, constantly changing her eye position. She then settled on staring at him. She hunched her shoulders, her eyes frowning slightly, looking confused. Was it really hard for her to believe why he was doing this? She took a small step back, narrowing her eyes not out of anger, but confusion. She stayed like this for a few seconds before she managed to speak.
“Y-You don’t know? You didn’t.... But you saw him...” Rapsheeba started to say. Her tongue tripped over her words, making it hard to understand some of the things she was saying. Rudy listened intently, though so far, the female zoner did nothing to convince him of anything. She soon shook her head and said, “He betrayed us!”
At this, Rudy could feel a rush of emotion through his body. A confusing emotion that he didn’t feel since he saw Snap first betray him. He wasn’t entirely sure what to make of it and all he was aware of was the energy that pumped through his body, causing him to shiver slightly. This feeling was..not really stronger now, but more confusing, uncertain.
Chalk Dad had...betrayed them? Something about this just didn’t add up. He didn’t think Rapsheeba would lie, but what she said, it didn’t sound like the truth either. He wasn’t sure what to conclude from it, and he could feel the burning frustration at his fingertips. His mind flooded with several thoughts as he struggled to accept the idea that another of his creations would turn against him. That thought immediately brought down shame to him. How could he think of Chalk Dad as ‘just his creation’...?
Still, the idea of Chalk Dad betraying them...it was unprecedented. It didn’t seem like it could be true. Chalk Dad had shown nothing but concern for his fellow zoners. Even when he had yelled at him and Penny before, he could detect the passion that he had for the other zoners. This was not something he would have seen if Chalk Dad were a traitor. So what was...?
Rapsheeba’s voice entered his mind, pulling him out of his thoughts. “I saw him speaking with the Beanie Boys! I saw him telling them exactly where we were! He was not resisting! He was not even a prisoner! He was doing it on his own will! He’s a traitor and he needs to be dealt with!”
“Even if that is the case,” Rudy still wasn’t entirely sure what to make of this. “Do you think that now is a good time for it? Look all around you, Rapsheeba! Look at what’s happening!”
Indeed, all around them, hell was still breaking loose. Left and right, zoners were screaming, dropping, striking. Much was a blur, swirling around in a confusing mess. The look in Rapsheeba’s eyes was enough for Rudy to understand that she was starting to see where her neglect was costing her.
“Is this what being leader is about?! Ignoring what is necessary in order to dish out some ‘justice’?! Rapsheeba, I thought you were better than this!” He watched as her eyes widened further in horror before the look of shame came over her face. He did feel guilty when he saw this, but he wanted to make sure that Rapsheeba fully understood what was going on. The fact that he himself was wasting time was not lost on him. So he tried to make this quick. “Focus on helping your people, Rapsheeba. They need you now more than ever. Quickly! Save them before it’s too late!”
Though he was still glaring at Rapsheeba, his expression did slowly soften up slightly when he saw that she seemed to be taking what he said to heart. She took a small step back and she looked around. She stared at all the chaos going on around them.
Rudy did feel horrible about not doing anything to help the others, focusing his attention on them. He just...didn’t want there to be any personal fighting while they defended this place. Already, several zoners, and a couple of Beanie Boys, laid dead. Some rebels that were still alive were being taken somewhere. Rudy wasn’t sure if they had the better fates or not. No telling what Skrawl was going to...
Suddenly there was a flash of pain rushing through his leg. He was vaguely aware of a scream echoing in his head. It sounded like his own, which caused his heart to increase its beating. The pain jetted along his leg, from his ankle upwards. He was aware of some kind of crimson fluid moving down his leg, staining the ground.
“Rudy?!” Rapsheeba hollered loudly. “H-How could you do that...?!”
At this, Rudy was confused. Was she talking to him? He didn’t do anything. But as he dropped down onto his knees, his hands clutching his stabbed leg, he realized that it wasn’t directed towards him, but instead...
When he saw Chalk Dad standing not too far away from him, holding that knife, Rudy’s eyes bulged open. His thoughts seemed to freeze in place as he struggled to make sense of this, breathing heavily. Rapidly moving thoughts occupied his burning mind as realization dawned on him of what had happened. It seemed that Rapsheeba had been right about him.
For the second time in such a short timeframe, Rudy felt the sting of betrayal. It was not as bad as the one he had felt for Snap. But he had still trusted Chalk Dad. It was one thing for him to simply yell, but how could he have done something like this? How could he actually bring himself to hurt him? Rudy was not able to stop the cascade of emotions from filling up his mind, nor could he stop this bitter feeling from occupying his fingers, making his body quake. Hot tears began to move down his cheeks, mixed with the emotions of pain and betrayal.
“Ch-Chalk Dad...” Rudy whimpered. “Why did....” He shut his eyes and seethed as more pain shot through his leg. He was not able to speak another word, the pain occupying too much of his mind.
When he managed to reopen his eyes, he saw the zoner staring coldly at him for a few seconds before he moved to the side. Rudy’s eyes bulged when he saw that there was a Beanie Boy coming in from the side, moving in at such an angle that it almost looked as if the Beanie Boy had appeared from the side somehow.
Rudy realized what was going to happen. He struggled to avoid this fate. He tried to climb up to his feet as quickly as he could. He pressed his hands against the ground and pushed himself up. He brought one leg down and applied pressure, forcing himself to get up. But without anything to grab onto, he was not able to keep his balance all that well and he found himself stumbling forward. He ended up pressing his injured ankle down, and he immediately screamed. With a shiver, he was back down onto his knees once more.
Any attempt to try again was quickly snuffed out as the Beanie Boy collided with him. Rudy let out a gasp of pain as his stabbed ankle was twisted a little from the force of the impact. He began to struggle. Soon another Beanie Boy joined in, and both his arms were secured.
Then there was a flash before his eyes and he could hear a feminine grunt as the second Beanie Boy was pushed away. Rudy watched in shock as Rapsheeba managed to get one of the Beanie Boys away from him, freeing him partially. However, any feeling of hope that he felt for an escape was dashed when he saw the second Beanie Boy fly around her and strike her from behind. The singer zoner slammed into the ground, her teeth and eyes clinched in pain.
Rudy turned his eyes back to the Beanie Boys. He struggled not to scream as the second Beanie Boy grabbed onto his ankle deliberately. A dirty yet affective move to keep him under control. Then he felt himself being lifted up. Despite his pain, he still struggled, trying to yank himself free, trying to draw, anything. But nothing he did worked.
Twisting his head around, he stared over at where he could barely see Penny. “Help! Help me!” He cried out, only to have his pleas for help transform into loud, anguished screams as his stabbed leg was twisted once more.
“Leave him alone!”
Rudy turned his head and saw that Rapsheeba was attempting to aid him. She was racing towards the Beanie Boys with her guitar weapon. She struck at them furiously, her teeth clenched tightly. She managed to strike one of the Beanie Boys, although he did not loosen his grip. He just glared at her as if all she did was annoy him.
Rudy then saw another Beanie Boy coming in from behind her. He tried to warn her, but he was silenced with a punch to the jaw. Rapsheeba called out for him and tried to jump to his rescue. Then with a blurry flash, she was knocked back from him as that Beanie Boy Rudy tried to warn her about collided with her. Rapsheeba let out a scream as a snap echoed through the chamber, confirming the break of her back.
Rudy stared in horror at the half paralyzed, convulsing zoner on the ground before he turned his attention back to the Beanie Boys, who encroached on him now. Licking his lips in fear, he continued to call out for help.
sss
“Penny! Please! Help me!”
Penny froze at that statement, lowering her weapon towards the ground. The Beanie Boy before her had tried to take advantage of this, but one of the rebel zoners tackled him, knocking him across the ground and away from her.
But Penny hardly noticed this as her mind was preoccupied with that cry from before. Her body felt cold rushes move through it as she immediately recognized whom it had belonged to. Slowly, she shook her head in denial, not wanting to believe what she had just heard. It couldn’t be possible... But when she turned her head, she realized that it was.
Rudy was being held onto by two of the Beanie Boys. One held his arms while the other held his legs. That alone was enough to fill her with horror and she didn’t waste time with starting to run towards him. Then something else caught her attention which caused her to stop.
Her eyes glued to his legs, widening at what she was seeing. There was something red on there. Blood... The Beanie Boy’s pained expression as he grabbed here was evidence enough for this. Rudy’s own face contorte as well, tears moving down his cheeks. The sight of it was absolutely horrible and Penny found it hard to stop her own tears from falling down. She put her hands to her mouth, struggling not to let out a terrified cry seeing just how much pain her best friend was in.
The fact that the Beanie Boy was still holding on despite the blood hurting him only caused her mind to swim even faster. This Beanie Boy was clearly determined to hurt her friend, to the point where he would even hurt himself in the process. Penny took in a few shaky breaths at this realization before her teeth clenched tightly. They were going to pay for hurting her friend.
Without thinking, Penny began to rush towards them. Her feet pounded the ground, her mind numb to everything except Rudy. She could barely hear the screams and clangs of zoners, bodies falling to the ground, as the fight continued. All she could detect right now was her writhing friend and the cruel Beanie Boys that were trying to drag him off somewhere. As she got closer, she raised up her weapon, preparing to strike them.
However, this never came to pass. She heard clanging against the ground, the sound of small rocks rubbling downward across the ground. She turned her head and she could see someone moving towards her at such a swift pace.
Her eyes widened as she recognized his figure. Chalk Dad? What was he doing? Why was he rushing towards her like this? Was she heading into a trap and he was trying to stop it? But the speed...he was moving so fast... A little too fast for...
By the time her brain clicked that she shouldn’t be standing around her, it was too late. She felt a horrible pain shoot through her body as something entered her leg, around the middle of her calf. A scream eminated from her mouth as she felt the sharp object twisting inside her before it was yanked out, a cascade of blood pooling to the ground. Within seconds, she dropped to her knees, seething and shivering in pain. She stared over at Chalk Dad in horror, her mind registering what just happened.
How...how could he do this..? She knew that he had hated them, but, she never thought that he would go as far as... She seethed, clenching her teeth tightly. This horrific pain...at his hands... She just couldn’t believe it. Chalk Dad had just... Just like Snap had... The burning thoughts that entered her mind nearly fried her brain, adding to the horrible pain she was already in.
All the while, Chalk Dad just stared at her. He didn’t speak a word. He didn’t smile. He didn’t make a move. He just...looked at her. The expression that he was giving her was unreadable, and that caused more fear than anything to rise up inside of her. She wasn’t sure what to make of that face. He continued to hold this expression, his eyes sparking with something that was almost like grim acceptance.
Penny soon became aware of rough hands grabbing her tightly. She hissed in pain as one of the Beanie Boys yanked her weapon out of her hand, letting it drop to the ground. She tried to fight back, struggling to kick at the zoner. But this proved to be useless as the Beanie Boy easily dodged it. Desperate, she pulled her free hand back and struck out towards the zoner. She managed to hit him, forcing him to let go. She used this chance to get up to her feet.
She let out a scream as she put pressure on her injured leg. She didn’t fall down, but she did freeze where she stood, her body shaking horribly. She struggled to ride out the pain that waved through her trembling leg. She struggled not to look at her injury, but she found herself doing so anyway. The sight of her leg like this, the blood that moved down it, the gaping hole that stared after her, it was enough to paralyze her further, the raw terror taking her over.
The Beanie Boys took clear advantage of this. She could feel herself being shoved into the ground. She felt pressure against her leg, which caused her to scream. Her leg was relentlessly twisted, and she could have sworn that she could feel the joint start to give way. She shut her eyes tightly and tried to cope with the horrible pain that she was being subjected to.
Thankfully, the pain did stop. She heard the sound of striking, and for a moment, she thought that someone had come to her aid. But to her dashed horror, she saw that it hadn’t been an ally who had done the hitting. It was instead one of the Beanie Boys, who was glaring at his comrade.
“Don’t hurt her too much!” The Beanie Boy called out. “Remember what the boss said!”
“Well yeah, but I wanted to have some fun with her, too...” Moped the other Beanie Boy.
“Enough of this!” Growled the other Beanie Boy, who rubbed his head in annoyance. “Let’s just get her to the boss before anyone else has any ideas.” The Beanie Boy tightened his grip on her arm. “At least this leg injury will keep her from struggling too much...”
No..this couldn’t be happening... There was no way that she was going to allow them to take her without a struggle. Despite the agony she was in, she started to squirm around in their grasp. She jerked herself from side to side, hoping to dislodge the Beanie Boys somehow. She pulled and she yanked, she growled and she gritted her teeth. She struggled to bite them, though missed each time.
Her efforts, however, didn’t pay off. The Beanie Boys, despite grunting and reacting to any strike she managed against them, simply shrugged them off as they lifted her up into the air. She could feel herself leaving the ground. This caused her heart to race. No, she wasn’t going to let them win. She started to thrash around some more, her body twisting left and right. She could feel the Beanie Boys’ fingers start to slip a little. Yes, just a little more...
“Stop your struggling!” One of the Beanie Boys barked loudly. Penny let out a scream as her leg was twisted more, her cries echoing in her skull. “Or we will do worse to you!”
Penny wasn’t even able to retort. The horrific pain just continued to cascade through her shivering body, tears moving down her cheeks. She was hardly aware of the rebel zoners being taken away. She could hardly see Rudy being lifted up higher into the air. All she was aware of was the horrible pain that rushed through her, ripping her apart internally. The pain just got worse as the seconds passed, even though the Beanie Boy had stopped twisting it. Then, with another jolt of sharp pain, she fell limp, darkness descending upon her.
sss
No...this wasn’t supposed to happen... This isn’t how it was supposed to go down... This isn’t what he had agreed on. No...everyone...please...
Chalk Dad couldn’t keep his eyes away from what was going on. As he ran back away to get a better view of everything, he slowly turned his head from side to side, looking at everything around him. His heart pounded in his chest and his breathing rate increased as he witnessed this horrible event unfold before him.
Oh he wasn’t considerned about Rudy and Penny. In fact, as he saw them being dragged away, he could feel his chest inflate slightly with happiness. Seeing them being taken away to where they were going to pay for what they have done was one of the highlights of this. And frankly, it was the only thing that made all of this worth while.
But the others...what about them...? He didn’t tell the Beanie Boys to attack them. He had specifically told them to leave his rebel pals alone. All Skrawl had wanted was Rudy and Penny, right? Why were the Beanie Boys attacking his friends then?
The horrible screams filled his ears, causing him to cover them as tightly as he could. He closed his eyes and clenched his teeth. He could hear the distress of the zoners all around him. With each scream, he could feel his heart strings being tugged. He could feel a horrible sting spreading throughout his chest, and tingling in his fingertips. He had never felt so much guilt claw up inside of him before, and he felt like he was going to be sick. He had to find Rho and make this right. This had been a horrible mistake.
Chalk Dad rushed through the crowd, dropping his knife he had used on Rudy and Penny. It was useless now anyway, the tip breaking off as the blood dissolved more and more of it. His wide eyes looked around as he tried to find one Beanie Boy in particular. He knew that only Rho could stop this. The other Beanie Boys would listen to him. If he could just find him and explain to him, maybe he will stop and...
A loud scream caught his attention. He froze where he was and he turned his head. His eyes bulged as he saw Rapsheeba being lifted into the air by Rho. He shook his head in denial. No...not her... The rebels need her... His wide eyes watched as Rapsheeba twisted and turned, and he saw the horrible condition her back was in. What had they done to her...?
Chalk Dad didn’t hesitate to rush over. He called out to Rho multiple times, holding out his hand. He pleaded with him to stop. Rho looked over at him and stopped, although he did not say a word. He just seemed to regard him coldly as the butcher came over, his throat getting dry from all the running. He could see Rapsheeba looking over at him, but with how contorted her face was in agony, he couldn’t tell just what she was feeling when she saw him.
“Wait! Please! Don’t hurt her anymore!” Chalk Dad shouted as loud as he could. He ignored the dryness of his throat, or the fact that his tongue was hanging out and feeling even more dy itself. He could feel his feet bang up against parts of the ground as he continued to make his way over. When he came within about ten feet of Rho, he stopped. “P-Please...stop...!”
Rho watched him in silence, his face quite neutral as he eyed the butcher zoner up and down, looking as if he was considering doing what Chalk Dad was saying. Chalk Dad panted heavily, his hands on his thighs and bending forward. With each breath, Rho seemed to look more and more contemplative. The butcher stared at him hopefully as the Beanie Boy rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Was Rho going to listen to reason or...?
Then Rho’s face altered and he could see a smile spread across it. Though the zoner hadn’t really stated anything, something about this smile caused him to freeze, gritting his teeth tightly. Something about it caused a painful jolt to move through his body and it was only accentuated when the Beanie Boy began to speak.
“Oh? And why would I do that?” Rho tilted his head to the side. “I think Grim Reaper would rather enjoy having the leader of the rebellion under his control, am I right?”
“B-But...but..” Chalk Dad panted some more as he struggled to catch his breath. His stomach twisted in knots as he listened to the commotion all around him. The scent of blood was rapidly filling the air. “Th-This isn’t what I wanted! I had only agreed to help you so long as you left the rest alone!”
“Indeed.” Rho commented softly. He looked down at Rapsheeba, whom he was holding up by her arms pressed uncomfortably behind her back. She, despite having a broken back, was still trying to wriggle her way out. “Did you hear that? Looks like one of your own had sold you out for his own selfish reasons...”
Chalk Dad gulped as Rho said this. He was not at all surprised that the Beanie Boy had twisted his words like that. He did not do this for himself; he did it for the good of the rebellion. He had only wanted what was best for them. Though that didn’t really seem too much now when Rapsheeba glared off in his direction. Those narrowed eyes, her bared teeth, they sent waves upon waves of fear and horror through him. This glare served to remind him how much his decision had truly cost.
“But..I thought you only said you were going to take Rudy and Penny.. Y-You didn’t say that you were going to...” He looked up at Rho. His eyes were wide and pleading. “Come on...you have to stop this! Just take Rudy and Penny and leave! Stop hurting my friends!”
“Friends...?!” Rapsheeba hissed at him. The pain and anger was quite apparent on her voice. “Y-You’re not our friend! You lowlife t-t-traitor!”
Chalk Dad could feel his chest sting horribly at this. “R-Rapsheeba...” He spoke softly, his voice trembling. “Th-This isn’t what was supposed to happen...”
“But it did.” Rho cut him off before he could continue. The Beanie Boy pulled Rapsheeba close to him, holding her like she were just his own little rag doll. The sight was actually quite disturbing. “And it is all your fault! Hehehe..you should know better than to trust your enemies.” At this, the Beanie Boy gave a wide, horrific-looking smile. Seeing the Beanie Boy looking at him this way all but confirmed the tremendous level of idiocy the butcher zoner had committed.
Chalk Dad took a few steps back. He panted heavily, each breath tinged in shock and regret. He looked over at Rapsheeba, almost pleading with her to give him another chance. She just scowled at him and turned her head away before she started to let out a cry of pain from Rho’s actions. “S-Stop that!” He shouted shakingly. “Please!”
Rho did stop, although he still kept enough pressure pressed to keep Rapsheeba in pain. “I would love to stop, really. But I am afraid that your little friend has to come with me.” The Beanie Boy jerked his head in one direction. “I don’t think I should be keeping Grim Reaper waiting much longer. He is going to enjoy his little present...”
Chalk Dad’s mind swirled with thoughts. No..this couldn’t happen... They couldn’t take Rapsheeba way. And the others...they shouldn’t be captured. This...This was all his fault. He should be the one punished, not them. He should be the one being dragged away because of some stupid mistake that he made. He should be the one paying the price for it. Not Rapsheeba. Not the others.
He had to stop this somehow. He had to make Rho let Raspheeba and the others go. He had to make him see just how crazy this all was. He had to find some way to convince him that taking away the rebels along with Rapsheeba would be a horrible mistake.
But what could he tell him? He couldn’t think of anything that he feel would work. It didn’t look like Rho was in a talkative, negotiable mood. It looked as if anything he were to say was just going to make the Beanie Boy roll his eyes, maybe even increase the chances of him hurting Rapsheeba more. But as he heard the continued cries of the other zoners, he was prompted to give it a shot.
“Please...if you let them go...and her go...” He motioned towards Rapsheeba. “You...you can take me..”
Rho tilted his head at this. “Oh? And why the hell would we do that? What use are you?”
Chalk Dad paused at this. He wasn’t really sure how to respond to this. He licked his lips nervously. Ignoring Rho’s question, he took a small step forward. “Please... I am willing to offer a trade. Me for them.”
Rho leaned himself back. He kept holding Rapsheeba with one hand as he once more began to scratch his chin thoughtfully. “Well...I’m not sure...” The Beanie Boy took a moment to look around. “That isn’t really a good trade at all. Having all these prisoners freed in exchange for one...” He tilted his head to the side, staring down at Chalk Dad with one eye. “And you aren’t even much of a prize yourself.”
“Please...I’ll be Sk... Grim Reaper’s personal cook for the rest of my life if you let the others go...” Chalk Dad wasn’t sure if this was going to work or not. But it was still worth a try. “Please...”
“Hmm...” Rho rolled his eyes up as he continued to think.
Rapsheeba opened up one eye and she glared towards Chalk Dad. “Y-You think this is going to make it all b-b-better..?” She growled through clenched teeth. “This won’t..ch-change what you did... This is all your fault you m-m-monster!”
Chalk Dad held his breath at this. “I’m not a...”
“Al this c-c-carnage is your fault! You betrayed Rudy and Penny and now look at wh-what’s happened!” Rapsheeba seethed in pain for a few seconds before she continued, “I can’t believe you would d-d-do such a thing!”
“I was only doing it for the good of...”
“Shut up! Just shut up! I don’t ever want to see you a-a-anymore! Just shut up and go a-a-away!”
At this, something twinkled in Rho’s eye. “Oh? You want him to go away, do you...?” He turned his head and looked down towards her. “You want to get away from him?” Rapsheeba didn’t answer, but her cold shoulder towards Chalk Dad seemed to confirm her position. Chalk Dad stared at her sadly before looking up at Rho. “Hmm...well...so be it...”
“R-Rapsheeba...” Chalk Dad pleaded. “Please...”
Rapsheeba only glanced at him for a second before she turned her head away from him. “I hate you...” She growled under her breath.
Those words hit Chalk Dad like a freight train, feeling as thought a large knife had been shoved through his chest and stomach. He could barely breathe, his lungs inflating and deflating in a rather shaky way. He stared at Rapsheeba in horror, his mouth having dropped open, his mind swirling and racing. She...she couldn’t have meant that...she...
“Ah, more reason to take care of him, I see.” Rho said.
“What...?” Both Rapsheeba and Chalk Dad said at once. But they got no response other than a snap of the finger.
The next thing Chalk Dad felt was something sharp being shot through his body. He let out a loud, bloodcurdling scream as crimson electricity raced through his body, ripping him apart from the inside out. The electricity messed with his senses and he heard so many things that he knew weren’t there, but felt real. Even his sense of vision was obscured, the red lines dancing over his sight, accentuated by the cascading pain that rippled through him. He thought, for a moment, he could see Rapsheeba lunging at him, her face twisted and contorted in rage, so animal-like. Even fangs were present on her face.
“Chalk Dad!”
He could hear her scream his name. It was hard to tell the inflexion of her voice, however, as his screaming grew louder, making it hard for him to hear anything. He then thought he could feel stuff burst inside of him. First his ears and then something behind his eyes. In a flash, all his sight and hearing was gone, trapping him in nothing but darkness. Then he felt himself colliding with the ground. The last thing he felt before he went fully numb was a sharp pain in his neck.
sss
Skrawl moved down the hallway slowly. He kept his head raised up eye, his mouth stretched into a smile. His arm was folded behind his back as he kept walking, his claws pressed against the palm of his hand. He found it difficult to stop smiling. How could he? Not while everything was going his way, as it always did lately and always should.
He passed along many rows of cells. Such perfect cells they were. Electrified all around, including the walls and ceiling. Only the floor was safe and even then, there was another layer of electricity below that. Anyone in these cells were utterly trapped, having absolutely no place to to go, no way of escaping. He had designed these cells himself so he could keep his prisoners right where they were, unable to do anything accept take whatever punishment he saw suited for them.
All around as he passed, he could see his prisoners near the back of the cages. Not quite touching the wall, but close enough as they cowered in his wake. Not one of them showed any signs of resistance. Even the zoners that had been tougher before no longer even attempted to growl at him, or frown. They just hunkered towards the ground, showing submission towards him.
The sight of this caused the jellybean to smirk. He remembered how he had felt when he first came into ChalkZone to be mocked. He remembered those hurtful words, those twisted, disgusting statements. And these zoners were a few that had taunted him. He wondered how they felt now. Did they regret what they had said to him? Probably. Not that an apology would really matter. Skrawl had absolutely no intention on letting them go. They didn’t deserve to be free. They deserved to be locked up permanently.
Though it was tempting to say something to these stupid zoners, to mock them for the situation they got themselves in for treating him like crap before, they weren’t the reason he was here. He didn’t want to waste any time with them. He didn’t even bother sparing them a glance; he didn’t feel they were worth his time right now.
No, someone else was on his mind. His cell should be in here somewhere. It won’t be long now. He had placed Thoughtless in a special type of cell. One that would keep it under his full control. It was located away from the others, and had a thicker wall and thicker set of bars.
Ah, here it was. It didn’t take him too long to find the cell. Shorter than he had imagined. He could identify it not just from the thicker walls, but from the red energy that pumped all around it, giving it a spooky red aura. To anyone else who saw it, this would give them chills. Even the air around felt kind of cold. But not to Skrawl. It just made him smile. He was glad to see that the geomite’s energy was still coursing through here. Its power really was infinite like Thoughtless said during its interrogation.
And there, sitting inside the cell, was Thoughtless. It wasn’t moving save for its breathing. The memotrice was just laying on the ground, its mini wings spread out in front of it as if it were exhausted. Skrawl knew, however, that this wasn’t the case. It was the energy all around. It was preventing Thoughtless from doing much outside of answering questions. The only time it was allowed to move was during feeding time, and then, he has it done very carefully so that Thoughtless could not use its memory altering powers.
Skrawl took a moment to pause and stare down at the zoner. It was almost too good to be true at times. He had been used by this little freak for quite some time. This zoner thought that it could get the best of him, thought it could take control. Now the tables have turned. Thoughtless was his little prisoner now, and it couldn’t do anything without his okay. Ah, revenge was so sweet...
He shook the thought out of his mind. Now wasn’t the time for reminiscing. He had more important things to do right now. And it was going to start with a little chit chat with his ‘friend’ here.
“Hey there, Thoughtless...” Skrawl said. He smiled as he watched Thoughtless lift its head up slightly, using what little room that the geomite aura allowed it. The memotrice’s eyes widened at the sight of Skrawl, causing the jellybean’s smile to grow slightly. “I have a little job for you.”
<Oh yeah...?> Thoughtless’s mind voice did sound as strong as ever, but its panting gave away how tired and afraid it was. <What might that be?>
Skrawl grinned broadly. “I think we should have a little fun with Rudy and Penny, don’t you?” Thoughtless didn’t answer and just stared at the jellybean in confusion. “Let me go ahead and explain to you...” He motioned towards the memotrice. “...just what I had in mind. Believe me, I think even you might find this quite...entertaining...”
|
|
|
|
Post by Bluedramon on Sept 6, 2015 10:20:20 GMT -5
Chapter 52:
This seemed so random. Why was Skrawl dragging him down this way? What was the point? This didn’t seem normal at all. He thought that Skrawl was going to take him somewhere to be killed, but this hallway didn’t look familiar. He wasn’t being taken to the killing chamber. So where...?
Not that Snap wasted too much time trying to ask what was going on or how he was going to get away. No, that would have been an utter waste of time. Instead, he focused on trying to get out of here, to run off and escape harm. He tried all that he could to wriggle his way out of this thing’s grasp. There had to be a way to escape. Maybe if he just moved this way and that, he could...
No results. His body was not able to break free of the red energy. He couldn’t even apply too much pressure without hurting himself. Oh boy did this stuff sting him. No wonder Skrawl wanted to use this to keep him under control. Simple, yet affective.
And also annoying. His arms were pinned at his sides and he wasn’t able to move them, despite how uncomfortable this was. This also made walking a lot harder. It was so easy to trip over things and fall over. Only the red energy’s rough pulling was able to keep him up for the most part. Not that it made things any better. He struggled not to yelp as he felt some of it start to cut into his body, tightening its grip around him. He clenched his teeth tightly as he glared at Skrawl as the jellybean continued dragging him down this hallway.
He still wondered just where he was being taken to. He had never heard of Skrawl talk about this place before. Its overall look didn’t match anything Skrawl ranted about before. The walls were pretty smooth and made out of something that was like a pale yellow, which was in contrast of this place’s usually grey and dark grey coloration. This yellow made this seem like it was a place of importance. But this was not the direction the cells were in. This was not the place where the torture chambers are, and certainly not where he knew zoners were taken to be killed. So...just what was this place then?
It was a little pretty, he had to admit. Some nice portraits and jewelry all around. Crystal-styled windows placed on the walls and some on the ceiling. It was certainly different and he couldn’t deny the beauty of it.
Perhaps this was Skrawl’s treasury area? Skrawl never really seemed like one for the shiny things, but perhaps the jellybean did keep some sort of treasure around here. He was more or less the king of ChalkZone City. It didn’t seem all that farfetched that he would gather up whatever gold people had and store it here for ‘safe keeping’ as Skrawl might put it.
But he didn’t waste too much time thinking about the idea of treasure, his mind immediately shifting back to what was going on right now. Whatever this place was used for, a part of him realized that it wasn’t going to be good news for him. So he increased his struggling, his feet kicking against the ground, hoping to gain some kind of traction. But nothing was working and he was continued to be dragged along the ground helplessly.
He could hear a cold, almost giddy chuckle and he turned to glare at Skrawl. The jellybean was walking not far from him. The red energy swirled around him, matching the red marks on his body. Skrawl was not at all affected by this, which didn’t come as a surprise, seeing how he was commanding the red energy, the geomite lifeforce or whatever it was called. The look in his eyes said everything. That dark smirk that spread across his face. The flashing grin that twinkled in the small bit of light that was in this yellow hallway. He could see the arrogant smirk on the larger zoner’s face. His haughtiness just radiated from his body like nothing.
This served to irritate Snap more. It was as if, to Skrawl, this was nothing more than a stroll in the park. An after thought, nothing really that important. Not that Snap really enjoyed it when Skrawl had a more definite plan and target in mind, but sometimes he would rather that than this, where he didn’t know exactly what was on the jellybean’s mind. All he knew was that he wanted him for something. But what?
After a while of walking and passing more pretty things, Snap started to notice how everything seemed to...change. The walls and ground appeared to twist slightly. It was not an abrupt change. But even the alterations that came over gradually seemed strange. He could not describe it. It was as though the whole place got a darker tinge to it. He bit his lip at this, making him wonder even more about where he was being taken and just what Skrawl had planned for him. He looked up at the jellybean, looking for any sign or indication of what he had planned. But there was nothing. Nothing but an irritating, disgusting smile.
Soon Snap found himself being tossed across the hallway, landing on what looked like a circular room. It was connected at all angles by other pathways. He wondered if this was the center of the castle. The very center that is, evenly apart from everything else. It was possible, though Snap didn’t really think much of it. The only thing on his mind was keeping Skrawl within his sights so he wouldn’t get attacked from behind. Pushing his hands on the ground and turning his body almost like an animal, he glared at Skrawl, snarling in his direction.
Skrawl didn’t react to this. That same smile remained on his face, unfaltering. The jellybean approached him slowly, his eyes regarding him coldly and yet curiously. Skrawl had something in mind. There was no mistaking that glint.
Yet..he still didn’t know just what that was. Snap searched his mind for something that Skrawl might do. The only thing that he knew of was him trying to alter his memory again. The thought chilled him, especially considering that he would not be able to stop it. But at least he could be defiant about it. Not allow Skrawl to do it without putting up some sort of fight.
“If you try to turn me against my friends again...” Snap huddled his body a little, hunching it. His hands gripped tightly into fists. “I will rip off your antennas!”
Skrawl blinked at this, staring down at Snap as though he had told him something quite shocking. He then pulled his head back as the smile returned to his face and he let out a cold laughter. “Oh really? I would love to see you try to attempt that, you little rodent.”
“Oh yeah? Well watch me...” Snap attempted to jump at Skrawl, but the red energy from before came back. The tendrils wrapped around his arms. He looked at them in shock before looking over at Skrawl. The jellybean snapped his claws. Snap grunted as he was yanked into the ground, the floor hitting painfully against his jaw. “Ouch...”
“Now that I have your attention...” Skrawl tapped his clawtips together. “I think it’s time that I told you a little something...”
Snap watched in silence as Skrawl approached him slowly. The jellybean’s cape seemed to almost flap despite there being no wind in here. With each step, Snap could feel his body temperature lowering as fear took him over. He gritted his teeth and growled at Snap, eminating lowly from his voice.
But despite his show of courage, he was actually quite terrified. If the cold yet burning sensation in his chest and stomach weren’t enough of a hint, then the fact that he was shaking like a leaf gave it away completely. Skrawl caught on this and he laughed at him. That cold, icy laughter only made Snap feel a lot worse. He couldn’t stop himself from shivering tremendously, increasing as the jellybean got closer, the laughing continuing.
Soon it stopped, but that didn’t make it much better. Just the mere glare of this jellybean was enough to fill him with unease. Snap huddled on the ground, gritting his teeth, as Skrawl moved around him slowly, circling him like he was prey for the buzzards. This action was quite significant, as Skrawl usually only did it when he had something important in mind. That meant that he had bit plans for him, and they likely weren’t going to be very comfortable plans either.
“You are really something, aren’t you?” Skrawl commented. This confused Snap. Wasn’t Skrawl going to take some kind of action against him? That’s often when he did when he circled like this. Yet all Skrawl did was chat. “I know that you think that Rudy and Penny are going to save you. But tell me, Snap...how much of that do you believe?” Skrawl eyed the small zoner up and down. “How much do you think of that is true? Or are you just pretending, hiding behind a shield to keep yourself from feeling too afraid?”
Snap wasn’t sure what the jellybean was getting at. He was just trying to confuse him. Yeah that’s it. He was saying whatever he coud to plant doubt in his mind. Realizing what Skrawl was doing, Snap placed his hands against his head and gritted his teeth. He was not going to allow this jellybean to manipulate him like this.
“Y-You’re wrong...” That’s all Snap was able to mutter.
At this, Skrawl’s eyes almost seemed to shine. “I am? Hrmph...of course you would say that.” Skrawl held up his hand in gesture as he continued circling the smaller zoner. “You just don’t want to face the reality of losing. Your friends might be here now, but they still lost. They came in too late, so they lost.”
Snap shook his head. “No..”
“Do you really think their presence will make much of a different?” Skrawl asked. His voice became a little less friendly and more chilling. “Tell me, with how much I have done, how do you think they will be able to reverse any of it? How much of a change could they possibly make?” Skrawl tilted his head slightly, appearing as though he was now looking at him through a single eye. “Why don’t you tell me, Snap? Or do you have no answer?”
“I...” Snap wasn’t able to respond with anything. He looked towards the groudn, his body burning with frustration. He wanted to say something against this jellybean to prove him wrong. Something...anything... But why won’t his mind bring forth any ideas? Why won’t his mind tell him anything? Why?
Skrawl seemed to take this as a kind of victory. He didn’t laugh, but the smile on his face was all that Snap needed to see to know what the jellybean was going to say next. “You foolishly cling onto hope without trying to think of the consequences. You try to act like the appearance of one or two people is all that it takes to turn the tides of something. You believe that hope gives you strength, and yet..it also can be your greatest downfall...”
Skrawl lifted up a small rock between his claws. He examined it carefully. He glanced over at Snap, making sure that he was watching the whole time. Snap didn’t turn his gaze away, wondering just what Skrawl was going to do with this small pebble and what significance that it had.
“Hope can bring about energy to someone, yes. It is quite...addictive. It can make you want to do things. It can make you believe that you can truly win. But all it takes is for one small crack to that...” Skrawl easily crushed the pebble in his claws. “And you would be...disabled.” He tilted his head towards Snap, his circling never ceasing. “And that is precisely what is going to happen. As soon as your precious creator friends are taken care of, you are going to crumble, aren’t you? Because the one hope that you have is going to be taken away. Oh how simple things would be if you did not trust in them...”
Snap hissed at Skrawl. “Whatever you’re trying... I-It’s not going to work!” Despite the weird sensation in his chest, Snap refused to let himself be overcome by this weird sensation. He was not going to allow Skrawl any chance of gaining a ledge over him. “You will see! Once Rudy and Penny get out, they are going to wipe that smile off your face! You are going to be sorry that you ever...”
Snap was silenced when Skrawl moved his claw up, causing the red tendrils to lift him into the air. This only lasted a second before he was rammed into the ground again. He coughed as his face hit against the cold, unforgiving ground. He lifted his head and glared at Skrawl, though he did not attempt to speak again.
“Now that’s much better.” Skrawl commented with a grin. “Now...what was I going to say...?” He scratched his chin for a few seconds, and then his eyes glinted. “Ah yes...” He said as he raised his claw again. Snap cringed when he thought he was going to slam him again. Though it didn’t happen, he remained on edge. “Now I remember....”
Snap glared at Skrawl as the jellybean started up his rant again. It was the usual thing that he would expect from Skrawl. Just flaunting about how much he had won and how much of a loser Snap was. It was rather irritating to listen to, but he could do nothing to stop it. Raise one hand against him, and this jellybean was surely going to bite back. He gritted his teeth at this knowledge, and all he could do was watch the jellbyean while he continued speaking.
He had to admit it, though, Skrawl was quite enthusiastic right now. He could sense the overwhelming pride in his voice, and he could hear the occassional ‘brilliant plan’ remark. This just highlighted how arrogant this jellybean was, and he knew it was just the tip of the iceberg for his haughtiness.
While Skrawl continued talking, Snap could feel the back of his mind starting to work. It came alive, and he could feel the nerves inside his brain tingling, zapping through his head like some kind of cartoonish phone line being activated. This sensation grew stronger as the seconds passed, and he could feel it crawl up in the back of his mind. It almost seemed to speed up and some kind of realization began to dawn on him.
There was a way out of here...
Snap wasn’t sure how he was going to get over to it, though. It was not going to be easy to reach. And with Skrawl circling him like this...
But he would have to try. If he could just time it right, he could bolt out of here and find that secret passageway that he had remembered seeing before. Or at least, he thought it was a secret passage. It was really difficult to tell. Skrawl dragged him by it earlier. The stupid jellybean must have been so caught up in his ‘I’ve won’ mindset that he had overlooked this. It did seem strange that he’d leave it open though... But no matter. It was worth a look anyway.
Then he could try to find Rudy and Penny and try to lead them out of here. He did recall Skrawl talking about one of the ways in whe he was talking with one of his Beanie Boys. He tried to keep the information stored in his head , and while a bit of info here or there might be slightly inaccurate, he was certain that he remembered enough to be able to help Rudy and Penny down there.
But first, he had to try to find someway to slip from this jellybean... He narrowed his eyes as he looked left and right, Skrawl’s words still echoing against his ears. There was a way to get out of here. He was sure of it.
He just needed to figure out what that was.
sss
Rapsheeba hardly paid attention to what was going on around her. She could barely sense that her wrists were being gripped tightly by the two Beanie Boys. She was only vaguely aware of the wretched pain in her spine. She didn't register the strange feeling when her now numb legs were hit against the ground.
The only thing she was aware of, in fact, was what was going on inside her mind. Even her eyes couldn't really tell where she was going. Oh sure, she saw some shadows here or there. She saw that she was moving along something. She noticed a bit of shadows and lights moving around. But at the moment, this isn't what she was fully aware of. Instead, what flashed before her eyes was all mental. A miniature movie playing that just wouldn't stop, no matter how hard she tried.
She could still see that zoner's face in her mind. Chalk Dad... She could still hear his screaming as he was attacked. It still echoed in her head, still reverberated, made her feel as though someone took a hammer to her head and struck her. She would have clutched her head if she could, though it would do nothing to stop that horrible, soul piercing screaming from entering her mind.
Over and over again, she watched the scene play out. Chalk Dad getting electrocuted by the red energy, his mouth wide open as he yelled loudly. She remembered the blood that came from his ears and eyes, indicating that they were rendered useless. She remembered how cruelly he was tossed into the ground, his body flipping a little as if it were just some ragdoll they had found. He then laid there on the ground, whimpering softly, no longer seeming aware of his surroundings. And then came the final blow, when one of the Beanie Boys snapped his neck in two. Then he fell completely still and silent.
Rapsheeba could feel her heart twisting inside of her chest at the horrible memory. She knew that it would forever be etched inside her skull, and she'd be unable to escape it. What made it worse is that she blamed herself for what had happened.
Yes, she was angry at Chalk Dad. Yes, she was furious that he had sold them out. Yes, she felt betrayed by what he had done. She had wanted to reprimand him further, to make him confront the full reality of his mistake. She wanted him to feel bad about what he had done. She wanted him to know just how much he had betrayed them. She trusted him, and he exposed them to the Beanie Boys. And for what? For a misguided mistrust towards Rudy and Penny?
But she didn't want him to die... She would never have wanted that. She admitted that she lost control when she tackled him, but she was just so hurt by what he did... She had wanted to speak to him later after she had cooled down, if they ever had time. She had meant to try to patch things up if he were truly sorry for what he did.
But now he was gone. Forever. She was never going to see him again. He had been killed by the Beanie Boys right in front of her. There was no way he could have survived having his neck crushed like that. And she didn't see him breathing, either. He was just...still like some sort of statue that she had found.
There was something about this that made the whole situation worse for her, however. Something that caused her gut to twist, making her feel like she was going to throw up. Something that was going to haunt her for the rest of her life.
The last thing she had ever said to him was 'I hate you'...
Those three words... Three horrible words...
That was the last thing he had ever heard from her.
She just...couldn't believe it. How could she have said that? Sure she was angry at him. She had every right to be furious with him. But to say something like that to him... How could she have done that? She just... She wanted to strike herself for saying such a thing to him. She couldn't believe just how disgusting she had been in his final moments.
Those two words echoed in her mind. Final moments... Those moments they were together were the last ones they would ever share, and the last one that he'd ever experience. And she just twisted the knife in by saying she hated him...
And not only that, but she had denounced their friendship. She had flat out told him that they weren't friends anymore and gave him the cold shoulder as he was trying to speak to her. She just refused to listen to him. She had been so angry with him that she just didn't want to give him the chance to speak his case. She realized now that she should have let him speak some more. She should have done...something...to make his final moments more comfortable..but instead she...
And Rho made things worse by only killing him after he seemed to perceive she didn't want him around anymore. He had specifically, deliberately waited until she said those words, and he took full advantage of it. She could feel burning anger towards the general as she recalled how he had twisted her words and ended up killing Chalk Dad because of it.
But this anger didn't last long, and it soon crushed into painful guilt. She remembered how her heart froze, practically stop beating, as he heard Rho say those horrible words that ultimately led to Chalk Dad's demise. She had tried to stop it, but she was too late, and before she knew it, Rho struck Chalk Dad with the red electricity. When the red lightning hit him, she felt as though she were struck as well.
Seeing his body convulse as the electricity danced through his body was quite horrific. She could still recall it now in full detail. She had never seen another zoner in so much pain before. She had never seen someone that hurt, that ripped up, especially not by a singular attack like that. It all happened so quickly, in a matter of seconds. But to her, it had lasted so much longer. It felt as though an hour had passed before the electricity had finally stopped, and the zoner was released. And then he crumpled down and then came the crushing of the neck...
She gritted her teeth tightly, grinding them together. She fought to keep her tears from strolling down her face. She didn't want to appear weak in front of the Beanie Boys. She had to remain strong. Especially now as she was being taken through the hallway of cells. She could vaguely hear some murmurs and whispers as some of her fellow rebels watched as she was being dragged off. She struggled to keep her tears back and struggled to glare at the Beanie Boys in defiance.
But that wasn't going to fool anyone, she knew. Anyone who looked at her hard enough could easily see the tears forming on the underneath of her eyes. They could see the glisten quite well. Even her own expression did little to hide the wide range of emotions rushing through her right now, no matter how hard she tried.
And seeing the cells all around her did little to brighten her mood. She was forced to come with a grim reality that perhaps Chalk Dad had gotten off easy. She would still feel guilty about his death and she didn't know if she could ever forgive herself. But the positive thing was, at least he was in a better place than here. He was no longer going to feel any pain, nor could he be tortured anymore.
In other words, he was free.
But she could not say the same for anyone else here. She looked left and right in this smelly dungeon-like place, the cells perfectly aligned with one another. It all looked like two large cages on either side but divided up by thin yet strong metal walls. She could sense that dreadful aura of the red energy all around, and as she noticed the zoners huddled inside avoiding everything but the floor, she had a suspicion that even touching the walls was dangerous.
Some of these zoners were regular citizens that were captured. She did recognize a few of her fellow rebels. Some of them had been here for a while. She had wondered where they went; they had gone missing. Now she knows where they are, not that it did her or them much good. Other of the rebels were recently captured from today's attack. She knew they were recently caught by how hopeful they looked and how they moved in close to the bars to watch her as if they thought she was going to fight back.
She hated to disappoint them. She wanted to inspire some kind of hope in them. But there was absolutely nothing she could do in her condition. As she became more aware of the pain in her back, she was reminded of the fact that it was busted and her legs useless. How was she going to help anyone in this condition?
Heck, she wasn't even able to help Chalk Dad...
The thought of this caused more tears to form in her eyes. She struggled not to cry, but she had more difficulty this time around. She could see, out of the corner of her eyes, some of her fellow zoners looking shocked and confused. She could hear the soft whispers of disbelief as they watched her. She could hear the Beanie Boy's dark chuckling, mocking her and the others.
Rapsheeba could hear the clang of one of the cells opening. She could hear the Beanie Boys give a shout about her new home, though the exact words were lost on her. She felt her body being moved back and forth and then, with a rough thrust, she could feel the Beanie Boys release her and letting her fly into the cell. She let out a scream as she collided with the hard ground, coughing and spluttering.
She raised her head up and shook it. She pushed herself up as much as she could using one of her arms. She rubbed her head and she lifted it up towards the bars. She looked at the cell in front of her, presently the only one she could see. Her heart felt as though it shattered into pieces when she saw its contents.
There was a small family of zoners in here. Citizens. They had been recently captured for disrupting...something. She couldn't remember what it was. But she did know one thing for certain. This was too harsh punishment for anything that she knew Skrawl would arrest people for.
There was a mother and father along with three children. They looked really hungry and emaciated. She flinched as she saw just how skinny they were. It got even worse when she saw one of the children crying for food while another looked as though it were very ill. The parents were looking at her with stern, hard looks of disbelief. She could practically see their hope crushing inside of their expressions as they witnessed their one symbol of hope laying helplessly on the ground with a busted back.
She felt so horrible. She could feel her stomach stinging as it filled up with toxic fluid. She had seen some of the other zoners and they were all quite bad as well. But this family... This had been the 'icing on the cake'. The one thing that finally caused her internal emotional dam to burst wide open. Unable to stop herself, she began to cry.
"Oh look at this! The former leader of the rebellion, crying like a baby!"
"I do wonder how the others see her now."
"A symbol of hope... A hero for the citizens of ChalkZone City... what a joke!"
"Come on, let's leave her be before she drowns us in her tears!"
Rapsheeba hardly listened to the cold, cruel words spoken by the Beanie Boys. She didn't care what they thought of her right now. She didn't care what they said to her. She didn't even bother wasting her time retorting back to them, since she knew that would not work. She just kept her back to them, curling up into a small ball and allowing her emotions to flow forth.
sss
Rudy let out a small, defeated sigh. He pressed himself against the only safe surface around her, which was Penny's back. The two friends leaned against each other, their heads tilted upwards as they looked towards the ceiling.
Rudy found it hard to believe just how much had fallen so fast. They were so close to going forth with a plan to free this place. They had gotten a plan all set up. They had everything set to go. They knew exactly what they were going to do and what it would take to accomplish it. They knew they were taking a risk, but they also knew how rewarding it was going to be when everything followed through.
Well, so much for that... This was not what they had planned for and there was no turning back now. No way to rewind this and fix what had gone wrong. All that hard work... Well it was gone. Down the drain. Now here they were, trapped here in side this horrible cage, unable to do anything except feel horrible about what had happened.
He couldn't help but think it was his fault. He wasn't even sure why. There was nothing to feel guilty for. It was an unfortunate event that none of them could have controlled.
Or was it...? He recalled how much Chalk Dad had hated him and Penny when they had returned. He was quite horrible to them and wouldn't let up. He constantly blamed them for what happened to ChalkZone in their month absence. He simply refused to believe that they hadn't meant to do such a thing and he continued to blame them for all their troubles. And in some ways, he was justified, considering at he and Penny being gone for so long did result in all of this happening. If only they had gotten back sooner...
He recalled how it was Chalk Dad who had summoned the Beanie Boys there in the first place. He knew that Chalk Dad was trying to get rid of them. He knew that he and Penny just being there caused the small zoner to take such drastic measures. In a way, it was their fault this happened. If he and Penny hadn't returned, the Beanie Boys wouldn't have found them and they would have been fine and...
No, they would not have. Even if he and Penny never showed up, that was no excuse to believe that they never would have been found. Skrawl was a clever zoner. He would have found them at some point, regardless of what they did. He was just too crafty and intelligent. There would have been a slip up and they would have been found. And who is to say that it wouldn't have been even worse than now?
Still, he couldn't help but feel guilty. He wished that he and Penny could have done...something to help. Anything... Now they couldn't even try. They were trapped behind these bars, and they, along with the walls, were electrified. He found this out from the Beanie Boys and while they might be lying to try to scare him, he would rather not take the chance.
"Rudy...?" Penny asked softly. Rudy turned his head slightly. "Do you... Do you think we should have gone back..?"
Rudy shifted himself around so he could see Penny. His wide eyes stared at her in disbelief. Just what was she talking about? "Penny..?"
"I-I mean..." Penny clenched her teeth tightly. She remained like this for a few moments before she turned back to Rudy. "Our folks are going to be so worried about us..." She looked at Rudy in the eyes. The boy could see the utter heartbreak in them. "We can't even tell them what happened to us..." She lowered her head. "They were right, Rudy... They were absolutely right..."
Rudy pulled his head back at this. He couldn't believe what Penny was saying. This was not how she was normally. She sounded so...defeated and resigned. Okay so maybe not resigned, but... He clenched his teeth. This marked just how serious this situation is. If Penny, who was just as determined as him and Snap were in other dangerous situations, was getting like this, then...
He tried to shake it off and he narrowed his eyes slightly. "Penny, they knew the risk."
"And so did we, Rudy." Penny murmured. She wrapped her arms around her legs and pulled her knees close to her. "We should have gone back when...we saw..." Penny looked all around. "...this."
Rudy tried his best not to gasp in shock when he heard that. He stared at Penny long and hard, his eyes barely blinking. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Did Penny really say something like that? Did she really say that they should have just abandoned this place...?
How... How could she say something like that...? How could she willingly turn her back on those who relied so much on them? How could she dash their hope by running away like a dirty coward? How could she abandon the ones that need her, need them, the most? Just what the heck was she thinking? Rudy never thought that he'd feel so hurt and betrayed by Penny, at least not ever since the Chalk Queen incident, but here it was.
He gritted his teeth and let out a soft growl. Penny looked at him in confusion, her eyes widening as they became a mix of her previous sadness and now, presently, her perplexion over the way he was looking at her. They remained like this, looking at one another this way, for several moments before Penny managed to say anything.
"Rudy..? What's wrong?"
Rudy seethed at this. "What's wrong, you say...?" He realized that his voice sounded a little colder than he had intended it to, but at the moment, he just didn't care. All he could see before him was someone who was willing to betray the trust of many, and by extension, him. "You want us to just..abandon everyone then...?"
"What?!" Penny took a sharp in take of breath at this, placing a hand over her upper chest. "Rudy, how could you think that I...?"
Rudy narrowed his eyes dangerously at her. "Because you said it..."
Penny shook her head. "No, that's not what I was saying at all!" Rudy's glare vanished, replaced with a look of confusion. Penny elaborated, "I just meant that we should have gone back to them the moment we realized that something was wrong and get their help." She held up her hand in gesture. "I know we wanted them to stay out of trouble, but it might have been more beneficial to take them with us. They could have helped us out."
Rudy felt a little guilty for jumping the gun and making conclusions way too fast. He rubbed the back of his head for a few moments before another thought came to his head. "But...would they have even tried to help us? I mean..." Rudy looked left and right as he tried to find the words to say. "They don't seem to think this place is all that important..." He was still hurt by some of the hurtful things his parents said.
"That is true." Penny admitted, nodding her head up and down. "But they also know how much it means to us." She motioned towards herself. "Don't you think that they would be willing help if they knew how much we love this place?"
"I don't know..." Rudy looked to the side, an unsure expression on his face. "Maybe..."
Penny's defeated look from before was gone. It was as though their present conversation had woken up some kind of hope inside of her. "I'm sure that, if our parents were here, they would be willing to help. And I'm sure it would make them feel good knowing that they could be here and actually be able to help us, instead of being trapped behind a dimensional barrier and having no idea what was happening to us."
Rudy looked towards the ground as he contemplated what Penny had just said. He allowed the meaning of her words slowly sink in. Realization began to creep through his body, and with it came a mixture of emotions, his body feeling a mixture of burning hot and chilling cold.
She was right. She was absolutely right. Their parents would have been happy to help them. They did seem to understand, before they went, how much they cared about this place. And he knew full well how much their parents loved them. They may have been valuable allies after all, and maybe they could have figured out a way to stop this mad jellybean. Or at least, be able to think of other solutions that they wouldn't have thought of themselves.
He then thought back to what their parents had said before, about them being hurt and them not knowing... That caused his gut to clench up and he placed his hand over his belly. He couldn't stop the uncomfortable feeling from washing over him as he imagined their parents trying to comfort each other as they imagined what might be happening to them, feeling utterly helpless to do anything to come to their aid or even knowing what was going on.
Now it was too late to do anything about that. They were trapped here, unable to leave. They couldn't even send a note to their parents to tell them where they were. They were just...trapped. He felt a tingly sensation in his fingers as the guilt moved in torrents through his body like it was some sort of water slide. He looked at Penny, exchanging a worried look with her. She gave him a sympathetic look and tried to comfort him, her hand squeezing his shoulder.
Rudy tried to smile, but he just couldn't bring himself to. He lowered his head as it clouded with many thoughts. He had no idea how things could possibly get any worse for them right now.
"Hello, you two..."
Rudy and Penny stiffened at this voice. They turned their heads around and stared over at a rather unwelcome visitor heading towards them.
"I see you are fitting in your accommodations...quite well..." Skrawl said with a grin as he came up towards them. "That is good. I would hate for my dear creator and his little friend to be uncomfortable during their stay here."
Rudy and Penny growled at Skrawl as the jellybean drew closer towards them. They bared their teeth, showing no signs of submission towards the deranged jellybean. They were not going to grant him any kind of power over them. Even if the jellybean were to attack them, they still wouldn't show submissiveness towards him. That would just be letting him win, and they weren't going to allow that.
Not that it mattered to Skrawl. He did not seem bothered by their reactions. If anything, he was probably expecting it and was quite pleased. Rudy wondered if Skrawl took this as a 'I am doing my job' type of thing, getting them all worked up. He wanted to stop glaring and try to be apathetic towards him. He didn't want Skrawl to feed off of his negative reaction towards him. But he just couldn't bring himself to calm down. If anything, his anger was just getting worse as the seconds passed by. He clutched his right hand tightly, feeling his fingernails press into his skin.
Skrawl appeared to take note of this and gave a few chuckles. "What's the matter? You're not happy to be here?" Upon seeing their glares, Skrawl put on a fake sad expression. "Oh you aren't happy? Why I never...!" The expression shifted into a small smile as the zoner tilted his massive head to the side. "Do you need something...? I will be...glad to get it for you..."
Rudy hissed at this, knowing that Skrawl was just lying to them. He was just messing with them. And he was not going to allow it. "Just shut up and go away, you dust mite!"
Skrawl's eyes widened a bit at this. There was a flash of familiarity in his eyes upon hearing one of the many things he was called in their first encounter. Rudy did nothing to take back what he said, not even when Skrawl stared to glare at him. The two remained like this for several moments, and he still did not relent.
Skrawl breathed in and out slowly, a growly sound to his voice. "A dust mite, you say...?" He lowered his head slightly, his yellow teeth exposed and bared. "I don't suppose you realize who you are dealing with..."
Rudy gave a bitter smile at this. "I'm sure I know...Skrawl..." He put emphasis on that last word.
Skrawl hissed loudly at this, raising a hand up, his claw tips glinting. "My name is Grim Reaper! And you will address me as such!"
Rudy chuckled at this. Penny looked over at him as if he had lost his mind. She grabbed onto his arm and gently pulled it. "Rudy..."
But Rudy did not pay attention to her. He simply raised his hand up and motioned it towards the jellybean. "Why should I do that, Skrawl? I am your creator. I will call you whatever I like."
Skrawl growled softly for a few seconds. Then he grew strangely quiet. Despite realizing how unnerving this was, Rudy did not shift or relent. He continued to give Skrawl his bitter, challenging smile. Skrawl returned it with one of his own. "Oh really? Is that so?"
"Why else do you call me Master Tabootie?" Rudy commented.
Skrawl gave a bitter chuckle at this. Penny flinched, though Rudy remained perfectly still. "That is true, yes. But I would much rather be called by my true form. I earned the right to be the Grim Reaper and you are going to call me that...or else..." His eyes narrowed dangerously as his voice grew quite dark. "But I can tell from your expression that you are not going to call me by what I deserve... So..." He tilted his head a little to the right. "I think I will just make you do it."
Rudy rolled his eyes at this. "Oh really? And just how are you going to..."
Rudy froze when he saw the electricity sparking from Skrawl's claws. He could see the tip of the pointer claw glow more brightly then the others. He could see Skrawl pointing it at him. In that moment, his racing mind realized the mistake he had just made.
"Rudy!" Penny shouted in horror as she realized what was going to happen.
Before Rudy could even make a move to escape, there was a crack and a flash, and a beam of red burning energy was shot in his direction.
sss
Snap could feel his heart racing as he heard the screams. There was no doubt in his mind whom they belonged to. He quickened his pace as fast as he could, at the same time trying to remain silent. It was not easy moving quickly without pounding his feet, nor was it easy to prevent himself from hyperventilating. But somehow, he was able to manage, keeping himself huddled near the wall as he made his way down this hidden corridor.
It had been just where he thought it was. After he had managed to give Skrawl the slip, which he was surprised he was even able to accomplish, he had come here. He wasn’t sure if the jellybean was trying to find him or not, but he was certain that this was the case. He continued his way further into this hidden passageway, hoping to keep himself as ahead of Skrawl as he possibly could. He was not going to take the chance of slowing down and allowing Skrawl to catch up to him.
But it would seem that Skrawl found another victim...
“Aaaahhhh!”
When that initial scream came, it caused him to freeze in place, his mind growing numb. He didn’t recognize yet who that scream belonged to. All he knew in that moment was that this person was in a lot of pain and needed dire help. It was only when the scream had come again that he recognized it as Rudy.
Skrawl must have given up search for him and went after his friends. Figured... That jellybean probably didn’t want to waste too much time chasing him down. Maybe his pride was hurt due to how easily he had slipped away. In fact, it was almost too easy.... Yet Snap had run anyway, leaving the jellybean in the dust. And now that evil jellybean was going to take it out on his friends. Was this his way of punishing him? Was Skrawl only attacking Rudy and Penny to make him feel guilt for escaping?
Possibly, but he was not going to allow this guilt to rule his mind. He focused on getting over to where they were being hurt and find a way to get them out of there. He knew that the meeting was going to be quite...awkward, but he knew that Rudy and Penny would more likely accept his help than reject him, given their present situation. They were his friends still, regardless of what had happened before. Even if they were uncomfortable with him, getting out was the higher priority.
He continued moving along the hidden corridor. Up and down and left and right it went. It was not an easy passageway to navigate. No wonder it was sealed up in here. His legs were getting quite the work out, slowing him down as he tried to make his way over. There was only one direction to go, and by pure coincidence, it was the same direction he had heard the screams from.
He struggled to keep himself from slipping. His feet scraped against the floor, trying to usher him upwards, trying to prevent slippage. He gritted his teeth as he did end up nearly falling a few times. Another couple times, he banged his leg when he made a poor step, or he would push up against the wall when he didn’t expect a turn to be that fast. But despite his difficulties, he was making considerable progress and was able to keep a steady, albeit a little slower than he would have liked, pace to get over there.
When the screams had stopped, he could feel his heart skipping several beats. No...please.. Not Rudy... No... He ended up quickening his pace a little more. Despite the trouble this gave him, and despite some of the bruises he was surely going to get for his clumsiness, he still moved quickly along the bumpy, twisty pathway to get to where he was certain Rudy and Penny were being held.
Soon, he made it to where the pathway broke off into an opening. Finally, he was at the end. But..was it where he needed to be...? Only one way to find out.
Snap made his way over towards the opening slowly. He had to keep his arms out, his hands pressed against the walls, to keep himself from slipping down the large curve that led to the opening. Soon he stood right in front of it. The opening here was a bit smaller and it would take more effort fro Rudy and Penny to come through this way. But it was worth a short, right?
He placed his hands against one side of the roundish opening and he peered through, keeping most of himself hidden, only allowing enough to see. And sure enough, almost as if fate were working for him, he could see a large cell where Rudy and Penny were. This one was seperate from the other cells. He deduced that this was one of Skrawl’s personal cells. Reserved for any prisoner that Skrawl deemed ‘the most dangerous’. This was just one of several ways that evil jellybean dealt with greater threats. As he recalled, not all of them were kept in isolation.
At this, he recalled that he was not the only one pulled down by the red energy earlier. So had Zebin. The superhero zoner had mixed feelings about that. A part of him didn’t care too much. After all, that zoner had tried to kill Rudy and Penny and was quite apathetic towards the fate of ChalkZone. And yet...he couldn’t really feel happy for what happened to it either. He would try to help it, but he had no idea where it was taken to. He could only hope that it was safe.
He stared over at Rudy and Penny for several moments, watching them carefully. He could see that Penny was trying to comfort Rudy. He looked a bit burnt up and Snap knew that Skrawl must have been hurting Rudy for a bit. He could feel his blood boil, his teeth gritting tightly. How dare the jellybean do something like this...
He then spotted a curiosity behind them. The wall there looked like it sustained damage, and with how far it was spread, he guessed that the wall took more of the attack than Rudy did. Snap wondered if Skrawl hadn’t meant to hit Rudy and was only giving a warning shot. Well, not that it mattered now. Rudy was injured regardless, and it was all because of that deranged jellybean...
Snap tried not to focus on that for too long. He needed to help his friends get out of here. He began to move out of the opening, only to pause when he was right on the edge. He stared over at his friends, barely hearing Rudy’s whimpering and Penny’s soft words of comfort. He took in a few, slow breaths, clenching his teeth. He wasn’t sure if his appearance was going to be a good thing or a bad thing for them. Would he fill them with hope or was he going to tear them down...?
No, this was not a time to feel sorry for himself. He had to do this. He had to get moving. Taking in a deep breath, he began to make his way towards Rudy and Penny.
When he within ten feet of the cage, he stopped. So far, they hadn’t noticed him. Their eyes were on each other only. Snap watched as Penny had finally managed to soothe Rudy and calm him down. This made him feel even worse for speaking up, for doing so ran the risk of frightening them. But...it had to be done.
“G-Guys...” Snap whispered. At this, the two children stirred. “Bucko.... Buckette..” He said in a soft, gentle voice. He could see the two children stare over in his direction. He did his best to smile. “H-Hello...”
Immediately, the two children were put on the defensive. They quickly got up and stared intentlly over in his direction, slight glares on their faces, their teeth bared. They had their hands clenched into small fists as they backed a bit away from him, staring at him cautiously.
The sight of this did hurt Snap, but he had expected this kind of greeting. After what he was forced to do while under the memotrice’s spell.... He could feel a cold sensation wash through him as he remembered the terrible things he did or said. It was no wonder Rudy and Penny didn’t appear to trust him. Although judging from the look in their eyes, it was clear that they didn’t want to distrust them; they were just finding it hard to do so right now.
Snap knew this was going to be difficult, but he had to think of a way to get them to trust him enough to let him guide them out of here. That was going to be quite tricky, and his attempts at convincing them may result in wasted time, but he knew there was no other choice. Oh sure he could just leave them, but they were his friends. He was not going to abandon them.
He decided to break the silent tension. “Are you two okay?”
“I-I’m fine...” Penny managed to say. There was a slight flinch, and Snap could tell she was hurt, too. “Well except for my leg...” She turned her head down, staring at it for a moment, before looking back at Snap. “But I’m fine...”
Snap was surprised that she was able to answer him so quickly. This was definitely good news. He tried not to smile at this; he didn’t want it to be taken the wrong way. He was just happy that Rudy and Penny seemed to still trust him enough to tell him what happened. Or at least, Penny did. What about Rudy...?
Or perhaps this wasn’t so much trust as it was they felt they had no choice. Maybe they thought that he was going to hurt them if they didn’t comply and... No, he couldn’t think like that. He shook the thought out of his mind before he focused on Rudy.
The boy was staring at him intently, even more so than Penny. He could see that his eyes still stung with the bitterness of betrayal, something that caused Snap to flinch a bit. He recalled how he had led Rudy into a trap and shot him with that...that weapon... Snap could feel his body start to quiver a little at this horrible memory. How...How could he have done such a thing...? And to his best friend...?
When Rudy did answer him, his voice was surprisingly calm, although it still had an eerie tone to it as he spoke. “Other than my leg and a few burns, I’m...fine...” He seethed a little as a wave of pain moved through him. “S-So...” Rudy stared at Snap for a few seconds, his eyes moving up and down. “How d-did you get here?”
At this, Penny’s eyes widened a little and she looked back at Snap. “Yes...that does seem a little strange...” She narrowed her eyes slightly. “This place is like a maze and yet you still managed to find us...”
Realizing where this was going to lead to, Snap quickly said, “I found a secet passageway that was heading in this direction.” He wasn’t sure if that was going to be enough to convince them, but he still had to try. “I want to lead you two out of here.”
Rudy’s eyes narrowed slightly. The anger from his previous actions shone even more so in these eyes right now. “How...do we know this isn’t a trick...?”
Snap held out his hands in desperation. “Please, Rudy...Penny... Now isn’t the time for this. If we do nothing and Skrawl finds us, he’ll..”
“Maybe he’ll just order you to attack or something. Maybe this was all a trick.” Rudy said bitterly.
Snap fell silent. He had expected Rudy to be still mad about what happened. He had expected that this negative feeling to be increased by the pain he was in, as well as the sense of being trapped. But he was still taken aback by how cold Rudy sounded there. And yet...he could also detect some reluctance as well...
“Look, Snap...we...” Penny spoke up. She let out a small sigh as she rubbed her forehead. “It’s...It’s not that we don’t want to trust you. We do... We still think of you as our friend... We know that you are not under Skrawl’s spell anymore. Obviously if you are being held prisoner here, you are not exactly on his side anymore.” Penny looked over at him, her expression a little softer than before. “It’s just...so hard to get over what you had done. You hurt us so much, Snap...” She slowly shook her head from side to side. “How can we just...bounce back?”
Rudy nodded in agreement. “I can’t even trust you behind my back anymore, Snap. I hate that feeling. But even after knowing you were being controlled...even after knowing that you had broken free.. I still can’t... I just can’t...” He closed his eyes. “I-I am so sorry...”
Snap stared at his friends sadly. He couldn’t really blame them for not trusting him. After what he did, he kind of deserved this kind of response from them. They were in so much emotional pain from his cruel actions and the trust they once shared for one another would take a while to rebuild. He was going to have to be vigilant and continue fighting to regain their trust. But he knew he couldn’t just force it out of them.
But he needed to get them out of here, and if they didn’t trust him, then progress was going to be slow. The sooner they got out of here, the better, but how could they accomplish this if Rudy and Penny wouldn’t trust him to even get them out of the cage? He could feel his head hurting as he struggled with an answer. Come on...there had to be something that he...
Wait, there might be something that he hadn’t tried yet. He wasn’t sure if it was going to work or not, but with so little time, he had to give it a shot. He took a small step towards his friends, freezing slightly as he saw them cringe a bit. He paused to give them a little time to relax, and then he began to speak.
“Maybe after I let you out...” He motioned a hand towards them. “One of you could lead...?” He remained quiet and allowed his friends time to respond.
Rudy and Penny glanced at one another, considering his suggestion. They blinked a few times, made a few facial expressions, tilted their heads, made a few murmurs under their breath. All kinds of stuff, including making gestures with their hands as they began to debate with one another about whether or not they should accept this. And all the while, Snap just remained silent and let them discuss this over.
It didn’t take that long anyway, much to his relief. Soon the two children were staring back over at him, their eyes holding a mixture of emotion. A new one joined the fray. He couldn’t quite identify it, though. The closest that he could think of that it matched was acceptance. His heart fluttered at this. Were they going to trust him enough to accept this offer? He hoped so, for if they didn’t, they’d...
“All right, Snap. We will go with that plan.”
Snap couldn’t help but smile at this. He wasn’t able to stop himself from stretching the corners of his mouth further than he had intended, and he could see how this was unnerving his friends. He tried his best to wipe it off, but he just couldn’t help but feel a strong sense of happiness that they were going to let him help them a little. “Don’t worry, I will get you out of there.”
Rudy watched him cautiously. “Yeah, well... Remember; if you betray us again...”
“I won’t. I promise.” Snap knew that his promises probably didn’t mean much right now. But getting out was more important; they could worry about speaking more regarding this later. “Rudy, do you still have the magic chalk?”
Rudy’s eyes widened at this, something flashing in them. He turned his head down towards his pocket and he moved his hand through it. Snap held his breath, wondering if they lost it yet again. He let out a sigh of relief when Rudy managed to pull it out. He could also see the relief in Rudy and Penny’s eyes as well. But that soon faded and Snap was confused by this.
Rudy didn’t keep him in the dark for long. “Skrawl had mentioned to us, or maybe it was the Beanie Boys, that this is magic chalk resistant. Something about the geomite energy around us..” He took a moment to look around, gritting his teeth. “We can’t just draw an opening. It’ll just close right away.”
Snap frowned at this. That...certainly was going to be a problem. He placed his hand against his face, rubbing it thoughtfully. Then something twinkled in his eye and they lit up. “I think I have an idea...”
sss
Rho’s mouth curved up into a wicked smile as he watched this scene play out from afar. Skrawl was right when he had said that Snap would be too stupid to think of looking in this direction. He was too busy worrying about his friends to really think of the possibility of him not being alone.
And now, that was allowing him the pleasure of watching the plan unfold right before his eyes. Oh if only Snap knew what was really going on...
He couldn’t wait until he saw all of this go down. He couldn’t wait to see the look in their eyes when everything came crashing to the ground. He wanted to see their expressions as their hope was taken away. He wanted to see them suffer for all they had put him through before. He wanted them to pay for their interference for all this time. He and every other Beanie Boy craved for this day, and now it seemed to finally be coming.
This was truly one of Skrawl’s greatest plans yet. Though he had already attempted something like this earlier, back when they had them prisoner at the old hideout, this plan was a bit more simple and yet more affective. To drive that wedge between them even further, to spread more doubt into their hearts... That was such a twisted thing to do, which made this all the more exciting to watch.
He was growing a little impatient, though. It was taking them longer than Skrawl had believed for Snap to get them out of there. According to Skrawl’s calculations after he allowed Snap to escape, he should have been here a few minutes earlier, and he should have gotten his friends out sooner.
Oh well, maybe he was overestimating Snap. Perhaps he was used to how Snap was back when he had worked for them. Yeah, that was probably it. But that was fine. Sure it was going to take a little longer, but things were more or less remaining on the path, even if it was a bit late. It didn’t really matter how long this took, anyway. Skrawl’s plan wouldn’t spring into action until Snap was at a particular location. He could take all the time in the world and it would not spring until he got there. Oh how rich it will be once everything is put into play...
But...what if something else was going on? What if things weren’t going to go according to plan? Rho bit his lip at this. There was still that possibility that Snap and the two humans weren’t going to go the designated direction. If that were the case, then this whole plan was going to be ruined. He couldn’t allow that to happen. After all this hard work, he couldn’t allow the possibility that it was all going to come crashing down.
He turned his head towards the other zoner that was with him. He did not accompany this spot alone. He was not watching the trio alone. No, he had brought Thoughtless with him. The zoner that was helping to ensure that the plan was going to work. Or at least, that’s the whole reason why it was here.
Slowly, Rho narrowed his eyes. “Is he going to go where we talked about?”
Thoughtless didn’t dare turn to look at him. For a brief second, this did look like an act of defiance. Rho had to remind himself that Thoughtless needed to concentrate in order to continue holding some kind of influence over Snap. It was going to be difficult for it to speak to him and control Snap at the same time.
But Rho was not going to take silence for an answer, either. Gritting his teeth, he took a few steps closer, his narrowed eyes upon the memotrice. He said, “I will repeat myself. Is Snap going to lead them where we had planned?”
At this, Thoughtless did answer, though not with words. It just moved its head up and down slowly, slightly. Just enough to give Rho some kind of answer.
Rho smiled at this confirmation. “That is good.” He moved in a little closer, his smile broadening a bit further. “Keep up the good work. You don’t want to end up needing some...encouragement...” He raised his red geomite shard towards him, the end sparking with red electricity. “..now do you...?”
Thoughtless’s eyes bulged at this, its pupils dilating in fear. It gave a slight shake of the head and its eyes narrowed as if to concentrate harder. Rho couldn’t help but grin at this.
|
|
|
|
Post by Bluedramon on Sept 7, 2015 20:13:15 GMT -5
Chapter 53:
“Snap...are you sure this is a good idea...?” Rudy asked warily, peering down at his piece of magic chalk that he held.
“I know it’s risky, Bucko. But unless you have a better idea...” Snap started to say.
Penny interrupted him. “But what proof do you have that this will even work?” The girl’s arms folded against her chest. “You didn’t even tell us why this could work. And you know what will happen if it fails.”
Snap nodded his head. “Yeah I know. But..come on, think about it!” Snap raised his hands up. “The red chalk hates the white chalk!”
Rudy raised an eyebrow. Regardless of how he felt about Snap right now, he still would have been confuse by the zoner’s proposal. It was absolutely insane. If they dare try something like that, and it failed, they were going to render themselves completely defenseless. Though he knew it was crazy, a part of him that hadn’t quite gotten over Snap’s betrayal couldn’t help but wonder if this was being suggested on purpose.
And what did the whole ‘red chalk hates white chalk’ thing have to do with this? And how would Snap even know this, either? When he and Penny were controlled, he didn’t recall gaining a particular hatred of the white chalk. He had used it just fine when he had tried to...
He shook the uncomfortable memory off. The point was, he saw absolutely nothing that yielded that kind of result. Even if it did, what good was it going to do them? Regardless if it was true or not, he couldn’t really think of any way that this could be useful to them. So why did Snap insist that it might work? Why was he adamant about this? Something felt off...
Rudy managed to shake the thought out of his mind as he tilted his head. He narrowed his eyes slightly. “How are you so sure about this? What gives you that suspicion.”
“Think about it!” Snap called out. There was an urgency in his voice. Rudy wasn’t sure if it was because he was worried they’d get caught or if it was...something else. “It glues itself to your hand, making sure that you could only use it! And when it dragged Reggie, it zipped him past the white chalk section! What does that tell you?”
Rudy folded his arms. “That the red chalk is a glory hound and was in a hurry to get more of its own kind.” He raised an eyebrow. “Not exactly proof of any kind of hatred outside of it just sees itself as superior.”
“Exactly!” Snap pointed out. He motioned his hand towards him. “And the red chalk wouldn’t want to ‘taint’ itself by touching white chalk. It would want to get away, wouldn’t it?”
“Perhaps...” Rudy said softly, though he wasn’t really all that convinced.
Neither was Penny. She still had that skeptical frown on her face as she slowly approached the small zoner. She couldn’t get that close due to the bars in front of her, so she stopped about two feet in front of it. She stared at Snap for a few moments, her eyes narrowed as she thought of some kind of response. She then sighed and said, “Snap...this is an interesting theory and all, but... It’s just a theory, and it’s too risky to try it.” She looked around the cell, her expression contorted to one of uncertainty. “I’m not sure how we are going to get out of here...”
Snap gripped the sides of his face. “You can just...” He stopped himself as he appeared to realize he was sounding a little too harsh there. He let out an exasperated sigh. “Look, I know this sounds crazy. Even I think it’s crazy.” He placed his hands to himself. “But you have to t....” He stopped himself yet again, his eyes widening in realization. He quickly corrected himself. “You have to at least give it a go. Maybe just a tiny piece?” His voice was tinged with hope. “Surely yo could sacrifice a small sliver of that to see if it works.”
Rudy frowned slightly at this as he stared down at the white chalk. He thought about what Snap had just suggested. He did make a good point. Perhaps a small piece wouldn’t hurt. Just shave off a bit of the tip here and toss it in and then...
But what if something else were to happen? What if doing this would cause something much worse to happen? What if he screwed things up big time? He didn’t want to run the risk of making everything worse should this turn out to be a huge mistake. What if there was some kind of trap or alarm with this? If Skrawl knew about this aversion, and he was certain that he did, wouldn’t he have set it up to where if he tried to use the white chalk, it would....
He tried not to think about it. He tried to think that maybe this could work. There was that possibility that maybe it could be affective and maybe it would help them out of this situation. He didn’t want to simply toss this idea without at least trying it out. But he was at such a cross roads with this that he just couldn’t decide full front which one was the best path tot ake. And if he didn’t go with this idea, then what other plan could they try?
Feeling frustrated and uncertain, he glanced over at Penny, hoping that she would have some kind of answer. Unfortunately, she looked just as conflicted as he did. Her eyes narrowed in concern, her mouth contorted to show uncertainty. She looked deep in thought and even when she stared over at him, it didn’t feel like she was looking at him entirely; it was more like she was just staring off into the distance. He had to wonder what kind of thoughts were going through her mind. He hoped that, despite the difficulty, she’d think of something that they could try, some kind of answer. Anything.
“I can see where you are coming from, Snap.” Penny finally spoke after a few slow seconds of silence. “That does seem like it could work. A small piece isn’t that much....” She trailed off for a second as her eyes narrowed a little. “But..it could also mean the difference between life and death.” She had an almost disbelieving inflexion in that voice, as though she couldn’t believe that those words came out of her mouth and not someone else’s. “What if we need a little more to finish an important drawing and we can’t be cause we got rid of a tiny piece of the chalk? True it might not seem like much, but Snap, you have to understand taht in situations like this, even the smallest amount matters.”
Snap nodded his head in agreement. “I know, and I’m not saying that this doesn’t come at any risk itself. But...” He held out his hands towards them, his eyes widening a little. “...what if it does work? And what if we just waste time standing around here talking while Skrawl does who knows what to the other zoners? Isn’t it worth it to at least try it once, for them?”
Rudy and Penny glanced at each other as Snap said this, their eyes widened. They looked back at Snap, remaining silence, waiting for him to continue.
Snap said, “I do wish I could think of a better way. I do wish that something else could be done. But unfortunately, this is all I got. This is all that I can think of.” He looked towards the ground, his eyes frowning a little as he must be imagining what the other zoners were going through. He gritted his teeth in fear. He then looked back at Rudy and Penny. “Please...can’t you at least try...?” He took a small step towards them. “Please?”
Rudy wasn’t sure how to respond to this. What was he supposed to say to him? He noted the expression in the zoner’s eyes, seeing how pleading they were. He could just imagine Snap continuing to speak, even though the zoner had fallen silent at this point, his mouth closed. Rudy looked down at the piece of white chalk he still had in his hand, struggling to think of just how to respond appropriately to this.
Glancing over at Penny didn’t really yield any results. She was just as uncertain as ever. She was actually looking at him as though she thought that he was going to come up with some kind of answer. The boy sucked in a deep breath and sighed softly. He then looked back down at the white chalk, his mind a buzz with many thoughts. He had to think of something. He couldn’t let Snap hang in suspense like that, and they probably didn’t have that much time either. What if Skrawl came back?
He shuddered to think of what else that jellybean might do to him. He still ached from the last attack, stinging in multiple places. And that had been him holding back.... Rudy hated to think just what might happen if Skrawl decided to do something worse with those powers. Just what was the extent of his abilities? The extent of the pain that he could deliver. Rudy believed that it was best that he never find out.
But for an answer...
He thought again about what Snap had said before. He did want to help out the other zoners. He didn’t want to keep them waiting. He didn’t want to give Skrawl any more time to hurt them. The longer that he waited, the worse everything was going to get.
Over and over again, he could hear Chalk Dad’s voice echoing in his skull. He remembered all the hurtful things he said to him, all the accusations that he had made. Despite his growing anger, Rudy realized, just as he had before, that Chalk Dad’s words weren’t entirely without reason. Thinking about his words made it hurt him that much more when he thought of the zoners that needed help, and how they weren’t getting any aid because he wasn’t willing to try out this method of escape.
It took a few moments, but a realization finally fully dawned on him. Although he still felt a pang of uncertainty, though he still remained unsure if this was a good idea, he found himself stepping a little closer towards Snap, his eyes locked onto him. He paused for a moment, trying to sort out his thoughts and try to decide if this really was worth it or not. After a while, after he felt like he had made his decision, he let out a soft sigh and began to speak.
“...okay, Snap. I will try.”
At this, Snap smiled a little. Penny shot him a surprised expression, her eyes bulging slightly.
“Rudy, are you sure?” Penny asked. “I don’t want you doing that if you aren’t one hundred percent certain.”
Rudy nodded his head slowly. “Yeah, I’m sure.” He glanced at her, giving her a soft, emotion-tinged expression. “We have to try something, Penny. If we don’t...what will happen to those zoners?” He looked away from her, his gaze casted down. “We can’t let them down.”
“Yes, I know that. But Rudy... We also can’t be too careless, either. Just because this is the only way we can think of now doesn’t mean another opportunity wouldn’t come later, perhaps an even better one.” She raised her hand up in gesture. “I just don’t want you jumping into this too soon. Please, Rudy...”
Rudy understood why Penny was being like this. Snap’s plan was a high risk, and Penny must realize about the possibility of a hard-wired trap in here somewhere, just like he was. He couldn’t really blame her for not wanting to jump into things so fast. The consequences of doing that were dire, and they had no idea what might happen in this situation. They had no way of knowing if Skrawl had actually set up a trap or not.
But...they also had no way of knowing if this worked or not if they didn’t even attempt it. He stared long and hard at the white piece of magic chalk that he held between his fingers. He knew what must be done. He couldn’t wait any longer. It was now or never.
Rudy gripped the very tip of the white stick of chalk. Holding it tightly, he applied pressure, pushing as hard as he could. He gritted his teeth as he continued pushing at the very dip, digging his fingernail into it. He tried to be as careful as he could, not wanting to snap off a too large piece or anything. This was going to be tricky, but if he kept this up, maybe he could...
Then he heard something break. Not a very loud one. Quite subtle and small. But it was enough that he knew what had happened. He looked between two of his fingers on his other hand, noting the chalky sensation that it was. And there, resting among this chalk dust, was a small fragment of white. Rudy held up the tiny sliver and then glanced over at one of the red energy bars. He turned his head back over to the white sliver and narrowed his eyes in determination. It was time to take action.
Rudy looked at the bar intently. He still felt some hesitation in doing this. He still wondered if this was the right thing to do. Thankfully, his hesitation didn’t last long as he reminded himself of what could happen if he didn’t try. He pulled back his arm a little and then he gently flung the small piece of chalk against the bar.
He had almost expected it to just clang and fall down. He had expected this to be a waste of time and a waste of a bit of chalk that could have been use for so much more. He expected perhaps a loud ring to sound out, alerting Skrawl to what was going on. And while that might still be the case, he was still taken aback by what he had seen next. None of them could have predicted this would have happened.
At first, there was nothing. No sound. No movements. Just still and silent. This didn’t last all that long, however, and a split second later, they could see the bar starting to morph and expand. Rudy and Penny backed away, holding up their hands in worry. Rudy began to regret almost immediately taking this sort of action. Even Snap looked a little hesitate after seeing what this action had done. The bar just kept bulging, stretching out, swelling. The sound it made was horrible, and sounded as if something was trying to force its way out, ripping through the metallic confines.
Then with a loud creak, it suddenly burst. The trio let out a shout of surprise as the sudden explosion ripped through them. They clutched the sides of their heads tightly, palms pushing up against their ears, their eyes shutting tightly as tears leaked in the corner of their eyes. It felt as though their ear drums had been busted open at that point. Even when they slowly pulled their hands away, they could still feel the echoes of the explosion reverberate inside their skulls.
When the thin air of smoke cleared up, allowing them to get a better view of the damaged bar. They couldn’t help but take in a sharp in take of breath as they saw just what it had done. The bar was split in two now, the ends flayed and jagged as if a torch had been brought to them and melted down partially. The gap was huge. It was hard to say just by how much, but it did appear as though there was at least a foot worth of damage done there, if not slightly more.
And all just from a tiny piece of chalk...
Rudy glanced down at it once more, his eyes remaning wide in shock. It seemed that Snap was right the whole thing. There was some kind of rejection going on. But...it still didn’t make too much sense. Why was this happening? How could it happen? Many questions ran through his mind, echoing, making his head ache.
He managed to shake the thoughts out of his head. Now wasn’t the time for him to be asking that. He would figure out how all of this was possible later. Right now, they all needed to get out of here.
He studied the bars carefully. He couldn’t risk letting him and Penny brush up against them, so they would need to take out at least two of the bars. Then he’d need to take out all of these two bars in order to ensure that he and Penny wouldn’t get hurt somehow. He glanced at the bars and then back at his own piece of chalk. After a while, he realized he was having a difficult time determining just how much to take off, how much would be required to open up these bars.
He turned his head over to Penny. Perhaps she would have an idea. “How much more do you think we’ll need to get out?”
Penny tilted her head for a moment. She took a few steps closer to him. She looked down at the pice of chalk he held. Her eyes focused on the tip where there was a small piece broken off. She then turned her head towards the bars. She leaned in a little close to them, causing Rudy and Snap to watch her warily, worried that she would accidentally trip and fall into the bars. Thankfully, she managed to keep her balance and she soon pulled her head back.
“I think it would require about...” Penny moved her hands towards the white chalk. Rudy held out his hand and allowed Penny to pinch the tip a little. “This much.”
Rudy looked at where Penny had pressed her nail into the chalk, leaving behind a small indention that he could just barely see. “You sure?” He glanced back at her. “This would be enough?”
“Yes I’m sure.” Penny affirmed.
With this confirmation, Rudy slowly, though hesitantly, moved himself around to face the bars again. He didn’t like the idea of having to go through another explosion, and he could see the uncertainty in his friends’ eyes. But...it still had to be done. The faster they did this, the sooner they could leave. Breaking off another small piece, Rudy tossed it towards the bars and resumed progress.
sss
Terry narrowed her eyes as she glared at the principal. Not like she had expected all that much luck, but the woman was hardly even giving her a chance. She had offered to give her proof to convince her, and she even rejected that.
Then again, considering what she had done...this didn’t come off as too big a surprise. The parents had informed this large woman about what she had done. Sure they had left out some details as they obviously didn’t want word of the chalk world getting out yet. But they had told this woman enough to know that she had betrayed them, giving the principal little reason to trust her.
Of course, her ‘rants about a chalk world’ certainly weren’t helping. She was quite aware of how insane she must sound to people. It did seem a little odd sometimes, now that she thought of it. The idea of a parallel world occupied with living chalk drawings...
But that didn’t lessen her determination. Silly or not, she knew that this place was real. She knew that there was a way in there and that there was a way for them to escape into this world. She knew that she was not crazy and that she had her own encounters with these creatures. Regardless of what others might think of her, she knew that she possessed the truth. If they would only listen to her...
Terry quickly regretted not thinking her plan more thoroughly. She thought that this would work. That if she got the principal to believe her and she send out a warning to the students, and they tell their parents... She was aware that this could have easily backfired and that people would think it was just more crazy talk. But maybe they would take it more seriously when a more respected person, like say Principal Stringent, was the one who said something. After all, she was quite no-nonsense and no one would suspect her of lying.
But the problem was getting her to agree to do this, and at this rate, it just wasn’t going to happen. She was stubborn, and after what she was told, there was little to no reason to believe that she’d trust her words.
“Look, Ms. Bouffant. I have no time for this. I have a school to run. I have other students to take care of. I have my own life to look after.” Principal Stringent motioned her hand against her chest. “I do understand that you have been injured and I am sorry for that.” She slowly narrowed her eyes. “But I am also aware that you did cause some damage of your own, and I think it’ll be in my best interest, as well as others’, if I did not listen to what you have to say.”
“But...” Terry started to say.
“I’m sorry, but I will not listen to anymore of this.” Principal Stringent pressed her chin on her hand, her fingers curved downward. She leaned in towards Terry, her dark eyes gluing onto her own. Terry found it hard to look away. “When you first came in here, you promised that it would be worth my while. I decided to give you the okay. But after hearing this, combined with my previous knowledge about you...” She trailed off for a few moments. She then slightly bared her teeth as a bit of anger started to come to the surface. “You are one of the most vile people I’ve met. You make up stories about another world and you let two children get hurt because of your selfishness. Where will it end, Ms. Bouffant?”
Terry narrowed her eyes at this, gritting her teeth. How dare this woman say that she was the vile one... Did she not forget about how that stupid Ms. Charlotte had attacked her and tried to kill her? Did she ignore her story of how that beast was sent after her and it busted her arm? How was she the disgusting one when her actions were what was going to be more beneficial to this city than just standing around, doing nothing?
Despite her anger, however, the redhead managed to keep herself under control. She remained where she was, shivering in anger, yet she didn’t make a move towards Principal Stringent. She knew that doing such a thing was only going to make things worse. She did not want to give this large woman any more reason to dislike her, nor did she want to encourage her to take more drastic measures against her.
If only the children’s parents had been more cooperative... If she could bring them in here and get them to speak, maybe they could convince Principal Stringent that she wasn’t lying.
That is...if they’d even do it at all. She remembered what happened when she tried to talk to Mr. Bullnerd about it. Save for the usual ‘what the hell have you done’ comments that she expected, he didn’t really say much else, other than she was crazy for thinking the world existed. This grinded her the most. The fact that the parents were outright denying this world’s existence to her, even though they all saw it for themselves. It took all her energy and willpower to not slap them across the face for that.
But she knew it was not a good idea to waste time arguing about this. She knew what she was beat, when there was nothing left she could do. She didn’t want to push her luck and make this woman even angrier with her. Despite her own personal feelings, despite feeling gipped, it was better that she just let go of this and figure out something else that she could do.
“Very well then.” Terry pushed herself back from the chair using her hand. She managed to rise to her feet, albeit a little shakingly as emotion and pain intermixed together. “I see how it is.” Despite knowing it was not a good idea to push her luck and say anything else, her surging emotions still caused her to slip out, “So much for caring about your students...”
With that, Terry turned and started to walk out. Although the door wasn’t that far, it seemed to take ages just to get over there. The burning thoughts in her mind made each step a struggle, and she felt as though her legs were getting partially frozen.
“Excuse me?”
Terry paused for a moment when she heard the principal call out to her.
“What did you say?”
Terry slowly turned her head and looked over her shoulder. She could see Principal Stringent glaring in her direction, her eyes ablaze, her hands gripping her desk. Like a professional, she did manage to stay seated, although Terry could see that she had crossed some sort of line with her comment. Nonetheless, she simply gave her a quick ‘what do you think’ smirk, a bitter, single chuckle, and then she began to walk off.
She could hear the principal give off a low growl at this. She could just imagine her shaking in her chair, wanting to say something, but being unable to due to her status as principal. What was she going to do anyway? Call security? She was already on her way out, and she wasn’t one of her precious students. She didn’t even threaten her. There was absolutely nothing the old hag could do anything to her.
Terry felt a sense of relief when she marched out of that school. It had been a mistake to go there anyway. She wished she had seen it sooner. Then she could have avoided the wasted trip. She would just have to think of something else.
But what was she going to do? She couldn’t just go to one of the news stations. They would never believe her. They would just push her out of the door and never allow her back inside. She wouldn’t be surprised if she was actually banned in a few places because of her crazy beliefs. As unjustifiable as that is, there was little she could do to stop it from happening.
Yet she refused to give up hope. There was a way to spread the word about this chalk world. There was a way to implant it into the children’s minds and get them to talk about it. There was a way to get rumors spread and the news to flourish like wildfire. She didn’t know exactly what that is yet, but she was certain she would figure out a solution in no time. And once the information flow began, it would be difficult to stop it. Rudy and Penny might be able to keep the world a secret for now, but they cannot stop the gab about it. And perhaps with all that pressure, they would finally break.
She couldn’t help but smirk at this. Regardless of what they had gone through, a part of her couldn’t wait to see the looks on their smug little faces when they saw that they had been bested. How well would they deal with having so many people asking them questions? So many people asking about this mysterious world? It would put so much pressure on them, and soon or later, they would snap. They would give in. All it took was just the right amount of...pressure.
But was there anyone else that she could turn to? Was there a method of spreading this information? Not like she could walk up to a child and tell them. She needed someone else who was highly respected and could get people to listen to them. Vinnie was out of the question, considering the fact that he was arrested for theft and public property destruction. Mr. Wilter wouldn’t listen to her, and she could just forget Dr. Von Doktor.
...wait... There might be someone...
She recalled hearing about her in the past. She overheard Rudy mention her once when she was spying on him and Penny. He had some kind of apprehension about her. An embarrassment. She wasn’t entirely sure what he had meant by that, but one thing was for certain. She needed to find this person. She needed this person at her side. She needed this person’s influence to back her up. She needed this person to help her bring forth her plan.
She needed Ming Long, the famous dragon artist.
sss
Snap wasn’t sure how long they had been traveling down this tunnel. It felt like forever, considering their situation. Yet he was aware that only a few minutes had passed, making the journey feel like it was going to take even longer. He didn’t get it. It didn’t take this long for him before. Why was...?
It was because he was with Rudy and Penny this time. He watched as they moved in front of him, making their way through this place. He bit his lip as he watched them move, their legs and feet wobbly due to their wounds, and yet, remarkably, still able to push themselves through the strangely shapen corridor.
He still felt very guilty and he knew he was going to feel like this for a long time. Despite them not acting too ill-willed towards them, he could tell from their expression and from the inflexion of their voices that they still harbored negative feelings towards him. Their earlier words from before cemented this. He was not really all that surprised, and after how he had turned on them, he deserved this.
He hoped that they wouldn’t remain like this forever, though. He hoped they came to realize that he did care about them. He did love them. And he wanted them to be happy again. He wanted them safe. And he wanted to remain their friend. Even though it wasn’t going to be easy after this, he was willing to work through the hard bits to remain their best friend. He cared about them that much. He hoped that, after all of this blew over and Skrawl was brought to justice, they would spend time mentally healing together. It would take a long time to go back to how they were exactly, but he did feel it was going to be well worth the time.
Still, despite hope for the future, he found it difficult to keep himself quiet. He couldn’t help but feel his stomach clench the longer he thought about what Rudy and Penny must think of him. He knew it was selfish that he think about himself at a time like this. But he just couldn’t help himself. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t banish the thoughts from his head.
Oh he managed for a while. He kept himself hung back a few feet behind them as they traveled through. They did speak a little bit without much trouble. Mostly about which way to go and how far down they were in the tunnel. Nothing too complicated. Neither Rudy nor Penny accused him anymore, and they seemed to be finally accepting that he at least wanted to help them.
Yet, with his own guilt piling on combined with the hurt that he had put them through, and the words they had said, there was no way that he could just remain silent for much longer. He feared that the tension that could build up from this was going to be problematic, and if he wasn’t careful.... Well it might be silly to think that a slip up from him could possibly make things worse than they already were. Yet the thought wouldn’t leave him.
He managed to shift his thoughts away from himself and his own guilt and towards Rudy and Penny and what they must feel like. It was horrible having a friend betray you, even if it was due to mind control. He could only imagine what Rudy and Penny must have thought when they watched someone they thought they could trust attack them so...so heartlessly...
Poor Rudy.. Poor Penny.. Snap could feel his gut twist as he imagined the betrayed thoughts that rushed through their heads, the torrent of emotions that ripped them up from the inside out, the sickening feeling in their stomachs. He had contributed to this. He was the cause of their emotional distress. He struggled not to cry, yet he could not stop the few tears from forming in his eyes. He...He had to try again to make this right.
He didn’t attempt to speak for a little while, though. He waited until they had walked about another five minutes before he tried anything. He only attempted to speak after they had moved down one of the slants of the pathway.
“Guys, I...”
“Don’t..” Came Rudy’s voice.
Snap widened his eyes at this. “Wh-What..?”
Rudy continued, “Just...don’t...” He raised his hand up, a gesture for Snap to remain silent. “I know what you are going to say. Let me tell you this right now. Don’t bother.”
Snap could feel a stab in his chest as he said that. Penny didn’t say a word, although she did nothing to deny Rudy’s statement either. Snap felt as though the temperature all around him had dropped, and he could feel his heart threatening to be ripped apart. He placed a hand to his chest, clutching it tightly, seething through his teeth. He struggled to keep himself from saying anything, not wanting to do anything that he would regret later.
Rudy and Penny stopped walking and turned to face him. The expressions they were giving him, though not particularly harsh, did cause him to freeze, preventing him from trying to say anything. Snap found himself taking a small step backwards, his eyes raising up as despair started to grab a hold of him. When he saw Rudy open his mouth to speak some more, Snap would feel his heart rip from his chest. He closed his eyes and waited for him to speak.
“We understand that it wasn’t your fault. We don’t blame you.”
Snap opened his eyes up and stared at Rudy.
Rudy’s expression had softened up a little. The boy turned his head to the side a little. His expression was that of guilt, but...what did Rudy have to be sorry for? “I know I haven’t been all that...amiable towards you, Snap. I hope you understand why, though. It’s been tough on all of us. I don’t like feeling upset with you, Snap. I know you’d never do anything to hurt me on purpose on your own influence. It’s just...hard you know...”
Snap nodded his head slowly. “Yeah...I know...” He lowered his head in shame, shutting his eyes. “I know...”
“Don’t worry, Snap. We’ll work through this.” Penny said. She managed a small, reassuring smile on her face. “I know it will be hard, but it will be possible. As soon as all of this blows over, we will something out.” She moved in closer to Snap. Slowly she reached out and touched his shoulder. “It will be okay.”
Snap looked at Penny’s hand. It did feel a little weird having her touch him like this. After what he did, after the pain they had gone through, he couldn’t help but be surprised that she could lay her hand on him so easily. This invoked something inside of him, and he couldn’t help but give a small smile back.
However, he wasn’t able to respond for his foot got caught against something. A crook in the ground. His eyes bulged as he fell forward, slamming facefirst into the ground. He let out a loud grunt of pain as he felt the hard surface smoosh against him, making him bit his lip by mistake. He then laid still for several moments, breathing in and out quickly as he struggled to push back the brief, short-lived pain in his cheek.
“Snap, are you okay?” Rudy called out.
“That was some fall.” Penny chimed in.
Snap pushed himself with one of his hands, using the other to rub his face and mouth. “Yeah..I-I’m good...” He said, his voice slightly shaky.
“Here..” Penny said as she lowered herself down, ignoring the pain in her own leg. “Let me help you.”
Snap felt himself being lifted up as Penny helped him to his feet. She held onto him while Rudy watched on with concern. Snap struggled to regain his balance, leaning against Penny for support. Soon he was able to keep himself from falling. Penny only released him after they were all sure that Snap could stand on his own. It did feel as though they waited a bit too long, but that did confirm in Snap’s eyes that they did still care about him. That did help lift his spirits up a little.
He then saw that they were at the edge of the tunnel. He could feel his chest inflate with happiness. At last, they had made it out of the tunnel. Although they weren’t out of the woods just yet, the fact that they made it this far without getting caught was wonderful news indeed.
Without hesitation, he began to move forward. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
Behind him, Rudy and Penny followed as the approached the exit. As they got closer, time seemed to slow down. The excitement increased, knowing that they were getting ever nearer to getting out of this horrible place. While he was going to feel awful about leaving behind the zoners, at least they could regroup. It may not be the most ideal solution, but at least if they could leave and get help, that would certainly even their odds of winning.
There weren’t too many places they could go, though. Their only option would be to try to reach another part of ChalkZone that Skrawl hadn’t yet reached. Maybe if that transporter still worked, they could go to Chalk Spain. The last he checked, Skrawl’s influence hadn’t reached that place yet. If they could get there before the jellybean had a chance, they could bring in an army and to try take down Skrawl. Not going to be easy, but they had to try, right?
However, his thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a flash of color in front of his face. Then he heard a grunt and cry and as he whipped his head over, more blurs filled his vision. As soon as it cleared and sharpened, his eyes bulged at what he was seeing. He was unable to tear his eyes away from what was going on.
Beanie Boys.. They had been waiting for them... All of them, all around. There were so many. He couldn’t even count them as they moved around, several of them pinning down his friends. Rudy and Penny were struggling to get themselves free, kicking and wriggling around. The Beanie Boys retaliated by grabbing right onto their leg injuries, twisting it tightly, causing tremendous pain to shoot through their legs. Snap gasped in horror as he listened to their anguished cries.
“Guys!” Snap shouted. He tried to rush forward, but the Beanie Boys got in his way. “Let me through!”
“Well well, Snap...aren’t you a little eager...?” Came a coolled, familiar voice.
Snap widened his eyes at this as he turned to see Skrawl coming towards him slowly. The Beanie Boys around the jellybean parted, allowing him room to walk as he approached the small blue zoner slowly, a wide grin spread across his face. Snap kept his body hunched as he watched the large zoner approach him.
“Let me through....” Snap said with his teeth gritted.
Skrawl tilted his head to the side. “I don’t see why you have to do it now, Snap.” He raised his hand up in gesture. “You have all the time you want...to ‘play’ with them...” He narrowed his eyes slightly. “Yet you won’t wait? Are you that desperate to get them?”
Snap froze at this. He took a step back as he stared at the jellybean in disbelief. What was the jellybean going on about? What was he even saying? Did Skrawl have any idea what he was talking about?
It seemed that Rudy and Penny were confused as well. He turned his head towards them and he could see the way they were looking at Skrawl. He could practically see the questions radiating from their bodies.
“What...” Rudy asked. He stopped to seethe as pain shot through his leg. Then he added, “...are you..talking about..?”
Skrawl looked at Rudy, his mouth curled into a smile. “Oh you don’t know?” Upon seeing the expressions on the children’s faces, Skrawl placed his hand against his mouth in mock shock. “Oh you don’t? Why I’m shocked that you didn’t figure it out!” He took a few steps towards them, his head tilting to one side. “Tell me...did you think that your escape was...coincidence...?”
“What are you saying..?” Penny spoke, causing the jellybean to look at her. “You’re..not making any sense...”
“Oh I’m sure not. Though it is disappointing... I thought for sure you two would have figured it out sooner.”
With that, Skrawl began to approach Snap slowly. The blue and white zoner held up his fists, getting ready to fight. He was going to show Skrawl exactly what happens when he messes with his friends. He was going to make the jellybean sorry that he didn’t try to restrain him. That was going to be his biggest mistake ever. He couldn’t wait to see the look on the evil jellybean’s face when he...
Then Skrawl spoke, and he fell into a chilled silence.
“Congratulations, Snap. You redeemed yourself.” Skrawl motioned towards Rudy and Penny. “You delivered them to me, just as you promised.”
“Wh-What...?” Snap’s eyes bulged in horror. “I-I didn’t...”
“Oh don’t be so modest!” Skrawl said, placing a hand against his chest. “Your plan was simply brilliant! And I don’t say that about every plan! Leading them down this false secret passageway was nothing less but a stroke of genius!” Skrawl’s grin spread across his mouth. “You should be proud...”
Snap’s breathing increased at this. No..it was all a lie.. It wasn’t true.... He looked over at Rudy and Penny, seeing the hurt look in their faces. They couldn’t believe this, could they...? Yet the expression in their eyes told him everything. Slowly, he lifted up his hand and moved it towards them. “G-Guys...”
He didn’t get a chance to finish as Skrawl gave a single shout. “Move them out!”
|
|
|
|
Post by Bluedramon on Sept 8, 2015 21:03:37 GMT -5
Chapter 54: It was so hard to believe that this happened. He didn’t realize that something like this could happen. There was nothing he could have done to foresee this, and yet he kept wanting to kick himself in the shins for not somehow realizing that this was going to take place. Maybe if he had done something sooner, maybe this could have been prevented. Or could it? Perhaps fate would have decided to try something else for the same result. Maybe something worse could have happened. Maybe things would have turned out for the worse if he had tried to change it. There was absolutely nothing he could have done to really predict that this would happen and even if he did, there was no telling if his actions to stop it would have made things better or worse. He needed to stop thinking of what was and focus on what is. That was going to be difficult, especially when the ‘what is’ part resulted in...this. The beeping of monitors. The ragged breathing of an individual. The whiteness all around, confirming that he was not even in his own home. The dull light intermixed with some darkness setting the mood oh so well, reminding him that this was not the end, that there was still more to come. And it all hinged on one thing. Would this be the end of his son? Or the beginning of another chapter, all be it a difficult one. Mr. Bullnerd let out a soft sigh as he stared down at Reggie. He watched as his son breathed in and out slowly, each breath seeming to tremble and shake. It was as though each breath took a lot out of him, preventing him from taking in any affectively deep breath. This had spread to him as well. He didn’t really pay that much attention, but he was vaguely aware of the fact that his own breathing was a bit shallow as he continued watching Reggie, hoping to see movement. He could hardly feel any movement in his ribs nor could he feel much intake of breath. And yet he couldn’t bring himself to breathe any faster, his ribs feeling too rigid to be moved too much. He gritted his teeth at the memory of what had happened. Even though it’s been a month at this point, he still could see those horrible images in his head. They whipped through his head swiftly, showing no intent of slowing down. He could see them flicker over and over, and he was forced to relive those moments. He couldn’t believe that he didn’t do anything... He was just standing there while Rudy attacked Reggie. He wanted to move. He so wanted to rush over and pry them apart... And yet he still remained motionless, doing nothing but stare at the events unfold in front of him. He could feel his breath becoming shaky and his mind speeding up as he watched. Yet the whole time, he did not do anything to move forward. And when he saw Rudy rip out his son’s throat... He had felt the world all around him stop. It was like he was trapped in time, and he could do nothing but watch the blood splatter, listen to his son’s pained, choked screams... Then his son spasmed on the ground and he could feel his heart freezing as he thought it was the end. He was glad that it was not. He was glad to hear that his son was still alive, although quite badly hurt. He had to resist the temptation to cradle his son in his arms, rocking him gently. He couldn’t do anything that might end up worsening his condition. He had kept himself away from Reggie’s fallen form while Mrs. Sanchez did what she could to help him. She had managed to slow down the bleeding, which bought them some time, thank goodness. But was it going to be good enough? It had been difficult to say at the time. There was really no telling at all if Mrs. Sanchez’s efforts were going to pay out to anything. But he refused to give up hope and he did what he could to help his son get to the hospital. The other parents followed suit, taking Rudy and Penny with them after they were finally subdued. At first, Mr. Bullnerd had felt some uncomfortableness with the whole thing. At the time, he had felt anger towards Rudy for what he had done. He didn’t want him or Penny anywhere near him or his son. He wasn’t really sure what he wanted done to them, but he certainly didn’t want them riding in the same vehicle as them or even be at the same hospital. It had take him a while to reconcile these feelings. He hadn’t done so by speaking to the other adults; he had kept away from them most of the time, barely speaking to them. They didn’t bother trying to communicate with him. He guessed that they likely knew why he was not talkative and was giving him the space that he needed. He was grateful for that as it allowed him some time to really think about what happened and come to terms with how he had felt. He realized that he was being pretty silly with his behavior. He realized that there was no reason for him to blame Rudy for this, or Penny. It was hard for him to admit at first. For a while, he struggled to find something to continue hating them about. Yet all that soon slipped away over time, and he slowly began to realize that, no, he couldn’t remain angry at them. He would gain absolutely nothing if he continued to hate them, and slowly he could feel that anger slip through his fingers. He recalled the relief he felt when that sickening feeling was mostly gone. After all, Rudy and Penny hadn’t meant for this to happen. They were just as much victims as Reggie. If there was anyone to blame, it was that..what did they call it...red chalk. It was that which had caused all of this to happen to them. If the red chalk hadn’t used Rudy and Penny like that, this wouldn’t have happened. Although it was still hard to admit that it was the red chalk. How was he going to get back at some inanimate object? How would one even deal with that? It was like blaming a knife or gun. People love to argue about whether or not guns, or weapons in general, kill or if it was the people. Mr. Bullnerd always believed that it was people and not the weapons that killed, and he never understood why people would blame the gun when it was the one being wielded. Now he was presented with a rather unique situation where it was the object who was actually in control and doing the killing... He had found it hard to blame the red chalk for this since Rudy and Penny were the ones wielding it in a sense. Well not directly, but they were still under the red chalk’s influence and they were still using chalk to attack. It made sense in his mind to blame them, regardless of what his eyes were telling him. Realizing that it was the red chalk’s influence and not the children themselves doing this was the first big step into overcoming his negative emotions. But that had only been just the beginning. Soon after, other thoughts began to rush into his mind. As he shifted the blame away from Rudy and Penny, he had begun to blame himself for what happened. He struggled the best he could not to fall into that, knowing that it would not solve anything. But he was unable to fight it for long, and he found himself clutching his head, struggling to fight it off. Even now, these feelings plagued him. And he was unable to do anything to stop it. His mind just really wanted someone to blame, and since Rudy and Penny weren’t the ones to target, his mind was turning inward on itself. He gritted his teeth as he felt a burning sensation spread through the back of his head. He clutched the sides of his head as he tried to cope, those feelings returning intensely. He opened up one eye and stared down at his son. He was glad that Reggie could not see him like this. After a while, he was able to push the thoughts out of his head for now. He knew it wouldn’t last, so he decided to use the peaceful moments that he had to relax the best that he could. He leaned himself back away from his son, his hands slipping away from him and towards the ground. He watched as his son slept, and he prayed softly at his son was going to wake up soon. He recalled what the doctors said. There was some hope for his survival and they did sound optimistic about it. He couldn’t tell if it was sincere, though, or if they were just trying to get his hopes up. That didn’t really sound like a professional doctor, though, and he realized he was probably just being paranoid about the whole thing. He guessed he just found it hard to believe that Reggie was doing as well as he could considering he had his throat ripped out. The fact that he was still in the hospital spoke volumes. There had been other..complications that resulted in the large child having to remain here longer. The doctors assured him that in due time, he would be able to leave. But for now, he had to remain here while the infection was being fought off. Mr. Bullnerd still found it difficult to comprehend that Rudy’s bite had led to such a nasty infection like that, or how it had taken the hospital so long to get it under control. Or had there been other factors that he was not informed of? Well either way, at least his son was safe and was going to recover soon. He would continue waiting by his son’s side as much as possible. He didn’t want him to wake up all confused and alone. He wanted to be here to comfort him, wanting him to know that he was here with him and would do whatever he could to help him feel better. He wasn’t sure how, but he was willing to try. Then he flinched when he felt something in the corner of his eye. It was flashing a bit, bright, twinkling in his eye. He was not able to ignore it and he turned his head, gritting his teeth. He saw that some of the sun was shining through. Due to the time of day, it was unusually bright. He let out a soft grumble and he began to move towards the window. Why did the sun have to be so gosh darn bright today? He reached over to the string handing from the blinds and was about to close them when he saw something moving in the distance. He froze, staring at it intently. There was some kind of movement going straight ahead in the distance. He normally wouldn’t have paid attention, then he saw the familiar yellow coloring, and noticed how it was shaped like a van. Then he saw the equipment on it and he realized right a way who it was. Terry Bouffant. The memory of her caused his gut to clench tightly. He may have come to terms with his anger towards Rudy and Penny. But Terry was another matter entirely. He narrowed his eyes as he watched her heading away from the hospital, memories flooding back to him as he recalled just what she had done to them. He formed a fist with his hand, shaking it, trying his best to resist the urge to scream at her. He bit his tongue, ignoring the pain as he felt a bit of blood trickle from it. Through his anger, he was able to see how fast she was going, watching as she swerved. This wasn’t because of her broken arm. No, this was because of something else. It was all so suspicious and he couldn’t help but narrow his eyes dangerously, asking himself the same question over and over again: Just what was that bitch up to...? sss Snap struggled against the Beanie Boy’s grasp. They twisted his arms tightly, causing him to hiss in pain. He lifted his head and glared at them. They, however, were not paying any attention to him. Their eyes were facing forward, right at what was playing before them. Snap looked over as well, his eyes widening as he watched Skrawl stand in front of what appeared to be a set of controls. This looked familiar. It was very much like what he had used before, when he was training him. With that in mind, he looked all around him. He noticed the rounded shape of his room, and he realized that this was a larger testing chamber. This realization caused his heart to skip several beats. He struggled even harder to get free, not wanting to see his friends suffer at the claws of this jellybean. But he was just pulled back, his arms roughly twisted even more, causing him to flinch in pain. He wasn’t even able to speak, his jaws tied shut and a cloth covering his mouth. All he could do was watch. “I admit, I was really disappointed in you, too. I would have thought that you would have seen through my obvious trap.” Skrawl said in an almost saddened voice. Though Snap knew that he was not being sincere and as if on cue, he could hear him chuckle a little bit. “It is quite sad that this is how things are going to end...” “This isn’t over yet, Skrawl! We’re...” “My name is Grim Reaper!” Skrawl’s voice boomed as he raised up his claws. Thin arches of crimson electricity moving around them. Though Snap couldn’t see Rudy or Penny, he could hear them give off soft gasps of fear. They must have backed down a little as Skrawl appeared to relax, lowering his hand and a smile spreading over his face. “Yes...that is more like it. Show respect to your king.” Snap growled at this. Skrawl was king of no one. He was just an imposter. He took over this city by force. No one here respected them. They only feared him or hated him. This was going to bite him back sooner or later. He might not believe it right now. He might think he was getting away with everything. But that was all going to change soon. If not by his friends, then he himself would personally see to it that Skrawl’s ego was crushed. But that anger soon turned to fear as he had flashes in the back of his mind just what Skrawl might do with them. With this simulator, he would be able to do almost anything. He could even summon Biclops in. A virtual simulation of him of course, but Rudy and Penny would still feel everything that he did to them, and they would gain real injuries. But what scared him more wasn’t that possibility. If anything, he would prefer it. At least a virtual Biclops would be able to kill them quickly and prevent them from feeling too much pain. But knowing Skrawl, he would want them to suffer more. He’d want to hear their screams for mercy. In order to do that, he would go for something slower. Perhaps summoning in a beast-like zoner like Lars having them get beat up or something. Or bring in a deranged psychopath with a blade and have them slowly be cut up like they were just large pieces of meat. Both thoughts caused his blood to freeze solid. In the back of his mind, he could feel his thoughts racing, going faster. He needed to find a way to help his friends and fast. He wasn’t really sure if they would accept his help. Not after Skrawl’s trickery, making them believe he set this whole thing up. But despite that, he knew he still needed to help them. He wasn’t going to let their distrust of him get in the way of that. He wasn’t doing this to prove himself, or to show them that he was innocent. He was doing it because it was the right thing to do. And because he cared too much about them to just let them get hurt simply because they might refuse his help. “I knew that you had come back into this world. I knew from the very start that you were among us again.” Skrawl said as he leaned forward on the controls, peering down at Rudy and Penny with a wide smile. “You might have thought that you escaped my eye. Well you were wrong.” “If that is the case...” Penny said. There was a slight flinch in her voice, making Snap worry she was hurt when he wasn’t looking. “..then why didn’t you...” “Why didn’t I take care of you right away, you ask?” Skrawl asked. Penny must have nodded her head or shown some kind of interest in an answer because Skrawl was giving off another of his chuckles, the ones that he himself had been forced to listen to over and over again. “Well it wouldn’t have been as much fun, now would it...?” His smile grew twisted. Snap could see the edges coming off his face in an almost unnatural way. He could hear the tapping of claw tips against one another. “I wanted to see you suffer a little while before I made any kind of move...” Snap hissed at this. Typical Skrawl. He had known this already. Skrawl had teased him about this before. He felt like an idiot for not telling Rudy and Penny about it. Not that it would have done them much good, considering the actual time when he could tell them, they were already captured. Still, he would have felt better if he had told them much sooner. To find out like this... He could only imagine the looks on their faces. “I was on a crossroads, I admit. I had wanted you to stay away so my rule would be unchallenged. I had been controlling this place for over a month and I love it. I didn’t want you coming in and ruining all that for me. However...” He leaned in even closer, most of his head hanging over the edge, smirking down at Rudy and Penny. “I had also hoped you would return. It really didn’t feel all that satisfying of a victory without you two here to see it happen. I had told others that I still wanted to play with you..” He raised his hand as he said this, turning it from side to side as if to let the children get a good view of the sharp tips. “...I would have been so sad....if you hadn’t been able to join the party...” Snap gritted his teeth at this. He didn’t know how much more of this he could take. He could feel his body shaking in rage as he heard Skrawl continue speaking to his friends like this. He wasn’t going to let him get away with it. If only he could get himself free... Then he could see Skrawl raising his hand over one of the controls. He could see the claw tip lowering down towards the button. His eyes bulged and he struggled harder to get himself free. He let out a series of loud shouts as he tried to get Skrawl to stop. But his pleas and demands fell on deaf ears as Skrawl pressed his claw tip against the button, threatening to apply more pressure and unleash who knows what against his friends. Snap could feel his body stiffen up as he watched the scene play out helplessly. “Oh and don’t worry about your... ‘friend’...” Skrawl said with twisted glee. “I will make sure I reward him for his...contribution after I take care of you...” Which that, the button was pushed. Snap winced as he heard the click sound out, almost echoing across the room despite how small of a sound it really was. With his teeth gritted, he slowly looked left and right as he tried to see just what the button did. He didn’t have to wait that long to find out. Without warning, all the lights seemed to shut off. Well most of them. The ones that remained took on a dingy coloration, making it hard to see.Snap cringed at this, looking all around. He imagined that his friends were doing the same, trying to see what was going on around them. With it being this dark, however, it would be a miracle for any of them to spot anything. It was just....almost completely dark. Then they heard it. A low growling sound filled the air, causing their hearts to speed up, their skin crawling with chilling emotion. Snap struggled to see what it was, but no matter how hard he tried, he just could not see anything at first. The Beanie Boys held onto him tightly, as though they were determined to not allow him to see the creature. Although he was certain that the real reason for this was so that he couldn’t do anything to help his friends. Despite his fear, he resumed struggling, jerking himself from side to side. A bone chilling roar filled the air, freezing Snap in place. He could hear his friends let out surprised shouts of horror and fear. He could hear Rudy telling Penny to get behind him. Snap could imagine the boy holding up his magic chalk to fight, just like Skrawl had intended him to. Snap wished he could warn Rudy not to do that, for if he wasn’t too careful... But in his condition, he was unable to do anything except watch. Then he could see movement rushing around, the creature flying around high enough for him to make out its details. He could see a hint of light red, the flash of large wings. He thought he could see tendrils flying about, easily distinguishable even in the darkness of this place. Then he could see a head forming, rising up and opening its jaw. He could see the razor sharp teeth glinting in what little light their was. Then the head moved closer into the light and... Snap let out a gasp at this. He struggled to take a step back, unable to believe what he was seeing. He recognized this beast. It had been so long that he had forgotten about him. But those features....it was the same creature all right. It took a while of him staring at it before he could digest the truth of what was being shown to him. This...This was Ming Long’s dragon... sss So this was China Town? It was a bit smaller than she thought it would be. It also took her longer to get here. How long had she been driving? It felt like hours, though it may only have been a much shorter time. Maybe half an hour? Or less? She pushed the thoughts aside. It didn’t really matter now how long it actually took her to get here or not. She needed to focus her attention on finding her intended target. Well, target was a strong word.... More like the person she wanted to speak to. Needed to speak to, actually. She needed this woman’s help. If she could just get a hold of her... But where was she going to find her in this place? Terry looked left and right, taking in the sights all around her. She noted all the oriental things around her, the chinese styling of the buildings and walkways, the people dressed up in asian outfits walking around. If she were to look for her by sight only, she might not find her all that easily. Among this crowd, this artist would certainly blend in. And there were so many people, too... It was difficult to move through the crowd, trying to get from one place to the other. How in the world did these people pull it off? How could they navigate this part of the city when the sidewalks were so crowded that going onto the dangerous road was a much better option. And even that was risky. Still, she couldn’t just give up. The redhaired woman refused to let this make her back down. Not while she was on a mission. Who cares if this was crowded or not? If she could handle being chased by a monster and having her arm broken, and if she could handle having a crazed woman nearly kill her, then this should be no problem at all. She just had to be forceful, moving herself through quickly, not stopping for anything. Rude, yes. But affective? Absolutely. She ignored the shouts from some of the people as she pushed them back. She ignored the glares she got as she moved her way through the crowd, heading towards what appeared to be an artistic location. She wasn’t really sure where these people kept their art, but she believed that this would be the best place to find any. She wasn’t really sure why, to be honest, but some part of her felt almost...drawn towards her. It was as though her legs went on autopilot and brought her forward and through the crowd. She hissed as she hit her foot against a raised part of the concrete. She looked down, shaking her leg a bit before continuing to walk forward. The crowd at this point had started to disperse a little, moving off in different directions. She did feel a sense of relief. At least she didn’t have to deal with them any longer. Although she could still hear some snarls behind her from a few of the nastier residents, she managed to ignore them as she continued on her way. Up ahead, she could see what looked to be some kind of raised platform. There was some kind of sign on there. It was written in chinese letters, so she had no idea what it said. But something about the designs made her wonder if this was the artistic section. Or whatever they would call it here. She didn’t know, and a part of her realized she was likely making a huge mistake. But she had to keep pushing forward. She could worry about her mistakes later. So long as she found Ming Long, that was all that mattered in the end. Quickly, she ascended up the staircase. She moved along the middle, her feet pumping and thrusting her up each step. She did soon regret this choice. With only one of her arms available, she found it difficult to keep her balance and she found herself wobbling a little. The fact that she brought along her large bag didn’t help matters. After it seemed as though she had regained her balance, she continued heading up the steps. For a while, she was fine. She found that if she walked a certain pace, not too fast or too slow, she could prevent herself from falling down or tripping. This worked for some time, and she found herself reaching the halfway mark, getting close to when the red-lined stairs would turn around, heading off in a new direction. But this was short lived. After a while, she started to miss hersteps, timing it all wrong. She struggled to shift everything back and gain control over herself. But unlike before, she had a hard time doing this, and she found her feet starting to slip more and more. Then, without warning, she made a too quick move and the bag strapped around her shoulder began to pull her back. Her eyes bulged in horror as she struggled to pull herself up. Her one arm flapped wildly as she tried to push herself forward. But, as the seconds slowly passed, she was only moving further backwards and the harder she struggled, the worse it seemed to get. Soon her body was at an angle, slanting back, and she began to fall... ..only to be abruptly stopped when a hand suddenly grabbed her. Confused, she opened her eyes to see what was going on. Terry’s eyes widened as she saw an asian-looking woman grab onto her unbroken arm, her fingers wrapped around the middle of it tightly. For a few moments, they looked at one another, time around them standing still. The woman’s robe was darkened a little by the sun being behind her, and she almost looked intimidating if it weren’t for her kind, worried facial features. Then, thrusting with all her strength, the woman managed to pull her back. “Are you okay?” The woman asked. Terry nodded her head. “Y-Yeah...” She brushed herself off. “Thanks...uh...” She looked up at the woman. She didn’t seem too familiar to her. “What is your name?” “My name is Ming Long.” The woman gestured towards herself. Then she motioned towards her. “And you are...?” Terry was silent for a few moments. She was in utter disbelief that she had already found this person. Realizing that she was being quiet for a little too long, she managed to jerk herself back to attention and clear her throat. “I-I am Terry Bouffant, ma’am.” She managed to say. The woman before her frowned slightly in confusion. Terry clenched her teeth nervously. This wasn’t going as she had hoped. “I... Thank you. For helping me.” That sounded so awkward. “Yes...well..” Ming Long scanned her up and down as if to make sure she was all right. “I do have somewhere I need to be right now. I apologize that I can’t stay and chat any further. I..” “Wait!” Terry rushed in front of her before she got too far. Ming Long was startled by this and nearly jumped back. Terry gave her an apologetic expression before saying, “I need to talk to you about something.” Ming Long asked, “Whatever for?” Terry struggled to think of how to word this. She knew this was her one chance at getting Ming Long on her side, and she nearly blew it. She couldn’t believe just how stupid she had been. If only she had spoken more clearly before, to not make herself look so silly.. She could not screw this up, no matter what. It all hinged on her finding the right words to say to make this work out. And that meant avoiding mentioning certain things. But a few things, even if they may seem bizarre to mention, Terry had no choice but to bring up. If she didn’t, this conversation was going to go nowhere. She knew that this may seem almost contradictory, but as soon as she engaged in the conversation, it was all going to fall into place. She decided to start speaking. “Have you...heard of a chalk world..?” At this, Ming Long seemed to freeze, her eyes widening. Terry tried her best not to smirk at this. She knew that this confirmed for her what she had already suspected. This woman was familiar with such a world. There was no mistaking the flicker in her eyes, the recognition that flashed through them. This woman wasn’t looking at her in disbelief because of the suggestion; she was staring at her because she was obviously surprised that she knew of this chalk world. Ming Long didn’t reply right away, which did not surprise Terry. She was fully prepared to be met with opposition when trying to walk with her. This woman might turn out to be like the other adults. Resistant, trying to get away from the subject. Terry was mentally preparing several lines in the back of her head just in case Ming Long proved to be difficult. A part of her hoped that Ming Long wouldn’t be like the others, but given her past luck, it was better that she didn’t get her hopes up. Eventually, Ming Long did speak again. In a low, soft voice, she said, “You...know of that place..?” Bingo. She just confessed it. There was no going back now. Terry nodded her head. “Yeah, I am. I’ve been there before myself.” Ming Long smiled softly at this. To Terry’s amazement, the woman didn’t appear to get defensive, and the mention of the chalk world only seemed to bring fond memories to her. She let out a soft sigh. “I do miss that place. It was beautiful.. Sadly I had to leave. Couldn’t live there.” “That is sad.” Terry agreed. “I couldn’t tell anyone. They would think me a fool. I couldn’t embarrass my family like that, even if they aren’t around so much anymore.” Ming Long’s smile grew a little sad at this. Although Terry had her own reasons for talking about this world, she did feel a little sad for the woman. “It would be nice to speak to those people again. I’d also like to see Mengu again.” Terry blinked at this. “Mengu?” “Yes.” Ming Long said as she remininced. “He had another name, but someone suggested this one and I found I liked it more. Plus it was easier for people to remember and pronounce.” She held up her hand in gesture. “He was a gorgeous chinese dragon with wings. One of the largest chalk drawings I ever made. Threw quite a tantrum in that... ChalkZone I believe it was, but thankfully, Rudy and I were able to stop it.” Terry’s eyes flickered at this name. “Rudy brought you into that world?” “Yes. He seemed really desperate. He was telling me how my creation was wreaking havoc in ChalkZone and how he needed my help to stop him.” This was...quite different. Terry was so used to that boy trying to bar everyone from that world that the idea of him willingly letting a stranger into that world was just...so unlike him. A part of her wondered if she would have been allowed in if she had met him during this time when he was apparently more lax. Or did he only let her in because he was so desperate he didn’t feel there was much of a choice? No, that couldn’t be it. He would have just talked to the woman about her drawing and get information that way. He wouldn’t have dragged her into the world. The only thing she could gather is that, during this time, Rudy hadn’t yet developed his ‘keep everyone out of here’ sense, which made her a little irate that she didn’t realize about this world sooner. Oh well, nothing she could do about that now. At least she may have found someone who may be willing to help her. She still had to tread lightly, however, as she did not want to say anything that would make Ming Long suspicious. She might have been to ChalkZone, but it was clear, from her kind nature, that she had no intention on exposing or exploiting it like her. She might not even realize the danger of that world. Perhaps after a small talk, she could get Ming Long to see things her way. “I’ve met Rudy myself.” Terry said. She made sure not to mention her dislike of the boy. “He does seem like he cares a lot about that world.” “I’m sure he does.” Ming Long nodded slowly. Her face soon contorted slightly. “I do hope that he’s..careful there.” Terry was taken aback by this statement. She hadn’t expected Ming Long to say that. She wanted to speak and question her further about it, but the woman continued, further confirming what Terry thought was running through her mind. “I know he loves that world and all, but he still needs to step lightly. If my dragon Mengu could cause all that damage, then I am certain others of those people could. More monsters and whatever else that world has. I didn’t say anything to him at the time, but I do fear for him sometimes.” Terry couldn’t believe her luck. This was exactly what she was looking for, exactly what she was hoping to convince Ming Long of. And now she just confessed to already thinking it. A part of Terry felt this was too good to be true and she had to resist the temptation to pinch her skin to make sure she was still awake. She realized, moments later, that this really was reality. This was going to make things so much easier. With Ming Long already believing that ChalkZone could be dangerous, perhaps with just a little more talking, this woman could become her ally, and together, they could work towards exposing this chalk world to everyone. But of course, that was easier said than done. She had no idea if Ming Long was going to agree or not. There was one way to find out, though. “Hey, Ming Long...” Terry spoke up softly. The dragon artist stared at her expectantly. “I know that you are busy right now, but I was wondering if we could talk more about this ChalkZone.” She placed her hand against her upperchest. “I do have similar fears as you. I’ve tried to talk to that boy myself, but he seems...stubborn.” Ming Long looked at her sadly. “I was afraid of that. He seems so spirited... It’s like he doesn’t realize what he is doing...” She closed her eyes and lowered her head. “That poor child. Blinded by his own enthusiasm.” “I think that we can help him.” Terry suggested. Ming Long looked at her. “You really think so?” “Absolutely.” Terry nodded her head, smiling the best she could. “There’s still hope for him. If you don’t mind coming with me...” She paused as she remembered what the dragon artist said before. “...provided when you have time that is...” She made a few motions with her hand. “I think we could discuss this and find a way to help that poor little boy out.” Those words did taste a little bitter on her tongue. Ming Long paused for a moment as she thought about this. Slowly, she smiled gratefully at the news reporter. “Yes...I think that would be fine.” sss How long had she been crying? She didn’t really remember. It may have been hours or just minutes. She didn’t know, nor did she really care. For a while, her mind was just way too numb and she found it difficult to fully process anything going on around her. It had taken a long time before anything could be comprehended again. Rapsheeba laid herself back on the ground, her arm muscles way too tired to keep holding herself up forever. She rested her chin against the floor, taking in slow, deep breaths. Each of them shook with emotion and from the remnants of her crying. Her face was still stained with tears, a few more tears leaking a little out of the corner of her eye. She opened her mouth a little as her nose grew more stuffed, making it difficult for her to intake any oxygen. Her crying did eventually stop, but that didn’t prevent her from still breathing shakingly and letting out a few small cries. She was aware of how this was making her look, but at the moment, she just didn’t care. There was nothing she really could do to fight it back, anyway. She found it easier just to let her emotions run through her body, going through their course, releasing themselves out into the open. Sometimes it was best not to fight your emotion and just let them take the reign for a while. However, this didn’t really last too long. As her mind began to get sharper, no longer numb from the emotion, she started to remember her own personal training and what she and the others had been through the past month. She narrowed her eyes softly, gritting her teeth. Slowly, she lifted up her head, arching it down as she stared at the floor beneath her. What was she doing? She couldn’t stay here, crying like this. That wasn’t going to solve anything. She needed to get her act together and stop her blubbering. Despite the situation that she was in, she knew that things weren’t really all that hopeless. If there was one thing she learned during fighting under Skrawl’s reign, it was to never give up, despite the impossible odds that laid before her. She would find a way out of this. She knew she would. It might be hard, but if she thought carefully enough, then a plan would eventually unfold before her. It’s not what Chalk Dad would have wanted her to do. He would have wanted her to keep fighting on as much as she could, to not show weakness in front of their enemies. Despite his behavior, he was still doing it for what he believed to be the good of everyone. If she were to desert her fellow zoners now... She wouldn’t be able to live with herself. She did still feel a sting in her chest when she thought of him. But the more she thought about it, the more she managed to convince herself that it wasn’t really her fault. It had been the Beanie Boys who hurt him; they were just using her words against her, twisting them. They would have killed him no matter what she said. She needed to stop blaming herself for that. And slowly, she did, pushing away her guilt in favor of anger properly geared towards those monsters who had stolen her friend right in front of her. She could not allow this to happen to any of the other zoners. She would not allow these monsters to harm any more. Their reign of terror was going to end soon. She was going to find a way to free the surviving rebels as well as the civilians that Skrawl had wrongfully captured. Together, as a large unit, they would be able to overwhelm the jellybean and bring him to justice. She lifted her head and she stared over in the direction of the family. Watching them, seeing the children pleading for food or for comfort, it reminded her of just what they were fighting for. If she gave up, this poor family, as well as other families, would continue to suffer wrongfully at the hands of this...this evil jellybean. She couldn’t permit it to continue happening. Skrawl had no idea who he was messing with. He would find out, sooner or later, just why she was the leader of the rebellion. She looked forward to it. As she stared at the family, she began to notice something a bit off. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it at first. She hadn’t noticed it before because it required a little bit of thinking. But as she stared hard enough and long enough, she noticed that one of the children, the one that was complaining to eat, was pretty small. In fact, she seemed so small that she just might be able to fit through the bars... Rapsheeba’s mind swirled with thoughts at this. She lifted her head up higher, her eyes widening. Why hadn’t the family noticed this before? It was one thing for her to fail to see it. She was not over there with them. But the mother and father...why didn’t they look down to see that their hungry daughter was small enough to escape through? Likely because they were so distraught over what was happening, they must never really noticed before. Well now it was time that they started noticing. Rapsheeba pushed herself up the best she could. She let out a pained hiss and grunt as she crawled a little forward, ignoring the horrible pain in her back. Her eyes settled on the family before her, who weren’t really paying attention to her as their eyes were on their children only. “Hey! You there!” The parents lifted their heads and looked over at Rapsheeba. They looked pretty surprised, their eyes blinking slowly. They were probably startled that she was actually speaking to them. Not that she was surprised, of course. She probably crushed their spirits before with her crying. Seeing her like this seemingly so quickly may have confused them Rapsheeba didn’t waste time waiting for a reply. She motioned her hand towards the small child. “I think she can fit through the bars!” The father looked down at his daughter. He stared for a few moments before looking back at her. He simply shrugged his shoulders, an act that confused the singer zoner. “Yeah...and...?” “Well why not have her get out? Find something that can help?” Rapsheeba suggested. “She could...” “She could what? Get herself in danger with how weak she is?” The mother chimed in. She didn’t sound angry, though her eyes were narrowed. “Look, we want out of here as much as you do, but letting our daughter out isn’t going to make that any more likely.” “Yeah. What do you expect her to do when she runs into trouble?” The father folded his arms against his chest. “Bore the Beanie Boys to death or something? Do you think they will just up and leave her alone?” He tilted his head slightly. “Unless you can think of a plan, Rapsheeba, we will remain in here.” Rapsheeba gritted her teeth at this. She couldn’t believe that she didn’t realize it sooner. The man was right. She hadn’t thought of it before and she wanted to kick herself for not realizing it. Of course the child was going to be a sitting duck once she got out. Unless she could think of something for the child to do to let them out, there was little that could be accomplished. Especially since the girl was really hungry and in dire need of food... She was so weak that it wouldn’t take much effort to kill her, let alone capture her. How was she going to use this child being able to slip out to her advantage? She didn’t know this layout that well and she didn’t want to risk sending the child anywhere too far. She didn’t want to have to sacrifice the child if she could avoid it. No more loss of allies. She wanted to keep as many people alive as she could. At the moment, she couldn’t really think of anything. She let out a defeated sigh and lowered her head. The family, who glared at her for a few seconds, resumed with looking out for one another. Seeing the family do this make her heart wrench. It seemed that they, as well as some of the other zoners, were starting to lose faith in her. And now could she blame them? She was letting everyone down by not being able to figure a way out of this place. There had to be something that she could do. She.. <Looking for a way out of here, I see...> Rapsheeba stiffened up at that voice. She looked left and right. She couldn’t see it, but she could feel its presence. She gritted her teeth and tried to put her mind on guard to try to protect herself from losing her mind to this thing. <Why so defensive? I am not going to bite you.> “Oh shut up...” Rapsheeba found herself hissing, her head turned to the side and her eye looking upward. She knew it was around here somewehre, and yet it chose to remain perfectly hidden, concealed from her view. <Please do not fret. I have no intention on doing anything to you. I just wanted to tell you something.> Rapsheeba struggled not to scoff. “The memotrice wanting to talk... That is a new one.” <I know that we have had our...conflicts. Especially with your friends. But this is not what I imagined when I wanted to bring in a new world order. Skrawl...Grim Reaper..has taken things way too far. I do not like him being in charge any more than you do. I hope you understand that.> Rapsheeba rolled her eyes. She wasn’t really sure where the memotrice was getting at. Probably just wanted to confuse her or something. Or waste her time and distract her. She wished she could glare at it, pierce her eyes through its. She wished that she could show the memotrice just how much she hated it, didn’t want to listen to it. She closed her eyes, attempting to tune the bird-like zoner out. She didn’t want to hear any more of what it was saying. She didn’t want to waste time communicating with it. She could hear it attempting to say some other things, but she did manage to push those thoughts out of her mind. She didn’t want to hear anything more of what Thoughtless said. Nothing that it would say to her was going to make her want to hear it out. But that didn’t last long. Soon, one of Thoughtless’s statements broke through her mind, and she couldn’t help but feel a little bit curious about it. <I am trying to tell you something. I think you would be rather interested in what I have to say.> Rapsheeba sighed. She might as well listen if it was going to shut it the fuck up. “Proceed..” As if the memotrice heard her, it said, <I want to help you.> Rapsheeba froze at this. |
|
|
|
Post by Bluedramon on Sept 10, 2015 19:30:16 GMT -5
Chapter 55:
Rudy and Penny took several steps back as the large beast descended before them. His long, whiplike body coiled around on the ground like it were some kind of massive snake. His thick body expanded and deflated with each breath. His teeth were long and sharp, fully bared as the dragon growled at them. His blazing eyes pierced through them, practically glowing brightly. His light red body appeared almost bloody-looking in the light there. His claws dug into the hard ground and they could hear his claws clicking each time he took a step forward.
Rudy’s mind raced as he stared at this dragon. He remembered this beast all too well. This was the same dragon that one woman, Ming Long, had drawn a long while back, before he had introduced Penny to this world.
He still felt a level of shame as he recalled that time. He had been too loose with the whole ‘keep people out of ChalkZone’ thing. He hadn’t really realized the consequences of it just yet. He just knew about the portal thing and zoners coming to life. He was aware of the past creators coming in and disruping everything and causing all kinds of trouble, but for some reason, he didn’t link that to letting people into this world. He didn’t know why; he just wasn’t that smart of a kid sometimes, he supposed. He still slapped himself in the face every so often as he remembered that. He often regarded it as one of his greatest failures when it came to protecting ChalkZone.
And now that woman’s creation was coming after them. There was no mistaking it. This was the same beast. Massive and powerful, highly aggressive, he and Penny were going to have to give it their all as they fought against him. It didn’t help that this zoner also had massive wings. He could see them stretching out, the thick, strong insect-like wings ready to flap and carry the creature up into the air once more. He gritted his teeth at this realization. Just when the dragon couldn’t get more dangerous...
They didn’t have much time to stand here and stare at the dragon. The massive beast, whom he recalled was renamed Mengu, shot towards them, moving at speeds that were unprecedented for a zoner his size. Rudy and Penny barely had time to jump to the side before the massive creature was upon them. He crashed into the ground between them as the two children jumped to the side. Dust and small rocks were kicked up into the air as the massive dragon’s form collided with the hard ground.
Rudy flinched as he felt his leg bending against his injury. He clutched it tightly, seething in pain. He looked down, eyeing the injury that Chalk Dad had given him earlier. The wound was still bleeding a little and it was quite deep. He could see the darkening of the skin around the wound, and the leg looked swollen here. Just staring at the wound was enough to cause a dull ache to spread through the leg, making him shudder.
He stared over at Penny and his heart skipped a beat when he saw that she was staggering a little. She had aggravated her leg more so than he did with that jump. He could tell this by how more blood was pouring out of her wound compared to his. It wasn’t much more, but it was enough to tell him that the injury had been hurt more than his, causing Penny to gain a limp as she struggled to get away from the dragon.
And it seemed Mengu had noticed this as well...
Rudy’s eyes widened in horror when he saw Mengu turn his body around and shoot himself towards Penny. This sudden movement came out of nowhere and Rudy was not able to respond quickly enough. He didn’t even have a chance to scream a warning to Penny before the beast collided his head with her, his forehead smashing against her body.
“Aaaahhhh!” Penny howled as her body was flung to the side. She crashed into the ground painfully, her body tumbling around like she were just a ragdoll. She pushed herself up on one elbow as she lifted her head and stared towards the dragon. Upon seeing the dragon come towards her, she shouted, “Rudy!”
Immediately, the alarmed boy raced forward as quickly as he could. He raised his magic chalk to begin to draw. He realized, in horror, that he may not be able to stop the dragon from launching himself at his friend again if he decided to do so. He just wouldn’t be quick enough to stop him. Not unless he created a distraction himself. But what could he use to distract Mengu with?
His eyes widened as he realized there was a possibility.
Himself.
Gritting his teeth, eyes narrowed in determination, he quickly draw himself a small flare. Not very big, but it was enough to create a bright enough light at the tip. It sparkled and simmered, shining more brightly than anything here. It was immediately noticed by Mengu, whose massive light red head turned in his direction. He stared at the flare, his eyes sparkling with intereste. The beast let out a low growl as he began to move closely towards him, his tail swishing from side to side. Rudy glared at the creature, narrowing his eyes as he took a few steps back, his mind racing as he struggled to think of what he was going to do.
Sure he had the beast now coming towards him, but what was he going to do now? If Mengu decides to lunge at him to get the glowing stick... He gritted his teeth at this. There was no way he would be able to dodge quickly enough. He needed to figure something out, before...
“Watch out!” Penny’s horror-filled voice sounded out.
Rudy took a step back, his arms moving out at his sides, as Mengu suddenly took to the air and began to fly towards him quickly. For a few seconds, Rudy’s body was stiff, unable to move. His blood felt waves of cold rushing through it.
All around him, time seemed to slow down to a halt. He could see each and every minute change in the dragon’s body, from the beating of his wings to the movement of his legs, to his mouth opening wider, showing more of his teeth. He could hear a low rumble, gradually getting louder, a sound that he soon recognized was Mengu’s roaring. And all the while, the dragon’s body was getting ever closer and soon would be upon him.
Rudy darted his eyes left and right rapidly, struggling to find a way to escape this charging dragon. As this event slowly unfolded before him, he tried to figure out the best plan of escape. He eventually realized that, with the beast slowly rising up, the best option was to duck down. Moving as quickly as he could as time started to right itself, he dove into the ground, slamming his stomach, chest, and chin agaisnt the floor.
As soon as he did this, time went back to normal and he could hear the loud, piercing roar of the dragon. He could feel his body rush by him, sailing overhead. He heard the creature slam against the ground behind him, stumbling a little from the shere force of the impact. Rudy looked behind him, watching as Mengu struggled back up to his feet. The dragon shook his head and looked back at him. He opened his mouth and let out a low growl, causing Rudy’s heart to skip a beat. He quickened his struggling to get up while Mengu made his way towards him.
Once he was on his feet, Rudy ran off as quickly as he could. He moved to the side just in time to avoid getting bit by the massive jaws of the animal zoner. He could feel Mengu’s hot breath behind him as his teeth slammed shut, the sharp fangs banging loudly against one another. Rudy continued running as fast as he could, his feet pounding the ground, his heavy breathing filling the air. He moved himself forward as much as possible. He looked over his shoulder, the corner of his eye catching just how close the red beast was to him now. Sucking in a sharp breath and feeling his heart skip a beat, he struggled to think of what move to make next.
Rudy spent what felt like several long minutes just trying to stay one step ahead of the creature. He couldn’t even draw anything; his mind was too focused on keeping away from Mengu. The red chinese dragon was moving too swiftly for him, being extremely close to him and constantly having a near victory, mostly snapping at him with his jaws but occasionally trying to strike with one of his clawed paws. Rudy winced each time the claws hit against the hard ground, scraping it.
There had to be a way to stop this dragon. There had to be something that he could do to prevent him from catching them. Or at the very least, shift things into his favor. He still had some magic chalk left. There was still enough to draw some kind of defense. But..he didn’t want to hurt Mengu... He needed to figure something else out.
“Rudy! Draw something!” Penny called out. Rudy looked over and noticed that she was moving towards him, her leg injury causing her to limp and flinch. “A barrier! That would slow him down!”
Rudy took a moment to look up at the dragon. “What kind of shield do you think would work? I don’t want to do anything to injure Mengu...”
“Rudy, that’s not Mengu! That is just a holographic projection! A realistic one at that, but still virtual reality! It’s not Mengu!”
Rudy’s eyes widened at this. Of course... why didn’t he remember that small detail from before? It wasn’t like he didn’t have any experience with virtual zoners. He recalled how Biclops, back when he was brainwashed, had trapped him a similar device and unleashed a virtual version of Jacko on him. From this memory alone, he was able to remind himself quickly that, just because this dragon wasn’t real, that didn’t mean that his attacks were not. If he wasn’t careful...
While he was a bit preoccupied with his thoughts, he failed to realize that he was heading towards a crook in the ground. Real or not, it was still solid and his foot still caught into it. Rudy’s eyes bulged as he felt his leg twist a little there, hurting his ankle. He let out a cry of pain as he fell into the ground, landing in a thud. He pulled his leg close and examined his ankle. He winced as he saw a little bit of bruising.
“Rudy!” Penny shouted in utter horror.
Rudy raised his head up and he could see Mengu rushing towards him yet again. He clenched his teeth tightly, breathing in and out quickly. He struggled to get up to his feet. His leg was wracked in horrific pain, making the entire limb feel as though it was on fire. He immediately staggered forward and buckled down, his knee hitting the hard surface. He clutched his knee tightly as he looked behind him, watching as the chinese dragon drew ever closer to him. Not able to draw anything in time, all he could do was shut his eyes tightly and wait for impact.
Suddenly he could hear a loud scream. His body stiffened as he looked behind him. His blood ran cold when he saw that Penny had moved out in front of him, taking the brunt of Mengu’s attack. He watched helplessly as the dragon’s jaws slammed down on Penny’s body, his teeth pressing against her. Penny let out a scream of her own as the beast applied pressure, drawing a little blood in the process. This moment lasted for several seconds. Rudy stared into Penny’s pain-filled eyes as she looked at him in pain and fear. Rudy could see more blood start to flow as the dragon tightened his jaws around her more.
A split second later, Mengu yanked his head back, raising Penny up into the air. Penny let out another scream as Mengu started to shake her a little, swinging his head from side to side. He rolled her in his mouth a little before biting down again. She struggled and squirmed in the red dragon’s jaws, trying to pry his mouth open. All this did was cause the dragon to bite down on her harder and give another hard shake.
Rudy could feel his mind go numb and his body tremble harder as he watched Penny trapped in the jaws of the dragon. Her face was contorted in pain and agony, her teeth gritted, eyes clinched tightly. Her legs kicked out desperately behind her while her hands tried to work around the creature’s jaws, trying to force them open. All the while, Mengu’s blazing eyes glared at her, a low growl eminating from his mouth. This went on for several moments as Rudy remained frozen, unable to do or say anything.
Before Rudy could fully recover from what was happening, Mengu lifted his head high into the air. At first, it looked like he was going to swallow Penny, a fact that terrified Rudy. In the split second that this terror arose, it was revealed that Mengu planned on something else entirely. However what it did do next still caused Rudy’s heart to burn and freeze at once.
Mengu jerked his head forward as quickly as he could. He released Penny at the last second. The force caused her to collide painfully with the ground. Rudy winced at the loud thud that this created, and his heart nearly tore in two when he heard just how loudly she was screaming from this. Soon she laid on the ground, shivering in pain. Rudy rushed forward and stopped when he saw the source of her distress.
There was a massive bruise on her injured leg. He immediately panicked and looked around to see if the leg had been twisted or broken. It was hard to tell form over here, and to his horror, Penny was now being circled by the large creature. He needed to think of something and fast.
But there was little time to think. Little time to think of a strategy. His mind wheeled swiftly through the possibilities, and as soon as it landed on an idea, Rudy took action. He didn’t know if it would work or not, but he needed to do something to buy him and Penny a little bit of time. Raising the magic chalk, he rushed forward as quickly as he could.
Mengu turned his head and roared at him. Rudy paused his advance, staring at the beast with wide eyes. He backed up slowly, his eyes darting left and right, gritting his teeth tightly. Thinking fast, he quickly draw a small burger. Not that he was certain if the dragon would like it or not, but it would still provide some kind of distraction. He waved the burger in front of himself, and Mengu’s eyes seemed to twinkle as he stared at it. This simulation was more complete than Rudy had initially thought. The dragon sniffed the air and then appeared more interested in the burger than Penny. He moved it from side to side, watching as the dragon followed it. Then, mustering as much strength as he could, he tossed it away.
With Mengu rushing towards the burger, Rudy turned his attention to where Penny was. She was still crumpled on the ground, groaning in pain, holding her leg. Rudy rushed towards her as quickly as he could. Once he got to her, he surveyed her quickly, taking note of any other injury she may have obtained. They locked eyes with each other and he flinched as he saw just how much pain she was in right now. This caused him to hold his hand into a fast and glare up at where he knew Skrawl was. Oh how that jellybean was going to pay...
But there was no time for that now. He quickly lifted up his magic chalk and went to work drawing a shield. Up and down, left and right his magic chalk went. He went all the way around leaving behind an opening for him and Penny to come out of, and making it quite tall as well. In a matter of seconds, the rocky, circular shield flashed into existence, the thick rock creating a barrier between them and the dragon.
“R-Rudy...” Penny hissed softly. She took in a few quick breaths as she struggled to cope with the pain. “Y-You need to draw...”
There was no time for her to finish her sentence. Mengu’s loud roar signified that the dragon zoner was no longer paying attention to the burger Rudy had drawn. Whether or not he ate it had no bearing on what happened next. Rudy could feel the ground begin to shake as the dragon started to rush towards them. He peered out of the opening and saw the large dragon getting swiftly closer to them. His mouth opened wide, his large, sharp teeth exposed.
The sight of this briefly caused Rudy to freeze before he launched himself on top of Penny. He felt his heart sting when his actions caused her to cry out. He settled his body on top of her, wrapping his arms around her, using his body as a shield. He rested his head on top of hers and shut his eyes tightly, waiting for the impact of the dragon’s attack. The next thing he knew, Mengu collided and there was a loud, resounding crack.
sss
Now this was an unexpected turn of events. Never in her life would she have expected Thoughtless of all zoners to be offering her help. Her mind was abuzz with rapidly moving thoughts, trying to figure out what she should do with this newfound information.
Much of her just wants to ignore it. There was little reason for her to really trust or believe the memotrice. This might just be some kind of trick. She wasn't really sure what Thoughtless would accomplish with this, but she still wouldn't put it past it to be trying to trick her in some way. After all, it had given her almost no reason to really trust it before. What would make this time any different?
But there was still a part of her that couldn't help but wonder if she should give it a try. She was already trapped here and she had a busted back. What worse could the memotrice do? Sure, it probably could still do terrible things to her, but with the loss of her legs, there was little way she could feel even lower. And Thoughtless wouldn't really have much of a need to go all out on her anyway since she wouldn't be able to run away from it. Thoughtless must know this fact if it was still working for Skrawl, right?
She struggled to ignore Thoughtless for the time being. Her skepticism overruled any thought she had of perhaps risking to trust the bird-like creature. She focused her attention on trying to figure a way out on her own. She looked all around her cage, gritting her teeth tightly. Surely, these things couldn't be that fool proof, right?
Yet...she couldn't really see a way out of this place. No matter which way she looked, all she could see were bars, areas that were electrified...even underneath this thin layer of ground, she knew there was something there. In all directions, if she went enough in one, she would get injured, even killed depending on how much damage she ended up taking. No matter how hard she thought, she couldn't think of a way out. She could feel her mind start to burn from the shere frustration of it all.
But..there had to be something she could do, right? She shouldn't have to rely on this fishy offer of help from Thoughtless. Perhaps if she could just try talking to that family before her once again, get the little kid out and..
But then...what would she do after that? What would she have the child do? She would have told herself that she'd have him get her out of here. But she didn't even know how. She didn't know how these cages work. Any of her guesses would be as good as the last one. She clenched her teeth tightly as she realized this. She truly was stumped. If she couldn't figure a way out of here soon...
<I am offering you help. Why are you rejecting me?>
Rapsheeba gritted her teeth. Did the memotrice really want her to answer that? She shifted her glare to the side, mentally imagining herself frowning at the beast. If only she could see it and share her displeasure of it...
<I know you are uncertain. I do not blame you. But why don't you at least give what I have to suggest a shot?> Thoughtless's voice sounded slightly annoyed, as though it had thought that her not listening to it was an insult. <What do you have to lose? You are already trapped, aren't you? How could I trap you by helping you out?>
"I don't know..." Rapsheeba hissed under her breath. "I'm sure you'd find a way."
Thoughtless sighed at this. <Fair enough. But tell me, what is more important to you? Your own safety bubble, which I may add won't last very long, or getting a chance to get out of there?>
Rapsheeba knew immediately which one that she wanted to choose. She wanted to get out of here. She wanted to free herself and the other zoners. She wanted a way to undo these locks so they could all join up together and find Skrawl and try to stop him. She wanted to so much to scream that answer to it. She wanted to stop Skrawl, make him pay for all that he has done to them, to ChalkZone City, and to the rest of the affected parts of this world.
Yet she still remained silent. She still couldn't help but remain skeptical of this zoner's offer. She just...had no reason to trust it. How could she be certain that it was being truthful? How could she know that Thoughtless really wanted to help? Somehow, she had doubts that Thoughtless actually wanted to help, and was probably going to back stab her as soon as it had the chance.
She found herself at such a crossroads. She had to figure out which one she felt would be the better choice. Would she want to just stay here and try to figure a way out on her own despite the difficulties? Or would she attempt to trust Thoughtless and get out, only to risk running into another trap? She ground her teeth at the hard decisions. Neither of them were really good options in the long run, both coming with their own risks and benefits. The only way she could figure out the best decision was to weigh her options and see which one benefited her the most.
She spent a few minutes trying to decide this. She could hear Thoughtless trying to contact her, but she ignored it as she tried to figure out her decision. Whatever she was going to go with in the end, she wasn't going to like either choice she made and she had a feeling that she was going to regret it no matter what. She tried not to focus on that too much as she struggled with her burning mind to come up with a decision.
Once she was able to think of something, she let out a soft sigh. Already she was regretting it. She could feel her fingers tingling, her body's temperature dropping. She felt so filthy. Her mind filled with rapidly moving thoughts of what the other zoners were going to think of her when they figured what she did. And yet..did she really have much of an option...?
"Okay, fine...I'll trust you..." She glared harshly in one direction, trying to burn her gaze through a mental image of Thoughtless. "But I swear, if you try anything..."
<I will not try anything rash. That I promise.> It was difficult to tell what Thoughtless's tone was at this point. It was an odd tone that she hadn't heard it speak in before. <Now, each and every cell that Skrawl has made has an emergency exit. He made this so that his Beanie Boys didn't accidentally lock themselves up in a cell. You should be able to activate it while in that cell.>
Rapsheeba nodded her head slowly. "I see. That does make sense. Not all his Beanie Boys are the brightest of the bunch." And that was putting it mildly. Though she dare not say such a thing in front of any of the Beanie Boys. "Okay, so what do I do?"
<What you need to do is go to the bar that is directly in the middle. Look about a foot away from it. You should see a raised area. It's slight and easily missed. Just peer at the ground closely and you will see it.>
Following Thoughtless's instructions, Rapsheeba first looked up at where the bars were. She counted them slowly from one side to the other. With that information, she then determined where the middle bar was. Her eyes glued on that, she then followed the bar downward, slowly snaking her eyes across the ground and moved at where she believed a foot was.
At first, she couldn't see anything. But soon, after she struggled to peer harder, she could see what appeared to be a raise bump. It didn't appear like much and seemed to blind in with the rest of the ground. It looked so insignificant... It was no wonder none of the prisoners here had figured this out. Quite a clever jellybean...
<Once you find it, you want to press on it perpendicular to the cage bars and wait five seconds. Then turn your hand around until it's parallel with the cage bars and press down for another five seconds. Then lay your hand diagonally and hold down and wait. The cage bars should disappear.>
Rapsheeba frowned at this. These seemed to be the most random instructions ever. But despite her skepticism, she still followed the instructions nonetheless. They were pretty easy to follow. The hardest part was getting herself in the right position. She ignored the pain in her back the best that she could while she dragged herself closer to the raised bump. Then she followed its instructions exactly.
It didn't take that long to follow the instructions, which was a given. In only a matter of seconds, she was on the final step. She placed her hand across the bump diagonally as instructed. She applied pressure, hearing it click faintly once more. She turned her eyes towards the cage bars and waited.
sss
Mr. Tabootie had been so focused on watching the portal that he found himself jumping at a loud sound that rang through the air. The fact that he hadn’t been expecting it made him jump that much higher. He nearly fell over onto the ground as he momentarily lost control of his legs. He managed to grab onto the couch’s arm and prevent this from happening, thankfully.
His wife whipped her head over, staring at him in shock. “Dear, are you okay?!”
“Yeah...I’m fine.” Mr. Tabootie rubbed the back of his head nervously. He hadn’t meant to scare his wife like that. He needed to be more careful in the future not to scream so loudly next time. “What was that sound, anyway?”
His wife looked around for a moment. Then the sound came back again. Mr. Tabootie flinched at the expression that his wife gave him when she glared back at him. “It was the phone, dear...” She said softly, a slight irritation to her voice.
“Oh yes..of course...” Mr. Tabootie said nervously. He cleared his throat and continued, “I’ll...go answer it.”
“You do that.” Mrs. Tabootie said before falling silent.
Now Mr. Tabootie felt even worse about his earlier scream. He got scared all over the phone ringing... How ridiculous was that? He felt like slapping himself in the face for such stupidity. Really, of all the things to get startled of... It just had to be the ringing of his own telephone. What next was he going to get scared of? The doorbell? The call of his own wife across the room? He really needed to get his act together.
He pushed aside those feelings for now, not wanting to dwell on them too much. He would have plenty of time to mock himself later. Right now, he needed to get over towards the phone. It had already rung a few times and he couldn’t remember how many more there would be before the person on the other end would just give up and hang up the phone.
He made his way towards the kitchen as quickly as he could, his feet carrying his body over the floor quickly, any sign of shakiness from them gone. It didn’t take too long before he was standing on the tiles of the kitchen. The phone was now directly in front of him. He reached over towards it and he grabbed onto the reciever. He held it from the wall, struggling to get the wobbling cord out of his way, silently wishing that they had gone for a cordless phone instead. Gripping the reciever tightly, he placed it against his head and he began to speak.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Mr. Tabootie. It’s me.”
Mr. Tabootie blinked at this. “Mr. Bullnerd...?”
“Yes. I need to speak to you.”
Mr. Tabootie couldn’t help but take in a gasp at this. Mr. Bullnerd wanted to talk to him? But why? He hasn’t really said much to him or his wife or to Mrs. Sanchez or Tilly since they had gotten out of ChalkZone before. He had thought that the man was too angry with Rudy’s actions towards his son to really think of speaking to any of them. Mr. Tabootie had assumed that Mr. Bullnerd wanted nothing to do with them and that he wouldn’t really hear from him anymore. It would seem that he was wrong.
His confusion was soon replaced with concern. Didn’t Mr. Bullnerd just say that he needed to talk to him about something? The tone that he used them sounded...quite urgent. Just what did Mr. Bullnerd find out that it was so urgent to tell him so fast? Mr. Tabootie bit his lip lightly. Something told him that whatever this man was going to tell him, it was just going to add to their problems that they already had.
“What did you need to tell us?” Mr. Tabootie asked, using a cautious tone to his voice as he did so.
Mr. Bullnerd didn’t answer right away. He seemed to be paused, thinking of exactly how he was going to word it. Mr. Tabootie took this as a bad sign. If Mr. Bullnerd couldn’t answer right away, it meant that something was up. He braced himself for the response. It didn’t take too much longer before Mr. Bullnerd finally told him what was going on.
“It’s...about Terry Bouffant....” Mr. Bullnerd said. Mr. Tabootie’s eyes widened at this. “I think she might be up to something.”
At the mention of Terry’s name, Mr. Tabootie had felt his body stiffen, his blood running cold. His mind flashed back to when she had betrayed them, allowing their children to remain trapped longer in that world while she tried to do her own little thing. He remembered the harsh words she had spoken about his son, about Penny. Despite her speech afterwards, that still didn’t lessen the harshness of what she had said. Mr. Tabootie wasn’t sure if he could ever forgive her for what she said...for what she did.
Upon hearing Mr. Bullnerd bring her up, he couldn’t help but ask himself ‘what did she do now’. There were a number of things that he could think of. Perhaps she had found a way back into that world. Maybe she was trying to pull some rotten stunt against his son. Perhaps she was trying to spread propaganda about them just to get back at them for what they did to her. All of them seemed like logical choices to him.
Not wanting to wait any longer for an answer, he asked, “What is she doing now?”
A soft sigh came from Mr. Bullnerd. “I’m honestly not really sure yet.” Mr. Tabootie let out a groan at this. Mr. Bullnerd had immediately caught it and said, “Yeah I do apologize about that. I just thought you might want to know.”
“So you don’t know what she is doing?” Mr. Tabootie’s tone was stern, almost emotionless. “If you don’t know what she is doing, then how do you know it concerns me? Why would you call me and tell me about this if you weren’t certain if she was actually doing anything or not?” He gritted his teeth tightly, frustration spreading through his mind.
“Yes, I understand. But she was driving somewhere awfully fast..” Mr. Bullnerd’s tone was difficult to describe at this point. “I know it might not be much, but after what she did... I figured it was worth at least a mention.”
Although Mr. Tabootie was still a little annoyed that this man called and startled him just for mere speculation, he had to admit that the man did have a point. It would have been better to just tell him about this and be wrong, then to be silent and something happens later. Something might be going on with that reporter. She might really be up to something. At least this way, they at least knew that something might be going on.
But now he was left wondering...just what could Terry be doing this time? He had asked himself this over and over during the past minute or so of talking with Mr. Bullnerd. The question kept repeating itself in the back of his mind, and he could feel his brain reeling through different possibilities. Not just the ones he had thought about before, but also new ones that started to surface. Some of them were pretty disturbing, causing him to shiver slightly. He hoped that none of those answers was the correct one, otherwise he wasn’t entirely sure what he was going to do. Especially considering that he’d have no proof that she was even doing something like that.
Still, at least he knew about this. It was better than being in the dark completely. If Terry was going to raise her conniving face any time soon, he was going to be ready for her.
“Thanks for informing me, Mr. Bullnerd. I appreciate it.” With that, the conversation ended. Mr. Tabootie put the phone back on the hook, listening to it click. He then turned his head and looked towards where his wife was sitting. She was eyeing him curiously, wondering how the conversation had went.
Mr. Tabootie wasn’t entirely sure what he was going to tell her. He didn’t know how he was going to word this so that it didn’t come off wrong. He knew so little about this...and a part of him just wanted to refuse to tell her anything until he knew more details for sure.
But...that would be wrong. He couldn’t keep this from his wife. It concerned her, too. She had every right to know. Even if some of the details were fuzzy, even if there was no way of telling if this was going to be problematic or not, she still needed to know. And as her husband, it was his duty to deliver the news to her. No matter how bad it was, no matter how confusing it might be, he still needed to tell her.
And so, he did.
“That was Mr. Bullnerd. He wanted to give us a warning regarding Terry Bouffant..”
sss
Ms. Charlotte gritted her teeth tightly. She gasped onto the bars tightly, her sweat causing her hands to slip down a little. Her body trembled as emotion rushed through it, a cold sensation rising from her stomach and spreading throughout her body. Her teeth clenched tightly against one another, her head lowering down as her eyes clinched shut. A constant low growl eminated from between her teeth.
This wasn’t fair.. It just wasn’t fair at all... She didn’t deserve to be locked up like this. She didn’t deserve to be trapped in this smelly, rotten prison for a few years. She didn’t deserve to have to hang around her stinking cell mate, have to eat the terrible prison food, watch the limited cable that they provided here. This was all wrong. This was a huge mistake. Yet no one would believe her. No one would give her a chance.
And it was all because of that...stupid Terry Bouffant... It was all that woman’s fault that this happened. She was the reason that she was here. She was the reason that she had gotten locked up. She was the reason that she had to spend every day for the next few years of her life having to deal with the stupid people that were locked up with her.
Oh how she despised that woman... Oh how she would love to get even with her...
But from behind these bars, there was really nothing that she could do. Well nothing except complain that is. Not that anyone really bothered to listen to her all that much. Most people here just tuned her out. It might have bothered them in the beginning, but now they just accepted it as a new normal of their day and paid her no heed. She wasn’t sure which one irritated her more; them telling her to shut up or them acting like she wasn’t even there.
She just..couldn’t understand why she had to be locked up. What the fuck did she do wrong? Yeah okay, so she attacked Terry. Big deal. It’s not like she didn’t have a good reason for that. The stupid bitch had attacked Dr. Von Doktor. She didn’t even know if he was still alive or not. All she knew was that he was in at least a comatose state, and it was all because of that stupid woman. It was her punch that caused the man to get a concussion and fall to the ground. If she had just kept herself away from Dr. Von Doktor, none of this would have happened.
Although sometimes, she did blame herself a little bit. Perhaps she should have been faster. Perhaps she should have tried harder to intervene. Perhaps she should have realized what was going to happen and pull the redhead back before she could execute the move. Perhaps she could have done..something to prevent what had happened to Dr. Von Doktor....
But her self guilt never really lasted very long. She was more content with blaming Terry. She was the one who punched Dr. Von Doktor. She was the one who deserved most of the blame. It didn’t matter if she herself had any kind of power to prevent it as well. In the end, Terry was still the monster, and she was going to make sure that she paid for what she had done.
Ms. Charlotte could feel her hands slip a bit more as she started to squeeze the bars even tighter. She could feel her body shake a little more as more anger started to rise up in her mind. She struggled to keep herself silent, feeling her teeth press against her tongue. Her mind swirled more and more as emotions continued to rush through her, getting stronger by the second. She pulled her lips back into a snarl, and she couldn’t help but give off a soft, frustrated growl. She opened her mouth, allowing herself to take in more oxygen. Each breath had a growly edge to it, like she was some kind of wild animal. In fact, that’s what she felt like right now. A wild animal trapped within a cage. And everyone knows what happens when you corner someone like an animal behind bars...
The only good news that crossed her mind is that she had informed cousin about what had happened. Her cousin had visited momentarily ago after finishing another of her masterpieces. While her cousin was not really one for violence and aggression, she was quite upset by the news and had promised her she would do something about it. The fact that she, someone who would rather choose peace over action, would say such a thing just showed how much this arrest had affected her. Ms. Charlotte could trust her to do something about Terry if she was unable to.
But even knowing that did little to settle her down. It didn’t change the fact that she was trapped in here, nor do it undo the damage that had been caused. She shut her eyes tightly and let out a soft growl as she struggled to keep her emotions under control. But the more she fought, the stronger the thoughts seemed to become.
Her mind burned as she continued to think about Terry Bouffant. She knew that it wasn’t healthy. She knew that it would do her no good with thinking about her, that there was nothing that she could do about it. But right now she simply didn’t care. All she could think about was trying to find that woman and wringing her skrawny little neck. Letting out another snarl, unable to hold herself back any longer, Ms. Charlotte found the words leaving her mouth, shouting at no one in particular.
“I’m going to get you, Terry Bouffant! Just you wait!” Ms. Charlotte yelled loudly, tilting her head upwards. Her eyes blazed wildly, her pupils shrinking. “I’m going to find you and when I do, I’m going to kill you!”
Almost immediately, there was a roar of protest from some of the other cell mates. Not all of them had gotten used to her rants, especially the newer prisoners. They shouted at her to ‘shut up’ and to ‘be quiet’. This caused her to grit her teeth and she turned her head from side to side, glaring at the prisoners who had spoken to her.
“Oh why don’t you shut up?!” She snapped back at them. “You have no idea just how unfair this is to me! You don’t have any right to judge me!”
A plethera of insults were flung in her direction.
“Oh save it, dollface! You ain’t worth nothing!”
“Yeah! Keep your ugly mouth shut, or I will make you shut it, you hear?!”
“I don’t care how special you think you are! You’re just some sorry excuse for a life form and you just going to make things worse for yourself! So shut your trap!”
“No one here needs to listen to your garbage, bitch!”
“If you got trapped here, it’s your own fault! Considering how stupid you are, it must not have been real difficult for that!”
Upon hearing these, Ms. Charlotte grinded her teeth together, nearly feeling them pop out of her mouth. She narrowed her eyes deeply as she glared ahead, her eyes scanning left and right as she imagined lasers coming out of her eyes and taking out every last one of these prisoners. “You lot have no idea what you are talking about! I’m going to...”
“Oh shut up!” Someone called out from behind her. Before she could turn her head, she could feel someone grab onto her arm and push her roughly against the bars. She yelped as she bit her tongue by mistake, the side of her face smooshed against the cold bars, her arm bent painfully behind her back. “We all had enough of this! You keep spewing out nonsense like that and I’m going to beat it out of you! Do you understand?!”
Ms. Charlotte turned her eyes at the source of that gruff voice. She glared at her cell mate, but didn’t attempt to be defiant. Considering that her cellmate was twice her size, doing anything to provoke would be a very bad idea. “C-Crystal...”
Her cellmate spent a few moments glaring at her before suddenly reaching out, seizing her by the jaw, leaning in uncomfortably close to her face. “You know....I don’t believe you...” Ms. Charlotte’s blood ran cold at the tone of that voice. “I should..make sure that you get the picture...”
Ms. Charlotte didn’t have time to make any sort of reaction before she was tossed against the bed. She let out a yelp of pain as her head hit against the metal bar. She let out a groan as she raised herself up on one hand, using the other to rub her head. She looked over and she bared her teeth in fear as she watched her cellmate crack some knuckles and begin to descend upon her.
“Let’s get started...”
That was the last thing Ms. Charlotte heard before the pain started.
sss
Terry was amazed that Ming Long was able to get in a meeting with her so fast. It turned out that her previous engagement had been cancelled, giving her more time. It was as though the fates were working in her favor so that she could get a chance to speak with her. She struggled to keep herself from grinning too broadly, not wanting to do anything that could potentially put the woman off. She had to treat this delicately, even if the woman appeared to be on her side.
The two of them met in a restaurant. A rather fancy one at that. Ming Long had offered to pay the bill out of courtesy. Terry attempted to decline, but the artist insisted. Terry didn’t want to argue with her and she proceeded to order what she wanted off the menu, soon joined by Ming Long. The bill was going to be pricey, but Terry hardly paid attention to that. Even if she were paying for her own food, she still wouldn’t give it much mind as she was focused on other, more important matters.
She didn’t speak right away. She decided to wait until their food came so they weren’t interrupted. The two woman sat in the red padded seat, which was a little circular, a slightly odd shape for a restaurant around these parts. It didn’t seem to fit in with the rest of the oriental design of this place. But she didn’t really complain.
Soon the smell of delicious food filled the air. Terry could feel her mouth starting to water. She turned her head and she could see their meals being brought over to them on a wide tray. Their waiter set the food down on the table, right in front of them, wished them a good day and left. Terry looked down at her food, licking her lips. She soon proceeded to eat.
A few minutes later, Ming Long broke the relative silence.
“So...exactly how did you meet Rudy Tabootie?”
Terry froze at this question. She realized she hadn’t thought of exactly how she was going to tell the tale. If she said anything incorrectly, she was going to run the risk of saying something to cause this woman to turn against her. This woman held no ill will towards Rudy, and if she said anything that revealed her dislike of the boy, Ming Long might be a little suspicious.
However, she soon relaxed when she realized that it wouldn’t be too difficult to pull this off. She didn’t even have to deviate from reality all that much. All she had to do was tell it like it was and paint it up in a way that made it seem like she was doing it out of concern for the boy and how he was just being stubborn. She had already mentioned this before. It wouldn’t hurt to elaborate on it a little more.
“It was first during some kind of... I’m not sure if you want to call it an invasion or not, but...” Terry raised her hand up, motioning with it. “But there were these...things popping into this world. Hairless, frog-like things that sucked on hair.” She motioned towards her own head as she said this. “I know it sounds crazy, but that thing ate my hair....twice!” She raised two fingers at this. “It took a long time to grow back.”
“I’m sure it did.” Ming Long nodded her head slowly, looking at her with some sympathy in her eyes. “That was...some way to meet Rudy.”
Terry said, “He had shown up wearing a fur suit and was going to lead those creatures away. I remember following him to see what he was going to do. He just...vanished. I didn’t know at the time of course, but he had went off into ChalkZone with them.”
Terry wanted to hit herself in the face for not realizing this sooner. It would take her a few months before she would realize just what had happened. How could she have not realized something being fishy about showing up in that room and seeing now Rudy? There was nowhere else for that brat to go.
Then again, she did have limited knowledge of ChalkZone back then. Well by limited, she meant none at all. She had no idea that chalk creatures could exist nor did she realize that some parallel dimension was out there, waiting to be exploited. She wouldn’t learn this until much later, until after more mysterious events began to happen. Only then did she start to make the connection and she realized that there was something more going on.
She continued her story, “Well I don’t want to bore you with all the details on how I managed to find out what was going on. Let’s just say that I did come to realizing the truth and I tried to ask him about it. I was concerned, you know? That world could potentially be dangerous and the idea of a ten year old, let alone two, wandering around there was...unprecedented...” She lowered her head down, faking a sad smile. “Of course, Rudy didn’t see it that way. He thought that I just wanted to take away this world from him, and he refused to comply.” She sighed, shutting her eyes and shaking her head. “He has been so stubborn... He and his friend, Penny Sanchez.”
“I see. Well that is sad, definitely.” Ming Long agreed. She took another bite of her food and swallowed before she continued. “This does need to be addressed somehow. That boy needs to understand the dangers of that world. I’m not saying he should be banned, but something needs to be done to ensure that he remains safe.”
Terry nodded in agreement. Placing her hand against herself, she said, “I did have an idea. I even proposed it to him, but he still wouldn’t listen.” She lowered her hand to her side. “I did get a chance to speak to one of his creations, Snap. Or Snap White, if you want to go by his student name.”
“Snap?” Ming Long sounded confused. Then something seemed to click in her mind. “Wait, isn’t that the blue and white fellow?” Terry nodded her head. “Ah yes, then I know him. Not that well mind you, but I know him.”
“Yeah, he’s a pretty nice guy.” Terry nearly bit her tongue when she said this. More like annoying. “But Rudy thought I kidnapped him..and he ended up distrusting me more...” Terry let out another sigh. “I wish he would understand that I just want to help him. I don’t know why he has to be so...resistant.”
“I see... This is serious, indeed.” Ming Long scratched her chin thoughtfully. “I wish there was a way that we could help him. But it seems just going straight to him won’t work. He doesn’t seem to want to listen. I expect this from a child, though. They don’t seem to understand fully the dangers of the world.”
“I agree. Sometimes children can be idiots... No offense to Rudy or Penny of course.” Terry raised her hand up at this. “But despite that...I do think that we can help. We just can’t do it directly with them. We would have to work on the sidelines, so to speak.”
Ming Long frowned in confusion at this. “What do you mean?”
“Well, we could spread the word about this place. We could tell others about it.” Terry raised her hand up in gesture. “Sure, many wouldn’t believe us...but we could speak it in a way that makes it sound interesting. We might get some people interested. Especially the children. Then they would go around talking about it and the rumors would spread and eventually someone would have to confront Rudy about it.”
Ming Long tilted her head to the side. “I’m not so sure about this...” She clenched her teeth nervously. “I don’t want to do anything that would cause the boy any discomfort.”
Terry looked at her with as much fake sympathy as she could. “I know, and neither do I. But we have to do something. At least this way, his activities wouldn’t be secret anymore, and he would be forced to confront the consequences of his actions. Trust me...” She motioned her hands to her chest. “The last thing I want is for Rudy to feel any unnecessary distress. But...” She rested her hands on the table, one on top of the other. “..this is for his own good, whether he wants to believe that or not. We have to do something, or something worse might happen.”
Ming Long lowered her gaze at this. She remained in deep thought for a few moments before she lifted her head back up towards Terry. “I suppose you are right, but...” She paused for a moment, gaining a nervous expression on her face. “Still...I...”
Terry leaned against the table a little. She stared at the woman in the eyes, trying to look as caring as possible. “It will be all right.” She gave the dragon artist a reassuring smile. “I have a plan...”
sss
Everything had happened so fast. Penny barely had time to fully register what was going on. A second ago, all she was aware of was the pain in her leg and Rudy pressing his body down on top of her, preparing to shield her from something. Her pained mind was too preoccupied to figure out just what that was. Then the roar sounded out and her blood ran cold as she instantly remembered where she was.
Then in a flash, there was a loud crack, the loud thud of something colliding with the wall around them, and a shower of dust and pebbles fell upon them. She coughed and wheezed as she accidentally breathed in some of the stuff. She turned her head away, trying to get it as far underneath Rudy as possible. She breathed in and out quickly, trying her best to clear up her throat.
She could hear Rudy groaning in pain. The sound of this caused her hear to skip a few beats. What had happened with him? Was he all right? Had he been struck by something heavy? She tried to look up, but she wasn’t able to even see his face from this position. She tried to jerk herself around a little. Only the pain in her leg stopped her from doing too much. She seethed, clenching her teeth tightly, as she felt another shockwave of pain, her body trembling from the sensation. She wasn’t sure just how bad off her leg was now, unable to determine the extent of the damage the dragon caused her with his attack.
But at the moment, her mind wasn’t paying too much attention to that. Right now, she wanted to know what was going on with Rudy. She struggled to look at him, see his face, see his facial expression. But he felt unusually heavy, as though he had been knocked out...
Oh no...
As soon as she saw the limp hand by her side, she realized just what had happened. Her racing mind struggled to get out from underneath Rudy, shifting her body around. She could feel Rudy's form fall down at her side in a loud thud. She flinched at this sound, her heart skipping a beat. She turned her and and she gasped at what she saw.
Rudy was indeed unconscious. The bleeding from his head told her exactly why. She clenched her teeth tightly, seething in and out quickly, her heart rate speeding up. Oh no... Rudy...
She moved herself closer to him as quickly as she could, pressing her knees into the ground. She looked at his unmoving form, her eyes scanning his body. She didn't see any other injuries, thank goodness. But the bleeding gash on his head still concerned her. There was a long cut present, and the grisly sight of it caused her to wince. She struggled to keep herself from crying, not wanting to accidentally aggravate the bloody cut.
Rudy seemed to be breathing normally still. That was a good sign and brought Penny some sense of relief. But she knew the small boy wasn't out of the woods yet. She needed to do something to stop this bleeding. It was practically pouring down him and onto the ground, almost like some kind of crimson waterfall.
Without thinking, her mind panicking, she did the first thing that she thought of. She placed her hand on the gash. She pressed her palm firmly against it and applied pressure directly on the wound. When Rudy's warm blood touched her, she realized the mistake that she made. But she was too fearful to remove her hand at this point and she just continued to apply pressure, trying to stop the bleeding. She watched as the blood oozed between her fingers and she could feel her breath quickening. It was almost like some kind of horror show, and she was forced to be a witness.
What was she going to do? Even if she could stop the bleeding, the fact that Rudy was still unconscious was going to be a problem. Not to mention her own injuries were aggravating her. She could still feel the sharp pain in her leg and side, as well as the other injuries she sustained. In their present state, there was little that could be done to stop the dragon from getting to them. They wouldn't be able to get away in time. It wouldn't take much, either. All the dragon would have to do is catch them off guard and he could get them. She wouldn't be able to run in her condition and Rudy...he wouldn't be able to even defend himself at all. The only one that could keep that from happening was her, and she was having her own problems.
She wanted to curse at Skrawl. She wanted to shout at him, to tear into him verbally, to make him sorry that he was doing this. She wanted to get back at him for hurting her friend. She wanted to make him pay for what he had done.
But what good was that going to do her right now? Her vengeful thoughts were only holding her back, distracting her from the issue at hand. She needed to focus on helping her best friend. She looked down at his prone form, biting her lip. If she couldn't figure something out soon...
She pulled her hand away slowly, staring at her palm. She looked at the crimson fluid at stuck to it. It was such a horrible sight to behold. There was a slightly thick layer of blood on her hand right now, and still more flowed. She wasn't even sure if she managed to stop any of the bleeding at all. She clenched her teeth tightly, struggling to think of something that she could do.
She didn't have a lot of time to figure something out, however. She could hear the frustrated roar of the dragon. She could hear him collide with the wall again and again. It wouldn't take too long before it was torn down. She could hear the cracks spreading through and she could hear some rocks falling off and clanging against the ground. The dragon was striking against the rocky wall again and again with his long, thick tail. Given his massive size, it wouldn't really take too long before the dragon would break completely free. And once that happened...
It appeared she had less time than she thought. With a powerful lurch of his head, the massive dragon rammed against the rock, headbutting it like a ram. This time, he managed to break through, causing rocks and shards to fly everywhere. Penny looked on in horror as the dragon flung towards her and Rudy, his mouth split wide open.
As time appeared to slow down all around her, placing her in some kind of void, Penny struggled to think quickly about what course of action to take. She had no weapon with her. She couldn't grab the magic chalk in time. She wouldn't even be able to draw anything with it fast enough before the dragon was upon her. The only thing she had on her was...was Rudy's blood... She stared down at it, and then back at the dragon. She narrowed her eyes. She didn't like the idea of what she was going to do next, but she knew she didn't have much of a choice in the matter.
She raised her hand up, her fingers spread wide. When the dragon got close enough, she immediately struck out towards it, slapping her hand near the dragon's eye. Instantly, steam began to rise as the blood started to eat away at the dragon's facial skin. The chinese dragon immediately screeched at this sudden, stinging contact and scrambled to the side, his body wriggling around wildly. Penny watched as the chinese dragon collided into the ground heavily. It was only then that she noticed the damage all around her.
The red chinese dragon had done wonders with tearing down the rocky shield that Rudy had provided for them. Much of it was ripped up, chipped, knocked down. There was only a small ridge left now and it was not going to protect them should the dragon try to snap at them. She flinched as she felt her puncture wounds, remembering how much it hurt when the dragon had tried to crush her in his jaws.
She could see from this distance the damage that Rudy's blood had done to the dragon. She could see the slight burns on his face, areas of darker red showing up in the form of a hand print. She could see that a bit of steam was still flying off, indicating that the blood hadn't fully hardened yet, causing it to burn into the dragon's chalky flesh even more. The dragon shook his his head from side to side, letting out a few roars of pain. The sight of this caused her to flinch. She couldn't help but feel sorry for him. She would never have wanted to cause something real pain, even if it was just a simulation.
However, this concern soon faded away when she remembered the situation that she and her friend were in. She could see the anger rise up in the dragon's eyes and she knew that his next attack was not going to be a pleasant one. There were only two things she realized she could do, and both came with risks, and neither had nay indication that they would pay off if she were to attempt them.
As she watched the dragon climb up to his feet and start to veer back towards them, she realized she had make a decision. There wasn't much time to do so, and whatever choice she made, she would have to act upon it right away.
Did she want to try dragging Rudy to safety? Perhaps place him somewhere that he couldn't get attacked? Well, where would she take him? She looked all around and there didn't seem to be much in this room. They were mostly in the open, and there was plenty of room for the dragon to fly anyway. Any attempt to hide Rudy was going to be futile.
That left her with only the other option. She froze at the idea. She could feel pain rushing through her body, the back of her mind screaming at her not to do it. Yet...if it meant keeping Rudy safe, perhaps it was the best option that she could go with. At least this way, she could buy him a little bit of time. But what if it backfires? What if it only makes things worse?
Well in the end, both of her plans could make things worse. There wasn't enough time to use the magic chalk. The dragon was already on his way. It was now or never to make her decision.
And her choice was made. She gave Rudy a sad expression before turning back to the dragon.
"Hey you!" Penny called out as she started to limp towards the barreling dragon. "Why don't you try me on for size? Come in big boy!" She waved her hands about. "Come and get me!"
The chinese dragon snarled at this as though she had just insulted him somehow. His lips quaked, raising up enough to expose his sharp teeth. Then, uttering a deep, low growl, the dragon charged towards her. Penny narrowed her eyes and braced for the impact, making no attempt to run away from this beast.
The next thing she knew, she was on the ground. She let out a howl of agony as the dragon began to crush her underneath his massive foot. She instinctively struggled, pushing her legs out frantically, trying to kick the dragon. She clenched her teeth tightly and hissed as she tossed her head from side to side. She pushed desperately at the dragon's foot. Her heart raced in her chest as her mind shot through several thoughts. In almost an instant, she regretted her decision to try to face the dragon head on.
The red beast didn't give her a chance to even say any sort of plea or demand. He raised his paw up into the air, his sharp claws twinkling at the tips. Then, a second later, he struck downward. All Penny could do was scream.
|
|
|
|
Post by Bluedramon on Sept 12, 2015 15:29:22 GMT -5
Chapter 56
“Oh man, this is so boring! Why can’t we go inside and have a little bit of fun, eh?”
“Because the boss wants us to stay out here.”
“It’s not fair! I was the one who...”
“Oh quick your belly aching, Alpha! Just resume your post, shut up, and keep an eye out for danger. You wouldn’t want the boss to come in and catch you complaining, now would you?”
Alpha stiffened at this. He stared over at his partner, gritting his teeth. His mind flashed with different images of an angry Skrawl coming after him. He cringed at the mere thought of Skrawl merely glaring at him. Knowing that he was more powerful than them, that he was capable of doing so much, Alpha didn’t want to do anything to potentially anger the jellybean.
Turning his head away, he said, “Okay, fine...”
He was glad that his partner didn’t attempt to speak to him more. The last thing he wanted to hear right now was his smug little comments, his stupid snarks, his annoying squeaky voice. He just wanted to focus on hovering in this spot, keeping his arms crossed and watching out ahead of him, his eyes scanning around just like Skrawl wanted him to. He would rather forget his short little spat with his partner and keep focus on the task at hand.
He and his partner were positioned in front of the castle’s only entrance. They were placed on either side. He had taken the left one while his partner took the right. They kept themselves elevated high enough so they could look around carefully, watching for any sign of movement. Not that he expected to see any. It had been generally quiet lately and he didn’t expect this to change any time soon. It was almost a waste of time being here at all. Yet, remembering what Skrawl had told them before, he kept himself as alert as possible, not daring to move from this spot.
Although he has never witnessed it happening before, he would not put it past the zoners to try to do something crazy or insane. They did seem like the type to do something insane. Based on what he and the other Beanie Boys witnessed in that hideout that they raided, it seemed a lot of the citizens here had quite the backbone. He gritted his teeth as he realized there were still tons left in ChalkZone City. He wondered which ones were legit terrified of them and which ones were just acting, waiting for the right time to make their move. He realized that if he wasn’t careful, they might catch him by surprise and they could break through here. He wasn’t about to let that happen.
Still, he was a bit depressed that he couldn’t go inside. He understood that some Beanie Boys had to remain out here to make sure that nothing more could go wrong. And yet, he still wished he could be inside to witness Skrawl’s little ‘play time’ with Rudy and Penny. After what had happened to Beta, he wanted to see something equally horrible happen to those two children. He didn’t care that they were innocent and that it was Zebin who had killed Beta. As far as he was concerned, Rudy and Penny simply being present made them guilty enough and worthy of punishment.
He winced as he thought about Beta. The poor little guy... He could still see his pained face in his mind. He could still hear his howls of pain, see the blood splatter, hear the crack of bone... It all seemed to happen too fast. One minute, Beta was by his side and helping him like a good partner he had been, and the next, he was on the ground, horribly beaten....
He shut his eyes, not wanting to think about it. He tried his best to shake the horrible thoughts out of his mind, and yet he couldn’t stop seeing the image of the now dead Beta in the back of his mind. What had he done wrong, anyway? All he was doing was being a good soldier. How dare they do something like that...
And it only got worse. They had lost a few Beanie Boys in the raid as well. A few were attacked quite viciously, and he guessed that the rebels had mistaken them for himself or for Rho. Not that it really changed matters.
The only consolation that he could get from all of this is that...at least those zoners were finally paying for what they did. They take out a few of their men, and they get the horns. He couldn’t help but smile twistedly at the thought of them screaming and moaning from inside their cells, their new homes. Maybe then they would realize the futility of their actions. Maybe then they would have come to realize that surrendering to them had been the better option all along. If only they had yielded to them, all of this would have went so much smoother.
Well there was nothing that could change that now, is there? And honestly, a part of him was glad that things turned out this way. He wasn’t sure if he would have been able to go through too many days without wanting to get back at Zebin. Everything he imagined that...that thing’s face in his mind... He just wanted to launch his fist against the side of its head and bash its skull open. The only thing keeping him from down that now was the fact that Zebin was Skrawl’s prisoner.
He clenched his teeth. He knew that if he tried to make a move towards Zebin, Skrawl would be upset. He had made it clear to them that Zebin, along with Snap, had belonged to him. They were his property. No one else was allowed to touch them without his permission. The thought of this did annoy the Beanie Boy, but there was nothing he could do about it.
Letting out a small sigh, he pulled his head back and looked up towards the sky. He watched as the clouds overhead swirled around, appearing all menacing and what not. They had been quite the impressive sight before. But now it’s become all mundane. Routine. It wasn’t that he wanted the cloud cover to disappear; that would mark a weakening of Skrawl’s powers, of their influence. Still, he wished he could feel excited about seeing this cover. It served as a reminder to them of how much in control they were now. He still remembered how, before, they were treated like nobodies. Now, they were the nobodies running the how. No zoner dared to speak out against them. No one dared to raise their voice at them. Just like how it should be.
His eyes once more scanned the land in front of him. He couldn’t really see anything, just like before. Nothing but a barren landscape, littered with rocky, sharp buildings and old rundown ones. No other zoner was in sight. They were all either captured or hiding in their homes. This made the city look abandoned, although he and his partner knew better than this.
He entertained the idea of paerhaps leaving his post temporarily to find a stray zoner and get them over here. He thought about making said zoner perform an attempted break in so that he and his partner could stop them. It would be a good way to pass the time. Have a little bit of fun and toy with one of those pathetic little zoners. Hmm...yes... That sounded good. There were plenty of weak zoners to choose from. All he had to do was look in the right place.
There was movement in front of his eyes. He stiffened himself, his mind going into full alert. He turned his head left and right quickly. The movement hadn’t been too much, yet still enough to be concerning to him. The fact that it seemed so close didn’t comfort him, either.
The movement seemed to have come from his front, directly ahead. He noticed that one of the buildings in the distance, one of those that were already going to fall down, had slightly altered a little. And in the opposite direction as the crack, so this couldn’t have been a natural thing. He immediately realized that something large had been through that area. Only something big, and strong, could have done something like that. He tensed up his body and prepared for the encounter.
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that his partner had noticed the same thing. His partner was now on full alert, his mouth and lips shut tightly, as he obtained a defensive position, ready to fight whatever was coming for them. He gave him a sideways glance, remaining silent for a second, and then he uttered a soft-spoken question.
“What is the situation?”
“I don’t know. There’s something coming here, I...” Alpha stopped himself. He closed his eyes and tried to listen to something that just barely graced his ears a second prior. “I hear something... It’s something big...and it’s heading right for us.”
“Well no shit, genius!” Snarled his partner, causing Alpha to turn his head and shoot a glare of his own back at him. “I meant specifics! Do you know what the hell this is, or...?”
“No, it’s too far for us to see! What, do you think I’m some kind of mind reader?” Alpha pressed his fingers against his forehead, mimicking a posture one might see in a psychic. “Do you think that I have access to what the cloud sees? No! Only Grim Reaper can do that, you worthless little....!”
It all happened so fast. None of them had time to react, nor did either expect something like this to happen. Although it only took a split second, Alpha would never get the image out of his head.
Something swished in front of his gaze. Thin and blurry, he couldn’t tell what it was. He turned his head to follow it. A nanosecond later, it made impact with something. He watched as his partner’s body was jolted to the side, his body obtaining a diagonal position for a split second before he was rammed against the wall. Soon he just hung there, his body giving a few spasms before it fell completely limp.
Alpha brought his hands to his mouth as he witnessed this. His wide eyes found it difficult to remove themselves from this horrible sight. His mouth couldn’t stay closed for long and he felt it dropping open. He took in a few quick breaths, struggling to control his breathing. He struggled to hold back the nauseous feeling rising up inside of his chest. He tried not to vomit, to empty his stomach contents onto the ground. He licked his lips nervously, watching his partner’s unmoving form for any sign of life. But there was none. And why should there be?
His partner had been shot through the head with an arrow...
He took in a shaky breath at this. For the next couple seconds, all he could do was stare at his partner’s now dead form. He couldn’t help but feel a level of guilt about his death. If he hadn’t distracted him, maybe he could have...
No...it hadn’t been his fault. It was their atackers. They were the ones who... Rapidly, Alpha could feel his guilt replaced with rage. He gritted his teeth and he shot a deadly glare towards whoever was heading towards them. His look of anger was soon replaced with one of terror as he realized just what was coming for them.
Two large beasts. Huge and monstrous. Mouths open and snarling and snapping. And there were two zoners riding them. He couldn’t recognize who they were. Nor did he care to find out. All he cared about right now was getting to safety.
His mind racing like some kind of track, the Beanie Boy immediately whirled himself around, forgetting about his red shard weapon. He fled upwards towards one of the windows of the castle. He immediately rushed towards the nearest one and struggled to open it up. As he did so, he looked down and watched in horror as one of the zoners was preparing to shoot at him with one of those wretched arrows.
Gasping in horror, he quickly pushed the window open, his fingers slipping in the process. He scrambled to himself into the building as quickly as possible. He crashed into the ground with a loud thud. He winced as he heard the sound of an arrow thwacking against the wall right where he was a moment ago.
sss
Well, well...if isn’t this quite an interesting turn of events...
Skrawl grinned broadly, his mouth stretching from ear to ear..or at least it would have if he had ears. He looked down over the controls, leaning over as much as he could so he could witness the fight taking place down below him. The sight of it made his grin try to broaden despite the fact that this would have been pretty impossible to accomplish.
Down below him was quite the glorious sight. He had expected this to be quite the spectacle. And he had been right. But he was still shocked by just how right he had been. He had no idea things would go this well for him.
The mere fact that the children appeared to have forgotten about their backpacks, thus making no attempt to treat their wounds while they had been shielded, was just the tip of the ice berg. It wasn’t over too quickly like he feared, meaning he had plenty of time to enjoy the fighting below. Those two little brats hardly stood a chance against the chinese dragon. He felt a sense of pride well up inside of him as he recalled how he had found out about Mengu and incorporated its data into the machine. What a great way to get back at Rudy by launching the one zoner he never could stop in the past.
At least, not on his own. The little boy had gotten so desperate to stop the chinese dragon that he had actually crawled into the Real World and find the dragon’s creator. How just how amusing that was... Seeing the Great Creator having to pull a risk like that just to slow down a dragon. He wished that he had been around back then. He would have loved to see Rudy do something so stupid, and watch his facial reaction when he realized what he had done.
Oh well, this was just as entertaining...
At the moment, Rudy was unconscious on the ground, having suffered a head injury. He could see the blood leaking out of the deep gash from up here. The sight of it was utterly glorious. A part of him wanted to jump down there and help the blood leak faster. A darker side of him even wanted to taste the blood. The only thing stopping him was the reminder that Rudy’s blood was acidic to him and thus a move like that would be lethal. Still, nothing stopped him from simply imagining the taste of the boy’s blood.
He then turned his head over and he saw Penny limping away. He narrowed his eyes at this, a bit annoyed. She was such a little pest. He remembered how she had tricked him all those months ago. Fooled him into believing that she was on his side. Tricked him into allowing her access to more magic chalk so she and Rudy could team up against him. The thought of it burned into the back of his mind, and he clutched his hand into a tight fist.
He had to admit, that was quite a clever plan there. Penny had proven just how smart she was. Fooling him like that was not an easy thing to do. Still, this realization only brought on more bitter memories. Oh if only she could have realized her full potential.. Just imagine what it would be like if he had those kinds of smarts on his side... Oh how glorious that would have been...
But things don’t always work out that way and he had to face facts that Penny would never want to work with him. And he would never trust her again after what she had done. He had no desire left to have her by his side and instead he just wanted to focus on teaching her a lesson. Seeing her limp like that after Mengu’s previous attack was certainly amusing enough. But he wanted something much more than that...
Good thing Mengu was going to deliver that to him. The red chinese dragon was zipping around Penny, messing with her as it cut off any path of escape for her. Penny was forced to stop and look around, watching with terror and pain filled eyes as the dragon circled around her repeatedly. It was quite a spectacle to behold and Skrawl couldn’t help but tap his claws together eagerly while he watied for Mengu to make a move. Given how the dragon’s last attack had left some gashes on Penny’s front, it wouldn’t take too much more for another attack to bring her down.
His gleeful watching was interrupted by a muffled sound behind him. He growled softly and turned his head, watching as Snap struggled to escape the Beanie Boys’ grasp. Skrawl sighed in exasperation and shook his head.
What a waste... Snap could have remained such a great ally. He still held some level of regret for turning against him and trying to get him killed. He wished that he could go back and time and change things and keep him his ally. Snap had been so useful. Sure he already spilled the beans on a lot of stuff, including that Mengu dragon incident, but he was certain there was still a lot more that he could have discovered. And back then, Snap would have been glad to tell him anything that he wanted to know.
Well it was too late for that now. Snap was the enemy again and right now, his muffles were getting quite annoying to him. But it wasn’t like he had much fear of him escaping. There was little chance for that runt to get away from him. He didn’t know why he was even trying anyway. It wasn’t like Rudy and Penny would trust him. They thought he had set up this trap deliberately.
Skrawl grinned mentally at the thought of that. The plan had worked out so well. Snap had no idea that he was partially influenced by Thoughtless, nor did he realize that he had simply been allowed to escape so the plan could commense. Rudy and Penny had little reason to believe that Snap was still their friend after that. They must believe that he was still under their full control. Now any attempts for Snap to help was going to be met with resistance, making it difficult for the stupid trio to pull off any stunt to ruin his beautiful plans.
He could feel his chest swell up in pride at this. Even after Rudy and Penny had returned, he was still in control around here. He had been right about his previous assessment. Things were going differently than before. Now it was going to be him who will have the final laugh.
His mouth corners spread upward further as he watched Penny being pinned once more by Mengu. His eyes started to sparkle at this. He ignored Snap’s increased distress-filled muffled cries as he watched with terrifying glee as Mengu prepared to bite Penny with his powerful jaws. The mouth split open wider and wider and soon Skrawl could see the sharp teeth glinting in the light. Yes...almost there... He leaned in closer, opening his mouth little as his grin spread wider. Just a little more...and...
Suddenly the dragon stopped. Skrawl blinked in confusion at this, tilting his head to one side. Why had the dragon stopped? He wasn’t supposed to stop. He was supposed to keep attacking Penny until she...
Ah, there was the reason. Upon seeing movement in the corner of his eye, he turned and noticed that Rudy had started to get up. Mengu’s head was turned towards the boy, his piercing eyes watching as the boy staggered up to his feet, letting out a groan as he rubbed his head. Skrawl was a little surprised at first to see Rudy up so fast. But then, considering who this was, perhaps he shouldn’t be too surprised.
Mengu had apparently lost interest in Penny and was heading towards Rudy. Skrawl wasn’t really entirely sure why this was. But he didn’t complain. So long as the dragon dealt with one of them, he was happy. He didn’t mind letting Mengu take care of one of those wretched little brats. He would deal with the remaining creator himself after this was done.
Rudy was clearly confused for a while, not that it surprised Skrawl. Being struck in the head was no simple business. He might have gotten a crack in his head if he was unlucky enough. The boy seemed unsure of where he was, and he was slow to react to the approaching dragon. If anything, he may have thought the dragon was just a lost puppy that was coming to greet him. Skrawl wondered just how long it would take before Rudy would realize what was going on.
Not too much longer. The boy wasn’t able to dodge the dragon zoner’s first attack. But as soon as that tail knocked him to the side, Rudy’s eyes seemed to spark to life and he was suddenly fully aware of his surroundings. This didn’t do him too much good as he was still dizzy from the head injury. He wobbled from side to side, his body quite off balance. It was amazing that he could even keep ahead of the dragon like that.
Skrawl had to admit that he was impressed that Rudy was lasting this long. His wobbling was working in his favor, confusing Mengu as he tried to come in from behind him. No matter. Skrawl wasn’t worried about the boy getting away. It would only be a matter of time before Mengu would find a way to catch up, and then all it would take was one well placed strike. Perhaps another head attack was in order. Yes...crack that foul boy’s head wide open... Then Rudy would no longer be a threat to him. He didn’t care which child he ended up with last; he would have equal fun with both of them.
After a while of running around and chasing, it seemed that the song and dance of boy and dragon was finally reaching its conclusion. Skrawl wasn’t sure whether or not to be pleased or irritated. He was enjoying watching the spectacle, but at the same time, he was getting a little impatient. He wanted his chance at the boy.
Regardless of his feelings, he couldn’t deny what was going on below him. Rudy had been knocked against the nearest wall with the red dragon’s long, thick tail. He was laying against it in a slump at this point, his head bending forward and a small, quiet groan exiting out of his lips. The boy’s face was contorted in pain as he clutched his bruised side. He lifted his head up and he forced his eyes open. In an instant, they filled with raw terror as he witnessed the dragon barreling down towards him, mouth agape.
Skrawl tapped his claws eagerly at this, his teeth bared in a grin. Yes...this could be it..
“No!”
Skrawl stiffened at that voice, startled for only a second. He quickly relaxed when he saw that it was just Penny. He narrowed his eyes as he watched her rush towards where Rudy was positioned. Skrawl couldn’t help but cock his eyebrow up in curiosity. Just what did Penny think she was going to do? Then, as he watched a little longer, something clicked in his mind, and soon it became clear exactly what was going to happen here. He watched, eager to see what was going to happen next.
The dragon raised his paw up, the claws poised to strike. Rudy cringed back and turned his head away, pracing for the blow. The dragon struck down. But at the last second, Penny had jumped into the way. The claws made impact.
“Aaaahhh!”
Penny howled out a bloodcurdling scream as the claws raked into her side. The blood splattered all over the ground. She seethed and whimpered in pain as she collapsed to the ground. Rudy looked down at her in horror. Penny didn’t seem fully aware of him. She was curled up on the ground, screaming and crying pain as she struggled to cope. A small puddle of blood began to form on the ground from the open wounds.
Skrawl grinned nastily at this. Now that one of the brats was down, he could take care of the other one. He raised his hand up, his claws flexing inward. He contemplated on how he wanted to kill Rudy. Should he just use his powers? Or should he go down there and do it in person? It wasn’t like the boy could fight back all that well. He was so distracted now that he wouldn’t really have much ability to react. Now was the perfect time to strike.
He climbed up onto the railing next to the control panel. He could hear Snap’s increased shouts of protest as well as the mumbled ‘shut up’ directed towards him by the Beanie Boys. Skrawl didn’t bother looking behind him. He could already envision Snap’s horror-filled gaze clearly in his mind, and he was certain it was far more entertaining to see than any actual expression the zoner could muster. Skrawl peered over the edge, his claws wrapped around the railing to keep himself from falling. Then he lowered his legs, bending his knees, and prepared to jump.
Suddenly, there was a loud crash. Skrawl let out a surprised shout as he wobbled from side to side on the railing. He only barely managed to regain his balance. Once he did, he soon became aware of the smoke and dust coming out of the side of the wall. His eyes bulged at the sight of this. Then he could hear the ground rumbling, feeling some vibrations through the railing he was still clinging to. In a matter of seconds, the two culprits responsible for what happened showed up, crashing through more rock and stone, knocking it away as though it were nothing more than paper thin walls.
Two large beasts... Skrawl’s eyes widened in shock at this. How did they get in here? How did these two get past his guards? And just how did Blocky and Howdy get here? He thought they had been captured. What the hell was going on?
Upon seeing the two massive zoners begin to engage the dragon zoner, Skrawl shook his head. He couldn’t waste time caring about how they got in here. The point was, they were in here now and he needed to take care of them as soon as possible.
Swerving his head over to the Beanie Boys, he barked a simple order. “Get them!”
The two Beanie Boys looked at each other for a second. They then released Snap and they rushed out to where the two beast zoners had appeared. Snap had tried to make a move towards the virtual arena as well, but thankfully, Skrawl was able to catch him before he could get too far.
“Not so fast...” Skrawl hissed at him. He wrapped his claws around Snap’s leg and lifted him up. The small blue and white zoner squirmed around in his grasp and tried to strike out at him. Skrawl grinned at him. “I might have a use for you.”
sss
Rudy never felt so horrible in his life. He had a constant nauseaous feeling growing inside of him. The world around him appeared to be constantly spinning, twisting around and disrupting his sense of balance. He could feel a dull headache spreading throughout his head, making him feel even sicker.
But despite that feeling, he felt a lot more terror than any sickness. He hardly paid attention to how he himself was feeling. That was all second priority to him. At the moment, there was something else that took a place higher than himself.
His best friend, Penny.
Rudy looked down at Penny’s convulsing form, watching as she shivered and spasmed in pain. Her eyes were clinched shut and her glasses knocked a little askew. He could see the blood forming from her side wound, staining the ground, partially melting the ground beneath her. Rudy moved his hands towards her, wanting to pull her into his arms and hold her. His hands hovered above her, shaking as he bit his lip.
He stopped himself from touching her, remembering what he had been told before. He couldn’t risk injuring her futher. He needed to first assess her injuries the best that he could. Then he needed to figure out what the best course of action would be.
Doing so here was going to be tough. All around him, he could hear the fight going on. He dared to lift his head up once and see one of the large beasts, the one with the boar-like face, tackling Mengu, ramming him against the ground. He flinched at the force of the impact. If this had been the real Mengu, he imagined there would be at least one broken bone. Although thankfully, this Mengu was a lot smaller than the original, so their saviors had a better chance to defeat hi.
Rudy felt a sense of relief when he saw that Blocky and Howdy were riding them. He was quite surprised to see them. He had thought that they were captured before. Somehow they must have escaped. Many questions ran through his mind at this realization. Just how did they pull it off? How did they get here? Was there anyone else coming?
Pushing back his temptation for questions for now, he turned his attention back to Penny. He watched as she breathed in and out shakingly, each rise and fall looking like it was taking more and more work. He could see the pained effort in her eyes and facial expression. Rudy bit his lip once more, biting into it, nearly drawing some of his own blood. His eyes scanned over her body, looking at every nook and cranny, trying to see what other injuries she had sustained from this beastly dragon. Many other smaller cuts and bruises, but for the most part, it seemed that the most serious injuries she sustained were her side gashes and the ones going across her chest.
He sucked in a deep breath as he saw how severe these wounds were. He needed to stop the bleeding and fast. But how was he going to do that? He couldn’t draw anything. He couldn’t...
Wait, the backpacks... He turned his head and looked over at where he and Penny had left them. There they were, beside the same rock as they had left them on before they had come here. He took a moment to look at where Mengu was, making sure that he wasn’t anywhere near him. Then he turned his attention to where the backpacks were. He immediately rushed over towards them.
But before he could reach them, there was a flash in front of his eyes, a quick blur that he barely registered. Then he could see the color of green and then something grasped around his throat. Rudy could feel himself being hoisted into the air.
“I don’t think so...” Rudy pulled his head back and growled when he saw Skrawl’s massive head enter his field of vision. “I wouldn’t make any sudden moves if I were you, Master Tabootie...” Skrawl held up something in his other hand. “You wouldn’t want him to have too much ‘fun’ now would you?”
Rudy recognized the figure as Snap. Immediately upon seeing this particular zoner, Rudy could feel his heart skip a beat and a slight sense of dread started to wash over his body. He stared down at Snap’s struggling form as his mind became crowded with multiple conflicting thoughts. He couldn’t even make a move as he had no idea just what Skrawl had meant by that statement.
Did he refer to Snap as his enemy...or as his ally..? Without knowing the answer, Rudy could only stare in horror.
Thankfully, this didn’t last long. Skrawl had been clearly in a hurry to get rid of him as he was not paying attention to his surroundings. There was no time for the jellybean to react when the dog-like zoner came in, followed by an angry shout by Blocky. Skrawl let out a shout of pain as he was knocked away, his grasp on Snap weakening. After Snap was released, the zoner sailed through the air. Rudy was not able to see where he landed. Despite his curiosity to find out, he forced himself to turn his attention back on Penny. Her condition was more urgent at this point.
After grabbing the backpacks and rushing back over to Penny’s side, Rudy immediately opened one of them up. He rummaged through, working his way through the food that was given to them as well as the bottles of water until he could feel the cold, metal surface of the First Aid kit that they had been given. He immediately pulled it out. He set it on the ground and propped the lid open.
He looked through the various items stuffed into the kit. He then reached down and pulled out the items that he felt that he was going to need. He laid them on the ground next to him. He turned his attention to Penny. He gritted his teeth, wondering which wound he should take care of first. He soon settled on her side gashes as those were the ones bleeding the most.
Before he continued, he realized that Penny’s shirt was going to be in the way. The thought of what he had to do next caused him to freeze. He didn’t want to do anything to make her too..uncomfortable. This was something that he never thought he would have to do with his best friend. What if she...?
He shook his head. No, he couldn’t think about that now. Despite what it would look like, he knew there was no other choice. Right now, Penny’s survival was more important than any dignity. It was either he did this, or Penny could risk dying on him. And he was not about to let that happen. Penny might get upset at him later, but right now, he needed to do this so he could properly treat her wounds.
He grabbed the bottom of her shirt and pushed it upward. He did this until he managed to expose her wounds on her side and chest. He did take a moment and realize just how embarrassing this was. Penny right now was so out of it that she didn’t seem to notice. A part of him was glad for that. He tried to ignore his own discomfort as he began to treat her injury.
He started by taking out one of the gauze pads and pressing it against her side. Penny immediately let out a shriek of pain at this and struggled against him. Rudy had to grip her shoulder firmly and hold her down so he could keep applying pressure. He spoke to her gently, trying to keep her calm while he did what he could to help her. Penny seemed in too much pain to recognize what was going on, let alone who he was. She must think that he was the one hurting her. This thought caused his gut to twist in emotion. Despite that, he refused to let go, refused to let up on the pressure. He needed to get the bleeding to stop as soon as possible.
He was relieved that Penny started to slow down in her struggling. Whether this was from her realizing who he was or from her own pain, he wasn’t certain. But at least she was becoming more relaxed, making it much easier for him to continue with his treatment of her.
Once the bleeding started to slow down, he used one of the bottles of water to clean out the gashes as much as he could. Penny whimpered at this, but was otherwise still. He then began to apply some of the disinfectant. This did cause Penny to struggle a little bit more again. But at least they didn’t last as long, and he didn’t have too much trouble with spreading the ointment across the wound. As soon as he was satisfied with that, he then began to apply the bandages around Penny, securing it tightly around her wound.
He then turned his attention to the wounds on her chest. He clenched his teeth. These would be the most difficult area for him to treat, for obvious reasons. Despite that, he didn’t allow it to slow himself down too much. He simply pulled out more gauze and pressed one of the gashes on her chest.
As he did this, he lifted his head and looked at where the fighting was going on. So far, the two beast zoners, as well as Howdy and Blocky, were able to keep Mengu at bay. They were even able to entertain Skrawl for a little while. He couldn’t yet see Snap, but he was certain that he was among that crowd somewhere. He hoped that Mengu would be distracted long enough for him to treat Penny. He was in such a vulnerable position. If he were attacked right now...
He tried not to think about that. He looked back down at Penny, looking into her shut eyes, giving her a sympathetic look. Poor Penny... He hoped that he would be able to at least decrease her discomfort a little bit.
sss
“Hmm...I’m not entirely sure if this would be a good idea.” Ming Long spoke, her voice soft. “You don’t have any other plans?”
Terry let out a soft sigh at this. Not that she was at all surprised. Ming Long had shown some reluctance this whole time, despite her reassurance. It didn’t matter how much she promised the woman that everything would be okay. In the end, she was still going to be uncertain until everything was unfolded and the plan moved forward. At least she was still willing to help her out despite her uncertainty.
But she still wished that the woman stopped asking her ‘are you sure’. That question was getting rather old by this point and she was getting sick of answering the woman’s questions. Especially the ones that repeated themselves over and over again. It was almost like this woman had a case of amnesia and needed a constant reminder. Of course, it wasn’t like she could blame her; nervousness can make one forget more easily. Still, she wished that this operation could run al ittle more smoothly.
“I assure you, this will work.” Terry realized that she copped more of an attitude there than she had meant to. She could see Ming Long’s expression, the way the woman was giving her a soft glare at this. She immediately retracted her statement. “I’m sorry...” She murmured softly, not wanting to lose this potential ally. “Anyway, yes, it will all be fine.”
Ming Long tilted her head slightly. “I thought you said that they wouldn’t let you back into that school.”
At this, Terry felt the memories start to rush back at her. She recalled her unfortunate encounter with the principal. After what happened before, there was no way that the principal would allow her back into the school, let alone even listen to what she has to say. She doubted she would get any one there on her side, either. Not even Mr. Wilter would want to put up with her now.
That was why Terry had decided for something different this time around. It was a way that would allow her to go through with the plan but not have to worry about having to deal with the teachers and that stupid principal. While this plan was not entirely fool proof and she had a feeling that something could still go wrong, at least it would allow her to move it forward some degrees. Not like the principal could really stop this unless she caught on, and that would be difficult with how she planned to go about this.
“That is true. I don’t think Principal Stringent will allow me anywhere near that school again.” Terry spoke, keeping her voice as calm as possible. She raised her hand and placed it against herself. “That’s why I am not going on. I am going to remain outside while you head into the school on your own.” She motioned towards the woman. “You will have a much easier time getting in.”
“What...? Me..?” Ming Long placed a hand against her upper chest. Her eyes widened in confusion. “But...why...?”
“Because they have no reason to distrust you.” Terry explained. “You haven’t been there before. You have not done anything to make them suspicious of you.”
“But..wouldn’t it be suspicious for me to just show up and ask them to see the students?” Ming Long held up her hand in gesture. “That would seem rather strange, don’t you think?”
Terry nodded her head. “Well sure, but I know that school has had a few traveling artists in the past. Ms. Tweezer was one of them, if I recall correctly.”
Ming Long wrinkled her nose slightly, showing the first sign of disgust that Terry had ever seen from her. “I remember that woman...”
“You met her?”
“Yeah, she came over to one of my painting sessions and criticized my work for not being ‘real’ enough. I tried to ignore her, but she kept at it. I had to actually call security to get her out because she was starting to get a little...crazy.”
Terry blinked at this. “Crazy?”
Ming Long flinched. “I’d rather not talk about it..”
“I see..” Terry was a bit surprised to hear this. She had known that Ms. Tweezer was a bit nutty. But she never thought that she would do anything that insane. Then again, didn’t she admit to her that she had tried to force Rudy into accepting only real stuff? Wasn’t that a form of brainwashing? Wanting to move on from the uncomfortable subject, she said, “Well anyway, the point is you can just say you are a visiting artist and you would like to do an art demonstration for the children.”
“Would that work?” Ming Long placed her hand on her chin, rubbing it thoughtfully. “What exactly do I tell them?”
“Exactly what I told you.” Terry sighed, a little annoyed that she had to repeat herself again. “Tell them that you are interested in having an art class with one of the classrooms. I doubt they are going to ask for much of a reason. It’s just an art class, not a science experiment.”
Really, what was so hard about this? What was so difficult to grasp? All this dragon artist had to do was go to the principal’s office and request a class with some of the students. She just needed to explain the situation, that she was an artist and she felt that the school could use an art class session. That school had done this before with a few other artists. This wouldn’t be any different. She couldn’t understand why Ming Long was having difficulty understanding this. It was just so simple.
And yet, despite her reassurances, it seemed like Ming Long was still refusing to fully comply. She just kept up bringing different things, like if the teachers don’t accept or if the students were too busy or something. If Terry didn’t know better, she’d think that Ming Long was starting to regret joining forces with her and back out of this.
Terry herself was starting to have doubts of her own. Perhaps she should have found someone else. Perhaps she should have chanced things with Ms. Tweezer. At least she had seen something strange and usual and clearly thought that world was dangerous. Or at least, she thought she did. Terry hadn’t seen ehr in so long, but it wouldn’t surprise her if that woman still held onto that belief. Ming Long may have been into that world and she might have her own concerns regarding it. But it was clear that she was a bit too reluctant for this job. Perhaps she should just bid her farewell and...
No, she had to stick through this. She went through all this trouble just to find her. She couldn’t just drop everything and leave. She couldn’t allow her finding this woman to be all for nothing. She had to keep going. She had to keep trying. It shouldn’t be too hard getting this woman to understand what she was going for, right?
“All you need to do is set up an appointment with the school, go in there, and tell the students about a chalk world.” Terry explained. “I don’t mean like ‘hey everyone let’s go to this chalk world’. I mean play it up like some kind of mystical tell.” Terry made a few motions with her hand. “You know how...gullible some children can be. Just tell a tall tale, some of them will believe it, and they will start spreading the word.”
“I see. Children can be so imaginative...” Ming Long paused for a moment. She gave Terry a soft grown. “What about me? Wouldn’t this affect my reputation as well?”
Terry shook her head. “No, because you’ll be putting the blame on another source.”
“How?” Asked Ming Long.”
Terry was surprised that Ming Long didn’t get what she was saying. “By saying you heard it elsewhere. Like, say...you heard it from someone during a nature hike or something.” She raised her hand up as she spoke, placing the tip of her finger against her chin. “Or perhaps from an old colleague of yours, or...”
“Or from you?”
Terry blinked in surprise at this suggestion. She lifted her head and stared over at Ming Long, who was giving her a soft frown. She thought about it for a moment, and at first, she was going to say ‘no’. But then she realized..would it even matter? She already had her reputation torn down before. She doubted that things would get much worse for her if she took the blame for the story. And besides, it was kind of her idea, anyway.
“Sure, why not?” Terry shrugged. “That way, they wouldn’t really blame you; they’d blame me.” Terry motioned to herself. “I’m used to getting the blame, though I imagine that you wouldn’t want it to happen to you.” She winced at the awkwardness of her words. But it seemed to have gotten the point across.
“Okay..I can live with that.” Ming Long said. Her frown slowly disappeared. “I’m still not really sure about this...”
Terry resisted the urge to groan at this. What more did she have to stay to Ming Long to convince her? How long was it going to take before they could actually go through with the plan? How many times did she have to reassure her? How many more times was she going to hear Ming Long agree to help her only to back out a few moments later? How long was she going to have to do this song and dance?
Nevermind, perhaps she should do this on her own. Maybe she should have just disguised herself instead and do it herself. It was clear that this woman was just way too reluctant to help her, and she wasn’t about to spend too much time trying to convince someone who clearly isn’t satisfied with anything that she told her. This had all been just a gigantic waste of time. She felt a sting in her chest. The story of her life...
Before she could say anything, however, Ming Long had already opened her mouth to speak. Terry wasn’t really sure if she wanted to hear anything more, but she decided to allow her to talk anyway. Not like it could get any worse.
“I am still unsure about this and I don’t know if this would be the right thing to do....”
Terry resisted the temptation of rolling her eyes.
“But...”
Terry widened her eyes a bit.
“I can see how important this is to you. Keeping that by out of danger, and informing everyone of this world. You’ve been trying to do this before despite no one believing you, and you are still trying despite your ruined reputation.” Ming Long gave her a smile smile. “That is quite impressive. I can tell there’s nobility in your heart.”
Terry flinched a little at that comment. She wasn’t really sure how to respond to it. “Th-Thank you..” She stammered.
Ming Long nodded her head. “You are welcome, Ms. Bouffant.” She leaned her head forward, her frown returning. “So...when do we start?”
Terry blinked at this. Then a small smile crept along her face. “We should head out now. The classes are still in session. If we hurry, we might be able to slip you in for a surprise visit today.”
“But...wouldn’t that require some time?” Ming Long asked in confusion. “I don’t think they would let me come in today. Don’t they have some things planned already?”
“Yes, that’s true.” Terry nodded her head up and down. The smile never left her face. “But don’t worry...” She leaned in towards Ming Long. She shifted her body around and tilted her head to one side. She stared at the dragon artist with one eye. “I can take care of that.”
sss
Tightening his grip on the bandage, Rudy wrapped it around his final injury carefully. He did his best to ignore the lingering pain that radiated from the wound. As soon as he managed to get a decent covering on, he yanked the bandage up a little tighter, stretching it taught. He then used the scissors to the best of his ability to cut the piece off, and then he secured the end. He examined his arm to make sure the bandage looked fine, and then he glanced down at Penny.
Although he was finished bandaging them both up, he knew they weren’t out of the woods yet. Penny was still in a lot of pain on the ground. His bandaging her wounds didn’t do too much to lower her pain. Not that he was surprised. He could still feel pain wracking through his body despite the treatment. It was going to take a while before they would heal from these wounds.
A part of him couldn’t believe they were reduced to this already. They had pretty much fully healed while they were in the hospital. Now they had gained some wounds and were almost back into the same position as they were in before. The only good thing about this is that he hadn’t been injured in the eye again, so at least he wasn’t visually impaired. Not that it did him much good right now, though. Having good eye sight wasn’t going to do much to ensure his victory against Skrawl....and Mengu.
His eyes widened as he suddenly remembered what was going on. He whipped his head over quickly, his eyes scanning the area quickly to figure out what was happening with the others. It didn’t take him too long to gather all the information that he needed, and what he saw shocked and horrified him.
The fact that the fight was still going on isn’t what surprised him. He had expected this, considering how the fighting was going on earlier. But what did horrify him was the fact that Mengu and Skrawl appeared to have teamed up. Or rather, Skrawl simply gained control of the holographic beast and was sending him to do more planned, calculated attacks. He could see that Howdy and Blocky were managing to hold on, but he could tell that they wouldn’t last for much longer. They were being pushed back. It didn’t help that the dragon was larger than them. The two beasts were doing their best to fight back, but now they were on the losing end.
Rudy watched in horror as Mengu used his tail to knock the beasts away. He flinched as he heard them crashing into the ground. He was honestly shocked when he didn’t hear any bones snapping after seeing how hard they had hit the floor. The beasts didn’t seem as deterred, though, and they still got up to fight more. This caused Skrawl to laugh and launch another attack. The dragon’s large head rammed against them, sending the two beasts flying back yet again. This time, they had a harder time getting up, ther feet constantly slipping on the ground as they struggled to get back up to their feet.
Rudy turned his head and saw that Blocky and Howdy had been knocked clean off their mounts. They laid at different parts of the room, their bodies quivering a little from pain. No, from fear. Rudy noticed that two Beanie Boys had come down after them, wielding their red shard weapons. He could see Blocky and Howdy struggling to get away from them, the fear shining brightly on their faces. Rudy was about to go towards them when a screech to the side got his attention.
He watched as the dog-faced beast was slammed into the ground. Its body fell into a heap, a bit of blood leaking out of a gash now present on its head. It was thankfully still breathing, but each breath was quite ragged and shallow. Rudy hadn’t meant this creature before, but he couldn’t help but feel his gut twist in worry. He half expected Mengu to attack the beast while it was still down. But to his surprise, Mengu was looking elsewhere. It took a few seconds for him to realize that Mengu was going after the other beast.
The hog beast was standing its ground the best that it could. The fur on its back was raised on end like a cat’s. It had its mouth wide open, its tusks jetting out and poised to strike. Mengu didn’t seem all that worried. He simply started to move closer towards the hog beast, taking slow, deliberate steps. A low growl eminated from his throat as he bared his sharp teeth. He raised his paw up and he struck the hog beast to the side. As the hog beast struggled to get up, the red dragon placed his paw against his broad shoulder and held him down. He then pulled his head back, opening his mouth wide to prepare to bite.
Rudy watched this play out, his heart wrenching up tightly inside of his chest. He had to do something quickly. Before...
But what could he do? There was no way he would be able to stop this attack. Mengu would be way too fast for him. By the time he’d draw anything, the red dragon would already have his teeth sinking into the hog beast’s head, crushing its skull easily in his jaws. Rudy bit his lip. This couldn’t be happening.... It...
Suddenly, Mengu let out a screech, tilting his head up towards the ceiling. Rudy blinked a few times, confused by this sudden turn of events. Just how did this happen? He looked around, strugging to find the source. It was hard to tell from this ankle, but he eventually could see the dog-like zoner behind Mengu. It had rammed its spikes against Mengu’s side. Rudy couldn’t see any blood, but he could tell there was damage from the sparkling that occurred as the spikes slipped out of the dragon’s hide.
“You little... Mengu, get it!” Skrawl shouted as he pointed a claw in the dog-like beast’s direction. Mengu obeyed immediately and turned himself around to face the creature.
Upon seeing this, the hog-like beast attempted to offer some aid. It struggled up to its feet, its body a little wobbly. But it didn’t get a chance to do much before Skrawl suddenly zapped it, causing the hog beast to screech and collapse on the ground on its back.
With smoke wiftering from his claws, Skrawl said, “I don’t think so... Be a good little beast, and stay down!”
Rudy growled at Skrawl’s display of cruelty. He then turned his head to see how the dog-like beast was doing. He gritted his teeth in horror when he saw that Mengu had it pinned down quite easily, his large paw raised up as he prepared to strike down. His eyes shifting between Mengu preparing to slash up one of the beast zoners and Skrawl ready to electrify the other, his mind began to race as he struggled to think of a way out of here.
How was he going to get out of this mess? How was he going to help the others? He couldn’t just stand here. He needed to do something to help turn the tides in his favor. There had to be something that he could do in order to help these beast zoners to escape the pain, and to help him and his friends get out of here. There had to be something...anything...
At first, he couldn’t really think of anything. He was just drawing a blank, his mind going numb. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from what was going on. Time itself seemed to slow down to a halt, allowing him to see all these events unfold before his very eyes. He could see all the minor details, his eyes scanning around, seeing their expressions, seeing their reactions. He could see how their bodies were moving, their muscles flexing. He could practically see where their limbs and bodies were going to be seconds before it happened, and for several nanoseconds, he witnessed the outcome of these events over and over again in his mind.
What was he going to do? He needed a way to stop this. He needed to do something. He had the magic chalk. Why didn’t he just use it? All he had to do was draw...
..but just what? He had no idea what he could draw to stop this. All he knew was that he needed something that could halt everything. Something that would stop Mengu and Skrawl, as well as the Beanie Boys. But the only thing he could think of was...was creating another zoner....
Rudy’s blood ran cold at this, his eyes bulging. He hadn’t made another living zoner since..he was pretty sure Howdy was the last one, and he was created for selfish reasons. He did promise that he wouldn’t make a living zoner unless it was an emergency. And this was still an emergency, wasn’t it? If he didn’t draw something, they were in going to be in big danger.
But...to create another living thing.. It was not a feeling he generally liked. He didn’t want the responsibility, especially after what happened with some of his creations, like Granny who was always stuck in the bathtub, or Skrawl, whom he had an unintentional collaboration with, resulting in his strange appearance and overall bitterness. And then there was the fact that the one time he tried to fix drawings, he ended up making things worse for them. He was afraid that if he tried to draw another living thing, he might end up making something terrible happen, somehow.
But in this situation...did he really have much of a choice? He needed to act soon, and he didn’t have that much time left. Mengu hadn’t yet struck down, which confused him. But that wouldn’t really buy Rudy a whole lot of time. He needed to figure something out, before Mengu decided to strike, before Skrawl electrified the other beast zoner, and before the Beanie Boys hurt his friends. And especially before he and Penny had something else happen to them.
He raised up his magic chalk to prepare to draw. He paused for a moment, gritting his teeth. He could feel his heart begin to race at the mere thought of what he was going to do next. Then, forcing a sigh out of his mouth, he began to move the chalk to draw.
And then he stopped. His eyes widened as the memory of Mengu’s sparkling injury caused something to click in the back of his mind. No, he didn’t need to create a living thing for this. There was another solution. One that was so blatantly obvious that he was shocked that he didn’t see it before.
They were in a virtual dome. They were surrounded by technology. Even Mengu was nothing more than data and electricity. Skrawl’s powers may come from the red chalk, but it was still electricity. And the shards that the Beanie Boys were holding? Definitely electricity. No doubt about it. And since this was all electrical, that meant that it was also vulnerable to something that he had learned about a while back.
An EMP wave.
It was still risky. He wasn’t really sure what might happen. It could be an utter disaster. But it was still the only thing that he could think of that could help that didn’t involve drawing a living thing. He had to do this, for the good of everyone, to allow them time to escape. Watching the fighting going on, narrowing his eyes softly, Rudy began to draw.
Soon he created a small, floating sphere. He could see the sparks of electricity jetting out from all sides. It was created already with instructions, and it was already beginning to act. Rudy watched in silence as it floated up into the air, letting out an almost futuristic whirring sound as it did so.
Only when the device was high up in the middle of the dome did it begin to activate. Rudy watched as it started to glow brighter and brighter, illuminating the area they were all standing in. He could see the aura forming around the device tightly, seeing how it was waving around, almost dancing. Soon a couple of the zoners started to see what was going on. But by then, it was too late.
The device released a pale purple-tinged EMP wave.
sss
Skrawl looked down at Howdy with a wide grin across his face. His claws were wrapped tightly around the squirming zoner’s body. He enjoyed the feel of this vile little vermin struggling to get himself free. He enjoyed the look of terror the much smaller zoner was giving him. Skrawl felt so powerful, holding this small thing in his hand, so ready to crush his body.
Staring at the zoner caused a wave of anger to rise up inside of him. The large zoner gritted his teeth as he recalled just who had created this zoner. Seeing him, how he was, his design, it caused old, bitter feelings to rise up inside of him. He remembered that he didn’t start hating Rudy just because he got in the way of his world domination. He had hated him because of this unfair attitude of his. And seeing Howdy up close like this served to prove his point further.
“I don’t see what Master Tabootie sees in you...” Skrawl hissed softly. He reached down and he pressed a claw against Howdy’s cheek. “Not a single deformity on you..” He slowly removed his claw and his lip curled up into a snarl. “Tell me, you little puppet...” He pulled Howdy close to him, the sudden movement causing the puppet zoner to let out a yelp of surprise. “What makes you so special...?”
“Please..I-I don’t know what you’re talking a-about!” Howdy cried out. “J-Just let me go! Please!”
Skrawl smirked as the zoner clearly lost any courage that he had before. Perhaps he really wasn’t all that much without that precious beast to help him. “I’m not letting you go until I get an answer.” He tilted his head to the side, his smile fading as a piercing glare replaced it. “I am really curious to know just what you did to deserve a perfect body like this..”
Howdy gritted his teeth at this. “Wh-What...?”
Skrawl enjoyed the sight of Howdy’s confusion. He tightened his grip a little bit before he continued. “Rudy let me become a jumbled mess. And yet he allowed you to remain unscathed. He and his other precious creations.. And yet with me, he just shoved me aside like I was just a bag of garbage! Do you have any idea how unfair that is to me?!” He raised his hand up in gesture. “Why the fuck would he treat me like that, but then be so nice to everyone else?! What have I done to him to deserve to be treated like that?!”
“W-Well...” Howdy kicked his legs out in desperation. “I-I-I’m sure that he didn’t mean to...”
Skrawl let out a loud growl at Howdy, silencing him. He gave him a couple of hard shakes as he shouted, “Of course you would make up excuses for him! He’s your creator and he likes you better than me!”
When Skrawl was done shaking Howdy, the small puppet zoner quivered as he looked up at him in fear. “P-Please...I...”
“Enough!” Skrawl raised his other hand up. Red energy wrapped around his claws, sparkling. Howdy’s eyes widened in horror at this and he started to struggle harder, squirming to try to get away from the jellybean. “Perhaps I should give you a taste of my world...”
Howdy shook his head. “No..please!”
“Oh yes...I think I know what I will do, too.” Skrawl pointed one of his glowing claws towards Howdy’s face. “Maybe rearranging some body parts is in order.” He leaned in closer. He spoke in a low, hissing voice, “How do you think you will fair with three limbs, one eye, and a toe sticking out of your forehead...?”
Upon hearing this gruesome description, Howdy let out a terrified scream and struggled harder. Skrawl simply laughed at the puppet zoner’s pathetic attempts to get away. He allowed Howdy to struggle a little bit before he raised his hand up a bit further, preparing to strike them down upon the hapless zoner’s body.
Just then, he notices something out of the corner of his eye. The jellybean paused himself and slowly lifted his head up to see what was going on. He could see what appeared to be a small, glowing sphere. He narrowed his eyes at this. Now this was a rather peculiar sight. Just what was it...?
Without warning, there was a sharp click that rang in his ears, and that was quickly followed by a bright flash of light purple energy. Waves upon waves of this purple light shot through the air, one right after the other. It was sort of like watching the ripples in a pond after a stone was dropped into it, but this time, it involved light instead of water. They moved outwards, branching in all directions, coating everything inside, rushing through the solid objects all around the center point.
Skrawl couldn’t tell what this was at first. In the few few split seconds he was seeing this, it looked like just some sort of random light. It took him a bit longer before something began to register in his mind, and soon his eyes widened. He turned his head to see Rudy with the chalk raised up slightly. It didn’t take much intelligence to realize that he was the one who drew that thing. And taking another look at the wave, the reality of what it was began to rapidly sink into his head.
There was no time for a response. The second he realized what was happening, the wave had struck against Mengu. If Skrawl needed any evidence for his theory of what was happening to be correct, what happened to Mengu certainly did enough to convince him that he had indeed been right.
The purple-tinged waves spread throughout Mengu’s body. From his side, spreading out, crawling up his neck and limbs. It almost looked like a bunch of thin, bright rings were racing through his body. It created quite the spectable to behold. Skrawl found himself unable to tear his eyes away as Mengu’s body started to pixelate, flickering outward as if his body wanted to simply cease existing. The waves increased their pace, and if it weren’t for the fact that he knew what this was, it would almost seem...beautiful.
Mengu seemed to take a few seconds to register what was going on. The virtual dragon looked down at his body, watching the lines moving along him. He noticed the purple energy that was cutting through him, bathing him in a light purple glow. He raised up his paw from his opponent’s body and looked at his paws. The claws seemed to wave around, starting to fade from himself as though he were starting to melt. The sight of this appeared to confuse Mengu, and then the harsh reality of what was happening appeared to register in his puny little electronic mind. Mengu pulled his head back and let out a loud screech.
Skrawl watched in horror as the virtualized Mengu squirmed around in pain. The EMP wave worked through his body rapidly, ripping it apart. Every part of Mengu had started to fail. Body parts were breaking, snapping at the very virutal bone. Mengu continued to let out screeches as he struggled to get away from the wave. Eventually the dragon collapsed to the ground, the heaviness of what remained of his body shaking the ground.
Just when Skrawl through it was over, the EMP continued its nasty work. Skrawl gritted his teeth and took a step back as the dragon’s body was continued to be ripped apart. The skin came off first, and the internal workings, the muscles. Eventually only a skeleton remained. Skrawl stared in shock and horror at the now empty eye sockets of the virtual dragon. Despite seeing him as only a tool, despite having caused destruction himself, seeing these events unfold before him still sent chills down his spine. He had never seen anything this gruesome before.
But it wasn’t just the dragon who would be affected. He recalled that the red chalk’s energy is electrical. He had to get out of here, before it was too late.
“Beanie Bo...”
That was all he managed to say before the EMP wave struck him. His eyes bulged as he felt the energy rush through him. It felt as though someone had just punched him in the gut, causing him to stagger back. He held onto his stomach before the pain immediately began to spread around him. He was not able to stop his loud, echoing screaming.
The EMP wave tore through him. The red lines that wrapped around him started to surge and compulse. He could feel them start to heat up and they began to burn his body. He continued screaming as he scrambled to get away. He struggled to rip away the red chalk lines on his body, but it was no use. They had become a part of him. Now this factor that he once had been proud of was rapidly becoming his downfall. He staggered back, his claws scraping uselessly at the red lines, trying in vain to get them off. He soon caught his foot on something and he fell to the ground.
He didn’t bother trying to get up. He simply tossed himself and rolled across the ground. Tears of pain began to form in his mismatched eyes. He could feel his insides feel as though they were starting to fry. He could feel his black cloak being burned and torn up, several tears appearing, centering mostly around the red, glowing lines that zigzagged along his body. Sparks of electricity shot from all around him. The pain clouded his mind, filling up inside of him. Every part of him felt like it was being sliced and then set on fire. He lifted his head and let out one last scream before he collapsed back down with a loud thud. He laid there, his body echoing in pain, hardly aware of the screams of his Beanie Boys.
He laid on the ground, his body shivering in pain, convulsing as some sparks of electricity continued to emit from his body. He let out pained groans, sucking in shaky breaths, his mind still rumbling with pain. Every part of his body was in agony. The seering pain continued to spread through him, making him fearful of even making one small move. He didn’t care who was watching when he started to emit more tears, the horrific pain causing him to start crying.
He couldn’t believe that this had happened, and to him, of all people. He didn’t deserve this. What did he do so wrong? He just wanetd to take back what was his. Was that so bad? Why didn’t this happen to someone who had deserved it more? Surely Rudy was much, much more deserving of this, the little cretin.
At this thought, his mind began to burn with anger, adding to the pain that was already present. Only this also appeared to energize him. He slowly lifted his head up and glared in the direction that Rudy was positioned. Through his blurred vision, he could see that Rudy and the others were getting away. He couldn’t hear what they were saying; it was all jumbled together. But at the moment, he didn’t care what they were saying; the fact that they were fleeing was enough to boil his blood.
He managed to push his trembling body up and turn his head to see the Beanie Boys. Although they were clearly in pain, they were mostly in shock. The most damage appeared to have been done to one of their hands, but they had obviously let go before too much damage could be done.
Normally, Skrawl would allow them some time to heal. But right now, there was no time for that. They had to get Rudy and the others back there before they managed to get away. He was not going to allow that little brat to escape. After this little stung he pulled, he was going to make sure it was the last smart aleck thing that brat will ever do.
“B-Beanie Boys...” He said, letting out a series of pained coughs and gasps. “G-Get them..!”
The Beanie Boys didn’t hesitate to chase off after Rudy and his friends.
|
|
