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Post by Bluedramon on Sept 14, 2015 19:56:25 GMT -5
Chapter 57:
Rudy clung onto the fur of the dog-like beast as tightly as he could, Howdy positioned right in front of him. It was difficult hanging on, considering how fast they were going and how the creature’s body was bounding up and down with each stride. Yet he still managed to keep himself from falling, holding onto the thick fur as tightly as he could.
Beside him, he could see Penny riding on the hog-like beast. Blocky was positioned in front of her, guiding the beast the beast that he could. Penny looked as if she was having a harder time holding on. Considering her injuries, he was not surprised. He was amazed that he could hold on as well as he could at the moment. It felt as though, at any moment, he was going to be flung off and fall into the waiting hands of the Beanie Boys.
Speaking of the Beanie Boys, they were coming in right behind them. Rudy knew they wouldn’t really take too long to catch up to them unless they could keep up this pace. He struggled to move the dog beast faster, pulling its fur a little in hopes of triggering it to want to move quicker. Yet his attempts didn’t seem to be noticed by the dog creature and it continued running at its present speed. Was this the fastest that it could go? He hoped not; he wasn’t sure how long they could stay in front of the Beanie Boys at this rate.
He grunted as he hit against the nearby wall. He wobbled a little, but managed to remain on the beast. He looked behind him to see how Snap was doing. Though still unconscious from before, Snap seemed to be doing fine. Rudy had him secured against himself, his back pressed against his and his arms tied behind his back.
Rudy hated the idea of tying up his best friend. He wished he could have just allowed Snap to ride with him without rope. He could have placed his unconscious form in front of him to keep him from falling. But after what happened with the memotrice...that just wasn’t an option. He still wasn’t sure if Snap was trustworthy or not. He didn’t even know if Skrawl spoke the truth about the trap. It could be possible that Skrawl was just trying to drive a wedge through them further, or maybe his praise towards Snap was legitimate and this whole thing was planned.
Well, whatever the reason, he felt it was best to keep Snap tied up until he and Penny could figure out a way to make sure that he was actually on their side again. This would be quite difficult to determine and Rudy had no idea if he could prove it definitely or not. They would have to take a risk...or at least keep him tied up until the memotrice was taken care of, as well as Skrawl, then take him to a hospital maybe to have his head looked at. He wasn’t entirely sure, but maybe one of the doctors there would be able to figure out if there was any ‘brain tampering’ or whatever the term is.
He and the others continued to rush down the hallway as quickly as they could, the feet of the beasts pounding the ground heavily. He looked left and right, trying to find any indication that they were going the right way. He couldn’t see anything that felt like a way out. The beasts probably didn’t know where they were going. Did Blocky and Howdy? He wasn’t sure, but he wasn’t about to interrupt their riding to ask. So he just focused on concentrating on what’s ahead. Maybe if he scanned the area enough, he would be able to find something that would be helpful. Another passageway or something.
But so far, nothing seemed to really pop out at him. All this place looked the same. Rocky, some marble perhaps, maybe other stuff. It was hard to tell when they were moving so fast. He was certain that he had overlooked several possibilities; it was difficult to see everything when they were moving at this speed. Yet he couldn’t get them to slow down. The Beanie Boys were still right behind them, their hands out, ready to grab them. He couldn’t take any chances, even if that meant giving up a few escape routes that they could have taken.
This place was huge... It already looked large on the outside. But now that he was in there, moving around without being confined, Rudy finally realized just how big it was. It seemed so much larger on the inside, like it was some kind of void or something. He couldn’t really explain it all that much. It was just a feeling that he got, a sensation that swelled up inside of him. Along with that came another realization.
Finding the exit was going to be much harder.
Didn’t Rapsheeba say that this place had only one opening? Only one way out? It was done for security measures on Skrawl’s end. Having only one main entrance to guard. That did seem like a clever idea. Although that was going to be a probem for them. They would have to run through a lot of castle before they would be able to find this exit, and they didn’t even know where it was. With how huge this place was, that was going to take a long time. And they would have to do this all while trying to dodge the Beanie Boys.
Rudy bit his lip at this. He wondered if they would be able to pull it off. So far, they were doing fine, aside from hitting the walls a few times during turns. But how long would their luck last? How long would it take before they would start to slow down and the Beanie Boys catch up? It would only be a matter of time before these beasts tire; they wouldn’t last forever.
Rudy looked down at the magic chalk that he held in his hand. He could draw something to slow them down and...
No, not yet. He tightened his grip around the piece of magic chalk, his eyes narrowing. He couldn’t do that just yet. He needed to wait. Best to preserve the magic chalk for now. He didn’t have too much left. About half of it was gone already. And considering that they still had to go find and rescue Biclops, it was best to just hold onto the magic chalk for now and avoid drawing anything with it.
Of course this didn’t really help with their situation all that much. They were in quite the situation right now, and it would be helpful if he drew something. He could only hope that they could continue keeping ahead of the Beanie Boys and maybe they would even eventually outrun them soon. Surely they’d lose them at some point, right?
Well, so far, no. They had been running for a while longer. And the Beanie Boys were still behind them. He couldn’t tell if they had even started to get tired yet. They were just continuing to give chase, looking as determined as ever. If they were the least bit tired, they were doing a good job of not showing it. They looked determined to just continue chasing after them, ready to rip them apart once they caught them. And that was if they were lucky. Rudy hated to think what would happen if Skrawl caught them.
They kept up this song and dance for a while. Dodging left and right, going down random tunnels. He and Penny held on as tightly as they could. Their zoner friends were doing the best they could to continue steering the beasts, although it was hard to tell if it was random or if they actually knew where they were going. Rudy would like to think they did know, but something told him that Blocky and Howdy had no idea where they were going. Chances are, it was nothing more than shere luck that they were able to find them at all.
No matter how how many times they dodged to the side, no matter which way they went, it didn’t seem like they were going to lose the Beanie Boys any time soon. Those bulbeous zoners still remained a short distance behind them. Rudy could practically feel their eyes burning in the back of his head. He gritted his teeth as he imagined one of them grabbing him with their filthy paws.... He couldn’t let that happen.
Eventually, as the beasts continued their running, he noticed that they were reaching a four way intersection in this castle. Possibly the first they had come across in a long while. He struggled to think which way would be the best one to take. All of them would be a gamble. He only knew that they shouldn’t keep going straight; if they gave another dodge to the side, maybe they could make the Beanie Boys rush forward due to momentum and gain some kind of distance on them.
“Go that way!” Rudy pointed his hand towards the left.
“What? Why?” Howdy asked him, tilting his head up a little. “What good will that do us? We’ve already tried...”
“Just do it!”
Though a little reluctant, Howdy didn’t bother arguing with Rudy. He simply motioned the dog-like beast to go in the indicated direction. Rudy held onto the best tightly as he felt himself slipping a little from the force of the turn. He could hear the claws scraping along the ground as the creature made the turn and started bolting down this new pathway. Behind him, he could hear more scrapes and he could tell that the hog-like creature was following suit. He could soon hear its footsteps joining them as it began to rush towards them as quickly as it could. He could her its heavy breathing echoing in his ears.
Rudy dared to look behind him to see how the Beanie Boys were going. Looking over his shoulder, he could see the Beanie Boys were clamoring over here, pushing against one another. He wondered if they had collided with something and they were struggling against each other to get over here. They all did seem a bit extra irrirated and it didn’t feel like it was pointed in his direction, surprisingly enough.
At least that struggle appeared to have bought them some time. Although the Beanie Boys resumed chasing them, they had gained a few feet from them. This extra distance might not be much and it might be closed off soon, but at least they gained a bit of space. That was better than nothing, right?
Rudy couldn’t wait to get out of here. He looked all around him, seeing the dull greyness of this place. The cracked surfaces, the unusually smooth areas that didn’t seem to fit in, a few lights flickering. All of this added up to create quite a foreboding atmosphere. Just being in here caused Rudy to have a few cold chills run up and down his spine, causing him to shiver, clenching his teeth. This whole place felt like a dungeon, and it just wreaked of evil. Sure that sounded very cliche, and he didn’t like using the term ‘evil’ too much. But that was the only thing that he could think of that’d make sense. The presence of the red chalk, and the geomites, didn’t help things either.
At the thought of that, his eyes widened. He just realized that the Beanie Boys hadn’t yet tried to attack them with their geomite shards, despite clearly holding them. Why weren’t they attacking them with them? Isn’t that what Skrawl would have wanted?
...unless they were herding them...
Rudy flinched at that. Could they be wandering into a trap? Was this the direction the Beanie Boys wanted them to go the whole time? If that is the case, then what were they going to do about it? Should they go in another direction? Or is that what the Beanie Boys want? Should they block them off, somehow?
Rudy’s mind was so filled with these thoughts that he didn’t even notice that they appeared to be coming to a dead end. They were now in a very narrow hallway with few lighting and no windows. Just the smelly, cobbled stone that made up the walls. He was only made aware of their situation when they suddenly halted. Rudy let out a yelp of surprise when he nearly jerked forward off of the dog beast mount. He clutched onto the beast’s fur more tightly, his eyes wide and his body giving a few shakes of anxiety. Slowly, the two beasts turned around and glared at where the Beanie Boys were coming in.
Rudy could hear the beasts growling softly, their teeth bared. He could see the Beanie Boys in the distance, gaining on them quickly. He looked around and he could see that Snap was still out cold, Blocky and Howdy were looking very nervous and shaking on their mounts. And Penny was looking around, trying to find a way out.
Soon, Penny was looking over in his direction. “Rudy! Draw something! Fast!”
Rudy glanced down at his piece of magic chalk, biting his lip. “This is all that we have...”
“If you don’t draw something soon, they are going to catch us!” Penny called out.
Rudy looked up at the two beasts. “But what about them?” He looked back at Penny. “They could fight them, right?” A spark behind his back answered his question.
“They can’t fight in such close quarters, Rudy!” Penny walked over towards him. “Hurry up! If you don’t do it, then I will!”
Rudy flinched at the tone of Penny’s voice. He had never heard her like this before He could practically feel the irritation drip from her words. He took a small step back from her as if she was going to strike him. Then he turned his attention to behind him, looking at where the Beanie Boys were at now. They had gotten dangerously close. Whatever he was going to draw, he’d have to do it very quickly. There was too little time left.
With such an utter lack of time, Rudy just drew the first thing that came to his mind. A shield. UP and around his arm went with the magic chalk, the glowing tip rapidly forming around where he had flicked his wrist. Then it shimmered into existence and now before them was a thick, stone wall. Rudy could hear the Beanie Boys curse as they thudded against the wall before they could stop. At least that would hold them back for a little while, but he knew it wouldn’t be for long. The sound of crackling and snapping of rock indicated how little time they actually had. They needed to act fast.
But when he turned around, he was met with soft glares from the others, espcially Penny. Rudy flinched at this. What were they upset about? At least he was able to stop the Beanie Boys for a little while. Wasn’t that what they wanted?
“Nice chalking, Rudy...” Penny said softly, mimicking a phrase Snap sometimes used towards him. “But how are we going to get out of here?” She motioned with her hand. “There’s no way out of here.”
Rudy blinked at this. He took a moment to look around and he could feel his heart skip a few beats when he realized that she was right. There was no other way out of here. He had locked them into a small portion of the hallway, backed up into a corner. He felt like striking himself in the face. How could he have been so stupid? He should have known what he was doing. He...
Wait, there was still a chance. He looked at his magic chalk and then he looked at the wall behind them. He narrowed his eyes. He had no idea if it led anywhere, but there was little other place they could go.
Raising his magic chalk, Rudy headed over towards the very back of the wall. He lifted up the white stick and he moved it all around. He watched as his creation flickered into a reality, and now a dark, empty space greated him. He had no idea which way it went, but it appeared therre was a dark hallway here that headed out straight ahead, no visible turns for a long while. The lack of too much light only served to make this hallway seem even scarier.
Despite his misgivings and regret with placing the portal here, he knew there wasn’t much of a choice. He could always draw a light source anyway, and he could close off the path, perhaps draw a fake one to make it look like they headed another way. That would bide them a little bit of time. Hopefully by the time the Beanie Boys realize they’ve been had, they would be out the door and getting away from here.
“Come on, guys. Let’s go.” Rudy ordered as he, having not gotten back on the dog beast yet. began to walk forward, staring at them intently. “Let’s head down this way.” He motioned his hand down the dark, dank hallway that looked like it was placed underneath another. “We may be able to lose them here.”
“Rudy..are you sure that’s a good idea?” Blocky asked, his voice slightly shaky. “It does look qutie dark and scary there.”
“What if it leads us to somewhere dangerous?” Howdy chimed in.
Rudy narrowed his eyes at this. “You guys faced off against danger before. Are you telling me you are going to chicken out of this?” Blocky and Howdy didn’t answer that question. Rudy gave a sigh as he realized he was being a little too harsh on them. “Look guys, we need to get going. We don’t have time to argue. I will block them off and I will draw a light so it won’t be so scary for you.” He hid the fact that he was scared of the dark, barely lit hallway himself. “Will that help you feel better?”
Upon seeing the two zoners smile, Rudy smiled at this. With a nod of approval from Penny, Rudy walked forward to create the fake path as the others moved into the dark hallway. Once he was finished with that, he came over towards them and drew a shield as close to how it was before as possible. He had no idea if it was going to fool the Beanie Boys or not. But he wasn’t going to take the chance and ushered the others to move as quickly as they could.
After drawing a small light source, a lantern specifically, Rudy moved himself in front of the others so that they could follow the light. He made sure not to go too far ahead or else they might accidentally lose him.
Before they could get too far away from the barricade, Rudy heard footsteps beside him. He turned his head to see Penny rushing over towards him, her mouth open and panting. He blinked at this, wondering when she had gotten off the hog beast and why she looked so panicked. They were momentarily safe, weren’t they? Sure it might not last a while, but with Penny’s expression, it seemed as if she felt that something else was going to happen. But what could that be?
Then she gave a soft comment, and the simple yet powerful question sliced through the air like a hot knife through butter.
“What about Rapsheeba...? She’s still in here.”
Rudy froze at this, staring at Penny with wide, horrified eyes. The shock was felt among both Howdy and Blcoky as well. Rudy couldn’t believe it. He had almost forgotten about Rapsheeba. She was captured, too. She was here, as a prisoner.
And they had no idea where she was.
sss
Those stupid brats... Just wait until he got his hands on them. He was going to rip them apart. He was going to pull out their brain stems. He was going to bash their heads in. He was not going to allow them to get away with making a fool out of him.
His muscles ached. His throat was dry. His mouth was open and puffing. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could stay aloft. He could feel himself weakening the longer he kept moving forward. He didn’t pay much attention to anything around him, causing him to collide with the wall a few times. Despite the pain he felt during this, there was only one thing that was truly on his mind.
Getting back at Rudy and Penny...
Nothing else mattered. Nothing else could possibly matter. Sure he should probably check on Rapsheeba to make sure she didn’t get away. Sure maybe he should check on the other Beanie Boys to see if any of them had been injured. Sure, perhaps he should have double checked with Skrawl to see if he wanted him here or if he had other plans for him. For all he knew, Skrawl had a different idea of where he should go.
But none of that mattered to Rho. The angered, lone Beanie Boy was too busy zipping through the hallway as fast as he could. He had broken off from the others when he realized what Rudy was going to do. The others didn’t follow him. They probably thought he was chickening out or something. Not that he cared what they thought. All that mattered to him was catching those little brats. And since he knew exactly where they were going, he could easily cut them off.
He couldn’t help but smirk at this. He bet those brats weren’t going to expect him, eh? They think they’re so smart, moving through that space between the building. They think they are so clever for thinking of something like that. He was certain that they also created another tunnel leading another direction. And he knew, given the ‘intelligence’ of some of the Beanie Boys following, that at least some of them would be led astray, and the others wouldn’t really know where else to look. Rudy and Penny must think that they are home free, getting so close to freedom. Oh what a shame it would be if he were to pop in and ruin the party... He’d love to see the looks on their faces.
He tried not to get too cocky, though. He remembered that they could still be influenced by the red chalk. He hadn’t forgotten about that. He also needed to remind himself of how clever these children have been. If he got too confident, he may end up slipping up quite easily and he would bring about his own downfall. He was not about to let himself fall by being an idiot. No, he would treat this as seriously as he could; there was no room for underestimation. He would not let those brats catch him off guard.
As he continued to fly, he could feel memories rushing in through the back of his mind. He could feel his chest swell up in pride as he recalled when Skrawl appointed him second in command. He grinned to himself. He felt that he was a much better second in command than Delta ever was, the fool. And now he was being given the chance to impress Skrawl even more.
He was going to be the first one to catch Rudy and Penny. He would knock them out, have some fun with them, and then he’ll bring them to Skrawl. He would tell him about how the others failed miserably. He would make up a story about how they weren’t doing their jobs, wandering off aimlessly, doing stupid things, looking places that the children couldn’t possibly be. He would play up the drama aobut how hard it was for him to lead them because of their incompetence and idiocy. Skrawl would surely take care of every last one of them, leaving him with less competition than before.
He knew all of those Beanie Boys were looking at his job. He knew that they were all pining for his position, jealous of his general favoritism he recieved from Skrawl. He could still remember some of their past comments. For such idiots, he had to compliment their ambition.
Well that was going to come to an end soon. Not only was he going to stop Rudy and Penny before they manage to give him an even bigger headache than before, but he was going to get rid of his competition as well. Skrawl doesn’t take stragglers very lightly and once he learns of their incompetence, he would punish them. Then he would reward him for a job well done after he hand delivers Rudy and Penny to him. It shall be glorious.
Rho brought his attention back to the situation at hand. He forgot just how far he had traveled. He still hadn’t reached his destination yet, but he wasn’t particularly worried. Rudy and Penny wouldn’t really reach it just yet. He had time to prepare. He just had to get around this one corner coming up and...
There, he made it. He could see the bulge in the corner, kind of rounded off and having some kind of swirl bump in the middle. It looked like this thing was forged out of liquid metal and swirled around and hardened to create this sealed off place. And that could very well be that. Skrawl had changed this place quite a lot since its erection. Rooms opened, closed, tunnels torn down and rebuilt. It was a common occurance. At least once a week, something would be done, and he would accomplish it with that red geomite stuff.
He paused for a moment and looked down at his own. This geomite was quite mysterious. He didn’t really fully understand it. Somehow, he doubted the memotrice understood it much either. There was so much unknowns to this stuff. A part of him didn’t even fully trust it. He wanted to just chuck it and use his own physical skills to stop Rudy and Penny. That would be more satisfying to him, he thought.
Yet he didn’t dare toss it aside. He never told anyone this, but he did kind of fear the red geomites. He couldn’t help but wonder if they had their own agenda, or if they had some kind of secret that they didn’t know about. Should they really be messing with this stuff? What were the consequences?
He couldn’t help but chuckle bitterly to himself at this. Consequences... Yeah right. Since when did Skrawl or the other Beanie Boys are about consequences? That seemed almost like an after thought. Something that just never crossed their minds. Well he couldn’t say that was entirely true. They seemed to do that, especially Skrawl who wanted to be really careful about certain things. This made sense, considering how he wanted to get rid of Rudy and Penny.
Yet Rho couldn’t help but wonder if they weren’t treading lightly enough with the red geomites. Was there something about them that they didn’t understand? Was there some kind of unspeakable consequence that was going to strike forth once they let their guard down too much? Was there something that they needed to know in order to prevent a possible catastrophe?
Rho shook his head, trying to get those thoughts out of his mind. No, he couldn’t allow himself to think too much of that. Regardless of what the red geomites were, regardless of what they were capable of, they had still helped them turn things around. They had become rulers of ChalkZone City. He and the Beanie Boys had been able to rise up above the other zoners. Thanks to the red geomites, they were no longer treated as just nuisances. He was not about to give up on that just because of a few uncomfortable feelings that he was getting. What was he, some kind of chicken?
With his focus and attention back on the closed off tunnel in front of him, he remained positioned there and waited. He hadn’t yet thought of how he was going to ambush them. He still had plenty of time to figure this out, thankfully. Rudy and the others shouldn’t be arriving for at least a little while. And once they did, by then, he would have some sort of plan.
At least, he hoped he did. He realized that he had been so eager to get over here, so eager to get them, that he didn’t think what he was going to do along the way. And he still couldn’t think of anything. He gritted his teeth at this realization. He was not going to get too far if he didn’t think of some sort of plan. He would have to figure out something soon.
It was in that moment that his mind froze once more with another realization washing through his body. So focused on a single task.... That was very much what they had been doing when they got the geomite’s powers. They had been so focused on getting back what they felt they deserved.... that was why they didn’t think of the consequences. The power that the geomites offered had sucked them in. Blinding them to anything negative about the useage. Blinding them to what could happen if they weren’t careful...
Rho realized that he now stood, or rather, floated on a crossroads. He had to figure out just what he was going to do. He had to make an important decision here and now. Just which path was he going to take?
Was he going to just keep using the geomites regardless of the risk, as he had been using them a while without trouble?
Or was he going to toss it aside and refuse to use it again, thus risking some kind of retaliation?
He looked down at his piece, giving a soft frown. This thing had been quite useful... He could probably still use it a little while longer to at least stop the children. And yet, at the same time... did he want to live in fear of this thing? Did he want to let it rule his life? Did he want to allow it to control him? The thought twisted his gut up inside. He didn’t like being used...and yet he didn’t want to endanger his own life. There was no proof that the geomite would do anything if he rejected its power now...and yet was that something he really wanted to risk?
He looked back at the tunnel’s cut off. At this point, he could hear very faint sounds. Children chatting. He knew that it was Rudy and Penny. They were getting very close now. It would only be a few minutes at least before Rudy reached over here and used the magic chalk to open up a pathway. And here he was, too busy arguing with himself rather than doing anything useful. He growled softly. He was letting this go to his mind too much.
With a wide, determined grin, he positioned himself a bit away from the tunnel’s blocked off end. He held out his hand, gripping the red geomite tightly in his fist. He waited until the right moment to strike. As soon as Rudy opened it up, he was going to zap them all. That would stop them in their tracks. That would keep them from getting away. Then he could weaken them and take them to Skrawl. It was just a matter of time before...
Suddenly, he felt something burning inside his body. It happened so suddenly, it nearly caused him to come crashing down from his flight altogether. He staggered back, his body trembling. He took in several quick breaths, convulsing as he did so. His eyes widened as the seering pain wracked through his body. For several moments, he could not move; he could only just float here as the horrific pain coursed through his body. He had to shakingly force his head down to see what was going on.
The shard...it was the shard...
He desperately tried to shake it off. But the thing wouldn’t budge. Why wouldn’t it come off? His eyes bulged wider when he saw how it had melted into his hand, fusing with it, becoming a part of him. His mouth dropped open at this, barely resisting a scream, as he watched the geomite shard meld deeper into his hand, ensuring that he would never get rid of it. Not unless he...did something drastic...
The Beanie Boy clutched his wrist tightly, throwing his head back and letting out a scream that echoed through the hallway. He struggled through the air as he tried to cope with the pain. He looked at his hand, his whole body shaking as the pain continued to get worse. He could feel his insides start to fry up a little.
The back of his mind began to flash with images of what he had done to Chalk Dad. That miserable little zoner deserved to die and he didn’t feel guilty about hurting him like he had. But now he was being faced with the same painful torment as he did. He was being forced to witness the pain that Chalk Dad had gone through just before he died. Every part of his body felt like it was catching on fire. The electricity coursed through his body, pumping into every nook and cranny. He could feel tears spilling out through his eyes. He was feeling what Chalk Dad felt, and he hated it.
Eventually, unable to take it anymore, he let out another scream before collapsing into the ground. He rolled, tossed, and turned on the ground, his hand still gripping his wrist tightly. He clenched his teeth tightly, his body shaking harder and harder. The pain...oh gawd the pain.... It hurt so much... Why did it have to hurt so much...? What did he do to deserve this..?
Well perhaps he did have this coming. After all, he had caused a lot of trouble himself. He had tormented some folks. He had caused plenty of pain and misery himself. Perhaps this was karma. Payback for what he had done.
He could feel a burning sensation rush through him that wasn’t pain. The anger had started to surface. This was just so unfair. He had nothing to feel guilty about. Those victims, they deserved what they got, right? Why should he care about them? They were nothing more than a bunch of... They were just...
Rho wasn’t even able to finish his thought before his body suffered another branch of agony radiating from his wrist and spreading through his arm. He could feel it start to snake up. He watched in horror as his fingers and palm started to burn black. He could even smell it, and it smelled so wretched. He nearly threw up then and there. The smell only got worse as his hand began to suffer from necrosis. And when he started to feel less pain in that area, the more terrified he felt.
Desperate to stop the pain from spreading, Rho did the only thing he could think of. Scrambling around on the ground for something sharp, he managed to locate a sharp rock that hadn’t yet been cleaned up. He placed the tip against his wrist where it connected to his arm. Mustering up as much strength as he could, he jammed the shard in there.
A shockwave of pain rushed through his body. He shivered and convulsed, letting out loud cries of pain. He was disgusted with himself, but he was not able able to stop crying. Giving off a loud sniffle, he proceeded to wriggle the sharp rock from side to side, pushing downwards as he did so. Oh gawd this hurt so much, but he refused to stop. Despite the powerful agony quaking up through his arm, joining in with the electricity convulsing through him, he continued to saw his own hand off. When he managed to get in deep enough, he formed a fist with his remaining hand and struck downwards. There was a loud crack and a sickening grunch and the deed was done.
Almost. He could still see his hand hanging loosely. Even with blurred vision due to pain and tears, he could see that some of the skin was still in tact. The bones might be severed, but he still had another task to do.
Despite being terrified of feeling even more pain, Rho gripped onto his wrist and began to twist it. He let out a series of screams as he continued wrenching his now dead hand around and around until he finally heard it snap and pop, and yanked upwards, hearing, feeling the skin tearing and breaking apart as he did so.
Soon the hand was completely severed. Rho stared at it, his breath shaky, his eyes twitching and tear stained. There..he had finally done it. He could feel the electricity ceasing after he tossed the hand away. He then collapsed to the ground in a heavy thud. He could feel his mind becoming dull and swirly and he realized that he didn’t take into account the blood loss.
Well...he did rather it be this way, anyway. He did not want to be controlled by that thing. He was his own zoner. He chose his own destiny. If this meant choosing death, then so be it. At least it would be all over soon. With all the blood coming out of his stump, it wouldn’t be too long before death would be upon him. Sweet, merciful death... He smiled softly as he closed his eyes, awaiting his fate. Soon, the pain was going to be all over.
Suddenly, he became aware of some sounds. They were all muddled together. He could barely understand them completely. Just so...garbled up. He tried to open his eyes, but the light suddenly hurt so much. And when he was able to see anything, all he could notice was blurred images. The voices sounded..unusual was the only thing she could think of to describe it. Just...strange, like they were confused and yet irritated at the same time. He lifted his head up, struggling to see who they were.
After a while, his vision came into same focus. He started to make out details of the one who was looking at him...glaring at him. He let out a few strained coughs when he was able to recognize the individual.
“Rudy T-T-Tabootie...” Rho croaked before he collapsed, entering the realm of silence and darkness.
sss
Skrawl couldn’t believe this horrible turn of events. How could this have happened? Didn’t he plan well enough in advance to keep this from happening? Didn’t he take extra precaution to ensure that Rudy and Penny wouldn’t get away again?
He growled to himself, baring his teeth. None of the Beanie Boys attempted to speak with him. Such wise zoners... They knew when not to bother their boss. Especially when he got into moods like this. He was in no mood to speak to them reasonably. He would probably choke one of them to death if they weren’t careful. And honestly, he probably wouldn’t really care. Beanie Boys were so easily replaceable...
He shook the thought out of his head. He shouldn’t focus on the value of his Beanie Boys right now. He needed to focus on catching up to Rudy and Penny. They had already gained a lot of ground. And though he knew that some of the Beanie Boys had already gone after them, he knew that they probably didn’t catch them yet. If they did, he would have noticed something by now. He never could put too much faith in them. They could always let him down at some point, especially the lower end Beanie Boys. A part of him wondered why he even kept some of those Beanie Boys around.
He was lucky that he got up when he did. He was surprised that he didn’t stay on the ground longer, writhing in pain. He could feel so much of his body still quaking in pain, trembling. He wasn’t sure yet if his powers had been damaged or not, and he was scared...no, apprehensive, about trying to use his powers again after that nasty display from before.
He gritted his teeth as the memory came flooding back to him. Oh how clever of Rudy Tabootie to use an EMP wave... He wasn’t sure if Rudy figured out this weakness against him or if he had just been targeting the virtual Mengu. Well it didn’t really matter, anyway. The boy still caused that EMP wave to be shot out, and he still caused him to collapse in agony. Oh how that rotten little child was going to pay for that...
But first, he would need to catch him. Doing so in his condition was not going to be easy. He still hadn’t fully recovered from the shock and he could still feel his body shaking. The pain was just as bad as ever. Though it got a little better, it wasn’t by much. Just a tiny little increment. He would need more time before he could actually face Rudy and Penny with any confidence in himself to not collapse on the job.
But at least he had his Beanie Boys. Many of them were still in shape. He could trust in them, at least the better Beanie Boys, to catch them eventually. It might take a while and he was sure that Rudy and Penny would have at least one near escape. But at least he could rest assured that at least some of his Beanie Boys wouldn’t let him down.
The four Beanie Boys that were holding onto him were doing a good job with carrying his massive weight and keeping up an impressive pace. The Beanie Boys were careful not to irritate his injuries and yet still managed to keep a strong enough grip on him that he didn’t slip and fall down. That was quite impressive, he had to admit. So long as these Beanie Boys kept this up and so long as the more competent Beanie Boys did their job and recaptured at least Rudy and Penny as they were the ones he was most interested in, things should operate quite smoothly.
They continued moving down the hallway, following the path that the others have taken. Skrawl was fully aware that he likely would not know which direction that they had gone in, but he wasn’t too worried about that. The shards acted as a homing signal and his Beanie Boys were using that to properly track down where the other Beanie Boys went. No matter how much things twisted and turned, they would still be able to catch up to the other Beanie Boys eventually.
And man, how much they turned and changed direction. Skrawl wasn’t sure how many times they had to turn into another path. It seemed to happen more often than he would have liked. Then again, it wasn’t like he was all that surprised. Rudy and Penny were smart. Of course they would rush down in random directions, hoping to lose the Beanie Boys. They were so clever..and for that, they infuriated him more. Why couldn’t they just lay down and die? He answered that for himself a second later. It was because that would not have been a whole lot of fun. He’d much rather they put up at least a little effort before he raked his claws into them.
Without warning, there was a loud scream that echoed through the air. Skrawl wobbled and stiffened at the scream, not expecting it. His wide eyes stared out ahead, a mixture of emotion washing through him as he recognized that scream.
Rho...? No, not his second in command. Those brats couldn’t have...
Shaking his head, Skrawl motioned his head forward and shouted, “Move on ahead, Beanie Boys! Follow that scream!”
They began to move ahead at a quicker pace. He could feel his Beanie Boys’ breathing increase as they moved as fast as they could. Hearing the scream of one of their comrades had kicked their minds into overdrive. He didn’t have to say anything else; the scream was enough to make the Beanie Boys move quickly. He could see it in their eyes. They were desperate to help this Beanie Boy. They were not going to allow their new second in command to fall down. At least, not without a fight.
Skrawl could only hope that they’d get there in time. It wasn’t just because Rho was his present general. It wasn’t just because he didn’t want to go through another choosing. He just didn’t want to lose anymore Beanie Boys. He had lost enough as it was. He didn’t need any other losses if he could prevent it. No more.
The Beanie Boys moved quite quickly. He could sense the urgency in their voices, how heavily they panted. He could hear their hearts thudding inside their chests, from both the effort and the fear of what might have happened to their general. Skrawl did his best to ignore this, despite it irritating him. At least it was making them move quite fast. That was all that mattered at this point. So long as they kept up this pace...
Skrawl clenched his teeth when it started to feel like they were moving even faster. He struggled to hang on until he realized there was nothing for him to hold onto. That was the problem with allowing the Beanie Boys to carry him. There was nothing for him to grab to brace himself with, so as they picked up the pace, he felt more vulnerable, feeling his body wobble slightly. He was relying completely on them, a fact that, honestly, sometimes disturbed him. He could only hope that they wouldn’t get so nervous that they’d slip up and accidentally drop him.
He tried to ignore this by focusing his mind on the hallway before him. He could hear another scream, which helped him to focus more, despite the Beanie Boys moving even faster, more so than he thought was possible. The scream was so agony filled and it seemed to echo through whatever hallway it happened to be in. The sound of it caused his gut to wrench and he gritted his teeth. He had no idea what Rudy and Penny were doing, or even if they were the ones involved, but he knew he had to get there as soon as possible.
If Rudy and Penny were indeed responsible.. Oh the things he would do to them. He had already lost enough Beanie Boys as it was. If those two brats had dare to have done anything to increase those numbers, regardless if it was due to the red chalk controlling them or not, he would make them pay for it. He already had some plans moving through his mind that he would love to try out with them. He couldn’t wait to test them out on them as soon as he managed to get his claws on them.
Of course, he would have to find them first...and that was not going to be an easy task. He still had no idea where they were in this place, and even if another Beanie Boy caught them, it might take a while before they could get back to him. Then there’s the problem of keeping them subdued. Being creators, Rudy and Penny wouldn’t go down that easily.
But they weren’t invincible. Skrawl smirked at this as he recalled the times when he had gained the upperhand. They were vulnerable, mortal, capable of being killed. Once they didn’t have their precious chalk, they would be easily defeated. Upon remembering this, he did feel stupid for letting Rudy keep the magic chalk. If only he hadn’t done that, then the dragon wouldn’t have been destroyed and he would have won.
He formed a fist with his hand, clutching it. He struggled to push that thought aside. Well at least now he knew in the future not to do that. He would give those children no more chances. He decided here and now, as soon as he found them he was just going to kill them. Screw having fun; they were getting to be quite the nuisance and if this kept up, they might actually stand a chance to putting a dent in his world dominating schemes.
Skrawl had no idea just how long they had been zipping down the hallways like this. He had no idea how many times they twisted and turned. He had all but lost track of that, everything becoming a blur in his mind, and in his eyes. He could hardly remember much of what they had passed; the only thing his mind was focused on right now was trying to look for any sign of Rho, or any of those two human brats. Not a trace yet, but he was confident that it wouldn’t be too long before...
Suddenly, the Beanie Boys came to a halt. The stop was so sharp that Skrawl could feel himself jerk forward, nearly flying out of their hands. He shook his head, growling softly in irrtiation, baring his crooked, yellow teeth.
“Oh what is it...” His voice trailed off when he noticed their expressions. Wide-eyed and pale, mouths having dropped open. He could feel his frown melting away as he had a feeling what this indicated. Although he did not want to, he turned his head to follow their eyes. He looked out ahead to try to see what the Beanie Boys had spotted. When he did, he uttered softly, “What the..?!”
His subdued reaction, combined with his wide eyes and partially opened mouth, was a testimate to just how much this had shocked him. The first thing he realized that was wrong was the crowd of Beanie Boys in front of him, hovering over one spot. They were displaying a behavior he hadn’t seen before, and he noticed how their comments were worried, confused, and hushed. But what really got him was what was on the ground.
Blood.
A large puddle of blood.
Skrawl stared at it, his eyes growing wider. That was not human blood. It was either one of Rudy’s friends...or it was one of his Beanie Boys. He gritted his teeth, wanting to shake his head in denial. No, not another Beanie Boy... Sure he could replace them, but... Skrawl rubbed his head at this momentary conflict in his mind before he forced himself to move forward, the Beanie Boys have let him on his own feet as their hands became too weak and slick to hold onto him for too long.
Skrawl slowly moved forward, each step cautiously made. The Beanie Boys that hovered around whatever was on the ground turned to see him. They began to move away one by one so he could see what they had been looking at. As they moved, Skrawl noticed that the object was too small to be a Beanie Boy’s. If it wasn’t a Beanie Boy, then what had them so concerned that they would huddle around like this?
Then he saw it. He clutched at his throat when he saw just exactly what it was laying on the ground.
It was a Beanie Boy... or rather, a part of a Beanie Boy. What had remained of the Beanie Boy.
A severed hand...
Skrawl gulped at this, feeling a strange wash of emotion go through him. He wasn’t really sure why. There was just...something different about this. Perhaps it was because he had never seen a brutal attack like this. He hadn’t seen a Beanie Boy so utterly ripped into that all of his body was gone, with the exception of a single hand. Just what had happened to him...?
And the blood... There was so much of it. This Beanie Boy had been through horrific pain. If the screams weren’t enough to convince him, then this was. There was nothing very painless that would have resulted in this much blood loss this quickly.
Skrawl noticed there was something stuck to the Beanie Boy’s hand. Swallowing hard, he stooped down towards the ground and he gripped the severed hand. He ignored the Beanie Boys’ freaked comments as he picked it up and tried to pry it open. He let out a shout of surprise when one of the fingers broke, a foul smell eminating from the new opening. Skrawl immediately dropped the hand to the ground, giving off a few shivers of his own.
He was able to see enough that it was that shard he had given him. This Beanie Boy...Rho...something happened that caused the geomite shard to... He shut his eyes tightly, clenching his teeth to the point where they nearly broke. Out of all the things that Rudy and Penny have done...
He knew it was their fault. They were the ones who did this to him. There was no way it could have been anyone else. He could see the sparkles on the ground. He knew that they had been here. They were the ones that had killed Rho. And now they thought they could get away with it... His eyes opened up, glowing with hatred. Now, more than ever, he wanted them destroyed. No one gets away from the Grim Reaper. That is a lesson they were going to learn the hard way.
He looked back at the Beanie Boys floating around him. He could see they all had uncertain, confused, or nervous expressions. They were looking at him, awaiting for orders. Skrawl breathed in slowly, each breath having a growly edge to it. He slowly picked himself up off the ground and he pointed his finger down the hallway.
“F-Find them! Go after those brats! You may kill one of them, but bring the survivor to me!”
sss
This seemed like such a terrible idea. Rudy wasn’t even sure why he had suggested it. He didn’t know why he bothered to keep trying to go through with it. What was the point? He was the enemy, right? Why did he agree to do this?
Well it was too late to change it now. They had Rho with them now and there was no turning back now. He wasn’t about to dump the injured zoner off of the beast’s back and leave him as he was. He wasn’t going to turn his back on him after he had promised to help him, in spite of all that he had done.
Sometimes Rudy cursed his good nature. There were times where he really did want to let a bad guy get what they deserved. Sometimes his anger would just get the better of him. After what Rho did, what the other Beanie Boys did, as well as Skrawl and Thoughtless, why should he care enough to help any of them? Because that just wasn’t in his nature, that’s why. He just couldn’t bring himself to stoop that low, and his instinct to help kicked in.
Even though it would have been more merciful, and beneficial, to just let Rho die, he still chose to help him. This was met with some opposition from Blocky and Howdy. Though Penny did seem to side with him, she was a little uncertain herself. And now he was understanding why. It didn’t really fully kick in then, but he understood why they were so resistant to helping this zoner. He was still one of the enemies, after all.
And yet he was also still alive... He was still another living thing. Rudy just wasn’t one to deliberately harm another living thing if he could help it. Sure he would do it if he had to, but it was not something he felt much pride in. And when it comes to attacking someone who was defenseless... He just couldn’t bring himself to harm Rho while he was convulsing on the ground, bleeding so heavily...
When he and the others stumbled upon Rho, it had been quite a shock to the system. None of them had expected to see something like that. He could still see Rho squirming on the ground, crying and sobbing from the pain. He could still see that stub of an arm, the bone and muscle peaking out... He gave a cold shudder as he thought about it. Such a terrible, awful thing to see. Enemy or not, he couldn’t really ever wish that kind of pain, that kind of fate, on anyone, no matter what they have done.
He had Penny draw something to cover up Rho’s stump, keeping the blood from leaking out. She also applied a thick pad around an upper part of his arm to try to slow down the bleeding. She didn’t really do much medical work after that as they had to keep going. Rudy had a feeling that they were lucky that stopping to help Rho didn’t cause them to get caught. The Beanie Boys were probably right behind them...
He turned his head and stared at where Rho was. Penny had agreed to hold onto him while they continued to flee. They all agreed not to discuss the decision of helping Rho right now; they needed to focus on getting out of here first. Penny didn’t really complain and she managed to hold onto both the beast and on Rho, keeping him from falling down. There was some discomfort from Blocky, but that was to be expected, especially since Rho was one of the Beanie Boys that had attacked the hideout.
They continued to move through the tunnels. They were keeping up the same pace as before, not daring to slow down. There was no way they could slow down now. The Beanie Boys would surely see the severed hand and they would freak out just as much as he and his friends did, if not even more.
He also knew that they were going to blame them for what happened. He wasn’t entirely sure how, but he wouldn’t put it past them to blame him and his friends, even though they were the ones who saved Rho’s life. He certainly didn’t want to cross paths with any Beanie Boys right now. He couldn’t begin to imagine just how a stray Beanie Boy was going to react upon seeing their general laying unconscious with him and his friends with a missing hand.
So far, they were having pretty good luck. Although he still had no idea where they were going or if they were getting close, they hadn’t run into anymore Beanie Boys. He wondered if the ones chasing them before were all that Skrawl had remaining guarding the castle. Or maybe they were just really lucky and somehow managed to avoid getting caught. It was difficult to say, but Rudy wasn’t really interested in debating that with himself. At least they had some time to gain some space before they ran into another...
Oh he just had to open his big mouth..
“You!”
The two beasts paused momentarily, stopping in their tracks. He and the others stared wide-eyed as a single Beanie Boy hovered to their left. The Beanie Boy’s eyes were narrowed into slits, and, judging from his expression, Rudy guessed that he could tell that he had seen Rho. The Beanie Boy moved in closer, ignoring the growls from the beasts.
“What the hell have you done?!”
Rudy didn’t have time to respond. Penny was in the middle of trying to reply herself, but she quickly shut her mouth as the two beasts suddenly bolted to the right. They let out shouts of surprise as they clung tightly. The sudden movement nearly caused a couple of them, including Rho, to fall off the beasts’ backs. Holding onto the creature’s flanks, hands gripping at the thick fur, he could feel the muscles and bones moving underneath, almost rippling through like a tidal wave, as they bounded down the hallway.
The two large beasts darted down the hallway, their feet pounding the ground heavily, their heavy breathing filling the air. They moved as though they were on a hunt and they were losing their prey. Or in this case, like a couple of gazelle that were desperately trying to avoid a predator from attacking them. He could hear the ramblings of the zoner behind them, threatening to kill them once he got his hands on them. Not that Rudy was worried himself since he imagined Skrawl would want at least him and Penny alive, but...what aabout the others...?
Everything around him became a blur. He couldn’t really tell where they had gone. It was just like before, if not worse. Everything just became a smear across his visual orbs, his eyes having a difficult time detecting where they were, and where they had been. Even though they were only being chased by one zoner this time, somehow this case felt more intense. Maybe it was the fact that the zoner had seen them with his general, injured. Or maybe it was the fact that he was more erratically using that shard of his.
He heard screams emitting from everyone, including himself, as the Beanie Boy attacked them relentlessly. The beasts dodged from side to side as bolts of red electricity rammed into the ground, cracking it loudly. Rudy could have sworn he could see some chunks of stone flying in the corner of his eye. And is that a dented line going through the center of the pathway? Did the Beanie Boy’s attack cause that?
He wasn’t sure how long they had done this before the beasts finally made a change of pace. Instead of continuing to go down, they veered off to the side suddenly. Rudy couldn’t even tell which direction they had gone as the turn was so sudden, he was too busy holding on so that his wobbling body didn’t fall off. He could feel his body moving from side to side before he finally managed to hold himself still. It was only after he was able to settle himself down and look around that he was able to see just where they were.
They were in a new hallway this time, only this one seemed more...what is the term...well kempt. Cleaner, smoother. It no longer had that strange atmosphere. It no longer felt as though they were in some filthy, dirthy place. He no longer felt like they were in one large massive dungeon. This particular hallway seemed so out of place here. It was as though Skrawl stole this place from somewhere else to use it as his own. He wondered if this could mean that this place was just more important to Skrawl’s ego.
That’s when it hit him like a tidal wave. They must be fast approaching Skrawl’s throne room... He immediately tensed up and looked around cautiously. He had a feeling that Skrawl would want to protect this place out of all others. There was not much worry for the prisoners; he knew that Skrawl figured out something very thorough with that, and the Beanie Boys patrolling the hallway certainly helped. But given that Skrawl wanted to maintain a position of power, it would make sense that he would guard this place. Perhaps he had hidden something here to help keep him in power, or maybe this was where he spied on the zoners and....
It also meant that this was a prime location for Skrawl to have...
Suddenly there was a loud snap. He could feel the dog beast below him freeze, turning its head and he could see that its leg was caught in a thin string. Rudy’s eyes widened as he realized what they had just walked into. The same thing that he had been worried they would eventually run into here.
A booby trap.
“Run! Come on, you two!” Penny screeched as soon as she saw the incoming danger. “Run!”
Rudy turned his head to the right and he could see that there was a large, spiked pillar coming down in their direction. Sucking in a deep breath and just barely avoiding screaming, he rammed his foot against the side of the dog beast. He could hear it let out a howl of pain before it began to run off faster, its feet slamming the ground with each stride. The hog-like beast did likewise, and the two beasts ran together, just barely dodging the pillar in time.
When Rudy heard it thud against the wall, he couldn’t help but flinch. He could hear the wall crack from the weight of the strike. When he looked over, he could see the dent in the wall, the dust kicking up from where it had struck. The sight of this chilled him when he realized just how close they had been to being its target. He could see the Beanie Boy hanging back, his hands pulled up as though he didn’t want to touch the pillar. At least the pillar managed to slow him down.
He frowned when he looked on ahead. But they still had to keep moving forward. They weren’t quite done yet. There was no way they could stop here. But he also knew that if this one spot had a booby trap, there was likely more straight ahead.
And that’s where they need to go. They couldn’t turn back now; the pillar blocked their path and the Beanie Boy was right there, and he would surely attack them if they tried heading back that way. And who knows if he had called up some of his buddies. Their only chance was to keep heading forward despite the fact that it was going to take them through some booby trapped areas. In the end, they really didn’t have much choice and he couldn’t afford to use up more magic chalk. And Snap...and Rho...they couldn’t exactly be around much combat in their conditions. Not to mention, neither could he and Penny. If they were going to help ChalkZone, they wouldn’t be able to do it if they allowed themselves to get too injured.
“Come on! Get going!” Rudy called out to the others.
It seemed the others had the same idea. No one objected to keep going forward. They knew that they didn’t have much of a choice. It was either that, or stay here and face off against the Beanie Boy, who, as Rudy didn’t have to add as they all knew it, was armed with that red geomite. One blast from that could incapacitate them if they weren’t careful.
So without further hesitation, they continued down the hallway. Even the beasts seemed to realize that they needed to do this, and they continued on their way. Now that they knew there were booby traps here, at least they could be more careful and keep an eye out on anything that looks suspicious. Rudy kept his eyes darting left and right, looking for any sign of trouble. Although he wasn’t looking at them, he knew his friends were doing the same thing. With all their eyes looking, they would surely be able to dodge any other booby trap that came their way.
Or perhaps not. As soon as he thought that, he could hear the hog zoner let out a loud grunt as it tripped into the ground. He whipped his head over to make sure that Penny and Blocky were safe. He sighed in relief when they were, but that soon turned into terror when he saw just what was happening.
“Penny! Look out!” Rudy shouted as the dog-like zoner came rushing at them. The beast collided with the other beast, pushing it and the others aside just before a large stone could drop on top of them.
Rudy stared at the crushed spot in horror, his eyes wide. Oh how close that had been to being Penny... He could feel his heart skip several beats, his racing mind barely able to comprehend it. The thought of nearly losing his best friend... It was just incomprehensible. He turned his head and looked over at her, staring into her wide eyes. He could see the terror shining back at him as her mouth hung open and she panted heavily. They stared at each other for a few quick heartbeats before Penny managed to speak.
“R-Rudy...” Penny managed to choke out.
“Penny, are you all right?” Rudy asked carefully, reaching his hand out towards his friend. Penny nodded her head shakingly. “Are you sure? I...”
“I hate to interrupt, but we have a situation here!” A disgruntled Howdy shouted as he pointed frantically towards the path they had just come from.
Whipping his head over, Rudy could see what he was referring to. His eyes widened and then narrowed at the sight of the Beanie Boy coming towards them. Howdy was right. Now wasn’t the time to stand around and chat. Giving Penny a stern yet sympathetic look and giving a nod, her nodding back, they immediately resumed their running.
Of course, the shock of what happened would reign on their minds for a while, especially for Rudy and Penny. That had been way too close... Even more so than the last booby trap. There was no guarantee that they would get it easier later on. And there was nothing they could do about that. All they could do was just keep running and do the best they could to avoid any other booby trap that came their way.
And oh boy, did Skrawl go a little overboard with the booby traps here...
Rudy wasn’t sure the exact time passage, but he could have sworn that they didn’t go six minutes without running into at least two more booby traps. They were just variations of the last two. Rock or other wise hard-based, ramming. It was almost disappointing, but Rudy would rather something simple and easy to dodge. At least he and the others were able to dodge it relatively well and managed to avoid any issues. However, unfortunately for them, and so typical of Skrawl, it seemed things weren’t going to continue going their way.
Indeed, the next trap that was set for them were a bunch of lasers. Rudy narrowed his eyes in determination. Though he felt fear strike him, especially when the round openings glowed brighter and more intense, he still refused to back down. He pushed his foot against the dog-faced beast, causing it to move faster. The creature looked at him, staring at him in the eyes as though looking for a hidden message from him. As soon as it appeared to be satisfied, it looked back out in front of it and Rudy could feel its body start to bend.
With a loud click, the beams shot out. In that moment, the beasts got onto the walls. They began to push themselves off the walls and towards the other wall, jumping from side to side. It immediately reminded Rudy and Penny of the time that they had to dodge some lasers themselves back when they had to deal with Doctor Von Doktor.
Soon they were able to make it past the lasers and continue running. Well almost. He did hear the hog zoner help a little and he realized that its tail was singed a little. It wasn’t too bad at least. But he had a feeling that it would become a hinderance if the Beanie Boy following them, or any other of their enemies, figured this injury out.
Rudy looked ove rhis shoulder and he saw that the Beanie Boy was still following them, his eyes narrowed into slits. Rudy clenched his teeth at this. What was it going to take to lose him? The Beanie Boy dodged the lasers easily. Then again, he could fly.. He also moved around the other traps with ease, as though he knew where the booby traps were, or maybe he was just so determined to get them that he wasn’t allowing this to faze him.
Either way, if he doesn’t think of something soon to get rid of this zoner, they would eventually run into trouble. He had no idea how many more booby traps were still left nor how long the beast zoners could keep this up. If Skrawl littered this place with them, then it was only a matter of time before the beast zoners would slow down and start to slip up. They couldn’t keep this up forever.
Rudy realized that he was going to have to slow down the Beanie Boy. That meant using the chalk yet again. It was not something he liked to do, especially with how low the chalk is now. But it was either this, or they would continue having this zoner on their tail. He looked down at the piece of magic chalk. It was either now or never. He looked back at the Beanie Boy and, with his eyes narrowing, he raised up his magic chalk to draw.
After his mind shifted through several ideas, he finally figured out something that just might bide them a bit of time and slow down this Beanie Boy. Tensing up his arm muscles, he began to rapidly draw as quickly as he could. The lines rapidly filled the air, the tip of the chalk sparkling as he did so. In a matter of seconds, he was soon holding a long device with some king of bundle of rope attached to one end. He regarded this thing for a few moments before he took aim at the Beanie Boy. He pulled back the stick with the rope attached to it, feeling the string of the bow bend with it. Then, once he felt the time was right, he released it.
With a loud snap, the device shot towards the Beanie Boy. The flying zoner was momentarily startled by this before raising up his red shard to attack the approaching device. Rudy watched as the device’s tip exploded, metal legs springing outward, making it look almost like a clawed paw ready to strike. This seemed to unnerve the Beanie Boy long enough for the device to make contact. Rudy had to flinch at this.
The Beanie Boy didn’t seem too harmed. He did let out a yelp, but it might have been just from surprise and not from anything overly serious. He watched as the Beanie Boy collapsed into the ground as the net wrapped around his body, holding him tightly. The flying zoner struggled on the ground, his teeth gritted, letting out a string of insults.
Despite the temptation to say something back at him, Rudy bit his tongue and he turned his attention back to the front. At least that would slow the Beanie Boy down for a little while, giving him and the others more time to get away. His eyes scanned the hallway out ahead of him, staring out at where it was leading them now. It still seemed as though they hadn’t yet reached the end of the hallway; he didn’t see any end in sight just yet.
He narrowed his eyes softly at this. Something about this didn’t seem right. This tunnel felt like it was going too straight for too long. He might be just paranoid. Maybe he was just imagining things. But for some reason. he just...couldn’t help it. There was something wrong with this picture and he had to figure out just what it was. If he didn’t figure out just what it was soon...
Then it hit him. He recalled how easy it seemed to be for them to dodge the other booby traps. A bit easier than he would have expected Skrawl would have allowed them. It was almost like they were being herded... as if he expected them to keep running forward, until they...
“Turn!” Rudy shouted suddenly, catching the others off guard.
“What? Why?” Blocky asked. “We’re doing fine!”
Rudy cried out, “At the next hallway, turn!”
“Why?” Howdy looked up at him, his eyes frowned in curiosity. “Maybe we should continue down a little further and...”
Rudy shook his head. “No, we can’t! Just turn there! Now!”
Although the two zoners didn’t appear to understand, it was clear that Penny did. Rudy could see the look of horror in her eyes as she appeared to make the same connection as him. She shouted, “Rudy’s right! We need to turn!”
“But...” Howdy started to say, but he was cut off as the dog-like beast, who had apparently sided with Rudy, began to make a sharp turn. “Whoa!” Howdy called out as he struggled to hang on.
The two beasts made quite the sharp turn, nearly slipping on the ground from the shere momentum of their turn. And as they turned, Rudy and Penny’s fears of what was ahead of them quickly came to light.
The beasts had turned a little too close. The dog-faced one let out a loud screech as something sliced into its side. Something that couldn’t be seen. The hog-faced zoner suffered a knick as well, along its shoulder. The presence of these sudden wounds horrified Howdy and Blocky, but it did not surprise Rudy or Penny. They had expected this to happen.
It would seem that Skrawl has learned a thing or two about escapists and put in quite the trap. Force them to keep running through a hallway and anticipate that they would keep running to avoid said booby trap, only for one to appear at the end of the hallway. Painted to look like there was more hallway, but as they turned, they could see that there were several shards and spikes there. Had they kept going, they would have all been sliced apart. The sight of how jagged some of them were made their blood run cold, especially when they realized just how close they were to nearly running into it.
They continued down this new hallway for a while. It looked even fancier than the rest of the castle, complete with a red velvet carpet that must have felt good to the beast zoners to step on. They kept their eyes peeled for any more booby traps. They could only hope that the worst was over.
Just then, they came across a set of large doors. Tall and almost regal-looking, these were no doubt the doors that belonged to Skrawl’s throne room. The room was coming up fast. They were heading right for it. There were no booby traps in sight. They all kept tense and looked around. But so far, there didn’t seem like there was anything to worry about. Not that this caused them to relax too much. It would be pretty foolish for them to let their guards down, especially after what had happened before.
As they were rapidly approaching the doors, Rudy began to wonder just what they might find in there. Would they find a way to stop Skrawl? Would they find out some kind of secret to bring about his downfall? Would they find another prisoner that may be able to help them? The only way they would find out was to go through those doors. So long as nothing happened when they got there...
So far, so good. Nothing else had happened so far. It seemed too good to be true, but Rudy couldn’t help but smile a little. With how much closer they were getting, the chances of a booby trap were shrinking up rapidly. He wasn’t really sure what else Skrawl could do in the short amount of time that it would take them to get over there. He didn’t fully let his guard down considering the wall of spikes, but he also couldn’t help but feel a tinge of hope. They were so close... Were they finally going to make it out of this hellhole?
His eyes widened when he realized that Rapsheeba was still in there. He felt a wave of guilt strike him. How could he have forgotten about here? Was it really right of them to leave her behind? Penny had reminded him that she was here, but with all the running and booby trapped dodging, he had nearly forgotten. He felt so sick with himself. He needed to do something to help her...
But then...they couldn’t really risk going back and finding her like this. They needed more magic chalk and more allies. It would be too dangerous for them to go back and find her as they were, as much as he hated it. He didn’t want to turn his back on her. But, it would only be for a brief moment. Yeah...it wouldn’t be long before...
Before he was able to finish his train of thought, there was a sudden collision. The two beasts had rammed themselves against the door. But something was very wrong. The doors didn’t...sound or feel like doors. They were something else entirely. Something more..glassy. Something cracked and shards sprayed everywhere. Rudy let out a few yelps as the glass cut into his skin. He could hear his friends suffering the same thing, and he could hear a couple of them grunting as they pulled the glass pieces out. He looked behind him and then towards where Rho was to make sure that he and Snap were okay as well.
It took a few seconds for him to register what happened next, but upon seeing the darkness of outside, a swirling grey mass, and finding his body suddenly positioned in a new way, he realized that they were plummeting downward.
He and the others let out terrified screams at this, their eyes bulging. They continued to fall for several seconds, the ground rapidly approaching them. The beasts, however, wouldn’t stand for this and they slammed their feet against the side of the castle. Rudy had no idea how it was possible, but in a matter of seconds, the beasts began to run down along the side of the castle. They were still going at incredible speed and they were still in serious trouble if they didn’t figure out a way to slow down once they reached the bottom.
However, in the back of his mind, somehow Rudy had a feeling that this wouldn’t be their only problem...
sss
Those... Those brats.. Just wait until he got his hands on them...
Alpha had finally managed to free himself of the ropes. It hadn’t been easy. They were good and tight. Even with the shard, he couldn’t get free too fast. He couldn’t aim it properly and the sharp tip was hardly a match for the rope that had covered his body. But he did not give up and, after much struggling and slicing, the ropes had fallen free from his body, allowing him to got up and back into flight once more.
He chased off after the children. He hissed to himself, cursing inside his mind. They had gained so much distance. How was he going to be able to catch them now? He might have lost them already. Oh Skrawl was going to be so furious if he found out that he had messed so badly...
Well more reason for him to keep going forward and keep trying. They might have gained an impressive distance from him, but they were still not yet safe from him. He knew this hallway well and he knew that they were heading right for a dead end. He had seen them turn right before they ran into the sharp spikes. They were going exactly where Skrawl would have predicted that they go, which meant that they were heading right towards the fake door. He grinned to himself. They had more or less entered his element. He realized in that moment that he hadn’t actually messed up and he still had time to turn things around.
He moved himself as quickly as he could. He could feel his breath increasing, his heart pumping. He ignored the dryness of his throat as he continued zipping down the corridor, wanting to catch up with the fleeing children as soon as he could. It was going to be a difficult task and he wasn’t sure if he would be able to capture them both alive or not. But he may be able to get at least one of them, and then have a little fun with the others. It would be so easy to cause them to plummet to his death.
He was going to use this opportunity to become the new general. Rho hadn’t been the only one pining for that position. He had wanted it for himself because, well, his name was Alpha. He was named after the first greek letter of the alphabet as he was the first to join. That was how they all received their names. By order of who joined. And since he was the first, it made sense that he would be the one in charge. Well right after Skrawl that is.
He never did think it was fair that Delta was put in charge. And then for a while, Snap, a thought that made him shudder. Then Rho... He gritted his teeth. What did any of them know about running the other Beanie Boys, anyway? His own seniority should be enough to make him the leader. Well, he was going to show them. He would show all of them just what he was capable of.
He couldn’t help but feel a sense of amusement when he saw Rho unconscious, injured, and taken by Rudy and Penny. Oh sure, he felt some rage about the whole thing. The idea of those two brats doing that to any of his fellow Beanie Boys was enough to make him seethe. But considering that he might be able to use this to gain a ledge over Rho and become the new general, well perhaps it wouldn’t be a total loss. If he could convince Skrawl that it was Rho’s own stupidity that caused that to happen, and if he presented one of the children to him, he was certain Skrawl would give him leadership right on the spot.
But first, he would have to catch the brats. That was not going to be easy. He needed a plan, something that he didn’t have a lot of time for. He realized that his best option was simply to use his flight to his advantage and overwhelm them. They wouldn’t be able to do much while they were plummeting towards their deaths, now would they?
He could see the shattered door, or rather, window right ahead of him. He could feel his mouth corners curling up further in glee as he realized that they really did fall for this booby trap and crash through the window. The beasts must not have slowed down enough, and even if the children realized something was wrong, it was clear that they didn’t have enough time to react. Now, it was time for him to follow suit.
The Beanie Boy burst in through the door, hearing a loud crack as he did do, his body crashing through some more shards that hadn’t yet fallen down. He winced at this, feeling them cut into him. He ignored them the best as he could as he dove out of the window and looked around for any sign of the fleeing brats.
Ah, there they were. They had already gone several feet down, possibly a mile or two at this point. He cracked his knuckles, licking his lips in determination. They were going to be his, one of them that is. They could try to run, but they wouldn’t be able to flee from him long enough. He would make one of them his and present them to Skrawl. He would get that general position and he would be the most respected Beanie Boy in this whole damn place. Just as he very well deserved to be.
Without another moment’s hesitation, Alpha dove down.
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Post by Bluedramon on Sept 15, 2015 20:06:46 GMT -5
Chapter 58:
Rudy gritted his teeth as they all continued on their way down the side of the castle. He could feel his body bouncing around quite a bit with each footstep that the dog-like beast was taking. He looked over at Penny and saw that she was having some similar problems hanging on herself. She had her arms wrapped around the hog-faced creature tightly, struggling to hang on as best as she could.
Snap and Rho were wobbling around more easily. Rudy wasn’t as worried for Snap falling as he was strapped to himself. So long as he was able to keep himself from falling, then he would be able to prevent Snap from falling down as well. Rho on the other hand was little trickier as he was just sandwiched between Penny and Blocky. He could see Penny struggling to hang onto him, but it was clear that this might not work for long.
But as they continued to head down, as he continued having to hold on, he realized there was little they could do about it. He hoped that Penny would be able to hang onto Rho long enough for them to reach some kind of ground.
That would not happen for a long while, however. Looking down below him, seeing nothing but wall, Rudy could tell that they were still quite high up and it would take them a long time before they would be able to reach any sort of ground. One thing that especially worried the boy was if the beasts could even keep this up for long. They were being heavily influenced by gravity this way and he could feel the beasts slowly gaining speed, despite them clearly putting some effort into slowing down a bit. What would happen when they reach the bottom and they can’t slow down in time?
The thought filled the boy with several chilling thoughts. He might not be a whiz at science, but even he knew what would happen if a mass struck another area of mess without friction slowing it down enough. The results weren’t going to be very pretty. Forget bandaging himself and his friends up; there wouldn’t really be much left of them to treat if they hit the ground from this height at this speed.
So far, at least, they were doing a pretty good job. The beasts were able to keep up a relative steady pace despite having trouble preventing themselves from moving faster due to gravity, and they were doing an even better job dodging any obstactle that stood in their way. There were a few spikes here or there that they had to run around and avoid. Considering who they were dealing with, the presence of such spikes didn’t really surprise them.
Rudy’s thoughts reeled in the back of his mind as he tried to figure out just what they would do once they get to the ground, assuming that they wouldn’t end up hurting themselves in the process. They still needed to go help Biclops, but just how were they going to get there now? He was certain there was a path in the hideout, but that had been ripped apart by their fighting and there might be some Beanie Boys in there. It wasn’t worth the risk.... but then, would it be any safer to go out in the open?
He then recalled something that Rapsheeba had told them. Didn’t she say that the Day Zones and Night Zones are much harder to tell apart now? And didn’t she also mention how the night zoners were more easily killed or injured because they no longer could tell where their zone ended and where a Day Zone began? And if he remembered right, she also stated that, because of this, they had grown more hostile.
He bit his lip at this. In the past, this wouldn’t have been much of a problem. The two main types of zones were easily told apart and they could easily spot them from a distance. Because of this, it wasn’t really much trouble to just see a Night Zone and be able to avoid it long before they hit it.
But that wouldn’t be the case anymore. The dark grey clouds swirling overhead blotted out everything. Not just the suns, but also the moons and stars as well. They were nowhere to be seen, causing the skies to look the same everywhere in this area. No matter which way he looked, he was not able to see any of the Night Zones that he himself was familiar with. There were hardly any changes in how light or dark the area was, making it impossible to tell where a Night Zone began and where a Day Zone ended.
It was so much easier now for a night zoner to come into a Day Zone. Some sunlight was still getting through and it would still burn any night zoner that left. But day zoners were not affected, which caused the night zoners to be more hostile and aggressive...
Rudy bit his lip. He could not remember if the path that they had to take involved a Night Zone or not. Without having any definite map with them, or any more obvious barriers between the zones, there was really no way for him to tell for certain. What would happen if they ended up in a Night Zone and they ended up attacked? Sure, Jacko might have convinced them of a truce, but how long would that last? Besides, Jacko wasn’t exactly on friendly terms with him or Penny.
But still, he...
He wasn’t able to finish his thought when Penny let out a loud shout. “Look out! Behind us!”
Rudy turned his head and looked back up. His eyes widened when they saw a small, roundish form coming for them. That form began to grow in size and he soon recognized it as a Beanie Boy. The sight of this made him suck in a sharp breath, shaking his head slowly. No..not now...of all the times for this to happen...
Gripping onto the dog-faced zoner’s thick fur even tighter, he rammed his foot against its side, prompting it to move quicker. This was not something that he wanted to do, given their present situation. But the Beanie Boy behind them was gaining up on them fast and they needed to maintain some kind of distance from him.
There was no time to formulate a plan. The Beanie Boy didn’t take too long before he started to attack them. Loud sizzles sparked through the air as the first crimson bolt of electricity struck against the castle wall near them. The impact shook the ground, er, well, and they winced as the loud crack rumbled through their ears. That wasn’t going to be the last attack, either, and the group knew this. They might have dodged this attack, but would they continue being lucky later on?
The answer seemed to be no. The Beanie Boy continued chasing after them, rapidly gaining on them as he continued to attack them with the red bolts of electricity. Each time, the bolts seemed to get closer and closer to striking them. Rudy could feel his mind racing, heart pounding, each time he heard a loud crack near him. He could feel the beast he was riding dodging from side to side to the best of its ability, but he could tell that it was starting to lose some of its strength. There was no way that it could keep this up forever. It would soon begin to slip and...
“Ahhh!”
With his heart pounding, Rudy looked over and he could see that Blocky had nearly lost his footing from the creature. Penny managed to loop her arm around him to stop him. But now she was holding onto the both of them. Her legs desperately wrapped themselves around the beast’s side, but there was no telling how long she would be able to remain like this.
Behind them, the Beanie Boy was getting even closer. He had his hand raised up, the sharp, crimson shard pointed right at them. Rudy widened his eyes when he realized that the tip was pointed right at Penny. He exchanged a terrified look with Howdy, who, upon seeing his expression, started to usher the dog beast closer to where the hog beast was. Rudy looked back at the Beanie Boy to see if he was going to unleash another attack. Then he turned to face Penny, reaching his hand out towards her. He managed to grab onto her arm and he held her up, attempting what he could to keep her from falling down.
They ran like this for a while. It did feel pretty awkward doing this. He had no idea just how long they could keep this up. He wasn’t sure if the beasts could continue running so close together without accidentally entangling into one another. Yet he still refused to let go of Penny, fearing that if he did let go too quickly, she would end up falling down to her death.
Surprisingly, they were able to keep a steady distance from the Beanie Boy this way. The two beasts were able to remain mostly in sync, much to their surprise, jumping and dodging at the same time, all while making sure that Rudy was still close enough to offer Penny some support.
Despite the good luck they were having, Rudy could still feel his heart punding his chest, his teeth clenching up tightly. He could still hear the loud cracks of stone that were being broken each time the Beanie Boy attacked. He could hear the Beanie Boy shouting threats at them, promising to be their downfall, that they had nowhere to go. He struggled the best he could not to listen to him, but it was difficult to stop the words from echoing in his mind over and over again, reminding him that they really were in such a pinch.
The loud cracks all around him certainly didn’t help cheer him up any. Each time a bolt struck towards them, each time the beasts dodged to avoid it, his heart would skip at least two beats. Each strike seemed to be getting closer and closer to them, and the beasts were having an increasingly difficult time dodging affectively. It seemed that staying together like this was going to catch up to them eventually.
Rudy let out a yelp when one of the strikes nearly grazed his skin. He could feel the heat of the bolt zip by him. He swung his head over just in time to see a flash of red briefly, accompanied by another loud crack, more rocks being jetted out of the wall’s structure. They rolled down the side of the building, making light thuds as they tumbled down, reminding Rudy of just how far up they actually were.
“Rudy! Are you okay?” Penny called out, her eyes wide as she stared at him.
“Yeah, I’m fine...” Rudy didn’t really feel too much pain for that. It was mostly just a heated sensation. “What about you?”
“I’m okay, too.” Penny gritted her teeth, pressing her legs even tighter around the beast. “I..don’t know how much longer I can keep this up...”
“Yeah. If we don’t get to land soon, I can’t say things will end well for us.” Howdy said, a tinge of fear on the very edge of his voice. “We may end up just like Lars...”
Rudy widened his eyes at this. Lars? What had happened to Lars...?
He shook his head, deciding that now wasn’t a good time to ask that question. He lifted his head up and looked back at where the Beanie Boy was. He gritted his teeth as he saw how close he was now. There was much less of a chance of the zoner missing now. He could feel his eyes widen further as the Beanie Boy began to take aim once more. Rudy stared at the device, watching how the tip began to glow. If they didn’t do something quickly...
He looked down below them. He noticed something jetting out. It was not too easily noticeable at the moment, but he soon recognized it as a ledge, and he could see a window there. In that moment, something clicked in his mind. This was it... This was their chance to escape. If they could just get to that window...
But what of the Beanie Boy? He would surely notice them go through the window. How were they going to trick him into believing they went elsewhere? He would see anything he drew so that wouldn’t be an option even if he had enough magic chalk for the job. They couldn’t very well sneak in there as he would see them head inside the castle. He would either follow them or sound the alarm to Skrawl regarding their location. They needed some sort of plan to fool the Beanie Boy and bide themselves some time to get away.
Then he noticed something further below them. It was a little hard to see from this distance, but he was certain there were more ledges down there. Well, not ledges, but some spikes. They were a bit around the building and harder to see. Yet they were still in the right position that if they just...did something....it just might fool the Beanie Boy.
Rudy’s eyes sparkled as a plan formulated in his mind. He knew exactly what he was going to do. It wasn’t going to be easy and he needed everyone’s cooperation for it. But if he timed this just right...
“Guys, I have an idea!” He called out to the others. They all turned their heads towards him, hope shining in their eyes, along with uncertainty and fear. “But you may not like what I am about to suggest. It’s a little..risk taking.”
Penny, Blocky, and Howdy flinched at this statement. They looked at one another, exchanging worried looks. They soon turned back to Rudy and, slowly, they nodded their heards nervously, giving Rudy the okay to explain.
“Okay, when that Beanie Boy attacks, these two beasts need to jump off.”
“What?!” Howdy hissed in shock. “But that would...”
“Rudy, what are you thinking?!” Blocky agreed. “We would fall to our deaths!”
“Trust me, it will work.” Rudy said, his voice tinged with confidence. “As long as you do as I say, and fall where I say, everything should work out fine.”
Penny looked at him for a few moments, her eyes slightly narrowed. “Rudy..how do you know that this will work?”
Rudy began to explain the plan to them as quickly as he could, knowing that there wouldn’t be too much time left to impliment it. But so long as they were still able to act at the appropriate time, this should work, and they should give this Beanie Boy a run for his money. At least..he hoped that’s what would happen. If not...
He tried not to think of that.
sss
Alpha couldn’t help but let out a series of dark laughs as he continued to strike at the fleeing humans and zoners. This was more fun than he had imagined it would be. He never felt so...dominate over anyone else. He could feel his chest puff up with pride. For the time being, he almost didn’t care what Skrawl though. All that he really cared about was tormenting the fleeing fugitives with his electrical powers.
Oh how rich this was... These brats deserved this. There was no denying that. They could have take the easy way and just surrendered earlier. They would have been much better off that way. Now look at where their stupidity had brought them. Running down the side of the castle, so precariously... And all it would take is a single strike of one of his bolts to knock them down. He wouldn’t even need to actually hit them. Just near enough to make them lose their balance.
Those beasts wouldn’t be able to keep doing this for long. He could see them starting to mess up a little, clearly finding it harder and harder for them to keep dodging. And with them so close to each other now, they had become one large target for him to attack. He could have easily struck them before, but he had allowed them to miss it, all just to give them some false sense of security before he planned on pulling the rug out from underneath them. He was simply waiting for the right moment to strike them. He wanted to have a little more fun toying with them like this first before he took such an action.
His grin spreading wider, he unleashed yet another bolt towards the grip, aiming towards their left side. He chuckled with glee as he watched the rocks kick up from the impact, the dust filling the air. He watched as the group moved off to the side to avoid it to the best of their ability. He loved seeing the horror in their eyes when they saw just how close they were to being struck by one of his bolts. The best part? They had no idea of when they would actually be hit.
Those fools probably thought that they were skilled enough to keep dodging his attacks. Well they were quite incorrect about that. They weren’t seeing just what was going on. They didn’t realize that he had been playing with them this whole time. They didn’t know that, once he had spotted them, he could have taken them down at any given point. It was only his desire to play with them a little while that kept him from actually hitting them. After all, what fun would it be if he simply finished them off too quickly?
He enjoyed the sight of them running. He enjoyed just how quickly they moved, trying to get away from him, not fully realizing the grim reality of their situation. The thought caused his smile to spread further. So this is what it felt like to be above someone else... This is what it felt like to be in full control... It was no wonder Skrawl didn’t want to give up his position so easily. Who in their right minds would want to do something like that? Especially when they were able to control someone else’s lives...just like this...?
With that, he fired yet again. This one landed behind the dog-faced zoner. He could hear the canine-like zoner let out a yelp and jump a little, kicking its legs outward. This caused a little upset with the girl, whom Alpha had noticed was being balanced by Rudy. They did manage to secure the balance once more, but seeing her wobbling around like that was certainly a sight to behold, making his lips curl back into a grinning smirk.
Well perhaps by now, he had gotten to have enough time to play with them. Now he needed to deliver the final blow. He did want to keep one of them alive at least, but it would be too difficult to pull that off and he would much rather not waste time on trying to ‘save’ one of them for later. Best to just get rid of them all now in a single swoop. With that in his mind, he raised his red shard and he pointed it towards the group.
“It’s been fun...” He spoke in a low voice, knowing full well that they wouldn’t be able to hear him. “We’ve had some...great fun together, don’t you think?” He didn’t get a response, which didn’t surprise him. He gave a quick chuckle. “No matter. All good things must come to an end. So I bid you all...” He tightened his grip on the shard as the tip glowed brighter. “...farewell.”
A large bolt, thicker than the others, shot out towards the group. He could hear the loud crack as it landed right in the middle of the group. He could hear them scream as the beasts jumped apart, only for their feet to slip from the walls and they began to tumble. The sight of them rolling down the side of the building was quite humorous indeed.
No longer needing to chase them, Alpha paused his flight, hovering in place. With his grin as nasty as ever, he watched as the fugitives below him screamed, rolled, slammed against the wall, struggled to keep themselves from falling. But the beasts were clearly too panicked to try to grab onto anything and they fell down further. He did notice they changed direction and began going another way, but he knew this was nothing to be concerned about; the beasts were trying to regain footing and in doing so, they were causing themselves to be moved to the side, their claws constantly slipping from their efforts.
Even when the group disappeared completely, Alpha remained, wanting to listen to them fall further. He was very disappointed when their screams faded out too quickly. Perhaps they had struck something on their way down or something that knocked them out. How disappointing... Oh well. At least he had taken care of them. The loud thud that he heard when they impacted was good enough to tell him that he had succeeded.
Skrawl was going to be very proud of him, he knew. He couldn’t wait to to tell the jellybean what he had managed to accomplish while the other Beanie Boys just lazed around. He could just imagine the speech he would give the others. Praising him for his actions and berating the other Beanie Boys for being such idiots. He would surely appoint him as general then as reward for what he had accomplished. Not wanting to wait too much longer for his award, the Beanie Boy began to fly back up.
It didn’t take him too long before he reached the top. He wasn’t even surprised when he reached it within a few minutes. After all, he was one of the faster Beanie Boys, if not the definite fastest. The ledge that he had jumped out of, where the trap was, rapidly came into his sights. He couldn’t help but smile and he increased his speed.
He took great care not to hit against any of the sharp edges around him. He didn’t want to cut himself even more. Slowly, he moved in, carefully manuevering around the broken shards of glass, their pointed tips aimed at him almost like a vicious set of claws. The sight of them made him shudder, but he managed to get past them without much problem. Soon he was back in the hallway where he had dove from some time ago.
He didn’t waste time floating there, praising himself. There was plenty of time for him to feel proud of what he had done. Right now, he needed to locate Skrawl. Oh how happy his boss was going to be when he reported to him his success. He immediately took off down the hallway, moving as fast as he could so he could locate where Skrawl was.
He didn’t have to go far. As soon as he made the turn down into the main hallway, he collided with something large, soft, and solid. He was flung back a little from the force. He moved a way, shaking his head as he recovered from that. He was about to scold whoever dared get in his way, but as soon as he saw that it was Skrawl, he immediately backtracked, biting his tongue before he said anything stupid. He moved back a couple of steps, bowing his head in deep respect.
“Boss...” He whispered softly, doing his best not to look threatening. Not that the jellybean would be threatened by someone like him, but it was still courteous. “I have taken care of the problem.”
He heard murmurs and whispers. Alpha lifted his head and saw that there were small group of Beanie Boys surrounding Skrawl. He could see their expressions. Some were nervous about something while the others were curious, likely about why he was here by himself and not with them. To his surprise, none of them asked any questions, but then again, they were probably keeping silent so that Skrawl could speak instead.
“So you took care of those brats, did you?” Skrawl didn’t sound particularly happy. He was more annoyed than anything. Though it didn’t seem aimed at him. Perhaps he was just a little disappointed he didn’t get to have fun with them himself. “That is....good news.” He raised his hand up in gesture. “How did you pull it off?”
“They went through the trap over there.” Alpha pointed. “Crashed right through the window. I made sure they fell to their deaths.”
“You didn’t check to make sure?” Skrawl asked, raising an eyebrow.
Alpha gave a dark smile. “I heard them crash below. Even if they are alive, they are in no condition to fight back. You can easily kill them yourself without any resistance, Grim Reaper.”
Skrawl scratched his flat chin at this. Then he folded his arms behind his back. It was then that Alpha noticed he was slightly unsteady, a little shaky. He wondered what could have happened to him. Alpha was tempted to ask, but he figured that no wasn’t a good time for that. Skrawl didn’t seem like he was in any sort of mood to simply chit chat right now.
The jellybean appeared to be regarding this situation quite thoughtfully. He stared at him for a few moments, studying him. Some of his facial expressions indicated that he was surprised that he was able to handle it on his own. Alpha wasn’t entirely sure how to take it. Should he be complimented by this, as he had exceeded Skrawl’s expectations? Or should he be insulted that Skrawl didn’t seem to take him as seriously as he thought he did? Either way, he tried to keep quiet.
One thing that confused him was the lack of praise. Skrawl hadn’t said much other than the ‘good news’ thing. This had him a little frustrated. He went out of his way to get rid of those pests for him, and he doesn’t so much as congratulate him. What an ungrateful...
No, no, he had to keep himself calm. Skrawl would eventually reward him for his actions. There was no doubt about that. Skrawl just needed a little bit of him before he could fully react. Time to register that Rudy and Penny were no longer a problem for him, and definitely time to register that they had won. There was no one left that could hope to resist them.
The question that came out of Skrawl’s mouth next took the Beanie Boy by surprise. “Did you happen to see Rho with him?”
“Uh...Rho..?” Alpha whispered softly. Why was Skrawl asking about him?
Skrawl nodded. “Yes. You see, earlier, my Beanie Boys and I have discovered his hand laying on the ground with a lot of blood. I could be wrong, yeah shocking that, but I am certain that Rudy and his little pals have caused that.” He leaned in forward, turning his head to the side. “Did you notice if they had Rho with them?”
“Well, I...” Alpha darted his eyes from side to side, struggling to think of an answer. He had planned on simply telling Skrawl that Rho was lazy and a failure, but that wasn’t going to work. Somehow, Skrawl knew that the Beanie Boy was injured. Gritting his teeth tightly, he said, “..yes...”
“Ah I see... That’s good... So I was write. He was with them.” Skrawl pulled his head back, a faint smile spreading across his face. He turned himself around, putting his back to him. “Well, bring him with so we can get him treated. We cannot afford to lose more Beanie Boys.” He began to walk away.
Alpha gulped at this. “B-Bring him with..?”
At this, Skrawl froze. He turned his head and looked over his shoulder. He raised an eyebrow. “Yes...? What did you think I was going to do? Let him stay with Rudy and Penny?”
“Well, no..I..”
“Then what is the problem?”
Alpha couldn’t help but gulp again when the other Beanie Boys began to get closer to him. He could see that all their expressions were replaced with deep frowns. Some of them even had their lips pulled back into a snarl, as if they could tell just what he was hiding.
“Well? What is the matter?” Skrawl asked. “You did bring him back with you, didn’t you?”
Alpha shrank away from the jellybean at this. He could feel his heart racing inside his chest. A bitter feeling clawed its way through his body, making him feel sick. He struggled to keep himself from throwing up, placing a hand over his mouth lightly. He found it difficult to turn his gaze away from Skrawl, feeling his eyes pierce into his own. Alpha tried his best not to shiver, but he could feel the quakes start to spread as he realized just what was going to happen to him because of this.
Skrawl’s eyes widened as he appeared to realize the truth. He stared at Alpha in disbelief for several seconds before his eyes narrowed dangerously. Alpha moved back away from him further, watching as Skrawl’s claws were tightly pressed against his palms, looking like he was about to strike at him any second. Skrawl hadn’t made a move towards him yet, but already Alpha was cringing away from him.
“You...left him with them?!” Skrawl howled loudly, taking a slow, deliberate step towards Alpha.
“I-I..please...” Alpha whimpered softly. This was not how things were supposed to go. Skrawl was supposed to be praising him, not chewing him out like this. Everything had gone so horribly wrong. “I-I...”
Skrawl didn’t want to hear it. He swung his hand up swiftly, causing Alpha to squeal as though he was going to be struck. “Not only did you abandon him, but you let him fall down along with them! You killed him!”
“N-No, I didn’t...I...” Alpha tried to defend himself. Yes, he had intended on getting rid of Rho, but he couldn’t let Skrawl know that.
“I trusted you! We all trusted you! And now look at what you’ve done! You killed one of your own! I know it probably wasn’t on purpose, but you still failed him! You knew he was with them and you still let him fall to his death!” Skrawl formed a fist with one of his hands. “You know that I do not tolerate the death of any of my Beanie Boys.” He raised his hand up, the fingers loosening so that he could arch his claws. “And the idea of one of my own Beanie Boys causing this...” Skrawl gnashed his teeth together, grinding them. “I just don’t believe it...”
Alpha curled up on the ground, shivering uncontrollably. A part of him felt shame in this, but the other just didn’t care. He didn’t want to give Skrawl any reason to be further angry with him. He stared at him with wide eyes, his teeth bared inf ear. “Wh-What are you going to do with me..?”
Skrawl stared at him long and hard. It looked like he was on the verge of snapping at him. He could see how his teeth became even more bared than before, and he could hear a low growl eminating from his mouth. The other Beanie Boys were positioning themselves by him, getting ready to grab him at the first command. Alpha didn’t bother trying to flee. There was no way he could get away from this.
He felt so stupid. How in the world did he think this could possibly have worked? He should have helped Rho. He should have done something to ensure his safety instead of letting him die. He should have been more careful with his plan. But instead, he messed up big time and now he was going to pay the price for that. There was no way that Skrawl was going to let him off the hook for what he has done. All he could do now was just wait for his punishment.
“As much as I would love to take care of you...”
Alpha flinched at this. He turned his head away, shutting his eyes tightly, and waited for the condemning blow.
“I still need you.”
Alpha blinked at this. He could hear the confused whispers of the other Beanie Boys. He lifted up his head and looked out towards the jellybean, wondering if he heard right. He could see Skrawl was still glaring at him, but it was more subdued now, compared to how it was just a few seconds ago.
“But...why...?”
At this, Skrawl didn’t really give an answer, confusing Alpha and the other Beanie Boys. He simply straightened himself up, his frown facing all of the Beanie Boys, no longer focused on just one. “I do not plan on losing anymore Beanie Boys. I am going to need all that I have left in order to stop this menace before it gets out of hand.” He regarded the Beanie Boys one by one before he continued, “I need you all to split into two groups. One will go down the castle that way through the trap and the other will head down towards the entrance as quickly as you can. Be sure to cut off those little brats before they can get away..should they still be alive that is.”
Alpha knew it may not be wise to speak up at this point, but he still decided to give it a shot anyway. “B-But sir...” He swallowed hard as Skrawl glared harshly down at him. “How do you know if they would still be alive...?”
Skrawl glared at him before shutting his eyes and turning away. “Knowing Rudy Tabootie...they may have found a way.”
sss
Penny couldn’t stop screaming. And how could she? With the wind hitting against her face, feeling gravity taking her over, pulling her down, she knew that it wouldn’t take all that long before they could strike the ground below them.
Her panicking mind practically forgot about Rudy’s plan. The only thing she could think of right now was trying to find a way to stop this, to escape from this. But she couldn’t think of anything. She couldn’t think fast enough. No matter how hard she tried, no matter what she did, there didn’t seem like there was going to be a way out of this. All she could do was cling onto the hog zoner that she was placed against, hugging both Rho and Blocky to herself as they continued to plummet.
She thought she could hear Rudy’s voice calling out to her. She wanted to open her eyes and look, but she was too terrified. She could feel her heart racing against her chest, the wind feeling like it was going to cut something into her face. She gritted her teeth as she felt them somersaulting downward, spinning in the air. She could hear the hog zoners distressed squeals filling the air, practically echoing off the castle walls.
She couldn’t believe that it had all come down to his. They had been so close to escaping...and then this happened. They should have been more careful. They should have tried harder. They should have realized sooner that they were heading straight into a trap. Oh they were such idiots... She wanted to slap herself, and she probably would have if she weren’t too busy screaming her lungs out.
Then she felt reality slap her in the face. In an instant, a wave of disgust struck her as she realized what she was doing. She couldn’t let herself give up this easily. Okay so maybe getting out of here wasn’t going to be a cakewalk. But still, if she allowed herself to fall into despair for too long, then she was going to doom herself to lose anyway. No, she had try to fight back. She...
It seemed the hog creature didn’t exactly give up either. It spun around a few more times, but Penny could see the way it was positioning its feet. It spread out its digits, its claws facing towards the wall. Without warning, it struck down against the wall after another revolution. The claws pressed against the stone and a loud screeching sound could be heard as the hog zoner struggled to stop itself, steam rising from its claws as they shortened up from the massive friction.
Penny shut her eyes tightly, clenching her teeth against one another. She heard the scraping sound pierce through her ear drums. Oh how she wanted to cover them and protect them from this horrid sound...and yet there was nothing that she could do about it right now. All she could do was just endure this sound until the beast managed to stop. She focused her energy on holding on tightly, waiting for this to finally be over.
Then she felt something jerk. She could feel her body wobbling, nearly falling. She pressed her legs more firmly against the side of the hog-like zoner. She clenched her teeth tightly, seething through them. She didn’t dare open her eyes as she felt a sudden reverse in the pressure, and air pushing against her in a new direction. Even though her ears were still ringing with the sound of the screech, she could still somehow hear the thuds as the hog zoner did...something. She wasn’t sure what, but she felt too scared to open her eyes and figure out what that was.
She could feel herself being moved from side to side. She hung onto Blocky and Rho tighter, her teeth clenching. She could feel her heart race as she had no idea if she was actually going up or not, or if she was still heading down. She could hear Rudy yelling at her, but she didn’t dare try to respond to him. She just kept her eyes shut and waited for something to happen.
She soon felt shame in doing this, remembering her train of thought from before. Feeling toxins rise up inside of her, she mentally berated herself for doing this yet again. She attempted to force her eyes open. This task wasn’t easy as they felt very heavy. But she struggled harder with them and eventually she was able to force them completely open.
At this point, something flashed in front of her eyes, and then there was a loud thud. She could feel the hog zoner bending down, its four feet firmly planted on a surface. Penny blinked her eyes a few times as she allowed that to sink into her head.
They were on a flat surface now... No longer falling...
Penny took a moment to look around. She wanted to make sure that she really was on a ledge and not falling. She could see that this was definitely the case. She didn’t see things zipping by her head anymore. She couldn’t feel her legs being sucked downward. She no longer felt the rush of air hitting against her face. All she could feel was the steady, heavy breathing of the hog zoner below her, its warmth as well as the body heat of the two zoners she was clinging onto.
Turning her head a little more, she could see Rudy standing there. He was positioned next to the dog-like zoner, Howdy standing beside him. Rudy was cradling Snap’s still unconscious form in his arms, having removed the rope attaching him to his back. Rudy was giving her a small, reassuring smile, his eyes shining with sympathy. He didn’t say a word to her, allowing her to recover on her own.
Seeing his face, seeing everything around her, Penny could feel herself start to settle down. She could feel her heart rate returning to normal, the burning sensation slowly leaving her body. Her breathing slowed down until it was at its usual usual pace. It still took a little while longer for her mind to stop racing, to allow the reality of being safe at least finally sink into her head. She took in a few slow breaths befeore she slowly returned Rudy’s smile.
“See? I told you guys it would work!” Rudy said with a grin.
Howdy shot a glare at him. “That was insane! Don’t ever suggest something like that again!”
“Yeah! I nearly lost it back there!” Blocky called out, his voice slightly shaky as he was clearly still recovering from the fall.
“I’m sorry, you guys. I just didn’t know how else to get us away from...” Rudy started to say, lowering his head a little.
“Oh don’t worry about it, Rudy.” Penny cut him off. She jumped off the hog-like zoner, her arms wrapped around Rho to keep him secure. “You only suggested what had to be done. Let’s not dwell on this for too long, though.” Penny turned her head to behind them, frowning at the grey skies above them. “We might have lost them for now, but we haven’t escaped yet. They might come back for us.”
Rudy nodded in agreement. “We should probably rest here for a little bit before we move out.”
“Good idea...” Blocky collapsed to the ground. “After that scare, I’m exhausted...”
Howdy dropped onto the ground and leaned against the dog-faced zoner’s thick leg. “Besides...they wouldn’t come looking for us if they think we’re dead, right...?”
No one dared to answer that. A sudden, solemn silence full upon the area. They all looked at each other, nervousness clutching at their throats and chests. They all knew full well that this question could not be answered with any great deal of certainty. It was true that Skrawl might think they were dead and not bother coming after them. Yet at the same time...well, wouldn’t he want to be thorough? To make sure they died? Sure in their first encounter with him, he was willing to leave them high and dry, but who is to say he wouldn’t have come back to make sure they were all dead?
They knew it was best to assume that Skrawl would try to find them. As soon as that Beanie Boy told them, that jellybean would probably send a bunch of Beanie Boys out to try to find and make sure that they were actually dead. The best thing they could do was keep huddled towards the open window, out of sight. The Beanie Boys may soon start to search this area, but at least they were near a window they could crawl through.
Silently, Penny stared over towards the window. She wonders if they should head into it now. That seemed like a good idea. Standing out here would proably not end very well for them. They could easily get knocked off the ledge if they weren’t careful and if they fell down a second time... Penny had a feeling that they wouldn’t be able to think quickly enough to stop the impact this time around.
Yeah, heading inside right now would be a good idea. The Beanie Boys might be on their way now. If she had to guess, with the way Skrawl would think, he’d send one set of Beanie Boys towards the entrance and another set through where they had fallen. They most likely wouldn’t be going through this area, so they would be safe to hide out here for a while as they regained their bearings and thought about what they were going to do next.
Penny was about to speak when some kind of movement above her caught her attention. She stared up at it intently, narrowing her eyes. There was something coming down here. Something small, fast, gaining a lot of speed...
Her eyes bulged. She whipped her heads the others. “It’s the Beanie Boys! Get into the castle! Now!”
Her order went unchallenged. No one dared to speak against her. She watched as Rudy and the two zoners began to move towards the window. Blocky and Howdy struggled to open it up. With their hands fumbling for a few seconds, they did finally manage to break it open completely, the window’s ‘doors’ splitting open and fanning out at the side. They immediately jumped into the hallway and turned back to wait for Penny.
Penny made her way over. She stopped when she heard a low growl from the two beasts. She realized that they wanted to challenge the Beanie Boys, but that would be a bad idea. They may end up giving away their position. She had to stop them before they went too far.
“Shh! No! Keep quiet!” She called out to them. The two beasts immediately fell silent as they turned and looked at her, their eyes wide in confusion. “Come with me! We need to get into the building now!”
Although still clearly confused, the two large beast zoners still followed her as they headed towards the window. She made sure to move a little slowly, knowing that quick movement would more likely get the Beanie Boys’ attention. The process was more painfully slow than she would have liked and she found herself constantly looking around for the Beanie Boys to suddenly attack her from behind.
But it soon paid off and she was able to get into the building without too much trouble. She stepped in first, still cradling Rho in her arms. Then the two large beasts stepped in. It was a bit harder for them, barely able to fit. But they were still able to wriggle their way in regardless, albeit cracking the window a little bit and knicking themselves. They did yelp, but fell silent quickly. Penny and Rudy worked together to shut the window ‘doors’ so that the Beanie Boys didn’t realize something was amiss.
A few seconds later, they could see shapes zipping by. They all jumped back at this. It took them a few seconds to realize that it was the Beanie Boys. They were heading towards the ground below to try to find their crushed bodies that they weren’t going to find. Whether or not they will think they headed out or they were still in the castle remained to be seen.
But at least for now, they were safe. They all let out relieved sighs and some sat down on the ground to relax. The Beanie Boys, nor Skrawl, would know that they were in this exact spot. They didn’t have a ton of time, but they still had enough time to relax, clear their minds, and discuss their next plans. This was probably the first time any of them felt even close to being at ease in this place. They were going to treasure it as much as they could, considering that peace was something that was hard to come by lately.
Penny decided to get up and walk a little bit. She didn’t really have any fear of getting caught. Not like she was going to go out that far, anyway. She moved to towards the right side of the hallway. She needed to stretch her legs a little bit and she did think better when she was moving anyway. Maybe she could come up with a plan to...
Suddenly she hit against something solid and warm. She took a few steps back, rubbing her face as she looked around to see what she had run into. She could see some kind of shape there, but at first, it was difficult to make out. She had to take a few more steps back, and then moved to the side to let the little bit of light to shine through before she could recognize that face.
“R-Rapsheeba...?” Penny whispered softly, her voice low and quiet.
Then she saw that Rapsheeba was not alone. As the singer zoner moved in closer, Penny realized that she was not moving on her own power. She was resting on something. She widened her eyes when she realized that it was Zebin. And standing next to it was... It was...
Thoughtless...?
Penny could feel her heart skip several beats. Her breathing becoming erratic, she stared at Rapsheeba with a look that was a mixture of hurt and betrayal. “Rapsheeba...what’s going on here...?”
sss
What could that foul woman be up to this time? What more could she possibly do to create complications for her, the other parents, and for their children? Hadn’t she done enough already? Didn’t she learn her lesson before? Didn’t she learn to stop and think about her actions before taking them? Did the arm break really mean so little to her?
Well apparently not, much to Mrs. Sanchez’s dismay. She had hoped that Terry wouldn’t try anything crazy like before, given the condition of her arm. She had thought that the redhaired woman would have been smart enough to stop herself from doing anything particularly crazy. It would seem that she was mistaken. Now that awful woman was getting ready to pull some other stunt. She and the others didn’t know yet, but if she was in a hurry, if she were driving as crazy as Mr. Bullnerd said she was, then they knew that it couldn’t have been for anything good. She was up to something.
Exactly what, they didn’t know. It might not even be for anything that bad. Perhaps she found something else to get a scoop on, and if that is the case, then them going after her like this might not seem to be in their best interest. They would just be interrupted someone’s legitimate work. As much as they hated Terry, if she were working on something that didn’t involve their childrne, then they didn’t see much of a reason to go after her.
There was no proof that this new plan of hers involved Rudy and Penny in any shape or form. There was no way to know for certain that she had any plans on going after them again or do anything that might involve them. However, there was also no proof that she didn’t want to involve them, and the only way to find out for certain was to go after her.
Mrs. Sanchez recalled the urgency in Mr. Tabootie’s voice. She guessed that he had discussed this more with his wife earlier on. He must have wanted to get a plan set up before he spoke to her. When she had spoken to him, it did seem pretty clear that he had come up with a full plan, though he did not give her the full details yet; mostly just telling her that they would have to locate Terry and see what she was up to. He wanted to get this done as soon as possible, and he didn’t leave her much time to get ready.
Mrs. Sanchez didn’t like being hurried like this. She wished that this man had given her more time instead of yanking her out like this. Unlike him and his wife, she did actually have a place she needed to be. She couldn’t just up and leave the animals like this. That would be quite disastrous unless she either get enough of the chores done that she could leave them alone for a while, or if she had someone else come over and watch them for her. These animals needed a lot of surveillance and she couldn’t simply just leave on a whim. That would only cause problems in the future, especially since she didn’t actually own any of these animals, and if something were to happen to them, she could get her ass sued off.
Luckily, she did start bringing in an intern once in a while. He was a little amateurish compared to Penny in some areas, which made sense, since Penny’s been helping her for years while this guy was still studying to be a vet in school. Working for her was a way for him to gain experience. Despite being an intern, he did have enough knowledge of animals to know at least the basic stuff. And that’s all she needed right now. None of the animals required any special care, and she did have a schedule written down that was easy to read.
She had contacted the intern not long after the conversation with Mr. Tabootie. Once he had picked up, she told him about needed him at her place to watch the animals for a few hours. He tried to ask why, but considering she didn’t want him to get the wrong idea, she just told him that she was going away for a meeting.
It seemed to work and the intern did promise to be there shortly. She didn’t try to leave until after he had arrived. Which, thankfully, wasn’t too long later. She recognized the red car as it pulled up into the drive way, distinguished with its popping sounds as the engine it used wasn’t exactly the best. The intern had gotten out of the car and they exchanged a short conversation with each other. She didn’t stay too long and she managed to end the conversation quickly, albeit with confusing the intern quite a bit.
With the intern heading inside the animal enclosure to watch her patients and making sure the doors to her own house were locked, Mrs. Sanchez immediately left, heading to the Tabooties as soon as she could. She didn’t like moving this fast and she preferred taking her time unless there was an emergency with an animal. But in this case, something about Mr. Tabootie’s voice had made her move faster than usual. Due to this, she arrived at the Tabooties’ place in near record time. She was surprised with herself.
They didn’t talk that long with each other. There were a few quick exchanges, like questions and answers mostly. They didn’t waste their time too much talking, however. Mr. Tabootie made it clear that he wanted to locate Terry as soon as possible. If they stood around and chatted too much, they might lose her. Nodding in agreement with one another, they immediately got into one of the vehicles, the Tabooties’ car specifically, and headed out.
It was difficult to tell just where to go first. Thankfully, with Mr. Bullnerd’s description, they did have one place they could go and look at first. He had claimed to have seen her driving a particular direction away from the hospital. She couldn’t tell just what direction it was at first, but with the description of the roads that he saw her zip down by, she and the Tabooties were able to figure out just which way that was.
As soon as they arrived at where the hospital was, they began to turn on the road that looped around the large building. They moved down this road for a while, keeping an eye on the particular road that Mr. Bullnerd said the woman was on.
It didn’t take that long. There weren’t too many roads that connected here anyway, so it was quite easy to deduce which one it was. As soon as they began to get near it, the car slowed down and they turned onto the road. There was a slight bump as they did so, causing them to jerk forward a little. Mrs. Sanchez let out a yelp when she hit her head against the car seat. The other adults asked her if she was okay, but she quickly dismissed it. It was just a little bump after all. No big deal.
They continued down this road, which raised up a little, climbing upwards along the small hill. The familiar buildings and trees that Mr. Bullnerd had told them about began to pass them, and they knew they were heading in the right direction. They continued up for a while until they reached the road that she had apparently turned on. It was a little hard to tell if this was the right one or not, though, considering Mr. Bullnerd couldn’t see the exact location, nor could he see the name of it obviously, from the window at the hospital. They still took a chance, however, as it was the only lead they had. The car slowing down once more, they turned and headed down on this road.
This road didn’t seem all that familiar. Mrs. Sanchez looked around, unable to recognize anything. She hadn’t been to this part of town before. She looked over at the Tabooties. Mrs. Tabootie herself looked confused, just as she was. But Mr. Tabootie on the other hand did seem a little more confident and he continued down the road despite any lingering doubt that he might have had.
After several minutes of driving, they didn’t seem any closer to discovering where that foul woman had gone to. No matter how long they drove, no matter which way they looked, nothing seemed to really change. It was just more of the same stuff. Just houses, some bushes, and more of the fact that they really had no idea where they were going.
“Where could she have gone...?” Mrs. Tabootie finally said, breaking the silence that had lasted for a while. “We are certain she came down this way, right?”
Mr. Tabootie shrugged his shoulders. “We might be heading the wrong way.” He paused for a moment, and then added, “But this is our best bet.”
There was no argument with that. This road really was the only thing that they knew they could try. The only path that might lead to where Terry had gone. They didn’t have much of another idea of where else she could have gone. It would be best to just stick to what they knew instead of driving around aimlessly; that would only get them into more trouble if they weren’t careful.
Still, just how much further could they drive down here before they realized that it was not the right way? How long did they have to continue down here before they decided to go elsewhere? How much more of this driving down a strange road should they take before trying something else?
This road stretched on for a while and still no sign of Terry. Not that they were all that surprised. They would have been lucky to see her on their way here. But they still had hoped for a miracle and that she would show up at some point. Like maybe on the way back form...wherever she had went to or something. But perhaps they had put too much faith in that. Perhaps they should turn around before they get more lost.
That is what Mrs. Sanchez was considering to suggest. They couldn’t keep on this road forever. What if they drove out too far and they started to get lost? None of them had GPS on their phones, which were all pretty old anyway. And there was the chance that they did not get service here. Okay a little paranoid, but as someone who dealt with stressful situations all the time, she had learned to always think of different consequences that could happen and to be ready for them if possible. There was no way that she, or the others, could take the risk of having no plan of any sort.
She opened her mouth to speak when something caught her eye. She turned her head and looked down in one direction. She narrowed her eyes slowly, trying to get a good view on it. Then they widened, her eyes bulging slightly. “Hey, guys....?” She pointed. “Look over there...”
Mr. Tabootie and his wife both looked at where the vet had been pointing it. Mr. Tabootie immediately slowed the car to a stop as he spotted what she did. He and his wife stared long and hard, as if to make sure that they were actually seeing what they thought they were seeing.
Over there, not too far away from them, they could see the familiar, yellow van that was Terry Bouffant’s. It was hard to tell from this angle if she had anyone with her. They weren’t about to let her get too far out of their sights, though, and they immediately continued on their way, following well behind so that the woman didn’t get suspicious.
The way Terry was moving her head did make it seem like she was talking to someone. This made Mrs. Sanchez narrow her eyes in suspicion. Just who did this woman have with her? It couldn’t have been their children. Who else did Terry show interest in speaking to? She couldn’t quite remember if any other names were given. It might be a pretty harmless thing that didn’t deal with them or their children, but she and the boy’s parents weren’t about to take that chance. They continued to follow as closely as they could without it making it look like they were tailing her.
As they continued along, Mrs. Sanchez suddenly realized just where they were now. They had been taking one of the back roads around the city, making a wide turn that would ultimately lead to...
“The school.” Mrs. Sanchez spoke up. “They are heading towards the school.”
“What? Are you sure?” Mrs. Tabootie asked, turning her body around so she could look at Mrs. Sanchez in the eyes. “I don’t remember this way being the...”
“I know, it’s not really a main way to get there. But this road will curve around the city and at some point, we will come across one of the roads to get to the school. I am certain that is where Ms. Bouffant is heading.” Mrs. Sanchez explained.
Sure enough, she turned out to be correct. Not long after she finished her explanation, the news van in front of them had started to turn to the side, straight onto the road that Mrs. Sanchez said she would. Mr. Tabootie said not a word as he slowed the car down and turned onto the road. This one was a little unfamiliar at first, but after a while of driving down, they did eventually reach a school sign, and the road was finally taking its more familiar shape.
So Terry was heading for the school... Mrs. Sanchez clenched her teeth at this. She had no idea just what this woman was up to. She didn’t know why she was going to the school right now. Maybe it wasn’t anything that important, but considering how she acted before, what she said about their kids, and her obsession with the chalk world, Mrs. Sanchez had a feeling that they shouldn’t just allow this to slip their mind. They had to follow her down here, see what she was up to. No doubt, up to nothing good.
Mr. Tabootie stopped the car to allow more room for Terry to head out in front of them. They could see, from their present distance, the woman turning into the parking lot of the school. Rather than follow, Mr. Tabootie felt it best to park away further back, keeping their distance. Mrs. Sanchez agreed that this was a good idea and there were no complaints from Mrs. Tabootie.
Once the adults were out of the car, they began to make their way towards the school itself. They could see that Terry had already gotten out of the car, but rather than head straight into the school herself first thing, she instead headed in another direction, going around the front of the van and towards the passenger’s side. As she did this, the three adults began to notice someone moving in the passenger’s seat, confirming that there was indeed someone with her.
When Terry opened the door and the new person popped out, Mrs. Sanchez found that she could not recognize her. She looked oriental, wearing a rather pretty robe and her dark hair put up. But there was nothing distinguishable enough about her that she could recognize her from anywhere. This only added the confusion to the vet, making her ask herself several questions as to why Terry would want to bring this person here.
But it seemed that Rudy’s parents had a slightly different reaction.
“Could it really be her?” Mrs. Tabootie whispered softly. “She does match the description...”
“I don’t know. Just what would she be doing with someone like Ms. Bouffant?” Mr. Tabootie narrowed his eyes as he watched the scene before them.
Mrs. Tabootie shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. Perhaps Terry is tricking her or something?”
Mrs. Sanchez took a few steps towards them, her eyes filled with curiosity. “Excuse me, but...” She watched as the parents looked over at her. “You two know her?”
“Well not really. Our son does, though.” Mr. Tabootie explained as he motioned a hand in that direction. “He mentioned that he met this great dragon artist a long while back. Ming Long, he said her name was. Pretty nice woman, according to him.”
“I see...” Mrs. Sanchez nodded her head slowly. “Hmm...” She rubbed her chin thoughtfully with one of her fingers. “I wonder what she is doing with Terry Bouffant, then.”
“It’s hard to say. But come on. Let’s get a little closer and figure out just what is going on.” Mr. Tabootie said.
The adults exchanged an understanding nod before they headed in the direction where Terry and Ming Long were. They made sure to keep quiet and out of sight, not wanting to draw unwanted attention from them. They continued moving along slowly, quietly, their eyes glued to the two women before them. So far, they hadn’t attempted to move and it appeared that they were speaking softly to one another. It was only when they got a little closer that they started to hear bits of their conversation.
“So you remember the plan, right?” Terry asked as she motioned a hand towards Ming Long. “You head in there and request to see one of the classrooms. Preferably Mr. Wilter’s. And then you weave your little tale.”
“Why that room in particular, though? I thought you said that any would do.” Asked Ming Long.
“Yes, true, but since that is the classroom that Rudy Tabootie and Penny Sanchez are in, I think that one would be our best best.”
The three adults stared at one another at this, their eyes widening. So it did seem that Terry was up to another plan involving their children. Now it had gotten personal, and they didn’t even hear what the rest of the plan was. Narrowing their eyes, they moved in slower, listening intently.
They soon took notice of Terry reaching into her bag for something. She rummaged through it and, eventually, she managed to grab onto something. She pulled it out quickly, despite her broken arm. The parents cringed at first, fearing the worst, although they didn’t particularly know why. They were relieved when it was quickly revealed that it was just a pair of small headphones and a walkie talkie.
This soon caused them some confusion. Just what did Terry need with headphones and a walkie talkie? Just what did she intend on Ming Long to do here? Why did she want her to ‘weave a tale’ in Rudy and Penny’s classroom? They moved in even closer, wanting to catch as much of the conversation as possible.
“I will help relay information to you. So you don’t have to worry about slipping up.” Terry told her.
Ming Long looked a little unsure. “But what if something goes wrong..?”
Terry smiled at this and shook her head. “Oh don’t worry. Nothing will go wrong so long as you listen to what I say.” That almost sounded like a threat, but given Ming Long’s lack of a response, it probably wasn’t meant to be percieved that way. “It’ll be okay, Ming Long.” She reached out and touched the woman on the shoulder. “After we are done, everything will be set into motion. We will not only help just the people of this city, but also Rudy Tabootie and his friend, too.”
Ming Long bit her lip nervously at this. Soon, she did give a small smile, although it seemed a little weak. “Yeah, that would be great. The sooner the people know about this, the better.”
“Indeed.” Terry nodded her head once. “Rudy and Penny might have kept this place a secret this long, but they have no idea what they are messing with. Oh they might be angry when we bring this world into everyone’s awareness, but they will eventually come around and see things our way. Who knows?” She held up her hand in gesture. “They might even thank us.”
At this, the three parents looked at one another. Shock spread across their faces as they realized just what this woman was up to. She wanted to expose ChalkZone, that world that Rudy and Penny had recently left to go save. At this realization, their minds, which were once clear about what they were going to do, had become muddled with confusion and uncertainty.
What were they going to do about this? Should they side with Terry in terms of how dangerous this place was? They did all agree that it was a risky place to be and perhaps maybe exposing it was the more logical option. But they couldn’t betray their children. They couldn’t allow themselves to turn against them after they had already promised not to do anything so drastic. Even if they felt it was for the best, what if they did something to break their children’s trust in them? Would they be able to live with themselves?
This world was really important to them. They knew how much their children loved that place and cared about it and the people that lived in it. Would it really be right of them to just help expose it, even if they felt by doing so, they were helping to keep their children safer? Oh, just what were they going to do now?
Mrs. Sanchez knew that the answer wasn’t going to be easy. They might need a little while to think about this. But they didn’t have a lot of time to figure this all out. If they didn’t hurry and choose a side, then it was going to be too late and there would be no turning back.
...well, they were already going to order a ban on that world, weren’t they...?
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Post by Bluedramon on Sept 17, 2015 21:23:44 GMT -5
Chapter 59: Rudy could hardly believe what he was seeing. He kept staring at the scene before him, wondering if it could possibly be true. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from it, feeling them bulge as he moved them around, slowly realizing that, yes, this was reality. But it wasn’t the reality that he had been hoping for. No doubt the others felt the same way. He was happy to see Rapsheeba. That much, he had no doubts with. She was alive and well...for the most part. He did flinch when he saw that her back had been busted apart, her feet dangling uselessly across Zebin’s body as the chinese unicorn carried her. Now he and the others didn’t have to worry about finding her, since she had found them, somehow. He didn’t know if they had been looking for them or if they were just trying to find a way out. Yet he still couldn’t help but feel betrayed. He could forgive her for Zebin. He was still cautious with it after what happened before, but chances are Rapsheeba didn’t know any better. She probably thought that it was nothing more than a prisoner, a slave to the will of Skrawl. That was true, but only partially; it was still an enemy in his eyes, considering what it had tried to do with him and Penny. He wasn’t really sure if he could ever truly feel safe with this chinese unicorn roaming around near them. However, there was still the matter of the other ‘guest’ she had brought with. That one zoner that he had hoped he’d never have to see again. Thoughtless... He gritted his teeth as he stared at the memotrice. It stood tall next to Zebin, its tail swishing slowly from side to side as if it were a feline ready to pounce. It was staring right at him, its blazing brown eyes piercing his own. Rudy clenched his teeth tightly as he glared at the memotrice, wondering just what it was up to. His mind exploded with many questions. Just...Just how could Rapsheeba even think of bringing that thing with her? How could she begin to trust it? She knew that it was dangerous. She knew that Thoughtless was one of the enemies. And yet here she was, moving around with it as if it were some kind of...of friend. The thought of that twisted his gut. He just..couldn’t believe that Rapsheeba would even start to percieve this thing as some kind of...friend. That just didn’t make any sense. Did she forget all the pain that it caused? The deaths? Did she forget that Thoughtless was a cold, heartless beast that would easily tear her mind out if it so desired? This creature was icy-blooded, not having a redeemable quality about it. There was just no reason why she should ever trust this thing. The fact that she did, Rudy couldn’t help but feel a little betrayed. He looked over at Penny, who was further towards Rapsheeba than he was. He could see, even from this angle, the look of shock in her eyes, her mouth hanging open. It didn’t take him long to realize that Penny did feel hurt by this turn of events, just like he was. She hadn’t said anything yet nor did she change her expression too much to show just how hurt she was. The only reason Rudy could tell she was upset was her eyes; he had known her long enough to recognize more subtle changes in her expression. Blocky and Howdy, however, were definitely more expressionate. He could see it in their faces that, while they were relieved that Rapsheeba was still alive, they were utterly horrified to see their leader moving around with one of their sworn enemies. They hung back, cringing a little, their eyes scanning her up and down. He wondered if they were thinking that she might be some kind of doppelganger or something. Like Penny, they remained silent. They did look like they wanted to speak to her. They must want to ask her how she could do this to them, how could she lead Thoughtless, of all zoners, to them. Out of all of them, they might be the ones most hurt by this, as Rapsheeba had been their leader before and was the one in charge of the rebellion. To see her with Thoughtless, seemingly on peaceful terms, was a punch in the gut. It was like watching their hope crumble right before them. Rudy couldn’t blame them for being so scared and terrified of this. He stared back at Raspheeba, narrowing his eyes slowly. She was going to have a lot to answer for. “Rapsheeba...” Rudy started to say. But he was quickly cut off as the singer zoner raised her hand up. “I know what you are all thinking. I can see it in your eyes.” Rapsheeba spoke. Her voice had some tinge of pain in it. Whether it was from emotional or physical discomfort, however, was difficult to determine. “Please, allow me time to explain.” Rudy casted a glance over at the others. Blocky and Howdy remained silent, their eyes remaining on Rapsheeba. Penny on the other hand looked over at Rudy. She slowly nodded her head before turning to glare softly in Rapsheeba’s direction. Rudy let out a sigh, knowing that the verdict was. He turned his head and he faced Rapsheeba. The two exchanged looks for a few moments before he said, “Okay, Rapsheeba...” He said softly. He lowered his head, glaring at her softly though the top of his eyes. “Explain.” Rapsheeba cleared her throat and she began. “I know this is quite difficult for you all to digest. It’s hard for me to believe as well. You see, not too long ago, I was being held prisoner, as you might have guessed. There was no way for me to get out. I didn’t have any control over any magic chalk, so that wasn’t an option for me. There was this family and their kid could fit through, but it was too dangerous for them, and especially me, to ask this kid to get out and find help. So I was quite stuck.” Rapsheeba motioned to where Thoughtless was. In response, the memotrice lifted its head up, as if to draw attention to itself. “That’s where Thoughtless came in. It communicated with me and told me that it wanted to help me. I wasn’t sure if I should believe it or not. And frankly, I am still having doubts. But there’s no doubt about it. If it weren’t for its advice, I wouldn’t have found the secret exit that Skrawl places for Beanie Boys in the cells, in the event that they get caught in them.” Rudy frowned slightly deeper at this. He and Penny didn’t recall any such passage when they were captured. Snap hadn’t mentioned it. Perhas he simply wasn’t told? Maybe Skrawl didn’t want to give it away? Or maybe there was something more going on. It was hard to tell. He remained silent and allowed the singer zoner to continue. “With its help, I was able to get out. It guided me down the hallway and we eventually ran into each other. It suggested that we find Zebin, stating that there is strength in numbers and that Zebin here as much of a reason to hate Skrawl as we do.” Rapsheeba placed her hand against Zebin’s shoulder, caressing it back and forth. “It was in pretty poor condition. I am surprised it could even still walk. All tied up and scared...” Zebin growled softly at this. “I was not scared....” Thoughtless gave it a smirk. <Oh please! Don’t lie! You were begging to be let out!> “No I didn’t!” Zebin bared its teeth at the memotrice. <Wanna bet...?> Thoughtless asked playfully. “Guys! Stop!” Rapsheeba barked at them. The two zoners immediately stopped, whipping their heads away from each other and frowning almost like pouty little children. It would have been amusing if it weren’t for their situation. “Sorry about that.” Rapsheeba looked at Rudy and the others sadly. “Anyway, the point is, these two both want to help. They want to see Skrawl dethroned as much as we all do.” “Yes, well... I suppose I can get by with Zebin there...” Penny eyed Zebin warily, making it clear that she still had her eye on it. “But for Thoughtless...” She turned her gaze and frowned at the memotrice. “I don’t know... This zoner has caused so much trouble in the past. How could we possibly trust it?” Rudy nodded in agreement. “It was a comrade of Skrawl’s. How can be we sure that it’s no longer loyal to Skrawl?” <You can think what you wish of me, boy.> Thoughtless said bitterly. <But I have no intention on working with that stupid zoner anymore. He butchered my plan! Twisted, distorted it...perverted it! Oh!> Thoughtless shuddered, emotion rumbling through its body. <Why would I ever want to work for it again? Especially after he tries to control me like some kind of meat puppet?> “Yeah I’m sure you can relate to that.” Howdy said with a glare. Thoughtless glared at him in return. “Hey, don’t look at me that way. You did toy around with many zoners in the recent past. You controlled them by changing their memories.” He raised his hand to point a finger towards it. “And now you are getting a taste of your own medicine. How does it feel having no willpower, Thoughtless?” He narrowed his eyes further. “It’s not so much fun, is it?” Rudy clenched his teeth nervously at this. He watched Thoughtless to see if it would do anything drastic. When it lowered its head and started to shake a little, he feared the worst and prepared to take necessary action. He didn’t want to risk a fight breaking out, especially when they were supposed to be hiding out. However, thankfully, instead of arguing back, Thoughtless seemed to relax a little. Its crimson fleshy crown faltered a little, its wings hanging at its sides. It seemed almost...submissive, a strange posture to see from the memotrice. Yet the piercing glare in its eyes showed that it wasn’t completely weakened. It glared right into Howdy’s eyes, its beak open and slightly gritted. Rudy could see those wickedly sharp teeth, looking so intimidating even in spite of being so small. <Yes, indeed. I have been taught a lesson in that.> It was hard to tell if it was being sincere or not. Howdy didn’t seem all that convinced, raising an eyebrow in suspicion. Thoughtless moved on. <I do know that you all have reason not to trust me. And I do not blame you for being...uncertain.> It looked at Rapsheeba in particular as it said this. <However, let me say this.> It raised its half wing upwards. <This is not the kind of future I had planned for ChalkZone. Yes I did believe that this world needed population control...> At this, Rudy could feel his gut twist. Trying to forcibly control the population of the zoners...that was rather disgusting. Rudy could feel his stomach churn, trying to expel the contents of his stomach as it burned and twisted. Of all the horrible things.... He could feel his anger towards this zoner increase, becoming more burning. He couldn’t help but narrow his eyes further, glaring intently at it. <However, this isn’t what I had in mind.> Thoughtless continued. <Skrawl has taken it way too far. I never wanted ChalkZone to be ‘ruled’ by a ‘Grim Reaper’. That was never part of my plan.> It folded its wings back against its side. <As such, I want to offer a truce to remove that wretched jellybean from control. I want him gone just like you all do.> “Yeah, well...how do we know you are speaking the truth?” Howdy asked. Blocky nodded. When he spoke, his voice was shaky, but still understandable. “Y-You might be tricking us, and lead us into a t-t-trap and pull the rug out from u-u-underneath us...” Penny chimed in, “And trying to control the zoners’ numbers...that is unacceptable!” <Unacceptable?> Thoughtless echoed. It tilted its head to one side. <How are you going to handle the influx of so many zoners? ChalkZone is a finite space. If too many zoners come in here and the old ones aren’t pushed out, what do you think will happen? What if space runs out? What if food runs out? What if water runs out?> Thoughtless lowered its head a little, taking a small step forward. <What are you going to do then..?> Rudy could feel his blood boil at this comment. To hear anyone speak about zoners that way... It made him sick. Talking about them like they were just a bunch of wild animals... But he did slowly realize that...maybe Thoughtless did have some kind of point. He didn’t entirely agree with it, and he most certainly wouldn’t want the kind of solution that beast had come up with. But in the end, he couldn’t deny that Thoughtless had brought up a pretty valid question. One that he simply couldn’t ignore. It was a legitimate concern that would need to be addressed at some point. Just what were they going to do regarding the zoner population? They were created all the time, with more and more space filled up. What would happen if they did overflow? What would happen if the tipping scale was knocked over? Something would need to be done eventually. It was hard to say what it would be, but Rudy knew one thing for certain. It would not involve killing excess zoners. That was wrong in his eyes. There had to be a better solution than that. Before he could say anything, Zebin stopped the conversation in its tracks. “As much as I would love to stand around here and listen to you all bicker...” Its voice was laced in sarcasm. “..but we really should be going now.” “Yes, you are right.” Rapsheeba said quickly as though realizing something important. “We do need to head out now and..” “We were trying to rest first.” Blocky interrupted. The exhaustion in his voice became apparent. “We’ve been running quite a lot and we were chased and...” “Oh and you think we weren’t?” Zebin hissed, its teeth bared. “We haven’t had it easy ourselves, you know.” It took a small step forward. “We do need to keep going. It is not safe to stay in one spot.” Howdy shook his head. “We need to plan out our next move first.” He looked up at Rudy. “Don’t we?” Rudy winced at being put on the spot like that. He could feel Zebin’s eyes piercing into him. He gave a few small coughs, clearing his throat. This bought him a little bit of time to figure out just what he was going to say. “Well...yeah... We need to get to the Chalk Mine, and we also need to free Biclops.” He paused for a moment. “But we don’t know how we are going to pull this off without getting spotted.” “We were going to use the tunnels in the rebel hideout, but...” Penny stopped herself. She looked at Rapsheeba, the two of them exchanging solemn expressions. “Well, that’s no longer an option now, as you can guess.” “I see...” Zebin said softly. “You need more magic chalk?” “Yes. I am almost out.” Rudy looked at the small, pitiful piece that remained of his. “I also want to help free Biclops. He would make a valuable ally.” <Indeed...if he is still around.> Thoughtless commented in an almost chilling way. The others looked at it in shock, their eyes wide. “What..?” Rudy whispered. “What are you talking about?” Penny asked softly. Thoughtless lowered its head a little, shutting its eyes. <I do not know for certain, but I thought I heard Skrawl say something about ‘taking care of him’. He might have said that as a threat. Maybe there is something else going on. I don’t know.> It looked at Rudy in the eyes. <Just...be prepared for what you might see there.> Rudy found it difficult to speak. He looked at Penny, exchanging a look of horror with her. Emotion washed over his body as realization began to move through him. It might not be true. Thoughtless did make note of this. But...what if it was true? What if something else did happen to Biclops? And the worst part was..he wouldn’t put it past Skrawl to do something like that. It was very possible that Skrawl would do something with the guardian of the Chalk Mine. Skrawl’s cruelty knew no bounds, especially now that he was Grim Reaper. Maye he got bored with holding Biclops as prisoner and decided to toy with him a little. Or maybe he realized that they would eventually head to the mines and he wanted to dash their hopes by squashing the giant. But there was still no way to tell. They couldn’t remain here forever. They would have to try to find him and help him. Biclops might still be out there, and if he is, he and the others owed it to try to help him. Rudy wouldn’t believe that he was fully gone until he saw the evidence for himself. And judging from the looks on the others’ faces, they must have had similar thoughts. “We do need to get going soon...” Rapsheeba said, her eyes falling upon Snap’s unconscious form. “He does need help.” “As does that Beanie Boy.” Zebin commented as it looked upon Rho. “I’m not sure why you lot brought him with, but whatever. Looks harmless enough anyway like that.” Rudy looked at Penny, as well as exchanging looks with the two zoners. They did all realize that Rapsheeba was right. They really couldn’t say here that long. These two zoners still needed help or else they weren’t going to make it, or their condition was going to worsen. They were exhausted, yes, but they couldn’t afford to just stand around here, chatting. They needed to get moving soon. But...just what were they going to do? They still had no idea what their next move was going to be. This was going to be problematic. If they couldn’t figure out a plan...just how were they going to get to...? <I see you need some ideas.> Thoughtless interrupted him. Rudy let out a surprised yelp, not expecting Thoughtless to address him so suddenly. <If you need any help...> It turned its head, staring intently at Rho’s fallen form. <...I have a suggestion...> Rudy widened his eyes. The intent in the memotrice’s voice was quite clear. sss “Hey! Get a move on! Go faster! We can’t keep our boss waiting!” “Yeah..I know...” Alpha said halfheartedly, struggling to move himself faster. “I’m going. I’m going....” “You’re pathetic!” Barked the Beanie Boy. “And to think..you though that you would be able to lead us!” Alpha tried to ignore the taunting laughs from the other Beanie Boys. He kept his distance from them. He knew that any attempt to speak with them wouldn’t really end all that well. This laughter was their way of masking their anger towards him. None of them were pleased when they leaned that he let Rho fall to his death. He was lucky that the Beanie Boys were being this civil with him. But they were only being like this because Skrawl claimed to still need him. Once Skrawl decides he didn’t want him anymore... Alpha wanted to slap himself in the face. He wanted to kick himself in the shins. Why did he have to be so stupid? Why did he have to allow himself to go through with that plan without thinking it through more? He held great regret for what he did; if he had done things a little different, then Skrawl would have praised him and not scolded him, and the other Beanie Boys would have held more respect for him. It was too late to change that now. All he could do was continue flying downwards with the other Beanie Boys. Perhaps he could redeem himself by helping Rho once they had found him. There was a chance that he might have survived somehow. If he rescued him, maybe the other Beanie Boys would stop being so mad at him. Or maybe they might just still continue. But there was a slight chance that Rho would be so grateful that he would appoint him as assistant. Not the most glamorous job and not the one that he would have preferred. But still much better than his present condition at the moment. “Get a move on!” Barked one of the other Beanie Boys. “Move it or lose it!” Alpha flinched as he felt himself being shoved to the side. He moved himself away as he watched the other Beanie Boys he was with zip downward past him. He watched him with a frown on his face, his teeth gritted. Then, letting out a soft sigh, he moved down with them, doing his best to keep up with them. He may not enjoy how they were treating him now, but he would hate to see how they’d treat him if he didn’t stay with them. He and the Beanie Boys continued to head down as quickly as they could. Time seemed to move a lot slower for Alpha, who couldn’t help but contemplate his present condition with Skrawl and the other Beanie Boys. Although he couldn’t change it right this second, he still couldn’t help but beat himself up over this. He just couldn’t believe that he had been stupid enough to allow this to happen... Well at least now, he was going to get himself another chance to change things around. He would be the first one down there. He would be the first one to find Rho, if he is still alive. And he would be the first one to offer him help. Skrawl would be most pleased with his efforts to save a fellow Beanie Boy, and he would surely reward him for the effort. This would be different than last time. He knew it would be. Alpha pushed himself to go faster, wanting to get down there as quickly as possible. He didn’t want to let one of the other Beanie Boys get there first. He kept himself in front of the others the best he could. Oh they did try to get in front of him, trying to get down there before he did, though for them, it was nothing more than a dominance thing. For Alpha, it was about trying to reclaim something of his. Some level of respect, specifically. He was not about to allow any of these Beanie Boys to get any of the praise that was rightfully his. After a while of diving down, they all soon reached the bottom of the building, where the ground finally began. They pulled themselves back, slowing down before they ended up crashing into the hard concrete below them. They hovered low and began to look around. It didn’t take them long to realize one thing. “They’re not here...” One of the Beanie Boys said. “I don’t see them.” “What do you mean? They have to be here!” Called out another Beanie Boy. “Keep looking!” “I already did and I am telling you, they are not here! Look around you! There’s not even a speck of blood to be seen!” Alpha looked around and soon realized that this Beanie Boy was absolutely correct. There was nothing here. No bodies. No blood. No trace of anything. Just nothingness. There wasn’t even a mark on the ground from the impact, something that wouldn’t be very likely given the rate that the children were falling at. If there was no blood and no impact, that could only mean that... But...But that was impossible.. How could they possibly have survived such a fall? He had watched them. He had heard the crash below. He had been certain they were dead. He knew full well that something falling from that great a height couldn’t be able to survive the impact. Even if the children survived somehow, the two beasts couldn’t and their bodies would have crushed them in the fall. So how in the world could this have happened? He should have double checked to be sure. He should have gone after them and watch their descent, making sure that they did hit the ground indeed. Instead, he had been such an idiot and just...left without so much as checking. This must be one of the biggest mistakes he has ever made. It was so tempting to bring a fist to his face, knocking out a few of his own teeth. He would have deserved it for doing something so idiotic. Skrawl was going to kill him if he found out about this. Skrawl would be so pissed off once he learned that Rudy and Penny, along with Rho, were missing, having disappeared from sight. He didn’t know where they were or where they could have gone. They might have landed for all he knew and were getting away. They might be in the castle somewhere, working on a plan. Wherever they were, the one thing that he knew for certain is that he had no idea just which path they took. Heck, he still didn’t know just how they could have survived the fall. They had tumbled and rolled...and they somehow recovered from that. Just...how...? “You...” Alpha turned his head and he could see a couple of the Beanie Boys glaring at him. He could see the looks on their faces, how their fists were formed tightly. Realizing just what was going on, Alpha began to float away slowly. “You let them go...” One of the Beanie Boys accused. Another hissed, “It is the only way they could have escaped. You intended for them to escape...” “What?! No! I...” Alpha tried to plead with them. But they wouldn’t listen. “You’re conspiring against us!” One Beanie Boy wailed loudly. “You are a traitor!” “I’m not a traitor!” “Liar! You have betrayed us all! You filthy, deceitful beast!” A Beanie Boy grabbed onto Alpha’s shirt collar and yanked him forward. “You planned on this all along, didn’t you?! You couldn’t stand that Rho was in charge, so you plotted to get rid of him, didn’t you?!” The Beanie Boy pointed an accusing finger at Alpha, placing it between his eyes. “Don’t you dare try to deny it! We all know what you have been up to! And we will not let you get away with it!” He looked over his shoulder. “Will we?” The Beanie Boys behind him roared in approval. Alpha could feel his eyes widen at this and he squirmed harder. The Beanie Boy holding him grinned, tightening his grip on him. Alpha pulled his head back, clenching his teeth in fear as he and the Beanie Boy locked eyes with one another. “I think it’s time that we took a little trip...” sss Terry couldn’t help but smile, her lips spreading almost ear to ear. She couldn’t believe just how well things were going for her lately. True, there were still a bit more hurdles to get through, but for the most part, everything was working out just fine. She even got this woman to agree to help her, which was a major part of her new plan. It had been a little frustrating at first trying to get this woman to help her out. A few times when she thought she had agreed to do it, it seemed like Ming Long would backtrack and come up with something else to be uncertain about. It was quite annoying and frankly, Terry wasn’t really sure just how much more of it she could take before she would snap. She didn’t want to, and she had been doing her best to keep her temper in check. But with how long this woman kept this up, it was getting harder and harder to keep quiet. But at least they were here now. They had gotten this far. She had positioned her news van in the parking lot and Ming Long had already gone into the building. There was no fear of her getting kicked out. She had been specifically told not to mention her so that they didn’t know that she was involved. She was also told not to respond to anything she says; that would make them suspicious and they would realize that she had a hidden headset on her. She went over this a few times with Ming Long so that she understood. It was only after Ming Long could recite everything she told her that she was allowed to leave the van and enter the school. Now all Terry had to do was wait. This was so exciting. She couldn’t stop herself from smiling broadly. At last, she was able to move forth with a new plan, and this time, this plan wouldn’t even put her reputation on the line anymore, nor would it anger those stupid parents further. She wouldn’t have to touch Rudy or Penny this time. No, all she would have to do is sit here in the van and wait for Ming Long to register for a class. There was no guarantee that the class would be for today. The school might be very busy and they wouldn’t be able to squeeze in a classroom. However, there was still a chance that something might happen today and she wanted to be on full alert. And even if nothing was available today, at least this way, she would be prepared. Whichever the path, now or later, she was fully prepared for it. The hardest part was going to be containing her excitement about this. If she got too excited, she might end up slipping up. She did realize the stupidity of her bringing the news van too late. What if one of them had seen Ming Long coming out of her van? What if they told the principal? There was nothing that could be done about that at the moment. But still... she couldn’t believe she had been so stupid and parked right in there with the news van after her last encounter with the principal. She gritted her teeth. She was just going to have to hope and pray that this wasn’t going to get in her way. She wasn’t sure how long she was sitting here waiting, but it didn’t seem like it took too much more time before she could hear a click of static. It seemed that Ming Long was adjusting her head set so that she could listen in on what was going on. Terry gave a soft grin at this. She turned up the volume of ther walkie talkie so she could listen. She was careful not to say anything yet, as she did not want to confuse Ming Long. Plus she trusted that the woman had figured something out and knew what to say in order to get in. Soon the conversation began. It was the principal who spoke first. “Hello. I am Principal Stringent. As you can tell, I run this school. I see you are...Ming Long, is it?” “Yes, ma’am. I’m Ming Long, a famous artist.” “Ah, the dragon artist. Yes I think I heard of you once. Rudy Tabootie mentioned you. He had wanted to get you over here this one day, but you weren’t available.” “I see...That is disappointing.” Terry resisted the urge to growl softly. She hoped that Ming Long wasn’t going to waste her time talking about how ‘sad’ it is that she didn’t get to come to this school sooner. Right now, they had more important things to worry about. Thankfully, the two women didn’t spend too much more time on that subject and they had soon moved on. “What brings you here?” Ming Long said, “I was wondering if there was any way I could do a class today.” Principal Stringent was taken aback by this. “Today?!” “Yeah. I mean, I know it’s short notice and all..and I don’t know the protocol for this school..I mean...” Ming Long’s voice trailed off. Terry flinched at this. She hadn’t even spoken to the principal that long and already she had run into trouble. “So...do you have an opening?” “Well we usually don’t accept visiting teachers this late. We have a policy that you have to call at least a week in advance so that we know.” Principal Stringent explained. The tone of her voice showed that she was still surprised by this turn of events. Perhaps she had never needed to deal with people coming in this late, she supposed. “And there are some papers you have to fill out as well.” “I see... Well it is a shame then.” Ming Long sounded disappointed. The sigh she gave certainly gave off this impression. “Well I do apologize for wasting your time.” Terry narrowed her eyes. She had been doing a good job keeping quiet so far, but hearing Ming Long just about to quit like that... No, they weren’t giving up that easily. She hissed a low command into the walkie talkie. “Don’t you dare leave...” She did feel a little bad about how harsh it sounded. She didn’t mean to snip at Ming Long like that. It was just...after all the hard work they went through to get here, she just..didn’t want the woman to just leave so easily. They could still pull this off. She just had to keep trying. Surely Principal Stringent could something out. But what if she couldn’t? What if the only thing they could do was wait? Terry wasn’t sure how well that would work out. What if something happened in between that made this quite difficult? She didn’t know what Ming Long’s schedule was going to be like next week and the woman did admit that sometimes, she isn’t sure either. This might very well be the only free time she may have to come out here for a while. They would have to make it today, but the odds of that... Principal Stringent spoke up, interrupting her from her thoughts. “However, today is your lucky day.” Terry widened her eyes at this. She could hear Ming Long make a sound that indicated a ‘really’ type of question. Terry could feel her mouth start to curl up a little. Could fate really have shined upon her today? With what the principal said next, that certainly seemed like what had happened. “We were going to have a program today, but it had to be cancelled due to unforeseeable events.” Terry had to wonder what the principal meant by that. The principal didn’t elaborate further, much to her frustration. But what she said next was more interesting to her anyway. “So we do have an opening in Mr. Wilter’s class. He didn’t really have anything planned today in the afternoon because he thought that he was going to have someone over.” “Oh really? So what is he doing now?” Asked Ming Long. “I think he is probably just going to have the students read some other chapter in their science books.” Explained Principal Stringent. “But I will call him over the intercom and inform him of the change.” There was a thudding sound, which Terry believed was the mic. “He will probably be a little disappointed, as the program that we were supposed to have was related to something he would regard as ‘more productive.’” Principal Stringent gave a quick chuckle. “The man has no appreciation for the arts.” Ming Long said, “Well it’s not for everyone.” “Hold on. Let me call up Mr. Wilter and then you may go down.” Terry could feel her heart begin to race in excitement. In just a few moments, the plan was going to be underway. All she had to do was wait, and then she would guide Ming Long through the process. What to say, how to word it, and then she just needed to let the gosspi and rumors take over. Children spread things like wildfire. It wouldn’t take that long. And soon, Rudy and Penny are going to get some very interesting...visitors... sss “What?!” Skrawl’s voice boomed through the hallway. He winced a little as it echoed back in his ears, but he didn’t care. The only thing on his mind was on the Beanie Boy before him, held in place by the other Beanie Boys. He could see the looks of anger and anticipation on them, looking forward to the scolding that he was certainly going to give the Beanie Boy that they were holding. Skrawl did not pay much attention to them. His eyes were only on the one that they held. He narrowed his eyes into slits. He had already gotten angry at Alpha before. And just when he thought he had gotten over this anger with him, he did something else to just refuel that anger. Though in this case, it was something he didn’t do that infuriated the jellybean more. Alpha had claimed that the humans and Rho had fallen down the building. He claimed to have seen it happen. But he did still fail to go check to be sure. Skrawl always preferred that his Beanie Boys actually check things instead of assuming. By not going to down and looking, Alpha would not have seen for himself if they were dead or not. He didn’t even try following them and making sure that they didn’t land on something before they hit the ground. There was a chance that they were able to land in, say, a window ledge, but because Alpha didn’t actually check... Skrawl gritted his teeth tightly. Now they really didn’t have any idea where they were. It was anyone’s guess now where they could have landed, or if they had actually made it out into the city. Out here, away from his throne room, he didn’t really have any method to check. He needed access to his room in order to ‘see’ through the grey clouds. That would tell him if they were running across the open fields. But it still wasn’t foolproof. They could still move underground somehow. That would prevent him from seeing them. His grey clouds did not allow him to actually see through the ground, a fact that was rather frustrating for him. But there was nothing he could do about that. His powers did have limitations. At the present moment, thanks to Alpha’s negligence, he really had no way of knowing for certain just where Rudy and Penny were. He was blind to their presence. The thought amde his blood boil. He formed a fist with his hand, shaking it. If only he had remembered to put some kind of tag on them... That would have allowed him to keep tracking them. Sure there was a chance that they could figure out a way to remove them, and inserting a tracking device would not have lasted long with their Real World blood, but at least it would have given him some kind of chance in finding them. Oh if only Alpha hadn’t been such an idiot... “Just whose side are you on...?” Skrawl found himself growling at the shivering Beanie Boy. He didn’t bother giving Alpha any time to answer before he continued. “You knew how important this was to me...to us... You knew the protocols as well. Always be sure if your claims before you come to me. Yet what did you do?” He raised his hand up, curling his claws inward. “You allowed yourself to get distracted by your pride! You were so excited to tell me that you didn’t bother taking the time to make sure that they actually hit the bottom!” “I-I am sorry, s-s-sire...” Alpha whimpered, lowering his head. “I’m so sorry...” “Sorry isn’t going to change what happened!” Snapped Skrawl. The zoner’s pitiful attempts at an apology only enraged him more. “Because of your negligence, we have no idea where Rudy and Penny are now! They could be anywhere, and so could Rho! If you had just done your job and followed them, we would have had an idea of where they went! But now we don’t even know where we could begin!” “Yeah!” “Way to go, Alpha!” “You’re such an idiot!” Skrawl grew irritated by these insults and shot a glare at the other Beanie Boys. “Be quiet!” Immediately, the Beanie Boys stopped themselves from speaking. Skrawl turned his attention to Alpha. “I am very disappointed in you. Being the first member of the Beanie Boys means that you should know better than anyone the protocols. And yet it seems even you aren’t safe from allowing your own ego get in the way of what needs to be done...” Skrawl ignored how hypocritical he was being. It wasn’t like Alpha was the only one to let his ego get in the way of things. He himself had done that many times in the past. But he wasn’t about to admit it to his Beanie Boys, and they weren’t about to contradict him, either. They knew better when to point out his own faults. The jellybean glared into the frightened Beanie Boys’ eyes, struggling to figure out just what he was going to do with him. He didn’t really want to waste time punishing him, to be honest. That would only delay the time to go find Rudy and Penny, and that would just give those brats more time to get away. It was better that they acted quickly and take care of that little problem first. And then they could worry about dishing out punishment for Alpha’s negligence. Having wasted enough time standing around here, talking, Skrawl decided now was the best time to just get a move on. He didn’t want to give Rudy and Penny anymore time to get away. If he allowed them any more time to roam... He let out a soft growl. He couldn’t even count on them to show up under the grey swirling clouds; they already knew about that, he was pretty sure, and they would try to avoid it as much as possible. But he refused to give up. There would be a way to locate them. He didn’t know just how yet. It might take a while before he could figure out something. But sooner or later, he would recapture them. So long as they stayed out of his throne room, away from his power source, he was safe and sound, free to continue controlling the zoners to his heart’s content. At least he could rest assured that they didn’t get into his throne room. According to Alpha, they had dropped down from the trap he set up there. If they had fallen down that far, and he was certain they did, they would have a long way before they would ever reach the top. He had time. But not if he continued standing around here. “Come on. Let’s get a move on.” Skrawl said as he whirled himself around. “We can’t be wasting anymore time here. We need to get back to my throne room and...” “But sire...” One of the Beanie Boys protested. Skrawl turned his head to the side to look at him. “Aren’t you going to punish Alpha?” Skrawl looked at Alpha, who also seemed confused by his lack of punishment. “Hrmph. Not now. Later.” He looked at the other Beanie Boys. “We have something else that needs to be taken care of first. Understand?” The Beanie Boys nodded their heads. At first, they seemed satisfied. Skrawl turned his head to begin walking away towards his throne room, but then he heard the clearing of the throat of one of the Beanie Boys. Growling lowly, the jellybean turned his head around and looked over at them. He glared at them softly, his eyes already asking them just what else they wanted to say. “But shouldn’t you take care of him first?” Another Beanie Boy asked. He gestured his thumb towards where Alpha is. “He lied to us. He told us they fell and they weren’t there.” “Yeah, he’s obviously working for them!” Another wailed. Another one joined in. “We can’t let the traitor get away with this!” “What... Traitor?” Skrawl spluttered. He slapped himself in the face. “Oh please tell me you aren’t all idiots!” This comment immediately silenced the Beanie Boys, making them all look at him in confusion. Skrawl breathed in slowly, struggling to regain himself before he lost it. He didn’t want himself to lose his temper now, not with all that was going on. But he still couldn’t believe just how stupid these Beanie Boys were. Did they really think that Alpha would ever consider working for those two brats? Alpha might be negligent, but he was not a traitor to the cause. He wouldn’t ever think of accusing Alpha of trying to betray them because he knew he would never do such a thing. To think that these Beanie Boys were jumping to such conclusions... It took all his strength not to slap them each across the face. However, upon thinking that, another thought came to his mind. It took a while before it could be fully digested, but there was something that they could do that would be useful. He wasn’t sure why he didn’t think of it earlier. There just might be a way to get a good idea on just where Rudy and Penny had gone off to. Alpha might not have seen where they went after a certain point, but he did still see them fall down... That would give them at least an idea of just where they could have ended up, and use that information to try to surround them before they could get away. Hmm...but there was no guarantee that Alpha would remember exactly where they were. What they needed was a way to view his memories like a video... ...or someone who could view memories in that manner. He narrowed his eyes. He knew exactly where they needed to go. There was a little someone who could help them with this. And it wasn’t like this certain individual could say ‘no’ to him; this individual knew the consequences of such an action. “Let’s get going, Beanie Boys.” Skrawl said, his voice suddenly calm and tranquil. This quick shift confused the Beanie Boys, making them look at one another nervously, likely wondering what this change meant. Skrawl growled softly, “Come on, Beanie Boys! We have to pay Thoughtless a visit...” “Th-Thoughtless..?” Alpha spoke softly, a small squeak to his voice. “Why?” Skrawl paused and looked down at him. Alpha cringed away as if he thought he was going to be struck. Skrawl slowly smiled halfway, which only unnerved Alpha, as well as the other Beanie Boys, more. “We are going to see if you are speaking the truth...” He leaned in closer, staring at him right in the eyes only about two feet away. “...or if you really are a traitor...” Alpha gulped nervously at this as the other Beanie Boys sneered down at him. Without hesitation, they began on their way towards where Thoughtless was being held. It wasn’t like Skrawl actually believed Alpha did anything wrong. But saying that phrase did motivate the other Beanie Boys to move faster. He could see the excitement in their eyes. Some of the Beanie Boys enjoyed watching the beratement of other Beanie Boys a little too much. But if it worked to make them go faster, he was going to use it. At least they were now making progress, heading down the hallways even faster than before. Skrawl smirked as they neared the hallway that Thoughtless had been placed in. He couldn’t wait to see the look on the memotrice’s face when he came back to it. Thoughtless had never liked the fact that it was forced to be submissive to him. Thoughtless didn’t like being used like a toy. But for Skrawl, it was poetic justice. Thoughtless had tried using him before, controlling him, using him like its own personal slave. Now he got to do the same thing right back at it. He wondered just how the memotrice felt, if it had any regrets for using him like it had. He pushed those thoughts aside as they reached its enclosure. He lifted up his arm, silently telling the Beanie Boys to stay back so he could speak to Thoughtless alone. He would rather confront the memotrice on his own. It was a way of showing the foul beast just how much control he had over it, to have no fear of confronting it alone. “Well well... Looks like I am going to need you for another ‘favor’, Thoughtless...” Skrawl waited for some kind of comeback from the memotrice. But nothing happened. He frowned slightly at this, noting how strange it was. But he didn’t think too much of it and he continued. “You might as well just agree to it now. You know that you won’t be able to get me to change my mind. So why bother fighting?” Still nothing. Skrawl narrowed his eyes. He wasn’t sure what kind of game Thoughtless was pulling. But he wasn’t going to allow Thoughtless to get to him like this. He wasn’t fully in front of the cage yet so he couldn’t see just where Thoughtless was. Probably in the corner trying to ignore his words. He scoffed at this. It might be able to ignore his words, but it would not be able to ignore him for much longer. He would make sure that it paid attention to him. “I know you are trying to ignore me. I know you feel about your predicament. You have no one to blame but yourself. We could have been good business partners. But you just had to go screw it up, didn’t you?” Skrawl growled softly. He could feel his blood heat up when the zoner still refused to answer him. He formed a fist with his hand and shot it out at his side. “Well? Aren’t you going to answer me, you feathered freak?!” Skrawl didn’t give Thoughtless any time to respond. He had enough of this zoner’s bullshit. He immediately rounded in front of the cage, glaring at where he knew Thoughtless would be... ..only to see that the cage was empty... sss Rudy wasn’t really sure how much he liked this idea. He couldn’t help but feel sickened with the thought of actually doing this with a zoner, another living being. He would never wish this fate upon anyone, not even one of his own enemies. Sure, Rho was not the nicest person around, but to have something like this done to him... He didn’t know if he could willingly go through with it. And yet Thoughtless did bring up a good case. It had told them all that it could search through Rho’s mind to gather information regarding the general layout of this place. It could even make Rho believe that he had been betrayed by Skrawl, implanting just enough false memories to accomplish this. By using this method, they may be able to finally get out of here and having Rho lead them the whole time. He still felt uncomfortable with the idea. But Thoughtless did promise to not change more than what was necessary for this to work. It also had promised to release Rho once they had gotten a way out and were far enough away that it wouldn’t matter if Rho was freed or not. He still wished there was another way for this to work. And a part of him didn’t know if he could fully trust Thoughtless’s word on this whole thing. But in the end, he did ultimately agree that this might be their best chance to get out of here undetected. That didn’t, however, mean that he wanted to sit around and watch this take place. He had moved away from Thoughtless when it had approached Rho. The Beanie Boy had recently been treated by Penny to the best of her ability. It wasn’t much, but it would be good enough for now. After she was done, Thoughtless strode towards him, and that’s when Rudy backed out. Most of the others stayed to watch. Including Blocky and Howdy, which surprised him. He guessed that their curiosity got the better of them, or perhaps they were just interested in seeing a little bit of payback against a Beanie Boy... No, probably not that. He couldn’t imagine them liking to watch another zoner suffer. But then, after what Rho put them through, perhaps he shouldn’t be all that surprised. The only one who joined him back here was Penny. The girl had pressed her back against the wall and leaned against it. Her face was pointed away from him, her eyes facing outward. Rudy looked over at her, seeing the solemn look in her eyes. He could tell that she was thinking the same thing. He wasn’t the only one who was uncomfortable with the idea of controlling a zoner in this manner. Penny had been quite disturbed as well. Though she was quicker to agree to it than he was, she did not enjoy it anymore than he did. Which is to say, not at all. It was a sickening thing, allowing a zoner’s mind to be changed just for the benefit of getting out. Yet from what they had learned, they realized they had to do whatever they could to help free ChalkZone. If that meant temporarily breaking their moral code by letting another zoner get messed with like this, then so be it. They weren’t happy with it, but...they had no choice. It was so eerily silent... Rudy had to wonder just what kind of progress the memotrice was making. How far had it gone with changing the zoner’s memories? Was it even still doing that now or did it stop? It was difficult to say, since he could not hear the power’s sounds and back here, he could not even see the look in Thoughtless’s eyes. There was no telling unless he looked...and he felt reluctant to do that. Even though Rho was unconscious, he just...couldn’t bring himself to turn his head and risk seeing the look in that zoner’s eyes as his memories were being changed. Rudy realized just how lucky he was to have never have to experience that. He shuddered to think just what it would look like, to watch the memotrice forcibly change the memory of another zoner. He could already feel his gut twisting up tightly at the mere thought of it. All the while, the same question would plague his mind. What if it happened to him...? Thoughtless had claimed earlier that it could not change the memories of humans. He and Penny had never been any danger of that...or so the memotrice said. Rudy couldn’t help but wonder if the zoner had been lying to them so that it could strike them later after their little truce was over. He would not put it above the zoner to do something like that. The thought sent chills through his body. Rudy let out a soft sigh, shutting his eyes. Well, at least this was all going to be over soon. Eventually, they would be able to stop Skrawl, save ChalkZone, and leave. They would be reunited with their parents and.. Their parents... Rudy gritted his teeth. He wondered just how they were doing. They must be so worried about them. Waiting by the chalkboard, waiting for them to return, waiting to embrace them... Rudy wished he could be there to embrace them, to reassure them that he was all right, that he and Penny were okay. Yet there was nothing he could do about that. Not while he was trapped here. And all their parents could do was wait for them to return. Oh how painful that waiting must be... <It is done.> The two children were startled by this sudden speech. They turned their heads quickly and they were just in time to see Thoughtless coming around the bend, or rather, around the dog-faced zoenr, and came up towards them. The sight of it did cause the two children to frown. This was, after all, still one of their enemies. They couldn’t just forget what it had done to them in the past. There was no way that they could, although Thoughtless didn’t really appear surprised by this. They had made their discomfort rather obvious and yet the zoner didn’t really comment on it. Irritating, but at least it also didn’t try to force them to accept it as an ally so easily. At least it understood that much. <It will still take a little while before he wakes up. But once he does, he should believe that he is on our side.> Thoughtless explained despite not being asked any sort of question. <When he does wake up, we should give him some time and let him adjust. It will still take a little while before the new memories I gave him will go into full effect.> “And you are sure you didn’t change too much?” Penny spoke up. “You only changed what was required?” She raised an eyebrow as she said this. Thoughtless nodded its head. <Affirmative. I promise you that I did not screw around with his memories too much.> Rudy folded his arms against his chest. “And how can we be certain of that?” Thoughtless merely shrugged its shoulders a little. <I cannot convince you of anything. You and I both know that.> Rudy remained silent at this. He knew that the memotrice spoke the truth. <But let us not dwell on that.> The bird-like zoner shifted its head back where Rho was, leaning against the wall. <Let us just wait for him to wake up and see if it worked.> Although Rudy didn’t like the dismissive nature of Thoughtless’s statement, he nonetheless agreed to this, nodding his head. He didn’t really want to argue with the zoner and try to make it prove that it was speaking the truth. It would be impossible to determine that, even when Rho woke up. He shouldn’t dwell on it too much and instead focus on waiting for the Beanie Boy to wake up and see if the plan was going to work or not. Despite the fact that the memory alteration had been finished, Rudy still felt rather strange about looking at Rho, causing him to freeze. The expression that he gave...well it was the same one that he had been making before. But somehow, it just seemed...different. Rudy couldn’t really pinpoint why. Was it because he knew that Rho had been changed? Was he mentally imagining the facial expressions that the zoner might have made during the changing process? It was very well possible. He tried to shake those thoughts out of his mind as he and Penny slowly approached him. Blocky and Howdy looked at them, acknowledging their presence, before they turned their gaze back to Rho. Zebin, with Rapsheeba riding it, were a bit further away, watching from a distance. Rudy and Penny took position on one side of Rho and glued their feet there, waiting for him to wake up. <What are you all doing? Back up!> Thoughtless scolded them, raising a clawed wing up in gesture. <Give him some breathing room!> “Yeah like you care...” Grumbled Blocky. Nonetheless, he and Howdy did move back away from Rho’s unconscious form. Rudy could understand why the two zoners had reacted that way, but he was still glad to see them moving away without causing much of a fuss. That was the last thing they needed right now. He and Penny did likewise, backing up to give Rho a bit of space for when he did wake up. He realized that Thoughtless was correct. If they stood too close to the zoner, they might cause some problems for Rho, and that would only complicate their present situation. His thoughts were interrupted when he noticed that Rho was starting to move. Without thinking, he leaned in slightly, his eyes glued to the now moving form. He could feel others’ eyes upon the same zoner. They were all watching, waiting, to see the moment of truth. To see if Thoughtless kept his word and to see if Rho was going to be an ally...or if he was going to remain an enemy. Soon, Rho opened up his eyes. Not all at once. They fluttered first. Then the Beanie Boy gave out a small groan and he pushed himself away from the wall that he had been leaned against. He raised up his hand and pressed it against himself, his fingers running through his hair. His stumped arm was pressed against the wall for support. After a few moments, the Beanie Boy took a look around, getting bearings on his location. Slowly, he opened up his mouth to speak. But what he said next too them all by surprise. “...how did I get into a chalk world...?” Rudy blinked a few times, confusion washing over him. He looked at the others. They all looked as perplexed as he did, especially Penny. Rudy turned his head and he glared in Thoughtless’s direction. His mind echoed with the same question: Just what the hell did the memotrice do to Rho’s mind? What did it change? |
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Post by Bluedramon on Sept 18, 2015 17:04:05 GMT -5
Chapter 60: “How did I get here?!” Wailed Rho. “I shouldn’t be here! Let me go!” “Hold on! You’re not in any danger!” Shouted Blocky. “Yeah!” Howdy held on even tighter. “Just stop squirming and...” Despite their dest efforts, it was clear that nothing they did was giong to settle down Rho. If anything, it was going to make him act even worse. This caused tension to rise up in the air. They were fine before as they didn’t make loud enough noise to draw attention to themselves. But if they didn’t get Rho under control... Rudy knew something had to be done. He didn’t want to have to knock out Rho if they could find another way. The zoner had already been injured enough with his missing hand. He didn’t need anything else to worry about. Having something be done to him that would limit his movements might freak him out and his thrashing would just become a bigger and bigger problem. Just how were they supposed to settle down a panicking zoner? But he also knew that if they didn’t do something soon, Rho’s actions were going to attract attention to them. No doubt a Beanie Boy would eventually pass by close enough and Rho’s screaming was only going to make things worse for them. They needed to find a way to settle him down and quickly. He was thankful that Penny had a solution. A more non-violent type as well, which he liked. She suggested simply giving him a mild sedative. One that was strong enough to slow down his movements so Howdy and Blocky could more easily restrain him. While Rudy would have preferred a method that didn’t involve sticking anything inside the zoner, it was better than his previous idea, which was just to strike the Beanie Boy in the head and hope that it knocked him out and not kill him. Such an action would have been too risky, anyway and he didn’t want to give the Beanie Boys even more reason not to like him. Drawing the needle while Rho was screaming was not easy. He could barely keep up his concentration. The fear rising up inside of him was also a pretty good distractor. He could feel his stomach burning in toxins as he struggled not to panic, not to allow his eyes to dart around to look for any sign of Skrawl or the Beanie Boys coming. He focused his pupils on drawing the needle alone. When it had been created, he turned his attention to Rho. Blocky and Howdy were still holding onto him. But it was clear that, with how much trouble they had hanging on it him, they may not be able to hold him down long enough to be able to pull this off. The needle might bend and break while he attempted to use it on him. He needed some way to keep him more still so this could be done without too many problems. He turned towards Penny and gave her a small nod. Penny returned the nod and headed over. With Penny joining in, it seemed that Rho was being held a little more still. It wasn’t perfect as he still jolted from side to side. But it would have to do. He thought about asking Zebin or one of the beasts, but he felt their presence might scare Rho more and the thrashing would only increase. He didn’t want Rho to have a heart attack. To prevent Rho having to feel so much fear for too long, Rudy decided to do this really quickly. He barely hesitated as he rushed in as swiftly as he could. He positioned himself next to Rho’s side and knelt down. He looked around for an area to target, and he soon settled on his arm, which had some skin exposed. He gripped it tightly with one hand and used the same hand holding the needle to bunch up the sleeve to expose more skin. He looked around for a place to target but realized he couldn’t remember exactly where it needed to go. Not wanting to waste time asking, Rudy simply guessed. It took only seconds for the needle to enter Rho’s arm, the needle piercing into his skin. He could hear the Beanie Boy give a yelp of pain and jerk away from him. Rudy quickly pushed the end down, inserting the fluids into the squirming zoner’s body. He pulled it out and backed away. Rudy and the two zoners still hung onto him, and they all waited for the effects to take place. It took a bit longer than they had hoped. But slowly and surely, after about ten to fifteen minutes, the drug began to take effect. Rho’s thrashing decreased and his cries died down. His breathing became less erratic. His eyes became a little droopy. Soon, he was fully relaxed on the ground. Not asleep or unconscious, but a little out there, as though he were caught in some kind of daydream. Hearing the zoner breathing more calmly was definitely a welcome thing after what had just happened. Rudy stared at Rho for a few moments. Despite him being the enemy, he still couldn’t help but feel a little bad for him. Not only did he lose his hand, but he had to wake up to this, all confused and uncertain of just what went on. Freaking out and then having a couple of people try to restrain him...no wonder he reacted the way he had. And it was all because of... ...of it... Rudy glared in the direction of the memotrice. This was all its fault... The fact that the memotrice was staring at him in confusion only made his blood heat up more. Rudy knew for a fact taht this zoner was responsible for this. It was the one who had been messing with the Beanie Boy’s memory. It had been the one who change some memories while claiming it was just trying to get him on their side. But if there were the case, why did the Beanie Boy say what he had when he had woken up? The Beanie Boy had lived his whole life in ChalkZone. Why would he be confused that he was in this world? Why would he think that he came from the Real World? That made absolutely no sense unless Thoughtless had did much more than it had claimed it would do. Rudy gritted his teeth at this. No doubt Thoughtless was going to try to deny its actions. He should have known that it couldn’t be trusted. Leave it to Thoughtless to try to have a little ‘fun’ even while trying to ‘help them’. <Look, I know what you are thinking.> Thoughtless spoke up, raising a wing. <And you have the wrong idea.> “I do?” Rudy raised an eyebrow in suspicion. “Why should I believe you?” Thoughtless let out a low hiss through its beak. <I did not make him believe he lived in the Real World. Why would I do that? It’s not beneficial to our survival right now.> “Perhaps not. But I wouldn’t put it past you.” Rudy narrowed his eyes into slits. He had very little reason to trust Thoughtless about this. He had very little reason to believe that it was speaking the truth. Thoughtless took a step closer. <I did not do it. He was already like that when I began to use my powers on him.> Thoughtless looked down at the Beanie Boy, gritting its teeth slightly. <I am a little uncertain of what actually caused it, but my guess is it has something to do with that red shard he used to have.> Rudy tilted his head at this. “Red shard?” <Yes. Notice he doesn’t have one anymore? Isn’t that strange?> “It’s speaking the truth.” Penny said. “I didn’t see any on him.” “Neither did we.” Affirmed Howdy. Rudy looked back down at Rho, finding it hard to believe that he would be missing that device. He had always carred it around with him. But lo and behold, when he glanded down to see where the device was, he found that it was indeed gone. Nowhere in sight... As much as he hated to admit it, Thoughtless did have a point. It was odd that Rho didn’t have the red shard thing anymore. He would have thought that he’d carry it with him everywhere, using it to torment other zoners or to defend himself. But here, it was gone. That was rather strange and he struggled to think of just what might have caused that. Did Rho simply drop it somewhere...? But if that’s the case, then what made him drop it? Then something clicked in his mind. Could it have something to do with his missing hand? Rudy stared down at Rho once more, his eyes scanning over his now relaxed body. Yes, that hand was the same one that he normally used to hold the red shardr weapon. Was there a connection to this? Could the red shard have been the one to.... His eyes wide, he turned to stare over at Penny. From the look in her eyes, it seemed like she had come up with the same conclusion as well. “Y-You don’t think...?” Penny stared at him in silence, her eyes shining with concern. “I..don’t know...” “What is going on? What are you two talking about?” Rapsheeba called out. “Yeah I am interested as well.” Zebin motioned a clawed hoof in their direction. “What has you all so worried?” Rudy clenched his teeth. He wasn’t sure how he was going to word it. Thankfully, it seemed Penny already figured something out. “That red shard might have had something to do with Rho’s missing arm here.” Penny explained. She motioned her hand towards where Rho’s stump was. “But not only that, it might also be the reason why Rho seems to believe that he is from the Real World. That red shard might have done...something to him to make him forget.” Silence fell upon the room at this realization. They all looked at one another, letting this all sink in. They clenched their teeth tightly. Of all the news...this was one they had hoped they’d never have to hear. There was no proof that the red shard did anything, but...what if it did? Now they were likely dealing with a brand new villain. One that they knew very little about. How were they going to combat this? There was even more than that. With his gut twisting, Rudy realized that Rho may not be as useful anymore. If his memory had been already altered by this red shard, or by something else, then how were they going to use his memory to find their way out of this? He might not even know anymore. He probably completely forgot about this life here, and that was going to be problematic. How were they going to get out of here now? Rudy didn’t want to give up, however. Despite how the situation was looking right now, he was certain that there was something that they could still try. It might not be very easy to pull it off, but... There was always another way out of a tough situation. He just needed to look for something else. If Rho can’t help them, then... Then perhaps Thoughtless could. He nearly hissed at the idea. He still couldn’t help but wonder if Thoughtless did really do something to Rho. Not to mention its past actions against them made him rather wary about having it around at all, a sentiment shared by everyone, including Rapsheeba, who had supposedly been helped by this creature. And yet he could not forget that Thoughtless could still read minds like a book. Perhaps while it was changing the memories, it must have seen...something about regarding a way out, right? Maybe it would have spotted something. Another passageway. Anything. <Why are you looking at me that way?> Thoughtless spoke up. Rudy didn’t answer. <Don’t play dumb with me. I saw the way you had stared at me. Tell me...> Thoughtless moved another step closer. <You going to blame me for something else? Or are you actually going to figure something out that we could use? You know...actually be useful?> Rudy narrowed his eyes at the memotrice’s attitude. But instead of snarking back, he managed to keep himself under control. He didn’t want to waste anymore time arguing, and he didn’t think anyone else wanted to, eiether. Besides, if Thoughtless were really planning on something, it would have made a move by now, right? Then again... He shook the thought out of his head and he said, “Did you find anything useful out?” <What do you mean?> “Well, you did search through his mind, right?” Rudy raised up his hands at his side. “Well perhaps you could use that to figure something out? Maybe you could figure out any secret passageways or something?” Thoughtless tilted its head to one side. It raised up a wing and rubbed it against its chin. <Possibly...> It looked back at Rudy. <I am not really sure how well that would work, though. I don’t recall seeing anything like that when I altered his mind. I didn’t exactly dig in that deep; I was only changing a recent memory.> “Then maybe you could look through again? Maybe you would find something else?” Suggested Rudy. “I’m..not sure if it would be a good idea to mess with Rho’s mind right now, Rudy.” Penny said softly, her teeth clenched in nervousness. “After what he’s been through, I think it’s best to leave him alone for a little while.” <Yes and besides, looking through memories behind a fake memory wall isn’t that easy to do. I would have to weed my way through and that might not be so pleasant for the individual involved.> Thoughtless narrowed one of its eyes as it looked over at Rho. <I don’t think we need another screaming session with him.> Rudy let out a disappointed sigh. “I was so sure that we could...” Suddenly a soft sound stopped him from continuing. He could see movement in the corner of his eyes. Lifting his head, he saw that everyone, minus the beasts and of course Rho, were all looking at one particular direction. Turning his head over, he could see just what they were looking at. Or rather, who. Snap, who had been resting on the ground, had started to stir. Immediately, a rush of emotion went through Rudy’s body. A part of him was excited to see his friend awake once more. But another couldn’t help but feel nervous. He had no idea what to expect when Snap fully awakened, and there was a chance that he would immediately lash out at them. He looked down at his magic chalk. He recalled that he had removed Snap’s binding ropes before so he could be laid down more comfortably. Plus at the time it looked like he wasn’t going to wake up for a while. But now that he was.... He knew what had to be done. sss He didn’t know how long he had been staring at the empty cage. He was unaware of what time had passed by. He wasn’t even aware of the Beanie Boys floating there, staring at him in confusion. The only thing that Skrawl was aware of was the empty cage itself. That, and the emotions that were raging through him right now. Skrawl seethed in and out slowly, struggling to prevent himself from snapping. Letting his anger get the better of him right now would be a terrible thing; it would only distract him from doing what was necessary. But it sure was a difficult emotion to control and he could feel himself shaking and shivering. He could feel his teeth gnashing together his hands forming into tight fists. He felt as though he would attack someone if they did so much as just look at them. He seethed through his clenched teeth as he struggled to make sense of what happened. His mind ached and pounded as he sifted through his memories, trying to see if there was something that he had missed before. A small detail that would have revealed to him just how and why the cage was empty. But of course, nothing came up. All that happened was he worsened his headache and his anger only increased further, frustration spreading through his very core. Just...how was this possible? How could this have happened? He locked up Thoughtless well and tight in here, and he even had made sure that the memotrice listened and responded to him. Thoughtless was his toy now and he made sure that the puny little zoner realized this. Had he not broken it enough? Was there still a bit of rebellion left inside that zoner that allowed it to turn against him? To make its own escape despite knowing the consequencs? Skrawl gritted his teeth at this. If that is the case, then whenever he saw Thoughtless again, whenever he recaptured it, he was going to work even harder to break its mind. Even if that meant torturing it within an inch of its life...whatever worked to keep that disgusting little creature obedient and submissive to him. The question was though...where was he going to look? He couldn’t turn to a surveillance system. He had been so confident in his powers that he didn’t think there was any need for it. Back then, it seemed like a practical decision, but now, he wanted to kick himself for thinking such a thing. He had felt like such an idiot for overlooking an important aspect to having a castle of his own. Why didn’t he build that fucking surveillance system? Now, because of his overconfidence, he had nothing to go on. The grey clouds can’t see what’s inside the building. He would not be able to find that little bird creature. It could have slipped into the crevices of the walls and, for all he knew, it was already on its way out. And it knew about the swirling cloud ‘camera’s, too. It would know to avoid them, so it would likely to underground immediately and not surface until much further away, in an area that he hadn’t yet controlled. There was really only one chance now of finding Thoughtless and that was hope that it had gotten outside, and then using his throne room to figure out at what point it disappeared into and try to guess the direction. Or, even better, simply following the path it created and hoping that it wasn’t smart enough to create some kind of diversion path. Before Skrawl could give any sort of order, however, he paused himself, realizing that he didn’t yet know what he was going to do. Was he going to go after Thoughtless? Or should he focus on finding Rudy and Penny? He narrowed his eyes, scratching his chin thoughtfully. Well, Thoughtless was quite a prize itself as its powers did come in handy. But Rudy and Penny were a bigger target, and they posed the most threat towards him and his kingdom. Perhaps he should target them first and worry about getting Thoughtless later. But then Thoughtless could change memories, and it could wreak havoc on him that way and... This decision was going to be harder than he thought. And he most certainly didn’t want to waste too much time figuring this stuff out. If they didn’t have a plan soon, if he didn’t put it into motion soon enough, he was just giving his enemies more time to escape. The last thing he needed, especially after the revelation that Thoughtless had slipped from his grasp, was something else to go wrong. Although he still wasn’t entirely sure of a plan, the first thing he knew that needed to be done was finding them. He looked over at the Beanie Boys, who were floating there, blinking, waiting for him to speak. He narrowed his eyes softly as he struggled to think of what to do. Normally, he would just have them all split up into groups to try to find their targets. Grouping had always been a good idea in the past as it allowed them to have backup with them for when they confronted some of their targets. It was also more intimidating, especially when more than one Beanie Boy raised their red shard weapons. By keeping them in groups, this also allowed them to more easily apprehend their adversaries, overwhelming them by attacking in multiple directions. There was a saying that two heads were better than one, and in this case, that happened to be true. But in this situation, considering the circumstances, doing this might not be such a good idea. He didn’t know where to begin looking and he had no idea if they were all staying together in one group or if they were separated. Right now, he just wanted them all located. Once they were, they could be followed quietly and their coordinates given through some means of communication, like the walkie talkies that he had designed. In this situation, there was a solution that he normally didn’t like doing, but in this case, it was definitely the better option. “Beanie Boys! Split up and find them!” Skrawl shouted at them. He pointed a long, sharp claw at them, wincing as he fought against the pain as he kept himself standing up straight. “All of you, go your own way and search! If you find anything at all, let me know!” The Beanie Boys stared at their boss for a few moments. They glanced at each other. Then they turned back to him and they nodded their heads quickly, saluting their boss before they flew off. Skrawl was glad to see that they temporarily let go of their anger towards Alpha as they rushed off. That...would have been pretty troublesome. After they left, Skrawl turned his attention back to the empty cage. He didn’t say it to the Beanie Boys, but he did intend on joining in on this search. After what has happened recently, he felt the need to offer his own assistance. And besides, one more set of eyes looking for them wouldn’t hurt, would it? And he also looked forward to the look in their eyes, any of their eyes, when he shows up in person to take them away. He smirked at this. That would be so lovely... But..just what was he going to do anyway? He didn’t have any idea of how to find them. He could just go off on a random direction like the Beanie Boys did. But..no..he didn’t want to do that. He didn’t want to waste his time wandering around aimlessly. That would just...no. He had to think of something better. Something that he had never thought of before. It took a while, but something did click in his mind. He looked down at his hand, raising it up as sparks of electricity shot through it, wrapping around him and creating a thin layer of electricity. It kept making sparking sounds, making him sound like he was some kind of walking, malfunctioning outlet. He raised his arm up a little higher moving it slowly from side to side. After a while, he did feel something, like a sting from one direction. Faint, but still there. And when he looked, he saw that there was a Beanie Boy there. Skrawl smiled darkly at this. So...this ability did work after all... He guessed he shouldn’t be surprised, considering that his powers were electrical-based. Still, he was surprised that he hadn’t tried this before. The ability to detect the electrical pulses of other living individuals... This power was going to come in handy. Skrawl still had to choose a random direction, however. With the Beanie Boys taking the other directions, he decided to head in the opposite direction. He moved at a steady pace, keeping his arm held out as he continued trying to detect any unusual pulses against his arm. It might not be perfect, but it still provided him with something close to a radar that could help him find where those annoying fugitives had gotten off to. Then he felt something. Very faint. Much more than the Beanie Boy from earlier. But this felt different...almost like it came from another zoner... His teeth bared into a nasty grin as he realized that this must have come from one of his enemies. He let out a low chuckle, hoping that those fugitives, whichever one he was about to locate, was ready for him to show up. Oh they best be prepared... He didn’t hesitate a moment longer. Keeping his arm held out like some metal detector, Skrawl picked up the pace, despite his pain, and moved down the hallway. sss “And that’s why I had to keep you tied up...” Rudy spoke softly. His head was lowered in shame. “I...hope you understand.” Snap looked down at the ropes that wrapped around his body. Although he didn’t like this too much, he couldn’t really complain. He looked up at Rudy and gave him a small smile. “Oh don’t worry, Bucko. I..I understand...” A part of Snap wished that things could have been a little different. He wished that the others trusted him enough to not have to be in ropes. He wished that he could just move around on his own and not have to be carried by someone. He didn’t like being treated like some kind of prisoner. He couldn’t help but feel a little insulted by all of this. Here he was, Rudy’s greatest creation, laying against the wall with his arms tied behind his back. How peachy... But then again, it wasn’t like he could fully blamet hem. Desite his anger, he couldn’t bring himself to complain about the current conditions. Rudy and Penny did both have a reason not to trust him too much right away, despite still considering him their friend. He had been altered by Thoughtless after all, tricked into believing that they were his enemies. He had done some pretty nasty things to them. It made sense that they’d keep him tied up like this unitl further notice. He twisted himself around a little bit. The ropes were a tad tight on him. He gritted his teeth as he tried to handle the tightness of the ropes. He wished Rudy hadn’t tied them so tightly... But then, did he have a choice? For all Rudy knew, he would have just lashed out at them the moment that he woke up. None of them had any reason to think that he may have recovered, mostly, from Thoughtless’s brainwashing. So for the time being, this was going to have to do. Snap had been assured that, once enough time had passed and they believed that he wouldn’t harm them, they would untie him. And the fact that Skrawl had tricked them...well that certainly didn’t do them any favors. It was no wonder Rudy and Penny were being extra cautious with him this time around. They must really think there was a chance that he had actually led them to a trap on purpose. He felt his heart sting at this, but that was just the way it had to be for now. He was glad to be awake finally, even if it was like this. He couldn’t even remember how he got knocked out. He remembered there was some kind of fight with Skrawl and the Beanie Boys...and some kind of virtual dragon thing. He recalled joining the fight, and then he got struck in the back of the head by a Beanie Boy, didn’t he? The back of his head was aching. That certainly seemed like that would have happened. Well whatever the cause, it did result in him being knocked out for a while. Now he woke up to...this. Needless to say, he was really confused for the first couple minutes that he was awake. He had attempted to struggle, thinking that he had been captured. It was only when Rudy and Penny spoke to him that he begun to calm down and they explained the situation to him. He had been quite happy to learn that they had gotten away from Skrawl and were presently in a relatively safe area. The further away they were from that creepazoid, the better. It did upset him that they were both injured and had to be bandaged up, but he was glad to see that they were still able to move around. The situation with the dragon, from what he remembered, could have been so much worse. He had to admit, though, he did not like the idea of being around Thoughtless or Rho. As soon as he heard that these two were here, he couldn’t help but grit his teeth tightly. The large beasts made him nervous enough despite being assured that they were on their side. But to have two enemies here, both who not only worked for Skrawl but were major players for the jellybean, it was just...unprecedented... He had struggled not to say anything for a while. Even now, he could feel his nervousness clawing its way up while he continued to push it back down, not wanting his nervousness to get the better of him. He didn’t want to divert any attention away from figuring out just what they were going to do. He could tell that Rudy and Penny were trying to figure out what they were going to do next. They might be safe for the time being, but how knows how long that was going to last? Still, he couldn’t really keep himself silent for long. Just..how could he? There was no way he could keep silent on this. The fact that there were two enemies here...this needed to be addressed. This couldn’t be just pushed to the side like this. They couldn’t pretend to think that this was a good idea. Not that he really believed Rudy and Penny would think that allying so quickly with two enemies was a light decision. But still...what had possessed them to bring these two along? What had been the deciding factor in this? After remaining silent for long enough, he finally decided to speak up. “So...” He flinched when he realized his voice sounded a little bitter. He struggled to keep the tone more under control, though even when he continued to speaking, a tinge of that tone remained. “What are Thoughtless and Rho doing here?” At this, they all looked at one another, exchanging expressions. Some frowns, others confusion, others uncertainty. Judging from this, Snap could already tell that this wasn’t a lightly made decision. Just as he thought. But he still had to wonder just what had prompted the decision in the first place. Were they going to tell him or were they going to leave him in the dark? Rudy and Penny were the first to look back at him. They bit their lips, looking like they were struggling to figure out just how to answer that question for him. Snap understood why, so he kept himself silent as he waited for an answer. He didn’t care if it was a long one or a short one, just so long as they explained enough so that he understood what was going on. The sooner they explained it to him, the better, and he was certain that they thought this as well. “Well...it’s not an easy thing to explain. It...took us by surprise as well.” Rudy said, being the first one to speak. He rubbed the back of his head nervously. “Even I am not so sure this was a really smart idea.” “But you know how things can go, right? You often take paths you don’t think you ever would. This is very much that. An unexpected route that none of us could have foreseen.” Penny added. Snap nodded. “Uh huh...” He leaned a little closer, narrowing his eyes. “You still haven’t told me exactly why they are here.” He was growing a tad irritated by this delaying. Rudy let out a soft sigh. “Okay... I’ll tell you.” He looked behind him, glancing at the others. “I don’t think you would want to hear it from them.” Snap shook his head. Rudy stared at him and gave a sigh. “Okay then.” Snap leaned in a little closer, getting ready to listen to what Rudy had to say. The pause before the boy actually began to speak was a little irritating, and he found himself slightly gritting his teeth in annoyance. However, he didn’t have to wait too long before Rudy began to tell him just what was going on. “I will explain one at a time. First, Thoughtless. We didn’t actually plan on letting it join, and we had hoped we wouldn’t have to deal with it. However, when we arrived here after escaping a Beanie Boy trying to attack us...” Rudy paused for a moment, shuddering. Snap could see the fear in his eyes. Rudy managed to shake off the feeling and he continued, “Anyway, we ran into Rapsheeba here. She told us that Thoughtless had helped her to escape. We don’t know why yet.” <It is because I do not like what Skrawl did with this place.> Muttered Thoughtless. The annoyance on his voice suggested that he had already told this before and didn’t like having to repeat himself. “Yes, there is that.” Rudy said, acknowledging in that sentence that indeed Thoughtless already told them about this. Nonetheless, he didn’t dwell on it for long. Looking back into Snap’s curious eyes, he said, “Then for Rho, we ran into him first, before we came down this way. We found him falling unconscious after...something happened to him. We don’t know what yet. His hand was destroyed and he was bleeding to death.” “We couldn’t just leave him there. That felt so..wrong.” Penny said, stepping up in Rudy’s place to explain the rest of the story. “I didn’t feel right about just leaving him there, in spite of what he had done. So...in short we helped him and took him with us.” Snap raised an eyebrow up. “You would help someone who had tried to harm you before?” Penny blinked at him. “Well..we helped you, didn’t we?” Snap felt a sharp sting in his chest at this. Even though he understood Penny’s point, it still hurt him. It forced him to remind himself that he did actually hurt his friends in the recent past. It reminded him that he had done terrible things himself. And it also forced him to realize that Rudy and Penny had been placing in him in the same boat as Rho and Thoughtless. Someone who could be dangerous. Someone who had to be taken lightly. And yet, like with Rho, they still decided to help him. For Rho, it might have been just a ‘it’s the right thing to do’, but for him, it was the fact that he was still considered a friend. Between him and Rho, he was the one they would have most likely helped if forced to choose. That was something he understood quite well. But still, that didn’t stop his chest from stinging from Penny’s comment. It didn’t stop him from leaning back away from her and Rudy, a shameful expression plastering over his face. Even when they looked at him sympathetically, their eyes shining with understanding due to just what had happened, Snap still couldn’t remove the shameful expression that had dominated across his face. Penny let out a soft sigh and said, “Well anyway, we kept Rho around partly because we feel that he would be useful to us.” “You see, it was suggested by Thoughtless over there that we could use Rho to help us get out of here. He would know his way around, and he would be able to provide useful information.” Rudy said. Snap gave a small glare at this. “Yes, I know. But we decided to give it a shot. We allowed Thoughtless to start changing Rho’s memory.” The thought of this disgusted Snap. Though a part of him could understand why, and just how his friends would be so desperate, he still couldn’t help but curl his lips back at this. He just couldn’t believe that they would allow this to happen. Of all the things they had done before, this was probably one of the most disturbing that he’s ever heard of. He couldn’t help but hold his stomach lightly, fighting back the uncomfortable feeling of toxins rising up inside of him. He never thought he would ever think this, but he realized that he was feeling bad for Rho. He tried to push the feeling aside, but it was impossible. Despite any misgivings he had towards the Beanie Boy, he couldn’t help but feel sorry for what was done to him. Having your mind altered was not a pleasant thing. He could attest to that. And the fact that Rudy and Penny had willingly allowed to this to happen...it filled him up with a great sense of unease. He wanted to back away from them, go somewhere else where he didn’t have to see them so that he could help calm himself down. But he was stuck here. Rudy and Penny remained silent for few minutes, as though allowing Snap time to fully digest what they had just told him. Their sorrowful expressions strongly told Snap that they didn’t feel pride in what they did, and that did help him feel a little better. But it still wasn’t enough to fully get rid of this sickening feeling that was dominating his stomach. “However, it seems that we hit a little snag...” Rudy spoked softly, giving a soft flinch. “It seems that, if Thoughtless is to be believed, something happened to Rho that resulted in him thinking that he was...from the Real World.” Snap pulled his head back at this. “..what?” Penny nodded her head as if to confirm what Rudy had said. “It’s true. He woke up panicking because he was ‘in some chalk world’ and he kept demanding us to tell him just how he got there. It took us a while to get him to settle down.” She glanced over sadly at Rho. “We had no choice but to tranquilize him.” Rudy lifted up the needle that he had used earlier. “I didn’t like doing it, but it was the only way to keep him from hurting himself and all of us.” He tightened his grip on the needle and lowered his hand. “We...don’t really know what we are going to do with him now. Thoughtless mentioned that it wasn’t easy to break through the ‘fake memory barrier’ to see the real memories. It was only able to see recent memories, as it only changed a few recent ones. It apparently didn’t try digging in deeper to locate any other memories.” <Because there was no need.> Thoughtless chimed in. <Besides, even if I did dig in deeper, it wouldn’t have done us any good anyway.> Thoughtless tilted its head to the side, glaring down at Rho’s relatively limp form on the ground. It watched as he breathed in and out slowly before saying, <If his memory was altered before I got to him, then even I wouldn’t have been able to see the real memories.> Snap hadn’t thought about it before, but what Thoughtless said did seem to make sense. Though the looks on Howdy, Blocky, and Rapsheeba’s faces suggested they didn’t fully understand, and Rudy looked like he only partially got it, he, along with Penny, seemed to be able to understand what Thoughtless was talking about. It seemed to make sense that Thoughtless would only be able to see memories as they are presently in each individual. And if they were already changed, it would not be able to sort through them. It would essentially become a barrier and even Thoughtless, the memory-based zoner, wouldn’t be able to do much about that. A frustrating fact, but something that they all had to accept anyway. There was nothing they could do about it. After a while of silence, Snap asked a tentative question that needed to be addressed. “Well...what now?” He was not at all surprised by the lack of a response. He wasn’t surprised when everyone looked at each other nervously and uncertaintly. They exchanged looks with each other, none of them attempting to answer him. It was likely none of them really had an answer for this. Snap had expected this, though he had hoped, in the back of his mind, that there would be a more definitive answer. He let out a soft sigh as his first suspicion was proven correct. What were they going to do now anyway? What could they do? They were stuck here, still being hunted down by Snap and the other Beanie Boys. They had Thoughtless with them, who could turn against them at any time. They had Rho with them, whom Skrawl was going to want back, and Rho wasn’t exactly trustworthy himself. On top of that, Rho thought that he was from the Real World, screwing with his memories and making it impossible to turn to him for help. The situation has gotten...rather bleak now. That is, until something crossed Snap’s mind. He didn’t know why the others didn’t notice it before, but then again, he just realized it now himself. There was something about Thoughtless’s story that they didn’t take into account. Something that might just turn things around for the better. If Thoughtless had been able to access a recent memory of Rho’s to change to trick him into believing Skrawl was his enemy...then that had to mean that some of Rho’s original memory was still there. And if it was still there, then if Thoughtless were to try again, it just might be able to dig in deep enough to locate those memories. Perhaps the knowledge of a secret passageway of getting out of here could be discovered. It was still tricky, though. There was no guarantee. For all he knew, Thoughtless just got lucky that time, and that trying again would only be pushing this luck. It might have run out already. Still, Snap felt it was worth the chance. If there was just a slight chance that Rho had that memory buried deep within his mind, didn’t they owe it to themselves and everyone else to at least try? “Snap...I know that look in your eye...” Rapsheeba said softly. “You..have a plan, don’t you?” Snap lifted his head and looked at everyone around him. They were all looking at him expectantly. The blue and white zoner kept his face neutral for a moment. And then, slowly, he smiled. “Yeah...you could say that.” Penny took a tentative step towards him. “Do you...mind telling us?” Snap nodded his head slowly. Taking a moment to make sure that the others were looking at him, the zoner opened his mouth and he began to relay his plan. |
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Post by Bluedramon on Sept 21, 2015 20:03:10 GMT -5
Chapter 61:
Thoughtless tilted its head to one side. <That is...quite an interesting theory you got there...> It paused for a moment, scratching the side of its head with a wing claw. <I am still not sure if it would work or not, though.>
“I hate to say it, but I am kinda with Thoughtless here.” Rudy motioned towards Snap. “Once a memory is changed, it would be hard to tell what’s fantasy and what is not.”
“But we still have to try it!” Snap told them, leaning his body forward a little as he tried to explain it to them. “Think about it! We could...”
“It might just be a waste of time, Snap. And time is not something we can afford to waste right now.” Penny pointed out, interruping the zoner’s speech.
Rapsheeba tapped her chin thoughtfully. “I don’t know...maybe he does have a good point...”
Howdy stared up at her. “Oh? And what might that be?”
Rapsheeba frowned softly. “I’m...not really sure how to explain it.
Thoughtless listened to this conversation quietly, its eyes scanning the room as everyone had their say on the matter. It didn’t attempt to speak up again. It was rather curious to know what the others wanted to do about their current predicament, and what they all thought about Snap’s idea about Rho’s memories. It was a bit fascinating to hear other sides regarding this matter.
The memotrice took a moment to reflect on its current situation. How ironic it is that it started off being these children’s enemy and having every intent on doing something about them. And now here they were, being forced to be each other’s allies in this present situation. It never would have thought that things would have turned out this way. But then, that’s how life is, wasn’t it? It could always take one by surprise, pulling off something that no one could have foreseen.
It just hoped that this truce didn’t have to last forever. There was great tension among them. It might not have shown it that much, but it, too, felt a bit nervous around them. It couldn’t help but keep its teeth gritted most of the time as it struggled not to attack on instinct. The only thing keeping it from doing this was the reminder that, at this time, they were all on the same side. It was going to have to swallow its own discomfort and continue on through this.
One question lingered on its mind. Just what was going to happen when the truce was going to finally come to an end? What would happen when they no longer had to worry about Skrawl? The only reason that it was helping them was because it did not agree with Skrawl’s ways. Once he was out of the picture....then what?
Thoughtless hadn’t yet figured out what it was going to do. It didn’t really have any plans yet. It did want to think of something so that when the time came, it could easily make its move. It would first have to plan more carefully, however, as it did not want to screw up its next move. It wanted it to be seamless, to be able to jump into it without any hesitation whatsoever. It wanted to be able to move onto whatever plan it had next and not have to worry about tripping up in the beginning, which was possible if it rushed into things.
For now, it focused its attention on Snap and the others as they continued their little talk. It rested on the ground, curling its tail inwarns against itself. It kept its beak sealed shut, its mind focused on being quiet, as it continued to listen.
Penny held up her hand in gesture. “I know where you are getting at, Snap, but...”
“You keep repeating the same questions. This isn’t going to lead us anywhere.” Snap pointed out. “Just...why don’t you consider it? What doesn’t make sense about my idea?”
“Well, didn’t Thoughtless say that once a memory is changed..” Rudy’s voice trailed off.
“But if that is the case, then how was Thoughtless able to change his memory to think that he thought Skrawl betrayed him? If the memories were changed previously like it said, then how was this particular bit possible?”
Thoughtless could feel its eyes widen at this. It didn’t pay attention to how the others were looking at it as it raised its head up. It thought about Snap’s words very carefully, allowing the reality of them sink into the back of its mind. It felt as though some kind of lightbulb had been switched on inside of itself, and it was almost surprised that it didn’t see any kind of light coming from itself.
Snap did have a point there. It didn’t really think about it before, but it did make sense. It did claim that it was successful, which it was. It did have luck in changing the Beanie Boy’s memory like that. But in order for that to be possible, it needed to have access to the original memory. It didn’t pay attention at the time as it was just doing what came naturally. This was all second nature to it, so much so that it had failed to recognize something that should have been so plainly obvious to it before. How did it not notice this before?
There was still no guarantee, however. It still didn’t know for certain if this was going to work or not. It might have been just a fluke thing, perhaps. It might be better to just think of another plan. But...what if Snap was right? Was it a good idea to forfeit this idea just because it didn’t seem very likely?
That was what landed it in trouble with Skrawl before. It didn’t think things through. It didn’t stop to realize that Skrawl might find a way to fight through the control and get back at it. It did think of a plan briefly of perhaps forcing control over him. Maybe through a device or something, perhaps with the geomites. But it still let go of this plan, thinking that what it was doing right now was good enough. Well, look at the direction that went... It was lucky that Skrawl didn’t end up killing it.
Though that torture was not much better... It struggled to push that out of its mind, not wanting to think about it.
It turned its head and looked at where the others were. Presently, they were still arguing about what to do. It didn’t hear most of what they said, but it did seem like some were still on Snap’s side while the same people expressing doubt were still doing so. Most were against Snap’s idea, while the couple that did believe him were still struggling hard to defend him and get the others to listen.
“Snap may have a good point there.” Blocky said softly. “Maybe we should give that a chance.”
“And what if we end up wasting our time? I’m telling you, we are better off figuring something else out!” Cried Howdy.
“Won’t you guys listen?” Snap called out to them. If he weren’t restrained, it was possible that he would be waving his arms about a little as he spoke. “Please? Just for one second?”
Rudy sighed. “We have been listening, Snap. And we still aren’t sure if it would work.” He looked at Snap sadly before he continued, “We should probably just drop this before we waste anymore time.”
“But...”
“Sorry, Snap. But your plan...it might not work.” Penny said softly.
Snap glared at her and Rudy. “You two are supposed to be my friends! I thought you would at least listen to what I have to say!”
“It’s not that. But Snap...remember what happened before...?”
At this, silence fell upon the room. Thoughtless watched everyone’s expressions. It turned its head slowly from one side to the other, noting how everyone was looking at each other. It focused its attention mostly on Rudy, Penny, and Snap. Their reactions were what was interesting it the most. It swished its tail from side to side slowly as it pondered what they had been talking about.
It was not at all surprised by this turn of events. After all, it did have a hand in what they had been talking about. It was the one who had changed his memories, making him think that he was on Skrawl’s side, making him believe that Rudy and Penny betrayed him. It seems that these fake memories, as well as the actions he had taken, were having a long lasting affect, tinging the comments they made to one another. Snap’s anger lingering from his sense of betrayal, and Rudy and Penny being a little agitated because they remembered what happened when Snap had turned against them.
It decided not to allow this conversation to go on for much longer. Right now wasn’t the time for hurt feelings or for conflicts. Even though it didn’t like this truce anymore than they did, it at least understood the need for it, and also understood when it was senseless to keep arguing. If they weren’t going to see that anytime soon, then it was going to step up to the plate itself.
<I think it’s time we moved on from this conversation.> Thoughtless spoke. It straightened itself up, carrying itself forward like the voice of authory. Everyone glared in its direction, but it did not falter. <I think we can all agree that this discussion is just going to waste our time further, am I correct?> There was no argument back. Just a few disgruntled nods of agreement. <Okay, then how about we move on?>
Snap let out a sigh. He looked up at Thoughtless, tilting his head to the side. “I suppose you have a better plan?”
<Well in a way, yes.> Thoughtless moved towards him slowly. Snap tensed up a little while Rudy and Penny were on standby. The memotrice slowly circled around the blue and white zoner, brushing its tail against him like a feline would. <You see...I do more or less...see your point.>
Snap’s eyes widened at this. “What...?”
“You do?” Asked Howdy.
“But I thought...” Rudy started to ask.
Thoughtless cut him off. <It was true that, despite Rho’s memory being changed beforehand by something, I could still change his memory to think Skrawl betrayed him in some way. The only way I could do this is if some lingering memories remained. In other words...> Thoughtless looked at Snap right in the eyes. <...we may still have a chance at figuring out a secret exit out of this place.>
sss
Skrawl gritted his teeth tightly as he continued to move down the hallway. He turned his head from side to side, looking for anything that might be useful. Anything that could possibly lead him to where those fugitives had gone off to.
But so far, nothing. Even with this electrical detection system of his, he still wasn’t any closer to finding them. This things appeared to lead him all the wrong directions anyway. He had forgotten for a moment that he had more prisoners here; his electrical impulse detector thing was taking him to where the prisoners were. So for the time being, he had to keep his arm lowered and rely on sight only until he found something that would be actually useful to him.
That wasn’t going to be easy. His castle was a rather large place. A part of him wished that he had gone for a smaller design. At least smaller buildings would be easier to search through in the event that someone escaped. They could also be more easily monitored in case someone managed to get away. Because of his insistance on a large design, he had only managed to complicate things more for him.
Oh well, no use complaining over what he couldn’t change at the time. He focused his attention on trying to find those darn, elusive fugitives. Just which way could they have gone? Which path did they take? Just how far away were they? How long would it take before he managed to locate any of them?
These questions did not come with easy answers. This realization caused him to grit his teeth even harder. He didn’t want to have to waste his time searching for these darn fugitives. He wanted to be able to just find them and that would be it. But he did realize just how impossible that would be, and if he allowed this to continue for too long, then he was only going to make things worse for himself. He needed to find them and fast.
Oh just wait until he got his hands on them... Just wait until he was able to put his claws around their throats... Oh how he looked forward to it... No one made a fool out of him. Absolutely no one.
Especially not that memotrice, Thoughtless. Out of all of them, it was the one he looked forward to recapturing the most. He wanted to find it, chase it, corner it. He wanted to make sure that it had nowhere left to run while he put his claws around its neck. He wanted to make it feel some pain and suffering for a while before he would bother to let go. He wanted Thoughtless to realize what it feels like to be utterly trapped and at the full mercy of someone else. Sure, he had already given Thoughtless a taste of this before. But he wanted it to experience it even more. Especially after what it had put him through.
Thoughtless deserved having that kind of treatment against it. It deserved to have struck into its very soul, to have a few minutes of its life drenched in pain and suffering. Thoughtless had made the mistake of trying to control him. And now he was going to have fun tormenting it by controlling its life. Controlling its airflow, its movements, the amount of pain it was in. Thoughtless’s life was nothing but a toy to him right now. And if it thinks it was going to get away with what it did... Well...
It had another think coming.
Skrawl continued to move down the hallway, keeping his eyes peeled for anything. He still didn’t really see anything of interest. He could feel his blood starting to boil wat this realization. Oh come on..after all this walking, surely he would have found something, right?
But nope, nothing. Nada. Zilch. Despite all his efforts, he appeared to be constantly coming up empty-handed. He struggled not to allow his frustration to get the better of him, but he didn’t know just how long he would be able to do that before he eventually snapped. He did know just how stupid this was and how he was not going to do himself any favors. But he also knew just how everything can easily go downhill if he didn’t make sure that they were recaptured long before they could do anything to screw things up for him. He was not going to allow those fugitives to bring him down after he worked so hard climbing up the ladder.
He was not going to go back to the Skrawl that everyone mocked. He was not going to go back to that old life where he was just a nobody, someone that no one really cared about. He was not going to be that loser anymore who had to struggle to get anything to go his way. Like he told himself in his other rants, this world belonged to him now, and he was the one who got to decide who could live here and who could not.
And well...he had decided that those fugitives didn’t belong here anymore. Okay so Thoughtless could stay, and he might have a use for those beasts. But he would see to it that the rest were killed, preferably by his own claws. Oh yes... Round them all up and slowly kill them one at a time while the others simply watched. Yes, that would be a lot of fun to do...
Skrawl managed to get those thoughts aside for the time being. He couldn’t allow himself to become too enthralled with a fantasy. Especially if he really had no idea if he was even going to be able to get to do it himself or not. He didn’t even know if those fugitives were even still in the castle or not. He needed to remain focused on trying to find them, not treating himself to a fantasty that he wasn’t even sure would come true or not.
Still, it didn’t hurt to dream, did it?
He wondered how his Beanie Boys were doing with the search. He hadn’t yet heard back from any of them yet. But he wasn’t too surprised, really. Not much time had passed and honestly, he would have been surprised if one of his Beanie Boys had managed to find them this fast. If any of them did, he would likely promote them to general as a way of showing just how impressed he was with their efforts.
Instead, though, he was met with nothing but silence. And he had no idea how long that silence from his Beanie Boys was going to last. Most likely quite some time. He could keep hoping all he wanted to for a fast response, but that was likely not going to happen.
Not that he would blame his Beanie Boys anyway. There was no use in that right now. They couldn’t change what happened, no matter how hard they tried. He couldn’t even be too angry with Alpha, even though he blamed him the most out of all the Beanie Boys for this happening. True he was not the smartest Beanie Boy for what he had done. But it wasn’t like he had intended for this to happen, and at least he was trying to do something about it now. He knew Alpha was out there somewhere, struggling to find Rudy and Penny or any of the others. That was all he really could ask for him at this point.
He paused for a moment. He took his time looking around, trying to see if there was anything around him that he didn’t take notice of. He looked for any sign of movement, a sound, anything. But just like all the other times he stopped to look around, there was nothing of interest here. There was not a single person in this hallway other than himself. This realization made him growl softly, and he moved on.
It was growing irritating, the longer that he couldn’t find anything. A few times, he nearly wondered if the footstep he had heard was him or if it was one of the fugitives. He had to remind himself that any clanging footsep he heard in this corridor was most likely himself. Any tapping sound was just a drip of some of the more dank areas here. Any shadow he saw moving along the rocky walls was his own. There was no one down here except for himself.
He eventually let out a sigh. Perhaps he should try turning down a different hallway this time. He had been down this same one for a while. He thought that if he kept down the same path, it would more easily lead to results. But perhaps he needed to try something else. A new path that might lead him to something better. Still risky, he knew, but so long as he was covering enough ground, he may be able to locate those brats before they could get much further. He just needed to...
Suddenly, he froze as something clanged nearby. It wasn’t him. It couldn’t have been him. He wasn’t moving around at this point. He looked left and right continuously, struggling to locate where that sound had come from. So far, he couldn’t see anything and he began to wonder if he was just hearing imaginary sounds due to his frustration and eagerness to recapture the fugitives.
No, that couldn’t be it. There was that sound again. He could hear it clanging nearby. Faint, but still there. He continuously looked around, but just like before, he couldn’t figure out where the sound came from. It sounded almost like it had come from multiple directions. This couldn’t be possible, could it? No, there had to be something else going on. If he could just figure out what that was and...
When he heard the sound the third time, he immediately raised his arm up, reactiving his detector ability to see if he could figure out which direction this sound came from. Even if it were just another prisoner and not his main targets, he still wanted to have an idea of where the noise was coming from. He would feel much better if he could figure out where....
Above him.
That’s where the sound was coming from. That was where the pulsing sensation was eminating from.
Right above him.
Skrawl tilted his head back and looked up. He stared at the ceiling intently as he opened his ears up to pick up any sound that he could possibly hear. Now that he was listening to the right away, he could hear more sounds coming from above him. From how they sounded, he deduced that it was likely a flow above this one. And based on what he remembered, this could not be related to his other prisoners as he didn’t have any placed in this location. It was either his Beanie Boys or...
...or the fugitives...
This realization dawned on him quite quickly, causing a smile to spread across his face as a dark chortle was emitted from his throat. He smirked up at the ceiling, feeling a sense of elation that he had finally figured out where the fugitives most likely were located. He had found them...and now it was time for the hunt.
He knew it had to be them. He could hear some soft, faint murmurs. Not loud enough for him to understand what they were saying, but enough that he could recognize various pitches. Tones of voices that he knew didn’t belong to his Beanie Boys. None of them sounded like this. It was definitely those fugitives. They were right above him, and they had no idea that he was right below. He could easily drill his way up and....
No, he wasn’t going to do that. He would just give himself away. He needed to try something else. He turned his head to one direction, his eyes scanning around, getting a bearing on just where he was in his castle. Then he smirked. He knew exactly which way he was going to do.
Before he wasted more time standing there, Skrawl immediately took off. As he ran, his mind swam with thoughts of what was going to happen when he took them all off guard. He couldn’t wait to see the looks in their eyes. Oh just how priceless that was going to be...
sss
That world...
Just what were they going to do about that world...?
Mr. Tabootie folded his arms against his chest, lost in his own thoughts. He barely lifted up his head, not even to stare over at the women that he knew were still with him. None of them had bothered to leave this spot yet or even try to go into the school building. They hadn’t yet figured out just what they were going to do. Just..which side should they be on with this?
A part of Mr. Tabootie felt that he should just let Terry do whatever she wanted. It wasn’t like she could do that much harm, right? No one really believed her, and all she would end up succeeding in doing is spreading some rumors and whatever else. It might be annoying, yes, but it wouldn’t be all that damaging. If anyone decided to pester his son, then he could always call to get a restraining order filed and that was that. Plus, it wasn’t even like she had any proof to show anyone anyway. Nothing more than just her words, which in the past have not been enough to get anyone on her side.
Then again...what would Rudy think of him if he didn’t try to stop her? What would he think of him if he found out that he had allowed her to spread the word? To go in front of his classroom and talk about ChalkZone? Okay, so it wasn’t her, but this woman that she was with, she was still going to speak. What would Rudy say to him if he learned about this? Would he understand, or would he be angry with him?
He wasn’t sure if he would ever fully understand his son’s interest in that world. He didn’t know if any of them could come to grips with this. It was not something they had expected to learn lately. The idea of them being involved in this world of chalk, an alternate dimension... Just..how were they suppose dto deal with this? It wasn’t like getting lost in an abandoned building or something. At least that, he and his wife could physically go to, could physically stop him from going.
But this chalk world... It was just..different. He didn’t know how he was going to handle this, and it didn’t seem the women knew either. Mrs. Sanchez did look like she had an idea, but she remained utterly silent. He guessed that the idea she had was going to be risky and she would rather think about it first before jumping to conclusions.
That did seem like a good idea. This chalk world was obviously a sensitive topic for their children. They wouldn’t want to make any rash decisions too quickly. They didn’t want to break their children’s trust. And yet at the same time, they also didn’t want their children getting hurt...
Well, whatever they would decide upon, he could only hope that Rudy and Penny understand that it was done in their best interest. Sometimes hard decisions had to be made for the benefit of others. Rudy and Penny were very important to them. Whatever decision they made, they would have to make it with their best interest in mind. The final decision would still be hard to make as it would involve a sacrifice of some kind. Either he and the parents would have to allow their children to continue going to that world, or they were going to have to upset their children by blocking them. Either way, one of them will lose.
“What should we do about Ms. Bouffant?” Whispered Mrs. Tabootie. “I mean...I know Rudy would want me to stop her. I realized this before. But still...would that be the right thing to do? I mean...” She held her hand up in gesture. “Would it even matter? It’s not like anyone is really going to believe her all that much...”
Mrs. Sanchez nodded her head once. “That is true. And let’s not forget that she has no proof with her. She couldn’t have given that dragon artist lady anything to show. All they might think is that it is just some kind of tall tale.”
“But we can’t just do nothing.” Mr. Tabootie spoke up. The two women looked over at him, looking a little surprised to hear him finally joining in on the conversation. He closed his eyes softly. “We are their parents. We are responsible for helping them. Shouldn’t we do something?” He turned his head to face the two women, looking from his wife and then to the vet, and back again. “I’m sure they would want us to help stop Ms. Bouffant before she could go any further in this plan.”
“They also want us to let them keep having access to that world, in spite of how dangerous it is.” Mrs. Sanchez commented silently. The look in her eyes suggested to Mr. Tabootie that this might be what she had been thinking about before. “I know what we told them, but I’ve been thinking a lot lately and...” She looked at the eyes with a sideways glance. “If Ms. Bouffant ever did become..successful at this, and if any human can draw whatever they want to...” She trailed off for a few moments. She bit her lip firmly. She turned and looked at the other adults. “..wouldn’t that mean that ChalkZone would get a lot more...dangerous? With those humans running around, all the weapons that could be created...?”
Mrs. Tabootie’s eyes bulged at this. “Y-You’re right...” She looked down towards the ground. “I-I hadn’t thought about that...”
Mr. Tabootie stared at Mrs. Sanchez for several quiet moments. In the end, he turned his head slightly to one side, his eyes darting around thoughtfully. “That...does make sense, yeah. I can see your point.”
Mrs. Sanchez did just bring up a valid point. Suddenly the situation became not just about doing what was right for their children, and how their children would react. But now other people were involved, adding more conflict to the situation. This was not going to be as easy as he thought it was going to be.
If Terry were successful, then yes, it could potentially lead to a future where anyone could get into ChalkZone. And if that were to happen, then it could result in some...really nasty stuff to put it mildly. People creating different kinds of weapons. People creating warefare. People creating their dangerous inventions and unleashing its fury. The whole of that world would become much more dangerous for their children, or for anyone for that matter, to step into. And if this was a potentiality, something that could happen, then...
“We may need to bar them from that world after all...” Mrs. Sanchez spoke slightly. There was a slight hesitation in her voice. It was clear that this was not a path that she hoped they had to take. “I don’t want my daughter roaming around in a world like that if criminals got access to ChalkZone...”
“Yeah..I don’t want Rudy in there, either.” Mrs. Tabootie said sadly. She lowered her head and closed her eyes. “I know he might hate me for it, but...”
Mrs. Sanchez placed her hand in a comforting manner on Mrs. Tabootie’s shoulder. “He’ll come around eventually. You’ll see.”
Mrs. Tabootie smiled the best she could, though it was wafering a little. “I..hope you’re right...”
Mr. Tabootie watched this scene play out with a saddened expression. There was a solemn aura that spread all around them. Their minds echoed with thoughts regarding this situation. No one said anything for several moments as they all thought about this, and the decision they had made.
Banning their children from that world was not a decision made lightly. They knew just how angry their children were going to be after they get back, learning they could never return. But it was for their own safety. Their children had to realize how dangerous that place could be if they were allowed to just roam through it like it was nothing. That would was already dangerous enough already, and it was about to become more dangerous if Terry ever succeeded in exposing it. The sooner they bailed their children out of there, the better. Sure Rudy and Penny would be quite angry, but eventually, they would come to see things their way.
True, they could try to stop Terry now. She was right there, not far rom them. But..what were they going to say? He wasn’t really sure if there was any kind of law regarding this situation. Terry wasn’t having Ming Long do anything bad; just tell a story. To the police, they might just think this was all perfectly fine, considering that all Terry was essentially doing was helping Ming Long tell a story. If she were arrested at all, it would just be a minor thing.
But then again...
He thought back to the situation with the ‘more humans getting into ChalkZone and creating weapons’ thing. Was it really going to be just that? Humans roaming around in the chalk world, doing whatever they wanted there? Or was it going to become more? What if something else were to happen? ....what if they decided to leave that world and...?
Mr. Tabootie suddenly got a chilling thought. It rushed through his head, giving him a splitting headache. It wouldn’t leave him alone, wouldn’t stop. It just kept clinging to him, driving a drill through the middle of his skull. The same question echoed in his mind over and over again.
What if the humans bring their weapons of mass destruction on earth...?
Mr. Tabootie shook his head, bringing himself out of this state. He took in a few breaths, blinking slowly. He turned his head to face the two women, who were currently speaking softly to each other about how to break the news of the ban to their children. He only let them talk for a few more moments before he spoke up, cutting them off.
“We have to stop Ms. Bouffant...”
The two women looked at him, their eyes wide in shock.
sss
The sound of her heart beating inside her chest was starting to get to her. She could hear it thudding over and over again. She tried to clutch at it and make it stop. But it seemed that the more she tried to fight it, the more she tried to resist it, the worse the beating got. She eventually stopped, and allowed its adrenaline rush move through her.
How could she contain her excitement, anyway? Especially with what she was about to accomplish in just a few moments. She could hear the sound of the woman’s footsteps as she noisily went down the hallway. Not very subtle; something she didn’t expect from a woman like herself. But what did it matter? Soon she was going to be in that classroom and soon the word of ChalkZone was going to be spread.
Terry still couldn’t believe that it was really happening. She placed her hand against her chest, struggling to keep herself from hyperventilating. She could feel positive emotion burn through her, making her feel so energized, so...wanting to jump out of her seat and yell and the skies. She wanted to tell the whole world the accomplishment she was about to make. She wanted to see the looks on those doubters faces when the news began to spread around. Maybe if more people were talking about it, they would realize that this just might be true and come crawling back to her for information. Oh that would be so much fun...
But for now, she had to keep herself calm. She couldn’t make a noise. Not a single one. She could easily destroy her chances of she allowed herself to be heard at all. If she screwed this up... Well she was certain that she might find another way to do this. But she would rather try to get it right this first time. This had been a little challenging to set up and she doubted she would find any other allies to do this with. She hoped and prayed that everything was going to work out just fine.
But that seemed like it was going to be the case anyway. So far, no one has tried to stop Ming Long. The dragon artist was able to get through the principal and was now on her way to the boy’s classroom, where Mr. Wilter was likely waiting. None of them knew that this speech was going to be about the fabled chalk world. And so long as she, and by extension Ming Long, worded it right, they wouldn’t really know for certain. It was all about choosing the right words carefully.
Terry took a moment to look around the parking lot. No one was coming towards her. No one was trying to get her to leave. Either they didn’t see her or they just didn’t care. They probably saw her as a mere nuisance and they had little reason to try to chase her off. She guessed that they would only do that if she stayed here for too long.
That shouldn’t be a problem, though. This should be quick. She told Ming Long to make sure that the story is short. It needed to fit within the program’s schedule so she couldn’t overdo it too much. That also meant that she herself would need to be careful, as she was going to have to relay some help to Ming Long. She had a feeling that she was going to need it and besides, she did say that she was going to help her anyway.
She perked her head up when she thought she saw some movement. She looked around the parking lot once more her eyes scanning around for any sign of someone else being here. So far, she saw nothing. It was just...empty.
Hmm..wait...is that a car over there? She squinted her eyes. There was some kind of shape being obstructed by the playground and gate. Is there a car parked in that area? Next to the sidewalk? She pushed herself up and tried to look around. She was unable to get a good view of the car. She thought about getting up and going over to check it out personally. But that would leave Ming Long without any sort of help. She snorted softly and let out a soft growl. Well...looks like she was just going to have to stay here for now.
Yeah, that car was probably nothing anyway. Maybe some kind of pizza delivery guy or something. Nothing to get upset about. Besides, just who would be here to try to stop her, anyway? She couldn’t think of anyone who may try. Well okay there were those parents, but even they appeared to have some doubt in her minds regarding ChalkZone. Not to mention that they wouldn’t even be able to prove that she was doing anything wrong. They would just annoy the police if they tried to call them on her. She was fine.
She turned her attention back to the walkie talkie when she heard the sound of a door opening. There was a bit of a clang and he heard Ming Long hiss. She must have stubbed her toe or something. Terry ignored that and waited for her to position herself in front of the classroom. That shouldn’t take long. She could already envision her getting to the front, hearing her feet clang against the ground as she made her way over slowly, placing herself in front of the chalkboard, just as they had talked about.
Then came the small speech.
“Greetings, children. I am Ming Long. Some of you might know me as that ‘dragon lady’ from Chinatown located nearby. I have been informed by an anonymous source that you had an availability today. I think you would be rather interested in what I had to say.”
“Oh yeah? Like what?” One of the students said. Terry would have thought it was Reggie, but wasn’t he hospitalized? This was someone else. “Like what?”
“Yeah. What do you have to show us that we haven’t seen before?”
Ming Long gave a small chuckle at this. “I see that you have had quite a number of teachers coming in. You crave something new, am I right?” The children must have nodded their heads for the woman’s next answer was, “Well I have something that I would like to tell you.”
This was it. The moment that she was waiting for. There was no going back now. Terry couldn’t help but smile broadly as she clutched the walkie talkie tightly in her hand. She could feel a bit of sweat causing it to slip a little. She had to tighten her grip so that she could begin to speak into it.
But she never got that chance. It seemed that Ming Long had already figured something out.
“Let me begin with a tale of when I had drawn the world’s largest chalk dragon. Oh you should have seen it...”
Terry blinked a few times. This is not what they had agreed on. She was supposed to wait for her signal, wait for her to tell her what to say. Terry could feel her blood start to heat up in irritation, gritting her teeth tightly. She felt an urge to say something, to interrupt her and scold her for going against the plan.
But...that would just expose her plan. And besides, it didn’t seem like Ming Long was doing that bad of a job, really. She was weaving quite a tale out of thin air, and honestly, it was better than the one she was thinking of. This woman was quite the story teller, she had to admit. It was a good idea to choose her after all. It had been worth it speaking with her and working with her. With how she was telling the tale, there was no interruption from Mr. Wilter; he must not have caught on with the connection yet.
Hopefully, Ming Long would be able to keep this up. She just needed to say enough in order to implant it all in the children’s minds. Give them the idea of this chalk world. Children were so stupid and so easily manipulated... Ming Long didn’t even need to try all that hard before them to spread word about this chalk world and ask their parents if it existed. And no one would connect it to her; it was not she who had weaved this tale.
“And then out of the dust rose this great beast. Its wings were magnificent, just as the great wizard had promised it would be. You should have seen it. Such a gorgeous creater, standing up proud and spreading its butterfly-like wings for everyone to see...”
Terry shook her head at this. A chinese dragon with butterfly wings? Now that was insane. But she said nothing; she wasn’t going to waste time judging the woman’s taste in design. The woman continued her story.
“Up in the air, it flew. A great crimson body, and the sparkles of the shiny chalk dust floated everywhere...”
“Wait, are you telling me that this dragon was made out of chalk..?” One of the children asked.
Ming Long gave a small chuckle. “In my story, indeed it was.”
Another children said, “That...sounds awfully familiar. You don’t think..?”
“No..of course not...right...?”
Terry smirked at this. It seemed that the initial seeds have been planted. Some of the children were starting to buy into the story. They were curious now. And curious children never stopped. They were going to start snooping around, and from their behavior, others were going to be interested, and they will get more people interested. So on and so forth. Things were going exactly as she had planned. And of course, no one was going to know that she had been the mastermind behind all of this.
Though she did feel some guilt in this. She did realize that she was using Ming Long as a scape goat of sorts. Everyone was going to point fingers in her direction. She was the one who told the tale, so if any parents got upset, they were going to blame Ming Long and not her. This meant that Ming Long was risking losing her reputation to this. Was it really fair to do this? Could she really go through with this fully and allow another woman to take the fall?
Yes, she could. After what she had to go through to get here, after all that she had suffered and toiled with, she was not going to back out of this. If it meant that someone else was going to have to take the fall for her, then so be it.
Besides, it wasn’t like Ming Long was all that important of a person anyway. Just another artist and nothing more. She was expendable to her. Once Ming Long was finished, she was going to just leave her, letting her deal with the consequences. Who cared if a simple artist like herself suffered a little bit of a reputation loss, anyway? All that mattered in the end is that she is able to get what she wanted.
ChalkZone was going to be hers.
Just then, Ming Long appeared to have finished her story. She was going silent and the children were now asking her questions. Still Mr. Wilter did not speak, but then again, how could he with all the children clamoring for questions?
Terry couldn’t help but smile at this. Yes, this is exactly what she wanted to hear. She wanted to hear the children try to ask about the chalk world. She wanted them to be curious. She wanted them to try to figure things out. All Ming Long had to do next was begin the process of pointing fingers. Once that was done, then she could leave her to her own devices. It was almost a shame that she was going to have to leave, but all things must come to an end at some point. She would make sure to give Ming Long a send off.
“Okay, well...is that all you wanted to tell us, Ming Long?”
“Actually, no. There is something else...”
Terry looked at the walkie talkie intently, curious to see how she was going to handle the situation with Rudy and Penny. How was she going to point fingers in their direction and ensure that the children, and adults, know who turn to?
Ming Long spoke in a lowered, quieted voice, “I did not come here alone. You will find Terry Bouffant in the parking lot.”
Terry immediately froze at this, her eyes growing wide. What the hell was Ming Long thinking she was doing? She tried to open her mouth to speak, but Ming Long continued to speak.
“And planted in her car, hidden, you will find proof that she is the one who killed Dr. Von Doktor....”
Terry could feel her heart increase its beating. A cold feeling washed over her body, making her feel rather chilly, causing her to shiver. All the positive feeling that she had before was gone in a flash, replaced with nothing but fear and horror. She couldn’t stop staring at the walkie talkie. It was getting so hard to hold it now with how her arm was trembling. She gritted her teeth, seething in and out quickly as she tried to control her breathing.
Her mind raced as she tried to figure out what was going on here. What was Ming Long doing? Why was she doing this? Why did she even care about Dr. Von Doktor? It just didn’t make any sense... And just how long did she plan on doing this? Had...had she been tricked by this seemingly gentle and sweet woman...?
She could hear Ming Long’s chuckling. It sounded so cold... This was so unlike the Ming Long she had gotten to know, so unlike the Ming Long that Rudy had talked about. Despite not knowing enough about her, Terry couldn’t help but feel a strong sense of dread come over her.
Then she could hear Ming Long’s taunting voice call out to her, “Did you really think you could get away with what you did to my cousin, dear Terry Bouffant...?”
What...? What was she talking about? Her cousin? Who was her cousin? It couldn’t have been Dr. Von Doktor, right? No, that man had no chinese blood in him whatsoever. He was more...russian wasn’t he? But judging from what the woman said, this cousin of hers had to be someone that she knew. But she didn’t really know of anyone recently that would have a grudge against her other than the parents, the children and...
Who else could it be...? Was there someone that she was forgetting?
As soon as she thought this, she heard footsteps start to come out of the door. She turned her head just in time to see a couple of adults, whom she didn’t recognize, coming towards her. As they did, she heard one final message from Ming Long before the walkie talkie clicked off.
“Give my regards to Ms. Charlotte, will you, my pet...?”
Terry felt her heart stop beating.
sss
Thoughtless kept its attention Rho’s form. The pudgy zoner still appeared to be sleeping on the ground, his chest rising and falling. Thoughtless did agree that trying to use its powers on the zoner now would be for the best, just like how it did before. The less resistance, the better. Rho wouldn’t even know what was going on; he would just be locked in a dream world, enjoying the visions that his mind was giving him, unaware that his mind was being probed into.
It still wasn’t really sure if Snap’s idea was correct. But it did see the potential in it. Perhaps the small zoner was correct and that this could work. It didn’t even need to waste energy trying to change any memories; it just needed to look for some kind of memory that resembled something closer to how it was before and hopefully use that to try to figure out other things. It was not a perfect science however, and it could go wrong. But there wasn’t much else they could do, right?
It had moved in closer to the sleeping form of Rho. It lifted up its foot and moved it towards the Beanie Boy, spreading its talons out. It gently placed its foot on the zoner’s stomach and leaned itself closer. It positioned itself so now it stood partially over Rho, its brown eyes gazing down upon the sleeping zoner. With a soft sigh, it leaned in closer, putting its face near Rho’s. With another soft breath, its eyes began to glow and a thin light shot between its eyes and Rho’s. The fact that the Beanie Boy’s eyes weren’t open weren’t an issue with it, and it began to pry open the zoner’s mind.
It still took some effort, though. It couldn’t just magically open the mind up with the snap of a claw. It needed to concentrate hard, focusing its eyes squarely on the zoner before it, willing its powers to enter the mind, willing those images to come into its head. It took a few moments, but soon, in the back of its mind, its brain began to display for him the memories of this particular zoner.
Thoughtless’s body became perfectly still as he began to sift through the memories. They came at it all at once, forcing it to be more careful and to work harder to sort them out. It was sort of like having many videos playing at once. They heard its head, echoing all around. It took a great deal of concentration to avoid going mad with this ability. And even then, watching these events unfold, sometimes they felt so real that it would mistake it for reality and nearly jump back. It had to forcibly remind itself that what it was seeing was just the memories of its victims...er, clients... Whatever.
It was a little harder concentrating this time around for some reason. Perhaps it was because of all the stares that it was getting. Perhaps it was because of their current situation. Perhaps it was because it knew that if this didn’t work, they would be back to square one. Never before did it have to work this hard.. It wasn’t like when it just changed a few memories. That was easy. Second nature, like the back of its wing.
But to sift deeper into the mind to find a memory that may not exist anymore.... That was hacker level material right there. And that only scratched the surface to how difficult this was. Already it could feel a headache form as it continued drilling into the zoner’s mind, moving past memory after memory, trying to find something that resembled what they needed.
Despite the difficulty, however, it still continued to try. It knew that its existence depended on this. It wasn’t about to give up so easily. It knew what would happen once Skrawl realized that it was gone and came after it. It would much rather avoid the kind of fate that it knew would be in store for it. And of course, it had to make sure that these other guys made it, too. Not because it actually cared about them, but because it needed them to live. It would be hard for Skrawl to target it if he also had Rudy and Penny to go after as well.
So far, Thoughtless wasn’t having all that much luck with finding a suitable memory. Almost everything that it was coming across so far was just altered memories, resulting from the first view it had implanted. It gritted its beak at this realization. How did it forget this part of its powers? Once it planted a fake memory, it could easily spread out and affect other areas of the memory as well. Normally it preferred changing memories manually and only ever relied on this ‘spreading’ ability if it was in a hurry, but it seemed its power had malfunctioned a little, resulting in the powers spreading a bit further than it had originally intended.
This was worse than a simple barrier, as in that case, it could simply find a way through the barrier, which it could more easily locate. But a spreading memory change was harder... It would need to work extra hard to get through this.
It still tried, however. Oh how it tried... It could feel its brain getting close to bursting as it struggled more and more with sifting through the memories of this zoner. It continued to pry in deeply, trying to ignore anything that was altered, searching through whatever remained of the original memories. It tried its best not to change anything new or accidentally cause more harm to the zoner. This was a delicate process and could easily result in some...rather nasty brain damage if it wasn’t careful. If that happened, well...there wouldn’t really be much use out of this zoner.
But after what felt like a few minutes, it didn’t have any luck finding anything. It was already exhausting its powers already. It could feel several pounds against its head as its powers wanted to draw back into it. The memotrice’s body began to wobble a little, most of its energy going into this in depth mind search. Eventually, unable to take it anymore, it took a step back, shaking its head to try to fight off the strange feeling clouding around its mind.
“Well..?” Snap asked, not giving it much time to recover. “What did you find..?”
Thoughtless let out a groan and placed a wing over its head. <Nothing. I was not able to locate any useful memories.>
“What? Are you sure?” Rapsheeba asked.
“Did you look hard enough?” Penny chimed in.
Thoughtless nodded its head quickly. <Yes, of course I did! I looked everywhere!> It spread its wings outward. <There’s nothing! Too much of his mind was changed! And any memory that I could find of his old memory was chopped up and fragmented, with nothing about any sort of secret passageway!>
Rudy bit his lip for a moment. He then took a few steps towards Thoughtless. His steps were slow and cautious. He motioned towards the memotrice and spoke. “Well why did you stop? Maybe there is something there...but if you stop, then you will never find out. Try searching more...”
Thoughtless hissed at Rudy. This sound caused the boy to shut his mouth and back up a little. <My powers aren’t some play thing, boy! I can’t just keep doing this forever! It takes energy! And I am exhausted!> It moved itself closer to Rudy. It grabbed onto his chest and pulled itself up, putting its flace close to his. <So unless you want my head to explode, I suggest you stop asking me that question, you stupid little brat!>
“Hey, back off!” Penny rushed over. She grabbed it and managed to push it off of the boy. “He was just asking you a question!”
Thoughtless took a moment to look around. It could tell right away that they were all glaring at him. Well minus Rudy who was eyeing him more warily. Still, having all these glares on it caused it to grit its small, sharp teeth. It lowered its head a little and backed away. It was not interested in starting a fight anyway. Besides, with its powers exausted, it would take a while to recover, so in the mean time, it wouldn’t be able to use its powers to defend itself.
It did realize that it probably went a little to far with Rudy. It hadn’t really meant to snap like that. It had been trying to keep its anger under control. This was difficult to do when its head was hurting and spinning so much. It wanted to just drop to the ground and spend some time rubbing its head. This was, however, not a luxury it could afford to have right now. Not with Skrawl surely on their trail to find them...
However, it did not want to be on bad terms with these people. They all had to be willing to work together, and since it gave a little outburst to Rudy, their chemistry that they needed to ensure that they could work together may have been disrupted. It would have to take some kind of action to try to mend this a little. And that meant doing something that it loathed to do.
It needed to apologize.
<Listen, kid... Rudy.> Thoughtless began, trying to sound gentle. <I...>
It didn’t get a chance to finish, however. In that moment, there was a loud groan. It stiffened itself before whirling around to see where that sound came from. It and the others looked over to see that Rho had started to stir. His body was moving around a little, his eyes starting to flutter. The drug had begun to wear off a little, a fact that wasn’t lost on any of them. Thoughtless could feel its body stiffen as it waited to see what would happen when the Beanie Boy was fully awake.
Then the Beanie Boy opened up his eyes. A pair of dulled, slighlty confused eyes stared back at them. He looked slowly from left to right and then stared blankly ahead. No one said anything, unsure of what to say. All they could do was just keep watching the zoner and wait to see where this was going to lead. They gritted their teeth, their bodies stiffening. With how badly altered his mind was, there was no telling how this Beanie Boy was going to react to them.
Then Rho spoke, his voice coarse and soft. “They’re going to get me! Must escape! Must hide!” His body started to jerk more violently on the ground. “They’re going to get me!”
Thoughtless and the others exchanged looks with each other. What was Rho ranting on about? Was he referring to Skrawl and the other Beanie Boys? Or something else that was a byproduct of changing his memories? At this point, it was difficult to say.
“Must find passage! My passage! Safe! Must find it!”
This caught Thoughtless’s eye, and judging from the reaction of the others, it was clear that they must have reacted a similar conclusion as it did. Thoughtless moved very quickly and it managed to jump on Rho’s back before he could get too far. It used its weight to hold him down, applying just enough pressure to keep him from squirming. It lifted up its head and saw that the others were coming over as well.
They stared at the ranting Beanie Boy for a few moments before looking back at each other. They all began to ask themselves the same question.
What did Rho mean by ‘secret passage’..?
sss
He gritted his teeth tightly as he continued looking around. Where did those little brats get off to? They should be around here somewhere...
But who was he kidding? They weren’t here. They never were here. He needed to keep going, keep looking. Eventually he would be able to find them, right? Somehow, someway, he would be able to see them in the distance, grab them and yank them to where Skrawl was waiting for them. Or maybe even get that memotrice...
Yes... That would be nice. Any of them would do just fine. He would be the first Beanie Boy to locate at least one of them, and he would be the first one to report back to Skrawl. He would reclaim his reputation and then some. He would surely be promoted to general. No doubt Skrawl would promote any Beanie Boy who managed to get back to him first. All the more reason for him to find those fugitives first...
But it wasn’t going to be easy. The other Beanie Boys were looking around as well. He would occassionally see them zip by, turning their heads left and right as they tried to find a sign of them anywhere. He tried his best not to interact with them or say anything to them; he was not interested in hearing what they had to say to him.
Of course, this didn’t stop them from occasionally giving a remark towards him. None of them were very friendly.
“If it isn’t the little traitor...”
“Go away! You’ve caused enough damage!”
“Filthy swine!”
These comments and more plagued his mind, making him grit his teeth. He struggling so hard not to snap at them. He tried not to alllow their comments to get to him. This was not an easy thing to do, but he still struggled the best he could not to give into the pressure of saying something back to them. It wasn’t like it was going to do him any good anyway. He needed to focus on finding the fugitives, not worry about a few hurtful words that shouldn’t really matter to him. Who cares what these idiots think, anyway?
Alpha continued moving down the hallways, keeping mostly the same ones, very rarely turning. He felt as though each time he would time, he would run into a Beanie Boy. Even though he had a greater chance of running into them if he kept on the same hallway, he still couldn’t help but feel that each time he would turn, he would run into another of those Beanie Boys and have to endure another of those stupid comments. He couldn’t wait until he found the fugitives. Once he did and once he was appointed second in command, he was going to make sure they all paid for what they did to him.
Oh if only Beta were here...
He gritted his teeth whene he thought of his former partner. He still could see his body being torn apart by that darn chinese unicorn. He still felt so guilty. He wished that he had done...something to help him. But instead, he just...stood around, did nothing. He felt so sick of himself for doing such a thing. Beta needed him and he still failed. What kind of partner was he?
But though he couldn’t bring him back, he could still make it up to him by finding those fugitives and taking care of them. Especially Zebin...
Oh how Zebin was going to pay for what it had done to his partner. It was not going to get away with this. It might have managed to escape, a fact that startled him when one of the Beanie Boys shouted it. But it would not remain free for very long. He felt a dark smile creep along his face. He hoped that Zebin has gotten a nice, long run of freedom, for it was going to be the last one he was ever going to take.
However, it seemed that he might have to put that revenge-seeking business on hold. He was still having zero luck with finding anything useful. There were no signs of anything behing here. Not even tiny scrapes from the beasts that he recalled were with them. With how big they were, it was amazing that they could even more through the hallway without making much of a mark. Okay so he did find a few marks, but they just weren’t good enough. Just really faint that hardly told him anything, other than they had been in this hallway. And even then, there was no telling if it was actually them or not, or if it was from someone else. For all he knew, one of the other Beanie Boys might be messing with him and...
He growled softly as he continued looking around the hallways. He did run into another Beanie Boy a couple of times, and though they tried to insult him or gave him a dirty look, he ignored it as he focused his attention on searching for the fugitives. They were around here somewhere. If he could just find some kind of clue, he could...
But who was he kidding? He hasn’t found anything at all during his search. Just more solid walls, lights, some Beanie Boys, and general emptiness. There were a few times when he thought he would see something, but it turned out to be just his imagination. It was as though fate itself was trying to drive him insane, to break him, to torment him. He could almost see a face floating in front of him, taunting him about how he was never going to succeed and that he should just give up.
But he won’t give up. He could never give up. What kind of Beanie Boy would he be if he just gave up so easily? No, he had to keep going, had to keep searching. Even though his brain hurt, he had to keep trying to find them. They were nearby. He could sense it. If he just kept going in this direction, he would find something. He...
Suddenly he heard something. A faint sound. Hardly there, yet still there. He stood still, turning his head slowly to the left where he had heard it. There was another hallway here. There didn’t appear to be anyone in this hallway except...wait...there was someone there, but he couldn’t recognize who it was. Not from this distance. Just who could this be?
Slowly, the Beanie Boy began to move in a little closer. His dark eyes remained focused on this object. He kept his breathing as low as possible, his body a little hunched as it floated closer to the ceiling. He tried to keep his cap propeller from spinning too fast, lest he accidentally expose himself. He watched the figure carefully, looking for any signs of movement or any sound. Something that would tell him just who the heck this was.
Just then, he could hear another sound. A muffled sound from ahead. Further along ahead actually, past the figure before him. He narrowed his eyes in curiosity as he moved in even closer. Still he could not recognize the figure, but at the moment, his mind was hardly focused on the figure themselves. His eyes were instead focusing on what was ahead of the hallway, going through a rather dark gap. There was something there, he could tell. Something in the distance that was talking, communicating. But with the way it was talking, it sounded as though...
Wait, these sounds...they were so familiar. Wait a minute...was this...?
Yes, it was. The fugitives. It had to be them. He could recognize the sound of their voices. The familiar tone of Rudy, Penny, and Snap’s voices. They were here, just ahead.
They were going to get away. If he stood here long enough and did nothing, they were going to escape his grasp. No..they weren’t. He was not going to allow that to happen. This figure..it must be a Beanie Boy trying to get the fugitives first. No, that was his job. Only he, Alpha, would be allowed to tackle the little runaways. He was not going to allow this Beanie Boy to steal what was rightfully his.
He didn’t wait any longer. He rolled his sleeves, his eyes narrowing in determination. Whoever dared to try to steal what belonged to him was going to pay. And then the fugitives would follow.
Taking in a deep breath, feeling the burning adrenaline rush through his body, he charged.
sss
Skrawl tried to keep himself as quiet as he could, not wanting to do anything to blow his cover. He glared out ahead, staring at the space that he knew the fugitives were on. He could hear them, and with each step he went over, he could hear them even more. He did his best to keep his footsteps silent, his breathing low and light. He did not want to do anything to blow his cover. This surprise attack was not going to work if he slipped up.
Not that he would slip up. After all, he was Skrawl. He does not make mistakes. Others make mistakes. ...well okay so he did mess up a couple times, but those were just flukes. Nothing to be concerned about. Not like it was going to matter in this case. He knew what he was doing. He knew that he was going to succeed in this. All he had to do was keep moving forward quietly, and when the time was right, he would pounce.
He could feel the energy pumping through his body. He could feel his lips curling back into a wickend smile. He could feel his throat shaking a little as he struggled not to laugh. He just couldn’t help hilmself. He was getting so close to finally getting back his prisoners. And he was doing to do it by surprise. Oh how he loved to take his enemies by surprise. It always made him feel so good. To have them believe that they were winning, only to pull the rug out from underneath them... Such a wonderful reaction they would always have.
His personal favorite would always be that first time. The time when he had built that museum and he tricked so many zoners in there, and even Rudy and Penny, too. And he had set up the trap and they were all locked up inside. That had been one of his favorite schemes to date because of how near perfect that it was. And the look on Rudy’s face when he had yet again pulled the rug out from underneath him when he was tricked into thinking that he would let them all go... That had been pricelss.
Oh if only he had remembered about the magic chalk thing... He should have taken that chance to get rid of those two brats... And now it was too late for that. Oh well...there was nothing he could do about it now anyway. At least he was going to get another chance to deal with them.
As the jellybean hunkered down and waited for the group to get closer, whenever they decided to move again, he started to think of all kinds of stuff that he would want to do them. There was so much... He stared down at his hand, flexing his claws, watching as they sparkled with electricity. He knew one thing that he was going to right off the bat. It would be fun watching them scream and squirm on the ground when he shot them with the crimson electricity. He could already envision them squirming on the ground. Squirming just like the maggots they were.
Perhaps then they would learn not to cross him. Perhaps then, they would realize just how futile it was to try to defy him. They would have brought this on themselves. They would have no one to blame but themselves. It would be all their faults. He would make sure that they realized this in the end before they died. Hearing them beg and plead for mercy would just be the highlight of that.
He still wasn’t entirely sure just who he was going to target first, though. He had been thinking, and just when he thought he decided, another thought would enter his mind. He gritted his teeth and seethed in annoyance. It shouldn’t be this hard to come up with a decision, right? Really, all he had to do was pick a target and charge them when they came over here. He was going to need to pick someone to attack, right? He couldn’t just rush in without some kind of attack plan. Pick a target and be done with it, he told himself.
Finally, after cycling through his mind, trying to think of the perfect target, he felt that Penny was the best one. Yes..she would do quite nicely. It hadn’t been easy to come up with that decision.
He had first thought of Thoughtless. He was not fond of that creature escaping, and even less so how it had used him like a toy earlier. It would have been nice to screw around with it a little more. He had enjoyed it the last few times that he did. Another time would be just as much fun. Though he also considered Rudy, seeing how he was the Great Creator and the one with the most artistic skill out of the two creators. He would sure find a way to draw something really fast and use it against him before he would be able to attack. He didn’t doubt Rudy having that ability so long as he was motivated enough.
But Penny... She would make the much better target. She was connected to Rudy, and thus anything happening to her would weaken Rudy mentally. He would be able to lock Rudy up emotionally if he hurt, or even mortally wounded, Penny and that would enable him to get the little brat. It would also allow him to take out the smartest of the two. Penny’s brains matched his own, rivaling him. And he did not say that lightly about anyone. After all, the girl did manage to turn his own robot against him.
Of course, part of the decision was personal-based. He still wanted to get back at her for how she had tricked him as the Chalk Queen. As much as he had to admit that she had been so clever then, he could not allow that to go unpunished. He didn’t think he got back at her enough for that. So perhaps now would be a good time for that. Yes, he couldn’t wait to...
Wait...what was that sound? It was really faint and yet constant. Almost like a buzzing sound. And it was getting closer...
His eyes widened a little when the sound started to become rather familiar. He shook his head slowly from side to side. No..it wasn’t possible. It couldn’t be that... No, none of them would be stupid enough to do something like this. He had to be just hearing things. Something else had to be going on. It just couldn’t be...
But when he turned his head, his eyes bulged when he realized that, indeed, it was true.
One of the Beanie Boys, whom he recognized as Alpha, was heading straight for him, getting ready to dive in headlong.
Skrawl froze at the sight of this. He couldn’t understand just what Alpha thought he was doing. He was moving in way too fast. He could see his eyes narrowed in determination. He could tell that Alpha didn’t even recognize him. He was moving in too fast, and he seemed so distracted by something, he was not taking into account just whom he was going after. Skrawl wanted to yell at him to stop, yet doing so would only reveal his location. So he did the next best thing.
Raising his hand up and waving it back and forth, he tried to get the Beanie Boy’s attention. But it seemed as if Alpha was still fully unaware of him. He just kept coming closer. Skrawl could feel a tinge in his heart. If he didn’t do something to stop Alpha soon, he was going to ruin everything. He narrowed his eyes. What did this idiot think he was doing anyway?
It was no use. Alpha was not going to stop. Even when the Beanie Boy finally broke out of his idiocy state and recognized that, no, he was not any of the targets that he was after, he had already gone so fast that it would be impossible for him to stop in time. All Skrawl could do was brace for the inevitable crash landing. Before it happened, he made sure to give Alpha a vicious look, a way of telling him that he was not pleased with what he was doing and that, after this was all done, he was going to answer for his stupidity.
Skrawl barely had time to finish that thought before the Beanie Boy collided with him. He let out a grunt as he was tossed backwards with him. He tried to keep his feet firmly planted on the ground. But no matter how hard he tried, his feet just kept slipping on the ground. Despite his struggles, he ended up falling onto his back a few feet from where he originally stood. His large body hit against the ground loudly and he let out a loud gasp of air, his eyes widening as Alpha landed on his stomach.
Soon Skrawl just laid there for a few moments, letting out a soft groan of pain. He managed to lift his head up, supporting himself with one arm. He rubbed his head a bit before he looked over down the hallway. Not far, near the end of the hallway, he could see just who he thought he would see.
The fugitives.
And what luck. They were all here. Not just the two creator children and Thoughtless, but he could also see Snap, Blocky, and Howdy. And there was the rebel leader, Rapsheeba. Then the two large animalistic beasts. All in one location. All one gigantic target.
And all of them fully aware that he was here, completely ruining his surprise attack.
With his blood heating up, anger suddenly rising inside of him, he turned towards the Beanie Boy who had ruined everything. With a growl, his body shaking in rage, he reached over and he seized Alpha by his throat. The Beanie Boy gave a squeak as he yanked him close to him. His mismatched eyes burned through his.
“You are lucky that I am in a hurry, Alpha! But don’t think that your idiocy is going to go unpunished! Now make yourself useful and go get some assistance!”
Skrawl threw the hapless Beanie Boy as hard as he could, not caring as he let out a help of pain. At the moment, he didn’t care if Alpha was in a little pain or not. His rage prevented him from bothering to care at that point. He just wanted Alpha to be gone so he could focus on taking care of the fugitives himself. Even though a part of him realized he was making a big mistake and that keeping him around would be the better option, this just didn’t cross his mind at the moment. Not even when Alpha was now completely out of sight.
The jellybean turned his head rigidly towards the group of fugitives. They were still locked where they were, frozen in shock by his sudden appearance. Skrawl slowly climbed up to his feet, staring intently at them. He could see them now start to move a little, some adopting a defensive stance and others moving back away. The two large beasts growled, but remained where they were, looking unsure if they should attack or not.
Skrawl kept his eyes focused on Penny, his eyes moving up and down her body as he took note of her injuries. Both she and Rudy were injured from their encounter earlier. He gave a small, dark smile at this. This...was going to be so much fun...
Without giving Penny time to react, Skrawl unleashed his red electricity. It shot towards the girl in the blink of an eye. Penny only had time to grunt before the electricity had wrapped around her body completely. She looked all around at her electrical bondage before it squeezed tightly around her. She shut her eyes and seethed in pain as Skrawl easily lifted her up into the air. He smirked up at her before he unleashed a volt of electricity through her. Penny threw her head back and lete out a loud, bloodcurdling scream.
Rudy’s terrified voice rang through the air as everyone else watched in horror. “Penny!”
sss
The sound of the doors opening so quickly startled Mr. Tabootie, breaking him out of his current train of thought. In that moment, he and the two women appeared to have forgotten about what they were discussing as they whipped their heads over to see two adults heading towards Terry’s television van very quickly.
Mr. Tabootie couldn’t recognize these two particular individuals. He would say they were teachers, or at the very least, security, although he didn’t recall if this school had a security staff or not. Either way, the end result was still the same; he was unable to recognize these two individuals and they were heading right for Terry’s van. But why? And why did they wear frowns on their faces? It was clear that something was definitely up. But the question was..what?
A few seconds later, it became apparent that Terry had no intention on staying there any longer. They could hear the sound of the door opening. They could see the door being pushed open really quickly. They then saw Terry moving her head out of the door, looking all around and trying to figure out just which way to go. She appeared in such a hurry that she didn’t seem to notice them looking over at her.
Mr. Tabootie saw the fear in her eyes. They were wide, her pupils small. He had never seen her with that look before except when she was chased by that beast that Reggie had drawn. To see it on her again told him that what was going on was a huge deal. He didn’t know for certain just what was happening, but whatever it was, it involved something Terry didn’t like. And seeing how fast the adults were coming towards her vehicle, it was very clear to him what was happening.
Terry was being apprehended.
But...how? Why? He and the others didn’t do anything to cause this. They didn’t call security. They didn’t call the police. They did nothing because they thought that they had nothing on her. Who was going to arrest Terry if she was just sitting in the parking lot? Okay that would be a little weird seeing someone like her just sitting here, not doing anything. But it was not exactly a crime or anything. They didn’t have any proof that she did anything that would have resulted in her being arrested. And they certainly didn’t have any proof that would make these two adults storm at her like this, glaring at her in that way. Just looking at this, the only conclusion they could come to is that Terry must have done something really wrong. Something that they weren’t even aware of.
It couldn’t have involved their children. Terry wasn’t anywhere near them right now. And their two kids did assure them that Terry was never really violent towards them. She was nasty, yes, but she didn’t hurt them. Nothing that would have warrented this kind of arrest or apprehension. And of course, this couldn’t be because of ChalkZone. It would be unlikely that the police would really care about that place. Even Mr. Tabootie and his wife and Mrs. Sanchez were up in the air about that. So that couldn’t be it, either.
But...if it wasn’t their children, and it wasn’t ChalkZone, then...
...what could it be...?
Well, there was only one way they could find out. Sure they could stand around here, talking to try to figure it out. But they would learn nothing. And true it might not be any of their business, but they wouldn’t really know for sure until they actually went over and spoke with these people. And besides, if there was a chance that it somehow involved their kids, didn’t they have the right to know?
The three parents began to make their way over. As they stepped onto the concrete of the parking lot, Terry had already attempted to run. The two adults coming after her, however, were too quick for her. They rushed in fast, coming in from both sides. Terry only had time to look at them briefly before her arms were seized. Her broken arm was grabbed just above the break, causing her to flinch a little, while her other was seized near her elbow. The two adults then firmly planted their feet on the ground and just held her there tightly.
A couple seconds later, Mr. Tabootie approached, his wife and Mrs. Sanchez positioned behind him. He moved towards the first individual, the one that was holding onto Terry’s broken arm. His approach didn’t go unnoticed and all three of them looked in his direction.
Before he could say anything, he could see how Terry was looking at him. Her eyes had deepened into a frown and her lips were curled back into a snarl. Seeing this, Mr. Tabootie immediately become uneasy, feeling his heart tighten a little. He paused his advance as he stared at the woman. Although he had no fear of the woman trying to hurt him, as she couldn’t do anything in that condition, he still couldn’t help but feel nervous. It was clear that she was not happy to see him. Did she blame them for this happening?
“Y-You...” Terry growled, her breathing becoming slightly erratic, puffing in and out quickly. “I’m going to....”
“Shut it!” One of the individuals told her, tightening the grip around her arm. “You’re in enough trouble as it is! Don’t push your luck!” Terry responded to this with another growl and began to struggle, yanking herself from side to side.
The other individual turned and looked at the three adults. “I wouldn’t get too close to her if I were you.”
“Why?” Asked Mrs. Tabootie. “What did she do?”
The individual looked at them with a perplexed expression. After blinking a few times, the response came, “You mean you don’t know? You hadn’t heard the news?” The three adults immediately shook their heads, their expressions becoming even more confused by this news. “There was a radio announcement, spread all over town. All the school heard it and we are certain car radios had it as well and...”
“Oh that would explain it.” Mr. Tabootie interrupted, raising a finger. “We weren’t...in a car at the time.” He didn’t want to mention that they had been spying on Terry. That wouldn’t have come off good for them, even if she was kind of a jackass. “What was the announcement?”
“Well, turns out that she had killed Dr. Von Doktor.”
The three parents stiffened at this, their eyes bulging. They glanced at one another, blinking several times as they tried to digest this information. None of them had expected to hear anything like this when they had come over.
Terry...had killed someone? She had murdered Dr. Von Doktor? They knew that he was in poor shape, but they didn’t know he actually died... and Terry was the one responsible? It was unprecedented. Terry never came off as someone who would actually murder... Yeah they could see her leaving someone to their death depending on what was going on. But they never interpreted her as someone who would actually...take a life...
They couldn’t stop staring at the woman in utter horror. They watched as she squirmed and fought against the individual’s grasp, struggling to get free. Their hearts clenched as they started to wonder just what she was going to do once she got free. Would she go after them next? Would she run off and hide and try something else? None of them knew for certain.
“We need to take her down to the station.” One of the individuals said. “She has a lot to answer for.”
The three stunned adults merely nodded as they took a step back and watched as Terry was being dragged away. They couldn’t think of saying anything. They couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. All they were aware of was the woman being dragged away, their body temperatures lowering as the realization that this woman actually murdered someone entered their minds. Horror washed over them, making them feel quite cold. Their minds raced as they started to imagine what else Terry might do. Just what else was she capable of?
It didn’t help that she was shouting at them. It was hard to tell if she really believed they were behind this or not, but the harsh words she shouted in spite of already being in trouble spoke volumes. Even if she didn’t think they were responsible, even if she knew they weren’t involved, the message was quite clear: if she couldn’t get at the person really involved with this, she was going to take it out on them...
Mr. Tabootie soon narrowed his eyes at her. If Terry wanted to try that, she would have go to through him first. He was not going to allow her to try anything against him, his wife, his friends, nor his son. She was going to get what was coming to her. And honestly, after the way she acted before, she deserved to get arrested.
He couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief. He and the others had been worried about how they were going to handle Terry. But now it seemed a piece of evidence was uncovered that linked her to a horrific crime. They didn’t even have to do anything. They just had to stand here and watch as Terry was being taken away, to be locked up so that she couldn’t ever hurt anyone again. She was no longer a threat to them, or was she a threat to their children or to ChalkZone. This realization made him smile. He couldn’t wait to tell his son about this news.
That is...if he ever saw him again. He realized he was still in ChalkZone, doing gawd knows what in there. He clenched his teeth tightly. He had to wonder just how he was doing. Was he okay? Did anything go wrong? These questions and more flooded his mind.
He suddenly froze when he realized something. Was it possible that Terry had been betrayed by Ming Long? She was the only person who was with her...the only one, besides them, who knew where she was. And he knew that none of them had reported Terry was here. So it had to be Ming Long. This seemed like good news at first...until he and the two women realized one thing.
They didn’t know where Ming Long stood in this. What was her stand about ChalkZone? What was her stance regarding their children? Did she do this to help out, or did she do it for more personal reasons? Was she a noble person trying to offer aid, or was she more wracked in anger than they had been led to believe? Did she like Dr. Von Doktor and got angry at Terry for what she did?
And most of all, just what were her plans..?
Mr. Tabootie realized that these thoughts were ridiculous. But he just couldn’t help himself. They flooded his mind constantly, filling it up to the brim. He could feel his body start to shake a little as the unknowns and what-ifs began to factor in. He gritted his teeth tightly, seething through his teeth. He asked himself the same question over and over. Even when he tried to stop, the message would just repeat itself, forcing him to think of the question nonstop, a question that he presently had no answer for.
Was Ming Long an ally...or an enemy...?
sss
The pain... Oh gawd.... So much pain.. It ate away at her insides, ripping through her body. She could feel almost every part of her begin to burn intensely. She struggled and squirmed against the electricity’s grasp, but there was nothing she could do to escape it. It seemed like if she tried too hard, she only ended up making it much worse for herself.
She could hear that darn jellybean laughing coldly at her. Somehow, his laughter made it all so much worse. It was as though each time he laughed, the pain receptors in her body just picked up even more pain, causing her to squirm harder. But no matter how hard she struggled, no matter what she tried, she just could not get away. She eventually opened her eyes to give her attacker a glare. It was all she could do at this point.
Skrawl’s twisted smile greeted her. In that moment, that was all she could see. She was only vaguely aware of the others watching. She could only just barely hear Rudy calling out to Skrawl to stop, or one of the other zoners demanding that she be let go. Maybe some of them offered to trade places with her, but it was difficult to say.
Not that she paid much attention. The pain made this quite difficult. All she could do was focus on Skrawl in front of her, and try her hardest not to keep screaming from the pain. Even though it ate away at her insides, she wanted to be at least a little defiant. She didn’t want Skrawl to have all the pleasure of tormenting her, of tearing her down. She would rather show some kind of resistance against him so he didn’t get any full satisfaction from her. That’s what he would have wanted, and she was going to deny him that.
It wasn’t easy keeping quiet, though. She had to clench her teeth tightly, occasionally biting her tongue, to try to prevent herself from screaming. The pain continued to rip through her body, the agony burning inside her muscles and everywhere else. The pain seemed to intrude especially in the more sensitive areas, feeling as though it was causing the skin to start to peel apart. It did send some fear through her mind as she realized she had no idea just how well she was going to handle this situation, or what Skrawl might do if she continued to resist.
But even then, she would rather die knowing she defied this hideous jellybean than caving in and giving him what he wanted, which was her fear.
“Wait! Please! Stop!”
Penny could hear Rudy’s voice call out to her. She couldn’t tell if he was getting closer or not, though she thought she could hear his footsteps. It was difficult for her to hear anything while her mind was clouded in pain, her eyes shut tightly once more as the pain increased. But no doubt, she could see it in her mind, Rudy standing there, getting closer to Skrawl, trying to negotiate with him. Not that the jellybean was going to listen to him.
“Please stop hurting her! I...”
“Don’t take another step closer, Master Tabootie! Not unless you want to say goodbye to your pitiful friend!”
Penny couldn’t stop the jolt of fear at that comment. She felt the icy sensation sweep through her in a fraction of a second. She tried not to let it get to her. She tried not to allow it to change her expression. However she could feel her facial muscles moving, and soon a look of fear had graced her face. It didn’t last too long as she managed to fight to remove it. But it still lasted long enough that she could hear Skrawl’s chortle directed at her. He had seen this look and no doubt would try to get it back again.
He responded to her expression of fear by slightly increasing the voltage. But to Penny, even just a slight increase felt like a sharp jab in the stomach. She pulled her head back and let out a loud, pained hiss. She struggled not to scream, but a small squeak did end up coming out of her mouth despite her best efforts.
This sound was enough to terrify the others. She could hear other cries for her, other pleas towards Skrawl. Despite it being useless, they still begged for her release. Some of them were more angry in their statements, however, nearly threatening Skrawl if he didn’t release her. These did make Penny flinch as she realized that if they weren’t careful, they just might ‘inspire’ Skrawl to take more drastic action. She was surprised he hadn’t done any of that yet, but then again, he was probably just prolonging her pain just for the fun of it.
“Let her go, Skrawl!” Shouted Blocky. His voice wafered a little bit. “Or I will....!”
“Or you’ll what, you stupid piece of paper?” Skrawl said with a snarl, his voice dripping with cruel amusement. “Do you really think any of you have a say in this matter? I have been waiting a long time for this, and I am not about to let any of you ruin it! Besides...most of you are just nothing. You think you stand any chance against me? You’re all just so pathetic...”
This caused a scraping sound on the ground and a low growl. Penny heard a clopping sound along with this and she knew that Zebin must have been the one to make that sound. Either that, or it was one of the large beasts. She was still in too much pain to try to open her eyes yet.
“Weak, are we? I cannot speak for the others, but I don’t think you should underestimate me.” Zebin spoke, its voice brimming with confidence. More taps indicated that it was getting a bit closer. “Why don’t you put the girl down and face me, if you want to know what true strength is?”
Penny could feel her gut twist at this. She tried hard not to get too angry at this, though the task was quite difficult. She couldn’t help but grit her teeth at what Zebin had said. Even though it hadn’t directly stated it and it probably hadn’t really meant it the way it sounded, but...there was a strong hint in its words that it thought that she was weak. Why? Because she was caught? Well excuse her for being taken off guard....
She tried not to let this get to her, however. There was not much she could gain from getting mad, other than potentially getting more hurt. Besides, it wasn’t Zebin who had put her in this situation. It was Skrawl. After forcing her eyes open once more, she turned to face the jellybean.
It was difficult to tell just what Skrawl was going to do, but the look in his eyes certainly didn’t yield anything positive. There was that hideous glint in his eyes, informing her of something far worse to come. The thought brought chills to her stomach, though she did her best to just glare at him. Despite her predicament, she was certain that she was going to find a way out of here. She just had to keep looking around and eventually an escape route would come to her.
She took a moment to look at the others. It was difficult to see them with how she was being held up. Her vision was a tad blurred, which certainly didn’t help things. But she was still able to see enough that she could tell where everyone was.
They weren’t positioned too far away from her. They were all either looking at her with grave concern, or they were turned towards Skrawl, glaring or pleading with him to let her go. None of them were trying to get too close, not even the two large beasts. She could tell the reason almost right away. If they tried anything too fast, Skrawl could easily kill her. It wouldn’t take much for that jellybean to succeed in doing that. All it would really take is a practical snap of the claws and that was it. Even though the others clearly wanted to help her, and in fact Rudy looked ready to charge the jellybean the most out of all of them, he nor the others could make a move without risking injury to her.
So it seemed like it was up to her to get away. She wasn’t sure yet how she was going to pull that off. She wasn’t close enough to land a strike and she moved around too much, Skrawl might decide to do something about her quicker than he had planned. She was going to have to plan this very carefully and not allow herself to slip up and...
Suddenly she could feel herself being adjusted. She grunted as the electricity began to yank her towards the jellybean. She widened her eyes and gritted her teeth defensively. She was soon placed only about a foot in front of him. All she was able to see was his face. She squirmed left and right as his grin broadened, but there was nothing she could do to get away from him.
“Penny!” Rudy shouted.
“Leave her alone!” Called out Snap.
“If you hurt her...”
“Shut your traps! You all have no say in this!” Skrawl growled as he turned and glared at them. “If any of you take any step closer, I will run my claws through her chest! Do you hear me?!”
After a series of gasps, everyone froze, remaining where they were. They stared at Penny helplessly before turning to glare at Skrawl. Rudy’s expression suggested that he was trying to think of a workaround, but it was clear that this was going to be quiet difficult for him. Penny wondered if he would even succeed before it was too late.
As for her, mostly all she could do was stare at Skrawl. Even when she managed to turn her head away, something about him drew her to him. Perhaps it was the pain. Or maybe perhaps it was the fear. Either way, she was locked in eye contact with the jellybean as he raised his claw up towards her, the sharp end looking like it was getting ready to jab itself in her eye. She pulled her head back and let out a soft growl at this.
“My my...you are feisty aren’t you...?” Skrawl said with glee. It didn’t seem like he was in too much of a hurry. Perhaps his position of power helped with that. And didn’t he say he was going to get help? That reduced their chances of getting out of her so easily. “It is quite fun when my...little toys squirm around like this. It makes me feel so...powerful...”
Despite her position, Penny managed to hiss out, “You are pathetic, S-Skrawl.”
The jellybean narrowed his eyes at this. “Pathetic, am I?” He raised one of his eyebrows. “In case you didn’t notice, you are the one who is being held up in the air. You are the one who can’t do anything to get away. And it wouldn’t take much for me to...” He put his face close to hers. “..take care of you...”
Penny gritted her teeth in fear at this. This expression didn’t last long as she managed to regain her more defiant look. She managed to give a small, shaky smile before she gave him her own retort. “At least I don’t rely on some special power to get something done. H-How about you try to deal with us w-w-without these electrical powers of yours?”
Skrawl narrowed his eyes at this. At first, Penny almost thought that maybe she had managed to get through to him and maybe he would let her go to fight her without the powers. It did seem really unlikely, but Skrawl wouldn’t want to come off as weak to others, right? Wouldn’t he want to come off as intimidating? It was no secret to anyone that someone is far scarier if they could accomplish things with so little abilities than to be granted power and abuse it like hell.
A part of her egan to wonder just how well he’d hold this up if he didn’t have the geomite’s powers. Would he simply collapse before them after they overwhelmed him? Would he run and hide when the beasts came after him? It didn’t take her long to realize that she may have been right. Perhaps Skrawl wouldn’t be much of a threat without these powers; he was getting too used to them. How well would he handle them without these abilities?
Then again, Skrawl had almost never attacked them himself. He usually relied on someone else, like the robot or the giant brain. This realization washed over her and she couldn’t help but offer a smirk of her own. That gave her an idea.
“You th-think you are s-s-something, Skrawl..? I-If you were any...anything... Why d-d-do you almost always rely on s-someone else doing the dirt work f-f-for you? Huh?” Skrawl widened his eyes at this. “Y-Yeah...you know I’m telling the truth. Y-You c-can’t handle us, so you rely on th-thugs to do it for you!”
Penny knew that this statement was not as accurate as she made it sound. She knew that Skrawl was still dangerous and what he was capable of. But if she got him angry enough, that would make it harder for him to focus, and it would make it easier for someone to strike him. She still had to be careful, however, as this could easily go wrong. But if she planned it well enough, then maybe she could...
However, it seemed that she had misjudged.
Without warning, there was a sudden increase of pain around her body. The voltage had been increased. If it wasn’t burning her before, it sure as heck was now. She could feel her body convulsing as it tried to endure the electricity pumping through her. Penny clenched her jaws shut tightly as she tried not to scream, jerking her head from side to side. However, her attempts at remaining silent were futile. She pulled her head back and let out a loud scream that echoed across the hallway.
“Penny! No!”
Penny could hear the others shouting at Skrawl to stop, which only seemed to create the opposite effect. She tried to tell them to stop, but she could only manage screams every time she opened up her mouth. She clenched her teeth tightly, seething heavily, her heart pounding against her chest. The pain increased in intensity and she could hear tears start to pool down her face.
“So...you think I can’t do anything on my own, do you, my little ‘Chalk Queen’?!” Skrawl snarled at her. Penny felt her heart sting at the mention of her fake alias she had come up with a long time ago. Suddenly everything about this started to feel much more personal. “I know what you were trying to make me do, and I am not going to fall for it! I don’t care if you think that I am ‘weaker’ for doing this. I am going to do it because I want to!”
Penny opened up one eye, staring down at Skrawl in fear. She wanted to say something, anything. But what could she say? There was nothing that would make Skrawl back down from his little threat. All she could do was just watch him warily, baring her teeth in fear at him. She tried to jerk herself around, squirming in the electricity’s grasp. But nothing she tried loosened the grip he had on her. And somehow, she doubted she’d be able to pull it off so easily.
“I have been waiting a long time to get you back for what you did to me, ‘Chalk Queen’... Oh you might have thought you were so clever. But you hadn’t even stopped to think of the consequences, now did you? I think not. If you did..then you would have realized just what was in store for you... Such as...this!”
Penny could feel her body suddenly twist around as Skrawl was repositioning her. She felt a force around her neck, and then more force around her body and legs. She was confused at first of what this meant, but she soon got her answer when the two force ends suddenly started to pull...in the opposite directions.
Penny’s eyes bulged open as she felt her neck being yanked away from her body. She tightened the muscles around her neck and tried to pull it back. But the electrical tendril around her neck continued to pull away from her body and it was stronger than her. She could feel her neck muscles and vertebrate start to ache as they were being pulled in this manner. She struggled to keep her head back, offering a counter force of some kind. However, this wasn’t enough to stop the pain and the aches, especially when Skrawl began to yank harder.
She could hear Rudy shouted, “Skrawl! Stop!”
“My name is not Skrawl anymore! Need I remind you, boy? Call me Grim Reaper!”
“...Grim Reaper... Please let Penny go!”
“Why should I?”
Penny clenched her teeth tightly. She wasn’t sure why Rudy was even bothering to try. It wasn’t like Skrawl was going to listen to anything that he had to say. None of his bartering was going to work on him. Skrawl had made it clear that he wanted to pay her back for what she had done to him, and that was exactly what he was going to do. There was nothing that could stop him from...
She started to feel something start to give way. Pain spread rapidly through her neck. She flailed wildly as she desperately tried to stop Skrawl from beheading her. Her eyes, wide and wild in pain and fear, could see everything around her. She could see the others watching in horror, looking like they wanted to do something to stop this, but were utterly too frozen to do anything. She kicked her legs wildly in the air, her arms struggling to keep her head in place, or to push back the electricity. These actions only served to increase Skrawl’s voltage, increasing her pain, and quickening the tugging. If this kept up for too much longer...
“Let’s see how tough you are, Master Tabootie, when you don’t have your precious little girlfriend around to help you!”
“Wait! Stop! No!”
Penny forced her eyes open and she glared at Skrawl. She kept her lips pulled back into a snarl. She struggled not to scream despite the intense pain coursing through her body at the moment. She let out a series of low growls. Despite the agony that was threatening to tear her apart, she was still not going to allow Skrawl any benefit of seeing her afraid. She was going to remain defiant in the end, no matter what he tried to do to her.
She could feel her neck ache even more, and she thought she heard another slight crack. Something was starting to give way in her neck. She knew that, eventually, it was all going to be over. And there was nothing she and the others could do about it. At least, not fast enough nor without getting noticed. But she did have some comfort in the fact that her inevitable death would only fuel their determination to stop the jellybean more. And she knew that Rudy was not going to take her death lightly and he would ensure that Skrawl would pay for it.
Slowly, she gave a small smile of acceptance. She closed her eyes and waited for the final blow.
“No!”
She opened her eyes at this sudden shout. She could see movement from the side. A flash of blue and white. Then she hear a loud thud as something collided in front of her. She turned her gaze just in time to see Snap landing against Skrawl’s body. He staggered back from the force of the impact, his feet scrambling to keep himself from falling down.
The sudden impact was enough to draw Skrawl’s concentration away from the electrical tendrils that had been holding her. With them suddenly gone, she fell into the ground. She let out a small shriek at this before she collided against the floor beneath her. She laid there for a few moments, feeling the aches spreading through her shoulder, and the pains in her neck continue to spread throughout. Unsure of the extent of the damage, she just laid there.
She could hear footsteps approaching her rapidly. She became aware of Rudy racing to her side. He knelt down in front of her, staring at her with great concern. He reached out towards her and placed his hand gingerly on her shoulder. Penny wanted to respond, but all she did was let out a hiss of pain.
“Snap?! What are you doing?!”
At this, the two children turned their heads to see Skrawl and Snap struggling with one another. Snap had a hold of Skrawl’s antennas and hair, yanking on them hard, preventing the jellybean from being able to use his powers. Skrawl let out a series of snarls and threats as he struggled to get Snap off of him. So far, he wasn’t having much luck.
Penny’s racing, pained mind was able to quickly piece together what had happened. During Skrawl’s tormenting of her, Snap must have found a way to free himself. She wasn’t really sure how. Perhaps he had used Rho’s ranting, which everyone had ignored since he was a little delirious, to cover up his escape attempts. Heck, even Skrawl hadn’t been listening to Rho, though his delirious condition might have fueled Skrawl’s anger a little. Nonetheless, Snap was able to get free and he wanted until the right moment to attack and...
“Get off of me, you little worm!”
Skrawl had finally managed to seize Snap by his leg and yank him up. He glared at Snap for only a second before he threw him into the ground as hard as he could. The zoner bounced and rolled along before coming to a stop a few feet away. They all looked at this in horror.
“Now..” Skrawl turned to them, raising his fist up, sparkling with electricity. “...where was I...?”
Skrawl was not able to finish his sentence before the two large beasts, who had remained back for long enough, finally had it and charged the jellybean. The hog-faced zoner rammed its head against him. The jellybean let out a loud cry of pain as he slammed into the ground. The two beasts were now upon him.
Penny stared at this in shock, but she managed to tear her eyes away. Despite her pain, she craned her head up and shouted at the others. “Run!”
sss
It was difficult to tear his eyes away from what had just happened. A part of him just couldn’t believe it. It all happened so fast...
The two large beasts that had been standing dormant, mostly just growling, had finally taken action. Before he could even blink, they were already upon Skrawl. He watched as they viciously attacked the jellybean, swatting and striking at him with their paws and tails. Each strike created a heavy thud that caused the child to flinch.
But it wasn’t like Skrawl was defenseless, either. He quickly reminded them all of his powers. He shot out a stream of electricity from his claws. The tendrils wrapped around the creatures’ forms, lifting them up into the air and electrocuting them. The beasts let out loud screeches of pain, their eyes wide and bulging. The sight was absolutely horrific, making Rudy’s heart wrench tightly as he watched the scene, unable to look away.
The beasts roared and screeched in agony, their bodies trembling. Rudy wanted to do something to help them. He couldn’t just allow this to take place. He had to draw something to stop Skrawl. He looked down at his magic chalk, his eyes narrowing in determination, his teeth gritted. He then glared back at Skrawl. He raised up his chalk to start drawing.
“No! Wait!” Penny shouted at him, a slight wheeze to her voice as she struggled against the pain. “D-Don’t!”
“What?” Rudy stared down at her in disbelief. “Why not? Penny, they’re in danger!”
Penny struggled up to her feet. It was quite difficult for her to accomplish this, especially considering the injury to her neck. Rudy moved over and offered his assistance. He allowed Penny to lean against him, using him as support. She took in a few pained breaths before she attempted to respond. “We will be in danger if we run out of magic chalk...” She looked up at him with wide eyes. “I don’t like this anymore than you do, Rudy. But if we don’t leave now...”
“But we outnumber him!” Rudy protested.
“Yeah, but he also outpowers us! All he has to do is destroy your magic chalk and we’re all in trouble!” Penny cried out to him, her eyes pleading with him to understand.
But Rudy just...couldn’t. There was no way he would turn his back on someone who needed his help. He looked back at the two beastly zoners. He bit his lip firmly. He couldn’t abandon them. They needed his help. If they stood around and did nothing..if they just left the two large zoners like this... then what did that say about them?
He watched as Skrawl continued to electrocute the two beasts. He watched as their bodies sparkled with electricity, spasming as the volts shot through their large bodies. He narrowed his eyes further at the sight of this. No, he was not going to leave them. He wasn’t going to allow Skrawl to continue tormenting them like this. He was going to do whatever he could to help them out of this situation. He lifted up his magic chalk once more to start drawing.
Blocky rushed at him, along with Howdy. “Stop, Rudy! Penny is right! You need to conserve that!”
Rudy turned to the two zoners, narrowing his eyes. “Not you two as well..”
“They aren’t the only ones.” Zebin spoke up, raising its head a little. “We all think we should get going now, while we still have a chance.”
Rapsheeba nodded her head. “It is hard, but we either take this chance now, or we might never get out.”
Thoughtless took a small step forward. <Those beasts look like they can handle themselves, anyway. I’m sure they will break free on their own. In the meantime...> Thoughtless shifted its head to the side. <...we need to get going before Skrawl remembers that we are here!>
“And before this guy regains enough sense to remember that we are his enemies.” Howdy pointed towards Rho, who was currently being subdued by Zebin. Of course, the Beanie Boy wasn’t struggling as his mind wasn’t completely there. He probably wasn’t even aware he was being held.
“But...” Rudy stuttered. “I-I...”
“Rudy.” Penny whispered to him. She gently gripped his arm and tugged on it. She looked into his eyes, giving him a sympathetic look. “We have to go. Now. We will come back for them later if we have to. But we are no use to them right now. Not when you’re about to run out of magic chalk and Skrawl has those electrical powers that would stop any of us, even Thoughtless, from making a move.”
Rudy stared at Penny for a few moments, remaining silent. He opened his mouth to speak, but he couldn’t think of anything to say. He soon shut it, letting out a forced sigh through his teeth.
“Rudy...please...” Blocky pleaded with him.
“We’ll figure this out. I promise.” Rapsheeba told him gently.
Rudy gritted his teeth tightly. He could feel anger starting to rise up inside, making his stomach feel like it was overflowing with toxins. He wanted to yell at them. He wanted to demand to know why they would want to abandon those two beast zoners. Did they forget that these beast zoners had been the ones to help them out of their previous situation? Did they forget that these two creatures were the very reason that he and Penny were still standing now? How could they turn their backs on them so easily?
But then...what would he be able to do? He could try drawing something like he planned. But Skrawl might take notice and kill the two zoners anyway, or destroy his chalk before he could do anything. And in the heat of the moment, he wasn’t sure if he could even think clearly enough to be able to draw anything very useful. He didn’t even know what could combat electricity besides rubber, and how would he get it over there? He knew that there was a very simple solution to all of this, but at the moment, he just wasn’t able to think of any of them.
He soon realized that the others were right. Perhaps backing down now was the better option. They did need to get more magic chalk anyway, and that was not something that would be possible if they stayed here and continued trying to struggle against Skrawl. And there was the fact that some of the Beanie Boys had been assigned there and they needed some form of protection. True, he could try to stop Skrawl, but there was no guarantee that he would succeed. And if he failed...would he be able to live with the guilt knowing that he ended up getting them all into deeper trouble?
He realized there really was only one option. They needed to get out of here and fast. While Skrawl was busy fighting the beasts, who had managed to free themselves at this point and were attacking back, they could run. Skrawl would not notice them getting away; his full attention were on the massive beasts circling and attacking them.
He turned his head and noticed that Snap was having a bit of trouble standing. He went over and he gently picked the zoner up despite being unsure of his alliance. He looked at him and then at the others. He gave them a single nod of the head. Understanding what this meant, they all turned and began to run down the hallway. Rudy followed, holding Snap and once more offering assistance to Penny, despite his own pain.
Rudy looked over his shoulder, clenching his teeth nervously as the two big zoners continued to fight Skrawl. He whispered softly, “Good luck you two...”
With that, he and the others disappeared down the hallway, moving as quickly as they could. He wasn’t sure exactly where they would be going, but at the moment, what mattered the most was just getting the heck out of here. Find the exit and get to the Chalk Mine as quickly as they could.
However, their moment of freedom, or the closest thing to freedom they had, was cut off almost immediately when they made the first turn.
“Oh no...” Rudy muttered softly.
There, at the end of the hallway, was a group of Beanie Boys. They had been apparently searching around for something, probably them. There were three of them, all frowning, all frustrated-looking. And then they happened to turn their hreads and they saw them.
“It’s them!”
“Get them!”
Without bothering to shout anything back at them or to each other, Rudy and the others turned and began to run down another hallway. Rudy could feel his body aching as he tried to keep Snap and Penny supported while making sure that he himself didn’t keel over from the pain or from the stress. They stared to head down this new hallway, but they never got that far for two more Beanie Boys showed up.
“Oh you’ve got to be kidding me!” Howdy growled, his eyes narrowed. “What gives?!”
The Beanie Boys had them completely surrounded. Front and back, and nowhere else to go. They all looked around, their eyes narrowed. Rudy could feel his heart rate speeding up. What were they going to do now?
They had to think fast, for the Beanie Boys made their first move.
sss
Terry struggled as hard as she could against the guards that were dragging her along. She gritted her teeth, jerking herself from side to side. But no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t get herself free. Especially with that one guard holding her broken arm like this. Could he be any crueler?
But it was clear that neither of them really cared. It was the same story with a lot of these guards. They didn’t care what injuries new prisoners had when they came in. They only cared about locking them away. Especially if their wounds were already treated, such as hers. Her arm was wrapped up in a cast, they would say. It didn’t matter if they applied a bit of pain to it, they’d say.
What a bunch of bullshit...
She had known that some of the police here were a little corrupt. And this was proof of that. She was pretty certain that she wasn’t supposed to get tossed in jail this fast. Wasn’t there something in between? She was no expert on law, but she was pretty certain there was. Some kind of rule against this. But it wasn’t like these people cared. And it wasn’t like anyone was going to care what she had to say. To everyone, she was nothing more than a murderer. Someone who took another’s life. They would see little value in her words.
Oh it just wasn’t fair... It had been an accident. She hadn’t meant to attack Dr. Von Doktor. Why couldn’t they see that? Why couldn’t they just realize it was just a mistake and let her go? Why must they drag her in here? Why must they lock her up? It wasn’t like she was going to kill again. She had never meant to kill.
But of course, that mistake was going to hang over her head. Now that freaking Ming Long had told everyone about this, having gotten a hold of security footage showing the attack, there was little reason for her to believe that she would be let out any time soon. If ever. They had seen the footage and deemed her a monster. This was a pretty quick accusation considering they were already aware of her habit of talking about a chalk world. To them, this was just a step up from that, another push into her insanity.
She gritted her teeth as she thought about Ming Long. That bitch... She had played her for a fool. She had seemed like a sweet woman who genuinely cared about the boy. Now maybe she did care about Rudy, about his well being, but it was made perfectly clear that there was someone else she also cared about. And that had been her driving force with ‘getting back at her’. She did such a good job pretending as well...
Terry wanted to kick herself for not realizing it before. Even though there was no chance she could have known that Ms. Charlotte and Ming Long were related, she still felt as though she should have realized the connection sooner. Or at least, took better note of Ming Long’s body language. There was probably something in there that would have warned her that the woman was pretending. Not too many people can lie through their teeth without something being detected about it. Simple observation could reveal most liars. And she had failed even at that...
She was still shaken up by what Ming Long had accomplished...and by what she said. It wasn’t too much. Very brief. But the fact that she had called her ‘dear’, the way she said it... it was chilling. And her ‘my pet’ comment was even worse. There was something so...sinister behind that voice. A dark, hidden promise that she realized she was not going to be able to escape from no matter how hard she tried. Her image of Ming Long being a kind, gentle woman was gone, and all that was left was a rather disturbing image of someone who was very manipulative, a trickster that even she could not have predicted.
“Here you are!” One of the guards snarled at her. “Your new home!”
Terry didn’t bother saying anything as she was forcibly led towards one of the cells. One of the guards had released her to go and open it. She heard the sound of the lock clicking open and the door was pushed, rattling very slightly. The guard still holding her soon shoved her towards the now open door.
“Get in there!” The guard snarled at her as he shoved her roughly forward. “And I hope you enjoy your first night stay here! There will be plenty more where this came from!”
“Yeah! But don’t look so glum!” Chortled the other guard as he watched Terry stumble. “You will make lots of nice ‘friends’ here!”
Terry wasn’t able to keep her footing and she found herself dropping onto her knee. She let out a hiss of pain as she felt her broken arm slamming against the hard ground. She lifted her head and she glared in the direction of the guards. They merely laughed coldly at her before they left her be to get accomodated with her new cell.
There was so much temptation to just punch the bars and shout at them to come back...but she knew that would lead her to nowhere. They wouldn’t bother to listen to her. They were nothing more than a bunch of corrupt guards who managed to lock her up without a fair assessment. Or was this how all jails worked? She wanted to slap herself for not familiarizing herself more with the legal process. Perhaps she should have had Vinnie tag along after all. He’s been arrested before, hadn’t he?
She managed to pick herself up off the ground, her legs wobbling a little, her body giving a slight sway back and forth as she tried to keep herself from falling down. She wiped herself off with her good hand, glaring in the direction the guards had disappeared down.
As she glared, she made herself a promise. As soon as she got out of here, she was going to try to find out information about the legal system and jails and such and see if what these guards did was indeed the right way to handle things. If they had done anything illegal, she could try to report it. But probably through someone else instead; her reputation would make her hard to believe. So she would have to convince someone else to do it, and that meant that maybe she needed Vinnie after all...
Or perhaps, just lie. She could weave some kind of lie that would at least draw attention to these practices. It seemed like the law enforcement in this town turned a blind eye to this stuff. Was the whole town corrupt? No, but it seemed that at least portions of the law enforcement were. She couldn’t very well argue against Officer O’Larry, but those two guards who had taken her...they were a different story...
She tried not to think about it too much, though. There was really nothing she could do about it anyway. She was trapped here. And she was going to get stuck here at some point regardless. The cameras showed her attacking Dr. Von Doktor. Exactly why it took them this long to even use that footage against her was uncertain. That didn’t really matter anymore, anyway. She was in a jail cell and, as angry as she was, she realized that she was to blame, at least partially.
She did lose her temper. She knew that such a thing was not an excuse for what she had done. She should have controlled herself better. Now look at where she had gotten herself.. She was going to be lucky if they only gave her a few years sentence.
She let out a sigh as she walked over and leaned against the wall. Oh well.. At least things couldn’t get any worse.
That was when she heard the low chuckle. Her eyes widened, feeling her heart tighten in her chest. Oh why did she have to think such a thing? Did she forget about..what was it..Murphey’s Law? About how what can go wrong will go wrong? She just jinxed herself by thinking that the worst was over. Oh just how wrong she was...
She was able to quickly determine that the sound was coming from within this very cell. She looked around, trying to find the exact source of it. There was something very...familiar about this laughter. She was already unnerved by her cellmate by her laugh alone. But there was something strangely familiar about how it sounded, as though she had met this person somewhere before. Somehow, that made this situation even scarier. A total stranger would probably be better compared to this.
And once she saw who it was, she realized just how right this thought was...
“Why, hello there, Terry Bouffant...” Her cellmate cooed softly. “So you are my..replacement? Well that’s good... It was getting a little lonely here after my own cellmate was removed for unwarranted violence.”
Terry widened her eyes as she saw Ms. Charlotte standing there. The woman had a slight limp to her and she looked like she suffered a few injuries herself. But none of this diminished the threat level that she was radiating with that sinister smile on her face. She moved towards Terry slowly, deliberately, taking her time. Terry could feel her heart pounding harder and harder in her chest, and that seemed to be what Ms. Charlotte was going for. Her smile grew twisted as it spread across her face.
Terry pressed herself against the wall as far as she could go. She turned her head to the side as Ms. Charlotte was now nearly right up against her. She could almost feel the woman’s breath against her face. Those eyes...they held so many hidden promises, and none of them good. She couldn’t help but flinch, despite the fact that she wasn’t even touched yet.
“Those guards might be nasty, but they do like to prevent prisoners from having a little too much fun.” Ms. Charlotte said softly. “But...” She leaned in a little closer, her eyes piercing into Terry’s. “...that’s only if too much noise is made...”
Terry didn’t like where this was going. She struggled to get away. She turned her head from one side to the other as she tried to find some way out. But there was nothing. Ms. Charlotte had placed her hands on either side of her, the corners of her mouth stretching into a twisted, evil smile. The sight of it made Terry’s heart turn into a solid block of ice. Each beat felt like it took more and more effort despite the increase in speed. Her stomach felt heavy, feeling like a stone dropped in it, a venomous feeling spreading throughout. And it only got worse the longer the woman stared at her like this.
After all, if there was one thing that should be feared above all else...
It was the scorned woman.
“Now...you are going to be quiet, aren’t you, Ms. Bouffant?” Ms. Charlotte whispered almost gently. She placed her hand against Terry’s cheek lightly. “Don’t make too much noise...and this will be over quickly. Oh and don’t worry... My former cellmate might have been rather..foolish, but I promise, I will be more...gentle with you..”
Terry felt Ms. Charlotte grip her shoulders tightly. She pressed up against her more firmly. Terry squirmed against her, but it was no use. Soon the woman’s weight was pressed against her, preventing her from moving. She looked at Ms. Charlotte through a sideways glance, her teeth clenched in fear.
“Now...” Ms. Charlotte suddenly drove her knee against Terry’s stomach, causing her to grunt. “What was that you did with Dr. Von Doktor again...? Oh yes...” She narrowed her eyes dangerously. “You murdered him...”
Terry’s face paled at this.
sss
“Get off of me, you mangy, disgusting creatures!” Skrawl snapped. “Get away from me!”
Of course, the two beasts didn’t respond to him. They were too stupid to do that. They weren’t even trying to get away from him, despite his powers. These two know full well just what he was capable of, and yet here they were, trying to stop him. Skrawl couldn’t help but grin with a mixture of amusement and irritation at this. How amusing...
But if these two think that they were going to stop him, they had another think coming. That is..if they could even think for themselves. He had a feeling that they were just almost totally mindless and they were only doing this because he threatened their little ‘owners’ or whatever. How typical...
Well it wasn’t like these two were going to be that big of a problem. He just needed to get a good shot at them. That’s all. Just wait for the right moment and then strike out against them. A strike in the heart would be more than enough to rip apart their hearts, especially if he added in just the right amount of pressure. These two beasts might be big and they might be powerful, but they were ultimately no match for him in the end. Oh how much fun it was going to be when he finally brought them down to their knees...
Just then, he had to jump to the side when the dog-faced zoner attempted to snap at him. He flinched when he heard the jaws clamp shut not far from him. He clenched his teeth at this. Okay, so this wasn’t going to be as easy as he thought it was going to be. Quite a bit more difficult than he had imagined.
He had attempted to strike at the two zoners, and though he did manage some hits, the beast were pretty relentless. They kept coming after him, snapping their jaws wildly, moving too fast for him to keep up with. He found himself having to dance around them to avoid getting struck. He kept jumping around, barely dodging them. He flinched a few times as he ended up irritating some of his injuries. He nearly collapsed onto one of his legs at one poitn. It took all his shere will power to try to climb his way back up to his feet. And even then, he was lucky to dodge the next attack, the teeth bared in front of his face.
Skrawl raised up his hand and shot another stream of electricity at them. The hog-faced zoner was hit, letting out a squeal as it rolled across the ground. The dog-faced zoner looked at this with wide eyes and turned back to stare at him. But it wasn’t stopped for very long, much to Skrawl’s annoyance, and soon it charged towards him, its head straightened out with its jaws wide open. Skrawl simply scoffed at this before raising his hand up to attack again.
He let out a shout of pain when he felt the sharpness of thick tusks collide with his stomach. His eyes bulged as he was flung across the floor. He clenched his teeth tightly, his eyes shut, as he clutched his side. He let out a loud seething sound before he looked down and stared at his injury. He could see the blood seeping out of the wound. The sight of it caused his eyes to widen in shock and then narrow in rage. He turned his head and he glared towards the two large zoners, his eyes focused on the hog beast.
How dare it do such a thing to him... Did it have any idea who he was...? Did it have no inkling of just what kind of trouble it was in...?
Of course not. Why would he even ask such a thing to himself? It was just a big, dumb animal. They both were. Too stupid to realize what was going on. The only thing they had going for them was their strength, and if that was taken away...
Skrawl gave a dark, twisted smile at this. Now that gave him an idea...
“So what are you two waiting for?” Skrawl taunted. “Aren’t you going to come over and get me? Come on!” He raised his arms into the air. “Come and try me!”
Of course, being as dumb as they were, they took the bait. The two of them let out loud roars as they thundered towards him as fast as they could. Their feet pounded the ground, their mouths split open and roaring. Their eyes blazed with anger, practically glowing. Skrawl simply watched them with a smile on his face. This sight might intimidate some of the low life commoners. But for him, Skrawl, the Grim Reaper, this was nothing. Those two would have to try harder than that to scare him.
Then, as they jumped into the air, Skrawl took action. Narrowing his eyes for a second, he shut them and raised his hands up into the air. He mustered as much power as he could, concentrated in both of his hands. He could feel them heat up, glowing with the intense, scarlet heat of the red geomite power flowing through him. It surged through his body, wrapping around him like he was some kind of oversized light bulb. He opened his eyes and watched the beasts, who appeared to be moving in slow motion to him. He curled his lips up into a wicked smile. They were about to find out just why he called himself Grim Reaper now.
With a mighty thrust, he struck outward. The energy that gathered around his hands had transformed into long, thin, super hot tendrils of electricity. They looked jagged like they were nothing more than large, long knives or claws. They stretched out of him, creating a loud crack and boom as they did so. A flash of bright red filled his gaze, which momentarily stunned the beasts. But that was just the beginning.
Suddenly, the two large beasts let out loud screeches of pain. The electric tendrils sliced into their undersides. Skrawl smirked as he watched the blood rapidly pour out from the fresh wounds that he just made. The tendrils had cut long and deep, stretching from the beasts’ chests all the way to their groins. With another loud wail, they crashed into the ground heavily, the ground cracking and denting upon the impact of their large bodies. They rolled across the ground once or twice before they came to a heavy stop.
Skrawl stared down at their injured forms, smirking at them devilishly. He looked at his claws, which still arched with red electricity, crackling almost in time with his laughter. Then he looked back at them. Such poor, pathetic little creatures... Thinking that they stood a chance against him, the Grim Reaper. How foolish they had been...
Skrawl moved towards them slowly, taking his time. He watched as they squirmed and writhed on the ground. They attempted to get up. The pain stopped them immediately, causing them to screech loudly. They looked up at him, their eyes slowly widening in fear as if they realized just what kind of trouble they were in. They did not whine or whimper, though; they just tried to get up and flee. Which of course was not working. Not with those deep gashes that he had given them both. And with all that blood leaking out of them, he knew they were not going to be a problem for him much longer.
“You two thought you were clever, didn’t you? Well I must say, you did hold me off for a little while.” Skrawl said coolly. He raised his hand up, flexing his claws inward slowly. “But alas, you weren’t good enough to keep up with the Grim Reaper... But still, you did give it such a nice try. Perhaps I will..reward you for that...”
The two beasts may not have understood what he said. But they did understand what his intent was. He grinned as he watched them snap and snarl at him, still trying to defend themselves despite their predicament. Skrawl just laughed coldly at them, amused by their attempts to fight back. It was a shame that it had to end this way... Oh well, he might as well at this over with.
He went over towards the dog-like zoner. He stared at it in the eyes, his smile remaining on his face. For the time being, he didn’t care that Rudy and Penny and the others had gotten away. That wouldn’t last long, anyway. Right now, he just wanted to savor this moment, letting this zoner have a nice long look at the one that was going to finish off its pathetic little life. Then he raised up his hand, powering it with electricity, and he struck down as hard as he could.
The dog beast’s yelping cry filled the air as his claws tore out the side of its neck.
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Post by Bluedramon on Sept 23, 2015 18:55:37 GMT -5
Chapter 62:
“Come back there!”
“You can’t keep running!”
“Yeah! We will find you and we will kill you!”
“Just give it up already!”
Zebin huffed and puffed heavily as it and the others continued to head down the hallway. They had tried their best to avoid confrontation, and instead just resort to running along the ground. It could hear their feet pounding heavily, nearly echoing, surely attracting anyone who was within their range. So much for stealth.
Of course, things weren’t as easy as they could have been, and it was forced to take some action. With Rudy unable to draw anything, it had to resort to fighting back. In order to even get away from the Beanie Boys, it had no choice but to make a move against the flying zoners. Lowering its head down and charging, it rammed against the Beanie Boys, its horn whacking against them, knocking them away. It then used its back hooves and rammed them as hard as it could against them. This caused the Beanie Boys to become dazed enough that they could be slipped past without too much difficulty.
They had immediately raced down the hallway after that. They kept to the same corridor, trying to gain enough speed to outrun them and hopefully lose them. This hadn’t been so easy and while they did manage to lose a couple Beanie Boys, there were still a few that were managing to keep up. In fact, only a small percentage of Beanie Boys had been lost so far, meaning they still had most of them coming after them. True, a small reduction was better than none. But still, if they were going to get away, they would have to try even harder.
Which, so far, they hadn’t been able to do. There was nowhere to turn here anyway. Not in this long corridor. All they could do was just keep running and hope that they could stay ahead enough to avoid getting caught.
But there was still the...
A loud crack sounded out. Zebin could feel a flash of warmth beside it. Letting out a screech, it jumped to the side as something red and wavy cracked into the ground, creating a small split in it. Turning its head to the side for a moment, it could see the extent of the damage. It widened its eyes as it saw how deep it was. A second another, another attack was released, this one managing to partially graze its shoulder a little.
“Zebin!” Called out Rapsheeba. “Are you okay?!”
Zebin wasn’t really sure why she was asking it this question. After all, she was the one who was more injured anyway. Not like a slight graze was going to do much to it. Still, it didn’t want to sound rude, so it responded with a nod of its head. “I am fine.”
“Are you sure? I see blood and...”
<I hate to break up this conversation,> Thoughtless interrupted as it began to run alongside them. <But is now really a good time for asking questions? We kind of have something else to worry about right now.> It motioned its head to the side, indicating the Beanie Boys who were gaining up behind them. <Save your questions for later, girl!>
Rapsheeba glared at the memotrice, but wisely said nothing. There was nothing to be gained from an argument during this time. Especially when they were having enough trouble just staying ahead of their enemies. A conversation, especially an argument or debate, would only result in distraction. And distractions were not something that they could exactly afford right now.
Even Snap, who looked the most visibly angered by Thoughtless’s comment, understood this and kept quiet. Of course, he wasn’t exactly running, either. Skrawl’s previous attack on him left him temporarily unable to walk. The injury looked like it would get better enough soon that he should be able to walk. But for now, Rudy had to carry him so he wouldn’t get left behind. And unfortunately, Snap really would get left behind if he attempted to run on his own right now. They can’t afford any stragglers.
It couldn’t help but feel some amazement that Rudy was even still able to keep running like this and support both his friends at the same time. It was quite...interesting. Impressive. Rudy was able to run quick enough stay with them, and yet he was still holding Snap in his arms and letting Penny use him for support. How incredible...
But at the same time, Zebin wasn’t really sure of the point. According to fate, both of them should be left behind, right? All should be left up to fate; there was little reason for it to even be doing this. If fate wanted it to escape, then it would have been let go, right? If fate wanted it to remain trapped, then it should have done that instead of going against fate’s will. It could feel its stomach churning and burning as it thought about this, gritting its teeth.
And what about the creator children? Shouldn’t it be trying to take them out? Why had it agreed to carry Rapsheeba anyway? It was not like the others. They were foolish enough to deny fate and try to take alternative actions. It would have rather just stayed and let fate and destiny decide if it should live or die. Whatever fate decided, it would find out soon enough, and it would accept it, even if it would be difficult at first. It wasn’t exactly fond of being tied up and locked in a cage like that. The only reason it was even free of that was because Thoughtless helped it out.
It would never understand why Thoughtless did that. Not simply for the fate thing, but because Thoughtless wasn’t exactly the nicest person, er, bird...thing. It was rather nasty from what it recalled, altering memories and twisting them and... Yeah, there was little reason to suggest that it would do this sort of thing. It had gone against everything that it had believed in and..it just didn’t make any sense. How could a zoner, or any person, go against what they stood for so easily?
That was when it began to reconsider its beliefs. It remembered from experience with Biclops that personalities were not an exact science. Biclops was not the same now as he was many years ago. Things change. And it wasn’t his fault either; that was just how things developed. And those children... It wasn’t like they randomnly were banished into the red chalk; they had to take action.
Now it had come to accept these actions as ‘what fate wanted them to do’, but in the end, they still had to take action, right? A decision had to be made. And it still made the decision to help. So perhaps fate wanted it to help after all. Maybe it had been the one resisting fate this whole time, and perhaps it should have been helping all along. There was a chance that...maybe this is what fate and destiny had wanted out of it this whole time. After all, if fate wanted them all to die, wouldn’t they have run into worse luck? It was as though fate was guiding them towards life...
..and that’s exactly what it should be doing...
With its eyes narrowed in determination, it picked up speed, struggling to keep itself ahead of the Beanie Boys. It could feel Rapsheeba grab onto its neck a little tighter, feeling her breath hit against its skin. It could hear the pounding footsteps of the others a little behind it, and the scraping steps of Thoughtless as it ran along beside it, its wings spread out as it tried to streamline itself to move a bit faster.
Two of the Beanie Boys suddenly dove in towards them. It widened its eyes as it could hear Rudy grunt. It turned its head and saw that Rudy and his two friends were knocked into the ground. The two Beanie Boys then grabbed Rudy and started to drag him away.
Zebin stared at this for a moment, trying to decide what the best course of action would be. Should it help Rudy or just let the Beanie Boys take care of him? Rudy was a creator...and wasn’t ChalkZone better off without creators? Shouldn’t it just turn around and walk away and pretend that it didn’t see this going on? They didn’t have time to fight back. They could only keep running and...
No, it couldn’t abandon him. It wasn’t sure what was going on inside of it, but it felt some kind of weird sensation. It felt as though it chouldn’t just turn its back so easily. Narrowing its eyes, it charged over.
Zebin soon reached the two Beanie Boys and, letting out a loud roar, it knocked its head against them. It could hear loud cracks as bone was broken, most likely their ribs. The Beanie Boys it had struck crashed into the ground, doubled over in pain. Zebin snorted at them, but stopped itself before it could attack again, recalling that it did have Rapsheeba hanging onto it tightly. So instead, it just looked over at Rudy, Penny, and Snap, giving them a nod before it turned and started to run off again.
Its attack did enable the three to get back up and start running once more, Rudy again providing some support. Zebin had a feeling that its attack was not going to slow them down by much, though, and it focused on trying to move faster.
But they were soon stopped by more Beanie Boys coming in towards them. They had suddenly appeared from the hallways from either side, diving in from secret passageways that they never knew were there. Zebin was half tempted to talk to Rho about this, who was sitting on its back as well. Rather, he was tied to it, unable to move. But it thought better of this and just continued on running forward.
Once it got close enough, it unleashed some more attacks. Jabbing its horn against them, applying pressure against sensitive areas. It could hear them crash into the ground or walls as it made these moves. It was doing its best not to waste time on them, knowing that this would only slow them down. The Beanie Boys might just be trying to slow them down enough for their other little friends to find them and surround them. They were lucky to have gotten out of their previous situation. They didn’t need something else to slow them down even more. They didn’t need another entanglement like that.
But so long as they kept this up, they should be able to get out of here. Just knock back the floating zoners, cause them a little bit of pain for distraction, and keep running. While it had no idea just where it was going specifically, it did know that, sooner or later, they would get the path right and they would get out of here. That’s what fate wanted, right? It just needed to...
Suddenly there was a jolt of pain in its shoulder. Zebin’s eyes flew open as it let out a loud roar of agony. It dropped into the ground, tumbling and turning every which way. It soon laid on the ground, trembling. It lifted its head and looked over at its shoulder. It widened its eyes as it saw the deep, bloody gash in it, the blood rapidly pouring from it. Turning its head, it could see that Rapsheeba and Rho had landed not too far away. Blocky and Howdy were racing towards Rapsheeba’s side. Then to the other side, it could see Rudy, Penny, and Snap frozen in horror at this.
Thoughtless, on the other hand, had changed direction completely. It let out a series of squawks, flapping its half wings furiously, as it charged towards the attacker, which turned out to be a small group of Beanie Boys who had combined their attacks together. They attempted to attack Thoughtless, but it merely jumped into the air, sailing over them, and as it landed, it twisted itself around. It opened its beak and squawked viciously before raising a foot up and slashing at them, its talons cutting into their belles and spilling their blood. The attack was more brutal than any of them had seen, leaving a sense of horror in all of them.
But that was the least of their worries. Zebin could hear someone coming. It raised its head up and gave a few sniffs. It widened its eyes in horror. There was no doubt about it. Skrawl was coming this way. If they didn’t get out of here soon...
But with it and the others injured, there was little chance that they could get away. They would have no choice but to split up. But...would any of them be willing to leave the others? Would any of them be willing to sacrifice themselves? Someone had to stay behind and distract Skrawl and the others. Someone with whom SKrawl wouldn’t mind wasting a bit of time. So it couldn’t be Blocky or Howdy. It had to be someone that Skrawl had a personal beef with.
At the same time, it had to be someone who could still defend themselves. They wouldn’t be much of a distractor if they couldn’t hold their own against Skrawl and the others long enough. So it doubted that Rudy, Penny, and Snap were up for the challenge in their current state, especially with Rudy having so little chalk. And Rapsheeba wouldn’t work either as she had a broken back. And obviously Rho was out of the question.
That left only two options: it and Thoughtless.
It realized, in a fraction of a second, that Thoughtless was still needed. Its mind powers might still come in handy later on. Perhaps it could figure something out with Rho that would prove useful to them later. And it was the least injured among the two of them, and was most certainly swifter. This left only a single, acceptable option, and that was itself.
Zebin widened its eyes at this realization, feeling its heart twist. Was it really willing to sacrifice itself? Was it really going to go through with this? Wasn’t there another way? It tried to search through its mind, struggling to figure something else out. Anything else out.. And yet it continued to come to the same conclusion. No matter how hard it tried, it just could not figure out any other alternative path to take. It was really seeming like it was either this or they all risked capture.
It soon frowned. Well, if there was really no other option...if this is what fate wanted...then..so be it. The others could figure a way out of here without it. There was always another way...right?
With a bitter smile spreading across its face, the chinese unicorn gave one more glance at the others. Most of them weren’t even looking at it. They were too busy focused on each other. It was only Thoughtless who was staring at it. The eyes of the memotrice were wide as though it realized just what it was about to do.
<You’re not...> Thoughtless started to say.
At this, it seemed the others had at least taken notice of how it was walking away from them. They whispered softly to each other, their eyes filled with a mixture of worry and confusion. Zebin could only continue to smile at this. Oh sure, they might not understand right now. But sooner or later, they would come to understand. It knew they would.
Without trying to say anything to them, Zebin turned its attention towards where it had heard Skrawl coming from. It narrowed its eyes in determination and, ignoring the confused cries from the others, it took off.
It pounded its feet against the ground as it ran as fast as it could. Its narrowed eyes focused on what was ahead of it. The Beanie Boys charged at it, trying to stop it. There was little way to tell if they were realizing what it was about to do and trying to stop it, but that didn’t matter. It still managed to knock them back, striking them with its horn or biting their legs and throwing them aside. It then resumed its attention towards what was ahead of it. Soon it could see the shadow of Skrawl coming. Almost there...just needed to get a little closer and...
Zebin lunged itself into the air, splitting its mouth wide open as it prepared to attack. It could see Skrawl now. The jellybean looked horrified by its presence, his eyes and mouth wide open. This only lasted a split second before he narrowed his eyes dangerously.
That was the last thing Zebin saw before its world exploded in pain.
sss
The plan had worked out so perfectly. She was amazed that it even worked. Wait, why was she even surprised? She wasn’t as stupid as some might make her out to be. She might be just a ‘simple artist’, but she had a lot more intelligence of her. More so than anyone has ever given her granted for.
Not that it really bothered her. She had worked this to her advantage. This hadn’t been the first time she’s used this. She had done it several times in the past. Feigning and looking ignorant had come quite in handy before. It was no surprise that it worked again this time. If she could convince that small child to let her into that chalk world, even just for a moment, then it was a piece of cake to trick someone like Terry.
Ming Long narrowed her eyes as she thought about that foul woman. She remembered her reaction when she had found out that her cousin had been locked up in jail. Her first instinct was to go over there and see her. She might not see Ms. Charlotte that much, but she still loved her, and she took family matters very seriously. And when she found out that Ms. Charlotte was in there because of something Terry had done...well, that just tore it.
But how was she going to get even with the woman? She had trouble figuring this out. She couldn’t simply walk over towards the woman and try to have her arrested or anything. Not without some kind of proof. And even then, how would she ensure to throw the woman off her trail so that she didn’t realize what was going on? If Terry saw her snooping around, say, the school or some other building, would she have gotten suspicious? Possibly not, but at the same time, she knew she couldn’t take any chances.
Oh what luck it was that the woman came right to her...
Honestly, she wasn’t expecting it. When she had run into the woman, she was taken by total surprise. Well not as much as she thought. This was because she didn’t know exactly who she was at first. She hadn’t seen Terry that much before, so she didn’t have a full mental picture of what she looked like yet. It was only when Terry mentioned a few key details that she realized it was her.
Ming Long gritted her teeth. She was lucky that she didn’t lose her temper at Terry right then and there. It would have blown her cover. If she was going to get Terry arrested, she had to be careful. Otherwise, she was going to land herself behind bars as well. And that’s not exactly what she was hoping to do. Not like she would be of much to Ms. Charlotte if she got herself locked up. And it would go completely against her promise. After all, she did assure her cousin that she would make sure that Terry paid for what she had done. And she would do so without having to resort to too much. Just lead her to the right place and...
Well that’s where she was now, wasn’t she? She had managed to pull off the trap quite well. It was only a matter of proper manipulation. Sure Terry might have seen it as a mere annoyance, but there was a strategy in what she did. It had given her some time to set up the trap. Especially since she was able to find that footage before she had even run into Terry. Not such a simple task, either.
That incident caused her blood to boil in anger for another reason. She could not blame Terry for this, as much as she wanted to. But not everyone in there was so...willing to do what was right. They had deliberately hidden the footage to avoid a ruckus. And possibly because they had a vendetta against Ms. Charlotte herself. She couldn’t quite understand that, but it wasn’t like she really wanted to. There was really no reason to know; it wouldn’t really change a thing.
She didn’t bother plotting against them, though. They were small fry compared to Terry. And now that she had her...
Well, she had to admit that victory was a bit shallow. She wasn’t really sure why. Perhaps it was because she had expected a stronger reaction from herself. Perhaps she thought there would be something more, something...wonderful. She didn’t want anyone to misunderstand; she still felt pride in what she did, a sense of accomplishment. She just thought there would be..more.
That was why she had headed towards the jail. She wanted to see the aftermath of what she had accomplished. Perhaps if she saw Terry’s face for herself, if she saw just what kind of condition that she was in, she would feel much better. It would be nice to see just what kind of punishment she was being dealt. Just seeing the look in her eyes, the horror that must be plastered over them...that would be more than enough to satisfy her. Oh how she couldn’t wait...
It didn’t take her too long to reach the jail. It felt as though it only took a few minutes instead of the fifteen that it actually took. She quickly headed inside the jail. She wasn’t really sure if they allowed visitors at this time or not. But no matter. She had her own way of getting in. It was just a simple matter of...manipulation. Something that she had gotten quite good at over the years. Her tango with Rudy was just one of many that she had managed to pull off.
Speaking of that boy, she wondered how he was doing. Depite her manipulation, she did kind of like him. He did help her creation out, after all. And he did seem like a nice little boy. At least he never tried to cross her family, unlike certain individuals... She gritted her teeth at this for a few seconds before she shook her head, managing to push the thoughts out of her mind. She didn’t want to focus too much on this. She was going to get closure soon enough. And it would be right down that hallway...
“Ma’am! You can’t go back there!” One of the guards said. Ming Long turned to face him. “I’m sorry, but you have to remain here.”
Ming Long raised an eyebrow at this. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” She turned herself around. She did her best to keep herself calm. Not like she could get angry at the guard for doing his job. “I was just wanting to visit my cousin again.” A lie, but not like the guard was going to know. These incompetent idiots let people roam the hallways so long as they left any kind of weaponry behind. Not exactly the smartest thing to do. “How long should I wait?”
“Your cousin?” The guard blinked a few times. “Oh! You’re Ms. Charlotte’s cousin! You were here before, weren’t you?”
Ming Long nodded her head. “Yes. I wanted to check on her again. See how she is doing.”
“I see...” The guard looked left and right nervously. “Well, I can let you sneak by, but don’t mention to anyone what I did, okay?”
“Crystal.” Ming Long commented. She gave a soft giggle. “I know you’re only doing this because I’m such a pretty face.”
The guard blushed at this. “W-Well..I...” He rubbed the back of his head nervously. Ming Long wondered just what his coworkers would think of him now. “Well anyway, just hurry it up and make it quick. It’s almost time for the prisoners’ next meal and visitors can’t be here during that time.” He motioned with his hand. “So get a move on now!”
Ming Long struggled not to allow any of her anger or annoyance shine through. Though she hated being ordered by this man, especially since he was only doing this for her because she was pretty, she didn’t want to do anything that could potentially land her in trouble. So she merely waved goodbye to him and started her way down the hallway.
Pushing aside the thoughts of what just happened, Ming Long continued her way down the corridor. It was pretty easy navigating this place. She had an excellent memory that she took great pride in. Using the mental map that she created for herself, she was able to go down all the right directions, heading where she knew that her cousin was being held. That is, unless they moved her... which was very unlikely. That almost never happened.
She wanted to also pay a visit to Terry, but she wasn’t really sure where she was. That was why she wanted to visit her cousin first; she was hoping that she would know just which cell she was in. If not, well perhaps she would see her on the way. And even if that didn’t happen, she could always find some way to locate her. Even going as far as speak some kind of lie to the guard and tricking him into allowing her to see Terry. It’s not like she was going to hurt the woman or anything. She didn’t really believe in using physical violence. The fact that Terry was locked up was good enough; she just wanted to pour salt into the wound. A few hurtful words were more damaging than a single attack.
She soon saw the familiar cell down the hallway. She recognized that small knick in one of the bars. None of the other cells in this corridor had them. She smirked softly and she quickened her pace, moving down the hallway until she brought herself to the front of the cage. She turned her head and she peered inside. What she saw delightfully took her by surprise.
Well, it seemed she didn’t have to look for Terry anymore...
She wasn’t sure of the circumstances, as Ms. Charlotte had some other cellmate in here with her. But it seemed that some change had gone in order and now Terry occupied the cell with Ms. Charlotte. Ming Long did feel a pang of fear for a moment when she saw the injuries on her cousin. For a split moment, she did think that Terry inflicted those, but she shook the thought out of her mind. Terry didn’t seem capable of producing those kinds of wounds with a broken arm, and wasn’t Ms. Charlotte’s last cellmate quite hostile and vicious? Yeah, it was most likely her. This caused some irritation to her as this meant that she could do nothing to get back at her. But at least she took care of Terry.
She watched as Ms. Charlotte had Terry pinned against the wall. She applied pressure to her broken arm, which was causing Terry to seethe and whimper and squirm. No doubt bouts of agony was sweeping through her body. Despite her anger, Ming Long felt some level of pity for her. But not enough to tell her cousin to release her. Her cousin did, after all, deserve some payback against her.
“Please...stop this..” Terry said softly, a few tears forming in her eyes. “I-I..” She suddenly widened her eyes when she stared towards another direction. Her eyes locked onto Ming Long’s. “Y-You...?”
Ms. Charlotte blinked a few times at this. She then turned her head and she immediately spotted her cousin. Her eyes widened a little and surprise, and then she smiled. “Oh hello, dear Ming Long! I am surprised to see you again!”
“I thought I’d stop by and see how you were doing now.” Ming Long took a few steps closer. She gave a slightly mischevious look towards Terry. “I see she is getting quite accomodated here.”
Ms. Charlotte gave a small chuckle. “That, she is.” She said, nodding her head in agreement.
There was a bit of silence as the two cousins stared at one another. They smiled to each other, silent messages being conveyed without words. It was times like these that Ming Long could really feel the connection she had with her cousin. Out of all her family members, she was generally the closest to Ms. Charlotte. She would do whatever it took to help her little cousin out.
Seeing her in the cell like this did pain her. She longed for her cousin to be free, able to wander outside like she deserved to be. Her cousin didn’t deserve a life like this. She hadn’t really done anything wrong. Sure she lost her temper and sure she understood that there should be some repurcussions for that. But still, Ms. Charlotte did not deserve to get beat up the way she head while her other cellmate had been here. She did not deserve the taunts and jeers and the scorns that she had since the incident.
It had been all Terry’s fault. She was the one who killed Dr. Von Doktor. She was the one who had started this whole mess. It was she who deserved to get locked up... At least that part had been corrected. That provided some ease to her heart. Even though her cousin was trapped here, at least she could rest well knowing that Terry was here as well. And with actual murder over her head, there was little chance that she would get out any time soon. She was trapped like a wild animal, just like she deserved to be.
“You lied to me!” Terry suddenly called out, as though anger had finally reached her mind. Ming Long stared over at her as she continued to rant. “You said you were going to help me! You tricked me and dragged me into this hell hole! You’re going to pay for this! I swear it! I will make you pay!”
Ming Long simply stared at Terry long and hard. An eerie silence fell upon them. Slowly, she curled her lips upward into a dark smile. The sight of it was enough to make Terry stiffen and fall silent completely. The sight of this made Ming Long smirk. Terry hadn’t been in here long, but it seemed that she was already starting to learn her lesson rather quickly. That was good. It would be a shame if something else needed to happen in order to make her see the light.
It was so tempting to say something to Terry right now. To bring her down further. To crush her spirit utterly. To make her realize just how much she truly lost. But perhaps the best response was just nothing at all. A simple dark smile and a low chuckle, and that sent more chills down the captured news reporter’s body than any words could. But still...saying at least one thing to her to help break her further would be nice. She didn’t come all this way just to look at her, after all. She wanted ot make sure that Terry would remember this for a long time.
Ming Long raised her head up, her mouth twisting into a half smile, even creepier than her last smile had been. “So much for your little plan, eh, my little dear?” She loved the cringing reaction she got out of Terry with that statement. She turned her head to one side and continued, “I suppose you won’t be getting any promotions, now will you..?” Terry’s eyes widened this. “I shouldn’t be surprised. After all...” She leaned in a little closer. “...you have...quite the reputation..don’t you...?”
At this comment, she could see something start to snap inside of Terry. She grinned at this. She was certainly going in the right direction. Someone as arrogant as Terry obviously cared a lot about her reputation and her intelligence. Time to tear all of that down...
“Oh how simple and naive you were... I am quite disappointed, actually. With all that you said before, I would have thought you’d see my little trap a mile away. But then again, maybe I overestimated you, sweetheart. Maybe you aren’t so special after all.” Ming Long said in a cooled voice. She gritted her teeth slightly. “It is just a darn shame that you hadn’t been arrested first. You deserve so much more than a mere broken arm...”
“I-I...” Terry stared to say.
“Let me leave you with this, Terry. Remember that physical wounds can heal... but mental wounds take longer.” Ming Long turned her head to the side, her smile slightly broadening. “Tell me, how long do you think you can live with yourself..knowing that you have been outsmarted by a ten year old boy.” She gave a cold chuckle at this as she watched Terry’s eyes widen even more. “I can see the shame in your eyes. That is good. Be ashamed, Terry. You set a poor example of news folk everywhere. To think, someone as smart as you is taken aback by a single little boy...” She shook her head. “Tell me, Terry... how do you sleep at night, knowing that you are nothing more than a failure...?”
Terry tried to respond, but she couldn’t say anything. She just lowered her head, her face contorting in pain. Not just the physical pain either, but the mental pain that she had struck in her. Ming Long smirked at this. She thought about continuing, but quickly decided against it. Too many words would ruin the effect. She got the reaction she wanted out of the woman. Now it was time to leave her alone with her thoughts.
Bidding farewell to her cousin, Ming Long turned and walked away, leaving them behind her. She could hear Ms. Charlotte turn her attention back to Terry, and she could hear Terry start to give some small cries. Whether it was from what Ms. Charlotte was doing or from her, she didn’t know. Either way, she couldn’t help smile as she listened to this on her way out.
sss
Biclops could feel a strong pounding inside his head. He placed his hand against it, struggling against it. Not like this was going to do him any good, but what else could he do? In his condition...nothing. All he could do really was just take this. Close his eyes and take this until it was all over.
It was the same thing every day since his capture. Nothing but pain seemed to greet him. Okay sure there were those Beanie Boys. They would keep him ‘company’...well sort of. They were always there, always watching him or watching the area to make sure that no one could get in. They had transformed his whole Chalk Mine home into a prison, and he was trapped within his own home, and forced to listen to them every day.
But for the most part, he was alone with only his pain to keep him company. The pain that had been given to him when Skrawl had unleashed his attack. He had been so stupid then... He should have tried something better. Or at least, he should have hidden until he figured out a way to go around him. A sneak attack perhaps. But no instead, he thought that he could be able to take him on just as is, believing that if he rushed towards him, he would be able to crush him quite quickly.
He had been wrong. And now he was paying the price for it.
He was shocked to learn that Skrawl had actually ‘gone easy’ on him. He had no idea why he would want to do that. Why did Skrawl bother keeping him alive anyway? What was the point? Unless he simply wanted him to suffer.. Yeah, that was probably it. A way of getting back at him for the interference he had caused him in the past. Skrawl never was a very forgiving individual. Which made it all the more lucky that Skrawl didn’t do as worse as he could have.
Not that what he did was a cakewalk. Skrawl was still quite...cruel with his powers. Biclops could still feel it coursing through his body, ripping him up from the inside out. He could just hear the electrical arches echoing in his mind, and feel it burning through his skin. He remembered the snap of his bone when the red electricity sliced through it. Echoes of that pain still rippled through his body, preventing him from getting much sleep at night. He would try, but only manage a couple hours before he would be forced awake. Was this part of Skrawl’s plan with him? He wouldn’t be surprised.
The fact that Skrawl’s powers came from the geomites, which apparently had a connection to the red chalk...that didn’t exactly make matters any better. If anything, it only increased his fear, making him further realize his ‘luck’ so far. The red chalk, empowered by the spirit of the children he was forced to trap... They must be saving him for last, forcing him to watch all of this go down as a way of getting back at him for what he did to them.
He gritted his teeth as a wash of guilt came over him. He was not proud of what he did back then. Maybe at the time, yes. But no longer. Oh how he longed for there to have been another way... He wished that it didn’t have to come to that. Maybe there was a more peaceful solution to the situation that he had overlooked. Maybe there was a more peaceful solution that would have benefited everyone and wouldn’t have resulted in the menace today known as the red chalk.
But then, was there any way to know for certain? The creator kids back then weren’t exactly in a negotiating mood. Perhaps force really was the best way to deal with them. An unfortunate thing of course. But sometimes, to do what was right, you really did have to be the bad guy. That was a harsh truth he had come to realize long ago. And he had to come to terms with this horrible reality. There was nothing else that could have been done. Well..not unless he didn’t mind putting everyone at risk...
He shook the thoughts out of his mind and focused on what was going on now. He couldn’t help but clench his teeth a little, his heart stinging. Even without the past to mope over, he still had present day to worry about. Over and over, he replayed the take over in the back of his mind. And they just made the feeling of toxins in his body even worse.
ChalkZone had become such a horrible place. It was so bad that he almost wished that things went back to the way they were when the creators were around. And that was not something he took lightly, and he couldn’t help but feel shocked that he actually thought such a terrible thing. He would never want ChalkZone to be under the reign of all those creaotrs once more...and yet at the same time, even that seemed welcoming compared to...this.
This whole place had gone under the absolute rule and tyranny of Skrawl. He had ruined everything... With that stupid grey cloud in the sky watching everything, with day zoners and night zoners at edge, and the zoners forced to live a predetermined life just for the entertainment of the so-called Grim Reaper, things have gotten much worse than when they had the creator children to deal with. Yes, it was still horrible back then, with all the destruction and such. But at least the creator children didn’t put ChalkZone under their iron rule nor did they force the zoners to live a certain way and hurt them if they dare swayed.
All this served to make Biclops feel even more frustrated. He wished there was something he could do. A way to fight back, loosen Skrawl’s power...something. But at the moment, he was utterly helpless. In too much pain to move much, and even if he could, these Beanie Boys, as well as the large cell that he was in, did more than enough to keep him from getting anyway. The only thing he could do to these Beanie Boys was glare at them, even that he did only sparingly, especially after how the last attack from them nearly cost him his eye.
He wished that Rudy and Penny were here. He had no idea where they were or what happened to them. They seemed to all but disappear about a month ago. He didn’t want to think that they abandoned them. But that meant that only one other option was plausible, and that was something happened to them. The thought of that horrified him, and he couldn’t stop the feelings of terror from rising up inside of him. There were so many things that could have happened to them that it was difficult to keep track of them all. And the idea of any of them happening to those two...it did frighten him.
It didn’t help that these two often taunted him about this fact. They would turn their heads and sneer at him whenever they were in the mood. They would remind him of how Rudy and Penny had abandoned this world, forcing them all to endure Skrawl as their new leader. Even if he ignored them, they would continue taunting him until he gave some kind of reaction. They got a kick out of anything that he did, even a slight frown.
Well, he didn’t care what they thought. He refused to believe that Rudy and Penny would abandon them on purpose. They were out there somewhere. Sooner or later, they would come back and offer assistance to ChalkZone. And when that day happened, he looked forward to seeing Skrawl’s horrified reaction as everything started to crumble down.
sss
Skrawl let out a yowl of pain as Zebin rammed its head against his body for...how many times had it been by now? He had lost count, not that it made much of a difference to him. It was still quite the nuisance. The jellybean gritted his teeth as picked himself up off the ground. He didn't bother brushing himself off this tme. He just turned around and immediately charged towards the chinese unicorn.
Zebin bared its teeth at him and let out a loud roar. The fact that it was still standing despite the injuries that he gave it was rather impressive...but also frustrating. He wished that this thing would just fall down and die already… But he supposed that he shouldn't be too surprised. It did seem determined to help the others. Willing to sacrifice itself so they could get away. Oh sure it might think that he didn't notice, but he wasn't as stupid as they might believe he was. He knew exactly what Zebin was up to.
Yet despite knowing, he still went along with this anyway. It might seem like an imperfect strategy. But only to those who don't have trained eyes and minds like he does. By allowing them to get away, he was able to reset his surprise advantage. He would be able to go find them again and they would believe they were safe. Okay so they might be a little on the alert, but they already were before; by makng them believe that he would be distracted for too long by this stupid chinese unicorn, he improves things for himself. Then he could take full advantage of it and launch a better surprise attack.
And this time, he would make sure that Alpha didn't attempt to interrupt him. He was still not pleased with Alpha's interruption from before. That zoner had clearly gone off the deep end. Perhaps it was his determination to rise up in the ranks and prove himself to him after his past mistake. But in the process, he only made another, which had cost him his surprse attack. If he had just stayed out of this and let him handle things, then he would have been able to take out Penny in a single shot, thus weakening Rudy's mental state and being able to go after him. Things would have worked out so perfectly...but instead Alpha just had to get in the way, which ruined everything… That Beanie Boy was lucky that he was able to rework things around that. Otherwise…
He tried not to think about that. He reminded himself that at least Alpha was trying to help. This wasn't a mutiny thing, or some kind of trick. Not like what Penny Sanchez did to him. He narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth. He had to admit that she was quite clever. He never would have thought that anyone would get the best of him like that. But for that reason, she needed to pay for it. And quite dearly, too.
His mind was brought back to attention when Zebin let out another roar and his clamoring feet came towards him, indicating another charge. Skrawl let out a sigh. Another one of these? Wasn't Zebin getting tired of this? Oh no matter… He might as well get it over with.
Skrawl jumped to the side as the chinese unicorn zoner charged towards him. The zoner missed him completely, although he could feel a slight graze against himself. Skrawl hissed softly and looked at his arm. He could see a slight knick in it where Zebin had managed to stike with its horn. There wasn't much pain, though. And what feeling there was, it disappeared very quickly, practically floating off his arm and into the air like a breeze moving through him.
Raising up his hand, he curved his claws downward and struck against Zebin's head. The chinese unicorn let out a loud yelp as the claws raked across its face. The gashes covered its face wth blood, staining its fur. It backed away, shaking its head as it struggled to recover. It soon lifted its head and glared back at him. It was clear that this wasn't going to stop it from doing what it wanted to do, and that was to take him down.
Skrawl simply smirked at this. All this was to him was a challenge. Zebin holding out this long was a surprise already, and to be able to fight back at all… But sooner or later, Zebin would come crumbling down. It was already starting to wafer a little. All he had to do was keep striking the right spots, and it would be all over. And to do that, he simply had to wear it out. Pretend as though it was gaining an advantage, only to have it yanked out from underneath it. Then continue to do this until it grew so exhausted, it wouldn't even try to fight back. Such a cruel thing… But that was exactly why he thought of this.
It wasn't like Zebin was so innocent… It did take the lives of a couple of his Beanie Boys in the past. The very memory of that still heated his blood up, even with all the time that passed. It didn't help that Zebin did land a few strikes against his Beanie Boys recently. Even just earlier, before the Beanie Boys could give chase to Rudy and the others, Zebin decided it was a really good idea to attack one of them while he was there.
Oh those screams… He would never forget them. He still remembered the sight of the Beanie Boy on the ground, his head cracked open from one of Zebin's attacks. He remembered how his body shook in rage, and he launched an attack against the chinese unicorn. He did not think things through, however, and he wound up getting the cut along his chin, up against his throat. He rubbed that area lightly. He was not going to make the same mistake again. He would see to that.
Skrawl jumped into the air as Zebin attempted to attack from behind him. The clopping of its footsteps had easily given it away. Skrawl couldn't help but chortle darkly. One wondered why the creature even bothered to do that. Or was it really that foolish?
Skrawl landed on top of the chinese unicorn. He pressed his legs firmly against its sides and hung on tightly. He grabbed onto its fur and pulled ard. This caused Zebin to screech and try to buck him off. It reared on its hind legs, striking forward several times with its legs, and then tried kicking its back feet out. It did this, as well as shift its body around, in an attempt to launch Skrawl from it. However, the jellybean remained on, digging his claws into him, clenching his teet tightly.
This went on for a while. Zebin trying to kick him off. Skrawl struggling to hang on, refusing to let go. His claws were providing excellent traction, making it difficult for the chinese unicorn to get free. But how long would that last? Probably not too long. He would need to make another move. Something that would even the playing field a little. Or rather, in his case, tip things in his favor. He did, after all, give his former 'chalk queen' enough time to run around like a little rat in a maze. Soon it would be time for him to capture his little prey.
Skrawl looked down at the thick neck that he was holding onto. Baring his teeth in a nasty grin, he got an idea. He remembered how, little over a month ago, he dispatched that one potato zoner using his powerful teeth. Perhaps he could do something similar here… He opened his jaws as wide as he could. Then, without hesitation, he bit down.
Zebin's eyes bulged and it let out a series of loud cries and screams as Skrawl clamped his teeth into the back of its neck. He worked them in, gnawing, grinding his jaws from side to side. Slowly the teeth began to sink into the hapless zoner's neck. It didn't take long before he could taste its blood, and soon his teeth pressed up against bone. And even then, he continued to still bite down, even while the zoner screeched and bucked frantically.
Despite the zoner’s best efforts, there was no way that it could dislodge the jellybean. Skrawl’s claws were in too deeply. His teeth had already locked up against its vertebrate. Any jerking around only worsened the injuries he was already giving it. And yet despite that, still the zoner tried to fling him. Oh what an idiot...
Skrawl continued to work his teeth into the back of the zoner’s neck. He pressed his jaws as hard as he could against the bone, muscle, and flesh. He could feel the blood oozing out of the zoner’s neck, pooling down the sides like a waterfall. The salty, irony taste of blood filled his mouth rapidly. He could feel it sliding in his mouth, forcing him to swallow it. Not that he cared; his mind was mostly focused upon tearing this zoner’s neck out. Biting down as hard as he could, he gave a sudden wrench outward, feeling his teeth scrape against bone.
At this, Zebin’s eyes bulged and it pulled its head back, letting out a loud, pained screech. It tripped over its own feet due to the pain, and soon it crashed into the ground. Despite the somersaulting, Skrawl still managed to hang on. He grunted as he felt himself hitting against the ground a few times, squished against it by the weight of the chinese unicorn. Still he manage to hold on and they soon skidded to a stop next to a nearby wall. That was when he lifted up his head to observe the damage he had caused.
Zebin now had a gaping hole in its neck, near where its head began. He could see the red and pink flesh and the torn edges of skin. He could see the muscle and even a little bit of bone. Blood covered most of this in its viscious, smelly fluid, leaking down onto the ground all around it. The blood loss was so rapid that Skrawl was certain that this was the reason that Zebin hadn’t tried getting up yet. If the pain wasn’t stopping it, then the weakness descending upon it sure was.
Skrawl couldn’t help but smirk at this. Seeing this zoner, who had been a thorn in his side for so long, laying here in a pool of its own blood, in too much pain to move, was rather delightful. The zoner, who had once harmed his Beanie Boys, was now spasming and squirming on the ground, shivering almost violently as it tried to cope with the tremendous pain. It tossed itself from side to side, struggling so hard to get away from the agony. Yet it was all in vein. Nothing it did would help it get away. And nothing it did would stop him from doing whatever he wanted with it.
Hmm...just what should he do with it, though? He hadn’t thought about it that much. He knew he had wanted to get rid of it eventually. Zebin was too much of a threat to keep around forever. Whatever he decided upon, he knew he had to keep it quick. He couldn’t allow himself to be too distracted by it; he did need to tend to his other ‘guests’ soon enough.
He looked down at the red electricity that raced around his claws, watching them spark at the tips of his long, sharp fingers. He flexed his hand eagerly, and then sneered down at Zebin. With the chinese unicorn so weak, it would be quite easy to just strike it down and kill it. Then he would never have to worry about it ever again. Zebin would no longer be a threat to him or to his Beanie Boys, or to his beautiful plans, either. It would be so easy...
But..perhaps there’s something..better he could use this chinese unicorn for. Something that he hadn’t even thought of before until now. This chinese unicorn was nearly helpless right now. It was still kicking its feet wildly at him, trying to attack him as he paced around it slowly.
He hardly paid attention to this as he stared intently at the neck wound. He had gotten quite far in there. He had dealt so much damage.. Yet he still felt as though he didn’t deal enough damage. Something was...missing. Perhaps more blood? No, there was plenty of that. And there was enough pain to last this zoner quite a long time. Even if Zebin managed to get up and run away, it would still have to live with the pain of what he had done to it for a very long time. So...what more could he do?
Well...the bone still looked like it was in tact and..
Skrawl paused at this thought. A wicked thought came over him. He again looked at his electric claws. He gave a soft chortle as a brilliant plan started to enter his mind. If he could break this zoner’s neck, paralyzing it, and then use his own electricity to activate those muscles...
Skrawl grinned maniacally at this. Oh the fun he was going to have with this...
Zebin seemed to realize that Skrawl was up to something. It began to squirm more violently on the ground, yet could not move too much due to its neck injury. It glared up at Skrawl. Though its eye held fear, there was still some defiance in them, a will to fight back. Zebin bared its teeth at him, snapping and snarling at him as he crept closer to it.
“You will fall! I don’t care what you do to me! You will fall!”
Skrawl chuckled darkly. “Some words from a fatalist like yourself...” Zebin hissed at this. “And now, if you would be so kind... Hold still!”
Zebin let out a screech of agony as Skrawl shot a stream of electricity threw its body. The chinese unicorn raised its head up as it convulsed, its body shaking as though it had been standing in the middle of an earthquake. Its body thudded painfully against the ground. As the zoner whimpered and struggled to breathe, Skrawl moved around behind it and gripped its night tightly. Without warning, he bit down onto the neck once more.
Zebin’s body squirmed and writhed on the ground, its legs and tail thrashing about as it struggled to get itself free. However, nothing it did was able to dislodge Skrawl, and the jellybean only tightened his grip around the back of the zoner’s neck. More blood poured down, his teeth pressing up firmly against the vertebrate. Then, eventually, there was a loud, sickenin snap. Zebin’s body gave a stiffening convulsion and then, almost as quickly as the crack happened, its body fell limp completely, its screeches dying off as a hiss escaping its throat.
Skrawl removed his jaws and smirked down at the still form. He pressed his claw against its throat, ensuring that it was still breathing. Once it made sure of that, his smile grew mischevious. Now it was time to take action...
sss
A part of Penny couldn't believe that she actually made such a decision. The idea of leaving behind anyone, even someone like Zebin who had attempted to kill them before… It just didn't feel right. She could feel her gut twisting in her stomach, making her want to throw up. She wished that there had been another way.
But she realized, like the others, that there really wasn't much they could do. They needed to get out of here pronto. Especially for the sake of Rapsheeba, whose broken back might worsen if they didn't get her any help. The fact that she now had to be carried in Thoughtless's back while holding onto Rho didn't help matters, either. This was the downside of leaving Zebin behind, but sometimes, sacrfices just have to be made.
At least most understood where she was coming from and why they had to leave. No one really called her out for retreating like this and agreed that it was the best thing they could have done, given the circumstances. The only one who didn't agree was Rudy.
She remembered that he took a little while to convince, which wasted precious time that they could have used to run. She could tell the others had gotten a little annoyed with this. If Rudy wasn't their friend, she imagined that they would have run off. Thoughtless looked like it was going to not long after it had attacked one of the Beanie Boys. She was surprised it stayed behind, not that it helped speed things up with Rudy all that much.
When Rudy finally agreed, she could tell that it was out of reluctance. She remembered the soft glare that he had given her not long after they began to run. That glare still hurt. It was engraved in the back of her mind, never allowing her to forget it. She could still feel the wave of guilt come over her as she remembered just how angry Rudy was with her. Even if he understood, she could tell there was still some anger lying underneath his seemingly understanding expresson.
She understood where he was coming from, however. She couldn't really blame him for reacting the way he had, right? He had plenty of reason to be pretty upset with her. After all, she did just doom an individual, another who was alive just like they were, to a potentially cruel fate. Zebin's acceptance and expectaction of this did little to ease her guilt.
But she managed to push aside those feelings the best she could for now. She reminded herself that there was no choice. At least now, they all had a chance at freedom. With Zebin willingly slowing Skrawl down, that would buy them a bit of time to get away from him, and find another place to hide and think of the next plan. Or at least, keep running until they reached the outside. It was to the point where that she felt that maybe the best strategy was just to keep running outside, despite the fact that she knew that this would only lead to more trouble.
But they were already in trouble, weren't they? It wasn't like they would do much worse if they just kept running outside. She had a feeling that Skrawl would manage to keep chasing them regardless of what they tried. At least if they kept running, they may gain some ground. Perhaps even run into some allies or a hideout or something.
Hmm...what about the night zoners…?
She could feel her heart nearly freeze at that. She remembered what Rapsheeba had said about them. How they hated day zoners… Would they be very welcoming to them? They would be considered of the Day Zones, wouldn't they? Considering that's where they spent most of their time and all. And what about other zoners similar to Chalk Dad? Would they run into any others who would see it fit to turn them into Skrawl? Especially if they felt that Skrawl would show them some favoritism for such an act?
No...they would have to strategize. There was no way they could feasibly run out there without a plan and be able to make some kind of progress. There was little doubt in her mind that not all the zoners would be very happy to see them, and the night zoners sounded as if they had gotten incredibly hostile lately, if Rapsheeba's words are to be believed. Even if none of the day zoners did anything, she could count on the night zoners taking some drastic action.
The shout of the Beanie Boys behind them reminded her that now wasn't a good time to be lost in her thoughts. She turned her head to look over her shoulder for just a moment. Thought it was brief, she had seen enough to know that the Beanie Boys were catching up to them. Despite having lost most of them previously, there were still two still chasing them, gaining speed on them.
She recognized one of them as Alpha. A part of her was horrified that they had spent so much time interacting with the Beanie Boys that she could now start to tell them apart. She pushed the thougt aside as she tried to figure out who the other one was. Hmm...no she didn't recognize him. Not that it mattered anyway. Both were bad news and they had to get away from them as quickly as they could. If either of them caught them, well… She didn't want to begin to imagine just what Skrawl would do. Especially to her…
She shuddered as she could still feel the electricity coursing through her body. She had a feeling that Skrawl was even going easy on her at that time. He could have very well ripped her in half. The only thing that saved her was his own ego; he had deliberately wanted to slow the kill down to make Rudy suffer. And by doing so, he had opened himself up to an attack, allowing her to get free. She had a very strong feeling that she would not be so lucky next time. Skrawl would definitely finish her off as soon as he got the chance to.
She could feel her arms start to get tired. Holding onto Rudy like this and trying to keep up was not an easy thing to do. She struggled to keep her gait a little behind his so that she didn't end up tripping over him, and yet at the same time, not allowing it to be so slow, either. She was aware of what might happen if she didn't keep up enough. The thought of her bending forward and worsening her leg injury caused a cold chill to rush up ther body.
She let out a grunt when there was a whoosh above her. One of the Beanie Boys had tried to lunge at her. Thankfully, Rudy had heard them coming and he bent down. And just in time, too. The Beanie Boys sailed over them and went right past them. They growled as they turned around to come back at them.
However, it seems they had left Howdy and Blocky out of this little equation. Not that she was surprised. It didn't seem to cross the Beanie Boys' mins that they might put up some kind of fight against them. As they focused on her and her two friends, Alpha and the other Beanie Boy failed to notice Blocky and Howdy coming in from the sides. And by the time they even picked up on this, it was already too late anyway.
With well timed flying kicks that even the trio didn't expect the two zoners to be capable of, they managed to knock the Beanie Boys to the side in opposite directions. Alpha crashed into the ground while the other somehow managed to stay aloft. While they were busy regaining their bearings, everyone else continued to flee.
As they ran, Penny couldn't help but overhear a conversation.
"Nice going, Alpha! You really screwed things up this time!"
"Me?! How is it my fault?! You were the one who..."
"Just stay out of my way! I am the one who is going to become the new general anyway. Don't think Skrawl will bother with you. You'd just get in the way!"
"What?! That's not true! I deserve to become leader! Skrawl would see that and..."
"Just because you were the first doesn't mean that you get such a privilege. You might have been first to join Skrawl, but you are the last in any level of confidence."
"Why you..."
Penny couldn't believe what she was hearing. It seemed that, despite the fact that these two were supposed to be allies, helping one another, they still didn't quite see eye to eye. There was some clear tension between them, which would certainly cause some issues with their ability to work together. If enough tension were to be guilt up…
Penny felt a twinkle in her eye at this. Something flashed in the back of her mind, crawling through, filling her wth a strange sensation that she could not describe. Something almost like excitement, but more cautious. She took a moment to watch the zoners argue as a realization soon struck her.
She had an idea…
Perhaps there was a way for her to take advantage of this. If Alpha and this other Beanie Boy weren’t getting along, then perhaps if she was able to play around with this tension a little, she might be able to turn the two against each other, resulting in a fight. Such a thing wouldn’t be easy of course. She couldn’t just spout out a few challenges at them and expect them to fight. They may catch on. But if she were to come up with more stealth phrases, then perhaps she might succeed. With how much these two were bickering, it was clear that it wouldn’t take too much to turn them against one another.
But first, she would need to figure something out. At the moment, she just focused on running with Rudy and Snap, heading in the direction as the others. Most of them weren’t daring to look back, and it was difficult to say if they had even heard what happened. All they wanted to do was try to lose the Beanie Boys, and running seemed like the best solution. But then...would they even outrun these Beanie Boys? They had been trying for a while now and still they managed to stay behind, even with their bickering. Perhaps a little push was in order.
But exactly how would she pull this off? She couldn’t very well stop and turn around. And she couldn’t discuss it with her friends; the two Beanie Boys would surely overhear her. That would give away the plan and they might still come after them. That was why a stealth phrase was important. But..just what was she going to say...?
Then she recalled what the Beanie Boys had been talking about. A general. She recalled that she and Rudy had to face three of those before. There was Delta, who was usurped by Snap after he ‘joined’ them. Then there was Rho, who was presently in their...care so to speak. And now it seemed that these two Beanie Boys were fighting over who the fourth general was going to be. And from the sound of it, it seemed that Alpha was quite the underdog. If that is the case, then perhaps she could...manipulate him a little...
This wasn’t something she could say she was proud of doing. But when it comes to trying to help herself and her friends get away, there wasn’t much of a choice. It was either toy with this zoner’s mind or risk getting caught. She could not have a third option.
Taking in a deep breath, not wanting to waste more time thinking about this, she started.
“How long do you think we can k-keep this up, Rudy..?” Penny asked him, panting heavily. “I don’t know... i-if I can k-keep up f-forever...”
“You have to try, Penny!” Rudy shouted, alarm in his voice. “Don’t give up!”
“Yeah, Buckette! Just hold on! We’ll get out of here soon!”
Penny resisted the urge to frown at Snap. Of course he would say that; he wasn’t running right now. She shook the thought out of her head. She did understand that most of her anger towards him right now was related to his ‘betrayal’ of them earlier. And that hadn’t really been his fault anyway. How could she blalme him when his mind was being controlled?
Turning her attention back to what she was doing, she continued, “Yeah well.. th-they are doing a g-good job of catching up! I-I think I can see why Skrawl ch-ch-chose Alpha to be his new general...”
“What...?” Snap whispered.
“I thought Skrawl didn’t pick a general yet...” Rudy commented. “Not that it matters, but...”
Penny nodded her head, feigning a bit of surprise. “Maybe I was getting ahead of myself.. I-It just seems like A-Alpha would be general. I mean..” She looked over her shoulder. “He is doing a good job following us.”
“So is the other one.” Rudy pointed out.
“Yes, but it looks like he’s straggling a little...” Penny bit her lip, frowning slightly. “Not that it does us any good... If we don’t get out of here soon..”
“Don’t worry...” Rudy said, his eyes narrowed in determination. “We will..”
Snap nodded at this. “And then we will kick Skrawl’s butt! And everything will return back to normal! I promise!”
Penny smiled at this. “Yeah...I’m sure it will...”
Penny fell silent after that. She had a feeling that she did speak enough. She didn’t really need to say too much anyway. Just enough to invoke the feelings inside the Beanie Boys. Inflating someone’s ego was a good way to make them slip up, either by being too overconfident and ruining their own attempts, or by irritating someone, like a rival, with their ego, and invoking a fight.
But did her plan work? It was hard to say. The two Beanie Boys did seem to bicker a little more since her comments. But it wasn’t by much. They seemed more focused in trying to catch up to her and her friends.
There was only one real way to find out and that was to wait for the results. If she gave it a little bit of time, then perhaps the tension would build up on its own, and eventually, it would burst. All she needed to do was wait. In the meantime, she and the others needed to focus on running. At least the bickering was going to give them some extra time, slowing down the Beanie Boys just enough to give them a bit extra space. And the more space between them and the Beanie Boys the better.
They soon turned onto another hallway, following Thoughtless, who had been leading the way at this point. Out of all of them present, Thoughtless likely knew this place the best, even if it wasn’t all that great. Penny wondered if it was even a good idea to follow it or not. And yet here they were, following one of their most dangerous enemies. How life can have such unexpected turns...
Suddenly, a large wall seemed to appear out of nowhere. No...it didn’t appear out of nowhere. They didn’t see it, because it was clear. They didn’t realize this until they were practically upon it. Thoughtless had let out the warning cry too late. It let out a squawk as the others crashed into it, and they all fell into the ground. On the floor, they let out a series of groans as they struggled to figure out just how they had managed to run into this place.
How did they not see this coming? How did they not notice that this was a wall and not some extra long hallway? How did they miss the obvious signs? Penny had a feeling it was because they were all distracted. All trying to escape, all lost in their thoughts. None of them able to focus on where they were going; just running.
And now they were trapped...
Penny could feel Rudy turning around, taking her with him. She managed to keep herself standing, leaning against him once more, as she and the others glared at the advancing Beanie Boys. She could see their twisted smiles on their faces. She could see just how smug they looked. Penny tried so hard not to feel the fury and frustration inside of her. But this was quite difficult, especially with those arrogant faces looking straight at them.
“Well, well, well..looks like you all got yourself into a...bit of a tricky situation, didn’t you...?” The other Beanie Boy said. He formed a fist with one of his hands, the other hand pressing its palm against it. “Well, this has been fun. But I think it’s time that play time is finished.” He tilted his head to one side. “Don’t you think?”
Penny and the others gritted their teeth. They tensed up their bodies as they prepared for a fight. This only made the Beanie Boys’ smirk broaden, as though they were merely amused by all of this.
“How pathetic... You really thought you could get away?” The Beanie Boy stated. He raised his hands up, spreading them out as though to indicate everything around him. “We know this place better than you do. So of course...you can guess that this was here.” He turned his head so that he was using only one eye to stare at them. “How does it feel being herded like the animals you really are...?”
None of them could think of an answer to that.
“Of course, remain silent. I can see why. You are amazed that someone like myself could come up with something like this.” The Beanie Boy placed his hand against his chest in a proudful manner. “I am more clever than you realize, you little insects. So now you...”
“Wait a minute!”
Everyone looked on in surprise and shock as Alpha suddenly gripped the other Beanie Boy by his shoulders, shoving him into the wall.
“What did you say?! This was your idea?!” Alpha placed his face near the Beanie Boys, both gritting their teeth at one another. “You know full well that I am the one who came up with this plan!” He pressed a thumb roughly against himself. “I am the one who suggested we herd them over here!” He pointed an accusing finger at the other zoner. “Don’t you fucking dare try to...”
“Don’t pelt me with your lies!” The other Beanie Boy struck back, slapping the hand away from him. “You have no idea what you are talking about! Now why don’t you be a good little loser traitor and back off!” He pushed Alpha back roughly.
However, Alpha was having none of it. He pulled back his sleeves, his teeth bared in a more vicious way than most Beanie Boys could muster. “Oh yeah? A loser, am I? Then perhaps I should live up to my name and make you ‘lose’ something!”
“Bring it on, you worthless little...”
Before he could finish his sentence, Alpha collided with him. The two Beanie Boys began to wrestle with each other on the ground, the fugitives before them watching in utter shock and confusion by this turn of events.
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Post by Bluedramon on Sept 25, 2015 22:08:14 GMT -5
Chapter 63:
“You fucking moron!”
“You waste of skin sack!”
Penny flinched as she watched the two zoners collide with each other. She hadn’t realized that her plan would work this wall. Because of her words and because of the reaction of the zoners to said words, things escalated quite quickly and now both Alpha and the other Beanie Boy were fighting. It didn’t seem like they were even aware of the fugitives anymore; their minds were only on each other.
The fighting looked pretty brutal, even if they weren’t using their red shards to attack each other with. They were biting, clawing, spitting, punching and kicking each other as though they thought the other was just a lifeless sack that they could do whatever they wanted with. She didn’t say a word as they continued to fight with one another, trying to push the other into the ground or against the wall.
The others were silent like her as they watched. She turned her head and looked over at Rudy and Snap. Rudy had widened eyes while Snap had a frown on his face. Then she looked at the others. Blocky and Howdy looked pretty nervous, although Howdy had a slight frown similar to Snap’s. And Rapsheeba looked confused. The only one who didn’t seem to have as much of a reaction was Thoughtless. Then again, that zoner was a mystery in so many ways, so this didn’t surprise her too much.
She didn’t want them wasting time watching this fight. They needed to get going now. So she called out to them to run. She had to say this repeatedly before anyone did anything; the sight of the two zoners fighting like wild animals was enough to keep their attention for a while. Soon, they all managed to tear their eyes away from the scene and they followed Penny’s command.
As soon as they could, they all turned and continued to run down the hallway. They didn’t stop to think about which way they were going. They just continued on down this way, moving as quickly as they could. The further way they got from the two Beanie Boys, the better.
But there was still a chance that they may end up crossing paths with other Beanie Boys. And Rudy was so low on magic chalk... Would they be able to face this new threat? Would they be able to fight back against the possible danger that they could encounter? Or would they end up taken captive by their enemies once more, unable to stop them as they drag them away from their destination, to be trapped and locked up deep in this forsaken castle?
Well, they would cross that bridge when they got there.
The group focused on running as fast as they could. They moved down the hallways, their feet pounding the ground, their heavy pants filling the air. They hardly moved their heads to look behind them to see if they were still being followed. They just focused on what was ahead of them. They darted their eyes left and right to make sure that there weren’t any Beanie Boys nearby. Though they saw nothing, they refused to let their guards down. The Beanie Boys could show up at any point and..
They let out a series of screams when they realized they had run into another booby trap. Spikes began to shoot out of the floor, trying to tear into them. They had to dance around them, moving around back and forth, trying to dodge them. Some had harder trouble than others, including Penny herself. She considered herself lucky that she didn’t end up losing a leg or injured her side in all of this. After a while of dodging and jumping, they, thankfully, reached the end of the booby trap and they continued forward, their teeth clenched and gritted as they continued a move on, looking around for more traps.
And of course there was another. Penny recognized the pillars trying to collide with them. They were quite similar to what she and her friends had to dodge before. They either picked up the pace or slowed down to avoid the collisions. Each time they crashed, they sent out a loud, reverberating thud that they could feel even in the ground. Penny and some of the others, including Rapsheeba, had more trouble avoiding getting hit. But despite the initial trouble, they were all able to get away from this booby trap as well.
A part of Penny was hoping and praying that this is all that Skrawl had. It was a bit of a disappointment for a genius like Skrawl, but she really did hope that this was all that he got, as these booby traps were relatively easy to avoid since they knew what to expect. What would be even worse is if there was some type of new trap.
Penny struggled not to think about that. She didn’t want to accidentally jinx them all and then something else were to happen. She was all too aware of Murphey’s Law or whatever. While she doesn’t put much faith in such sayings, in this moment, with fear swirling in her gut, she just didn’t want to take the chance. She focused her mind on trying to find a way out of here, struggling to keep up with Rudy as he helped her and Snap through the hallway.
She hoped they would reach some kind of exit soon. Thoughtless could probably keep running for a while, but Howdy and Blocky were getting tired of carrying Rapsheeba. And Rapsheeba, her expression indicated that she was in quite a bit of pain. The two zoners must be irritating her injuries a little, not that they could help it given the situation. As for her friends, Snap seemed the most fine, but Rudy was clearly beginning to tire and his speed slightly decreased. She tried to usher him and the others to move faster, which they did. But Penny wasn’t really sure just how long this was going to last. And they stopped here...
<What the...?!> Thoughtless suddenly screeched, its feet scrambling to try to stop.
The suddenness of its stop caused the others to collide with it. Grunts and cries of pain filled the air for a few brief seconds as they all fell into the ground. Penny winced as she felt her leg being bent awkwardly. She could feel the weight of Rudy and Snap pushing down on her. She lifted her head and she found that Rapsheeba rested on Blocky while Howdy was a bit further away on his back. He was the closest to Thoughtless, the top of his head nearly touching the memotrice’s legs.
Thoughtless had its wings out, its head raised up and its body slanting downward, making it look like some kind of bird on full alert. It was looking at something straight ahead, its wings raised up slightly in a state of surprise. Penny looked up at its face, which was hard to see from here. She was able to see enough that indicated what kind of expression it had and just where it was looking. She followed it and she soon saw what it had noticed.
There was some kind of shadow moving towards them. A bit slow, a bit jittery, but still getting ever closer, drawing nearer to them. It was no mystery who this was, however. Penny could recognize the shape of the shadow. And when that distinct horn showed up, it all but confirmed who it was.
And apparently she wasn’t the only one who recognized this individual.
“Zebin?” Rudy said softly. “Wh-What is it doing here? Wasn’t it back there with Skrawl?”
“And now did it catch up to us so fast? There was quite a bit of distance between us and...” Blocky’s voice trailed off as he brought one of his hands to his mouth. His eyes widened in nervousness.
Sure enough, as the shadow drew in closer, slowly revealing the individual, it was indeed Zebin. It was walking slowly towards them for a couple of feet, its head lowered a bit, its eyes appearing quite tired as though it had a great struggle against Skrawl. It did eventually stop and it just stood there, a few feet away from them, slowly breathing in and out. Its mouth was open, tongue partially hanging out. And with each breath, there was a slight scratch, indicative of quite the dry mouth.
Penny was surprised to see Zebin back so quickly. Just how did it manage to catch up to them after it tangoed with Skrawl? Not to mention, just how did it know just where to find them? It didn’t make any ense to her. She couldn’t fathom how it managed to keep up. Not unless it had actually not fought all that much with Skrawl and had been following them this whole time. But..not, that couldn’t be right. Something else was going on here.
And why was it walking like that? She noticed that something felt really..off about its movements. It was hard to pinpoint exactly what it was. Perhaps they were teoo slow and rigid? Maybe the footsteps that it had made were too small? Or perhaps it was the slight sway in its stance that she had noticed. As though it was having a hard time standing up, as though it was about to crash into the ground at any given moment. She found it difficult to move her eyes away from its legs. They just seemed so...off...
It was hard to say if any of the others noticed this oddity. They were too busy being confused by the chinese unicorn’s sudden appearance. Some of them had their mouths dropped open, and almost everyone had their eyes widened, a few frowned in confusion. Not one of them were looking at its legs; only its face, as though they expected it to speak at any point. Yet Zebin remained silent the whole time.
“Zebin..?” Rapsheeba whispered softly. She let out a few strained, pained coughs as she pushed herself up on one hand. “Wh-What are...you doing here..? I-I thought you were fighting S-Skrawl?”
Zebin didn’t respond to her. It merely continued looking straight at the ground as though it was the most fascinating thing ever. Then its eyes slowly blinked a couple of times before it lifted up its head. It stared out towards them. Its expression was eerily blank and distant, and yet still somehow carried a strong tinge of hauntedness to it.
Rapsheeba bit her lip nervously. “Z-Zebin...?”
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Howdy asked. He moved a couple steps closer to the memotrice. “Why are you...” Suddenly he was stopped by a pile of feathers. He spluttered and jumped back before glaring up at Thoughtless. “Hey! Watch it!”
Thoughtless ignored the puppet zoner as it stared at Zebin intently. Penny noticed its expression. Unlike the others, Thoughtless could clearly see that something was wrong with Zebin. But unlike her, it seemed to have a better idea of just what was going on. With its eyes widening slowly and its body archin a little, it began to move back. <We need to get out of here...>
“What are you talking about?” Snap asked as he turned his head to the memotrice. “What’s going on h...”
He never got a chance to finish his sentence. Everyone got a wake up call quite fast when Zebin, without warning, let out a loud roar, its lips pulling back into a snarl. Its once blank expression had almost instantly sparked to life and it charged towards them quickly, its head lowering. The group was so startled by this sudden change of demeanor that none of them attempted to fight back, too frozen in startlement to do anything.
However, it seemed that Zebin had only one target in mind. Penny let out a pain as she felt the horn jab against her. She was knocked away across the ground painfully. And yet still she was not the one Zebin was after.
“Aaaaahhh!” Rudy screamed as the heavy creature rammed into him.
With her eyes wide open, Penny screamed, “Rudy! No!”
“Let him go!” Snap cried out at the zoner. He pulled back a fist and struck it. “Release him now, you overgrown creepazoid!”
Zebin slowly looked up at Snap and growled softly. It bit down on the zoner’s leg and twirled him around in the air like a toy. It then released Snap, letting him crash into the ground several feet away, a bit further back than Penny.
It then turned its attention back to Rudy, who was on the ground, curled up from the blow in his stomach. Zebin shot its head down swiftly and closed its mouth around Rudy’s hand. The boy let out a scream as Zebin applied pressure and began to shake him violently back and forth. This lasted for only a couple seconds until eventually it dropped Rudy to the ground. A familiar white stick stuck out of its mouth. The magic chalk.. In seconds, it was crushed into chalk dust, the zoner grinding its jaws to completely eliminate the object.
Silence fell upon the room. A stinging terror washed through them all, their eyes bulging in realization of what happened. Zebin had just deprived them of their most powerful weapon... A sense of helplessness began to move through them all.
Well, everyone except for Thoughtless. The memotrice stood in front of the others, its narrowed eyes glued on Zebin. It spread out its wings, trying to get Zebin’s attention away from Rudy. It wasn’t doing a good job of it, though. Even its loud squawks and taunts were enough to make Zebin get away from Rudy.
Penny and Snap attempted to get over there, but they were immediately haulted by pain. The crash into the ground had did a little more harm than they initially thought. Rapsheeba could do nothing except reach her hand out and call to Rudy, begging him to get up and leave. Blocky and Howdy both wanted to do something, but Blocky was reluctant to leave Rapsheeba’s side and Howdy’s attempt was an utter failure as Zebin kicked him away painfully.
Despite her pain, however, Penny managed to pick herself up. She flinched and yelped from her wounds, but eventually managed to stay standing up, albeit with a couple sways in her stance. She looked over at where Rudy was, watching as he was pinned into the ground by Zebin. As she and the other watched this event unfold, her mind was filling with rapid moving thoughts.
Just...what was going on here? Why was Zebin doing this? How could it do this? She thought they were all allies here. Maybe temporary, but still allies at least until Skrawl was removed from power. What did Zebin think it was doing, coming over here and attacking them like this? A part of her wasn’t too surprised considering that it did display a want to kill them before. But still, this just...came out of the blue. There was no warning to this. No indication that this was going to happen. No nothing.
Rudy reached up with his hands and grabbed onto Zebin as the chinese unicorn attempted to bite him. He placed his hands on its bottom and upper jaw and applied pressure. He pushed back as hard as he could. His limbs shook from the shere force that it took to hold the zoner back. For a while, it looked quite even. But then Zebin started to win...
“Rudy! No!”
“Get away from him!”
“Fight back! Do something! Please!”
“Zebin, stop this madness!”
This shouting from them might have seemed like a good idea at first. Encourage Rudy and all. But it ended up being a near fatal mistake. The sudden shouts caused Rudy to jerk in surprise as he hadn’t expected them all to shout at him like that, especially not all at one time. This loosening up gave Zebin enough leeway to place its jaws around his neck. Rudy’s screams died down quickly, replaced with a gurgle as Zebin closed its jaws around Rudy’s throat.
Penny felt as though her whole world began to crash in. She let out shouts and pleas to Zebin, begging it to release Rudy. The others did likewise, minus Thoughtless. She and Snap struggled against their pain to move closer to where Rudy was. But they were forced to stop as Zebin applied more pressure, threatening to rip the boy’s throat out entirely.
Penny could feel tears forming in her eyes. No, please...it can’t end this way... She frantically searched around for something..anything...
Then she saw it. There was a left over sharp piece from an old booby trap. She wasn’t sure how it got here, if it was from them or from something else. She rushed over to it and picked it up. Snap and her other zoner friends looked upon her in confusion and shock as she limped over as quickly as she coud and, pulling her arm back, released the long spear-like thing.
It grazed against Zebin’s side, causing it to let out a screech of pain, releasing Rudy. As Rudy grabbed his throat and coughed and wheezed, Zebin slowly turned its head to where Penny was. It narrowed its eyes in fury and then began to walk towards her, its teeth bared. Penny narrowed her eyes and stiffened her body, fully preparing for a fight.
Suddenly, Snap joined her. “Not so fast, creepazoid!”
“Snap!” Penny called out to the small blue zoner. “Get back!”
Snap looked up at her in shock. “What? Why?” He narrowed his eyes slightly. “Are you still untrusting of me?” He raised his hands at his sides at this.
“Snap, that’s not...” Penny started to say.
Snap’s eyes suddenly widened and he pushed against her, knocking her and him into the ground. “Look out!”
There was a flash of color and fur and now Zebin stood on the other side of them, having missed them only just barely. Penny and Snap looked over at the zoner in shock, breathing quickly as they watched it slowly turn around to face them. It took an aggressive posture and opened its mouth and let out another roar. They remained frozen in their spots as they listened to the roar echo inside the hallway and inside their skulls. Zebin soon closed its mouth tightly and began to approach them once more.
Thoughtless, who had remained silent and remained in a state of inaction for a while, finally made a move. It zipped its away in front of Penny and Snap and launched itself at Zebin. The two genderless beasts collided with one another and tumbled across the ground.
As it rolled and wrestled with Zebin, Thoughtless called out, <Run, you idiots! Run!>
And that’s exactly what everyone else did. Despite difficulties getting up, despite trying to figure out how to hold onto Rho, Snap, and Rapsheeba, despite the violent fighting between Thoughtless and Zebin making it hard to make a run for it, they all eventually managed to get away, leaving Thoughtless behind with Zebin.
As they ran, Penny looked behind her. As Zebin collided its body against Thoughtless, she couldn’t help but notice a spark of red electricity. Her eyes widened at this. Just what the heck was that...?
sss
Rudy couldn’t understand it. Wasn’t Zebin on their side? Didn’t it agree not to harm them while they were in here? Sure it never said it exactly, he didn’t think. But still...wasn’t getting out of here alive much more important than whatever vendetta it had against them?
Apparently not. But then again... Zebin never really seemed like it was fully on their side to begin with. Maybe it was just waiting for a moment like this to catch them offguard and to attack. He could still feel its teeth against his throat, his hand still clutching it protectively as he tried to stop the bleeding that it had caused.
At least no one else got badly hurt. Snap, who had regained enough strength to run on his own, didn’t seem like anything happened to him, and Penny, though looking like she was in a bit of pain from being pushed into the ground, was no worse for wear. Rho, whom he held in his other hand, also looked relatively unharmed, doing nothing more than babble a bit of nonsense as the drug from before remained in effect. Howdy and Blocky had some trouble helping Rapsheeba, who looked like she was in even more pain than before, but none of them possessed anymore injuries than the ones they already had.
Rudy did feel a little guilty for leaving Thoughtless behind. Despite what it had done to them before, he still didn’t like the idea of leaving it alone with Zebin. He hoped that it would be all right somehow. Thoughtless did look like it could take care of itself, so that brought some level of hope to him. And yet he can’t fully shake off the feeling that something might happen to Thoughtless.
He tried to keep his focus on moving forward like the others were. They pounded their feet against the ground, struggling to run as fast as they could, hoping to get far enough away that Zebin would take a while to catch up to them. He wasn’t sure if they could keep this up, however, and he was quite aware that Zebin could easily keep pace with them with its long legs and speedy body. Just how long would they be able to stay out in front of it once Thoughtless was taken care of...?
At least they weren’t running into anymore Beanie Boys. Rudy guessed that they were all in other parts of the castle. Perhaps this spot had already been searched. Or maybe it just hasn’t been searched yet. Either way, that was one less threat to worry about. This did help them relax, but only a tiny bit. After all, they still had Skrawl to worry about.
Rudy clenched his teeth at this. He wondered just where that jellybean was. Zebin had launched an attack against him, and then it turned against them. He couldn’t understand why or what possessed Zebin to do that. But even worse, he didn’t know what became of Skrawl. Did Zebin manage to kill him? The lack of blood made this seem unlikely. Perhaps it was able to just disable Skrawl and...but how could it do that so fast? No matter how hard he tried to think, something just wasn’t adding up.
As he was too lost in his thoughts, he wasn’t able to notice any booby trap laying around. The fact that he was ahead of the others didn’t exactly bode well for them. As he missed this trap completely, so did the others. By the time they realized anything, the trap had already been sprung.
Rudy let out a cry of surprise as a net looped out from underneath him. He was yanked upwards into the other. And he wasn’t the only one. He could hear grunts and groans of pain as Snap and Blocky were also taken up with him. The ropes around them pressed and rubbed roughly against their skin, and they began to swing back and forth from their struggles of getting out.
Down below, Penny looked up at them in shock, along with Howdy and Rapsheeba, who was laying on the ground in pain. Penny, despite her pain, attempted to jump up, but she was not able to grab onto the ropes holding them up. Howdy tried to give it a go, but even with Penny’s help, he hadn’t gotten much closer to being able to pull them down. Not that it would have mattered anyway; the zoner was so small that Rudy doubted that he would have been able to do too much to help them down. What they needed was something sharp. Something like...
Rudy suddenly froze, his blood turning cold, when he heard loud scraping against the walls. Speaking of sharp... He slowly turned his head in the direction of that hideous sound.
Just as he thought, there stood, or rather stalked, Skrawl. How he even got here didn’t matter to Rudy. All that did was the fact that he was, and now he was coming towards them slowly. His face wore a nasty grin as he studied them up and down, his mouth curved back into a demented grin. He was silent for the time being, but even without speaking words, Rudy could already hear the taunts floating out of his mouth.
“Well...look what I have here. A couple of little fishes caught in my net.” Skrawl spoke a few moments later, his voice oozing with maliciousness. His claws continued to scrape against the wall as he sharpened them, the loud sounds grating into their minds and souls. “I have to admit, you all have been such a..slippery bunch. But I think it’s time that I put an end to it....”
Howdy gritted his teeth as he adopted an aggressive stance. “Not a chance, pal!”
Rudy was still amazed at how more feisty Howdy had gotten. The take over had done a lot to change him. It almost reminded him of Chalk Dad. He shuddered at the memory and struggled to push it aside as he watched the small zoner walk out in front of the others. He wore a look of determination, making it clear to Skrawl that he wasn’t going to let him pass without a fight.
Howdy didn’t even give Skrawl much of a chance to reply. He immediately bolted towards Skrawl not long after the jellybean had chuckled at his statement. Penny and Snap called out for the zoner to come back, but the puppet zoner paid no attention to them. He got closer to Skrawl and then he jumped into the air. He pulled back his fist to try to strike him...only for Skrawl to raise up his foot and kick into him hard. The puppet zoner let out a scream of pain as he was knocked hard into the ground. The thud echoed in the hallway, causing everyone else to flinch.
Skrawl smirked at Howdy’s fallen form before he looked back at the others. “You shouldn’t have run away. You only made things so much harder for me...” He raised his hand up, flexing his claws. “How do you think I’d ever get to have any fun if you don’t hold still long enough for me to do anything..?”
Rudy narrowed his eyes at this. Like hell they were going to just hold still and... Oh wait..oh gawd... Was...was that blood on his claws..?
Penny took notice of this as well. “What did you do, Skrawl?” She demanded. Her voice was slightly shaky as she spoke.
“Oh not much, really. I just took care of a little...pest problem...” Skrawl chortled, his smile spreading across his face. At the widening eyes of his foes, he continued, “I must say, those two...beast friends of yours were quite..problematic. At least they won’t be a bother to us anymore.”
What? Skrawl had done...what...?
Skrawl looked at his blood stained claws. “Oh you should be thanking me. Why so glum...?” He turned his head and tilted it slightly to one side. He stared at them with one of his eyes. “Now I can devote my entire attention...to you all.” He took a small step forward. “Isn’t that just fabulous? Now we can all spend some...” He spread his hand around in the air in a large circular motion. “...quality time...together...” He moved his hand back towards himself, placing it against his chest. “I’m sure we will have great fun together.”
Rudy could feel his body start to shake, a burning sensation rising up inside of him. He glared down at Skraw. What the jellybean had said swirled through his mind, and the full impact of what he meant struck against him hard. He gritted his teeth, seething the air through them rapidly.
How could Skrawl do such a cruel thing? How could he have killed those two zoners? And how could he be so...peppy about it...? Then again, should it really surprise him all that much? After all, he had been willing to kill a couple of children, he had tried to kill so many zoners in the past... But still, this news came as quite a shock to him. Those two beasts had been perfectly fine before, and now they were...dead... He wondered if Skrawl made it quick or if he prolonged their suffering.
“And now that they are out of the way...”
Rudy stiffened his body as Skrawl glared into his eyes. He could see the hidden rage moving through those mismatched eyes. He could also see the opportunity click in the mind of the jellybean. Rudy remembered that he didn’t have the magic chalk. At this, he could feel his heart nearly stop beating as a wave of ice wrapped around it. He struggled not to show fear to the evil jellybean zoner, but Skrawl was quickly able to pick up on this.
Skrawl moved his hand up to his face in such a mischevious gesture. A dramatic, exaggerated pose indicative of a ‘wonderful’ and ‘beautiful’ plan of his coming to the forefront of his thoughts. “There are so many opportunities of fun here.. Do you two mind...giving me a little bit of..help..?” He motioned towards them. “Oh come now. I know you all have some sort of idea. Why don’t you tell me? I’m very...interested.” He leaned in as he said this, gritting his teeth in a vicious grin.
Silence full upon the area. The two children and the zoners just glared at Skrawl, but neither made an attempt to speak or head towards him. They kept their eyes on the jellybean, looking around for any sign of trouble from the large zoner. Their silence only made Skrawl smirk further, a low chuckle coming out of his mouth. This served to irritate Rudy and the others. But even then, they did not speak.
Rudy bared his teeth as he glared at Skrawl. There was no way he was going to answer that hideous jellybean’s question. No matter what he said, he knew that Skrawl would just find someway to twist it around into something much worse, or even pull something out that he had never said to begin with. So instead of replying, he simply focused on looking around, trying to figure out some kind of escape route. If he could just get out of here and...
But what about the magic chalk? He had none left. He couldn’t fight against Skrawl without it. Even if he got freed, Skrawl still had the upperhand. Even without those powers, Skrawl would easily overpower him. He could grab onto him and easily rip him apart. It would be so easy, too. He was so much smaller than that jellybean.
But he still had to get free. Regardless of his present condition, they were in an even worse place if they allowed themselves to dangle here up in the air. He turned his head rapidly from side to side as he tried to figure out a way out of here. Then he turned his head up and he could see what appeared to be a weakened rope, slightly torn, ready to break apart. It was the rope that was holding him and the other two up. If he somehow managed to break it, then he could...
“Ah, it seems Master Tabootie has graciously volunteered an idea...”
Rudy froze at this. He turned his head and he looked down at the jellybean, his eyes wide. He couldn’t even dare to speak.
“Ropes are pretty different. I don’t think I’ve used them enough. Maybe I could use some of this rope to have some fun with your neck, Master Tabootie.” Skrawl reached up and lazily stroked along the rope. “Hmm...this would look pretty nice around your neck...” He pulled his claw away and stared up at Rudy with a half grin, one eyebrow raised above the other. “...don’t you think so...?”
Rudy felt his heart skip a beat this. He narrowed his eyes the best he could, trying to show no fear towards him. But it was already too late. Skrawl could sense his fear, prompting the jellybean to start coming closer.
“Don’t you dare! Get away!” Snap called out. He struggled to get at Skrawl. He looked pretty silly doing this, but due to the nature of the situation, Rudy didn’t dare laugh at his friend. “I’ll clobber you if you do!”
Skrawl chortled at this, but hardly wasted any time on Snap. His eyes focused on Rudy alone. “I must..thank you, chalk boy, for giving me such a brilliant idea.” Rudy growled at this. “But you know..it would be quite hard for me to test it out right now. What, with you tangled up there and all that...” He began to rub his chin thoughtfully. “Hmm...maybe I should think of something else. Something to..pass the time with, eh?”
Rudy and the others glared at Skrawl. They didn’t bother saying anything to him. Not like there was much they could say or do right now. Unless Thoughtless or some other zoner comes in to distract Skrawl once more, or unless they manage to get some magic chalk or more allies, there was little chance of them getting away any time soon. Any attempt to take action right now may result in Skrawl taking faster action. And that wasn’t something they could afford right now.
There was a small glint in Skrawl’s eye. The sight of it made Rudy’s heart clench. He wasn’t entirely sure of just what Skrawl had in mind, but he knew it wasn’t going to be anything all that pleasant.
And then he stared at Penny.
“What do you say, my little ‘chalk queen’...” Skrawl tauntingly said. He motioned his hand out towards her. “Shall we have this... ‘dance’..?”
Penny’s eyes widened and she took a step back. Rudy and Snap let out gasps of horror, their hearts nearly stop beating. The others stared wide-eyed and open mouthed at this turn of events. Penny didn’t pay attention to any of them, her eyes glued to Skrawl only. The jellybean chuckled as he stared into her eyes and took a step forward. Penny responded with a step back.
“I don’t know what you’re thinking, Skrawl...” Penny managed to say, licking her lips. She was struggling to sound brave, her eyes narrowing slowly. “But I’m not...”
“Oh...but I insist...” Skrawl cooed gently. It sounded so eerie, hearing Skrawl speak like this. And to Penny of all people. “I think you would look rather...dashing in some red...” His eyes widened a little, a hint of insanity in them. “What do you think?”
Realizing what was going to happen, Rudy struggled in the net, reaching out towards them. “No! Leave her alone!”
“Get away! Penny!” Snap joined in. He tried biting into the rope, but his teeth just weren’t strong enough to break it.
Penny began to back away some more, arching her body as she prepared to defend herself. With what, Rudy wasn’t sure. But he could tell that his friend wasn’t about to go down without some sort of fight. But he knew that Penny wouldn’t stand a chance if she tried to fight Skrawl. She had to get out of there now.
“No! Penny, run! Run away now!”
Before Penny could run, Skrawl gripped her tightly in the coils of the red electricity. “Oh no no no no...my precious little ‘chalk queen’.. You’re not going anywhere just yet...” The jellybean dragged Penny closer to himself. He lifted her up a little and reached forward so he could touch her chin gently with his claw. “You’re such a naughty little girl, aren’t you? And such a rude guest, too. Here I am, trying to be a nice host, and you try to run away from me. Well isn’t that so sad?”
Penny jerked her head to the side. “Bite me...”
Skrawl widened his eyes at this. And then he smiled. “Well that wasn’t very nice, wasn’t it? Then again, you do seem a little...hot...”
Despite knowing the context of this, Rudy couldn’t help but shudder and the others looked disturbed as well. It was just...the way he said that...
“Let me help you with that, ‘chalk queen’ my dear...”
They were then snapped out of it when they saw Skrawl move his claws closer to Penny’s neck. The sight of this terrified them and they all struggled to say something. But none of them had time before Skrawl took his next action.
Pressing his claws in deep enough to penetrate skin, he yanked his arm out to the side. There was a gurgled cry, a splatter of blood, and soon Penny was dropped to the ground. She immediately began to thrash, blood pooling out of her torn throat. Everyone looked on in horror as Skrawl chuckled darkly.
sss
The words of his enemies caused the giant to begin to stir. He had attempted to try to get some sleep since there wasn’t much else he could do. But before he could, he overhead something that, quite frankly, caught his interest.
“So do you think the boss can handle them?”
“Oh don’t worry. You know how he is. He will think of a way.”
“But they have magic chalk! What if they...”
“You are overestimating them. They are just children. They will be easily taken care of. Just focus on your duty of guarding this giant!”
Biclops felt his eyes widening at this. The Beanie Boys might not have actually said their names, but he knew only of two people who could use the magic chalk.
Rudy and Penny.
They were here...? There was no other way he could interpret this conversation. They wouldn’t be talking like this if Rudy and Penny weren’t anywhere near here. They must have found a way back into ChalkZone and...but how did they do this? How did this all come about? The giant’s mind swirled with thoughts as he struggled to figure out exactly how this could have happened. Something led up into this. Something had allowed for their return. But just...what could that be...?
It didn’t really matter now, did it? The point was, they were back. And judging from the nervousness in that one Beanie Boy’s voice, it sounds like they were putting up at least some kind of resistance against Skrawl. They had to be proving difficult enough to worry about that one Beanie Boy. The one one simply sounded a bit overconfident himself, which is no surprise considering the fact that their boss now had these special powers.
Biclops remained silent and still as he thought about what all this had meant. If Rudy and Penny were truly back... If they were able to return despite what they had gone through... Then perhaps there was still hope yet for this world. He had believed in them before and now they are back. He was certain that, if they tried hard enough, they would be able to free this world from Skrawl’s control. Then everything was going to go back to the way it was before. He smiled at the thought of this. Yeah...that would be rather nice...
But until then, perhaps he should do something to help. Perhaps he, too, should begin to take action against this deranged jellybean. He had put up enough of this ‘sitting around and do nothing in fear of getting hurt’ bullshit long enough. He had waited a long time to do something about these Beanie Boys. And now was time to take that action.
Biclops climbed up to his feet slowly. He groaned a few times from his sores and wounds. It didn’t help that he wasn’t on his feet often lately. So his legs felt so stiff as he tried to bend and move them. He could feel several cracks in his body as he stretched himself out. The Beanie Boys turned and glared in his direction. But Biclops paid little heed to their expressions and just kept rising up until he was perfectly straight. He easily towered over their small, puny forms, and their defensive stature didn’t mean much to him.
Forming a tight fist, he began to strike against the bars. He winced as the solidness echoed across his hand. He didn’t stop, though. He kept going. Again and again, he struck against the metal bars, trying to bend them from the shere force of his strikes. If he could just hit hard enough and fast enough, he should be able to get himself out of here. And then he would be able to go find Skrawl and teach him that overdue lesson that he really needed.
“Oh no. We don’t think so.” One of the Beanie Boys said as he lifted up his red shard. “You will be remaining here..with us.” Biclops widened his eyes. Before he knew it, energy shot out of the shard and towards him.
In seconds, Biclops became aware of the horrific pain shooting through his body. He pulled his head back and let out a loud scream. He struggled to keep himself standing. He struggled to keep striking against the cage bars, hoping to get himself free. But any attempt ended up in utter failure and he could feel his still weak legs buckle underneath him. He did put up a fight for a few seconds, but his own body betrayed him and he began to slump back into the ground.
Soon, he was leaning against the bars with one let out from underneath him, the other bent and his hand gripping the bars as he tried not to slip into the ground. He kept himself up the best he could with his hand. Despite his attempts, though, his body still shook and he found it increasingly hard to hang on. He found his chin slamming against the ground, causing him to bite into his own tongue. He yelped at this, but otherwise ignored the pain as he glared at the Beanie Boys before him.
“How pathetic... The guardian of the Chalk Mine..look at you now!” One of the Beanie Boys mocked.
“Yeah! Hard to believe you were such a big shot before! Now you’re nothing!”
Biclops growled softly at their cruel laughter. He seethed even as pain wracked through his body. He had more of a reason to scream right now than to yell at these Beanie Boys. And yet he still managed to keep his full attention on them, struggling against his own pain to grip the bars and pull himself up. He winced and froze a little as he endured the pain the best that he could. Then, as the Beanie Boys turned their backs to him, he started to shout at them, the events that transpired circling around his head, unable to stop the anger from boiling over.
“You will see! This isn’t over! I will get out of here and I am going to get you! I will pound you! Do you hear me?!”
The Beanie Boys just continued to laugh at him. Biclops hissed at this. Then he gave a small smile, which they did not see. He struggled not to laugh as he did not want to draw their attention back to him. Not because he was afraid that they would hurt him, but because he was almost too eager to see the looks on their faces when he reminds them that Rudy and Penny are back in ChalkZone.
And when they managed to overthrow their boss, he was just going to stand there and laugh...
sss
Mr. Bullnerd’s eyes twinkled when he saw his son’s eyes begin to flutter. At long last, after so many days and weeks of worrying that he would never wake up, now the time for that seemed to have finally come. He could feel his heart filling up with positive emotion, his eyes almost beginning to brim with tears of happiness. He tried not to give into his emotions too much, however, fearing that if he wasn’t careful enough, he would end up grabbing onto his son and squeezing him tightly, resulting in his son being stunned and reverting back to his original state.
Reggie let out a soft moan as he struggled to keep his eyes open. This didn’t surprise the man at all. Considering what his son had gone through, it would only make sense that he would have a difficult time staying awake. For this reason, he didn’t try to rush his son, allowing him to take his time as he woke up from being unconscious for so long.
There were several worries going through his mind right now. He had no idea what kind of condition his son’s mind was in. He was only aware that he’d be confused, which was natural and to be expected. But would there be any brain damage? Had the infection did more than what the doctors led him to believe? Was there anything else that he needed to be concerned about? He struggled to keep his spinning mind under control as he watched his son slowly wake up.
When those brown eyes finally showed in full, when his eye lids were fully open, Mr. Bullnerd found it difficult to look away. For so long, he thought he’d never see those eyes again. For so long, he truly thought that he had lost his son and that nothing would ever bring him back. To have him open his eyes up like this and to have him stare out ahead, it was truly a blessing. He couldn’t help but smile at this.
But he didn’t celebrate just yet. There was still a long, harsh road ahead for his dear son. There was still so much more that needed to be dealt with first. He couldn’t hide the fact that his song was going to lead a harsh life after this; there was still the recovery process to worry about. And the fact that something could still go wrong.
Still, he didn’t let this fact hide his own happiness in his recovery. The fact that he was awake at all was a good sign. There was still more that needed to be done of course, and more that his son had to face and deal with. This was only the first part of that step. Now they had to see what else laid in wait for him. What more did his son need to deal with in the future? Only time will tell.
“D-Dad...?” Reggie finally spoke after what felt like ages of him looking around, all disoriented. Mr. Bullnerd flinched at the sound of his coarse voice. “Wh-What happened...? I-I feel like...something was shoved into my throat...”
Mr. Bullnerd tried hard not to react to that comment. It forced him to confront what had happened before, how this all came to be. It reminded him of what Rudy did while under the control of the red chalk. It reminded him that Rudy’s teeth had once been placed into his neck, ready to tear it open. It reminded him how close his son came to actually dying. And it also reminded him of his own anger towards Rudy that he thought he had pushed aside a long time ago.
He struggled to keep his emotions down. His son didn’t need to hear him rant and rave. And frankly, he was done being angry with Rudy. He had already cast aside his anger before and he could do it again. Rudy never meant to do this and that was something he had to remind himself of. That didn’t mean that it was all that easy of course, and he knew that he would continue having some lingering feelings for a while. But in the long run, he knew that, eventually, he would heal, and they could all move on after this incident. It was just...going to be quite the bumpy road before they even got there.
For now, he tried his best to keep a positive attitude. After what his son had gone through, he certainly didn’t need any other negativity to be placed upon him. He needed to relax and be calm. A panicked mind would only increase the likelihood of him getting hurt even more. He would tell him everything. Just..not now.
“Hello, Reggie my boy...” Mr. Bullnerd said, trying to be as calm and gentle as he could. He reached down and gently stroked his son’s blonde hair. “How are you feeling?” He winced as he said that. Such a stupid question.
Reggie seethed a bit a small bout of pain went through him. “Like shit..” Normally, Mr. Bullnerd would have said something about his language. But considering his condition, he knew better and he held his tongue. “My throat h-h-hurts and I feel like I hadn’t s-slept in ages. And why am I here? Where am I? This...This isn’t my room..”
Mr. Bullnerd noted the fear in Reggie’s voice when he said that. He could understand why. The child had been asleep, if one could call it that, for a long time. It would make sense that he would be quite confused. He would be more worried if Reggie somehow remembered everything right away, as in that case, something would have to be quite off.
Smiling gently, he said, “I understand that you are confused, son. Please, try to relax. You’ve been through quite a lot...”
He immediately regretted saying that, bringing a hand to his mouth. As soon as he did, he could see a slight change in Reggie’s expression. He could see him stare back at him with slighlty widened eyes. Even though it was clear he did not know what happened, he was able to pick up that something was wrong just from what he had said. Now Reggie was staring at him expectantly and looking around more, his tired mind trying to rapidly figure out just what had happened to him.
Mr. Bullnerd reached down towards his son, placing a hand against his shoulder. He tried his best to comfort his son like this, hoping that he would calm down. But the doubt that he had inadvertantly placed in his mind overrode any attempt to keep him calm and now the boy was too busy trying to figure out what happened to realize that he had even touched him at all.
“What happened?” Reggie said, his eyes slowly moving from one side to the other. “What’s...going on...?” He looked up towards the ceiling. “Where am I? H-How did I get here..?”
“Shhh...please...try not to talk, Reggie. You still need to rest. You shouldn’t irritate your throat by talking.” Mr. Bullnerd gently caressed his son’s cheek. He was glad that his son was too tired at the moment to be too frightened, though he knew that this wouldn’t last long. Once the boy was awake enough to realize what was happening... He tried not to think about it. “It will be all right.”
Reggie looked at him for a few moments. From the expression that he was giving, it was unlikely that his words had gotten through to him. If anything, he may have ended up frustrating Reggie or at the very least, confused him further. He wished he could say something else, but any attempt to explain his situation might cause him to eventually feel fear, and he didn’t want that to happen. Not while he was still resting in the hospital bed anyway. He needed some time to recover first and....
His eyes widened when he saw that Reggie was attempting to stand up. He stiffened his body for a split second as he did not see this coming. He immediately reached out towards Reggie once more, attempting to keep him still by holding onto his shoulders. Reggie did try to struggle a little, but thankfully he was too disoriented and weak to really fight back too much. He eventually began relaxed on the bed, although his expression of confusion didn’t change. And then there was a small tinge of fear starting to show up in the fray.
He wanted to say something to comfort his son. Yet he found himself remaining quiet. He wasn’t really sure what he wanted to say. He couldn’t think of any words to come out of his mouth to help him aid his son mentally. He almost felt as though that words might just make things worse. So he kept quiet and just gently squeezed Reggie’s shoulders in an attempt to wordlessly comfort him.
After a while, he did fall silent completely. He leaned his head back a little and he stared down at his son’s tired-looking form. Reggie was looking up at him, blinking slowly, doing his best to fight off his tiredness and confusion. Mr. Bullnerd could tell that Reggie wanted nothing more than to sleep right now, but his desire to figure out more of what happened was still on his mind. Despite his attempts to comfort him, Reggie didn’t seem all that relaxed. At least, not mentally. If he couldn’t relax mentally, then there was really no way that he could truly rest.
Okay so perhaps Reggie was a bit more sturdy right now than he was giving him credit for. Could one blame him for being a bit.. too protective? Reggie had nearly been killed... He couldn’t help but fear the worst. But still, he just...had to try to relax. His son might pick up on his anxiety and...
Reggie opened his mouth to speak. Despite his attempts to get him to be quiet, he was not able to stop Reggie from talking, in spite of the pain in his throat. “J-Just how long..have I been in here...dad..? How long was I...i-in the hospital...?”
Mr. Bullnerd widened his eyes at this. “You...know you’re in a hospital?”
Reggie gave a half smile. “O-Of course...I figured it out pretty quickly...” He seethed in pain for a moment. “J-Just tell me how long I was here...please.”
Mr. Bullnerd was silent for several beats as he stared down at his son. His mind swirled with thoughts as he struggled to think of just how to respond to this. A part of him just wanted to keep quiet and not say anything to his son. A part of him thought that, by doing this, his son would get too tired of trying to talk and just rest. And yet...he just couldn’t bring himself to remain totally silent. Something was compelling him to talk. An emotionally charged part of him that didn’t want to keep any secrets from his son, that kept guilt-tripping him if he didn’t do anything, pushed his confession forward.
And when he did, he almost immediately regretted it.
“You’ve been in here for a month when Rudy ripped your throat out.”
Mr. Bullnerd felt his heart twist at the sight of Reggie’s paling face. And that was when he heard the heart monitor start to go crazy.
sss
“I don’t believe it..”
“Do you think it could be true?”
“No, it had to be just some story...right?”
Harvey did his best to ignore the comments from the other students. He looked at them only briefly as he headed down the hallway. His mind was abuzz with several thoughts. They crowded inside his skull, making it difficult for him to think properly. All he could do was focus on those words the lady had spoken earlier. They repeated themselves over and over inside his mind.
He got a strong sense of deja vu...and it was easy for him to determine why. When the woman began to detail her story, and talk about this world and the dragon that magically appeared...he realized that it reminded him so much of what Rudy Tabootie had said about a month ago.
He and Bobby had tried to forget about that incident. Neither of them had expected Rudy to say such things. They thought that he had finally gone off the deep end. He was always sticking his nose in those comic books. Perhaps he had finally snapped completely and what they were witnessing was a breakdown of his mentality. They had since not discussed the incident and they had pretended that it had never occurred. Rudy being absent for all that time did help a little in them forgetting about it.
But now that Ming Long had showed up and revived those memories, he found it harder to get rid of the thoughts. They just crowded around his mind, clinging to it as though it had sharp legs and was pressing them against his brain. He had a feeling that, this time, the memory wasn’t going away any time soon. He would have to deal with it another way, and the only method he could think of was analyzation.
But...how could he analyze something that did not exist? Or did that chalk world really exist? Was Rudy actually being truthful? Or maybe he just simply told Ming Long and that was why she had used those details. Or maybe just coincidence in general?
He let out a soft sigh. He needed to talk to Bobby about this. He was usually the more rational of the two of them. Mayb he could think of something that might help with this. Maybe he could see some kind of logic in the story that he was missing. Surely he was just overreacting, right? Surely there wasn’t some kind of alternate dimension where drawings exist and.... Oh gawd...what if it was true...?
No...He couldn’t think like that. He shook the horrible thoughts out of his mind. He had to keep focus. He couldn’t give into those terrifying thoughts. He couldn’t allow his rational thoughts to deplete, to be taken over by some irrational belief that maybe such a world existed. Yeah, Bobby would be able to see logic in it and help him relax. This was just a story after all. Nothing more than a bed time tell that he could tell to his parents and they could all get a good laugh out of it. There was nothing real about this. Nothing real at all...
He lifted his head as he turned around the corner, and he could see Bobby standing by his locker. He had his back turned to him, so he wasn’t able to tell what kind of mood he was in. Harvey remained where he was for a few moments, not wanting to interrupt the boy. He bit his lip lightly, wishing that the boy would turn around so he could see his expression. He disliked bothering him when he wasn’t in the greatest of moods.
It took only a few moments for Bobby to turn his head around enough that he could catch a glimpse of him. Bobby looked over at him with widened eyes. Then he frowned slightly and motitoned for him to come over. Harvey hesitated for a moment, recognizing this look in his friend’s eyes. But he didn’t stay in this place for much longer and he approached his friend.
When Harvey got close enough, Bobby spoke. “Hello, Harvey. How are you doing?”
“I’m doing okay.” Harvey was a little surprised by this generic greeting. Not much like his friend at all. He had a feeling he knew what was on his mind. “And you are...?”
Bobby waved his hand dismissively. “Oh the usual. You know...” His voice trailed off for a moment and he looked right and then left, making sure that no one else was around. The hallways were mostly empty at this time with only a couple students walking. Bobby leaned in and he began to speak with him. “So...you thinking about what that woman said as well? From before?”
Harvey bit his lip for a second. Then he nodded his head. “Yeah...” He lowered his head a little to the side, frowning softly. “I have a hard time believing it... It sounded so much like what that Rudy kid told us.”
“I knew the kid was weird and all.” Bobby commented. This, Harvey didn’t really argue against. Rudy never was as ‘normal’, or whatever was the right term, compared to the other kids. He was always...different. “But I never thought that his little fairy tale could actually be true.”
At this, Harvey widened his eyes in shock. “You....actually believe the woman?”
Bobby frowned at him, showing a look of absolute seriousness. “You bet I do.”
Harvey found this difficult to believe. He didn’t think that his friend would believe in such nonsense. Exactly how did he come to this conclusion? What prompted him to think that the story was real? How in the world did he react this end point in his thought process? It just didn’t make any sense. Was there something that he was missing? Just...what was going on?
The only thing that he could think of is that Bobby had done more thinking than he thought, and perhaps had seen a lot more than he had previously let on. Perhaps he did see something with Rudy or Penny and it helped to lead to this type of conclusion. He had a feeling that he would find out soon enough. He hoped that his friend wouldn’t keep him in the dark for too long. But he could tell that he certainly didn’t want to talk about it right now. Not while there were students all around them.
So instead of asking for elaboration on that, he simply asked, “Okay...so...what do you propose that we do about...?”
This caused Bobby to soften his expression, almost completely blank. He turned his head away and stared out at nothingness for a while. Harvey watched him carefully, looking for any sign of movement, any sign that he was going to respond. This lasted for what felt like several long minutes, though he wasn’t sure exactly how long it really took. He didn’t attempt to speed up his friend and just waited for an answer, tapping his foot lightly against the ground.
Then Bobby’s expression started to change. He could see his eyes narrowing a little, becoming a little narrower, his teeth baring slightly as he gritted them. He wasn’t sure what thought crossed his mind to get this sort of reaction, and a part of him wondered if he really wanted to know or not. He watched as Bobby slowly turned his head back towards him, focusing his eyes completely upon him. There was something in that expression that caused Harvey to shiver slightly. This....almost didn’t look like his friend at all. It was like something else had replaced him.
It was almost as though this was a...personal thing. He wasn’t entirely sure why, though. He couldn’t think of how any of this related to him personally. He would have said something, but felt it was best that he kept his mouth shut. He knew better than to try to speak while his friend was like this. He may end up making things so much worse.
It took a while, but Bobby soon started to speak again. Despite the frown plastered over his face, the voice he used was a bit calm. It was...quite unnerving, actually, hearing this voice combined with that face. “We need to do something about that chalk world Rudy told us about...”
Harvey took a small step back, his eyes widening at this. “Wh-What..?”
“You heard me. If that world is really populated by drawings ome to life...and if anything on the blackboard erased becomes real in that world...” Bobby gritted his teeth. For a split second, he had a terrified expression, as though he were imagining some big great monster was going to jump out of the walls to eat him. He gave his friend a sideways glance, that single eye boring into him, radiating with all kinds of emotion. “Something has to be done...”
Harvey could feel his mind racing at this. He had never heard his friend speak like this before. This was not the Bobby he knew. This was...someone completely different. The emotions resulting from the woman’s story and Rudy’s tale were intermixing in his mind, culminating in this. It was as though Bobby was determined that he and they were destined to do...something. And that something, the way he worded it, he wasn’t entirely sure he liked where this might be headed.
He...couldn’t be suggesting what he thought he was, right...? That was just..insane... No, Bobby was just voicing his emotion-filled opinions. He wasn’t serious about this. He just couldn’t be.
But what if he was? What if he really wanted to do this? What if he did have some vendetta or whatever that he wanted to complete? What if he did want to do something about this world? What if he did feel that the best course of action was... Oh how could Bobby think such a thing? He understood his concerns, but...to do something like that...
However, he dare not criticize Bobby’s words. He was afraid to say anything at this point. His friend seemed so...drawn into this, so..determined about something regarding this world that..if he were to say anything against what he wanted, Bobby might explode in his face.
But...Bobby did look like he was waiting for a response... Perhaps he was waiting for justification? Perhaps he was waiting for something else? He wasn’t sure. But...he couldn’t keep him waiting for much longer, now could he? He licked his lips nervously, his teeth clenching tightly. Despite much of his mind telling him not to, he managed to force himself to squeak a single question.
“What are you...suggesting that we do..? Destroy that chalk world or something...?”
Bobby was silent for several moments. He stared long and hard at Harvey. Their eyes almost seemed to connect into each other as they refused to look away. Harvey could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he waited for Bobby’s reply. Then, with a slow, deliberate nod, Bobby gave his answer.
“Yes.”
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Post by Bluedramon on Sept 26, 2015 15:01:08 GMT -5
Chapter 64:
Just what was going on here? What could have led up to this? It just...didn’t make any sense. No matter how hard it tried to figure this all out, it just couldn’t come up with anything that would explain what the heck was going on. Of course, this wasn’t going to be all that easy to pull off anyway. Not while it was locked in comeback with this thing.
Thoughtless gritted its beak as it paced around Zebin. The two of them locked eyes with each other, teeth bared at one another. Thoughtless scanned around carefully with its brown eyes, trying to see if the zoner was going to make a move against it. Zebin was being pretty still at first, aside from its tail swishing from side to side. But this didn’t last too long as Zebin suddenly opened its mouth and let out a loud growl before jumping in its direction.
Thoughtless swiveled itself around, its feet scraping along the floor, as it barely dodged the attack. It could hear a loud thud where the zoner had collided into before. Thoughtless straightened its back and glared off at where Zebin now stood, its eyes narrowing further.
<I don’t know why you are acting so strangely, Zebin.> Thoughtless turned itself around and began to approach the chinese unicorn zoner. It kept its eyes glued on the creature, its beak opening in prepartion for an attack. <But I’m not wasting time finding out. I need to ensure that you won’t remain such a...pest!> It spread its half wings out at this.
Not like this really got through with Zebin of course. Whatever had possessed it was clearly in control. Zebin simply swung its head from side to side wildly before rearing up onto its hind legs. It kicked its legs out in front of itself, waving them about like some kind of wild horse. It then dropped itself down and unleashed a loud, menacing roar towards Thoughtless before it tried charging again. Thoughtless rolled its eyes, wondering why Zebin was even bothering to try. Regardless, it decided to entertain it a little and it prepared itself for the impact.
When Zebin got close enough, Thoughtless reached forward with its wings. The wing’s digits wrapped around the horn as tightly as it could muster. The force of the collision was still enough to start knocking it backwards. It could feel its feet sliding along the ground as it struggled to push back. It gritted its beak tightly, clutching the horn as best as it could. Despite its struggles, Zebin was still able to continue pushing it back, and soon Thoughtless could feel the tip of the horn press against its chest.
Thoughtless widened its eyes at this. The pain that followed, though not so bad at first, grew increasingly worse as more pressure was applied. It seethed through its clenched beak, eyes shutting tightly. It began to push back harder, feelings its wings begin to ache quickly as they were pushed beyond their limitations. Despite this, Thoughtless didn’t quit and it grunted as it kept pushing. But, realizing that this wasn’t going to work, it reached up with one of its feet and pressed it against Zebin’s neck and applied pressure.
As soon as it did this, it could feel something off about it. There was something...different about the neck. It couldn’t quite put its talons on it. The only thing that it did realize that it obviously was causing some distress in Zebin. It could see the pain flashing in its eyes, its teeth gritted as a sudden gasp exited its mouth. And yet it did not fight back. It was in distress, and yet it was not trying to escape the pain. It was as though it was single mindedly focused on getting it. But why? Wouldn’t the smart thing to do be get away from the pain and try for something else?
Well regardless, Thoughtless took full advantage of this. It applied more pressure to the neck area. It wrapped its talons around it. The strange feeling increased. Yes, there was something definitely wrong with its neck. What it was didn’t click in its mind yet as it was still focused on trying to get the creature off of it. With a sharp, strong push, it managed to free enough space for it to slip through. It moved to the side, allowing Zebin to crash its face into the wall as the opposing force was removed.
That was when it hard a loud cracking sound in the neck. This caused Thoughtless to immediately freeze. It turned its head to stare at the chinese unicorn, keeping its focus on its neck only. Just..what was wrong with that neck? What was going on? There was something about it that...
It wasn’t able to think about this for too long. Whatever had bothered Zebin had clearly passed by this point. The chinese unicorn was dashing towards it yet again, growling like some kind of wild animal. Any amount of sentience was gone from this chinese unicorn. Even its eyes were dull and almost lifeless, devoid of any kind of intellect this beast had before. It became almost indistinguishable from any wild zoner that it might have run into before.
Opening its mouth, Zebin attempted to bite down into Thoughtless. The memotrice managed to jump back away from it. It twisted its body around as it avoided another attack. It then jumped up into the air, using its half wings to give it partial lift. It couldn’t fly, but its wings did come in handy in these types of situations. It managed to extend its jump just a little bit. It was still enough to avoid the jaws from slamming against its feet.
Landing not far away, it called out, <Cease this! You are not behaving like yourself! What is wrong with you?!>
Thoughtless didn’t know why it was even trying. It wasn’t like Zebin was going to respond to it anyway. Not in its current, wild state. It needed to think of what else it was going to do with it. Another kind of plan. Talking won’t work and frankly, it probably wouldn’t really know the right words to say anyway. Negotiating with a crazed zoner wasn’t exactly on its resume.
Perhaps it could use its powers on it? That was an option. It hadn’t really tried it before. So perhaps it should give it a shot. It planted its feet firmly on the ground and glared intently in the chinese unicorn’s direction. The memotrice took in a deep breath and then, moments later, its brown eyes began to glow.
It could feel its mind begin to pierce into Zebin’s. It was a slow, difficult process, and it could feel its teeth and beak clenching tightly against each other as it struggled to keep this up. Despite the trouble, however, it continued its attempts. It glared over in the direction of Zebin, struggling to keep its eyes even with its. If it could just maintain this level of focus for a little while, then it should be able to peer into Zebin’s mind and figure out what was going on...or at the very least find a way to settle it down.
However, this attempt was quite shortlived. Zebin’s eyes bulged wide and it began to thrash itself from side to side. It opened its mouth to let out an ear piercing screech. Thoughtless widened its own eyes and it stumbled back, its talons scraping the ground as it did so.
Zebin took advantage of its off balance nature and charged towards it. Thoughtless looked up just in time to see one of Zebin’s clawed hooves ramming down on top of it. The hoof hit against its chest and lower neck. The resulting impact caused it to feel its own hair being pumped out of its body. Left nearly airless, the memotrice collapsed into the ground and let out wheezing coughs as it struggled to breathe. Zebin didn’t let it do this for long before it pulled its foot back and kicked it against the memotrice’s stomach.
Thoughtless felt its world spinning, watched the various pictures whirling around, as it somersaulted across the ground. It yelped as it felt one of its legs nearly snap under the pressure of the attack. It landed on its stomach, limbs spread outward, and shivered from the shock and pain of what happened. It lifted up its beaked head and looked at where Zebin now stood. The chinese unicorn was swishing its tail from side to side as it slowly approached it.
Thoughtless managed to get up to its feet and it glared at the chinese unicorn. It hunched its body as it prepared to fight. It was a little shaky on its feet, but it would be damned if it allowed something as silly as that get in the way of doing what needed to be done. If Zebin wanted to keep fighting, then so be it.
Then it took notice of something strange. There was something glinting in Zebin’s eyes. A look that Thoughtless soon recognized was one of reluctance. This isn’t something that Zebin wanted to be doing. And yet it was still going through with it. Thoughtless narrowed its eyes at this. What could this mean? Was Zebin doing this because someone told it to? Was it really working on its own free will? Or was it being controlled somehow?
Its eyes shot open at this realization. Suddenly, Zebin’s earlier walking began to make sense. They did seem a little too stiff... As though it was moving against its will, as though something else was pulling it. It was then that it happened to notice the sparks of electricity flying off from one of its joints. Then everything clicked into place.
That was it. That’s what was going on here. Zebin wasn’t acting on its own. It didn’t purposely turn against them. It was being forced to do this. And Thoughtless had a suspicion that he knew just who to blame.
But...just what was it going to do about this? It had no idea how Zebin was being controlled. It didn’t know where the controller was or where the device was located on its body. It didn’t see anything, no matter which direction it tried to look. If the device was on the inside, that would make things even trickier. Yet it couldn’t even make a move unless it knew just where it was being controlled at.
Unless it...
Thoughtless wasn’t sure if it was a good idea. Not that it would be so above it all or anything. After all, it had killed zoners before. But in this csae, it was different. To kill this zoner means losing a potential ally. It didn’t want to waste the breath if Zebin could still prove useful for a while. And yet, if getting rid if it means losing a potential threat...
Thoughtless realized now what it had to do. It glared softly in Zebin’s direction as the zoners circled each other slowly. It was always going to feel a tinge of regret for what needed to be done. But there wasn’t much of a choice now, was there? Taking in a deep breath and sighing softly, Thoughtless spoke one line before it charged.
<Sorry.>
sss
Alpha grunted as he continued to wrestle and push against the other Beanie Boy. He hadn’t expected him to put up quite the fight. He was a little scrawnier than the other Beanie Boys, although it was very hard to tell unless one stood really close to him. Yet despite this relative skinniness, the other Beanie Boy still put up quite the fight, wrestling against him, preventing him from being able to do anything to get away.
Alpha had thought this would have been a quick fight. He was certainly wrong in that aspect. Here he was, struggling the best he could against this zoner, and he could already feel himself start to be pushed back a little. He gritted his teeth tightly and he held onto the hands of the Beanie Boy securely as he tried to push back.
“I will not...allow you...to steal this chance away from me!” Alpha declared as he tried to push the other Beanie Boy into the ground.
The other zoner simply chortled at this. “What do you propose you’ll do? If you find those children..” He let out a loud grunt as he managed to push Alpha back. Alpha winced as he felt his arms being a little twisted from the force of the push. “Are you going to go and cry to Skrawl that you caught them and roll on the ground like a little dog, hoping that he would give you a promotion?”
Alpha narrowed his eyes at this. “You know full well that he would reward me if I am the one to bring the fugitives.”
“And what makes you think he would give the promotion to you?” The Beanie Boy tilted his head to the side. “You were the one who abandoned Rho! You were the reason that those brats nearly got away! Why in the fuck would he want to ever make you the general of anything?!”
Alpha didn’t bother to answer. It wasn’t like he could think of anything, and this zoner wouldn’t listen to what he had to say anyway. So instead he just focused on fighting back, struggling the best that he could to push against this other Beanie Boy. Regardless of what would happen, he didn’t want to permit this Beanie Boy to have a chance at that prize. Alpha would rather have the luxury himself. After all, he deserved this chance more than the other Beanie Boys. He didn’t care what they thought. He knew that this was true.
Although he did understand at least some of the Beanie Boy’s points. He wasn’t all that off base when he mentioned the bit about abandoning Rho. A part of him did feel a little bad about that. It wasn’t enough to make him feel too guilty, though, but enough that made him realize that Skrawl would probably remain upset at him about this for quite a long while. This did reduce his chances of being chosen as the new general...
But that could easily be changed if he managed to catch the fugitives himself. If he found them and stopped them, Skrawl would most certainly forgive him for his transgression...if that is the right term. Either way, Skrawl would see that he was still loyal to him and he would at least consider the opportunity of letting him be second in command.
Alpha felt himself slamming against the wall. He let out a grunt at this, his teeth clenched tightly. He opened his eyes and he could see the zoner before him grinning darkly at him, his mouth curled up into a twisted smile. A low, dark chuckle escaped from his mouth, indicating just how much he was enjoying this. The Beanie Boy raised up a hand, forming a tight fist. He then brought it down towards him. Unable to escape it, Alpha felt it collide with his jaw.
A small shockwave of pain spread throughout his face as it was tossed to the side. He let out a loud yelp as his head was pushed over like a sack of potatoes. He took in a few deep breaths as he kept his head like this, breathing in and out slowly as he allowed the pain to slowly leave his face. A dull pain still remained, but that didn’t stop him from turning his head to glare at the other Beanie Boy. Of course he would still stare at him with that smile. Of course he would raise up his fist to try to strike again. But no...not this time...
Alpha quickly reached up with his hand and caught the fist before it could touch him. He squeezed the hand tightly, driving his fingernails into the flesh. This caused the other Beanie Boy to flinch, gritting his teeth. Alpha then began to push back against him, trying to shove the other Beanie Boy down. He could feel his body shake from the effort. He could feel his muscles burning hot, ready to collapse at any given moment. But despite that, he still fought against him, still pushed back, still struggled to do whatever he could to get free. He was not going to allow this Beanie Boy to win. He was not going to give him a chance to succeed at what he deserved the most. He wasn’t going to allow anything to stop him from being the next general. Nothing....Not even someone like him.
The fight continued on for a whiel. Alpha wasn’t really sure how long he had been trying to get himself free. He wasn’t sure how many more hits he took, or how many attempts he made at trying to strike back. Despite the trouble and despite the stillness of time, however, he still fought back. He kept this up to the best of his ability, pushing his trembling arms back against the other Beanie Boy, trying to push the slightly scrawny zoner away from him.
His efforts were eventually rewarded. With one strong push, the other Beanie Boy was tossed through the air. Alpha only watched him float away for a brief second before he turned his head to try to face off against the fugitives.
But he never got a chance to do anything. Seconds later, the other Beanie Boy was upon him. He let out a loud grunt as he was tossed back yet again. The two of them gripped onto each other, spiraling around in the air like some kind of miniature twister. They pushed against each other, ignoring the spinning sensation that was crawling through their heads. Their eyes were focused only on each other. Neither were going to back down, leaving both uncertain of just when this was all going to end.
Alpha could hear the other Beanie Boy give out a grunt as they hit the ground. This time, Alpha was the one pinning the other. He could see the other Beanie Boy’s head bent a little awkwardly as the back of his shoulders had made impact against the ground. For a split second, he worried that he might have accidentally killed him. But he was relieved to see that the other Beanie Boy was fine.
That relief didn’t last too long, though, as almost right away, the Beanie Boy tried to fight back. He gripped his arms tightly and tried to pull him down against him. Alpha let out a shout of surprise at this and tried to pull away. He found hiself colliding with the Beanie Boy. A powerful headache spread through his skull as the other Beanie Boy rammed his forehead against his.
The two of them were momentarily stunned by this. Unable to do or say anything, they simply floated away from each other, their bodies wobbling from side to side. The ache spread throughout their heads, feeling as though someone had taken a drill to them and were trying to cut a hole straight into them. It took them several moments before they were able to recover enough to realize what was going on.
Alpha shook his head and glared at the other Beanie Boy. He placed his hand against his head, baring his teeth. He should have known earlier just how stubborn this Beanie Boy was going to be. He had been a little too soft on him. No, way too soft. He need to stop this zoner before...
Suddenly he froze. He straightened himself up, his eyes widening. This act confused the other Beanie Boy. He could hear him calling out to him, trying to get some kind of response. But Alpha ignored him completely as he looked around slowly, from left to right. A sudden realization had washed over him.
This place...
It had gotten too quiet...
Alpha continued looking around, allowing this realization to wash over him. He could no longer hear the other Beanie Boy. Only the deafening silence that had surrounded them. It took him only seconds to realize just what had happened.
The fugitives had gotten away.
Alpha remained still for several moments, his eyes wide. He tried his best to swallow this realization, an act that wasn’t all that easy. He swallowed nervously as he continued looking around, noting that there was more tha none direction they could have gone in. And yet, because of his struggle against this other Beanie Boy, he was not able to figure out which direction they could have gotten off to.
But how could they have gotten away? He and the other Beanie Boy had been here the whole time. They would have heard them flee, right? Or seen them...or something... But then again, they were so locked in combat that they probably just didn’t hear them. The fugitives could have taken advantage of that and...
...wait a minute...
Alpha could feel his blood start to boil as a new realization quickly dawned on him. He thought back to the words that Penny Sanchz had spoken that led up to his argument with this Beanie Boy. He quickly realized just what had happened there. Penny had tricked them. She had manipulated the two of them and fooled them into fighting each ohter. That bought the fugitives enough time to get away. She had played the two of them for fools to allow for her and her friends to get away. That little bitch...
Alpha turned in one direction. He had no idea if this was the right one or not. But at the moment, he didn’t care. All that mattered right now is that he try to find those little brats and bring them back. He was not going to allow himself to be played for a fool and let them get away with it. They were going to discover the true meaning of pain when he got a hold of them.
“Wait! Where are you going?!” The other Beanie Boy cried. “We’re not done here!”
Alpha paid no attention to him. He simply formed fists with his hands and he took off in one direction. He didn’t care about that other Beanie Boy anymore. All he cared about was teaching Penny a little lesson. He couldn’t wait until he got his hands on her. He was going to wring that pretty little neck of hers. A dark smile spread across his face as he thought that. Oh yes..that would be quite delightful.
sss
“P-Penny! No!” Rudy shouted loudly, his eyes widened in horror.
“Get up! Please!” Snap joined in.
“Penny!” Rapsheeba, Blocky, and Howdy cried out in unison.
But nothing they did or said got any kind of response out of Penny. She still laid on the ground, her body mostly limp save for some of the twitches she was still going through. Twitches of pain and agony, her face contorted to show this. The red blood formed around her, concentrated around her neck. There was a bit of steam, indicating that it was burning into the ground. So much blood...
Rudy couldn’t tear his eyes away from this horrific event. He couldn’t get himself to say anything. His mouth simply hung open, shutting and reopening it slowly as he struggled to think of something to say. His throat had gone dry from his attempts of reaching out to Penny. All he got in return was silence and some shaky whimpers. He couldn’t do anything in his position besides just watch Penny on the ground. She was almost so still... If it weren’t for the shaky breathing, he would have thought she was dead.
Skrawl stood over her, a proud smirk spreading across his face. His hand was raised up, his claws bent inward. There appeared to be little damage as Skrawl had made the slash very quick. But even with the little bit of blood on him, he did show a bit of pain. But despite the discomfort, he was clearly ignoring it while he enjoyed the sight of Penny on the ground, whimpering and crying in pain.
Penny slowly turned her head. Shakingly and stiffly... She was soon able to turn her head to look up at Skrawl, her eyes bulging widely. She kept her mouth open wide as she tried to take in each breath. She stared at Skrawl with a ‘why?’ expression on her face.
“Oh my dear little ‘chalk queen’... Look at the mess you’ve gotten into now.” Skrawl said softly, a cruel tinge to his voice. “You are..so very lucky I didn’t hit your vital areas. But I must ask...” He pulled his lips back to expose more of his teeth. “How long do you think you will last like that? You’re losing an awful lot of blood...”
Rudy seethed at this comment. It was so unnecessarily cruel and heartless, not that he’d expect anything less from this jellybean. Rudy knew that Skrawl would show absolutely no mercy on Penny. Unless she got up and ran away or something else happened to turn things in their favor...there was really nothing they could do. Well, nothing except watch this horror show unfold.
Skrawl began to move closer to Penny. At this point, Penny was trying to struggle to get away. She kicked out her legs weakly, trying to push herself on her hands and get up. Her body trembled from the weakness and from the effort. She clenched her teeth tightly as she slowly rose up to her feet. But her attempts didn’t get her that far and she fell back down. This was accompanied by a loud, gurgled cry as her head hit agaisnt the floor. This agitated her neck injury and Penny let out another cry. Rudy could feel his heart skip several beats as he watched the blood oozing out of the neck.
Rudy couldn’t believe that this was happening. Not to Penny.. Not his best friend... He tried to believe that this was all just some kind of horrible nightmare. Soon he would wake up and everything would be fine...
But he knew this was no dream. This was reality. A horrific reality that he and the others were forced to watch. He couldn’t deny what was happening before him. He couldn’t deny that Penny was on the ground, shivering in pain, unable to do anything to defend herself. She had already lost quite a bit of blood and she would continue to lose more unless the blood managed to be stopped. He could see that Penny was trying to do something, placing her hand against her throat and clutching it tightly. At least, as tightly as she could while enduring the pain.
But it just...didn’t seem to be working all that well... Penny’s blood still continued to seep through her fingers and her strength still seemed to be fading rapidly. The only one down there that could do anything to keep Skrawl from taking advantage of this, Howdy, wasn’t having much luck either. Skrawl had tossed him against the wall again, sending the zoner in such a daze that he couldn’t even speak after that. Rudy understood that this wouldn’t be Howdy’s only attempt, but he had an uncomfortable feeling that nothing Howdy did was going to work.
Oh if only he could get himself free from here... Rudy struggled from side to side as he tried to find some way to get out of here. He wriggled his way to the front of the net, pushing aside Snap in the process. He gripped onto the ropes that were binded together and, with a sharp yank, he tried to rip them open.
He could feel his arms ache from the effort. He could feel his teeth grinding together as he struggled the best he could to free himself. He ignored the worried comments from the others as he struggled with all his might to get himself free. There had to be some way to get out of here. If he could just pull harder, maybe he could start to break something. These ropes were tight and all, but they couldn’t be that strong. Come on now...break...
But no matter how hard he tried, nothing was working. He kept up the effort for a little while, struggling and yanking hard on the ropes. But eventually he had to stop. With a loud sigh and his body slumping, he nearly collapsed against the rope. He struggled to regain his breath, his arms and hands aching from the effort he made to get himself free. He stared down at Skrawl and noticed that the jellybean was looking right at him.
“Oh what’s the matter? Is my little creator not enjoying his stay?” Skrawl taunted with a fake look of concenr. “Why, I’m hurt! I thought you would be having a great time!” He motioned his hand towards him. “Have I not been a good enough host for you, Master Tabootie?”
Rudy could feel his body shaking at this. Anger rose up inside of him, and it burned through his muscles and vessels. He clenched his teeth tightly, a part of his mind wishing that he could just burn a hole straight through Skrawl right about now. He could hear his breathing growing growlier and more animalistic. He could hear Snap and Rapsheeba’s worried comments, although he did not bother responding to them. He just kept his glare on Skrawl only, his teeth feeling as though they were going to break any second from the force.
“You..monster...! Go to hell!” A part of Rudy couldn’t believe that those words came from him. But the other part of him, no, most of him, simply didn’t care. The only thing he wanted was for Skrawl to just jump off a cliff so he didn’t want to worry about him anymore. After what he did to Penny, why the hell should he care about Skrawl’s condition anymore?
His anger, however, seemed to be just what Skrawl wanted. There was a glint in his eye, something clicking in the back of his mind. He let out a low, soft chuckle. He sneered down at where Penny was, and then he shifted his attention to Rudy. He began to walk slowly towards the net, his mismatched eyes focused firmly on the prisoners inside.
Rudy struggled not to say anything. At this point, he didn’t trust his mouth anymore. He feared that he might say something that would actually offend Skrawl, and his condition, that would not be a good idea. Before, he was ruled mostly by his anger, but now some fear began to show its face, and rightfully so. As Skrawl got closer, Rudy couldn’t help but stare at his long, sharp claws. He could see the tips practically glinting, flexing about. He could see them slash into Penny’s throat over and over again. He was not able to stop himself from imagining the same thing happening to him or one of his other friends. Rudy had generally never thought much of Skrawl’s claws before, but now that’s all he could think about, his eyes glued to them.
So long...so sharp... If Skrawl wanted to kill him right now, he could. Skrawl was tall enough to reach them. The holes in the net were more than big enough for Skrawl to fit his hands through. He could shove those claws into his stomach, his chest, his neck...anywhere that he pleased. And there was very little he could do to stop him. Without the magic chalk, how..how was he going to get out of here?
He felt almost ashamed for thinking such a thing. He shouldn’t rely totally on the magic chalk all the time. He needed to learn to use other methods of getting out of situations. There are times when he just can’t use the magic chalk and he was fully aware of this. He couldn’t just give up or fall into hopelessness just because they didn’t have the magic chalk anymore. There was a way to get out of here. He just...had to think harder.
Yet nothing came to his mind. As he remained here, staring at Skrawl in the eyes, nothing would come to his mind. The others weren’t helping his situation. They were constantly shouting him to get away or shouting at Penny to run, but none of them were thinking of any ways to get out of here. And frankly, their shouts were starting to get quite annoying. If they didn’t shut up soon...
However thankfully...or not... Skrawl had gotten sick of their shouting as well. He shifted his blazing, mixed eyes at them and gave a single command. “Shut up! Master Tabootie and I are trying to have a discussion!”
The volume of his shout immediately silenced everyone. It was not just the volume; it was the implied threat that came with it and the look in his eyes. Everyone shut their jaws tightly, save for Penny who was still trying to cope with her pain. But to Skrawl, that seemed to be nothing more than background noise as he glared at the others one by one, ensuring that they wouldn’t speak up again. Once he was satisfied that they weren’t going to talk, he smiled and he shifted his gaze towards Rudy.
“Pardon that rude distracting, Master Tabootie.” He held up his clawed hand in gesture. “So...was there something else you wanted to tell me?”
Rudy gritted his teeth. He looked from Penny and then back to Skrawl. “Oh I have something to say alright...” He leaned in closer to the net, gripping it tightly. In that moment, he all but forgot about his fear towards Skrawl, and only anger remained on his mind. “Bite me!”
Skrawl widened his eyes at this, but he recovered quickly. “My, such language...” He cooed softly. “I never thought I’d hear you say such things, Master Tabootie.” Rudy gritted his teeth at this. “But then, I have given you a reason for such a response, didn’t I...?”
With that, Skrawl motioned to where Penny was. Rudy looked down at where she still laid on the ground. Penny’s movements had weakened and her breathing only seemed to get worse. The bleeding had started to slow a little as Penny clutched at her throat. But he didn’t know how long this was going to last. She was still getting weaker by the second, and it was obvious that she wasn’t going to be able to continue applying pressure for much longer. She needed help and fast.
But...there was no way that Skrawl would allow him to help Penny. He would probably let him get close enough to her, but then jab the knife in his heart by jabbing her with electricity and stopping her heart. He was going to need do something else if he wanted to help her. Distraction obviously wouldn’t work, but... He gritted his teeth. What the heck was he supposed to do now?
“Such difficulties deciding, isn’t it?” Skrawl sneered at the small boy. He ignored Rudy’s glare as he closed his eyes softly and straightened himself up. In his new haughty stance, hand raised up in a gesture, he said, “It is always hard to decide when the life of your best friend is on the line, right?”
“You...” Rudy’s voice trailed off. He could hear a growl from Snap and a whimper from Blocky. None of them spoke up. Even Howdy knew to be quiet, and Rapsheeba remained silent save for a few grunts of pain.
Skrawl shifted his gaze back to Rudy, bending his hand inward, his claws facing down. “Oh what is this? Do I detect some anger in you?” He waved his hand dismissively. “Well of course I do! You are such a card, Rudy! So predictable...” He folded his arm behind his back and he leaned in forward. His head titled over to one side. His smile grew slightly twisted as he said, “Well in that case, perhaps I should give you a sporting chance, eh? How about it, my little chalk boy?”
There was a mixture of emotion that struck Rudy when Skrawl said this. The first thing he reacted to was that disgusting little nickname that Skrawl gave him. It was brief and said with such neutrality, and yet he couldn’t help but shudder. Just...something about that name...and hearing it from Skrawl.. Just...ew...
Immediately after the disgust left him, he brought his attention to what else Skrawl had said. He widened his eyes in shock, the feeling of surprise overwhelming his previous disgusted feeling. Was...Was Skrawl giving him a chance to fight back...? No, he couldn’t be... This was just some sort of trick. Skrawl was quite good at these. He was just trying to tempt Rudy and then he was going to lock him in some kind of fight that he couldn’t win and...
But it would keep Skrawl away from Penny for a while, wouldn’t it? Yeah, it would. If Skrawl’s full attention was on him, then that meant that Penny had a chance to survive. And to get him, the net had to be cut through anyway. Skrawl would have to let the others go, even if he did do something to ensure they wouldn’t get away. They could help Penny and...
He knew what he had to do. A part of him was going to regret this. A part of him would never believe of what he was about to do. A part of him would always think that he was being an idiot right now. And yet still, in the back of his mind somewhere, he knew that there was little else he could do. If Skrawl wanted a fight, then so be it. He would be more than glad to give him something to struggle against.
“All right then...” Rudy said softly. Skrawl grinned at this. “I’ll fight you.”
“What?!” Blocky and Rapsheeba called out.
“Bucko!” Snap grabbed onto Rudy, staring at him in horror. “Y-You can’t do that! You...”
Rudy pushed Snap away, forcing him to let go. He gave him a glare before he turned his attention back to Skrawl. “Well? What are you waiting for? Afraid?”
Skrawl widened his eyse at this. He spent a few seconds staring at Rudy in shock. Then he gave a bitter chuckle. “Oh I will show you who will be afraid...” He raised his hand up, his claws spread out. “Now..let’s get you out of there. No fun if you are all...tied up...”
Rudy had no idea why Skrawl was willing to do this. He wasn’t sure why Skrawl wouldn’t just shoot him and be done with it. Not that he was complaining of course. Besides, he had a feeling that Skrawl had some kind of backup plan somewhere in that villainous mind of his. He was probably just going to let him think he was winning for a time and then he would strike him down when he least expected it.
He just had to be careful and keep an eye on this so he could avoid it. Not an easy thing to do and he had a feeling that he would still get struck. But regardless, he still decided to go through with this. He would be given a chance to fight Skrawl either way. If he just remained careful and alert, he would be able to dodge circles around Skrawl and then he could...
Without warning, sparks of electricity shot out of Skrawl’s claws. The energy ripped through the ropes with ease. With a loud thud and several cries of pain, he, Snap, Blocky, Rho, and Rapsheeba fell into the floor. They laid there for a few moments, groaning in pain, their teeth gritted tightly. Rudy pushed himself up onto one hand and glared up at Skrawl, one eye shut tightly and the other piercing through the jellybean.
Skrawl grinned down at him, his hands on his thick hips. “So glad for you all to...drop in...” He looked over at the zoners. He narrowed his eyes dangerously. “I will make it clear that this fight is just between me and chalk boy here.” He pointed his claw at them. “If any of you decide to step into the fight... Well...”
He strode over towards Penny. Their hearts clenching as horror washed over them, Rudy and the others shouted at him to leave her alone. He ignored them completely as he reached Penny’s side. He smiled down at her shivering form before he grabbed onto her arm and yanked her upward. Penny let out a gurgled cry in response.
Holding Penny up cruelly by her arm, Skrawl smiled twistedly at her before turning his attention on them. “We wouldn’t want her having a little...accident...now do we...?”
“S-Skrawl...leave her alone!” Blocky shouted, trying to sound brave.
“Leave her out of this!” Rapsheeba joined in. “You won’t...”
“Oh save me your lame speeches!” Skrawl growled. “I will leave her alone...under the condition that you all stay out of our little...dance...” Skrawl tightened his grip on Penny as he brought her closer. “Otherwise...well...” He moved his claws closer to her neck once more. Penny’s eyes widened and she shook her head, clearly distressed. “I think this floor would look marvelous in red...don’t you think...?”
“Don’t you dare!” Howdy shouted as he recovered from the last attack. “Put her down!”
“We...we won’t interfere! We promise! Just let her go!” Rapsheeba called out. She reached her and towards Skrawl. “Please...”
Skrawl stared at her unblinkingly. Then he smiled softly. “Okay then. I will let her go...” He slowly turned his head to Penny. He began to lower her down....and then, without warning, he raised his arm back up, twisted his body around to where Howdy was, and then just threw her against him. They let out cries of pain as they tumbled across the ground.
“Penny!” Everyone shouted.
Rudy turned and glared at Skrawl. “Y-You monster! How could you?!”
Skrawl just chortled darkly, his mouth corners stretching off of his face. “Aww..what’s the matter? You don’t like it? I thought you wanted your dear little friend to be let go... And guess what?” He pointed a claw in Penny’s direction. “She’s been let go!” He ignored the growls he got from the other zoners.
Rudy climbed up to his feet shakingly. His body swayed from one side to the other. He struggled the best he could to keep himself from falling over. He glared intensely in Skrawl’s direction, forming fists with his hands. His whole body shook harder as the burning emotion shot through his body.
How dare he.... How dare Skrawl be so cruel... How dare he do such a thing and then expect them to just...accept it. That cruel, sick, twisted monster... He was going to pay for this. Oh how he was going to pay...
Before he realized what he was saying, Rudy shouted, “I’m going to kill you for that!”
For a brief moment, there was a flash of fear in Skrawl’s eyes. That was replaced with a sneer as the jellybean stood his ground, his foot planted firmly, his hands spread out and claws hooked downward. “Bring it on, Master Tabootie!”
Rudy did not waste any more time. Not bothering to look at the others, even when they shouted in confusion, Rudy rushed towards the diabolical jellybean, murder practically glowing in his eyes.
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Post by Bluedramon on Sept 27, 2015 19:00:04 GMT -5
Chapter 65:
Rudy let out a loud grunt as Skrawl collided with him. He felt the weight of the jellybean push him down into the ground. He hit the floor with a loud thud. Rudy opened his eyes just in time to see Skrawl trying to strike him with his claws. Reacting as quickly as he could, Rudy reached up and he seized the zoner’s wrist. He began to push back as hard as he could. However, the force and strength of the strike was too much for him and he only managed to delay it for a few seconds before it came clanging down. Thankfully, Rudy had enough time to turn his head away, and all he got was a slight graze and the irritating clang of the claws tapping against the ground.
However, it wasn’t like Skrawl was going to give up so easily. Although Rudy dodged this attack, he was not able to stop Skrawl from trying again. This time, Rudy let out a scream as the claws slashed across his upper chest. It was quite light compared to what he knew the zoner was capable of. But he was still given a few shallow, red stripes on his chest, all of which stung quite a bit.
Before Skrawl could try again, Rudy tried kicking his legs out at the zoner. His feet collided with the one leg that Skrawl was using right now to stand up. With so little support, Skrawl’s leg was moved as Rudy kicked it, knocking his balance askew. With the jellybean struggling to stand up, Rudy was able to kick again and this time, he managed to cause the zoner to collapse into the ground. There was a loud thud as Skrawl landed on his back and laid there, groaning softly.
Rudy climbed up to his feet and tried to run away to gain some distance from Skrawl before turning back. He only managed a couple of feet before Skrawl reached out and grabbed onto his ankle. Rudy’s eyes bulged and he found himself colliding into the ground painfully. He winced as he ended up biting his tongue in the process. He turned his head around and he could see Skrawl’s twisted smile and glinting eyes as he dragged him back towards him. Rudy struggled as hard as he could to get his leg free.
Skrawl let out a dark chuckle at this. “Where do you think you’re going, chalk boy?! We ain’t through yet!” He pressed his claws against Rudy’s leg, causing the boy to yelp and whimper. Skrawl laughed cruelly at this before he lifted Rudy up into the air by his leg, letting him dangle there upside down for a few moments. “You’re so pathetic, Master Tabootie... It seems that without your precious magic chalk, you’re worthless!”
Rudy tried to ignore the sting in his chest as Skrawl said this and just glare at him. But he couldn’t deny that there was a little bit of truth in the jellybean’s words. He wasn’t able to fight as well without the magic chalk. This was a realization he came to much earlier. Not that he planned to give up or anything; it was just going to be a lot harder to figure everything out without that signature weapon of his.
He looked around, left and right, trying to find some kind of escape route. He had his doubts that Skrawl had filled up every void. He could tell from the look in his eyes, the way he was smiling at him, that Skrawl was feeling quite confident in himself. And overconfidence could lead to messiness. Overlooking of important details. Stuff like that. If he just kept looking around long enough, he just might find a weakspot, an area that Skrawl wasn’t thinking of. Something that would help him get out of here. But where could he....
It took him a while, but he was soon able to take notice of something that might work. Skrawl’s attention was fully on him, on his face. As he kept him held up upside down like this, Skrawl was not looking at his feet. Only at his face. That gave him an idea.
Moving his free leg like this wasn’t easy, especially since it was the one that hurt the most. Still, he managed to do it. He moved his leg back and forth, struggling to bend it the way he wanted to. Skrawl did notice this, but he only let out a laughter. Obviously he thought that he was just struggling to get himself free. His eyes were shut tightly as the laugh exited his mouth. Now was the perfect chance to strike. Rudy struggled to move his feet faster and faster. And soon, he managed to pull off the stunt he had been trying to do.
Kick Skrawl in the face.
The jellybean let out a startled yelp of pain as Rudy’s foot hit against his eye. The resulting pain caused the large zoner to release him. Rudy fell into the ground in a grunt while Skrawl clutched his eye gingerly, seething in pain. Rudy got up to his feet and moved away towards the other side of the hallway. He looked over at his friends to make sure they were okay before he turned to glare in Skrawl’s direction.
Despite every instinct telling him to run, he ignored them and continued standing there, his hands formed into fists, shaking them. He couldn’t just let Skrawl get at them. He couldn’t abandon them. He needed to remain here until Skrawl was incapacitated long enough for them to take the injured Penny and Rapsheeba to safety. In the mean time, he just...had to keep all attention on himself. Keep Skrawl wanting to go after him. And after that kick...he knew that this was a given.
This was confirmed when Skrawl slowly turned his head towards him. The movement was so rigid and unnatural-looking that it made Rudy shiver at the very sight of it. He licked his lips nervously and he backed away from the jellybean slowly. He only stopped when he felt his back press against the cold hard wall.
“Bucko!” Snap cried out. “G-Get away! Run!”
As much as he would love to run right now, Rudy knew that it wouldn’t be a good idea. He had to stay here to face off against Skrawl, no matter how enraged the jellybean got to him. Indeed, even as Skrawl held his head, hand over his eye, his uninjured one glaring at him like he was the vermin from hell, Rudy still didn’t try to run. As scared as he was for himself, feeling his heart speed up, he was more worried for his friends.
Skrawl stood there, glaring at him. His teeth were clenched tightly. His body shook tremendously from the rage that zipped through his body. His breathing had grown quite ragged, as though it was taking more and more effort just to breathe. His eye blazed brightly, and soon, as Skrawl pulled his hand away from the other, both eyes were glaring at him. The injured eye was a bit squinted and bruised and he could tell it was a tad bloodshot. Somehow, that made it scarier than the other eye.
“You....” Skrawl managed to say before his voice trailed off. He gritted his teeth so hard, they looked like they were going to break off. “Perhaps...I’ve been too...” He seethed a little. “..kind to you...”
Rudy tried his best not to laugh. Kind? Skrawl thought he was being kind? What a joke.... He dare not say anything, however, and he just returned Skrawl’s glare. He raised his hands up and pressed them against the wall as the jellybean began to advance slowly on him.
“Perhaps it’s time I...kick things up a knotch...”
As soon as Skrawl said that, there was a reddish glow that eminated from the zoner’s long, sharp claws. The glow intensified and tendrils began to dance around the claws, swirling around them like they were some kind of mist. Skrawl raised it up higher, showing Rudy the glowing, sparking claws. The sight of them caused Rudy to gulp nervously, feeling his heart pound in his chest. Skrawl had been holding back this power before, but now...
Rudy gritted his teeth, narrowing his eyes, as he continued pressing his back against the wall. He let out a soft growl as he watched the jellybean advance slowly on him. He struggled to think of a way out, but at the moment, his racing mind just wouldn’t let him figure out anything. He was utterly trapped, and the only thing he could do was just stand here and hope that he could figure a way out in time before it was too late.
He looked over at his friends, who were positioned not too far. He could see the fear and horror in their eyes. The desperation shining, indicating how much they wanted to help him... and yet they could do nothing. If any of them tried to make a move...
Rudy turned his attention back to Skrawl, not wanting to do anything that would result in Skrawl shifting his focus to the others. He didn’t want the evil jellybean making an attempt on his friends. They didn’t deserve this. If Skrawl wanted to focus on anyone, if he felt that he really needed to harm someone, he woud rather it be him himself.
He flinched when he felt Skrawl’s claws suddenly wrap around his neck. His eyes bulged when he felt the sparks press against his neck, feeling his skin start to burn at their mere touch. Rudy struggled frantically to get free. Skrawl only tightened his grip, causing steam to rise up from the boy’s neck skin. If this kept up for much longer, Rudy wouldn’t be surprised if they started to sink into his neck completely.
“Rudy!”
“No! Let him go!”
“Release him, you creepazoid!”
Rudy looked over and he could see that his friends had started to move a little closer. Only the desperate shaking of his head stopped them. They looked at him nervously before glaring at Skrawl. Reluctantly, they took a few steps back, returning to their previous position. Out of all of them, Snap was the most frustrated, with his body shaking and hands formed into fists.
Skrawl was clearly amused by this. He had turned his head to watch the zoners back away. As soon as they had returned to where they were before, he shifted his gaze upon Rudy, his mouth corners curled up into a twisted smile. “I see you are quite protective of your little friends.” Skrawl reached over and he pressed a claw against Rudy’s forehead. “It would be a shame if something were to happen to you...am I right...?”
Rudy didn’t answer. He felt a cold shiver move through his body. He swallowed hard, but he tried his best not to show any fear. He narrowed his eyes and he bared his teeth at the jellybean. Out of desperation, as his eyes focused on the claw that was up against his head, Rudy launched his head forward and he tried to bite the claw. Skrawl merely moved his hand out of the way, allowing Rudy’s teeth to clange together painfully.
“So close... And yet, would you have wanted to strike?” Skrawl held up his claw in the air, turning it around as though examining it. Rudy could see the red electricity moving through it. “I see that you are speechless. You really didn’t think this through, did you?”
Tired of being silent, Rudy growled, “It would have been worth it...to take a bite out of a hideous growling jellybean like yourself...”
Skrawl growled loudly at this insult, causing Rudy to cringe. But the defying glare on his face remained, even when Skrawl brought the claw close to his eye, the same one that Penny accidentally damaged a month ago. When Rudy didn’t so much as blink, Skrawl pulled his hand back. He glared down at the boy before a smirk spread across his face. “You really are something, aren’t you? No wonder you are seen as the Great Creator.” He tilted his head to one side. “Your ‘courage’ has landed you a lot of respect.”
“Respect is not easily obtained, but it is possible.” Rudy replied. He straightened himself up, trying to make himself look a bit important. “If you had tried to vie for the zoners’ respect, you probably would have been more successful.”
“True..perhaps..” Skrawl rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “But that wouldn’t have been as much fun...”
Rudy hissed, “You do not deserve to be leader of anything! You’re a mockery to what real kings like King Mumbo Jumbo would have...”
Skrawl suddenly tightened his grip on Rudy’s throat. The electricity grew more intense and began to spark around the boy’s throat. Rudy let out a loud, bloodcurdling scream at this. His legs kicked out wildly and he frantically pushed against Skrawl, desperately trying to get away. His eyes, now filled with terror, stared back at Skrawl, pleading with him silently. But Skrawl wouldn’t have it and he glared mercilessly at Rudy, pumping him more and more with the red electricity. He could hear the others shouting at Skrawl to let him go, but the jellybean paid them no heed.
At last, after what felt like several minutes, even a couple of hours, Skrawl did finally release Rudy. The small boy dropped into the ground painfully, feeling his shoulder colliding with the solid floor beneath him. Rudy could feel his body spasming a few times as the last few bits of electricity sparked off his body. He looked up at Skrawl with wide, scared eyes, watching him warily as he tried to see if Skrawl was going to make another move against him.
Skrawl simply glared down at him, his eyes narrowed into slits. He looked at him up and down, looking only marginally satisfied at what he did. He raised his hand up and more electricity began to spark from them. “I think you need a little more...” Rudy widened his eyes at this. “One cannot be too...thorough when it comes to teaching little brats like yourself a...little lesson.”
Rudy shook his head in desperation. “N-No..please...” But his words fell on deaf ears. Skrawl began to advance on him slowly, his anger-filled smile plastered over his face, his eyes glinting with the intention of murder.
sss
Blocky was petrified, unable to move. He watched the scene play out before him, feeling his breathing increase ten fold. He wanted to do something. He wanted to help Rudy. But he couldn’t bring his body to move forward. He found himself completely glued to this spot, not able to do anything except stare out at what was going on.
He was unaware of the others. He knew that they were also watching, also horrified. He knew that they were frustrated like he was that they couldn’t do anything else. And yet he could see them or feel them. All he could see and hear was what was happening with Rudy and Skrawl. The sight was absolutely horrific. Rudy’s body continued to spasm on the ground from the repeat attacks. Blocky shook his head in denial. What was he going to do...?
Skrawl wasn’t going too far at least. He never allowed his attacks to last that long. But each one sounded like it was driving a knife through Rudy’s body, and he envisioned blood splatters all over. Even though this never happened, each time, he kept expecting it. Each time, he could almost see some red fluid coming out of Rudy. Though this never happened, he was certain that, if Skrawl kept attacking him like this, he would eventually spill some bodily fluids out, burning the ground and weakening the boy.
The flat, paper-like zoner turned his head left and right as he tried to figure out something that he could do. There had to be a way to help Rudy, right? He couldn’t just stand here. He had to do something. He...
But what of Skrawl’s warning?
Blocky looked down at Penny. At this point, she was only barely conscious. She lost quite a bit of blood before they managed to stop the bleeding, albeit taking a risk themselves. He watched her carefully, noting how weakly she was breathing, how lightly her eyes were shut. Her mouth was partially open as though to try to get more oxygen into her body. Though the bleeding has stopped, the redness on her neck was still bright and shiny and he almost could still see the blood oozing to the ground.
He bit his lip at this. It was hard to believe that just a few minutes ago, Penny had been fine. Well okay, not totally fine. But she was still a lot better off than this. Now, thanks to Skrawl’s demonic claws, she was laying in a pool of her own blood, struggling to take in each breath. Even unconscious, he could still see the pain etched on her face.
He couldn’t believe Skrawl had done such a thing. And at the time, he wasn’t. Skrawl never was known for his nice ways. Doing this to Penny was surely just the beginning. He was proving that very much so with Rudy. With Penny out of the picture and Rudy being hurt, the flat zoner took only seconds to realize that they would be without a creator to help them. He wasn’t really sure how well that would go over and he realized that they had to do something to stop this, regardless of Skrawl’s cruel threat. They would just have to keep Penny well guarded while another made a move. That’s all.
But which one of them should go? There were only three options. Him, Snap, and Howdy. How many should go after Skrawl and how many should remain here with Penny? And just who would go where? This was something that needed to be decided quickly before any of them could make a move. Otherwise, they might end up making things so much worse.
“We have to do something!” Hissed Howdy. “We’re wasting time standing here like idiots!”
“I agree! We have to do something about that ugly potato sack!” Snap slammed one fist against the other.
Blocky turned to them, his eyes wide. “But guys...we need a plan! We can’t all just run out there and...”
“Oh shut up, Blocky!” Howdy marched towards him. He pressed a finger against the zoner’s side painfully. “All you’ve done lately is just stand around like a buffoon! I’m ashamed to call you a fellow warrior!”
Blocky was taken aback by this. He stepped backwards and stammered, “Y-You know that’s not true...” He tried to say, but Howdy was having none of it.
“Just stay out of my way! Maybe you don’t care about our friends, but I do!”
“But...”
“Keep your mouth shut!”
Blocky and Snap looked down in shock at Howdy. Both were taken aback by the zoner’s sudden aggression. It seemed to have just come out of nowhere. Although he had a good reason to be agitated, considering that Rudy was being hurt, the hostilities were still..quite unexpected, especially coming from Howdy of all the zoners.
“Howdy..how coud you...?” Rapsheeba hissed as she glared sharply in the puppet zoner’s direction. The two of them locked eyes with each other. There was a slight flinch in Howdy’s eyes when he saw his leader glaring at him like that. “You know full well that Blocky cares about our allies and friends just as much as you do. I had hoped that Chalk Dad’s misplaced hostilities wouldn’t spread around. I see that I was wrong.”
At this, Howdy gritted his teeth before his expression softened up. A realization appeared to dawn in his eyes. “R-Rapsheeba...I...”
He wasn’t able to finish his sentence as, in that moment, something else caught their eye. Or rather, their ears as a loud shout filled the air.
“I’m going to kill you, Skrawl!”
The voice was a bit growly and scratchy, almost forced. And it didn’t come from them or from Rudy, who was on the ground by this point, covered in burn marks, his eyes shut as he let out a few whimpers. Instead it came from somewhere else. An unexpected source that none of them would have believed if they didn’t see it for themselves.
It seemed that Rho was finally awake. The spell that Thoughtless had cast upon him earlier was apparently still working. The zoner was not waiting for a response. As soon as he was up in the air, he was already barreling towards Skrawl. The jellybean was so taken by surprise by this that he did nothing to stop the Beanie Boy from colliding with him. The rage placed into him by Thoughtless’s fake memories of Skrawl pumped through the smaller zoner’s body, and he unleashed his fury upon Skrawl.
“Rho?!” Skrawl cried out in shock. “What are you doing?!”
“You monster! You’ll pay for doing this to me!” Rho shouted before he opened his mouth and he bit down on Skrawl’s arm.
“What the hell has happened to you? Yeowch! Let go!”
Blocky and the others watched in shock as Skrawl scrambled against the Beanie Boy. Rho was showing him no mercy. Clawing, biting, kicking, whatever he could. Skrawl struggled to stop the flying zoner, trying to slash him or grab him, but any attempt just continued to fail. The smaller zoner easily evaded his attacks, and he flew around the jellybean, using his speed to his advantage. Skrawl twirled around him him as he scrambled to grab onto him and pin him to the ground or whatever he was going to do.
With Skrawl temporarily distracted, Howdy and Snap rushed over to where Rudy was while Blocky remained behind with Penny and Rapsheeba. He watched as his two friends grabbed onto Rudy. The poor boy was in a lot of pain. Even their gentle touches as they helped him still caused him agony. They still did the best they could to aid him despite his condition, and slowly they began to make their way back over here.
While they did this, Skrawl continued to struggle against Rho. They moved around in circles, glaring at each other, trying to take blows against one another. It was almost comical to watch as Skrawl tried to strike Rho only for the Beanie Boy to dodge around him, letting Skrawl strike nothing but the air. Skrawl did retaliate by turning around and striking again, but he continued to miss as Rho used his flight to his advantage. Skrawl wasn’t even using his red electrical powers against him, a sign that he really didn’t want to hurt his Beanie Boy if he didn’t have to.
But this holding back only lasted about a minute. Growing increasingly frustrated with the zoner, Skrawl finally let loose. As Rho turned around the bend once more, preparing to strike the jellybean, Skrawl raised his hand up and send out streams of electricity from his claw tips. They rammed against the Beanie Boy, causing the flying fat zoner to screech in pain.
“You...monster....you won’t...s-stop..me...!” Rho fought against the electricity, much to everyone’s amazement, and tried again to strike Skrawl.
However, Skrawl merely raised the zoner up, keeping him locked in the electricity, and rammed him into the ground as hard as he could. There was a loud crack that echoed in the hallway, and Blocky noticed, in horror, that Skrawl had, in that single blow, managed to crack Rho’s skull open. The screaming, struggling zoner almost immediately stopped altogether, becoming still and quiet as he laid on the ground in a broken heap.
Slowly, Skrawl glared to where Rudy was. At this point, Rudy had been guided half way to where Penny was. The sound of the jellybean’s growl caused them all to freeze and look over at the enraged jellybean. For several beats, no one said a word, the tension rising up so thickly, it could be cut with a sharp enough knife.
Curling his claws inward in a light fist, his body giving off a few small shakes, his eyes narrowing dangerously, Skrawl began to advance slowly towards Rudy, deliberately taking his time, deliberately prolonging the anticipation. “Oh Master Tabootie...I would like to... ‘thank you’ for turning one of my own men against me...”
“B-But I didn’t...” Rudy choked out.
Skrawl raised a claw up. “Hush it! I insist! Now...” His claw tip glowed brightly. “Hold still...”
sss
“N-No... Rudy...”
Rapsheeba struggled to get over there quickly. She was quickly stopped by her own pain. The sharp shooting agony that plagued her earlier spread through her back quite deeply, burning into it as though someone had took a hot knife to it. She collapsed back into the ground before she could even try to get up. She could feel an odd shift in weight and she knew that her legs must have been a little twisted and bent awkwardly. Oh how she wished she could feel them...
She kept her eyes on what was going on in front of her, the pain she felt becoming almost second in the back of her mind at the moment. Her bulging wide eyes were glued solely on the sequence that was unfolding itself before her.
Rudy was attempting to get away. He had broken free of Snap and Howdy’s grasp and he was making his way over in another direction. And Skrawl followed suit. Those narrowed eyes and bared teeth.... It was clear that Skrawl was not going to give Rudy much of a chance to get away. Rudy and the others might have dodged the first attack. But Skrawl would most definitely ensure that Rudy wasn’t able to get away a second time.
Oh what was she going to do? She had to help him somehow. But what could she do with a broken back? Her legs were utterly useless to her. There was nothing she could do to help. Nothing... She never felt so worthless in her life.
Unless...
Oh no, it couldn’t be that simple. No way woud something like that work. She had to think of something else. Something that was less...stupid. Why would such a plan like that ever work? It would be about as affective as dumping a small pebble on Skrawl’s head. It might work to distract, but surely it wouldn’t work for that long. No, she had to think of another way. She should be able to think of something better, right?
Then again, she did recall that Skrawl’s ears were sensitive to high pitch noises. He didn’t often show it, but she recalled seeing it happen before. High pitched sounds to cause some pain to him, and it drives him crazy. And if that were the case, then perhaps she should try and...
She gritted her teeth. She tried to think of something else that could work. And yet nothing came to her mind. And with the fear of Skrawl doing even more harm to Rudy than any of them could ever hope to imagine, she could feel her mind going rigid and numb. She had her doubts that she would be able to think of anything else on time. And as she watched Skrawl getting closer and closer, she could feel her mind solidifying even more, making it that much more difficult to think of any other plan. Perhaps she really did have no choice but...
She let out a forced sigh. She couldn’t believe what she was about to do. Of all the idiotic ideas... She would be shocked if this would work. Yes Skrawl had sensitive ears but still..to do something like this... It just didn’t make any sense at all. Everyone was going to look at her like she was some kind of moron. And all she can do is just endure their stares while she went and did something this crazy with Skrawl.
Keeping herself pushed up on her hands, inflating her chest, Rapsheeba did the one thing that she thought she’d never do in a situation like this, the one thing that she thought could never work and yet was their only chance to buy a little time.
She sang.
The sound of her singing caught her friends offguard. She could feel their gaze upon her. She could feel their wide eyes staring in shock, their mouths having dropped open. She could hear that their breaths nearly stopped as they tried to comprehend what she was doing. The only ones not looking were either unconscious or distracted by something else, like in the case with Rudy and Skrawl.
She continued to sing louder. She prided herself in her musical voice, and she fought to raise up her pitch. Slowly at first, but the progression picked up speed. She began to reach levels she normally didn’t do except on special occasions, and still she continued to sing higher and higher. She could feel her own ears start to ache slightly from her singing, but she pushed past that and continued to sing, refusing to stop.
Eventually her singing voice did reach Skrawl and Rudy. The young boy immediately covered his ears as the sound began to hurt him as well. The sight of this did make Rapsheeba twist her gut in guilt. But she couldn’t stop, especially now that Skrawl was finally starting to notice her singing. The large jellybean had shifted his head in her direction and he was gritting his teeth. A moment later, however, he started to cover his ears, showing signs of discomfort.
“You...wretched little zoner... Stop that!” Skrawl shouted at her, his lips curled back into a snarl. “I said knock it off! I’m going to rip out your throat if you don’t stop!”
Rapsheeba ignored the jellybean’s warning and she continued to sign. She kept trying to reach her tone higher and higher. She could see the pained look in Skrawl’s eyes as she did this. He stared to twist himself around a little, turning his head from side to side. The increased pitch was causing him greater and greater pain and it even prevented him from trying to fight back. He did try a few times to try to shoot at her with his claws, but the pain prevented him from uncovering any of his ears for any amount of time.
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Rudy limping over towards them. She winced as she saw all of his injuries, the blood that dripped down from the multiple new wounds that he recieved. She waited until he had joined back with them before she turned her attention back to Skrawl. She continued to sing, incapacitating Skrawl long enough to hopefully allow for the allows to formulate some kind of plan.
But how long would this work? She could already see that Skrawl was beginning to fight back. She could see the fury plastered over his face, the way his lips were curled into an increasingly vicious snarl. And when one of his eyes opened to look at her, she nearly froze in chilliness when she saw just how much rage was in those eyes. But even then, she did not stop, continuing this for however long was needed. At least this way, she was actually of some use to them.
But for how long...she couldn’t say. She just hoped that this would be enough to give her friends time to get away.
sss
That sound... That wretched awful sound... Make it stop..please...
Skrawl kept his hands pressed against his head, his teeth gritted tightly. He tried the best that he could to push the sound out of his mind. Yet it seemed like any time he tried, all that would happen is that the sound would close in on him more, further wrapping him in its painful melody.
He glared in the direction of that horrid singer zoner. Rapsheeba was keeping up a good pace. She continued to sing even though she knew that she was pissing him off. She kept on doing it despite clearly knowing what was going to happen to her once he got his hands on her. Skrawl wanted to zap her, to rip her apart with electricity, but he was not able to do that at the moment. Any time he even dared to move his hand away from his head, he ended up feeling as though someone had driven a knife into his unprotected ear.
But he wasn’t about to give up. All he had to do was get closer and... But how was he going to do that? He had only three limbs and two of them were being used to block the sound of the singing. Unless he made himself deaf, which he was not too keen on doing, there was very little that he could do to get closer to the singer zoner.
But that little zoner was not going to get the best of him. There was always a way. Always something that could be done in order to gain the upperhand. Even if it would be quite difficult, even if it involved doing things that he never thought he would do, there was always a way to get exactly what he wanted. That’s what led him to becoming ruler of this place. That was what enabled him to take control of everyone. He wasn’t going to let someone as stupid as Rapsheeba take all that away from him. Oh no...
Fighting against the sound, forcing himself to endure it, Skrawl stretched his arms out and let out an enraged roar, releasing all the fury that had been bottled up inside of him for all this time. He glared in the direction of Rapsheeba. Despite his ears feeling like they were going to burst at any moment, he still endured the risk of deafness as he charged towards her as quickly as he could, his feet pounding the ground.
Rapsheeba widened her eyes in fear and she increased the pitch of her singing. This did make Skrawl stop for a moment, covering his head and shaking it from side to side. But he quickly pushed that aside as he reopened his eyes and continued his pursuit. He ran as fast as he could towards Rapsheeba, brandishing his claws as he was fully intent on tearing her apart.
However, quite predictably, it wasn’t like the others were going to give him much of a chance at that. Before he could even strike, Snap, his former ally, jumped at him and landed a punch against his stomach. Skrawl staggered to the side. He froze there, clutching the sides of his head, momentarily stunned by the high pitched singing that Rapsheeba was providing. During his incapacitation, he could feel another zoner ram into him. He looked down as he felt a sharp pain and saw that Howdy had bitten his leg.
Skrawl growled, baring his teeth. He kicked his leg out, sending the small zoner flying through the air. He collided with Snap and the two rolled across the ground. Skrawl got up and did his best to endure the horrific, high pitched sound. Even as it echoed throughout his skull, he turned his attention to Rapsheeba. He moved in, trying to attack her as quickly as possible.
“No! Back off!” Blocky, who remained by Penny’s now unconscious form, shouted. He turned his head and looked down at him. Blocky didn’t attempt to come over, but he still wore a determined expression. “I-I’m warning you...!”
Skrawl snorted at this before he turned his attention back to Rapsheeba.
Howdy shouted, “Blocky! You idiot!” Howdy struggled to get to his feet. “Stop him!”
However Blocky remained still, looking reluctant to leave Penny’s side. Or perhaps, too terrified to face off against Skrawl. The jellybean smirked at this for a brief moment and then he acted quickly. Before any of them could react, before any of them could dare try to stop him, Skrawl moved in towards Rapsheeba, picking up his pace.
It all happened so quickly.
She tried to stop him. She tried to prevent him from attacking. She increased her tone, she lifted up her hands to defend herself. But nothing would stop the determined jellybean from making his move. He lashed out towards her, not giving her any chance to fight back.
He snatched her cruelly by her neck. He tightened his grip, cutting off her air supply, and yanked her in the air. Rapsheeba struggled to get herself free, her body wobbling stiffly from side to side. She struggled with her hands to make him let go. Yet all she succeeded in doing was making Skrawl tighten his grip even more. Her eyes widened in fear as the seconds paced, her body’s insides surely burning from the lack of a proper oxygen supply. He grinned broadly as he watched her face start to turn blue.
Just then, something was tossed against his eye. He shook his head and saw that it was a small rock. He glared down at it and soon crushed it in his hands, turning it into dust. He turned his attention to Rudy, who had tossed said rock. He was back up to his feet and he was moving in slowly, each step shaky and trembling. Skrawl was a little surprised that he was able to still walk after what he had done to him.
Rudy took in a shaky breath and said, “L-Leave her alone...” He coughed a couple times. He then placed his thumb against himself. “I’m the one you want.”
“Bucko...” Snap whispered.
With some of the pressure removed, Rapsheeba was ale to say, “Rudy...”
Skrawl watched as Rudy continued to approach him. It was pretty incredible that he was still willing to confront him despite knowing what could happen. Rudy knew that he was no match for him and yet here he came. That was...quite noble of him actually. Something that was a very ‘Rudy’ thing to do. He wouldn’t have expected much less. And yet he still found himself feeling quite impressed by all of this.
Still, he couldn’t allow Rudy a chance to stop him. He could simply zap them all and be done with it. He was getting a little tired of toying with them, and if he didn’t get rid of them soon, he was just setting himself up for failure.
But then again, they were without the magic chalk, weren’t they...? Perhaps a little bit of fun was in order...
And he knew just the thing to strike at Rudy’s heart.
“Okay, but...first you must answer me a question, Master Tabootie.” Skrawl said softly. He held Raspheeba up higher, keeping his grip around her neck. “Why don’t you make a decision. Will it be Rapsheeba here...?” He pulled the singer zoner close to him, loving the fear in her eyes. He then motioned to where Penny now laid. “Or the little genius girl?”
Rudy clenched his teeth. “Who do I chose for what?”
Skrawl grinned maniacally at this. “Which one do you think should die?”
At this, the group responded exactly how he imagined they would. Terrified, scared, shocked, angered. He could hear a mixture of spouts, both threats and pleads and confusion. He watched how wide their eyes went, how much color they lost. This was something he had come to enjoy during his reign here. Frightened souls were always so much fun to play with.
“What?! You’ve gotta be kidding me! No way Rudy’s going to...”
Skrawl silenced Snap by zapping him with electricity, knocking him against a nearby wall. Skrawl turned his attention to Rudy, who was so horror-stricken that he hadn’t even tried to respond yet. “It is your time to choose, Rudy. I will give you a short amount of time...and then you choose which of these two ‘lucky contestants’ will fall by my claws. The other will get to stay with you.”
Rudy swallowed nervously. He leaned his head in, his pleading eyes staring deeply into his. “Please, Skrawl.. I-Isn’t there anything else that I..” He held up his hands desperately. “I-I can’t choose between...”
“Well you’ll have to.” Skrawl raised his hand and examined it nonchalantly. “Because if you don’t, I will just have to kill all your friends.” Several gasps of horror. “It is either you chose for Rapsheeba or Penny to die, or all of your friends will...and I will make you watch the whole time.”
Rudy couldn’t answer. He was too wracked in fear and shock. None of the others could respond, either. They stared at him, silently hoping and praying that he was lying. And yet, as he smirked twistedly at them, they appeared to realize that he had no intent on taking back his words.
With his mouth corners stretched behind his face, Skrawl taunted Rudy with a final warning. “Time to choose, Master Tabootie... And do please, make sure it is a decision that you won’t regret... I cannot undo this decision.”
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Post by Bluedramon on Sept 29, 2015 21:16:14 GMT -5
Chapter 66: He what? He had to do...what? No...that just wasn’t fair.. How could he be expected to do such a terrible thing? How could he do something like...like this? How could he send one of his friends to be killed...? Rudy couldn’t tear his eyes away from Skrawl. He watched him carefully, his eyes scanning around him, looking for any indication that Skrawl was just giving him a cruel joke. But of course, there was no such indication. Skrawl’s expression was quite serious as it was sadistic. Skrawl was clearly enjoying what he was doing and he had no qualms about doing this to such a young child like himself. Rudy looked over at Rapsheeba and then Penny. He sucked on his lip. There was just..no way he could do something like this. It just wasn’t fair at all.. Neither of them deserved what Skrawl was about to give them. Neither them asked to have this happen to them. He wished there was some way to make Skrawl see reason, to make him understand just exactly what he was doing. But who was he kidding? There was absolutely nothing that would work. Nothing that would make Skrawl see past his actions. He would always be the terrifying, horrible villain that stood before him. And he very well was going to go through with this unless he figured a way out of it. But...how? He was left with very few options. He either had to choose between Penny and Rapsheeba and hope that Skrawl lives up to his promise, or he could try to figure out another plan to get out of here. Too much delay or failure of either would then result in the third option: allowing everyone here to be killed. That was not an option that he wanted to go for. He was fully aware that they might end up all killed anyway. Skrawl loved to toy with them, him especially. He always had a strong hatred of him, and he always wanted to do whatever he could to tear him down. There was nothing that was going to change this personality thing with Skrawl. It was absolutely disgusting the way Skrawl acted. But Rudy long ago came to accept that there was just nothing that he could do. Skrawl was not ever going to change. Rudy had tried to help him do that years ago when he offered to fix his appearance, and Skrawl still betrayed him. Which means that he was likely going to betray his trust again here, too. Skrawl most likely planned on making Rudy believe that the rest of them will escape only to do something to yank the rug out from underneath them. That would be something that he would do, since he had something a little similar in that art museum that was part of his original scheme. And in that case, that meant that he had only one option. Figure a way out of here. But just...how was he going to pull anything off? He was quite literally trapped here. No magic chalk, Skrawl having unbelievable power that made it difficult for any of them to even think of trying to get away, and he was now holding two of his friends in the air. Rapsheeba was attempting to struggle, but nothing she did worked, and Penny...she was still unconscious and couldn’t do anything to stop Skrawl from messing with her if he so decided to. Rudy gritted his teeth, letting out a frustrated sigh. There had to be something more that he could do. There had to be something that he could try. Anything... But all he was doing right now was wasting time. The more he stood there, watching Skrawl, watching his friends, trying to think, he was just wasting more and more time. He didn’t know just how long Skrawl was going to give him before he decided to take action. He could wait indefinitely to watch him suffer, or he could end up getting bored and decide to do something and claim that it was his fault for waiting too long. And there was really no way of knowing which one it would be. He couldn’t even ask as Skrawl might use that as an excuse to do something else horrible. He turned his head to face the others. He looked at each of their expressions, wincing at what he was seeing. Blocky was the most frightened, having stepped back a few feet as he watched the scene play out. Howdy was clearly upset with him, but was keeping his focus on Skrawl the best that he could, forming a fist with both of his hands. And of course, Snap was the most furious, standing in front of all of them. His hunched body indicated that he wanted to lunge at Skrawl so badly. Of course, none of them were stupid enough to even try, which Rudy was glad for. He was afraid to think of what might happen if one of them tried to make a move and wound up unintentionally making things worse. “I see you are having trouble deciding...” Rudy’s thoughts were snapped back when he heard Skrawl speaking to him. He gritted his teeth at the tone that the zoner was using on him. Almost like a parent to a child. It was rather creepy, especially coming from someone like Skrawl. “It’s not like you’re giving me much of a choice...” “Oh contrare, chalk boy! I’ve given you quite an easy choice!” Skrawl took a small step forward. He lifted up Rapsheeba and Penny higher up into the air. “All you have to do is pick one of them. Come on now...it is not so hard..” He tilted his head to one side. “All you gotta do is choose.” Rudy could feel his body shaking in rage from those words. Skrawl was acting like this was a piece of cake thing. That he should be able to snap his fingers and right away be able to choose which one he wanted to live and die. He was ignoring the fact that he didn’t want either of them to die. How was he expected to just..choose like that? It was so insane...not that he would expect anything less from Skrawl. He could feel the world around him going silent and empty, devoid of anything except Skrawl and his two friends. He didn’t notice what the other zoners were doing, and at the time, he didn’t care. All he could think about right now was trying to figure out a way to help the two friends of his that were currently being threatened by Skrawl. He refused to believe there was no way to save them both. If he could only think harder.. Skrawl chortled softly. “I think I will make this more interesting for me...” Skrawl spread his smile across his face, the ends growing twisted. “I will give you five minutes to try to decide.” “Five?!” Rudy exclaimed. “Oh that’s right. You don’t need that much, do you?” Skrawl tilted his head to one side. “I will revise it then. You got one minute.” Rudy felt his heart nearly stop beating. He spluttered, “Only one minute?!” “Less now. You better hurry, Master Tabootie.” “Hey, this isn’t fair! You can’t make him choose like this!” Snap shouted loudly, waving his fist at the jellybean. “Yeah!” Howdy agreed. The usually friendly puppet wore a face of such aggression it was almost hard to tell that it was him. “Try picking a more fair fight!” Skrawl pulled his head back and let out a dark chuckle. “Oh that’s rich! You think it would waste my time on something like that?!” Skrawl leaned towards Howdy, showing off his large, yellow stained teeth. “This is way more fun. I love watching my little prey squirm like the maggots they truly are!” Skrawl paused for a moment and then he turned to Rudy. “Did you make your choice yet? You’ve got about thirty seconds left now...” Rudy breathed in and out quickly, his heart pounding in his chest. He looked over at Rapsheeba, the only one awake. He could see that she was giving him a sad look of acceptance and prompted him to let Penny live. But even with her permission, Rudy just couldn’t go through with it. He didn’t feel comfortable sending either of them to their deaths. He was closer to Penny, but still... But there wasn’t much of a choice, was there? He had only seconds to choose, and every part of him was telling him to sacrifice Rapsheeba. If he had to be forced to let someone die, Rapsheeba was more expendable than Penny. He hated himself for thinking this way and he did feel his gut twisting inside. He hated having to make a tough decision like this. But he also understood that sometimes tough decisions just...had to be made. There was no choice. He let out a soft sigh of defeat. There was no way he could figure out something in time. Not with this short time frame to make a decision. He had to either make the fateful choice now and hate himself later, or he remain frozen and risk losing everyone. This was truly one of the most unforgiveable acts that Skrawl has ever committed... Glaring at Skrawl, tears forming in his eyes, Rudy said, “O-Okay...I made my choice, Skrawl.” He ignored the gasps and worried looks from the male zoners. “Excellent. I knew you could do it, Master Tabootie. You were always so...clever.” Skrawl complimented. Rudy ignored the obvious sarcastic statement. “So...what did you choose?” Rudy opened his mouth to speak. “I choose...” sss Thoughtless felt itself slam against the wall behind it. It let out a grunt, feeling the air exit from its open beak. It shook its head and glared towards the chinese unicorn. The zoner’s foot was pressed against its chest, holding it affectively against the wall. Thoughtless attempted to squirm around, but it ultimately failed to break itself free. It kept its glare upon the zoner standing before it. The teeth in its beak were gritted, flashing in the little bit of light that was available in the hallway. This didn’t do much to scare off Zebin, not that it was expecting it to. <You are really starting to push my buttons, aren’t you?> Thoughtless said with some strain as it continued pushing back against the chinese unicorn. <Well you might be determined, but I’m even more so.> Thoughtless could feel adrenaline pumping through its body as its determination increased. <Let’s see how you like this!> With one final attempt of a push, Thoughtless unlessed its fury against the other zoner, concentrated rather well in its feet. It could feel Zebin being pushed back slowly. The pressure on its chest began to decrease slowly, offering relief to it, helping it to breathe better. Thoughtless continued pushing back as hard as it could muster, but Zebin still managed to hold its ground after a while. Narrowing its eyes, Thoughtless pulled its head back and launched itself forward. Its hooked beak slashed across Zebin’s face. This act caused Zebin to jump back immediately, screeching loudly in agony. Thoughtless felt itself being dropped into the ground, landing in a thud. It laid there for a few moments shaking its head from side to side. It looked over at where Zebin was, immediately climbing up to its feet when it saw that the chinese unicorn was already on its feet as well, its attention turned to it, teeth bared. The two zoners circled around each other slowly. Each foot fall was light, muffled, and yet still loud enough to be hard. Their claw tips hit against the ground each time they took a step, and these soon filled the air, almost echoing. Thoughtless tried to ignore them the best that it could as the two of them circled one another, but this act became increasingly difficult. It couldn’t tell at first, but it seemed as though Zebin had noticed this particular weakness as its footsteps began to increase in volume and intervals, or whatever the term was. Thoughtless gritted its beak as it struggled against the sound. It tried its best to ignore the ache that was spreading through its head. It eventually began to cringe, shaking its head from side to side. It couldn’t believe that its creator was dumb enough to create it with a weakness towards high pitched sounds... It shook its head from side to side more sharply and managed to snap itself back to attention. It couldn’t allow something as silly as sound stop it from doing what needed to be done. It gave itself another shake, fluffing up its feathers, and then took an offensive stance, spreading out its wings as it moved around Zebin once more. Zebin did likewise, lowering its head and showing it its horn. They remained like this for a while. Just walking around each other, doing nothing except stare at the other, their eyes piercing into one another’s. Around and around they went. Thoughtless lost track of how many times they did this. It wasn’t even aware of any sense of dizziness coming over it. It was only aware of Zebin standing before it. It tried to focus on figuring out when would be the right time to make a move. It would be simpler if it could just attack the source that was controlling Zebin. It wasn’t entirely sure what would happen to the chinese unicorn, but at least it wouldn’t be attacking it anymore. But there didn’t seem to be an option for that. It didn’t even know where the signal was coming from. Was it from somewhere far away? Or was it much closer, like in Zebin itself? Well, it didn’t matter. It knew what had to be done. It had told itself this over and over. Sure it got repetitive, but it felt that it needed to remind itself when there were no other options. It didn’t even know why it was bothering to hesitate with someone like Zebin. Not like they were the best of friends or anything. Yeah, why should it care if it had to kill this stupid zoner? Slowly, it narrowed its eyes and raised its wings up. Now was time to make its next move. Without hesitation, it darted towards Zebin. The chinese unicorn met it half way. The two of them collided with one another. Thoughtless winced as it felt the horn drive against its stomach again, nearly piercing it. Knocked back, it used its claws to steady itself before whipping itself around and charging back towards the chinese unicorn. When it got close enough, the chinese unicorn attempted to stomp on it, rearing up onto its hind legs. Thoughtless used this chanse to jump upwards, ramming itself against the chest and throat of the zoner. Its sharp beak went into the neck almost immediately. Blood immediately sprayed from the wound. Thoughtless flinched as it felt some of the blood it against its own face. It tried to ignore this the best that it could while it continued to slice its beak downward, making a long, deep gash in the zoner’s throat. It only stopped when Zebin managed to kick it away with one of its feet. Thoughtless was tossed across the ground painfully. It soon managed to get back up to its feet and glared in the direction of Zebin, spreading out its wings as it prepared to attack. It soon stopped as it noticed something strange was going on. Zebin hadn’t tried to charge at it again. Instead, it was swaying from side to side slowly. Its eyes looked a little dull and glazed, as though it had just woken up from a very, very long long sleep. And yet despite this, it eventually did manage to start walking towards Thoughtless. Each step was strained and shaky, but it still managed to keep up some kind of rate. But the shaking and trembling of its body, especially in its legs, only got progressively worse. Thoughtless could see the cause of this so clearly. The gash that it had torn was leaking out a lot of blood from the zoner’s body. Eventually it wasn’t able to ignore this weakness for long and it fell down to the ground. It kept itself up by one of its front legs, which wobbled terribly from the effort. It tried to rise a few times, and even managed to stand for a few seconds before dropping to the ground. Thoughtless watched this for a few moments before giving off a sigh and then moving towards Zebin slowly. It watched as it kept trying to stand up. Thoughtless was a little impressed by its efforts. Clearly it was quite the determined fellow. It was just a darn shame that it would have to do something about this. Its determination was not going to do Thoughtless any favors. Thoughtless rushed over quickly. It raised its foot up and slashed across the leg that the zoner was using to hold itself up. It collapsed hard against the ground, letting out a cry of pain. Then Thoughtless gripped the leg in its talons and held it tightly. It reached down with its beak and grabbed a hold firmly. Giving a sharp twist and utilizing strength it didn’t realize it had, it managed to dislocate part of the leg. It flinched as it endured another bout of loud screaming from the chinese unicorn zoner. Thoughtless was taken aback as the zoner still tried to rise up to its feet. And to its surprise, it even managed to stand back up, despite the obvious agony that zipped through its body. At this, Thoughtless gritted its beak tightly. This was a sign that this zoner was definitely being controlled. There was no way that it would do this willingly. Zebin wasn’t that stupid. The injury still made the zoner slow as the leg kept wobbling about, making it hard to make any affective steps anymore. Thoughtless watched this with almost saddened eyes. Well, it might as well get this over with. Thoughtless walked over towards Zebin slowly. It opened its beak once more, exposing its sharp teeth. Zebin attempted to strike at it when it had gotten close enough. Thoughtless merely moved its head to the side, easily dodging the attack now that Zebin could no longer properly aim it. Then it shot its head forward and slashed across its eyes, affectively blinding it. As the zoner pulled its head back to scream, it ended up exposing more of its neck. Thoughtless raised its foot into the air, flexing its hard, sharp talons. It struck as hard as it could against the creature’s throat. It could feel its claws easily tear through the flesh and out the other end. Blood splattered everywhere. Zebin struggled to breathe, its eyes bulging wide open. Any breath it seemed to take was airless and gaspy. Thoughtless flinched at the sound of it and took a step back. It managed to ignore the horrible sound the best that it could and it watched as Zebin continued to fight to breathe. It glared in its direction, and then for a brief second, it seemed to have something similar to acceptance in its eyes. No, relief. As if it was happy that it had done this, so it could finally be free. Thoughtless shook out that sappy thought as Zebin fell into the ground. It could hear the final, airy breath escape its mouth. Then its body fell completely still and limp, the life fading out of its already dull eyes. The body soon began to go through its death throes. Thoughtless didn’t bother watching it. There was no time, and it would have been pointless, anyway. As soon as the death throes started, it knew that the zoner was dead. Now it shifted its focus almost immediately on where to find the others. Now just where could they have gotten off to...? Once it figured out a direction it could go in, Thoughtless immediately headed out. It had no idea what was going on between Rudy and Skrawl, but it did hope that it wasn’t going to be too late. It still needed all the help it could get to escape this place. And besides, it was already formulating a plan for that boy. And it was going to take more precautions this time than it had with Skrawl. Things would be different. sss Rudy didn’t have time to speak the next word. Skrawl didn’t have time for anything, either. Nor did anyone else. For only moments after he tried to speak, there was a loud sound coming from the other end of the hallway. It increased in volume rapidly, the sound echoing off the walls. There was a flash of color, and before he knew it, a blurriness zipped by him as he heard a loud thud and a grunt. He took a few stesp back to take a look at what was going on. The first thing he noticed was that Penny and Rapsheeba were on the ground, having been forcibly released by Skrawl. He looked at them carefully, trying to see if they had suffered any kind of injury while they had been struck or crashed. He was relieved to see that they appeared to be fine, at least outside of the wounds they already had. He then looked over at where Skrawl had landed, and his eyes widened at what he saw. There, on the ground, he could see that something crimson in color had collided with Skrawl. He widened his eyes in shock when he realized that it was Thoughtless. And he wasn’t the only one who was taken aback by the identity of this zoner. “You again?!” Skrawl cried out. He glared up at the zoner that stood upon his chest, his teeth gritted angrily. “I should have ripped you apart when I had the chance!” <Well you didn’t, did you?> Thoughtless taunted, swishing its tail in agitation. <Perhaps I should give you my own brand of ‘thank you’ for how you treated me before!> Skrawl hissed at this. “Don’t flatter yourself! You got exactly what was coming to you!” He raised up one of his hands and pointed his claws in Thoughtless’s direction. “Now why don’t you hold still and let this go a little quicker?” Thoughtless narrowed its eyes into slits. <Maybe I should say the same for you?> Skrawl cocked his eyebrows at this. He opened his mouth to question just what the zoner was talking about. He didn’t get a chance to speak before Thoughtless raises its foot up and slashes across Skrawl’s stomach. The large zoner let out a scream at this, causing Thoughtless to smirk at his pain. But Thoughtless’s haughtiness didn’t last for long as Skrawl, out of pain, did manage to strike out at it. The memotrice squawked loudly as it collided into the ground a few feet away. Skrawl scrambled up to his feet and glared in the direction of the bird-like zoner. Rudy and the others flinched as they saw just how much rage was in his eyes. Even though it wasn’t directed at them at this point, they could still feel the burning sensation of rage being pushed into their bodies. They felt their bodies stiffen up, preparing to run should Skrawl decide to turn his attention on them. This could happen at any time; Skrawl was not always so predictable. Rudy licked his lips nervously, tensing his body up. Skrawl charged towards Thoughtless as fast as he could. He didn’t bother giving Thoughtless any chance of recovery or the ability to fight back. The memotrice only had time to lift its head up and look over before it became aware that Skrawl had collided with it. Pain appeared to register in its mind as Skrawl grabbed it by its throat. The memotrice was forced into the ground with a loud thud. The memotrice immediately began kicking its legs out in desperation. The jellybean growled softly as he glared at the squirming zoner underneath his body. He kept his hand around its throat, soon joined in by the other. The fact that Skrawl was doing this instead of electrocuting it was a sign of just how enraged he was. He wasn’t even thinking...and that made him quite scary. Even more so than what they were used to. It was no secret that Skrawl did not appreciate Thoughtless using him like a toy, and it was apparent that this was a ruling factor in his mental state right now. Thoughtless was paying the price for messing with a monster like Skrawl. Rudy bit his lip as he watched Skrawl strangle the memotrice. A part of him wanted to help. He didn’t want to leave Thoughtless like this, in spite of what it had done in the past, in spite of knowing that it could go back to being their vicious enemy once this was all over. Parts of his mind were telling him to do something to help the memotrice get out of this situation before Skrawl succeeded in strangling it to death. And yet he remained frozen where he was. He just...couldn’t think of how he was going to help, if he decided to. How was he going to offer any aid to Thoughtless when he didn’t have any kind of weapon? The only way to do anything was to go in there himself, and he was not exactly that strong compared to Skrawl. He probably wouldn’t even be able to stop Skrawl long enough to allow Thoughtless to get away. Maybe a little bit of a delay, but not much. At the same time, he still couldn’t just...leave Thoughtless to this kind of fate. There had to be something he could do, right? And yet he could only just stare, frozen, unsure of what he could do. His mind felt as though it was grinded to a hault and he falt a dull ache spread throughout his skull as he tried to figure something out. However, it seemed that Thoughtless was already way ahead of him. Though the bird-like zoner had been struggling for the last few moments, its beak wide open as it tried to take in a breath, it was already coming up with an escape plan. Rudy could see that it was raising one of its feet up to prepare to strike. In moments, Thoughtless’s claws raked against Skrawl once more, this time vertically down his chest. Skrawl shut his eyes tightly, hissing in pain. There was a clear faulter in his grasp, and Thoughtless increased its struggling, jerking itself from side to side. Soon it managed to get itself free. It squawked as the claws pierced into its neck, causing some bleeding. It was hard to tell just how much as Thoughtless possessed a crimson body. But it didn’t seem to be a whole lot judging from the small puddles of blood on the ground, which were infrequent. Thoughtless raised its wings up and let out a loud squawk at Skrawl, taking on an offensive stature. This admittingly surprised Rudy; he would have thought Thoughtless would try to put some distance between it and Skrawl, not almost immediately decide to challenge Skrawl again. Before Rudy could say anything about this, Thoughtless had bent its neck quite rapidly in his direction. Its eyes locked onto his, and the very sight of it caused him to freeze. Rudy clenched his teeth and felt himself taking a small step back. He looked at Thoughtless expectantly, wondering just what it was going to do. Thoughtless immediately delivered its message. <Run! Get out of here!> “You’re going to leave us again?!” Rapsheeba cried, her voice slightly tinged from pain. Thoughtless didn’t answer her. It kept its eyes fully focused on Rudy, its eyes wide in desperation. <Just get out of here! This is your chance to get away! Take your friends and leave!> How many times did he hear this? How many times had he and his friends gotten away only to eventually be caught? Too many in his eyes. Rudy wanted to run. Oh how he wanted to run so badly... And yet at the same time, he wasn’t really sure if that was a smart thing to do. Would they just end up running into another trap or another dead end? How many times must they play this ring around before one side finally caved in? No...he wasn’t going to run. Not this time. He was getting sick of running. There was only one thing he though that he could do. And that was stand his ground and face off against Skrawl, despite the problems that this would pose. He wouldn’t be alone; Howdy, Snap, and Blocky were with him, as well as Thoughtless. They could fight back against Skrawl. They could overwhelm him and try to gain the upperhand. Skrawl might be all powerful with those powers, but he doubted that his mind was improved in any way. All they had to do was spread out and use their shere numbers to their advantage. What about Penny, though? She was still out cold from her own injuries. And then there was Rapsheeba, whose broken back wouldn’t even allow her to stand up. He flinched as he stared at them. If he and the others all went to fight Skrawl, it would leave these two vulnerable. He could leave one behind to help and...but would it be enough? With how unpredictable things have gotten lately... <What are you waiting for?!> Thoughtless snapped at him. <Run!> “I don’t like agreeing with it, Bucko,” Snap spoke up. Rudy turned his head to look at his friend. Snap continued, “...but why aren’t we running? We have a chance to...” “Let’s just get out of here!” Cried out Blocky, his eyes bulging. “We need to...ow!” He was silenced when Howdy slapped him across the face. “What was that for?” Howdy scowled at him. “You know very well what that was for, you coward! I’m so sicked by you, I..” “Hush it!” Rudy shouted at them, making them fall silent. “We have no time for this!” He straightend himself up. “We need to think this through before we....guys...?” He noticed that they had suddenly widened their eyes and looked quite nervous. He knew it couldn’t have been about him. He wasn’t doing anything that would result in this kind of reaction. Perhaps it was Skrawl? Or Thoughtless? Was something going on with them that had them worried? Or was something wrong with Penny and Rapsheeba? Rudy looked over immediately, his heart racing as he looked from Skrawl to Thoughtless to Rapsheeba to Penny. He scanned them over, looking for any sign of trouble. He didn’t notice anything that was any different from what had happened before. And if that’s not the case...then what was going on? Rudy could feel a waste of confusing move over him and he couldn’t help but grit his teeth in frustration. What had the others seen that he didn’t see? It seemed that even Skrawl and Thoughtless were confused and had started to look around to see what had startled the zoners so much. Wait, was that more shadows coming their way? Two of them. Small and ground and moving at quite the speed. They were coming right this way. It took a few moments before any of them could recognize who they were. “I have more of a right to be leader than you, scrawny bag!” Alpha? How did he get here so fast? And why was he charging forward like that? He wasn’t even looking where he was going. Skrawl realized this immediately. He stepped away from Thoughtless to turn his attention to the two incoming Beanie Boys. “You blockheads! Stop it! Watch out! You’re coming in too fast! You are...” Skrawl’s words fell on deaf ears. Alpha and the other Beanie Boy were too locked in rivalry combat to really pay attention to what he was saying. They had picked up speed steadily, moving faster and faster as they struggled to catch up to the other. They didn’t bother turning their heads, didn’t bother trying to see where they were going. And by the time they did realize something was up, it was too late. The Beanie Boys let out grunts and cries as they hit against Skrawl. The three of them collapsed into the ground. Skrawl, taken by surprise, begain to flail his arms about as he tried to get the dazed Beanie Boys off of his face. Rudy immediately saw this opportunity. He turnerd to the others and, keeping Thoughtless’s plea from before, he shouted, “Let’s just run and get out of here!” “No complaints by me!” Blocky said as he immediately ran. “I’ll keep a look out up front!” Howdy growled at this. “Sure you will...” He didn’t try to engage him any further, thankfully and he and Snap went over to help carry Rapsheeba to safety. Thoughtless came over by Rudy’s side. It looked up at him expectantly. <Want me to try to carry the girl?> “No.” Rudy shook his head. “I’ll do that. You just join Blocky and help him keep a lookout just in case we run into more Beanie Boys.” <All right then.> Thoughtless said. It paused for a moment and then gave a small smirk. <You say that like it is possible we won’t run into any Beanie Boys. Given our luck...> “Just go!” Rudy watched as the others began to run. He turned his attention to Penny. He looked over his shoulder and watched Skrawl struggle with the Beanie Boys for a few moments. Then he turned his head away and focused on Penny. He lowered himself onto his knee and pushed his arms underneath her body. He could feel adrenaline pump through as desperation took a hold of his mind. With Penny held in his arms as safely and securely as he could, Rudy took off after the others. sss Alpha could feel his heart start to race as he realized just what he had done. He immediately jumped back away, holding up his hands in defensively as he stared at Skrawl. He and the other Beanie Boy didn’t say a word as Skrawl climbed up to his feet, his body shaking in anger. “B-Boss...we..we didn’t...” Alpha stared to say. He paused as Skrawl shot a glare at him. He licked his lips nervously before he proceeded with, “Are you okay?” Skrawl formed a fist with his hand and shot it up towards the air. “You blundering idiot! I told you not to get in my way and you did it again!” He took in a few quick breaths, growly, his teeth partially bared. Every breath sounded as though it was taking more and more energy to produce. “I thought you would be more trustworthy than that, Alpha... But from what I’m seeing, you’re just as incompetent as...!” He exhaled deeply. “Well that doesn’t matter right now..” The other Beanie Boy sneered in Alpha’s direction. “See? I told you!” Alpha glared back at him. He was tempted to just tell the Beanie Boy to shut up. He was not in the mood to listen to him speak. He was tempted to just pull back his fist and strike him in the face. It would be so nice to just tear him apart right about now. It would be so easy, too. He was strong enough to pull it off. All he’d have to do was get a good grip on him and he would be able to rip off the arrogant zoner’s head. The only thing that stopped him from trying to do this was the fact that Skrawl was present. His anger soon melted away as fear replaced it. He turned his attention back to where Skrawl was, rubbing his hands nervously. He knew that he had messed up. Even though it wasn’t entirely his fault and that the other Beanie Boy was just as much to blame as him, he fully acknowledged that he should have been more careful. He really should have watched where he was going; this whole mess could have been easily avoided if he had just looked and...oh what was he thinking? He was too worried about trying to become second in command to really realize what he was doing. And now, thanks to his stupidity, it seemed that the fugitives got away yet again. Oh geeze, how many times had it been by this point? He had lost count and he wasn’t really sure if he was willing to try to keep track. It seemed any time they had them, they just got away once more. How many more times do they have to do this before something caved in? How long will this song and dance last? But right now, he couldn’t even worry about that too much. At the moment, he had his own problems to deal with. He gritted his teeth nervously as Skrawl continued to glare at him. The jellybean was still brushing himself off, still trying to calm himself down so he didn’t blow a gasket. Alpha knew that only a sigificant amount of annoyance would case this, causing his heart to pound. The only thing keeping Skrawl from outright attacking him right now was the fact that he prioritized the fugitives first. Alpha hoped that he didn’t screw thinsg up too badly. He hoped that, whatever damage he caused, it could be reversed. There was still a chance to find those little brats, right? It might take a while, but if they focused their task on that and moved as soon as possible, then they should be able to find those little brats and stop them. And that is also what was on Skrawl’s mind. “I have no time to yell at you right now...” Skrawl turned to glare down the hallway. “We need to tend to our..guests first...” “I agree, sire.” The other Beanie Boy said. Alpha glared at him for a moment before he turned his attention back to Skrawl. “I propose we reorganize the Beanie Boys. Surely together, we could...” He stopped speaking when Skrawl glared at him once more. Alpha clenched his teeth tightly before taking a small step back and lowering his head slightly. He fumbled with his hands nervously and remained quiet, waiting for Skrawl to say something. The jellybean glared at him long and hard. He could feel his eyes boring through his, like it was some kind of tunnel vision or something. He did not dare speak, even as his nervousness increased. Skrawl soon leaned himself back, his expression softening up as his mind shifted back to the task at hand. On the one hand, it was a relief to see Skrawl finally relaxing and no longer glaring at them. But on the other, both Beanie Boys were aware that they would be punished. Maybe not now or tomorrow. But at some point, they would be held responsible for their actions, even if the fugitives are recaptured. They didn’t try to protest, knowing that it would only make things worse. The best that they could do was just remain silent and wait for Skrawl to give out his orders. Skrawl walked towards them slowly. He stopped a couple feet away, looking from one Beanie Boy to the other. His eyes soon focused on both of them at the same time, a tactic he liked to use to make it harder to determine just what he was thinking. Then, with a smile spreading across his face, he said, “Psi, you’ve been promoted to general.” The other Beanie Boy, Psi, gripped his fist and pulled it down, a wide grin on his face. “Yes...!” He hissed. He the noticed Skrawl’s face and cleared his throat. “I-I mean...” He lowered his head. “It’s an honor, sire.” “What?!” Alpha wailed, stretching his hands out at his sides. “Why does he get to be general?!” At the moment, he didn’t care that he was doing this in front of his leader. The feeling of betrayal was too strong for him to completely ignore. “I was the first! I deserve to be leader!” He glared in Skrawl’s direction. “This isn’t fair!You can’t just give someone like him the position!” Skrawl raised his eyebrow. “Oh? Are you questioning my orders, Alpha?” At this statement, combined with the tone of voice, Alpha suddenly went silent. A cold sensation swept through his stomach. He ignored the smirk that Psi was giving him as he focused on Skrawl. He watched as the Beanie Boy approached him slowly. Alpha cringed back, swallowing hard. He took in a few quick breaths as Skrawl stood right before him, his eyes narrowed and hardened. Alpha struggled to think of something to say, but nothing would come out of his mouth. Skrawl leaned in towards Alpha, causing him to cringe back more. He could feel himself being casted in the shadow of the jellybean. Alpha wanted to move, do something, but all he could do was look up at the jellybean in fear. Skrawl looked at him intently. He didn’t look particularly pissed, but the same thing, he also didn’t look all that pleased either. It was an uncomfortable sight to see, a crossroads where the Beanie Boy had absolutely no idea what to expect. Then Skrawl’s expression changed. As soon as those eyes narrowed, Alpha knew that he was screwed. He tried to jump back, but he was too late. The much larger zoner seized him by the neck and pulled him forward. He was held in the air, the sharp claws nearly breaking into his body. Skrawl’s piercing mismatched eyes stared right into his own. “I can give you a whole host of reasons why I would never choose you to be the general..” Skrawl hissed under his breath. “Instead of wasting my breath on someone as worthless as you...” Skrawl leaned his head back, his lip curling up slightly. Alpha widened his eyes. “You can instead listen to your new superior and find those fugitives!” Alpha let out a cry of pain as he was tossed into the ground. He pushed his hands against the ground to lift himself up. He looked back at Skrawl with wide, horrified eyes. “Get moving, Alpha!” Skrawl motioned his hand quickly. “Time is a-wasting! Move it! Now!” “Yeah, Alpha...” Psi taunted, grinning haughtily in Alpha’s direction. “You better listen to me, or bad things will happen..” Alpha couldn’t believe it. He not only missed the chance to become general, but Skrawl had given it to his rival, who didn’t even deserve it. Not to mention Skrawl had even berated him. And for what? A simple mistake? Yes that cost them the fugitives but...at least he was actually trying to find the children. This little idiot couldn’t find them even if they were presented right in front of him. What good will he do as leader. He forced a sigh through his clenched teeth. Well...there was nothing he could do about it now anyway. He couldn’t do anything to make Skrawl change his mind and he doubted he ever would. He was forced to remain with this decision for however much longer. What a horrible set back... But he would eventually become general. He just needed to play his cards right. But for now, he’ll play along with Psi. “Yes...sir...” He said in a grumbling voice. “What do you want me to do?” Psi grinned at this. He then motioned in one direction. “Go down there and try to find those fugitives you allowed to flee.” Alpha growled at this, but said nothing. He quickly turned and he went in the direction indicated. He didn’t know how far ahead the fugitives where, but he did hope that he would be able to catch them before it was too late. He hated to think what would happen of Skrawl were to lose power and... A cold shudder went down his spine as he recalled how Beanie Boys were treated before. And if Skrawl lost.... He didn’t want to go back to that. He refused to. He would do whatever it took to keep that from happening. No one was going to force him to go back to how things were. Absolutely no one... sss Biclops knew the big risk that he was taking. He knew that the Beanie Boys had power over him. Those shards that shot out electricity..they could use them against him very easily, tearing into his body, making him scream. He knew the dangers of what he was about to do. He didn’t even know if he would succeed. And yet, he knew he had to do it. If Rudy and Penny needed any help, he needed to get out of here, and bring them more magic chalk, before... His thought trailed off as he focused on getting himself up off his feet. Gritting his teeth tightly, he placed his massive hands to the ground and applied pressure. Slowly, he forced himself up to his feet. He could feel pain wracking through his body, but he still pushed himself forward. He ignored the pain and agony as much as he could as he slowly managed to get up to his feet. He wobbled from side to side, his feet nearly tripping out from underneath him. Eventually, however, he was able to stand up completely. He stiffened his body as a few shockwaves of pain went through as he struggled to keep his balance. It took a few moments, but soon he was able to stand without risk of falling over. He took in a few deep breaths slowly before he settled himself down and slowly opened up his eyes. He stared out ahead at the two zoners before him. The Beanie Boys hadn’t bothered speaking to him since they stopped him before, and they even had their backs turned to him, as though they didn’t feel that he was worthy of their presence. He was a little irritated by this, but it wasn’t like he really cared all that much about what the Beanie Boys thought of him. Right now, he had something way more important to take care of first. Forming a fist with his hand, he raised it up and he began to strike against the cage. The initial impact did make him flinch. The dull ache spread through his hand where he had struck, seeming almost in harmony with the vibrations that were being sent through the metal bars. This first impact was enough to get the Beanie Boys’ attention. Though they raised their weapons as a warning, Biclops ignored them and he struck down a second time. “Hey you! Stop that!” One of the Beanie Boys shouted. “We will tear you apart if you don’t stop it right now!” The other Beanie Boy raised his weapon up. “We are authorized to shoot you on sight if you don’t cooperate!” Biclops was well aware of this. He did feel a pang of fear at this warning, but he still went on. He struck against the bars again and again. He didn’t care how much it hurt his hand. He didn’t care if he was risking breaking something, or getting something worse from the Beanie Boys. All he cared about was trying to get out of here. The two Beanie Boys were growing increasingly irritated by his unwillingness to listen. They tried a few more warnings and even demonstrated their power against the ground or rocky formations nearby. None of that got through to Biclops’s head. He was too single mindedly focused on breaking out to really waste time on the threats these two little idiots were giving. He was not going to allow them to stop him with pain anymore. Far worse was going to happen to ChalkZone if he didn’t do anything. Eventually, after getting tired of being ignored, one of the Beanie Boys had enough. “Oh so you are going to play it this way, are you? Okay, I can play your little game. How about this?!” Biclops felt something surging through his body. He realized that he had been struck again. He clenched his teeth tightly, biting his tongue to avoid screaming. He struggled to fight through the pain, ignoring the small arches of electricy that sizzled through his body. He forced his eyes to remain open before he pulled back his fist and struck against the bars once more, watching them as they wobbled and shook under the pressure of his attacks. “You idiot! Do it again!” The other Beanie Boy shouted. “And do it right this time! Watch how I do it!” Another wave of red electricity began to shoot through the giant’s body. This one was more intense and violent than before. He could feel his muscles start to burn and even the inside of his bones began to ache. He could feel his pupils shrinking as his lips pursed a little from his attempts not to scream. He didn’t want to give in to them. He pushed back the pain as much as he could so he could keep striking. But this was easier said than done. Despite his repeated attempts to ignore it, the pain, especially when joined in by both Beanie Boys, only appeared to be getting stronger. He could feel his body shaking harder from the intensity of the attacks, and it was getting a bit difficult to remain standing without buckling his leg forward, which would be a bad idea because of the electricity and.... Wait a minute... He had to wonder... Could it be possible that he could.... It would be too easy, wouldn’t it? It was so simple that...there was no way that it could work. Or perhaps it could? Maybe it was possible that he... There was only one way to find out. He had to try it, despite how crazy it might seem. Biclops gripped tightly onto the bars and held there. He leaned himself against them as the two Beanie Boys continued to shoot him with their red shard geomite weapons. This act caused the electricity to begin sifting through the metal bars. They zipped through the bars as though it was some kind of dance. Up and down rapidly, they went, forming erratic crimson rings that looked almost straight out of a science fiction novel. The Beanie Boys continued their assault on the giant, clearly unaware of what he was trying to do. They increased their attack intensity, pumping him with more electricity. Biclops shuddered and struggled not to scream. He was not able to stop a few sharp squeaks from escaping. This caused the Beanie Boys to smirk and increase their attack ferocity, which was exactly what Biclops was hoping would happen. For as the Beanie Boys continued to attack him this way, the metal bars were echoing more and more with electricity, sparks arching off at erratic intervals. By the time the two Beanie Boys even noticed anything wrong, it was too late. The bars had been so pumped with electricity that it began to actually tear through the metallic parts of it. Areas began to get charred with blackness, and other areas weakened rapidly. Several cracks began to form as the bars lost their structural strength. The Beanie Boys did finally stop their attack and moved back. But at this point, there was already too much damage. With a might swing of his fist, Biclops was able to break down the door easily. The giant quickly stepped out of the cage. He looked down at the much smaller zoners before him. They fired off their electrical weapons at him, but Biclops was too determined to get out of here to let something as measily as these little shock guns stop him. Charging forward quickly, shaking the ground with each step, Biclops managed to reach the two and he pulled back his leg. He kicked out at them, forcing them to fly upwards, attempting to use their flight to their advantage. Biclops felt another surge of electricity through him as the pair tried desperately to stop him. Biclops let out a mighty roar and struck at them as hard as he could. The palm of his hand struck against the wall, narrowly missing the Beanie Boys. The pair laughed at his ‘pitiful’ attempt to get at them. They raised their weapons again to try to attack. They only stopped when they started to hear something creaking loudly. They froze where they floated and looked up. Biclops smirked at their reactions. It seems they had forgotten that when he struck his fist, he had intentionally struck a weak spot in the wall. Not that he could blame them; how were they to know? He watched with a smile on his face as a piece of rock fell from the ceiling and came crashing down towards the ground. The two Beanie Boys were struck with it. Aside from hearing a painful crunch, Biclops didn’t see what became of them. He had already turned and started to make his way towards the exit of the Chalk Mine. He needed to get out of here and try to help Rudy and Penny. He wanted to try to bring an end to this horrid era wrought upon them. The era that he hadn’t been able to stop. Just then, he let out a scream as another shot of electricity filled him up inside. He was so taken offguard by this that he ended up dropping onto one knee. He rested there for a few moments, clenching his teeth tightly and seething in and out quickly. He turned his head and looked behind him. He could see that there were a couple more Beanie Boys coming towards him. He cursed himself for forgetting there were more than just those two guards. Well, he better not keep them waiting, eh? He smirked at this thought as he turned himself around and faced off against the Beanie Boys. Baring his teeth in a maniacal grin that nearly rivaled the one he gave Rudy years ago, he charged the Beanie Boys. sss Rudy and the others continued to move as quickly as they could down the hallway. They had no idea where they were going; just that they wanted to get away from here. They pounded their feet on the ground, supported their injured the best that they could, and continued running to keep themselves ahead of those who were chasing them. Or at least, the ones whom they believed were giving chase. It was hard to tell if the Beanie Boys were still following them or not. None of them wanted to stop and look over for themselves. It was just too risky. Just a second of looking over their shoulder could cost them time, or cause them to trip against something they weren’t seeing, or even running into a Beanie Boy that they didn’t see coming. No, best to just keep running, despite the growing fear of what was behind them. Rudy could feel his mind racing inside his skull. Desperation clawed at him from every corner. This was...he forgot how many times they got away. He wanted to make sure that this was the last time. He was determined, just like the others, to ensure that they didn’t get caught again. They had enough delays. Enough backtracking, even running and hiding. Now it was time for them to get out of this hell hole and get out into the open so they could begin to plan to strike back. Of course, they couldn’t begin to do that until they found a way out of here. Rudy had a feeling that they were going well past the entrance. Perhaps it was in another direction. Perhaps even on a different floor. It was difficult to say. The plan with Rho did not work, and he was just spouting nonsense anyway; it was hard to tell if anything he said was truthful. Their main chance right now was Thoughtless, but even it wasn’t entirely sure just where to go. Everything was just a wild guess. But a wild guess was better than nothing. As they continued to run, Rudy didn’t really notice them being followed anymore. He didn’t hear any Beanie Boys calling out for them. He did notice the zoners acting oddly. He didn’t feel any vibrations or cracks of attacks being sent out towards them. All that he could hear was the pounding of foot falls and the sound of his own heavy breathing, as well as the others’. And yet this could still change at any given moment. At any point, the Beanie Boys could come in and collide with them. They could be surrounded and wind up dragged back to a cage and locked up. And this time, he had a feeling that they wouldn’t be able to get out. Skrawl has been pushing his luck and he knew it. This time around, Skrawl was going to make sure that they don’t interrupt him ever again. Which was why it was so important they got out of here now. The odds of that were quite low, but he tried not to think about it. He just focusedo n trying to move as quickly as he could. It was rather difficult with the body that he was carrying. Penny was a little heavier than he thought. A part of him wondered if he should have just let Thoughtless carry her. He shook the thought out of his mind. He didn’t really fully trust Thoughtless and felt uncomfortable with it holding any of his friends. It was bad enough before. He couldn’t go through that again by letting it hold Penny. No, he would much rather do it this way. At least he could still keep an eye on Penny and make sure that she wasn’t getting more hurt. His eyes trailed to her neck and he flinched at the sight of it. Those horrible cuts... He thought he could still see some bleeding, though that might just be a trick of his eye. He sucked on his lip, taking in a shuddering breath amidst the panting. He hoped that the injury wasn’t as serious as it looked. Just then, as he was so caught up in his thoughts, he felt himself trip. His leg got caught on something, causing him to lurch forward. His body hit against the others, ramming himself and Penny into them. He felt bouts of pain and let out grunts and cries as they all rolled across the ground for a little bit, moving through the hallway faster than they had before. Rudy was almost amazed at how fast they had moved just because of his little trip. He didn’t think about that too much, though, as he gained dizziness from all the speeding imagery that he was forced to endure. They finally hit against something solid and hard. Rudy just laid there, breathing in shakingly, struggling to cope with the pain. It couldn’t be as bad as what Penny had felt or what Rapsheeba was going through. But he still felt a dull ache in his side, as though something in there had cracked. Perhaps he had a broken bone? It was very well possible. He placed his hand against it gingerly and seethed. Yeah, this might have been broken. The others seemed to be fine as well. Thankfully Rapsheeba and Penny didn’t suffer any more injuries aside from a couple new bruises. And while Blocky, Howdy, Snap, and Thoughtless also got some new bruises as well as some scrapes, they weren’t much worse off. And neither was he. Not that he was too surprised, but given their luck, he was honestly expecting something much worse. He slowly picked himself up for this feet and brushed himself off. He looked around at the others, watching as they, too, climbed up to their feet. At least, the ones that could. They shook themselves off, getting rid of any dirt that ended up clinging to their bodies. Thoughtless easily accomplished this by shaking its feathery body like a dog, though it ended up sending dirt in all directions, which caused the others to shield themselves. <You little idiot...> Thoughtless began to walk towards Rudy. <Why don’t you watch where you’re...> “Hey! Back off! It’s not like he meant it!” Snap put himself in front of Rudy. He placed his hand against Thoughtless and pushed it back. A mighty brave act considering what Thoughtless had done to him before. Thoughtless gritted its beak. <I don’t need you to...> Thoughtless lifted its head up and glared back towards Rudy. <I’m not done with you yet! Are you even listening?!> Rudy ignored Thoughtless’s outburst as he stared out what was in front of them. He blinked a few times, wondering if it was just some sort of dream. This couldn’t possibly be real...right...? No, he had to be mistaken. There was no way that this could be... But what if it was? What if everything had just been solved right here, right now? What if he really did stand before what he thought he was? What if all their troubles had been answered? What if they really had.... It didn’t seem possible. He thought that he was just dreaming or hallucinating. But it was right here before him... Never changing...never alternating. Just the same thing, staring right back at him. The thing that was going to make a shift in their line of thinking and bring them so much closer to victory. He swallowed hard, allowing this information to wash over him. He allowed everything to finally register in his mind, realization rapidly dawning on him. He could feel his heart twisting and racing, his mind becoming filled with adrenaline and excitement. This..this was really happening... They had finally found the way out. |
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Post by Bluedramon on Oct 1, 2015 22:31:14 GMT -5
Chapter 67:
Alpha grumbled as he continued looking left and right, trying to figure out where those damn fugitives had gotten off to. He couldn’t really remember which direction they had gone in. He could only hope that he had chosen the right path. He hated to think what would happen to him if he went down the wrong way, especially after....he tried not to think about it.
But those lost fugitives weren’t the main things on his mind right now. He just...still couldn’t believe that Skrawl would choose that guy over him. What did Psi know about leaving? Nothing. He was just a scrawny, worthless bag of skin, that’s what. He was too new of a Beanie Boy to understand seniority and he certainly didn’t have the experience. He just wanted power for the sake of power. He didn’t care about the cause as much as he did. And he doubted that he ever would.
But as for himself, he was devoted to this, devoted to Skrawl. Why else had he stayed with him for so long? Why else did he decide to join him so long ago? He was the first Beanie Boy to join him. He might not have been the last, but the point was..he was the first. That made him the most loyal and devoted Beanie Boy of all. Therefore, he deserved that promotion far more than Psi did.
He couldn’t help but feel so hurt when Skrawl had chose Psi over him. It felt like he had gotten stabbed in the back, the knife twisted. It felt as though...all his hard work had been for nothing. He had shown Skrawl the most loyalty, and yet the jellybean never once thought of promoting him as general. It was so...sickening. He could feel his stomach churn. The mere thought of that jellybean brought a bad taste in his mouth. He struggled his best not to throw up, and tried to focus on the task at hand. It was still quite difficult, though, as Skrawl kept entering the back of his mind, making him shudder.
And yet...still he went serving him. Old habits died hard, and in spite of his frustration with Skrawl, he still felt devoted to him. He still felt as though he had something to prove to the jellybean. And he knew exactly what that was.
He wanted to show Skrawl that he was better than the other Beanie Boys. He wanted to show him how he should have relied on him from the start. He wanted to show him that it was he whom he should have chosen from the beginning. If he had, then they wouldn’t have had these problems with the fugitives. He would have had them found quickly and sealed them up and they wouldn’t have been a problem anymore.
But no...Skrawl just had to choose..that guy... Someone who wasn’t as devoted. Someone who wasn’t as intelligent. Someone who just...wasn’t him... It was so wrong. Oh if only Beta were still here. Perhaps he would have figured out a way to talk some sense into Skrawl. Personally, he’d much rather have Beta be general than Psi. He at least knew that Beta would have done a good job and...
Well there was nothing else he could do about it now. He focused his attention on trying to find the fugitives. At the moment, it was all he could do to keep himself from drowning in his thoughts. He wasn’t going to be much good to Skrawl if he collapsed from mental exhaustion, now was he? No, that would most definitely lead to Skrawl kicking him out, if he was lucky.
He was glad that Psi wasn’t with him right now. That Beanie Boy had talked about how he would just get in the way and that he didn’t want to catch his ‘loser streak’ or whatever. Though that annoyed the heck out of Alpha, at least it lead to the only good thing Psi ever did. And that was fly off in his own direction and leaving him alone. He would much rather that than having to deal with thim.
He didn’t know where he went. Psi just took off down one of the hallways. He didn’t know if there was any planning to it or what. Not that it really mattered. Alpha didn’t care where the heck he went, so long as he was as far away from him as possible.
Trying his best to push thoughts of that guy out of his head, the Beanie Boy continued his search, turning his head from side to side as he tried to figure out just where to look for the little brats. He really wished he had paid more attention on where they ran off to. He was so busy keeping an eye on Skrawl, feeling terrified of messing up his plans again, that he didn’t bother looking to see that the children had started to flee. If he had just paid more attention, he would at least know where they went and have something better to off of. For all he knew, he was going in the completely wrong direction.
A part of him began to wonder if Psi had been right about him. Perhaps he was worthless. Perhaps he really didn’t deserve to be general.
He shook the thought out of his mind. No, he couldn’t believe anything that Beanie Boy told him. Sure he slipped up, but he was about to correct his little mistake. And then Skrawl would see that he really was general material. Only a true general would be able to not only correct his mistake, but to make it so much better. He would find those fugitives first and he would be the one to bring them back to Skrawl. He would see to that.
Of course...he’d have to actually find them... Which was not going to be easy. He could easily say that he would find them, but it was another thing entirely to actually do it. He gritted his teeth in frustration. He did know for certain that Psi was a faster flyer than he was. If the two of them spotted the fugitives, no doubt Psi would get to them first. Then Skrawl would just further reward him, even if Alpha himself had done most of the work.
He let out a sigh. It really wasn’t fair...but that’s just how things were run. He never had a problem with it before. So why now? Perhaps it was because he was on the losing end this time. Before, he was at least on even ground with the others. Now the balance was starting to tip, and if he wasn’t careful, he might be the first one pushed out of the hour glass.
Which was why he just had to turn things around for himself. If he could just find those brats and drag them back to Skrawl, he could secure his position and at the very least not get scolded or lose out or anything. Skrawl couldn’t very well force him to leave if he was the one who managed to bring the fugitives back to him, now could he? Unless he wanted to play unfair and give all credit to Psi....which unfortunately might be something he’d do, depending on how pissed off he was at him.
Despite this, he still continued his search, moving down the hallway, looking around for any sign of the fugitives. Regardless of the risk of still being pushed aside despite his best efforts, he still wanted to keep trying. He owed it to himself to keep going. Things might not turn out that bad. Things might turn out much better than he could have hoped. Maybe...
He suddenly stopped himself when something moved in his periphial vision. He whipped his head in the direction he saw the movement. He watched carefully, narrowing his eyes softly. What was that movement that he had just seen? It was brief, flashed by really quick. Was it actually there? Or did he just see things?
No, definitely there. And as he squinted his eyes to get a better look, he eventually realized it for what it actually was.
The fugitives...
They were right there. Dead ahead. No other Beanie Boy around. And he had a straight shot to them.
He couldn’t believe it. His eyes widened in shock as he realized the implications of this. He had a straight edge chance to get to them. All he had to do was bolt towards them really fast and grab at least one of them. Rudy would probably be the best option. Yes..if he got him, while he was chalkless, and get him to Skrawl...surely the jellybean would be most impressed by this of all. Surely he would get a reward for this.
Slowly, Alpha began to move forward. He took his time, not wanting to rush it. He didn’t want to risk being heard and the fugitives disperse or formulate some kind of attack against him. If he moved in and tried to ambush them, then he might be able to take them by surprise and get Rudy. The chalkless boy would be easy to take down and forced into submission. Without the chalk, he really was nothing. Just an annoyance. But soon, once Skrawl got him and dealt with him, he would be...quite breathless and harmless. Alpha smirked at this.
The Beanie Boy continued to sneak up closer. He pushed himself against the wall, watching them carefully. Soon he was close enough to hear them start speaking to one another. Curiosity got the better of him and he found himself freezing in place as he listened to what was being said. Perhaps...he might learn something. A secret plan or whatnot. He pressed himself against thew all and tilted his head to the side, moving an eye closer. He listened intently as the fugitives chatted amongst each other.
sss
Rudy couldn’t tear his eyes away from the door. He just...couldn’t believe it. After all this time searching, could it really be over? Could they really have finally found the way out? It certainly seemed like it. But what if it was too good to be true? What if he was getting his hopes up for nothing? What if...
But what if it was true? What if their journey out of here was finally drawing to a close? What if they truely had made it at long last? They could all be staring right at their ticket to freedom, and here they were, feet glued to the ground, unwilling to move. It was just too much like a dream... Too much like everything was falling in place too perfectly. He might wake up any moment now and find himself trapped in that gawddamned cell...
Yet everytime he pinched himself, he could feel the pain. He was certain that he was indeed awake. Something told him that he was awake, very much not dreaming. He stared intently at the door in front of him, not willing to look away. The very idea that they had finally reached the outside... It was just incredible. After all this time, they were finally in the hope stretch. All they had to do was open the door and get out of here.
So...why wasn’t he moving?
Perhaps it was because he was still terrified. Perhaps he was afraid of what might happen. Perhaps it was because they had been so disappointed by their ‘luck’ lately that he was just expecting this to be another failure as well. Perhaps he feared that something would happen soon to destroy whatever amount of hope that they had gathered up inside of them.
But shouldn’t they at least try? Maybe this was for real. Maybe this would lead them out of here. Maybe they could finally reach a safer place where they could regroup and discuss things without worry of Skrawl locating them. They wouldn’t know by sitting around here. It would be impossible to know anything for certain just sitting around here doing nothing. One of them had to go out and check. But..who would it be?
Rudy realized that the most likely choice would be him. He was the leader of sorts, it seemed. And more than that, he felt responsible for everyone. He felt as though this was all his fault; if he had just come back into ChalkZone sooner, this all could have been prevented. Things would have been fine if he hadn’t been lazing around in the hospital bed. He knew that isn’t what he was doing, but at the same time, he couldn’t help but feel that’s how it went down. He should have tried to be more careful in ChalkZone, keep himself from being controlled by the red chalk, and then fought back against Skrawl and Thoughtless. Then ChalkZone could have been freed.
But instead, they were trapped with this world. This miserable, distorted world that was far beyond what it used to be. There was little reason to think that it would ever get back to how it used to be. He didn’t want to give up on that goal, but he knew that, even if he did succeed in bringing back the peace, there was nothing to indicate that things would return to how they used to be. Scars would run deep and everyone would be changed in some way because of this. Some better than others...
At this, he could hear some grumbling coming from his side. He turned his head and he could see there was a disgruntlement between two zoners. He recognized them as Blocky and Howdy. His first thought was filled with confusion, and he wondered just what could be going on between them. The look of confusion from Rapsheeba and Thoughtless only added to the mixture.
“You little coward!”
Rudy blinked in confusion when he heard Howdy yell this at Blocky. This seemed so out of the blue...He couldn’t quite understand why Howdy would choose now, of all times, to be yelling at Blocky. He couldn’t even understand why he was even yelling at all.
And yet that’s exactly what was taking place here. Howdy had marched towards Blocky, perhaps sensing a moment to do this when there was no sign of danger. He could see the anger radiating off the puppet zoner’s eyes, indicating that he had been waiting a long time for this. The nervousness in Blocky’s eyes contrasted well with this anger. It made Rudy gain an uncomfortable sense about the whole thing and it further added to his confusion as to why Howdy chose now of all times to do this. And just what was the trigger?
Howdy formed a fist with one of his hands and shook it. He glared intently at Blocky. If his eyes could shoot out lasers, they would have burned Blocky to a crisp by this point. Blocky looked like he wanted to run, yet the fear of Howdy’s current mood made this impossible. The petrified green zoner wasn’t even able to step backwards to get out of the way, not even when the puppet zoner leaned in towards him, his eyes filled with rage, practically glowing.
“You... I-I can’t believe that you just...” He gripped the sides of his head tightly. It looked as if he wanted to rip out parts of his head. “We should have just left you behind when we had the chance!”
“Wh-What..?” Blocky whimpered.
“You heard me!” Howdy shouted. The others stared on in shock, unable to speak. “You are nothing but a worthless coward! You refused to help Rapsheeba and because of you, she nearly got torn apart by Skrawl! If you had just grown a backbone and....urgh!” Howdy lowered his head and ground his teeth together. “You will never be worth anything! I thought that you would have wised up when you joined the resistance and for a time, I admit you did...but then you went back to your stupid, cowardly self! Fuck you, Blocky! Just...fuck you!”
Everyone in the area fell silent. They stared at Blocky, blinking slowly, unable to believe what they just heard. They glanced at each other, and then back at the puppet zoner. Blocky was the most shocked by this. He cringe away from the enraged puppet zoner, fumbling his hands together nervously, his teeth clenched tightly. And yet in spite of that, Howdy still glared at him harshly.
Rudy was so confused by this. How could Howdy be this angry with Blocky? Did he not understand the situation? Did he really think that Blocky purposely left Rapsheeba behind? There was so much emotion and such going on that... It just wasn’t fair to totally blame Blocky for all that happened. He understood if Howdy was just angry at what happened, so frustrated at how things all went downhill. But he didn’t have the right to yell at Blocky like that. Someone needed to give Howdy a smack across the face back into reality.
And fortunately, it seemed that this was going to happen.
“Howdy...how could you...?” Rapsheeba hissed. Howdy turned to stare at her, his eyes wide in shock as though he could not believe that she would defend Blocky. If she had working legs, she would be stomping towards him right about now. “Blocky is one of your teammates. You know full well that he isn’t a coward...”
“But..he’s been...lately...” Howdy tried to say. The fact that he was trying to defend his behavior was sickening. “He...”
“Well of course he would react this way. We lost most of our people, Howdy! We were attacked! He watched so many get ripped apart! You can’t honestly pretend that wasn’t traumatizing! Or are you...?”
Howdy gulped at this and he shook his head. “N-No, I’m not.”
“Then why are you yelling at Blocky?” Rapsheeba asked. “Why are you hounding on him? We have more important things to discuss than your blatant anger toward Blocky for who knows what reason!”
At first, it seemed like Howdy was going to shut up now. This would have been a relief to the others. None of them wanted to continue this discussion. This was not the time or place for such transgressions. It was better off they find a place to hide first and then Howdy can release his frustration all he wanted to. By doing it out here, he was putting them all in danger. And it seemed like he had finally realized this as well.
That is, until that glare returned to his face. His eyes narrowed into slits as he turned to glare at Blocky. The rectangular zoner stepped back and gulped nervously. Howdy would have stepped up further if Snap hadn’t gotten in his way, preventing him from getting any closer.
“Snap...I should have known that you...” Howdy started to say.
“Oh shut it, Howdy!” Snap pointed a rounded hand in his direction. “You know for a fact that Blocky wasn’t abandoning Rapsheeba!”
Howdy gritted his teeth. “Oh what do you know...?”
“Howdy, knock it off! This attitude of yours is getting out of hand!” Rapsheeba snarled at him. Her voice was laced with more anger than she usually showed. It was enough to make Howdy falter, but it was clear that he was not going to give up with his ‘quest’ to continue verbally ripping out Blocky. Rapsheeba caught onto this and she said through clenched teeth, “Do you really think that you’re any better? Do you think that by constantly scolding him, you are proving something? Well let me tell you something, you’re not! All you are doing is increasing our chances of getting caught! Or are you going to blame Blocky for that, too?”
Thoughtless, who had remained silent, gave a simple nod of its head. <I can see their logic, little puppet. You aren’t doing anyone any favors by scolding your teammate like that. Besides, isn’t that a saying...more than one side to the story or something?>
Howdy turned towards Thoughtless, hissing through his teeth. “Shut up! You’re not even on our side! You’re just waiting for the right moment to strike! You stupid...”
“Howdy! Stop it!” Rudy called out, finally unable to take it any longer. Howdy stared at his creator in shock, his eyes bulging. Rudy took in a few quick breaths as he struggled to keep himself from giving in too much to his anger. Eventually he was able to force a sigh out of his mouth and closed his eyes lightly. He remained like this for a few moments before he opened his eyes up and stared down at the zoner. “I know you are upset, Howdy. But...do you have to be so mean to Blocky? I mean...I don’t think he meant to ‘abandon’ anyone. If you’re really that upset with him, why don’t you just try talking to him instead of accusing him?”
Howdy glared softly at Rudy before he lowered his gaze. “I...suppose so...”
“And can’t this wait until later?” Rudy took a small step towards the puppet zoner, motioning with his hands. “Now isn’t a good time for such discussions, you know. We all need to get out of here. Yout know that Skrawl could show up at any time.”
“I...guess...” Howdy admitted.
“Rudy is right, you know.” Rapsheeba spoke up. She still sounded furious, but she at least seemed to control her anger a bit better now. She was a bit calmer than before, preventing herself from having another outburst with the puppet zoner. “Your little yelling could have attracted the Beanie Boys to us. They could be on their way now.” Howdy widened his eyes at this and then looked away. “And besides...Blocky was protecting Penny. Or did you forget that she was injured, too?”
There was a flash of guilt in Howdy’s eyes. But it was short lived. He still casted a glare in Blocky’s direction. But thankfully, he fell silent and didn’t say another word.
Rudy turned his head away from this scene, looking back towards the door. He wanted to ge this mind off of the situation with Howdy and Blocky for a moment and concentrate on the door, and the possibility that they were close to being outside. Was it possible that they had finally arrived...? He found himself reaching towards the door a little his fingers curling. Then he stopped himself and pulled his hand back. He took in a deep breath and sighed softly. It just...felt too good to be true.
sss
Alpha narrowed his eyes as he watched the scene play out. While Rudy had momentarily stepped out of the conversation, there was still some discussion going on between Howdy and the other zoners. He would have made a move against them by now, but he couldn’t help but feel a little intrigued by this. He couldn’t help but feel impressed that, in spite of Blocky’s obvious blunder, most of the others were willing to defend him.
And even with Howdy, it wasn’t that they were trying to ostracize him. Yes they were still mad at him, but they hadn’t tried to chase him out. And it sounded like they understood where he came from. At least part in some ways. This kind of understanding unfortunately wouldn’t happen so much with the Beanie Boys.
Alpha paused at this for a moment, gritting his teeth. As much as he liked working for Skrawl, there were times when he wished he were more understanding and flexible. He was not willing to see reason at times, and that clouded his judgement. Skrawl knew that Alpha was the best as he was the first and longest lasting of the Beanie Boys. That had to account for something, right? But instead, Skrawl ignored him, ignored his skills, and pushed him aside for someone newer and less experienced. It...hurt, he had to admit. It really hurt.
And seeing these guys interact with one another, backing each other up... He tried not to, but he couldn’t help but feel...jealous. Yeah, that was right.. He was jealous of the group and how they interacted with each other. He never would admit to this in real life. He would never even begin to consider something like that. And yet it was true. He could not deny it to himself. He was jealous of the friendship that these guys shared.
And why? It was because of how they actually supported one another. Sure he usually would mock this or try to use it as a weapon of some kind to control them. But deep down, he was jealous of how they supported one another and did not leave another out, even when there was disagreement. While the Beanie Boys were more ‘for themselves’ than they were ‘helping each other out’, this group seemed to be the opposite. Why couldn’t the Beanie Boys be like that? Why couldn’t Skrawl be like that?
Blocky was the lowest member of the team it seemed, and yet the others still appreciated him. Even Howdy, despite him yelling at him, he had seen his interactions with Blocky before. He knew that there was still some appreciation in that zoner’s mind. There was still something that Howdy liked and admired about Blocky, even if he wasn’t saying it in the moment. There was something about his eyes that gave this fact away.
Too bad the Beanie Boys don’t function like this... If only they could appreciate him more. He couldn’t understand why they didn’t look up to him more often. Was he not that much of an inspiration? Was he not a pioneer in Beanie Boys? Was he just some worthless sack thrown to the side that they didn’t care about? It didn’t make any sense, and it left him feeling twisted up inside. He could feel his stomach hurting as something raged through him. He lightly rubbed his stomach up and down as he struggled to control his emotions.
Well at least he was here now and he could finally earn their respect. If he just captured Rudy and dragged him over, then they would all see. They would all begin to understand that he truly was a valuable member of the team. Then Skrawl would promote him and...
Or would he? Would Skrawl even bother? Would he just cast him aside like before? Alpha was shocked with himself as this thought came to mind. He couldn’t stop it from creeping up. He was unable to prevent himself from thinking this shocking question.
Did he really mean anything to Skrawl at all...?
The thought shocked him. Of course Skrawl cared about him. He cared about all of them...right? He always had before. He had always looked out after them. Sure he was harsh on newcomers, but he just wanted to make sure they were made of the right stuff befoere they could join. He and the original four helped them through this so that they could better understand what they were getting into and how they should behave. And while some did still fail, most of them performed admirably.
He recalled how Skrawl would be concerned for them. Calling out for them to be careful, ensuring their safety... There was just no doubt in Alpha’s mind that Skrawl did care for them. The idea of even thinking that he didn’t horrified the Beanie Boy. He just couldn’t believe that he...
But then again... That was all before the geomites... The Beanie Boy narrowed his eyes softly as he recalled how Skrawl had been altered afterwards. He had gotten more hostile in general towards them. More mean-spirited at times, and more likely to throw a temper. And if that’s the case, then...
Alpha never thought that he would reach the day when he would question his role in a plan. But here he was. Floating there in silence, seriously considering if he was doing the right thing. Should he really continue down this path....or should he try to do something to free Skrawl from....whatever is going on? Was it right of him to keep pursuing these fugitives and worrying about appreciation if Skrawl was at risk of being used like a puppet and discarded as though he was yesterday’s trash?
He narrowed his eyes. Perhaps a change was in order...
sss
Biclops seethed heavily through his clenched teeth. He struggled the best he could against the pain that ripped through his body. He shook tremendously and he felt as though his legs could give out at any time. It was as though he had fought many great wars all in a short time period..and that’s exactly what it felt like to him.
All around him were remnants of his attacks. Busted stalagmites and stalactites. Crushed pieces of white chalk structures. Splatters of his own blood, as well as the blood of his enemy. Dents in the ground and in the wall where he had struck. More so than what was usually there. It was quite impressive...and also terrifying. He had never thought that he would be this savage again.
But then...times do change, don’t they?
On the ground amongst him, the bodies of several Beanie Boys laid littered on the ground. He had lost count as to how many he had fought. After the first two had fallen, more had come. It was like a domino effect. They just wouldn’t stop. And neither did he. Keeping up his attacks. he managed to ward them off the best that he could. Or, to be specific, he managed to crush most of them. Many of the bodies on the ground weren’t even breathing anymore. And the ones that were lucky were simply knocked unconscious, and yet even they still suffered severe wounds.
Biclops couldn’t believe the savagery of his own attacks. He realized that this was something that he was just going to have to live with. He couldn’t change history..and he probably wouldn’t want to, either. He did what he had to do. He had no choice but to start killing the Beanie Boys. They were getting too relentless and if Rudy and Penny were to stand a chance...well the fewer Beanie Boys, the better.
It was still horrifying just how many Beanie Boys had joined up with Skrawl. He couldn’t help but wonder just where the hell they all came from. How in the world could there have been that many? And he had a strong hunch that there were still plenty more out there... What did Skrawl do, create a cloning machine or something?
For now, he tried to relish in the break that he had; not like he would get many more after this. He pressed himself against the wall and leaned on it for support. It was really the only thing that had prevented him from falling over. His legs were getting too shaky for him to hold himself up for much longer. He was surprised that he was lasting as long as he did. His legs had suffered numerous attacks and his right one was quite damaged, covered in multiple cuts and gashes. He could still feel his warm blood seeping down the leg, covering the ground.
He wished things could have been easier. He wished that he didn’t have to resort to fighting, to resort to being like how he used to be. But well, things didn’t always turn out that way, now did they? He just had to suck it up and deal with it the best that he could. If it meant a chance to save ChalkZone, he would gladly fight against this immense, horrific pain that was almost disabling him.
There was no mirror here, but he could almost see his reflection inside his mind. He could see the blood that coated his face and body, the cuts that adorned him everywhere, the tattered clothes, the dark purple bruises.. The guardian for the Chalk Mine certainly had seen much better days.
But he could say the same for the Beanie Boys. He couldn’t help but give a small, dark smirk of triumpth, doing his best to ignore his own internal horror, as he looked around at the Beanie Boys in the ground. All of them had put up quite a good fight. All of them had been pretty proud of themselves, believing that they would be the ones to stop him. He remembered their taunts and jeers. He remembered the tricks they tried to pull to bring him down.
And they all ultimately failed. Despite their efforts to break him and tear him down, they failed. And now it was they who had fallen. Necks broken, skulls cracked, bodies ripped open... Sure, Biclops was horrified at what he had to do, but in the end, he did know that he had no choice. He did not regret what he did. At least not that much. While a part of him would always wish there was another way, most of him knew that there was no other option. It was either this or risk allowing these zoners to defeat him and perhaps go after Rudy and Penny and... He shuddered to think about what might happen.
He was soon reminded that, indeed, Skrawl had a lot more Beanie Boys than just the ones that he had fought. That jellybean had this place well guarded. Oh sure there was a chance that he might have pretended to the others, to himself, that he didn’t have as much guarding here. Perhaps he may have done this to fool others, and himself, in order to make the ambushes all that more surprising. But Biclops was not fooled; he had been locked in here all this time. He knew what bullshit when down in here. He knew all the Beanie Boys that seemed to almost call this place their home now.
So when he looked over his shoulder and he could see that more Beanie Boys were coming, he was not at all surprised. But he was getting exhausted. He wasn’t sure how much more of this he could deal with. He didn’t know how much longer he could keep up. His body was just becoming too tired. He felt as though he was going to collapse at any time. It took all his strength and endurance to keep himself standing up. But even then, he knew it was just a matter of time before he collapsed.
At least he would try to keep up a good fight. He was not going to let these Beanie Boys bring him down so easily. He knew that Skrawl had even more hidden here. He knew that this was far from the last wave. But he would be damned if he was going to let them gain some kind of upperhand. If they want to try to stop him, then they would have to try much harder than they had been before.
Biclops turned himself in their direction, a dark smirk spreading across his face. He shouted at them, practically inviting them to try to take him down. His cries were heard by them and he could see them start to come over faster. He could see just how many there were this time.
Heh...only five this time? Whatever happened to ten? He guessed the Beanie Boys were dwindling more than he thought. No matter. Just more blood to add to the floor. He couldn’t help but give a darkened chortle, especially when the Beanie Boys got close enough to see what happened to their other comrades. They froze, their eyes wide in shock. Oh how funny they looked.. He only wished that he had a camera and took a picture of it. This was certainly worth a thousand words.
The Beanie Boys managed to shake off their stunned state and they glared in his direction. They formed fists with their hands, shaking them. Biclops simply smirked at them and motioned for them to try to fight him. The Beanie Boys almost immediately took it. Each one letting out a loud screech of rage, they dashed towards him. Biclops simply stood his ground and spread out his hands, eagerly waiting to meet them.
As he did so, he silently hoped that Rudy and Penny would be able to get here on time. As confident as he seemed right now, he did have a fear that was growing inside of him. He struggled not to let it show, yet it still raged on inside of his mind.
He did not want to die here.
sss
“Grr...why are we wasting time here, anyway?” Howdy grumbled. He motioned his hand forward. “Why don’t we just head out now?”
Snap nodded in agreement. “We can’t just stand around here. We are just giving those creepazoids more of a chance to catch us. If we don’t get going now...”
“But what if we rush out too fast? There might be some Beanie Boys waiting outside for us...” Blocky said softly.
Howdy shot him a glare. “Oh shut up, you little coward!”
“B-But I...”
“Just shut it!”
Rapsheeba glared in the direction of the puppet zoner. “What did I tell you before Howdy? Knock it off!” Howdy glared towards her, though he did not say a word. Rapsheeba glared at him harshly, clenching her teeth tightly. “I know that you are still upset from before, but you have to drop the attitude! This isn’t going to help anyone!”
Howdy was about to make another of his snide remarks when Rudy stepped in. “Besides, Blocky is right.” Rudy didn’t want the fight to continue. He was tired from earlier and he would rather they just move on from this. They had more important things to worry about than pointing fingers. “We need a plan before we act. We don’t know exactly what we’ll find out there and..”
Howdy interrupted him. “Oh don’t give me that bullcrap! We all know what’s out there! And frankly...” Howdy pointed an accusing finger in Rudy’s direction. “I would think that we zoners would know a lot more about what’s happened here than you, okay? You were gone for a month! While you and Penny were busy playing hopscotch, I was busy trying to help the zoners in a real battle! So don’t you dare try to tell me what I do and do not know, you coward!”
Rudy widened his eyes at this statement. He could sense the anger in the zoner’s voice. Perhaps Chalk Dad hadn’t been the only one who had been enraged by his disappearance. Rudy could feel his heart twisting as he lowered his head a little. He knew that the puppet zoner was right. He didn’t know as much about what was going on. Howdy was here longer. He did know more about the condition of the streets than he did. And for him to try to claim otherwise...well that was pretty much a dickish move of him, now wasn’t it?
To his surprise, however, it seemed that he wasn’t the only one affected by those worse. Howdy himself looked quite shocked with himself. His wide eyes were staring right at him and then he forced himself to look away. The small zoner shut his eyes tightly, breathing in and out slowly as he struggled to control his emotions. It took a little while before he even attempted to speak again.
“Look...I’m...I’m sorry...” Howdy finally said. His voice was small and forced, but it still sounded sincere. “I...I didn’t mean to say that. I...you’re not a coward. I’m sorry, Rudy. I’m so sorry.”
“I can understand your anger, though. It was wrong of me to assume that you didn’t have any idea of what was out there. Of course you do... You’ve had to live in this hellhole for a month.” Rudy flinched as he remembered how he and Penny were stuck in the hospital for a month. He wondered...if he had come back sooner, would that have changed anything? Or would it have just delayed the inevitable. “I’m not angry with you, Howdy. It’s all right...”
Howdy didn’t look like he believed him. He simply let out a soft moan before he took a few steps away, pushing himself away from the others. He didn’t attempt to speak to anyone else. He didn’t even look Blocky in the eyes. Howdy just...wanted to be left alone. Rudy respected that. If Howdy didn’t want to speak, then so be it. So long as he stuck with them, then it was going to be fine. They could always talk more later.
He turned his attention for a moment to Blocky. He sucked on his lip, wondering how he was doing. That was the second time that Howdy had accused him like that. And while Howdy had apologized for his behavior towards him, he did not attempt to say anything towards Blocky. It was pretty clear that Howdy, despite what he was told before, still believed that Blocky had been traitorous in refusing to help when Howdy had begged him to.
But while Rudy could understand that, he wished that Howdy would be more reasonable. He couldn’t keep treating Blocky this way. He couldn’t even begin to understand where these attitudes came from, either. Had these two really had these emotions bottled up and the stress of being trapped with Skrawl was finally bringing this out?
He shook the thoughts out of his head. As much as he wanted to try to mend things between the two, he knew he couldn’t focus much on that right now. There were more important things at hand right now. Especially with the prospect of getting out of here.
Despite the fact that the door laid right before them, He couldn’t help but hesitate. None of them knew what to expect on the other side. For all they knew, it could still be some kind of trap. Perhaps Skrawl did the same thing as before. Make it seem like they reached an important place, only for it to turn out to be a trap. That’s what nearly got them killed before. And now they might be faced with another similar situation. Who is to say that they would even succeed this time around? They might end up dead...and that was only if they were lucky. He was fully aware that Skrawl could easily make them wish they were dead. Any fate he would give them would certainly be worse than death.
The only way they were going to know if this place actually led to the outside or not was if one of them checked it. The idea was unnerving as he knew that a single mistake could end everything. And yet he was also aware that taking such a risk was the only way to know for certain if this door really did lead to the outside or not. Such a risk needed to be taken, not just for him, but for the others as well.
He looked back over at the others. He focused his attention on Rapsheeba and Penny. Both of them really needed to get the heck out of here. They needed to have their injuries treated, especially Rapsheeba. She can’t just keep going around with a broken back like that. And Penny’s neck injury looked quite serious. The fact that she had fallen unconscious certainly wasn’t a good sign. Both of them needed to go to the hospital as soon as possible.
And they certainly can’t do that trapped in here. If that door led to the outside, he owed it to them to check and see if it was okay. That was the only way that any of them could find out. He had a feeling that the others would either be incapable, too afraid, or too brash to answer. He felt as though he was the most level headed person here. He was the best suited to check the door.
He took in a deep breath as he stared towards the door. He wasn’t aware of what the others were saying. They might be talking to each other, perhaps arguing for all he knew. But right now, he was too focused on that door to really listnen to waht they had to say. He let out a sigh. He hoped that he wasn’t about to make a huge mistake.
He reached out with his hand, the fingertips trembling. He tried his best to keep his fear under control, but he just couldn’t help it. The fear of the unknown continued to wash over him the closer he got his hand to the door. He bit his lip tightly, sucking on it. He could hear the others calling out to him in concern. He ignored them, trying to focus his attention fully on the door itself. Then, after a few moments of being frozen in place, he reached over and he touched the door.
He shuddered as he felt the cold metal against his hand. He remained frozen there for several moments, his mind spinning as he remained there, hand on the door handle. Then, taking in another deep breath, he turned it downward. He could hear a soft clilck and he froze, looking around, expecting some kind of attack. When he did not see any, he continued on with his action, and soon he pushed the door wide open.
He couldn’t believe it. He was not able to tear his eyes away from it. It felt too good to be true...and yet here they were. Displayed before them was a sight that none of them thought they’d ever see again.
They were outside. They had found the door to this wretched castle. They could finally leave. They had escaped.
But that was only half the battle. Rudy knew that they couldn’t stand here and gawk for too long. They couldn’t cheer or celebrate just yet. Skrawl and the Beanie Boys could be right behind them. If they stood around for too long, they were only going to increase the chances of them getting recaptured. They had to get going now, while they still had the chance.
Slowly, one by one, they all began to get a move on. No words were needed for them all to understand the importance of getting away. None of them needed to be reminded of their situation. They all understood it right away, and they all began to act upon that urgency. It was a little slow getting a move on, especially with Penny and Rapsheeba to consider, but they soon were able to get a good pace, and they began to exit out of the building.
Rudy couldn’t help but be tense. He looked left and right, half expecting Skrawl or a Beanie Boy to show up and stop them. Even though this never happened, he couldn’t help but remain cautious, keeping his eyes peeled just in case something were to happen. With their luck, a Beanie Boy might be making a turn around the edge and would be upon them in a matter of moments. He couldn’t shake off this feeling no matter how hard he tried. Judging from the looks of the others, it was easy to tell that they, too, were feeling the same fear as him and they kept looking around as well.
When they were able to exit without a problem, it felt like a miracle. They breathed heavy sighs of relief just for that one moment. Being able to step outside in the open, in the fresh air...if one could call this that...it was truly a miracle. Something they never thought would happen.
Sure, there was that dirty cloud in the sky, the ground wasn’t that clean, the buildings were in dissaray, there was the constant tension with the iron clad hold Skrawl had over this place, among other things. It was not the same outdoors that they had come to know with ChalkZone. But in the end, it was still the outside and it was still much better than that hell hole they had been trapped in for a long time.
Just..how long had they been there anyway? Too long for their taste. It might have only been a few hours, but that was still way too long than any of them were comfortable with. The sooner they got far away from this place, the better.
Though in the open, moving down the streets wasn’t much of an improvement in terms of tension. It still felt as though they were moving through some thick barrier, each step being increasingly difficult to take. In some ways, it felt a little worse than before. Perhaps it was because with the upheavel of the resistance. Members killed and captured... That did seem to destroy the hope that this place seemed to have. That loss was reflected quite well in Rapsheeba’s eyes.
Rudy couldn’t blame her. She was the leader of the resistance and they had fallen quite quickly despite her efforts to save them. Now she can’t even fight against Skrawl anymore. Not with a broken back. She must feel so...useless. Like she isn’t worth anything to anyone anymore. Rudy hoped that she realized that this wasn’t true, but it might take a long time to help rebuild her confidence again.
Just what happened to the captured members anyway? They had no time to go and help them and Rapsheeba hadn’t really mentioned it. He guessed that she had been locked up with other members of the resistance, perhaps even some civilians. As for their fate, he wasn’t really sure what would happen to them. Though it stung him to leave them behind, he knew there was no other choice. Besides, they would be able to save them after they defeated Skrawl.
If they would defeat Skrawl...
He hated feeling negative, but they were in a rut right now. They were wandering aimlessly down the streets, having no idea where they are. They couldn’t identify most places due to the damage to the streets and buildings. They might be going in completely the wrong way for all he knew. The only way they stood a chance against Skrawl was to get to the Chalk Mine, but how were they going to do that if they didn’t know a way out of here?
And what if Skrawl finds them and attacks while they are still out here? What chance did they have against the jellybean? Not much, he knew. There was a very limited amount of chance that they had against the jellybean, especially with those powers that he now possessed. Sure they could fight, but ultimately, he was, and they were, well aware that Skrawl would win.
He tried to focus on moving through the buildings and streets, keeping his attention on getting out of here rather than focusing on worrying about failing. He kept himself quiet, as did the others, and they moved at a steady pace. No running; that would only draw attention to them sooner. They instead focused on a consistant rate, walking close together, keeping their eyes and ears open for any potential danger.
It was so quiet... So eerily quiet. It was as though every step they took, this place just kept getting emptier and emptier. It was so lifeless. Rudy was even amazed this was ChalkZone City at all. If it weren’t for a few familiar things, he would have thought they were somewhere else entirely. Skrawl’s reign really had done a number on this place. Everywhere he looked, he saw more debris, more cracks, more destruction... It was enough to get his blood boiling. He struggled not to allow the anger to overwhelm him, however, and he focused on walking.
They did eventually see some zoners wandering about. Not too many at a time. At most three, though normally just one. They were going about their preprogrammed lives, as Rapsheeba had mentioned. The zoners either ignored them or they looked really nervous, probably due to the sight of Thoughtless. Not that Rudy blamed them; Thoughtless must have played some part in this, right?
He did feel his gut twist when he saw the zoners cower away, scrambling to hide or just trembling. He saw the fear in their eyes, how emaciated some of them were, dirty and torn.... It made him realize just how much he and Penny could have prevented if they had just shown up sooner.
Why didn’t they get here faster? Why didn’t they try to wake up sooner? Why did they have to be in a hospital for so long? These questions and more flooded his mind. It caused him to grit his teeth tightly, grinding them against onea nother. He knew there was nothing that could be done to change things and yet..Oh how he wished he could rewind time to make things better. If only there was a way to do that...he would be able to keep all of this from happening. He would be able to bring back the peace, and these terrified zoners...they wouldn’t have anything to worry about.
Would changing the past be wise? He had a feeling the answer was a big fat ‘no’. That’s what Penny would tell him if she was awake. He was aware of the issues of time travel and how things could be made much worse. He wished that wasn’t the case but...well, life just wasn’t fair. A cold, hard truth. Time travel just...wasn’t a practical solution. They had to think of something else.
They continued to move through the streets. They tried their best not to allow the horrible sights distract them from their goal. This was not an easy thing to do, especially with some of the stuff they saw later on. Blood, twisted corpses, other dead bodies... It seemed as though Skrawl didn’t pick up some of these areas all that well. It made them wonder if these zoners were killed for being insubordinate or if they were part of Skrawl’s little “game” and if this was intentional. Quite sickening if that was true, but so like Skrawl...
They tilted their heads up and stared towards the sky. That sick grey cloud swirling all around... It was such a disgusting sight. A symbol of the oppression sweeping through this place, of Skrawl’s horrid iron-clad control he keeps over here. A sign that this place was locked in a far from peaceful era. Just from the sight alone, they were all reminded of the pain and misery everyone had gone through, and will endure. They were reminded that ChalkZone is not in a state of peace and never will be until Skrawl himself was removed from power. A task that was not easy, and yet they all knew it had to be done if they had any hope of bringing this place back to a more peaceful era.
Rudy could feel himself growing increasingly depressed as he walked down the streets with the others. Everywhere he looked, just more death and destruction. This was far from the happy, peaceful place that he had known not too long ago. This was not the ChalkZone City that he remembered. Nothing was right and everything was wrong. He could feel his heart beginning to clench as he continued to see all the damage that a single zoner had done to this place.
And all those zoners staring at them...the disappointment in their eyes at how long it took him to even get back there... He wondered if more than just Chalk Dad had put faith into him only for it to be ripped out, bitterly disappointing them. He wondered how many zoners hated him now. How many would even trust him now? How much morale and faith did he lose from them? How many zoners had turned their backs on him, consumed by fear of what happened and anger at his absense?
He wished that he could ensure them that it would all get better. He wished that he could be more confident that things would get better overtime as they were here. He wanted to improve the zoners’ spirits, help them overcome their fear and return them back to how they used to be. Such a task wouldn’t be easy, though, and he wasn’t even sure if there was anything they could do. Was it even possible that they could...
He froze when he realized that the others had stopped moving. He noticed they were looking around, as though something had caught their eye. Rudy paused as well and looked around. They were still in ChalkZone City, but something felt...different about this place. But he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.
The buildings still looked the same. Disarrayed, crumbled, disrepaired. And yet he could tell something was different. But what? He had to remain there paused for a while, thinking hard, before he could get any sense of what was wrong. No, the buildings didn’t look exactly the same. There was something different about them. The way the signs looked, the shape of the buildings... Then something clicked in his mind. Weren’t some of these buildings...apartments...? Living quarters were zoners could sleep?
But...they wouldn’t be here unless this was a...
Blocky whispered the statement before Rudy could even complete his train of thought. “W-We’re in a night zone...”
Everyone froze at this. Realization washed over them. Not only did they wander into a night zone, but from the looks of it, they went in pretty far... They immediately realized the consequences of this.
Before any of them could react, there was a series of loud roars and shouts. They huddled together, looking all around. They could see shadows moving about, sifting through the spaces between the buildings. They saw flashes of light bouncing off brandished weapons. Blurs of color filled their vision, and soon they found themselves completely surrounded by a bunch of night zoners.
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Post by Bluedramon on Oct 2, 2015 20:15:58 GMT -5
Chapter 68: Rudy remained frozen where he stood. He looked left and right as the night zoneres surrounded them completely. None of them wore happy or even neutral expressions. They were all glaring at them harshly, their teeth clenched as though they were ready to tear them apart. Judging from the fierce-looking expressions adorned by the sharp fangs and slit pupils, he wouldn’t doubt that this was the case. He gritted his teeth as he kept his eyes on the zoners around them, watching them carefully, waiting to see if they would do anything. So far, none of the night zoners had even tried to speak, let alone try to attack any of them. They were just...standing there, pointing their sharp tipped weapons in their direction. The ends looked ready to pierce into them, but it seemed that, so long as they remained still, the night zoners weren’t going to try to harm them. At least...that’s what Rudy hoped that it was. For a while, the night zoners just remained where they were. Pointing their weapons at them, baring their teeth viciously, silently threatening to tear them apart if they dare try to move. Rudy could sense that the others, like Thoughtless, wanted to make a move, but none dared to. He was glad for this; he hated to think what would happen if they did something and they made things worse for themselves. As he looked around, he found that he recognized a few of the night zoners. He didn’t know their names or anything, but he had seen them before and even briefly interacted with some of them. They had been so friendly before, and now this was happening... This realization struck him like a stray brick wall. To know that these zoners, who had known that he was one of their allies, could turn against him so easily... It made him wonder just what had happened with them to make this so. Just what did they see? What kind of pain did they have to endure? Just then, the zoners began to part. They took a few steps back from the sides, creating a pathway leading right up to them. They couldn’t try running along this path as a particularly large night zoner got in the way immediately. Rudy and the others remained huddled together defensively, glaring at the zoner as he approached them slowly. Rudy moved his eyes up and down as he studied this particular night zoner. He appeared to be some kind of werewolf. He stood on two legs, his body covered in beige and red fur. His neck’s fur was especially thick, making it look more like a mane. His thin, shaggy tail whipped from side to side in agitation for a couple of seconds. Then it raised up in a more dominant position as he got closer. His piercing amber eyes glared down at them, his lip curled back into a snarl, his ears lowered against his furry, canine-like head. Judging from his overall appearance and the way the others were reacting around him, Rudy guessed that this might be the leader of this bunch. Soon the werewolf stood right in front of them. He glared at them viciously, even more so than the others were. He had quite a condenscending look, and it almost seemed like he was going to jump on them at any time to rip them apart. There was almost no sign of a civilized zoner in this guy. Especially with that contorted, wolf-like expression, the piercing eyes, the scarred adorned body, the ragged fur. Everything about him screamed ‘feral animal’, causing the others to grow quite tense. Yet there was nowhere they could run; they could only stand around here and glare at the werewolf as he regarded them darkly. It felt like several minutes passed by before any action was finally taken. “Hrmph... been a long time since one of you filthy day zoners came into our neck of the woods.” The werewolf hissed. This was followed by growls from various other night zoners, as if to agree with his comment. “What, pray tell, brings the likes of you here?” “Wh-What is the meaning of this?!” Rapsheeba called out. “I spoke with Jacko! I thought we had a truce with you night zoners of ChalkZone City!” The werewolf chortled humorlessly at this. “The negotiation was never completed. But I won’t bore you with the details as to why.” The werewolf motioned towards Rapsheeba. “You day zoners must need some rest, eh? Perhaps we could..accomodate for you...?” Blocky stiffened up at this. “You’re taking us prisoner?” The werewolf smirked at this. “But why?! We didn’t do anything to you!” This comment earned Blocky several growls from the other zoners. He cringed back away, moving himself closer towards Snap. The only one not laughing was the werewolf. He was staring intently at Blocky, his eyes almost appearing to glow as he kept his gaze upon the paper-like zoner. He moved a little closer to him, his shadow casting over the zoner. Snap kept himself in front of the rectangular zoner, but that wasn’t enough to stop the werewolf from advancing. The expression he was giving...so blank...it was so unnerving. For several moments, the werewolf zoner stared at Blocky, regarding him with that same, blank expression. He moved his eyes all around him, as though absorbing every detail of his body. There was a flicker in his eyes, and his mouth opened up partially. The tips were easily exposed, and they glinted in what little light their was here. “You really think we are stupid, don’t you?” The werewolf said bitterly. “You day zoners think you can just wander into our turf while we can’t do the same for yours? Do you enjoy treating us like we are just second class citizens?!” The werewolf’s expression began to shift at this, contorting further, his lips pulling upwards to expose his teeth and gums. “You little cretin...I’ll...!” “Stop that!” Rudy barked at him. “Stop it right now!” The werewolf turned his head, staring at Rudy with a sideways blance. “You dare try to tell me what to do?” Rudy gulped at the tone of voice the werewolf used there. He realized he might have just made a huge mistake. Regardless, he still stood his ground, keeping his teeth bared at the enraged zoner. “You are being unreasonable! We didn’t mean to come here! We didn’t know that there was a night zone right here! We....” “Oh of course you didn’t know! Oh dear me, I’m so sorry then!” The werewolf spread his paws out almost dramatically, leaning back his head and staring up towards the sky. His voice was laced in sarcasm, practically dripping off the edge of his mouth. Hearing him speak like this was both frightening and infuriating. “I suppose that changes everything then, huh?” Folding his hands behind his back, the werewolf approached him slowly. His eyes remained narrowed into slits, his teeth flashing from his snarling face. He lowered his head slightly as he got closer, regarding Rudy like he was some kind of prey that he had been hunging down. He walked around slowly, his amber eyes looking at him up and down. Rudy watched him move from side to side, keeping his body hunched as he glared harshly at him. “You think you’re the only ones who don’t know a night zone and day zone apart now? Neither can we. And unlike you day zoners, we night zoners suffer if we make a mistake! We step out into a day zone and we get hurt, even die! Don’t you fucking dare try to compare your situation with us! You should have known better than to come here!” Rudy said, “I understand what you and the other night zoners are going through. I am sorry that this has been happening. But there’s no reason for...” He was silenced when he was suddenly slapped across the face, shocking the others that were with him. Rudy yelped as he felt the claws graze his cheek a little. He put his hand on the injured skin and pulled back. He widened his eyes when he saw the tiny bits of blood on his finger. He looked back at the werewolf, stunned. “I...” “Keep your mouth shut!” The werewolf barked. He raised his hand up, threatening to strike again. “Or I’ll do worse to you!” Rudy widened his eyes at this, and then they narrowed, though he remained still and quiet. The werewolf smirked at this before lowering his hand down. “That’s more like it.... Stay quiet and out of the way. Vermin like you are best seen and not heard...” Rudy struggled not to growl at this. The others, as he looked at them, they were holding back as well. He could see the irritation in their eyes, especially Howdy and Snap. Only Blocky looked fearful, and Penny...well she was still unconscious, so she couldn’t even begin to make any kind of expression. When he noticed the werewolf was staring right at his friend, he could feel his heart rate speeding up. He clenched his teeth tightly and formed a fist with his hands. He struggled not to rush over and push the zoner out of the way to protect his friend. He feared that he would end up making things worse for his friend if he dared try to intervene with the werewolf. All he could do was wach helplessly as the werewolf leaned in towards Penny, his mouth contorted into a sneer. “I see she already has the right idea.” He reached over with his clawed paw and patted her on the top of her head. “At least she understands her place here.” Rudy and the others hissed at this, but said nothing. They simply waited for the werewolf to pull his hand away and take a few steps back. The werewolf once again folded his arms behind his back and regarded them coldly. He looked around at his fellow...pack members, one would guess that’s what it’s called. And then he looked back down at them. The others remained silent still, likely awaiting orders. “You are all going to come with us. We’ve had enough of your kind slipping in here like jackrabbits, running amok and ruining everything! And as for you....!” The werewolf suddenly seized the boy by his lower jaw and yanked him forward. “You have a lot to answer for yourself..” “Rudy!” Snap cried out. “Let him go!” Rapsheeba pleaded. “Please!” Rudy struggled for a moment to get himself free. The werewolf simply tightened his grip on the boy’s lower jaw, a sneer spread across his face. Rudy was unable to get free. At least, not without risking tearing the claws into his chin in the process. He eventually stopped moving and he just glared at the zoner, his eyes narrowed deeply. “I did nothing wrong.” The werewolf’s eyes widened at this. Then they narrowed once more, and Rudy could practically see the fire burning in his eyes. He gulped a little, but he dare not say anything in response. He cringed away as the werewolf leaned his head in further. The nostrils on the werewolf’s black nose puffed air against his face, causing him to cough and struggle to turn his head away. The werewolf chuckled at this before he opened his mouth, exposing his rows of razor sharp teeth. “You couldn’t be a bigger liar if you tried...” The werewolf hissed softly. “You abandoned us, boy. You left us here to rot. You allowed them to come in here and take over... So much for being ChalkZone’s protector, am I right...?” Rudy flinched at this, managing to turn his head away and lowering it. He didn’t utter a word to the zoner at this comment. Just what could he say? He knew that he was right. He did, in a sense, abandon ChalkZone. Sure, he didn’t do it on purpose or anything, but the fact of the matter is..he still left it behind, and it was because of this that Skrawl was able to take over ChalkZone. Perhaps if he had struggled harder to wake up sooner, he might have been able to get here faster and stop this from happening. He... Well, there was nothing he could do about that now, was there? He couldn’t keep blaming himself for what happened. He couldn’t allow himself to be brought down like that. Yes, he could have gotten here faster, but he did not, did he? He might as well just keep moving forward; that was all that he could do. Just stop whining about it, stop complaining about it, and actually do something. He was here right now, wasn’t he? He was able to do something now to shift things back in their favor. Well obviously he can’t now. Not with this werewolf in the way. Not while this werewolf was refusing to listen to reason. While he did understand why he was so upset, that still didn’t justify his behavior towards him and his friends. None of them did anything to provoke them, and yet here they were, pointhing their weapons at them as though they were some kind of horrid enemy. Just what were the night zoners thinking? Or were they even thinking at all? But...he didn’t want to cause any more provocation. He did not want to do anything that would cause the night zoners to attack. They were in hot enough water as it was. He did the only thing he could think of doing, and that was showing submission to the werewolf. Sure it would not allow them to get free, but at least it would give them less of a reason to attack them. Slowly, he lowered his head down, keeping his eyes downcast. The werewolf’s smile spread across his face, tinged with a mixture of satisfaction and contempt. “I’m glad to see you’re finally seeing just how big of a criminal you are...” “Hey...” Rudy turned his head towards the otheres after he heard Snap start to speak. He cleared his throat loudly enough to catch their attention. They looked over at him, their eyes filled with expectation and confusion. He shook his head from side to side, silently telling them not to speak any further. Though they, especially Howdy and Snap, looked irritated by this, they did comply and they fell silent as well. The night zoners around them did lower their weapons a little. Not a whole lot; they were still pointed at them. But at the very least, the weapons didn’t look like they were going to be jabbed into their bodies anymore. They glared at their captives for a few more moments before once more turning to their leader. They waited for the werewolf to say something before they proceeded to do anything. “Come along with me, you little fuckers...” Despite the temptation to speak up at that, none of them dared to speak a word. They simply nodded their heads a few times, complying with what the zoner said. Then, slowly, they proceeded to follow him. Behind them, the other night zoners moved in, forming a semi circle to ensure that they didn’t try to get away. Not that they could get far in their condition, but they supposed that the night zoners just wanted to make sure, for certain, they would get away. They remained silent as they were ushered through the streets of the ChalkZone City night zone. They proceeded deeper into the night zone. Despite not being able to see much of a difference, they could almost feel the darkness weighing down all around them. It made them more tense and nervous, and they constantly looked around to see if another night zoner was going to attack them. They had no idea where the werewolf was taking them. For all they knew, they were being led towards a trap where they were going to be ripped into shreds. They had little reason not to be nervous as they walked. Their eyes continued to dart left and right as they took in the sights all around them. The night zone portion of the city was just as ripped up as the day zone. The zoners here, however, were a bit different. Skrawl didn’t seem too concerned with controlling them. He ruled in a day zone section and was safe from any of their attempts to attack him. Only a handful of night zoners, such as Jacko, could survive in the day zone for long periods of time. Most would just burn up as the light burned through them, even if the sky was cloudy. As a result, Skrawl seemed to let the night zoners live a bit more freely, but was this really freedom? Was this really any better than how the day zoners were being treated? Rudy would have to say ‘no’. True, from what he was seeing, the night zoners could roam around more freely and he didn’t see any Beanie Boys flying around. However, most of ChalkZone appeared to be day zone areas. Only pockets of night zones exist. They were smaller, more restrictive. Almost like large cages where night zoners were forced to stay. And in a world that was being taken over by a deranged jellybean, this must of left them feeling more vulnerable than before. Trapped like wild animals and unable to do anything about it, despite some of them being quite powerful. While the zoners in the day zone section looked at them in fear, the night zoners here were all glaring at them in utter contempt, their lips curled back into a snarl, looking as if they wanted to just tear them apart. It was a rather uncomfortable sight to behold and it made Rudy shudder just looking at them. All kinds of zoners like mummies, other werewolves, dragons, demonic-like creatures, vampires, zombies, they all glared at them as though they were the scum of the earth. All of a sudden, Rudy felt a little safer in the circle of their captors. He had a feeling the others felt the same way. As they continued through, he noticed some dark, black trees everywhere. He wondered if the night zoners planted them here, perhaps as a warning somehow to day zoners, or to mark their territory more clearly. Now that he thought about it, didn’t they pass something like this before? Well, either way, it added to the spooky feel this place had to offer. He could feel himself hunching his shoulders as he looked around, gritting his teeth as he stared at the tall, foreboding buildings with the sharp angled edges and the black trees that seem to sprout everywhere. He hoped the others were doing okay. They seemed to be acting fine, but if Blocky’s facial expression is anything to go by, they had some fear raging through them, just like he did. Both Penny and Rapsheeba had long since been placed in Thoughtless’s back, and he could see the memotrice moving along more carefully, as if it wanted to make sure that neither of them fell to the ground. He was surprised to see this behavior from it, but he was still glad nonetheless. But Howdy and Snap.. They both still looked ready to attack. They might have hidden it well for the most part, but he could see the looks in their eyes, that little fire burning behind them. He hoped they continued being smart and remained silent. Otherwise...he hated to think of what would happen if either of them tried to attack. They were now going outside the city. Rudy couldn’t remember how far the night zone stretched outside of the city. But it was apparently pretty far as they appeared to be on some kind of path that led off into the distance. He didn’t remember it stretching this far, but perhaps while he was away, some child drew a night zone area here. Yeah, that was probably it. He didn’t know how long they had been walking along the path, through the barren, dry land that this place had turned into. Everywhere they looked, there was some sign of death. Blood, or a dead plant, something. It all served to make this place even spookier than it already was. It didn’t help that, all around, there were small housing structures made entirely of bone. Rudy wasn’t sure if he wanted to know where these bones had come from. They were headed right towards the largest bone structure of all. It easily towered over them, coming to a tip away at the top. Rudy felt hesitant to keep moving towards it, and yet the night zoners prevented him and the others from stopping for too long. They were forced to move foward, getting closer and closer to this place. As they did, he could feel his heart racing and pounding, and he started to feel sick. He wasn’t sure if it was just his fear, or if somehow this place was injecting him with toxins. Before he knew it, he and the others were walking up the thin, wobbly bridge that connected to the small ledge that was the entrance. They didn’t know why the entrance was so high up, but none of them dare try to question. They just placed their feet on the wobbly, plank bridge and ascended slowly. It was a bit hard keeping up, but slowly, they made progress. They soon reached the top and they entered through the bone beads that formed the ‘door’. It was almost like what one might find in a hippie home, only more demented and terrifying looking. A perversion of what was supposed to be a more peaceful place. All around them, they could see the twisted, gnarled bones that formed the walls all around them. So bumpy, like distorted bricks or something that were slabbed together. There was not much here; just a single room that stretched all around them. There was a small, witch-like cooker pot thing, and there were some small, crude sleeping bags on the ground. In the back, there were more of those beads, spreading in a small square around a large, skull-shaped bag that held up a single individual. And judging from her overall posture, Rudy and the others could easily guess that she ranked higher than the werewolf. She was humanoid in appearance. Well for the most part. She had a long, pointed nose that hooked downward, long black hair that swayed behind her, fingernails long and claw-like, and donned a black outfit similar to Skrawl’s, only with more tears and less shine, giving her a more worn out appearance. The slightly grey tone of her skin completed this image. The witch zoner did not look very happy to see them. Then again, that was something they had gotten used to since they got here. So this was of no surprise to them. She remained seated for a while as she glared off at them. She did not stir, despite looking like she wanted to leap up at them at any given moment. The werewolf gestured for them to stay while he went over to get the witch. He approached her slowly, showing a tinge of fear. This alone gave them enough of an idea of how powerful this witch zoner really was. “Pardon me...but I managed to nab some prisoners and...” The werewolf rubbed his hands nervously. The witch glared at him as if to say ‘why did you bring them here’. “I thought you might want to decide what we should do with these trespassers.” The witch opened her mouth to speak. While the werewolf’s voice naturally had a growl to it, her voice was a bit more serene and calm, which betrayed her initial expressions. “You should have just killed them...like we always do.” She pointed a long, boney finger at them. “Why did you bring them here?” “Well as you can see...” The werewolf, his head still low, motioned a paw towards Rudy. “The creators were with them. You know, the scum that abandoned us a month ago.” He lifted his head enough to look at her. “Do you think that they deserve something....more special?” The witch blinked at this. She again looked at the others, and, after a few seconds, her eyes widened in realization. It was then that Rudy realized that she hadn’t noticed them until now. Perhaps she was too angry to pay attention and thought they were just more ‘worthless day zoners’ that were being hauled in here. And when she narrowed her eyes, Rudy wished that this were still the case. Indeed, she looked even more displeased to see them. She remained silent for a few moments before she climbed up to her feet and made her way over towards them slowly. Her high heels tapped against the ground, making it sound as though some large beast was coming towards them. Soon, she did reach them and she glared down at Rudy, her eyes piercing through his. She curled her lip up into a snarl, showing utter disgust. “So you’re the Great Creator...don’t think that impresses me right now...” The witch said. Rudy hunched his shoulders while the others looked on in fear and anger. “I have something that I’ve been waiting to tell you for a looong time...” Rudy tensed himself up as he prepared for the zoner to give him a verbal lashing. She opened her mouth up to speak, and soon the words began to flow forward. sss “You disgusting, useless piece of trash! You think you can just abandon us for a month and come back and think that you can just ‘fix everything’?! Is that what you think you were going to do? Well let me tell you right now, it was never going to work like that! Do you have any idea what you put us through when you turned your back on us, you little corward?!” Snap could feel his body start to shake as he listened to the witch zoner chew Rudy out. The shakes shot through his body, making it hard for him to hold still. So much of him just wanted to jump out towards the witch zoner and punch her in the face. How dare she say such a thing about Rudy... But then again, he thought the same thing, too. He had been brainwashed in the past and thought that Rudy did turn against him. He and Penny... He thought that Rudy had become his enemy and he had become determined to do whatever he could to bring Rudy to justice. Perhaps this was why it stung so much to see this witch zoner yell at his best friend like this. Maybe she was reminding him of himself. Which was why he wanted to figure a way to make her stop. She was not being fair to his friend at all. He was not being given a chance to explain what actually happened. She did not try to get Rudy’s side of the story. She was acting like how Chalk Dad did. She kept acting as though he had abandoned them on purpose without taking into consideration what was actually going on. Snap could see the despair in his friend’s eyes, and it made him all the more frustrated that he couldn’t do anything to help. He continued to listen to what was being said. He could hear the lashing from the witch zoner as well as Rudy’s meek attempts to defend himself. Each time he tried, it seemed like the yelling got worse. A part of Snap wondered why Rudy even bothered to try. “You don’t understand! I didn’t abandon anyone! What happened was that the red chalk took over Penny and I and..” “Enough excuses! You’re just trying to hide yourself behind some pitiful reason! You disgusting little cretin....trying to run away from responsibility... What? You can’t handle facing us after you diddle dallied in the Real World?! Were we not good enough for you?!” Rudy cringed at this. “B-But...you’re not even listening...!” The witch zoner formed a fist with her hand and shot it out in one direction. “Because you haven’t given me a good reason to listen to you, fucktard! You’re lucky that I’m in one of my better moods, or I would turn you into a toad and eat you! Even if it killed me in the process!” This made Rudy snap his head backwards and gulp loudly. “Oh there’s so much I could do to you right now...” “B-But...” Blocky began to speak up. “You’re not even being fair...You...” The witch zoner shot him a glare. “Of course you would defend him. You were created by him!” “P-Perhaps...still.. Don’t you think you should be more fair towards him? G-G-Give him a chance to explain?” Thoughtless nodded its head at this. <Indeed. It is not a fair judging if you do not let him show his side.> It motioned a wing forward. <Perhaps you would find that your assessment is..lacking.> “You telling me I’m an idiot?” The witch zoner growled, her teeth clenched tightly. “How dare you...” “You can think what you want, but you cannot deny that you are being too harsh on our friend.” Howdy took a step forward, ignoring the glare the witch zoner was giving him. “Why don’t you at least try to listen to him?” Snap didn’t think that this would work. But he wasn’t about to remain silent on this. Giving his own glare at the witch zoner, he said, “Yeah! I mean, if you’re going to tear him down, at least do it with the knowledge of what he actually did.” He raised his hand up in gesture. “And not based on what you think he did.” “Rudy would never abandon us on purpose.” Rapsheeba explained. “If you would just listen to him, or Penny whenever she wakes up, you will find that they did not leave us on purpose. Circumstances prevented them from coming back. If you would just listen, you would see this as well. Instead, you continue to push them away. How is that fair?” The witch zoner glared at them for a few moments. She remained silent for a while, seething in through her clenched teeth. It was clear that she did not appreciate what they told her, and neither did the other night zoners. Snap could feel their glares upon them and he found himself tensing up, his wide eyes looking left and right. What were they going to do...? The witch zoner slowly curled her hand into a tight fist, shaking it. Her teeth were gnashed together more firmly. Her body trembled as if they had committed some great offense. It looked as if she was going to explode at any moment. While Snap would never say anything out loud, it was clear to him that this witch zoner was created with one of the worst tempers he had ever seen for a zoner. He would even rank it higher than Skrawl’s, and that was saying something. With a swift motion, the witch zoner lifted her hand up and she pointed in their direction, her finger trembling from the raw emotion that swept through her body. “Lock them away! I will deal with them later!” At this order, the other night zoners took action. Before any of them could react, they were each grabbed by one of the night zoners, with the exception of Thoughtless, who required two of them. Penny and Rapsheeba were not touched, but likely due to the fact that they were both presently harmless. With them secured, the night zoners began to drag them away roughly, forcing them out of the bone hut and down the shaky bridge and in a new direction. Snap tried to free himself. He jerked himself from side to side as he attempted to yank his arm back. The zombie zoner that had him tightened his grip on him, twisting his wrist in the process. This caused Snap to shudder in pain, but he struggled not to utter a whimper. He could see some of the others struggling as well, especially Howdy. Boy was that little puppet zoner quite...feisty was the only word he could think of. He saw that they were being dragged back into town, directly towards what looked like a large, red bricked building. Worn and yet still standing despite looking like it could fall over at any time. He wondered if this was were they were going to be taken. Or if instead, they would be taken to another warn building that wasn’t too far, this one grey instead of red. Well it didn’t matter which one they were going in because he had no intention on staying here. He continued to thrash around in the zombie’s grasp, just as the others, especially Rudy and Howdy, continued to struggle as well. Despite the warning barks the night zoners gave them, they continued to fight, their teeth clenching tightly. They were not going to let themselves get locked up again. Not after how long it took them to escape Skrawl’s grasp. Out of shere desperation, Snap opened his mouth wide and he bit down hard on the zombie’s hand. He ignored the foul taste that this brought on as he sank his teeth into the zoner’s hand flesh. The zombie let out a cry of pain and yanked his hand back, releasing the superhero zoner. Snap immediately jumped out of the way to avoid being grabbed. He darted around the night zoners and headed straight for his friends to help them get free. It was not an easy thing to do. Even with his strongest punches and kicks, the night zoners weren’t so easily persuaded to let go. It took a combination of his efforts as well as their struggles before any of the others could be freed. As they were freed one by one, they began to fight back and aided in the freeing of everyone else. As soon as they were all let go, they knocked back the night zoners as hard as they could before taking off. sss Blocky panted heavily as he struggled to keep running. With these legs, it was not easy to maintain a quick speed. His light weight did help a little, but that didn’t mean much when his short legs did not allow for long sprints. At least, that’s how it usually was. But with the danger right behind them, he could feel himself propelling himself forward faster, the adrenaline pumping through his body, giving him more energy than ever before. He continued to pound the ground with his feet as he ran as fast as he could, struggling to keep up with the others. None of them knew where they were going. And being out in the open did little to comfort them. They were in hostile territory with night zoners everywhere. They didn’t even know where the night zone ended or anything. So this made it impossible for them to determine just where they could go to escape. For all they knew, the path that they were taking was going to lead them down some really dangerous place, and there was nothing that they could do about it. All they could do was just keep running. He shuddered as he heard the night zoners chasing them. He was amazed that they could even keep a step ahead of them. Then again, with the uncertain boundaries, the fact that the night zoners went slower did make sense. They were trying to avoid getting themselves injured too much if they accidentally crossed over into a day zone. This meant that it would likely be hard to trick them into going into a day zone by mistake to deterr them. Not that the rectangular zoner wanted to cause them that much pain anyway. He just wanted to get out of here. But that was not going to be easy. Then again, nothing about this was ever said to be easy. Nor was it predictable. None of them had any idea that they would accidentally wander into a Night Zone that fast nor did they see themselves getting captured so quickly. They were lucky to have escaped being caged, but how long would that last? How long did they have to run before they could end up recaptured? He wasn’t sure, and at the moment, he couldn’t really focus on that. He just continued running, hoping that he could find a place that he could rest and let his swift moving mind calm down a little. So much has happened today, he could feel his head pounding, his brain practically ready to explode. “Get a move on, you coward!” Snarled Howdy as he looked at him over his shoulder. “Are you trying to get us all caught?!” “I’m moving as fast as I can!” Howdy replied. He pumped his chest in and out as he took in and released each breath. He could feel his mouth becoming a little salty and dry. “I’m trying, Howdy! I’m really trying!” “It sure doesn’t seem like it! I hope you can learn to run faster, or are you trying to get us in trouble, just like how you allowed Rapsheeba to get caught by Skrawl?” Howdy growled at him. Blocky felt his heart sting at this. He couldn’t believe that Howdy was still hounding him about that. It hurt even more knowing that Howdy was usually his friend. Now he wasn’t even sure if that was the case anymore. Howdy sure wasn’t acting like a friend right now. More like the biggest asshole he’s seen that wasn’t an enemy zoner. A part of him was angry with the puppet zoner, but on the other hand, he did understand why Howdy was so upset. Still, he wished that he would just back off for a while. This was not the place for... “Look out!” The two of them jumped to the side as one of the wolf-like night zoners tried to bite them. Its long, snapping jaws just barely missed them. They could feel the hot breath of the zoner against them and Blocky was quite certain that some of the drool got on him. The two zoners nearly slipped as they turned around, dodging another attack. At one point, Blocky fell into the ground. He let out a cry of pain as he felt one of his legs bend the wrong way. It didn’t break or anything, but it did leave him with a sore limb. He looked up and he could see Howdy coming towards him. The puppet zoner grabbed onto him and yanked him up. Blocky attempted to thank him, but the puppet zoner immediately gave him the cold shoulder and he resumed his running. Though his stomach stung, Blocky continued to run off after Howdy and the others, too worried about the zoners behind him to care as much about what Howdy did. They made their way through one of the alleyways. There was no telling where this was going to take them, or if they were even going the right way. But they still headed down the pathways cutting between the buildings. This provided them with some protection, blocking off part of the night zoners’ path to them to make it more difficult for them to attack. They had only two ways to come in. While this limited them as well, it also limited their attackers. The growling sounds the night zoners made was absolutely horrendous. It made them freeze and shudder, a few of them unable to stop the low whimpers coming out of their mouths. They could feel the raw terror shooting through their bodies as they wandered aimlessly through this Night Zone section of ChalkZone City. The growling and snarling noises only increased this uncomfortable sensation. Blocky could feel his heart skip a beat when he looked up and saw that some of the night zoners were able to move along the walls. They zigzagged alone as though they were just living shadows and they were coming down straight for them from either side. He could see that they were coming straight for where Thoughtless was, and he realized that they must be trying to target the two injured ones. “Blocky! Do something!” Howdy shouted. His eyes were wide in horror. He was obviously seeing the same thing as Blocky did. “Don’t just stand there!” But Blocky couldn’t do anything. He just wasn’t fast enough. Before he could even try to speak, the wolf-like zoner that tried to bite him and Howdy before had managed to knock Thoughtless into the ground. This sent Penny crashing into the ground next to it while Rapsheeba rolled painfully across the ground likely worsening her back injury. Blocky stared at this in horror. He was barely aware of the others stopping as he watched the scene unfold before him. He could see Penny’s limp body on the ground, bent in an odd way. He could see Rapsheeba trying to push herself up, her teeth gritted in pain. He could see Thoughtless trying to get at them before the night zoners did, only to be held back by two more that caught up. Thought Rudy and Snap did manage to intervene, they weren’t able to stop the wolf night zoner from being able to land a strike on Penny and Rapsheeba. He let out a yelp of pain as he felt one of the other night zoners ram him into the ground. He looked up in fear, his eyes bulging. The night zoner had its mouth wide open, preparing to crush his body between its jaws. He reached up with his hands and tried to stop it. He felt the snout pushing against his hands as he tried to force it back. Though he tried, he could still feel the zoner push down further, its hot breath hitting against his face. “Leave him alone!” Snap shouted as he rushed over as quickly as he could. He pulled back a blue gloved fist and struck the night zoner in its cheek, tossing its head aside. He then turned his attention to Blocky and grabbed onto his hand to help him up. “Come on! Hurry!” As Blocky ran with Snap, he was glad to see that Thoughtless managed to get away from the night zoners had gotten Rapsheeba and Penny back on its back. He wasn’t sure how it managed it this quickly or if Rudy and Howdy had any involvement in it. But at the moment, he was just glad that they were being carried again and they were once more on their way to escape the wrath of the night zoners. Of course, just how long would this last? That wouldn’t be the first time they would be stopped. At least two other times, the night zoners would nearly get them. They would fight back of course, be knocked down or whatever. Though they still managed to get away, they were starting to slow down. Blocky began to wonder if the night zoners were doing this on purpose and they were just trying to weaken them. This certainly seemed the case as they continued on. The night zoners’ attacks started to feel more and more strategic, and eventually it clicked in his mind. That was what they were trying to do. Weaken them. Slow them down. Make it easier for an ambush. He gritted his teeth. If that is the case, then they needed to think of a new strategy. Something that would get these night zoners off of their backs so they can get to safety. Up ahead, they could see two pathways they could take. When they got up there, they turned to the left. They headed down this way and saw there was yet another two way right in front of them. They turned to the left again and they huddled in the dark space provided by a shattered part of the building, blackness covering them. This did seem to slow down the night zoners. They didn’t come in right away. They had no idea where they were. This was just a delay of course, and they all knew they would be found eventually. But at least this would buy them a little bit of time to think of a strategy to get away. A plan of attack, something. Blocky could feel his mind swirling in his head. He had his mouth open, continuing to pant. He tried to be as quiet as he could, although that was not easy. If anything, his attempts only seem to make him sound louder. He did feel a pang in his chest at this realization and he hoped that he wasn’t unintentionally making things worse for the others. If they were all caught because of him...he didn’t know what he would do. There had to be something that could be done. A way to distract those zoners somehow. He quickly realized that perhaps one of them could be a distraction. Perhaps Snap? He was quick enough and he could easily keep out of those zoners’ ways as he led them away from them, giving them enough time to flee. Yeah, that could work. Then Snap could join them around somewhere else and... He heard some footsteps behind him and he turned his head. He could see Howdy storming towards him. Blocky felt his heart skip a beat as he saw his expression. Howdy was clearly angrier at him now than he had been before. He gritted his teeth as he whirled himself around to face him. He felt himself start to take a few steps back, trying to maintain distance between him and the puppet zoner. Him being so much smaller than him did little to lessen his fear of him. “Howdy...” Rudy said softly, trying to get his attention. “Don’t...” Rapsheeba warned him. But Howdy paid attention to none of them as he continued to approach the rectangular zoner. Howdy’s face contorted further as he got up close with Blocky. His breathing came in seeths between his teeth, his voice having a growly edge to it as he struggled to control his temper. His chest inflated and deflated riggidly, making Blocky lean away from him in fear. He watched the zoner carefully, wondering what he was going to do to him. “Once again, you displayed just how cowardly you are...” Howdy said through clenched teeth. “Just..what the fuck is wrong with you?! I asked you again for help for the others and you still backed down! What was going on inside your mind, or were you not thinking at all?!” Blocky cringed at this. Howdy was so uncharacteristically angry, acting more hostile than usual. The tension of the situations they were placed in did a lot to explain this, but it did not make him feel any safer around him. Nor did it do anything to calm his swirling mind. “H-Howdy...” He raised a shaky hand. The puppet zoner seethed at this. “Don’t you fucking dare try that on me!” “Howdy! Knock it off!” Rudy commanded. Howdy glared at him. “Stay out of this!” He turned his attention back to Blocky. At the moment, he looked so unlike himself. This was not the Howdy they all had come to know. “As for you...” He took a step closer to Blocky. “Why don’t you at least try to make yourself useful? Or are you too chicken for that?! You used to be such a good soldier, but it seems like as soon as Lars was killed, you fell apart! You’re spineless, Blocky! You will never be worth anything now! You’re garbage!” Silence fell upon the area at this. Though Howdy’s shouting was actually done in a quiet manner to avoid getting caught, it still sounded booming in Blocky’s head. He couldn’t stop staring at the puppet zoner in shock, unable to believe what he was hearing. This was so out of character for the puppet zoner that it was hard to believe that it was even him. And he wasn’t the only one shocked by his harsh words. “Howdy...how could you...?” Snap whispered softly, staring at Howdy in shock. “You know Blocky is...” “A coward? Yes, I know.” Howdy said bitterly. “And he always will be...” “Howdy, I thought we talked about this before. Why aren’t you listening?” Rapsheeba narrowed her eyes into slits as she watched the puppet zoner intently. “You are not being fair to him, and I told you that you should wait until we find an actual safe place before you decide to express your criticism towards him, or anything. We’re kind of in a rut right now and...” “Yeah, because of his failure. If it weren’t for him, none of us would be in this mess!” Howdy called out. “You don’t know that for sure!” Rudy tried to say, but Howdy had turned his back to him, glaring back at Blocky. “Why don’t you curl up somewhere and just...stay there! Why are you even with us? You can’t do anything right! If you are unwilling to actually help us, then why don’t you just d...” After that, the puppet zoner was stopped as the others began to argue with him. Blocky remained still and quiet as he watched the puppet zoner carefully. He felt his heart rate increasing, pounding against his chest. He didn’t need the puppet zoner to finish his sentence to know what that last word was going to be. Ice shot through his heart, and he could feel his lower lip quivering a little. He couldn’t believe that Howdy was the one saying these things to him. Howdy, the zoner he thought he could trust. This just...wasn’t the Howdy that he knew. He was just too..different. His personality was all wrong. The real Howdy wouldn’t be this cruel. He would have been more optimistic, more encouraging... He wouldn’t tear him apart verbally like this. He was acting almost as though...he was under the influence of something else... That was it. That was probably what was going on with Howdy. Maybe something happened to him earlier and he got ‘infected’ with something or whatever. That would certainly explain any of his unusual aggression lately. But when could it have happened? Perhaps during the invasion, something happened there. Maybe a shard of one of the geomite weapons had gotten lodged into him. That was certainly possible, with all the attacks they had to endure before they were finally caught. He tried looking around for the shard, his eyes scanning the infuriated zoner’s body. From this distance, he wasn’t able to tell where the shard was, or if there was even one at all. He would have to actually get up close and personal with the puppet zoner, and in his current state, he didn’t think he wanted to do that. He had no idea how Howdy would react if he tried getting too close to him. He... Suddenly there was a howl not far from them. They whipped their heads over in its direction. Even though there was no words in that howl, they immediately realized just what was going on. The night zoners must have found them, or they were going to find them soon. Indeed, they could hear foosteps and they realized that they were getting closer. If they remained here for much longer, they were in big trouble. The pathway they chose was a deadend. And if they attempted to leave forward, they run the risk of getting caught. They were trapped. Or were they? Blocky thought back to his earlier plan about distraction. Snap was pretty fast and he could easily lead them away. That would give them enough time to escape by going in the opposite direction. It was still risky of course, and it came with its own set of problems. But it was worth a try, right? Then Howdy’s words echoed in his mind, causing him to bite his lip. No, he realized. He couldn’t force Snap to do it. Snap still had more to offer to the team, and if something happened to him while he was leading the night zoners away.... No, it had to be someone who was less valuable and more expendable. With Howdy’s words echoing inside his skull, he realized who was best suited for this job. Himself. Looking at the others for a few moments, regarding their confused expressions, as well as Howdy’s furious look as he bored his eyes through his, Blocky turned himself around and he stared over towards the only entrance into this alleyway. He remained silent for a few moments, taking in a deep breath and sighing slowly. “Blocky?” Rapsheeba asked nervously. “What are you doing?” “Why are you standing there? Is something wrong?” Rudy asked. Blocky shook his head. “No..nothing’s wrong...” The tone of his voice didn’t make it easy for the others to believe him, or did it help him believe himself for that matter. He let out another sigh before he turned his head and he looked over at them. “I have a plan that can help you all get out of this.” “A plan, huh? So you’re finally going to be useful?” Howdy folded his arms against his chest. “Howdy...!” Rapsheeba hissed before turning to look at Blocky. “What is your plan, Blocky?” Blocky didn’t answer her. “Blocky...?” Slowly a small smile crept along his face. It seemed realization struck her. “Y-You’re not...” “I hope you all can run really fast. I don’t know how long I can keep them busy.” Blocky said as he turned around. “But I will try to buy you guys enough time...” “What...?” Howdy’s confused voice came. “What are you....?” “Blocky!” Snap cried out. “Please, don’t do this! We need you here! We...” Blocky shook his head. “Howdy is right. I should have tried to make myself more useful. And now I am going to rectify that.” He narrowed his eyes in determination as he glared in the direction the night zoners were going to come from. “I will do what I can to keep them busy for however long I can. Just worry about getting yourselves out of here!” “Blocky! You...You can’t! You...” Rudy called out towards him. “Please think about what you’re doing!” It was Rapsheeba’s turn to shout. Her voice was laced in agony, and he had a feeling that here eyes were wide in horror. “Please Blocky..just..come with us! We’ll think of another way! W-We can’t lose you!” “I will be fine. I promise.” Blocky didn’t know why he said that. He knew full well that he might not make it out of this. Yet he still found himself trying to ensure to the others that everything was going to be all right. It was the least he could do before he raced of in this possibly suicidal mission. He took one last look over his shoulder. He looked from left to right, seeing all of them staring right back at him. He could see the shock and horror in their eyes as they realized just what was going to happen. He could hear them silently try to stop him, their soft whispers and pleas gracing him. He did not answer them, nor did he enjoy the thought of what he was about to do. But at the very least, he would be able to do something to help ensure their survival. Well..here went nothing. There was no turning back now. It was time to take action. As the night zoners got closer and closer, that gave him less time to act. If he moved now, he could at least trick the night zoners into thinking he was separated from the others, and they wouldn’t realize that he was really just a decoy. “Blocky...wait...” Howdy’s soft voice came. Blocky didn’t bother looking back at him. Without hesitation, he began to rush forward, moving as quickly as he could. “Blocky! No!” The rectangular zoner ignored Howdy’s calls for him as he continued to run out. He went around the bend and he could see the curving shadows on the wall as the night zoners began to come through. He froze for a moment, wondering if he was doing the right thing. He shook off this feeling and rushed over towards them, trying to make it look as though he was merely aimlessly wandering to give the illusion that the others weren’t around here. As soon as he reached the front of this street, the other night zoners immediately took notice of him. They went from search mode to attack mode and they turned towards him. Blocky let out a few screams as he struggled to dodge them. He ran through them, striking them, scratching them, whatever he could to ensure that the zoners’ attention were fully on him. Once he was certain that it was, he began to run down the opposite direction they had come, prompting the zoners to immediately come after him. So far, it was working quite well. Though he was terrified, he was also proud of himself. Now not only was he proving himself, but he was also giving his friends a chance to get away. This was truly a.... Suddenly the werewolf zoner from before, the higher up that they encountered, jumped in his path. Blocky scrambled to a stop, feeling a sense of horror as he realized not only the danger he was in, but that he hadn’t managed to delay the night zoners for as long as he had hoped. But was the werewolf zoner raised his paw up, he realized that this was going to be the last of his problems. Before he could get out of the way, the werewolf zoner struck him. Claws filled his vision. Then something warm and crimson blocked everything. Then a flash of pain exploded, raging through his body. He was aware of a distant screaming that he realized was his own. Before he knew it, he was on the ground, spasming in pain. Then nothing but blackness and silent. |
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Post by Bluedramon on Oct 4, 2015 16:09:42 GMT -5
Chapter 69:
Rudy was stunned by this turn of events. He had watched Blocky rush out into the danger. He could hear his footsteps as he left them, getting the attention of their pursuers and leading them away. He had watched it all and he could only watch, unable to move. He felt so sickened with himself, but he didn’t try standing around there for much longer. He turned to the others and made a quick gesture with his head. With a nod of their heads, they all ran.
He wasn’t sure where they were going to go or how far they needed trek before they could be considered safe. He tried not to think about Blocky and the danger he was in. He tried not to think about Howdy and the harsh words he spoke prior to Blocky making this sacrifice. He just focused the best he could on running, making sure that the others were keeping up with him.
They rushed in the opposite direction Blocky had went, despite any instinct any of them had to go after the rectangular zoner. They headed down the street, moving as quickly as they could, their feet pounding the ground heavily. They did feel a pang of fear at this, worried that they might end up attracting the attention of the night zoners. Thankfully, it seemed Blocky’s efforts were going quite well. They hadn’t run into any of the pursuing night zoners so far, meaning that Blocky’s plan was working. They still felt a pang in their chests, though, and they hoped that he was going to be all right.
They continued heading down this particular street. They ignored the uncomfortable sights all around them. All the torn down materials, the debris, the cobwebs... They littered this place, creating a rather foreboding area. And it didn’t help that there were several posters all around them, mostly propaganda against the day zoners, likely to fuel hatred among any night zoners that might have some reason to doubt the blaming of them. The posters were horrid... Especially the ones depicting recognizable day zoners as more monsterous than they ever were, including Rapsheeba herself. Ignoring this was not easy and they couldn’t help but feel their blood boil as they saw all of this. But they still managed to keep moving forward, focusing on getting to safety.
As they turned onto another street upon nearly going into yet another dead end, Rudy thought he saw something in the distance. Could it be possible that.... Oh yes, there it was. He put his hand over his head, allowing his eyes to better focus on it. He could see it plain as day there. Right before them, there was something that caught his eye.
It was some kind of worn down building. It laid on a diagonal position, leaning against another building that was remarkably strong, at least enough to hold the support of this leaning building. It was colored a deep red and the bottom part had been ripped and torn. The foundation of the building was exposed to them. It was almost like a knocked down tree, only with wires and crumbled cement instead of dirt and roots. There was a shadow that seemed to creep out onto the ground, and a strange cold air they could feel from here. That darkness was not flat and seemed to go in for a while.
Rudy realized instantly that they had finally found their hideout. This place was perfect. It looked so worn that the night zoners might not think they’d ever come here. And it was so dark that their pursuers would have a hard time seeing them even if they did decide to come this way. It was perfect..or at least, as close to perfection as they were going to get.
Ushering the others to follow him, they made their way towards the building. Doing so was quite risky, especially with Penny and Rapsheeba to look after. The land around them was not even; there were plenty of rocks and broken boulder-sized things to watch out for. The ground beneath them shifted constantly. Rudy himself could feel his feet slipping, nearly bending awkwardly and forcing him into the ground. He had to struggle to keep himself from falling down. But this did not always work and a few times, he and the others did lose their footing and fall. They struggled not to scream, not wanting to attract the night zoners to their current location.
Despite the troubles that they were having, they did manage to keep moving forward. They made slow, steady progress as they headed up the rocky, uneven slope. They kept up a good pace, even with all the falling or near tripping. Then, eventually, after a lot of panting, pained legs, and struggling, they made it.
Going underneath the building was rather uncomfortable. They could see things dangling down, a few spurts of light, and the air was quite dusty, making it hard to breathe at times. There was also a sense of foreboding as they entered here. They clenched their teeth tightly as they forced themselves to go underneath here. They tried to ignore the chills they got as they moved themselves underneath this precarious-looking building, the jagged edges from where it broke hanging over them. Soon they settled down on a small patch of even ground, one of the few that there was, and allowed their minds to wander.
Rudy crossed his legs, bringing them up to his chest. He tried to ignore the pain the beast that he could. This wasn’t too hard, considering that he had much more on his mind than just what was going on with himself. Despite how scary this place was, he didn’t have too much difficulty in concentrating enough to focus on trying to figure out just what they were going to do.
But exactly...what were they going to do? The situation they had been presented with was not an easy one to deal with. He couldn’t begin to fathom how they were going to get out of this one. They needed a way to get out of this Night Zone and back into a Day Zone where it was safer and....
But Day Zones weren’t that safe either, now that he thought about it. He remembered that the Day Zones were patrolled by Beanie Boys. They would be jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. Both the Beanie Boys and night zoners were dangerous. And the fates that they would bring upon them...neither of them were pleasant and were equally horrifying. There was no way that they could pick the ‘lesser of two evils’, especially when both sides wanted them dead. It was as though they were surrounded and trapped between either lava or fire. Both would kill them equally painfully.
He didn’t give up, though. There had to be something that they could do. There had to be a way out of this situation. If they all worked together, he was certain that they could come up with some kind of solution.
He looked over at the others, watching them carefully. They hadn’t been too talkative lately, which did not surprise him. Considering their situation, they had much less of a reason to talk and more of a reason to try to get out of here. He wondered if they were in more of a talkative mood now, considering that they were away from the night zoners and in a...seemingly...safe location. There was little chance for the night zoners to find them here. At least not for a while. They needed to take this opportunity to start planning on how they were going to get out of this Night Zone and on their way to the Chalk Mine.
The thought of the Chalk Mine made him bite his lip. He wondered just how Biclops was doing. He had no idea what was happening to him or what condition he was in. He hoped he was okay. Same thing went with Blocky. He prayed that Blocky would be able to hold out long enough for them to find him later, before the night zoners could nab him. He took in a deep breath and sighed slowly.
He didn’t speak right away. For a few moments, he let the realization of what took place wash over him. The others seemed to be doing the same thing. Thoughtless remained neutral for the most part, and of course Penny was still out cold. But the others were quite shaken up by Blocky’s sacrifice. The one most affected appeared to be Howdy.
Rudy could see the look in the zoner’s eyes. He could see the guilt that washed over him. While a part of Rudy was glad that Howdy felt bad as it this meant that he did feel some guilt in what he did, another part of him did feel sympathy for the puppet zoner. And for the others as well. He wished he could say something to lighten the mood. But...just what could he say? All he could do was just remain silent for the next few moments, gritting his teeth, feeling his stomach fill with toxins. Poor Blocky...
He managed to shake his head, stopping the despairing thoughts from taking him over. He looked at the others once more, biting his lip. It was about time that he addressed the issue at hand. He hated to interrupt everyone from their thoughts, but it wasn’t like time was on their side. They needed a plan now.
“So...any ideas?” Rudy said, finally breaking the silence.
The others looked at one another. They didn’t answer right away. They remained silent, though their expressions exchanged silent responses. Confusion and uncertainty being the main ones. Not that Rudy was surprised. He actually expected this to be the case after all that’s happened. He could only hope that, in spite of any confusion, they could figure a way out of this and fast.
Then they looked back at him. For a few moments, Rudy thought that they were going to respond. Snap and Rapsheeba had their mouths open. They looked ready to speak. But they seemed only fall utterly silent. The longer this lasted, the more tense the air around them started to feel. Rudy wasn’t sure how long this lasted before anything changed. Before he knew it, he could see them shaking their heads, their expressions contorting in confusion and sorrow. Not one of them knew how they were going to get out of here.
“Sorry, Bucko. I wish we could be more positive, but we’re just as stuck as you are.” Snap said softly, raising his arms into the air. “We don’t even know if we could come up with an escape plan soon enough, before....”
<Now that’s no way to behave!> Barked Thoughtless. It raised its head up, its crown moving up slightly. <I’m sure we could think of something! I just...> It turned its head downward a little. <I’m not sure what yet...>
Snap frowned at it. “Not so easy, now is it?” Thoughtless frowned at him, but remained silent.
“I’m sure we can think of something, though.” Rapsheeba said, trying to sound more certain than the others. “If we could get out of Skrawl’s castle, we can find a way to get out of here, too. I know it won’t be easy, but we can’t give up! Not after all that we’ve managed to accomplish so far.”
“Yeah? Like what? Getting chased around, having ourselves narly get killed? Yeah that’s sure a lot that we did!” Snap barked at her. Rapsheeba gasped at this, widening her eyes. Snap realized what he did and he immediately flinched. “I’m...sorry, Rapsheeba. I didn’t mean it. I..” He closed his mouth and turned his head away from her.
Rudy watched his friend sadly, wishing he could say something to help him feel better. But there was no time for consolation. They had to focus on trying to figure out how they would get out of here. Emotions would have to be set aside for now. Not an easy task, but still needed if they were ever going to get out of this place in time.
“Come on, guys. Let’s talk about this... I’m sure we can...”
He did not notice Howdy moving away from the group.
sss
Howdy watched the group in silence, listening to them speak about what they were going to do. He could hear the confusion and uncertainty and the determination that everyone felt. He could feel their worry and their anxiety as it filled the air up almost completely, making it hard for anyone to move without feeling this thickness. He fould feel his legs growing a little weak, not wanting to move away too much and just collapse to the ground.
And yet he couldn’t do that. He couldn’t stay here. He couldn’t call anyone for help. He needed to do something first. It wasn’t just a ‘want’; it was an outright need. He felt he had no choice in this, and he wasn’t about to back down from it now.
If he was going to do this, he had to leave now. The others were not looking at him at the moment. He needed to take this chance now if he was going to get out of here. They would surely try to stop him if they saw him trying to leave them. They might understand why he felt the need to do this, but they would still try to stop him. And he did not want to be stopped. He had to get going. He did not have a choice. If he did not do this now, then who knows what was going to happen?
Oh Blocky... How could he have said those things to him? Howdy could not believe all the things he told that rectangular zoner. How he was worthless, a coward.... Oh how wrong he had been. Because of him, Blocky had broke off away from them and made the ultimate sacrifice. He led the other night zoners away from them, giving them all a chance to be free. In that moment, Blocky was more of a hero than he ever would be.
Howdy fought against the tears that formed in his eyes. He could feel the echoes of his harsh words in his mind. He could see Blocky’s expressions to what he said, his meak responses as he tried to defend himself or was just too stunned to say anything. The thought of it caused a burning sensation to shoot through his stomach. And it was all his fault.
He needed to try to make amends to the rectangular zoner. He needed to do something to show him how sorry he was. He didn’t want Blocky dying believing that he hated him. He wanted Blocky to know just how sorry he truly was for how he had treated him. Despite his anger, he knew that he had no right to speak to Blocky that way. Absolutely no right... He had to make it up to him somehow.
But first he would have to find him. He needed to get away from the others and head down to find the green zoner. That meant going back, reverse tracking until he found where they were before, and then going where Blocky had went. He had no idea where the paper-like zoner could have gone after that. But he did know that heading that way was his best bet at finding him. He just needed to keep following that path, keeping his eyes and ears open for any screams or shouts from the rectangular zoner.
The thought of Blocky getting into painful trouble because of him caused his gut to twist. He wished so much that he could take back what he said. It should have been him himself to go out and face the dangers of the night zoners, not Blocky. No... Blocky didn’t deserve that. He didn’t deserve to be ripped apart by those horrible zoners. If there was anyone who deserved that kind of treatment, it was Howdy himself.
Howdy struggled not to bite his own tongue as he felt the burning rage rise up inside of him. He could feel his body trembling hard, washing through him like some kind of tornado. He again recalled all the nasty things he said. Each one made him want to punch himself in the gut. He should have realized that he was going too far, and yet he still... Oh gawd, what had he done? He was such a jerk. Blocky... He hoped that he would forgive him. He hoped that they could put all of this behind them and they could go back to how they were before.
Just...why did he react like that anyway? What possessed him to snap at Blocky in such a horrible way? Why wasn’t he behaving like himself? Why did he feel so off? As if someone else was pulling the strings?
Howdy felt a pang of fear at this. What if that was the case? What if he was being influenced by an outside force? Something that he wasn’t able to detect, and yet was still controlling him part way. What if...
Howdy bit his lip at this realization. If there was something going on with him... Well that was just more reason for him to leave, right? He couldn’t stay here if he was going to be a potential threat. He had to get out of here before he could end up hurting someone. That, and he still felt compelled to try finding Blocky and making it up to him. He was way out of line with him, way too hard. Blocky deserved a full apology for him. And he might need his help, too. Who knows what those night zoners were going to do with him...
That was it. His mind was made up. He was not going to remain here any longer. He didn’t care what the others thought of him leaving like this. He didn’t care if they would disapprove. He didn’t care if they did try to stop him. Nothing was going to prevent him from trying to do this. He needed to do this. There was just no choice in the matter.
So, as the others continued speaking, Howdy made his way towards the exit. He did give them all one last look, biting his lip. Despite his determination, he did feel a pang of guilt in leaving them like this. He shook off that feeling, frowned deeply, and turned away from them. He walked out of the safety of the building and headed back down the rocky slope.
As he did so, he imagined just what might be going on with Blocky. His heart clenched at the thought of him being injured. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he thought about all the pain and misery he could be put through right now.
And it was all his fault...
Howdy shook his head, trying to shake off the stinging feeling of guilt. He tried to fight back the tears that began to form. No, he couldn’t let himself fall into despair. He couldn’t allow himself to grow too weak. How was he going to help Blocky if he was too caught him in his own emotions? He had to be strong. There would be time to express emotions later. Right now, he needed to find Blocky.
He needed to save his best friend.
sss
The nurse frowned softly as she inspected the boy’s throat. Reggie held still as he felt the fingers gently move along, carefully proding the flesh and skin there as she peered at it closely. The touching only caused a few slight stings. Otherwise, the nurse was careful to avoid causing too much pain for him.
The nurse soon pulled away and she turned her body around. She looked over at the only other person in the room, his father, and started to speak to him. “He is doing much better now.”
Mr. Bullnerd let out a sigh of relief. “Oh thank goodness...” He smiled at this good news. Then a concerned look came over his face. He motioned his hand towards her and said, “When do you think he will be able to leave?”
The nruse looked back down at Rudy. Her eyes were stern and yet gentle. She looked over his body for a few seconds, her eyes scanning around, focusing mostly on the boy’s throat where the worst damage had been done. She clenched her teeth tightly and then forced a sigh through her partially open mouth. “It will take a bit of time. I can see him leaving in the next few days, though, if all goes well.” She looked over her shoulder and stared at the father with one eye. “But I cannot promise anything.”
Mr. Bullnerd nodded at this. “I understand.”
Reggie wanted to feel happy about this. He had gotten tired of laying around in the hospital all the time. True, it was not for that long. At least not for when he was awake. It was only...what...a few hours maybe? He could have had a much worse case scenario and...he didn’t want to think about it. Besides, he had many other things floating around inside his mind at the moment. Especially one that, for him, was a bit more pressing.
He could not believe that Rudy had actually...ripped out his throat like that... He could not remember the bite, and yet he could still imagine those teeth going into his neck. Those buck teeth especially looked like they could do some horrible damage. He could feel the tips of them entering his neck even as he laid there. He felt the dull and sharp pain that came with the teeth entering into his flesh. And then he could feel and taste the blood flowing forth. He...
He couldn’t shake the thought out of his head completely. No matter how hard he tried, it just kept returning. He couldn’t help but shudder a little. In response, his heart monitor began to beat a little faster. It only lasted for a moment, but it was enough to get the nurse’s attention.
“Now now, Reggie Bullnerd. You musn’t do that.” The nurse said sharply, yet gently at the same time. “You need to relax. We can’t have you enter a panic attack or else that might just make things worse for you. You will be fine and recover shortly. You will see.”
Reggie wasn’t really sure how much of her words he could believe. He clenched his teeth tightly as he struggled to deal with the rapid moving images of Rudy’s snarling face in his head. Even without seeing it, that image was engrained into his skull. He sucked in a sharp breath and said, “Yeah, whatever, lady.”
“Reggie...” His father warned.
“Oh don’t worry about it.” The nurse raised her hand up, stopping his dad from speaking further. “The important thing is that he is at least recovering. If he is well enough to snark at me like that, then things are looking up.” She looked down at the clipboard that she held in her hands. “I am still a little concerned, though.”
“What? But I thought that...” Mr. Bullerd bit his lip tightly. “What else is wrong with him?”
“Well...” The nurse walked a little closer to the man. She moved the clipboard towards him so he could take a look at it. “You see this here? That’s not...”
Reggie tuned out what the nurse was saying. He was curious of course, and he could feel his heart clenching in his chest when she mentioned that something else might be wrong. But with the worries already clouding his mind, he really didn’t want to make it worse for himself. He struggled the best he could to just push the thought aside for now and worry about it later.
Rudy’s actions... He was still horrified by them. He could never imagine that boy doing something like that. He was usually so nice and kind. For him to do something like that, it just...made no sense. He couldn’t fathom a reason for why he...
There was the red chalk though wasn’t there? Suddenly, his body tensed up in realization.
As much as Rudy’s actions scared him, the red chalk frightened him even more. The potential of what it could do, how it influenced Rudy and Penny, turning them into wild animals, how it nearly gained a control over him... He couldn’t help but press himself against the bed, his fingers pressing into the soft covers. Oh gawd.... What else could the red chalk do? Was it capable of doing even more? Had he seen just the eye of the storm?
He tried not to think about it, and yet that was all he could think about. The idea wouldn’t leave him alone; it continued to rage through his body, causing himself to shiver a little. He did remember the nurse’s words and he did manage to keep himself calm enough to avoid his heart racing any faster. A difficult task, but still doable.
However, that did not calm down the raging storm inside of his head. His wide eyes stared out into nothingness as he thought about what had happened. Memories had begun to flood back into him, and more details began to expose themselves. He clenched his teeth tightly and shivered. The red chalk... Had he truly seen the last of it? Or was he about to experience more of it? He wasn’t sure if he wanted the answer to that.
He wondered...just what was going on with Rudy and Penny right now anyway? From what his dad said, they still hadn’t returned. A part of him was relieved by this. He didn’t know how much his mind could handle seeing them, especially Rudy, back so quickly. And yet, despite not being their friend, he could not help but wonder if something terrible had happened to them. But there was one thing he was certain that he knew.
Wherever they were now, they were probably doing all right. If they could handle the chalk world for, what, months, then they could handle it for a few hours. Then they would eventually return and everything would go back to the way it was before.
...or would it...?
sss
Mrs. Sanchez frowned softly as she continued to pace back and forth. She remained utterly silent, even as she heard whispers from the Tabooties. She turned her head to them, watching them as they spoke to one another, doing their best to comfort each other. And then she went back to pacing around, her arms folded behind her back. She looked over at the portal, watching it carefully. When nothing new happened, she returned to her pacing.
She didn’t know just how long she had done this for. And she wasn’t really sure if she cared to remember. Knowing might only increase her frustration and make her seethe through her clenched teeth. She might lose her patience and do something more drastic. They had all agreed that they would do nothing until they got word from their children. But who knows when that would be?
There would be times when she’d think she’d see something. A tiny flicker in the corner of her vision. She would then look over, hoping that it was the magic chalk forming a new portal. But she would only be greeted by the blackness of a chalkboard, and she would realize the white that she saw was nothing more than the white-ish smears that adorned the board. She would give off a sigh and turn her head away. She knew that if she kept staring, it was only going to make time seem to go by much slower. But then... she just couldn’t stop looking. She couldn’t help but wonder if the next time she looked, something would change and...
But nothing would change, now would it? It was the same story every time. There was little chance of it changing any time soon. Why would she even think about it being any different? It was always going to be the same and she was just going to have to live with it. Maybe her daughter would return soon, but she would never find out until much later on. That’s how it was going to be, right?
A part of her thought that after they returned here, she would feel a little better. Honestly, she was a bit unnerved by Ming Long after what had happened before. She wanted to forget about it and focus on waiting for their children to return. And yet it seemed her tension had only increased.
Well, why wouldn’t it? Their children were still in that world and they were still trapped here, unable to do anything about it. All they could do was just stand around here like idiots, wasting the day away, staring at the chalkboard and hoping and praying that Penny and Rudy returned. And even if they did return, who is to say that they would be in that great of condition? For all she knew, they could come back in pieces and...
No, she couldn’t think like that. She couldn’t allow herself to give into despair. She couldn’t let herself think that things could get that bad. They knew that world well, didn’t they? They knew how to get around it. They knew how to get themselves out of there safely. She just had to wait and see. Everything was going to be all right, and things soon would return back to normal. She just had to keep believing that it would. Though she wasn’t one for hoping for a miracle, having a little bit of hope would do her, and the Tabooties, some good.
She stared over at them. She took in a deep breath and sighed. A part of her wanted to speak to them. She wanted to try to cheer them up. She wanted to help them through this. But she knew that there was nothing that she could say to them to help this situation become any better. She couldn’t event hink of anything to say. All she could do was hope that they would be able to make it through this.
But that was possible. She could see Mr. Tabootie sling his arm over his wife’s shoulder and pull her close. She watched as Mrs. Tabootie snuggled up against him, sighing in contentment. She couldn’t help but smile herself at this sight. She was glad that, even in this moment of confusion and anxiety, they were able to look to each other for strength and conform. In this situation, they were going to need a lot of that.
But still, she wished she could enter that chalk world, She wished that she and the Tabooties could just forego their promises to their children and enter that world to help them. She wished that there was some way to break into that world and save them from whatever dangers were going on inside. She couldn’t stop imagining her daughter’s screams, caushing her to shudder. There just had to be something that she could do to help.
She thought about drawing on the chalkboard, but the thought made her hesitate. Would that really be a good idea? She knew that Mr. Tabootie had tried it, but none of them could be sure that it had any real effect. They couldn’t peer into that world to try to see what was going on. They had no way to figure out just what was happening in there. All they could do was just sit here and hope and pray that something was taking effect. She could only keep hoping that her creation, if she made one, would be able to aid them.
She did not pick up the chalk drawing, however. What could she do? She had little idea of what to expect and she couldn’t help but fear that if she did try to help, she’d make things worse. For all she knew, Mr. Tabootie’s actions had caused something terrible to happen.
She bit her lip at the thought of this. While she had no way of knowing if this was the case or not, she did fear just what might have happened if that were the case. And what would happen if she did something to make it worse? Could she live with herself knowing that she did something to make her daughter’s condition worse?
No...she could not. That was why she had to remain here in silence and just wait for them. It pained her, and she knew it pained the Tabooties. She knew that the longer they waited here, the harder it was going to be for any of them to remain still. Sooner or later, they were going to lose their patience and take action. They could only hope that if they did take some sort of action, they would be able to minimize any possible damage and that their efforts would actually help Rudy and Penny rather than hinder them.
Once more, she found herself looking at the chalkboard. She clenched her teeth tightly. She stared down at the small white piece of chalk that sat there. She could see herself picking it up and drawing something on the chalkboard to try to help out their children. She could feel her arms and body try to pull her over in that direction. She could feel her legs almost begin to walk over there. It took her a great deal of effort to keep her feet firmly planted on the ground, preventing any effort to move herself in that direction.
She forced herself to let out a sigh. Even if she did draw something, how could she be comfortable with the knowledge that another chalk creature was sent after them? Their children had enough of that to deal with that world. What if she ended up making things go downhill faster if she drew something without knowing what was going on?
Her mind’s gears began to turn as she thought back to Ming Long and Terry Bouffant. She did have some comfort in knowing that Terry was locked up. She could feel a little sympathy for her with how she was treated, but at least she was behind bars now and honestly, after hearing what she did, she preferred it that way. She didn’t know if she would feel comfortable if Terry had been set free when it was revealed that she had actually killed someone.
But she was actually the least of her worries. No, she had something far more serious on her mind. Something that continued to gnaw at her mind, refusing to leave her alone.
She never thought that she would consider Ming Long a greater threat than Terry. She had seen that woman before and she did seem nice. But after what she had done with Terry, and the realization that she knew about this chalk world, whether on her own or through Terry, she couldn’t help but wonder just how much of an ally she really was. What if getting rid of Terry was only step one of the plan?
Mrs. Sanchez did not have any proof of this. She had no real idea just what that woman’s plans were. She had no idea just what to expect from her. Heck, she might not even see her ever again after that. Ming Long did not look like she wanted anything more to do with them. She hadn’t even looked at them all that much. She just stared at Terry as she was being pushed into the car, and just walked off. She followed the police and she guessed that she decided to visit Terry in jail.
But none of that was proof that Ming Long was going to leave them alone. They could still be next. Her knowledge of the chalk world was of little comfort to her. For all she knew, Ming Long had her own plans for that place. Mrs. Sanchez could just ignore this completely and just focus on something else. After all, she did not care that much about ChalkZone. But her daughter and her friend did; something that she constantly reminded herself of. They would not be happy and they’d be even less happy knowing that she and the other adults had ‘allowed’ it to happen.
Perhaps.... Perhaps something needed to be done. Perhaps they couldn’t just sit here and instead they should just take action. They might not be able to do anything about ChalkZone right now, but perhaps they could at least make sure there wasn’t another threat. She wasn’t sure if Ming Long was exactly in the mood for a chat. But perhaps she would be understanding and cooperate. After all, she might only be a total jackass to those who deserved it....right?
“Inez...?” Mrs. Tabootie spoke up softly. “What are you thinking...?”
Mrs. Sanchez turned her head and stared over at the parents. She could see how they were looking at her, their eyes brimming with curiosity. She could see many questions floating in front of their eyes, their mouths partially open as though to ask them to her. She gave a soft frown and she said, “Ming Long is at the jail, right?”
The two adults looked at each other. Mr. Tabootie answered, “W-Well...we can do deduce that and.. Wait, why do you want to know?”
Mrs. Sanchez narrowed her eyes further and she tilted her head up. “Because I think I’m going for a little visit.”
sss
Urgh....just what had happened...? It felt as though a massive weight had been dropped on his head. Just...what had taken place and why did he feel like he hadn’t slept in a long time? Just what was going on?
Blocky couldn’t see anything at the moment. His eyes were too heavy, too rigid and stiff to be opened. They felt almost like rocks that had been placed in his head. He couldn’t even fell them all that well at the moment for some reason, nor could he move them. They were just...there. Completely still, completely useless. At least for now. He didn’t really worry about it; he probably couldn’t even worry at all. His head still muggy and a dull ache spread throughout, making it hard to contentrate.
He pushed himself up on his hands. He could feel that he was in some kind of cold area. So dark, too. Even through his shut eyelids, he was not able to detect any source of light here at all. He wondered if there was even any, or if the lights were just dull and he wouldn’t see them unless he opened them up. For now, he kept them closed and pressed himself against the cold wall. He was just too tired to open his eyes just yet. He needed some time to recover a little from..whatever the heck happened to him.
How did he get here? He tried to think back to what had taken place recently. He struggled to search through his mind, doing whatever he could to try to see, in his mind’s eye, what had taken place. There had to be something in his head that held the secret to what happened. There had to be something that he could think of that would remind of him of what had taken place. Surely his mind wasn’t that much of a blank, right?
Well so far, that seemed to be the case. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t think of what could have happened. He struggled, his mind sifting through his memories, and yet nothing would bring itself forward. Nothing he did or tried would reveal anything. He could feel his blood boiling in frustration. Oh come on...it couldn’t be this hard, right? Surely he could think of something...anything... He continued struggling with his mind, feeling the dull ache get stronger with his attempts to remember.
But in the end, he was still left with nothing. Just a blankness that remained in his mind. He was not able to recall anything that would help him understand what happened. He did remember something about running away from something, but he couldn’t think of just what yet. Maybe it was that chocolate bunny rabbit again. He recalled how he and Snap had pissed her off before when they stole her eggs. Maybe she was back? Or maybe something else that he wasn’t thinking about. Maybe Skrawl had taken action and had done something really horrible. Yeah, that did sound right. But...just what did happen?
And just how much time had passed. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but something about the air around him told him that a lot of time had passed since he could last recall. The very last thing he could remember for certain was being in the hospital with Rapsheeba. Then...nothing. A total blank. Well almost. He could feel glimpses of...something, snake through the back of his mind. But they were short and fleeting and did nothing to help him remember. All he could do was remain there, gritting his teeth in frustration.
It was in that moment that he began to get a strong sene of foreboding. There was something about this place that felt so...wrong and off. Something told him that he needed to do something and fast. And yet he couldn’t bring himself to do anything. He could hardly move. He was so tired. He felt so heavy... But he had to do something soon, right? He had to get himself up and get out of here...wherever here is. Something was driving him to do so. Something in the back of his mind was telling him he needed to do this.
What if Rudy and Penny were in danger? What if Snap was in danger? What if ChalkZone was in danger? What if he had been sleeping this whole time and just finally woke up to this horrific nightmare? Sure he did not see anything yet that proved this. But he just had this gut feeling. Something just felt wrong, and if it was that bad, well... He needed to figure it out and fast. If Rudy and Penny, or any of this friends, were in danger, he needed to do something to help them. He couldn’t abandon them... He was their best friend. He might not be that strong, but he knew he still had to help them.
But first, he needed to try to open his eyes. He had to get a bearing on where he was. Even if it was totally dark and opening his eyes did nothing, he might still be able to see some scraps of light around that would give him an idea of his location. The cold dampness of the ground told him he was probably being held prisoner somewhere. This realization sent a shockwave through his body, making him stiffen up. Well if that was the case, then he really needed to get a move on. Now if he could just open his eyes, he could...
Without warning, he could feel a bolt shoot through his eyes, from one side to the other. Immediately he stiffened, his body trembling. A second later, a horrific agony shot through his body, concentrated on his face. It felt like a miniature fire was taking place there, and his eyes felt as though they had been transformed into charred blocks of coal. Unable to stop himself, he pulled his head back and let out a loud scream. It echoed across the walls around him. The volume of the echoes suggested he was in some kind of room, pretty small. But that didn’t matter too much to him right now as the pain took over his mind.
Out of instinct, he tried harder to open his eyes. He struggled with them, pulling at his eyelids, whatever he could. This only increased the pain that he felt. And when he finally had one eyelid open, the cold air that rushed in stung him horribly, forcing him to shut it completely. The only thing he could see was a dark red and it covered his whole vision.
Then, not too long later, he could feel the shere terror start to come over him as well. The realization of what was going on quickly zipped through him, causing his body to freeze solid, the horrible truth making itself known and there was nothing he could do to prevent it. Even in his horrible pain, the fear that was rushing through him was strong enough to inform him of the terrifying truth.
He was blind.
He felt his breathing grow shaky at this realization. He struggled not to allow it to be so. He struggled not to think about it. But he knew it was true. He knew there was no denying it. The pain in his eyes, the redness that covered his whole vision, his inability to open his eyelids without being able to experience the pain... All that pointed to only one conclusion. He had been blinded, and he was trapped.
How could this have happened? Even with the pain of his eye injuries, he could not feel any memories coming back. He could not sense that he was remembering anything. He was just as clueless as before. No change whatsoever. This made him shudder and it took all his mental strength not to scream out again. Despite his efforts, he could not stop himself from shaking however.
This just wasn’t fair.. How could this be possible? How could he have allowed this to happen to himself? He didn’t know what happened, sure. But whatever it was...he felt he could have been able to do something to prevent this from happening. Something...anything...
He must have been tricked somehow. He must have fallen for some kind of trap. Maybe Skrawl led him somewhere. Maybe he was just too stupid to realize he was walking into a trap. Blocky could feel a sting in his stomach. He wondered what happened to the others. Maybe that’s where Rapsheeba was. Maybe she was locked up. She may have been dragged away and maybe he was forced to watch. He could almost see it in his mind, actually. When he managed to calm himself down enough, he was certain that he could see Rapsheeba’s face in his mind, screaming out for him to help her. And all he did was watch...
He struggled not to cry. The tears would only hurt his eyes more. And now wasn’t the time to cry. Yet he was not able to stop the horrible feelings of guilt from washing over him. Oh Rapsheeba.. He hoped that she would forgive him for failing her. If he could just get out of here and find her... He would do whatever he could to make it up to her. He...
He stiffened up when he heard the sound of something approaching. Footsteps getting closer. Clanging of claws. Low growls and hisses. He turned his head from side to side. His eyes darted around even though he could not see. He could feel his heart racing against his chest, the feeling of fear growing stronger as these entities drew closer. He couldn’t stop himself from breathing in and out quickly, his eyes wide and terror-filled. He knew the truth of what was happening.
It semed that his captors have decided to pay him a visit...
He could hear some mumblings. Questionings and commands. The voices did not sound anything like Skrawl, he realized. Nor any of his Beanie Boys. This did fill him with as much confusion as it did fear. If it wasn’t that wretched jellybean, then...who else could it be? It didn’t sound like Bullynerd, or Jacko, or anything or anyone that he had met. Just...who had taken him then, and what did they want with him? The unknown of this caused him to shiver in fear, despite his attempts to look braver.
He then heard the clicking of the door opening. He stiffened up even more. He turned his head towards the sound. He could hear the door creaking now. He heard it scrape along the ground, suggesting that the door’s bottom was flat against the ground, as if to prevent him from escaping through there with his thin body, as if his blindness wasn’t enough of a hinderance.
Then he could feel a sudden warmth. The lights must have been turned on. But they were too bright... He found himself looking away even though he couldn’t really see the light itself. He clenched his teeth tightly and seethed. All the while, he continued to hear footsteps getting closer and closer to him. He began to realize there was more than one pair, and they appeared to almost surround him, as if they feared that he would try to escape. Well, they were right on that, so he had to give them credit for being a bit clever.
Even though he could not see them, he still found himself leaning his head back and trying to stare up at them. He had no idea if he was looking too high or too low; all he could do was follow his brain’s instincts to try to find where his captors were, to look at them in the eyes, to see just what he had gotten himself into. Yet all he could see was blackness and red if he attempted to open his eyes.
He could hear them, though. A low growling sound, claws tapping against the ground, whatever else there was. He could feel the vibrations through the ground as a shadow was casted over his body. He could feel the heaviness of each footstep, and he could tell that his captors were quite large. Just how big they were, he couldn’t tell. But he was certain that they were easily twice his size, of not, even thrice. He could feel his body shaking harder, and yet he still frowned, wanting to show some courage towards his captors.
“How cute...” A growly voice said. “It’s trying to be brave...”
“Hehehe...yeah that is amusing all right. All the more fun it’ll be when we start having fun with it.”
Blocky shuddered at the harshness and eagerness of those voices. There was no familiarity in them and no amount of friendliness. Their voices dripped of contempt and hatred, as if he had done something horrible to them, even though he’s never met them before. Judging from what the second one said, they did not plan anything all that great for him...
“Come on now, we can’t keep it waiting..” Blocky flinched as the zoners continued to refer to him as ‘it’, as if he was just a wild animal that they had caught. “The boss wants us to get information out of it. This thing might know where the others are hiding...”
Although he couldn’t understand just what was going on, Blocky found himself shaking his head. “No...just let me go... Please. I don’t know what I did to upset you, but please..let me go...”
A cold chuckle came out of a third voice. This one was more feminine than the others. “I’m sorry, my sweet. But you are not going anywhere. Not until we drain you of that valuable information inside your skull...”
Blocky gulped at this. He could not remember anything in the recent past. He would not be able to tell them anything. But he knew that would not stop them from trying. All he could do was try to get away. He was stopped when he felt a pair of clawed hands grip him tightly and shoving him against the wall. He let out a cry of pain at this.
“I think it’s time we got started...don’t you guys?” The female voice said. There was a clamor of agreement, and it was then that Blocky realized there were a lot of zoners in here. He could feel his hope of escape shatter right before his blind eyes. “Can’t keep this little thing waiting for us to talk to it. I’m sure it would like to know what is going on.”
“Okay then....” The first voice spoke, unusually close compared to the others. Blocky quickly realized this was because this particular zoner was the one holding him against the wall. He soon could feel his breath against the side of his face, gracing his ears in such a chilling way. “Time for you to talk, you filthy little day zoner...” Despite his confusion, all Blocky could do was whimper. “Where are your little friends...?”
Blocky couldn’t respond. He was too caught up in the fear that gripped him. He let out a few low whimpers as he felt the claws of the zoner dig into his body. He was certain he could feel blood start to leak out of his newly forming wounds. He tried to squirm around, but each twist only seemed to make the pain increase, the claws pressing in deeper. He tried his best to ignore the cruel chuckle from the zoner, but he found this to be a pretty impossible feet.
What was he going to do? He couldn’t give any sort of answer to these zoners. He didn’t know what was going on. He didn’t know where his friends were or what happened to them. None of his answers were going to be of any use to these zoners.
But he knew that wasn’t going to stop them from continuing their interrogation of him. He knew that, so long he was here, he was in for a world of pain. These zoners sounded serious about wanting information out of him. He knew that they would likely do whatever it took to make him talk, even if he didn’t actually have anything to say. There was no changing this fact. His only option now was to try to flee.
Yet...flee to where? He didn’t have any means of escape. He didn’t know just how many zoners were in here. He didn’t know where the exit was. He didn’t have any inkling of just how he was going to survive this. He couldn’t even see anything. How could he hope to escape these zoners, whoever they were? They must have deliberately blinded him so he wouldn’t try to escape. How very clever..and very terrifying. The pain wasn’t what got to him the most. It was the total loss of vision, the blackness that surrounded him, the void that prevented him from trealizing where he was. Heck, he could be in the Real World for all he knew, despite how crazy that sounded.
It seemed that his silence was starting to wear the patience of the zoners surrounding him thin. He could hear low growls coming out of their mouths. He was certain that he could hear teeth clanging against one another as they growled. He could only start to imagine just what their expressions were like. Teeth exposed, glinting in the light, the sharp tips ready to be driven into his body...
“You filthy little dirt bag!” Blocky whimpered loudly as he felt the hot breath of the zoner holding him to the wall hit against him. He thought he could feel something wet. Drool perhaps? “Why won’t you answer?! Is it really that hard?!”
“Hey, maybe he’s trying to protect them! After all, you know how those day zoners behave.”
“Yeah! All huddled together in one big bag! They’re always looking out for one another. I don’t think he’s going to tell us where they are so easily.”
“Hrmph...” The zoner pinning Blocky growled softly. He began to tap his claws into the flat zoner’s shoulder. Blocky winced at this, struggling not to cry out in pain. “Then perhaps we should give him a better motivation...”
Blocky didn’t like the sound of where this was going. He tried once more to free himself. He squirmed from side to side, his teeth clenching, grunts and growls escaping his throat. He widened his eyes despite not being able to see anything aside from darkness and red. He wanted to say something, anything to the zoner before him. A plea or cry for mercy. Anything...but nothing would escape his mouth. Nothing would get him to speak. All he could do was just stare in blackness, his face tilted towards his attacker the best that he could, his face contorted in raw terror.
He could feel his mind racing as many thoughts raced through it. What was to become of him? What was this zoner going to do with him? How was he going to get out of here? He struggled to think of a solution, but nothing would come forward. All he could see was a continuous morbid future. Him beint trapped here with nowhere to go... Oh how was he ever going to get out of here? And what of the others? Would he ever see them again? Were they all right? If these zoners didn’t get them, then who did?
He could feel his head pounding as he struggled to remember. He could feel something familiar flicker in the back of his mind. But he couldn’t quite hold the image. He struggled as hard as he could to remember these fleeting details. But they would always disappear before he could get a good glimpse at them. This led to more frustration, but also more fear. They intermixed together, causing him to clench his teeth tightly. Oh what was he going to do...?
He yelped when he felt a claw tip against the middle of his face. He shivered, holding as still as he could. Slowly, he felt the claw being dragged downward. He let out a loud whimper at this, his legs kicking out underneath him to try to push back his attacker. All he ended up doing was kicking the air and amusing the zoners around him, cemented by their cruel chuckling.
“It doesn’t have to be this way, you know. We could let you go. We could show you mercy despite you being a day zoner.” The cold voice said. “But you are making things too hard. You could just tell us what we want to know and we would set you free. Instead, you choose to put this burden on yourself. Oh why would you do that, you poor, pathetic ittle thing?”
Blocky still could not speak. He did try to. Oh how he tried... He opened his mouth and tried to squeak out something. He tried to relay a message to this zoner. He tried to do something in order to break his silence. Yet the only things that would come out of his mouth were more whimpers.
The zoner before him let out a disappointing sigh. “I see... So this is how it’s going to be then? How disappointing...”
Blocky finally managed to shake his head. Out of his trembling lips, he managed a weak, “No...please...”
“Oh so you do have a voice?” The zoner asked. His voice gave a mock surprise tone, causing Blocky to shudder as he listened to it. “How very nice... Maybe now you will be able to tell us what we know. Come on...” He pressed a claw tip underneath Blocky’s flat chin. “Tell us... You know you want to...”
“I-I...” Blocky whimpered. He soon fell silent and tried to turn his head away.
The zoner holding him gripped his face tightly and forced it towards his direction. “Oh no no no...don’t do that. That is so rude, you know? Come on...you’re among ‘friends’ there.” At this, a bunch of the zoners around him began to chortle darkle, sniggering, causing his blood to freeze. “Come on...spill the beans. Tell us what we want to know. Then we just might spare you.”
Blocky took in several quick breaths. He struggled to think of something to say. Yet he remained silent. Just what could he say? And even if he did have something to say, would he even give it to this guy? No, he would not. He couldn’t betray his friends. He couldn’t turn back on the ones that helped him out when he needed it. No..that just wouldn’t be fair.
He found himself, despite his fear, starting to frown towards the zoner holding him up. He could just imagine the kind of expression he must be giving right now. But despite his fear, he did not relent the frown. He wanted to make it abundantly clear to these zoners that, no matter what they did, they weren’t going to get any information out of him.
“B-Bite me...” Blocky hissed softly.
“...hrmph..I thought you would be smarter than that...” The zoner grumbled.
“What do you expect from a day zoner? You know how all stupid they are!”
“You might as well just crack his skull and track the others by smell. I’m sure their scent on his body.” One suggested.
Another joined, “Yeah, and then we can take care of his little buddies!”
Blocky’s frown quickly faded at this. “N-No...you c-can’t!” He cried out. He struggled against the zoner’s grasp. “Please!”
Blocky could feel his mind racing even faster. He could feel his breath increasing and decreasing rapidly. He could hear his heart pounding inside his chest, threatening to jump out. Any ounce of courage that he had a few moments ago were gone, replaced with raw fear of what might happen to his friends. He hadn’t taken into account that the zoner that held him might have had a good sense of smell. Or any of them for that matter. He hadn’t thought about how they might be able to track down his friends through the scents that clung to his body. If they found them and hurt them, it would be all his fault.
“Heheheh... I’m sure we could work something out...” The zoner said as he passed his paw along the top of his head. The sensation was quite unnerving. “After all, we’re a bunch of...reasonable zoners...Aren’t we?” The zoner probably tilted his head as Blocky heard a slight cracking sound of a neck. “Please...inform us of where your friends were...and we promise we will spare all of you. All we want is for you to get out of our territory...”
Blocky couldn’t help but be confused. Just what was this zonere talking about? Territory? “Wh-What do you mean...?”
A low growl came from one of the nearby female zoners. “Oh don’t be such a swine! You know exactly what we’re talking about! You are in our territory, day zoner! Why don’t you learn to stay out of a Night Zone if you didn’t want to get hurt!”
The rectangular zoner felt something click in the back of his mind. Day zoner? Night Zone? Was it possible that.... but that made no sense. The day zoners and night zoners were never in conflict before. Just..what would change all of a sudden? Why would the night zoners suddenly act this way? Just what the hell did he miss?
It was at that moment that he realized just how crucial this missing information actually was. He realized just, whatever had happened over the course of...however long it’s been, something major had taken place that caused a shift in the night zoners’ attitude. He had to wonder just how awful it had to be in order for the night zoners to suddenly hate the day zoners so much. He could feel the temptation to ask claw up inside of him so badly, but at the same time, he just couldn’t bring himself to speak a word. He was too afraid of just what kind of reaction he would get if he dared to try. The last thing he needed was to make these zoners even angrier at him.
“So you still won’t talk?” The zoner holding him asked. “Isn’t that just a darn shame then?”
Blocky gulped nervously. “I-I can’t betray my friends...and...and..” He knew that he wasn’t going to get much of a response with it, but he knew he had to try anyway. “I don’t know anything that you would find interesting. Please...I-I don’t remember anything that’s happened r-recently... I don’t know anything...”
“Like we’re going to fall for that one!” One of the night zoners called out. “You might have fooled someone with that lie before, but you won’t fool us!”
“Please! I’m telling the truth! I...” Blocky was cut off when he was slammed into the ground. He let out a series of pained coughs when his face was smooshed against the ground. He gave a shudder and a low whimper eminated from his open, trembling mouth. “P-Please...” He begged softly. “Don’t do this...”
But he got no sympathy from the night zoners. Only growls and sneers and laughter. He could feel his body shaking harder from the fear and pain that swept through him. This shaking only got worse the more he laid there, feeling the paw of the zoner against him, holding him down affectively. There was nothing he could do except try to squirm a little, fighting against the weight of the zoner above him, despite how impossible he knew it was to escape.
Then he felt something crash down against him and he let out a cry of pain. The zoner had slammed himself against him, knocking the wind out of him. He opened his mouth wide and he struggled to breathe. He took in several quick breaths, trying to keep himself from suffocating. Then he could feel something being shoved into his mouth. Something soft and hard at the same time. Then he became aware of a sharp pain in his tongue, a pressure there than hadn’t been there before. What was going on?
“Since you say that you can’t tell us anything... I will just have to...make it permanent.”
Blocky’s eyes bulged in horror at this. He shook his head rapidly. He struggled to say ‘no’, although his attempts at it failed miserably. His voice was just too distorted. That didn’t keep him from trying though. He continued to beg and plead, even as the cruel zoners around him chuckled at his misery.
“I’m so sorry...but I haven’t a choice. See, if you don’t have a use for something, you lose it. That’s how...what did they call it...evolution? Yes, that’s how evolution works, dear little day zoner.” The night zoner said. “So please just hold still. This will only take a moment...”
Blocky instantly began to let out loud cries of pain as the night zoner began to yank on his tongue. The horrific agony spread through out his mouth, and he felt his body already start to convulse. He struggled on the ground, striking and clawing at the zoner, even biting down to defend himself. But nothing was dissuading the zoner from continuing on with his task.
“Wow, it’s stuck in there tightly...” He gave a sharp yank, making Blocky release another loud whimper. “But don’t worry. I’ll get it out soon enough.”
Blocky blindly struck wat the night zoner. He kept jerking his head back, trying to turn it from side to side. Something would make this night zoner let go, right? If he just kept squirming, maybe he could eventually annoy the zoner enough that he would have no choice but to let go.
But the pain continued. The zoner continued with his gruesome task. Blocky still remained in horrific pain. Nothing was ceasing. Everything was increasing. His head started to get a little muddled, the pain echoing in the skull of his head. He let out shouts of mercy and cries of shere agony. But none of that did squat to slow down the night zoner.
“You’re doing fine. Almost done...”
Then, without warning, the night zoner ripped his claws upward. Blocky’s eyes bulged as he felt something snap inside of his mouth. A loud tearing sound filled the air. A horrible tearing sound that had a grunching sound mixed into it. He felt something warm rapidly pool out of his mouth, almost like drool, but much warmer feeling, thicker, and there was a lot more of it. This was quickly followed by the shere agony that swept through him, causing his body to stiffen up before it gave into the convulsions of weeping.
Blocky could not hear anything that was being said. The pain he was feeling was pounding too havily in his mind. The earthquake inside his skull made it hard for him to hear anything except his own gargled screaming. He tried to speak, but he could only make low whimpers and grunts. He became aware of something wet and firm on his face, and the cruel chuckling the night zoners.
And then nothing but silence.
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Post by Bluedramon on Oct 6, 2015 20:48:25 GMT -5
Chapter 70: “Aaaaaahhhhhh!” Howdy nearly jumped as he heard that scream. This was what, the third time that he heard it? He had lost count a while ago. All he could remember was an echo of screams in his head, none of them having a discerning place of origin. He shifted his head from side to side as he tried to determine the location. This was the only positive thing he noticed about these constant screams. At least they helped to lead him in the right direction. Ah there it was. From over here. Howdy shifted gears and headed down the pathway on the right. He hurried as quickly as he could, pumping his arms from front and back to try to make himself move faster. He opened his mouth so he could continue to pant, trying his best to catch his breath. His heart pounded inside his chest heavily as he tried to get to the destination faster. Or...wherever the screams might be taking him. It was difficult to say at this time. Soon, he reached what appeared to be a two-way intersection. Some kind of large wall here. It seemed out of place somehow. He wasn’t sure just why that was. It was just...with everything dipping down like this, he didn’t expect to almost immediately run into this wall. He wondered if it served some kind of purpose and... He jolted as he heard yet another scream. This time, it was much louder than before. There was no doubt in his mind. This was, in fact, the rright location. He twisted his head around, his eyes scanning to see just what was around here. The walls that protruded around were tall, dark in color, and bent at odd angles. Yet they still managed to form a circle...sort of. And some of it still extended down. The walls themselves were too high to be normal. He could have sworn that they started to arch inward a little, creating some kind of ceiling. He wondered if this had something to do with the night zoners. It would certainly make sense. After all, the night zoners do need this kind of shelter to keep themselves from getting hurt. Perhaps this place was built before the world had changed, and the night zoners just decided to use it to help themselves hide. It would make just about as much sense as anything else. He moved himself forward towards the wall. When he got close enough, he placed his hand against it. He hissed as he felt a slight burning sensation and moved his hand away. He looked down at his palm, noticing some steam coming off of it. He wondered just what the night zoners used to keep day zoners from touching this stuff. Or did it affect them, as well? No, it couldn’t. That wouldn’t make much sense. He turned his head around, noting how two sections of the wall appeared to come in over here and then form a thicker ‘beam’ of sorts and shoot downward. And out of these...crevices or whatever they are called, they form a roundish, yet still flattened, shape. He guessed that it was part of some kind of room that was connected in there. Perhaps these were two way mirrors and... At the thought of that, Howdy immediately dropped to the ground. He didn’t know for sure if it was a two-way mirror or not, but he did not want to take the chance. If anyone was in there, Blocky or another day zoner, he did not want inadvertantly do something to bring their demise that much closer. He had to wonder if there was anyone in there. Only one way to find out. He licked his lips slowly and he wriggled his way forward. When he got close enough, he leaned himself in and pressed his ear against the wall and tried to listen intently. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Well, perhaps he should crawl away and try to get going. Maybe he could head back to the others and tell them what he found. They would certainly be wondering where he was, that’s for sure. He felt a pang of guilt for the worry and anger he knew he had caused them. He didn’t mean to run off without saying goodbye. It was just that... “Aaaaarrrggghhhh!” A cold chill rushed through Howdy’s spine when he heard that gurgled cry. Despite how wet and distorted it sounded, he knew it was Blocky. And it came right from this area here. He pressed himself harder, trying to hear whatever was going on. He could feel his heart skip several beats as he listened to Blocky’s liquidy cries and the laughter of the night zoners. He bit his lip tightly. Just what the hell did they do to him? His thoughts were spinning as he continued to listen to the horrible cries. He could feel tears welling up inside of his eyes. He couldn’t help but feel responsible for Blocky’s current predicament. If he hadn’t yelled at him, maybe Blocky wouldn’t have sacrificed himself and this wouldn’t have happened. Oh gawd, what had he done? Then everything became silent for a few seconds. In that short amount of time, Howdy felt a whole hurricane of thoughts wash through him. He didn’t know what to expect. He didn’t know what to believe had happened. So many mixed thoughts came to him and he just wasn’t able to stop himself from thinking them. He could feel his body shivering as he thought of all kinds of things that the zoners could be doing right now. And he could only just imagine just what was going on with Blocky. Had he gotten away somehow? Or was he knocked out? ...could he have been killed...? He breathed in a huge sigh of relief when he heard a small gagging breath in the background that confirmed that Blocky was still, in fact, alive. But that relief soon turned to fear and worry. Just what did those zoners do to his friend? He narrowed his eyes into slits. Oh how he’d love to show them a piece of his mind... But now wasn’t the time for that. He needed to focus on finding a way in there. Maybe if he looked around here, he might be able to find something. Before he could continue, however, he started to hear snippets of their conversation through the wall. “So what should we do with him? He isn’t much use to us now.” “On the contrary. I think this little creature still has some use to us. We just haven’t think a little...differently.” “Oh? What could we use him for? Food?” Howdy gave a shudder at this. Hearing them talk about Blocky like he was just some kind of wild animal was quite disturbing. He tried not to let his anger get the better of him and he focused on continuing to listen, even if he didn’t particularly like what he was hearing. He might hear something really important. And he had a feeling that he was quickly going to be proven correct. “No. I am betting those wretched day zoners are...worried about their friend, right?” “Yeah? So?” “Well they aren’t completely heartless...at least, not to each other. We can use this to our advantage. Lure them in where we want them.” “Oh...yeah, I get what you’re saying. Then we spring the trap?” “Yes. We can get rid of them all with the push of a single button...” Howdy felt his heart nearly jump out of his mouth. He remained frozen, his blood turning to solid ice inside of his body. He was hardly able to move, hardly able to breathe. As his breathing became both sped up and stiffened at once, he struggled to think of just how to handle this situation. He kept asking himself the same question over and over again. What was he going to do? sss “Where did he go....?” Rudy asked as he turned his head from side to side. “I don’t know. He was here just a moment ago...” Rapsheeba commented. Thoughtless shrugged its wings. <Don’t look at me. I didn’t see anything.> Snap didn’t say anything as he tried to search around himself. He walked around the area in its entirety, searching every nook and cranny. This was not a difficult thing to pull off, considering how small this place was. It didn’t take long before he sweeped the entire area, and still no trace of Howdy. He just couldn’t get it. Why did Howdy run off like that? It didn’t seem like him. That zoner knew the dangers of just wandering off like that. Why in the world did he think it was a good idea to leave when they were in the middle of discussing a plan? Howdy knew better than this, especially with what he had to do while Skrawl was in control of ChalkZone City. It wasn’t lilke Howdy was unaware of the severity, so why did he just leave? He tried not to allow himself to become too angry at him. Anger was going to cloud his judgement if he let it get out of hand. And it would just remind him too much of what he was like when he worked for Skrawl and Thoughtless. The presence of the memotrice was enough to remind him of that time. He didn’t need something else to serve as an unwanted reminder. <Looks like the little runt ditched you. Not that I can say I’m surprised.> Grumbled Thoughtless. <He hasn’t had the best attitude as of late.> Snap glared at it. “Yeah, like you’re one to talk...” Thoughtless hrmphed at this and looked down at the superhero zoner. <Say what you want, but you know that I am correct.> Snap would not admit it. Neither would Rapsheeba or Rudy. Even though they knew that it was correct on some level, they would not admit it. They did not want to have the insult of having to acknowledge their agreement with this memotrice. Instead, they merely looked at one another, their eyes softening up and conveying their silent statemetns to one another. There was no denying that Thoughtless had a point there, and it was something that they were going to have to think about for this. Perhaps Howdy’s behavior might explain why he had disappeared. Snap couldn’t say he was too happy with that puppet zoner as of late. His behavior towards Blocky was just abhorrent. He was way out of line with how he had treated the poor rectangular zoner. He didn’t understand why Howdy had kept harrassing him like that. It wasn’t like Blocky purposely abandoned anyone. It wasn’t like he had purposely left Rapsheeba at the mercy of Skrawl. It was just...he needed to keep an eye on Penny and.... Could Howdy not care at all about her? No, that wasn’t it. He knew full well how much Howdy cared for Penny. It was just that...he seemed to care more about Rapsheeba and when Blocky had refused to help her... For a split second, Snap widened his eyes. Could that have played a role in Howdy’s behavior? Had he developed some kind of crush on Rapsheeba? For a few moments, he could feel his stomach burning up at that. The idea of someone else being with Rapsheeba did irk him a little. But it quickly went away, replaced with a calmer feeling. It wasn’t like he and Rapsheeba were a solid item, and he might be misinterpreting this whole thing anyway. Still, he wished he could understand why Howdy had done what he did. He had blown everything out of proportion. He could understand a little anger. Some of that may have been called for. But to outright insult Blocky like that.. It was just so unlike Howdy, and blew things up beyond recognition. “Well we can’t just sit around here.” Rudy said as he broke the silence. “We have to figure out a plan of action. We need to go after him.” Rapsheeba nodded her head. “We also need to figure out how to find Blocky.” At this, Thoughtleess raised its head up, its crown mimicking this action. <I thought he used himself as bait to let us get away. Would it not be unwise to go after him right now?> “Seems to fit that you’d say that.” Rapsheeba glared harshly at the memotrice. “But we are talking about our friend here. There’s no way we are going to just let him wander around on his own like that. He needed to be with us. With his friends. If you don’t want to help, that’s fine. But just sit there and keep your mouth shut while we figure this out!” She pointed towards the memotrice as she said this. Thoughtless widened its eyes and then narrowed them. Giving off a soft grumble, it settled itself further against the ground, folding its wings against its side. Snap was admittingly surprised it obeyed her. But then again it might think they were all too stupid for its attention anyway. Or maybe it just wanted to spend a little time thinking. Perhaps about what it could do with them the moment that it had a chance. Snap knew that it was only a matter of time before Thoughtless would take action and.... He shook his head. Now wasn’t the time to worry about that. He needed to keep his mind focused on finding Howdy. As angry as he was with him, he was concerned for him as well. He was still his friend and he had still wandered off into the treacherous unknowns of these lands. There was no telling where a Night or Day Zone were, nor did they know just how many night zoners were lying in wait, ready to strike. He still couldn’t understand why he’d leave. The thing with Blocky was bad enough, but to abandon them when they were in the middle of discussion and not even tell them where he was going...? A part of Snap just wanted to slap Howdy across the face as soon as they got him back. He wanted to shake him and demand him to explain just what the hell he was thinking. Or if he was even thinking at all. Snap wouldn’t be surprised if he wasn’t and just had acted on instinct. For all he knew, Howdy had left because he was angry at Rapsheeba for scolding him regardin Blocky. Well at the moment, there was no use in trying to figure out why he left. The point was, he did. And they needed to find him and get his sorry ass back here. Along with Blocky, too. He wasn’t sure how any of them were going to go about doing that. But he knew that it needed to be done. Rapsheeba was right. They couldn’t leave Blocky behind, either. “So...how are we going to do this?” Snap found himself asking after being silent for a long whilel. His sudden speech did cause the others to jolt as they hadn’t expected him to start speaking at that moment. “We’re wasting time sitting here, and who knows where Howdy is by now...” Rudy nodded in agreement. “And let’s not forget Blocky.” He sighed softly and he turned his head in the direction outside of the overhanging building. “He’s out there somewhere.... I’m sure he got away from those night zoners, but I’m...still worried.” “As am I, Rudy.” Rapsheeba looked at him sympathetically. “We all are...” “I want to have us all go out and find them, but...” Thoughtless, who had remained quiet up until this point, took this opportunity to speak again. <What about your precious little girlfriend?> Instead of a retort or any signs of anger, Rudy simply kept his head lowered, turned to the side as he let out a soft sigh. “Yes, I know. I was just about to get to that...” Rudy turned his head as he stared down at Penny’s still unconscious form. He flinched as he watched her breathe in and out shakingly. The sight of it was absolutely horrible. Snap was not surprised to see the tiny bit of a tear in the corner of his eye. “We can’t leave her alone. So we all can’t go.” Thoughtless nodded its head slowly. <Perhaps you should only send one?> This statement caused them all to freeze. Not out of shock, but out of serious contemplation. Although they couldn’t say they fully trusted the memotrice, the idea it proposed did seem like a good one. Well sort of. The idea of someone heading out alone was quite unnerving, as that meant they would be vulnerable should they be found and surrounded by the night zoners. And yet, it still seemed like it would be a good idea. At least, Snap thought so. He couldn’t say for sure with the others. But he was seriously thinking about it. He didn’t care that it was an idea proposed by Thoughtless. A good idea was still a good idea nonetheless. And it wasn’t like it had suggested that only one stay behind; if that were the case, he imagined that Thoughtless would volunteer to stay behind and there was no way that he and the others would have allowed that to happen. But if they did go with this plan...just who was going to be chosen to go? Snap realized that it was ultimately down to two choices. Him or Rudy. Rapsheeba, Thoughtless, and Penny didn’t count for...obvious reasons. As he remained lost in his own thoughts, Snap could hear the voices of his two friends as they discussed this matter amongst one another. “Do you think it’s a good idea?” Rapsheeba asked the boy. “It seems wise, but...I’m not entirely sure just how wise it is.” “It would keep the night zoners from realizing something is up. That’s one positive thing about it.” Rudy commented. Rapsheeba nodded, not able to deny this claim. “True...quite true..” She frowned a bit. “But still... I don’t know if I could feel comfortable with sending out one of our own to....” Thoughtless tilted its head at this. <You commanded an underground resistance and had to make tough decisions all the time, and you can’t handle this?> Its tail swished a bit. <How pathetic.> Snap glared at Thoughtless, but he did his best not to respond to it. He didn’t want to say or do anything that would encourage it to speak up again. So instead, he focused on Rapsheeba. He looked at her with a look of understanding before he took in a deep breath and took a few steps towards the crippled zoner. “I understand, Rapsheeba. This...is not going to be an easy decision for any of us to make.” “Yeah...” Rudy looked at Snap in the eyes for a few moments. They were locked in place, neither able to turn away from the other. Then, as Rudy bit his lip, he turned his head away, breaking his gaze with the blue zoner, and he rubbed the back of his head a little. Nervousness was apparent over the entirety of his body. “And we both know it has to be one of us.” Silence full upon the room for a few moments. The two friends looked at each other, joined by their third friend, Rapsheeba. The realization of this swept through them, causing their hearts to freeze. What they would have to decide next...it would just be too difficult. Yet, they knew they had no choice. “I...” Snap opened his mouth to speak. He soon stopped himself, shutting his jaws against one another. He wasn’t really sure what he could say. Nothing he could think of would make this situation any better, or could he think of anything to cheer up his friend. “Yeah...I know...” He finally managed to say. <So...who is it going to be?> Thoughtless interrupted, a small smirk on its face. <One of you will have to go. Who will it be?> Snap, Rudy, and Rapsheeba stared at one another in silence. sss It had taken Howdy way too long to figure out how to get in this place. Much longer than he had hoped it would. It might have taken a much shorter time had he just ran back to the others to tell them of what had taken place. Instead, he just...stood there, unable to move, his mind too rock solid to even start to think about what he might be able to do. He wondered just how much time he had wasted doing that. He wondered just how much worse Blocky’s condition got given the amount of time that moved forward while he just stood there and said nothing. Well, at least now he was doing something. He wasn’t sure if it was going to work or not, but at least it was an attempt. So long as he was careful, he’d be able to get Blocky back... right? Well, here was to hoping. During the conversation, he had overheard the zoners talk about having to open up some specialized vents. Apparently this place was filled with...something. He couldn’t quite catch what it was. But apparently, it was bad enough that they needed to air out the place at least once a day. Perhaps it was something to do with what powered the walls or whatever. And thankfully for him, these vents were near where he had been. That gave him a way in and... But getting through was going to be hard. Although there was a rectangular opening now in the floor a few feet away, it was still quite a tight squeeze. He might be small, but geeze, he wasn’t that small. It was going to be quite tricky getting through here without a problem. He also needed to wait as well; if he moved in too fast, he wouldn’t be able to keep his cover of surprise. The night zoners would surely hear him, and then he’d be caught and... He needed to make sure that he did not get caught. So he stood there, waiting until the night zoners were gone. It was quite difficult to do this. He had no means of knowing if they were gone or not except to look through the opening. And even that was dangerous. If the clear smoke didn’t get him, the night zoners could. For all he knew, one of them might be looking at the vent at all times and if he showed his face, they would see it and sound the alarm. He needed to be very careful. Thankfully, he didn’t need to wait too long. He could hear retreating footsteps. The night zoners were finally leaving. He heard a scraping thud and he wondered if they were taking his friend somewhere. Feeling his heart clench, he moved in towards the vent to take a peak. Sure enough, he could see the night zoners taking him away. One of them, which appeared to be a werewolf of some kind, was dragging him along the ground quite cruelly. Just like he were a sack of potatoes or something. The sight was so infuriating that Howdy could feel his clutched hand starting to quake. He managed to keep himself silent as the night zoners left. And only when they were completely gone did he even try to get through. He positioned himself in front of the vent and looked at it carefully, his eyes moving up and down. Now was he going to do this without drawing attention to himself? How would he pull it off without making too much noise? There was only one way to find out and that was to try. So he moved hismelf even closer his arrowed eyes focused intently on that small opening. After doing another visual sweep with his eyes to make sure that the coast was clear, he began to crawl through the small, long opening. It...was tighter than he had expected. He could feel his head start to get stuck. He could feel his body squirming as he jerked himself left and right, trying to get himself through this darn little opening. He seethed through clenched teeth as his fingernails clawed desperately at the ground. Come on...just a little more.... But it was tight. Oh so tight... He eventually stopped after he was halfway through and just laid there. He opened his mouth and panted heavily. He turned his head and looked behind at his own stuck body. He gritted his teeth. How was he going to the rest of the way through? Or, if he decided to go back, how was he going to get out of here? He was utterly stuck, unable to move his body in either direction. He could feel his heart start to race in a panic. Oh no... He should have thought this through more. Now what was he going to do? That was when a shadow casted upon him. His eyes bulged wide as he slowly turned his head up to see who it was. He came face to face with another zoner. Another night zoner... ...and she was looking right at him. Specifically, she appeared to be a four-legged, two-winged black dragon. Very typical looking. Sleek design, multi-spiked, reds and blues all over, a hooked beak. She stared down at him intently, a low growl rumbling through her throat, her teeth partially bared as the tips glinted in what little light there was. Howdy was unable to move. All he could do was stare up at her in horror. “Well...looks like I found myself a little stowaway.” The dragon hissed, flicking her long, forked tongue in his direction. She began to pace around him slowly, her tail whipping from side to side. “You look so...delictable. Perhaps I could fancy a taste, eh?” Howdy couldn’t stop shaking as the zoner continued to circle him like some kind of vulture. He did find it strange that she hadn’t called out to her buddies yet. But that hardly mattered to him when he was too busy watching out to see if she was going to attack him or not. So far, she did not, but that was of little comfort to him. He continued to watch her warily, waiting, watching for any kind of move that she might make towards him. He did not trust those eyes, or that hooked tail. The black dragon seemed quite amused by all of this. Her mouth contorted upwards further into a twisted smile, her teeth flashing in a devilish grin. A dark chuckle washed through her throat, and he thought he could see it rumble a little in her neck. She licked her thin tongue along her jaws. Howdy couldn’t help but shudder at the sight of this, swallowing hard as he cringed back away from her. Oh how he wished he could get away... How he wished he hadn’t been so stupid... How he wished that he hadn’t just... Out of shere panic, he began to scramble desperately against the ground, trying to push himself back out of the opening. He had to get away from here and find Rudy. That’s what he should have done in the first place. How stupid could he have gotten... The black dragon watched this for a few moments. She just stood there, continuing to smile at him, her eyes half way open and almost relaxed as she watched in amusement. She tilted her head in curiosity, as if wondering how long he was going to scramble around for. Then, after appearing to have gotten tired of this, the black dragon came over closer and opened her jaws wide. Seeing this, it took all of Howdy’s strength not to scream. Soon Howdy could feel her teeth in his body. He immediately stiffened, letting out low whimpers as he shut his eyes tightly, waiting for the blow. This was it. All it was going to take was one hard twist and... Wait... She wasn’t trying to crush him in her jaws. But..why...? Before he could allow this information to sink in, he could feel her yank him back away from the hole. He could feel his body snapping free of the wall. She staggered back a little from the force, raising her foot up in response. She held him up in the air for a few moments before she set him back on the ground carefully. Howdy stared up at her in confusion. Just..why did she do that? Weren’t the night zoners in such a hateful state right now? Wouldn’t she have wanted to rip him apart just by virtue of being a day zoner? It didn’t make any sense. Howdy just remained still on the ground, watching her in utter confusion and shock, his mouth hanging open. All the while, she just...stood there, staring at him. He couldn’t tell what her intentions were. Those eyes, they were devoid of any meaning. Terrified, Howdy began to back away. He never got far. Before he could respond or say anything, there was a sudden rush and, without warning, she had gotten behind him. Her long neck was stretched in a way that blocked his path. He stumbled back, trying to get away from her, away from those sharp teeth that protruded out of her mouth. “What are...you going to do...?” Howdy finally managed to ask after several moments of silence. He couldn’t stop staring at her. He couldn’t stop the confusion from washing over him. What did this dragon have in mind for him? The black dragon made a hmph sound before raising her head up. “I do delight for the taste of day zoner flesh...but see, I have a predicament that has most of my attention.” She leaned her head in towards him, her eyes piercing into his own. “If you agree to help me, then I will agree to help you free for your friend.” Howdy stared up at her, uncertainty replacing some of the fear he felt. He wasn’t really sure if he could trust her. She was a night zoner after all, and she did confess to wanting to eat him. Why in the world should he trust someone like this? She might turn against him the moment that he fulfilled his end of the bargain. But then again, if she was being truthful.. He had to admit, he did need an ally here. Someone that he could rely on. Not that she was so reliable, but still. He had no allies in here aside from Blocky and he was injured. He needed guidance to get through here. He could not do this lone. But still...to agree to help a night zoner... and she didn’t even tell him yet what she wanted. Just..how should he respond to this? “I see you are having some difficulties deciding. No matter. I can help you with that.” The black dragon said. “I mean, I am quite good at negotiations. I think you will find my methods of persuasion to be...quite persuasive...” Howdy widened his eyes as the dragon raised her paw up as if to strike. She launched her paw forward quickly, causing him to scream and turn his head away, expecting to be struck. He shivered and struggled to scramble back. Instead of hitting him, however, the paw instead grabbed onto him. He could feel the tips of the claws against his face, causing him to flinch as he felt them press into his skin. This honestly did not make him feel any better than if he had just been struck in the first place. He couldn’t move, however. He remained still as he stared up fearfully at the black dragon, waiting to see just what she was going to do with him next. “Come now, it is not that bad. Just stay here and allow me to take some action. You will soon see what I mean.” Howdy gagged as he felt the dragon seize him by his throat and shove him into the ground. He struggled against her grasp, his legs kicking outward. He watched as her paw was raised up into the air, the tips of her claws glinting in the little light. Her mouth twisted into an even nastier grin as she seethed heavily through her teeth. “Only you can end the pain. Do say yes, and this will be short. Try me, and I will prolong it.” The black dragon stated. “Come now, it is not what hard. Come on how, you can trust in me.” The dragon’s melody-like speech did nothing to make this situation any less horrific. This was pronounced when the black dragon had quickly grown tired of waiting for an answer, despite not much time passing. She snorted a little before letting out a soft sigh. “Then so be it. Let us do this the hard way. And please do not scream loudly. I do not want our fun time to be...interrupted.” Despite what the black dragon told him to do, Howdy was not able to stop his screaming of terror. sss That took longer than he had hoped it would. Despite the urgency of the situation, it still took him and Rudy a little while before they could agree upon who would be going after Howdy or not. It was a more difficult decision to make than he thought it would be. Eventually, Snap had managed to convince Rudy to let him be the one to go. It took him a little while, but he had realized that he was the best fit to go. Rudy, even if he was chalkless right now, was the only able-bodied artist they had on their side at the moment. If something were to go dow, he’d feel safer with Rudy staying behind with Penny than himself. Snap didn’t know what he could do in the face of the night zoners all by himself, but he would rather sacrifice himself than allow something to happen to his friends. A part of him realized that this was almost a sort of...apology to them. He still felt quite horrible for what he did before. He knew it was silly to keep getting upset over it. After all, there was little chance of him being able to figure out what was going on. But still...if he had only been more careful, he might have been able to something to prevent this from happening. He tried not to let those thoughts consume him and he pushed himself forward. Howdy was not going to just come running back towards him; he needed to set out and find him. But so far, he hadn’t moved himself from this spot. He stood on top of a large boulder not far down the slop where the hideout had been. He had decided to climb it to try to gain an advantage point. But it ended up being a waste of time as he found nothing that gave him a hint as to what happened. He gritted his teeth at the memory of Howdy’s disappearance, as well as how he had treated Blocky. He still had quite a bit to answer for that. As soon as he found him, he was going to give Howdy a piece of his mind. Just what the fuck as that zoner thinking going off on his own? Did he have no inkling of the dangers and...of course not. He knew. And that made his behavior all the more unfuriating. And the way he treated Blocky.... Snap rubbed his head firmly. He realized that he just fell into the same trap again. While he was upset with Howdy, he couldn’t keep reminding himself of how much that puppet zoner had screwed up. He took in a few seep breaths, and he could feel himself start to calm down. With one final breath through his mouth, he jumped off the boulder and began to trek along, heading off in one direction to try to find Howdy. Now where could that zoner have gotten off to..? The blue superhero zoner turned his head from one side and to the other, trying to figure out just where he should start looking. He had no idea where to begin, really. He could have gone in any of these directions. Yet he could not simply go in all directions at once. He needed to figure out just where Howdy would have went first. And that wasn’t going to be easy, considering there were no footprints. His best bet is perhaps where Blocky had disappeared off into. He wasn’t really sure of what Howdy’s motivation would have been. But he did seem a little obsessed with that green paper-like zoner. So perhaps he had went off after Blocky. It was easy to think that Howdy just wanted to yell at him some more, but Snap became increasingly convinced that it was because Howdy wanted to help Blocky. Maybe some of his sanity had returned and he wanted to go help the zoner before too much damage could be done. At this, Snap wondered if it was best if he headed back and gotten help from.... No, he couldn’t sink that low. He was not about to allow Thoughtless to accompany him. Of all the... He gritted his teeth. That zoner would just find the right opportunity to take him out and.... No, he was better off doing this alone. He’d have as much luck. That did not mean that he looked forward to facing off against the night zoners, however. So far, as he moved slowly forward, he had been lucky and was able to avoid the night zoners. Well, it was easy to avoid stuff if they weren’t even there. But he still kept an eye out just in case. His body tensed up and his eyes continuously scanned the dark lands all around him. It was just...so dark.... Where was the light? Any light? There was a bit shining off a few places, but it was still very dark here. Just how had they managed to run around this place? Snap hadn’t realized just how dark it was until he was walking around outside without the company of any his allies. If he had any hair, they would be raised right now as he looked all around, expecting a night zoner to come jumping at him at any moment. The fact that it never happened did not ease up his nerves all that much. Despite this, he still managed to keep moving himself forward. Before he knew it, he was back in the same alleyway they had been before they got separated. He recognized the details of these buildings. Yes, this was definitely where they had been before. He did hesitate walking forward, biting his lip and looking around as he tried to see if a night zoner was laying in wait. Then he turned back and stared at the direction he knew Blocky had gone in, and possibly Howdy. He sucked in a deep breath and forced himself to continue. The rest of the walk went a little easier. He still fought with his nerves and he still found himself stopping every so often to see if anyone was getting ready to attack him. But overall, progress was pretty good. Slowly, he continued down the alleyway, his eyes constantly scanning for evidence of just which direction the zoners had gotten off to. The only hint of anything were the claw marks that he guessed had come from a night zoner. No sign of Howdy or Blocky, and given this situation, this could be a good thing or a bad thing.... He pushed that thought aside as he continued his way forward. He followed the footsteps intently, trying to see just where they were headed. So far, they were zigzagging all over the place, indicating a chase. This was a little concerning, but at the same time, it was a good sign as it indicated that Blocky managed to stay one step ahead. But then this pattern changed. Snap began to notice that the footsteps had stopped moving so fast. And then they remained firmly in place near a wall. This caused Snap to freeze, making him wonder if this was because Blocky had lost them, or if this zoner had managed to catch him. Or Howdy even. There was no indication that someone was here. And yet, with the position of the footprints, the presence of others, it was just unlikely that... It was then Snap noticed something strange about the ground. So unusual. There were some marks here that he realized couldn’t have been a natural part of the ground. They didn’t match. It was hard to tell just what it was where he stood. But maybe if he got in closer and... Blood. It was blood. His eyes flew open at this and he staggered back. He took in several quick breaths as he moved his arm against himself, his fingerless palm facing downward. He could not move his widened eyes away from the sight below him. Large pools of blood laid there, in plain sight for him to see. Just what the hell happened here? What had gone on here? Was this Howdy’s blood? Or Blocky’s? Or a night zoner’s? He really had no way of knowing just by looking at it. He could feel his own blood running cold as he continued to stare at the crimson marks on the ground. His heart raced against his chest and he felt his hand unconsciously cling to his chest. He bit his lip tightly, breathing quickly in and out as he tried to comprehend what could have happened. He then shook his head. He couldn’t allow himself to remain frozen like this. One of his friends needed his help and he had to get moving if he stood any chance of doing that. Forcing himself to get out of this trance and move his stiffened legs, he proceeded forward, heading off to where the blood trail was leading him. He didn’t know how far it went nor did he really look to see where it was taking him. He just focused on following the trail. He silently hoped that, if it was Blocky or Howdy whose blood had been shed, they were all right. If those night zoners hurt them, he’ll... Well, he will think about it if it came to that. sss Howdy gave a cough as he was flung into the ground. He let out a series of coughs, his body aching from all the bruises he had recieved. He lifted his head and glared in the direction of the werewolf that had thrown him in here. “I will be back for you later. Right now, I do hope that you enjoy your little...company....” The zoner chortled. “Aren’t I so generous?” Howdy hissed at him, but dared not speak a word. He turned his head away, barely paying attention to how the footsteps disappeared into the distance. The only point in which he showed any strong reaction was when the door slammed behind him. He nearly jumped into the air at this, the sudden sound making his body stiffen up. But soon he relaxed and he leaned himself against the cold, hard bars. He thought about just what had happened to him just now. His mind reeled through the flashbacks of what took place just a few minutes ago. He still wasn’t entirely sure if he had been blessed with good luck, or if this was just more bad luck that came his way. Things weren’t always so clear cut, and this was one of those times when this became apparent. He forced out a sigh. He had to admit, though, if the werewolf hadn’t stopped that dragon when he did, she might have done something far worse than the werewolf’s brief betadown of him. And this did end up working in his favor anyway. At least he was here with Blocky. True, he was trapped here. That much, he could not deny. He was in quite an...unfavorable position. And there was little that he could do to get out of it. He was trapped here and he was going to have to deal with the consequences of what he had done. If he had thought things through better, he would have been able to get here without the...uh.. ‘aid’ of that werewolf zoner. Then he could have thought about a plan to get out of here and... Well no point in thinking about that now, was there? It was best to just keep moving forward and concentrate on what he could do now. He knew there was little that he could do but at least he had found Blocky. He turned his head and looked towards his friend. He still hadn’t gotten a good look at him after what happened. Despite fear rising up inside of him, he still forced himself to walk towards the fallen zoner. He had to know just how bad off he was. He had to know how horribly injured he had been. He needed to know just how serious this was, and if there was anything that he could do to help him, even though there was little he realized that he could do at all. Yet he still managed to push aside that feeling of fear and he moved himself forward. His legs were stiff and shaky and yet he still managed to get closer slowly, taking his time with each step. His eyes focused intently on the flat zoner before him, biting his lip carefully. His pupils focused intently on the zoner and he could feel his heart hardening, filling with poison as he got ever closer to that weak, still zoner. He froze when he saw just how bad off his friend really was. He could see multiple bruises on his body, dark purple areas where he had been struck repeatedly. But that was only the beginning. There were several cuts on his body as well, and he could see that some of them were still bleeding. He bit his lip as he ripped off a part of his outfit so he could try to stop Blocky’s bleeding. He grabbed onto his friend’s shoulder and flipped him over. And that’s when he saw the worst of it. He had to struggle not to scream. Blocky’s eyes...they....they had been slashed out... He couldn’t even tell if the eyes were in their sockets anymore. There was too much crushed and leaking blood centered around there. And the skin had been so torn up... The only way to find out of Blocky even had any eyes at all was to touch them, and he didn’t think he could do that out of fear of making things even worse. He still found himself moving his hand towards Blocky’s face for a couple seconds before pulling back and whispering, “Blocky...” And that wasn’t the only thing he noticed. When he looked at Blocky’s mouth, which was partially open as if to scream, he saw that there was blood caked on his mouth. Thinned out a bit, but was thicker at the entrance of his mouth, indicating that the blood came from the inside, and not just from, say, a badly torn lip or something. Though scared and reluctant, he still forced himself to open Blocky’s mouth and... Oh gawd....oh gawd no... They didn’t... But all that blood, and the torn flesh...there was no denying it. Those fiends, they had ripped out his best friend’s tongue. Oh poor Blocky.... Howdy could feel tears streaming down hsi face as he stared at his friend’s pained, unconscious form. His lower lip quivered as he watched his friend breathing shakingly, his bloodied eyes and torn tongue a testament to the cruetly of the night zoners. And to Howdy’s own cruelty... This...This had been all his fault. If he hadn’t yelled at Howdy...if he hadn’t been so mean to him... Oh gawd, what had he done? Why did he do that? What had possessed him to do such a horrible thing? It just didn’t make any sense. Nothing made sense right now. He just... Unable to control himself, he threw himself over on top of the injured zoner, despite knowing that this was a bad idea. His emotions were driving him right now and he was not able to make any rational decisions. All he could do was just lay on top of his friend, pulling him into a tight hug, crying loudly as guilt washed over his body. “I’m sorry...I’m so sorry...” sss “Do you think he’ll be all right?” Rapsheeba asked. She flinched a little at how she sounded. She didn’t mean to sound so negative. It was just....what was she to expect in a situation like this? Snap had gone out on his own to find Howdy all by himself and... She clenched her teeth tightly. She wished there was another way. She wished that she had been the one to go. But...well what a joke that was. She can’t even walk. She looked at Rudy’s expression, the way his eyes were furrowed, the way he looked away from her. She could see many emotions going through his mind just by looking at his face. It was amazing just how much information the face itself can reveal. She watched as he slowly turned his head to stare at her. She had wanted to say something else, but seeing him stare at her like that caused her to freeze. The last thing she wanted to do was say anything to make him even more upset than he already was. It hadn’t been easy for him to allow Snap to go. She had seen the mixed emotions in his eyes even back then. While Rudy was clearly still upset about Snap’s supposed betrayal, he tried not to allow it to get the better of him. He understood that Snap didn’t mean to do it; he was under Thoughtless’s control and all. Rudy understood this, and he felt fear for his friend. Concerned that something might happen to him without someone else going with him. But it had been for the best, right? They couldn’t just allow as many as they want to go. There weren’t too many of them left and Penny still needed to be watched. The poor girl, she still hadn’t woken up and Rapsheeba didn’t want the guilt of knowing that she had been left behind. She had felt enough of that when she had no choice but to leave behind that poor family.... She shook the thought out of her head and tried not to think about it. Rudy hesitated to answer. When he finally did, his voice was a little shaky, as though he was not entirely sure of how much he believes this statement for himself. “I...am sure he’ll do fine.” He paused for a moment and then he nodded his head. “Y-Yeah...he will do fine..” Rapsheeba frowned softly at him. She didn’t really believe his words. She could tell just how hard this was for him, and it showed quite apparent in his voice. She was about to go over to him before she realized that, no, she can’t even move herself. So instead, she opted to just give him a stern yet reassuring expression before offering her response. “Rudy...I can tell from your voice that you are really worried.” Rudy stared at her, his eyes widened a little, as though surprised that she was able to see right through his comment. Rapsheeba softened up her expression and said, “Don’t worry.. It’s okay. I’m worried about him, too.” At this, Rudy’s previous hardened expression began to melt down. Slowly, despaire became more apparant on his face. Now that was more like it. Rapsheeba was happy that Rudy was not going to keep bottling his emotions inside. There was no shame in feeling worry for his best friend, even in a situation like this. “I wished there was another way...” Rudy’s voice finally came. It was soft and quiet. “I...didn’t like the idea of sending him out there alone...” “He volunteered, Rudy. You know that. You didn’t send him out. He chose to do it himself.” Rapsheeba reassured him. It was a little funny to her almost. She had been the one concerned before, but now it was she who was offering comfort to Rudy. That’s the funny thing about emotions; sometimes they can act in ways one would not expect. “I’m worried about him too, I admit. I did not expect him to just...” She lowered her gaze. Rudy had taken notice of this as he had moved from his position and walked over. Rapsheeba was unaware of his advances until she felt something touch her shoulder. She looked up at him and watched as he stared down at her, his eyes furrowed slightly in concern. He soon gave her a small smile. “I’m..sure it will be okay. Snap can handle himself. You and I both know that.” He lifted his head up slightly. “We will see him and the others soon enough.” “If he’s able to find them, that is.” Rudy narrowed his eyes once more. This time, there was more of a tinge of anger in them. “We were planning a mission to meet up with Blocky and Howdy just...ran off.” He clutched his hand tightly into a fist, his teeth clenched against each other, grinding. “I just...can’t believe him...” Rapsheeba looked at Rudy sadly. She wished there was something she could say to cheer him up. But there was little she could do. Just..what could she say in this situation? There was little that was going to be able to cheer Rudy up after the way Howdy just ditched them like that. Now they had to bring back not just Blocky, who could be in danger, but also Howdy, who decided it was a good idea to abandon them and leave them all behind. The thought of it did infuriate her as well, though she tried her best not to allow it to consume her. Still, just what was Howdy thinking? He knew the situation that they were in. They knew their predicament. He knew the dangers out there. Why the fuck would he just...leave them like that? It just was... She could feel her mind spinning as he tried to deal with the rampant emotions rushing through her head. She was so tempted to give Howdy a smack if he were here. This act was so impulsive and reckless and... Did he even realize what he had just done? Well regardless if Howdy realized what he did or not, that still didn’t change the fact that he left them. He had snuck off while they were all discussing and they didn’t realize until Thoughtless pointed it out. Whether or not that was the first time it noticed, she wasn’t sure. Considering its status as ‘enemy forced to work with him’, she wouldn’t be surprised if it deliberately waited for a few minutes before saying something. The thought irritated her, but at least it eventually said something, alerting them to the situation. And thankfully it didn’t take them that long to make a decision and Snap was quickly able to head out to begin searching for him, as well as Blocky. Things would have been so much better, though, if Howdy hadn’t been so inconsiderate... If he had just stayed put like he was expected to, this wouldn’t have happened. They would have been able to figure something out and they would have been to figure out a better plan. Instead, they were forced to rush all because of his carelessness. Oh if she ever got her hands on him, she’ll... <Not a very reliable little bugger, is he?> Thoughtless’s matter-of-fact voice shot through the air, piercing through their heads. <Of course, what can you expect from a mere puppet?> Rapsheeba gritted her teeth at this. She shot a glare towards the memotrice. “Shut it! We don’t need your condenscending remarks right now!” Thoughtless merely shrugged its wings. <Just saying. You know how puppets can be. So easily manipulated... Why do you think they’re called puppets?> Thoughtless pulled its head back a little, its eyes partially closed. <Who is to say that he did not have some kind of big secret or...> “Keep your beak sealed! You know nothing about Howdy!” Rudy’s bark rang in the air. This was enough to startle even Thoughtless, who stared at the child wide-eyed. “Just..shut up! We have more important things to talk about than you just...” He stiffened up, his body shaking, a furious grunt escaping his throat. Then he forced a sigh out of his mouth and his body nearly went limp. He lowered his head quickly and shook it slowly. “Just...please...keep quiet. Okay? Let’s focus on just waiting for his return and...” Thoughtless tilted its head to one side. <But it was his fault that we had a bit of a disruption. Aren’t you going to have a word with him when he comes back? What if this happens again?> Rapsheeba bit her lip at this. She turned to Rudy. “I...hate to admit it, but it does have a good point there.” Rudy looked at her, his eyes a little wider than before. “We do need to make sure that Howdy doesn’t mess up again. Though...” She glared softly at Thoughtless’s direction. “We’re not doing what you are thinking....” Thoughtless snapped its head back. It turned its head swiftly, forming a slight arch. It was a weird, though somehow still thoughtful-looking, position. It stared over at her intently with one of its shining brown eyes. <What did you think I was going to suggest? I did not even tell you.> “You want us to kill Howdy...” Rapsheeba narrowed her eyes a little deeper. “Didn’t you?” The memotrice was taken aback. The look in its eye told her that this was exactly what it had in mind. The lack of a response seemed to further confirm this. She shook her head in disappointment. Though tempting to say something else, she kept quiet and waited to see if Thoughtless had anything to say. And it did. <You don’t know if he is going to make another mistake. And in case you forgot, we can’t afford mistakes here. It is better to just get rid of him know before things get out of hand. I know that getting rid of an ally might seem counterintuitive. But if this little puppet is going to keep messing up... Who is to say that he won’t do something worse next time? Do you really want the chance that Howdy cause us all to get captured? Or hurt? We should just get rid of him when Snap drags his darn ass back over here.> Rudy and Rapsheeba glared at the memotrice, their eyes narrowed into slits. They wanted to ignore its words, to pretend that it had never said anything. And yet they found themselves unable to look away. They could feel their blood heating up, spilling over from their bodies. They gritted their teeth tightly as they tried to cope with the anger. Rapsheeba was not at all surprised by Thoughtless’s comments, but it still boiled her blood deep in her stomach. She was surprised that she didn’t start throwing up with the stomach pains that soon followed. She resorted to just gritted her teeth, letting her body shake a little as she tried to keep her temper from lashing out at the memotrice. It was not a good time for an argument, and she did not want to do anything to make Thoughtless made some...certain actions. She could feel her mind burning even more when she remembered that it was Thoughtless who had messed with Snap’s memory in the first place. And Biclops’s as well. It was its fault that there was still a bit of tension regarding Snap. And it was also its fault that everything happened as it did. This realization took some time dawning on her, but she knew it was the truth. Thoughtless’s actions, its very presence, was what caused Skrawl to even know about the geomites and what enabled him to take over. If Thoughtless hadn’t been around.... Despite all desire to want to lash out the memotrice, Rapsheeba managed to keep her mouth shut. She did not want to spurn the memotrice’s wrath. There was no telling if Thoughtless would even remain their ally for long and they only did so out of necessity. She had a feeling that Thoughtless wanted to use them for something, and she did not want to speed this up. Especially not now. So against her will, but for the good of the team, she kept quiet. Rudy did likewise, likely thinking the same thing. She could hear the sound of groaning. She, Rudy, and Thoughtless turned their heads towards where the sound came from. Penny, who was resting not too far from them, had finally started to stir. She was moving aroun a little, her head moving from one side to the other. Her legs curved upward, and she moved one of her arms as if to push herself up. Rudy immediately made his way over while Thoughtless and Rapsheeba remained behind. The young boy knelt down beside his friend and watched her carefully. They all remained silent as Penny’s eyes soon began to flutter. |
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Post by Bluedramon on Oct 8, 2015 21:04:25 GMT -5
Chapter 71:
Skrawl curled his fingers against his palms. He pressed them hard against the skin. He ignored the sharp pain that this caused, his teeth grinding against each other. He glared intensely at the Beanie Boys before him, letting out low growls through his throat. He struggled to keep himself from launching himself at them, knowing that it would solve nothing. He wasn’t sure how long he could remain like this, however.
He just couldn’t believe that, after all that time looking, that they hadn’t found a single thing. How could they go through all that searching, and turn up nothing? What had he trained them for? Did they absorb anything that they learned?
Apparently not... If they had, at least one of them would have said something. One of them would have located at least some kind of clue as to what had happened. Yet there was absolutely nothing. Such idiots... He probably should have fired them a long time ago and gotten someone better to take their places. He had only needed them before because they were the only ones willing to help him. Well now he had more power than he ever could have imagined... He really didn’t need the Beanie Boys anymore.
So..why did he still bother...?
It was because he just couldn’t let go of them. As much as he could do better, a part of him felt it was just safer keeping them around. Letting them tag along and treating him like they were equals to him was a good way to keep allies around. He would never know when he’d need them. Playing it safe was always a smart thing to do.
But it almost meant that he’d have to deal with situations like this...
He rubbed his claws against his forehead, struggling the best he could to keep himself from screaming at them. It would do him no good. He had to keep them at his side. He had to do whatever he could to keep the Beanie Boys as his allies. Even if that meant having to tolerate when they utterly failed something that should have been a simple task... Really now, just how hard could it have been to locate those two brats?
After forcing himself to take a few more slow, deep breaths, Skrawl turned to his Beanie Boys, scanning them around for anyone who might have had something else to say. When he saw nothing, he said, “So...none of you found anything. You scoured the castle...and you found nothing. Am I correct...?”
The Beanie Boys glanced at one another, gritting their teeth nervously. They looked back at him. None of them seemed willing to speak. Considering his current mood, that might have been for the best. It was still irritating, though, causing him to turn his head away and growling softly.
“I don’t believe it...” He raised his clawed hand into the air, shaking it. “It was such an easy assignment! They couldn’t have gotten far!”
“We do apologize sincerely, sir.” Psi spoke up. He took position in front of the other Beanie Boys, bowing his head respectively to him. “But in all fairness, didn’t you say they could have gotten outside as well?”
Skrawl widened his eyes at this. Then they narrowed. “Who knows where they’ll be if that is the case.” He did not admit that he had forgotten about that. Being the leader, he never wanted to admit to making a mistake, even if the Beanie Boys obviously knew that he had screwed up. “In that case, I will need to head to my throne room to see if I can’t get a handle on their location.” He narrowed his eyes as he looked in one direction. “They will not remain in hiding for long.” He looked back at the others. “In the meantime, I want you all to...”
“Wait!” One of the Beanie Boys shouted. He had his head turned and was glaring off in one direction. “Look at who is coming.”
Skrawl raised his head up to see what the Beanie Boy was talking about, narrowing his eyes. He could see that some shape was heading towards them. A shaky yet steady rate. He could hear heavy panting as the individual got closer and closer. It didn’t take too long for him to recognize who it was.
“Alpha...”
The other Beanie Boys narrowed their eyes at Alpha as he continued to approach them. Skrawl glared at him as well, although he did not attempt to speak. He just stood there, waiting for the zoner to get closer, waiting to see just what this zoner was going to say. He was apparently in a hurry, so he must have something good on his mind, right? Only one way to find out.
Skrawl hoped that Alpha would bring better news than the others did. He understood just how unlikely this was, given the poor responses of the others. But perhaps he would surprise him...maybe. Perhaps he could be able to get something useful out of him and he could use this information to track down those darn fugitives. He was not a fool, however, and he still prepared himself for the worst news possible. Best not to get his hopes up too high.
“Well, Alpha...late to the party, aren’t you...?” Psi asked, folding his arms against his chest. He glared at Alpha, who bowed his head a little. Not so much out of respect, but because he knew he had to. “Did you bring us good news, at least?”
Slowly, Alpha shook his head from side to side. “I am sorry. I do not.” Skrawl narrowed his eyes at this. It figured that he wouldn’t be any different than the rest. “I did try to find them, but I hadn’t located anything.” He lifted his head up a little higher. “I even tried to find them outside, but I didn’t find any evidence of them anywhere.”
Psi frowned deeply at this. There was an expression of disbelief in his eyes. Skrawl realized that this was going to lead to a fight soon if he didn’t descalate it quickly. Stepping in before Psi could say a word, Skrawl spoke up. “And you are certain of this? You did check?”
“Yes, sire.” Alpha bowed his head. It was not as deep as it usually was, though Skrawl paid no attention to that. “I swear, I looked everywhere.” He shut his eyes tightly, gritting his teeth and seething. “They slipped from my grasp! I...”
“Silence!” Skrawl howled, raising his hand up. “Enough!” Slowly, he lowered his hand down. “So you say that you did see them?”
Alpha paused for a moment. Then he said, “I-I..thought I did. Oh they must have tricked me...” He lowered his head more. A look of shame spread across his face. “They played me for a fool...”
“Did you see anything of them at all?” Skrawl inquired sternly. After a bit of silence, he added, “Anything...?”
Alpha shook his head from side to side. “No, I did not. They sent me on a wild goose chase, I’m sure. If I had encountered them at all without knowing it...” He paused for a few seconds, scratching the back of his head. “I imagine it must have been when I was in the lower section of the castle. That would be a prime area for such a trick.”
Skrawl could not argue with that. It was true that, due to that place being so dark, much more than any other area here, it could easily be used for something like that. He wasn’t really sure if Rudy and the other fugitives managed something like that, but then it might be possible. Without those horrid beasts on their side, they weren’t as easily noticeable. And if they were bitter enough and cunning enough, they could torment Alpha and make him go around in circles.
Well be it the case, he was going to need to think back to his strategy. Perhaps now was a good time to head back to his throne room to look for any sign of those fugitives. Even if they were still in the castle, it would be good to check the outside. Maybe they were able to contact allies to help them or something. Or maybe they managed to slip out one of their own.
If that is the case, then it would be a good idea for him to send a little...welcoming party, if one would catch his drift. If he had been alone, he would be smirking in delight right about now, lost in his own amusement of his new, brilliant plans. Instead, he simply turned to glare at the Beanie Boys, his eyes narrowed slightly, a way of showing the Beanie Boys that he was deep in thought.
After a few long moments, he sighed before pulling his head back and giving a small speech.
“I am going to head up to my throne room to check for the fugitives. I want you all to stay here until I come back.” He pointed the tip of his claw downward to indicate this very location. “Do not move from this room. I also do not want any fighting amongst you. We need to focus our energy on those fugitives. Do you all understand me?”
Satisfied when they all nodded at him, the jellybean turned around, putting his back to the Beanie Boys. He glared down the direction of the hallway that he knew would lead him up to his throne room. He looked over his shoulder to give the floating zoners another glare, letting them know that he meant his words, and then he began to head down the hallway.
As he left, he did not notice Psi advancing on Alpha, an infuriated look on his eyes.
sss
No sooner did Skrawl disappear down the hallway did Alpha feel himself being grabbed by Psi. He was shoved against the wall, a gasp escaping his mouth. The other Beanie Boys were shocked by this sudden movement, but none of them did anything to help him. They just watched as their current general put his face close to Alpha’s and growl at him closely.
“You little tramp...” Psi hissed. “I know you’re lying!”
Alpha turned his head away, placing his hand against Psi’s shoulder to try to push him back a little. He bared his teeth tightly, letting out a low growl. He had expected this kind of reaction from this zoner, but even expecting it, he couldn’t help but feel a tinge of irritation claw its way inside of him. This sudden impulsion was part of the reason why he felt that Psi was a bad choice for general. Not that Skrawl would have listened to his warnings...
Though he struggled for a bit, he soon stopped. It was clear that Psi was not going to let him go. He’d also rather not waste too much of his energy anyway. It may be better to save his strength for later, just in case. And besides, maybe this could be his chance to try to make a fool out of Psi. Surely, he could get at least some of the other Beanie Boys at his side if he could convince them just how unprofessional Psi really was.
This zoner believed he was lying. He had little basis to go off of. Nothing to prove whether or not he was lying. Was this not a sign of poor leadership? This was not the way one should lead. This was paranoia. This was something only one with a panicking heart would do. His mind was spinning around in circles, no doubt. And he was able to detect it all in his eyes. Alpha could see just how wide and emotion filled Psi’s eyes were. This was not what he had been going for, but this just might work to his advantage.
What he was about to do... He never thought he’d do it. It seemed to go against his very nature. And yet, somehow, this felt not only natural, but...good. As though his mind had been waiting for him to do this and he just now figured this all out. Despite his feelings about this, and his reluctance, he had already decided a while back at this was what he was going to do. He had no choice now. No going back.
“Psi...I mean, General Psi..I what are you doing?!” One of the Beanie Boys called out. “Skrawl didn’t tell us to...”
Psi shot him a glare, silencing him before he could continue. “That never stopped us before! Why should we let it bother us now?!” The Beanie Boy had no reply to this. Psi simply growled and turned his head back towards Alpha, curling his lip up into a snarl. “And as for you...” He pulled Alpha forward a bit and then rammed him against the wall as hard as he could, causing the zoner to yelp in pain. “Just what do you think you’re doing trying to lie to our boss?! Our king?!”
Alpha shut his eyes tightly as he tried to cope with the pain. He opened up one eye and glared back at Psi. “And just....what makes you think that I’m lying?”
“Simple! I saw the way you looked when you told Skrawl..Grim Reaper, whatever, where you had been and what you found, or rather, what you didn’t find. I saw how twitchy you were, how hesitant.. I think it’s obvious to me, to everyone, that you had lied to him! You are hiding something!”
“But what if he wasn’t lying?” Another Beanie Boy spoke up. “I-I mean...I know he messed up and I’m still upset at him about it, too, but he might be innocent this time. Maybe he is being truthful and...”
“Oh shut up! You’re one to talk!” Psi’s eyes narrowed into slits. “Especially after that one mishap before..or do I need to remind you?”
The Beanie Boy widened his eyes and rapidly shook his head. “N-No, sir...” He floated away a few inches, lowering his head in silence.
“Good. Keep it that way.” Psi turned his attention to Alpha, hissing softly. “Now as for you... Why don’t you try tellling me the truth. You shouldn’t try to lie to me, Alpha. You should know that bad things will come if you try to lie.”
“But I’m not lying. I’m telling you, I didn’t find anything. I searched and found nothing.” Alpha motioned his head to the other Beanie Boys. “They all searched and claimed to have failed. And yet you don’t accuse them of lying or treason. Why are they immune when they did nothing different than I did?”
“You know, he has a good point.” One Beanie Boy said.
Another nodded his head. “Perhaps he really isn’t lying after all...”
Psi hissed and glared at the other Beanie Boys around him. His eyes widened, a look of disbelief and anger in his eyes. It was as though he could not believe what he was hearing. He formed a fist with his free hand, shaking it along with his body. His teeth bared viciously, the light dancing off of them like he was some kind of wild predator. He looked like he was almost ready to explode. Alpha would only not be surprised, but he would actually look forward to such an event. It would be rather amusing to watch.
“You....you all seriously believe him?!” Psi finally said after several moments of seething silence. “How dare you!”
He got a glare from another Beanie Boy. “Well, you are the one who has him pinned at the wall..”
“Yeah, and you are the one who made the first move.” Another Beanie Boy pointed out, causing Psi to growl more deeply, which caused the other Beanie Boys to cringe and remain silent.
“I don’t believe it... Are you all seriously taking his side?! After what he did?!” Psi’s voice shook in rage at what he must be interpreting as betrayal. Ah yes...more breaking down. More showing just how little he knew about being a leader. He was acting so juvenile and he probably was so lost in himself that he doesn’t even realize it.
“N-No... But, sir...you gotta admit, you...” One of the Beanie Boys tried to say. He was stopped when Psi let out a growl. He cringed back away, as if he expected to get hit.
“What’s the matter, ‘General’ Psi?” Alpha teased, his mouth ticked up into a partial smile. “Can’t handle a little bit of criticism? Heh..” With one eye open, he stared directly at the infuriated zoner, grinning his teeth broadly. “You’re even more pathetic than I thought.”
“Why you...”
Alpha watched as Psi raised his fist up to strike. His eyes widened a little, realizing that he might have gone a little too far. Gritting his teeth, he turned his head away as he prepared for the strike. When it didn’t come, he forced himself to open his eyes so he could look up to see what was going on. What he did see surprised him.
He never thought that the other Beanie Boys would come to his defense like this. He thought that they hated him and didn’t really care what this zoner had done to him. The only thing they seemed worried about was what Skrawl would think. Skrawl did not order this and they were simply worried that they might anger him when he came back and found out what about what they had done. And that might still very well be the case. But still, to get in front of the blow to stop it, and then push him further away from him? That wasn’t something he had foreseen happening.
Several of the Beanie Boys had grabbed onto Alpah’s arms and yanked him back away. They were holding on as tightly as they could, forcing him a good distance away from him. He could see Psi squirming left and right, trying to get away from him. Yet all his attempts led to nowhere. The only thing he could do was just let himself be dragged off like this. He might be a general, but he was still no match for the physical strength of all these Beanie Boys.
“You traitors! Let me go! This is not how you treat your general!” Psi called out, his eyes wide and blazing.
One of the Beanie Boys faltered. “M-Maybe we should let him go. He could tell Skrawl and we’d all be in b-b-big trouble...”
Psi panted heavily at this, his mouth curling up a little into a smile. “Th-That’s right! Let me go! Release me now and I will say nothing about this to Skrawl...”
After he said that, Psi turned his head and gave a dark smile towards Alpha, who frowned in return. They spent several minutes just glaring at each other, silence filling the air. It was as though time decided to stand still, and all they could hear was each other’s breathing. The tension all around them grow thick as mud, and it seemed almost impossible to move at this point.
Alpha was not all surprised by this little threat, bribe, whatever one may call it, that Psi was dishing out. He had been promoted to general and Skrawl would expect the Beanie Boys to listen to the general. What Psi said was a very real threat, and if the Beanie Boys didn’t comply, they really would be in big trouble. This was why he had been so shocked. Well one of the reasons anyway. It didn’t seem in their character to do something like this when they would be risking getting into trouble with Skrawl.
What happened next only further surprised him. He had expected more of the Beanie Boys to follow the same suit as that one Beanie Boy did. And that was the same mindset that Psi obviously had, if his expression was anything to go by.
Rather than obeying Psi, the other Beanie Boys began to get even closer, their frowns deepening as they got in Psi’s way. They formed a complete barricade, preventing the Beanie Boy from getting any closer, even if he did manage to break free. Though that one lone Beanie Boy was cringing, all terrified of what was going to happen, his wide eyes darting left and right, most of the others were glaring at Psi. Some were gritting their teeth and others were shaking their heads from left to right.
“We are not going to take orders from someone like you.” One of the Beanie Boys said.
“Why...?! I’m the leader of you all! You should be listening to me!” Psi shouted loudly. He jerked his body from side to side. “Skrawl put me in charge! I rule you all!”
“Hrmph... such a response shows that Skrawl made a mistake in choosing you.” The Beanie Boy replied. He raised his eyebrow when Psi snapped his jaws at him. “I may not like Alpha, but I agree, you are pathetic. You are unfit to be our general. So we hereby demote you.”
“Demote me?!” Wailed Psi. “You can’t do that to me!”
Another Beanie Boy took a step closer. He folded his arms against his chest. “We can and we will.”
“You.... Y-You traitors! Just wait until Skrawl hears about this!”
Admittingly, this was not what Alpha thought he was going to hear when this whole event too place. He hadn’t expected the other Beanie Boys to turn against Psi so quickly. He didn’t think that they would defend him, especially considering how upset they were by him before. For this to happen...he was genuinely surprised.
The only thing that didn’t surprise him was the fact that they didn’t try to say that he was a better fit leader. None of them would vouch for him on that. And that was something he expected. But it seemed that, despite that, they still shared some things in common. And their detest for Psi was apparently one of them. Who would have known?
As the Beanie Boys continued their argument and struggle against Psi, Alpha took a few moments to think about his present situation. Not what he was facing now or anything. But rather, the one that he had been locked in for a long time.
Skrawl.
He wasn’t really sure if he had been doing the right thing this whole time. He had been so used to working for Skrawl, so used to believing that he could lead them to a better life. And for a while, it seemed like he had delivered. But really, how much better was this? He was mocked by the other Beanie Boys for a mistake. He had to always prove his worth. Skrawl was more aggressive towards them now than he’s ever been. It was like he was a different Skrawl.
But even back then, he still had to keep himself useful. Skrawl would settle nothing less than the best. That was why he had gone through all that training with them. He wanted to toughen them all up. He wanted to make sure they were the best soldiers he could get and he would not allow any of them to faulter.
What had that done to them? Quite a lot, Alpha would wager. Now he was not believing that they should all go to being cowards, too sweet to do anything. Yet at the same time, he had been questioning Skrawl’s motives more lately. He couldn’t help but wonder just how much they really meant to him now. Did Skrawl ever care about them? Or had they simply been tools for him to wield?
This is why there needed to be a chance. This was why action needed to be taken. And he knew just where he could start.
With Rudy and his little friends.
He could only hope that his little lie to Skrawl would buy him enough time.
sss
It hadn’t taken that long to reach the throne room. Skrawl stood before it, lifting his head up and glaring at it softly. With a low growl, he pressed his hands on the massive door and pushed it open. He ignored the loud, irritating squeak it made as he headed into the room.
Ah, his throne room. His place of solitude, where he went to escape the Beanie Boys so he could be alone, unless he gave them permission to enter, or if they had something actually worthwhile to report. He enjoyed the size of this room, how the ceiling rose up high into the air, the slight roundedness of this room. He took a moment to look around, fancying his own handiwork. Everything, even down to to the windows, were so perfectly designed. But then, anything created or designed by him was nothing short of genius. He took a moment to grin, allowing some of his ego to flow forth.
He didn’t allow this to distract him for long. With a shake of his head, he headed further into the room. His destination was right before him. A tall structure in the middle with a rounded opening. There was a swirling grey mass in there, a bright grey light shining forth. This was the spot that was going to, hopefully, tell him where the fugitives were. There was no guarantee, but he was not going to know until he actually gave it a try. So he made his way over to this tall structure.
As he went over towards the structure, he took notice of a slight reddish glow. He shifted his head over and stared off in the direction it was coming from. There was an enclosed part of his throne room. Almost like a mouth, with jagged edges, and electricity surrounding it, there was no way that anyone was going to be able to get here. Well no one except him that is, as he knew the way to deactivate everything and open up the stoney steel jaws that kept the item inside in place. For there, located in the middle, was a small platform, similar to the structure he was already approaching. It had long claw tips, similiar the ones that he possessed, and they curved inward, pressing up against the item that he wanted to keep safe from everyone, even against his own Beanie Boys.
The red shard that had been infused with... he couldn’t remember if it was Rudy or Penny. But either way, this red chalk was empowered by one of their DNA, and thanks to those books that Thoughtless had been looking at, he figured out how to use this to his advantage. This red chalk shard was what made all of this possible. If he lost this piece, he would lose everything...
He shook the thought out of his head. Not like that was going to happen any time soon. He needed to focus on the task at hand. He shifted his gaze towards the platform located in the middle. He narrowed his eyes as he watched the swirling, grey mass. His Beanie Boys had failed him, but he knew that this would not. The grey cloud would yield for him the information that he so desperately desired, and then he’d be able to create a plan based on that. Rudy and Penny and their friends might have thought they escaped, but it was going to be short-lived. He would guarantee that.
When he reached the thin, raised platform in the middle, he stared at it intently for a few seconds, watching as the clouds continued to swirl. Then he moved his hand forward and started to motion it around in a circle, causing the grey clouds to stretch upwards and distort. He moved his claws around in the grey smoke for a few moments, gyrating them in a circular pattern, causing the clouds to swirl faster. He lifted his hand up, causing a trail of clouds to move upward with this action. He repeated this process several times and as he did so, he could see something in the center begining to form. The clouds began to form ridges, causing the center to have some kind of sunken look. More and more, he did this, creating an increasingly pronounced dip there, becoming clear, devoid of the grey cloudiness that it had once possessed.
And as he watched, a picture began to form. Skrawl moved his hand a little faster, helping the picture along, forming faster until finally a sharp image came into being. It was a little wavy, occassionally, a ripple with come through, making it look more like water than anything else. But the picture was still clear.
He recognized it instantly as the exterior of his castle. But this is not what he wanted. He needed to look further away from the castle, search around the outside for a while until he located something that would offer him any clues to the whereabouts of Rudy and his nasty little friends. So he began to move his hand to the side several times, as though flipping pages through a book. And each time, the picture had changed, showing him something entirely different.
Hmm...so far, he wasn’t having much luck. The image zipped around the land as he kept motioning with his hand. He looked through the streets, the more downtown areas. He searched down every street he could think of. He circled the castle constantly, turning to the right over and over again as he looked through the streets all around his place. While he did spot the occasional zoner, none of them were the ones he was looking for. And he saw absolutely no humans. No Rudy or Penny.
He gritted his teeth. Well if they weren’t around the city and his Beanie Boys couldn’t find them, then where could they be? They couldn’t have disappeared. They didn’t have any magic chalk. They had no way of getting through into the Real World. So, since that isn’t what had happened, then that could only mean that something else had occurred. Something that he wasn’t thinking about. But just what could that be?
He spent what felt like several minutes just glaring at the grey cloud platform. His mismatched eyes were narrowed into slits, his lips curled back into a snarl. He tapped a claw against his head impatiently, his mind working hard to figure out what other angle he wasn’t thinking of.
In the meantime, he just kept randomnly flipping through the imagery, despite knowing that it would do him no good. He looked lazily at all the buildings, the few zoners that he spotted, taking note of how they rushed around the ground like ants from his birds eye perspective. They were so entertaining to watch and it caused him to smile a little in amusement. But he didn’t focus on it too long before he continued forth, growling softly in frustration.
He thought he saw movement in the corner of his eye. When he turned his head, he was disappointed to only locate the broken sign of an old club in ChalkZone City. It had been dismantled and destroyed by him as he saw no purpose in it. Still strange how the lights were still working, though. Then again, it had been created in a Night Zone, and the lights were needed more...
Wait a minute... The Night Zone... could it be that...
Yes, of course. That’s where they must have went. They must have known that he did not heavily monitor that area. There was little reason to; the night zoners were contained in there by virtue of the sun. They could not try to get to him, so they weren’t as big of a threat to him. And thus, the lack of need of monitoring. Rudy and the others must have realized this and.... Those little sneaks.
Skrawl growled softly, gnashing his teeth together. So, those brats thought that they could get the best of him by hiding out in that darkened place? Well, they were about to have another think coming. He would show them something that they would never forget.
Normally, he would go and fetch Thoughtless. But...that was not necessary. After spending some ‘quality’ time with that thing, back when it was a personal prisoner of his, and he learned some...interesting things from it. Including several things regarding quite an important thing regarding memory... And he knew just whom to target. With a wave of his hand, he quickly zipped out of the city and located the Chalk Mine where Biclops was still being held prisoner. Yes...he would do fine for a little..experiement...
sss
Snap couldn’t remember how long he had been walking. He could feel trembling in his feet and he breathed in and out quickly as he tried to keep up the pace. Navigating through such a dark place hadn’t been easy and he had nearly tripped several times. But ultimately, he had been able to get over her a bit faster than he had thought he would.
Not that it did him any favors. He still had no idea where he was going. He was just following a general pathway. The trail of blood had stopped a while ago, and all he could do was keep going in the direction that it led him to. He hoped that it would take him somewhere that, at the very least, could provide clues on just where those two zoners had been taken, where the night zoners had decided to keep them. Or wherever they got stuck on case the night zoners hadn’t actually taken them captive.
As much as he hoped and prayed for something to be presented to him, however, he knew that things wouldn’t just be handed to him. He could only keep looking and hope that something showed up. In the end, it was all going to be based on luck.
And luck wasn’t something they had an abundance in as of late...
But he still pushed himself forward, knowing that he had no choice but to keep going. He couldn’t just give up and leave. Not with two of his friends being out here, possibly in trouble. Trapped, injured...
..dead..
He tried not to think about that last possibility. He didn’t want to believe that his friends could possibly have been...killed... No, it was impossible. If they were killed, wouldn’t their bodies have been left behind? Surely, the night zoners would have wanted to make an example of them and hang their dead corpses up for everyone to see. And yet they did not. That gave him a little bit of hope that they were still alive somewhere.
But then again, if the night zoners had decided to kidnap them and torture them... Not like that would be much better than being killed. If anything, that would be so much worse. He didn’t want his friends to suffer... And at the same time, he didn’t want to lose them, either. He just... No, he could not lose them. He would do whatever he could to find them, and he could bring them back, safe and sound. Well, if that was a possibility that is. If not, he would just have to get Rudy and see what could be....
Hmm, that was strange. He didn’t recall seeing this here before. Snap could see a large wall ahead of him. He hadn’t seen it here before, despite it being in plain sight. Then again, he had been moving so fast, trying to get away from the night zoners that.... Yeah he could see exactly how he would have missed this. Its dark coloration might be noticeable now, but when running quickly, it sort of blended in with everything else. Licking his lips slowly, he approached it.
The first thing he took notice of was just how high this wall was. This indicated to him that part of this building might be in a Day Zone section, perhaps built before Skrawl had taken over. This was something he felt anybody would notice right off the bat. The night zoners wanted to keep themselves from getting hurt and...well they found a way to do that. The walls went straight up before they curved inward and created some kind of ceiling. He couldn’t really tell if it formed a complete one or not. It would be strange if it did not. But then again, it might create enough shading to provide some protection from the light, even in areas that have light in it.
Brushing off those thoughts, he continued his way closer to the wall. He wasn’t sure why he was coming over here, to be honest. Yet he still felt...drawn here somehow. He wasn’t sure exactly what was going on. Whatever it was, it soon had him standing right in front of the wall, and he leaned his head back, staring up at the massive structure.
So...just what was this place?
Not an easy question to be answered, that’s for sure. There was no indication of what this could have been. The walls were strange-looking, yet yielded no clues. There were no signs around here. No nothing. It might have been a club for day and night zoners at one point maybe. But there were already plenty of those before that didn’t utilize such a structure... Or were they trying to have a club partly in Day Zone perhaps? That was another possibility. Maybe they...
Oh what was he doing? He wanted to slap himself in the face. He had far more important things to worry about, and there he was, trying to figure out what purpose this random building served. He felt ashamed of himself.
No matter. He could easily get back on track. He just needed to take a moment and look around. He took a moment to look around, trying to see if he could find any clues on where Blocky and Howdy might have gone off to. There was a chance that they could have come over this way and....well he had no evidence of that. Ever since he lost the blood trail, everything has just been a wild guess. For all he knew, he might have been doing in the wrong direction this whole time. Frustrating and upsetting, but there was nothing more he could about it except keep trying to find them.
He was about to turn in a new direction when he happened to take notice of the ground. He could see that something was...different about it. The texture wasn’t right. Frowning deeply at this, he moved in closer. He lowered himself down onto one knee and took a closer look. There was some kind of opening here. A vent or something, and he could see steam rising out of it. The steam itself made him feel a little sick, but he fought through that to take a look at the ground. Even in the obscurity of the steam, he could see something on the ground; the steam was not that opaque.
Dark brown? Was it....? No, wait. The patterns... The way it was splattered...and there was still a tinge of crimson.
Blood.
Snap’s eyes flew open at this. He looked down at the small puddles of blood, feeling his heart pounding against his chest. Was this Howdy’s blood? Blocky’s blood? There was no way to tell. Even if he got in closer, he would not be able to identify the blood. But in the end, he was still certain that it was one of his friends’ blood.
He scrambled to try to figure out a way inside. He moved closer to the vent, ignoring the steam the best that he could. He moved his hands around to see if there was a way to open it up further. No, nothing. Even as he tugged, it would not budge. He put his head down lower and right next to the vent. No, he would not be able to fit in through here. It was just too narrow. He pulled his head back and stared at the opening, his heart racing, his teeth sinking into his tongue. How was he going to get in here?
He realized in that moment, he was going to have to get Rudy. He knew what they had agreed upon before, but...he was the only one left whom he trusted to help him. No way in hell he would bring Thoughtless back here to offer any aid. Even though those claws might come in handy in scaling the wall... No, he would stick with Rudy. He got up from the ground and started to make his way back...
...only to freeze when he started to hear voices behind him. He turned his head over and stared at the opening. Yeah, the voices were definitely coming from over here. What was going on?
“You idiot! You nearly ruined everything!”
“Oh come on, I was just having some fun!”
A male and female night zoner arguing... He was able to recognize one of the voices as that werewolf from before. But the female one, he could not recognize. It was not that witch leader, that’s for sure. He moved in closer, struggling to listen to more of the conversation.
“We have enough to worry about without you....”
“Will you relax?! We still caught him, didn’t we?”
“And what if we didn’t? Your actions could have drawn more of those day zoners over here!”
“Oh, like your actions were any better...”
A snarl echoed from the werewolf’s mouth. “Just watch yourself next time...”
“Oh do tell..” The female voice retorted.
While the werewolf’s growling indicated he wanted to rip off her jaws or something, the werewolf offered no further retort. There was a loud sigh of exasperation, and it was almost a given that he was rubbing his forward with two of his fingers, probably mumbling something under his breath. “Well anyway, I’m going to have a word with our prisoners. Maybe they are more talkative now.”
“The paper one and that stupid puppet?” The female zoner inquired. Snap widened his eyes at this. “Yes, I am sure they are ready to speak by now. Pain does wonders to motivate someone, now doesn’t it?”
The werewolf growled softly, “Just leave your eccentric talking for later, and leave the interrogation to me. Even if the wretched day zoners wanted to talk, your way of speaking at times might drive them away.”
“Hrmph! Fine!”
“Yeah. Fine.”
Snap remained frozen, his eyes widened in horror. He did not move, even when he started to hear the zoners continuing to speak. He could hardly here anything else they said. His mind was echoing with the words they had just said. In the back of his mind, he could see flashes of what was going on. Blocky...Howdy... What had they done to them...?
sss
Slowly, Blocky fluttered his eyes open. Or at least, he tried to. They felt so hard and crusty. Just what had happened to him? Why won’t they open? He pulled his eyelids harder and harder, trying to force them open. But it was no use. He soon gave up on trying to open his eyes. Although quite serious, for some reason, he felt too tired to care.
Hmm, he could hear someone near by. A sniffling sound. He briefly wondered what was wrong with them. Then his mind soon shifted into his curiosity about where he was. He was still quite groggy and tired. He was not able to remember just where he was. Maybe this person could inform him? Yeah, he could ask them where he was, and maybe they could, he wasn’t sure, help one another or something.
But when he tried to speak, as soon as he opened his mouth, he became aware of something pooling out of his mouth. Something warm and thick. It dripped down the sides of his mouth and onto the ground at both corners. He moved his hand down and felt it in his fingers. Sticky, too. What was this stuff? Maybe if he tasted it...
His tongue was a lot shorter than he remembered it. Was it always this short? Had he really not notice it before? No matter. He just had to move his hand in there a little deeper so he could taste this fluid on the ground. Not exactly a smart thing to do, but in this moment, he couldn’t really comprehend that. He just kept moving his hand in, trying to taste the material that was coming out of his mouth. Strange that he didn’t taste it before, but then, perhaps it just came out so fast that he wasn’t able to comprehend it or something.
As soon as his finger finally found the tip of his tongue, he had delved into the world of pain. Never before had he felt pain rush through any part of him this quickly before. The fact that his tongue felt...fleshier than usual, so stringy, was only half the problem. The fact that agony was dominating his mouth and body got the most focus in his brain right now.
The green zoner grabbed onto his mouth, clutching his hands against it. He let out loud, pained whimpers as he struggled to cope with the agony. He could feel his body shaking heavily, the pain rushing through him like he was nothing. He tried not to let out loud whimpers as that seemed to make the pain in his mouth even worse. Yet they still came forth, unable to be contained for very long. He pressed himself against what he guessed was the ground and continued to hold onto his mouth, struggling to cope with the agony.
He could soon feel hands upon him. In his pained state, he realized that the individual who had been upset nearby before had come over, hearing his plight. He struggled to see the invidiual. He lifted his head and tried so hard to open his eyes. His attempts only caused more pain, this time centered around his face. He gripped his eyes with his other hand, dropping back into the ground. Oh gawd, it hurt so much.... Why did it have to hurt so badly...?
“Shhh...” The voice called out to him. It sounded so familiar... “It’s going to be all right. I know it hurts. But please...don’t struggle so much. You’re only going to make it worse for yourself.” The hands gripped him gently and held him in place. “Please, Blocky...”
The recognition of that voice was enough to cause him to freeze. He held still for a few moments, breathing in and out shakingly. He could still feel the pain, the shivers that moved through his body, making it quake. He could still feel panic fill him up inside. And yet, realizing just who this was had taken top priority in his mind. He looked around at the source of that voice, despite not being able to open his eyes. He knew who this was.
Howdy...
He tried to speak to him. He wanted to talk with him, ask him what is going on, ask him if he was all right. Any attempt to speak was garbled and distorted. No matter how hard he struggled to get his tongue where it needed to go, his words continued to be unrecognizable, as if he were just a baby learning to talk.
And his tongue felt so weird. So much lighter than before. And why didn’t it reach out as far as he could remember? Why did the tip hurt so badly? Did he bite it perhaps? Did he fall off a cliff and injure it? Just how badly was it hurt? Then it suddenly came to him, washing through quickly like the golden rays of a Real World sunset coming over him.
His tongue had been ripped out.
This realization caused his heart to race once more. The pain that he felt seemed to increase a thousand fold. He began to struggle on the ground again, squirming, trying to get away from here. He didn’t know where he could go, what direction to choose. But all instinct was telling him to go and run away from here. He scrambled to get up, despite the pain he was in. He tried to flee, do something in order to save himself.
He was only stopped when he felt a pair of hands grabbing onto him and keeping him down. He squirmed and struggled against Howdy’s grasp. He gritted his teeth and let out a series of low growls, snapping wildly in any direction. He wanted to get away. He had to get out of here. He couldn’t allow anyone to stop him. Not even Howdy. Was he the one who did this to him? Was he involved in any way? If he was, he was not going to...
“Blocky! Please, stop!” Howdy shouted at him. His voice was not filled with anger, but rather despair. “Please...it hurts me to see you like this! You’ve got to keep yourself on the ground! You are going to make things worse for yourself!”
But Blocky couldn’t calm down. How could he? With all this pain and agony... No he couldn’t calm down. He needed to get out of here. He needed to struggle, to fight, to get himself off the ground and run. Out of desperation, he snapped his jaws in the direction of that voice, trying to sink his teeth into the puppet zoner’s hand. He missed entirely, but that didn’t stop him from trying a second time. Utter failure.
When he tried again, he felt something grab against the bottom of his neck, near his chest. Pressure propelled him backwards, and he found himself clawing at the air desperately, unable to reach his intended target. If his eyes were open, they would be blazing right now.
“Blocky...please settle down.” Howdy pleaded with him. “Please...It’s going to be okay...”
“Yes, do calm down.” A cold, chilling voice said. “You are quite the nuisance...”
“You...!” Howdy hissed. A few quick thuds in the ground suggested that he jumped up to his feet. “How dare dare you show up here...”
The figure chortled at this. “What? Am I not welcome?”
Blocky would have widened his eyes in horror if he could. That voice... That horrible voice... He instantly recognized it. The realization shot through his skull like a lightning bolt. His body began to shiver harder as he let out low, constant whimpers. No...not him. Anyone but him... Please... Get him away...
But any attempt to plead was stopped as he simply gurgled, feeling more blood flow from his mouth. He could hear a vicious chuckle as though his plight amused this zoner. He kicked his legs out and flailed his arms in desperation. He didn’t know where he was going; all he wanted to do was crawl away from the direction of that voice. Anywhere was safer than here. That evil werewolf zoner... He was not going to let him get at him again.
The werewolf zoner snorted, though at who or what, Blocky didn’t know, nor did he care. He just wanted to get out of here. He continued crawling until he hit something hard and cold. At first he thought it was another zoner trying to stop him. But upon feeling it, he realized that it was a wall of some kind. He spread his hands out, feeling his heart racing even faster. This wall stretched on for a while. Could it be possible that he was...in some kind of cell..? This realization made his breathing quicken even more.
“Now, now... Why don’t you settle down? I cannot speak to any of you if one of you is acting like some kind of balloon puffer.” The werewolf said with gritted teeth.
Howdy let out a low hiss at this. “And why should we take interest in talking to the likes of you?!”
“Because..I think we can benefit from each other...”
“Tsch. Yeah right. Save your lies for another of your victims!” Howdy retorted. “I know full well that you just want to use us as bait!”
“Oh sure, sure, I am interested in that. But maybe there’s something else we can work out. Something that I am sure will work in both our favors.” Footsteps. The werewolf was getting closer. Howdy let out a small, warning growl. “I came over here to interrogate you, but now that I think of it, why don’t I instead focus on Skrawl? He is our common enemy after all. Perhaps instead of hurting you more, I could...recruit you for something better.”
“Recruit us...?” Howdy whispered.
Even in his pain, Blocky was confused as well. How could this zoner go from wanting to rip him to shreds, to suddenly wanting his help? Howdy’s help? It just didn’t make any sense. This shift was..too sudden... He couldn’t help but cringe away. There was something wrong about this offer. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it.
“Yes... I scratch your back. And you scratch mine. We can both get rid of Skrawl together. Our common enemy. So...what do you say....?”
Silence fell upon the room.
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