The Main Attraction

Chapter 30: The Most Suitable Punishment

...and smile with those teeth and tear you apart...
-Run Rabbit Run, The Hoosiers





Normally, Sandra did not like licking herself clean like this. She was not some kind of feline. She was fully capable of using a shower to wash herself. As she wiped at her face with her hand, much like a domestic cat would, she found...almost lesser than she really was. Like she was some kind of wild animal.

She had made an exception in this case because she was in a hurry. She wanted to go speak with Rudy. She wanted to make sure that they were ‘on the same page’ so to speak. And she felt that she needed to do this as soon as possible. She felt as though the longer that she delayed this, the more difficult this process was going to be.

After she licked along her arm, she turned her head and she stared over at where Snap was. Even from her position up from the bed, she could see see Snap, or at least part of him, back in his kennel. She couldn’t help but smile at what she was seeing.

Snap was shivering like a leaf in an earthquake. He was absolutely terrified, as revealed by those low whimpers that he was constantly releasing. She could not see his eyes, but she knew that they were wide like saucers. So big that they might as well roll out of his sockets. And she knew full well that if she were to show her face to him, he was going to absolutely freak out.

Not that it would do him any good. He can scream and cry and plead all he wanted to. It was not going to change what happened. It was not going to change his fate. Even if he got out of here, he was going to have to live with with she did to him for the rest of his life.

It had been a lot of fun. More so than she had thought it would have been. Snap had struggled against her. He fought most of the time before he had eventually gave in. But even then, once in a while, he would kick at her or push or whatever. Anything to make the ‘session’ end quicker. It hardly had any effect on her, though. She continued to toy and play with him. He had become her personal plaything for what may have been about ten to fifteen minutes. A quick session, but quite the memorable one.

Sandra did not plan on doing the same thing with Rudy. Oh no, she had entirely different plans for him. But they were going to be equally as fun. She might still be surprised at how enjoyable it was going to be.

After she felt that she was finished, Sandra jumped out of the bed, her toes hitting the ground hard enough to cause her talons to tap against the hard floor. She straightened herself up immediately, stretching out her back, her tail swishing slowly from side to side. She took a moment to stretch her arms upward and gave a quick shake. Then she decided to pay Snap a short little visit before she decided to go find Rudy and have fun with him.

Once she had gotten in front of him, she peered straight through the barred door and she could see a better image of the frightened, shivering zoner. The sight of him like this generated a lot of mixed feelings. But overall, she was quite pleased with the situation thus far.

Snap looked as if he had gotten into some kind of scrappy fight. He had a few scratch marks on him, some deeper than others. A couple of bruises from when he had been trying to fight back. But other than that, he looked fine physically. His clothes were another story. There were multiple tears in them, more so than what was on his actual flesh. It was these marks that made it look as if Snap decided to do something crazy, like wrestle an alligator or something. The thought was quite amusing, really.

Sandra grinned as she watched Snap’s reaction to her. His eyes widened more than they already were. If they were filled to the brim with fear, they were now overflowing with that emotion. Snap cringed back far from her, his whole body shaking and trembling. He let out low, constant whimpers, his eyes remaining wide open. He looked as if he wanted to say something, but his lips wouldn’t stop quivering and they just got in the way of speech.

It was quite the amusing sight. While before, Snap had some kind of resistance to her. But now, for the time being, he was utterly shattered. She did not expect her little activities would make him completely unresistant, but she suspected a few more sessions, combined with some other...techniques, would be enough.

And then he would be utterly hers.

She reached over and she opened up the cage door. Unlike before, Snap did not show any intention on trying to leave. What a good littlel boy... He had learned fast that if he tried to run, he was going to get hurt. He didn’t even look at the way out; he was just staring at her, watching her with extreme caution as she lowered herself even more until she was eye level with him.

“I have to go somewhere right now, dear sweet little Snap. I’ll let you be here for a little while. I’m sure you will need a lot of time to...recover.” Sandra smiled as Snap just whimpered and cringed away from her. She could see the glistening of his tears as they made their way down his cheeks. Yes, exactly what she would have wanted. “Yes, a little time alone would do you some good.”

She then reached into the cage. Snap’s eyes bulged further, a surprising feat, and he bared his teeth in self defense. Not that Sandra was worried. He knew better than to bite her. Especially after their little ‘playtime’ together. She kept reaching her hand on until she was able to pat the top of Snap’s head. The superhero zoner cringed and whimpered, his head turning down in a reluctant show of submission.

“I expect you to behave better than I get back.” Sandra slowly rubbed the top of his head. She listened to Snap’s soft crying, watching how his terrified solid white eyes refused to tear away from her. “If you promise to be good....” She placed her hands on his cheeks, lightly tracing them. “...I can try to make things a little more...comfortable.”

Snap did not respond with anything other than a high pitched whine. He looked as if he wanted to turn away from her so badly. But the fear that was gripping his heart kept him from getting too far. Sandra noticed how his body’s shaking was increasing, and it was to the point where she would have seen him put his tail between his legs if he had one. All that needed to happen was for him to have an accident and then he’d be all set.

She decided not to make him answer. It would have been a waste of time, anyway. Snap would have only pleaded for his life or asked to be taken to Rudy or whatever. He would not attempt to make any kind of promise. His mind right now just wasn’t capable of doing that. So she would show him a little bit of leniency and not force an answer out of him.

She moved her fingers down slowly, soon reaching the bottom of Snap’s mask. She grabbed onto it and she slowly pulled it off. She dropped it on the ground at the side, her red eyes never leaving his white ones. She then gently cupped his chin, using a feather finger to trace along his cheek. After the tip of her finger reached down to the bottom of his jaw, she moved her face in closer and she gave him a quick kiss on his forehead. Snap shuddered and whimpered at this.

“Now be a good little boy and get your rest. I will not be gone too long. When I get back, I expect you to be on your best behavior. Then we will see if things run more....smoothly.”

With that, Sandra released Snap and backed up from the door. She used her tail to strike it shut, the latch popping into place from the force of the strike. She gave him one more smile before she turned and walked away. Now it was going to be Rudy’s turn to have a little bit of.. ‘fun’.

sss

Rudy wasn’t really sure how long he had been crying. It felt like a few hours, though he knew that could not have been the case. Perhaps just a few minutes then?

Well, it didn’t really matter, anyway. He was still laying there, sniffling was emotion swept through his body. He could feel his body still shake and tremble, even with Jyker’s arms wrapped around him. Rudy found himself cuddling close against Jyker. Even if he was still shaking, something about the hyena zoner’s body warmth was enough to at least start cheering him up a little bit.

At least the screams had stopped.

Though he couldn’t tell if this was a good thing or a bad thing. Had Snap stopped screaming because Sandra had finally let up on him? Or did he stop screaming because...

Rudy took in a sharp gasp of breath at that. He didn’t want to believe that this was the case. Snap had to be okay. He just had to be. He refused to believe that Sandra would have killed him this quickly. He didn’t want to think that Snap was no longer alive. Snap was fine; he just needed to get out of here so he could find Snap and get him out of that dreadful situation.

But first...he’d need to get out of here. But how was he going to do that without any magic chalk? Without any kind of assistance? Jyker had already stated that he tried to get out. Rudy gritted his teeth at this, letting out a soft moan. He still wanted to believe that there was some way that he could get Snap to safety. It just...he wasn’t really sure where to begin.

“There...” Jyker spoke when Rudy’s cries began to slow down. “...do you feel better?”

Rudy was about to answer before he gave a pause to really think about it. He stared downward for a moment. He wondered..did he feel better? It kind of felt like it, but at the same time, he just...wasn’t really so sure. Soon he lifted his head and looked at Jyker in the eyes. “I’m...okay I guess.” He finally admitted. He shifted his eyes to one side. “Though I’m still worried about...”

Jyker’s expression softened up and nodded his head once. “I know, Rudy. I know...” He lowered his head for a moment, his ears flattening. “I fear for the worst for your friend.”

Rudy felt his heart twist at this. “Please..there’s just gotta be something that I...we can do.”

Jyker gave him a small, understanding smile. “I admire your enthusiasm, kid. A part of me hopes that you won’t lose this.” His ears lowered as his expression softened up. “But...” He sighed as he turned his head in one direction, looking away from Rudy. “...I’m afraid that enthusiasm isn’t going to get us out of this mess.”

Rudy narrowed his eyes a little. “Oh come on... There has to be something that you haven’t tried!”

“I’ve tried quite a lot, Rudy. You think that I sat here all this time as Sandra held me captive? I can assure you that I did not.” Jyker’s tone altered, showing....not really aggression, but something more tense. Rudy pulled his head back from him as a result. “I’ve been trying to escape for hours! And I have had no luck! Trust me, I have tried!” Jyker gritted his teeth, part of his teeth being exposed. “I clawed and I kicked and I struck...”

“Did you bite?” Rudy cut him off.

The hyena zoner immediately paused this, staring down at Rudy with widened eyes. “....what?”

Rudy repeated the statement slowly. “Did you....try to...bite...the bars?”

Jyker blinked his eyes a few times. He turned his head towards the bars for a moment. He stared at them, his mouth hanging partially open. Then he shook his head slowly. “N-No...I...” He paused for a moment. His eyes seemed to almost light up in realization. “No, I don’t think I’ve tried that.” He stared down at Rudy, his mouth still open from the shock of this. “I really d-don’t think I have.”

Rudy wasn’t really sure if he should be surprised or not. On the one hand, he would have thought that Jyker would have known that he could try using his jaws. Why didn’t he try that before? Hyenas were supposed to have powerful jaws, right?

But then again, Jyker was a zoner, not a real hyena. There was little reason to believe that he would have strong jaws like a real hyena would. For all he knew, Jyker had glass jaws that would break too easily. But the only way to find out was to try. It was a risk, but if it meant a chance of getting out of here...

Rudy motioned his hand over towards the bars. “Try biting through them.”

“What?!” Jyker called out in shock, his eyes widening. “I-I can’t do that!”

“But you said you never tried it.” Rudy narrowed his eyes. “How do you know that you can’t unless you try it for yourself and see what happens?”

“I-I...well, I...” Jyker stammered. He looked from Rudy and to the bars in a repeated fashion. He slowly licked his lips nervously, sucking in a few sharp breaths as his mind raced, struggling for an answer. “I...” Eventually, he lowered his head, his body becoming lax. “...I guess I could try...”

Rudy felt surprise and relief when Jyker caved in faster than he had expected. That was a shock, but still good as that meant that they could get through this faster. Sandra was still gone and Rudy hadn’t heard any sign of her getting closer. They needed to take this chance and see if they can’t get it open. And if they do get out of here, they could go find Snap. Rudy made a small flinch at the thought of his friend.

Jyker got up from the ground and he began to make his way over towards the bars. Or rather, he limped over, one of his legs slightly bent at an awkward angle. The hyena’s eyes focused intently on the bars before him. Rudy watched in silence, waiting to see what the hyena zoner was going to do. Would he give it a shot or was he so shaken up by what happened that he wouldn’t be able to bring himself to do it?

Much to Rudy’s relief, Jyker appeared willing to go try to go through with this. He watched as the hyena zoner positioned himself so that he was in front of the bars. Those eyes of his stared long and hard at the bars before he slowly, bur surely, opened up his jaws. A couple seconds passed before the hyena zoner clamped his jaws around the bars tightly, a loud clanging sound giving out in the process.

Jyker let out a series of low growls and snarls as he clamped his jaw as tightly around the bars as he could, his lips curling up to expose his sharp teeth. Then, his neck muscles tightening, he began to yank his head back as hard as he could, struggling to tear the bar out of where it had been secured. He grunted and he snarled as he twisted his head this way and thought, doing whatever he could to get this thing out.

Rudy wasn’t sure how long he had been doing this. But he had to admire the zoner for keeping up the pace. Jyker opened his jaws and bit down even harder, flinching only for a moment before snarling and struggling to get this thing out. He yanked his head back a few times. He would release the bar for a moment before biting down on it again. It eventually got to the point where Rudy was certain he saw the bars start to bend and give way under the pressure of the hyena’s jaws. He could feel himself start to swell in excitement at that, and he watched Jyker with renewed hope. Maybe they could do this after all.

Jyker hadn’t given up, even though several minutes surely must have passed. His continued biting and gnawing of the bar caused it to morph even further under his jaw strength. He gave a few more yanks backwards, twisting and turning his neck, before something finally happened.

There was a loud screech, and Rudy instantly knew what this meant.

Jyker had managed to bring the bar out of its socket.

Rudy stared at the partially dislodged bar, Jyker’s teeth still clamped around it. He felt a whirlwind of emotions striking through him. Time itself seemed to stand still. Jyker was still pulling and tugging at the bar, but he hardly noticed it. His mind only focused on the fact that the bar was dislodged at all.

This could work. This could really work. All Jyker would need to do is just pull bark as hard as he could, and that would get the bar out. All they needed was one bar out for them to be able to squeeze through. And Sandra still wasn’t here. They could do this. They just needed a little more time. And once they were out, they could go find Snap.

A few seconds later, it finally happened. After what felt like forever, with the hyena zoner struggling to pull and yank the piece of metal away, it had finally given out completely.

Rudy moved himself to the side quickly as Jyker fell backwards. He flinched as he watched the hyena zoner crash into the ground. Metal pole smacked him in the head, causing him to release a whimper and whine in the process. He covered his head, rubbing at the sore spot furiously. Rudy rubbed his own head in the process, momentarily thinking of just how that must have felt.

He then looked over to see the fruits of the hyena’s struggle. He could see a small hole where the bar had been recently. He moved his eyes slowly as he took in all the details, making sure that he was seeing correctly. He slowly smiled at this, feeling a wave of emotion hit him as he realized that he was actually free, that there was finally a way out.

But he soon narrowed his eyes. They still needed to take this with great caution. The last thing they wanted to do was ruin their chance of getting away. If they rush through this too fast, they might get caught.

Rudy would have helped Jyker to his feet if he could have. But with his legs useless, the only thing he could do was just watch as Jyker struggled to stand up. His legs wobbled from side to side for a few seconds as he tried to keep himself balanced. It took a little while before he eventually settled down, maintaining a good balance. Jyker stood there for a moment before lifting his head to see just what he had accomplished.

Those tired-looking eyes suddenly widened when he noticed that there was now an opening in the cage that they were in. He looked down at his paws and then back at the opening once more. He repeated this motion a couple of times before he took a shaky step forward.

“Did...Did I do that...?” Jyker managed to breathe.

Rudy nodded his head slowly. “Yes, you did.” With narrowed eyes, he turned his head back towards the opening that was just made. “We are free....almost.”

Jyker conceded, “Y-Yes... There’s still the matter at hand.” He moved a paw along his head, stroking his ear for a moment. He turned his head down at the teen on the floor. “So...what do you propose that we do?”

Rudy was not sure how to answer that. He wasn’t entirely certain if they would even get this far. He did feel a little stupid for not thinking further ahead on this. He should have been more prepared. Yes there was an opening available now, but they still needed to figure out what they were going to do. Where would they go after this? Where would they hide? How would they keep Sandra from finding them? All this was important to consider.

But at least they still had time. Sandra was not back yet. They could not hear her. She couldn’t be that close. They just needed to take this time to figure out what they were going to do, and fast. And then use whatever time they had available to find Snap and get the hell out of this terrible place.

sss

She still hadn’t figured out exactly what she was going to do with Rudy. At least, how to approach it exactly. She was not sure if she should move into it slowly, letting him eventually catch on. Or if it should be a swift thing, out of nowhere and without any sort of warning.

Well, whatever she chose in the end, it would still have roughly the same result. Horror would be stricken into Rudy’s heart. He would beg and plead. He would try to do whatever he could to convince her not to mess with him like that. After all, she would be striking at his heart, his emotions, toying with them. Even if he did not react exactly like that right away, he would eventually cave in. It would be quite fun.

But she did have plenty of time to think about that, so she was not too concerned. There was really no rush. With Penny and Mint dead, who was going to come save them? She knew that Skrawl wouldn’t dare try. That stupid jellybean was quite broken up as he was now. He wouldn’t be able to even save himself, let alone someone else.

Sandra had to wonder, though. Was she fully prepared for this? Was there any stone she had left unturned? She had been so careful when she planned all of this out. She had looked at several nook and crannies, hoping to fill in the gaps, making it impossible for anyone to slip through. But was it possible that she missed something? That fate was going to take a turn that she did not see coming?

It was possible, she had to admit. She wasn’t stupid. It may not be likely, but she had to remain convinced that something could still crop up. And if it did, she was going to have to be prepared to deal with it. She already had a punishment in mind should her prisoners attempt to escape. She had not told them what it was, and a part of her hoped it didn’t have to come to that. It would just be wasted time. But..if it did happen...

She shook the thought out of her mind as she continued walking down the corridor, heading back to where she had left Rudy. She felt it was easier to keep Rudy and Snap stored somewhat close to each other, but still out of sight. She preferred the shorter trips and at least in this way, even if they could hear each other, they had no idea where the other one was being held captive. She would rather watch them squirm from not knowing. Always more delightful that way.

She had thought about, at one point, bringing Rudy and Snap together and toying with them in various ways. Perhaps watching the other get hurt. Or trying to turn them against each other. Or even something a bit more...interesting.... She licked her lips at the thought and rubbed her hands together.

She was still not entirely sure about Jyker, however. A part of her wondered why she even bothered bringing him over at this point. She was still spiteful of him, especially with his involvement of exposing her years ago. But at the moment, her focus had mostly been on Rudy and Snap. She hadn’t really thought too much of what Jyker’s punishment was going to be. She was certain that she would think of something. She just...didn’t know what that was going to be yet.

Well she was going to figure something out of course. It would take some time. But sooner or later, she would figure something out indeed. The thought brought a dark smile to her face. If she ever did decide what to do with him, she could go all out. It was not like she needed Jyker alive; it was only Rudy and Snap that she wanted to keep.

Without warning, something rattled against her ears, causing them to twitch. She raised them up as she looked left and right, her eyes narrowing deeply. Something was going on. And she needed to figure out what it was. Adopting a dinosaurian stance, she proceeded to move forward slowly and carefully, taking her time with each step.

She kept on moving until she found herself at the edge corner of a new hallway, the one that she knew would lead her down to where Jyker and Rudy were being held. She knew that Skrawl’s Beanie Boys, or rather, her Beanie Boys, weren’t in this location. So the only other thing she knew it could be were those two. Or perhaps someone else trying to get in. She narrowed her eyes into slits. She was not going to let them get away that easily.

She watched the hallway carefully, her eyes darting around as she struggled to find something, anything. Even the slightest movement was all that she needed before she sprung into action. And once she did, there was going to be hell to pay.

She didn’t see anything so far. And even the sounds appeared to have stopped. But that didn’t mean that she was going to just let this fall by the wayside. That wasn’t going to do her any good, and she was certain that’s exactly what these two fuckers would think she was going to do. They fall silent and think that she was going to buy it. Well, they had another think coming.

She continued to move down slowly. She kept her back parallel to the ground, her eyes narrowed into slits. Her teeth were gritted tightly as she let out a series of low growls. Her tail moved slowly from side to side as she made her way over slowly. Her eyes focused on the door that she knew had Jyker and Rudy behind it, her lips pulled back to expose her sharp teeth in a snarl.

So far, there was no movement from the door itself. She didn’t even see any kind of shadows there. Either they were not anywhere near the door, perhaps still trapped like she had left them, or they were much better than she thought. A part of her didn’t even know how they could have gotten out of their cell to begin with, but she was not about to dismiss that possibility. She had worked too hard for this. She could not afford to screw any of this up.

When she reached the door, she moved her hand out towards it slowly. She soon wrapped her hand around it tightly and, slowly, she began to turn it to the side. She made sure to go nice and slow, not wanting to do anything to make the two jump and try to escape. She wanted to catch them offguard. Only when the door was opened up enough did she lean in to peek inside with one of her eyes.

She couldn’t help but take in a loud shocked gasp at what she saw. Or rather, what she did not see. She couldn’t see any sign of those two. They weren’t out in front of the cage or anywhere in the room that they were in. And they most certainly were not in the cage itself. They were just...gone.

Sandra froze in shock at this, feeling her mind swimming, her blood having a quick chill before it began to burn. Just how did those two little idiots get out of here? She had beat up Jyker so he should be not in that best of condition to walk around, and Rudy’s legs were useless and he had nothing with him to help aid him in that endeavor. So just...how in the world did they...?

Sandra gritted her teeth tightly, feeling her blood heat up more. She was not going to let them get away with this. No one makes a fool out of her. She would figure out where they went soon enough. She would find them and she would bring them back. And once she did, oh the things she had in store for them...

She didn’t have time to stand around and try to accuse which one of the two was most at fault. Right now, she needed to focus on trying to find those two before they got too far. She needed to figure out just which direction they most likely have taken and go from there.

Moving herself further into the now abandoned room, Sandra lowered her head and she began to sniff at the ground. She struggled to find their scents. It took her a little while before she was able to locate their scents. Once she did, she lifted her head up and stared off in one direction. Her eyes narrowed into slits.

Those two were both going to get a punishment that they will never forget. She would see to that.

sss

“Ouch! That hurt!”

“Then watch where you’re going!”

“I can’t! You’re the one carrying me, remember?!”

“Oh...right... Sorry.”

“Just keep moving! I thought I heard Sandra!”

“I’m going! I’m going!”

A part of Rudy wondered why he had thought this was a good idea in the first place. Why in the world did he think that riding on top of Jyker in this ventilation shaft was a smart thing to do? It was so crowded in here and even when he was pressed so far against the hyena, he still felt as though he was hitting the top multiple times.

But it wasn’t like they had many other options. By the time that either of them had gotten out of the cell, they had heard the faintest sound of Sandra down the hallway. Or at least, they thought they did. They weren’t entirely sure, but they could not take the chance. So instead of just sitting there, they immediately took action. And the only thing that they could come up with was just....going through the ventilation shaft...

It was a good thing that they chose to act then, however. Hearing Sandra’s low, distant growls proved that they really did hear her before, and they had managed to miss being spotted by her. He wasn’t sure how long it would take her to figure out that they had gone into the shaft. But he hoped that it would take a while. Long enough for him and Jyker to put some distance between her and them.

He wasn’t really sure how far this ventilation shaft went or where it woud lead them out at. They hadn’t really seen any other ways to turn yet. This did have him worried. If this shaft had only one exit, and Sandra knew that they were in it, then all she would have to do was just wait on the other side for them. They would be heading straight into a trap.

The only option that he could think of that might work is just...breaking through somewhere. Jyker might be able to pull it off. If he could manage to rip out an iron bar with his jaws, surely he’d be able to break through something like this. The metal here was a little flimsy in comparison to that iron bar. Yeah, that might work.

Or would it? It might be hard for him to do, considering the fact that the metal here was flat. How would he get his jaws around it? And even if he could do it, there was also the issue that they had no idea what was below them. He wasn’t the one who had the map sadly, so there was no way for him to know what waited for them beyond the metal walls. For all he knew, it was going to lead to somewhere worse than they had been before.

So their only option really was just to keep moving forward and hope for the best. If there was any chance at changing directions, he felt it was best to seriously contemplate it. Or even better, multiple directions. And then choose one random location. This would make it harder for Sandra to be able to find them. A lot harder, indeed.

It still did not mean that they’d escape. As much as he was hopeful for that, he could not underestimate that blue dragon. She might think of something. But maybe, if he kept her attention on him for a while, that would give Snap a chance to escape.

..if he was still alive, that is.

Rudy shook that horrible thought out of his mind before it had a chance to take him over. He struggled to keep focus on the task at hand. He kept his arms looped around Jyker’s neck. It was a struggle to keep himself from holding him too tightly, yet at the same time, not being too loose or else he’d fall off. Jyker was his only way through this place. If he were to become stranded.... His gut twisted at the thought.

“Well, so far, so good.” Jyker spoke up, likely wanting to end the long silence that befall upon them. “I wonder how far we have traveled.”

“It hadn’t been too long, unfortunately.” Rudy turned his head and looked behind him. “I suspect Sandra might have figured out where we went.”

Jyker’s body gave a quick stiffen at this. “What makes you say that...?”

Rudy shrugged his shoulders. “It’s just a hunch. I don’t want to take chances with her.” He paused for a moment, and then he glared out ahead of them. “Let’s just keep going. I’m sure we will find...something ahead of us that can help.”

“I do hope you are right.” Jyker gritted his teeth, seething partially through them. “This is a one way trip. I can’t back out of this so easily. So I hope this was all worth it.”

So did Rudy.

Rudy didn’t attempt to say anything in response, however. He didn’t want to say anything that might end up shaking up Jyker’s hope. It had been pretty tough getting him to do anything at all. Even crawling through here after they got out hadn’t been something that he wanted to do initially. He didn’t know if it was a good idea or not.

Not that he wanted to lay down and take it or anything. He just seemed so...conflicted. And after what happened to him, it wasn’t like Rudy could really blame him. He had been through quite the hell thanks to Sandra. Even his crawling showed signs of damage. He was amazed that he could even keep it up for this long. He was quite impressed, actually.

They continued to move forward down the tunnel. They hadn’t really run into any problems yet. At least, none concerning Sandra. No sign of her yet. The only issue they appeared to run into was this neverending shaft they were now stuck in.

And this started to worry Rudy. With how long this shaft was, he could not tell if they were making any sort of progress or not. It was just...impossible to tell. There was no indication of any sort of progress. Nothing to tell them that they were getting anywhere. Nothing but a long tunnel, which to add to the fact, he could barely see in, except for some shadows. Jyker had it better due to his night vision capable eyes.

After what felt like several more minutes and still no sign of progress, Rudy bit his lip firmly. He had to wonder if he had made some kind of huge mistake. Was it really a stupid idea to come out this way? Should they have gone a different path? Maybe take a chance and head out the door instead? At least then, they’d be able to see what could be going on. In this situation, they had no idea where Sandra could be...

He narrowed his eyes in determination. Well, it was too late for that now. Besides, they still had a chance at this. They just needed to remain focused. They’d get out of here. He knew they would.

Suddenly he felt Jyker come to a hault. The stopping was so fast that Rudy was nearly flung forward. He managed to hold onto Jyker tightly enough to keep himself from falling off. He shook his head and then he stared down at Jyker, his eyes widening.

“Why did you stop?” Rudy called out, his voice laced in shock.

The hyena did not answer right away. His head was positioned so that he was staring straight ahead. His ears were moved forward, as though trying to catch some kind of sound. It was hard to see his eyes, but Rudy guessed they were focusing on something that he could not see. Slowly, Jyker’s head turned slowly from one side to the other, his neck muscles quite stiff in the process. Then he could hear the hyena start to sniff a couple of times, louder than normal. His body seemed to shake with each quick whiff.

Then, his voice barely a whisper, he said, “....do you smell that..?”

Rudy frowned at this. “Smell what?”

Jyker simply repeated his statement. “Rudy...don’t you smell that?”

Sensing the urgency on Jyker’s voice, Rudy lifted his head up and started to sniff the air. But no matter how hard he tried, he could only detect the same metallic, dank scent that he had smelled before. Nothing unusual. A part of him wondered if Jyker was imagining things. But then, Jyker did have a stronger sense of smell...

“I’m sorry, Jyker. But I can’t smell anything.” Rudy said regretfully. “...what do you smell?”

“...smoke...”

At this, Rudy widened his eyes. “Wh-What...?”

As soon as he had said that, it struck him. All at once, he started to smell something up with the air. A very faint chance. A familiar smell starting to dominate the air. And then not long after that, he started to realize something else. It was getting hotter in here.

Rudy opened his mouth and started to pant. Oh man, when did it get so hot in here? He hadn’t noticed it before, but now it felt like there was a sweltering jungle in here. Had they ended up in one of the hotter locations in ChalkZone? It almost felt possible, considering how far he and Jyker must have traveled via this pipe.

There wasn’t much time to consider what was going on, however. They had to get moving and fast. The air around them kept getting hotter, and it wasn’t just the air, either. Rudy could feel the roof of the tunnel get hot and he could feel Jyker moving his feet about as the shaft increased its temperature as well. After letting out a few loud whimpers, Jyker began to move quicker down the tunnel.

As they moved as quickly as they could, they could feel the heat all around them getting worse and worse. Rudy could hear Jyker start to whimper as the ground was getting so hot, it was actually starting to burn his feet. He looked at him with great sympathy and tried to reassure him, trying to get him to keep moving, no matter what.

But as they continued to move on, Rudy realized that things were quickly looking quite grim. The heat was rapidly getting to the point of unbearable. Even with his mouth wide open and panting, he wasn’t really sure if he could handle it or not. His tongue felt quite dry and his throat wasn’t all that much better. He wouldn’t be surprised if he would end up losing his voice for a time over this.

And the heat wasn’t the only issue. Below him, even if he could not feel it directly, through Jyker, he could tell that something was wrong with the corridor itself. It felt as though it was starting to weaken and give way. A low creaking sound rapidly filled the air, making his heart race faster. Jyker’s pace quickened at this, the hyena zoner breaking into as quick of a run as he could manage while stuck in this thing. Rudy held on as tightly as he could, trying not to let himself be tossed back with the cramped strides of the hyena zoner.

The squeaking kept getting louder and more pronounced. He could feel something start to move and shift. He could feel them starting to descend, getting lower, the platform that they were on winding up more and more angled. The slanting did let them move faster, but this was of little comfort to them. Especially when they had no idea what awaited for them at the bottom.

Suddenly, without warning, there was a snap. Something had given way. Rudy and Jyker were shoved and jostled to the side, their teeth clenching tightly against each other. They only had a brief time to look at each other before there was another snap, this one louder than before. And then suddenly, they were falling.

Rudy wasn’t entirely sure what happened at this point. He had his eyes shut the whole time, feeling several blasts of heat and smoke against him. Even through his shut eyes, he could still see flashes of bright color left and right. This lasted for several moments, and he was honestly not certain when it would end. Or if it would end at all.

Then, moments later, he felt himself hit against something hard against the ground. His eyes bulged open and he let out a cry of pain. He could feel something warm and soft against him. He tilted his head up to see that it was Jyker, laying across him, blood seeping out of his head where a gash now laid. Rudy laid there for several moments, his head spinning, trying to figure out just what had happened.

Pushing himself up onto his hands a little, Rudy looked around. His vision was a bit blurred at the moment. But he could see enough detail to tell that he had no idea where he was. He could not recognize this place at all. And it was hard to see too much; it was so dark and blurry. Just...where were they...?

The smell of smoke was only getting stronger. Rudy sucked in a sharp breath through his clenched teeth. It would seem that he and Jyker hadn’t actually escaped the flames after all. He could feel it getting closer. If they didn’t get up and get out of here soon...

Rudy lifted his head and looked over at where the slanted, broken platform was. He could practically feel the heat radiating off of it. He could see the slow glow creeping along, getting closer and closer...

Rudy’s eyes bulged in horror and he struggled to get away. He tried to wriggle his way out from underneath Jyker. The hyena zoner was quite heavy, and when he realized he wasn’t moving, Rudy came to the conclusion that he had been knocked out. This made the acting of getting away a lot harder. But he didn’t stop trying. He continued to struggle and squirm, whatever he could to get himself away from here.

But it became quickly apparent that he was not going to be able to get away so easily. Despite his efforts, he was just wedged in there firmly. It didn’t look like he was going to be able to get out. And the fire was getting ever so closer... He wasn’t sure if...

Suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his chest. His body arched upward, his eyes bulging. He struggled to scream, but the pain was too much. He could only manage a quick, quiet gasp. His eyes began to roll back a little, the immense pain becoming too much for him to handle.

Turning his eyes to the side, he could see a figure standing there. It was a little hard to see the full features. The smoke had pillowed out, a bit of flames shooting out as well. The figure was obscured among the dark grey smoke, their body seeming to wave about, the same effect he’d see in the heat, when the ground was just too hot. But as he stared at the figure, seeing that dragon-like shape, that fist in the air, those blood red eyes, he realized instantly who it was.

“S-Sandra..” Rudy whimpered. “P-Please...stop...” He coughed and wheezed before he finally collapsed. Darkness mercifully took him over, and he entered a painless bliss.

sss

Mustering up as much a strength as she could, Sandra lifted up the bodies of her victims in her hands. She positioned herself in front of the cage. She pulled her arms back and then she released, tossing them in as hard as she could. She glared at them coldly as they crashed against the ground heavily. She cared not for how hard they hit the ground; they were asking for it the moment they had tried to leave. After glaring at them for a few seconds, she gripped onto the door handle and then shut it as hard as she could.

She just...couldn’t believe it. Even though she had a feeling they’d try to escape, it was still just...shocking to her. She would have thought that they’d know better than to try to flee. She thought that they would have been smart enough to stay put.

But nope, the idiots decided to try to leave. They really thought that they could get away. But they made a huge mistake in underestimating her capabilities. It also didn’t help that they had used that ventilation shaft. It made it all too easy for her. All she had to do was set down an explosive and that was it.

Well kind of. She used a modified form of the white flame fireworks that she had used before. This was set not to explode right away, but instead have a slow burn. She had intended on using it to weaken the shaft holding them in, and it worked just fine. Just like she imagined, it had weakened the structure at the point where she thought it would be. And when she had gone down there to meet up with her little ‘friends’, they were right where she guessed they would be.

Not that she surprised all that much. She had to do a lot of studying and understanding of white flame explosives before she could actually use them all those years ago. How else was she supposed to evade the worst of the damage while keeping it all within the building itself? How else was she to ensure that Snap did not get killed in the process?

She gritted her teeth as she glared down at the human and zoner before her on the ground, behind the bars once more. She had chosen a different cell this time, in a new location. It was even further away from where Snap was located, but she felt it was necessary. This room did not have any ventilation shafts. At least, not any that these two could use.

Part of her did think of just letting this be and move on. Not like they could even try to escape again. After that little incident, she was certain that they would not try to do it again. They would just lay down and stay put like good little prisoners, just like they should have been in the first place.

But the other part of her didn’t want to stop it right here. She had planned on giving them hell, and that is what she really wanted to do. Something that would make them, at least Rudy, in her control. Something that would assure that there was no way that he’d ever try to leave again.

Hmm...but the question was, what could she do? What option did she have to ensure that Rudy would not try to run away gain? She needed to do something that would break his will to try to leave. Some kind of suitable punishment that would leave him in shambles, mentally speaking. Something that would terrify the living daylights out of him. Fear was quite a good way to control someone, after all.

But what was she going to pick? She had to think on this one. Something that would be good enough to keep Rudy in his place... She knew she could not use Snap. She had other plans for him. And Mint and Penny were dead. It wouldn’t really do her as much good playing with a dead corpse. Rudy would be horrified, but having them alive would be much more affective. Rudy would be more responsive if he had a way to ‘keep them from getting hurt’, per say.

She thought about going out and nabbing a zoner. Perhaps that stupid old creation of Rudy’s, Blocky. Surely Rudy would scream and cry if ‘poor innocent little Blocky’ were to be hurt. But that would mean potentially risking exposing herself. As much as she did not care for those heathens thought of her, she was not interested in getting caught again. And she’d rather not leave for the moment. But if not Blocky then who...

Her eyes twinkled as she stared down at the two unconscious forms before her. There was something that she could do to have fun with both of them. She would admit, she had been hoping to avoid something like this too quickly. But they had brought it upon themselves, and they would have to live with the consequences.

Sandra didn’t do anything right away, however. Instead, she decided to just wait until they woke up. It would be a lot more fun that way. She wanted to see the looks on their faces when they find that they were trapped again. Then when they see what she was about to do with them...oh she couldn’t wait to see what their faces would look like then. It would be utterly priceless...

The sky blue zoner zoner rested herself upon the ground in front of the cage. She pressed her arms against herself, her legs bending far and her haunches lowering down. She eventually began to look like some kind of weird bird in a nest, complete with her neck forming an S shape and her chin resting against herself. She curled her tail against herself, and she took in a deep breath and sighed slowly.

Now all she had to do was wait for them to wake up. Then the punishment would begin.

sss

Slowly, Rudy flickered his eyes open. He let out a small groan as he did so, feeling a shockwave of pain hitting him in the skull. He lifted up his hand and rubbed it a little, his hand moving back and forth, an ache spreading throughout.

Ugh...what happened? It felt as though something had fallen on top of him. Or that he had slept for a couple of years. Or...something. He wasn’t really sure what happened. And at the moment, he wasn’t entirely sure if he really cared. All that seemed to be on his mind was the confusion as to just what was causing this infuriating headache.

Looking around, he tried to figure out where he was. His vision was a tad blurry, but that hardly got in the way of the details. Stone. Grey. Solid and hard. Nothing too distinguishable. Though a part of it felt somewhat vaguely familiar. As though he should know what this place was. But why couldn’t he remember? Why was it so difficult to....

He soon became aware of something else. Something that partially obscured his vision a little. He leaned his head forward and squinted, blinking a few times. Just...what was this? What was he looking at? He should know this. But...why couldn’t he name it? He slowly reached out towards it, his mind swimming, struggling to figure out just what it was that he was staring at.

Upon touching the cold metal, Rudy flinched as he accidentally bent his fingers a little. He pulled his hand back and quickly examined his fingers to make sure that he didn’t damage them. He then looked back at the metal, narrowing his eyes slightly.

Bars.

He knew exactly where he was now.

After a brief memory flash in his head, Rudy looked around the room. He gritted his teeth. He guessed that Sandra was to blame for this. She was the last one she knew they had a conflict with. And this was her hideout. Skrawl’s hideout originally, but now hers.

He soon noticed the hyena on the ground beside him. It was a little difficult for Rudy to adjust himself with his legs paralyzed, but he managed to do a decent job. Enough for him to turn himself around and look over at where Jyker was. His eyes widened as he looked down at his unconscious form, wondering for a moment if he was even still...alive.

Thankfully, this turned out to be the case. Jyker’s ribs were rising and falling slowly. He was still breathing. But this relief didn’t last forever. Rudy wasn’t really sure just how badly hurt he was. It looked as if he had gotten a couple new wounds. Minor, but that was only on the surface. That didn’t take into account what was going on inside. The thought frightened Rudy. He hoped that Jyker was okay. He wished he could help him, but even if he had the magic chalk, he wouldn’t know what he was doing. If only Penny were here...

His heart stung at the memory of his friends. Snap, Penny, Mint... He hoped that they were okay. He wished he could see them. He wished that he had some way to reunite with them. He would be happy even without his wheelchair, so long as he was with them.

But he had no idea what was going on with them. He wanted to know what was happening with them, but he knew that would be an impossible feat. How in the world would he figure this out if Sandra wasn’t willing to spare the details? She wanted to keep him in the unknown, the twisted fiend.

Well, at least he could enjoy a bit of time away from her. He guessed she must have gone to do something. He couldn’t really hear her at the moment. So he pressed himself up against the bars, feeling the cold metal against his skin, and just laid down. Not much else he could really do around here, anyway. He looked up at the ceiling for a moment and then he looked back at Jyker.

He hoped that Jyker would wake up soon. He was feeling increasingly nervous the longer he remained unconscious, especially after what Penny told him in the past about unconsciousness. He didn’t want Jyker to potentially suffer any permanent damage from this. He....He didn’t deserve it. He might not have known him that well, but he knew enough to know that Jyker really did not deserve what was done to him.

Unfortunately, not everyone felt the same way.

Rudy felt a cold chill rush through his body when he heard the footsteps approaching. Each one almost seemed to echo in the air, rattling across the bars. Rudy turned his head slightly, his teeth bared, as he looked over at the shadow forming along the ground. Well, so much for having time away from Sandra.

The dragon stood in the doorway in quite the menacing manner. The light behind her, though not to bright, was enough to case most of her body in shadow. Well, save for her eyes that is. They almost appeared to glow, staring down at him with an intense radiation. Her arms appeared to rest at her side, her hands arched in an almost claw-like manner. Her tail was moving slowly. The dark shadows and the glinting faint light at the tips made the tail spikes look even sharper than before.

Sandra gave a low, dark chuckle as she stared down at Rudy. She did not seem all that bothered by his expression. If anything, she looked rather amused, as though this was the funniest thing to her. She tilted her head to one side and said, “I see you are up from your little nap. I was wondering how long it was going to take for you to wake up. You were really quite the sleepy head, weren’t you?”

Rudy growled softly. Though there was little he could do. Even with his display of bravery, as Sandra took a few steps closer, he felt himself cringe back. He could feel his heart twisting and churning in fear. Regardless of what he tried, he would always remember that this is the person who had tried to kill him before. The same one who had taken away his legs. Who knows what else she could take away...?

Sandra moved in a little closer before she stopped. She regarded Rudy with cold eyes. This was in stark contrast with her smile, which looked almost warm. Almost too warm. It was...quite unsettling. The dragon began to pace back and forth, folding her arms behind her back.

“It is quite a shame it had to end up like this, Rudy. I had hoped that you would have been at least a little more cooperative. But I see that you decided to force my hand...”

“Oh shut up!” Rudy shouted. “You would have done something regardless!”

Sandra stopped at this. She looked down at her hand, flexing her finger. “Ah..that is true I suppose.” She smiled as she looked over at Rudy. “But at least I would have been...slightly more merciful...” The tone of voice that she held was clearly quite bitter.

Rudy hissed softly. “I’m sure you were...”

Sandra merely shrugged her shoulders at this. A simple act that was enough to infuriate Rudy. It was as if she was not taking this whole thing seriously. It was as though she didn’t think that any of this really mattered. And knowing Sandra, this could very well be the case.

Sandra resumed her pacing around. She didn’t speak for several moments. She just...watched Rudy carefully, her eyes scanning him up and down like some kind of hawk. It made Rudy shiver, his blood running cold. He still tried to look brave. But that facade was easily broken by the shivers that went through him. And Sandra could see this plain as day, as evidenced by her expression.

Rudy didn’t know just what Sandra was going to do with him. There were so many horrible possibilities. Which one was she going to go for? Which fate did she have in store for him? Was she going to tear him apart? Was she going to leave him out to die slowly? Just...too many choices. And he had a feeling that Sandra would be willing to try any one of them.

About the only thing that he knew for certain is that Sandra was not going to be too kind to him. He was a ‘promise breaker’ in her eyes. Something to be destroyed. Annihilated. Something that did not deserve to live...

And she had already proven just how far she was willing to go with him.

“I am quite upset that you not only tried to get away, but you did such a poor job of it.” Sandra stopped once more, this time, turning to face Rudy completely. Her expression hardened at this, and it looked almost like she was...disappointed? “I don’t know how you get out of the cage, and I do commend you for that. But...” She tilted her head to one side. “...heading into the ventilation shaft? That was such a clumsy mistake...”

Rudy didn’t answer. It wasn’t like he had anything to say to that. All he did was continue glaring at the zoner, wondering where she was getting at.

Sandra turned her head away swiftly. “Not that I’m entirely upset. I still have something I’d like to do and I would have been so...disappointed if I couldn’t fulfill it. But...” She turned her red eye to look at Rudy. “I would have expected better from the Great Creator. More of a challenge...”

Sandra fell silent. She looked down at Rudy with narrowed eyes. Slowly, she began to make her way towards him, her tail moving from side to side. Her teeth were slightly bared for a few seconds before becoming relaxed. It only took her moments to reach the cage. She stared at Rudy intently, her head tilted down to look at Rudy’s pitiful form splayed on the ground before her.

Then she smiled.

“But then, how could I expect much from you? After all...” She leaned her head in closer. A twisted smile broadened along her face, a glint shining in her eyes. The sight of it made Rudy gulp and lean back, half expecting her to strike him. But what she did say was equally as awful. “....you are just a cripple. A poor, pathetic little crippled boy who will never be able to do the simple thing of...” She straightened herself up, spreading her arms out in a mocking way. “...standing...”

Rudy felt a shockwave of emotion strike him at that statement. His eyes widened and he could feel his heart nearly tear into shreds. He struggled to glare at Sandra, but he had trouble bringing himself to do it. He knew that she was right. He could not use his legs. It was something that he tried to accept, but on certain days, he just.... Rudy could feel a few tears stroll down his face.

Sandra gave a few low chuckles at this. “Oh you poor little thing. The truth hurts, doesn’t it?” Sandra motioned her hand out towards him. “Look at you, laying in the cage, all helpless. You can’t do a damn thing to stop me.” She motioned back towards herself. She then tilted her head to one side, one eye focusing on the boy. “But...I do think that I might be able to...do something about your little situation...”

Rudy wasn’t sure what to make of this. He continued to try to glare at the zoner, more tears still stinging his cheeks. But he could not deny the fact that he was getting a little curious about what Sandra was talking about. What exactly did she mean by she could do something about what happened to him? Or did he misunderstand her?

Rudy couldn’t let his guard down, however. No matter what Sandra told him, he would not let her get to him. She might have been able to trick him before, but he was not going to allow her another chance this time around.

Though this didn’t seem to bother Sandra. She showed no concern as he continued to glare at her. And after a few seconds, she wasn’t even looking at him at all. Instead, her gaze was towards...

...Jyker...

Rudy’s eyes widened. He couldn’t help but stare at Sandra, wondering just what she wanted to Jyker. Although he knew he could not do too much, Rudy crawled over to where Jyker was, putting his body between him and the evil dragon zoner. He looked up at Sandra, gritting his teeth defensively.

Sandra laughed at this. “Oh this is so adorable! But I’m afraid that you are wasting your time...” Sandra lowered her head, narrowing her eyes. “I suggest you stand aside...”

Rudy shook his head. “No!”

Sandra rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Okay then...if you insist...”

Rudy did nothing to get out of the way as Sandra began to close the gap.

sss

It took only moments for Sandra to enter the cage. And it took less time for Rudy to already be trembling harder. Yet he still would not budge. Sandra was not sure whether she should call the boy brave or just plain stupid. Probably a mixture of both.

It was incredibly telling of Rudy’s personality that he would be willing to help out Jyker, despite the fact that he didn’t know him that well. Or at least, she didn’t think that he knew him to that great of an extent. Yet despite that, he was still willing to protect him from her. It was so amusing to watch. A monster protecting another monster.

But it wasn’t like Rudy was going to get that far. He could try all he wanted to. He was not going to be able to save Jyker from his fate. Nor was he going to be able to stop his...punishment.

“If I were you, I would step out of the way.” Sandra continued her way forward, taking her time. She regarded Rudy coldly, with little fear, as she got closer. “You are only going to make things worse for yourself.”

Rudy, however, refused to listen. He just wrapped his arms around Jyker’s unconscious form in a feeble attempt to protect him. “Over my dead body! I won’t let a-anyone fall prey to you!”

Sandra chuckled at this. “Oh isn’t that so noble.” She paused for a moment, tilting her head to one side. “What of your little friends? I guess you didn’t think they deserved to be protected.” Sandra watched as the boy’s eyes widened. She placed her hand against her cheek and shook it. “Oh dear me, I wonder how they might feel about that. What a friend you have been to them...”

Rudy’s body trembled as he glared at her. But when he spoke, his tone was, though still shaky, filled with curiosity and confusion. “What...what are you talking about...?”

Sandra placed a hand against her chest quickly, her eyes widening as she faked a surprised expression. “Oh? You really don’t know? I thought you would have figured it out!” Sandra narrowed her eyes slightly as she moved her head a bit to one side. “I mean, you aren’t stupid I don’t think. Yet...you seriously cannot figure out what I’ve done with them?”

A part of Sandra wondered if he was faking it. Maybe being in utter denial and wanting to believe the best. The poor idiotic fool.. He was only going to hurt himself more by doing this.

Not that she really cared. If Rudy wanted to set himself up for disappointment, then he can go ahead all he wanted to. No skin off of her nose. Sooner or later, the truth would strike him hard, and he would realize just what a fool he’s been. Oh that breakdown was going to be quite good.

But first, there was no harm in...setting him up a little.

“I don’t think you can count on your friends coming to get you, little Rudy.” Sandra held up her hand, examining it like it was the most fascinating thing ever. “You see, I took some...liberties. I mean, did you really think I was going to let those two tell anyone where you were? Oh please!” Sandra looked over her shoulder and stared down at Rudy. “You would not know me that well if you really did think that.”

Rudy took in several quick breaths at this. It was hard to tell if he was realizing the truth or trying to keep himself under control. Maybe telling himself that he was not going to fall for any of her ‘lies’. “What..Wh-What did you...” He swallowed hard. “What did you do with them...?”

Sandra sneered at him, letting out a small chuckle. She thought of witholding the information just to watch him squirm. But she decided against it. No, it would be a lot more fun to watch his reaction. “I killed them.”

Rudy’s eyes bulged at this. Sandra thought for certain that his heart rate must have sped up, as she could feel something pounding in the air. Her ears twitched a couple of times as this happened. Rudy shook his head slowly, whispering soft ‘no’s to himself, as though that was going to make all of this go away.

And all the while, she just smirked down at him, waiting to see what he was going to do next. So far, he was just shivering on the ground. He hadn’t tried to speak, not even to try to deny that she was speaking the truth. He was just...staring at her, glaring, though she could soon start to see tears forming in his eyes. He was starting to realize the truth of her words, but he did not want to stop clinging to hope.

“N-No... Y-Y-You’re lying!” Rudy called out. “Th-They can’t be dead! You’re just trying to trick me!”

“Eh, suit yourself, kid.” Sandra shrugged her shoulders. She was not really surprised that Rudy kept on hanging onto the believe that his friends were still around. It was really quite amusing. She wondered how he would react when he found out that it was all true. “I know that nothing I say is going to convince you. Though I’m sure if I took you out to see their corpses...” She pressed a finger against her lower chin. “...maybe you would sing a different tune.”

Rudy shook his head rapidly. “No! I refuse to believe you! You’re just attempting to...”

“I assure you, Rudy. I am speaking the truth.” Sandra placed her hand against herself. “I promise you that if you were to come with me, I will show you their dead bodies.” Rudy whimpered at this, muttering underneath his breath. “They’re both dead. Mint and Penny. Gone.” She raised her hand up into the air. “I don’t think you’ll be seeing either of them again...except for the dead bodies, anyway.”

Rudy’s body trembled at this. Tears flowed down his cheeks. He shook his head in denial, still. But it was clear that he was starting to falter a little. He let out a series of low whimpers before he attempted to speak. “Y-You can’t be...no... They are a-a-alive... They’ve got to be... I-I...”

Sandra just sneered at this. “Such a naive little child... Even when I speak the truth to you, you will not believe me.” She folded her arms against her chest and leaned back. “Not that I am surprised, really. You probably don’t like the idea of trusting a ‘murderer’ like myself, eh?” She turned her head in one direction. “But I can assure you that, yes, they are dead.”

“Wh-Why...?” Rudy choked out, more tears flowing. “Why would you do that...?”

Sandra narrowed her eyes at this. “Consider it part of your punishment...” Rudy’s eyes widened in horror at this.

Okay so it wasn’t really true. She had them killed off by the Beanie Boys before she decided to punish Rudy. Heck, it was before she realized that Rudy and Jyker had disappeared. So how in the world was she going to plan to punish him if he hadn’t done anything at that point?

But still, it did make for the perfect early punishment anyway. Seeing Rudy’s terrified expression almost made up for the trouble she had caused him earlier. Almost... But she still wasn’t done yet. She still had something else that she wanted to do. It was not enough to just tell him about something that she did. She also wanted him to see it, too. And to be utterly helpless to stop her.

Sandra did not waste anymore breath on the subject. She wanted to get started. The first thing she did after she rapidly closed the gap between her and Rudy was grab onto the boy. She lifted him up by his shirt collar with ease. She smiled at his growling, frightened face before she threw him aside like he was a sack of potatoes. She watched as he hit the ground with a loud thud. Then she turned her attention back down to Jyker.

“N-No... What are you doing..?” Rudy pushed himself up onto his hands. He looked over at Sandra with wide, terrified eyes. “L-Leave him alone!”

“Oh? And why should I do that...?” Sandra asked. She hunkered her body a little, back parallel to the ground. Her tail twitched side to side near the tip, her hand moving along the hyena’s back. “You are not friends with this stupid hyena. Why should it bother you what I do with him?”

“Please..just...let him go!” Rudy began to crawl over to where Sandra was. The sight was both amusing and pitiful. Sandra honestly didn’t know which one it was more. “He doesn’t deserve to get hurt! He...”

“Doesn’t deserve to get hurt?!” Sandra cried out in utter disbelief, her eyes bulging. “You really think that he is an innocent angel?!” Sandra grabbed onto the hyena’s neck and hoisted him up, ignoring any roughness that this may have caused him. “This ‘little angel’ as you think he is, he’s the one who ran me out of town before! He’s the reason I had to come to ChalkZone City in the first place!” She grinned almost maniacally. “S-So you have him to blame for what happened to your stupid little friends!”

Rudy stared at her in shock for several moments. Then he narrowed his eyes deeply and shook his head. “No... I only have you to blame.” Sandra widened her eyes. “Jyker only exposed you because you were doing horrible things. If you weren’t killing people for kicks, you wouldn’t be in this mess.”

“Killing people for...” Sandra raised her hand up, arching her fingers inward, trembling. “You little...!” Sandra forced herself to exhale, and she chuckled lowly. “Okay...if that is what you think... Okay.” Sandra lowered her head a little, her tail raising up behind her. She raised up her foot and she pressed it lightly against Jyker’s unmoving body. “Then allow me to show you just how ‘good’ I am at this.”

“W-Wait!” Rudy gasped in horror, his face paling. “Please...don’t!”

Sandra ignored him as she turned her attention to Jyker. She flashed her teeth as she stared down at him. The little fucker was still unconscious. A slight disappointment. She would have loved to hear his screams. But at least Rudy was here. He could do all the screaming that he wanted to.

And thus, she started.

She decided to start with his limbs. Turning her head to make sure that Rudy got a good view, she looked back down at Jyker, staring at his body intently. She raised her hand up and motioned slowly towards him. As she did so, something seemed to start bulging underneath his limbs. Something appeared to be growing. This continued for several moments, Rudy’s pleas echoing in the background.

Then, without warning, they ripped apart completely. Blood and flesh splattered on the ground, exposing the bones underneath. And they had been cracked, splintered in several places from her internal attack. She watched as blood still drained from the limbs. What a gruesome sight. It was beautiful.

Leaning down, she grabbed onto one of his weakened limbs. She placed her foot against his back for brace, and she began to rip his arm upwards. After a few seconds, it tore off completely. She tossed it aside letting it drop into the ground in a heavy thud. Then she began to repeat the same process on the other leg. Soon Jyker was armless.

But she didn’t stop there. Even as Jyker began to squirm a little as he was starting to come to, Sandra kept him firmly pressed against the ground as she pulled his leg away from his body. It was such an easy task with his bones weakened like that. It was almost like pulling a twig off of a tree. It didn’t take long for the second leg to follow, rendering the hyena zoner without any arms or legs.

At this point, Jyker was awake, and he had immediately started to scream. He squirmed and struggled on the ground. Though he never got that far. Not without any limbs anyway. How could he? He was nothing more than a warm. A mutant, disgusting worm, just like he had always been.

At first, it was enjoyable hearing him scream and sob, but she was getting a little tired of that. Her ears were aching too much. She was surprised that they hadn’t started bleeding yet. She decided to silence his screams a little and she seized his jaws tightly. Getting a good grip on his top jaw, she started to push the lower jaw beyond its limits. Jyker yelped and screamed at this, but this soon turned into a gurgle as she gave one more hard push down, and there was a loud, resounding crack.

Sandra released him and let him collapse into the ground. The hyena zoner’s body trembled and shook, his jaw hanging loosely, blood leaking out. He was still managing to scream, but it got more and more gurgled as time went on.

“It is a shame it had to be like this, old friend.” Sandra cooed softly. She reached down and gently stroked the top of his head. “Maybe if you had tried harder to see things my way, this would not have happened.”

Jyker narrowed his eyes as more tears flowed down his cheek. After he gave a few more sniffles and gagge sobs, he managed to say something that was very close to ‘fuck you’. Sandra widened her eyes at this and then she narrowed them. It would seem that he still hadn’t learned his lesson.

Sandra seized his tongue in her hand, the other holding his head down. She yanked back as hard as she could. The sound of ripping flesh filled the air. There was a snap and then blood pooled out of this new wound. Jyker let out a series of choked sobbing, his eyes shutting as he tried so hard to cope with the pain. His tail twitched frantically about, as though this would help him escape.

Sandra watched him coldly for several moments. She felt her mind burning with rage at how Jyker, even in the end, seemed to still refuse to see reason. A part of her almost hoped that he would at least show some remorse. After all, they had been friends at one time. Surely that would have meant something to him, right? Well it seemed that was not the case. She might as well just end this now.

Ignoring Rudy’s shouts at her to try to get her to stop and paying no mind to Jyker’s pathetic weeping, Sandra moved in closer, her talons pressing into the ground with each step. “Now, hold still, Jyker. And this will go smoothly..”

Jyker’s loud cries echoed across the room.