You Belong To Me

Chapter 32:





Mint moved along the tunnel, keeping himself as quiet as possible so Skrawl didn't see him. Once in a while, he would turn to see how Rudy was going. He was doing a good job at keeping Skrawl faced away from where Penny and Snap were. Mint was unsettled by the conversation Skrawl was having with Rudy. The whole 'trade your friends' lives for your own' thing... He was impressed at how well Rudy was handling that. Mint didn't think he could do as well if the roles were switched.

He kept moving along, keeping his mind focused on getting to Penny and Snap as fast as he could without making a sound. The exit was up ahead. It wouldn't take him long to get there. He sometimes turned his head to watch the confrontation between Rudy and Skrawl. This didn't last long as, soon, the tunnel moved behind some of Skrawl's equipment. He was a little unnerved that he couldn't see them anymore; he had less of a way to know if Skrawl still had his back turned. But the ongoing conversation at least assured him that Skrawl's attention was still on Rudy.

He hoped that this plan would work. He should have thought it out more thoroughly to take note of anything that could go wrong and do something about it. But they had little time for that. If they spent too much time wondering how to go about things, it may have ended in disaster. Penny and Snap didn't have a lot of time. Especially Snap. That attack on his broken back made things worse for the zoner. Now there's a risk of infection if it's not treated.

He was concerned that Skrawl would take notice of him freeing the pair if he didn't make it quick. Seeing just how cruel Skrawl could be, he wouldn't doubt that the jellybean would deliberately cause the stalactites to fall on them. And he wouldn't have enough time to get them out of the way or draw something to protect them. He hoped that he would be able to free them quickly before Skrawl took notice. He hadn't thought of yet how to get Snap back to the hospital, but maybe Penny would have an idea for that.

He soon got to the exit, which led him between two large pieces of machinery, and he was now standing several feet away from Snap's right side. For a moment, he froze, staring at the zoner. He watched sympathetically as Snap squirmed a little on the table, trying his best to hold still. The claws had struck him deeply, much deeper than what Skrawl did to him. There was a considerable amount of blood staining the zoner's back and the table, a bit on the floor too. And there was a steady flow of blood coming from the deep gashes. Poor Snap... He could see why he couldn't hold still that well.

The sight of the wounds caused guilt to strike through Mint's chest and stomach. Seeing Snap like this took him back to the incident at the temple. Snap looking up at him in fear, trying to crawl on the ground, hardly able to move without pain... The guilt snagged a hold of him again, gripping him tightly. He shivered, grimacing the sight of Snap in such agony. He knew that Snap's condition would not be as bad if he hadn't broken his back. He tried his best to control his guilt. At least he was doing something about it now.

Mint moved over quietly, his mind swimming with thoughts of what he should do. He wanted to help Snap, but he didn't know what to do. Should he unhook him first? Wait, that might not be a good idea. Snap might move around too much and he'll get hurt. Well, he could secure the back brace on him to provide some protection... But wait. What of the wounds? Shouldn't they be treated? That was going to be hard with him strapped down like that. His head started to hurt as he tried to think of what he should do.

He decided to go to Penny first. She might know what to do. He thought he heard once that her mom was a vet. Maybe she knew something about first aid perhaps? He walked behind Snap's table, looking over cautiously at where Skrawl and Rudy were. The jellybean was still talking with the boy. Mint heard part of their conversation, but he did his best not to let him distract him from getting these two off the table. His heart pounded with each step he took, glancing up at the stalactites above. One wrong move and they'll dislodge.

Mint was soon upon Penny's table. He moved up behind her, remaining as quiet as he could. He sometimes glanced over at where Skrawl was, making sure the jellybean wasn't looking this way. He then reached out for Penny. As he started to tap her shoulder, he realized that he should have thought this through better.

Penny started to let out a surprised cry, not expecting someone to be behind her. Mint quickly clamped his hand over her mouth to silence her. Her widened eyes turned up to look at him. He looked down at her. Using his other hand, he put a finger against his lips. Penny still looked shocked, but she seemed to understand what he was trying to tell her. She nodded her head quickly, and Mint removed his hand.

"Sorry, couldn't let you give me away." Mint said softly. He looked down at the cuffs that held her down. He tried to see if there was a keyhole or something. "How do these open?"

Penny shook her head. "I don't know. Try drawing a screwdriver."

"A screwdriver?" Mint had never tried drawing that item before. What would happen if he messed it up?

Penny said, "Yes. Unscrew the nails that are holding the shackles down." Her gaze turned briefly at where Rudy and Skrawl were. It seemed to click with her what was going on. "I don't know how long it will be before Skrawl turns back this way. Hurry."

Despite not knowing if he could do it or not, Mint still did what Penny told him. He took out his magic chalk and started to draw a screwdriver. He grabbed it as it materialized. It wasn't the best and it didn't look like it would work. Still, he tried. He looked down at each shackle, locating at where the screws were fastened in. He began to rmove them. It was difficult and it took longer than he knew it should take. But, slowly, it was working.

Every nail removed was placed in his pocket so they wouldn't clang against the ground. He worked on each cuff one at a time. He first undid the ones that held down Penny's hands. He then worked on her legs. The legs were the hardest to remove for some reason. Soon, they came off. When he lifted them up, he was careful not to let them drop on the ground. He would gently set them down, ensuring that there was no clang that would alert Skrawl to what he was doing. When the last cuff came off of her, Mint helped her sit up slowly. They both glanced over at Skrawl, ensuring he still didn't see what was going on, and they headed towards Snap's table.

Penny had tears form in her eyes. Mint watched sadly as Penny stood by Snap and began to stroke his head gently. Snap was a little startled, but thankfully he kept quiet. He was obviously smart enough to know that right now would be a very bad time to make a lot of noise. Mint moved a little closer, moving over to the other side of Snap. The zoner looked at Penny and then at Mint. There was a pleading expression on his face.

"Help me...the pain..." Snap whimpered softly. His body gave a shudder. "I-It's getting worse...please...help..."

"Shhh..." Penny whispered soothingly at him. She put her arm around the back of his head and pulled him into what Mint could best describe as a hug. Her head was pressed against the zoner's. "It will be okay... We'll get you out of here..."

Mint looked at them sympathetically. His gaze turned upwards. He bit his lip, wondering if the stalactite will hold long enough for them to free Snap. If it wasn't strong enough... He wasn't sure what they could do. He had no ideas on how to stop that thing from falling, and they couldn't just grab Snap and run. He was mortally wounded. They had to move him slowly. There had to be something they could do.

And he still had no idea on what to do regarding Snap's back. The wounds had to be treated, but with him strapped down like that, it was going to be hard. They would have to lift his body up to pull the bandages through, and that wasn't a good idea because of his back. They couldn't afford to let it arch and bend that much doing moving him. Maybe there was another way of going about this that he wasn't thinking of. He knew they couldn't just slip the back brace back on, not while the wounds were still exposed. It would cause the zoner a lot of pain. Well it would still anyway, but more so with his wounds exposed like that than if he just covered the wounds in bandages somehow.

Mint turned to Penny and said, "How should we go about this? I...I don't know what to do..." He turned to look down at Snap. "Those wounds have to be at least covered but... With him cuffed like this, I don't know if it's possible... But if we uncuff him, he might struggle harder and hurt himself more." Feeling a loss, he looked back at the ten year old. "Please, I...I don't know how to help..."

Penny released Snap. She looked down at her friend, stroking his head a few more times. She then turned around to face Mint. She took a step towards him, and then eyed Snap's injured back. She grimaced at the sight of the blood and the extent of the damage dealt to her friend. She turned back to Mint.

"I know you might not have as much experience as Rudy, but you have to try to do this. Draw some disinfectant, cloths, a cloth pad, and surgical tape." Penny said.

"Surgical tape?" Mint inquired. He knew so little about this sort of stuff, at least compared to Penny.

"Yes." Penny nodded. "So we can bandage the wound without moving him too much."

That relieved Mint. But there was still another problem. He glanced at Snap. "What if he screams?"

Penny opened her mouth to speak, but realizing what Mint was saying, she turned to Snap. She moved closer to his head again. Placing her hand on the back of his head, she lowered herself and whispered to him, "Snap, Mint and I need to treat your wounds a little before we can unhook you. We need you to keep still. Whatever you do, try your best not to scream, okay? We don't want to draw Skrawl's attention."

Snap nodded her head. His eyes were wide as he looked at her, tears of pain streaming down his face. "Okay..I'll try not to scream..." He let out a soft whimper, closing his eyes tightly. "Just please..h-hurry..."

Mint wasted no time. He drew the items that Penny asked of him. He wasn't sure if they were good enough. He never drew them before. But like the screwdriver he created, these seemed to work just fine. Penny didn't tell him he did anything wrong. Once the items were drawn, Mint brought them over to Penny and they quickly got started.

The first thing they did was wipe the blood carefully. Using the cloths that Mint drew, the pair wiped away the blood carefully. Snap was doing a good job with keeping quiet, though Mint could tell it was taking all his strength not to cry out. The cloths soon became soaked in blood, becoming almost all red and pink, vastly different from their original white color. Soon, with a combination of teamwork, Penny and Mint were able to wipe most of the blood away and stop the bleeding altogether.

Due to lack of time and the risk of the sound of water splashing on the ground, Penny could not wash Snap's wounds. She could still disinfect them. She grabbed the bottle that Mint had drawn and she spayed a couple times on Snap's back. Each one caused the zoner to stiffen up and stifle a cry of pain. It must really sting him, poor guy. Penny whispered soft apologies each time he cried out in agony. The disinfectant soon went to work and the stinging apparently began to fade, as Snap's pained expression slowly disappeared.

Then Penny instructed Mint to place the cloth on Snap's back gently. Mint felt guilty about doing this as even the lightest touch hurt Snap horribly. He did his best to be very gentle as he placed the pad on the zoner's injured back. He applied just enough pressure, careful not to cause more pain than necessary. Under Penny's guidance, Mint managed to tape the pad down carefully, holding it in place so it wouldn't slip off.

Then came the back brace. It was still on the table, the ends hanging off the side. Mint grabbed one side and Penny the other. They pulled the brace back together, careful not to jerk it or make it tight too suddenly. They redid the straps, resecuring the back brace around Snap's injury.

With the back brace now secured, the two could then start to undo the cuffs that held him down. Mint removed the screws from each one while Penny removed the cuffs and set them down quietly. When Snap was completely freed from the table, the zoner didn't move; he held still, knowing that he could still end up hurting himself if he moved around too much. Although Snap's back had its protection back on and he was no longer hooked to the table, Mint wasn't sure of what the next move should be.

Penny seemed to read his thoughts.

"Draw a stretcher." Penny told him.

"But I don't know if I can..." Mint said softly.

"Try, Mint. You were doing well before." Penny said to him. "Please try."

Mint looked at Penny, biting his lip. He wasn't sure if he could do it. He was really pushing his limit, drawing things he hadn't before. He then glanced down at Snap. He knew Penny was right. He did have to try. And he was doing so well before, like Penny said. He had to at least try.

He raised the magic chalk and, hoping for the best, started to draw. Lines formed in the air as he did his best to create a stretcher. He had so little experience that what he ended up drawing, he couldn't even tell was a stretcher. But it was still on wheels, it was big enough for Snap, and it had straps that could hold him down. It would have to do. He helped Penny lift Snap up and place him on the stretcher, onto his back. Snap let out a few soft moans but was otherwise as quiet as he could be. They secured him to the stretcher, firm but not too tight.

"We have to get out of here." Penny said softly. She touched Snap's cheek gently. "Do you know the way out of here?"

Mint nodded. "Yeah, I can lead you to the exit. I'll come back to help Rudy."

Penny smiled briefly. Then, with a worried expression, she said, "Do you have any magic chalk I can use?"

Mint stared at the piece he used to draw the stretcher. "Afraid not. This is the only one I brought with." He paused for a moment. "I could break it in half.. would that work?"

Penny nodded. "Yeah, it will."

"Okay, hold on." Mint grabbed the two ends of the white stick and began to apply pressure.

He did not get very far.

"Mint Zandophen?!"

Skrawl's booming cry was the last thing Mint heard before his ears were echoing with the sound of electrical currents. Something that looked like an electrical snake, kind of, wrapped around his body. The thing coiled around him, keeping his hands pinned flat against his side, which prevented him from dropping the magic chalk. He let out a surprised cry and was ripped away from Penny, who stared at him with a horrified expression. Mint soon found himself being held above Skrawl, who was holding a small oddly-shaped rod, the source of the electrical coil.

Mint struggled in the air. The coil around him tightened slightly. He winced as the electricity danced over his body. It wasn't electrocuting him oddly, but that might be because Skrawl was not allowing it to go that far. It was still hurting him, though. The heat of the electrical archs started to burn his skin a little. He glared down at Skrawl, who kept him raised high above him. There was a look of shock, anger, and disgust on the jellybean's face.

Mint wondered what happened to Rudy. Then he saw it. Skrawl had used his ring to form another rock-like hand. This time, he used it to press Rudy against the wall. The ten year old was trying to get free. His arms were completely pinned, and, like him, he was not able to draw anything.

Horror soon filled Mint's heart as he realized the implication of their situation. Skrawl had figured them out. He had found out about their plan. He spotted him. He stopped him from helping Penny get Snap out. And now, he and Rud were pinned against the wall, none of them being able to use their magic chalk. And Skrawl had powers granted to him by the artifacts. They were at such a disadvantage now. What were they going to do?

"I should have known this was all a trick!" Skrawl snarled, glaring up at Mint. "And I should have known you were going to be trouble from the start! I should have known that you were going to betray me, just like she did!" His odd-colored eyes glanced at Penny for a moment, looking at her with intense hatred. He then glanced up at Mint. "I am not going to allow this! I am not going to let you make a fool out of me, Mint!"

Mint tried to struggle again. He jerked his way from side to side. Unable to get free, he stopped squirming around. The stinging pain was getting worse the longer he was kept in this tight coil. He shot a death glare at the jellybean, baring his teeth at him. "You used me, you overgrown lima bean! You made a fool out of me first!" He narrowed his eyes further. "So consider this payback!"

Mint let out a scream as Skrawl tightened the electrical coil around his body. Rudy and Penny gasped in horror at what was happening. Mint continued to scream as he was squeezed tighter and tighter. The electricity arched over his body and now it was starting to get inside him as well. The electrocution soon begun and he screamed louder.

This, fortunately, didn't last long. Feet pounding on the ground, a loud screech in the air, Ripclaw had come from her hiding spot. She raced down across the room. Skrawl noticed her, but was unable to react in time. She slammed against Skrawl, knocking him back. The utahraptor pinned Skrawl against the ground, holding him in place. The jellybean struggled, but Ripclaw was doing a good job with keeping him pinned. She put her face close to his and snarled viciously at him.

Thanks to Ripclaw's intervention, the powers that controlled the electrical coil and rock hadn were disrupted. The two boys fell to the ground. Rudy grunted as he landed on his back. He struggled to his feet, staggering a little. Mint landed on his feet, but soon buckled onto his knees. His body trembled from the pain. The electrocution..it hurt so bad... He tried to straighten himself up, but he was too shaky and he found himself on his knees again.

He looked up to see Rudy rushing towards him. Behind him, he could see Skrawl still on the ground, struggling against Ripclaw. This was not going to last much longer, he knew. He attempted to get back up, but he fell forward again. This time, Rudy, who had gotten close enough to him, grabbed onto him and held him up, helping him keep his balance.

"Are you okay?" Rudy asked.

"Yeah..." Mint said, teeth clenched. "I-I'm fine...I just need to catch my breath..." He rubbed his head, which throbbed with pain. He then looked over at where Penny and Snap where. He still needed to give her half of his magic chalk so she could take Snap to the hospital. The zoner needed to get there as soon as possible.

Once he believed he got his footing, he moved away from Rudy and started to head towards Penny and Snap. Rudy looked at him worriedly and was about to call out to him. He was suddenly interrupted by a loud, painful screech, causing him and Mint to freeze in their tracks. The two boys looked over just in time to see Skrawl holding Ripclaw above the ground, just like he had with Mint. To their horror, Skrawl threw the dinosaur away...and right towards where Penny and Snap were.

"No!" The two boys shouted. They rushed over, hoping to get there in time. But they were too late.

Ripclaw crashed against the stalactite above Penny and Snap. She fell into the ground, landing in front of the pair. There was a loud cracking sound. Bits of rock started to fall, hitting against the hard ground. Then a creak came and the stalactite gave way, coming down towards Penny and Snap.

Time seemed to slow down. The stalactite dropped lower and lower, the sharp end faced right at the girl and zoner. With no magic chalk, Penny could not draw a defense. And Ripclaw was unable to move. She had hit her head and was now unconscious. There was no way that Mint and Rudy could reach her in time. Mint's heart froze, wondering what was to become of Penny and Snap. Would they be able to make it away in time? How were they going to get out of this?

Penny wasn't the type to give up. He knew that from experience. She would find a way out. And he turned out to be correct.

Everything happened so fast. Mint barely had time to register it. As the stalactite came crashing down, Penny grabbed the stretcher that Snap was on. She then ran as fast as she could forward. Seconds after she did this, the stalactite hit the ground with a heavy thud. It broke into pieces, shattering on the ground and kicking up dust and dirt into the air. Then, shortly after, the vibrations of the first stalactice caused the other one to fall as well. Another crash, another loud crack, and more dust rose in the air. Cracks here or there still occurred, the sound of rocks rumbling filling their ears.

Everyone coughed and wheezed as the dust hung strungly in the air. They squinted, trying to keep the dust out. They looked at where the stalactites had fallen. As the dust cleared, they could see the damage. There was now a large rubble of rocks laying on the ground. The tables that Penny and Snap were on were shattered, splittered in all directions. Mint winced as he realized that could have been them easily if no one helped them get out.

Then he saw something that made his heart freeze. His eyes widened in horror.

"Ripclaw!"

The utahraptor had not been able to get away in time. She was partially buried under the rubble. She laid on her back, her eyes closed and mouth partway open. There didn't appear to be any blood, but he couldn't tell just from that if the damage was severe or not. The utahraptor let out a few hisses of pain and moved her head a little, but was otherwise unmoving on the ground.

Mint's body shook with emotion. He stared in shock at Ripclaw on the ground. He felt his heart tightening, an uncomfortable sensation overwhelming him. His creation...No...his friend was injured. And it was all because of Skrawl... Anger filled his mind. He now knew just what Rudy felt like back at the temple. His body trembled in anger at the sight of Ripclaw's unconscious body and the realization that Penny and Snap were nearly killed. Skrawl...was going to pay for this.

He turned to face Skrawl, but then stopped when something else caught his eye. There was something moving in the corner. It was kinda thing...looked really sharp...and it was.. His eyes widened in horror as he realized what was going on. The throwing of Ripclaw..was nothing more than a distraction. Skrawl was going to..oh no... Without thinking, he ran towards Rudy as fast as he could.

"Look out!" Mint shouted.

"What?" Rudy asked.

Mint slammed against Rudy and shoved him into the ground. No sooner had he done that, a sharp pillar of metal, stretched out from one of the machinery, shot out above them, nearly missing the pair. The two looked on in horror as the sharp end rammed against the ground, its sharp tip going deep into the floor. The two boys frozen and stared at the object, their breaths quickening from the shock.

They both slowly stood up, their bodies trembling. That was close...too close. Mint winced at how close the metallic thing nearly sliced into them. If he hadn't acted, this would have gone straight to Rudy's back. Skrawl could have killed him. He looked at Rudy worriedly, his eyes scanning his body to see if he had sustained any injuries.

"Rudy!" Penny called out. She was remaining by Snap's side, not wanting to leave him alone while Skrawl still wielded the artifacts' powers. "Are you okay?!" Her voice sounded terrified and filled with concern.

"Y-Yeah...I'm fine..." Rudy said. He looked over at Mint. "Thanks for the help..."

Mint nodded his head and gave a soft smile. He opened up his mouth to reply, but he didn't get a chance to. The electrical coil slammed against the ground next to the boys. They both jumped back in shock. They looked to see Skrawl standing there, glaring at the two boys.

"I will not allow you to ruin my plans, Mint. You should have stayed with me. You were the best addition I made to my team. However, there's still a chance... Come back to me, Mint, and I'll show you what true power feels like!" Skrawl declared, using his hand to beckon Mint to come forward.

"No..." Mint growled at him, taking a step back.

This didn't seem to faze Skrawl. It was like he was expecting that answer. "Very well then, Mint. But just to let you know, I do not intend on...forgetting the lessons of the past. I learned from experience what happens when two creators fight against me instead of one..." He glared at Penny, who narrowed her eyes in defiance. He turned back to Mint. "So I won't give you and Master Tabootie the pleasure of that. I was going to save this for later but..." He let out a dark chuckle. "...what's the point in waiting?"

Mint didn't understand why Skrawl didn't continue trying to get him to come back. He would have thought that, because he liked his skill so much, he would keep tring. Instead, he appeared to give up so easily, so suddenly. And what was this he was going to do? What was his plan? There had to be a reason for Skrawl's actions, but what?

He got his answer.

Moments after Skrawl had taken out a new artifact, this one being what appeared to be a sceptre of some kind, Mint some kind of strange, dark purple energy envelop him. It was coming from the sceptre, and it was closing in around him. He let out a cry of surprise when he felt his body move without his permission. He fought against the control, but it was no use. His muscles and tendons were bending and flexing at the will of someone else, no longer his own.

Mint felt himself being forced to turn around and face Rudy. He tried again and again to get free, but he was no longer in control. Skrawl was. He was helpless to stop the evil jellybean from using him as a puppet. He gritted his teeth and he stared at Rudy. He looked at the horrified boy pleadingly.

"H-Help..." Mint let out a soft whimper before his body was forced to straighten up, his arms placed firmly against his side.

"Mint!" Penny called out.

"Let him go, Skrawl!" Rudy ordered the jellybean.

Skrawl chuckled evilly. "Oh I'm afraid I can't do that. You see..I still have use of this boy's talents.." Skrawl forced Mint to walk over towards him. "And if he will not let me harness them willingly.." Soon Mint stood beside Skrawl, his body frozen from the sceptre's powers. "I will use it by force..."Skrawl's claws moved gently along the top of Mint's head, running through his hair. "You see..he still belongs to me..."

Mint's eyes widened in horror as the full realization of his predicament kicked in.

Chapter 34:





Mint was shocked at the disturbing turn of events. He wanted to say something, anything, to stop Skrawl from using that mind play tactic on Rudy. Anytime he had tried to speak, Skrawl would just tighten his grip further. It was unsettling watching Rudy being forced to give in like that. Mint was shocked that Rudy ended up doing what Skrawl said. And all for his sake, too.

He didn't understand why Rudy ended up doing that. Yeah he was being hurt, Skrawl was torturing him, but it was just an arm in the end. That was all that was on the line, wasn't it? He can always go to the hospital and have a cast put on it. It didn't seem like Skrawl was going to do anything else.

Or was he? Rudy knew Skrawl better than him. Would Skrawl have gone even further had Rudy not given in? Would the jellybean break other things besides his arm? Would he have gone as far as kill him...?

Mint's eyes widened a little at that realization. He had seen enough evidence to know that Skrawl would go that far. And Rudy knew this, even more so than him considering he had more experience with this crazed green zoner. Rudy must have known, on some level, that Skrawl would have done so much worse to him than just try to break his arm. Mint shuddered a little at that realization. If that were so, it scared him when he realized just how close to death he was. And Rudy gave into Skrawl to save him...he even traded places... Mint was getting a clear understanding of why Rudy was the guardian of ChalkZone.

Mint stared over at Rudy worriedly. Skrawl had him positioned in front of him, in a similar posture as he had been stuck in. Mint wasn't sure if Skrawl was going to force Rudy to use the magic chalk on him, or if he was going to do something else to the boy. The sadistic smile the jellybean was giving Rudy was...very unsettling, making Mint's heart skip a beat. There was intention behind that smile. Gruesome intention...

He started to pick himself off the ground. He let out a low yelp as his arm racked with pain. He sat down on the ground quickly and cradled his left arm to his chest. There were small puncture marks from where Skrawl's claws dug into his skin. There was a lot of pain situated in his elbow, where Skrawl was trying to bend out of place. The very act of moving his arm hurt him and felt like someone was constantly striking that 'funny nerve' there. He had doubts that he was going to be able to use this arm effectively for a while.

His other arm was fine, although it, too, hurt to move. The slashes on his shoulder stung every time he moved his right arm a certain way. Blood dripped from the wound and soaked his shirt. The cuts were much deeper than what Skrawl did to him during his 'punishment'. He looked at his shoulder and winced as he saw the torn skin underneath the tattered cloth. He is going to need to get this shoulder treated, otherwise he could get an infection.

He managed to get up to his feet. He let out a few hisses of pain as he tried to move his arms carefully. He stared over at Rudy. His eyes widened further when he saw Skrawl place a hand on Rudy's chest. Seconds later, he pressed them into the skin. Rudy let out a cry of pain as Skrawl slowly cut him across his chest, blood dripping out of the new wounds.

Although at a disadvantage, Mint took a step forward. "S-Stop it Skrawl.."

"Mind your own business, traitor." Skrawl snarled at Mint. "The boy was willing to trade places with you, and I have a bigger beef with him than you. But if you insist on being punished as well...I certainly don't mind.." Mint growled at this and took a step back. Skrawl's eyes narrowed. "For you see, Mint, it was a mistake to throw that magic chalk away... As you will soon find out."

Rudy's eyes widened in horror as his right arm, its hand still clutching the magic chalk, was lifted up into the air. "Run, Mint! Go help Penny and Snap! Get them out of here!" Rudy clenched his teeth as he appeared to be trying to fight the sceptre's control. "I-I'll be fine...! Just go..!"

Mint stared at Rudy, shaking his head slowly. He felt his heart pound against his chest. If he left Rudy, then wouldn't Skrawl...? No, he couldn't leave. Rudy needed help. Rudy was willing to help him get out of trouble before. It was time for him to return the favor.

"No!" Mint shook his head. "No, I'm not going to run anymore!" He took a step forward, clenching his hands into fists at his side. "This time, I fight!"

Skrawl let out a cold laugh at this. "Oh really now? Well then..." He pointed the sceptre in Mint's direction. Rudy was forced to take a few steps towards him, his chalk still raised in the air. "..I hope you do a better job than at the hospital. You could have saved Snap, but you failed. And now..."

Rudy's arm and hand were forced to flex and bend against his will. The ten year old boy grunted in discomfort and a bit of pain as he was forced to draw something in the air. Before Mint knew it, Rudy had drawn what appeared to be a...gun... Mint's eyes filled with horror as he took a step back, Rudy raising the gun to point at him.

"This time, it won't be someone else you're trying to save." Skrawl drolled as he raised the sceptre in his left hand. The dark purple energy flowed into Rudy more, causing his body to shake as the unwanted energy moved through him. "Let's see how well you perform...when it is your life that's one the line.." Skrawl grinned nastily at him. He made a flick of the sceptre and, almost instantly, Rudy placed his finger on the gun's trigger.

Mint had only seconds to react. He jumped to the side as a spray of energy bullets were shot at him. They moved at slower speed than regular bullets, just enough that he could see them as they came at him. They were still very fast and it was hard to dodge them. He jumped up, ducked, twisted his body ever which way to avoid the yellow bullets. Rudy was trying his hardest to fight back against the control, much like he himself had when he was the one being controlled. It was useless and Rudy was helpless to stop himself from shooting at Mint.

Mint wasn't sure how he was going to get out of this mess. He had no idea how he was going to free Rudy from the control. The only way was to damage the spectre some how. But Skrawl was holding it, and he doubted that, with Rudy being forced to shoot him, that he could get close enough to him. All he could do right now is dodge the barrage of bullets coming at him. He tried to hide behind the machinery and tubes to buy some time, but there wasn't enough space between them and the wall to fit through. And going there almost cost him his life. It was a miracle he was able to get out without being hit by those bullets.

He ran around the room, jumping and dodging the shots as they were fired. He was going to wear out soon. There was no way he was going to be able to keep this up. Already he felt his throat getting dry and he began to pant. His movements started to slow down, a worrying sign. He looked at Rudy fearfully as another shot was fired. With his movements a tad slower than before, Mint wasn't able to stop the energy bullet from slicing into his shoulder, the one that was already damaged. He let out a hiss of pain as he clutched that shoulder with his left hand. The sudden motion of his left arm sent more pain racking through his body and he suddenly stood still, trying to deal with the pain.

He turned his head to the side. His eyes were big. The gun was pointed straight at him. He heard a click. Another shot was fired. He ducked down, feeling the bullet graze over his head, doing nothing more than slice the tip of his brown hair. He heard the bullet clank against the stony wall and get stuck in it. Another shot, and this time he couldn't dodge it very well. It cut into his left leg, on the calf. He hissed at the pain and checked out the wound. The pants were torn and blood slid down his leg. He tried to take a step forward, but the pain caused him to immediately buckle, doing down onto his right knee and holding his left leg with his arm.

"Mint! Get out of here!" Rudy cried. Mint watched as the boy was walking over towards him. The gun was raised and pointed straight at his head. "Please...I don't want to hurt you! Get out of here! I'll deal with Skrawl!"

"No, I'm not going to leave you! You're not going to face Skrawl alone! He'll kill you if I leave!" Mint called out, struggling to his feet.

Rudy said, "Please..just listen to me. Leave now before it's too late... Find Penny and Snap and help them escape..." Mint shook his head. "Why won't you just listen...?" Rudy asked, his voice full of desperation.

"No, it's your turn to listen, Rudy! I'm not going!" Mint stood up now. Though visibly still in pain, he didn't run, even when the gun was pointed straight at his head. "I always believed that standing up for myself is the right thing to do... And all this time I was using it wrong. Well I'm using it now, and for the right reasons." He took a step forward, taking a fighting stance. "I will not back down."

"Mint..." Rudy started to say. He let out a cry of fear as the gun's trigger was pulled. "Look out!"

Mint dove into the ground as the bullets nearly hit him. He grunted as he hit the ground. He coughed a few times and raised his head. As Rudy was being forced to turn to face him, Mint noticed something on the ground. It was the spiked bat he had been forced to use against Rudy. He looked over and saw Rudy walking towards him. He then looked back at the bat. He grabbed it and climbed up to his feet.

Turning to face Rudy, Mint rushed over, both hands on the bat, careful to avoid the spikes. Rudy took aim and was about to fire another shot at him. Mint managed to reach him before Skrawl had the chance to make him do that. He pressed the wooden part of the bat, careful to avoid letting the spikes hit Rudy, and rammed him against the wall. Rudy let out a grunt of pain. Mint continued to push the bat against Rudy to keep him pinned.

With the boy pinned, Mint tried to take the gun away from him. Holding Rudy against the wall with his right arm, he attempted to use his left arm to reach for the gun. There was still pain in his elbow, causing this act to be particularly difficult. He fought against the pain the best he could, and he managed to grab onto the gun. He started to pull back, shaking and tugging the gun, making sure the barrel's end was pointed away from him and Rudy. He pulled again and again, trying to dislodge the gun from Rudy's hand. All the while, under the spectre's control, Rudy pushed back against him, making the task even more difficult.

Skrawl narrowed his eyes. "I don't think so..." He swung the spectre to the side, and as he did so, Rudy freed his left arm and punched Mint in the face. The boy staggered back, unable to read in time as Rudy swung his gun at him, the metal hitting against his forehead and knocking him into the ground. "You should have done what Master Tabootie said." Skrawl chuckled cruelly. "And now because of that folly..."

Rudy watched, terrified, as he was forced to slam his foot against Mint's stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Mint wheezed and coughed. He looked up at Rudy in fear. The gun was pointed at him again. Rudy's body trembled as he tried to move out of the way, but it was all in vain.

"You're going to die..." Skrawl sneered.

Helpless, Rudy's finger started to press against the trigger. He stared at Mint sorrowfully. "I-I'm sorry Mint...I can't stop..."

Knowing he won't be able to get out of the way in time, Mint turned his head to the side and closed his eyes tightly. With his teeth gritted, he waited for the death blow.

sss

"P-Penny... I don't think this is the exit..." Snap said. He hissed as pain erupted on his back. "Where are we?"

Penny looked around. "I'm not sure..."

Snap wasn't sure what would have been worse. Being stuck in that room with the crazed jellybean trying to kill all of them, or traversing through his new hideout, having no way which way to go or when they would run into the Beanie Boys, or find themselves stuck in a trap. It was a pretty even toss up. Both would have been pretty much unpleasant. But at least looking through the hideout gave them a better chance to get to safety.

Snap didn't really want to leave behind Rudy and Mint. He wanted to help. But stuck like this, with a broken back, there really wasn't anything he could do to help. He couldn't even walk without experiencing pain, and after what Skrawl did, he doubted he would be on his feet anytime soon. He would have been pretty useless in the fight. Penny could have stayed, but she wanted to help him reach safety first. That was pretty admirable of her, he had to admit. Though it made him feel a little guilty as it meant that Penny wouldn't be able to help Rudy. He tried to shake the feeling off. He shouldn't feel guilty about this. It wasn't his fault this happened.

Penny had been pushing him along on the stretcher. They went down the hallways, thankfully avoiding the Beanie Boys. They were strangely absent from the hallways. He wondered if they were ordered to go somewhere else or if, with the artifacts, Skrawl didn't need them as much anymore. As odd as it was, he was still glad that they weren't showing up, at least for the time being. He didn't know how well Penny could take on a bunch of Beanie Boys herself, and with him in the stretcher, unable to move, he might as well have a giant bullseye on him and be used as target practice.

Penny was careful as she pushed the stretcher. It was clear, by her actions, that she was trying to push it as fast as she could without accidentally hurting him. There were a few times where there was an unexpected bump in the path, causing the stretcher to jerk suddenly. Each time, this would hurt, and each time, Penny would apologize, and then continue on her way.

Snap hated not being able to do anything. He still felt some anger towards Mint, although he was never as angry towards Mint as Rudy was. Even in his state of agony at the temple, Snap was surprised by Rudy's outburst. He was usually a nice kid, so to say those things was out of character for him. He understood why, though. Mint had crossed the line when he broke his back. And a part of Snap was still upset with him for that. However, Mint had apologized to him and he sounded completely sincere. Snap was glad that Mint gathered the courage to do that and he was able to get to know him a little better.

When all this began, he never thought that he would be sitting in a bed playing a game with Mint. He had been so scared of Mint for most of the time they had known him. Mint had been tormenting him, treating him terribly, trying to kill him... It was sometimes hard to sleep at night, knowing that Mint was on the loose and could hurt him at any moment.

And now things have changed. He was surprised when Mint showed up in the hospital, and even more surprised when he apologized to him for what he did. Not a simple 'sorry', but a full apology, saying sorry to many of the things he had done. Snap was fully willing to give the boy a second chance if he really was sorry. He still had some lingering fear of the boy, but that was to be expected, after being tormented by him so long. He knew that fear would fade in time as he got used to Mint treating him like a person, not as a 'useless piece of data' he once saw him as.

And Mint showing up to help him did prove he did care. He was glad that Mint came with Rudy and that they were working together now. He hoped that, with Mint's help, Rudy would be able to defeat Skrawl. With those artifacts, it wasn't going to be easy. He hoped that Rudy was able to free Mint by now and share his magic chalk with him. Skrawl won't stand a chance against two creators.

Snap hissed as another shockwave of pain spread through his body. Skrawl's slashes on his back just added to the pain he was already feeling. The pain had been getting worse when he was still strapped down. It had been getting worse for two reasons. Skrawl's attack being the most obvious one, as the claws had torn into his flesh and across his spine. The other reason was, when Skrawl removed the back brace, he lost that extra support and his spine wasn't able to stay straight as much. The bending of the spine, as much as he tried to avoid it, made the pain so much worse. He was glad he had the back brace on again. It did help take away a bit of the pain, even if it wasn't much.

As they moved through the hallways, they came upon a strange door. Hearing Beanie Boys coming down the hallway, Penny moved Snap into the room as quickly as she could and shut the door behind her. She took care to make sure it didn't make a lound banging sound, otherwise that would have drawn unwanted attention. She and Snap held their breaths as the Beanie Boys moved by. They could only tell they were moving past the door by the sound of their propellers.

When the sound faded away, they relaxed and looked at their surroundings. It was a room unlike they had seen before. They couldn't make sense of it. And even though they had been in here for a few minutes, they still hadn't been much closer to figuring out what it was.

The room was shaped like a long rectangle with a low hanging ceiling. Each side was lined with what appeared to be black-colored machinery of some kind. But to call them 'machines' was a bit of a stretch. The objects were pretty formless, in a way. Round in some areas, pointed in others, and covered in white and yellow sparkles. The only thing on them that appeared machine-like were the coils in the back that went straight into the walls. There was a constant sound coming from them, almost like computer beeps only faster and higher pitched. It sounded so alien to Penny and Snap, so confusing.

Penny took a few steps away from Snap's stretcher and looked around again. Her eyes were narrowed slightly. Snap could tell she was trying to study everything and see if she could figure out what this place was. He had a feeling she would figure it out soon enough. She was, as Skrawl would say, a 'genius girl'.

Then she paused. Her eyes widened in what Snap guessed was realization. She turned to Snap and said, "I think these are power generators!"

"To what?" Snap asked. He looked around the room the best he could without moving. "These don't look like any ordinary power generators, so I don't think it's to power this place."

Penny placed a hand on one of the generators. She immediately moved her hand away, sucking in a deep breath. "Ow..."

"What's wrong? Did it burn you?" Snap asked, his eyes furrowed with concern.

Penny shook her head. "No. It's cold. Ice cold..."

"What? Cold?" Snap was confused. How could these machines be so cold if they are clearly running?

"Yeah.." Penny looked around at the machines. "But I haven't heard of any machine, at least the more technical ones, being this cold...especially if they're turned on." She walked up to more of the machines and eyed them up and down. "They don't even have a power button. At least none that I can see. Their way of functioning seems...really strange. I hadn't seen anything like this before."

That answered one of their questions. This room could very well be a power source of some kind. It was giving power to some part of this place. But what? And just what were these machines specifically? How did they function while remaining so cold? So strange, so unusual... Snap had seen a lot of strange things in ChalkZone. Kids can draw some of the most bizarre things. But this was something that he hadn't heard of before. Don't most high tech machines run better when they're at least a little warm? Or maybe he was wrong about that. Technology was not his forte.

Then he noticed something about the wires when he had another look. There was something familiar about them. He could have sworn he had seen them before, even just briefly. He looked at them, the way they coiled across the ground and stuck through the wall. Then, realization dawned on him. He knew where he had seen these very wires before. He turned his gaze towards Penny.

"This is the power supply for those tanks and machines in that one room we were in!" Snap called out to Penny. She turned her head towards him, a surprised expression on her face. Snap did his best to point at one of the wires visible from behind the strange-looking 'machinery'. "Look! It has the same colored lights going out of it as those wires down there did!"

Penny looked at the cords. She soon realized that Snap was right. "Yeah...they are..."

"Cut them! Stop the power from going into those machines!" Snap told her. He winced in pain, and continued, "I'm not sure how it'll help, but it might buy Rudy and Mint some time!"

Though Penny looked unsure, she still did as Snap told her to do. She drew an axe with the magic chalk. It was a little difficult for her to weild, being a ten year old girl and all. But she managed pretty will. She went over to the wires and held the axe over her head. She started to hack away at the wires. Each one spilled some kind of fluid on the ground, clear and sparkling, though harmless to the touch.

Penny didn't stop hacking at the wires until all of them were cut. It took about two to three minutes, but soon she was finished. She placed the axe on the ground and leaned against it, panting heavily. As she did this, she and Snap were surprised to see the machines 'turn off'. The sparkles all over the machines just..disappeared. And the sound they were making was gone as well. It was dead silent.

"I wonder if this did Rudy and Mint any good..." Penny thought outloud, taking a look around the room.

"Let's hope so." Snap said, hoping that he didn't make a miscalculation. "Let's hope..."

sss

Rudy closed his eyes, a tear escaping them. He was about to be forced to kill another human being. He didn't want to do this. He didn't want to be a murderer. It wasn't in his nature to kill. He tried to something, anything, to move his hand away, but it was useless. He was about to shoot Mint, and there was nothing he could do about it.

He knew the reason why Skrawl was doing this. It wasn't just because Mint had betrayed him. No, it was because he wanted to mess with him more. He wanted to break Rudy by forcing him to commit a heinous act he normally would not do. He had been toying with him before, forcing him to say that he meant it when he said he wanted Skrawl to punish him. And now he was messing with him again by making him kill Mint.

He wished Mint had just listened to him before. He wished the boy had just run when he had the chance to. If he had just done that, he would have been safe. Rudy would have found a way out somehow. He didn't want to drag Mint down with him. Even if he was still enemies with him, he still wouldn't have wanted Mint to take the fall like this. It just wasn't in his nature to be like this.

But it was in Skrawl's nature to act this way. Rudy wanted so much to turn around and face Skrawl and fight him. He wanted to be free from this terrible control. Feeling his muscles bend and twist in ways he did not want them to... It was uncomfortable and even painful. He knew this is exactly what Mint felt when he was being controlled. He now could see just how Mint would have a problem fighting back. His muscles just weren't responding to his brain's commands anymore. They were bending to the whim of another.

Rudy was helpless as he aimed the gun at Mint. He watched as the boy cringed under him. His head turned to the side, eyes closed tightly. Rudy felt his finger start to pull on the trigger. He clenched his teeth fearfully, closing his eyes again as he did not want to look at the gruesome murder he was being forced to commit. The finger started to pull and he waited for the bang to come, followed by the horrific scream.

But that didn't happen. Instead, his body stopped moving, freezing where it was. He felt the rumble of the machines all around him suddenly lose power. Everything shut off except for the lights. The purple energy left him quickly and suddenly he could move again. He stumbled forward a little, taken by complete surprise when he got control of his body back. He stared down at Mint, both looking confused by what had happened. Rudy turned his head to look over at Skrawl.

The jellybean looked very unhappy. He was waving the sceptre in frustration. He tried using some of the other artifacts, but they weren't working anymore. They were no longer glowing like they had been before, indicating they had lost their power. Rudy's eyes widened as he realized what those machines were. They had been supplying power to the artifacts. Skrawl must have had to activate them artificially, and without that power source, the artifacts were useless to him.

Rudy realized that it must have been Penny who did something. She didn't leave like he thought she did. She had stuck around and she did something to help them out from the sidelines. He felt the corner of his mouth tic into a smile. Her help not only bought them time, but it was going to make things a lot easier for him and Mint to take care of Skrawl. With no working artifacts and no creator by his side anymore, Skrawl didn't stand a chance.

It was amusing watching Skrawl scream and grumble in frustration. He was absolutely furious and tossed the artifacts into the ground. He shouted about how they were useless and wondered out loud why he wasted time finding them just for them to break on him. Rudy wasn't sure if Skrawl realized the power had been cut. There was a chance he did not; he was so focused on toying with him and right now so focused on how the items stopped working that it didn't seem like he was completely aware of his surroundings.

Rudy turned away. He knelt down and helped Mint up to his feet. He looked at him up and down, making sure he was okay. He was about to break his magic chalk in half so that Mint had some way to fight back. But, without warning, Mint shoved him into the ground. Rudy was shocked by this action and wondered what Mint was thinking. He didn't have long to think.

Overhead, a tentacle of electricity shot into the air. Rudy was horrified by this. Didn't Skrawl just lose power to his artifacts? Then he realized..the crown had still been glowing. It must have enough juice to power one artifact. The sceptre must require too much power for the crown to handle. Well Skrawl certainly wasn't defenseless anymore. Rudy, still on the ground with Mint, turned his head to see Skrawl holding the rod out, firing at them mercilessly.

Rudy got up and attempted to draw something. He was knocked back by the rod. The electricity wrapped around him and Rudy started to scream in pain. He struggled against the coil's grip, but was only met with more pain. He wasn't even able to draw anything while in this state.

Opening up one eye, he saw Mint rushing over towards Skrawl. He grabbed Skrawl by the arm and bit him as hard as he could. Skrawl grunted in pain and looked at Mint with contempt. He tried to pull away from Mint and make him let go. But the eleven year old refused to release his grip on him. Skrawl lifted him up in the air and started to shake him. Mint responded by kicking his foot outwards, hitting the rod and causing it to temporarily lose power.

Rudy let out a cry as he fell into the ground. He shook his head as he looked over at Mint, who was still hanging onto Skrawl's arm. Rudy pulled his hand up to draw when he realized...he didn't have the magic chalk anymore. Panicking, he looked all around the ground, trying to find the piece. It must have rolled on the ground somewhere when he was attacked by that electric coil. It had to be around here somewhere... It just had to be.

But no matter where he looked, he couldn't find the magic chalk. It either rolled under somewhere and he couldn't see it, or it was destroyed by the electricity. Horror swept through his mind as he realized he was without a defense. He swiftly looked over at Mint, who was still hanging onto Skrawl, distracting him for the time being. Rudy knew it wasn't going to last long. And he was proven right.

Skrawl growled at Mint. "I have had enough of you, Mint Zandophen!" He raised his arm a little higher and threw Mint into the ground as hard as he could. "I am going to teach you a lesson that you will never forget! You will regret ever betraying me!"

"Mint!" Rudy shouted. "Get up!"

Rudy tried to rush over to help, but Skrawl just zapped him with the electric coil. Rudy hit against the wall hard and slid down. He was dazed for a few seconds. He shook his head he looked over at where Mint was. He tried to get up to his feet, but his legs were really wobbly and it was hard for him to walk. Though it was getting better as the seconds passed by, there was no way he could get over to Mint in time. He watched in horror as Skrawl aimed the rod at Mint.

"You're not going anywhere..." Skrawl hissed cruelly as he fired a shot.

Mint, who had been trying to get away, screamed in agony as the electricity struck against his left leg. A few burn marks and blood stains appeared as the coil tore into his leg. He fell into the ground. Rudy cried out in horror and rushed over to try to help Mint.

Skrawl, however, was too fast for him. Before Rudy could get over there in time, Skrawl kicked Mint so that he was laying on his back. He then took out the sword, a long, sharp golden sword, and steaded it over Mint. The boy stared at the sword with horror filled eyes.

"N-No..please.." Mint begged. He attempted to get away, trying to scoot back. "Don't..."

Skrawl narrowed his eyes hatefully at Mint. "It's too late now, traitor. Now...accept your punishment!"

"No!" Rudy shouted as he rushed over faster. But he was too late.

Skrawl swung the sword down as hard as he could. There was a sickening crunch, the sound of something slicing through an object that was wet. Liquid splatter sounds could be heard, along with the clang of the metal hitting the ground. There was a loud scream filling the air, echoing off the walls. Rudy stood there, frozen, in complete and utter shock at what had just transpired. His body shook, and he took a step back. He shook his head in absolute disbelief.

Rudy couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe what he had just seen. Skrawl had...he had attacked Mint with the sword. It had cut into his leg... No, it didn't just do that. It had hacked a portion of the leg clean off... About half of Mint's calf along with his ankle and foot, it was disconnected from his body, the piece laying not far from him on the ground. The cut had been perfectly clean, like Mint's leg was just a stick of hot butter. The golden sword had splatters of blood all over it now, the edges dripping with the red liquid.

And there lay Mint, writhing in pain. Skrawl moved away and smirked in satisfaction as Rudy rushed over to Mint's side. Rudy stared down at Mint, his body still trembling in shock and emotion at what had happened. He watched as Mint tossed and turned on the ground, tears of pain flowing down his face. What remained of his left leg was rapidly losing blood, pooling into the ground. There was so much blood that it was staring to dissolve the chalk a little.

Mint let out low cries and whimpers. He tried to reach down and touch his leg. But it would hurt him too much. He'd scream in agony and throw his head back. He let out a few sobs as he tried desperately to get away from the pain. He looked up at Rudy pleadingly, his lower lip quivering. Rudy wanted to say something, anything, but he was so stunned he couldn't bring himself to speak.

Seeing Mint like this caused those painful words to come back to him. Even though Rudy had apologized for it, even though Mint had forgiven him, he was painfully reminded of what he said to Mint back at the temple.

"I hope Skrawl does something horrible to you, Mint, because anything he does to you, you deserve it!"

Those words echoed in his head over and over again as he stared down at Mint's injured form. He looked at the dislocated piece of leg on the side. He then looked at what remained of the leg. He could see the red flesh and the bone peaking out. He stared at Mint's tear-stained face, listening to him sob and whimper in agony. He took in a shuddering breath, shaking his head slowly. He didn't want this... He didn't mean it...He didn't mean what he had said... No... He...he had never meant for something like this to happen.

The way Mint was looking at him, with those wide, fear-filled eyes, it reminded him of how Snap had looked at him back at the temple. Now, another living person was on the ground before him, horrifically injured and losing a ton of blood. He trembled harder and he dropped down to his knees. Mint didn't deserve this... Even when he was a jerk, he didn't deserve something like this to happen to him.

"M-Mint I..." Rudy started to say. He sucked in a sharp breath. He felt a few tears form in his eyes. "I didn't mean for this to happen..."

Mint managed to smile. "I-I know..." He said in a soft voice. His face soon contorted in agony and he let out another cry of pain. "P-Please...help me..." Mint begged him in a barely audible voice.

Before Rudy could say anything, Mint suddenly passed out. His body went limp. Rudy's eyes widened in horror. No, he couldn't pass out now. He had to stay awake. Passing out..it was going to make things worse. He grabbed Mint's shoulders and shook him.

"No Mint! Wake up!" Rudy cried, tears flowing down his face. "Open your eyes! You can't pass out! Mint!"

He shook him harder, trying in desperation to wake him up. Tears dripped from his eyes and he clenched his teeth. He stared down at Mint's still form, looking for any signs of life. Mint was still breathing, but there was no movement otherwise. He continued to shake him, hoping that, somehow, it would be enough and he'd wake up.

"No..come on..." Rudy pleaded, his shaking getting slower and softer. "Please...don't die on me..." He took in a shuddering breath. "Please...I never meant to wish harm on you...please..."

There was no response from Mint. Rudy let go of him, letting his body shudder a few times as the realization dawned on him. He looked at the boy's hacked off leg, the blood still flowing profusely from it. Sorrow overwhelmed Rudy. Even though he hadn't meant those words, those awful words he said to Mint at the temple, they still echoed in his head, stinging him horribly. He had wished harm on Mint when he was angry and not thinking straight...and he got exactly that.

Rudy did what he could about the bleeding. He ripped off a large piece of Mint's shirt and used it to try to stop the bleeding the best he could. He then tore a piece of the boy's pant leg from his undamaged right foot. He wrapped it around the edge of his leg and managed to tie it up. It wasn't much, but it should buy him a little bit of time.

He let a few more tears stream down his face as his mind whirled with the events that happened. Mint was going to need help and fast. But he wouldn't be able to get him help in time without the magic chalk. And there was no way he was going to leave Mint alone with this...this monster of a jellybean... Rudy wiped away his tears and he turned to glare at Skrawl. Feelings of anger and hatred took over the sorrow that had struck him before.

Rudy stood up from the ground and he glared daggers at Skrawl. "You..." He formed fists with his hands. Anger boiled through his blood, creating an unpleasant chill on the back of his neck. "You're going to pay for this..."

Chapter 36:





Penny glared hatefully at Skrawl. If he was going to try to intimidate her, he would have to do a lot better than that. She wasn't going to be frightened that easily. She had faced off against this jellybean before. She had been able to outsmart him in the past with the 'chalk queen' ruse. She could do it again.

Her eyes moved up and down Skrawl, her mind whirling with thoughts on what she could do to get out of here. There was always a way out of a situation. Even if it wasn't that clear at first, there was always a way. She had learned that when she had to fight Mint back in ChalkZone City. Ripclaw had her pinned down and it looked hopeless, but not only did she pull through, she was able to send Mint packing. He sure didn't take her lightly after that.

And it was time Skrawl learned a similar lesson. Though he had her by the neck now, that was not going to last long. She would see to that. She would make him release her, and she was going to help Rudy fight against him. Skrawl was going to be stopped once and for all.

And then after his defeat, she was going to take Rudy to where Snap was. The plan she had figured out was putting Snap in a corner of the room where the Beanie Boys aren't likely to go, and then creating a one way mirror. Snap could see them, but they couldn't see him. Snap was instructed to call out to them when he sees her, Rudy, and Mint come in. Obviously if a Beanie Boy comes in, he would keep as quiet and still as possible. It was still hard for him with the pain. She promised she'd be back as soon as she could.

She had no idea how she found her way back. She had forgotten what hallways they had taken while looking for the way out. It wasn't like she could stop and ask for directions; if she did that, she would be captured for sure. She wasn't stupid enough to do something as crazy as that, so she had to keep moving. She did eventually come to a hallway that she recognized. She quickly headed down and soon found the twisted stairs leading up towards where she and Snap had been held. She heard some shouts from Rudy, laughter from Skrawl, and she knew she had found the right place. She rushed up the stairs as fast as she could. When she heard Rudy scream, she quickened her pace. When she came into the room, she had to freeze at what she saw.

Skrawl had Rudy lifted into the air by an electrical coil, the same one he had used to electrocute Mint. Rudy was struggling to get free, glaring hostily at Skrawl. The jellybean looked like he was going to attack Rudy, and knowing how that zoner is, Penny had no doubt in her mind that is what was going to happen. She hadn't noticed where Mint was yet. Her eyes remained glued on Rudy and Skrawl.

Carefully, swiftly, she made her way around the edge of the room. She kept quiet, making sure the evil zoner did not notice her movements. Needing a weapon of some kind, she drew the first thing that she thought of. A pipe, not unlike the one Mint had used before. She gripped it tightly and moved in behind Skrawl. She struck him in his side, causing the zoner to let go of Rudy. Though it had enabled Rudy to get free, Penny was not able to get out of the way in time and she felt the zoner grasp her throat tightly and raise her above the ground. The pipe slipped from her hands and it dropped to the ground.

"Are you...still mad about...the chalk queen thing...Skrawl..?" Penny said to him. Her voice was strained from the pressure applied to her neck. "You...should have...known...I would never betray...Rudy..." A small, wry smile appeared on her face. "I guess you...aren't as smart...as you...like...to think..you...are.."

Skrawl narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip on Penny's neck, causing her to gag a little. "I intend to not make that mistake again, genius girl." Skrawl did not notice what Penny was during during this time. "I intend to...remove you as a factor." His eyes narrowed dangerously, putting his face closer to Penny's. "Permanently..."

Penny, who had been raising the magic chalk into the air during this time, took action immediately. But instead of drawing something, she pulled her arm back and thrust the magic chalk forward. It jabbed into Skrawl's red eye. Skrawl let out a scream as he released Penny. He put a hand over his eye and hissed in pain. As Penny landed on the ground, she immediately brought her left foot forward and struck against the single limb that held Skrawl up. The surprised jellybean let out a cry as he fell into the ground. Penny moved back to where Rudy was.

When she noticed Rudy taking a step forward and nearly falling over, she reached out with her hands and grabbed onto him. She helped him steady himself again. She didn't release him until she was certain he could stand on his own. She looked at his hands, expecting to see the magic chalk, but to her shock, there was none. What happened to it? Had it been used up already? She looked at Rudy in the eyes.

"Rudy, where's your magic chalk?" Penny asked.

Rudy shrugged his shoulders. "I-I don't know. It fell somewhere and I haven't been able to find it."

This made Penny's heart clench a little in dread. Snap had been right about having her come back and help them. If he and Mint no longer had magic chalk, they wouldn't have stood much of a chance against Skrawl. They could have easily been defeated. She felt guilty about arguing so long with Snap about what to do next. She wished she had seen his point sooner and come help.

Well at least she was here now. And it wasn't too late to help Rudy. But..where was Mint? He was hurt. She knew he was. He wouldn't have screamed like that if he wasn't. She wanted to help him. She looked around the room again. Soon, her eyes froze in place when she found him. Her eyes flew open in horror.

"R-Rudy..." Penny asked, her voice shaking. "Wh-What happened to him?"

Rudy glanced over at Mint's prone form. He looked back at Penny, his expression filled with sadness. "Skrawl cut off his left foot..."

At this, Penny's mind flashed to the scream she heard when she was with Snap. She knew that it had to have been something terrible, but she...she had no idea it was that bad. Horrible images flooded her mind as she thought of just how it happened. Skrawl coming up behind Mint and swinging something sharp at him...Mint collapsing on the ground as his foot was hacked off...

She stared at Mint's limp form. He was laying on his back, his head lolled to one side. His right leg was bent upwards a little, like he had been struggling. One hand laid out at his side while the other rested on his chest. Her eyes focused on his left leg. The end of it had been tied with a cloth and she could see dark red stains, blood ripping from around the edges. It was clear the bleeding hadn't stopped yet. He was completely still, with only his chest moving up and down with each breath as indication that he was still alive.

Rudy did a decent job with slowing down the blood flow, but it still needed to be stopped completely. The blood that was pouring on the ground was melting through the ground, dissolving it. It took a lot of blood to do that kind of damage. At this rate, Mint would die from blood loss in less than an hour. She didn't know if they'd made it back in that amount of time. She had to try to stop the bleeding, and hopefully wake him up. He couldn't remain passed out like this, or he could suffer from further damage.

She turned to Rudy. She took the magic chalk and she broke it in half. She gave Rudy one piece, while she kept the other. "I'll go help Mint. You take care of Skrawl!"

"Got it!" Rudy rushed over to deal with Skraw, who was back on his feet and looking very angry.

As Rudy engaged Skrawl, Penny rushed over to Mint's side. She stared down at him, a worried expression plastered over her face. She needed to draw some kind of shelter. Using the same idea as she did for Snap, she drew something that was one-way, allowing her to see out, but Skrawl could not see in. She drew a half dome around her, in front of her and Mint. After finishing the shelter, she looked down towards Mint.

She dropped onto her knees next to him and looked him over. He looked awful. His face was extremely pale and he looked sickly. His breathing was weak and shallow. She lifted up his left hand and pressed her fingers against his wrist. She felt his pulse. Light and thready...not a good sign. There were gashes in his shoulder, but these weren't bleeding nearly as heavily as his leg was. She turned her attention to his chopped leg, inching closer to it so she could treat it properly.

She was sickened by the side of the sliced off piece not being too far. It was already discolored and smelly. She had to fight hard to resist not throwing up. She looked down at the wound that was still bleeding. She grimaced at just how clean the cut was. Just what had Skrawl cut him with? She got her answer when she looked over and saw a bloodied golden sword laying on the ground. She looked over at Skrawl hatefully as the jellybean was fighting Rudy, and turned her attention back to Mint.

She tore off a piece of her skirt and applied pressure at the leg's newly unwanted stub. She pressed as hard as she could. She could feel Mint's blood soak through her skirt fast, her hands staining with blood. Her eyes widened in horror as she realized he was still losing blood way too fast. Panicking, she tore off another piece of her clothing and pressed it against the stub. She winced as it bled through so quickly. There was no signs of it slowing down. She had to think of something else. She then remembered something her mom mentioned. Sometimes, to stop a heavy bleeding, she needed to apply pressure somewhere else in the body. There were large blood vessels that could have pressure put on them to stop some forms of bleeding.

She looked down at Mint's damaged leg and moved her eyes up until they rested where his groin was. Remembering there were thick blood vessels there close to the surface, she pulled Mint's leg a little to the side and then pressed her fingers against that spot, applying as much pressure as she could. She kept her eye on the stump, waiting to see if the blood flow would slow down. It did, but not as fast as she would have liked. She needed another way to apply pressure more effectively. She had never done something like this before and she had no idea if she was doing it right.

Taking the magic chalk, she drew a thick cloth with something thick yet flexible in the center of it. She placed the center piece against Mint's groin. She then wrapped the cloth ends around a couple of times and then pulled them tightly, pressing the piece firmly against the skin. Once it was secured tightly, she turned to glance down at his face. He was still unconscious, his eyes closed. She bit her lip. Unsure if it was going to work or not, she reached down and grabbed his shoulders.

She began to shake him. Softly at first, and then she started to shake harder when he wasn't responding. Her heart rate sped up as Mint still did not wake up, no matter how hard she shook him. Had he lot more blood than she realized? Was there internal bleeding she wasn't taking into account? This made her breath quicken. If there was more to Mint's injuries than she realized, he was..he was in bigger danger than she thought. She knew a few things about medical stuff, but she was no expert. If her mom were here, she would be able to help.

But unfortunately, she was on her own. She had to think of her own solutions to try to help Mint. She tried again to wake him, knowing that him being awake could help curb some of the serious risk of brain damage. So far, her shakings were doing nothing. Out of desperation, she slapped him hard a couple times. Just as she figured, they had no effect on him. She soon stopped shaking him and shook her head sorrowfully. Her only chance at keeping him at least alive long enough for him to reach help was to try to stop the bleeding.

With the bandage around his leg good and tight, she moved back towards the step. She picked up the already soaked cloth and pressed against the step, attempting to aid in stopping the bleeding, or at least slow it down some more. It was difficult to stop the bleeding of a hacked off limb beause all those blood vessels in the leg had been cut. With all of them, big and small alike, cut open, that was many places where blood could now leak out of. Her mom taught her this stuff once and she nearly forgot about it. Trying to stop Mint's bleeding served as a gruesome reminder.

Suddenly, she felt stirring. The limb moved just ever so slightly. Her eyes lit up with hope. She looked over at Mint's face. She saw his face twitching a little. She kept looking, waiting and hoping that he was going to wake up. If he could wake up now, then his prognosis looked better.

Slowly but surely, Mint opened up his eyes. They opened and closed a few times first, then they remained open partway. He let out a soft groan and turned his head a little. His gaze appeared unfocused as he looked around slowly. Even when he looked at her, it was hard to tell if he really was seeing her or not.

"P-Penny...?" Mint asked. Penny winced at how coarse and weak his voice sounded. He attempted to move, but seethed in pain. "What..what's going on...? What happened...?"

"Shhh..." Penny whispered gently to him. She pressed her hands against his shoulder and pushed him down when he attempted to get up. "You'll be okay. You just need to stay down, and try to stay awake. You're badly hurt."

Mint looked at her, confused. From his expression, he did not remember what had happened to him. He tried again to get up, despite her telling him not to. She kept him down. It was easy holding him down because Mint had lost a lot of strength from that attack. He soon stopped and looked up at her. He was still so confused, so uncertain of what was going on. He turned his head to look up towards the ceiling. Penny gasped when she saw his eyes start to flutter shut again.

"No! Don't close your eyes!" Penny shook him. Mint blinked a few times and looked back at her. "Stay awake, Mint! I know it's hard, but please...stay awake...!"

Mint let out a soft groan. His eyes shut as he tried to deal with the pain. He squirmed a little on the ground. His body was starting to register the full impact of the pain. His eyes flew open, confusion quickly giving way to fear and horror. He looked around the room with a wild expression. He was trying to get a sense of his surroundings, trying so desperately to understand what was going on.

Penny felt so sorry for him. His memories were a little slow in kicking in. He must be so confused and frightened when he realized just how much pain he was in, but having no memory, at the moment, of what happened. She tried her best to soothe him, running her fingers through his hair and speaking to him gently, hoping that he would calm down. His speeding heart was going to send him to his doom faster. He needed to calm down, and fast.

Things got harder when he happened to notice what became of his left leg. His eyes widened in horror and his body started shaking harder when he saw the hacked off piece and what remained of his leg leg. He started to whimper and cry, shaking his head in denial. His heart rate sped up and the flow of blood increased. Penny wrapped her arms around him tightly, trying to get him to calm down.

"Calm down, Mint! We're going to get help!" Penny said to him. "Please settle down! You're making things worse for yourself!"

Mint's eyes were wild-looking, filled with dread. They were staring intently at his damaged leg and disconnected foot. He was trying to talk, but only could manage gibberish for a time. His breaths short and quick, trembling. "M-My...my..." Mint choked out, his voice laced in fear and pain. "...m-my leg...my leg..."

"I know. There's nothing we can do about it. Please, calm down, Mint. We'll get you to a hospital. You'll be fine." Penny whispered. She listened to him as he cried harder. His face was stained with his tears. She pressed the side of her face against his and held on tightly. "Shh..calm down.. If you don't try to relax soon, you'll bleed yourself out. Please...relax. You'll be okay. I promise..."

As Penny cradled Mint in her arms, she looked over and watched the fight between Rudy and Skrawl unfold. She hoped that Rudy would be able to defeat Skrawl soon. They had to get out of here, fast. Mint and Snap have to get back to the hospital before it was too late.

She believed in Rudy. She knew he would be able to send that evil jellybean packing. There was a reason he was called the Great Creator.

Suddenly, she felt Mint go limp in her arms. Alarmed, she looked down at him. She was horrified to see that he had passed out again. No..oh no... She tried to shake him awake. This time, he remained unconscious. Her body shaking with emotion, she looked over at Rudy.

"Please hurry..." She said in a soft voice.

sss

Even with the magic chalk, Rudy was having a hard time against Skrawl. A big reason why was that he had a very limited supply. With so little chalk to work with, he had to be careful of when he used it. He couldn't just draw willy nilly; he had to think about it and decide fast what was best to draw, and what wasn't.

Skrawl, on the other hand, had more freedom. His crown didn't look like it was going to run out of energy anytime soon. He could afford making more wasted efforts than Rudy could. This did not mean the jellybean wasn't slipping; the opposite was more true. Usually, Skrawl would know to change things up a little and use a different artifact, as Rudy was able to keep deflecting the electric coil with the rubber stick he had drawn. But Skrawl was so determined to defeat him, he just kept using the electric coil.

However, Rudy did not let down his guard. Despite it looking like Skrawl was too single-mindedly focused, there was the chance that he is just playing with him and was planning on switching artifacts when he least expected it. If he switched to the sceptre, he was in big trouble. And there was also the ring, which could warp the very room he was in. Rudy did his best to give no indication to Skrawl that he could switch artifacts, and continued fighting against him.

Skrawl growled in frustration and he tossed another electric coil at Rudy. The snake-like sparkling thing shot towards the boy. Rudy narrowed his eyes and held up his rubber stick. The electric coil wrapped around it tightly, keeping the electricity stored within its confines, not hurting Rudy one bit. The boy pulled, taking a few steps back. This jerked Skrawl forward a little bit, but the jellybean still stood his ground. He snarled and pulled as hard as he could.

Rudy let out a scream as he was forced to let go of the rubber stuck. He was flun into the ground and he rolled across a few times. He groaned in pain and pushed himself off the ground, one knee on the ground. He rubbed his head and he glared over at Skrawl. The electric coil came at him again. Rudy jumped out of the way, barely able to dodge it. He panted harder, exhaustion quickly settling in. He had to do something and fast.

He raised up his magic chalk and draw a thick rope. He moved as Skrawl tried to attack him again. He started to run around Skrawl, making it difficult for the jellybean to attack him. He tied a loop at the end. As he came around Skrawl a third time, he raised the rope in the air and swung it around a little. Then he threw it towards Skrawl seconds after he shot another electrical coil. The rope pressed against Skrawl's arms, pinning them against his side. The surprised jellybean dropped the rod as Rudy yanked him forward.

Skrawl nearly fell into the ground. But during his struggling, he managed to free an arm. He used his sharp claws to shred the rope that Rudy had drawn. Rudy, unable to react in time, fell back due to the force. He landed on the ground in a thud. The rope fell to the ground in front of him. He shook his head and looked back towards Skrawl, who now had the ring pointed directly at him. Rudy's eyes widened, knowing what was going to happen next.

The ring glowed and the ground above him was raised up into the air, ripping away and now heading straight towards him. The rock and metal twisted around into a point and Rudy knew what was going to happen if he stood still for too long. He jumped out of the way as the tip clashed against the ground, striking it with such force that it left an indention. He looked at it with clenched teeth for a second, and then swerved his head in Skrawl's direction. The jellybean was sneering evilly at him and adjusted his ring so that it now faced him once more.

Rudy dodged out of the way as the twisted thing tried to jab him again. Rudy started to run around Skrawl like he had before. The twist of rock and metal slithered around like a snake, despite how hard the material actually was. It soon started to coil around him. Before he could be crushed to death, Rudy managed to get out of the coil in time. That didn't stop the slithering mesh to come around him again, forcing him to stop in his tracks before the sharp point nearly skewered through his skull.

Rudy glared at the point, his body shaking from how close it was. Right behind him, the rocky coil was pressed up against him. He couldn't jump back. The tip came ever closer, forcing Rudy to lean back more and more until he was almost flat across the back of this thing. He found it hard to tear his eyes away from the thing, and for good reason. One wrong move, and he will be dead.

"I admit, you lasted longer than I thought you would." Skrawl droned softly. He took a few steps towards Rudy. His eyes shined of demented happiness. "It's a shame that it's all going to come to an end. Tell you what. I'll be a good sport." He made a gesture with his free hand. "I'll let you choose how you want to die. Fast..." He moved his free hand to the side. And then he leaned forward and tightened it into a fist, a dark smile spreading across his green face. "...or slow...?" His voice was growly when he said that last line.

Rudy bared his teeth in Skrawl's direction. "Screw you!"

Skrawl smiled almost pleasantly at this. He straightened himself back up. He said, "Slow it is. Wise choice. I'm going to enjoy this..."

Rudy's eyes focused back on the tip. It was starting to move towards him. He moved himself further back, and soon he found that he couldn't go back any further. His eyes slowly widened in fear as the point was getting closer to his head. He was in such an awkward position that he found it hard to use the magic chalk. But despite his difficulty, he knew he had to do something, and fast.

He recalled that Mint was able to draw some small dinosaurs while his arms were pinned. That might be what he'll have to do. Draw even though there wasn't as much room for his right arm to move. He didn't know if he'd be as successful as Mint had been. He still knew he had to try. If he didn't do something soon, he was going to die. And from what Skrawl said, it would be a slow process, too. He wasn't going to allow that jellybean to win, not after all the things he had done.

Rudy raised the magic chalk. He kept his eyes glued on the tip, only briefly glancing down to see what he was drawing. He was not used to drawing without looking, but in this case, it wasn't like he had much of a choice. If he looked down too much, Skrawl might notice what he was doing. At the moment, the jellybean was too busy gloating about his supposed victory that he wasn't seeing what Rudy was doing. And Rudy was going to take advantage of that.

He began to draw quickly, making little movements with his wrist so they weren't too noticeable. A few seconds of doing this, there was the little patter of tiny feet going towards Skrawl. And before the jellybean had time to react, they began to cover him. Skrawl let out a surprised cry and began to shout in frustration. This disrupted the twisted metal rock thing in front of Rudy and it fell to the ground. Rudy looked over to see what was happening.

Skrawl was being swarmed by lots of little mice. It was reminiscent of when Mint drew those tiny dinosaurs that drove him back. This time, that skill was being put to good use. Rudy watched as Skrawl struggled to keep the mice off of him. They nipped at him, causing him to yelp in pain. With Skrawl distracted by the mice, Rudy was able to make his next move undetected. He raised the magic chalk and rushed over to where Skrawl was. He moved as fast as he could, knowing that, at anytime Skrawl could knock back the mice and turn an artifact on him to attack with. He may not get another chance like this. He continued to run to Skrawl, his eyes fixated on that golden crown.

Rudy drew a long, thin metal pole with a round, glass tip at the end. He put his magic chalk away and used both hands to hold the pole. Skrawl was moving around every which way, trying in vain to stop the mice. Rudy stood back and narrowed his eyes in determination. He only had one shot at this. If he missed, Skrawl could attempt to attack him even in his confused fury. When Skrawl now faced him, Rudy pulled his arm back and thrust forward.

The glass ball struck against Skrawl's head, right on the golden crown. He had struck with as much force as he could, from an angle of course. The golden crown sizzled a little, as if the power was suddenl drained. It flew from Skrawl's head and up towards the air. It landed with a loud clang several feet away and cracked down the middle. This created two separate pieces on the floor. Skrawl looked on in horror after he finally managed to shake off the mice. He looked exactly how Rudy imagined he would.

"No!" Skrawl shouted, his eyes widened in shock. "Th-This is impossible! Not another beautiful plan...!"

Rudy held up with remained of his magic chalk. Skrawn noticed the glinting object and he took a step back. He glared at Rudy with contempt, and the boy returned the gaze. "Face it Skrawl. You lost." He started to move forward. "And this time, I'm going to make sure you don't hurt anyone ever again."

Skrawl stared at Rudy in mock disbelief. "Oh you don't say? What ever are you going to do? Kill me?"

Rudy narrowed his eyes. "No. I'm not like you."

He watched as Skrawl paced back and forth, staring at him with those mismatched eyes. He wasn't sure what Skrawl was up to. It was weird how he went from being shocked to now being a little too pleasantly calm. He was up to something. But what?

"No? Perhaps you should me." Skrawl smirked. "For you see, I always have a backup plan..."

Rudy's eyes widened and he took a step back, keeping a fighting stance. "What do you mean?"

To answer his question, Skrawl pulled out what appeared to be a remote with a large red button on it. Without Skrawl saying a word, Rudy had a feeling he knew what it was. And the realization chilled his blood. No, Skrawl wouldn't be that stupid, would he? There was no way he would install something like that here, and he certainly wouldn't be dumb enough to use it while he was still in the building.

If it was what he believed it was, Rudy had little time to act. He had to get that controller thing away from Skrawl as soon as he could. He tensed up his leg muscles and, without thinking, he rushed over towards Skrawl. The jellybean just smirked, not even fazed by Rudy's death glare. He just lightly touched the button with one long claw, threatening to press it.

When Rudy got close enough and had his magic chalk raised, Skrawl reacted by striking him down. Rudy cried out in surprise and pain from the unexpected attack. The claws grazed his right arm, allowing a new fresh flow of blood to appear on his body. Rudy fell into the ground in a thud. The magic chalk rolled away from his hand. Rudy attempted to grab it, but Skrawl pressed his foot against his chest, holding him down.

Rudy was surprised when Skrawl no longer held the controller, no longer threatening to push the button. Rudy's mind reeled as he tried to make sense of that. His blood ran cold when he realized what Skrawl had actually done. His eyes widened as he saw Skrawl take out the gun from before. Rudy wasn't sure when the jellybean had grabbed it, but now the same gun he was forced to threaten Mint with was pointed straight at him.

"I thought you would have been wiser than that, Master Tabootie. If you were this easily fooled, I'm amazed I hadn't beaten you yet. Or maybe you're just slipping and I caught you at the right time. Either way, I win. You should have paid more attention to our battle, chalk boy. I learned a thing or two from our previous fights. And let me tell you this. I will not allow you to win this time..."

Skrawl put his finger on the trigger. He placed the barrel against Rudy's head, between his eyes. Rudy started to shake in fear, his eyes crossing to see the gun pressed against his face. Skrawl gave him a nasty smile as he started to apply a little pressure on the trigger.

"Rudy! No!" Penny cried out from her hiding spot.

Skrawl turned his attention towards the source of the voice. He did not seem worried that he could not see Penny anywhere, as if he was confident he would find her soon enough. "Stay where you were, genius girl! Try to run over and stop me, and I'll pull the trigger faster!" He paused for a moment like he wanted to give Penny time to let that sink in. Then he turned his attention back to Rudy. "Now...where were we...?"

Skrawl didn't have time to pull the trigger. Something unexpected happened. Something none of them had seen coming.

There was a flash of a shadow upon them. A low hiss. The pounding of feet from an unexpected direction. Skrawl looked over, only to be met with claws, teeth, and feathers. Rudy suddenly felt the weight from Skrawl lifted from him, allowing him to move back. He sat up and watched the scene unfold, his eyes widened in shock.

Ripclaw...it was Ripclaw... Somehow she had managed to wake up and free herself from the rubble. She looked injured. Blood stains were everywhere, mostly on her back. There were bruises and scratches as well. But despite this, she was ramming against Skrawl, her claws digging into him as she tried to hold him down. Skrawl furiously fought back, giving Ripclaw a few slashes across the face, neck, and chest. This did little to stop the enraged raptor. She only pushed harder against him, pressing him up against the wall.

Skrawl attempted to shoot Ripclaw. He pulled the trigger. Ripclaw moved her head to the side, dodging the bullet. She then bit down on his arm, ripping into it and drawing blood. The jellybean was forced to drop the gun out of pain and out of desire to get the dinosaur off of him. Ripclaw rammed against him again and again, each time causing the jellybean to cry out in pain.

Then, finally, with one final push, the wall broke loose. The sound of rock crumbling down, clanging against more rock, could be heard. As soon as it had broken loose, Skrawl and Ripclaw tumbled through. Ripclaw's screech and Skrawl's scream became intertwined with each other, fading as the two fell down. Shocked, Rudy quickly rushed over to the opening, trying his best to ignore the pain in his left foot like he had been before. He peered over the edge and looked down.

He couldn't see any sign of Skrawl or Ripclaw. He didn't know if they were crushed, if she had taken flight and took Skrawl somewhere, if they were chasing each other, or what. Rudy's body shook from the shock of what happened. He was not expecting that to happen. He was also shaking from how close he was to dying. If Ripclaw had been seconds too late, he would have... He took in a shuddering breath as he let the realization wash over him for a second. He had been lucky.

He turned his attention to where Penny's voice had come from. "I-It's okay, Penny. He's gone..."

Penny emerged from her hiding spot, peaking around the side of the one-way mirror structure. She looked at Rudy worriedly. "A-Are you okay, Rudy?"

Rudy took in a deep breath, still trembling. "Yeah...I'll be fine." He looked over at the hole. Even though he had drawn wings on Ripclaw, he was still worried that she might be injured still. And what had become of Skrawl? "I hope that fall wasn't fatal..."

"I'm sure they're both okay." Penny said, obviously attempting to reassure him. "We know Skrawl is a stubborn guy and doesn't give up. I don't think he'd let a fall do him in that easily. And Ripclaw...we learned she has a way of doing things we don't expect. I think they both survived."

"Yeah, you're right." Rudy moved towards Penny. He walked around so he could see Mint. The bleeding appeared to have been slowed down even more, but his breathing was getting slower. He furrowed his eyes with concern. "We need to get him and Snap back to the hospital."

Penny nodded her head. "I'll show you where Snap is. I told him we'd meet up together before we attempted to leave."

Rudy, being the physically stronger of the two, went over to Mint. He drew rocket shoes on his feet so he would have the extra boost he needed to carry Mint. After picking up the slightly larger boy into his arms, Rudy followed Penny through the hallways to where Snap's hiding spot was.

Chapter 38:





It didn't take long for Mint to learn just why Rudy had given him the portable chalkboard. Not long after his parents and those two kids had left, maybe about two hours or so, he heard something strange coming from his room somewhere. Muffled sounds, and he could have sworn he heard his name. He tried to block the sound out and laid his head down, only for it to suddenly sink into what seemed like a randomnly appearing void.

He was taken by complete surprise when he found himself staring into Snap's hospital room, off to the side of the bed. He immediately sat himself up and held the portal chalkboard in his hands. He stared in disbelief. Rudy and Penny explained to him that they had found out that the hospital room he was currently in coincided with the hospital room Snap was in. Coincidental of course, but it worked in their favor. This allowed Mint to be able to speak with Snap during the times he was able to. Being alone most of the time might suck, but it did make it easier for him to speak to Snap at least.

Mint still had to be careful when he spoke to the trio. Talking too loud might attract a doctor to his room. He couldn't let them see the open portal and it would be hard to hide on a last second's warning. It didn't help that some of the doctors here were pretty light, and hearing their footsteps was hard. He mentioned this to Rudy and the others and they agreed to keep as quiet as possible whenever he had the portal open like this. During this time, he was able to thank Rudy and Penny for what they did to save his life. And they thanked him for helping them stop Skrawl.

Rudy gave him some chalk he could use, as well as one piece of magic chalk to only use for creating portals. Rudy's reasoning with the 'just one magic chalk' thing was because he didn't want the chalk to fall into the wrong hands. He told Mint about Terry Bouffant and Vinnie Raton, informing him about how those two want to expose ChalkZone to the world and they could very easily do so with the magic chalk. Mint agreed to keep it somewhere safe and to use it sparingly. He then asked Rudy about the ordinary pieces of chalk and if there was another reason Rudy gave him the chalkboard.

Turns out there was another reason. Other than being able to talk with Snap, it was so that Mint could draw things on the chalkboard and erase them. This, naturally, confused the heck out of Mint. It was then he had realized that he knew little about ChalkZone, and most of what he thought he knew was a lie that Skrawl fed to him, although some of those lies were ones he told himself. In order to understand what Rudy was talking about, Mint asked him to explain what ChalkZone actually was, if it wasn't a game.

The story Rudy, Penny, and Snap told him was long and detailed, and he was amazed that he wasn't interrupted at all during it. But what they had to say was really informative. ChalkZone was some kind of alternate dimension, in a way, except it had a direct connection with the real world. It was a little hard for him to follow, but he got the concept. Everything in ChalkZone was indeed designed and created, but not in the way Mint had once believed. Instead of a computer, it was the things drawn on a chalkboard that helped shape that world.

It was a little frightening but also intriguing how everything drawn on a chalkboard, then erased, would appear in ChalkZone. The trio went into detail on how the artists' intentions often affected the way the resulting drawing would behave. This was something Mint had some familiarity with, but he had no idea it extended to chalkboard drawings as well. And what frightened him about it is that someone who was drawing a death weapon and then erased it...it would work to full capacity in ChalkZone, the way the artist intended it. If someone wanted to create something that would destroy the entire chalk planet with a single push of the button...they could very well do so with no problem.

It made Mint a little happy that he did continue believing ChalkZone was a game at first. He shuddered to think what things would have been like had Skrawl not gone that route and just went 'yeah these are drawings but they don't feel much pain' and informed him of that chalkboard thing. Mint realized he would have done a lot more damage had he known about that. As cruel as he acted under the video game lie, at least the damage was more confined, as he didn't fully realize the true extent of a creator's powers. He had a feeling he would have been a lot harder to forgive if he had allowed his destruction to become more...far reaching than it halready had been.

Over the next few weeks, Mint tried out the chalkboard. He kept one small portal open, leaving plenty of space to draw. He started off by drawing things for Snap. Mostly just food and drinks when he was feeling hungry. He attempted to expand it a little and, under Penny's suggestions, drew some things required for the hospital or the reconstruction of areas he had damaged. Not exactly how he imagined he'd offer help, but it was still something. Mint had to be careful of what he drew as if he drew something too big and too heavy and he wasn't careful of where he was holding the portable chalkboard, he might accidentally hurt someone, whether it be Snap or his two human friends.

His parents, as well as Rudy and Penny, would visit him a few times during the week, whenever it was possible for them. It was rare for all of them to be in the room with him. Mint did enjoy their company as they helped get his mind off the fact he was stuck in a hospital. They had some nice chats. He didn't care what they talked about as long as it didn't focus too much on his recovery. Not that he didn't care. He did want updates and often waited for the doctor. But he didn't feel it had a strong place in discussions with his family and Rudy and Penny.

He sometimes wanted to refer to them as friends but...were they friends? He sometimes had doubts if they were. It wasn't to be mean or anything. But after what he had done, and given the circumstances, he just wasn't sure if he should call them friends. He wasn't sure if he had the right to. He thought about bringing it up to them, but he always chickened out. He didn't know why. It wasn't like it was particularly terrible to ask them if they were friends. Maybe it was the guilt still eating away at him. He decided he'd worry about it later.

He did make some progress in the hospital. He hadn't yet started therapy. His damaged leg hadn't healed enough for him to start going to therapy yet, according to the doctors. He still needed to wait on that. He was surprised that, three weeks later, his stump of a left leg was still not ready. Then again, amputations to take a while to heal, didn't they? He wasn't so alarmed by it. The doctors did think that, in about one more week, he would be able to start going to therapy to strengthen that damaged leg. And after that, he would start to learn how to use the prosthetic leg.

In the meantime, he did heal enough to be able to use crutches. The gashes on his shoulder were healing up nicely and when they didn't bother him as much, the doctors brought in a pair of crutches for him to use. They showed him how to use them and helped him out in the beginning until he got the hang of it. It was a little awkward using them, and sometimes they got in the way, but it was better than being bedridden. It gave him a little bit of a sense of independence, not having to rely completely on others when he wanted something that required the use of legs.

Not long after he was able to use the crutches, Mint had a 'surprise' visitor. Well it would have been a surprise if Rudy and Penny hadn't warned him about those two. He had no idea how Vinnie and Terry knew about him being in ChalkZone. He guessed that they came to the 'world of chalk' conclusion after somehow finding out that Rudy was the one who took him to the hospital and alone, too. The fact that he and Rudy had to play along with the 'we don't know much of the details' thing on how he lost his leg may also have left those two suspicious.

Mint was not comfortable with them in the room. They acted friendly at first, probably to try to butter him up and get on his good side. They tried to get him to talk about ChalkZone, asking him questions regarding it. Mint tried his best to ignore them, but when they started getting a little more aggressive, the questions turning more and more like they were demanding instead of merely asking, he started to talk to them. But he outright denied the existence of ChalkZone. Rudy and Penny urged him before that, no matter what, he doesn't tell them anything they could use to access the chalk world.

And that was what he had been doing during that unfortunate encounter. The pair had gotten more and more hostile during their visit. They kept trying to make him talk, and even attempted to search his room for a piece of magic chalk. They really took advantage of the fact that he couldn't walk without crutches and Vinnie had gone as far as knock one of his crutches out from under him while he was standing, causing him to fall into the ground.

They then began to threaten him. They must have known that Rudy, Penny, and his parents weren't going to be coming in for a while, so they had quite a bit of time to toy with him, trying to do whatever they could to make him talk. The way they started to torment him for information was different between the two. Terry was more verbally abusive, giving him threats regarding the safety of ChalkZone. She said how she would erase something very dangerous if he didn't give them the magic chalk. And Vinnie was definitely more physically abusive. He would deliberately hit his still healing leg and his injured shoulder in an attempt to break him and force him to speak.

The overall experience was nightmarish and reminded him a lot of what Skrawl had done to him. The only thing that stopped Terry and Vinnie was one of the doctors coming down the hallway. The two threatened him if he dare try to tell anyone what happened. It turned out to be a wasted threat as the doctor that entered the room had noticed enough to realize what those two did, and they were promptly arrested for assaulting a child. The fact that he was missing part of his left leg made it worse for those two. He had informed his parents and Rudy and Penny of what happened, and, though shocked and worried, they assured him it wouldn't happen again.

It had been four days since that terrible incident. He still had nightmares about those two coming into his room. He didn't think they'd go as far as try to kill him or inject him with anything. But it scared him how they deliberately targeted him for information because of the fact he was crippled. They had really taken advantage of his weakness and exploited it. They made sure he couldn't access his crutches and had forced him on the ground. He had been unable to get away from them and call for help. They kept him away from the emergency call button. If it hadn't been for that doctor that came in at just the right time...he wasn't sure what would have happened. He might have given in, or hurt much worse.

Mint was sitting up on his bed, his eyes facing the ground. He was doing his best to push that incident in the back of his mind. He was waiting for Rudy and Penny to come in. There was something they wanted to do today, something that was different than their last visits. They didn't tell him what it was, though. He guessed it was because they weren't sure if it would fully work out and they felt it best not to get his hopes up too high.

It was close to time for them to visit. He stared at the analog clock hanging on the wall once in a while. He then would watch the door. He tried to be patient, but time seemed to move a lot slower than usual. Perhaps it was because this visit was going to be different, and he had no idea how. He wanted to know more of what they were going to do. But he would have to wait until they get here. It was a little hard for him to remain patient.

Mint soon heard a knock on the door. His head perked up, a small smile spreading on his face. It was them. Even before the door opened, he knew it was going to be them. He watched as Rudy and Penny walked through the door. He opened his mouth and was about to greet them, but he stopped upon realizing just what was going to make this visit so much different than the others.

He had no idea how they managed to do this, but they were pulling a large chalkboard with them, one wheels. Was something like this even allowed in this part of the hospital? How had they been able to do this? What were they planning? There were several questions running through his mind, intermingling and muddling together, making it hard for him to say much of anything. He could only watch as the two pulled the chalkboard beside his bed.

When he finally found his voice, he asked, "What...what is..." He felt like an idiot was his voice faded into silence. He still couldn't think of what to say or how to ask a question.

Rudy smiled at this and said, "We thought you'd be confused. Don't worry, we'll clear things up for you."

Penny said, "We know that you've been wanting to go back into ChalkZone, but you haven't been able to because of your leg." She stared at the missing part of Mint's leg for a second, before turning her gaze back ot him. "And we know you're still shaken up by what Vinnie and Terry did to you..."

Mint narrowed his eyes slightly and nodded his head. "Yeah... I knew they were going to be trouble, but I didn't think they would..."

"You're not the only one." Penny admitted. "Rudy and I couldn't believe it either. We never thought they'd go that far."

Rudy gave a frown and clenched his teeth. "Just goes to show how far they're willing to go for answers they don't deserve..."

"True." Penny put a hand on Rudy's shoulder to settle him down. "But they're paying the price for that. They won't be attempting something like that again. They were lucky they didn't cause further damage to Mint or they would have looked at a much longer sentence."

"Yeah..." Rudy nodded his head, his frown deepening. He turned to Mint. He looked like he didn't want to stay on that uncomfortable topic, and when he spoke again, Mint could tell he wanted to change the subject a little. "We would like to take you into ChalkZone."

Mint's eyes widened at this. He looked over at the chalkboard. It did seem large enough, now that he thought of it. He turned back to Rudy. "Today?" Rudy nodded to confirm. "But..what about..."

"We won't make it a long trip. Don't worry, Mint. We did stuff like this before. We know what time to get you back." Penny said reassuringly. "No one will know you're gone."

Rudy took out his magic chalk and he began to draw a portal. Mint's eyes focused on the golden light trail as it formed a large rectangle covering almost the entirety of the chalkboard's black surface. And in seconds, Mint could see the inside of Snap's room. He could see Snap sitting in his bed, waving at him.

"Hello!" Snap called out to him.

Mint raised his hand and gave a small wave. "Hello."

Rudy climbed through the portal. Once he was on the other side, he used a hand to gesture to Mint. "Come on in."

Mint looked skeptical. "Are you sure this is okay? We're not going to get caught?"

"Not as long as we get you back in time. Don't worry; we calculated the times." Rudy said, his smile broadening. "You didn't think we'd go through with this without planning ahead, did you?"

Mint did feel a little silly. Of course those two would have thought things through before attempting something. They did seem like smart kids. They had to be, especially if they had to deal with multiple threats, such as Skrawl and the exposure of ChalkZone, so often. He smiled and shook his head. "No, I didn't think so..."

"Good." Rudy made another gesture with his hand. "Now come along. The longer you wait, the less time you will have to stay in ChalkZone."

Mint grabbed onto his crutches. Pushing them under his arms for support, he stood up. He pressed his right foot on the ground, steadying it. It was still a little awkward using the crutches, but he did get a lot better at it having to use them for sometime. He went over to the chalkboard and peered inside. He wondered how he was going to do this. He couldn't stand without the crutches, but he might not be able to climb through with them.

Penny must have already thought of this. She went over to his side and grabbed onto his left arm. Realizing what she was doing, Mint released his crutches, putting them against the chalkboard. Penny used her strength and weight to steady him and keep him from falling over. She helped him closer to the chalkboard. Mint leaned through the portal, where Rudy grabbed onto him and pulled him into Snap's hospital room. Once he was through, Rudy helped him to his feet and held onto his left arm, just like Penny had, adding the support his left side was missing.

Penny grabbed his crutches and put them through the portal. They landed on the ground with a heavy clang. Penny came through and erased the portal, probably just something that came automatic to her and Rudy. Penny helped up the crutches, giving the first one to his left side, and then to his right. Now supporting himself on his crutches again, Mint moved over to where Snap was on the bed, Rudy and Penny following close behind him.

"How are you feeling today, Snap?" Mint asked.

"Better than I used to be, I can say that." Snap replied. He stared down at his back brace. "I still have to wear this for several months."

"Don't be so surprised, Snap." Penny said, pointing a finger at him. "Broken backs can take almost a year to heal up, and it's best to be safe than sorry. The back brace will come off eventually."

Snap nodded his head. "I know. I'm not complaining. I know it'll take a long time." Snap paused for a moment. He turned his head back to Mint. "The pain is more manageable...sometimes. They say it's normal. They think my prognosis looks good."

"That's nice to hear." Mint said.

He looked at the back brace and winced. Looking at the brace kept reminding him of what he had done to Snap back then. Even though he and his two friends had forgiven him for what happened, he still felt a strong wave of guilt strike him almost every time he saw Snap flinch in pain or whenever he saw the brace.

He knows it's not a good idea to keep kicking himself for what happened. He knows that it wasn't going to make anything better. He knows he would not accomplish anything through constantly feeling sorry for what he had done. Still, it was something that wouldn't leave him, and he knew it would not for a very long time. He wished he could take back the injury. He wished he could go back in time and stop himself from doing that. Yet...that was just a fantasy. He wouldn't be able to do that, and he had to accept that fact.

He still felt compelled to apologize again, even though it was not necessary.

"Sorry..." Mint said in a soft voice. Snap stared at him, a little confused. "I still feel awful about what I did to you. I'm sorry."

Upon understanding, Snap nodded his head. "I know you are. We all do." To confirm this, Rudy and Penny gave a nod. "Don't beat yourself up over it. You apologized, we forgave you. There's no need to keep kicking yourself. The important thing is you realized you did wrong and you did something about it."

Mint nodded his head slowly. He understood what Snap was saying. He still wasn't sure if he could forgive himself, but the other three had been quite clear when they told him they didn't habor ill feelings towards him. The fact that he was brave enough to come back and try to fix his mistakes had convinced them he wasn't such a bad kid after all, and they had given him a second chance willingly.

Snap reached over and touched Mint on the hand. "Why don't we all play a nice game of Uno?"

"That sounds good." Penny said.

"I'll play." Rudy replied.

Mint paused for a moment. He stared at Rudy and Penny, then back at Snap. They were looking at him, awaiting his response patiently. It didn't take him long to come up with an answer.

"Sure."

sss

Mint had known that he wouldn't be able to stay in ChalkZone for too long. He would have to go back soon before one of the doctors comes in and finds him missing. And since he didn't know when the next chance he would get would be, he made sure to milk as much stuff out of this experience as he could.

After the brief game of Uno, Mint wanted to try to do something for ChalkZone City. Not surprisingly, when he went out, he wasn't exactly greeted very warmly. Many zoners either showed signs of fear towards him, or demanded he leave. He had tried to defend himself, saying that he wasn't coming to hurt anyone, but very few zoners really believed him. It took Rudy and Penny's combined efforts to quell the crowd. After Rudy explained in great detail about how Mint was not going to cause more harm and in fact wanted to help repair, the zoners seemed to calm down. They certainly had a lot of trust in Rudy.

This didn't mean that the zoners were comfortable around Mint. They would keep their distance. Some would glare hatefully at him, but they wouldn't try to do anything to him, nor would they say a word. Rudy and Penny stuck with Mint as they stayed in ChalkZone City, probably to defend him in case a zoner did attempt to force him to leave.

Mint wasn't really surprised by this negative reaction. He had expected it. It did make him realize one thing. He hadn't actually planned how he was going to apologize to the zoners. He couldn't very well go up to every single one of them. That would take a lot of time and there was no practical way he could locate every single zoner he had harmed. It didn't help that he didn't know the exact number, or remember every single one he had harmed in some shape or form. This apology was going to be particularly difficult to deliver.

Rudy had apparently thought ahead. He had drawn a large stadium, big enough for countless zoners to fit in. Mint wasn't sure how many zoners were in there. It was heavily crowded and it looked like there was a couple thousand, but it was hard to tell. There was a large stand with a microphone on it. Rudy assured him that, with the speakers he had drawn, all the zoners would be able to hear him. Mint still wasn't sure how Rudy managed to convince all those zoners to come to the stadium, but he decided not to ask.

Mint felt nervous with speaking in front of all those zoners, especially when many of them glared at him, obviously remembering the things he had done. The sight of all the zoners made him flash back to the terrible crimes he had committed over a month ago. He flinched as he recalled the damage he caused and how he had, at the time, thought it was merely amusing. There was a tinge of disgust growing in his stomach. He hated the person he had been back then. He was determined to not be like that again.

Delivering the apology did not go as smoothly as he had hoped. He kept stumbling over his own words, trying to find the right things to say. He did manage to apologize for everything, though, even if he did slip up several times during the apology itself. He made it as clear as he could to the zoners that he felt bad about what he had done, and that he wanted to fix what he broken. He promised he wouldn't act that way ever again, and he also told them that he would understand if they continued to hate him.

After he apologized, he was surprised to see the zoners recieve it so well. Better than he had expected at least. That didn't mean the zoners were suddenly friendly towards him. Some were still skeptical and kept their distance. But there was some less tension between him and the zoners, less noticeable hostility. This would improve in time, he thought. In time.

Mint was torn from his thoughts when he heard a crash to his side. He turned his head and saw that his tyrannosaurus creation had suddenly lowered itself to the ground to snag what looked like a large piece of meat. The tyrannosaurus had a support beam on its back and when he lowered itself, the beam rolled off and crashed against the ground. Mint groaned and shook his head. Well at least it didn't hit the building itself.

Mint hobbled over to where the tyrannosaurus was, gripping his crutches tightly. "Hey! Be careful! You're supposed to be lifting that beam up, not dropping it on the ground!"

The tyrannosaurus stared at him. It then turned its attention back to the meat. It proceeded to eat it, ripping it apart and swallowing large chunks. Mint sighed and shook his head. Although his dinosaur creations were largely obedient, with simple things like food, they had a mind of their own. The tyrannosaurus wasn't going to raise itself back up until it finished the meat, and Mint wasn't about to get between a huge predator and its meal. So he stayed back.

"Dinosaur trouble?"

Mint turned his head to see Rudy and Penny approaching him. They stopped a few feet in front him.

Mint nodded his head. "Yeah. The tyrannosaurus dropped that beam." Mint used his head to gesture to where the object was laying on the ground, leaving a deep indention. "All because it wanted that meat."

"Yeah I can see how that would be a problem." Rudy commented, folding his arms. "Well your dinosaurs are, for the most part, doing a good job with the repairs. We probably won't see much progress before you have to go, but it's a start."

Penny nodded in agreement. "With their help, and the help you provided before, repairs should be made a little faster. I think it will take a few months before everything is back to the way it was before. So there's still a lot of work ahead of us."

"I'm not surprised, considering all the buildings I destroyed..." Mint trailed off. He cleared his throat and said, "How's the progress with those other places? Wiggie Island? Future Zone?"

"Wiggie Island was easily restored." Rudy said. "It was easy for me to redraw the island. It was harder finding all the wiggies and getting them to come back."

"Well, difficult until they decided they really wanted real world hair again and they began to chase me." Penny grumbled.

Rudy chuckled. "Well it at least got them back to the island." Penny gave him a brief glare. Rudy turned his attention back to Mint. "As for the other places you damaged, they're still being worked on. They're making some progress. It's not as bad as it was a month ago, at least. Reconstruction will take some time, even with the help of a creator."

Mint was glad to hear that some progress was being made in those areas as well. At the moment, his dinosaurs were stationed just in ChalkZone City, since this place had the largest number of zoners in it at any given time. All of his dinosaurs, even the small compsognathuses, were doing something to help. He was glad that not all of them were currently sidetracked by food, like the tyrannosaurus was. He had made sure to tell his dinosaur creations to listen to what the worker zoners had to say, and, just like he hoped, they were being obedient, raising, lifting, whatever, when they were told.

He suddenly heard the sound of footsteps coming in their direction. Something lightweight and swift, moving at astonishing speed. He heard a familiar screech and he knew exactly how it was. Coming down the street, he could see Ripclaw, who was doing much better now, rushing towards the trio. Mint remained calm while Rudy and Penny widened their eyes, like they weren't sure what she was going to do.

Once Ripclaw came upon them, she pounced on Rudy and Penny, deliberately avoiding Mint due to his crutches. The two kids grunted as they were forced on the ground. They were pinned in a very similar manner as they had been when they first met Ripclaw a month ago. But this time, the circumstances were different, and the intent was not the same as before. Unfurling her wings a little, Ripclaw sniffed Rudy and Penny a few times before she started to lick them, almost like she was an oversized dog with feathers.

"Mint!" Rudy called out as he was being slobbered on by Ripclaw a second time. "Please get her off of us!"

Penny turned her head to the side as Ripclaw's slippery tongue moved along her cheek. She gave a disgusted shudder as the saliva clung to her face. She wiped it off quickly. "She's slobbering all over us! Please make her stop!"

Mint gave a lighthearted chuckle. It was amazing how fast Ripclaw had taken to those two. He'd understand if they were confused. Playfulness was not a trait Ripclaw would show that often, and only towards those she likes. It was a definite step up from how she used to act towards them. Back when they used to be enemies.

He moved over as quickly as he could on his crutch. He looked at Ripclaw and said, "No, Ripclaw. Get off of them."

Ripclaw didn't obey right away. She gave Rudy and Penny a few more licks before she would get off of them. She took a few steps back and stared at the two. Rudy and Penny climbed up to their feet and wiped off the drool from their faces and necks. Ripclaw tilted her head from side to side, and let out a few low happy trills. She moved towards them, this time taking care not to knock them down. She pushed her head against them. Penny put her hand on Ripclaw's head and started to stroke it.

"Before you have to go back," Penny said, turning her attention to Mint. "Did you want to play a game of chinese chalkers?"

Mint blinked a few times. "Chinese chalkers? Isn't that the game you three said you enjoy playing?"

Rudy nodded his head. "Yeah. It's fun to play it with friends. You should try it with us. It's fun!"

Mint hesitated. "You...consider me a friend?"

Rudy looked at him, his eyes wide with surprise. "Well of course we do! Why wouldn't we?" Mint wasn't sure how to respond to that. Rudy continued, "Why don't you join us?"

"Don't worry about not knowing how to play. We'll help you!" Penny chimed in, smiling at him.

Feeling emotion start to well up in his chest, Mint's mouth ticked slowly into a smile. He gave a single nod of his head. "Okay...I'll play."

sss

Mint walked down the school hallway. He sometimes paused to look down at his feet. Wearing these pants and shoes, he could hardly tell what was wrong. A couple months had passed faster than he thought and before he knew it, he was using the prosthetic leg. Therapy had been hard, but it was worth it to ditch those crutches and be able to walk again.

It had taken some time to get used to the leg. It was difficult walking at first with something at he couldn't even feel. It took some time getting to, but he eventually adjusted. He still hadn't perfected moving around in this thing, but he could manage simple walking and climbing up stairs. He still had to work on his running and jumping, but things were looking up for him for the most part.

Most of the damage he had caused in ChalkZone were fixed. There was just a few things left, and they were pretty minor in comparison. He was glad to see that everything was working out fine. The zoners were treating him more nicely lately as they became convinced he wasn't going to hurt them again. It did make him feel happy knowing that they no longer held a grudge against him. And he didn't feel as guilty as he used to. The bad feelings were still there, but with so many of the reminders removed, it became easier for him to try to move on.

Snap was still in the hospital, but he was doing better as well. The pain wasn't as bad as it used to be and he was starting to be able to walk around a little bit. He couldn't stand for too long before his back would start really hurting. It was still something. Snap was going to try to make himself walk for longer periods of time to try to build up some strength. He was warned not to overdo it as he might cause more damage to himself. Mint wasn't worried. Snap seemed like a smart enough zoner to know when to stop. He hoped his progress would continue the uphill climb.

Things were improving for Rudy at school as well. Since Mint confessed to the fire alarm incident, explaining what actually had happened, there was less taunting towards Rudy. The number of students who did so diminished overtime. It helped that Mint had defended him whenever it was possible for him to do so. His reputation of standing up to his super strict art teacher had some students a little wary of him, so when he would defend Rudy, many of the students would listen and back off. There was just a few that would continue causing problems. Some of the students would tease him for his prosthetic, and in return, Rudy and Penny would defend him. Even if they hadn't, though, he would have been able to handle it. A few insults from the students was a welcome change from being threatened by an oversized lima bean zoner.

But though things were looking up, there was still something he wanted to correct. He thought back to the way Principal Stringent had treated Rudy. He recalled how she had dragged him off without letting him defend himself, a very unprofessional and out of line move. He had learned more about this 'funny water' thing from Rudy, and while he did come to understand Rudy really was behind it, he also knew that it was best the adults believed it was some freak accident. Keeing ChalkZone secret was imperative.

But regardless of Rudy's involvement, Mint knew Stringent was way out of line in how she had treated Rudy. The boy had told him about how the woman had deliberately gotten him into more trouble. She had even smiled darkly at him during the whole time, like she took pleasure in watching him squirm as she said all kinds of things about him to his parents. The thought boiled Mint's blood. He couldn't believe that Principal Stringent would act like that towards any of her students. She was not acting like how he would expect a principal should.

He wanted to do something that would encourage Principal Stringent to not only offer a more sincere apology, not just to Rudy but to his parents as well, but it would also ensure that she would never try something like that again. It took him a while to figure something out. And yeah it did require breaking a few rules in secret, but in the end, he felt it was worth it. Principal Stringent wouldn't be able to pin it on him, since he had taken care to make sure no one had seen him and left no fingerprints, and even had an alibi to boot.

Mint stopped in front of Principal Stringent's office. He raised up his hand and knocked on the door.

"Come on in." Stringent said.

Mint walked into the office. Stringent was looking at some paperwork. Probably doing a little bit of filing. She glanced up at Mint. She used a hand to gesture for him to come closer. Mint walked up and he pulled a seat back and sat down on it. He looked at her and waited for her to say something.

"What do you want?" Stringent asked him.

Mint didn't hesitate to speak. "It's regarding Rudy Tabootie." The principal stared at him expectantly. "He told me about how you had treated him when you took him into this office. And I must say, you were out of line. That was a despicable thing you pulled, and I am amazed you are still keeping your job." The principal narrowed her eyes dangerously. "You are supposed to be a principal, not an asshole."

"Don't use that language with me!" Principal Stringent snarled. "And that boy had it coming after he put that strange water in the..." She stopped when Mint raised his hand.

"I don't care if Rudy was behind that. He didn't deserve what he got from you." Mint pointed a finger in the principal's direction sternly. "Deliberately lying to his parents just to get him into more trouble...that was a low move. You're a disgusting, vile woman, Principal Stringent." He said the word 'principal' with mock emphasis. "You are lower than dirt, and you deserve to be removed from this school as principal."

Principal Stringent's face reddened a little as anger swept through the large woman's body. She slammed her papers against the desk and she rose up from her seat. She glared down angrily at the boy. If she was trying to intimidate him, it wasn't going to work. Mint had already faced off against a murderous jellybean zoner. Handling Stringent was going to be easy by comparison.

"How dare you..." Principal Stringent growled. "Do you know the consequences of speaking to me that way? I even got it on video." Mint cocked an eyebrow at this. The principal gave a small dark smile. "Or did you not know? There's a camera in here, Mint, recording everything. If you try to deny what you said, I can just show off the video."

"Exactly." Mint said. Principal Stringent's smile faded and she looked at Mint, confused. "Which is why I took the liberty of disabling it."

Principal Stringent's eyes widened in shock. "You did what...?"

"That's not all I did. I also made myself a copy of some...very interesting footage." Mint said. Now he was the one who was smiling. "And if you want to know how I did it...let's just say I have a very smart friend who gave me some pointers." He paused for a moment, watching in amusement as the principal stared him with wide eyes. He had never seen her this shocked before. "To cut to the chase, I have a copy of footage containing what happened between you and Rudy on that faithful day. It will show just how unprofessional you were with him, and everyone will be able to see how much of a bully you really are. It will show your true colors. Your ugly, ugly colors.."

For a moment, Principal Stringent didn't know what to say. She tried to speak, but she kept tripping over her own words. Her eyes were wide in shock. Her stammered a few times. Then, slowly, she glared at Mint, clenching her teeth. "You..." She said in a darkened voice.

"If you don't want me to show anyone the footage, then I have a suggestion for you." Mint said, smiling at the woman mischieviously. "Apologize to Rudy. Sincerely, too. And his parents. Tell them that you lied about what Rudy did and that you are sorry." Principal Stringent growled at this. "And don't ever confront Rudy or Penny about that 'strange water' incident. It was nothing more than a freak accident, and you are doing yourself no favors trying to pit the blame on either of them."

"I'm not going to..." The woman started to say.

"You don't have to, not unless you want the news station to get a hold of that tape." Mint said tauntingly.

"You don't have proof..." Principal Stringet said, her eyes narrowed.

Mint chuckled at this. "Do you really want to take that risk?"

Principal Stringent growled at this. Her body shook in anger. She looked like she was about to attack him, her eyes blazing in hatred towards him. The only thing that stopped her was that the resulting noise would attract some of the other adults just outside of the door. She looked like she was about to explode. Finally, she let out an exasperated sigh and sat back down in her seat.

"...fine...you win..." Principal Stringent said reluctantly.

Mint nodded his head. "I knew you would see things my way." He turned and started to walk away. He stopped and looked behind him. "If I don't find that you apologized to him within twenty four hours, I am giving that footage to the news station and have it broadcast all over town." Principal Stringent growled at this. "So remember to speak with Rudy before the end of this day."

"You..." Principal Stringent snarled as she watched Mint head towards the door. "...you are going to pay for this..."

Mint paused, his hand on the door. "I already paid for a lot of things..." He turned and gave Principal Stringet a stern look. "Do you really think you can do much worse? And remember...I have the footage." The principal seethed at him, but didn't say another word.

Not saying anything else, Mint left the room, leaving behind a very angry and defeated principal.