APOCALYPTIC

Chapter 1 - Friday the Thirteenth

A/N: Finally, the first chapter is done. It's very short, and some things are described too quickly, but I deem it finished. Other chapters should be much longer.

Well... enjoy!

Picking up his stick of chalk, Rudy turned to the blackboard before him and rounded his arm in a perfect circle, creating a portal into the world beyond. He listened for a moment, for any sign of his parents suddenly deciding they had to return to collect something they had forgotten, and was relieved when he heard the engine start up with a roar. Rudy turned his head to the nightstand, the clock flashing '6:00 p.m.'. He knew his parents would be back from their dinner by nine, which left him plenty of time to do as he planned.

He climbed into the hole, and when he set foot on solid ground on the other side, he journeyed over to the chalkboard of his friend Penny, who he had earlier arranged to meet. When he finally reached it, he drew a tiny peephole in the corner and looked about the room to make sure the coast was clear. The girl was at her desk, reading, but other than her no-one else seemed to be there. He sketched a larger circle and stepped through.

"Hey, Penny," The boy greeted, and Penny smiled, wedging a piece of paper in between the pages of the book and placing it closed on the table. The two children made their way through the portal, Rudy erasing it behind them and then jumping off the jumble of letters and numbers.

After a moment, Penny checked the watch she had strapped on for the occasion, and peered around, searching for something, or someone.

"Snap is usually-" She was cut off as the duo heard the grass crunch and a small figure skidded to a stop beside them, kicking up clouds of loose dirt that resided underneath the green.

"What took ya so long?" The blue-and-white Zoner grinned, almost jumping with excitement. "What's the plan?" Snap had known of the rendezvous, but not of where exactly they were going.

"Well, Rudy's magic chalk supply seems to be running low," Penny answered, motioning to the stick in the boy's hand, "So we thought it would be best to go and collect some while we have the chance." As she spoke, Rudy was already drawing a helicopter just big enough for the three of them. A few minutes later he moved back as it was completed, and all three watched it fill with color before their eyes. Then he slid open the side door and motioned for them to step inside. Rudy brought the remaining piece of chalk to his eyes to get a better look at it. Though he had a couple more pieces in his room, he only brought one on the trip.

"We should get going," He stated as he observed the dramatic decrease in size, and the remaining two obliged.

The interior was nothing very special, with a driver, passenger and back seat. Nestled between a colorful mass of buttons and controls on the dashboard was a small, seemingly useless, beeping radar.

Almost as soon as Rudy clambered into the miniature aircraft, they slowly rose of the ground, the whirring blades blowing up dust as they lifted off of the ground. The rhythmic chopping of the propeller was oddly soothing as they soared through the fluffy white clouds.

xxx

Spotting their destination down below, Rudy landed the craft a little way from the mine. The three got out and made their way over to the entrance, where the mine's guardian stood.

"Hi, Biclops!" Rudy exclaimed, and the giant raised a waving hand back to him.

Snap and Penny conversed with the guardian near the entrance as the boy scampered into the mine to collect chalk.

As he was placing some into his pocket, one of the pieces he broke off harbored an interesting creature. It was a small fox, about the size of a dime, with legs that jutted out of its body in the same way as a spider's. Rudy only noticed it when the animal crawled out of his pocket and onto his hand. He stared at it with fascination, having never seen one before.

Suddenly, a four-legged silhouette near a cluster of rocks caught the boy's attention, and the forgotten fox creature crawled onto his head as he slowly edged over to the figure. If it was someone trying to steal chalk, someone working for Skrawl, for example, Rudy would need to rid the Zoner in an instant, but anyone lurking in the mine was more likely than not bad news, and would need to be investigated. Once close enough, Rudy leapt, arms outstretched, not expecting to catch the individual but at least drive them out of hiding to get a better look at who they were. Despite this, he had the creature in his hands, the black fur-covered body squirming to evade his grasp.

"Lemme go!" A female voice yowled, and a tail lashed furiously as the Zoner tried to worm her way out. Rudy grabbed the scruff of her neck and held her out, both to get a look at the Zoner and to keep her claws a good distance from his face. He could now see she was a feline, mismatched eyes her most prominent feature, wearing a thin green chain around her neck.

"Who are you?" Rudy demanded, and the cat stopped paddling her legs in the air to answer.

"Name's Friday." She confirmed.

"What are you doing in here?"

"I'm looking for Voodoo. Have you seen her?"

At that, Rudy raised an eyebrow, a little confused. Along with his thoughts on the name of choice, he noted that the intruder was clearly not afraid of him. He though back to animal that he had found on the piece of chalk as it squeaked atop his head.

"Hey!" Friday exclaimed, "How's it going?" Voodoo crawled over the arm Rudy was using to hold the cat.

"Was that the only reason you came in here?" He demanded, still unsure of the Zoner.

"It was raining," She replied, making a face. "What, is this some kind of forbidden place?"

Rudy decided it would be better for Biclops to explain.

xxx

"I think I get it now," Friday was nodding, sitting before Biclops like an obedient child, "It's like, magical stuff, and dangerous in the wrong hands." Penny, Snap and Rudy still stood near, incase she did intend run back into the mine, grab some chalk and run off to an evil boss. But the cat showed no signs of movement besides the odd flick of the tail and twitch of the ear.

"You've never heard anything about the magic chalk?" Snap questioned, not in too much disbelief but still rather surprised. Tales of Rudy were heard over much of ChalkZone, but of course some Zoners lived in remote areas or simply didn't go out much. Friday shook her head and brought herself up from the ground.

"Nah, I don't visit towns," She shrugged. "Most of the time Voodoo and I travel around deserts and empty spaces like that. This place is new to us."

"Rudy," Penny interjected, "It would be a good idea to get back. It does take a while to get to the city from here. Did you get the chalk?" Rudy nodded and opened his mouth to answer properly, but was cut off.

"A city?" Friday breathed, pacing over to the two. "Can we come with?"

"Sure," Rudy agreed. If Friday hadn't before seen a city, what was the harm of showing her one? She seemed to be a good Zoner at heart. "But I don't have time to take you back here. Maybe Snap could."

"No, that's fine, thanks,"

After bidding Biclops goodbye, they each made their way to the helicopter. The machine lifted off the ground and the group was in the air.

They passed over grassy plains, sand dunes and towns, houses scattered along the ground like a child's building blocks. Friday sat beside the window, her gaze fixed on the sights below her as she watched the view zoom past with intense fascination.

Eventually, a couple of tall towers belonging to the city they headed towards loomed before them. As the helicopter hovered closer, however, it was evident that something wasn't quite right.

The moment Rudy heard a scream, he shifted the helicopter into full gear, taking it from steady to dangerously fast. Just as he landed the aircraft a little distance away he immediately felt the earth beneath him tremble.

"Rudy, the volcano!" Penny suddenly cried out, pointing. The volcano wasn't directly beside the city, but the lava that spewed out was rapidly making its way towards the outer buildings. Zoners were panicking, running this way and that.

But that particular drawing had been erased a little while ago. Dormant. It hadn't erupted since materializing in ChalkZone. Rudy and his friends had been wary of it at first, but with it not being in very direct contact with the city and showing no signs of activity, they had reluctantly deemed it safe. So had the chalk-quake triggered it?

The ground continued to shake. Rudy brought out a piece of chalk from his pocket to create something to stop the spreading lava, but only ended up drawing a series of jagged lines.

Finally, just as soon as it had started, the rumbling stopped. The volcano stopped shooting out rocks and bubbling lava. Unfortunately, the lava that was out already continued to spread.

Rudy tossed a piece of chalk to Penny, instructing her to draw a number of large fans on one side of the river of molten rock, and he would do the same on the other. As they sketched, Snap and Friday flipped the switch of each finished apparatus on their respective sides so to speed up the process. Once there were enough fans turning, blades slicing loudly at the air, they cooled the lava and hardened it into rock, just in time. The Zoners who stood near the city's outskirts, those who chose to watch instead of running, cheered.

No-one noticed the only one who stood, unmoving, a straight expression on his pale white face, as he took a bite out of a pomegranate. After chewing it a little, he spat out some of it onto the floor. Then he was gone.

After ensuring the lava was dry and was not going to suddenly start flowing again, they turned the fans off. Curiously, the chalk-quake had been of a debatably weak magnitude, as nothing had been destroyed apart from a collection of ceramic pots a Zoner was selling, which Rudy replaced happily.

Penny caught Rudy's attention with the time on her watch, and knew his parents would be home soon.

"Are all cities like this?" Friday murmured to Snap as the group walked to Penny's portal, which was closest to their location. "With a volcano right next door? That's kinda dangerous, you know. Just saying."

"Nah, nah," Snap assured, "Only this city."

They dropped Penny off at her chalkboard and said their goodbyes before making their way to Rudy's.

"So, Friday," The boy mused, and the cat turned her attention to him. "Where are you going to stay?" Friday looked thoughtful for a moment, then shrugged.

"I haven't thought that far ahead yet."

"Oh," Was the only response from Rudy. He was trying to figure out why the Zoner would want to come to a city, not accept a means of transportation back to what was probably her home and imply having no relatives to stay with.

Friday seemed to sense this, and she continued on.

"Voodoo and I, we don't stay in one place for long. We're travelers. It's a good life."

They stopped before Rudy's chalkboard, and he drew himself a portal.

"Okay, if you're sure," He replied. "Bye."

Snap gave an enthusiastic 'See ya!', and Friday waved before Rudy stepped through and erased the portal.

There was a brief moment of silence until the cat cleared her throat.

"Well, this has been an interesting few hours, but I think I'll be off now."

"Where are you goin'? Snap questioned, curious.

"Down the street," Friday replied with a shrug, "To look at shops." And with that she turned and padded away.

Snap stood for a moment before heading towards his home, a lovely little unit that he had moved into when nobody had occupied it for a while. He passed Zoners who, despite the scare only a few hours ago, were bright and busy, bustling along the road.

Once he reached the apartment building he climbed the flights of stairs and eventually came upon his door, which was numbered as '13'. It had been the only unit in the whole complex to not harbor any residents. He first unlocked the security door and then the wooden one behind it, and once he was inside he collapsed onto the couch. He reached for the remote and clicked the television on. The late news. Snap was about to change the channel when he saw the headline in particular.

"Our top story tonight, is there a stalker amongst our ChalkZone City citizens?" The broadcaster, a spiral-edged notebook, announced as Snap slowly sat upright. "Police have received reports of a man allegedly following a young girl before disappearing when he was shouted at. Since then this man has been sighted over fifteen times. He is described as middle-aged, wearing a white gown and sandals on all accounts. Police are urging anyone with any information to come forward." Thoughts buzzed around Snap's head as the man who shouted began to rally a story that was probably only half true and painted him as the largest hero in the whole of ChalkZone. Who was that man? Why hadn't anyone told Rudy of him if he was such a big and well-known threat?

As he sat, immersed in contemplation, he was unaware of much around him, and so was caught completely off guard when someone leapt from behind the couch and grabbed his shoulders. In a flurry of panic, he shot up onto his feet and whirled around, backing up against the wall to prevent any other surprise attacks. Once he realized who it was, he relaxed, but his chest continued to heave.

"Didn't mean to scare you," Friday apologized, a sly grin creeping onto her face. "Nice place you got here." She glanced around as Snap swallowed to moisten his dry mouth.

"I thought you were goin' for a walk," He managed to utter.

"Wow, we're thinking now, are we?" Friday teased, avoiding the question. She spotted Snap's expression and spoke again. "Of course I told you I'd be walking. Where's the fun in sneaking up on people who know where you are?"

A/N: I know, I know, a cat is used a lot, but it was either that or a white rabbit.