Author's Note: This is set at the end of Racingwolf's Cryptic Investigation. This idea was spawned from a random thought I had, asking myself the question "what if not everyone was happy with Rudy's actions?". I liked the idea of at least one zoner having a problem and I kept imagining how they would rant about it. Eventually, this story was born.
sss
Urgh... this stupid celebration. I can't stand it any longer. I needed to get out, stretch my legs, and clear my head. I'll let these idiots continue to celebrate if they really want to. I don't fucking care.
I got up out of my seat and started to move past the other zoners. It was hard to move around here. This place was crowded, and it was starting to smell a little, too. Some of these guys could stand to use a shower once in a while. I could smell their 'hard work' from where I was. And, my gawd, do these two have to stand right here? They're just...urgh...
I had not made it that far away when I heard the zoners start to cheer. They were so loud. They were obnoxious. They seriously have no sense of volume control. I can kind of understand their excitement, what with all that happened, but... Whatever. I just wanted to leave.
I turned my head and soon my eyes met with who they were cheering on. On the stage, I could easily make out the faces that everyone here had become familiar with, if they hadn't already.
Rudy, Penny, and Snap.
They were standing together, Snap's injuries being proof of the dangers they had been through. They were waiting...well Rudy and Penny were. Snap had a hard time with it, his arm in a cast and the other using a crutch. Rudy himself seemed to be nearly crushed by all this praise. I suppose the boy wasn't really used to it.
Not that he deserved it. I did my best not to frown, but staring at the boy did make my stomach boil further. This was part of the reason I wanted to leave. No...the biggest reason. Everyone here were cheering this boy on, and I didn't fully understand why. I don't think he deserves the praise.
Of course, everyone here would be on my case if I said a word against him. They would think I wasn't grateful for help. Well, don't get me wrong. I am grateful. I'm not an idiot. I know that he and his friends' interface played a role in preventing those fake creators from coming back. So I'm not saying that he didn't make much of a difference. On some level, I am happy for what he had done for ChalkZone.
But still, that didn't mean that I felt he did a good job, or that I agreed with his methods. I had some issues with how he had handled things. And because of that, I couldn't really feel as grateful as I could be. I did not feel like celebrating someone that I did not feel put his all into helping keep this world safe.
I did manage to finally get away from the huge crowd of zoners. It wasn't easy, mind you, and with all the damage to the city, I didn't feel like going there. So I just went out towards one of the nearby forests, and picked out a tree to lean against.
Far away from the others, and that darn racket, I could finally get some rest. It was quite nice, being able to think and not have to worry about hearing those stupid cheers or those stupid speeches or anything. Just relaxation, the Day Zone sun over my head, keeping me warm. But completely relaxing was not possible as I thought about Rudy and what had happened lately.
I narrowed my eyes. Did Rudy really think he solved our problems? Did he think that he had waved a magic wand and now we're suddenly all safe? He is supposed to be our protector, and yet his method of choice was...really questionable. I couldn't help but wonder if he really knew what he was doing, or if he realized just how much could go wrong. I hadn't spoken about it to him, if only because his worries about Snap and the recovery of ChalkZone were already eating him up inside. I...did not feel that comfortable with crushing his spirit more with my own bitterness.
But I didn't know how long it would be before I'd blow up. How long could I hold all this in before I had to tell someone? Sooner or later, I...I would have to tell someone about it. I needed to express my concerns.
I took in a deep breath and sighed, trying to let out all my frustrations in one breath. I leaned my head back against the tree and allowed the thoughts to move through me.
When all these problems began, I had hoped that Rudy would take the right path. I knew how there'd be times when difficult calls would need to be made. I had thought that Rudy had known this, and would take the appropriate course of action.
But I had been wrong...
When I had learned the story of how he 'defeated' the fake creators, I was in shock. Not because I thought it was amazing or incredible, but because I thought it was a decision so horrible and stupid, I didn't want to believe that Rudy had taken it. But no matter who I spoke to, even Rudy himself, the story remained the same. He had blackmailed them, threatening to have them get arrested for breaking into his house, and thus forcing a surrender out of them.
That's it. That's all he did. No further threats. No measure to make sure this plan would work for a long time, or forever. Just..nothing. A simple, almost childish blackmail, and that's it.
I couldn't be more disappointed in our so-called 'protector' if I tried.
Look, I know Rudy is a nice kid. I know that he is not interested in violence or hurting anyone. But...he's got to grow up sometime. He needs to learn that there will be times, as protector of ChalkZone, that he will have to take more extreme courses of action. He needs to learn that some folks are just too dangerous to keep alive, even if locked up. Sometimes, dead was better.
And this was one such case. I am appalled to learn that Rudy sees nothing wrong with this so-called 'brilliant' idea of his. He doesn't seem willing to see the potential consequences of his actions. How long did he really expect this to work?
You see, blackmail is rather interesting. It can be really good for a short time, but once it's disabled, you are left even more vulnerable than before. If you rely on blackmail, you might as well set yourself up for failure. Because it will bite you back in the butt. It's the worst method you could possibly use, especially if it's as worthless as being arrested for trespassing. Yeah, yeah, you don't need to correct me. I know that they would get some decent jailtime for that. But the thing is...have you ever heard of anyone getting a life sentence for that? No? That's my point.
Rudy's little blackmail trick is only as good as long as those three fake creators don't try to find a loophole. But they will.. They were smart enough to find a way in. They will be smart enough to get around Rudy's little trick and come back. It would only be a better of time.
And you want to know the easiest way to do that?
Let themselves be arrested.
They confess to the crime. They serve their time. They get released. And voi la! The blackmail is null and void. No more smoke and mirrors for Rudy. He'd have nothing left.
And even if they honor Rudy's 'threat' and stay away from ChalkZone and not draw anything dangerous, there are still other loopholes he did not fill in.
For instance, what about time? The blackmail won't be good for long. If those three wait long enough, then would the police really care? Last I checked, I don't think they would take it seriously if they waited long enough. All those fake creators would have to do is just wait out the blackmail, and then Rudy could no longer threaten them. I mean, come on...what police station would seriously take a 10 year minor theft case seriously?
That's not even getting into the other issue. One that I don't think dear Rudy had even thought about.
Those three could be stealthy about threatening ChalkZone. They could inform more people about it and get them to draw sneaky zoners to do their bidding. They could have other people draw dangerous, violent zoners, and Rudy would have no proof it was them. If a zoner appeared 300 miles away, could Rudy really link it to them and spring his blackmail on them?
No, he wouldn't. Violent zoners are not that uncommon. Sure, most of us are peaceful, but truth be told, there do exist dangerous zoners. Rudy cannot prove that any new violent zoner is the work of those fake creators.
There's an interesting thing about losing. It makes you smarter. It makes you craftier. It makes you more cautious not to make mistakes. Those three fake creators only lost because they underestimated Rudy's ability to think ahead. Well, now that they know...do you think they would make the same mistake again?
No. They would be more careful. They would take him more seriously. They would try harder. They would become more dangerous.
Yes, Rudy could stop them again. But all that would do was continue this song and dance. Those three will not give up. With all the hell they put us through, I refuse to believe they would stop just because of a single loss to a 10 year old boy. They would keep coming back, and as they keep losing, they will keep getting smarter and smarter, and soon Rudy would have a hard time getting the upperhand. He would, at some point, make a mistake, and that's all it would take to allow the fake creators to win.
In other words, the celebration is worthless. The peace? It won't last forever. It would come to an end. What time it would be would depend on many factors. But in the end, it won't last, and if Rudy keeps up with these stupid methods of dealing with them, he will eventually lose.
You know what the sad thing is? All this could be easily prevented, if he was willing to do his job and actually protect us.
Instead, he chooses to constantly take non-violent actions to solve problems. He chooses to trap and trick, which yeah it may work sometimes, especially in here where he has more power to stop dangerous zoners.
But these creators... they aren't like those zoners. They can create their own army and weapons if they wished. They are much more dangerous and savage. They could easily tear us all apart with their god-like powers. And yet the boy still continues to frolick around them like he does with normal zoner enemies. He refuses to upgrade his methods and man up for reality. He refuses to see the harshness of what needs to be done, and he deludes himself with believing his plan will work for long.
Sometimes, there will be calls for more desperate and drastic measures. These fake creators won't be stopped for long using blackmail, especially over such a petty, eventually old crime.
However, there is something Rudy could do that would ensure our safety. There is one path that I would have thought he'd be smart enough to take that would have saved us all not just from those fake creators, but from any future Real World threats to begin with.
Kill them.
That's right. As gruesome and dark as it sounds, I feel Rudy and his friends should have killed those three fake creators. Such a dark route is the most appropriate thing to do, as it is the one thing that would ensure that we'd all be safe. All that revenge and increased craftiness? It would have been stopped, null and void, if they were no longer breathing.
But Rudy refused to allow that to happen. Heck, he even tried to make sure none of them got hurt when the red chalk dragon attacked. What an idiot... He had only doomed ChalkZone to a future demise by not allowing the red chalk dragon to kill them. All our troubles would have been over, and he could have just dumped their bodies, or leave them here and let them be reported missing. Who in the Real World would find this place?
Yeah, yeah, I know what you are thinking. Making a 10 year old boy kill is dark, cruel, and twisted and would ruin his innocence. Well bah I say to that. Innocense has no place when it comes to ensuring safety.
Rudy wants to keep ChalkZone safe, and killing off those intruders, whom I may add will eventually resume threatening us in the future until they get what they want, would have been such a method. It would have kept us all safe from future attacks, and we would have been back down to only residents of that world knowing about ChalkZone.
No more arrogant artist. No more scheming man wanting to get rich. No more crazy woman wanting to expose us. It would be back to the way it was before, when none of that nonsense was going on.
Instead, Rudy backed down. He chose to save the life of the people who had made our lives hell, even the man who nearly had his best friend, Snap, killed, and only let them off with what might as well have been a slap on the wrist. He is no savior. He only delayed the inevitable. He only pushed back our doomsday.
Those zoners are wrong to celebrate him and his friends. They are not true heroes. They are cowards, a disgrace to the name 'savior'. They are not worthy of being celebrated. I only wish the others could see that. But even if I explained it to them, they would not believe me. They will continue to believe everything is fine, and delude themselves into believing that we had entered a new era of peace.
It won't last. Someday, those fake creators will return. And when they do, we will all have hell to pay. All because our so-called 'protector' isn't brave enough or smart enough to do what was actually right.
Well, when that day comes, I hope he believes that his cowardice will have been worth it all. Because let me tell you something.
It won't be.