Well this was certainly going to take a while to get used to. How had he ended up in this kind of situation? He tried his best to be as calm and still as possible, but that was growing continuously difficult. How was he supposed to respond in a situation like this? He just could not...

But he did not want to do anything to end up making things worse, either. He had been lucky that things did not result in something as bad as he thought they would have been. He was lucky to have gotten this sort of chance. He was lucky that this medium was interested at all in what he had done, what his abilities were. If he had done something stupid earlier, this all could have been done and over with.

But still, it was going to take a while before he got comfortable in here. Sitting around in this large, Future Dome place, filled with high tech stuff that probably didn't do anything all that spectacular. This room was far different from anything he has ever sat in before. It had that 'charming weirdness' that Future Dome in general had. This was worse than Craniac's room. And here he thought it could not get any worse.

Skrawl wasn't sure if he was more annoyed by that, or if he was more pestered by just how crowded this place was. It had turned into one large meeting. This hooded figure, Pascal he believed that they called themselves, they had not come alone. They had dragged with them a whole group of people. So many... Them combined with the other citizens of Future Dome already in here, it was no wonder it was getting rather crowded.

Skrawl immediately noticed how all of these citizens who had come in were stick figure zoners. A rather odd choice, he would think. Why would Pascal bring these sorts of people into this place? What would the point of them be? He could not fathom it. It wasn't like the stick figures had any sort of special powers. Most of them, at this base level were useless. Just throwaway zoners that young human artists sometimes made.

And yet for some reason, Pascal saw potential in them. They must have had a reason to bring them with. There had to be some sort of plan with them. Skrawl just couldn't understand yet what that could be.

Well despite not knowing what was going on, Skrawl was still more or less impressed by the large level of help that Pascal had. Loyal followers were hard to come by. Skrawl could only dream of having so many intelligent, competent people at his side. If only more of his Beanie Boys were like this...

He momentarily wondered where Craniac was. If he was going to be involved in this, he might as well join this meeting. After all, why not? They were all on the same side here. And he just might have something useful to tell them. Something that could help turn things around. Something like... Well, he did not really know. But he was certain something would come up eventuallly.

He looked around the room slowly, his mismatched eyes turning left and right. He once again noted how many zoners were in this place. He did not see the need for so many in this one spot. Perhaps Pascal wanted to address them at some point. But couldn't they have at least done that in a better way? Like, give them some breathing room at least. Or rather, give him breathing room. After all, he was...

He stopped his train of thought when he finally noticed just where Pascal was sitting. They were a bit further away from the others, situated in what looked to be a corner of the room. They were quietly observing everything, like nothing special was going on. They seemed almost...too quiet, too calm. It was a bit unnerving.

Licking his lips slowly, Skrawl decided to have a chat with them. There were sitll a few things that needed to be discussed. He was not about to fully embark on whatever plan this zoner had unless he knew everything else. He was not stupid. He knew that he could easily be taken advantage of. So that was why he was going to get as much information now as he could. Slowly, he made his way over there.

When he got closer, he had to stop and stare at Pascal for a moment. He looked at them up and down noting their details. He couldn't help but shudder at just how human-like they looked. The details were rather fine tuned, almost like the lines had been traced. That was a possibility, right? It was very likely that something like this could have happened, which would explain why this zoner was so eerily human-like.

Skrawl managed to shake off his uneasy feeling as he forced himself closer to Pascal. The zoner did not look up to acknowledge him, not even when Skrawl sat down next to them. It was almost like he wasn't there. Skrawl narrowed his eyes at this and he eventually tapped the zoner on the shoulder. Now this, Pascal paid attention to, and they looked up at him, staring almost blankly.

"Yes? What is it, Skrawl?" Pascal asked. They sounded a bit...bored. This was in contrast to their more excited self earlier. Were they the type that ran out of energy fast? Or were they trying to insult him?

Skrawl growled at this thought. He sure hoped that wasn't the case. "You talked about helping me get revenge on Rudy, and yet here we are, just sitting around, doing nothing. I want action!" He swung his fist downward. "Why haven't you done what you promised yet?!"

"Because there's still more work to be done." Replied the zoner.

"More work?!" Cried Skrawl.

"Yes." Pascal nodded. "You are not the only one here who wishes for revenge."

Skrawl tilted his head to one side. "Yes, I am aware of that, actually." He raised his hands up, the sharp tips of his talons coming inward. "But you haven't told me why. I have a good reason, but what about the rest of these guys?" Skrawl then motioned out around him as he took a step foward. "Do you care to explain that to me? And why aren't they doing any work?"

Pascal let out a small sigh. "Is that what you think? Do you believe that no one here is doing anything?" They looked away, tapping their foot in an almost disappointed manner. "I thought you were supposed to be the clever one."

"What did you say about me?!" Skrawl howled, raising his voice up. "Who the fuck are you to say...!"

"You are really allowing your temper to get the better of you. What, is something...bothering you...?" Pascal gave a small smile towards Skrawl, their mouth corners curled upwards, contorting their face slightly. "You have something happen to you recently that's making you act this way? Something that you feel...shame for?"

Skrawl growled at this, but he said nothing.

Pascal just continued to smile. "I see that I am correct." They shifted themself a little, moving themself to one side slightly. "You don't have to be that upset, dear Skrawl. This is where you can redeem yourself." Skrawl's eyes flickered at this. "A number of zoners here wish that they could have done something different, and they feel guilty about it. But they are going to do something about it." They raised their hand upwards. "They are going to take back what is theirs."

Skrawl didn't say anything. He couldn't think of anything to say, which was a first for him. He merely observed the zoner, taking in their words. He still wasn't sure entirely what to think about this zoner, and they were at times pretty confusing. But he was curious to know where they were going with this.

He looked over and he stared out towards the other zoners around here. He was not at all surprised that some of them wanted revenge for something. Why did Pascal think that he didn't know? He...

Unless... Did Pascal mean revenge against Rudy? That would certainly change everything, if that were the case. Skrawl knew of so little people that had issues with Rudy. To think that all of these zoners might be like him, might want to do something about that boy... He could feel a small smile cracking along his face despite the fact that, at the moment, he didn't know if this was true or not.

He remained silent still as Pascal turned to look back at him. Only a few seconds had passed, but for some reason, it felt so much longer than that. Skrawl waited in silence to hear what more this zoner had to say to him.

"Trust me when I say that if you allow things to go through the way I want them to, then you can have your revenge, as well as they can." Pascal's voice was a bit low, almost mysterious-like. It was somewhat frustrating that Pascal hadn't really revealed the scope of what they wanted to do yet. Skrawl wanted to know more about this supposed plan. "You haven't been the only one hurt. Cheated..deprived..." Pascal's eyes narrowed into slits. "You're not the only one...who has had the entirety of ChalkZone turn against you..."

Skrawl blinked at this. At first, he thought Pascal was referring to something else. Then the jellybean was bombarded by flashes of his own treatment when he first came here. He could feel lightning bolt after lightning bolt in his head and he was not able to stop it.

Images of him being beaten and tossed aside like he was nothing...

He shook his head. He tried to push back that though the best that he could. He had done this so often in the past that he no longer knew if it was real or not. That did not make it any more enjoyable. Gritting his teeth and seething, he turned his attention back to Pascal.

"I repeat my question of before." Skrawl spoke through gritted teeth. "I am losing my patience, so I want you to tell me exactly what your motivation is." He placed a hand to himself. "I already told you mine..." He motioned towards the human-ike zoner. "What is your story? Just...who are you exactly? How did you come into ChalkZone?"

There was a bit of silence that followed after this. Skrawl assumed that this meant that Pascal was thinking of a response, perhaps trying to put a string of words together to explain. So he stood back and he waited, giving them enough time to reply.

But when so much time had started to pass, Skrawl began to grow more and more irritated. He had no idea what was taking so long with an answer. It shouldn't have been this difficult to tell him something. Pascal wasn't even bothering to look at him, the asshole. It was as though Pascal was taunting him, teasing him like he was nothing important. The jellybean-like zoner tightened his hands, pressing his claws agaisnt his palms. He was not going to let them treat him this way.

He began to walk towards the zoner slowly, their back still towards him. Skrawl didn't exactly make himself that silent as he walked, so the fact that the zoner still looked away told Skrawl that they were deliberately doing this. It was as though they did not care what he did, and that just made him all the more willing to strike.

This had gone on long enough. He was not going to take it any longer. He had been intrigued by this zoner before, with the promise of revenge. But now they were not going to tell him fucking anything? What was wrong with them? Didn't they know that they had to divulge information if they wanted a partnership to work? Even fucking Craniac knew that and...

Wait... perhaps he should ask Craniac about this. He would be more cooperate, would he not? He was still a part of this. In fact, he was the one who had helped to 'test' him earlier or whatever. He was somewhere around here, probably flipping through some of his failed discoveries. It would be a waste of time to continue trying to argue with Pascal, so Skrawl forced himself to stop.

Slowly, he released a small sigh and cleared his throat. Pascal turned and looked over their shoulder. Skrawl looked at them for several long moments. He still felt the urge to pry out more information, but he quickly reminded himself that he had a better alternative. So he gestured his head to one side.

"I'm going to go speak with Craniac..."

Pascal raised an eyebrow at this. They seemed a little confused, as though they didn't understand what he was saying. Then Pascal just shrugged their shoulders. "Alright.. Not like you need to report to me about that..."

Skrawl just sneered at them briefly before he walked off. It was time for him to speak with Craniac again. And this time, he was going to make sure that robot fucking cooperated with him. He was not going to have the option to say 'no' this time.

He proceeded to walk down the hallway, ignoring any stares he got from the other zoners. He ignored the fact that most of these zoners were stick figures. Yes, there were other types of zoners sprinkled here and there. But for the most part, they were all stick figures. Really cheap humanoid zoners who... He had to pause for a moment. Could this have something to do with...? Was this connected to why these zoners wanted revenge...?

He couldn't really think of any reason, though. Artists don't really pay that much attention to stick figures. They aren't really tormented all that much. At least, not from what he has seen. Was there something else that he wasn't getting?

Oh well, he could worry about it later. Right now, he wanted to focus on getting information out of Craniac. If Pascal wouldn't cooperate, then perhaps Craniac will. And if not Craniac... If Skrawl didn't choose to try to kill him, he could opt for someone slightly on the lower end of the stick. Like those two he had seen before, who were with Pascal. What were their names? Jax and Jonathan? Yeah, maybe those two would help him out.

After passing through a couple of hallways and going around several zoners, many of whom were looking at him weirdly, considering that he was sticking out like a sore thumb, Skrawl managed to get out of the main crowd and out into a more open area. He let out a sigh of relief when he realized that the entirety of this building was not filled to the rim with zoners. Of course, the zoners that were here might come in handy later on, if things do work out and...

His thoughts trailed off when he saw Craniac up ahead, further down the empty hallway. He looked as though he were carrying several pieces in his hands. They appeared to be different robotic parts. Seeing this, Skrawl realized that he had been correct. Craniac was gathering more of those 'futuristic failures'. The jellybean recalled that the robot did have some kind of device that could find these things and he always tends to bring them back, at least from what he has seen.

Before the zoner had a chance to start walking off, Skrawl started to rush towards him quickly, moving as fast as he could. He raised up his hand and waved it back and forth, trying to get his attention.

"Hey! Craniac! Hold up!" Skrawl cried out, panting. "I need to talk to you!"

Craniac stiffened up momentarily before looking over at Skrawl. His robot eyes seemed to have widened in shock, but it was a little hard to tell with this guy. After calming down quickly, he said, "Don't scare me like that!" Skrawl did not apologize. Craniac held up his hand in gesture. "Just what are you doing here anyway? Are you going to try to make me a part of your 'scheme'?"

Skrawl narrowed his eyes. "And you are a part of Pascal's 'scheme'?"

"That's different!" Craniac pointed his hand at him. "They know exactly what they are doing! They have proven themself to me! They aren't like you! They don't try to make me do stupid shit and they actually listen to me!" Craniac moved closer to Skrawl. He glared at him right in the eyes, almost challenging him despite the fact that Skrawl was stronger than him. "And of course, they care about the fate of others while you're happy to throw away lives!" Craniac motioned his hand towards Skrawl in an accusing manner.

Skrawl growled deeply at this. "You know that's not true. I..."

"Oh yes, of course. You care about your Beanie Boys." Craniac stopped himself. "Oh wait, I'm wrong. You only care about some of your Beanie Boys. I hear you have no qualms about throwing out Beanie Boys that don't make the grade."

"That is beyond the point and you know it!" Skrawl could feel his blood already heating him.

"Nonetheless, I have nothing more to say to you." Craniac waved his hand dismissively, his body turned to the side. "Now leave me be. I have some important business to attend to."

Skrawl growled lowly, his yellow teeth bared. Then, a smile curled along his face as he gave a dark chuckle. "Yes, because a bunch of bolts mean everything in the world to you."

That seemed to have struck a nerve with Craniac. The light red robot suddenly froze, his body going rigid. Then he slowly looked over at Skraw. Despite the lack of expression, there was...something so intense about this stare that Skrawl found it impossible to look away. It was almost like some sort of train wreck. No matter how hard he tried, he just could not look away.

Craniac made his way over towards Skrawl. He was still cradling the bolts in his arms, holding them like they were a precious thing to him. Skrawl wanted to say something about this, but for some reason, he could not bring himself to do anything. He did not back away, but when the robot kept getting closer, he really did feel the urge to try to get back from him.

Soon the robot was right up against him practically. He was so close, Skrawl could feel his breath. Or rather, he would if Craniac had to breathe the same way that he did. He almost thought that Craniac was going to slap him, but instead, the robot appeared to keep his cool. He was still trembling, but Skrawl wondered just how much he was holding back.

When the robot spoke, Skrawl could not help but feel some coldness up and down his spine when he heard it. The voice... it did not sound like how he was used to. It was...deepened, almost like a normal, non-robotic voice. That, matched up with Craniac's roboticness, that was pretty freaky.

"Do you know what it's like here? I'm sure that you do. So don't lie... Every day children draw things that are eventually doomed to be failures. Not just them but adults, too. Then they are discarded like nothing. I would think that you, out of all zoners, would understand this."

Skrawl stared at Craniac for a few long silent moments, blinking his eyes slowly. He struggled to think of what Craniac was talking about, his mind a bit locked in with what just happened. It didn't take too long to figure things out, though, and soon his eyes widened up for a moment. He had to admit, Craniac did have a point there. His own creation was just... Skrawl had been just randomnly created with no purpose and fucking Rudy did not do anything to stop it.

But regardless, he was not going to let Craniac see that he understood. He was not going to let himself appear weak like that. Skrawl had shot away sympathy in the past. That never did him any favors. He was not stupid. He would not be blinded like that again. So he just narrowed his eyes into slits and raised his hand up, giving Craniac a rather...obscene gesture with a certain raised finger.

Craniac did not seem all that bothered by this. If anything, he was rather amused, his body going loose, no longer tensed up. "Wow, real mature there, Skrawl. Is this because you needed help from your mortal enemy?"

"Fuck you..." Skrawl hissed lowly.

"Hey I'm just calling it as I see it." Craniac shrugged nonchalantly. "It isn't my fault if you act this way." He lowered his arms down a little, still holding onto the bolts and nuts and whatever else that he had in his arms. "I know that you are a bit...bummed out from needing help from Rudy. Trust me, I would probably be a little annoyed myself. But take my advice: you are the one who can control your reactions. You can choose to let yourself become angry, or you can do something about it." Craniac shifted slightly. "You're being given a chance for that with Pascal. I suggest you don't screw it up."

Skrawl narrowed his eyes at this. If Craniac thought that these words were encouraging, he was dead wrong. What did he flipping know about emotions and reactions and that sort of stuff? Then again, he was a computer. So was it any wonder that he thought like this?

Suddenly it hit him. Skrawl realized that he almost forgot why he had come down here in the first place. He immediately cleared his throat as he moved towards the robotic zoner. "So...I actually came here to ask you a question. Pascal is being uncooperative, so I was hoping that you would be more helpful."

Craniac stared at him for a few moments, staring at him as though he had gone crazy. "What makes you think that I would tell you?"

Immediately Skrawl had to fight the urge to grab onto the robot and shake him. "You little...! All I want to know is..."

"...something I don't know either."

Skrawl stopped himself. He stared at the zoner before him for several long beats, trying to think of how he could react to this. He couldn't help but feel a burning confusion rushing through his blood. He struggled to control himself as he responded with, "You mean you...don't know either...?"

Craniac shook his head. "If I did, I would have told you." His tone of voice wasn't completely indicative, but considering how Pascal had treated him before, Skrawl wouldn't really find Craniac being truthful here to be all that difficult to believe. "Pascal doesne't seem to want to tell anyone about what they want. They have been rather secretive, even from those they have 'hired'."

"Oh really now?" Skrawl asked, tilting his head to the side. "That's...quite interesting.."

"Indeed. A mystery.." Craniac took a moment to rub his...whatever it was called. Chin? Skrawl had no fucking clue. "Well, I need to...tend to some business. So, see you around, Skrawl." The red robot waved his hand to him before strolling away.

Skrawl turned himself around and stared back the way he had come. So not even Craniac knew exactly what was going on? That was...not what he had expected. He would have thought, given his involvement, he'd know something. That made him wonder just how Pascal managed to gather this many zoners. Was there something that they were hiding from them?

He was going to find out sooner or later. He was not going to allow this zoner to remain silent on the subject forever. If they wanted to cooperation, they were going to hand over the information. They needed to tell him whatever he wanted to know. After all...

He was the one who was still in charge ultimately of this operation, correct? Pascal should listen to him. And Skrawl was going to make sure that they fucking did. Pascal needed to learn their place and Skrawl was more than happy to help out with that.

Without another thought, Skrawl headed down the hallway, returning to where that zoner was.

sss

"Are you sure about this?"

"Yes, why wouldn't I be?"

"Well you seem so... I'm not sure what the word is."

"Look, what other choice did we have?"

"But still..."

"At least we have a chance with these guys."

"..if you say so."

Jonathan let out a small sigh. He didn't want to keep questioning his leader like that. He knew how much stress Jax had been under just a short time ago. He didn't feel like adding to the complications.

That didn't mean that he himself was fully relaxed, though. Nor did it mean that he understood this situation. He was so confused by this whole thing. It had all happened so fast. He struggled to comprehend it all. He found it difficult to do so. And he doubted he ever would come to understand just why Jax wanted to do this.

It's not like Jax agreed right away to help out this Pascal character. It had taken some motivational speeches or some crap to get him to agree. But it just seemed so...odd that he would agree so quickly. Pascal had been troublesome for them before. They hadn't exactly been allies in the past. Jax himself had often said to not trust them. So why in the world would he have agreed to this? What exactly had changed?

Jonathan tried not to let himself think about that too much. He would only end up hurting his mind more and that's not what he needed right now. He should just move on from this. In the end, they were working with Pascal, despite past incidents.

Maybe it was a good thing. This reunion, it might yield better results than before. And it did see mlike Pascal genuinely understood where they were coming from. If their speech was of any indication, they had ultimately decided they wanted to help them out. They did not actually apologize for their past behavior, but that did not mean that they actually weren't sorry for not.

Still, this seemed so...fast and unexpected. This seemed rather odd and strange. He tried once more to figure out just what motivated Pascal, what motivated Jax. But he was unable to come up with anything.

That wasn't the only thing, though. And it wasn't why he was debating with Jax. No, he already had that subject with him. Instead, there was something else that concerned him.

Was it really wise to work with these non-stick figure zoners...?

He honestly had no clue whether or not they were trustworthy or not. He didn't know if he could take anything they said seriously. Considering how things usually were, he just overall found it more comforting to speak with a fellow stick figure than one of these guys.

Why would Skrawl be included? Granted, it wasn't like he was dismissive of his backstory or anything. But still, he was..not exactly the most well rounded character. He might end up making this so much worse. Would it not be wise to try another tactic? Why should Skrawl be involved in any of this at all? Maybe they should just...

He stopped himself when he looked over and he could see Skrawl storming this way. Immediately, the stick figure zoner stiffened, wondering if Skrawl had happened to overhear what he had said about him. Somehow, with how their luck had been going lately, he honestly would not be fucking surprised by this.

But instead of what he had expected, Skrawl walked right pasted him. Didn't bother to look at him. He just kept walking, going right on down towards... Isn't that where Pascal was? Jonathan blinked a few times at this. He looked over at where Jax was. His leader looked preoccupeid at the moment. Filled with curiosity, Jonathan decided to follow this zoner. Perhps he could get a better understanding about him. Perhaps his uncertainties could be finally quelled.

Slowly, the stick figure followed Skrawl. Such a thing wasn't too hard. Most of the other zoners here were too busy talking to each other to notice him. The ones who did hadn't attempted to stop him or draw attention to him. They seemed mostly curious by what he was doing. And Skrawl? He was so determined to get to where he wanted to go that he did not pay any attention to him at all. He probably didn't even hear anything behind him.

A few moments later, Jonathan realized that he had been correct. Skrawl really was going towards Pascal. He frowned his eyes a little. He couldn't help but wonder just what Skrawl's motivation was. What had compelled him to do this? Hadn't he already tried to speak with Pascal before and it backfired? Interesting how this jellybean kept going back for more.

Regardless, Jonathan still followed. He was curious to see this trainwreck, curious to see if it would lead anywhere, just overall wondering what was going to happen. A part of him hoped that this non-stick figure zoner would be able to help him figure out what to expect about this whole situation.

"Pascal! I want to talk to you!"

The zoner turned and looked at him. They seemed a little frustrated. "Oh, it's you again. What do you want from me this time?"

"You know exactly what I want! Answers! And you're going to give them to me right now!" Skrawl demanded, pointing a finger at the zoner before him. "I'm the one in charge of this whole operation!" Pascal raised an eyebrow. Skrawl turned himself to the side, making a few gestures with his hand. "Oh sure, some of this might be your idea. But I'm the one running the show here." He pointed a claw at himself, glaring down at Pascal. "If you want to continue working with me, you'd better speak up."

A long silence, almost as though to purposely taunt the jellybean zoner. It appeared to work, given how Skrawl was growling the longer the silence lasted. And then finally, a calm answer.

"Whoever said you were in charge?"

Skrawl's eyes widened at this. He gave a soft splutter, "What are you talking about?"

It was easy for Jonathan to see the glint in Pascal's eyes. "You heard me." They said as they turned to stare at Skrawl completely. "What makes you think you were ever the leader around here?"

Jonathan watched Skrawl, wondering what his response was going to be.

sss

Skrawl couldn't believe what he had just heard. He struggled to think of a response, but for the time being, he was just frozen.

Was this guy for real? Did they really think that they could just...say something like that in his presence? Skrawl was beyond understanding this, to the point where he could only just splutter over his own tongue. He took in several deep breaths as he attempted to keep himself calm. But it wasn't working and soon he could hear himself growling lowly.

"Now you see here... If you think you can just..." Skrawl started to say, only to be cut off by Pascal.

"No, you see here." Pascal hissed. "Just because I ask you to join... Doesn't mean that you are in charge..."

Skrawl could feel his mind spinning at this, burning as though someone had taken a frying pan and smacked him with it. He took in a few deep breaths, his breathing getting more and more growly by the second. He felt his lips curl up into a snarl and his body started to shake heavily. He formed tight fists with his hands and it took him all of his energy not to snap at this zoner.

Those words kept hitting against his head over and over again, reminding him that this zoner had not misspoken. They really had said those things and they really did think that they were in charge. Knowing that this zoner wanted to take over his position, to steal away what was rightfully his, that was something that could not go unpunished.

The jellybean zoner's first instinct was to raise up his hand and strike at this fucking idiot. He wanted to show them that they could not do that to him. They could not just barge in and act like they were in charge. It had always been him, and him alone. Skrawl didn't need anyone else's help to lead. What these zoners all needed to do was listen to his ideas and what he wanted. He would take suggestions, but that didn't mean that he was letting them lead. Perhaps that was the problem with this guy. Perhaps he did not assert to them enough the rules.

Well, time to correct that. It shouldn't take much to put this zoner in their place. Then once he's reestablished the proper order of things, they could move onto the next thing.

Skrawl moved in closer to Pascal. He didn't show fear or anything to them, nor did they look at him strangely. It was like they had the confidence to match. Skrawl smirked inwardly. They would see about that. Once he got close enough, he reached out and he grabbed onto Pascal's shoulder. He didn't squeeze too much, yet he ensured that they could not squirm away that easily.

"Let me explain something to you, mister." Skrawl's voice was slightly trembly but a bit more calm than he thought it was going to be. "When I agreed to help you, I never said that you were going to be in charge of any of this." Skrawl looked at them intently, leaning in towards them and slowly baring his teeth. "I do hope that I don't have to keep correcting you..."

Pascal just watched in silence, tilting their head to one side. Skrawl noticed them raising an eyebrow, and at that, he released a low growl.

"Do you understand me? I know I must sound like a broken record, but I think we need to establish some conduct here." Skrawl made a few gestures with his hand, his claws flexing in and out repeatedly. "You do know who I am, right? You do know that I have come up with some brilliant plans in the past and..."

"...they've all failed."

Skrawl stopped at this. "What did you say?"

"I said..they have all failed." Pascal repeated themself. They nonchalantly pulled themself away, getting free surprisingly easily despite Skrawl's best efforts. "You are mistaken, Skrawly boy. You were never the one in charge." Pascal began to walk around him slowly. "I called up on you for help. You are the one who works for me. If you want your chance at revenge, you will have to listen to me."

Skrawl narrowed his eyes into slits. He was not going down without a fight. He took a step closer, puffing himself up, trying to make himself look larger. "And what will you do if I don't step down?"

Pascal stared at him for a moment before releasing a laugh. "You? Step down? Why, Skrawl, there's nothing to step down from!" Pascal shook their head from side to side as they said this. "Why must you delusion yourself like that? You will only end up hurting yourself."

While a part of Skrawl understood that he needed to be careful with someone that he didn't know well enough, his emotions still got the better of him. Suck a fickle thing they were; they had more than once gotten in the way of things. But that was just part of his pride that he needed to defend. And thus, he didn't really try to stop himself when he rushed at Pascal, his feet pounding the ground, his hand raised up, poised to strike.

It had all happened so quickly.

When his claws were brought down, he could see Pascal moving to the side. It was like slow motion almost, and yet still fast. Skrawl's eyes widened when he turned his head, trying to see what the zoner was about to do. He could see Pascal doing..something, but he wasn't able to tell what it was.

Then came the pain. The sharp, horrible pain... Skrawl's eyes bulged open and he stifled a scream as he collapsed onto his knees, his remaining limb clutching his side. No feeling of blood, and yet he still felt like something had been cracked internally. He coughed a few times as he lifted his head up and stared over at the zoner. His wide eyes held anger and confusion. It took him a moment to see the hammer in Pascal's hand. Wide and hard, no wonder he was hurting so much.

"Y-You..." Skrawl spluttered. He tried to get up, but the pain stopped him and he slipped back down. "You won't..."

Pascal walked in front of him. They held the hammer in their hands, patting it lightly, ready to use it once more. "Don't worry. The pain will go away shortly. But if you want it to last longer..." Pascal stared down at him with a pair of slightly crazed eyes. "I'd be more than happy to assist you."

Skrawl tried not to look afraid, and yet his eyes still widened big. He could feel his mind swirling, struggling to figure out some kind of answer. Yet in the end, he knew what the right choice to make was. Slowly, he exhaled and he lowered his head, swallowing his pride in the process.

"Good... Don't worry, you'll get what you deserve soon enough." Pascal turned and began to walk away. "There just needs to be a few things worked out."

Skrawl lifted his head up and watched as the zoner walked away. He couldn't believe what had happened to him. He couldn't believe that he had allowed this zoner to take over, to steal his spotlight from him. He took in a few shuddered breaths, his teeth becoming bared. He would need to find a way to put this zoner in his place. He would need to find a way to ensure that the proper order was brought back. He needed to...

Skrawl soon forced a sigh out of his open mouth. He began to wonder if he really was becoming a little too defensive like some others pointed out before. Maybe he really was allowing his 'forced help from Rudy' thing get to him. Maybe he should let someone else take over for a little while. Maybe he... needed to slap himself in the face for giving up too easily. But no matter, his current priority was Rudy after all. Pascal would come next.

Slowly, Skrawl crawled up to his feet, brushing himself off. He still flinched a few times, the pain still echoing throughout his body. He did his best to fight against it. He turned and limped away, trying to look for the nearest place to sit down.

sss

Jonathan flinched at what he had seen. He didn't know what he had expected, but certainly not seeing this near-fight almost break out. He was surprised that things didn't go much worse from there. The two almost looked poised to fight, and yet Skrawl backed down? Was he waiting for something or...

That just confirmed his thoughts from before. They really had to be cautous of this whole thing. They did need to watch their backs. There wasn't enough stability in this 'union' and he knew that it could easily break down if they weren't careful. He would need to consult things further with Jax. Maybe he could make sense of this situation.

Or perhaps he wouldn't be al that bothered. Jax did seem more willing to go along with this partnership than he was. And in fact, a number of the other zoners didn't seem to mind, either. He didn't know what had gotten into them. He didn't know why they wouldn't try to be more forceful, to assert themselves more. Just what was it about Pascal that made them want to join up with them?

Perhaps it was their charisma? They certainly had a way of swaying people. Just look at how they managed to get them, the stick figure regime, to join despite them not having the best of histories before. And in the end, they were all united against a common enemy. The c... He dared not think of the name. It was too much of a mockery of what they all were. So he did this best to push back these horrid thoughts.

He stood there for several moments as he tried to think of what he should do. He could tell Jax about this incident. He could show him just how unstable things were. And perhaps that could convince Jax to pull out if the largest heads of this operation were not getting along well. After all, if they were going to pull off any sort of skit, if they were going to attempt to come up with a plan that would benefit them all, would they not at least cooperate well enough?

Jonathan gritted his teeth. The instability between Skrawl and Pascal was going to be worrisome. They did not need two zoners fighting for leadership. They neeeded cooperation. They all had the same end goals, right? Well sort of. What Skrawl wanted, that was similar, to an extent, to what the stick figure zoners like him wanted. By helping Skrawl, they would get part of what they wanted, which could lead to a pathway of getting more stuff and... Oh gawd, he hoped that Skrawl and Pascal didn't turn this into a competition for leadership...

He shook his head, realizing that he was allowing himself to become too wallowed in emotion. He needed to try to keep himself focused. He needed to make a decision. Either tell Jax of what he had seen...or keep it a secret and hope for the best.

While he would love to tell Jax, he had to pause and wonder. He thought about what happened before, with that fucking traitorous Raspheeba. He recalled how their plan had failed, how it had fallen apart when they acted alone. And he recalled Jax's guilt when he chose to flee instead of stand and fight for what was right. While Jonathan could not blame the zoner for running, considering they didn't have much of a choice otherwise, he coudl understand why Jax would feel guilty about that.

Then along came Pascal, who offered them something, who had managed to round up other like-minded zoners in Future Dome. Jonathan thought that there were a lot of them already, but combined with these zoners, they were massive. Shere numbers make them all feel...powerful. Not just safe. Powerful. And he knew full well that none of them wanted to lose that feeling.

Would it be right of him to go over and suggest that they leave? Would it be right of him to try to convince to the others that trying to walk away from this was a better solution? He recalled the faces on some of his fellow comrades. He had never seen them so happy before. Could he really just...take that all away from them just because of his own suspicions?

He released a heavy sigh. He knew the answer quite well. He could not do that to them. Even though he himself was not one hundred percent certain on any of this, he just..couldn't bring himself to say anything to this about the others. They deserved the hope. They deserved the chance. And he had no right to take that away from them. So with another heavy sigh, he turned and he began to walk away. What he saw, it would remain hidden within the confines of his own mind.

He just hoped that, in the end, he had made the right decision. He feared that if he made the wrong one, he would be the cause of the downfall to come. He didn't want to let everyone down. He didn't want to dash their hopes. He didn't want to...

And then in that moment, he realized what he could do instead. He turned his attention to Skrawl, watching as he still walked away in the distance. Jonathan narrowed his eyes slowly. A thought just came over his mind. Something that just might help him be able to secure things. If he could not retract everyone, then perhaps he could ensure that this union was not easily breakable.

He just needed to talk to Skrawl about this. If he could talk with that zoner and if he could convince him to stay true to this binding, to get him to agree that the benefits would come for everyone if they worked together, then maybe he could prevent Skrawl from creating trouble with Pascal. Who knows? Maybe he could even improve things. Make them better than they were before. Maybe he could...

There was only one way to find out. With that thought floating around inse of his mind, he began to walk towards the jellybean zoner.

sss

Zibble couldn't get to sleep. She tried to, but it seemed like, no matter how hard she tried, she just could not get to sleep. Her mind just wouldn't allow her that luxury. She could only just stay up, constantly thinking about what she had hurt. The thoughts wouldn't leave her. They would not let her be. They would not give her peace of mind. She released a small sigh as she sat up on her bed.

She could hear some soft snoring in her bed, right next to her. She looked down to watch Blotz continue to sleep, his mouth open and the air coming in and out noisily. She smiled a little at this. But this wasn't enough to cheer her up all that much. The dark feelings that she felt before returned with a vengeance, weighing down on her mind. She took in a deep breath and she sighed, her eyes moving slowly from side to side. She wished she could figure out what she could do. She just...couldn't stay lay like this forever.

She looked out of the open door, staring at the hallway that she knew was on the other side. She gritted her teeth tightly, exhaling deeply. She wondered what Rapsheeba was doing. Was she asleep too? Or was she awake? Considering what happened to her, she wouldn't be surprised if she continued to have rough nights.

At this, a part of Zibble felet betrayed. Why didn't Rapsheeba tell them about what happened? Blotz and her both wanted to believe that she had a good reason for it. But Zibble just couldn't honestly fathom any. Well none outside of trying to protect them, as one might say. Maybe Rapsheeba didn't think they were ready to know and...

Well fat lot of good that did. Zibble and Blotz both found out and because of Rapsheeba not explaining further, both of them were quite worried about her. Zibble could feel her stomach churning, ready to empty her stomach contents out of the shere fear of not knowing just what was going on with Rapsheeba. She didn't even know how bad it was. Being attacked was awful and all, but what if something else had happened? She needed to know.

She leaned herself a little on her bed using her hands to keep herself being held up. She looked up at the ceiling above her, taking in slow, deep breaths. She could feel her mind aching a little as she tried to think of what she was going to say to Rapsheeba. Could she even try to lie to her? Could she really bring herself to do that? Yes, Rapsheeba lied but... Zibble gritted her teeth. She just wasn't as good at keeping a secret as Rapsheeba apparently was.

She took another look over at Blotz. Should she wake him up? She needed someone to talk to right now and he was the only one who currently understood the situation. Well the only one in ChalkZone, anyway. Rudy and Penny were away and Snap had gone home. Blotz was the only one who remained.

Zibble couldn't take it any longer. She needed to talk to someone. She needed to get this off of her chest. Reaching over, she grabbed onto Blotz's shoulder and started to shake it.

"Hey... Hey wake up..." She whispered. She listened to her brother groan and watched as his eyes fluttered open to look at her. She stared at him for several moments before she said, "Hey...c-can I talk to you...?"

Blotz released a low groan. He lifted himself up and then stared over at the clock nearby. Upon seeing the time, he turned his head to stare at Zibble. "It's two in the morning... What do you need...?"

Zibble felt a bit of guilt rushing through her when she realized what she was doing. But her own fears drove her forward. She moved closer towards him on the bed, her fingers gripping at the bedding beneath her. "Wh-What do you think we should do about..." She swallowed hard. "..about Rapsheeba...?"

Blotz blinked his eyes a few times. "I told you, we'll just leave it be for now. There isn't much that we can do." He adjusted himself in the covers. "I know you're just worried, Zibble. I can understand that. So am I." He reached up to rub his left eye a little. "But you're doing no one any favors with this, not at this time. So please, just go back to sleep."

Zibble bit her lip hard. "But I can't get to sleep. I've... I've tried and I just can't do it..."

Blotz looked up at her. His expression was still that of someone very sleepy, his eye skin around him darkened. But he still looked sympathetic, even if slightly subdued due to his tiredness. He yawned before pushing himself up. "Would you feel better if you cuddled up with me tonight?"

"I...I don't want to impose..." Zibble started to say.

"Nonsense, it's fine! You look like you could use the company. So come on over, sis." He patted the bedding in front of himself gently, giving her a small smile. "It's all right. I don't mind."

Zibble hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to do or to think. She didn't expect something like this to happen. She didn't think that he would be so willing to... She shook the thought out of her head. Of course he would be willing to help. She should have realized that all along. Giving him a small smile, she started to crawl over towards him.

Once she was beside him, she cuddled up against him, smiling even more as she felt his arms moving around her body and holding her close. She could feel his warmth moving along through her body, making her feel more secure. Then, as she laid here for several moments, she shut her eyes softly. She soon felt a wave of tiredness overcoming her and she slipped out of consciousness.