The Main Attraction
Chapter 10: Four Blood Stained Claws
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As the violence surges, and the teeming masses have been terrorized...
-The Vengeful One, Disturbed
sss
It hadn't been easy. The zoners had put up quite the fight. Lots of yelling and shouting and screaming. Intermixed with that, sobbing and other forms of painful cries. None of them would have believed it would be this tough just to get the zoners away from the screaming individual trying to claw his way out.
Even when they started to get zoners away, the struggling continued. Many zoners attempted to jump right back in and attack. Others even kicked them in hopes of deterring them from interfering again. Despite this, the group of friends still tried their best to get the zoners away from their hapless victim.
The tides only began to turn when the magic chalk was finally utilized. It had been reserved as a last resort; they had hoped that the zoners would cooperate if they saw the chalk and knew that they meant business. But instead, the zoners ignored this completely and continued harrassing that one zoner, whom they had recognized as Haney. Hearing the poor dragon zoner scream and call out in pain twisted their hearts, and made them even more determined to try to save him.
Working together, Mint and Penny had started to draw a barrier of some kind. This barrier sparked a little, creating a quick, sharp pain in anyone who dare try to touch it. While Snap pulled Haney away, out of the barrier, the two children began to race around the alleyway and around the zoners. They soon finished the barrier, which sealed the antagonizing zoners inside a relatively small area in the alleyway.
The zoners clamored around, shouting to be freed, struggling to find a way out. There were several shouts and screams as they tried to claw their way out of the barrier, only to be shocked soon after. Each one of the zoners wore a death glare on their faces, and they seemed to be silently demanding that they be set free, if their mouths weren't already vocalizing this desire. The cops that had been there, trying to quell the crowd, now stood around the barrier, watching the zoners carefully as if to ensure that they didn't get out.
Snap narrowed his eyes at this. At least the cops were being useful this time. He didn't stay angry for long, however, as he heard Haney moaning in his arms. The small blue zoner looked down at the injured dragon zoner, who was leaning against him on the ground. Despite how much taller he was than him, it didn't seem all that difficult for the zoner to hold onto him like this.
"I-It hurts..." Haney managed to say. His voice was low and weak and shaky. Just hearing it was enough to make Snap's heart twist. "Please...I.."
"Shh... It's all right now..." Snap whispered softly. He stroked his hand along the top of the dragon's head. "It will be all right..." Snap pulled the dragon's head closer to himself. He pressed the side of his face against him. "Just try to relax..."
Snap wasn't really sure if his words had much of an effect on the dragon. Haney's body was still squirming a little in pain. And looking over his body, it wasn't like Snap could blame him.
Poor Haney was literally covered in bruises. From head to toe, Snap winced as he saw all the deep purple marks that the dragon had been given due to the rage of the crowd. A few of them were so bad that he could see blood start to drip from them. And that didn't even get into the gashes snaking along his body. He could have sworn he saw a few teeth were missing and one of his small horns had been busted. At least one of his feelers had been ripped off and Snap could see the stains on his body from when he had thrown up. Seeing this caused Snap to slowly glare back at the crowd.
He had no idea why the zoners had done this to Haney. They had already shown that he was innocent, didn't they? He and his friends had went through the trouble of making sure that his secret sauce thing contained no zoner DNA. And yet they were still willing to attack this poor guy like this? Just... Just how could they...?
Snap struggled to control the memories flooding his mind. It was impossible to do, however, and he found himself bombarded with memory after memory of what happened to him. This whole situation, it was so much like how he had been treated. True the zoners didn't hurt him, but that was only because they couldn't get to him. Had he been outside when that mob came...
"Let us go!"
"Yeah! You can't do this to us!"
"We have rights, you know!"
Snap shot his glare back at the zoners. A part of him almost wished that Penny and Mint did something to keep that shield sound proof. He didn't really want to hear what those zoners had to say. But...on the other hand... If they really wanted to know why they were doing this, they had no choice but to listen to their voices.
Penny and Mint stood their ground, positioned about five feet from each other at an angle. They glared in the direction of the zoners, but did not say anything. It was hard to tell if they were waiting for the zoners to calm down or for something else.
It became clear that they were merely waiting for Rudy. They had moved aside five feet so that Rudy could wheel himself in between them. Rudy had moved at quite a quick pace. Snap had never seen his friend move so fast before in his wheelchair. He could see the emotion plastered over Rudy's face. He could practically feel it all around him, radiating off the enraged teenager's body. And even when Rudy spoke, his voice alone trembled like crazy.
"What...did you all think you were doing?!"
Hearing just how loud Rudy had spoken caused the zoners to freeze. A few of them softened up their glances and several of them looked at each other before turning back to Rudy. They remained silent for several long moments, and Snap was honestly surprised he did not hear any crickets chirping in the background. It was so unnerving... Snap wasn't sure which he hated the most. The zoners shouting or them being so eerily silent.
At least the silence did not last too long. In a matter of moments, a few of the zoners began to mumble to each other. Making statements, asking furious questions. None of them were discinernable enough to be answered, but a lot of communication was clearly being done with their eyes. Snap could see just how enraged they all looked. And one when of them pushed her way to the front, Snap prepared for the fireworks.
"I should have known that you four would try to stop us." The female zoner growled as she squirmed her way through the other zoners. Some tried to move aside, but she still pushed against them anyway. "You four just don't know when to quit, do you?"
"What...?" Mint spoke a shocked, soft voice. "You again..?"
Snap and his friends' eyes widened as they saw who this individual was. They couldn't believe it. It couldn't be her again, right? There was just no way that...
But it was. Their eyes kept telling them that this was indeed the case. They could rub their eyes over and over again, and it would still result in the same thing. It would still result in them seeing this one particular zoner standing before them, this time backed up by a large and angry crowd.
It was that darn zebra zoner again.
The zebra's eyes were narrowed into slits, her brown eyes practically gleaming in the light of the Day Zone sun. Her arms were folded against her body, her long, thin tail swishing from side to side. Her black and white striped body seemed to bristle with all kinds of emotion. Her lips were curled back into a snarl, and even if she didn't speak, it would be clear to anyone's eyes that she was disgusted with them.
"And here I thought that you were trying to protect ChalkZone..." The zebra said a cooled voice. There was a bit of sarcasm last in the last part of what she said, adding to the disgust that overall dominated her voice. "If you are willing to protect such a heathen and if you are willing to spread lies..."
"We aren't lying!" Rudy spoke up before the zebra could continue. Though the zebra did stop to listen, it was clear from her expression that she was hardly all that interested in hearing what Rudy had to say. "We had already gone through that test several times and we can assure you there was no zoner DNA in there!"
The zebra rolled her eyes in disgust. "Sure, whatever. But you know, that isn't why we went after him."
At this, Snap and his friends froze. Snap watched as his human friends stared at each other in confusion. Snap himself could feel perplexion taking a hold of his mind as well. He stared down at Haney, his mind spinning. If they didn't attack him because of the whole secret recipe thing, then..why did they...?
"Tell us exactly why you did this, then." Rudy's stern voice came. Mint and Penny nodded, giving soft sounds of approval as they glared at the crowd of zoners. "I hope you all had a good reason for acting like such..." His voice trailed off as he prevented himself from saying anything that would entice the crowd further. He eventually spat out, "...so unreasonable."
Mint and Penny nodded once more, folding their arms as they glared at the crowd and waited. Snap did likewise. He still held onto Haney, keeping him close. But he still shot the crowd an intense, well-earned glare. He didn't care what their reasoning was. Based on what they knew of this zebra zoner, it was going to be something insane and unreasonable anyway.
Snap's mind was going several miles an hour as he watched his friends face off against the zoners. At first, none of the crowd had stared over at him; they were too busy glaring at the humans. Even the cops, who were right there, holding their weapons in case things really did get out of hand once again, were largley ignored. It took several seconds before any of the zoners looked over at him. And when they did, Snap immediately froze.
It had been a long time since anyone looked at him in this way. And it wasn't even him they were glaring at; it was Haney. At least, most of them were. Haney was the target of the harshest glares. This alone made Snap feel sick to his stomach. He glared back at the crowd as he pulled Haney even closer to himself, trying his best to calm him down, shielding his eyes from their glare.
"I just can't believe that you four are all so dense!" The zebra zoner raised her hooved hands into the air. "If you would just open your eyes and think, you will see why Haney deserves punishment!" She brought her hands down swiftly, curling her hoof fingers inward into partial fists. "Just open your eyes, dammit! You all can't possibly be this stupid, right?!"
Immediately, there was a wash of toxins going through their bodies. The four friends narrowed their eyes further, their bodies quaking from this obvious insult. Their eyes felt emblazed with emotion, trailing behind them.
How dare she... After all the trouble they went through to save this city, including her ass, after what they had been forced to do in order to keep this place safe, she dare say such a thing to them? That ungrateful bitch... It was made worse by the fact that they were certain they had actually saved her directly before. And this was how she repaid them? Disgusting...
When the zebra zoner realized that she wasn't getting a response from the enraged friends, she merely chuckled and gave a hideous sneer. "You know I'm right, don't you? You know that I just hit the nail on the head and now..." Her smile faded into a snarl as she pointed an accusing finger swiftly towards them. "...you don't even have the guts to tell us this yourselves! Cowards!"
Mint gritted his teeth as he took a tiny step back. "That isn't true!" He made a swift, cutting-like motion with his hand. "We're silent because we are so disgusted by this accusation!"
"Instead of telling us how stupid we are," Penny interjected, raising a hand up to stop Mint before things got worse. "...why don't you just tell us what else you think Haney did."
The zebra jeered, "You should know that already, princess..."
Rudy hissed as he tightened his hands on his wheelchair's arms. "Just tell us, Abby..."
Abby folded her arms against her chest, her tail twitching quicker side to side, like an irritated cat or an excited dog. She made a disgusted 'hmph' sound as she glared at the children. Occasionally, the zebra would glare over at where Snap and Haney were. Snap hunched his body upon noticing her glance, and Abby looked almost amused by his attempts to protect the dragon zoner. She then turned her head towards the humans, and any sign of a smile once more vanished.
"Okay then, if you all really want to know..." Abby gave pause. Likely for drama, judging from the look on her face. The zoners behind her watched her carefully, several of them returning their glares towads them, their eyes becoming little more than slits. "It is because he is the one who freed Skrawl."
The four friends instantly froze up at that. They could feel a quake rushing through their bodies, their nerves activating, creating chills and flashes of heat almost simultaneously. The very idea that Haney would... It couldn't possibly be true, right...?
They all stared at Haney. They watched as the dragon quivered on the ground against Snap. They could see the tears flowing down his face. They could see the way his tail was curling about in utter agony. They could hear him hiss and clench his teeth tightly and groan. He did not even attempt to speak a word, not even in his own defense. He was just too wracked with pain and agony to do anything.
Their shocked expressions soon vanished, replaced with ones that were more a mixture of horror and anger than anything. This combined well with their trembling bodies as they glared back at the crowd. They seethed through their teeth, unable to believe that the zoners would make such an accusation, especially after they had hurt Haney so badly. Haney hadn't done anything ot them, and yet they had the gaul to accuse him when they were the ones who hurt him? How could they...?
"What proof do you have of this...?" Rudy's voice came, cutting through the silence. From how shaky his voice sounded, it was clear that he was struggling really hard not to lose his temper at them.
"Tell us just how you came to these results.." Penny joined in. "I sure hope you have a good excuse for..."
"Oh we do!" One zoner called out.
Another joined in. "Yeah and it's a good one!"
"Tell them, Abby!"
"Gladly." Abby said. She looked over her shoulder and smiled at the zoners behind her. There almost seemed to be a sense of pride swelling up inside of her. "Listen up, you humans..." She looked back at Rudy, Penny, and Mint. "I will only tell you this once. So I hope you are all prepared to listen."
"Sure." Mint nodded his head. "Tell us why you think Haney here had anything to do with Skrawl getting out. We'd love to hear what your reasoning is." It was hard to tell if he was being serious or if he was being a tad sarcastic.
Abby looked a little offended by the way Mint talked to her either way, judging from how one eyebrow was raised up. But she seemed to ignore it, moving on with a swift, forward motion of her hooved hand. "It is quite easy to understand. So simple..." She turned her hand so that her palm was facing upward. "Skrawl's been locked up for a long while now, hasn't he? And then Haney showed up..and now Skrawl is out."
The four friends glared at her. They waited for her to continue. They waited to hear just how she came to her current conclusion. But when she spoke next, they were nothing short of caught off guard.
"Therefore, he is guilty."
At this, the friends stared at her in shock. Their bodies slumped as they blinked several times, unable to believe what they were hearing. They looked at each other, at Haney, at the crowd, and then back at her. They waited and listened, almost hoping that there was more to the story than that. There had to be something more to this. There had to be. They couldn't have...
But the longer the zebra remained quiet, the longer they stared at her smug expression as though she had given them some irrefutable proof, the more they realized that...she was being quite serious. And when they realized this, they could feel the heat in their blood rapidly rising.
"Are you serious?!" Snap was the first one to speak, his anger clearly overflowing from his voice. "That is your reasoning?! Just some...huge ass coincidence?!"
Abby gave a dark chuckle. "If you look at the evidence..."
"What evidence?!" Snap wailed. "You don't have any! All you have is a set of events that probably have nothing to do with each other and there is little proof that they are even related!"
Mint clenched a fist tightly. "You lot had jumped to conclusions about Haney! You used your own fear and anger towards him to justify an attack!" He pointed an accusing finger at them. "That is just sick!"
"N-No it's not...!" One zoner called out. There was slight hesitation in his voice. "I-If you would just listen...!"
"Listen to what?! You all making wild accusations at a zoner that never even hurt you?! Seriously?!" Rudy's body trembled with rage. He was trying to settle himself down, evident by how quickly he was breathing in and out. But he wasn't able to stop himself for long, and the emotion continued to ring true in his voice. "Of all the rotten...disgusting things I've seen you zoners do..."
"What's it to you, cripple?" Abby jeered. Rudy's eyes bulged at this in shock. Some of the other zoners looked at her, horrified as well. Though none spoke up in Rudy's defense. "It's not like you..."
"Shut up!" Rudy spat.
The initial sock of what Abby had called her seemed to have cleared out of his mind. The zoner's horrific acts that the zoners committed against Haney were clearly more dominant on his mind right now than what Abby thought of him. Snap and the others watched as Rudy seethed through his clenched teeth. Neither of them dared to try to interrupted him as he was unleashing his fury at the zoners.
And when he spoke again, none of the zoners, not the cops, not the crowd, not even Abby dared to say anything to interrupt him.
"This is getting fucking ridiculous! I can't believe you all are taking this as far as you are! You have no proof at all that he did anything! You've had no proof for any of the other incidents either! You were all so worked up that you acted without thinking! Look, I understand that you are all still shaken up by Sandra. Me and my friends are as well. But that is no excuse for what you did to Haney! I'm getting sick and tired of your disgusting behavior! How are wea ll supposed to move on if you allow yourselves to be so fueled by fear?! Why can't you just think for a moment instead of allowing your fear to control you?! Gawd, I feel like I'm talking to a bunch of...of children! You all should be fucking ashamed of yourselves!"
Rudy stopped, panting heavily as he finished his rant. His eyes remained blazing, staring towards the ground, as he struggled to regain his breath after that long rant. He didn't seem to realize how the zoners were staring at him at first. And when it finally did hit him, he froze.
The zoners were all wide-eyed, their mouths having dropped open. While a few were glaring at him, as though disgusted, most of them were just utterly horrified by what he said to them. It was hard to tell if this was because it was Rudy who had said this stuff, or if it was something else. Regardless, it was clear that Rudy's words had indeed made an impact.
Everyone became silent at this. Even if someone wanted to speak, for a while they just could not bring themselves to do it. The tension in the air thickened up immensely. Even the act of moving a little was out of the question. They all just remained still and quiet, everyone list in their own thoughts.
Snap found it difficult to believe. He had never heard Rudy yell like that before. Granted, the zoners were kind of asking for it. But..usually Rudy was able to control himself better than that. What had caused him to lose control and just...for a lack of a better term, snap like that? The only thing that he could conclude is that it was the tension that had already formed aroud him that caused it. Yeah, that was it. Things were getting pretty heated...
He looked over at the crowd once more, this time with a more worried expression. As much as he did enjoy hearing someone tear them a new one, the fact that it came from Rudy Tabootie, of all people, was rather worrying. What would the zoners say to this? How would they respond? What would they think of Rudy after this? Would they realize they were being a little too crazy, or would they take this as a 'Rudy didn't want to help them anymore' thing?
Snap turned his glance down at Haney upon hearing him moaning louder. He watched as the zoner squirmed in his arms, trying to fight against the pain. He could see blood still leaking out of his body, some of it even staining him. Seeing this did make his sympathy for the crowd go down to a degree. After all, they were the ones who did this to him. They had deliberately attacked Haney, despite knowing that he was innocent, and on such little evidence...
"So it's come down this..." The first one to break the silence was that zebra zoner. Oh no...why did she have to be the one to speak up first? Of all the zoners... "I guess I was right about you all along, oh 'Great Creator'..." There was a strong tinge of sarcasm on her voice. She tilted her head upwards. "You really are pathetic..."
"What did you say...?" Snap and Mint hissed almost in unison.
Penny narrowed her eyes dangerously. "How could you say that? After all Rudy has done for you..."
"Oh shut up, little girl." Abby's ears lowered as she bared her teeth at them. "Rudy brought this upon himself." She glared intently at the boy as she continued to address Penny. "If he had actually done his job..."
"Well...he did have a good point..."
This sudden comment from another one in the crowd startled everyone, even the cops and Abby. The cops remained tense, still worrying that one of the zoners was going to break free and cause trouble. In the mean time, Abby was glaring over at what looked like a short, kind of meak zoner. Her eyes were cocked in disbelief, as though she could not understand why this zoner had spoken up at all.
Indeed, the meak zoner seemed surprised at himself for speaking up. His eyes shifted around, as though trying to find if someone else was there that had spoken and it only seemed like he did. It was made rapidly clear, however, that this was not the case. He looked back up at the zebra zoner and licked his lips nervously.
"I-I mean..." He began to speak in a low, soft voice. "D-Do we really have...proof?" He raised his arms up at his sides. "Maybe we did overreact a little..."
Another zoner joined his side. He placed his hand on the meak zoner's shoulder before looking up at the zebra. "He's right. We may have gone a little too far."
"Let's stop now before it's too late." Another spoke.
Another chimed in. "I don't want to make the same mistakes we did before with..." A stare at Snap. "...you know..."
"Oh come now! You can't be serious!" Wailed Abby. "You're really going to buy into that malarky?!"
"At least some of them are willing to listen..." Mint said in a bitter tone.
Abby shot him a glare before turning back to the other zoners. She looked around, noticing how more and more of them seemed to be agreeing with the meak zoner. This was clearly taking a toll on her mental state, as evidenced by how her hand was clutched tightly and shaking in a fist. It was incredible that she hadn't even attempted to strike any of them yet, with the way the emotion was wracking through her body.
Gritting her teeth tightly, she made a swift, cutting motion with her hand as she yelled at the zoners present with her. "Open up your minds! You all know what is going on!" She pointed at the three humans. "They are trying to trick you! They are hiding something! Why can't you see that?!"
A female zoner raised her head up, her eyes narrowed deeply. "...maybe because you're the one who is actually blind."
"What? I never..." Abby spluttered. The female zoner merely glared at her. Abby clutched the sides of her face. "I don't believe this!"
"Believe it. It seems that some of your 'friends' are finally coming to their senses." Rudy said, his voice embittered. "Maybe it's time you do the same thing."
Penny nodded in agreement. "Just...stop, okay? I know you are upset, but what you're doing here..." She motioned to where Haney was, still shaking in Snap's arms. "It's just wrong!"
Mint took a step forward. "Yeah. So why don't you..."
"Shut up, metal leg!" Hissed Abby. "I don't need to hear anymore of your gawd damn excuses! All of you!"
Snap and his friends narrowed their eyes once more. Even several of the crowd members were now glaring at her. It was abundantly clear that she had lost so much support at this point. And it was driving her insane. She was screaming at them, trying to get them on her side again. All she ended up doing was pushing them away further. It seemed that she did nothing but further prove that she really had lost her mind.
Snap wasn't entirely sure if the tension was going to lift anytime soon, however. Even with Abby losing much of her support, he didn't detect any sign of the argument slowing down. Indeed, Abby was just getting more and more desperate. He held onto Haney tighter when he heard him whimpering in fear at the sound of her. He looked at him sadly before glaring back at Abby. He hoped that something would happen soon to make her stop. This had gone on long enough.
But Abby didn't seem to be slowing down. When she was not able to convince the zoners to return to her side, she turned her attention to the humans. The zoner cops did attempt to settle her down, but she did not seem to hear their threats at all. She just yelled over them as she focused her attention on Rudy, Mint, and Penny.
The three teenagers were able to hold their ground pretty well. Even with a few more insults spewed their way, the three tried to remain as professional as possible. They were getting worked up, yes, but they were at least refraining from yelling too loudly at this point. And as time passed, they knocked down more and more of Abby's statements until she had nothing left but her mindless ranting.
Eventually, Abby seemed to have lost it entirely. She glared intently at the humans, seething heavily through her large, flat teeth. "You... So this is how it's going to be, huh?! Well then, maybe Sandra should have killed all of you!"
Horror struck in the hearts of everyone who heard this. They stared at her in disbelief. It was difficult to say if she herself felt any guilt in saying that. But with how she was glaring at them, it was clear that, in that moment, she just did not care. She just continued to seethe in their direction.
The other zoners in the crowd, obviously disgusted with what she had just said, moved in towards her. Abby took notice of this and made a few surprised shouts, like 'what are you doing' and 'what is happening'. The zoners did not bother to answer her as they grabbed onto her and held her still. The startled and frustrated zebra struggled frantically to get free, but it was useless.
"You traitors! You heathens! How could you side with them?!" Abby shouted at them. She continued to jerk herself from side to side, but nothing worked and she soon collapsed in their grasp. "This isn't fair!"
"Okay now, everyone just relax!" One of the cops said. "Let's get everything..."
"Put a sock in it, copper!" Hissed Abby.
Snap rolled his eyes at this. He had no idea why Abby kept on trying. She had lost support of the others in the group at this point. Even those who remained on her side didn't do much to help her out of this present situation. She might as well just give up; she was only going to make it worse for herself.
He looked over at Rudy, Penny, and Mint. They all seemed to carry the same thought as he did. He could see the way that they were looking at the enraged zebra. No words were spoken, but they didn't have to. Their glares and their folded arms were more than enough to convey the message strongly.
Snap then looked again at Haney. He bit his lip as he reached down and started to stroke along the top of his head. He wished he could do something to help take away the pain that he was feeling. Poor Haney... He didn't deserve this... Snap couldn't help but see himself in Haney. He remembered the pain that he had been put through, both physically and mentally. He remembered the terror that he had suffered. And to see someone else in this position, he just...it was so hard not to throw up out of fear and horror. This just...
"I am going to get you all! You hear me?!"
Snap and his friends turned to glare at the zebra zoner once more. Mint looked like he was going to say something. Penny looked disappointed. Rudy just simply glared, waiting for her to continue.
Which did not take long.
Abby managed to free an arm as she pointed in their direction. "I am going to make you all pay for..."
Suddenly, she froze. At this, everyone looked on in confusion. Some glanced at one another. Others whispered, asking just what the heck was going on. No eyes could leave the zebra as she had suddenly stiffened up, her eyes widening and her mouth opening up.
And then came the grunts. Not just annoyed grunts, as though she were struggling. No, these were grunts of actual pain. This caused everyone around her to get even more worried. They backed quickly away from her, releasing her as she desperately clutched her arm.
"What is going on?!" Snap found himself shouting, his eyes glued to the strange and horrible scene playing out before him. "What is wrong with her?!"
"I-I don't know!" Rudy called out. "It's just..."
"Oh my gawd..." Mint licked his lips slowly. He made a few sounds as though trying to gag. "L-Look at that..." He pointed a trembling finger towards the striped horse-like zoner.
Snap struggled to see what Mint was talking about. He looked intently around Abby, looking for anything out of the ordinary. But so far, there was just...nothing. What could he be...
Oh gawd... Was... Was her arm..bulging...?
Snap placed his hand against his stomach after he gently set Haney back on the ground. He tried to tear his eyes away, but it was impossible. No matter how hard he tried, he could not look away from the gruesome sight that was happening before him.
Abby continued to grunt, her sounds rapidly becoming more and more distressed as her arm continued to bulge wider and wider. Then her skin began to part slowly, making blood ooze down her arm, dripping off to the sides and creating small puddles on the ground. Then, without warning, her arm just...burst open.
A loud, agonizing scream echoed from not just Abby, but the zoners around her. Blood squirted everywhere. Bits of it, along with some flesh pieces, hit against several zoners, as well as the wall of the barrier. Several zoners were gagging, holding their stomachs, trying not to throw up at the size of Abby's torn up arm and the bits of her meat that laid strewn everywhere.
"What the hell?!" Penny jumped back, her body shaking, pulling her arms to the side as though trying to avoid touching that. "What...happened...?!"
"Her arm... I-It exploded..." Mint whispered. He hunched himself a little, his teeth clenching tightly. "B-But..how..? I thought that..."
Abby's screams were soon joined in as part of a choir. More and more of the zoners in the crowd were suddenly afflicted. Limbs swelled and exploded, releasing torrents of blood and flesh everywhere. Several collapsed to the ground, clutching their ruined limbs to themselves. Loud sobbing filled the air, intermixed with panicked cries of just what the hell was going on, others pleading for the pain to stop.
The four friends stared on at this in utter horror. They couldn't believe what was happening. Just..what had these zoners so stricken in pain? It just didn't make any sense at all.
Unless...
"What's going on?!" One cop yelled.
"It looks like we have a situation, sir!" Another shouted.
"Well do something! We..."
The cops immediately froze, stopping what they were doing. They clutched their hands against their chests. They gasped heavily, and then suddenly, with some kind of muffled booming sound, they collapsed to the ground, their bodies instantly going through the death throes.
Before the four friends could even begin to respond to this, they heard more screaming. Distant, but getting louder and louder very quickly. They swiveled their heads over and they could see shadows forming on the walls of the buildings all around them. And then, a few seconds later, they could see other zoners rushing this way. It was a practical stampede, and each of them wore a horrified expression.
"Wait!" One of the zoners still alive in the barrier cried out. "What's going on?!"
"Just run! Get out of here!" One of the zoners running away shouted. "I-It's...!"
They were suddenly cut off when a shadow suddenly loomed over them. It moved over too quickly for anyone to get a good look at what was going on. But upon seeing just what it was, Snap and his friends instantly huddled together the best that they could, sticking close to Haney to provide him with some protection as well. There was no time to draw anything with the magic chalk. All they could do was brace themselves and...
It took only a couple seconds for the item dropped to hit the ground. There was a loud yipper of pain that seemed to have come out of nowhere. And then a bright flash of light and then a booming sound. Luckily it had landed far enough away that Snap and his friends weren't as affected by it. But they were still struck by a blast of heat, nearly knocking them away.
All around them, zoners continued to scream in pain and agony. They could hear bodies dropping to the ground, although it wasn't obvious if they were full bodies or body parts. More screaming echoed for several moments, and then sobbing gripped the air. Only after about a minute passed did Snap and his friends dare to look to see what had happened.
Body parts laid everywhere. Bones and guts and intestines... Some of them had a charred look to them, more so than most of the other internal organs they could see. It made it seem as though the bomb had been alive and... Oh gawd...is that what that yippering had come from...? The horrified feeling they all felt at this was strongly complimented by the site of several dead zoner bodies, and others still alive, crawling on the ground, sobbing.
Snap had been struggling to keep it in. But seeing all the gore all around him, the horrific smell dancing around his nostrils, he just was not able to hold himself back for long. With his stomach lurching, he opened his mouth and let out its contents. He coughed and spluttered as he continued to spew, and when he finally stopped, he stared down in horror at the pile of vomit that rested before him.
He felt a hand on his back. He jerked and then he looked up. He could see Mint stared down at him, his eyes wide with concern. "Hey, are you okay, Snap?" He asked in a careful voice.
"Y-Yeah..I'm..." Snap stiffened up at the sound of more screaming. "What is that...?"
They all looked over and they could see that the 'show' had not yet ended. There were yet even more zoners coming this way. All terrified, all screaming, all trying to get away from...whatever it was that was chasing them. It almost seemed at first that they had outrun their attacker, and some did start to slow down.
But then there was a flash of blue. Instantly the four friends stiffened up at this, staring at each other and the event going on before them in terror.
No...it couldn't be...
Something blue and swift struck against several of the zoners. With all the running around and with how quick the blue shape was moving, it was hard to get a lock on just who it was. The only thing they were aware of was something striking the zoners, blood splattering all over the ground, and then hearing zoner's agonal breaths as they died in rather painful fashions.
Then, without warning, they saw it. A sky blue muzzle coming out from the crowd. A set of gleaming red eyes as the jaw opened up widely, showcasing rows of sharp teeth. A terrified citizen zoner trying to get away before the teeth clamped down around their neck, the jaws instantly crushing their windpipe and making them go limp with a gag.
Snap's mind spun as he stared at the horror that was taking place right before his eyes. He licked his lips slowly, his heart pounding against his chest, unable to believe what was going on. He couldn't help but release a small whimper, hardly comforted by his friends' gentle squeezes and words. After all, they were just as struck with horror as he was.
Snap watched as the blue zoner stood there, swishing a spiked tail from side to side, those long, dark tipped ears twitching. Blood caked around the mouth and dripped off to the side, looking almost like ketchup. The sight of it was nearly enough to make him throw up yet again.
No..it was impossible.. This had to be a bad dream. Th-There was no way that.. No...she couldn't have been...
Then the blue attacker seemed to take notice of them. The head was shifted towards him, a hideous smile spreading across the muzzle. A foot raised up and slashed down another zoner, forcing them to grunt when they made impact. The two legger shifted weight to keep the zoner pinned down. The tail struck out at another zoner, slashing their throat straight open and forcing them to fall into the ground.
"Well well... ain't this a pleasant surprise...?" The foot pressed down harder and then yanked back. The zoner underneath let out a bloodcurdling scream as the sharp tips of the claws raked across their back, ripping off flesh and splattering blood everywhere. "I never thought I would see you again, and so soon too..." A hand motioned sideways in gesture. "Did you enjoy the canine bomb? I heard it was a blast!"
The four friends couldn't think of anything to respond. They could only stare in utter horror at the blue zoner before them. They breathed in and out shakingly, to the point where it was amazing they could even stay up. Rudy had a few tears moving down his cheeks and Snap was whimpering softly under his breath.
The blue zoner noticed this and sneered. "Oh come now... Is that what my welcome back party is going to look like? I would think you would have tried better than that." The blood on the mouth was licked off. The foot raised up and motioned towards them, flexing outwards almost like a hand, tipped with four blood stained claws. "After all..it has been so long since we've seen each other. Why don't we do some...catching up..."
Snap licked his lips nervously, his lower lip quivering as he struggled not to scream. He managed to choke out one word before the attacker made another movie.
"S-S-Sandra..."