N E E D
By DarkHououmon
Chapter 12: Discussions
Revenge. The drug that anyone can get addicted to.
sss
Rudy couldn't believe this had happened. He and Penny were supposed to be back at home, getting ready to go into ChalkZone right about now. Instead, they were stuck in Mr. Wilter's classroom, being watched by their teacher.
Anger rose up inside of him. They should be looking for any information regarding Blocky, not sitting here doing homework. He couldn't believe that he and Penny were stuck having to do some extra work here at school. All this time that they could be using to find their friend was being wasted on something like this. He could feel his body jittering as he looked desperately at the clock, hoping that this would finally be over.
Well there wasn't much they could do about this at the moment. They had already tried what they could, hoping that they could worm their way out of it. But it didn't work. Principal Stringent still saw it fit to have the two of them punished. So they were stuck with a week's worth of detention. This confused the heck out of them because it was such an extreme punishment. But the principal said her word was final and dismissed them.
Rudy had a feeling that something was up with that, like she had some kind of motive for what she had done. Penny thought he might be paranoid, and perhaps he was. But Rudy simply could not let he possibility go. What if Principal Stringent had punished them on purpose for something in the past? What if she had just been waiting for the right moment and was just using this as an excuse?
And his aunt was not going to happy with him either. She was already upset with the whole ChalkZone thing. The last thing she needed was another reason to be upset with him. He usually was good about not getting detention. How was he going to explain this to his aunt?
He shook the thoughts out of his head. Right now, that didn't matter. They needed to focus on how they were going to help Blocky. Since they would not be able to get into ChalkZone until later, he and Penny were going to have to focus on discussing things while they were here. Mr. Wilter usually fell asleep pretty early in the detentions on fridays, probably due to it being the end of the week, and just their luck, today was friday. They just had to wait until he fell asleep. Then they could discuss things regarding ChalkZone.
As angry as he was at Principal Stringent, he was more angry at himself and Penny for not realizing that they were drawing the attention of their teacher. They were usually good about not screwing something like that up. But their concern for Blocky made them oblivious to what was going on around them. While being worried for their friend was a legitimate thing, they still should have been more careful.
Rudy watched Mr. Wilter carefully. The man was still watching them, a small cup of coffee next to him. He was careful not to make it look like he was spending the whole time just staring at him, since that would be pretty creepy, and it would make him look suspicious. Instead, he kept his head down, writing on the paper he and Penny were given as assignment. Only once in a while did he move his eyes up to look at Mr. Wilter to see what he was doing.
It took a while, but thankfully, as the first hour of detention approached them, Mr. Wilter shut his eyes. He and Penny watched carefully, waiting, making sure that he was, for certain, knocked out. Only when the man started snoring and drool became to form from his mouth did they dare speak to one another.
"Finally..." Rudy said softly as he set his pencil down. "I thought he was never going to fall asleep." He turned his head to Penny. "Lucky this was friday. We wouldn't have been able to do anything the entire time while he was here."
Penny nodded, but then frowned as she stared at the piece of paper. "Don't forget to fill those out, Rudy. You don't want a worse punishment, do you?"
Rudy gave a quick chuckle. "Like what?" He raised his hand in gesture. "More detentions?"
"How about a suspension?" Penny asked. Rudy froze at this. "Or perhaps something from your aunt, or your parents whenever they get back."
Rudy flinched at this. "Oh... right..." He looked down at the paper. "I'll continue it later. Right now, I think we should talk a bit more about what we are going to do."
"We'll still have some time in ChalkZone to figure out what happened." Penny pointed out.
"But not long enough." Rudy said, biting his lip. "The more time we waste not doing something, the more dire the sitation becomes." He looks at Penny. "I'm doing my best to stay positive, Penny. But I can't shrug off the feeling that something happened to Blocky."
"I know what you mean." Penny looked at him sympathetically. "I'm really worried, too. But...maybe someone in ChalkZone has heard something by now. I mean, it's been twenty-four hours." Rudy looked away from her sadly, staring at the chalkboard. "I'm sure someone must have found out some information that we could use."
Rudy nodded his head weakly. "Yeah...maybe..."
He knew that Penny was probably right. Enough time has passed and it was possible that, if they looked hard enough, someone would have heard something, anything. If they just keep looking around, they would surely run into someone that would be able to give them information they need to find and help their poor friend. Or maybe someone had spotted him and he was only lost.
But, thinking about it, he wasn't sure just how likely it would be for Blocky to be...lost. How could he have gotten lost so easily? Not that it never happens, but this just seemed too...strange. He would have thought the twister did it, but that was sealed away beforehand, so that wasn't it. Even if he did get lost, he was never gone this long before, and there was always a zoner that would find him and bring him back. For no one to find him...
Rudy could feel his heart clench tighter, his eyes widening. He could see Penny's concerned expression as she stared over at him. She reached over with her hand, leaning as far as she could, and touched him on the shoulder. Rudy glanced at her. She stared at him sympathetically, her expression silently asking him what was wrong. Rudy tried to say something, but he merely got tongue-tied.
"Rudy..." Penny spoke up after a while. "We will find him. Don't worry." She tried to sound as confident as she could, but Rudy could tell just how afraid she really was underneath her determined expression. "We just need to stay positive and not let ourselves get worked up over the possibilities."
Rudy nodded his head slightly. "Y-Yeah... That's true. The possibilities." He swallowed hard, his mind briefly imagining all kinds of horrible things happening to Blocky before he shook it off. He glanced over at Mr. Wilter. "One of us could head into ChalkZone and..."
Penny shook her head. "It's too risky." She casted a worried glance down at Mr. Wilter. "What if he wakes up before we come back? We'll be in even bigger trouble..."
Rudy couldn't help but wince at that statement. She was right. He couldn't believe he almost forgot about that problem. They would make things worse if they left now.
But..there had to be something they could do, right? Some way of finding out more information as soon as possible. Some way of figuring out the situation with Blocky quickly. Surely they could use this time for something productive, right. He refused to believe that there was nothing they could do here.
Then something came to his mind. His eyes slowly widened. Of course... why didn't he think of trying this earlier? He could have done this before Mr. Wilter came into the room to start the detention. He leaned away from Penny, to the other side of his desk and pulled something out of his backpack. His portable chalkboard.
Penny watched as he raised an ordinary piece of chalk to the board. Judging from the expression in her eyes, she realized what Rudy was going for. "That's a good idea, Rudy!"
Rudy smiled at her, and then proceeded to write a message. He scribbled it on as quickly as he could, making sure to get as much detail in with as few words as possible, knowing that Mr. Wilter could wake up and see what he was doing. He quickly erased the message, and then, using his magic chalk, drew a small portal. He made sure to cover the light so Mr. Wilter wouldn't see it.
Now all he and Penny can do was wait. He hoped that one of the zoners in ChalkZone would get the message and be able to tell him and Penny something useful. There had to be some kind of silver lining in this, even if it were extremely thin.
sss
"P-Please...stop this..." Blocky pleaded with his captors. "D-Don't do this..."
"Oh shut up, you little baby. We haven't done anything to you yet." Terry folded her arms against her chest. "And besides...all we want is information."
Blocky shook his head in desperation. "I-I'll never tell you!"
Terry snarled at him. She was tempted to reach out and choke the little guy. She and Von had been at this for an hour at least, and the little guy still wasn't cracking. She would have thought that some time alone to think about his situation would be enough to inform him just how helpless he really was. Perhaps he needed a little more...
Still, she had to keep trying. She didn't want to wait another day just to speak with him. She realized she should have just started trying to get him to talk right away. Perhaps if she had done something to him earlier, she would have been able to break him sooner, and they would be making actual progress now. Oh well, it was her fault for thinking that the zoner, who revealed his name was Blocky, would listen to reason and become more cooperative.
"Now you lizten here, you little idiot!" Von hissed at the creature called a zoner. "We are talking about a dizcovery of a lifetime here! You are our ticket to zat. You have no choize. You are ourz now. You do what we zay, okay?!"
Blocky shook his head, letting out loud whimpers of fear. "No! No! I can't tell you anything! Just let me go! Please!" He squirmed harder against his binds. A few times, he yelped, indicating he was being scratched by the cuffs put on him. "Please! I'm begging you! I can't tell you anything else!"
Stubborn creature... But Terry realized she shouldn't be too surprised. After all, he was from this chalk world. This...ChalkZone as he called it. He would naturally feel compelled to protect it. She scoffed at the idea of protecting something like that. To her, ChalkZone was just a gimmick, something to make money off of, something that the whole world deserved to know about. Who cares about the inhabitants? Not like they really matter, except for studying and labor and whatever else society saw fit for them.
But of course, this zoner wouldn't see things that way. He was just a miserable little thing that would do whatever it took to protect his people. And the more she thought about it, the more she realized that Rudy and Penny were in on this whole thing. The realization made her blood boil. The two were traitors to society... They were much worse than she thought they were initially. Oh she couldn't wait until she spread the word about them..
But that'll have to wait until after she took care of exposing ChalkZone. She wanted everyone in town to know what it was about. Then she would out Rudy and Penny as the zoners' accomplices. While some might sympathize with them, she knew, without a doubt, that most people would certainly be furious with the two for what they did. She grinned nastily at the thought. Yes, revenge was going to be sweet...
"Let me go!"
Terry turned her attention to the pathetic chalk creature before her. She curled her lip up, getting sick of hearing this zoner beg like this. Did he really think that they were going to let him go just because he asked? She rolled her eyes. Just how stupid was this zoner anyway?
Well apparently not too stupid; it somehow managed to survive at least sometime in ChalkZone before they nabbed it. None of the zoners shot him. Either the zoners were very welcoming of just about anyone, or they had low standards of who was accepted and who wasn't. Or perhaps ChalkZone didn't run that way. The only way to find out was to get this thing to spill the beans on what they wanted to know.
And she was not going to rest until they have what they wanted.
True, they had a portal. They had a way into the world. But Terry knew that they could be kicked out. She remembered Vinnie's story, about how he was in that world, only to be flung out. When he went to find the portal again, it was gone. She narrowed her eyes at this. She could not allow that to happen to her and Von. They needed to know how to get in so that, if they do lose this portal, they would be able to get back in anyway.
This little rectangular creature was their only shot at getting the information that they needed. It was possible that he didn't know anything, but that was so slim... He had gotten out of his world, so he must obviously had some kind of mechanism. He must have some knowledge of how portals worked. And he was going to tell her exactly what that was.
"How do we get into ChalkZone?" Terry hissed at him. Blocky kept struggling, not daring to look at her. Growling loudly, she moved herself forward, causing Von to step aside. She grabbed onto the zoner's head roughly and pushed it against the hard surface. This forced the zoner to look at her. "I repeat, how do we get into that world?" Terry repeated herself, her voice a low growl. "I know about the magic chalk, but..." She leaned slightly closer. "..how do I go about getting a piece for myself...?"
Blocky widened his eyes. "Y-You can't...I won't..."
Von frowned at this, folding his arms. "We went through all ziz trouble to get you, and we are not going to just give up that eazily." He took a step forward, standing beside Blocky. "We zuggest you zpeak before we give you a reazon to..."
Terry held up her hand, silencing the man. She ignored his confused questioning as she glared down at the zoner. She lowered herself towards him, staring directly in his eyes. "Considering the situation you are in, I would cooperate more if I were you, Blocky." Terry looked at him up and down, briefly examining him. "After all, we control your very fate. Now...you do have a choice..."
She glanced over at Von, giving him a knowing smile. Von stared at him for a moment. Then, realizing what she was up to, returned the smile. Taking this as his cue, he looked over at the zoner, his arms relaxing at his sides.
"You can zpeak to uz and tell uz what we want. Or..." Von walked around the zoner until he was at his back. Blocky strained to stare at the scientist, his eyes widening further in fear. "...we could figure out at leazt zome of the answerz ourzelvez..."
Blocky shook his head in desperation. "Not that! Please!"
Terry and Von simply smiled at the zoner. Perhaps now they got him. It was a bluff, of course. They were still going to do whatever they wanted with him. There was still a bunch of things they needed to know about zoners. Or rather, Von needed to know. Terry could care less about this stuff, but Von, being a scientist, he would eat this stuff up.
But perhaps, this would serve as a motivator, getting Blocky to speak sooner. If not...oh well. So long as he was kept alive, it didn't really matter what happened to him.
"So..what's it going to be, zoner?" Terry asked in a menacing voice, smirking as she watched him stare up fearfully at her. "And don't you think about trying any of those tricks Snap did on me. They won't work again..." She squeezed his head tighter, forcing him to flinch in pain. "I will not hesitate to give you a good reason not to cross me...do you understand?"
Blocky whimpered softly as he nodded his head. "Y-Yes, m-ma'm..."
"Good. Now... How do we get into ChalkZone?" She asked. She stared at him expectantly, waiting for an answer.
"I-I can't tell you that... I just can't.." Blocky whispered softly, closing his eyes. "I-I won't betray them.."
Von cocked an eyebrow at this. "Zo...you would rather continue protecting them inztead of making zingz eazier on yourzelf and tell uz what we want to know?" Blocky nodded at this quickly. Von narrowed his eyes slightly. "All right zen... You leave uz no choize..." Von turned to Terry and nodded his head once. "Let uz initiate zee plan. If he won't tell uz... zen we will have our own...exploriatory fun..."
"Wh-What...?" Blocky asked in a small voice. "Wh-What do you mean...?"
Terry and Von didn't answer the zoner. The scientist was busy glaring at the creature while Terry simply smirked. What they were about to do, it was something she would never have risked trying with Rudy or Penny, obviously for certain reasons. However, Blocky offered no such barrier. If words alone won't help, then perhaps a bit of pain would...
Terry watched as the zoner resumed his struggling. Even with her grip still on him, he still managed to move a little while he squirmed underneath her. The zoner looked more afraid, and the expression he now had indicated that he may know a bit about what kind of fate awaited him. She just smiled at this, showing no sympathy for the little chalk creature. She knew that, sooner or later, he was going to spill the information. It was just going to take the right...motivation.
She knew that, deep down, the zoner knew beforehand what his fate was going to be. He may have tried to push the memory in the back of his mind and prayed it was just some horrible dream. He had just gotten a rude wake up call. Good. She imagined that Von might be irritated at having to explain it to him again.
"Wh-Why can't you just let me go h-h-home...? Please, that's all I want..." The rectangular zoner whimpered, tears forming in his eyes. "I-Is that so wrong...?"
"Tell us what we want to know." Terry said coldly.
"P-Please... can't you see how wrong this is..?" Pleaded Blocky.
"Wrong? It would be wrong if ziz was to another human being." Von said, his voice just as icy as Terry's. "But you clearly aren't human, zo you have no rightz. I guarantee that no one will zide with you. All they will zee is a ztrange and unknown creature and fear you, want you caged, want you tazered... You are unnatural. An anomaly. A mythical-like creature brought to life. You should conzider yourzelf lucky we were the onez to find you firzt." He went around Blocky, his arms folded behind his back, looking at him with a scrutinizing eye. "At leazt we have some kind of reazon not to juzt tear you apart right now..."
Blocky trembled hard at this. His eyes bulged, practically overflowing with terror. "I-I-I told you already.. I c-c-can't tell you anything."
"And why not?" Terry asked coolly. "Why can't you tell us anything? Even the light of...punishment..." She growled that word, showing Blocky just how willing they were to go the extra mile if he did not cooperate. "...why are you still resisting? Are you that willing to start the...process...?" Upon seeing Blocky's expression, she sneered, "Oh don't try to pretend you don't know what Von here wants to do with you. He has already told you last night. We will be willing to...give you more time if you cooperate."
Regardless of her words, the zoner still shook his head. "No! I won't! Rudy would..."
Upon hearing that name, Terry froze. That name... That wretched, awful name... How did this zoner know about that? She narrowed her eyes, the smile vanishing from her face. The zoner appeared to realize he made a mistake and tried to squirm away. Curling her lip up into a snarl, she seized the zoner by his arm and squeezed it tightly, prompting a yelp from him.
"How do you know about Rudy?!" She demanded. "Are you one of his allies?!"
Von looked over at her, his eyebrow raised up in slight concern. "Ma'am, pleaze control yourself..."
Terry ignored him completely. Her focus was only on the struggling zoner before her. "Tell me! What do you know about him?!"
Blocky whimpered, "P-Please..."
"Tell me!"
"I-I..." Blocky trembled violently, his voice breaking up, and soon vanishing completely as sobs took him over.
Terry growled, her eyes narrowed dangerously at him. Then, after a few moments, she recollected herself. She realized that her losing her temper nearly cost them big time. They couldn't allow the zoner to die. Not yet anyway. They still needed information from him, and her losing her temper could have resulted in unncessary action, which would have killed Blocky quicker. This would not do well for them, and reset their plans.
And besides, even if Blocky refused to cooperate, he would still be an excellent bargaining chip. Rudy and Penny were so sickenly sympathetic to these chalk creatures, they'd come to his rescue anyway. Then there was the matter of this zoner knowing about Rudy...
Terry realized she had overreacted. She should have known that this zoner would have been familiar with Rudy. She didn't know how she had let her temper get the better of her. She would have to make sure not to let it happen again. She took in a deep breath and let out a soft sigh. She turned her attention back to the zoner, releasing her grip on him.
"How do you know Rudy...?" She asked again, this time, in a sickenly calmer voice.
Blocky looked at her, terrified, his body still shaking. She narrowed her eyes a little further, giving him a dangerous look. "If you do not tell me what I want to know, I will personally see to it that you become well aquainted with some shredded paper."
Von was shocked by this. "B-But..."
Terry shot him a glare, silencing him. She then looked back at Blocky. His expression showed just how horrified he was by the suggestion. She smiled darkly and said, "So...what will it be...?"
Blocky licked his lips nervously. He looked left and right, possibly trying to find a way out. Pathetic little thing... "He...he..."
"He's what...?" Terry asked, her voice a growl.
Blocky whimpered at this and turned his head to the side. 'H-He's my c-c-creator..."
Terry's eyes widened at this. She was certain that Snap was a creation of Rudy's. After all, she had noticed his comic book about him. But nowhere had she never seen anything for Blocky. The realization that Blocky was another of Rudy's creations dawned on her, and already she could feel her mind's gears turning and grinding, a dark smile spreading across her face.
This turned out to be even more perfect than she had imagined. She turned to smile at Von. Though confused at first, he appeared to realize what was going on, indicated by the smile he began to wear on his face. If this zoner truly was a creation of Rudy's...
..then that will give the brat a much more...personal reason to listen to her when the time comes. But for now...perhaps they should have a little...fun with Blocky. After all, education was important.
"Oh really now...?" Terry asked, a cold chuckle escaping her lips. "Isn't that just...perfect..?" She watched as the zoner cringed at this, looking at her warily. "I wonder what dear little Rudy will have to say about this..."
"Oh yez..." Von said, nodding in agreement. "I'm sure he will have quite zee...reaction to ziz."
"Perhaps you could tell us how to get in contact with Rudy in ChalkZone?" The red-haired woman asked as she gently patted Blocky on the head. "I'm sure he is going to love hearing about this."
Blocky shook his head. "No!"
Terry narrowed her eyes slightly. She had no idea if the zoner was being brave or stupid at this point. She opted to believe he was just stupidly brave. He was trying to guard ChalkZone and was refusing to tell her or her comrade anything about it, outside of some few information pieces that didn't result in exposing ChalkZone or much of how it worked. Nothing that she or Dr. Von Doktor could really utilize, anyway.
Terry realized that she would need to motivate this zoner somehow into spilling his guts. Everyone had a breaking point. Everyone had that point in time where they just can't take it any longer, and they give into the demands. All she needed to do was find Blocky's weakness.
And she believed she already knew of something.
"Well isn't that a shame?" Terry sneered, her hand continuing to move along the top of Blocky's head, slowly moving down to touch his forehead. "I do wonder what might become of Rudy if word gets out that he was at that quarry?" At this, Blocky gave a confused look. "Oh you don't know?" She asked mockingly. "I was so sure that Rudy would have told you..."
"The...The time when the water had...?" Blocky's voice trailed off.
Terry nodded her head. "The same." She smirked as she pressed her other hand underneath her chin. She gave a knowing look at the zoner. "You know, that caused quite a buzz around town. Some were quite scared of this...strange water that poured into that quarry, brainwashing adults into doing crazy things. Some even talked about weaponizing it, you know." She chuckled at Blocky's fearful expression. "Of course, they never got the chance since it was...washed away by the rain..."
Terry remembered that day all too well. She had been summoned there when she heard about something strange going on. This was not too long before she made the conclusion of a chalk world. At the time, she was just as confused as everyone else, and then she got hit and...
She pushed the memories aside. It still disgusted her to this day how she had been so easily turned into a...a little child. All just from a little bit of water... Or at least, what seemed like water until something happened that chanced her whole view point on the situation.
Sure, the rain coming down was annoying, and she didn't like that she got drenched. But after that, when she really thought about it, she had realized that the rain had washed away the strange water. It didn't simply intermix like normal water would; it flat out vanished. This confused her for a few days until she realized that the water they were in must have had a chalky structure; it washed away so easily, and it did feel rather strange, not exactly like normal water.
She had considered that her luckiest moment, her eureka moment. It was the time when she finally started to make all the connections, and realize that every strange event Plainsville had been faced with could be traced back to this mysterious chalk world. Suddenly, everything started to make sense.
"I wonder how the citizens will feel when they find out that Rudy and Penny were responsible for the water..." Terry asked in a mock innocent tone. She tapped a finger against her chin. "Maybe they will ostracize them. Maybe label them as traitors and capture them."
"Or zey could try to forze zem to reveal the zecretz of zat chalk rain." Von suggested, raising a finger up into the air. Blocky shook his head in denial, which prompted Von to continue. "Zey might capture zem, and take zem zomewhere and lock zem them. Zen zey have to..."
"No! Leave them out of this!" Blocky pleaded, his body trembling. "They...they don't deserve that!"
At this, Von and Terry gave a narrowed glare at the zoner. They both could feel the blood heating up in their bodies. Flashbacks moved through their heads as they remembered, quite clearly, what happened as a result of their encounters with the little brats.
"Oh you are right..." Von said coolly. "Zey dezerve a much more fitting reward."
"No!" Shouted Blocky.
"Zen tell uz what we want to know, little creature." Von told him. "Or elze, we may be forzed to take ziz more...draztic action."
Blocky shook his head and struggled harder. The sight was pathetic, but also pretty amusing. Despite the threat just laid out before him, Blocky still was trying so hard to resist. He really thought that he could, somehow, get away, to escape what was going on and get back home. His stubbornness was amost admirable...if it weren't for the fact that he was delaying them getting the information that they needed.
Terry kept her hand on the zoner's cheek, rubbing against it roughly. "If you care about those two, you would tell us what we want to know. I know you don't care what we do to you..." Blocky's wide eyes looked up at her. "But I know you care what happens to your precious creator. Now..." She leaned forward. "Speak."
"No, I won't!" Blocky declared.
"Yes!" Terry hissed at him. "Speak up now!"
"Do it, or your friendz will zuffer!" Von cried.
"You heard him, Blocky!" Terry told him. "Speak!"
Terry didn't really have any plans on going after the brats. At least, not now. However, that didn't matter. This was just as affective as it would be had they been serious. And the terror in Blocky's eyes was all the same.
Blocky squirmed as Terry held him down. She asserted her strength over him, a way of showing him just how much control she had over him. Still, the zoner jerked himself from side to side, trying in vain to get free. "I won't let you get to my friends like that!"
Without warning, a move surprisingly bold for someone like him, Blocky lashed out at his captors. He opened his mouth as far as he could and he clamped them down on Terry's hand.
Immediately, seering pain registered in Terry's mind, intermixed with the initial shock of the zoner doing something like this. Von let out a surprised shout and took a step back, momentarily having a look of fear on his face as he seemed to half expect the zoner to try to slash at him as well. Terry yanked back her hand as the zoner bit down as hard as he could. In a desperate act, she formed a fist and slammed it against the zoner's head. With a yelp, the zoner immediately let go. Terry yanked back her hand and examined the damage.
There was a bit of swelling and slight bruising from where the zoner bit her. She could see that he had broken the skin as well, resulting in some bleeding along her hand. She lightly touched it and hissed at the pain. She clutched her hand to herself and she shot a death glare at the zoner, resulting in him cringing away from her.
"I-I'm sorry! I-I didn't mean to...!" Blocky begged her, but it was too late for that. Far too late...
"Hey Von...?" Terry spoke through clenched teeth. Despite the swirling rage moving through her head as she glared down at the zoner, she was doing her best to hold most of it back. Her voice, however, gave away everything. "What do you say we...have a little fun with our guest here...?"
Von's eyes flickered at this. "I would love to..." He stared intently at the zoner. "I know what we can do firzt..." His smile held so many hidden promises for the zoner.
"No, please! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! Don't hurt me! Please!"
Terry and Von ignored his pleas. They just kept smiling at him, their mouths curved upwards twistedly. Watching the zoner squirm, feeling her own anger and desire to get back at those brats, Terry felt a sickening pleasure rise up inside of her as she and Von prepared for the beginning of a...nice and long time with the zoner. Since she could not actually harm Rudy, then she will take it out on this squirming zoner.
It was going to be fun to toy with him...
sss
Rudy did his best to hold back his frustration. He clutched his hand into a fist, shaking it. He looked towards the ground, refusing to look up. He could feel the chilling heat in the back of his head, swirling around, running amok. He tried to keep himself calm, but given the circumstances, this was quite difficult.
None of the zoners that had come to speak to him knew of anything. While a decent number showed up, Rudy couldn't believe that none of them knew anything useful. There had been no sightings of Blocky anywhere. Places he would usually be were thoroughly checked to no avail. There was absolutely nothing to suggest anything had happened, outside of being lost or something along those lines.
Rudy began to fear the worst for Blocky. Approximately twenty-four hours later, and still no word of where he was. His mind sifted through rapid thoughts, images of what could have happened to him popping in his head. The same ones that had appeared more than once for him and Penny. The same ones that he would try, constantly, to fight off so that he could concentrate on what to do.
When he and Penny had gotten to their homes, Rudy was hoping to get into ChalkZone right away with his portable chalkboard. Sure, it was quite small, but it was still large enough for him to just barely squeeze through. It wasn't something he'd normally do, but in this situation, he was quite desperate. He needed someway to get into ChalkZone as soon as possible.
He would just go over to Penny's, but he realized he couldn't do that. Not today. He and Penny were in trouble with their folks for the whole detention thing. Mrs. Sanchez was not going to want him to be over while she scolded her daughter, Penny. And his Aunt Tilly wanted to speak to him as well. She did not sound too happy when Principal Stringent had spoken to her over the phone.
He had hoped that Aunt Tilly would try to be understanding. He had hoped that she would at least try to see things his way and understand why this was so important to him. Unforunately, things didn't quite turn out that way.
"Absolutely not!" Aunt Tilly declared, folding her arms against her chest, staring down at her nephew. "I forbid it!"
"B-But..." Rudy tried to plead with her. "You can't...!"
"I can and I will!" Aunt Tilly growled at him. "Your parents left me in charge of you. They left me to protect you. And that's exactly what I'm going to do." She flattened her hand and struck it through the air to emphasize her next statement. "That means no trips into this...this alternate world until further notice!"
"You aren't being fair!" Rudy took a step forward, narrowing his eyes at her. "A dear friend of mine there needs me! I have to go in there and make sure he's okay! Why can't you understand that?"
Aunt Tilly snapped at him. "Because he's just a zoner!"
Rudy fell silent at this. He snapped his head back, staring at his aunt in disbelief. He had hoped he gotten that all straightened out. He thought that he had been able to convince her that zoners were real. But that statement and how cold it was...
His aunt apparently realized just how harsh she sounded there. Her expression softened up and she looked at Rudy in surprise, likely at her own words. She shook her head slowly, her eyes shut, rubbing her head. After letting out a sigh, she spoke up again, her gaze remaining towards the ground.
"Look, I'm sorry. I know how much that world means to you, Rudy. You've told me repeatedly during our discussions..But I.." A sigh escaped her throat as she lifted up her head and stared towards Rudy. "I'm still in charge of you. You come first for me, not this world. I care about you. I love you... I don't want you getting hurt." She bit her lip, turning her gaze to the side. "I'm...sorry if I come across as cold. I don't mean to. I just...hope that you understand..." She looked back at him. "..I just want what's best for you.."
Rudy nodded his head slowly. The glare, however, remained on his face. "If you want what's best for me, then you'd let me go into ChalkZone so I can find my friend. He might be lost, hurt, captured... Don't you even care?!" Rudy winced at his aunt's expression. "Yeah...I realize that you do.. about me anyway. I know you have no reason to care about Blocky, or this world. But.." He held up his hand in gesture. "You know how much I care about it. You know that I would do anything to help my friends." He made a motion with his hand to the side. "And that includes my friends in this chalk world."
Aunt Tilly gave a soft sigh. "I know, Rudy. I'm not going to say I don't understand. I just..." She paused for a moment, her expression indicating that she was struggling to find the words to say. "I'm just worried that something might happen to you. I don't know enough about this world, even from what you told me, and even you admitted there are sometimes dangers."
"The dangers don't outweight the..." Rudy started to say.
Raising her hand to silence him, the woman said, "I know, Rudy. But...what if one of the dangers gets to you? What if something happens to you? I'd never forgive myself if it did." She moved closer to Rudy. "I don't want you getting hurt, Rudy. I just...a part of me doesn't understand why you can't just wait and let your other...zoner...friends find out what they can." She placed a hand on his shoulder. "If they are as caring to each other as you say, why not just let them do the work instead? Why..."
"Because they have been looking and they had no luck!" Rudy snapped at her. 'That's why I have to go! I need to find out for myself what happened! I need to look for my friend!"
Rudy realized just how loud he was, and he quickly shut his mouth. Upon seeing the look on his aunt's face, and how Sophie, who was nearby, was looking at him, he felt a pang of guilt. He hadn't meant to yell like that. He understood why his aunt was so cautious. She wasn't doing it to be mean or anything. Yet..there was a part of him that was so emotionally driven, so for his aunt to still forbid him from going... it just charged up something inside of him, making him want to say 'screw you' to her and run.
No, that wouldn't be right. He didn't want to push her away like that. They just had a nasty fight the other day. Though they had both apologized to each other, there was still a slight stigma that arose because of it. They were both noticeably more...stiff when it came to speaking with the other. They were both worrid of saying the wrong thing again, and resulting in another fight. Rudy hoped to avoid this.
"Just...please...Aunt Tilly... I have to do this." Rudy said softly. He took a few steps towards her, staring at her with a look of desperation. "Please..try to understand... If it was one of your friends who was in danger, wouldn't you do whatever it took...?"
"Well...yes...but..." Aunt Tilly paused for a moment, sucking on her lip. "They are human. And this Blocky is not."
"What difference does it make?" Rudy raised his shoulders. "He's still alive just like we are. He doesn't deserve whatever is happening to him. And I still care about him, like I do Penny."
"But he's still not human." Aunt Tilly said again, this time, with a little more force. "I can understand you taking such a risk to help your fellow humans. But for a completely different species? Don't you think that's a little...too much?"
"Too much?!" Rudy snapped.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you." Aunt Tilly said quickly, attempting to quell his anger. "I just mean that... Why don't you just let them handle this? I'm sure that they are smart enough to find their lost little friend. You shouldn't have to do anything. Don't force yourself to do something that is risky and unnecessary." Aunt Tilly motioned for Rudy to sit down. "Now why don't you just join us for dinner? We have some..."
"I can't believe you!" Rudy winced at his tone there. He could see the shocked looks on his family members' faces. He was trying so hard not to get angry. He was doing his best to understand things from their point of view. But it was rather difficult. "My friend is in danger and you don't care! I thought you understood!"
"I do, Rudy...It's just that..." His aunt started to say. But Rudy didn't want to hear any of it.
"You have a funny way of showing it!" Rudy snarled at her. After he seethed for a few seconds, his teeth bared, he eventually realized that he was getting worked up again, and he did his best to settle himself down. "Please, Aunt Tilly...I'm begging you... Let me to into that world. Let me help my friend. Please..."
Aunt Tilly stared at him for a few moments. Silence fell upon the room. Even Sophie wasn't saying anything, as if she could detect the tension in the air. She pressed herself close to the table, barely chewing her food as she looked over. Rudy waited in silence, staring at his aunt, hoping that she would make the right decision.
Then his aunt started to open her mouth. Rudy leaned in slightly, awaiting her answer. His aunt froze for a second, clenching her teeth. She looked away from Rudy for a few moments, her eyes looking around uncertainly. She then turned back to Rudy. She gave her answer.
"No."
Rudy's heart nearly stopped.
