Penny couldn't believe the turn of events that took place. She felt stupid for allowing Reggie to take them. She should have known that he would have been a little reckless driving. She should have realized that he might end up driving a little too fast. And now, here they were, in the one place that she hoped Rudy wouldn't end up.

A real world hospital.

There was no getting around it. When the officer pulled them over when Reggie was driving too fast and drove through a red light, he had noticed Rudy in the backseat, groaning in pain. The officer was horrified by Rudy's state and attempted to escort them to the nearest hospital. Penny wasn't sure what to say. She wasn't sure if they should resist, since they had to get him to his house, not to a hospital, at least not one in the real world. Reggie did attempt to resist, but he didn't think things through, and wound up making the officer believe that they had done something to Rudy and were trying to 'dump' his body.

This landed them in some quite hot water. The officer had them both arrested while Rudy was taken by another police officer to the hospital. Penny tried to stop them, but she and Reggie were shoved into the car and driven off before she could do anything. She expressed anger towards Reggie, who didn't understand how it was his fault. He shut up when Penny pointed out they wouldn't be here if he hadn't been speeding.

It took a while for Penny to get things cleared up with the police station and prove that she and Reggie were innocent. It took a lot of talking, a lot of explaining, and her mother and Reggie's dad were both called in to confirm their stories. Their parents were not very happy to see them when they came down. But they did lighten up when they realized what happened. Well Penny's mom did anyway. Reggie's dad was still not happy. No surprise. His son was speeding and could have caused an accident. He took Reggie home and she overheard him talking about how he was going to have to pay off the fine the police placed on him for the reckless driving.

The police did apologize for the mixup and allowed Penny to go free with no charge, since she was not the driver of the vehicle. Penny wasted no time and told her mother about Rudy being sent to the hospital. Worried about what they might find, they rushed over as soon as they could. It took them a little while to figure out just which hospital he was taken to. By the time they got there, Rudy had been in there for probably half an hour to forty-five minutes. This scared Penny as it meant that they had plenty of time to look at his blood. What if they found something chalk related in it?

There was nothing she could do at this point. She and her mom did attempt to get Rudy out of there. But none of the doctors would let them see him, let alone get him out. They tried to come up with some kind of story. Unfortunately, the doctors weren't easily fooled and they insisted that Rudy stay for some testing. All Penny and her mom could do was sit down and wait and hope for the best.

Penny hoped that they wouldn't find anything suspicious in Rudy's blood. If they found traces of black chalk or white chalk, what were they going to say? What would they do? Would the black chalk try to possess them, too? These thoughts frightened Penny. So much could go wrong with Rudy being here. She hoped that the tests reveal nothing chalk-related, but that was just wishful thinking. With all the testing she was certain they'd do, they were bound to find something in his blood. And if they did find something chalk-based in his blood stream, how were they going to react?

It was an uncomfortable thought that she couldn't shake off. They could order more testing, delve further into it... They might even realize what it might do, should they do enough of the right testing, and there was nothing she could do to stop them. Her mother attempted to comfort her, but that didn't stop Penny from worrying. Everything could soon go horribly wrong, and all because she trusted Reggie to drive them back to Rudy's place. They also could have avoided this whole thing if they just stayed home, but no, she didn't think something like this could happen.

It was difficult telling Rudy's parents about what happened. Her mother had called them on her cellphone and spoke to them. Though Penny could hardly hear what they were saying, she could tell Rudy's parents sounded very worried. Her mom informed them of the passing out in school and how he ended up in a real world hospital because of some unfortunate events. She didn't go into detail about them, though if they really wanted to know, Penny could tell them herself.

Rudy's parents weren't here yet. They would try to be here as soon as they could. This hospital was further away than the one Sophie was staying at. It frustrated Penny. Why couldn't that officer at least take Rudy to the same hospital as Sophie? Well there was nothing she could do about it now. She hoped that, by the time Rudy's parents come over, that there would be some news regarding Rudy's condition.

Oh who was she kidding? That was very unlikely to happen. They wouldn't be able to make the connection. They don't have the right equipment to detect chalk-based things. They might see chalk in his blood stream. They might wonder what it is. But even if they did connect it to being the source of Rudy's agony, what could they do? There was no medicine they could inject him with that would help him. And it was very likely that they will never find out what was wrong with Rudy. They might thing it's some unknown disease and try to keep him here for as much testing as possible.

That would not be good news. It would mean delaying Rudy the help he desperately needed. It would mean an increased chance of the doctors possibly being led to ChalkZone. It meant more time would be wasted as Rudy gets worse and worse. She knew they didn't have that kind of time. They had to find a way to get Rudy out of here and fast. But how? Nothing she and her mom tried worked with these guys. Oh, why didn't they just stay home...?

"Don't worry, Penny." Mrs. Sanchez said gently, trying to cheer her daughter up. She put her hand on her shoulder, prompting the teenager to look at her mom. "I'm sure everything will turn out okay."

Penny appreciated that her mom was trying to look on the bright side of things. But it did little to comfort her. "How do you know? What if they find...?"

"That is a possibility. But that doesn't mean they'll know what it does. I think it's a bit of a stretch for them to realize what the black and white chalk actually do. They'll probably think it's nothing." Mrs. Sanchez said. She tried to sound hopeful, but Penny could detect some doubt in her voice.

Penny tried to be more positive. She didn't like spending too much time thinking of the negatives. That never got them anywhere. If she had done that with Mr. Cosmo, and then later Bardot, they might have ended up worse somehow. She had never given up in the past, and she wasn't about to start now.

Still, she couldn't shake off the feeling that maybe, this time, positivity wasn't going to help her. Maybe, this time, there really wasn't a way out. It was a thought that frightened her. She didn't like feeling this way. Yet it was still a possibility. Though her mom tried to cheer her up, tried to help her understand that things may not be as bad as they look, that didn't stop Penny from worrying. After all, if the doctors find something with Rudy's blood, and if they, somehow, find a way to realize what magic chalk actually is, what was there she could do to stop them?

Before Penny could say anything else, she and her mom heard the door slam open. She expected it to be Rudy's parents, but it turned out to be someone else. They looked over to see what appeared to be a tall, thin doctor. He made his way over to them, holding a clipboard in his hand.

"Hello, my name is Dr. Valentino." The doctor said. He reached out and shook Mrs. Sanchez's hand and then Penny's. "You're friends with Rudy Tabootie?"

"Yeah." Penny said. Her mother nodded affirmatively.

Dr. Valentino nodded in acknowledgement. "Normally, I would wait for his parents to come before I relayed information. But I'll make an exception this time. Just don't go telling anyone okay?" He flipped through his clipboard and read the data on it. He shook his head, rubbing his head in disbelief. "We aren't sure what to make of this. We ran a lot of blood tests on the boy to try to figure out what's wrong with him. But what we end up finding, it has us completely baffled."

Penny felt a sting on her heart. Did this mean that they found something chalk-based? Her heart started to beat a little faster. "Wh-What did you find?" She asked, her voice having a fearful tinge to it.

Dr. Valentino shook his head. "We ran test after test, but no matter what, we always found the same thing."

"And that is?" Mrs. Sanchez asked. Penny could tell she, too, sounded nervous.

The doctor looked at them in the eye. His expression silently told them he was very unnerved by whatever he had found. Penny felt an uncomfortable sensation well up in her chest. The way the doctor was looking at them... To her, it felt almost like a confession, that yes, they did find something chalk related. If that were the case, what was she going to tell them? What were they going to do? How much did they figure out?

"Well..." The doctor finally spoke up after a bit of silence. He bit his lip and he looked down at the paper for a second. He turned his eyes back to her and her mother. They both stared at him expectantly. "We found nothing."

Penny felt like a weight was lifted from her shoulders. It was a relief that the doctors didn't find anything chalk based in him. Maybe their equipment was just unable to detect it, or they felt it unimportant. But this bit of news was also a bit of a double edge. If they didn't find anything, then...what was wrong with Rudy? How was the chalk doing this to him if the doctors couldn't find anything wrong with him?

Or maybe they did and just didn't know what was causing it. The doctor hadn't gone into detail yet. Before she jumped to conclusions, she should wait and see what the doctor had to say. She just hoped that, whatever Dr. Valentino had to say, it was not as bad as it seemed. But given that Rudy had actually passed out...yeah the likelihood of it 'not being as bad' was painfully remote.

Dr. Valentino said, "Well almost nothing. We ran all sorts of tests and checked various levels, but nothing seems to add up. The boy has a very high fever and a high white blood cell count, but that high count is the only thing we're detecting. We suspected that it was an autoimmune problem, but there's no signs of damage in an isolated area of his body. The white blood cells aren't even attacking anything. They're just reproducing like mad."

Mrs. Sanchez gasped at this. "I never heard of white blood cells increasing in numbers like that unless they know or think they're attacking a foreign substance."

"Indeed." Dr. Valentino said. "It is very strange. And the number of white blood cells is increasing, offsetting the natural ratio they should have with the red blood cells. His blood stream is getting packed with the white blood cells, which is interfering with the transfer of nutrients. We don't know yet how this led to his fever, though. Fever is associated with disease, but since the white blood cells aren't attacking anything..." He gave a small shrug. "We just don't know."

Penny wasn't sure what to think of this. Like her mother, she hadn't heard of something like this happening. Granted, the human body could do a lot of things and there were so many conditions out there that do really bizarre and strange things. This could be another one. But still, this wasn't something she heard of. She didn't know if it was really possible for white blood cells to increase like that without attacking anything. She wasn't sure if fevers could spontaneously appear without the presence of germs.

A ChalkZone hospital might be their best bet. They might have a better idea of what's going on. But even that wasn't a guarantee. Even with the real world equipment thing solved, there was a chance that even a hospital in ChalkZone can't find anything. She hoped she was wrong. She hoped that something could be found that they could use to help Rudy. Anything at all...

"We would like to keep him overnight for observation." The doctor said. "When Rudy's parents come in, I will speak to them about that."

Penny's eyes widened at this. Keeping Rudy here overnight? Oh no...that might make things worse. Rudy needed help and the only place that might have some answers is in ChalkZone. If he stayed overnight in the real world, the chalk would continue to do more damage to him. There was a chance that Rudy couldn't even wait overnight. She had to find some way to convince the doctors not to do that. But what could she say? The doctors would think she was nuts if she tried to get them to agree to release him within an hour or so to go home, especially with his condition.

"That sounds fine." Mrs. Sanchez said. Penny looked at her mom, trying her best to hide her shocked expression. "I'll inform Mr. and Mrs. Tabootie when they get here. I'm sure they'll understand."

Dr. Valentino smiled grimly. "Thank you." He turned around, facing the door. "I'm going to have a couple more tests run on Rudy. Still a couple we haven't tried yet." He gave Mrs. Sanchez and Penny a sideways glance. "I'll come back with the results. It shouldn't take too long." Penny and her mom nodded in understanding. "After that, you two and his parents may go visit him."

With that, the doctor disappeared down the hallway. The doors were pushed open. Penny stared off after him as the doors swung shut. Then she turned and glanced at her mother. With no one else around to see it, she did little to hide just how shocked she was.

"Mom...! We can't let them keep him here over night!" She said in a hushed voice.

Mrs. Sanchez closed her eyes. "I know, sweetie. But we don't have a choice."

"We could try to talk to them..." Penny didn't believe her own words. She didn't know what she or her mom could tell them to convince the doctors. But wasn't it best to try instead of giving up without doing anything? "Please, we have to try something."

Mrs. Sanchez put a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Please settle down, Penny. I know Rudy needs to get to a ChalkZone hospital. But we can't just pull him out right now. The doctors would get suspicious. As hard as it is, we must let them keep Rudy overnight." Penny shook her head. Her mom tightened her grip on her shoulder. "Penny, please. If we want to help him without drawing unwanted attention, this is the way it has to be."

Penny said, "But...but what if he gets worse?"

Her mother looked at her sympathetically. "I know... That is an unfortunate possibility. But look on the bright side, like you always do." She gave her daughter a gentle smile. "Things will work out, I'm sure."

Penny wanted to believe her mother. She wanted to believe that everything was going to be okay. She wanted to keep looking on the bright side of things. But she still couldn't help but worry. Rudy staying in a real world hospital overnight isn't what she had in mind. The longer he stays here, the longer he'd go without proper help. Not that she believed the doctors here were useless. But if Rudy had a chalk-based disease, then his best chance was in ChalkZone, not here.

Being a foreign disease, who knows what kind of damage would be done to him overnight? His body can't fight off whatever the disease was doing to him. A zoner doctor would have a better chance of understanding what was happening to Rudy. This disease had been ravaging his body for two days. Another day longer without finding out what it is could be disastrous. A ChalkZone doctor might be able to help reverse at least some of the damage. A real world doctor probably couldn't do much of anything except try to keep Rudy alive in case the disease gets even worse. And since it was chalk-based and not real world-based, she had a feeling it's going to do exactly that.

But the more she thought about it, the more she knew her mom was right. Trying to pull him out too early would raise suspicions. Rudy was so sick that the doctors would probably have a heated argument with them if they tried to take him out before they could at least run all their tests. Rudy's parents could probably convince them to change their minds, but only if they agreed to take him to another hospital. She and her mom had no authority to do this. They weren't his biological family. They'd have to wait for Rudy's parents to get here before they had a chance to convince the doctors they'd just move Rudy to another hospital.

She hoped that, if the doctors are convinced and allow Rudy to be transferred to another hospital, they won't try to escort him themselves. Maybe Rudy's parents, her mom, or even herself could find a way to convince the doctors that they are capable of taking Rudy to another hospital. She was certain it shouldn't be a problem. But she didn't want to get her hopes up. There was always a chance something could happen.

"I'll try." Penny said. She lowered her head a little. "I'll try."

Mrs. Sanchez pulled her daughter into a hug. "We'll get through this. You'll see."

Penny didn't answer. She returned her mother's hug and pressed her head against her shoulders. Her mind swirled with many thoughts, many possibilities of what could happen. Her heart wrenched as she realized that, second after second, Rudy was likely getting worse. And what hurt her more is that, even if they got him into ChalkZone, what if they couldn't find out what it was? What if Rudy got worse? What if he...?

No. She mentally slapped herself. She couldn't think like that. No giving up. There was always a way to make things better. There was a way to help Rudy. She didn't know what it was yet. But she would find out. As soon as she could, she'd head into ChalkZone to speak to Snap about the situation. Maybe he would have some ideas. Plus she wanted to see how well he was doing after the surgery.

She heard the doors open up again. This time from a different direction, and she knew who it had to be. Frantic footsteps filled the room. She and her mom turned their heads to see Rudy's parents come walking in, along with Rudy's aunt, Tilly. Rudy's parents were rushing forward as quickly as they could, Tilly following not so far behind them. It took them seconds to reach where Penny and her mom where.

Panting heavily, Mrs. Tabootie said, "What's the situation? What did they say?"

"Is our boy okay?" Mr. Tabootie asked.

Tilly asked, "What's going on?"

"They...they don't know what's wrong with him..." Penny said softly, lowering her head. The three adults stared at her in shock. "Well I mean, they kind of have an idea, but they don't know what's causing it."

"Wh-What's wrong with him?" Mrs. Tabootie asked, her eyes wide.

Mrs. Sanchez answered that question. "His white blood cell count is dangerously high, and still rising, interfering with his red blood cells' ability to deliver nutrients and keep his body functioning properly. The doctors can't detect anything the white blood cells are attacking. According to them, they aren't attacking anything at all." She scratched her chin. "Which is very odd. A fever is the body's way of trying to kill off foreign invaders. So there's something there."

"Yeah, the chalk that got absorbed into his skin." Tilly said. "That could be what the white blood cells are trying to attack, and what the body is trying to kill."

Mrs. Sanchez shook her head. "I don't think so."

Mr. Tabootie tilted his head to the side, confused. "What are you talking about?"

"The doctors said that his white blood cells aren't attacking anything." Penny said. She stared at the adults one at a time. Their worry over the situation added to her own, making her feel even more worried about the whole situation. "It has them baffled, so they want to keep Rudy overnight." She turned her head to look at Rudy's parents. "Dr. Valentino wants to speak to you as soon as possible about that."

Mr. and Mrs. Tabootie looked at each other worriedly. Tilly looked concerned as well. Penny wished she could give some more positive news. She wished there was something she could say to try to offset the unsettling news she had to give to Rudy's family members. But unfortunately, she could only draw a blank.

Her mother spoke up. "Dr. Valentino will be out here shortly to speak to you, Mr. and Mrs. Tabootie. He went to go run some last bit of tests on Rudy to see if they can find anything else. Then he wants to speak to you about having Rudy stay overnight for observation."

"What else after that?" Mr. Tabootie asked.

"What if they don't find anything? Would they let us take him home or are they going to try to keep him in longer?" Tilly asked.

Mrs. Sanchez shook her head. "I really don't know." She turned her head to the door where the doctor had come from before. "All we can do is wait."

Penny watched and listened as the four adults discussed what was happening with Rudy. She could hear the concern rippling off their voices. She could hear the sniffling of Rudy's mother, the distressed way his folks were talking. It made her heart tighten listening to it. She looked at the door where Dr. Valentino entered from before turning her gaze back to the adults. She kept quiet, allowing herself to sink deep into her thoughts.

Rudy had to be okay. He just had to. Whatever the chalk was doing to him, it can be reversed. It had to be reversable. It couldn't be permanent. She didn't want Rudy to suffer. He didn't do anything to deserve this. A bit of anger started to well up in her chest as she thought about the horrible things Jenny and her lackeys have done. Rudy was just the latest victim in their crimes. Sophie and Snap, even Mr. Wilter, and herself... They all had been assaulted by those monsters. When was it going to end? How far are they going to go?

Listening to how worried they all were about this whole thing made Penny feel more determination rise up inside of her. She couldn't allow this to keep happening. She had to find some way to stop them. She wasn't going to allow Jenny, Ghadir, and Tyreek get away with this. She didn't know exactly what she was going to do, but one thing was for certain.

She would do whatever it took to help bring them down.

sss

Jenny watched with sick satisfaction as the bird zoner struggled to get free. He flapped his wings hard, feathers flying everywhere, as he desperately tried to free himself. But Jenny knew better. He was secured perfectly down. He was not going anywhere. Those iron cuffs would hold him down. It helped that the cuffs on his wings went right through the flesh. Blood still trinkled down from them.

Catching this zoner was pretty easy. It was just a matter of using the right kind of trap. She smirked evilly at the memory of this bird's capture. Zoners can be pretty stupid at times, and this bird proved it. Only an idiot would fall for the trap she made. This zoner took it hook, line, and sinker. And now he was going to pay the price for that. But not first without answering some questions. There was a reason she and her lackeys captured this particular zoner and not some other one.

When she was going back to meet up with Ghadir and Tyreek after her little 'dance' with Rudy, she had overheard this zoner speaking to another. She didn't quite recall all the words, but from what she could make out, this bird zoner had been one of Mr. Cosmo's prisoners. So it seemed Cosmo had managed to figure out mind control, a concept he thought of years ago but never could set into complete fruition because of Wilter. She imagined this zoner would have some information regarding how the mind control worked, and possibly more of what that Tabootie brat had done. She had a feeling that, whatever information this bird zoner could provide, it would be very valuable.

The bird zoner continued to struggle. There were tears in his eyes, obviously from the pain in his ruined wings. The more he struggled, the more blood leaked out of his wings. His feet were secured down as well. The zoner wasn't even that large. Definitely bigger than Snap, but smaller than Draow. This zoner was a little smaller than an adult-sized human and his body was pretty thin and lanky. His beak was pretty long, at least the top of it was. His lower beak stopped halfway the length of the top one. It looked...so breakable...

She, Ghadir, and Tyreek dragged the bird zoner, who was unconscious at the time, into the real world and into her basement. They had drawn a large flat table made of cold metal in ChalkZone and took it in here, and then they strapped the bird down to it. The wings were a bit of a problem, but Tyreek managed to force the cuffs straight through the skin and muscle. Not exactly what Jenny had in mind, but oh well. Whatever works. At least it would guarantee the stupid bird never escapes, and even if he did, he wouldn't be able to fly away.

The bird recently woke up. He started to screech loudly in pain and try to get away. Jenny wasn't worried about anyone hearing him. Where she lived, it was unlikely anyone could hear him and even if they did, she could always find a way to make sure that they don't intervene.

She watched as the bird zoner continued to thrash. A nasty smile curled on her face. This was quite satisfying indeed. Watching this pathetic creature try to escape filled her with excitement. Soon, they would be able to do this to more zoners as they begin their conquest. In order to effectively control zoners, they must first be broken. She had no plans on controlling this zoner. She had something else in mind. But that something would still satisfy her nonetheless.

"Wh-What..what do you want from me?!" The bird zoner cried, thrashing his body from side to side. "What did I ever do to you?! Let me go!"

"Oh we'll let you go all right..." Ghadir said, folding her arms against her chest. "But first, you must tell us what we want to know."

The bird zoner stared at the large woman, his beak clenched tightly. "L-Like what..?" He seethed in agony, his body trembling.

Tyreek made a gesture with his hand. "Oh nothing that complicated. We just want to know about what Cosmo did to you."

The zoner's eyes widened in horror at this. "Mr. Cosmo? You know him?" The zoner paused for a moment. He stared at the three. Then, suddenly, something seemed to click into his head. "Oh no...you're...you're those..." He pressed his head back against the table, clearly horrified by the revelation he had just made. "You're those corrupted artists who worked with Mr. Cosmo... How...how did you...?"

Jenny laughed coldly. She walked over and stood on the zoner's left side. She pressed her elbow against his wing and applied pressure. The zoner hissed in pain. "We..had our way.." She reached down and gripped the bird by his neck and squeezed tightly, watching him gag and try to suck in a breath. "Now I strongly recommend that you cooperate. Answer our questions, and we'll let you go. If you don't, we have ways of making your kind speak.."

With that, she gestured over to Ghadir. She held up a water bottle spray in front of the zoner. She shook it a little, making it very clear it was filled with water. The bird zoner gasped in horror and his struggles in creased. It was clear he was running out of energy as his thrashes became less and less energized. More tears flowed down his face, this time not just from pain but from shere terror.

Ghadir put the bottle in front of the zoner's face. She threatened to pull the trigger. The bird zoner, trembling hard, moved his head back, turning his head to the side. He let out small whimpers, looking at the three of them with a pleading expression. This earned him no sympathy and only made Jenny's evil smile broaden more. Yes, this zoner should be afraid. If he wasn't, she would begin to break him.

"Let's begin..." Jenny said, smirking down at the injured zoner. She walked around behind the platform, her head tilted upwards, looking up towards the ceiling. "How did Cosmo control you?"

The bird stammered. "I...I..." Ghadir sprayed his chest with the water bottle. He let out a scream of agony. "He used bracelets! And nails!"

"Nails...?" Tyreek asked. "I can see braces, but how could he use nails?"

"Th-They were i-implanted into the head..." The bird zoner said. "S-Snap was one unlucky zoner to have one put in him."

"And where did he take you?" Jenny asked.

The bird hesitated to respond. But one look at the water bottle quickly changed his tune. "At his s-studios...S-Same town the Great Creator lives in. He had set up shop there."

Ah, so it seemed Cosmo got a little smarter and set up his base in the real world. That made a lot of sense. Jenny wondered why they hadn't thought of it before. Then again they were kids at the time and it wasn't like they could have done so without drawing suspicion from their parents. Still, a base in the real would would have made it even harder for the zones to challenge them, as they could hide their dangerous equipment in the real world quite easily.

Most zoners fear going into the real world, and for good reason. There were so many dangers here for them. Water and any real world liquid were the most prominent ones. That was the reason she dragged this zoner here. Trapping him in a world that is far more dangerous to him than it is to her was fun. The bird's realization that he was in the real world was a wonderful, amusing moment. She couldn't wait to see more zoners give this reaction as she restarted Cosmo's mind control plan. She just had to find the blueprints for those things. She was certain to have it where this bird was held captive.

"That is...convenient." Tyreek said, his arms folded against his chest. He turned to his comrades and gestured with his right arm. "We can head there later. I'm sure Mr. Cosmo left behind a lot of equipment we could use."

"Yeah, he was always good at coming up with stuff." Ghadir agreed, a dark grin on her face.

"You...you won't find anything." The bird zoner said in a small voice. He cringed when the three humans looked at him.

"What do you mean?" Ghadir asked, a dangerous edge to her voice. The bird zoner didn't answer. She sprayed his injured wing again and again, watching him scream in agony. "Answer me!"

The bird zoner's body shook as sobbed wracked through him. He looked over at his wing, which was now severely burned and bloody from the water spray. He looked at Ghadir with a horrified expression. He looked at the other humans. "It w-was e-e-erased!" He called out in terror before Ghadir could spray him again. "Water was used to erase everything!"

Jenny and her comrades were shocked by this. Someone had went and erased Cosmo's beautiful work? That was unacceptable. She had an idea of who it was. And if she turned out to be correct, well that would make her even happier knowing that the little brat was getting what he so richly deserved.

"It was Rudy Tabootie, wasn't it?" Jenny asked, her voice a little darkened.

The bird zoner looked up at her in fear. His body shook a little harder, his eyes getting bigger as he stared into her anger-filled ones. He stammered, struggling to find some kind of response. Jenny looked at Ghadir and flicked her head towards the zoner. Ghadir lifted up the bottle and spread the zoner's face twice. He let out a screech of pain, tears staining his face, giving his eyes a reddish hue.

"Y-Yes!" The bird zoner whimpered. "I-It was him..."

Tyreek's lips curled up in disgust. "He will pay for that."

"Yes, he will." Jenny said. She turned and looked at her comrades. "And with what I did to him, he's going to wish he were dead."

Ghadir chuckled. "Good. The fucker deserves every once of pain he gets."

"Indeed.." Jenny turned her attention back to the bird zoner. She had her doubts he knew anything else. So perhaps now was a perfect time to end the interrogation. She stood next to the zoner, straightening her back. She reached down and pressed her hand against the zoner's cheek. "Thank you for your contribution." She said in a sweet voice. "You have been a great help to us."

"S-So does this mean you're letting me go?" The bird asked in a shaky voice.

Jenny nodded her head. "Yes, indeed."

Ghadir spoke up, taking a step towards Jenny. "I'm getting a little hungry." She cast a glance over at the zoner before looking back at Jenny. "And I am in the mood for some...poultry."

"Of course." Jenny said. "I haven't forgotten about your...desires." She made a gesture with her hand. "Go on ahead and help yourself."

Ghadir turned her attention towards the bird zoner. She gave him a nasty smile, causing him to shake harder as he looked at her in both fear and confusion. Ghadir narrowed her eyes a little, filled with obvious intent. She licked her lips slowly as she moved closer to the bird. The zoner struggled as she got closer. Ghadir let out a dark chuckle as she stopped in front of him. She pulled out a large butcher knife, the tip of it glinting in what little light there was.

"Wh-What are you doing?!" The bird zoner squawked, his struggles getting more frantic.

"I am having me a bird dinner." Ghadir said, licking her lips again. "And you look positively...delicious."

The bird zoner's face paled. "B-But I'm made of chalk...!"

Ghadir's eyes glinted black. "I like the taste of chalk." She leveled the butcher knife at his stomach, preparing to slice into it.

"She has a chalk addiction." Tyreek said casually. "You being made of chalk is exactly why she wants to eat you."

"No!" The bird zoner struggled frantically. He looked over at Jenny with a pleading expression. "Please! Let me go!" Jenny just stared at him. He thrashed from side to side, trying in vain to free himself. Blood poured out of his wounds. "You said you were going to let me go if I told you what you wanted!"

Before the bird zoner could say anymore, Jenny gripped his beak tightly, silencing him. Her left hand was at the base of the beak and the right gripped just the top beak. He let out a few muffled calls, trying to speak. He attempted to pull his head away, but Jenny's grip was like a vice. He looked up at her, silently begging her to let him go. Jenny just smiled at this. She leaned down, putting her face next to his.

She whispered softly, "I lied."

Then, mustering as much strength as she could, she forced her right hand down very hard. The force caused the beak to bend and in seconds, there was a resounding snap and a bloodcurdling screech.