The Main Attraction

Chapter 21: A Change

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Closer, no hesitation... Give me...all that you have.

-Humming, Portishead

sss

"W-Wait! No! Please! You can't do this! Let our friend go! D-Dont do this...please!"

So much pleading. So much begging. That was all music to Sandra's ears. She felt her ears twitching a little as she listened to the brats' stubborn attempts in trying to get her to release their friend. She had no intention of letting him go of course, but she did keep quiet and let the humans still beg and plead.

At least it was a little easier standing here now that Snap had gone quiet. She could feel how limp his body was on the ground. She stared down, giving a soft 'hmph' sound as she watched his back leaking of blood from where she had punctured his back. She smirked at the sight of this, feeling a sense of pride. She hadn't really expected her claws to break though so easily in the first try. Perhaps that prosthetic was not as good as they made it out to be. Either that or she was just stronger than even she herself realized.

Lifting her head, she looked back at the humans. She continued standing there, looking slightly nonchalant about the whole thing, as if nothing they said got to her. In actuality, they did get through to her...just not in the way that they would have expected. They were only amusing her. All of this, it was just a fun little game for her. And they were providing all the humor for her. It was quite delightful.

"Come on, Sandra! Just give him back!" Rudy shouted. He pressed himself against the cage's bars and reached out towards her. He desperately tried to grab at Snap. Of course, his arm was just way too short. "Just give him back! Please!"

Penny joined in. She didn't attempt to push against the cage; she just stood right in front of it. Her eyes, wide and pleading, with tears moving down from them, stared at her, as if trying to look directly into her heart. "Please..just give him back to us. We don't have the magic chalk anymore. Why can't you at least let us have our friend back? Please..."

Mint nodded his head. He was sort of in the middle of Rudy and Penny went it came to attitude. He was certainly calmer than Rudy, but he was more on edge, more ready to fight than Penny looked. He was gripping the bars with both hands and he leaned in, though he had long stopped trying to break it open with his body. "Just hand him over. You've done enough damage..."

Sandra threw her head back and gave a dramatic 'hah' sound at that. "Oh contrare, my dear creator." She lowered her head, pressing her chin against the front of her neck. "I haven't done enough damage."

The three children instantly erupted in protests at this. Just as she wanted. She stood there for several moments, listening to what they had to say. She rather enjoyed hearing them beg and plead to her, as if their words would somehow make her release their pitiful little friend.

"No! Please! You can't!"

"Just give him back to us!"

"Don't hurt him anymore!"

Ah yes, this is exactly what she wanted to hear from them. She wanted them to plead with her, try to get mercy from her...just so she could deny it from them. It was only fair, right? After all, they never showed her mercy before. No one did. No one tried to defend her or try to see things her way. It made her realize just how utterly alone she was in this world. So in a world that doesn't care about her, why should she give any mercy to anyone else?

Though as much as she would love to just stand around and listen to them shout at her, try to get her to release their stupid friend, she knew that she was only wasting time. If she wanted to get the ball rolling, she would have to leave relatively soon. She had plans for Snap, and she wasn't about to let herself get distracted for long.

But...standing here for a couple more seconds just to listen to what the children had to say wouldn't hurt too much. It did fill her with more excitement, and more determination to get this done and over with. She had this all planned for a while. At last she could get her revenge on these miserable brats, especially Snap and Rudy. And she was going to take her sweet time doing it.

Rudy banged himself against the cage multipe times. "Sandra! Please! Just give him back!" His shouts were intermixed with soft crying, tears staining his cheeks. "Y-You can't do this...!"

"Oh no...?" Sandra sneered as she held up the three pieces of chalk that she took from them. "These three pieces say that I can..." She tossed them up into the air and then caught them with a single swipe of her hand. "Without these babies..." She held them against herself as she leaned forward. "..you three are nothing."

It was of absolutely no surprise to Sandra when the little promise breaker and his friends began to protest even more verbally. Though their shouts did cause her ears to twitch slightly in pain, she still remained unmoving and just listened to what they had to say. It was all quite so amusing. She would listen to this forever if she could.

However, she was soon interrupted when she heard something flying overhead. The sound of a propeller spinning. She knew exactly what it was.

Tilting her head back, she called out, "Yes, what do you want?"

The Beanie Boy flew himself low enough until he was about level with her head. He made a few motions with one of his hands as he said, "We got their more permanent enclosure ready." He paused for a moment as he looked over his shoulder. "Shall we take them there?"

Sandra looked from the Beanie Boy and then to the teenagers. At this point, they all had stopped trying to beg. They had clearly given up and she imagined that they were all quite parched. She wondered just how dry their throats were, or if their vocal cords were quite achy from all that yelling. It would be pretty fun to check...but not now.

Sandra waved her hand dismissively. "Yes. Get them out of my sight." She looked down at Snap's unconscious form. Her lips curled upwards into a dark smile. "I'd like some...alone time with my dear 'friend' here..."

sss

There were times when Sandra wished that this castle wasn't so large. She wasn't really sure how long she had been walking like this. She would get to her destination soon enough. But it would have been a shorter trip of Skrawl had thought to build this place smaller. Or did he build it? She wasn't sure. Either way, this was a bit of a longer walk than she had wanted it to be.

She couldn't really complain, though. Everything was going her way so far. She had all of those brats trapped and they were rendered powerless. They were all at her full mercy. And she had Snap with her. All alone with him... Oh the possibilities were endless... She couldn't help but give him a few dark sneers as she continued dow the hallway, heading for her bedroom.

It did seem strange, bringing him there. But it ultimately seemed perfect. She would have the most privacy with him here. She might bring Rudy in here later as well. She would keep these two locked up with her. And she would be free to do whatever she wanted with them. She had all sorts of plans for them, and she couldn't wait to get the plans executed. And Snap would be the first one that she was going to have fun with.

Already, she could anticipate the taste of his flesh. She remembered how he had tasted in the past. So sweet and delicious... She had to wonder if he would taste the same, or if he was going to have a new flavor. The very thought excited her and it was so tempted for her to take a nip out of his unconscious form just to get another taste of him. But she held back. Not yet...there would come a time for that. First, she had to get him...situated...

She continued moving down the hallway as she held Snap's body in her arms. She was cradling him like he was some kind of little child. Which in a sense, he was, though the rules were bent when it came to ChalkZone. She was amazed at how light he felt. Then again, she had grown bigger since the last time she saw him. A byproduct of a creator's intent, she was certain. She smiled down at Snap's still 'sleeping' form. The fact that she had grown larger and stronger since the last time they tangoed was going to make this a heck of a lot more fun.

Ah there it was. She could finally see her bedroom coming up. She took a moment to look around to make sure no one was there. Not only was it empty, but she could hear nothing. Not even the screams and shouts from the teenagers, whom she had ordered be locked up in the same room as Skrawl. Nothing like a reunion to get them going, right?

Though she'd love to hear, this was a moment where she was glad for the solitude. She wanted to focus entirely on Snap. And she wanted Snap to not be aware of where his friends are. At least, not now. She wanted to play with him for a while. She won't kill him, but she will give him a taste of what to expect. She would watch him squirm about, try to get away from her, and she was going to enjoy every second of it.

As soon as she got into the bedroom, she used her tail to knock it shut. It automatically locked, a feature she had the Beanie Boys put in themselves. She looked down at the door knob for a moment to make sure that it was indeed locked, and then she turned her attention to the rest of the room as she walked in deeper. The room was...a little fancy. More so than she actually would have liked. But it would serve its purpose quite well.

A very large bed was set up against the wall, positioned relatively in the middle. The headrest was up against the wall while the foot seemed to want to stretch out towards the other side, but could only made it about three quarters of the way. Then there was a large dresser which was located near where the door was. It was tall and long with multiple drawers filled with various items. Not really just clothes, but other things she felt she would need at some point. Though some of the stuff, she had no idea if Skrawl put them there or if it just came with the dresser. She just ignored those.

The thing that caught her attention the most was the large kennel that she had the Beanie Boys haul in here. It was quite large and sturdy. Surrounded by a strong, beige plastic-like substance with a barred cage door in the front. This was where Snap, and later on Rudy, were going to stay. They would be her personal little play things.

Sandra moved along the room, feeling the nice velvet carpet against her feet. Such a nice change from the concrete floor that made up most of the castle. Though the purple coloration did not seem to go well with the rest of the castle, at least in her eyes, she still preferred doing her important business with Rudy and Snap in here. So much more comfortable.

Sandra set Snap against her bed and watched him carefully, her eyes narrowing into slits. There was so much she could do to him right now... But first, she'd have to wait until he woke up. It wouldn't be much fun if he was unconscious the whole tiem, now would it?

Of course, it would take a while. She had given him a rather harsh blow. It was a lot of fun breaking that stupid prosthetic and paralyzing him, but in doing so, she had only delayed the 'real fun'. Hmm...of course, she could always...

Gripping onto his shoulder, she forced him onto his back. She could see the small opening in his leotard that she had torn open. She ran her hand along the large puncture wound, blood caked around it. It almost amazed her at how much damage her claw had done. She could even see pieces of the prosthetic vertebrate sticking out. Well, she might as well get started now.

The first thing she did was she removed the shattered pieces. It had taken a while, slowing down the process. But if she was going to do this, she couldn't have any of those pieces still inside of his body. After a while, she managed to get all the pices, leaving a descent sized pile of broken, sharp-edged pieces on the ground. Now with that out of the way, she turned her attention to the open, circular wound. She placed her hand against it carefully and she concentrated hard.

With a glow of her triangular symbol, the skin and flesh began to morph and twist around a little. She could see the flesh coming in together, almost swirling like a recently flushed toilet or something. Some pieces of flesh began to harden, forming new bone which surrounded the exposed, rapidly healing spinal cord. Just as that new vertebrate came into place, the muscle and skin and newly healed blood vessels formed over it.

Then, in a matter of moments, it was as if nothing had ever happened. Even the scar that Snap had there before was completely gone.

Of course, who knows how long this was going to last? She smirked darkly. She hadn't done this for his benefit. She had only done this to help him wake up faster. He might not have much pain waking up...but he will soon be pleading and crying for mercy. She would see to that.

And as luck would have it, she could see Snap already responding to his healed back. His legs, previously paralyzed, began to twitch as his head moved about. He let out a series of soft groans, twisting himself a little on the soft ground. He lifted his head up and he opened up his eyes.

It took only a couple of seconds for him to realize just who he was looking at.

"S-Sandra?!" Snap immediately shouted as he jolted himself up. He made a small flinch as he hit his leg against the bed due to how swift he had moved himself. "H-How...?! Where?!"

Sandra chortled as she listened to Snap's confused cries. It would take him a little while before everything would settle in his mind and he would fully realize just what was going on. She decided to remain quiet, giving Snap all the time that he needed in order to fully remember. This shouldn't take too long. She leaned back so she could watch the fireworks.

Snap continued to babble for a while. A little longer than Sandra would have thought. A minute or two. Well that didn't seem too long at a glance. But for something like this, it almost felt like an eternity had gone by. She would have thought that Snap would have figured it out much sooner. Oh well. He would learn eventually. He was a smart zoner, wasn't he? Surely, in a few moments, he would have it all figured out. His memory won't take that long to return. She hadn't done anything to mess that up.

And sure enough, it did. Snap's incoherent, fear-filled babbling had turned into more coherent sentences. Comments regarding what happened, realizing the events that took place before, it all was flooding back to the superhero zoner. He looked left and right, his breathing becoming both shaky and steady, a combination that was difficult to imagine, but Snap seemed to pull it off rather well.

Then he looked back at her, standing up unsteadily on his legs, pressing his back against the bed. He stared at her long and hard, his eyes remaining wide. He looked so unsure, so uncertain of what to do. It seemed that it finally hit him, after all that memory flashing in his head, that he was completely and utterly alone with the one zoner who hated him the most.

Oh gawd how she hated him... How she wanted to tear him apart... He had hurt her so badly, and she wanted to return the favor. She wanted to get the ball rolling. She wanted to force him to the ground and begin to eat him alive, let him feel the start of the pain of what's about to come. But she wanted to take it a little slower than that.

"Wh-Where are my friends?!" Snap shouted at her, forming fists with his hands. "What have you done to them?!"

Sandra leaned herself to one side. "I don't know why you're so upset about that, Snacks." Snap hissed at that name, further amusing Sandra. "It's not like they are being harmed." Upon seeing Snap's expression at that, Sandra motioned her hand to one side. "No, really. They're fine. I just had them locked up. I do not plan on doing anything to them..." She brought her hand back, raisng up a feather finger. "...yet."

"Don't you fucking dare hurt them..." Snap hissed as he managed to take a shaky step towards him. Sandra had to admit, she was a little impressed by how brave Snap was acting. Perhaps the threat of his friends was making him more willing to talk back to her. "If you do..."

Sandra rolled her eyes. "Not like you're in any posititon to stop me. Besides, I wouldn't really worry about them right now." She grinned broadly as she stared directly at Snap. "I would be more worried about what is going to happen to you..."

Sandra moved herself closer to Snap. The zoner, despite acting brave, started to move himself back, pressing himself against the bed as far as he could go. He gritted his teeth as he glared up at Sandra, looking as if he would attack at any moment. And yet he never did. Not even when Sandra reached out and touched his face, he still remained pressed where he was, letting out a few low growls and nothing more. Sandra just chuckled as she spent a few moments stroking his cheek.

"It is still a shame that it had to be this way, Snacks. If only you had been more reasonable..."

"Reasonable?!" Snap shouted at her. He seemed to completely ignore the 'Snacks' comment this time. "How am I the one being unreasonable?! You're the one who has been hurting people! You're the one who keeps holding onto a belief that doesn't make any gawd damn sense!"

Sandra immediately stiffened at this. A wave of bitter emotion started to rise up inside of her. She stopped stroking Snap's cheek and just held it there. Her grip was slightly tight. She bore her red eyes through his. "...not make any sense, you say...?"

"Y-Yeah that's right!" Snap's voice had a slight tremble in it. He knew that he was going to land himself in hot water. But it would seem that he would rather be resistant than fall under her control completely. Though she had expected this. "You keep telling everyone that they should eat their loved ones! Can't you see just how sick and wrong that is?! Why the fuck should I eat a loved one?!"

"Because it's the ultimate way of showing that you care for them.." Sandra hissed under her breath. She was getting a little tired of repeating herself. What would it take to get this through their thick skulls?

"Care for them?!" Snap spluttered, tripping over his own tongue. "That's not the way you show you care for someone! You do it by being nice to them! Get them presents, hang out with them, help them when they're in trouble, have a good time with them! That's how you show that you care about someone! Not freaking killing and eating them, you sicko!"

Sandra rolled her eyes. Of course Snap would say something so ridiculously naive. She did not deny that those were good things to do with a loved one. So she knew that, on some level, Snap spoke the truth.

But he was completely wrong in thinking that those were the only ways of showing that you cared about someone. He was wrong to think that eating a loved one was somehow a bad thing. How could it be? It was the ultimate form of bonding. To fuse oneself with another. It took a lot of will power, the right kind of mind, in order to do something like this. Which was why she considered it the ultimate honor.

But of course, idiots like Snap could never understand. She didn't know why she bothered even trying to explain.

"You will never understand, I know. Your primitive little mind could never understand." Sandra leaned herself back, giving Snap a somewhat blank expression. A little more of a serious look, speaking to him like she was a mother and he was her child. "I wouldn't try hurting my mind trying to understand. It's just beyond your comprehension. It is a shame that only I was created with the ability to understand. But..." She let out a sigh as she turned her head down, raising one hand up. "..I suppose that's just how life is."

Snap's body shook with emotion. With a burst of energy, he pushed back against her. Sandra let out a grunt and she looked at him with widened eyes, not having expected that. "Oh shut up! Haven't you ever thought that maybe it is you who is wrong?! That you're the one with the messed up mind?! That you are one who needs to be 'reeducated'?!"

Sandra lowered her ears slowly, letting out a soft growl. "Snap...stop it..." She warned him, feeling her blood start to boil.

Snap ignored her warning and continued on his rant. "You are the one who needs a wake up call! It is you who have caused this world too much grief! You have such a twisted, warped view of everything!" He took in a few pants, his lips pulled back a little to showcase a little bit of his teeth. "..especially when it comes to promises..."

That was it. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. Sandra felt a rush of emotion go through her, adrenaline causing her heart to thump louder. Unable to stop herself, she launched herself towards Snap. She slammed her body into his, and she pressed him firmly against the bed. Snap let out a help of pain as he was pinned at such an awkward angle. Surely he was feeling an ache in his newly healed back at this point.

"You ignorant little slime ball!" Sandra snarled at him. Her face was contorted with a primal rage, her pupils shrinking into dots. She looked into Snap's terrified eyes as she continued to shout at him, showing him her sharp teeth. "Don't you fucking dare talk about promises like that! Don't you dare try to diminish their importance! You filthy, disgusting zoner! If you dare try to stain the sanctity of the promise again, I will rip out your tongue! Do you hear me?!"

Snap immediately nodded his head quickly. "Y-Yes... I-I understand! Please..don't hurt me!"

Sandra narrowed her eyes into slits as she watched Snap's struggling form. She allowed him to jerk himself about a little, trying so hard to free himself. His eyes were filled with terror, a few tears forming in them. He was clearly remembering what happened the last time that he had gotten on her bad side.

Which gave her an idea. Her mouth broadening into a twisted smile, she stared down at Snap's stomach. She could feel a little drool start to dribble down her jaws, and she licked her lips slowly. Snap saw this and he let out a scream. He struggled against the ground more frantically, kicking and hitting against her and the ground, trying to wriggle his way free. But she was too strong for him and he couldn't stop her from lowering her head towards his stomach, her jaws widening.

Sandra didn't hesitate and she sank her teeth into his stomach. Snap immediately let out a scream of pain. She enjoyed the melody of Snap's screaming as she sliced into his stomach flesh. She did not bite as deeply as before. She only bit in enough to take out a nice portion of meat from him, tearing it from his body. She used a couple of fingers to remove the cloth from her tongue before she began to consume the meat.

Below her, Snap thrashed and trembled and whimpered in pain. He had his body curved inward, his hands pressed up against his stomach. His eyes were clinched shut and she could see tears moving down from them at a more rapid pace. Blood seeped onto the ground from where she had bitten him.

She couldn't help but savor his flavor, just like she had before. He still tasted just as sweet. She swallowed the piece of flesh and licked her lips once more, getting the remaining bits of blood off from her mouth. She looked down at Snap and gave him a broad sneer. Now he has finally had a taste of just what she wanted from him.

"P-Please..." Snap managed to whimper. "D-Don't do that again... Please.. I-I'm sorry for what I said..."

"Tsch...you're not sorry." Sandra glared at him. "You're only saying that to save your own hide. Well sorry, my little Snacks..." She moved closer to him, arching her body around in a sort of circle. She looked down at Snap, one of her feet placed lightly against his body. "You do not deserve any mercy. You are going to have the honor of being my food source for the rest of your life..." Her voice grew dark and cold at that statement.

"Wh-What?! No! Please don't!" Snap wailed, the pain overtaking his mind. "P-P-Please...I..." He broke down into sobbing, his whole body trembling harder.

Sandra just rolled her eyes at this. "It's not like you have a choice..."

Snap coughed up a little bit of blood, staining the ground. "P-Please... I-It doesn't have to b-be this way..."

"I tried to give you a chance, Snap. I gave you so many chances..." Sandra put her muzzle close to Snap's ear, speaking harshly into it. "You kept on rejecting me. You turned against me. You hurt me deeply, Snap. And now..." She let loose a quick, dark chuckle. "You must pay the price for that."

"No..please..."

Sandra ignored him as she forced him onto his back. The swift movement and his body stretching this way caused him to scream in agony. Sandra looked down intently at her handiwork. She looked at the blood that seeped out of the wound. She found herself drooling once more. Unable to help herself, she lowered herself down and she began to lap at the blood leaking out of his stomach. Such good, delicious blood... So sweet... She held Snap's whimpering, crying form on the ground as she continued to lick up his blood.

Then, unable to control herself, Sandra began to eat him alive, like she had to him before. Her teeth sank into his flesh and she ripped up large chunks flesh and swallowing them whole. Snap let out choked sobs and cries as he continued to struggle underneath her, his body giving pained twitches. Sandra managed to keep his thrashing body still as she continued eating his stomach, tearing in deeper and deeper, until...

Sandra grabbed onto his intestines. She got a good grip on them with her teeth and then, like a predator would its prey, she yanked upwards. She tugged out a long piece of the digestive organ, its purple surface gleaming with red and some kind of wetness. She chomped down on it, cutting off a piece that she slurped up like it was a noodle. She then shoved her head back inside, Snap's body stiffening and twitching in response. She pulled back her head and she managed to nearly completely disembowel Snap, the ground soon covered in a steaming pile of purple innards.

Sandra took a step back and watched as Snap struggled and thrashed on the ground. He sobbed heavily, tears staing his cheeks, each breath sounding choked. His body quivered violently, his legs twitching out, his arms flailing. He twisted and turned his body from side to side as he struggled to get away from the pain. He soon managed to look over at her, his horrified eyes asking a simple question of 'why?'.

Sandra chortled at this. She allowed Snap to twitch and squirm on the ground for a few moments before she reversed what she did. Raising up her hand, her symbol glowing, she put in a lot of concentration to heal up Snap's injuries. The purple organs disappeared back inside his body, the torn off piece being replaced in a matter of moments. The flesh rapidly regenerated and the hole in his skin quickly healed. Now the only thing that remained of the injury was that torn cloth on his leotard.

Despite being fully healed, however, Snap still laid on the ground, holding onto his stomach as if he were still in pain. Sandra guessed that he was experiencing some phantom pain. Or he was remembering just how it felt to have himself being partially eaten alive for the second time in his life. She grinned devilishly at this. This was so much fun...

Sandra moved in closer towards Snap, her eyes staring at him intently. The trembling, crying zoner didn't seem to notice her right away. She lifted up her foot and she slammed it against his side. Snap let out a scream as he was tossed along the ground. He laid on his back, his hands still holding onto his stomach, right where she had bitten him earlier.

Sandra grabbed onto his arm with one hand, holding him down. She lowered herself towards him, nearly straddling him. She smiled down at his sobbing form. She reached down and she stroked his face gently.

"I do hope that this little session has prepared you, Snap. This is going to be your life from now on. I hope you get used to the pain, dear. Becaus you will be feeling a lot of it."

"N-No..p-p-please..."

"Too late." Sandra narrowed her eyes. "If you had been more reasonable to me before, I wouldn't have had to do this." She spread a dark smile across her face. "But think of it this way. At least I am giving you a purpose." She rubbed her thumb along his face's skin. "You should be proud. You will be providing me with nourishment for a long time... Oh what a generous 'friend' you are..."

Sandra watched as Snap's body squirmed about on the ground. He continued to release a series of 'no' and 'please' at her. He didn't seem to try to protest against her. The only thing that he could do was just cry and beg her to leave him alone. Watching this whole thing caused her chest to swell up in pride. This was going better than she had ever hoped for.

But then she suddenly froze. As she watched Snap's crying form on the ground, something else began to develop in her mind. A different sensation that she honestly did not see coming. The unexpected situation caused her head to spin a little, and she had to shake her head once or twice in order to keep herself from toppling over.

Snap had taken apparent notice of this change in attitude. It seemed like he finally realized that he was no longer in pain and he laid still. He stared up at her cautiously, breathing in shakingly. The two of them locked eyes with each other, not daring to look away from the other.

All the while, this strange, new feeling swelled inside of the blue dragon. This whole thing was...unprecendented. She never thought she would feel like this. Then again, she had been obsessing about Snap for a while, hasn't she? A little too much... But even with this realization, she still had a little trouble coming to grips with this newfound sensation that was starting to creep along the back of her mind.

But she couldn't deny it. There was something about Snap now that was...triggering something else inside of her. A new type of desire. A new way to control him. She could feel the corners of her mouth lifting up. Hey...this might not be such a bad idea after all...

"What are you doing...?" Snap managed to whisper.

Sandra stared down at him, her eyes flicking with insanity. "You know... I think I am going to...shift my plans a little. I just thought of something better.."

"B-Better...?" Snap gulped. He cringed away from her. "Wh-What do you m-mean...?"

Sandra just smirked at him. "Instead of telling you... Why don't I just show you...?"

Sandra lowered her face down towards Snap. She could feel his breath, and she was certain that he could feel hers. She licked her lips slowly in anticipation. Then, without warning, she jerked her head forward, closing the gap between them. She proceeded to give him something that she never thought she would give him.

A kiss.