Do You Remember?

by DarkHououmon

"You just don't get it, do you? The memory is a moldable, constantly changing factor. All I am doing is giving it a little...push."

26. Similarities

When Penny first woke up, the first thing she noticed was the dizzying pain in her head. It almost felt as if she had been smashed against some huge, hard rock, which somehow wouldn't really surprise her. She sat up slowly, trying her best to regain her senses. Her eyesight took a while to clear up and when it did, she looked at her surroundings.

She appeared to be in some sort of large, clear dome situated in a tall tower. She looked up and she thought she saw the tiniest bit of light. The lid was open, not that it did her much good. The walls were thick and hard, and she couldn't see a way out. Even if she could get out, she was still stuck. Surely the door leading to the hallway was locked. Climbing up wasn't possible either; the walls were so slick there was simply no grippage available.

Just how did she get here? She had difficulty remembering what happened recently. Oh she did remember something about red chalk and a strange energy and she was certain she was controlled... Or was that all just a dream? She placed her hand against her head, feeling her mind swim. It was all so confusing. Maybe if she sat down and thought about this long enough, she would begin to remember what actually happened.

There wasn't any place in here to sit down in. The room was empty. She let out a soft groan. Well there was no use complaining. She already knew she was a prisoner. Why would she expect hospitality from her captors? She pressed her back against the nearest wall and slid down. She brought her legs up, her knees pressing against her chest, and she remained in this position while she continued to think.

Despite her confusion, she knew the most likely culprit who had captured her. That much she remembered. It had to have been Skrawl or...what was his name... Thoughtless. She had no idea what she was in for, but knowing them, it wasn't going to be anything pleasant. Knowing Skrawl, she wouldn't be kept in the dark for very long. She could almost see that zoner waltzing in right now to brag to her on capturing her. Or perhaps he wouldn't waste time on that and just move forward with his plans for her.

When the door opened up, she could see that she had been correct. Well mostly. The figure that came in wasn't Skrawl, but it was that other villain she recalled was involved. She narrowed her eyes, remaining silent as Thoughtless walked towards her, stopping in front of the glass wall.

(You are awake now. Good.) Thoughtless smiled. (How are you feeling?)

Penny growled at it and turned her head away. It took all her strength not to retort back at the zoner. It was so easy for her to snap at it, to tell it off. She knew that would only make things worse, though, so she did her best to keep quiet. She refused to make eye contact, knowing that doing so would only make it so much harder for her to keep her mouth shut.

Thoughtless wasn't going anywhere. She couldn't hear the footsteps of it leaving. She wasn't sure what expression it wore, but she imagined it was that same smiling one. She could almost hear it chuckling at her, as if this whole thing was amusing. She could feel its eyes boring through her head, as if it were trying to make her turn around and look at it. No, she had to keep her gaze away. If Thoughtless wanted to speak, then it can. But that didn't mean she had to look at it while it did so.

Thoughtless appeared to grow a little tired of waiting for a reply. (I see you need a little time alone.)

Penny struggled not to reply 'yes' to that. She did want this zoner to leave her alone. She had no desire to be anywhere near it. She would be happy when it finally left her alone. But of course, no surprise, she wasn't that lucky.

(But not just yet. First...a little bit of a talk.) Thoughtless didn't seem to mind too much that she wasn't looking at it. Perhaps it was because, no matter how hard she tried, she would still hear its voice. It echoed inside of her head. (My apologies for knocking you out. It was, however, necessary.)

At this, Penny recalled the memotrice's actions. She remembered it slamming against her. She recalled something that it used to send shockwaves of pain through her body. At this memory, she could feel some phantom pain moving through her body. She couldn't help but shudder, especially around the areas that had been attacked by the memotrice. She instinctively looked down at her arm when she felt a surge of pain there. She was both relieved and horrified that there was no mark there.

But why did the memotrice use that object against her? That was a dumb question. It was to capture her, obviously. She narrowed her eyes. She turned her head slightly, glancing just barely at the memotrice. She couldn't see its details all that well. Not that she cared. She immediately turned her head away and snorted. The memotrice didn't seem to like that very much and she was certain that it was arching itself up.

(You should be thanking me.) Thoughtless's hissing mental voice zipped through her skull. Penny merely shut her eyes and took a few steps away. (If it weren't for me, you'd still have that red chalk stuck to your hand!)

Penny froze. Memories flashed in the back of her mind. She could see the mental pictures zipping through her skull constantly. The images wouldn't leave her alone. She found herself being forced to watch these memories unfold in her head, almost as if someone had found the play button in her brain and pressed it.

Yes, she remembered now... The red chalk was put in her hands by...what was his name... Delta? Yes, that was it. He put it in her hand and Cornerstone had been there to make sure it remained in her hand, but then she broke free and there was a chase and...

...she had attacked the zoner.

Her eyes widened in horror when she remembered how the red chalk had taken her over. And not just in the 'forcing her to draw against her will' sort of way. But it had actually made her talk, too. She had threatened the snake zoner. She had given her more of a reason to hate her, to be afraid of her. If Cornerstone wasn't convinced before, she sure was now. And those horrible things she was made to draw... She could feel her blood running cold at the memory.

Thoughtless was correct. If it hadn't shown up when it did, she would have killed Cornerstone... And there was no way she would be able to live with that. She would never forgive herself for hurting a zoner. Even though Cornerstone had been trying to hurt her, she would never want anything bad to happen to her. She didn't deserve it. It wasn't her fault she was created that way. It...it was hers... She and Rudy did this to her. True, it was meant to help them locate Skrawl and Thoughtless, she still felt rather dirty about it. There had to have been a better way. Maybe if she and Rudy ahd thought hard enough, they could have figured out something and...

No, there wouldn't have been enough time. She had to remind herself that they had little choice. Sometimes the good guys have to do bad things for the benefit of others. This was something that she had to accept, although that didn't mean that she had to like it. She could only hope that she and Rudy would, in the end, be able to stop this whole mess.

(It wasn't easy removing the red chalk from your hand. It required surgery. Well if you could call it that...)

Penny stared down at her right palm. She noticed a big cut in it. It looked like someone had slashed a cylinder shape in her hand. It was stitched up tightly and she could see the redness from the stitches themselves. The skin felt a little tighter than usual and she realized that they had to remove a bit of skin from her hand. At this realization, she felt tingling, sharp pain move through her palm. She clutched her hand tightly, trying to cope with the pain.

She then realized something. Forcing herself to let go of her hand so she could raise it up to see it better, she stared at the palm. She looked carefully at the needle that had been moved through her palm to help hold the skin together. But..she was in ChalkZone... How was this possible...?

Before she knew it, she had looked over at Thoughtless. The memotrice was watching her in silence. It appeared to notice her questioning expression and it simply smiled. Penny kept staring at it for several moments, thoughts rushing through her head. Just how did this zoner...do this...? It shouldn't have been possible. She was from the Real World. Her blood would have dissolved the needle and the threat...

Just what was going on here?

(I can tell you are confused.) Thoughtless motioned towards her hand. (You want to know how I did that.) Penny managed to nod her head jerkingly. (Simple. The needle and threat didn't touch the blood. Human skin doesn't dissolve chalk. Those stitches are quite shallow.)

Penny looked down at her wrist. That would explain why it seemed more red than it should be. But something about it didn't seem right. "Yeah but still..."

Thoughtless cut her off. (No need to worry about it. It's fine now.)

Penny was tempted to try to press on and find out more. She couldn't help but wonder if Thoughtless was hiding something from her. That wouldn't really come as a shock to her. It seemed to be a rather mysterious zoner whose true motivations are unknown. She doubted even Skrawl knew what this thing wanted.

And now here she was, trapped in here with Thoughtless right outside. Even with its smile, its intentions seemed hidden underneath. She couldn't read its thoughts. She couldn't pry into its head and see what it was thinking. That expression... it was reminding her of how much she feared Thoughtless more than Skrawl. An enemy with an unknown goal is scarier than one with the most horrible of plans. Skrawl, she could predict. Thoughtless? Who knows what was going on inside that bird's skull.

She decided to drop the topic. She knew she wasn't going to get any answers from this beast. Anything she'd try to ask it, it'd just toss to the side like it was nothing. So she decided to focus on something else.

"Where is Cornerstone?"

(Ah yes. That snake beast. Don't worry, she's fine. I have no intent on hurting her.) Thoughtless said. (She and I are...quite similar really.) It motioned to itself as it said this. (Both were trapped like animals not long after we were created. I see a lot of myself in her.)

Penny narrowed her eyes. "Yeah, I bet you can."

(I can sense sarcasm in you. Don't worry. I understand your frustrations.) Thoughtless paced back and forth in front of the glass cage. (You have little reason to trust me...) It paused for a moment. (Just like Cornerstone has little reason to trust you.) It tilted its head to the side, leaning in towards the cage's clear walls. (After all, you and Rudy did create her with quite a tragic backstory.)

Penny widened her eyes at this. She stared at Thoughtless in shock. "Y-You..?"

Thoughtless nodded its head. (I was aware the whole time that she was created with the intent of infiltration. I knew she wasn't harmed by you or Rudy; you just made her think that way so that I would deem her an ally and bring her in. I could have just killed her, but I saw too much of myself in her. So I thought instead to just let her come and deal with you and your friend accordingly.) Thoughtless gave a smile. (It is working out pretty well, don't you think?)

Penny felt her heart clenching at this. Her mind flashed back to what happened before. She recalled how things hadn't gone exactly as they had hoped. Back then, she thought it was just a stroke of bad lack. They were still able to find this place, but they were still caught in the process. They had run into Biclops, who had tried to hurt them, and then Snap led them somewhere and..

She realized now that Snap had been under the control of Thoughtless. In addition to the hurt that she felt, it also left her feeling confused. If that were the case, why did Biclops chase after him? She had thought it was because Biclops was in on the whole thing. ...well yeah he still was, but she still recalled how it was Cornerstone's signal that led them there in the first place. Now knowing this, it all started to make sense now. Cornerstone leading them to that one spot hadn't been a stroke of luck. It wasn't just a clever plan. It was a sign that Skrawl and Thoughtless knew all alon what they were up to and they had played them for fools.

Penny clenched her teeth tightly. Why didn't she realize it before? Why didn't she foresee Thoughtless seeing through the fake memories? It was a memotrice, for crying out loud. Memories were its specialty. She had been so stupid. She was the smart one. She should have figured it out. Why did she not...

..then again, she didn't realize Snap was brainwashed until it was too late...

(Well I need to leave for now. I'm sure Skrawl is wondering where I am. But I do want to tell you one more thing before I go. Since you are my guest, it is only fair that I tell you what I have in store for you.) Thoughtless pulled its neck back into an S shape. Penny glared at it, but made no attempt to keep the memotrice quiet. (You recall how the red chalk was glued to your hand?)

"That is a feature of the red chalk, yes." Penny grumbled. "That isn't anything new. You just wanted me to run rampant or something."

Thoughtless chuckled at her statement. (Well true, the red chalk does make creators go nuts. Or at least, their creations. But..have you ever thought of where the red chalk comes from?) It tilted its head to one side. (I'm certain you were curious at one point.)

Penny shot it a glare. "If I were ever curious, it would be to stop the red chalk in its tracks."

Thoughtless nodded. (Of course. You see the red chalk as the enemy. You would want it to be stopped.) Thoughtless took a step towards Penny. Its eyes narrowed slightly. (But dear Penny... That is not what is meant to happen. The red chalk is far more valuable than you think. It has...potential that you are not willing to see.) It raised its wings up. (It was not created for destruction, but as an experiment to 'breathe life' as they say.)

Penny couldn't help but give a bitter laugh at this. "Oh please! The red chalk is nothing more than a menace!"

(I can see why you'd think that. But like I said, there's so much more to it.)

Penny shook her head. "Like what?"

(Life, my dear Penny. Life!) Thoughtless raised its wings almost like it was going to give one great flap. Despite its size, it looked like it would be able to pump a great wave of air at her, slamming her against the wall. (The red chalk is the result of an experiment gone right! Or...wrong, depending on how you look at it.)

Penny didn't understand what this creature was trying to tell her. Nothing it said was making sense. How could the red chalk be related to life when all it did was destroy? She had yet to see a friendly red chalk creature anywhere. She shook her head. She knew Thoughtless was crazy. But this was taking the cake.

(A powerful geomite was fused with ordinary chalk. Not the magical kind, but regular ones. Duds if you want to call them that. The result was the red chalk. Due to the fusion, it was bestowed upon with great power. It was supposed to be a way for zoners to use chalk. It was created around when there were no more creators in ChalkZone, and some disgrunteld zoners wanted to bring that element back. They say that it was wrong to kick out the creators, that ChalkZone was meant to have creators running around. Creators were part of our circle of life, and without them, ChalkZone was incomplete.)

"There's a good reason to keep humans out. The last time there were a bunch of humans here, ChalkZone nearly fell into dissaray!" Penny glared at the memotrice. She formed a tight fist with her had. It took all her willpower not to strike against the glance. "How could you say it was a good idea to have more of them...?!"

(I didn't. But the point is, they did. Those zoners who created the red chalk. They wanted to bring back that element. They failed; the red chalk would only work for humans.) Thoughtless told her. Its tail slowly swished from side to side behind it. (But it still had an effect on them. Studies show that red chalk was able to bond with their creator that held them. A genuine friendship was formed left and right.)

"Psh! Yeah right!" Penny rolled her eyes. She felt her blood heating up. She couldn't believe that Thoughtless was even suggesting such a thing. The red chalk was dangerous. There was nothing good about it. She refused to believe that any zoner would be dumb enough to create something that dangerous. "If that's the case, why did the red chalk start controlling the creators then? How come it uses them like toys? How come when Rudy tried to fight back, the red chalk attacked him?" She folded her arms against her chest. "Why don't you explain that to me?"

Thoughtless remained silent. It appeared, at first, to have some difficulty answering this. Penny did her best not to smirk. She knew that she would be able to call its bluff. Maybe now it would tell her the truth. Not that she was too interested in hearing this stuff. But she would rather hear the truth than some kind of fabricated lie.

Thoughtless simply smiled at her, taking her a little off guard. (I know it's hard for you to believe. But it's the truth. There were many old records you could look through if you don't believe me. Now as for your question...) Penny watched the bird-like zoner carefully. A part of her was almost morbidly curious to find out just what Thoughtless believes to be the case with red chalk. (The red chalk was an ally at first, until it was infected.)

"Infected?" Penny blinked at this. Thoughtless nodded its head. This wasn't what she was expecting to hear. "How? With what? The geomite?"

Thoughtless shook its head at this. (No, something else.) It paused for a moment. Then it added, (You recall those creators that used to run around? The ones that Biclops had shown Rudy?) Penny nodded her head cautiously. (Did you ever wonder what happened to them?)

At this, Penny's head tilted to the side as she stared at Thoughtless in confusion. What could it be talking about? What did the red chalk have to do with the children's disappearances? What did it have to do with them at all? None of those children were using red chalk. Whether or not it existed back then wasn't the point. There simply was no red chalk in those visions that Biclops had shown.

There had to be something else. What was she missing? What was she not seeing? She thought as hard as she could, looking through those memories, struggling to try to see what point Thoughtless was making. She could feel her had give off a dull ache as she thought harder and harder about the situation. There had to be something that she was overlooking. Something that may be so very obvious that when she did realize it, she would feel like an idiot. There had to be something that connected those kids to the red chalk. But what was it? The only thing was that they were both...

She paused at this. Her eyes widened in shock. She stared at the memotrice in disbelief. She shook her head slowly, not wanting it to be true. There...there had to be something else. Anything else... She had already thought of many terrible things. But this... This was beyond what she thought was possible. The implications were terrifying.

And as she looked into Thoughtless's eyes, seeing the way it was looking at her, seeing that smile... She knew that it was true.

(You never thought of why the behavior of the red chalk and those children were so similar?) Thoughtless asked in a taunting voice. It turned its head to one side. (You never once thought that was suspicious?)

Penny stammered at this. "B-But...but how...?"

Thoughtless chuckled. (Oh wouldn't you like to know? I think you might know it already, if you think hard enough.) Thoughtless motioned a wing towards her. (I will be leaving soon so you will have plenty of time to think of what I said.)

Penny felt her had being flooded with thoughts. She tried to make sense of what Thoughtless was talking about. What was it trying to imply? She searched her mind frantically as she tried to locate something that... But nothing came to mind. Her head was too swollen in confusion. She had never felt so confused in her life.

(One more thing.)

Penny looked over at the memotrice. It was clear it wasn't quite done talking yet.

(One of the effects of the red chalk, the thing about life... Well, the red chalk prolongs that. It makes the creator impervious to serious wounds.) Thoughtless noticed her expression and it just continued to smile. (Why else do you think Rudy could survive being launched like that? Why do you think his arm didn't break when that machine I saw in Snap's memories was shaking him?)

Penny stared at the memotrice in shock at this. She wanted to say something, anything. But she was in too much shock to say anything. She remained silent, her mouth hanging open. Her mind began to slowly process this information.

(I will give you time to think about what I told you. But do not worry. I will be back to tell you a bit more.) Thoughtless chortled at this. (After all, considering what will happen to you... it is best if you learn as much about the red chalk as you can.)

Penny widened her eyes at this. Before she could think to say anything to Thoughtless, the memotrice had veered away from her and began to walk away. She was soon left alone, the only sound being the earthquake of thoughts that were colliding together in her skull.

sss

"So let me get this straight..."

Snap tried his best not to whimper. He couldn't show any signs of weakness. Especially not in front of his boss, or the other Beanie Boys. They would question his quality as second-in-command and he would lose that title.

"Not only did you allow Delta to be killed..." Skrawl's voice was an odd mixture of emotion. The only one that he could positively identify was anger. "But you allowed Rudy Tabootie to escape?!"

Snap flinched at this. He did his best to keep himself standing up tall, regardless of how he was feeling. He opened his mouth to speak in protest, but he thought better of it. Doing so might just make the jellybean angerier. So instead, he opted to just nod his head slowly. He could hear gasps and murmurs among the Beanie Boys. He tried his best to ignore them as he lowered his head slightly in a submissive bow to Skrawl.

"It was an accident." Snap managed to say. "I never meant for it to happen. Rudy, he was just too..."

"You should have known how he would be! You should have seen it coming! You should have been able to stop him before he got that far!" Skrawl's voice boomed in the air. Through his top vision, Snap could see the jellybean was holding out his hand, the claws flexed inward as if to pierce through him. "But instead you...you..." He stopped himself, his breaths coming in heavy puffs through his teeth. It was clear Skrawl was trying to calm himself down.

"I'm sorry. It will not happen again." It was all Snap could think of to say.

"I sure hope not...for your sake..." Skrawl glared at him harshly.

Snap couldn't stop the brief shiver that went through his form. "Does this mean that...?"

Skrawl regarded this for a few moments. He looked as if he was contemplating the idea. Snap remained frozen, a part of him silently begging that it not be the case. But he dare not try to speak up and make Skrawl do anything he didn't want to. Then, slowly, he saw Skrawl shake his head. Snap resisted the urge to smile. "No. I will give you another chance. We do still need you to track down this little brat."

Snap saluted Skrawl. "You can count on me! I will find him and I will bring him back!"

Skrawl stared at him for a moment. A small, faint smile appeared on his face. It was hard to tell what this smile was for. Out of amusement or something else? "I'm sure that you will." He lifted up his head and looked over at the other Beanie Boys. "I want four of you to accompany Snap! Hunt down Rudy! I do not want you five coming back until you have found him!"

The Beanie Boys looked at one another. They gave each other nods and then, at random, four of them, two in the front, and two in the back, walked forward. They made their way silently over to where Snap was standing. The zoner remained silent as they approached him. They soon took position on either side of him. Their expressions showed they were a little reluctant to follow him after his failure, but they dare not contradict Skrawl. They would help him find Rudy and bring him back to his cage.

Snap's eyes narrowed as he thought of that boy. He could feel his blood heating up at the memory of what he had done. He could still see Delta's face in his mind's eye. He could see him slumping forward, collapsing to the ground. He could see him looking at him with those pleading, pain-filled eyes. Snap bit his lip. He couldn't help but feel a pang of sorrow. Sure he was his rival. But something about seeing him in so much pain...

...and all because of Rudy. Snap's teeth clenched so tightly, he thought they would pop from his jaws. It was Rudy who had caused his death. He had made sure that Delta would be stabbed. It was his fault that he was gone. Snap had witnessed another act of cruelty by the person whom he thought was a friend.

ooo But he is my friend. It was just an accident. I was the one who... ooo

No, he couldn't let those thoughts dissuade him. He reminded himself that Rudy had also grabbed his leg and burned it. Although it was patched up by another Beanie Boy, it still hurt to walk. Even now, it took a lot of his willpower not to scream. He looked down at the leg, flinching at the mere sight of it. He could see some red staining the bandages. He flinched at them.

This was Rudy's doing. He had done that on purpose. Just like he had hurt him in the past, he did so again. There was no way that Rudy could defend himself from that. That had been a deliberate act.

ooo Only because he was defending himself. I know him well enough. He would only hurt if he was defending himself. ooo

Bah, he said to that. If that were the case, then how come he tricked him that one day? What about those experiments? How was Rudy defending himself then?

ooo Or did those experiments really happen? I kind of remember waking up and they were helping me and there was a beast and... ooo

Snap felt a headache spread through his skull. He put his hand against his forehead and gently rubbed it. He wasn't really sure why he was having these thoughts again. It seemed that no matter how hard he tried, they wouldn't stop coming. And lately, they had been getting stronger and more persistant. He wasn't sure what was going on. Maybe he needed to lay down or something?

It was then he noticed that the Beanie Boys, and Skrawl, were staring at him. Snap looked left and right, noting their expressions of confusion and uncertainty. He said nothing as he looked around, meeting their gazes. He wondered just why they were doing that. Was he making expressions during his internal struggle? Was he remaining unusually silent and they were wondering why he wasn't talking?

"Is there something on your mind, Snap?" Skrawl said after a few awkward seconds of silence.

Snap quickly shook his head. "No, not really."

Skrawl raised an eyebrow. "Then what were you doing?"

Snap rubbed his hands together nervously. He struggled to find something to say. "I was just...thinking about what I'm going to do to Rudy when I find him. Yeah, that's it."

"I see." Skrawl didn't sound entirely convinced. But the jellybean was clearly more interested in results than finding out what was going on inside Snap's head. "Well enough taking trips down inside your own mind. You will get your chance at Rudy soon. Don't worry." He placed his hands against his hips. "However, I don't want you hurting him. Just capture him." Upon seeing Snap's disappointed expression, Skrawl added through clenched teeth. "It was your unauthorized torture of Rudy that caused this."

Snap looked at Skrawl in shock. "B-But I..."

"Enough!" Skrawl raised his hand up. "If you had just blinded Rudy and left him be after that, this wouldn't have happened! Now quit trying to come up with excuses! If you want to redeem yourself in my eyes, capture Rudy and bring him to me!"

Snap couldn't believe that Skrawl was blaming him for this. He wasn't the one who killed Delta. Not deliberately that is. He wasn't the one who burned someone else's foot. He wasn't the one who performed experiments in the past and mentally tortured someone who was supposed to be his best friend. That had all been Rudy. Why couldn't Skrawl see that this was entirely Rudy's fault? Surely, since the jellybean had saved his life, he would be able to understand this.

ooo He wasn't the one who saved me. ooo

Snap was startled by this thought. For a moment, he regarded Skrawl with a sense of confusion and fear. In that second, his mind briefly questioned why he was taking orders from this guy.

This was thankfully shortlived, and Snap returned himself to normal without causing much of a distraction like last time. Despite wanting to argue with Skrawl, he merely nodded his head slowly, caving into the jellybean's wants. Despite his disgruntlement, he knew he had to do exactly what Skrawl said. He couldn't afford doing something else to get on Skrawl's bad side.

Snap turned his head to the four Beanie Boys beside him. "All right everyone!" He gave a dark smile as he rubbed his hands together. "You heard him! Time to hunt us down a creator..." The Beanie Boys returned his smile. Not wasting anymore time, they immediately took off.

sss

Terry couldn't believe that Dr. Von Doktor wanted her to start working now, despite how late it was. Well he was willing to pay her a lot of money for this, so it would be all worth it in the end. She had never been paid that much before. Well technically she hasn't; Dr. Von Doktor would only pay her once she completed her deed. That shouldn't be too tough. She was good at snooping around. It should be easy to figure out something that would help that crazy old man.

A part of her felt compelled to help him anyway. He suffered like she had. His reputation torn apart because of something that he knew he saw. She could relate to that. She suffered the same way. She would never forget the words that her fellow coworkers called her, or how she had lost one of her reporting jobs because of her 'crazy chalk world theories'. And what connected her to him the most was the fact that they were both humiliated by the same person. Both of them suffered at the hands of Rudy Tabootie.

She gritted her teeth the memory of that brat. She couldn't believe that she was the one who was supposed to help find him and prove Dr. Von Doktor's innocense. Then again, despite her hatred of the boy, he was still a child. She couldn't very well just leave him to a horrible fate, could she? She knew her reputation would be further ripped in half if that were the case.

She wondered where he and Penny could have disappeared off to. Wait, why was she wondering? She knew exactly where they were. Those two sneak off into this world of chalk place and..she had no idea what they did there. Not selling anything or advertising or anything like that. They were probably off doing stupid little children's stuff. Those two were sitting on a gold mine. They had made the discovery of a century. Did they not know how much scientists would pay to have access to a place like that? And yet those two continue to selfishly hide it like it was nothing more than a playground to them.

She knew the parents didn't know. They never acted like they knew anything. She guessed that they felt their kids were just going to a hideout or something to play for hours. Terry couldn't help but shake her head. The fact that these adults weren't curious enough to know where their kids go in the day was truly something. She never met adults so calm about their kids being missing all day. She wondered how they were feeling now. Pretty stupid, she would imagine.

She didn't know yet how she was going to handle the situation if she did end up finding Rudy and Penny. Right now, she wanted to focus on finding clues on where they could be, and gather evidence against Dr. Von Doktor being responsible. That's mainly what the man wanted. Finding them was a bonus. She wasn't expecting it. But... she still had to prepare herself for what she'd do if she did locate them.

The first thing she'd have to do is resist the urge to be snippy with them. She might end up making it look like she was the one who kidnapped them. That's not something she needed right now. So she would have to stay calm with them and try to coax them into following her. She hoped that they would be smart enough to follow her and not stay wherever she'd find them.

Then she would have to make sure the coast was clear. If they were kidnapped and they weren't simply lost, she would need to look around and make sure their kidnapper was nowhere in sight. She decided to bring a small knife with her for self defense if it came to that.

But first and foremost, in addition to getting them to safety, she had to try her best not to discuss that chalk world with them. They would think that she was trying to trick them for information. While that was something she would definitely do, she was more interested in that large sum of money. She could use it to help expose this chalk world later down the line. She could use it to buy better equipment which could be used to help aid her in this quest. She smirked at this. Those brats might have this world hidden for now. But that won't last forever.

Up ahead, she saw that she was getting close to her destination. She wasn't sure what the law said about being on school grounds after school, but the gate was open. Terry recalled how those two seemed to disappear a lot during recess. All she needed to do was do a sweep of the playground. Maybe she would find some clues.

She pulled her van up to park on the sidewalk. She recognized this place as the same area where where she tried to 'interview' Penny Sanchez. She had retreated to the safety of her mother. Terry grumbled at the memory. Of course she was not able to do anything to stop Penny. Not while her mother was there. Not while there were witnesses. She was able to bag Snap but only because he was not around any adults. She doubted she would have gotten away with it if Mr. Wilter had been there.

She slowly made her way over, taking her time. She looked around to see if there were any signs of a camera. If there were any, she didn't see them. But just in case, she held up a written piece of paper and moved it around slowly, allowing any hidden camera to see it. The paper had a note on it, which was pretty much a short statement of how she was just on an assignment. Unconventional and probably not good enough. But she was on short time, especially with how pushy Dr. Von Doktor was being. Once she felt she had held it up long enough, she turned herself around and she began to walk around the playground.

There didn't seem to be anything special here so far. It was just a playground. Nothing out of the ordinary. She could see some chalk marks where children were drawing pictures and playing games. She could see some playground equipment, such as a slide. She could see a bench off in the distance where tired children could rest.

But there was nothing here that seemed suspicious to her. She narrowed her eyes. She didn't want to leave empty-handed. Surely there's got to be something here that...

Ah there it was. Hard to see, but it was there. She saw something very faint on the wall over here. She approached it slowly. She wasn't sure why she was taking her time, but due to her recent past with Rudy and Penny, she learned she could never be too careful. Once she reached the wall, she stared at it and examined it carefully.

Yeah there was definitely something different about this part of the wall. The rest of the school walls were pretty clean for the most part. There was some dirt and marks in several areas, but that's to be expected. There were even chalk markings all around. But these markings... She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but there was something...different about them. Something that stood out over all the other markings.

She stared at it long and hard. Just what was it about this that seemed different? She couldn't think of what it was, but this marking was definitely different. She wasn't sure yet if it was connected to Rudy and Penny, but there was a good chance that it was. Those two usually keep to themselves during recess. It would be just like them to sneak around here to play by themselves. And this would be a perfect spot for...

At this realization, her eyes twinkled. She finally realized just what it was that made this marking different. She peered in a little closer to confirm her suspicions.

Light.

She could see light.

It wasn't much, but it was there. A small light shining among the chalk stains on the wall. A portal that was not fully erased. A tiny, dot fracture into that elusive world. Her first peak into that place ever since she had lost her hair to that stupid frog beast. The very sight of it caused her mouth corners to curl up into a broad smile. At long last, she had physical proof of that place's existence.

She knew she had little time to act. This may be her only chance to do something with it. But...what was she going to do? It was getting late and no one was going to want to listen to her, not at this time of night. Not unless it was an emergency, and to them, this wasn't an emergency. Plus if she left, what if something happened that would erase the portal? No, she'd need to do something about it now, before she left. She thought of a picture, but they might think she editted it. Her camera..yes that would do.

As Terry went to get her camera and brought it over, she could feel her smile becoming broader, excitement pumping in her chest. She had waited so long to find a piece of physical evidence of that chalk world. And now she finally got it. She would love to see those idiots who mocked her try to explain a small light source when there were no lights on here save for the street lamps.

Soon she returned to the wall with her camera. She lifted it up, mounting it on her shoulder. She pointed it at the hole and zoomed in on it. Then she began to speak softly into the camera as she narrated.

"This is Terry Bouffant bringing you a rather interesting discovery. You see this small light here? Want to know what it is? I will tell you..."

As soon as she was done speaking, she turned the camera off and she placed it in her back. She picked it up and she stared at it, chuckling softly. She would love to see those brats try to stop her now. Slinging it over her shoulder, she proceeded with her assignment.

sss

Rudy couldn't stop panting. He couldn't stop running. His feet pounded the ground heavily, the force of each step feeling like they could send vibrations through this whole place. His mouth hung open and he could feel his throat drying up. He licked his lips slowly, struggling to keep them moist in this sticky atmosphere.

He wasn't entirely sure how long he had been running. All he was aware of was his pounding heart, which continuously pumped blood through his body, trying to bring much needed oxygen everywhere. He could hear the distant noise behind him. He didn't dare look back, for fear that he might end up tripping on the ground. Such an act would end up dooming him as there would be no way for him to get up before...

"Gotcha!"

Rudy suddenly felt something collide with him. He let out a scream as he was pushed up against the wall. His left eye widened as he stared into the hideous face of a Beanie Boy. His mind raced. How did they get to him so fast? He soon took notice of the other Beanie Boys coming in from behind, propelling themselves faster and faster in the air.

Rudy pushed himself against the Beanie Boy. His hands grappled with the zoner's despite the agony this caused him and, mustering up as much strength as he could, he shoved the Beanie Boy aside. The Beanie Boy wobbled in the air a bit before turning himself around and trying to grab him. Rudy used this temporary window of opportunity to get back away from him. With a small leap, he evaded the Beanie Boy. He then turned and continued running down the hallway.

By this point, the other three Beanie Boys had nearly caught up with him. Rudy could practically feel their breath against him as he struggled to run as fast as he could. He just barely managed to evade another tackle and soon he began to put some distance between him and the four pursuing Beanie Boys.

Up ahead, he could see a crosswords. Two ways to go. He wasn't sure which one was the correct path, but he had little time to contemplate. Soon he would be upon the point and then...

Wait, just how far away was it? Without his right eye, he couldn't judge distance all that well. His depth perception was gone. He tried to focus on the size of the intersection to help him determine distance. Even then, it was still too difficult and he feared that he would smash into the wall before he would realize just how close it really was. He would have to time it. As he heard the Beanie Boys shouting at him, drawing closer, he prepared himself to make the turn. He watched carefully, waiting for the right time.

Almost there...

Just a little more..

Now.

Rudy turned to the left. He felt his shoulder bang a little against the wall. He realized just how lucky he was to turn in this moment. He soon found himself barreling down this new hallway. But just a few seconds running down, he soon realized just what a mistake it was to turn here.

The hallway here winded. It twisted from side to side. It looked so out of place for this building that it made Rudy wonder for a moment if it was a deliberate trap or if this place hadn't been finished being constructed yet.

He didn't wonder for too long. He turned around to try run down to the other hallway. Perhaps the right one would be better. He couldn't get that far, though, as the Beanie Boys suddenly emerged, their hands outstretched as they prepared to grab him. Rudy skidded to a stop. He turned himself around and tried running down the other way, his feet pounding the ground once more.

Running down this hallway turned out as well as he thought it would. As soon as he had come to one of the turns, he immediately slammed into it, unable to realize how close he was until it was too late. He could feel his mouth push against it and a pounding ache spread through his jaw. He stumbled back and rubbed his mouth. He looked behind him and saw the Beanie Boys had practically closed in on him now. Scrambling to get away, he rushed further down the twisted hallway. The Beanie Boys easily manuerved through, zipping around, gaining on him.

Rudy struggled to keep ahead of them. He tried to avoid hitting against the walls, but this was impossible. He kept timing his turns wrong. His face and shoulder got hit multiple times and he could have sworn bruises were starting to form. On top of that, all this hitting on his face and the stress was irritating his eye injury. He could feel himself slowing down, his body wanting him to curl up in a ball and try to protect his damaged eye. But he knew he couldn't stop. Not here, and certainly not now. He had to keep running. He had to find some place to hide. If he didn't... He shuddered to think of the possibilities.

Eventually the tunnel began to straighten out, much to Rudy's relief. However, this relief was rapidly short-lived when he heard scraping from above him. He stared at the ceiling as he ran, and he could see something wobbling in front. A makeshift vent, and someone was using it. The clang of the rock-based lid fell down and out came an all too familiar blue and white figure. Rudy immediately skidded to a hault.

"Why hello there, Bucko." Snap said in a fake pleasant voice. "How nice it is to see you."

Rudy stood there, staring at the zoner with a wide left eye. He took a small step back. He slowly turned around to try to head down the other way. But to his shock and horror, the Beanie Boys were upon him now. They didn't try to touch him, but they blocked his only way out. They moved in closer towards him, forcing Rudy to get nearer and nearer to Snpa. It took only seconds for him to be completely sandwiched between them.

Snap stared up at him, that same sickenly pleasant smile on his face. He was silent for several moments, as if he wanted to unnerve Rudy a little. Well it was working. Rudy wasn't sure just what Snap was going to do with him. All he could do was stand there and wait for him to say something.

When Snap finally took action, his first move was to place his hand on Rudy's shoulder. This caused the boy to stiffen up at his touch. He looked down at the hand nervously, biting his lip. He was tempted to push it off. Something inside his head told him not to, however, and he remained still, watching Snap warily for any sign of movement or threat. Snap could shift at any moment and then he...

"Such a clever boy." Snap commented. He sounded almost genuinely impressed. "Trying to go down that tell, tricking us to think you went down another. And then the way you suddenly shifted direction before and ran down the opposite direction." Snap chuckled. "That was impressive."

Rudy would usually thank Snap for such a compliment. But the way he was saying them now made him feel so unnerved and fearful. Then again, he had never had to be so fearful of Snap before. He had never been brainwashed like this. And what of himself? Was he brainwashed? The fear of this, combined with Snap's condition, was enough to make his head feel like it was going to split wide open.

"But all good things must come to an end." Snap's grip on him tightened enough to cause a bit of pain. Rudy flinched, one of his arms raising up on reflex. "We tired of this running around, Rudy. It's time that you come with us and face the consequences of what you have done." At this, Snap's eyes narrowed, now showing the anger hidden underneath. "You might have evaded justice before. But that has come to an end..."

"Please Snap..." Rudy found himself saying. "We...we can work something out..right?"

Snap stared at him blankly for a few moments. Rudy wondered if he was considering the suggestion. But the rapidly returning glare showed that this wasn't the case. Before he knew it, Snap's hand was at his throat. Rudy let out a gasp for air as the zoner tightened the grip. "It's too late for such things, Bucko." His face close to his, breath hitting his face, Rudy struggled to turn his head to the side. He could hear Snap's growly, hissy voice in his ear. "Far too late..."

Before Rudy could respond, Snap shoved him backwards. Rudy felt his arms and legs being grabbed by the Beanie Boys. His ankles and wrists were twisted roughly and he let out a yelp of pain. The Beanie Boys held him still, his legs and arms stretched outward away from his body. This deprived him of any way to defend himself should Snap decide to attack him.

The zoner hadn't made a move towards him yet, nor had he given any orders to the Beanie Boys. He just stood there, glaring icy sharp daggers in his direction. Rudy could feel his body running cold just from the mere sight of those white eyes. The same eyes that used to look upon him kindly, but now held nothing but contempt for him. He thought he could see Snap's body giving a few slight shakes, indicating that there was a torrent of emotions rushing through him. Likely a combination of anger and excitement.

Rudy took a moment to look down at his leg. He flinched as he saw the damage he had caused to the zoner's ankle. He couldn't really blame Snap for being angry about that. This was a deliberate act. Even though he had only been trying to escape, that move was still pretty harsh. His blood had burned a deep wound in that leg and he could tell the zoner was having a hard time standing. This was likely why the zoner chose for an ambush instead of outright chasing him.

"Come on." Snap finally spoke. He straightened himself back. He showed some physical effort in pushing back his emotions, any temptation to strike against him himself. "Remember what Skrawl said?" The Beanie Boys nodded their heads.

Rudy squeaked out, "What does Skrawl want with me?"

Snap glared at him. He arched his shoulders up. He appeared to hesitate for a few seconds, but then Rudy felt something collide with his face. Snap's palm struck his cheek, forcing his hand to the side. Rudy let out a yelp of pain at this. He looked back, his left eye widening in pain and shock.

Snap turned to the Beanie Boys as he shook his hand. "This never happened."

Rudy was confused by that comment until he saw the Beanie Boys nod their heads around him. Rudy quickly pieced together that Skrawl likely didn't want him to be attacked. He wasn't sure why. Then again, that jellybean likely wanted him all for himself, the sick, twisted fiend.

"Let's go."

Rudy felt himself being roughly carried back the way he had come. He tried to struggle, but the Beanie Boy's grips were iron tight. He yanked himself from side to side, trying to do something to free himself. It was useless, but he still tried. Maybe if he kept trying, he would be able ot loosen their grip a little and then he could try to escape.

But eventually he gave up. He used up most of his strength in the running and it was really showing now. His muscles tired quickly and he soon hung limp in the air. His head fell forward. He opened his mouth a little wide and he panted heavily, struggling to regain some energy. He watched as Snap limped slightly in front of the Beanie Boys, leading them down the hallway and towards wherever Skrawl was waiting for him. Rudy's left eye filled with fear and then it slowly shut.

sss

(Well that will give you some food for thought.) Thoughtless sneered at her.

Penny shook her head in disbelief. "No..you're lying!"

(Well believe what you want.) Thoughtless merely shrugged its shoulder. (But don't say I didn't warn you.)

Penny glared in the zoner's direction as it walked away from her. It had just finished its second meeting with her, where it had told her more things regarding the red chalk. She had barely had much time to piece together what it said before when it delivered even more information. If she wasn't horrified before, Thoughtless had laid down a bombshell.

She didn't want to think it was possible. She was already terrified enough by what she had learned. The fact that the red chalk and those kids could be linked together, even one and the same, was unnerving. It wasn't something she wanted to think about. She had hoped that the memotrice was lying. Perhaps it was, but she had yet to see anything to contradict those words. It just..made too much sense.

And the whole 'adding strength to the creator'...while she hadn't seen proof of it, it did make sense. She remembered how Rudy was flung away by that machine Snap tried to use to free him. Such an act should have left him bruised, but he came out unscathed. And red chalk drawings did seem as though they had more stamina than a regular zoner.

But nothing could have prepared her for the shock that Thoughtless had just delivered to her now. It was something so chilling and so terrying...and yet there was absolutely nothing that would prove it not to be the case. It was terrifying because of how much such that it made, not in how improbable it seemed. She had spent the conversation and these few minutes alone trying to think of a way to deny that possibility.

But all roads seemed to lead in this direction. No matter how hard she thought, she was just unable to come up with any evidence that led to the contrary of the memotrice's statement.

The red chalk possessed the soul of creators. Mostly child creators, wrongfully placed there. This would explain their irratic and aggressive behavior. They were angry. Permanently angry at the world that had shut them out and trapped them. Forever trapped as an inanimate object, in a form they couldn't even communicate in unless another creator held them.

And who had put them there? Who had punished those children so severely? Who would have done the same thing to Rudy and her if they hadn't won his trust?

Biclops.

The very idea of that zoner being capable of such..such cruelty..wasn't something she wanted to ponder. She had talked with that large zoner many times, and he always seemed like he was so nice. He had never tried to harm them or anyone, and while he had shown anger, it was never to the point where they felt they should run for their lives. Biclops was just...too friendly. To think he could be capable of this barbaric act...

Then again, it didn't seem all that farfetched. She recalled how he had been when Rudy first met him. He wasn't the nicest of guys then. He was trying to hurt Rudy. She had seen the look in his eyes. She had seen the malice that shined in them. This zoner was trying to actually hurt Rudy. This realization dawned on her, causing a cold shiver to go up her spine. If he was willing to hurt someone who was only eight years old...then perhaps he really did do something to those other children. Biclops never did say what happened to them...

She shook her head. No, she couldn't let herself think like that. She couldn't let herself believe that Biclops would be capable of such a cruel act. Something else happened to those children. She wasn't sure what, but she knew that it had to make more sense than Biclops doing anything about them. Thoughtless was just trying to confuse her, to mess her up. Perhaps to make her an easier sacrifice to the red chalk.

Then it dawned on her. Why was the memotrice so determined to do that to her? Why did it want her to fuse with the red chalk? Perhaps it was just merely confirming it? Maybe it really didn't know what it read was true and thus it was just checking? That was the only thing that made sense to her. It did mention something about an experiment, didn't it? She was certain that it had.

The question was, if this experiment turned out to be a success, what was the memotrice planning? It hadn't told her what it wanted to do with the red chalk, or at least its powers. Never once did it hint on anything of what it wanted to do.

Her only thought is that it wanted to harness the durability of the red chalk, its raw power that it displayed. But...then what? What was it going to do with that power? Take over ChalkZone? Or did it have something else in mind? She clenched her teeth, her mind spinning from all the possibilities. She had already tried to ask the memotrice to elaborate, but it had merely dodged the question by asking one of its own. And she doubted Skrawl would be of any help. That jellybean probably doesn't know what the memotrice is really planning.

She slumped down to the ground, her mind swimming with thoughts. Now that she knew all of this...what was she going to do about it? She had no magic chalk to try to escape. She had no help. She was all alone. Even if she did have help, this dome was sealed up tightly. There was no escape route for her. Even as she looked around carefully, she couldn't see anything that would help her. It was all just glass, too thick for her to break with her fists and there were no solid objects in here for her to use.

But though she felt despair cling to her chest, though she felt too weak to get up, there was still a part of her that held onto hope. There was a way out of here somehow. She and Rudy had been able to squeeze out of trouble before. They could do it again.

At least...that's what she hoped.

Just then, she heard footsteps approaching. She whipped her head around, expecting to see Thoughtless returning, or Skrawl. Instead she was greeted by the sight of Snap. Seeing him immediately made her heart freeze and her body stiffened up. The fact that he wasn't even smiling at her, he was just staring out ahead into nothingness like she didn't exist, did little to calm her nerves down. She wondered what Snap wanted her for.

But she soon realized he wasn't here for her. He was bringing someone with him. As the zoner limped, which she finally took notice of, there were four figures..no, five, behind him, getting closer. As soon as they got into the light, Penny recognized the fifth figure she had nearly missed.

"R-Rudy...?" Penny whispered softly, her voice barely audible.

Rudy was secured in the air by the Beanie Boys. He didn't look badly hurt, but he looked exhausted and almost mentally defeated. His head hung low, his bandage covering his right eye loosened up a bit, his left eye drooped and staring at the ground. His mouth hung open and she could hear his pants from over here. It was clear he had exhausted himself trying to escape the Beanie Boys' grasp.

Snap motioned to one of the Beanie Boys to fly up and open the door. The one holding Rudy's leg let go. To Penny's shock, the boy didn't even try to squirm when the zoner let his leg go. The Beanie Boy immediately flew up and pressed a button, allowing the door to open. Penny scrambled back as Rudy was thrown into the dome roughly after Snap gave a gesture of his hand. The door was immediately shut.

Penny locked her eyes onto Snap. He finally seemed to notice her and he stared at her blankly for a few moments. Despite the lack of an expression, Snap's eyes almost seemed to be smiling at her evilly. She could sense the anger burning inside those visual orbs and it was enough to make her blood run cold.

Wordlessly, Snap turned and began to walk away. The Beanie Boys followed close behind him. Penny was confused by the lack of action, but she didn't really complain about it. She turned her head down to Rudy, who laid slumped on the ground, not bothering to get up. She dropped down onto her knees next to him and reached her hands out towards him.

"Rudy? Are you...?"

Suddenly, before she could touch him, the boy struck out at her, letting out a hiss. She could see his left eye wide in horror. It was as if he had just finally figured out where he was and who he was with. She leaned away from him, holding her hands against her chest, as she watched Rudy scramble up to his feet. He immediately moved back away from her, his teeth bared at her fearfully. She could hear his growling filling the air.

Penny took a small step back as she watched Rudy's fearful reaction of her. It was clear that he was still afraid of her after what she did. She could feel her heart clenching up in guilt. She lowered her head slightly. Her eyes never left his. Poor Rudy... He was shaking so hard. He looked like he wanted to leave, but the realization that he was trapped with her was making his heart race, his head turning left and right as he tried to find a way to get out of here. But just as she realized before, Rudy knew there was no escape.

Then Rudy stopped growling altogether. Penny watched as his facial expression relaxed a little. She caught a glimpse of guilt in his eyes. It was as if Rudy never meant to react like that to her. She noticed how he was looking at her now. Almost longing, like he wanted to be near her, but he couldn't bring himself to move towards her. In an attempt to comfort him, she started to walk towards him...

...only for him to cringe and give a soft, quiet hiss. Penny immediately backed away, which helped Rudy to relax again. Realizing that she couldn't get that close to him yet, Penny opted to sit down not too far in front of him. She looked at him with a sympathetic expression, eyeing his injuries and flinching at them. She wished she could do something to help him.

For now, they just sat in silence. Penny tilted her head up, looking towards the ceiling and that small dot of light up there. She narrowed her eyes softly. Somehow, she and Rudy would escape.

Somehow, someway, they would.

sss

The five zoners before him remained in their bowing position. Their heads lowered, their eyes closed, they showed nothing but utmost respect for him. They were silent, awaiting for their next orders. None of them dared to make move until they were told to, out of fear they might upset him.

They performed quite admirably. He was inspired. He was glad that they hadn't made the same mistake as before and waste time doing something they weren't supposed to. Now they had that boy in custody as well as the girl. Things couldn't get any better. Any previous anger he had for them was replaced with a genuine smile. He no longer doubted his choosing of second-in-command.

"Great job, boys!" Skrawl complimented as he smiled down at the five zoners. "Now we have both creators in our midst and they are defenseless!" He clutched his hand tightly at this as he imagined ripping into them. He had to remind himself that Thoughtless had other plans. "And I know you couldn't have done it without his help."

Skrawl stared directly at Snap as he said this. The zoner seemed to instinctively know that he was being looked at. He lifted up his head and stared up at Skrawl. He slowly climbed up to his feet as Skrawl gestured for him to come over, his claw bending back and forth. Snap soon reached Skrawl, but he kept his head lowered in respect. He smiled a little, but still held an air of uncertainty. Skrawl was pleased with this. Snap learned fast.

He reached over and he placed his hand on his shoulder, his claws lightly touching. "I must commend you on a job well done, Snap. I am pleased to see that you not only learned quickly, but you were able to capture Rudy in record time. Impressive!"

Snap's smile spread slightly. "Thank you, sir." He closed his eyes lightly, his head once again lowering. "It was my pleasure."

Skrawl removed his head and took a step back. He raised his hand up and pointed a claw in one direction. "You are dismissed!"

The sudden dismissal came as no surprise to the Beanie Boys. Snap, a little, but he was still new. It would take time for him to fully adjust. It didn't take him too long to get the hint, though, and soon he joined the other Beanie Boys as they left. They walked down the hallway. Skrawl didn't look away until they had disappeared from sight. Only then did he turn around and move towards the nearby seat.

He sat himself down and he leaned back in the seat. He tilted his head up slightly, thoughts running through his mind. He could feel a strong sense of elation move through him. Things were working out quite well. Better than he had expected. Sure they had hit a snag, but thanks to Snap's intervention, they were back on track. No longer did they have to worry about a little child roaming around, potentially causing problems. Not even Biclops could do anything, and the other zoners weren't really aware of what was happening.

Despite it not being how he wanted to get rid of them, at least Rudy and Penny would soon be taken care of. Thoughtless already figured something out. He was surprised that he didn't remember the plan. But oh well. There was so much going on that it was easy to lose track of something.

ooo I am Skrawl. I don't lose track of anything. ooo

Skrawl lifted his head up in surprise when he heard that voice. He looked from side to side to try to find the source. He couldn't see anything. He blinked a few times and then he shrugged. Must be his imagination.

He took a moment to smile and appreciate how easy everything was going to be after all this is done. Without Rudy and Penny getting in his hair, nothing was going to stop him from taking over ChalkZone. Nothing was going to prevent his enslavement of the zoners. No zoner would dare try to stand up against him. And he even had a new recruitment. Snap might be Rudy's creation, but under Thoughtless's control, he made quite the ally. A part of him hoped that this brainwashing stayed permanent. He would hate to lose such an ally.

But he'd still need to wait for everything to come through. The plan wasn't yet finished. They still needed to initiate the next step, which was to fuse Rudy and Penny with the red chalk. He wasn't entirely sure why Thoughtless wanted to do that or what significance it would have. The bird reptile hadn't been too open about what it wanted.

ooo Because it might use that against me. ooo

Skrawl was surprised by that thought. It didn't seem likely that Thoughtless was going to turn against him. He had been with it this whole time and never once had been altered. If Thoughtless wanted to do something with him, then it would have done so by now.

ooo It already has. That plan was never approved. It was trying to trick me. ooo

Skrawl shook his head at that uncomfortable thought. It was a scary notion, the idea of being controlled secretly. He couldn't help but shiver as he stared down at his hand. For a moment, he started to wonder if he really was controlled to some extent. And if he was, just what had Thoughtless done with him?

He had to struggle to push the thoughts away. This must be just related to his nerves. Yeah, that's all it was. He was getting really excited about this plan coming through. He could feel his heart burning and thumping. He could feel the energy rushing through his body. It took him so much to prevent himself from shaking too much. He couldn't stop the smile from spreading across his face. In that moment, he had no more doubts. The uncertain thoughts left him completely.

But he was still curious about this plan. He wanted to know more. He would need to go talk to Thoughtless. He would need to tell the zoner that enough was enough, that if it wanted his continued cooperation, it would need to tell him what it was trying to do. Or else, he...

(Hello, Skrawl.)

The jellybean jolted at the sudden voice from within his head. He looked around to find where Thoughtless was. With mental voices like that, the direction was so hard to determine.

(Behind you.)

Skrawl could see Thoughtless standing not far from him. He couldn't tell how long it had been standing there, waiting for him to turn around. Had it just arrived or was it waiting for a while? Skrawl didn't bother apologizing, though, as he turned his full attention on the memotrice. What perfect timing.

(I take it that Snap was successful?) Asked Thoughtless.

Skrawl nodded his head. "Rudy is locked up with Penny right now." He smiled as he raised his hand up in gesture. "Without their precious chalk, they will not be able to escape. So we no longer have to worry about them."

Thoughtless repied, (That's good... I was beginning to worry that we wouldn't be able to get them together. But now we have the problem of trying to keep the red chalk on them this time. I had to remove the one on Penny's because it was trying to attack Cornerstone.)

Skrawl frowned at this. He didn't really care too much about Cornerstone. But he also didn't like any discrepancies among his followers. The fact that Cornerstone and the red chalk were going to fight was not a good sign in his eyes. He would need to do something in the future to ensure that this didn't happen.

(Further more, the recruitment apparently takes longer than I thought. I was not prepared for this. If I had known, I would have done something about it.) Thoughtless frowned, turning its head to the side. A thoughtful expression plastered over its face. (We will need a way to make sure they don't escape..) It pressed its wing against its lower beak. (There is tying them up...that could work to keep them still.)

That would certainly work. Although it was a little mundane for what he was hoping they'd do. Skrawl would like to make their immobilization more terrifying and painful. Snapping their limbs would surely keep them from going anywhere. Besides, it's not like the red chalk needs their bodies to be in tact, right? Or did it? He wasn't sure. And didn't Thoughtless indicate that it wanted them to be as little injured as possible?

"I have plenty of rope stashed somewhere." Skrawl told it. "I can bring some over if you want."

(Not right now. We have some time.) Thoughtless tilted its head to the side. (Not like our 'guests' are going to get away any time soon.)

That was indeed true. Rudy and Penny had no where to go at the moment. They were trapped here with them. They had no hope of escape. Skrawl could relax, something that he usually couldn't do during a plan in progress. "When are we taking action with them, then?"

(In time, Skrawl. In time.)

Thoughtless's simple comment was filled with a sense of mystery. Which reminded Skrawl of what he had wanted to ask him. He decided to ask now before he forgot again.

"What is your plan?"

Thoughtless blinked a few times at this, its eyes narrowing slightly in confusion. (I do not know what you mean. I told you what I was planning on doing. Fusing those two children with the red chalk. Well at least Penny. I am still considering keeping Rudy around for more experiments.) It raised up its wing in gesture. (That might be the better option, actually. It would help with...)

"Can you just answer my question?" Skrawl was surprised at himself, but he did little to stop the glare from coming over his face. "Why do you want to sacrifice them...I mean, Penny, to the red chalk? What did you have in mind?"

Thoughtless remained silent for a few seconds. Then it said, (I don't know why you're so interested.)

"Because I'm part of this plan, too." Skrawl hissed. He pointed a finger at himself. "And I deserve to know."

Thoughtless looked like it wanted to protest. But then it deflated itself before it could speak. (Yeah..I do suppose that you make a good point there.) Thoughtless lifted its head slighlty, pointing its beak down. (I could tell you later. After we get those two...)

Skrawl was having none of it. "No!" He slammed his fist against the wall. This was enough to startle the memotrice. "I want answers now!"

Thoughtless was quiet, staring at the jellybean. The silence that fell upon the room was almost unnerving. Yet the jellybean hardly paid attention to it. He just stared at the memotrice, his glare piercing through the air, practically cutting through the memotrice's head. He made it clear through his expression that he was not taking 'no' for an answer. He wanted an answer and he wanted it now.

Thoughtless's eyes soon began to gleam a little. This was enough to snap Skrawl out of his momentary trance. He took a small step back when he saw the way Thoughtless was looking at him. He could have sworn the pupils became more blade-like and he could see Thoughtless's eyes narrowing into slits. There appeared to be a slight brown glow eminating from those eyes. Realizing that he might have gone a bit too far, Skrawl waved his hand in front, moving back a bit further. He was glad that his Beanie Boys weren't here to see this.

"Now...I just wanted to better understand this whole plan. I..."

Thoughtless took a step towards him, raising its wings slightly. Skrawl could see the small sharp claws on the wings, and they almost appeared to be pointed towards him. (You are a bit too inquisitive for your own good sometimes, Skrawl. If you want to know more about my plan, you will wait.)

Skrawl attempted to protest. "But..."

Thoughtless silenced him with a low, unearthly screech. It permeated through his soul and made him freeze. He couldn't bring himself to say anything else. He just stared at the memotrice, not daring to make a move at this point. He couldn't help but wonder if one more move would provoke the memotrice into doing something with his memory. That was an experience he hoped he never had to find out.

Thoughtless opened its beak a little, its small, sharp teeth exposed. (Do not worry. You will find out in due time. But for now, do not ask me that question again. I need more time to make sure that it pulls through first. I will not tell you about it if I think that there is a chance that it will be upturned. Otherwise, you might end up slipping, making mistakes. And that is not what we can afford right now. Understand?)

Skrawl hesitated for a moment. "Yes." He finally said.

Thoughtless smiled at this. (I am glad we are on the same page now, Skrawl.) Its eyes started to glow. (I'd hate to think what would happen if you did something to..mess that up.)

Skrawl shuddered at this. Then he felt something tingling in the back of his mind.

sss

The memotrice had to work fast to fix that memory. It realized that it had gone a little too far with its threats. It might have done something to make Skrawl suspicious. So it worked quickly to alter his memories so that Skrawl would not remember those threats. A quick and easy adjustment to make.

Skrawl had left a few minutes ago. It couldn't remember exactly where he was going. But that did give it some time to think alone. It began to wonder if it should have told Skrawl what it planned. It knew that Skrawl was going to just keep asking. Even if it had told Skrawl to wait, it knew him pretty well, and it knew that Skrawl was going to make another move at some point. He was going to do whatever he could to get answers. Maybe it should have just told him to avoid the headache.

But it knew it couldn't have done that. There was still work to be done. Plus, it didn't know how Skrawl would react to such a plan. It was fine with experimenting on those human children. But how would he react to his idea regarding the red chalk? Its uncertainty made it less willing to tell Skrawl about it. It couldn't have him being unruly during these times.

But it wasn't just Skrawl it had to worry about. It couldn't help but get suspicious that Biclops might still be around. This would definitely prove problematic. If its hunch is right, Biclops might be the first one to break free of its spell, and if he managed to do that, then he might... Well it wasn't sure entirely what he was going to do. Either take action himself or recruit more help. Not that it couldn't easily take care of that, but it would much rather avoid these problems before they started.

Perhaps it should send out a couple of the Beanie Boys to scout for him. It wouldn't be too hard to convince a couple. Most of them were just laying around doing nothing anyway. They were probably bored. Telling them to locate Biclops would give them something to do. Once it learned of where the giant was, it could then figure out a plan based around this. Perhaps it needed to trap Biclops or something. Perhaps lock him in his own Chalk Mine. Yeah, that should do the trick.

It then remembered that it wasn't just Biclops who might be problematic. It was starting to get suspicious of Snap as well. It had watched him from a distance and it noticed the look in his eyes. A few times, Snap would get this certain expression that indicated he was having an internal battle. It had seen this look in only one other victim of its, and if it remembered right, said victim was able to fight back against the mind alteration and his true memories came to the forefront.

Could this be what is happening to Snap? That would certainly be a major problem. It would need to do something to prevent any lose of control over Snap. Perhaps another further rewiring of his brain would help solidify things. It didn't want to do that just yet, however. It wanted to see if Snap starts acting strangely. So far, the superhero zoner hadn't really tried to challenge it nor did he try to do anything to mess with it. He still appeared loyal to Skrawl. So long as he remained this way, there was no need to take action.

Ah well, there was really no point in doing anything about him right now. That zoner was knee deep in this place. Even if he did somehow regain his memories, he had nowhere to go. Someone would catch him and prevent him from going anywhere. Then it could take care of him again then. For now, it wanted to focus its attention on its plan.

It thought about perhaps reading more of those books to see if there was anything that it missed. Yeah, that wouldn't be a bad idea. It never knew if there was an important detail missing. It was determined to make its idea become a reality. It had come too far to fail now and it would be damned if it ended up failing all because it didn't read the fine print or any extra details that would be important.

Thoughtless immediately headed towards its room. It didn't meet much opposition in the way. It had found a couple of Beanie Boys and it momentarily stopped to give them the orders to find, but not engage, Biclops. The Beanie Boys immediately left. It hadn't run into anymore on the way to its room.

It didn't take long to reach it. Once it was there, it moved towards its nest where it had stashed away the books. As it went over, it couldn't help but be amazed that Skrawl hadn't done anything with these ideas yet. Perhaps the jellybean zoner felt they were out of his league or were useless or something. Go figures. That zoner didn't seem to have a good idea on what was a good idea and what wasn't. Obsessed with simply ruling ChalkZone... What a primitive idea. Any nutjob can do that.

But it would take nothing short of geniusness to pull this off. After all, not just anyone can pull off what it was about to do. It was going to do something truly remarkable. Something that it was certain no one had ever thought of before. It would be spectular. Sure the attempts at making zoner useable chalk failed. But the red chalk still had another use. Something far more useful than just giving zoners the ability to draw.

After all, wouldn't it be far more impressive to grant sentience to all chalk? Wouldn't it be far more interesting if chalk could draw on its own? And most of all...

...wouldn't it be just fabulous to open the gap and bring ChalkZone and the Real World closer together?

But first, onto reading. The memotrice perched itself down, curling its tail inwards against itself. It opened up one of the books. Once it got itself comfortable, it pointed its head down and it began to read the passages.

It spent a few minutes reading, moving its eyes from side to side. Most of this stuff, it had read already. But it wouldn't hurt to reread them. It never knew when there was something that it had overlooked. Something incredibly important. It did come across some interesting information it didn't know, but none of it was going to help speed up the plans or anything, so there was no need to worry about them.

It was about to put the book down and move onto another one when it noticed a passage it didn't see before. It pressed its foot against the page to keep it from slipping away as it leaned its head closer. It focused its eyes intently on this paragraph, reading and rereading to make sure that it wasn't mistaken. After it finished reading for the sixth time, it narrowed its eyes into slits. Well, this was going to be a problem.

Thoughtless hadn't realized this before. It wasn't sure why it didn't. It wanted to smack itself for not noticing it earlier. How could it have missed such an important detail, especially with how important it was to its goals?

Well, there was no use complaining about it right now. At least it knew now, so there was still time to correct this oversight before it potentially became a problem later. It decided it was best to do that now before things slipped away from it. It was often better to take care of things first thing, especially if they were important. And this was quite important indeed. It lifted its head up and looked towards the door, its eyes narrowed in determination.

Now..where was that jellybean?

sss

Well that was it. There was nothing else here. Nothing that would neither confirm nor deny that Dr. Von Doktor was involved. Then again, what did she expect when she came here? That scientist hadn't been here since that science fair months back. But then, perhaps someone else could have come here and...

No, she saw nothing. No signs of those brats being followed by anyone or harrassed. Just the usual 'markings' of sorts left by regular children. There was that bully...she forgot his name, but she had seen him pick on Rudy and Penny a few times. Could he have had a hand in it? No, she doubted it. He didn't seem smart enough, or nasty enough, to do something like that.

Perhaps she had placed too much hope in finding something here. But it was the one place she knew those two hung around the most other than their own home. And she doubted she could get permission this late to go there. She might need to get permission tomorrow in order to come down to their place and speak to them or look around. They probably won't be happy to see her, especially if they get an idea that she blamed them for the children's disappearances. Which certainly wasn't the case; she had little reason to suspect the Tabooties or Mrs. Sanchez, or Dr. Sanchez if she wanted to go by her official title. They didn't seem like the sort that would do something like this.

...then again, she was aware that some parents may act and look loving, but do terrible things in order to garner attention. And she knew that Mrs. Sanchez was always looking for new customers with her home business, and Mr. Tabootie was constantly trying to get attention for his meat. So was it possible that they were involved with their own children's disappearances just to gain attention for business?

As sad as it was, she realized it was still a possibility. Perhaps she should regard them as suspects. But not say it outrigh, of course. She knows how defensive people can get, regardless if they were truly involved or not. She would lay off it for not. But if she did find something that led in that direction...

Then she might not have a choice.

But this day wasn't a complete waste. Terry smiled as she looked down at her bag. She gently patted her hand against it. She did finally get some piece of evidence for that world of chalk. And this time, those brats didn't know she had it. They couldn't do anything to stop her. She had the upperhand.

She wouldn't show it right away of course. She wanted to get this business with the kids taken care of. She would first store the camera at her place, where it would be completely safe. Then she would keep her mouth shut about the chalk world so the children wouldn't think she was trying to pry them for information regarding that. Then once the children were back with their parents, safe and sound, and once she got that large sum of money from Dr. Von Doktor, she would then take that footage and bring it to someone to look at. Surely they wouldn't think she was making it up if they saw that odd light that should not be there. Especially if they saw the raw footage straight from the camera itself.

She looked up at the sky. It had gotten dark out already. The stars were shining and the street lights had long been on. She could see the crescent moon shining above her, providing a little bit of additional light.

Now was a good time to start heading back. She would have to resume her investigation later. She was limited with what she could do at night and she didn't want to press her luck. She needed to get some rest anyway. She hadn't had a good night sleep in a while. She sometimes had bad dreams revolving around that day she nearly exposed that chalk world. She clenched her teeth as she recalled the horrific images of that frog thing, and how it caused her to be bald on national television.

The laughter...

The jeering...

The mockery...

She remembered it all. And with each memory, she could feel a burning stab in her stomach. She could feel herself growing sick by the second. She let out a hiss through her teeth. That little brat had gotten inside her head more so than he realized. Although the nightmares had shrunk in number, she still had them. Some days were better than others.

She tried her best to shake the thoughts out of her head. There was really no use in getting upset over it. At least now she had an upperhand over Rudy and Penny. They wouldn't be able to pull a trick like that on her anymore. With this evidence that she head, she'd be able to get all that she wanted in one easy swoop. She would get back the reputation that she deserved. She would be able to get back at those who mocked her by proving them wrong. But most of all, she would be able to get revenge on Rudy and his two pals for what they did to her. After all, what better revenge would there be than to expose that world they were so selfishly guarding?

She slung the bag's strap over her shoulder and she began to make her way towards her parked van. She opened up the back and swung her bag inside. She flinched as it clanged against the stand the computer was attached to. She let out a sigh of relief when it didn't fall over. She then shut it and went towards the driver's seat. Once she was in, she put the key in the ignition, turned on her van, and soon she was off.

As she drove off, her thoughts went to Rudy and Penny. She felt her expression softening up slightly. Despite hating them, she did hope they were all right. They were just children, and any desire to hurt them herself was borne out of anger. Justifiable anger, but it wouldn't be enough to excuse her behavior if she actually did something to them.

Besides, she could use them. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she thought about this. They knew that world of chalk really well. They had been to it more times than anyone. Their knowledge could prove useful for when plans to explore that world was put into effect. But she wouldn't ask them right away. No, she'd wait until after that world was exposed. Because by then, it'd be too late for them to stop her. Perhaps they'd be more willing to cooperate after their ego is smashed and humbled.

A smile twisting along her face, Terry continued her drive home.

sss

Reggie had a hard time getting to sleep. No matter how much he tossed and he turned, no matter what he tried, he just couldn't close his eyes and get to sleep. He let out a frustrated groan as he pushed his head underneath his pillow, hoping that, by some miracle, he'd get to sleep.

But of course nothing happened, and he knew why. He was still thinking about what happened lately. From seeing that thing of light on the wall, to trying to get information from Rudy and Penny, only to hurt them in the process, to getting in trouble, to the punishment, to the interrogation, then his dad's anger and temporary accusing of Rudy and Penny's parents, and then the realization that there was someone out there hurting people...

Needless to say, it was realy hard to feel relaxed knowing all of that. His dad tried to calm him down, tried to tell him there was really no use in him beating himself up over something that couldn't be changed, but Reggie couldn't really relax. He was used to hurting Rudy, but never like that. He hadn't meant to go that far. And how could he not worry about that mysterious guy? The one that assaulted Rudy and Penny right under everyone's noses?

He had already tried to relax himself and try to tell himself the police will figure it out. The parents had supposedly set up cameras to see if that man would return. Chances are he wouldn't, but he could see the need for security. There was that saying he heard his dad say at least once. Better safe than sorry. And nowadays, he felt it would be better to cling to that and be diligant than to let it go and then have something horrible happen. He wasn't sure how he'd react if his lack of action resulted in himself or his dad getting hurt.

True, there was little reason to think that he'd be targeted next. But...who would target Rudy and Penny? He couldn't really think of anything himself, outside of any his dad had suspected. But even them.. he couldn't think of a reason why they'd take such a risk. The attack had taken place at one of their yards. He forgot which one, but this still didn't change his point. It would take a lot of skill and guts to get into someone's yard to hurt their child.

He felt like he should do something. He didn't know if he could just sit here, doing nothing. His mind was spinning around too much. His teeth were clenching too tightly. His thoughts were swimming. He couldn't think of anything that he could do in order to calm himself down...except to take action and actually go try to find out answers.

He felt like he owed Rudy and Penny for what he had done to them. And this would be a perfect way to do that. If he could find out who had hurt them, and who had taken them, if he could get them to safety or at least bring to light who was responsible so he could be dealt with, that would be the most affective apology, wouldn't it? After all, actions speak louder than words. That was a saying he took to during his bullying. Now he had another use for that saying.

But he couldn't do anything right now. Even though it was tempting to climb out the window and do something now, he didn't want to do anything to freak out his dad. He knew that his father was already in a rut as it was. His emotions were all over the place and he often shifted quickly because of the confusion and the stress. He didn't want to do anything that would make that worse.

So as much as it pained him, he didn't have any choice other than just sitting here and hoping that he'd fall asleep soon. He was going to need his strength for tomorrow if he was going to figure anything out. Maybe things would be easier if he had help...

But who would want to help him? Who would believe him? He had never been too nice to anyone. He couldn't see anyone, not even his 'friends', wanting to help him out. And none of the adults would either, he didn't think. He might be on his own with this.

Wait, wasn't there that one woman? What was her name... Bouffant? Yeah, Terry Bouffant. She tended to follow those two around a lot, right? He had seen her around here, trying to interrogate those two. Maybe she would know how to track those two down? Or perhaps, she even had something to do with their disappearances? There was only one way to find out for certain. Tomorrow, he would start.

sss

"Rudy...come on..." Penny whispered softly as she tried to get closer. "Let me look at it..."

Rudy hunched his shoulders and hissed at her. He didn't mean to. He wanted so much to put all of this aside and forgive her. He still wanted to be her friend. He still considered her a friend. But the pain in his eye kept reminding him of what she had done, and his brain was telling him to keep her away from him.

He partially blamed himself. Penny seemed content on hanging back and leaving him alone, but when he showed too much discomfort regarding his eye, she had sprung into action. Or at least, she tried to until he swatted at her, hoping to keep her away. Penny looked determined to try to help him. He could see the look of guilt in her eyes, which easily explained her determination. But he would have none of it. Not while he was like this. If she got any closer...

There, she took another step. Rudy felt his body tense up. He was struggling against himself not to make another move. But she had gotten too close to him again. He couldn't stop himself from instinctively striking out against her. Penny moved back, staring at him with wide eyes. He gritted his teeth and hissed a single phrase.

"Go away..."

Penny's expression softened up more at this. He could feel a pang in his stomach at this. He felt a little guilty for acting this way towards her. A part of him realized that he was being irrational. But emotion often won over logic, and in this situation, his fear had a strange hold on him. He couldn't help but envision her taking out his other eye.

His racing mind kept interpreting Penny as some large, shadowy figure with red eyes and a gleaming, evil grin. He could almost see her pull out a knife and rushing towards him with it. Her voice sounded less sincere at times, clouded by a laughter he kept thinking she was giving. This was how his deepest, darkest mind was interpreting her, even though his eyes were telling him quite different. In addition, he could still see her striking at him, plunging that nail into his eye and laughing about it. Again that wasn't what happened, and he knew this, but he hardly paid attention to it as his fear overrid his judgment.

He wasn't sure how much longer he could keep this up. He didn't know how much more of this he could take. He was doing his best not to strike out against her. He did his best to keep away from her, and focus on his own pain. But her just being in the room, being unable to escape from her sights, it was starting to work him up. He could feel his body shaking as he struggled to keep himself as calm as possible.

But sooner or later, something was going to give. The question was, just how bad will it be when he finally snapped?

"Oh Rudy...I wish you wouldn't be like this. I'm just trying to help..." Penny whispered as she stared at him longingly. She looked down at his hand, flinching at the bit of died blood still present. "I want to help..." She lifted her gaze and stared over at what he guessed was his eye. "...please. Give me a chance."

Rudy was not able to stop himself from grinning almost viciously at her. The sight of it must have been bone-chilling for her to see. He felt a pang of guilt, but that did little to stop him from what he said next. "Yeah sure... The last time I gave you a chance, you took out my eye!"

Penny looked at him with the most guilt-ridden eyes that she could muster. It almost made Rudy stop glaring at her. Keyword: Almost. "Rudy... You know that was an accident. I-I didn't mean to... I was just trying to get you away from Snap and..."

"Yeah, Snap... Because you thought that he was telling the truth! You wouldn't listen to me, whom you had known longer!" Rudy snapped at her, using more sharpness than he had intended.

Penny bit her lip for a moment. She looked as if she was having a hard time thinking of something to say. Although he'd be ashamed to admit it, he was glad she wasn't responding right away. That gave him a few seconds to cool down. But he had a feeling that it wasn't going to be enough.

"I realized that I was wrong about Snap. But..you can't really blame me, can you?" Penny raised her hand up in gesture. "I mean...with this memotrice business..I..." She looked to the side. She shut her eyes and sucked in a breath through her clenched teeth. "I had no way of knowing what happened. How could I have known that you weren't...changed by the memotrice?" She looked back at him, her eyes widening as if she was finally realizing the full weight of her assumption. "Oh gawd, Rudy.. I'm so sorry..."

A part of Rudy wanted to forgive her. He wanted to put all of this behind them and forget that it happened. He wanted to move on from this. He wanted them to return back to how they were before. He wanted them to be best friends again. He didn't want his mind to be ruled by fear for the person he cared about so much.

But he couldn't stop the lingering bitterness inside of him. He had never been able to fully cast that aside. It remained with him, burning his stomach, making him sick almost everytime he tried to think about Penny. He was not proud of this, and he felt like slapping himself in the face. But he couldn't deny that his anger still loomed over his head, and he was getting a growing temptation to strike out at Penny. He just hoped he'd be able to control himself enough to prevent that from happeng. The last thing they needed right now was for a deeper wedge to be placed between them.

"I know you're mad at me. I don't blame you. I still made a horrible mistake. Your eye is damaged because of me. Perhaps even permanently..." Penny sniffled at this. "I...I can't believe that my actions had..done so much harm. I-If I had known..." She looked down towards the ground. Tears began to emerge from her eyes. "Please, Rudy... Let me try to make up for what I've done to you... Let me look at your eye... Please..."

Rudy felt the hairs on the back of his neck start to bristle at this. He couldn't stop the defensive growl from escaping his throat along with the following statement, "No way... Why don't you go make yourself useful and go..." His voice trailed off.

Her voice stinging with emotion, Penny asked tentatively, "..go do what, Rudy?"

He turned his head away from her. He shut his left eye slowly. Despite his anger, he knew he couldn't finish that sentence. It would have been going way too far. "Nothing. Just...just leave me alone... Please.."

He could still feel Penny's eyes staring at him. He could practically feel them cutting through his soul. He could sense her heartbreak and sorrow even from here. It intermixed with his guilt, making it stronger. He couldn't help but take in a shuddering breath, but for all Penny knew, he did this to try to mask his anger. He soon heard her let out a soft, defeated sigh.

"...okay then, Rudy. But just remember, I'm here for you. When you are ready to have that eye checked out, just...let me know, okay?"

Rudy didn't answer her verbally. He did give a weak jerk of the head, but nothing more. He didn't even bother looking at her. He kept his gaze away, trying to get his swimming emotions to calm down. He gritted his teeth as he struggled the best he could to relax. Yet he could still feel his negative emotions ripping through his head, threatening to rip him apart mentally. He wished he had some kind of bucket laying around. It was so tempting to use one.

He couldn't believe all that was going on lately. What had started as a hopefully quick operation to stop the memotrice, which was only supposed to take a few hours at most, had turned into a nightmare. He and Penny were prisoners here without magic chalk and their best friend had been turned against them. They had even been turned against each other because of that stupid eye incident. He wanted to cast aside his anger of that, but..he just couldn't help it.

And then there was the memotrice, whose plots he had no idea what they were. He had little idea of what it was planning, and he guessed Penny was in the dark as much as he was. He bit his lip as frustration swept his body. If he had an idea just a slight idea, of what the memotrice wanted, then that would be of a great comfort. He already knew about what was nearly done to Penny, but he had little idea of just what that zoner wanted to do with her should it have been a success.

Oh how he longed for everything to be back to the way they were. He wished the memotrice didn't exist. He wished that Skrawl was back to losing. He wished that he and Penny didn't have this wedge between them. He wished Snap was still their friend. He wished that they were exploriating new places in ChalkZone, having fun, enjoying themselves, meeting new zoners. He wished that all this strife was over, that the zoners didn't have this monster to worry about, that Biclops hadn't been targeted by such a fiend. He wished none of this had happened.

All these thoughts soon overwhelmed him. He brought his legs together, hugging them against himself. The horrible sting of his wounds hardly fazed him as much as his memories and emotions did. He curled his lip down a little and, unabled to take it any longer, he allowed the tears to flow as he cried.

sss

She couldn't blame him for not being willing to forgive her just yet. She couldn't blame him for being so angry, so unwilling to speak to her. After all, she had hurt him quite badly, and frankly, she was angry at herself as well. She wished she had seen through Snap's lies, the memotrice's lies, and avoid this whole thing.

Instead she was such an idiot, so naive. If she had been watching Snap's behavior more closely, she would have noticed something off about him. If she had gotten herself to look more thoroughly, she could have avoided this whole mess. She couldn't help but blame herself for this. She had little reason to be angry at Rudy in that regard.

But still... she wished that he would listen to her. She wanted to resolve this. She wanted to push it behind her and him. She wanted them to move on from this. But Rudy was having none of it. He didn't seem interested in reconciling. He just wanted her to stay away from him. He showed absolutely no desire to listen to her apologies. He didn't make any attempt to try to work this out with her. Despite understanding why, she couldn't help but feel a level of disappointment in Rudy. He was usually willing to try to fix problems that he caused. Why couldn't he do the same for her?

Probably because it was her, and not him. He seemed willing to try to fix problems he caused, but when it came to other people, he seemed to have a harder time. She never really noticed this before, and perhaps she was overreacting a bit. But Rudy just wasn't being all that fair to her. He seemed willing to try to make up for what he did wrong before, so why couldn't she?

Oh well, there was really nothing she could do make him talk. He was determined to give her the silent treatment and she was better off just keeping quiet herself and wait for Skrawl or Thoughtless to make their next move against them. Rudy was in no mood to speak to her right now, and if she tried to get him to talk now, she might provoke him and get a more nasty response. So for now, she went silent and waited.

Her mind went to what Thoughtless told her before regarding the red chalk. Her mind was still swimming and swirling from those thoughts. She wanted to believe that it was all a lie still, but she knew that she couldn't just pretend it wasn't a possibility. As much as it hurt her, she needed to keep it in the back of her mind. It was best to err on the side of caution than to pretend something didn't happen, only for it to bite her back. Sure, she had made a miscall with Rudy, assuming that he was altered, but this...there was something about this that she just couldn't dismiss completely.

The idea that Biclops could do such a thing... It was too much to think about. She never thought that Biclops could be capable of doing that to children. And yet at the same time, she could see it. He had hated creators before. He had good reason to. He had suffered so much and seen so much... Why would it surprise her at all that he would do something like that?

But then...why wouldn't he tell them? Why couldn't he confide in them what he did? It was clear, from when she and Rudy met him as a friend, and their interactions with him after, that Biclops would not do something like that again. He seemed to have gone beyond the savagery and the barbaric acts of his past. He could have just fessed up to them and they would have not held it against him. Honesty was the best policy in many situations.

Even if he couldn't tell them that...he could have at least told them about the red chalk. He could have spoken to at least Rudy about chalk that shouldn't be used. If he had done that, then Rudy would have known to avoid the red chalk and those horrible incidents revolving around Rudy and Reggie never would have happened. She couldn't believe that Biclops thought that keeping it a secret was a good solution. If he had that sign up about keeping out, then he must have known Rudy would have eventually traveled there. If that's the case, then why didn't he just tell Rudy up front?

Her frustration and anger regarding Biclops soon faded as she started to think about the memotrice again, regarding something else that it had said. Sacrificing her to the red chalk, fusing her with it... The thought made her shudder. She didn't know if it was possible. She didn't know if Thoughtless's talk of Biclops, what he did regarding the red chalk, was even true. She had to admit, the connections were pretty strong, yet she couldn't be entirely certain if it could happen. Regardless, she still felt cold terror with the idea of becoming red chalk.

She didn't even know yet what Thoughtless wanted with the red chalk, other than it involved life somehow. This, she didn't think she'd ever understand. The red chalk didn't create life; it destroyed it. Well okay so it allowed its creations to come to life, but the first thing they all did was attack and destroy and try to kill. She refused to believe that the red chalk had any value or purpose other than destruction. She refused to believe that it was created by zoners to help them make their own creations. Why would the zoners want something so destructive? Surely they would have known the dangers of red chalk before they used it and...

...or would they?

She had to remember that neither Rudy nor Snap, or even Reggie, knew the dangers of the red chalk until it was used. It had actually taken Rudy a while before he realized what was going on, and Reggie had fallen under the red chalk's influence. All this had taken time, and by then, it was already too late. They were both under the red chalk's control and it took a lot of effort just to get the crimson menace to stop.

So perhaps she should start to consider the possibility. If that was how red chalk was created, maybe there was some way to track down the zoners who made it. Maybe if they found at least one of them, they could figure out how to undo it. Maybe they could even release the children's spirits, provided there were any.

Yeah, that could be...

"Aaaaahhhhh!"

Penny nearly jumped at Rudy's scream. She put her hands to her mouth when she saw that Rudy had his hands to his covered right eye. The back of them anyway, keeping the wounds away from it. She could see that he was shivering and sniffling, struggling not to cry more.

She quickly determined what was going on. It must be the tears. She had heard him crying moments ago. Tears had salt in them. The salt must be irritating his eye. He must have cried enough that some of the tears went down and... She shook her head. She didn't have time to ask herself just how this was happening. She had to do something to help him. She couldn't just...

But would he let her close enough now? Or would he try to strike her away like before? Could she get near enough to him to be able to help? Would he allow her to be that close? Or would the pain cause him to push her even further away? She knew there was only one way to find out.

"Rudy...?"

At this, Rudy looked over at her with his good eye. His teeth were bared, but out of fear or pain, it was difficult to say. He was still making noises of discomfort, but his screams had quieted down when he looked over at her. It was almost as if, in addition to scaring him, the sight of her had a calming effect. And yet she knew he was still afraid of her... She moved slowly and carefully towards him.

"It is all right, Rudy." Penny whispered softly. "I'm not going to hurt you. Shhh.. It's going to be all right. I know you're in pain. Please...let me help you. I can help make the pain go away..."

She wasn't entirely sure if she could. But she had dealt with more injuries than Rudy. She could do something to at least help him be more comfortable. She could reduce the pain for him and help the eye to heal quicker. But first, she needed to get close to him. Based on his earlier behavior, she didn't think he'd let her too close. But she had to try. He was her best friend.

She took a few slow, tentative steps towards him. Rudy cringed away from her, and his teeth clenched tighter. She could see his body shaking a little harder, likely from a mixture of emotions. He didn't attempt to speak, but she guessed this was due to the pain. She could hear a low whimper once in a while come from his mouth. He was trying his best not to cry. She could see the pain shining in that left eye of his. But he couldn't stop; it only seemed to be getting worse. This caused her to bite her lip and she continued moving towards him slowly.

Rudy cowered away from her, drawing his body back. He scrambled up to his feet and he backed away from her slowly. Each step she took forward, he took one back, his teeth bared at her as if he was going to bite her. His fingers flexed a little, showing eagerness to strike and defend himself. Despite these clear threats, Penny understood that Rudy was reluctant to actually hurt her if it didn't have to come to it, and his expression shoed that he did actually want her help; he just couldn't bring himself to relax.

She stopped herself from advancing. She could tell that she was scaring Rudy too much and they would not get anywhere if he didn't relax. So she moved herself back a little and kept her head low to make herself look as non-threatening as possible. She looked at him with great concern, trying to keep eye contact with him so that he understood that she only wanted to help.

"Rudy..." She whispered as she moved her hand towards him a little. "Please.. I want to help you. I want to help you feel better. I know you are hurting right now. And I know you are scared. I understand why you feel that way. I know I wasn't a very good friend when I pushed you. I should have known better. I'm so sorry for that, Rudy. Please...let me make it up to you. Let me help you. I don't expect you to forgive me so quickly. All I want right now is for you to feel better. Do you understand?"

Rudy glared at her, looking somewhat disbelieving of her. The sight of this caused her heart to sting. But she couldn't really blame him for it. She stood her ground and waited for his response. When he gave a slow, uncertain nod, she continued.

"I can help you feel better, Rudy. If you let me look at your eye, and your other injuries, I promise I will do what I can to help you feel better." She did her best to ignore the pain in her own palm where the red chalk was ripped out. "Please give me a chance to make it up to you. I really am sorry for what I did, Rudy. I feel so horrible... I can't imagine what you had gone through. You must have been so scared and frightened...and you're in so much pain. I want to help take away the pain for you."

Rudy seemed to relax more at these words. She could see that his body was not as tense as it was, and his fingers stopped curling eagerly. His frown slowly faded a bit, and he straightened himself up. He still looked rather guarded, but he no longer looked as if he wanted to jump at her and bite her head off.

Now she needed to get closer. But this was going to be tricky. If she did it too fast, she might trigger a reaction and she'd back down to square one. She first needed to be sure that Rudy wasn't going to attack her out of fright. And she knew one way of doing that.

"May I come closer?"

Rudy stared at her with uncertainty written in his left eye. He turned his head to the side, watching her warily. She made not another sound, letting Rudy have all the time in the world to decide. She did nothing to speed him up, knowing that this was a delicate moment, and if she rushed him, she would break her chance to help him. Then Rudy started to move his head to give his answer.

He nodded.

Penny gave a small, caring, sympathetic smile as she began to make her way over towards Rudy. She took slow, careful steps as to not alarm him. Rudy got a little tense as she got closer, but she was glad to see that he was able to keep himself calm. The sound of his sniffling alerted her he was still in a lot of pain, causing her heart to sting. She hoped that she would be able to do something to help him.

Once she got close enough to him, she looked intently at his bandaged eye. She flinched when she saw the stained blood on it. Poor Rudy... If only she hadn't... She shook the thought out of her head immediately and she focused on trying to help him.

Before she reached out towards him, she asked, "May I look at your eye, Rudy?"

When Rudy gave the hesitant, slow nod of approval, Penny immediately placed her left hand on his right cheek. Her other hand went to work gently peeling back the bandage so she could have a look at the eye.

sss

Biclops wasn't sure how long he had been walking. He wasn't even sure where he was going. He just kept going in one direction, lumbering slowly. He didn't pay attention to anyone around him. He didn't respond when someone tried to speak to him. All he focused on was walking, trying to reach the destination that he wasn't sure of.

He did feel stupid for leaving behind the Chalk Mine unguarded. But something told him that it was going to be fine. Nobody goes there anyway except Skrawl and he had gone down this way. If he kept following this path, surely he would run into him.

Or would he? Why would he even think that Skrawl would keep going in one direction? For all he knew, the zoner had went somewhere else, or had a hidden passageway that he wasn't aware of. He may have just made the biggest mistake of his life by going down this way, pursuing after Skrawl despite knowing that leaving the Chalk Mine alone was a big mistake. He couldn't believe he had done that. Oh why...why did he do something so...so stupid...?

It was this confounded headache. His judgment had been affected by it. The pain spread through his skull, interrupting his thought processes, making him more prone to making a mistake. Yeah that had to be it. And...no, he couldn't blame it on that. He should have known it was stupid even then. But then..it hadn't been the only time he made a mistake.

He did allow those humans to roam around in ChalkZone despite the threat they obviously showed. All those humans, running around, destroying everything, being utter monsters... If he had just done something about them sooner, if he had just tried to act more quickly, then perhaps he could have prevented those disasters.

Sure he did finally get rid of the humans. He managed to do something to ensure they would never harm them again. Those humans were powerless now, stripped of their ability to bring damage to this world. Their callousness had been put to an end. But it had taken so long... Just how many zoners had been harmed in the process? How many died before he corrected his error and did something? He felt at fault for what happened. If only he acted sooner...

And Rudy and Penny... What possessed him to let them into ChalkZone? Why would he ever think that they would have been different? They had been doing terrible things behind his back, all while pretending to be the good guys.

But just like before, his thoughts were interrupted by those same doubts. The ones that told him that those two were innocent, that Rudy had been the one to fix his eye, not take it. Those thoughts clouded up the inside of his skull more, making his headache even stronger. It was almost like someone had taken a blade and was trying to plow it through his cranium. He struggled to push aside the doubts, but he was having an increasingly difficult time, and it forced him to consider that one possibility again.

Had he been wrong about them? What if they really were innocent? Despite all the sharp images in his head, despite the vivid memories, could they actually be wrong?

There was just something..nagging in the back of his head. Something telling him that there was something wrong here, something that he should be wary of. He couldn't help but think that there was something important that he was supposed to remember. But...just what was it? What was he forgetting?

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard some zoners speaking. He looked left and right and he soon hid behind the nearest large mountain. Thankfully he fit behind it quite easily. He watched as a couple of stick figure zoners were walking down, both looking very worried. One even looked heartbroken.

"I can't believe that it happened... It was so sudden. I mean..I know it was a while ago, but still... I can't..." The crying stick figure said. He wiped his nose, cleaning off the clear fluid that was stainding his face.

"I know, but...but something will be done about them." The other whispered to him. "It will be all right. You'll see. They will be brought to justice for what they did."

Upon hearing this, Biclops narrowed his eyes. So it seemed that Rudy and Penny really were the culprits after all. They had done something awful to these poor zoners. Oh once he got his hands on them, he was going to...

But the talking wasn't done yet. As soon as the crying zoner managed to calm himself a little, he started to speak again.

"Y-Yeah, but... You heard the news lately... You heard what happened to Blocky and Rapsheeba. You heard what the Great Creator is dealing with."

Great Creator... Why does that title sound so familiar? It was like a far away name that he had forgotten about until now.

"He will do something to stop them, I'm sure. I mean...I know he's missing, but...but Rudy wouldn't let us down, right?" The other stick figure responded.

The sound of this nearly caused Biclops to gasp in horror. How could these two think that Rudy and Penny were their allies? Did they forget what they had done to them? They were talking about damages, which those two most certainly caused. But in the next breath, they were talking as if Rudy and Penny were their heroes. How could they think like this? Unless...

...unless they weren't talking about Rudy and Penny. But someone else... But who..?

"That stupid memotrice will pay for what it had done to my friends." The crying stick figure stated. He formed a fist with his hand and he looked ready to punch something. "I want to go find him...and I want to tear him apart! And Skrawl, too! I don't know what that monster wanted, but the fact that he wanted to take the memotrice with him.. We can't afford to let him get far with his schemes!"

The other stick figure shook his head. "We don't even know where that thing is. How could we be expected to find it? Besides, you and I both know that it can alter memories. You told me what happened to those guards, how the memotrice so easily turned them against one another just by tweaking their memories. You know that it's too dangerous to get close to it..."

Biclops's eyes widened at this. His mind began to flash. He had been familiar with the word memotrice and he had recalled seeing it. But he hadn't remembered what it was capable of exactly until he heard it for what felt like the first time from these two zoners. The memotrice...yes..he remembered something about bad news of its existence, how it was terrorizing ChalkZone briefly before getting caught, and then Rudy had...

He shook his head. No, that couldn't be what happened. What of the vivid, colorful memories of Rudy and Penny causing trouble? What of all that he had seen that proved that Rudy was the enemy? But..if the memotrice really was the culprit in that unfortunate attack, and it was working with Skrawl, then...perhaps Rudy really was innocent.. Perhaps his memories had been faked and...

He struggled not to scream as a sudden, pounding headache came over him. His body trembled as he dropped down onto his knees. He clutched his head tightly, his teeth gritted. He struggled with his memories. They swam about constantly, zipping this way and that. They constantly fought for dominance, making his headache worse. He tried to rub his temples to make it go away, but it seemed to only make it worse.

He slowly opened up his eyes as he struggled to push those thoughts aside. He took a step forward, but flinched when he felt the sheering pain zip through his head. He put his hand against his forehead once more, rubbing it instinctively. He put his other hand on the mountain side and braced himself against it. He shut his eyes once more and tried to ride out the pain.

It was then that he heard something off in the distance. It was faint and he couldn't exactly identify it. But something told him that he should look. Despite still being in some pain, he forced his eyes open and looked over to see what it was. At first, he saw nothing. He kept looking, scanning the land for any sign of...

There. He saw something. It was moving at an elevation in the air. It was oddly shaped. It was both squarish and roundish and it had some kind of weird, round protrusions at the sides. What was...

No, those weren't protrusions. They were other zoners. Flying ones, but without wings. As he put his hand over his head to block out the sun to get a better look, he realized there was some kind of chair there, and someone was riding in it. He saw a rounded shape that tapered off near the bottom, and he also noticed some kind of greenish color...

It was Skrawl...

And he was headed straight for...

The Chalk Mine.

His eyes wide in horror, Biclops immediately took off after the evil jellybean. He hardly noticed the two confused stick figures shouting at him as he passed by. He just focused on getting to Skrawl, hoping to stop him before he got close enough to the mine.

If only he had been watching more carefully. Otherwise he would have noticed another group of pairs of eyes staring at him, their owners snickering and preparing to make their own move.