"Rudy, what were you thinking?!" Mrs. Tabootie cried, a few tears moving down her face. "You were lucky it wasn't as bad as it could have been!"
"What in tarnation were you trying to accomplish, Rudy?" Mr. Tabootie scolded his son.
Tilly nodded in agreement. She glared down at Rudy, trying her best to fight back her tears. "You should have just stayed in the hospital!"
Rudy lowered his head in shame, his eyes downcast. He couldn't blame his family for being so upset with him. He had made a huge mistake by leaving the hospital. He should have listened to Snap and stayed here. He would have been safer if he just stayed at the hospital like he should have. Three days wasn't a long time for him to heal, and now he got even more injuries. His mom was right. He was lucky that it didn't turn out worse than it already was. The anti-creator zoners were vicious. They could have done a lot more to him if they had the chance.
"I tried to get him to stay, but..." Snap started to say.
"And what why didn't you?!" Mrs. Tabootie snarled in Snap's direction. She formed a fist with her hand and raised it up a little. "We were counting on you to keep him safe! But you let him out of the hospital, and now look at him!"
Snap cringed at this. He opened up his mouth to speak, but no words would come. He hunched himself over and gave Mrs. Tabootie a guilt-ridden expression. He took a few steps back from the angry woman.
"Now Milly..." Mr. Tabootie put a hand on his wife's arm and pushed it down. "This isn't the time to be pointing fingers. "Snap did say he tried to stop Rudy, and besides, we aren't going to solve anything if we just stand around pointing fingers." He moved his hand up to squeeze his wife's shoulder gently. "The important thing is that Rudy's back at the hospital and he's being treated."
Mrs. Tabootie's expression softened up and she gave a deep sigh. "Yeah...you're, right, Joe." She looked over at Snap. The zoner looked at her apprehensively. Looking guilty herself, she said, "I'm sorry, Snap."
Snap stared at her, then gave a small smile. "It's quite all right. I...I understand why you were upset."
Listening to this made Rudy feel even guiltier. He wished he hadn't gotten Snap to agree to stay with him. He wished he had heeded the warning and stayed in the hospital. Now, because of his stupidity, he got even more injured and Snap got hurt in the process. If he had just listened and stayed like he was told, none of this would have happened.
And of course, he had tried to lie about his condition. Blatantly lie... He told Snap at the treehouse that he was feeling 'okay'. Yeah right... He was feeling far from it. He knew Snap could tell that he wasn't fine either. Yet he still said it anyway. He didn't know why he did it. To comfort Snap? To delude himself to believing things were okay now? He shook his head. He shouldn't have tried to lie. He was just making things harder on himself by doing so.
His first encounter with the anti-creator group had been a truly terrifying one. He hadn't expected it to happen that suddenly, that swiftly. Now they burned down Snap's home, leaving the poor guy homeless, at least until he drew him some other place to live. But now long would that last? Would the group go after him again? Was Snap also a target of this group? It was a possibility. That bird zoner called Snap his 'accomplice', so they must think Snap goes around helping Rudy 'wreak havoc across ChalkZone', even though that's not what he's doing. But this anti-creator group...they must hate humans so much that they refuse to see reason.
They did attack him while he was injured, after all. They clearly didn't care that he was covered in bandages. They didn't care that he was already hurt and weak. They still treated him like he was a maximum level threat and they hurt him. Rudy wasn't sure if they were going to kill him or not. The way they were acting, it seemed like a possibility. Or maybe they were trying to send a clear cut message to him. Whatever they were doing, it scared Rudy that they still hurt him while he was hurt. If they were willing to go that far...just what was this group truly capable of?
They were interrupted from their thoughts when they heard footsteps coming call the hallway. They turned their attention towards the door. Seconds later, Dr. Raiden, Mrs. Sanchez, and Penny came walking into the room. They each had a concerned expression on their faces. Dr. Raiden was holding some charts while Mrs. Sanchez held some medical supplies. Penny was navigating down the halls using yet another cane that was given to her. They approached Rudy, who sat on the edge of his hospital bed.
Almost immediately, Mrs. Sanchez went to work treating the wounds. Penny set the cane against the bed and assisted her mother however she could, which wasn't easy given her bad leg. Rudy did his best to hold still as his fresh new wounds were washed. Keeping still while the disinfectant was sprayed on him was not easy, but he managed to pull it off. As Rudy's injuries were cleaned and bandaged up by Penny and Mrs. Sanchez, Dr. Raiden stood next to him and was flipping through his charts. Rudy and the others watched him expectantly, waiting for him to give him his prognosis.
"Well, the good news is that it doesn't seem this group did a lot of harm to you, Rudy. It looks worse than it really is." The cheetah zoner turned his amber eyes and glanced at Rudy's left eye. "Especially in the case of your eye. The eye itself appears to be largely undamaged, but it's going to take longer for it to heal now."
"So he's going to be fine?" Mrs. Tabootie asked, her voice hopeful.
Dr. Raiden replied, "Well, there's still some hurdles. We need to look him over some more to make sure that he didn't aggravate his internal injuries. There's a good chance that the Luminos may have caused more harm than we initially believed."
"Luminos?" Tilly asked. "Sounds like the name of a game my daughter might come up with."
"Well I'm afraid the Luminos are not some game." Dr. Raiden said. He grabbed the edge of a page and flipped it over. He gave Tilly a sideways glance. "They're a dangerous group whose goal is to keep all creators out of ChalkZone. They had been quiet for some time, but..." He clenched his teeth a little. "I wonder what caused them to stir up now. Well, it doesn't matter now anyway. The point is, they're active again, and no doubt, they'd come after Rudy again."
At this, Rudy's parents and Tilly gave a gasp of shock. Penny, Snap, and Mrs. Sanchez also looked worried, giving the doctor an uncomfortable expression. Rudy felt a shudder go through his body. He couldn't imagine what the Luminos would do to him if they were to get a hold of him again. If their first attempt at kicking him out failed, just what were they going to do a second time? He couldn't leave ChalkZone without being in great pain... Just what was he going to do?
He definitely needed some place he could be safe. Right now, the hospital may be his best bet. He had doubts that the group would attack this place. And with so many zoners here, they probably couldn't get through anyway. But if the hospital turned out to not be too safe, or if the doctors say it may still be dangerous, then there was another place he thought of. Penny and Snap told him about the Gem Desert. That isolated area deep underground...that would be a good place for him to be. There was almost no chance that the Luminos would follow him there. It would be too risky of a move for them.
He was glad that Tilly did not bring Sophie into ChalkZone today. He did miss his little cousin. He did want to see her again. But with the Luminos roaming about, ChalkZone would be too dangerous for her. He hoped that Tilly could convince Sophie not to come here for a while until things were cleared up. Sophie might be able to hold her own, but Rudy would rather she not take the risk and stay out of ChalkZone. After what happened to him, he saw no reason to believe that this group would be gentle with the eleven year old.
Rudy winced as he felt Mrs. Sanchez start to clean his eye wound. He cringed and hunched over slightly as he tried to cope with the pain. He let out a small whimper was the woman carefully cleaned the cut and then went to apply the disinfectant. Rudy let out a cry of pain as the disinfectant stung him, but soon the pain gave way to relief and he calmed down. Mrs. Sanchez then started to apply new bandages to the damaged left eye. While she did this, Penny was taking care of the wound on his right hand. She washed the wound, cleaned it, which stung, and she wrapped a bandage around his hand, making sure it was good and tight.
As they were finishing up bandaging him, Dr. Raiden spoke up, addressing everyone in the room. "Rudy will have to stay here for a while. It is too dangerous for him to wander around ChalkZone with the Luminos out there."
"But what if the group attacks here?" Mr. Tabootie asked.
"Yeah. I could be wrong, but I don't think the hospital is exactly well armed to deal with this sort of thing." Tilly pointed out.
"Don't worry. He'll be safe." Dr. Raiden said, his voice filled with confidence and certainty.
"How can you be so sure?" Snap asked, pointing a hand in his direction. "I'm not trying to be a downer. I just don't know how you can be so certain that he won't be attacked."
"Trust me..." Dr. Raiden's voice was a little forceful when he said that. He stared at Snap intently. His eyes narrowed slightly, reflecting his level of confidence. "The Luminos will not try to attack him here..."
Snap took a few steps back. "Well okay... That's good to hear."
Dr. Raiden stared at Snap for a few seconds before he turned his attention back to the charts. He flipped through them some more, his amber eyes skimming through the paperwork. Then when he was finished, he closed it up and placed it in the crook of his arm. He held it against his chest. His attention was then shifted to Rudy, who was finished being bandaged up by Penny and Mrs. Sanchez.
"I trust that you will stay here for the next few nights." Dr. Raiden said, his voice calm.
Rudy nodded his head. "Yeah... I will.."
Dr. Raiden gave him a small smile. "Good, good..." With that, he turned and started to head towards the door. He stopped and then turned his head so he could see Rudy with one eye. "It may be even safer for you if you didn't leave the hospital at all. But if you need to, just make sure to come back soon, and don't stay out too long. The Luminos would surely nab any opportunity they see fit to get you."
Rudy nodded in understanding. He watched as the cheetah zoner headed out of the room. He turned his gaze towards the ground, his mind filling with memories of recent events. The attack on Snap's home, the Luminos members attacking him, being ambushed by the black chalk users earlier.. So much was going on and he was getting more and more hurt as time went on. He did have a piece of green chalk again, thankful that Barney gave them more than one. But what if this was taken, too? What if the Luminos or the black chalk artists attack him again? What if they go after his friends and families next?
Rudy glanced sadly over to Snap. The poor guy lost his home because of him... If he had just listened to the doctors and stayed home, Snap's treehouse wouldn't have been attacked like that. Now Snap was currently homeless. He was certain that Blocky or Rapsheeba wouldn't mind taking him in, and Rudy can always redraw his home. But Rudy still couldn't help but feel guilty about it. Knowing Snap, the blue zoner wasn't going to hold this against him. Snap would care more about his well being than some tree house that could just be recreated. But that didn't help Rudy much to shake off the feelings of guilt.
Dr. Raiden's warning did send a cold chill down his spine. Was he really not that safe going around ChalkZone anymore? What of Penny? Their parents? Tilly and Sophie? Wilter? Would they be attacked as well, if the group manages to get them alone somewhere in ChalkZone? Rudy had his doubts he could stay at the hospital the entire time. He would want to leave. He would want to see what else has been doing on lately. He didn't want to sit around and do nothing.
But Dr. Raiden was still right. The group would attack him the next time they got. Depending on how desperate they were, they might go after him even if there were a dozen zoners surrounding him. The hospital was, by comparison, safer than just wandering around outside on his own. He still didn't like it, though. He couldn't remain cooped up here the entire time. He can see staying here at night where he could rest in peace, but with the black chalk users still causing trouble, and with the potential dangers posed by the Luminos, he needed to do something to help keep ChalkZone safe.
Rudy's thoughts were interrupted when his parents came over. Penny and Mrs. Sanchez made room for them on the bed. They sat down next to their son. Worry shined in their eyes and they gave him a group hug. They were careful not to hurt him further. Rudy didn't move. He just froze as they hugged him tightly, afraid to let him go. He couldn't blame them for being this way. They did almost lose their son to a vicious zoner attack.
Not long after, Penny, Snap, Tilly, and Mrs. Sanchez approacheda s well. Like his parents, they gave him a hug, a way to comfort themselves and him, to spread reassurance among the group that everything would be okay. Rudy felt grateful for this. Reassurance was something they definitely all needed.
Suddenly, the door opened up again. Everyone looked, expecting to see one of the doctors, but instead it was someone that they hadn't really expected. Instead of a doctor, it was Skrawl. He stood in the door way on two legs. He stared directly at Rudy. He had something of a frown on his face, but Rudy could tell there was some concern in those eyes as well. The jellybean took a few steps towards him. He stopped a few feet away.
"Chalk boy." Skrawl said. He eyed Rudy up and down. "I take it you had a run in with some trouble?"
"Yes." Rudy said.
Rudy noted the expression on his family's faces. Although he had told them about Skrawl, they still felt a little wary around him. It may have been due to Skrawl's social skills, or lack there of. Even two more years wasn't enough for Skrawl to learn some proper etiquette. He would have spoken up as he watched his parents and his aunt watch Skrawl warily, but there wasn't really much he could say to help them feel better. And it wasn't like Skrawl was bothered by it anyway. He would just ignore them.
Skrawl took a more steps forward. He glanced at Rudy's family members for a few seconds. He ignored the looks they were giving him and he turned his attention to Rudy. "I still can't believe you took that risk."
"You know about that?" Snap said, his eyes wide in surprise. "But..how would you know if..."
Skrawl raised his hand. "If you think I'm psychic, Snap, think again." He pointed at Snap, narrowing his eyes, before turning his glance back at Rudy. His voice was still directed at Snap. "I spoke to the doctors when I came in. They told me what he did. And I must say, Master Tabootie..." Skrawl shook his head, now fully addressing the eighteen year old. "I am quite disappointed in you."
"Hey now..." Mr. Tabootie spoke up. He moved up to the jellybean zoner and stared him directly in his mismatched eyes. "At least Rudy's in the hospital getting treated now."
"Yes..and that almost didn't happen." Skrawl leaned forward, causing the man to take a step back. "If he had just listened to the doctors, this wouldn't have happened..."
"I know that, Skrawl. I know I screwed up." Rudy growled, glaring at Skrawl. "What's the point in making me feel worse?"
"You aren't helping, Skrawl." Penny said, her eyes narrowed.
Skrawl let out a soft growl. Just when they thought he was going to snap at them again, he let out a soft sigh. "Yeah I know." He sucked in a breath, attempting to calm himself down. Rudy felt glad that Skrawl was at least making an effort to control his temper. There were times when he could still be pretty nasty when he lets his temper control him. When Skrawl spoke again, this time he was definitely a lot calmer. "I just came to give you quick news regarding that anti-creator group."
"Oh?" Rudy asked, his voice laced with curiosity. "What did you find out?"
"Any good news?" Mrs. Tabootie asked hopefully.
"Or nothing that bad, if it's not so good news?" Snap inquired.
Skrawl stood on one leg. He folded his arms behind his back. He stared at the humans in the group, as well as Snap. He paused for a few moments. Rudy guessed it was so that he could gather his thoughts and form some coherent sentences in his head so he could properly convey what he wanted to tell them. Whatever he had to say about the Luminos group, it had to be important enough that he'd come all the way to them to deliver the message himself, instead of just letting his Beanie Boys do it.
Skrawl said, "My Beanie Boys and I have detected some activity from the group, outside of what they did to you. It seems they are fighting with the black chalk users in less populated areas of ChalkZone. The anti-creator group has also caused some forms of vandalism. It isn't just the black chalk users causing trouble. This anti-creator group is as well. We have attempted to arrest them..." His expressioned softed as he cast his gaze towards the ground. "But so far all efforts to arrest them have failed. They manage to escape our grasp." He lifted his head back up. "But rest assured, we will do what we can to apprehend them. In the meantime, all you humans best watch your back."
"They're escaping arrest...?" Snap spoke softly, casting a wary glance over to Rudy.
"If they're doing that..." Penny said in a low voice. "...they must be pretty resourceful."
"I wonder just how they're managing to get away." Tilly wondered out loud. "I mean...to evade police that easily?"
"Especially flying police officers..." Mr. Tabootie pointed out, reminding them that the Beanie Boys can fly.
Mrs. Tabootie said, "Well maybe their luck will run out soon? No one can run from the police forever."
"I quite agree, miss." Skrawl said, giving a nod towards the large woman. "Which is why my Beanie Boys and I will continue to try to get them. But we will use caution. I have an idea of why they keep evading us."
"And that is...?" Rudy asked cautiously, unsure if he wanted to know the answer.
Skrawl furrowed his eyes with concern. "I have sent two groups of five Beanie Boys to apprehend some members at two different times. One was two days ago. And another was last night." He paused. The silence was uncomfortable. Then he spoke. "They never returned."
A cold chill went through everyone's spines. Eyes were wide in horror. The Beanie Boys never returned? Ten of them just...vanished? They all had a feeling of what happened. An uncomfortable sensation that chilled their blood. It was something they didn't want to think about, but they couldn't just ignore it. There was no way they could. And the way that Skrawl said they never returned...how his voice sounded...that lead them all to the same conclusion.
The Beanie Boys had been killed... The Luminos had murdered them. This fact sent a realization through Rudy's head. Not just his, but they all came to realize this. The Luminos were more dangerous than they had realized. They were willing to go against the law to get what they want. They were okay with killing if they felt it served the 'greater purpose'. They were not afraid of shedding blood. Thanks to them, ten Beanie Boys were dead, or at least missing. Even if they weren't dead yet, there was a chance they would be soon, considering how vicious their attack against Rudy and Snap were.
Rudy felt his heart rate speeding up. Things have just gotten a lot more dangerous. An uncomfortable thought tugged at the back his mind. Something that he was not able to ignore, especially now.
Just how could things possibly get any worse?
sss
Terry hoped this would work. Come on..it just had to work.. She was running out of options. This was the only thing left that she could think of doing. Come on, please work...
The realization that Vinnie not only had ChalkZone evidence, but that it would be shown soon sent ice through her veins. Had this happened years ago, she would have been excited. Now, the same thing was frightening her, in much the same way she was certain it would scare Rudy and Penny. She had promised Mr. and Mrs. Tabootie that she would not let the ChalkZone evidence be aired, and she wasn't about to break that promise.
She had tried to talk Vinnie out of it. But he was determined to show it. He said he wasn't going to let her control him anymore. He had followed her advice when it suited him. Now that she was no longer interested in exposing ChalkZone, he saw no reason to listen to her, and now he has taken the reigns. He hid the ChalkZone tape somewhere and locked it up. Even if Terry did manage to get out of the locked room, she'd still have to find the tape and she'd still have to find a way to open it up. Or she could just take it with her, wherever she ended up going.
Or at least, she would have at least tried, had Vinnie not decided to take another step. He told her yesterday that he had brought the evidence over to the network producers. Her heart had clenched at this, and she only calmed down when Vinnie said they would not look at the footage until the day of the broadcast. It was supposed to be tomorrow, but it ended up being delayed for another couple days. Three at most. Terry was relieved by this news as it gave her more time, but still, that wasn't a ton of time to try to fix things before Vinnie would make the biggest mistake of his life.
About an hour ago, she had been taken into the bathroom. During this time, things started to look up for her when she found something laying on the ground. Vinnie hadn't been as thorough as he would have liked. Perhaps he was in such a hurry to keep himself cleaned up that he had missed a spot. Whatever the case, she had managed to find a needle laying on the ground. It wasn't the best choice to pick locks with, but it was better than having absolutely nothing to use like was the case before.
She didn't try picking the lock right away. She had to wait. She overheard Vinnie talking on the phone, stating that he was going for another meeting to the news station, probably to secure the time slot and to discuss matters with the executive producers. She wondered if he would outright tell them about ChalkZone, or if he was going to be smart about it and keep it hush hush until the evidence was broadcasted.
When Vinnie left, that was when Terry made her move. She started to pick at the lock. She had been on it for about half an hour now. She knew she didn't have that much time. There wasn't a large window of opportunity for her. The news station wasn't terribly far away and she had no idea how long the meeting was going to be for or when Vinnie would be back. She had to hurry as quickly as she could. Keeping the needle in the lock, she continued to twist it and push it up and down, hoping that, somehow, someway, it would give in and the door would unlock.
But as another half hour passed, and still no luck, she started to feel her hope sinking. If Vinnie came back before she could get this open, or even just as she got it open, she was in trouble. She didn't know when else she'd have a chance like this. She couldn't try at night as Vinnie was a light sleeper, and she might accidentally wake him up. She stared at the keyhole with determination, her teeth clenched, and she continued picking at the lock. Despite her hope waning, she refused to give up.
Then, finally, she heard something she never thought she'd hear. A click... She stared at the doorknob, her eyes wide in shock. She looked at the needle and then back at the door. She didn't want to get her hopes up. She didn't want to get excited over nothing. She reached down towards the door cautiously. She gripped the handle and pushed against it. Her more cynical side expected it to remain still, but to her amazement...she really had done it. The knob was turning...
Terry didn't waste any time. She turned the door and she pushed it open. She winced as it squeaked. She had to remind herself that Vinnie was not back home yet. She moved cautiously out of the door. She looked left and right, confirming that she was indeed still alone. She crept through the house. Even though she was alone, she was still as quiet as she could. Vinnie could still return at any time and she had to be prepared to rush towards her room as soon as possible.
Terry did manage to find her cell phone, shoved in a dresser in the living room. She shoved it into her pocket and headed towards the door. She opened it up slowly and peaked her head out, looking left and right to make sure Vinnie was not coming. She went through the door and before she knew it, she was outside. At long last, since her kidnapping, she was finally outside. The sun hurt her eyes, forcing her to look away. She put a hand over her eyes and looked around, trying to figure out which direction she should go in.
She did not stay much longer there. Knowing that Vinnie could come back any second, Terry got a move on. She could be recaptured at any time. Vinnie could see her and catch her before she got far. She had to start putting distance between his place and herself. She had to get moving. And she knew exactly where she was going to go.
The Tabooties'. She knew how to get there from here. She had to tell them what was going on. There wasn't much time left. She couldn't stop for anything. Even though her wounds were bleeding in a few places again, even though she was in pain, she still pushed herself. She knew it was imperative she got to Rudy's place as soon as possible. She would have called, but her cellphone ran out of battery, not being charged during all this time.
Without hesitation, and limping the whole way, Terry walked in the direction where she knew Rudy's house was going to be.
sss
Reggie grumbled to himself. He couldn't believe he was stuck doing some errands. Yeah, they didn't have school today, but that didn't mean his dad still had to turn it to business somehow and make him go on these errands. All Reggie wanted to do was say home and play some video games. The weekend was usually the only time he got to do that. When today's school day was cancelled, though he forgot to reason, he was ecstatic and thought he could enjoy a day home alone while his dad worked.
Well that turned out to be a dud. His dad gave him some assignments. There were a few stores he had to go to, where he had to pick up a few things. His dad expected him to get all of these things and be back before he came home. A couple of the stores, he wasn't really even picking up anything; he was just checking a few things, such as their car which was in shop. They were currently using a rental.
Reggie didn't know why he had to do this stuff. The car wasn't even his. His dad was just letting him use it for school. It really belonged to his dad. So why doesn't his dad do all this? Why should he have to? Yeah, he did use the car, but only to get from home to school and back again. It wasn't like his dad let him drive that far out anyway. This was especially true lately when he told his dad that he got a speeding ticket trying to take Rudy to the hospital. His dad really didn't like that and had gotten stricter on his vehicle access.
Reggie would have put the blame on Rudy if he were in better condition. Truth is, Reggie felt a little guilty about trying to shift the blame on him when he was very sick. He had no idea how Rudy was. He hadn't seen him in days. He thought about visiting his parents and asking him how he was, but he never got around to it. It wasn't like Rudy to be gone this long. He wondered if it was because of the disease or if something else was going on. The more he thought about it, the more he was certain it was because there was more going on than he or Penny were letting on.
He was well aware of ChalkZone. Not that he really told anyone about it. They'd all think he was crazy. But Rudy and Penny knew he wasn't nuts. Reggie remembered all too well the incident when he was ten and he ended up in ChalkZone with that red chalk. He knew it was no dream. He had pretended all this time to believe it was, but he was not a fool. Sure, he was not the brightest student on the block, but he could discern reality from fantasy. And he knew ChalkZone was real.
He hadn't been very happy about getting tricked out of ChalkZone like that. He had been trying to find a way back in, but he never had any luck. He could have confronted Rudy and Penny about it, but he never did figure out how he could do that without drawing a scene. Besides, maybe they had good reason to kick him out. He hadn't exactly been the nicest guy when he was there. Sure at first, he wasn't that bad, but then the red chalk started to make him feel powerful and then the Chalk Mine, throwing trash around...
The giant had shouted something about the red chalk taking control of him. That wasn't entirely true. Reggie was never controlled by it. He acted out because, for the first time in his life, he felt powerful, completely in control. And he wasn't about to let anyone take that away from him, especially not Rudy. He started acting out because it was the best way he could express himself at that time, and he admitted that it was not exactly the best move he could have made.
He had mixed feelings about the whole thing. He hadn't said anything about ChalkZone, but not because he was certain of the consequences; it was because no one would believe him. He wasn't sure how to feel about it, if he should try to speak up anyway, if he should consider Rudy and Penny's perspectives. He was still sore at Rudy for kicking him out, and he had thought about forcing him to let him back in. But not now. He wasn't going to take advantage of Rudy being sick to get back in. He had mellowed out over the years and he was no longer the same bully they had come to know.
He had confessed to Penny that he knew about ChalkZone. So she knows. Maybe he could try to speak to her again, whenever he had the chance to. Maybe she would let him in ChalkZone. He just had to avoid the darn red chalk. He wasn't really in the mood to be dragged all the way to the Chalk Mine again.
Reggie wondered just what ChalkZone was. There were a lot of drawings there...zoners he believed they called themselves. Everything was drawn. Everyone looked like it came out of a coloring book. He wasn't sure what to make of them. Were they alive? Was it all an illusion? There were so many questions about that place he had, but he never got a chance to ask any of them. Perhaps if he confronted Penny, she'd answer. He was certain she'd be willing to speak if he threatened to tell people about ChalkZone. Yeah, a dirty trick, but it would still get results, would it not?
As he drove down the street, going to his next destination, he noticed something on the side of the street. Something that was moving, but quite oddly so. He narrowed his eyes in confusion. He looked left and right to make sure there were no cars coming. He started to slow the car down and pulled up to the sidewalk. He shifted his stick to park and he lowered his window. He peered out and had a look around.
It took him a few seconds, but he did eventually see someone on the sidewalk, the person he spotted from the corner of his eye. He instantly recognized the person as Terry Bouffant. He let out a gasp of horror. Just...just what had happened to her...?
Terry looked pretty bad. She was limping horribly, constantly tripping over her own feet. She looked like she had a lot of crude bandages wrapped around her. He could see stains of red all over her clothes, a lot of torn marks and a few stabs. Her hair was dirty and messed up and it appeared to be heavily matted. She looked pale, like she was a little sick or frightened to death. Judging from her face contorting, he could tell she was in a lot of pain and it must be taking her a great deal of effort just to move.
Knowing he couldn't just leave her there, Reggie opened up his car door and got out. He rushed over to Terry. He managed to catch her just before she fell forward. Being quite strong, he managed to hold her up no problem. Terry let out a few moans of pain as Reggie supported her, slinging her arm across his shoulder.
"Ms. Bouffant! What happened?!" Reggie asked her, staring at her with wide eyes.
"T-Take me...to Rudy's...please..." Terry said, her voice weak and pain-filled.
"What happened to you?" Reggie asked again. "Who did this to you? I'm taking you to the hospital!"
Terry raised her hand and protested meekly, "No... Tabooties'..now..."
Reggie had no idea why Terry was rejecting medical attention. She needed help now. Why was she insisting on going to Rudy's place? Couldn't it wait? Whatever it was, he was certain it could wait. He carried Terry over to the car. He went over to the passengers side and opened it up. He helped her into the car and buckled her down. Then he went back over and got into the diver's seat.
He put the key in the ignition and turned it. As the car roared to life, he turned his attention to Terry. She leaned back against the chair, looking absolutely exhausted. Just how long had she been wandering outside like that? What happened to her? Who attacked her? He'd have to find out later. He had to get her to the hospital. He knows that she wantes to go to Rudy's place, but that would have to wait. His errands had to right. Right now, getting this woman to the hospital was more urgent.
Reggie pulled away from the curb and he headed in the direction of the hospital.