Theron took in a deep, long breath, and sighed. He took a moment to survey his surroundings, smiling as he watched his fellow villagemates wandering around, doing their own chores, or selling their own items to each other.

It was something that was normal, that happened all the time. There was nothing particularly unique about this. But that was why Theron was so happy. It reminded him that things hadn't been corrupted, that everything was going to be fine. It reminded him of how both the king and general had been taken care of, and now they could all truly live in peace.

His tribe did not leave the jungle, though. They had gotten used to living here. They had built their own customs and rituals, and become one with the land. It would be too difficult to just get up and leave. So here, they remained, although they may start getting business from citizens of the city soon. The idea opening up a trade between the two worlds sounded great, and even the chief had agreed to it.

However, there was one thing that had changed around here. And there's where he was headed right now. He moved along the path, the same one that he had taken Rudy, Penny, Snap, and Barney on when they had arrived initially.

Soon he came to the same enclosure, with the hippogriffs locked up inside. He watched them, noting how they were all settled on the ground, their heads turning and twisting in bird-like styles.

This time, however, there was a new occupant.

Theron couldn't help but smile as he stared down at the former general. Kairos laid on the ground, his stomach pressed against the dirt. His eyes were wide in fear and he looked as if he wanted to struggle. But the slightest movement induced a hiss from one of the hippogriffs. Another reached its head down and started to groom his head.

Kairos had pretty much become 'one with the flock', as one might say. He could not move as one of the hippogriffs had rested on him. He was accepted as a member, but he was the lowest ranking, and he wasn't allowed to move from that spot.

The sight of Kairos looking so frightened and panicked, so claustrophic, made Theron's smile broadened. Although the king had managed to escape without getting a proper punishment, Kairos would not be so lucky. The bird zoner would be trapped here forever, and he would be fed and given water so he would not perish here. This was his home now.

He thought back to Cameo. That zoner had recently returned to the city, likely to become the new general to whoever became the king. He had heard the decision was made, but he did not yet know who it was. And at the moment, he didn't really care. So long as it wasn't another King Zander, he was fine. The last thing Chalklantis needed was another greedy, selfish king who cared only about making some sort of unknown profit, or whatever King Zander had been attempting to do.

He could see a haunted look in Kairos's eyes, and he could tell the bird was still rather haunted by what his brother did. Theron was shocked himself. It was not something he expected him to do, and on some level, he wondered if he went too far.

But at least Cameo's actions had broken whatever courage and defiance was left in Kairos, making it impossible that he would ever try to hurt anyone again, even if he somehow regained the ability to walk and fly. It also made transporting him a lot easier. There was little resistance when they took him here to live among the hippogriffs.

"Enjoying your stay?" Theron said in a cooled voice.

Kairos's eyes opened at this, and he stared up at Theron. He opened his mouth to speak, but seemed to think better of it. He quickly shut it.

"Yes, I thought so. I know it may be rough for a little while." Theron waved his hand dismissively. "But don't worry... You'll get used to it soon." He gave the bird zoner a twisted smile. "Soon you will repay your debt to those you had harmed... and so much more."

Kairos shook his head a little. "Please... I-I had enough... Let me out..."

Theron gave a cold chuckle at this. "Like I'm going to do that. I'm not stupid, Kairos." He glared at him. "As soon as I let you out, you will go back on your word and you will try to hurt someone."

"With a broken back?!" Kairos wailed.

"You would find a way I'm sure." Theron was lying of course. He knew the bird zoner couldn't be much of a threat as he was. But still, he would never risk that chance of him being wrong. "Now if you excuse me, it's feeding time." He grinned, his eyes twinkling. "I know how much you love that."

Kairos's face paled at this. He tried to squirm underneath the hippogriffs. They let out a hiss, causing him to freeze. Theron smiled at this, and then he turned and walked away.

"No! Please don't! Let me out of here! I can't take it!"

Theron ignored the bird zoner's cries as he went back into the heart of the village. The further away he went, the louder the bird zoner's cries became.

"Come back! Let me go! Please! I'm sorry! I-I can't take this anymore! Let me out! Let me out! Please!"

At this, other villagers lifted their heads up and turned to the source of the sound, a bit perplexed. They blinked their eyes a few times, and then they shrugged their shoulders and they continued on what they were doing.

Theron smiled as he heard Kairos's cries continue to echo through the village. He watched as some of the villagers paused what they were doing, then, quickly losing interest, they continued on with their work as if nothing was happening. They were getting used to Kairos's presence.

Theron continued to walk away, Kairos's cries slowly fading, and replaced with silence. He could have sworn he could hear him start to cry.

sss

He couldn't believe that this had happened. Of all the things... why did this have to happen...? This was not what he had expected to happen. And now, he was paying the price for not being more vigilant.

He walked up the hill, or rather, he limped. His body was wracked in horrible pain. He felt as though he had been set on fire. He was covered in burns and cuts and scrapes. His whole body rumbled with agony, and he felt as though he was going to collapse at any time.

But he couldn't stop. He would be in big trouble if someone found him here. He...He needed to hide somewhere, where he could heal. He needed to rest, something he hadn't been able to do since that incident. If he could just get into the forest, he might stand a chance. Or at least to the mountains, where most of the Chalklantians don't go anyway. Yes, he would be save there until his injuries had healed up.

How in the world did he survive that explosion, anyway? How could he have managed to escape from it alive? He was supposed to be dead. He was too close to the explosion. Just...how did he survive?

It was luck, he guessed. Perhaps his quick thinking managed to save him. But...could he really call himself lucky? He was quite badly hurt still, and there were a bunch of zoners who wanted him dead, or worse...

He moved himself along the path as quickly as possible. He pushed himself to go faster, his legs aching, his limping getting worse. He tried to ignore the pain the best he could, but that soon became an impossibility. He hit against one of his injuries and he let out a loud cry of pain. He let out a few tears of pain and he dropped to the ground.

He curled up in a small ball, his body quivering in pain. He shut his eyes tightly as he replayed what had happened recently.

Why was he so stupid? Why couldn't he have seen this coming? Why did he have to do all of this without thinking through properly? He could have avoided this if he had just...

"Well well well..."

His heart nearly stopped. He recognized that voice anywhere. He started to shake as he struggled to get up. He just slid back down, letting out a cry of pain.

"Look who I have here..." The voice taunted him. He could hear the footsteps getting closer. "Why...if it isn't the former king of Chalklantis. I thought you were dead."

King Zander turned his head to look over at the zoner before him. He took in a few shaky breaths, his mind racing. How had this zoner found him? A part of him almost wished that he hadn't miraculously survived the explosion from Cychreides. That would have been merciful compared to whatever this guy was going to do with him.

"I must say, you had been a very well trained king. Had you all wrapped up around my finger, per say." The figure raised a claw up, twirling it around in the air to emphasize. "You did exactly as you were told, and I couldn't be prouder of you for that."

King Zander's fear was temporarily pushed to the side as he recalled that this zoner had him do. He quaked with anger, his teeth gnashing against each other. "Y-You promised that if I had helped you... you would leave my kingdom and people alone.."

"Oh yes, I did promise that." The zoner folded his arms behind is back, straightening himself up and giving him a twisted smile. "I had told you that if you destroyed Rudy Tabootie and Penny Sanchez, I would pull back that disease..give you the cure..." He narrowed his mismatched eyes into slits. "Well you seemed to have failed in that department..."

The deer's eyes widened in horror at this. He shook his head in denial, not wanting to believe what this might lead into. He looked up at the zoner pleadingly, hoping that he would listen to reason. But all the zoner did was glare at him coldly.

His mind raced rapidly. To think all of this happened because he had opened the doors to the wrong zoner. To think all this took place because he foolishly trusted him, and allowed him to get too close. It was his fault that the disease had been unleashed. It was his fault that many of his people had died. His was his fault that he had been forced into such a horrific deal.

This zoner promised to help him reverse it, but only if he tried to get rid of the two creators, and only if he placed all the blame on them. King Zander had never really hated the land dwellers; he had only been acting. He wanted so much to convince himself he was doing the right thing, to hide away from his guilt... and look at where it had gotten him.

He had even killed one of his own... Not because she defied him, but because he was terrified of what this zoner might do if he did not keep up the facade. This zoner was always watching him, and if he made one wrong move, if he said one wrong thing, he would go back on his deal.

It wasn't just his own people he hurt. He had also hurt Rudy and his friends in some way. He busted Snap's leg... He threatened to kill, to slit throats... He still felt a cold chill go through him, realizing just how far he had fallen to keep his people safe. He had allowed himself to be transformed into a monster. Even if he did return to his people, his horrible actions had tainted his reputation forever. They would never believe that he was sincerely sorry for what he had done, that he had never meant to hurt anyone this much, never meant for things to go this far...

Oh what a fool he had been... If only he had told Rudy and Penny the truth, then maybe this mess could have been avoided. Instead, he had become a coward, and he had allowed himself to be controlled by this zoner, like a puppet with strings.

"No...please...Don't do this..." King Zander begged the zoner. "Please... have mercy... Skrawl..."

The jellybean zoner put his hands on his hips, giving off a nasty smile. "I don't see any reason to keep up with the bargain. Not only did you fail to stop them, but you did not convince your people, oh I'm sorry, your former people to go the surface for me to make use of."

"Please...you can't..." King Zander gulped. He may have let his people down before, but he would not do it again. "Please..do with me what you wish, but leave my former people out of this. It's not their fault I failed."

Skrawl sneered at this. "I know. But I think I have a much better idea. Since you are here, and I already took care of General Kairos..."

King Zander widened his eyes at this.

"I think I should take care of you, too." Skrawl tapped a claw against his chin. "Since your people no longer believe in you, they will want a new king. Perhaps...I will take up the mantle for that."

"No...you can't!" King Zander cried out.

Skrawl ignored him completely. He lowered himself down. King Zander struggled to get away. He was in too much pain to move, and he ended up slipping and his legs gave out. He let out a loud groan of pain. Skrawl seized his crown, which was bent and twisted from the explosion. He placed it on his own head.

"Ah...that's much better! King Skrawl has a much better...ring to it.." He turned his head to the side, pressing two of his claws together. "Don't you think so?"

"Please.." King Zander whimpered. "You can't do this...! This isn't fair! This isn't what I agreed to!"

"I know, but what can I say? I have a habit of manipulating people. Master Tabootie could have told you all about that." Skrawl jeered at him, holding up a hand in gesture. "I engineered this plan so that, no matter what, I would win. I would get what I want, and guess what? It worked." He leaned himself forward slightly. "I will have control over your entire kingdom, and they will follow my every command. I will be a better king than you ever were, and then, when all is said and done, I will go to the surface and use your advanced army to take over the rest of ChalkZone!"

King Zander took in a few, horror-filled breaths at this. He couldn't believe he had fallen for this zoner's tricks. It was clear that Skrawl never would have helped from the start. He should have paid more attention to Barney's information pods. If he had just read more on Skrawl, he would have realized that...

King Zander let out a grunt of pain as Skrawl grabbed him by his throat and forced him into the ground. He hissed in pain, looking up at Skrawl with one dark brown eye. He watched as Skrawl raised his hand up into the air, the claws glinting in the light.

"I just need to remove one more obstacle..."

"What? No..."

"Oh yes." Skrawl chortled. "And why shouldn't I? It's not like anyone will ever trust you again. You're such a pathetic zoner, King Zander. You played right into my trap, all for your pathetic, loser citizens. You could have avoided all of this, but instead, you actually trusted me." His smile spread across his face, showing his crooked, horrid-looking teeth. "You've doomed your own people. Congratulations..."

King Zander shut his eyes and let a few tears flow forth. He knew the jellybean was right. This was his fault. He was supposed to protect his people and he only made things worse.

"Please...don't..." King Zander begged, making a final attempt to live. "Please..think about what you're doing..."

Skrawl chuckled darkly at this. "I know exactly what I'm doing. Now..." He raised his claws higher. "Any last words?"

King Zander shivered, staring at Skrawl in fear. His mind raced with thoughts as he thought of how he had gotten here. He thought he was helping save his people, but he realized too late that he was only helping this madman use them like tools. Whatever happened next to his people would be all his fault. He could not deny that.

Sorrow gripping his heart, guilt crashing down on him, he shut his eyes tightly. "I-I'm so sorry, everyone." Tears stained his cheeks. "I-I didn't mean for.."

That was when the claws came down.