CHAPTER 20: TO BEE OR NOT TO BEE

A few hours ago, Penelope Sanchez was in a horrible fight with Rudy Tabootie, her once-best friend, and both were knocked into the chalky waters of the Wait 'N Sea. Through some miraculous turn of events, the magical properties of the Wait 'N Sea regressed their minds to the states they were when they were once children, completely ridding them of any negative emotion of adulthood that plagued them, and many emotions did plague them.

A few minutes ago, Penelope Sanchez stood up on the stage of a karaoke bar with Rudy Tabootie, the two singing a romantic song together. With all the time the two had spent on their time as children once again, all seemed to be well again now. After the chalk clone of the cybernetically enhanced criminal known as Lars Rodriguez crashed their party, that moment of childish fun quickly turned to a nightmare.

A few seconds ago, Penelope Sanchez and Rudy Tabootie were both snapped out of the trance the Wait 'N Sea inflicted upon them, with the added dispatch of the chalk-Lars. Both parties were nowhere near ready to be brought back to adulthood just yet, but Rudy was equipped to handle it even less. Unable to face any of the group with his mind in such a mix, Rudy retreated into ChalkZone, trying to find peace of mind.

Now, Penelope Sanchez, Carol, Carlos, and Warhawk seek out the fleeing Rudy Tabootie, just narrowly escaping from the police after their altercation in the karaoke bar. While Rudy was in a frenzied state of mind, if such an oxymoron could exist, Penelope was having her own silent war with the emotional confusion she had endured.

During her teen years, what would have been her first boyfriend was broken and defeated at the hands of his worst enemy, and she was banished finding him again. After years of therapy to try to move away from her past, she tried to form a new future. Marrying who seemed like a good man and having two bright children together, she was abandoned by the very same man who pledged his vows to stay true to her, no longer interested in supporting a woman with a sad past or an Autistic child. After discovering that not only was her best friend not dead, but all her therapy was for naught, that ChalkZone was a very real place as it ever will be, she had no choice but to just hold onto Rudy for support, unable to think farther than what lay in front of her and unable to even dare consider absolutely everything that was happening around her.

Now, all those emotions, all those life-changing events all came crashing on her at once; every last feeling she had every felt all colliding at once like some twisted blended mixture of joy, sadness, excitement, depression, and other countless chemical imbalances of the mind.

If anyone has the right to say that they had a rough life, Penelope Sanchez has well earned that right. After all, if you were in her shoes, you'd feel exactly the same as her.

With Warhawk was too occupied with locating the absent Rudy Tabootie, and Carlos not easily able to read emotions as many neurotypicals can, Penelope thought herself alone in her internal conflict. While not the healthiest solution to her own struggles, it fit her own wishes to not burden her children with her own issues.

Carol, always the one to observe the emotions of others well, could tell that her mother was not in a solid state of mind. Wishing to help her unsettled mother, Carol lightly tapped Penelope on her leg, temporarily breaking her jumbled concentration.

"Mama?" Carol asked.

"Yes, Carol?" Penelope asked.

"I just... I wanted to know if you're doing alright. You've been through a lot."

"I've been through a lot this whole time, sweetie. I'm doing alright."

"But you just turned into a completely different person because of the Wait 'N Sea. I can't even guess what might've happened."

"It's nothing I can't manage, Carol. Just... Let's just keep looking for Rudy."

"Rudy... He really must have been through a lot to run off like that. I wonder what's happened to him?"

A few yards away from the group, the fugitive Rudy Tabootie, freshly broken from his trance from the effects of the Wait 'N Sea, continued his desperate and frantic run across ChalkZone, fleeing from two subjects pursuing him.

The first was the most obvious one: Penelope, Carol, Carlos, and Warhawk all seeking him out. While he knew that the quest for the Golden Chalk was paramount to the group, and that only he could guide them to it, the second of his pursuers was preventing him from accomplishing that goal.

The second of his pursuers?

Fear.

Pure, primal, unrelentless fear.

Since the beginning of the human race itself, each and every man and woman alive has possessed a sense of fear. From the first member of its species until its very last, this function has and always will serve as its means of self-preservation. It has given the human race the ability to recognize danger, and grant the individual a choice; to either stand their ground and fight, or to flee for shelter.

This self-defense mechanism has served the first humans well against physical and immediate threats, but, as human minds became capable of developing more abstract thoughts, the perceptions of threats to their well-being have been redefined as well. From anything such as procrastination to avoid an unwanted chore or trauma chasing one away from their past, no primal emotional constructs have evolved in the world of abstract as much as fear has.

Such is the case with Rudy Tabootie; unable to face his traumatic past, and resorting to both physically and psychically fleeing from the source of his fear. For many years, he was forced to survive on his own; the few friends in his life gone, his worst enemy having taken away his artistic drive and replacing it with more savage instincts, and barely able to live day to day in an environment as harsh as ChalkZone can be. Unable to stand the constant bombardment of emotional agony that assaulted his mind for most of his life, Rudy Tabootie thought many times of giving up his quest for survival, perhaps even ending his own life to escape the pain.

Somewhere within him, however, there was still one piece of resistance, one carnal force of nature that forbid him from egregiously ending his own life, no matter how hopeless it all seemed. Needing to find a way to survive but the next day, Rudy did the only thing that he could to prevent himself from feeling any of the negative emotions nearly dragging him to death. A choice that would seemingly be one he could never take back his entire life.

Consciously locking away each and every one of his emotions, ranging from happiness, sadness, joy, sorrow, excitement, depression, love, hate, everything from here to there and all in between; Rudy abandoned his emotions completely, allowing himself to live like an animal just simply to live the very next day. A large price to pay for such a small problem, but it was a decision that Rudy made without choice or passion; simply desperate to end his own pain.

And so his wish was granted; he could no longer feel any sort of emotional pain of his past, but, in doing so, he had wished away the one talent that had made him unique as a person: his ability to draw. In a life where the ability to create the most beautiful works of art pale when compared to the need for food and shelter, the choice seemed rather easy, especially at an age where childish things seemed to useless, paired with his lack of magic chalk.

With the magical properties of the Wait 'N Sea changing his mind into a child-like state, regressing him to the days before he had knew pain and isolation, all 15 years of oppressed emotion has now all come back to haunt him once again; taking away the little sense of control he once possessed, and leaving his mind in suffering and anguish to a level no one else could possibly know.

Squeezing his head in a tight grip with his hands and stomping around his surroundings, Rudy let out numerous screams of frustration and pain, trying to simply expunge out his unwanted feelings out in a physical manner and be done with the affair. As anyone would know, this did nothing to help his predicament, only making it far worse. With each outburst of emotion, each lashing out and screaming curse, Rudy only found his own unwanted feelings increasing, leaving him to continue in his own suffering.

The ability to block out his emotions seemed easy in hindsight; a lack of hope and options made even the most impossible tasks to a human seem like simple chores, all because the only alternative was agony. Now, with these emotions Rudy had kept suppressed for so long finally free from their own prison, there was no possible way any of these emotions would work their way back.

With each emotion coming to him drove after drove, his own understanding of his emotions began to grow weaker and weaker. Just as one feeling of joy brought to him from the memory of an instance playing an Accordion Worm crossed his mind at once, the sense of hunger from having never caught any dinner on a cold winter night came as well.

What made these polarizing mixtures of emotions even more unsettling to Rudy was his own feelings to who was once his best friend, Penelope Sanchez.

Once upon a time, the two were an inseparable pair; always seen together, but no one ever knew what they had done together. Meeting each other while only in the 5th grade, neither having had any other sort of friends before each other, the two were destined for a great life together. With many years of their childhood spent together in the magical realm of ChalkZone, defending its residents from rampant Zoners by vindictive creators, the two grew to be best friends, and, at the eve of his 13th birthday, things seemed to elevate to a new level.

Alas, fate would not have it this simple. With the introduction of a new, evil Zoner known only as the Chalk King, Rudy was broken and defeated by Skrawl, his archnemesis, with Penelope banished from ChalkZone and all that was good and innocent in their lives gone forever.

After being reunited with Penelope with 15 years passing the two by, Rudy wanted nothing more than to hate her for not only not saving him, but starting an entire life without him. With at least two days together with her and her children, however, he is no longer sure what to think or feel anymore.

While Penelope was not particularly the warmest towards him at first, mostly due to his own hostility towards her, her position of Rudy completely changed upon hearing of his days alone in ChalkZone. Whether by following her maternal instinct to nurture and heal or by her own rekindled love for Rudy resurfaced, Penelope was not determined to stop until she had brought her best friend from his own emotional turmoil.

Never having anyone care for him for over 15 years, Rudy was not open to this outside help, even going so far as to emotionally abuse Penelope to avoid her help. Despite his best efforts to be rid himself of her, it was not anywhere near enough, as she still persisted to help him.

For much of the trip, Carol, seeing through his emotional despair quite easily, could see that, deep down, he was scared. Every time that he had been accused of being afraid of his feelings, Rudy would always lash out, denying with every bone in his body that he was not. Just as he was lying to the child and the others, Rudy was also lying to himself.

He was afraid, but he dared not admit his own defeat.

"No! NO! I am NOT scared! I am NOT! I've faced giant crawdads, Goolah Monsters, and all sorts of monster Zoners! I'm not scared! I can never be scared again! I'm not that stupid little kid anymore, crying and whining for someone to come save him! I saved myself! I don't need Penny! I don't-" Rudy ranted.

Upon mentioning Penelope's name, however, another surge of emotions began to flow through him once more. His feelings towards his once best friend were initially mixed to negative, still blaming her for his own predicament. Now, it seems that his feelings are beginning to warm themselves towards her.

Remembering the many times of fun and excitement the two had together as children, a sense of regret began to overcome Rudy, finally allowing himself to feel a sense of empathy towards Penelope. With the acceptance of this heavy emotion to swallow, every effect began to follow this cause, starting with something that had never happened to Rudy for years:

With his feelings for Penelope resurfacing, regret and heartache began to settle in, followed by the first tears that Rudy had ever shed for many years of his life. The tears began with a slow runoff, transitioning to a flow into mere seconds. Letting out many pained cries, Rudy fell to the ground, curling himself up onto the ground in an attempt to comfort himself.

"Oh, god... I... I love you, Penny... I really do love you... but I don't want to. It hurts... It hurts so bad... I just want it to stop... Please... just stop..." Rudy cried.

Just as many bittersweet emotions began to finally bring some manner of positive influence in his mind, the past trauma of his broken arms began to resurface, the feeling of lost limbs being brought into his mind again. While the bones themselves were far past healed, the pain itself never left him. It was one of the main primary forces preventing him from drawing again, and it now leaves him unable to even function.

Being caught in his heavy emotional turmoil, Rudy found himself unable to pay notice of anything else in his surroundings, such as a few figures beginning to approach him. The figures, seeing the distressed Rudy lay on the ground in tears, began to approach him further, wishing to assist the poor man.

"What's wrong with him? He looks hurt." One figure said.

"I don't know. He doesn't look to be injured, but he's definitely not all there." Another figure said.

"He's still in our territory. What should we do with him?" A different figure asked.

"In or territory or not, he needs help. I say we take him to the Queen."

"To the Queen? Are you nuts? Who knows what she'll say?" The first figure asked.

"If she found out we left someone for dead like this, what would she say then? I say we take him."

As Rudy listened to the voices, he began to take notice of the figures surrounding him, finally focused away from his pain for a brief moment. While he was finally brought away from his phantom pain for a brief moment, there was a more pressing manner of affairs before him when he saw who and what these figures were.

Looking upon the figures standing before him, Rudy realized that the figures were Beanie Boys, the minions of Skrawl.

Letting his own instincts of self-preservation take hold of his mind, Rudy immediately rose up from the ground, jumping back against a rock. Feeling up his clothes up and down for some kind of means of self-defense, Rudy found one remaining piece of chalk in his pocket, subconsciously placed there from his first attempt at drawing again.

Taking the chalk in his hand, Rudy held it towards the Beanie Boys, holding them back with the threat of drawing a means of attack. While still unable to use the chalk on his own, he hoped the bluff would prove effective enough to protect him. While the first and third Beanie Boys were easily taken back by his threat, the second was not; instead trying to talk sense into him.

"Whoa, whoa, take it easy, we're not gonna hurt you." The second Beanie Boy said.

"Get back! I'm not going back with Skrawl!" Rudy said.

"What?"

"Don't treat me like I'm stupid! I've been fighting Skrawl for years, did you think I'd forget about you bugs being his cronies?!"

"Listen, we're not affiliated with Skrawl, far from it, and I promise we're not here to hurt you. Just calm down, we want to help you-"

"Shut up! Just shut up or I'll draw... I'll draw a giant bird to eat you!"

As Rudy made his threat, his arms began to tremble and shake heavily, unable to stay steady enough to properly draw anything. The second Beanie Boy took notice of this, trying to convince him once again to calm down.

"I don't want to rain on your parade, but your arms don't look to be in the best drawing shape. Maybe you should just put the chalk down before someone gets hurt-" The second Beanie Boy tried to say.

"I said shut up! Don't make me-" Rudy began to say.

Moving his hand in the air with the chalk still in his hand, Rudy began to draw out his promised threat of a bird to scare away the Beanie Boys, but encountered a problem he feared would come. With the movement of his arms being used in fine movements designed to create a drawing, the pain of trying to make those fine movements began stinging sharply, causing him to cringe in pain and drop the chalk.

With the chalk out of his hands and his pain crippling him from making any more means of defense, Rudy fell to the ground, gripping his arms and trying desperately to block the pain from his mind. The second Beanie Boy, immediately rushing to the downed Rudy, carefully picked him up off the ground.

"Easy, pal, I got you. Let's get you somewhere you can get help. You guys, help me out." The second Beanie Boy said.

Despite their own reasonings telling them not to help, the other two Beanie Boys helped their friend anyway, assisting in bringing the injured Rudy Tabootie back with them. Unable to fight back against the Beanie Boys, Rudy only laid back as he was carried away, watching them take him somewhere else. Even if he could fight back, something was telling Rudy not to, beginning to find some trust in the Beanie Boys with their gentle treatment of him, despite all logic telling him otherwise.

"No... No... Let me go... You're not... You're not taking me back to Skrawl..." Rudy said.

"We're not taking you anywhere near that guy. We're gonna take you back to the hive. The Queen'll know what to do with ya." The second Beanie Boy said.

As the pain continued to seep its way into Rudy's mind, his consciousness began to fade out, leaving him vulnerable and in the arms of these strange Beanie Boys that seemed to have no allegiance with Skrawl. With his vision fading out and his mind entering its sleep state, all Rudy could do now was wait and see what came next for him when he woke up.

As the first beams of light began to settle their way into his eyes, Rudy's eyesight began to return to him, allowing him to finally see where he was brought to. Upon scanning his surroundings, Rudy barely began to believe where he was brought to.

Looking around, Rudy saw many sights such as buildings, homes, roads, aqueducts, statues, and other signs of civilization. While many of these things seem fairly normal to most people, what made these different was the fact that all were constructed from wax, with hexagons patterned throughout everything. Lastly, the aqueducts, rather than having water flow through them, had golden honey flowing through instead.

It was at this moment that it occurred to Rudy that he was not only within a beehive city, but the city of the Beanie Boys. After having faced Skrawl so many times, never had it occurred to Rudy to ponder where the Beanie Boys had come from. Now, at the time when he least expected it, he has his answer to that question.

Rising from his resting spot, Rudy prepared to get up and explore his environment further, but was stopped by 4 hands placing him back down on his seat. Looking to his sides, the owners of the hands belonged to two more Beanie Boys, both watching him.

As soon as he had realized this, Rudy had looked to see that many other Beanie Boys were standing in before him, but all facing towards a large stage covered by curtains. While just barely able to view them, many of the Beanie Boys possessed various different characteristics, vastly different from the uniformed look that Skrawl's Beanie Boys had. Some were taller, some were shorter, some fatter, some slimmer, some with lighter skin, some with darker skin, just to name a few variations.

"Hey, what's going on here? What's with the... stage?" Rudy asked.

"Shh. The Queen wanted an audience with you the instant she saw you come here. This is a greeting ceremony for her most important guests. So, you'd better sit back and enjoy, because we don't get to see this too often." One guard said.

The lights of the hive began to lower, leaving the surrounding area in a state of total darkness. Now even more confused about what would come next, Rudy began to find himself growing anxious, not knowing what to expect of this strange ritual.

"What kind of greeting is this? Why's this for me?" Rudy asked.

"Why do you think it's for you? You're Rudy Tabootie, protector of ChalkZone, and you're about to see what kind of greeting it is. Now, hush. It's starting." The guard said.

Just as the lights around the area dimmed out, a set of deep blue lights were aimed towards the stage, lightly illuminating it. As these lights beamed upon the stage, a full band of Beanie Boys were unveiled from a smaller curtain, all preparing their instruments in hand.

The frontman of the band, a Beanie Boy with darker skin and a deep, soulful voice, gave the announcement of the Queen's arrival, loudly announcing the coming of their leader.

"Beanie Boys, let us all welcome her pollinated primacy, her nectareous nobility, the anthophilac aristocrat herself, your royal highness: Queenie Beanie!" The frontman said.

[Soundtrack Cue: Puscifer - Queen B.]

As the band began playing their music, the curtains began to open, unveiling the figure behind the cover of the golden cloths. As the lights began to pierce into the newly uncovered shadows of the stage, the hidden figure on the stage was finally seen to the audience, revealed at last to the crowd.

The figure, as hyped up by her loyal servants, was the queen of the Beanie Boys, an anthropomorphic bee known as Queenie Beanie. Where most of the Beanie Boys were short and stout creatures, not the most appealing of humanoid Zoners, Queenie Beanie was a completely different story than her servants.

Queenie Beanie stood much taller than the Beanie Boys, even taller than most humans, reaching a good 6 feet tall. Her hair ran a slight over mid-length, the hair colored the darkest pitch black, with a spinner beanie resting atop, just like all other Beanie Boys. From out of the top of her head protruded two fuzzy antennae, resting comfortably just above her face. Her skin was a light brown, like a sweet milk chocolate crafted by a master chef. Her body was a curvaceous but modest one; sporting a full set of breasts with an ample bottom supported by wide, child-bearing hips. Her translucent dress was a pattern of black and yellow stripes, with a long skirt just above her ankles. The sleeves, reaching up to her wrists, had a pair of cloths hanging from her lower arms, in a pattern that nearly resembled the wings of a real bee.

Reaching out her arms across the stage, Queenie Beanie laid herself in full display for the audience to see, all gazing upon her beauty. The Beanie Boys, the ever-loyal servants of Queenie Beanie, all gazed upon their queen with a mixture of adoration and humility.

Just as the others were entranced by their queen, Rudy Tabootie was also pulled in by this new figure, watching her closely and carefully. While still off-put by his unexpected appearance in the home of the Beanie Boys, Rudy Tabootie found many unexpected feelings arousing in himself as he gazed upon this new Zoner.

Never having seen the queen of the Beanie Boys before, despite their numerous encounters, the sight of finally seeing their queen was an unexpected surprise, answering a question he hadn't thought about for years, at a time when he had least expected it to be.

Not having the most particularly fond history with the Beanie Boys, the sudden change of treatment he faced from these new Beanie Boys was strange, leaving him acting slightly paranoid at the entire act.

The beauty of Queenie Beanie herself brought out some of the most primal of his emotions, as well as some of the most intimate, all in one full motion. While Queenie Beanie was certainly a most beautiful Zoner, his infatuation was not simple lust; but rather a feeling of safety and security simply from the sight of her, no doubt an ability she possessed as a queen of her people.

However, just as many intimate feelings found their way into Rudy's mind, many guilty feelings made their way in as well. Still not having settled his own undecided feelings for Penelope, the thought of thinking over another woman was disgusting to him, making him feel as if he did not actually feel true love for one party or the other.

As the music continued its course, Queenie Beanie began gracefully stepping down towards the resting Rudy Tabootie, leaving her arms in the air. While approaching her human guest, Queenie Beanie gave her hips a slow sway with each passing step, slowly reaching her hands over her head. With each passing step of her performance, Rudy Tabootie continued to be drawn in to her approach, many of his feelings of affection growing and overtaking his mind.

With her hands over her head and the drums of the music beginning to speed pound faster, Queenie Beanie began to sway her hips more passionately, expressing herself with each simple movement of her body. Reaching down in front of her and continuing to shake her body, she threw her hands into the air and swayed further, whipping her hair back as she continued.

Spinning herself around with her back facing Rudy Tabootie, Queenie Beanie continued to sway her hips, leaning back into her dance with her buttocks facing towards her guest, reaching her arms downwards. As Queenie Beanie's performance continued on, all of Rudy's inner monologues and thoughts began to slowly dwindle away into naught, her dance seemingly taking control over his mind.

[Soundtrack Cue End]

Finally, as the song came to a close, Queenie Beanie stopped in front of Rudy Tabootie, standing before him as if she were looking down on a pet. Gently running her hand over his face, Queenie Beanie began lightly stroking his hair, further taking away his sense of control.

"At last, myself gets a chance to meet Rudy Tabootie, the Great Creator." Queenie Beanie said.

"Whoa... You... You're the queen of the Beanie Boys?" Rudy asked.

"Himself is correct. Meself is Queenie Beanie, a big girl with a big family. What himself think?"

"I mean... I didn't know the Beanie Boys were capable of all this. I never really thought of them as smart or creative."

"Himself only met the worker Beanies. Meself lead the Beanies, run this ship tight. Everything and everything here myself built and designed, from ground below to top above. Himself like what he sees?"

Not truly focusing on the hive of the Beanie Boys, Rudy was still hypnotized by the appearance of Queenie Beanie, unable to think straight or even keep his mouth closed. As such, Rudy interpreted the last question much differently than Queenie Beanie intended.

"Yeah... I really do... You're beautiful..." Rudy said.

"Excuse himself? Oh, but of course, how silly of myself." Queenie Beanie said.

Pulling on her antennae and quickly releasing them, her antennae retracted back into her head, instantly putting Rudy out of his trance of infatuation. With the effects of whatever had happened to him gone, all his inhibited control all coming back to him at once began to give Rudy a headache, barely able to comprehend what happened to him.

"Ugh... My head... What did you just do to me?" Rudy asked.

"Myself sincerely apologizes for that little mistake. Myself antennae can attract myself a mighty fine man who likes himself a big woman like myself, but sometimes these 'lil babies got themselves minds of they own." Queenie Beanie explained.

"Well, that little 'mistake' of yours threw my already jumbled mess of a head even further than it already is. You mind explaining what the whole big deal is?"

"What himself mean by 'the whole big deal'? My Beanie Boys found himself all alone out in the woods, himself ain't got nobody with him. Figured himself needed some help. Say, doesn't himself always hang about with that smaller girl, whatshername... Penny? Friend of himself?"

"About 15 years ago, maybe I'd use the term 'friend', but, now, I... Ugh, never mind, just leave me alone, whatever you did to me just made my head a whole lot worse... I think I feel sick now..."

Not wanting to leave the visibly injured Rudy Tabootie alone, Queenie Beanie sat down next to him, leaning on him to provide her guest more visible comfort.

"What's causin' himself to feel so sick? You can talk to myself, honey." Queenie Beanie said.

"I'm not looking for a therapist right now. Drop the motherly act." Rudy said.

"Honey, this big mama's been taking care of all 60,000 of her precious babies for years. Ain't no act here, myself always and forever be a mama 'til I die. So, tell Queenie Beanie, what's been troublin' himself?"

Queenie Beanie reached out for Rudy Tabootie's arms, gingerly holding his wrists, cautiously inspecting his arms up and down. Not understanding what Queenie Beanie was trying to do, Rudy watched her continue her inspection, expecting an explanation shortly.

"Myself's guard Beanies told me they found himself holding your arms, like they was broken. But, as I look and inspect these mighty big things in my own hands, I can't understand why. Himself got some big ol' arms, like they was the arms of a gladiator or a viking, the arms of a strong, rough-'n-tough kinda man. How's these arms hurtin' himself?" Queenie Beanie asked.

"It's not my arms that hurt, at least, not exactly. Years ago, Skrawl broke my arms and kept me a prisoner for some amount of time, and I was forced to put them back in place during that period. After I escaped, they seemed to heal just fine, but using them to draw anything just hurt so bad. I eventually managed to just mentally block out all my pain, as well as every other emotion in my head. However, thanks to a little unwanted dip in the Wait 'N Sea, it's like every feeling I've ever had as a kid all came back at once, and I can't get it to go back again." Rudy said.

"Skrawl did this to himself? Doesn't surprise myself at all. Myself knew ourselves should've helped stop him somehow."

"I noticed the Beanie Boys who took me back seemed to know Skrawl, but they weren't with him, obviously. What's your deal with him?"

"Several years ago, Skrawl took many of myself's babies back in their simple larval years, and went and raised them all to be himself's mindless cronies, even surgically altering myself's babies to be himself's own personal goon squad. Myself only hopes for the best for themselves, wherever themselves are now."

"Oh, uh, yeah... About that..."

"What?"

"One of us... kind of... erased a whole chunk of 'em."

"You did WHAT to myself's babies?!"

"They had us cornered and were gonna take us back to Skrawl. We had no choice. If it helps, I wasn't the one who thought of the idea, it was one of the kids, a young kid. He was just trying to save us."

"Myself sees. Well... Myself forgives himself. At least myself's babies aren't working for big bad Skrawl no more."

"If I'd have known what I do now, I'd have tried something different."

"Enough dwelling on none of that. So, when himself lost his arms, himself went and threw away all your feelings?

"Basically, yes."

"But why would himself want to do that?"

"Like I said, all my feelings did was just hurt me. All I wanted was just a way to escape all that pain. It cost me my ability to draw, but, since I didn't have any chalk, that didn't make a difference then. But, like I said, I got my emotions back after the waters of the Wait 'N Sea brought my mind back to a child-like state and just reset my brain."

"And now, after finally findin' them feelings again, himself wants to go and toss 'em all out again?"

"Eh, not exactly. Penny and her kids keep telling me that I need to get my emotions back so I can draw again. I've gotten them back, but I still can't draw. Plus, now it all just hurts all over again. It almost completely knocked me out when I was first facing your Beanie Boys."

"So himself gots to get his feelings all in order again to get drawin' again?"

"It's not so much my emotions, it's more about the pain of trying to draw. Even just thinking about drawing, even if it's something simple, it hurts. I need the pain to go away, but I can't do that without completely getting rid of my emotions completely."

"Well, sounds like we found ourselves the main problem already."

"What? How?"

"Himself he says he wants to draw again, but himself also wants to not feel no more pain. Is myself right?"

"Yeah."

"Then himself be forgettin' the whole meanin' of drawin'."

"What do you mean?"

Queenie Beanie now swung her leg over and sat atop Rudy's lap, resting comfortably on him and wrapping her arms and legs around him. While still not under the influence of Queenie Beanie's antennae, the physical contact she made with him had involuntarily affected him. Where the past emotion felt like blind affection, however, this new emotion felt more akin to a mother's embrace, as if caring for a child.

"What's himself call the act of drawin', to create somethin' from himself's mind and makin' it real?" Queenie Beanie asked.

"Art?" Rudy guessed.

"And what himself think art's all about?"

Once upon a time, a younger Rudy would have had the answer to that question, and answered it without any sort of difficulty. Now, after 15 years of isolation and his loss of self, that answer no longer seems obvious to him, leaving him lost on finding the answer.

However, remembering his meeting with Crainiac 7 in Futurezone, the answer came back to him once again.

"Since their first ventures into the abstract, humans have used their emotions to create works of art. Whether their drives were by emotions of pleasure or pain, they were still able to create by using their emotions." Crainiac 7 said.

"Art's about using emotions to express yourself, and pain is one of those emotions." Rudy said.

"Exact-a-ly, Rudy Tabootie. Myself was hoping himself would remember that above all else. Himself was the Great Creator for so many years, creatin' all kinds 'a things to keep other Zoners like myself safe. Himself needs that pain to get himself drawin' again." Queenie Beanie said.

"I don't know how to use my pain like that. All it does it just hurt, and I can't even think about drawing at that point."

"That's because himself tries to put the pain aside when himself draws. Himself needs to let the pain drive himself, use it to make himself's art."

"But how do I do that?"

Queenie Beanie dismounted from Rudy's lap, now taking his hand and leading him up from the seat he was resting on.

"Come, take a walk with myself. Myself will show you how to use your pain to make art." Queenie Beanie said.

Placing his trust in the queen bee's lead through her hive, Rudy followed Queenie Beanie through the hive, being led around the hexagonal construct. As she led Rudy through the hive of the Beanie Boys, Queenie Beanie began observing the area around her, as if taking in the sights of a grand tour. Following her lead, Rudy also looked about the hive, noticing all the sights of the hive, but not yet experiencing what Queenie Beanie wanted him to feel.

"Look around himself, what does himself see?" Queenie Beanie asked.

"I see the hive. I guess it's pretty cool to finally see how the Beanie Boys live, but what does this have to do with anything?" Rudy asked.

"More than just a hive, this whole place a work of art in itself. Myself is an artist, and myself's home is myself's art straight from myself's heart."

"How is all this art? I just see buildings and roads."

"That's cause himself's not got the right point of view. Where himself think all this home come from?"

"The Beanie Boys built it?"

"Myself's Beanie Boys weren't always here. Whoself could've made this hive?"

"You?"

"Himself's right. Myself made this hive in its first stages. You know why myself wanted to make myself's home?"

"Because it was what you were drawn to do?"

"No, myself wasn't drawn to do anything but to be. Myself's creator was a tasteful young girl, inspired to draw myself from herself's mother, a beekeeper and a very loving self. That young girl went on to be a fashionista, started herself's path with myself. Myself was erased here, saw nothing around myself but empty. Myself didn't like no empty, wanted to make something beautiful, to leave a part of myself in the world. Himself understand what myself's talking about?"

"You made this hive just because you wanted to?"

"Exact-a-ly. Myself didn't like none of the pain of bein' all alone with nothin' around, so myself made this home and this family of Beanie Boys for myself. Myself's creator didn't like the pain of not leavin' nothin' behind, so herself made myself."

Queenie Beanie took Rudy's magic chalk from her pocket and placed it in his hand, carefully closing his fingers around the chalk.

"Himself don't like the pain of bein' alone and hurting all those years alone, now himself can make something to not feel alone anymore. Go ahead." Queenie Beanie said.

Holding the chalk in his hand, Rudy took Queenie Beanie's words to his heart, ready to finally try to put his emotions to use and begin truly drawing for the first time in 15 years.

"Okay, I'll try. What should I draw?" Rudy asked.

"Himself's the artist, not myself. Think about what himself wants to make. Think about the time and space himself occupies right here and right now. Think of it like there's somethin' missing from here, like himself's putting a puzzle together. What's the missing piece to himself's puzzle?" Queenie Beanie asked.

Thinking carefully on what he could do to 'complete' the situation as he saw fit, Rudy pondered on how he could take the first step to completing his first official drawing. Remembering his previous attempt to begin drawing once again, Rudy decided to re-attempt his previous drawing of a glass of water.

Moving his chalk towards the air as if it were his own personal canvas, Rudy began to sketch out his vision of a simple glass of water. At first, the task seemed simple and accomplishable enough; the few lines needed to complete the sketch were already filling in and preparing to come to fruition.

However, as he was completing his drawing, the phantom pain of his once-broken arms began to resurface yet again, taking his mind away from his vision. Rather than actively try to fight the pain this time, however, Rudy instead tried to use it to drive him to complete the drawing; placing the pain within him as part of his creation.

It's a step in the right direction, but it fares him only little well. Despite his best efforts to properly utilize his pain, it was not enough to properly complete his drawing. As such, the final result came out much like the past attempt: jagged, crude, and poorly done.

Frustrated with his repeated failure, Rudy clenched his fists and gave a groan, holding the sides of his head in anger. Queenie Beanie, still once again trying to help the distressed Rudy Tabootie, attempted to calm him down again.

"Now, now, himself had a good start. Himself was starting to get the pain used right this time." Queenie Beanie said.

"It wasn't good enough, it was just like last time! How am I supposed to get the Golden Chalk and beat Skrawl and the Chalk King?!" Rudy asked.

"Maybe himself's not putting all himself's heart in it. Did himself really want to make a glass of vodka?"

"It's supposed to be water."

"Oh... Well, did himself really want to make a glass of water?"

"Sure, it was the easiest thing I could come up with."

"But was it what himself wanted to make?"

"I... I..."

"Was himself's heart wanting to make a glass of water? Was it what himself desired?"

Realizing that he was not approaching the situation correctly, Rudy let out a sigh of frustration; upset that he was not properly approaching the task.

"No, it wasn't." Rudy said.

Queenie Beanie placed her finger over Rudy's chest, pointing to his heart.

"I know himself don't like the pain, but he's not usin' it right. Himself's got to use the pain, think of somethin' to forget the pain, got to make somethin' from out of his brain, got to make somethin' guaranteed to entertain, got to make somethin' completely insane, got to make somethin' to make those tears fall like rain." Queenie Beanie said.

Holding the chalk properly in his hand once again, Rudy began to think of how to approach his drawing. Creating a new vision in his head, Rudy looked to the chalk, then to the air in front of him, and back to the chalk, planning out his creation as he saw fit.

"Draw from the heart. Draw what it wants." Queenie Beanie said.

Finally having the proper approach to his task, Rudy took his chalk and began drawing once again. Rather than trying to make simple flat lines like before, his lines now showed many curves and nuances, this time with much more detail put into his drawing. With each stroke of his chalk, Rudy began to focus more and more on his creation, each movement growing one step closer to completion.

In the midst of his drawing, however, the pain in his arms began to resurface yet again, the pain haunting his mind once again. Just as before, he allowed the pain to continue driving his art, pushing him further to let out his pain as he saw fit. With each movement in his art, the pain began to subside and subside, as if it were a relief of release that was unmatched by any other bodily function. Now even more dedicated in his art, Rudy continued to push forward in his creation, growing very near the finishing line of his product.

Finally, with the final stroke of his chalk, the colors and filling of his creation appeared, leaving his final product finished and resulting in his first true creation in over 15 years.

His creation?

A glass bottle of Yahoo Soda.

Taking the sugary beverage in his hand, Rudy Tabootie popped the metal cap from the top of the bottle, gulping down its contents. Queenie Beanie and the Beanie Boys, having observed Rudy Tabootie victoriously achieving his ability to draw once again, all gave him a lauding round of applause, signalling the return of ChalkZone's protector.

"Welcome back, Rudy the Great Creator. It seems himself has finally learned how to draw once again. How does himself feel?" Queenie Beanie asked.

Overwhelmed with joy and given a sense of self-discovery once again, Rudy began to feel tears fall from his eyes, as if he finally returned after his 15 years in isolation.

"I... I feel incredible. It's like... It's like I've been gone for so long, but, now, I'm finally back. I'm... back. I'm back!" Rudy exclaimed.

"How marvelous to see himself back, but... out of all the things himself could desire to draw, why himself draw a Yahoo Soda?" Queenie Beanie asked.

"This isn't just any Yahoo Soda. Ever since I was a kid, I'd see so many different flavors like Cherry Yahoo, Lime Yahoo, Peach Yahoo, Strawberry Yahoo, and all sorts of fruit flavors, but I never had the chance to see what it would be like if they mixed all the fruit flavors in one. I call it a Fruit-Cocktail Yahoo, comprised of every fruit flavor there is."

"My, my, sounds very tasty. How is it?"

"Fruity. Want some?"

Rudy offered his bottle to Queenie Beanie, who took a small sip from the bottle, skeptically trying its contents. As bees are famously drawn to sugary liquids, Queenie Beanie quickly found herself taking a large gulp after her small sip, enjoying the contents enormously.

"Mmm-mmm-mmm, himself can make myself a drink anytime." Queenie Beanie said.

"Heh-heh, thanks." Rudy said.

While his dilemma with gaining his ability to draw again was finally solved, there still laid a much more pressing and much more difficult situation to deal with:

Penelope.

Just as many of his negative emotions were dying down with his ability to draw returning to him, his numerous positive emotions all came spurting right back up, along with some of the most intimate of his emotions; the feelings regarding romantic attraction.

Feeling regret over the emotional trauma he had placed on Penelope during the entirety of the quest, a sense of ache began to form in his chest; a melding of both desire and pain. He knew very well what he was feeling, and he knew very well what it meant. While he may have had his confusions before, there was no denying what he was sure he felt now.

Rudy still loved Penelope.

"Is something wrong?" Queenie Beanie asked.

"No... Nothing's wrong, not really, anyways. I just... I need to take care of something." Rudy said.

"'Something'? Or, 'someone'?"

"What? How-"

"Honey, myself's a mother above all else. It's a mother's instinct to know these things. Himself loves little old Penny, doesn't himself?"

Even though he knew this was the truth in his heart, Rudy still found difficulty expressing his emotions verbally. Being an artist, however, he knew better than most how to express his own emotions, and he managed to churn out just the right words to express that emotion.

"...Yes. I do love her." Rudy said.

"Then what's himself waiting for? Himself's got some work to do." Queenie Beanie said.

"I know. Thank you, Queenie Beanie, for everything. You really helped me more than you'll ever know."

"Honey, that's what myself does best."

Queenie Beanie gave Rudy Tabootie a hug, which Rudy happily returned, this time feeling much more open to her warmth than he was before.

"Just remember, Rudy, himself is welcome to Queenie Beanie's hive anytime and everytime." Queenie Beanie said.

"Thank you, I'll try to visit. But, before I leave, you don't happen to have any jewelers here, do you?"

On some barren portion of Nightzone, Penelope, Carol, and Carlos all follow the still-vigilant Warhawk on the hunt for Rudy Tabootie. As hard and as detailed as their search is, however, the group find little to no luck in their search, Warhawk beginning to lose track of his prey.

Stopping in his tracks, Warhawk's nose immediately shot up in the air, sniffing around his environment. Where the trail to Rudy Tabootie was once straightforward, it now seemed more vague, as if the trail surrounded them. The other members of the searching party, not understanding his actions, questioned Warhawk about what was happening.

"Uh, Warhawk, what are you doing?" Carol asked.

"Something is wrong. The trail no longer is giving me a direction. It is as if the trail is all around us somehow." Warhawk said.

"Rudy here?" Carlos asked.

"I'm not sure. The trail would've simply died off, not like this."

"Hey, guys." A voice said.

Hearing the new voice make its presence known, the group all immediately turned to face the owner that they recognized the voice from: Rudy Tabootie. Rudy, still not completely ready to face the group regarding his actions, did his best to hold back his nervousness at this new challenge.

"Well, hello. Where have you been? You just ran off on us, what's up with that?!" Carol asked.

"Have to find the chalk. Slowed us down." Carlos said.

"I know, I just... I needed some alone time, but I ended up running into some unexpected people. I managed to get some help." Rudy said.

"Oh, yeah? What kind of help was it?" Carol asked.

Rudy took out his piece of chalk and quickly sketched out a glass of water, now properly completing it from his previous attempts. Watching Rudy finally create again after so long was a sight to behold to the group, with the children's jaws dropping and Penelope watching in amazement and pride at his accomplishment.

"I can draw again. See for yourself." Rudy said.

Rudy offered the glass of water to Carlos, who had been the most skeptical of his ability the entire time. Remembering the last attempt Rudy had made to create a glass of water, Carlos instead offered it to Carol, letting her taste the liquid. Upon accepting the glass, Carol sipped the liquid, confirming it to be water.

"So you did it. How?" Carol asked.

"It's a long story. It's not important, look, just let me say something. I... I know I've been a real jerk to all of you, ever since you first helped me out of ChalkZone." Rudy said.

"Yep." Carol said.

"Yep." Carlos said.

"And I've been nothing but a burden to all of you since we took this quest, even after all your attempts to try to help me."

"Yep."

"Yep."

"And, now, after this, you all probably still hate my guts and just want to get this quest as quickly as possible."

"Yep."

"Yep."

"Carol, Carlos, that's enough. The man is apologizing to you, let him speak." Penelope said.

Staying obedient to their mother, Carol and Carlos stayed quiet for the remaining duration of Rudy's apology, allowing him to fully express his regret.

"For all it's worth, I'm really sorry. All those years on my own, I just forgot about everything. I forgot who I was, forgot about what made me who I was, and forgot about everything that was important to me. I'm not saying that justifies my actions, but I want to say that I remember who I am now. You kids said that I was afraid this whole time, and each and every time I just exploded on you. But you were right. I was scared. Hell, I am still scared. I was afraid then that I would look back on who I was and become scared and weak again, and I don't want to be scared and weak again. I only realize now that I didn't have to be with you around, but I thought that wouldn't be good enough. All this time, I've been going off on you about how I wanted nothing to do with any of this, about how I just wanted to go back to the jungle on my own again. But, now, I don't anymore. And... I want to say this, because I never said this for you once. Thank you. Thank you for saving my life." Rudy said.

Impressed with Rudy's sincere and heartfelt apology, the children actually began to accept his apology, feeling fulfilled from their attempts to reach him. Elated by his speech, the two children immediately rushed to Rudy and hugged him, which Rudy returned by crouching down and hugging the two back.

"We forgive you, Rudy, and we're sorry for all the mean things we said to you." Carol said.

"Even though you deserved it." Carlos said.

"Carlos!"

"No, no, it's okay, I did deserve it. But that's fine now." Rudy said.

Upon having given his apology to the children, there now laid the affairs of his unsettled feelings with Penelope Sanchez. After laying most of his emotional abuse on her, offering her his apologies would be the most difficult of them all, especially with his many romantic attachments he had for her still alive and well.

At first, Rudy had no idea what to say or even do; only able to stand before Penelope and awkardly look back and forth at her. Even for the most artistic and expressive peoples in the world, no emotion is ever harder to express than love for another, especially straight to that one person.

However, with enough effort, Rudy managed to take the first step towards reawakening that fire once again.

"Hey, Penny." Rudy said.

"Hi, Rudy." Penelope said.

"I'm... Uh... I'm sorry I ran away like that. So much for all that fun we had at Open Mike's, right?"

"Rudy, I know that this isn't where you're trying to go. You have more to say, don't you?"

After letting out a deep breath, Rudy prepared himself to let out his next words, still not sure what to say.

"I've been... not handling this whole thing right... this whole time." Rudy said.

"Handling what?" Penelope asked.

"You know... This... I... Ugh, no, no, no, uh... Look, I'm really sorry about how I've been treating you this whole time. I was just being a jerk, I forgot about-"

"You already said that, and I forgive you, that's not what I'm looking for. This whole time, I was absolutely convinced that you hated me for leaving you behind in ChalkZone. I felt awful about it, but I still kept myself together for the sake of finding that Golden Chalk and saving ChalkZone, and because I still cared about you whether you cared about me or not. After we came out of the Wait 'N Sea, it was like all that never happened. We were just like we were back then; happy and together. I know you felt the same way somewhere, because none of that would've happened if you didn't. I still love you, Rudy."

"Penny, I'm... I don't-"

"Rudy Tabootie. Do you love me, or not?"

Despite the bare simplicity of the question, all Rudy could find himself able to do was just simply stand in place and breathe, barely able to complete the latter task. Stunned and paralyzed in fear, Rudy found no words able to leave his mouth. Even with his best efforts to let out any form of verbal communication, nothing came out of his mouth, only leaving Penelope more frustrated.

"Forget it. Let's just go get the Golden Chalk. Tell us where to go." Penelope said.

Penelope turned around and folded her arms, actively trying to force a response from Rudy. Unable to let Penelope down, Rudy used his secret weapon to finally bring an answer to her question.

"Wait! Back 15 years ago, on my birthday, you gave me a bracelet. It said 'Best friends forever, Rudy and Peggy' on the inside because the jeweler ripped you off." Rudy said.

Impressed that Rudy remembered her simple but heartfelt gift, her attention managed to be captured for one small moment, more than enough to allow Rudy to continue.

"What about it?" Penelope asked.

Rudy held the bracelet in front of Penelope, leaving her face-to-face with something she did not expect to see again. Believing her gift was long forgotten, Penelope was shocked to see that her simple act of kindness had still been remembered, by the only person that it mattered to remember.

"I fixed it. Read the inside." Rudy said.

Penelope took the bracelet and looked on the engraving inside, seeing that the misspelled 'Peggy' was corrected to 'Penny', as it was intended to be. Overwhelmed by emotion, Penelope held her hand over her mouth, letting out a slight gasp and tears from her eyes.

"But... How did you have it?" Penelope asked.

"I didn't want Skrawl to take it, so, I... uh... Well, you remember what Christopher Walken did with that watch in Pulp Fiction? ...Look, jokes aside, I kept it all this time. It was the only thing that really let me remember who I was. If I didn't have it, I think I would've forgotten my own name. You gave this to me, and it let me hold onto my last little piece of humanity I had for so many years." Rudy said.

"You do love me."

"I... Well... ... Yes, Penny. I do love you. I love you very much."

Barely able to comprehend the emotions that were in her mind, Penelope only stood still in complete silence for a large period of time. For over a decade, she had felt the regret of losing her best friend, and, for at least a year now, she had felt unloved by a significant other in all that time. Now, after all that time, these negative emotions have finally found their closure.

Not correctly interpreting Penelope's silence, Rudy simply believed that she was still angry. Believing that he was respecting her wishes, Rudy decided to lead the group down the path to the Golden Chalk once again. Feeling immense regret with his actions, Rudy struggled to hold back his own tears, believing that he had pushed the person he loved most completely away.

"Look, I'm sorry. This was stupid, I shouldn't have bothered after everything I've done. I should've guessed it was too late. Forget it, let's just go, I'm sorry about-" Rudy began to say.

Before Rudy even had time to react, Penelope spun him around and grabbed him tightly, deeply kissing him. With all the breath and sense knocked out of him from what he had just experienced, Rudy had nothing to do but to simply hold on, letting him follow the experience that he being put through now.

Feeling warm, wet lips pressed to his, lightly sucking against him, feeling the slight entrance of a tongue in his mouth, Rudy's heartbeat began to skyrocket, with his mind going in a state of complete bliss, forgetting about everything around him, only focused on this one perfect moment in time, praying that it never ended.

Despite his strongest wishes otherwise, the moment had finally ended, with Rudy standing face-to-face with Penelope, both taking heavy breaths. It was at this moment that Rudy just realized that he finally had his first kiss, after so many years of isolation, and the moment was finally shared with Penelope.

"That was a kiss?" Rudy asked.

"Yeah, that was a kiss." Penelope said.

"Oh, god, I want more."

"Me too."

Immediately returning back to their past activity, Rudy and Penelope again began to kiss, the two pushing back and forth between each other as they did so, as if each were struggling for dominance. Finally, Rudy managed to push Penelope to the ground, with the two of them tumbling and switching positions.

With Penelope being on top for a brief enough moment, she began to take her shirt off, beginning to follow with her bra. As the two continued, Carol, Carlos, and Warhawk were left only to observe the them continue, neither of the siblings old enough to view such an act, both astounded to see their mother committing this act.

Warhawk, having the knowledge to keep the children away from seeing the act of carnal knowledge occur, covered the eyes of the two younglings, leading them away to a place of safety.

"Come, children. You were not meant to see this." Warhawk said.

"Don't gotta tell me twice." Carol said.

"Ditto." Carlos said.