CHAPTER 21: GROWING PAINS
Rudy Tabootie and Penny Sanchez seemed to be quite opposites of individuals; Rudy was known to be a solitary boy focused on his art and the worlds of fiction he enjoyed creating, and Penny was a logical individual focused on the realms of science and reason more than others. After meeting each other at the young and tender age of 10, however, they proved to be the absolute best of friends, adventuring together in ChalkZone for 3 years.
During a period of time in that third year, the two young children began to grow and mature, beginning their journeys into adulthood. Just as their minds and bodies began to change, their friendship began to grow and mature as well. Never having any close friends before meeting each other, it seemed only logical and obvious that the two would soon come together in a bond stronger than friendship, even one as strong as theirs.
Alas, it seemed not to be. With Skrawl breaking the arms of Rudy Tabootie, imprisoning him for several years, with Penny banned from ChalkZone and starting a new life on her own, the strong bond the two shared seemed to be long dead as Rudy was presumed to be. Where their friendship was once a beautiful connection, just beginning to blossom into something greater, their relationship was seemingly gone, but far from forgotten.
Having been haunted by the thought of Rudy being dead for several years, Penny started a new life, hoping to try to rid herself of her ghosts. While her choices may have earned her two bright young children, they were not enough to give her peace. After divorcing her husband and moving back to Plainville to try to start over again, the ghost of Rudy Tabootie finally caught up, revealed to be alive and well.
While Penny tried to make numerous attempts to reach Rudy's heart, each time seemingly getting further than the last, Rudy's heart proved to be too hardened from his years of solitude and survival, even with Rudy himself verbally assaulting Penny into a state of depression. Just as their bond seemed to reach its darkest point, however, a new dawn came to this dark time.
After an accidental dip in the Wait 'N Sea, a body of water with magical properties, the minds of the two were sent back to their prepubescent states, allowing the two to live as children yet again. With a simple splash of water negating the effects, however, that moment passed just as quickly as it came.
With Rudy Tabootie left confused and scared of the repressed feelings that he held back for the sake of survival, he abandoned the group to try to seek some solitude, forced to face every emotion he held back at once. After being brought into the care of a Zoner named Queenie Beanie, the queen of the half-bee Zoners known as the Beanie Boys, he found not only the strength to be at peace with his feelings, but his ability to draw again.
Finally healed and free from his trauma, there still laid the troubles of his relationship with Penelope Sanchez, his beloved Penny. While the task of confessing his love was no easy task, Rudy had managed to share his feelings, quickly finding out that Penelope still reciprocated them, despite all that occurred between them.
Now, after a long night of strengthening that bond further than either of them could have expected it to, Rudy and Penelope finally awaken under a blanket drawn by Rudy of earlier, covering their modesty from any onlookers. After having slept in each others' arms for the night, the two awoke to find themselves still in their embrace, now holding tighter.
"I take it back. That wasn't gross at all." Rudy said.
"Mmm. Happy now that I explained it?" Penelope asked.
"Yeah, that actually was more fun than I was expecting."
"I would hope so. You went at least... Oh, I lost count at 24."
"Me too. I still liked it a lot. Can we do it again sometime?"
"You just went all that time, and you're thinking about doing it again already?"
"I've been away for 15 years, I wanna make up for all that time."
"Well, of course we're going to do it eventually sometime again, I hope, but we still need to get the Golden Chalk, remember?"
"Yeah, I know. Can I at least touch your boobs one last time before we go? They're really soft and squishy and warm."
"Oh, god, first, I had two babies using these, now I've another baby who wants them."
"Oh, I'm sorry, Penny, I didn't mean to-"
"I'm just kidding, Rudy! Get a sense of humor, will you?"
"Right, still working on getting that back, too. Just be a little more clear on issues like this next time, okay?"
"Deal."
"So, really, can I please touch them one more time?"
"Okay, fine. But I get to touch your butt, too."
As she allowed Rudy to gently caress her bare breasts yet again, Penelope let out a slight moan, beginning to grow aroused with the motion of hands moving gingerly and sensually across her chest. Meeting his erotic movements by running her hands over his buttocks and lightly digging her nails in, Penelope began to move Rudy closer, encouraging him to continue his work. Moving her lips to Rudy's, the two began kissing each other, building up the experience to a higher level.
Unknown to the two, however, a third party was beginning to observe the two, none being impressed with the act unfolding before them. One member of the group gave a sharp, piercing clearing of his throat, causing Rudy and Penelope to instantly snap their heads towards the source of the sound.
Standing before Rudy and Penelope were Carol, Carlos, and Warhawk, all observing the covered duo. Penelope, not wanting to accidentally expose herself nor Rudy to the children and Zoner, pulled their blanket higher over themselves.
Standing out from the observing group was Carol, appearing extremely disheveled and restless. While Warhawk and Carlos appeared calm and well-rested, Carol had messy, frizzled hair and red, veiny eyes; breathing heavily and scowling at both her mother and Rudy.
"Carolina, what's wrong?" Penelope asked.
"What's wrong? What's wrong?! Well, while Carlos and Warhawk somehow managed to get some sleep, I was left unable to even get so much as a wink of sleep. Why, you may ask? Oh, no particular reason. Really, it's no big deal at all, except the fact that the both of you were moaning and shouting extremely loud, saying all kinds of bad words, making weird 'gluck', 'shlick', and 'squelch' noises, breathing through your mouths, making all kinds of strange, wet, and disgusting sounds, ALL FOR OVER 5 HOURS!"
Feeling an ungodly amount of shame, disgust, and embarrassment from the knowledge that her daughter had listened to her engage in a 5-hour marathon of coitus, Penelope turned a bright, beet red, retreating underneath the protection of the blanket to seek whatever way to forget the shame of her actions, even though she could never find it.
"Well, wait a minute. Why didn't you just draw some earmuffs if you didn't want to hear that?" Rudy asked.
"What?" Carol asked.
"You know, earmuffs. Keep out any sound you don't like? Why didn't you take some chalk and draw some?"
"Yeah, drew myself some." Carlos said.
With her eye twitching in anger and frustration, Carol slowly turned her head to face her brother, an unfaltering stare of death face-to-face with the inexpressive outlook of Carlos.
"Carlos. Why. Did. You. Not. Offer. Me. The. Chalk. Or. Some. Earmuffs?" Carol asked.
"You never asked." Carlos said.
"You. Are. A. Dead. Man."
"If I may, I doubt the Golden Chalk could be much further away from us. If you could get dressed and lead the way, we could bring an end to this quest and the rule of the Chalk King." Warhawk said.
"Right, good point. Let me grab my clothes." Rudy said.
Still not quite remembering the social stigmas of nudity in the real world, Rudy removed the blanket from himself, shamelessly walking about in the nude collecting his scattered clothes from the ground. Penelope, shocked to see Rudy walk about so nonchalantly without any clothing, held her hands to her mouth, trying her best not to panic. Carol and Carlos, protecting themselves from the obscenity, covered each others' eyes from the sight, neither allowing the other to see. Warhawk, dumbfounded to see Rudy's obliviousness, only observed as he continued to waltz about with no self-awareness.
"Is there a particular reason why you couldn't wait for us to walk away first?" Carol asked.
"What? You already saw me naked once, what's the big deal? Now, where's my jacket- Oh, here it is." Rudy said.
Upon bending over to retrieve his jacket from the ground with his legs at a decent spread, Rudy unknowingly gave the baffled Warhawk a view of an orifice that he had no intention nor desire of ever seeing in his entire life, leaving him scarred and disgusted from the unwanted display he was given.
"Dear, young Carlos. If only you'd drawn me without any eyes. Or the ability to forget such... awful, awful images." Warhawk said.
After dressing themselves decently, Rudy and Penelope were now ready to continue their quest for the Golden Chalk, continuing right where the group had left off. With Rudy taking the lead once again, the now-restored hero began to lead the group down the road of the Golden Chalk, stretching across several miles of ChalkZone.
Having served his purpose of finding Rudy and by having no more threats to ward off from the group, Warhawk began to feel as if his quest had finally ended, leaving him needing to go his own way. Addressing his concerns to his creator, Warhawk conveyed his sentiments towards Carlos, humbly asking for to be let go.
"Young Carlos, forgive me if I seem unappreciative or disloyal to you in any way, but I believe I have outlived my purpose to you. You created me in order to find Rudy Tabootie and bring him back to you, and I have done so, and I have also warded off the Zoner who had attacked you as of earlier. If it is all the same to you, I believe it is time for me to go, just as your creation of Blake Staker has." Warhawk said.
"Are you sure? We like having you." Carlos said.
"I am sure, young Carlos. I believe that I would be naught but a burden on your quest from this moment forth. I have since lost my lover Jean and the lesser fairy Eli, and I believe it is best if I properly pay my respects to their lives."
Able to create a better ending to his fantasy comic as he saw fit, Carlos held up his chalk, shaking his head towards Warhawk.
"No need for that. I can bring them back." Carlos said.
Before Warhawk could mutter any more words, Carlos used his drawing skills to recreate Jean from the ground up, perfectly replicating her as seen in his comic book. With each line drawn and every curve bent, Carlos' creation of Warhawk was finally reunited with his lover: Jean the Fairy.
With Jean reappearing before Warhawk's eyes, a surge of emotion began to overcome the elf, unable to believe that his loved one was finally back before him. Even with a warrior as hardened as Warhawk, the feeling was far too much for him to fight back, with a single teardrop falling down his face.
"Hello, my love." Jean said.
"Jean... This is too good to be true..." Warhawk said.
"But it is. Young Carlos here has seen to that himself, and we need not fear the evils of Darkblight anymore."
"Oh, my darling, how joyous it is to have you back in my arms! Forgive me for all I've done to you, dear, my actions were not justifiable. I should have been honest with you about my emotions from the start. An elf like me is too proud to allow such emotions."
"Then we shall work on it together, and perhaps the world will soon be able to see what a beautiful elf you are inside."
"Yes, soon, perhaps. Thank you for all you have done, and especially thank you, Carlos, for reuniting us."
"You're welcome." Carlos said.
Just before Warhawk and Jean began to head their own way, Carlos stopped the two one last time, placing his hand on Warhawk's shoulder.
"Wait. Forgot something." Carlos said.
Carlos gave a quick and simple swish of his chalk, recreating the lesser fairy Eli, resting on Warhawk's shoulder. Eli, back on his companion's shoulder, comfortably nestled himself in place, feeling warm and comfortable.
"Hello again, Warhawk. Good to see you again. Onwards we go now?" Eli asked.
Not content with Eli resting on his shoulder, Warhawk picked him up and placed him on Jean's shoulder instead, dusting off his own shoulder from the fairy's former presence.
"Not on my shoulder, we won't be." Warhawk said.
"Now, Warhawk, what about letting that good and feeling elf out from inside you?" Jean asked.
"Baby steps, my love, simply baby steps."
With the trio now heading off in their own direction, Carlos waved his creations off, happy to see his favorite characters gain the happy ending he believed they deserved. Penelope, proud to see her son give life to characters and grant them a good life.
"That was really nice, sweetie. You did a good thing." Penelope said.
"Thanks, Mommy." Carlos said.
"Hey, Carlos, why is it you draw all these characters, then give them their own happy endings different from the comics? Do you not like how they end?" Carol asked.
"Love comics, ending work for stories, but I want people to have happy endings. Don't like people hurting."
"You know, once upon a time, I had a rule never to draw anything that was alive, or else I'd have to take care of it. Aren't you concerned about what'll happen to them?" Rudy asked.
"No. My characters always live happily ever after."
With the Zoner known as Warhawk sent on his way with his companions, the rest of the group continued on their trek for the Golden Chalk, continuing further down the Golden Chalk road only revealed to Rudy.
After a long, tiresome trek across the open, strange plains of ChalkZone, the group finally stepped into the light of Dayzone, reaching the separating border between Dayzone and Nightzone. Sticking his hand across the border and feeling the sunlight warm his hand, Rudy found an opportunity to take a break and enjoy the sense of sunlight warm him, a pleasure he never had considered until now.
"How about we take a quick break? Let's enjoy some sunlight for once. I haven't really stopped to appreciate it for a while." Rudy suggested.
"That's a good idea. I haven't seen any sunlight in a while now." Penelope said.
"Sure." Carlos said.
"Not me. I'll be sitting right over here in the dark, trying to get some sleep." Carol said.
Stepping into Dayzone yet again, the group stopped for a temporary break, allowing themselves to stop and enjoy the feeling of sunlight again, not having seen it since they first stepped into Nightzone. Even though the sun was not real, the warmth it provided to the group felt more than real to them all, giving them a sense of peace and safety within its light.
Rudy and Penelope, wanting to enjoy the sunlight together, laid down against a rock, basking in the sun. Carlos, having finished his comic and setting his creations free, sat against the rock, pulled out his pencil and paper, and began working on his next drawing.
Carol, conversely, wanted no part of the sunlight or to walk any longer, instead walking a few feet away back into Nightzone, taking a piece of chalk and drawing a pillow, an eye pillow, and earmuffs, wishing to catch sufficient sleep. The rest of the group opted to sit on the ground, just within range of Carol.
"You know, I've never thought about it until now. How many suns are there?" Penelope asked.
"I don't know, why do you ask?" Rudy asked.
"Well, everything in ChalkZone had to be drawn by someone and it had to be erased to end up here. Almost every chalk drawing of any sort of landscape I've seen had a sun in the picture. Are there just a massive amount of suns out there in ChalkZone?"
"Funny story, actually, they actually take turns."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I guess they figured that they needed to balance the workload somehow. If I remember right, it changes about every 12 minutes."
Just as Rudy had mentioned the event, another sun flew into the sky, floating next to the current sun for a brief moment.
"Hey, Aten, I'll take it from here." The second sun said.
"Thanks, Apollo, I've been workin' up a sweat keeping things warm here. Keep an eye on these humans down here, will ya? They've been goin' after that Golden Chalk everybody keeps talkin' about." The first sun said.
"No problem. Say hi to Sol for me, will ya? Haven't seen him in a while."
"Yeah, sure, I'd love to."
The first sun known as Aten flew back into space, presumably to meet with the other suns drawn into ChalkZone, as the sun named Apollo took his place.
On the ground, Rudy and Penelope observed the spectacle of the suns shifting their workload, amazed at its impossibility and amused by such a fantastic event treated so casually between the massive stars themselves.
"Amazing to think somebody out there came up with that, suns all taking turns warming a planet." Penelope said.
"Yeah, definitely a great idea for a story. Who knows how many stories someone could get ideas for in ChalkZone? I could've made some really great stuff when I was younger if I tried." Rudy said.
Pondering such a possibility in his head, the possible future he could've taken began to take their toll in his mind, bringing him to a visible state of dismay. Realizing that he would never know what potential he could have reached as a child, Rudy lowered his head, resting it in his arms. Penelope took notice of his visible dismay, trying to cheer him up from his regrets.
"What's wrong?" Penelope asked.
"Like I said, I could've really made some great stuff when I was younger. But I didn't. I was stuck here for years, and I became just that... barbarian of a man I was to you all, and never used my full potential as an artist. What if Skrawl never broke me? What if I'd just taken my art more seriously as a kid? What if I'd have gone to college or art school? Maybe then I would've been somebody better and not-" Rudy began to say.
"Rudy, don't. None of this is your fault, it's Skrawl's. He's the one who did this to you, him and the Chalk King. Don't you ever dwell on what could've been. You'll just make things harder on yourself. Just accept what you have now, with both arms open towards the future."
"Thanks, but, I have to say, that's pretty cheesy. Where'd you get that, a greeting card?"
"No. Your father told me that."
"Dad? He's... He's still alive?"
"Yes. He's retired now, but he's alive."
"What about my mom? Is she with him?"
"Uh... no. She died years ago after they lost you. She couldn't stand the thought of you being dead, and... and the stress took its toll."
Distressed to hear about his mother's death, Rudy turned away from Penelope, beginning to shed a tear for his deceased mother.
"Mom died? Because... Because I was gone? Because she was looking for me?" Rudy asked.
"I'm sorry, Rudy. Like I said, it wasn't your fault-" Penelope began to say.
"That doesn't change that my mother is gone. I'll never get to see her again. Never get to see her and my dad happy again. Never get to hear her opera voice call me from downstairs. I can still remember how it sounds."
"Rudy..."
"You know what's something Skrawl said to me when he imprisoned me? He said that he wanted me to feel just like he did everyday. That he wanted me to know what it was like to live as an incomplete, directionless mass. That he was like that because everybody else all drew on top of what I was trying to make him. If I'd... If I'd only been able to just finish the drawing as I intended, would none of this ever have happened? Would Mom still be alive? Would I never have become that horrible person I was? Is this all my fault?"
"You can't ever fault yourself for things out of your control like that, Rudy. If anyone is to blame, it's Skrawl. You want to set this right, we go after that Golden Chalk and beat him with it."
"I know, I know. It's still just a lot to take in. I've only been my old self again for only a day now, and I've got about 15 years of regret to catch up to. I just need some time to deal with this."
While Rudy was remaining quiet and solitary, reverting back to his old methods of dealing with his emotional problems, Penelope tried to comfort her significant other as much as she could, trying to ease the heavy amount of pain on his mind. Leaning on his back, Penelope gave Rudy a light hug, sharing the warmth of her body to drive away the cold within his own.
In the midst of her attempt at reaching Rudy's heart, a loud cheer was heard in the distance, briefly catching her attention. With her attention briefly diverted to the source of the cheer, a strange point of interest was brought before Penelope's eyes, something she did not expect to see in the open plains of ChalkZone.
Resting on the other side of the hill an attraction known as the Slopes of Sweets, was a series of mountains composed of many dessert items, ranging from ice cream, candy, cake, pie, gelatin, and other such sweetened sugary servings of sustenance. The source of the loud cheers were from various Zoners skiing, snowboarding, and sledding down the slopes of sucrose, all doing nothing but having a fun time. Seeing this event unfold before her eyes, Penelope got an idea to cheer up Rudy and steer him away from his bad thoughts.
"Wait here, I have an idea to cheer you up." Penelope said.
Before Rudy could question what she was about to do, Penelope immediately rushed towards Carlos and lightly tapped him, having an art request to make to him. Taking his attention away from his own work, Carlos listened in to his mother's request, open to what she needed.
"Carlos, sweetie, I need your help, can you draw some..." Penelope said.
While quietly whispering the remaining portion of the request in her son's ear, Carlos gave a nod and set away his art supplies, preparing a piece of chalk in his hand to fulfill his mother's request. Taking his piece of chalk in the air, Carlos sketched out a pair of snow sleds, carefully eyeing the detail to their builds to ensure they would remain very aerodynamic and therefore faster when in use.
With the snow sleds complete, Penelope took a hold of one snow sled and grabbed Rudy, beginning to lead him to the slopes, all to his confusion. Meanwhile, Carlos, having to retrieve his slumbering sister, threw the resting Carol on his sled, dragging the snow sled as it held his sibling as cargo.
"Penny, what are you doing?" Rudy asked.
"I think right now we need to take your mind off what Skrawl's done and put it towards something more fun." Penelope said.
After a challenging hike to reach the top, the group finally reached their starting slope; beginning atop a large scoop of green tea ice cream topped with walnuts, adjacent from a slice of marble cake. Carefully setting her sled to its starting point, Penelope prepared to go sledding down the green scoop of ice cream with Rudy right with her on the trip down.
Carlos, still tending to his sleeping sister, also positioned his sled, with Carol continuing to sleep obliviously on it, her earmuffs and eyepillow leaving her completely unaware of her surroundings. As she continued to lay on the sled, Carol let out a loud snore, the shrill, rolling snort of each inhale burning their way into Carlos' eardrums. Unable to take much more of the auditorial abuse of his sister's loud snoring, Carlos drew a piece of cloth and tied it to her head and nose, leaving her nostrils sufficiently open to prevent the snoring, and finally granting him some peace of mind.
"Oh, come on, Penny. Why are we doing this? It was you who said we need to get after the Golden Chalk. Now you wanna go sledding?" Rudy asked.
"Well, from the looks of how you were sitting there, you weren't planning on going anywhere for a while. So, since you decided to take a little break, I thought we could spend our break doing something more productive, and fun." Penelope said.
"But why sledding?"
"I used to sled every winter when I was a kid in Boston. The first winter I did it, I was resistant to the idea. Being the young scientist I was, I wanted to play with my new chemistry set that I'd got for Christmas, but my parents wanted me to have some outside time. At first, I didn't want anything to do with the snow. The first time I went sledding, however, I never wanted to stop. Between moving to Plainville and spending all my time in ChalkZone with you and when I was older and had Carol and Carlos, I haven't had a chance to snow sled again. So, now, not only do I get to snow sled again, I get to snow sled with you."
"Oh, come on, Penny, I don't want to-"
"What's the matter? Are you scared?"
"Penny, I thought we were over the whole 'scared' thing, I said I was-"
"Not that, I mean, are you scared of sleds?"
"No, I'm not. I just... I just want to sit down and think."
"Well, I want you to come sled with me. Don't you want to spend some time with me?"
"I do, but-"
"But what? You don't love me that much?"
"What?! No, of course I love you, I just-"
"I know, I'm just teasing again. Look, if you sled with me once and you don't like it, you can go sit back down and we can go sledding while you think. How about that?"
"Aw... Okay. Fine. Let's go."
Sitting on the sled with Penelope resting behind him, wrapping her arms around his stomach, the two were now ready to begin their descent down the ice cream slope. Carlos, preparing his own sled, sat on his, drawing a rope to secure his still-sleeping sister to his back, ensuring she would not fall off.
"Ready?" Penelope asked.
"Yeah, I'm ready." Rudy said.
With a simple push of her foot, Penelope drove the sled riding down the slope, sending the two rushing down and beginning their ride to the bottom, with Carlos repeating his mother's actions and following her down.
Penelope, finally going on the first sledding she had ever been on for years, felt a strong sensation of nostalgia come over her, taking her back to more innocent and happier days as a youth. Having Rudy both ascended to her significant other and being able to wrap her arms around him made the experience even more fulfilling to her, making a simple revisiting of her past turn into a completely new activity to enjoy.
Rudy, skeptical of the experience and preoccupied with his own emotions of loss and regret, was slow to allow himself to enjoy the ride at first, his loss seemingly too strong to overcome. Feeling Penelope on his back, however, the task of overcoming that emotion began to feel far less difficult that he had imagined. Where he would simply retreat into a state of apathy to flee from his own darker emotions to find solace before, the warming arms of his beloved Penelope began to wash away that feeling, giving a sense of peace to his mind.
With his negative thoughts dissipating, Rudy began to place his focus on the sled ride he was on, wanting to share the moment with Penelope, just as she wanted him to. Feeling the cool winds of the air breezing against his face at high speeds, with Penelope cheering behind him, a rush of adrenaline began to course through Rudy's body, giving him the first genuine sense of excitement and fun he had in many years. Being able to share this sense of fun in the arms of a loved one had only further cemented his enjoyment, now fully taking away his negative thoughts and giving him joy once again. Expressing his enjoyment in a verbal manner just as Penelope was, Rudy began cheering as well, taking more indulgence in the sled ride.
As the sled slowed its speed and came to a stop at the bottom, Rudy and Penelope gracefully dismounted from the sled, both immediately hugging each other and giving a carefree spin in place, laughing as they did so.
"Wow. That was really fun." Rudy said.
"And you wanted to just sit down and do nothing." Penelope said.
"Yeah, thanks for making me come sled with you. That really helped. I can't even remember the last time I had that much fun."
Catching up with the others, Carlos then reached the bottom of the slope, with his sister still tied to his back and continuing to sleep. With her consciousness temporarily leaving her body, Carol simply went limp, nearly falling off the sled if the rope were not keeping her secured to her brother.
"Pretty fun. One more time?" Carlos asked.
"Weren't you the one also going on about how we need to get the Golden Chalk?" Rudy asked.
"Not going anywhere. Been too focused, need a fun break."
"He's got a point, we've been way too focused on fighting everyone coming after us for a while. How about we go at this for just a little longer? It seems like it's putting you in a better mood." Penelope said.
"Well... He's right, the chalk's not going anywhere. I guess we can keep going a little longer. How about we start with that slice of red velvet cake?" Rudy asked.
[Soundtrack Cue: Led Zeppelin - Custard Pie]
Continuing their streak of fun down the Slopes of Sweets, the group chose Rudy's suggestion of a slice of red velvet cake as their next location, quickly climbing to the top and beginning their next descent down the puffy, persian pastry. With Penelope riding in the front this time, Rudy wished instead to let Penelope enjoy the full view of the sled ride, allowing her to better immerse herself in her childhood memories.
Upon finishing their ride to the bottom, the group moved on to a slice of French silk pie, riding down the slope of chocolate filling to the bottom. Unlike landing to the bottom with a slow stop like their past two attempts, however, Rudy and Penelope hit a chocolate shaving near the bottom, causing the sled to launch the two off and onto the ground, landing in whipped cream.
Carlos, concerned over his mother and Rudy, immediately hopped off his sled upon landing and began shaking them violently while hopping up and down in anxiety, hoping both were alright. After getting up from their unfortunate fall, Rudy and Penelope faced Carlos with whipped cream all over their faces. Rudy appeared as if he had a 1950 housewife's 'beehive' haircut, and Penelope's face resembled that of Santa Claus, with a whipped cream 'beard' over her face.
With anxious concern quickly turning to hilarity, Carlos suppressed his laugh with a few snickers, then immediately burst out into laughing after his failed attempt to hold back his hysteria. While initially confused about why Carlos was laughing so hard, the mystery between Rudy and Penelope was quickly dispelled upon looking at each other, leading the two to start laughing at each other as well.
As the three were left lying on the ground laughing, Penelope took a bit of friendly retaliation upon Rudy, scooping up a ball of whipped cream akin to forming a snowball and throwing it straight to his face, leaving it completely covered in whipped cream. Finding this even more hilarious, Penelope fell back yet again laughing, with Carlos doing the same.
Following up the attack with one of his own, Rudy scooped the whipped cream off his face with more off the ground and formed his own ball of whipped cream, throwing it directly at Penelope's face as she laid on the ground. Temporarily forgetting about his own strength for a moment, Rudy threw the ball as hard as he could, pelting Penelope in the face with whipped cream, creating a loud 'smack' sound and making her go silent and still.
Believing he'd accidentally hurt Penelope, Rudy rushed right down to her on the ground, trying to clear the whipped cream off her face and help her. Upon clearing the whipped cream off her face, Rudy looked to see Penelope's face go completely unemotional and unresponsive, as if she were knocked unconscious. Regretting his actions greatly, Rudy desperately shook Penelope, hoping to wake her up, with Carlos also growing just as restless.
After a few seconds of delirium between the two, Penelope opened her eyes to look straight at Rudy, showing that she was still conscious. Thinking that Penelope was mad at him in some way, Rudy tried to let out an apology, but was quickly met with yet another ball of whipped cream slapped straight to his face, with Penelope giving a smug smile as she got in her next strike.
Having been playfully fooled, Rudy began laughing in joy once again, with Penelope and Carlos also laughing. As Rudy retaliated with another ball of whipped cream sent straight to the two, Penelope and Carlos quickly started throwing several balls of whipped cream back at Rudy, leaving the three caught in a snowball fight of whipped cream.
In the duration of the fight, one stray ball of whipped cream landed its way onto Carol's face, not affecting her sleep. Subconsciously recognizing the substance on her face as food, Carol moved her tongue over her face, licking up the whipped cream off her face and eating it.
After the group had their fun on their whipped cream snowball fight, Rudy, Penelope, and Carlos continued their way to the next slope, ready to begin sledding once again. Starting again with a chocolate cake slice, moving on to a slice of key lime pie, followed with a scoop of butter pecan ice cream, subsequently riding a slice of raspberry pie, and ending with a scoop of peanut butter ice cream with chocolate fudge, the group finally finished their streak of sledding the Slopes of Sweets, putting an end to their detour of fun antics.
Having fulfilled a small break of fun sledding down many slopes of cakes and ice creams and other desserts, the group left the Slopes of Sweets, now more mentally refreshed and ready to continue their quest for the Golden Chalk. Taking the lead on the path of the Golden Chalk, Rudy led the group on their way to finish their quest, now mentally lightened and relieved after his exhilarating experience with Penelope. Carlos, still tending to his sleeping sister, kept pulling the sled behind him, having a better method of taking Carol with him.
"So, Rudy, how do you feel now?" Penelope asked.
"A lot better. Thanks for that break. How'd you know that'd help?" Rudy said.
"I'm a mother. If there's one thing kids need after a bad day, it's some fun. When Carlos found out one of his favorite comic book writers died, he got really sad and depressed for the whole day. So I took him to Reptarland to cheer her up, worked like a charm."
"Heh, I almost forgot about Reptar. How many of those movies are there now, anyway?"
"At least 30, and that's not counting the American remakes. You should hear the little 'waifu' fanatic go on about them."
"'Kaiju'. Japanese for 'strange beast'." Carlos corrected.
"I rest my case."
"Yeah, I got you." Rudy said.
Although many of the negative thoughts clouding his mind were long gone, there still existed one more matter in his mind that did not flee his thoughts:
Skrawl.
The very same Zoner that inflicted all his misfortunes on Rudy, the presence of Skrawl would never make its way out of his head. On top of the desire for revenge being one of the strongest driving forces to finish the quest, the physical threat of Skrawl was still a real possibility. After encountering his Beanie Boys and a chalk clone of Lars Rodriguez, the probability of encountering Skrawl now seemed like a possibility for the group.
"Rudy? What's wrong?" Penelope asked.
"Skrawl. I was thinking about him." Rudy said.
"Rudy, remember, don't let what he did-"
"It's not that. It just now hit me; we've been seeing all these other Zoners after us, but not him. Who's to say he won't be coming after us soon enough? What if he's on his way after us now?"
Not so far away from our human adventurers, the malformed creation of chalk known as Skrawl continues his pursuit of Rudy Tabootie and those questing for the Golden Chalk. Dedicated to finally complete his revenge and gain favoritism in the eyes of the mysterious Chalk King, Skrawl now finds himself growing desperate on his own gamble of a plan, no longer having any other option to gain what he desires most.
His ever-loyal servants, the Beanie Boys, continued to blindly follow their leader, ready to follow out any task they were assigned with. After such a long trek without any sort of break, however, the bee-human hybrid Zoners begin to grow restless with their own mission.
"Hey, uh, boss, you think maybe we can take a break for a few minutes? I'm starting to get tired." One Beanie Boy said.
"Same here, boss, I could use a break from all this flying." Another Beanie Boy said.
"Stop that whining. You haven't done anything that strenuous this past hour." Skrawl said.
"Boss, we just carried you across the Wait 'N Sea. Don't you think that's a bit strenuous?" The first Beanie Boy asked.
"Enough whining out of you all, we don't have time for this. That machine gun-armed maniac just nearly took my only way towards my goal away, and having him get erased just bought me another chance, as well as all of us some time. I intend to take as much advantage of that as I can."
The Beanie Boys, brainwashed from birth and surgically altered to a uniform look to serve the needs of Skrawl and his deeds. Having been taken from the hive of the Beanie Boys long ago as larvae, none of them knew their true origins, and none ever thought to ask.
With the territory they were entering now, however, those questions were soon to come, and in a way that would be less than beneficial to Skrawl.
The momentum started with a strange feeling in the air, only a slight disturbance. While this change went unnoticed to Skrawl, the Beanie Boys caught up on it ever so slightly. Feeling a strange sense of deja vu from the disturbance, the Beanie Boys began to ponder the change, stopping in their tracks.
Being as strict and focused on the mission as he was, Skrawl immediately noticed the Beanie Boys in their confused state; baffled at their reaction, but, more importantly, angered at their supposed disobedience.
"What are you doing? Did none of you hear me say that we need to keep moving?" Skrawl asked.
"Something's weird about this place, boss. I can feel it." One Beanie Boy said.
"Yeah, I feel it too. Something kinda familiar about this place. Can't you feel it?" Another Beanie Boy asked.
"No, I can't. What's with you all? None of you ever thought about such idiotic things before. Don't you know that if you let your mind wander, it'll go and run off? Isn't that what I've told you all for so many years?" Skrawl asked.
"Well, yeah, but there's something about this place. Something real familiar." The first Beanie Boy said.
"Yeah, boss. Say, what's around here, anyway? I feel like we've been here before." The second Beanie Boy said.
"There's nothing around here that's any concern to me or you. Now, will you shut up and keep moving?!" Skrawl asked.
"Hey, wait, what's that?" The first Beanie Boy asked.
"What's what? Now what is it?"
"Over there, check it out, boss."
While annoyed with his minion's request, Skrawl followed his Beanie Boy to the point of his interest, following him the the edge of a rock. As Skrawl and the other Beanie Boys peered around the rock, there laid a massive beehive resting on the ground, resembling a large dome rather than a real beehive.
"There, check it out. Seem familiar?" The Beanie Boy asked.
The Beanie Boys, still stuck in their state of deja vu they were receiving from the dome, continued to ponder it, trying to think of why it seemed important to them. Inside the mind of Skrawl, however, laid the secret of why this place was important, and outside his mind laid a face growing extremely nervous at the implications of what would happen should they discover their origin.
"Yeah, that place does seem familiar. Hey, boss, can we go check it out? Just for a few minutes?" The first Beanie Boy asked.
"NO! We can't go there! We've... got to get back on Rudy and the humans! They could already be halfway to the Golden Chalk by now!" Skrawl said.
"Hey, boss, you alright? You're not looking so good, you're starting to sweat."
"I- I'm fine, never mind that, just please get back on track so we can-"
"SKRAWL!" An angry voice yelled.
Before Skrawl could have his chance to escape his past, the consequences of his past deeds began to manifest themselves before his very eyes. Flying in from above the group was a legion of free Beanie Boys, surrounding Skrawl and his group of Beanie Boys. Skrawl's Beanie Boys, never having seen any Beanie Boys with various physical differences from themselves, began to have even more confusion added to their minds, trying to make sense of the situation for themselves.
"Hey, boss, what's going on? Why do these guys look like us?" The second Beanie Boy asked.
"Yeah, I'm getting an even stronger weirder feeling out of this place. Can we please get a good explanation of what's going on here?" The first Beanie Boy asked.
"What happened is that yourselves, myself's beautiful babies, have all been taken away from myself's loving arms and changed into the cronies of Skrawl." A female voice said.
Flying in directly in front of the group was Queenie Beanie, mother and ruler of the Beanie Boys. With her antennae extended, the calming and bliss-inducing effect began its course on Skrawl's Beanie Boys, placing them all under the spell of her emotions of love and affection that she unconditionally showered all her children.
"Now, myself is back to take myself's poor little babies home, where themselves belong." Queenie Beanie said.
Feeling the effects of her antennae, the Beanie Boys all walked into the arms of their mother, holding onto her to feel the physical warmth of her love. Queenie Beanie, loving her children dearly and elated to see them returned to her arms, welcomed their embrace and affection.
Skrawl, also beginning to feel the effects of the antennae, began to crawl towards Queenie Beanie as well. Where the approach of the Beanie Boys were as if they were children being returned to their mother, Skrawl appeared as if he were seeking forgiveness at the feet of a king, or even a god. Where fear began to fill his mind not moments ago, that fear quickly turned to shame and regret, all from the effects of Queenie Beanie's antennae. No matter how hard he tried to fight it, its effects were too strong to overcome.
Reaching the feet of Queenie Beanie, Skrawl crawled to her feet, holding his head down in a bow. As if being pulled from his very eyes, tears began to fall from his eyes, a sense of regret and remorse joining it.
"Such... Such beauty... that I have tainted..." Skrawl said.
"Himself can save his breath. Now's not the time to be makin' all these sad words, at least not yet." Queenie Beanie said.
"My queen. Shall I execute this monster here and now? If I might say, it is high time this creature pays for his crimes against us." A Beanie Boy said.
"No. Myself got's a better way to deal with Skrawl. Sting him and take him. Ourselves are going to have ourselves a session with him."
"As you wish, my queen."
Taking a spear with a sort of bee stinger attached at the end, the Beanie Boy briefly pierced Skrawl with the tip, taking it out as quickly as he inserted it. With the venom of the stinger taking its course, Skrawl's body began to grow weaker and lethargic, letting his mind slip away into an unconscious state.
"Don't be thinkin' myself's sentenced himself to death, now. Myself wouldn't never do somethin' like that. Himself be needin' something different." Queenie Beanie said.
Finally, with the bee venom in his brain, Skrawl slipped into a sleep state, unconscious and at the mercy of the Beanie Boys. Queenie Beanie, having better plans for Skrawl rather than a needless execution, ordered him brought inside the hive, determined to discipline Skrawl differently.
"Himself be needin' something very different. Only somethin' a mother like myself can give himself." Queenie Beanie said.