CHAPTER 30: DEFECTIVE MACHINERY

A long time ago, in a small town known as Plainsville, a young boy named Rudy was born into the Tabootie family. Ever since he was a boy, he had an intense interest in art, dedicated to creating the most wildest and most imaginative drawings he could conjure with his mind and hands. After discovering a piece of magic chalk that gained him access to ChalkZone, a land where all things drawn on a chalkboard become real, the life of Rudy Tabootie found itself permanently cemented in art.

While he would find many great adventures in ChalkZone, spending most of them with his best friends Snap, his favorite creation, and Penelope Sanchez, his soon-to-be girlfriend, his life would take an unexpected turn for the worst, changing him forever. With the unfinished Zoner known as Skrawl taking his revenge upon Rudy by breaking his arms and torturing him for years, Rudy Tabootie was trapped and alone in ChalkZone, unable to return to the real world or even able to draw.

15 years later, with the children of Penelope rediscovering the world of ChalkZone, Rudy found his way to the real world once again, along with Penelope herself. Accepting a quest from the resistance group known as Calcite, Rudy undertook a mission to find the legendary Golden Chalk so that the evil Chalk King may finally be defeated and ChalkZone be liberated from his mad conquest of death and terror.

While skeptical about his quest, the journey allowed Rudy to find his ability to draw again, as well as rekindled the love he and Penelope once shared. Although his quest was a long and hard trek across ChalkZone, the efforts of the group had paid off, and they had obtained the Golden Chalk, gaining the weapon they so needed to destroy the Chalk King.

Upon arriving back to the home base of Calcite, however, it seems that the Chalk King chose to bring the fight to them rather than await their arrival. After sending Skrawl along with several Chalk Troopers to their hidden fortress, and even making a personal appearance to the battle, the Chalk King managed to destroy Barney's Impenetrable Forest and kill King Mumbo Jumbo, but not obtain the Golden Chalk, thanks to the efforts of Carlos.

Before the Chalk King could make any retaliation for Carlos' act of defiance, the Zoner known as Jacko rushed into the battle, bringing all the battle-capable Zoners from Frightzone with him. Charging into the battle to save the day, Jacko and his forces of monsters laid waste to the remaining Chalk Troopers, forcing the Chalk King to flee. Unfortunately, the Chalk King had brought with him a hostage: Penelope Sanchez, mother of Carol and Carlos and significant other of Rudy Tabootie.

While the forces of the Chalk King were significantly reduced, the forces of Calcite had suffered a great and immeasurable loss: King Mumbo Jumbo, head of Calcite and leader of its forces. With the battle being over, the Zoners surrounding the battlefield bury the remaining body of King Mumbo Jumbo, paying a last tribute to their king that had ruled them so benevolently for so long.

Facing the loss of such a great figure in the world of ChalkZone, the head of every Zoner fell low, leaving a dead silence out of respect for their king. Even the pumpkin-headed skeleton known as Jacko found himself bowing in silence out of respect for the king, despite his decision to separate himself from his rule. Barney the Encyclocentipedia, having already lost his best friend once, was left back into a state of sadness, having lost his best friend for real this time. The young Carol and Carlos, although only having known him for such a short time, felt just as heavy a loss, with Carlos facing some responsibility for not stopping the Chalk King fast enough.

Rudy Tabootie, the creator that so many Zoners had looked to for help and protection for so many years, was burdened with the heaviest guilt of all. After a long trek across ChalkZone to obtain the Golden Chalk to defeat the Chalk King, his efforts turned out to be for naught. Not only had he lost the Golden Chalk, and not only did he fail to help Skrawl see the errors of his ways, and not only had he not defeated the Chalk King, but Penelope was kidnapped by said enemy, leaving her in dangerous hands and him helpless to do anything to stop it.

Unable to stand being seen by the others after his massive defeat, Rudy broke from the mourning crowd and sought to be alone, avoiding the others and secluding himself. While he tried very hard not to be noticed, his efforts did not pay off with Carol, Carlos, or Snap. Seeing Rudy in such a state of despair, the three ran to catch up with him, hoping to console him in his most desperate hour.

"Hey, bucko, where ya goin'?" Snap asked.

"Somewhere that I can be alone." Rudy said.

"Rudy, what's wrong, pal? You can talk ta us. We're here for ya, bucko. Anything you need, we're right here to-"

"Snap. I don't want your help. Please leave me alone."

"C'mon, pal, you got it rough right now, we all do. The best thing we can do right now is try to help each other."

"Help each other? And what good is that going to do us here? Taking away the fact that King Mumbo Jumbo is dead and most of Calcite is gone, the Chalk King has Penelope, and he's holding her ransom for the Golden Chalk. Oh, and would you look at that? After all that work, we no longer have the Golden Chalk, all because you stepped on it, Carlos!"

"Had no choice. Chalk King plus Golden Chalk equals lots of trouble." Carlos said.

"And now it's gotten your mother taken away from us! Was it worth it?"

"Not happy about Mommy captured, but we can stop him. You know where Chalk King is?"

"He's at Castle Chalkenstein."

"Castle Chalkenstein? Ya mean that big, scary fortress that nobody can find? Well, great. Now how are we gonna find her?" Snap asked.

"I know where it is, Snap, I was captured and tortured there by Skrawl. That's not the problem."

"Then what is?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe the fact that it's surrounded by Chalk Troopers, and, if we try to rush in, he could kill Penny?"

"Well, we sure can't go and get the Golden Chalk all over again. That was enough trouble. It'd be worth it if we could save Mama." Carol said.

"And what if she died? What happens then? Then I lose her forever and you two don't have a mother to take care of you. Is that what you want?"

"The least you could do is try something. She never once gave up on you when you were still unable to draw, and now you're going to give up on her?"

"I'm not giving up on Penny, but I need to at least be sensible about this. We all do. We've already lost so many Zoners to the Chalk King and his soldiers, and he's probably got plenty more back at his base. We're outnumbered."

"Jacko's on our side now. Add numbers to that." Carlos said.

"That's still not enough. We'd still need more for that kind of invasion. Where are we supposed to get those numbers?"

Before the debate could continue any further, Barney the Encyclocentipedia approached the consulting group, bringing with him news of a new turn of events. The humans, eagerly listening to the Zoner's news, turned their attention to the computer-bodied chilopod.

"If I could be so bold to interrupt, I bring you some news that may be of particular interest to us all." Barney said.

"Oh, yeah? Like what?" Snap asked.

"It seems that, among the forces of the Chalk King left behind by the aforementioned being, there were left some Zoners who could give us helpful information: The Crainiacs. More important than the helpful information, it seems, is the way they wish to share it with us. They wish to defect to our cause and help us defeat the Chalk King."

Wasting no time to see what could be pried from the Crainiacs, the humans and Snap accompanied Barney back to the remains of the battlefield, being led straight to the Crainiacs, all 5 bound and awaiting the humans' arrival. Surrounded by a few larger Zoners, all making sure that the foes would not escape, the guards stepped aside to allow the group to talk.

"Greetings, Rudy Tabootie and company. I sincerely do wish that we were able to communicate under more pleasant circumstances, but it seems that we-" Crainiac 4 began to say.

"Cut the crap. You all say you have some way to help us, say it, and tell us what's in it for you." Rudy said.

"Perhaps I can explain. We found it to be in our collected best interest if-" Crainiac 3 began to say.

"Silence, Crainiac 3! I was the one speaking to Rudy Tabootie originally, I shall explain the situation to him!" Crainiac 4 said.

"And what makes you so special among the rest of us? You are but the middle child in our series. You are not special, neither the oldest nor the newest, neither the most effecient or most obsolete." Crainiac 2 said.

"And you are the second-to-oldest of all of us, nothing more than a stepping stone to me and all onward!"

"Which would include me. I am the newest model of the Crainiacs, I am the most deserving to be the one to make this conversation!" Crainiac 5 said.

"As I have explained previously, it is I who had started this conversation, I shall be the one to end it!"

"And it was I that contemplated this idea before all of you could do so! Therefore, I am the superior in this scenario and I am the one deserving of speech!" Crainiac 1 said.

"Your concept for this proposal was barely a sliver of a thought if not for the rest of us! You had no direction with your idea, and you would never have conceived this idea had you not us to-"

Annoyed with the Crainiacs bickering among themselves like a group of elementary school boys debating which of their favorites video games is the best, Rudy let out a commanding shout to break the fight up, needing the point to this particular meeting made clear and presented well to justify his reason for being brought to the machines.

"SHUT UP!" Rudy shouted.

Cowering under Rudy's shout like cats avoiding lightning, the Crainiacs silenced instantly, all listening carefully for Rudy's next words.

"Crainiac 4, you talk now before I stop listening." Rudy said.

"Very well. After the events of today, we wish to join your cause and assist you in defeating the Chalk King. We have information that could potentially help you in your fight." Crainiac 4 said.

"I know. Barney told me. However, considering how you were the ones to break into Barney's Impenetrable Forest and helped this massacre, I don't believe that you want to help us, much less have anything to give us that would help. Why exactly would you just now turn to us, all of a sudden?" Rudy asked.

"Our allegiance to the Chalk King was only due to his setting us free from our cryogenic chambers. As you can imagine, we were not present for much of this apparent war, and were not fully aware of the circumstances that it held. Knowing of our past of battling each other constantly, hearing that you were allied with Calcite was enough to convince us to overthrow Crainiac 7 and turn Futurezone towards manufacturing his weapons. In hindsight, I admit our programming towards fighting you had clouded our better judgement. Especially now do I regret our collected actions, as King Mumbo Jumbo is now not only dead, but erased, making any sort of return highly improbable."

"And why do you care about King Mumbo Jumbo? Seeing as the Crainiacs didn't want any part of his kingdom, choosing to stay in Futurezone, I didn't really see you as being good friends."

"Not all of us saw eye-to-eye with the king, Rudy Tabootie, but we had our respect for him. Where Zoners like Crainiac and myself stayed in our own 'Zones, there was still a sense of bureaucracy between us. King Mumbo Jumbo valued creation in its entirety, and he respected our decisions to remain independent. There was an understanding between us and the king, and, dare I say, a friendship." Jacko added.

"Jacko is correct. King Mumbo Jumbo allowed us to keep our independent states to allow us the creative freedom we desired, and we had a bond in which we would respect and not overtake one another's territory. There was much to be gained from each other. Now, our understanding is gone just as the king is, as well as the bond that held us together. Most importantly, however, is the revelation that the Chalk King can somehow draw just as you do. We all calculate that this makes him even more dangerous than we had previously predicted." Crainiac 4 said.

While Rudy was still unsure of what the Crainiacs could possibly have to offer them in this hour, there was no denying that he was becoming convinced of their allegiance and their sincerity. Listening more carefully this time, Rudy began to inquire for what the Crainiacs could propose.

"Fine. I believe you. You want to make up for your misdeeds. What do you have that can help us?" Rudy asked.

"We know of a prison that lies within the territory of the Chalk King, holding in a prisoner in which would be of great interest to you." Crainiac 4 said.

"That's not where Penny is. She's at Castle Chalkenstein, I'm sure of it. The Chalk King knows that only I know where it is, and he knows that we can't possibly break in."

"Not Penny Sanchez, someone else. Someone who could aid us in moving into Castle Chalkenstein."

"Who? What one Zoner could possibly get us into Castle Chalkenstein where no one else could?"

"Are you familiar with the tale of ChalkZone folk hero Toe Fu, Rudy Tabootie?"

"Toe Fu?"

"Oh, yeah, yeah, I know this guy, I told a little ballad about him in the Great Night Zone Woods to some o' my Chalk Scouts back in the day. 'Course, they was all actin' up, and, wouldn't ya know it, Toe Fu himself showed up and packed 'em all tight in their sleepin' bags like they was sushi." Snap said.

"Toe Fu was created by a child fanatical about many classic martial arts films; this Zoner is skilled in every martial art both real and fictional. Perhaps you could convince him to assist you in fighting through the forces of Castle Chalkenstein and save Penny Sanchez." Crainiac 4 said.

"What do you mean, 'convince him'? And why is he in a prison if he's capable of breaking into places like Castle Chalkenstein?"

"We do not know why, but what we can do is attempt to sway him onto our cause."

"Slow down on the whole 'our' thing, but, if he's really just sitting in some Chalk King prison without making so much as an attempt to break out, then how exactly is he going to be helpful to us?"

"Bucko, you've never seen this guy in action like I have. He only intervenes when he feels like it's absolutely necessary. You could literally shoot at him from every direction and he'd just brush it off as he deflected the bullets. He can dispatch anybody to the ground if he wanted, but he's a pacifist through and through. He doesn't act unless he has no choice." Snap said.

"Is that so? Well, then, if war and genocide aren't good enough motivators to get him fighting, then what will?"

"Perhaps if you shared with him your plight regarding Penny. If he does not care for the more larger-scale problems of ChalkZone, then perhaps he cares more for the smaller-scale problems of others, especially given your impact upon ChalkZone given your years as a creator." Crainiac 4 said.

"Bucko, I never thought I'd say this, but Crainiac's got a point. We gotta try to save Penny." Snap said.

Thinking over the proposal he was offered, Rudy carefully contemplated the option. Although he had no true alternative to the issue at hand, he knew that the course of action this would lead to the heaviest of consequences; Penelope's death. If the Chalk King caught ear of one of his facilities attacked by Rudy when he was tasked with retrieving the Golden Chalk again, he could very well lose her again and forever.

But, if he did nothing, the outcome would be the same as the failing Crainiac's proposal. At least, this way, Rudy would still carry a chance of saving Penelope and defeating the Chalk King once and for all.

"Just one thing. How do I know that this place you're sending us isn't some ambush, and how can we trust you? Why would the Chalk King imprison Zoners when he's more keen on erasing them?" Rudy asked.

"He imprisons a handful of Zoners that he deems helpful or useful to his own purposes. For Toe Fu, his immense skill in martial arts seemed to deem him worthy of still existing. Additionally, our technological successor, Crainiac 7, is imprisoned at this facility, at our own hands. We have been here ourselves, and we can confirm it exists. It falls under these coordinates." Crainiac 4 said.

Crainiac 4 handed Rudy a small GPS with coordinates to the prison complex selected on the screen, giving the location of Toe Fu and Crainiac 7. Reading the coordinates upon the screen, Rudy thought over the idea further, thinking of how to make such a plan work right.

"A place like this is probably crawling with Chalk Troopers. How are we supposed to get around all that?" Rudy asked.

"Go from above." Carlos said.

"With what, a plane? A helicopter? The guards are sure gonna hear something like that."

"No. Go from the real world, drive above it, drop in. Use a winch, put on Mommy's car, lower us down."

Impressed with Carlos' creative solution, Rudy's favoritism towards the plan began to grow, liking the chances of pulling off such a rescue even more.

"Okay. I like that idea. You guys really think we can pull this off?" Rudy asked.

"Definitely." Carol said.

"Yes." Carlos said.

"And you can count me in too, Bucko." Snap said.

"Good. Then let's get going." Rudy said.

"Not yet, one more thing." Carlos said.

Carlos began running to his previous spot on the battlefield, rushing to the smear which used to be the Golden Chalk. Not sure what the boy had in mind, the group followed him, seeing what he was going to do. Kneeling over the smear where Carlos stepped on the Golden Chalk, Carlos rubbed away at the smear, fishing out from the ground a small safe. Upon entering the combination to the safe, Carlos pulled from it a duplicate of the Golden Chalk, revealing that it was not yet destroyed.

"What?! Carlos, how did you do that? I thought you destroyed it?!" Rudy asked.

"Asked if we could draw more chalk with the chalk. Gave me an idea, draw with my foot, gambled it, it worked." Carlos said.

"Then why didn't you just tell us you made another Golden Chalk in the first place?" Carol asked.

"Didn't know it worked until I checked it now. Plus, you would have given it to the Chalk King. Too dangerous."

Taking the Golden Chalk into his hand, his skin turning gold as he did so, Carlos drew a small rectangle with the Golden Chalk, with the rectangle turning into a credit card as it materialized. As Carlos released the Golden Chalk and his skin reverted back to normal, Carlos displayed the credit card to the group, showing the next tool they would need for their mission.

"Uh... Why did you draw a credit card?" Carol asked.

"Need a winch. Mommy has her wallet, we have no money, but do now. We leaving or not?" Carlos asked.


In the prison cell of Castle Chalkenstein, the young mother named Penelope Sanchez continues to sit in chains, under the captivity of the Chalk King. As the Chalk King anticipated she would attempt to spit on her chains, therefore erasing them, her arms were bound above her head, preventing this eventuality. Not a few moments ago, Penelope was fed the history of the Chalk King, learning of his origins and all the details.

The Chalk King was once a boy named Christopher Wolfe, a young artist with much talent for drawing. Immersing himself far too deeply in his own drawing to find a substitute for the love that his biological parents did not give him, Christopher was drawn away from the real world and into ChalkZone, finding his comfort in this land where he could not find it in the real world.

Beginning to see himself as a god, Christopher grew vengeful and destructive, driving himself from the Zoners that once adored him. After years of isolation and pain, Christopher drew a handgun and put it to his head, pulling the trigger and ending his miserable existence that could have been a life.

A few moments after dying, however, Christopher had discovered a fact about ChalkZone the hard way. When a human being dies within ChalkZone, they are not gone. They become Zoners themselves, cursed to live as chalk drawings forever; unable to die or even feel any sort of sensory input. With his transformation turning him from human into something else, this being found that Christopher was truly dead, and he became something else: The Chalk King.

Now, the being calling himself the Chalk King sees no truth or sense of reality, only seeing the world around him as one giant fantasy. Fulfilling his desires as an artist in his previous life, the Chalk King now lives to live out what he considers fantasy: To destroy all of ChalkZone, and, after that, the real world, having saved his resources for some time.

But, before doing this, the Chalk King desires one more item to this task: The Golden Chalk. Having lived as an unfeeling and immortal being made of chalk for an untold number of time, he wishes to have all of his senses returned to him once again in order to fully bask in and enjoy the conquest to come, allowing himself to feel pleasure and power once again.

As shocking and and haunting as these facts are to Penelope, her mind is not on the threat on their hands nor even the story of the Chalk King. Instead, her mind is on her two children, wherever they may be, and Rudy Tabootie.

Regarding her children, it is only natural for a mother to be protective of her children. Feeling a life grow inside you for 9 months, realizing that the living creature within you is the product of both you and the love of another, capable of infinite possibilities in life, you would be crazy not to care about such a person.

While she knows that they had done well on their own within the world of ChalkZone, she still worries if she will ever even see them one more time, and, if they don't, then they would at least find the love and guidance in their lives within someone else's arms in her absence.

Ranking equally with her children in terms of importance, perhaps even higher by only a slight fraction, Penelope still worried deeply about Rudy Tabootie. Having been the first and only friend she had made when she first moved to Plainsville, her life was never the same after having Rudy enter her life. For many years, they spent much of their time within ChalkZone, solving all kind of mysteries, defeating all manners of evil, and bringing peace to the land.

After losing him for a period of 15 years and going through days of hell and misery trying to help him find the emotions he disconnected during that time, Penelope had finally found the relationship she sought with Rudy, becoming something more than friends at last. Being in the clutches of the Chalk King now, she wishes it could have lasted far much longer than it did, or at least known to savor it, in case she may never return from this place alive.

"Carolina... Carlos... Rudy... I'm so sorry... It was stupid of me to get myself captured... I'm going to die here... I'm so sorry... Please forgive me..." Penelope whimpered.

"He's not going to kill you. I wouldn't worry yourself like that." A voice said.

After hearing a voice make its presence within the room, Penelope found that she was not alone here in her cell. While she recognized the voice's distinct sound within an instant, Penelope still wanted to see the owner of the voice himself. Once the figure took a step from out of the shadows, her wish was granted.

"Skrawl." Penelope said.

"Hello, Penny." Skrawl said.

"What do you want? Are you here to torture me like you did to Rudy? Are you going to break my arms? Force me to crawl for my food? Force me into manual labor?"

"I'm not going to do any of that. I just want to talk."

"Talk about what? How much you enjoyed torturing Rudy for all those years? How good it felt to get the revenge you were looking for? Huh? HUH?! You wanted to make Rudy feel just like you did; without any sort of purpose or reason to live. Well, for a while, you did it. He was miserable. He could barely look at me in the face without thinking about what you did to him. You broke him. But guess what? He's back now, and everything you've ever done to him is undone. So, if you're going to try to do the same thing to me, go right ahead. I've gone through enough shit in my own life, and I wouldn't be affected by what you could do. Go ahead. Take your best shot at me."

"I know what I did, Penny. I'm aware of how much I broke Rudy. For a long time, I thought what I did was right and just, and it was what I wanted. But you're not the only one who's been through a lot. I've had my own trials and tribulations. I've had much of my own past catch up with me, and I still can't decide what to think of my past. And, believe me, I was just as surprised as you might be to hear this, but, after all that I did to Rudy, you know what he did?"

"What?"

"He forgave me."

Knowing the deeds done even before the days of the Chalk King, Penelope was well aware of the kind of Zoner that Skrawl was. After seeing the traumatized state that Rudy was in after Skrawl had tortured him, Penelope knew that Skrawl was capable of horrendous atrocities, and had done the worst of the kind on Rudy. So, as anyone would in her position, Penelope did the only thing that her mind was telling her to do:

Laugh.

"He forgave you?! You?! I'm not sure what you're trying to pull, Skrawl, but it's obviously not going to work. You always were an awful liar, but that's easily your worst yet. There is no way in hell that Rudy would ever forgive you for what you did to him." Penelope said.

"I had that exact line of thinking, and I wouldn't have ever thought it possible in a million years. But, somehow, it's true. Rudy forgave me for my actions against him. But even that's not the funniest thing. You know what is? I actually don't know how I feel about it. One one point, I feel some sort of relief. I'd done such awful things to the man, even taking away the one thing that made him who he was, but he let it all go. On another, I feel guilty. All this time, I'd thought that the Chalk King could give me what I was always looking for, but it looks like I was wrong. During our fight at Barney's Impenetrable Forest, he made towards me a lot of good points, and I can't stop thinking about what he told me." Skrawl said.

"Well, whether Rudy forgave you or not, I can tell you right now that the Chalk King won't help you. It seems that he was kind enough to share his backstory with me, and it's not pretty. He doesn't care about you or anyone else in ChalkZone, or even the real world. He's a monster."

"I admit my trust in the Chalk King has been dwindling as of late, but I don't have anywhere else to turn anymore. Rudy had offered me a chance to stay wtih him and atone for my sins, but I still ran off with the Chalk King, all because it's what I know. So, now, you've gotten me curious. You say he's told you his backstory? Tell me about it."

"And why should I tell you about it, Skrawl?"

"Well, you're chained up in a prison cell waiting to be bartered off for the Golden Chalk. You have anything more important to do?"

While Skrawl was the last being in the universe that Penelope had any shred of interest in conversing with, she could hardly argue that there was not much harm to be done with doing so. More importantly, being stuck in a prison cell with no form of entertainment, a chance to learn more about Skrawl's recent experiences sounded promising, leading her to make a trade of information.

"Tell you what. You start telling me where you've been during our quest, and I'll tell you about the Chalk King. We'll take turns." Penelope said.

"Fine by me. Well, whenever you're ready, go right ahead. I'm all ears." Skrawl said.