CHAPTER 33: ROAD RAGE

After being disclosed the location of a folklore hero named Toe Fu, Rudy, Carol, Carlos, and Snap headed to this prison holding him, hoping to make him an ally among their planned attack and raid on Castle Chalkenstein. While the mission did have its obstacles, Rudy had succeeded his task, also managing to free numerous other Zoners from the prison and add to the numbers of Calcite.

Now, Rudy awaits atop the prison, ready to leave the same way he arrived: Winched down through a chalkboard portal. After attaching the hook and cable to his hill-climbing harness again, Rudy was now ready to head back into the real world and prepare the final steps to raiding Castle Chalkenstein. Taking out his two-way radio, Rudy summoned the children atop, ready for them to reel him in.

"Okay, guys, I'm hooked. Reel me up." Rudy said.

After waiting a few seconds for the winch to start, Rudy found that the message had somehow not been received. Without having so much as a reply, Rudy sent another message through his radio, hoping for a reply this time.

"Did you hear me? I said I'm ready." Rudy asked.

Again, no reply was heard nor was his wire beginning to reel him up. With his impatience turning to sheer confusion, Rudy turned again to his radio, seeking an answer to why the children were not replying nor reeling him up as directed.

"Carol? Carlos? Snap? What's going on?" Rudy asked.


High above the prison complex, within the real world, the young Carol and Carlos, along with Snap, found a slight roadblock in the goal of winching Rudy back up. While the group had been stealthy about their approach for the majority of their mission, the children now had found themselves running into the local authorities. Despite having caused no disturbances which would warrant this turn of events, the police have shown up, demanding answers to their questions.

"Well, little lady, you gonna tell me what you kids are doin' here?" One officer asked.

With the policemen demanding to know what these children were doing here in the middle of the night, Carol immediately tried to think of an easy lie to tell the two, lest they would discover the hidden world of ChalkZone. But, even if telling the truth were an option, would you really believe a 9-year old girl if she told you she was helping with a prison break in a world made entirely of chalk?

"Oh... Uh... We're... working on... a... uh... school project! For... science!" Carol said.

"Science, huh? And what kind of science project would have you kids out here in the middle of a construction yard at 7 in the morning?" The officer asked.

"It's for... uh... the environmental effects that nuclear power plants are causing on the environment! Y'know, how the radiation and the... nuclear power messes up the... environment... and it's bad!"

"And what does that have to do with being here?"

"Because they're building a power plant here, don't you know? This is gonna cause all kinds of problems!"

"Kid, this place is gonna be a Good Burger. Didn't you see the sign?"

The policeman pointed to a large billboard that read 'GOOD BURGER: COMING THIS FALL!', instantly cutting through Carol's lie. Realizing that her story did not sell with the officer, Carol instantly tried to rework her story to fit the situation.

"Oh, did I say the environment? I'm sorry, that was last week's assignment, got it mixed up for some reason. I've been working way too long on this. What I meant was that it's a social studies assignment on... childhood obesity!" Carol said.

As Carol's lies were becoming less and less believable, the two policemen shared a slight glance towards each other, both seeming to understand that she was not telling the truth. As agents of the law, the two decided to take their next actions accordingly.

"Okay, kid, I've heard enough. I don't know why you all felt the need to come out here, but now you're coming with us to answer a few questions, starting with why this car's here with a winch jury-rigged on it.." The lead policeman said.

The police officers began to approach Carol and Carlos, ready to escort them in their car and to the police station. Before they could do so, Snap stepped in front of the officers, getting between them and the children.

"Wait! You guys got it all wrong! We're on superhero business. We've got us a bad guy to catch." Snap said.

"A superhero?" The lead policeman asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm Cobalt 99. Ever heard of me? I got about 3 young ladies in my fanbase over at the Kacy's."

"Actually, no. What's a superhero doing in a place like Plainville? We haven't had any supervillains or any sorts of serious criminals run through our town."

"Oh, no, this guy's from Hillwood! One of the baddest dudes around. I've been chasing him across the country, but I managed to nail him down here."

"Then why on Earth would you bring these two kids with you?"

"I didn't. Matter of fact, I saved them from the bad guy. He wanted them because of their... how would you say it... mental conditions. The boy here's Autistic, and the girl... I'm not totally sure, but I think she's schizophrenic."

"Schizophrenic?!" Carol protested.

"Yeah, hence why you were sayin' all those things about school projects, all because you forgot about that bad guy that captured you?"

As Snap finished his sentence, he gave a wink to Carol, signalling her that he was attempting to cover up her failed lie. While not too keen on being portrayed as schizophrenic, she knew that this was the best option to escape the situation, deciding to play along.

"...Oh, yeah! I'm sorry, I forgot again, didn't I? Why can't I remember anything?! Why couldn't I fight back against him?!" Carol shouted.

"Hey, there, there, it's alright. He ain't gonna hurt ya again. Cobalt 99 is on the case." Snap said.

With Snap's strange appearance and Carol's act adding to the new story being crafted, the policemen now became convinced by this new narrative, believing the story that they were now being led on.

"Oh. Wow. This is definitely really big. We'd better call this in." The lead policeman said.

"NO! Wait! You can't do that!" Snap shouted.

"Why not?"

"Because... Because that's what he wants you to do! Think about it, these bad guys from Hillwood are some real sickos. Takin' out a couple a kids is bad enough, but what about a whole platoon of cops? He's obviously settin' a trap for a cop-killin' spree. You wanna play right into his hands?"

"Oh. Well, definitely not. But can you at least tell us who this guy is and what we can do to help stop him, Cobalt 99?"

"I was hopin' you'd ask that. Now, huddle closely, here's what we gotta do."

As Snap led the two policemen away from the car to speak quietly about his 'plans' to 'beat the bad guy', he gave a subtle thumbs-up to Carol and Carlos, prompting them to think of a solution to the problem while he was distracting the officers. Having little options and even less time on their hands, both Carol and Carlos struggled and rushed to think of a solution to their new problem.

"Crap, crap, crap, crap, we are so dead. How did these cops even find us?" Carol whispered.

"Doesn't matter now. Need to get rid of them." Carlos said.

"Yeah, but how? We- Wait, the chalk. Can't you draw us some sleeping darts or something to knock them out?"

"In the real world. Can't."

"Then what about getting to the chalkboard?"

"Cops would see the chalkboard, can't draw attention to it."

"Well, what else can we do?"

"Drive the car?"

"Oh, yeah, that sure worked out last time. Remember how you nearly killed us with that hot-rod of yours?"

"Not a hot rod, Mommy's car. Not in ChalkZone, in the real world."

"Yeah, well, I still don't like the idea of you driving."

"Then you drive."

Upon having the idea suggested to her, Carol thought about trying her hand at driving the car. While Carlos had also observed how she had done it, she still had her own skepticism on being able to effectively drive. Then again, as the only alternative was to compromise ChalkZone and be taken by the police, as well as let her mother stay captured, there seemed to be no other choice.

"Okay, we'll go for it. I'll drive." Carol said.

Aiming to carefully avoid detection by the two police officers, Carol and Carlos sneaked their way to the car as best as they could, doing everything in their power to ensure that they did not make a noise to attract the attention of the policemen. With each step of the way, the sound of their footsteps on the gravel seemed to get heavier and heavier with their efforts to be stealthier, making their trial to the car far more challenging than they were hoping for.

Fortunately enough, Snap managed to capture the attention of the officers quite well, leaving their attention spans far from the children and deep into the story that Snap was fabricating. As Snap had resided in a world that was founded on human imagination itself, coming up with an idea of a supervillain was more than easy for the blue Zoner, especially since he had faced his share during the war against the Chalk King.

Although the story that Snap was telling the policemen was great, the poor officers had no idea that it was all a lie, let alone meant to occupy their attention.

"So this guy, the Spineslurper, eats mentally handicapped childrens' spines, thinking he's cleaning up the world from any child he thinks that isn't his idea of normal, just because he was a mentally handicapped kid and his parents didn't take care of it?" The lead police officer asked.

"Just like that, pal. Pretty sick puppies out there, I'm tellin' ya." Snap said.

"Oh, god, that's beyond sick! Especially that Autistic boy, I've got a nephew like him." The other police officer said.

"I know. I gotta tell ya, it ain't easy bein' a superhero, it really ain't. The things I could tell ya. But, in any case, I'm glad that you guys are here to help me take care of this problem."

"You got it, Cobalt 99. Just tell us where to shoot." The lead police officer said.

"Oh, don't you worry, I've got a good idea of where he is. He's really far off that way, you know where nobody might be lookin'?"

As Snap led on the police officers to another area in the construction site, not-so-subtly letting the children know this, Carol and Carlos nearly managed to quietly get inside the car, not making a sound to alert the officers. Just when the two managed to near the challenge of silently closing the door, however, a third party quickly made changes in those plans.

"Carol, Carlos, Snap, can any of you guys hear me?! What's taking so long?!" Rudy called.

Hearing the new voice come into the area through the distorted filter of a radio speaker, the policemen's attention was quickly taken away from Snap, turning to investigate the sound.

"Huh? Did you hear that-" The lead policeman said.

Upon hearing the call over the two-way radio, the two officers turned their attention back to the car, foiling Snap's plan to drive them away. The officers, seeing the attempted escape of Carol and Carlos, immediately saw through the story that Snap was fabricating, realizing that he was only biding their time to allow them to get away. With his story now failing to do its job, Snap quickly found himself out of options.

"Well, uh... Did I mention that... Aw, heck, who am I kidding, I've been lyin' long enough. Carol, Carlos, get outta here!" Snap called.

Having no more time to be sneaky about their escape, Carol and Carlos jumped in the car, slamming and locking the door behind them. The policemen, quickly acting to stop the children ran to the door, attempting to open it, but could not, as it was locked just in time. Aggressively beating on the window while continuing to jiggle on the door handle, the officers continued their persistent demands that the children exit the car.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing?! Get out of there right now!" The officer shouted.

Having their mother's life on the line, the children did not give into the demands being given, but found themselves rushed to continue their work to get the car started. Frantically taking every step that they could think of to safely escape, Carol and Carlos strapped their seat belts in, ready to drive away.

"Wait, what about Snap?! He's still out there!" Carol asked.

"Come back for him. Need to save Mommy." Carlos said.

While Carol did not like the idea of leaving a member of their party behind, she knew Carlos' reasoning was sound, and that their mother was in more danger than Snap was. Beginning their escape from the law, Carol turned the key and reached her foot down to the gas pedal, ready to start driving as fast as possible.

However, while the started car was now beginning to slowly move on the ignition, it had not yet began its fast escape. Being only 9 years old and almost 4 and a half feet tall, her legs were not yet long enough to reach the pedals. Not knowing what to do next, Carol turned to her brother for help.

"I can't reach the pedals! What am I supposed to do?!" Carol shouted.

Thinking of a way to solve the dilemma on their hands, Carlos unbuckled himself from his seat, jumping down to the pedals. Having his hands on the pedals (and, accidentally, his feet in Carol's face), Carlos had a solution to their problem of acceleration.

Before slamming down on the gas, however, there remained the concern of Rudy Tabootie still being in ChalkZone. Taking the radio in his hand, Carlos called Rudy, ensuring his was hooked to the winch.

"Rudy, are you hooked to the cable?" Carlos asked.

"Yeah, I'm hooked, what's going on?" Rudy asked.

"Are you sure you're secured?"

"Yes, I'm hooked on tight. What is going on up there?!"

"Just hold on. This is gonna be fast."

Ending the conversation abruptly, Carlos pushed his hand against the gas pedal as hard as he could, sending the car to drive as fast as it could. Now, once again, Carol and Carlos find themselves driving uncontrollably without any knowledge on how to drive.

With the car rushing forward at several miles per hour, Carol frantically gripped the steering wheel tightly, trying to navigate the car out of the construction site and towards an area of safety. After making a quick pass around the site, driving in a full circle in an attempt to gain control, Carol found herself barely missing both the officers and Snap. With the cable leading through the chalkboard still attached to the car, all those outside of the car quickly jumped over it, not wanting to be tripped by the metal cable.

Finally, after several attempts at gaining some level of control, Carol found the closest level of control she would find with this challenge, steering the car towards the exit gate of the construction site. While Carol actually crashed through the fence rather than the gate, she still managed to get out of the area.

Snap, meanwhile, was left feeling abandoned by the two children, not being taken along during the escape.

"Hey, you two! I gave you guys all that time, the least you could do is drag me along!" Snap shouted.

Little did Snap know, his poorly-worded request was about to be granted. While Carol had chaotically circled the car around the site, the cable to the winch caught around his leg, just loosely enough not for him to notice. When the car began driving out of the site, leading the cable to go taut, Snap then began to notice the cable, but was too late to act on it.

As the cable began following the car, Snap found himself being brought along with it, being pulled by the leg with the cable still secured just above his foot. Now, being dragged along the ground, Snap now found himself 'dragged along' as he requested.

"Hey! Wait a minute! I'm stuck! I'm stuck!" Snap shouted.


Additionally, within ChalkZone itself, Rudy found himself even more confused as to what was unfolding above. After watching the cable and chalkboard spin around several times, Rudy had no idea what to make of the commotion above, and knew that calling again would give him no answers.

"C'mon, kids, what is going on up there? Can't you give me a straight answer?" Rudy asked.

Once the chalkboard and wire finished their chaotic spinning, the chalkboard then began moving in one single direction, moving at an extremely high speed. As the chalkboard began moving, the cable attached to the car began following it as well. Rudy, still hooked up to the cable, realized what was about to come next.

"Oh, son of a-" Rudy began to say.

Before finishing his curse, the cable to the car went taut, and began pulling the hapless Rudy Tabootie along with it on its course towards wherever the children were driving it. Now, with no way to get out of the situation he was in, Rudy found no choice but to hold on to the cable, finding whatever kind of support he could within the thin but sturdy line of metal.

While still relatively hardened through his years of survival and solitude, Rudy still could not resist the urge to let out a panicked scream, not used to being dragged through the sky of ChalkZone by a car on the surface.


As the car began making its way out of the construction site and onto the highway, far out of human sight, the children driving were far from out of the minds of the two police officers. Having been fooled by 'Cobalt 99' and his story of a serial killer named The Spineslurper, the two officers knew immediately what to do next.

With the sun coming up and most morning traffic beginning just as the day itself was, their next action was even more dire and important than before.

"This is officer Tracy, I've got a light brown Hubernett going southbound on I-94, plate number is JUL-798. Drivers are two children, approximately 7 to 10 years old. In pursuit and requesting backup." The lead officer said.


In the small town of Plainville, Minnesota, traffic is not a regular issue. Even when taking Interstate 94 to reach whatever destination they may be heading; their job, their family, their dreams, or just a simple road trip, driving down the streets of Plainville will give those who take the roads either a boring grind or a slow, relaxing ride.

[Soundtrack Cue: Ministry - Jesus Built My Hotrod; Starting from 0:25]

This very morning, however, Carol and Carlos Sanchez have neither of these experiences, now having several Minnesota State Patrol cars chase after them and both siblings try to figure out how exactly to drive the car, not having much success after their first attempt. With this second try, however, the pressure of being in the real world, not having ChalkZone's lack of physics on their side, the stakes are now higher.

As Carlos continued to hold down the gas pedal, keeping their mother's sedan going as fast as the car could go. While most cars such as this one were not meant to run at max speed on a highway avoiding several cop cars, it seemed to be doing the job well enough so far.

Where Carlos held down the gas pedal, Carol took the duties of holding the steering wheel, doing her best to avoid other cars on the highway and keep their own car on the highway itself. However, as Carlos continued to hold down the pedal with his hands, his feet began getting themselves in his sister's face, leaving her barely able to see the oncoming traffic.

"Umph- Carlos! Get your- Umph- feet out of my- Umph - face! I can't- Urp - Oh, god... Plechh, plechh... it got in my mouth! Carlos, will you get out of there?" Carol said.

"Can't! Need to hold the pedal!" Carlos said.

"I hit the cruise control, like, 10 minutes ago!"

"What? Why didn't you say that?"

"Well, I'm sorry, I was a little caught up at the dozens of cops chasing us!"

Having been informed that his sister had resolved his duties of dealing with the gas pedal, Carlos removed himself from his place at the pedals, crawling his way back to his seat and buckling back up as he was. Now, with the two children strapped into their seats, they both focus on getting away from the authorities.

"How did you know how to use the cruise control?" Carlos asked.

"Mama used it during the trip here. She said it helped her worry about one less thing on the trip." Carol said.

"So you know how to drive?"

"Uh... Sure, yeah, sure."

While her words gave a small sign of confidence, her inner monologue was anything but, sounding like this:

ohgodohcrapwhattheheckamidoingimgonnadiethisisstupidimanidiotokayshutupkeepittogetherwevegottosavemama Carol thought.

His acute and sharp senses of sight never leaving him, Carlos took notice of the chalkboard still dragging behind them in the rearview mirror, with Snap's leg caught on the cable. Pointing this important fact out, Carlos notified his sister of this extra challenge on their high-speed pursuit.

"Snap!" Carlos said.

"Oh, crap. How're we supposed to get him out of that?" Carol asked.

Remembering that he still held the remote control to the winch, Carlos immediately pulled it out of his pocket, pressing the 'retract' button and reeling Snap and the chalkboard in. As the chalkboard made its approach, Carlos unbuckled his seat belt again, beginning to head to the back of the car.

"Carlos, what are you doing?!" Carol protested.

"Keep driving. Getting Snap." Carlos said.


Below the road itself, still stuck within the world of ChalkZone, Rudy hangs onto the only tether he has to the real world by a thread, literally. Having no idea what was unfolding above in the real world, only expecting to be reeled back in safely and soundly so that they may continue their mission, Rudy's expectations of this mission were swiftly and severely subverted by this strange and unlikely turn of events.

While still attached to the cable to the car's winch, Rudy was left hopelessly hanging in the air as the car continued its rush of several miles per hour down the road. As he hung in the air, several items from below were rising up from the ground, all running directly into his unintended flightpath, all to his displeasure and discomfort for the entirety of his unintended trip.

The first of the object to strike him (or, more accurately, have him strike unwittingly) was a needlestack, leaving him to painfully crash through it. While he managed to avoid having the sharp metal pins pierce his eyes by covering his face, he was not spared from the numerous metal needles piercing into his flesh; the millions of tiny pricks leaving a sharp, stinging pain in his body.

On the bright side, he did manage to find the hay within the needlestack.

As the second object came towards him, the silver lining of his past collision began to leave him. The next object to stand in his pathway was a formation of hard rock, all taking part in a jam session together. Not only had Rudy ran directly into the rock formations, but also found himself berated by the rock and hit by their guitars.

Although the rocks also managed to find the hook they were looking for in their song.

"Oh, god, how could this get any worse?!" Rudy asked.

Glad you asked, Rudy.

After suffering the unnecessary assault by the rock formations' guitars and other instruments, Rudy found yet another obstacle coming his way; a collision between him and said object imminent, and knowingly not to be pleasant.

This object was not one single entity, but a large formation of rock and earth, collecting into one new creation altogether. Just ahead was a massive volcano filled with boiling acidic lava seeping out from the top, with a massive swarm of hungry cyborg shark-alligator hybrids circling around the lava, massive barbed spikes around the surrounding area with numerous electric eels growing out of the barbs.

Just outside the spectacle of deadly threats was a sign that read 'Volca-No, The Worst Place to Die!', written in the most cheerful and happy font possible. Despite its welcoming and colorful greeting that the sign gave, the landmark was not at all a place where Rudy had any intention of visiting.

Desperately trying to avoid facing the Volca-No, Rudy tried climbing up the cable, hoping to reach the top so he could avoid the giant deathtrap awaiting him. As hard as he tried to gain a grip onto the cable, it was too slick to be held onto, leaving Rudy to only slide back down. Now, unable to escape, it seems as though the end has finally come with Rudy, coming not at the hands of Skrawl or the Chalk King, but a giant, inconveniently-placed killer volcano with all sorts of fantastic deathtraps, and being led to it by the incompetence of children.

However, by some streak of luck, Rudy never came into contact with the Volca-No. After a long period of waiting, having suffered through many unwanted hardships through the worst of ChalkZone, Rudy was starting to be reeled up, safely riding above the Volca-No.

Upon reaching the top, once again being in the real world, Rudy found Snap barely hanging onto the edge of the chalkboard, with the chalkboard itself being dragged across a road. Not expecting their mission to have such a strange turn of events, Rudy looked to his endangered friend to seek the answers to what was happening.

"Okay, Snap, this was supposed to be as simple as reeling me back up. What the hell is going on and how did it happen?" Rudy asked.

"Well, bucko, just before we was about ta get ya, some cops showed up and started gettin' curious, and the kids hadta ditch 'em to protect ChalkZone from bein' discovered. Unfortunately, it looks like the kids managed to make them chase us IN A HIGH-SPEED PURSUIT!" Snap shouted.

Looking above Snap's shoulder, viewing a large amount of cop cars continuing their pursuit, and turning around to see Penelope's car being the object of their pursuit. Looking up to the open back window of the car, Carlos was hanging on the trunk of the car, looking right back at Rudy and Snap.

"Carlos, how did this even happen?!" Rudy asked.

"Cops saw us on our own, got suspicious. Had to go." Carlos said.

"Who cares about how we got here, bucko?! Now, we're bein' chased by cops. Whadda we gonna do?" Snap asked.

Thinking over how to solve this unexpected and inconvenient dilemma, Rudy remembered that, with the chalkboard under him, he still had access to ChalkZone, and therefore could draw something to help.

"I got it. Carlos, lower me back down just a little." Rudy said.

Following his directions, Carlos lowered Rudy ever so slightly back into ChalkZone, allowing him to use his chalk once again. Using his chalk to draw a small but important assortment of items, Rudy drew a means of warding off some of the police cars.

Rising back up from the chalkboard, Rudy tossed the items he had drawn onto the road, tossing them straight towards the tires of the cars. The items he had drawn had been revealed to be various sharp objects, ranging from nails, jacks, thumbtacks, push-pins, needles, and broken glass.

On their own, these items may seem relatively benign with common sense and relative carefulness, but, here, on the highway, these were just the right tool needed to help their escape. Upon tossing the sharp objects towards the cars, however, their tires all popped and began going flat instantly, causing them to stop in their tracks.

While many police cars were forced to stop, all hitting each other in the process of their quick need to stop, there still remained a few cars continuing the pursuit. Nevertheless, the group took it as a win in this battle, all giving a cheer towards Rudy's smart solution to ward off some of the policemen.

"Hey, good on ya, Rudy! That's usin' ya noggin!" Snap said.

"Yeah, we just keep doing that a few times, and they won't have any cars left to go after us anymore. We'll be home free." Rudy said.

Although their victory in successfully fleeing the police seemed imminent, it quickly proved not to be. Joining in the conversation, Carol expressed a few concerns of her own, addressing an upcoming problem that needed to be solved.

"Uh, guys, if you're not too busy, we've got a new problem to take care of, look ahead!" Carol shouted.

With the 3 in the back looking ahead of the car as they were requested to do, the group all saw what was the source of Carol's concerns, now sharing said concern with a strong passion. Only a few miles ahead of them were a barricade of cop cars, all blocking their way forward and aiming to stop their escape.

Realizing that their only option now was to stop and surrender to the police, lest they would collide with the barricade ahead, the cheerfulness of the group quickly died down to a halt. While the idea of being stopped by the police was enough of a burden with all the crimes accrued, the hope of finding and saving Penelope would also be quickly lost, and all hope of saving ChalkZone with it.

Rudy, however, did not give up just yet. Giving one final instruction to Carlos, Rudy also handed him another object to solve this new problem. Quickly drawing a Homing Bacon, Rudy handed the gammon guidepost to Carlos, initiating the next part of his plan.

"Carlos, hold onto this, bring Snap onboard, grab the chalkboard, and have Carol stop at the barricade. I've got an idea." Rudy said.

"What's your plan?" Carlos asked.

"You'll see in a minute. Just make sure you're all buckled up."

Unbuckling the cable from his harness, Rudy fell back into ChalkZone, landing on the ground below. While the fall he took was particularly steep, it did not stop him from accomplishing his next goal. Drawing a pair of rockets onto his shoes, Rudy began flying parallel to the car, waiting for the moment that it stopped.

Although not sure of Rudy's plan, Carlos found the strength to trust in it. Helping Snap onboard the car, Carlos and Snap brought the chalkboard back into the car, erasing the portal as they did so. With all members of the party now aboard the car, Carlos prepared the group for the next part of Rudy's plan.

Jumping back down to Carol's feet, Carlos pressed hard against the brakes, quickly stopping the car just before it managed to hit the police barricade. Carol, not having been filled in on the plan, looked to Carlos with confusion and anger, believing that he was dooming them all to fail.

[Soundtrack Cue End]

"Carlos, what are you doing?! We're sitting ducks now and the cops have us!" Carol said.

Continuing to follow Rudy's directions, Carlos buckled himself in his seat, with Snap following suit.

"Rudy has a plan. Stay buckled up, he said." Carlos said.

While still confused about what Rudy's plan could possibly be, Carol's train of thought was thrown off by the delicious smell of bacon, leading her to become more hungry than confused. Looking to see the source of the smell, Carol saw the Homing Bacon in Snap's hands, pondering what the device was.

"Is that bacon I smell?" Carol asked.

"It's one of Rudy's tricks from the old days. Just sit tight and we'll see what he's up to." Snap said.


Meanwhile, rushing below the ground inside the alternate world known as ChalkZone, Rudy followed through the next portion of his plan, running through every step in his head as he took each step towards the goal. After drawing a small PDA, Rudy followed its directions, leading it to the Homing Bacon he had drawn, and therefore being led to the car.

Upon reaching his destination, standing right below the car, Rudy took out his chalk once again to complete his plan and rescue the children. With his rockets still attached to his boots, Rudy drew a large mattress on the ground, ensuring that it was made of memory foam and not springs for this particular purpose.

As soon as the mattress materialized, Rudy flew up to the sky, beginning to draw a rectangular portal directly under the car. While completing the portal to bring the car down, Rudy desperately prayed within that he was not too late and that his plan would indeed work, for the sake of himself and Penelope.

Come on, kids, please tell me you buckled your seat belts. Rudy thought.


In the real world, the occupants of Penelope's car all anxiously awaited whatever may come next, none truly knowing Rudy's plan or what its consquences would be. While Carlos and Snap still had their confidence in his plan, Carol did not share their trust, still harboring her criticism of the situation at hand.

After all, if you were 9-year old girl who just engaged in a high-speed pursuit with the police when you don't even know how to drive, you'd probably be thinking you're up shit creek without a paddle, too.

"So, let's recap: We were supposed to break out that Toe Fu guy, Rudy managed to cause a riot and break everybody out, we got chased by cops, and, now, Rudy ditched us, leaving us with nothing but a piece of bacon. Am I supposed to feel confident in what Rudy's doing?" Carol asked.

"Never failed us before." Carlos said.

"That's right, buckette, you'd best just hold on and have a little faith. If Rudy says he's got a plan, then he's got a plan. He ain't never failed anything he set his mind to." Snap added.

"Well, I'm sorry, but I've never been in a car chase with cops before, nor have I been surrounded by them in a threatening manner. So, please, forgive me if I'm not fully convinced that we're gonna be fine!" Carol snapped.

Before the argument within could continue any further, the policemen surrounding the car made their demands to the children, instructing that they slowly and calmly step outside the car. The highest-ranking policeman, taking a megaphone in his hand, delivered said directions to the drivers within.

"Attention! This is the police. Come out with your hands up! We have you surrounded!" A policeman called.

"Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap! We're dead! We're so dead! What are we supposed to do?!" Carol asked.

"Just wait. And stay buckled up." Carlos said.


Directly below the car, in the realm of ChalkZone, the efforts of Rudy Tabootie to save the children continued on, without rest or pause. With a simple stroking of the chalk against the edge of the sky, completing the rectangle drawn directly below the car, the portal to ChalkZone opened. Now, avoiding the falling impact of the car land directly on top of himself, Rudy flew back out of the way, allowing the car to fall directly onto the mattress.

In the real world, the occupants of Penelope's car all continued to stay buckled up, anxiously awaiting whatever would come to fruition in Rudy's plan. As the policemen began advancing towards the car, signalling that they were soon to be in captivity of the police, their hope quickly dwindled with every one of their steps approaching nearer and nearer the car. At this point, the group began to think that Rudy really would not pull through on his plan.

However, as the car suddenly pummeled downwards through the ground, Carol, Carlos, and Snap realized that Rudy's plan had finally come to fruition, but none were all too pleased with the plan itself nor how it came to be. Feeling themselves seemingly fall through the ground, all 3 occupants of the car loudly screamed in terror, as if being dropped from sort of tower.

As frightening as their fall was, their fear was instantly extinguished with the sudden and comfortable landing on a large mattress, gently and sofly stopping the car. As the mattress was made of memory foam, it merely sunk under the car's weight, where a spring mattress would bounce it right back up.

"Hey, memory foam. Nice touch." Snap said.

Having his intended targets rescued, Rudy erased the portal above, closing the policemen's access to ChalkZone off. The policemen, having barely any time to even comprehend the situation at hand, found themselves all watching the area where the car once was in a collective and dumbfounded silence.

More than trying to comprehend the strange scenario of the car suddenly disappearing before their eyes, the police found themselves also wondering the next and inevitable part of their day:

How in the world were they supposed to report this to their captain?

"Goddammit. I'm so fired." One policeman said.

"You're fired? Hell, we're all gonna be fired after this! How does a car just disappear?!" Another policeman said.

"I bet Hillwood doesn't have to deal with this sort of crap." A different police officer said.


While the poor and dumbfounded policemen continued to ponder what could have possibly happened to the car, the car itself was continuing to safely rest upon the memory foam mattress, cautiously created and placed to serve said purpose. Snap and the children, while just being through a rollercoaster of emotions in just a few hours, one of the group takes the events just as if it were a real rollercoaster: Wanting to do it all over again.

"And do it again!" Carlos said.

"No, thanks, bucko, one crazy chase was enough for me. Hey, buckette, what was that you were sayin' about Rudy not havin' a plan?" Snap asked.

"Uh... Well... It was a moment of weakness, I can't-" Carol stammered.

"Don't worry about it. The important part is that I got you guys safe. Now, since we've got Toe Fu and several reinforcements heading to help us and Calcite, how about we get ourselves over there and we'll finally be ready to save Penny and stop the Chalk King?" Rudy asked.

All in unanimous agreement with Rudy's suggestion, the group let out a collective 'yeah', all ready to finally save Penelope and defeat the Chalk King, saving ChalkZone from his terrible rule once and for all.

"Okay, but can you drive now? I really don't think I ever want to be in a driver's seat again after all that." Carol said.

"Sure, I'll drive." Rudy said.

Taking Carol's seat in the driver's position of the car, Rudy started the car's ignition, preparing to take them to Calcite's rendevous point and prepare them all for the final battle. Carlos, being the most curious and observant of the group, now began to ponder just how Rudy knew how to drive.

"How do you know how to drive? You were in ChalkZone for 15 years." Carlos asked.

"I started drawing cars when I was 11 to get around faster. Also, Snap gave me some lessons after I crashed the first 4 or 5." Rudy explained.

"Wait, 'crashed'?"

Before Carlos' concerns could be addressed or answered, Rudy began driving the car towards their intended destination, but beginning the journey perhaps too fast for the group to tolerate. Just as Carol and Carlos had previously done, Rudy proved that he too had a lead foot for driving, leaving the passengers to panic once again.

"Could you please slow down?!" Carol asked.

"Oops, sorry. Been a while." Rudy said.


Elsewhere, in the towering fortress known as Castle Chalkenstein, the object of the group's rescue found herself in a deeper state of conversation than she was looking for. Having been captured by the Chalk King as a bargaining chip in an attempt to obtain the Golden Chalk, Penelope was chained up within the dungeons of Castle Chalkenstein, unable to escape or to reach anyone for help.

While aimlessly hanging within the prison, the unfinished Zoner known as Skrawl decided to pay her a visit, coming with questions regarding Rudy's recent conversation with him. With their discussion about purpose and existentialism leaving his head in circles, Skrawl sought to find his answers more greatly explained through Penelope.

Despite the dark history the two shared, Skrawl and Penelope were able to come to an agreement. Once Skrawl would share of the events that led him to where he now was, Penelope would tell him about who the Chalk King truly was, and what his plan was. Once Skrawl had shared his own story, telling of how he pursued the group during their quest, trying to beat out the Lars Rodriguez chalk clone to his goal, and his meeting with Queenie Beanie, queen of the Beanie Boys, Penelope had shared her information on the Chalk King, as promised.

While Skrawl's expectations on the Chalk King and his story were already very high, some of his trust being placed in Penelope causing its increase, he still found himself extremely stunned at the tale, never having heard anything like it in his life, even with all the strange experiences he had lived in ChalkZone.

Conversely, Penelope found herself feeling some sort of sympathy for the malformed creation known as Skawl. Having known him as an enemy for years, and the sole reason both her and Rudy's lives turned for the worst, hearing the full details and reasons why he was so driven for a purpose was quite a paradigm change.

"That's quite a story, Skrawl. If anything, I'm surprised as to what's happened to you. If I didn't hate you for what you did to Rudy, I'd feel sorry for you." Penelope said.

"Well, you can spare me your pity or sympathy, that's not what I was looking for here. I wanted answers. Real, clear answers. Rudy was telling me that I can go and find any sort of meaning or purpose I desire, but he didn't tell me how to do it. I came to you hoping you could answer that more clearly for me. Now, if you're looking for more of my past events, I'm afraid I've nothing more to share with you. So, if you please: How do I find purpose?" Skrawl asked.

"That's what you wanted? To know how to find a purpose?"

"Of course it is! You humans can somehow find a purpose for yourselves in some way, but we Zoners don't have any purpose other than what we're given by our creators. If you'd been listening when I was telling my half of our little storytelling session, you'd know that's what I want."

"But you don't know how to find one? It really isn't that obvious?"

"No, it isn't! How is it you humans can somehow find purpose at every turn of your being, or even live with not having one?! I'm telling you, I don't get it! I can't get it! WHAT DO YOU DO TO FIND A PURPOSE?!"

Where Penelope's attitude towards Skrawl's stories and emotions was met with skepticism and some shred of disbelief, his reaction now swiftly swept away all uncertainty, and she could see that the incomplete Zoner truly did not understand purpose nor how to get it.

As a mother, Penelope knows all too well the sight of someone in need of help, or someone who is lost and misunderstood. Also as a mother, she understands how to mend these pains. Most importantly, as a scientist, knew how to answer Skrawl's questions:

With logic.

"Do you know what purpose is, Skrawl?" Penelope asked.

"What?" Skrawl asked.

"You say you need purpose. Do you understand what purpose is? You say that everyone has it, but do you really, really know why they want it? Do you know what makes it important?"

Penelope's questions, at their very base, were very simplistic, all being some form of one of the most basic questions there exist in the English language: 'Why?' As simple as the questions are, they prove to be more complex that meet the ear, and far more complex to reply with the mouth towards.

Even after searching so hard and so long, Skrawl could not find any sort of answer to the questions. It was then he realized that he had never even understood his own very mission in his life, beginning to question why he even started his quest to find a purpose in the first place.

So, realizing he had no answer, he gave his lack of an answer as an answer to Penelope's question.

"I... I don't know." Skrawl said.