CHAPTER 36: RED HOT CHALK TROOPERS

Throughout the history of ChalkZone, no two days have ever been the same or alike. In a realm where anything that the mind can conjure can be brought to life with the use of a piece of magic chalk, everyday is an event, and everything is a sight to behold. Perhaps one could witness the creation of a new species made of two different and unrelated animals, or rediscover some long-lost creation of a child now fully-grown, or explore the entirety of the 'Zone in search for a new adventure, finding one at every turn. Anywhere you look, history can be made anywhere in ChalkZone.

No matter the history you make upon ChalkZone, however, nothing you could do could ever match the history that was to be made here and now. At the fortress known as Castle Chalkenstein, a battle far beyond epic proportions was only seconds away from beginning; a battle unforeseen and unprecedented in the 'Zone, never being even vaguely considered in the minds of the humans nor in the Zoners.

On one side, there laid the Chalk King and his forces of Chalk Troopers, all led by a chalk-clone of the maniacal Lars Rodriguez. Unlike the Chalk Troopers that were well-known and infamous across the 'Zone for their death and destruction, as well as lack of brains, these Chalk Troopers were created using the Red Chalk, a strain of chalk that makes anything it creates vicious and deadly.

While the Red Troopers were far more violent and dangerous than their normal counterparts, the leader of this new platoon was led by a drawing of one of the most dangerous men on planet Earth: Lars Rodriguez. A sociopath in the purest sense, Lars Rodriguez was already considered the scum of Ocean Shores, and, after the incident involving Alex Gravity and The Rippers, he was granted a robotic arm loaded with all means of weapons. With these deadly traits combined with the Red Chalk, the pure amount of evil that existed within the heart of this Zoner was like nothing ever seen before.

On the other side, there laid the united forces of ChalkZone, forming the resistance group known as Calcite. While their forces were limited in number, the Zoners standing here today had a large advantage over anything the Chalk King could throw their way. Recreated and altered with the combined imaginations of Rudy Tabootie, Carol Sanchez, and Carlos Sanchez, every new attacker had a newly granted superpower, each tailored to their personalities and traits; making each of them a one-man army all collected to one massive force.

The human leading the fight, Rudy Tabootie, was a force in his own right, perhaps one greater than the others. Having suffered defeat and torture by cause of the Chalk King, being forced to live in isolation for a decade and a half, Rudy had more than enough reason to bring his hatred into the fight, but he also brought along another emotion which drove him on: Love. With Penelope Sanchez caught in the clutches of the Chalk King, the woman that he loved and who loved him laid deep within the walls of Castle Chalkenstein, suffering who knows what means of torture and abuse within, as he himself once did.

While the thoughts of what could be occurring to his beloved Penelope haunted him deeply, he did not dwell on such thoughts, choosing instead to swat them from his mind. If- No... When he made his way through this fight, he would work his way straight into Castle Chalkenstein, there to be her rescuer and hero.

Now, the only thought on any mind within the battlegrounds now is the fight, and the fight alone. With Rudy and Lars taking their positions across from each other, with both of their armies lined up behind their respective leaders, the moment for when the fight would begin was all but inevitable; all knowing it would soon come and come soon.

Now, all that awaited now was just the right moment in which all hell would begin to unleash on the earth. The Chalk King, not only awaiting the battle to come, but wishing for it most of all, decided to be the one to begin the battle. Holding his right hand up to the Zoners of Calcite, the Chalk King prepared to deliver his final orders to the Red Troopers; beginning the final battle for ChalkZone and determining who would truly be dominant in the 'Zone.

"My loyal troopers..." The Chalk King started.

The Chalk King clenched his hand into a fist, representing the coming destruction of Calcite as he so desired.

"...do what you were drawn to do." The Chalk King finished.

[Soundtrack Cue: Black Sabbath - Children of the Grave]

Letting out a loud warcry, the battle had taken its first steps, as did the forces of the Chalk King. Changing his arm into its chainsaw form, Lars charged straight towards the army of Calcite, intent on using every last one of his munitions to destroy the last remaining forces of Calcite. The Red Troopers, obeying the orders of their creator, followed Lars into battle, all more than ready to join their leader into slaughtering their enemy.

Meeting their opponents' attack with their own, Rudy, accompanied by the young Carol and Carlos at his sides, led the forces of Calcite in the battle; their weapons high and their voices calling out in fury and glory. Once again wielding his trusty battle-axe in this war, Rudy held his weapon close and tight in his hand. Where the others all had their own individual powers and abilities, all that Rudy needed was his axe and his chalk; the former for fighting any opponnent that he came into contact with, and the latter for creating anything that his mind could come up with to find a clever way to solve a problem.

Bringing an end to the silent, virginal stillness that laid across the field, Rudy's axe and Lars' chainsaw met with each other in a strong, mutual strike, officially beginning the battle. With both of their mights and their wills battling one another, their bodies follow suit to their respective minds' orders; their hands continuing to bash their weapons and against the others', resulting in a brutal melee fight tense enough to hold the entireties of their concentration and focus.

As Rudy and Lars began their own personal battle, the fight between the Zoners and the Red Troopers was raging on loudly and viciously; all 15 years of tension and aggression of both sides of this war being let out at once. After years of struggle and hardship caused by opposition of the free Zoners against the tyranny of the Chalk King, the battle for the fate of ChalkZone has now begun with a thunderous opening; its impact being felt all across the 'Zone.

On the frontlines of this great battle against the Red Troopers was none other than Snap, under his militaristic persona of Cobalt 99. Taking his infinite-ammo rifles akimbo in his hands, Cobalt 99 laid waste to Red Trooper among Red Trooper within the swarm of enemies approaching, knowing that he could settle for no less an effort than to decimate all the opponents that stood between them and the Chalk King.

The rifles, casing infinite ammunition and grated to Cobalt 99 by Rudy himself, were plenty enough of tools to begin the battle, but the targets that they were firing at were less than intended for these purposes. Where the Chalk Troopers would have simply taken their defeat far more easily with the influence of a bullet, the Red Troopers were far more fanatical than their plainly-drawn brothers.

Taking bullet upon bullet, more than enough to kill an actual human being, the Red Troopers continued their attack towards the forces of Calcite, all just barely being brought down by Cobalt 99's rifles. Drawn for war with a strain of chalk containing more negative energy than anything else in ChalkZone, the Red Troopers proved to be a larger obstacle than the army had expected. Even with many superpowers like super-strength or laser-vision or any other crowd-controlling ability utilized against them, the Red Troopers just continued on and on until they eventually had no bodies left to fight with.

As valiant as his efforts were among his teammates in this battle, he knew that simple brutality and bullets would not be enough to win. While the other Zoners at his sides continued clashing with the Red Troopers with their own powers, Cobalt 99 called an order over his radio, coordinating a new strategy with Calcite.

"We're in for more of a fight with these guys than we thought. Biclops, Sally, Yadda, and Giant Baby, you manage some crowd control. Crainiac, Toe Fu, Thor, and Bully Nerd, you fall back. Barney, Generic Man, Jacko, you're in the sky with me. We've got some packages to deliver." Cobalt 99 said.

As Cobalt 99 and the others took their flight in the air, the rest of the Zoners on the ground followed his plan, all awaiting to see what the results would yield. With Biclops, Sally the Sea Monster, Yadda-Yadda-Yeti, and the Giant Baby leading the large and strength-oriented Zoners into continuing to brawl with the Red Troopers, Toe Fu, Crainiac, Thor Throat, and Bully Nerd fell back, straying from the battle ahead and waiting for their aerial transport.

While the plan was only just beginning, it still had its skepticism among Calcite. Biclops, being the one front and center among the battle, expressed his verbally, wanting to have a proper explanation of what Cobalt 99's plan was.

"I hope you know what you are doing, Snap. The last thing we need is a shortage of fighters." Biclops said.

"Don't worry, big guy, I got a plan. You big guys keep at your tanker strategy, an' we'll drop the brawlers and hand-to-hand people in the middle, where they can do more damage in crowds." Cobalt 99 said.

With Cobalt 99 taking Toe Fu, Jacko taking Crainiac, Barney taking Bully Nerd, and Generic Man taking Thor Throat, along with other fliers taking the melee-oriented Zoners, the one-man blue battalion began carrying his cargo into the very center of the swarm of Red Troopers, with the others behind him following suit.

"I trust you will not leave us alone in the center of this chaos?" Toe Fu asked.

"No, way, Toe Fu. We're gonna keep at it up here, give you guys some air support. You just do what you do best." Cobalt 99 said.

"I was drawn to have the greatest martial arts skills in all of ChalkZone. As my creator had willed it, so I possess such skills, and I will ensure that I use them all to win this day."

"Then don't keep us waitin', pal, this show's just gettin' started."

Releasing his grip on his carge from the sky, Cobalt 99 sent the peacful but perceptive phalanx plummeting to the place of battle below, allowing Toe Fu to work on his next attack in midair. Summoning a large sum of chi from his body, Toe Fu charged a large blaze of fire culminating in his fist, preparing to unleash it on the crowd of Red Troopers below.

In ancient Asian history, mostly within Chinese folklore, there were tales and records of men and women able to move and shape the elements with their hands and minds, through an art known, roughly translated, as 'bending'. Throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s, people in China and through some areas of Asia supposedly could elements of water, earth, fire, and air in such a way, but no instances of it exist today, reducing this phenomena to be a footnote in the history books, and supposedly being the basis of martial arts today.

In the world of ChalkZone, however, that does not matter. Here, a sentient toe with a deep, desynchronized voice can move these elements with his own marital arts skills. Here, said user of martial arts can release a blast of fire on an entire crowd of insane and violent all-red soldiers and incinerate many of these enemies. Here, said incinerator of said soldiers can continue using several fire blasts againt the numerous other soldiers and lift and move earth to throw it towards his enemies.

And Toe Fu does just that, and a whole lot more.

With the flying-capable Zoners dropping their brawlers within the crowd of the Red Troopers, Cobalt 99 led his fliers back into the battle, utilizing themselves as a full air support. Having Cobalt 99 firing his rifles, Jacko breathing fire and slicing away with his blades, Barney using his stinger to fire lighting upon the troopers, and Generic Man crashing into the troopers below over and over like some attack crossed between a battering ram and a kamikaze, the battle between the Red Troopers was now covered on all fronts, but far from over.

Cobalt 99, of course, knows this fact best. Although his plan was indeed working very well against the enemy that they were battling, the enemy that they were up against was not going to be easy to defeat. While he did his best to push his thoughts away from such troubles, pushing his hands on to ensure that the enemy would eventually see their defeat, Cobalt 99 still feels the doubt linger in his mind.

"Oy caloy, this is not gonna be an easy fight, even with these superpowers. I sure hope Rudy and the kids are doin' their part, or at least doin' alright in this mess." Cobalt 99 thought.

[Soundtrack Cue End]


Rudy has his own troubles in this fight now, so let us for now turn our attention to the children. Carol and Carlos, still possessing their superpowers granted from their costumes, tried to find their way away from the fight, needing to protect the Golden Chalk from falling into the hands of the Chalk King by the hands of his Red Troopers.

With two different theaters on the ground and one in the air, trying to avoid all confrontation in an all-out war was a difficult task, especially for two children who haven't even finished learning fractions yet. With so much noise being put out by the battle at hand, Carlos found it hard to focus on the task of keeping the chalk safe; his laser-sharp focus not being enough to drive his mind away from the noise.

"Too much noise, don't like this." Carlos said.

"Well, we're trying to get away from this fight. If you just keep a grip on yourself for a little bit, we'll get you somewhere less noisy." Carol said.

"Don't like being away from the fight, want to help and save Mommy."

"I want to save Mama too, but we're no help if we lose the Golden Chalk to these Red Troopers. We need to keep you out of the way so the-"

Before Carol could finish her sentence, a Red Trooper stepped in front of the two, wielding two cutlasses in his hands and gripping his swords tightly. While the Red Troopers, like the Chalk Troopers, wore generic gas masks to cover their faces, a smile paired with a set of veiny wide eyes were suspected to be present behind the mask.

With a quick look with his X-Ray vision, Carlos confirms this suspicion, and it makes him even more terrified.

"Hey, kids, you ever see that old movie The Blob? The one from the 80's? Well, it's got a scene where kid get eaten alive by that blob. How about we do our own version of that scene where, instead, I chop you up myself then eat the pieces?!" The Red Trooper asked.

"How about you back off?! We've got superpowers, and we're not afraid to use them!" Carol said.

"Oh, I bet you've got plenty, but exactly how many of them can you actually use this time?"

"Well... I'm gonna find out right now!"

Extending her hands out towards the Red Trooper, Carol tried to think of the first superpower that could come to her head, thinking about how the power itself could actually work to ensure that it worked. Thinking of a generic power of energy blasts, Carol focused the power to her hands, firing the blast straight towards the Red Trooper.

After putting all the emphasis she could into the attack, closing her eyes from what the effects would be, Carol soon opened them to see what her efforts had produced. Looking at what was left of the Red Trooper, Carol had found that her attack was more effective than she thought, as nothing was left but his waist and legs, still standing in place.

"Holy shit, you vaporized him. How'd you do that?" Carol asked.

"I got the idea from those Danny Phantom comics you read. I checked a few out, and remembered he does that weird power-blast thing." Carol said.

"Thought you didn't like my comics."

"Well... I just think Danny's cute."

"Of course you would, weirdo."

"Hey, just because I like boys doesn't make me weird, that's called being normal. You'll be doing the same thing with girls soon enough, or boys."

"Don't think so. Like reading comics for story and action, not boys, or girls."

"Yeah, right, what about all those Valerie's Hidden Treasures underwear catalogs you had under your bed?"

"I'm an artist, I draw people. Need references."

"Yeah, right, although I'm sure you do hold something in your hand while you read those-"

As Carol continued her sentence, Carlos took notice that the remains of the Red Trooper were still alive, approaching the two. Before Carlos could warn his sister of this threat, the pair of legs leaped into the air, landing in hard kicks to both of them, sending them on their backs and taking their attention away from the conversation and towards the fight.

The pair of legs, continuing to stand tall, showcased a few of its fighting skills with a series of fast kicks and movements, even doing a split with one of its legs in the air. Jumping towards the children once again, the pair of legs prepared to land in its next kicks towards the children, aiming to bring them down for good and take the Golden Chalk.

Reacting on pure instinct, Carol once again threw her hands towards the legs, again firing an energy blast towards them. Just as the attack did once before, the energy blast destroyed the remaining pair of legs, reducing the remains to nothing and at last removing the threat of the Red Trooper.

Realizing that they could no longer waste their time sitting in one place, Carol and Carlos continued their move to safety, needing to keep the Golden Chalk away from the Chalk King and his forces, especially since these Red Troopers were far more dangerous than the normal Chalk Troopers.

"Okay, let's just stop fighting and keep moving now." Carol said.

"Ditto. Hope Rudy's doing well against these things." Carlos said.


Now as we finally move our attention to Rudy, we find that he does not have as much luck as the others wish for him. Where the Zoners of Calcite face against the Red Troopers and the children seek safety for themselves and the Golden Chalk, Rudy was left to face the most dangerous of their opponents from their journey, now made even more dangerous with the rage of the Red Chalk pushing his insanity and powers to kill Rudy this time.

As the Zoners continued their battle against the Red Troopers, Rudy and Lars continued their deadlock, Red Lars' chainsaw cutting into Rudy's axe; both staring each other down with the intent of bringing the other down. Knowing the power of the Red Chalk and the capabilities of the original Lars, Rudy knew that this would not be an easy battle, and it would take every ounce of his energy to defeat this opponent standing in his way.

"You know, I don't appreciate being erased with a damn bucket of ice by two pissant kids, dickwad. It really hurt like a son of a bitch. Of course, I bet you'd know about being a son of a bitch, seeing that your fat, ugly mom's dead. I don't know if she stress-ate her ass off worrying about your dumbass, or just had a heart attack of joy from seeing you gone. I know if you were my kid, I'd probably want you gone, too. You'd be the biggest cock-block in human history, which would really be ironic if you came from mine." Red Lars taunted.

Pushing his enemy off from him with a simple kick, Rudy finally managed to catch his breath against his foe, and a small sense of silence from Red Lars' taunts. Arming himself with a Chalklantean Sword, drawing it in the air and catching it in his left hand, Rudy now had more than enough weapons to face off against the maniacal Red Lars, as well as the drive to do it.

"Just when I thought you couldn't be any worse of a bad guy, the Chalk King proves me wrong." Rudy said.

"You can never be too bad a bad guy, man, it's way too damn fun. I've never felt more awesome in my life. And guess what else? The Chalk King's a damn creative artist, too. Check this out." Red Lars said.

Holding out his non-mechanical arm, Red Lars revealed that his organic arm was not actually as organic as it seemed. The chalk-flesh from his arm suddenly tore away, revealing that his arm was also mechanical, loaded with all the weapons of the other. Changing this arm into its chainsaw form as well, Red Lars now had both of his arms changed into chainsaws, giving himself two weapons as well.

While Rudy felt a slight boost of confidence in the battle with his own pair of weapons, he felt that confidence slowly dwindle away upon seeing Red Lars with his own weapons, especially seeing those weapons built directly into his body. Nonetheless, with his mind taking a brief dwelling on Penelope, Rudy found his confidence to fight once again, not willing to abandon her or give up the fight.

"What are you waiting for? Come get some, pretty boy." Red Lars asked.

"Alright, Edward Scissorhands, let's go." Rudy said.

Meeting his taunt with an attack of his own, Red Lars bum-rushed himself straight towards Rudy, holding out both of his chainsaw hands to his direction. Rudy, with a Chalklantean Sword in one hand and his battleaxe in the other, returned Red Lars' tactic in full, rushing towards him just as well. As soon as the two met face-to-face in their own battle, Rudy and Lars' weapons met into another deadlock, repeating their attack at the beginning of the battle.

Rather than letting the repetition continue with the deadlock continuing for another few minutes, Rudy parried Red Lars' hands towards the ground, leaving his weapons out of his way and his neck unprotected. Keeping the chainsaws down with his sword, Rudy prepared to exploit this opening with his battleaxe, aiming to drive it into Red Lars' neck.

Not allowing Rudy to defeat him so easily, Red Lars balanced himself on his hands, turned his body around, and landed a kick to his face, driving him back and removing his sword from holding down his chainsaw hands. Now having his hands free and his target slightly dazed, Red Lars again rushed towards Rudy, aiming to kill him by tearing him piece by piece.

Reorienting himself just in time, Rudy managed to move his arms to swing an attack towards Red Lars with his sword; the range of the blade keeping him from attacking with his limited-ranged chainsaws. Moving in closer, Rudy blocked another attack with his axe, then moving in to drive his sword straight through Lars' chest.

Driving the cold chalk-steel straight through Red Lars' chest, the battle seemed to be over, with Rudy being dubbed the winner. With Red Lars falling to the ground and groaning in pain from the sword piercing his body, the evil Zoner seemed to be defeated and out of commission, no longer a concern in this larger battle.

This was quickly found not to be the case.

Rising up from the ground, still groaning in pain mixed with anger, Red Lars sliced the front and back of the sword from his body, leaving part of the sword still embedded within his body but still allowing himself mobility in his fight. Understandably, Rudy was not expecting this development, and found himself slightly stunned at the sight.

"Oh, so that's how it is, huh? Well, okay, let's see how you like being penetrated, pretty boy!" Red Lars said.

Red Lars swung one of his hands towards Rudy, prompting him to raise his battleaxe to deflect the blow. While he was unharmed by the attack, Rudy quickly found that his axe did not share the same luck, as the blade was sliced off by Red Lars' chainsaw hand.

With his axe becoming only a small stick, Rudy used what little weapon he had left to bash Red Lars in the neck, causing him to cough and choke from the impact to his throat. Having subdued his opponent just long enough to make himself a new weapon, Rudy pulled out a piece of chalk, trying to create a new axe.

Not stopped so easily by his improvised attack, Red Lars rushed straight towards Rudy, headbutting him and knocking him to the ground. No longer wasting his time with taunts or half-attacks, Red Lars thrusted his chainsaw hand straight towards Rudy, aiming to drive it into his chest.

Having only the chalk in his hand but no weapon yet created with it, Rudy found a quick idea to save himself from his enemy's next attack. Thinking on Carlos' instructions on how to use his ability to change the chalk itself to anything he wished, the words from the young child bounced in his head, telling him the next move to make towards his enemy.

Just focus really hard on what you want. Carlos' words said.

Using the directions of the words to defend himself, Rudy decided to put his thoughts on what would help him in this situation. His thoughts, moving quicker than they ever had before, conceived the idea to create a shield. With his mind focusing deeply on the idea of a shield, his very life depending on the idea, the thoughts soon became reality with the chalk.

Just before Red Lars' chainsaw hand reached Rudy, the chalk changed itself into a shield, blocking the chainsaw from attacking its intended enemy. Not expecting this trick from his enemy, Red Lars' concentration was thrown off for a brief moment, a moment brief enough for Rudy to exploit.

Taking advantage of Red Lars' imbalance, Rudy tossed him over his body, landing behind him. Rising from the ground once again, Rudy focused his thoughts from a shield back into the chalk, allowing him to draw the next item he would need. Just as Rudy had quickly risen from the ground, Red Lars had also risen again, ready to attack Rudy once again.

Where his goals were to kill Rudy with the brutality of his chainsaws, primarily for his own amusement, Red Lars now longer cared for this luxury. Changing his arms to their flamethrower forms, Red Lars prepared to murder Rudy in a less slow way, but still maintaining a way to make his death painful.

"Alright, pretty boy, now I'm gonna spoil those good looks! Hope your slut girlfriend likes suckin' on roast beef!" Red Lars said.

Beginning to unleash the deadly fire from his flamethrower arms, Rudy drew his chalk once again to create a way to deflect the attack. Remembering to use his imagination to come up with a creative solutions to his problems, Rudy drew a pair of U-shaped pipes, pointing both towards Red Lars.

As the flames shot straight for Rudy, Rudy himself managed to redirect them towards the one sending the the deadly fire back towards the would-be killer. Seeing his flames sent back towards him, Red Lars was set on fire by his own attack, burning alive before Rudy Tabootie to see.

While he was certainly no stranger to painful ways to die or brutal fights from his days in ChalkZone, Rudy found the sight of Red Lars burning alive before him a hard sight to view, especially upon hearing his agonized screams. Nonetheless, Red Lars' attack proved to be too much to take on himself; Red Lars falling to the ground and ceasing to move.


A ways away, the forces of Calcite continued to fight their way through the army of Red Troopers, all using their powers to move to Castle Chalkenstein and face the Chalk King. While their battle to get inside the castle was a troublesome and hard one, the forces of Calcite continued to push further and further to get inside, knowing that this battle would lead to a dark and sad fate for ChalkZone itself if they failed.

Sally the Sea Monster, being the most qualified to destroy the gates of Castle Chalkenstein, pushed through the crowds of Red Troopers to make her way to said gates and break them open. Feeling the attacks of the Red Troopers continue on; being shot at, stabbed, and attacked with all means of improvised weapons, Sally did not falter under the attacks; the pressure of winning the battle forcing her on and driving her to get to the gates.

With her arrival to the gates, Sally did exactly what she had planned to do upon making it this far. Taking her hands to the giant gates of the castle walls, Sally grabbed ahold of the gates and pulled down with all her might, stopping at nothing to bring down the gates to the castle and bring forward their victory.

Not allowing her to destroy the walls of Castle Chalkenstein, the Red Troopers continued their brutal onslaught of the giant sea monster, continuing to fire their rifles and slash their blades all across the poor creature. Feeling all the pain of the Red Troopers' attacks overwhelm her, Sally did not falter in her mission; pushing herself through the pain and torture to ensure that others would never suffer the wrath of the evil Chalk King once again.

With all her might and strength being put into the action of destroying the castle gate, Sally tore the gate down, leaving open the walls to Castle Chalkenstein and granting the forces of Calcite a way inside. Cheering on the efforts of their kaiju comrade, Calcite began storming their way into the castle, knowing that they had taken one of the last and largest steps to conquering their enemy.

The Red Troopers, not able to let the forces of Calcite make their way inside, began retreating back to Castle Chalkenstein, needing to regroup and defend the center as best as they could. The Chalk King, continuing to watch the battle unfold from his watchtower, felt a strange mix of worry and impression with the act of the sea monster, beginning to admire the efforts of Calcite while condemning their progress.

Sally, having made one of the last steps to victory for Calcite, decided to rest on the ground for a while, beginning to succumb to her multiple wounds. She was not sure if she would survive the harm that she had befallen or if she would die from the heavy abuse she had taken. For now, it does not matter for her. All that concerns her is that the forces of Calcite make their way into the castle.

And that they do, and she is happy for it. So, for now, she rests, closing her eyes and mind to the battle around her.


Rudy, taking notice of the progress of Calcite's efforts to make their way in the castle, knew that this was his cue to enter the castle. Rushing his way towards the open gates, Rudy prepared to fight his way within, motivated now more than ever to get inside and defeat the Chalk King.

While his concerns for Red Lars may be displaced, the red Zoner was not yet defeated, despite his brutal attack being forced back upon himself. One of his mechanical arms, feeling his mental command reach its wires, gave a slight twitch of the fingers; the twitch slowly turning to a clenched fist.

Not noticing this event, Rudy continued to make his way towards Castle Chalkenstein, rushing his way through Red Troopers with his battleaxe to reach the main hall and fight the Chalk King, after a stop at the dungeon to free Penelope. While making his way to the castle hall, Carol and Carlos began flying at his sides, accompanying him to the castle and help him obtain his objectives.

"Where have you guys been?" Rudy asked.

"Trying to keep the Golden Chalk safe, only just barely able to do so" Carol said.

"You can say that again. We've finally made our way in, but that's only part one. I've still got to save your mother and get the Chalk King. I could use your help on those parts."

"You'll need the Golden Chalk. Take it now while we're here." Carlos said.

Carlos handed Rudy the Golden Chalk, which he quickly took and stashed in his pocket. While he knew very well that he would eventually have to use the Golden Chalk in the final fight, Rudy was not at all looking forward to using it, recalling the last instance that he used it.

"Still not that confident I can use it right this time. Are you sure I can do this?" Rudy asked.

"You have to be. For Mommy." Carlos said.

Holding onto his words as if they were religious doctrine itself, Rudy gave a sigh, keeping Carlos' words in his mind as long as he could to continue the fight. Over and over, the words lingered on and on in his mind, becoming his simple mantra to win in this legendary battle, the simple words of a young boy:

'For Mommy.'

"For Penny." Rudy said.

With his newfound drive sitting in his mind, Rudy proceeded to make sure that the last thing that he did was sit. Rushing through the broken walls of Castle Chalkenstein, Rudy finally entered the castle, re-entering it once again after so many years away from it.

During his last stay within this cursed place, Rudy had suffered the very worst years of his life in this place; the worst he had ever lived and ever will live. Being broken at the hands of Skrawl and trapped as his prisoner and torture victim, Rudy was left as nothing more but a toy for the aforementioned incomplete drawing; an outlet for all of his wrath and inner torment to be let out upon him.

Having his arms broken, leaving him unable to draw, Rudy was powerless under the cruelty of Skrawl, being forced into fulfilling basic survival needs a challenge and made to complete pointless physical labor. Being made to be nothing more than a plaything for Skrawl's sadistic tendencies, Rudy's imagination began to dwindle and malnourish, although his body did become more muscular and lean from his endless hours of labor and torture.

Having miraculously managed to escape, Rudy had managed to survive on his own in the harsh jungles of ChalkZone to continue living on, even without the magic chalk. While he had managed to survive both the horrible torture of Skrawl and the harsh environments of Mumbo Jumbo Jungle, it had all cost him the most precious asset that he had owned, the trait that helped make him who he was:

His imagination.

Suffering the pain and agony of being isolated without any sort of connection or friendship, believing that those that he had called his friends had left him to die, Rudy had to teach himself to block out any form of emotion in his mind, forcing himself to become a beast of a man. As a result, the Rudy Tabootie that once was now was no more.

Now, after rediscovering himself and regaining his talent, Rudy remembers well all that had happened to him, making him who he is now and driving him to do what he now does.

Now, the memories and trauma of all his suffering return to him to remind him of all he had endured in this place.

Now, the realization that the one that had put his life on this course, the Chalk King, had sunk into his mind.

Now, it is time to face the nightmare within.