Space Cadet

A/N - Woah. Five reviews, all at once. Spifftastic. By the way, half the reason I created this fic is so maybe OTHER people would write Rudy/Penny fics, cuz it's no fun reading my own! ;_; Ah well. I'm warning you right now, this chapter is mostly just about Snap trying to convince Rudy, so it might get a little repetitive. Oh well, I can't change the way my twisted mind works.

Chapter 2 – Resistance is Futile

11-year old Penny Sanchez sat in front of her chalkboard, which, for some reason, she had chosen as a good spot to think. Almost unmoving, she pondered the same question over and over, and as smart as she was, she couldn't seem to understand.

'What's going on with Rudy?'

She had tried to call him earlier, but he hadn't answered. Well, someone had, but as soon as she announced her name they hung up. She knew he was a little shy and withdrawn, but never like this. Now he stuttered a lot, was never the one to start a conversation between them, and whenever they did talk, he'd turn away at brief intervals as if he was hiding something. In the very back of her mind, she had a vague suspicion that she knew what was going on, but her common sense denied it. The changes she noticed might've seemed minor, but to someone who knew him so well, she could easily tell there was something different with him… not necessarily wrong, but…

"That's it! I can't take this anymore. I'm asking Snap, right now!"

Penny grabbed her bookbag, which was lying on the ground a few feet away. She dug through its contents until her fingers closed around something she hadn't told anyone about. When Rudy was accused of finding the secret to 'perpetual energy', she had to use the chalk herself to get him out of his mess- and had kept the chalk ever since then in case she ever needed to use it again.

Arm trembling, she pressed the chalk against the chalkboard, wondering where she'd end up. She knew every chalkboard in the real world corresponded with an exact spot in ChalkZone, and for all she knew the chalkboard in her room could be fifty feet above the Mumbo Jumbo Jungle!

She tried not to think about that as she drew the portal. As it revealed the vibrant world behind it, Penny looked around.  She didn't recognize the spot, but it wasn't more than 2 or 3 feet above ground. Sighing in relief, she climbed inside, and erased the portal behind her.

"SNAP?"

Her voice echoed for about 9 seconds afterwards. Then all was silent again.

"Where is everyone?" She asked herself quietly, glancing around in awe. It was quiet… Too quiet. ChalkZone was NEVER quiet! Whenever she came with Rudy, it was nothing but ear-splitting hubbub and… well, maybe it was never really all that loud, but in comparison…

"HELLO?!"

Her voice bounced back at her in seven different tones.

"This is very strange… But… it's probably just an uncharted area. Nothing to get worried abou-"

That was all she could say before someone grabbed her behind, and clamped a chalky hand over her mouth.

"I was opting for Master Tabootie, but you'll work just as well."

Elsewhere in ChalkZone, Rudy sat on the steps of some random chalk building. ChalkDad swept the area around his feet, to no avail since they were, after all, in a world MADE of dust. Snap sat beside his friend, enjoying some ice cream that the great creator had so generously supplied him with [after many minutes of begging, of course].

"How am I supposed to tell her, Snap? I've never done this before. I don't think I can. It should be easy, I mean it's just a few little words, but for some reason whenever I try to talk to her I go all blank and say the first things that come to mind, no matter how stupid! I feel like I'm making a fool out of myself! I mean, I know I should probably wait a while in case she thinks I'm psychotic or something… It's really no big deal… "

"Whatever you say." Snap sighed. "No big deal, yeah right! You've done nothing but ramble on about Penny ever since… Well, ever since I forced the truth outta ya. Maybe that was a mistake…"

"Perhaps. Anyway, I've been thinking about what to do for the past few days… I can't go on like this. She suspects something, which is good in a way because it won't be a big surprise whenever I do tell her, if I ever do at all, and…" He caught a glance of his friend's face.  "Aaaam I annoying you?"

"Naw, of course not! I just love listening to you babble on and on feeling sorry for yourself and all that… I can't think of ANYTHING in the whole zone that I'd rather do."

"Just making sure. Like I was saying, I can't continue this. If I hide it from her any longer, soon I won't be able to speak to her at all! And-"

"Rudy, I was being sarcastic. Think we could talk about something else? On this particular topic, it seems like you're speaking too much to me and not enough to her."

"Oh… yeah, sure." Rudy flushed as he finally noticed Snap's annoyance. 'Oh yes, I'm really making the greatest impressions on my friends lately…'

"Got any more detentions?"

"Since when?"

"Since I last saw you… a few… hours… ago. Right. You wouldn't go to school again in the same day… my bad…" Snap laughed nervously as he desperately tried to find something else to converse about that would hold both of their attention… and most importantly, keep off the subject of Penny, which would only bore him further.

"Penny never got detention." Rudy murmured subconsciously.

Snap shook his head. He wanted to grab his friend by the shoulders, shake him vigorously, and yell 'TELL HER ALREADY!' in his face, but that would only draw attention to them. Instead, he spoke calmly, but still with an irritated hint to his voice. "I feel like I've lost ya, bucko. No matter what, you won't stop talking about her. And I don't think you ever will until you just get it off your chest."

Rudy stared down at the ground. "You're right, Snap."

"I am?" The blue boy looked confused for a brief instant, before regaining his indignant disposition. "I mean, of course I am."

"I should just tell her and get it over with!" Rudy rose to his feet, gazing off into the distance with determination.

"That's the spirit!" Snap egged him on…

…And Rudy continued. "In fact, I think I'll call her right now and just confess it all!"

"Do that!" The drawing cheered.

"I will!" Rudy had his fist raised high in the air.

"…Really?"

The response was blunt and firm. "NO!"

Rudy fell back on the stairs, glaring at the sky, not sure what exactly he was angry with anyway. "Things like this can't be done on such short notice. Girls like dramatic stuff. Stuff that other people think is sappy."

"Where'd you get that idea?"

"Romance movies… NOT that I watch them voluntarily, of course. My mom likes them, and whenever she goes to the theatre to watch one, she drags me along."

"Movies? Geez, Rudy. You shouldn't resort to asking those things for help." Snap replied, half-groaning. "Listen, this whole ordeal… I don't want to say that it's grinding my last nerve, but… Rudy, it's grinding my last nerve. I'm starting to think you'll never work up the guts." He paused. "What… you're not chicken, are you?"

"That won't work on me, Snap. I don't have an ego big enough for you to taunt."

'Yeesh. He's a tough one to crack.' The blue drawing looked down at his gloves, smeared with the ice cream which he didn't even remember finishing. He had been too deeply absorbed in Rudy's problems. "If you don't tell her soon, I'll tell her for you!" He finally announced, knowing it would get Rudy's attention.

The boy's head snapped up, his eyes widened in shock. "NO!" He exclaimed, waving both hands in a definite 'no' gesture. "You can't tell her!"

"Well, you obviously aren't going to anytime soon…" Snap picked up an imaginary phone for emphasis. "Hello, Penny? It's Snap. I just called to tell you that a certain chalk-wielding friend of mine named Rudolph Bartholomew Tabootie happens to have an enormous cr-"

"You don't even know her phone number!" Rudy seethed. "In fact, I doubt ChalkZone phones even REACH the real world!"

This didn't seem to bother Snap too much. "Well, then, I'll tell her the next time I see her. And believe me, I will!"

Rudy cringed in defeat. "All right, all right, fine, I'll tell her… But… Give me a month or two!"

"I was thinking more along the lines of weeks, pal."

"WHAT?"

"Hey, this shoulda happened days ago… I'm cuttin' you some slack, here. In the meantime, I think you two should make up for all the lost time. Why don't you invite her here now?"

"I thought you didn't like Penny being around… I was always under the impression that…"

"She annoyed me? Well, you're right about that. But the affair at stake is one that we don't see a lot of in ChalkZone, and I don't want to miss a single minute!"

Rudy rolled his eyes. Why he had drawn Snap with a mouth suddenly baffled him. "You're really nosy, you know, Snap?" He grumbled.

"What are you talking about? You drew me without one."