Space Cadet

A/N: I'm actually semi-pleased with this fic. You know what that means? Expect to see more of it. Yay! Anyway, because I write way too many A/Ns, I'm going to try and cut back. Double yay! Also, this chapter might be a little fuzzy, cuz I ain't no good at plots. Not yay! Oh well.

Chapter 3 – Penniless

Rudy sat by the phone, musing about the situation at hand. Something as simple as calling a friend- his best friend- was becoming increasingly difficult. It was ridiculous.

'What right does Snap think he has, poking into other peoples' personal matters?' He thought glumly, trying to postpone the call a little longer. 'I have to stay on track.' He reminded himself. 'I can do this. If I can conceal the existence of a second dimension, surely I can call someone on the phone.'

Trying to ignore what he was doing, Rudy dialed in her number as quickly as he could and waited.

"Hello?"

Rudy let loose all the air built up in him. It wasn't Penny. "Mrs. Sanchez?" He asked, nervously. "It's Rudy. Uh… Is… Is… P-Pen…"

"Is Penny here? She's up in her room. Let me get her for you."

The boy sat in silence, waiting impatiently. He found a lump growing in his throat, and for a few seconds he was afraid he wouldn't be able to talk at all. What would he say? What could he say? Why was he calling her again? Oh yes, invite her to ChalkZone. That seemed simple enough, right? I mean… he did it almost every day.

Finally, the phone was picked up again. Rudy held his breath. "Penny?"

"Sorry. She's not there. I don't know where she could be… huh. Should I take a message?"

"No… Could you just… have her call back when she gets home?"

"Sure. Bye, Rudy."

Rudy slammed the phone to the receiver, and slumped back against the wall. 'This isn't working out so well.'

He walked back over to the portal to ChalkZone and shook his head to Snap, who watched him eagerly.

"She can't come?" He asked.

"Nope. She wasn't home. Her mom doesn't know where she is."

"Weird. Ah well, Rudy… You know, we could always do something without her." Snap suddenly acquired a sly smile. "Hows about… You draw me another ice cream, and we can work up from there."

"SNAP!" Rudy scolded for about the third time that day. Snap shrugged.

"Whaaaat? In ChalkZone, food's not all that easy to come by, you know? Kids like drawing characters more than they do food. The result? Population up, food supply down."

"World hunger in ChalkZone." Rudy mused. "All right, Snap, I'll draw you something… but no ice cream."

"Why not?"

"Because you're not on great terms with me right now."

"Huh? Why?"

Penny rubbed her head, moaning. The events of earlier that day came flooding back to her all at once, although she dismissed it all off as a mid-day nightmare. Yeah, she was probably still in her room, leaning with her back to the bed, just waking up…

"That was some dream. I wonder-"

She glanced around, realizing with a gasp that she wasn't in her bedroom. In fact, she didn't recognize the place at all. She knew it was ChalkZone though, just from observing the texture on the walls and floors.

'What's going on?' She tried to get up, but her ankles were bound with some kind of weird rope. Her heartbeat increased threefold in nothing flat as she recognized her situation.

"Am I… being held hostage?" It was more of a doomed statement than a question.

She rubbed her eyes and looked around, praying that she was still dreaming. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she was able to see the room a little better. It was metallic… well, as metallic as chalk can get. The only door was steel and voice-activated, she could tell by the little sound box on the wall beside it.

Actually… as she continued to inspect the room, she discovered she wasn't alone.

"How are you doing, little genius girl? Do you remember me?" Skrawl asked, taking a step out of the shadows and into the light. Penny sighed, more annoyed than frightened now. 'I should've known…'

"Oh, everything's hunky-dory." She replied, glowering at the giant jellybean. "What do YOU want?"

"Haven't you figured out my ingenious plan?" He demanded. "I overestimated your intelligence, apparently, for it's really very simple… Anyway, I felt like getting back at that jerk, Tabootie. I was actually going to eliminate him to start with, but I couldn't find him and kidnapping his girlfriend works just as well. I'm actually killing two nerds with one stone!"

"First of all, that was a horrible pun. Secondly… I'm not his girlfriend. Thirdly, Rudy will outsmart you, just like he did the first time. He still has the advantage, you know."

Skrawl smiled, which only brought more exposure to his crooked, mismatched teeth. No wonder he wanted revenge. "Well, if I'm correct, the only thing that he has that gives him the SLIGHTEST chance of defeating me is his magic chalk… And what do you know; you had some with you too… And look how well you defended yourself! I don't expect him to be any more difficult."

Penny struggled with the rope that bound her ankles, but it wouldn't budge. "What would you gain by, in your terms, 'eliminating' us?" She asked calmly, trying to avoid a nervous breakdown, which was exactly what she didn't need.

Skrawl stood there awkwardly. "Uh… erm… Well, I don't need a reason!" He finally snapped. "Bad guys don't need a reason, especially for revenge, which is a good enough reward all in itself."

"You know, I think you should look on the bright side once in a while." Penny pointed out. "You aren't as ugly as Butch Biceps, right? You weren't created to spend your whole life in a bathtub like Granny. You're still more detailed than Blocky. And a lot of people like jellybeans!"

Skrawl's face shifted to a thoughtful look for a moment. "You know, I'm told I look more like a potato…"

"A lot of people like potatoes, too!"

 Skrawl shook his head. "But, you see, my dear girl, this isn't about looks. And anyway, I know you're only trying to raise my self-esteem in hopes that I might get all grateful and generous and release you just like that. Well, let me assure you, if you do happen to escape from my clutches, that won't be the reason." 

They sat there in silence, unmoving. No one said a word for at least 20 seconds.

"Ok, I've captured you, now what?" Skrawl demanded, mostly to himself. "I feel… unaccomplished. My revenge feels hollow and boring. How shall I torture your underdeveloped human brain? Hmmm…"

Penny started to sweat, feeling a whole lotta pain coming on. "How about a nice, friendly game of checkers? Or… chess?" She asked, backing away from him as well as she could without using her legs. "It's competitive, and it's good for your intelligence."

"No, that doesn't feel evil enough…" Skrawl tapped his foot on the ground, wondering what to do. "Oh well… The whole reason I did this was to eliminate Master Tabootie once and for all, and I doubt he even knows you're here… I'll soon change that."

"How you gonna do that? Call him on the phone?" Penny retorted, unable to help herself. Skrawl looked offended for a few moments, obviously annoyed with her already… but of course he couldn't do anything about it if he still wanted live bait.

"NO!" He replied. Whatever happened to people who respected the villains? "You know, I could just forget about Tabootie and get rid of you now if I wanted to. You better watch your tongue."

"Sorry." She didn't mean it, of course.

"That's better – now, stay here like a good little hostage while I go find someone to spread word of your capture. The great creator will be along in a heartbeat, and then I'll finally get the chance to obliterate him."

Penny glared at him. "I doubt that. But if your plan works out, what'll become of me?"

"Oh, I'll destroy you both at the same time, that way your fates match."

The girl looked away, face burning in anger. "I don't like the way your brain works."

"Yeah, well same to you."

Skrawl left the room. Penny sat there in silence, tears welling up in her eyes, but trying not to shed them. Rudy always got them out of any trouble… She wondered what made her think otherwise.

'Of course Rudy'll come.' She thought, upset at herself for being so doubtful, but she was having trouble convincing her darker thoughts. 'After all, he owes me… for faking his science project… when I covered for him when he went to go retrieve his cousin Sophie…'

She shook her head to clear her mind. Was she… angry at him? No, she couldn't be. 'I can't blame him… it's not his fault that I went into ChalkZone to ask Snap about HIS well-being… It's… preposterous!'

She leaned against the walls, staring up at the ceiling, wondering the source of all the strange thoughts that were starting to overtake her.