Space Cadet
A/N: I'll bother with the Author's Note towards the end of this chapter. Just a note- The R/P-ness REALLY starts in the next part. But I'm not posting it until I get some feedback on this chapter. Yay! So, uh… I guess I'll just get on with it now.
Chapter 7 – Sacrificial
Rudy felt himself heat up a bit, more than he already had what with being in life-threatening danger. For a brief instant, he was just thankful she was okay, her only burden being the chalk-ropes that bound her ankles and wrists. Other than that, she looked just as frightened as he was. "Penny…! You're alright!"
"But of course, Rudy. What purpose would I have to Skrawl had I not been available for usage as live bait? This way, you have something to motivate you to do whatever Skrawl wants."
Same old Penny. Rudy smiled in relief, despite the eminent danger. His friend was unharmed, and that's what counted.
What a one-track mind he has.
"Uh, I hate to break up this reunion, but… we're not out of the woods yet." Snap interrupted. Apparently, he had woken up from his mid-daydream about Rapsheeba. "In case you don't remember, we're being held prisoner."
Snap's reminder brought Rudy back into reality. He was seconds away from his doom, and he hardly cared it all. Was it possibly because he was faced with impending doom just about every other day, and he was used to it?
Skrawl cleared his throat. "This isn't visiting hour, children." He snapped at them, sounding a disturbing amount like a disgruntled schoolteacher. "You've a greater purpose than that."
The trio fell silent. "We're listening." Snap acknowledged, speaking up for the three of them.
"Anyways… I was thinking about what genius girl said to me." Skrawl drawled slowly. "She said I don't follow the common laws of any TRUE villain. Well, that kind of talk hurts, little girl. And so, I kept thinking on ways to improve on my evil methods… And I think I came to a conclusion."
The giant jellybean raised a clawed appendage to press a small red button on the wall. This gave access to a series of even smaller buttons. He punched in a few numbers and the door to the chamber opened.
"You're letting us go?!" The boy asked, confused.
"Well, gee, Master Tabootie… I wonder OF COURSE NOT!" Skrawl snapped viciously. "I'm actually getting away from this scene of soon-to-be-carnage, leaving you to your… your…" He struggled for a catchy phrase. "Your untimely demise… Nah, that's overused… No, no wait- Your unscheduled end. Yes, that still has fresh ring to it."
Skrawl punched in another button on the exterior of the room's walls, and the door slammed shut again. The trio remaining blinked in confusion, wondering what horrible threat their captor might have in store for them. Unfortunately, they could barely see anything, as all the lights had mysteriously gone out when Skrawl had left.
"Maybe he'll severe our heads and toss our bodies into the Wait 'N' Sea!" Snap exclaimed, trembling, for the very thought disturbed him. Rudy shook his head.
"Nah… in a few seconds, the walls of this room will probably start to close in on themselves, and we'll be trapped in the center with no way of escape." The boy predicted. "And Rudy Tabootie is NEVER wrong!"
Penny elbowed him in the ribs to get him to shut up.
"What!? Penny! That hurt."
In his momentary confusion, Rudy had forgotten she was even there with them. He'd already grown accustomed to her absence.
"Oh… OH! Penny! That's right. We didn't get to talk much before. Are you ok!? Did Skrawl do anything to you?! 'Cause if he did, I'm gonna-"
Rudy paused. Penny's eyes were wide open, and she was trembling freely, as if the ground beneath her were quaking.
"Huh? What-" Rudy was silenced as Penny brought her hand over his mouth in panic. "Shhh!" She urged silently. "Listen! Do you hear it?"
He did so. Unfortunately, there was nothing but dead silence as far as he could hear.
"Not really." He murmured.
Penny sighed in frustration. "I know I heard something- What about you, Snap?"
Snap, however, was deeply focused on something else. "Uhhh… P-p-penny?!" He asked, cautiously.
"Yeah?"
"Turn around, please."
She did so, so that she was facing Snap's direction. Out of curiosity, Rudy followed both of their glances- and then did a full 180 to get a better view. He was stunned.
"What is that thing!?"
From somewhere within the depths of the dome, Skrawl's voice blared at a loud volume.
"Hello, Creators… and the little blue kid whom I never really got the chance to meet." He greeted. "The creature in the corner is a Ksuyan- a dragon made entirely of metal. It was drawn by a kid who wanted to create a multi-purpose robotic equivalent to an actual living thing… and supposedly, the kid envisioned the Ksuyan as a hard-working house droid of the future. Unfortunately, in your pathetic world, such a thing is impossible. That's why this creature was erased into ChalkZone."
The Ksuyan itself was obviously drawn by a kid with impeccable artistic talent. Its spiked mane flared several feet beyond its neck, and its large, metallic claws, although made of chalk, seemed to glisten in the darkness. Its eyes glowed a blueish-white, like that of an extremely hot star. They could barely see it, but even its silhouette looked vicious. As the creature surveyed them, the first thing it sighted was the slight shine from Penny's glasses. It was enough light to make the robot flinch in agony.
"COMMAND-TARGET INITIATED." Announced a male voice that emitted from its throat.
"Umm… what?" Snap asked of his two comrades, scratching his round head in confusion. "Command who in what? What does that- AAAAAAH!"
The Ksuyan had leaped off of its back legs and was charging full-speed towards the three of them. The trio broke off in separate directions, seconds before the large metal bulk of the dragon hit the ground. Luckily for them, it was a fairly large room, and there was enough space to run.
Penny backed off into a wall, wondering whom it would chase. The Ksuyan sat on its forelegs for a minute, looking from chalk drawing to person to person. All was pitch-black… until the girl's glasses were at such an angle they gave off a VERY minor glint.
The dragon locked onto the Hispanic girl- or rather, the light. She gave off light. She had to be terminated.
Then it charged again.
"PENNY!" Rudy shouted, backed up against his own wall of the room. "IT'S COMING FOR YOU!"
Even Snap couldn't keep his eyes of the scene. He secretly prayed she'd get out of the way in time.
The dragon's metallic feet gave off loud thunks as it stampeded across the room once again. Penny stood there in panic, paralyzed with fear, feeling like a deer under a spotlight. The Ksuyan was fast approaching, and before long, its bright blue eyes were only yards away from her own.
Finally coming to her senses, Penny ducked, and the Ksuyan's head collided forcefully into the wall. The girl slid between its legs, then hurriedly clambered to her feet and made a hasty retreat. Scampering across the room, she scanned the area for Rudy and Snap, although it was barely possible to see ANYTHING. Finally, she saw a darkened silhouette from the far wall, with a roundish head and what looked like a bandana. Snap. But where was Rudy?
Thump. She had bumped into someone. Startled, she fell to the floor again, and the other did the same. He gave his own slight cry of surprise. Yep, definitely Rudy.
"Sorry, Rudy!" She breathed quickly, grabbing his arm and pulling him back up… but after a second thought, she instead wrapped her arms around his shoulders tightly, a wave of panic overtaking her. "We've GOT to get out of here!"
Rudy was suddenly thankful for the darkness, for he knew she couldn't see his face starting to burn. Hesitantly, all the while feeling a strange combination of fear and regret, he slipped out of her embrace, knowing that a panic attack was only the worst possible scenario.
"Calm down, Penny. We're going to find a way out. I promise, okay? We came this far, we're not going to give up now." He spoke softly but firmly. Once this was said, he grabbed her arm and started to drag her towards the wall farthest from the robotic threat, which was just starting to rise to its feet.
The Ksuyan gave a low, mechanical-sounding growl, like the sound of thousands of nails hitting a metal board. It saw the enemy retreating, not by means of sight, but from its built-in sonar.
"Penny, if… If we don't get out of this alive, I…" Rudy tugged at his collar nervously, his heart frozen solid as he watched the Ksuyan clamber to its feet. "I… I want you to know that I…"
The dragon's sharp roar cut him off. It was opening its metallic jaws, before letting loose a stream of reddish missiles pin-pointed on the pair's exact location. Snap backed even further into his corner of the room, eyes as wide as they'd ever get.
"RUDY! PENNY!" He exclaimed. "GET OUTTA THE WAY, BUCKOS!"
He didn't need to tell them twice. Rudy continued to drag along his panic-stricken female counterpart, ignoring the searing pain as he felt the missiles explode inches from his feet, knowing they'd have singed his flesh if they'd been any closer. Penny was also getting the same impact, being dragged along behind her friend, merely watching in terror as more and more of the little projectiles sailed along towards them.
"Rudy!" She barked, suddenly alert. "There's one headed this way! Make a sharp left turn. We should be able to dodge it."
It took the boy a second or two to comprehend her command, but he obeyed and veered to the left, and the missile erupted a good five feet behind them. Unfortunately, a second one was well on its way, this one looking as if it could make a direct hit.
"To the right, Rudy! The right!" She instructed, tapping his shoulder roughly to make sure he'd heard her.
"No backseat running!" He complained, starting to get a little strained from the effort.
In no time, the two were backed up against the far wall, panting in both exhaustion and in fear as they hurriedly scanned the room for the enemy.
"Where'd he go?" Penny managed between breaths.
"You were the one in the back." Rudy reminded her.
Neither of them could catch sight of the dragon anymore. It seemed to have just vanished into nowhere. Not even the normal blue-ish white luminescence from its eyes seemed to be present.
Subconsciously, Penny grabbed his hand, hearing a sudden noise from about ten or twenty yards away. "R-Rudy?" She whispered, raising a trembling finger to point in the indicated direction. Rudy quickly looked that way, but he saw nothing. There was in fact some kind of noise, though, but it was getting softer and softer.
The eyes started to glow.
"There it is!" Rudy exclaimed. "It's way over there, by the opposite wall!"
"Oh. Well, why is it over there?"
"I don't know… I'm just relieved it's that far away."
The Ksuyan, of course, wasn't finished with them yet. It was coming back, much faster than he ever had before, its whitish eye with an enraged glint to them.
Rudy's eyes bulged, watching it approach at record speeds. Within three seconds, it had traveled from one end of the room to the middle. There as no time. No time at all. No time to run, no time to confess, no time to… Well, actually, there might be time enough to push someone…
Penny shut her eyes tight once again, hoping that somehow, the entire situation would disappear, and suddenly she'd be doing something normal and painless, like walking to school or taking an algebra test. Her common sense knew very well this was quite impossible, and was trying to urge her on to move. But her body wouldn't obey, and she only trembled more rapidly…
And the next thing she knew, she was lying on the ground, a sore ache from the bottom of her head but nothing more. There was a large, gaping hole in the wall… letting in oodles of light. The Ksuyan gave a last painful cry, and collapsed to the ground, overheated. Its body made a loud CLUNK as it hit the ground.
Once again, her better mind started to override her adrenaline as she pieced together the entire situation in her head. Indeed, it made perfect sense. The Ksuyan had charged after her because it hated the light that shone off of her glasses. Once exposed to greater quantities of it, its circuits fried and it became a useless hunk of metal on the floor. Penny rose to her feet, a little shaken-up but mostly okay, watching the fallen menace in disbelief. Its whitish-blue eyes had disappeared, replaced by nothing but a glassy surface that gave off no glow.
"Well, there's an adventure worth forgetting." She dusted herself off, temporarily pleased with their feat. "Come on, Rudy."
There was no response. A sudden wave of terror went through her spine as she desperately searched for him. It was easier to see with the light shining through the wall.
Finally, she saw him… and she nearly screamed. His motionless body was trapped under the Ksuyan's large tail, and one arm was bent under him in an awkward position. Trembling, Penny suddenly realized what he'd done. He'd pushed her out of the way.
That's why she'd been okay.
A/N: Two to four more parts at most. Oh yeah, and mucho gracias for the reviews. Very good motivation, yes. Actually, I've already gotten more than half of the next part written, so it should come within a week or so. Until then, review!