Space Cadet
A/N - Oi… Ya, I know I posted the last chapter uber-early (less than twenty-four hours after posting the one before it) but I got the full 5 reviews I wanted in that time so I decided to have it posted really fast.
Thanketh to the reviewers, yes. I luffle yew. Reviewies make me feel very good inside. Yay! Fuzzly feeling.
Doodle – Wow, that was a longer and nicer review than I usually get ^^ Thanks so much. Oh, and um… The Skrawl/Snap thing you described (in your dream) filled me with very terrifying mental images. But regardless, it was quite fascinating. Geez, I wonder how many awkward stares I'd get if I were to write a fic like that… And I'm not much into the Snap/Rapsheeba pairing either (I was at one time, though), but I mean, writing for the official pairings is fun because I know there are fans out there who like them. And, yes, I believe that's enough babbling.
Chapter 9 – The Calvary's Comeback
Craniac 2 and Craniac 4 were the last to hear the news. Both were still stationed near certain areas in the Dome of the Future, not much paying attention to anything.
The second of the Craniac line was a bit weary. "My thermal sensors detect much motion nearby. We should be prepared for an ambush."
The other, Craniac 4, seemed much more laid-back, simply hovering there unalarmed. "Master Skrawl or C3 would inform us if there were any outsiders approaching." It announced blandly, sounding very bored. "As long as the system is up and running, nothing can get by our defenses. The disintegrating beam – which paralyzes – is positioned by the entrance. Tabootie and his sidekick were already taken. Any friends with intents to save them are going to suffer the same fate. Look, you can even see the beam from here. It's truly glorious, isn't it?"
Craniacs 2 and 4 took a second to admire the beam- until a pale giant with a ridiculous tartan-patterned kilt crushed the machine underfoot as if it were a twig.
Rapsheeba stood atop the small, mechanized hot dog stand (you know the one), gazing upon her fellow Zoners, a pleased but worried smile on her face. Biclops was having a swell time stomping upon all kinds of unrecognizable junk, make the dome tremble each time.
Buzzzz. A small, clearly female insect perched upon the rapper's arm, her lavender wings trembling even after landing. "Snap and ze creators are on ze uppermost floor, that building right over zere." She spoke with a very heavy accent, using a thin, segmented arm to point to the tower in the center of the dome. "I did not get ze best view, but zey look to be all in one piece. Ze great creator seems unconscious, but other zan zat, zey're fine."
"Thanks, Fly." Rapsheeba quickly told the bug on her arm. "I'll tell the others."
"Our comrades must be careful." Fly added. "Ze top floor is very high. If zey were to fall, I don't believe zey would survive."
The girl took a second glance up at the tower-like building. It must've been over a hundred feet above ground level, definitely not a height most were capable of surviving at if dropped. "I'll keep that in mind."
In the great tower itself, the computer had finally rebooted. The system whirred back to life, and suddenly all the lights flickered on, and all the heavy mechanized defenses were working again. Skrawl, who had been waiting impatiently outside the door to the highest floor (the room with his captives), mumbled absently as he felt the power surge through every circuit in the building.
"FINALLY! Took those blasted androids long enough." He anxiously raised a finger to the appropriate button.
The door gave a familiar beep, and obediently drew itself all the way open. Satisfied, the oversized jellybean strutted inside, using all three legs to navigate through the debris that had spread when Ksuyan had hit the wall. "Hmmm… so THIS is what happened. Darn, I should have seen this flaw in the Ksuyan's programming. That stupid kid who created it was obviously not thinking straight when they made their stupid robot VULNERABLE TO LIGHT!" He nearly erupted at the end of the sentence, seeing the giant dragon strewn across the room, looking hopelessly pathetic. Deactivated (and seen in the light), it appeared completely harmless, and its wires and body plates were sparking uncontrollably.
"Pathetic creature…" He murmured. And just minutes ago he had been hopelessly obsessed with bragging about its power. Marching solemnly up to the Ksuyan's head (near the hole in the wall), he searched the floor around it for his victims. Surely enough, there they were. Snap was peering out the "window", obviously excited about something. Penny was watching Skrawl as he approached, anger in her eyes. And Rudy… Rudy Tabootie was motionless, eyes shut, with the dragon's tail (which had bended to the front upon impact) crushing him under its weight.
"Well, this is a nice surprise." Skrawl mused. He felt his mood lifting already. "I guess your little encounter with my robot was actually beneficial. Well, genius girl, looks like your fates didn't match after all. Master Tabootie seems to have lost. But you shouldn't worry, because I have all sorts of vicious, dormant androids cooped up under this building. I'll even let you pick which one should destroy you."
Penny raised her head, muttering under her breath with more resent than she had ever displayed toward anyone. "There's a reason why you're such a monster, Skrawl… And it's not because of your looks." She refused to say anymore, instead turning her attention back to her fallen friend.
Skrawl turned to Snap. "And as for you… We'll think of something. I barely even remember who you are, so it'd be impossible to get revenge. And I'm not cold-blooded towards Zoners I haven't even met yet. Maybe we'll just severe your head and toss the rest of you into the Wait 'N' Sea. You know. Something simple."
For once, Snap had been right… but he also wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention. He could've smiled ear to ear (if he even had ears, that is, but whatever). About a hundred feet below them, a mob was gathered around the base of the building, Biclops at the front of them.
There was a buzz in Skrawl's chalkie-talkie. It was Craniac 3, on the bottom level. "There's a slight disturbance going on down here. We have intruders trying to force open our door. What should we do?"
"Hit them with some kind of beam." Skrawl replied in a hurry. "I'm getting my revenge here, please leave me al-"
"A particularly large intruder has dismantled all of our outside weaponry. Unless they get inside, we cannot attack them." The Craniac responded.
Blast it. Skrawl hurriedly forced his head through the hole in the wall, holding Snap back with one claw to keep him from trying anything funny (such as pushing him all the way through the hole) "I seem them now. Oh, great. There's too many of them. Well, I wasn't expecting this. We'll have to take the escape pods on Level 13. Hold them as long as you can. I've got a few more things to take care of."
"I will try."
"And go find 1, 2, and 4, will you?! We'll have to move all the… important equipment to the other base. You know the one."
Penny raised her head, cocking a brow in confusion. A second base?
Skrawl, however, was finished talking. He shut off the chalkie talkie and quickly threw it aside, clawed fists clenching in anticipation. "And now, it's my turn… to deal with you three. Master Tabootie isn't dead, now, is he? I know he isn't. Let me see him."
Penny and Snap looked firm. "Never." The girl hissed.
"Over my dead body!" Snap agreed.
"Actually, little blue boy, I wanted Tabootie dead FIRST. You'll have to wait your turn."
Skrawl only hunched closer, outstretching an arm towards Rudy and Penny. Snap lunged himself at the jellybean monster, but was only pinned against the wall by another of the creature's three arms. "Ack…" The white parts of Snap's face started to turn a cobalt blue color, matching his mask and bandana. "Some…" cough. "S-some air would be nice!"
Penny, however, was more resistant. She backed away from the oncoming Skrawl, one arm protectively draped over Rudy's unconscious form and the other one dangling in front of her in self-defense, as if to hold the monster back. Skrawl gave a dark laugh at her loyalty, but still he advanced. He pressed his head farther and farther into Penny's way that she had to lean down a little bit- eventually, she was up against the floor.
"Let me just say… If my evil minions valued my life the way you do his, all of ChalkZone would've been enslaved by now." He leaned even closer. She realized, with horror, she could see the slight yellow pallor of his sharp, crooked teeth as he bared them menacingly. "I'll give you that much credit."
"He is my best friend." Penny snapped, unused to such a tone of voice (but then again, she wasn't quite accustomed to being held prisoner, either). "We look out for each other."
Skrawl laughed again. It was haughty, almost amused and not genuinely evil. "You don't think of him as just your best friend, now, do you? I can see it in your eyes, you know, amongst the fear and hopelessness. It's looooove." He crooned, and the shock on her face after he said it was simply hilarious. She looked more alarmed than he'd ever seen her before, even when she'd first been taken hostage.
"T-Th-That's…" She couldn't say any more. She was at a loss of words. Such taunts were expected from a close friend like Snap, but NOT from a villain who wanted them dead.
"Which is exactly why I want to kill him first… Because you're conscious and you're able to witness it!" Skrawl reached out with a clawed hand, and seized the girl by the collar of her shirt. He nonchalantly flung her aside, although she scrambled to get back up and over towards Rudy, he simply pushed her away again. And after that, Skrawl grabbed the tail of the Ksuyan- and without a warm-up breath or anything, he merely lifted it up and shoved it out of the way. Suddenly without the burden of the Ksuyan's heavy tail, Rudy's ragged breaths took a sharp incline, and although he did stir a little, he remained unconscious. Skrawl took a moment to smile, triumphant and obviously pleased with himself, before he suddenly thrashed out and clenched a fist around the boy's neck, raising him a few feet in the air. While he did this, he released his hold on Snap, who (although unnoticed by all) made a mad dash out of the room.
"Rudy!" The girl in the corner cried. A few strands of her hair were astray and out of their normal style, hanging down in front of her face, and there was a thin hairline crack in her glasses, from the frame to the center. From being thrown around so much, there were already several bruises starting to form, some of them slightly bloodied. And still, she rose to her feet, her eyes desperate and concerned. "Let go of him, Skrawl!" She begged, knowing that physically, there wasn't much she could do.
Such a command only made her adversary smirk. "Music to my… uh… whatever I use to hear." And he tightened his grip.
Penny opened her mouth to object- but paused. There was what sounded like a stampede directly below her.
"Yeah, yeah, this way!" Shouted someone nearby. "That way, buckos, they're up there!"
And before she knew what was going on, Snap (followed by a small militia of Zoners) were bursting through the doors, waving their weapons in the air angrily.
"Oh BLAST IT! Looks I had less time than I thought." Skrawl grumbled. He glanced up at the army, and then down at the boy he was choking. Hmm… 'Leave now, and I'll be okay. Get revenge, and I'll be torn to pieces.' Safety, revenge. Safety, revenge. He used his two spare arms to weigh the possibilities to himself. He took a quick glance up at the oncoming militia- and their sharp, pointed objects they were waving in the air. 'I like the idea of a safe haven right about now.'
Hurriedly, Skrawl stuck his head through the "window" – "I'M OVER HERE, YOU FOOLS!" and, after hurling Rudy against the wall with as much violence as he could muster, he forced his entire body through the hole. Seconds after he started to fall, Craniac 3 and his escape module caught him in mid-air. Skrawl held on tightly to the top of the escape pod, shaking his free fist with a rage. "OH LITTLE GENIUS GIRL!" He shouted up at Penny. "Do you know what? I hope the great Master Tabootie is DEAD! Yes, DEAD! Because you know what?! Sooner or later, I'm going to kill him anyway!"
Penny, Snap, and the rest of the Zoners poked their heads through the hole in the wall, some of them having to stand atop the fallen Ksuyan just to get a look. Skrawl and Craniac 3 went zooming away, leaving nothing but a cloud of dust in their wake. Within seconds, they were completely out of sight.
"I can't believe it." Penny whispered. "All this, and he just got away."
"Relax, Penny. Everyone in ChalkZone's going to stay on the lookout for them. They'll get caught, don't worry." Snap didn't know why he was reassuring the girl he was supposed to dislike. But oh well, as long as everything was back to normal-
Well, not quite.
Penny and Snap both shot up in panic all in the same hundredth of a second- and ran over to Rudy. He was now completely still, and – his two friends noted with terror – there was a visible bloodied spot that stained his shirt all the way from his collarbone to the middle of his stomach.
"I… I don't believe… Oh my god… I…" Penny was unable to finish her sentences. Trembling, she cautiously pressed an hand to his chest to see just how much he was bleeding- but as she removed her hand, it was coated with the stuff, and she flinched at the sight, quickly rubbing it off on the edge of her shirt. As if their clothing hadn't taken much of a beating already.
"Say, uh, Penny?" Snap didn't seem to know what was going on. "What's that… red stuff?"
Penny took a brief second to stare at him in amazement – at least, before she remembered that Snap, being made of dust, would have no way of knowing.
"It's blood, Snap." She told him, her voice wavering.
"Is it… bad?"
"It's what keeps us alive." Penny explained in a rush, glancing around the room for something- anything- that might help.
"You humans have a lot of things that keep you alive." Snap noted… before he realized exactly what it meant. "Wait a minute… Oh, great gumballs! Rudy, bucko, wake up!"
He lowered his gloved hands to shake the boy, but Penny acted quick, pushing Snap out of the way. "You can't touch him, Snap! Blood will dissolve chalk, like water and cheeseburger smoothies do! Now, we HAVE to find a way to get back to the real world as soon as possible! Rudy desperately needs help!"
Biclops, who had lumbered up to the top story (with some difficulty, but he'd made it eventually), spoke up. "That reminds me! I brought some magic chalk with me, in case you or Rudy needed some. Will that help?"
Penny sighed in slight relief. "Yes! Perfect!"
Biclops quickly approached her, crouched as low as he could, and opened his gargantuan fist, revealing the 8 or 9 sticks of chalk he'd brought. Penny hurriedly snatched it out of his hand, and although she wasn't quite as experienced as Rudy (or had an imagination nearly as active), she had a pretty good idea of how to get home.
"You sure this is gonna work, Penny?" Snap asked.
"As long as no blood gets on the chalk, then, yes, I am quite positive." Penny was drawing while she spoke. "We have to get back to the real world now, and Snap, you can't come with us. I only hope Rudy will be alright…"
"And, uh, what happens if he isn't? I don't know much about you humans, although I don't think you guys get redrawn when you… deteriorate."
"No, Snap. Humans die. That's it."
"They never come back?"
"No."
Snap, apparently, had not known this. After absorbing this information, the situation suddenly seemed a great deal more serious.
A/N: Woo. I'm on an updating spree! And yay, I'm almost done with the fanfic. Jump fer joy.