Author's Note - And thus the third segment begins. But that's not all I wanted to babble about this week! CZ finally got its own category! This makes Lora very happy and a result, she will probably update her fanfiction more often. As for you, Spice of Life… You said you might write a fic for this show. That would make Lora even happier. You too, wallofvoodoo.

Henceforth, I am finished with my daily rambling and am ready to continue writing the actual story.

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Initiation

Part Two

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The door opened, and then it shut. Someone could be heard dashing up the stairs at record speeds, then marching along the upwards hallway until suddenly the footsteps came to a halt.

It was Rudy, he was home, and he was ALIVE.

All of the day's problems seemed to melt away as he slipped himself through the freshly drawn portal, and landed in a squat on the chalky ground below him. He felt a little guilty goofing off while Penny was doing detention, but it wasn't like detention was a foreign universe to him either. He'd suffered so many D-Halls in the past year that he'd lost count. Anyway, no longer concerned about school, the boy began to wander about the two-dimensional world, searching for his little blue sidekick. It probably wouldn't take long.

"Snap? …Snap?" There was a longer pause, as Rudy's gaze darted to and fro anxiously. He finally spotted his creation, running about in the distance, and it appeared something was chasing him. "…SNAP!"

After a moment's thought, Rudy doodled up a simple butterfly net - for Snap's pursuer didn't seem very large at all - and gave chase, brandishing his net around in the air wildly. As he got closer and closer, he realized that his drawing's attacker was a tiny little pixie with sharp, pointed wings. It was drawn very skillfully too. In fact, it was almost cute… well, except for its outrageously large fangs. Those teeth alone were a little bigger than the rest of its body.

"I thought you'd nevah show up!" Snap cried upon noticing the boy. "Rudy… You gotta draw something!"

"One step ahead of ya." Rudy swung his net over the angry pixie, hoping to trap it as one would a bug. But the crazed little imp instead ripped through the wire-like netting with its amazing jaws, so quickly that the net's wielder dropped the handle in shock.

"This thing has gone berserk-o!" Snap helpfully started to explain. He'd stopped running, but was still fearfully keeping his distance. "I don't even know where it came from. I mean, what kind of kid would draw such a crazy little monster!?"

"You got me." Mind racing, Rudy doodled up a tennis racket, large enough to be threatening, but just small enough so that he could actually grasp the handle, and be able to hold it up for that matter. Normally he hated resorting to violence, but at the moment he didn't see anything wrong with the idea. That pixie was practically a piranha with wings.

"Batter up!" With every ounce of power coursing through his veins, he swung the racket at the tiny little elfin creature, striking it square in the abdomen and sending it hurtling through the air with an angry scream. Unable to regain its control, it was swept across the skies and started to plummet into the background, no longer a threat.

Snap walked to his creator's side, smirking with contempt as he watched his foe getting dragged along the sky by its momentum. Both boys were panting from exhaustion. "…Nice chalkin', bucko." The blue one finally commented.

"I'm just glad there was only one of them." Rudy sighed, wiping the sweat off of his brow. "So, what are we gonna do today? You have anything planned?"

"Well, there's that new music group that's having a showing downtown, but…" Snap shook his head quickly. "Actually, Rudy, there were three of those things erased this morning."

"You mean the pixies? Three? Oh geez. What happened to the other two?"

Snap shrugged. "Absolutely no idea. They're probably still out there, causing other people problems… But the important thing to remember is, they're causing other people problems, and it shouldn't concern us in any way."

Rudy bit his lip. "…Right…" He tried to take his mind off of the problematic pixies. Such would've been an easier task if Snap didn't continue to babble about them.

"Then again… That thing was insane. I'm lucky to be alive."

Rudy suddenly frowned as the events of the day all came flooding back to him. He still had that little problem to cope with. "Oh, I am too. Reggie made me his lucky victim at school today…"

"It seemed like you were always Bullnerd's favorite." Snap commented with a roll of his eyes (if possible with no pupils). "Come on. I wanted to show you something. You can tell me all about it as we get there. It's more of a nightclub, so we'll be heading towards NightZone."

"How far is it?" Rudy interjected curiously. "If you want, I could make the journey a lot shorter…" He patted his pocket for emphasis.

"It's close enough to walk. Won't kill 'ya."

--

Kiki tried to calm her raging thoughts as she continued home. She'd mostly forgotten about Bullnerd at this point- he was just one of the many bullies out there, nothing special at all. But she couldn't control the flow of adrenaline as she thought about that quiet, brown-haired boy she'd seen at school that day. Was he really the one? The one she had been searching for almost her entire life? But there was no question about it - she knew for sure that it was he.

The brooding blonde girl boarded a local bus, not caring to walk the rest of the ways - she decided she had much better things to do with her energy. Taking a few loose coins out of her pocket, she tossed her fare into the tray and plopped down into the first available seat, setting her backpack down beside her. As the bus's engines sputtered to life, and the hefty vehicle lurched forwards to continue its journey, the girl was already weary with boredom. She unzipped her bookbag and from it withdrew her portable chalkboard, with one small stick clipped to the easel. Clutching it in her palm, she started to doodle. The small chalkboard only had so much space, so it had to be something simple. She ended up drawing a chicken; a demonic, big-winged chicken with a long reptilian tail. The chicken's hooked talons took the longest to draw; Kiki wanted to ensure that she had drawn them in just the right shape and posture, because otherwise, they wouldn't be much good for grabbing and tearing at things.

The final result pleased her, but nonetheless, boredom got the best of her and she wiped the little drawing away with the sleeve of her shirt.

--

"So, what's this Bullnerd business? It doesn't look like he smashed you up." Snap observed as the two continued on their way.

"I got away." Rudy replied, casually. "Actually, the new girl distracted him… Oh, we have a new kid at our school." He explained as an afterthought. A vague, thoughtful look drifted across his face. "I wonder what happened with them…"

"Say, Rudy, this new friend of yours, are you worried that Bullnerd may've - ah, never mind. He probably doesn't beat up girls."

"Oh, she's not my friend. I don't even know her. I hardly know her name! Kiki, I think it was." Starting to feel a little guilty again, he continued. "And… actually, Reggie doesn't care about gender when he hand-picks his victims…"

"Good thing she's not your friend!" Snap said with a chuckle.

"Yeah, but still… Without her, I never would've gotten away." Rudy began to look more and more concerned. You could say he had a much more active conscience than most boys his age. "I hope Reggie didn't whale on her!"

"Don't worry about it, bucko. We're here to relax. Look, there's the Clam Bar just up ahead! I told you it wasn't far."

"The Clam Bar?! Does it serve clams?"

"They serve everyone."

As the two came nearer and nearer, Rudy paused just to admire the glistening neon sign that hung above the nightclub's glossy front doors. The hangouts in NightZone were always quite a sight, and this one looked to be just as creatively decorated as the others, if not more so. Snap dragged his creator along, eager to get inside.

Approaching the front doors, they were greeted by a couple of beautiful, scantily clad anthro-lobsters. Dorsela and Broila (as their nametags read) immediately advanced on them, closing in on their personal space.

"Welcome to the Clam Bar. Will you be staying with us?" The taller of the two, Broila, inquired of their guests.

Snap twiddled his gloved fingers sheepishly. "Yeah - table for two, please. Shellfish Ambition will be playing tonight, right?"

"That's right." Dorsela chimed in. "We can seat you right away."

The two lobsters each gripped a hand with their small, surprisingly gentle pincers and led them off deeper into the heart of the diner.

"Ah, we're in luck, Rudy! I was afraid they'd been all full up." Snap blabbed to his friend as they were pulled along. "You have to hear these guys! And the food here is great, too, but I guess you're no judge of that, since you humans can't eat ChalkZone food."

Dorsela and Broila dropped them off at one of the only unoccupied tables, which, fortunately enough, happened to be only yards away from the stage.

"We'll drop by later to collect your order once we've tended to the other tables. Enjoy your night!"

Rudy thanked the two crustacean waitresses as they disappeared into the crowded restaurant. Snap was too busy having one of his moments.

"Can you believe it? Look how close we are to the stage! This must be the best seat in the whole house!" He prattled, bouncing up and down in his chair like an excited toddler. "Oh, I can't wait! You'll have to hear them for yourself, bucko!"

Rudy glanced about the stage excitedly, grinning widely. "Do you know when they'll get here?"

"Oh, anytime now! Look, they've already set up the stage! They only do that within twenty minutes of the musical performance!"

"…You come here often…"

"…Every other Wednesday, Fridays even. Sometimes I bring Rapsheeba."

Snap sure has a lot of time on his hands… Rudy propped up his head with one arm, setting his elbow on the table for support. He was ready to wait. In the meantime, he was content with just admiring the fine work on the table. Sure, it was still chalk, but it glistened like a clear little puddle and was decorated with all kinds of multi-colored seashells, many of which had found creative uses as dining utensils. For example, the lit candle was housed inside of one, and a few of the fancier shells were found lining the silverware.

"…This seems awfully fancy for a wild nightclub. Are you sure we'll be able to pay for this kind of thing…?"

Snap smiled mischievously. "You got the chalk, right? Money is never a problem as long as you're able to draw your desires into reality."

"Ah, right." It still seemed a little immoral.

Anyway, as they sat and waited, a fancy little crab in a tuxedo made his way on stage. He had black horn-rimmed glasses and a matching bowtie and immediately Rudy knew he had to affiliated with the restaurant. He picked up a microphone and began to speak into it, not a twinge of uneasiness in his voice.

"Hey-hey-heeeeey there Zoners! Are you ready for Shellfish Ambition?"

A round of crazed cheers broke loose from the audience.

"See, they're a very new group and already they've got a solid fan base." Snap whispered to Rudy after the cheering had ended. "Trust me, bucko, they've got talent."

The tuxedo-clad crab ensued to have fun with the microphone. "I could stand around here talking - hey, what are announcers for? - but I know you'd all just rather get to the show!"

A second round of cheers arose, this time accompanied by wild laughter and loud whistles. The crab raised his claws, chuckling.

"And so, without further ado, here they are - ChalkZone's newest hit jazz club, the Shellfish Ambition!"

The curtains behind him were slowly drawn up, and with a clash of hazy blue mist, four long-haired crayfish (whose genders were up for debate) suddenly appeared on stage. All four were wearing dark glasses to conceal their eyes, and baggy gray jackets and jeans. Two of them had saxophones, the third played bass, and the fourth was stationed at a piano.

"Yeah, they look a little shabby, but wait 'til you hear them play." Snap murmured to his friend as the crayfish stood in silence. "They always wait a few seconds before they begin. It's to build the suspense."

…Suddenly, amidst the heavy eyes of the watchful crowd, and the four jazz players who were poised over their instruments, a mysterious gray smear appeared in the air above the audience. Then another, and another, as a vague outline slowly began to appear in the blurred air. Everyone knew what it was, too - someone new was being erased into ChalkZone.

"Talk about bad timing." Rudy muttered to himself.

The gray smudge in the air disappeared as the outline became complete, and the space between the lines turned from clear to colored as the Zoner was materialized. It was a very small person indeed; well, definitely not a person, as was evident as they fell to the ground. It was a chicken of some sort, with a lizard-like tail and hawk talons.

"Aren't you the Great Creator?!" Hissed a member of the audience. Despite what had been said, it took Rudy a moment to realize they had been talking to him. "Lock up that bird! Draw a cage, or something!"

But before anything could be done, the freshly-drawn chicken weaved its way through the tables, making its way towards the stage. The four confused members of the band slowly lowered their instruments, watching the little bird advance on them. Unbeknownst to the four musical crayfish, in the real world, birds and crustaceans were natural enemies. The chicken, on the other hand, seemed aware of this fact. With a simple flap of its wings, it hopped on stage, opened its hooked beak and bit into the leg of the bass-player.

"YOWWWWWWW!"

And that was all it took for panic to break loose as the little chicken, with some strange otherworldly power, single-handedly held off every member of the crowd who dared to try and capture it.

"Looks like we got ourselves another situation, here, bucko!" Snap cried over the roar of the angry crowd. "You gonna draw something, or what?!"

--

A/N: There's gonna be more Penny soon… I promise… o0;; In case you're wondering, BTW, Kiki is not going to become a Mary Sue (Yeah, all authors say that, but I mean it! Really!) nor do I have no intentions of making her a criminal mastermind. Eleven-year olds don't operate like that.