Author's Note - This, my friends, is the LOST CHAPTER. Meaning, you could take it out, and it wouldn't effect the storyline very much. But I felt the story was speeding up too quickly, so I added this one in. It's a spacefiller!

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Initiation

Part Four

--

It was the next afternoon, following the one where Rudy had nearly been discovered eavesdropping. Once again, he had gone into ChalkZone unaccompanied by Penny.

"Some people don't appreciate science. Rudy never lets me finish explaining something like that to him; all he wants to do is talk about his comics, or…Or something really stupid, like… how he thinks mayonnaise on a biscuit is hilarious."

At the time, the thought of mayonnaise on a biscuit had been hilarious. He wondered why she was so rough about the subject.

But that wasn't what was bothering him.

"Helloooo? Rudy?" Snap waved a hand in front of the boy's face, putting an abrupt end to the creator's thoughts. "Is something the matta'? You look a little off."

Rudy heaved a long sigh. It sounded surprisingly, well, sad, as Snap noted. How can anyone be so down on a trip to the fair?

"Sorry, Snap. It's just that-"

The uproarious bellow of a chalk-elephant, far off in the distance, instantly stole Snap's attention. "Oh, boy, oh boy, oh boy! We're in luck! They brought in the big ones today!"

Hardly caring, the boy asked, "The what?"

"The telephants, what else?!" Came the immediate response. "Hurry, hurry! We gotta go if we wanna be first in line!"

Another sigh found its way from Rudy's throat as he felt Snap grab his hand and proceed to drag him along. Not too far in the distance, the bold neon words read, in electrifying colors of orange and green:

ChalkZone City Carnival

(Or, the CCC, as Zoners sometimes called it)

They reached the main gates some ten or twenty seconds later. Snap was quick on his feet - apparently the 'telephants' were a star attraction, Rudy figured. But what exactly were they?

"The telephant: A telekinetic species of hefty mammal, native to the Great Pains outside the Mumbo Jumbo Jungle." Snap smirked, as if he had read his friend's thoughts.

Rudy snorted aloud; he couldn't help himself. At least Snap was helping to lighten his mood. "The Great Pains?"

"They call it that for a reason." Snap grinned. "To get there, you have to cross the Mumbo Jumbo Jungle, and after you've done that… well, I think the rest speaks for itself."

The two boys shared a brief round of much-needed laughter as they approached the ticket booth. ("Your tickets, please?" Droned the attendant.) Snap and his creator set down their admission fees and soon they were taking their first steps into the miniature amusement park.

Rudy tried not to let anything get in the way of their fun. Just because Penny had said some unfavorable things about him didn't mean he had to fret about it. It would be better not to think about her, and try to have a good time anyway.

--

A moan of reluctance emitted from one girl's throat; however it was quiet, and her accomplice didn't quite catch on.

Kiki tried not to let too much of her incompetence show (nobody liked a whiner) as Penny Sanchez dragged her along. She hadn't imagined that Ms. Sanchez was quite the outdoorsy kind… definitely not the kind who spent time at amusement parks, or dragged other people along for that matter. Penny had more of a bookwormish aura… With the glasses, nice clothing and powerful mind, she seemed more like the kind of person who'd spend time indoors, working on chemistry projects and extra credit homework assignments. "Penny, what's going on? You didn't seem… the outgoing type."

Penny's thoughts flashed, briefly, to all the times she'd accompanied Rudy in ChalkZone. It was hard, not learning to love the action and adventure after all he had shared with her. "A friend showed me what fun was like."

The two of them trotted along, now at equal paces, as the makeshift sign, dangling in midair between two streetlamps, came into view: Plainville City Carnival.

"And Plainville certainly didn't seem like the kind of town to have these kinds of merry get-togethers, either." Kiki mused, as a sarcastic afterthought. "It always seemed like one of those more "blah" towns to me."

"This kind of thing only happens once in a while," Penny responded. "I've only lived here about a year… but like you thought, Plainville isn't a very interesting place. That's why a carnival is so out-of-the-ordinary."

"Then it probably isn't a very good one, eh?"

"It won't hurt to get out on a sunny afternoon like this one. All the days spent researching and essay-writing… I almost never have time for this. And I know you're busy with your comics…"

The duo, at last, trekked through the carnival's borderlines. Penny took a quick glance around, just to make sure the event was being monitored. She saw Officer O'Larry stationed at his patrol car some fifteen yards away; and Mr. Wilter collecting generous donations from the thirty or so people who had made it to the little fair that day.

Kiki's first instinct, however, was to search the park for something fun to do. She spotted a hit-and-dunk game somewhere under the shade; a hot dog stand by the villa…

--

"…And next to the hot dog stand, there's the telephant's corral. Do you wanna try that, bucko? Huh? huh?!"

Rudy still looked baffled. He took another look around the park, scanning the massive crowd (of a thousand Zoners of more), realizing that a very good portion them were stationed around the area Snap's gloved finger pointed to.

"Ok… so the telephants are telekinetic elephants. I can remember that - but what exactly do they do, here?"

Snap shook his head, chuckling. "Isn't it obvious?"

"…Not to me."

"Well, the telephants' powers make them the base of an ultimate thrill ride. They just focus their mental energy on you and WHAM! You're sent hovering in midair. The ones here are trained to give you a good ride, though, and set you back down on the ground safely afterwards…"

Rudy grimaced a little. "I dunno. Still seems unsafe." It sounded like the kind of reasoning Penny would give, and since she couldn't be there in person, he figured he might as well fill in for the genius of their posse.

"Nonsense! You don't know what you're saying! The telephants, dangerous! That's ridiculous! Now I'm getting in line. Are you coming?"

What choice do I have? "Well… okay. I suppose it can't cause much harm."

Snap was to thank Rudy's decision. As the two approached, the line began to steadily decrease right before their very eyes. Zoners were taking backwards steps, clearing the way to make room for their great Creator.

"Oh, right this way, Rudy!" "It's the creator! …Move over, Billy, we have to let him through." "Everyone, everyone, move! It's him!"

Rudy tried to explain that he didn't mind waiting his turn, but naturally Snap had already smoothed things over with the crowd. "Ah, pardon me, buddy, Creator and sidekick comin' through!"

"Snap! We shouldn't cut. It isn't fair."

"Move it, move it, don't keep the creator waitin'! …Eh, you say somethin', Rudy?"

The boy heaved an exasperated sigh; reasoning with Snap was hopeless sometimes. "Never mind."

If Penny were here, Snap would already be receiving a lecture on etiquette.

--

"…I don't know what you're talking about. We can't cut! It isn't proper etiquette, and reflects poorly on our character!"

Kiki eyed the ever-growing ice cream line warily. "Okay, repeat that entire thing - only leave out the big words."

Penny made sure to speak slowly this time, as if she were addressing an unruly toddler. "It isn't polite."

 "Penny, in case you haven't noticed, this entire event is monitored by our inattentive teacher, a hefty policeman preoccupied with the donut shop, and a bunch of zit-faced teenagers on volunteer duty. The reasoning you gave is good - for someone who's being supervised. Come on, Pen'… Walk on the wild side, for once in your life."

"I never should've dragged you out here. Nobody can have any fun when they're being accompanied by- by a tramp!"

Kiki's eyes flared a little; but surprisingly, she didn't anger. An amused smirk played on her lips, where Penny had suspected a grumpy frown to be. "Oh, a tramp, eh? How do you think I like being seen in public with a nerdy little bookworm?"

Penny gasped.

"Better still - a bookworm who actually abides by the rules!" Kiki nodded towards the line for ice cream. "Anyway, I guess it's too late to try the whole 'cutting' maneuver… Reggie pulled it first."

The genius girl's eyes dashed to the head of the line. Sure enough, there was young Reginold Bullnerd, enforcing his dominant size and weight to shove the smaller kids aside. The ice cream stand's operator, one of the volunteering teenagers, didn't do anything about it.

"Humph - can you believe that?!" Penny growled. "Why can't Reggie accept that he's the same as everybody else?"

Kiki rolled her eyes. "Tell me about it,"

"Someone needs to put him in his place… end his cruel egotism once and for all." Penny watched, with bitter distaste, as Reggie marched away from the stand with ice cream that piled a full foot above his head. She seemed to have forgotten that Kiki had been considering doing the same thing only a minute ago. "If there's one person I can't stand, besides Sna-" She stopped herself just in time, "…Err, I mean… If there's one person I can't stand, it's Reggie. All he ever does is push people around. He's caused Rudy and I a lot of problems, too."

"Yeah, I noticed." Kiki thought back to that afternoon at school, when she had saved Rudy from almost certain doom.

"…It's almost like he goes out of his way to make trouble for us…"

The blonde raised a brow. The smirk on her face continued to expand. "So you two are like… his favorites?" 

"Least favorites is the more correct way of putting it… but, yes." Penny's eyes remained glued to the gluttonous Reggie, who was beginning to gorge on his first scoop. "If only we could teach him a lesson."

Kiki huffed in the boy's direction. Anyone could see why Penny despised him so. But regardless of his obnoxiousness, Kiki had no motive to set him straight until her mind slowly made the connection…

Penny hates the same boy who I just thrashed the other day…

Wouldn't it make her happy if I did it a second time?

"Hey, I'm game. Enforcing justice is one of my favorite pastimes." She cracked her knuckles together with a crafty grin. "Want me to give him that lesson?"

"…Kiki, wait! You can't hold a candle to Reggie! It's scientifically impossible! A person of your height and weight could never overcome anyone of Reggie's body mass!"

The blonde continued to smirk (that smirk seemed to represent the former of her two sole emotions: Amusement and total boredom) "You didn't see all of what happened at school, did you?"

"You mean, that day where Rudy was almost beaten upon? I stopped watching after Rudy escaped. I figured you did, too… What? Is that not what happened?"

"…Well… let's just say… Reggie Bullnerd has reason to fear Kiki Callisto."

--

The telephants turned out to be quite a revolution in the joyride industry.

Snap chuckled in bewilderment. The telekinetic blue glow surrounded his body, as the telephant raised its trunk and sent him hovering skyward.

"Admit it, Rudy! This is a blast! Aren't we lucky they let us cut?"

Even through his guilt, Rudy had to agree with him; he closed his eyes in elation as he felt himself being whisked into the air, with nothing to support him except a surge of psychic energy from a trained circus animal.  He knew that, if Penny had been there, she would be too busy denouncing the logic of the attraction to enjoy it at all.  It's probably a good thing that she isn't here to lecture. Now, why can't I get her off the brain?! 

Those thoughts put a cramp on his good mood, and before he knew it, the ride was coming to a close. The telephant, having sensed that the five-minute time limit was up, slowly lowered its telepathically connected passenger to the ground.

Likewise happened for Snap; who, unlike Rudy, was in giggle fits from the sheer rushes of excitement that came from the telekinetic ride. The blue boy stumbled away from the silent gray elephants, staggering through his dizziness and sense of inner vertigo. "…Hahaha… haha… Okay, Rudy. Spill 'de beans! You had fun."

"That was… a fun ride." It would've been more enjoyable had he not spent the entire five-minute lapse worrying about Penny.

"Yeah, well… It's over now. Wanna catch some snacks? …Oh, I forgot, you humans can't eat chalk food… Ah well, more for me I suppose."

But Rudy was preoccupied with his thoughts. Thoughts of Penny, and whether or not she was doubting their friendship. It concerned him. He thought about telling Snap; but it didn't take him long to veto that idea. Sharing personal things with Snap meant that soon the whole of ChalkZone would know.

Instead, he tried to focus on another prospect that presently puzzled him.

"Snap? Where do the telephants get their powers?" It was more of a way to distract himself, than a question out of curiosity.

"They were created with them. Whoever drew them wanted to create psychic elephants. Wallisimo - Telephants are born. Well, materialized, actually, but… you get the idea."

Rudy pondered over what Snap had just said. Creators creating psychic Zoners… It was an interesting idea; it dragged him away from his more Penny-oriented thoughts.

"But… say, what if… the wrong kid erased someone evil and all-powerful into ChalkZone, who was created powers like those? Anyone with those abilities could pose a serious threat."

"Sure hasn't happened yet. You underestimate kids nowadays, Rudy. Most of them create good things. Happy, harmless things, like stick figures, or picnic baskets, or fish."

"There's a first time for everything. I'm just wondering… is there anyway to avoid the effects of telekinesis?" Rudy pressed on… though in reality, he was even beginning to confuse himself.

"Take it from someone who knows - in other words, someone who isn't me. I'm no psychic." It took all of Snap's willpower not to strike a pose. "A wrestling commentator, tour guide, and master defective, maybe, but psychic powers are among the few things I don't have! Don't worry about it, okay bucko? You worry more than you should. I do know that much."

Rudy huffed a little; he thought his fear had been totally justified. But it still wouldn't hurt to take Snap's advice and stop worrying, because worrywarts never had any fun. "Never mind. Come on, let's head to the snack stand. I'll buy."

--

"Hello, Penny Sanchez. Enjoying the fair?" Reggie asked, as best as he could with a mouth full of strawberry ripple.

The genius girl gritted her teeth. "Oh, everything's hunky-dory. Now, I trust you've met my friend…?"

"Tabootie?"

"It's Callisto, actually."

This time, Reggie paled. Although his memory was poor, he'd still managed to make the connection. He knew Callisto was the name attached to the girl who had given he, Plainville's self-proclaimed biggest bully and giver of bruises, a taste of his own medicine. Luckily, it had been among a very small audience… No one would have to know that a girl had whumped him up so good.

Even so, Reggie made an attempt to maintain his composure. One thing he HAD learned from prior experiences was to never show fear… unless you were in pain. Then it was okay. "Yeah, I know her."

He surveyed the area around Penny, until his gaze hitched on a head of golden-blonde.

It was that girl.

"W-What do you want?!" He stammered at last, fearing for another bruise.

"…Nothing." Kiki replied, innocently, rocking back and forth on her heels. "Say, Reggie, that ice cream looks delicious. Did you buy it from that stand over there?"

"Ehhh… Yes."

"The one with the huge line?"

Reggie seemed to have been lured into a false sense of security.  His eyelids dropped a little, as his mouth pulled back into an agitated sneer. "…Eh-huh." He turned to continue on his way.

Kiki trailed after him, a spring in her footsteps. "Wait a minute, Reg'! Can I try some of those sprinkles on the top? I don't wanna wait in line."

"…No way!"

"Just the sprinkles? That's all."

Reggie shielded his ice cream from unworthy eyes. "You'll have to wait in line, like everyone else!"

"Everyone else except you. You cut." Kiki prodded him on the shoulder with her index finger. "Just four sprinkles?"

"Get your own!"

How about we trade - your sprinkles for a knuckle sandwich? Kiki pressed on. "But those sprinkles look much better than the chocolate ones I always carry around. Can't I try some?"

"Hmmm… Chocolate?"

"That's right! You wanna swap?"

Reggie looked cautious; but only for a moment. "D'oh, alright… It's a deal."

Kiki reached into her back pocket and, living up to her word, procured from it a small jar with flaky brown contents. She opened the lid, sprinkled (about half the jar) onto the top of Reggie's ice cream, and then carefully picked his original colored sprinkles off the top before popping them in her mouth.

Wordlessly, Reggie lifted the ice cream, with its new chocolate jimmies, up to his lips. He continued eating as before, taking a few bites at a time until sauntering away, satisfied.

At first, Penny was confused. But being the genius she was, it didn't take her long to figure it out.

Kiki moved her thumb, revealing the jar's full label - chocolate laxatives.

"You're brilliant!" The Hispanic giggled, as a far-away Reggie Bullnerd, whimpering and moaning in discomfort, dashed for the restrooms.

Both mini-conventions turned out to be wonderful. Both girls and Snap had a great time. Rudy not included because he spent most of the afternoon worrying about Penny, and Kiki, and if his friendship with the former could hold out… and if he could end his suspicions about the latter.

It was all he could think about that Wednesday night.