Cryptic Infiltration
Chapter Four – Heated Pursuit
Rudy felt himself freeze in shock as he watched the strange group of creatures, whose forms he couldn't yet accurately identify at the distance, move closer toward the area of the city he and his friends, not to mention several civilians, were currently standing in. On top of the roof where they'd landed their plane, Rudy and Penny had a good view of their surroundings, and more specifically, the threat. The street the animals were coming from was a small side street lined with tiny shops, ending in a roped off area that led to a part of the city that had not yet been repaired. Rudy was sure that had to be the reason no one had seen them until now, as the winged animals had obviously reached their current location by traveling through the incomplete, and at the moment, abandoned, area. Penny and Rudy turned to each other in shock, realizing that whatever those things were, it was clear from the Zoners' reactions that they were not harmless.
Rudy was about to dash back to the plane when he realized that, since the creatures were flying low, not even elevated enough to reach the height of the buildings, the aircraft would be far too difficult to maneuver if they tried to confront them in the streets. Rudy quickly ignited the rockets on his shoes and landed on the pavement beside Snap, while Penny climbed down the building's ladder. As Rudy glanced to her, he suddenly wished he'd brought a spare piece of chalk for her to use, and he'd used up too much of the one piece he'd brought with him to be able to break it in half. Worriedly, he turned to Snap, who was watching the scene with an expression of disbelief.
"Where did those things come from?" his blue and white friend cried, and Rudy could only wonder the same thing.
"Snap, get inside!" Penny called, gesturing to the police station building nearby, which seemed like it would be the safest place to be in the area. With his injuries, Snap was sure to be a target for the creatures if they were prone to attacking Zoners they encountered, which seemed likely, considering the reaction the city dwellers in the side-street had shown. Snap hesitated for a moment, but then reluctantly nodded and hurried as fast as he could into the building. While he did so, Rudy quickly drew rockets on Penny's shoes so that at least she could keep a look out from the air, or make a quick escape, even if she did not have the chalk herself.
Though several Zoners were running from the side street in a panic, some ducking into larger shops and others trying to leave in their cars or on foot, Rudy's first concern was stopping the creatures themselves. As they neared, still moving at a fairly leisurely pace, he could tell they were a swarm of some sort of dragonfly-like insect. At the sight of them, he momentarily thought back to another time when insects had ravaged ChalkZone City, when Bob Newland's termites invaded and destroyed a large portion of it. He had a moment of terror, thinking for one heart-stopping second that Newland had ignored his warning and decided to attack ChalkZone again, before he realized that the dragonflies were clearly not drawn in Newland's professional, detailed style, and he managed to relax a bit. This wasn't anywhere near that level of disaster, and he had protected the city from things much worse than this in the past.
Using the rockets on their shoes to take to the air, Rudy and Penny darted toward the group of dragonflies, which surprisingly still did not seem to be moving at a fast pace, instead grouping together in a cluster and moving determinedly down the street. Penny gave them a worried look as they approached, wondering what could cause them to act so oddly, or if this species normally behaved that way. Rudy was wondering the same thing when the dragonflies suddenly broke formation and zoomed off in different directions. Penny let out a cry of fright as one sped right toward her, but luckily it missed as she swerved out of the way. For the first time, the two children got a good look at them. They were each simply-drawn, foot-long electric blue dragonflies with bright yellow wings and legs, and very large orange eyes. Each one's body was covered with jagged orange stripes, and as Rudy quickly glanced over a few coming his way, the patterns on each seemed to be different.
Rudy had been drawing a net large enough to stretch across the street while they had been approaching as a group, and he hurriedly finished it just as a small group of them zipped his way, managing to back away just as they approached. As the net formed, the fibers it was made of stayed nearly invisible, as he had intended, and the insects flew straight into it without noticing the trap, immediately becoming entangled. "It worked!" Rudy shouted in triumph, but his elation was short lived as he noticed the number of insects that had evaded the net completely, either by flying too high or heading in other directions before they reached it, and were now swarming to different locations, some of them landing on the roofs of buildings and others going after the few Zoners who remained near the area.
Knowing that the citizens being chased were of the most immediate concern, Rudy and Penny used their rockets to propel themselves toward them, but they hadn't gone far before a bright burst of light behind them prompted them to turn around, and they watched in numb shock as the net Rudy had drawn went up in flames.
"What?" Rudy cried, clearly shocked as he momentarily froze, unable to comprehend what had happened.
He darted to the side as one of the creatures neared him, spurting a stream of fire at him from its mouth. He swerved out of the way, feeling the searing sensation of heat on his back as he maneuvered himself higher into the air and out of range, watching in dismay as the fire caught on a large umbrella overlooking a table in front of a restaurant. At the same time, Penny had to quickly duck into an alleyway to avoid an attack from another of the beasts.
Rudy's eyes widened and for a moment he nearly froze in shock again as he realized that the creatures were lighting everything they touched on fire with the flames they spurted from their mouths. They seemed to be drawn to anything flammable, setting signs, buildings, and decorative plants and trees aflame before moving on. Remembering the Zoners, he quickly returned to Penny, glad that at least most of the monsters seemed distracted, and they both hurriedly darted toward the cries sounding from the city Zoners through the air.
His head turned toward the sound of a group of them trying to flee – a small family of stick figures who had only had time to quickly duck into a small shop before the large dragonflies sped toward them. Gritting his teeth, he headed toward them, seeing Penny hurry off in another direction, though he couldn't tell what had caught her attention, and there was no time for him to look. As he flew, he quickly began to sketch out a fire extinguisher, as it was the first thing that came to his mind, but before he could complete the drawing, both of the insects threatening to follow the stick figures into the shop turned around toward him instead.
Rudy just managed to halt in midair and jerk himself backwards as the two brightly colored insects launched bright plumes of flame at him. Luckily, the range of their attacks didn't seem to be more than a few yards, and Rudy managed to avoid any injury as he darted to the left, losing his balance for a moment before righting himself and watching the two creatures zoom toward him.
Turning in another direction, his first thought was to head away from the populated part of the city and lead the creatures with him, into the incomplete area where the damage from Newland's termites was still fairly extensive. He knew it was far more unlikely that any Zoners would be wandering about there, and if anything, at least he'd give the ones back in the city some time to escape.
He zipped toward the end of the street the dragonflies had first come from, where, beyond the smoldering shops, he could see the cleared out husks of buildings still showing severe damage from the attack on ChalkZone City a month ago. He heard the buzz of the creatures' wings behind him and took to flying in a zigzag motion to make it harder for his winged pursuers to find their target. A couple times he felt the heat of their flames when they came far too close for comfort, but he was still out of range enough to avoid being singed. He was rapidly approaching the end of the street, where several signs and a makeshift fence covered in police tape blocked off the city's damaged area. Hearing the sound of the dragonflies close behind him, he put on a panicked burst of speed and rocketed toward the signs.
However, to his shock, the moment he passed the barrier, the two dragonflies stopped their frantic chase, instead slowing to hover in midair at a complete standstill. He could still hear the dull hum from their wing vibrations as they held still and seem to contemplate him for a moment, their large eyes staring straight at him and his surroundings. Then they turned and headed back the way they'd come, right back to the rebuilt part of the city were the Zoners were.
"No!" Rudy cried in panic, his heart racing. He had no idea what had made the insects turn around, but it was hardly the time to dwell on that. Kicking his rocket shoes into action, he zoomed back down the street, noting with alarm that the fires were spreading. He hesitated, thinking about the Zoners in danger and wondering if he could even afford to spare any valuable seconds to put out the flames, before hearing a shout up ahead and reminding himself that he didn't have much time at all; if he was going to do something, he needed to do it fast.
Knowing that he couldn't allow the fire to grow and spread, he quickly lowered himself toward the ground, but kept his rockets activated so he hovered a few inches above. Leaning toward the ground and working as quickly as he could, he sketched the rough shape of what he designed to be a sort of gigantic sprinkler. As soon as he finished, it activated, the water shooting skyward many feet into the air and drenching him and the surrounding buildings. He darted away from it, briefly afraid that the water would put out the fire in his rocket shoes, but he managed to clear the area without any such incident. He couldn't see any of the dragonflies in the street any longer, but that only made his worry grow, knowing that they were further up the next street, around where the police station and several frightened Zoners were.
As soon as he emerged from the small side street, the scene that met him on the main road was one of chaos. All around him he could see Zoners hiding worriedly behind the glass doors of small buildings, others trying to reach shelter, and some of the police officers attempting to fight back against the creatures as other members of the city's police force focused on trying to put out the fires the best they could. Rudy thought to draw another gigantic sprinkler, but the knowledge that it would obscure the officers' vision enough to make them unable to fight back against the onslaught made him hesitate. He would need to come up with a different plan while the dragonflies were still in the area.
Looking around, he could see a fire hydrant positioned a few buildings from the large police headquarters building, and darted toward it, knowing the Zoners didn't have time to wait for firefighters to arrive. He looked around warily for any approaching enemies, but at the moment, the police Zoners trying to drive the creatures away seemed to be holding their attention well enough, and that gave Rudy a bit of time. As soon as he'd finished drawing a large hose that attached to the hydrant, he heard someone shout to him.
"Rudy!" a voice cried, and his head shot up. He turned to see Penny, who looked out of breath and shaken but otherwise unharmed, land beside him, looking a bit shocked. "I led some of the Zoners to a shop basement away from here…I think they're in a safe location, but Rudy, those dragonflies have started spreading around to the larger buildings further into the city."
"What?" he cried, staring at her in horror as he worked to turn the water on. The thought that the situation was already out of control frightened him, and he didn't have the time to stop and think of a decent plan. His worry for the Zoners of the city grew, and he glanced to Penny fearfully, hoping the police in their current location could handle the remaining dragonflies well enough by themselves. "Here," he stated, handing her the hose, "try and put out the fires and help any Zoners you can! I'm going to go and see what I can do to stop those things!"
Penny clearly wasn't pleased with the idea of him going off alone – she looked quite concerned – but it was clear to both of them that, with only one piece of chalk between them, Penny wouldn't be able to draw anything new to help him further on, but she could stay there and operate the fire hose. "A-all right," she stated uncertainly.
Rudy nodded and took off, rising above the surrounding buildings to get a better view of the state of things further on. Seeing a group of the insects swarming a large building a ways to his left, he swerved around towards it, trying to think of anything that could possibly stop the creatures, or at least render them harmless for a time. He had little time to think, but he knew that since they were fire creatures, they might not take too kindly to water, and if anything, it would likely at least deter or distract them, and he quickly doodled up a large and powerful water gun.
As soon as it formed, he realized that it was quite heavier than he'd expected, mainly due to the volume of water inside. Luckily, he managed to hold onto it before it slipped from his grip and plummeted to the street below, and did so almost just as the dragonflies that were now fairly close to him became aware of his presence. As the first one zipped closer, Rudy fired a high-pressure stream of water at the insect, and to his relief, it faltered quite a bit in the air upon impact, dropping a few feet before regaining its flight pattern and darting out of range of the weapon, seeming highly agitated. Rudy couldn't help but find the situation the smallest bit amusing, considering Real World dragonflies were drawn to water.
But his relief was short lived as he realized that he'd used up quite a bit of the water supply in his weapon with one shot; he simply couldn't draw a water gun large enough to hold a sufficient amount of water for a repeated onslaught that wouldn't be too heavy for him to carry. As the remainder of the group of insects, about five of the creatures, ascended and then dove toward him, he shrieked, firing the last of the water at the nearest one, but it fell tragically short and he was forced to drop downwards in order to flee, ducking around the side of the building, letting the now useless water gun fall from his grasp.
His eye caught sight of a small balcony covered in a variety of strange-looking ChalkZone plants, and instinctively he darted toward it, landing behind a large clay pot that housed a plant that was growing whistles. He caught his breath, hoping he'd have some time to rest and with any luck, to come up with a better plan.
He flinched as he heard the steady, almost mechanical-sounding hum from the dragonflies' wings as several flashed past his hiding place, one sending a bright burst of flame in the balcony's direction as it sped by, but luckily it only ignited a few plants opposite from where Rudy was hiding.
He crouched down lower as one dragonfly flew past from the opposite direction, but to his relief the creatures soon seemed to lose interest, and flew off in different directions without bothering to continue looking for him. He then realized that only meant they would be able to find more buildings or worse, Zoners, to attack, and he wracked his brain for any sort of idea on how to stop them. Thinking back to earlier that day, he remembered the sleeping gas idea he'd had before they had entered the abandoned building Franky had showed them, and he quickly sketched out a device like similar to it that he hoped would work and make the creatures too drowsy to cause any more damage. He glanced to the now smoldering plants on the other side of the balcony, glad that at least the flames had died down instead of spreading, helped by the fact that one of the plants seemed to be growing water balloons.
Rudy then thought to draw a gas mask, knowing he certainly couldn't afford to fall asleep himself. However, just as he thought it, he heard the humming sound of wings and a bright light of fire out of the corner of his eye, making him leap from his hiding place into the air and against the opposite railing of the balcony as the entire half of it, including the hiding place he'd been crouching in just moments before, was shrouded in flame.
Still holding his newly drawn device, and knowing he was in plain sight, he looked upward at the group of three dragonfly creatures that now were staring at him with their large segmented eyes. He darted higher into the air as one moved toward him with startling swiftness, thankfully missing him as it fired a blast of flame in his direction. Now hovering away from the balcony, Rudy readied his improvised weapon and aimed it at the dragonfly, whose wings were humming above the wooden railing which was now crackling with flame. He fired the pod of sleeping gas at it, which struck the creature and burst, filling the area with a thin blue haze. Yet instead of falling asleep, the large bug only appeared somewhat disoriented, and to Rudy's shock, he found that he was starting to get drowsy himself. He shook his head, feeling the effects worsen at an alarming rate, and realized he had no choice but to move back and drop the device, thinking regretfully that if he'd had time to draw the gas mask, he could have used it effectively.
As his attention was drawn to the building that now had flames crawling up its sides, Rudy frantically tried to think of other options, but his thoughts were soon interrupted as the small group of the winged insects focused on him, and he knew that the only thing he had time for at the moment was to avoid getting burned alive.
ooo
Penny was rapidly growing more worried, as it was becoming clear, from what little she could see of the chaos further down the street as she attempted to put out the fires, that the creatures were much harder to stop than she'd first anticipated, mainly due to their speed and sheer numbers. At the least, she thought, the police were able to keep most of the ones in that area occupied without getting close enough to be injured themselves, though Penny had had to fend off a few on her own with the water. Luckily, it had worked well enough, and that was all she could ask for at the moment, needing her attention to be focused on her task at hand, putting out the fires on the building. As she quickly glanced down the side street where Rudy had drawn his giant sprinkler, she was relieved to see that the flames in that direction had gone out, but the sprinkler was sputtering, the water only a fraction as high as it had had been before. Pushing the thought from her mind, she focused again, wishing there were others to help her and unable to keep worry for Rudy and the city Zoners' sake from entering her thoughts.
Snap, meanwhile, couldn't see Penny as he peered through the glass doors in the Police Station's entrance. The thought that his both of his friends, and an unknown number of city dwellers, were in the middle of something so chaotic and dangerous greatly worried him, and he could only find some amount of comfort in trying to see if Penny would be all right.
Suddenly he felt a hand roughly grab his shoulder – luckily not the one belonging to his injured arm – and pull him back toward the group of other Zoners who were also taking shelter in the building. "Hey!" Snap shouted, turning so he could look over his shoulder at the Zoner holding him, a large ape-like creature. He attempted to pull away, but his efforts were useless. "What's the big idea? Let me go!"
"Stay away from the window!" the larger Zoner hissed, shoving him toward the small, scared cluster of Zoners who didn't dare move away from their possible exit in case of a fire or an attack from another direction. It was also their only means of seeing what was going on, and they watched the glass doors anxiously from a distance. "You want them to come in here?"
Snap took a moment to regain his balance before shooting a glare at the panicked Zoner who'd forced him away from the doors. "They ain't payin' attention to us in here!" he retorted, but even as he said it he realized the argument was pointless. Other Zoners and his friends were still clearly in danger, and he looked toward the doors nervously. He was pretty sure that Rudy hadn't yet returned, as he'd left for a different area from what Snap had seen, and he was worried that his artist friend was being overwhelmed. Glancing at his temporary companions, he could understand why the Zoners sheltering there were panicked, but there seemed to be little threat to them at the moment as the dragonflies remaining were occupied with the police. 'Or anyone unlucky enough to be left outside…' Snap thought worriedly.
Snap was contemplating somehow trying to reach Penny himself when something caught the attention of every Zoner sheltering in the building. A very small figure was running frantically toward the police station doors, and one of the frightened Zoners gathered near Snap quickly stepped forward to open the door as the panicked newcomer shot through the opening to collapse to her knees in a trembling heap on the floor.
The new Zoner was a small fox wearing some simple-looking clothes, who was obviously a child. Though she was on her knees now, she had stood on two legs when she'd fled toward the building. Though she was clearly startled – panicked even – there was no sign of injury anywhere on her body, but she continued to shake all over as she cast a frightened glance outside, gripping her own bushy tail fearfully in her paws as she did so.
"You okay?" Snap asked as he leaned down toward her, finding it a somewhat silly question after he'd asked it. She clearly wasn't okay.
"M-my brother's out there," she stammered, casting a fearful glance toward the doors. "I told him to come this way but he ran into the hat shop across the street instead, and we got separated. Can…can one of you bring him here?" She turned from Snap and cast desperate eyes around at the rest of the group, all of whom looked rather shaken by the recent events. Snap briefly wondered if these Zoners had been recently erased or had simply never been witness to something like this happening before, but they certainly didn't seem to be handling the situation well at all. He shook his head, realizing that it was likely impossible for anyone to handle such a sudden attack with ease.
"He'll be fine where he is," the ape Zoner told the child, though it did little to calm the small fox.
Snap, who knew that part of the city well enough to know what shop the little girl was talking about, edged closer to the glass doors, and then hurriedly looked through them. He couldn't see much at the angle he was at, but the small hat shop was in view, if only barely, though he could tell immediately that something else was amiss. "Uh…" he began, turning around to face the group and drawing the attention away from the fox, "I think we might have a problem….there's fire near that building and I can't see the police-"
"I said, get away from there!" the ape, who was by far the largest of the sheltering Zoners, shouted again. "If the police have gone, that means-"
"That means one of us needs to go out there," Snap replied. He then thought to Penny, and realized that from where she was, the water from her hose wouldn't reach the buildings near the shop he was focused on, and he had no idea what other Zoners could be sheltering in the buildings nearby.
"If you leave, those creatures will know we're in here!" the large Zoner growled. "I saw them follow others into a building!"
"You what?" Snap replied, but the primate didn't seem keen on answering him.
"Just do what I say!" he growled, reaching forward to grab Snap again. This time, he gripped his upper right arm – right where the break was – earning a shriek from Snap as he pulled him backwards and pushed him again toward the group. "Look," he announced, addressing everyone hiding there rather than just Snap, "the Zoner hiding there will find a new place. The last thing we need is to attract attention to ourselves and bring them here. No one leaves!"
Standing in silence as he rubbed his arm, Snap waited for someone to make a move or speak out against the self-proclaimed 'leader,' but all remained silent and uncertain, but for the small fox, who began pleading with the ape to either find her brother or take her to the place he was hiding. This caught the large Zoner's attention, and, as he was distracted, Snap moved back toward the door and pushed it open.
He heard the ape shout after him as he stumbled onto the pathway running by the street, but by then it was too late for the other civilian to stop him. Steadying himself with the crutch, Snap looked around and ducked against the wall of the building as a few of the dragonflies whipped past him, and he realized that although there were still some police officers fending them off further down the street, they were too occupied to check for Zoners in the buildings near the fires. Snap was momentarily unsure whether to try to head for the building himself or try to reach Penny, who he still couldn't see from where he was, as the other buildings blocked his view of where she was, and have her help him. He could hear distant shouts from other places in the city, but couldn't see much of what was going on in his current position.
Yet as he stepped out from his hiding place and got a glimpse of Penny a few buildings away, he realized that reaching her without drawing attention to them both would be difficult, and he could tell that Penny's only method of defense was the hose, as he watched her spray one of the dragonflies with water and cause it to swerve away from her in agitation. The hose simply wasn't long enough to reach that far, not to mention that she was currently trying to put out another fire that had broken out in one of the buildings.
Realizing that the hat shop wasn't that far, Snap wondered if he'd even be able to make it across the street quickly enough to avoid being detected. At least the street, which was usually busy, had been cleared of cars, save for a few confused Zoners who were powering down the road in an effort to either escape or get somewhere safe, and he focused on the hat shop on the other side of the street and a few buildings to the right.
Glancing around once more for any sign of the fire breathing insects, he waited a few seconds until it was at least relatively safe before limping as fast as he could toward the building. The desperate situation drove Snap on more solidly than normal, although his injuries flared up without any chance for respite. His heart pounded as he glanced from left to right, all too aware that if he was targeted by the speedy creatures, he wasn't likely to be able to get away fast enough. He suddenly questioned the efficiency of his plan. At least, he thought, he could try to coax the fox's brother to a safer hiding place if he was unable to help him to one himself.
Though he could see some of the dragonfly creatures reentering the area, he managed to make it to the other side of the street and slip between two of the buildings, luckily going unnoticed. After he thought the threat had passed, he moved as quickly as he could to the next narrow alleyway, knowing that the shop he was looking for was only the next one over.
A sound from the street sent sudden alarm rushing through him and he turned in shock before realizing that it was not one of the dragonflies that had discovered him, but Penny. He stared at her in complete surprise. "Penny? What are you doin' here?" he cried, wondering why she had stopped putting out the fire, unless she had managed to already get it under control, which he figured was likely, as she didn't seem like she had been fleeing. Penny looked just as perplexed to see him as he did to see her, and he realized this wasn't the time to ask questions.
"Snap, you have to get out of here!" she cried, and Snap tried to interrupt before a sound to their left caught their attention. They turned to see a group of Zoners, one of them a small fox looking almost identical to the one that had run in the police station. The fox was obviously terrified, but the other Zoners with him obviously knew what they were doing as they quickly ducked into a sturdier building away from the flames, not noticing Snap and Penny as they stood in the alley.
Penny glanced around behind them, noticing a dead end at the back of the alleyway. She knew that it was a sure way to end up cornered if any of the dragonfly creatures happened to notice them, and not only was Snap injured, but he did not have rocket shoes like she did. She quickly beckoned to Snap to follow her and crept toward the entrance to the alley and peered out. By now she could see no sign of police and she grew more worried. She turned her head toward the sturdy building the other Zoners had fled to, a large shop that looked like it might have a basement. She knew that it would likely be their best option for shelter until Rudy came back and could help, and she indicated it as she turned to Snap. Seeing no dragonflies about, they carefully emerged from the alley and crept along the wall of the shop, glad that an overhanging partial roof would at least make them a bit less noticeable.
A sound stopped them in their tracks as they heard the sound of buzzing wings mere feet from them. Penny whirled around to face them, noticing as she did so that the creatures hadn't noticed them, but had merely darted by without a glance at their makeshift hiding place. Once they had passed she quickly moved on, stopping just in front of the next alleyway and peering into it.
Snap was about to follow when a lone dragonfly suddenly stopped in its frantic flight, turning toward Penny as she looked into the alley. It came to a sudden stop mere feet behind her as she left the shelter of the overhanging roof.
"Penny! Behind you!" he shouted, not hesitating a moment longer before he lunged toward Penny with his good arm outstretched, dropping the crutch as he did so. He felt a sharp, intense pain in his leg that nearly caused him to stumble as he put his weight on it, and he gritted his teeth, pushing Penny aside as the dragonfly spewed a column of flame in her direction. He felt searing heat on his back but luckily his momentum had carried him out of the direct path of the flames, and both he and Penny collapsed in a heap on the pavement.
The two gasped as they struggled to their hands and knees. Snap, still feeling the burning heat, looked over his shoulder at the building. A large section of its wall was now smoldering, flames moving up its sides toward the roof. Snap felt a chilling, horrified sensation upon realizing that had almost been them.
He barely had time to react as Penny yanked him to his feet, casting a fearful glance at the dragonfly as they fled. Penny's right arm snaked around his back and grasped his side as his left arm stretched over one of her shoulders and to the other, and while she powered on into the road, careful to monitor her pace, Snap hopped frantically to keep up.
Penny gave a sudden shriek as a car appeared, swerving into their street from another side street unexpectedly. They hardly had time to throw panicked looks in its direction before the panicked Zoner operating the vehicle swerved out of the way and missed them by a small fraction. To their relief, the oncoming car confused the pursuing dragonfly, which pulled back toward the shop as it careened by. Standing in the middle of the street, they suddenly realized how vulnerable they were. Penny looked toward the police station, and headed toward it, hoping she could move fast enough without causing Snap to stumble.
Halfway to the building, Penny stopped in her tracks as the dragonfly who had been previously threatening them swerved in front of the police station and locked onto them again. Penny was about to turn around and lead Snap the other way when an alarmed voice reached their ears. "Penny! Snap!" They two looked up to see Rudy appear from around the police building. Though he was obviously panicked and shaken, he looked unharmed, save for a few singe marks on his clothing. He seemed like he'd had some narrow escapes, and not much time to draw anything to help him either, as he was currently empty-handed save for the magic chalk.
His presence alerted the dragonfly, which shifted its focus to Rudy. They weren't sure why, but Rudy himself had a good guess, and that was that it saw him as a bigger threat. He quickly maneuvered himself through the air and down toward the street, having learned quickly that diving suddenly threw the creatures off, and landed on the ground. He realized a second too late that he was in front of the police building and not only were there Zoners hiding a ways behind the glass doors, but it seemed to be the place that Penny and Snap had been trying to get to as well. He looked toward his pursuers and realized at once that he'd hesitated a moment too long. Though he didn't want to draw attention to the sheltering Zoners, it was either flee into the building or end up with severe burns, or worse.
He turned around, igniting his rocket shoes as he did so and propelling himself toward the doors. He slammed them open and the other Zoners scattered for cover as he made an unceremonious entrance, hitting his shoe against a desk before he could stop himself. The rocket was dislodged, sending him spinning out of control for a brief second before he hit the ground.
For a moment he was dazed, aware of only a dull ache in his head, but he quickly recovered, looking up enough to see a few panicked Zoners who had darted into corners of the room, a few of them having fled into hallways. He could see Penny and Snap arriving inside as well, and it took him a moment to follow their gaze to see the dragonfly that he only now realized had followed him in the building. It looked completely dazed, and he watched it in confusion as Penny and Snap hurried toward him, ducking with him behind the desk.
Penny had seen Rudy's small rocket strike the creature as it followed him into the building, and she glanced to her friend, knowing that this was their one good chance of getting it away from the Zoners before it could harm anyone.
Trying to think of a type of fire-resistant cage that could contain the dragonfly and render it harmless, Rudy stood up with the chalk in his hand, and as he did so, he happened to glance toward the doorway, and leaped back in shock. There looked to be a small swarm of the insects hovering just outside the door, and Rudy knew that his frantic escape had not gone unnoticed.
Snap and Penny, who had noticed the same thing, quickly ducked further behind the desk with Rudy. A few of the Zoners panicked and took off into some of the building's hallways, while others were too frightened of being detected to move. The Zoners that had opted to hide rather than flee into the hallway cast frightened glances at Rudy, looking to him for a solution. He gritted his teeth, unsure what could stop such a large group.
He watched as the insects zoomed off in different directions, some paying no attention to the Zoners but instead targeting any object they found flammable. Rudy was about to leap to the aid of a ChalkZone City citizen who was chased toward the other side of the room by one dragonfly when another appeared over the edge of the desk he and his friends were sheltering behind.
Rudy ducked to the side as a stream of flame, aimed for him rather than his friends, seared the carpet where he'd been crouching a moment before. Quickly using his magic chalk, he began to draw an improvised heat-resistant shield over the area they sheltered in, moving back toward his friends as the dragonfly swerved around to attack him from another angle. Luckily his shield was complete before it attacked again, and although he still had to scramble back from the heat, it did not harm him. As he did so, he glanced to the other side of the room where the Zoner who had been chased was, but luckily they had managed to escape into another room, the dragonfly instead focusing on burning the door. He cringed, seeing small fires at different areas around the room, and recalling the Zoners who had fled deeper into the building.
He looked to Penny and Snap, knowing that the shield only protected them on one side, but to his relief the dragonfly that had been attacking them did not try to penetrate the barrier again, and instead zipped toward another part of the room they couldn't see from their position. They had begun to notice that it was becoming hard to breathe, smoke already clogging the air around them and stinging their eyes. It made things difficult to see as well, and Rudy could no longer keep track of where the Zoners and dragonflies were.
However, that also gave him the advantage of being able to draw without being as easily spotted. He stood up, wracking his brain for something that could stop them without drawing attention to their hiding place or imposing any danger on the hiding Zoners, when a noise from the building entrance caught the attention of him and everyone else sheltering there at the same time.
Due to the smoke, Rudy and his friends couldn't see what had just entered through the doors, which sounded as if they had been slammed open with a large amount of force. However, they were soon keenly aware that a bright light had enveloped the room, cutting through the smoke and making the three flinch. It wasn't that they had started to grow accustomed to the low lighting; the light that came from the area by the doors was nearly blinding.
Rudy clenched his eyes shut, feeling a bit stunned as the light penetrated everything in the room. He opened his eyes again, and it took him a moment to realize that the light didn't seem quite normal, in a way that had nothing to do with its intensity. It seemed to shimmer with a few different colors, and had an odd effect on his vision that made it uncomfortable to look at. It was like looking into a very strange and bright window that distorted everything behind it only the tiniest bit, not enough to be very immediately noticeable, but certainly enough to be unsettling. Though he wanted to close his eyes again, he forced them to stay open, focusing his attention as well as he could on the attacking dragonflies through the brightness. To his astonishment, they had all frozen in midair. Instead of continuing the attack, they all fluttered lazily toward the light as if in a trance.
Feeling that, at least for the moment, the worst of the danger had passed, Rudy stood up, peering around his improvised shield, which luckily also kept the flames flickering along the opposite side of their desk from reaching his friends, and tried to look towards the light to see what was happening. He couldn't make out much, but he could tell that the light was coming from a strange sort of device being held by a figure standing in the doorway that he could not identify due to the light. He watched, transfixed, as the creatures lazily hovered around the light source, which looked to be the shape of a box, as the figure holding it set it down gently and stepped away.
The dragonflies made no move to follow the Zoner, who, seeming completely unbothered by the strange unnerving quality of the light, made his way across the room toward the desk Rudy and his friends had been hiding behind. Rudy was currently using a newly-drawn fire extinguisher to put out the flames on the desk, while some more level-headed Zoners were doing the same to the other fires with a fire extinguisher one must have found somewhere in the building. Relieved that the fire hadn't had time to spread far, Rudy watched as it was quickly extinguished and he turned toward the Zoner who had arrived with the bright box.
Rudy knew that if the stranger could walk away from the threat so casually, the fiery insects weren't a threat for the time being. He stood up fully, stepping around the barrier and squinting his eyes as he thought worriedly of the other Zoners that were still in danger in the city. He could only hope this stranger would be willing to help them as well. The Zoner now approaching him, who was over twice his height, stopped a few feet from the desk. His form was blocking the source of the intense light enough that Rudy could make out his features. He was a tall, anthropomorphic wolf drawing with dark gray fur that was slicked back. He wore a rather expensive looking coat and suit, and Rudy had no idea if he was a rich Zoner or had merely been drawn with that clothing. He looked like an artist's interpretation of a very calm and collected werewolf, and one much less threatening. Instead of being bulky and strong looking, this one was rather thin. Though he certainly didn't look vicious like the types of werewolf drawings Rudy had seen before, there was something a little off-putting about his appearance, his eyes in particular, as if his artist had intended him to look somewhat sinister, but his gaze was concerned and there was nothing about him that suggested he wanted to do anyone harm. Unlike Rudy, the werewolf's eyes were wide open and he seemed quite calm despite the situation.
"Are you all right?" the wolf asked in a low, but calm sounding voice as he surveyed Rudy, likely taking in his disheveled appearance and panicked state. He stepped forward, glancing around the room at the other Zoners and then to Penny and Snap as they emerged from behind the desk.
"Y-yes," Penny stammered, still shaken from the experience as she looked the Zoner warily in the eye, "we're all right."
"Look, we need your help!" Rudy cried, taking a few steps closer to the tall Zoner. "The city's in danger, and-"
"It's taken care of," he replied with a smile, to which Rudy only stared back at him in shock.
"What do you-"
"They can sense this type of light for miles," the wolf replied, indicating the dragonflies before taking a moment to glance again to the frightened Zoners and beckon them from their hiding places. "I have more lights set up outside. And don't worry, the police will find something to do with these creatures. They're rounding them up as we speak."
Rudy was astonished, wondering how this Zoner could have acted so quickly, let alone how he had happened to have just the sort of thing that was needed to stop the dragonflies. He was astounded that the Zoner had managed to procure a solution, seemingly out of thin air. "But what about-"
"See for yourself," the wolf replied, gesturing toward the door and then indicating that everyone still in the room should leave.
The frightened Zoners stayed put, looking quite reluctant, but after they saw Rudy and his friends, Rudy and Penny helping Snap, walk toward the door, they relaxed a bit, and hesitantly followed. Rudy shielded his eyes from the light as he walked past the spot the dragonflies were gathered around, flinching a little as another dragonfly from outside darted through the open doorway past him, but the creature acted as if he wasn't even there. He pushed open the door and peered outside, glad that the strange light was mostly contained inside the building. He could see a bright glow from somewhere further off, which he assumed was one of the other lights that the wolf Zoner had set up, and to his amazement, the chaos in the streets had completely stopped. The dragonflies weren't in sight, but the few Zoners he could see around him had calmed down, and were instead working on putting out what remained of the fires. Others were merely standing confused, as if they had arrived to help with the commotion, only to find it gone. There was no panicked shouting to be heard from other streets, just the determined sounds of Zoners working together after the threat had passed.
As Rudy and friends glanced around, they gradually relaxed, realizing that, as unlikely as it had first seemed, their problem had been completely resolved. Still hardly able to believe it, Rudy glanced toward the side street the dragonflies had first been seen from, but there was no sign of any more coming from that way. "Where did those things come from?" he mused aloud.
The wolf-like Zoner, who had approached with several of the ones who had been hiding in the police station, followed his gaze. "I know the species," he said. "They migrate in groups. Unfortunately, as you have seen, they are incredibly destructive."
"That's for sure," Snap muttered.
"All that needs to be done is to contain them," the wolf continued. "Perhaps in an enclosed environment. The Zoners of the city will take care of that. They are no longer a threat for the time being." He paused, giving Rudy and his friends another glance. "Just be careful." Before waiting for a reply, he turned and headed away from them, getting into a rather beat up looking vehicle that seemed like it had come from We R Cars, which Rudy gave a somewhat perplexed glance.
"Wait a minute-" Rudy began, slipping from Snap's side, but the Zoner had already begun to drive off, leaving him to stare in perplexity. He had wanted to ask him how he had known about those creatures, or what else he knew, in the event that anything else happened. It seemed unlikely at this stage, however, considering what he'd said about the migrations. At least, he thought, it seemed that he could finally relax.
"Rudy!" Penny's urgent voice came from behind him. "We need to get back home…we were already late before-"
"Right," Rudy replied, suddenly remembering the urgency. They needed to return to the Real World as soon as possible. Though the buildings in the streets that had been attacked were in poor shape, at least nothing was on fire anymore, and the city Zoners themselves seemed to have the situation under control, so he felt it was all right to leave them for now and return to his home. After drawing a new crutch for Snap once his friend had assured him that he could find a way to his house all right on his own, he quickly drew another motorized scooter and they hurried off to the portal.
ooo
Rudy and Penny had hardly had any time to sneak back into Penny's room and hurriedly do their best to wash off the dust and grime from their ordeal in ChalkZone, a task made simple by the fact that it was chalk and easily washed away, before they could sneak outside and pretend they had gone for a walk and simply lost track of time.
Unfortunately, as they were trying to creep out the back door, Mrs. Sanchez caught them and had demanded to know where they had been, and Rudy hurriedly made up a story about having been on a walk. He realized only after he'd said it that it made little sense that they would have been sneaking through the back door, and Penny stated that she had wanted to check on the dogs that were currently staying at the clinic.
"We…we didn't realize we were late," Penny explained again. "We were out back with the animals when I noticed the time, and…" She trailed off, hoping her mother hadn't checked there, but to her relief she didn't seem suspicious, just annoyed.
"Well, be sure to pay more attention next time," she said sternly. "If you want Rudy to come over after school this often, you'll need to keep better track of things in the future."
"We will," Penny responded, and she and Rudy breathed a sigh of relief, glad that they had only gotten off with a warning, and hadn't been gone for longer than twenty minutes. Still, it always made them nervous every time they had to return late from ChalkZone; the last thing they needed was their parents becoming suspicious of their activities and wanting to check on them more. They were lucky they had managed to avoid any repercussions this time. For once, a disaster in ChalkZone and a delay in returning had gone easily.
After dinner, Rudy and Penny briefly discussed the possibility of the dragonfly attack and the other recent events in ChalkZone, as well as the lab they had discovered being related, but in the end they agreed that it didn't seem likely, and at least the dragonfly problem was taken care of. He only hoped that any more such problems would not surface again.
ooo
The buzz of static came from the odd chalky-talky-like device as the werewolf Zoner took it out of his coat pocket and activated it, situated at the outskirts of the city near the Wait N' Sea. He waited a few seconds in silence, the walls of two massive buildings casting shadows down on his resting spot, before a worried voice sounded from the other end.
"What's happening?" the Zoner on the other end of the device asked. "What was it that made you have to leave so suddenly-"
The wolf breathed a heavy sigh, leaning against the brick wall of the building nearest to him. "I think we've got a problem."
"Really?" The voice sounded confused. "What is it?"
"I'm not sure," the wolf replied, "but I have a guess."
"And that would be…?"
"I honestly think that some idiot is sending his creatures through the tunnels beneath ChalkZone City, for the purpose of destroying it, or at least causing a lot of damage."
"The tunnels?" The other voice sounded confused. "I thought they repaired all the-"
"Not all of them," the wolf responded with a tinge of annoyance. "There's parts of the city they haven't gotten around to repairing yet."
"Ah, I see. Never seen the city myself, so-"
"I was lucky I could get the light boxes here quick enough," the wolf hissed. "Look, I need to get to the bottom of this."
"But construction's almost complete!" the voice then sounded worried. "We've only got a few more weeks, maybe less! If we send anyone out, the delays will…" The Zoner paused. "Are you sure this isn't just a random attack?"
"I admit it could be, but I don't think so. It was too organized. Dragonfireflies don't normally behave that way."
"Does anyone else think this?"
"I don't think so. The Zoners here didn't act like they had ever seen them before. But that doesn't matter whether they do or not. What matters is finding the source of the problem."
"But I told you, if we send out anyone else, we'll-"
"All I want to know is who, if anyone, is behind this," the wolf replied. "We don't need many for that. I trust you to find someone who can figure out who this is."
"I see," the voice replied, sounding a bit more enthusiastic. "Well, if that's what you need, you've got it, boss!"
"All right. I've wasted enough time here already. I want someone else here in fifteen minutes."
"Consider it done."
"Good," the wolf responded. "There's someone else I need to contact and then I'm heading back. Give me a call when this mess is cleared up."
The Zoner on the other end was confident as he replied, "Expect it soon, Axxar."
He then fiddled with a few of the buttons on the device, accessing a function that acted more like a normal phone instead of merely a direct line to his associates. Taking a frustrated breath, he entered a number. He waited a moment with baited breath until the Zoner on the other end picked up. "Hello," he stated, immediately ridding himself of the frustration in his voice and sounding, to the Zoner on the other line, for all the world like he was completely calm. "I know that during the last-"
"You? Again?" the female voice on the other end snarled, and Axxar had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. Dealing with this Zoner had been incredibly frustrating, to say the least, and during his infiltration of her factories, he had learned enough about her to not have been surprised by the way she had reacted to any of his requests. But he had a small bit of hope that this time, he would convince her.
"Listen," he stated, revealing none of his impatience to the Zoner whom he was trying to persuade, "I have another offer for the machine I expressed interest in earlier."