The further they walked down the hallway, the creepier it got. Rudy had to summon all his strength not to look around at the place. The machines were bad enough, and while this wasn't particulary terrifying in itself, it was quite unsettling to say the least. He wouldn't have expected less from Cosmo. This place did a great job reflecting this man's personality.

The walls became smoother and more refined, with glowing edges and no grooves on the side. It was like he was worried about someone climbing the walls or something. There were multiple pathways, many of which were blocked off by clearly chalk-created force fields. Some of the fields stood out to Rudy. They looked like they had electrified water instead of the usual...whatever the other shields were made of. He wondered what they were used for.

The rooms they walked passed were largely empty. He guessed that he kept important stuff locked up in smaller rooms. Rudy supposed that made sense; keeping crucial machinery out in the open could make them easier targets for anyone wanting to destroy them. In these rooms, to get up to higher levels, platforms rose and fell in a rhythm. Even though the mechanics were probably as simple as an elevator going up and down, the look and feel of these platforms gave the whole place a futuristic vibe.

In a way, it reminded him kind of the Future Dome. There were all kinds of hi-tech gadgets there. There were stuff there that didn't work right. A lot of Craniac 4's robots didn't work so well. But looking around this place, Rudy had doubts that Craniac 4 could be responsible for any of this. It seemed too...clean was the only word he could think of. It looked like it was designed by a professional.

Rudy took notice of the ceiling. It looked like it had a lot of padding, honeycomb like in appearance. The honeycomb might have been just for looks, but it was clear it was thick. This might be why the workers above have no idea what's going on down here. The sounds may be too muffled. And he was certain Mr. Cosmo has his own power source, meaning that his electric bill was separate from the company's bill. That would help him to hide his work even from other people who use the same building. Clever jerk.

As they continued down, Rudy could have sworn he something move in the corner of his eye. He looked over, and saw nothing. He shrugged it off. Maybe he was just seeing things. No...there it was again. Something was moving around where he couldn't see, and when he turned his head, it wasn't there anymore. What was going on?

"Rudy..." Penny's voice came soft and low. She tugged at his sleeve. "Look over there..." She pointed to one side.

Rudy looked and he tried not to gasp in horror. He now saw the source of those images in the corner of his eyes. And now he wasn't sure if he really wanted to see this.

There were multiple zoners walking around dutifully, almost robotically and preprogrammed. They looked lifeless, even though they were clearly still alive. Some zoners they recognized immediately. Blocky, Lars, even Skrawl and his minions were here, doing whatever task Mr. Cosmo forced upon them. And what was even scarier is that they didn't look like they were really 'there'. Silent and machine-like in the way they moved, it sent chills down the teens' spines.

A few of the zoners had something sparkling on their heads. Lars was the first one they took notice of who had this. Most of them wore something dark blue around their ankles. A bracelet of some kind, the same kind they had seen earlier. Rudy guessed these, somehow, controlled the zoners. He didn't understand the head one. He saw nothing strapped there. A closer look might help.

They went down one more hallway. This one was kinda like a hexagon in shape with lights lining it. Some had a very faint red hue, and others a faint green hue. This hallway emptied into a relatively large room. It was smaller than the machine room, but it was still pretty big. It had a lower section with no features other than a platform and a black box-like thing in the corner. Up above, they could see a green-tinted shield that formed an enclosure.

As soon as they entered the room, there was a creak behind them. They looked over and saw metal bars rising from the ground. Penny was horrified. But while Rudy was also shocked, the impact was a little weaker on him. After being trapped before by bars blocking the exit, he wasn't surprised by this.

What did surprise him a little more was when Mr. Cosmo went over to the platform and activated it too fast for him and Penny to catch up. They craned their heads up as Mr. Cosmo got onto the high level, but not bothering to lower the platform for them. It was clear that they were exactly where he wanted. They had to prepare for whatever he was going to throw at them.

Rudy glared up at Mr. Cosmo, who had taken position in the shielded area. "Where is Snap?"

Mr. Cosmo smirked down at him. "Don't worry. You will see him soon enough. Just let me make an adjustment here and...there you go!"

The metal box they had seen earlier started to grow a little in size. Then it became taller at a quick rate before getting wider again. The black material pixelated and disappeared at a slow rate, from top to bottom. As the black disappeared, Rudy and Penny watched in fearful anticipation of what they were about to see.

What they saw was engraved in their heads, and it would not leave them for a long time, if ever.

Snap was on the ground, laying on his stomach. Bandages were wrapped around his body, but it did little to hide the severity of the wound. The entire back was coated red, some light red mixed in with dark red, and then what looked to be black. His hand had some cuts on it too. They weren't as bad, but they hadn't been treated and at least one cut looked like it was showing some early signs of mild infection.

Surrounding Snap was a shield, keeping Rudy and Penny from being able to get close to him. And he was laying so still... They couldn't tell if he was unconscious or not. His head was turned away from them. They would have moved around to see, but getting their feet to respond after see this was like trying to cut a dull knife through butter. The sight of it was just so horrific. How could anyone be this cruel to someone like Snap? Yeah he sometimes got on their nerves once in a while, but he meant well. He...he never did anything to deserve this.

Choking back tears, Rudy bravily walked around to look Snap in the face. When he did, he saw the blue superhero was unconscious. Part of him was relieved that, for the time, he wasn't in pain. But fear still gripped the boy like a vice. How badly hurt was Snap? Did he lose a lot of blood? Was he...was he going to wake up again...?

And his head...Rudy quickly noticed something sparking from it. He had seen it on the other zoners, but never close enough to see what it looked like. On Snap, it looks liked a flat gray disc that was placed in the middle of his forehead. But seeing a tiny trickle of blood coming from where the so-called disc was told him that it was much deeper than that. He would have thought Snap was dead if it weren't for his ribcage moving up and down slowly, if unsteadily.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked over at Penny. She stared at him with wide, tearful eyes. She glanced down at Snap. She saw the thing in his head and put her hand to her mouth, gasping in horror. He wanted to comfort her, but there was nothing he could say. The two stared down at their fallen friend, trying so hard to fight back their tears.

"What..." Rudy started to say. His hands clenched into fists, trembling. His eyes closed tightly as tears dripped from them. He felt all the negative emotions bottling up inside of him, wanting to come out. He shot a hateful look at Mr. Cosmo. "..what the hell have you done to Snap?!"

"My my...what foul language you have there." Mr. Cosmo chuckled half-heartedly. He moved his hand towards where Snap lay prone on the ground. "He is alive. Don't worry. He doesn't have any life threatening injuries on him and..."

"What is that thing in his head?" Rudy demanded through clenched teeth. "Why did you put it there? And what happened to his back and hand? What have you done?!"

"Hmm so many questions..." Mr. Cosmo said slowly. He casually leaned against the forcefield in front of him. "I will answer those questions. First, his back. You have Draow to thank for that. He cut open the blue boy's back with one of his wing claws. It has been treated...just enough to make sure he doesn't die from it. I admit my dragging him around like a rag doll didn't help. May have reopened some of the cut. Oops." He said the last word with a mocking tone.

Rudy snarled at him, his body shaking in rage. Penny glared at him but she tried to look more composed than Rudy was, who looked like he wanted to tear into Mr. Cosmo.

"His hand is his own fault. I put some spikes on the underside of the door to discourage him from using his two dimensional powers and escaping. I see he was smart enough not to go much further, so only his hand is damaged." Mr. Cosmo said. During all this, he sounded a little too cheerful, like talking about pain and misery was normal for this sick and twisted man. "And now to address the thing in his head... You may have noticed some of the zoners you spotted wearing bracelets, such as..what did you call him..Skrawl. But others, like your friend there, have something in their heads."

"What are they?" Penny asked, her voice tense.

"I will not drag this on. They are mind control devices." Mr. Cosmo replied, smiling darkly. "The bracelets were my first try. They do the job just fine. But see, they can be easily taken off. So for your friend here, I needed something else. Something you can't just pull off. So I experimented on the white bear."

"Lars..." Rudy said, remembering seeing something spark from the bear's head.

"Yes, Lars. I used him to test a new type of mind control device. It was smaller, so it was easier to manifacture. And it goes straight into the brain." He smiled as he saw Rudy and Penny's faces grow horrified. "Not enough to kill, but enough that I can send my own electric signals to them, and force them to do whatever I want. And since it's in the head, you can't simply remove it by pulling it out. Not unless you want to kill them..."

Rudy's breath became shaky. He looked over at Snap. He didn't want to believe there was no way to free him. No, there had to be something he could do for him. But he can't even grab him...He couldn't ignore the feelings of helplessness as they started to grow inside of him.

Penny's composure started becoming lost. There was a tremble here or there. Rudy watched as she took a step in Mr. Cosmo's direction. Then she spoke in a hiss between her teeth. "You are a despicable, vile man..."

"Calling me names will get you nowhere." Mr. Cosmo said, waving off what Penny said with a motion of the hand. "Now...about that proposition..."

"I'm not striking a deal with you!" Rudy shouted, taking a step back. He looked over at Snap. "After what you did to him..." He whipped his head around to face Cosmo. "...you must be crazy to think I would work with you!"

Mr. Cosmo chuckled. "So defiant. It amuses me to see you are still in this state of mind. Not to worry...I may have a way to change all that." He laughed as the boy and girl glared at him. After he finished, a serious expression came onto his face. "I really wish you'd listen to me, boy. Your mind is too clouded by this percieved friendship you have with these creatures. I understood, oh so long ago, the purpose these creatures really fulfilled. I am simply harnessing their potential."

"You're using them like toys!" Penny snapped venom at the men.

"Yeah!" Rudy chimed in. "You are using them like slaves!"

"Slaves... Definition would be to use sentient beings to do your own bidding, used derogatory." Mr. Cosmo said calmly. "That...doesn't apply here. Chalk people are merely drawings that just seem life-like." He gave a small smile at Rudy, staring at him in the eyes. "And here you are, believing and wanting friendship with such worthless beings. If you could open your eyes and see the truth, you'd understand where I'm..."

"Shut up!"

Rudy never knew he could scream so loudly at someone, let alone be so angry with one person. Not even Skrawl, Mr. Wilter, or Reggie Bullnerd had ever angered him to this point. Even the antics of Vinnie and Terry seemed like harmless child's play compared to what Cosmo was doing.

He didn't like feeling this angry. He knew that if he let it consume him, he would be blinded by it and lash out violently. The result could be catastrophic and they may very well lose the chance to save Snap. He fought to keep it under control. The man's awful chuckle didn't help him any. It aggravated him, pissed him off further. He really wanted to punch this guy in the face, if he could get away with it.

In the midst of his anger and the thoughts encircling his mind, there was something he remembered he had forgotten about. This something was so shocking that it caused the anger to slowly melt away. He didn't say a word to Penny about it. Right now, it wasn't the time for this talk. Not in front of Mr. Cosmo, who may use it against him.

The pale portal...he had forgotten to erase it. How could he have been so stupid? His mind was so determined to get Snap back, that he had forgotten that he could erase the portal. That would have relieved Rapsheeba the job of putting up warning signs. At least no more zoners will fall into the trap, but still...why didn't he erase it...? Was he really that distraught that he wasn't thinking as clearly and being more prone to mistakes than he usually is?

He was snapped out of his thoughts when Mr. Cosmo started talking again. He glared up at him, trying his best to hide his worry and confusion from a second ago.

"Just...how far have befriending these creatures gotten you?" Mr. Cosmo said with a sneer.

Rudy wasn't sure how to respond. "I...what...?"

"I know all about your struggles, boy. Or have you forgotten? Ms. Saffron told me how you reacted to being called a juvenile delinquent..." Cosmo chuckled at this, folding his arms up in a proudful manner. "The way you reacted...you were obviously hiding something. You were...too defensive. And you see...you only got in this mess because you waste your time being buddy buddy with such inferior beings..."

Unsure of what else to do, unsure of how to argue with the man, Rudy just spat out, "That's not true!" He doubted it would work. This man...he couldn't be reasoned with.

"Oh little boy..." Mr. Cosmo shook his head slowly, his voice ringing with disappointment. "You keep telling yourself that. But you cannot deny on where you are. Last in your class. Only a smidgin better than Reggie Bullnerd." He smiled when Rudy's head snapped towards him with a disgusted frown. "Yes, I predicted that you'd act like a tough egg to crack, based on what Ms. Saffron told me a few days ago. But gathering from her data, and from how you are acting towards me, it really wouldn't take much...would it...?"

Rudy didn't like how the man was sounding at this point. Penny was taking a few steps away. He found himself doing the same thing without really paying attention. This voice was dripping with an ominous feeling. All his gut feelings were telling him to run away.

But his feet suddenly were frozen. The rest of his body followed suit. He couldn't do anything, not even something as simple as wriggle his fingers. He stared at Mr. Cosmo as if the man had suddenly grown wings and was sweeping towards them with a large ray gun.

What the man was implying was scaring him. He had this twisted belief that he could be easily molded, changed into doing what he wanted. It sickened him to the core. He didn't know how Mr. Cosmo could think such a thing. Rudy would never join the forces of the likes of someone as disgusting as him. Oh how he wanted to wipe that smug smile off his face...

His thoughts went to what he had said about school. His body gave a shudder when he realized what Cosmo was implying there. He was trying to tell him, somewhat indirectly, that all his time in ChalkZone was affecting his grades.

And what scared him more about this was...Mr. Cosmo might have a point. He did spend a lot of time in ChalkZone. Maybe not as much, but he still went there whenever possible. He didn't do as much studying as he should. He forgoed chances of study and improving his grades for the opportunity to visit ChalkZone and his chalk friends. Could Mr. Cosmo be right? Could ChalkZone be the very reason he was flunking out of school?

He shook his head. No, that wasn't the reason. He couldn't allow Cosmo to make him blame ChalkZone for his hardships. He wouldn't lie and say he was doing just fine and dandy in school. But he knew ChalkZone was not to blame. The people there never made him come in; he made those decisions himself. His grade failures were because he wasn't put enough effort into studying, not because of him making friends in ChalkZone.

"You're wrong..." Rudy retorted back in a low voice. He clenched his hand, his fingernails digging slightly against the skin. Mr. Cosmo raised an eyebrow, but kept silent. Rudy used this silence to continue. "And you know what? It sounds like to me you don't understand the value of friendship. And hey, that's fine. When you're a monster, who needs friends right? But let me tell you something. These chalk people you enslaved, they've helped me out in the past. And Snap here, the one you kidnapped and tortured, is my closest friend I have in ChalkZone. And yes he is not technically human...but he is more human than you will ever be."

He paused for a moment. He glared at Mr. Cosmo. He gave a few seconds for the man to reply. Mr. Cosmo just waved a hand at him, gesturing for him to continue on with his rant. And so Rudy did.

"All this here, your machines and your ChalkZone slaves, attempting to brainwash me...You know what this all says about you?" Rudy said, his voice growing a little in volume as he gained more and more confidence to speak. "You're nothing but a coward, Mr. Cosmo. I know you could kill me quite easily. This place is well hidden. But if you were really all that, you wouldn't need the zoners to do anything for you. I rarely see you up on the front line. I bet you never fought anyone, face to face. You hid behind your creations and your lackeys years ago. And as soon as you were stripped of them, you were powerless. So tell me, Mr. Cosmo...given all that..." He took a step forward. "Why should I listen to you?"

Mr. Cosmo just glared at him. He looked visibly angry. Yet, when he spoke, he was still so calm and reserved. It sent chills down the two teenager's spines, causing them to shudder. "I will show you..." With that, he pushed a button.

Behind them, they heard a crackling sound. They turned and saw the shield around Snap had disappeared. The blue boy's eyes slowly opened up. At first, Rudy and Penny were happy to see him awake. But when he looked at them, right after the initial confusion, suddenly terror filled Snap's eyes.

"Rudy...Penny..." Snap whimpered through the pain and obvious knowledge of what was going to happen. "G-Get away...this is...a...t-trap...!"

The metal thing on his head sparked more intensively, causing him to scream as he was jerked to his feet like a puppet. Then, without warning, he lunged forward.

sss

Ms. Saffron wanted to bang her head against the wall a few more times. Her head was getting sore, but she didn't care. A few more times her head against the hard wall before she finally had enough and she slumped back into the bed. She wasn't hitting hard enough to damage her brain, but a part of her wondered if she deserved brain damage for what she had done.

How could she have been so foolish? She should have told Snap the truth. She should have warned him about what Mr. Cosmo had in store for him. If she had told him earlier, maybe things could have turned out different...

...no they wouldn't. She kept telling herself that. No matter what she told him, he still would have been taken to the same fate that Cosmo told her. Granted, she didn't know every little detail. She just knew that it was going to be horrible.

She didn't tell Snap for his own sake. She thought things would be better if he didn't know, so he could be more relaxed until the time came. But Mr. Cosmo had been right. It had made things so much worse. And the way he looked at her, a hurt look asking her 'why did you betray me?'...it stung her in the heart. She wanted so much to apologize to him. But he had been dragged away cruelly by Mr. Cosmo.

She had given chase to try to stop him. But Mr. Cosmo clearly had other plans. He must have taken notice to her getting 'too friendly' with Snap and worried she may do the same with the other prisoners. So he had slammed the door behind him and it had locked instantly. She pounded on the door, trying to pry it open. It wouldn't budge. She was trapped.

Saffron pressed her back against the wall the bed was placed against. She tilted her head upwards, staring at the damp-looking ceiling. She winced at the sight. She wondered if some of that dripped onto Snap while he slept. The thought made her shudder, thinking about how much that would have hurt him.

Before, her mind would tell her that it was just playing tricks on her. That Snap could, no way, be actually real. He was just a drawing. But the more she thought about it, the more she began to doubt that notion. The way he had reacted when Mr. Cosmo dragged him off. The screams he had emitted before finally falling silent...it reminded her too much of what happened to her as a kid, regarding an unfortunate bicycling accident.

It was right then and there she realized...that maybe, just maybe...she had been wrong about him, and of the other zoners as well. She could no longer deny what was becoming plainly obvious to her. The zoners were indeed alive...and she had helped Mr. Cosmo, who wanted to capture and enslave them...

But now she was trapped in this room. There was no way she could get out of this. The door was boobie-trapped. If she tried to stick her hand underneath, she would get cut up. Seeing what it did to Snap's hand, she didn't want to take that risk.

She looked at the door knob. There was a keyhole there. She did have a hairpin. Maybe she could...

No it wouldn't work. Just in movies. There was no way that it could work in real life...

Or could it? Ms. Saffron bit her lip as she looked down at her cellphone, which had no service currently. She looked at the time. Her eyes widened. This was around when Mr. Cosmo was going to begin part one of his two part plan with Snap. If she wanted to make a difference, she had to get out of here. She got out a hairpin and stared at it. She looked back at the keyhole.

Saffron knew she had to take the chance. She had to do something, and fast. She placed the hairpin in the knob's keyhole and attempted to unlock it.