Snap hung onto Rudy. He didn't grip too tightly because he didn't want to choke his friend. The feeling of bouncing up and down didn't feel good to him. But he understood Rudy didn't mean to and was taking care not to hurt him further. He did his best to ignore the pain and instead let some feeling of relief wash over him. At least he wasn't near...that man...anymore.

Snap didn't say anything to Rudy about the pain. He didn't want him to freak out over him while they were trying to escape. They were going to take him to a hospital anyway. He trusted that Rudy would be able to get him there in time. Rudy had always managed to pull through in the end. He saw the look of determination in the teenager's eyes. He knew Rudy would do anything to help him.

He shuddered as memories began to haunt him of his recent stay here. It hadn't been so bad to begin with. Sure, he was hungry a lot, and he felt that he wasn't fed enough. But the accomodations were much better than what he had to deal with when moved into Cosmo's...torture room as he liked to put it. He felt somewhat glad that Rudy hadn't been there and hadn't witnessed exactly what he was put through in the short time he was stuck there.

He remembered Cosmo's threats vividly. The evil man was talking to him about which way he was going to kill him should Rudy refuse his offer. And he had no choice but to listen, curled up and shivering on the ground. One method Cosmo had considered was forcing him to drink the vinegar, burning and melting him from the inside out. He was thankful that the only amount of vinegar he had to endure was on his feet.

He let out a soft whine as he remembered the pain. His feet still hurt, but not as bad. It was still better than what he'd have to go through if he had drank the vinegar. If he had done that, he wouldn't be able to live for very long. His stomach hurt thinking about it.

Seeing the vinegar tank from where he was placed in the cell was bad enough, and it frightened Snap terribly. It took him a while to shift himself to face away from it. Looking at the thing just brought about nightmares in his head, playing while he was awake. But the vinegar tank wasn't the only horrible thing Cosmo had done during his visit.

He had been tortured, more than what Rudy had known. And it wasn't just the cut. He winced as he remembered the pain of his arm being cut open. Cosmo had done that to make him shut up with his sniveling. Aside from the cut, Cosmo apparently had a backup controller to his mind control nail. He didn't use it often since he had moved away from that plan, but when he did use it...utter pain and torment is what he had to endure.

Everytime he used it on him, electricity coursed through his body. He could feel his brain being fried, his body feeling like it was set on fire. Everything hurt. Everything ached. And that was just when it was activated. There mere act of moving against his will, it felt like his ligaments and muscles were being ripped apart. And the pain from his injuries worsened. He could feel the scabbed areas break open again, fresh blood drip from it, everytime he was being controlled. He could feel the wounds begin to burn, and he was worried they would lose the ability to heal up.

He had been forced to walk near the electrical water bars at least five times whenever Rudy was not there with him. Cosmo didn't go as far as make him touch it, otherwise he'd be dead. But he did torment him mentally with this action. Snap would cry out, beg for mercy, every time he got within an inch of the water. He would fight back against the control, try to move out of the way. But the device's hold on him was too strong and his body would not obey his commands.

Snap didn't understand why he did that, other than to smash his spirit further and to weaken him. He wanted him to be in such a weak state that it would break Rudy's heart. That did make him angry. The idea of torturing someone just to get to another, it was sick.

But Snap's anger had given way to fear and sorrow. He hated Cosmo, but mostly he feared him. The pain he had been forced to endure, it was more than he could bear. He was often afraid to close his eyes now, because all he'll see behind them is Cosmo's face, then the memory of the pain would come flooding back to him.

He did feel a little better having Rudy with him, as well as Penny. Being away from Cosmo also helped. Not having to look at his face or hear his voice...it was a tremendous relief for him. As they ran down the hallway, taking educated guesses with turns, Snap rested his head on Rudy's shoulder. He wanted so much to sleep, but the pain was preventing him from doing so. Instead, he opted to look at his surroundings, seeing where they were.

They seemed to finally have gotten to the end of this tunnel. It opened up to a large room. There were a set of stairs that led upwards. To where, he didn't know. The room had a lot of equipment in it, mostly building machines of ChalkZone origin. Snap briefly wondered if that was how Cosmo built this place.

Suddenly, as Rudy rounded a corner to sneak into the room, Snap suffered another 'episode' as he called it. It happened a few times now. He would blank out...that was the best he could describe it. His vision would cloud over, causing him to become blind. His sense of hearing would get garbled up, and most of the time he didn't hear any voices. His muscles would tingle and he'd no longer be able to move them, causing his eyes to close on their own. He'd become still.

Then..he'd just snap out of it. And some time would have passed. A few minutes usually. In an instant, five to seven minutes could pass as if it were just a second, and he'd have no memory of what had happened between them. His mind had shut down...and that frightened him. The talk of permanent damage didn't help. And he knew that his blanking out was the result of this mind control device; he never suffered from it before.

As if that wasn't scary enough, he was actually having a really hard time moving his legs. His arms still worked okay. But a lot of damage was done to the region that controlled his legs. He could still move them a little, but bending his knees was really hard. And it took a lot of effort to move them at all. Him falling down earlier, part of it was due to the burned feet. But even if they weren't burned, he'd stil have a hard time. Granted, he probably could walk a little further, but he would have fallen down without support anyway.

He was scared by the idea of it being permanent. The six hour limit was a terrifying thing to hear. For zoners, becoming permanently damaged was terrible due to their long lifespans. He had heard some zoners talk about it, even stories of a few that committed suicide because they couldn't handle it. He shuddered at the thought.

He tried to remain hopeful, for Rudy and Penny. He knew he had to at least try. There was still a chance that he could be saved. There was still hope that all the damage done to him could be reversed after the nail was taken out. There was always the chance that, as Rudy told him, everything would be okay.

But he began to wonder, would he really be okay? His spirit took a heavy blow while staying here. Even with Rudy and Penny, he didn't feel entirely like himself anymore. He didn't feel courageous. He didn't feel social. He just felt lost and scared. And he wasn't sure if he would recover. It frightened him. He didn't want all their fun to end because of this. But though he'd often tell himself to be brave, every time Cosmo appeared, all that would vanish in an instant. The same thing happened with Draow. Any amount of courage he had been trying to muster...it'd just disappear the second danger appeared.

He didn't want to change. Not like this. He desperately didn't want to lose a part of himself. His physical wounds may heal, but what if his emotional ones do not? What if he was stuck being such a...such a coward? He didn't want this. He just...he just wanted to go home...He wanted to go home...

Suddenly the world around him went black. It lasted what seemed like a split second. When he had come to, his vision was incredibly blurred and shadowy. As it cleared, he could see Rudy and Penny staring at him worriedly. They both looked like they had been crying for some time.

As his surroundings became clearer, he found they were hiding in the corner, behind one of the machines, of the room they had entered. He thought he heard footsteps around them, but he couldn't tell. They were so faint. He realized he was laying on his back, his arms out at his sides. His head was cocked to one side, and he felt some wetness. Drool? He lifted up his head to get a better look at Rudy and Penny.

"Wh-What happened? Wh-Why are you l-looking at me like that?" Snap asked groggily.

Rudy and Penny looked at each other worriedly. Snap didn't like this. Something was seriously wrong. He could sense it. When Rudy turned to answer, Snap waited in dreadful anticipation.

"You...you had a seizure..." Rudy said, his voice trembling. He wiped away a tear.

"It was horrible." Penny whispered, hugging her arms to herself and shivering. "You were thrashing around so much...convulsing horribly...Completely unresponsive..."

Snap's eyes widened at this. A...a seizure? He had a seizure? He tried to hide the fearful tears that started to form. Of all the times for him to get seizures...it had to be now... Why? What did he...what did he ever do to deserve this?

Penny sniffled. "It must be that thing in your head..." She said softly. "It...it must have done a lot more damage than we thought. We...we have to get back to ChalkZone..."

"Mr. Cosmo is a monster. The mind control, the vinegar..." Rudy grumbled angry under his breath.

Penny's whipped to Rudy so fast Snap could barely register it. "Vinegar?! You mean like your experiment at school?"

Rudy nodded his head. "Mr. Cosmo...threatened Snap with vinegar. He burned his feet with it..."

Penny gasped in horror, holding her hands to her mouth. "Snap..." She looked down at Snap, her eyes watery. Her eyes turned down to his feet and she let out another gasp. "C-Cosmo...did this to you..?"

Snap nodded his head once. He didn't want to remember that moment. He thought his feet were being ripped apart by saw blades. Even when they were pulled out, pain wracked through his body for several seconds before it started to dull down. Even then, the pain never left. His feet still hurt him now.

"C-Come on...we need to get going." Rudy said. He looked around the room. "The controlled zoners are gone..."

"Controlled zoners?" Snap whispered. He sort of remembered Lars, but his mind was so messed up that he could only remember Cosmo's torture of him, the horrifying vinegar, and Rudy's cries of horror for him from that terrifying moment. "H-How many...?"

"We don't know." Penny said regretfully.

"Lars and Blocky are a few we have confirmed." Rudy said sadly. "Lars has a nail in his head like you, Snap. Most of the zoners have bracelet controllers that don't seem to cause as much damage."

It scared Snap to know that some other zoners were captured. He wondered if some of them went through the same torment he had. It was bad enough that Cosmo done all that terrible stuff to him. But it was unbearable to know that a lot of his friends were suffering a similar fate as well.

What did this madman want with all these zoners? Why was he controlling them? Why was he even asking that? He knew why. He thought little of zoners. His words stung as he remembered them, being called a 'creature' and a 'thing', as well as many other derogatory words he used on him, a lot he said when Rudy wasn't even there to hear it. At first, he had tried to retort back, but he had been kicked in the side as a warning. He never tried retorting back after that.

Then a thought crossed Snap's mind. He stared up at his friends. "I-Is...Rapsheeba..?"

Rudy smiled. A weak one, but a smile nonetheless. "She is fine. And you don't have to worry about other zoners being trapped in here. She's taking care of that."

Snap smiled in relief. It was nice to know that at least some of his friends managed to escape. But he had to wonder...how were they going to save the others? He wondered if Rudy or Penny had a plan for that. They couldn't just leave them here. Something had to be done. He..he didn't want them to suffer, the way he had...

Luckily, that seemed to be what was on his friends' minds. The mention of the controlled zoners must have brought it to their attention.

Penny looked at Rudy. "We still need to find a way to get these zoners back into ChalkZone. We'll need to find a way to destroy the machine that is controlling them."

"Which is heavily guarded, I'm sure, and no doubt Mr. Cosmo would use Skrawl's connection with me to..." Rudy's eyes widened. "Skrawl? I forgot about Skrawl... He is still in that cell we were dropped into..." He looked at Penny. "We have to go back for him."

"What? But Rudy, we need to get out of here. Once we stop Cosmo, we can save everyone, including Skrawl." Penny said. "It's too dangerous to stay in here for long. We don't have much time to save Snap."

Rudy winced and looked to the side. "I know..." He looked down at Snap, his eyebrows furrowed in concern. "But..." He let out a soft sigh. "I can't fight effectively against Cosmo while connected to Skrawl. We need to take care of that as soon as possible. And we'll be in ChalkZone anyway. We could drop Snap off at a hospital while we are there."

"Rudy..." Penny started to say. "The black chalk..."

"It is a big risk." Rudy lowered his head. "But it's the only chance we have. And Biclops says it doesn't corrupt right away. So if I use it, then drop it, everything should be good...shouldn't it...?"

Penny didn't sound so sure. "I guess...but I think we should take care of this last. Cosmo is of a more pressing matter, and Snap's time is running out. We need to get him help, and stop Cosmo. Let us worry about the connection later."

"I don't know..." Rudy said, sounding very lost. A moment later, he looked around the corner and said, "We should at least get moving... The controlled zoners are gone for now. If we hurry, we can get through without being seen."

Penny got up, moving towards the corner. She moved up to where Rudy was standing.

"I wonder where they've all gone..." Penny wondered. "Maybe Saffron managed to get to the mind control machine faster than I thought..."

"Let's hope it is that, and not something else." Rudy said with a physical flinch. After a second, he added, "We are still getting Skrawl out of that cell. He would make for a valuable ally in getting to the chalkboard without as much resistance. We'll drop off Snap at the hospital and get back here to take care of Cosmo, and rescue the other zoners."

"B-But...what if he doesn't want to help...?" Snap said, coughing a few times. "He is your archenemy..."

"I know, Snap. But we can't just leave him, and I'm sure he wants to get back to ChalkZone as much as we want to. And besides, if Cosmo gains control of him again..."

Penny seemed to understand. "Then he could be used to stop you..."

"So long as Skrawl is with us, Cosmo won't have that card to play." Rudy said, his eyes narrowed.

At first, Snap didn't understand why Rudy would want to waste time saving Skrawl. But after he explained it, he started to understand. He did make a good point that Skrawl could be used against Rudy. He hadn't known about the connection until now, and it was a frightening thought. Cosmo could simply kill Skrawl, and be rid of Rudy for good. He had no idea how this man accomplished it, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to know. The man was scary enough. He didn't need another reason to be afraid of him.

It did make sense to rescue Skrawl. They didn't have to severe the connection right away, as Penny had said. So long as they had Skrawl with them, Cosmo would have a harder time subduing Rudy through Skrawl.

Snap wasn't going to be happy to see Skrawl. But right now, he'd rather see the ugly jellybean than Cosmo. Skrawl was much tamer by comparison. He was nowhere near the level of cruelty that Cosmo had displayed. And perhaps having an amusing conversation with the frustrated jellybean could lift his mood, even just by a tiny bit.

"Let's get going, while Ms. Saffron has bought us some time." Penny said.

Rudy nodded his head. He looked over at Snap. He lowered himself down to his friend. "Come on Snap, let's get going."

Rudy gently picked him up. Snap did his best not to wince. No matter how gentle Rudy could be, his back injury was still irritated. The only reason he didn't struggle was because this was Rudy, his best friend, and he knew that he wasn't trying to hurt him on purpose. He liked the feeling of security as Rudy held onto him. It was comforting. Especially after all he had been through.

Suddenly, he realized something was wrong. As Rudy eased him onto his back, something just didn't feel right. Something felt...strange. He couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was. It was like some part of him was missing. But..that couldn't be right. He knew he was entirely there. But then, why was he feeling like something was gone?

It soon dawned him on what it was. The realization sent horror chills down his spine. No, it couldn't have gotten to that point, could it...? His heart started to race, reality slowly sinking in. He didn't want it to be true...

He didn't realize he was crying until Rudy and Penny took notice. He felt Penny touch his cheek, looking at him worriedly. Rudy's eyes were wide with concern.

"What is it? What's wrong...?" Rudy asked hesitantly.

"Does something hurt?" Penny asked, eyeing him up and down. "Is it your back? Your feet?"

"M-My l-legs..." Snap started to say.

"Where does it hurt?" Penny said as she walked alongside Rudy to get a good look at Snap's legs. She gingerly touched one leg. "Right here?"

Snap shook his head. "No...they don't hurt.."

Rudy asked, confused, "Then what is..."

"I..." Snap sniffled, frightened. "...I can't feel them... I can't feel my legs..."

Rudy and Penny gasped in utter horror at this news. Snap closed his eyes and started to tremble.

"C-Can you move them...?" Rudy asked fearfully.

Snap knew he had no choice but to tell Rudy the truth about what he was experiencing with his legs. "B-Barely...It...it takes all my effort to move them just a little...and I think it's getting worse..."

"Oh no..." Rudy started to cry. "No..no...This can't be..."

"The seizure...it..it must have..." Penny wasn't able to finish as her voice started to choke on her cries.

As they continued to flee, an uncomfortable silence fell upon them.