Author Note: Just a single chapter upload today.
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The hallway felt a lot longer than Rudy could have imagined. It didn't seem like the turn was that far away. But then, eyes have been known to play tricks on the mind, and the side hallway only seemed closer than it really was.
The good news was that they were at least getting closer. They hadn't found any sign of resistance. Ms. Saffron had done a good job with keeping them away. He hoped that it was good enough. So long as they didn't run into anybody, they should be able to make it back to ChalkZone before it was too late. Snap still had some time left.
Rudy hoped that Ms. Saffron was okay. He felt so bad that he hadn't gotten a chance to warn her yet about Mr. Cosmo. He understood that she may stand a chance, given she knows almost as much about the building as he does, but that didn't stop him from worrying about her. Mr. Cosmo was a dangerous man. For her sake, he hoped that she would keep on her guard around him.
Then again, maybe she already knows. She had been locked up by him, and she has seen the horrible way he treats the zoners. She knew how far he was going to go to get him to join him, threatening to kill Snap. She might know that he would kill her, and had taken precautions.
Although he wished he could have warned her, he was grateful that she had helped them. Her distraction bought them time to get to the portal before Cosmo came. They still had some good distance between them and that evil, disgusting man.
But if they did meet resistance, they did have Skrawl, who did have quite a bit of strength and could hold off a lot of these controlled zoners. Rudy hadn't spoken to Skrawl about that, but if the jellybean wanted to get back to ChalkZone, he would cooperate.
At least, that's what Rudy hoped. Skrawl seemed to be more cooperative, but he wasn't sure how long that would last. Skrawl had shown signs of being uncomfortable with acting nicer towards him. That may be a sign that he wouldn't keep it up for long, and he'd go back to his usual scheming self. Rudy hoped thtat Skrawl would at least remain cooperative until they got to ChalkZone.
Snap's condition hadn't improved too much. His temperature went down, but only by a tad. He was still burning up. He hadn't woken up since he passed out, and that concerned him greatly. This fever could kill him if it wasn't brought down soon.
Penny was doing all she could to get his temperature further down. She kept pressing the cold cloth against Snap's head. Well it used to be cold, but his head was so hot it warmed up. In order to get a cooling effect, she had to remove the cloth and blow on it. The air from her breath against the moisture on Snap's head created a cooling effect. This wasn't easy for Penny to pull off running, but she was doing a pretty good job.
Their running was suddenly cut short. A horrid screeching sounded out. Something scraped against a surface that they couldn't see. The high pitched sound caused Penny to wince and step back. She was unable to cover her ears due to holding Snap. Skrawl covered his head and cried out, the sound permeating in his head.
Rudy was the worst off. Not only did he get to feel the pain on his own, the sound tormenting his ears, but he also got to feel Skrawl's pain due to the connection. The combined sound was enough to make him drop onto his knees in agony. The only one who didn't react was Snap, and that was only because he was unconscious.
When the sound finally stopped, everyone sighed in relief. That relief soon turned into horrific realization, and they all realized, in an instant, that they weren't alone in these hallways anymore. And to clarify that, a set of footsteps came towards them, slow and deliberate.
Draow came around the corner, from the opposite direction they were headed. As soon as he saw them, he snarled loudly and started to quicken his pace. Not too fast, but quick enough that he'd be caught up to them in a matter of seconds.
Rudy was shocked. How did Draow find them so fast? Wasn't Mr. Wilter and his pterosaur supposed to distract him? That made him realize something. Was it possible that Mr. Wilter had...lost the battle? And if he did, was he still...alive? He flinched at the thought of his teacher being dead. He hoped that he was all right.
Rudy took notice of Draow holding something in his jaws. As the beast got closer, he realized that the object in Draow's mouth was a piece of glass. Draow was displaying just how gentle he could be with his jaws, as he could easily cut the glass and cut himself. At first, Rudy wondered why he was holding the glass, but then he remembered what Draow did before, when Skrawl was in the tank, and what Mr. Cosmo had said.
"Rudy! We need to get out of here!" Penny shouted. "Let's run before he decides to fly at us! If he does that, we'll never get out of here!"
Skrawl was still rubbing his head. He nodded in agreement. "Genius girl is right, Tabootie. If we stay here, that thing will stop us from getting back into ChalkZone!"
Rudy knew they were both right. He took one last look at Draow before he and the others broke into a run.
That lasted all of maybe five seconds. Another screech filled the room. This time, it was louder than before. Penny managed to fight back and got further away. She stopped and looked behind her. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw Rudy and Skrawl were both on the ground.
Feeling their own pain, as well as each other's, they were incapacitated, writhing on the ground and covering their ears. The sound grew louder. They both let out a scream of pain as Draow continued to scrape along the glass.
"Rudy! Skrawl! Get out of here!" Penny cried in horror. Her voice was filled with pain from the horrid screeching. "Draow is getting closer to you!"
Rudy snapped his eyes wide open. So that is what Draow was doing. That was why he had brought the glass. He knew that, due to their connection, if they both felt pain in the same place, it would cause double the amount of agony. So he was using the scraping sound, the same one was he used on them before, to slow them down. Draow must be immune, somehow, to his own glassy claw scraping, and as he scratched the glass, he would get closer and closer. Soon he'd be close enough to bite them and they couldn't be able to get away in time.
Draow was...a lot more intelligent than he had thought. He hadn't been given any orders to do this. Mr. Cosmo was nowhere in sight. He was not the dumb but obedient beast he had initially thought. He was just as sentient as Snap, Blocky, Rapsheeba, Biclops, all them.
...and he was helping Mr. Cosmo willingly...
That realization horrified Rudy. Before, with Draow being like a loyal dog, he could understand. He thought that Draow just didn't understand that what his master was doing was wrong. But him being sentient, of being fully aware and conscious, and yet still obeying Mr. Cosmo...that left a sick feeling in Rudy's stomach.
As he glared in Draow's direction, trying to fight against the pain, he swore he saw the beast smile at them. And that left him wondering one thing. If there could exist a zoner who would willingly work with a madman bent on enslaving ChalkZone, how many more were there? Could some of these controlled zoners actually have given themselves up willingly, because they wanted to work for Mr. Cosmo?
He didn't have time to dwell on this thought too long. The screeching sound came to a stop, replaced with a howl of pain. Rudy was immensely relieved when Tsere lunged on Draow's back from behind. His talons dug into the winged wolf's shoulders, tearing into them as he pushed him into the ground. Tsere squawked at him as he struggled.
Tsere lowered his head, grabbed the glass from Draow's jaws, and flung it aside. Then he turned his attention back on the winged wolf and started to peck at him with his long, sharp beak. Draow wasn't giving up willingly and he bit down on Tsere's leg, trying to rip it off.
Tsere squawked loudly in pain and flapped his wings rapidly. He managed to lift up into the air, despite the hallway's ceilings not being high enough for him to fly appropriately. He snagged the winged wolf's tail in his long beak. He yanked hard, causing Draow to yelp as he released Tsere's foot. Tsere threw Draow into the wall as hard as he could, and then, a second later, body slammed against him. The force was enough to embed Draow into the wall. He struggled to get free, but for the time being, he was stuck.
"Rudy!"
Swerving his head in the direction of that voice, Rudy called out, "Mr. Wilter?! You're okay!"
Mr. Wilter rushed towards them. He looked everyone with a concerned look. Then he smiled and said, "Oh thank goodness you're all okay! I was worried Tsere and I wouldn't get here in time."
"No, you came at just the right time." Penny said. Snap was still unconscious in her arms. She looked down at him with concern. "If you hadn't come just now..."
Mr. Wilter took notice of the stuck Draow. "Indeed we did in the nick of time." He looked back at them. "We don't have must time before that thing will get free. We need to move, now!"
Without saying another word, the group continued to run down the hallway, leaving behind an aggravated Draow. Tsere walked on his feet, wings spread out, behind them. He kept a good pace. Rudy guessed that Tsere was attempting to block Draow in case he got free and came after them.
It didn't take them long to locate the stairs that Ms. Saffron had told them about. Rudy heard a loud roar and he knew that they didn't have much time left. The group got up the stairs as fast as they could. No one dared to look back, for fear that if they did, Draow would come after them. The dreadful feeling increased when they heard a crash and a roar, and realized Draow had broken free already.
As they hurried into the room with the chalkboard, Rudy froze, realizing something. He looked up at Tsere. He was a pretty large pterosaur...
"Why did you stop, Rudy? This isn't a time for..." Mr. Wilter started to say.
Rudy looked over at him. "Can he get through this portal...?" He asked with worry. "I don't want to leave him behind, especially with Draow..."
Mr. Wilter paused for a momet, then smiled. "Don't worry about it, Rudy. He can get in." He motioned towards Tsere. "He can wrap himself up really tightly and drive right through."
As if to emphasize his point, Tsere, at the moment, wrapped his wings around his body, showing a great deal of flexibility. As he finished, he was narrower than before. He pulled his head up, beak pointing towards the ceiling. He really did look like he could fit through the opening now, if just barely.
Relieved, Rudy ushered everyone through the portal. Penny and Snap were first. Then Skrawl, Mr. Wilter, and Tsere dove in after them. Like Wilter said, he fit enough to go through without too much trouble. Rudy started to climb in when he heard footsteps in the hallway. His eyes widened on horror as Draow poked his head into the room, saw him, and snarled.
"Hurry, Rudy!" Penny cried behind him.
Rudy stumbled through the portal. He moved his hand back back as Draow stuck his head through the portal and tried to snap at him. Rudy tried to push Draow's head back in, but it wouldn't budge. In retaliation, Draow bit down onto his left hand, prompting a scream from Rudy and Skrawl.
Before too much damage could be done, Tsere slammed his head against Draow, forcing him to release Rudy and pushed him back through the portal. Draow was on his feet in seconds. Before he could get too close, Rudy quickly erased the portal with his uninjured hand. He felt an impact as he erased the last bit and guessed Draow slammed against the portal.
Rudy looked down at his hand and winced as he saw fresh blood start to drip from it. He tore off a piece of his shirt and wrapped it around his hand to stop the bleeding the best he could. Not the best, but it would do. He looked over at Skrawl to see how he was doing. He was still clutching his hand and he could see red on it. But as the bleeding on his hand slowly stopped, so did the bleeding from Skrawl's hand.
He turned his attention to Snap. "We need to get to the hospital...and fast!"
Skrawl said, "There should be one near here. I saw it on my way to..." He paused for a moment. "...to get that winged wolf beast..."
Rudy narrowed his eyes slightly at the memory. But he didn't have time to dwell on it now. "Can you show us?"
"Yes, it's..." Skrawl started to say, but suddenly he was interrupted.
"You guys came back! I'm so relieved you're okay!"
"Is that Rapsheeba?" Penny asked.
Rudy looked behind them and saw Rapsheeba running up to them. She stopped a few feet away. She paused to take a breath. "I did what you told me to, Rudy. Nobody else disappeared!"
"That is good news." Penny said with a smile.
Rapsheeba noticed Snap in Penny's arms, unconscious. "Snap? What happened to him?" She said, her eyes starting to glisten.
Rudy bit his lip. "He...was tortured by Mr. Cosmo."
Rapsheeba's eyes widened at that name. "Did you just say...Mr. Cosmo?"
Mr. Wilter nodded his head. "Yes. He is trailing behind us. I don't doubt he'll get into ChalkZone soon."
"But how? I erased the portal." Rudy said, his eyes wide.
Wilter shook his head. "That would only slow him down. I am certain he has magic chalk stored somewhere. He'll becoming here, so we better get moving."
"Rudy, you have to get to the Chalk Mine and now!" Rapsheeba cried.
"That's where we are headed." Penny explained. "But first, we need to..."
"The Chalk Mine is under attack!" Rapsheeba cried in horror.
A gasp came from everyone, even Skrawl.
Rudy remembered Rapsheeba's reaction to the name Mr. Cosmo. He didn't want to believe it was true, but..had Mr. Cosmo done something else that they weren't aware of? He took a step towards Rapsheeba and asked in a cautious voice, "What happened...?"
Rapsheeba cried, "It was terrible! I was going over to let Biclops know that I managed to warn everyone in ChalkZone about the nearly invisible portal, and when I got there, he had been attacked!"
"Attacked?!" Rudy gasped. "By who?"
"A group of beast zoners! He didn't tell me their names. He was in too much pain. But he said that they were followers of Mr. Cosmo."
Rudy couldn't believe it. So there really were zoners who turned their back on their own people to work with this horrid man, and willingly at that. He couldn't tell if he was more horrified or angry at the idea of it.
Rapsheeba continued, "They had been ordered to invade the Chalk Mine and destroy as much magic chalk as they can! And that's not all..." Her eyes widened in absolute fear as she said the next line. "Rudy...they're using real world water!"
Rudy's blood froze at that statement. Real world water? Mr. Cosmo...had actually ordered zoners to bring real world water into ChalkZone? He was absolutely horrified. He saw the damage it could do to a zoner in the real world. But in ChalkZone, where everything was chalk, just how much further could real world water be taken...?
Images of dead and hurt zoners, along with destroyed buildings and property, annihilated landscapes, filled his mind. Terror filled his heart and he couldn't help but shake. How was he going to fight against this? Rapsheeba wouldn't lie to them... If she said real world water was involved, then it was. But if everything he drew was made of chalk, then...what was he going to do...?
He looked at the others. Everyone else was just as horrified as he was by this news. They all knew the terrifying consequences of bringing real world water into ChalkZone. It was like bringing fire to a forest. The damage it could cause would be tremendous. Infinite abysses could be formed. Huge portions of ChalkZone could easily be destroyed in a matter of seconds.
And if the magic chalk is all destroyed, he would not be able to do a thing to stop it...
Rudy knew he didn't have much time to formulate a plan. They had to get Snap to the hospital, and now they had to hurry to the Chalk Mine, which was under attack and that made the situation even more urgent than before. The only to do both at the same time was if they split up.
Mr. Wilter seemed to read his mind. He walked up to Rudy and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You, Penny, and the big guy here, head to the ChalkMine. With two of you being creators, you would be better equipped at stopping the intruders." He looked down at Snap. "Tsere and I will escort Snap to the hospital."
Although he hated the idea of being separated from Snap again, Rudy knew Mr. Wilter was right. Penny and him were the most capable of handling the intruders. And Skrawl could be helpful, with his size and strength. So long as he was cooperative, the three of them could probably handle these evil zoners easily.
"I understand." Rudy said.
"Here, I'll take Snap." Rapsheeba said. She went up to Penny. Gently, Penny eased Snap into Raspheeba's arms. Despite not being too much bigger than him, she managed to hold Snap up. She looked at him with concern. She turned to Mr. Wilter. "Let's get going."
Tsere lowered him body towards the ground. Rapsheeba and Wilter climbed onto him. He held out his wings and started to flap them.
As they rose up, Rapsheeba yelled, "Be careful!"
"I will!" Rudy called back.
Rudy, though he still felt sad and worried about Snap, was feeling a wave of relief hit him as Snap was finally being taken to the hospital. And on Tsere's back, they should get there shortly.
He turned his attention to the direction the Chalk Mine was in. In a matter of seconds, he, Penny, and Skrawl, without saying a word, headed off.