Rudy watched as Mr. Cosmo was coming right him with the knife. The same knife he had threatened Snap with. The same one that he was certain was used to kill Ms. Saffron. And now Cosmo was going to use it on him, to kill him in cold blood.

He didn't have much time to draw up a defense. The distance between him and the crazed man was getting smaller by the second. Though he was moving backwards, even if he broke into a run, the pain in his side would make it hard to run too fast. He needed to draw something, and he needed to draw it now.

But what could he draw? His mind was numb. He couldn't think of what to draw for this situation. The pain was making it hard for him to concentrate. And Mr. Cosmo was getting ever closer... And there was no way he could rely on Skrawl's help this time. He was distracted by Draow. The bat wolf attacked Skrawl just seconds ago and he had the jellybean pinned on the ground. Rudy was on his own with this one.

As he watched Mr. Cosmo rush at him with a knife, he started to wonder what would happen if he didn't make it through this. Would Penny be able to stop Cosmo? Or would she fall victim to him too? He shuddered at the idea. And to pour salt in the wound, he knew if he died here, ChalkZone would be in grave danger. No, he couldn't die here. Not yet. He had to stand up and fight. He didn't know how, but he had to at least try.

Rudy prepared to draw, ignoring the pain the best he could. Cosmo was closing in on him now. He was just a few feet away. Rudy drew his hand back, prepared to draw whatever he needed to defend himself. His eyes narrowed in determination.

Suddenly, something large and pale yellow struck out of nowhere. It struck against Mr. Cosmo. The man let out a cry, mostly of surprise, as the large yellow...whatever it was, struck him away. He crashed into the ground in a loud and painful thud. He groaned in pain and pushed himself up with his arms. He and Rudy both looked over at what had just happened. And both were shocked at just who it was standing there. Neither of them were expecting this.

There, standing not far from them, was Biclops. He looked a little beat up, likely from struggling with Draow. But he was otherwise fine. His normally gentle demeanor was replaced with what looked like a mixture of fear and hatred. His two eyes were fixated firmly on Mr. Cosmo, narrowed dangerously. His teeth were bared and he looked like he was two seconds away from pummeling Mr. Cosmo.

"Biclops!" Rudy cried, both happy and surprised to see the giant. "How did you...?"

"I heard screams coming from over here." Biclops explained, not taking his eyes off of Mr. Cosmo. "I had a feeling you were in trouble. So I came to help!"

Rudy had never been so happy to see the giant. He towered easily over Mr. Cosmo. His large, imposing size would be quite a deterrent for Cosmo. Without the black chalk, or any magic chalk, Mr. Cosmo stood no chance against the towering behemoth. He watched as the man took a few steps away from Biclops. Though there was no expression of fear on his face. Instead, it was a bit surprise, and a bit of disgust.

Rudy wondered what Biclops was feeling right now. He had been so afraid of Cosmo before. He could only imagine what the man had put the giant through. He had been there to witness Cosmo's wrath years ago. He had seen all that pain and suffering caused by his creator in particular. He may have suffered some stigma from other zoners for this connection. Yet, despite that, Biclops had still taken responsibility for what his creator did and kept the red chalk hidden in the caves.

Confronting Mr. Cosmo, after all this time, must have taken Biclops guts. He had seen, first hand, the kind of monster this person was. He knew that, very easily, Mr. Cosmo could make his life miserable again. He could grab some black chalk and draw something lethal and just outright kill Biclops. No matter how large he is, Biclops would still find it hard to fight a creator. Especially a mean-spirited one like Cosmo.

It wouldn't be like fighting himself. Rudy had never been a particularly violent person. And even when Biclops, or Cyclops as he was called at the time, tried to capture him, Rudy had never been violent to him. And that was a good thing, because he did manage to beat Biclops. But instead of doing anything nasty to him, even though he had the opportunity, he had given Biclops an extra eye, which was what helped convince Biclops to trust him. Though his good deeds around ChalkZone helped too.

But against Cosmo...it was a whole different ballpark. Cosmo wouldn't stop at just stopping Biclops in his tracks. He would go as far as make sure Biclops never walks again. He would create a deadly weapon and use it against the giant. Or he could use the water tanks...the ones that were still in the room. No holes were punctured thank goodness, but they were still there, by the zoners that he...no...the black chalk had killed. If Cosmo wanted to, he could take their water weapons and use them against Biclops.

Mr. Cosmo glared up at Biclops, his expression contorted into anger. Then it slightly softened up into amusement. "Hello Biclops... I wasn't expecting to...see you."

Biclops growled. "You are forbidden from entering here! Leave now!" He pointed a large finger towards an exit.

"Oh...? And what are you going to do about it...?" Mr. Cosmo asked. In response, Biclops raised a large fist. This just caused Mr. Cosmo to chuckle. He shook his head slowly from left to right. "Oh Biclops...How naive you are... Do you remember what happened the last time you tried to stand up to me?"

At this, Biclops put a hand near one of his eyes and he flinched. Rudy got the message right away. Cosmo had hurt Biclops years ago. What he done? Blinded the giant? That would explain Biclops's nightmare, when they were dealing with the Quicksand Man.

Biclops, though unnerved by what Cosmo said, still stood his ground. "I'm not going to make the same mistake I did in the past." He took a step towards Cosmo, his eyes narrowed in determination. "I am not going to let you hurt anyone else!"

Mr. Cosmo just chuckled at this. "You...will do no such thing..."

Rudy and Biclops glared at the man with equal hate. But Mr. Cosmo ignored it all. He was still backing away, but the same, calm smile he used before, the one Rudy was so used to, was back. Either he was regaining some confidence, or he was hiding behind a mask. And if he was hiding, he was doing it very well.

The two watched as Mr. Cosmo kept moving back, then slowly he stopped. He stared at them, his eyes focused mostly on Biclops. The two remained silent. Neither looked away, as if they were afraid the other would shoot laser beams if they dared look in the other direction. Rudy would practically feel their mutual dislike of each other rising off their bodies.

The hatred Rudy felt between these two kind of reminded him of his relationship with Crainiac 4. That zoner did not like him very much, despite being his creator. It wasn't like the case with Skrawl, whom was an unwilling collaboration. No, he drew Crainiac 4 completely on his own, as an attempt to stop Crainiac 3. But then something happened that he did not see coming. Something he should have realized from the get go.

Crainiac 4 tried to take the magic chalk from him. His personality was still pretty much the same, if not just a tad different from Craniac 3. Rudy felt stupid almost immediately afterwards for drawing Craniac 4. That did not help their situation out at all. And now he has to, though not often, deal with the upgraded robot that he himself had created.

Like how he had created Craniac 4 for a purpose that he only partially fulfilled, and then became something he hadn't intended, that was likely the same case between Biclops and Cosmo. He guessed that Biclops was supposed to be a vicious monster that was to be Cosmo's bodyguard. But what he ended up creating instead was a gentle giant who only used force if he had to. This certainly didn't fit in what Cosmo would have wanted, and perhaps he decided to create Draow shortly after.

Rudy wondered if that had been the reason why Cosmo hurt Biclops. And if it was, it was absolutely sick, quite befitting this horrible man. To hurt a zoner just because they didn't turn out the way he wanted. Zoners had free will of their own. They didn't have to abide by what the creator's intentions were. To force a zoner to be something they don't want to is just...terrible.

Rudy was snapped back to attention when he heard a scream. He turned his head and saw that Draow had bitten into Skrawl's side and was shaking him. Rudy's eyes widened in horror. Before he could do anything, the bat wolf tossed Skrawl aside. The impact caused another scream to come from Skrawl before he lay still on the ground. Not unconscious, but groaning in pain.

Now the boy realized just what Cosmo was doing. He was keeping their attention him..so Draow would have an opening. Draow now raced towards Rudy, snapping his jaws wildly. In the air he flew, pulling his talons forward. Before anyone could react, Draow knocked Rudy into the ground. He turned around and came back for round two.

With a roar, Biclops seized Draow in midair, his fingers clamped firmly around the bat wolf's neck. Though Draow did struggle, Biclops refused to release him. He pulled Draow out of the air with ease and threw him into the ground. The bat wolf let out a loud whimper, his eyes wide with pain. Then the giant picked up the bat wolf and threw him against the wall. Draow hit his head against the rock and fell down, unconscious.

At first, Rudy was relieved, and he thanked Biclops for saving him. Then horrible realization swept through his mind. Cosmo backing off hadn't been what the man wanted them to focus on... It had been Draow. The bat wolf beast was the true distraction. With them busy with Draow, Cosmo would have had enough time to...

Rudy turned his head and his eyes widened in horror at what he saw. Mr. Cosmo had seized the water gun that was still held tightly in Flame's curled tail. He smiled evilly at Biclops as he walked slowly forward, the water gun held tightly in his hands. Rudy took a defensive stance, ready to defend Biclops.

What is he going to do now? Water dissolved chalk. So Rudy couldn't fight him with his magic chalk. He'd have to use his physical strength, but then Cosmo did have that knife. He could have defended himself with the magic chalk before, but with that water gun he now has, that was going to be difficult to do. And Biclops could do nothing at all to help. He was a zoner, which mean he shared the same weakness as all zoners, and anything in ChalkZone, have to real world water.

Biclops's eyes widened in horror as he stared at the water gun. He clearly remembered what had happened before, when one of the evil zoners used it on his leg. The giant took a step back, flinching as Cosmo placed his finger on the trigger. Some water dripped on the ground, dissolving it, creating new deep craters.

"Stop this!" Rudy cried. "Why would you risk using real world water?! Everything around here is chalk! What if you cause a cave in?!"

Mr. Cosmo stared at Rudy blankly for a few seconds. A twisted smile came onto his face. "Oh don't worry... I do not plan on erasing much..." With that, he turned his water gun towards Biclops. He smirked as Biclops took several steps back, the look of confidence gone from the giant's face. "I just have to get rid of...unwanted failure..."

Rudy felt his blood burn at the word 'failure', and how Cosmo had said it. Was that all Biclops was to him? A failure? Was that why he let Flame, Zeal, and Shimmer perish? Did he see them as failures too? Was that the only reason why Draow was the only zoner he ever treated with kindness? Was Draow the only zoner he created that actually lived up to his expectations?

The thought angered Rudy. The idea of treating a zoner like trash just because they weren't 'perfect'...It was sickening. He felt his stomach tie in knots as he thought about it.

Rudy saw Mr. Cosmo raise the water gun up towards Biclops. The giant was so large that, even if he ran, he wouldn't get out of the way in time. He was too big of a target. Rudy had to do something. He had to act and fast. He could see Mr. Cosmo start to pull the trigger. And the water gun he had was a high powered one at that. It would shoot a thick stream of water into the air. And it was aimed right at Biclops's face...

Rudy rushed in front of Biclops and held his arms out. He doubted it would do anything to stop Cosmo or the water, but he still did it out of instinct. His eyes narrowed in determination. "If you want to get to him, you'll have to go through me first!"

Mr. Cosmo stared at the boy. Slowly, he lowered the water gun and smiled. "If you would like to be the first to die...be my guest... It will be fun getting rid of you." Mr. Cosmo took a step forward, his hand reaching for the knife. He held the knife up, smirking at the blood that still stained it. "Though...it'll be a shame when you die... You won't be able to witness what I have in store for...the others."

Rudy asked, "What are you talking about?"

"I told you I'll be getting rid of all of you... After I'm through with you and Biclops, and might as well get rid of Skrawl too... I am going to go back to that hospital and finish the job with Snap. Then I'll take your girlfriend, break her just like I did with Snap, and then kill her." Mr. Cosmo said, his right eye filled with insanity. "And this time, there'll be no one to save her!"

Rudy gasped and took a step back. He couldn't believe Cosmo was going to subject the same torture he did on Snap on Penny next. That...that monster... He wasn't going to let him get away with it... There was no way he was going to allow Cosmo to hurt anyone else. Snap already suffered enough. The thought of Penny suffering the same fate...he found it hard to bear.

Rudy clenched his teeth tightly. His eyes filled with anger. "How dare you..." He growled in a low voice. Cosmo froze, the smile on his face faltering slightly as he heard the rage hidden in that quiet statement. "Kill, kill, kill. Is that all you think about?! Is that the only way you solve your problems?! Penny is my friend! I will not allow her to suffer at your hands! I will not allow you to hurt Biclops or Skrawl either, or anyone else in ChalkZone!"

Rudy took a few steps towards Cosmo. He brought out his magic chalk. Even though Cosmo could erase anything he drew, right now, he didn't care.

"If you lay a hand on anyone else...if you ever hurt anyone else... I will make you pay." Rudy warned Cosmo. The anger flashed in his eyes intensely and he moved a little closer to Cosmo. His right hand clutched his magic chalk tightly. "Make things easier on yourself, Cosmo, and just surrender now. Surrender before you do something that will land you in bigger trouble."

The fear in Cosmo's eyes came back. It wasn't as strong as before, but it was there, nonetheless. He took a step back, his eyes now glued onto the boy. Rudy kept quiet, just glaring at the man and waiting for his response. He steadied himself, preparing for whatever Cosmo was going to throw at them.

Then, slowly, Cosmo frowned. He bared his teeth. His right eye regained the rage in them. The realization that his plans had truly, utterly failed, finally hit him. His second plan to try to rule ChalkZone had failed, despite how well thought out this new plan was. And Cosmo was not taking it very well.

In a matter of seconds, in a blind rage, Mr. Cosmo rushed forward. Rudy narrowed his eyes and hunched his back slightly as he stood in a defensive stance. Mr. Cosmo pushed against Rudy, knocking him back. The knife sliced deep into Rudy's stomach. He cried out in agony and he fell to the ground, blood pouring from the new wound.

Rudy held his stomach, tears of pain filling his eyes. He turned his head and saw Mr. Cosmo was preparing to shoot Biclops. Rudy's eyes widened in horror. Though the pain consumed him, he forced himself up to his feet. He was shocked at how fast Mr. Cosmo could move even with a limp. Rudy himself was staggering now, the pain in his side and his stomach, combined with his left hand and back, slowing him down. Still, he pushed on and managed to break into a run.

Biclops was moving back as fast as he could. He watched in fear as Mr. Cosmo aimed the water gun at him, fully prepared to shoot him.

"Goodbye, you worthless piece of..." Mr. Cosmo started to say.

"No!" Rudy cried in horror as Mr. Cosmo put his finger on the trigger. Rudy's yell caused Cosmo to pause and he turned his head to Rudy. "Leave him alone!"

Mr. Cosmo's right eye widened as Rudy slammed into him and pushed him back away from the giant. The push was enough to knock the knife clean out of the man's hand. Rudy attempted to grab the water gun out of Cosmo's hand. The two wrestled with each other for several seconds. Through the struggling Rudy mananged to push Cosmo against the wall.

Cosmo gritted his teeth in frustration. "Get off of me, you little brat!"

He tried to push Rudy away, but the boy was tenacious and wouldn't give up. Rudy just pushed harder against him. His anger was giving him enough strength to keep the man pinned. He could hear Cosmo's feet scraping against the ground, trying to get free. Rudy reached for the water gun, trying to rip it out of his hands. Cosmo responded by holding it higher up.

"I am not going to let you steal my victory away from me! I am not going to get defeated again, like I was years ago! I will not allow this!" Cosmo's right eye was burning with rage, so wide Rudy could see the little red veins on the edges. "I will not let a teenager best me! Do you hear me?! I will not let you beat me!"

"And I will not allow you to continue hurting more zoners! Your plan ends here, Mr. Cosmo!" Rudy shouted in determination. He glared into Cosmo's remaining eye, boring straight into it. "You will not get away with what you have done! You will lose, and then you will pay the consequences for the heinous crimes you have wrongfully committed against these zoners!"

Cosmo snarled. "As if! You will not stop me, boy! I will make sure that you never leave this cave alive!"

Just then, Cosmo did something that Rudy had not been expecting. Cosmo pointed his water gun up again, but this time, it wasn't aimed at Biclops anymore. It was aimed...right above him. Rudy could see the foreboding stalactites above him, their ends sharp and dangerous-looking. Rudy realized, in a second, what this man was going to do.

"Die!"

With that, Mr. Cosmo shot water up at the stalactites. The clear liquid cut through the base and the pieces started to fall down. Rudy quickly released Cosmo and tried to run, but Cosmo grabbed him by his shirt collar and held him there.

Mr. Cosmo smiled evilly and said, "I am safe where I'm standing, but I told you, kid, you will never leave here alive..." He pulled on Rudy's shirt collar tighter, almost gagging the boy. "I think I will just hang onto you until it is too late..." He turned his gaze to Biclops and pointed the water gun at him. "And if you take any step closer, I will kill you..."

Rudy struggled to get free. He looked towards the ceiling, watching the stalactite rapidly lose support. As each second passed, the stalactite got weaker and weaker. In seconds, it would drop down. Rudy needed to get free now, otherwise...

With a sharp yank, Rudy managed to get free. As he started to run, he heard the crack of the stalactite start to give way. A medium size piece landed between him and Cosmo. This did not deter the man. He started to go after Rudy, his fingers hooked as he prepared to grab him.

Suddenly, he let out a scream. Rudy looked down and saw that the man had stepped on his own knife. When he had dropped it, it landed against a rock and was leaning upwards. Cosmo must have been so careless, so eager to get to him that he forgot about the knife. The knife was back on the ground, more blood coating it. The bottom of the man's foot was covered in blood now, and the man staggered back, clenching his teeth in agony.

Rudy was at a safe distance now. As he stopped running, he heard the ominous crack and he knew what was going to happen next. Rudy turned his head over to where Cosmo was. He hadn't moved far from the spot he himself was recently in. Cosmo looked at him, his right eye filled with hatred and anger. That lasted only a second. He soon got a horrified expression on his face when he looked up and saw the large chunks of rock raining down on him.

Mr. Cosmo attempted to run, but the pain in his foot caused him to fall to his knees. He took one last look up as the rock crashed down onto him. Rudy screamed in horror as he saw Cosmo's body become quickly crushed under the weight of the stalactite. The sickening crunch of bones being crushed echoed off the cave walls, reverberating through Rudy's mind.

Soon, the dust settled, and Rudy could see, clearly, the aftermath. He couldn't see Cosmo's body anywhere. In his place, a large pile of rocks that shattered on impact. He could see a large pool of blood seeping through the rocks. A lot of blood, which told Rudy there was no way Cosmo survived this.

Rudy stood there, frozen, unsure of what to do. His heart was pounding in his chest. He had never meant for something like this to happen... He didn't think something like this could happen. It was hard for him to accept that..that Cosmo was dead. After all he had put him through, it was hard to believe that this...cruel mastermind would suddenly be gone.

Rudy's body started to shake. Not from fear, but from shock. He knew he hadn't been the cause of the man's death. But he was still horrified and disgusted by what he had witnessed. Seeing the death of someone, even an enemy, was not something he could handle well. He started to feel sick to this stomach, which intermixed with the pain from his stomach wound. He dropped to his knees, feeling like he wanted to throw up. He was so shaken up by this that he did not hear Biclops begin to approach him.

"H-How..I..." Rudy stammered. "I didn't mean...for this to..."

Rudy remained frozen until Biclops pushed a finger against him gently to get his attention. Rudy slowly looked up at the giant. "It's okay, Rudy... It's not your fault."

"Yeah I know but still..." Rudy said softly. He kept his gaze away from the pile of rocks. He didn't want to stare at the blood anymore. "I should have..."

"No, don't talk like that." Biclops said sternly. "I'm not happy about it either. But you did what you could to stop Cosmo. And now, he isn't a threat anymore. I don't advocate killing. I've seen enough of that years ago. But at least...this way...he can't hurt anyone ever again. So take comfort in that in the very least."

Rudy knew the giant was right. Although he hadn't meant for Mr. Cosmo to die, Biclops made a good point. With him gone, he couldn't hurt anyone ever again. His reign of terror...was truly over. It was finally over...

It would still take him for him to get used to Mr. Cosmo not being around anymore. He would still be on his guard, because he was so used to that when Cosmo was around. It would be difficult to feeling relaxed again. It would take a bit of time for things to go back to normal.

But at least it was over now. At least he no longer had to worry about ChalkZone. With Cosmo gone, he and Penny could work on fixing things and ensuring that no one in the real world new about ChalkZone, while everyone in ChalkZone was safe.

Rudy suddenly remembered something. He looked up at Biclops. "Where is Mr. Wilter? Have you seen him?"

Biclops nodded his head. "Yeah. I found him unconscious in the cave. I would have treated him, but he's from the real world so my supplies won't do any good. He went back to the real world, with my help of course, to get treated." Biclops looked over Rudy's wounds. "You should head there as well. You look worse off than he did."

Rudy shook his head. "N-No...I'm fine." The pain that was suppressed momentarily by the adrenaline was fading. Agony swept through Rudy's body. He winced and he staggered as he tried to walk. "I need to...go see Snap..."

Biclops placed a hand in front of Rudy, stopping him in his tracks. "No, Rudy Tabootie. Go back to your world and get your wounds treated."

"But..." Rudy started to say.

Biclops narrowed his eyes slightly. "Go to the hospital in your world, Rudy. Now. You can't go wandering around in ChalkZone losing that much blood. You need to stop the bleeding. Go to the real world and get those wounds bandaged up. You can come back after." He paused for a moment. "Do it for Snap. He wouldn't want to see you so badly hurt and bloody, now would he?"

Rudy shook his head slowly. "No...he wouldn't...And my parents..they must be so worried about me..." He turned his head to Skrawl and Draow. "What do you plan on doing with them?"

Biclops replied, "Draow, I'm going to lock up somewhere safe, where he'll never be able to get out. As for Skrawl, I'll treat his wounds and let him go. He wasn't a part of this whole mess, so there's no need for me to punish him."

Rudy nodded his head. "Yeah... He was a big help..."

After saying goodbye to Biclops, Rudy grabbed a piece of chalk and went outside of the Chalk Mine. He started to walk in the direction where his school chalkboard would be. He couldn't go to his home directly. He wasn't even sure if he had another portable chalkboard. He recalled him or Penny getting one, or so he thought. But with all that had happened, details like that got muddled up in his head.

He paused and looked back at the Chalk Mine. It was still hard for him to believe that it was over, at least. It was hard to believe that, just a short while before, Cosmo was still at least, still a threat. Now he was gone. No longer can he hurt anyone.

Rudy stared at the Chalk Mine for about a minute. Then, slowly, he turned and walked away.