"You may not remember well this place
But you must keep up the pace
So cold will you be, but never fear
You only have to do this once a year"

That riddle was a little harder for Snap and Rapsheeba to figure out. Now it was just down to them to figure these out. They no longer had Blocky's help. Seeing him being taken away by Draow still stung their hearts. While they were happy that Bardot and Draow weren't going to let him die, having him imprisoned wasn't much better. They hoped that Bardot wouldn't start subjecting him to torture like he was to Rudy and Penny. Then again, it was Bardot and they wouldn't put it past him.

All the riddles so far involved Snap in some way. So Snap tried to think of some place cold that he only goes to once a year. The first thought was the polar bear bowling, but he scratched that thought, as it was held many times a year. Sure there were special tournaments that were held just once a year, but he doubted that is what the riddle was talking to him about.

So he tried to think of another. Something else that he wasn't thinking of. Some place cold...once a year... It was on the tip of his tongue. He knew he had to know this. It was so obvious, wasn't it? It was practically screaming at him, and yet he couldn't think of the word.

Then it hit him. It was so obvious. It must have been talking about the Secret Society Of Elves. Or rather, their usual location. They are usually located in the north pole during most of the year. Once a year, they relocate their base in a different part of ChalkZone for the holidays. So the fifth game must take place in the north pole somewhere. If he and Rapsheeba went there, they were certain to find the note.

Snap wasn't sure, at first, what the riddle meant by 'not remembering the place well'. But then he realized he hadn't been to the north pole that much. Oh he's been to the Secret Society Of Elves, but only during the holidays. The north pole he been to...maybe three times in the past seven, eight years. So the riddle was right that he wouldn't remember it too well.

He told Rapsheeba, and she agreed that going there was their best bet. Their biggest worry was the travel, though. It wasn't exactly around the corner, and they couldn't ask anyone for help. They would need to walk there, but it would take several hours to get there unless they found another mode of transportation. Food and water was also going to be an issue. They were both hungry and thirsty from their recent endeavors, and no doubt they would need more energy if they were going to travel to the north pole.

They didn't waste any time getting started. They began to walk in the direction they knew the north pole was in. At least it wasn't hard to figure out. All they had to do was go north. It was the journey that was going to be a problem. If they could just find something on the way there they could use without asking anyone for help, then they might have a chance in getting to the north pole in a quicker amount of time.

But for the first half hour, all they could do was walk. They didn't see anything that would be helpful. Oh they did run into a zoner or two who were willing to help and asked them what was wrong. But they had to decline their help. Some of the zoners looked a little miffed that they rejected their help. Snap and Rapsheeba were unable to apologize, though. They couldn't say or do anything that made the other zoners suspicious of what was going on. And they didn't doubt some of them already had an idea; surely someone started noticing these death traps and them going into them...

As they walked through ChalkZone, Snap's mind went back to Blocky. His horrific screams still filled his head. He bit his lip, fighting back tears. He wished he had done something to save his friend. He wished he had moved faster, or done something to prevent Blocky from sacrificing himself like that. Even though he ended up living in the end, the reason why he survived wasn't much cause for celebration. Draow was not going to be gentle with Blocky, he knew, and Bardot...even less so.

Now poor Blocky was locked up somewhere, alone and injured, and there was nothing Snap or Rapsheeba could do about it. They couldn't run off in the direction Draow flew. Not only were they not sure if that was the right direction, but following would be breaking the rules. They were certain of that. Bardot would realize they were leaving the games and have Draow do something terrible to their captive friends. They had no choice but to continue the games without their fallen friend.

The only on left with Snap now was Rapsheeba. Losing Blocky made him realize how much he needed his friends on this journey. He knew Rapsheeba would help him in any way possible. And he was grateful for that. He wasn't sure how well he'd survive these games alone, and Bardot's warning of 'when he may lose Rapsheeba' was down right bone chilling. He made himself a promise that he would be extra careful in the upcoming games so she won't get hurt like Blocky had.

He started to feel a little foolish. Up until now, he had been feeling guilty about his friends helping him through these dangerous games. He felt bad that they had to help him walk. He had believed that he was slowing them down. But after what happened to Blocky, he got a good slap in the face by reality.

There was no shame in his friends helping him. There was no reason for him to get upset. Them helping him out did not slow them down as much as him trying to do things on his own. His friends were here to help him. They were in this together. And yet he had been trying so hard not to let them help him too much because he had felt guilty of them having do that in the first place. He was the one Bardot wanted and he wound up dragging his friends into the mess. He had been beating himself up and he thought that trying to do things on his own would protect his friends.

It hadn't. If anything, it made things worse. He realized that it was he who had been slowing them down, but not in the way he would have thought. It wasn't his injuries that did it. It was his attitude. His whole 'go on without me', where he tried to keep up on his own. That was what did it. He only wished that he had realized it sooner.

Well no more. He still wanted to keep Rapsheeba safe, but he won't hinder her like he had tried with her and Blocky before. He won't feel guilty anymore of her helping him. He was going to need all the help he could get to reach his friends. And to reach them now, he was going to have to accept her help, rather than try to 'protect her' by doing things on his own. For if he kept doing that, if he kept trying to do all this on his own as much as possible...

...Rudy and Penny would be goners...

Soon Rapsheeba spotted something and grabbed Snap's hand. "Hey look!" She said, pointing.

Snap quickly saw what she was referring to. Laying in the ground, covered in mud, was some kind of motorcycle. Snap rode something like this before. It didn't look like it belonged to anyone. It was just..discarded. It might not be the best thing to use going to the north pole, but it was something at least.

The two of them rushed over to it. They looked around to make sure no one was watching them. Working together, they managed to pull the motorcycle out of the ground. They brushed it off the best they could. Rapsheeba got in the front since Snap had a bad leg.

Snap realized something. He looked at his walking stick, which he held in his left hand. "What am I going to do with this? I can't hold on tightly enough with just one arm."

"Here." Rapsheeba extended her hand. Snap gave her the stick. She pressed it in a groove between her and him. It was a tight fit, but it soon stuck. With the walking stick taken care of, she turned around. "Okay, Snap. Hold onto me tightly!"

Snap did so. He wrapped his arms around her and held on as tightly as he could. He wasn't sure how well Rapsheeba could ride a motorcycle. But now wasn't the time to be wasting minutes questioning that. He heard Rapsheeba turn the motorcycle on and it started to move. It was a bit of a rocky ride, but it still ran at least. They headed towards the north pole, hoping that the motorcycle would cut some time and get them there faster.

At least using the motorcycle wasn't against the rules. They hadn't been contacted by Bardot. Snap theorized that, while they couldn't ask for help themselves, they could still take items that may help them provided they find them on their own and take them without asking for permission. Rude, yes. Snap would normally want to get permission if he knew something belonged to someone. But this time, much worse would happen if he asked. He had no choice.

Snap was happy about one thing. With this motorcycle, they should reach the north pole within a much shorter time frame. He wasn't sure exactly how long, but it was better than walking. Maybe if the motorcycle holds out, they could use it to get to the remainder of the games.

But then, knowing Bardot, this wasn't going to last. Bardot would do something to prevent them from using the motorcycle for all of the remainder games. Snap was certain of that.

sss

Rudy and Penny were laying on the ground. No longer were they standing up or leaning against the wall. No, they were on the ground. Rudy was on his side. Penny on her stomach. They were groaning in pain. They were still in pain from what Bardot recently did to them.

When he was on the radio with Snap, the two of them were confused when Bardot started to approach them. He still spoke, but his gaze was fixated on them. There was that eerie smile, the smile that told them that something was on his mind. The smile that told them something was about to happen to them. And when Bardot reached them, seconds later, they had learned just what it was that he had in store for them.

He started to hit them with his claws...right on their old wounds. He hit Penny on her head wound, and Rudy, his side wound. He cut into the flesh, drawing out more blood. The pain was horrific, unbearable. They writhed on the ground in pain. They couldn't even try to fight back. The pain was so horrible...it was hard for them to focus. The pain debilitated them for a while, making it hard to do anything, even breathe.

He was sadistic. Penny's eyes narrowed. Not only did he deliberately strike their weak spots, but he did so just to frighten Snap. She knew that was the only reason he was doing that. Her head throbbed from where she had been struck. Her face had a few red streaks on it, from where the fresh blood had dripped along the skin. She glanced over at Rudy, her eyes softening.

He had it worse. His side wound was already bad enough to start with. Infected, deep, and it was already causing him a lot of pain. When he had resisted when she asked to see it earlier, she knew it was causing him a lot of distress. And Bardot...the bastard had struck him there. It was so bad that Rudy went pale and almost passed out. And he fell onto his good side. Penny fell to the ground as well, from both the pain and the force of the strike.

After Bardot left them alone, the two remained quiet, quietly whimpering from the agony. Penny kept wanting to press her hand against her head wound in an attempt to get it to stop bleeding. Yet every time she just barely touched it, waves of pain were sent throughout her body, forcing her to take her hand away. And it wasn't like Rudy had it any better. He couldn't even move from his spot on the ground without triggering pain. Even now, he was still whimpering from the pain, unable to move.

Once in a while, she could see him shudder. And she knew it was from the agony he was in. She wished she could do something for him. She hated seeing him like this. But not only did she have nothing that could help him, but she was in the same boat as he was. Her body was battered just like his. Both of them were losing a lot of blood. Thirst settled in deeply, and so had hunger. She could feel herself getting weaker.

It was only a matter of time before they would be so weak, they could hardly fight back. The only thing that remained somewhat strong was their will. They still tried to defy Bardot and Draow whenever they could. They refused to show fear all the time towards them. They would still retort whenever they could. They would not allow them the pleasure of completely breaking them. They would not give them that satisfaction.

Draow was annoyed by how strong their spirits were. He had expressed anger that, even in their beaten states, they still had the courage to mouth off to them or even try to strike back in an attempt to defend themselves, or simply out of anger. He kept throwing threats that, if they don't stop it, he would do much worse to them. Yet that did little to stop Penny and Rudy from continuing to resist.

Bardot, on the other hand, was rather calm. He was certain that, sooner or later, they would break. He complimented on their spirit, saying how impressed he was that they were able to last this long. He went as far as tell them that they reminded him of Barney, and how hard he was to break.

The mention of Barney enraged Rudy and Penny. Despite the pain they were in, they cursed out Bardot for harming an innocent zoner. Bardot merely shrugged it off, and he went on to tell them about how Barney endured the breaking of half of his legs and still would not tell him the information that he wanted. Barney was hard to break, but Bardot reminded the two that everyone had a point where they can't take anymore. He had found Barney's, ripping out his eyes and threatening his turtle friend, and he turned to the teens, an eerie smile on his face. He promised them that he would find their breaking point as well.

If they weren't in so much pain, they would have done something to retaliate against Bardot. The pain kept them frozen on the ground, unable to do anything. Bardot just sneered at them before he left them alone for a time. This relieved the two teenagers. Some time away from...that guy...would do them both some good.

Penny's mind drifted to their parents. She hoped they were going to be okay. Draow's promise of a family reunion had her really worried. She already lost her father. Her mind and heart still ached from that. She still couldn't believe that it had happened. Her eyes filled with tears just thinking about it.

And to know her mother and Rudy's parents might suffer the same fight... It terrified her. Bardot had access to the real world. That was how he was able to get to them, and those other people. Their parents were not safe. No one in the real world was safe. Bardot and Draow could go in there at any time. They could capture anyone they wanted to, and drag them back into ChalkZone. While discovering their secret was a worry on her and Rudy's minds, a more pressing matter was...

..what would happen to their parents when they got here? Would they be tortured, just like the other victims? Would Bardot, just to be sadistic, force them to watch the misery that their children were going through? The thought was chilling.

And it wasn't just their parents they were worried about. Blocky was in danger as well. Bardot revealed to them that he had been captured after having lost a game and has been locked up in one of the chambers in a level below them. Bardot said he won't do anything to Blocky until the games are over. If Snap succeeds, Blocky will live. But if Snap fails, he promised to kill the zoner as slowly and painfully as possible.

That was just sick... Rudy and Penny couldn't believe that Bardot would do such a thing. Rudy had tried once to get up to find Blocky, but Penny told him he was in no condition to go anywhere. And it didn't help that Draow was blocking the exit. As much as it hurt, they couldn't do anything to help Blocky. They could only hope that Snap will make it on time.

"Ding dong..."

That cold voice...no it couldn't be... Penny's eyes widened as she looked over to see Draow standing up. A smirk spread across his mouth, his lips curled upwards in an evil grin.

"Guess what time it is?" Draow asked coldly. He took a step forward, his talons clanging against the ground. The sound echoed off the walls.

Penny started to shiver. Rudy head lifted up his head, his eyes widened in a mix of horror and anger. He tried to get up, but he was still in too much distress to move quickly enough. Draow had noticed him trying to get to Penny and he acted quickly. The bat wolf charged Rudy and smashed him against the wall. Rudy's howls of pain echoed in the small room.

Penny screamed in horror, her eyes locked onto Rudy's, as he fell into the ground. He collapsed onto his side, moaning and groaning in pain. He looked over at her, tears filling his eyes. They were from the pain, both mental and physical. He looked like he wanted to try to get up again, but Draow's presence prevented him from doing so. There was no way he could dodge an attack from the bat wolf, and another blow might do a lot more damage.

Bardot slowly walked into the room. He smirked as Draow headed towards Penny. Bardot himself went over to Rudy. He stood beside him and pressed his paw against Rudy's head. His claws dug into his scalp. He pulled the boy's head up to force him to watch what Draow was going to do to his friend.

Draow pressed Penny into the ground with his foot. Then he lowered his head. His jaws clamped around her right leg. He started to slowly twist it, taking his time. As he started doing this, Penny's eyes shot open. The pain quickly spread up and down her leg. She started to scream in pain, struggling to get free.

"No! Please! Don't do this! No!" Penny cried out, tears of pain flowing down her face.

Draow ignored her pleas and continued to twist her leg slowly. Penny's breathing started getting ragged, the pain becoming unbearable. Her eyes widened, her pupils tiny. She clenched her teeth and tried again to get free. As Draow continued to twist her leg, her free one was kicking out wildly, hoping she would land a blow. But Draow stood off to the side, where she couldn't get at him. And her arms were pinned down by his foot.

Rudy tried to crawl over towards her with his weak left hand. Bardot stopped him by stepping on his crippled right hand. Rudy let out a cry of pain and laid still on the ground. He looked over with wide eyes, reaching his hand out towards Penny.

"No!" Rudy cried, tears in his eyes. "Penny!"

Bardot put his face close to Rudy's. "Now isn't this such a lovely show? Let's continue watching, shall we?"

Rudy watched in horror as Penny's leg was continuously twisted. He looked at Bardot with wide eyes. "Please...stop this! It was me who kicked you, not her! Do what you want with me! Just please...stop hurting her!" He begged.

Bardot's eyes narrowed. He stared at Rudy thoughtfully. He looked back at Draow. At this moment, Draow was going to reach the bone's breaking point soon. And even then, it was clear he was still going to take his time, wanting to make Penny suffer for as long as possible. Penny herself was thrashing wildly on the ground, crying out in pain and pleading for mercy.

The pain Penny was in was indescribable. She felt like her entire leg was on fire. It was like someone was constantly hammering into her leg slowly. She kicked her free leg against the ground constantly. Her hands trembled from the pain. She tried to strike at Draow, but it was no use. She stared up into Draow's eyes with her own fear-filled one. She silently begged him not to do it, but it was clear Draow was enjoying her misery.

Penny's eyes widened as she felt something start to give. This was it. Her leg was reaching its breaking point. The bone was not going to be able to handle much more of this. The pain got even more intense. Her mouth flew open, ragged breaths moving in and out faster. Her heart race sped up and she thought it was going to jump out of her chest. She felt her head start to swirl. She knew that she would soon pass out from the pain.

Draow's grip tightened a little, and she could feel him muster up more strength. He was preparing to break her leg in the most ruthless way possible. She closed her eyes and waited for it to happen.

"Release her."

This command came as a shock to everyone. Rudy stared at Bardot unbelievably. Penny looked surprised, though it was hard to tell with her face contorted in pain the way it was. Draow stared at Bardot with widened eyes, frozen in place.

Bardot lifted his paw from Rudy's head and pointed at Draow. His green eyes were narrowed. With a claw pointed at Draow's direction, he said, "You heard me. Release her."

Still looking confused, Draow did as he was told. He let go of Penny's leg. As soon as he did, there was a cry of relief and pain from the girl. Penny sat up slowly and stared down at her leg. She could see the puncture marks from where she was bitten. She gently put her hand on her leg and rubbed along it. There was a lot of pain in the bone from where it was being twisted. It wasn't broken, but she didn't think she could use the leg for a while.

She looked over at Bardot. Why had he stopped the attack? He had given Draow the order to break her leg, did he not? So what made him stop? Was there something else he had in mind? And judging from Draow's expression, Bardot's actions surprised even the bat wolf. But at least it was over. The pain slowly radiated off of her. She never felt this much instant relief in a long time. She looked over at Rudy and gave him a small smile to show that she was okay. He smiled as well, faintly, glad that she was okay.

The two of them turned their attentions on Draow and Bardot.

"What was that about?" Draow said, his ears lowered. His voice clearly sounded disappointed. "I was just about to get to the good part."

Bardot moved away from Rudy. He headed towards Draow. "Perhaps...I was a little too hasty when I ordered you to break her leg in an hour. After all..." He turned his attention to Rudy. "I did provoke the child."

"But he needs to be kept in line." Draow said, growling softly.

Bardot nodded his head. "Yeah, that is very true. And don't worry. You'll have a chance to finish the job." Penny's eyes widened in horror at this. "I just don't feel right now is the best time for that. And besides..." His eyes now locked onto Rudy's. "The boy did say we could...do what we want with him in exchange for letting Penny go..." A dark chuckle escaped his throat.

"Oh really now?" Draow's expression brightened. He glared down at Rudy. "The one who killed Mr. Cosmo..." His voice was dark and growly as he said that. He began to make his way towards Rudy.

Penny struggled to get up. Her leg pain caused her to fall back down. "No! Rudy!" She cried out. She could only watch with tear-filled eyes as Draow closed the gap between him and Rudy.

sss

"Where did these things come from?!" Rapsheeba cried. She ran as fast as she could, but she kept slipping since it was icy.

"I don't know!" Snap was fairing no better. He already fell down a few times. Even with his walking stick, he had a hard time. "Just keep running!"

Snap had no idea that something like this was going to happen. It seemed to have come from nowhere. Then again, he had to realize to expect the unexpected. That's what happened in the other four games. Why should this one have been any different? Still, he was genuinely taken aback by what happened with this game.

They had arrived about twenty minutes ago. Like some of the past games, there was a timer. Multiple circles adorned it just like before. They knew that it was going to activate the next death trap. But when, they would have no idea. And they doubted Bardot would give them a clue as to when to expect to fight for their lives. No, Bardot would think that it would 'spoil his fun' if he told them everything.

The card they found upon arrival had said:

"Welcome to the fifth game. Let's try for something more relaxing, shall we? A simple game of checkers. No letting the other side win. I hope you get the point."

One of the shortest cards they found so far. The last line was cause for worry. They had a feeling that it was a hint to what the death trap was going to be. They carefully surveyed the icy land, looking for any traps hidden under the ground. Thankfully, there didn't seem to be any.

The game here, just like the note said, was checkers. But it was different from any checkers they had played before. The board was massive, slowly rising out of the ground and into position. Huge checkers pieces laid on top of the board. They wondered, at first, how they were going to use them. But on both sides were platforms they could stand on. There were buttons that were clearly meant to control the checkers pieces. They got into position and began to play.

They played the game for ten minutes with nothing happening. Just a seemingly normal game of checkers. Well almost normal if they didn't take into account the fact that they were playing with gigantic versions of checkers pieces. Once in a while, they would see the circles on the timer get filled up. And as time went on, they got closer and closer to activating the death trap.

And then it happened. As soon as Rapsheeba moved her king to a certain spot, there was a flash of red glowing lines. The timer began to glow red like it did had in the first death trap. Bardot's distorted laughter. And then they heard a rumbling below the ground. Bardot really had a thing for attacks from below, Snap realized. Before they could see anything, he grabbed Rapsheeba and started running.

As soon as they started to run, huge spikes started to strike from below the ground. They came up with pairs or groups of three. Long, sharp, and jagged. Even their edges sliced, as they found out the hard way. And the spikes came up quickly, ripping through the ground to try to skewer them.

Snap and Rapsheeba continued to run for their lives. Everywhere they went, the spikes would follow. It was like either Bardot knew the path they would take or the spikes really were following them. A few times, he cried out in pain as a spike sliced into them. A few cut into the bandages, causing some of the old wounds to reopen. Rapsheeba didn't escape unscathed either. Her legs and arms were cut open by spikes that appeared where she wasn't expecting them.

A few times, a spike was about to hit them from below. This happened to Rapsheeba twice, with Snap pushing her out of the way just in time, intent on making sure she didn't get more injuries. Rapsheeba returned the favor a few times when it was Snap in danger of being punctured through the body by a spike. They continued working together like this as they ran as fast as they could, running towards where they kept the motorcycle parked.

As they reached the motorcycle, they saw the note was attached to it. Their eyes widened. Had Bardot been here? Or Draow? They looked behind them. The spikes were moving even faster now. They didn't have time to ponder this. They got onto the motorcycle and started speeding off away from the spikes. After they got forty feet away, the spikes stopped.

Snap took a moment to overlook the damage as they drove away. Spikes didn't just come through the ground. Some of the buildings they ran past..they were also affected. He bit his lip. What of some zoners were hurt...even killed...? He wanted to do something to help them, but he had no time, sadly. He could only hope that those zoners, if they were hurt, would get help as soon as possible.

Snap started to realize something. These games...there was no pattern to them. They weren't taking him in a singular direction. They were all in random spots. He began to wonder something. The thought filled him with dread.

Was Bardot just leading them around in circles?