Snap hardly paid attention to the riddle. It barely registered to him. Rapsheeba had already solved it, deducing that they had to go to the place where Rudy drew her a new set. Snap did show gratitude that she managed to solve it, because he didn't think he could do it himself, at least not at the moment. His mind was too preoccupied to think about the riddle, or what it could mean. His talk with Bardot had affected him more than he realized.
He was sick to his stomach. To think that Bardot wants to eat his friends...it didn't settle with him. He had no idea that was part of his plan. It never registered to him that he was going to do such a thing. And that made his plans all that much more worse. That made him angrier than before.
That meant that Bardot saw his friends as nothing but walking piles of meat. He saw them as just food. How disgusting... And those other people that he ate... Did Bardot not think once about what he was doing? Did he not realize that he was killing sentient beings just so he could stuff his face? Did he not take into consideration any of that?
Of course not... Why would he? Bardot had shown just how nasty he can be, and Snap wouldn't doubt he had even more nasty surprises ahead of him in the future. It was like Bardot thinks this is all a game. Oh wait, he does. He made it quite clear. Everything he does is part of some big 'game', and he and his friends are just pawns for him to move around and toy with. Bardot thinks he can do whatever he wants with no consequence. He believes that everything he does is logical and acceptable. Snap would see to it that he realizes just how wrong he is.
That wasn't the only thing that Bardot said that upset him. The randominization of the games was another concern. It wasn't as dire or as enraging as finding out Bardot wanted to eat his friends, but it was still a concern nonetheless. Without knowing how difficult the next challenge would be, how could he and Rapsheeba be prepared for it? And Bardot's deadliest death trap...when would they run into it, or have they already?
These games, the way they have been set up, it had been taking them in circles. Bardot confirmed that, more or less. He made everything random so they would always be playing a guessing game. They never knew how much worse the deathtraps could get. They never knew how far they'd have to travel until they get the card that gives them a riddle, which they then must solve to get to the next game in order to activate the next deathtrap and so on and so forth.
Snap realized Bardot was trying to wear them out completely. Not just physically, but mentally, too. Not only was he depriving them of food and water for most of the trip, but he was making them travel great distances in all sorts of directions to reach the next games. All that walking was taking a toll on them. The riddles were wearing them out mentally. It took some time to figure them out, and Snap's head hurt a few times from thinking too hard. He wondered if Bardot was doing this so his mental reaction time would be compromised when he finally reaches him.
Snap was getting very hungry, and he knew Rapsheeba was hungry as well. Neither of them had eaten in all this time. He knew he was going through what Rudy and Penny were. This gave him some motivation to push himself a little harder, but he knew if he overexerted himself, he wouldn't have much energy left to face Bardot. He needed to find something to eat or drink and fast. Maybe there'll be a stand near where the next game is. It was a possibility.
He was feeling much weaker. He was still able to walk just fine with the stick, and he was able to fight back against the coming tiredness. At least for now. His stomach rumbled loudly and he smacked his lips in thirst. His injuries aggravated his thirst and hunger, making them more prominent. His bleeding had stopped, which was a good sign, but he had already lost a ton of blood. That wasn't making things any easier. Grogginess spread across his head. He did his best to ignore it.
But it was a fruitless effort. There was no way he could ignore this, not for long. He could still do as best as he could. But determination can only get him so far. His body still had the final say. He could believe that he could do it all he wanted to, but once his body falls apart, no amount of 'I can, I can' will help him. With each step he took, he could feel himself growing weaker. Looking over at Rapsheeba, he could tell that she was experiencing the fatigue as well.
There was a small chance Bardot would leave them something to eat and drink at the next game. Or there would be something somewhere they could use. Bardot seemed determined to make sure Snap survived the games without actually making things all that easy for him. He did provide the first aid kit, which Rapsheeba still carried, which hadn't been used since Jacko's maze.
Snap suddenly got a cold realization. In just a few hours, it would have been almost forty-eight hours since his friends were captured. Or had it been longer? It was hard to keep track of the time. He often forgot to ask Rapsheeba. They were so focused on the games, it was hard for him to remember what time it was. And that scared him, not knowing exactly how much time has passed. What he was certain of was that his friends were running out of time.
As much as he wanted to hope they were okay, he knew that wasn't the case. Bardot and Draow were abusing them both. The screams he heard, that was just a taste of what they had been through there. He had no idea just how bad off they were. And with them not being able to eat or drink...their condition was even worse.
The fact that Bardot refused to elaborate on just how 'well' his friends were doing was irritating. He would only go as far as say they were alive, and maybe hint at how much pain they were in. But never once did he tell everything about what they were doing to them. Bardot was deliberately withholding information just to mess with him, to keep him in the dark. He wanted to call him again to demand answers, but he knew Bardot would not be straight with him.
It might be very well true that he never lies. Bardot hinted that he wasn't one for lying. But that didn't mean that he couldn't give misleading information. It didn't mean that he couldn't withhold information. He could be just giving him the bare minimum, and keeping everything else a secret unless something came up and he had to reveal it. He was keeping him in the dark about almost everything. Snap was certain of this.
And because of his little habit of keeping some data to himself, Snap had a feeling there was a lot about these 'games' and Bardot's plan that he hadn't considered. At the moment, he couldn't really think of anything. But he had to wonder if there was more to these games than met the eye, if there was more to Bardot's plans than he let on. Was there something that Bardot didn't want him to find out?
Before he had time to think more of this, he realized Rapsheeba had stopped. He almost ran into her. He was able to stop himself before that happened. He looked at her, confused. Why did she stop walking? They hadn't even arrived yet had they...?
He looked out ahead and he was shocked. They arrived at the place. This was it all right. Snap would have recognized it from a distance. This was the place where he met Rapsheeba personally. Well not just him. Rudy and Penny also met the singer here. It was during her Rapunzel performance. Snap felt a sharp pain at the memory. It just further reminded him of the danger the two were in.
He was still surprised they managed to get here that fast. They had lost the motorcycle a while back, so they could no longer use it. It had broken down about...he would say an hour ago. Or at least it felt like an hour. He wasn't sure. The point of the matter was that they were back to walking.
Rapsheeba grabbed not one, but two cards taped on the side. One of them had the description of the next game. The second card was of a pinkish shade to differentiate it from the other one. Rapsheeba read the pink one first.
It read:
"So tired from your travels you must be. I will give you a little something to alleviate that. It is not poisoned in any way. Oh I know how you must be surprised, Snap, not taking this chance to hurt you more. But with the torture you're going through, what with knowing your friends are in danger and the deathtraps you must avoid, I see no reason to poison the food.
Love, Bardot"
Snap growled. Love... Bardot deliberately wrote it like that just to piss him off. And it worked. He wanted to crumple the note, but he refrained from doing so. He took in a deep breath to regain his composure. He looked over at Rapsheeba as she held up the second note.
"Okay...what kind of game are we in for this time?" Snap asked.
sss
Mr. Wilter relaxed in his recliner and turned the station, trying to find something for him to watch. He wasn't interested in watching the news. He didn't want to feel even more depressed. While there hadn't been any new missing reports since Rudy and Penny were taken, much of the news covered the investigation to try to find the people that had gone missing the past few days. And of course, there hadn't been any new leads, or even any evidence they were still alive.
It was frustrating for him to know more about what was going on, or rather have an idea of what was happening, and not being able to tell anyone. In fact, the only two people he could talk to about this were Terry and Vinnie. Rudy had told him about how they found out about ChalkZone and have been trying to expose it. Thankfully, they've been thwarted everything, though they were still a big concern.
These two people were the only ones he knew, besides the corrupted artists whom he hadn't seen in years, who would take his story seriously. He could tell them he believes the people were being taken into ChalkZone, and they would believe his every word. But telling them would be disastrous. It was too risky to do.
They could use that as an excuse to have ChalkZone more thoroughly explored to make sure it was 'safe for the public'. And it's not like they'd be of much help either. Even if they did want to help find the missing people, they were still a couple of humans who had no idea what they were in for. They had little knowledge of how ChalkZone worked, evident from how they weren't able to tell their giant rat not to scream 'I must find the magic chalk!' as soon as he was 'born' into ChalkZone, from what Snap had told him once.
Mr. Wilter wanted to get in touch with Snap, but what could he do? It wouldn't be wise to try to get into ChalkZone. He had no idea what kind of danger Rudy and Penny were in. What if Draow found out he was coming? He knew how much the wolf hated him. He might kill the two teenagers in front of him out of spite. And he had no idea how dangerous this other zoner was. Obviously more so than Draow if the bat wolf was following him. Jumping into action without considering the danger would be a dangerous move, and one that he could not afford.
Still, it was frustrating knowing something was wrong, having an idea of just what was wrong, and not being able to confirm it or get any updates. He had no idea how Rudy and Penny were. He didn't know if they were badly hurt, if they were even alive. The thought was distressing. He really wanted to know how they were doing and if Snap managed to find them yet, or if he was close to getting to them. The only way to know was to head into ChalkZone, but his rational side told him that might make things a lot worse.
Something told him that the zoner Draow is working for might not like it. He wasn't sure what gave him this feeling. Maybe it was from facing off against his ex-best friend, Cosmo. He remembered how hard it was when he lost Cosmo as a friend when the black chalk took him over, how painful it was to fight him the first time around. It wasn't as hard a year and a half ago when he had long accepted that the real Cosmo was gone, replaced by that twisted monstrous version the black chalk had created.
One thing he had learned when facing off against Mr. Cosmo is that people like him, they don't like their plans being messed with. They don't like it when someone else barges in, and chances are, they would do something about it. Though Mr. Cosmo had hidden it well, he was not happy to see him when he stopped his effort at 'recruiting' Rudy. And no doubt this strange new zoner had a similar line of thinking.
As much as he wanted to help, he had no choice but to wait instead. Wait and hope everything would turn out all right. He realized that this made him look like a coward. He knew that his help may be required. But he had so little information about this new zoner, he wouldn't know what to do even if he did decide to go into ChalkZone. Where would he begin? What would this new zoner do when he saw him wandering around? Would he kill off Rudy and Penny out of anger?
These things plagued the teacher's mind.
As he tried to relax a little bit, his doorbell rang. He looked over, a little confused. Who would be visiting him at this time? Sure, it wasn't that late. But he wasn't expecting any company, especially not in the evening. Oh well, he might as well go answer it.
He got up out of his recliner and went over to answer the door. The doorbell rang a few more times. Whoever wanted to see him, they were getting impatient. He wasn't sure if they were just excited to see him or if it was something else entirely. He was a little annoyed by the repeated buzzing of his doorbell. Did they have no sense of patience?
When he opened the door, he was surprised by who he saw.
"Mr. and Mrs. Tabootie!" Mr. Wilter cried in surprise. He paused as he noticed they weren't the only ones who came over. "Mrs. Sanchez! What brings you three over here?"
"We're sorry." Mrs. Tabootie said.
"Is it okay if we come in?" Mr. Tabootie asked, a sad expression on his face.
"Okay." Mr. Wilter said. He stepped aside. "Come on in."
"Thank you." Mrs. Sanchez said.
Mr. Wilter led the three into his living room. He gestured for them to sit on his long choice. He pushed his recliner so he could more easily face them. He shut off the tv so they could focus on whatever it is they wanted to talk about. Mr. and Mrs. Tabootie sat down next to each other. They looked very upset and were trying their best to comfort each other. Mrs. Sanchez sat close by. She looked at the other two parents sympathetically but it was clear she was suffering as well.
He knew the reason they were upset. He would be an idiot not to know. They were worried about their children. He couldn't blame them. If he were in their shoes, he would be very upset as well. Rudy and Penny had been missing for nearly two days now. And there were no signs of them coming back any time soon.
But the one thing Mr. Wilter couldn't figure out is...why had they come here? It wasn't like he knew anything about where their children were. He wasn't anywhere near their homes when they were abducted. And it's not like he hangs out with Rudy and Penny a lot outside of school. So why had they sought him out? There was the possibility that they were out for hours looking for Rudy and Penny, found nothing, and just wanted a place to rest. That would make sense, but that may not be the case here.
After a few minutes of silence, Mr. Wilter decided to speak up.
"Was there a reason you came to see me?" Mr. Wilter asked.
"Actually yeah." Mrs. Sanchez said. She wiped away a few tears. Her face was really red from all the crying she was doing. When she spoke, her voice cracked a little. "As you are aware, our children are missing."
"Yes, I know." Mr. Wilter said, his voice and expression filled with sympathy. "The police are trying to find them, and the others that have gone missing. But far as I know, unless there's been a new report, they haven't been able to find them. I'm so sorry about that."
"It's not your fault." Mr. Tabootie said. He glanced at the ground. He sniffled. It sounded like he had been fighting the tears for a long time. He glanced back at Mr. Wilter. "None of us...would have known something like this would happen."
Mrs. Tabootie let a few tears stream down her face. "I wish we knew if they were okay... I wish we knew where they were..."
Mr. Wilter sympathized with the parents. It was hard not knowing where their children were. He wished he could say something to help them feel better. But what could he say? He was just as in the dark as he was on this whole thing.
He still wondered why they were here. Mrs. Sanchez hinted there was more to them coming here than just telling him how much they missed their children. That was something they could have done over the phone. So why did they come over? There had to be a reason for this visit. But what?
Mrs. Tabootie turned her attention to Mr. Wilter. As if she knew what he was thinking, she said, "I think it's time we...we told you why we come over here." She paused for a moment. Mr. Wilter looked at her expectantly. She finally spoke again. "Have...have Rudy and Penny..disappeared during school?"
This question took Mr. Wilter offguard. "What?"
"Reggie mentioned to us, when we ran into him earlier, that sometimes he notices Rudy and Penny gone for extended periods of time." Mr. Tabootie said. "This behavior isn't surprising. Our boy would disappear for hours. We thought it was because he just has a hiding place he liked to escape to. But during school?" He shook his head. "That was when we realized something was up."
Mr. Wilter felt a pang in his heart. After all this time, Rudy and Penny's parents were finally becoming suspicious. Just how far did they get? How much did they suspect or figure out? He dared not speak, for fear he might confirm their suspicions.
"Since you're their teacher, we were wondering..." Mrs. Sanchez said. She bit her lip for a second, and then looked at Mr. Wilter with slightly widened eyes. "Do our children go missing during the school day? Have you..noticed at any point where they just vanish?"
Mr. Wilter quickly shook his head. "No. I haven't."
"Are you absolutely sure?" Mrs. Tabootie asked. "Because if they did, we were hoping that you could tell us where to go...maybe that is where they were taken. Maybe someone figured out where they've been going...or maybe this has been going on for a while.." She paused. She wiped away a few more tears. "We know it's a stretch. But...but we have no other leads."
"I wish I could help. But I'm afraid I don't know anything." Mr. Wilter said, shaking his head sadly. "If I did, I would be sure to tell you. I'm as confused about all this as you are."
There was a moment of silence. The parents stared at them. They looked a little disappointed. But he noticed something else. There was more behind their expressions than just sadness. He couldn't quite pinpoint what it was. But whatever it was, it was making him feel uncomfortable. There was just something about the way they were looking at him... What did more did they want to ask of him?
"Why don't we believe you?" Mr. Tabootie finally said, staring intently at Mr. Wilter.
Mr. Wilter's eyes went wide at this. He looked at each parent. Though they were still sad, their focus was now solely on him. He tried to speak, but no words would come out.
"We spent some time together, grieving for our children. And in that time, we came to realize something. Something we hadn't thought about before." Mrs. Sanchez said.
Mrs. Tabootie spoke up next. She slowly folded up her arms. "And that was... well we remember a year and a half ago, Rudy went missing. And Penny. They were gone for many long hours. And from what we heard from one of your neighbors...so were you." She took a step towards Mr. Wilter. "On top of that, our children were injured...and so were you. And you both got back at around the same time."
"Just a coincidence." Mr. Wilter said quickly. "Besides, we weren't gone for the same reasons."
"Oh really?" Mr. Tabootie said. He reached onto his pocket and pulled out a photograph. He showed it to Mr. Wilter. "Then how do you explain this? It was taken on the day our children went missing, as well as you."
Mr. Wilter couldn't believe it. It was a photograph of him driving his car. Ms. Saffron and Penny could clearly be seen in the car with him. He stared at the parents, their eyes practically screaming at him to give more information. He remained quiet, knowing he couldn't tell them anything.
"We don't think you were the real culrpit." Mrs. Sanchez said quickly. "I hope you don't think that we do."
"But the guy who took that photograph said that you were heading towards the late Mr. Cosmo's news station." Mrs. Tabootie said. She paused, as if to allow that to sink in. "Why was that?"
"Well...I..." Mr. Wilter really had no answer for that. He felt his heart start to race, realizing how close the parents had gone. How much did they find out?
"You see, we've done a little investigating after we found out where our children were. We went to that building ourselves, and we did some looking around." Mr. Tabootie said. His voice had become more stern, though not accusatory, tone. "And we found something...really interesting."
Mr. Wilter flinched. "Oh? What did you find?"
"Some video logs left behind by Mr. Cosmo."
Mr. Wilter felt his heart start to race faster. Oh no...was it possible that they... He thought the information was all destroyed. Were there a few functional computers left? How much information did Mr. Cosmo leave behind?
"So let me ask you one thing, Mr. Wilter." Mr. Tabootie said.
Mrs. Sanchez said, "And please, tell us what you know."
Mr. Wilter looked up as Mr. Tabootie got closer. The man gripped his shoulders, holding him tightly. Mr. Wilter stared into his eyes, feeling very apprehensive. He dreaded what the next thing that came out of the father's mouth was going to be.
And when he did say something, Mr. Wilter's heart all but stopped.
"What is ChalkZone?"