Skrawl stood in the middle of his jail. His hand was on his hip, and his foot tapped. He glared at the warden in front of him. Two of his Beanie Boys had the warden secured. It would seem that he had made the right judgmental call. This warden really was a spy of sorts, and he had been a major player in the freeing of Draow. And he had been going around ChalkZone, doing who knows what when no one was looking.

The fool had tried to off him. This Bardot guy, he clearly knew that Skrawl had figured some things out and tried to off him. And when the warden came in, trying to sneak attack him, Skrawl had been prepared. Beanie Boys who had been hiding out of sight lunged at the warden.

And now here he was, standing before him, restrained. The other wardens were shocked by this, not realizing they had been working with an enemy this whole time. This warden seemed to highly rated and trustworthy for sometime now, too. It came as a shock that this guy was really one of the bad guys and was conspiring with Bardot. He wouldn't say why, though, pretty much spitting in Skrawl's direction as a way of showing how little he thought of him.

Skrawl could have struck out against him, but he didn't. He just stared down at the warden with a displeased look. This warden should have known he wouldn't be able to get the best of him. Skrawl was no fool. He was smarter than this warden apparently thought he was. This warden was such a fool to think he could get the best of him that easily.

The warden refused to give any details on the locations of Rudy and Penny, and had even outright mocked Skrawl about it, telling him that he wouldn't be able to find them no matter how hard he looked. He had also reminded Skrawl that he himself had been the kids' enemy once and asked him why he even cared about them now. Skrawl replied by telling him to shut up and that it was none of his business what his relationship with the teenagers were.

Skrawl gave one last scowl at the warden before he turned his back. He folded his arms behind his back and gave a single command to the Beanie Boys holding him.

"Get him out of my sight. Lock him up in our strongest cell."

"Uhh...boss?" One of the Beanie Boys said. "That cell was damaged, remember? Draow was..."

Skrawl whipped around and snarled at the Beanie Boy. "I meant our second strongest cell, you dolt!" The Beanie Boys looked at him in fright. Skrawl bared his teeth as he took a step forward. He pointed a finger in their direction. "Now get going!"

"Yes sir!" The other Beanie Boy said. With that, the two took off with the warden.

"You will never be able to beat Bardot, you stupid jellybean!" The warden cried as he was dragged down the hallway. "No one can! Soon you will all answer to him!"

Skrawl couldn't be happier when the warden's voice faded until he could hear it no more. He turned to the other wardens and glared at them. "Get back to work!" He shouted at them before turning and walking away, going back towards his office.

He wasn't worried if Bardot had seen what happened. In fact, there was no way he could have. Skrawl had visited Barney and Mumbo Jumbo at the hospital. After Mumbo Jumbo informed him of his encounter with Bardot and how he managed to teach him a lesson, they started to have a discussion on just what to do with Bardot. Skrawl talked to Barney more about the purple chalk and where it could be found. Barney had little information other than Bardot kept one of the very few pieces in his lair so no one could use it against him.

He also told Skrawl about how Bardot had zoner usable chalk, the blue chalk, and how Bardot had a few small pieces of it that he used to create this grand scheme of his. After he looked through his own database, Barney was able to conclude that the blue and purple chalk weren't actually found in the Chalk Mine, but in other places of ChalkZone, explaining why Biclops didn't know of either.

The zoner usable chalk sounded intriguing to Skrawl. But also frightening. He knew what this meant. Bardot was even more dangerous than before. A zoner with the power of a creator... and access to the real world. He needed to be stopped and fast. But with all these cameras around...it was going to be hard to formulate a plan of any kind. He could go to the hospital and speak, but he also wanted to feel safe and secure in his own prison and not worry about some crazy zoner watching him all the time.

That was when Barney mentioned something about EMP waves. Skrawl knew a thing or two about how to build those, and while it meant damaging his own cameras, he felt it was worth it in the end. He could always get new cameras. Right now, it was more important to create more blind spots for Bardot. The less eyes he had floating around ChalkZone, the better.

So he had taken the time to create an EMP pulser that would constantly send the waves through the jail. It did make all security cameras go offline, like he thought it would. But it did destroy any nano camera that happened to be in the area. He knew it was working because every so often, he'd see a sparkle and hear a pop and then something tiny would fall on the ground. Now he was able to make plans without Bardot being able to spy on him. Any nano camera that got close would be destroyed by the EMP pulser.

Skrawl wasn't entirely sure what he was going to do next, though. He wasn't sure still where Bardot's hideout was. And he couldn't very well send his Beanie Boys out to find it. It would make the situation worse. What he needed was a way to figure out where this guy would be hiding and head there undetected somehow. But how? Maybe an underground tunnel might do.

Hmm...he would need to talk to Barney more about this. And that meant having to go to the hospital to talk to him. He wasn't about to make the injured centipede come all the way over to his jail to speak. His prison...wasn't exactly the nicest place for an ailing zoner like Barney to be. Especially after he had almost been killed by Bardot relatively recently.

Skrawl felt a little bad for going to Barney for even more information. He must be reminding him of Bardot. But it was important that he get as much information as possible. And Barney, out of all the zoners he knew, understood Bardot the most and would know more about his motives and plans than anyone else he knew. Barney might have an idea of where Bardot's hideout is and be able to give suggestions on how to get there without the cameras noticing.

Skrawl glanced up at the clock. Yeah, it was time for another visit to Barney. King Mumbo Jumbo might not be happy to see him again since he was concerned for Barney and all these questions might upset the centipede more. During his last visit, the king almost cut the questions short because Barney was uncomfortable with talking about anything Bardot-related. But even the kind had to know the seriousness of the situation and how important it was to stop Bardot. And Barney could help bring him down with that wealth of knowledge of his.

Making up his mind, Skrawl headed out of his prison. He turned in the direction of the hospital and began to walk in its direction. He had hope that, soon, Bardot would be stopped and Draow recaptured. He also hoped that it wasn't too late to save Rudy, Penny, and Snap. He had no idea just how bad off they were. But if there was one thing he knew about them, it was that they weren't so easy to take down.

But he could only hope that their luck hadn't run out yet.

sss

Snap wandered down the hallways some more. He had gone back the way he came after reaching a deadend in the other direction. Walking past the door with the adults was a little hard for him. He knew he was leaving them behind rather than helping. But what could he do? He needed to get Rudy and Penny out of here first. He needed to get them to safety. They were in peril. Their lives were almost over. He had to focus as much time right now in finding them and rescuing them.

He got back to the three way fork. He thought about heading back up, but then he thought about heading down another one of these tunnels. The middle one seemed like a good choice. He didn't dilly dally. With the walking stick, he moved as fast he could. He was on an urgent mission. He couldn't stop for rest. Not now.

Again, he was at unease with all these cells, clearly designed to mimic Mr. Cosmo's cells. The same types that he had been trapped in... He shook his head. No, he had to focus. He continued walking, making sure not to look at any of the cells. He had to see if Rudy or Penny were down this way. If this tunnel was the same length as the other, then as long as he kept up the pace, then he would be able to search these tunnels and still have some time left to go help his friends.

He continued walking forward. His eyes narrowed. He focused on the path ahead of him. He kept his eyes looking straight at the end of the tunnel, where he could go left or right. He didn't stop for anything. He did his best to ignore the sparking water splashing all around him. He tried his best to put it in the back of his mind. He fought back against the horrible memories of Cosmo that were trying to push their way to the front of his mind.

Then, he saw movement. He froze. At first, he thought it was Rudy or Penny, but when he looked, that isn't who he saw. His eyes slowly widened. Could it be...?

"Blocky?!" Snap cried. He crushed to the cell. He kept his distance, not wanting to get hit by the water and electricity. He looked into the cell. "Is that you?" After a pause, he said, "Rapsheeba?"

There, laying in the middle of the cell, were Rapsheeba and Blocky. Snap was thankful that neither of them looked like they had been harmed too much during their stay here. But that wasn't completely comforting; that meant that more of Bardot's focus had been on Rudy and Penny, and their condition in that video...it made him shudder.

Still, it was great that he was able to find some of his friends in this hellhole. And even better that Rapsheeba and Blocky weren't more injured than they already were.

Rapsheeba was staring at him, her eyes wide in shock. Then, slowly, a smile spread across her face. She looked really happy to see him, and relieved. And Blocky...he was laying on the ground, moaning in pain. Rapsheeba was knelt down next to him, gently holding him in her arms. One of his eyes were open and looked in Snap's direction. He smiled the best he could and he waved a hand at him.

"I see you were able to get here." Rapsheeba said, smiling. "I knew you could do it."

Snap gave her a small smile. "Thanks, queenie." He looked down at Blocky. "How are you feeling?"

Blocky coughed a little in pain. "I've seen better days, that's for sure."

"Have you found Rudy and Penny yet?" Rapsheeba asked.

Snap frowned sadly and shook his head. "No I haven't." Snap looked around the cell, trying to find something. "Hold on, I'll have you guys out of there soon!"

Snap looked at the cell from top to bottom. Somewhere, he knew Bardot have to have installed a button. Somewhere out of reach for prisoners, but something easy for him to get to. Snap had a feeling Bardot would want the buttons to be easily accessible to him so he could quickly lock up zoners and humans in his cell. So it couldn't be too far away. Something close...

And there it was. It was located right in front of the cell, on the ground. Clever spot for it. Easy to reach, obviously. And there was no way a human or zoner could reach it. It was placed too far, and each cell had a water bar extremely close to the floor. No one could fit their hand through there. At least, no one he knew. He walked up to the button and he pressed down on it. In a blip kind of sound, the bars shut down.

Snap wasn't sure how safe it was for Blocky and Rapsheeba to wander around, but he had a feeling that, right now, Draow and Bardot would be more focused on him than on their prisoners. Snap figured that they believed they could always recapture them later. Right now, they were more interested in getting him. Snap was their 'prize' right now. So he could keep their focus on him. And he did have a score to settle with Draow and Bardot. He had said he was going to make them pay, and that is exactly what he intended to do.

Snap thought back to the adults. He still felt bad for leaving them there. Then he realized something. With him distracting Draow and Bardot, it could be possible that, now freed, Blocky and Rapsheeba could go free the adults. He wasn't sure if they could get them out of the place, but at least they couldn't be chained up anymore. He did have a brief worry that the parents would distrust Blocky and Rapsheeba, but considering Terry stood up for him back there, she may do the same for his two friends.

"Blocky, Raspheeba..." Snap said, looking at his friends.

The two of them took a step towards him. Blocky had a bit of trouble due to a damaged leg, but, compared to Snap, he was in pretty good shape. Rapsheeba was in even better shape. Snap had a feeling that, had he lost the game or waited much longer, they both would have wound up in the same condition as Rudy and Penny were currently in. The thought made him shudder.

Snap stood there for a moment, narrowing his eyes. Then he turned his head down the hallway he had just come. "Go down that way." He pointed with his hand. "And when you get to the end, make a right and go down that hallway. All the way to the end, and make another right. There are some other prisoners there. Go free them. Bardot and Draow will be too busy with me to really notice."

"Other prisoners?" Blocky asked. He looked at Rapsheeba nervously and then back at Snap. "Who are they?"

Snap paused for a moment. His expression softened up. "Rudy's parents...Penny's mom...and Terry Bouffant."

"What?!" Blocky and Rapsheeba's eyes went wide.

Rapsheeba stammered. "You mean..he got them too..?"

Snap nodded his head slowly. "Yeah. I don't know how exactly they found a way into ChalkZone. But that doesn't matter right now. What does matter is that they are trapped here too. And I think we can all be sure that Bardot and Draow will do horrible things to them if they are kept here too long. It is best to get them out. I want you two to free them and try to lead them outside of the temple."

Blocky and Rapsheeba looked at each other nervously. It was clear they weren't sure if this was a good idea or not. He couldn't blame them. Despite his assurances that they would be undetected, there was still that risk nonetheless. And they were both hurt. He wasn't sure how well they would be able to stand up to Draow or Bardot should they be found out.

Still, it was worth the try. At least right now, they had a chance of escape. And at the moment, the two monsters that caused all of this would be focused on him. They might be so focused on him that they wouldn't really by much mind to the other prisoners. If there was a security room, he doubted they would be in it. They would have seen he was coming and then taken position to wait for him. Or they would wait until the right time and then show up.

"Just trust me on this guys." Snap said, trying to reassure them. "Bardot and Draow...they want me right now. I'll make sure they don't try to go after you. I'm counting on you two to be able to do this. So please...go find those humans and get them out of that cell, okay?"

Although his friends still looked unsure, they slowly gave small smiles and nodded their heads. Snap smiled back. He knew he could count on them. "Thanks, guys."

With that, Blocky and Rapsheeba headed down the hallway. He watched as they got to the other end of the tunnel and made the turn like he told them to. He trusted that they would be able to reach the parents quickly and get them out. And hopefully, they could protect each other in case he made a miscalculation and Draow or Bardot did decide to go after them.

Now he had to focus on finding his friends. They were here somewhere. They just had to be here. But where? There was another tunnel he could go down, but it might not even be the right one. A thought crossed his mind. Something he felt he should have realized before. What if Rudy and Penny were being held somewhere else? What if looking down these hallways was useless and they were placed elsewhere in this forsaken place?

That was a possibility. After all, they were 'special guests' in Bardot's eyes. They were ransom, so to speak. He was using them as bait to lure him to this place. And with prisoners as 'special' as that, he had a feeling that he would keep them somewhere else, away from these cells.

Thinking back, Snap did recall seeing another tunnel back the way he came, sometime before this three way intersection. There was one hallway that kinda looked like it had rooms. From the angle he was at, it was hard to tell. It was worth looking though. It was a lot of walking back, and it might be a little hard to tredge with his walking stick, but he knew, in the end, it would most likely be worth it. If his friends were back there...

Snap headed back down that way. He came up to the three way intersection and then went up until he reached the higher level, appearing in the same tunnel he was in before. He continued to walk down, trying to take the directions he had before, going down tunnels he had already been to. So far, everything looked the same and he wasn't able to spot anything out of the ordinary. But he still pressed on. He couldn't give up on finding his friends. Not now.

But no matter where he walked, he still couldn't find any signs of other rooms. The tunnels looked like they were just pathways. He found no signs of any rooms, nor could he detect any sign of his friends. And he didn't have much time left to find them. He had to hurry. He kept walking down the tunnels, making turns based on memory.

Soon, his perserverence began to pay off. He found a section of tunnels he hadn't yet explored, and these looked like they had been used constantly. He could see claw marks in the ground. Big ones...Possibly from Draow. Yes, he must have been using these particular tunnels a lot. That may mean that Rudy and Penny were nearby. He knew he couldn't get his hopes up, though. But still...he was so close...he couldn't help but feel anxiety rise up inside of him. He might, finally, be reunited with his human friends.

Snap headed down a new tunnel. Claw marks everywhere... Definitely in heavy use by Draow. He headed down until the tunnel curved a little. Then he noticed openings in the tunnel walls. Openings that he assumed led into rooms. Yes, they were definitely rooms. Feeling his heart tense up, Snap slowed down his walking and started walking towards the first room.

He stood next to the entrance. He froze there, unsure of whether or not he wanted to look in. Seeing his friend in their horrible conditions was bad enough on the video. He didn't know how well he could handle it in real life. He swallowed hard, reminding himself that he needed to rescue them. He had to get them out of here...somehow...

Cautiously, Snap peered inside the room. And immediately, his eyes widened in horror at what he saw.

There, in the middle of the room, was Penny. He could see her injuries very clearly now. Her leg was horribly twisted, bone peaking out. A deep gash on her forehead that continued to bleed. Her shoulder was torn open and he could see more bone peaking out. Her collar bone had been shattered. He could see deep gashes in her broken leg. And those weren't even all of the injuries she had suffered.

Penny's eyes were barely open and she wasn't even looking at them. It looked like, at first, she was knocked out, but every so often, she would groan and try to move. She wouldn't get too far before she'd freeze in obvious pain. There was no way she was getting anywhere in her condition. Her hair, parts of it reddened by blood, covered a part of her face.

Snap stood there, frozen. His thoughts raced. He had finally done it. He had finally reunited with one of his human friends. Here she was, before him, in the flesh. And still alive. She was badly hurt, weak, and terrified, but still alive. Snap had always told himself, as he played these twisted 'games', that he would reunite with his friends. But a part of him taunted him, saying that he would fail in the end. It was such a huge wave of relief to know that, by the end of it all, he had made it.

Snap rushed over to Penny's side. He knelt down next to her and pushed his hand under her head. He lifted it up gently, causing her eyes to flutter open a little. She seemed to notice him, though her eyes were a tad unfocused. She stared at him in surprise, looking like she hardly believed what she saw.

"Hey Buckette..." Snap said in a soft whisper, smiling down at her. "I made it..."

"S-Snap...you're here..." Penny's voice was dry and scratchy. "You're really here.." She reached up and touched his cheek. Snap could feel, just from that, how weak she had gotten during her stay here. "We..we knew you would make it..."

"You did?" Snap asked, his eyes widening a little. "After all this time, you...?"

Penny smiled the best she could. She nodded her head once. "We never gave up on you.. We always knew you would come.."

Snap felt his eyes water. He felt a strong emotion well up inside of him. His friends...they really did believe in him. They counted on him all this time, and no matter how much pain their captors put them through, no matter what their captors threw at them, they never lost hope for him. The realization that Rudy and Penny had that much faith in him made Snap shake a little, but not from fear or pain, but from a strong positive emotion.

They believed in him. They truly, honestly, believed in him. He couldn't help but smile at this. A few tears streamed down his face. He wasn't going to let them down now. No way he could. He would see to it that they are saved. He would get them out of this, even if it meant letting out his last breath.

"I'll get you guys out of here..." Snap lifted Penny's head up a little more and pressed his face against hers in an attempt to comfort her. "I promise..."

Penny smiled weakly. "I know you will."

Snap smiled at this, feeling more tears filling up inside his eyes. He then looked up towards the door. He guessed Rudy would be in one of the rooms. He had to be nearby somewhere. He looked down at Penny. He really didn't want to leave her behind. He didn't want her to be alone. He had to take her with, but dragging her along, it would be risky. He would have to be very gentle.

Being very gentle, Snap slung Penny's least injured arm over his shoulder. Although he was hurt himself, he knew he had to do this. He had to take Penny with him. He ignored whatever pain he was feeling and, being as gentle as he could, dragged Penny with him. The arm he had chosen was on the same side as her injured leg. Using as much strength as he could, he lifted her up a little, making sure her leg didn't touch the ground all the way to avoid banging that leg while he took her with him.

Snap headed down the hallway. The process was slow, but it was important that he didn't hurt Penny further. He stopped for a moment when she let out a few cries of pain. He looked down at her worriedly, eyeing her up and down to try to find any new injuries. Then he would continue on, each time being more cautious than the last.

He walked past two rooms, both of which turned out to be empty. There was still another room up ahead. He hoped that this would be the one. Please, it had to be the one. He didn't know how long he could keep dragging Penny like this. She was badly hurt. He could be causing her more pain if he dragged her around too much like this. She needed a stretcher or something to get her out of here. Being dragged along the rocky ground, no matter how gentle, couldn't be doing her any good.

He came up to the last room and looked inside. He felt his heart both leap for joy and break in two. Rudy was in there all right, and he looked much worse than he did in the video. Now he could see the details of his injuries. Broken leg...broken arm...broken hand...twisted wrist...gashes everywhere... It was such a horrible sight. Snap couldn't stop the tears from flowing down his eyes.

Rudy was absolutely still. Well almost. Once in a while, there was a twitch in his hand, but that was it. Rudy almost looked...dead... A horrible flashback clashed in the back of Snap's mind. This was similar to how he had been during the Mr. Cosmo incident... So unresponsive, so still... And now Rudy was suffering from a similar fate...

"Rudy..." Snap whispered. Please...let him be okay... "Are you awake...?"

Rudy stirred a little. Snap gave a small smile, realizing that Rudy was still alive. He turned his head to the side, and opened his eyes a little. Rudy's eyes almost brightened at the sight of his blue friend. "Snap...you've made it..."

"Yeah, Rudy..." Snap smiled at his fallen friend. "I'm here now..."

Being as gentle as he could, Snap pulled Penny over towards Rudy. He laid her down next to Rudy, putting her as close as possible. He made sure to lay her on her back. He gently pushed Rudy, who was laying on his side, onto his back as well. This was to make it a little easier for them to breathe. They were so weak right now... being on their stomachs or their sides might hinder their breathing a little and that was the last thing they needed in their condition.

Snap looked down at Rudy. His lower lip quivered as he saw him in such a horrible state. Even worse than Penny... He gazed down at his injuries and his pale face. Just what had Draow and Bardot been doing to him and Penny? Those monsters... To inflict such harm on innocent children for no apparent reason... That was truly sickening.

Rudy hissed in pain. Snap felt his heart clench. Rudy looked up at Snap, his eyes wide in fear. "It was horrible Snap..." His voice was so course, so weak, reminding Snap so much of what he had gone through. "You...you wouldn't believe how..cruel these two can be... They were trying to break us.."

"And again and again, they'd hurt us. Just because they could." Penny said, tears flowing down her face. "They kept telling us how we were going to die." She bit her lip for a moment. "Time was...running out, and they kept reminding us of that. They wanted us to lose all hope."

"But we didn't." Rudy did his best to look up at Snap. His pain-filled eyes stared straight into him. "We never lost hope for you, Snap. That was one thing they could never change. No matter what they did to us...we never stopped believing in you... You're our best friend..."

"And you're my best friends too..." Snap whispered. He knelt down, positioning himself between his two friends. "I...I love you guys..."

A small smile came onto his friends' faces. Though they looked very tired, though it looked like they would lose consciousness any moment, they still remained awake. And he had a feeling..no he knew...it was because he was there. He had finally arrived, and his arrival gave them hope and strength. They knew, with him being there, they were going to be saved.

Penny said softly, "We love you too..."

At this, Snap took in a shaky breath, letting some tears stream down his face. His lips quivered. Unable to hold back, he started to cry as he put his arms around his friends, giving them both half hugs. He was careful to avoid their injuries, such as their damaged shoulders. He pulled them close enough to him so that the sides of their faces touched his.

"Don't worry you guys..." Snap said, his voice choked with emotion, shaking. "I'll get you out of here... Everything will be okay now.." He sniffled, the tears starting to sting his face. "It's going to be okay..."

A cold chuckle filled the room. Snap froze, a chill going up his spine. He felt his friends start to shiver and whimper a little. After what they had been through, they had every right to be afraid.

"I hope you can live up to your promise, Snap."

Snap felt anger rise up inside of him. He gently released Rudy and Penny. He looked down at them sympathetically. They were clearly frightened by this zoner that had just arrived. They had been tortured by him, as well as his comrade. They had been trapped here for days and subjected to horrific pain. Well now it was all going to end, here and now.

Snap narrowed his eyes as he turned around to face Draow, who stood in the entrance of the room. His tail swished back and forth. He licked his chops eagerly, clearly wanting to tear into Snap. He stared down at Snap, not paying much attention to Rudy or Penny. It was like, in this moment, Snap was the only one who mattered to him.

"I have been waiting for this moment..." Draow said, an evil smile spreading across his face. "I was getting a little bored torturing your friends. I wanted some fresh meat. And here you are." Snap snarled at him. "I must admit, I am surprised you made it all the way through. Perhaps Bardot was right not to underestimate you.."

"Well at least he did one thing right." Snap growled under his breath.

Draow narrowed his eyes and bared his teeth. "However that is as far as you are going to get. Your journey ends here, Snap. You are the one who took out my master's eye. Now it is time for you to get retribution. You will regret what you did."

Snap took a few steps towards Draow. This time, there was no going back. This time, there wasn't some dumb radio he used to communicate with. Now he was in the same room as one of these monsters. Now he could make them regret what they did. Now he could do something about what they did to Rudy and Penny.

Now, at last, he could take action.

"You will pay for doing this..." Snap growled under his breath. He took a fighting stance. Even though he was in pain, all that was on his mind right now was facing off against one of the monsters that caused his friends so much pain and agony. "You want me so bad? Come and get me..."

Draow gave a twisted smile, unfurling his wings a little. "Gladly..."

With that, the two rushed towards each other, preparing for the battle they both long waited for.