Snap stared up in horror at Bardot, his eyes focused on the fangs above him. His body shook from fear and pain. He tried to move, but he found that he was unable to. Most of his strength was gone now. He could only just lay there and wait for Bardot to bite down on him.
Despite Bardot's talk of not holding back, he was taking his time. He was clearly savoring this moment. He just stood there, showing his fangs to the frightened and injured zoner. He knew he had won this fight. He knew Snap could no longer fight back. There was no need to speed things up anymore. And his venom would make short work of him. He could hold Snap down for a little while longer before he decided to bite. The anticipation of the bite was killing Snap. He was mentally tormented by the fact that he knew he would be bitten, but how long he had left, he wasn't sure.
His body ached all over. His breathing got worse. Even just trying to move a limb a centimeter seemed impossible. He was frozen, both from the pain and from fear. He stared up at Bardot, his lower lip quivering. Tears flowed down his face. He couldn't believe this was it. He couldn't believe that, after all this, after how hard he had tried...he had ultimately failed...
He really hadn't stood much of a chance. He should have known, once he got here, that there was no way he was going to win. He was already badly hurt when he arrived. Draow really beat him up during their battle. And Bardot...he was faster than he was. He was lucky to have gotten any hits on this guy at all. And he was the one in charge here. Draow answered to Bardot. Out of the two, Bardot was the worst one, the most vicious enemy of all. If he could control Draow, who was dangerous himself, Snap should have known he had bitten off more than he could chew.
Snap looked over at Draow, who laid on the ground close by. It was hard for him to believe that, just a short time ago, he had been struggling against that guy. It was shocking for him to realize that, despite how hard Draow was to defeat, he had been pretty easy compared to Bardot. Draow was larger and stronger, and he won against him. But now he was up against Bardot, who was faster and had potent venom he could use at any time.
And he knew, in a matter of seconds, that venom was going to be injected into his body. And there was nothing he could do about it. He couldn't even move now. He was too weak, too wracked with agony and pain, to do anything except watch as Bardot his head a little closer to him, letting him get a good look at his fangs.
Staring into Bardot's eyes filled with insanity, Snap felt his life flash before his eyes. Memories, both good and bad, both dreadful and pleasant, flooded his mind. He could see the time he and Rudy first met, when they first encountered Biclops, when he and Penny first met, all their various adventures, including dealing with Skrawl before he changed, finding Barney, trying to stop Vinnie and Terry, and the memories just kept coming.
More memories came into his mind as his brain kept flashing them. He remembered how he and Rudy helped to save Christmas in ChalkZone when the Santas were all injured. He remembered the type when a large taffy was swallowing up parts of ChalkZone and Penny managed to save them all. He could recall the time when Skrawl and Craniac 4 released a robotic Rudy to destroy the Chalk Mine. He remembered meeting Queen Rapsheeba for the first time, dealing with Jacko twice, stopping Boorat from exposing ChalkZone...
It was hard to believe that those adventures were over. It was hard for him to accept that this really was the end. Despite all he had gone through over the years, despite all the dangers he managed to survive, he was going to die in this cave by the teeth of this deranged zoner. And it wasn't just him.
Rudy and Penny...they were going to die, too. Snap looked at them, his eyes watering. He couldn't believe that he had let them down. He promised he was going to save them. But in the end, he had lost. He tried as hard as he could. He moved as fast as he could. He fought as hard as he could. But his struggles were all in vain. Rudy and Penny were going to die. And there was nothing he could do about it.
He stared at their prone forms. They were still unconscious. They hadn't moved, not even a twitch of the finger. They looked so...so lifeless like that. Snap silently begged for them to show some signs of life. He begged for one of them to say something, anything. He took in shaky breaths as he could hear their voices in his head. Thoughts of the conversations they had together, no matter how trivial or stupid the subject, echoed in his mind. The more he listened to them, the more depressed he got, knowing he was never going to hear those voices again.
He knew their time was almost up. He guessed that Rudy and Penny only had maybe half an hour left now. He couldn't tell. He didn't have a watch and he wasn't able to tell time. He wasn't about to ask Bardot. He would rub it in his face. The last thing he needed right now is another verbal abuse round from this evil zoner. Tears flowed down his face, the full weight of his failure come crashing down.
This was it. This really was it. There was no escaping. There was nothing he could do. He stared up at Bardot. He watched as his evil smile spread across his face. He could see the venom drop on the tip of his fangs. He knew that it was going to go straight into his body. And this time, he wasn't going to be able to stop it. He wasn't going to be able to pull that tail trick again. Bardot would see to it that it won't work a second time around.
He looked back over at Rudy and Penny. His lower lip quivered a little harder. He felt ashamed. He couldn't believe that he had failed them. Now they were going to die and it was because he wasn't able to stop Bardot. He had tried his best. However, his best just wasn't good enough. All his determination and hope..they hadn't been able to save them, or himself, in the long run.
"I-I'm sorry Rudy..." Snap whispered in a weak, faint voice. "I'm sorry Penny.. I'm so sorry I couldn't save you guys..." He shed a few tears as he stared at their limp forms. He knew that was the last time he was going to see them. This was the last look he was going to be allowed.
"How touching..." Bardot said cruelly. "Now that you've said your last words...Let's get this over with."
Snap's heart pounded as he looked up at Bardot. He was staring straight at his death. Reminders of Cosmo came back, when he had placed that vinegar where he could clearly see it. Now he was in the same situation. Standing above him was the zoner that was going to kill him. Dripping from his fangs was the venom that was going to kill him. He wanted to desperately to look away, but found himself unable to. Those eyes...he couldn't tear himself away from them.
He could see the muscles in Bardot's jaws tightening a little. He could see the tension building up in the neck. Bardot was preparing for a strike, much like a snake. His neck was pulled back, the tension clearly going towards the strength of the blow. Unable to speak, Snap just whimpered, staring into the jaws of death.
He did try again to move. He tried to do something. He tried to hit Bardot. But any time he moved, he was wracked in pain. He had to remain still, otherwise he would be in so much pain. More strength left him, making it even harder for him to move. Even the act of turning his head was impossible. He was unable to look away from Bardot even if he wanted to. He was forced to stare up at him as he got closer with this fangs, preparing to strike him.
Snap let his eyes closed. He whimpered softly as he waited for the final blow. He waited for his death to arrive. As he did, failure kept flashing in his head, hovering over him like a cloud. It taunted him, told him how he failed to keep his promise. He did nothing to fight back. At this point, it was too late for that.
He had no choice but to give up. His determination had come to an end. He couldn't move. He couldn't escape now. All he could do was just wait for the blow, and wait to die.
Then he heard something. A muttering sound. It was faint, but it was there. Using whatever strength he had left, Snap turned his head to the side. He looked over at his friends. His eyes wided slightly.
Penny was still unconscious, laying still as stone, minus her breathing. But Rudy...he was a different story. He had shifted a little, now laying on his stomach. His head was raised up, but just barely. His eyes stared at him. His breaths were shaky and weak. It was obvious it took what little strength he had to even hold himself up like that. His body shook a few times from the pain he was in.
For a few moments, Snap and Rudy stared at each other. Snap could see the fear in Rudy's eyes. The boy tried to say something, but he was too weak to talk. His eyes, so full of fear, bored through Snap's eyes. He could see just how frightened he was. Rudy saw Snap was in danger, and he looked absolutely horrified. He lifted up his uninjured arm and tried to crawl over. He immediately collapsed and cried in pain. Tears of pain flowed down his face as he stared at Snap, his eyes silently crying out 'No'.
Staring at Rudy like this filled Snap with intense emotion. His stomach twisted in knots. He started to cry himself. The knowledge that this was the last thing Rudy was going to see of him..knowing that this is was the last thing he would see Rudy do, it was heartbreaking. He wished there was something he could do. He wanted so much to comfort Rudy. But what could he say?
He had lost..
Snap's heart ached when he saw Rudy try to stand up. Snap knew, with his broken leg, that wasn't going to work. As soon as Rudy put even the slightest pressure on his leg, he'd cry out in pain and fall back down. Rudy soon gave up and stared at Snap with a look of hopelessness and denial. He clearly didn't want this to be the end. Neither did Snap. He wanted to do something to get free. He was too weak to move much.
Something clicked with Snap. The way Rudy was on the ground in agony, it reminded him of something all too well. It brought him back to when he was a prisoner of Mr. Cosmo. He remembered Rudy being brought in to the room with his cell. Snap was laying on the ground, staring at Rudy with that same expression the boy has on right now. Snap had looked so hopeless, so scared and frightened. Now Rudy was in the same posture.
Snap recalled how desperately Rudy tried to save him. He remembered how hard he and Penny tried to keep him safe. He himself wasn't sure if they were going to make it. He had been so scared..so terrified... There had been no telling if he was going to get out of there or not.
But his friends...they never quit. They never gave up on him. They continued to try to save him. And against all odds, they had done it. They got him out of that horrific nightmare, and they helped him recover. It was a long, painful recovery, but he still pulled through.
The look in Rudy's eyes reminded Snap what he himself had been through. He had been that scared before. He had been in that much pain before. He knew what it felt like to be tortured. He had never wanted them to suffer the way he had. And the knowledge that he had been through what they are now made Snap realize one thing.
He..he couldn't give up. It seemed hopeless now, but he just couldn't quit. He couldn't just lay here and let Bardot win. His friends needed him now more than ever. He was their last hope. They never quit on him. He was not going to do the same to them. They had continued to fight for him. So will he. Despite his injuries, he would keep fighting for them. He was going to save them. He was going to defeat Bardot. And there was nothing that could be done to him to make him stop. Only death would make him stop.
And he wasn't about to let that happen. Not now...
Snap felt adrenaline start pumping through his body again. The pain was still there, but now it was turning into energy. The pain served as a reminder of what he had gone through with Mr. Cosmo. It served to increase his determination to ensure they wouldn't have to keep suffering like that. The pain reminded him of what his friends had gone through to save him from Mr. Cosmo. It reminded him of the strong friendship that they shared together. It reminded him that, no matter what, they don't give up on helping each other.
Snap was not going down that easily. Slowly, he felt his strength returning. The adrenaline that spread through his body gave energy back to his limbs. Bardot growled at this. He pulled his head back and struck down. Snap's eyes widened suddenly. And what happened next was nothing short of a miracle.
Bardot moved his head fast, striking down towards Snap. He opened his jaws a little wider. Suddenly, Snap shot his hands out faster than what seemed possible given his condition. Snap's hands gripped the front of Bardot's jaws, one on his lower one, and one on his top. And he managed to stop Bardot from moving any closer. Bardot's eyes widened in surprise. He tried to push harder, tried to get close enough to bite. But Snap wasn't budging.
The blue zoner started to push back. Slowly, little by little, he pushed Bardot's head away from him. No matter how much Bardot tried to bite him, he couldn't get any closer. Snap then started to close his mouth. Despite Bardot's attempts, he couldn't stop Snap from shutting his jaws together and keeping them closed. Still gripping on him, Snap pushed back even further, forcing Bardot to move one leg off of him.
Then, still holding onto Bardot's muzzle, Snap lifted him up off the ground. Not a great distance, but enough so he could flip him onto his back. He slammed Bardot into the ground, still holding onto his mouth. He held him there for a few seconds before he released him.
Snap moved back. Moving still hurt him. He was still feeling really weak. The adrenaline, he knew, wasn't going to last long. But now he didn't have just adrenaline to help him. He had Rudy. Him being awake and watching him gave Snap the strength he needed to continue fighting. He was going to keep fighting back. And Penny...he wasn't going to let her suffer either. He still had some fight left to go against Bardot.
He stood there, shaking in pain, as he glared hatefully at Bardot. The yellow zoner got up to his feet and shook his head. He stared over at Snap, his eyes widened in absolute shock. He panted heavily and kept his paw raised above the ground, his ears and crest perked up.
"I..I don't believe it..." Bardot breathed. "Y-You stood up... You managed to get me off... You were on your deathbed. And you still managed to get up..."
Snap took a wobbly step forward, wincing at the pain. "I-I...told you...I wasn't...g-giving up... I will not...stop fighting you..you c-can't...keep me down..." It was difficult to speak with one functioning lung. "Y-You...cannot stop me..."
Snap took notice of the walls and ground. Some areas had cracked open a little. And where he had slammed Bardot into, there was a chip that went away, showing that parts of this cave were actually fake. Wood was exposed underneath. And, when he continued to stare, he saw a glint of blue.
The blue chalk...
He turned his attention back to Bardot. He acted like he didn't see anything. He couldn't let the evil zoner know he saw the blue chalk. He would need some way to get to it without looking suspicious.
"N-No matter what...you throw at me...I will still come back... I-I am going to b-be the one...to..defeat you...Bardot..." With that, he took another agonizing step forward. Bardot took a step back, still staring at him in shock. It was clear he did not expect Snap to be able to get up after all he had been through. "P-Prepare Bardot... This fight has...just gotten started..."
Snap took a few steps forward. They were very painful to take, but the adrenaline and the will to save his friends helped him endure the pain a little better. He kept pushing himself, forcing his body to move forward. He was not done fighting. Not yet.
Bardot took a few more steps back. For the first time, Bardot was looking at him in absolute fear. Eyes wide, ears folded back, Bardot put some distance between him and Snap. He shook his head from side to side in denial. Snap could have sworn he could see him shivering a little. Barely noticeable, but it was still there.
"N-No...it's not possible... Y-You shouldn't be able to stand..." Bardot said, continuing to shake his head. "Y-You really are the unkillable..." He whispered in a soft voice mixed with horror and realization.
"Come on...Bardot..." Snap said. He raised a hand and gestured to the yellow zoner. "Let's...finish our fight.."
Bardot stared at Snap in horror and fear for a moment. Slowly he narrowed his eyes and bared his teeth. He took a fighting stance. In a matter of seconds, the duel was going to resume. But this time, something has changed.
This time, it was Bardot who was on the defensive.
sss
Skrawl felt stupid wearing this thing. A metal band went around his waste. With the push of a button, a polymorph shield went over his body. It looked pretty stupid to him. Although he could still walk just fine, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was going to run into something. The whole thing felt awkward to wear, and he didn't like the chuckles he was getting from the other wardens.
He wasn't the only one wearing them. Five of his Beanie Boys were also wearing them. They didn't seem to mind it so much. They looked pretty happy to wear them, saying how pretty they were, with all the different colors that they shimmered.
The jellybean wasn't sure at first if this was going to work. When Barney told him about these devices and where to find them, he wasn't sure what to expect. But polymorph shields wasn't what he thought they would be. He had doubts that they were even going to be effective. Barney had assured him that they would do the trick. Although Barney had a wealth of knowledge and likely knew more than he did, Skrawl still wanted to test it out to make sure.
So he put these things to the test a while ago. He temporarily turned off the EMP pulser and put up a new working camera. He walked in front of it a few times, doing a few different gestures so that the camera would catch his movement. Then he turned to check the security footage. Sure enough, he wasn't on the camera anywhere, no matter how far back he rewound. Satisfied, he turned the EMP pulser back on, letting it do its job at frying any nano cameras that dared to infiltrate his facility.
The polymorph shields worked by reflecting light away, hence the rainbowy effect, preventing the cameras from capturing them and rendering them invisible to them. It still looked stupid, but invisible, it should be easy for Skrawl and his Beanie Boys to find Draow and Bardot's hideout.
The hideout, from what Barney said, was located in the Mumbo Jumbo Jungle. Skrawl had been right. Barney was taken there once. Barney was unable to describe the physical look of the place because he had been blind at the time. But he could give other details, such as how far into the jungle it was, the fact that it was in a clearing, and that it was in some kind of cave. It wasn't a lot of details, and Barney had only been there once, so he wasn't able to gather more details that could be useful. Skrawl thanked him for the information nonetheless and offered a quick apology for pushing him too hard.
King Mumbo Jumbo was glad that he was going. The tortoise wasn't very happy with him. Skrawl would talk to the tortoise later to settle things. Right now, he had to find Draow and Bardot's hideout. He knew there wasn't a whole lot of time left.
"Beanie Boys! Bring me my chair!" Skrawl demanded, cupping a hand to his mouth.
Seconds later, he saw the five Beanie Boys he had chosen for this important mission come towards him. They held his chair in their hands. It had a polymorph shield on it as well. It was activated, allowing him to see the blocky projections quite easily. Skrawl shook his head. It looked even more ridiculous than he imagined.
"Beanie Boys! Beanie Boys! We're the boys that Skrawl employs!" The Beanie Boys sang as they approached Skrawl.
"Will you please stop saying that?" Skrawl groaned, rubbing his forehead.
"Sorry sir. We couldn't help it." One of the Beanie Boys said.
Another nodded. "It's hard changing the habit."
"Nevermind that for now." Skrawl said. The bumble boys lowered the chair and Skrawl got into it. He raised a hand, gesturing for them to lift him up. "Come on! We've got to get to the Mumbo Jumbo Jungle stat!"
With that, the Beanie Boys lifted the chair into the air. Holding on tightly, they started to carry Skrawl in the direction of the jungle. They moved as quickly as they could.