"King Bob, sir?" TJ asked, smiling nervously as he and his friends knelt before their mighty king.
"Hm. Freckled, round boy and his friends have approached my presence." He thought to himself. "You there!" He pointed at TJ. "Why have you disturbed my peace?"
"If it wouldn't be too much trouble, your majesty, we are in desperate need of your assistance." Gretchen clasped her hands together.
"My assistance, eh?" King Bob rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well, I AM good at assisting those less-worthy of me. Very well. State your predicament."
"Well, sir, Randall isn't in school today." TJ stood up.
King Bob just looked at him. "And?"
"Well, we were hoping you might know where he is." Gus explained.
"That's it? You 6 dare come to me asking about a boy who hasn't come to school today? Have you no shame?"
"Look, Bob, I ain't in the mood for this." Spinelli glowered. "Randall's the most snitchiest snitch on the playground."
"Yeah," Vince said. "Doesn't it worry you just a little bit that he might be up to something?"
"He could be planning to overthrow you, your Bob-liness!" Gus said.
Bob paused for a moment to process this. "Let me get this straight. You all come to me because you're worried about a snitch who might be planning something dastardly JUST because he's not in school today?"
"Well, yeah," TJ stated. "Aren't you a little worried? I mean, he works with The Finster."
"Finster or no Finster, Monkey Boy Detweiler." Bob waved his hand. "That Rodney is no threat to my kingliness."
"It's Randall, sir," Mikey said.
"Large one! Did I allow your mouth hole to spew words?" Kind Bob thrust a finger at Mikey.
"Uhh…"
"I most certainly did not. Now please—go away from me. I have much of nothing to catch up on."
"But, King Bob!" TJ cried. "Sir! We need your help. Randall might be-"
"I do not care to associate myself with Randall's business." King Bob closed his eyes. "Now leave."
"Fine then!" TJ said angrily. "Come on guys. This womps." He and the others made their way down Old Rusty, still empty handed.
"Well, THAT got us nowhere." Gus sighed.
"I concur. It appears that King Bob is far too superior to deal with our infantile issues." Gretchen said.
"English please?" Spinelli asked, annoyed.
"She means that he doesn't want to help us." TJ said flatly. "Come on guys! Think. This is just like Randall. Skip a day of school to plan a huge snitch. He could have us bugged right now!"
"This is bad," Vince said. "Being bugged without knowing it!"
"Wait," Gus piped up. "Wouldn't Randall have come out here by now if this was all a trap?"
"Hm. You're right, Gus." TJ rubbed his chin. "Why HASN'T he come out from wherever he's hiding yet?"
"It's probably all part of the weasel's plan to get us in to even MORE trouble!" Spinelli growled.
"Spinelli could be right," Mikey said. "He might be waiting for us to do something even worse than taking the ball without his permission."
"Thereby getting us into MORE trouble!" Gus exclaimed.
"Argh, this totally womps!" TJ groaned as he threw his hat on the ground. "Randall; what a snitch. YOU HEAR ME, RANDALL? WE AIN'T SCARED OF YOU OR WHATEVER YOU'RE PLANNING."
"Wait a minute, TJ," Gretchen said pulling Galileo out of her pocket. "We may not be out of luck just yet. There's still one more person whom we haven't gone to for answers."
"And who would that be, Smart One?" Spinelli gestured to the playground. "We asked everyone, and even the KING won't help us."
"Ah, but all is not lost," Gretchen said. "Who do we know who is always near Randall? Who he talks to the most; who he runs to day after day with countless—"
"MISS FINSTER!" TJ suddenly shouted. "Of course, Gretchen. Let's go to Miss Finster. She should know. I mean, heck! They're like best friends."
"Talking…to The Finster?" Vince asked. "TJ, is your skull dented?"
"Yeah, I'm scared when she talks to ME. What makes you think talking to HER would be any easier?" Gus said.
"Guys, shut up a second!" TJ said. "Look, Finster's the only one who knows everything that Randall's up to. It's worth a shot."
"She won't tell us," Mikey told them. "She practically hates us!"
"Not true, Mike." TJ smiled. "She just, you know, has issues."
"Well…come on. Recess is almost over, and we need to find out what Randall's up to before this gets out of hand." Vince led the way inside the building. They were off to see The Finster.
Well, Ch.2 is done! Hope you liked it Read and review please, because Ch. 3 is on the way!