"Uhh...A?" Rudy asked.

Penny shook her head, in her hand a small card. "No, the answer was C."

"Oh man..." Rudy grumbled. He narrowed his eyes as he stared at the floor. "I'm never going to get this right!"

Penny looked at him sympathetically. "Oh don't be that way, Rudy. You just need some practice, that's all." She set the small stack of cards down. She reached for another pile, this one a little smaller. "Here, how about this? I'll use these much easier questions instead. Think that'll help?"

Rudy nodded his head weakly. "Yeah...sure...I suppose..."

Rudy felt embarrassed that he had forgotten about tomorrow's test. Mr. Wilter had reminded them every day for the past week. How could it have slipped through his mind? Now he was going to get another bad grade and disappoint his parents and Mr. Wilter. He had promised his teacher and his mother and father that he would try harder to get better grades. Mr. Wilter, despite being an ally now, could not just fake the grades for him; he had to earn them.

He wouldn't have wanted Wilter to make up the grades anyway. That would be fraud, and if Wilter were caught, he'd lose his teaching credentials and be fired, then they'd be stuck with a new teacher, and going into ChalkZone would become difficult. Plus, Rudy would rather earn the grades. Just having them given to him wouldn't feel very good. He wanted to feel like he accomplished something.

At first, he had tried going solo and tried to raise the grades on his own. He had a difficult time. He wasn't stupid by any means. But with all that was going on with ChalkZone, he found it hard to study on his own. So eventually, he went to Penny for help. Penny got among the highest grades in their class. Being a good friend, she agreed to help him in any way that she could.

With Penny's help, Rudy did see some improvement in his grades. They weren't much, but they were at least a little higher than before. Rudy did start feeling a little better about himself now that his grades were higher. He still wanted to continue improving, so at least once a week, he had Penny come over and help him with studying, whether it be just to make sure he understood everything or to prepare himself for a quiz or test the next day.

Chemistry was the one class he still had problems in. His grade was the lowest here. It had barely raised up from where it was before. Despite his difficulties, Penny still continued to willingly help him. She seemed to have a lot of patience, and she understood that chemistry was a difficult class. She herself sometimes had problems in it as well.

Rudy really wanted a passing grade for this test. He didn't want to flunk this class like he had last year. He was determined to get at least a C. He would be satisfied with a grade that low, so long as it wasn't a D or an F. He was grateful that Penny was so willing to help him with the test tomorrow, especially since, for him, it was short notice, all because he had forgotten about the test. With all that was going on lately, he couldn't really feel surprised that he forgot. Neither could Penny. She admitted that she almost forgot about the test several times. Hearing this made Rudy feel a little better. He wasn't the only one.

The flash cards did help. He still had to do some work himself. In his hands, he held a notebook and a pencil. And as Penny would ask the questions and give a list of answers, he would do the work if he had to and try to find the answer. He found that this method worked the best for him, so it was what he and Penny stuck with when studying chemistry.

Holding the notebook steady was a tad difficult with his weaker left hand. He still managed to pull it off; it just took a little longer to steady it. Turning the pages was harder, too, with his left hand. When he found it was too hard to grab the pages with his hand, he instead opted to push his fingers against the pages and turn them. But this was too problematic as well, resulting in him skipping a few pages. So he just used his right hand for that, since he still had complete control over it.

This was one of the few times where the weakness in his left hand became very noticeable. Seeing how weak his left hand got did upset Rudy, as before the incident with Cosmo, he would have no problem doing tasks like this. It was true that the damage could have been much worse and that he could still perform most tasks without problem. But sometimes, he was worried that his much weaker left hand was going to become a problem in the future. He hoped he was wrong.

When Rudy dropped his pencil and it rolled to his left side, reluctantly, he reached down with his left hand. He attempted to grab it. Unable to grip tightly due to loss of strength, the pencil kept slipping through his fingers. He grabbed it as tightly as he could, but that wasn't enough and the pencil still dropped to the ground.

Rudy growled under his breath. He stared angrily at his left hand, his eyes looking directly at the scar caused by Mr. Cosmo. Even long after his death, even if this hybrid zoner wasn't on the loose, Cosmo was still affecting him to this day. Cosmo still, in a way, had a grip on him, and this time, he wasn't going to let go.

"Rudy, do you want me to help?" Penny asked. She was looking at him with sympathetic eyes. Penny understood how much this bothered him at times, and she tried to be as supportive as she could.

Rudy shook his head. "No...no I got it." He tried his best not to sound rude. "I want to do this on my own..."

Rudy reached down for the pencil again. This time, instead of trying to grip it, he manuevered his fingers until they pushed underneath the pencil. He slowly lifted his left hand up. The pencil laid across his fingers. It took all of what was left of his finger movement to hold the pencil there. He slowly brought his left hand over and let the pencil fall onto his lap, where he immediately gripped it with his right hand.

The difference between holding the pencil in his right hand versus his left was astounding. It had always felt different, but not like this. Nowadays, it was like night and day. His left hand could barely grip the pencil, left alone be of any use to him if he needed to draw or right. But with his right, he could hold it firmly, tightly. He felt more confident with the pencil in his right hand, which was also his drawing hand. Ever since the damage in his left hand became permanent, Rudy had been more careful with his right, knowing that any injury to it would result in him becoming, for a time, defenseless in ChalkZone.

Then there was the chance that his right hand could also become permanently damaged...He shuddered at the thought. That was something he hoped would never happen. Especially with this crazed zoner on the loose. When he was up against Cosmo, most of the time he didn't have any ability to use magic chalk. He was going to make sure that they didn't have to suffer through that again. He was going to make sure that, this time, the magic chalk will help them right from the get go.

During the next hour, Penny helped him more with studying for the chemistry test. The new questions she chose were a little easier for him to figure out, but he was still having a hard time. He did manage to get more questions right, at least, and he felt his confidence slowly rising.

Eventually, he wanted Penny to raise the difficulty of the questions. Once he got the easier ones down and once they were more understandable to him, he wanted to try his hand at harder questions. He needed to prepare himself, and he would not be able to do that if he only answered the easiest questions. He had to challenge himself. He had to prepare the best that he could for this test. The more times he kept facing these tougher questions Penny would give him, the easier it would become to answer them.

The questions were becoming a little easier to handle now. He was getting more and more right. It was still not enough to get a higher grade than C, but it was better than nothing. He was feeling even better now, since he was becoming more and more prepared for the test. He was glad that Penny was able to come over to help him on such short notice. Without her, he would have definitely have flunked this test.

After an extra twenty minutes of studying, the two decided to stop. Their heads were starting to hurt from all that studying and they wanted to relax a little. They had put in a lot of work, so they did deserve a break.

Rudy smacked his lips together. He was feeling a little parched. He turned to Penny. "I'm going to get something to drink. Do you want to come with?"

Penny got up from the floor. She nodded her head. "Yeah. My throat's feeling a little dry."

The two sixteen year olds left his bedroom and headed down the stairs. They headed into the kitchen. Rudy opened up the cabinet and grabbed two glasses. He filled them both with water. He put some ice cubes in them both. He handed one to Penny.

Drinking the water did help their throats feel better. They started to walk back towards the stairs when Rudy noticed his parents sitting on the couch. He hadn't noticed them there before. He wondered why they didn't say anything. But then, looking at their eyes, he realized that they were too fixated on what was on TV. He smiled a little. They must be watching one of their favorite old shows or something. Or maybe his dad finally convinced his mom to watch a show about meat with him.

But his theory was proven wrong when he heard Penny gasp and grab his arm.

"R-Rudy...look..." Penny pointed at the television.

When Rudy looked, he realized it wasn't some old show. It wasn't a cartoon or sports. Instead, it was the news. The words 'breaking news' flashed across the screen, moving at a pace that was clearly trying to draw attention. On the screen was Terry, only this time, it was clear what she had to say had nothing to do with ChalkZone. And the look on her face...it was fear... What had happened?

"This is Terry Bouffant standing outside the home of Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Twenty-four hours ago, their 10 year old child, Jerry, had gone missing. The only thing that was left behind was bloodstains, but no signs of a struggle or any clues as to where he was taken could be found."

Rudy and Penny gasped in horror. A child had gone missing? They hadn't known about that. They weren't paying attention to the news. And watching this, they realized they should have been listening.

And nothing found other than blood stains? That was creepy. It was like the attacker knew what he was doing, and how to leave little to no evidence behind. They didn't know Jerry, but they feared the worst for him. And they hoped that, against the odds, he would be found, alive and okay. They felt awful for the parents too. What a terrible thing for mothers and fathers to go through...

"To make matters more serious, this isn't the first time this has happened." Terry said, her voice filled with solemn and alarm.

Rudy flinched, not used to hearing Terry speak this way. And the warning tone in her voice... His heart started to hurt, anticipating what she was going to say next.

"I don't like this, Rudy..." Penny whispered as she grabbed his arm. "I wonder what is going on..."

"Maybe Terry will say something." Rudy said as he kept his eyes on the screen.

As he looked over, he could see his parents expressions had gone quickly from curiosity to outright horror. They looked at him briefly, their eyes wide in fear, before looking back at the television. Hearing that someone lost their child to something unseen, something dangerous, something mysterious, was clearly upsetting them, for they were also parents.

"There have been multiple reports of people going missing. Jerry is the fifth victim. In this past week, four other victims have also been claimed. Rosie Williams, age 14, vanished four days ago. Teddy Bosco, only 5, disappeared three days ago. And two days ago, two victims vanished. Dean Rogers, age 16, and later on the same day, Andrew Sanchez, age 40, had gone missing. All under the same circumstances, with little clues left behind besides blood."

The last name sent cold shivers down Rudy's spine. He felt his friend's hand gripping him tighter. He looked over at Penny. Her body was shaking. Her eyes were wide in disbelief and fear. That last name...it had been her father...

Although Mr. Sanchez had been trying to reconnect with his daughter, he hadn't gotten back together with his ex-wife. They had gone their separate ways, but even his wife agreed that it was best that Penny not have any bitter thoughts about her father. So he had tried his best to spend some time with Penny. Sometimes it felt a little awkward as Penny was used to interacting with just one parent. But she still enjoyed the time she spent with her dad.

He remembered her briefly mentioning that his mom hadn't seen him, but she didn't think it was anything too serious. After all, her dad was quite busy and, though he moved back into town, he lived on the other side and his life was tangled with his job. He wasn't a terrible father, though, and he still tried to make a little bit of time for Penny. He even got her some very nice Christmas presents last year.

Neither he nor Penny would ever have imagined something bad happened to him. That was the last thing that was on their minds.

But now...hearing Terry's words, they realized how horribly wrong they were. Something bad did happen, and Penny's father hadn't been the only victim. Rudy wondered at first why this wasn't mentioned before, but he realized, wanting to mentally slap himself, that him and Penny not paying attention to the news is why this sounded so shocking.

His parents might have said something to him, but he had been so focused on ChalkZone, he must not have noticed. And the only reason Mr. Wilter didn't say anything was because he wasn't allowed to bring in real world news into the class; only teach, and it wasn't like they had a ton of time to talk to the man. And during lunch, when the news was on, he and Penny would be focused on each other, talking about ChalkZone and their next move they should make, or even about upcoming tests, paying little to no attention to the tv screen.

Now, more than ever, Rudy wished they had been paying attention. He looked at Penny. Tears had filled her eyes. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a hug. He hated seeing her like this. Knowing that multiple people disappeared was bad enough. But the fact that her own dad was gone too... He could tell how hard she was taking this.

And just when he thought it couldn't get any worse, Terry delivered the next message, her voice raised a little to emphasize her words.

"The mayor of Plainsville has issued a dire warning. Because all of the disappearances happened right here in Plainsville, the mayor strongly urges the residents of this town to keep their doors and windows shut and locked at all times. If anyone has any information on this attacker, contact the mayor. The mayor is doing all he can to try to stop this menace. And until the culprit is captured, he urges everyone to be very careful."

The news that this has been happening right in town...all the disappearances were hear...it sent ice through Rudy's veins. Without thinking, he held onto his friend tighter. He looked over at his parents, and they looked just as spooked as he did. Five disappearances in a few days...all under the same circumstances...

Rudy suddenly felt very unsafe. He felt vulnerable, like the walls were closing in all around him. His heart was racing, beating against his chest. The room had gotten so quiet that he heard the heartbeats from everyone else in the room. No one spoke. Everyone was quiet, staring at each other in complete and utter horror. And suddenly, everything seemed so much darker to Rudy.

He realized how late it was. It had gotten dark out. Knowing that a kidnapper was on the loose, he wasn't sure if Penny would feel safe going out tonight, even if her mother was supposed to be picking her up. He looked down at her and said, "Do you...want to stay over here for tonight?"

Penny, trembling from the shock of the news, meakly nodded her head. "Y-Yeah...if that's okay with your parents..."

Rudy turned his head to his parents. "Mom, dad, can she...?"

Mrs. Tabootie immediately answered, her voice filled with anxiety. "Yes, of course she can!"

Mr. Tabootie nodded his head in agreement. "I think it would be for the best. It is dark out." His body shook a little, making it clear that the news had spooked him.

Rudy smiled, grateful for his parents' understanding. "Thanks."

sss

A few hours had passed since they got the news of what happened. Although it was well passed the time Penny usually slept, she found it hard to close her eyes. The news of her father's disappearance froze her heart, filling her with dread. She had no idea something bad had been going on recently, and judging from Rudy's reaction, neither did he.

She was happy that his parents decided to let her stay. It was a little harder convincing her mother. Mrs. Sanchez had gotten word of what had happened, and she immediately wanted Penny to come home. It took about ten minutes of talk before Penny finally got her mom to agree to let her stay. She promised she would come home immediately tomorrow.

Rudy had brought out sleeping bags for them to use. They were both frightened by the news and they didn't want to sleep apart. His bed was a little too small for the two of them. Maybe as 10 year olds, it would have worked a little. But not as 16 year olds.

He rolled out the sleeping bags on the ground. He crawled into his while Penny did the same with hers. In an attempt to comfort Penny, Rudy had placed his arm over her and gently pulled her close. While Penny still felt scared by what was going on, she did feel safer with Rudy.

Penny bit her lip. She looked over at Rudy, nudging him gently. When she got his attention, she said, "Do you...think my dad is okay?"

Rudy winced slightly. This didn't comfort Penny at all. "I..am sure he is okay... We'll find him." He said in the most reassuring voice he could muster.

Penny had a horrible thought. "What if this...hybrid zoner is behind this?"

Rudy said, "If he is...we'll make him pay... We'll stop him and save the people he had kidnapped. Don't worry, Penny."

Penny wanted to feel reassured by this. But though she smiled and acted like she was satisfied, she couldn't fight back the dread welling up inside of her. She couldn't shake the feeling that something terrible was going to befall her father, and perhaps...herself. She couldn't ignore the fear that was taking a hold of her.

She did manage to get herself to lay down. She did finally manage to make herself close her eyes. She tried her best to relax. Knowing Rudy was right in front of her helped her calm down a little. And all the doors and windows had been locked, via the mayor's orders. She knew that she was safe. If anyone tried to get in, they would know.

But as she started to doze off, she failed to hear the sound of a door being forced open. She didn't hear the creak of the stairs as something went up them, slowly, deliberately. She didn't hear open up slowly. She hear the individual creep up slowly upon her and her friend.

It wasn't until she felt something brush up against her leg that she took notice that someone else was in the room. Thinking it was just Mr. or Mrs. Tabootie checking on her and Rudy, she picked up her glasses and looked up to greet them...

...only to find herself staring at an all too familiar enemy.

"Y-You..."

"Shhh...don't wanna wake anyone, now do we...?"

As a large shadow covered the two teenagers, Penny moved backwards, her eyes wide in horror. She tried to let out a scream, but she was immediately silenced as the intruder lunged forward.

And where she once stood, a small puddle of blood formed.