Rudy stared down at his injured toe. The bleeding had stopped, thankfully, and the wound didn't appear too deep. He was about to grab his magic chalk to draw something until he remembered he was still in the real world. Frowning, he looked around the room to find an alternative. The only thing was a small box of tissues and some clear scottish tape. Oh well, it'd have to do.

Knowing Skrawl would not be of any help and knowing there was little time before Mr. Cosmo would come in, Rudy limped over to grab the items. Walking on the foot was a tad difficult and he took great care to keep the big toe off the ground. After he got what he needed, he sat back down on the nearest chair and began to dress his small but very painful wound.

Looking at his toe, the tip of it looked flat, as if it had been sliced off. It didn't feel like any bone was effected, so that was good. He still didn't understand how this could have happened, though. It happened as soon as Skrawl's toe was partially erased. Comparing the two in his mind, Rudy noted that, taking body size into account, the wound was on the same toe and the same size as both of them. And Skrawl's previous reaction when he touched his own toe confirmed what he said before.

Somehow, someway, they were able to feel each other's pain. This frightened Rudy. How could it have happened? And when did it start? Clearly it had to have been sometime after they came into this room together. Did the portal have something to do with it? No, it couldn't have been. He'd been through a portal at the same time as Penny or Snap a good number of times over the years. And never once did such an issue arise.

There was a thought he had, and it wasn't a very pleasant one. It was that Mr. Cosmo had something to do with it. There were many different types of chalk, many with their own powers. He shuddered at the thought of red chalk, and how each drawing it created was like the fires of the underworld in the form of a red-tinted beast. No matter what it was, even as simple as a ball or line, beings made out of red chalk were dangerous and hostile towards anyone, even, at times, each other.

Could Mr. Cosmo had gotten a hold of some special chalk that had an effect he never heard of before? But that would require an extensive knowledge of ChalkZone, or at least enough to know about magic chalk and where the Chalk Mine was. No, that couldn't be the reason. It was impossible. Not even Terry and Vinnie figured that much out on their own.

Yet...he couldn't think of anything else. His eyes moved towards the box what read White Lightning. Could he really believe Mr. Cosmo gave him the real White Lightning? Could the chalk, despite still being white, be something else? It sounded way too farfetched. It still wouldn't leave his mind. If Mr. Cosmo did know a lot more than he was letting on...then...that would mean...

"How did you hurt your toe?" Skrawl said, breaking the silence. The large jellybean had moved towards Rudy, his odd-eyes staring at the now bandaged toe. He seemed to notice the flat tip as well. "It looks like you cut off part of your own toe."

Rudy, gingerly, pulled his sock back on. He was relieved that there wasn't a sting this time. "I don't know what happened, Skrawl, but somehow, you and I are connected."

Skrawl's eyes widened. "What? Are you sure?"

Rudy nodded as he slipped his shoe on and tied it. "There's no other explanation, Skrawl. And before you ask, no I don't know how this happened. I'll need to get back into ChalkZone and talk to Biclops. He may know what to do."

Skrawl's face contorted into anger. "Well you better! I have important things to do!" He gripped Rudy by his shirt collar. "I can't be ruler of anything if I have you attached to me like some kind of freaky parasite!"

Rudy grabbed Skrawl's hand pushed it away. "I'll do what I can! In the mean time, we'll just have to be careful. Since we can feel each other's pain, it's best that we..."

"...form a truce?" Skrawl finished for him, his voice full of disgust at the idea.

"We don't have a choice and you know that. If I attack you, I get hurt, I feel the pain. And the same is in reverse. You can't lay a finger on me to hurt me, because then you'd be hurting yourself." The 15 year old explained. He got up from the desk and took a step towards Skrawl. "And until we figure out exactly what happened and how to fix it, we should both take precautions and not fight each other. We should also take care not to hurt ourselves."

Skrawl grinned at this. "So if I were cut myself, you get cut too?"

Rudy nodded once. He could see where this was going. He had to discourage Skrawl from doing anything rash. "If I bang my knee against a hot iron, you'd feel the same thing I do, and trust me, it wouldn't be pleasant."

Skrawl's grin faded. "Oh." He said with great disappointment. "So I guess I can't annihilate you...yet."

"No, you can't. How disappointing." Rudy was being sarcastic of course. Like he would want Skrawl to be able to kill him. That was the only good thing about this connection. Skrawl can't, for now, do anything to harm him directly. Although he still could hurt his friends...

"Rudy! I'm coming in!" It was Mr. Cosmo.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Rudy frantically looked around for some place to hide Skrawl. He couldn't let Mr. Cosmo see him. It would be disasterous. With Snap, at least he could pass for a student. But Skrawl...he looked nothing like a real world animal, let alone a person. As much as he hated Skrawl, he couldn't let him get captured, even if they weren't connected.

He thought about the chalkboard, but what if Mr. Cosmo decided to stay in here? He wasn't sure how long Skrawl could hide, and then there was a chance of him getting erased. And if Skrawl got erased...Rudy's body shook at the idea. If erasing just one small portion hurt as much as it did, he didn't want to imagine how much it would hurt even more if all of Skrawl got erased. It could even kill him.

The door knob was moving. Rudy didn't have much time. He erased the portal first before pulling a large dirty map that was laying down in the corner, unused. He wipped it over Skrawl, covering him up.

"Tabootie! What is the meaning of this?!" Skrawl screeched at him. "You can't...!"

Rudy held onto Skrawl and shushed him. "Be quiet, Skrawl! Just keep still! I know you don't take humans seriously as threats, but you have to listen to me on this! If Mr. Cosmo finds you here, he could..."

He didn't have time to finish. The door swung open. Skrawl immediately went stiff, reluctantly following Rudy's orders. Rudy put on the best fake smile that he could as Mr. Cosmo walked into the room. His arms were folded and he had a glare on his face. He looked rather disappointed.

"Oh Rudy..." Mr. Cosmo shook his head. "Did you spend the whole time in here creating that useless statue?"

Rudy felt Skrawl shake. He noted that it must be taking Skrawl all his willpower not to lash out at Cosmo. A part of Rudy wished he could do that, but that would not be right and it would land him into more trouble.

Mr. Cosmo looked around the room and sighed as he saw the flipped chairs and desks. "Tsk, tsk...and it seems you couldn't control your temper." He gave Rudy a sideways glance. "Perhaps Ms. Saffron was right about you. Perhaps you are a juvenile delinquent."

Rudy growled at him, but held back. Despite the pang of pain he felt in his heart, he couldn't do anything to strike out against Mr. Cosmo. He could only stand around and take it.

"I was hoping that I could prove her wrong. After all, you don't seem like a kid that would be a criminal. But after seeing this..." He gestured to the chairs and tables strewn about in the room. "...perhaps I was the one who misjudged you." He finished in a low voice. He walked over and picked up the heavy textbook. "Maybe Reggie Bullnerd was the right choice for this experiment after all. You may leave. I will give you one more chance, at a randomnly chosen time, and this time I will be keeping an eye on you. If you do better then, perhaps I will take back what I said about you."

Rudy glared at him. "How very kind of you..." He said in a low voice.

"Don't look at me that way." Mr. Cosmo said. "I gave you a chance. You were the one who chose to ignore it. Be grateful I am considering trying again with you." He waved a dismissing hand. "Now get out of here. I have to report your rather...unfavorable behavior in here to Mr. Wilter. Be hopeful that he'll be...understanding."

Rudy had enough. He didn't want to hear anything more from this man. He gripped Skrawl tightly, forgetting about the connection, ignoring the clunching feeling in his own side, and began to walk away. He paused in the door way, and, for a brief moment, locked angry eyes with Mr. Cosmo. Then he walked away, pushing Skrawl with him.

What nerve that man had. How dare he judge him like that. How could he do that? He didn't know him that well. His thoughts went back to Ms. Saffron. It seemed fitting that they were working together. They both shared the same, horrible habit of accusing innocent students of being criminals.

Or did they? He didn't know much about them either, now that he thought about it. Would he really be in the right to judge them so harshly? Perhaps it was just a misunderstanding, and he was blowing it all out of proportion. Perhaps...

..no. He shook his head. As he guided Skrawl down the hallways, trying to find a place to hide him for a time, he only knew one thing.

He was going to prove them wrong. Somehow, someway, he was going to show them how wrong they were about them.

As he disappeared down the hallway, he did not notice Mr. Cosmo giving him a smile, faint, but full of eeriness and knowing.

sss

"So...how did it go?" Ms. Saffron asked cautiously as she stood outside the classroom Rudy had been in. She had heard someone talking and realized that Mr. Cosmo must be done.

She didn't get an answer. Maybe she had spoken too softly. She edged closer into the room, and peered inside. She could see Mr. Cosmo standing there, his face unreadable. He was staring at the chalkboard as if it had sprouted glowing horns. She tried calling out to him again, but he didn't pay any attention to her.

"Mr. Cosmo sir...?"

Saffron was starting to get a little worried. What...just what had happened in here? Why was he unresponsive? She thought that maybe there had been an argument and Rudy had said something terrible to him. No, she told herself, that would not make any sense. Mr. Cosmo never came across as the kind of guy to let something so small shake him up.

Indeed, upon closer inspection, she didn't see any signs of hurt on the man's face. It was still blank, but it wasn't totally devoid of emotion. She had to look real close, but she could see the faint ghost of a smile.

She deduced it must have been a success. He wouldn't be smiling, even faintly, if it hadn't. She knew him well enough. She felt a strange sensation of relief. Had she been worried something would have gone wrong? As much as she didn't want to think about it, she had been worried for him. She had been worried what the chalk creature would have done. She could have easily walked in on a massacre...

She thought back to what she was instructed to do. One of the tasks anyway. She wasn't sure it was a good idea. In fact, it seemed like a terrible idea. But Cosmo had insisted that she do it. He promised her that things would work out in the end. But could she really believe that?

"Everything is falling into place." Mr. Cosmo's voice game, startling Ms. Saffron. "The boy is making this too easy."

"Mr. Cosmo?" Ms. Saffron asked. When the man finally turned to look at her, she gave a hard swallow before saying, "I...I finished that task...but...are you sure it was a good idea? What if..."

Mr. Cosmo interrupted her. "Next phase will soon be in progress, Ms. Saffron." He began to walk towards the door. He gestured her to follow with a movement of his finger. "Come along. We mustn't waste time."

Ms. Saffron stared after him. She knew what he was going to do. And she wasn't sure it was safe. Still, though reluctant, she followed him.

sss

Hiding Skrawl in broad daylight had been difficult. Rudy knew that he couldn't just keep walking down the hallways with Skrawl covered up. He had temporarily placed Skrawl in a janitor's closet while he went to get Penny. Skrawl was none too happy about it and started to complain. These were muffled as he shut the door, keeping him locked inside.

If anyone would have any suggestions on what to do with him, Penny would. He looked at the time and knew it was almost lunch. He could talk to her now and they could work out a solution. He needed someway to get Skrawl back into ChalkZone before anyone spotted him. The janitor wasn't set to clean until sometime after school ended. While this meant that Skrawl wouldn't be discovered yet, it did mean they didn't have all the time in the world to diddle dally.

When he finally got a chance to speak to her, he couldn't believe what she suggested. The idea, it was ludicrous. It was dangerous. It put his family in danger, himself. How could she think of such a thing.

He stared at her, mouth agape. He was holding a spoon in his hand, but he hadn't tried to eat the food. Instead, he was focused on staring at Penny, wondering if she had truly gone off the deep end. But Penny's expression told him she was completely serious.

"Rudy, it's the only way." Penny said in a soft voice. She leaned closer to Rudy. "How else do you expect him to get back to ChalkZone before someone finds him?"

"B-But...to go home and..."

"Rudy, it will be fine." Penny said with as much reassurance in her voice as she could muster.

Rudy wasn't convinced.

Penny sighed. "Look, you said you two were connected, right?" A nod came from Rudy as a response. "He can't do anything to you."

Oh...that was right. Rudy had forgotten all about that. But there was still the matter of his parents. What would stop Skrawl from doing something to them? He knew the jellybean hated him greatly. He wouldn't put it past Skrawl to do something to his parents to get back at him.

"I know what you're thinking, Rudy. And I don't think you have to worry about Skrawl doing anything. You and I will be there the whole time, and if he tries something, we'll catch him." Penny assured him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "As soon as lunch is done, I'll grab the cart so Skrawl can pose as an unfinished art piece. That way, we won't draw much attention from people as we take him to your house. Okay?"

Rudy still was unsure, but he knew he had to have faith in Penny. This would work. He knew it. He smiled the best he could and said, "All right."

Rudy's mind then went to Snap. He hated having to erase the portal when he knew Snap was somewhere on the other side. He had no idea what happened to him. That scream...it had to have been something terrible. He was left with a worse feeling having to leave, since it felt like abandoning his friend.

He needed to get back to ChalkZone as soon as possible. But it would be hours before he could head back. School day wasn't over yet, and then he and Penny had to hide Skrawl, which could slow them down greatly. He bit his lip, hoping Snap wasn't too far away.

"Rudy?" Penny asked. "What's wrong?"

Rudy looked at her, confused, until he realized he didn't tell her about Snap yet. He mentally slapped himself for forgetting to do that.

"I was in ChalkZone...and there was this beast that Skrawl tried to capture. Snap helped me ruin Skrawl's plan, but then Skrawl flew out of the portal, like he had been pushed...and I heard Snap scream..." Rudy's voice was low and his eyes were downcast.

Penny looked at him sympathetically. "I'm so sorry Rudy... We'll get back to ChalkZone. I'm sure Snap will be okay."

"I sure hope you're right, Penny..."

sss

"Easy..easy..." Penny said as they worked to get the cart they were allowed to use for one day into Rudy's house.

They hit a bump, causing the wheel to go over Rudy's injured toe. He stifled a scream, a tear coming to his eye. There was a cry of pain from Skrawl, who began to rant.

"Watch it will you?!" He snapped. "I can't have...!"

"Shh! Be quiet Skrawl!" Penny told him. Her eyes widened, she looked around to see if Rudy's parents were coming. When no one came, she let out a sigh of relief. She glared at Skrawl, who was still completely covered, though this time with a light pink sheet she found in the art room. "Do you want Rudy's parents to find you?"

A scoff came from the potato-shaped zoner. "As if I care! What are they going to do? Hug me to do death with parental love?" He shuddered as he said the last two words.

"That's not how parents work, Skrawl." Rudy said as he got the cart towards the stairs. "You aren't their son. You don't have to worry about them hugging you to death. I don't think they'd even want to touch you."

"Well good! The future ruler of ChalkZone..."

"Shut up!" Rudy snapped at him. He was not in the mood to hear another one of Skrawl's rants on how he will one day rule ChalkZone. He wished that, for once, Skrawl would be quiet.

But Rudy's demand didn't do much to stop Skrawl. Instead, it enraged him. He could hear Skrawl's cry of anger rise up, getting louder. If it hadn't been for their connection, the zoner would have lunged at him in a fury. The only thing that made him stop moving was the sound of Rudy's father coming in from the kitchen. Rudy and Penny froze too.

"Hey there, son!" Mr. Tabootie said with a smile. He took notice of the object on the cart. "Fancy! What is this for?"

"It's...uh..." Rudy struggled to think of something.

"For an art contest!" Penny finished for him.

"An art contest? How lovely! What is it? Can I see?" Mr. Tabootie said as he grabbed the cloth to pull it up.

Rudy yanked it back down. "You..You can't see it yet! It's...uh..unfinished! I brought it here so I can complete it. I don't want anyone to see until it's done!"

"Oh...okay." Mr. Tabootie sounded disappointed. "Can you at least tell me what it is?"

Rudy hardly took time to think of an answer before spewing out a reply, "It's a giant cootie monster!"

Penny put a hand on her mouth and tried not to laugh. Rudy felt a sensation of embarrassment take over him. His dad looked at him, eyes a little widened to indicate shock. He could hear Skrawl's growls of anger from underneath the cloth.

Before Mr. Tabootie could say anything, there was a low 'Rudy' drawl from the so-called 'statue'. He immediately snapped his head over to it. "What was that?"

"That was me!" Penny said, drawing the dad's attention to her. "I was practicing my ventroliquism!"

It was hard to tell if Mr. Tabootie was convinced by that or not. Nonetheless, he smiled at them and didn't question them any further.

"Okey dokey then! Good luck on the contest, Rudy!"

Rudy didn't thank his dad. He and Penny were racing upstairs. He wasn't worried. To his dad, he was merely in a rush to get his piece of art finished. A part of him couldn't believe that actually worked. But another part of him felt guilty.

More lying. More lies just piling on. How long would he be able to do this?

They entered the room and shut the door tightly. Skrawl jumped from the cart and ripped the cloth away. He looked pissed off for having to wear a cloth over his head for so many hours. Even in the closet, he had been instructed not to take it off just in case. Rudy didn't want to take any chances.

"Finally!" He shouted, stretching his feet. He swiveled around and glared at Rudy. "I can't believe you called me a cootie."

Penny looked at Rudy. "Why did you say that, anyway?"

"My mind was drawing a blank. I had to think of something!" Rudy told her. "But we shouldn't dwell on this now. Skrawl, I'll draw you a portal to get back to ChalkZone."

Skrawl snarled at him, but said nothing. Rudy got up and picked up one of his magic chalk pieces. He pressed it against the chalkboard and began to draw a circle...

...which didn't appear at all. His eyes snapped wide in panic. He tried again. Nothing was showing up, not even the faintest of light.

"No..."

"I'm waiting." Skrawl tapped his foot impatiently. When he saw Rudy just staring at the chalkboard, Skrawl raised a fist in the air. "Didn't you hear me, chalk boy?! I said I'm waiting!"

Penny sensed something was wrong. "Rudy? What is it?"

"The chalk, it's..." Rudy looked over at her. "..it's not working."

Skrawl's furrowed expression relaxed as a wave of shock hit him. "What? But..but I've seen you use this particular chalkboard before! How could it not..."

"I don't know." Rudy said. He tried again. No luck. "It just won't work..."

"And I think I found out why..." Penny said in a whisper. Skrawl and Rudy looked over towards her. She picked up a small can that was laying on the ground. "Someone sabotaged your portal, Rudy..." There was strong disbelief in her voice. She glanced at Skrawl. "You will have to spend the night. It's too risky to attempt to take you anywhere right now."

Rudy was stunned. His mind was numb from the information Penny gave him. Sabotage? But...but how? How could have...?

Then he realized the cold, chilling truth. There were only two people he could think of..how could have done something like this. And it wasn't Vinnie or Terry. They were both out of town.

"Mr. Cosmo...Ms. Saffron..." Rudy said in a low voice, grinding his teeth. What were they trying to do?

...and Snap? What about Snap? He had no idea if he was all right. Had he been captured? Killed? Did that beast do something to him? His mind swirled with uncomfortable thoughts of what might have happened. And to make it all worse, there was no way he could find out tonight. He'll have to sleep knowing Snap could be in great danger, and there was nothing he could do about it...

Rudy took in a shuddering breath, fighting back tears. He ignored the look Skrawl gave him. He couldn't possibly care. He turned his attention to Penny. She looked at him worriedly, just as concerned as he was. She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him. Rudy hugged her back.

Trying to think of something to say, Penny whispered, "It's okay...we'll find him as soon as we can...things will be all right, you'll see..."

As much as Rudy wanted to believe her, he couldn't shake off the feeling of dread rising up inside of him.