Mrs. Sanchez didn't really want to be doing this. If she could have any choice at all, if she could be anywhere right now, she'd choose to leave. She would choose to just try to avoid this conflict and try to move on.

And yet this wasn't something that she could stay quiet about, even if she tried. This was concerning something that she thought was really important. She didn't think she managed to explain it well enough before. She was hoping to try to fix things now. She had a chance and she couldn't screw this one up.

But...

"Look, we know you're still upset. And we understand what you've been telling us." Mr. Tabootie started, his voice a low whisper. "But is this really necessary? You've been drilling us for the past...not sure how long it's been, and it's giving us a headache."

Mrs. Tabootie nodded her head in agreement. "Can we at least get a break?" She wiped her brow with her hand. "I'm not sure if we could play another round of questions like this."

Mrs. Sanchez gritted her teeth softly. "If you want to avoid your son getting hurt again, I suggest you continue."

"Oh all right..." Mr. Tabootie let out a small sigh. "This is for the good of our son, anyway."

"That's right. I know you two do care for him. But if a repeat of this ever happens..." Mrs. Sanchez paused for a moment, gritting her teeth. She struggled to keep herself from getting too angry at the thought. These two regretted what happened and that should be enough for her to move on with helping them. "So please, let's continue with the education. You two are doing a little better. Let's have another quiz on the tips I gave you earlier."

Mrs. Tabootie rubbed her head once again, massaging her temples. It was clear that she was the most exhausted out of the two of them. Mrs. Tabootie would be more than happy to try to cut them a break. But she was determined to try to get this information sticking in their heads.

But still, maybe she should try some easier questions. Try to relieve a bit of the tension. If she wasn't careful, she might accidentally cause them to pass out or get sick. And that wasn't what she wanted.

So she started off with a really easy one. "What do you do if your child gets chemicals in his eye?"

She flinched when she noticed how they were looking at her. She realized instantly that she had hit a sore spot. She felt stupid for coming up with a question that mirrored what happened to their boy. Although at the same time, maybe it wasn't too bad. Maybe it would serve as a stepping stone in helping them better prepare for next time. That was the point of this, right?

Mr. Tabootie stammered, struggling to come up with some kind of a response. Mrs. Sanchez was a little concerned about that. She would have thought that he'd get it right away. It was like he was stuck on speaking, such on trying to come up with words to say. Yet nothing would come out.

However it was a different story with Mrs. Tabootie.

"We would...rinse out his eyes right away...?" Mrs. Tabootie sounded as though she thought that she would have gotten the information wrong. Was she really that nervous and stressed out?

Still, Mrs. Sanchez was glad to hear that Mrs. Tabootie had managed to get the answer right. She gave a slow nod of her head and said, "That is correct. The sooner you do it, the better. Now...another easy question." She took a moment to look at the parents before she said, "What would you have to do if Rudy accidentally drank a cleaning product?"

Mr. and Mrs. Tabootie glanced at each other for a few moments as they tried to figure out what sort of answer they should give. But this one didn't seem to be as tough for them as a few moments later, they looked back and gave their answer in unison.

"Call the poison control?"

Mrs. Sanchez hadn't expected that answer, but it was still a legit one. She nodded to them in response. "You're both doing well. I told you that you'd get the hang of this."

"How long should we keep going?" Asked Mrs. Tabootie. She looked around a little, seeming as though she had something on her mind. "We would like to check up on Rudy soon."

Mr. Tabootie put his hand on his wife's shoulder. "It's all right. Penny's with him. I'm sure that he's fine." He leaned himself a little closer, staring directly into his wife's eyes. "Let's just hold out for a few more questions. Then we will check on him. Is that all right?"

Mrs. Tabootie paused for a moment, looking left and right as she tried to think of what sort of answer to give. She still looked pretty worried. An understandable reaction to having her son blinded by what she saw as negligence. But her husband's kind words managed to bring her out of her panicking state. "I suppose so..."

Mrs. Sanchez looked at Mrs. Tabootie sympathetically. She could understand why she wanted to see Rudy right now. And deep down, she knew that Mr. Tabootie also wanted to check up on his son. But he at least understood the importance of continuing this lesson. Plus, he was right. Penny would keep an eye on Rudy. If anything were to happen, she would report it right away.

So they resumed their focus on the quizzing.

"Okay, so..here's another one..."

sss

It all felt so...different. It was weird. He had been here before. He had visited many times over the past two years. And yet he hadn't felt so out of place until now. It was like he had stepped into some kind of dream. One that was just blackness filled with noise.

Rudy tried to keep himself silent on his feelings. He didn't want to express that he was getting a little stressed out. He didn't want to push away the zoners that were excited to see him again. He understood that they were missing him and that this was his first chance in ChalkZone in weeks. A part of him felt guilty for not being here to help them out. Although Penny had temporarily taken over for him, something that he really appreciated.

The chattering and talking and asking of questions had lasted for a while. His whole dark world had been practically illumianted by their constant talking, a cloud of noise just swirling around. Rudy was thankful that it had finally died down when the zoners realized that he needed some sort of break. Some were a bit harder to pry away, though. But at least now he could sit on this chair and try to relax a little bit.

He studied the sounds around him. The clamoring, the rolling, the shouts. He assumed that Snap took him to the nearby bowling alley. A more traditional bowling as drawn by kids who loved the sport. Well the more kiddy version anyway, with softer pins and balls to use. Snap hadn't actually said where he was taking him, although Rudy didn't complain. Snap was probably just too caught up in the moment to realize that he had forgotten to tell him.

Rudy took a moment to lean back and give a small smile, mostly to himself. Even though he could not see, he was still glad that he was able to come here at all. He could feel the presence of ChalkZone all around him. He could smell the familiar chalky air, and he could feel what was around him. Even though they felt like their Real World counterparts, he could still tell that he was in ChalkZone.

Rudy had done his best to fight against his guilt at not being here. And he also tried to fight off feelings of depression. He hated the thoughts of letting his current blindness drag him down. It was hard to fight, though. Just being in ChalkZone really made him want to draw again. But he had to hold out. He needed to wait. He wasn't going to accomplish anything if he panicked.

And plus, the doctors did say that it was only temporary. They just needed to wait a while longer. They needed to wait and see where this goes. His blindness would likely go away in the next couple weeks. He was still seeing lights at least, even if they were pretty faint. And this was something he couldn't do before. He hoped that, overtime, he would start seeing shapes again and then everything following suit from there.

Rudy's thoughts were brought back to reality when he overheard some talking not too far away from him. He shifted his head over, tilting it just enough so that he could hear them better.

"Oh poor kid... I don't want to imagine what that's like..."

"I'm sure he'll be fine. But..."

"But what?"

"What do you think...he...might do if he learned that Rudy..."

"...Oh my... You're absolutely right."

Before Rudy could hear anything else, he could feel hands grabbing onto him and he was suddenly pulled forward.

"Hey, Bucko! You want to listen to some music?" Snap's voice called out. Rudy was still recovering from being suddenly grabbed like that and he was unable to make any sort of response. Snap apparently took that as a 'yes'. "Well come on over here. Rapsheeba's going to play a song."

Rudy was still attempting to gather his thoughts and made little effort to fight back as Snap began to drag him over with him. He could feel his legs stumbling slightly and his feet hitting against the ground a few times, banging a little. Then he could feel Snap suddenly push him against something that he recognized as a seat. He released a small grunt and could feel his breath exhaling out of his mouth quickly. Rudy quickly drew in another breath to try to stabilize himself.

"Hey, Rudy." Penny whispered softly next to him. Rudy could feel her hand touching his shoulder lightly. "Are you doing okay?"

"I-I think..." Rudy struggled to remain as calm as possible. "I was just..." His voice trailed off as Rapsheeba's music began to fill the air.

Penny whispered to him, "After this, we do need to try to get back. We're pushing our luck as it is."

Rudy could feel his eyes widen in horror. That was right. There wasn't too much time to spend in here. Rudy had to wonder just how long they had stayed in here at all. Had they passed the fifteen minute mark already? Was Penny aware of this? Rudy's mind spun for a few moments before he managed to settle himself down. He reminded himself that Mrs. Sanchez would probably keep talking to his parents for quite a while, reducing their chances of checking up on him.

So he tried to lean back in the seat and did his best to relax and enjoy the singing. Rapsheeba's music was a good way to try to unwind a little. He shouldn't let what he overheard in the conversation earlier get to him. Yes, he just needed to keep himself calm and smile as Rapsheeba continued to sing, her voice filling the air all around him.

But a part of him couldn't fully let go of what he heard. He couldn't fully dismiss the fact that Skrawl really could try to do something. He could take advantage of the situation. If that jellybean zoner found out that he was blind...

No, he wouldn't find out. Rudy was confident that he wouldn't. These zoners wouldn't let that information spread, would they? Of course not. He wanted to believe in them. And so with that in mind, he pushed out all thoughts of that and focused exclusively on the singing zoner on stage or whatever she was on. He could feel his body and mind start to fully relax and he just gave in to the comforting music.

In fact, maybe he had gotten a little too relaxed. He suddenly jerked himself when he thought he was about to fall out of the seat. He couldn't tell how many people were looking at him as he tried to get back up, his heart pounding from the shere shock of it all.

Penny held onto him and helped him get stable. "Rudy, are you all right?"

Rudy managed to nod his head slowly. "Yeah, just...tired, I guess."

"Do you want to go home?" Snap asked.

"Yeah that's..." Penny suddenly froze. She let out a sharp gasp and it sounded like she was scrambling to look at something. Upon seeing whatever it was, she seethed, "Oh no, we've stayed here longer than... Come on, Rudy, we need to get back!"

"We'll see you around, Bucko!" Snap called out.

"Please come back and visit soon!" Added Blocky.

Rudy listened to the zoners saying goodbye as Penny dragged him back to where they had come from. Neither of them knew what to expect when they go back. But they both hoped that it wasn't as bad as they thought. But then again, how often has things gone for them lately?

sss

Geeze, what a way to return back home. Late, taking longer than she had intended. Penny wanted to kick herself for not paying enough attention to the time. Her heart was pounding in her head so heavily, it was like a beating drumb. She struggled to push through it as she and Rudy returned to where she had drawn the portal earlier.

But she didn't try drawing a new one right away. She had to pause and approach more slowly and carefully. She didn't know if their parents were in the room or not. So instead, she cautiously drew a small portal, taking a lesson fom Rudy that time they spied on Mr. Wilter. She peered through the small hole.

She sighed in relief when she found that there was no one in the room. She thought she could hear voices, muffled in the distance, and she knew that it was their folks. They might be coming up the steps any moment. They would need to get inside before they were even close to opening up the door.

Penny quickly drew another portal. She felt bad about trying to rush the whole thing, but they really didn't have much time. She grabbed Rudy and pulled him over. She repeated the same thing as she did before, though a bit faster and slightly more hasty. She flinched when Rudy tripped a little, but sighed in relief when she saw that he managed to keep himself from falling down. She followed closely behind him and she quickly erased the portal, clearing up any sort of problems they might have if their parents walked in just...

...now.

The door swung open, causing the two to nearly jump as it smacked up against the wall. Rudy nearly stumbled backwards. Penny held onto him and kept him against her. She couldn't tear her eyes away from their parents. They looked so unsettled by something. What was going on?

"Mom?" Penny spoke softly as she stared at her mother. "Are you...?"

"Oh thank goodness, you're all right!" Mrs. Sanchez called out as she latched onto her daughter. Penny let out a small grunt as her mother held onto her tightly.

"Rudy!" Mr. and Mrs. Tabootie rushed over quickly and pulled their son into an embrace as well.

Penny had never felt so confused and fearful in her life. Their parents looked so scared. But it hadn't looked like they were in the room. The door was shut and the chattering made her believe that they were just still doing their thing earlier. Was it possible that she was wrong and they had...

"We didn't know where you were." Mrs. Sanchez spoke up. "We thought you might have gone outside but we didn't see you and... Where were you...?"

It took Penny a few moments, thinking of those words, before it dawned on her what had happened. It was like a sudden rush of emotion befell upon her and she took in a sharp gasp of breath. She could feel her stomach and fingers tingling and she licked her lips slowly. She tried not to let herself show too much emotion. But let's face it, that would be impossible in this case.

Penny could feel herself clamping onto her mother swiftly. A few tears of shame moved down her face as she realized the torment that she and Rudy accidentally put their parents through when they had wandered off into ChalkZone. She had worried that something like this would happen. Her fear had become a reality.

"We came up here to check on you. We saw that no one was here." Mr. Tabootie spoke up. Penny never recalled hearing his voice cracking up like that before. "I thought that maybe you went downstairs for something, but we never...never saw..."

Mrs. Tabootie was the next one to speak. Her voice was laced in emotion. "Where did you go...? What happened? Why did..." Her voice trailed off as she pulled Rudy against herself, rubbing her head against him.

Penny felt a whirlwind of guilt striking her. She had hoped to try to avoid something like this happening. She hadn't tried hard enough. And now she and Rudy had terrified their folks. They had been gone too long. They hadn't returned in time, and now look at what happened.

She had to wonder. Just how long were their folks looking for them? How long did it take? The thought chilled her blood, forcing her to swallow. She didn't think that she wanted to find out. The idea terrified her and made her taste a bitter bile in her stomach. She moved one of her hands down to rub her stomach, attempting to settle it down.

This couldn't have happened at a worst time. What with Rudy's bleach incident and all... She flinched at the thought of just what could have gone on through their parents' minds. They already had so much to deal with. Now because of their carelessness, they freaked them out even more.

Penny pressed her teeth against her lower lip. She could feel her stomach burning up inside as she tried to think of just what she should do. She couldn't even figure out anything that she could say. What was there to say to this? Except...

"We're sorry. We didn't mean to scare you." Penny whispered, feeling her heart thudding a little. "W-We were just... Um... We were.." She couldn't think of anything to say. Just how could she explain? She couldn't very well tell them that they were in ChalkZone.

But she had to think of something and quick. She could feel their eyes upon her. She could feel their raw emotion surging, pummeling against her. She could feel her head becoming overwhelmed by this, becoming dizzy. She could feel adrenaline rushing through her body and she could feel herself shaking. There was no way that she would be able to come up with a convincing lie like this. Yet at the same time, she couldn't remain silent, either.

Oh, what was she going to do...?

Suddenly, Rudy spoke up, taking Penny by surprise.

"P-P-Penny was just...taking me for a walk outside. We...We didn't want to bother you, so we were quiet." Rudy appeared to be struggling to speak. But despite that, he was still able to carry on the conversation. If anything, the difficulty made it seem more authentic. "We didn't realize the time and we came back and then..."

Penny could feel Rudy staring at her even though he couldn't possibly be. She licked her lips and swallowed hard, joining Rudy in the story. "Y-Yeah.. We weren't gone long. Rudy was a bit stressed and I thought a walk outside might help him out. I... I'm sorry that I didn't say anything earlier."

Mrs. Sanchez held her more tightly, running her hand up and down her back. "Shh... It's all right. At least you're safe now."

Penny didn't really feel particularly relieved by this. Perhaps it was because she was looking over at Mr. and Mrs. Tabootie. Something about them appeared to have changed. It was subtle. Just a small shift in their aura. But it was enough that it had her worried.

She tried not to worry too much about it right now, though. She focused on just holding onto her mother, feeling her crying against her shoulder. Every second made her heart sting even more and she couldn't help but bite her lip. This all could have been prevented if she had just...

Penny wasn't really sure how long this lasted. But at some point, the parents let go of their children. The emotional state that they had been in, all worried and what not, that had passed, allowing them to start calming down. From their expressions, they were still far from okay, but at least they weren't going to break down crying again. Now that this scare was over, they could focus on moving on.

But still feeling guilty, Penny lowered her head and shut her eyes softly. "I...I apologize again for..." She stopped for a moment and swallowed hard once more. "...for what happened. I-I didn't mean to. I-I didn't know that..." She wasn't really sure how to finish that sentence.

"What's done is done..." Mr. Tabootie said softly. He wasn't looking at Penny completely when he said that. Instead, he was giving her a sideways glance. "I'm...glad that you were at least with him."

Mrs. Tabootie nodded her head once. "We do thank you for that."

Penny did her best to smile. But she couldn't feel much enthusiasm behind it. There was just something about those looks and their tone of voice that was telling her something was off. She wasn't completely sure one hundred percent what it was. But he had a feeling that it was related to the fact that, according to her words, she had taken Rudy out without permission. Yeah, that had to be it.

She turned her gaze away, letting the Tabooties tend to their son while she focused on her mother. She tried her best not to look too much guiltier than she already did. That didn't stop her mind from being constantly pounded and she had a feeling that she was going to have to pay for this in some way. She was going to have to live with the consequences of what she had said.

She could only hope that things don't fall far from here.

But why did she get the feeling that she was wrong...?

sss

It was difficult to stay fully awake. And it wasn't even sundown yet. The sky remained a gold coloring. It probably wasn't even five yet. Why was he so tired?

The answer was simple: This stupid job was going to be the death of him.

When Officer Lou decided that he wanted to become a police officer, he had been so excited of the prospect. He wanted to be able to stop the bad guys and throw them in jail while protecting the good citizens of this average-sized town. That was what he had fantasized about over and over again.

He certainly never thought that he would be close to breaking up family...

Officer Lou tried not to let the guilt get to him. He would be doing that boy a favor, really. Officer Lou had spoken to Dr. Bendor earlier and the two of them agreed, as much as it pained them to do, this was the best solution. They didn't want to think what would happen if they turned a blind eye to this.

This was a small child they were talking about. Ten years old. He hadn't even gotten into middle school yet. They couldn't just let him go wandering around with parents who don't pay enough attention to him. It didn't matter how much they say that they love him. The fact was that their behavior suggested otherwise. Who would leave their child in the middle of a popular tourist attraction, for crying out loud?

And yet, there was always going to be some part of him that would deeply regret this. There would always be that side of him that would wonder just how things could have been different. He didn't like to be looked at as the villain, but that's what was going to happen. He knew that, blind or not, Rudy Tabootie would glare at him like he were the part of some kind of conspiracy.

This had not been his first difficult case. He had dealt with several more over the years. But that didn't make this process any easier. He didn't think that it ever would become easy. But...that's all part of the job. There was no changing that.

Officer Lou let out a small sigh as he headed back towards the table, carrying the paperwork with. He had almost finished up his report that he was going to present to his fellow officers. He hated to have to write this, but it was a crucial step. Once he and the others had what they needed, they could begin to more properly prepare for a trial.

Yes, it had been three weeks now, and he should have had this done already. Well, he felt that he should, anyway. But things had taken longer than he had expected. There were a few more loose things to tie up first. He at least managed to get that taken care of.

He did pause for a moment, feeling a little bad for Rudy. Well no, very bad. He really didn't want to have to do this if it didn't have to come to it. But the boy and the parents didn't show enough evidence to counter those three incidents. Rudy was just a small child. Officer Lou would rather hit himself than let the child keep living in that dangerous environment.

In fact, he might not be safe right now. Officer Lou didn't know how much his parents had learned from their encounter with Dr. Bendor. He didn't know if they strove to make improvements. That didn't even matter, anyway. Something needed to be done about what they did before. That 'leaving their child alone' along with everything else, they couldn't go unpunished. Those parents needed to learn that...

He suddenly felt his cell phone vibrate. He let out a sigh. Normally, he wouldn't mind this. But he was really focused on his work right now. He couldn't be bothered with some kind of phone call. But he might as well pick it up. It wasn't like he didn't have at least a little bit of spare time.

"Hello?" He asked as he opened up his phone. "Who is this?"

"Hey, it's me. Dr. Bendor."

Almost immediately, Officer Lou's attention came full forward. "What's going on? Is there something you wanted to ask of me?" He didn't know why that was the first thing that came to his head. Well it did make sense. Dr. Bendor did a favor for him. Perhaps there was a favor he could do in return?

"You could say that, yes. I know we've already discussed this, but that Tabooties' case... I haven't been able to sleep so well."

"I can understand that. I didn't get the best of sleep, either."

"I wish there was another way."

"You and I both know there isn't." Officer Lou hated to admit it, but they both knew that he was right. There wasn't much else that could be done about that. He tried to refocus his attention on the task at hand. "So what did you want to ask me to do? Is it important?"

"You could say that." Dr. Bendor stated cautiously. "You see, it kind of involves..."

sss

Why that... How in the world was that fair? That woman had the gall to try to tell them how to raise their kid. Then something like this happens and she doesn't lift a finger against her daughter? Who did she think she was, anyway? What right did she think that she had in doing this?

Mr. Tabootie did his best to remain silent. He didn't want to disturb his wife as she was making dinner. But the thought kept rolling around and around in his head. It caused emotions to boil up inside of him, his teeth clenching tightly. He really had to fight hard with himself to avoid causing anything more. They were all still shaken up by today. He didn't need to make it worse.

It wasn't really Penny he was upset at. That didn't stop a small part of him from wondering if she was the cause of some of Rudy's issues. He knew that this was ridiculous of course, but that didn't stop his train of thought. He wondered if this was similar to how Mrs. Sanchez now looked at them.

The man tried to shake the thought out of his head. It continued to linger. His emotions towards Mrs. Sanchez weren't going away so easily. He might need to talk with her soon. Maybe sometime tomorrow or the next day. Whenever any of them have the time. He would normally try to shut up about this and try to hold it in. But a part of him realized what a big mistake that would be. The last thing he wanted to do was to stress himself out to the point where he wasn't exactly the most sane person.

Mrs. Sanchez practically flaunted her ability to raise her child 'properly' to them, even going as far as teaching them somethings. While he had been grateful before, after what he had seen today, he couldn't help but feel that she was just being patronizing.

His wife didn't seem as upset. She did share some similar beliefs, mostly her confusion regarding why Mrs. Sanchez didn't scold Penny. Mrs. Tabootie wanted to chalk it up to just her not wanting to arouse any issues in front of them, that perhaps she was going to say something later on. Mr. Tabootie hoped that was the case. Otherwise...

He forced himself to release another sigh, trying to keep himself calm. He tried to settle down his mind by shifting his attention to Rudy. His son was making some remarkable progress, even if his sight was still mostly gone. A smile spread along the man's lips as Rudy sat down and watched...er, listened to some television programming. He would normally try to scold him at this point and make him do his homework. But in this moment, he felt that he earned it.

Mr. Tabootie then looked away and furrowed his brow further. He couldn't let go of his issues with Mrs. Sanchez. He needed to talk to her.