Things were starting to look really bad. Like, worse than Penny thought they would be. She could feel her heart thumping in her chest as she struggled in vain to think of something. But anything she thought of could potentially make things worse. That's all they had been doing lately. Make things worse, something that she and the others surely felt guilty for.

But she couldn't just remain silent. She had a feeling that she would be called up next. She needed to think of something to tell the prosecutor, no matter how angry she was with him. She needed to come up with something in hopes of turning things around.

That didn't seem to be very much the case anymore, ethough. It seemed like they had tried everything, but nothing was working. Her mom had ended up putting more evidence against the Tabooties. It would be nothing short of a miracle to have them go free. She doubted that the jury was just going to let them go after hearing all of this. It would take a lot of positive evidence in support of those two in order to give them even a sliver of a chance.

What were the odds of that, though? Just what were the odds that someone could come up with something that would shift things around like that? She had little reason to believe that this would be the case. She had little reason to hope that things could turn out well at this point.

She hated the feeling of giving up, and she still hung onto at least some kind of hope. But she had to be realistic here. Things were not turning out well for Mr. and Mrs. Tabootie. There was just too much stacked against them. There was too much that showed how 'awful parents' that they were. She could already tell what the verdict was going to be, even if not everyone had yet spoken.

She felt her head turning towards the doctor and officer who had brought this all on in the first place. She felt her eyes narrowing slowly and she wasn't able to shake it off. The two may have already said their piece. They likely wouldn't have another word to say about this. But that didn't stop Penny from hearing their words in her head, constantly echoing.

She wasn't sure if she could ever bring herself to forgive them. It was they who were responsible for this. They were the ones who had to make a case out of this. They were the ones who started this whole mess. If they had just shut up...

...but she knew they couldn't have done that. It would have been against their code or whatever it's called. They were only doing their job. She couldn't fault them for that.

But still, she wished that...

"Thank you for your input, Mrs. Sanchez." Mr. Gregory suddenly spoke up, catching Penny off guard. "I would like to call Penny Sanchez to the stand now."

Penny immediately froze solid where she sat when the man called out to her. She could feel her heart racing faster and faster against her chest as she saw her mom slowly returning, a solemn look on her face. Penny could hardly register her mother sitting down, the weight shifting about next to her. It took another calling to her in order to make her get up from her seat.

Reluctantly, she began to move towards the stand. Time itself appeared to slow down to a crawl. Every move felt stiff and forced. She had to wet her lips more than once to keep them dry. Her vision could hardly register anything around her besides the prosecutor and the chair she was being forced to walk towards. It was as though she were in a black void, hovering in the air, going towards another floating object.

When she finally sat down, Penny's vision began to clear. She could start to tell what was around her, see all the people looking at her. She could see Rudy and his parents staring the most intently at her, while her mother looked away, still ashamed of what she had done. This was all enough to make Penny's mind tighten up as she struggled to prepare for what was to be asked of her.

"You promise to tell the truth?" It was clear that Mr. Gregory was getting tired of repeating this line. She knew that this was because he thought that he had enough evidence to convict Mr. and Mrs. Tabootie and he wanted to get it done and over with.

Not if she had something to say about it. She didn't know how. But she would find some way to put a cork in his efforts.

"Yes, I promise." Penny stated. She waited for the man to start speaking more.

Mr. Gregory looked as though he had some trouble starting at first. He shifted his gaze towards the Tabooties once more before he turned to begin talking with Penny. "You are Rudy's friend, right? You would say... best friend?"

Penny nodded her head affirmatively. "That is correct."

"And in your time with Rudy, have you ever gone to the Tabooties' household?"

"Well of course! I would visit him often."

"I see." Mr. Gregory paused for a moment. He stood with his side to Penny, his head tilted upwards. He looked like he was pondering his next question. He soon turned to stare at Penny, raising an eyebrow. "And would you say that his household was...fine?"

Penny had to stop herself from responding right away. This was where the others had messed up. This was where they ended up speaking things, bringing up bits from the past, that resulted in Mr. and Mrs. Tabootie getting in deeper trouble. She would try to change that.

"Everything was fine everytime I went." Penny affirmed.

"Do you mind explaining?" Asked Mr. Gregory.

Penny stared at the Tabooties before replying, "I will, gladly."

sss

He needed a break. He didn't care if it wasn't 'recess' yet. He didn't care if he would get into trouble for doing this. He just needed some time alone to think.

Dr. Bendor had excused himself from the trial. And by that, he meant that he just got up and walked away. It wasn't realy his turn again to speak anyway. Not that he had a huge chance of that happening. And it didn't really matter anyway. Regardless of what is spoken, he already knew the verdict.

He wiped his hands after having used the bathroom. He threw the cloth away and stared at himself in the mirror. Regardless of what he did, he couldn't seem to get himself to stop looking so dirty, so filthy. He had scrubbed his face more than once and that didn't seem to change a darn thing. He knew that this feeling was not going to go away anytime soon.

He shut his eyes tightly, feeling his teeth grinding up against each other. He had done a good job with hiding this from the others, but Officer Lou felt the same way as him. Neither of them had been enjoying this. They mostly went out with this because they had been worried for Rudy's sake. There was little evidence to suggest that he was fine with his parents.

But he could see, they could both see, the turmoil in the ten year old's eyes. Why wouldn't there be? Ten is such a young age to be ripped from the only family that he knew. That was such a young age for Rudy to be told that his parents were not fit to raise him.

It just didn't make any sense. Dr. Bendor could not fathom how this could have gone on for as long as it had. How could any of them not have noticed that something was going on? Did the family doctors choose to ignore it? Why hadn't the neighbors brought it up? Did they just not notice or were they ignoring it chose this time to now spring upon the family?

It was unfair. He wouldn't deny that. But he knew how some people function. Some people may have every reason to distrust someone, but they won't say a word about it until after something comes up that makes them feel validated. In some ways, it was disgusting, but others, understandable. People don't like to be proven wrong. So they will wait until they have 'proof' before doing anything.

But none of this helped with the current situation. It did not help with his internal guilt. It didn't stop him from feeling so filthy inside. He would continue to feel like this until something changed. And the only change that he could foresee was not a very happy one.

But in the end, at least Rudy could be somewhere safer. That child did deserve to be somewhere where his life wasn't in danger, didn't he? That had to be...

"Hey..."

Startled, the doctor took a few steps back and nearly tumbled. He shook his head and he turned to see who had called out for him. He let out a small sigh of relief when he saw that it was only Officer Lou. With a hand to his chest, he whispered in a gaspy voice, "You scared me."

"I'm sorry." Officer Lou's voice remained low. A far cry from the more serious and authoritian voice he had used prior. "So...you needed a break, too?"

Dr. Bendor nodded his head slowly. "I think that much is obvious." He paused before tilting his head up a little. "You saw me leave, didn't you?"

Officer Lou sighed as he shook his head. "Not really. I was too busy...watching what was going on." He gave a pause for a few moments before he added in, "Things are getting crazy, aren't they? I never thought that it would go this far."

Dr. Bendor couldn't help but agree with this. "You're right. None of this feels...okay. I mean, I know we're doing this for a good reason, but..."

"Well as the saying goes, somethings to do some good, you have to be the bad guy." Officer Lou gave a small, bitter chuckle at this. "It doesn't make it any easier."

That was an understatement if Dr. Bendor had ever heard one before. Of course things were never that easy. Since when was this ever the case? It was even worse when he was forced to make difficult decisions such as this. If he operated on a more emotional level, maybe he would have just let the subject drop and let Rudy stay with his parents. But the real world wasn't like that, and sometimes to make decisions that benefited the most, you had to pull the rug out every so often.

Well so much for being alone. He only spent a few minutes by himself before Officer Lou came in. But oh well. Maybe this would be good. He did need someone to talk to anyway. That would certainly help.

"What's going on right now?" Asked Dr. Bendor.

"Exactly what you would expect." Replied Officer Lou. "Penny Sanchez is trying to vouch for Joe and Mildred Tabootie, but she isn't doing a good job of it."

"Hmm... just like her mother." Dr. Bendor lowered his gaze.

"Yes, exactly." Officer Lou said, his voice still as soft as before. "She looked...disappointed as well. She looked like she thought she had something, but it's not working."

"Did she bring up something else that happened?"

"No, she just failed to bring enough good points."

Dr. Bendor remained silent for a few moments as he let this sink in. He had to admit, he admired the Sanchez's efforts in helping their dear friends. Now that was some serious devotion.

He wasn't able to finish his thought when he realized...

"We should return. The trial should be almost over."

Without another response, the two headed back.

sss

"No, it's not like that at all!" Penny cried out.

"You've already told us enough." Mr. Gregory let out a small sigh.

Penny refused to give up that easily. "I'm telling you, they're not...!"

"You aren't convincing anyone here."

"But..." Penny paused for a moment, gritting her teeth tightly. There was not much else that she could say at this point. She knew the man was right. She had already constantly tried to explain the situation to everyone here. But it didn't seem like it was working. Nothing she said was getting through to anyone.

She could feel her stomach stinging, frustration spreading throughout her body. She tried to control herself and keep from shaking too hard, keep from having her stomach contents spilling out. But she could already taste the bile and she put her hand on her stomach. She rubbed it from side to side as she attempted to settle herself down.

Through her slightly blurred vision, she mostly concentrated on Mr. Gregory. He looked exhausted by this point, like he was tired of asking all these questions, tired of...whatever. Penny drew in a deep breath and sighed, feeling her brain pound inside of her skull. She struggled to fight against it the best that she could, but like the stomachache, it only seemed to grow stronger.

Penny looked over at where the Tabooties were. She flinched at how heartbroken they seemed. She could tell that they probably had just given up on trying, given up on hoping. Penny turned her head away, feeling ashamed. She wished that she could have helped, but...

Ugh, she didn't know what was worse. Not being able to help through making things worse, or not being able to help because, while she brought up some examples, they were not good enough. She had given example after example, but everyone could only think of the bad. In fact, Mr. Gregory twisted a few, even if it was accidental. Penny recalled how she narrowed her eyes at this, but she forced herself to remain silent.

She couldn't believe just how badly she had failed. She had tried so hard to help, and yet it was not good enough. She couldn't even bring herself to look at Rudy. She could feel his stare upon her and she could sense his helplessness. Rudy must be quite aware of the fact that, shortly after this is all over, he might be with a different family. And there was little that she could do to stop it.

"Do you have anything else you would like to add?" Mr. Gregory asked, his voice a low hiss.

Penny struggled to think of something, but at this point, she was just too exhausted. There was hardly anything that she could bring up. It's all been used up. If there was anything else, it was something that she had not bore witness to herself.

Having no choice, she whispered her reply, "...no."

"All right then. You may take your seat, Penny."

Penny didn't want to leave. She felt that, as soon as she took a step off from here, she would have just been giving up completely. She would have signaled to the Tabooties, to her mom, to everyone, that she had failed. She wanted to keep trying. She wanted to try to show them that she wasn't willing to just sit around and give up. But it seemed like that was her only option now.

So very reluctantly, Penny got up from the stand. She could sense the finality of it all, realizing that she was the last person to get to speak, even as she walked down silently back towards her mother. She walked slowly by the table where Rudy was at. She turned to look at him. She gave him a sympathetic expression, silently telling him how sorry that she was. Then, in the next few moments, she sat down next to her mother.

She could feel herself relaxing slightly, feeling some sort of relief at being done with talking to that man. Yet at the same time, she still felt tense and horrified. There was no doubt what the verdict was going to be. There was only one thing that it could be. And all she and her mom could do was just...watch.

Rudy looked understandably horrified. Penny watched as the boy anxiously awaited for what was about to come. Penny turned her head and looked towards the ground. She could hardly hear the crowd behind her or her mother or anyone. Her own heart beats prevented her from escaping her mental thundering. She silently scolded herself for being too weak to help her friend. Now all she could do was wait until the verdict was made.

The remaining statements made, she hardly paid attention to them. It was more just... reiterating what was said. What every person called to the stand had said, including the doctor and officer that brought this case up at all. Penny could hear the judge saying something, although she could not tell if it was more questioning or...

Whatever, she didn't care at this point. All that she was aware of for a while was the fact that she had failed. She was going to have to live with this guilt for the rest of her life.

Her attention was finally drawn when she heard the sound of the jury getting up and walking away. It would seem that they needed to head in the back to decide the fate of Mr. and Mrs. Tabootie. Penny felt her gut twisting at this. They were going to prolong it, weren't they? Why couldn't they just get it done and over with? They were doing this to drive her insane, weren't they?

She suddenly felt her mom's arm slinging over her. Penny was pulled up against her, feeling tears moving down her face. She stared up at her mother and cuddled up against her. She anxiously waited for the jury's decision.

sss

He tried to be as patient as he could. He tried to just lay down and relax a little. He knew that there was really nothing more that he could do right now except just...

But waiting was so hard. Especially when he knew that something big was going on out there. He wanted so badly to come, but Penny had insisted that he stay in ChalkZone for safety purposes. And while he could understand that, it didn't make this any easier. He was completely at the whim of all of this, unable to do much of anything. He could only wait until Penny came and...

Snap let out a loud growl, squeezing onto the stressor ball tightly. He could feel it squishing between his...rounded hands, nearly tearing it apart. It was all that he could do in order to prevent himself from letting out a loud scream or something. He took in several deep breaths, hearing a low growl eminating from the edge of his voice. A part of him almost thought that someone else was with him, only to realize that he was alone.

Blocky and Rapsheeba were going to be here soon. He had nearly forgotten about that. He felt guilty for it. How could he have forgotten that his friends were going to come by and visit him? How could he have allowed himself to be so drawn to his own frustration, that he had not remembered his friends' visit?

Well, their visit couldn't have come at a better time, honestly. When did they say they were going to be here? He wanted to assume that it would be at least within the hour. Perhaps he should prepare for their visit instead of just standing around, doing nothing. Maybe he could prepare something for them to eat or whatever. That could help with the passage of time and make it look like that he actually did do something outside of just mope.

Snap got up from his chair and headed into the kitchen. He rummaged through the fridge, looking for somethign that he felt he could make for his friends. Something that was simple and quick to make. But what could that be? What options did he have?

After looking through, he decided that the best thing to do was just make pudding. He had all the ingredients for it. It shouldn't take him long to make. And he knew that Blocky liked pudding. Didn't Rapsheeba also? Well he doubted that she would easily turn it down, anyway. Snap got out what he needed and began to make the pudding.

It was pretty quick. Just a little bit of mixing here and there and then he was done. He looked down at the bowl of sloshing white pudding. Vanilla was a safe bet, right? He carried the large bowl in his arms and placed it in the fridge. With that finished, he sat down on the couch to wait for Rapsheeba and Blocky to arrive.

It didn't take long for his friends to arrive. In fact, it was much quicker than he thought it was going to be. He swiveled his head as he heard a sound of a door being knocked on. He looked at the clock and noted that it had only been about ten minutes. Well the pudding should be done soon. He got up from his chair to go greet his friends.

"Hello, Blocky. Hello, Rapsheeba." Snap said as he opened up the door and welcomed the two inside.

"Hey, Snap my man." Rapsheeba placed her hand on Snap's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. "How are you holding up?"

Snap replied, "Well I'm doing okay."

Blocky moved in closer, staring at Snap intently. "Did you hear anything yet from Rudy and Penny?" His eyes appeared to water a little, showing just how desperate he truly was. "Anything at all?"

Snap hated to disappoint the rectangular zoner, but he could only just shake his head. "I'm sorry. They hadn't yet returned." He fumbled with his hands. He turned his gaze downward, biting his lip. "I... I do fear that..."

Rapsheeba reached out and placed her hand on Snap's shoulder. "Please don't blame yourself, Snap. There was nothing that you could have done about it. We'll just...have to wait." She moved her hand off and took a step back. "I'm...sure we'll figure out what happened in the end. Just give it some time, okay?"

Snap nodded his head slowly. "Yeah, I know you're right. It's just hard, you know?" He looked over at the singer zoner. "If our worst fears come true, Rudy might not... He might not return." A few large tears dropped from his face as he said this. "Wh-What are we going to do if..."

Rapsheeba looked at Snap sympathetically. "I know how you must feel."

"And it's not even just that." Snap gripped the sides of his head, his eyes shutting tightly. "The other zoners, I've heard what they've all been saying. They don't think Rudy could return to being our protector. They think that he's all washed up, that without good eyesight, he's useless!" Snap formed tight fists with his hands at this, feeling his body shaking. "I just can't believe those jerks. H-How could they turn their backs on Rudy like that?!"

Silence followed this statement. Snap could sense that his two friends were just staring at him right now, unable to think of an answer. Snap took in a few quick breaths as he tried to settle himself down. His mind spun in circles, and it seemed to get worse after each second.

He did finally feel himself calming down at least a little bit. He looked over sadly at his two friends, who stared at him worriedly. Then he looked back towards the kitchen. Realizing that the pudding was probably done, he began to trudge over into the kitchen slowly.

"Let me grab you guys something sweet to eat." Snap said softly.

"Oh no, that isn't necessary." Rapsheeba started to say. "We just ate."

Blocky nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah, you don't need to worry about us."

But Snap wasn't willing to just ignore this. They were his guests and he had already made them the dessert. He was still going to bring it out, regardless of what they said. They might change their minds anyway. Plus they were probably just trying to be polite. Well that was his goal as well.

Snap left for a few moments and soon returned with the bowl of pudding, balancing some bowls and spoons in one hand as he carried it over. He set the stuff on the coffee table and handed a bowl to Rapsheeba and Blocky.

"Snap, we told you we..." Rapsheeba started to say.

"Please, I insiste. I don't want you to have walked all this way to..." Snap started to say.

"Really, it's okay." Rapsheeba pushed the bowl back. "You can put this stuff back. We're fine. Aren't we, Blocky?"

When Snap and Rapsheeba looked over at where Blocky was, the zoner was already eating some of the pudding. He had maybe about four bites of it before he immediately froze, halfway through swallowing his most recent bite, and stared at them. There was a bit of an awkward silence before Blockys wallowed completely, smacked his lips, and offered a small smile.

"I... Y-Yeah...?" Blocky said softly.

Rapsheeba narrowed her eyes. "Blocky!"

"It's all right. I made this pudding for you guys." Snap explained. He slowly set Rapsheeba's bowl back on the coffee table. He then pulled away as he turned to stare at Rapsheeba. "I made it for you guys because you were visiting and I thought I... Well you guys are my guests and..."

"Snap, were you trying to ease our minds?" Rapsheeba stared into Snap's eyes. Her expression held great concern. Snap couldn't think of how to reply. Rapsheeba seemed to understand what this meant. She released a small sigh as she tried to smile the best that she could. "Oh Snap... We appreciate the gesture, really we do. But pudding isn't going to make this issue go away."

Snap lowered his head. "I know."

Rapsheeba moved in closer and pulled Snap into a hug. Her arms enveloped him and he could soon feel warmth spreading throughout his body as her skin touched his. Snap remained frozen here for several moments before leaning against the singer zoner and shutting his eyes, letting himself be fully embraced.

Soon Blocky had decided to join. He dropped the bowl and spoon and moved in closer. He didn't hesitate to hold onto Snap, pressing himself up against the depressed blue and white zoner. Soon it was as though the three of them had melded into the same physical state of being. They shut their eyes softly and just hugged each other like this.

Snap didn't really know how long this lasted. But for every second that it lasted, he enjoyed it. He could feel a smile crawling along his face and he released a small sigh of contentment. Even when they started to pull apart, Snap still clung to his friends a little, a part of him not wanting to let them go. But soon, they were forced to take a few steps back, the hug having achieved its desired effect: calming them all down.

Blocky tried his best to smile reassuringly at Snap. But it was clear that he had nothing that he could say. Rapsheeba on the other hand...

"I'm sure it'll be all right. But whatever happens..." Rapsheeba gently gripped Snap's shoulder. "We'll be here for you, okay?"

Snap nodded his head in silence. There wasn't much else that he could say at this point. He just hoped that Rapsheeba was right. Despite his twisted, burning gut feeling that something was going to go wrong, he still fought to continue to believe that something good will come out of this.

sss

Rudy held his breath as he saw the jury members walking back into their stands. It had been... how long? He wanted to say hours. Maybe it was even longer than that. Regardless, it just felt like it was forever ago. Each second that ticked by weighed down upon him, making him feel sick inside. He put his hand to his stomach and rubbed it up and down.

He was not next to his parents at the moment, but that didn't stop him from feeling their emotional turmoil. He could hear their hearts pounding inside of their chests. He could hear their heavy breathing as they struggled to keep calm. He could practically feel them turning their heads to stare at him or at each other. And there was little that Rudy could do to fully relax. That would be impossible, especially if the verdict ending up going in the direction that it seemed like it would.

Rudy tried not to let his eyes wander too much, and instead focused on the jury. Maybe this wasn't the smartest thing to do. Maybe all that it was going to do was just make him even more nervous. He could feel his own heart struggling to beat as the seconds passed by. And it only got worse beat after beat.

Rudy noticed the way that some of the jury members were looking at him and at his parents. He couldn't really read their expressions, but there was still something uncomfortable about this whole thing. He still felt like they were silently weighing upon his parents, silently warning them what was about to come. Maybe he was wrong and he hoped that he was. But every ounce of his gut feeling pushed in this direction.

Rudy could feel tears burning in his eyes as he thought of what was about to happen. He licked his lips slowly and swallowed hard. He could feel himself releasing a small whimper. And all the while, that stupid clock just kept ticking slowly...

The boy began to rub his fingers together in anxiety. A part of him just wanted this to be done and over with, but another part hoped that it would drag on for a little while longer. He just wasn't sure if he really wanted to know the verdict so soon. And yet at the same time, the lack of knowledge was driving him inside. He just wasn't sure what to do.

But like it or not, the jury was getting ready to speak. The judge was already looking over at them. All eyes, including Dr. Bendor, Officer Lou, and Mr. Gregory, were upon them. Rudy himself felt drawn to it, despite his anxiety of the whole thing. He could not even try to blink his eyes. All he could do was just stare and wait to see what the verdict was going to be.

It seemed to take an eternity before the judge started to speak. "Jury, have you reached a verdict?" Oh man, something about the tone of voice just sounded so final there.

The jury in return seemed to take their time. It was as though they really didn't want to do this. That made Rudy even more nervous about what was going to be said. "Yes, we have, your honor." Those words echoed inside of Rudy's head, making the boy bite his lip even harder, nearly drawing blood.

"And what is it?"

"We the jury find the defendent..."

There was a long pause at this, as though for dramatic effect. And it was working quite well. Everyone was staring, watching, waiting to hear the next words to be spoken. No one breathed, no one spoke, everyone was just silent. It was as though the next course in life depended entirely on this verdict. And for Rudy, that truly was the case.

Then finally, the verdict had come.

"Guilty."

It felt like the world all around Rudy had crumbled apart.