The court room erupted with many shouts. It was impossible for anyone to block out the sounds. They seemed to practically permiate the walls all around, and echoes seeped through the floors. People moved close to each other for silent support as they continued to speak loudly, demanding to know what was going to happen.

And in the middle of it all, Mr. and Mrs. Tabootie felt surrounded. They hadn't spoken in the few seconds that awful verdict was given. Their vision was blurred from all of the tears, and they couldn't stop sniffling. They could heardly pay much attention to what anyone around them was saying. They were only able to hear that 'guilty' verdict ringing loud and clear in their heads over and over again.

"Order! Order!" The judge finally shouted, having enough of the noise that was being spewed everywhere. "Now everyone settle down!"

Slowly but surely, the people in the room died down, their voices disappearing into a soft whisp in the air. The judge then quickly turned to Mr. and Mrs. Tabootie.

"Now as for you two." The man started to speak. His voice was a bit chilled yet still had the authoritian nature to it. Mr. and Mrs. Tabootie remained silent as the man began to relay what their punishment was going to be. "I do hope that you understand why things had come to this."

Well of course they did, but that didn't make it any easier. Mrs. Tabootie had been struggling so hard not to cry. She just wiped her nose and sniffled, not daring to look at the judge. The man's eyes alone seemed to cut like a knife thorugh her body, making her feel rather sick. She felt the urge to just slap the man across the face, but she managed to fight against that. It wasn't going to help her case much, now would it?

It still felt like a horrid dream that they were all in. She kept thinking that she and her husband were just going to open up their eyes soon and find that they had been sleeping this entire time. She kept hoping and wishing that this was just some sort of nightmare.

But everytime she looked around, every second that she ended up remaining stuck here, she realized just how fruitless that belief truly was. She licked her lips slowly and swallowed hard. She found herself looking back up at the judge. There was a sort of sense of morbid curiosity wanting to claw its way forward. Despite a part of her surely not liking what was about to come, she couldn't help but feel drawn to it.

Just what was this going to mean for Rudy? Their son? The thought filled her up with dread. Even with her husband holding her hand and trying to comfort her, Mrs. Tabootie just couldn't remain completely comfortable. The fear continued to eat away at her and she felt increasingly ill. She could only hope that, whatever happened, these guys would at least consider son's feelings in al of this. He was still a part of her and her husband's family, regardless of what the legal action would tell them.

With his arm looping around her firmly, Mr. Tabootie was the one who spoke up. "Yes, we understand, your honor. I guess...that verdict was a given."

"So now that you understand..." The judge leaned back. He seemed to drag on his talking a little, as though to make this carry on for longer. "...I think it is only appropriate that something needs to be done about this."

Mrs. Tabootie closed her eyes softly, letting tears flow down her face. She gave a few small sniffles as her husband tried so hard to comfort her. She could feel his hand moving up and down her back. But his efforts did little to help her out. She continued to cry softly. She was only partially paying attention to the verdict being given.

Mr. Tabootie attempted at least once to bargain. "Please, you must understand! Our son, he's only ten. What's he going to do without us?"

"Go to a foster home of course, you idiot!"

"Yeah! They'll pair him up with someone who will actually care for him!"

"Enough!" The judge shouted. "One more outburst like that and I'm afraid you will face legal action!"

A bit crass of a reaction, but one that the Tabooties were thankful for. They had enough on their plate right now. Especially with the verdict that they knew was going to rip them apart as a family. The realization was just horrifying and they couldn't shake it off, no matter how hard that they tried. This stain was going to be with them forever.

Mrs. Tabootie couldn't bring herself to look at anyone behind her. She couldn't even look over at Mrs. Sanchez or Penny. She could sense that they were horrified by this turn of events. But looking over at them right now, it would only remind her more and more of just how much she had failed Rudy. This had been her and her husband's fault and now they had to pay the price.

The judge said, "Now, normal procedures for this would be to have the child removed from the custody of the Tabooties and placed into a foster home. This, I agree, would be the best route to take for the boy's safety interests."

No... Please, it couldn't happen like this...

Mrs. Tabootie pushed herself further against her husband as she fought against her tears. She sniffled and let her salty wet drops fall down, her vision blurring as a result. Although Mr. Tabootie did his best to comfort her, it didn't seem like it was going to work all that well. Her mind was just too far pushed into that web of emotion that she couldn't crawl out.

She could ask herself over and over and over again how it could have come to this. But she would only be kidding herself. She knew exactly what brought this about. That was partially why her husband's words were not working for her. They were both equally guilty.

"However..."

There was an immediate freeze in everyone in the room. People murmured in confusion to each other. People were looking around. Rudy and Penny shuffled nervously as their parents watched in great anticipation of this unexpected turn of events.

Mr. Gregory looked up and was probably the most confused. He looked ready to speak against whatever it was the judge wanted to say, but he was silence with a wave of the hand. Neither Dr. Bendor nor Officer Lou did anything to interfere.

"Considering the circumstances, I think I'm going to try something different this time." The judge stated. Yep, definitely a sign of an inexperienced judge, but Mrs. Tabootie wasn't going to complain. "Instead of sending the boy off to a foster home, he may stay with you."

"Oh thank you..." Mrs. Tabootie started to say.

"Wait! I wasn't done!" The judge raised his hand up, causing Mrs. Tabootie and her husband to cringe a little. "Before he is allowed to go, there are to be a few arrangements. You must follow this. Any break from it will result in you losing custody of your child and you will be sentenced to one year in prison. Do I make myself clear?"

Mrs. Tabootie shuddered at this. She could tell just how serious this man was being. She looked at her husband. She noted the same fear in his eyes. But he soon swallowed and nodded his head. Mrs. Tabootie followed suit, fighting against the stinging sensation in her chest.

"Y-Yes..." Mrs. Tabootie managed to say. "Please... we'll do anything."

The judge nodded his head. His voice retained some level of cold professionalism. "As I've stated already, Rudy Tabootie can stay with you...provided you fulfill the following requirements." The judge took in a deep breath as he prepared the terms. "You must take a several month course on proper childcare. You cannot skip any lessons. They will be during the weekend. Arrangements can be made for you if need be. Next, a home care supervisor will be assigned to live with you. Their responsibility will be to ensure that Rudy is looked after well. They will report anything suspicious to the authorities and the appropriate action will be taken."

Mr. and Mrs. Tabootie flinched at this, but they said nothing. They both knew that this was better than having Rudy taken away from them completely. But still, all of this...

They looked over at their son, his friend, his friend's mother, who were all in silence. Mrs. Sanchez looked grim, as though she understood what this meant. Rudy and Penny were exchanging glances. Oh those poor children... They probably had no idea what all of this meant.

The judge continued, "On top of all that, you are under partial house arrest. You may head on out to work or to do necessary shopping. But that's it. There will be a tracker placed in your vehicle to ensure that these are the only places that you will go. Venture out of that, and legal action will be taken against you."

Everyone in the courtroom was silent after this point. No one was trying to say anything, not even the grumpier folk who seemed ready to tear into the Tabooties. There was an uncomfortable sensation of dread that weighed upon the room, casting its ugly shadow over them. The meaning of what had just happened filled everyone's minds, and the finality of it all gave forth new feelings of uncertainty...and ironically, relief.

Mrs. Tabootie could feel her heart being ripped in two. She tried to control herself, constantly telling the reminder that Rudy will not be taken away. But with this sort of punishment, it still felt like they were all trapped in a prison.

...but it was something at least, right?

The judge pounded his hammer. "This court meeting has concluded. You are all dismissed."

sss

No, this isn't fair. This shouldn't be happening. He refused to let it happen. He didn't care how much he had to squirm about. He refused to allow this to go on. They didn't need any of this. They could have just moved on from this, but that stupid jury, that stupid judge, that stupid...everything.

But Rudy knew that no matter how much he pleaded and shouted, nothing was going to change. He couldn't stop his parents from letting this happen. He couldn't get the judge to change his mind. There was literally nothing that he could do. Except just...accept it, that is. And even that was really hard.

He never felt so helpless before. It was driving him insane. He is used to having the same kind of control that he did in ChalkZone. The zoners listened to him and valued his input. They would understand his situation and they would try to work with him. But the court room didn't really care about what he thought no matter what they said. If they cared, they would have asked him if he didn't mind having a total stranger coming to live with them.

But Rudy's issues weren't just with him finding this unfair. The other thing was... now with another factor to worry about, how was he going to get into ChalkZone...?

It was very clear, from what the judge said, from what they all said, that his parents' so-called neglect of him was going to cause the new person to keep a special eye on him. He wouldn't have the same freedom as before. Getting into ChalkZone will become a lot harder from this point forward. As soon as that third person was sent to live with them, it was game over. He couldn't try to squirm his way out of this. If he tried, that would only make the person even more determined to 'get to the bottom of what was going on'.

Rudy released a small sigh, grumbling to himself. It would take a miracle for him to fix this mess. Any trick that he used on his parents will no longer fly. It's not just the new aid, either. His parents are going to try to be better at caring for him and they will be more vigilant with him.

That's probably what sucked the most about this situation. It didn't matter if they were not forced to have an aid or not. His parents would have still changed their behavior and he was still going to have trouble. There was simply no escape from this. He had no choice but to try to live with it and hope that he could work out something. He really didn't want to have to live like this. Surely something better would come down the line.

He slowly turned his head to Penny, who had just placed her hand on his. This touch was enough to remind him that he and Penny were sitting outside in a park. Their folks took them there to try to calm down from what had taken place. Despite the beautiful scenery around him, however, Rudy couldn't get that stupid trial off of his mind.

The good thing that it was at least over. Even if he didn't agree with the outcome, it was over and he could stop worrying about that. But now he had a whole new set of worries to consider.

"I'm so sorry that it didn't work out." Penny said in a soft voice. Rudy didn't attempt to respond to her. Penny leaned in a little closer, staring at him intently. "I'm sure things will get better soon."

Rudy just grumbled at this. "You and your mom assured me that the trial would pan out okay." He gave her a sideways glance. "That didn't work out so well, did it?"

Penny leaned away from Rudy, her eyes widening a little. She then let out a small sigh. "Yeah, that's true. We just... We had hoped that things would be okay, but..." She shut her eyes softly. It sounded like she was about to cry, but she was holding it back. "I mean, it could have turned out worse, right?"

Rudy could feel his eyes narrowing at this statement. "Is that supposed to help me feel better?" He pointed to his eyes. "These eyes could have been worse too, but that doesn't mean I like how they are now. Need I remind you that I am now legally blind?! And that might never change?!"

Rudy immediately reeled himself back when he noticed how horrified Penny looked of him. He gritted his teeth and forced out an exhale. He hadn't meant to act like that. He couldn't blame Penny for what happened to his eye. It wasn't her fault. That was just how things had turned out. He couldn't even feel much anger at his parents for this. It was mostly himself he was upset with. He really screwed things up, didn't he?

He was going to have a hard time protecting ChalkZone now. He couldn't see well enough to make accurate drawings, and his ability to judge what someone like Skrawl is doing will be impaired. The zoners may lose faith in him. After all, who wants to be guarded by a blind person?

But it wasn't just ChalkZone. His whole career as an artist was in shambles. He hadn't attempted to draw anything for a while. He had tried earlier on to no avail. The realization that he may never draw again twisted twisted his heart up inside and he just... Why did things have to come to this? Why did things have to turn out this way?

Rudy started at his hands. He could tell, even with blurred vision, how much they were shaking. He folded his fingers up into a fist and shook even harder. His teeth ground tightly together and he found himself slamming his fist against the top of the bench.

"Rudy?!"

Rudy flinched when he realized what he had done. If it wasn't Penny's reaction, then his own aching fist would have served to remind him of what had taken place. He looked down at his hand and bit his lip before he looked over at Penny, an apologetic look on his face.

"Penny, I... I didn't mean to..." Rudy started to say. He coudln't bring himself to continue. What more could he say? He looked away from Penny, feeling ashamed.

Penny reached out and touched his shoulder lightly. Rudy shuddered under her touch before looking over at her. "It's okay, Rudy. Really, I understand." She leaned in against him, offering him some comfort. "We're all unsure of this situation. It's not what any of us wanted. You have every right to be upset." She let out a small, trembling sigh. "I-I wish it could have been different..."

Rudy nodded his head in agreement. "We all do..." He paused for a moment when he realized something. He quickly turned his head and stared back at Penny. "..what are we going to tell Snap?"

Penny's eyes widened in shock at this. The two children exchanged worried glances. Just how were they going to explain this to Snap? What could they say? How was he going to react?

Rudy licked his lips and swallowed hard. This couldn't possibly go down well.

sss

...and indeed, it did not.

"What?! You're serious?!" Snap shouted louldy, his white eyes wide in shock, his mouth having dropped open. "You aren't joking or..."

Rudy let out a sigh. He wished that this were the case. But even then... "Snap, I wouldn't lie about something like this. I wouldn't try to make a joke about..." He struggled to collect his thoughts and keep himself from yelling at Snap. He couldn't really blame his friend for wanting to think that things were not that bad. "We're already taking it hard enough as it is..."

Snap lowered his head down, his gaze shifting left and right. He looked as though he were trying to find another way out of this, some sort of explanation. But he was having a difficult time doing that, the look in his eyes clear enough in that regard. He licked his lips once before turning back to Rudy. "Is there nothing that you..."

Penny was the one who answered this time. "There's nothing that we can do. Starting...relatively soon I would imagine, Rudy and his folks will have to deal with these conditions, including a new person."

"Which means it'll be harder for me to come into ChalkZone." Rudy said. He pushed his hand firmly against the ground. "I hate it... I absolutely hate it..." He looked back at his friends. "But what else can I do?"

Snap didn't look like he was ready to give up just yet. "Well fight back! Tell them they can't do that to you!"

Penny shook her head. "It's not that easy, Snap. The whole legal thing prevents that."

"That's just stupid!" Snap shouted angrily. The emotions were just seeping out of that zoner's mouth, falling to the ground. Rudy and Penny could hardly say anything to stop him and they didn't know if they wanted to try. "That's just...not fair... How could they... Why..."

Rudy and Penny exchanged sad expressions with each other before staring back at their friend. They still couldn't bring themselves to speak and... Well, how could they? They couldn't figure out anything that they could say to this. There was nothing left to be said. Snap was just so far gone in his emotions, there was almost nothing that would bring him out of it anytime soon.

Rudy started to wonder if it had been a good idea to bring Snap out here, in the treehouse, to tell him. He did agree with Penny that telling him sooner rather than later was best. But looking at how Snap was right now, a part of Rudy just couldn't fully agree with that. He let out a small sigh as he moved towards his friend, sympathy etched deeply onto his face.

"I know that this is hard for you to deal with right now, Snap. Trust me, Penny and I don't like it, either." Rudy tried to explain to his friend the best that he could. "But none of us are going to fix anything by you complaining about it."

Snap stared at him for a few moments before narrowing his eyes. "You're right..." Snap slowly stood up, forming tight fists. "We should do somethilng about it now."

Penny let out a gasp at this. "What? No, that isn't what we meant!" Penny grabbed onto Snap's arm tightly. "Please, Snap, it doesn't have to be this way!"

Snap growled at her before jerking his arm away. "Back off, Penny!" He took a few steps back, the scowl remaining on his face. "If you two won't do something, then I will." Snap started to march towards the exit of the treehouse.

Rudy reacted as quickly as he could. Trying his best not to trip over anything or bump into something, he jumped in front of Snap. He kept himself positioned in front of his friend, moting his body from side to side to ensure that Snap was not able to get around him. The zoner growled in frustration, gritting his teeth. But despite Snap's increased efforts, Rudy kept this up, ensuring that his blue friend could not get around him.

"Bucko, will you stop it?! You're making this way too difficult!" Snap cried out to his friend. Snap tried to rush forward again, attempting to dodge around Rudy. But Rudy refused to make it that easy. "Rudy...! Please..."

But Rudy refused to leave. He stood there, keeping his narrowed eyes upon his friend. He could see Snap's look of desperation even with bad eyes. It was just plain to tell how distressed Snap was about this. But no matter how upset he is, he could not allow him to charge like this. He couldn't let him run into danger, run to do something without having a plan.

And just what was he going to do? There was little that could be done right now, let alone by a zoner from another world. No one was going to listen to him, even if they didn't know that he was a chalk being. To them, Snap was just a child who didn't know what he was talking about. Snap could complain all that he wanted to, but if he actually tried anything, he was going to fail, and possibly even get hurt. He couldn't let that happen.

Rudy latched onto his friend tightly, squeezing him against himself. Snap squirmed around in his arms, trying to get free. He shouted loudly, twisitng his body this way and that, trying to make Rudy let him go. But Rudy still held on, refusing to let go.

That didn't stop Snap from trying one more time.

"Stop this, Rudy! We need to do so something! We can't just sit here and... Please, can't you see that I'm trying to do this for you? I don't want to just stay around while they do this to you... Bucko..."

Eventually Snap's calls were reduced to nothing more than mere softness, dissipating into the air. Snap's body grew weak and moved a lot less. With the fight gone, out of him, the zoner just slumped into Rudy's arms. The young boy held his friend close to him, keeping him secure in the hug. Penny soon joined them and the three friends just remained in each other's embrace for what felt like hours.

sss

"Now now, Rudy... I know you're upset..." Mr. Tabootie spoke. He was trying his best to settle down Rudy. But it didn't seem like his son was interested in calming down. He had been struggling the entire way here. "But we have to do this."

Rudy growled softly. "I know. But... Do we really need someone to..."

Mr. Tabootie was about to respond to that, but he was thankful when his wife took over. "Rudy, we don't have a choice. We have to do this. You heard the judge." Mrs. Tabootie paused for a moment, licking her lips like she was tasting something foul. "You can complain all you want to, but it's not going to change anything."

"I wish there was something that we could do." Rudy said softly, his gaze turning towards the ground. "It just doesn't seem fair."

Mr. Tabootie gave a solemn sigh. "Welcome to the real world, Rudy." He gave pause for a moment as Rudy stared up at him with those sad eyes. "Sometimes things just aren't fair, and there's nothing you can do about it."

Rudy stared at him for a few moments before turning his gaze away, trembling. "I still wish that there was something that we can do."

"I know, Rudy, dear." Mrs. Tabootie whispered. She stroked Rudy on the head. "But there isn't..."

Mr. Tabootie wanted to say something, but he ended up falling silent, doing nothing more than just staring at his wife trying to comfort their son. She was doing a relatively good job, but he wasn't sure how much longer she could keep this up. Emotions were running high throughout all of them. Something was bound to break down sooner or later. Rudy would surely try again at some point. If not now then later.

But despite his own feelings on the matter, he tried his best to remain stern, his eyes narrowed, trying to look as determined as possible. He tried to tell himself that he was supposed to be their sturdey weight that they could count on. He needed to be the beam that they could all lean towards. He needed to stay strong...for their sake. It wasn't going to be easy, but he had to at least try, right?

He was so distracted by his own thoughts and by his wife trying to comfort Rudy that he had forgotten where he was. He had forgotten that the three of them were waiting reluctantly to meet with their now 'aid' as the judge had said. Mr. Tabootie would have liked to just walk away, but that sadly was not an option.

Today was the day that would change their entire dynamic. This was the day that they were going to be forced to live with another person. Their whole routine was going to be altered, and there was little that they could do about it. It was either this, or have Rudy taken away. And as much as they don't like this, they would rather not let Rudy be taken from them if they could help it.

Mr. Tabootie was broken out of his thoughts when he heard the door opening up. He nearly jolted as he quickly stood up to look over at the man before him. The man peered out of the door and stared intently at him, looking at the piece of paper that he held before looking back at the Tabooties.

"Will you come back with me?" The man asked, his voice a little softer than any of them had expected. "We can discuss things further in my office. I will soon introduce you to your new aid." As the Tabooties walked over slowly, the man apparently attempted to lighten the mood a little. "Don't worry. I did the research and I believe I found the perfect aid for you."

Mr. Tabootie could just hear the grumbles from his family and even from himself. None of them had wanted this for asked for this. It didn't matter how much this man tried to reassure them, it was not going to work. The only way that he could do that was if he promised they would need no supervisor in their own home...

...but considering the circumstances, the chances of that were rather slim. Reluctantly, the family just moved forward, following this man closely.

The journey down the hallways, past the various rooms, and towards the oncoming destination felt like it was taking a lifetime. Mr. Tabootie kept making each grueling step forward, each one slower than the last one. He felt as though he was in some kind of a void and everything around him began to blur a little.

It only cleared up once he could see the room ahead of them. Windows to let people see inside but noise buffered so no one can hear. The room itself was clearly empty, the lights shining inside revealing that quite easily. But at the same time, it also felt...dead. It was difficult to really explain how. But that was the aura that Mr. Tabootie and his family could feel as they headed on inside against their will. The door was shut behind them.

"Please, have a seat." The man said.

Reluctantly, Mr. Tabootie, his wife, and his son all sat down in the nearby chairs that lined the walls. They adjusted themselves the best that they could. They fumbled their hands together as they stared over at the man expectantly. All the while, they continued to fidget. No amount of getting themselves ready was going to make them comfortable here.

The man before them, Mr. Kurodo, as his name on the bar told them, was busy fumbling through the paperwork that he had been given. He was going through them a little, likely reviewing really quick what he had to work with. After a few seconds of this, he set the papers down and turned to stare at the 'broken family' that he had with him today.

"Now this is a different kind of case. I don't often get a...family issue where it's not the family members complaining, but other people." Mr. Kurodo stated. He furrowed his eyes a little. "I admit, this was a bit tricky for me to understand. I..."

"There's nothing to understand. I made the mistake and now everyone wants my parents to pay!" Rudy suddenly shouted, leaning forward. "We shouldn't even be here! We..."

"Rudy!" Mrs. Tabootie grabbed onto her sun and silenced him. "Shush now..."

Mr. Tabootie held his hand up in gesture. "Sorry about that. We're just...all on edge." That was an understatement. He couldn't forget how that court ended, how everyone looked at them, the emotional torrent that he experienced... "None of us thought that we'd have to be here today in Child Services."

"Ah I see." Mr. Kurodo said softly as he nodded his head up and down. "That is understandable. A number of people who come here didn't think they'd have to. But most of my cases were child abuse, and helping to pair the child up with a foster home. This... This is pretty different." Mr. Kurodo took a moment to adjust his thin framed glasses. "If I understand right, your son here has no real issues with you; it's other people who want something done. And I believe, based on this copy of the report I was given, it wasn't just one instance, either."

Mr. Tabootie couldn't help but flinch. Although this man hadn't been exactly accusatory, there was something about his stare that made him feel uncomfortable. And the fact that he had knowledge of all the times he and his wife had done something that made the others upset, that didn't exactly settle well with him, either.

Mr. Kurodo appeared to sense Mr. Tabootie's anxiety and added in, "You do not need to worry, Mr. Tabootie. The point of this isn't to punish you, but to help you and your wife and your son. I'm certain that you would all benefit from this."

Mrs. Tabootie, who still had her arm around Rudy, said, "We know. This is just..so much to take in. And our neighbors haven't...exactly been thrilled about this either."

Mr. Kurodo tilted his head to the side. "Oh? And why not?"

"They wanted us to be sent to jail." Mrs. Tabootie's voice was nothing but a whisper. Rudy huddled closer to her, trying to comfort her as she had with him earlier. Mrs. Tabootie's tears just continued to drop regardless. "They thought that we 'got off too easy'."

The man blinked once at this before leaning a bit forward and resting his chin on his hands. "Oh I see... Neighbor trouble, you say?"

Mr. Tabootie frowned at this. "You'd think they would have been happy something was done at all. They wanted us to pay for 'not looking after our son'. How is this not punishment? We're even under house arrest!" Mr. Tabootie immediately caught himself and cleared his throat. "Sorry, I didn't mean to yell. But yeah..." He lowered his head and stared at his fumbling hands. He released a sigh. "I just don't get what they want. Why do they want us jailed so badly? Why can't they just accept this is how things are?"

The man's expression softened up as he stared back sympathetically. "Sometimes people are not satisfied unless they get the whole package. Some people want a criminal to be given the harshest sentence just to satisfy their own need of cartharsis."

That was an understatement. Mr. Tabootie and his family were all certain that the neighbors would continue to cause them problems, no matter what they did. The neighbors hadn't been destructive before with the notes, but now that they didn't get what they wanted, he feared that they might be more...desperate.

"You don't need to worry, though. That's another reason the aid will be assigned to you." Mr. Kurodo explained. The Tabooties looked over at him in curiosity. "Officer Lou and Dr. Bendor both anticipated this and had spoken to the judge after you left, and I got the memo. They suggested that the aid also be on the look out for any sign of vandalism or harrassment and to report it. Your neighbors won't get free reign to harrass you or your family."

Well that was good. That did offer some sense of relief to Mr. Tabootie and his family. That didn't solve all of their concerns. But if this aid was also going to help them combat against the people who kept harrassing them, then perhaps it wasn't too bad. At least they were getting something more positive out of the deal.

Still, they wished that this wasn't going to be permanent. The judge didn't indicate that it was. But the fact that he didn't say anything otherwise didn't exactly sit well with them. It could go either way, and the thought of this being permanent did make them feel uneasy inside. They hoped that it wasn't going to be for as long as they thought it was.

"So now that your minds are put at ease..."

None of the Tabooties spoke up to counter the man.

Mr. Kurodo continued, "Now, I called you in here so that I can introduce to you the aid that I have chosen. This meeting will just get you acquainted with her, and how things are going to go. This is also a way to make doubly sure that she is a good fit for you. I'm sure you'll like her."

"We hope so, too." Mrs. Tabootie said as she stroked her son's hair. Rudy did little more than glare at Mr. Kurodo before looking away.

Mr. Tabootie watched his sadly before he turned to stare at the man. Rather than apologize for Rudy's behavior and slowing everything down, he decided to just continue on with the meeting. He would rather get this done and over with as soon as possible. "So who did you get?"

"Hold on, I'll ring her in." Mr. Kurodo pressed his finger against a nearby button. There was a distant ringing sound before Mr. Kurodo said, "You may come in now."

The Tabooties waited for the arrival of their new, unwanted aid.

sss

Rapsheeba put her hand to her mouth when Snap told her about what had happened. She had not wanted to believe it, but she knew that Snap wouldn't lie to he rabout this stuff. That didn't make this any easier to swallow.

And she wasn't the only one who had a hard time accepting this.

"There's no way that he could say no?" Lars asked, his large form almost towering over them, his eyes staring out from behind his dark glasses. "They can't refuse?"

"I would have just told them to get lost if someone tried to pull that on me! Yes!" Bath Tub Granny moved her back scrubber up and down, pointing it at where Snap stood. "There's no way I would have let them get away with that!"

Snap had his eyes turned down. "I know... But Penny said it was a legal thing and they couldn't do anything to change it. I couldn't change it... None of us can."

Bath Tub Granny scoffed at this. "Well they haven't met me yet! Let me at them!"

Rapsheeba stared over at Bath Tub Granny with wide eyes. While she could understand her sentiments, she was still rather nervous about her being all ready and rearing to take some questionable actions. Did she not get the risk that was involved? Even if they got passed the difficult parts, did Bath Tub Granny have any sort of plan? Did any of them have a plan?

No, they did not. It did not matter if they could get to the Real World. They literally had no power there. No one would listen to a bunch of children's drawings. No one was going to give them the time of day. In fact, she feared that something awful might happen if they tried anything.

But she could understand Bath Tub Granny's frustrations, as well as everyone else here. Even Lars, who was usually more chill and laidback, agreed that something needed to be done. Their Great Protector, Rudy Tabootie, had been placed in a compromising situation that not only made it harder for him to get into ChalkZone, but also increased the odds of someone else finding out about ChalkZone. That was a recipe for disaster, they all knew. Sitting around doing nothing seemed almost like a suicide mission.

But at the same time, Rapsheeba knew that they could make things worse for themselves if they just barged in and demanded that they remove this sentence from the Tabooties. It didn't help that, as Snap tried his best to explain, this was a legal thing, which meant it was more difficult to undo than just simply demanding it. There was a whole process and well... No offense to any of the zoners here, but she didn't think any of them had the experience necessary.

Oh what were they going to do...?

"Come on, everyone! We should do something about this!" Bath Tub Granny shouted, raising her hand in the air. Rapsheeba watched, a part of her still stunned that it was Bath Tub Granny doing this; she wouldn't have thought that she'd be the one to lead this 'charge'. "We should try to figure out something!"

"I agree!" Lars stated, nodding his head in agreement. "We can't just let this happen from under our own nose. Rudy wouldn't want us to give up." He slammed his paw against the palm of his other paw. "So let's try something."

Rapsheeba bit her lip at this, her eyes widening in worry. She looked around at the other zoners. Aside from her, Snap, and Blocky, the other zoners present were looking ready to do something. This included a few zoners that had doubted Rudy previously. Rapsheeba wasn't sure whether or not to call them a bunch of hypocrites. But right now, that was hardly on her mind.

"Let's go into the Real World!"

"Let's make them get rid of that stupid aid!"

"The Great Creator needs us!"

"We owe him! Let's pay him back!"

Blocky grew increasingly uneasy. "G-Guys... I don't think that this is..."

Snap raised his hand up. "This is not going to help. Please everyone, just..."

But the other zoners were not listening. They had already begun to chant louder and louder. Their aura was getting more and more tense, making Rapsheeba, Snap, and Blocky start to back away slowly. They could feel the raw emotion of these zoners eating away at them, crawling up inside of their stomachs and ripping them apart from the inside out. They glanced at each other nervously before they continued to back away, taking their time, almost too terrified to try to turn around to run.

The zoners' behavior just continued to escalate from there. It was like they didn't even know that Rapsheeba and Snap were there at all. They had begun to march away, chanting the same thing over and over again. Even as they got pretty far away, Rapsheeba nor her two friends could think to move until several minutes after the group of zoners were gone. And even then, it was rather tense.

Rapsheeba stood there in shock at the sight of just how badly things had gone downhill. What started as a simple meeting to inform some of their zoner pals of Rudy's present situation turned into a nightmare. Rapsheeba and Blocky had tried their best to accept the fact that there was little that could be done. But Bath Tub Granny had gotten a lot of the other zoners riled up. There was little reason not to believe that she would try to get other zoners to join her cause.

It was still shocking that she was the zoner to insight this. But it was either going to be her or Lars. They both seemed like they wanted to do something, even if they were both the last zoners anyone would have suspected.

Blocky took a few steps forward, his wide eyes looking like he was trying to question what he had just seen. "What just...happened...?"

Snap folded his arms to his chest. "Insanity, that's what." He turned his head to the side. "I know now why Buckette warned me how dangerous this would be..."

Rapsheeba continued to stare out ahead for several moments, slowly biting her lip. She wished that there was something that she could say to help with this situation. But she sadly could think of nothing. No amount of shouts were going to stop those zoners. She was better off going for help elsewhere. There was someone that she knew who could help them out, hopefully.

Without saying another word, she turned and began to head in the direction of the Chalk Mine. "Come on, let's go see Biclops."