Normally if his plans were rejected or if he were pushed away, or both, he would have been a lot more hostile towards those who dare try to oppose him. But this time around, he was perfectly fine with that. Instead of ranting at them, he had chosen to walk away. None of them dared try to follow him.

A smile spread along Skrawl's mouth. With that proposal of his rejected, he could work on another path of his plan. He had more ideas than just what the proposal would have suggested. He had to be resourceful, you know.

He wasn't too surprised that the zoners turned him down. A part of him had a feeling that they would. But this would be used later on against them. Once he had unfurled his other plans and got them into a precarious situation, he could then inform the zoners that they only have themselves to blame. He had offered them a way out and they chose to push him back anyway. If they had just listened to him, none of what was to come would have happened.

Skrawl gritted his teeth as he paged through the booklet on the table. He had been keeping record of his past encounters with both Rudy and Penny. He was marking down anything that he felt could be of use. Things that could be taken advantage of. Things that could crawl underneath those stupid children's skins in a way that benefitted him.

With Rudy temporarily gone, that left Penny. He already had to deal with her before. But despite it all, he had already found a weakness for Penny. He had already discovered something that would help him lure her into a trap.

Even though she was intelligent, she still did not possess Rudy's skill, which in term limited her in a way that Rudy was not. Sure Penny might have more knowledge, but without the same skill or creativity that someone like Rudy possessed, that was going to hinder her a little bit. So if he played his cards right, he might be able to get Penny trapped in a situation that would result in her losing the chalk.

Exactly how that was going to go about, he wasn't really sure. It could go either way. He would need to be very careful. But he wasn't going to give up, either. He was interested in paying Penny back for the times that she made a fool out of him. He couldn't wait until he made a fool out of her.

But first, he would need to figure out exactly how to pull this off. He would need to weaken Penny somehow. He would need to find something to make it hard for her to use the chalk, increasing the odds of her losing it in his little trap. But how would he be able to pull this off? He tapped his chin thoughtfully as he tried to think of something.

Then something caught his eye. He turned his head and he noticed that there was something in the distance, barely noticeable by his eye's corner. He turned himself around and moved closer towards it. When he got close enough, he could see that it was some sort of sign with neon lighting. It must have been brought here from a Night Zone. Though how, he wasn't really sure.

He shrugged his shoulders. What did it matter, anyway? Why was he bothering with this thing? He had more important things to do than...

Wait, this sign...

Skrawl read it more carefully. It looked to be some old sign for... Tower Of Babble? He frowned at this. Wasn't that some stupid night club where...

Suddenly Skrawl froze, his eyes widening for a moment. Then his mouth curled upwards into a dark, twisted smile. He brought his hands close as he tapped his claws together. A plan was already rapidly formulating in his head as he released a few dark chuckles.

Perhaps it was time that he gave this Mother Tongue person a visit...

sss

Penny fumbled with her fingers as she thought about the recent events. It had been...she wanted to say a few days since Rudy and his family got assigned that aid. She hadn't seen Rudy in school yet, which made her wonder if something might have happened. Her mom assured her that everything was fine. But a part of her wasn't sure if she could believe that.

Penny felt as though she should try to do something. Find a way to contact Rudy. But such a task would be difficult. Her mom didn't want her visiting Rudy for a while. Something about how he needed time to adjust and her coming over might interfere with that. But that didn't stop Penny from trying to think of something.

She couldn't just leave Rudy in his time of need. How could her mom think that she could just let this happen? How could her mom believe that she would be all right with just letting Rudy suffer alone? He needed someone to be there with him. He needed someone who tried to understand what he was going through. Refusing to help him was going to haunt her and bring Rudy closer to trouble.

She was unable to figure out a way over there, though. She could walk, but that would take a while and her mom may catch her. There was no way that she could just leave and visit Rudy and not be back fast enough to avoid suspicion from her mother.

This especially held true given the fact that she and Rudy had disappeared before and it caused their parents to be extra vigilant. Her mother had started to check up on her more often. This made things a lot more difficult and she could feel her body trembling in agitation as she tried to think of a solution. But no matter how hard that she tried, she could only think of one solution. And it was one that she wasn't sure was going to work or not.

She could cut down the time to get to Rudy's place if she were to draw a portal, go through, then create a fast transportation there and back and... But she should also set up a teleporter, which might take a little longer and...

Ultimately, she wondered if it would even be worth it for her to try. Her mom checks up on her so frequently now that she might accidentally make things worse. Or even expose ChalkZone. She rubbed the top of her head, her teeth gritting against each other. There had to be something that she could try.

Turning over towards the portal, she decided that perhaps she could try speaking with Snap. He might be there and he might have some ideas on what to do. Raising up her piece of chalk, she moved it towards the chalkboard and she began to draw a small portal on it.

She was not prepared for what happened next.

"Penny! I'm so glad that you're here!" Snap shouted, his head immediately popping out of the portal.

"Aaah!" Penny was taken aback and she soon found herself falling down. She pushed herself up and rubbed her cheek as she stared over at her friend. "Snap, what is it? What's going on?"

"You've got to come into ChalkZone quick! There's a riot going on and apparently Skrawl was here again!"

Immediately Penny's eyes widened in horror at the mention of that dreadful jellybean. And a riot didn't sound much better, either. Penny felt her heart skipping a few beats as she pushed herself up from the ground. In that moment, she had forgotten about the other issues going on and she immediately crawled in through the portal to follow Snap.

Penny had no idea if she had remembered to close the portal or not. All that was on her mind right now was to follow Snap and figure out what was going on. She could feel her feet pounding the ground heavily as she continued to run alongside Snap.

Her emotions and thoughs became abuzz around her head and she felt her skull throbbing as a result. Her vision blurred, sharpened, and repeated several times as Snap dragged her towards ChalkZone City. She could feel her feet banging and dragging several times and she nearly twisted one of her ankles at least once. Her heart thumped heavily, going faster and faster as time went on. Her head ached and became dull and she struggled to keep moving.

Then finally, the girl was able to see exactly what her blue and white friend had been talking about. There in the distance, she could see the mass of zoners who appeared to be shouting, clamoring for something. Their words were too muddled at first, making it difficult to understand exactly what they want.

But when she got closer, the message became increasingly clear.

"We need to free Rudy!"

"We need to find a way into the Real World!"

Penny's eyes widened in horror. Were... Were the zoners seriously trying to...? She glanced down at her superhero friend, wondering what he thought about this situation.

Snap just looked up at her sadly. "I tried to talk them out of it... They're going to get themselves hurt." He turned his head to look at the zoners sadly. "Do you think you can talk some sense into them?"

Penny looked at the zoners for herself. She could tell just how determined they were to pull this off and she knew that it was not going to be easy. But she knew that Snap was right. Something needed to be done. "I will try."

sss

Skrawl had to do some reading ahead of time, but he did believe he figured out where Mother Tongue lived. She appeared to be the type that liked to move around a lot, never staying in the same place for long. Sort of like how Snap is. An annoying trait, as it meant that he only had a short amount of time before he could get a hold of her.

But it shouldn't be an impossible task. He just needed to make sure that he acted quickly. Plus, he also had to make certain that he did not get licked by her, or else this was all going to fall apart. He knew what the side effects were. Not good if he wanted to go through with this plan.

Catching her shouldn't be hard once he managed to corner her. She wasn't a particularly strong zoner. She could make him speak babble, but that would not stop Skrawl from making an ettempt. It wouldn't stop him from bringing his claws down upon her if she dared to resist him.

He moved through the tall foliage, consisting mostly of trees and bushes. The presence of these didn't surprise him. If he understood right, she purposely set stuff up like this to keep herself hidden. She was a popular zoner and probably would have a ton of people coming after her if she didn't remain hidden in some shape or form.

But the foliage would also be her downfall. With it up like this, it enabled him to get in closer without being seen. He could see her small little house now and he continued to move along the thicker parts of the foliage. He ignored the scrapes that this was giving him, focusing his attention entirely on getting closer to the house. It shouldn't be long now...

When he finally got out of the foliage, out in the open, he was on the far side of the 'yard', which was surrounded by the tough, tall plants that he had to wriggle his way through. These would be excellent in slowing her down, provided that he ensured that she didn't go towards the exit.

Why didn't he himself use this obvious spot? It was simple. Had he used it, he would have been more easily spotted. Plus, coming from this way was less predictable, was it not?

Skrawl grinned broadly as he continued to get closer. He kept his eyes on the building, looking around for anyway for the pink zoner to try to come through. The windows were all shut and the doors were closed. He saw no sign of her coming out. But that could change at any moment. It was best if he didn't make assumptions or else he...

Suddenly, he could see something moving. A shadow crawling across the ground. It was fast and nimble, causing Skrawl to turn his head and trying to see who or what it was. He could see a flash of pink before he managed to jump back in time. Skrawl felt himself skidding along the ground before coming to a halt, his hand grabbing the grass beneath him to keep himself from falling down.

Well... This was certainly unexpected.

"What do you think you're doing here?" It was Mother Tongue herself. How hard she... Skrawl pushed the question out of his head. "This is private property! You can't just..." She stopped as she took another look at the intruder. She seemed to have finally recognized whom she was speaking with. "S-S-Skrawl...?"

"Nice that you know my name." Skrawl replied with sarcasm. "And you are Mother Tongue?" As the zoner nodded her head, Skrawl flexed his claws eagerly. "All right then..."

Skrawl didn't waste time. He struck forth as quickly as he could. With such a fast motion, the zoner's 'curse' couldn't affect him. His claws raked along her right leg, tearing up the flesh and making her bleed. The zoner screamed as she collapsed into the ground. She looked up at Skrawl in fear.

"You're coming with me, 'mother'..."

sss

Although the first hour or so had been rather tense, to say the least, it seemed like they were all finally getting to a better understanding of each other. The tension was still there, even if it was a bit weaker than before. But it was at least some form of progress. It was better than nothing at all.

But there could still be some improvement. It was obvious to Ms. Sharence that this family, even the more understanding parents, were a bit uncomfortable with this whole situation. If her experience with Rudy was anything to go by, she would have to work harder in order to obtain their trust. It was only through trust and understanding that they had any chance in moving forward.

That was why she had set this meeting in the kitchen. She wanted to lay down some things, have them give her any instructions they felt she needed to hear, among those things. But a big one was to set up initial boundaries. Ms. Sharence was no fool and she realized that if she were to have free reign right away, that wouldn't help build trust very well. Baby steps, as she would say.

"So tell me again where you work, Mr. Tabootie?" Ms. Sharence asked. She had out her notepad and a pen in order to write down whatever the man told her.

"I work at my own meat shop. It's called...well, you don't need to know the name of it, do you?"

"Of course not. So long as I have the number in case of an emergency..."

Joe's eyes widened at this. It seemed like Ms. Sharence had accidentally tipped off something personal with him. Whoops, she hadn't meant to do that. She would have apologized, but the man was already getting the number anyway. He handed her what looked like one of those little magnets with the number on it, but oddly no company name. It was as though he had prepared for this.

"Is that good enough?" The man asked. It was hard to explain the tone of voice that he had just used with her. "It's the best that I can give."

Ms. Sharence examined the number, frowning deeply. "So long as this is the correct number, that's fine." Ms. Sharence soon dropped the item into her bag. It didn't matter if it was well organized or not. She would still be able to find it later. She then turned her attention to Mrs. Tabootie. "And what about you?"

Millie raised her hand up. "Actually, I don't work."

Ms. Sharence frowned slighlty at this. "So you're a stay-at-home mother?"

"That's correct." The large woman nodded in response.

Well this was interesting. If this woman really was stay-at-home like she claims she is, then that meant that she should have known that watching her son would have been important. And if the father wouldn't do it, then why didn't she? Or was there something more that she was missing here?

Mr. Tabootie spoked up. "Is that a problem with you?"

Ms. Sharence stared at the man in confusion before she realized what had just happened. They must have noticed her expression changing. She quickly shook her head and smiled at them. "It's not a problem at all. I'll take note of that." She scribbled down the information quickly. Not her best handwriting, but it would do just fine. She then looked back at the two parents. "And what of your son?"

Mrs. Tabootie frowned slightly at this. "What are you talking about? He's only ten!"

"Oh sorry, I didn't mean..." Ms. Sharence cleared her throat for a moment. "What I meant to say is.. What time does your son get home from school usually?"

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Tabootie seemed to relax a little. She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I would say around three thirty, provided he isn't going to visit Penny's right away."

"A friend?" Inquired the woman.

"Yes."

Ms. Sharence wrote that down as well. She didn't delve too far into the friend thing. Her duties were with the Tabooties. She wasn't going to drag another family into this. She at least hoped that the parental unites of that family, however many there were, at least were capable of making sure Rudy wasn't in danger.

After writing that down, she tried to think of what else to ask. It was getting slightly tedious with some of these questions, but she really did need to get as much information as she could. She needed a good starting point. So what other things could she inquire about Rudy aside from when he would come home? Was there anything that she should know as soon as possible to ensure that this is as smooth as possible?

Oh wait, there was something that might help out. She just hoped that they wouldn't mind answering her.

"What about what he does when he's home? Where does he go? The living room to watch television?" Ms. Sharence asked.

"He likes to spend time at his hide out." Mr. Tabootie said. He seemed to immediately freeze at this, his body going stiff. It was clear that something had been caught on his mind. He gritted his teeth as he said softly, "He... likes to stay there for hours... But he always shows up..."

Ms. Sharence didn't like the way that the man was speaking about this. She furrowed her eyes a little as she stared at him and his wife. Something was up with this. "And where is this hideout?" She had a feeling she knew what this was. She had been told some details and this was one of them. A part of her had hoped it was not true.

"We really...don't know." Mrs. Tabootie admitted. She held her hand up in gesture. "He always comes back home, so we never questioned it. But..." She bit her lip firmly as she curled her fingers inward, pressing her chin against her hand. "We know that it doesn't sound really good when we speak about it like this and..."

"...I see. Well I suppose that's something that we can work on." Ms. Sharence said as she moved her pen across the piece of paper. "I know Rudy will think that it's an invasion of his privacy, but it's not like you're going to spy on him. Just knowing where he is would be good enough, in case he stays out longer than normal."

"Where is Rudy, anyway?" Mrs. Tabootie asked quickly, almost as though she wanted to shift the subject slightly. "Is he all right?"

Ms. Sharence nodded her head, calming the two parents. "He's just taking a rest. We talked for a bit and then he said he was tired, so he's going to sleep now."

Mr. and Mrs. Tabootie looked shocked by this.

"Bed? This early?" Mr. Tabootie said as he rubbed his head. "I've never known him to go to sleep when it's not even eight o'clock at night..." He looked over at his wife. "Have you?"

Mrs. Tabootie shrugged, looking just as confused. "Me neither."

Ms. Sharence said, "It's a common thing when you're stressed. I imagine he's just overwhelmed. He'll be fine tomorrow."

This seemed to be a bit good enough for the parents. But Ms. Sharence's mind still wandered a little. She was a little unsettled by the fact that the parents didn't know this hiding spot. Something needed to be done about that. She would have to try to speak to Rudy about this as soon as possible. She knew that the boy wasn't going to enjoy it very much. But it was important.

She wouldn't try to bother him now, though. She actually didn't know for certain if Rudy went to sleep or not, but it didn't really hurt the parents regardless. Even if they found that he was awake, they could just assume that he didn't sleep for long. The father did say that Rudy normally didn't try to sleep this late.

There was a good reason why she wasn't going to try to bother Rudy at this point, even if he were awake. He was too stressed out, she could tell. This was a lot to take in. She will attempt to speak with him later. For now, she needed to concentrate on other things.

For instance, his parents.

Getting her pen ready and realizing she hadn't yet talked about boundaries, she asked, "As the newcomer here, is there anything you would prefer I start on? Is there anything you feel is better left up to you?"

sss

He had been trying his best to sleep. But no matter how much he tossed and he turned on his bed, his eyes just wouldn't remain shut. He had to try to force them, and even then, he'd get tired and they'd reopen, leaving him in a sleepless state.

Such frustration... All he wanted to do was relax a little bit, but even that was deprived from him. His mind simply wasn't allowing him any sort of rest, any way to relax. It was constantly keeping him alert, constantly forcing him to think of the recent events. And there was nothing that he could do to stop it.

Rudy growled to himself. At this point, he was laying on his back with his legs and arms stretched out. One of his arms was over the edge, feeling the cool wooden frame of his bed. It wasn't really much, but somehow, it managed to help keep him a little bit sane, reminding him of where he was. Yet it still wasn't enough to lull him into a sleep, despite how good that it felt.

He looked over at the door. A part of him had expected that woman to come back to speak with him again, this time with his parents. She never came. That didn't stop him from watching, still half expecting her to bring him some company.

His mind reeled from their previous encounter. He had told himself that he would be firm and strict with her. He had wanted to show her exactly how he felt about her and hopefully deter her from doing anything too invasive. What had happened instead was not what he had expected. He didn't think that he would have started to open up to her like that. He didn't think that he would even allow her to touch him. He recalled his mind screaming at that point, telling him to get away from the intruder. And yet there she was, cuddling up against her and..

He shook the thought out of his head as he pushed himself up on his bed. His legs dangled over the sides while his hands gripped the edges of his bed. He balanced himself as he leaned forward and back a little, rocking himself slightly as he tried to think of what he should do. He could just stay up here and stare at the ceiling for a while longer. Or he could actually try to do something instead of just moping around.

Perhaps he could see what the others were doing in ChalkZone. The thought did make him freeze for a bit as he realized that this is how his parents freaked out before. But a quick peak wouldn't hurt, right? He wasn't going to be gone too long.

And besides, that Ms. Sharence woman was busy talking with his parents. Surely she would keep them busy for a while.

Rudy jump off his bed, having made his decision. He looked over at the door for a few moments before he went back to his chalkboard. He walked up to it and slowly drew a portal. It flickered and shined and then it opened up, allowing him to see inside. He peaked in for a moment before jumping through the portal.

He stopped for a second as he stared at the open portal. Normally he would close them up, but since this will be a short trip, it probably wouldn't matter too much. He just wanted to talk to Snap or someone for a little bit. So he opted to just leave the portal open for now. He would be back in a few minutes. There was no way that something could happen in that short amount of time, right?

sss

"I see. Let me make sure that I got all of this down..." Ms. Sharence scribbled as quickly as she could while also trying to remain accurate with her writing. She doublechecked to make sure that this was accurate before turning her attention back to the parents. "I thank you for this clarification."

The parents just nodded their heads slowly. Neither of them looked particularly happy about this, but at the same time, they didn't really try to stop her from writing anything. It was like they understood the situation and... well of course they did. It was mostly Rudy who had an issue with it.

Speaking of Rudy...

"I do still feel bad regarding Rudy. He...must not be used to this." Ms. Sharence said softly.

Mr. Tabootie gave a slow nod of his head. "Well that's Rudy for you. But he'll come around. You just need to give him some time."

Mrs. Tabootie appeared to agree. "That's correct. He'll come to understand." She raised her hand up in gesture. "Now why don't we move on from this nasty business and try to relax a little bit? I'm sure that there's something less...dramatic that we could discuss. Maybe over some tea or hot chocolate?"

"No thanks. But thanks for the offer anyway." Ms. Sharence waved her hand from side to side before she looked over at the hallway, where the stairs were hidden at the side. "I think I'll check on Rudy, if that's all right."

"But you said he was sleeping." Mr. Tabootie narrowed his eyes slowly. "Why do you want to see him so soon? Why not just let him sleep?"

Ms. Sharence did quickly realize that it was a bit early to try to see Rudy again. But it was still tempting to try to see him anyway. After all, she still felt bad and these parents' words didn't really comfort her. She wasn't going to be gone long, anyway. She was just going to check on him real quick and come back down. That was all.

Though these parents weren't exactly going to just let her waltz in. Not because they thought she was a threat, but because they didn't see the necessity of it. If she wanted to see Rudy real quick, she would need to come up with something else to tell them. Something that was a bit more convincing.

It didn't take her long to come up with something. "Can I at least drop off some snacks for him? Does he like graham crackers? I have some in my bag."

The two parents seemed a little confused by this. Their expressions alone seemed to indicate them wondering if she was going slightly overboard with this. But regardless, they didn't seem too bothered by it. Without saying a word, they nodded their heads and moved back, giving her the room that she needed to get towards the stairs.

"Thank you. I won't be long. I promise." Ms. Sharence said. As she headed towards the hallway slowly, she paused for a moment to look over her shoulder. "Oh and when I come back, I did want to ask a little more about the boy's homework that you'd like me to help him with, all right?"

After the parents nodded, Ms. Sharence proceeded to head up the stairs. She moved quickly enough to get there faster, but she also refrained from going too fast, as that would have sounded way too suspicious to the boy's parents. That was something that she would much rather try to avoid.

Upon getting up there, she moved towards the bedroom door. She stopped for a second to gently knock on it. If the child was awake, he would hear a light knock and answer. When he did not, she assumed that he was asleep. So she took that moment to open up the door slowly, careful not to let it squeak and accidentally wake him up.

But upon stepping into the room, she took immediate notice of something bright. She hissed as she brought her hands to her face, trying to block out the bright light. She seethed and clenched her teeth for a few moments before she reopened her eyes up to take a look. She had to use her hand as a shield. She could barely keep herself steady upon seeing what was causing the light.

Was that...? No way...

Ms. Sharence slowly walked towards the source of the light, which so happened to come from the boy's chalkboard. Her first reaction was just how Rudy managed to create such realistic lighting that it nearly blinded her. But then she realized...

This was not some piece of art.

It was...

...a portal...?

The thought seemed really crazy to her at first. She wondered if she was just looking at it wrong or if she were exaggerting or whatever. It just seemed so unlikely that this could even exist. She had to stare at it for quite a while before she started to realize just how real it was.

Licking her lips slowly, she approached it. The light started to dissipate as she got closer. She could see that something was moving along inside. Something colorful and almost child-like. And when she got close enough, she stared intently at the portal before taking the risk and sticking her head inside a little. Her mind nearly shattered at what she had seen.

What...kind of place was this...? Why were there... Were they drawings? Why did some of them look weird? Why was this...

Her thoughts were interrupted when she saw movement in the distance. She recognized the figure as Rudy. Her eyes widened in shock at this as she watched the boy fleeing. Or at least, she was pretty certain that was him. She recognized that hair pretty easily. He was way far back, indicating that he had been moving for a little while before she came up and..

She shook her head as her mind clouded with more thoughts. Just where did Rudy think that he was going? And in a world like this? What in the world was he even attempting?

Her mind came alive with many thoughts as the realization of what was going on struck her. She could feel her body shaking and her mind spinning as she stared into this... what kind of world was this...? She put her hands to her mouth and let out a small gasp of horror when she recalled the parents' earlier words. Something about Rudy having a hiding spot that they were not aware of. Could.. Could this be it...?

Ms. Sharence struggled to think of what she should do in that moment. A part of her felt compelled to chase after Rudy. But another part of her wanted to alert the parents. She felt reluctant for either for different reasons. For the first one, would it be safe to head into this world and what kind of dangers should she expect? And for the other, would Rudy's parents blame her for him disappearing?

All she knew at the end was, if she didn't do something soon, Rudy could be in huge trouble. She had to try something. She just...couldn't decide on just what yet.