Mr. Cosmo smiled as he noticed Rudy's reaction. Just like how he expected him to look. It was amazing how powerful a simple gaze could be. And just like he hoped, the girl, Penny he believed her name was, was looking just as shocked. He kept his gaze from her, instead focusing on Rudy. He studied the boy, reading his expression as he mentally thought about how he was going to handle him.

He dared not stare at the boy too long. A gaze held after a length of time would invoke suspicion from Mr. Wilter. In truth, he didn't consider Wilter a close friend. He had little understanding of what he was going to do, and the less he knew of his motives, the better. The other students might get suspicious as well. It would be hard to pull off anything if half the dang school distrusted him.

He had to play it safe and cool. In a swift motion, he turned his head away from the boy. He turned his gaze onto Mr. Wilter. The man had moved aside, sitting back down in his seat. Mr. Wilter looked up at him and motioned with his hand for him to start.

Mr. Cosmo had prepared for this moment. In his mind, he rehearsed it over and over again. Being here, it was different. Had it not been for his gigantic ego, he would have faltered and stumbled, which may or may not have exposed him. With a single clearing of the throat, he began to speak, his professional speech lessons paying off.

"Greetings, as you all may know, I am Mr. Cosmo of...well I don't really need to go into details. Most of you already know who I am. Now I am sure you are all wondering why a renowned reporter like myself is doing here."

Mr. Cosmo glanced at the classroom as whole. Everyone was looking at him with curiosity, well except Rudy and Penny who were clearly hiding any indication they were skeptical. He continued his speech that he replayed in his mind many times on the way to the school.

"My fellow co-reporter, Ms. Saffron, has scoped out some of the students in this region and spoken to them. It is with great concern that I tell you all that she has noticed an alarming rate of students dropping their performance. Only a small portion of the students she found have been doing well in school. This is worrying considering not too long ago, this area had high education standards."

The reactions were just what the reporter had expected. Most of the students didn't seem to care. How could they? They were still a little too young to understand. A few of them did, he was sure. He wasn't dumb enough to believe no student was uncaring. But he was smart enough to know that students, as a whole, wouldn't be too concerned at this age.

Mr. Wilter looked visibly upset. He had never had the guy frown at him like that before. He didn't blame him. After all, he was a teacher here and with his own words, he had pretty much insulted the guy. A negative trend of education for the young ones can and is often traced back to not just the students' willingness to listen but also the competence of the teacher. And since Mr. Wilter prided himself with being a top of the line educator, his words didn't exactly glow in favor for him.

And out of the corner of his eye, he could see Rudy and Penny looking confused. Had they expected him to talk about something else? He was certain of that. On the inside, he smiled. He still had the upper hand here, and as long as he can keep them in the dark about what he really wanted, his plan could commence. The two teens would be none the wiser until he was ready for them to know.

And by then, it would be too late.

"But I have a solution. Now I know what you're all might be thinking. I am just a reporter, not someone who teaches. I don't have the level of experience and I couldn't possibly compete with someone like Mr. Wilter." He gestured to the man behind him. Mr. Wilter smiled a little, happy that his expertise was acknowledged. "Ms. Saffron and I have discussed a different way of teaching. Of course this would only be, for the time being, those who are struggling the most. Those who need the most help."

"And just what is this method you speak of?" Mr. Wilter asked.

"I can't tell you a whole lot." Mr. Cosmo replied. "I do not wish to give you false information. I could tell you what we had in mind, but if you were to attempt it and get negative results, you can't exactly blame us for it." He turned his gaze onto the class. "Instead, before I can inform you, Ms. Saffron and I will need one student to try our methods on. Depending on how well that student performs, we will tell you. We are certain you would benefit greatly from this information."

Mr. Wilter nodded in agreement, his fingers interlocking as his hands rested on the table. "I greatly appreciate what you are trying to do for this school, Mr. Cosmo. Did you have any idea of which student you would like to use this method on?"

Mr. Cosmo glanced to the classroom. "Well I was thinking of one of your students. If you don't mind, of course."

"Certainly not!" Mr. Wilter smiled. "I mean, of course I don't mind. I actually have someone in mind for you. He's out sick today, but there's Reggie Bullnerd. The worst student in my class. He would definitely benefit if your ideas work."

"Hmm...is there someone else?" Mr. Cosmo asked.

"Any other students of mine who don't perform well? Yes, but why?" Mr. Wilter asked. "I just gave you a suggestion. I think Reggie Bullnerd is..."

"Yes, yes, I know, but..." Mr. Cosmo gave Rudy a sideways glance. A small smile crept onto the reporter's face. "Are you sure there's no one more...deserving...?"

At this, Rudy lowered his head a little, while Penny looked at him sympathetically. Mr. Cosmo smiled at him for another second before turning his head to Mr. Wilter. He wondered if he had picked up the clue he was giving him. He still had to be as subtle as possible, so he couldn't just outright say Rudy. A few clues with body language and the right words should do it.

Mr. Wilter didn't seem to understand where he was getting at. He started at the reporter, confused. He then glanced down at his papers, probably looking at the grades of his students, to recheck to see if Reggie really was the worst student. He didn't come across any such student as he soon put the papers down and shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know what you're talking about." Mr. Wilter said. "If there's one student here who is deserving, it's Reggie Bullnerd. You would get more potential out of him. There's a few other students of mine who do poorly, but none of them are that horrible." He spoke softly under his breath. "Even if they do draw useless cartoons..."

"What was that?" Mr. Cosmo asked, cupping a hand around his ear. "I didn't quite hear you."

Mr. Wilter blinked at him, as if wondering how he heard. Then he narrowed his eyes slightly. "That isn't any of your business, Mr. Cosmo. Now would you be so kind as to tell me what you are getting at?"

Mr. Cosmo's eyes narrowed just a tad bit. Okay, so maybe things weren't going entirely as planned. Perhaps Mr. Wilter was a little more clever than he imagined. For the plan to commence, he would need to be a little more forceful now. A little more...manipulative.

"I know it's quite easy to think this Reggie student would be the best choice for this test. And perhaps you are right. If he has the worst grades, then why not use him?" Mr. Cosmo said, his eyes upward cast and his hand rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "But then..." The tone of his voice changed, becoming a tad darker and more serious. "...do you think we'd be able to come out here tomorrow? What if the next time we come, Reggie isn't here? We can't exactly show up to his house either. I doubt his parents would approve of a total stranger coming to his house. The testing must be done here."

"And you will be able to do that when..." Mr. Wilter began.

Mr. Cosmo cut him off. "With all due respect, sir, does Reggie show up at school on a regular basis? Or does he skip out a lot?"

"Well I..."

"He sounds like the kind of student to do that. Maybe not all the time as he is not suspended I see." Mr. Cosmo said. He began to pace in front of the classroom. The students watched him, mostly in curiosity, while Rudy and Penny were tense. "That is why I need someone who doesn't skip out. Someone who doesn't have a potential attitude problem. Someone who understands how to do the work and just needs some extra help. A push in the right direction, if you will."

Mr. Cosmo looked at the teacher and waited for a reply. He had been struggling not to point his finger at Rudy. He hoped that, now, the man would have an idea of who he wanted. He watched as the teacher scanned his entire classroom. His expression never changed, no matter whom he looked at.

Frowning, the reporter moved back towards the teacher. He didn't foresee Mr. Wilter being this stupid. And he was supposed to be a teacher? He wouldn't understand subtlety if it came and bit him on the nose. He wondered if, even if he pointed at Rudy, that Mr. Wilter would still be clueless. Yet he still had to do this. He couldn't just take any student, no matter how bad they are, and drag them off somewhere. No, he needed permission to keep the others off of him.

In a friendly gesture, he put his arm around Mr. Wilter's shoulders. Holding out his other hand at the side, he began to make conversation with Mr. Wilter, as if making a proposition. "Would you mind if we talk out in the hallway? Where there are less distractions and more capacity to think?"

Mr. Wilter hesitated for a moment. Then he gave a nod. "Sure, I don't see why not." As he headed towards the door with Mr. Cosmo, he turned to the class and waggled a finger at them. "Now I don't want to hear a word out of any of you while I'm talking with Mr. Cosmo. If I hear just one word, you all get detention! Do you understand me?"

The classroom nodded solemnly, all of them not too keen on the idea of serving detention. Mr. Wilter might have been bluffing. He sometimes did that when he wanted to get a point across. But why take the chance?

As the teacher and reporter walked out of the room, Rudy and Penny were finally able to voice their concerns to each other, albeit in low voices so no one could hear them.

"I don't like this, Rudy." Penny said softly. "What could he be up to?"

Rudy turned his head so he could speak with Penny more easily. His expression showed not only worry like Penny's, but also a tad bit of fear. "I don't know...I don't like the way he was looking at me. It's like he knows something about me..."

Penny nodded her head. "I...I think he might know our secret, Rudy... He seems to be targeting you specifically. Out of everyone in the class...it has only been you he looked at with those eyes." She shuddered a little, clearly not wanting to think about it.

Rudy bit his lip as he turned to look at the door. It had been shut, but he could see the shadows out of the door window quite clearly. He watched as Mr. Wilter and Mr. Cosmo were chatting about something. There was little movement. Maybe a sway of the hand once or twice. But, with the angle they stood at, it was almost like they weren't talking at all.

While he could not read lips anyway, seeing the lips move in this case may have been a benefit to him. He could easily pick out when they said something similar to his own name, and he would know they were talking about him. Even though he was nervous at the idea of this man seeking him out, not knowing what he was talking about was even more nerve wracking.

If the man really did want him, his mind flooded with thoughts of what he would do. If this man knew about ChalkZone, what were his plans? Exposing ChalkZone was very much a possibility. That's what both Vinnie and Terry wanted to do when they found out about that world's existence.

Yet he knew that just because of what Vinnie and Terry did doesn't mean that is what Mr. Cosmo had planned. Rudy was more scared by not knowing, than knowing. After all, there was the belief that things that are unseen are more frightening. And he would completely agree. He had no idea what this guy was going to do. For all he knew, Mr. Cosmo was going to torture him for information and then destroy ChalkZone.

He wiped that thought out of his head. No, he couldn't get carried away in his imagination like that. Like with past threats, he needed to scope out Mr. Cosmo and understand what he is planning. He saved ChalkZone many times in the past, against many threats, both of the real world and chalk world. Mr. Cosmo wouldn't be any different than any of them. He had to believe that.

As protector of ChalkZone, he had to believe in himself.

"When we get the chance, we should warn the others in ChalkZone about this." Penny said, snapping Rudy out of his thoughts.

"Yeah, you're right, Penny." Rudy replied. "They need to know about this. If this guy is really after ChalkZone, then..."

His thoughts were cut off once again. But this time, it wasn't be cause of Penny. It was because the door had swung open, a tad too hard because it hit against the classroom wall with a tiny bit of force. The students returned their gaze in the front as the reporter and teacher came walking back in the classroom.

Rudy and Penny watched as, instead of returning to his seat, Mr. Wilter stood next to Mr. Cosmo in the front of the classroom. Mr. Wilter's hands were folded behind his back while Mr. Cosmo looked along the classroom before he began to speak.

"Mr. Wilter and I had come to the conclusion of who should be a part of this program. The person I am about to pick will have the honor of being the first to try this brand new method of tutoring. This person should be pleased that he or she will be helping students everywhere who are struggling. Do not be disappointed if I don't choose you; your time may come eventually."

Rudy could feel his heart starting to race in anxiety. He tried his best not to show his nervousness. A part of him wished that Mr. Cosmo would hurry up and announce who he picked. The other just wanted him to leave.

There was still that chance it wasn't him Mr. Cosmo wanted. That him staring at the boy was just a coincidence, or done to mess with him. There was the chance that he was getting worked up over nothing and Mr. Cosmo would leave him alone.

But then, given all he had to deal with regarding those who sought to do him or ChalkZone harm, since when did he have that kind of luck?

Mr. Wilter, who seemed to almost read his mind, said, "The student we feel would be the best candidate for Mr. Cosmo's testing is..." He looked over at Rudy and said, "Rudy Tabootie."

Hearing his name, Rudy slumped lower in his chair, his eyes widening. Penny looked at him, feeling sorry for him. Rudy looked like he wanted to disappear, to be anywhere but hear. The other students smirked at him, obviously relieved they weren't the ones chosen for this.

Rudy felt cornered. He was mentally backed up against a wall as Mr. Cosmo walked up to him. With each time the man took to get closer, the more visibly shaken Rudy started to look. Despite telling himself to be calm, telling himself that Mr. Cosmo would get more suspicious of him if he kept this up, Rudy couldn't help but give off a slight tremble.

Mr. Cosmo took notice. "Are you cold, boy?"

"Y-Yeah. I am a little cold." Rudy said, an idea formulating in his head. "I might have a fever. Mr. Wilter, I'm going to the nurse and..."

Before he could get up, Mr. Wilter slammed a fist against his desk. "You will do no such thing, Tabootie! I know you are not sick, so don't try to fake your away out of this!" Rudy lowered his head. "Good. Now go with Mr. Cosmo. He will take you to another room for the testing."

Following Mr. Cosmo's gesture, Rudy got out of his seat. He looked over at Penny. She didn't say anything, but judging by her look, she was worried about him. Rudy wanted to say something to her, but he was ushered away when Mr. Cosmo put a hand on his back.

"Don't worry, kid. This won't be too hard for you. If you are worried you will do poorly, push those thoughts out of your head." Mr. Cosmo said as he took Rudy out of the room with him. "Even someone of your level of...missing the point...would be able to get it." At this, Rudy glared at him, but the man ignored him as they continued down the school halls.

Penny stared at the now shut door. Slowly, she turned her eyes towards her desk. She didn't react as Mr. Wilter attempted to start class. She still brought out her book, but it was almost in an automatic fashion. Her mind was clearly elsewhere.

"Rudy...I hope you'll be okay."