The walk down the hallway didn't really take that long. The school wasn't that large. But walking so close to someone who might be onto him, Rudy felt like it took much longer than that. Each step seemed to take several minutes to complete. His body was tense. He dared not look at Mr. Cosmo, as if such an act would invoke him to do something terrible.

Rudy knew such a belief is silly. He was still in a public location. There were cameras in the hallways. Mr. Cosmo can't attempt anything without alerting the principal. Still, he couldn't push his fears too far back. It was true that this man could be no different than the other two, but he knew how to deal with them. Mr. Cosmo was still a mystery to him, and he still didn't know for certain if he knew about ChalkZone or not.

It didn't make him feel any better knowing he was going to be placed in a room by himself with the guy. Maybe he took out all the cameras in that room so he could interrogate him without worry. No, he couldn't do that either. Again, that would draw suspicion from the school. If the camera in one classroom did not work, the repairmen would come over and fix it. He himself had issues with the cameras in the past. When they were first installed, he and Penny knew getting to ChalkZone during school hours would be much harder, and they almost got caught once. They decided to only go to ChalkZone after school and during days off, unless it was an emergency.

Rudy kept telling himself to be calm. He couldn't let his paranoia surface. He did his best to keep a straight face and loosen up a little. He wanted Mr. Cosmo to believe there was nothing wrong with him, nothing going on at all.

And who knows? Maybe the man was telling the truth about wanting to help educate students. Maybe he really was getting worked up over nothing. Mr. Cosmo might not be as bad as he think he is. He should at least give him the benefit of the doubt first. He may have just been misinterpreting his actions.

"I see you are looking at more at ease." Mr. Cosmo stated, breaking the silence.

Rudy stammered, "Y-Yes sir."

"That's good." Mr. Cosmo smiled. "Relaxation is key to better grades. If you fret too much, you mess up more easily, aren't I right?"

Rudy nodded his head, thinking back to his C+ experiment. "Yeah, I'll say..." He hesitated, then looked up at the man. "Just what are we going to do?"

Mr. Cosmo's smile widened. "You will see. Trust me, it won't be anything you can't handle. And after all is said and done, you might have learned a thing or two..."

They finally came upon the room. There was no number. Rudy thought this was strange, but he had no time to reflect as the man pushed him gently into the room. Mr. Cosmo switched on a light.

The room was about half the size of Mr. Wilter's classroom. There were three rows of desks, three desks in each row. A green chalkboard was at the front, a tad wider than what Mr. Wilter had. A couple pieces of white chalk were there next to a back of White Lightning. The room was pretty plain looking. No posters on the walls or any diagrams or anything like that. There was a book case off to the side filled with a few books, but they looked dusty as if they hadn't been read in years.

Rudy looked around the room. He then turned to Mr. Cosmo. "Why this room? It looks old and unused."

"Well that's why, kid." Mr. Cosmo stated as he walked further into the room. He cocked his head down, staring at Rudy. "It was the only room available that I could use. Dirty, but hey it will do. Now..." He turned his eyes towards the book shelf. "...where shall we begin?"

Rudy moved over the front middle row and sat down in the desk. He rested his arms on the desk as he watched the man look over the text books. This seemed strange. Those books are likely very out of date. He was certain that all the teachers got newer editions. But then again, it wasn't like Mr. Cosmo was a teacher, so it would make sense he'd get stuck with the older editions. And did it really matter? Some of the information was still more or less accurate.

Despite wanting to give the guy a chance, there was just something about him that threw him off. Something about the way he moved, the way he looked at him, the way he talked. He didn't know if he was deliberately trying to throw him off, if he was just that bad at hiding his true intentions, or if he was just kinda creepy in general. Rudy was still on guard, just in case he tried something.

He couldn't take chances. He'd still wait to make sure the guy was a threat before he did anything. But he wasn't going to be fooled by this guy. He had encountered enough threats to know how to remain inconspicuous while at the same time keeping an eye on potential enemies. Should Mr. Cosmo prove himself to be untrustworthy, then Rudy would spring into action.

He watched as the man fumbled through the books, grunting in frustration as he tried to find some particular one. Mr. Cosmo took a step back, scratching his head. Rudy stared at him, a tad confused. Did this guy really come unprepared? It was the first day, sure, but come on. He would think that Mr. Cosmo would be more prepared than this.

The frustration from the reporter didn't last long. He lowered himself to the ground. Rudy straightened himself up to see, but he wasn't able to notice what the man was picking up from the ground until he held it up. It looked like some large text book. The coloring was a dark purple and the letters appeared to be white. Rudy squinted, but he couldn't read what was written on it, not from where he was sitting.

"Yes...yes...this book should do..." Mr. Cosmo said softly. He held the book in the crook of his arm as he walked in Rudy's direction.

Rudy attempted to read the title of the book again and this time he succeeded. It said Chemistry Made Easy. He tried to hold back a scowl. Had Mr. Wilter really gone far enough to tell Mr. Cosmo about his recent failure?

Mr. Cosmo dropped the book onto the desk. The weight sent vibrations through the chair for a brief second. It was heavier than Rudy had imagined it was. It was larger than any of his other text books. This book had to be filled with just about everything he needed to know about chemistry if that were the case, including some more obscure scenarios.

"I want you to study this book." Mr. Cosmo said as he placed his hands on top of the desk and leaned forward slightly. Rudy moved back against his seat, somewhat intimidated by the man being this close to him. "Read chapters 1 and 2 and make sure you answer all the questions."

Rudy blinked a few times. "Wait...this is it? This is your teaching method? How is..."

Mr. Cosmo snapped him a glare. Rudy closed his mouth. "I will be getting to that soon, kid. Be patient. This is just a warm up." He flipped the book open and went to the first page of chapter 1. "Now...read this. I need to go run a few errands. I already informed your teacher and principal about this and they are fine with it so long as I return shortly to keep an eye on you."

"So...all you want me to do is..." Rudy flipped through the book, still somewhat in shock. "...read?"

Mr. Cosmo nodded. "At least until I get back. My teaching method requires the use of a special instrument, which I had forgotten to bring with. I forgot to inform my assistant I was going to need it." He turned his back and started to walk towards the door. "Don't worry; I won't be gone too long. Just relax and do what you can. There is no rush."

The door shut, leaving Rudy alone in the room.

Rudy was so confused by what was going on. This was not what he had expected when he came in here. This had to be some kind of trick. He was sure of it now. Nothing about this made any sense. No teacher that he knew of here would put a student in a room all by themselves, toss them a large book to read, and then leave immediately. Something about this didn't feel right.

He wasn't surprised his teacher and principal were fooled. Neither of them were bright at times. He didn't want to sound mean; that wasn't his intention. But with all the stress they had to deal with, it wouldn't surprise him if something, one thing, slipped through. Mr. Cosmo was probably a master of manipulation, a skill that he was certain wouldn't work on him. After all, Rudy was onto him.

If Mr. Cosmo was hoping to fool him, trick him into letting his guard down, he was sadly mistaken. Rudy would be prepared for when he got back. Whatever the man was getting to use against him, Rudy would be sure to be ready.

He wanted to get out and warn Penny about what was going on. But he couldn't leave. He might run into Mr. Cosmo or a teacher in the hallway. He wasn't sure how much trouble he would be in if someone found him outside of the classroom before his time with Mr. Cosmo was done. He cursed himself for not bringing his cellphone with him. He could have texted Penny and...wait, what if he got in trouble? Texting was not allowed in schools and the cameras would catch him...

...and that's when he realized this room had no cameras. He looked around. None where in sight. Was this room so old and useless that the principal decided not to install security in it? Seems so. Rudy let out a sigh of relief. It was nice to know that he wasn't being watched. That weight was lifted off his shoulders.

Rudy went up to the door and peered outside. He looked left to right to see if Mr. Cosmo had returned. He reached down for the door handle. He grabbed and twisted it...only to realize it had been locked.

Rudy's eyes snapped wide when he realized he was trapped in this room. His mind racing, he grabbed the handle and twisted it hard. He tried to muster up as much strength as he could. His hands, slick with sweat, slipped off and he fell to the ground. He got up, rubbing his head. He stared at the door.

He had been right about this guy. He would believe a teacher would randomly give a lone student a book and tell them to study. Even that was more believable than this. No teacher would ever lock a student in the class room. That was forbidden. He didn't know all the school rules and even he knew that this was not something the principal would allow.

Rudy now understood what Mr. Cosmo was up to. He had planned on bringing over some of his lackeys and perhaps something like a lie detector to make Rudy tell him about ChalkZone. That had to be it. And with him trapped in this room, he had nowhere to go...

...except into ChalkZone. Rudy looked over at the board. Mr. Cosmo likely didn't know how ChalkZone worked. Terry did not, at least not until Rudy accidentally showed her. If the man knew, he wouldn't have left White Lightning, or any chalk, available for him to use.

He knew what he had to do. He got up out of his seat, and walked over to the chalkboard.

sss

How stupid was this child? Really, how dumb could he really be? These questions entered Mr. Cosmo's mind as he leaned back in his chair. He stared out ahead. He could see Rudy getting up out of his seat and heading towards the chalkboard.

Mr. Cosmo knew his plan was going to work anyway, but he had no idea it would have so little resistance, so few complications. It was clear the boy did not realize he could see him. The boy had no idea he was using a one way mirror, one of the oldest tricks in the book, to watch him. He would have thought the boy would catch onto this, but then, he was glad he did not.

He didn't want to further complicate his plans. Tricking Rudy this easily would surely move things along more. Rudy didn't have the slightest clue what was going on. The boy didn't realize he was falling right into Mr. Cosmo's trap. A smile spread across the reporter's face.

His eyes almost twinkled when he saw Rudy pick up a piece of chalk from the White Lightning box. The boy pressed it against the chalkboard and drew a circle. A dazzling light shined as what was clearly a portal into another realm was opened.

The man did not react too strongly. A smirk and a chuckle, and that was it. He would expect most humans to freak out the sight of something so otherworldly, so...magical for the lack of a better word. But not him. He kept himself relaxed and rational. As he saw the boy enter what he knew as a chalky world, the thoughts running through his mind revolved around how to proceed with his plan.

He didn't bother recording. No one would really believe him. He knew that. People would just dismiss it as Hollywood filmmaking. And Rudy could use it against him, claiming he made Rudy perform stunts for the movie. Mr. Cosmo would not grant the boy the opportunity to do that.

The boy had taken the bait. And even if Rudy figured out going to the chalk world was exactly what he wanted him to do, it still wouldn't be enough. The boy could never figure out what his actual plan was. And if he did, well, all the more reason to...

"Mr. Cosmo, sir." A voice said behind him.

"What is it, Ms. Saffron?" He responded, not bothering to look at her.

"I've done what you've asked me to." Ms. Saffron said.

Giving her a sideways glance, Mr. Cosmo replied, "Excellent. And the..."

"Fully described and made plainly clear." The woman reporter said. She paused. "Are you sure this is going to work?"

"Affirmative." Mr. Cosmo said, the smile never leaving his face. He looked back at the now empty classroom. He could still see the portal there, a light shining from it. "Rudy Tabootie has done what I expected of him. The first phase of our plan is almost complete."

"How long will that take?" Ms. Saffron asked.

Mr. Cosmo turned to her. "It all depends on how well you pulled off your end of the deal." His voice was stern and hard. "This will fail if you didn't..."

"Don't worry, I did." Ms. Saffron said. "And I followed your guidelines, too."

Mr. Cosmo smirked. "Good...good. Excellent." He looked back at the classroom. "Now..all we have to do is wait."