When the Corey and Kevin got outside, the kids could see that it was nearly dark out.

"Well, that was weird." Corey said.

Kevin blinks as he looks around, "Wow, it really is getting late!" He slows down now but still does move to get his bike. "Is it still a lie if it turns out to be true by accident?"

Catching himself before he gets sidetracked into rambling on about that line of thinking, he says, "Yeah, really weird! Who doesn't know the difference between hot chocolate and chocolate milk? Even if it was really good. And kids being away from school meaning more homework? That doesn't even make sense!"

Biting his lip, he looks towards the house for Pesky and then to Corey, "My mom's gonna kill me if I don't get home before it's all the way dark. I really gotta go. Can we talk more about this tomorrow? Maybe I can meet whoever's on the other side of the radio?"

"Alright, alright, you and your worrying about your Mom. But just one more thing: What did Ralph say to you before you ran out like that? I mean I just followed you. But I coulda sworn he said something to you." Corey asked Kevin

Despite his words, Kevin actually makes no move to go. He doesn't even get onto his bike. Seconds after saying it, his mind drifts away from that intention of responsibly going home on time, back to the present situation, the fact that Pesky hasn't come out yet, and Corey's question.

"Remember all those TV shows where the bad guys kidnap someone and then someone else comes along and the kidnapped girl — it's usually a girl on TV for some reason — tries to tell them to run away without being caught saying it? It was like that! He was saying to get out of there."

Biting his lip, he looks to the house, "I hope Pesky catches up soon."

"Whoa....." Corey said, raising one eyebrow and taking in the dramatic scene that Kevin described.

"I wonder if..." Corey mused. "I wonder if we should do something about it. I mean, we can't just leave Ralph in there."

"This whole thing is weird. But its like? What if we're just imagining it all? You know? I mean" Corey puffed his cheeks out in a sound that was partial frustration, partial sarcastic. "I don't know, I don't know." he finished, lamely.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:18, Sun 02 Feb 2020.

Kevin nods emphatically to what Corey says, "Exactly! If it's real, we gotta do something, but what if he's just playing a joke on us? But him and Penelope both said she wasn't his mom, and she didn't know hot chocolate was supposed to be hot and not just chocolate milk, and not many kids at school causing more homework doesn't make sense, and… It just felt wrong!"

After a tiny pause for breath, he finally says, "I don't know what to do. Maybe I should tell my dad. He always knows what to do."

"No! You can't do that!" Corey said emphatically. "Not until we talk to Pesky and Ralph. If I told my Dad that, then he would probably talk to Ralph's fake Mom. And then, Ralph's fake Mom would do the things that adults do when they get together and say that everything that kids do is wrong and that they're right."

"That's how my Dad is." Corey explained, assuming that Kevin's Dad was just like his Dad. Of course, Kevin's Dad was not like Corey's Dad. Usually Kevin's Dad did know what to do most of the time.

Kevin frowns a bit at the description of Corey's dad, and how he handles such a situation. But then he shakes his head emphatically, and says, "My dad's not like that. His whole job is catching bad guys in lies. Even if he does think it's just Ralph playing a joke on me, he'll know what to do to find proof just to be sure. I know it."

Before Kevin and Corey could further discuss the pros and cons of trusting Parents and revealing all that had occurred, the door flew open and Pesky came running out of Ralph’s house. The walkie-talkie was on his waist and through the garbled static, there was a strained voice or voices coming through the radio.

"Whoa!!" Corey said observing Pesky, “You were alone in there! What did you see? Is Ralph Ok?”

After responding to the walkie-talkie call, Pesky got on his bike and wheeled over to Kevin and Corey.

"Sorry - took me a minute to catch what was going on."  He turned to Corey, "And yeah, Ralph seemed ok.  Looks like he just wanted us out, but I have no idea why."

He glanced up at the slowly darkening sky then at his new friend.  "I gotta get home or my mom's gonna kill me.  I didn't know it was so late."

"Wait!" Corey shouted at Pesky before he could run off home“You Guys have to promise that you won’t tell your parents any of this. Because if you do, then I’ll get in trouble. I’m not supposed to be hanging out with anyone on Main Street. Not to mention going inside of people’s houses. If my parents find out about Ralph and his creepy Mom that means No G.I. Joes TV episodes for a week. Plus, knowing my Dad, I probably won’t be able to go out in Halloween either. Ok?”

Kevin looks relieved as Pesky comes out, and then nods emphatically in agreement. "It wasn't just me then, it got dark really fast?" But, he finally gets on his bike now, but pauses as Corey asked them to promise not to tell.

He makes a little momentary whining sound, as he struggles with that request, and the conflict between what he thinks he should do and the desire not to betray his new friend.

Finally, he says, "Okay, I won't, but you gotta promise me I'm in the investigation. That I can meet whoever's on the other side of that walkie-talkie tomorrow... If I'm not locked inside for being late."

"Well, I won't tell.  My mom'd kill me if she knew I was over here."

He turned to Kevin and said, "And you're definitely in on the investigation.  Why don't you meet me at ten in the morning and I'll take you to our headquarters and introduce you to the others working on the investigation."

Pesky told Kevin where he lived, then looked at Ralph, nodding a silent invitation to him as well.

Everyone was in agreement, and with that the meeting was adjourned and the kids made their way back home.

OOC: Kevin and Pesky Join Thread

Kevin, Pesky: Edith's Huge Head