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Junior sat on that bed for what felt like an eternity, waiting for the officer and his father to come back into the room and deny everything he tried to tell them. He wished that they'd let him see Chef PeePee again, but because of all Bowser's lies, that wasn't going to happen.

And Joseph, what happened to him? Was he arrested too? Or did he get away? Junior hadn't heard anything about him, though he also hadn't been awake for very long. Junior knew he could get out of a lot of sticky situations, but this one was as sticky as dollar store slime. And trust me, that stuff is really hard to wash off.

While Junior thought, Bowser was outside talking to the officer.

"I don't know what's wrong with him, officer. He's usually so bubbly and happy." Bowser said in a worried tone, pacing back and forth.

"Maybe The chef hypnotized him or something?" Simmons theorized.

"No... hypnosis isn't real, this isn't some YouTube plush show. But, you might be on the right track..." Bowser responded.

"How so?"

"Chef PeePee's always been clever. From the way he got out of my house, to evading the police. He probably somehow turned Junior against me, and made him scared of me using lies! He had to have manipulated him into being scared of me! I don't know exactly how, but that's the only explanation I can think of, and it makes sense." Bowser explained.

"Huh..." Simmons mumbled. "You're onto something, Bowser. We'll look into that."

"Yes, as you should." Bowser said.

"Well, it's getting late, and my shift is gonna end soon. How about I take you and your son home, and I'll stop by to chat tomorrow." Simmons proposed.

"Alright, sounds good. Maybe some one-on-one time with him will calm him down and snap him out of his trance." Bowser replied.

Simmons gave the man a nod, and stepped back into Junior's room. The boy was staring at the floor with an empty look on his face. He didn't look up at Simmons until the officer started to speak. "Hey, kid. You're gonna go home now, okay? I'm gonna drive you and your dad back home. I bet you're happy to go home, aren't ya?"

Instead of agreeing like Simmons predicted, Junior just stared at him blankly. He then looked to the side, before standing up and slowly walking towards the door. He waited for the officer to go ahead of him, and he followed him out of the building.

Junior stayed far away from Bowser, not wanting to even make eye contact. He already had a plan set in his head once he got home. He was going to run upstairs, and hide.

It was kind of a boring plan, but Junior knew it was all he could do.

For now, anyways.