The war had started before Mac was born. There wasn't a day that went by that the eight-year-old couldn't hear the rumble of explosions and gunfire in the distance past the refugee camp's borders. Mac would have thought he'd be used to hearing such mundane things since they'd been ringing in his ears since birth, but that wasn't the case in the slightest. He was terrified. Terrified that one day, the battle would come into the little colony of battle scarred survivors and military personnel again. The thought that his mother, a strategic general, would die on the battlefield and her body would be delivered to the mass graves without him ever knowing. Even his older, dumber brother Terrence didn't deserve to be shoved in the line of fire like he knew he would be in five short years.
The only solace the brunette child could find was in his best and only friend, Bloo. That was why, regardless of the booming echoes of war and the occasional shudder of the decrepit building they occupied, Mac felt at ease and peaceful behind the patched up green couch with his simple blue companion.
"Twenty-three... Twenty-four... Twenty-five! That's a quarter!" Mac shouted triumphantly as he finished counting the copper coins in his little hands. He grinned like a fool at Bloo, who mirrored his expression back at him, "That's enough to buy-"
"Ooh! A hot tub! No, no! A spaceship! Wait! A race car!" Bloo interrupted Mac and began excitedly listing off things they most certainly could not afford with twenty-five cents. But it had the boy smiling even more as the azure imaginary friend began making engine sounds. Bloo leaped up and held out his hands as if holding onto a steering wheel. "Nyeeeeeeeeeeeer, nyeeeeeeeer, errr!"
"No Bloo!" Mac laughed at his friend's antics, standing up from his crouched position and shoving the pennies into his cargo pant's pocket, "Harrison in 102, remember? He's got popsicles!"
"Oh yeah!" Bloo said slowly, pretending to park his race car and looking with a crooked smile at his boy, "A race car would have been better, though."
"I heard he's got the kind you can snap in half, so it's like having two-for-one!" Mac mentioned while pointedly ignoring Bloo's last statement. The duo was visibly excited by the prospect of a sugary treat- Mac and Bloo had never had sugar before because it was never included in their rations. But now that they'd spent weeks scrounging in gutters and dusty streets for spare change they could afford to buy a little something extra. If his mother had been home at all in the past six weeks Mac could have just asked her to lend him some change, but she hadn't been and the boy would have felt guilty asking anyways. Besides, there was a sense of pride in gathering the monies with Bloo that Mac really had never felt before.
"I heard Harrison has like, thirty different flavors to choose from!" Bloo awed in a way that had Mac's eyes growing to the size of dinner plates. Thirty different flavors? How could they choose just one? "We should get blueberry!"
Mac chuckled as his best friend wiggled non-existent eyebrows in an attempt to make his pun more funny. The boy was just about to agree when a strong arm suddenly wrapped around his neck and forced him into a choke hold. Mac's smile vanished and he coughed as he struggled against the all too familiar grip.
"Mac!" Bloo cried as the boy was hefted into the air by a much larger teen. A crooked grin filled with uneven teeth in desperate need of braces shone down on the imaginary creature, "Let him go Terrence!"
"Why? What are ya gonna do, Bloofus?" The teen growled as he ignored the kicks coming from his younger brother. Terrence reached out with a meaty hand and roughly shoved Bloo to the ground, laughing as he did so. Bloo landed on his side with a thud and shot a glare full of vengeance towards the young man.
"Hey! Quit it!" Mac spat out in anger. He hated it when Terrence picked on Bloo, and vise versa. Bloo howled in righteous rage and charged the older boy, but, predictably, all it took was one hand for Terrence to stop Bloo's rushing forward momentum and throw him to the ground again.
"Okay, I will! But it's gonna cost ya!" Terrence's voice took on a sadistic dark tone that had Mac's heart plummeting. The older brother's hands twisted the younger around and gripped the smaller boy by only one ankle. Pain ached in his right leg as blood rushed to Mac's head from being held upside down. Before Mac could even wonder what his sibling was up to the living daylights, and all his saved up change, was being violently shaken out of him.
"H-He-ey!" The brown haired child protested as his world shook and spun around him. He felt like he was going to be sick with the harsh treatment. His concern only got worse as the tinging of metal hitting hardwood stopped, signaling that his pockets were now completely empty.
"Jackpot!" Terrence laughed, roughly throwing his baby brother onto the couch where he bounced off and hit the floor with a groan. As the teen bent down to collect his loot Bloo ran hurriedly around the furniture to check on his creator.
"Mac! You alright, pal?" Bloo grabbed one of Mac's arms to help the clearly disoriented boy to a standing position. He watched as dark brown eyes squeezed tightly shut and his friend's head shake back and forth.
"I-I'm fine." Mac muttered, regardless of how he seemed. He felt woozy from the man-handling but it wasn't anything he wasn't used to. He opened his eyes into a half glare, half squint at his brother. Bloo joined his glaring and soon the two came to the realization of what was going on. "That's our money, Terrence! We spent weeks finding it! It's not yours!"
"Yeah, go get your own you big bumbling idiot!" Bloo joined in on Mac's verbal attack. Terrence, with one fist curled around his scavenged change, stood to his full height and just grinned wickedly down at the weaker pair.
"Oh, but I do have my own!" The teenager taunted, waving his fist full of change. His evil smile suddenly dropped from his face and his beady eyes darted over to Bloo, "Wait... What did you just call me, stupid?"
"I called you stupid, stupid!" Bloo fearlessly shot back. Mac's eyes bounced wildly between the other two in the room in anticipation of their next moves. Terrence's hulking form was growing tense with anger, which Mac knew all too well was a sign of a nuclear blowout. His intuition was right on the money, no pun intended, as the teen roared and leaped over the couch. The boy and imaginary friend shot off in different directions, leaving the angry teen to chase the latter for his insults.
"I wonder if it'll hurt more when I pound your face in with money in my hand!" Terrence rhetorically asked as he chased Bloo into the run down kitchenette. The blue creation stuck his tongue out childishly at Terrence as he leaped onto a rickety bar stool and over the single island to head back into the living room. The teen roared as he scrambled to turn around and give further chase.
"What do we do?" Mac whispered when Bloo joined him under the coffee table, nervousness entering his tone. He hadn't seen his older bonehead brother this angry in a long time. The last time it had happened they had to move into another place because of the damage Terrence had caused.
"Well, we have to get the money back obviously!" Bloo exasperated, pounding fingerless fists adamantly on the ground. Bloo had seriousness written all over his simple features, "For the popsicle!"
"Okay, but-" Mac resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he started to try and reason with his creation. He was rather unfortunately interrupted by the heavy mahogany coffee table being flipped over and away from them. So much for their hiding place.
"There you are you little twerps!" Both Mac and Bloo let out strangles cries as they were tackled by one-hundred-ten pounds of sweaty teenage boy. Terrence used his fist full of coins to punch Bloo in the stomach and hold him against the ground while he used a knee to pin Mac painfully down by his chest. Mac wheezed loudly and flinched when his older brother pulled his free hand back to wind up what looked like was going to be a knock-out strike.
"No!" Bloo yowled as he saw Terrence's punches were now aimed towards his best friend. Bloo growled and opened his mouth wide, chomping down on the hand that held him in place. Now it was Terrence's turn to yowl as his reared back in agony. His bitten hand lost grip of the coins and the tiny copper pieces clattered against the floor and rolled in various directions.
Bloo let out a loud "Yes!" as he lunged for the money and Mac desperately cried "Bloo, no!", for his older brother had recovered quickly and seemed outraged. Terrence shook with anger, skinny face crimson and pupils dilated. Before Bloo could heed Mac's warning the furious teen had yanked the imaginary friend painfully up by one of his few appendages and reeled back to deliver the first of no doubt many painful blows.
"What is going on here!?" An angry feminine voice froze the scene on the spot as if someone had hit the pause button on a television. Mac's eyes slowly lifted to see the imposing form standing in the doorway of their apartment.
"Mom." Mac breathed, standing up quickly and trying his best to wipe the traces of fear off of his face. Terrence was doing the same, dropping Bloo and standing ramrod straight as he too removed all previous traces of emotion from his features. Bloo grunted and sat on the ground, caring less about their mother in favor of glaring daggers into the back of Terrence's head. He wouldn't say a word in the matriarch's unexpected presence, though.
"Mac, Terrence. We have guests." Mac's mother was elegant, beautiful, and colder than any iceberg on the planet. Her brown gaze swept over the mess in the living room, no doubt perceiving the situation for what it was as she stepped inside. Her pretty, thin lips were drawn into a tight line of irritation and she straightened out her military uniform to signal that she expected both of her sons to straighten up and explain later. For now, though, she was silent and stepped inside to let another, taller figure enter the room with a shorter right behind.
"Good evening, Mac, Terrence." The shorter of the two men, a stout bald man with bottle cap glasses supported on a bulbous nose, cheerily greeted them. Despite his rather unsightly face, the man's smile was warm and welcoming. This had Mac on edge. "I'm Doctor Fisyk. Your mother has told me much about you both."
"H-Hello..." Mac stammered shyly, never very good with strangers. His brother nodded quietly, face still a shade too pink to be considered calm but looking just as suspicious as Mac felt all the same. The child's big chocolate eyes trailed over to the man who was taller. Obviously this guy was some sort of soldier. His hair was dirty blonde and cropped into the shape of a square. He stood resolute and indifferent without looking at anybody in the small housing space. Mac shuddered at the presence he exuded. Powerful, imposing, cold. Just like his mother. Yep. Definitely military.
"Don't mind Lieutenant General Braun, Mac. He's always quiet." Doctor Fisyk chuckled in good nature. It was a bit awkward when nobody laughed with him. The two in camouflaged uniform didn't so much as budge while the two boys in the room shuffled their feet awkwardly. The good Doctor didn't seem to mind a bit and continued on anyways. "Now, I suppose we don't have time to chit chat, do we? Let's take a look at you both."
At this Doctor Fisyk reached out a hand towards Terrence abruptly. The teen snarled at the unexpected gesture and took a deep step back. Bloo reacted immediately as well, placing a protective arm in front of Mac and glaring at the forwarding man.
"Back off! What kinda doctor are you, anyways?" Terrence snapped, making his mother look sharply at him with her cutting gaze. Terrence gulped audibly and said no more though his defensive stance remained. Fisyk chuckled once more, giving Mac the creeps from how cheery and familiar he was being with them.
"I know all of this seems rather unexpected, my boy. Your mother had told me that she hadn't been in contact with you for quite some weeks. But she did tell me about this fierce attitude you have." The doctor said while withdrawing his hand. Mac tried not to let his eyes squint with the suspicion he was feeling. "I came to evaluate you boy's potential towards our cause. But..."
Fisyk's eyes trailed towards the mess of a coffee table and coins, then over to the tense duo of creation and creator. While the look confused them, Mac's mother seemed to know what had been going on.
"Mac, to your quarters." It wasn't a request and Mac almost instinctively turned to leave. He didn't like the way his steps felt hurried as if he were fleeing from danger, but he had the sinking feeling something very bad was about to happen. Once he got into his room with his blue shadow he quickly closed the door and ran to hop into his bed.
Bloo said nothing as he followed his boy onto the bed and watched Mac with fretting eyes. The eight year old had his hands over his eyes and was lying on his stomach, breathing deep, even breaths. Bloo was patient and aware enough to wait until the child uncovered his dark orbs and give him the most pitiful look. Not even a puppy caught in the rain could hold a match to the expression Mac wore at that moment. Bloo, having seen this look many times before, could only think that he truly hated it when Mac's mom came home. The cold stares, demanding tones, and unimpressed huffs from the woman were too many to count. The self depreciating, frightfully anxious, and unsure expressions not unlike the one Mac wore now were just as numerous.
"Hey kiddo, don't worry! I'm sure everything is just fine." Bloo forced himself to smile in his usual manner and give a dismissive wave. Or rather, it wasn't so much forced as it was out of necessity and instinct. Blooregard Q. Kazoo had come into the world with the sole purpose of being Mac's one and only true friend. Every time the kid was feeling lonely, Bloo would find him and give him company. When Mac was too overburdened with adult responsibilities that were way too much for an eight year old, Bloo was there to loosen things up with his zany antics. The times Terrence beat up on his little brother were the times when Bloo swooped in with some clever insults to distract the teen and outwit him into tiring himself out. Whenever Mac needed Bloo, he was there and willing. It was just nature that Bloo had never once second guessed.
So when Mac didn't smile back or admit that the blue blob was right, Bloo's security blanket instincts kicked in. He said nothing once more as the boy sat up and drew closer to his best friend. They sat on the edge of the bed they shared together because they couldn't afford two, close enough to feel the warmth radiating from one another but not touching.
"Mom's never brought anyone back before." Mac whispered as he kicked out his legs and let them fall with a soft thud against the side of the lumpy mattress. Bloo could see that his normally bright and innocent eyes were clouded over with weighty and dark thoughts.
"Mac, Mac. That quack is just a doctor comin' to see if you're gonna be good enough to fight out there!" Bloo internally cringed at his words. Though he couldn't quite understand why the humans were fighting in the first place, the thought of Mac being out on any battlefield was enough to give Bloo nightmares for weeks. "You and me both know you're too big of a wimp to be out there!"
"Yeah," Bloo's relief was nearly tangible when Mac cracked a sideways grin and playfully punched his pal in the arm, "And you're too spineless."
As if to prove Mac's point, Bloo wiggled in a silly manner that caused his boy to let out a burst of laughter. The boy covered his mouth to contain his giggles and his eyes squinted in a smile that had Bloo feeling accomplished and worthwhile. The moment wasn't one that was meant to be long lived, unfortunately.
"Hey, nerds!" Terrence poked his head into the room. Obviously the teen had forgotten about their earlier bout in the living room because he was wearing a stupid looking grin and wasn't threatening to punch them. "That doctor wants to see you two!"
"Wh-what does he want?" Mac asked, hating the way his face immediately fell and his voice cracked. Terrence came fully into the room and proudly puffed out his chest.
"He said I'm gonna be a hero on the battlefield some day!" Terrence's statement had both Bloo and Mac giving the teen incredilous looks. The older boy saw the expressions and scowled at them, his moment ruined, "He probably just wants to tell you two how fast you'll die once you get into the line of fire. Bam!"
Terrence held his hands together as if holding a pistol and loudly let out the sound that had Mac jump with the unexpectedness of it. At that Terrence let out a laugh meant to humiliate and walked away from the door. Mac and Bloo looked at each other in apprehension before they hopped off of the bed in unison and made their way down the short hall, back into the living room. Mac's mother and the doctor were sitting on the couch and the coffee table had been returned to its rightful position. The Lieutenant General stood in the exact same place as before, except now he was watching the duo walk towards the others with a dark cerulean gaze that made Mac's insides freeze.
"Ah, there you are!" Doctor Fisyk exclaimed happily as Mac came to stand on the other side of the small table with Bloo, directly across from the seated two. Mac nodded bashfully and held his hands carefully behind his back. He really couldn't stand the vacant stare his mother was giving him, and even less the overly interested one the doctor was giving him. It was like the man was trying to invade his personal space with his eyes and it gave cause for Mac to physically scoot closer to his imagined friend.
"Wow, I didn't get a good look at it before, but..." Doctor Fisyk said in awe, his eyes having moved over to Bloo now, scanning over his simple features with his analyzing gaze. "Mac, you really came up with this Figment?"
"Uh..." Mac was hesitant to answer for some reason. He didn't like this man the more he was around him. First of all, Bloo wasn't an it or a Figment, he was Blooregard Q. Kazoo and his best friend. Second, Mac had a feeling that the question itself was posed less because the doctor didn't know the answer and more because he wanted to see how Mac answered. That in itself added to the sense of personal invasion that the boy was feeling. All he wanted to do was curl up under his covers in a dark room and hide from the world at this point. But his mother was there, and obviously they were all waiting for him to answer. "Y-yes, Bloo is his name."
"And how old were you when you manifested this Figment?" Doctor Fisyk's voice took on a slightly more distant and professional tone that didn't slip by the young boy.
"Th-three." Mac squeaked out. Fisyk's eyes widened and he looked to the woman next to him as if to find confirmation there. General Kazoo simply nodded, never taking her eyes off of her child that wouldn't return the gaze.
"Simply amazing!" The doctor breathed, once again looking to Bloo. The blob looked him straight back in the eye with a sort of half glare, "It's magnificent! No unneeded appendages or details, quick-witted, sentience rather well developed for the imagination of a three year old, and I've heard it's even got quite the stamina. I bet it-"
"He!" Mac grit out, unable to stand it any longer. The room fell into a silence that the boy had to really try hard to ignore in order to continue at all, "Bloo is my friend, not an 'it'. So, if you could please..."
Mac trailed off pathetically as he caught eyes with his mother. The warning she silently sent him was enough to shut him up and he felt the familiar tightness around his chest that came whenever he knew he disappointed his mom. Bloo, on the other hand, was feeling a swell of pride for his friend. Mac was a quiet, shy soul that liked to be in the submissive around his mother and people he didn't know. So when the boy stepped up for him, Bloo felt both honored and blessed to have such a good friend in Mac as he tried to be for the boy.
"So what happened here before we showed up?" Fisyk's rather off subject brought all eyes back to the doctor. Mac and Bloo took a few moments in confusion before they realized they'd been addressed.
"It was Terrence!" They said in accusing unison. The unsightly man made a strange expression of surprise before prompting them to explain.
"We heard Harrison in 102 was selling popsicles!" Mac said, eager to explain the mess and defend his innocence in the matter to both his mother and this man.
"Yeah, and so we searched everywhere for money. Poor Mac here was begging everyone he knew just for a penny! You should've seen the poor guy, all dirty and smelly from the gutters he looked through." Bloo put in his two cents simply because if Mac planned on explaining himself, obviously he was going to spice it up and get all the sympathy he could milk from the listeners. Maybe that way Terrence would finally get his up-and-comings.
"Not true!" Mac protested as he crossed his arms indignantly, "But we did look in a lot of places, for a long time."
"Months!"
"Weeks. Not months. And we just finished getting twenty five cents today when-"
"Terrence came out of nowhere and-"
"He stole all of the money we finally managed to gather for the popsicle, then he shook-"
"Blueberry! Blueberry! Can you imagine the injustice of it all? If Terrence hadn't-"
"And he threw me on the couch, but I landed on the floor. Then he may have gotten a little mad when-"
"But luckily I was able to outmaneuver him long enough to hide poor Mac here under the coffee table. But alas-"
"He was about to punch Bloo in the face when you walked in!"
The pair was obviously just a little too fast talking for the doctor, but the man somehow managed to piece together the story. Mac's mother frowned just a tad before looking carefully between the boys in what no doubt was an attempt to differentiate lie between truth.
"I... See." Doctor Fisyk looked a lot more serious suddenly and Mac's mouth clamped shut. The child wondered why he suddenly felt as if he'd answered the question wrong and was internally scolding himself for being so quick to speak at all. The man pushed his thick glasses up his large nose before clearing his throat and putting on another fake smile, "Interesting. Mac, son, I have a few more questions if you don't mind me asking. How close would you say you and... Bloo, are?"
"Bloo?" Mac looked to his best friend, the sudden question throwing him off kilter even more so. Bloo looked to him eagerly, clearly thinking he knew what Mac was going to say already. The boy gulped and looked back to the doctor, "H-He's my best friend, of course. We do everything together..."
Mac trailed off, not wanting to say how important Bloo was to him in front of his mother. If he did, it would be like throwing it in his mother's face that he needed Bloo because of the neglect she showed to him and the fear he the outside war gave him. The last thing he wanted was for his mother to think she was doing a bad job at taking care of her cowardly son. She was just busy, was all, and Mac understood that. Really he did. It didn't make having an abusive older brother or a never resent parent any easier. That's why Bloo was irreplaceable. He was there for him whenever he needed it, and Mac was fully aware that he wouldn't be the way he was if it weren't for his best pal. Nothing could replace Bloo, and Mac wondered if he'd ever be able to repay the sentient thought for everything he's done for him.
"I see, quite common for a child your age." Fisyk noted. His tone had Mac's eyes squinting as the boy tried to find the meaning behind those words, "And would you say he's rather obedient to you?"
"O...bedient?" Now Mac was just confused. What did that have to do with anything? "I don't really understand what you mean, sir. Bloo isn't here to be at my beck and call all day long. Our relationship isn't that of a slave and master."
"Quite the vocabulary you possess there, Mac. A boy after my own heart." Doctor Fysik chuckled slightly and a glint appeared in his eye that Mac didn't trust at all. The man looked to Bloo once again but in a completely different sort of manner, "So... He is sentient, it seems. Well, as sentient as a living conjure of the mind can get. That isn't the most ideal, but I can work with it."
"Work with what?" Bloo hated the curious tone in Mac's voice. He really, really hated this whole 'interview' the longer it went on. Obviously something fishy was going on here and Mac was falling right into this guy's little game! Plus, nobody was asking his opinion on anything.
"Are you gonna tell us what this is all about or what!?"
"Bloo!" Mac hissed lowly, looking agitated and anxious. Bloo merely crossed his arms and huffed. He wouldn't meet his creator's warning stare and instead looked at this weirdo doctor guy straight in the eye.
"Well, if you must know, Mac my boy," Fysik started while completely ignoring the imagined creature, leaving Bloo red in the face, "I have seen your test scores from the academy and was astounded by your young intellect! Plus, after hearing about your creative ability from your mother and seeing for myself this wonderfully simple Figment you've created, I've decided to enlist your help early at the Figment Research and Dispatch Facility!"
Mac's face paled considerably and Bloo's mouth dropped open. Neither of them could believe they hadn't realized what what going on sooner. The facility aforementioned was a place teenagers went to in order to contribute to the war efforts against other nations. The years between being a teenager and becoming an adult were filled with just the right amount of imagination, dark thoughts, and angsty emotions for teenagers to create wicked Figments that were often used by the military as unique weapons. Terrence was way too stupid to come up with any original thoughts in the first place, but it was only a matter of time before Mac was to be sent to the wretched place where hopes and dreams go to die. Literally.
"Now, I know you're a bit young and naive, but with the proper training and conditioning I'm confident that you will make a great contribution to the war efforts!" Fisyk, oblivious to Mac and Bloo's horror, went on excitedly. "Of course, before you entered the facility we would have to do some preparations."
"What sort of preparations?" Mac's mother was way too enthused about this, and the child felt the sting of hurt puncture his heart. Was his own mom going to send him to such a horrible place? Maybe he didn't make it clear enough to her with her not being around much and all, but he honestly wanted nothing to do with the war! How could he help people hurt other people? How could he make something to hurt other people?
"Well..." The doctor looked a bit apprehensive as he glanced once more at Bloo. Mac felt a shudder of cold fear and stepped a bit closer to his friend in a protective manner. The movement seemed to make the doctor make up his mind about something as he took in a breath as if to brace himself before speaking further, "In order for one to be fully prepared to create Figments that need to go out onto the field, one needs to be totally detached from his or her creation. Many young ones have had their mental capabilities ruined from the anxiety and unnecessary attachment to their Figments whose sole purpose is to fight for our cause on the battlefield. It can actually be quite dangerous to the creator if a figment is to perish on the battlefield while the creator still has a deep emotional connection to the figment."
"So, with this information in mind, I believe it would be best for Mac, before entering the facility-" Mac wasn't stupid. He'd put the pieces together himself even while Bloo was reeling with the bucket load of information thrown upon them.
"No!" Mac yelled firmly and defiantly, grabbing Bloo's arm and startling the blue blob with his fierceness, "I'm not getting rid of Bloo."
"Mac." His mother's cold as ice tone had him whipping around to face her with pleading eyes. All he was met with was a determined stare as solid and dead as a rock. "You will be entering the facility. And that means you will be getting rid of that Figment."
"But- Mom!"
"Tomorrow, Mac!" His mother snapped, effectively shutting up her youngest son, "First thing in the morning I expect you to be ready to hand it over to Doctor Fisyk."
"I-I assure you, Mac, Bloo will be put to good use in the facility!" Fisyk put in nervously, obviously having been put in a situation he didn't quite like being in, "Of course, you won't be able to see it, but eventually you will become detached and-"
Mac, who had begun shaking violently after his mother's sudden order, suddenly shot off like a bullet towards his room with Bloo still gripped in his hand. Bloo was stunned not just because of what he'd been sentenced to, but because Mac was a good boy, not a rebellious child who slammed his bedroom door shut after trying to argue with his mom. The child didn't even make it to his bed to wallow this time. Bloo allowed himself to be dragged to the bedside where Mac collapsed against it in a limp heap.
"Mac..." Bloo breathed near soundlessly as everything that had just happened caught up to him. He was going to be separated from his best friend, his only friend. The turmoil and dread swirling around within Bloo was showing outwardly in Mac. Harsh breathing that could be considered close to sobs but was more like hyperventilating came from the boy as he gripped both Bloo's hand and the bed sheets.
"This can't be happening..." Mac moaned pitifully. He went from gripping the sheets to grasping at his shirt in anguish. The more he thought about what he and Bloo had just been condemned to the harsher his respiratory system labored. His mom was going to take Bloo away, and after a day had passed the aqua blob he'd grown up with would be ripped from his life forever. If he had his eyes open Mac would have seen the darkness encroaching on his vision from the hyperventilating.
What should he do? What could he do? How was he going to stop this?
"Mac!" The boy's earthy eyes popped open as his head was turned to the side. Through his speckled vision he came face to face with the concerned expression of Bloo. The imaginary friend was trying to mask his worry for the boy with a crooked twist of his mouth that really didn't count as a smile. "Hey, pal. I'm still here, y'know! Just, take in a deep breath and clam down."
Mac closed his eyes again and focused on Bloo's words. He breathed in and out slowly, trying his best to ignore the way a booming went off in the distance followed by a harsh shudder of the entire apartment. He soon found that the pounding in his ears he hadn't noticed before was fading away to leave them in an icy silence. The boy's mind cleared somewhat and when he felt stable enough he opened his eyes once more to peer sadly at Bloo. His grip never left Bloo's, and the Figment never tried to pull away.
"What are we gonna do, Bloo?" It came out as nothing more than a faint whisper from the child, but every word was dripping with desperation and fear. It broke Bloo's heart into a thousand minuscule pieces. He knew how much Mac hated this war, and how much he needed to be with the boy to protect him from situations just like the one they were facing.
"I..." Bloo wanted desperately to give a reassuring answer to his friend, to come up with some quick-witted solution like he always did, but nothing was coming to mind. He silently cursed everything and everyone for making Mac so distraught. He cursed the war, Terrence, Mac's mom, that creepy doctor guy and his buff buddy out in the living room, and the wretched apartment that was in shambles for confining them to their fate. If only they could get out of the depressing excuse for a living space, then they could be-
"We run away!" Bloo blurted out suddenly. Mac's eyes blinked incomprehensibly as Bloo suddenly sprang to life and finally broke their physical contact. The blue whirlwind rushed to the closest and rummaged around before pulling out two stuffed backpacks. It was their emergency 72-hour bags that were there in the case of an attack or natural disaster. The former was more probable. Bloo quickly dragged both bags over and shoved Mac's into his arms while putting on his own. Bloo looked excitedly to his friend with a wide smile, "Let's get out of here! We'll go to that other camp you always talk about in Topeka!"
"Bloo! Do you know how far away that is?" Mac hissed in a whisper, putting his bag at his feet and standing up. "We can't just waltz on over to Topeka, we'd have to go across the battlefield to get there! Mom says that if even one family has to move, it takes a whole military squad to escort them! It'd take days! There's no way we'd survive! Besides, how would we get out of here with my mom around? You know how light a sleeper she is right after she comes home."
"Pshaw, Mac! You forget who you're talking to here!" Bloo scoffed with a dismissive wave of his stubby hand, "Look, it's night outside, we can escape under the shroud of darkness. Like ninjas!" Bloo placed his arms horizontally over and under his eyes to mimic a ninja mask. The action that might have been humorous in a different situation only made Mac roll his eyes.
"And what about getting out of here, Bloo?"
"The window, duh!" Bloo pointed out the window as he quite violently began pulling the blankets and sheets off of the bed and started tying them together. Mac's deadpan stare never left his zany friend. Bloo stuck his tongue out as he knotted the cloth together and went for the bedskirt to add more length. After all, they were on the third floor!
"Uh-huh, and then what? We just walk out into the middle of a literal minefield and hope we don't get blown up, shot, or kidnapped?" Mac stated as Bloo walked over to the window with his arms full of knotted bedding, opening the single window in the room and getting ready to throw the stuff out, "You have to tie one end to the bed."
"Oh. I knew that." Bloo stopped himself from ruining all of his efforts and took one end so he could walk back and tie it to the foot of the metal bed frame. Once he did he looked serious to his boy and gestured to the backpack on the floor that Mac hadn't yet put on, "Look, Mac. I don't see you coming up with any better ideas. Trust me, kid. I can get us both out of here safe and sound."
"I-I know, it's just..." Running away? Mac never thought of doing anything like that. Surely it would break his mother's heart if he just up and disappeared on her. It wasn't like he'd didn't want to get out of this place as soon as he could, but he had been hoping it would be with his whole family. Terrence and his mom included, even if neither of them really cared that much about him. Well, he was positive his mom cared at least a little bit. Probably.
"Unless... You don't really care if I get taken away." Bloo's quiet, disheartened words had Mac's gaze that had subconsciously trailed to the floor whipping up in alarm. There was fear resting in Bloo's dark eyes that Mac had seen countless times before in other imaginary friends who had been forced to separate from their creators. The expression had Mac disgusted with himself.
Bloo was more of a brother to him than Terrence ever had been or ever would be, and cared more deeply for him than his mother cared to show. Why was he thinking about the feelings of people who wanted to send him away to be a brainwashed weapons-maker when the one who could be truly hurt by his next choice was offering them a chance to leave it all behind? The eight year old clenched his hands and set his expression into one of firm determination.
"Alright." He said, pushing down his doubt as far as he could while he stooped to pick up his backpack and swing it over one shoulder, "Let's do this."