Well, here were are! The very last chapter! Thank you for all your reviews and support, everyone! Although the story was actually completed by the time I posted chapter one, you guys really helped a lot by making me feel confident to put up the whole thing. Thank you all so much! Also, thank you all for putting up with my incessant run-on sentences (you think a high school senior in AP English would know better but...bleh, this is not going to be a fun school year.)
Before I go any further, I just want to answer to a couple of your last few reviews:
adele- No Mac's not going to be adopted officially and live at Foster's, Frankie's whole "big sister" comment was more or less just a confession on how she really felt about Mac, namely that he's like a little brother to her. Sounds like a good possible story idea, though!
MisterBlue- To be honest, I don't really have much of a good reason why I gave Terrence his drug habit. I really just wanted to write a Frankie/Mac story, I needed Mac to be caught in some type of the trouble, and I guess I just used this idea because it seemed original enough to me. That's basically it. Good question!
Grand High Idol- I'm sorry! I forgot that there's a bunch of Terrence fans out there, and I will admit my portrayal of him was probably a bit over the top. Sorry, I never meant to strike a nerve like that. Thanks anyway for the constructive criticism!
Now that that's all out of the way, thank you so much everyone! Here we go, last chapter! Nothing big, chapter six was the big climax, this is more than just a little epilogue. Enjoy, nonetheless!
I do not own Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends
At the sound of the school bell, the doors of the elementary school burst open as children flooded out in an unruly mob. Many got on the large school buses waiting on the curb, others climbed into the cars of their parents, some simply jogged the way home, all of them eager to be free of the educational system for two glorious days.
One child, however, did not seem to be in as quite a rush as all the others. Mac hummed cheerfully to himself as he made his way through the school doors and outside to the sidewalk. While the front of the school was quickly almost completely deserted of kids, the small brown-haired child took it easy as he strolled along at a relaxed pace. Finally, Mac halted near the road and began to rock back and forth on his heels, waiting patiently for his ride "home".
"Hey little bro." Someone greeted him from behind with a grunt. "Whatcha up to?"
"Hi, Terrence." Mac replied casually without looking up. Terrence roughly grabbed him by the shoulders and spun him around so they faced each other.
"What's going on? Aren't you going to go to that stupid house now?" the scraggly teenager asked with a sneer. Mac calmly looked right back at him with a smile, free of any trace of fear.
"Oh, I'll be getting there soon enough." He responded with a carefree chuckle. Terrence gave an ugly scowl and cracked his fists, irritated by his younger brother's rather buoyant mood.
"Well, if you got so much time on your hands today, how about we do something "fun" to make it go by more quickly, huh? Let's-"
They were suddenly interrupted by the sounds of loud honking nearby. Terrence looked up, and almost instantly the color drained from his face as the Foster's bus pulled up to the curb. The bus doors swung open to reveal a broadly smiling Frankie in the front seat.
"Hi Mac! Ready to go?" she asked. Mac gathered up his backpack with a grin.
"Always am! Me and Terrence were just having a friendly chat." He answered, nodding back at his older brother who remained rooted to where he was standing, petrified in terror.
"Oh good! It's so nice to see two brothers happily getting alone. Isn't it Terrence?" Frankie asked him, her warm smile suddenly twisting into a fiendish smirk. "After all, if someone happened to not be getting along with his brother, it would be such a shame. Terrence, you wouldn't happen to know of any such -"
"Nope we're okay no problem here ha ha well Mac I 'll see you at home!" Terrence babbled out like a broken faucet. With that he shot off like a bullet, sprinting home at a speed that would've left a cheetah in the dust.
"Hee hee hee! Oh man, I am never going to get tired of that!" Frankie giggled as she watched Terrence run off. "But seriously though, how ya doin' today pal?" she asked as Mac climbed onboard the bus.
"Pretty good! Hey, you feeling hungry? Mom packed me an extra dessert in my lunch today by mistake, so I decided to save it just for you." Mac smiled fiendishly as he held out a snack-pack of jello pudding. Frankie rolled her eyes with a groan.
"Ha ha, very funny Mr. Wise Guy. I swear, if I ever see any pudding ever again…hey is that one chocolate and vanilla swirl?" Frankie interrupted herself, snatching the pudding snack out of Mac's hands.
"Hey, no, c'mon! I was actually saving that for later!" Mac cried, as he tried to make a futile jump to nab it back. Frankie laughed as she waved it in the air above him playfully.
"Why, what do you need it for? Planning to give it to your girlfriend?" Frankie grinned fiendishly.
"Oh c'mon Frankie, I don't have-"
"Oh, Mac, you hound! Chocolate pudding with a vanilla swirl, what a romantic gift!
Coco will love it, I'm sure." Frankie laughed.
"Ewwwww! Coco? Frankie, that's GROSS!" Mac whined with a look of disgust. Besides, look who's talking! Who did I find in a very "compromising" position with Wilt on the kitchen floor just a few days ago?"
"Yeah right, I was only on top of Wilt because you and blob butt sent me flying right into him! Jeez, Mac, "Extreme Indoor Skateboarding?" Just when did Bloo ever have any good ideas? You couldn't even steer that thing, I thought a small freight train ran into me, you goof!" Frankie countered.
Mac made another jump for his pudding. "Oh yeah? Don't get started on being clumsy with me! Who was it who got both her hands stuck while stuffing the turkey for dinner last Thursday?"
"Said the boy who I've had to so far fish three times out of the laundry chute, Mister Graceful." Frankie laughed, continuing the playful exchange of insults.
"What? Okay, no fair! Last time you were the one who shoved me down there in the first place!"
"That's 'cuz you soooo deserved it! I warned you guys not to bother me while I was watching my movie, and what do you do? You and Bloo suddenly come running in and spray me with Cheese-Whip! I smelled like a block of cheddar for three days! You so had that coming to you!"
"What movie? You mean The Little Mermaid?" Mac laughed as he leapt again.
"Hey, no way, do NOT get me started on the whole movie thing! Like I haven't seen you running around the back yard waving a plastic lightsaber, Mac Skywalker!"
"Oh yeah? Well you still sleep with a teddy bear sometimes!" Mac retorted, sticking out his tongue.
"Oh, and that time you spent the night I'm sure that your "blankie" just packed itself into your bag." Frankie shot back, blowing a big raspberry.
"We almost had to take you to rehab last time Madame Foster baked her cookies!"
"Yeah right! That time you got hopped up on sugar I didn't know whether to take you home or get you a priest for an exorcism!"
"You dance around in nothing but a bath towel in your room to crappy pop music sometimes!" the boy shouted.
At this Frankie wordlessly dropped the snack-pack into his hands and grumpily folded her arms with a pout. "That was low Mac, that was just low."
"It's true." Mac smirked as he took his seat and Frankie started up the ignition.
"Well, you shouldn't have been invading my privacy in the first place, Mister Peeping Tom." she grumbled.
"Excuse me, but I believe it was you who forgot to close your door." Mac countered with a laugh. For the next few minutes Frankie just drove in dead silence until she glanced up in the rear view mirror.
"For your information pal, "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" is not crap, it's a classic."
"Yeah, right." Scoffed Mac.
"Don't talk back to your big sister that way." Frankie reprimanded him sharply.
"Frankieeeeeee…" Mac moaned as he rolled his eyes.
"Hey, I said knock it off!" she barked. "I'm your big sister, and it is official now. Besides," Frankie continued as her harsh stare slowly began to give away, "You of all people should know about that." She ended with a smirk. The pair looked at each other briefly by way of the rear-view mirror before they burst out laughing.
"Frankie, that blank adoption form you stole from Mr. Herriman's office and made changes to sooooo doesn't count as a legal document!" Mac laughed.
Frankie glance back up at the mirror and stuck out her tongue. "Well excuuuuuse me, Mr. I'll-Provide-the-Distraction-While-You-Run-In-And-Grab-One!"
"Ha ha! I thought Mr. Herriman was going to have a heart-attack when I told him a frame on the fourth floor was crooked by a full inch!" laughed Mac. "And speaking of crooked frames…"
"Hey, I frame the adoption sheet and put it on my wall, I decide how it goes on the wall." she protested. "Besides, I like it a little messy, I like to think I'm sticking it to the Bunny that way."
"Oh yeah, Lady Frankie of the Flowers, fight the power." The child snickered as he pictured the twenty-two-year-old dressed in hippie attire.
"Hee hee! You're still the best, pal." Frankie chuckled as she eased the bus into the driveway of Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. "Well, here we are." She announced as she pulled the keys from the ignition.
"Thanks, Frankie!" Mac said gratefully, climbing out of his seat and giving her a small hug in appreciation.
"Aw, anytime pal, anytime. Hey, what's this?" she asked in mock indignation as Mac pulled away. "I get a thank-you hug, but no thank-you kiss?"
The boy rolled his eyes. "Jeez, Frankie, what do I look like? C'mon, let's not go overkill here. I stopped having that crush on you a while ago."
"Oh, gross, you know not like that!" Frankie replied, making a face. "C'mon, just a thank-you peck on the cheek. It'll be cute!" she cooed.
"Frankie, just open the bus doors, let's not go overboard on the mushy stuff here." Mac groaned. Frankie folded her arms across her chest and stuck out her bottom lip in a pout.
"Pal, don't be like that! C'mon, one on the cheek, or…or…" Mac suddenly began to become very unnerved as he recognized that all too familiar fiendish grin filter across her face. "…Or else." Mac hurriedly began to back down the bus steps until his back pressed against the glass doors.
"Ha ha, okay, very funny, Frankie." He chuckled anxiously. "Okay, uh the joke's over, we can go inside now! Frankie? You don't need to do anything, I said the joke's over! Wait, what are you doing? Is that…is that…lipstick? Frankie, why are you putting so much on? Wait, no, why are you getting up? Don't look at me like that, don't look at me like that! Stoppit! Go away! Oh please, I take it all back! I'll give you the thank-you kiss!
You…d-don't…need…nooooooo! "
Bloo, who had been waiting impatiently inside the house at the window, cheered in celebration as soon as he saw the brightly-colored bus pull in.
"WOOHOO! Wilt, Ed, Coco, Frankie's back with Mac!" he called before bursting out the front doors to greet his best friend, the other three imaginary friends running along in tow. "Hey Mac, wh-"
Before Bloo made it to the bus on his own, the bus doors flew open and Mac suddenly shot out like a bullet, speeding right past his imaginary friend.
"HeyBlooheyWiltheyEdheyCoconotimetotalkgottago!" he gasped in one breath as he blasted by like a miniature racecar. Before Bloo and the others were able to comprehend the situation, Frankie, whose lips were thickly coated in cheap lipstick, suddenly zoomed by in a blur, hot on Mac's heels.
"C'mon, it'll be cute!" she laughed as she chased the frantic little boy around the front lawn of Foster's. At this Mac just put on an extra burst of speed in a vain attempt to escape his pursuer.
"AAAA! No way! You keep away from me!" he cried, turning around briefly to make a cross with his fingers, as if that would vanquish the laughing redheaded demon that chased him.
"Macky-poo, come to your big sister! Come to meeeeeeee!" Frankie yelled in an over dramatic tone, arms spread eagle and ready to hug. As they began a second lap around the yard, Mac looked to Bloo and the others pleadingly.
"C'mon guys! Don't just stand there! Help me!" Mac beseeched as he darted behind a shrub, which Frankie easily cleared in a graceful bound, much to his displeasure.
However, rather than coming to his aid, the four imaginary friends simply stood back and looked on in amusement, giggling at the ridiculous sight as if they were watching a cartoon on TV.
"Hee hee! Sorry man, but you're on your own! This is too good to stop!" Bloo laughed as the comical pair began a third loop.
"Hey Mac, how about trying out for the track team after this? Ha ha, look at them go!" hooted Wilt.
"ARGH! You guys are the worst!" Mac yelled angrily. "If I ever get out of this, I'll-AAAUUGH!" he cried as Frankie put an extra burst of effort and scooped him up in her arms, entrapping him in a tight embrace.
"Gotcha now, pal." She whispered with a fiendish smile as Mac desperately tried to wiggle out of her grasp. With that, she made her move and planted the biggest, wettest, sloppiest kiss on his right cheek. Immediately the child ceased his struggling and went limp, eyes wide open in shock as she held it for several seconds before removing her lipstick-coated lips with a wet smacking noise. Frankie then hugged him tightly in a crushing bear hug, giggling as if she were a schoolgirl. Mac, half his face now coated with a vibrant splotch of scarlet lipstick, simply lay motionless in Frankie's arms for a few seconds, mouth agape, until finally he managed to cry out indignantly,
"I……have been violated!"
At the sight of this outrageous spectacle, Bloo, Wilt, Ed and Coco all tumbled to the ground, laughing hysterically. Frankie, milking it for all it was worth, plastered a goofy smile on her face as she nuzzled Mac affectionately.
"Look at us, aren't we just precious?" she gushed as Mac labored fruitlessly to escape her tenaciously loving hold. "Brother and sister, and we're hugging! Aw, aren't we the most adorable pair ever?" she continued much to the benefit of her small audience and to Mac's discomfort.
"Whoahaha, look, it's all over Senor Mac's face!" roared Eduardo, tears of merriment pouring down his cheeks.
"All right Mac! Hey guys, hee hee! Check out the ladies man, wooing all the older girls!" Bloo sniggered, clutching his aching sides.
"Coco Cococo!" Coco chirped in her indistinguishable tongue, rolling about on the grass and laughing so hard it looked as if she was about to lay fifty eggs at once. While the four found no end to the hilarity, Mac meanwhile blushed a brilliant shade of crimson, complimenting Frankie's lipstick nicely as he furiously intensified his efforts to get loose.
"Hey, shut up! This isn't funny! Knock it off you guys! Not cool, not cool!" he shouted angrily.
"Aw, c'mon Mac." Frankie chuckled as she continued to cuddle him. "You know you're loving every second of this."
"No, I DON'T!" Mac yelled, and with a final burst of desperate energy, he freed himself from Frankie's overly-affectionate embrace and leapt to safety. Not wasting a moment, he spun around and made a diving grab at Frankie's legs, causing the lanky girl to loose her balance and fall with a loud whoop.
"Ha! You're mine now!" Mac laughed as he dived on top of her and began to tickle her ribs furiously. "Tickle fight! Tickle fight!"
"Ackpth! Hahaha! No please! Stoppit! Tee hee!" Frankie squealed as Mac redoubled his efforts. "Eeek! Cutitout! Haha! Someone help!" she cried, thrashing about on the grass.
"Don't worry, back up is on the wayyyy!" Bloo cried dramatically, leaping into the fray. However rather than help her out as Frankie had hoped, the small blue friend promptly grabbed her by the wrists and pulled her arms from her sides, leaving the girl completely at their mercy.
"Go for it buddy, she's ours now!" Bloo cried triumphantly.
"Aw, what's the matter, Frankie?" Mac grinned. "You're loving every moment of this, and you know it!"
"Heehee! Bloo you traitor! No fair, no fair, I can't take you both on at once! Eeek! Teeheehee!" Frankie cried, shrieking in laughter.
"Don't worry, Frankie, reinforcements are coming!" Wilt whooped, bounding over and diving in, only adding further to the melee. Quickly, Ed and Coco followed suit, and within seconds it became nothing more than a mass free-for-all on the front lawn of Foster's.
An elementary school teacher, after another day of work, was on her way home when she noticed the chaos outside of the house she knew to be the shelter for imaginary friends. She only gave it a passing glance when suddenly she recognized one of her very own students in the midst of the brawl. Slowing down her car to a crawl, she watched her pupil and noted in particular the tall redheaded girl he was locked in playful combat with.
The teacher intently watched as the girl, who appeared to be in her early twenties, squirmed her way out of an unsuccessful attempt on the boy (Mac, as she know recalled) to put her in a headlock. With swift agility she jumped to her feet and with a few deft movements snatched Mac and tossed him into the air. When he came back down, she easily caught him and wrapped the little boy in a warm hug, twirling around a few times until she lost her balance and they both toppled over. All the while both Mac and the girl laughed hysterically with one another the entire time, embracing each other affectionately on the ground for a moment until a small blue imaginary friend left on top of the pair and immediately the playful brawl started up again in full swing.
The teacher watched the scene for a few more moments before she finally stepped on the gas and continued her drive home. After taking one quick glance back, she shook her head and muttered to himself.
"Well, no wonder he seems so odd at times. What a strange family that boy has!"
The End
There you have it! Thanks again everyone!
Now that the story's done, I bet some of you are wondering what I'm going to do next. Hmmmmm, to be honest, it's all up in the air right now. Senior year is picking up, so I'm not sure exactly how much free time I'm going to be getting anymore.I'm trying my hand at some one-shot fics, so we'll see how those turn out.
I'm also trying to do a sequel, but that whole project has kind of hit the wall at this point.I'm at a crucial point where I don't know whether I want to keep going with it as it is, or totally revamp the whole thing and split it up into two smaller stories (I think I'm trying to pack way too much in it and I'm not getting enough of the drama as I'd like to have in it like this.) We'll see how it turns out! I just don't want to start uploading it and stop writing halfway, I refuse to leave the readers a a permanent cliffhanger as so many others have done with what I consider very good stories (until they abruptly end).
So, until I work everything out, thank you so much everyone! Hopefully I'll be seeing you around here soon!
-Dude13