CHAPTER 7

Eduardo descended the steps leading into the foyer, his eyes darting continuously to every shadow of the house. Rainbow, still perched on top of his head, told him reassuringly, "Don't worry, Ed; I'm watching for danger. It won't be much longer before there won't be any shadows left. You'll be safe... safe and sound, with me to help you."

"Si... si..." Eduardo replied, though he found it difficult to ignore the feeling of malice emanating from the surroundings. "B-but I..."

"But nothing," Rainbow interrupted. "This house is full of darkness, and it is up to us to purge it from the world. Our flames of righteousness will bring light to the darkness and cleanse this den of evil once and for all..."

"But the f-friends..." Eduardo protested weakly.

Rainbow flared red, and growled, "They are no friends of yours! They deserve this fate! They have created it for themselves, by merely being who they are! You mustn't fail, or it will be your end, and the end of countless others to whom they might spread their evil!"

Eduardo hadn't considered that he wasn't the only one in danger. At the thought of other people being in jeopardy, his resolve steeled; protecting others was, after all, the whole reason he was imagined in the first place. "Si," he said firmly, "I protect them. I not fail."

They entered the foyer and started towards the front door, when a voice behind them called out, "Not so fast!" Eduardo spun around in an instant to face the source; it had come from Bloo, who was at the top of the steps with Wilt. "You're not going anywhere," Bloo continued as they descended to the bottom of the steps. "We know your game, and it's game over!"

Rainbow narrowed his large gray eyes, focusing directly on Wilt. The tall friend looked upset and glared back initially with determination, but as his gaze locked with Rainbow's, doubts began creeping into his mind. Rainbow looked at him for another moment, then shook his head and said, "Wilt... I can't believe you did it again."

"Did what?" Wilt asked, confused.

"You let them control you," Rainbow told him. "Bloo obviously talked you into turning against me, didn't he? I can't believe you'd give into their words so quickly and let them push you around. Don't you see that they're just using you again?"

"That's... that's not true," Wilt responded, with confidence he didn't really feel. "I trust... I mean... they're my..."

"They're no friends," Rainbow affirmed. "Look at Bloo. He's manipulated you plenty of times, and this is no exception." He looked down at Eduardo, "But you don't push him around, Ed, do you?"

"No, never," Eduardo agreed.

Rainbow looked back at Wilt and said, "See? You can trust us. We don't take advantage of you. We're not at all like them. And yet, you side with them? They're using you, and you just let it happen, again and again. You've got no willpower; it's almost as if you want to be a puppet. Please, Wilt… come with us, where you will be treated with the respect you deserve." His eyes widened sadly, "Please."

"I... wait..." Wilt said, then shook his head and exclaimed, "No, stop it! You're the one making me a puppet, not them! They care about me! Sure, I give in more than I should, but they're my friends!" He looked at Eduardo and added, "Ed, you can't listen to him; he's not..."

Before Eduardo could say anything, Rainbow said, "Ed, did you hear him? He's one of them now! They got to him too! What did I tell you? They're even turning your best friend against you..." His color changed briefly to blue as he said this. Eduardo looked at Wilt, his face showing a deeply hurt expression, but his expression quickly turned to anger as the tiny friend's color shifted back to red.

"Ed," Wilt said carefully, "c-calm down... we're not..." He didn't get to complete what he was saying, because Eduardo growled loudly and charged at them. Wilt quickly grabbed Bloo and jumped to one side, and Eduardo skidded to a halt before hitting the stairs, changing direction to begin his charge again. Wilt cringed, thinking, Ed's not listening... he's probably too far under Rainbow's control! This is insane... I can't fight him, he's way too strong! At least I'm more agile, but I've gotta free up my good arm... Reaching up, he placed Bloo on top of his head, and then leaped up and out of Eduardo's way. With his now-free arm, he grabbed hold of a chandelier in mid-leap, hanging just out of reach.

Eduardo stopped underneath him, glaring up for a few moments before turning to the nearest wall and lowering his head. He rammed into it, causing a brief tremor that shook the walls and caused the chandelier to sway. Wilt lost his grip and dropped back to the ground; he landed on his feet, but now Eduardo began charging again, and this time he wouldn't be able to dodge. Before he could get any good speed behind the charge, however, Wilt reached out and grabbed one of his horns, pushing hard and bringing him to a stop. Eduardo gritted his teeth and pushed back harder, slowly overpowering Wilt and edging him back, inch by inch, towards the wall. If Eduardo managed to pin him there, it would be all over...

From his position on Wilt's head, Bloo looked down and saw Rainbow still on top of Eduardo's head, watching the struggle with amusement. Bloo exclaimed, "Wilt, I've got an idea! Don't let go just yet!"

"All right..." Wilt grunted, exerting all his strength, "...but... h-hurry..."

Bloo nodded and hopped off of his head, landing on his arm and sliding down its length until he reached Eduardo's horn. Rainbow noticed Bloo's approach too late and only had time to blink in surprise before Bloo tackled him, the leap carrying both of them off Eduardo's head and tumbling to the floor. They rolled into the side of an end table, and a glass vase sitting on the table fell to the ground, shattering. The sound alerted Eduardo, distracting him as he shouted, "Señior Rainbow!" It was the opening Wilt needed, and he twisted Eduardo's horn to one side, toppling him off his feet and to the ground.

Bloo and Rainbow rolled around for a few moments, but Bloo finally got back to his feet, holding the struggling friend in his hands. "Ha!" he said victoriously. "Once again, the day is saved, thanks to Blooreguard Q. Kaz--" His declaration was cut short as Rainbow bit his hand; with a yelp, he let go, and Rainbow landed on the ground, quickly backing up a few steps. He scooped up one of the shards of broken glass from the vase and, with a cry of anger, launched himself back at Bloo.

Wilt, in the meantime, tried to pin Eduardo to keep him from getting back up, even though he knew he wouldn't be able to do much more than slow him down. More importantly, though, this was his chance to talk some sense into him while he and Rainbow were separated. "Ed, listen... Rainbow's been lying to you! He's been lying to all of us!"

"No!" Eduardo replied, trying to get free. "Rainbow is bueno, he help me find the people who are after me..."

Wilt shook his head, not releasing his grip, "He's trying to get you to kill for him! He tricks you into thinking you're angry and makes..."

"No, stop it! You are wrong, I really am angry!" Eduardo insisted.

"It's not real," Wilt told him. "Do you see how he changes colors? When he does that, he makes other people feel what he's feeling! When he hates, you hate; none of it is real! He did that with his own kid, and that kid grew up to be a serial killer! He's trying the same with us!"

"I... but I..." Eduardo stammered, "...but I so s-sure that..."

"Ed," Wilt said, "think about it. You're a kind, gentle friend. You wouldn't hurt anyone any more than... than I would." He swallowed, and then continued, "I know what it's like, trust me. Hatred is a scary thing, and I could never hate anyone at the house, but Rainbow made me feel it, made me do terrible things with it. I realized what happened and broke free from his control, and you need to as well."

Eduardo paused to consider, no longer resisting. "But I..." he finally said, "...but I still scared..."

"You have to trust me, Ed," Wilt said. "Please." Deciding to show his trust first, he released Eduardo and stood back; Eduardo climbed back to his feet and looked up at Wilt, his face a mix of emotions, and Wilt knew exactly what was going through his mind. After a few moments of silence, Eduardo broke down and burst out crying; Wilt laid his hand on his back comfortingly and said, "It's okay... it's okay, Ed..."

Between sobs, Eduardo shook his head, "No... no, it not okay.. señiorita Frankie, I... I..."

"Somebody help me!" Bloo cried out, interrupting Eduardo. They looked over at him to find Bloo lying face-down with Rainbow on his back; the tiny friend somehow managed to keep both of Bloo's arms pinned, while at the same time, he had the pointy end of his glass shard pressed up against the back of Bloo's head. His color was bright red, and he gritted his teeth in anger.

"Bloo!" Wilt exclaimed, and started to run over until Rainbow pressed the shard a little harder. Bloo yelped, and a tiny trickle of blood ran down from the puncture. Wilt quickly halted his advance and said, "Let him go, Rainbow!"

"No," Rainbow said angrily, "and if you take another step... I'll kill him." He tightened his grip on the shard, showing that he was both willing and able to do so. "Back away. Now!"

Bloo shouted hysterically, "Do as he says, do as he says!" Wilt and Eduardo both took a few slow steps back as Rainbow moved further up to the top of Bloo's head, freeing his arms but keeping the shard positioned where it was. With a nudge, Rainbow motioned towards the front door of Foster's; Bloo stood up and started walking towards it obediently.

At that moment, the sound of footsteps quickly descended the main staircase, and Mac came into view. He stopped at the landing and cried out in surprise once he saw what was going on, "Bloo! Rainbow, no, stop it! Leave him alone!"

"Shut up!" Rainbow growled. "We're leaving here now, and you're not going to stop us. Not you or anyone else!" Bloo had stopped moving towards the door when Mac arrived, but a quick prod from the shard urged him to continue.

Mac descended the steps rapidly and stopped next to Wilt. "Rainbow, why are you doing all this? What did any of us ever do to you?"

Rainbow stared back, his face full of hatred, "It's not what you did to me. It's what you do to each other. The world is not a nice place, and I can see it in every person. There's no genuine compassion; everyone either cares only for themselves or is a footstool for those that do. That's no way to live."

"But there are good people," Mac protested. "You can't just judge everyone li—..."

"I can, and I will," Rainbow interrupted. "I have that right. That's why I was created, after all: to stop people from being who they essentially are. I tried the nice way, but it didn't work, so if I have to force them to kill each other to do it, then so be it."

Mac came to a realization, and Wilt must have been thinking the same thing, because he said, "Something happened to change your mind, didn't it? What was it?"

Rainbow's eyes lowered slightly as he thought, but then he snapped them back to attention, giving them a suspicious look. "You're stalling me," he remarked. "We're getting out of here, now."

"You're not going to make it out of here," Mac said. "I called the police, and they're on their way at this very moment."

Bloo said, "Atta boy, Ma—aah!" but got cut off as Rainbow prodded him again. The police are coming, Mac thought, but with a hostage, maybe they won't be able to do anything after all... He also didn't hear any sirens yet; if Rainbow got out now, he was so small that the police would probably never find him. Mac looked up at Wilt and Eduardo, who looked back with defeated expressions; they didn't have any ideas either.

Bloo gingerly reached up and grasped the door handle, while Rainbow kept his eyes on the others, glaring intensely. With a creak, Bloo pushed the door open, and his eyes widened; there was someone on the other side already, and Rainbow had not yet noticed. A hand quickly reached through the doorway and grasped Rainbow, yanking him off of Bloo's head and causing the glass shard to drop free to the ground. Bloo immediately ran back to join the others, covering the wound on his head with one hand. Rainbow was surprised by the sudden move, and looked up to see who it was.

The hand belonged to Mr. Herriman, who stood in a somewhat disheveled state within the door frame. His clothes were tattered and his monocle was missing, but he also had numerous small cuts that covered him, including a large, bleeding wound on the side of his head. He was furious, and said, "You're not going anywhere, Master Rainbow, except to the proper authorities!"

"Mr. Herriman! You're alive!" Mac exclaimed.

"W-we saw you office," Bloo told him, "and we thought..."

Wilt looked very uncomfortable, and said, "No, he's okay. When I... when I attacked him, he jumped through the window to get away..." He turned his head away and said, "I'm so sorry, Mr. Herriman, I-I was... I didn't mean..."

"Quite all right, Master Wilt," Mr. Herriman replied, flexing his large ears for a moment. "I overheard everything from outside, and I know it wasn't your fault." With a glance down at the struggling friend, he added, "We have the culprit now, so no harm done. Nothing permanent, anyway."

"No," Eduardo said, shaking his head, "No, I did something terrible..."

"Ed, Frankie's alive too," Mac interrupted; to which Eduardo's expression brightened. "She's hurt real bad, though; when the ambulance gets here, they need to get to the library right away!"

From where he was being held, Rainbow narrowed his eyes at Wilt and Eduardo, and he hissed, "So she also survived... you two can't do anything right..."

"That's enough out of you," Mr. Herriman snapped. "If I were a less-civilized person, I would exact my revenge against you now, but I will be satisfied once the police arri--..."

A groggy voice interrupted, " Coco...?" Looking behind them, the others saw Coco standing at the foot of the staircase. She looked like she had just woken up; rubbing her eye with one of her feet, she squinted and asked, "Co cococococo coco?"

Before anyone could answer, Rainbow took advantage of the distraction. He pried Mr. Herriman's fingers open and leapt from his hand, the jump carrying him to Mac. He landed on the boy's head and jumped again, going directly for Coco. Mac was startled, but managed to yell, "Look out!"

"Co?" Coco replied, still not fully alert. In the next moment, Rainbow landed squarely on her back. Coco peered at him in surprise, still unaware of what was going on.

In a flash; Rainbow turned yellow and shouted, "They're after us! Run away, run away!" Coco squawked loudly in fear, and the sudden shock caused her to lay an egg. The shell split open, releasing a flash of bright light, like a flash bang grenade, blinding everyone in the room. As they rubbed their eyes and their vision returned, Coco and Rainbow were nowhere to be seen.

Wilt looked around and said, "Oh no! We've gotta catch them!"

"Si," Eduardo agreed, "but which way?"

"I don't know, but it'll have to be someplace where they can be alone," Mac suggested. " Coco doesn't know what's going on, so she'll be easy to control."

" Coco?" Bloo asked. "Easy to control?"

Mac frowned, "You know what I mean! We got Wilt and Eduardo free from his control, but if he manages to manipulate Coco, who knows how we're going to get her free!" He looked at the others, "We'll have to search. Who's going?"

"I will stay here," Mr. Herriman declared, "and direct the police once they arrive. And, to make sure the culprit does now attempt to escape this way."

"You shouldn't do that alone," Mac said, noting the rabbit's injuries. "Ed, you stay with him, all right?"

Eduardo nodded, "Si... and, gracias."

Mac smiled briefly, then said, "Wilt, go on ahead and check the first floor. Bloo and I will check upstairs; you can catch up to us when you're done."

"Got it," Wilt said, and jogged off in the direction of one of the hallways. Mac and Bloo started up the stairs, while Mr. Herriman and Eduardo stood guard next to the door.

As they went upstairs, Mac noticed Bloo holding the back of his head, and gasped when he saw blood coming from around it. "Bloo," he exclaimed, "are you still hurt?!"

Bloo replied, "Yes, but... but not as bad as I could've been." He looked over at Mac with a very unsure expression and said, "You sure it's a good idea to go after Rainbow by ourselves? Mac, we could get killed..."

"I know that..." Mac said, still fighting back his own panic. "But do you want the same thing to happen to Coco? Or anyone else? You didn't see Frankie's condition; you don't know what he's capable of making other people do... We can't let Rainbow keep doing this, not to our friends."

"You're... you're right of course..." Bloo admitted. "Can we at least stop for a bandage first?"

"Sure, buddy," Mac said with a smile. He had to admit, even though their lives were in danger he felt safer with Bloo nearby, and he was so relieved when Bloo made it out of the prior situation alive. For a moment, he envisioned losing his best friend right in front of his eyes, and the thought scared him; he was glad he wouldn't have to experience that.

Not yet, anyway, Mac thought. As long as Rainbow runs free, anything can happen...

As they reached the top of the steps, they heard a faint sound in the distance. Pausing to listen, Mac recognized it as Coco's voice. "Yes!" he exclaimed. "Perfect! I knew Coco isn't the most subtle imaginary friend in the world. We'll be able to find them easily, c'mon!" He grabbed Bloo's arm and yanked him off his feet, running in the direction of Coco's voice.

"What's the plan?" Bloo asked as they ran.

"We'll take them by surprise," Mac said. "Then, we try to explain everything to Coco. If nothing else, it'll at least be good to stall for time until Wilt gets back up here, or the police arrive."

Bloo agreed, "Sounds good, but what if they try to fight us?"

"Hopefully, it won't come to that," Mac replied. "But if it does, we've gotta be ready. We can do it if we work together."

"Right!" Bloo said emphatically.

Eventually, after running up another flight of stairs, they came to one of the tea rooms. The door was ajar and the lights were out, but they heard Coco inside, saying in a more hushed tone now, "Co coco cococo co coco." Mac held a finger over his lips, indicating that they should be quiet, and the two of them snuck carefully into the room. It was too dark to see anything, but Mac reached for the light switch slowly. Bloo nodded and readied himself.

Mac turned on the lights, and Bloo shouted, "Found you!" As the room lit up, though, they realized that they were alone in the room, even though they could still hear Coco's voice. Curiously, Bloo looked around and found a tape recorder on the ground with an open yellow plastic eggshell near it. The tape was playing a recording of Coco's voice. Bloo stared at it and said, "What the...?"

She's not here, Mac thought in horror... It's a trap! He turned to Bloo and was about to say something, but then he spotted something on the floor near Bloo: another plastic egg, this one purple. The shell burst open, releasing a cloud of what was probably knockout gas into the air. Both of them coughed and tried to make it to the door, but they weren't quick enough; they collapsed to the ground, and just before Mac lost consciousness, he saw the outline of Coco and Rainbow standing out in the hallway...

To be continued…