FOSTER'S HOME FOR IMAGINARY EDS
Chapter 5
Adopt-A-Thought Saturday was cancelled due to the stink bomb incident. Bloo was immediately blamed for it since he was a troublemaker and he hated Adopt-A-Thought Saturday. Mr. Herriman sent Bloo to his room, despite his claims that he had nothing to do with the stink bomb.
The Eds knew the stink bomb's odor would last a long time and since they didn't want to be stuck in the garage, which was separate from the house, they put on nose plugs before leaving the garage. On their way back to the house, they noticed Frankie, who was also wearing nose plugs, cleaning up the front yard and walked over to her.
"Hey, where'd all the people go?" Eddy asked, trying to act innocent.
"They left, thanks to Bloo and his stink bomb," Frankie replied in annoyance.
"Bloo constructed a stink bomb?" Edd asked in confusion.
"That's genius! I bet he's practicin' for April Fools Day," Eddy commented.
"If he is, he picked the wrong day to do it," Frankie argued. "We had to cancel Adopt-A-Thought Saturday because of him."
"Adopt-A-Thought Saturday's over?" Ed complained.
"Gee, that's too bad," Eddy replied, pretending to care.
"I'll say," Frankie agreed, going from annoyed to sad. "I'm sure you guys are upset; the other imaginary friends are too. You and they might've gotten adopted today if it wasn't for Bloo's prank. Now, we have to wait for the smell to wear off and no one's gonna visit Foster's until then. That means no one can get adopted for a while."
"Oh, well. Maybe, the stink'll be gone by next Saturday and we can get adopted then. Let's go, guys, before I start to cry,"
Eddy continued walking towards the house with Ed and Edd groaning sadly as they followed him. Once the Eds were inside the house, Mac entered the front yard and walked over to Frankie.
"Sorry I'm late, Frankie. I had to finish my homework," Mac said, pinching his nose shut. "Why does it stink out here?"
"Bloo got bored and thought it'd be fun to set off a stink bomb," Frankie informed. "Thanks to him, we had to cancel Adopt-A-Thought Saturday."
"Aw, man. Bloo must be practicing for April Fools Day again," Mac complained. "Where is he now?"
"He's in his room," Frankie answered. "He says he didn't make the stink bomb but all the evidence points to him. He breaks all the rules and he hates Adopt-A-Thought Saturday. You might wanna go talk to him."
A few minutes later, Mac entered Bloo's bedroom.
"Bloo, I know you hate Adopt-A-Thought Saturday but that doesn't mean you have to ruin it for everyone else," Mac scolded.
"It wasn't me, I swear! I've been inside all day," Bloo argued. "I wish I'd done it though 'cause it would've been an awesome prank."
"Who do you think might've done it then?" Mac questioned.
"I dunno. Maybe, it was Terrence or Duchess," Bloo guessed.
"Terrence is too stupid and Duchess is too lazy. If it was one of them, they would've teamed up again,"
"Maybe, they did team up again and they're tryin' to get me in trouble,"
"They don't need to try to get you in trouble. You do a good job of that on your own,"
"Well, it had to be one of them 'cause it wasn't me,"
Suddenly, Mac and Bloo started hearing maniacal laughter and it wasn't coming from Terrence or Duchess.
"What's that?" Mac wondered. He and Bloo left the bedroom and started searching for the source of the laughter. They soon discovered it was coming from the Eds' bedroom.
"I think that's Eddy," Bloo whispered.
It was indeed Eddy. He was inside the room along with Ed and Edd. Mac and Bloo were curious as to what Eddy was laughing about so they stood by the door and listened.
"Man, you guys should've seen the looks on their faces when that stink bomb went off! They never knew what hit 'em!" Eddy bragged.
Unlike Eddy, who was glad Adopt-A-Thought Saturday was cancelled, Ed and Edd were upset about it but for different reasons.
"This has gone too far, gentlemen," Edd said, overwhelmed with guilt. "We actually ruined the chance for all those innocent imaginary friends to find new homes."
"Who cares, Double-D? They're just imaginary friends," Eddy argued. "Even if they do get adopted, they'll just get dumped again."
"We need to end this scam before it's too late. Not only did our stink bomb violate private property but everyone thinks Bloo constructed it,"
"Big whoop! It was just a stink bomb. They'll get over it. What matters is we're off the hook,"
"We can't let Bloo take the blame for our prank, Eddy. What if he gets expelled from Foster's?"
"They're not gonna kick Bloo out. If they do, he can just go back to livin' with Mac,"
"I wanted to get adopted, Eddy," Ed complained.
"Ed, shut up about getting adopted already!" Eddy scolded. "We're not imaginary! Don't you get it? WE'RE ONLY HERE TO MOOCH OFF THESE PEOPLE!"
Mac and Bloo gasped in shock and ran back into the latter's bedroom.
"You were right, Bloo. You really are innocent," Mac realized. "Sorry I didn't believe you."
"All this time, Ed, Double-D and Eddy were the ones tryin' to get me in trouble. What'd I ever do to them?" Bloo complained.
"They weren't trying to get you in trouble. They just wanted to stop Adopt-A-Thought Saturday," Mac explained. "You just got blamed for it 'cause you would've done the same thing."
"True," Bloo agreed. "So, what do we do now? How do we prove I'm innocent?"
"Maybe, we can get Wilt, Eduardo, Coco and Goo to help," Mac suggested. "Let's go find them."
A few minutes later, Mac and Bloo entered the rec room and found Wilt, Eduardo, Coco & Goo. The former three glared at Bloo when he walked in.
"Hey, guys," Mac greeted. "I heard about the stink bomb. We found out who really did it though."
"We already know who did it," Eduardo replied. "It was Azul."
"I'm sorry, Bloo, but sabotaging Adopt-A-Thought Saturday with that stink bomb was seriously not cool," Wilt scolded.
"Co co co coco co co!" Coco scolded.
"That was low even for you," Wilt agreed.
"You es a big, giant jerko," Eduardo scolded.
"Guys, it wasn't Bloo. It was Ed, Double-D and Eddy," Mac corrected.
"Ed, Double-D and Eddy? What a coincidence! I met three kids with those names when we were outside. I offered to help them find an imaginary friend but they didn't want one and it made me wonder why else they would come to Foster's," Goo mentioned.
"They moved in yesterday, claiming to be imaginary friends," Mac informed.
"We spied on them and found out they're not," Bloo added.
"You mean they're impostors?" Eduardo asked.
"Are you sure?" Wilt asked.
"Yeah, they even admitted it," Bloo confirmed.
"They're pretending to be imaginary so they can live here. They didn't wanna get adopted so they sabotaged Adopt-A-Thought Saturday. They're the ones who built the stink bomb," Mac explained.
Wilt, Eduardo, Coco & Goo gasped in shock.
"Co co co coco," Coco said.
"Yeah, what they're doing is wrong," Goo agreed.
"We gotta tell Señor Herriman," Eduardo said.
"He's not gonna believe us," Bloo protested. "We need proof."
"If only there was some way to prove Ed, Double-D and Eddy aren't imaginary," Wilt said.
"Wait a minute. Maybe, there is," Mac replied, suddenly getting an idea.
Mac, Bloo & Goo were now standing outside Herriman's office, preparing to expose the Eds.
"Do you think he'll go for it, Mac?" Bloo asked.
"Totally," Mac confirmed. "It's the best way to prove they're impostors."
"We're gonna let Frankie in on it too, right?"
"Yeah, we're gonna talk to her while Goo talks to Herriman,"
"Sounds like a plan," Bloo said. "Good luck, Goo."
Mac and Bloo headed outside to find Frankie. Meanwhile, Goo entered Herriman's office and walked up to his desk.
"Mr. Herriman, can I adopt Ed, Double-D and Eddy?" Goo asked.
"I thought we agreed that you would not imagine any new friends, Miss Goo," Herriman reminded.
"We did but you never said I couldn't adopt any," Goo pointed out.
"Hm, that is true," Herriman realized. "Very well then. You may adopt Masters Ed, Eddward and Eddy. You'll need to fill out the required paperwork first."
While Goo was filling out adoption forms, Mac and Bloo were in the front yard, talking to Frankie.
"It really wasn't me this time, Frankie," Bloo argued. "Ed, Double-D and Eddy are the ones who built the stink bomb."
"Is this true, Mac?" Frankie questioned.
"Yeah, we overheard them talking. They admitted everything," Mac replied.
"They're not even imaginary; they're human. They're lying so they can live here," Bloo informed.
Frankie was shocked to hear that. "Seriously?" She groaned and facepalmed herself. "So, that's why they didn't wanna get adopted. They tried to skip Adopt-A-Thought Saturday and when that didn't work, they sabotaged it. Sorry we didn't believe you, Bloo, but don't try building a stink bomb for real. We need to tell Mr. Herriman about the Eds."
"We're already working on that. We didn't think he'd believe us if we told him so we figured out a way for him to find out on his own," Mac informed.
"We told Goo about the Eds and now, she's gonna adopt them," Bloo explained.
"How will that expose them?" Frankie asked.
"Herriman still thinks the Eds are imaginary," Mac explained. "If they don't wanna get adopted, they'll have to tell him they're not."
The Eds were hanging out in the rec room. They were the only ones in there.
"Eddy, do you honestly think setting off that stink bomb just to avoid adoption wasn't going overboard?" Edd questioned.
"Doesn't bother me," Eddy replied. "Goin' overboard would've been if we went with Ed's idea."
"I hope you don't plan on doing that every Saturday,"
"We're not. Next Saturday, we're gonna sneak out and go to the Game Hive Arcade," Eddy explained. "No one'll find us there and we won't have to worry about any cops showin' up."
"We don't even know our way around the neighborhood," Edd pointed out. "How do you expect us to locate the Game Hive Arcade?"
"Easy. We'll just get directions like we did for this place,"
"Masters Ed, Eddward and Eddy, please report to my office immediately," Herriman instructed through the intercom. Edd and Eddy became nervous.
"I wonder what Mr. Herriman could want," Edd said.
"Maybe, he found someone to adopt us," Ed guessed.
"No way. Adopt-A-Thought Saturday's over, remember?" Eddy reminded.
"What if he knows we're responsible for the stink bomb?" Edd asked.
"Relax, Double-D. He can't prove it was us. Just act natural,"
The Eds entered Herriman's office and walked up to his desk.
"What's up, Mr. H?" Eddy greeted.
"Miss Goo wishes to adopt you three," Herriman informed, gesturing towards Goo.
After hearing that and recognizing Goo, Ed was thrilled while Edd and Eddy were scared.
"Pardon?" Edd panicked.
"It's that weird girl who talks too much," Eddy panicked.
"YAY! WE'RE GETTING ADOPTED! Happy place, guys, happy place!" Ed cheered as he hugged Edd and Eddy and ran around in circles.
"Master Ed, no running in my office," Herriman scolded.
"Ed, let us go!" Eddy ordered. Ed released him and Edd and the three of them faced Herriman. "You're joking, right?"
"Why, of course not, Master Eddy. Miss Goo has already completed the paperwork. Now, you can move out of Foster's and into your new home,"
Edd read the adoption forms. "He's right, Eddy," Edd confirmed. "You, Ed and I are officially adopted now."
"Uh...great," Eddy said, having no idea what to do next. "We're gonna go pack. We'll be back."
The Eds rushed back into the rec room after leaving Herriman's office.
"Okay, Double-D. This is the part where you have some big-word, smart-guy way of gettin' us outta these messes. Go for it," Eddy instructed.
"I apologize, Eddy, but I doubt there's a solution that'll extend our stay here," Edd replied.
"WHAT? C'mon, Sockhead! You gotta thinka somethin'! I don't wanna be adopted!" Eddy shouted desperately.
"I do," Ed interrupted.
"Can it, Monobrow!" Eddy ordered.
"Eddy, face the facts," Edd advised. "We can't live here without the risk of adoption. It's the reason this home was created. We could've been adopted yesterday when we arrived."
"Yesterday?" Eddy asked in confusion. "I thought Saturday was the only adoption day."
"No, we can get adopted on any day of the week," Edd corrected. "If we were to live here for the rest of our lives, we'd have to live in fear of adoption as well."
"So, we really can't get out of it? What are we supposed to do then?"
"We only have two choices left at this point. We can either confess to Mr. Herriman we lied about being imaginary or we can face the consequences of our actions and move in with Goo,"
Eddy thought about those two choices. He didn't want to get in trouble for his scam nor did he want to move in with Goo. Eddy finally realized Edd was right. No matter what choice they made, the Eds wouldn't be able to stay at Foster's anymore and even if they did, they wouldn't be able to enjoy it anyway because they'd always be hiding from people who'd want to adopt them.
"Alright, guys. I give up," Eddy groaned in defeat. "Livin' here's great and all but it ain't worth bein' put up for adoption. Let's get outta here."
The Eds walked downstairs to the foyer, where Mac, Bloo, Goo, Frankie & Herriman were waiting for them.
"Congratulations on getting adopted, guys," Frankie told the Eds.
Goo began telling the Eds about all the things the four of them were going to do together. It wasn't long before Eddy cracked from listening to Goo's nonstop talking.
"THAT'S IT! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!" Eddy shouted in despair. "We're not imaginary! We lied so we could live here! We even tried to wreck Adopt-A-Thought Saturday so we wouldn't get adopted! We built the stink bomb! It was all a scam! We're just regular kids."
There was a short silence. Herriman was shocked by Eddy's confession.
"He's telling the truth, Mr. Herriman," Mac admitted. Edd and Eddy realized something was up.
"Wait a minute. How do you know that?" Eddy questioned.
"We heard you guys talkin' about the stink bomb and how you're only here to mooch off us," Bloo informed.
"We tricked you into thinking Goo was adopting you so you'd have to confess if you wanted to get out of it," Mac added.
There was another short silence. Edd and Eddy were shocked by Mac's plan.
"I must admit that was clever," Edd commented.
"Yeah, Mac. That was a good plan," Frankie agreed.
"You set us up! You little rat, how'd you like to eat a knuckle sandwich?" Eddy threatened angrily as he showed Mac his fist.
"Eddy, there's no need to resort to violence," Edd scolded. "Mac was simply trying to do the right thing."
"Indeed," Herriman agreed, glaring at the Eds. "Follow me back to my office, gentlemen, and we shall discuss your punishment."
"Busted!" Bloo teased.
The Eds began following Frankie and Herriman back to the latter's office.
"Oh, the shame," Edd groaned.
"This stinks," Eddy grumbled.
"Are we still getting adopted?" Ed asked.
"No!" Edd and Eddy answered in unison.