"…Guys, c'mon." Frances "Frankie" Foster protested wearily for the umpteenth time as the two children forcibly tugged upon her arms and led her out the front doors. "The rabbit's going to throw a fit if I don't get all the laundry done today. Do you actually want me to-"

"But we really think you should take a look at this wasp's nest!" Mac interrupted, sounding unusually alarmed as he pulled her along.

"Can't you guys just avoid it for now and let me take care of it later? Like, tomorrow?" Frankie grumbled, clearly unconvinced that the problem at hand required her immediate attention.

"No! Nuh-uh! No way! Nope!" Goo objected fiercely. "No way we can avoid it, not when it's like the biggest hornet's nest in the whole wide entire world, like someone put a prize-winning water-melon from the country fair, filled it alotta nasty, nasty wasps, and decided to be a big fat jerk about it and put the whole thing right near the front of the house. How can we stay clear of it when it's like, taking up the whole front yard with-"

"Oh, please." Frankie groaned, convinced that the hyperactive little girl was merely exaggerating in her excitement, as she was prone to do. "There's no way wasps could've constructed a nest that big near the front of the house without anyone noticing it right away-"

"But we're serious, Frankie!" Goo whined as she and Mac dragged the young woman down the front steps, to the right, and over to a large shrub sitting rooted near the house. "It's gigantic, with a million billion trillion wasps all buzzing around, waiting to-"

"Guys, it's just a few wasps." The caretaker argued. "I know they can be dangerous, but it's nothing for you to freak out so much over…"

It was about then that she took a good look at the large shrub and saw spotted what resembled a large paper-mache beach ball jutting out from amongst the leaves and branches. The instant she realized it actually appeared to be very much alive with the audible sound of buzzing, in an instant her facial tone went as white as a freshly cleaned sheet as terror coursed through her.

"GET BACK!" the maternal redhead shrieked as she grabbed the children and yanked them to a safer distance. Much to their shared dismay however, as they all retreated to a safe distance, meanwhile an-all-too-familiar azure blob of an imaginary friend trotted from around the back of the house, strode right up to the nest without a pause, and then lifted the hammer in his stubby appendages high over his head.

"All, right!" Bloo growled fiercely. "Say your prayers, you filthy bugs! You've met your match-"

"BLOO, NO!" Mac yelled hoarsely.

"MAC, WAIT!" Frankie screamed in horror as he tore off. Moving faster than the human eye could follow, the boy bolted over, grabbed his creation, and forcibly dragged him back to safety.

"Hey! Hey!" Bloo protested in a nasally whine. "C'mon, I was about to free us from the wasp menace!"

"Bloo, what on earth is wrong with you?" she yelled. "You can't just whack a nest that's wider than me!"

"Of course you can, it's easy!" Bloo scoffed. "All you gotta do is find something to hit it with, and then you hit it! How much simpler can it be?"

"Depends if you want to include the part about being stung to death!" she snarled before glancing back at the nest and cringing involuntarily with terror. "Oh jeez, look at the size of that thing! Cripes, it's bigger than Mac!"

"Hey, c'mon!" Bloo protested. "Trust me, guys! I know what I'm doing here-"

"See? See? See? See?" Goo started chanting to Frankie, effectively drowning out the imaginary blob's protests. "I toldya so! Toldya! But did you listen? Noooo, you had to be all 'blah blah blah, no big deal, blah blah,' while the wasps just keep on making their nest bigger and bigger and bigger until they're gonna take over the whole entire property, and then-"

"We need to take that thing out, now!" Frankie declared firmly as she quickly took charge of the crisis. "I think there's some spray in the shed that will take care of them! Mac, you come with me out back, okay?"

"Got it!" the boy answered as he darted to her side.

"Bloo, Goo, you two stay here and make sure that no one else goes near that…that thing. All right?"

"Got it!" Goo smartly saluted and then whirled about to place the absurdly large nest under her watchful gaze. Bloo however appeared to be greatly displeased with the plan.

"Spray? For this? You think that'll destroy the wasp threat? Not on your life! No dinky spray from a can is going to show these guys whose boss! I know what I'm doing here, I can take that thing out in no time at all! Just trust me, I know how this pest control thing works! When the bugs try and take over, who ya gonna call? Blooragard Q. Kazoo, that's who-"

In the ultimate act of irony, the usually chatty little girl by his side whirled about and snapped exasperatedly, "Could you put a sock in it for once?"

"…Are you sure it's in here?" Mac said as he checked behind a veritable miniature mountain of cracked and broken flowerpots. Frankie meanwhile was never still for a second as she clambered all about the tiny shed, checking every inch.

"I'm ninety-nine percent positive. Honestly, I don't know where else it would be! Just keep looking, pal, it has to be in here somewhere."

"But we've been in here for almost ten minutes already, and-" Mac started to protest before they were both startled by an eardrum-shattering shriek of dismay emanating from the open shed doorway.

"I'M SORRY, HE JUST WOULDN'T LISTEN TO ME!" Goo wailed, nearly scaring the others clean out of their skins.

"What?" Frankie yelled in gut-wrenching alarm. "What the…Goo, what are you doing? I told you to stay nearby the nest-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I know, I know!" the panicked little girl yelped as she flailed her arms wildly. "And I was, too! I was trying to make sure no one got too close, but Bloo was all 'I know what I'm doing, I know what I'm doing, no one tells me how to take out a bunch of dumb ol' bugs,' and he kept on going on and on and on about how this wasn't the right way to do it at all, that is until he got his totally crazy loony idea, and when he told me about it I was all 'no, no, nuh-uh,' but he was all 'yeah, yeah, uh-huh,' and I kept on telling him and telling him that it was such a bad idea, but he wouldn't listen, he just walked right off inside, and…a-and…and he…I kept trying to stop him, but then he walked right into the house, and when he came out…he…he…"

Hopefully tongue-tied with panic, she paused to attempt to recompose herself before she cried, "Quick we gotta go stop him before he tries to infiltrate the nest!"

For a moment or two, Mac and Frankie just gawked slack-jawed at the little girl, unable to believe their ears until Frankie shrieked, "WHAT?"

Immediately she darted out of the shed, with arms and legs pumping furiously as she sprinted as fast as her athletic talents allowed her to, with the little ones following close upon her heels. In just a matter of moments, they made it back out front in record time, only to find that much to their intense horror, they were far too late.

They only managed to arrive on the scene just in time to watch their friend, adorned in a pattern of yellow and black stripes scrawled onto his body with marker of some sort and a butter knife poorly taped to his behind, slowly make his way into the shrub carrying the massive nest.

"Buzzzz! Buzzzzz! Hey look, it's me, a wasp, just like you! Buzzzz! Lemme into the nest, guys! Buzzzz!" Bloo tried to sound as convincing as he could as he clambered up into the branches, and without further ado began to start tearing away at the massive structure in an attempt to crawl inside. "See? Just one of your buzzing brothers trying to get home! Buzzz! Nothing to worry about here! Buzzz! Buzzzz!"

"BLOO!" Frankie shrieked to the high heavens once she saw that the outrageously reckless imaginary friend had ripped away enough of the nest to create a hole so large he could fit his head into it. "Get away! Get away! For the love of God, get away from there!"

"Get out of there, Bloo!" Mac howled. "Quick, before-"

For an instant, it seemed as if the figment had actually heeded their words, and suddenly bolted from the nest as if his very life depended on it. Unfortunately, just a moment later they quickly learned this was far too good to be true, for as he raced towards them the frantic little creature yelled, "Go! Go! Quick! Before it blows!"

"Before it what? Before it does what" Goo yelped in disbelief. "Bloo, this is a super-gigantic-enormous wasp hive, not a time-bomb or-"

"Just go!" Bloo cried, waving his little stubs wildly. "Seriously, you have no idea how many fireworks I shoved into the-"

Suddenly, it was as if someone had launched a miniature tactical air strike right there in the front yard. With a deafening clamor, the massive nest was ripped apart by a tiny explosion that knocked everyone flat off their feet.

For a few moments, the little group remained where they fell, all slightly stunned by the blast. Finally, with ears ringing slightly, Frankie dazedly clambered upright into a clumsy sitting position, allowing her to survey the damage wrought by Bloo's absurdly and completely unnecessarily drastic pest-control measures. To her shock, most of the enormous nest had completely ceased to be, as did a considerable chunk of the shrub it had been built into. All that was left was but a smoldering remnant, still afire in a few places as a stream of smoke poured out.

A rather peculiar-looking trail of smoke, now that she thought of it…one that almost seemed to hum as it poured out from the wreck of the nest and appeared to be drifting straight towards them oddly rapidly…

"AAAAAAUUUGGGHHH!"

The young woman's heart skipped a beat, her jade eyes bulged to the size of saucers, and she erupted into an ear-piercing scream the instant she realized that she was looking at a swarm of enraged survivors. Gripped by profound terror so powerful it was almost excruciating as it coursed through every ounce of her body, Frankie wasted not a single moment as she launched into a desperate retreat. Before the little ones knew what was happening, the panic-stricken caretaker had hastily snatched them all off the ground. With an imaginary blob awkwardly slung across her shoulder and a child under each arm, she bolted off, just barely staying ahead of the swarm trailing closely behind as she sprinted to safety.

With heart pounding in her chest and lungs that felt like they were afire as she gasped raggedly for breath, Frankie managed to dash over to the Foster's bus sitting in the driveway. After nearly clawing the doors open, she literally threw herself inside, scattering her cargo left and right as she just barely managed to shut the doors before their pursuers arrived.

For the next few moments, all was cloaked in a dead silence, save the buzzing of the infuriated wasps outside as they fruitlessly charged the windows again and again in a desperate attempt to break in and take their revenge. As the little group inside lay strewn about, trying to get their bearings or merely trying to get their heart rate back down, Bloo got up, looked at the others, then broke out into an enormous smirk as he asked, "Well? Aren't you guys going to thank me for getting rid of the nest?"

With lips curling into a fierce snarl, Frankie hissed angrily as she cracked her knuckles, "I'm so grateful, I could give you the worst dead arm of your entire life."

"Oh, it was nothing, really!" Bloo laughed as he failed to detect the obvious sarcasm in her tone completely. "I just…wait, what'd you sa-OWWW!"

"Frankie? Frankie! Hey, Frankie! Frankie! Frankie! Hey, Frankerino! Yoohoo! Hey, Frankie! Frankie! Frankieeeeeee! Yo, Frankie! Frankie! Frankie! Frankie!"

The instant she had heard the unmistakable azure nuisance plod into the kitchen, the caretaker in question immediately tried to focus every ounce of all her attention upon the large bowl she was scrubbing. Alas, her efforts to tune Bloo out were utterly futile, as the little imaginary friend marched up directly behind her and continued to yelp excitedly, "Heeeeey, Frankieeeee! Frankie? Frankie? Hey, Frankie! Frankie, down here! Frankie! Frankie! Frankie! Frankie? Frankie? Fra-"

Not even in the mood to reward his persistency with so much as a hasty glance backwards, without even looking the incredibly rankled young woman cried out in exasperation, "What?"

"Sheesh! Someone made sure to have a big bowl of Cranky-Flakes for breakfast, didn't she?" she could hear Bloo retort before he started chattering, "Frankie, c'mon, this is important! Honest! See, I was just rooting around, looking for a baseball mitt, but then I found....well, I'm pretty sure that it was a mouse hole, and I-"

"You found what?" the young woman involuntarily yelled in dismay as her entire body autmpatically tensed up with alarm. "Oh my God, I swear, if you're going to tell me that you lit five fire crackers and shoved them in there, I'll…oh no, you didn't damage Madame Foster's car or-"

"Hey, cool it there! Easy, easy now! Settle down!" she could hear the little imaginary friend attempt to assuage her panic. "I didn't do anything, honest! No need to play judge, jury and electrocutioner here! I'm only doing exactly what you told me to do from now on whenever I think we have a pest problem; to tell you first. Remember?"

Frankie was just about to scold him again before the shocking realization dawned upon her that for possibly the very first time in his life, Bloo had actually seemed to learn from one of the many horrendous mistakes he made daily. For a few moments, she was genuinely stunned, unsure of what to think or do. Quickly though, she managed to get over her initial shock, and a weak smile started to flitter across her face as she slung her dishtowel over her shoulder, turned around and faced the imaginary blob for the first time.

"Okay, okay..." she chortled softly. " Do you want to show me where the hole is, or..."

She took just one glimpse downwards, and the instant she saw what was dangling from the little creature's blobbish appendages, a wave of intense revulsion instantaneously sent her mute, while the color drained so quickly from her features within a second she resembled a crimson-haired ghost.

While she looked like she was about to faint on the spot, meanwhile, Bloo continued to hold up the two large, wriggling rats he held in either hand and asked as innocently and calmly as could be, "So, do you want me to just let these guys loose out back in the woods, or something? Actually, I think we might be better off calling in a professional, because I've personally never seen mice like these before. Seriously, they're like the size of Chihuahuas or-"

Before he could get a single word further, the imaginary blob was nearly spooked clean out of his skin when the immeasurably disgusted caretaker threw back her head and erupted into a lung-bursting shriek that nearly shattered every window in the massive Victorian mansion.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

As she continued wailing to the high heavens, the revolted redhead promptly made a beeline for the nearest exit, and nearly ripped the door clean of its hinges in her frantic haste to escape. Quivering from head to toe in utter revulsion, Frankie fled from sight, with her spine-chilling shrieks echoing all throughout the expansive household from the deepest depths of the cellar and the way to the heights of the attic.

As soon as the heartbreakingly absurd spectacle was over, for a few moments Bloo just stood silently, stewing in bemusement as he struggled to comprehend what had just happened, to woefully little avail, of course. Finally, the little imaginary friend rolled his eyes and elicited a heavy sigh of deep exasperation before looking down at his two squirming, squeaking captives.

"See?" Bloo whined as he took off in leisurely pursuit of a certain horror-stricken caretaker. "I told you guys this would happen. Seriously, I never get thanks for anything I help out with around here…"

The End

"…Here, just look at it-"

"Ugh, no!"

"Aw, c'mon! Just-"

"Get it away from me!"

"Look, I'm not asking for much, I just want you to-"

"Blecch! No way!"

"No, trust me, this is awesome! Just-"

"No! No! I don't want to!"

"You've barely even glanced at it! Now c'mon-"

"What did I just say?"

"Here, look, just lemme hand it over, so you can-"

"No! No! Get it away! Get it away! Get it away! Don't think for a minute that I'm actually going to-"

"Here, just hold out your hands, and I'll-hey, wait! What're you-"

"FRANKIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Having already heard the extremely peculiar commotion in the nearby hallway swiftly escalate to an insanely ludicrous point, the particular redhead never skipped a beat as she continued to tend to a massive stack of dirty dishes from breakfast.

Nor did she bat so much as an eyelid when her own name was screeched in a truly horrific manner that would send chills rippling down one's spine, and she didn't even involuntarily flinch when she distinctly heard the pit-pat of someone sprinting pell-mell into the kitchen, followed by the distinct sensation of something latching onto her leg in a dogged vice-grip.

As she clearly felt her abrupt visitor quiver uncontrollably, Frances "Frankie" Foster didn't even pass him so much as a hasty glance as she focused on cleansing a particularly filthy diner plate, opting instead for an absentminded inquiry.

"Okay, pal…what's he up to now?" she asked carelessly, as if the fact that a blatantly mortified child was clinging to her like a shipwreck victim holding onto a chunk of driftwood was hardly anything out of the norm for her. As the caretaker dutifully went ahead with her chore, Mac elicited a pitiful moan as he tightened his already tenacious hold upon his guardian's limb.

"Y-you really don't want to know…just make him stop..." he whimpered, quaking wildly from head to toe and for some mysterious reason, looking absolutely fit to puke. Depositing a freshly scrubbed platter aside, Frankie just groaned loudly in utter exasperation.

"Mac," she began flatly as she placed her hands upon her hips and glared at him sternly. "What did I tell you about letting him get to you like this? Hmmm? Remember that little talk we had last week? Can you please tell me what we went over?"

The little boy only whined softly as he hastily tried to avert his gaze away, quick realizing he was to receive a woefully minimal amount of sympathy here for his plight. The redhead only rolled her eyes as she wiped her hands dry on a nearby dishtowel before continuing.

"Mac, I expect much better than this from you! In case you've forgotten, bucko, Bloo's your imaginary friend. He always has been, always is, and always will be." She lectured him dutifully. "And since that's the way things are gonna be, then it's entirely your job to keep him in line."

"Yeah, but-" the child whined.

"Nuh-uh!" The caretaker only scolded him. "I don't want any excuses out of you, mister, you hear me? Bloo's been your responsibility for well over five years now, you of all people should be more than familiar with what he's capable of getting into, like it or not."

"But Frankie-"

Before Mac could protest any further, he yelp in surprise as with a few deft movements Frankie expertly detached him from her leg and quickly began to drag the unwilling child forcefully towards the kitchen doors.

"Don't 'But Frankie,' me, kiddo! Look, as much as I'd like to, I can't exactly keep on eye on your imaginary friend twenty-four hours a day, can I? Woud that be fair? No, of course not! That's your job, mister, and I expect you to take care of it. I know it's never exactly pleasant, but you really need to start stepping up to the plate and take charge every once in a while, got it? You can't just turn and run whenever-"

"I know, but…b-but this time he-"

"Not another word, Mac Foster." Frankie barked flatly like a scarlet-haired drill sergeant as she forcefully pushed the stubborn child forward. "Besides, we've seen him do almost everything. What in the world could he possibly be doing right now that actually has you of all people so-"

"Hey Frankie, check this out!"

The instant the kitchen door abruptly swung open, the startled caretaker had absolutely no trouble with identifying the familiar azure blob, grinning like a complete dimwit as he stood before her.

The real trouble came however as soon as she laid eyes upon the sorry-looking mess in the little imaginary friend's blobbish appendages.

"AAAAUUUUGGGGH!" A bloodcurdling shriek of unfathomable disgust escaped from Frankie's throat, nearly shattering nearby windows with its raw power. As she nearly brought the entire mansion down with her lungpower, Bloo only continued to beam moronically, as if the young woman wasn't only moments away from fainting in a dead heap in her repulsed shock.

"Yeah, gross, isn't it?" he chuckled happily while he held up the pitiful mess of bone and feathers that used to be a living bird. "I found it right out back. But if you think that's bad, then just wait until you poke it -"

"AUGH! Not on your life!" The girl only screamed in her unimaginable revulsion, furiously struggling not to vomit as her gut began to churn so violently.

"Yeah, you know it's just that bad!" Bloo only laughed as he carelessly edged further with his God-awful cargo. "Look, see how-"

"Oh God, NO!" Frankie bellowed flatly in steadfast refusal as she backed off in a desperate attempt to put some distance between her and the carcass. As she scuttled off to what she deemed was a safe refuge behind the counter, quivering with revulsion, the little creature only shrugged his non-existent shoulders and shook his head almost pityingly before turning to his mortified creator.

"Hey, it's your loss, sister. Do what you want, but as soon as you see me and my buddy here havin' the time of our lives with-" he began casually, ready to toss on arm around the revolted child's shoulders.

"Oh no you don't!" she squealed in horror. Long gone was the austere young woman promoting independence in the name of good parenting only minutes before. Now, moving at a pace that would've let a cheetah gasping for breath, Frankie bolted forward, scooped up the boy in her arms, and fled back a safe distance as she fretted uncontrollably like a Mother Hen all the while.

"Did you touch it? Did you? Did he make you touch it before you came to me? Did you touch him at all while he was holding it? Oh God, oh my God..." she babbled frantically, completely ashen-faced as she checked her charge's hands over for any sign of contact with the feathery corpse, as if she was expecting any moment to locate traces of the bubonic plague.

"Nuh-uh!" Mac managed to squeak as the panic-stricken girl carefully examined him. "He kept asking me though to try to, though, and-"

"He what? Oh, God! Mac, I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!" she began to babble in profuse apology as she stroked his head. "Pal, if only I knew-"

"Well, you didn't exactly give me a chance to tell you, didn't you?" Mac couldn't help but remind her with an irked groan. "I tried to-"

"You could have at least tried to make more of an effort to tell me that Bloo was carrying a dead animal around the house!" Frankie snapped in her intense aggravation, right before she roughly pulled up the child's shirtsleeves to continue her frantic check-up. "Did you get any ticks on you? Any fleas, or something nasty like that? Do you feel anything, like a slight pinch? You feelin' itchy anywhere in particular? Oh jeez, I think maybe if we run a bath for you now-"

"Look, guys," Bloo just muttered condescendingly at the heartbreakingly pathetic spectacle as he plodded over, still carrying his unholy burden. "I don't see what the big deal is here, it's just-"

"NOT ANOTHER STEP CLOSER!" The nearly hysterical redhead screamed as soon as he came within five feet. With a yelp of dismay she clutched Mac tightly to herself in a protective squeeze as she clumsily clambered up onto the counter. "Blooragard Q. Kazoo, you take that thing outside right this instant and-"

"And what?" the bemused imaginary friend inquired as ignorantly innocent as could be, while he casually tossed the little corpse from blobbish stub to blobbish stub with careless ease. "Wait...so…you're saying I should show this to everyone outside, first?"

"NO!" The thoroughly repulsed duo hollered in unison, right before going back to clinging miserably to one another, as if that would help alleviate their overwhelming sense of nausea brought on by the outrageously revolting sight.

Bloo groaned and rolled his eyes, looking oddly irked with the pair. "Well, can you make up your minds, then? Do you want to see it or-"

"Of course not! That is a dead bird you're holding, Einstein!" Frankie snapped. "Not alive! Dead! You get that? Dead! Dead! Dead! As in you are holding something's rotting, festering corpse! It's…it's….it's DISGUSTING!"

"Disgusting? This thing? Well…duh!" The little imaginary friend scoffed haughtily. "Of course I know that! I mean, just look at this thing, it's totally gross!"

"So why are you carrying it around the house?" the caretaker implored as she could feel her stomach do a belly flop.

"To show you guys." Bloo answered calmly, as if the answer was so obvious. "So…aren't you guys gonna at least congratulate me for looking where I was walking?"

"WHAT?" Both Mac and Frankie cried, their befuddlement soaring to record heights.. Looking absolutely exasperated with the two, Bloo just rolled his eyes and made a direct beeline for the door, murmuring to himself all the way as he continued to drag his revolting cargo behind him.

"Forget it! Just forget it, you guy are never gonna get it! If you're gonna be like that, then fine! Now Coco, I'm sure that she'll get a kick out of-"

"Bloo-" Frankie tried to plead, her only futile resort as she was pitifully far from willing to get within so much as within twenty feet of the azure blob as of that moment. The little imaginary friend however only chattered happily to himself as he made a quick exit.

"Oh man, I can't wait to see the look on her face! She's never gonna believe me when I show her what I almost stepped in! Haha! Oh man, good thing I saw it in time, or else that would've been so nasty. I mean, seriously, what possibly could be grosser than that…?"

The End