The next morning, it was business as usual. The hunger from last night intensified the growling in Bloo's empty stomach; he now eagerly lapped up his milk and cereal while the rest of the table got a more elaborate breakfast option of blueberry pancakes. People glared at him and not-so-subtly trash-talked him behind his back as they ate, but Bloo was determined to not repeat yesterday's mistake. His shields were up completely: blank expression, no talking until the meal was finished. This would be followed by an additional step: no showing excitement. If one small thing made him happy, it would be ripped away from him in an instant, so he had to be sneaky about short-term joys. But for now, he listened to what they said about him.

"Blooregard, huh? More like Bloofus! Y'know, 'cause he's mean, dumb, and nobody would wanna keep him around."

"Haha, yeah! Wait, I can do you one better: how about we call him Bloono? 'Cause no good can happen when he's here."

This was followed by a high-five. Nothing new to Bloo, but he knew it wasn't true. Or at least, it used to not be. Especially when he had Mac.

"Why is he still here, anyway?" Another imaginary friend asked.

"That kid won't let him go. If he knows what's best for him, he'll call off the deal."

Maybe it was best for Bloo too. Sure, he'd lose the most important person in his life, but he'd be free from the house's constant torture.

"Well, either way, he's a pest that needs to be dealt with. I'm glad he's finally getting his just desserts."

Under normal circumstances, Bloo would have yelled about how unfair this was. However, he knew better than to waste his breath on deaf ears, especially since the only one who would get hurt was himself. Without Mac on his side, Bloo was defenseless. All he could do was stay strong.

The house stepped up their game. Everywhere Bloo went, there was always a crowd stopping him from getting his short-term kicks. Arcade, computer lab, computer room, toy room, music room, all filled up. He wouldn't dare re-enter the pantry after yesterday either. The only option was making the best out of nothing.

"Who needs a paddleball when I can do this?"

Bloo waved one hand back and forth, pretending to hit the ball against his paddle hand.

"Finally, it's not broken…but now it's tired."

He leaned against the hallway and strummed his air guitar, using the opposite hand to strum while the former makeshift-paddleball arm only slid to get the pitch right. The melody was relatively tame at first, but eventually gained more steam. Bloo found himself in the zone and jammed out, his song getting louder and wilder…until he felt something squeeze his hands hard.

"Augh-!"

Bloo opened his eyes to see Mr. Herriman glaring right into his soul. He glared back, not daring to blink until the rabbit released his grip. After a few seconds, he did, and hopped away wordlessly. Bloo rubbed his wrists, easing the lingering feeling Herriman left behind before gliding back into the main room, thinking he was alone.

"Ugh, it's so boring! There's nothing to do!"

Unfortunately for him, he was overheard by Frankie.

"If you're so bored, why don't you help me with chores?"

"Uh-"

"Too late."

Before he could actually respond, Frankie put a child leash around him and smugly smiled down at him.

"You're not getting out of this, Bloo."

Giving in, he followed Frankie, deciding it was better than being tugged along. After all, he needed to retain at least a little control over the situation. He kept his blank face on as other residents laughed at the sight. No getting provoked, no letting them get the best of him, regardless of how humiliated he truly felt. First, they washed dishes. Not the worst, but also very uneventful. At least, until Bloo used the suds to make a mustache for himself when Frankie wasn't looking. However, she caught him and roughly rubbed the bubbles off his face.

"No."

Next, they took out the garbage. Bloo played around with the bag for a few seconds, only to be yanked back after making it thud one time too loudly.

"No."

Frankie took the bag and put it in the bin. As they walked back inside, Bloo caught a glimpse of Mac playing a new board game with Wilt, Eduardo, and Coco. Like most board games it was tailor-made for four players, leaving no room for him. He looked away to avoid the loneliness, hoping he wouldn't be seen and further humiliated.

At that same moment, Mac managed to catch a glimpse of Frankie dragging Bloo around with the leash. Something about it didn't sit right with him.

"Señor Mac?" Eduardo asked, snapping Mac out of it. "Estas bien?"

"Huh?"

"Coco co."

"Oh, yeah, sorry."

Bloo could have sighed a breath of relief when they passed by the group without a comment. Did Frankie purposefully put them in view to mess with him? He didn't have enough time to find the answer as Frankie forced him to wipe the floors with her. He thought about how Frankie used to be cool, sometimes even enjoying his shenanigans. What if he could remind her how they used to be? Against his better judgment, Bloo took the mop and an empty bucket, pretending to be a warrior.

"Hey, Frankie, look. I'm The Cleaning Man, I'll beat the dirt outta ya!"

"No."

Frankie took the bucket off his head and ripped the mop away from his hands. Bloo grumbled; it was hard to make the most of this when Frankie kept putting him down. Thankfully, they had some sponges. When Frankie was too focused on her part of the work to notice, Bloo managed to slip the leash off her wrist and slide across the floor with the sponges, pretending to be an ice skater. If only cleaning could be more like this, then it'd be less of a chore. He tried not to make too much noise and managed to be a lot sneakier this time, but made a crucial mistake when he started laughing.

"No!"

Frankie lifted him off the sponges, put them on his hands, and slipped the leash back onto her wrist.

"Jeez," Bloo grumbled, "you don't know how to have fun anymore."

"Actually, I'm enjoying this. It's just that YOU'RE not supposed to. You're being punished, remember?"

After they finished cleaning the floors, she took him to the bathrooms.

"Okay, this one's out of toilet paper. Scrub everything until I get back."

To ensure Bloo wouldn't make a getaway, she tied the leash on the handle of the door. Bloo considered trying to escape, but there was nowhere to run and hide. He begrudgingly kept working, standing on a stool to scrub the sink. When he started on the toilet, however, a couple of imaginary friends snuck into the bathroom. Before Bloo knew it, he was suddenly pushed into the toilet head-first. He instinctively yelled, but regretted it when some toilet water went into his mouth.

"Haha, what a loser, doing all of Frankie's work!"

"Frankie's pet! Frankie's pet! Frankie's pet!"

Bloo forced his mouth shut as they kept shoving him around and laughing at his misfortune. He tried to buck them off, but his strength failed him. After what felt like forever, they heard someone else come in.

"Hey, stop! Get off of him!"

Bloo was pulled out and thrown onto the floor. He spat at the ground and coughed for air as the other imaginary friends responded annoyedly.

"Fine, Mac, just for you."

"We were just about finished anyway."

The duo high-fived each other and left the room as Mac helped Bloo back up.

"Are you okay?"

While grateful deep down, he still didn't forgive Mac for his betrayal.

"What are you doing here, Mac? What happened to not defending me?"

"I didn't think they'd take it this far. This is getting out of control."

Bloo crossed his arms.

"Oh, NOW you think so?"

"Listen, Bloo, you're not gonna last a week if you keep letting them do this. You have to apologize."

"Ugh, this again?"

"They're tougher than you and you know that. Besides, they're really hurt by what you said!"

"Nobody cares how I feel!"

"It's not always about you, you know!"

"It's NEVER about me!"

"Oh, come on! Just apologize! Please, Bloo, I can't just stand here and do nothing! Don't you want things to go back to the way they were?"

It became clear to Bloo that Mac wouldn't listen. If he wouldn't, who would?

"I used to, but then I realized it's not much better than this."

"Are you even listening to yourself?!"

Bloo backed away, but kept a steady glare.

"I'm not going back, Mac. I don't care what it takes, I WILL beat them at their own game."

"But I don't get it, what are you fighting for?"

"…If you don't get it now, you never will."

Before Mac could say anything else, he heard Wilt calling in the distance.

"Mac, come on! It's basketball time!"

Mac sighed and dejectedly walked away. Bloo couldn't help but sadly watch. When Mac was out of sight, Bloo took the closest towel and wiped himself dry. Unfortunately, he did so right when Frankie entered the room.

"BLOO!"

He turned his head to look at her.

"Frankie, it's not what you-"

He was cut off by her shoving him against the wall, nails digging into him.

"I can't trust you to do ANYTHING right!"

She yanked the towel out of his hands as Mr. Herriman passed by.

"What's going on here?"

"Bloo spilled toilet water all over the floor and made a mess!"

"Of course he did."

"It's not MY fault, these guys came in and-"

Herriman leaned in dangerously close to Bloo's face.

"Not another word out of you."

Bloo didn't let Herriman intimidate him.

"Why n-?"

Herriman slapped Bloo on the mouth. Bloo covered it to prevent a pained noise from escaping him.

"You can't blame your problems on everyone around you. Stop whining like a disrespectful child and grow up."

"Hit me again. I know you wanna."

Neither of them bothered responding. Frankie grumpily freed Bloo from his leash, but he wasn't free to go. Mr. Herriman grabbed his wrist and dragged him all the way back to his empty room.

"The audacity you have to continue behaving this way after everything we've done for you," Herriman ranted. "You truly are a lost cause, Master Blooregard, and it's only a matter of time until you finally accept your fate. Had today not been dishwashing day, you would have gotten a good spanking for talking back to Miss Francis and I! You are single-handedly the most vile, insufferable, atrocious creature I've had the displeasure of knowing and your well-mannered, responsible, selfless creator should be ashamed he ever brought such a loathsome beast into existence!"

Herriman threw Bloo back in, slamming the door shut and locking it tight. Bloo sighed and leaned against the wall.

"Why do I even bother?"

He needed a miracle, but it was only a matter of time before his strength would run out.