Whirrr. The blades of a large, dust collecting white fan chopped up the air opposite the large, old
living room couch. A desperate exhale of frustration escaped Jack's mouth as he fumbled with
the new phone Johnny'd given him a month prior. In the past, he never had a reason to use it, and
the technology of the tiny supercomputer escaped him. But now, it was more important than ever
that he learn how to crack the code and use the phone.
"Daaaaaadddd…." Bloo whined, his voice echoing throughout the dark, unkempt living room.
"Where's Daddy?" The blue-haired boy pouted with a tone of annoyance, leaning over the back
of the couch, staring at Jack's uncooperative meeple-branded phone.
Jack sighed. "I would be able to find out if…" Jack tried to find the "messages" application, but
to no avail.
"Dad, you're supposed to-" Bloo grabbed the phone and was met with another sigh from Jack.
Effortlessly, he clicked the "messages" app with rapid precision.
"How did you…" The samurai's eyes lit up with childlike wonder, as if they were taken aback
by Bloo's proficiency when it came to technology.
"Ok, here ya go." Bloo handed the phone back to Jack, who instantly began typing.
"Hello.
Johnny, I am concerned about your whereabouts. You have not been home for three days.
I have tried contacting your mother, but she knows little about where you are either. I am
considering contacting the police if you do not return soon. I miss you.
Sincerely, Jack"
Jack had to type slowly in order to avoid typos. His father always told him that slow and steady
won the race, but 'slow and steady' bored Bloo, who was now groaning for an extended period of
time straight into Jack's ear, to tears.
"Jeez, could you type any slower? And why do you type like you're sending him a letter? Here,
let me do it." He snatched the phone again.
"hey daddy plz come home im bored and dad wont let me go to mcdonalds. i dont want to
eat sushi. plz come home i want mcdonalds."
He wrote at light speed, grinning.
"Ok, there we go." He placed the phone in Jack's lap and flopped onto the couch next to the
former samurai.
Neither of them spoke. Every once and again Bloo gave Jack a look that told him how much he
desperately wanted to break the tension with a quip or a joke, but his mind was all too clouded
with anxiety and foggy ideas of what could have happened to Johnny in his absence. Even
paddleball didn't seem fun. The image in Bloo's head of the red rubber ball indignantly refusing
to hit the stupid wooden paddle filled the boy's heart with rage, culminating in him thumping on
the couch with pathetic defiance.
As for Jack, his mind was completely occupied by worries and worst case scenarios. So
desperately he wanted to take up his sword and fight whoever was responsible for his husband's
absence, but he didn't even know where to start looking for him. For all he knew, his husband
could have opened a portal to a completely different dimension wherein he was forced to play a
demented game show with equally unwilling participants.
Bzz. Jack's body jolted as his phone received a single notification. His heart raced, as he
frantically typed in the passcode, 11037. He fumbled, searching for the messages app. Click.
His heart dropped as he read the message from Johnny.
"Lmaooo u really thought i gaf about you
thats crazy ngl. anyway i hooked up with
this hawt ass sexy woman. BOOYAH"
Jack's eyes scoured the message over and over again in disbelief.
"Hey, lemme see!" Bloo peered over his father's shoulder. He blinked twice in rapid succession,
and flopped back onto the couch.
"Daddy's… not coming back?" The young boy was obviously stifling tears. "I mean, it's not like
I care, but-" He followed up.
Jack, too, was holding back tears. He wanted so badly to cry, but he couldn't let his son see him
in such a broken state. It would destroy him.
"There are a thousand other fish in the grocery store, right?" Bloo's poorly-worded attempt at
comforting Jack did little to help.
"If I just moved on like nothing happened I'd be no better than him." Jack's voice quavered. "The
most we can do is forget." He knew that was a lie. As long as he lived he'd never forget Johnny.
"But I don't wanna forget." The blue-haired boy rolled his eyes, crossed his arms, and pouted. "I
wanna get rev-"
Diing dong!
The doorbell rang, followed by a quick succession of knocks that sounded as if they'd been
practiced and perfected hundreds of times prior.
Creaking open the door, a forced-smiling Jack was met face to face with a lanky, dark-skinned,
starchy blonde man. The man in the doorway wore just as casual attire as anyone else in town-a
regular white shirt and some old blue shorts-but also wore a defining blue hat with a white slice
of bread printed on it.
"Okay, you don't…" The man caught his breath, as if he'd ran ten miles just to get to Jack's
place. "You don't happen to live with a dude named Johnny Bravo, right?"
Jack grimaced. "...Well, we used to." He spoke cordially, but with a subtle hint of venom
permeating his tone.
"Yeah, until he DITCHED us." Bloo piped up.
The man in the doorway's eyes widened. "Okay, okay. So, me and Buhdeuce were really really
close friends with him in college, but we kinda drifted apart after our bread delivering business
took off." He inhaled, catching his breath again. "But, the thing is…" The man paused for
dramatic effect. "Buhdeuce went MISSING three days ago, and I texted him, and…" The man
dug in his pocket for his phone, but had to dig out dust, a keychain, and a fart-in-a-jar in order to
get it. His lockscreen displayed a message saying "Hello, Swaysway" and a picture of two men.
One of the men was clearly Swaysway, but the other was a shorter, chubbier man with a similar
hat to Swaysway's, only red.
Swaysway, opening the messages app, shoved a text from Buhdeuce in Jack's face.
It read,
"sup sway. uhh this is gonna sound quazy but i found a WAYYY better bread delivering
company than whatever we were doing so uh bye."
"So I was wondering if Johnny knew anything about this, because none of Buhdeuce's family
members did, but…" Swaysway's voice heightened to a state of panic and his pupils contracted.
"I know Buhdeuce wouldn't just leave me like this! You said Johnny went missing too, right?
When? How? Why? WHAT?"
"He went missing three days ago." Jack spoke, matter-of-factly. "He said he was going to the
grocery store, but…"
"BUHDEUCE WAS GOING THERE TOO, AT THE EXACT SAME TIME!" Swaysway
jumped, practically grinning.
"But the chances they're still at the dang grocery store are pretty low." Bloo replied.
"But they're not zero!" Almost instantly, Sway responded. "Come on, we gotta find them!"
"Wait a moment." Jack sighed, walking upstairs as if he had unlimited time to spare. Sway and
Bloo looked at each other, and shrugged.
A few moments later, Jack came down, sword in hand.
"I don't think you need-" Sway quavered.
"It is a logical precaution." Jack's sword practically fit the palm of his hand perfectly, as its blade
gleamed in the light.
"C'mon, let's go already! Let's go get revenge on Daddy already!" Bloo bolted out the door,
followed by Sway.
"I simply want to talk." Jack sighed, following the eccentric pair regardless. "This is simply… a
precaution."