BlueyCapsules | VOLUME TWO

National Emergency

 When Michael looked in the mirror, there was a very tired-looking 15-year-old boy looking back at him. He had greasy, unkempt brown hair, pale skin, and deep purple bags under his eyes; Objectively, this was him. But it didn't feel like him - not to Michael, anyway. Recently, though, he hadn't been feeling like much of anything at all. He thought, turning over the compact mirror in his hands, that if he should be anything, he should be a leaf blowing away in the wind. That was what he felt like.

Michael paused. Wasn't Bubba being a bit quiet?

Hesitantly, Michael pocketed the mirror and crept toward the shower room. He was careful to avert his eyes from Bubba's face as he clicked the light on...or, rather, the spot Bubba's face should have been. Michael was stunned to see two bloody footprints in the shower floor where two giant red clown shoes should have been.

Fuck.

Okay, Michael decided, this was fine - he could drive, kind of. He marched his way to the garage, plucking his father's keys off of the kitchen table on the way (where was he, anyway?). He clambered into the driver's seat and started the car, which, of course, prompted Elizabeth to materialize in the doorway. Swell.

"Maikol!" Liz snapped. She looked very perturbed, as though Michael's engine-revving had interrupted her somehow. "What are you doing?!"

"Ah, well, uh -" Michael cleared his throat, rolling the passenger window down to talk to Liz more clearly. "You see, I-I didn't see Bubba in the shower...I have to find him before his does...God knows what." His words seemed to have changed Elizabeth's mind, somehow; Her scowl dropped into a fearful look of concern, and she dropped the pony that she'd been holding; It clattered loudly to the ground. "...Liz?"

"Michael...you don't understand," Elizabeth said in a hushed tone. She approached the vehicle, resting her hands on the windowsill. "If you see Bubba in the streets, something is very wrong, because it means he's already killed thousands."

Michael stared blankly.

Elizabeth left for a moment, going back into the house and then returning with a large, ornate mirror; It was spooky, a little, like something out of Dracula. Elizabeth began securing the mirror to the top of the car with rope, explaining as she did so; Michael got out quickly to help.

"The only way to defeat Bubba is with his own reflection," Elizabeth said firmly. "Make sure this doesn't fall off. I'll be driving."

Michael climbed into the passenger seat, his eyebrows furrowing. Liz? Driving? She was twelve!

"...You?" He voiced his thoughts, watching in awe as Liz adjusted her mirrors. "How the hell do you know how to drive?"

"Out of necessity," she said grimly, refusing to look at him. Michael chose to drop it.

The easiest thing to do, more or less, was follow a trail; Going along and asking each and every passerby if they'd seen Bubba felt a little worthless, but a lot of them had, and it was kind of leading them somewhere. The only problem was that that 'somewhere' was the forest, and it was beginning to get dark. Nonetheless, this was...important, Michael supposed. Besides, it wouldn't be hard to find him. Not with the giant clown-sized footprints indenting the grass.

"Liz, come look at this!" Michael called as he got out of the car. He pointed toward the footprints and Liz, huffing with the weight of the mirror and their camping supplies, nodded and followed.

Together, they trekked through the woods in silence under the darkening sky. The footsteps led them to a clearing, and nowhere else. Michael sighed, rubbing over his chin.

"Hmm..." he bit the inside of his cheek. "Do you have anything we could use to set up a trap?"

"Really?" Liz snarked. "You think we can trap...Bubba." She sighed, and heaved the duffel bag and mirror off of her back with a grunt. "Alright, I suppose." Elizabeth dropped the bag to the ground with a loud 'thud' and got down on her knees to search through it. Michael hummed, looking around; He could help, too. Using a stray box and a stick, Michael set up a a half-assed trap for Bubba. It wasn't much, but it might help, right?