Mime over Matter

by Lolitafreak88

During a local event involving the painting of a town mural in Happy Tree Friend Town, things go quickly wrong when Lifty and Shifty attempt to vandalize the mural. Flippy flips out and this time in the presence of the superhero Splendid. This leads to a big battle that threatens to destroy the town. Can the unlikely duo of Flaky and Mime stop this battle from going too far?

1. Chapter 1

Mime over Matter

By Lolitafreak88

Starring: Mime and Flaky

Featuring: Flippy, Splendid, Handy, Lifty, Shifty, Giggles, Mole, Lammy, Toothy, Nutty, Lumpy, Petunia, and Cuddles.

It was another sunny and bright day in Happy Tree Friend town, but like all days in Happy Tree Friend town, appearances were deceiving. But perhaps today would be the day that no deaths would occur. Perhaps there would be survivors, or perhaps none at all. It was impossible to tell because the day had only begun. If one were to take a walk around, they'd see a crowd of Tree Friends. They could see Petunia with her signature flower, Cuddles and Toothy jumping up and down in excitement, Lifty and Shifty with skeptical expressions, Lammy looking curious, Nutty blowing some bubble gum bubbles, and Lumpy looking with a blank expression that was common on him. In front of them was Giggles, dressed professionally in a buttoned-up jacket holding a microphone as though she were a news reporter, which she was, and the Mole was behind her with a tripod filming her. The Mole had recently gotten a job in a newspaper company as a photographer and cameraman though his mediocre photos were often questioned. His blindness always did come with its setbacks after all.

Above them was a billboard but this billboard had no ad, rather it was blank but at the moment some of the Tree Friends were painting it. In a town meeting, they had decided to celebrate the anniversary of their town by painting a mural showcasing all the Tree Friends. The volunteers to paint it were the quiet but kind Mime who currently was painting with talent and skill, shy but caring Flaky who was having a lot of fun, selfless Flippy was painting as well, Handy who was showing skill and resourcefulness by painting with his teeth, and surprisingly local superhero Splendid whose flight proved useful for this. They were just finishing up and soon they got down via ladders or Splendid's heroic powers. The crowd was waiting with excitement and anticipation for them to announce it when finally,

"TA DA!" The painters exclaimed except the ever silent Mime who just gave a gesture. The mural was quite stunning; it had all the Tree Friends on it, painted as though they were in front of the town. It had taken a whole day but it was finally finished and the fresh paint glistened in the sunlight. The crowd cheered and began to applaud for the finished artwork though Lammy was slightly saddened to see that she herself was behind a tree in the mural. Perhaps it was because she was new and no one got to know her yet? It was not very clear at the moment to her or to anybody else. Some of the Tree Friends who were not there witnessing this were not there for good reason; for there was a crash further down the road or they were busy at home (In Pop and Cub's case). Petunia blew a kiss towards Handy for the excellent work he had displayed and Flippy and Flaky smiled at one another, clearly friends. Toothy called to Splendid for an autograph, being an immense fan of him and Mime just smiled with honor. He didn't really have any distinct friends or even a relationship but he was known for a kind heart of gold and offering his magic tricks to entertain and support.

"The mural has been finished ladies and gentlemen!" Giggles announced cheerfully but then slightly frowned when she saw the Mole had repositioned the camera to face the sky instead of her when this was her time. Not that she was being selfish but this was a live showing and the viewers would want to know who was saying this. Plus the sky had nothing to do with the mural or anything at the moment since Splendid wasn't in flight. Giggles helped him reposition the camera and straightened her bow gingerly and continued. But then she noticed something shocking,

"Huh?" Mole, surprisingly, turned the camera the right direction to show Lifty and Shifty climbing up the ladder with what appeared to be red cans of paint. Flaky gasped and Mime mimed it and Flippy noticed so he quickly pursued after them being protective of this mural. Splendid was too busy autographing to notice so it was up to Flippy. Mime looked worried because he had suggested the mural painting idea via a chart and was worried that the two sly brothers would ruin it. Unfortunately, Lifty and Shifty got up there and swung their paint cans like baseball bats and red paint splattered on the mural. Thankfully it only covered up the part with the town but some of the paint dripped down and left blood red lines over some of the Tree Friends, including Mime. Mime looked shocked and then looked down clearly saddened. He had worked very hard and hoped this would be a bonding project and those two raccoons had messed it up. He even shed a tear which he wiped away with… an invisible handkerchief? Flaky, feeling sympathy for him, put a hand on his shoulder and smiled which cheered Mime up a little bit.

It wasn't that Lifty and Shifty didn't like the mural, they didn't like how they looked in the painting. They were portrayed looking happy and holding hands with the Tree Friends. Not like the thieves they really were and so they were irritated Mime hadn't consulted them for advice. The motto is that there is no honor among thieves, but Lifty and Shifty were very unique thieves who held their status with honor, despite the fact that their most successful and most undetectable robbery was that of Mime's pretend furniture. So in revenge, they decided to ruin the painting, or at least part of it. The crowd finally noticed and booed at them, angered at their insensitivity. Giggles was reporting this of course, and the Mole even seemed to nod at Giggles opinions.

Flippy had finally arrived at the billboard/mural stand and looked annoyed. He was mad at what Lifty and Shifty did but of course, not one to resort to violence at first, he decided to try to plead with them to apologize. But Shifty and Lifty looked at each other with a "Is he a serious?" expression, clearly not into Flippy's attempt. They then threw the can of paint at Flippy which hit him in the face, soaking him in blood red paint. Some of the Tree Friends gasped in horror and backed away. Notably, they were Cuddles, Toothy, Nutty, Handy, and Petunia. Lammy looked puzzled, not aware of most things yet and Lumpy was just looking in awe, thinking it was some sort of show. Flippy tried to wipe the paint from his eyes and was successful but lost his balance and fell off the stand. Flaky screamed in worry and Mime mimed another gasp but Splendid, quick to the chase, caught him in mid-air, dropped him off on the ground, and then grabbed the two troublemaking twins and placed them on the ground too, in 5 seconds but not at a speed that created sonic booms.

"Toothy, we should go check on him!" Lammy cried out to Toothy who was still stepping away. Lammy was trying to be a good friend to Flippy and also try to get along with the others. She definitely had a question mark on her after her first impression but she was trying. Toothy gulped nervously, wondering if he should tell Lammy about Flippy's PTSD which proved to have not been cured by Lumpy and had come back. But then he thought maybe it wasn't so bad and Splendid had lightning quick reflexes and could stop him if he did. So Toothy reluctantly nodded and they and Lammy ran over to him. Giggles and the Mole by now had a safe distance away too. Mime and Flaky were watching with concerned expressions at Flippy. Splendid was confused at everyone's shaken reaction but only because he never had met Flippy before. So he was wondering why they were so worried about the situation.

Mime, also aware of Flippy's PTSD, stood in front of Flaky arms spread out in an attempt to protect her because Flippy's murders were not pleasant. Flaky was surprised at this but also a little bothered because she wanted to support Flippy and maybe stop him from flipping out in the first place. But she knew that silent Mime would not be easy to get through or convince, at least in her opinion. Flippy finally came to and saw Toothy and Lammy looking at him with concern. He smiled and even laughed because it was funny that he got hit with paint like that and he asked if they could give them a hand which they did. Toothy wanted to back away but Lammy looked at him, her expression practically telling him to offer more sympathy so he reluctantly agreed.

"Are you ok?" Toothy asked.

"Never been better." Flippy said. But then he saw what color the paint was on his hand. It was blood red, a gorgeous color for lipstick but also the best color for… well… blood. Flippy tried to remember this was paint, paint used to…stain a mural. It was a color he had seen much too often in his life in the war. A sinister color seen on his fellow soldiers slaughtered in battle and overall, as decoration on the battlefield. Flippy's eyes noticeably twitched and he mumbled something that no one could recognize. Then his expression changed so suddenly and so horrifically that those who hadn't seen this before couldn't believe it. Flippy's big, bright eyes became yellow and menacing, his teeth became sharper and more beast-like, he looked very ruthless and menacing, like a true villain. Flippy was gone, Fliqpy had arrived.

Splendid gasped, he had only met Flippy today but he seemed nice and responsible but this was a new side. He of course had no clue he had a PTSD, so he assumed he was a criminal and he was showing his true colors right now, as though Lifty and Shifty's act was the trigger. Jumping to conclusions was common for someone like Splendid. Lammy was shocked but Toothy was trying not to scream and faint. Mime gave a stern glance at Fliqpy and Flaky uttered,

"Oh no…" Lifty and Shifty began to sneak away on tiptoe and the crowd was pretty far away by now. Then… it happened. Fliqpy saw Lammy and Toothy as two enemy soldiers in the war, looking like they had killed his comrades in battle. With one hand, he grabbed Toothy's face, the other hand grabbed Lammy's. Toothy finally screamed and panicked but Lammy remained calm but mostly out of confusion. Then there was a sickening SQUELCH! Flippy had crushed their heads just by clenching his fists. A super strength granted by his flip out that rivaled Splendid's. Guts and blood spilled to the ground and when Flippy let go, Lammy and Toothy's corpses fell to the ground, their faces unrecognizable. Everyone gasped (but Mime and the Mole inaudibly of course) and Fliqpy smirked. It was time to play.

To be Continued

So I am FINALLY back, after what practically felt like a year! I'm SO sorry I've been gone for so long, I know I seemed like a one-hit wonder since I wrote two stories and then disappeared. I was just busy with school and focusing on getting good grades and also had other hobbies that I was into and well… yeah. But I have decided that with summer arriving, it is time for me to return to the writing scene and here I am. Hopefully you enjoy this story, I actually finished the first part before my hiatus so I had to update it a bit now that I've come back but I do remember EXACTLY how this story went and hopefully you'll enjoy it too. Like always I take no ownership of anything, all rights belong respectfully to Mondo Media and Happy Tree Friends.