NOTE: This is my very first Iggy Arbuckle fic. I've only seen the few episodes that used to be on the National Geographic website. Recently, I ordered the first 2 DVDs off of Amazon and they'll arrive in the mail in about a week or two. Since I'm fairly new to the cartoon, I've gotten help reading the Iggy Arbuckle wiki and Tvtropes to help me get a better feel for the characters since watching episodes on Youtube costs money. I may or may not put this fanfic on a long hiatus because I need to actually watch some episodes to get a feel for the characters better. Anyway, read and review. Enjoy!

The hot sun beat down on the grassy landscape of the Kookamunga in the midst of a burning summer. Iggy and Jiggers sat inside of Zoop's cafe and the air conditioner was going full blast. It was a usual day and they were expecting Spiff was about to enter the door any second. It was his usual routine.

Zoop groaned to herself, "Pretty soon, you-know-who will be coming in with that usual attitude of his."

Iggy turned to Zoop, "Who, Catfish Stu?"

Zoop rolled her soft blue eyes, "You know exactly who I mean, Iggy."

Jiggers raised an eyebrow, "What's wrong with Spiff? He's just another customer. You don't have to chit chat with him if you don't want to."

Zoop groaned and rubbed the bridge of her nose, "Maybe it's just his aura...Stu may be a money-grubbing jerk but at least he's normally in a good mood."

About half an hour passed and no sign of Spiff. Jiggers turned his attention to a nearby calendar on the wall with crossed out days, "Hey um...isn't today July 7th?"

Iggy blinked, "Yes...it is."

Jiggers sighed and hung his head, "Isn't today...Spiff's annual day off?"

Zoop nodded, "Jiggers is right, Spiff always takes a break from cleaning trash on July 7th. I guess the date means something personal to him. I asked him about July 7th the other day and all he did was grumble."

Iggy grinned as he whipped a magnifying glass out of his pocket, "Well, it looks like it's up to detective Iggy to crack this case."

Jiggers raised an eyebrow, "Do you always keep that magnifying glass on you?"

Iggy shrugged, "You never know when you'll find a rare specimen."

Zoop rolled her eyes, "To be honest, I think its best we leave Spiff alone. When he wants his alone time, give him his alone time. He gets extra cranky when he doesn't have time to recharge."

Iggy turned to Zoop, "Would you happen to know why Spiff acts like this on July 7th?"

Zoop shook her head, "I have no idea. Spiff is very private and doesn't share a lot of personal information with anyone. There's a new guy around here who claims that he knows Spiff but he looks kind of mangy and transient so he could be delusional. He's a coyote and introduced himself to me the other day as Scrap. Said he used to work as a mechanic. His aura felt very gray and depressing, like a rainy day. When he came in, Spiff came in not long after, gave him a death glare and walked out of the cafe without a word."

"Spiff can't stand to be in the same room as this guy?" Jiggers asked.

Zoop nodded, "Spiff has always hated the homeless, mainly cause they leave beer bottles all over the place but the way Spiff glared at him told me he had something personal against him."

Iggy turned to Zoop, "Do you know where this Scrap lives?"

"He said he lives in a motor home just a little bit north of here." Zoop repiled, "I'm not sure if he's a credible source of information or not. Like I said, I just met him last week."

Iggy nodded, "Thanks for telling us, Zoop. But why don't you want to talk with him yourself?"

Zoop groaned and rested her head on the counter, "Because I have my shift and besides, I don't want to create more bad karma between Spiff and I by talking with this so-called friend of his."

Jiggers raised an eyebrow, "What makes you think Spiff would find out?"

"Spiff may have a temper but he's very smart and observant. He could also smell coyote on me if I talked with Scrap about him." Zoop replied, "Poor Scrap, he looked so down on his luck. I would've given him a hug if he wasn't so covered in mange."

"Do you want us to talk to Scrap?" Iggy asked, raising an eyebrow.

Zoop sighed softly, "Do whatever you feel like with Scrap. Just leave me out of this. It's none of my business if Spiff has an old nemesis or friend to deal with. For once, I'd like to have a little peace and quiet around this store."

Iggy nodded, "All right, Zoop. We'll talk to you later. Thanks for the info."

The pig and beaver waved goodbye to Zoop as they left her store.

Meanwhile, Spiff was in his den, dusting off the shelves of a bookcase. He reached his paw up and pulled a large white binder with silver cursive letters on the front that said "Wedding Photos". Breathing a deep sigh, the skunk opened up the book and began flipping through pages. Each page contained a few photos of him and his wife Kassie. Eventually, he came across a funny wedding picture of him in drag in the wedding dress and his beautiful wife Kassie in a tuxedo. Kassie was a tall, attractive skunk with stunning green eyes and a slender build.

Spiff couldn't help but smile at the memories as his eyes misted over with bittersweet tears, "Kassie..."

The skunk turned the page and saw a manila folder in the middle of the wedding album labelled "Baby Carl". Upon turning the page, he once again stared at the empty, pictureless section of the album.

Tears trailed down Spiff's face as a sob escaped his throat. Angrily, he used his big bushy tail to whip the tears from his eyes, "It can't be true because the two of you are still here with me...Kassie, Carl..."

The skunk turned and faced a skunk marionette and an apple core sitting in a couch. Spiff got up and sat on the down on the couch, putting his arm around the puppet and hugging her close, "The obituary is a lie, Kassie. We can enjoy our time together as a family. Just you, me, and our son Carl. We'll make this our best anniversary yet, I promise. First, we'll go to the hot springs at the Brain Freeze and stay at the Kookamunga lodge. Get up early for the bed and breakfast buffet and relax in the comfort of our room, just like we do every year."

The puppet didn't respond back, nothing but dead silence. Spiff hugged her close and nuzzled her, giving her a kiss on the cheek, "Let's get ready, okay?"

Meanwhile, Iggy and Jiggers stood outside a motor home when the beaver spoke up, "You sure this is the right place?"

Iggy shrugged, "There are many motor homes here. It could be any one of them. Zoop doesn't know exactly what his motor home looks like."

The pig knocked on the door of the motor home and about 8 seconds passed before someone opened it. Standing before the pig and beaver was an emaciated-looking male coyote. He stood about average height and was wearing a sleeveless open blue padded vest, fingerless black gloves and a raggedy olive green scarf around his neck. Chunks of fur was missing in places and other parts of fur was matted. He had yellow-gold irises and the whites of his eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep and crying. His long snout was streaked with visible tear tracks and the stench of musky coyote sweat just oozed from him. He was just about the saddest, most pathetic creature the pig rangers laid eyes upon.

Iggy blinked a couple times, "Is your name Scrap?"

The coyote smiled sadly at the pig through a half-lidded gaze and nodded, "Yeah...that's me. So, what are you here about?"

"We'd like to talk about Spiff." Jiggers replied, holding his nose from the canine's musky odor.

Scrap blinked a few times and nodded, "In that case, come on in. I'll tell you everything I know."

And so, Iggy and Jiggers followed Scrap into his motor home. Little did they know, they were in for quite the sob story.

Meanwhile, Spiff was bathing in the hot springs of the Brain Freeze with the skunk marionette. He took a deep breath of the hot steam as he relaxed in the warm water. By his side, sat a gold-plated heart shaped locket in the snow. He opened it up and looked at the picture of him and his wife, Kassie inside, "I'll never let you go...ever..."

The skunk closed the locket and set it down, inching closer to the puppet submerged partway in the hot springs, "So, how does it feel, Kassie? Do you like that? The natural minerals of these springs are very therapeutic. Well, that's what Zoop says anyway."

There was dead silence as Spiff put his arm around the puppet, "I know my job is hard, honey but the world is just filled with litterbugs. They won't stop no matter what. If it were up to me, litterbugs would get life in prison, especially serial litterers."

More silence. A blush formed on Spiff's cheeks as he rubbed the marionette's back, "Yeah, I love you too."

Spiff pulled the puppet into his arms and nuzzled into her chest, a few tears escaping his eyes and darkening her wooden chest, "You're the best wife I could ever ask for, Kass...I...I miss you..."

Squeezing his eyes shut against the burning sting of tears, Spiff forced a sad smile, "As long as you're still alive...promise that you'll never leave me..."

Spiff felt a single tear winding its way down his face, dripping into the water of the snowy hot springs as he held his puppet-wife close, "Kassie...you mean so much to me. I...I love you...please don't go..."