Disclaimer: I don't own Happy Tree Friends. I'm not quite sure who does, but still.
AN: Wow, I have a lot of expectations to live up to. By the way, I like the idea that people don't die in Happy Tree Town so Flippy will be back in a few chapters. But it would be no fun if it was that easy would it?
Chapter 2: Nutty's Interview.
The igloo swirled with the usual cold wind as Giggles stepped into it, once again Cro-Marmot had managed to beat her there. She sighed, she would never work out how that caveman did that, he always seemed to get everywhere before everyone. She sighed, did it really matter how this all worked?
"I suppose if it didn't I wouldn't be here." She realised she had just spoken aloud and blushed slightly, the caveman however simply remained smiling down at her. She smiled again and sat down opposite him, "Have you found anything else?" No reply, she wasn't surprised, recently it seemed as though Cro had been distracted, he had been quieter than usual and always seemed lost in thought. If he'd found something though he would have told her, "Well, shouldn't we follow that lead we got," She looked up, "Okay, okay, I'll leave the detective lines to you." Another pause, she laughed slightly before standing and heading for the door, "It's time to crack our little squirrel friend," She looked at the smiling marmot, "Well I thought that was quite a good line."
... ...
Giggles parked the ice-cream truck on the edge of the garden and got out, there wasn't really a road system, roads just appeared, seemed to melt away and therefore didn't really matter anyway so they just sort of got ignored. She looked around to see the grossly over-colourful house infront of her, candy stuck to the walls, the roof; the garden was filled with bulging patches of earth where the house owner had tried to grow candy trees. She recoiled slightly at the sight of it.
"Hello." She jumped slightly, whirling round to see Cuddles standing behind her.
"What are you doing here?" She asked, relieved to see a friend.
"Isn't it obvious," He pointed to an old fashioned brown hat perched on his head, "I thought I'd help out with the detecting." He smiled, and Giggles frowned slightly again, Cuddles was a good friend but... He was sort of goofy... and he freaked out at the sight of blood... and there was that thing with the rice pudding and the soccer ball. She turned to look at Cro, who was staring up at her from the truck.
"What do you think?" She waited, no response, "Come on, aren't you meant to be the detective here?" More silence, "Well..." She noticed something, Cro-Marmot was glaring slightly; it always annoyed him when he found something he couldn't do. He was stuck.
... ...
The green squirrel stared into his wardrobe, hmm... was a pink lollipop the right colour for him? He shrugged, it didn't matter, they all looked better after a few spoonfuls of wonderful, wonderful sugar. On that note...
The door rang and Nutty pricked up his ears. It wasn't usual to get visitors so early... or was it late? He giggled, his world was upside down... Or was he the one the wrong way up? He laughed again, fidgeting slightly, he crossed to his door and threw it open.
"Good morning, hehe, can I help you? Hehehe." He giggled slightly, "Can you help me? Spare some candy?" He laughed still more.
On the doorstep Giggles recoiled again, this guy was as nuts as his name implied. She watched as his eyes whirled up in his head, if this was what candy overload did to you she was glad they'd rationed the stuff. The green squirrel squirmed slightly, twisting round and tripping over his feet as he stepped back from the door to let them enter, "You'll look sweet upon the street of a Popsicle built for two." He rolled over as Giggles stepped carefully over him, treating him to a look of disgust that didn't quite reach his sugar addled brain.
"So I expect you'll be staying for tea." He smiled, completely ignorant to the fact that it was very early in the morning, "I'm sorry it's late, life travels slowly for everyone else." He giggled some more, whirling into a tornado and away into the kitchen.
Giggles wandered into the dining room, surprised to see that Cro-Marmot was already there... he was fast. She smiled slightly, moving to sit next to him. Much to the obvious annoyance of Cuddles who had followed her in. He slumped angrily into a small armchair next to him, and stood up even more angrily on discovering the chair was stuffed with hard, spiky candy.
Nutty whirled back out of the kitchen, smiling manically as he drew up a tray.
"Sugar anyone?" He stopped for a second as if expecting an answer, his eyes whirring crazily as he laughed harder than Giggles would have thought possible, "Ten lumps or twelve."
Giggles flinched away from the mad squirrel watching with distaste as the animal's eyes rolled in different directions, she nudged closer to Cro; causing an angry glare from Cuddles.
"Um... No thanks, I'll just have cream please."
Nutty span backwards, laughing, "Oh... I'm sorry I seem to have run out of cream," He looked down again, neither of his eyes focusing properly on the tray, "And tea... Heheheheh, but does anyone want sugar?" He laughed again, louder than before, flipping a grain of sugar into his mouth.
Giggles smiled as cheerfully as she could, "Well actually Nutty we came to ask you something..."
"Well, no time like the present... Are you sure you wouldn't like any candy, everyone likes candy?" He paused for a second, giggling slightly, "Ah well all the more for me." So saying he tipped his head backwards and emptied a bowl of candies into his mouth. Laughing madly he turned to the three detectives.
"We just wanted to know what you were doing on the night of..." Giggles checked her watch, "Yesterday."
"Yesterday huh, hehehehe." Nutty threw himself onto another chair, ripping candy out of the seams and devouring it, "yeah, yesterday's interesting, hehe, but what's in it for me?"
"We don't have times to play games with a madman," Cuddles had adopted his best tough-guy voice, "Just tell us what we need to know," He cast a inquiring look at Giggles, but she was distracted by the maniacal squirrel and had obviously not noticed his attempts to impress.
Nutty had also failed to appreciate the drama, either that or he was too crazy to care, he rocked backwards and forwards in his chair, cackling, "No, no, no... You see my memories not so good without candy. I need it, need it." He was shaking, "Need it, come on buddy," He fell to his knees, shaking still, "Help me out." He crawled forwards and clutched at Giggles, who was slightly disturbed by this sudden change of personality, "Come on lady, you can spare a candy, come on, I need it." He was yelling now, scrabbling at the floor.
"Okay, okay." Cuddles drew a brightly wrapped sweet from somewhere and tossed it to the desperate squirrel, "What do you know?"
Nutty drew himself up to his feet shakily, "T-thanks buddy," He raised the sweet gingerly and raised it too his mouth, "I need this, thanks so mu-" He broke into laughter, giggling madly.
Cuddles groaned, turning to the stern Cro-Marmot and shrugging, "He's not cracking."
Cuddles could not have been more wrong, Nutty staggered forwards, laughing manically, gasping for breath in between outbursts of hysteria. He grasped at Giggles, eyes bulging, whirling desperately in his sockets. He wobbled, falling to his knees and shaking violently.
Cuddles smiled lightly, "Okay Nutty you've had your joke, now if you could just tell us..." He stopped seeing the squirrel twist pitifully on the ground, "Come on Nutty," He picked up another candy and held it to Nutty's eyes, "Just stop, I've got another candy."
Nutty was shivering now, staring up as best he could at the rabbit, his laughter echoing off the walls, "Heheheheheh, he-lp," He clutched his sides and rolled onto his back, his mouth now foaming, still gasping for air. His breath were getting harder now, his shivering body wracked with spasms.
"Oh God," Cuddles had retreated into the corner, his eyes tightly shut, trying to block out the echoing laugh, "Oh God, no, this isn't happening... This can't be happening." His voice faded into muttering, once again overpowered by the echoing laughter.
Nutty's shaking was worse now, his breath was running out and his laughter becoming weaker. Giggles had stood to her feet and was trying to find something to help him, medicine, candy, anything. Cro-Marmot had remained completely unmoved, staring at Nutty with a kind of stern concern. Like he knew there was nothing he could do but wished there was. For a second Giggles felt a pang of annoyance, Cro was a genius but he could be so heartless.
Then the gasping laughter reminded her of the present, she turned desperately to the poor squirrel, gripping his hand and trying to console him. But it did no good, wherever Nutty was now he couldn't hear her, his eyes rolled up in his head, staring at the inside of his head. A dash of red appeared in the foam at his mouth and the laughter died into a gurgle. Giggles wiped a tear from her eyes and stood, watching as the foam in Nutty's mouth turned slowly red.
It was over, Nutty was gone. She looked over at Cro for a second and knew something from his shadowed, stern face.
Murder.
Moral: Laughter is the best medicine.