Author's notes: Welcome back to my LAIR! Sorry it took so long. I had lots of tests and had been very busy, what with this year being the graduating year for me in Secondary school, so you mustn't expect consistency with my stories, sorry. But I had fun writing it, that's for sure! And please forgive me for any mistakes. I really rushed through it to get it posted as soon as I can.

Side note, I find the fact that Splendid has a fear of heights stupid. I mean, in one episode he flew to goddamn space ffs, so I definitely won't be including his acrophobia into this story. This 'fact' was only written once in HTF's "Collect Them All" cards anyway, so let's all dismiss that for now, yes? Anyway, thanks for reading this and once again, enjoy~

Disclaimer: Characters belong to MondoMedia's Happy Tree Friends', not mine, yadda yadda yadda. (Forgot to do this in Chapter 1, sorry.)

The squirrel was lost. Everything else in the world has disappeared for the moment. Nothing else was able to be comprehended, not even the dank, deserted streets the two were held in an embrace in, not even the dingy atmosphere it displayed. His eyes was closed and focused on dancing his lips across the other's mouth. The sensation showering along them was satisfying to say the least, with its petal-like texture and flavoursome taste. He was exactly as Splendid thought it would be. He has the coolness of ice, and the hotness of fire all at once. He lost himself in the bliss, inwardly deeming that superheroes do deserve a little prize from time to time, after all.

The hero, remaining oblivious, only felt the external pounding on his chest a while later. It snapped him out of his dream-like state, causing him to stop moving immediately. Splendid breathed out irritably through his nose. Without unlatching himself from the bear's lips, his eyes cracked open at the odd interruption, only to be greeted face-to-face with the bear who was now a strange shade of blue. The male was beating at his chest, trying to push him off.

Oops. Looks like he had forgotten the limitations of a mortal's lung capacity... Again.

He released him from his hold with a sheepish grin. The gorgeous bear with his galactic eyes scrambled backwards immediately until his back hit the remains of the bookshop, coughing and panting. His cheeks had returned to its normal shade of lime, but this time, there was a scarlet tint dusted across his features. His chest expanded and contracted, and Splendid shot him an embarrassed look.

"Look, sorry about that. I couldn't hold myself back," He said in a low, intimate voice that gets all the local females swooning and throwing themselves at his feet. "But you didn't seem like you were complaining." The arrogant squirrel ended his words with a half-cocked smirk for charm, expecting the bear to drop to his feet and confess words of deep and sincere love for the hero. It was perfectly normal for someone like him, especially since it was mating season around this time of the month.

Splendid continued grinning at him expectantly, eyes sparkling. The other stared back with the opposite expression.

"Wh... What is..." He squeaked meekly.

Just watch. He'll be in my arms in no time.

"...Y-You..."

Aaaany moment now...

"...What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

And with that, Splendid's whole world crashed.

It was as if his very soul was pierced by the confused, paranoid look the bear sent his way.

And to make things worse, the other male just had to rub salt to the wound by reaching up and rubbing away at his lips frantically with his sleeves.

The superhero's heart sank, along with the weight of his first rejection dropped onto him like a planet-sized meteorite doused with one million tonnes of kryptonut. He had no idea a creature of such delicate beauty was capable of being that harsh.

"I- Uh- Um-"

For the first time, the overly confident vigilante was at a lost for words, and he thought, really thought about someone else's words this time. Just what was he doing?

Whilst Splendid was left alone to sputter gibberish, the bear lowered his arm and narrowed his eyes in military observance of the stranger. He knew he had seen him before somewhere, but no matter how hard he tried, he just could not place a paw on where he had caught sight of the overly familiar figure from.

As he internally began to delve deeper on the subject, however, his mind helpfully flashed a headline from last month's newspaper. Months of glimpses of gossip, whispers and posters, movies, comics, talk shows and interviews revolved around his head in rapid bullet speed and it all became clear to him then.

As if he finally piece together a puzzle, the sergeant let out a gasp, forgetting about the previous violation of his lips instantaneously. "Wait a minute! You're Splendid, aren't you? That real life superhero?"

A worried expression overcame the blue squirrel's features, replacing his disheartened state.

"Oh gee. I didn't knock you down too hard, did I?" He joked as dark clouds of confusion began to overlap the flustering sparks of his predicament from earlier. It was as if the soldier had completely forgotten the events of their exchange earlier.

As though to confirm, the smaller male looked around uncertainly, eyes laced with doubt. An ashy, burning reek rose up along with the smoke from the ruins of the building. The whole area was empty, and the place stank of death with all the remains of rotting bodies scattered about. It was silent without a single civilian around, save for the crowing of pesky vultures having located a free buffet party.

"...What happened around here?" He frightened Splendid with the question.

Suddenly, the killer's eyes began to widen. He looked from Splendid, then to the chaos surrounding him, and then back to the super-squirrel again. Everything began to click into place. His mouth flew open. A look of comprehension, and eventually horror overcame the bear's features like a smooth spread of emotions.

"Oh crap..."

He scrambled up shakily.

"Not again...!" The stranger's face dropped into his palms, groaning. "No, no, no!" The bear's head shook from left to right in denial. His shoulders began to quake and he paced around in frustration to calm his whole body down, leaving Splendid to hover there and stare at him awkwardly.

He opened his mouth, then thought against it as he shut them again. Splendid's head was extremely blank at the moment as he tried to process what the hell was going on. What has gotten into him? Had he done something wrong to upset him again?

At that moment, however, the dim sounds of sirens blared from a distance. The two whipped up in the direction of the noise and saw at least five little black and white dots along the road becoming increasingly larger. Police cars.

Splendid saw the criminal tense in the corner of his eyes, and he immediately understood that he needed to get them out of there now before they both land in trouble. In the eyes of assumable policemen, he had practically became an accomplice the moment he let this murderer walk away scot free. Being a masked vigilante was illegal enough already, and he didn't want to add any more reasons into the list of reasons the police wanted to arrest him. It was not exactly role model material for Happy Tree town, per say.

The sergeant cried out as he suddenly felt a pair of steel arms scoop him up as if he was air, and having him in a bridal position no less. His flank collided against a hard chest in the process, and without any warning whatsoever, he felt his feet leave the ground. In just half a second, the beat of wind flew past his face and the darting currents of air made his fur dance and jive violently. He looked down and screamed some more when he saw that the abandoned building they were in moments ago was now a mere speckle in the distance.

"I'm-I'm flying... I'm flying!" He squealed, his face morphing into one of horrification. He clutched at the furs on his face for any amount of leverage. The dazzling array of blue that sped past his vision awakened a terrible reminder. His breathing hitched as memories of flying F16s and shooting missiles at enemy fighter jets during the war surfaced in the back of his mind. The paranoia, the fear, the blood thirst. It was still there and they were all too real. An eye twitched.

Splendid felt a pressure squeeze around his neck and it took him a while to realize that it was caused by the other male's arms. A quick glimpse told him that the bear had his eyes clenched tightly shut. He was violently shaking and appearing to be trying his utmost to calm himself. His arms must have instinctively flown up to wrap themselves around the hero. Splendid felt both his heart and cheeks warm slightly at the sight, reveling in the little ball of warmness he had gathered in his arms. Taking pity on the poor bear, he slowed down his speed.

The winds granted mercy on his green fur as they were dropped to a serene combination of gravity and breeze once again. Feeling the calm, the veteran ceased his yells and cracked his eyes open slowly. What greeted him was a once-in-a-lifetime sight to behold, and he found himself letting out a breath of relief and eventually, splendor.

The soldier watched, star-struck, as the panoramic view of the Earth's canvas filled his vision with a rare sort of wonder. The blessings of the Sun far away was the main director of the whole scenery as the skies, along with their ivory rich clouds, were painted with the a spirit of candescence. For once, he allowed himself to be lost to the feeling of utter peace. The horrid recollections became paltry nightmares of the past, and he felt his breathing becoming steady as the evil side of him was soothed and put back to sleep.

Splendid, taking one long glance at those sparking inspiration in his celestial eyes, and the slight parting of his gorgeous mouth, found himself going giddy all over again. It was like those cheesy Happywood movies that he was sometimes portrayed in, but a million times better.

Splendid bit his lip. The true price of being deeply infatuated with the nameless sergeant finally dawned on him for the first time. This is wrong, a voice of reason screeched at the back of his head. This is bad. You have a chance now. Turn back! Forget about him! Throw him to the dogs!

Of course, Splendid was not known for his intelligence, for he forced the voice down and focused on speeding up a little towards somewhere. He did not really have a destination in mind, he just needed to drop the bear off somewhere where it was safe from the cops. After all, the singed parts of the soldier's uniform coupled with the slight trickle of Disco's blood on both their bodies wasn't really telling a good story to the public. As he was musing, the arm around his neck loosened slightly, but was still there nonetheless, clutching. The two cruised in tranquil silence throughout the flight.

By the time they had arrived there, the skies were already covered with a blanket of red. The streets of the area was rather deserted, as everyone was most likely locked up in the safety of their homes from the monsters of the approaching night. He realized with a sense of irony that one of the 'monsters' they were hiding from was the guy in his arms at the moment. And they call him the guardian of this town. He would have laughed, but it was inappropriate, so he shut up. At least he wasn't a walking ball of irony like the soldier was, right?

This was the perfect setting for a suspected convict to run off to wherever the hell he needs to go, just as the hero intended, as was his splendidness. He settled the other down gently onto the floor at the back of an alleyway.

"Thank you," The other male muttered, his face still pink from the breathlessness he had experienced due to him being whisked into mid-air so suddenly.

"No problem at all," Splendid replied proudly, though he was taken aback from his rather polite behavior. Again, something's changed about the bear. He had became sweet and friendly all of a sudden, opposite from the snappy and grumpy attitude he displayed earlier. Was he bipolar, having mood swings, or both?

The other surveyed him, eyes zipping up and down at his form, causing Splendid to feel self-conscious all of a sudden. He shifted uncomfortably underneath the bear's dagger-like scrutinization.

When he was finished observing, his eyes landed on Splendid's very own. They didn't appear as suspicious as just now anymore, but nonetheless, his tone was slightly accusatory. "Why did you do that?" He inquired.

Huh? "Do what?" He asked obliviously, cocking his head to a side.

"Y-You know..." His jabbing gaze faltered as a blush erupted across the sergeant's face. The sergeant immediately looked away, but Splendid caught it. He gaped. Yup, this guy was definitely bipolar. He knew what he was talking about, but to be honest, had no idea how to answer him. He didn't even know why he kissed him himself.

"I don't know." He admitted truthfully. The other still didn't look up. "I guess I was too impulsive, huh?"

"I don't even know you, and vice versa!" He cried, throwing his head up.

"But we can get to know each other, yes?" He cocked his eyebrows suggestively, only to groan internally later. He knew he was pushing the line between charming and creepy here but he was unable to keep his goof from showing.

The shorter male paused once more, but quickly regathered his wits, laughing nervously. "Look, I don't know what the hell I was doing when we first met, but that didn't count, whatever the hell I did!"

"What do you mean it didn't count? What about the Eter-"

"Forget it!" He pleaded, desperation clear in his eyes. "You shouldn't even be talking to me. I'm a murderer, a danger to society. Just take me to the police already, I can't stand this!"

Splendid shot him a weird look. "What the hell? Just minutes ago, you were blasting people up into smithereens without a single thought, and now you're telling me you feel guilty?" He accused.

A look of apprehension circled in the other's eyes. A shadow casted over his face as dark eyes refused to meet the squirrel's. "I'm a disgrace..." He mumbled.

Splendid's hard eyes softened. Whilst he didn't quite understand the situation, he was unable to help but pity the bear's ashamed expression. In a way, he agreed with him. He should be in prison right now for what he did, but Splendid just couldn't bring himself to bring him in. This was so wrong, being able to do normal things with this criminal he had only met just now, when he should be socking his face in and dragging him to jail. But how can he do that to someone who makes his heart race with just a glance, and cause his knees to quake with just a whiff of his scent?

Deciding to give the bear some space to himself, he turned away.

"I won't hand you over to the police." He affirmed with an air of finality. The civilian watched him in surprise. Splendid shot back a reassuring grin from behind his shoulders. He had a clear goal set determinedly in his mind, a goal that will be sure to cheer the bear up. They will meet again, that was for sure. The hero won't let him down that easily! He will find that jewel, and then... And then...

His head started doing backflips at the thought.

"Return home for now. Please, please don't do anything stupid, like vandalizing, or mass killing, or throwing your grenades everywhere you please... In fact, just don't do anything that will get you into trouble. But if you do have to, I will come flying back as fast as I can. And I will pick up the scraps you leave behind," The handsome soldier's eyes widened with the declaration. The masked vigilante beamed with a sincere twinkle in his gaze. "We've got an Eternal Jewel to locate after all. Can't have you rotting behind a prison cell, can I?"

The bear appeared too stunned by this... Confession of sorts, if that was what it was, to even form a proper reply. Splendid had no idea what was in the other's head at the moment, but he summoned up his courage to throw out the words he had to say before he even had a chance to take them back.

"I won't be backing down from your challenge that easily, you'll see the jewel in my hands in no time! You can trust me. I will do anything for you. Anything. So don't worry!"

And just like that, he took off into the night, leaving behind a distraught, but mostly curious soldier. He stared wordlessly after the retreating hero for a few moments, before shaking his head. Shakily, he calmed his nerves, and began making his way back home.

Had he taken a brief peek behind at the brick walls of the alley just now, he would have spotted a shadow of his own looking strangely out of shape. The insentient entity moved with a mind of its own, unheeding of its master's movements unlike the rest of the shadows casted in the dark alleyway. Before Flippy could even notice, it became slave to him once more like any obedient shadow would. It did not move an inch out of place for the rest of the day.

'I will do anything for you. Anything.'

Splendid screamed out loud, pulling his fur mid-air. He wanted to curl up into a ball and die, and would probably have done so if he wasn't kilometers away from the ground right now. What was he thinking? That totally sounded like a cheap line from a cheesy low-tier romance movie. It's over. That soldier probably thinks he's a loser now.

He sighed. Despite the awkwardness of the sentence, he really did mean his words though. He wondered if the soldier believed him.

The hero made his way over to the beach to wash off the crusted blood from the poor sap. As he was scrubbing off the brown layers, he began to muse. Years of experience with civilian deaths have desensitized the savior of this town enough that he would not spare a single thought for bloodshed. This was a really clumsy town, their inhabitants being very prone to accidents. Though of course, it was his job at the end of the day to minimize these deaths.

He held no sorrow for the fall of his friend and acquaintance Toothy and Disco. No matter what, they will always come back good as new again, as such was the mysterious works of magic in the queer town of Happy Tree. From the brutal way in which they'd been murdered, Splendid determined that it'd probably take some weeks for them to come back. Over the past few years, ever since he had moved to this town, Splendid noticed that the more messed up a body is after death, the longer time it will take for it to regenerate. In some way it reminded him of his needleworks. The more a doll gets torn and ragged, the more time he needed to stitch the pieces back together again. Splendid was one of the rare few that have experienced death only once or twice. To this day, the experience with the kryptonut exposure still sent shivers going up and down his spine. He did not want to go through that again.

Only the twins Lifty and Shifty knew about this of course, though Splendid had made sure to keep their mouths shut. The threat of setting the stolen goods and items in their residence on fire with his laser beams was enough to do it, it seems, but what about the soldier? What if he finds out? If he were to locate and obtain the Eternal Jewel before he does, he will have no choice but to tell him his weakness to the glowing nut. He would be dead meat, forced to leave the town to avoid the threat of death.

He shook his head. There was no way he'd give him that easy of a challenge. Splendid would just have to get to the Eternal Jewel before he does. After all, he has a bigger advantage over the bear. With great research, there was no way he'd beat him, for where there's a will, there will always be a way.

Wiping the last trace of blood from his matted fur, he shook off excess water from his body and sped towards a place he had in mind: The library.

He ended up spending the rest of the night there.

Splendid let loose a yawn, smacking his lips as his eyes struggled to stay open. A large hoard of books was spread out before him, scattered here and there like trash in a dumpsite. Most of them were history books on the ancient artifacts found in temples all over the world. So far, the closest information he had found on this unknown 'Eternal Jewel' was in the book 'The Buddhist Curse'. The red, dusty and decomposing book only contained a brief mention of the item, something about how it was "A legendary artifact that must never be in the wrong hands" or something like that. Splendid could only groan in frustration. That was not helpful at all, he just needed to know the whereabouts of this jewel. Still, he bookmarked the page. He does so happen to know a wise Buddhist monk that may know more about the ancient artifacts located in temples. Splendid, making up his mind, would make the phone call to the monkey later when he returns home. Maybe he'd be able to help.

He blinked the sleep away from his eyes. He was just about to move on to the next book until Mole, the new librarian, shooed him out. Apparently it was closing time in the wee hours of 3AM. He sighed and floated off, but not before bringing that old book along with him. It could come in handy in the future, the optimist thought. There was still hope, the trip to the library wasn't all in vain.

As Splendid made his way back, an odd feeling rang at the back of his head like a buzzard. He felt like he's forgotten something... And that he was about to find out what that something was soon enough. He licked his dried lips nervously and subconsciously flew faster.

He was picking up pace, accelerating at a godly speed as the need to check on his house grew to the size of an elephant. His mind echoed flashbacks of the occurrences of yesterday, and he dug and dug, searching for the designated memory. However, he was unable to locate it in time as when the searching came to a complete stop, so did the superhero. He paused so sharply the gathered speed from earlier sent him sprawling through the air. He quickly balanced himself up and looked at the empty space before him, where his Acorn Fortress was supposed to be.

The ground where the residence once stood tall and proud was but littered pathetically with a steep heap of black ash. He was able to catch the pungent smell of smoke rising out from the ashes with his super scent, and as it entered his lungs, it caused a queasy feeling filling the whole of the vigilante's abdomen. The entire atmosphere was palpable, as when Splendid's mind eventually did to process the scene before him, his eyes flared dangerously. The howl of anguish that followed after echoed throughout the town.

And on that day, Splendid learnt a valuable lesson: Never leave your vacuum cleaner running when leaving off to work.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'll try to make the next one more interesting, since I've already got the plot running in my head. So stay tuned! :D