Chapter 2
Innuendo
Flippy ran back to the front of the house before he was seen. He had to control himself. The information he had gathered had been too similar to that he might have heard in the war (albeit the slight insanity in the tone). He was close to flipping-out. But he managed to fight the urge to let go and formulated a plan.
Something was wrong with Flaky. The acid must have done something to her before she was reborn. Was that why it took her so long to return? It seemed logical. But Flippy didn't know enough about the acid to make any solid assumptions. The only one who did know about it was Sniffles.
Was what he had seen true? The sliver of hysteria that had begun to creep into the female's words; the way her voice conflicted with itself - and her eyes! The band of shining scarlet that circled her dilated pupils seemed achingly familiar.
Flippy stood before the front door. He wondered if Flaky – or whatever had happened to Flaky – would attack him at first sight. The thought brought a buzzing in his head, but he calmed it. He needed information, evidence, and clues as to what the porcupine was doing. Maybe he would even find what was causing the trouble.
Knocking on the door, the bear waited patiently for Flaky to answer. He had to stand there for three minutes before she did.
She looked normal. Her eyes were pure black, her quills had settled, and she was wearing her signature shy girl smile.
"Oh, um, hi Flippy." Her voice was back to normal. It was as if the Flaky Flippy had seen through the window had just been in his imagination.
He had to keep himself in control. He had to act as if everything was normal.
So Flippy smiled widely and said, "Hi, Flaky. I just came over to apologize for, um, killing you again. I hope it didn't hurt too much?"
A look crossed the porcupine's features; it was gone in the blink of an eye. "No," she replied quietly. "It wasn't so bad. My head hurts a little, but that's about it for now. And I forgive you for it. It's not your fault, Flippy."
Flippy thought her words sounded hollow, but he guessed maybe he was being paranoid.
"Would you like to come in?" Flaky asked, opening the door a little wider and moving aside.
"Sure." Flippy went inside and Flaky closed the door behind him.
Flaky kept her home neat, but it still had that lived-in feeling. Small round wooden tables held magazines and books, and on the kitchen counter there was a plate and cup. The top floor of the house was small with only two rooms – Flaky's bedroom and the living room and kitchen, which merged together.
"Would you like anything to drink? I have some orange juice already made."
"That would be good, thanks," Flippy said. To his far right, beyond the kitchen counter there was a staircase that led to the underground section of Flaky's home. He supposed she kept boxes of her possessions down there.
Flippy sat on the arm of one of Flaky's chairs. How would he get into the girl's room? He had to find out what she was doing with the idol, and how she planned on using it.
The bear took the orange juice and thanked Flaky as the girl sat on the sofa opposite from him. They began to talk. It wasn't about any specific, just normal things. The two of them talked about their favorite things and eventually they began discussing the other Happy Tree Friends and even the weather.
Eventually Flippy began to forget all about what he had seen. How could Flaky talk about killing her friends? She was just too nice. And Flippy didn't want to believe it. He was having fun just talking to Flaky. He didn't want to have to suspect her of anything. Flippy had never actually talked to Flaky directly, one on one. It was nice.
Flaky let out a yawn and stretched out on the couch. "It's getting late," she said.
Flippy sighed and nodded. He didn't want to leave, he was having fun. But it was getting dark. It was best if he got home before the sun was gone. "Yeah. I guess I should leave now."
Flaky took their glasses to the kitchen and Flippy headed for the door. But before he left Flaky said, "Hey, Flippy, could you do me a favor before you go?"
"Sure, what is it?"
Flaky gestured for the bear to follow her, and they went into her room.
Flaky's room was small, about the same size as her kitchen, with the walls painted a nice peach color. The wood was smooth, and the furniture was nice, too. Next to Flaky's bed was a desk. She went over to the desk and took out two pieces of paper.
"I'm writing invitations for Petunia and Giggles. I want to invite them to a camp out. It'll be nice for the three of us." Flippy nodded in silent agreement, but something didn't seem right. Why didn't Flaky invite them herself, in the morning?
He glanced around, and saw that the idol was lying on the floor, partly hidden beneath a pile of papers and pillows at the foot of the bed. Only its head could be seen, though the shadows.
Flippy attempted to be natural. He took a sharp step back away from the bed and pointed to the idol. "Flaky, the idol is in your room!"
Flaky's hunched over form froze. "What idol? Where?"
"It's here, under your bed." Flippy picked it up. The tiny statue's underlining power made his fingers twitch. "Don't worry; I'll get rid of it on my way out before anything bad happens to–"
"No!" Flaky came up from behind Flippy and snatched the idol from his grasp. He looked at her, surprised.
"I'll… do it myself…" Flaky said to him, trying to hold the idol close without looking too awkward. "I mean, I'm already making you deliver my letters. And who's to say that something bad won't happen to you before you get rid of it? I can do it myself. I'll just toss it in the woods from my window. Later."
Flaky set the totem on her desk and continued to write the invites.
Flippy's earlier reservations rose again. And this time, there was no doubt in his mind. Flaky was up to something, whether he liked it or not.
Flaky POV
That was close.
Flaky watched as Flippy walked away from her house. The bear had seen the totem and Flaky hadn't been able to help the defensiveness that rose inside of her when he said he would throw it out. She had chanced upon the idol on her way home from the hospital-tree. She couldn't afford to lose it.
Flaky began to plan, and at the same time she wondered what was happening to her. It was as if she was using one half of her brain, and the other half was being controlled by another Flaky, an mean one, one with plots and schemes developing. And even though Flaky kept telling herself that it wasn't really her, she knew that whatever was trying to take control of her body was indeed another part of her. Another part, but it was still her in truth.
Flaky took the idol now and held it against her chest. The power that emitted from the small statue made her ribs hum, and the feeling was nice.
A plan had already formulated in the porcupine's head. It was such a simple, devious plan, but it would take time to initiate.
And then there was Flippy.
The normal part of Flaky – the part that had been in control during most of his visit – had deeply enjoyed talking with the bear. He was kind when he wasn't flipped-out, and the two of them actually had a lot in common.
But the new, other half of Flaky saw Flippy as a threat. He was smart, one of the smartest people in Happy Tree Valley. Plus, the bear was experienced. Out of anyone, he would be the first to see through any plans she would carry out. It wouldn't be so soon, no, but eventually the retired war veteran would put the pieces together.
So this held the question: Did she go after him first, or save him for last?
XxXxXx
Flaky took the idol downstairs and into the underground basement of her house. The feeling of dirt and wood beneath her toes was a pleasant one. Flaky was always her calmest when below ground level.
The female porcupine walked over to a part of the wall that had been dug out more. It wasn't a very large hole. Flaky would sometimes dig in it when she needed to keep her mind off of things. She enjoyed digging.
Flaky now walked over to the tiny hole. Her eyes – which had been their regular black – had begun to shrink and grow red once again. Her quills rose from her back and became more pointed. Flaky grinned as curved claws grew from her fingers. Good digging claws.
She began to excavate. The process was gradual. Flaky would dig her long claws into the dirt and fling excess dirt out of the hole. The hole grew wider, and after half an hour of digging, Flaky was able to stand in it.
She dug farther into the wall. Eventually, the dirt gave way and turned into something tougher and harder. It was what she had been looking for – clay.
Pulling herself out of the hole, Flaky grabbed a shovel and began to exhume the pale orange clay from the ground. Eventually she had chunks of it sitting around the rim of the hole. When she was done, Flaky put the lumps of clay into a large bucket and took it upstairs. She didn't have enough light downstairs to work with.
Flaky put the clay beside her desk and took a quick shower to get rid of all the dirt she had on her fur. When she was done, she gathered some old newspapers and laid them out on the desk top. Putting on some gloves Flaky grabbed the first clump of clay, pulled off a smaller piece, and began to work.
But it wasn't until she finished the first project that Flaky realized something. What if the idol wouldn't be able to work the way she hoped? She didn't know if it could direct its power off at random. It was a puzzling thought, and Flaky spent a few moments to try and come up with a solution. Eventually she did.
Grinning again, Flaky grabbed the idol and the clay and took them to the kitchen. She looked around. Luckily, Flaky had just recently bought a new blender; a very strong, durable blender.
The porcupine opened the top of the blender and set the statue on the counter. Then she fished a chisel and hammer from a drawer in the living room. She set the pointed tool on the very middle of the totem. She would have to be extremely careful. She couldn't afford any sort of accident.
With short grunt, Flaky slammed the hammer onto the head of the wedge. It was driven into the statue and cracked it in two. Heat hissed through the crack, and Flaky quickly held the broken idol tightly closed. She couldn't allow any sort of power or magic to escape. Carefully, Flaky put the broken idol in the blender and lidded it before the heat could escape. It hazed the plastic frame and shrouded the statue in some sort of red smoke.
Flaky looked at the options. Chop, grate, grind, stir, puree, whip, mix, blend, liquefy, ice crush.
After a moment of consideration, a clawed red finger pushed the 'grind' option. The blender roared to life. The totem inside didn't stand a chance.
After the harsh grinding and roaring sounds had died down, Flaky pressed the red button that red 'off' and lifted the cup of the blender up. The inside looked like pounded crackers, with some kind of red dust sitting at the bottom. Flaky was pleased to find that the powerful vibrations were still coming off of the idol's remains.
Popping off the lid, Flaky quickly upturned the contents of the blender and put it in the clay. She mixed it together with gloved hands. Once the mixing was done, Flaky was left with a mound of reddish-orange clay that tingled under your fingers. She was pleased.
Flaky carried the clay back into her room. Removing a glove, she carefully grabbed a portion of the clay. The feeling of power made her fingers vibrate for a few seconds, but then it died down. Flaky let out another toothy grin and began once again to mold the clay.
"Gonna have some fun. Gonna have some fun…"
