Windfall

Chapter IV

The Super and the Silent Hero

A purple male deer, in his mid-twenties, normally was an early sleeper. Usually asleep by ten in the evening, he was already on his bed, but was kept awake by a novel he was reading. It was about half past eleven when he decided to put away his book and closed his eyes to sleep.

Mime was, as his name suggests, a mime artist. He does not talk. He communicated using hand gestures, which to his frustration, was sometimes not understood. It could have fatal consequences, like when he tried to inform the fire brigade about the fire in Petunia's house, and when, working at a circus, he tried to communicate to Toothy to put only two spoons of gunpowder in the circus cannon. It was even worst when he tried to use the phone, or the speaker in the drive through restaurant, where having a voice is imperative. Yet he could mostly make himself understood to the others, and he, when he had no choice, would write his messages on a piece of paper. He was close friends to most of the other tree friends and he had a steady income from his entertainment jobs.

He lives in a house that was, to outsiders, absurd. From the outside, it was only a small tent. But once they entered this "tent," they would enter a large spacious house without any furniture. As Shifty and Lifty could attest, his sink, his plates, his cups, his tables, even his money and safe, were imaginary. Mime could use his voice to mimic the sounds of everyday items, and pretend they were there. However, it is on another room, hidden from view, where his real room was located. Unlike the empty entrance room, this had real furniture, a real bed, real books, and real appliances. It was in this room that Mime lay on his and closed his eyes to sleep.

"Mime! Are you awake? Mime!"

He was startled to hear loud voices call his name. At first, he thought he was dreaming, or was hearing things, but the clarity of the voices made it plain that it was real. There were three feminine voices, and he knew who they belong to. It was Petunia, Giggles, and Flaky.

Yawning and stretching, he was a bit peeved at having to entertain visitors at this time of night, yet they were his friends. He reasoned that something important must be afoot for them to call at this hour.

"Mime! Mime!" he heard, and he went to his empty room where he saw Giggles, Petunia, and Flaky standing at the door. Any irritation at having been called at this time of hour was quickly gone as he saw three of his closest friends.

With a big smile, he beckoned his friends, with a wave of his arms, to enter. The three girls cautiously went in. Mime "sat" down in an imaginary chair, and signalled the tree girls to sit in his non-existent "couch."

The tree girls were perplexed, but wanting to be polite, they tried to "sit." Failing that, they sat on the bare floor. Petunia, ever resourceful, brought three cushions which they sat on.

"Thanks," Flaky said.

There was a bit of silence and small talk until Petunia decided to proceed to business.

"Mime, we're sorry for calling at this time of hour," Petunia began. "But we need your help."

Mime's face grew serious, and motioned that he would help.

"But first," she continued, "this is a delicate matter. You have to promise to keep this a secret. You must not tell anyone about this, or that we asked your help."

Mime nodded in understanding.

"Do you promise not to tell anyone?" Giggles asked.

Mime nodded.

"And for your own sake, and ours, we can't tell you everything," Petunia added. "We can only tell you what you need to know."

Mime was taken aback by this request, but the deer, seeing in the girls' faces their desperate situation, nodded.

"Very well. We know we can trust you," Giggles said. "We have in our possession something valuable. It is treasure, more valuable than anything you have ever seen in your life. We can't tell you how we got it. But it is ours, and we meant to keep it. Of course, Mime, we would give you an ample reward for this."

Mime signalled that he won't accept any reward, and that he's helping because of his concern for his friends.

"However, it is not safe in our hands right now. Why it is not safe with us we cannot tell you, and please, don't try to find out why. We needed to entrust our treasure to someone who we are sure can be trusted, and we know we could trust you," Petunia said. "Would you keep our treasure for us?"

Mime didn't hesitate as he nodded his head. He was proud that it is to him that the girls went when they were in trouble, and it is a privilege to help them in their hour of need.

Giggles and Petunia gave their thanks, and hugged Mime as a gesture of appreciation. Flaky, who was silent the entire time, merely smiled.

"Thanks. The treasure is in my car," Giggles said. "Would you please help us carry it?"

Mime nodded. He and the three girls then carried from Petunia's car six heavy treasure chests. Once they put it in the floor of Mime's home, the girls opened it for Mime to see.

Mime was more than astonished. All six of the chests contained gold and silver coins, jewelry made from rare gems, diamonds, three green glowing nut shaped gems that he could not identify, and other precious stones. At that moment, he saw more wealth than he had seen during his entire life. He gazed at it for more than a minute before the girls closed and locked the chests.

"These six chests had been divided between Giggles, Flaky, and I," Petunia explained, "with two each. Now you see why you must keep your mouth shut. Please, keep this safe for us."

Mime now was even more flattered than before. Being entrusted with the care of such valuable treasure was an honor.

He gestured that he will do everything in his power to keep the treasure safe for the girls.

"Thank you very much," the girls, confident that they had made the right choice, said before they left.

Two days later…

It was a warm and pleasant afternoon. Giggles had not been at work that day since there were no patients at the hospital. All of them either died, or healed, so Lumpy dismissed Giggles. The moose would call her again when needed. He himself changed jobs. He was now the chief of police of the town. As for Giggles, she decided she would rest. Lumpy hadn't decided which job she would fill, so he gave her the time off.

She was walking alone on the sidewalk that afternoon humming to herself. She had just come from Petunia's home. They operated their lemonade stand in the morning, and in the hot weather that day, raked in their usual huge profits. They closed their lemonade shop at about noon, and ate lunch at Petunia's place. Petunia remained at home to clean her house, while Giggles walked towards Cuddles' house. She would have used her car, but it was such a nice day for a walk.

Her walk was interrupted when Lifty, alive and well, suddenly jumped in front of her from the alley besides the sidewalk she was walking on. She became petrified, and backed away. She was stopped when she bumped a body. Before she could turn around, an arm wrapped itself around her body, pinning her arms to her sides, while her scream was smothered by the palm of Shifty's hand covering her mouth.

Shifty quickly dragged her, kicking and screaming, into the alley from whence they came.

Lifty quickly searched her pockets and took her coins while Shifty talked to Giggles.

"You already know what this is all about," Shifty hissed to Giggles. "So you better cooperate if you know what's good for you."

Giggles nodded.

"Now, will you tell us where the treasure is?" Lifty asked.

She nodded her assent.

Shifty removed his hand from Giggles mouth to permit her to speak.

"HELP!" she screamed for all her worth as soon as her mouth was free. "SOMEBODY, PLEASE, HELP ME!"

The scream was deafening, and so loud that, for a brief moment, left the raccoons stunned. Shifty, however, quickly covered her mouth and stifled another scream.

"So you want to play rough," Shifty snarled. "You're going—"

"Unhand her!" they heard a deep heroic voice from above.

The two raccoons looked up and saw the figure they most dreaded.

Splendid.

The two raccoons immediately ran. Splendid landed on the alley besides a dazed Giggles.

"Are you okay?" asked Splendid.

"Yes. Thanks to you," Giggles replied.

Splendid, seeing a garbage can nearby, took it, shaped it into a ball, and threw it into the fleeing raccoons.

The iron makeshift ball hit their targets, tearing a large hole in the Shifty and Lifty's bodies. Unfortunately, Splendid's throw was a little too strong, so, the iron ball, after hitting and killing Lifty and Shifty, continued on and hit the grocery store nearby, where Russell, Disco Bear, Toothy, Pop, Cub, Nutty, and Flaky were shopping, and where Cro-Marmot was working as a butcher. The grocery store was levelled, and killed everyone in it except Pop, who just in the nick of time went out of the building. His son, however, who was in the grocery cart that Flaky was pushing behind Pop, was not so lucky. The collapse of the building, while sparing Pop, also killed Handy and the Mole, who were outside and were hit by the flying debris of metals and concrete.

Thus, in the space of a few seconds, Splendid killed twelve of the Tree Friends, two by purpose and the rest by accident.

"Cub!" Pop shouted as he began to dig under the rubble of the grocery store in a futile attempt to rescue his son.

Splendid was a bit discomfited for the deaths he caused. He quickly went to the dead bodies of the raccoons, and retrieved Giggles' stolen coins. "I believe this belongs to you!" Splendid shouted.

"Yes. They stole it!" Giggles replied.

Splendid nodded, threw the coins to Giggles, and quickly flew away. The coins, however, were thrown a little too hard. Giggles tried to catch the coins, but the coins were too fast, and it hit her like bullets from a machine gun. One pierced the head and the brain, killing her instantly. Another coin penetrated her chest and was lodged in her heart. Another hit her stomach. She fell and lay on the ground, bleeding, and dead.

Splendid did not know of Giggles' death as he immediately flew away. Remembering the destruction of the grocery store, he was more embarrassed than remorseful, but he quickly shrugged the event off.

Being a superhero, Splendid thought, was not the least bit like the ones seen and read on the comic books. He scoffed at the idea of the superheroes saving the world from bad guys without accidentally killing any innocent civilians.

"You cannot save the world without collateral damage." That was Splendid's philosophy of being a superhero. "You tried to avoid unnecessary casualties if it was possible, but it would be preposterous to imagine you can save the world without killing innocent civilians in the process. It's just like bombing an enemy city in war. Innocent casualties are inevitable."

And in Happy Tree Town, death is temporary, thus removing a large restraint on Splendid's superhero actions. He also, aside from Evil Flippy and Lumpy, became one of the few Tree Friends who has killed someone intentionally. He killed Shifty and Lifty by boiling them alive, and killed the Mole for merely annoying him.

Splendid flew towards the house of the person he was looking for. He was going there in the first place until was diverted by Giggles' scream. He was a bit frustrated that he had to save somebody before he can complete his mission, but such was the life of a superhero. Truth is, he never sought or wished to have superpowers, but fate never gave him a choice. He was what he was and he's not going to change it. Of course, he'd still try to have a normal life under an assumed identity, but it was challenging, to say the least.

He took a paper from his pocket and looked at it. "What was his address again?" he asked himself. He quickly flew to the address written on the paper.

He arrived a few minutes later besides a large house. The house, like most houses in town, was tree shaped, but unlike the others, this one was metallic, with the bolts clearly seen. He knocked on the door.

Sniffles gasped as he saw who was in front of him. Is it someone in a Splendid costume? No. It was the same superhero whom he saw at the comic convention. "Splendid?"

"Yes. The one and only. You are Sniffles, right?"

"Yes! Um, wait a minute!" Sniffles mumbled as he disappeared. A few seconds later, he appeared with a comic book in his hand with Splendid's picture and a pen. "This is Splendid Comic No. 17, my favourite issue! Can you please sign it?"

Splendid rolled his eyes. He clearly did not expect Sniffles to be a fan, and a nerdy one at that. Yes, he remembered Sniffles. He was the same anteater in a Splendid costume that asked his autograph in the wrecked comic con center. Splendid obliged, but killed Sniffles in the process. This time, there were no untoward incidents and no accidental deaths as he signed Sniffles' comic book.

"Oh my god! You actually visited me! Wait till my friends hear about this! Toothy would be so envious!" Sniffles laughed excitedly.

"May I come in?" Splendid asked. He was beginning to ask himself whether it was wise to ask the anteater for help.

"Where are my manners? Yes, come in, come in," Sniffles self-consciously replied.

"This is a nice place," Splendid commented.

"Splendid, um, can I have your picture taken with me?" Sniffles asked.

"Well, sure," Splendid said.

"Wait here," Sniffles excitedly said as he took his camera and mounted it on a tripod. "Can you please stand over there? Thank you. Now, this camera is remote controlled."

After making sure that the camera angle was good, he immediately went to Splendid's side, and using a remote control, snapped several pictures. "Thank you!" he could only say.

"I won't waste your time," Splendid said as soon as the picture taking and other pleasantries ended. "I need your help."

"But why me?" asked Sniffles. "I'm just an ordinary anteater."

"Don't be modest! You're a genius! I heard you built a time machine just because of spilled milk," Splendid complemented, "and built a rocket to the sun! I'll go direct to the point. I want you to help me. Will you do so?"

"It would be an honor!" Splendid reverently replied.

"Good. I have a problem that perhaps you can help with. A few days ago, I learned that three kryptonut gems were stolen from a vault of the Happy Tree museum. There were no witnesses, and no evidence, to tell who did the burglaries."

"Kryptonut? What's that?"

"Oh I forgot! Most of you don't know about it. Well, it's my weakness. I get sick when exposed to it, and it killed me when I accidentally inhaled kryptonut dust. To my knowledge, only Giggles, Petunia, Lifty, and Shifty knew the effect kryptonut has on me. I've been trying to find out where it is."

"And it's a secret, right? You don't want anyone else knowing about it," Sniffles concluded.

"Yes. It's bad enough that those raccoon brothers know about it. Imagine if Splendont knew about it too," Splendid remarked.

"Yes," the anteater replied. He was by now serious, as the gravity of the problem of Splendid became apparent to him. "I can imagine. Don't worry. I won't tell a soul."

"I knew I could rely on you," the superhero remarked. "Look, as you know, I'm a busy flying squirrel. Try as I might, I don't have the time to go around looking for missing kryptonut. That's where you come in!"

"You want me to look the kryptonut for you?" Sniffles asked.

"If that's alright with you," Splendid replied.

"Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! It would be such an honor to help the great Splendid!" Sniffles eagerly said.

"Good. You're task is to try to find the three missing pieces of kryptonut," Splendid said as he gave the anteater a picture of the green glowing gem.

"So that's what it's called!" Sniffles said as he looked at the picture. "And here I was thinking, when I first saw it in the museum three months ago, that it's just some sort of rare diamond in the shape of a nut. It just goes to show how much I don't know."

"Remember, only Shifty, Lifty, Giggles, Petunia, and you know about my weakness. I want it to stay that way," Splendid reminded Sniffles.

"Yes. Maybe Shifty and Lifty stole it. I mean they both have the knowledge, the means, and the motive to steal it," Sniffles suggested.

"I thought it was them too, but I killed them earlier today, just before I came here, when they tried to rob Giggles," the blue superhero stated. "If they had the kryptonut, they would have used it against me. They didn't. No. I don't believe they have it."

"Well, in that case," Sniffles said, "finding it would be a great adventure. I just hope that I don't die in the process, but knowing—" Sniffles was about to say Splendid, but he didn't want to offend his hero, "—the character of this town, I doubt it. But I promise you that I'll find it. What the heck! Even if I die ten times, it'll be an honor to be of service to you! Thanks for giving me the opportunity!"

Splendid hummed in approval. "Here's my card," the superhero said, handing Sniffles his business card. "Call me if you find anything."

The anteater pocketed the card as Splendid flew away. However, Splendid missed the open window by a few inches, and instead, flew through the metallic wall of the house. The impact tore the wall, and sent metal shards, bolts, screws, and nails flying in all directions. Sniffles' head was cut open at the head by one such shard, and he died a few seconds later. Splendid, as always, was ignorant that Sniffles had just died.