A week later…

Flaky's usually tidy house looked like a disaster zone. Smoke was coming from the kitchen, furniture was lying overturned in the living room, and random accessories were tossed haphazardly around her empty jewelry box on her bedroom floor. Flaky herself was running about in a state of panic. Had Cuddles hosted a surprise party gone wrong? No. Did Lifty and Shifty finally decide to ransack her house in their unending search for valuables? No. The cause of all the chaos and Flaky's distress was a simple phone call. Flippy had asked her out to dinner.

One hour ago…

Flaky smiled nervously as she added the final ingredient for her cake into a large white bowl and proceeded to mix the batter. Humming softly to herself, she cautiously poured the mixture into a small round tin and carefully put it in the oven, various warnings about burns and the dangers of ovens crossing her mind. With a frown, the red porcupine noticed a small spill on the floor and was about to clean it up when the phone in the living room began to ring. She looked at it hesitantly before picking it up, hoping that it wasn't another prank call from Cuddles.

"H-hello?" There was no response aside from the sound of someone breathing at the other end. "C-Cuddles, if this i-is another o-one of your d-dumb pranks, I'm n-not falling for it this t-time! G-goodbye!" Feeling a little unnerved, she was about to hang up when a familiar voice quickly shouted.

"Flaky, wait! It's me, Flippy!"

"O-oh, F-Flippy." She felt her heartbeat quicken and while she no longer felt afraid, her nervousness had doubled. The two of them had been growing much closer lately and were now something more than friends, but neither of them had yet to say the three words that would mean the most. "H-h-how are y-you d-doing?" Curse my nervous stuttering!

"I'm doing pretty well, thanks for asking. How about you?"

"I-I'm g-good. W-was there something y-you wanted to t-talk about?" There was a long moment of silence that made Flaky wonder if Flippy had hung up. "Flippy?"

"Would-you-like-to-go-out-to-dinner-with-me?" He blurted rapidly.

"O-oh…" She paused in stunned silence. Flaky couldn't see, but on the other side of the line Flippy was face-palming while his evil side laughed. Smooth. Real smooth, soldier.

"F-Flaky?" Flippy asked nervously, hoping that his request wouldn't be shot down.

To both of their surprise, Flaky responded in a clear, if dreamy, voice "I would love to go to dinner with you."

Flippy, relieved, gave her the details. "I'll come pick you up at about 6 o'clock. We'll be going to Petunia's restaurant."

Flaky, still in a dream-like daze, simply agreed and stood there for a moment before realizing that she needed to get ready. She quickly ran towards the stairs and up to her bedroom. To her dismay, she realized that she was still holding the phone and had knocked over the table that it had been resting on. She bit her lip while she thought and settled for setting the phone down on her sofa. I'll pick that up later.

The first thing she decided to do was to try and wash all of the flakes out of her quills. One long, intense shower later, she still found herself brushing out a few bits of dandruff. This'll have to do, she thought as she glanced at the clock and hurriedly dried off, leaving behind a very shredded towel. Now she had to pick something to wear.

Clothes flew out of her closet and began landing chaotically throughout her bedroom. Too big, too small, too plain, too flashy… why did I ever buy this?… too dressy, too casual…. She despaired at finding anything right and imagined the disappointment on Flippy's face as he broke up with her. In her desperation, she upended her jewelry box and frantically rummaged through its contents in a manner similar to Lifty and Shifty. Too girly, too silky, too long, too Giggles… her internal mantra continued. Finally she settled on a simple red bow that her grandmother had given her for her birthday. Pleased that she had finally made a choice, she glanced once more at the clock and saw that she still had ten minutes to spare. She hummed happily as she made her way downstairs when a loud beeping sounded. Hmm? The smoke detector? Oh no, my cake!

Horrified, she tore through the living room, stumbling over a sofa and a coffee table, and quickly yanked open the oven. Black smoke billowed out, making the porcupine cough and step backwards and slip on a tiny puddle of spilled batter. She frantically tried to grab onto something and ended up overturning her mixing bowl which landed on her head. Could this get any worse? The doorbell rang. I had to ask.

With a sigh, Flaky wiped the worst of the batter out of her quills, opened a window, and blasted her charred cake with a fire extinguisher before answering her door.

Outside, Flippy stood wearing his usual army attire along with a little green bowtie that he was fidgeting with. A single rose, minus the thorns, was twirling in his paws. His eyes widened slightly upon seeing her. "Hey Flaky, you look really nice. I love the bow." He reached forward and gently brushed some cake batter off of her cheek. "Were you busy doing something?"

"N-no no, n-nothing at all!" she said quickly shutting the door so that Flippy wouldn't see the mess inside. "J-just a little baking!" Rats, now what if he asks about the cake? To her relief, he just gave her one of his dazzling smiles. She admired his rounded buck teeth and thought about how much cuter he looked with them than his evil side's fangs.

"Do I have something in my teeth?" the green bear asked self-consciously.

She shook her head. "Y-you look amazing." As they got into his jeep, she noticed a little box wrapped in yellow paper with a red bow. "W-what's that?" she asked curiously.

"Oh, just a little surprise for you," he replied with a wink. With that, the two of them headed off.

Toothy greeted the couple at the front doors of the restaurant with a wide, buck-toothed grin. "Welcome to the grand re-opening of Petunia's! I'm glad that you two could make it. We've got a table reserved over there just for the two of you," he said, pointing over to the afore mentioned table.

Flippy nodded his thanks and they began to head over.

"Psst! Flaky!"

She turned to see Toothy holding something and she walked over.

"Take this. Y'know, just in case." He passed her a small pamphlet titled In Case of Fliqpy Attack.

She frowned and pointed at the name "Fliqpy." "How do you even pronounce that?"

The purple beaver shrugged. "The pamphlet company was charging per letter and Petunia needed some way of distinguishing Evil Flippy from Good Flippy. Anyways, enjoy your dinner! I hope you don't die!" He waved cheerily as she walked over to the table. Seeing no one else approaching, he sighed and looked over towards their direction.

Petunia had wanted a special section reserved for couples. There, Flippy was holding hands with a blushing Flaky, Cuddles and Giggles were laughing over some joke, Nutty was gazing at a chocolate bunny, and the Mole was sitting with a confused looking Lammy who had brought along Mr. Pickles. Toothy sighed again. "Ahh, love…"

A light knocking brought him out of his daydream. "Oh, Sniffles! How can I help you?"

"I need to see Petunia." The blue anteater looked tired, as though he hadn't been sleeping well recently. In his hands was a small wrapped package that had a slightly ominous feeling to it.

"Er, sure. She's in the kitchen right now," he said pointing. "Listen, Sniffles, are you alright? That thing in your hands isn't going to kill us, is it?" He was talking to empty air now though since Sniffles had walked off towards the kitchen, leaving Toothy very ill at ease.

Sniffles walked into the hot kitchen where Petunia was chopping up carrots while Mime was working at the grill. A ding came from a bell at the small window and Petunia walked over to pick up the order. "Hey Mime, we're going to need some more fries for table #2."

The purple deer gave her a silent thumbs up and tossed some sliced potatoes into the deep fryer, silently whistling while he worked.

Petunia finally noticed the blue anteater standing there in the doorway. "Oh, Sniffles, how can I help you?" she asked cheerfully. Her smile morphed into a look of terror as Sniffles unwrapped his package, revealing the Cursed Idol. "Sniffles! Why would you bring that into here!? I thought you were smarter than that!"

Sniffles just looked at the skunk who was now hyperventilating and backing away slowly. "I just need to know if you still have that Super-Blender that I modified for you a while ago."

The skunk gulped and nodded. "I-in the back, next to the fryer. G-go do whatever it is you have to do. I'll be washing some lettuce and pretending that you don't have a weapon of mass destruction in my restaurant. By the way, you didn't have to threaten me you know." Petunia began to scrub the lettuce with all her might, still hyperventilating and picking up every little piece that fell off.

"I'm not threatening. I'm desperate," Sniffles muttered as he tossed the idol into the blender. He set the dial to "obliterate" and waited to see what happened.

At first, the idol simply bounced around inside. Soon though, little chips of it began to fly off and small cracks appeared on its surface. Sniffles stared with glee as the torturous artifact was finally being destroyed before his very eyes. There was a faint wailing sound though, and as Sniffles felt his watch vibrating, he also felt dread settle in the pit of his stomach.

"Ice delivery!" Lumpy shouted as he barged in through the back door.

Sniffles turned grimly to Petunia. "Evacuate the restaurant. Now."

Petunia nodded in horror, already able to guess what would happen as the clumsy moose walked forward. She walked over to an intercom, pressed the button, and tried to suppress her mounting hysteria while she spoke.

Flippy and Flaky were staring into each other's eyes while Toothy brought over their dessert. "Y'know Flaky, I'm really glad that I got to meet you. People are usually so afraid of my when I first flip-out that they tend to avoid me for the rest of their lives. But you, you actually came back and still wanted to be friends. Granted, in most places, people don't come back to life, but that's what makes it even more impressive. You may think that you're too timid of a person, but I think you're the bravest person that I've ever met." Flippy pulled out the box from the jeep.

Flaky stopped chewing and stared at it, wondering what it could be. It was too big for a ring, that she was sure of. Besides, it would be silly to get married after going out for only such a short while, she chided herself. Still though, she could feel herself blushing. Flippy thinks that I'm brave? She looked up into his smiling face.

"There's something that I've wanted to tell you for a long time. Flaky, I l-"

"May I have your attention please?"

Flippy cursed inwardly as Petunia's voice sounded throughout the restaurant and interrupted him.

"Due to unforeseen circumstances, we kindly ask that everyone follow the instructions on their pamphlets in a calm and orderly manner. This is not a drill. Repeat, this is not a drill." A loud splash and sizzling sound was then heard and a popping noise like gunshots echoed throughout the restaurant accompanied by Petunia's screams. Everyone was silent, and the only noise was the light sizzling of oil coming from the kitchen. Then there was a deep, malevolent laugh, and everyone started screaming and racing for the exits.

The front doors were crowded with people trying to escape, while others barricaded themselves in the janitor's closet and bathrooms, which had reinforced steel doors in case of such a situation. Flaky just sat there though and stared into the golden eyes of Evil Flippy like a deer would stare into headlights.

She finally snapped out of her daze when Evil Flippy pulled out his knife. She drew in a breath to scream, only to start choking on the piece of food that she still had in her mouth.

Cuddles glanced back to see Flaky choking while Evil Flippy watched in amusement and he felt his daredevil side urge him into doing something dangerous: helping another Tree Friend avoid dying. "C'mon Giggles, we can't let Flaky die. Flippy could barely forgive himself last time; this time their whole romance could go up in smoke!" He then dashed off without waiting for a response.

The yellow rabbit's slippers helped him to sneak behind Evil Flippy and pull his beret over his face. "Quickly, Giggles!" he shouted as he tried to choke Evil Flippy with his own dog tags. "Give her the Heimlich!"

The pink chipmunk hesitated upon seeing Flaky's sharp quills and chose to grab Cuddles slippers so that she could strike her back. "Breathe!" Thump! "Breathe already!" Thump! "I said breathe!" Thump!

Giggles sighed with relief when she saw the piece of food fly out of Flaky's mouth and proceeded to drag the semiconscious porcupine to safety. "She's good, Cuddles! You can stop now!" She looked up only to shriek in fright.

Evil Flippy had dismembered Cuddles and was now roasting one of his legs over a candle flame. "It's quite rude interrupt someone's date," he said taking a bite out of Cuddles' leg. "Perhaps you'd like to join your date?"

Flaky awoke to see Giggles being strangled by two fuzzy yellow things. It took a moment for her to brain to realize that those fuzzy things were Cuddles' ears. She gasped and tried to back away, only to draw Evil Flippy's attention.

He grinned at her. "Good, you're awake. Now we can finish what you started." He wrapped his paws around her throat and began to squeeze as hard as he could, laughing at her futile struggles and the tears streaming down her cheeks.

This is wrong… a soft voice said in his mind.

Shut up. I'm only taking care of the enemy.

You're lying…. She's not an enemy…. She's a friend…. She's my friend….

She's making you weak! You don't need friends!

Stop it…. Stop hurting her….

Never!

I said STOP IT!

Flaky was thrown back hard enough to get stuck to a wall as Flippy clutched his head and screamed. She blearily opened her eyes, her vision blurred by tears and lack of oxygen, and saw a green shape approaching her, one hand outstretched. "S-stay away!" she shouted, struggling to free herself. She grabbed a plate shard off of the ground. "I SAID GET AWAY FROM ME!" She swung her arm as hard as she could and heard a soft gasp as the shard plunged into flesh.

Flippy looked down at the large porcelain piece embedded in his stomach, warm, red blood spilling out of the wound. Strangely, he didn't feel like flipping out. All he felt was a horrible crumbling feeling in his chest as his heart shattered and left behind an empty void. He stared into the terror and hate filled eyes of his beloved porcupine who gasped. Then he turned and ran away as fast as he could, past the bodies of Giggles and Cuddles, past the stares of cowering Tree Friends, past his jeep. He ran and ran, down the empty street, ignoring the tears that stung his eyes, ignoring the blood coursing down his legs, just wanting to run and get away from the voice inside of his mind.

You're a killing machine, Flippy. She could never love you.

He didn't argue back. The only thing he could think of was I'm a monster.

Flaky stared out the door, devastated. She had once again been able to fight for herself, only to hurt the one that she loved. Her fear of Evil Flippy had been so great, she had stabbed first and asked questions later, questions that burned to think about. Her bear had fought off the great darkness inside of him, had come to comfort her and apologize, and she had stabbed him and pushed him away. Carefully, she made her way over the bodies of her friends back to her table where Flippy's present lay almost forgotten. She slowly unwrapped it and opened the box to find a gold, heart shaped locked. Tears brimmed in her eyes as she opened it and saw a picture of one of their first days together. She read the tiny inscription on the other side.

To my dearest Flaky, the bravest porcupine I've ever known. Even in my darkest hours, you can always call me back into the light. I'll always be here for you, even if you can't see me. With all my love, Flippy.

The tears now flowed freely down her face as she clutched the locked and sobbed. She stared at Cuddles and Giggles, together even in death, and sprinted outside, knowing what she had to do. She looked up outside and saw a blur of light shooting across the sky. Please, don't let it be too late, she wished. Then she took off in the direction she'd seen Flippy go.

She didn't see the blue streak of light turn midair towards the restaurant, nor did she hear the odd sound it made. Hm-hmhmHMMM! The blur crashed into the restaurant. Minutes later, the place exploded.

Author's Note: Woo, another chapter! Sections with relationship stuff tend to be a bit trickier for me, but this little side plot should be wrapped up soon in the next chapter. Then we should be able to turn the focus back to the main plot.

XFantasy-chanX: Flippy and Flaky do make a really great couple; they're one of my favorites. Sniffles is making some progress in destroying the idol, but he's still got to find a way to keep the idol from destroying him first! More on that next chapter.

JaMaL HaDeS: The crazy Russell scene was pretty fun to write, especially having him battle Evil Flippy, but I'm afraid he's only a minor character in this fic. As for Lumpy, who wouldn't celebrate knowing you're much less likely to die?

Umm, I had more notes, but I can't remember them right now, so I'll just leave off with saying read and review!