Standard disclaimer: I do not own the Happy Tree Friends; they are the property of Mondo Media. I own only my own characters and this story. Now here's chapter 10:

10 – CODE ZERO

While Flippy, Splendid, and the Buddhist Monkey were out at the Marauder camp things were moving quickly back in the city. The preparations to activate the Code Zero were nearing completion and only a few final things needed to be done.

The Code Zero is the rarest of defense methods. The city only used it when extreme circumstances threatened its existence. That last time had been 175 years earlier. Because the procedure was such a rare and desperate one, knowledge of activating it was closely guarded so that it could only be used in great need. The Mayor, and the heads of the three communities were among the very few who had the clearance to activate a Code Zero, and it could only be done if all four of them were in agreement. Once they had given the okay, the top technicians and A.I.s began the actual work under Virgil's direction. Each of them was assigned a separate job to do and was only told about that; Virgil was the only one who knew the whole plan, with the exception of Sniffles who had initially been briefed by Toothy and been brought in to help Virgil and Robot with the preparations. He had successfully managed to cut down the preparation time from 36 hours to 24.

The Code Zero equipment was integrated into almost all of the city's operating systems. The control nucleus of these systems was down on the lowest level of the city in a special control office that only those with clearance had access to. It was there that the final switch to activate it could be found, and it was there that Virgil, Robot, and Sniffles monitored the project's progress, ready to throw that switch when the time came.

Mayor King, Dane, and Toothy were kept informed of the preparations' progress. The announcement of the curfew had gone out the previous day, and although an explanation for it was not given (which caused a fair amount of grumbling), it was, by and large, obeyed. Only a few hundred thousands of people were out of their homes when the curfew went into effect and of these only a few thousand had been foolish enough to be outside of the city entirely. They would soon regret their defiance of the order.

The Mayor and Dane watched the preparations from their homes. Toothy was in his office with Barry at his side. The teenager was still disappointed not to have gone with Flippy's team so Toothy invited him to wait in his office, both to keep up with the preparations and watch the progress of the mission. Splendid was carrying a microscopic recorder on his forehead and Toothy and Barry were able to see whatever he saw on Toothy's communication screen. They got a good view of the Marauder camp.

"Wow" Barry whistled softly, "I've never seen such a big force."

"I know" said Toothy, "we've activated a Code Zero none too soon. I just hope it won't be too late."

They watched as Splendid zapped tent after tent.

"He's doing good" said Barry enviously.

Suddenly the view contracted toward a point on the ground. Splendid was diving towards Flippy who was rampaging through the camp like a demon. Unlike Flippy, the watchers saw what Splendid had seen.

"Toothy," said Barry pointing at the screen, "is that who I think it is?"

"Yes" came the grim reply, "it's Him."

"XL-Jack-3" breathed Barry, "I never thought I'd actually see him."

"Pray you never see him again!" said Toothy sharply, "I hope those two aren't going to try to fight him, they'll never – "

At that moment Splendid's feed was interrupted and Virgil appeared in its place.

"Priority One communication" he said, "the operation is about to commence."

Toothy put his private communicator into "urgent" mode and called the Buddhist Monkey.

"Now!" he said, "get them back here now! The Code Zero is starting!"

And so it was. Down on the lowest levels of the city the preparations were done and the time to throw the last switch had arrived. With unspoken agreement Virgil and Sniffles grabbed the switch lever together and looked at Robot. Robot called the Mayor, Dane, and Toothy.

"Ready?"

"Yes" came the reply from all three of them. The Mayor activated a communications line and her voice was heard in every active communicator in the city.

"Citizens of Metramegopolis" she said, "we are about to activate a Code Zero. As this has not been done in many years it may startle you. Do not be alarmed. We are all perfectly safe. If you wish to observe the event please find your nearest window. The full explanation will be forthcoming once the procedure is safely underway. Thank you."

She broke the connection.

"I hope we're perfectly safe" she muttered on the secure line to Robot, Sniffles, Virgil, Toothy, and Barry, but she didn't hesitate. "Do it" she said to Robot.

Robot walked over to where Virgil and Sniffles were grasping the lever. He grasped it too. As one, all three of them pulled it down.

(To Be Continued)