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 13:

13 – DEPARTURE

"Citizens," once again the mayor's voice was heard throughout the entire city, "as you all no doubt have discovered, the city has taken off and is now rising upward to a base altitude of four thousand feet. This is a day you will all remember, as it has been over a century and a half since the city last flew. Probably many of you thought that the whole idea of Metramegopolis actually flying was simply a myth. Now you know it is not."

The mayor paused for a moment to collect her thoughts.

"However" she continued, "this is not something that we do lightly. As I'm sure you realize, flying a city of any size, let alone one of this size, is such an enormous undertaking that it is only done at times of the gravest peril. This is such a time and it is important that everyone understand exactly what the situation is, and why we have acted in this way without prior notice."

Mayor King then explained to the city about the huge Marauder army and the presence of XL-Jack-3 himself, which indicated an imminent massive attack, and how through a calling of an emergency council, it was decided to move the city both to escape from the Marauders, and to buy time to prepare counter-measures. It was not known how long the city would stay up in the air.

"I can assure you though," the mayor continued, "that we are in no danger of running out of supplies. The automatic food generators and indoor farms will continue to work regardless of how high we go, or how long we stay there.

"I cannot stress enough, however, the seriousness of the current situation. We are once again in a state of war and heightened security measures will be put in place for the city's protection. Please be advised that travel outside of the city down to the ground will be strictly limited. No one will be allowed to leave without permission from the Council for the duration of this crisis.

"Also regarding anyone who may have defied the curfew order today and was outside the city when it took off, they are on their own now. There is no way we can go back to help them without putting the city at risk. They will have to be considered collateral damage of war.

"Finally, we will be moving the city at a rapid speed for thirty minutes as soon as we have leveled off. There is no danger in the procedure, however if you wish to observe our progress you can do so at any outside window. The roof of the city, however, will be off-limits during this time.

"Thank you. That is all."

The mayor broke the city-wide connection.

"Is it really necessary to impose travel limitations?" Dane asked.

"I think so" said the Mayor, "at least until after we finish the rapid transit stage. Then we'll see."

"Approaching four thousand feet" said Robot, "preparing to go into rapid fly mode."

"I want to see this"said Barry turning back to the window, "how soon until we move?"

"Two minutes" came the reply.

"This meeting is adjourned" said the mayor, "I need to get a good view of this too" and she rang off. She was quickly followed by the others until only Toothy, Barry, Flippy, Splendid, and the Buddhist Monkey remained in the office. They all gathered around the window.

"A little harsh the Mayor was, don't you think?" Buddhist Monkey asked.

"Tough times, tough measures" replied Toothy, "ah! Here we go."

There was no warning sound. Suddenly, as they looked out of the window, the landscape began to move. Slowly at first, then faster and faster, until the outside was almost a blur. Yet inside the city there was almost no sense of motion at all. It was almost like watching a movie of land sliding by.

"Incredible" said Flippy, "how fast are we going?"

"I believe Robot said we could go up to a speed of two thousand kilometers an hour" said Toothy, "but of course we won't be moving that fast for long. Hopefully we'll go far enough to get away from danger for a while."

"I wonder what the land will look like when we stop?" said Barry thoughtfully.

"We'll know soon enough" answered Toothy, "for good or bad we're on our way. There's no turning back now."

(To Be Continued)

A/N - So with this chapter we've reached the end of the first section or "arc" of the story, the "Take Off" arc. I hope you've been enjoying my little tale so far. Please leave me some feedback and let me know what you think of it. Thanks! :)