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 17:

17 – PLAY TIME

XL-Jack-3 considered his course of action. He could have simply ordered his troops back and let the stranded people fend for themselves. But as that notion was the diametrical opposite of his programming it never even entered his mind. He could also have ordered his men to instantly vaporize all of the people on the field, making their deaths quick and painless. He didn't think of doing that either. Instead he turned to his right-hand Marauder and said "tell the troops to prepare for some fun."

XL-Jack-3's right hand person, a particularly vile combination of man and cyborg who went by the name of Klure, burst out with a fiendish grin and passed the word to his subordinates, who passed it on to theirs', who passed it on, and so forth until all of the Marauders were on edge with anticipation for the coming games. Then a silence fell.

XL-Jack-3 looked down at the crowded valley for a long moment. He turned to address Klure.

"Kill them all" he said, "make sure no one escapes."

Klure pulled out a horn and blew a long blast through it.

"PLAY TIME!" he roared and, pulling out his blaster, he charged down onto the field followed closely by his troops.

What happened next could be called a massacre, but it would be more accurate to call it a wholesale sadistically drawn-out slaughter of innocents. Klure had yelled "play time" and he hadn't been kidding because that's what the Marauders did to those who had been left behind. Most of them were unarmed and these were set upon and killed, slowly if possible. A Marauder might let a victim run for a bit before attacking a small part of him – not to really hurt, not yet – just to see him squirm. It was huge game of cat and mouse, with extended physical torture added for effect. After letting his victim squirm for a while the Marauder would usually then blast the victim's legs, bringing him down. Then, with the victim at his mercy, the killer would slowly begin to methodically tear the person apart. Blasters were put away at this point and knives, yes knives, were brought into play. If the Marauder wanted to be quick (relatively speaking) and get to other victims, he would simply cut off the victim's arms and legs one right after the other and let the victim bleed to death. Unfortunately many Marauders decided to linger over their victims, so first they'd sever the spinal chord at the neck, completely paralyzing the subject who was then utterly helpless and unable to move, although they could still feel. The Marauders who decided to draw out the victims' ordeals would then would take their knives and begin performing unspeakable acts of cruelty. Some slowly skinned their victims alive; some, who thought they were of a more artistic bent, carved gruesomely bloody pictures on the skins of their victims; some of the most depraved ones, who also happened to be hungry, ate their victims while they were still conscious. Many Marauders vied to top each other in cruelty and drawing out the victims' death agonies. Whatever is the nastiest, cruelest, most horrible way you could think of to kill someone probably had some equivalent of it used on that field that day. XL-Jack-3 had trained his minions well.

There were a small number of people from the city who did have weapons on them and who did fight back. In one corner of the field a small skirmish broke out between the Marauders and them, but it didn't make much difference. The city people were overmatched by Marauder fire power. The one positive thing that came out of it for them was that the Marauders took them seriously as enemies, leveled their weapons at them, and wiped all of the armed resisters out almost instantly. Those victims were the lucky ones.

And so it went, while XL-Jack-3, not deigning to take part in the slaughter, watched from the ridge. Finally, after more than an hour he lifted an arm and fired a signal flare over the field.

"Finish what you're doing" he bellowed in an amplified voice, "and return to the field's perimeter for clean-up." The Marauders obeyed. They quickly finished off the last of the victims and fell back to the edges of the field which was now a blood covered mess full of dismembered corpses. At a signal from Klure huge blasters were produced, turned on the carnage, and fired, causing all of the corpses to catch fire. Pretty soon the whole field was one big bonfire of bodies.

The heat was intense and it forced the Marauders back from the field. Only XL-Jack-3 was unaffected and held his place. Slowly the fires began to die down and go out. A deep silence quickly fell on the field, broken only by the crackle of occasional flames still dancing on burning bodies. The marauder troops gazed as one at the devastation they had wrought. All across the plain there was nothing but the remains of burnt corpses, rubble, and ashes. The stink of charred flesh hung heavily in the air. It was clear that nothing would grow here again in a hurry.

XL-Jack-3 gazed on the scene and a grim smile of satisfaction appeared on his face.

"Excellent" he said softly, "truly excellent. No survivors, and no chance of them either. And thus shall we treat Metramegopolis too when we reach it." He turned away from the field and headed back toward camp, gesturing for the troops to follow.

For a little while the remaining fires continued to burn until the late afternoon when the last of them died out. For a long time nothing stirred on the desolate field and an absolute silence reigned. Around sundown a wind came up out of the west and dispersed the remaining odor of the burned corpses. Evening fell and still the silence remained unbroken.

As the late evening twilight began to deepen into true night the silence was disturbed by a small movement near the very edge of the field, a bit beyond where the outside edge of the city had been. Slowly, very slowly, a small mound of rocks was dislodged to reveal a hole in the ground, out of which a small furry head cautiously emerged and looked around.

XL-Jack-3 had been very wrong. Someone had survived the carnage.

(To Be Continued)

A/N - And that's the end of the second, or "Massacre," section of the story. Grim I know, but this is war. A new story arc begins in the next chapter and will feature several official HTF who we have not seen yet and will be making their debuts in the story. Until then I hope you've been enjoying my tale and please be kind and leave me some feedback! Cheers!