As always the standard disclaimer applies: I do not own the Happy Tree Friends; they are the property of Mondo Media. I own only my own characters and this story.

Feedback is always welcome but no flames please. Now here's chapter 57:

57 – LUNCHTIME AT LOCO'S

"So" said Loco looking Barry up and down once the teenager had sat down on the back deck, "you're looking well. Flippy says he's quite pleased with your training."

"Thanks" said Barry, "although I suppose he told you I wasn't able to beat Fresko."

"Fresko has more practical experience than you" said Loco, "but that will come in time. Apparently Metramegopolis is flying now because you caught and beat a Marauder scout."

"I killed him" said Barry quietly, "he tried to kill me first; if I hadn't seen him move before he could strike we wouldn't be talking now. He almost did beat me as it was (I suppose if you've seen the remains of all these scratches on my arms and face you can tell that) but I managed to throw him. Since he was an android that wasn't easy. Fortunately when he fell he hit his head on a big rock and that must have fried something important because he never got up again. He convulsed and something in him exploded. Then he was dead."

"You didn't really kill him" said Loco quietly, "that was just an accident."

"I didn't mean for it to happen" said Barry, "I would rather have taken him alive."

"You couldn't" said Loco, "those I-class Scouts will self-destruct before they'll let you capture them. And anyway, you know war has casualties. You participated in the last one."

"Yes I did" said Barry, "although not like you and Flippy and the others."

"You did enough" said Loco, "you saved lives; you backed up your friends, you brought Fresko (among others) back from the field at the end of the battle."

"Klure eluded me" said Barry.

"You wouldn't have been able to beat him" said Loco sharply, "not a year ago anyway. But I think, from what Flippy tells me, that the time may be getting close..."

Loco stood up.

"Even if you could have beaten Klure a year ago" he said to Barry, "you wouldn't have been able to get near him; he never left XL-Jack-3's side during the whole war. Until you can actually get him away from his master you're never going to be able to fight him. But you shouldn't worry about it for now. Just keep practicing and getting better. Now, what do you want for lunch?"

"What?" asked Barry, caught off guard by the abruptness of Loco's last question, "oh, I don't know. Whatever you're having." Loco nodded, went inside, and soon came back with some dishes.

The main food that people ate (especially the animals so they didn't each other) was an organic substance that, by certain means could be transformed to take on the properties of whatever food the eater wanted. The creation of this substance lay so far back in the past now that no one knew exactly where it had come from but, among other things, it allowed all of the animals to live side by side without fear once they had evolved their higher intelligence.

"You were always a big pasta eater when you lived here" said Loco, "so that's what I thought we'd have." Barry nodded and they started eating.

"Does the Animal City look different to you after six years?" asked Loco. Barry shook his head.

"Not really" he mumbled, his mouth full. He swallowed before going on. "I'm bigger so it doesn't look as large as I remember. It's hard to believe it's been six years since I was here though."

"I know" said Loco, "but it hasn't been so long since you and I saw each other."

"Yes, but the last time we saw each other was during a war when you came to Metramegopolis' assistance. That was hardly a good atmosphere for visiting."

"True" said Loco, "and with Metramegopolis flying again I think another full war may not be far away. But for now, take a rest. You know you're always welcome here."

"Thanks" said Barry, "you know for a while, when I first got back to Metramegopolis after living here it wasn't easy to re-adjust to other humans. I find that a lot of humans are not as basically honest as animals are. No animal has ever been a Marauder so you always know where you stand with them. But a lot of humans aren't like that. Oh I've got plenty of human friends, but all of my closest friends (except for my girlfriend) are animals. I spend a lot of time in the animal quarters at Metramegopolis."

"So I hear" said Loco, "but don't write off your human friends just yet. In the end you have to depend on each other because like it or not, you are one. But that doesn't mean you should use that as an excuse to start lying and becoming deceitful. If your stay here taught you a better honesty than you might have otherwise had then that's a good thing. But before you get too sentimental we have our bad animals too" and Loco briefly told Barry about Fresko's recent encounter with Lifty and Shifty.

"Those two!" said Barry

"Yes, that does seem to be the general reaction when I mention them" said Loco, "but I didn't know you knew them."

"I met them briefly just before I went back to Metramegopolis" said Barry, "of course we were all a lot younger but they were real pranksters even then. They didn't do anything to me, but I was a lot bigger than them even when I was nine, and I would've beaten the crap out of them!"

"Well" said Loco calmly, "it may be when you leave here you'll be taking them with you."

"What?!" exclaimed Barry.

"Only as a courier" said Loco, "you won't be responsible for them. Someone else will take them off of your hands when you get home. They have a mission of their own to do and we need to get them west fairly soon to start it."

(To Be Continued)