And here's chapter 69.

As always the standard disclaimer applies: I do not own the Happy Tree Friends; they are the property of Mondo Media. In addition the character of Fresko the Feline belongs to the Deviant Art user Rainbroach (formerly known as Yoshi Lord). I own only my own characters and this story.

69 – COMING AND GOING

Later that day Lifty and Shifty were taken to a secret medical facility. There they were placed under anesthesia. While they were unconscious the tracer devices that the Mole had mentioned were implanted under their skin at the tops of their heads. The devices were actually grafted on to the tops of the skulls so they couldn't be removed without another major operation. When the two raccoons woke up hours later they were already back in their holding cell. When they felt their heads they were unable to find any sign of where the implants had been placed. That was because the devices were minuscule to begin with and the surgical techniques used on them were so advanced that the places where they had been operated on had been healed up so quickly and thoroughly that there were no scars.

The next day the raccoon brothers were briefed on the details of their forthcoming trip. They would teleport to Metramegopolis where they would be received by their contacts who would outfit them for when they went into the field. They were not told who would receive them at the Flying City but were assured that they would know their contacts when they got there.

Right around the time that the raccoon brothers were being prepared for their mission Cuddles was finishing up his studies of Metramegopolis' flying systems. During his month at the Flying City (except for his brief abrupt return home) he had received a very full education in the flying systems from Robot, Virgil, and Kevin. He had taken very detailed notes and had arranged them into an orderly progression that would allow him to begin applying this technology when he returned home. Robot himself had inspected Cuddles' records and pronounced them to be satisfactory.

Now that he had finished his work Cuddles decided to go home as soon as he could. It was decided that he would stay to oversee the arrival of Lifty and Shifty and then Sniffles would take his place operating the teleport station and send him home immediately afterwards. Following that, Sniffles would dismantle the teleport station and pack it back up in Fresko's flyer so Fresko could take it back to the Animal City when he finally went home himself. Fresko had not set a date for his own departure mainly because Toothy had asked him to stay on at Metramegopolis a little longer to help watch over Lifty and Shifty while they were at the Flying City. Even though he had not been designated as one of the raccoon brothers' contacts Fresko agreed to stay. He knew that the more eyes that could be kept on Lifty and Shifty the less likely they would be to get into trouble. Loco agreed with this when Fresko contacted him, but only provisionally. Loco said that as soon as the information about the flying technology that Cuddles had gained had been fully understood and tested Fresko, as Captain of the Special Forces, would be wanted back at home so he could give input on possible uses for the newly gained technology. Loco ordered Fresko to think about this issue even while he was still at Metramegopolis. Fresko said he would.

Three days after Lifty and Shifty had been given their mission they were transported to Metramegopolis. Shifty went quietly enough. Lifty, however, had to be forcibly dragged from his cell.

"I've changed my mind" he said when he reached the Mole's office, "I don't want to go."

"You don't really mean that" said the Mole quietly.

"How do you know?" demanded the younger raccoon, "I'm not risking my neck in the Marauder camp where they'll torture me to death if they catch me."

"They won't catch us" said Shifty sharply, "not if we're clever enough."

"Your brother seems ready to go" said the Mole.

"That's because he's reckless" said Lifty.

"Are you going to let him go alone?" asked the Mole, "that's not very brotherly of you."

"He's coming" said Shifty, "he's just nervous."

"Understandable" said the Mole, "I'm usually nervous before a mission too."

"You? Ha!" said Lifty laughing, "you don't go on missions. You just sit here and send other people to their deaths!"

"You have no idea what I do" said the Mole becoming very stern, "you don't know anything about what I've had to do to help secure this city's survival. But I could tell you stories about missions that would make this one look like a vacation. Don't talk to me about just sitting around and doing nothing. You haven't even left and you're already falling apart."

"He'll be fine when we actually get there" said Shifty, "won't you Lifty?" Lifty didn't say anything, "Won't you?" Shifty repeated in a very pointed voice. Lifty looked at him, then at the Mole, and then at the door of the office.

"Don't" said the Mole seeing Lifty's glance, "the guards are ordered to kill you on sight if you try to escape."

"Fine! Let them kill me! I don't care!" yelled Lifty who broke for the door. But Shifty was faster and with one bound he tackled Lifty and forced him down on the floor, pinning him.

"That's enough!" hissed Shifty into Lifty's ear, "stop acting like a baby and pull yourself together!"

"You got me into this" said Lifty accusingly from the floor, "you had to desert and you had to attack Captain Fresko!"

"Don't put this all on me" said Shifty, "you were perfectly willing to go with me. I didn't force you."

"You knew I wouldn't let you go alone" snarled Lifty, still struggling.

"Are you going to let me go alone now?" Shifty snarled back at him. Lifty stopped struggling and looked his brother in the eyes, anger mixed with terror. Slowly he relaxed. Shifty turned to the Mole.

"Turn that machine on NOW!" Shifty yelled at the Mole who immediately activated the teleporter. Shifty didn't wait for Lifty to get up. He hauled his brother to his feet and dragged him into the teleport station. They both vanished at once. The Mole took deep breath and wiped his brow.

"Thank goodness that's done" he said to himself, "but this is not a good start for them. No, not good at all."

The Mole's reflections were interrupted by Cuddles materializing in the teleport station and stepping out of it.

"Ah, Cuddles" said the Mole, "welcome home."

"Thanks" said Cuddles, "this time I'm actually glad to be back."

"I assume Lifty and Shifty arrived safely?"

"Oh yes" said Cuddles with a grimace, "what did you do to them? They looked like they wanted to kill each other. Fresko and Toothy had their paws full separating them."

"Let's not talk about that" said the Mole, "do you have all of your research?"

"Right here" said Cuddles, handing the Mole a recording device. The Mole briefly inspected it.

"Excellent" he said, "I'll get this stuff down to the labs and get people working on it right away."

(To Be Continued)