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.

77 – SHIELD

For a split second everyone on the roof was too shocked by what had just happened to move. Then suddenly there was a general rush to the edge of the roof. Flippy was in the lead (but only just) and when he got to the railing he jumped up onto it and moved across the platform to the very edge. He was immediately followed by Toothy, Barry, Emily, Anna Ride, Sniffles, and the Squad leader. Splendid took to the air and flew up over everyone to see what he could. When everyone reached the edge they stopped and stared.

For there off the edge of the roof, about half a meter below the top of the railing platform, apparently standing and sitting on nothing but thin air, were Fresko, Frik, and Frak. Except for the seemingly impossible fact that there was nothing underneath their bodies they might have been lounging on a room floor or on the ground somewhere. Not that they were acting that way; Frik was lying full-length on his side with his eyes shut tight, his hands stretched out on either side seeming to claw for anything to grab. Frak was sitting up looking down at the ground with a face full of amazement and horror, his hands were constantly feeling the air underneath him trying to figure out what he was sitting on. Fresko alone seemed unaffected by the whole scene, in fact he had an air of nonchalance about him, as if this was the most natural thing in the world. He looked up at his friends standing at the platform edge and saluted.

"Glad to see the roof safety shield is still in good working order" he said casually, "and I think Frik and Frak are glad about it too, once they realize they're not dead that is."

The tension broke and everybody on the platform laughed.

"The same shield that they could only penetrate with help from traitors now won't let them leave" whispered Barry to Emily, "how's that for justice?" Emily giggled.

"I told you he knew what he was doing" said Sniffles. Flippy nodded.

"Next time just clue me in first, okay?" said Flippy.

What had happened was that Fresko, Frik, and Frak had all beeen caught by that part of the city defensive force-shield that worked as a safety net to keep people from falling off of the city roof. The entire city was surrounded by a defensive force field that served several purposes. It's main purpose was to keep enemies and unwanted visitors out. When it was running smoothly solid objects could not penetrate it from the outside, neither could blaster rays and other offensive weapons. It was not entirely impregnable. If enough power were to be focused on a single spot a hole could be made, but for the most part it worked very well as a defense.

It was also a safety mechanism. It did not stop air from circulating although it could distinguish various gases, nor did it stop weather like rain or snow from landing on the city. The part of the shield that surrounded the edge of the city roof had been adapted specifically as a safety fence in order to prevent accidents. It was also good for stopping suicides and murders. Anyone falling off the edge of the roof would find themselves standing on an apparently solid, yet invisible, surface which extended outward for a few meters before curving upwards at a ninety degree angle to make an invisible wall which then joined up with the ceiling part of the force field that covered the city. At one time "walking the roof shield" had been a popular pastime for young adults but due to the always real possibility that the shield might be turned off for some reason, and following a few tragedies when this had in fact happened at precisely the wrong moment for the shield walkers, this activity was now prohibited.

Even though he was not a city resident Fresko knew about the shield. Now he stood on an invisible floor and faced his former captors who still seemed to be having trouble accepting their position. While they were still disoriented he grabbed at their blasters and successfully got them away from the two Marauders.

"The floor" said Frik, dumbfounded "where's the floor? I can feel it but I can't see it!"

"This is weird" said Frak who was taking it better than Frik.

"Yeah" said Fresko, "as you can see, you can't get away. There's no way out. I suggest you surrender."

Frak stood up and looked at Fresko.

"No" he said, "I'll run. Will you shoot me if I do?"

"No" said Fresko, "but I don't have to because I have this" and he held up a control band that circled his wrist. "Sniffles was kind enough to adapt it for me so I could tap in to the shield's frequency. And I can control it too. Flippy, throw me a rock or something."

"What? Oh, okay" said Flippy. He looked around the roof and picked up a piece of debris lying nearby and tossed it to Fresko who dropped it at his feet where it seemed to sit on nothing.

"Watch this" said Fresko as he stepped back. He pointed his control band at the debris and touched a contact. Suddenly the area of shield underneath the debris disappeared and the debris, without anything supporting it, began falling, falling, falling towards the far away ground.

"Beware" said Fresko to Frak, "just as I could do that to that pile of debris I can do it to you too."

That was enough for Frak. He hauled Frik to his feet and then both Marauders climbed back up on to the roof and surrendered to Flippy who turned them over to the Squad Leader. The Squad Leader had his men take them back into custody and they were quickly hustled away.

After Frik and Frak were gone Fresko climbed back on to the roof and faced Flippy.

"Good job" said Flippy, "but next time please tell me what you're doing."

"Sorry" said Fresko, "there wasn't really time. But don't thank me, thank Sniffles. Without him I couldn't have done it."

"Acknowledged" said Flippy turning to Sniffles and nodding, "well done." Sniffles nodded.

"Not a problem" said Sniffles, "I'm just glad I was able to help keep the situation from turning ugly."

"Yes" said Flippy darkly, "and it might have turned very ugly indeed if some of us hadn't been here to stop it." He turned to Toothy. "What do you think?" he asked. "does our esteemed Mayor have some explaining to do?"

"Undoubtedly" said Toothy with a scowl.

(To Be Continued)