Chapter 2

I own nothing of Happy Tree Friends. All credit goes to Mondo Media.

The class clapped and cheered as the twins bowed and returned to their seats. They high-fived each other and began to chat with other children near them. "Ruby, it's your turn." A little girl piped up and pointed at the red-head. Ruby lowered her head shyly and looked away. "B-But-"

"I'll go after you if it'll make you feel better." Ruby saw the bluenette's smile and soon felt trust in her friend. She rose from her seat, clutching the stuffed animal she had in her hand and stepped towards the front of the class. She took in a deep breath and held out the stuffed animal, which was a green bear dressed in a camouflage jacket and beret. "I-I haven't got a name for him yet, but for now I'll call him Camo. He's been with me since I was born, and he helps keeps the monsters away," She averted her gaze and pulled the bear towards her. "It sounds stupid, doesn't it?"

"Of course not," The teacher petted her head gently before sending her back to her seat. "I believe that was a nice thing to share. Umi, you said you would share after her."

"I know," Umi stood from her seat with a small necklace and proceeded to head towards the front of the class until the lights disappeared and the sunlight was blocked from the windows.

Russell glanced down at the framed photograph with a smile and placed it in his lap cautiously. He began to think back to the old days when he was exploring the seas to search for whatever came his way if he was able to not be killed by the curse. He remembered how happy he was to travel the ocean with his crew mates, and closed his eye at the memory. Russell felt a nuzzle on his left cheek and turned to see Lumpy lean a head on his shoulder with a smile. "Whatcha thinking about?"

"Oh, just thinking back to my pirate days," Russell replied while setting the frame on the seat on his right and sighed. "Back when all I did was say yar and swing a sword around," He leaned back and felt the taller blunette kiss his cheek and move around to sit next to him. "This was before we started living together, and I think that's when I started to like you."

"When I was a pirate, or when we started living together?" Lumpy wrapped an arm around him to pull him close, allowing Russell to tilt his head on the other's shoulder. "I think it was when you were a pirate. You looked hot when you fought."

"Really? Maybe I should fight more often." There was a playful purr in Russell's voice, and Lumpy looked down to see a lustful glint in a single eye. He tilted the smaller face upwards, and leaned in for a light kiss. Russell leaned forward as well to bring their lips together. Lumpy brought up his other hand to cup the bluenette's right cheek, causing him to flinch and break the kiss. "Not my right," He muttered with a lowered head. "You know I can't see." Lumpy pulled away with an apologetic look and kissed his left cheek. Russell had felt more vulnerable than the rest of the Friends because of his limited sight, and his other senses had been sharpened. Despite this, he is still frightened with whoever he senses on his right.

Lumpy pulled the smaller male into a tight hug and held him close as they sat quietly, the voices on the TV being the only sounds in the room. The couple heard reports of another terrorist attack, but didn't bother caring until glancing at the screen. In an instant, Russell pushed Lumpy off of him and sat up with wide eyes. "No way," He brought both hands to his mouth once he saw the preschool being circled by military soldiers. "Umi."

He heard his husband begin to make his way towards the front door, and was about to throw it open until Russell grabbed him. "I'm coming with you." Lumpy was about to protest in response before Russell pulled him forward. "Do you think I can stay here like this?" Lumpy's eyes widened slightly when he saw a gray hue hidden in crimson, and feared it might only get worse if the former pirate stayed. But, if the worst were to happen, Russell's illness might go to a point where he couldn't control himself. He sighed and pulled away, running a hand through his hair with a groan. "Alright, but don't blame me if your hysteria gets out of control." Lumpy pulled his husband out the door, and saw various police cars and reporters heading to the same destination.

When they arrived, various other parents were already there, and immediately, Russell spotted a familiar red-head. "Flaky!" He rushed up to the male, but stopped once he saw faint tears in crimson eyes and hands over his chest as he tried to calm his breathing. The bluenette took a few steps back in order to not scare Flaky even more. A few ways away, he saw Flippy talking with a commanding officer, but from the looks of it, Flippy was upset. To his left, he saw the twins trying to calm each other down, Handy having arms wrapped around a panicked Petunia, and Nutty was pacing around with a phone to his ear, most likely trying to get into contact with Sniffles.

Russell leaned back slightly and allowed his husband to catch him gently, placing his head in one of his hands. He closed his good eye and tilted his head back, having Lumpy kiss his forehead and hold his hands close. "She'll be fine," He muttered. "If anyone can survive this, she can."

"I hope you're right." The taller male lead him to a nearby seat and pulled him in his arms, nuzzling his hair and giving him comforting kisses to calm him down. Russell pulled his hood over him to hide his face and curled up into his husband's figure, hoping he could clear his mind of the current situation.

Flippy couldn't help but glare at his former commander, who had crossed arms and as glancing down at a map. "With all due respect, sir, I don't think this is going to work," He placed a hand over his eyes and looked down. "That's what they want us to do."

"If we don't act now, who knows what they'll do," The commander had responded to him in a stern tone. "This is the only choice we have." Flippy couldn't hold in the growl that resided in his throat, but he kept his cool with the knowledge of what his unit can do if he had a sharp mouth. He let out a sigh and uncovered his eyes, trailing his hand down so he can cross his arms. "Sir, my kid is in there, and if this plan fails, her blood is on your hands."

The commander glanced down at the files that contained information on the children, lifting an eyebrow on one photo in particular, turning to the frightened red-head not far from them. "Perhaps he should sit down. This situation is probably too much for him." Flippy looked back at his boyfriend, taking no time in running over and beginning to soothe him. A moment later, he lead the red-head back towards the tent, setting him on a box away from his commander. "Hey, it's gonna be okay," He whispered and pulled the smaller male into his arms. "She's gonna be fine." Flaky slowly returned the hug and hid his face in the greenette's shoulder.

The commander watched them closely from the other side of the tent. "You've grown soft. What happened to the soldier that killed the Tiger Commander?" Fippy grimaced at the memory, and pushed himself away somewhat and stood up. "You're clearly not talking about me. I'm the one who got his entire team killed and hid inside of a corpse to stay alive. You should really be thanking Fliqpy. I do regret being involved in the war, but I have to thank you. If it wasn't for you drafting me, I would have never found another way to protect my family."

"Flippy." Flippy proceeded to smile at the red-head before his face froze at the sound of a gunshot.

Nutty continued to pace around as he heard his phone ring, hoping that Sniffles would pick up. One of his hands was covered in countless bite marks and was slightly bleeding, and his pockets were filled with empty candy wrappers. Tears covered his eyes and his mind was filled with the triplets. He heard a slight pause, and stopped pacing. "Nutty, where are you?"

"Where do you think I am?"

"I'm on my way. Don't move." Sniffles hung up immediately, and Nutty placed his phone back into right pocket. He sat on a nearby bench near the twins and folded his hands together. It didn't take long for Sniffles to arrive and hold the greenette in his arms. He pulled back and noticed the blood and bitemarks on his hand, and he held it gently. "I hate it when you do this," He muttered, grabbing a roll of bandages from his pocket. "Where's your candy?"

"I-I ate it all." Sniffles looked back up to see tears rolling down his cheeks, and wiped them away. "Hey they're gonna be okay," He soothed. "I'm sure Danny's doing everything he can to protect his sisters." He kissed Nutty's cheek with a calm smile before a gunshot rang in the air, followed by three more. All eyes were on the preschool in an instant. "What the hell was that!?" Shifty exclaimed with wide eyes. Lifty had his ears covered and was curled up in a ball next to him and was on the edge of sobbing.

Shouts were heard and everyone looked closer to see a small crowd of figures heading towards them. A tiny hint of green in the crowd caused Lifty to stand abruptly and run for it. His brother called out to him, but he didn't hear nor turn around. He pushed his way through various parents and reporters to see his children along with a few others running from a nearby vent in the preschool. The children ran to their guardians with tears and frightened shouts, but the twins were huddled together as they glanced around to see if they could catch a glimpse of either of their fathers.

Lifty didn't hesitate to run up to the two and pull them into a tight hug. "Wha!?"

"Papa!" Jack returned the hug once he realized who had grabbed him and nuzzled him with tears. Zack lowered his head and hid in his father's arms, afraid that he was going to be taken.

"Lifty!" The younger thief glanced behind him to see his brother dash towards him with a worried face, and he turned back to the twins in his arms. "Daddy's here too." He muttered to them. The toddlers looked behind him and immediately ran towards their other father with outstretched arms. Shifty held the two of them close as they cried in his arms. He looked down at them with a serious expression. "How did you get out?"

"W-Well," Jack pulled away and wiped his tears. "T-The bad guys left us in the room after they hurt the teacher, and then U-Umi found a tunnel that went outside. S-She let us go first, but when I went in, the bad guys came back and tried to grab me."

"Who's still in there?"

"U-Um. . ." Jack lowered his gaze and trailed off before hiding in the thief's arms. Zack spoke up after him. "Umi, Ruby, Lilac, and the triplets. I think they're the only ones."

"Alright," Shifty pulled them into another hug and hung his head. "I'm just glad you two are safe."

Russell saw soldiers storm through the building in search of the terrorists, and he clutched Lumpy's hand as tight as he could. Lumpy wrapped arms around him in response and kissed the nape of his neck to comfort him. After a few gunshots, a soldier exited the school and spoke to his commander, who slammed a fist on the table. Flippy's eyes widened in response while Flaky was on the brink of tears. On his left, he saw that the twins had received their children, and the other parents were distraught with what they had heard.

Lumpy pulled the bluenette closer and tried to get his mind off of what he was currently thinking. Unfortunately, it couldn't stop his husband from hugging him with tears.

It didn't take the rest of town to figure out what had happened. Everyone was in complete chaos while the affected parents were in the worst shape, and did not want to believe what was happening: Flaky was having constant panic attacks and was sobbing uncontrollably in Flippy's arms, Nutty had bitten into his hands so much, he had torn through the bandages and eaten off some of the skin, Petunia was having various hallucinations about her son's whereabouts, and as Lumpy suspected, Russell's hysteria had kicked in, which caused him to scream and laugh maniacally. It took Lumpy a while to calm him down, and it took him longer to get the bluenette to come back to his senses.

Everyone knew that a conference was going to be held later that day with the decision on what to do, and until then, they could only pray and hope for the best.