Chapter 6

I do not own Happy Tree Friends. All credit goes to Mondo Media

"Three. . . . . two. . . . one." Sniffles counted down with a final tap of the keyboard, causing all of the security cameras in the surrounding area to fall to static. "Now then, before you go, there's one last thing I need to give you," He gave a small earpiece to each of them before explaining. "This will keep us in touch, and it will also tell me where exactly you are. Even though I disabled the cameras, there might be a chance that there will be organization members in your way, so don't doubt the possibility. The only cameras that I haven't disabled are the cameras in the rooms where the kids are. Handy, once you're in the vents, I'll give you the all clear and tell you which room to go through first."

Handy nodded in confirmation before turning towards Russell and Flippy. "Let's make this quick and get home before dawn," Flippy announced, gun in hand and stepping forward towards the front entrance. He signaled the former pirate to stay close behind him, and he glanced back at Sniffles. "Wish us luck." With a nod from the bluenette, the three dashed towards the building quietly.

Handy glanced around to see if anyone was in the area before bending down and pulling out the vent, looking around one last time before crawling through. "So do I just stay in here until you tell me where to go?" He asked quietly.

"Yes, but I do want you to keep moving until you see an intersection." Handy sighed and continued to crawl. "Well it's not like it could get any worse." Shouts and screams from farther down answered his comment, and he lowered his head. "They could at least keep the blood spill to a minimum."

More organization members began to attack the two intruders, although they were killed quickly. Flippy was ducked behind a pillar as he waited for the wave of bullets to end, but Russell constantly deflected them with his sword and was soon cutting throats. "Remind me not to meet him in a dark alley." Flippy muttered to himself before joining the fight and shooting whoever was in sight. "You guys need to draw out more so Handy can grab the kids."

"There won't be a problem with that," Russell responded as he stabbed another person from behind before advancing. "Hey hey why are you hiding!?" He called out to the shadows before him with a grin, dragging his blood-covered sword along the floor beside him. "I promise it will only hurt for a moment! You won't die!"

He's enjoying this far too much, Flippy thought after slitting another throat. Maybe his love for killing has come back. He followed the bluenette into the dark hallways and further towards the back of the facility. He had a feeling that he should keep a close eye on the former pirate in case he lost control of himself. Now that he thought about it, since the confrontation in the conference hall, Russell's eye had appeared more gray than red, and the sight concerned him. Flippy feared that the hysteria consuming the bluenette might cause him to harm Umi. The mere thought only made him quicken his pace.

"Handy, Lilac's room is clear. Go left and follow that path." Handy began to go through the left air duct and crawled faster at the thought of seeing the toddler. It didn't take him long to see a light before him and he punched the vent to let himself in the room. Upon the loud crash, Lilac's head shot up in fear before seeing his father slowly crawl out of the vent with a grunt. "Okay that was uncomfortable."

"Papa?" Handy looked up with wide eyes at the tearful voice and saw the tiny violette running into his arms. Handy held him close and lifted him off of the ground with a smile. Lilac curled into a ball and held onto his shirt. "Sorry that it took us so long. Bet you were scared." The toddler nodded but didn't meet his gaze. His father let out a small sigh before speaking. "Sniffles, how's it going? Am I able to leave through the door?"

"Yeah since most of the fighting is near Umi and Ruby's location," Sniffles responded from the earpiece. "The triplets are just north of your position."

"Right." Handy opened the door, cradling the toddler in an arm, and glanced around the hallway to hear faint gunshots and screams. "Papa, what's that?" Lilac's voice held more fear than usual, and Handy's grip around him tightened. "Nothing for you to worry about." He responded softly as he turned the other way, making sure his son didn't seen the corpses he was stepping around. I'm not sure if I should even hide the fact that we're walking in a hall full of dead bodies, He thought to himself. He's going to find out about the Curse eventually, but why do I feel so uneasy about hiding it from him?

His thoughts continued to trouble him as he made his way to his second destination, having him stand in front of the door with a lowered gaze. Lilac noticed that he wasn't moving, and lifted his head to gaze at his father. "Papa, why did we stop? I thought we were gonna see Mama."

"We have to get the other kids first." Handy replied to him, keeping his soft tone to make sure he didn't scare him. He reached out a hand to turn the door knob before throwing it open. As he expected, he only saw the triplets against a wall with frightened glances. He breathed out a sigh of relief. "Sniffles I found your kids. They're safe."

"Thank God," He heard Sniffles mutter under his breath in relief before continuing to speak. "Alright I think you'll be able to go through the front entrance. Handy nodded before turning back to the children, motioning them to walk towards him. "Let's go before the bad guys come back. Your daddy is waiting for you."

"Really?" Candy's eyes lit up slightly as she stood up to follow her siblings. Handy nodded and lead them out of the room. Luckily for him, there weren't as many corpses near the front entrance as he thought, but he still wanted to be careful. He cautiously lead the kids towards the front entrance, pushing the door open and glancing around to see if there wasn't anyone outside. After a few moments, he pulled the kids outside and began to run towards the car. "Sniffles open the door." The passenger door flew open and the bluenette stepped out of the car with wide eyes. "I swear if I saw that they were hurt, I would have killed you."

"I know I know." Handy climbed in the trunk as the triplets almost tackled their father to the ground with tears. Lilac glanced around and lifted his head. "Are we gonna see Mama now?"

"We have to wait for Umi and Ruby." The toddler nuzzled him in response and closed his eyes as Handy looked back towards the building in concern. He hoped that Flippy and Russell made it to their daughters with ease, although the mountain of corpses he saw told him that there was nothing to fear. But, he couldn't help but feel nervous about what might happen to them. Handy had a quick thought to go back and help them, but the sleeping toddler in his lap told him to stay and leave it to them. How would I be able to help anyway? They're more experienced than I am, so I would only get in the way. He leaned his head back and decided to wait.

"Guys you're almost there. Just keep heading straight until you see an intersection."

"Why stop there?" Flippy asked as he pulled his knife out of someone's back.

"Because you each have to go down a hallway to get to your daughter."

"Just tell me where to go." Russell responded as he wiped blood off of his cheek and stuck his sword in the ground before leaning on it. He looked around at the corpses that littered the floor and let out a sigh. "Ah jeez. We're gonna have to clean this up, aren't we?" When silence was his response, he turned around to look back at the veteran. "Did you hear me?"

"Yeah," Flippy replied with a step closer. "I'm just thinking about what would happen once we see our kids. I mean, aren't you worried about how Umi would think of you since she knows you were a pirate?" Russell lowered his gaze to the sword and closed his eye. "I am scared, since I don't think he told her the full story. And I have to be careful when it comes to killing around her. I can either kill the guy and scar my daughter, causing her to be scared of me for the rest of her life, or I could beat his ass and allow him to live another day. Naturally, I'd feel uneasy about letting my daughter's kidnapper live, so I might go with scarring her."

"Are you sure that's okay?"

"Why wouldn't it? They were gonna find out about the Curse eventually. We were just trying to shield them from it for as long as we could," He released a sigh and kicked the ground. "We were foolish to do that. I'm surprised that Cub hasn't said anything to them about it since he's been around long enough." Flippy crossed his arms and thought back to when he and Flaky decided to keep Ruby away from Fliqpy to make sure that she wouldn't be influenced by him, but as Russell had stated, it was only a matter of time before she found out what was really going on.

Flippy sighed and uncrossed his arms in response. "As much as I hate it, you're right. Although, I'm more worried about Ruby's mental stability than Umi's."

"It's not surprising. She is her mother's daughter." The veteran smiled at the comment, knowing it was all too true. "Alright, the longer we stand around, the more time we waste." The two continued to fight their way towards the back of the headquarters to save their children and return home.