AUTHOR'S NOTE
Joyful Tree Friends
"This is the final stroke of it all. Right here. She's the final piece. She'll ensure that the world I make today is mine and mine alone."
"Her name is Pippy. My own daughter. The implement of my genius. The cornerstone of my new kingdom."
"You're sick."
"Are you still here, Flippy? I gave you the last of the Joy. Now are you going to sit here and dawdle, or are you going to get your revenge on him?"
"...fine."
"Oh, and one more thing. After this, we're done. You get what you want. I get what I want. Then we leave each other alone."
"Fine."
…
Buddy didn't know where to go anymore. Everyone. Every single person was dead. Right outside the door was a road of corpses that Lumpy had laid out. In the room was his corpse. And Giggles. The last two glimmers of hope she had were now sharing a death bed. She dragged him onto it in his final moments. It just seemed right.
But there was nothing left for her here. She had to go.
"Bud...ddy…"
Her ears perked up.
"B-buddy…."
She turned. No. No no no no no. It wasn't.
"Bud..ddy… pl..ease…"
Lumpy's body was twisting. It was shifting and curling. His arm was swollen, his body a pile of flesh. She fell backwards and started to crawl away. He grabbed her leg with his malformed appendage and started to drag her back towards the bed.
"Budd...buddy…." He moaned. He was crying. He was choking. He couldn't breathe.
A crash blew through the room. Lumpy's sole arm was torn off. He wailed. Someone grabbed Buddy from behind and pulled her out of the room by her poncho. They threw her on the ground. Buddy looked up.
It was a woman.
"I'm sorry." She said. "Lumpy is… no longer himself."
Buddy blinked, "I can see that. But, who are you?"
"My name is Flaky. I'm a friend of Lumpy's. I helped him. Now I am helping you. Look around."
Buddy didn't want to, but she did. Bodies were everywhere. The smell of blood and filth was heavy.
Flaky nodded, "Pick something. That will be what you defend yourself with."
Buddy saw a long handled sword buried in the ground. She dislodged it with a little effort and was relieved to find it was mostly clean of blood.
:"Good, now this, "Flaky held out her hand. She was holding a mask made out of a red bucket, "Please put this on. It'll keep you safe, for now."
Buddy held the mask apprehensively, "But how will-"
"If they don't know what you are, they won't hurt you." Flaky said, "It worked for me. For many years."
"...good point." Buddy slipped the mask over her head.
It was a little hard to see, but it got easier as Flaky lead her through the camp by her hand. It also helped that she could no longer see the corpses that were littered all around. They kept walking, in relative silence, until they were clear of the camp. They sat down by a cliff and Flaky scrounged up some brush to start a fire with. She let Buddy play with her sword.
"You're quite good with that." Flaky said, "Were you ever trained?"
"Yeah, Lumpy taught me a little bit." Buddy said.
Flaky nodded, "He must've really cared about you to teach you that."
"...I guess. He just wanted me to protect myself."
"He's right to want that. It's not easy," said Flaky. "Especially not for a woman. Do you know how I survived?"
"No, how did you survive."
Flaky smirked, in a grim sort of way, " I couldn't deal with the idea of being the only woman left. I lost myself. I made myself forgot about how valuable I was. I gambled my life. I lived every day hoping I'd die, I even tried to make it happen. I started to live on the edge, knowing at any second I could die and leave everyone to slowly turn to dust. It was exhilarating, it gave me reason to keep living, but it was shameful. I can't believe I did what I did, seeing how Lumpy…"
She couldn't finish. Buddy had to urge her on, "How Lumpy what?"
"Lumpy risked his life. Over and over again. He threw away his body. For you. He knew you were valuable, but not because you were a woman. He valued you because he loved you. More than life. When I saw him, I decided that if I threw my life away it would be for something beautiful, like he did."
Buddy scowled.
Flaky said, "Buddy. Please understand, Lumpy was selfish, but he did not act for himself. He only wanted what he thought was best for you. Whether he's wrong or right doesn't matter anymore. Just know that he loved you."
"...yeah. He did."
Buddy curled up in her poncho. She yawned. She wanted to sleep.
Flaky kept tending the fire. She said,
"You can sleep. I'll stay up and watch over you."
And so Buddy did. As she drifted off, she swore she could hear a lone trumpet playing on the wind. She dreamed, but of what she wasn't sure. Scattered thoughts. Some screams. Of Lumpy. She dreamt of the song she could barely hear. She dreamt of when she was younger. She slept easy, for once. But she didn't sleep for long. Flaky woke her up suddenly.
"Buddy," She said, "Put on your mask."
Buddy didn't hesitate. She slipped the bucket over her head and pulled her poncho close to her neck. Flaky pulled her own poncho up over her mouth. It wasn't much of a disguise, but it would have to do. The men were already on their camp. A small battalion. One in the front looked them over with his one eye, tapping his hook on his chin.
"Ahoy there, name's Russell." He said, "You two wouldn't happen to know what happened to ol' Giggles' place, would you?"
Flaky didn't answer.
"Because, well, what I heard was that the little girl that she had there escaped. And y'know, I hate to jump to conclusions, but I'd say a little kid in a mask, so close to where that all went down, warrants the need for investigating. Wouldn't you fellas agree?"
Russell's men all nodded and laughed.
Flaky drew her pistols. He poncho flew off, exposing her face.
"Leave us." She said.
"Well well well, what do we have here?" Russel laughed, "ANOTHER woman? Two for the price of one? Holy shit! Where've you been for the last 20 years? Put those little peashooters away sweet cheeks. Do you see how many of us there are? It'd take a miracle to get you out of this…"
Trumpet music howled through the winds. There was a screeching roar. Joy mutant leapt out of the air and came crashing down, crushing two of Russel's men with its impact alone. It was a lizard-like thing, with limbs the length of telephone poles and a gator's jaw long enough to snap around a man whole. Which it did, snapping up the man beside Russell.
"Well. Shit." Russell said plainly.
Flaky turned to Buddy.
"Run."
Buddy did. Behind her, the mutant went into a frenzy, killing men left and right. Buddy kept running, but she didn't go too far. She hid in a small rock wall nearby, so as not to leave Flaky behind. She couldn't go on without her, after all. It felt like they were fighting for hours before it finally seemed to calm down.
Voices were headed her way. Footsteps. She gasped when she realized that they were men's voices.
"Shit Russell… what the fuck was that thing?"
Buddy couldn't believe it. Russell was still alive.
"Does it matter?" He said, "We scared it away… And we've got her. Still breathing and everything."
Buddy peeked out of the rocks. They were dragging Flaky by her leg. This couldn't be happening. They were going to… they had her. They were taking her away. She had to do something…
Buddy rattled the pouch at her side.
…
"Drive it deep." Lumpy said.
"Little girl please. Please don't listen to him! Help me!"
"You need to be able to kill if you want to survive. Take a life at a moment's notice." Lumpy said.
"He's insane. Look at what you're doing! He's trying to make you-"
She dug it into his throat. She twisted it. She pulled it out. The man gurgled for a moment. He was dead.
"Good," Lumpy nodded. "But next time he won't be tied up."
…
Night had fallen on Russell's camp. It was smaller than Giggles', but he was still the number 2 warlord in the wastes. Though his numbers were now significantly lacking. Less than ten men were patrolling now. That was all he had to spare.
One guard went off his post to take a piss. He didn't come back. The guard posted with him went to see what had happened. He joined his friend in a heap in the corner. If Buddy could thank Lumpy for anything, it was being able to kill.
She crept to the next post. Two guards were talking.
"I'm surprised she gave up so easily…"
"Yeah, I was hoping for a little more struggling. Russell's a lucky fucker, though. Who'da thunk she was still a virgin? He got the last bloody dick the wasteland'll ever see…"
Buddy felt it swelling up again. The rage. They did it. They did it to her. They…
When she opened her eyes, they were dead. She must've stabbed them a dozen times each. She was panting.
There were still more.
And when there were no more, she opened the door to Russell's little throne room. She felt sick at what she saw, but her mask showed sat on a throne of scrap metal, Flaky kneeled between his legs. She was naked, bruised all over, crusted with blood. Her eyes were wide and glassy. He was stroking her head with his good hand
"The fuck is this? Is this… the little girl?"
Buddy took off her helmet, she let it clatter to the ground. Flakly shook her head. She mouthed the word "No".
"My name is Buddy, asshole. Let her go. Now."
Russell laughed, "Are you fucking kidding me? You're making demands of me? Do you realize who you're talking to?"
"Your men are dead. All of them. I'll kill you too." Buddy said.
Russell shook his head, "You think I fucking care? I still have your little friend. I still fucked her. You don't understand how these things go, do you? I have the chips here. You have nothing. So how about this, you bend you little ass over for me and I won't split your friend's cum-bloated belly right here?"
Buddy was taken back
"B-but, but I-"
"You don't know this world kid. You're a sheltered little dumbass. Now you're gonna… you know what? Fuck it."
Russell grabbed Flaky's head, pulled it back, and dragged his hook across it. Her throat split open, blood dribbled onto her chest. She fell forward into a puddle of her own blood.
"She was boring anyway. I'm gonna have a lot more fun breaking your stupid mind and making you into a little fucksleeve."
Buddy snapped. She screamed, charging at him. She slammed her sword into his chest and ran him through, straight out the back of his own throne. She stepped back and watched as the fear of death dawned on his face. His one eye widened, he looked down at the wound… and scowled. He grabbed the blade of the sword with his bare hand and pulled it out. He tossed it aside.
"I didn't get to be the number 2 warlord around here being a fucking pussy, kid."
Buddy backed up, but Russell was already on her. He slashed his hook hand across her face. It knocked her backwards, caught her left eye and tore it open. She rolled out of the door and ended up on all fours. She tried to crawl away, Russell was on top of her. He turned her over, started to split her clothing down the middle with his hook. She was crying. He was laughing. Trumpet. The trumpet she heard before. It was in the air.
There was a crunch.
Buddy opened her eye. The mutant from before. It now held Russell in its mouth. It swallowed him whole, then skittered back. She stood up. A man was standing beside it. He was dressed strange, in broken glasses and garish clothing. He held a trumpet in his hands.
"D...disgusting." He mumbled. "People like him are disgusting. There's no place for them in my world."
Buddy could hardly breathe, but she managed to ask, "What… who are you?"
"I'm sorry." He said, "I'm so very sorry Pippy. But you weren't supposed to live this long. Please let Mumbo kill you quietly. This will be much easier on us all…"
He pressed the trumpet to his lips and started playing his melody again. The beast responded. It screamed and lunged at her. She closed her eye and prepared for death.
The beast recoiled. Buddy opened her eye. Flippy was standing between her and it. His head was cracked on one side. His machete had fresh blood on it.
"Go. Go now. Find that man. He's the cause of all this." He said.
Buddy ran. She could hear Flippy fighting with the thing, it almost sounded like he was winning. Buddy didn't stop to check. She chased the melody to its source. The man was standing at the edge of a cliff, playing his little tune.
"Hey!" She screamed.
The man stopped playing, "Why… are you still here? Why didn't you die like a good girl? I'm v-very upset with you. As your f-father…"
"You're not my dad. My dad died."
The man turned around, "Y-you think he's… he's a druggie and an idiot. He… he. I'm going to kill you. I'll do it myself and that'll be the end of it. Then I'll have this little world to myself. It'll be mine."
Buddy almost laughed. She reached to her side. She held out a little knife.
"You're going to kill me? ...You're not the first man to say that to me. But you're the first pussy who couldn't look me in the eyes when he did it. Now you're gonna talk… or I'm gonna cut the answers out of you."
The man trembled. "Fine…. fine you little freak. You think you're tough because you took My J-joy… Well. Uh. My name is Re-"
A machete whirled out from behind Buddy. It soared over her head and hit the man in the face. His body was thrown off the cliff. His trumpet clattered on the cliff's edge. Flippy stumbled out. It looked like half his body had been torn off.
"Don't… listen to that man." He said. "He's filth. You don't want to fill your head with his lies."
"But. But he was the only one who knew what happened! He was… he knew what I-" Buddy said.
Flippy said, "No, no it doesn't matter. This isn't his sick little world anymore. I'm sorry. Buddy." He collapsed to his knees, "I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry I tormented Lumpy. It's true… he's a bad man. He hurt me more than you could imagine. But at the same time, I'm no better. I ruined a woman's life, just like him. The difference between him and I? He tried to help you. I sat back and let her die. I'm… filth."
He felt like he was going to fall on his face.. Buddy caught him. "Buddy… it's not too late for you. Promise me you'll never take those pills again. Promise me you'll make this world better. Reece. That man. He wanted the world to be his. It can be y-your.s..s.s...Its… Yours… L-lammy…"
Buddy stepped back. Flippy's flesh was undulating underneath his skin. Turning. His blood was thin. She smelled buttercups. His head started to revolve unnaturally. His arm twisted out and elongated. He smiled.
"Lammy… Lammy… Llllammy…..la...amm..y..y…"
Buddy trembled. She held firm. She picked up her knife, but when Flippy lunged out, it wasn't at her. He bit into his own flesh. He scratched at his own skin. She watched as Flippy tore his own body apart, bit by by, until he couldn't move anymore. He ended it himself.
She draped what was left of her poncho over his face.
…
Fires were lit all along the way. Trash can sigils that she burned for him. She walked up to the little shrine, with a baby in one arm and the trumpet in the other. She sat down, put the baby in her lap, and started to play her father's trumpet. Lumpy smiled. His head swayed to her tune. She loved him. He loved her.
