A/N: Sorry about the long delay, I've recently settled into my new college dorm and it took a while to get the computers up and running. But I got this done now, and future updates may be sporadic so please bear with me.

Chapter 2

It's friday, almost 6:30am when I get a phone call from the agency. Why is it they think they can just call me every time something happens? They obviously don't give a damn about my own personal life or how I need my fucking sleep. There was no sense complaining, so I just got up and got into my agency attire, which was pretty much my same outfit with a name tag on it and a nifty looking jacket. I had to switch my pants to some black jeans, since I can't run or do anything really fast in tripps. I took to my computer while eating a bagel with some cream cheese. A few messages littered the screen, one from some guy, two or three from some girls, and one from the agency.

Damian,

There is an urgent matter that must be attended to. You are assigned to another one of those 'hunt to kill' missions you love so much. You are requested to meet with the victim of an attack first to recieve information on a killer that's out and about Happy Tree Land. I expect you to return with the data straight after the meeting.

--Lumpy

"Never the brightest of cheifs are ya Lumps..." I thought.

But the note seemed to chill me to the bone for some reason. Never have I been tasked to a mission to find a killer in my own home town. It kinda hit home a little, but I shook the feeling off. Instructions and directions to a civilians house were attached to the document. The pair of theives known as Lifty and Shifty.

"Great..." I didn't really get along with the kleptomaniacs for several reasons. I had to get them out of a bank so many times that now we share a laugh when I arrested them. But them being the victim of the killer gave me the thought that this wasn't going to be a friendly conversation.

I grabbed my black skulled skullcap and left the house. I made tracks straight to the thieves home. As soon as I got there though, I knew something was amiss. Shifty drove a nice white beetle car and always parked it in the driveway, but instead there was a gray beat-up piece of shit.

"Ah hell." I thought.

I knocked on the door, only to get the fedora-wearing raccoon to answer it. He looked as if he'd been crying all week, and tears were still falling. He pointed at me fiercely and shouted at me. "What the fuck do you want?! I don't need your law enforcement here asshole!! Leave me alone!!" I grabbed his hand and pinned him against the door. "I'm here to help you dammit." I whispered in his ear. He seemed to calm down and invited me inside. He offered a drink, which I refused.

"Now tell me, softly and calmly, what happened." I asked him, putting my hand on his shoulder to show that I meant no harm in my queries. He looked down with his eyes closed. "My brother..." He started. "My brother Lifty... is... is..."

I moved closer and moved my arm around his shoulder. "Lifty is...?" I said.

"Dead..." He began to start crying. I coerced him to stop for him to continue. "Killed by someone..."

"Who? Tell me what happened, I'm here to help you for once." I stated, trying hard not to sound rude.

"It was yesterday... Me and him were behind a bank thinking about what to do when... when... some green dude comes around. He was so happy looking, so carefree that we ignored him. Then my brother accedentally dropped one of the explosive thingies we were going to use... and then, he killed him..."

My first thought was to reprimand him for being so fucking stupid. Explosives, intending to rob a bank, I'll get him for this later. "Can you explain to me what this guy looked like?"

"Light green... had an army suit with a green beret, looked to be a Sargeant ranking on his shirt..."

I wrote down everything he said and got all the information I needed. Supposedly, when they dropped the explosive the green bear got angry and attacked, killing the lesser raccoon. "Thank you Shifty, that's all. I'll take this to the Woodland Alliance agency and we'll find the murderer." He glomped me into the couch in tears. "Thank you Damian! Please get revenge for my brother! I ... I ..."

I finished for him. "Love him?"

"...yes.."

That afternoon led me to the agency office. People walking around, machines whirling and guys cursing, and the smell of coffee and pizza in the air. God I love this place. Right off the bat, I was confronted by the chief Lumpy.

"Morning Damian!" He shouted.

"It's 3:50pm Lumps... Afternoon." I corrected.

"Yes, but why?" He retorted, shutting me up. Cheif Lumpy was never known for his intelligence.

"Anyway, I got that data on the killer you wanted." I handed him the documents, getting a confused expression in return. "On the case?" I added, trying to give him a hint. He just stared into nothingness. "God dammit Lumps, the damn murder case you sent me to work on!?" Lumpy seemed to understand, but then dropped his expression back into idiocy.

"So what'd ya find out Max?" He started, calling me his dogs name again. I just ignored it.

"The witness gave me all the details on the assailant, here in these files are physical descriptions of him." I made gestures to the folder I handed him earlier.

"Right, so when do we catch the criminal?!"

"..."

"Whoops, I forgot about my burrito in the agency microwave!"

I walked by Lumpy and headed to my office. I sat in the chair and began looking over the documents and researched on my computer. "Let's see... green beret?" My mind instantly went back to my memories of the Green Berets. They were supposed to be highly trained in hand to hand combat as well as agility, strength, and knowledge of all kinds of weaponry. If this murderer turned out to really be a green beret soldier, then I was properly fucked. I kicked on my radio to my favorite station and kicked my feet up on the table.

On that day, when you need your

brothers and sisters to care

I'll be right here

Citizen Soldiers

Holding the line for the ones that we guide

from the dark of despair

Standing on guard for the ones that we shelter

We'll always be ready

Because we will always be there

The song made me bang my head a little, but the lyrics made me stop to think a little. You gotta love those kinds of songs. I continued my research on the military veteran. I kept looking until finally a name surfaced with all the details I needed.

"Flippy..."

The page gave me a full explaination of this guy. He was a veteran of war and had seen all kinds of combat and death. He was as Shifty said, a sargeant of a military battalion before his team was murdered. He had records of being captured, attacked, nearly killed, having killed, having witnessed his comrades fall, pretty much the dark side of war.

"Shit, and I thought I had it bad."

There was a knock on the door, and then a door opened. I swear no one believes in privacy or at least in waiting for me to say 'come in'. One of the other agents entered, a white lynx with long flowing black hair. She was wearing her usual ripped clothing and big boots, a natural punk. "Hey D. How's it hanging?" I looked up from the monitor and nodded at her. "What's up Pandora?" I replied. She sat at the edge of my desk with a leg over the other. "Not much, you?"

"Got a hot case to work on." My eyes narrowed, I didn't really take to her ass on my table.

"Ooh, Lumpy said you were working on something juicy! So what happened? Who died? Who's the killer?" My god, I wanted to strangle her. I turned the computer monitor to her, she nearly knocked me out of my chair trying to see.

"Uh-oh. A military soldier?" She actually sounded surprised.

"Not just a soldier, a sargeant of a battalion from the Green Berets." I handed her the documents of the case.

"Uh-huh. So this guy could kick your ass badly?" She kept on giggling, yet there was no red fucking bow on her head. Why god, WHY?!

"Pretty much. He's a criminal though, so we have to take him under custody."

"Good luck with that one D-man. I ain't touching that with any pole."

"Thank you. Very much." I tried to hide my sarcasm, but to no avail.

"Bye-bye! Just checkin' on ya." She bounced out of the room.

I continued looking at the page of information. Apparently, this Flippy guy lives out of the town limits. Which meant I actually had to travel to reach him. I turned the radio up a bit to hear my favorite song. I did a drum beat on the desk to it.Afterwhich though, someone started yelling to shut it off.I turned down the volume a bit and stared at a picture on the screen.

"Flippy..."

I felt a sense of foreboding...