Disclaimer: "Happy Tree Friends" is a copyright of Mondo Media

Happy Tree Friends: Camp Sanguine

Chapter 03 – First Encounter

Next day, 7am sharp…

Some of the boys groaned sleepily as the trumpet sounded its usual 'wake-up' call; a few put pillows over their heads in a futile attempt to drown out the noise. Russell was the first to sit up and stretch, his hook almost leaving another scratch on the wall beside him; climbed down and realized Flippy's bunk was already empty. In fact, it looked as though he never slept in last night.

'Where'd he go?' he wondered as he glanced around the cabin while the rest of them woke up. "Yar, has anybody seen Flippy?" the teen pirate asked as he began polishing his hooked hand and adjusted his eye-patch. "I'm right here," the teen soldier replied as he exited the bathroom, yawning sleepily and scratching his head; explained he had already been awake an hour before the trumpet call.

"What were you doing then?" Disco Bear teased as he fluffed up his orange afro, "Spying on the ladies next door~?" He was answered by a sharp slap to the head, courtesy of Cuddles who told him he's not the kind of guy who'd do that. "But I have to admit – you did act funny talking to Flaky yesterday," he blond added. "N-No, I didn't!" Flippy stuttered as he blushed slightly.

"I don't care if you're a soldier or not," Nutty growled as he stared angrily, "But stay away from my 'Cherry Lollipop'!" And with that, he stomped off to the bathroom. Flippy was incredulous as he asked if the hyperactive teen was really Flaky's boyfriend.

"Yep, they were…" Lifty replied. "They broke up after two months – she couldn't stand him," Shifty continued for him. His brother asked how he knew that. "She told me herself – poor kid got hurt the most, though," the fedora-wearing teen answered, "She also told me not to tell anyone about it."

Mime then began signing to them – Sniffles (using a translator he had managed to build yesterday) translated that Mime knew that as well and was actually sorry for her. "Actually, you were eavesdropping – you're so quiet nobody will know until they see you sneak up on them," Toothy explained, chuckling as Mime 'pretended' to laugh nervously.

"I could use a little help here," Handy requested as he attempted to pull on a clean white T-shirt, apparently failing as he doesn't have any arms; thanked Splendid as he also helped him into his pants and helmet. The blue-haired hero then attempted to awaken his dozing brother; heaved a frustrated sigh as Splendont wouldn't budge.

"Fine…I'll just have the chocolate chip waffles all to myself – and I mean the ones topped with butter and heavy maple syrup," said Splendid, smirking as Splendont suddenly woke up, got out of bed and ran out the door before anyone could blink. "Gets him everytime…" the sky blue-haired teen snickered; laughed as his blood red-haired brother returned and glared at him. "Yeah, very funny…" he grumbled as he made his way to the bathroom.

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"I can't find my bow. I've been looking for it since yesterday!"

"It's right here, silly…"

Petunia giggled as she handed Giggles her red bow clip. Flaky heaved a frustrated sigh as she failed – for the umpteenth time – to get most of the dandruff flakes off her hip-length scarlet hair. "Hey, what's up with her?" Moonlight whispered as she caught Lammy talking to a small pickle. "Schizophrenia," Flaky replied, "She believes the pickle is talking to her."

"Why yes, Mr. Pickles…" they heard her say, "Oh, I had a wonderful night's sleep. How was yours? That's fantastic! Tell me about your dream." Along with her awkward conversation were a series of awes and giggles.

'And I thought mine was bad enough…' Moonlight thought, flinching as her alter-ego giggled evilly. She then regained her composure and began helping Flaky with her dandruff problem, giggling as some of the whitish flakes got stuck on her clothes.

Knock, knock…

"Yes?" Lammy greeted as she opened the door, "Oh…good morning, camp director." Pop returned the greeting and told them their camp cook, Cro Marmot, is unable to work today due to some 'unforeseen circumstances'. "So, if it's alright – would you girls volunteer to be today's young cooks? Lumpy and Mole will be there to assist you," he added.

All the girls agreed…except one. "Fire – remember?" she whispered to Lammy. Pop heard her and (after recalling last night's events) explained they don't use gas cookers due to an accident a couple of years ago. "There's nothing to worry about – trust me," he assured as he patted her on the back while they made their way to the kitchen.

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Flippy heaved a sigh as he watched the red-and-blue twins argue over a seat. "Are you two always like that?" the army-clothed teen asked as they finally calmed down and sat on either side of him. "You should've seen us back home – Dad had to take a sleeping pill every night," said Splendid. "It's your fault he thinks we're too noisy…" Splendont grumbled.

"It was not," Splendid argued. "It was too," his brother countered.

"It was not."

"It was too."

"Not!" the blue hero yelled, standing up from his seat. "Too!" Splendont countered as they met eye-to-eye.

"NOT!"

"TOO!"

"Enough!" Flippy yelled as he banged his fists on the table; both twins huffed and sat back down, angrily folding their arms and facing away from each other. "Man, you guys argue a lot more than us…" Shifty chuckled as he and his brother looked over to them. "Put a sock in it, will you!" Handy yelled over to them as he waved his stubs in frustration, "Nobody asked you anyway!"

Cuddles then pulled him back to his seat, asking him to calm down, leave the twins alone, and enjoy breakfast. "Speaking of which, have you seen Giggles?" the blond asked as he straightened his hood (which oddly had yellow bunny ears stitched onto them). "Petunia said they've taken over kitchen duty for the 'Ice Man'," Handy explained. Disco Bear's once-sleepy eyes suddenly brightened as he thought of 'cornering' the girls while they're at work, but he stayed glued to his seat as he caught a jealous Flippy glaring right at him.

Meanwhile in the kitchen – Giggles and Petunia were setting out the plates and cutlery while Lammy assisted Lumpy with the ingredients. Moonlight breathed a sigh of relief as she handled the cooking while being directed by Mole. "Now use the spatula and flip the pancakes," the blind counselor instructed (while facing the wall), "Do the same to the waffles and French toast."

Plop!

"Oops…" the white-haired teen sighed. "You're doing great!" Mole cheered. They then heard excited chuckling as Nutty entered the kitchen; he saw the dropped pancake and picked it up, stuffing it into his mouth as he left. "He does that every morning – stopping by to 'sample' breakfast," Lumpy explained. "Our favourite 'taste-tester'," Mole added, "Just make sure he doesn't add extra sugar to anything around here."

"Continue what you're doing, Moonlight…" he continued, feeling around blindly until he grasped an oven door, "While I preheat the oven for the cookies." He heard Lumpy excuse himself for some fresh air, but not before searching his pockets for a Zippo lighter; accidentally dropping it as soon as he lit one cigarette.

Mole then yelped as he felt searing heat climb up his pants as flames clung onto the fabric. Moonlight gasped, widening her eyes as she recalled that horrible incident back home…

Moonlight giggled as she read her brother's latest letter, saying he's doing great at military school and he's gotten used to the atmosphere; mentioned he misses everyone and couldn't wait to come home. "Moonlight~!" Starlight called from another room, "Your father and I are heading out to grab some groceries. Turn off the oven when the cake's done, okay?"

"Sure thing!" their blue-eyed daughter replied. But she had forgotten what her mother said and was in her room, writing back to Flippy…when the overpowering smell of gas reached her nostrils. It had gotten stronger the closer she reached the closed kitchen door – smoke was billowing out the bottom. Her foolishness got the better of her as she swung open the door and –

BOOM!

SHRIEK!

"What the?" Toothy wondered out loud as he and some other boys glanced towards the kitchen door – the female campers were screaming their lungs out, their eyes wide and full of fright. "Evacuate!" Lumpy ordered, "We've got a rogue camper!"

As soon as those words left his mouth, a cleaver seemingly appeared out of nowhere and chocked the blue-haired counselor on the head, blood spilling onto the floor as he was killed instantly. "What's going on?" Sniffles asked as he looked up from his laptop; screamed as forks were thrown squarely into his eyes, blinding and killing him almost immediately as he fell and pushed the cutlery further into his brain.

The forks were thrown by Flipqy – he had surfaced the moment he saw blood. Splendid and Splendont noticed the sudden change and tried to restrain him, only to be thrown off by inhuman strength. His golden irises then glanced towards Mime and Russell as they curled together under a table. "Sorry, this table's taken!" Flipqy announced as he lifted it up, smashing it repeatedly over his two victims until they were nothing but mangled bodies.

"Hey…hey…" purred a dark feminine voice. His golden-eyed sister appeared, her friendly smile replaced by an evil grin. She held a blood-dripping cleaver in one hand; Mole's severed head in the other, his face frozen in a silent scream. "We meet again…" said Flipqy as he walked closer.

"Name's Eclipse," she purred as she tossed away the severed head, "I already know about you, Flipqy…" Before either could say anything else, their eyes turned and glared at the red-and-blue twins standing in a fighting pose before them. "I don't know what's going on here, but you guys have to snap out of it right now!" Splendid ordered. "We'd like to see you try," Eclipse teased, licking her bloody cleaver.

Splendont wasted no time and tackled the golden-eyed girl while Splendid took on Flipqy, their strength almost equal to their own. Eclipse roared and shoved off her opponent, screaming wildly as she tried to bring the cleaver down to his face. Splendont then scrunched his eyes, opening them to reveal he's charging red laser within them; unleashed it to the ceiling above him. "Ah!" Eclipse screamed as some concrete crushed and buried her along with the red-haired hero.

"No!" Flipqy roared as he witnessed the scene. His anger kicked up another notch and he began landing punches and kicks towards Splendid, who dodged them expertly and managed to grab hold of one of his fists; threw him over his head and slammed him onto a table, smashing it to pieces. The fight was abruptly stopped as Flaky's frantic scream cut into Flipqy's thoughts, allowing Flippy to regain control of himself.

"Oh no…" the army-clothed teen whined, his grass-green eyes almost brimming with tears as he noticed his bloody hands and the casualties around him. He then turned to Splendid and caught a confused / angry expression on his face. A muffled groan drew their attention to the pile of rubble as Splendont shoved off the debris; carefully pulled out Flippy's unconscious sister. "She's okay – still alive," he reported, "But she may have crushed lungs." He was then led by Pop outside the building, ignoring the stares around him.

Splendid took another glance towards Flippy, his anger dissipating as he watched him sit at a table and bury his face in his hands. "Was that because you were taking psychotherapy?" the blue hero asked, earning a slow and quiet nod. He then walked closer; before he could say anything, Flippy asked him to leave him alone. He glanced up as Pop approached them. "Your sister's fine – she'll be in the Camp Office if you want to see her," he said, "As for everyone else, they'll be fully recovered tomorrow."

The camp director then patted the Flippy's head as he added, "It'll be like it never happened." As he left and ushered the rest of the campers away from the scene, both boys were trying to make sense of what he just said.

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There was a clinic in the back of the Camp Office. Pop was just finished nursing her when Moonlight began to stir. "Ugh…" she groaned, vaguely remembering the dropped lighter and Mole's clothes catching fire. She could hear Splendont's concerned voice as he asked if she would be okay. "Nothing too serious," Pop diagnosed, "But she'll need to take things easy."

Her vision finally cleared; looked up as Flippy walked over. Her smile instantly turned into a frown as she noticed there was blood all over his clothes. "Let's leave the siblings alone," the tan-haired camp director suggested as he led Splendont away from them. "What happened? How did I get here?" Moonlight asked.

As Flippy gave her a full description, Moonlight's frown deepened and she felt like she was about to cry. "I can't remember any of that," she whimpered, "All I remember was seeing flames, and I just blacked out." Her brother gently hugged and rocked her gently, trying not to apply pressure to her bruised body. He then began to sing 'Cuppy Cake' – a lullaby their mother sang to them when they were kids. He smiled as she dozed off and gently laid her down, stroking her hair.

Outside – Pop had a serious expression plastered on his face as he studied the situation. 'These people need help,' he thought, 'And with Lumpy and Mole out of the picture, what'll happen to today's baseball game?'

He then noticed Splendid and Splendont talking to each other, possibly about the 'dining hall incident'. "Hey guys, you like playing baseball?" he called. The twins nodded in agreement. "Here's the deal then: you boys host the game – pick whoever you want on each team – while I have a talk with Flippy and Moonlight. Sounds good?" he added.

"Sure thing, Sir!" the red-and-blue twins agreed. Just as they turned, they were given one last instruction: tell the other campers what they witnessed today was only an accident. "Got it!" they agreed as they ran off.

[I just realized my mistake (before the edit): Lumpy and Mole were already dead and I made them reappear fully revived. My bad…anyway, I fixed it.]