Disclaimer: "Happy Tree Friends" is a copyright of Mondo Media
[…stupid writer's block…]
Happy Tree Friends: Camp Sanguine
Chapter 24 – Out Of Body
"Flippy, come on!"
Said teen soldier looked up and saw his sister wave at him from the sandy shore; ocean waves rose and crashed in the background. It's been a week since his return from military school and he was glad he got to spend time with his family again, especially with his part-albino twin. A grin spread across his face and he ran after her, laughing like a little boy.
As expected, Moonlight turned and sprinted towards the water as her brother gave chase; the two splashed around and sent water droplets spraying in every direction. Captain and Starlight smiled heartily as they watched the teens have the time of their lives, being livelier than when they were much younger and before they sent their son away.
Neither noticed Flippy and Moonlight wading farther and farther into the ocean, but it didn't matter as they could swim quite well. But all that changed when a gigantic wave slowly rose up and towered over them like a watery blue wall…
SPLASH!
Flippy felt heavily disoriented as he spun dizzily underwater, barely registering his name being called; he eventually passed out, his body rising to the surface as his vision faded away…
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…light-headed…freezing cold…
Flippy opened his eyes, blinking and squinting as they adjusted to the bright blue he could only see. He vaguely wondered where he was and what had happened, his mind floating in and out of consciousness. His initial thought was that he was outside staring at the morning sky, but it quickly vanished as a familiar face obstructed his vision.
"They got you too, huh…" Splendid mumbled, his lips fixed in a small frown. Flippy's eyes widened as he recalled what he went through – being tied down, helpless and abused; tortured slowly and painfully as his body was mutilated and his organs yanked out while he whimpered, sobbed and screamed bloody murder. But what made his already-cold body colder than usual was that particular scene…
Demons Nutty and Flaky…making out and being [sort of] lovey-dovey while he watched…it was almost too much for him to bear then and even now.
"Flaky!" the teen soldier suddenly screamed, attempting to stand and yelping as he flipped himself upside down – it took a while for him to realize he was floating, not lying down. "It takes some getting used to," Splendid explained as he righted Flippy up, "But I have to admit – being a trapped soul sucks ass."
"You better get used to it. You're going to be stuck here for all eternity."
Flippy turned to the sound and saw himself standing outside the Soul Cylinder…or to be more specific, a demon possessing his body. "This is perfect – there ought to be more teenage soldiers like you," Possessed Flippy snickered, checking himself out, "The moment I got into this body I felt great! You got plenty of stamina for someone so young."
"Why are you doing this to us!" Flippy demanded, his ghostly fists barely making any noise as he pounded them angrily on the glass. "You have no idea how long we had waited for this day…" Possessed Flippy calmly answered despite Soul Flippy's outburst, "This is still our original land, you see – why should you lock us away from home?"
Soul Flippy stopped, his mind slowly piecing the puzzle into place – the campgrounds being the original site for holding demonic rituals; the construction of Happy Orchard Asylum and Sniffles' theory of the staff's unorthodox behavior which led to its demise two centuries later; Camp Sanguine and the unexplained events since their arrival.
He then recalled the 'Blood Oath' ritual and figured that Pop (and possibly the rest of the camp staff) actually knew the history of this land and got the campers to do their bidding; all the while trying to calm the demons. He should've realized that when they mentioned they were 'made immortal' while on the campgrounds that this was no peculiar camp activity.
"That's right," Possessed Flippy snickered, "We didn't like having trespassers on our land, so we had to do everything we could to make you leave…but you wouldn't heed our warnings." He continued, voice lowering into a growl, "We even had the past souls ask you to step off, but you foolish mortals ignored them and believed they were just dreams."
The teen solider already knew the rest of the story – his sister's accidental opening of Hell's Gate and setting the demons loose; the possessions and the near-death experiences caused by the Seven Deadly Demons. Not to mention their biggest mistake of trying to banish and re-seal the demons before noticing the warning at the end of the incantation, causing them to land in this mess.
"…and now that we got you where we wanted, we can begin the ritual that had been abruptly stopped all those centuries ago," Possessed Flippy added, smiling with glee, "I'm sure you probably have an idea what it is."
The moment Soul Flippy noticed the worrisome look on Splendid's face, he looked around and noticed something – the girls were gone. "We needed fresh and 'juicy' souls, of course – they were the perfect candidates," Possessed Flippy sneered, "Our Master will have so much fun with them and their bodies, if you know what I mean~!"
"No! You can't!" Soul Flippy demanded, tears brimming in his ghostly eyes as Possessed Flippy snickered. "Those girls will be Master's slaves and a new race will be born from them," the latter continued, "And there's nothing you can do about it." He then turned and walked away, leaving Soul Flippy to throw a temper tantrum while ignoring Splendid's attempts to calm him.
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Meanwhile on the surface, at the campfire site…
"Do I really have to? I like this body…" Demon Flaky whined. "Pride, we need that body – you know Master wouldn't be pleased if he only got half the deal," Possessed Mole calmly argued, earning a frustrated sigh from said demon. "Fine…" it growled, leaving Flaky's body and possessing Splendid's; stepped forward and chained the now-frightened red-haired girl to a massive altar.
"Ugh…I'm not making out with you," Demon Nutty commented, making a face. "Shut up, Lust! I wasn't planning to," Demon Splendid snarled, glaring daggers at him, "Need I remind you that you are way lower than me?"
"You can skin him later, Pride…" Demon Splendont intervened. "Wrath, every time you mentioned that it was you who want to do it – being the angry demon you are," Demon Splendid snickered, "Not that I'm complaining, of course."
"And if you do, give it to me. I had his body as a sumptuous snack before and it was so delicious," Demon Disco Bear (Gluttony) commented, ignoring the disgusted/shocked look on Demon Nutty's face.
"No way! We should totally sell it off for big bucks," Demons Lifty and Shifty (Greed) argued, their mind only focused on money.
"Why can't I get anything good…" Demon Toothy (Envy) muttered as he stood next to a napping Demon Mime (Sloth).
While the Seven Deadly Demons talked, the girls – who just had their souls returned to their respectful bodies – frantically struggled to free themselves. They had just gotten their purpose explained since being taken out from the Soul Cylinder and it doesn't help that they're forced to dress in 'ritualistic attire'…if one counts black leather halter tops and miniskirts (minus underwear) as a mandatory uniform.
"I don't want to die…I don't want to die…" Lammy chanted. "We're not going to die – we're going to be slaves to some perverted Master Demon," Flaky whimpered, already detesting the idea.
"But I don't want to be raped!" Petunia whined. "Nobody does, okay! So we have to get off this thing before it happens!" Giggles hissed, trying to snap her friend back to her senses when she herself is slowly losing hers.
Moonlight stayed silent, knowing the only way out of this mess is locked away underground and she felt there's no hope left for them; looked up and noticed Demon Splendid looking down at her. She knew it wasn't her boyfriend at the moment and was about to tell him to back off when she gasped, feeling his fingers between her spread legs.
"If you live through this, I'll ask Master if I could keep you in my personal chambers…" he whispered, pulling his digits out and licking her juices, smirking as he noticed slight arousal in the part-albino's ocean-blue orbs.
"Girl, this is not the Splendid we know…" Eclipse reminded, frowning as Moonlight sniffled and looked away, knowing her pain.
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Back underground…
Flippy had just calmed down and was now curled up in a corner, feeling sorry for himself. He felt that it was his fault for ignoring all the obvious signs and landing everyone in this predicament.
"There must be something we could do," Cuddles thought out loud. "But what can we do? We're just helpless shitty ghosts that float around doing nothing!" Handy complained, letting out a frustrated growl as he pounded the glass walls with his ghostly stumps.
Ignoring the arguing pair, Splendid floated down to Flippy and sat next to him, sharing the same forlorn look. "It's not your fault, okay? Don't pull yourself down just because we're stuck in here," the blue-haired hero said. He then looked up and saw his red-haired twin floating around aimlessly, eyes closed as though he was asleep…
…and his eyes widened as his brother passed right through the glass wall and out of the Soul Cylinder. "Splendont! You're out!" Splendid yelled, startling his brother awake and alerting the other boys. Said red-haired twin's eyes blinked open and confirmed his surroundings. "Yar! H-How did you…" Russell began, trailing off as Splendont passed in and out with ease.
Flippy snapped out of his gloomy state and once again inspected the carvings in the glass walls; what he discovered near the top of the Soul Cylinder almost made him choke in relieved laughter.
…whoever created this room and etched the sacred carvings made a terrible mistake on one of the symbols – it went unnoticed as it was hidden from plain view and created an invisible hole through which souls can pass through unhindered.
"Looks like we still have a chance after all," Flippy stated, a smirk breaking into his face.
[I decided to check the Legacy Story status for Camp Sanguine and I'm actually amazed it earned 12000+ views on it (surpassing Blood & Fire's 10000+) and it even got the most reviews and alerts – you guys really love this story, don't you?
All I can say is, "Thanks, guys (and girls)!"]