Hm. Chapter 5, then. Sorry for the wait, but I got really sick over the weekend, and I didnt' get much sleep the past two days. I kept waking up coughing. Anyways, here you go. I know that the next few chapters aren't going to be so great (I'm really bad with large groups of people, so I'm going to have to find a way around that...)

/sniffle

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Chapter 5

Nutty raised a hand.

Sniffles tried to hold back a sigh as he answered, "Yes, what is it Nutty?"

The green squirrel almost cut the anteater off in the middle of his sentence, but a quick poke from Toothy helped him to stay quiet until Sniffles was done. Then he was off, "Listen, Sniffles, it's not that I-I-I don't th-th-think I – ack! – It's a good idea a-and all but – oh – when do we get the candy?"

"Nutty, I told you, you won't be getting any candy. We don't know what kind of sickness this is and how fast it will spread and whether or not sugar will affect it at all. In fact, I've noticed that some of us have it worse than others."

"Hm?" Flippy had been listening to the discussion in silence, figuring since they were on Sniffles's turf that he would leave the lecturing to the anteater. He sat up now, standing beside the table where Sniffles was standing. Around them the other Happy Tree Friends were sitting at other tables, eating some of the food Sniffles had available in the kitchen. It wasn't exactly much, and if the anteater wasn't living there, it would have been even less. Flippy was definitely right when he suggested a party going out for more food after the meeting.

"What do you mean it's affecting some more than others?"

"You mean you haven't noticed?" Sniffles gestured to the green bear. "I've noticed that you're one of the worst. You've been coughing and sneezing more and more since you've gotten here. I've also perceived that while Toothy, Pop and Cub and Disco Bear are only a little sickly, Nutty, Lifty, Shifty and I have been in worse condition, the raccoons especially."

"Aw, what, you sayin' we're dirty or somethin'?"

"While that fact is true, no, that's not what I'm saying Lifty. What I mean is that this mysterious illness is completely random and has been afflicting all of us, but for an unknown reason it's more prone to certain people."

"But that doesn't make any sense," Toothy muttered. Sniffles shook his head. "On the contrary, a lot of sicknesses affect people differently. I'm just stumped, since we seemed to have all gotten it at the same time. If the source of the illness is something we're all susceptible to, then that would mean it should be affecting us all correspondingly."

"Are you sure it isn't just the flu or something?" Cuddles asked. He was sitting beside Pop and Cub, hands on the table. His long ears were raised upwards and they made the rabbit look twice as big. "Maybe we all just caught a bug and it hasn't been showing up until now."

"That would be illogical," Sniffles said simply. "We couldn't have all gotten the flu at once. It takes time to spread. No, I suspect that this is another one of Happy Tree Valley's mysteries. For all we know, this could be another epidemic that will cause all of us to eventually die."

"At least it wouldn't be by a chainsaw or a flying pole or anything like that," Toothy said. Cuddles nodded in agreement.

Flippy sat down for a second and then changed his mind, walking over to the refrigerator as the others talked. He didn't particularly like the idea that the illness was hurting some of the friends more potently than others. That meant some would be weak and others still relatively strong. Things never went well with circumstances like that.

But maybe Flippy was overthinking things. He'd never been too good in the field, at least not until his first flip-out. Mostly he was called to recite important information to the squad, to take mental notes and then inform his team of what he learned. He was observant that way. In fact, it was Flippy who came up with most of the attacks against General Tiger, including the last one, which led to the bear's mental damnation and the general's horrific death.

Flippy sighed. He pulled out a water bottle and took a sip. He'd tried time and time again to forget about the war, attempted to banish it from his everyday life, yet it always seemed to worm its way back. It was like he had to compare everything to the war. Why couldn't he ever just relax –

Flippy paused, lowering the water bottle from his lips. His ear twitched. The bear glanced over at the others and saw that Cuddles, Lifty and Shifty seemed to have heard the noise as well. They gave Flippy a look but when the bear was about to dismiss their worry and go check it out another crash sounded.

Now everyone was alert. Flippy made his way out of the kitchen, but the sound of a roaring engine warned him back. He made a gesture to the animals behind him and shouted a command that sounded something like 'take cover'! The Tree Friends fled back into the kitchen just as a giant truck crashed through the wall.

Dust and woodchips exploded forth. Flippy instinctively covered his nose and held his breath, closing his eyes in defense against the flying specks of wood and sand. He could hear the others coughing behind him, and he himself felt another round of harsh coughs building in his chest. He allowed himself to back into the kitchen to find some safe air before he let them rack his body.

It took a few minutes before anyone felt the air clean enough to open their eyes. A huge hole in the side of the tree let in light from outside. The truck shuddered, whined and then slowly grew quiet as the engine shut off. Flippy couldn't see who was behind the front window, but judging by the pointy horns poking through the top of the vehicle, he had a pretty good idea who it might be.

One of the car doors burst open, and Flippy felt everyone else flinch at the sudden movement. The sound of hacking came through the hazy air and in another second a pair of small antlers were visible. In another second Flippy could see Mime's face more clearly as the male deer attempted to pull himself from the truck. His door wasn't able to open all of the way due to the tree, and he had to crawl out the top and onto the roof of the truck before slowly lowering himself onto the ground. Another figure was following him – two, actually, Flippy saw there were four limbs. While the other two creatures attempted to escape, Mime gave them all a quick wave before going over to the other side, possibly to try and release Lumpy from the front seat.

Another motion made Flippy turn, and he could see shapes coming at them from outside the glass door.

"Hey, isn't that Giggles?" Cuddles came to stand beside the bear, squinting his eyes. "Yeah, it is! Giggles is here!" The rabbit bounded over to the door but before he could get close enough to open it, the Mole managed to get out of the car. The lavender mole had eased himself out using his sense of touch, but failed to move onto the roof of the truck and instead fell forward on the rabbit as he passed.

The Mole paused, grunted as he sat up, but didn't remove himself from Cuddles's back. He made a motion like he was looking around and then patted Cuddles's tail. "Hm. Good thing this pillow was here," he said in his deep, quiet voice. Flippy could hear Lifty and Shifty burst into laughter at the sight.

Giggles came in, and behind her were Petunia, Lammy and Flaky. The chipmunk gasped at the sight of the Mole sitting on Cuddles, but squeaked when she noticed the truck protruding from the wall. She took a few steps back, allowing the skunk, lamb and porcupine to get a closer look.

"Oh gosh…"

"What? How did this happen?"

"…"

"Cuddles, are you alright?"

Giggles knelt down beside the rabbit, who's only response was a weak chuckle. The chipmunk gently pushed the Mole off of him and helped the rabbit up.

While Lammy was slowly making her way towards the crowd, Petunia was getting riled up. She made her way over to Mime (who was trying and failing to open the driver door), pushed the deer aside and practically ripped off the door. "Lumpy! I knew it was you!"

Flippy watched in amusement as the female began to wrench Lumpy from his iron prison. For a moment he was completely absorbed in the scene unfolding before him, but a soft touch at his side made him look over.

Flaky was cowering against his arm, her fingers gently touching his fur. She smiled up at him shyly, asking in silence if he minded her close contact. Flippy gave her a smile back. He and Flaky had been good friends for a while, and he didn't mind her shyness at all. The porcupine flinched at Petunia's harsh voice and shuffled closer to his body, watching with him as the skunk finally pulled Lumpy out of the truck, throwing him to the floor at Mime's feet.

"As if things couldn't get any worse," Petunia hissed. She was carful of Lumpy's new, pointy antlers. The moose – if possible – had gotten taller, thicker, and stupider. He only watched as the skunk took hold of the base of one of his antlers and heaved him up onto his bottom. The moose's feet, hands and nose had all gotten larger, with the replacement of toes for hooves. His fur was thicker, shaggier, and Petunia grunted at its weight as she lifted Lumpy and then released him. "As if things couldn't get any worse," she repeated, putting her hands on her hips.

"Hm, that skunk girl sounds angry," the Mole commented, pointing his cane in Petunia's direction. "You should have let me drive," he said, this time looking in Mime's direction. The deer frowned, shrugged, and began making many gestures that no one at the moment cared to try and interpret.

The deer hadn't gone through much major change. He'd gotten taller, as tall as Flippy, and he'd gotten skinner too. Along with his long sleeved shirt, he'd tied one around his waist, much like Flippy had. Lumpy was wearing one of Mime's shirts too. It seemed that the Mole's sweater had been stretched out – it actually reached his knees. Remembering the girls were here, Flippy was relieved Sniffles had forced the raccoon brothers to tie coats around their own waists.

"Will someone help me with this damn door!"

Their attention turned to the passenger door, which the Mole had accidentally kicked closed during his fall. It looked like Handy was in there too. They could see through the mirror now, and it looked like Handy was trapped inside. He was attempting to unlock the door, but his stubby hands would not serve him. Cursing again, he threw down his hands, made a face and then pushed himself back, resorting to kicking at the window with his feet.

"I better help him out before he beaks the window," Petunia said tiredly, dropping Lumpy's antler, causing the moose to lose his balance and fall over onto the ground. Petunia walked up to the opposite door and tapped on the window, making a gesture for Handy to roll down the window. The orange beaver attempted to do so, but his nubby hands would not serve him. Handy's face scrunched up again and he began to attack the window.

"Stop doing that!" Petunia commanded. She pointed to the roller, mouthing the words, 'try it again'.

Handy frowned but did as he was told, and the window rolled down that time, if only by a few inches. Petunia had to push her back against the truck and hold herself up with her legs pushed against the broken tree to get up high enough to stick her hand in. Flippy saw the skunk bend her arm through the gap between the window and with much difficulty, unlock the door.

Petunia untangled herself from the truck. When she was out of the way, Handy shoved the door open and pulled himself out through the top. Fixing his helmet, the beaver nodded to Petunia, looked at the crowd, and then frowned.

"Thank you all; thank you all for leaving us in the hands of Lumpy."

You know, I just now realized how inappropriate Handy's name is...

R&R