First of all, I just want to thank all of the fans who've put up with my crap and are still reading this fic (I'm so sorry ) I really don't mean to take forever, but I've only just now had a crap-ton of time to spend writing this fic, and luckily I still have the knack so things are going well. The story's gonna start developing a bit more... I can see the end, now.

I was so surprised when I saw they re-did the website, but I kind of like its new style. It takes a bit of getting used to, though... Ah well, I'll make the best. XD

Once again, thank you for still reading, and I hope the end of this fic won't disappointed any of you lovely people.

Please, read and review. But most of all, enjoy. ;) I present to you Chapter 19 of Blissfully Ill.

Chapter 19

Evil was so surprised…

It was an understatement to say…

Words… couldn't describe…

No. Just… Just no.

She was crying, and that much was plain. Here Evil was, angry and growling, his fists having hit the table just before her, and she was crying. Her fat, wet tears rolled down her cheeks and soaked into her fur, making dark tracks of water line the sides of her face. She was staring at him with wide, pinkish eyes and holding a hand in front of her mouth and nose. Now the tears were pooling beneath her on the table, making damp sounds as they landed.

Evil was at a loss. He was still upset, but it wasn't anger as much as it was irritation; why was he irritated anyway? With her crying or his own anger? It was really hard to tell – what was he supposed to do now, anyway, with her crying like that? Did he tell her to stop? Was he supposed to comfort her? Evil didn't know how to handle women, let alone terrified, overstressed porcupines. How in the world was he supposed to respond to this?

He started by slowly bringing his fists away, forcing them to uncurl and then taking a seat on the floor in front of Flaky. She'd closed her eyes now, burying her face in her hands as she wept. Her tears were flooding between her fingers and leaving stains on the wood of the table.

"Eh…" Evil frowned deeply, a growl humming in his throat. Unconsciously he lifted one of his dog tags and began chewing on it. His teeth rested nicely against the impressions already made on its metal surface.

He didn't say anything, but the sound of his gnawing drew Flaky's attention. The porcupine stopped crying for a moment, reducing her tears to small sniffles, and peaked through her hands to look at Evil. "W-what… What are you d-d-doing?"

Evil took the piece of metal from his mouth. "Dog tag."

"Oh…"

It was quiet again, but not for long before Evil said, "If you won't go I guess that's fine, but someone's got to get more food."

"I won't go," Flaky told him in a shaky breath. "Not out there."

Evil stood. He stretched, patting the knife at his waist. "I'll go then."

Flaky didn't say anything. Evil glanced at her worriedly and turned, glancing toward the entrance. One of the doors had fallen off its hinges with the force of the creature's escape. He frowned. Handy would have to fix that soon, or else more cold air would get in. "Get Handy to fix the door."

After waiting for an answer and not getting one, Evil growled and snapped around to look at the porcupine. "Listen, the least you could do is answer me-"

He paused. Flaky's head was resting in her arms, and she'd fallen asleep. Evil paused, his face fell, and he sighed, dropping his previous anger and choosing to grab her blanket from the floor and drape it over her shaking body.

XxXx

Flaky awoke to a torrent of cool air. She shivered and slowly untangled her arms, rubbing her eyes and glancing around. Sleep softened her vision, but she realized quickly that she was in the kitchen downstairs. Beyond the kitchen doorway was the hospital entrance, and she sighed, seeing that the front door was broken.

Handy'll have to… fix that…

Flaky yawned and forced herself to stand up, though the call for sleep was strong and lulling. She blinked at the blanket wrapped around her shoulders. Had Flippy done that…? No, Evil was the one she'd been talking to. As Flaky examined the kitchen, slowly moving toward the stairs, she remembered what had happened only a few hours ago (as far as she could guess). He'd wanted to go out and she refused. Flaky sighed, halting halfway up the stairs. She leaned against the wall and railing, allowing tears to slip past her lids once more. It wasn't that she didn't want to go, but she just… Not after what happened, after that feeling. She didn't want to be that Flaky again.

Slowly, Flaky slid down to the ground, her eyes drooping. She was so tired… She'd gotten a bit of sleep the night before, but not enough to make up for all the hours lost. The cold coming from outside wasn't helping much either. But she couldn't sleep… on the stairs…

Flaky sighed, giving up on her fight. She couldn't help it, her body was too exhausted. The blanket slipped as Flaky's body un-tensed, fluttering down a few of the steps. Mmm… Sleep sounded so nice…

"Flaky? Flaky, wake up!"

Flaky blinked grumpily as she was shaken, and pushed her hands out, trying to drive the aggressor away and find the soft haze of sleep again. "Leave me alone…"

"No, Flaky, wake up. You're freezing…"

Flippy wasn't wearing a shirt, and the softness of his belly fur brought Flaky back from her mind fog. She opened her eyes fully, taking in the bear before her. His neck and ears were wet, dripping – he must have taken a shower. He had a towel wrapped around his shoulders as well. The bear was shivering, yet as Flaky took in the tiny ice crystals sticking to the ends of her eyelashes and chest fur, she didn't feel any colder than before.

"I'm not cold…" Flaky said, and allowed Flippy to help her stand. Her legs had fallen asleep. Flaky whimpered and Flippy grabbed onto her waist, practically carrying her downstairs and back into the kitchen.

The front door was still broken, letting in plumes of ice and snow. Flippy growled, settling Flaky at the nearest table, and turned to go back upstairs. "I'll get Handy. He's asleep, but he's not feeling half as bad as the others. He-" Flippy paused, leaning against the wall and letting out a loud, grating cough. It lasted about three seconds, and he thumped his chest afterward, trying to get rid of the pain in his throat. Flaky waited for him to finish his sentence, but he continued up the stairs without another word.

Time passed. Flaky drifted in and out of sleep, only waking up when the sounds of Handy's hammer or him cursing grew too loud, and Flippy always silenced him as swiftly as possible. It was sunset by the time Flaky woke again, and she'd been left in the kitchen. Flippy gave her another blanket and had propped her head up with a pillow from her room. The porcupine sighed, silently thanking him and snuggling against the pillow.

It took a few moments for Flaky to realize that something felt different. Groaning as she sat up, the female twisted around and her eyes widened. "He made a fire?"

It seemed Flippy realized that even with a second blanket Flaky wouldn't be warm enough (she doubted he would be able to carry her upstairs) and had used some kind of tool to remove kitchen tiles and dig a hole into the ground. A smile fire was crackling in the center, wavering in height and warmth like a heartbeat.

Flaky sighed in restrained delight, carefully sliding off of her seat and over to the edge of the fireplace. Now the light was orange, flickering in the tiny smolders and sending off wavering breathes of heat. Flaky frowned, watching as the flames gradually died down. It would go out soon. Flaky whimpered and looked around. Wasn't there a lighter around here? What had Flippy used to start the fire?

Flaky noticed two rocks sitting nearby and guessed that the war veteran had done things the old fashion way. Sighing, she spent a few minutes rummaging around the kitchen in search of a lighter or anything else that might help. She found nothing.

The fire was almost gone, and its light was beginning to shrink, leaving corners of the room shrouded. Flaky suddenly began to panic. She'd missed real warmth, having been without the heater for more than a few days. The smothering warmth of sleep had been comforting, but the fire had woken Flaky up and she'd missed heat like that. The idea of it going out and being unable to relight it was unpleasant.

Flaky sat down again and attempted to clear her mind. There had to be some other source of fire so she could keep the fire going. If she did, she could have Handy and Flippy enlarge the hole tomorrow, so that maybe the heat would help to warm up the rest of the tree. If not, maybe she could bring everyone to sleep on the bottom floors… There might not be enough room for them all, though. Also, living in a tree there was the possibility of a fire. Flaky closed her eyes, sighing. It would be so much easier if she didn't have to think of it all herself. She hoped Sniffles would wake up soon so she could ask him for some help…

An idea presented itself. The porcupine thought about it, but there wasn't much of a chance it would work. If Lumpy's truck was still here (and it was), there might be some kind of lighter in there.

I'd have to get some thicker clothes, Flaky thought. She stood and walked into the hallway. There were a few closets with old patient dresses and a few of Sniffles' doctor robes. Flaky grabbed a few of the robes and put them on over her sleeping clothes. They were still letting in a bit of cold, but if she tied both blankets around her she'd be warm enough.

Flaky got ready, tying the lightest blanket about her neck like a cape (she allowed herself a hesitant moment of childishness, running around and twirling, happy to allow herself a few selfish seconds to herself) and held the thickest about her shoulders as she carefully opened the newly fixed glass door and stepped outside.

Thank god she had boots on; the snow, already more than four inches deep, had a layer of ice coating it, and Flaky was actually able to stand on it for a few seconds if she balanced her weight before the layer cracked and the snow engulfed her heels. There wasn't any snow, but it was windy and the wind drove icicles into Flaky's hair and eyes. She lifted the blanket to protect her face and continued on, rounding the base of the tree and to the side.

The sun was setting, but there was still a bit of light outside, though it was fading swiftly. Flaky hurriedly made her way to the truck. She'd located Lumpy's keys before going out, and now unopened the driver's door, climbing in and shutting the door behind her to keep out the cold.

Shivering, Flaky tossed aside her larger blanket and rested for a moment. There were bits of ice glittering on the fur of her face hands, and Flaky stroked her tail in an attempt to warm it up.

After that Flaky began searching. She checked the glove compartment and between and underneath the seats first, then crawled onto her knees and checked the seats and floor behind her. There were pieces of paper as well as bits of food, but Flaky couldn't find anything that would help, not even a cigarette lighter attached to the truck. Flaky frowned, forcing herself not to start crying. She had to calm down. It wasn't even that big a deal. She would survive until morning, when Flippy would start another fire. She'd just have to make it through the rest of…

Flaky paused in her train of thought; she backed into the passenger seat and onto her blanket, holding one end close. Wind blew outside, pushing against the car and leaving frost against the windows. It was dark now, and tiny stars were already pushing their light through the velvet darkness.

There it is again, Flaky thought, gripping the leather seat tightly. It felt like a tremor beneath the car. She wanted to get out but a third quiver – it was much stronger than the other two and enough to rattle the car – discouraged her. The red female sat still, waiting for something else to happen.

A sound, thick and muffled like bones breaking. Flaky twisted to look out of the window and was horrified to see a giant crack leading away from the truck and stopping a few feet away. Another rumble shook beneath Flaky, sending her off of the seat and into the dashboard, and she watched as the crack grew in size.

A giant tremor, enough to throw Flaky back against the driver door window and then into the area beneath the dashboard. She groaned, having hit her waist and head, but was thrown out of her area once more when the truck lurched and it's rear fell backwards. Flaky screamed, falling between the two back seats and hitting the small rear window – hard.

Cracks webbed around her body when Flaky opened her eyes again. The truck was almost completely vertical now, half in and half out of the ground. A crater was large and stopped about six feet underground, allowing only the nose of the car visible above ground.

Slowly, Flaky attempted to get onto her knees, but the cracking of glass below her made her hesitate. She glanced upward, and seeing the head of the seat, took a deep breath before quickly going onto her knees, reaching up and grabbing the leather just as the glass beneath her shattered.

She didn't get a good grip and fell back.

Flaky squeaked in pain as her shoulder smashed into the edge of the back of the truck. She quickly rolled onto her back. She gasped and hissed as she felt the tiny pains of glass puncturing skin, and she forced herself to sit up, moving away from the shards with as much caution as possible.

A hallow wind drew the porcupine's attention into the tunnel. The first thing that surprised her was the fact there was a tunnel underground. It was circular – it looked manmade – and after a couple of meters it veered to the left, going deeper underground. Flaky was shaken when she felt a dry, dusty wind expel from the depths like an ancient breath.

She wanted to get out. Now.

Flaky kicked away some of the larger glass shards and was trying to figure out a way to climb back into the truck when a sound caught her attention. The air underground was slightly warmer than above, but now a strange chill was hanging about Flaky's body, and when she turned she saw two glowing red eyes staring at her from the darkness.

As two figures stepped out of the shadows, Flaky cringed, backing away, but something about the creatures made her pause and concentrate. One had green skin, tiny ears and long brown locks blocking out his eyes. It carried a giant wooden club with spikes of ice protruding from the blunt end, and its lazy smile wasn't as menacing as the way it kept slinging the club back and forth. The second was much scarier. It was a giant purple beaver, with oversized teeth and blue-violet eyes. It looked sad, but growled as it slowly approached Flaky.

Though the porcupine was scared, she couldn't help but think she knew these creatures. Something about them gave her an almost nauseous kind of déjà vu.

As they came close enough for Flaky to hear their breathing, the female realized she should probably go back to being scared and try to find a way out. She kicked at more glass and, glancing above her, jumped as high as she could. Her hands were cut by shards of leftover glass, and the first jump failed because one shard broke beneath her weight. Flaky didn't bother resisting the tears but attempted to ignore her pain and try again. She caught the inside of the truck and quickly pulled herself up. She hissed, feeling the glass rake against her stomach as she pulled herself into the vehicle.

She had to climb upward, ignoring the sound of their footsteps as the mysterious creatures came closer. Flaky managed to reach the driver's seat and sat down on the backrest. Licking blood from her hands she reached for the door and pushed. Earth and snow blocked her way, and the metal door refused to budge.

Flaky's forced calm flew out the moment at this. She let out a panicked scream and leaned back against the chair, kicking at the front window. She swore she heard laughter behind her, and her heart stopped when she felt the car shake. She dared to glance behind her and her eyes widened as the green one attempted climbing after her.

Flaky threw her weight at the glass and screamed again, calling for someone, anyone, to help her out. It had started snowing again, and already more than half of the window was covered. She punched the glass, ignoring as the force drove bits of glass further into her skin.

A hand touched her ankle. The porcupine burst into tears.

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