INSaNUTTY Chapter 4

By Lolitafreak88

Nutty was absolutely stunned at what he saw. What he saw was not the gorgeous field of scarecrows, grape vines, fences, bushes of fruit, baskets, or anything resembling the forest. It was... a series of carnival tents and rides. The buttery smell was coming from a popcorn machine just across from where Nutty came out of. The sky was sunny and bright at least, still showing that morning had come. The atmosphere was completely pleasant and enthusiastic, encouraging Tree Friends to partake in festivities and enjoy themselves. COMPLTELY different from what Nutty had experienced in the mansion. Something was not right about this... The scenery had completely changed, as though this was the original setting. Nutty had walked through a forest and climbed over a fence hadn't he? Nutty wondered if he really had been dreaming about the whole thing and had finally woke up. But... the torture he had suffered from Mime, Sniffles, Flaky, and Giggles seemed so real... And he had felt empowered for a brief time when he had studied the grimoire of magic and he also was still holding onto Handy's hard hat. Wasn't that enough proof? Although Handy could be dead at this rate, considering all that went down.

Nutty was now slightly afraid to look behind him, considering what this carnival scenery meant to him. It meant that the place he had crossed to get to the mansion had not existed or had completely changed. Of course, since Mime had been defeated, there was a chance that it had been an illusion created by Mime to make it seem more fantastical and less suspicious than it really was but if that was the case, wouldn't there have been some sign of it being an illusion. The funnel cake and buttery smell from earlier must've been clues of where he actually was. But was it all in his head or did he really live through such a horrible experience? Nutty turned around at last to confirm this and to his horror, the mansion was completely gone. Instead it was a purple tent and next to it was a sign that said 'Mime's Arcanum', like the invitation he received. That's why the purple curtains stood out so much, Nutty reasoned. But then this meant that the mansion and its interior didn't exist either. Though the name of it was real at the very least. Nutty shuddered in fear and also some doubt within himself. This was actually quite scary if you thought about it. This whole time Nutty was absolutely convinced he was in mansion and was tortured by four corrupt mage versions of four of his dear friends. All the evidence was against this though and he didn't want to look inside either. If the corpses of the four mages were in there when he knew three of them melted and one of them had been made into a milkshake and consumed, then they were killed by Nutty. But it wouldn't of been out of self-defense, but maybe because Nutty had hallucinated that he was in some sort of danger and killed them by accident.

"AHHHHHHHH!" Nutty screamed in horror and sadness at this line of thought. If it was true, Nutty was responsible for innocent Tree Friend's deaths and nothing bad had happened to him at all. He had just let his imagination run wild and done some heartless things. There was no way to prove he had been tortured by magic either, so no one would believe his story. But it had felt so real when he had been strangled and sliced and bitten and broken apart. How could he just take that as just being simply a vivid daydream? Plus, why was Handy's hard hat here? If the field he had found it in had not existed, then this hard hat shouldn't exist either but yet it was there.

"..." It was a lot to process for Nutty. He had never had the thinking ability of Sniffles or some of the other Tree Friends. In fact it was making his head dizzy, or maybe that was from being away from soda for awhile. At least he could confirm one thing, that something DID happen. The question was what exactly happened? Anyways, Nutty decided to focus on finding Handy and return his hard hat to him. That's when he noticed something interesting leaning against the sign that said 'Mime's Arcanum'. It was his scooter! A scooter that he was pretty good at using too, able to catch up to a skateboarding Cuddles on it. Though it's appearance was bittersweet. It once again seemed to point to the fact Nutty had been hallucinating the whole time and did not experience what he felt he experienced. Nutty went over to retrieve it when he suddenly spotted something from afar.

HANDY! It was indeed the amputee beaver. They were heading towards Nutty and they were followed by Disco Bear. Handy looked miserable, he did not have his hard hat on, revealing that he had the same ears as Toothy, just in Handy's color. He must've looked everywhere for it. Petunia was alongside him offering comfort and moral support as a friend. Though she occasionally looked behind her to glare at Disco Bear who was clearly trying to hit on her. He was under the conclusion that Handy might've lost his touch with Petunia without the hard hat and was trying to make his move. Not to be malicious, he just didn't understand that Petunia was still not into him. So he was walking slickly and trying to flirt with her though eventually Petunia finally turned around and started shouting at Disco Bear. Handy continued to walk ahead, feeling very insecure and depressed without his hard hat.

Nutty was now crying tears of happiness. Handy didn't die! He was alive! So that must mean that there never was a previous victim of the mage's cruelty. And that also meant he was alive to accept his hard hat from Nutty. This also meant that the hard hat did exist and wasn't a random toy, it was Handy's. Nutty jumped up and down, laughing through his tears of joy, and then realized he need to grab their attention. It was time to finally return to normal life. He whistled in a way that was designed to sound cheerful and grab anyone's attention. Handy looked up weakly, Petunia turned around in mid-point, and Disco Bear's attention shifted to where the whistle was coming from. Handy's expression brightened tremendously when he saw who it was, Petunia smiled and gasped in surprise, and Disco Bear just looked a bit puzzled. Unlike Handy and Petunia, Disco Bear had no real opinion on Nutty, except that he was addicted to sugar and somehow less heavy than he was. Although he was the first to point out what Nutty had in his hands.

Nutty put the hard hat on his head, got on his scooter and started riding towards Disco Bear, Petunia, and Handy. He looked exciting, adventurous, and with something to give to Handy, like an image of a giver. Handy and Petunia cheered while Disco Bear looked on awe-struck, hoping to pick up something from this display of talent and scooter-riding. Nutty swerved and spun and even grinded on an empty bike rack that was by the entrance to a hall of mirrors, and then he skillfully skidded to a stop right in front of the trio. Handy and Petunia cheered at Nutty's act and Disco Bear actually gave him a dollar. It was a circus fairground after all, so it made only sense to give a donation to a traveling performer. Nutty accepted it happily and then took off the hard hat that had been his only redemption throughout that miserable experience and crowned it on its rightful owner's head. Handy was definitely grateful but then started asking Nutty where he had been, along with Petunia and Disco Bear. That's when Nutty learned the final and most important fact to prove if he was dreaming or not.

He had been missing for several days. No one had seen him or heard from him. Mime, Flaky, Sniffles, and Giggles had been seen around town but not Nutty. Nutty was kept up in that dungeon and tortured, at least in his views, so what if that duration had been longer than what it seemed to him? It had only seemed like it had been a whole night that he had spent as the toy of demonic magic. But what if it had been longer? It wouldn't be hard to believe if they had cast some sort of spell to prolong or quicken the flow of time or maybe simply being in Mime's Arcanum sped the flow of time. It would likely be impossible to figure out what had really happened to Nutty. The realization of this led Nutty to start crying, as he could never know if he had simply went insane or had really been led to a trap.

"WAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Nutty hugged Handy and cried over his shoulder. Petunia showed pity and concern, so did Disco Bear. Handy asked what had happened to Nutty. Nutty retold all the events that had transpired from his point of view. The forest, the invitation, the field, finding Handy's hard hat, the mansion, how the Tree Friends there drugged him, took him to the dungeon, killed him and revived him to replenish their magic, how he found the grimoire and practiced it, how he poisoned the meal, how he dueled Mime and won, and how he got out. It was a story worth being put in a collection of fairy tales but yet the way it was said made it seem like it was real life. The three listeners were all equally stunned at how realistic Nutty seemed to view it as. They knew Flaky, Mime, Giggles, and Sniffles would never maliciously hold someone against their will or torture someone like this but what if they really did do that to Nutty? But of course, magic doesn't exist either so that part couldn't be true either could it?

In the end, Handy comforted Nutty, telling him that the worst was over and that he was glad to have him back. Petunia agreed and Disco Bear hesitated for a moment before a sharp nudge from Petunia got him to agree. Nutty was definitely very grateful for this. To have Tree Friends who understood him, who did not treat him like a toy and who accepted him and his ideas, even if they were a bit out there. So the four Tree Friends pledged to spend the rest of the day at the fairground and off they went. What was still unsolved and would likely continue to remain unsolved though was if what happened to Nutty actually did happen. It seemed like it would remain a matter of interpretation. As the screen fades, it closes in on a "Missing Tree Friend" poster with Nutty's image on it. Then it is over.

"To see a thing clearly in the mind makes it begin to take form."

And with that INSaNUTTY is done! :D And this will be my last Fan-fiction update until Sunday when I get back from my fabulous trip to Chicago! So yeah this story is designed to be kind of a story where you don't know for sure if what happened to Nutty was true or didn't happen. It becomes a matter of symbolism and reading the events carefully and deciding for yourself what's true and what isn't. I would like to apologize if this story hasn't been very interesting, or if the conclusion isn't satisfying, it's just an idea I came up with and I am rather tired from preparing for Chicago so I sincerely hope you enjoy it. As usual I take no ownership of copyright and all the rights belong respectfully and eloquently to Mondo Media and Happy Tree Friends. See you chicas! I'm off to Chicago! :D