Chapter 10
Know your Enemy
In the small little home that is Flaky's, there was only one sound being emitted: silence. The Stranger stood frozen in the middle of the living room, his right leg limp and his left hand covering the stomach wound on his body, trying to hold back as much blood as possible. His eyes were frantically moving around in a state of panic, and his breaths fast and heavy due to fear and massive blood lost, with no sign of stopping.
One moment, he could hear a cry of horror emitting from Flaky in her bedroom upstairs in her little home. The next, there was nothing. Not a single sound was evident inside the home.
It was as if the house itself was dead.
"Flaky..?" The Stranger spoke softly as he looked up towards the ceiling. "Flaky… are you…?" The Stranger swallowed his throat as his body began to shake violently, stuck in fear at the tragic thought of what lied ahead.
He looked forward, took one deep yet shaky breath, and made a step forward. His right leg kept his movements unsteady, and the terrible pain that laid on his abdomen caused him to drop down on his left knee. He took another deep breath, and look behind him to see his heavy backpack still attached to him. He removed it swiftly, the reduced weight on his body making him feel slightly more comfortable.
The Stranger pushed himself back up and limped forward once more, hopping on his left leg to keep moving. He became weak again as he entered the kitchen, and collapsed his body against the counter, gripping onto the edge of the counter to hold up his body. He kept breathing heavily, and turned his head to the right to see a lone steak knife. Thinking of what could still be in Flaky's bedroom, he grabbed the knife with his right hand, and made a tight grip onto the handle.
He pushed himself away from the counter and turned left to face the stairs that led to the second floor. The Stranger grabbed onto the side railings to keep his body stable, and slowly moved up each step one by one until he reached the hallway on the top floor.
His weak body caught up to him again, and he collapsed onto his left knee again, placing his left hand on the floor to prevent falling over completely. His vision started to blur and he noticed that blood was still dripping out from his coat. He looked up to see at the other end of the hallway and noticed Flaky's door was slightly opened. He was so close.
He gritted his teeth as he pushed himself back up and limped forward again. The Stranger kept his pace and breathed in fast intervals, trying to stay alive just long enough to help Flaky.
The Stranger now stood before the door, and looked through the cracks to see the room was shrouded in darkness, with not a hint of light visible. He took a few deep breaths and pushed the door with his right fist as he held the knife to open the door.
"Flaky… you-"
The Stranger whispered silently until he made a silent gasp to see Flippy on the right side of the bed, kneeling down silently, his Bowie knife lying beside him. The Stranger stood in fear, almost too scared to move forward as it could very well be a trap. But he had to help Flaky, and he took another deep breath to take one step forward.
But then he stopped in his tracks as he noticed something. Looking closely into the darkness, he swore he could see a trail of blood running down the back of Flippy's head. Observing even closer, he could trails of blood running down all across his backside. The Stranger could not make an explanation of how such a thing was possible.
He looked to his left to notice the light switch, and quickly moved over to use his left index finger to give the room some light. Upon activating the lamp that hanged on the ceiling, he looked over and dropped the knife in sheer shock at the sight of death that stood in front of him.
With light now giving the Stranger clear visibility, he could notice how Flippy obtained the huge quantity of small blood trails on his back. His entire body was punctured with red spikes, going straight through every part of him, from his face down to his abdomen. It was highly evident that Flippy was dead.
The Stranger then heard the near silent sound of crying, and walked forward a few steps to notice the body of Flaky… who was still alive.
"FLAKY!"
The Stranger cried loudly, catching Flaky's attention and turning around instantly, her face covered with fear and her eyes shedding multiple tears. As she moved, the body of Flippy moved with her, still attached to the large quills on her back. She screamed loudly to see the dead body attached to her, and cried even more violently.
The Stranger limped over to her and held her by her left shoulder. "Flaky, hold on, j-just face forward a-and I'll get t-this off!" Flaky nodded her head quickly and faced forward. As she did the Stranger's request, the Stranger grabbed onto Flippy's body and used whatever remaining strength he had to pull his body from her. He could hear the sound of organs and flesh shredding open as he pulled Flippy's body off Flaky's quills, and quickly dropped the body onto the floor.
He stared in horror at his dead body. His eyes punctured out, some of his organs hanging as they were pulled from his stomach, and dark-red blue covering him from head to toe.
The Stranger then instantly turned around to see Flaky on her knees, covering her eyes with her red hands to hide the fear and sadness from showing. The Stranger dropped to his knees to meet at her level, and wrapped both his arms around her to bring her body against his. She made a tight grip around his back, and planted her face onto his left shoulder, crying violently in fear. The Stranger rocked her back and forth as he weaved his hands through her quills, trying to hold back his own tears.
"It's okay, it's okay, I'm here now, Flaky. I'm here and no one will hurt you now. I won't leave you. You're safe with me now, Flaky, it's okay… I'll… protect you… now…"
The Stranger began to weaken his grip and his voice started to drop in volume. Flaky stopped crying and pushed herself slowly from the Stranger. She looked down through her tear-filled eyes and gasped at the sight of the Stranger's abdominal wound. The Stranger saw her the shock on her face and looked down to once again notice his wounds. He made a sarcastic chuckle at the sight."
"Oh… t-this? I-it's just… a-another day at… the office. N-nothing that I… that I…"
Flaky grabbed onto the Stranger and dragged his down to lay against the wall. Without asking permission, she unbuttoned his coat and took it straight off his body. Upon removal, she noticed a medium-sized hole on his stomach, with a large pool of blood running out of it at a quick pace. His fur around the wound was dark red from dry blood, and the wound showed no sign of stopping from bleeding.
The Stranger could not hide the fact now that he was bleeding out. He slowly brought his right hand up and pointed down the hallway from Flaky's bedroom. "Med-kit… backpack… downstairs in the living room… go get it for me, Flaky." Flaky nodded her head quickly and ran straight out of her room to retrieve the medical kit.
As he watched her run down the hallway, the Stranger looked over to see the dead body of Flippy, blood still running from the multiple holes across his entire body.
The Stranger chuckled at the sight. "Hey Flippy… how you doing man? You good..? Yeah, I bet you are… being all crazy and everything. Bet you're a real… a real party animal, huh? Bet you're the kind of guy who… would use a cake slicer to cut someone's face off. Yeah… you must be a nice guy to be around." The Stranger coughed heavily and sighed. "Damn it, Flippy! Why… why did you have to make my life turn into even more shit when it's bad enough already? Why can't you be something easier..?"
The Stranger leaned back and looked into the ceiling, his vision starting to see light brighter than usual. "I bet you're just laughing your… your ass off at this, you bastard. Oh yeah, having fun, huh, with your little weapon and shit." The Stranger coughed once more and looked down. "How am… am I going to beat this thing?"
The Stranger suddenly heard the sounds of footsteps, and looked over to see Flaky coming up with the medical kit. She dropped straight in front of him and opened the box swiftly, pulling out a variety of medical equipment ready to be administered onto his body.
The Stranger raised his left hand open, clearly showing the tiny hold on the palm. "You know… what you're doing Flaky?" Flaky nodded her head as she grabbed a needle and some sewing material. The Stranger nodded his head and laid back. "Okay… I trust you."
Flaky began performing the emergency operation onto the Stranger. Despite how painful the operation could have been, the Stranger barely flinched as Flaky sewed up the open wounds, perhaps due to the shock his body was currently in. He looked up and down multiple times, seeing Flaky work immensely fast during the operation, performing the procedure with ease.
After multiple minutes of sewing, applying disinfectant and washing off the dry blood before applying a large supply of medical bandages, Flaky placed the remaining equipment back as the Stranger smiled. "Thank you… Flaky." She turned her head back to face the Stranger, and placed a scared yet happy smile to hear the Stranger's compliment.
She sat down in front of him, and placed her right hand of his left shoulder, watching the Stranger breath slowly. As she kept her hand on his shoulder, the Stranger ran multiple plans through his head, trying to figure out a new plan to deal with such a challenge. But, despite how smart his mind was, he could not think of a single way to stop Flippy's murder spree.
He gritted his teeth in anger. "God damn it! Why did I not listen?! All I thought was this monster was a bluff, and here he is now, a single guy who can fucking kill anything with ease. This one guy, who's nice once then evil the second, is a double whammy. I can't fucking make heads or tails of the guy, and there is nothing that can stop him during a fight!"
The Stranger smashed his fist onto the floorboards. "What's worse is the guy has a fucking invisible restraining order on all of us! That's how he is unbeatable. Thanks to how this world works, if I touch him, he will only come back the next day and kill us all again. So how can you beat this asshole if you can't lay a finger one him?!" He looked down and began to shed a tear. "My plan is to save every person in this world who is trapped into a character's body, and to make them see the truth. Flippy is a person, and thus I must save him. But instead of saving him from danger, I have to save him from himself. But how do I do such a thing if he is invulnerable to physical damage? I can't touch him, so how do I save him from… him?!"
Flaky shook her head, not knowing how to respond to such a question. The Stranger's plan is to save everyone and make them see the truth so he could break the world. Flippy is the last person he must save, but with his murderous personality, it is nearly impossible to save him. But the Stranger kept up with his thought. There is always a way to stop something. There had to be another way.
Perhaps maybe he needed to know his challenge a little bit more. Maybe if he had more info on Flippy, there could be a weakness or hole somewhere that he could use to help him. But he had to discover this himself. He had to go out there and find out what his enemy really was, and find a new way to fight back.
The Stranger shook his head back and forth and came up with the only idea he can make. He looked up to face Flaky with a serious expression. "Flaky, do you happen to know where this guy lives?" Flaky nodded her head without hesitation. The Stranger took a deep breath and tried to get up. "Good. Come on, let's get-"
As he tried to get up, he collapsed over due to the weak energy in his body. Flaky picked his body back up and placed him back against the wall once more. She had a worried look on her face, and shook her head at the Stranger as she said "No."
The Stranger became agitated by her response. "No?!" Flaky continued to shake her head. The Stranger looked down in anger. "Flaky, look. The monster is dead right now. He'll be dead for the remaining time until tomorrow morning. That means his house is empty and we have an opportunity to find out more of this guy. If we wait, he'll come back and kill us again. Flaky, we need to go NOW!"
Flaky just kept shaking her head, and lowered her head, looking straight into the Stranger's eyes. He could see a tiny glint her eye, and could tell she was begging him to stay. She placed both her hands on both his shoulders and gave a slow nod.
The Stranger breathed heavily and shook his head. "Flaky… please don't look at me like that. You… you know I-I don't like it when you look at me like that." Flaky kept the expression and did not move. The Stranger shook his head back and forth quickly until he hit his fist on the floor hard. "GOD DAMN IT, Flaky! Why are you so good at that?!"
Flaky did not smile like she did before with the same remark. The Stranger shed a few tears and took a deep breath. He then quickly looked up with a slight hint of agitation on his face. "Fine! I'll stay now. But tomorrow morning, as soon as we get up, we leave. I mean right we get up, we just go instantly. Bring breakfast on the way or whatever, because we must act now if we want to help this guy. You understand me, Flaky?!" Flaky nodded her head, but still held back a smile.
The Stranger nodded as he forced himself back up again. "Okay, let me just-"He stopped speaking as his body began to fall back on the floor again. But before he could hit the ground with a heavy force, Flaky caught him and brought him back to his feet. She brought his right arm to wrap around her back and helped him move forward. The Stranger made a small grin and nodded his head. "Thanks, Flaky."
Flaky helped carry the Stranger to his room and brought him straight to the side of his small bed. Flaky let the Stranger move the covers himself and slowly laid himself onto the bed. Flaky decided to place the covers gently over his body, and placed both his hands above his chest to give him a comfortable laying position.
The Stranger slowly closed his eyes and looked over at Flaky. "Thanks…" His body relaxed completely and started taking slow breaths. Flaky sat down beside him, just to watch and see he was still okay. Observing for some time, Flaky could see the Stranger cringe and shake in pain, his teeth chattering as he tried to sleep through the pain.
Upset at seeing such a terrible sight, Flaky leaned in to hold onto the Stranger's right hand with her soft and warm hands, and bent over to kiss the Stranger on the forehead. With the sudden touch of her tender lips meeting his forehead, the Stranger began to calm down, and his breaths going at a steady pace once more, no longer cringing in pain.
Flaky sat by his side for a short time, and watched the Stranger fall to a deep slumber.
The autumn breeze was strong this morning, the wind picking up in speed than the weeks before. The air was beginning to become colder, nearly making it impossible to walk out without a coat to keep warm. The start of winter was almost upon Happy Tree Town, and signs pointed to a possible brutal winter… with an incoming chance of death every day.
The bright early morning sun gave light to the world, but was no longer giving significant warmth. Its rays shining through trees and reflecting off the leaf-covered roads. It appeared to be a beautiful morning. But it was only a cover-up for what was about to come.
Coming over a small hill was the Stranger, both his hands in the pockets of his thick leather coat, and walking heavily with light pressure being made on his right leg. He stopped at the top of the hill, and stood strong as he squinted his eyes to observe the area.
His appearance was almost the same state back during his days alone in the alleyways. His face was scarred and bruised, with multiple cuts and lacerations on his skin. His left hand was covered with a thick set of medical bandages, with an even larger set hidden underneath his coat to cover is abdomen. His clothes was stitched up in multiple areas, dawning an appearance which would be better just to buy new clothes. The Stranger felt pain all over, but stood up straight to hide that fact.
Coming up behind him was someone who looked less dreadful. Coming up to stand by his side was Flaky, walking with a nervous smile while wearing… a well-tailored red dress (red seems to be a thing for her). She stood by the Stranger, grasping her right hand on his left arm. The two looked at each other briefly with a smile, and the Stranger looked forward.
"You sure this is the place?"
Down the small incline was a giant log built in the shape of a military barrack. It was constructed well, built with only one-floor in mind but structured perfectly.
Flaky nodded her head, standing by her judgement that this was indeed the location of Flippy. The Stranger took a deep breath and turned to face Flaky. "Flaky… you don't have to do this, you know? I am perfectly capable of finding-"
Flaky looked at the Stranger with a slightly agitated face and tilted her head staring at him. The Stranger shook his head, constantly knowing he can't beat her during a conversation. "Fine… but let's go over the plan just one more time."
Flaky nodded, prepared to be told the plan once more. "Okay, our goal is to gather as much of Flippy's past as possible in hopes to find some sort of weakness that we can use to help him with. There must be a cause for his personality, and we need to find out what. With that said, I suspect there must be a good number of objects or anything in his home to use as evidence or something to aid us. But he won't just let us in and rummage through his stuff, so we need to draw him out. That's where you come in. You called ahead, right?"
Flaky nodded with a serious expression. "Good. So, Flippy is expecting your arrival. You go up to his door, get him out, and you two go on a short walk through the park. While you are distracting him outside, I'll break into his house silently and gather as much evidence I can before he comes back. Once I grab the stuff, you return him back, and we will meet up in another area to discuss Phase 2."
The Stranger looked down at his feet for a short time before bringing his face up to look at Flaky, an expression of worry being noticeable. "Flaky, you sure you want to do this? You're absolutely sure you're okay going into something this dangerous for me?" Flaky smiled and nodded her head without hesitation. The Stranger gave a tiny smirk and let go of her hand. "Okay… go forward and we will begin."
Flaky nodded shortly as she began to walk off. But before she could make it past five feet of distance between her and the Stranger, she heard her name be called. "Flaky!"
Flaky turned around to see the Stranger his left hand out. He brought his hand back and gave a wide smile. "You… you look beautiful."
Flaky's cheeks turn slightly red as she blushed at the Stranger's comment, and gave a tiny smile as she continued walking. Seeing her making her way to Flippy's house, the Stranger look over to see some thick bushes near a large tree. Thinking of taking the stealth approach, and walked over and crouched down by the bushed, hiding his body completely.
He leaned over as he dropped his backpack down. Quickly rummaging through the blue backpack, he pulled out a small pair of binoculars and adjusted the vision to get a clear view at the short distance. Placing them up to his eyes, he could see Flaky knocking at the door of Flippy's house. A few moments later, Flippy came out, smiling widely while wearing a military BDU jacket.
The two nodded their heads as Flippy exited his house. He bent over to move over a rock to reveal a spare key, and used it to lock the door behind. Hiding the key back, the two walked side by side to head towards the park.
"I don't care how much of a nice guy you can be when you're not evil, Flippy. You could be the fucking return of the Messiah and bring peace to the world. But if you make Flaky feel uncomfortable in any form and touch her the wrong way, I swear to God, I will cut your dick off, shove it down your throat, let you choke on it until you die, and stand over your bed every time you respawn to slit your throat so you will never see the light of day again. That is a promise."
The Stranger closed his binoculars furiously and placed them back into their original location. He then brought the backpack over his shoulders once more and proceeded to move to Flippy's home.
Standing on the front steps of Flippy's home, the Stranger bent over to move the same rock Flippy used and found the same spare key. Using it quickly to open the wooden door, he brought the key back underneath the rock and entered the house with second thought.
The Stranger took a few steps inside the house, and closed the door behind him while locking it just to make sure Flippy knew no one would be inside his house. He turned around to get a clear view of his home. It was significantly larger in size than when viewed from the outside, almost as if the outside was just an illusion for what laid inside. It was beautifully decorated, with plenty of fancy decorations on the walls… most of which involved armor and weapons, completely fitting for Flippy.
"Damn, Flippy, whatever pay grade you had in the service, it sure as Hell is better than ours. Thanks America." The Stranger took close observation of his current position, suspecting he was in the living room. Nothing of interest was noticeable. "Well, if I am going to find out what's wrong with this guy, I need to look for anything that could relate to his personality or have dirt on his past. Perhaps the bathroom may hold some secrets… hopefully only in the cabinets."
The Stranger slowly moved through the house, carefully looking around the house for objects that could aid his goal while also admiring the fancy décor Flippy was lucky to possess. On his way to the bathroom, he came across a small display case on a shelf, which was currently housing a sharp Bowie knife still sheathed in its leather case. The Stranger patted his right pocket, but noticed it was empty.
"Shit, I lost my pocket knife back at the carnival mishap." He looked back down at the case and moved his eyes back and forth. "I'm just going to borrow this for a bit. As long as I return in back, it's completely justifiable." The Stranger snickered as he 'borrowed' the knife from the display case, and hid it carefully in his right pocket.
Now satisfied at stealing someone else's property, he proceeded to the bathroom just a short distance away. Entering inside, it was just a usual setup, filled with the average bathroom essentials, and was clear white in color. The Stranger moved towards the medicine cabinet over the sink, and opened it instantly. There was mostly basic medical and bathroom equipment stored inside… except for one bottle that stood out.
"What the hell?" The Stranger reached in and pulled out a small bottle of medical tablets, giving a long title impossible to pronounced, but was still obviously a prescribed medication. "Medication? Well, I knew the guy was insane, but I didn't know he was still taking medication for it. Yeah, seems to be working well on him." The Stranger placed the bottle back and closed the cabinet. "Well, he takes meds for his mind, so he is indeed messed up. But that doesn't explain how. Got to keep looking."
He exited the bathroom and looked around some more, searching room for room in hopes of finding any more evidence. After a short time of walking, he came across a personal office. There was a table filled with a variety of papers, and a couple of drawers on the sides. Curious of what could be found there, the Stranger moved toward the desk and sat down on the revolving chair behind it, which was quite comfortable.
Rolling up to sit directly behind the desk, he moved some papers around to reveal a calendar attached to the top of the desk. "Hmm, some listed events here. What do you have planned, Flippy?" Moving through the dates rather quickly, he found something that stood out. "Therapy session? The guy takes meds AND goes to therapy? What the hell does this guy have that forces him to take therapy?"
Continuing running through the drawers and the top of the desk, he came across an old yellow folder hidden deep in the bottom left drawer. Pulling it out while blowing off some of the dust, he opened it to find a variety of old documents. "Let's see if any of these could lead us to something here." Going through the folder, he noticed most of them were old documents dated years back, as evident by the yellowing color and the older font.
The Stranger then came across something that was very suspicious. "Draft notice?! The poor bastard was drafted?" He took the document out to see his name and other information, declaring he was indeed drafted for war. "Damn, this must have been awful. Being sent to a war he probably did not want anything to be a part of. I'm sorry that happened to you pal, it…"
The Stranger stopped speaking as another document caught his attention instantly. He pulled out a small piece of paper and placed the folder down onto the desk. What he saw gave him a new ideology of Flippy.
"Discharged?! He was given an honorable discharge? Wait… the guy was kicked out during his time in service? Well what the fuck for?! What happened?!" The Stranger placed the document back into the folder and cleaned up the mess that laid on the desk. "So the guy takes meds, has therapy sessions for something mental, forced into war, and was kicked out during his time. Something must have happened over there that caused him to be this way, but what the hell could it be?!"
The Stranger shook his head and got straight back up onto his feet, placing the chair back into its original position. He looked up and nodded his head. "Well, this leaves one last place to search: the master bedroom." The Stranger marched out of Flippy's office quickly and was able to pick out the bedroom in a heartbeat. He opened the door swiftly but carefully to admire the large bedroom.
It did earn the surname 'master,' as this bedroom was just like the rest of the house. Well furnished, neatly arranged, and large in size. The Stranger nodded his head as he took notice of the bedroom, completely shocked by Flippy's excellent choice in interior design.
Shaking his head and getting his mind back into action, he walked into the center of the bedroom and moved his head around slowly to examine the room. He observed every inch of the room, making sure not to miss a single detail, but nothing was popping up that showed possible interest.
The Stranger sighed, thinking this room was of no importance. He then looked over to see the side of the bed was a photograph about a nightstand, with a journal lying next to it. With curiosity filling his mind, he walked towards the nightstand slowly and stopped directly before it. He looked down and picked up the picture frame, and was intrigued and confused at what was inside the frame.
"Who are these guys?" Examining the photo carefully, he noticed a very young Flippy standing with two other figures, one a chameleon and another a mouse with bandages wrapped around his ears. All three were posed together in front of a military tent in a jungle, and were dressed in old-style camo battle fatigues… with a unique company patch on the left top of their shoulders. "Why have I never seen these guys around before? And what does that patch mean?"
He looked beyond the photo he was holding to once again notice an old journal, possible decades old as its cover was tattered and damaged, and paper aged significantly, but still peaked the Stranger's curious mind. Placing the picture frame to its original position, he picked up the journal and sat down on the bed next to him. He removed the strap that kept the journal tied together and took a gander what was written inside.
"I know this is definitely an invasion of privacy, but I'm just helping you out, Flippy. Now, is there anything… in… here…?" The Stranger leaned in closely then backed off as his eyes widen… with a hint of sadness growing inside of him. "My God… this could possibly explain everything. The meds, the forms… and that picture of him and the two others… and now I wish I never took the chance to read this." As he read the journal, his mind began piecing the evidence together in his mind of what happened… to poor Flippy.
Flippy was placing a variety of home essentials inside a dusty duffle bag, his face expressionless as he moved quickly to gather up as much of his stuff in time for work. Getting all of his gear together, he nodded his head proudly and placed the bag over his right shoulder. As he made a determined smile, he turned around to see a tall green female bear, sobbing quietly as she watched Flippy pack up his things.
Flippy walked up to the female bear and gently placed his stuff on the ground before him. "Mom…" Flippy moved in closely to give his mother a tight hug. "Mom, don't cry, please. It's okay, I'll be fine."
Flippy's mother leaned down to give an even tighter hug, still crying slowly as she held him in her arms. "I know… I know…. I just wish… that you didn't have to do this. You shouldn't have to go… I don't want you to go."
Flippy looked up to his mother with a smile. "Mom, you know I can't run from this. My country needs me now, more than ever. My father fought when he was called, and his father fought when he was called-"
"And both of them never returned… they never came back again." She cried for a few minutes, still holding onto Flippy. "Sweetheart, I don't want you to go and never come back… you're so important to me, and I don't want to lose you too."
Flippy was disheartened by his mother's words, but couldn't help but feel sad as well. He himself knew that this war was bad, and wanted just as much as his mother did just to stay out of it. But he had no choice.
He gave his mother one more tight hug, holding back a tear that just wanted to come out. "Mom, you won't lose me. You will never lose me. I will always be with you, no matter where I am. And I will come home again, I promise." He closed his eyes and shed a tear. "I love you, mom, and I will never forget you."
Flippy's mother shed a tear alongside her son. "I love you too…"
"Let's keep moving, ladies, time's wasting! You want to prove yourself that you have the guts to take down the enemy head on without crying like whiny little bitches? Then show me everything you got!"
Inside a military training camp out in the jungles of unknown territory, Flippy was in the middle of a drill session alongside dozens of other drafted Tree Friends. Some were easily prepared, such as Flippy, while others showed clear evidence they could not make the cut. But they had no choice but to suffer through the training, even if it was impossible.
While doing all of their basic drill instructions, along with basic infantry movements and attacks, a tall brown bear wearing a green jacket covered with ribbons and a dark-green beret with the patch 'W.A.R." on the center, was observing the trainees from a tall tower. Next to him was a green squirrel dawning a doctor's uniform, and was holding a clipboard while writing an unknown set of notes.
The brown bear stood determined, and spoke without turning his head. "What about him? Could he be a valuable agent for the cause?"
The squirrel shook his head. "Sir, he may have the highest rankings ever seen from a single recruit, mastering in all fields of weaponry, combat situations, navigations, and practically everything else, I just don't think he is capable of doing this."
The bear turned around with no expression on his face. "Why, doctor? Why can't a perfect cadet like Flippy be incapable of taking this position?"
"Well, looking through background checks, we have a medical history showing his mind to be a tad bit… unstable."
The bear cocked his head to the right, holding his hands behind his back. "How so?"
"Well, sir, it is nothing major in the sense of causing a catastrophe. It's just that he can be… angered easily. There have been a couple of reports of him getting into physical fights with other cadets, but he was always able to back himself off on his own. Still, despite his ability to control himself now, if he goes out into combat and sees what lies on the battlefield, his condition could worsen."
The brown bear shook his head. "Look, condition or not, Alpha Squad is down a member and we need a good recruit who can fulfill the role, and Flippy there is about the best damn cadet to show up in months. If it's fine now, then I see no problem placing him in."
The squirrel acting as the doctor sighed in disbelief, and nodded his head. "Very well, sir. I'll send a form to Command to certify Flippy as a proper candidate for the Weaponized Animal Regiment, and they can ship him off to meet Sneaky and Mouse Ka-boom for future assignment." The squirrel gave a salute to the brown bear, which he addressed back. Both then returned to their proper positions.
"Alright, Alpha Squad, listen up here, because we're only going this over once."
Flippy, Sneaky, and Mouse Ka-boom were sitting on metallic chairs in a dark room, sitting beside an old projector displaying a presentation. At the front of the room holding a large stick was the brown bear from the training camp, and was walking back in forth in a slow march.
"Operation: Tiger Bomb, that's the name of the game here, gentlemen. After a successful scouting run, we have intel that states Tiger General will be meeting up in a secluded bunker in the deep sections of the jungle here," the bear wacked the stick he carried against the wall, displaying a map showing a red circle in the jungle areas. "The job can't be any simpler than this. With minimal enemy activity in the area, Tiger General will be practically be left in the open here. This gives us the perfect opportunity to attack the base stealthily and kill the bastard without wasting a large sum of resources. That said, your mission, Alpha, is to move in from the south and keep a lookout for Tiger General's arrival. When he shows up, it is up to you to carry out the remainder of the job. In short: move in, kill Tiger General, and leave without setting off a major conflict."
The brown bear faced Flippy, who sat eagerly as he paid close attention to the screen. "Flippy, with your skills proven to be excellent during all training exercises, and as our latest agent of W.A.R, I want to see how you can handle a military operation at this caliber. Thus, you will be the Leader during this operation. We look to you now, Flippy, to make this mission a success. You think you got this?"
Flippy jumped to his feet and gave a proud salute. 'Sir, yes, sir!"
The brown bear gave a small smirk and nodded his head. "That's what I like to hear. You have your orders now, Alpha. Make it count. Dismiss."
Sneaky and Mouse Ka-boom got onto their feet, and looked over to Flippy with a smirk. They all gave a quick nod, and moved forward with the mission.
"Alright, I can see the son of a bitch now." Flippy was sitting still with a pair of high-powered binoculars up to his eyes, getting a close and clear view of a tall bunker. Making a complete analysis of the area, Flippy could see a military jeep pull up to the entrance of the bunker, with a tall blue tiger in an officer uniform exiting the passenger seat. Two tiger infantry units gave a salute as Tiger General moved into his bunker, leaving the two to guard the entrance.
Flippy lowered his binoculars and looked behind him. "Sneaky, you go left. Mouse, you go right. Both of you will take out the guards by any means, just as long as they stay dead."
Sneaky moved in closer. "Alright, so what are you going to do?"
Flippy smiled and bent over to pick up a large pizza box. "I'm going to give that Tiger General a special delivery… a sharp one." Flippy nodded his head at his last three words.
Sneaky shook his head. "Flippy, you are always bad at making puns."
Flippy shrugged, and then took his right hand to signal moving forward. All three now took their positions. As Flippy moved in carrying the pizza, he made a small chuckle. "This could not get any easier."
"WE'VE BEEN COMPROMISED! Fall back, I repeat, FALL BACK!"
Flippy was sprinting out of the bunker as a group of tiger infantry units were in pursuit. He was sent into a state of panic, fear, and humiliation, knowing that their compromised position was due to a misfire of throwing a pizza instead of a knife.
Still carrying the knife from before, he looked around angrily and threw the knife. "Eat this you assholes!"
The knife surprisingly missed the group of the tiger infantry units and instead his the wall of the bunker. But upon striking the wall, a splatter of blood occurred. The body of Sneaky then became visible, showing that the knife had punctured his stomach and has now nailed him to the wall.
Flippy stopped running and turned around to see the scene. "OH SHIT! Mouse!" Mouse came out from his cover and noticed the situation. Flippy pointed his hand forward to the group of distracted tigers. "Blow the fuckers up!"
Mouse Ka-boom nodded as he threw the bomb at their direction. The infantry noticed Mouse's attack, and went into a full retreat in multiple directions. As Flippy moved in to pull the knife out of Sneaky, the bomb surprising came back out from the bunker and struck the hands of Mouse Ka-boom, now covered in a sticky cheesy ooze that prevented him from dropping the bomb.
"Hold on Sneaky, I almost got-"
Flippy looked behind him to see Mouse Ka-boom screaming frantically in front of him, holding a bomb strapped to his hands. Flippy went into shock and continued to pull the knife out of Sneaky. With one quick pull, he removed the knife from Sneaky's body, but turned around to see he accidentally sliced open Mouse, causing his body to drop in half.
The bomb in Mouse Ka-boom's hand dropped before his bag of explosives, and Flippy stared in horror. "OH FUC-"
Flippy laid down beside his dead comrades, now being the sole survivor of Alpha Squad. He looked around scared and sadden after seeing his close friends be killed and now lying dead before his eyes. As he stared at their dead bodies, Flippy could hear the sounds of incoming tiger infantry, and looked over to see Sneaky's body having an open hole to enter his body.
Flippy gagged and almost vomited across the ground, and started shedding a few tears. "I'm sorry Sneaky…" He crawled inside Sneaky's dead body, and laid silently as he could hear the sounds of enemy infantry surrounding him, not noticing him within the body of Sneaky.
Maggots began to crawl over Flippy, and blood soaked throughout his body. He started to shake, and his breaths picked up in pace. He closed his eyes as he started to grit his teeth, and yelled inside his mind.
"These fuckers killed my friends. All of them, every fucking one of them, EVERYONE KILLED MY FRIENDS!" He opened his eyes to reveal his new emerald colored retinas. "AND THEY SHALL ALL FUCKING PAY IN THEIR OWN BLOOD!"
Flippy, with one deep and heavy breath, burst out of Sneaky's body, taking his ribcage with him. He looked around at the surprised group of tigers, and laughed evilly as his head shook violently.
"You fuckers want to party?! Then come on, let's fucking party!"
After his final words, a massive killing spree was made, and only organs and body parts remained at the scene.
"Flippy?! Flippy?! Flippy!"
A small squadron consisting of twelve recruits were searching through the jungle. With Alpha Squad absent from Command for over three days, an emergency rescue mission was called and multiple rescue parties were sent, looking for any surviving members.
One member was slightly ahead, holding his rifle up as he searched the brush of bushes and trees. "Agent Flippy, you here? Agent Flippy, do you..?"
The rescue member stopped speaking as he heard a sound of something rustling in the bushes nearby. He moved forward slowly and pushed the leaves on the bush away, revealing Flippy, sitting down and rocking back in forth against a tree.
"Hey, everyone, I found him!" The rescue member waved his hands to his few squad members, beckoning him to come to his position. The rescue member then proceeded to move towards Flippy to assist him. "Agent Flippy, what the hell happen, man? You…"
The rescue member stopped speaking as Flippy instantly moved his face upward, revealing his emerald eyes, razor sharp teeth, and blood stained body. He jumped to his feet, making a devilish laugh.
The rescue member moved back in horror at the sight of Flippy. "Agent Flippy, what the fuck happened to you?! You look like you've been-"
Flippy lunged onto the rescue member, and pushed him onto the ground. The rescue member laid flat on the ground as Flippy placed his right foot onto his neck, pressing it tightly against the struggling rescue member.
"Flippy, I'm not the enemy! I'm-"
Flippy twisted his right foot, cracking the rescue member's neck and killing him instantly. He bent over to grab out the member's large Bowie knife, and admired the beauty of its well-crafted design.
Another rescue member appeared from the nearby bushes with his gun lowered. "Flippy, there you are man, we- what the fuck!" The member looked down instantly to see his dead squad member, and looked up to see Flippy standing over his dead body. A second member came from the bushes and noticed the situation instantly. "Son of a bitch, the guy's fucking in-"
Flippy threw the Bowie knife straight into the throat of the third rescue member, making him gurgle and choke in his own blood. The second member raised his rifle up quickly.
"OPEN FIRE! OPEN-"
Flippy moved onto the second member and viciously attacked him without remorse. After his third kill, he proceeded to kill the remaining members of the rescue party, with loud sounds of gunfire being emitted.
Flippy was led by two doctors into a pure white room, wearing a strait jacket to keep his body locked together. He looked down at his feet sadly, sobbing silently as they placed him down in the corner of the room. They left him without saying a word, and closed the metallic door behind them, locking him in the room with no escape or communication to anyone outside.
The brown bear who led the W.A.R. operations was marching down the hallway of the hospital angrily, moving straight up to the green squirrel doctor who stood in front of Flippy's door. "Doctor, what the fuck happened?!"
The squirrel was not affected by the bear's loud question and faced him seriously. "It's exactly what I warned you about: he went insane."
The brown bear shook his head in anger. "What do you mean?! What happened out there?"
"With all the reports being tied together, your operation to kill Tiger General proved successful but was costly, leaving Flippy the sole survivor."
"They all knew the risks, doctor. There was never any guarantee of a clean victory on any mission."
"I know, and they did too. But I warned you of Flippy's possibility of his mental disability to worsen and could lead to drastic side effects. Well… the death of his comrades on the field in front of his eyes has caused him to become a killing maniac."
The brown bear placed his hands by his side. "So he now kills a bunch of tiger infantry. So-"
"No, sir, it's worse. For some reason, his mind got completely caught up in the traumatizing event, that now he sees everyone as the enemy. If he goes into the rage filled person, he not only aims to kill the enemy, but friendlies as well. He just kills, and does it without remorse on anyone. It took us three rescue squads to subdue him. THREE squads, and he almost eliminated the third one as well."
"Well, can we do anything about it?"
The doctor sighed in disbelief. "Sir, we've tried everything. Medication, therapy sessions, exercises, everything, and none have proved successful. But there's also a problem here. Whenever we treat Flippy, he seems completely fine. He is sane, joyful, friendly, everything, you could swear the guy is the sanest guy in the world. But the moment you break a bottle, he goes into a complete rampage. Looking at it, he is two people in one. Which means whenever we try to treat Flippy, we are treating the wrong guy. Flippy isn't the problem, it's this other side that is. We can do all we can to 'control' his second self, but we can't cure it just through Flippy. But whenever we get his bad side out, it turns to shit." The doctor walked up to the bear and shook his head. "Sir, Flippy is unfit for service in his condition."
The brown bear stared in horror, hearing that his most trusted recruit, who was recruited one day, was now leaving the next. "You sure there is absolutely nothing we can do to help the bastard?"
The squirrel shook his head. "The best thing we can do is send him back home. Letting him stay here will only make him worse. At least when he is sent back home we can pair him up with medical professionals, and he won't have to fear about any signs of war to trigger his second self. That would be the best move, sir."
The brown bear looked down and nodded his head sadly. "I'll send in an honorable discharge request for him, then. I just wished the poor son of a bitch didn't have to suffer like this."
The two nodded their heads and walked off in opposite directions, leaving Flippy to cry violently in the lone white room.
Flippy was wearing his usual battle fatigues, sitting uncomfortably on a blue bus seat heading for home. He looked forward as he laid his old duffle bag on his lap. As he rode on the bus, he looked down to read the discharge papers he received, which gave him the worst feeling of mental pain ever. Knowing that his condition has worsen and was taken to levels to never be respected in the service again nearly killed him. He dishonored his entire family line who served and died, and will be forced to live with it.
But worse, he kept the mental memory of his friends dying in front of him, and he blamed himself for their deaths. He was given a simple mission and he failed miserably, killing his only friends who accepted him.
At least being at home, he could be with the one person who gave the love and affection he always cherished. The bus stopped in front of his home, and he carried his duffle bag and discharge papers with him. He stood in front of his home, and smiled at the sight, knowing he will be reunited with the best person in the world.
He ran up to the door with a smile on his face, and brought his hand to the door handle. But it was locked for some reason. His mother normally never locked the door. He shook his head and grabbed the small spare house key that was hidden underneath a rock and unlocked the door quickly.
He burst into the door with his arms stretched out. "Mom, I'm home!" He waited for a response… but none was given. Flippy stood confused and yelled out again. "Hey, mom, I'm home now!"
He looked around his position, but did not see his mother come from anywhere… nor a single sound heard. He dropped his bag on the floor and walked to the kitchen. "Mom… mom, I'm home now, where are you?" The kitchen was empty, no one was there.
"M-Mom? Mom, where are you?!" Flippy began to panic and made a quick march to the bathroom. "Mom, you in here?! Mom? MOM?!" He opened the bathroom door, she was not there.
"MOM! Mom, I'm home, please come out and speak to me!" He turned around instantly and headed for the office room. "Mom, please talk to me! I need-"
The office room was empty, no sign of his mother. "Mom, please… please, not now, don't do this to me, mom!" He went and ran to the last room he knew to go to. As he ran, tears started to run down his face, whimpering quietly as his mother could not be found.
"Please, mom, please, don't leave me like-"He entered the bedroom. The one last room inside the house.
And she was not there.
"M-mom… mommy… please…"
He dropped to his knees and fell down into a fetal position. He grabbed on himself tightly as he rocked back and forth.
"P-please, mommy, don't leave me now… don't leave me…"
There was never a response.
The Stranger closed the journal, a tear dropping from his right eye. He let out a heavy sigh, shaking his head.
"I'm… I'm sorry, Flippy. I knew you were mad… but I did not know that it was because of this." He opened his backpack that laid beneath him and placed both the journal and photo inside. "It's not his fault. He blames himself… but it was never his fault." He picked up his bag and placed it over his shoulders. "I think that's enough to know about him. I just have to find a way to help him."
Shaking his head one more time, and wiping one last tear from his eye, he walked out of the room, and left the house without looking back.
After a couple of more minutes of waiting, the Stranger could see Flaky and Flippy returning from their small walk through the park. He was glad to see Flaky was alright, with not a single wound visible on her. The Stranger noticed Flippy giving Flaky a tight hug, and the two nodded as they walked in opposite directions.
Flaky walked towards the Stranger's position, already seeing him prepared to go. "So… you two have fun?" The Stranger chuckled a little while Flaky gave a shrug and a smile. She then gestured her hand to him, asking if he did well. The Stranger nodded as he placed his hands by his sides. "Yeah… I know a little bit more of the guy now. Enough to know what the only way to stop him is."
Flaky tilted her head in curiosity, and gestures her hand once more to the Stranger. He sighed as he shook his head. "Going through the entire thing, there is actually nothing truly wrong with the guy. He himself is completely fine, but there's this second him that hides inside him but comes out whenever he is reminded of war. When that second guy does come out, he kills everyone I guess in a way to avenge his friend's death. He isn't killing innocents for fun, he just see's us as the enemy. Because of this second person that lays inside him and only comes out in certain instances, trying to 'cure' him is difficult"
Flaky nodded her head as she listened to the Stranger's explanation. "From what I've seen, they are treating Flippy. The Good Flippy. However, he is not the problem. Thus, giving him medications and therapy doesn't do shit because he's fine already. What we need to deal with is Evil Flippy. He's an entirely different person, and thus, the guy that actually needs treatment. But the only way to communicate with Evil Flippy is by pushing him out directly. This leaves me with a move that is both cliché, stupid, and possibly something that won't work, but is our only shot."
Flaky leaned in to hear the Stranger's new mission. "I need to get Evil Flippy out… and have an intervention with him, somehow make him know what he is doing is wrong, somehow make him realize what he is doing is something he doesn't have to do, or maybe make Good Flippy fight himself to clean him of his problem." Flaky backed off a short distance, shaking her head at the plan. The Stranger sighed. "Flaky, we don't have any other choice. We can't touch him, so the only way to beat him is with words. Talking is our only weapon here, and it's all we got."
Flaky looked down as she let out a heavy sigh, not enjoying the thought that this really was their only plan. To help save Flippy, they had to fight Evil head on… but not with actual weapons, but with words. Communications and making Evil know what he does is wrong and does not need to happen is the only method of attack they have in hopes of helping in. But with a monster like Flippy who is unpredictable in every way, and a second-personality so monstrous that it would be idiotic to even think of fighting, do they really have a shot?
The Stranger shook his head and looked up to the sky. "I have only one plan to try out on this guy. One plan. And if this one doesn't work… God help us all."