Chapter Text
When Flippy was remarkably young, roughly around the age of 4, he had travelled far from his home. Stumbling upon a pack of tigers. Tigers were at war against another group. Not war but they were at battle, both grounds wanted to take over territory. Tiger General had taken Flippy as his own, teaching him everything he knew. He was trained alongside his crewmates. Of course, he was much better than them and beat them in everything. They would often fight and challenge each other.
Flippy needed to fit in, so the tigers tattooed Flippy with a dark leaf, giving him permanent tiger markings along his body.
Sneaky and Kaboom were also raised alongside Flippy, they were a trio and served as spies. Taking down the other group in combat and retrieving whatever they could.
Flippy had been in that jungle, with the tigers and his friends for years, up until his early twenties. When something happened that would change him for years…
Flippy had been eating pizza, all by himself in the tiger general’s cabin. The tigers and generals were out gathering resources. Flippy had stayed behind to look after the place.
The place was…too quiet. Flippy closed his pizza box and got up, looking around the place. After a few minutes, he talked, calling out his buddies’ names. “Sneaky..? Kaboom? Come on guys, you're making me nervous. You know how I get when I'm nervous..” he said, however, there was still no answer.
Flippy gulped, exiting the cabin.
The cabin had been well hidden by vines and leaves. Before leaving he put on his camouflage jacket, and his hat and put a pocket knife in his pocket. As he left, he heard a Russell behind him, quickly turning around, there was…a masked stranger running at him with weapons in his hands.
As he ran at him, flippy got a hold of his weapons before they could harm him. The masked stranger had a look of fear in their eyes. Flippy pushed the stranger to the ground, grabbing his weapons and pinning him down, with the weapons close to his neck. The stranger squirmed around, putting his hands up in defeat. “Woah woah woah, stop stop! Don't kill me!” the stranger yelled. Flippy clenched his teeth as he held the weapons closer. “Reveal yourself vermin!” flippy demands. To which the stranger took their mask off. The stranger was a purple male, with blue eyes and a long snout. The stranger seemed to be a mole spy. Flippy calmed down a little, getting up. As the mole was about to get up, he was stopped by Flippy’s foot, keeping him down. “Why are you here?” Flippy said, looking down at the scared mole spy. “I was sent here by the bear tribe! I need to steal something back that belongs to us” the mole admitted. “Bear tribe?” flippy said, confused. Flippy had not heard about them. The Tiger General had revered the other side as the vermin. Mole replied, hesitantly. “Yes! Yes, the bears..” When Flippy was in combat with the other side, they were always masked. Flippy could never tell what they were. Since when he was in combat..he wasn't exactly himself.
Flippy took a second to think, “What is yours exactly?” flippy put his weapons in his backpack, still holding the mole down. “It's a diamond, a big and beautiful one..it was stolen by the tigers years ago. It's what held our kingdom together. After it was stolen, it all went downhill” Mole explained.
Flippy recalled tiger general talking about a diamond when he was younger, he told the crew about how the vermin had stolen it from him. Flippy didn't know who to believe. Suddenly he heard a noise, quickly he took his foot off him, “leave.” flippy said as he left to go to the cabin.
Mole did so, digging down and leaving in a hurry.
This whole thing seemed off to Flippy, he was being told a completely different story than what the general had told him. He sat down, next to his cold pizza. The Bear tribe? He thought to himself. He was a bear..he started to question if he was from there, maybe he had been born on the other side. And if that was so, then why didn't tiger general just give him back?
He pinched the bridge of his nose, groaning.
As he groaned he felt some of his crew mates walking in, laughing and cracking jokes. He turned to his right, and there next to him was Kaboom. He flinched back, not expecting him. “Heyyy, why so blue?’ Kaboom asked with a slight French accent. “Nothing, nothing I'm just thinking.” He replied, getting up and grabbing his pizza box, making his way to the trash can. As he was about to put it in the trash, a long tongue quickly attached itself to it, pulling it out of Flippy’s hands. He looked the way that the tongue went. “Don't waste food” Sneaky stated as he chewed on cold pizza.
The tigers were talking around the table, putting their bags on the table, bits of stone, tree branches and herbs for healing. However, there wasn't any tiger general to be seen. “Where general?” flippy asked.
A female tiger by the name of Felice replied, “He said he needed to do something a while back. He didn't follow us back here.”
Flippy stood silent, “I'll go look for him, to make sure he's okay.” He announced as he left the room.
After a few hours of searching for the tiger general, he could not find him anywhere. He sighed, sitting down on a chopped-off tree trunk. He looked at the trees, they had claw marks on them that resembled those of a bear. It dawned on him that he was in the bear’s territory.
As he realized that he heard faint talking from afar, in an instinct he hid behind a thick and large tree to not be noticed. Three masked, green bears appeared, their conversation going something like this…
“Those damn tigers! They just can't leave us alone.” A tall and fit bear said aggravated. “They steal our shit, wreck our kingdom and steal our riches!”
“Yeah, sucks.” a feminine voice followed. The fit bear sat down as a younger male bear kicked up sticks from the ground. “The tigers want everything for themselves. Leaving us with nothing. We could just work together and live in peace but no. They’re so goddamn greedy. They even took in one of the bears and raised him to fight against us! His own species!” The loudmouth said, sitting down on the tree trunk.
This answered Flippy’s question from earlier, he did come from the bear tribe. He felt a ton of different emotions. He waited till the bears had left, following them from afar.
He was in the bear tribe’s kingdom. It was covered in vines and there were a bunch of caves around the walls, running water and stacks of food. However, in the middle, there were bits of stone that looked like they had fallen
So it was true. Tiger general had been stolen from the bear tribe. But for what reason? He had to know before jumping to conclusions. He quickly ran away, and after a few miles, he tripped over something. Or someone..as he fell to the ground, he looked back.
It was that mole guy again. The mole rubbed his head, getting up and dusting himself off. Flippy did the same, then grabbed the mole by his black jacket, pulling him towards him. “Tell me, mole. What exactly happened between the tigers and bears? I'm not letting you go till you explain your side of the story.”
The mole was taken aback, of course agreeing.
Night time fell as he started a campfire, cooking some fish for himself and Mole. If he was going to be listening to someone rant about something, he needed to at least be comfortable.
He sat down on the ground, looking at the mole, who was also cooking his raw fish above the fire. There was an awkward silence between them, flippy broke it by clearing his throat, “Ahem.”
“Oh right, right.” the mole said, thinking about how to tell his story. He finally figured something out and began to talk.
“A while ago, the tigers and bears were at peace, they shared their goods. The leader amongst them was a bear, by the name of shadow lord. He does not like being called by his old name.
He alongside had an assistant, by the name of Saber. He and Saber were supposedly good friends. They got along and ruled over the bears and tigers. They lived happily for as long as I could remember.” He paused, “Shadow lord had a diamond, a powerful substance that held his kingdom and palace together. He was much stronger than Saber, saber was jealous of his strength, and how the bears admired him. There was an argument between the two, the shadow lord requested they shared the power equally. Saber hated this idea, he did not want to share the power equally. He wanted all the power to himself.”
Mole took the fish off his stick, taking the head off and chewing on it, once he was finished he continued. “Saber gathered the tigers, arranging an attack on the shadow lord. He of course failed, the bears kicked the tigers out and havoc rained upon the two sides. Having constant fights and battles, killing each other. Because without the diamond holding up the palace, the shadow lord was released, causing the bears to go from happy and cheerful, to spiteful and sour. Shadow lords hired different spies, mostly moles who can dig holes. Saber ended up seceding in a way. He was able to steal the diamond, however, he doesn’t know how to access this power. And if he figures it out, among the hands of someone unworthy…all hell can break loose.” he stopped talking, indicating that he had finished. He then finished eating his fish.
Flippy sat there in silence, unsure of how to process this information. He had been lied to, he had been working on the wrong side. He had been killing his kind for years. Doing the wrong thing.
Flippy sighed, stomping the campfire in a fit of rage. Grabbing onto a tree and tearing it off the ground, roaring in anger as he threw the tree aside. He left without saying a word to the mole. He tried to calm down, walking for hours back to the tigers’ territory. He wanted to shout, he wanted to rip apart tiger general. But could he really do it? Tiger General was like a father to him, a tough loved father. His emotions were scrambled and so out of place.
He finally made it back, crawling into his den. He didn't have the energy to talk to anybody right now.
The next morning he was woken up by the sound of birds, he got up and groaned, walking out of his den and joining sneaky, kaboom and the tigers around the campfire. They were having cooked eggs and rabbit.
He took a rabbit's leg and began to slightly chew on it, he was really out of it, not paying attention to what Kaboom was saying. He was thinking about how he would confront tiger general, and if he would join the bears or not. He didn't want to continue to fight and kill his kind, he was told a false story and believed it for years. Suddenly he was shaken, going back to reality. “FLIPPY!!” kaboom yelled, flippy’s eyes widened “Ahh ahh!? What?!” he yelled back. “I was talking to you!! But I'm guessing you didn't pick up anything I just said!” Kaboom responded, then repeated what he was telling him about.
“Tiger general wants to talk to you, he told us to tell you this morning but you were asleep” he finished talking. “Oh, he's back?” flippy went back to his half-lidded expression. He got up, putting down his rabbit leg and made his way towards the cabin. He took a breath, inhaling and exhaling deeply, before opening the door.
Tiger was waiting for him, a big smile on his face as his hook and hand were together. Flippy felt a pit in his stomach as he approached Tiger, grabbing a seat and sitting down. He was taller than Tiger General, since he's a bear. “You wanted to talk to me, sir?” he asked.
“Yes, yes it's amazing news!” tiger exclaimed, “Flippy, I want you to be by my side. I want you to be in charge if I ever die or am not present. I trust you enough to take charge of the tigers.'' Tiger announced to him. As to which Flippy didn't reply. He nodded, getting up and as he was about to leave tiger general called out to him. “Flippy! I made copies of my keys for you," he said as he placed them down on the table.
Making his way back to the table, he grabbed the keys, said thank you, and then left.
As he walked away he contemplated looking for where tiger general had hidden the diamond. He recalled that tiger general hid it somewhere in his room.
He looked down at his hand, which he had the key to.
A week passed, tiger general, his buddies and the tigers went out for recourses every week.
This was his chance to steal the diamond.
He got the keys, making his way towards tiger general’s small house.
His house was made out of stronger materials than the tigers.
Which lived in dens, that looked more like tree houses. However, they were made of hard dirt, twigs, stone and much more.
He looked through the keys, using every single one till he found one that unlocked his house, he carefully put it in. Quietly closing the door. He inspected the room, it was a small house so upon entering you could see his bed.
Flippy walked around, not seeing any visible boxes. He looked around in his closets and drawers…nothing.
He kept looking for a solid thirty minutes. Before giving up. As he made his way back to the door. A creek under his boots was heard. He stopped in his tracks, looking down as it squeaked once more. He got on one of his knees, pressing down on the wooden plank. Flippy could sense that there was something under tiger general’s floor.
He put his right hand in a fist, roughly hitting around the wood, till a piece poked out. “Ah hah!" he said of accomplishment. “I'm so damn smart” A grin on his face, as he grabbed a small, dusty safe. He pulled it out, sitting crisscrossed apple sauce, the safe had a lock on it, along with a keyhole and a code on the right.
Minutes.
Minutes pass as he tries to unlock the safe. He was down to one key left, would this key unlock it?
Naw.
They groaned in desperation, putting the safe back into the hole.
Then suddenly he remembered that he had his great buddies! He put the plank back and made his way out…
He planned on telling Kaboom and Sneaky what he had found out, he planned to get sneaky to unlock the safe with his tongue..if he could even manage to do that.
Once tiger general, sneaky and kaboom and the tigers were back, he pulled Sneaky and kaboom aside.
Filling them up with the information he had learned, the two didn't believe him at first and thought he was joking.
As Kaboom and sneaky laughed their asses of, flippy had a serious look a pond his face.
“Oh shit you serious” sneaky stopped laughing, while Kaboom was still holding onto his stomach as he continued to laugh.
Sneaky nudged him on the shoulder, as to which kaboom stopped laughing. “Wait wait wait, you're serious?" Kaboom's playful tone dies down.
Flippy nodded, he then explained the plan to the two and how they would wait for the tigers and tiger general to leave so that they would return the diamond to the bears as they deserve.
The two were a bit hesitant, however they didn't really get along with tiger general. So they agreed, not knowing the consequences that would follow because of this.
Mouse kaboom had made an excuse as to why he and sneaky couldn't go with the tigers. To which Tiger General belived.
As the tigers and Tiger General left, sneaky turned to flippy. Nodding at him as they walked to Tiger General’s house.
“Ive never been here before” kaboom stated. “None of us have, unless you're flippy then yea, he's the general's favorite after all” sneaky responded with a chuckle. Flippy rolled his eyes as he put pressure on his foot to find the creek, as he found where the hole was, he hit the floor. A piece of wood stuck out, flippy opened up the floor and put the plank aside, grabbing the safe and putting it on Tiger General’s bed.
Sneaky took a look at the keyhole, he winced. “I can't open this, the hole is too small!" He told Flippy. “Well do any of you know how to pick a lock?"
To response both of them shook their head.
Flippy groaned, then he had an idea. “But i know someone who might!"
.
.
.
“Its doable, i can probably pick at this” mole said, they where in Tiger General’s cabinet. Kaboom and sneaky where sitting down on the table as mole inspected inside the key hole.
“Its odd working with the enemy." kaboom said after a while, “you know, i always thought general was kind of fishy."
Sneaky nodded, still kind of shocked with what general had done.
Mole grabbed a long thin piece of wire, he pick locked it for a solid ten minutes.
Finally.. Click mole had finally opened the safe.
His breath hitched as he carefully placed the safe down.
As Mole opened the safe slowly, suddenly the door opened.
“What's going on here? Why do you have that?” a low voice said, tiger general, alongside the tigers walked inside.
The mole jumped, startled and scared.
Flippy sat up, going infront of mole.
“You, you lied to me. You looked at me, and lied straight to my face like im some sort of idiot” Flippy clenched his fists, his eyes staring at general like daggers.
Tiger felt his heart drop, “what? I dont, i dont understand what you're talking about!" he yelled, before he could explain to himself, fliqpy launched at him.
The tigers tried to get ahold of the mole, kaboom and sneaky.
Sneaky had a trick up his sleeve, he camouflaged to be invisible. Kaboom had something different planned, he lit a Granade on fire, to which a tiger yelled. “GRANADE!"
Everyone ran out of the cabin, exept a few tigers, bits of brain matter and organ tissues flying out.
Fliqpy was having it out with general, to which general was fighting back as to not get himself killed.
This went back and forth, before tiger general called for back up.
Mole grabbed a hold of fliqpy. “Come on flips we cannot take them all!"
Flippy went back into control as he and mole ran away. They hid in the forest as they lost track of the tigers.
“We cant go back, we can't go back they'll kill us!!” Mole panicked, Flippy sat down as he hyperventilated.
“We have to go far, far from here! Make new identities for ourselves. They'll track us down!” He rambled and rambled. Pacing back and forth.
“Okay..okay calm down. Calm down..” Flippy said, mole nodded as he slowly calmed himself.
“First, we have to seek shelter, we cant be out like this, especially during night." He got up, picking up his barete and putting it on as he walked through the forest, mole following behind.
Mole Inichiated conversations with flippy, asking him questions about what happened back there and so on so on.
As to which flippy replied with, uh huh, i dont know, okay. He was out of it and not in any shape to talk.
Mole caught onto it eventually and stayed quiet.
They traveled for days, before coming apond side walk. A side walk made of concrete, a sign next to the side walk read “Happy Tree Town
Happiest town you'll ever visit!" with a sun painted on it.
Flippy and mole stopped in their tracks, he looked back at mole.
Mole took out a small, shiny diamond from his pocket.
“We mustn't speak of this to anybody, flippy." the mole said, putting the diamond back into his pocket.
“You have to pretend that im blind, got it?" Mole looked at him, in response flippy nodded, walking down the street…