Author's Note: Hey, so this is my first time writing a Happy Tree Friends' fanfiction... Or a romance fanfiction for that matter. I think that there's WAY too little Splendid x Fliqpy/Flippy fanfics around and who doesn't like yaoi, ammright guys? Right? ;) So I thought I might as well do a little bit of contribution. However, bear in mind that this isn't just pure romance. There is a plot to go along with it as well! I try to stay as loyal to the series as possible (Eg. Lots of juicy gore, fast-paced, goofy and ironic situations, and yes, they're not in their human forms like most fanfics are obsessed with depicting around here), so if that's your thing, please do continue! I also try to nail their personalities down as best as I can, and at the same time, I'll attempt to include lots of fluff so prepare for some cuteness! :D And just a note for you #h8rs, this isn't furry. If a character like that skunk Pepé Le Pew from Looney Tunes can chase after (and sexually harrass) poor Penelope Pussycat, I'm sure as hell a gore-filled cartoon on the internet with a little bit of romance won't hurt. This is just T-rated anyway, so the only warnings here are for gore. Alright, buckle up for an adventure, and happy reading! I really, really hope you enjoy. :)

It had been a rather dull day, especially for the not so tranquil town of Happy Tree. The citizens were pacing around in their relaxed manner, going about their usual business, be it carting around their children in shopping carts to the mall, or visiting their friends' home to hang out. Quiet. Boring. No screams of pain. Just the way a certain flying squirrel likes it. His round, sky blue ears twitched up, and, to his pleasure, captured only the sounds of mundane footsteps and laughter with his gift of hearing. Clapping his hands together in glee, the town's hero going by the alias Splendid was granted permission to turn back to his task at hand as his mouth morphed into a pleasant smile.

Bzzzzz

The vacuum cleaner stirred up and filled the little house with its obnoxious whirring noises. Splendid, whom was floating in the air, had said vacuum in his hand, and he was going about the business rather casually for someone who was a feet off the ground. He aimed for the dust particles with accurate precision, humming a tune as he watched those fine powder get sucked into the tool, ridding his home from dirt. He rarely had the time to clean his Acorn Fortress, what with all the troubles this town seemed to enjoy getting into, so it explained his extremely good mood this lovely afternoon. Twelve hours without an accident. Nobody has needed him for twelve hours straight! Is this even real? This has got to be a new record!

However, he knew he had spoken too soon, for when the squirrel had just began to move on to the next room, the buzzing sounds of the vacuum cleaner were dimmed down by a shrill shriek from the distance. Splendid's smile dropped in less than a split second.

"AGHHH, HELP! HELP! SOMEBODY, ACKKKK-" The scream was cut off by the sound of wet, squelching noises, organs, the experienced hero presumed, splattering across concrete. Ah, of course. Perfect. Just when he thought he could relax. The hero sighed and, with a tired expression, abandoned his current job and shot off straight into the sky, leaving the vacuum cleaner to drop to the floor with a thud. Unwittingly, his rush had accidentally created a hole in his ceiling, right beside the first one from last time.

Like lightning, he crackled straight to the ground where he had estimated for the situation to be present at hand, posing in an epic akimbo pose with his muscled chest pumping out for effect at the same time (He even hummed his trademark heroic tune). He took a quick survey of his surrounding. The sounds of shouting and crying poisoned the air with its horror-filled melody. There were people running away in many different directions with terror, not even minding the fact that they were on the road with vehicles driving left and right 24/7. Do none of these people know their traffic rules? The hero crossed his arms and looked at the chaos obliviously with a disapproving raise of his brows. His fur, which was fuzzed slightly from the inhumane speed in which he had arrived, was naturally smoothened out by a sudden gust of wind. The breeze headed east as it carried along a rather sharp, foreign fragrance with it, startling the squirrel slightly.

Wait...

His heart tightened as he took that scent in. It was an ashy smell, laced with a pleasant, sweet tint of mint. It smelled especially earthy, a flavour the squirrel found himself comforted slightly by, which was strange, given the situation.

But then a different, more recognizable tangy smell of metal soon began to fill his nostrils. The squirrel immediately forgot about the previous queerness of the unknown scent and, raising his defenses up once more, Splendid immediately whipped around to his right from where that smell had came from.

The first thing that caught his attention were the shocking flashes of scarlet splashed across the solid pavement distances away like paint. Bits and pieces of intestines, brains, livers, anything you could ever dream of that resides in a body were littered on the concrete tiles like trash. As he scanned further, his eyes flew upon focus onto the remains of an unrecognizable piece of head chucked onto the mouth of a public fire hydrant. There was a large hole on the top of the head, where water from the hydrant, pale red from the taint of blood, poured out gashingly like a twisted waterfall. Not far from there, another body was spread out, impaled on a bleeding pole, followed by another, which was charred black. And as he scanned further, there was another, which was twitching and convulsing with large pieces of glass cutting obscenely into his skin and eyeballs, right beside another, laying on top of a-

Splendid stopped looking. His head spun as his face went green at the bloody massacre. This was clearly not an accident. Foul play, whilst not common, happened from time to time and the hero had always been intervening in street fights and brawls and attempted murders. However, he had never encountered one this proportionately massive. This was not foul play anymore. This was a rampage.

The superhero's eyes narrowed down to slits as a spark of determination ignited inside of him. In an instant, he began to carry out his investigation, deciding to take a look at the charred, blackened body first.

He levitated over many fiery debris and reached the furthest body at the end of the street. He hoped that the body was the last victim of the bunch, because it would certainly point out the latest position of the culprit. As Splendid examined its familiar gapped teeth, the sudden epiphany that the body once belonged to a friend, Toothy, struck him with full force. He felt like vomiting at the disgusting overcooked meat smell wafting from the once-purple beaver. However, the flying squirrel held his bile up and tried his best to maintain his air of professionalism by continuing to look around the body for any clues. That was when a line of ashes nearby clutched at the rodent's attention. Bingo! Perking up at the new discovery, Splendid's eyes traced the trail of dust, which eventually led to a book shop across the street that was ablazed with recently fresh fire. The heat crackled with bits of fiery sparks flying dangerously all over the place. Toothy must have ran out from there whilst he was caught on fire. His heart tightened at the thought.

'I swear, when I get my hands on whoever's responsible for this, I will deliver them a taste of my fist!' He thought ferociously, angered at the injustice the victims had to suffer through due to the actions of this mysterious madman. This town had never been a particularly violent one. All deaths that happened were often caused by one's mistakes, and never mischief. To top it all off, everyone in this town are good people. Well, perhaps not those pesky raccoon thieves, but those two had never went as far as to commit murder! Just who could have done this?

An unusual movement of orange inside of the building caught the superhero's attention, snapping him out of his revorie.

'Hold on, is that a...'

With his super sight, he was able to capture the body of a barely moving civillian caught underneath a fallen shelf inside the book shop. That must be Disco Bear, he presumed, and Splendid was able to detect his slight, aching movements and hear his pained groan. He was barely conscious, and if he does not get out of there soon, the fumes will eventually choke him.

On instinct, the hero charged towards him, busting through the windows with his fists. The impact caused the glass pane to shatter, which led to pieces of glass shards shooting towards an innocent passer-by. He screamed as it pierced his eyeballs through the lids, and as he ran away towards the road, a car drove over him, leaving behind a mess of tire tracks and bloodied fur.

Splendid appeared to be unaware of the demise of the poor unsuspecting civillian, instead, pushing through fallen debris towards Disco. The orange bear was almost fully awake now upon seeing the infamous superhero floating towards his direction. "H... H... Hel..." He coughed and wheezed weakly. At the meantime, Splendid rushed to his side, hauling the huge bookshelf off him. His lower abdomen was literally crushed to a purple pulp, causing the superhero to cringe at the sight. The lower half of his body was distorted in an eerie manner, with bones protruding from his knees and hips. There was blood constantly leaking into the carpet, and the bruises were so severe, they were indent, giving Disco Bear a disfigured look with odd pieces of bald lumps sticking out. The dancer's breathing was shallow.

"Don't worry citizen, I'll get you out of here soon. Just don't panic, alright?" He reassured him, trying to prop Disco in his arms in a comfortable position. However, that was when he made a choking sound. His face was unusually devoid of all colours, and shaking fingers rose up, pointing behind him.

Splendid paid no mind to him. Instead, his expression changed into an even more worried one. They need to get out of there soon, the bear appeared to be getting more hysterical by the minute. Just as he was about to take off, however, Disco Bear went full-out insane without warning. With an amazing amount of movement, he pushed at the squirrel and appeared to be screaming at the top of his lungs, but all that came out were wheezing noises, his lungs having been filled with soot. His crazed eyes were blown wide with flecks of red, indicating his stress. Taken aback, Splendid was having trouble handling the struggling bear.

"Stop it, stop... Moving!" His left eye instinctively flew shut as Disco Bear, with a surprising amount of vigor for someone who had been trapped in a huge blaze, clawed at his face, obstructing his view. He was unable to take off properly. "What are you doing?!" The bear with the afro pushed at his arms, mouthing airless words in a wild frenzy.

Fed-up, Splendid decided to just take off anyway, carelessly disregarding the fact that he may injure Disco with his lack of vision being unable to keep up with the falling debris.

But that was when it happened.

Splendid was unable to even comprehend the situation in time, as he felt a swift air dart past his face like electric. It took a moment to realize that the wet feeling in his hands were from Disco's blood. His mouth flew open in shock. His head buzzed at the scene he saw before him.

In his arms, the orange bear's empty, cockeyed stare seemed to glared back at his face, accusing him of failure, which was silly, as it was devoid of emotions at the time. His tongue lolled out, brain-dead, drooling, collecting the waterfall-like pool of blood that was beginning to overflow in his mouth as the source of his murder, right between those eyes, embedded deep into his brain. The glint of a bowie knife that was stucked in Disco's forehead barbarically like a pig mocked the protector of the town with its polished curse. The corpse lurched forward and hung limp in Splendid's arms, marring the patagium with crimson. Splendid let out a yelp of astonishment and immediately dropped him.

A chuckle emitted from behind him.

Splendid spun around so quickly he sent some ruined books nearby flying off a burnt desk from the wind he caused. However, before he could even get an eye of the criminal, he was met with a face full of table. The wooden table cracked in half with a groan as it was thrown at the squirrel's almost titanium-like face. Though he appeared unfazed, his eyes still flew shut anyway. The first thing that came to his mind was the image of his arch-nemesis, Splendont. What was he doing here?

But no. This was not the red squirrel, was it? The Spledont he knew would not care to hold back. The force from the table was weaker than usual. It was stronger than an average Tree Friend's, that was for sure, but given the choice, the clone would have been able to tear a damn hole through the wall with it. There is no way this was Splendont.

And it was confirmed when he opened his eyes, because there, standing before him, was the mostdelectable creature he had ever seen.

The first feature Splendid noticed about him was that his whole face was covered in a gas mask, much to his disappointment. It was no doubt a good idea to have those on in a fiery building of inferno, however. This left the hero to observe the rest of him, and if Splendid was honest with himself, he liked what he saw. Those slight but supple curves of his lithe body was clothed in an army garb, teasing the blue squirrel with their subtle modesty. What available fur he saw was lime-green and looked so silky smooth, Splendid had the urge to run his hands through them to feel it himself. The beret sitting on the top of his head was nestled perfectly in between a pair of bear ears, matching the uniform. The dog tags hanging from his neck jingled in a soft melody, whispering to Splendid the secrets of war, and he understood then that the reason he had never seen him around before was because he had been deployed for military service the whole while the hero had moved to this town. But perhaps the most prominent, outstanding feature of the young bear, a feature that knocked the hero off his feet and left his heart pounding up his throat, his head reeling like a typhoon, and his eyes dilating as large as the moon, was that absolutely, positively amazing scent that seemed to be able to overpower the odour of the hazardous smoke in the ruined shop.

... That smell! Wasn't this the scent he captured when he first arrived just now? The fragrance that had unfortunately been blown away and replaced with the pungent smell of blood instead?

His scent was sweet, and reminded him of grass in the winter. It was unnaturally ashy, and only now did Splendid realize why, for they were souvenirs of the war, and the smell only now increased in intensity due to the blaze. Not bad... Splendid took a deep whiff in and sighed. His chest was running in circles and those butterflies were tickling his stomach, refusing to leave him alone.

Everything moved in a dazed slow motion. The cold grotesque mask glinted a deep sunset orange as a sudden explosion from the background lit up, casting the bear's green fur and apparel into a beautiful yellow bloom. His fur bristled forward dramatically due to the heatwaves from the explosion, all the while miraculously remaining calm and never faltering from all that has transpired. At the same time, the dangerous ambers loomed over the bear like a wild beast, and many would have thought that it was the flames that have overpowered him and he was about to be encased in it at any moment because they were unpredictable and menacing that way. But no. In this case, it was the bear that tamed the flames. He showed no fear as they crackled only when he wants them to, and for now, they roared obediently behind him, only because he told them to, because he just had that amount of power over the fires, and invisibly, over the superhero as well. That, coupled with those amazing aspects about him as he stood in the middle of the room confidently face-to-face with Splendid, left the hero gaping, and he found that he was unable to take his eyes off the majestic sight.

So engrossed in the scent and sight was he, he had not even notice the other making a move. The tables have turned, the bear had removed his leash from the flames, and attempted to draw him in it instead. Whipping out a dark green egg-shaped object, he removed the pin and threw it towards Splendid's direction. It took a while to process what it was, but by then, the grenade exploded and the shop was engulfed in even more flames. The cadaver of Disco blew up with a mess of blood and guts flying all over the place. For a flitting moment, the wall behind Splendid busted open to reveal a white bright crack to the outside world, only for more debris to collapse and shield it from him once more, courtesy of the explosion that damaged the support of the roof. Splendid was, of course, unaffected, though he felt his skin burn from the heat. Even as his blue fur was singed slightly, he stood tall without a single flinch. The whole room began to settle down.

"Feisty!" He remarked bemusedly, his obsidian eyes glinting from behind the red cloth.

It was hard to see the bear's expression (Gas mask and all), but Splendid could tell he was rather surprised from the way he tensed up slightly. However, the movement was only brief, and he immediately morphed into a more relaxed stance. Loud bursts of deep laughter surrounded the room.

"Splendid, is it? Interesting." His voice was muffled from behind the gas mask, but he could tell that it was rather deep, grating, and sounded more bestial than anything. From someone of such an elegant stature, Splendid never expected him to sound like this. He, too, regarded the slighter male with a fascinated look.

"That's me," He said proudly, his chest pumped out to show off his muscular abdomen, even though there was nobody else to see it but the young bear. His voice was suddenly a timbre deeper as Splendid's tone changed into an even more flirty one. "And you are?"

Whether he realized it or not, the stranger seemingly remained oblivious to the switch, as he simply grunted in response, sounding delighted. "That is for you to find out, hero." He said.

"Aww, that's not fair." Splendid pouted. "Not even a clue?"

The soldier did not answer him. The heavy breathing of the green bear, intensified by the gas mask, was the only sound filling the awkward silence of the atmosphere. As if the room wasn't bright enough, he paused for a moment, before the stranger seemed to glow with an unexpected rush of radiant energy.

"Hey, how about we play a game instead?" He spoke up randomly. The voice was now sounding even more bloodthirsty than ever, as they exhibited crystal clear excitement. Splendid cocked his head curiously. That was rather sudden, not that he minded. He'd probably fly to a different galaxy and back again just to stand close to this beautiful stranger.

"A game?"

The bear nodded as he continued. "You beat me, I'll tell you who I am, and then you can do whatever you want with me."

Splendid perked up at the offer. This was too good to be true. On impulse, he was just about to agree, but if there was anything he had learnt from tempting deals, it was that they always have a catch. He will not readily accept it just yet. Splendid may look distracted, but he was not fully blinded by the enchanting bear. After all, red remnants of what the deceitful war veteran was capable of was splattered all over the place as if it was blended by the room at the moment. Not to mention that the guy did try to blast a hole through him the instant they came face-to-face.

"And if I lose...?" He inquired with suspicion.

"I get to kill you." The bear cut in with a hungry response.

Predictable. Splendid let out a cocky huff. He was unable to help his next words. "Yeah, good luck with that."

"Oh no, I don't get to kill you just yet." He said. "You will have to tell me your weakness. And then I will hunt you down. Fun, don't you think?" He snickered. "Everybody has a weakness. Even you, hero. Come on, what do you say? Don't be a spoilsport now. Let's play,"

Splendid bit his lip. This was definitely not a good idea. Playing a game with a mass murderer that had just slaughtered a handful of people in the most cruel way possible was suicide, or worse yet, innocents may get caught in it and die. Maybe he should just turn him in to the police instead. Nobody will be harmed, and the world will get back to normal with a dangerous convict kept at bay. But the superhero found himself unable to do such a thing. Even if the soldier was unaware of it, he really do have a tight leash on the helpless squirrel. Besides, if he were to just hand him over to the cops right now, he may never be able to get his name. And the thought of the green bear being upset with the hero made him strangely dejected.

What was he doing to him...? He barely even knew this guy, and he already had the role-model of the town wrapped around his finger like no other. He had never been this weak and pathetic before. This guy must really be something.

As if sensing his dilemma, the military bear added, "Don't be stupid. No civilian will get involved in this. Scout's honor," The last words were slurred mockingly. "This is our own little personal game, after all."

Splendid's heart thumped eagerly at the thought. If this meant getting to spend more time with the gorgeous young bear, count him in! Besides, he was THE Splendid after all. The infamous flying squirrel with super powers going one-up against an ordinary army sergeant. The odds of beating him was immense, so what could go wrong?

Putting on a thoughtful look, he finally caved in. "Alright, fine, I'll do it. What are the rules?"

The sergeant appeared to light up. "Think of this as a treasure hunt." He began animatedly, and Splendid could hear the wild smirk behind his words as he talked. "I'm going to make this more interesting. What we will be looking for is an ancient artefact. Said to be sealed underneath the depths of a temple, we don't know where it is, or what it does. It ain't anyone else's property, not anymore, so it should be good enough for your cute little heroic code. It's called the Eternal Jewel. Nobody has set their eyes on it for years, which is why this will be fun for the both of us, don't you agree?"

The fire in the building growled ferociously, followed by a loud noise close by which bounced around the small confines of the room. The place was not going to hold much longer, for the amount of debris falling has increased tremendously. The bear grew more impatient.

"Whoever finds it first beats the other. Well? Do we have a deal?"

The blue squirrel looked unsure. "Nobody even knows where it is... How the hell am I going to find it?"

"We're on the same page!" He snapped. "Use your brain. Get as much source as you can. You wanted to play, right? Play with me then, hero. Win and you can do whatever you want with me. I'll cooperate. Hand me to the police, bring me into rehabilitation, force me into a potato sack, etcetera etcetera!"

"Maaan, I could be handing you to the police right now, you know."

"And yet you haven't. Why is that?"

His tone took on an imploringly curious one as his head cocked slightly to the side in question. Splendid opened his mouth, but just as quickly shut it again. A strange and light crumble sounded from above, freezing the two in place. Just then, a particularly large piece of concrete began to break off from the roof and fell. It dropped soundly right in front of the soldier, narrowly missing him by the width of a hair. Splendid felt his pulse race.

The damage set about a chain of reaction, as the ceiling began to crack. The black snake-like mark crawled with a dreadful crunching noise, and it expanded and expanded until, finally, the whole building seemed to collapse in slow-motion. Splendid's eyes widened. He did not even think, did not even feel himself as he advanced forward on pure, driven instinct. His body, programmed to protect, switched on to auto-pilot mode, as he dove forward and tackled the unwary green bear to the ground. The superhero did not even hear the astonished yelp from below him. The noise of blood pounding in his head was all that he could hear, replacing the chaotic sounds of destruction. Concrete after concrete fell on the two, as the whole building began to collapse and engulf the pair in darkness. Soot and dust showered the place and there was a moment of silence. Splendid did not know for how long time has transgressed, all he saw was the unforgiving darkness, and all he felt was the warmth beneath him which he clung onto for dear life. When he felt that the time was right, and the white dust has settled along with the demolition of the building, he began to support himself up with his hands. Sizable pieces of concrete slid off his back, along with dozens of white crumbs, as he was now in a propped-up position with white powder-like particles caking the back of his now-almost-blue fur. His eyes cracked open and thought, for a split second, that he was seeing stars due to the monumental amount of force applied to his head from the collapse. But then he seemed to remember that he was invulnerable and realized that those weren't exactly stars he saw, but the dazzling glitter in the trapped soldier's wide, dark eye peering back at him from below.

His heart thumped. A few feet from the two laid the military bear's gas mask, which must have fallen off when he was pushed to the floor. There was something incredibly off about him, as he had an eye closed in a vulnerable manner that was very unlike the confident self he made himself to be just mere minutes ago. His round ears were pulled back slightly, like a threatened or scared animal, and Splendid knew then that there was something wrong with him the moment he opened his mouth.

"W...Wha..?"

His voice was slightly higher than the low guttural sound he had displayed just then, and even more soft, like one of a very friendly person which is the OPPOSITE of the bear he knew from the start. It was quite smooth and sounded so sweet and confused, Splendid had a strange urge to squeeze him.

His face was so round, nose so tiny and his lips so inviting, it was a sin to have kept them masked from the start. The squirrel could not help but drown in the other's eyes, for they were deep and eternal, and very much black, he thought that the bear must have kept a whole galaxy inside there.

Splendid felt a pull tugging at him as the butterflies in his stomach returned full force, fluttering madly this time. The fresh smell of the stranger was doubled with their proximity, it was all the super-squirrel could breathe as the aroma invaded his senses and wrecked his poor, abused head. But that was not enough. He needed more. Needed to taste it. The drive lulled him forward, and Splendid did not know why he did it, but he leaned in forward, inching closer and closer towards the bear, before finally, he kissed him.