The Soldier's Superhero

Chapter Twenty-Eight

There had been eight bases marked on the map Flippy had in that chest. So far, Splendid and Splendont had gone through five of them. Each one was filled with identical people: soldiers, guards, and scientists. They were questioned, based destroyed, and the relevant government informed. Right now, they had others helping them: Foxy, The Bubble Hero; Silky, The Web Hero; Zappy, The Electric Hero; and Clank, the robot. Splendid met them along the way and filled them in on why Splendont and himself were breaking international borders.

"There was no one by the description of Flippy here, Splendid," Foxy said, her image on a communicator made by Clank.

"Any hostages?"

"There were a few. They're all catatonic though. They might not make it through the night."

Splendid cursed and rubbed his head. By now, Flippy had been missing for three months. While going through hoops to gain access to countries and search for him, it became increasingly clear that the person who took Flippy was aware he was being searched for. Splendid felt dread in his body. He'd seen the states of the hostages they attempted to save. They were tortured. Whatever they went through, Flippy was probably experiencing. They found dozens of files detailing human experiments, drugs that were distributed in countries to collapse the economy, ring leaders in the government to disrupt the politics, and secret operations used to overthrow factions in countries to gain more territory. It was horrifying and the one name that popped up in all of this was General Tiger Stripes. Tiger Stripes, the man who visited him at the Happy Tree Friend Times. He was informed by the Russian government when he entered that territory that General Tiger was a soldier gone rouge back in the fifties. His connections were vast and if he didn't know already, he knew that Splendid was searching for him. If it was Flippy that he was looking for, then he was probably long-gone.

"Splendid," he looked over at his brother, Splendont, who looked exhausted, "we need to rest. Silky and Zappy are already at the next base with the Chinese government's support to take down the next base and find Flippy."

"I can't." Splendid floated up and began to fly out, heading towards the Chinese base Tiger established.

Splendont stopped him by blocking his way, "Splendid, you can't save Flippy if you aren't at your best."

Splendid attempted to glare at Splendont, but deflated when he realized his brother was right. But the panic in his chest and fear in his mind about what could be happening to Flippy was overwhelming. Splendont grabbed Splendid and lead him back towards the inn they made their base at. Clank and Foxy would already be there. When they got there, there were dozens of officials walking around, talking amongst themselves over schematics and reviewing plans for attack. It was a world-wide defense that got the U.N. involved because there was more and more evidence of Tiger Stripes influence through the world. It was crazy what popped up because of Flippy's kidnapping.

"Hey, guys!" Splendid looked over at Foxy, who came running over. "You need to look at this."

She grabbed Splendid and pulled him over to a screen. His eyes widened at the recording. He couldn't tell where the place was, but it was a base similar to the one Foxy had been overseeing the infiltration in. It was a little hard to see, but from the recording, he could see a man walking towards a helicopter with flames up in the background. There were yelling and shots being fired. Before he could turn to look at Foxy and ask her where this was recorded, his heart stopped. Behind him, following behind in a blue uniform, was Flippy. His hair was cut short, buzzed slightly on the bottom, but his eyes confirmed who it was. He could see green and yellow in the mix, like he was sharing his body with Fliqpy. Splendid felt tears well-up in his eyes at the sight of him. He looked... miserable. Hopeless.