Eventually, Heather and the other animals showed RJ what looked like an outdoor bachelor pad just for him as they accepted him as another member of their blended family.
"Swank factor 5," Lionel remarked. "If we can get past Dwayne, and deal with the bear problem, we may have a chance to enjoy it."
"Yeah, tell me about it." Cherry replied.
"And look, we got a place for you right here!" Hammy smiled as he showed a child's car seat just for RJ to sit in.
"That's for me?" RJ asked, feeling touched.
"Yeah, is this anything like what you had, RJ?" Lou asked the raccoon.
"This isn't anything like what I had, Lou." RJ replied softly as he took a seat and saw some popcorn.
"Here, I'm not supposed to drink this." Hammy smiled as he gave RJ a can of soda before he sipped from a juice box.
"Thanks," RJ smiled back before seeing what Heather was sitting on. "Is that my bag?"
"Yeah, we brought it in here so you wouldn't have to sleep up in that old tree." Heather replied as she bounced a bit in her seat.
"Really? Wow." RJ smiled.
"This should be an interesting remainder of the week, though." Thor murmured.
"Yeah..." Cherry nodded. "Rest up, Big Guy."
"Hey, RJ, check this out!" Spike beamed. "We totally hooked up the TV."
"I hot-wired the HD converter." Bucky added.
"We get a thousand channels!" Quillo gushed.
"Can you take the remote before my dad does?" Heather smiled as she held out the remote to the raccoon.
"Wow. A universal remote?" RJ replied as he took the remote. "This is nice, guys. Really nice."
Everybody then got comfortable to watch some TV together.
"We now return to A Scoundrel Among Us." The TV then announced as RJ began to feel uncomfortable.
"You should be ashamed of yourself!" A woman's voice cried. "We let you into our family, and you've deceived us."
RJ then changed the channel.
"I gave you my heart, and you ripped it into a million pieces!" A man's voice cried out, feeling betrayed, making RJ change the channel again.
"Get real, Kevin. When you feel like a dirtbag, it's because you're a dirtbag. Right?" Dr. Phil's voice said. "So just own it, just say it out loud. 'I am a dirtbag'."
RJ soon had enough and ran off as he felt incredibly guilty.
"Dirtbag?" Lou commented. "I don't think that guy's a real doctor. What do you think there, RJ?" he then asked before seeing that the raccoon was gone. "RJ?"
"That was the most obvious television programming ever," Lionel remarked. "They couldn't have been more blatant unless they pointed out what was happening."
"Your Television Hates You," Cherry commented. "A trope as old as time."
"Hey, where's Thor?" Mo soon asked.
"Maybe he went to comfort RJ?" Atticus shrugged.
Thor was soon seen coming to a section of the forest alone and began to put his paws together as he muttered a certain name three times. Eventually, out in the bushes came a large wolf who looked down at him, but Thor wasn't scared as he recognized the wolf by looking in his eyes.
"Hi, Uncle," Thor smiled. "Sorry to bother you, but me and the others were hoping to have our powers back since this adventure's getting pretty intense."
"Seriously?" Drell asked. "Can't believe you recognized me so fast. Well... Alright. Considering how hectic things are gonna get? Something tells me you'll need them."
"I'm not an idiot, Uncle." Thor smirked smugly.
"No, you're not," Drell replied. "Also, you have a deal on having your powers back. I mostly wanted you guys to rely on your new animal instincts, but with something big coming up, I figured you'd call for me right about now."
"You're so responsible." Thor beamed.
"Yeah, I suppose I am." Drell smirked proudly.
"So, uh, powers?" Thor asked.
"All right, give me some time, and you guys should feel your powers coming back before you know it," Drell advised before he looked at his wolf paws. "I'm afraid I can't really do much in this form except for changing back and I don't want those animals to see me."
"Guess that makes sense," Thor replied. "Considering how humans are a bit of a predator for them."
"Probably explains why those two beaver brothers move away," Drell said. "One of them reminds me so much of Salem."
"...Probably nothing." shrugged Thor as he went back over to rejoin the group.
"See ya soon, Shortstuff." Drell called as he disappeared back behind the bushes.
"Bye!" Thor replied as he came back to his friends as RJ hyperventilated into an empty chip bag in and out.
"Breathe in... Breathe out... Breathe in... Breathe out..." Mo advised the raccoon.
"Whoa. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, RJ. What are you doing, man?" RJ asked himself in a bit of a panic. "You are getting in way too deep. Just get the food. Feed the bear. Get the food. Feed the bear." he then repeated to himself.
"Where does telling the truth fall into this?" Cherry asked.
"Oh, I will, definitely, for sure... Later." RJ replied.
"Most likely at a point where things are about to get very hectic..." Lionel noted. "The others may not take it well."
"Now, let's just check on the food." RJ then said.
"...About that food..." Cherry grinned sheepishly.
"Where's the food?" RJ panicked. "Where's the food?!"
"Verne took it." Cherry replied.
"Why didn't you stop him?!" RJ asked.
"Atticus volunteered." Cherry replied.
"We may as well make sure that doesn't bite us in the butt." Lionel suggested.
"Verne, stop!" Atticus called out as he tried to pull the food horde back as Verne tried to bring it back over the hedge. "This isn't fair for RJ!"
"I have to return it!" Verne declared. "Maybe if I do, then the humans will leave us alone and we can just forget this ever happened!"
"I'm not sure about this..." Atticus said worriedly.
"If you wanna help him, be my guest, but this is probably for the best for all of us!" Verne told him.
"Verne. What are you doing?" RJ asked as he soon ran out of the hedge towards the turtle.
"I'm getting things back to the way they were." Verne told him.
"No, don't!" RJ panicked. "How about I just leave?" he then suggested.
"Good," Verne replied. "You leave, and I return this stuff to the rightful owners."
"What?! Why?" asked RJ.
"Because we've angered the humans," Verne explained. "And we don't wanna end up like that rabbit." he gestured to the balloon rabbit being whacked on the head atop the Verminator's van. "Hence, I'm giving this back so they won't kill us."
"Verne, you don't understand!" RJ exclaimed, tugging the wagon back. "We need this stuff!"
"No, we don't!" Verne protested, yanking it back.
"You can't take it!" RJ yelled.
"Yes, I can!" Verne retorted.
"Uh, guys?" asked Lionel, noticing that they were rolling over a nearby rope attached to a peg in the ground.
"Let go!"
"You let go!"
"Aaaaand they aren't listening," Lionel sighed, before he slunk back down behind the fence.
"I have to have it!" RJ shouted, pulling the wagon back.
"No!" Verne exclaimed, pulling the wagon back over the rope, loosening it from the ground.
"What do we do now?" Atticus sulked. "This is getting them nowhere."
The wagon nearly ran over Verne, but he saw that he was fine, though lying on his back which was tough for the life of a turtle. RJ soon found a chain before seeing that it led around the yard before inside of a doghouse.
"Uh-oh..." The adventure group gulped.
"Verne," RJ whispered at the turtle as he tried to get the wagon to go back over the hedge, being as quiet as he possibly could. "Move slow, keep your voice low, and follow me."
"What?" asked Verne, but RJ shushed him, and began pulling the wagon away. "No!" RJ shushed him again, but Verne was already off on a tangent. "No! I'm not falling for any more of your smooth talk! I don't know what you're up to, but my entire shell is tingling. Know what? I'm listening to it this time, and I'm putting my foot down." But when he did, he stomped on a squeaky toy.
"...Well, here we go." Lionel sighed, sinking behind the fence.
A rottweiler gave a cheerful smile as he looked up. "Play?" he asked. RJ quickly exited the scene as Verne turned towards the dog, the squeaky toys stuck on his feet. Verne yelped, and made a run for it, the toys squeaking all the way.
"PLAY!" The rottweiler exclaimed as he galloped towards Verne, drool cascading from his mouth.
"Uh-oh." Cherry and Mo gulped.
"Big friendly dog." Atticus added nervously.
Verne kept trying to get away as the rottweiler was free to go since his chain wasn't stuck to anything before he soon grabbed Verne like a chew toy in his mouth and tossed the turtle up in the air. Verne cried out as he was being handled in such a painful way as the dog grabbed him in his mouth and shook him around. RJ soon brought out a doll to look like a disguise before the ripcord string got caught onto a twig, pulling on the cord.
"Let's play!" The doll spoke.
The rottweiler soon dropped Verne and went to go after RJ now, dragging his chain right behind him.
"All right, I'm gonna go jump on that dog and tire him out like a wild horse." Atticus suggested.
"If you want," Lionel shrugged. "But I think they've got it covered..."
"Play! Play! Play! Play! Play! Play!" The rottweiler exclaimed as he ran after RJ, his chain snagging on the lever of the wagon.
"Down, boy. Sit. Roll over!" RJ shouted as he ran for his life. "Play dead!"
"Play!" the dog exclaimed as Verne got swept up in the chase, landing on top of the tarp.
"Attaboy, Verne. Save the food!" RJ called. "I'll lose the dog!"
They crashed through another fence during the chase, and Verne accidentally undid one of the ropes, which caused the tarp to fly off, making some of the objects fall, though RJ caught some.
"You're dropping all the food, man!" The raccoon exclaimed.
"Alright, I rescind my statement about having it covered." Lionel replied.
"Atticus, be careful." Mo warned.
"Don't worry, I'll do what I can until we get our powers back," Atticus replied as he got ready to take off. "Ready... Set..." he then told himself before dashing off with as much speed as he could get as a hare.
"Where's that popcorn that RJ had?" Cherry wondered. "This should be somewhat entertaining."
Atticus narrowed his eyes as he ran towards the playful dog before he soon jumped up high and landed on the dog's back, grabbing a hold of his collar. "Whoa, Rover, easy it does it!" he then called out as he latched onto the dog.
As the dog continued running around, they crashed through another fence, where some people were barbecuing.
"Are you hungry? Look, food!" RJ pointed out, but the dog kept on going as he ran after him, snagging a propane tank on the wagon. "Look, people! Play with them!" RJ pointed to some frightened people who jumped out of the way as the dog barreled through yet another fence.
"Play, play, play, play..." The dog continued saying.
"I'm all right..." Verne mumbled, dizzy, as the propane canister skidded against the ground. "I'm fine. It's okay. It's..." But at that moment, the canister began to leak, and the sparks from being dragged around began to ignite it, turning it into a makeshift rocket and sending it up into the air, along with several other lawn items they'd collected.
"Heel! Stop! Stay!" Atticus cried out before he began to look a little green around the gills.
"Verne! Unhook the chain!" RJ cried out.
Verne then tried to do that, but found himself unable to. Atticus eventually got the dog to stop as they tumbled on the ground together and the dog looked sad that his little playmates were gone as the chain came off from around his neck.
"Play!" The dog pouted sadly before Atticus got off and ran to a nearby bush and began to heave.
RJ found himself tripping and got his foot caught by the chain and the chips canister was about to fly off, but he soon caught it. "Yes!" he then beamed before seeing a playground slide as the food rocket was going up that way next. "Bad!"
"Oh, boy." Verne moaned nervously.
The food rocket soon went up in the air with the raccoon and turtle as an airplane passed by in the sky before they soon came crashing down as the chips began to fly out of the canister.
"Verne, I told you to unhook the chain!" RJ cried out.
Fortunately, RJ got an umbrella, and he and Verne were able to float to safety. As the Spuddies rained down like snowflakes, the wagon, propane canister and all, plummeted to the ground and crashed into Gladys' SUV, blowing it up. Flaming Spuddies rained down, piercing holes in the umbrella; RJ and Verne tried to blow them out, but the umbrella burnt up in midair. RJ gave a nervous smile.
Verne shot RJ a death glare. "...You're the devil." he remarked, before they both plummeted towards the ground.
The other animals soon looked over and saw that RJ and Verne had come back.
"Whoa, Atticus, you look greener than Verne." Thor commented.
"I don't wanna talk about it." Atticus gulped as he still looked a little sick.
They soon rushed out of the way as Verne, RJ, and Atticus were suddenly squashed by the wagon.
"Well, at least it wasn't you that time." Lionel said to Cherry.
"It varies for Atticus." Cherry replied.
RJ got to his feet, and saw a stack of Spuddies, landing neatly atop the wagon. Before he could reach them, the cooler came down and crushed them into bits, leaving the raccoon mortified. "No! No!" he then looked like he was starting to cry.
"Verne, you all right there?" Lou asked before waking up the "dead" possum. "Gimme a hand, Oz."
"Sure, sure." Ozzie replied as he woke up to help the male porcupine.
"You okay, Atticus?" Mo asked her boyfriend.
"Ugh... I guess so..." Atticus groaned as he rubbed his head.
"What the heck happened?" Penny wondered.
"It's gone," RJ sobbed. "The food! Gone!"
"What?" Heather asked. "Gone?"
"How's it gone?" Stella asked.
"Ask them!" RJ growled as he pointed sharply at Verne and Atticus.
"Hey, now!" Cherry glared. "Don't drag my best friend into this!"
"Verne?" asked Ozzie.
"I was taking it back!" Verne protested.
"That food isn't very good for you guys." Atticus spoke up, defending Verne.
"What?!" Heather complained. "We, like, worked our tails off, you know? Like, a lot. And the food we gathered was totally... You know. And you're... You're all, whatever."
"Yeah, Verne, what were you thinking?" Ozzie added. "The log was full!"
"Full of junk." Verne retorted.
"Oh... So, what are you saying there?" Lou glared. "That the food we gather our way isn't as good as the food we gather your way?"
"Your way? You mean his way," Verne retorted. "Can't you see RJ is just using you?"
"Verne! Shame on you," Penny scolded. "RJ wouldn't do that."
"Atticus' point is moot," Lionel stated. "Different universe, different animal physiology."
"So now you all are turning against us?" Penny glared. "You seem like such nice kids too."
"Hey, hey, nobody said anything about that!" Lionel exclaimed. "Atticus is just a little dizzy from that bumpy ride he had... And puking in a bush, is all. That's enough to rattle anybody's brain!"
"You have got to trust me on this," Verne told the others. "Don't you understand there's something wrong with that guy? My tail tingles every time I get near him."
"Oh, so we're supposed to go hungry because your butt's vibrating?" Stella scoffed. "I'm starting to think that tingle of yours is just you being jealous."
"Jealous?" Verne glared. "Of him?"
"Yeah. He's embracing the future there, and you're just holding us back." Lou glared back.
"Oh, I hold you back, all right. From extinction," Verne retorted before coming up towards RJ. "You see what you've done here? If they listened to half the stuff you're telling them, they'll be dead within a week. You are only interested in taking advantage because they're too stupid and naïve to know any better."
"Whoa! Low blow, bro!" Lionel remarked as the Hedgies gasped in shock. "Probably not the best word choice."
"That was a wee bit too far." Cherry winced nervously.
"You guys don't think I'm stupid, do you?" Thor asked.
"Thor, you are not stupid," Atticus said softly. "You're just... Unique."
"I'm not stupid." Hammy said tearfully.
The Hedgies glared a bit as Verne made Hammy very upset.
"Okay, I didn't mean... I meant ignorant," Verne tried to cover up, but it only made things worse. "To the ways over... Over there."
The Hedgies soon walked away, feeling disappointed in their turtle friend.
"Come on, you guys. You know I didn't mean it like that," Verne called out to them. "Don't... Don't do this. Stella? Ozzie? Hammy? You know I didn't-" he then looked over to the squirrel. "Hammy..."
"I'm not stupid." Hammy told him softly before he went to join the others.
Lionel shook his head in dismay as he and the others left Verne alone. Verne heaved a sharp sigh as he messed up pretty bad and had to think of a way to make things right, even as he saw some photographs that he and the family took together with RJ. The porcupine triplets ran up to RJ and gave him a potato chip that was tied together with a bandage before it split apart, so they looked bashful in response. That night, everybody began to fall into a deep sleep as Verne was all by himself.
"Good night, Uncle RJ." Quillo smiled as she fell asleep with her brothers.
"Good night, kiddo." RJ smiled back, though a bit sadly.
As Atticus, Cherry, Mo, Lionel, and Thor fell asleep, a surge of energy began to flow through their bodies, but they wouldn't notice it until they woke up the next day. Still, it was a relatively uneventful night after that. RJ began to look scared once he saw a full moon and decided to get himself going as he had a deal with a certain hungry bear.
However, going over the hedge in the future would seem nearly impossible as Gladys went over some deals with Dwayne as he installed a laser security system that was illegal in every state except for Texas and demonstrated with a teddy bear that touching the laser would result in instant disintegration. While everyone was asleep, RJ and Verne had a little talk that only Norbert saw before he would go to sleep for the day, but we'll get to that bridge soon enough.
"Wake up, everybody!" Norbert soon called out to the other animals of the forest. "There's an important announcement!"
"Five more minutes, Drell." Cherry mumbled in her sleep.
Lionel picked her up and shook her around like a soda can. "Wakey wakey, bright eyes. Announcement time." he explained.
"Yaaaaugh!" Cherry cried out.
"You gonna wake up?" Lionel asked.
"Yes, so please stop shaking me." Cherry groaned.
"But of course!" Lionel smiled, before he placed Cherry down gently. "Okay, so where do we go to find out about the important announcement?" he asked Norbert.
"Into the center of the forest," Norbert said as he pointed to the right with his wing. "Just past those trees and you'll find a shrub and behind the shrub will be the log and you should be able to find the not-so-nocturnal others."
"Thanks, Norbert," Mo nodded. "I guess you are pretty useful to the story after all."
"I can't do much in the day, but I do what I can at night." Norbert replied with a nod back.
And so, the group ventured to the center of the forest, where they had been told that the meeting would be held. They then met the other animals who looked a bit cranky from the sudden awakening, not to mention still mad at Verne about what happened.
"Hey, guys." Cherry said.
"Oh, hello there," Heather yawned a bit. "This better be good. I was just dreaming that I could sing like that Avril Lavigne girl that RJ let me listen to on that device called a CD Player."
"I thought possi were nocturnal?" Thor commented.
"It's complicated." Heather shrugged before RJ and Verne soon came out to start the meeting.
"Thank you all for coming." RJ said to the other Hedgies.
"Sure, no problem." Lionel replied. "...At least, apart from timing. So what's the big news?"
There was soon a bit of a long topic going on with Verne explaining to his family the best that he could as he brought them up to speed of why they needed the food now and a lot more information.
RJ then decided to take over for some parts. "What Verne is trying to say is... What Verne is trying to say is... I mean, it's hard to really sum it all up in just one word, but-" he then tried to explain, but he found a hard time doing that.
"...I'm sorry." Verne soon said to his family as he felt sincere and truly sorry over what had happened earlier in the day.
After a brief glance at one another, the Hedgies all gave Verne one big group hug, though RJ backed up a bit.
"Okay! Listen, stay in the huddle. Now, here's the plan," he explained, showing a model diagram of Gladys' yard. "Now, the traps are set here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here." he then gestured to a few other points. "Here, here, here, here. Big one here, here, and maybe a few over here."
"Gee, is that all?" asked Cherry sarcastically.
"No. There's a bunch of red lights all over here." RJ pointed out. "Okay, Verne? Looking a little green."
Verne shook his head to clear out the cobwebs. "I blacked out for a second there, but I get the idea," he replied. "There's lights, traps... I might need to change my shell..."
"Okay, this is us." RJ soon said as he laid out Monopoly game pieces onto the diarama.
"Can I be the car?" Hammy raised his hand eagerly as he asked.
"I wanna be the car!" Spike spoke up.
"I'm the car," Bucky glared. "You be the shoe."
"The shoe is lame." Spike glared back.
"Why don't you be that snazzy-looking iron there?" Lou offered to his son.
"Hey, it's not important!" RJ told them before he picked up the car with a smirk. "Besides, I'm the car. I'm always the car. The plan works in three simple steps. Step 1: kill the lights. Step 2: get inside. Step 3: get out with mountain of food." he then instructed.
"But this place is like a fortress," Ozzie spoke up, a bit dramatically as always with hand gestures like an overly dramatic actor. "Walls, so high. Doors, impenetrable. How will we get in?"
"The collar is the key." RJ said, showing footage on the cell phone to show Gladys's pet cat going in and out the door with his collar somehow.
"Oh, I get it!" Thor said in a JonTron fashion before muttering. "...I don't get it."
Lionel rolled his eyes. "Literally, the collar. It's like a key that opens the door and if..."
"And what?" asked Stella. "You think he's just gonna hand over his collar to you?"
RJ chuckled. "Not to me, my femme fatale. To you."
"Her?" asked Verne.
"Me?" asked Stella.
"You, Stella, will get that cat to give you his collar by using..." RJ began.
"My stink!" Stella guessed.
"...Your feminine charms." RJ concluded.
Hammy let out an uproarious laugh, but then stopped. "Was that out loud?" he asked.
"Look, raccoon, maybe that mask you're wearing is obstructing your view," replied Stella. "...But if you haven't noticed, I'm a skunk."
"On the outside, maybe," RJ replied. "But I'm looking inside, Stella, and I see a fox. And all we gotta do is get her out."
"So, wait, a skunk is gonna woo a cat?" Thor asked.
"Yes." RJ nodded.
"...That sounds familiar..." Thor smirked at Atticus, Cherry, Lionel, and Mo who seemed to smirk back.
Eventually, the Hedgies gathered around as there was a beeping sound heard that sounded like a hospital heart monitor as the animals gathered around Stella to give her a makeover.
"Scissors." RJ demanded as Atticus handed him a pair.
"Scissors?!" Stella yelped.
"Here we go." RJ replied as he began to cut at Stella's fur a bit.
"Oh! Ow! Hey! Watch the-!" Stella yelped.
"Charcoal." RJ then requested.
"Charcoal?" Stella asked as Mo poured some charcoal over the skunk then.
"Air freshener," RJ then requested as Cherry gave him a can while Lionel gave him another can. "Tomato juice. Cork." Cork?" Stella asked as Verne brought out a cork to shove up her. "Don't you dare!"
The beeping soon intensified as it seemed like things got out of hand before the animals looked over to see Thor and the porcupine triplets playing a racing video game which was where the beeping came from.
"Get 'em!" Bucky laughed.
"Score! Yeah!" Spike added.
"...Maybe we should play Mario Kart later." Thor said sheepishly as he saw all eyes on them.
"Right... Now, where were we?" Lionel asked.
"One more thing..." RJ muttered, as he reached down and plucked off a hair.
"OW!" Stella exclaimed.
Ozzie was about to do something, but RJ held his hand up. "Stop. That's it," The raccoon explained as Stella got to her feet. "Ladies and gentlemen, our work here is done."
"Oh, my..." said Lou.
"Big jeepers..." Penny exclaimed.
"She's all like, wow." Heather remarked.
"Honestly, this is our magnum opus." Lionel grinned.
"You look great, Stella." Cherry gave a small smile to the skunk.
"What?" Stella asked before a mirror was held up to her and she saw her reflection, looking more like a silky black cat as she looked impressed. "Oh! Meow~" she then added as she shook her tail a bit.
RJ and Verne soon shared a nod as Stella looked great
"All right, gang, this is it," Cherry soon suggested. "We're going in."
"I couldn't have said it better myself." RJ added.
"All right, everybody!" Atticus proclaimed. "Battle stations!"
And so, the mission began.