Once RJ said those words, he outright expected everyone to almost dogpile on the poor can, or at the very least expected the porcupine family to dog pile on it first. Come to think of it, that would be almost an instant win for them.

Before he could think any more about what could happen next, Hammy happened to answer that question by quickly zooming towards the can and quickly darting off. Honestly, just Hammy getting the can in general would be a guaranteed win for the hyper squirrel.

At the very least, he wasn't on caffeine.

It was then he noticed everyone else was just standing there, pretty much dumbstruck. Whether it was by how fast Hammy went for that can, or how showy RJ was when it came to revealing the rules, RJ didn't care, Hammy was quite literally running away with the prize.

"Hey, you guys, he's getting away!"

Once he said that, it was pure chaos. Pretty much all the hedgies began to chase after Hammy, who very well could be halfway across the forest by now. However, considering Hammy at the very least didn't stray too far from the log often, the others at least had somewhat of a chance.

This certainly was the case when Heather got an idea once she passed the log. Taking a moment, Heather doubled back, digging through the log a bit. She knew it was not exactly the most honorable idea, but she wanted to win, she'd take the chewing out from Verne later. She finally managed to find what she needed, a single cookie. Hammy loved these. He loved these so much, that once he saw one, he would outright lose any sort of focus.

Now she needed to find him, which, much to her surprise, didn't take that long, as evidenced by the number of acorns that she managed to step on. She guessed that maybe he was using the can to store them. Sure enough, she was right on the money, as she noticed Hammy behind a tree, scooping up the nuts in the can. Perfect time for her plan to be put into action.

"Hey, Hammy, want a cookie?" She asked. She waved the cookie around, slowly drawing the hyperactive squirrel closer and closer to it, until finally, Hammy dropped the can and started to munch on the cookie. It was then Heather realized she wouldn't have much time before Hammy scarfed down that cookie, and took off running.

"Wow, I can't believe that worked." Heather spoke, holding the can in her hands. Now she just had to avoid the other hedgies, and she would finally learn the wonders of Spuddies…

"Heather, wait." The young opossum looked behind her to see her father, Ozzie making his way to her, and instinctively, she clutched the can tighter to her. "Don't worry Heather, I'm not taking the can, I just…want to talk."

Heather hesitated for a brief moment, before slowly taking a breath and relaxing. This was her father, no way would he try anything. "Sure." She spoke, before turning around and walking, with Ozzie following close behind. Hopefully, he wouldn't mention something that could embarrass her.

"So Heather, I was thinking about seeing if there was anyone you could get to know better…" Ozzie spoke. "In what way dad?" Heather asked. "Well…we recently made contact with another group…and they have some possums around your age…" At that, Heather made the connection, and her head whipped around so fast that it could've given her whiplash.

"Dad!" Heather exclaimed, and Ozzie jumped back at how sudden it was, and was about to go right into his over dramatic playing-dead schtick again. "Dad, listen." Heather spoke once more, this time in a calmer tone, which thankfully made Ozzie stop his whole playing dead thing.

"Look, I think right now, I'm okay…plus, I might…" Heather paused for a moment and looked away, realizing what she was about to say. This was something she had been really thinking about for a while now, and well, she had to be honest.

"...I might like someone already." Heather spoke, before quickly looking away. Ozzie would pause for a moment. "Really?" Ozzie asked. "Who?"

"Dad, please, it's just my business." Heather replied, setting the can down. "Heather, you know I just worry." Ozzie replied. "Is that all you do? Worry?" She asked. "Dad, all you do is just practice dying over and over again, when do we get to practice something like living or just something that's the opposite of dying?"

"Heather-"

"Dad, please listen, I don't want to just think about dying, I want to grow!"

"Heather, listen-

"Dad, you listen for once! I'm sick of acting like dying, I want to just live, I want to ask-"

"Heather, the can!"

Once he said that, Heather turned around to see Lou the porcupine hauling quills, with the can bouncing along in his short arms. Honestly, the two were pretty much awe-struck at how surprisingly fast Lou was going.

"Hey honey, I got it!" Lou shouted, which finally jarred the two others out of their stupor. "We got to get it back!" Heather spoke, before quickly dashing after Lou, with Ozzie following close behind.

Lou however was fast…but not faster than what came next.

"Lou! You have five seconds to hand over the can!" A pretty noticeable voice called out, causing all of them to stop and freeze at the sight they saw.

It was Stella, wearing what appeared to be some makeshift armor out of bark and string, and she was wearing some tiny little construction hat, and on top of that, she was on the back of a clearly unamused Tiger.

"Stella, why are you wearing that?" Heather asked. "What'd you think?!" Stella replied, gesturing at Lou. "'scuse me for not wantin' to get spines in me!"

"I usually call them quills." Lou piped up. "It don't matter what you call them! Hand over the can!" Stella shouted. Once again, Lou took off running, and that just prompted Stella.

"Tiger! Charge!" She shouted, while Tiger took off sprinting after Lou, with a look that said he would rather be off grooming himself than taking part in this. Fortunately for the possum family, they managed to grab onto his tail before he got too far.

"Hey! Let go! Remember where you are!" Stella warned the two opossums, and it was only then they realized they were literally behind the skunk.

Unfortunately, that didn't seem to matter, as suddenly, they started to skid quite a bit. Tiger must've tried to do a turn, and unfortunately the weight distribution caused Tiger to tip over. It also didn't help that apparently, Tiger was super close to catching Lou, as Lou also hadn't completed his turn yet, sending Tiger careening into Lou, and of course, right into his spines, as well as sending the three other critters tumbling off.

"Tiger, you okay?" Stella asked, helping the Persian cat back up, who was clearly wincing in pain. "Hey, I'm okay too." Lou spoke, stuck to the cat's back before getting pulled off by Ozzie and Heather by taking each of his hands and pulling.

Wait, his hands were free…so that meant…

"Lou, where's the can?" Ozzie asked. Lou would look down, and notice the can was nowhere near him. That was before he realized what they were standing in front of.

The Hedge.

Lou would quickly step through the hedge, and just a second later, he came out with a very worried expression on his face.

"We may have a problem."

With a noticeable gulp, the two possums stepped through to see what happened, and immediately their hearts sank.

The can was now in the middle of a heavily booby-trapped lawn…with lasers.

A lot of lasers.

Finally, we're back with another chapter of the Great Spuddies Heist! Sorry for the long wait, I got distracted doing multiple things at once, such as juggling work and editing videos, let's just say I haven't gotten a whole lot of time to really update this.

Honestly, it's wild this fandom has only a few people active, but honestly, I still want to contribute to a work I think deserves more love and recognition.

Plus I think the idea of this is funny.

Anyways, yes, we've also introduced a new plot point, Heather might have a crush on someone, but we don't know who yet (although considering it's Heather, it's pretty obvious who she has a crush on, but let's pretend it's a mystery)

But regardless, how will the Hedgies get the Spuddies out of the laser yard? Find out when I eventually update this!