Author's note: Hello everyone. Delta 23 here, as you can tell probably already tell from who this story is by. Since today, March 19th is the 15th anniversary of one of my favorite movies, Over the Hedge, I've decided to finally put a story idea I've had for almost a year and a half out there for you all to read. I know I'm the greatest author, but I thought it would be fun to at least try. That is how people get better at what they like. Not just with writing but with anything in general. Hope you enjoy!
Chapter 1: Success and welcomed acceptance
A lot of crazy things had happened over the course of RJ's life, but what he was currently experiencing made those past instances pale in comparison. The same could be said for everyone else along with him. RJ and his possibly still friends were ducking and dodging left and right. Leaves and branches were flying everywhere, and the shock rod, cutting wire and Vincent's claws kept coming dangerously close to the group of animals, resulting in one extremely close call after another. It was all any of them could do to keep themselves and the others in one piece, but it just kept getting more intense.
Quillo and Spike didn't even have time to react as the branches they were standing on were ripped out from under their feet by Vincent. They both screamed as they noticed Vincent while they fell towards the ground. This caught the attention of RJ as their parents jumped off the branches they were standing on to catch them just before they hit it. He bolted over as he noticed Vincent making another swing at the hedge.
"Penny, Lou, look out!" he shouted.
They both exclaimed in fear and moved out of the way just as the bear swung his arm through the hole he made, merely missing them by a few inches.
"Down!" he yelled as Vincent ripped his claws through the hedge again, causing them to run to the other side of the hedge.
As RJ looked around at the chaos and peril they were in, he didn't know how much longer they were going to be able to keep this up. It would only be a matter of time before one or more of them got hurt or worse. With that sentiment in mind, he knew he had to do something, anything, to ensure that the others had a fighting chance of surviving. He then came to the conclusion that there was only one thing he could do to possibly do that. Luring Vincent away by distracting him from the rest of the group.
He did not like the prospect of this idea at all, as it meant he would more than likely be meeting his end. It was why he had tried to get the food over the course of the week in the first place. But unlike the animals around him, they had not done anything wrong, and didn't deserve this. While as he on the other hand, probably did. He might not be able to fully regain their trust again, or their friendship for that matter, but if this was what was needed to increase their chances of life, then so be it.
"That's it! Verne, get everybody out of here."
"Huh?" Verne was taken off guard. Get everybody out of here? Where was there to go?
"I'll distract him," RJ stated, ignoring Verne's confused state. It didn't last long, as Verne yanked RJ by the tail back to the ground as he was climbing to the top.
"Are you crazy? He'll kill you!"
As they both stood looking desperately at one another for any sort of plan, they both suddenly got one simultaneously. In fact, it was the same exact one. They actually couldn't believe neither had thought of it before.
"Hammy!" they both exclaimed in unison, then glanced over at the red squirrel a few feet away.
Hammy looked over at them after being acknowledged. He shrugged nervously, not knowing why his name came up. He certainly didn't have any ideas if that was what they were calling him for. But after RJ quickly reached into his bag to pull out his emergency Mach6 energy drink and open it, he quickly dropped his train of thought.
"Aaahhh," he smiled as he licked his lips at the sight of the beverage. As he began walking towards it however, he quickly stopped.
"But wait, I thought I'm not supposed to drink this. That's why I have juicy juice, remember?" he said as he began to ramble on. Verne and RJ immediately stopped him to explain.
"Yes yes we know, but listen Hammy," RJ said, setting it beside him. "We need you to drink it just this once to go turn the lasers back on."
"But why?" Hammy asked. Why would they need the lasers to-
"So we can trap the bear and the humas," Verne explained. "If we can trap them, then we'll all be safe."
"Oooooh, I get it!" Hammy grinned. "But how will we trap Mr. Angry Teddy Bear if he's on that side of the hedge?" he asked while pointing in Vincent's direction.
RJ looked at Verne and then back to Hammy. "Leave that to us Hammy, we'll take care of it."
Verne waved the others over to explain what they were gonna do. After he filled them all in on the plan, they felt like they may have a chance after all. RJ and Verne climbed up to the top of the hedge while Ozzie and Heather got ready to help Hammy. Before RJ climbed out the top, he hung his bag on a branch and grabbed the spuddie the triplets had given him last afternoon, then handed Verne his fishing pole. Before he climbed up after putting Verne's shell on, he looked over at the turtle as he hooked the line to it.
"Verne, in case this plan doesn't work, I want to tell you how sorry I a-" but Verne held up his hand to silence him.
"I already know RJ, but you can tell me after we're done."
"But I might not-"
"I know this will work. I'm sure of it. And I know you'll be fine. Even if this doesn't work, you won't go alone."
RJ didn't really know what to say. Never in his life had he met someone who was willing to risk their life along with him. Knowing that it was pointless to argue further, he nodded and went above the hedge.
Vincent was really beginning to get ticked off. His food was destroyed, he got spiked hard in the nose, and now he couldn't find that coon because of this stupid hedge! But that wasn't going to stop him from doing it. He would tear through a brick wall if he had to. Nothing was going to stop him from getting his reven-
"Hey Vincent!" came a familiar voice interrupting his thoughts. He looked up to see none other than RJ looking down at him.
"You were right! With a spuddie, enough just isn't enough!"
That did it for Vincent. First he destroyed his food, then he destroyed a second time, then he made a fool of him, and now he was mocking him right to his face with his most valued food. He was so furious he couldn't think of anything else than ripping that traitorous coon to pieces.
"RJ!" he yelled, then roared as he lunged himself over the hedge grabbing him in his jaws.
Moments before he did so, Heather had tipped the bottom of the energy drink up in the air helping Hammy drink it all.
"Now Hammy. Go!" Ozzie exclaimed, pointing in the direction of the yard.
Hammy couldn't fully hear him. In fact, he could hardly hear anything as he pulled himself away from the can. His senses were spazzing out as he spun around, like a computer being overloaded to the point where it would crash. Almost every muscle in his body twitched, jolted, and moved around sporadically as energy coursed through his veins like nothing he had ever felt in his life. He blabbed off gibberish, as his vision began dilating back and forth until at last his pupils grew to their full volume.
Everything almost went black. When he shook his head he noticed everything and everyone was absolutely still. With a big smile plastered across his face, he began humming a happy tune to himself as he walked. It's like everyone is playing statue, or freeze tag! he thought to himself as he walked out of the hedge across the yard. Coming up to the control console, he placed a paw on his side and the other on his chin trying to remember what to do.
After a brief second, he remembered. Oh yeah, the knobby thing goes to the bear, and theeeeen, this turns it on, he thought to himself as he adjusted the settings and turned it on. As he was about to head back to the hedge, a certain smell entranced his nose. Noticing the cookie was still on the roof, he went up to help himself. As he made his way back, making sure to avoid the lasers, a certain thought crossed his mind as he passed Dwayne, which made him show a devious smile.
Remembering the traps RJ informed him about at the meeting last night, he went and found a gnome off to the side near the bushes, then proceeded to push it over to where Dwayne's left leg was lifted. "Ha!" Seeing that his work was done, and that RJ was fully protected by Verne's shell, he dusted his hands off and went back though the hedge. As he came out, he jumped up and down a few times.
"That was fun!" he said giddily to himself. As he composed himself, he noticed everything was still completely still. "Hmm, I wonder how long everything is going to play statue? Hmm, oh waaaiiit a minute, I get it! They're not standing still, I'm just moving very fast!"
He then went and stood by the log. "Oh log, I missed you," he said, giving it a big ol hug from the side. As he walked around to the front he peered inside. It was now completely empty, aside from the dirt, leaves, and bark obviously.
"Hmm, what should I do now?" he said as he placed a hand to his chin to think. After a few moments an idea finally came to him. "Oh I know! I'll go look for my nuts! We can eat those during the winter!" he exclaimed happily. Then he ran off into the woods to look for them.
Eventually when he noticed things starting to move again, he ran back to the hedge to see how things would turn out. It all went according to plan, just how he thought it would. He rushed right up to Ozzie as the latter was finishing saying "Go!"
"Hi Ozzie!" Hammy shouted happily.
"Uuuhhh!" Ozzie exclaimed. He clutched his heart and fell onto his back. Heather looked behind her from where she was standing.
"Hammy!" She ran up to him, glancing down at where her father fell, then back up to him. "Did it work?" she asked hopefully while uncertain at the same time.
"Come up here quick and see for yourself guys!" RJ called down through the top of the hedge.
Ozzie shook his head to clear his vision as Heather and Hammy helped him up. Everybody then climbed as fast as they could to the top. When they all got up, they could finally see what laid on the other side. Their three enemies were piled up in a heap, dazed and confused. A few of them figured this was their chance to make a run for it, but something from the other side of the yard caught their attention, as well as that of there adversaries.
A menacing looking machine activated and turned around, cocking it's weapons for whichever victim it was to take care of, which in this case were none other than ones piled up across the yard from it.
"You're gonna want to see this guys, it's gonna be awesome," RJ grinned. "Well, not for them obviously. We're gonna need some protection for our eyes though."
Everyone nodded in agreement, and a few quickly went to go get a few things from the pad. Lou, Ozzie, the triplets and Stela got back just in time with their protective gear as the Depelter Turbo was about to finish making its way across the yard. RJ handed off whatever protective eye equipment he had in his bag to the others, which were the heart glasses, sunglasses, and goggles.
No no, no no, no no! AHH! Dwayne screamed as the machine finally reached them. The animals winced a bit at the light that was emitted from the chaos below them, but they soon focused back in on them, as the eye equipment really did help. All of a sudden the light shot straight up into the sky.
The animals watched in awe as his shot up, but returned their gaze back to the show, not giving the beam much thought. What they didn't know was just how far it would go. It show straight out of the atmosphere completely destroying a satellite in process, resulting with the lighting across the entire western region of the United States to go out. As if that wasn't enough, it could be seen from the other side of the galaxy. It was like a new star was flickering on and off.
It was pretty amusing watching the trio receive their comeuppance, mainly because they had tried to kill them all. The whole thing was like a movie. A few members of the family even brought out some food. The triplets even roasted some marshmallows, but they burnt up the second they put them into the light. RJ pulled out a bag of white cheddar popcorn that finished popping in just a few seconds. When the light had gone, and the dust settled, the animals could finally see the full extent of what was done. The three were in a really sorry state, in a cage at the bottom of a crater that was now in the back yard.
With their foes defeated, and the knowledge that they had won and were finally safe, everybody burst into cheers, high fives and chest bumps. Verne and RJ exchanged glances and shook hands mentally congratulating the other for their part in pulling the plan off in spectacular fashion. But of course, neither could have done it without the help of a certain rodent.
"Come here Hammy come here," RJ smirked rolling his eyes. "You are a genius my boy," he said while ruffling the fur on top of his head.
Hammy smiled, beaming with pride knowing he helped save everyone, and that RJ called him a genius. It had been a long time since he heard that word.
"Oh thank yoooooouuuuu!" The resulted belch, while unintentional, propelled him a good ten feet off the hedge and to the ground with a thud. Verne quickly fanned the gagging stench away from him.
RJ returned his gaze to Verne. "And Verne, don't you ever fix this shell." He then lifted it further up like it was a pair of overalls.
"Yeah, I'm glad it's working for ya," Verne stated with a slight sarcastic tone of voice. "Take it off, give it back." Realizing Verne was still naked, RJ didn't have any problem with giving it back to him.
"Yeah, sure thing," he replied jumping out of it. As Verne put his shell back on, the duo looked back down at the cage. "So now that they're trapped, what's going to happen to them?" Verne asked.
"Well, from what I heard last night right before we talked, the depelter turbo is illegal everywhere in the country, except Texas apparently. Figures. So I'm guessing they're going to be arrested by the Police."
Having heard what police were a few days prior due to a detective show some of the others had been watching on the TV, that seemed like a good outcome for them to Verne.
"Well that's good to hear," he said, "but what about Vincent?"
RJ had not really thought about it. Up until a minute ago, he thought he was going to be killed by him. He hadn't considered what might become of the bear.
"I guess animal control is going to take him away, but I don't really know where." Was all he could say. If they took him somewhere close, he might need to leave while he had the chance. The thought of doing that actually put of a sense of depression and sadness into him, something that didn't go unnoticed by Verne.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing, it's just... if they just release him somewhere close, I'm probably going to need to go on the run." Being someone who lived alone and fended for himself was one thing, but to do it while on the run for his life? That was something else.
Verne placed a hand on RJ's shoulder as they glanced back down at the crater. "Whatever happens, I'm sure things will work out."
"I hope you're right Verne. I really do."
They didn't need to wait for very long. The noise and yelling caught the attention of one of the neighbors. When they looked over the fence and saw what had happened on the other side, they immediately called the police and the department of animal control, both of whom arrived in record time. After tranquilizing Vincent to make sure he didn't do anything, the animal control workers strapped him to a dolly and rolled him away. The animals from the top of the hedge that ran along the street.
"Here we go, off to the Rockies for you smoky," one of the workers said as they rolled him into their truck. When RJ heard what they said, a feeling of intense relief washed over him. With Vincent all the way across the country in the Rockies, he would most likely never see him again. It would also be very unlikely he would ever be able to find his way back, since he would have to travel thousands of miles to find one suburban area in the middle of Indiana. With him gone, he would finally have a slightly better life, but that wasn't really saying much.
While he knew the others liked him again, he didn't think they would want a lying, manipulative thief with them. Even if he did confess his actions, and save them. He wouldn't really want him either. What happed next broke him out of his thoughts. As Gladys went hysterical over being arrested. He and the others actually laughed slightly as a fight broke out between her and the police, with the officers eventually managing to subdue her and put her in the car.
With everything beginning to look wrapped up, the group made their way along the top of the hedge back home. RJ had lost track of Dwayne since he had been watching Gladys, but hearing a squeak and a yell from behind a fence seemed to let him know where he went. As everyone jumped off the hedge and to the ground, they all started celebrating having overcome odds that most other animals would have thought impossible. After grabbing his bag from where he left it at the top of the hedge, RJ was the last to jump down. He tried to keep a smile up, but he knew that it wouldn't last once he left.
As he watched the animals he had come to know celebrate and reunite with each other, he knew that they were all going to be fine. If the could survive through what they had all just been through, anything else would be a breeze. Granted he had to save them, but if he didn't abandon them, it might not have happened in the first place. Plus, with Dwayne out of the picture, things seemed to be looking up for them. He knew they would be fine without him, and as much as it pained him, he knew he was going to have to accept that.
The first week of spring had concluded, as well as his place in their lives and the old stage of his. It was time for him to move on, and start the next chapter of his life, even though it didn't really have much to offer. As he was taking one last look at them before he would bid his farewells, Verne came up along side him from behind.
"You know RJ, um, just for the record. If you told us that all that food you were trying to get was to pay back an angry bear, we would have given it to you."
That was the last thing RJ had expected Verne to say. His faced changed to one of almost complete shock.
"Really?"
"Yeah. That's what families do. They look out for each other."
That sounded a little clique, but it still carried some depth to it. RJ didn't really know why Verne thought of him as a family member, especially since he had used and abandoned them. But that smile he gave him when he jumped up on the van's windshield earlier to save them, as well as his instance that he intended to take care of the "whole family" seemed to explain it slightly. As long as he had confessed what his true motives were earlier, RJ felt he should at least wipe the slate clean by being completely honest with him before he left.
"I've never really had anything like that."
"I know. But believe me, this, this is the gateway to the good life," he finished motioning his had towards the others.
RJ found it a little amusing that Verne was using his own words from when they first met."
"I really wish you told be that sooner."
"Yeah well, that's bad communication, also something families do. So what do you say? You wanna be part of it?"
RJ looked down at the ground pondering what was said to him. He didn't think he would ever hear anyone actually give him an opportunity to join them, much less Verne of all animals. But as he glanced back up at the others, a new feeling resonated within him. This group of animals who were as different from each other as one could think, all had each other to rely, love, trust and count on. None of which he had been able to experience with anyone.
And yet given their happy looks, they seemed to be willing to forgive and forget all that he had put him through, which just made their feelings and intentions all the more genuine. There was something about this group of animals he just couldn't put his finger on. Maybe it was all the time they experienced over the week, how they all managed to work together through their differences to protect one another, or maybe it was something else entirely. Something that he may not understand for a while. Whatever it was, it was one of the most intriguing, genuine, and at the same time, humbling feelings he ever experienced, and as he looked at them, he finally realized it was something that he wanted to be apart of.
He then gave what was probably the most genuine, sincere and heartfelt smile of his entire life. He then took off his bag and dropped it at his feet. Symbolizing now just the old life he was now finally giving up, but the hurt and sorrow he had felt up to that point as well. And it did take the weight off his shoulders, both literally and figuratively. The next thing he knew, Hammy was giving him a hug.
Hammy had given him a lot of hugs over the course of the week, but RJ never returned any of them. He had never really been one for returning affection, let alone for anyone he didn't really know. Plus he didn't really see the point of doing it since he wasn't going to be around at the end of the week anyway. So why let yourself grow attached? It would just make things harder for when he would have to betray and leave them.
But even after all he put them through, after nearly getting them killed, after betraying them in one of the worst ways, they were still willing to wipe the slate clean and give him another chance. This was actually the nicest, most selfless thing anyone had ever done for him in his entire life. The realization and emotions he was experiencing hit him harder than a runaway freight train. Finally after years of pent up depression, frustration and lonliness, the barriers he had built up against trusting or depending on anyone other than himself came crumbling down as he finally returned the sign of friendship. It didn't just end with one though.
"Welcome to the family," Ozzie grinned, and a second later, RJ found himself getting swarmed by hugs from everyone as they ran up to him.
"Group hug!" Heather called out.
"What a first week of spring huh?" Verne smiled.
It sure was. Nobody, not even RJ, had expected the week to turn as wild and crazy as it had, or ended as great as it did for that matter. Most of the forest was now gone, they had all been introduced to a whole nother world, and food that seemed to be out of both worlds. They had crazy adventures, a daring rescue, a showdown that they would always remember, and now had more friends that were now also considered family. It seemed like everything was going to be a-ok from now on. Except for one little thing that everyone had forgotten about up until now.
"Wait a minute!" Verne gasped as it suddenly came flying back. "That means there's only 267 days left til winter! What are we gonna do for food?"
Everyone's smiled faded. With everything that had gone on they had all forgotten about the thing that caused the whole escapade in the first place. Everyone either glanced at eachother with uneasy looks of concern or tried to start thinking of a solution. Everyone except Hammy that is, who started rapidly jumping up and down on the spot with hid hand up like a kindergardener who knew the answer to a question.
"Yes? Hammy," RJ grinned calling on him.
"I filled the log," Hammy replied pointing to their home.
Everyone looked over and gasped. The log was now chucked full to the brims with nuts. It looked like they wouldn't be running out of food anytime soon.
"What the?" RJ's mouth hung open as Hammy ran to the log.
"Whahaha! Look, look!" he shouted skipping around like a leprechaun who had found a pot of gold. "I found my nuts!" He began to run back but ran into something, sort of.
"Huh?" everybody said. RJ walked up and waved his hand through the air where Hammy had run into. "What happened?"
"I don't know," Verne replied as he helped Hammy up, looking just as if not more confused.
"What was that?" Hammy asked shaking his head looking at the space in front of him. "Is it the invisibibile man that we saw on TV? Well we didn't really see him on TV of course, but we saw his glasses and hat though."
"It's pronounced invisible Hammy," Verne clarified. "And no, there is no invisible man."
"I think it might be a lingering side effect of the caffience you had," RJ concluded. I mean, if you could run faster than the speed of light to save all of us, and erm, find all your nuts, I wouldn't really be surprised."
"Yeah man," Spike commented. "It must have caused your muscles to freeze for a second, kind of like the character in the video game we played when it glitched."
"Really?" Hammy gasped. "That's awesome! I mean, yeah it hurt a little, but still awesome! Do you think I can do anything else like the video game characters? What if I grow twice as big if I eat a mushroom? Or maybe I can fly if I put on a cape! Or-"
"Ok, I think that's enough rambling about games for today Hammy," Verne said patting his shoulder.
"But still, great job on filling the log." Everyone then voiced their own complements.
"Awww... it was nothing," Hammy smiled sheepishly while kicking at the grass.
"Nothing? Hammy it was fantastic!" RJ smiled. "I've never gathered as much food as you have in such little time. In fact you actually did it in no time at all. Which just makes it even better."
Miles away, the animal control truck drove steadily down a road, passing through farmland, forests, and by occasional suburbs. The animal control officers who had recently just detained and collected a dangerous animal were driving northwest on State Road 144 to eventually turn north towards Indianapolis. There they would drop off the bear at their facility, where it would be kept until it was ready to be shipped off to the Rocky Mountains.
Blackness. That's all he could see. Nothing but inky blackness for as far as one could see. There wasn't really that anything to hear either. Eventually though, there were sounds that were starting to come up. It was a rumbling sound. It didn't sound like that of a stomach or earthquake, it sounded like... a motor running.
Vincent slowly regained consciousness. Everything hurt, a lot. He'd been stung by a good many bees, wasps and hornets in his life, but none of them had done a number on him as bad as what he currently felt. He found himself lying facedown on a metal surface. What? Metal? He lifted himself up but ended up hitting his head on something. What the? After looking around, it finally dawned on him where he was.
He was in a metal crate. Worse than that, he was trapped in one. He tried pushing against the door with all his strenght, but despite his best efforts he couldn't make a dent. As he tried getting out, he woundered how the heck he ended up here in the first place. He had alwasys been good on staying off the radar of animal control. Maybe it was because of how droggy he was that got him caught?
That didn't make sense. He just woke up from hibernation. He had slept pratically all winter. Well, aside from that one time his food got stollen, but he- Vincent stopped his train of thought right in its tracks. It started off slow, but his thoughts finally began to catch up with him as he started to regain his memory. His food was stolen, he made a deal, he want back to sleep for a week, came back, attempted to kill the animals responsible for destroying his food, and then there was... he stoped as he finally remembered the one reason on how he ended up here. RJ.
Vincent lost it. He yelled in absolute anger and hatred at the memory of that racoon, or at least attempted to. He looked down to see that he had been firmly muzzled. He tried desperatly to get it off. He clawed and scratched and pulled. Even to the point where he was making himself bleed, but it wasn't going anywhere any time soon. And until he got out of this crate neither was he.
There was nothing else for it. He would have to wait until his captors eventually released him. They'd have to at some point or another. It didn't matter when they did though, becase as soon as he was out with this stupid muzzle off, he was going straight back to that suburb to finish the job he started. The last thing that coon would see would be the inside of his throught. And if anyone tried to stop him from doing it, they would't see the light of another day.
You better pray to everything holy RJ, because when I get out of here, you're gonna need a miracle to save your hide from me, Vincent growled to himself as the truck finally turned north to take him to his new fate.