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After a few minutes of wandering through the now empty base yelling names, other voices finally answered.
"GUYS!!" exclaimed happily Top Cat. "Where are you?!"
"Here!" replied a voice from behind another thick and solid metal door.
"Move away from the door!"
Shuffles signaled they obeyed, after which Hardy ripped off the door as effortlessly as he kicked the previous one.
A bunch of cats and a human, covered in chains too, emerged from the cell.
"Guys! It's so good to see you!"
For a few minutes, the cats and the human all huddled in relief in joy.
Finally, the others saw the lion and the hyena accompanying Top Cat.
"Here are two guys who helped me. You two, meet my crew: Benny the Ball, Choo-Choo, Brain, Spook and Fancy-Fancy. Oh, and Dibble, the cop who harrasses us."
"Because you ask for it," snarked the human.
"Anyway, guys, meet Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har. They've been a real precious help."
The others all gawked at the overmuscled hyena, who flexed with a smirk.
"So, you're very impressive, but do you think you could break these chains?" finally asked Dibble after a few minutes.
"No problem!" gloated Hardy. "Let me start with Lippy."
He turned towards Lippy, began reaching to the chains of his feet...
And the lion recoiled.
"Lippy?! What are you-"
Only then, Hardy saw the terrified expression on his friend's face.
"Lippy? You're okay?"
"No! No I'm not!" yelped Lippy.
"What's wrong?!"
"WHAT'S WRONG?! YOU'RE BIGGER THAN HULK, YOU SLAUGHTERED AN ARMY OF ROBOTS AND ENJOYED IT, YOU KEEP SMILING AND LAUGHING, YOU LOVE WHAT'S HAPPENING TO YOU EVEN THOUGH THAT'S NOT NORMAL, AND YOU ASK ME WHAT'S WRONG?!"
Hardy started in shock at that outburst.
"You're not being yourself! You act like a-a-a-a BERSERKER!! LIKE THE TOTAL OPPOSITE OF WHAT YOU ARE!! God, whatever that thing's doing to you's messing with your head! What if it makes you attack us, or-"
"Lippy! LIPPY!! Calm down, please!" exclaimed Hardy.
The worry in his voice slightly weakened the lion's panic, and he stopped babbling.
"It's me, Lippy! It's still me! I... Ah, where to start?! Look, the Star, it- When I began growing, I stopped responding for a few instants, remember?"
"Yeah, and then you began LAUGHING!"
"Let me finish, please!" exclaimed worriedly Hardy. "It... It didn't speak to me, but it felt like it! I could feel its energy flowing in all my body! And this energy... It's... Beautiful. Pure. Good. And... It "told" me that it could give me power, make me strong, protect me, us, from all harm! It didn't "ask" anything in return, just to trust, to let it. And I did."
Lippy didn't answer, but his breathing seemed more regular.
"And... God, you can't imagine how good it feels, to be so big and strong, to be... invincible! When I said I never felt better in my life, I meant it! And it had been so long since I felt like that, happy, elated, I... My emotions are running completely wild, out of the roof! And... And yeah, I'll admit I had a bit of a power trip, but wouldn't you at my place?!"
Lippy couldn't help but chuckle and admit the point.
"I'm sorry I scared you, Lippy. I didn't mean to, but I didn't think. At your place, I'd be damn scared too."
Lippy couldn't doubt anymore. Overgrown or not, contrarily to the appearances, it was still the good old Hardy, still his friend of always.
"I'm sorry too. You finally have something good happening to you, and instead of being happy for you, I go paranoid."
"Hey, again, at your place, I'd be terrified too."
A relieved, apologetic silence followed as Hardy delicately crushed Lippy's chains and manacles, annihilating them without even cramping the lion.
But Hardy, instead of releasing his friend, dragged him closer and hugged him, to comfort him (and himself) a bit more.
Lippy couldn't help but find weird to be so easily lifted and hugged even though he normally was the bigger of the twos, but it still felt nice. So he snuggled deeper in the hug, losing his last traces of fear and doubt.
For a few minutes, the two friends just basked in the comfort and warmth of the hug.
...
"Yeah, cool, hug it out, don't mind us, we love being covered in chains," couldn't help but grumble Dibble.
Top Cat elbowed him.
Art by timmyjcoyote
Hardy Har Har and Lippy the Lion © Hanna-Barbera
After a few minutes of wandering through the now empty base yelling names, other voices finally answered.
"GUYS!!" exclaimed happily Top Cat. "Where are you?!"
"Here!" replied a voice from behind another thick and solid metal door.
"Move away from the door!"
Shuffles signaled they obeyed, after which Hardy ripped off the door as effortlessly as he kicked the previous one.
A bunch of cats and a human, covered in chains too, emerged from the cell.
"Guys! It's so good to see you!"
For a few minutes, the cats and the human all huddled in relief in joy.
Finally, the others saw the lion and the hyena accompanying Top Cat.
"Here are two guys who helped me. You two, meet my crew: Benny the Ball, Choo-Choo, Brain, Spook and Fancy-Fancy. Oh, and Dibble, the cop who harrasses us."
"Because you ask for it," snarked the human.
"Anyway, guys, meet Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har. They've been a real precious help."
The others all gawked at the overmuscled hyena, who flexed with a smirk.
"So, you're very impressive, but do you think you could break these chains?" finally asked Dibble after a few minutes.
"No problem!" gloated Hardy. "Let me start with Lippy."
He turned towards Lippy, began reaching to the chains of his feet...
And the lion recoiled.
"Lippy?! What are you-"
Only then, Hardy saw the terrified expression on his friend's face.
"Lippy? You're okay?"
"No! No I'm not!" yelped Lippy.
"What's wrong?!"
"WHAT'S WRONG?! YOU'RE BIGGER THAN HULK, YOU SLAUGHTERED AN ARMY OF ROBOTS AND ENJOYED IT, YOU KEEP SMILING AND LAUGHING, YOU LOVE WHAT'S HAPPENING TO YOU EVEN THOUGH THAT'S NOT NORMAL, AND YOU ASK ME WHAT'S WRONG?!"
Hardy started in shock at that outburst.
"You're not being yourself! You act like a-a-a-a BERSERKER!! LIKE THE TOTAL OPPOSITE OF WHAT YOU ARE!! God, whatever that thing's doing to you's messing with your head! What if it makes you attack us, or-"
"Lippy! LIPPY!! Calm down, please!" exclaimed Hardy.
The worry in his voice slightly weakened the lion's panic, and he stopped babbling.
"It's me, Lippy! It's still me! I... Ah, where to start?! Look, the Star, it- When I began growing, I stopped responding for a few instants, remember?"
"Yeah, and then you began LAUGHING!"
"Let me finish, please!" exclaimed worriedly Hardy. "It... It didn't speak to me, but it felt like it! I could feel its energy flowing in all my body! And this energy... It's... Beautiful. Pure. Good. And... It "told" me that it could give me power, make me strong, protect me, us, from all harm! It didn't "ask" anything in return, just to trust, to let it. And I did."
Lippy didn't answer, but his breathing seemed more regular.
"And... God, you can't imagine how good it feels, to be so big and strong, to be... invincible! When I said I never felt better in my life, I meant it! And it had been so long since I felt like that, happy, elated, I... My emotions are running completely wild, out of the roof! And... And yeah, I'll admit I had a bit of a power trip, but wouldn't you at my place?!"
Lippy couldn't help but chuckle and admit the point.
"I'm sorry I scared you, Lippy. I didn't mean to, but I didn't think. At your place, I'd be damn scared too."
Lippy couldn't doubt anymore. Overgrown or not, contrarily to the appearances, it was still the good old Hardy, still his friend of always.
"I'm sorry too. You finally have something good happening to you, and instead of being happy for you, I go paranoid."
"Hey, again, at your place, I'd be terrified too."
A relieved, apologetic silence followed as Hardy delicately crushed Lippy's chains and manacles, annihilating them without even cramping the lion.
But Hardy, instead of releasing his friend, dragged him closer and hugged him, to comfort him (and himself) a bit more.
Lippy couldn't help but find weird to be so easily lifted and hugged even though he normally was the bigger of the twos, but it still felt nice. So he snuggled deeper in the hug, losing his last traces of fear and doubt.
For a few minutes, the two friends just basked in the comfort and warmth of the hug.
...
"Yeah, cool, hug it out, don't mind us, we love being covered in chains," couldn't help but grumble Dibble.
Top Cat elbowed him.
Art by timmyjcoyote
Hardy Har Har and Lippy the Lion © Hanna-Barbera
Category Artwork (Digital) / Muscle
Species Hyena
Gender Male
Size 933 x 1280px
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