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Hardy Har Har woke up blearily.
He felt a bit of surprise when he realized that instead of the cold sidewalk, he was laying on cold, hard metal.
A surprise that became unpleasant when he realized also that he was covered in chains.
What the?
He then remembered that he wasn't sleeping, but knocked out.
He and Lippy the Lion had been roaming in a street when they saw a bunch of strange looking people steal something from a museum.
One of them had been clumsy and dropped the something, a sort of crystal in the shape of a star.
Lippy has the idea that if they could grab it and evade the thieves, they could give it back to the museum for a reward.
Hardy had complained that it was dangerous, that they'd better just forget it.
But Lippy hadn't listened. Like always.
So they did it.
And they got quickly caught.
At this, the star, that was in Hardy's hands, suddenly vanished.
A brutal beating followed, until the duo fell in blissful unconsciousness.
And they kidnapped us too, apparently. Oh dear, oh my...
"Ah, he's awake!" exclaimed the familiar voice of Lippy.
The hyena looked around to see that he was indeed in a cell of sort.
The lion was here, with someone Hardy never saw before: a yellow cat in a purple vest and hat.
And both of them were covered in chains too.
"Um... Who are you?"
"My name's Top Cat," answered the yellow cat. "Leader of a group of street schemers, like you and your friend Lippy."
"He's coming from another universe, apparently!" exclaimed excitedly Lippy. "Can you imagine that?!"
"And what are you doing here?"
"Well, like us, he, his gang and the cop they like to annoy saw these strange brutes attack something to claim something looking like a star. They seem to be looking for them all around various universes."
"The difference is that unlike you, we couldn't even try to play hero. They jumped us immediately. No leaving witnesses policy, I guess. I've been separated from my gang since then..."
The longing in his voice made clear that he was missing them.
"We've been thinking on a way to get out of here. We've haven't found one yet-"
"Oh dear, oh my..."
"Wow, you weren't kidding when you said he was a depressed pessimist," commented Top Cat. "It's really to the point he can't smile or laugh because it hurts?"
"Yeah, lack of use of the cheek muscles," replied Lippy. "Hardy, look, we said we haven't found one yet, not that-"
"Shush!" exclaimed the cat. "I hear voices!"
All three immediately clammed up.
Indeed, two distant voices could faintly be heard.
"Yeah, according to the higher-ups, the fact that the Silver Super Star disappeared means that it bonded with one of these two, the lion or the hyena."
"So, what we're supposed to do?"
"Dissect them. That'll allow us to take back the Star."
"Gotcha. And what about the other Star?"
"Safely locked in the ship, ready to be transferred to the main base."
"Okay. And the others, the cats and the cop?"
"Get rid of them. Me and the others, we thought of forcing them in a battle royale with the lie that the last survivor would go free, and kill that last one. That'll allow us to have some fun and do some bets."
"Nice!"
The casual cruelty and evilness in these words froze in horror the three prisoners, as the two monstrous jailers' voices faded away.
Top Cat was the first to recover.
"We've got to find a way out! Come on, you two, let's think! We-"
He stopped talking when he saw that Lippy was scarily pale, his eyes staring in the void, his breath hoarse and difficult.
"Lippy?" asked worriedly Hardy.
"We're dead..." moaned the lion.
"Lippy?!"
"We're gonna die..."
"Don't say that!" protested Top Cat.
"Oh, and what I'm supposed to say?! That it'll be fine?! IT'S NOT FINE!!" barked Lippy, making the cat recoil.
Hardy stared in shock at his partner of always. The lion had always been a happy-go-lucky optimist, never discouraged, never giving up. The hyena never would have thought he'd ever give up. And yet, it was happening.
It was happening because Lippy always tried to see the best outcome in a situation. But here, he couldn't. The outcome given by the sadistic monsters they were prisoners of overrode all other possibilities.
And in the face of this horrible end, he crashed down. HARD.
"We're gonna die and it's my fault!" he weeped.
"Lippy-" began Hardy.
"I should have listened to you, man! We should have went away! But no, I thought I knew better!"
"Lippy-"
"I didn't listen to you! I never listen to you!"
"Lippy-"
"I keep sticking to my ideas! And every time, it fails! And it's always you who suffers the most out if it!"
"Lippy-"
"Why you keep following me?! You should have ditched me years ago! It'd have been better for you! You should hate me!"
"SHUT UP, LIPPY!!"
The shock at seeing Hardy yell at him tore Lippy away from his spiral of despair.
"You want to know why I'm still with you? Because you bring excitement to my life! Yeah, that's annoying that you don't listen to my warnings! Yeah, I often get the brunt of the consequences of the failures! But I'm staying! I'm staying because for all my moaning, I prefer this to staying alone and stagnating in depression! I'm staying because for all my pessimism, there's still a tiny part of me that hopes that one day, one of your crazy plans will work! I'm staying because you're my friend! Come hell or high water, YOU'RE! MY! FRIEND!"
Lippy stared in astonishment. Never had the hyena been so expressive, so open.
"So please, don't give up like that! We always managed to get out in one piece! Why not here?! ... Now look what you've done. I'm supposed to be the pessimist here."
Hardy managed to laugh a little bit at his joke before moaning in pain.
Lippy stared at his partner a few seconds...
Before starting to bawl his eyes out and "hug" Hardy the best he could with those accursed chains.
"I don't deserve you, man..." he sobbed when he finally calmed down.
"And I don't deserve you either, yet we've got each other," replied Hardy, managing a weak wry smirk before his face ached under the effort, again.
Lippy couldn't help but chuckle at the dig.
Top Cat, who had watched the scene, didn't say a thing.
But he was crying too, moved by this demonstration of friendship that made him ache for his gang...

Art by  caseyljones
Original here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/44948326/
Hardy Har Har, Lippy the Lion and Top Cat © Hanna-Barbera