Walk A Mile In Your Shoes
Chapter 12: The Traitor
"Tamori!" chorused the ham-hams. The ham-ham before them was indeed, Tamori, the samurai daimyo who led Neteru to Terra and supplied them for the journey. However, Tamori was always so cheerful and friendly looking but this time, a nasty looking glare was in his eyes and an evil grin was on his face. But what was the most strange about Tamori's appearance (to Nin-Ham and Soshi at least) was that he did not have his katana and wakizashi with him and instead, he held a double-bladed sword in his paws.
"Tamori, how did you get here?" asked Soshi.
"And more importantly, why are you here?" asked Neteru.
"I've searched for Ankorbak all my life." said Tamori. "But I never knew how to find it or that Terra had a map to Ankorbak. Now that I've finally found Ankorbak, every artifact in this city is now under my control. I will have access to the greatest magical and psionic secrets ever known to ham-ham kind."
"Atata." chorused the ham-hams except Tamori and his servants.
"But that is treason against the empire of Rokugon and treason against the Code of Bushido which all samurai must obey." said Soshi, her temper rising.
"Hahahaha." laughed Tamori evilly. "The empire is absolutely pathetic with its tradition and culture. Code of Bushido. A code embraced by a fool. No, I will seek a new destiny for myself and for the rest of the world."
"How could you?" said Soshi in outrage. "The Code of Bushido is not a crack pot list of rules. It defines our loyalty to what is right and to our friends and family. It is..."
"Nothing more than a tool to prevent others from becoming too powerful for those in charge to handle." interrupted Tamori.
"That's not true." said Soshi practically shouting out her words.
"And besides, unless you have any psionic or magical training, you can't operate any of the artifacts here in Ankorbak." pointed out Neteru.
"And who said I didn't." said Tamori. Suddenly, there was a strange buzzing sound followed by a strong telekinetic force that caused Neteru and the others to become magnetized to each other. They were all held together in a huddle and incapable of moving.
As everyone tried to struggle against the telekinetic force, the truth finally dawned on Neteru.
"You're a psion?" said Neteru in surprise.
"Yes." said Tamori. "When I was just a little ham kid, I was introduced to the samurai arts but I never liked it. Right when I was a baby, I discovered that I possessed psychic powers which gave me the idea to nourish that gift by secretly training in the psionic arts so I could use it to take the artifacts in Ankorbak for myself. When I was an adult, I practiced, in secret, the ways of the psion. I improved on my power but I also continued my samurai training so I could earn the respect of everyone and enable me more access to the local government since only samurai were aloud in government. No one knew that I have been secretly plotting to find Ankorbak and use its artifacts for my own ends. But I never managed to find the city until you came along. Realizing that this could be the chance I've been waiting to finally get to Ankorbak, I offered to help and I played friendly with you guys so you wouldn't suspect a thing."
"But how did you get here?" asked Neteru.
"I teleported." said Tamori.
"But that is impossible." said Neteru.
"Foolish sorcerer." said Tamori. "Teleportation through magic is limited to places that the sorcerer is familiar with but with psionics, it is possible to bend those limitations under special circumstances. Let me show you." Tamori lifted a small object out of Nin-Ham's pocket using his telekinesis. The stone flew through the air and into Tamori's paw. The object was the small blue stone that Tamori had given Nin-Ham.
"That so-called good luck charm that I gave Nin-Ham is not a good luck charm but what is known as a tracking stone." explained Tamori. "Infused with my own power, I am capable of constantly knowing where it is thus enabling me to track down Nin-Ham where ever he was. When I sensed he was in Ankorbak, I used my psionic powers to create a psionic power that would transport myself and my servants." Tamori pointed to the white ham-hams beside him to indicate who he was talking about. "Using the stone's location as a guide, I directed the teleportation here."
"You will never get away with this." said Neteru.
"But I will." said Tamori. "My servants here are loyal to me and they are both skillful sorcerers."
"Va..." began Neteru but before he could finish the incantation, Tamori conjured a plastic like substance around Neteru's mouth, silencing him. Neteru immediately recognized the substance as ectoplasm. Suddenly, more of those ectoplasmic gags covered the mouth of Mara and Jingle. Now that their mouths were covered and their arms are bounded by the psionics that holds them all together like glue, all three of them were incapable of using magic.
"Now that I have Ankorbak for myself, I don't need you guys ruining it for me." said Tamori evilly.
There was a strange sent in the air as Tamori began to manifest a psionic power. In Tamori's out stretched paw, a strange green ball began to grow getting bigger and bigger. They were all afraid since they knew that Tamori was about to kill them. The sphere reached the size of a table tennis ball.
"Say hi to the Grim Reaper, Neteru." said Tamori. The sphere shot forwards and was about to strike them when suddenly, a ham-ham ran out in front of the sphere and shattered it to pieces. Everyone opened their eyes to see what had happened and to their amazement, their rescuer was the brown spotted psion who had been following them this whole time. The psion held out his quarterstaff and there was a low buzzing sound as the psion manifested his attack. There was a blast of energy from the tip of the psion's quarterstaff and it knocked Tamori and the sorcerers to the ground. There was another buzzing sound as the psion used his power to negate the psionics that held Neteru and the others and removed the ectoplasmic gags on Neteru's, Mara's, and Jingle's mouths.
"Follow me." yelled the psion. Tamori and the others were trying to get up but the psionics was holding them in place. Realizing that this was their chance to escape, they all followed the psion through the streets of Ankorbak repeating "Badda-Badda" as they ran.
The psion led them through the streets of Ankorbak and to a secret door inside an alley.
"Sun Flower." said the psion and as if the door was automatic, the door opened up revealing a secret passage. The psion led the others into the hole one by one, watching for any sign of Tamori and his sorcerers. They all managed to get into the hole and they found themselves inside a small underground room which looked like some kind of storage room. The psion quickly climbed down the ladder and closed the door.
"For now, we should be safe." said the psion.
"Why did you save us back there?" asked Neteru. "Just yesterday, you were trying to kill us and that wasn't the first time you have tried."
"I'm afraid I have made a terrible mistake." said the psion. "You see, I thought you guys were after Ankorbak for your own evil purposes. You see, my parent's ancestors came from Ankorbak and my parents were the only ones owned the keys that opens the door to Ankorbak and they also knew the secrets to passing through the traps that protect Ankorbak. They taught me about how to reach Ankorbak and all the secrets of the two challenges that prevent access. However, when I was a child, my parents realized that a samurai named Tamori was trying to steal the secrets to getting into Ankorbak. Secretly, we gave the map and key to a hedgehog named Terra and she agreed to keep both artifacts safe. Then me and my parents left our home in Rokugon in order to keep our secrets safe from Tamori."
"That explains how Terra got the map and key in the first place but that doesn't explain why you were trying to kill us." said Neteru.
"Well, I thought you were trying to get the treasures in Ankorbak." said the psion. "After my parents past away, I promised them that I was going to protect Ankorbak. After moving moving out of Rokugon, I spent the rest of my life in that library you guys went into to. I over heard you guys saying that you were going to find Ankorbak but first you were going to Rokugon. I thought that you guys were going after Rokugon so you could get the map and then steal the artifacts in Ankorbak."
"You actually thought that we were going to use Ankorbak for our own selfish purposes?" asked Neteru.
"Yes but since I lost the element of surprise with my first attempt at killing you, I had to find other ways of fighting all of you." said the psion. "When I discovered that you got help form Tamori, I thought that Tamori had hired you all to get to Ankorbak. Realizing how desperate the situation was, I hypnotized those cats into attacking you guys."
"You killed those poor cats." protested Mara.
"I thought you guys were going after the artifacts in Ankorbak so I thought it would have been a noble sacrifice." said the psion. "But when that failed, I tried to get you guys at the mountain but you had successfully threw me off the cliff. Luckily, I managed to save myself using my telekinesis. Left with few options, I decided to go into Ankorbak myself. Using the spare key I had, I opened the door, crossed the challenges and I laid in wait for you guys to show up. I found you guys when Tamori had showed up and when I over heard your conversation, I realized that I was greatly mistaken and I stepped in to help."
"Yes and we're grateful that you did." said Neteru.
"But what I can't figure out is why did you guys come to Ankorbak in the first place if you weren't going to use it for evil purposes?" asked the psion.
"See those hamsters over." said Neteru pointing to Laura and the other former humans. "They were once humans but they were changed into Hamsters by a powerful magic. It is so powerful that my own power cannot remove it so we need the Ankorbak Pylons in order to revert them back to normal."
"Well that explains it." said the psion. "Well, I can find the pylons for you. I know exactly where they are."
"You do?" said Neteru. "Can you lead us to the pylons?"
"Yes I can." said the psion. "I'll do so to try and make up for all those times I tried to kill you."
"Thank you so much...ur...what is your name?" said Neteru.
"Topaz." said the psion.
"Topaz?" said Hamtaro. "That's a strange name."
"I was named after a type of stone." explained Topaz. "Psions run in my family and stones is commonly used in psionics." Topaz walked up to the entrance of the secret room and slowly opened the door. Making sure that no one was watching, he helped the others out and they went out in search for the pylons.
Strangely enough, as Topaz led the others through Ankorbak, they found no sign of Tamori or his sorcerers anywhere. This made Neteru and the others nervous because Tamori would have been looking for them unless he had something more diabolical up his sleeve. Topaz led them through the city until they came across a large structure in front of them. It was the Ankorbak Pylons and like in Neteru's dream, the pylons were nine gray inward curving pylons that surrounded a large white circle on the ground with a diameter of two yards. The pylons were made out of gray stone and Neteru noticed strange glowing symbols on the tips of each pylon. Neteru recognized them as the runes of a powerful divine magic. They all gawked at the shear magnitude of the pylons and the beauty of their structure
"Now all we have to do is figure out how to use these pylons to cast a 'dispel magic spell' and we can bring you guys back to normal." said Neteru to the former humans.
"I don't think so." said Tamori who stood right behind them. They all turned around and noticed Tamori and his sorcerers all standing right behind them.
"I knew that if I waited here, I would find you guys." said Tamori. Soshi immediately pulled out her katana and wakizashi in both paws and said, "You will pay for your treason towards the Samurai Code and Rokugon."
"Again with the Samurai honor code." said Tamori. "Lets see how honor will save you now. Servants, destroy them." All of Tamori's sorcerers drew out wands and pointed them menacingly at Neteru and the others. Everyone pulled out their swords, except for Neteru and Mara. Laura and the other former humans were somewhat nervous about the fight since they were so inexperienced in combat and Nin-Ham was also nervous since he had only recently managed to get the hang of sword fighting. They all were about to fight when there was a sudden earthquake. This sudden tremor caught everyone by surprise. The tremor started again and this time, there was the sound of growling in the air. Beams of color moved along the holographic ceiling of Ankorbak like an aurora borealis and they all began to gather over the pylons. The colors began to descend towards the ground and began to gather in a colorful light show.
"What's happening?" asked Hamtaro.
"Remember how I said that there was something left behind when the city's inhabitants were killed?" asked Jingle.
"Yeah." answered Mara.
"I suspect that this is it and it has come to destroy us all." said Jingle morbidly.
Author's Note: A double-bladed sword (also called a two-bladed sword) is a sword with sword blades on both ends of the handle making the weapon look like Darth Maul's weapon (from Star Wars) only with sword blades instead of light sabers.