Walk A Mile In Your Shoes
Chapter 13: The Fight for Ankorbak Part 1
Everyone watched as the lights began to shape and form. From the light, a strange green mist began to move through Ankorbak like a fog. Everyone watched curiously as the fog moved through Ankorbak.
"What is this magic?" asked Tamori.
"What if the gas is poisonous?" asked Kana, worriedly.
"Blik." said Neteru and then he was under a "Detect Poison" spell. Using the spell, Neteru instantly knew that the gas was not poisonous and didn't have any affect on him or the others but that was all the spell revealed about the gas.
"Aaahh!" screamed Kana in horror.
"What is it, Kana?" asked Oxnard. Kana was too afraid to talk so Oxnard looked in the direction that Kana was pointing and when Oxnard saw it, Oxnard screamed even more loudly than Kana. Everyone stared in the direction Oxnard and Kana was looking and they saw something horrible and they discovered what the gas was doing. The gas was causing the skeletons to become animated and capable of moving on their own. Right before their eyes, all the hamster skeletons that littered the grounds of Ankorbak were now fully connected with all of its bones and they were all standing up on their own free will. The horrible looking skeletons all began walking towards our hero, their empty eye sockets staring at them and their skinless teeth in a permanent skeletal grin. Oxnard, Laura, and the other former humans were so frightened that they began to rub their heads repeating "Kushi-Kushi" as they did so.
"What are we going to do?" asked Hamtaro, worried. "This most be every skeleton in Ankorbak."
"I agree, we need to find some way of destroying what it is that is animating these skeletons." said Neteru. "Until then, we're going to fight our way out."
Everyone drew their weapons as the army of skeletons began to march towards our heroes like an army of neanderthals slowly dragging their fleshless bodies along the streets of Ankorbak. Tamori, while no one was looking, whispered something into the ear of one of his servants. The servant nodded as the servant pulled out his wand, ready for the fight.
"Okay, anyone who possesses a range attack will use it to fight the skeletons as they get here." said Neteru. "Ready! Now!" Neteru, Mara, Jingle, and all of Tamori's servants shouted, "Megna bodilla." From their staffs, wands, or paws, streams of small green stones materialized out of nowhere. The stones spread out and flew towards the skeletons, ripping them to pieces by the onslaught of the strange ectoplasmic stones conjured by our heroes. Topaz, however, was using his one psionics to fight the skeletons. Using a psionic power known as "Sever the Tie," he was cutting off the negative forces that kept the skeletons active. Every skeleton within the range of the psionics instantly disintegrated. Those who didn't use magic or psionics were waiting nearby with their weapons drawn. While they were all focused on the skeletons ahead of them, Soshi was the first one to notice that Tamori was missing. Soshi scanned the area and noticed Tamori heading towards the streets of Ankorbak, fighting off the skeletons that got in his way. Soshi immediately broke away from the group and chased after Tamori. Nin-Ham noticed Soshi leave and ran after her. No one noticed that they had left because they were too focused on the skeletons that were heading towards them. They also didn't notice that Tamori's servants were talking amongst themselves, secretly planning something.
At this point, the hamster skeletons were getting closer, despite the constant bombardment of spells. They were getting too close for ranged attacks so Neteru and Mara shouted out "Magna dorock" and the incantation transformed their staffs into swords.
"Okay, we're going to have to take them down by force." said Neteru. Topaz also pulled out his quarterstaff from the strap on his back and held it out in a defensive position. Without warning, Tamori's six servants said, "Ignoma tobagollocky." The incantation caused them all to glow a golden color. A bright golden energy connected the six ham-hams which alerted Neteru and the others that something was happening. Suddenly, the ham-hams were lifted off the ground and they plowed through the skeletons causing bones to fly everywhere.
"A Power Merge spell." said Neteru. "They're going to rejoin Tamori and leave us here to fight off the skeletons."
"Say what?" said Oxnard, shaking with fear. "They're going to leave us here to die." As Neteru looked at the army of skeletons gathering around them, Neteru knew the answer.
"Yes, Oxnard." said Neteru morbidly.
Meanwhile, Tamori was running through Ankorbak repeating "Badda-Badda" as he ran. Although there were still a few animated skeletons that were crowding around him, Tamori was capable of fighting them off using his psionics and his double-bladed sword. He managed to reach a clearing that was devoid of any skeletons. The area looked like a traffic circle that was in-between two buildings.
"My servants must have used that Power Merge spell by now." said Tamori out loud. "Any minute now, they should be here."
"Not if I kill you first." said a voice. Tamori turned around and saw Soshi standing at the edge of the traffic circle, her katana and wakizashi in both paws.
"Aw, Soshi, you have finally caught up with me." said Tamori mockingly. Soshi didn't respond. "I see you have tracked me down but you can't possibly expect to beat me."
"The power of my ancestors can stop you." said Soshi.
"Not against my weapon." Tamori lifted up his double-bladed sword and the sword's blades glowed a purple light. "This sword is enchanted with my own power. It is no match for your weapons." Soshi kneeled to the ground and she began to pray into her katana and wakizashi. The two swords began to glow a red color as the spiritual energies of the swords began to build up from within. Once the prayer was complete, Soshi stood up and held the two weapons forward, the swords glowing with power. With a war cry, Soshi charged forwards with her weapons forward. Tamori leaped into the air and the power of his double-bladed sword enabled him to leap over Soshi's head. The two battled using their weapons but like Tamori had said, his sword was strong enough to counteract with the power of Soshi's swords. Despite the extra strength, speed, and agility Soshi gained from katana and wakizashi, Tamori's sword was capable of blocking the attacks.
While the two fought, they were unaware that Nin-Ham was watching the whole thing. He knew he had to help but he wasn't sure how. Quietly, he walked from behind an alley, repeating "Nin-Nin" as he sneaked around the building. Once he was in full view of the fight, he pulled out his chakram. He sat in wait for the perfect chance to strike. As Tamori dodged a swing from Soshi, Tamori was in the open and easily in range for an attack. Seizing the opportunity, Nin-Ham jumped out of his hiding place and threw the razor sharp chakram like a Frisbee. The chakram flew towards Tamori's head but Tamori saw it coming at the last moment and he swung his double-bladed sword and using the psionic energies of the sword, he cut the weapon in two. This gave Soshi an opportunity to strike. She rammed her wakizashi into Tamori. Although the sword did not pierce through Tamori's armor, it did managed to cut through a weak spot causing an injury to Tamori. Tamori shouted out in surprise and pain, clutching the side of his chest where he was stabbed, but none the less, he recovered quickly and managed to block Soshi's next attack. Nin-Ham pulled out his ninja-to and held it high as he charged towards Tamori. Now Tamori was fighting both Nin-Ham and Soshi at once.
Meanwhile, Neteru and the others were having troubles of their own. Without Tamori's servants to help them, they had to fight off the skeletons by themselves. Using every trick they can think of, they battled all the skeletons and holding off strong but they were now surrounded by hundreds of skeletons from all sides and they would be swamped in no time. As Neteru continued to fight, he couldn't help but notice that the strange sphere of light that caused all this was still there and growing in shape. The sphere was beginning to take shape of some strange creature. Neteru knew that the sphere must be transforming into a monster so he had to get himself and the others out of here before it was too late.
"I can't take anymore of this." complained Oxnard.
"We need to take this fight to some place else and fast." said Neteru. "Nethlik anka." The spell conjured a strange symbol in the air above the group. The symbol was a glowing purple pentagram engraved on both sides of a round silver coin shaped object. The symbol was just a magical conjuration and it created a shield of positive energy that caused the skeletons to back out of the barrier and away from the group.
"What did you do?" asked June as she lowered her sword in exhaustion.
"The symbol I conjured will ward off the skeletons but only for a limited time." said Neteru. "But that's not the issue, we need to get out of here before it is too late."
"Heke? Too late for what?" asked Hamtaro but before Neteru could answer, the light had finally finished transforming and the light went out revealing the monster it had transformed into.