Walk A Mile In Your Shoes
Chapter 14: The Fight for Ankorbak Part 2
The created monster resembled an earwig except the front half of the body was raised strait up in an "L" shape and the lower half was along the bottom of the ground with its eight insect legs supporting its body. The insect like monster had large pincers on the end of its torso and on its face. Instead of skin, it had a green exoskeleton and it had long arms which ended in claw like hands with three digits on each hand. The face had large orange eyes that had a pupiless stare and a large mouth with sharp teeth. The monster roared loudly causing the bones of the animated skeletons to rattle.
"Lets move." shouted Neteru. They all began running but quickly noticed that Oxnard had fainted with fright.
"Oxnard." said Boss irritated. Boss lifted Oxnard over his head saying "Grooba" as he did and began running along with the others repeating "Daba-Daba" as he ran. Thanks to the pentagram symbol that Neteru had conjured over their heads, the skeletons were easily held at bay enabling them all to run through the crowd of walking dead. The monster was about to pursue Neteru and the others until it felt the presence of a powerful spell. The monster turned around to investigate and walked through the wide streets. The skeletons quickly moving out of the way of each of the monster's steps to allow the monster through.
"Why isn't he chasing us?" asked Hamtaro as the group stopped.
"Something else must have alerted it." said Jingle.
"Hey, where's Soshi and Nin-Ham?" asked Laura.
"I saw them chase after Tamori as he escaped." said Boss straining under Oxnard's weight.
"What if the monster is after them?" said Travis.
"He better not harm them." said Jingle. "They're practically the only family I have."
"Travis is right." said Mara. "We got to make sure that Nin-Ham and Soshi are not in danger." Neteru hated the idea of putting themselves in danger like that but he knew he had no other choice.
"Fine, we best go after them." said Neteru. The group turned around and began to pursue the monster repeating "Ticky-Ticky" as they ran.
Meanwhile, Nin-Ham and Soshi was still in the sword fight with Tamori. Despite Nin-Ham's inexperience with weapons, the addition of Nin-Ham made all the difference and despite Tamori's psionicly enhanced sword, Tamori was beginning to weaken under the strain of fighting two opponents. Soshi took a good swing with her katana and it knocked the double-bladed sword right out of Tamori's paws. This move startled Tamori which gave Soshi an opportunity to stab Tamori but before she could, she was shot by a spell that caused her great pain.
"Soshi!" said Nin-Ham in alarm. As Soshi fell to the ground in pain, Nin-Ham noticed that Tamori's servants were nearby, their Power Merge spell had ended and they all had their wands drawn for attack.
"You have both fought bravely but all for not." said Tamori. By now, Soshi had managed to get up and even though she had her katana and wakizashi out, she knew that it wouldn't do any good.
"Looks like you're out numbered." said Tamori tauntingly. "Looks like your ancestors can't save you now and soon, you will be joining them." Soshi raised her katana and wakizashi, ready to die in combat, when suddenly, the monster swerved out from behind a corner and, in one bite, eat all six of Tamori's servants whole. Soshi could hear the screams of the terrified ham-hams moments before the monster swallowed them. Tamori was so shocked by the sudden attack that for a moment, he just stood there wide eyed. Soshi and Nin-Ham, on the other hand, ran for their lives. The monster focused its large round eyes on Tamori and lunged forward to eat him but Tamori teleported out of the way and into the crowd of skeletons that had followed the monster. Tamori easily used his psionics and his sword to bat away the skeletons as he made his escape. The monster was rather confused about having Tamori just disappear like that so it went in search for Soshi and Nin-Ham. Upon seeing the monster coming, Soshi said, "Shashaa!" and she and Nin-Ham ran into an alley and hid inside a wooden crate near the back of the alley. The monster saw them enter the alley was now squeezing its large head through the small alleyway. Soshi and Nin-Ham both remained hidden under the old wooden crate but the monster was getting closer to them and it was only a matter of time before it had them right where it wants them.
Meanwhile, Tamori was slashing his way through the skeletons saying "Grooba" with every swing. He was just about to turn a corner when suddenly, he ran right into Neteru and the others. The skeletons around Tamori backed away as the symbol that Neteru had conjured warded them off.
"You." said Tamori. "How many times must I kill you?" Tamori emitted a mind blast (like from chapter 6) but Topaz quickly conjured a psionic barrier that reflected the psionics. However, that move proved to be fatal because the monster, who was moments away from finding Soshi and Nin-Ham, had just sensed the psionics and turned around to find its source. The monster ran through the crowd of skeletons, crushing any who were not fast enough to get out of the way. Soshi and Nin-Ham used this opportunity to escape from their hiding place.
Before Tamori could use more of his psionics, he and the others saw the monster heading in their direction and froze in horror. However, Topaz was the first to realize that Tamori wasn't looking so he used his telekinesis to hurl Tamori into the air. Tamori was so surprised by the sudden telekinetic thrust that he didn't have time to resist as he was thrown. Tamori shouted out as he flew through the air, dropping his double-bladed sword as he flew. Tamori landed hard onto the skeletons. He was so dazed by the landing that he didn't notice that he landed right in front of the monster. The monster quickly picked up Tamori in its large hands and Tamori struggled to get free while Neteru and the others began running towards the alley where Soshi and Nin-Ham still remained repeating "Chick-ah Chick-ah" as they ran. Meanwhile, Tamori was struggling within the grasp of the monster, desperate to break free. He tried to teleport but the monster was capable of disabling Tamori's powers while within the monster's hand. Tamori struggled with all his might to break free but the monster held him tightly. The monster opened its large gaping mouth revealing it's large teeth. Tamori stared into the monster's mouth with horror in his eyes.
"No, no, no, no, not that. Aaaahhh!" screamed Tamori as he was lifted towards the mouth. Tamori's screams were cut short as Tamori was tossed into the monster's mouth and went down the hatch in a big gulp.
Neteru and the others managed to reach Soshi and Nin-Ham as they were fighting off the skeletons crowding around them.
"It's about time you got here." said Soshi.
"Come on." said Neteru. "We got to get out of here before..."
"Look out." screamed Soshi. The monster had caught up with them and had picked up Mara and Laura in both of its claws while no one was looking.
"Laura!" screamed Travis in horror. Topaz quickly used his telekinesis to hold the monster's arms but the monster was resisting the telekinesis, slowly moving Laura and Mara to its mouth. Mara and Laura just stared in horror as they were moments away from becoming ingested.
"Neteru, help me." screamed Mara. Neteru quickly noticed Mara's staff on the ground (which was still in the form of a sword) where Mara had dropped it and Neteru had an idea. He picked up the staff and shouted "Bulla." The spell launched Neteru high into the air. Both Neteru's and Mara's staffs glowed brightly (and they're both in the shape of swords) as Neteru lodged the staffs/swords into the monster's chest. The monster screamed in pain as its blood oozed down its front. Neteru tried to use the staffs to cut deeper into the monster but some kind of invisible force forced the staffs out of the monsters. Neteru plummeted to the ground and landed hard on his back.
"Ouchichi." said Neteru. Both staffs cluttered to the ground and reverted back to their original form upon impact. Everyone else wanted to help but the symbol that Neteru conjured that was keeping the skeletons at bay had finally faded away and now the skeletons were swamping our heroes. Boss couldn't help with the fight because he still held the unconscious Oxnard. Topaz also couldn't help because he was still holding the monster's arms telekinetically in order to keep it from eating Mara and Laura. Mara tried to use her magic to free herself but her powers were disabled as long as she remained in that monster's claws.
Despite the injuries they sustained from the skeletons, the ham-hams tried to ignore the skeletons and focused on fighting the monster, especially Hamtaro who was slashing at the monster's legs screaming, "Let my friend go." Nin-Ham had thrown his remaining chakram and all of his shurikens at the monster but the attacks bounced off of the monster's hard exoskeleton. Everyone gave it their all but their weapons did not puncture the monster's hard exoskeleton and Topaz was growing weaker from using his telekinesis to prevent the monster from eating Mara and Laura. If they don't destroy the monster soon, Topaz will finally collapse from exhaustion and Mara and Laura will become a snack.
"I don't get it." said Travis as he cut a skeleton in half in order to keep it away from Topaz. "None of our attacks have penetrated the monster's body armor." Neteru was standing nearby thinking about what Travis had said and an idea came to him.
"If we can't destroy him from the outside," thought Neteru, "then we must destroy it from the inside."
"Sevan dook." said Neteru and the spell caused Neteru to levitate off the ground and up to the monster's eye level. Neteru held up both his staff and Mara's and began to say the incantation, "Baraka buana nu nu dego bah doh..." The monster lunged forwards in an attempt to eat Neteru but at the last moment, Topaz directed his telekinesis and held the monster in place with its mouth open. This move gave Neteru the chance to finish his incantation. "...gogi heta vea." From both staffs, sky blue beams of light shot into the monster's mouth and down the monster's throat. Topaz used all of his strength to maintain the telekinesis so Neteru could destroy the monster. As he did, more and more skeletons were beginning to crowd around Topaz but the others were defending him well. Neteru was having troubles maintaining the spell because maintaining a spell using two staffs puts more of a strain on the sorcerer than it does with one but none the less, Neteru pushed himself to the limits, desperate to save Laura and Mara. The monster began to glow from the inside out as power began to build up within him. The creature began to grow hotter and hotter and brighter and brighter until the monster was disintegrated in a flash of light. Instantly, the monster vanished into thin air and all of the skeletons fell to the ground with a loud clatter. Mara and Laura, now that they weren't in the monster's claws anymore, both fell to the ground but Topaz used his telekinesis to gently place them on the ground. Both Topaz and Neteru collapsed in exhaustion however, Neteru didn't fall to the ground because the spell that kept him levitated was lowering him to the ground.
Once on the ground, everyone congratulated Neteru for his heroics, especially Mara who ran through the crowd and right there in front of everyone, she kissed Neteru on the lips.
"Neteru, you were amazing there." said Mara once she let go of Neteru. Neteru blushed so much that he actually turned as red as a tomato. He began rubbing his head, repeating "Kushi-Kushi" as he did. Meanwhile, Hamtaro was running over to Laura, hugging her.
"Oh, thank goodness you're all right." said Hamtaro to Laura. They were all bruised and cut from the attacks from the skeletons but other than that, everyone was okay. It was at that moment that Oxnard began to wake up. Realizing that Oxnard was awake, Boss set Oxnard down on the ground and Oxnard said, "I needed that nap. Did I miss anything?" Everyone fainted anime style.
"You're quiet the heavy sleeper, Oxnard." said Neteru as he stood up. "By the way, thanks for saving Mara and Laura, Topaz. I couldn't have done it without you."
"Well, I just wanted to help." said Topaz modestly.
"Now that the danger is over, lets go over to the pylons." said June. They all walked towards the pylons repeating "Wasa-Wasa" as they walked.
Walking through the piles of bones that littered the streets, they all found the Ankorbak Pylons, untouched by the carnage. They all gathered around in the center of the massive monument, trying to figure out how to work the pylons.
"So how does this work?" asked Laura.
"Those runes on the pylons are part of a spell." said Neteru. "If I put them in the right order, I should be able to produce a spell that will revert the humans back to normal."
"Well, get started." said Hamtaro.
"The problem is, I don't know how to read the runes." admitted Neteru.
"What?" chorused everyone.
"You can't read them?" said Travis. "Why not."
"Because these symbols are divine in nature and I specialize in arcane magic." explained Neteru. "Although arcane and divine magic are similar, they're not exactly the same."
"Jingle, Mara, Topaz, you guys can read it, can't you?" asked Laura in desperation. The ham-hams in question shook their heads.
"I'm a bard and bards use arcane magic." explained Jingle.
"I'm a sorcerer like Neteru thus I can't read it anymore affectively than he can." explained Mara.
"I'm a psion thus I know nothing about magic." explained Topaz. There was a silence of disappointment. Neteru was about to suggest that he try to figure out the runes anyway until he noticed that the pylons were beginning to change. One by one, the glowing runes that were on the tip of each pylon was changing to a different rune. They all watched as this phenomena happened and once the runes where changed, a sort of blue electricity began to move between the pylons like lightening bolts forming a circle around our heroes. This same electricity struck our heroes and they felt a strange surge of power. For a moment, it felt like time itself had slowed down. No one could feel, move, think, or see. It was as if they were separated from time itself and they past out of time, thought, and memory.
Neither of them could remember what had happened or how long it lasted. All they could remember was that it gradually ended and they found themselves lying on the ground. At first, they all laid on the ground, motionless. As Neteru laid on his side, he realized that he was lying on some grass. Not only that, but he could hear the sound of birds chirping and the sound of the wind blowing across his fur indicating that he was outside. Neteru opened his eyes and he realized that he was, indeed, outside. Upon closer inspection, he realized that he was lying in front of the entrance to the Clubhouse. Noticing the others lying on the ground around him, Neteru shouted out, "Wake up you guys. We're outside of the Clubhouse." Everyone began to open their eyes and were amazed that they were outside of the Clubhouse entrance.
"How did we end up here?" asked Boss. "Ankorbak is miles away from here."
"That's not all that is new." said Jingle. Everyone turned around and gasped when they noticed that Laura, Kana, June, Kylie, and Travis were lying on the ground and they were human again. The five humans got on their feet, disoriented and confused as to how did they get back to the park.
"What happened?" asked Travis. "Was that all a dream?"
"I don't think so." said Kana.
"Hey Travis, what's the date and time?" asked Laura suddenly. Travis looked at his watch which had changed back along with his cloths. He had one of those watches that displayed the time and date.
"Why, today's the day we were supposed to come home from that out-door school." said Travis. "If we hurry, we may be able to get back to school and no one will know we were gone." They all ran too school but Laura stopped to look back and she saw Hamtaro and the others. Hamtaro waved "good bye" to Laura and Laura returned the wave. As she waved, Laura whispered, "Thanks you guys." She then turned around and ran to catch up with her friends.