Disclaimer: I don't own Hamtaro. Now that that's out of the way, I also don't own any Hamster X character who appears in this chapter, not to mention DDR and any other games mentioned here. I do own fast-pawed Rick, though.
Episode 4: Game of Love
The place: Chinaome Forest-- A dense forest filled with magic and stained with the blood of many warriors. Each side, whether good or bad, has left it's mark in this forest. It is also home to Chinaome Village's residents, Shelby, Mistukai, Katy, and Tsuruko Shirai; and the evil Warrior's Guild, led by their leader Drakken. It is here that a battle that will decide the fate of the two warriors ready to engage in battle.
One warrior was a girl ham with blue fur and a long braid.. She wore a bandana around her head, and by her side was a dagger and a bow. The other was a boy ham with a magic sword, filled with power. He had silver-white fur, but the most distinguishing feature was his blue skin. Both of them pulled their weapons out, ready to fight.
"Are you ready?" The girl ham asked, getting into her stance. "Cause here I come!"
The boy ham just looked at her and pulled out his sword saying, "Heh. I can't wait to see how this ends."
After that remark, the two charged at each other. The girl ham was pretty fast, moving quickly to get an attack in with her dagger and moving back to shoot arrows at the boy ham. The boy ham was the better close range fighter, however. He blocked many of the girl ham's attacks and countered with his sword. If she was too far, he'd pull out a projectile attack and then charge at her again with furious attacks. After awhile, it seemed like they were down to their last breath. Neither one of them seemed to have too much stamina left; one attack would decide the fate of this battle. In a brilliant effort to win, the boy ham jumped in the air, ready to finish the girl ham. However, the girl ham simply shot him with an arrow in mid air. The boy ham fell in pain as he agonistically cried in defeat. The girl ham smiled victoriously.
Then a voice rang out saying "Kurica wins!"
"What? That was it! You're really pathetic." The girl ham said as she posed and gloated over her victory.
"Argh… DAMN IT!" Maxwell groaned as he banged his head on the arcade board. This was already the 50th time he had lost to Sandy, who was using Kurica. "I can never get these arcade games…"
"Aw, don't feel bad, Maxwell," Sandy said, reassuring her boy ham. "I mean, you nearly beat me this time. Let's go and play another game. Your choice." Sandy said, smiling.
"Alright, let's go." It was a busy day in the arcade. Many were hanging around, playing many of the available arcade games, such as Whack-a-Cat and Crow Hunting. Most of them were playing the new Hamster X arcade game, while others were playing the usual stuff, like shooting hoops. Maxwell, unfortunately, had trouble playing most of these games due to the fact that he had never been to an arcade until today. However Sandy seemed more of a pro at this. "You come here a lot, don't you Sandy?"
Sandy nodded. "My brother would always bring me here whenever we were bored. It's so much fun competing with ham-hams in here . I wonder which game we'll play next?" Maxwell smiled as she named several games from the top of her mind.
He kept thinking about the date. I can't believe the last two places we were at turned out to be a total disaster. First the restaurant, then the movie. We hardly stayed for the movie at all. Those guys really ruined it for us, and I couldn't even do anything about it…I should've been more aggressive and tried to beat them. But you know…Bijou smacking them with the flashlight was really a surprise to us. Heh, I bet Hamtaro and Boss would've been pretty surprised too. But still…I'm glad that Sandy is having fun. It looks like everything is going well here in the arcade…even if I lost to her 50 times. Hopefully it stays that way. I wonder…will we ever… Just as Maxwell continued his trance, he felt his thoughts interrupt by a tap on his shoulder.
"Maxwell? HELLO? Quit spacing out, already!" Sandy whined, trying to snap her boyfriend out of it.
"Heke? Oh, I'm so sorry, Sandy," Maxwell said apologetically. "I was just, uh…thinking about what we should do next here in the arcade!"
Sandy sighed and asked him, "Well, what are we gonna do now?"
"Ummmm…" Maxwell searched the immediate area for something they could do. Sandy obviously knew that he was thinking of something other than playing an arcade game. "Oh! Over there!" Maxwell pointed out a prize grabber machine filled with many trinkets, including stuffed dolls, sunflower seeds, and jewelry. "How about I win you something from the prize grabber machine, Sandy?" Maxwell asked, trying to cover himself.
Sandy simply shook her head and smiled sweetly as she replied, "Sure. How about getting me that stuffed ham-ham doll?" She pointed to a big stuffed hamster that resembled Maxwell, only without the book. "He looks like you, doesn't he?"
"Yeah, but he looks like he needs to go on a diet or something." Both of them giggled at Maxwell's comment. Then Maxwell put a token into the machine and put his paws on the joystick. "This won't take long," he thought aloud, as he carefully moved the claw with the controls in order to 'bag the ham-ham'.
Sandy's attention then shifted from the prize grabber machine, as she started to think again. I wonder what was going through Maxwell's head. He must've been thinking about what happened earlier at the movie theater. He's probably thinking that this entire date has been nothing but a disaster. I hope he's not too worried about it, though… because despite all that, I'm having a great time! I wanted to smack those guys over the head when they were being mean to Maxwell and trying to flirt with Bijou! Good thing Bijou wound up the work for us. I was never expecting her to just beat them over the head with a flashlight. You go, Bijou! Sandy giggled to herself again. Maxwell should quit worrying. I'm having fun and even after all that, I'm happy just to be with him. What else could we do later? Maybe go to the ham-ham land carnival or maybe go shopping. Maybe we could even get into that Minihamuzu concert tonight! Well, whatever it is we wind up doing, there's one thing I want… I want our relationship to grow…and become much more than what we were before. And… Sandy started thinking back to the lick she gave Maxwell after the restaurant incident. …next time, we'll share a real kiss. That's for sure. Hmmmm…I wonder what Stan's doing, though? I heard about everyone's plans for today except for his. He's probably flirting with other girl hams or something. But I bet this date is gonna be…
"Hey look, it's Maxwell! Hi Maxwell!"
"Ookweeeeee!"
"Ky-yaaaaah!" Maxwell, surprised by the sudden sound of familiar voices, accidently moved the joystick and pressed the button. The prize grabber claw instead left him with nothing to give to Sandy. Sandy finally snapped out of it and realized who was here.
"Pashmina! Penelope!" Sandy exclaimed as she hugged her two friends. "What are you two doing here?"
"Well, we're actually here waiting for Panda." Pashmina replied. "He said we could go out and do whatever we want today, and then he'd meet us at the arcades."
"Ookwee!" went Penelope.
Sandy decided to change the subject and asked, "Well how come he didn't go with you in the first place?"
"Oh, that's because--" However, Maxwell quickly shut his mouth remembering what Panda said. Oh yeah, I forgot, it's top secret.
"Well what, Maxwell?" Sandy asked him. Maxwell didn't respond. Sandy just looked at him sternly and sighed. "Whatever…Did you get the plushie?" Sandy had that big shine in her eyes again, the one that would make Maxwell do anything for.
"W-well…" Maxwell hesitated for a minute, but decided to tell the truth. "…I didn't get it. I'm sorry, but when Pashmina and Penelope popped out, I accidentally moved the control stick and got nothing…B-but I can get it again!" It was too late though. When they turned around, they saw a guy already get the Maxwell-looking plushie and gave it to a kid.
"Here ya go, son.", the ham said as he gave his son the plushie.
"Thanks, Dad! Now I got a stupid ham-ham doll that I can blow up with the rest of my collection!" The child happily dragged the plushie and smacked anyone beside him, starting with Maxwell.
Maxwell did an anime-drop, feeling like this date could only get worse. It's déja vu all over again… However, Sandy got him back on his feet and patted the dirt off his fur, giving him a reassuring smile.
"Like, don't worry about that, Maxy. You did your best." Sandy said, then started walking toward another arcade machine.
Maxwell, however, felt really sorry for himself to let that kid get away with what should belong to Sandy. He felt her slipping away from him. I can't believe I let a little kid get away with the plushie I was going to give to Sandy! No…what kind of boyfriend am I? To let all that happen in a restaurant…to let those guys pick on us so easily and rely on Bijou to get us out of it… Maxwell clenched his fist. He felt something within him, ready to be unleashed. He felt a burning passion in his heart. I can't just let my pride go down like that and let Sandy get me out of it. If I don't… Maxwell then put another token into the machine. …what kind of boyham am I? He put his paws on the joystick and got ready to choose another prize. Here goes. C'mon…get lucky with this one…
"Well Maxy, what do you wanna play next?" Sandy asked as she looked around for a good game to play. She looked back when there was no answer. "Maxwell?" Sandy pouted as there was still no reply. She turned around ready to give him a piece of her mind… "Hey, Maxwell, I'm talkin' to you! Quit ignoring m--" …only to find that he wasn't there. "Heke? Maxwell?"
"He was behind us earlier…" Pashmina reminded them.
"Ookwee?" Penelope looked around, but to no avail, he wasn't there.
Sandy started to worry about him. Oh where could he be? I hope he's not getting upset over that plushie. He shouldn't drag himself like that. Sandy then ran back to the prize grabber machine area.
"Sandy, wait up!" Pashmina then ran after her, along with Penelope. Sandy kept running, hoping to find Maxwell. That idiot… If he does anything stupid, I'll pummel him! Then…
"Hey Sandy!" Pashmina finally caught up to Sandy. "Sandy? What's wrong?" Sandy just stood there, frozen. "Hello, anyone in there, Sandy?" There was still no answer. "What did you see, Sand--" Pashmina was quickly answered when Penelope tugged on her scarf and pointed ahead. Pashmina looked ahead and saw a life sized (as in the size of hamsters) plushie coming their way. "Wow…" Then a tiny voice came from under the plushie.
"Hiya Sandy!" The girl hams jumped backed and shrieked. Pashmina and Penelope were obviously scared, thinking it was some kind of zombie. Sandy, however, knew exactly who it was.
"Maxwell?" Sandy moved closer to the doll. Under it was her cute boyham, doing his best to keep the large plushie up.
"Heh, who know I could get this lucky, eh?" Maxwell smiled as he could see Sandy smiling. "Well I got you something really good, didn't I?" Sandy just stood there in amazement. Maxwell could easily see the joy in her face. Then…she slapped him, inducing a small pain in his cheek. Maxwell groaned. "What the--! What was that for!"
"That was for running off without saying anything!" Sandy snapped back. Maxwell, Pashmina, and Penelope took a step back from Sandy. They'd never seen her do such a thing. Then Sandy walked up to Maxwell and gave him schmubby-wubby on his head, leaving all three of them confused. Sandy then gave him a reassuring smile. "And that's for the plushie." Maxwell couldn't help but smile. Both of them just laughed for awhile, glad for each other's happiness. Pashmina and Penelope smiled, they knew everything was alright after all.
After a few minutes, Pashmina decided to speak up. "Hey Sandy, can you and Maxwell head to the DDR section of the arcade? I want to see you play again."
"DDR?" Maxwell said with a puzzled look on his face.
"Dance Dance Revolution," Sandy began. "As the name implies, you basically dance to play. The object of the game is to perfectly hit all the arrows at the exact moment." It was obvious that Maxwell still couldn't get it with that puzzled look on his face. A large sweat drop appeared on Sandy's forehead as she shook her head. "It's better for you to see it in action than for me to explain it. C'mon, let's head over to the DDR section." They three of them nodded and headed to the DDR section of the arcade.
Meanwhile…
"So it looks like they're at the arcade this time." Stan said to himself as he walked in. He finally got himself out of the trunk and was now looking for Sandy and Maxwell again. But to no avail, they couldn't be found. Then Stan thought that maybe the arcade was harmless. I don't think they'll do anything here… I mean, c'mon, there's so many ham-hams around here! Besides, no one in the right mind would do anything like that here in the arcade. Just as he was about to hit the skateboarding games, he saw another couple…making out publicly…on a motorcycle game. Stan's eyes widened as the calmness from earlier faded. I GOTTA FIND THEM AND FAST! Just then he heard familiar voices close by.
"Wow, that movie was pretty good, huh Bijou?" asked one of the three ham-hams. Stan knew who this voice belonged to. It was Boss.
"Oui, I agree. However…I thought that Boss was being mean to Sparkle when he was cheating on her in that one part…" Bijou answered. Boss did an anime drop as he heard her response. …I liked that character…
Bijou then turned to Hamtaro. "So, Hamtaro, did you like that movie?"
"I sure did!" Hamtaro responded with his usual smile. "I especially liked that part when Boss screwed up Stan's speech." All of them laughed for a bit, remembering that part of the movie. "But Bijou…did you have to take out those three ham-hams on our way here? I mean, the minute you saw them, you pulled out a flashlight and beat them up right in the middle of the theater!"
Bijou sighed. "You have no idea what happened earlier…" Boss remembered that part and said to himself: Wow…Bijou can be scary sometimes… Bijou then shook her head and decided to change the subject. "Hey, isn't the Dance Dance Revolution section around here?"
"Yeah." Boss replied. "I bet Sandy's showing off again over there." That's when several ham-hams bolted up from their games.
"SANDY'S HERE!" All of them soon rushed to the DDR section faster than a hamster eating jalapeno sunflower seeds. Hamtaro, Bijou, and Boss followed in pursuit. Stan, who was watching from, grinned mischievously. He had yet another plan. If Sandy's over there, then so is Maxwell. I know just how I can get him away from her…but first I'll need to go incognito. Hmmmmmm… He looked around until he found the perfect disguise. Bingo.
"Wow, there sure are a lot of ham-hams in the DDR section." Sandy pointed out. She, Maxwell, Pashmina, and Penelope had finally gotten there, only to discover that every DDR machine had been taken. They all sighed, knowing full well that none of the ham-hams would be willing to sacrifice a machine so easily. Sandy, however, didn't feel like giving up just yet. "Don't worry. We'll get a machine. I'll just have to beat one of these dorks in DDR."
Maxwell's eyes widened. "Heke? But why? We could just wait until it's our turn."
Sandy shook her head. "Maxwell, you showed me that sometimes things can't just wait." Maxwell let out a 'heke?' before Sandy continued. "When you got me this really cool plushie, I was so grateful to have a boyham like you!" Maxwell blushed when Sandy told him that. "Now it's my turn." With that Sandy walked up to one of the machines and called out the one of the ham hams, who had just beaten many of his opponents.
"Hey you!" she called out in a rather ruffian tone.
The ham-ham turned around to see Sandy. "You talkin' to me?"
"Yeah, I'm talkin' to you!" Sandy shouted back. "Me and my boy ham want to play DDR right now, so could you please be considerate enough to get off?"
The boy ham just sneered at her. "Just who do you think you're talkin' to? I'm Fast-Pawed Rick, the best DDR player around here. You must have some guts to shout at me like that, little lady. How about we play DDR? If you win, you and your boyham can play. But if I win, you gotta ditch that boy ham of yours and go on a date with me."
Sandy grinned. Her eyes shined with a certain playfulness that Maxwell has never seen. "Alright then. Let's go."
Rick's companions, however, started to hesitate when they realized who Sandy was. "Hey Rick, you might wanna call this off. I mean, this girl's never lost a match!"
Rick smiled. "Ah…so she's more than I thought. This is gonna be good."
Sandy walked up to the machine and got herself ready. "It sure is."
"Go Sandy! Do your best!' Sandy turned around to see Maxwell cheering for her, giving her his full support. Sandy smiled back at him, feeling lucky to have a boyham like him. Pashmina and Penelope went along and cheered with him.
Sandy and Rick put their tokens in and got ready to choose a song. Before Rick could choose the song, Sandy stopped him. "Would you, like, mind if I changed something?"
"You aren't gonna do something to screw up my chances of winning, are ya?"
"Oh, of course not. I don't need to cheat to beat you." Sandy replied. Rick pouted and allowed her to change some options around. Sandy went ahead and changed some settings for herself. Rick thought nothing of it. Heh…no matter what she does, she's never gonna beat me. I'm the best there is.
"Are you done?" Rick asked Sandy.
"Yup."
"Well, get ready to lose!" Rick went ahead and chose "Paranoia Evolution". Sandy shook her head and readied herself for the challenge.
"Wow. That's a pretty tough song to do." Pashmina pointed out.
"What do you mean?" Maxwell asked her.
"Well, 'Paranoia Evolution' is an incredibly difficult song that only experts can pass with a high grade." Pashmina explained. "I mean at times it's pretty fast and you have to hit so many arrows within a less than half a second. The amount of arrows are just so overwhelming and failing is too common with this song." Hearing Pashmina's explanation made Maxwell quiver. He didn't realize that DDR could be that tough. I don't know if I can do this. I mean even if Sandy wins, I could screw up when she teaches me…and in front of all these ham-hams! I'll be a laughing stock and I might even put Sandy to shame…
Pashmina saw the doubt in his face, so she placed a paw on his shoulder, trying to reassure him. "Don't worry, Maxwell. You've seen Sandy dance before, and you yourself admit that she's awesome at it. I've seen her play DDR before and whenever I watch her…it just gives me so much confidence in playing. Before I saw her, I didn't think I could play at all. But by watching her, it made me feel better, and now me and Penelope keep getting better at it every day! So don't think you can't do it, Maxwell. You'll know what I mean when you see her out there."
"Ookwee!" Penelope cheered, trying to make Maxwell feel better.
Maxwell smiled as he regained his confidence. "Thanks Pashmina. I'm sure by watching Sandy, I'll eventually learn how to be as good as her at DDR."
"That's the spirit, Maxwell!" Pashmina cheered him on. "Hey look, it's starting!" The three of them watched as Sandy and Rick started to play DDR.
Everyone then realized what Sandy changed in the options menu: the speed of the arrows. Sandy's arrows moved MUCH faster than Rick's, and yet she hit them all perfectly. Everyone was amazed at how well she moved as she nailed every arrow that came up. Rick, however, was getting 'greats', not 'perfects' like Sandy. Rick just couldn't keep up with her. From the way she moved to the speed of the arrows, everyone was left in awe, especially Maxwell. Maxwell couldn't believe his eyes. He'd never seen Sandy dance like that… ever. Wow…she's so good. She makes it look so easy, too. She's really beating Rick… and without even breaking a sweat! Soon, more ham-hams came to watch as Sandy and Rick battled it out. Hamtaro, Bijou, and Boss came just in time to see the very end. Rick, completely worn out, was now so disoriented and tired that he collapsed, right on the machine. No one seemed to notice though; everyone was cheering Sandy on as she finished the song with a AAA rating. Because Rick collapsed on the last part, he ended up with a C. Unfortunately for him, he was too tired to even notice it. His friends went ahead and dragged him out of there.
Then Sandy turned around and gave the crowd a peace sign. "Ta-dah!" Everyone cheered after yet another successful game from her.
Maxwell was a bit surprised that so many people knew her. "Wow…she grabs a lot of attention from these arcades."
"That is because everyone loves seeing her dance here!" said a voice coming from behind them.
"Hey, it's Bijou!" Pashmina exclaimed as she, Bijou, and Penelope hugged each other. "How have you been doing?"
"Oh, I have been doing pretty well." Bijou answered back happily. Then she started to sound a bit more serious. "…except for those rude ham-hams at the theater. We met them again on our way here, and…I guess I got a little carried away… Heh, heh…" She giggled nervously as she held up a broken flashlight. Maxwell, Sandy, Pashmina, and Penelope's eyes widened.
"A LITTLE carried away, Bijou?" Pashmina remarked.
"Ookwee…"
Bijou giggled nervously. "Well nevermind that. So, Sandy won another round, no?"
"Yup." Sandy said as she walked up to her ham-hams. "And now I'm gonna teach Maxwell how to play!"
Boss sighed. "I don't get how to play that game at all. How can you keep up with the amount of arrows that you have to press?"
"That's only because you always try to do 'Healing Vision' on Heavy," Sandy reminded him. "I told you it would be impossible to do on your first try." Boss tried to hide the embarrassment on his face. Then Sandy took Maxwell's paw. "C'mon, Maxy, I'll show you how to play." Maxwell smiled and followed her to the machine.
When everyone saw Maxwell board the machine, many of them scoffed at the idea. "Pssht! That guy? He's nothin' but a beginner! There's no way he'll ever be as good as Sandy! He may as well burn his paws off now rather than have 'em get burned off by trying to play the game."
Hearing all this really started to piss Sandy off. She hated anyone saying bad things about her boyham. "I'm gonna burn YOUR paws if you keep trash-talkin' my Maxy like that!" Everyone quieted down, not wanting to face the wrath of the DDR mistress. But there were a few exchanged glances, each and every one of them thinking the same thing-- that Maxwell and Sandy were wasting their time. Sandy turned back to Maxwell. "Are you ready, Maxwell?"
"Well, I guess so…but are you sure this is alright? I mean, they don't seem to wanna let me play very much." Maxwell said pointed to the crowd.
"Oh, don't pay any attention to them, Maxwell. If all you worry about is impressing the crowds, then you'll, like, throw off your concentration, and make it harder for yourself. And besides, if they make any comments, I'll shove 'em onto the machine in the middle of 'Paranoia Evolution'!" Sandy said. Maxwell's eyes widened. Wow…I didn't know she was THIS tough…
Sandy then decided to choose a song. "How about we make it simple and start with 'Butterfly' on beginner?"
"Um…whatever works for you, Sandy." Maxwell replied back. Sandy went ahead and chose beginner's mode and selected the song 'Butterfly'. Maxwell then saw a little tutorial on the game. Alright. You just keep your feet in the middle and extend to whatever arrow is on the screen. I think I got it. Unfortunately for him, Sandy was explaining the game while he was reading the instructions, and he hadn't been listening to her.
"…and then you just--Hey, are you listening to me!" Sandy said.
"Of course I am! I'm good to go." Maxwell smiled at Sandy. Sandy just sighed, figuring that he didn't listen at all. I hope he gets a good grade on this…
And so the game started. And… well, Maxwell was doing horribly. Trying to follow the directions he had read on the screen, he kept his feet in the middle, only extending them when an arrow reached the top. But this made it harder for him to react to the next several arrows. In the end, his final score was a D. Large sweat drops appeared on all of the ham-hams' heads, while everyone else just burst into laughter. Then, all of a sudden, several groups of hamsters were being choked together…by a ribbon?
Sandy, furious with the crowd, was now choking them with her ribbon. "Either stop laughing or stop breathing! Your choice!" Everyone then backed away from Sandy, who had already had enough of the crowd for one day.
"I'm so sorry, Sandy…" Maxwell said apologetically to his furious girl ham.
"And you!" Sandy faced Maxwell. "I told you to listen to ME, not the tutorial!" Maxwell looked puzzled. He obviously thought that the tutorial was teaching the easiest way to play, but it really wasn't. Maxwell said nothing, hoping that Sandy would cool off a bit. After awhile, Sandy grinned and went behind him. "Here, let me try and show you how to play." She chose 'Butterfly' again, and when they were playing, she helped Maxwell with his movements. Maxwell blushed in embarrassment as Sandy taught Maxwell almost as if he was a baby. "I told you to listen, you idiot. When you play DDR, you play as if you're dancing. You have to listen to the rhythm and move to the beat. Trying to stay in one spot won't help you at all." Sandy continued to help out him throughout the entire song. Maxwell ignored the fact that he was being taught like a toddler, he liked how Sandy kept holding him throughout the entire song.
ai-ai-ai am your little butterfly.
Green, black, and blue makin' colors in the sky.
ai-ai-ai am your little butterfly.
Green, black, and blue makin' colors in the sky.
ai-ai-ai
ai-ai-ai
ai-ai-ai
Where's my samurai?
The song had finally finished, and with Sandy's help, Maxwell got an A on the song. Sandy smiled, looking at the grade he got. "Looks like you're getting better, dunce."
Maxwell was pretty happy too. "Yeah its looks like…did you just call me a dunce?"
Sandy giggled. "Oh, c'mon Maxy, I was just joking." They all laughed at her remark. "Let's, like, try a few more songs."
"Okay, I think I'm getting it now!" Maxwell replied. Sandy smiled as they chose the next few songs, some of which included Cartoon Heroes, Sobakasu (the DDR remix of the RK theme), and Candy, which they nailed perfectly with AAAs. The two dazzled the ham hams as they did it together. Soon the crowd started to cheer them on again. Just as Maxwell said, he was getting better…and faster than they expected him to. By the time they were doing "Paranoia Evolution" on Heavy, Maxwell got an AA on it. Of course, the speed wasn't changed for him. He wasn't ready for it.
Sandy was now really happy for him. I just knew he could do it! I mean, he's, like, really getting better, and progressing faster than anyone I've ever seen! I'm glad that he's having fun playing too. It looks like going to the arcade was a totally cool idea after all. Sandy then turned her attention to the game, ready to choose another song.
Maxwell was also so happy to be playing DDR with Sandy. Wow…this game really is fun. And I'm learning faster than expected. Doing Paranoia Evolution on Heavy…I didn't think I could do any of this! But what really matters is that Sandy is happy. It looks like this date is getting better after all. I can't wait to see what happens next!
It was then that Sandy interrupted his train of thought. "Hey Maxwell, which song do you wanna do next?"
"Hmm, let's see…" Maxwell took the time to browse through the list of song again.
"Not so fast you two!" Everyone turned their attention to the back as a strange ham-ham passed through. No one knew who he was, for his entire body was covered by the big trench coat he was wearing.
"Do you know who he is?" Pashmina asked the ham-hams.
"I've seen him before." Boss replied. "But his voice does sound familiar…"
"Oui, he must be someone we have seen before." Bijou added.
"But who have we seen with a trench coat before other than Boss?" Hamtaro pondered. The only thing that the ham-hams knew was that his presence felt very familiar. Though the crowd didn't seem to mind; actually, a couple of girl hams thought that the mysterious ham-ham was pretty cute. The trench coated ham-ham grinned. Maybe after my victory, I can score with one-a these girl hams. Guess they really dig the mysterious-trench-coat look! It was now pretty obvious; the ham-ham was none other than Stan.
Stan walked up to the machine, glaring at Maxwell. "You seem pretty confident of your DDR skills. How about some competition?"
Maxwell started to hesitate. After all, it was only his first time and the only one who he really wanted to play with was Sandy. "Well…I don't know…"
"C'mon, are you gonna let her take up the challenge instead?" Stan said, pointing to Sandy, who was now really furious.
"Look, pal, I dunno who you think you are, but if you keep talkin' to my boyham like that, I'm gonna--" Maxwell cut Sandy off. "Heke? What is it, Maxwell?"
"He's right. I should at least take up a challenge from him." Maxwell turned to Sandy. "And I can't keep letting you take on my own challenges."
It was then that Sandy realized it. "So that's why you did all that to get me that plushie." Maxwell nodded. Sandy gave him a reassuring smile. "Alright then. Go and kick that guy's butt!" Maxwell smiled as Sandy got off the machine.
Stan grinned as Maxwell turned his attention to Sandy, as she kept cheering him along with the rest of the ham-hams. Now that I got his attention away from me… He then chose a song and then changed some of their settings. He grinned through every move he made. If I do this, then Maxwell will feel sorry for himself and won't even think about going that far. I don't want to break up this couple, or take away Maxwell's pride, but… I gotta take care of Sandy! I'm her only family left!
Sandy noticed something weird and looked to the machine to realize what they were doing. The trench coat ham-ham had chosen the song 'Sakura' on Heavy mode with a speed of x8, the fastest you can go. What! No way! Doing that song with all those settings… that's just too much for Maxy to handle! It's most difficult song of them all! (A/N: I at least think so. For some of you it may be Paranoia Evolution or any other song. To me it's Sakura). The song, no matter how fast you put it, goes at varying speeds. It'll throw you off if you don't get it right, and the amount of arrows are overwhelming! And that one part where the arrows start moving incredibly fast… Putting it on x8 speed is gonna make it even worse! The only one's who've passed it with high grades is me (AAA) and Stan (AA)! If this guy is as good as he says he is, then Maxwell is in big trouble… Sandy was about to say something, but then she felt someone's paw on her shoulder.
"Don't. Doing so may hurt his pride if you say that in front of everyone." said a voice from behind her. The ham-hams turned around to see…
"Panda!" Everyone was glad to see that Panda finally made it. Panda turned to Sandy.
"I know that song is very difficult…but don't you think that Maxwell's learned a lot for his first time?" Panda asked her. "I mean, he's already getting high grades on heavy. Have a little faith in him."
Sandy sighed. "I know you're right. I should have faith in him. I just don't want him to lose here. If everyone laughs at him for losing, he could end up losing pride that way."
"I know." Panda then got out a bag. "That's why I have this."
Pashmina then moved closer to Panda. "So is this what you and Dexter have been working on for the past month?"
"Yep!" Panda smiled with glee.
"Wow, you made a bag!" Hamtaro exclaimed. Everyone else did an anime drop.
"No, you silly Hamtaro." Bijou told him. "It is what's IN the bag!"
"Yeah. And here it is." Panda then pull out what looked like a small ham-ham chip and an unholy combination of a PS2, Xbox, and Gamecube controller. Everyone had a puzzled look on their face, not knowing what it was supposed to be.
"Well, what is it?" Pashmina asked.
"It's a controlling machine!" Panda exclaimed. "You chuck this chip at anyone you want to control, and then you control their movements with this controller." Panda held up the controller. "With this baby, you could do things that a ham-ham could never possibly do. Watch." He then threw the chip at Penelope and pressed a button. "Hey Penelope, do you feel anything different?"
Penelope was checked herself and simply replied, "I don't think so…" They all gasped. Penelope was talking!
"I can't believe it, Penelope's actually talking!" said a familiar ham-ham with a green cap coming by.
"Oh, hey Cappy." Penelope greeted him. "What happened? You were supposed to be here earlier."
"Well, Kip and Sue took too long to get out of the house. Sorry Penelope." Cappy said apologetically. "So this is the thing you built?"
"Yup." Panda removed the clip again and Penelope was back to saying "ookwee" again. "So what do you think, Sandy?"
"Wait… you're allowing me to use this on Maxwell?"
"Of course." Panda replied. "I can't have him losing here." Panda tossed the chip onto Maxwell and gave the controller to Sandy. "Good luck!"
"Thanks Panda." Sandy got her paws ready on the controller. I've only done DDR on the controller once... I hope I can do this.
After a few more seconds, the game started. Stan and Maxwell began stomping as the arrows came at them rapidly, not even giving them a second to pause. Wow…it's moving faster than I thought… Maxwell thought to himself, panting heavily. I'm just glad I can keep up. The two kept moving to the beat, hitting every arrow with a 'Perfect', as the speakers pumped the music loudly and the lights flashed brightly on-and-off. Sandy, who was controlling Maxwell, recognized the next part. Alright…this is gonna be tricky… The song was now slowing to a temporary stop, and so were the arrows. Luckily, Maxwell was able to get this part. Stan, of course, was also able to hit it.
Sandy smiled, glad to help her boyfriend out. Without turning her eyes away from the game, she said to Panda, "Thanks Panda. This new machine of yours is working perfectly."
"Aw, shucks, I--" Then Panda realized something in his paws. He quickly turned to Sandy. "Sandy, you gotta see this!"
"Later, Panda. I, like, need to stay focused." Sandy said back to him.
"But…"
"I'm totally busy right now, Panda!" Sandy said as she continued to press the buttons on the controller. It was already coming down to the final part of Sakura. So far, both Maxwell and Stan were tied, hitting every move perfectly, both of them feeling sweat form and drip down their faces. The song started to slow down again, and a final pair of arrows appeared. Both of them hit the arrows and nailed the song. The only thing is…Maxwell got a 'perfect' when he hit the double arrows…while Stan got a 'good'. Stan couldn't believe that he could screw up his combo at the end, which was where he usually shined in Sakura. The scores were tallied up and the grades were given: Maxwell got a AAA while Stan ended with a AA. Everyone was now cheering Maxwell on as Stan slowly moved away from the machine, sulking in his defeat to Maxwell.
Sandy ran up to Maxwell and hugged him tightly. "Oh I'm, like, so proud of you, Maxy!"
Maxwell smiled. "Well I couldn't have done it without you, Sandy. Using Panda's new invention really did help." Everyone was surprised…Maxwell knew! "Of course I knew! The minute I felt that chip hit me in the back, I realized from seeing Panda's invention earlier, that it was indeed his controlling machine. You didn't think I'd know, did you?" Everyone laughed, they were so happy that Maxwell and Sandy were having a good time.
"Boy, I wanna play DDR sometime! It looks like fun!" Hamtaro exclaimed.
Bijou smiled at Hamtaro. "Oui, I would bet you would be magnifíque! Perhaps even as good as Maxwell!"
Boss cringed when he heard this. He quickly went to Bijou's side and said, "Oh didn't you know? I'm gonna start playing again too! I know I'll get better!"
"Yeah. Just don't chose a song you can't do again, Boss." Cappy said to the older ham-ham. Boss cringed again and they all laughed. I wonder if I could borrow Panda's controlling machine. Penelope did sound pretty cute! Cappy thought as he blushed.
"I'm so glad you finally made it, Panda!" Pashmina exclaimed with a shine in her eyes. Panda blushed a little when he heard that, making the other three girl hams giggle.
"Oh, sorry Panda. I, like, totally forgot, you were gonna say something weren't you?" Sandy said, turning to Panda. Panda was frozen. "Um, hello? Like, earth to Panda, do you read?" she continued, waving a paw in front of his face.
"Well…uh…" Panda started hesitantly. "…when I looked into my paw…" He held out his paw to reveal a small, black object. "…I had the batteries in my paws the whole time."
"WHAT!" Everyone said in unison. It was obvious now.
"Then…that means…" Sandy turned to Maxwell and so did everyone else, eyes wide. It was obvious that Maxwell got that AAA…all on his own. Everyone was so shocked that he did all that with no help. Sandy would've fainted by now…if Maxwell hadn't fainted first.
Maxwell laid on the floor, all swirly-eyed. "…I…did it…I really did it…"
After awhile, Sandy picked him off the floor. "C'mon now, get up. Don't be so dramatic over it." Sandy then gave Maxwell a kiss on his cheek. "I'm so proud of you, Maxwell." She blushed and smiled at him.
Maxwell couldn't help but smile back. "Thanks Sandy. Hey, how about we do one more song, Sandy? We've still got time."
Sandy nodded. "Yeah. Let's do one more before we leave." They both got back on the DDR machine and got ready to choose another song. "Umm…you wouldn't mind if I changed…"
"Of course I wouldn't mind, Sandy." Maxwell said to Sandy, knowing full well what she was going to say. "In fact, I'm going to change my options to x8"
Sandy giggled. "Like, actually, I was going to change my option to x1."
"Heke?"
"See, the next song I'm choosing is, like, better done slow than fast. At least that's what I think." Sandy told him. "It's a totally cool song to do after that rush from Sakura."
Maxwell nodded. "Alright. I'll change my settings to speed x1 too." Both of them smiled as the song played. The song they were doing was "Ever Snow".
Ever Snow-
konna ni suki na kimochi ga afureru... (The feelings I love like this are overflowing…)
kanashii hodo soba ni itakute demo
kimi no senaka kasunde yuku yo doko e mukau no? (I want to be with you even if I'm sad. Your back is becoming hazy, where are you headed?
kuchibiru ni itoshisa o kanjiru tabi ni
shinjiteta kimi ga iru koto... (When I felt love on my lips, I believed, that you are here…)
hakanaku maichiru yuki o miteita
saigo no keshiki ha shiroku setsunakute... (I watched the fleeting, dispersing snow. The last view was white and oppressive…)
koueta yubisaki nido to kimi ha todokeba
futari no ashi ato nokorazu kieteku... (If these frozen fingertips can reach you once more. Our footprints will disappear as if never left behind…)
When the song was over, the two of them left the arcade, paw in paw, leaving behind their grades for 'Ever Snow': both AAAs.
Later, Panda was installing a cart behind the convertible he lent to Maxwell. "Hey you two." Panda said to them. "I'm just putting this cart up so we can all go to the next destination together."
"Alright then." Maxwell said as the two got in the car. "Where are we going this time, Sandy?"
Sandy made the chair recline so she could lie down before she answered Maxwell. "Well since everyone's going to the carnival, maybe we should go too."
Maxwell nodded. "Then, to the carnival it is!" Maxwell hit the acceleration pedal and they headed for the carnival with all the other ham-hams in the back.
Sandy sighed. "I just hope you don't read in the carnival for the whole day like last time."
"You still remember that!" Maxwell exclaimed.
"How can I not remember? You almost totally ruined our day by doing, like, nothing but reading!"
"But it was such a good book…" Maxwell whined.
"Ugh…" Sandy sighed.
Maxwell laughed to himself. "Don't worry, I won't do it this time. I promise."
Sandy smiled. "Alright…but if you do that again, I'm gonna, like, sick Bijou on you with a flashlight." A large sweat drop appeared on Maxwell's forehead. Man, is she tough…
Meanwhile…
"Damn…they've already left!" Stan was, once again, looking all over for Sandy and Maxwell. "I wonder where they went…" Then a truck passed by with a logo that said "Ham-Ham carnival". Of course, the ham-ham carnival! Everyone did say they were going to the fair today… Looks like I'm goin' too. With that, Stan jumped onto the truck, thinking of the next plan to stop the couple…