Dark Friendship Part III
Oxnard Strikes
The next day, Hamtaro got up. He couldn't sleep last night, Oxnard was on his mind, when he will strike, what he will do, why did he turn, and can he be turned back. Hamtaro wasn't in a positive mood at all. He sat down on the road-gutter, thinking of what's to come. Then, Bijou came and sat down with him.
"Good morning, Hamtaro" said Bijou
"Might be for you, but not for me" said Hamtaro "Good morning, by the way"
"Are you still thinking of Oxnard?"
"Yes, I am"
"Why?"
"Because, we've been best friends for six years. He was with me many times, he was with me when I found my ham gem, even. Now, it's painful for me to know that he is now my enemy. I feel like this is all my fault. I think I should have never left the island"
"Hamtaro, don't say that. I think it is wonderful that you are helping the other heroes. If it wasn't for you, they would be dead by now. You've shown us that even though our life-styles are not the same, we are not different and they still need help from us when they do. Oxnard didn't see that"
"Thanks, Bijou, but that still doesn't change the fact that Oxnard is now a threat"
Hamtaro got up.
"Hamtaro" said Bijou "Where are you going?"
"I have to be alone for a while" said Hamtaro
Hamtaro ran off. Bijou knew what Hamtaro was going through and wanted to be alone for a while, she respected that, but she wanted to always be there for Hamtaro also. But, she left him alone for the moment.
Hamtaro raced around an open field for a while trying to get everything off his mind. Then, he decided to rest. He still couldn't get Oxnard off his mind. Then, a voice from behind said "The greatest power ham I know, depressed like this? You disappoint me, Hamtaro"
Hamtaro looked back and saw who the voice was. It was Dark Hamtaro!
"Dark Hamtaro!" said Hamtaro reaching for his staff "What are you doing here?"
"You are one of the bravest power hams I know, you were the only one who knew he could beat me, and did" said Dark Hamtaro "But, seeing you morn, because of the loss of one friend disgusts me"
Hamtaro stood ready for Dark Hamtaro to make a move, but he didn't.
"Are you saying I'm sad because of Oxnard?" asked Hamtaro "That's not true"
"Face it, Hamtaro, you can't handle betrayal. And don't worry; I'm not here to oppose you"
Having said that Hamtaro withdrew his staff, but still remained ready.
"Maybe, I'm a little choked up about Oxnard, but I'm still working on it" said Hamtaro
"Listen, Hamtaro" said Dark Hamtaro "I know thinks look bleak now, but look, you shouldn't jump to conclusions"
"What are you saying?"
"There's still good in Oxnard. You've just got to search deeper"
"What do you mean? Are you saying there's still a chance in turning him?"
"Maybe, Hamtaro. If you try hard enough, then maybe"
"Dark Hamtaro, why are you telling me this?"
"Because I can"
"But you're not even on my side"
"True, but still, I know that this is not the way things go"
"But, I…"
"No, Hamtaro. There are some things that you aren't meant to know, farewell"
Dark Hamtaro disappeared in thin air. Hamtaro wanted to know why Dark Hamtaro was telling him this, but that didn't matter, all that did matter was now, he knows that Oxnard can be turned; he just had to keep trying.
Then, another wind blew by. It lead to the forest! Hamtaro raced off to it. Then, Bijou appeared on his communicator watch.
"Hamtaro" said Bijou "Oxnard is attacking the forest village"
"I know, Bijou" said Hamtaro "I'm on my way"
"Green Leaf, Pashmina, and Penelope are there. I'm on my way, too"
"Okay, I'll see you there"
Hamtaro hung up and raced to the forest as fast as he can. When he got to the forest village, huts and bridges were falling off the trees and forest hams were screaming. Then, Hamtaro spotted Green Leaf, Pashmina, Penelope, and Bijou and raced towards them.
"Let me guess" said Hamtaro "The village is being destroyed"
"Yes" said Green Leaf
"Is the elder ham of the forest alright?" asked Hamtaro
"We escorted him out safely, he'll be fine" said Pashmina
"Oku, Oku?" Asked Penelope
"I don't know" said Pashmina "Who would do such a thing"
"Look for yourselves" said Hamtaro spotting Oxnard
Green Leaf and Pashmina gasped.
"Is that Oxnard destroying my village?" asked Green Leaf
"Why is he doing this?" asked Pashmina.
"Long story" said Hamtaro
"Hamtaro" said Bijou "We need to stop Oxnard now"
"Right. Let's go" said Hamtaro
They all raced to a platform that hasn't fallen yet. Oxnard looked back and said "So, you've finally arrived, Hamtaro"
"You won't get away with this, traitor" said Green Leaf
"Stop it now, Oxnard! What are you doing?" said Pashmina
"Sorry, guys, I don't need you" said Oxnard
"It won't work, I've already tried it" said Hamtaro
Pashmina started throwing pieced of wood from the ground using her psychic powers, but missed. Green Leaf binded him with vines, but were snapped off by Oxnard's wings. Penelope started making copies of herself and more and more were made, then they all attacked Oxnard, but Oxnard resisted by spinning around attacking each and every one with his wings, then he grabbed the original and threw her to the ground.
"Penelope" said Pashmina racing to her "are you alright?"
"O…o…OKU! OKU! OKU!" yelled Penelope trying to tell Pashmina that Oxnard was coming right to her.
It was too late, Oxnard hit Pashmina so hard, it knocked her out.
"PASMINA!" yelled Green Leaf "Alright, I think you have gone far enough, Oxnard"
He raced to Oxnard, but Oxnard threw Green Leaf on the ground, and cut down a tree on him.
"Hamtaro, Bijou. I'm stuck!" said Green Leaf.
"Bijou, you go help the others, I'll take care of Oxnard" said Hamtaro
Bijou did as he said and went to help them. Hamtaro raced towards Oxnard and said "Oxnard, you can't do this. It's wrong! I won't let you!"
"How many times do we have to have this conversation, Hamtaro?" asked Oxnard "I'm not going back! You chose to go your own way, well now, I've chose to go mine!"
"This isn't right, Oxnard" said Hamtaro "I…"
Then, Oxnard flew to Hamtaro, but Hamtaro jumped out of the way drawing his staff. Hamtaro started spin attacking Oxnard and Oxnard defended himself, then, Oxnard opened his wings quickly trying to toss aside Hamtaro, but Hamtaro grabbed one of his wings and threw him at a tree. Oxnard turned around and jumped off the tree and attacked Hamtaro. Hamtaro defended himself with his staff. Hamtaro then spun around and kicked Oxnard. They, both landed on the ground, exhausted.
"I'd love to stick around, but my work here is done" said Oxnard
Oxnard sprouted his wings and flew away. Hamtaro got up, sweating, and raced to the others. Hamtaro gave Bijou a hand and cut the tree to size with his spin attack, making it easier to lift. Green Leaf got up and raced to Pashmina. Penelope stood there in anxiety, as Green Leaf checked if she was okay. Green Leaf got up and said "Don't worry, Penelope, she'll be alright. She's just out cold for the moment"
"Are you all okay?" asked Bijou
"We'll be fine" said Green Leaf "I'll just have to take Pashmina where she can rest. What about you, Hamtaro?"
"I'll be fine" said Hamtaro
"Oku, Oku Okwee Oku Okwee?" asked Penelope
"Yes, Penelope, Oxnard is a bad guy, now" said Hamtaro
"What happened?" asked Green Leaf
"Now is not the right time to tell you" said Bijou
"Hey, once you send Pashmina to help, head on over to the tornado" said Hamtaro "Sonic gave us a boxful of communicator watches. Take one and give one each to the rest"
"Okay, Hamtaro" said Green Leaf "What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to hunt down Oxnard" said Hamtaro
"Hamtaro, I'm coming with you" said Bijou
"Alright" said Hamtaro "I'll just have to…"
Then, another breeze blew by.
"You guys go, we'll catch up to you later" said Hamtaro
Green Leaf said "Okay, good luck to you both" and ran off with Pashmina in his arms and Penelope running with him.
"What is it, Hamtaro?" asked Bijou
"Oxnard is in the underground city" said Hamtaro "Hurry, let's go"
Hamtaro and Bijou raced to the underground city. There, rocks were falling from the city, ground hams working together to prevent the buildings from falling, and it was obvious that the elder ham had escaped. There, Oxnard was destroying everything he could find. And Dig-dug, Cappy, Boss, and Stan were helping.
"I don't know what has gotten into you, Oxnard, but I can't let you do this!" said Boss.
"Your going down. And I'll be hamed if you get away" said Dig-dug.
Cappy was lifting rocks to help civilians get out, and Stan was putting a shield around the city to prevent anymore rocks from falling.
"Boss!" said Hamtaro
"Hamtaro, Bijou, glad you two could make it" said Boss "bad news, Oxnard has…"
"I know" said Hamtaro "We need to stop him now"
"Right! Cappy, Stan, give us a hand over here!" said Boss
"Yo! Hamtaro, Bijou, s'up!" said Stan
"We need to stop Oxnard, now" said Dig-dug "I don't care the risks I'll die trying"
"Not now, Dug-dug…" Boss started
But Did-dug already was racing towards Oxnard. Dig-dug was trying to start an earthquake to get some rocks to fall on Oxnard, but was countered, for Oxnard swooped above him and the rocks fell on Dig-dug.
Boss summoned some bats to go after Oxnard, but Oxnard spoke in bat language and told them to go after Boss, Cappy, and Stan. They knocked the three of them out. Hamtaro got rid of all the bats by blowing them away with his speed.
"Alright, Oxnard" said Hamtaro "I've had enough! You can't get away with this"
"I don't have time for you, Hamtaro" said Oxnard "I'm finished here, don't get in my way"
Oxnard started to fly out, but Hamtaro stopped him by tackling him to the ground. Bijou came in and assisted Hamtaro. Oxnard countered both Hamtaro and Bijou's attacks with his wings. Bijou then swung her sword and kicked Oxnard. Then, Hamtaro started rolling in place, revved-up, and hit Oxnard, with a spin dash. Oxnard got up and started flying to Bijou, but Hamtaro quickly raced in between them and grabbed Oxnard. But Oxnard hit Hamtaro with his wings, then he grabbed Hamtaro and flew high up in the air, Bijou couldn't reach them, so she averted her eyes, she couldn't watch. But, Hamtaro reacted by pushing Oxnard away, Hamtaro started falling but he broke his fall by continuously spinning. Hamtaro looked up and watched as Oxnard got away.
Then, Boss, Cappy, and Stan got up. Cappy ran to the pile that Dig-dug was under and lifted it up. Dig-dug got up and walked out from under it.
"What happened to Oxnard?" asked Cappy
"He got away" said Hamtaro
"No! What happened to Oxnard? As in, how did he turn?" asked Cappy
"It's too compicated" said Bijou
"Ham it! Why?" asked Dig-dug
"Calm down, Dig-dug" said Boss "they will tell, in time"
"Right now, you guys need to head back to the base, Bijou and I are trying to hunt down Oxnard" said Hamtaro
"Alright" said Boss "Good luck you two"
"We'll go back to base later, Hamtaro, we've got to fix up this place" said Dig-dug
"Alright" said Hamtaro "We'll see you later"
"Good luck, dude" said Stan
Bijou grabbed a hold on Hamtaro and they speed out of the underground city.
"Now what, Hamtaro?" asked Bijou
Then, yet another breeze passed by.
"Now, we go to the ice side of Ham mountain" said Hamtaro
Hamtaro, with Bijou on his back, sped to the mountain and climbed up at super speed. They reached the top of the mountain and ran through the snow, then they made it to ice city, which was being destroyed by Oxnard. The elder ham and everyone else had already left. And there was Cold-cold, Sandy, Howdy, and Dexter.
"Well, what do we have here?" said Howdy
"Why is Oxnard doing this?" asked Dexter
"Because, he's become evil, that's why" said Hamtaro
"Hamtaro, Bijou, what it tar nation is going on here?" asked Howdy
"Oxnard is destroying the village, Howdy" said Cold-cold
"What do we do?" asked Sandy
"We stop him!" said Cold-cold
Then, Cold-cold lifted a sheet of snow off the ground, Sandy used her whip to melt it, before the water fell, Howdy caught it and turned it into a wave that headed strait for Oxnard, then Dexter sent a surge of electricity in it. Oxnard protected himself with his wings, and tossed it back at them. For their safety, Cold-cold froze the wall of water, but it trapped them, except for Hamtaro.
"You just won't give up, will you, Hamtaro?" said Oxnard.
"Not as long as you keep this up, Oxnard" said Hamtaro
"Very well, Hamtaro" said Oxnard "I'll just crush you right here"
Oxnard shoved Hamtaro into the snow, Hamtaro got up shaking it off and raced to Oxnard. Hamtaro hit Oxnard with a devastating hit, the fighting continued, until a voice came out of a walkie-talkie that Oxnard had.
"Oxnard, what are you doing?" said the voice "You've finished your task. We'll deal with them later. Right now, you need to get back to base"
"Sorry, Hamtaro, I've got to go" said Oxnard
Then, Oxnard flew away. Sandy freed them from the wall of ice with the whip.
"You guys alright?" asked Hamtaro
"Yeah" said Cold-cold "We're fine"
"But, what was that all about?" asked Dexter
"I thought Oxnard was on our side!" said Howdy
"Hamtaro, what happened?" asked Sandy
"I'll tell you guys later, right now, Bijou and I are trying to find Oxnard" said Hamtaro
"You go back to the base" said Bijou "We'll catch up"
"I gotta go to the fire side of the mountain to see if everyone's okay" said Sandy
Bijou got on Hamtaro again and they sped off to search for Oxnard.
Meanwhile, in the sewers:
"Fantastic, Oxnard" said the hooded figure "You have done well in your tasks"
"Yeah" said Oxnard "But, throughout the tasks I ran into the power hams, Hamtaro and Bijou was always there, though"
"Hm, yes" said the hooded figure "Those two, I've heard, already have their ham weapons, yes? Well if that's the case then we are powerless to them. But, if you were to find your ham weapon, then you would match their power"
"Sounds like a plan"
"Yes, your next task is to find your ham weapon, hunt down Hamtaro, and defeat him. If you fail to do so, then alright. You will stop fighting once I call you, because we could lure him into a trap and defeat him once and for all. Now, get going"
"Wait! Before I go, I want to see your face"
"Very well, I guess you've proved your worth"
Then, the hooded figure removed the mask, revealing a chicken-like face: Chickonous!
"Chickonous!" said Oxnard "This whole time I've been working for you? But, I thought you died!"
"Well" said Chickonous "you thought wrong, now, are you going to keep working for me, or turn back to that back stabber, Hamtaro"
"No!" said Oxnard "I will no turn back! I will do anything you say!"
"Excellent"
To be continued…