A/N: Hey ya'll! Sorry this one took so long. And thanks BTW for the sweet reviews. Well, enough chit-chat. Here's the long-awaited Chapter 4!
Disclaimer: I do not own Hamtaro, Zoey 101, or any of it's content. Blah, blah, blah.
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Chapter 4: Hamtaro And The Gender Defenders!
Exactly an hour and forty three minutes after the awkward Stan moment Crystal and Bijou experienced(Ringa simply found it entertaining), the three girls were dressed and reunited with their friends in the living room downstairs. They had just finished dinner with no injuries, no arguments, no rebellions, and God-forbid no food fight scenearios ten minutes ago. In fact, they had all acted like perfect ladies and gentlemen!
Everyone was attempting to strike up any kind of conversation with each other, depsite the fact that they were dying with anticipation for Crystal's little "surprise." Crystal was the only one who was completely relaxed, leaning casually on one hip, chatting and giggling with a great ease. And as told to do so, they were spiffed up for the occasion.
Crystal was wearing a sleeveless white top, a pink blazer with only two buttons, a ruffled knee-lengthed skirt and pink heels. She had her trademark ponytail and flower-shaped hairclip.
Bijou had on a white sleeveless dress with a V-shaped collar. The dress reached above her knees with a silk white ribbon laced around her waist. She had on white heels and her two white pigtails were, of course, tied around two blue ribbons.
Ringa had on a pink comouflaged sleeveless top with a denim vest and matching mini. She had a pink belt tied around her waistline and pink sneakers. She long white hair was half-up with a barrette, while the rest flowed to her waist.
Sandy had on a green top with tiny sleeves that barely reached her shoulders and a turtleneck collar. Her orange hair was up in a side pigtail and supported by a red hairband. She also wore a white pleated miniskirt and white sneakers.
Penelope was sporting a white tee with a yellow cotton vest zipped halfway up and a matching yellow skirt. Her shiny brown hair was parted into two long pigtails with two white scrunchies and had on yellow sandals with white polka dots.
Pepper was wearing a spaghetti-strapped red top with a denim jacket, matching jeans and light brown ankle boots with red stitchings. She had a light brown belt and her braided pigtails were secured with two red ribbons.
Hamtaro had on a light-orange buttoned down shirt that reached his waist with the top two buttons undone and denim shorts that passed his knees. He had on white sneakers and his bushy half-orange, half-white hair looked neater than before.
Oxnard was wearing a clean gray T-shirt with a black jacket over it, denim jeans and white sneakers. His grayish hair hung over his dark-blue eyes.
Jingle had on a black T-Shirt with a red leather vest, dark blue jeans and black sneakers. His brown mohawk seemed to complete his spiffie, yet edgy rebel look.
Stan was sporting a white T-shirt with a dark-green unbuttoned short-sleeved shirt over it(he refused to button it up, until Crystal came into the room and gave him a look, but then unbuttoned it after dinner). He also wore denim jeans and white sneakers.
Panda wore a white T-shirt as well, but had a black buttoned short-sleeved(these things are longer than their tees though)shirt, jeans and black sneakers with white laces.
Cappy was wearing a green tee, but had on a sleeveless white jersey over it. He had on denim shorts like Hamtaro's, white sneakers and his green baseball cap perched backwards on his bushy brown hair.
"When is Crystal's damn surprise coming? I'm getting nauseous from all the anxietyness!" Hamtaro's wail sliced right through the silence hovering over the boys' circle group. The girls were huddled in their own circle on the other side of the room. "Well, in that case, sit down, Red! Gotta play it safe this time!" Jingle roughly, but playfully shoved Hamtaro onto the sofa. "Oof!" Hamtaro squeaked.
"C'moooon, Crys! Just spit it out!" Penelope, who had heard Hamtaro, grew tired of waiting and whined at the fourteen-year-old. The brunette was sitting on another sofa, completely relaxed. Her legs were crossed and the top leg was gently swinging back and forth. "Yeah! I mean, we've been sittin' here for the past hour, and you haven't said anythan' at all! And look at how we were supposed to dress!" Pepper added, pointing at her outfit. "Pepper, you always dress like that." Sandy pointed out. "Oh yea!" Pepper smiled.
"Sorry ladies and gents! But if my guest isn't here, then I gotta keep mum!" Crystal shook her head calmly. "UUUUUUUUUUGH!" the gang groaned. "Pleeeeaaaase! Give us a hint! A clue! Throw us a bone here!" Jingle pleaded. Crystal sighed. Obviously, these foolish children didn't get it. "Look. I'd tell you everything, but--"
DING DING DING!
The Ham-Hams yelped at the sudden interruption and stood up straight and stiff as soldiers. They looked up the stairs that led to the bedrooms. A butler in a black tuxedo was standing in the middle of the staircase, a silver triangle and stick in his hands. "WILLIAM! Long time, no see! How are things going lately?" Crystal's face brightened at the sight of the familiar butler.
"Things have been well, Ms. Donaldson. Thank you." William smiled and bowed respectfully. When he spotted Stan, he couldn't help but bite his lip to avoid laughing. Crystal got the message and blushed. Obviously Jessie has been gossiping about Stan and the stupid poster to the entire crew!
Stan obliviously picked at a hint of lint on his sleeve.
"What's going on around here?" Oxnard asked. "OOH! Is it the surprise Crystal was promisin' us?" Pepper's light hazel eyes sparkled eagerly. "Ugh, it better be!" Sandy nodded.
Immedietaly, everyone started to talk, agree and ask questions all at once. "WhoawhoawhoawhoawhoaWHOOOOOOAAAAAAA, hold the phones peoples!" Crystal quickly hushed them. "Deje que el termine! Let the man finish!"
"Thank you, Crystal. Now as I was saying," the Ham-Hams pressed their lips together. "ladies and gentlemen, please give it up for Miss Donaldson's uncle, Mr. Raymond Andrews." As William came down the stairs, an adult man, who looked to be somewhere in his early thirties(or late twenties)followed behind him.
He had thick brown eyes, matching brown hair and a friendly smile. He was wearing a Hawaiian buttoned-up shirt, jeans and sneakers. A young woman with a white buttoned-up shirt and beige skirt came from behind him.
"TIOOOOOOOOOOO(or "uncle")!" Crystal squealed and ran over to hug him as everyone else clapped politely. "Hey Princess!" Ray smiled at his niece. He had a slight Tennessee accent. "My God, you've grown since the last I saw you!" he exclaimed. "Yes, eight months really makes a physical difference in an adolescent female!" Crystal replied sarcastically.
Ray laughed heartedly and ruffled Crystal's hair. "Well, anyways, lemme take a look at your special guests." When he looked up, he saw eleven other boys and girls smiling up at him. "Son of a gun! A perfect equal spilt of guys and gals!" Ray grinned. He then whispered, "Nice job, Crys." Crystal smiled as she felt the crisp twenty dollar bill being slapped into her hand. "It wasn't easy, but it was worth every penny."
"Hi Raymond! I'm Hamtaro, and these are the Ham-Hams!" Hamtaro chirped up politely. "Weeeelllll, half of 'em at least! The others couldn't make it!" Crystal corrected him apologetically. "Aww, that's quite all right, Hamtaro, we'll manage. And please. Call me Ray!" Ray said with another smile.
"Okay...Ray! My name's Pepper. And this is my boy, Oxnard, and one o' my girls, Bijou." Pepper introduced. "Hi!" Oxnard waved. "Bonjour!" Bijou smiled sweetly. "I'm Ringa! And this is Panda, and Jingle!" Ringa tossed her brilliant white hair over her shoulder. "Hey!" Panda and Jingle chorused in response.
"I'm Sandy. And this is like, my twin bro, Stan." Sandy piped up. "What's up?" Stan nodded politely. Crystal smiled to herself. Thank God Stan know when to behave. Sandy taught him well! "I'm Cappy!" Cappy raised his hand. "Call me Penelope!" Penelope went after him.
"It's nice to meet ya'll! Now, would you mind takin' a seat? I have an announcement to make." Ray asked. "Oh, sure!" the gang replied and sat on the sofas. Stan blushed when he saw he was next to Crystal. "Sooooo! What's up?" Jingle wondered. "Yeah. Crystal here has been keepin' mum 'bout this big surprise for us all through dinner--an' it's eatin' away at our flesh!" Pepper pouted.
"Well, this is it!" Ray held out his arms. "Huh?" everyone except Crystal, Ray and the young woman beside him cocked their heads to the right. Crystal leaned back on the cushions and smirked knowingly. Here it comes...! "What are you smirking about?" Stan rose an eyebrow at her.
"Okay, lemme clarify. Who here watches MTV?" Ray asked. "OOH! I DO! I DO!" the Ham-Hams(with the exception of Crystal)rose their hands eagerly, as if volunteering to answer a math question in exchange for a packet of M&M Minis.
"Wait. You two watch MTV? I thought you only watched cartoons and rated G movies!" Bijou asked Cappy and Penelope. The two children blushed slightly. "We only watch TRL!" Cappy said in defense for him and Penelope.
"But what does MTV have to do with anything we're talking about?" Ringa wondered. "On the contrary, it has to do with everything we're about to talk about!" Ray replied.
"See, Uncle Ray is a famous producer in MTV Productions." Crystal told them as calmly as possible, without giggling out loud. "HE IS?" the gang gaped at Crystal. Then, they whirled around and stared at Ray. "YOU ARE?"
"Course! He was behind a few shows like...uhhhhh, what were they again?...I believe it was 'Punk'd,' 'Pimp My Ride,' 'Yo Momma' and 'Laguna Beach.' Right?" Crystal looked at Ray. "Except 'Yo Momma'." Ray corrected her. "Right." Crystal nodded.
"OMG, are you serious!" Panda exclaimed. "DUDE! Those shows are genius!" Stan yelled.
"Yup! Which leads me to my big announcement! See, the guys at MTV and I are producing this new show called 'Gender Defenders,' with me as the host! It's basically a reality show with a series of Olympic-like games that determines who's better: males, or females." Ray began. "Pfft! We all know who that is." Cappy scoffed smugly. Hamtaro and Jingle snickered. Penelope painfully squeezed his thigh to shut him up.
Ray laughed. "Now, for the past month or so, me and my assistant Amber," Ray motioned towards the young woman, who simply waved. "have been looking for an equal number of boys and girls to test out the show. Because obviously, you can't have a successful show, without a successful test run! That group of kids will be divided into two teams: the boys' team, and the girls' team. Then, they will test out our games and compete against one another."
"Cool! Have you found them yet?" Sandy asked. Ray and Amber exchanged knowing smiles. "As a matter of fact, we have!" Amber nodded. "And it's all thanks to a certain little niece of mine who said she could bring in a nice group of Ham-Ham pals to be our little guinea pigs!" Ray added.
"...?..." At first the Ham-Hams didn't get it.
"...Hel-LOOOO? He means you guys!" Crystal blurted out. The gang slowly gasped. "Us? Y-You mean us? Cause, there's no way you mean us!" Ringa's gray eyes were round. "On the contrary, Miss Ringa. When I took one look at you, I knew for a fact that you'd be perfect for the job!" Ray said. "Ham-Hams: You all have been chosen to compete against each other in the games of Gender Defenders!" Amber announced.
"OOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHMYYYYYYYYYYYGOD!" the gang exploded out into huge bursts of squeals, screams and whoops of joy. "WHOO! YEAH!" Jingle high-fived Hamtaro, Oxnard, Cappy, Stan and Panda one-by-one. "NO WAAAAAAAY!" Sandy and Pepper shrieked. Crystal giggled and eventually shushed them...well, attempted to.
"And that's not even the best part. The winning team will come back to Hollywood with me to shoot the very first, real episode of Gender Defenders!" Ray quickly added. "We've even gotten celebrity teams selected for the first episode." Amber smiled. "Celeb teams?" Stan gaped. "Yup! And I believe some teen celebs already signed up. Umm...who were they again, Amber?" Ray turned to his secretary.
"Uhhhh...I believe Zac Efron and Teddy Geiger's people called us to tell us they were interested." Amber said, looking through her cellphone. "Yeah! And I believe that Kristen gal wants another shot at reality TV." Ray added. "And didn't those cute High School Musical girls sign up? Ashley and Vanessa, right?" Amber asked.
"Oh...my...God!" Ringa gaped. "Zac Efron?" Crystal breathed. "Teddy Geiger?" Sandy smiled. "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH!" Bijou squealed like there was no tomorrow with Pepper.
"Kristen?" Jingle's hazel-ish eyes grew round. "As in Kristen Cavalleri!" Cappy finished. "And Ashley Tisdale and Vanessa Anne Hudgens?" Hamtaro guessed. "DAMN, they're hot!" Stan and Panda blurted out.
"Yup! All you gotta do is test out the gmaes to compete against these celebrity teams--on television!" Ray smiled.
"YOU'RE GONNA PUT US ON TV!" Sandy shrieked. "No! He's gonna put US on TV!" Jingle corrected, wrapping an arm around Cappy and pointing at himself. "Ohhh, dream on!" Sandy rolled her eyes. "It's so obvious we're gonna win!" Ringa commented. "Sorry Ringa, honey. But we guys have got this thing in the bag!" Stan shot back, high-fiving Hamtaro. "AS IIIIIIIIFFFFF!" Ringa and Crystal glared hard at him.
And before you could say, "We're gonna be on TV," the Ham-Ham boys and girls had started yelling, disagreeing and arguing with each other. But this time, Crystal was all over the idea of fighting with the boys. Ray, Amber and William sweatdropped as they watched Cappy and Penelope point fingers at one another, Sandy and Pepper screaming in Hamtaro and Oxnard's faces and Stan and Panda get seriously loud with Crystal and Ringa.
"--DO YOU WANNA TAKE THIS OUTSIDE, TORAANI?" Crystal suddenly stood up. "WELL, WHY DON'T YOU JUST BRING IT ON!" Stan motioned Crystal to come closer. "LADIES FIRST!" Panda pointed at the door. "FINE! WE'LL WAIT!" Ringa shot back. "O.O" William and Amber's eyes grew wide, knowing it would always get ugly if Crystal stood up.
"WhoawhoawhoawhoawhoawhoawhoaWHOOOOOOAAAAAAAA! Hold onto your hormones, kids!" Ray shouted. The Ham-Hams still wouldn't stop. And Ringa was on the verge of beating cocky, little Stan to a pulp. Ray gave Amber a look. She pulled out a sports air horn in return. He shook the can and squeezed the horn's handle.
BUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!
The gang suddenly went on mute and winced at the ear-piercing sound. "ACK! THE NOISE! IT BUUUUUUUUUURRRRNS!" Cappy screamed, covering his ears. After a few seconds, the horn stopped. Everybody was dead-silent. "Thank you." Ray sighed. "Now, that whole gender-spat thing, that was good! Save it for next Monday!"
"Next? You never said it'd be next Monday!" Crystal said. "So, little Miss Know-It-All DOESN'T have all the details, now does she?" Stan taunted. Ringa and Crystal each punched one of his shoulders.
"You got it, Crys. See the competition only takes up five days. And we decided to give ya'll that special Hawaiian spring break vacation for this week." Ray explained. "But next Monday, vacation time'll be over and you'll report to the backyard bright and early at 8 am sharp for the first Gender Defenders game." he added.
"Which reminds me. If we're gonna have two teams, we're gonna need two team captains. Any volunteers?" Amber held up her clipboard and a mechanical pencil. "I vote Hamtaro!" Stan held up Hamtaro's wrist. "Sure!" Hamtaro agreed.
"I think Sandy should be our captain! After all, she's the sportiest out of all of us!" Crystal suggested. "Oui!" Bijou nodded. "Most definetaly!" Penelope smield. "Couldn'ta said it better myself!" Pepper exclaimed. "Okay!" Sandy accepted.
"Great! So we got..." Amber flipped her jet-black hair over her shoulder and started scribbling on a clean sheet of paper. "...Hamtaroooo...last name?" Amber looked up. "Haruna. With a U." Hamtaro said. "...and for the ladies, we got..." Amber trailed off. "Sandy Toraani. T-O-R-A-A-N-I." Sandy finished for her.
Amber wrote down Snady's last name. "Super! Thanks guys." she flashed a friendly smile as she put the pencil away. "Now, as a thanks for volunteering, the producers at MTV and I decided to give ya'll a special little gift. William, would you like to do the honors?" Ray called.
And on queue, William walked up to the gang, with an MTV-labeled suitcase. He set the suitcase on the coffee table in front of the Ham-Hams and unlocked it. Inside, were twelve multi-colored Sidekicks.
"WHOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAA!" the gang stood up quickly and gaped at their presents. "They're all yours, so take your pick." Ray encouraged. "SWEET!" Jingle smiled as he scooped up a dark-red one. "Cool!" Hamtaro snatched a phone that caught his eye--a red one with a white lightning stripe. "Awesome!" Crystal gasped as she happily looked at her new pink cellphone.
"This is so cool! I've been dying for a new cellphone!" Cappy grinned from ear-to-ear. "But it's a pretty wierd shaped phone if you ask me!" Penelope added, turning her's over. "Oh no, these aren't just cellphones!" Ray shook his head. "Then, what are they?" Oxnard asked.
"What aren't they?" Amber smiled. "These cellphones are called Sidekicks and they work like cellphones, as well as address books, clocks even world clocks! You can text-message, chat with your friends, IM, surf the Internet, buy games, use the calendar to schedule important days and it even has speakers and a headphone jack for the MP3 player!"
"All in one phone?" Bijou exclaimed. "Mm-hm!" Amber nodded. "Shut UP!" Sandy squealed. "And we really get to keep these?" Stan asked. "Yes, sir! And the best part is, you can use 'em to communicate with your other teammates throughout the competition." Ray said. "This is incredible!" Pepper gasped as she flipped open the screen of her gold one. "I can't believe this is happening to us!" Oxnard exclaimed happily.
"Oh, and before I forget. Team captains, I'm gonna need you both to look over the rules of the competition tonight." Amber took two handbooks from her clipboard and handed them over to Hamtaro and Sandy. "Talk them over with your teammates if you can as well. They're very important and we can't have any cheating next week."
"Got it." Hamtaro and Sandy nodded.
"Okay, and well, that's all for today. How are ya'll feeling?" Ray asked. "We feel great!" the gang answered. "This is so exciting!" Ringa added ecstatically. "Good, now r'member: the first game is next Monday at 8 am, so get plenty of relaxation this week, cause you're gonna need all the energy you can get! So, be ready!" Ray told them. "YES SIR!" the Ham-Hams sang in unison.
"Great! Well, I gotta run, so I'll see ya'll next week then, okay?" Ray said. "Okay, byyyyyeeeee Tio! Bye Ambeeeerrrrr!" Crystal said. "BYYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEE!" everybody else waved. They both waved good-bye back as they were escorted out by William.
After they left, the Ham-Hams started talking all at once.
"OHMYGOD! Can you BELIEVE we're working for MTV?" Sandy squealed. "Thee MTV?" Pepper added. "This is so beyond wickedly awesome!" Jingle shouted. "Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeek! I just can't believe this happened to us!" Ringa shrieked. "Crystal! THIS was your surprise?" Stan looked over his shoulder at her. "Uhhh...maybe?" Crystal couldn't help but giggle.
"DUDE! CRYSTAL, THIS IS GONNA BE THE BEST SPRING BREAK OF MY LIFE! This is the greatest surprise in the history of all history! THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOOOOOOUUUUUU!" Stan suddenly grabbed Crystal by the waist, picked her up and spun her around.
"Awwww, isn't that cute?" Jingle, Hamtaro and Cappy cooed. The others bust out laughing. Stan turned rosy red and quickly set Crystal down. The girl had small swirlies for eyes and swayed back and forth from dizziness. "Whoooaaa..." she muttered before landing on the sofa.
Stan looked from Crystal and glared to Jingle, who was making secret kissy faces--until he found himself smooching a flunged couch pillow.
Startled, Jingle landed on his butt onto the floor. The Ham-Hams then turned their laughter onto Jingle. "HA HA! Kiss that, sucker!" Stan laughed out loud.
Jingle frowned. "Very funny, Toraani. But I'll get'cha back...!"
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A/N: There we go! End of Chappie four! WOO-HOOOOO! Next time, we'll watch the Ham-Hams in their wonderful little vacation in HAWAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIII! YEAH!
Well, I look foward to your reviews. PLZ-PLZ-PLZ review!
Toodles!
Crystalgurl101 ♥