Chapter 4

"There!" Panda said, putting the finishing touches on the contraption. "This should work…" He stepped back and observed his handiwork…it was a large mishmash of various items, and was thrown together sort of hastily, but otherwise, it looked like it would work. As the others stared at it, he said, "What do you think?"

Pashmina finally spoke up, "What does it…do?"

"The HamWraith steps here," Panda said, pointing at a small flat panel, "and when he does, this spring will make the sewing needle here shoot out, and it'll wrap the thread around his legs, nice and tightly. He trips and falls here…" He indicated the front part of the trap, "and that's when two of us leap out and tie the heavy rope around him."

Sandy nodded, "That's cool, but…who's going to do the tying?"

Everyone looked at each other. No one said a word, or stepped forward. Eventually, Boss said, "C'mon, you guys! Someone volunteer!"

"Why don't you?" Dexter asked.

"Ah, err…" Boss said, scratching his head, then quickly turned to Panda and said, "It's your invention, why don't you pick someone?"

Sandy spoke up, "I'll go."

Maxwell, as did the other Ham-Hams, looked in shock at her, and he said, "Sandy, no, let someone else…"

"No," she interrupted, "I can tie a good strong knot…I had a lot of practice with my ribbons." Narrowing her eyes with determination, she added, "Besides, this is, like, personal now. I have to, after what he did to Stan. I'm going, and that's final, okay?"

"Well, in that case," Maxwell said with a smile. "I'm going too. I won't let you do this alone." Sandy smiled back, and the two briefly rubbed their cheeks together, both saying, "*Schmubby-Wubby*", before heading over to join Panda in carrying out the trap.

Hamtaro called out after them, "Be careful!"

"We will!" Panda shouted back. They left the clubhouse to lay the trap. Everyone else hoped that it would work…because if it didn't, they were all in serious trouble…

"What are we waiting for?" Howdy exclaimed. "Find a window, everyone!" They all scattered in different directions looking for rooms that had a place to see what was going on outside…

* * *

Unfolding and setting the trap took a little longer than expected, about five minutes in all, but luckily, the HamWraith didn't show up as they were working. Once the trap was in place, Maxwell and Sandy took their positions on the sides of the trap, in convenient hiding places. Now that it was all set, Hamtaro, from his vantage point, could see that it was very cleverly concealed, and that if the HamWraith came along, there's no way he'd be able to spot it. Panda, you're a genius! Hamtaro thought. This is going to work, I know it!

Panda rushed back to the door, and took cover. Everything was quiet for almost fifteen minutes after that…Hamtaro could see the two in their hiding places, and they both looked nervous. Maybe he won't show up, Hamtaro thought…or maybe it'll take a long time before he does…

That's when he spotted something heading towards the clubhouse from the shadows. Ducking a little further down, Hamtaro nonetheless tried to get a better look at whatever it was. It was too dark to see it clearly, but it was huge…and despite the darkness, he could make out the two glowing yellow eyes, and the shape of its clawed arms. The HamWraith, he realized…It really exists…I don't believe it…

The monstrous thing continued towards the clubhouse, still remaining in shadow, although it headed directly for the trap. It finally came right up to the edge of it and abruptly stopped, looking around from side to side towards the bushes. C'mon, Hamtaro urged quietly. Just another step or two…just take another step…

It suddenly reached out with one of its claws, breaking right through Maxwell's hiding place and grabbing hold of him. With a cry of alarm, Maxwell struggled to get free, but the monster pulled him closer and held him in the center of the machine…with that, it stomped its foot down on the triggering panel…the needle with the thread shot out, with Maxwell directly in its path…

Hamtaro watched in shock as the needle embedded itself right through the center of Maxwell's head, partially emerging from the other side…Maxwell twitched for a moment, then fell limp, and the HamWraith tossed him aside. Sandy screamed loudly, scrambling out from her hiding place and running for the bushes as fast as she could. The HamWraith turned and watched her go, then started following…both of them vanished from the view of the clubhouse…

Oh no…Hamtaro thought, biting his lip. Run, Sandy…run!!

Sandy was terrified beyond belief…she knew the thing was right behind her, and didn't look back for a moment as she ran, "*Badda-badda-badda-badda!!*" What do I do what do I do what do I do?! she thought furiously, looking for someplace to hide. She ducked into the bushes and ran through the dense foliage, until finally she spotted the side of a small flowerbed. With nowhere else to go, she quickly took cover amongst one of the flowers.

The HamWraith approached the flowerbed, and Sandy sat as still as she could, although she was shaking in fear, her heart racing out of control. She kept her paws clamped over her mouth to keep from making any sound, but she was still breathing quickly, and was afraid that he might hear it. The HamWraith gazed across the flowerbed, and then reached down, grabbing one of the flowers and uprooting it with a quick tug. Not finding her there, it tossed the flower aside and moved to the next.

Sandy peeked out from behind the flower and watched as he slowly moved from one flower to the next, pulling them up and throwing them away. She ducked back under cover and clenched her eyes shut, trembling and thinking, No please don't find me please go away don't find me…

As she waited, the sound of the HamWraith's heavy feet thumped over to her flower and stopped. Everything was eerily quiet, and Sandy stayed as still and as quiet as she possibly could. Nothing happened for a few seconds…it was maddening to know that he was standing right there, but not doing anything…she wondered hopefully if maybe he had given up…

Her flower was suddenly pulled fiercely out of the ground, and Sandy shrieked, trying to get away…she only made it a step or two before the HamWraith's foot stomped down on her, pinning her face down on the ground…she craned her neck up to see the monstrous thing towering over her, and cried out, "No! NOO!!" as it grabbed onto her head with one of its claws…still holding her body in place, it yanked hard, and everything went black all at once, with a horrible *RRRRIP*…

* * *

Hamtaro took a quiet few steps back away from the window. He didn't know what to think. No…not them too…Maxwell…oh, I hope Sandy made it…this can't be happening… He turned back silently and slowly walked out of the room, heading back for downstairs, still in a shocked disbelief over what happened.

By the time he made it downstairs, he saw that everyone else was slowly trickling in as well, one at a time. All of them looked as shocked as Hamtaro felt. Oxnard stammered, "What…what are we…gonna do…?"

"I don't know…" Boss said. "I just don't know…" He thought furiously, but was drawing a blank. Things were happening too quickly…

Bijou clutched onto Hamtaro's arm tearfully and whispered, "I'm so scared…" Hamtaro held her back, trying to reassure her, but he felt just as hopeless. Stan…Cappy…Maxwell…all of them, gone…and he could only hope that Sandy made it to safety…

Panda returned from outside. He looked pale as he told them the bad news, "I found Sandy…"

"Is she okay?" Pashmina said, even though she knew from Panda's demeanor that she wasn't. Panda looked back at her sadly, then lowered his head, shaking it. Pashmina covered her eyes, crying…

"Ookyoo, ookyoo…" Penelope whispered, crying as well.

"We can't give up hope," Hamtaro said. "If we stick together, that thing can't get all of us…right? We can make it…we just have to stay alive!"

There was silence…that's when they noticed that even Snoozer, still lying on the table in his sock, wasn't snoring anymore. They looked over as he rubbed his eye with one paw and groggily said, "No one lives forever…" With that, he drifted off back to sleep, "*ZuZuzu*…"

Everyone stared at Snoozer, silently, until finally Oxnard grabbed his head with his paws and muttered, "We're gonna die…"

Howdy frowned a little and said, "Wait…why'd that thing know about the trap, anyway? It was so well-hidden!"

"He even knew exactly how to set it off…" Dexter pointed out. "That's impossible, right?"

"Yes…" Panda replied, lost in thought. "We're the only ones who knew how it worked…but…if that's true, then…" He looked out at the others.

Dexter blinked a few times, then angrily said, "Hey, wait a minute! Are you implying what I think you're implying?!"

"What?" Hamtaro said, confused.

Panda looked at him and said, "We're the only ones who knew how the trap worked…but so did the HamWraith. So, that could mean that the monster is really…one of us…"

Everyone exchanged glances, no one daring to say a word, until finally, Pashmina exclaimed, "How could you even think that any one of use could do this?!"

"Not a chance!" Boss said firmly, jamming the end of his shovel into the ground. "No way! It can't be!"

"Ookyoo!" Penelope agreed.

Bijou nodded, "I would trust all of you…zis is impossible, one of you being ze HamWraith…"

"Maybe he was just spying on us somehow," Hamatro suggested. "Maybe he knew that way…"

The others thought about that, and Howdy said, "Y'could be right…" There were murmurs of agreement from everyone else. Howdy continued, "Either way, we should all find something to protect ourselves with. I've got my broom, and Boss has his shovel, so everyone else, find somethin'…"

"Good idea," Boss nodded. "Just stick together! Don't go off on your own, okay?"

"Okay!" everyone said together. All of them, except for Howdy and Boss, who stayed at the table with Snoozer, broke away from the center table, looking for defensive weapons. Despite the suggestion that the HamWraith was merely watching them, though, everyone still gave suspicious glances to the others…could it be possible? Could the HamWraith really be one of the Ham-Hams? It was unthinkable…and yet, they all wondered if it was really true or not…

TO BE CONTINUED…