Chapter Text
Hamtaro’s soul drifted. He had a vague impression of endless darkness, a bone-white gate, and arriving in a secret place. A voice from everywhere and nowhere at once spoke to him, reverberating in his skull.
“HAMTARO. YOU ARE… A HAMSTER. WE HAD THOUGHT YOU A HUMAN SOUL.”
“!” Thought Hamtaro. His white-brown fur shook.
“THIS IS UNEXPECTED. A HAMSTER DARES TO BARGAIN WITH US, THE NEVERBORN?”
Hamtaro projected indignation and rage at the voice, as if to say, “Don’t make light of hamsters!”
“…VERY WELL. HAMTARO, YOU WILL DIE HERE IF WE DO NOT INTERVENE. THERE IS BUT ONE WAY FOR YOU TO LIVE: OBEY OUR WILL, WHICH IS HATRED TOWARDS THE LIVING. BOW DOWN, AND WORSHIP US, AND PLEDGE FEALTY UNTIL THE LAST HUMAN ON EARTH DRAWS ITS LAST BREATH. SACRIFICE YOUR NAME, AND ACCEPT A TITLE OF OUR CHOOSING.”
“…” projected Hamtaro.
“NO. THE PLEASURES OF THE LIVING WILL BE DENIED YOU. NEVER AGAIN WILL YOU ENJOY ANOTHER SUNFLOWER SEED. YOU WILL DRINK BLOOD, AND RESPIRE THE ESSENCE OF DEATH.”
Hamtaro thought long and hard. Finally, he made the ultimate choice. His beady eyes shone with dark purpose.
“OUR PACT IS MADE. ARISE, TROTTER OF THE VOID!”
Two schoolgirls strolled down the sidewalk in Japan. One of them, a brown-haired, twintailed girl named Laura, moped loudly at the other.
“I’m in so much trouble. And the worst part is, it’s not really my fault! How am I supposed to do well on a surprise quiz? It’s a SURPRISE!”
“Well…” hesitated her classmate. “Mr. Yoshi did hint about the test, and distribute review sheets.” She smiled awkwardly, not wanting to contradict a friend, but unable to resist correcting her.
The first girl slammed a fist into her open palm. “That’s it! I’m telling Mr. Yoshi that surprise quizzes aren’t fair!”
At home, Laura’s somber mood distracted her. She failed completely to notice the dull, glossy sheen on her pet hamster’s body, or the shock of newly white fur on its head. All her attention was directed at her parents, both of whom were standing opposite her with concern written on their faces.
“It was a surprise quiz!” she blurted, unable to stand the silence.
“Honey, we know you can do better,” said her mother.
“Your grandma always said, life is like a box o’chocolates,” said her father. Forrest Haruna had taken his wife’s family name when he married her.
“I’ll do better,” promised Laura, cutting off what otherwise might become a lengthy philosophical speech. “I’ll spend tomorrow afternoon studying!”
“Good idea. I’ll call her friends and cancel our trip to the mall.”
“What?!” Laura leapt to her feet. “But you promised to buy me a CD player tomorrow!”
“Life is like a box o’chocolates,” drawled Forrest. “Ya never know what yer gonna get.”
“It’s social ruin!”
Laura stewed in her room, pacing back and forth.
“I already told my friends I’d have a new CD player! Do my parents want me to be crushed by embarrassment when I show up to school without it?”
“Good, good,” cackled the Trotter of the Void. “Let the hate flow through you!” Except, being a hamster, it came out as a series of small animal squeaks.
Unable to understand her diminutive companion, Laura stewed as she paced. She paced as she stewed. Eventually, grabbing her tiny purse, she ran from the house.
“You dumb brat!” squeaked the undead horror that once was Hamtaro. “If you’re so determined to die, at least let me get credit for killing you!”
But Laura, disappearing into the distance, could not understand.