Part 17: Eat your heart out, Dekar.

Update 16: Eat your heart out, Dekar.



Hey there, everyone. Last time, Hamtaro blundered into a trapdoor and left Bijou all alone… So, it’s time for a solo segment!



There isn’t all that much that Bijou can accomplish here on her own, given that the elevator back down requires two hamsters to operate. But we must make the most of what we’ve got, so let’s head down to where the action is.



…Which would be the funeral parlour, naturally.



Huh… Why is the coffin open now? Not to mention it had to have been open at some point before now, in order for Dexter to have seen the rope there.

Programming oversight, or spooky goings-on?



Way to go, Dexter.



Sadly, we’re going to have to leave Dexter in his predicament for a while… We still don’t know the tune that should open this coffin.



So, let’s head next door to the old ghosts’ room instead.





As people in the thread quite correctly surmised, the couple-hating ghosts…





…are a good deal friendlier to Bijou when she’s on her own. But they only seem to want to chat, so we’re going to have to try a little something different here.



Good ol’ violence!





As proof of our new friendship, would you nok-nok on my shoulders?

…

Yep, the old misery-guts takes Bijou’s Tack-Q as a gesture of friendship. I guess I can sort of see the logic, with old friends trading friendly insults and the like.



At least we learnt a little bit of manners in the bargain.



So, let’s do the polite thing and give the old ghost a massage.



That felt greeeaaat! I’m a new hamster. Hm?
…



I wanna talk more…



Rest in peace, old ham.



Now, let’s see how his buddy likes this…



You know what would make me happier? If you would pushie on my back. ♥

Alright… Time for another massage, then!





That’s great… Haaaa… I’m nearly alive...again.



See ya, buddy.



Now that we have these new Ham-Chats, we should probably get on with rescuing Hamtaro… and Howdy, for that matter.



This curiously empty stretch of hallway happens to be right below the room with the trapdoor, so logic dictates that we should check here for secret doors and the like.







…That sure is one strange noise.



Ah, there we go. Let’s take a look inside…



Indeed she did, Howdy… though it seems that the whole rescue thing isn’t quite done yet.



We’ll get right on that, bud.



Ouch! That smarts! I landed on my bottom when I fell in here!



Actually, so long as we’re here… How is Hamtaro?



Guess today just isn’t your day, huh?



I guess I’ll check on him.



Bijou’s here, too. You’ve gotta help us find a way outta here…



He lives!



As you can see, we’re stuck in a cage. Think of somethin’!





Aw, so cute. Let’s take a quick look around and see if there’s anything else of interest.



Well, we have a curtain cord that’s too high up for Bijou to reach… and Hamtaro’s serious face.



Still, we don’t have anything that can get the boys out of that cage. However, I think we might be able to get some outside help on this one.



They are the only living NPCs on these two floors who aren’t currently trapped, after all.



So, let’s see if they’ll help our friends get their freedom.





Let’s help him get his Libert-T!

Uh… Yeah, okay… Let’s go take a look at this cage.

All righty.



Nice and easy! Although, it sounds like Bijou might have only mentioned Hamtaro in describing the situation… Poor ol’ Howdy.

One quick trip downstairs now…



Ah, good. The muscular pair managed to find the hidden room without any hassle, so we can ask the green one about helping our friends with their Libert-T again.



I may be strong, but this is impossible…

Oh… Yeah, bending steel bars might be a little above a hamster’s capability.









Amazing what a little inspiration can do, isn’t it?



And he said, “It doesn’t matter how strong you are, it’s steel!!” That was cool! ♥ THAT’S the power of love!

…Couldn’t have said it better myself!





Uh… Good luck with finding him, Howdy!



Hey, it’s the celebration manoeuvre from when Hamtaro rescued Bijou! Nice callback… on more than one level.





That’s our eleventh drop of love, folks. The meter’s even looking like it might be past half-way…









Woah. Seems that’s another ninja trick that Hamtaro and Bijou have picked up.



In the whole wide world!♥



Wait! I bet you can handle that other problem now!

Maybe. Let’s find out!



Ah, right… Good luck getting into that lift without the keycard, you two.



Meanwhile, our solo segment is finally over, and we can go back to good ol’ jolly co-operation.





Pulling on that cord we couldn’t reach reveals another mirror… What are the odds this is another secret passageway?



Pretty good!



Really, Bijou? That looked a little rough to me…



…Oh, um… wha… b-but we haven’t studied!



Oh, not that kind of pop quiz then. Whew!



What’s it gonna be? Are you in? Are you out? What’s it gonna be?

Seeing as we have no idea where we are, and it could be the only way out… Sure, we’ll play your game.





Prizes? Prizes are good… Come to think of it, we were kind of trying to win another one, weren’t we? But then the trapdoor thing happened… Ah well, we’ll get back to that soon enough.



Find the dresser you think is right and give it a good nok-nok! What’s inside the dressers…?



The game master is kind enough to give us a peek inside the dressers before play begins, and it lasts for a good few seconds (so you really have no excuse for screwing up).



You want to be extra sure you don’t screw up, by the way. Failure punts you out down on the first floor, and you’ll have to head up to the mirror in the secret room to get back inside.



It shouldn’t be any trouble, really. And no, those ten sunflower seeds and the rock aren’t worth doing this multiple times.



Hey, don’t we know you…?



You did it! You’ve won yourself a fantastic prize!



…Now, that was just rude.



At least we managed to rescue the attention-hungry girlfriend, even if it was completely by accident.





Hey! Wait a sec! Were you concerned? Were you? Were you?



So you finally paid some attention to me.



Mm… um…



I don’t think I’ve mentioned it yet, but I really do like how each relationship is going through something different in this game. They all have their own personality, as it were.





Ah, so that’s why he was so distracted earlier. How touching.



Also, new Ham-Chat for the pile dictionary.









That is just beyond .



Right, Hamtaro?

Indeed, Bijou.



Having saved a second relationship now, I think this is a good time to leave off for today. Next time, we’ll head on up to try that game on the third floor (now that we have Pushie), and perhaps poke our head in to see how Dexter’s getting on inside the coffin.

Hope to see you then, everybody!

Bonus video:

Ah, there's the giant anime eyes.