Disclaimer: I do not own any Klonoa characters… The others are mine, though.


Chapter 8: Outside

"So, let me get this straight… that clown guy was an enemy of yours you killed in… 'your world?'"

A nod.

"Then why the hell is he here?!"

"Calm down, Nikki," Chris called from the front door. Nikki was pacing around her apartment room. Guntz and Klonoa were watching from the couch. Currently, Chris was repairing the doorway, which was now badly chipped on the sides. It hadn't been easy getting Pango inside. He was occasionally coming over to ask if he could help, but Chris assured he knew what he was doing.

"That clown must've chicken out when we beat him the first time and ran off," Guntz snorted, leaning back. "Joka's good at not dying when he seems to," Klonoa said a bit absently. Nikki put a hand to her forehead. "So… is this guy dangerous?" she asked. "Duh. Or did you happen to miss that giant monster?" Guntz asked.

Nikki groaned with frustration. "Man… I can't do this… talking animals, giant monsters… it's like a TV show. I tried acting! Trust me, I suck!" Guntz and Klonoa were giving her a weird look. She sighed. "Anyway… why don't I take care of your wounds?" As if crestfallen, Nikki slowly made her way for the kitchen.

"That girl is really weird," Guntz commented when she was gone. "But we still owe her a lot," Klonoa muttered. "She's just stressed out." The two looked over to see Chris entering the living room from the hallway that led to the front door. "I've seen her like this before. She'll have a few moods swings, then calm down eventually." When he was done Nikki came back with rolls of bandages and ointment.

"Okay, who got hurt worse?" She asked in a dull voice, as if depressed. The question was mainly aimed at Guntz and Klonoa. No one volunteered. "Okay, I know both of you were hurt! Now which one was hurt worse?!" Nikki suddenly snapped. The boys seemed slightly alarmed, but still kept silently.

With a heavy sighed, Nikki took Klonoa's arm and pulled him off the couch. "Sit," she demanded deeply, a shadow over her face. Klonoa immediately sat down on the wooden chair he had been led to. "You were bitten by all those piranhas, and you…" Nikki looked a Guntz, "were whipped a few times."

She had Klonoa take his shirt off and began the treatment on the several small cuts on his body. Pango watched, before commenting, "You're pretty good at that." Nikki actually smiled for the first time that day. "Thanks. Well, I wanted to become a doctor, but…" She paused, looking at nothing thoughtfully. Finally, she continued with the treatment. "That's a story better left incomplete."

Next it was Guntz' turn to get treated. "I don't need bandages for these scratches," he insisted. Nikki suddenly stood up, towering over him. "Oh yeah?! Then what'll we do when they get infected and you get seriously sick? You'll wind up slowing us down. And I'm not going to take you to the hospital!" She glowered. The other three were watching silently, blinking.

In the end, Guntz reluctantly agreed to get treated. "Nikki can be quite convincing when she wants to be," Chris grinned. "No kidding…" Klonoa muttered.

By the time all that was completed, it was beginning to get dark outside. "All right, I have work tomorrow so…" Nikki's voice strayed as the looked at the three critters. "Chris, you have work tomorrow, too, right?" She asked. "I had work today…" Chris sighed. "Well, this is more important than work!"

Chris gave Nikki a weird look, but she quickly crossed her arms and looked away. "Okay… so you guys will have to stay here by yourselves. Don't make too much noise, don't touch anything you're not familiar with, and don't, please God, don't leave this apartment," Nikki almost begged.

With that, Chris went back home and everyone prepared for sleep. Nikki repeatedly offered the three to sleep on her couch and chair, but they stubbornly decided they rather sleep on the floor. Nikki began wondering if they even had beds in "their world."

By morning Nikki repeated her "rules" and reluctantly left for work. For a while the three apathetically lounged around the apartment. It was only until Guntz spoke did things get moving. "Let's go look for Joka." Pango immediately responded. "But Nikki told us to stay here."

Guntz snorted. He looked at Klonoa, who was staring absently at his ring. He had been doing that a lot lately. "Klonoa, you were here a few days ago, right?" Klonoa quickly looked up. "Huh?" He asked. "When does that Nikki girl usually come back?" Klonoa looked outside. "By sundown, I think," he replied.

"Great." Guntz stood up from the couch. "We'll leave and be back before she even knows we're gone. Besides, what's she going to do if we leave, anyway? Punish us?" He asked. "She'll stop helping us," Klonoa replied simply. "She looks on the verge of stopping as it is," Pango added.

Guntz frowned. "Well, I'm not stay here. No one tells me what to do." He looked toward the front door. Nikki had an "alarm system" just next to it. Apparently it went off if a "code" wasn't inserted correctly when the door was opened. He didn't understand, but it was the only obvious way out.

"The window's an easy way out." Guntz looked over at the voice. Klonoa stood in front of the window on the other side of the room. He undid a latch on the top and opened it. "So now you are coming?" Guntz asked. "Well, you can't possibly be trusted out here on your own," Klonoa said, already making his way over the windowsill.

"I wasn't the one that got hit by a car," Guntz replied defiantly. "And I didn't get shot by a tranquilizer. So we're both evenly unreliable out here," Klonoa smiled, by now completely outside on the fire escape. Guntz sighed helplessly.

"You guys be careful out there," Pango said, looking through the window as the boys beginning leaving down the stairs. "Sorry, Pango. We'll be back soon," Klonoa assured. "Oh, hold on." Pango suddenly left the window and came back moments later. He threw down two dark clothes. "Put these on to hide your faces."

They were the same cloaks they had worn to the circus. "Thanks, Pango!" Klonoa called. It was just afternoon as the boys put on their new attire and made it to the end of the alleyway between the apartment building they had been in and another building. Carefully, they peaked out to the sidewalk.

"I don't see anyone," Klonoa said softly, as if they were hiding. Clearly not as cautious, Guntz strolled out to clear view. He looked back at Klonoa, who stayed where he was. "Not scared, are you?" he teased. Klonoa frowned. "No. But some of these people aren't nice, you know? And those 'cars'…"

"Don't do anything to catch their attention and stay on the sidewalk," Guntz replied simply. Without looking to see if Klonoa was following, he began walking down the sidewalk. Klonoa hesitated, looking both ways as if preparing to cross the street, before briskly following him.

It wasn't long before they met more people. They all came out of nowhere, it seemed to Klonoa. All of a sudden they were swarming the streets like a flock of birds on the move. Most were taller than Guntz, making them obviously much taller then himself. Klonoa must've looked like a scared little kid shrinking from people who accidentally touched him and keeping close to Guntz.

Guntz, on the other hand, was keeping quite calm and collected. He had spent a whole day longer than Klonoa outside with these people and must've learned how best to blend with them. Though Klonoa could see his hidden irritation every time someone carelessly bumped into him.

Klonoa was so mesmerized by the amount of people around that he didn't notice a short creature make its way to him. A snort from it made him look down quickly. It was a dog, as tall as his waist. It sniffed his cloak curiously. Klonoa had stopped, making Guntz look to see what the problem was,

"It kinda looks like you, Guntz," Klonoa muttered, astonishment in his voice. Indeed it did; with its rather large pointy ears and black and brown markings. Guntz almost sounded insulted. "No it doesn't." All of a sudden the dog's ears flattened against its head and it drew its lips back.

Klonoa immediately backed up a bit as it began to growl at him. Few people were beginning to notice. Guntz quickly counter attacked with his own deep growl. To Klonoa's surprise, the dog made a quick yelp and ran off. Guntz seemed most satisfied until more growling around them could be heard. Several random dogs, most attached to leashes, apparently wanted a taste of Guntz themselves.

All at once they began making their own individual yaps and howls. This certainly wasn't keeping low. It was almost obvious at who the dogs were barking. "Dammit. C'mon." Without another warning, Guntz suddenly shot down the sidewalk. Klonoa, surprised, stumbled after him.

A few blocks later, they seemed in the clear of any aggressively curious dogs. Guntz leaned on a building, catching his breath. "Guntz, let's go back. I don't like it out here," Klonoa said, a hand gripping Guntz' sleeve. Guntz made an annoyed face. "Go back if you want. I'm not gonna stay cooped up in that place. I'm going to look for Joka and squeeze the information out of him so we can go home."

"You really think he knows how to get back to Lunatea?" Klonoa asked. "I don't know. But he seems pretty darn content in this world. So I'd say he knows something," Guntz replied. Klonoa looked hopeful, as if he hadn't thought of that or had thought worse. Maybe this really had nothing to do with his ring or his "destiny". Maybe he really could go back home.

The thought softened the stinging feeling him his mind. Though fate had never been too nice on him and doubt still lingered; but there was hope. "Okay, let's find him," Klonoa finally agreed.

"But where?"

The two had asked the question almost at once. Klonoa blinked as Guntz frowned. "Where would a small clown be hiding?" Guntz asked. "If he even is hiding. Maybe he learned a new trick to blend in," Klonoa suggested, looking around as if he expect one of the several people around them to be Joka. Guntz crossed his arms. "Great," he huffed.

Klonoa's mind then averted. He lifted his head and sniffed. "Do you smell that?" he asked. Guntz paused before replying. "Yeah. Maybe these people like playing with smoke," he said absently. "It smells like a fire; a big one," Klonoa said. "Who cares?" It was a typical reply from Guntz and Klonoa hadn't expected him to be right on the case.

"Maybe they need help," Klonoa said, looking toward the smell. In the sky he could see unnaturally darkened clouds. "So? It's none of our business," Guntz muttered. Klonoa turned to him, a small gray coin hanging from a thin chain in his fingers. "The Hero Medal makes it our business. It's our duty to protect those in need," he remarked. "Yeah, on our planet. No one ever said anything about helping others on a different planet," Guntz snorted.

"I'm sure they have heroes here," Klonoa muttered. "Than they can help themselves," Guntz said quickly. He was growing impatient. Klonoa always made a big deal about things like this. He'd always take out that now "blank" medal and make it seem like he was obliged to help everyone he could. Guntz would never help willingly. Though eighty percent of the time Klonoa won that battle.

"They can probably use all the help they can get," Klonoa said, looking toward the smoke again. "There are plenty of people around to help," Guntz muttered. "Guntz, how can you call yourself a hero if you never want to help anyone?" Klonoa asked. "I don't!" Guntz growled rather loudly. It was partly drowned out by a loud siren.

A large red truck sped past them, screeching its alarming call with people in yellow riding atop it. Hardly anyone looked after it as it past. Klonoa looked like he was about to run after it. "Don't you dare," Guntz growled deeply. But Klonoa had no ears for him now. He suddenly ran down the sidewalk in the direction the fire truck had gone.

"Dammit!" Guntz snapped, furious. Why did that little rabbit-cat always have to make simple things so difficult? For a moment Guntz considered just letting him go. Let him deal with his own problems he causes. But as Guntz leaned on the wall again his ear wouldn't stop twitching. "Annoying little brat…" he muttered under his breath.

Upon following the large red truck Klonoa found himself facing an unbelievably tall building. He thought it looked as if it were scraping the sky. Fire burst out of glass windows and smoke built into a large blob in the sky high above. A crowd of people were being forcefully pushed back to safety by men in black and yellow.

From the truck came a long, flat string. Upon hooking it up to a short, oddly shaped yellow object, the string thickened and water sprayed from the end, which a man was controlling. The water struck the building, barely taking out any flames. Klonoa's sensitive ears could pick up many terrified screams from inside the building.

This was a job for a hero! At least, as soon as Klonoa could find a secretive way in the building without anyone noticing him. He got closer to the crowd and pushed his way to the front. Some people down there were screaming, too. Mostly about certain people they knew still inside.

Luckily, everyone near him was too busy staring up at the building. Carefully, Klonoa ducked under the yellow line of tape that held the people back and ran behind the red truck. No one seemed to notice him. He scanned the building. The flames engulfed the bottom floor and up. It seemed the only way in was the front door.

But Klonoa wasn't that blunt, or stupid. His fur would surely catch fire in less than a second. The hoes was being spayed several feet in front of him. Perfect! Klonoa suddenly ran out from behind the fire truck, catching a few people's attention. He leapt high in front of the hoes, the water striking his body.

The pressure bruised him slightly, but he ignored it as he, now soaked, landed on the ground. He heard someone yell at him to stop and saw a few people running after him. Quickly, he ran toward the burning building and jumped through a shattered window before anyone could get near him.


Took me long enough... Well, with my computer still dead I can't work on Legend of Rebirth. Luckily, I had no prewritten chapters for this story, so I decided to finally get on it again. By the way, I can't read any bit of Japanese but I saw the ending to Heroes and I'm pretty sure Klonoa's Hero Medal when back to blank for some reason. Anyway, that's the only reason it's blank here. Well, the longer my brother keep from fixing my computer, the more I'll work on this, so... expect another chapter not too far from now.