Klonoa Heroes II: Wakeless Dream
By Rhah the Last Warlord
Disclaimer: I don't own Klonoa or any related characters that appear in this story; they belong to NamcoBandai/Klonoa Works. I own any original characters and the scenario, some locations, and other things that you'd raise your eyebrow about if you are a hardcore Klonoa fan. Okay? Okay.
Plot: A dark star…a forbidden gem in a lost world…lost in form and time. The Dream Traveler must assemble his band of allies as his new adventure begins with an enigmatic being that falls from the sky…
Notes: A pseudo sequel to the Japan-only release, Klonoa Heroes: Densetsu no Star Medal. This game was Klonoa's first RPG on the GBA and it was quite a worthy title with an interesting story. This is my continuation for it. This tale contains many elements that you've come to expect from the yarns that I spin, from the dark themes and interesting characters to the fast-action and drama. It'll be up to you if you want to read it; I won't make you. The only thing I'd appreciate is reviews from those that do read. Thank you.
Vision 9: The Moon Says…
Ruins of the Moon; Water-bringer's Canals
"You know, I was pretty sure we were going to leave…" Guntz said.
The heroes were walking down a sloped pathway, surrounded by darkness. Dim torches lined the walls, but the path was lit primarily by the massive lantern at the end of Kharma's tail. Speaking of the blue beast, he was leading the group, lumbering forward with his lantern dancing in front of Klonoa and Guntz. The sounds of water dripping, Klonoa's and Guntz's shoes and Kharma's heavy footfalls and fists hitting the ground mixed together to complete the atmosphere.
"I already told you, I wanted to go deeper. This place gives me…a sensation that I can't ignore." Kharma said.
"Well, as long that lantern of yours burns as bright as it does, it can't be too much of a problem for us to go deeper." Klonoa said.
"I wonder what keeps this thing lit, anyway…"
Kharma shrugged and refocused on the path ahead. There wasn't too much conversation after that, especially when the group was required to walk over flimsy bridges over fast-flowing rivers. Many times, Kharma had to skip the bridges entirely, leaping over the chasms as they became apparent; those bridges gave him the strong suspicion that they would be incapable of handling his weight. Whatever obstacle made itself apparent would be overcome as the heroes made their way yet deeper…following nothing more than a powerful instinct tugging at the heart of a blue monster…
Location Unknown
Once more, Damirra was sitting in that chair surrounded by darkness; he was sitting backwards, hanging over the back of the chair while staring at his strange crystal. This time it wasn't giving off any light and the wolf had quite the blank stare on his face…well, until the violet torches blew up all around him and a growling voice screamed…
"Damira!" the voice said.
"Yooooooooou!" Damirra replied. He put away his crystal, but didn't bother to turn around.
"Why does Kharma still live?"
"I dunno…'cause he's unkillable?"
As Damirra finished his sarcastic remark, large red eyes resembling gems with black slits inside appeared out of the darkness. A toothy maw also appeared and opened with a roar, summoning a stream of dark purple flames. The silver wolf's eyes immediately widened and he leapt out of his chair, falling to the ground and watching it be burned to cinders…along with much of the ground being set alight with the flames. The wolf brushed himself off and watched the monstrous visage dissolve back into the blackness.
"I lack the patience for your jokes, Damirra…" the voice said.
"Clearly…all right then, what do you want me to do?" Damirra said.
"You will do nothing. You will wait for an order…while I send someone hopefully more…capable of murdering that blue mutant…"
"What? Oh come on, be reasonable! Who could possibly be more capable then super-outgoing me?"
"Hmm, hmm…how about the Five…well, Four Beasts?"
"Um…no?"
"Hmm?"
"Those guys are assholes."
"Well, perhaps these 'assholes' can do what you have not been able to. Besides…it's not like they don't owe me a few favors…"
A massive pinkish-purple hand with ball-tipped fingers appeared and snapped two of them, causing a gate to appear, much like the one that Damirra usually used. The door opened and a peculiar creature walked through. He was porcine in nature with his face being obscured by a colorful mask that looked as though it were made for a festive party. The mask was mostly gold with designs etched into the gold along with multi-colored feathers cropping up from the top. His eyes were visible and they were yellow with wacky circles in his pupils. He was wearing some truly flamboyant clothing, with many different colors and designs; highlights were a furry cape, puffy striped pants and a jungle-dwelling witch doctor-esque staff. Seeing as he was a pig, it was no surprise that he had a bit of a gut on him that overtook his pants somewhat. As he walked out of the gate, he fastened the belt on his pants and pulled them up; he looked at Damirra and his bemused look turned into one of cockiness.
"Well, weeeeell…if it isn't Blackreign Damirra!" the beast said, his voice getting higher as he ended his sentence.
"Oh, god…" Damirra said, as he squeezed his temples.
"Oh come on…" the pig stepped around and placed his arm around the wolf. He was also strangely talking in a much lower octave than before. "Don't tell me you aren't happy to see me."
"Happy to see you? I don't even remember your name. What was it? Landaloo…Landalia…Ladililly…Pig-face? Yeah, I think that was it! Pig-face! Hey, there Pig-face!"
"My name is not Pig-face!" the pig shoved Damirra away from him and stomped his hoof rapidly. "My name is Landahloh-Ji Ghihabhi-Ji!"
"See, that's why I can't remember your goddamn name, because normal people can't pronounce the drivel that makes up the label that you've made for yourself."
"Oh, and your name is any better?"
"My name is at least legible by the people and otherwise of both Lunatea and Yamitia…and quit screaming; it's not good for you. Of course, looking at you…well, it's completely plausible that you don't give a flying woo about your self-image, huh?"
"Hmm, hmm…very funny. But, you know what? You have to make jokes…"
"Oh?"
"Yes…" Landah started walking slowly toward Damirra and then took his snout between two of his fingers. He looked directly into Damirra's eyes…the silver wolf couldn't pull away. "because you are a soulless husk of a pitiful piece of poo-poo. You can't go anywhere…you can't ever be free…all you can do is watch Life from your little cage, maggot."
"Get the hell off of me!" Landah smirked and threw Damirra's snout from his hand.
"Yes…that is why you hate Kharma, yes? Because you want to take his Freedom. How sad! Because even if you take something that was not meant for you…well, you can't inherit it, now can you?"
"You'd better shut your bacon ass trap, you piece of…"
"Enough!" the master creature once again belched its purple flames, but only in a general direction. Its rage caused the many braziers throughout the chamber to flare up, revealing a shadowy glimpse at the monster's form.
"Oh, come on, Na-Na; you can't expect me to take this bastard's lip lying down!"
"You can and you WILL, Blackreign Damirra!" the creature's hand appeared again, but this time balled into a fist. It pounded the earth, causing a powerful earthquake that ripped open the ground; the result of all of this was another chair cropping up from the fissure, except this one was made of stone. "Now, sit!"
"…" Damirra did as he was told and sat in the chair, with one hand on his cheek and one leg crossed over the other.
"Now, then…Landahloh-Ji, I have summoned you here to do one…simple…task: kill the beast known as Kharma and take his Nightmare fragments."
Landah simply nodded; he cast a glance over to Damirra and waved his staff, causing another door to appear. He walked through the door in a somewhat hunched posture, mumbling to himself "Booboorue, foofoorue…" repeatedly. The silver wolf watched the door disappear and then changed his position, turning in reverse and hanging over the back of the chair.
"You know, you totally embarrassed me…" Damirra said.
"You are such an idiot…" the monster beyond the darkness said.
"Why? It's not like you're any more free that I am…"
A low, rumbling growl that shook the room could be heard after Damirra's comment…
Ruins of the Moon; Twilight Gate
After a considerably long walk, the Heroes reached what could have been considered as the bottom of the ruins. Frustrated because he could barely see anything, Kharma stood on his hind legs and whipped his tail around by hand, using the bright blue lantern to illuminate the room a little more. Oddly enough, the lantern seemed to brighten when the beast was actively using it as a form of illumination. Klonoa beat softly on Kharma's shoulder and then walked ahead of him, Guntz following with his hands in his pockets. The water that was seen flowing throughout the entire subterranean level flowed here as well, around a circular platform and down the walls. A stone chandelier could be seen above, but it gave no light now; a single plaque could be seen in the back of the room, seeing as it was the only wall that water wasn't flowing down.
"What's that?" Kharma said.
Before hearing anything from anyone else, he walked over to the platform and then looked at the wall. He stared at it…and it stirred his mind. It depicted a small planet above another one and a third planet further away; people and otherwise were moving from the small planet to the one further away. Two bigger creatures also had their hands on the planet that was further way; one with horns and two massive arms and the other one with armor and feathery wings. Both of their tails were curled around a single ring with a gem in it. The beast stared at the wall, taking especial note of the two God-like creatures.
"…that's where I'm from…" Kharma said.
"Wait, where?" Klonoa said.
"That one…" Kharma pointed at the planet that was further away. "I'm from there. I think it was called…Yamitia. Yeah, Yamitia!"
"What are the other two worlds?" Guntz said.
"That one's Lunatea, where we are now…and that one is the moon. And those two beings…I don't know who those are…"
He touched the wall once more and a strange feeling ran up the arm that he touched it with; it felt like an electric shock. His eyes widened and he turned around, grabbing Klonoa and Guntz and tossing them back on the bridge that led to the platform. As soon as he did that, symbols on the platform lit up and many plumes of white flames blew up all over the platform; they burned fiercely and brightly, but they weren't hurting Kharma. They soon fizzled out and a stone tablet on a string was left behind. The blue beast shook his head and his body rapidly before bending down and grabbing the tablet. He walked back over to Klonoa and Guntz, examining it along with them.
"What is this chicken scratch on the back of it?" Guntz said. Kharma took the tablet and looked at the odd markings.
"Hmm…it says, 'when the Alpha or Omega is lost, he will use this to find the Twilit Road'." Kharma said.
"So it's a key of some kind…" Klonoa said, placing his fingers around his chin.
"Maybe…" Kharma slung the stone around his neck, to go with all his other necklaces. "or maybe it's just a really cool necklace."
"Well, whatever it is…I think we're done here."
"What's the matter with you? Afraid of the dark?"
"Not on your life…"
"That's it, isn't it? Ha, ha! Boo!"
Guntz simply glared at Kharma and pointed his gun at the beast's face, who responded by getting down on all fours and growling, causing black lightning to spark across his body.
"Come on, guys. Let's just get out of here." Klonoa said.
The hunter put gun in its holster and Kharma gave a proud look before walking ahead of him and Klonoa, lighting the way as they made their way back up…
Ishara Desert; Entrance to the Ruins of the Moon
"Agh! Freedom!" Klonoa said.
The Dream Traveler sat on a fallen column, drinking water from a canteen; Kharma was a little farther away as he drunk water from an oasis. Guntz was leaning on his bike, also sipping on his own canteen. The blue beast came back to regroup and Guntz followed.
"So…what now?" Kharma said.
"Well…we could hit the Temple in the Sky." Klonoa said.
"That's actually not a bad idea. Maybe we'll get a few leads on Damirra." Guntz said.
Everyone nodded and walked back over to the Red Clan; Guntz hopped on and Klonoa followed…but naturally, Kharma stood and stared. Throughout the day he was reminded of his rather grotesque transformation and this was another one of those moments. He walked away and then turned back around, waving his hand horizontally.
"You sure?" Klonoa said.
"Well, I can't get on the bike…unless we can ride on a piece of scrap metal." Kharma said, highlighting his…advanced proportions.
"So, we get to leave you behind? Thing are lookin' up already…" Guntz said.
"No! You don't get to leave me here! I guess…we'll just have to see how fast I am…"
Guntz shrugged and revved his engine, soon taking off afterward; he didn't seem to have to think twice about it. Kharma growled and gave the hunter a nasty gesture, then he got down on all fours, shaking his rear like a big cat on the hunt. Before he attempted running, however…he looked at the garb that Damirra gave him. The blue beast growled to himself and then ripped the stuff right off.
"Screw you…I like being naked…" Kharma growled.
He tossed the clothes to the wind and then threw a blue fireball from his mouth, burning the clothing. He then refocused on his target and crouched low before taking off at full force, looking like a giant tiger as he lumbered through the sands. It was slightly uncomfortable at first, but as he gained confidence in the fact that he wouldn't trip and fall over himself, he smirked and crouched lower, decreasing his wind resistance and increasing his speed. He was actually leaving behind blue flames and an aura of lightning was coating his body. In a matter of minutes, he caught up to the Red Clan; he deliberately slowed down and looked in Klonoa and Guntz's direction. The beast nodded at Klonoa…and stuck his tongue out at Guntz before picking up his speed again and overtaking them. Klonoa chuckled and Guntz frowned…before he smirked and increased the gear on his engine…
And thus the race to Temple in the Sky had begun.
Vision Ended.