The Return to Phantomile
~ VISION 1-9: The Dream Arena, Part 4 ~
It's been almost an hour since the last match... As Klonoa was lying down with his broken left arm spread out onto the bed while sitting on his knees next to it, Huepow was tending the broken arm by trying to heal it with magic using his arms while sitting onto the bed right next to the arm while in his true form. When healing, Huepow carefully goes around the arm and accidentally slipped for a moment, causing Klonoa to scream. Huepow seemed to be a bit irked by this.
Klonoa: A-AAHHH! ! ! !
Huepow: C-can you stop doing that? You're making me even more nervous!
Klonoa: But it hurts! !
Huepow: I know, but... healing isn't that easy. It's precise and takes a lot of concentration! It's only going to take longer if you throw me off-guard.
Klonoa: How much is left to do?!
Huepow: Don't worry, just... two more spots of the bone to readjust, and it's as good as done.
Huepow then carefully heals one spot easily for a minute... In the meantime, Klonoa just looks around at the ceiling out of boredom for a moment, and almost dozes off.
Huepow: Don't try to move your arm too much!
Klonoa: S-sorry Huepow.
Klonoa then quickly looked back at Huepow in order to not unconsciously try to move it as he caught himself barely falling asleep... Then Huepow fixes up the first spot in the bone, and then gets to the last spot...
Huepow: Oh... seems like i have to push this last one really back into its original place...
Klonoa: Wait, push it back in?!
Huepow: Yeah... it's better to just quickly get this over with for the both of us. I'm starting now!
Klonoa: H-hold on i need to get-
Huepow: I'm so sorry for this, Klonoa! Forgive me! !
Huepow then uses both his thumbs on the last spot to push the bone back into its proper place, as Klonoa briefly screamed.
Klonoa: AAAAHHHH! ! ! !
Huepow and Klonoa both panted rather hard after that, as Huepow just crashed onto his bed out of exhaustion... Huepow then softly spoke up.
Huepow: I... healed it...
Klonoa, as he just looks back at his arm while still looking a bit traumatised from the pain, tried to carefully move it... Although he can properly move, he doesn't really feel anything at this point.
Klonoa: Everything's tingling...
Huepow: That's normal. Just... give it a few minutes or another hour.
Klonoa: ...I'm going to take another bath...
Klonoa clumsily gets back up, and heads for the bathroom as Huepow almost sinks down into bed and starts to take a nap... Klonoa closed the door and a few seconds later as the sound of warm water could be heard running in the distance, and lets out a big relief.
Klonoa: Ohhhhhhh~ That never gets ooooooollddd~
An hour later, Huepow was looking at the ceiling thinking to himself, as Klonoa still hasn't left the bathroom, and quietly said to himself.
Huepow: Hmmm... I wonder how Lephise is doing... I haven't spoken with her since i tried to summon Klonoa back to Phantomile... Even then... she...
Huepow shook his head a little bit.
Huepow: No, that's ridiculous. No way she'd think anything of-
Klonoa then finally stepped out of the bathroom with a towel covering his private area, as well as another one around his head.
Klonoa: Huepow, is everything okay?
Huepow almost jumped out of bed from the spontanious shock and seemed really embarrassed.
Huepow: Me-?! I-uh, err, i... Y-yeah! What's the problem?
Klonoa seemed genuinely confused at Huepow's reaction.
Klonoa: ...Are you sure? First i heard you talking a bit to yourself, and now you reacted like... that.
Huepow: O-oh, don't worry. Juuuuust thinking out loud to myself.
Klonoa: Hmm... well, alright then. Time to dress up and refill ourselves for the next match!
Huepow: R-right...
Klonoa quickly gets back into the bathroom, and comes back out fully dressed in his regular clothes again, and quickly sits down. Before Huepow could even sit down himself, Klonoa had already started looking at their filled table... Huepow was looking around, but before he could even take in all the new food brought to them, Klonoa was already eating an entire wheel of cheese as quickly as he could.
Huepow: Really? It's been only two matches.
Klonoa: Sorry, but i'm just starving after these fights!
Huepow then shrugged a bit, as he looked at the entire table. They had a lot more variety now. Bread, mutton, potatoes, beef, butter, cheese, apples, grapes, ale and red wine.
Huepow: I, uhh... i'm a bit overwhelmed from the amount of choice here... Even as a prince who got offered multiple meals every dinner time.
Klonoa just finished his cheese wheel, as he stared at Huepow for a moment.
Klonoa: If you'll take too much time, i'll have eaten it all off of the table.
Huepow: W-what?!
Klonoa then laughed a bit, as he takes a piece of beef, and starts to take a rough bite of it. Meanwhile, Huepow then also quickly picked up beef along with bread and butter, mixing it together and starting to eat as well. Klonoa then put down his beef for a moment and looks back at Huepow.
Klonoa: I'm a bit curious, Huepow. What exactly were you thinking about before?
Huepow then politely put down the piece of bread with beef and butter on it.
Huepow: Well... something felt strange. Even before you were able to be summoned back to here. I cannot put my finger on it, but... i think i sensed a familiar energy presence hiding somewhere in the land. Plus the fact that I was able to call you back surely must indicate something is going on out there that we don't know...
Klonoa then suddenly thought back to when Kio and himself were on the top of Bell Hill and saw that mysterious jester creature. The words echoed throughout his head...
"I will be back for you soon, cause nightmares upon the land and avenge the lord. I WILL make a legacy of my own! ! !"
As Klonoa snapped back, Huepow noticed that Klonoa spaced off for a moment.
Huepow: Hm? What's the matter, Klonoa?
Klonoa: Oh... it's nothing important. Just something about your statement seemed a bit familiar. Once we've found the person who can help us get into the Water Palace, we're going find out what's out there...
Huepow: Right. King Seadoph surely must know something of important information if he's guarding himself so tightly.
Klonoa then looks over at the closed door in the distance and points at it.
Klonoa: Say... shouldn't we check who our next opponent will be before our next fight will start?
Huepow: Oh yeah, that's right!
Huepow then quickly started to eat the entire bread in just a few seconds and transformed back into the Ring Spirit form, as Klonoa just took in the entire portion of beef whole, chewing it, and then swallowing it as he got up from his table. The two immediately ran on over to the final bracket overview in the hallway, and stopped in their tracks, as they saw a Nagapoko with a white chalk drawing lines. The two stared a bit in confusion.
Klonoa: Hm?
Huepow: It seems like they're still updating the brackets... I'm glad we weren't earlier than that.
Klonoa and Huepow then both wandered on over to the bracket where the Nagapoko was... looking at the set of brackets from the first round above them where their next opponent would be. It was number 5 against 12. With number 5 simply not having a name, just a question mark. And Number 12 was called "The Samurai Master". The Nagapoko was still drawing lines of the victors of round 1 from top to bottom, currently busy with writing down how the Controller of the Moon and The Water Dragon are the winners and are to fight each other in the next set of rounds.
Klonoa: Huh? Number five...
Huepow: Number five has no name? Strange...
The Nagapoko then got to the third set of round one, and crossed out The Samurai Master, as he drew a line of number 5 to the next set of rounds, simply putting a question mark on number 5's name. Then started to draw a line of The Child of the Wind to the next set of rounds as well.
Klonoa: We're supposed to fight number five? How are we even supposed to know who he is?!
The Nagapoko looks at Klonoa and shrugs a bit.
Nagapoko: Naga, naga...
Then the bell went off in Klonoa's room up ahead, as the Nagapoko points towards it. Klonoa deeply sighed.
Klonoa: ...Great timing as always...
Huepow: I guess we will figure out soon enough.
Klonoa: Please don't let it be another dangerous vampire...
Klonoa held out the Wind Ring as Huepow entered it, and then ran back for his own room, immediately stepping up on the teleportation pad, quickly getting warped onto the battleground.
When Klonoa arrives, his opponent seems to not have arrived yet. The audience was cheering around him. Then after a few seconds, somebody teleported into the arena from the opposite side. It was a smaller, rounded figure completely covered in a set of golden armor across his entire body, wielding an iron spear in his right arm, as well as a red and round iron shield in the shape of an eye in his right. Klonoa seemed a bit confused.
Announcer: We are now at the second match of round two from the final bracket! This match, we have contestant number five, the mysterious warrior who hasn't even said a single word since walking in here. Unknown where they're from or what they even sound or look like since they never bothered to fill in the information, we dub him by the one and mysterious Golden Knight! !
The audience then cheered a bit. Meanwhile, the Golden Knight then looked on over to the direction of Klonoa, released a huge sigh from inside of the armor, and raises his spear as well as his shield to directly face him.
Klonoa: Ngh...?!
Klonoa then nervously raised his Wind Ring as he activated the Wind Sword's form, getting into his regular fighting stance at the Golden Knight. Meanwhile the audience started to heavily cheer in anticipation.
Announcer: Place your bets on who will reign victorious, just before the match starts! Twenty... Nineteen...
Kio then slammed down his pouch of 80 golden coins to the better's desk... The better seemed to frown a tiny bit, as the other betters around the desk smirked.
Better: Again...?
Kio: The Child of the Wind. Now!
Meanwhile during the countdown, Klonoa and the Golden Knight just stared each other down.
Announcer: Fourteen... Thirteen... Twelve...
Klonoa: The Golden Knight... Hmmmm... I don't know who that fighter exactly is, but...
Klonoa then grasped his Wind Ring a bit more firmly.
Klonoa: I know there's something ominous about their presence.
Huepow (Wind Ring): Presence? I agree that something seems familiar and a bit odd about our opponent, but... i can't sense it...
Klonoa: Maybe it's just a me thing, but... I can just feel it...
Klonoa then glares on over at the Golden Knight, as they glare back.
Announcer: Two... One... Let the match of...
The Golden Knight VERSUS The Child of the Wind...
BEGIN!
The Golden Knight then dashes for Klonoa, as does Klonoa for him. The Golden Knight attempts to quickly and directly stab Klonoa with his spear, but Klonoa then swiftly dodges, and attempts to strike the Golden Knight with his sword from above. Which the Golden Knight uses his shield to block. The two seem to be clashing a bit. Klonoa then speaks directly at the Golden Knight as they were close to each other.
Klonoa: Ngh... Who are you, and where did you come from?!
A faint sound was made from the creature within in the golden armor, but it was really quiet.
Golden Knight: ...oo...
Klonoa: Huh...? Look, i don't know what your goal is here, but i will defeat you no matter the cost! !
The Golden Knight just kept quiet, while trying to keep his guard up as hard as he could. Klonoa clenched his teeth a bit out of frustration, as he then jumped back, and talked to Huepow from within the Wind Ring.
Klonoa: Ngh... I could clearly sense it's not a foe of the dream realm.
Huepow (Wind Ring): Wait, really?! Do you really think it's another nightmare creature?
Klonoa: Mhm... most likely. But we won't know for sure unless we break its armor.
Huepow (Wind Ring): Break the golden armor...? But... that's really tough to break through!
Klonoa: I know. But we have to try!
Klonoa raised the Wind Sword again as he looks directly at the Golden Knight.
Klonoa: Let's go, Huepow! Give it your all! !
Huepow (Wind Ring): R-right!
Klonoa then started to rush for the Golden Knight, as the Golden Knight just blocks using his shield. Then the Golden Knight uses this opportunity to try and stab Klonoa from the front with his guard up. Klonoa then quickly looked at the little opening from the side of the Golden Knight as well as the back.
Klonoa: There's my opening! !
Klonoa within a rush, tries to kick the Golden Knight in the side with his foot... It leaves a small crack in the golden armor, but even more than that, it swells up Klonoa's right foot a bit.
Klonoa: AAARGH! ! !
Klonoa drops to the floor from the pain to his foot. The audience goes all "Ahhhhhhhh" and "Oooooooohhhhhh" simultaneously, as does Kio while he seemed a bit disturbed. Meanwhile Huepow yelled from the Wind Ring.
Huepow (Wind Ring): Klonoa! What are you doing?!
Klonoa: I... I don't know, just... i saw that as my only opening...
Huepow (Wind Ring): Kicking a set of armor though?!
Then as Klonoa looked up, he noticed that the Golden Knight is going to attempt to forcefully stab Klonoa in the stomach with his spear, to which Klonoa immediately rolled off to the side to dodge.
Klonoa: W-whoa! !
Then as the Golden Knight missed his stab and hits the sandy floor, he tries to pull the spear out and slowly walk at Klonoa. As he got close, Klonoa attempts to slash the Golden Knight in the legs as he's off-guard, which makes him quickly dodge by jumping backwards with a flip.
Klonoa: Nghh... That stupid mistake aside, he really knows how to fight for a nightmare creature... if he is one...
Klonoa slowly gets back up as he tries to shake off the pain in his right foot and toes.
Klonoa: I think i know what to do now...
Huepow (Wind Ring): Really? You know how to break his armor with ease?
Klonoa then readies himself with the Wind Sword, preparing to dash at him once again.
Klonoa: Yeah... I will catch him off-guard, disarm him from his weapons, and make sure he cannot reach them again! Then i'll break the armor by force, no matter how long it will take! !
Klonoa then quickly ran backwards as he started to use the side of the wall between the audience and the battleground to run in a circle on it, right for the Golden Knight on the other side... When he quickly arrived at the Golden Knight, he jumps up in the air from the wall and tries to attack him with a jump strike up-front... The Golden Knight out of a moment of confusion from whether or not to defend or attack, tries to stab Klonoa as he's still airborne.
Klonoa: That was your first mistake!
Klonoa then changes from his jump strike position to a swift sidewards strike right for the spear, and swiftly cuts it in half with the Wind Sword, catching the Golden Knight off guard. The broken spear drops to the ground, as Klonoa immediately takes this opportunity to grab the it and safely throw it at the audience to make sure it's out of reach for the Golden Knight. Then as he he turns back around, he notices the Golden Knight tries to stab him in the chest using the left claw of his golden armored suit as he switched shields to his right arm. Klonoa then immediately parries the attempt at stabbing him, breaking off the claws from the suit, and then Klonoa attempts to slash the Golden Knight from top to bottom with the Wind Sword, as the Golden Knight clumsily blocks it. Klonoa just smirked a bit at the Golden Knight while they clash.
Klonoa: That one was your second, for switching arms!
Huepow (Wind Ring): Ohh, i see... since this foe's right hand is used to the spear while the left one is used to the shield, he should be less skillful in blocking with his right one!
Klonoa then released himself from their clash and harshly strikes him from top to bottom directly at his shield again, as the Wind Blade gets a bit stuck in the shield. A bit more a more louder sound was made from the creature within in the golden armor this time.
Golden Knight: ...ooo?!
Klonoa then starts to fiercely and constantly clash with the Golden Knight's shield. Iron pieces started to break off bit by bit, as the Golden Knight tries to back off from Klonoa with his harsh clashing. Eventually only half of the shield remained, as Klonoa slashes the Golden Knight in the right arm when it's open, making him drop the shield and to the ground a bit. Klonoa then switches the Wind Ring back to its original form, immediately kicked the remaining part of the shield out of the battleground, and then shoots a Wind Bullet at the Golden Knight to send him tumbling across the sandy floor with no guard remaining aside from his armor. The Golden Knight then slowly tries to get back up its two feet, as Klonoa starts to walk right for the Golden Knight.
Klonoa: I'm finally going to unmask you, sir knight.
Klonoa then changes the Wind Ring back to the Wind Sword's form as he was walking, grabbing a hold of the Wind Sword with both arms.
Klonoa: Time to check if i was correct or not! !
Golden Knight: ...oooo! !
The Golden Knight then furiously then starts to rush right for Klonoa attempting to punch him, to which Klonoa quickly raises the Wind Sword, and then overhead-slashes the Golden Knight before he could land a blow on him... The audience turned silent... everything stopped for a moment. Klonoa stopped, the Golden Knight stopped...
Then... as the clean half-cut armor of the Golden Knight's began to tear, it broke off... revealing who was inside as the armor dropped to the ground.
Upon looking at the person in the armor, the audience gasped... Kio gasped... Even the Announcer gasped... Except for Klonoa, who just directly stared at the person in front of him while deactivating the Wind Sword. Everyone had turned quiet.
Klonoa: So... i was right.
It was revealed to be a regular red Moo, who with its adorable face, just grumbled a bit at Klonoa.
Moo: Moo! Moo mooo! !
The entire audience then began to scream in absolute terror, aside from Kio, who seemed a bit nervous just looking at the Moo. Even the narrator could be heard screaming over the microphone. The chaos was incredibly loud that Klonoa covered his ears a bit from the loud noises.
Announcer: W...WHAT IS THAT? ! ? HOW DID THAT GET IN? ! ? SOMEBODY GET RID OF THAT HORRIFIC MONSTER! ! !
Kio: A-another one of THESE things...?!
Huepow (Wind Ring): How loud...! I mean i'm surprised that even one of these nightmare monsters made it in here myself, but... these people clearly are not used to this at all!
Klonoa: I know, right? I kinda feared that this would be the case ever since i sensed it...
The Moo then directly looks at Klonoa, as he attempts to stab Klonoa with his right hand using his real claws. But since it's a regular Moo, Klonoa just easily jumps over it and then fires the Wind Bullet at the Moo from the back...
Moo: M-moo? ! ?
Klonoa then grabs a hold of the Moo using the Wind Bullet. He grinned a bit as he looked up to the Moo he was holding with the Wind Ring.
Klonoa: You fought well and long enough hiding your identity, Moo. But... clearly you don't belong in here!
Klonoa widened his stance and pulled back his right arm with the Wind Ring that was carrying the Moo, as Klonoa then prepares to throw the Moo upwards...
Klonoa: NYAAA! !
Klonoa then harshly throws the Moo as hard as he could up to the early morning skies above, right out of the colosseum.
Moo: M-Mooooooooooo...! ! !
With the Moo just flying off into the distance and then popping in a tiny explosion from afar, the audience then started to calm down until it turned completely quiet... and afterwards began to really loudly cheer and chant for Klonoa. As the audience was doing this in sync, Klonoa started to gently wave at the entire audience while smiling. Meanwhile announcer finally spoke up after having caught up with himself a bit.
Announcer: T...Thank goodness! The Child of the Wind has vanquished the very frightening creature that snuck into our tournament!
The Child of the Wind has overcome and vanquished the fearful monster, rightfully making it to the semifinals!
Kio then gets handed back a pouch containing 160 golden coins at the better's desk, as the better was still a bit shaken up. Meanwhile, Kio deeply sighed.
Kio: I really dunno how he does it, but... he did it again... He's such a strange boy.
Kio then also smiled up a bit while looking at Klonoa in the distance.
Kio: But... he's also really brave.
Meanwhile from above the colossum building as the early morning sky was rising, the jester-like creature is watching directly at Klonoa in the battlegrounds waving at the audience, with his own two hands crossed. The clown seemed to just sigh.
Clown: So... The brat's returned... He finally has returned...
The clown then began to get a bit more angry from even looking at Klonoa during this.
Clown: First, he's making a mockery of my schemes by trying to obtain the treasure while i was unaware of his presence, and now, he's defeated my strongest knight too... Damn him and his stupid-! !
The clown then frustratingly clenched his teeth out of bitterness and pure anger, before taking a deep breath, and calming himself a bit, starting to shortly laugh it off.
Joka: Ho... Hoho, do not lose your temper yet, dear Joka. Remember the plan of Lord Hue. The treasure is not that important. You've got much stronger monsters up your sleeve. Got to get back to the plans to make for Lord Hue himself...
Joka then devilishly grins to himself as he turned around, and walks off, as his grins slowly starts to fade off.
Joka: ...And plans for yourself to overtake Hue and become the ruler of nightmares. But for now... you and Phantomile are the first on my list, brat. Mark my words.