The Shadow (Klonoa)
"GRAAAAAAGH!" I woke up screaming, bolting upright. I panted, groaning heavily with each exhale, my heart still racing…
I looked around frantically… what the hell did I just witness!? And where the hell was I…?
Unfortunately, my vision was somewhat clouded, and I could barely make out my surroundings… I'm still in our room, right? At Jugkettle's inn? Near the port?
After a second or two, I could feel a hand squeezing each of my shoulders, and their owner's voice seemed to boom right in front of me…
"H-hey, Klonoa!" It was Guntz's voice – he sounded panicked. "Klonoa! It's okay; whatever it was, it's over… I'm here now…"
My vision started to clear up… sure enough, I could make out Guntz, already changed back into his usual attire, inches away from me. The red, dawn sun peered in through our window, illuminating his face – a face somewhere between concern and panic.
I quickly touched my chin and the top of my head, making sure it was still intact. It was… though I could feel sweat soaked into my fur.
I caught a quick glimpse at my own face, reflected off the lenses of Guntz's goggles… I looked horror-struck, tears rolling down my cheeks.
"Are you… are you alright?" he asked pensively.
I wanted to tell him no – to tell him what I just witnessed, hoping he'd be able to sympathize.
But when I tried to speak… I ended up mumbling incoherently – not a single, recognizable word escaped my lips.
"You dreamt…" Guntz began, "you dreamt about Lolo again, didn't you?"
I nodded silently. Before he could react, I did the only other thing I could think of to get my message across:
I hugged him, burying my face in his mane. I don't know if I startled him, but he didn't try to pull away. Instead, he too wrapped his arms around my back, embracing me gently. I could feel my mood lighten a bit, and my heartbeat seemed to slow down… but not by much.
"That bad, huh?" he asked. "Just… just what happened in there?"
I tried speaking again… and found I could form words this time… but just three…
"I… did… it… I… did… it…"
"It's alright…" he responded. "Take your time. Did what?"
I don't know how long I held onto him, but I was eventually able to calm down… at least, calm down just enough to form coherent sentences again.
"W-we…" I began, "we were… back at the… the Lunar Base… just be…before Lolo died… and…"
I shakily told Guntz as much of what happened as I could remember… Lolo dying in my arms again, Joka, Garlen, and Janga taunting me ("Been there, done that…" he remarked), feeling alone and forgotten…
…and how I decided to join her then.
I almost expected him to let out another profanity… to try and tell me that the villains are dead, in a futile attempt to get me to relax…
Instead, he sighed, and held me tighter. I heard him mutter under his breath – "…getting worse…" or something like that.
"I was afraid that'd be the case…" I muttered back. "These jobs… I really hope they'll help with my mood… if not completely…"
"Same here…" Guntz said, his voice still pensive…
At the wolf's suggestion, I hopped into the bathroom for a quick shower. Though I thought he just wanted me to clean off my sweat-lined fur, I found that the steam and warm water helped me calm down a bit more… enough to help keep my mind on our gig, at least…
Once I got out and dried myself off, I changed into a new set of regular clothes before heading out with Guntz. After breakfast, we got ourselves a boat and, without saying a word, sailed across the Jugkettle Sea – oddly enough, Guntz didn't throw up this time.
About half an hour later, we reached the opposite shoreline, the Moon's Ruins just on the northern horizon. Once we were docked, we hopped back on the Red Clan II, Guntz slipping his goggles on and starting the engine once again.
"Ready, Klonoa?" he asked.
"Ready." I answered, trying to grin.
He carefully maneuvered the bike onto the dock, before revving the engine and driving us off toward the eastern horizon.
After another hour, we finally passed through the Volk city gates. Driving our way through the torn, labyrinth-like streets, we eventually stopped in front of the main factory, its many smokestacks clouding the sky.
"Okay," Guntz began, moving the bike into a nearby alleyway, "according to the job listing, the phantom beasts are gathered in Sector X. The foreman's ignoring them – no one ever goes in there anyway – but our client's concerned they'll leave the factory and attack the residents."
"Got it." I hopped off and started rummaging through my bag. "So, our client… he works here?"
"Not sure." He hopped off likewise, and moved his goggles back up to his forehead. "All he wrote was he's a retired treasure hunter, and he's offering us a hundred grand to clear out the beasts – fifty grand for each of us."
"I see…" I muttered, pulling out my boomerang and wind ring. "Pretty steep price for a couple of phantom beasts, though…"
"Agreed, but…" he continued pensively, loading his pistols and rifle – a few mementos from Butz. "…Our goal was to do a few jobs to try and improve your mood, right?"
"Right."
"Alright, then. Besides…" He turned to me, a slight grin on his face. "I ain't one to turn down a high-paying gig like this."
I grinned back. "Glad to see you haven't changed, Guntz."
With that remark, we entered the factory.
I wish I could describe our fight in more detail… but if I'm being honest, despite the multitude of beasts we ended up facing… the whole job seemed to go by like a blur.
Now, don't get me wrong; I was excited to fight alongside Guntz again – try to take my mind off my troubles – but this ordeal was, well, pretty much par for the course. Given how strong he and I became during our last adventure, it didn't really take much effort to clear most of the beasts out – of course, it may've been due to us tricking a few Boomies into blowing up their allies.
Looking back on it, I think the only ones that gave us any real trouble were a few Heart Magi and several Glibz, but even then, they didn't put up much of a fight.
Regarding the Heart Magi, they kept healing themselves and any other beasts we already vanquished, but it really only took a few slashes from my wind sword and a shot or two from Guntz to keep them down… stop them from healing anyone else.
As for the Glibz, our regular attacks couldn't pierce their shells, so we had to repeatedly charge up and use our Special Moves – my Thunder Hurricane and Guntz's Death God Rush – to clear them out.
All in all, it took us roughly three hours to wipe out everyone… and we now found ourselves back at the sector entrance, sweating and out of breath.
"So, Klonoa…" Guntz began, panting slightly, "feels good to be back in action?"
"S-somewhat…" I panted back. "Though… to tell you the truth, that… that all seemed too easy…"
"Makes sense… you've grown a lot during our last outing…"
"You too…" I sighed. "Now, you said you had some other jobs lined up… what're you gonna have us tackle next?"
"Not sure. I figured I'd let you go through my list and-"
He was cut off by a loud, clanging sound – something just fell between us. It was a large, brown canvas bag, sealed with a length of twine.
We looked up – where did this come from? Couldn't've been a factory worker; Guntz said no one ever comes throu-
There! Someone's on that catwalk! About five meters above us!
From what I could make out, he (at least, I'm assuming it's a he) was dressed from head to toe in black combat gear, complete with a long-sleeved jacket, utility vest, driving goggles, tactical gloves, and motorcycle boots similar to Guntz's. His head was covered by his jacket's hood, and an almost electronic-looking mask covered his nose and mouth.
Looking at him, I… almost didn't know what to say. Was… was he our client? I looked to Guntz for advice – unfortunately, he was busy looking through the bag's contents. Sure enough, it was filled with nothing but gold dorees – he seemed to be counting them under his breath.
I turned back to the figure to thank him… unfortunately, he was long gone, the catwalk above us now obscured in shadows…
"Alright," Guntz said, tying the bag back up and hanging it over his shoulder, "it's all here. What say we get this deposited and choose our next job?"
"S-sure, but…" I responded, "aren't you concerned about that figure?"
"A little, but he did provide a nice warm-up for our next few gigs."
"Right," I sighed, glancing at the bag, "though I'm still unce…"
I stopped myself – a small card on the bag's bottom caught my attention.
"Hold up…" I said, grabbing the card. "There's something taped here…"
Guntz and I looked it over – on the front were the words:
We shall meet again,
Golden Killer.
"Figures he'd hear of my reputation." Guntz said, grinning.
I turned the card over – on the back was a yellow, four-pointed cross, just like the one on Guntz's pistols, and on… crap!
"It's Janga!" I blurted out.
Guntz shot me a confused look. "Wait… what?"
"He used to be a treasure hunter, like our client wrote…" I continued, a wave of dread coursing through my veins once again. "And this symbol… it was on his hat, right!?"
"R-right, but he and Pops marked it on all their equipment, my pistols included."
"Fair, but…"A few tears fell from my eyes. "If that figure was Janga, then…"
The wave seemed to recede, mixing with a small stream of ecstasy.
I looked at Guntz, a pensive grin on my face.
"Lolo… she'll have her revenge at last!"
