Klonoa's Moonwalk (Klonoa)

I stumbled through the Lunar Base's maze-like hallways, still disoriented. Fortunately, I found I was able to focus a bit… on the many thoughts once again racing through my head…

So Butz is alive after all, huh…? So much for Guntz and I having common ground…

…But… then why did he think his father was dead? Did he not check Butz's body for a pulse?

And if Butz withstood Janga's poison as well… I mean, I can only assume someone found his body and got a doctor for him, if Guntz didn't do so beforehand…

Though if that were the case, why didn't said doctor tell Guntz his father was still alive…? Unless he started his hunt for Janga before then…

I sighed, still wandering…

…Perhaps I'm overthinking this… maybe all that matters is that Guntz and his father get to be together again… after all, I don't think I've seen Guntz this happy before…

With that in mind… does he even need me anymore?

…Now, I can't get myself wrong… of course I'm glad Guntz is back with his father… though if he's no longer grieving for Butz… then how can I expect him to help with my own grief?

Of course, if he decides he still wants to help out… I don't think I'd be able to see him with his father without breaking down again… without my mind wandering back to Lolo…

Right, Lolo… if she saw their reunion… I bet her elation would've been through the roof…

Wait… did she see it, with Claire? If so, how did she react? Did she imagine the two of us rejoicing as well?

Does she miss me… and Popka… and everyone… as much as we miss her…?

…Christ, I don't know how much longer I can take this… between Guntz's reunion and Lolo's passing, I've half a mind to…

My thoughts were cut off as I tripped and fell over something large.

I stood up and dusted myself off, before taking in my surroundings. I was now just outside the base entrance, but still inside the Lunar Dome. The star-lined sky shined through the glass of the dome, the planet Earth hovering just above the horizon. Multiple crevasses and craters surrounded me, coursing with magma.

I looked behind me to see what I tripped over…

It was a tall, cat-like figure, in a purple coat and striped scarf. He lied face-down on the ground, motionless, and his fur and claws seem to have lost their color…

I carefully turned him on his back and opened the front of his coat, revealing multiple, blood-lined holes in his chest – from Guntz's pistols, no doubt. I pressed my ear to it, listening for a heartbeat or the sound of him breathing. Nothing.

So Butz wasn't lying… Janga really is dead…

I sat down next to Janga's corpse, once again deep in thought…

And I know we killed Joka back at Volk… and Garlen likely didn't survive being absorbed by Nahatomb… so at least I can rest knowing they won't come back, either…

So… what else is there to do?

Honestly – I haven't heard about any other world threats or villains since Lolo's funeral (and that shadow was a bust)… doubt Guntz has any jobs like that, either…

…No…no, seriously, what else is there?

The ones responsible for Lolo's demise are all dead…

The world's truly at peace… at least, as far as I know…

And now, Guntz has his father for company once again, relieving him of his grief…

…So is there any reason for me to stay with him… with everyone…?

Or should I… should I just try to join Lolo now… keep her company in the afterlife…?

I looked around, still deep in thought…

Hmm… since Janga's right here, I could probably scratch myself with his claws, let myself succumb to…

No, his poison's probably lost its effectiveness by now… and even if it didn't, Guntz'll still know how to save me…

What else… I mean, Janga didn't manage to crawl too far away from that magma crater… I could leap in myself and…

…And my ears would probably get caught on a ledge or something inside… pretty embarrassing for Guntz to have to fish me out…

Anything else… I can't use my wind ring's sword to do the job – I left it back in the training area… plus, my more powerful weapons are still on our rocket…

Eventually, my eyes landed on something far over at the dome's edge… several hundred yards away…

It was a small, steel airlock, protruding towards the base – the same one Guntz, Pango and I used to enter the dome last time – leading outside…

Perfect… last I checked, I'm terrible at holding my breath… so it shouldn't take long for the vacuum to do me in…

Wait… should I try to hold my breath, let it expand and burst my lungs? Or would that be taking it too far…?

No… I'll exhale before going out… try to end it faster…

Though, I'd still need to stay conscious for a bit… long enough to get away… far away… from anyone who could try to save me…

So, once I'm out, which direction should I go…? I can't go south, as the moon people set up camp there…

Alright… I'll go east. I don't think I'll run into any settlements that way… nobody to spot me… though I'd have to take some big leaps just to be safe…

I stood up and rushed over, practicing using the moon's low gravity to take large leaps across the crevasse field. I skidded to a stop just inside the airlock, my heart racing and sweat lining my body…

Okay, I've got my plan ready… now, before I change my mind…

My eyes darted around – no windows, of course, but where's the…

There it is; to my left stood a small control panel, similar to the one back on the rocket.

I scanned it over… like on the rocket, there didn't seem to be any door controls… probably done automatically during the…

There! A small, red button labelled "AIRLOCK CYCLE".

I hovered my finger over the button, ready to press it. Before I could, however, a familiar voice pierced through my mind, nearly drowning out my other thoughts.

It was Popka's voice…

You know how hard it was losing Lolo, right?

Of course I do… that's why I need to do this…

So… how do you think I'll feel if I lost you, too?

Right… I promised him I'd come back safe, just before I left Breezegale… "You know how much this means to me, right?" he said then…

I continued to think to myself:

No need to worry, Popka… you, Chipple, Grandpa, Pango, Boris, everyone…

You can rest easy, knowing I'll be safe…

…with my closest friend…

With that thought…

…I pressed the button.

The interior door started to close – I turned to watch, spotting someone rushing out the base entrance.

It was Guntz, his helmet under his arm, leaping across the crevasse field towards me.

"KLONOA! DON'T!" he desperately shouted once he got closer.

Too late – the door latched just when he was a few yards out. I thought I heard a soft thump and a muffled scream from the other side… did Guntz run into it?

I exhaled as much air as I could as the airlock depressurized itself, Guntz's scream growing softer and softer… until everything went completely quiet… the only sound I could hear being my own, frantic heartbeat…

Hang tight, Lolo…

To be honest, I didn't really expect the vacuum of space to be this painful – my sweat froze over, forming small patches of frost on my fur… my eardrums seemed to pop… the saliva on my tongue bubbled… the skin on my arms and legs started to bulge out… and it felt like something was trying to push my eyes out of my skull…

Won't be much longer now…

Finally, the exterior door unlatched and opened itself, once again muted by the vacuum. My heart raced even faster than in my pistol nightmare, thumping loudly throughout my body…

Almost involuntarily, I stumbled out of the airlock, coughing out what little air I had left… and tried to inhale again.

Now, it wasn't like drowning and taking in water, as… well, there wasn't anything to take in. It felt more like trying to breathe through an empty glass or a plastic bag, my diaphragm struggling in discomfort to try and fill my lungs with something

Okay, gotta focus… time to make myself scarce… leave while I still can… make sure Guntz doesn't catch up …

I started walking east, looking back at the Lunar Base one last time.

Near the airlock's interior door, Guntz looked like he was talking to someone – probably Butz – through his suit's wrist display. I must've caught his attention, 'cause he rushed to the dome's edge, his forehead bruised and a look of utter despair – the same look he gave in my last nightmare – on his tear-lined face.

Was he shouting again? I couldn't hear him through the vacuum, but his lips seemed to read "…ple…ba…si…brega…ne…a…ne…". Given he was frantically pointing back at the airlock, it was probably a plea to come back in…

"I'm sorry, Guntz…" I mouthed out – didn't have any air left to speak with. "Just… just look after Breezegale while I'm gone…"

Determined, I started running east, pain slowly growing in my chest. Each leap took me further and further away from the base… from any civilization…

It'll just be you and me soon…

Several leaps in, my vision started to cloud over, my chest searing worse than it ever had in my life… even worse than when it was struck by Janga's claws…

Almost there…

With my last bit of strength, I leapt as high as I could…

Lolo… I'm coming…

…just before everything went black…