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

Chapter 12: Tremors

"What do you mean they left?!"

It was past sundown and Nikki hadn't exactly gotten the greeting she was expecting when she returned home. Pango was desperately trying to calm the stressed girl down. "I'm sure they're fine… though they did say they'd be back before sundown." He didn't say the last part quiet enough as Nikki made a loud, exasperated groan.

"I thought I told you guys not to leave?" She said. "Well… when Guntz gets restless there's really no stopping him," Pango admitted. "And what about Klonoa?" Nikki asked. "Klonoa intentionally went to make sure Guntz didn't get into any trouble. I'm sure they're fine together," Pango assured.

It was then that something could be heard outside the window, like someone climbing up the squeaky fire escape. "Ah, I'm sure that's them now," Pango remarked. "It'd better be," Nikki grumbled with a glower. It was Guntz, that was for sure. But he seemed in such a rush that he couldn't get through the window properly.

Nikki and Pango blinked with surprise as he nearly tumbled through the window. "Guntz, what happened?" Pango asked incredulously, noticing the dark splotches of soot and dirt on his fur. "Why did you leave?!" Nikki could barely control herself as she grabbed Guntz' mane fur roughly as he was trying to stand up. "Where's Klonoa?" Pango then asked.

Guntz was so out of breath he could hardly begin…

---

"So you just left him there?"

Guntz was getting pretty annoyed by now. Nikki had had something to say to just about every part of the story, starting with when they had run into a dog. Now he was finished and she wasn't making anything any easier. "What was I supposed to do? Fight them and get caught myself?" Guntz argued.

"Well, you could've done something better than just abandoning him," Nikki replied. Guntz twitched at the word. "And it was your fault to begin with," she added criticizingly. "If you hadn't been so 'restless,' none of this would've happened. Now we've got even more problems to deal with. Who knows what they'll do to him? I'll bet—" Pango interrupted her long scowl. "Miss Nikki…" he mumbled softly.

Guntz was looking down. "You think it was easy for me to just run away?" He looked at her. "I know it's all my fault, okay?" He said strongly. Nikki paused and sighed to calm herself down. "Okay, okay," she muttered quietly. "Well… what are we going to do now?" She asked.

"Go rescue him," Guntz and Pango replied at once. Nikki blinked. "But we don't even know where he is," Pango remarked. Nikki twitched. "But I know someone who does," she smirked.

---

It was dark, other than the bright light shinning in his face. The scents around him were dull and hard to distinguish. The voices surrounding him echoed off the walls. It was a little hard to breathe and his throat hurt, but he hardly noticed. He could feel himself bonded, unable to move. Not that he had the energy to, anyway.

Half conscious, Klonoa listened to the blurred voices around him.

"Sir, we managed to capture one of the creatures. The other got away," a voice close to him spoke. "And I'm led to believe there are three in total?" an older voice asked. "Yes. Maybe more," the first one replied. Whatever the older voice said back was blurred out by Klonoa's failing ears.

"We should hope so. It was shot with three tranquilizer darts," the closer voice answered. "Well, be careful. We don't know what these creatures can do," the older voice warned. "What should we do with it?" the first voice asked. Before the older voice could reply, a new voice spoke up. "Permission to speak, sir?" he asked respectfully. "Granted," the older replied professionally.

"I believe it is foolish to just wait for these things to do something. They could be extremely dangerous. I think a few hand selected scientists should experiment on this creature. See what it is, where it came from, how it got here," the new voice declared. "Are you suggesting these creatures came from… outer space?" the older asked incredulously.

"I'm just saying we should expect anything. Such strange looking things… One stopped a truck in motion," the new voice suggested. "I see… Then it is settle. This creature shall be diagnosed and classified for as much information as possible. But… I know how reckless scientists can be. Make sure they don't kill it," the older voice concluded.

"Yes, sir," the voice closer to Klonoa replied.

---

"Yes… No. The mayor. I want to speak to the mayor."

Nikki sighed as she stood in front of her phone. Guntz and Pango watched for what seemed like hours for the person she was calling to even get on the line. Nikki suddenly straightened. "Hey! It's me, dad," she said brightly. She then quickly frowned with annoyance. "Who do you think? Your daughter!" she snapped. She then paused.

"No… No, I don't want any money, dad! It's about those… creatures from before." Nikki made a careful glance at the two behind her, hoping the term wouldn't offend them. It didn't seem to. They had been called "creatures" since coming to this planet and were getting used to it.

"Yeah, I know. They caught one today, right?" Nikki silenced for the reply. "N-No! It's just… Well, you know. Information travels fast in New York City," she explained hesitantly. "Well… I was wondering… where it is right now?" she asked. A pause. "No reason. I just wanna know. I want to… see what it looks like," she said carefully.

"…What a stupid question! You know I hate animals, dad! Why would I want it as a pet?" Nikki asked loudly. Pango and Guntz exchanged glances as they heard the loud laughing coming from the phone. Nikki then twitched, looking around quickly. "O-Okay," she stammered, scurrying around until she found a pen and paper.

With the phone stuck between the side of her head and shoulder, she bent over on the small table in front of her and began writing. "Wow…" she muttered when she was done, looking at the paper. "That's practically on the other side of the city!" Nikki exclaimed. With another pause, she muttered, "I guess…"

"No, dad! For the last time I don't want any money!" She suddenly yelled. More laughter could be heard. "What? How mean! Why ask me if you're not going to give it to me in the first place?" Nikki asked. A pause. "Well, I'm sure you should get back to your paperwork, 'cause I don't need you anymore!" Another quick pause. "Good bye!"

The phone slammed down and Nikki let out a loud sigh, her back to Pango and Guntz. She suddenly turned around with a bright smile, a piece of paper in her hand. "I got it!"

---

Klonoa couldn't remember anything past the echoing conversation in that eerie, scentless room. The irresistible urge to sleep had overcome him. Now he was coming to again, this time somewhere else. The scents were much stronger here. Despite his weak sense of smell at the moment, the stench of chemicals burned his nose.

Even though, it was surprisingly easy to breathe. Something was in his mouth, making him want to gag. The air he was breathing in didn't seem natural and made him sleepy. But this time he was able to resist, though only a little. He could hear people around him again. They seemed different, somehow.

Things poked at him and sometimes he'd feel a sharp pain, like a tiny needle stabbing into his body. But something else had his attention. A different smell, almost drowned away by the stench of the acidy liquids. The scent of fear, blood, and death. Klonoa could feel himself lying on a hard, cold, metallic surface.

Things had died on this table, in this room. Things had bled on it so much that the scent was forever stained into it. Things had been so scared that their fear scent permanently lingered in the air. Klonoa tried to open his eyes, but found it surprisingly hard.

"Its heart rate is increasing," came a feminine voice. "I think it's waking up," said another voice, alarmed. "That's impossible," argued another voice. Apparently the people around Klonoa had noticed him twitching, for the previous voice spoke up again after a pause.

"All right. Increase the level of anesthesia," he ordered. "But, doctor, that's dangerous," a new voice warned. "We don't want this thing waking up, do we?!" the "doctor" asked loudly. There was a murmur of agreement and soon the strange air Klonoa was breathing in became stronger. Before long sleep overcame him again and everything was blurred out.

---

"Great… Now what?"

Sure, Nikki had gotten the address of the place Klonoa was being kept, but now they needed to figure out just how to get there. Currently the three were standing outside of her apartment building, Guntz and Pango covered in new cloaks that didn't nearly hide their bodies as well as the other ones had—which had been lost by Guntz and Klonoa in the fire.

Good thing it was night and too dark to see much detail of anything. Guntz made a low growl of impatience. "What the hell are we doing just standing around here?!" he suddenly snapped. "I'm trying to think, okay?! I don't have a car. We can't take a cab because Pango won't fit—" Nikki tried her best not to sound offensive to the pangolin, "let alone a bus…" She sighed.

"Then let's just walk there," Guntz said. "Are you nuts?! It's nearly on the other side of town! It'd take forever to get there," Nikki objected. "Standing around here isn't getting us there any faster. If you're not willing to walk, then I will," Guntz declared. But, before he could barely take a step forward, let alone could anyone reply, the ground suddenly shook from under their feet.

It was gone within a few seconds, but it seemed like forever while it was happening. "W-Was that an earthquake?" Nikki stammered. She had never experienced one herself and had honestly thought them much scarier. Recovering from the shock, the group of three watched as the cars on the road, which had all suddenly stopped, started moving again.

The three exchanged glances, possibly all thinking the same thing. Perhaps it had never happened at all? But they were proved wrong when another tremor occurred, noticeably a bit longer than the last. Again cars stopped dead in their tracks, causing several horns to blow in aggravation.

But Nikki noticed something. Weren't earthquake supposed to cause the earth to break apart, thus resulting in cracked roads and collapsing buildings? She supposed that depended on how strong they were, but these earthquakes seemed suspiciously harmless. It was as if the city was literally trembling.

"Nikki!"

The voice made the three look one way. A van swerved off the road and stopped beside the sidewalk in front of the group. The familiar head of a young man was sticking out the front seat window. "Did you guys feel that?" Chris asked incredulously. "Chris…" Nikki murmured, baffled for a moment. "That's it! I forgot about your junky, old van," she suddenly said, slamming a fist onto her palm in realization.

Chris couldn't help but take in the insult. "Well, you remember. It was on sale and stuff—" But Nikki wasn't listening. "You two, get in the back." Without even waiting to see if Guntz and Pango obeyed her orders, she ran around the van and came in the passenger seat.

"We have to go here," she said quickly, shoving a small piece of paper into the dumbfounded Chris' hands. "But… this is nearly on the other side of the city!" he suddenly said. "I know. But we have get there," Nikki insisted. Before Chris could reply, a window between their two seats suddenly opened and Guntz' face appeared.

"What the hell? It smells back here," he complained from the back of the van. "I'm sorry. My dog gets carsick when I drive her places… Actually, she looks kinda like you." Chris' comment made Guntz' grimace turn to annoyance. Nikki was also becoming annoyed. "Come on! We have to hurry," she prompted. "Okay, okay," Chris murmured, starting up his van.

Traffic was much slower than it had been moments before. Several accidents had occurred due to people stopping short from the tremors and rear-ending each other. There were many detours and eventually the inevitable came…

"I have no idea where we are," Chris muttered, looking around as they drove down an unfamiliar street. "Man! We've probably driven halfway across the city by now, but who knows if we're even going the right way? Don't you have a map?" Nikki asked quickly, stressed out all over again.

Suddenly, another earthquake came before Chris could reply. Reflexively he stomped on the brakes, causing the two in front to jerk forward and Guntz to hit his head on the window. "Son of a—" he growled. "Are you okay, Guntz?" Pango could be heard asking in the back.

"This is getting kind of scary," Nikki admitted quietly. Another accident had occurred quite close to them, resulting in two cars getting rear-ended. Chris reached for the radio and shifted the small knob for a station, hoping to shed some light on his long moment of confusion.

For once it was up-to-date and they were speaking just of the earthquakes. "It would seem that several, unpredictable tremors are occurring in New York City alone. Even earthquake experts are baffled by these events and cannot predict when another will occur or when they will stop. It is suggested—"

The voice on the radio turned to static as another tremor came. "Shit!" Guntz could be heard snarling when it was over, right after a rather loud clank on the side of the van. "Maybe you should sit still, Guntz," Pango suggested, trying to stop his companion from getting a concussion.

"This is getting serious," Chris murmured as they past a huge sign that had recently fallen from a building. An unfortunate car was caught beneath it and it blocked a road, leaving several cars behind it stuck. The radio soon came back on and the announcer was repeating what he had said before. "…will stop. It is suggested that everyone keep safety precautions and stay off the roads. Further information will be given when it is received."

Chris turned off the radio when the announcement was again repeating. "Is this normal?" Guntz asked loudly. "Of course not!" Nikki snapped. "It's kind of strange, don't you think?" Chris asked quietly, interrupting their bickering. "That guy made it seem like these earthquakes are only happening here in New York City. Doesn't that seem odd?" he explained.

"I don't know. I guess," Nikki shrugged. Just as she finished speaking another earthquake started up. Chris again stomped on the brakes, but at the worst place. They were right under a stoplight, in the middle of an intersection. A car, its brakes put on just too late, was skidding toward them. Nikki saw it just in time to yell. "Watch out!"

The vehicles struck each other, making an ear-shattering screech of metal colliding and shattering.

Bad place to end it, but… lately I've been getting the feeling that chapters don't like me… Anyway… I'm having some serious writer's block with this... I guess Legend of Rebirth is taking up all my thinking time right now, and school, which starts tomorrow... -shutters-