"Have you located them yet, Jakattak #2201?"
"I'm workin' on it, Garskater #who-gives-a-hoot!"
The hunt was on. Despite Leptock's assurance in his total victory over Mamett and the Joilanteans, he'd prefer they show their faces sooner rather than later, and had sent small parties of bots to patrol the outskirts of Joilant, whilst the rest of the troops were parked all around the Kingdom. Their optics weren't picking up any life-forms, and their search was coming up fruitless.
That was, until one of the Jakattaks stumbled upon something it was surprised hadn't been reported sooner. Either that or it was reported, and the clown just wasn't listening.
A totalled truck and trailer. The latter's rear door was wide open, and any contents it may have had were long gone. Someone must have presumably raided it for supplies, also evidenced by the inactive Jakattak bodies; one near the trailer with a sizable hole in its head, and another impaled on the truck's spiked grill.
"Hey, over here!" the Jakattak called out to its nearby allies. "I think I got a lead."
The lone trooper was quickly joined by another Jakattak, as well as a couple of light grey robots, both of whom were equipped with a built-in grenade launcher, and sporting a familiar looking, G-shaped emblem as a faceplate.
"Yeesh," the other Jakattak said, looking over to its offline kin, "looks like someone here wasn't having much fun."
"Scanning area for footprints." one of the Garskaters proclaimed. But before it could complete its scan, the other grey bot motioned it to stop.
"Scanning will not be necessary, #1507. I believe I have identified where they have gone."
The Garskater pointed towards a patch of grass a few feet away. It appeared to be ordinary enough, but the more the bots looked at it, the more out of place it seemed.
The most damning piece of evidence, however, was the fact that they could make out something underneath the patch. Something metallic.
One of the Jakattaks approached the grass and grabbed at it, revealing it to be fake, before chucking it to one side. Underneath was a metal door that seemed to lead underground. This was all they needed to know in order to piece the answer together.
"Looks like the big-nosed fleshlings chickened out and hid underground through here. Shame, they're missing out on all the fun we're having up here."
"Reporting the discovery to Commander Leptock."
"Hold your horses there, my monotone friend." the Jakattak halted the Garskater's report. "I have an idea."
"Elaborate. And I am not your friend, #2201."
"Why don't we have a look around, strike a bit of fear in their hearts? Catch 'em by surprise, y'know? There's four of us, and we're locked and loaded. We can take 'em!"
Without even hearing out its fellow bots' opinions, the Jakattak reached out to open the hatch.
"Besides, they're cowards. What's the worst they could possibly d-"
As the metal door was opened, the Jakattak was expecting to see a flight of stairs leading below the Kingdom. What it was instead greeted by was a loaded shotgun pointed directly at its face; courtesy of one very pissed off Mayor.
"Surprise."
This was then followed up by a point-blank blast to the off-guard clown's faceplate, sending it offline immediately. This, of course, caught the attention of the other bots, who were taken back, before getting their weapons ready.
"Big mistake, Mr Mayor. There's still three of us, and only one old, fat you."
Mamett responded with a confident smirk, before looking up.
"NOW!"
Without a moment's notice, Klonoa jumped out from above the trees, landing on one of the Garskaters. Whilst the leap didn't do any significant damage, aside from knocking the machine off its feet, the cabbit quickly readied his Wind Ring and blasted the bot in the back of the head.
Mamett quickly reloaded, and before the remaining Garskater could blast Klonoa to smithereens, he kicked the back of the robot to stagger it, before unloading his shells on the droid.
Both of the heroes directed their attention, and their weapons, at the lone Jakattak. The last bot of the bunch. The clown had a gun at the ready, but it was clear to it that it was both outnumbered and outmatched.
It was also out of its mind.
The Jakattak aimed its gun at Mamett, no regards to the odds against it, but a swift blast from Klonoa's Ring sent the weapon flying.
"Beating me to an oily pulp won't do a thing!" the jester taunted. "Leptock knows what you have in store, and no amount of Dream Travellers in all the worlds can save you from his armies! He'll slaughter you all!"
Mamett got right up to the Jakattak's face, pointing his gun at its temple.
"Let him try."
And with a pull of the trigger, the Jakattak was no more.
The two took a moment to catch their breath, before Mamett pulled out a walkie talkie from his pocket. Klonoa did the same.
"Can you hear us, Bertram?" the Mayor spoke into the device.
"KZZT- Loud and clear, sir. -KZZT"
"Good to hear. We've cleared the way. Send out the teams one-by-one. I'll be waiting near the gate. Klonoa and Lolo are heading out on their lonesome to shut down the Generator."
"KZZT- I'll let them know. Good luck, sir. It's been an honour working alongside you. -KZZT"
"The honour's all mine, old friend."
Mamett had accepted that he may not come out of this alive. But he felt at ease knowing that if he was to go down, he'd go down fighting for a better tomorrow. That being said, he wasn't gonna stand there and let Leptock beat him so easily, not when he had a brother to save.
"Go find that Generator, kid. We'll be fine."
"Right. Catch you later, Mamett."
As Klonoa departed within the Kingdom, groups of Joilanteans, alongside Popka, emerged from the bunker. Each citizen carried some form of protection, whether they be guns, blades, grenades, or riot shields.
"Alright, everybody. Join your assigned groups and get your weapons locked and loaded. Remember the plan, as well as where you're going. Make sure to support each other and watch your backs. Any questions?"
A Joilantean raised his hand.
"Yes?"
"Are you sure we're gonna be able to take these guys? I mean, these things are probably programmed to know how to use their weapons. We aren't exactly professionals."
"It won't be easy, but I am confident that we'll succeed. They may have the firepower, but we know Joilant inside and out. They do not. Use that."
The citizen still looked unsure, but another Joilantean placed an arm on his shoulder for reassurance, and that seemed to put him at relative ease. Mamett gave a supportive smile towards his allies, before cocking his shotgun.
"Let's go get our homes back! CHAAAARGE!"
With a war cry, the Joilanteans ran through the gates and onto the battlefield, ready to make history and send the bots back to the scrapyard.
JUNGLE SLIDER
Whilst those who stayed behind ran through the front gates to keep the enemy occupied, there was a separate group that went a different path along the outskirts of the kingdom. This small team was led by Popka; and whilst he preferred to jump into the heat of the action, guns blazing, the Mayor told him that his team's efforts would be essential for their victory.
"Where are we going again?" a Joilantean male asked.
"Mamett's told us to head towards the Jungle Slider attraction." Popka responded. "Do ya happen to know where the hoverboards are kept? That's what he said to keep an eye out for."
"Yeah, there's a small warehouse full of 'em." a female Joilantean answered his query. "It should be behind where you start the slide. There's a back entrance just up ahead. Mr. Bertram gave me this key to unlock it."
The woman showed Popka a small, silver key she pulled out from her pocket.
"Sweet!" the canine exclaimed.
Mamett told him and his assigned team to nab as many boards as they possibly could for the other groups. He didn't explain why, either because he didn't have time, or because the mayor knew that Popka was thinking the same idea he was having just from the look on his face. And he was right.
"Over there!"
Another Joilantean pointed towards a large, elevated shack near where the slide starts. As anticipated, it was guarded by a Jakattak. They'd need to figure out a way to take care of the bot without alerting any more to their position.
Popka took a second to think, before noticing one of his teammates was wielding a bow and arrow.
"Yo, where did you get that?" he asked, pointing at the Joilantean's weapon of choice.
"I snagged it from my stall when those monsters attacked. It was all I could salvage. To be honest, I don't even know why I brought it."
"Well, it's a good thing you did." The dog gave him a confident grin. "You've just given me an idea."
"Why do I get stuck with the boring jobs?" The Jakattak guard complained to himself. "Can something just happen, pretty please?"
The robot wanted to be on the frontlines, smashing skulls and causing chaos, but its superior had ordered it to keep watch of the Jungle Slider. It didn't know why, but it knew better than to ignore orders, especially when the man giving said orders was a psycho clown with ice powers.
It was bored, so bored that it could probably deactivate from it.
As if by karmic justice from the Goddess Claire herself, the Jakattak was met with a swift arrow straight to the head, causing the robot to stumble, before shutting down and falling off of the platform. Popka was planning to ambush the injured robot and finish the job, but neither he nor the archer expected the shot to be as clean as it was.
Not that anyone was complaining, as the warehouse was now unguarded, leaving Popka and an accompanying Joilantean to unlock the door with the key. The storage unit was full of hoverboards, more than enough.
"Everyone!" Popka called out to his comrades, who were keeping an eye out for any robots below. "Grab as many boards as you can! We got a job to do!"
THE BIG TOP
Not long after the townspeople charged through the gates, a couple Jakattaks noticed some of the Joilanteans sneaking into the main circus tent. Well, 'sneaking' probably wasn't the best word. It was more like 'haphazardly slipping and sliding around'. Nonetheless, they're probably gonna be easier target practice when backed into a corner.
In the midst of the carnage, the two clown bots decided to quietly step away from the scene; feeling sure that the other bots would be able to defend themselves in their absence.
"Do you think it's weird that we're dressed like clowns, yet we've never been to a circus?" one of the Jakattaks asked the other.
"Well, we've been online for…" the other Jakattak looked at its bare wrist, as though it were checking the time on a watch, "…47 minutes, so I guess we just haven't had time to yet. But hey! There's a first for everything, amirite?"
"Ooo! Did somebody say we're going to the circus?" A third Jakattak poked its head around from a corner. Judging by the splatters of blood on its face and especially its mallet, which was still dripping wet, it most likely just got done dealing with one of the townspeople unfortunate enough to underestimate it.
"Yeah! You ever been to one?"
"No. But don't you think it's weird that we're dressed like clowns, yet we've never been to a circus?"
"Well, we've been online for…48 minutes, so I…y'know what? Let's just go in."
The tent was quiet, and, whilst not pitch black, the lights were dimmed just enough to add a hint of suspense. The jesters looked around, not a citizen in sight. But just as they were gonna head back out, a set of spotlights turned on.
"Looks like we're just in time!" one of them said in response.
The lights moved to shine onto the curtains across from them, a drum roll playing over the intercoms. Suddenly, it transitioned to the song of a lively band performance, befitting a circus.
The curtains opened up as a single figure emerged from backstage. It seemed to be an individual within a funny-looking mascot costume, a striped pattern covering its entire body. On its head were large, blue eyes, a big yellow nose, and red spines lining the back. Adorning its chest was a big, green heart. Looked like a cartoonist's interpretation of the average Joilantean.
The mascot was balancing on a large ball, which it rolled into centerstage with ease. One of the Jakattaks readied its mallet to flatten the character, but its ally motioned it to lower its weapon.
"Hang on a moment, bro. I wanna see where this is going. I wonder if there's a popcorn machine nearby?"
The mascot took a bow towards the clowns' direction, before pulling out three smaller balls, which it started juggling, again, with ease. Occasionally, the performer would do a trick on its ball, such as throwing their juggling balls high in the air, doing a backflip, landing on the same ball and resume its juggling once they returned to his level.
The now-seated Jakattaks, who were now joined by a few more robots who heard the commotion and decided to see what was going on, grew a little bored; they were hoping the performer would screw up and fall off its ball, or for something to catch fire and/or explode. They started to wonder if they should just kill 'em and get back to work stopping the Mayor's little army.
But just before they could put anything into action, the actor stopped juggling and took another bow, before speaking.
"Ladies and Gentlebots! Welcome to the show of a lifetime. We'd like to thank you for stopping by, as we've got so much in store for you to feast your eyes, or optics, on. For now, I'd like you all to give a warm welcome to our next act. The Jolly Joybugs, and their iconic 'Joybuggy'.
Stock cheering played over the intercom, as the lights returned to the curtains. A small, unassuming pink car slowly drove into the centerstage. The funny-sounding honks and sputters coming from the vehicle gave the Jakattaks enough of a chuckle for them to stay invested enough in what the show had to offer.
The buggy parked up, then silence. The lights dimmed, the music on the intercom quietened down, the clowns looked onwards with artificial bated breath.
That was when one of the Joybuggy's windows slowly rolled down. The Jakattaks focused their optics to get a better look at who was inside, when-
-BANG!-
A bullet shot out of a sniper rifle at lighting speed, flying straight through one of the Jakattak's bodies, sending it offline almost instantly. The other bots watched their comrade fall over, limp, before turning back to the origin of the bullet. The door of the buggy opened up to reveal the Joilantean sniper, followed by the rest of the doors, as well as the car boot, opening up to reveal more armed citizens. As they promptly exited the car, guns and grenades at the ready, even more Joilanteans emerged from within. And then some more came out, and then some more. The bots were eventually met with about 15 citizens, plus the mascot suit, who was now wearing a belt of grenades.
"Surely, you fellas have heard of the ever-famous 'clown car', right?" the costumed performer spoke. "Anyways, now that the whole crew is here, the show can truly begin! Next up; the fireworks! GET 'EM, JOYBUGS!"
With that, the Joilanteans opened fire on the dumbfounded drones, reducing the small crowd to a pile of junk. Some tried to return fire, but the element of surprise overwhelmed them.
The townspeople didn't have much time; they knew that their gunfire would only draw the attention of more robots. After a brief celebration, they reloaded their weapons, got back into defensive positions, and awaited the next wave.
This was their territory reclaimed…all they needed to do now was defend it.
THE TOWN SQUARE
"Man, we really didn't think this through, did we?"
Those were the words one Joilantean spoke, moments before face-planting onto the cold, slippery ground. Before they became an easy target, another of their kind pulled them into a stall being used for cover.
The heat of the battle took place within the cold of winters, the icy terrain meant that the allies had to be careful with their footing, else they end up at the mercy of the grenade-launcher wielding Garskaters. These specific robots were equipped with retractable skates that allowed them to traverse the slippery surface with ease.
"You can't hide forever, meatbags!" a gun-wielding Jakattak taunted. "To us, you're all nothing but target practice."
"No prisoners. No retreat. Shoot on sight." one of the Garskaters ordered to its fellow soldiers
"They shouldn't be too long now." Mamett called out, firing at a nearby robot. "Just take cover in the meantime."
Until Popka's team returned to the fray, the stalls and carnival attractions served as safe spots for cover, as they could stay relatively safe and not worry as much about slipping and sliding around the ice. Some of the Joilanteans were able to get some shots in on the enemies from a distance, but pushing forward wasn't going to be easy. Some of the citizens also opted to take cover within the many tents and indoor areas dotted around the Kingdom, as most of the ice was outside.
"Hey, Mr. Mayor! I think I can see the other team headi-"
-BOOM!-
The citizen's announcement was interrupted by an explosion caused by one of the Garskaters' bombs. When the smoke cleared, all that was left behind was an almost instantly charred, bloodied corpse. The other Joilanteans looked horrified, including Mamett. However, they all had some level of understanding of their circumstances. They knew what they were getting into when they volunteered to stay behind and fight, even if seeing the consequences of war for themselves was traumatic for most, if not all of them.
"HE HAD A FAMILY, YOU MONSTERS!"
One of the Joilanteans, enraged, lobbed two grenades towards the enemy. Some of the robots tried to skate away, but the shrapnel from the explosion shot right through their armoured plating.
A nearby bot, a witness to the devastation of its kin, turned its attention to the townspeople.
As it loaded its gun, ready to fire, a noise from behind caught its attention. A noise that slowly got louder and louder, until the machine could make it out to be someone yelling.
That was, until it was hit in the face by a hoverboard, being wielded by a board-surfing Popka. Behind him was the rest of his team, carrying a whole bunch of boards. More than enough for everyone currently present.
"The cavalry's here, baby!" the dog called out, he and his group handing out boards to the other fighters.
Mamett jumped onto a board, loaded his shotgun, and zipped around the robots, making quick work of them, as he was moving too erratically for them to lock onto him. The other townspeople were amazed by his surfing skills.
"Don't be surprised; I had fun on the Slider too, y'know?" Mamett boasted with a cocky smirk. "Even managed to beat the Dream Traveller's high score for collecting gems."
He looked back at the body of his fallen ally, before reloading and facing his teammates once again.
"Now let's not let our brother's death be in vain. Get into your groups, get onto your boards, and push forward!"
In response, Leptock's soldiers formed into a group of their own and readied their weapons.
"No prisoners. No retreat. No mercy. ATTACK!"
The groups of townspeople managed to split just in time as the Garskater fired another bomb towards their direction. Now that they didn't have to worry about the ice, they started to turn the tables. Some were more experienced at hoverboard-surfing than others, but one of the many perks of living in a giant amusement park is that you learn to be pretty good at the several games and attractions that lie within. Jungle Slider was always considered a fan-favourite amongst the Joilanteans, and now they had to put their experience to the test.
The bots did their damndest to keep their aim locked onto the now-moving targets, some even getting some decent shots in, but the majority of the surfers were running circles around the enemy. Some blasted at the bots, others attempted to ram into the machines with their boards. No matter the method, they were starting to overwhelm the bots within the area. One by one, the Joilanteans picked off members of the group until there were none left.
They used this chance to take a breather and congratulate each other on their efforts so far. The battle wasn't over, but morale was a powerful tool that they all needed if they wanted to pull through.
"Some more bots'll be coming this way soon, I reckon." Mamett said. "Will you all be okay to keep the battle going here?"
"Yeah, we got this, old man!" Popka replied in the midst of swapping his weapon out with one of the fallen droids.
"Good. My team is gonna head deeper in to try and take control of more areas. Good luck, everyone!"
With that, Mamett's group departed further into the Kingdom, the mayor hoping that they would stumble upon either the Generator, his brother, or, preferably, both.
As for those staying within the town square, they could already hear the metallic clanking of approaching robots. Popka loaded up, got back on his board, and rejoined his allies.
"Let's boogie, bitchbots!"