(June 11 2024)—-

We were forced to leave the hospital after I M Meen burned it to the ground. Suomi and Negev were unconscious from smoke inhalation, everyone else was exhausted, I was having a caffeine crash and feeling like I would throw up, and M4 had gotten killed. Basically, we were all fricked. Akechi had just played his biggest hand because he knows he was surrounded. I knew he would take Bordertown next, since he would give himself some breathing room by taking it. Most of the girls were holding Bordertown, but with all the radio equipment gone now, we had no means of warning them an invasion may have been coming. We have to make it over to Bordertown and help the girls over there hold it, assuming they're still there. We left the hospital using the cover of darkness and wandered in the vast desert for a while until we found a cave, but it was a bit of a climb to get in the cave. We eventually made it in, luckily before the sun rose. I had to carry an unconscious Suomi into the cave, and AN-94 carried Negev. We laid them down in the cave and started trying to resuscitate them. Springfield also had to be carried into the cave because she had broken her leg on a previous mission, so a few of the girls helped her get situated. Nanako was shaken from the fire, so Narukami calmed her down. I noticed Soppo was hiding in a small hole in the wall, devastated over M4's death. I wanted to comfort Soppo, but I had to make sure Suomi lived. I couldn't lose anyone else. Especially not Suomi. After a long while of doing CPR on Suomi, she started coughing violently. She was trying to sit up but she was too weak, so I knelt down and put her head on my legs to elevate her head. A few of the girls crowded around to make sure she was ok, also the moral support didn't hurt either. Eventually Suomi's coughing calmed down, but she was beyond exhausted. I stayed with her until she fell asleep, then I got up to see how Negev was doing.

"How's Negev?" I asked AN-94. AN-94 hesitated to answer.

"No heartbeat or anything…" AN-94 said sadly. "...I think she might be gone, Shikikan…"

"Keep trying!" I demanded. "Give her a little more time."

"Da, Shikikan. I will do my best." AN said. I went over to where Soppo was 'hiding.' She wanted to think she was hiding, but I knew exactly where she was. I knocked softly on the rock wall next to the tiny hole she was hiding in.

"Soppo?" I said softly. "It's Catman." Soppo stopped crying briefly and slowly turned her head towards me.

"Why did M4 have to go away?" Soppo asked with tears streaming down her face. I started feeling very choked up… the last memory I had of M4 was us sitting in the lobby, guarding the barricade late at night trying different creamers in coffee. We were talking, laughing and getting to know each other. Not even thirty minutes after having fun with her, I found her lying on the floor with a massive cut in her throat. I slowly picked up Soppo and held her tight. "I miss M4…" Soppo said as she buried her face in my chest.

"I know you miss her… I miss her too." I said while desperately holding back tears and trying to think of something to say to Soppo that would make her feel better. I happened to look behind me and I saw AN-94 with her ear to Negev's chest. I watched as AN slowly took her ear off, then she looked at me. She slowly shook her head 'no.' I had lost another girl.

"I'll be right back…" I whispered to a crying Soppo. I went over to G11, who was guarding the opening in the cave, and wasn't asleep, surprisingly. "G11, can you hold Soppo? There's something I need to do." G11 leaned her gun on the wall and took Soppo. I picked up Negev and brought her outside. I slid down the cliff just outside the cave and started digging a hole to bury Negev.

"I didn't know her that well… I'll be honest." UMP-9 came up behind me and said that. "If I'd known her time was short… I would have used that time to get closer to her."

"You never know when someone's time will come… especially during a war like this… when it can be cut even shorter." I said with my head hung. 9 came next to me and helped me dig. Soon we had a hole just big enough to fit Negev's body in it, so we all gathered around and carefully laid her to rest. As 9 filled the hole with sand, I got up to find a dead shrub I could use to make a star of David out of the sticks so I could mark her grave. We finished burying her, said a few words, then climbed back into the cave.

"So… what do we do now?" MP5 asked. I bit my lip as I thought hard. I realized… There was only one thing we could do. It was going to be treacherous, especially considering everyone was exhausted. It was the only choice we had.

"We have to get to Bordertown." I said. "We need to get there fast, so we'll be leaving in five minutes." I knew everyone was exhausted, I was too, but the sooner we got moving, the sooner we'd be out of the desert.

—-

We had been walking for about eleven hours, the sun was just beginning to set, so it was probably around 7 o'clock at that time. Everyone was really hungry and thirsty after having not eaten anything all day long. I was even more so worried about Nanako and Soppo. Not only that, but I was also getting flashbacks to when I first came here, each footstep took more effort than normal, so taking step after step became exhausting very quickly. It was really hot and dry out there, and we were right out in the open, since there was nothing we could hide behind. If there were any of Akechi's scouts out there, we'd all be dead. Narukami and Kar98k had scopes on their rifles, so they were scouting ahead every now and then so at least I felt a little safer.

"Do you hear that?" Springfield suddenly asked. Everyone shouldered their guns, and Narukami pushed Nanako behind him to protect her. We all stood there for a little bit not making a sound. Sure enough, I could hear some very squeaky singing off in the distance.

"I hear it, it sounds pretty far…" MP40 said.

"Should we go check it out?" Asked MP5. "Your call, Shikikan." I figured if it was a group, we could possibly get some help and maybe even some supplies.

"Let's follow the sound." I said hopefully. We kept heading the way we were originally going, keeping our ears open. The sound was very quiet and distant, so everytime a gust of wind came around and made any noise, it would blanket the sound we were trying to follow. Eventually the wind wouldn't die down, so I figured we could stop and rest for a bit. Only a bit though, I didn't want to be in the open when it got dark, which I figured would have been in about an hour. AN-94 took her knife out and started cutting up a cactus.

"Why are you doing that?" Suomi asked. "That's mean."

"Cacti retain water, so if we eat slices of this it will hydrate us a little bit." AN said. "It will be enough to get us a little bit further." We all sat against a giant rock to rest our feet. I held Soppo in my lap, who was still broken up over M4's death. I couldn't blame her at all. AN passed around slices of the cactus to everyone. It tasted really funny, but it was really watery. I gave a slice to Soppo, but she wouldn't eat it.

"Soppo, you have to eat this." I demanded.

"Nah nah nah nah nah!" Soppo whined.

"Aren't you hungry?" I asked her.

"No." Soppo said flatly. I sat there trying to think of a way to get Soppo to eat the cactus slice.

"Soppo, did you know that M4 loved eating cactuses?" I asked.

"She loved eating these?" Soppo asked in disbelief. "But it looks like it tastes gross."

"Nope, I asked her, she said she's been wanting to let you try one." I said, masking my sadness. M4's death was still pretty fresh, but I would have done anything to keep Soppo alive and well. She hesitantly took a bite of it, chewed it with a confused look on her face. She then just shrugged and kept eating it, albeit while cringing. Suomi leaned over to me.

"Did M4 actually tell you she liked eating cacti?" Suomi whispered.

"Nope. I made that up." I said proudly.

"Smart." Suomi said with a nod. After a while the wind died down, but the sun was almost completely gone. Unfortunately the rock we were sitting against didn't have a cave we could sleep in. I at least wanted everyone to get three hours of sleep, since too much sleep deprivation could cause someone to hallucinate. We got up and kept moving, both looking for a cave and listening for the sound.

"Hey look," Narukami started while looking through his scope. "That rock has a cave in it. We can sleep there. We started heading towards the rock.

"Wait, that's the opposite direction from the sound." 9 pointed out.

"Nanako's over-tired." Narukami said. "I want to get her into the cave so she can be safe for the night."

"We can split up." I suggested. "Anyone who wants to keep listening for the sound, go with 9. Anyone who wants to head to the cave, go with Narukami. Everyone went with Narukami. I couldn't let 9 go alone.

"Alright then, 9. I'll go with you. We'll meet you all in the cave before it gets dark." I said.

"Wait Klonoa, can I come with you?" Suomi asked.

"Sure." I said with lifted spirits.

"Suomi und Klonoa sitting in a baum…" Kar98k once again started singing, but this time not as enthusiastically as before.

"Shut it, Kar. That's an order." I said monotonously.

"Jawohl." Kar said as she went with the group heading to the cave, leaving me 9 and Suomi. We headed in the opposite direction, with the sound getting more and more clear. We were getting close. Eventually we came over to a tree, where the high pitched singing could be heard very clearly.

"It's definitely around here…" 9 said. We all searched around the base of the tree… until I looked up in the tree. I saw three chipmunks and they were all wearing sweaters. The red-hooded chipmunk noticed me looking up at them.

"Hello, Mr. Cat. We are Alvin and the Chipmunks. I'm Alvin, the awesomest one!" The red chipmunk said.

"Greetings, I'm Simon, the smart one." Another Chipmunk said. He was wearing a blue sweater and glasses.

"I'm hungry… and I'm also Theodore." This chipmunk was wearing a green sweater. I want to say he was fat, but that might be kind of mean… he was… um… quite jolly, let's say.

"What are you doing out here in the desert?" Suomi asked.

"We are making music." Simon said. "We were sensations back where we were from, but then one day we woke up in the desert and now we just sit up here and sing. I can't think of much anything else to occupy our time."

"Any requests?" Alvin asked. "We take requests, but we also want money, so a request is thirty dollars, and any request after that is fifty dollars." Those prices shocked me. If I wanted to hear music I could just sing it myself or ask someone else to sing it to me… for free, I might add.

"And… why would we pay that much to hear songs in very high pitched voices?" I asked.

"Because we're major rock stars!" Alvin said. "Now show us the dough and we'll give you a show." Suomi and I looked at each other in disbelief. I looked over to 9, who was staring at the chipmunks while salivating.

"9? Are you ok?" I asked.

"...Food…" 9 said slowly.

—-

"Hey everyone, we have dinner!" 9 said as we entered the cave while holding three dead chipmunks. Everyone cheered. We worked together to start a fire in the cave using some wood that I pulled off some dead trees on the way back to the cave and we all had a nice, albeit small, dinner together. Despite the very dire seeming situation we were in, it was like a shred of being at the hospital again. We had great conversations and fellowship while the fire was burning and lighting up the cave we were in, but after the fire died down, it got dark and everyone quieted down to get some sleep before we embarked once again in about three or four hours. I got mentally weighed down as I sat at the cave entrance keeping watch. I sat there thinking about M4 and Negev. I started out by stewing on their deaths, then eventually I got to the realization that maybe their deaths were my fault. I had become complacent. I thought I could enjoy the peace and quiet for some time without worrying about the war. The consequences of my being too complacent was the loss of two amazing girls, and a group that I considered my family were starving and in the scorching desert. I couldn't undo the deaths of M4 and Negev, but I could make the situation I put my family into better in some way. It was dark outside, I was exhausted, it was scary out there and I wasn't sure where I could go, but I took it upon myself to take action. I set out alone in the middle of the night while everyone was sleeping. I was thinking about telling Narukami and/or Suomi about what I was doing but I didn't want to worry them. They deserved rest, this was on me.

I was alone in the vast desert and all I had was my trusty ol' AK and the UMP-45 I inherited. What was I hoping to find? Maybe one of our outposts? Maybe a vehicle? Hopefully a radio. I kept running with the focus of protecting my family. It didn't take long for me to start getting really sore and out of breath, but I would remember the family I love and how the family was getting smaller. If I didn't keep running, the family could get even smaller. I was juggling fear and exhaustion as I ran, but at least that was helping me get rid of the guilt I felt.

(June 12 2024)-—-

I got on the top of a giant sandy dune, and I saw an outpost that was still under our control! I got a second wind and I sprinted towards the small group of buildings.

"WHO'S OUT THERE? STOP OR WE WILL FIRE ON YOU!" I heard someone yell. It was a girl's voice, I didn't quite recognize the voice but it didn't sound like one of the CWC honor guards. I was out of breath and getting dizzy, but if I didn't identify myself, I would have been shot. I took as deep a breath as I could and squeezed my diaphragm.

"IT'S KLONOA! YOUR SHIKIKAN!" I yelled, sacrificing what little oxygen I had in me. I collapsed in the sand.

"Shikikan?" The voice said. "Are you ok? Hold on, we're coming out to you!" I laid in the sand trying my best to get my vision back. Eventually a truck came to me, and four girls got out and helped me in the back of the truck and made me comfortable. I was able to see clearly again after one of the girls got me some water and I caught my breath. The outpost I had gone to was being guarded by M9, Spas-12, AK-74m and M1 Garand.

"Shikikan, are you ok?" Spas-12 asked me. "What are you doing out here?"

"The hospital got burned down by I M Meen," I informed the girls. "Most everyone at the hospital survived the attack, but we have to make it to Bordertown, I think that's where I M Meen is going to strike next."

"Where is everyone else?" M1 asked.

"They're in a cave maybe fifteen miles that way." I said as I pointed just to the left of the rising sun. I didn't have a compass, so I kept the direction I was running in mind. I also remembered what the rock we were sleeping in looked like.

"Alright then." M9 said with excitement. "Let's go get everyone! I'm sure they'll all be very happy to see me!"

"Hold up," M1 said. "Let me do an inspection on the truck before we roll out…"

"Dangit M1, we don't have time." AKM said as calmly as she could. "We have to hurry." With that, we all took off straight into the direction I pointed to… it was all we had to go on. I also made sure the girls brought a case of water bottles for everyone back at the cave. It took me almost two hours to run to the outpost and it took only ten minutes to get back to the cave. I credit that somewhat to Spas-12 driving like a lunatic. I climbed up to the cave and luckily everyone was still sleeping. I gently shook Narukami awake.

"Psst… Narukami… I got something you might like to see." I whispered. Narukami rubbed his eyes as he leaned his head off the ground slowly.

"Ugnnn… What's up?" Narukami slurred. I helped him up and led him to the cave entrance. He looked down and instantly his face brightened up. "You got us a ride? Does the A/C work?"

"Don't worry about the A/C," M1 yelled from the back of the truck. "I check it before and after every single use! I mean… I would have checked it before we used it today, but SOMEONE rushed me!" M1 scowled at AKM. AKM just shrugged it off.

"Everyone get up!" Narukami yelled to everyone in the cave. His voice echoed all throughout the cave. That wasn't the most delicate way to get everyone up, but we really were in a rush. We had to make it to Bordertown. For all I knew, it was too late. We all piled into the truck, including Soppo, who I made sure made it into the truck. The truck was really big, so Suomi and I were both able to ride shotgun in the same seat. Narukami was in the back with Nanako, Soppo, MP5, UMP-9, G11 and AKM. Everyone else was in the back. Spas-12 shifted into drive, and off we went. I'm glad to say everyone got water bottles and A/C. I got on the radio in the truck to contact HK416, who was heading up the majority of the forces in Bordertown.

"HK? Anyone on this channel? It's Klonoa." I said into the radio.

"Shikikan, I'm actually glad to hear your voice… first time for everything…" HK joked. At least I hope it was a joke.

"HK is such a huora…" Suomi said under her breath.

"HK, are you still in Bordertown?" I asked.

"They started attacking us at the crack of dawn!" HK reported. "We're holding our ground, but I'm not sure how much longer we'll be able to keep them back. They've been testing our defenses the past two days… the real attack will come at any moment!"

"Hold on HK, we're coming." I said. I then radioed all the other outposts and told them to send at least half of the girls at each one to meet us at Bordertown. We needed all the firepower we could get! We couldn't let Bordertown fall!

"How did you contact Spas-12?" Suomi asked me.

"I didn't. I ran to find help while you were all asleep." I said. Suomi looked shocked.

"We have at least two hours until we reach Bordertown." Suomi said. "You need some sleep. Here, rest your head on my shoulder."

"Ok," I started. "Just promise you'll wake me up when we're ten minutes away. I don't want to wake up in the heat of battle."

"I promise." Suomi said. I laid my head on Suomi's shoulder. Her coat was soft and warm… and I was beyond exhausted. To be completely honest, I think I may have started drooling on her coat as I was drifting to sleep.

—-

"Psst… Klonoa… wake up." Suomi gently shook me awake. I woke up to the sound of gunfire and explosions way off in the distance. Akechi's giant attack on Bordertown had begun already, but we were parked next to a giant rock.

"Why are we here?" I asked Suomi.

"We need to leave Nanako and Jr. somewhere safe while we take Bordertown back." Suomi told me.

"We need to at least leave someone else here to keep them protected if worst comes to worst." I pointed out.

"Don't worry, Springfield is going to stay with them and make sure nothing happens." Suomi said. I looked out the window and saw Narukami walking out of the cave with his head hung. I also heard Nanako crying and pleading for her big bro to stay with her. Narukami walked back to the truck slowly and sadly. I figured it would be dangerous… but I remember Narukami telling me what happened to Nanako's father when the three of them came to this dimension. Narukami was all Nanako had left. I rolled down the window.

"Stay with Nanako, Narukami." I said. "We've got this." Narukami looked me dead in the eyes.

"I have to go with you guys." Narukami said. "Every fiber of my being wants to stay here with Nanako, but I need to fight with you Klonoa. We're Brothers." I sat and thought about it for a few seconds. That was all the time I could spare. We had to go and support HK.

"We're heading right into the meat grinder." I said to Narukami. "I want you to be here for Nanako... I can't gaurantee you'll make it out alive."

"I'll make it out, I know it." Narukami said. "I just want to be there to make sure you make it out as well…" Narukami looked around the inside of the truck at everyone. "All of you." We didn't have much time to waste.

"Alright Narukami, if you really insist." I said. Narukami climbed into the back seat.

"I want to fight alongside my family." Narukami said. "I want to fight to protect my little Sister." Spas-12 shifted into drive and headed towards Bordertown, towards uncertainty, towards what may have been the biggest battle I'd ever fought in Akechi's region.

"It's ok Nanako." Narukami whispered. "I'll make it back." In just a few short minutes, we made it into Bordertown and the truck was immediately being shot at. Spas-12 sharply drifted the truck to create some cover for all of us to get out.

"We have to find HK!" I yelled as we all got out of the truck. We ran towards the opening in the wall surrounding the town, taking out guards as we moved. As we were running into a house for cover, an honor guard soldier came running at us with an explosive vest! Narukami very quickly pointed his gun in the general direction and fired. He had hit the bomber right in the head.

"TAKE COVER!" Narukami jumped into the house just as the vest exploded. The shockwave was so big, it took all the pictures inside the house off the walls and knocked tables over. We went up to the second level of the house where AK-12 and Super-shorty (That's actually her name) were holding out.

"Shikikan! Great to see you!" Super-shorty yelled. "What are your orders?"

"Do you know where HK416 is?" I yelled over crazy gunfire.

"I think she is to the East of us, in that three-story building!" Super-shorty pointed to a tall building not too far from where we were.

"M1, AN-94 and MP5, stay here and help hold this sector!" I yelled. "Everyone else with me, we have to make it to HK!" We all got back on the streets, taking sporadic gunfire as we weaved in between deteriorating houses. There was an intersection that had tons of guards there! They fired at us, and they hit AKM in the arm! We were pinned down by them, and I could hear them moving on us. All of the sudden, and in the nick of time, the group of guards were taken out from behind by Bren and IDW! They ran over to us.

"Shikikan! You're here!" IDW said ecstatically.

"Alright now mate, is AKM here going to be ok?" Bren asked me. I looked to AKM, who was getting herself back onto her feet.

"I'm fine... let's keep going!" We eventually got behind a house that had two machine gunners on the second floor that were pinning down a squad of girls across the road. I got the UMP-45 in my hands and put the AK on my back. "We have to take this house!" I yelled.

"I'll take point, Klonoa!" Suomi yelled. She body-slammed the door and broke it open. M9 went in behind her and took out a few guys in the living room and kitchen.

"We'll keep moving forward, Shikikan!" 9 called to me. "We'll clear the way for you as best we can! Catch up when you're done here!"

"Sounds good, thanks 9!" I yelled. We charged into the house and rushed up the stairs. There was a guy around the corner and he jumped out at Suomi and knocked her down, but he was immediately blown up by Spas-12. Seriously, her shotgun painted the entire room red! M9 and MP-40 took out the machine gunners.

"House is ours!" M9 yelled.

"Perfect! That will give the other squads a fighting chance!" I yelled. "Bren, stay up here and help the other squads move up! M9 and IDW, stay here and cover her!"

"Don't you want the popular girl with you?" M9 said, clearly talking about herself.

"Not really, no offense!" I yelled. Suomi, Spas-12, AKM, MP-40, Narukami and I left the house to meet the others who had pushed further towards the three story building. As I left the building, a lone guy came at me with a knife, but he immediately got shot. I looked in the direction the shots came from, and G11 was standing there. She's an amazing shot when she applies herself.

"Come on, Shikikan! It's clear over here!" G11 yelled. We all went towards her and fought a little more until we got into the three story building. We ran past a bunch of girls defending the building from the inside and we found HK.

"What took you so long, you distraught napkin?" HK asked.

"HK, as charming as ever I can see." Narukami said sarcastically and calmly.

"There are times for your dry wit, but NOW AIN'T ONE OF THEM!" HK yelled.

"What can we do to help?" I yelled.

"We set up a grenade launcher on that building with the red cloths hanging off the roof!" HK said. "The enemies don't know it's there yet! If you can take it, you can destroy all the trucks the guards are coming in on before they jump out and scatter! You should be able to get there using the roofs, just be prepared for close quarters fighting! Also, take this earpiece, we need to use teamwork as best we can!"

"Sounds good!" I yelled. "Suomi and Narukami, we're taking that grenade launcher!" The three of us jumped onto the roof of the building next to the three story. We jumped from rooftop to rooftop until we got to a building that was too tall. We jumped onto a balcony and busted into an apartment. There was a family in the room with four kids. They all looked terrified.

"Don't worry, we're going to drive the enemies away from here!" I reassured them. We quickly went out into the hallway and used the roof access ladder to, well, access the roof. We continued roof-hopping for a short while until we reached the house with the mounted grenade launcher. I got into it and started clearing out intersections, while being very careful about not hitting nearby houses, they could have had families inside. Eventually I saw trucks heading towards Bordertown from the Northeast. I was taking out groups of enemies with one shot, which was turning the odds in our favor rapidly, but then I noticed more trucks were coming into Bordertown!

"How do I hit those trucks when they're far away?" I asked.

"Aim about four notches up!" Suomi said. "The closer they get, the less you aim up.

"We've got a problem!" Narukami yelled. "We've got most of the CWC honor guards converging on our building!" I pressed the button on the earpiece to contact HK. Once it was on, I lined up a shot on one of the trucks that was coming.

"HK? Most of the troops in the town are headed towards the building with the grenade launcher!" I yelled.

"Don't worry about it! I'll coordinate our forces to move up and take some of the heat off you three!" HK radioed back. Narukami and Suomi were firing at troops on the ground as best they could. I looked down and saw girls flooding the streets and taking out the charging troops from behind. I kept focusing on taking out the trucks. I missed a few times, but after about two minutes I had taken them all out. Their reinforcements were cut off and Bordertown was mostly under our control. The rest of the guards were being taken care of by the girls in the streets.

"YOU SMARTIES HAVE ANNOYED ME FOR THE LAST TIME!" I heard a loud voice booming from a giant megaphone on the ground. "NOW YOU'RE GOING TO PAY… WITH YOUR LIVES!"

"It's I. ! He's here!" Narukami yelled.

"TODAY'S LESSON IS WHAT HAPPENS TO BOOKWORMS WHEN THEY CONTINUE TO FIGHT AGAINST TH LAW OF THE LAND; THEY ARE KILLED LIKE WILD ANIMALS AND THEIR HEADS ARE PARADED AROUND THE REGION!" I. bellowed. I got my AK out and fired a bunch of rounds at Meen, but they all seemed to deflect. I think he was using his magic to make an invisible shield! Suddenly I. had flames pouring out of his hands, then he threw them at the building we were on top of, and it burst into flames!

"We have to get off this roof!" Narukami yelled. He was right, the building we were on was starting to crumble! Luckily there was a very convenient telephone wire connected from our building to a building across the road. It was shorter than the building we were on, but at least it wasn't on fire.

"Follow my lead Klonoa and Suomi!" Narukami jumped up to the wire, put his gun over the wire and grabbed the other end of his gun. He slid down the wire onto the other building.

"GRAY HAIRED BOOKWORM, YOUR LITTLE SISTER WAS A GREAT PRISONER TO HAVE IN THE DUNGEON OF LOVE! WHEN I CAPTURE HER AGAIN, I WILL TELL HER THE STORY OF HER BIG BROTHER'S UNTIMELY DEMISE EVERY DAY!" As Suomi was getting on the telephone wire, I took the grenade launcher off its tripod and brought it to the edge of the burning building.

"I. , GO WAHOO YOURSELF!" I yelled as I gripped the launcher as hard as I could then squeezed the trigger, shooting a grenade at Meen. It exploded right in front of him. The grenade did nothing, but the other girls firing at his backside repeatedly knocked him off his feet. I M Meen used some kind of wind-creating spell to push the girls behind him away.

"ALRIGHT BOOKWORM! TIME FOR ME TO TEACH YOU ABOUT GRAVITY!" The building I was on started crumbling!

"Klonoa! Get to the roof now!" Suomi yelled from the other rooftop. I dropped the grenade launcher, grabbed my AK and jumped onto the telephone wire. I made it about halfway before the taller building supporting the telephone wire collapsed entirely, sending me right towards the flaming ground at full speed. I let go of the wire and fell to the ground. I got dazed when I hit the ground, and I saw I. running towards me!

"NO! Leave him alone!" AN-94 yelled as she ran over to Meen. Meen turned around and incinerated AN-94. She dropped her gun as her entire body lit on fire. She let out one big long scream as she fell to the ground and tried rolling to put the fire out, but it was no use. Her scream became weak, then I heard nothing from her charred corpse. The fire had finished her. Her sacrifice gave me enough time to get somewhere safe.

"Another girl died because of you, Meen. This vicious cycle ends today." I thought to myself.

"Everyone! Aim for his backside! He's vulnerable there!" I radioed everyone. The girls on the ground started distracting Meen while girls with higher caliber weapons took shots at Meen, which overtime started weakening him. Narukami and Suomi were also helping me from the roof they were on. They helped give me an idea of alleyways I could use to flank I M Meen.

"NO! I PROMISE YOU SMARTIES! WITH MY LAST BREATHS, I WILL MAKE YOU ALL PAY!" Meen was starting to lose it. Narukami and Suomi were doing mag dumps on Meen from the building they were on top of. Meen used the last of his powers to crumble that building, causing Narukami and Suomi to fall to the ground. I ran around the building I was hiding behind to get a better angle on Meen. I took out the knife Narukami gave me at the beginning of all this, then I ran at Meen's backside. I shoved the knife into his upper back before he could harm Narukami and Suomi. He yelped in agonizing pain then turned and elbowed me which knocked me over. He grabbed my neck and started squeezing it very tightly, trying to break my pipes. Suddenly he let go of my neck and screamed in agony, and I was able to breathe again. Suomi had gotten behind Meen, grabbed the knife still in his back and started stabbing him repeatedly. He suddenly lost all of his strength and magical powers and collapsed on top of me. Narukami came over to me and pulled him off me. He helped me up and then I looked at Meen laying on the ground as he was slowly dying. Suomi stood there, staring at I M Meen's dead body as she gripped the knife tightly.

"I... I finally got him..." Suomi said as she was panting. It seems Suomi has some history with I M Meen, which to this day, I honestly don't know. AR-15 came over to me.

"Shikikan… Where's M4?" She asked. I couldn't answer that question so I stood there trying to get words out, but she picked up on what I was trying to say. She became overwhelmed with rage and she took both of her guns and did mag dumps into Meen, leaving him a dead bloody mess. We had secured Bordertown!

"Klonoa, I think this belongs to you." Suomi said as she calmed down, handing me my knife.

"Can we rest now?" G11 asked.

"No, this isn't over yet." I answered. "It was my mistake not making any more moves after we secured Bordertown for the first time. We need to free this region today." We all spent that entire afternoon coming up with a plan to assault Akechi's estate. By evening we came up with a pretty airtight plan. I knew everyone was exhausted and shaken from the events that took place today and yesterday, but we were so close. One more hard push, and Akechi would be in the ground.