Klonoa 3: The Merge of CWCistan

by Flying Boi

In an all new adventure, Klonoa travels to a troubled dimension being led by someone who is treating most fictional characters with extreme cruelty. Klonoa is stuck in this world, and he must find out how to topple the cruel regime, but he can't do it alone.

15. The End of the Beginning

(June 12 2024)—-

I hadn't gotten a full night's sleep since I M Meen burned the hospital down two nights ago, nor had I really gotten a moment of rest. Akechi was laying all of his cards on the table as he began his push to take back all of the territory we took from him. As it stands now, Chris-Chan now thinks of Akechi as a joke, despite the fact Akechi is already a joke. Akechi had the entire region under his control just three months ago, and now all he controls is his own personal estate. He is cut off from the rest of CWCistan so he is trapped in his region. We stopped Akechi from taking Bordertown earlier in the day, and even killed I M Meen... unfortunately it cost the life of AN-94. AK-12 now had a lust for vengeance, just as I do. Akechi was going to attack Bordertown again soon, so we only hade a short window of time to be on the offensive. I made the decision as the Shikikan that we would use that window of time to throw everything we had at Akechi's estate and end the man himself before he had a chance to attempt re-taking Bordertown, which could have cost even more innocent lives. We had left Nanako and Sopmod Jr. in a cave with Springfield to keep them safe while we took Bordertown that morning, so we brought them over to the town after we secured it.

Narukami, Suomi, UMP-9, AK-12 and I had been coming up with an air-tight and fool-proof plan to control the areas around Akechi's estate before moving on the estate itself. All the other girls had been putting out fires, fixing the damage done during the battle and helping the citizens of Bordertown take care of their wounded as well as setting up defenses in case we failed taking the estate. According to a few locals, Akechi's estate was on a giant lake that sits between his region and Neptune's region. Akechi would most likely have boats on the lake acting as an additional security force and they would no doubt be ready to go to shore at the first sign of trouble. We would be outnumbered, but Akechi most likely thought he had time before we would strike again. It was a mistake on my part to think we could lay low and relax after taking Bordertown for the first time last week, but I will not be making that mistake this time. Earlier that morning we secured Bordertown and killed I M Meen, and in the evening of that same day, we moved towards Akechi's estate, leaving most of the girls in Bordertown to defend it in case something went wrong. Soppo wanted to come with so she could see M4 be avenged. I sympathized with how she felt, so I brought her along in a backpack, even though I really didn't want to, for the sake of Soppo's safety. The first phase of the plan was to take the lake from Akechi, so I tasked 404 to use a small boat and clear all of the large boats. Everyone had suppressed weapons, even Suomi. One of the locals was a gunsmith, so he was able to make a threaded barrel for Suomi which could fit a suppressor. I got my hands on a suppressed SVD Dragunov and Narukami used his M14 with the suppressor he got back at the hospital. There was a ridge that had tall plants on it to keep Me, Narukami, AR-15 and Springfield hidden as we covered 404. Suomi M9 and IDW were close by and watching our behinds.

"UMP-9? I just want to make sure the radio works." I said into the radio.

"It works Shikikan." 9 acknowledged. "Akechi will pay for what he did to 45."

"I'll make sure of it." I said. "Did you three get to the boat?"

"We are ready and waiting for your instructions." 9 said over the radio. "How does it look out there?" I looked through the scope on my rifle and scanned the area. I saw about four large boats with patrols on them and seven jet skis driving around on patrol.

"I see four large boats that are pretty far apart. Those are what the three of you will need to board and clear. There are also jet skis patrolling the area, but we'll take care of those." I told 9.

"Understood Shikikan." 9 said. "...for 45."

"For 45." I replied.

"Don't forget M4!" Soppo said from my backpack.

"For everyone we've lost." I said.

"There are two jet skis that are following each other." Narukami reported. "They're pretty far from the rest of their friends, so if they were to disappear… it might go unnoticed. Take them out, Brother?"

"I see them." I said. "Narukami, take the driver of the yellow jet ski, AR-15, take the passenger. Springfield, you take the driver of the white jetski, I'll get the passenger." I Shikikan'd. I waited until everyone was scoped in. "Alright... drop them." Everyone fired at the same time and all the honor guards went flying off the jet skis in near perfect unison. "9, you're clear to move to the first ship."

"You got it, Sly." 9 said. I watched as they went across the vast lake towards the first big boat.

"There are patrols on the boat!" Springfield pointed out.

"Then let's get them." I said. "Let's take out the ones in front first so we don't need to tell 404 to stop and wait." We took out the guards on the boat one by one until it was clear. 404 got to the boat and they got on deck. G11 went to the back of the boat to help us take out the rest of the jet skis while 9 and HK went below deck to clear out the boat.

"Shikikan?" 9 asked me.

"9? Is everything ok?" I asked.

"I'm feeling kind of jittery." 9 said. "Tell me something about yourself to calm me down."

"Ummm… alright." I replied in a confused manner. It wasn't easy for me to think of something to say to her because I was kind of focusing more on the task at hand, and that was waiting till the other jet skis were isolated so we could take them out. "What do you want to know?" I asked 9. I had no idea what she wanted me to say.

"What's your favorite color?" 9 asked. "Let me guess… red."

"I think my favorite color is green." I said kind of absent-mindedly. After thinking about it more, yes, my favorite color is green. "Why did you guess red?"

"Because you wear red." 9 answered.

"What someone wears isn't always their favorite color." I said. "Suomi wears blue, but her favorite color might not be blue."

"I like white the most." Suomi said, also sounding focused on something else.

"Ooohhh, that's racist." 9 said.

"Not skin white," Suomi said monotonously. "Like snow white, or paper white."

"At least I know what kind of card I'm getting you for your birthday," 9 said. "I'll just fold a piece of blank white paper."

"As long as there's money in it, I'm ok with that." Suomi said.

"Can we pay attention to the task at hand please?" AR-15 asked.

"Yeah, my bad." 9 said over the radio. "That conversation helped. Ship is clear."

"Excellent." I said. "Stay put until I tell you to move." I kept scanning the area, but then I was suddenly hit by the idea that G11 could have fallen asleep. She never chimed in during the conversation. "G11, are you there?" I asked.

"Yeah I'm here." G11 said. "Don't worry, I'm awake. The other jet skis are pretty far away, so if we leave now we might make it without being seen."

"Alright then, you three can head to the next ship." I said. 404 got back on their boat, boarded the next ship and took it in no time flat. There were barely any guards on that ship.

"Nobody was home?" Narukami asked.

"They were all sleeping." G11 replied. "Can you imagine sleeping when you're supposed to be patrolling?"

"Too soon, Sleepo-beepo." 9 said grimly. After they cleared the second boat, I had G11 stay on that boat to help us clear out the jet skis patrolling the area while 9 and HK took the other two boats. It wasn't easy taking out those jet skis without the CWC honor guards knowing something was off. A few times after I shot guys on a jet ski, my heart would start pounding out of my chest. It all ended fine, because we remained undetected and took all the boats on the lake.

"Lake's clear." I whispered into the radio. "9 and HK, go back to the boat where G11 is and lay low there while you wait for my go."

"Okey-Smokey, Shikikan!" 9 said over the radio. I dropped my silenced rifle and readied the UMP-45 with the suppressor already on it. I used it with a heavy heart, but at the same time, UMP-45's gun was going to be used to avenge her death. She would get the vengeance she wanted.

"Narukami, Suomi, M9 and IDW, come with me, and we'll take Akechi's front yard. AR-15 and Springfield, you two stay up here and help guide and cover us." I ordered.

"We'll keep you covered, Shikikan." AR-15 said. "Good luck down there." I gave her a nod as Narukami, Suomi, M9, IDW and I slid slowly and carefully down a bluff. There was a thin street at the bottom of the bluff, on one side of it there was pretty lush vegetation and on the other side of the street… was Akechi's estate. There was a three-stall garage sitting on the center of a really pretty brick driveway with stylized fences coming off both ends of the garage and wrapping around the sizable front yard.

"Alright, we'll have to split up." I said after not much time to think. "IDW and M9, you two go around the left side. Clear it of enemies but stay quiet. Narukami, move left and cover the two of them."

"Alright." Narukami acknowledged. "I assume Springfield and AR will cover you and Suomi from atop the bluffs."

"Bingo." I said as I tapped my nose twice. "Suomi, with me." Suomi and I hopped the fence under the small gazebo providing shade to a locked gate, then we went prone underneath a hedge. There were about five guys standing around in the yard and three guys walking up and down the stairs leading to one of the doors into the house. They looked like they wanted to see some action, but the goal there was to not let them see any.

"There's only one way to do this, Klonoa." Suomi whispered to me. "We'll have to take out guys and get them behind cover right away. A body in the open will give us away."

"I know how to lure one over to where we are." I whispered back while eyeing one guard at the top of the stairs near our shrub. He was alone, but he was facing us. I threw a rock over his shoulder, just like Narukami taught me to do at the beginning of all this, and it hit the house behind him. He turned around and started walking towards the house. I ran over to the guard quickly and took him down silently then dragged his body back behind the shrub.

"Shikikan, we have a unique opportunity here." Springfield radioed me. "Three guys have gone around back for some reason, so there are only four guys left in the yard. We can each take one."

"Sounds good." I radioed back. "You're the eye in the sky, which ones are closer to Suomi and I?"

"There's one guy walking towards the stairs and one guy smoking near the front door. They're close to you two, so it shouldn't be too difficult to get good shots on them." Springfield said. "Leave the other two to us."

"Which one do you want to take, Klonoa?" Suomi asked me.

"I'll take the one near the front door." I answered. We both aimed at our respective targets and I gave Springfield the green light.

"Three… two… one… fire." Springfield said. I tapped the trigger, letting only one round go flying. I looked around and saw that everyone in the front yard had been dropped. Suomi and I ran out of cover to move the bodies. "Smoking kills, you know." Springfield wisecracked.

"I was going to say that." I said as I was running to one of the bodies to move it into cover.

"Oh... sorry hon." Springfield said.

"'Hon?'" I repeated. "Are you my mother now?"

"Sorry Shikikan, it's a habit." Springfield said over the radio. After Suomi and I hid the bodies, we were ready to go inside the house… but then I got concerned about those three guys who went behind the house. I hadn't heard from M9 or IDW, so I got really nervous.

"Let's go around the house to find those guys who left. We don't want them coming back." I said. Suomi gave me a small but determined nod. We headed around the giant nice house and saw one guy with his gun aimed towards M9's and IDW's side of the house. I quickly killed him with my knife and threw him over the fence that was close by.

"They might be in trouble." I told Suomi. "These guards look kind of alert." We rushed to the other side of the courtyard to see a few guards moving towards a big flowerpot with their guns up.

"Klonoa!" Narukami radioed me. "Thank God you've made it to this side! There are too many of them for me to take out quickly. Think you could lend me a hand?"

"I'm ready when you are." I radioed back. One of the guys dropped dead, so I knew Narukami was ready. Suomi and I took out the rest then ran over to the flowerpot. "You two alright?"

"We're ok… but I chipped a nail." M9 said while holding up her very slightly chipped fingernail. Suomi rolled her eyes.

"Focus on your duty, M9." Suomi said with a look that could kill. The four of us headed to the front door on that side, but it was locked. It looked like there was no way in because there were no windows on the first floor. We did find a small air duct.

"IDW, could you squeeze through that?" I asked.

"I may be a cat-girl, but not even I can squeeze through something that tight. Nyaaa~" IDW said with a very sad 'nyaaa.'

"I can do it, Catman." I heard my backpack say. I reached into it and pulled Soppo out of my backpack. "Let me do it. I want to make M4 happy."

"Soppo… you're just a baby." I said with a growing pit in my stomach. "If something happens to you… I'll never forgive myself."

"Then I won't let anything happen to me." Soppo insisted. "I can do this. I promise I'll be super duper quiet." I looked into Soppo's eyes and I could see a desire seated deep within them. A desire to punish the ones who killed her caretaker. She's only a baby, and yet she saw someone she loved lying in the sand dead. I inhaled deeply.

"Listen to me Soppo," I said while looking Soppo dead in the eyes. "Go in there and unlock the front door, and that is it. If you don't think it's safe to move, don't! Go back through this air duct if you get inside and there are too many guys." My voice was shaky and I felt a sense of nervousness stronger than anything I had ever felt.

"Yay!" Soppo cheered. "I'll do this for M4 and Catman!"

"Let's play together once everything is over." I said with a tear in my eye.

"Yay! I'm excited to play with you, Catman!" Soppo said excitedly. I had to put my trust in Soppo to finish this, it was the only way forward. Suomi and I used our knives to get the duct cover off, then I held Soppo up to the duct, and she crawled in.

"Soppo... please be careful." I said softly into the air duct Soppo just crawled into.

—-(M4 SOPMOD II Jr.)-—-

I went through the metal tube and I got into the bad man's house. He was the bad man who killed M4. I don't like the bad man. But Catman can kill the bad man because he is strong. I ran through the metal tube then I fell into a really nice bathroom. The bad man shouldn't have a bathroom this nice. Catman told me to find the front door and unlock it so he could come in. I went to find the front door. It wasn't really scary in the house. Then a bad guy came through the hallway, so I bit the back of his heels then I bit his neck super hard so I could kill him. He died. I kept walking through the fancy house, but then I could hear a bad guy saying his brotha had died. I could also smell something. I could tell exactly where he was from the smell. I think if bad guys are scared, I can smell their fear. I wanted to get everyone in the house, but I also wanted to do what Catman told me to do, I wanted to find the front door. I went into the kitchen because I found another metal tube that made me go from a bedroom to the kitchen. There was a guy standing there cutting an apple. I was hungry. So I killed the guy and took his apple. It was a good apple. I don't like the middle of the apple. Its too hard. But the guy I killed left a bunch of blood on the floor, so I dipped my finger in it and wrote Akechi is a Buttface on the wall. It was funny. I kept looking for the front door, but I had to be careful because there were a lot of bad guys walking around. I think they were looking for me. I found the front door and I turned the lock on the front door, but then a loud siren started. Catman came in with his friends. He put me into his backpack after he told me I did a good job. I like it when Catman is proud of me.

—-(UMP-9)-—-

416, Sleepo and I were all sitting around on one of the big boats waiting for a call to start assaulting the estate. I'm not sure what kind of pep-talk the Shikikan gave Sleepo, but it worked. She's like a completely different doll now. I mean, sure, her personality is still the same, but she actually applies herself now. She's also not sleeping constantly.

"Up and at 'em, you clogged arteries!" 416 said in her normal charming voice. I'm being sarcastic. Her voice is stupid. "Akechi is radioing for help." I went over to the radio and put the headset on.

"Attention lake security team, we have a security breach!" Akechi said over the radio. "My mansion is under attack. Come to shore and rid my mansion of that bundle of stupidity named Klonoa." I had been waiting for an opportunity like that. I was about to scare the crap out of Akechi.

"Your security team is dead, you evil psychopath." I said in the menacing voice I'd been practicing in the mirror. "You are completely and utterly screwed."

"Who is this?" Akechi yelled angrily.

"My name is UMP-9. You seemed to enjoy killing my Sister, UMP-45, with your stupid crowbar... I hope you enjoy being on the other side of the crowbar." I said, still using the menacing voice. "We're coming for you." I took my gun and shot the radio, after I heard Akechi muttering to himself with the fear of 45-sis in him. I then turned to my comrades. "Let's go make Akechi savor his knickers!" We darted out of the radio room and got onto the RHIB we used to take the lake. We sped over to shore with Sleepo at the front, ready to take out any resistance. We made it to shore unscathed and we charged into the mansion. We busted down the basement door, cleared the poorly-guarded basement and we went upstairs to rendezvous with the Shikikan, clearing the way as much as we could. All the enemies seemed to be charging away from us, which meant we were flanking them.

"Push, push, push!" I commanded my team. "Push like you're pregnant!" We were at an advantage because we were behind our enemies. At the same time, there was so much noise from constant gunfire that no one could tell where me and my team were. It was like having our weapons suppressed. Those defenseless and confused fools were being dropped one by one.

"9!" Sleepo yelled as loud as she could. I turned towards her and saw her pointing further down the hallway. I could see him… AKECHI! He was also running with like four or five guys acting as his human shields. I quickly put a fresh clip in my gun and took off after him.

"Where do you think you're going?" 416 yelled at me.

"I'm going after Akechi!" I yelled back. "I'll break his head with the butt of my gun!" I took off after him, firing as I went. He ran up some stairs then across a balcony. I was dropping his bodyguards, but then more of them would run to his aid. I ran up the stairs and kept running after Akechi, hoping I would catch up. All the guys on the bottom floor were firing up at me, but the metal railing with some swanky designs on it was stopping most of the bullets. A few bullets made it through and hit my arms and legs, but I had so much adrenaline and willpower it didn't stop me! Until I got shot in the hip by a pretty big round. I fell to the ground, unable to run. I could get up, but then I would take about three steps then collapse again, not from pain, but from my left leg literally not working right. As the vicious cycle went on, I lost adrenaline so I slowly started feeling all the pain from the spots where I got hit. Akechi and his bodyguards disappeared around the corner. I thought he was going to get away, but fortunately the Shikikan, Suomi and IDW came over to me. It turns out I had pulled a lot of guards away from the Shikikan and all the dolls fighting with him.

"9!" The Shikikan yelled. "Are you ok?"

"Don't worry about me!" I yelled. "Kill Akechi! Finish this! For 45!"

"We have to get you out of here!" The Shikikan yelled. As he was helping me up, 404 came up to the balcony.

"9, you melted chocolate bar!" 416 yelled. "You should have let us move up with you!" She then turned to the Shikikan. "G11 and I will help 9! You three go kill Akechi!"

—-(Klonoa)-—-

Suomi, IDW and I kept going after Akechi. We couldn't see him, but we ran towards the direction 9 said he was running. I told M9, Bren Spas-12 and TMP head over to help 404 hold the estate.

"Narukami?" I radioed as I ran. He wouldn't answer. I was worried Narukami had been killed. I had to keep focused on the mission, even though the anxiety was starting to engulf my mind. We ran down a hallway with a door at the end of it, and IDW ran past me. She body slammed the door and went into the room but then got shot and killed from the left side.

"NOOOO! NOT IDW!" I yelled. I ran towards the door even quicker and I dolphin-dove into the garage and turned to take out the guy who killed IDW. I saw that one of the garage doors was open. It looked like Akechi had gotten away. Suddenly I started taking fire from across the street… where I had Narukami posted. I tried getting up off the floor, but the thought of losing my brother kept me down.

"Klonoa! I got you covered! Get behind one of the cars!" Suomi yelled as she was spraying bullets at the guys across the street. As I was getting up, I saw a car come down the road from the left side and run down the four guys firing at me and Suomi. The window rolled down… and it was Narukami! He was alive!

"Get in!" Narukami yelled from inside the car. "Akechi's getting away!" I got a sudden burst of energy, having been relieved of the thought of losing Narukami. Suomi and I ran towards the car and got in, then Narukami did a burnout and the car burst full speed ahead. When Narukami turned down a different road, we saw a limousine. Of course it was Akechi and a posse of his personal bodyguards to fire back at us. While Narukami was getting closer to Akechi, I had Suomi get into the front seat to fire at Akechi's limo, I was planning on poking my head and AK out the sunroof.

"AR-15? You there?" I radioed.

"I read you Shikikan. What's going on?" AR-15 asked.

"Narukami Suomi and I are going after Akechi. A few girls are in the estate holding it. I need you and Springfield to watch the estate and pick off any guys who try to get in. Keep them posted about what's going on."

"Roger that. Good luck, Shikikan." AR radioed back. "Reach out if there's anything we can do to help."

"Thanks AR, but we've got this for now!" I replied. After I finished the call I was able to focus on firing at the limo. I readied my AK and poked my head out of the sunroof.

"Don't stay up there too long." Suomi said as she was putting a new drum mag in her gun. "You might not be able to get back in the car quickly." She was right because two guys leaned out of the side windows on the limo and started firing at me. The only reason I'm here to tell this tale is because Narukami was swerving as I got back in so it would be harder for them to hit me.

"I've got you covered, Bro." Narukami said as he hit my side in endearment. "Try and shoot the tires!" Akechi had the same idea, because his men were firing at the tires of the car we were in. "If he takes our tires out this chase is over!" Narukami warned us. I put a new mag in my gun and leaned out the passenger side window to keep firing and I saw the window on the limo facing me open and a guy threw a grenade into the car! I quickly grabbed the grenade and threw it back towards the open window, but the grenade exploded in mid air. Quite possibly equidistant between our car and Akechi's limo. It threw us both off the road. Narukami very quickly drifted the car and did a ninety-degree turn to get us turned back towards the road. The drift threw me forward and almost out the window. Suomi reached around and grabbed me by the collar to get me back into the car. After I got back into the car I looked ahead and saw the limo was heading to Bordertown.

"AK-12, it's the Shikikan. Akechi's heading into Bordertown and we're chasing him." I said over the radio. "Fire at the big black limousine!"

"You may want to slow down then." AK-12 said over the radio. "We laid down landmines. When Akechi runs over those, we'll win." I told Narukami to stop, so he slammed on the breaks. We sat and watched, waiting for the limo to go up in flames, but one of the bodyguards leaned out of the limo and fired at the ground, followed by an explosion ahead of the limo, but it was too far away to stop them.

"Dangit!" Narukami yelled. He didn't actually say 'dangit.' "Looks like we're stopping Akechi in Bordertown." Narukami sped into Bordertown, following the limo closely. The limo stopped at the train station. Where Akechi thought he could go… to this day I'm not sure. Anyway, the limo did a sharp ninety degree turn to provide cover for Akechi as best it could. A few of the honor guards got out of the limo and stood in front of it, mag dumping our car.

"Klonoa, Suomi, get your heads down!" Narukami warned us. Narukami stomped on the gas pedal and the car went flying towards the guards. The windshield was completely broken and bullets were whizzing through the car. The car slammed into the limo which threw the three of us forward. I was mostly fine because my head hit the back of the passenger seat, which cushioned my head, but the same couldn't be said for Narukami or Suomi. I quickly got out and provided cover fire as Narukami and Suomi staggered out of the car. I heard some yelling coming from ahead and to the left. I looked over and saw a bunch of girls and townspeople running towards the train station. Akechi had his guards set up a hasty perimeter at the train station's entrance to try and keep us away and buy him time to run, but there wasn't much they could do. They knew they were losing ground so they retreated into the train station. There were also guards that made their way onto the roof and were sniping at us. I then heard a helicopter and got very worried.

"Everyone be careful, Akechi has air support!" I warned everyone.

"Keine sorge, Shikikan!" I heard the feminine German accent and was immediately relaxed. I knew that was Kar98k. "Das ist jetzt unser helikopter!" The guards on the roof started firing at the helicopter but they got cut down very quickly. We charged into the train station, clearing the way as we went. Those guys were relentless. I swear, every single desk, table, corner and magazine stand had guards hiding behind them. Eventually we made it to a wide open room and I saw Akechi getting onto a train on the other side of the room… and the train started to move! We had to hurry! We all started charging the train, but then a big machine gun placed on the skylight opened fire on us. P90 pushed me into cover, but ended up getting killed by the MG. The MG then started firing on the girls and locals supporting our advance.

"Kar! There's a machine gun on the roof, and it's pinning us down! Can you take care of it?" I radioed frantically.

"Ich werde mich darum kümmern, Shikikan!" Kar said. I don't know exactly what she said, but I think that meant she'll do it. We were pinned down while all the honor guards were charging us.

"We need to fall back!" G41 yelled.

"No! We need to stand our ground until Kar and her team take the MG down!" I yelled. As badly as I wanted to fall back, we couldn't risk Akechi escaping.

"Das machine gun ist toten, Shikikan! He's dead!" Kar radioed me. We started moving up but then we started taking fire from the moving train. All the guards Akechi had on the train were trying to keep us pushed back long enough for the train to leave. Narukami ran to the cover Suomi and I were behind.

"We can make our push on the right side of the room!" He yelled. "They're expecting us to move up the middle!"

"You're RIGHT!" I yelled. I got on the radio. "Everyone, fire on the moving train!" Everyone did as they were told including Kar, MP40 and MG42, who had all taken the roof. I took off the backpack that had Soppo in it.

"Micro uzi, take Soppo! Keep her safe!" I yelled as I threw the backpack at her. Narukami, Suomi and I all ran over to the train as fast as we could with not many shots fired at us. The train was just about to be out of reach, so Narukami sprinted like the madman he is and got onto the back of the train. He quickly climbed in and held his hand out. Suomi jumped and grabbed his hand then climbed into the train. I was about to lunge for Narukami's hand, but some guy started firing at me while leaning out one of the windows on a train car. It made me lose my speed so I lagged a bit behind. Narukami quickly unloaded his M14 and held it out (butt of the gun pointed towards me) for me to grab onto. I jumped towards the butt of the gun with everything I had left in me and barely made it. Suomi reached out her hand so I could grab onto it and they both helped me in. We were aboard Akechi's train! We started moving towards the front of the train to take control of it, and if we happened to find Akechi on the way… he'd get filled with bullets. The first few cars were easy to take with me and Suomi moving up each individual train car with Narukami hanging back and taking out guys who were either peeking out from behind cover or giving me or Suomi a hard time. Eventually we got to a door the enemies had sealed off. We couldn't get through.

"I have an idea, I hope everyone can climb!" Suomi said. "Follow me." We followed her to the back of the train car and she climbed out the window and got onto a ladder. Narukami and I both did the same thing and we got on top of the train cars. It was pretty scary up there since the train was going super fast, and I was afraid of losing my footing. We started running towards the front of the car. "Tunnel!" Suomi suddenly yelled. We all went prone. As we went underneath the tunnel, my heart was pounding out of my chest. I was worried something would hit me and splatter my insides all over the top of the train. I was trying to essentially squeeze myself into the top of the train. There was darkness and lots of echoes, until the echoes suddenly stopped and I was engulfed in good ol' daylight. We got up and kept moving. We made it to the car we couldn't get into.

"We're going in. We're taking every car of this train and we're killing Akechi ourselves." I said. There were skylights on the passenger train cars… perfect. We shot all the guards inside the train cars from the conveniently-placed skylights. We cleared about four cars like that, and we got a bit careless. Suddenly, Suomi shot the glass we were standing on, and we fell into the passenger car. Suomi then helped us scramble into cover, as there were still a few guards in the car.

"What was that for?" Narukami asked as he rubbed his shoulder.

"There was a tunnel," Suomi said. "Sorry, we were getting too close for comfort." Suomi stood up and took out the rest of the guards in the car. We kept on moving, but a few cars later, I noticed something troubling. One of the skylights was already broken.

"Guys…" I started. "I think Akechi may have escaped." I pointed up to the broken skylight.

"Ahh, perkele!" Suomi said as she threw her head back. "The least we can do is take the train." As we kept moving up, a strong sense of disappointment came over me. We eventually made it to the front of the train and turned the throttle to 'off.' The train came to a halt.

"I'm sorry, Klonoa." Narukami said. "We will get him, I'm just not sure when."

"It's ok." I said, trying to hold my head high. "I was just really hoping that today would be the day." Suddenly we heard an explosion in the distance! We went to the car right behind the engine and saw a giant helicopter with two rotors, one on each side of it, firing on the train!

"Akechi called in air support!" Narukami said. "He'll try and blow up the train! I'll get the train moving again, we can't make ourselves sitting targets!" As Narukami ran to the engine to turn the throttle on, Suomi stood there eyeing the helicopter, squinting her eyes. Suddenly a look of shock came on her face.

"It's Akechi! He's piloting the helicopter!" She yelled. We both fell over suddenly because Narukami had turned the train's throttle to full speed with no warning.

"PLAYING A GAME OF CHASE THE TROLLS, HUH? WELL YOU CAN'T OUTRUN A HELICOPTER!" Akechi yelled over the loudspeakers on his helicopter, which I'm pretty sure he had installed just to yell insults at his targets. I did a mag dump on Akechi's helicopter, mostly to let my ever-increasing rage out. Narukami ran out of the engine room and jumped on me and Suomi to get us down.

"Stay down!" Narukami yelled. Suddenly tons of bullets came flying through the windows and walls.

"I NOW KNOW EXACTLY WHERE YOU ARE NOW, KLONOA! HOW COULD MY ENTIRE REGION HAVE BEEN TAKEN BY AN IDIOT LIKE YOU?" Akechi's guns stopped firing for a few moments, so we moved back a few train cars. I kept my eyes on Akechi's helicopter as I ran. I noticed it started hovering over the train, getting really low and matching its speed.

"He's dropping CWC honor guards in the train!" Narukami yelled. "He'll try and push us back to the first train car and focus fire on it!" We all found cover in the train car we were currently in and fired at the guards coming into the train via the skylight. They were using the skylights against us now.

"MY CROWBAR REALLY ENJOYED MESSING UP THE HEAD OF YOUR PRETTY LITTLE FRIEND! I WONDER IF IT WILL LIKE BREAKING YOUR THICK SKULLS?" That stupid voice! That stupid arrogance! Goro Akechi had to die! Narukami started firing at one of the engines, which caused the helicopter to start faltering.

"That's it!" Narukami yelled happily. "We need to hit the engines!" There were three of us and two targets; Akechi's helicopter and all the guards Akechi had dropped on the train. I knew what had to be done.

"Narukami, Suomi, run to the next car towards the engine!" I yelled. They ran with me, and when we got to the next train car, I told everyone to shoot at the metal thingy that was keeping the train cars together. We shot it and the cars started slowly separating. We were about to start moving towards the train engine, but then I heard a loud sound. The guards had thrown a flashbang into the train! Suomi was staggering because she had been hit by it. I also noticed guards jumping into our train car, since the other train cars were still maintaining their speed!

"Narukami, cover me!" I yelled "I need to help Suomi!" Narukami stayed back and fired on the guards jumping in one by one, keeping them at bay decently well. I grabbed Suomi and yeeted myself and her over the bar for cover. "Suomi? Are you ok?" I asked as I held Suomi.

"I'm starting to be able to see again." Suomi said weakly. Suddenly more heavy gunfire started ripping up the rear of the train car, right where Narukami was! He got down just in time.

"KLONOA AND YU NARUKAMI, MY GUNS WILL FEAST ON YOU BOTH AND TEAR YOU TO SHREDS! SUOMI, I WILL KEEP YOU ALIVE, AT LEAST THE BITS THAT MATTER! I WILL PRESENT YOU TO CHRIS-CHAN, THEN I WILL BE ACCEPTED BACK INTO HIS ELITE!"

"Suomi, can you see now?" I asked. Suomi nodded confidently. "Perfect, I need you to fire at the guards in the train car, keep them off me and Narukami!"

"I will!" Suomi said. "Take Akechi down! He dies today!" Suomi started firing in short concentrated bursts at the guards who were jumping across the gap. I started focusing my fire on Akechi's engines.

"Klonoa! Shoot the one on the right!" Narukami yelled. We started firing at Akechi's right engine together.

"Guys, I can't quite keep the guards at bay!" Suomi yelled, as she took out a guy who was right at the bar. I quickly ran over and grabbed the guard's body and pulled a flashbang off him.

"Everyone ready to move?" I asked. Narukami and Suomi both nodded, so I pulled the pin on the flashbang and threw it. I kept my head down until I heard the bang. The three of us ran into the train car and used the few moments we had to clear out the rest of the guards.

"LOOK AT HOW HELPLESS YOU ARE KLONOA! YOU THINK YOUR FRIENDS CARE ABOUT YOU? ALL THEY CARE ABOUT IS SHARING THE SO-CALLED 'GLORY' YOU THINK YOU'LL GET IF YOU KILL ME! DON'T BE THINKING NARUKAMI AND SUOMI ARE YOUR BEST FRIENDS, BECAUSE THEY AREN'T! YOU SHOULD JUST LET ME KILL YOU NOW SO YOUR USELESS LIFE CAN END!"

"Everyone, fire at the right engine!" I yelled. "Mag dump it!" The three of us started firing at the right engine, and then it started catching fire! Akechi's helicopter started spinning out of control!

"KLONOA, YOU FOOL! YOU STUPID FOOL! LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE NOW!" We watched as the helicopter was desperately trying to stay steady and in flight. I started growing concerned at how close the helicopter was coming towards the train.

"The helicopter's not going to crash into the train, right?" I asked Narukami.

"No… I don't think it will." Narukami said with not a lot of confidence. The helicopter split apart in midair and the front of the helicopter was coming straight at the train! "Klonoa… it's gonna hit the train." Narukami said. I told him and Suomi to grab onto something, then I heard a giant crash. The train car went up and down, left and right, pretty much every feasible direction. It was rolling everywhere then eventually started flying. Then it hit the ground vertically, then slowly fell on its side. I blacked out for a few seconds and when I came too, I felt so weak, almost unable to get my head off the ground. At that moment, the lack of sleep and two straight days of battle felt like they had caught up to me. I used what little strength I had to get on my hands and knees. 'Ok Klonoa, good start. Now get on your feet.' I listened to myself, and I stood up, wobbling as I did so. I looked around the inside of the burning carriage I was in to find Narukami and Suomi. I walked past the bar and heard something hit the tabletop of the bar. My first instinct was to point my AK in the direction of the sound… but looking back that was dumb. There were no enemies in the train car. I saw Suomi pulling herself up. She had lots of scratches and cuts on her face, but she also had a giant gash right above her left eye. I lowered my AK and stumbled over to her. I put my arm around her and she put her arm around me. We made our way down the train car looking for Narukami.

"Klonoa? Suomi?" That was Narukami's voice. He sounded weak as well. I looked outside one of the windows and saw Narukami standing outside. "Come on, let's get you both out of there." We made our way over to Narukami, who reached his hand through the broken window. Suomi grabbed his hand and he pulled her out of the train. After Suomi was out of the train, Narukami reached his hand to me and helped me out of the train. I fell into the sand next to Suomi. Narukami crouched down. "You two ok?" He asked.

"I think so…" Suomi said as she rolled onto her belly and slowly got onto her feet. Both of them then helped me up.

"Is Akechi dead?" I asked.

"Most likely… his VTOL crashed into a giant rock." Narukami said.

"We have to make sure he's dead." I said while mustering up all the willpower I could.

"If he goes back into hiding he could come back stronger." Suomi chimed in. "We'll have to search the area until we find him, dead or alive." We walked out from behind the train car, then suddenly a bullet whizzed right by my head.

"GET INTO COVER!" Narukami yelled as he jumped onto me and Suomi and got us behind a train car that wasn't too far off for cover. Narukami poked his head out from behind the train car. "It's Akechi! He's using a mounted MG in part of his crashed VTOL."

"We have to get up there and take him out ourselves!" Suomi said. "We can use the train cars strewn around to get close to the giant rock he's on top of." I readied my AK.

"Let's kill that sadist FRICK!" I said angrily. Narukami leaned around the side of the train car and fired a few shots at Akechi's MG.

"That threw him off!" Narukami yelled. "Klonoa, Suomi, I'll do my best to keep Akechi frazzled!" Suomi and I ran over to the next closest train car. Akechi started firing on the train car, and the bullets were going right through! Suomi and I crawled to the other side of the train car, away from where Akechi was aiming. Bullets were going all over the place!

"I'll distract him!" Suomi said. "I'll run to the train car further to the left. Charge up the right side as far as you can!"

"But Suomi…" I started, "You'll be out in the open-" I was cut off by Narukami yelling, 'I hit his gun again!' Suomi ran to the left with a made up mind and veins full of adrenaline. Akechi was focusing on Suomi just like she said he would. I charged up the right side even though I was super exhausted. I looked back to the train car Narukami was hiding behind, and I saw a bullet hit his head! He fell to the ground.

"NOOOOO!" I yelled. I felt a surge of energy from the sheer amount of anger I got from Narukami being hit. I felt blood pulsating in my head as I clenched my teeth out of unbridled rage. I took my AK out and ran straight at Akechi while firing the entire time.

"LET'S SEE… WHO SHALL I KILL NEXT?" Akechi gloated. He didn't have his loudspeaker, but he was yelling as loud as he could. I made a desperate rush towards the base of the rock with blood pounding in my head. My charge had distracted Akechi long enough for Suomi to make it over to the base of the rock.

"We have to climb this thing!" Suomi said. She got onto her knee and put her hands together. "I'll give you a boost." I put my foot on her hands and she lifted me up high enough so I could grab onto the ledge and roll onto it. I reached down and helped Suomi up. We did this a few more times until the ledges got close enough where we could get up them ourselves. As Suomi was climbing up one of the ledges behind me, she got shot in the shoulder. Akechi was leaning over the edge of the cliff with a pistol and firing at us. I fired a few shots at Akechi trying to kill him, but I just scared him off. I climbed down to the ledge Suomi fell onto. She was gripping her left shoulder in agony.

"No… Klonoa… don't worry about me." She said in between heavy breaths. "You have to kill Akechi! You can do it!" I hesitated for a bit, then I nodded.

"I'll come back for you!" I said as I climbed the next ledge. I eventually made it to the top of the rock and got the UMP-45 ready. I walked into the burning metal carcass of Akechi's downed VTOL, but he wasn't there. Suddenly I heard wild screaming from behind me and my first instinct was to duck. I'm glad I did because Akechi swung his crowbar at me and I ducked out of the way at the last second.

'I'm face to face with Akechi. Just like when he was holding me in his prison. Only this time, I'm not helpless.' I thought to myself. As Akechi was winding up for another hit, I kicked his stomach and knocked him off balance a bit. I was about to kick him again, but he grabbed my leg and then he shoved me to the ground. I landed on my back and everything went blurry for a second, but that second was all it took for me to think 'I lost. He's about to kill me with his crowbar. I'm sorry, 45.' Luckily, Suomi made it up the ledges and jumped onto Akechi's back and single-handedly saved my life. Suomi had left her gun on the ledge, unfortunately.

"YOU STAY AWAY FROM MY BEST FRIEND!" Suomi yelled. She forced Akechi onto the ground. Suomi was holding Akechi down as best she could, so I got up to help. Akechi reached for his holster and grabbed his pistol, so I grabbed his hand and twisted it super far and made him drop the gun. Akechi shoved Suomi's head into the wall of the broken VTOL we were in and swung his crowbar at me again. My instinct at that moment was to hold my hand up to block it. It wasn't until he hit my hand with it that I remembered his crowbar was meant to break bones. Akechi broke my right palm. He wound up for another swing at my head, but Suomi jumped onto Akechi again. Akechi was kind of prepared for her to jump on him again, because he got up and kicked my face super hard. Everything went dark and blurry for a few seconds as I fell to the ground. Akechi then forced his body back very abruptly which made Suomi lose her grip and also fall to the ground. Akechi turned towards Suomi with his crowbar above his head.

"I WILL BREAK YOUR PRETTY LITTLE HEAD OPEN! JUST LIKE YOUR FRIEND!" He yelled as he hit Suomi on the head with his crowbar and was winding up for another one. I got up quickly even though I really didn't have the energy. I knew Suomi wouldn't survive another hit to the head, so as Akechi was winding up another swing, I grabbed the crowbar and yanked it out of his hands. He turned towards me to get it back, so I wildly swung it at the side of his head, which threw him off. Then in an instant, I remembered what I thought while I was holding the bar above my head back at the prison; 'I took the crowbar and stabbed Akechi in the lower left side of his back with the straight sharp end. The crowbar went straight through. I then slowly pushed the crowbar downwards, doing even more damage.' I jabbed the sharp end right into Akechi's stomach as hard as I could. Akechi had a look of complete and utter shock on his face which turned into a look of pain and anger in an instant. I walked Akechi over to the edge of the cliff. I grabbed the UMP-45 with my left hand since Akechi had broken my right hand. I aimed the UMP at Akechi's chest.

"This... is for UMP-45." I briefly held the trigger down and shot Akechi three times. Akechi's legs lost all of their ability to keep him upright, so as he was falling to the ground, I yanked the crowbar out of his stomach. "And this... is for Narukami... my BROTHER!" I kicked him off the edge of the cliff. I immediately went over to Suomi. She had a giant bruise on the right side of her forehead with a giant cut going down the middle of it. I got onto my knees and held her in my arms.

"K… Klonoa…" Suomi whispered weakly. "You did it… Akechi's... finally gone." She laid there smiling at me as much as she could.

"Come on, Suomi." I said weakly. "Let's get back onto the ground and see if we can call for help." I put Suomi on my back and made my way down the rocky ledges as carefully as I could. When we got back onto the ground, I stood there staring at Akechi's body laying there in the sand. It was a lifeless bloody twisted mess. A brutal death, but still better than he deserved. I heard footsteps coming from behind me so I slowly and nervously turned around. It was Narukami! He was alive! The entire left side of his face was bloodied. It looked like Akechi had shot his ear almost clean off.

"We did it…" Narukami said weakly. "What seemed like a distant pipe dream about three months ago is now a reality. The region is free." I collapsed to the ground out of exhaustion and relief. I carefully laid Suomi on the ground making sure to support her head. 404 then rolled up in the same truck we rode to Bordertown in. HK and G11 were helping 9 walk.

"You did it!" UMP-9 said excitedly. "My Sister is now at rest, and this creep is dead." 9 limped over to Akechi's body and spit on his body a few times. "You deserve that, you underwear-eater!" HK and G11 helped Narukami, Suomi and I onto the back seat of the truck. When Narukami got in, HK handed him some bandages.

"Take care of that head wound, Grampscrapper." HK said with a hint of legit concern in her voice. Narukami exhaled in a slightly amused manner. I had G11 lay Suomi down and I put her head in my lap. 'Finally,' I thought to myself. 'You can rest now.' I leaned my head back and looked at the setting sun before closing my eyes and letting the world around me go out of focus.

—-

I didn't really get to fall asleep since the truck rode was so short. We ended up inside a really nice garage. 404 helped Narukami, Suomi and I into the house.

"Where are we?" I asked. "Are we in Bordertown?"

"Nope," 9 answered. "We're in Akechi's estate, or as I like to call it, OUR estate. Some of the other dolls that know how to take care of wounds are here, we figured we would need them." The rest of that evening was spent in the makeshift infirmary where I got my broken hand taken care of, as well as getting the cuts all over me sterilized and stitched, yes some of the cuts were that big. Narukami was getting his ear stitched back on and Suomi was getting the gashes on her forehead taken care of.

"Where's Nanako?" Narukami asked Bren, who was working on his ear.

"We brought her to the estate shortly after we cleared Bordertown." Bren said. "She's safe here, I just want to get you all fixed up before we bring her to you. I don't want to scare that poor girl."

"Good thinking…" Narukami said. After the three of us were taken care of, we were brought into the bedroom where Akechi used to sleep. The bed in that room was absolutely huge!

"You three need rest more than anything in the world." Spas-12 told us. "You all can take the bed since it's big enough, just keep your hands to yourselves." AKM and AR-15 helped a barely conscious Suomi onto the bed where she immediately fell asleep. UMP-9 came into the room with Nanako.

"Guess who wants to see her big bro?" UMP-9 said. Nanako ran over to Narukami and hugged him tightly. "Not for too long though, he needs to rest."

"I told you I would come back alive, Nanako. The war is over, you don't need to be scared anymore." Narukami said in the sweetest voice.

"I was really worried about you," Nanako said in happy tears. "But big-sis 9 kept reminding me that you are very strong and you would never give up."

"I'm sorry Nanako, but we need to let your big bro sleep for tonight, but we can see him tomorrow." 9 said to Nanako. Nanako gave Narukami a little kiss on the cheek.

"Good night, big bro. Feel better." Nanako said.

"Good night Nanako. I'll see you in the morning." Narukami said. 9 then walked Nanako out of the room and Spas 12 turned off the lights.

"Sleep tight everyone. And hey… thanks for giving us back the freedom Akechi had taken from us." Just as Spas-12 was about to shut the door, Soppo came running in.

"Catman! You're ok!" Soppo yelled excitedly. Spas 12 was about to grab Soppo to take her out of the room.

"Leave her." I ordered. "She can stay." Spas 12 nodded and closed the door gently. I crawled onto the bed next to Suomi and Narukami laid next to me.

"No homo." Narukami told me. I'm not sure what that meant. Soppo climbed onto my chest so I picked her up and laid her down right next to me and pulled the blankets over all of us.

"Did you do it, Catman?" Soppo whispered.

"We did it, Soppo." I whispered back. "Akechi is gone." Soppo then snuggled into me and started whimpering softly. I embraced her to help her feel better, then she eventually fell asleep. M4 was the closest thing Soppo had to a parent. I wish I could be here for Soppo until she gets over M4's death, but this war isn't over. We still have to take out Sonichu, Neptune then Chris-Chan. That is what I was sent to this dimension to do, and I'm going to fulfill my purpose, even if it means I'll have to leave all my friends when I complete my duty. I laid there in the bed that once belonged to someone who seemed bigger than I was for a long time, still in disbelief that we actually pulled it off. I know how I did it though, it's because of Narukami and Suomi. I would probably be dead if it wasn't for Narukami helping me escape the prison when I arrived, and we would probably have been over-run trying to take a town somewhere if it hadn't been for Suomi bringing us to the hospital where all the girls were held up. Narukami and Suomi… my best friends. We will take Chris Chan down… together. But that will happen later. It is time for some very much needed rest and relaxation.