(June 28, 2024)—-

It's been less than a week since we left the girls' estate and now we're fighting against Neptune… sort of. She is making these overgrown yellow tic tacs steal oil for her, most likely so she can keep an army of tanks and/or planes running, which will definitely make taking her region much more difficult. If we stop these 'minions' from stealing oil, those vehicles won't be anything but cover we can use to get closer to where Neptune sleeps. We have been going from oil pump to oil pump trying to stop the minions from getting any oil from them. We have never actually stopped any minions trying to take oil because… well… we haven't been able to find any of them. Marie suggested we watch an oil pump that hasn't been plundered yet and wait for minions to come, then take them out then see what we can learn. Yu and I went with the team blue sniper, Headphones, on top of a bluff to wait for the Minions to come to one of the oil pumps. We were laying in the hot sun for hours, which made the sand really hot after a while. I think the heat was making Yu and Headphones a little… on edge.

"Do you have to look through your scope the entire time?" Headphones asked Yu.

"Why shouldn't I?" Narukami asked in a miffed tone.

"There's a glint that's visible when sunlight is bouncing off your scope." Headphones informed.

"I didn't know that…" I said as I took one of my gloves off and put it over the end of the scope on the rifle I was using. Team Blue loaned me a rifle that was like my AK but it used bigger bullets and could shoot much further. It wasn't automatic, so I wouldn't do well in a close-quarters situation.

"Will you relax?" Yu asked Headphones. "I know what I'm doing. Klonoa and I both fought through an entire region controlled by a psychopath and you can barely fight a bunch of squishy teeth with legs."

"At least they look better than you do, gray-haired dipstick." Headphones retorted. Right as she said that, I saw something on the horizon coming towards the oil pump. I took my glove off the end of my scope, put it back on my hand quickly and looked through the scope. I saw a truck headed towards the oil pump.

"You two need to stop fighting right now." I ordered. "You two shouldn't be fighting each other, because the ones you're supposed to be fighting are headed towards the oil pump." Headphones sighed exasperatedly.

"Is gray-hair always this difficult to work with?" Headphones muttered to me.

"At first..." I told her. "But for now we need to focus on our mission." We laid there watching the minions get a bunch of barrels out of the back of the truck and bring them to a little spout on the oil pump. "Remember; our goal here is to find out as much as we can about the minions. We can't spend time playing the guessing game anymore." Headphones reached into her back pocket and put something in front of me.

"This is a small GPS device." Headphones informed me. "If we put it on their truck, we'll know exactly where their base is. Make gray-hair do it." Yu whipped his head around.

"Why don't we make Headphones do it?" Yu asked angrily. "Miss Priss thinks she's too precious to waste." I had grown very weary of the bickering. Being in the sun made me kind of on edge as well, but I did my best to not let it show.

"I'll go down and do it." I said. "You two guide me down there and don't let me get seen."

"You don't need to do that," Yu said. "I can do it."

"Do you care about him or do you just want to get away from me?" Headphones asked in an almost sing-songy voice.

"More of the former than the latter, but the desire to get away from your blue-blood is pretty strong." Yu said while not making eye contact with her. After Yu said that, I just grabbed the small device and started making my way towards the truck without looking back. I heard their squabble cease which filled me with more confidence that they were once again aware of what was happening. We didn't have any radios, so I cleared my gun's chamber and used it to see the signals Narukami and Headphones were giving me. I went straight to the truck and planted the GPS on it. Now all I had to do was get back to Yu and Headphones, then we could follow the virtual breadcrumbs the Minions were leaving behind. The only problem was I ended up right next to the Minion-crowded oil pump. I used my scope to watch for Yu's signals to see when I was clear to move, but he was making weird hand signals. I had no idea what he was trying to tell me. I was pointing at the truck, then he put his hand above his eyes to keep the sun out of his eyes. He then put his gun down and started spelling something out using his hands. "C" "H" "E" "C" "K" "T" "R" "U" "C" "K." It only took about three minutes or so for that message to be relayed and received. I opened the door slowly and cautiously and checked around the truck's cabin. I found some pretty useful things in there, like maps, codes, and notes from Neptune, among other stuff. I put everything in my pocket and was about to sneak back, but I happened to look out the truck's window and I saw the minions coming back! I had two options; the first option was to take everything and run back like a mad cabbit, or I could stowaway and see where I ended up. I went with my gut feeling, so I took everything out of my pockets and left them about where I found them, quietly got outside the truck and I wedged myself between the cabin and the giant tarp covering the bed. It was pretty tight, but I fit; although I did struggle to breathe. I held my breath with my heart beating out of my chest as the Minions started loading barrels of oil into the truck and stood around chattering and showing their butts to each other. Eventually the truck started and headed away from my friends and into uncertainty. All it would take for me to get spotted was one of the minions to look behind him. Even with that knowledge, that still wasn't the worst truck ride of my life…

—-

I hate those Minions so much! It was constant high pitched voices, multiple at a time, speaking gibberish all the time! They were so annoying it didn't make me care about being uncomfortable for the half-hour-or-so drive from the oil pump back to their base. We did eventually get to their base and I figured my friends would use the GPS to find and help me take the base. The truck came to a stop, then suddenly the ground started taking us down like an elevator would. We were underground, and I was on my own. My rifle wasn't suppressed and I didn't bring the UMP-45 with me. Yu, Suomi and Team Blue would be able to track where the GPS went… but they had no way of knowing I was underground. The minions got out of the truck and started moving the oil out of the truck. They put them all on carts and rolled them into a large room outside the garage. When the coast was clear, I got myself out from the small space on the truck, took all the documents from the truck, then ran behind a water softener nearby. The only way I'd be able to get out of this place without being swarmed by minions was to stay quiet, and the only way I could do that was to find a knife or something. I looked around carefully from where I was… until I saw a metal pipe that was hanging off the water softener. I put my rifle over my shoulder for later use, just in case I needed it, then I pulled the pipe off the water softener, carefully and quietly, and I flattened one of the ends of it to make it sharp. Once I made my makeshift knife, I poked my head into the room where the oil was, and I was shocked to see not only a TON of minions in the room, but that room was filled with barrels of oil the minions had stolen. Luckily, the barrels were arranged in such a way that would make it easier to hide. I was outnumbered, but then I got an idea. I snuck over to a tool bench and threw a hammer across the room, which caused quite a ruckus. The minions all rushed over to the corner where all the noise came from, then I cut a barrel of oil and let it spill on the floor. I kept doing this as I explored the room looking for other intelligence that could have possibly been in the bunker. I also wanted to find a radio so I could call my comrades and explain to them what was going on. My distraction was no longer working. The minions started dispersing around the room. It wouldn't be easy for me to avoid them. Suddenly a minion came walking right by the barrel I was behind. I panicked and pulled him behind the same barrel I was behind and I stabbed the side of him with the pipe and quickly stuffed him into the barrel I stabbed before. That would keep him hidden. I ducked into a small room after peeking around the corner to make sure it was clear. I found some kind of cell with a creature that looked like one of the Team Blue members, except he had green spikey hair instead of the blue hair I was used to seeing. He was laying on the floor inside of a locked cell. I quietly unlocked the door using keys that were hanging on the wall right across from the cell. The minions are smart enough to make a hidden entrance to an underground bunker, but they aren't smart enough to hide the keys to their prison cells?

"Psst." I whispered to the unconscious creature. "Wake up. I'm going to get you out of here." I knelt there carefully trying to shake him awake. I gently rolled him over, but then I saw oil and bile spilling out of his mouth. The minions had fed him oil… which poisoned him to death. "I'm sorry…" I whispered, feeling very depressed and disgusted. I closed the cell door behind me, but I kept the keys, figuring I could use them to free anyone else who was in that bunker. I went further down the hallway and found another cell. A creature was asleep in the corner. He had a red tentacle going down his head, kinda like a mohawk. I slowly and quietly entered the cell. I put my hand on the creature's shoulder and lightly shook him. I expected him to be dead, so I was extremely shocked when he woke up and threw a punch at me. He did land a hit, but he was so weak it didn't hurt at all. I grabbed his arm while his fist was out and I put my hand over his mouth to stop him from possibly screaming.

"I'm here to help you." I whispered to the creature. He calmed down a little bit. I slowly moved my hand off his mouth.

"Who are you?" The creature whispered. "You not one of them?"

"No." I whispered back. "Do you know Team Blue?"

"I do! Are you helping them?" The creature asked me.

"Yeah, I'm helping them stop the oil theft." I said. "Don't worry, everything's gonna be ok. Are there any more of you here?"

"I came in with two others." The creature said. "One of them is the same color as I am, the other one is green." Green… he was talking about the one that had been killed. I had to break the news to him. Looking back, I could have sugar-coated it more, but we were in a life-or-death situation.

"The green one is dead." I outright said. A look of shock came over the creature's face.

"No… not Gloves…" The creature said as he hung his head in sorrow.

"I haven't found any others though." I said. "Your other friend might be alive." The creature sat on the ground trying to regain his composure. Eventually, he stood up as best he could. He stumbled a bit so I caught him and helped him keep steady.

"Ok… ok…" The creature said between labored breathing. "Let's go find her." I helped the creature out of his cell and through the hallway, avoiding minions as best I could.

"By the way, my name's Klonoa." I whispered. "Do you have a name?"

"8." The creature answered back. "That name was given to me by my friend, Goggles. Have you met him yet?"

"I have met him." I said while stifling laughter. "He pulled down one of my friend's pants." By the way, I was referring to Yu. Goggles wouldn't pull down Suomi's skirt….. Right?

"I'm so glad to hear Goggles is alive." 8 said with a lifted spirit. "I've been trapped down here for eleven days, so I've been driving myself crazy wondering if my friends were still alive and well." When he said that, I got a flashback to when me, G11, HK416 and UMP-9 were all held prisoner in Akechi's prison.

"I know that feeling all too well." I said, struggling to keep my head held high. "I'm going to get you back to your friends, trust me. No one should have to drive themselves crazy with the thought of their friends dying." 8 looked at me and smiled. We continued through the hallway, checking each room… until we heard a whiplash noise, followed by a desperate scream. We followed the sound to one of the doors in that hallway. I opened the door slightly and saw a minion standing on a chair holding a whip, standing in front of a red-haired girl, well, more like tentacles than hair. 8 stood up on his own, grabbed my makeshift knife, and casually entered the room. He walked up to the minion with the whip, grabbed him, held him against the wall and repeatedly shanked him until he died. 8 fell to the floor panting in distress. "You're dead! You can't hurt anyone anymore!" 8 then ran over to his friend, who was chained to the wall. "7!" 8 said in shock as he undid her chains. 7 collapsed into 8's arms once she was free. It was about that point when I started growing very weary of standing in the middle of a room where a minion could walk down the hallway and clearly see us.

"Bring 7 to the corner behind the cabinet." I ordered. "We have to get out of here without being seen."

"Sounds good to me." 8 said as he carried 7 to the corner. I quickly grabbed the dead minion and hid his body in a nearby chest. I then went into the corner where 8 was trying to nurse 7 back to health. She was awake but she was in such a daze. "We have to get 7 somewhere safe."

"I'm thinking..." I said as I tapped the side of my head rapidly and nervously. "Is there any chance you know where a radio is? I'd like to let everyone back at base know what's going on."

"I think they have a radio, but I'll need to modify the radio to reach a certain frequency." 8 said.

"Alright, let's go find it." I said. "I'll go ahead, you and 7 stay close."

"We both really appreciate this, Klonoa." 8 said thankfully. "Let's do this for Gloves." We slowly made our way out of the room, down the hallway and back into the main room. Minions were still everywhere.

"Whoa whoa whoa… be careful here." I whispered as I held my arm out to stop 8 from going any further. "There's oil all over the floor so watch your step."

"Wow these minions are clumsy." 8 whispered. "How does Neptune trust these things with oil?"

"This was my handiwork." I whispered back. "I'm going to burn this place to the ground."

"Yes!" 8 shouted quietly. "That would be amazing!" We slowly made our way along the wall on the opposite side of the elevating garage. It wasn't easy to dodge the minions but I couldn't pick them off because, again, my rifle would draw too much attention. Plus, if I sent a bullet flying and I hit a barrel of oil, 7, 8 and I would have burned down along with that place. We made our way quietly to a room that had weapons, gas masks… and a radio in it.

"Here we are, 8. Room looks empty, so do your thing." I said. 8 laid 7 down underneath a tool bench to keep her safe, then he grabbed a few tools. I took one of the weapons and looked at it, and it looked very strange. It looked kind of like a shotgun, but it had a very wide shower head-looking barrel. I brought it over to 8 and showed it to him. "What is this thing?" 8 picked the weapon up and looked at it closely.

"I have no idea." 8 said. "It looks like a sploosh-o-matic." I brought it into the far corner of the room and tapped the trigger lightly to see what it would do. I could NOT believe the smell that came from that thing. It burned my nose a little bit and it made me dizzy. Yeah, it was THAT bad!

"Is this thing a…?" I started in disbelief.

"Fart… gun…" 7 whispered. I grabbed gas masks off the wall for the three of us because I figured I'd end up using the fart gun.

"Alright, here's what I'm going to do." I started. "If the minions start getting suspicious, I'm going to throw tools across the main room to try and lure the minions away from us. If that stops working, this fart gun is going to see some action. 8, please get that radio fixed ASAP. I'd like to get in touch with our friends on the surface."

"Already started, Klonoa." 8 said. "I can do this, but it might take some time." I went to the entryway of the room we were in and kept my eyes on the minions. They were walking around like normal, not alert whatsoever. Perfect. After a while, I saw a few minions walk down the hallway where we were before. I started getting nervous that the minions would find the body I hid in the chest. Eventually, I heard the minions shouting from down the hall. It sounded like they had found the body. A few minions made their way into the room we were in, but they were easy to deal with. Cover the mouth, shank, move the body. More minions started heading over to the room, all with their laser guns ready to fire.

"8, We've got trouble." I whispered. "How much longer on the radio?"

"I'm getting close. I just need a little more time." 8 said, sounding a little stressed out. 8 sounding stressed out made me feel a little more uneasy. He must have had some sort of problem with the radio. The sooner he got it done the better. I grabbed one of the tools 8 wouldn't use and hurled it across the room. That got the minions' attention as they all started running to the other end of the big room. That bought us a little more time. The minions were sniffing around the area where the wrench hit a barrel for a long time and seemed confused to not find anything.

"The radio's finished." 8 whispered. I tossed the fart gun to 8 and he went and watched the room. I got on the radio.

"This is Klonoa. Does anyone read me?" I said into the radio.

"Klonoa?" Someone said on the radio. "This is Callie. Where are you?"

"I'm underground. Did you guys follow the GPS?" I asked.

"We did. We've been searching the area for a while and haven't been able to find you." Callie said. "By the way, why does your voice sound so weird?"

"I'm wearing a gas mask." I answered. "We're using pretty… unconventional weapons. Anyway, no time to explain. I rescued two prisoners and I have both of them with me now. I'm going to try and find the controls for the escalating platform. If you ride the platform down, stay on the platform and don't fire any of your weapons until we're on the platform."

"Sounds good, we'll be waiting." Callie said. I turned to 8.

"Alright 8, it's time to get out of here." I said. "We need to find the elevator controls then we can get out of here." 8 tossed me the fat gun, then he went to the wall and got another one.

"Let's do it!" 8 said excitedly. "You go ahead, I'll use this cart to wheel 7 out." She had a gas mask, so she was protected from the ungodly stench of the fart gun. I ran out of the room and used the fart gun on the minions. They all staggered long enough for 8 to advance with the tool cart. We made our way around the entire room, keeping the minions off of us as best we could, until we found the elevator controls. I activated it, and sirens started blaring. We kept the minions out of the garage until the platform lowered. Callie, Goggles, Yu and Suomi were all riding the platform down, not firing their guns as I instructed.

"8!" Goggles yelled in excitement. "You're alive!" 8 and Goggles bro-hugged.

"There's no time!" Yu yelled. "We have to get out of here now!" Callie then ran and flipped the switch to make the elevator bring us back up to the surface. Once the elevator was far enough up, I got my rifle off my back.

"Alright, everyone ignite the oil barrels now!" I yelled. Everyone started shooting the minions, and the oil all over the floor quickly ignited! The massive ignition blew us all against the wall. Headphones and Marie were standing next to a truck waiting for us when we got back to the surface. Goggles grabbed my left hand and shook it.

"Thank you so much for getting 7 and 8 out of there." Goggles said. "I was worried they were killed by the minions."

"Wait… where's Gloves?" Headphones asked. 8 and I looked at each other.

"He didn't make it." I said sadly.

"The minions will burn for that." Headphones said angrily. "I'll make sure of it."

"You don't need to worry about that." Suomi said. "Klonoa ignited all the oil they had in that bunker. They're burning as we speak."

"We should get back to base." Marie said. "7 doesn't look so good." 8, Headphones and I helped 7 into the middle front seat, then 8 got in the passenger seat and we headed back to base.

—-

Everyone at the base was ecstatic to see 7 and 8 still alive. We also had to break the news of Gloves's death at the hands of the minions to everyone and this brought down the mood significantly. Who could blame them? After we got 7 and 8 situated, we met Callie, Marie, Pearl and Marina. Pearl got hyped when she saw that I had returned.

"Yo! You see that, 'Rina? Who did I say would come back alive for us? The squid cat Klonoa, that's who!" Pearl said excitedly.

"Pearl, please stop acting your height…" Marie said in a teasing tone. (I think she was saying 'stop acting your age,' but replaced 'age' with 'height,' because Pearl is pretty short.)

"Not only did I come back, but I found some stuff that may help us stop Neptune's oil shipments." I said as I emptied my pockets of maps and other intel.

"He has a nose for intel." Yu said, referring to me. "I've never seen anything like it."

"Yoooo!" Pearl said excitedly after she looked at one of the maps. "They be giving number-names to all these places! Yo 'Rina, when this is all over, wanna grab some drinks from Crusty 69's?"

"I think those are map coordinates…" Suomi said in a timid manner.

"She appears to be right." Marina said while looking at her sticker-covered laptop. "I'm looking at these coordinates on this cool site I found called 'Google Maps,' and these are the positions of all the pumps in this territory."

"Some of them are crossed out." Marie added. "Those must be the ones they hit."

"Wait, some of them are circled and crossed out." Narukami added. Callie picked up the map and put it about an inch in front of her face.

"Wait a minute… I think the ones with just the 'X' are the ones we took." Callie said. "Yeah, this is the one near the big rock. Headphones got a vantage point and that helped us win that fight. That was a good day."

"Right, so we have to worry about both holding the oil pumps the minions haven't taken yet, and we also have to deal with the oil they already stole." Marina pointed out.

"The minions keep their oil stashed away in underground bunkers… the entryways are hidden." I said, speaking from experience.

"That is indeed correct." Marie said. "We followed the GPS Klonoa put on the truck but couldn't find anything. For a while we had assumed the GPS fell off."

"If we can find a way to take control of the elevators, we can go into the bunkers and burn all their oil." Suomi suggested.

"Actually, I might be able to work something like that out." Marina said. "I'm very familiar with advanced technology, so figuring that out shouldn't be a problem for me."

"Perfect." Yu started. "We'll have access to all of their bunkers. Neptune is about to run out of oil."