(August 4, 2024)
There's something about feeling completely safe that makes me sleep like a baby. I woke up with Soppo snuggled into me and the sun cascading through the window. The curtains were billowing ever so slightly. Not to mention I had gotten used to sleeping on a tiny twin mattress on the floor of a dark cellar that didn't have any natural light. I don't want to sound like I'm complaining because I do know what it's like to survive in the unforgiving desert, but wow, sleeping on a giant squishy bed and waking up basked in natural light was something I had missed so much. I also really missed Soppo, so knowing she was with me made me even more relaxed. I wasn't planning on staying in the Girls' region for too long since we still had a war to fight, so I made myself get up after a few more minutes of sleeping in because I still wanted to talk to everyone more. Eventually I got up, gathered Soppo in my arms and made my way out to the common area where Cafe de Springfield was. I needed a morning mocha.
"GOOD MORNING, SHIKIKAN!" Everyone yelled when I entered the common area.
"And a good morning to all of you as well!" I said whilst in a very good mood. I went straight over to the cafe.
"What will it be today, hon?" Springfield asked me endearingly.
"Hmmmm… surprise me." I said. "I trust you enough, since you know what I like."
"Alright… let me think…" Springfield pondered out loud. She then snapped her fingers. "I've got just the concoction! You'll be my guinea pig." Springfield then started whipping something up, but her back was turned so I couldn't really see what she was doing. After a while, she turned around and put a cup in front of me. I slowly took a sip, with my tongue tingling because I was trying to be prepared for the worst. The coffee was bitter, but that taste was subsided immediately by a sweet creamy taste. It was almost like that sensation where you sit in a hot tub for a long time then you run out into the snow.
"This is amazing! What is it?" I asked in bewilderment.
"It's a cappuccino, but I scrapped some frosting off a cinnamon roll and mixed it in." Springfield said.
"Uh… c-could I have one of those too?" TMP asked. Within minutes, everyone in the common area wanted one. I saw Springfield was starting to get overwhelmed, so I ran around the counter, put Soppo under the counter, tucked her in with a towel and I quickly put on an apron.
"Teach me how to make one of those concoctions! I'll help you!" I said quickly. Springfield looked slightly shocked, but she didn't turn down my offer to help, luckily. She walked me through how to make a cappuccino twice, but I didn't really get it. Instead, I was on icing duty. Springfield's rule was to take a third of the icing off a cinnamon roll for each drink. Upon mixing one, I would turn around and serve it to whoever was standing at the counter. Twenty minutes later, everyone in the estate got the new drink. Springfield leaned against the wall and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank you so much for helping me, but you really didn't have to do that." Springfield said gratefully.
"I'm always glad to help." I said as I also breathed a sigh of relief. I was sweating a little bit. "Do you usually come up with new drinks like that?"
"Usually when they're alcoholic." Springfield said. "Some of the dolls here are heavy drinkers but sometimes they get tired of their usuals and need them to be spiced up every once in a while."
"...what exactly is alcohol?" I asked. Springfield looked at me slightly confused.
"You've had it before. I saw you drink an angry orchard at Kar98k's party back at the hospital." Springfield recollected.
"I mean… Why does it seem like some people are all for it while others are extremely against it?" I asked. I remember Yu said he'd explain it to me, but things kept coming up. I also kind of forgot about it up until now.
"Alcohol is a fermented drink that can… let's say, change the way you behave if you drink enough of it." Springfield explained. Just then, Yu came over to the counter.
"Good morning Klonoa, Springfield." Yu said to me and Springfield respectively. "Do you work here now, Brother?"
"No, I was just helping Springfield because I kind of caused a coffee rush." I said.
"You didn't cause it, hon." Springfield said to me. "I'm glad everyone wanted to try it. I think my experiment was a success."
"Where have you been, Yu?" I asked. "I haven't seen you all morning."
"Actually, UMP-9 and Nanako took me on a tour of the nearby towns." Yu said. "The girls have been helping the locals improve their towns since they're no longer under Akechi's thumb. You should definitely check them out before we go back to Neptune's region."
"How are they coming along?" I asked Yu.
"Night and day difference, that's all I'm going to say." Yu said. "You'll need to see them for yourself."
"Let's do that later today then." I said anticipatingly. "Anyway Springfield, what were you saying about alcohol?"
"Oh yes…" Springfield continued. "Too much alcohol can negatively affect the way you think, act and move… That's commonly known as being drunk." I started getting a little bit scared. I was slightly curious about what being drunk would be like, but I was worried it would turn me into a monster that wanted to harm innocent people.
"Should I not drink alcohol again?" I asked kind of shakily.
"You don't need to worry, hon. It happens gradually." Springfield said calmingly. "You'll start to feel slightly different, but if you stop drinking after that, the feeling will go away after some time." I felt like my entire world changed even more than it already had.
"Why do people do it?" I asked. Springfield stood there thinking about it for a few moments before Yu chimed in.
"Sometimes people do it to cover up sadness, sometimes it's just for fun… and sometimes it's addicting." Yu said grimly.
"Hon, please promise me something." Springfield said as she put a hand on my shoulder. "Please promise me that no matter what happens, you won't get drunk. Yu's right, it can be very addictive." I could feel pure worry radiating from Springfield. I think I even saw a tear welling in her eye.
"I promise." I said confidently. Springfield exhaled calmly and smiled.
"Thank you, hon." Springfield said shakily. I saw the tear that was welling in her eye previously drop out. I then heard some soft moaning from under the counter. I'd almost forgotten Soppo was still asleep under there. I picked her up and cradled her in my arms as she woke up. Her face brightened up when she saw me.
"Catman! Let's play together!" Soppo said. The funny thing was how drowsy she sounded when she said that, but she really wanted to play with me.
"Let's get you something to eat first, then we can play for a while." I said.
—-
I spent most of that day playing hide and seek with Soppo. It's not a fair game because Soppo is so small that she's able to hide in the craziest places. There was this one time when it was her turn to hide and I spent so long looking for her that I ended up asking the other girls to help look for her. The girls who knew where she was gave me very subtle hints as to where she was hiding. After what felt like forever, I found her hiding in MG-42's closet. Soppo climbed up inside one of her shirts and just stayed there. Hide and seek with Soppo isn't fun just because she's capable of doing things like that. After that, Yu and Nanako took Suomi, Soppo and I all around the region to check on the towns that were being improved. All these old bombed out towns were being turned into works of art. Grass and trees were even being planted. The places all looked so lively, the townspeople and the girls were all doing tremendous jobs! On the way to one of the towns, we passed the cave we stayed in the night the hospital got burned down… the place where Negev died. I had Yu stop the car, and I got out and checked the sticks I used to make a Star of David to mark her resting spot. Like I expected, it was destroyed. I stood there with the memory continuously stinging me. Everyone I lost… Inspector Gadget… and everyone I'm inevitably going to lose… those thoughts kept my feet planted in front of Negev's resting place. Suddenly, I got hugged from behind by Suomi.
"It's not your fault when people die." Suomi whispered to me.
"That time… it was." I whispered as I pointed at Negev's grave. "I grew too comfortable. I should have attacked Akechi first instead of waiting for him to attack."
"You led us to victory, Klonoa." Suomi reminded me. "You saved so many of us… more than you realize." That was what made me feel good enough to move from that spot… Suomi not ending the embrace also helped. We drove back to the estate in silence, before Yu said something.
"You can't wear your failures like this, Klonoa." Yu said.
"I… how did you know I was thinking about that?" I asked.
"I've been around you long enough to know what turns you from being your normal happy self." Yu told me. "We took an entire half of CWCistan, but you're not smiling."
"Everyone fails, Klonoa." Suomi said. "It's all in the past, and all the good you've done outweighs the mistakes you've made."
"Don't hold onto your failures… please." Yu said. "It hurts me to see you carrying so much weight."
"Just because you get an 'F' in school doesn't mean you fail school." Nanako pointed out. I sat there and my eyes started watering. I wasn't sure why. It was almost like some sort of relief washed over me. Just then, Soppo reached her arms towards me. She wanted me to pick her up, but she was strapped into her booster seat.
"Pick me up, Catman." Soppo commanded me. I knew it wasn't exactly safe, but I got Soppo out of her booster seat and held her close. "You do lots of good things, Catman. We have a really big house because you beat the bad man." I've been told to not stress over losing lives over and over again. It's really hard to not stress over it, though… I mean… these are lives. I want to defeat Chris-Chan, but I'm not sure if I'll ever be fully comfortable with the fact that I'm going to lose more lives. The rest of the car ride was me sitting there trying to figure out how to process the advice I was just given. I hate being so burdened, but I don't want to try and just turn off my caring for everyone fighting with me.
"Klonoa?" Yu said as he was trying to get my head out of the clouds. "Brother? We're back at the estate." I was so deep in thought that it seemed like the entire car ride passed in the blink of an eye. We all walked back into the estate and said goodbye to everyone, since we had to fly back to Neptune's region. "Suomi, you ride in the rear cockpit instead of the turret, that will probably ease your air sickness."
"Alright… let's hope I don't oksentaa kuin paloletku." Suomi said. She said the second part kind of quietly.
"Have a safe flight, big bro!" Nanako yelled to Yu while waving. With that, all the girls started waving at us and wishing us luck. The plane's engine spit out black smoke and growled to life, and we were off.
—-
The hardest part about landing was definitely getting through the nervous feeling. I remembered all the steps but I still just wasn't used to it. I'm hoping it will get easier with time. Anyway, after we landed, I got out to see how Yu and Suomi handled the flight. Suomi was extremely nauseated but she didn't throw up at all, so that's an improvement. Yu hopped out of the rear turret as I was making my way back there. He was a little bit wobbly.
"That was not a pleasant flight… I understand why Suomi got sick." He said as I ran over to let him lean on me so he wouldn't fall over. The three of us walked back into Dew's shop. Rom was behind the counter.
"Oh… hi Mister Klonoa." Rom said, sounding slightly intimidated.
"Hello Miss Rom." I said trying to put on a funny elegant accent.
"Is… Dew not here?" Yu asked, sounding kind of disappointed.
"Miss Dew is out shopping with Ram. It was my turn to watch the store while she's gone." Rom informed me.
"She's alright with you being on your own?" Suomi asked.
"She's not exactly on her own." Dani said from around the corner in the kitchen. He came walking out. It's worth noting he was coughing periodically. "I'm watching her, no worries mi compadres."
"Hola, Dani." I said happily. "How have things been around here?"
"We've been hitting spots from Noire's notes." Dani replied. "Today was a pretty productive day… until the gas attack happened in front of the dead mall."
"GAS ATTACK?!" I yelled. "Is everyone ok?"
"We all survived… but I think we'll all be out of commission for a while." Dani answered. "We tried going in loud because we didn't see much danger. We did make it pretty far, but suddenly…" Dani made a motion with his hands and imitated the sound of air blowing. "Teary eyed, unable to breathe, all the energy just sapped out of us… hijo de putas. Attacking during the day was a stupid idea."
"What's the significance of that mall?" Yu asked. Just then, Dew and Ram came walking in.
"Heyyy, you're all back!" Dew happily said. "How was the getaway?"
"Heavenly." I answered back. I probably said that unconvincingly. It was heaven, but the situation I found myself in just brought all the stress of this war right back to the forefront. I had some time to rest, but I needed to snap back in. There was something Neptune was guarding more than anything else, and I needed answers. "I'll be right back." I awkwardly said.
"Should I come with you?" Suomi asked me. Yu looked at me expecting an answer that applied to him as well.
"You can." I answered.
"Where are you going, Mr. Klonoa?" Ram asked me.
"Mr. Farha's." I answered. Yu, Suomi and I then headed over to Mr Farha's, because I had to use his radio. Mr Farha graciously agreed to let me use the radio in his basement, so I went down there and set it to the correct channel. "Noire?" I said with an altered voice. I tried sounding like what one of her lieutenants would sound like. I tried to sound as nasally as possible. I sat there waiting for a few moments.
"Who is this?" Noire asked abrasively.
"Noire, are you alone right now?" I asked while still using the voice.
"Yes… but if you are planning anything funny I will execute you myself." Noire said even more abrasively.
"Noire… it's me. Klonoa." I said using my normal voice.
"Oh, Klonoa. I'm sorry, sometimes my lieutenants call me and ask me what I'm wearing." Noire said. "Anyway, how can I help you?"
"I have a question;" I started. "Why is Neptune keeping a certain dead mall extremely protected?"
"Dead… mall…" Noire pondered out loud. "Can you be more specific?"
"Some friends of mine tried breaking in and they got attacked by gas… that's all I know." I said. I kind of wish I asked Dani more questions.
"The mall to the North West, known as the Rahmanian mall." BJ said from behind us. Apparently he followed us.
"Rahmanian mall? That's technically in Neptune's region, right on the border." Noire informed me. "I don't know much about it, but if it's being guarded that much, it may be one of Neptune's 'special training grounds.'"
"'Special training grounds?'" Yu asked. "Noire… what does that mean?"
"I wish I knew more about them…" Noire admitted. "Neptune talks about them all the time and she'll sometimes ask me to transfer some of my top performing soldiers there to supplement her forces. I try asking her what's so important about it, but she just replies with 'It's a little secret only for me.'" Yu, Suomi, BJ and I all exchanged looks and nodded at the same time. We were all in agreement; we were going to take the mall.
"Thank you for the info, Noire." I said gratefully, even though she didn't give us as much info as I was hoping for. I just wanted to be nice. "We'll let you in on 'Neptune's little secret' once we find out what it is."
"Just… be careful, Klonoa." Noire said while sounding very worried. "You're my only way out of all of this. Go there around four in the morning. The guards will either be beyond exhausted or fresh out of bed, it will give you the best chance." Noire then exhaled sharply. "Good luck you guys." The radio then started spitting out nothing but static.
"Why'd you follow us, BJ?" Yu suddenly asked.
"I knew you three would try to take the place on your own." BJ said gruffly. "I'm coming with you and that's non-negotiable. Before you ask, I'm over the effects of the gas." BJ was obviously expecting an argument, but I was more than happy to have him come along.
"That'll be great!" I exclaimed. "We should start heading over there soon then."
"We're going to need a lot of coffee, or soda pop, or something." Yu said, anticipating a very long drive.
(August 5, 2024)-
It was about four in the morning when we got to the mall, just like Noire instructed us to do. BJ, Yu, Suomi and I all took turns driving but none of us got any shut eye because of all the caffeine we were taking in. My eyes were exhausted, but every other part of me was raring to go on the mission. We were about to uncover a secret that was precious to Neptune. I hid the car underneath an overpass just about a quarter of a mile away from the mall, so we headed there on foot. The sun was just peering over the horizon, giving us the perfect inbetween of being hidden in the darkness, but being able to see somewhat decently. The air was very calm and cool, with a slight breeze and a zen-like whooshing sound. It was starting to make me a little sleepy.
"Are you all ready?" BJ asked us. We all nodded then we made our way towards the loading dock tucked away behind the mall and somewhat underneath it.
"Why'd you come with us?" Suomi asked BJ as we walked to the loading door. "I'm not saying you shouldn't have, I'm simply asking why."
"I've seen too many kids throw their lives at the possibility of a better world." BJ gruffly said. "I have to come with you to make sure you three stay safe." We got up to the door and I put my fingers underneath it. It budged just enough for me to get my fingers underneath, but that was as far as it would go. That was when I noticed there was a chain lock. BJ carefully moved me out of the way, and he shot the lock with one of his suppressed smgs.
"Alright, let's keep it quiet." Yu whispered to us. We went into the dark employee hallway. It was lined with concrete… every footstep echoed… the paint on the walls was chipped… the smell of mildew. It was very creepy, especially with the knowledge what one wrong move would cause bullets to start flying at us. I'm used to girls being afraid of ghosts like Lolo was back in Lunatea, but Suomi was handling the creepy hall with lots of tact.
"Flashlight!" Suomi whispered. "Coming around the corner!" I couldn't find any place to hide because of the darkness. If that guy with the flashlight turned the corner, we'd all be like deer in headlights! Yu ran at the guy with his knife and disappeared into the darkness. I saw the flashlight suddenly point straight up then it began waving around before it fell to the floor. Yu picked up the flashlight and shined it at himself and a thumbs up to show us we were clear. We moved towards Yu, then from there, he took the lead, keeping the way lit for us. The rest of the hallways were clear, but we ended up being in a kind of maze. Eventually we came up to a door.
"We have no idea where this leads…" Yu advised me.
"We have to pick a door to go through, otherwise we'll be here when everyone in this mall wakes up." I reasoned. "If that happens, we'll be lucky to leave here with all of our lives. C'mon, let's check this door out."
"I'll open the door, you cover me." BJ said. Yu, Suomi and I all raised our guns as BJ cracked the door open. We found ourselves in a store lined with clothes, and there were also a few sleeping guards strewn about. "We're going to need to put them down." Bj said as he readied his hatchet. I froze. I remembered what happened at the first base we attacked after we met up with the group in this region; they had to walk down an aisle of sleeping guards and kill them in their sleep. My legs gave out, but I was able to control them enough to where I wouldn't fall on the floor so hard I'd make a noise.
"Klonoa… it's ok." Suomi comforted me. "I'll help BJ and Yu, you can stand guard."
"Um… actually I'd rather not do this either…" Yu whispered. "I'll go stand guard with Klonoa." Suomi slightly rolled her eyes, but BJ had already gotten started killing the sleeping guards. Yu and I made our way out of the store carefully. As we stood outside waiting, we saw someone with a flashlight coming out of one of the stores. Yu and I both hid behind potted plants and watched the guard to see where he'd go. He sauntered over to a water fountain next to the restrooms, got some water, then he went back into the store.
"Looks like this will be easier than we thought." I whispered.
"Actually… I am starting to think killing the guards now while they're asleep is the safest bet." Yu whispered. I was shocked at first, but the more I thought about it, the more reasonable it sounded. I still wanted to avoid doing that all I could.
"Let's just figure out what Neptune's 'secret' is, then get out of here." I whispered. "I can't bring myself to kill anyone who's unarmed."
"Whatever you want to do, I'll watch your back." Yu said as he leaned over and patted my shoulder. Suomi and BJ came out of the store with blood stains on their upper bodies.
"So, what's the plan?" Suomi asked.
"We're going to keep moving… without killing any more unarmed guards." I said.
"If you don't want to kill them, why not make them unable to fire their weapons?" BJ suggested. "Take the ammo out of their guns, then when we go loud, they won't be able to."
"That's actually a really good idea." Yu said. We then started going from store to store, taking the magazines out of the guards' weapons and hiding them. Some of them were sleeping with magazines in their tac vests, but not all of them were. We were thinning them out without actually killing any unarmed guards. As we made our way further through the mall, I started getting overwhelmed by all of the angles we could get shot from. We were hugging the walls, but there were three floors in the mall, and the second and third floors were all balconies which could be used to fire at us. I was distracted by the thought of a massive firefight, and that caused me to be unaware of where I was going. I ended up hitting the side of one of the kiosks in the mall. It made a pretty loud sound. The four of us quickly ran into an alcove and scanned the balconies. We didn't see anyone after a few moments, so we kept moving, thinking everyone was still asleep. We walked towards another hallway, but a guard ran at me with a bayonet on his gun. He knocked me down to the floor!
"PERKELE!" Suomi yelled as she shot the guard in the torso several times. The guard squeezed the trigger on his unsuppressed weapon! The gunshots echoed through the entire mall! "No no no nooooo… I'm so sorry, Klonoa!" Suomi said as she put her hands on the side of her head in distress.
"INTRUDERS! KILL THEM AT ALL COSTS!" Someone on the loudspeaker yelled. Alarms started going off! The balconies were swarming with guards! I had to come up with an action plan quickly!
"Everyone stick together!" I commanded. "We go from cover to cover!" The four of us ran behind the escalators and fired at guards rushing us. As I was firing, I saw about eight lieutenants running with Neptune on the third floor, acting as human shields! Neptune was in the mall! "Guys! Neptune is here! We have to try and stop her from leaving!" I yelled at the thought of taking out one of the three remaining horsemen of the dimensional merge!
"Stay close!" BJ yelled. He grabbed both of his smgs and started running around the escalators. Yu, Suomi and I all ran with BJ. BJ ran up the escalators, Suomi ran behind him taking out guards on the second floor balcony, while Yu and I stayed slightly behind taking out guards on the far side of the mall.
"Klonoa! Narukami! I'll give you covering fire! Suomi called to us. Yu and I ran up the escalators while the barrage of bullets was a bit lighter. When I got to the top of the escalators, a bunch of guards started running out of one of the stores! There must have been fifteen of them! BJ slinged the smgs on his back and readied both of his shotguns. He walked slowly, spraying the guards with his semi-automatic shotguns. The guards were being torn apart by the repeated shotgun fire.
"Yu, stay with BJ!" I commanded. "Suomi, you and I are going to rush to the other escalators in the middle of the mall!"
"Good luck! I'll watch your backs!" Yu yelled. Suomi and I both ran along the other side of the second floor balcony towards the other set of escalators that led to the third floor. As we were running, bullets started flying at us from in front, so we had to take cover. We were fast enough to shake off shooters to our sides, but not head on! Suomi and I both took cover and fired at the guards in front of us. Yu was taking them out as fast as he could! BJ made it through the guards on the other side of the second floor balcony, and he started making his way forward. He started drawing a good amount of the gunfire!
"Move up!" I commanded. Suomi and I ran over to the escalators in the middle of the mall. We then ran into another problem; we were in the middle of the mall. The guards were going to be coming at us from two sides and three floors. Suomi and I took cover from the guards behind us so we could focus on the guards slowing BJ and Yu down. We cleared the way for them quickly, and they came over to where we were and helped us reinforce the position. The fire on the second floor was starting to clear.
"Alright everyone, same plan!" I yelled. "BJ, Suomi, get up the escalator, Yu and I will cover!"
"Thanks." BJ said surprisingly calmly. He and Suomi made their way up the escalators, but it was slower because the guards were doing their absolute best to keep the third floor covered since that was where Neptune was allegedly hiding. Yu and I made enough of a clearing to where we were able to rush up the escalators and support Suomi and BJ. I also couldn't help but notice a few of the guards on the far end of the mall lined up shots on me and Yu, but they ended up not being able to fire because we hid their ammo! They ended up just running away. While we were at the top of the escalators holding our position, a few guards with big guns came around the corner and charged us.
"Those are the same guys that gassed us before!" BJ warned us. "Be careful!" Yu was able to shoot the guards with the gas guns before they got too close and we all moved up before more of those guys could come around the corner and rush us.
"Guys, grab one of these gas launchers!" Suomi yelled. "We can use these against them!" Yu, Suomi and I each grabbed one, but BJ chose to stick with his own weapons. We turned the corner and found ourselves in an area where Neptune couldn't have run any further. It was a food court with a big department store at the end of it. Yu and I both shot the gas guns we picked up at the guards in front of the department store, and it caused them to drop their weapons and start staggering everywhere! There was a massive cloud of gas lingering in front of the store!
"Let's get into that store and find Neptune!" Yu yelled. "Hold your breaths, squint and run!" The four of us ran through the gas and into the department store. We ran behind a corner to catch our breaths and wipe our eyes. It was quiet.
"Everyone ok?" Suomi asked as she coughed. My eyes and skin were burning, but otherwise, I was alright. Suddenly, the department doors closed on their own, trapping us inside!
"What are you doing up so early, Klonoa Co.?" Neptune said over the loudspeakers. "If you were hoping to shop, I'm sorry but this mall is temporarily closed. It's where I've been working on my latest projects."
"'Projects?'" Yu asked. "What does that mean?"
"These projects will unfortunately be the end of you, so I'll let you see them." Neptune threatened us. "You have a few seconds before I release them, so maybe look around here and change into clothes that aren't as ugly." The four of us didn't end up looking for clothes, we were too busy bracing ourselves for what these 'projects' were. An 'employees only' door opened, and out came walking an older boy and an older girl. The boy had glasses, black frizzy hair and was wearing a school uniform. The girl had long light brown hair and she had two hair buns on the upper-sides of her head and she was wearing a black short dress as well as a green camouflage jacket on her arms but it wasn't on her body, if that makes sense. I raised my gun up ready to fire, but I happened to look at Suomi, who was standing there stunned.
"K… K- Kel?" Suomi squeezed out of her choked up throat. I stood there shocked as well… Neptune had somehow brainwashed Suomi's best friend. I looked to Yu, who was also standing there in shock.
"Amamiya?" Yu said with the widest eyes. I remember Yu telling me about what happened between him and Amamiya. All this time, Yu was hoping Amamiya was alive so he could try to right all his wrongs… but Neptune had gotten to him as well.
"Unfortunately, I can't let any of you catch up, because these two have jobs to do." Neptune said all sing-songy. "Give me a good show!"
"Kel!" Suomi begged her friend. "Please snap out of it!"
"You had your chance, Sue!" Kel yelled. "Now it's game over for you!" Kel and Amamiya both took off in separate directions. Kel started firing at us, but we had no idea where Amamiya went!
"Amamiya-Kun!" Yu yelled. "Please… let's talk about this!" There was no answer. Kel started firing at us from all the way across the store! She was extremely accurate, while Amamiya was still nowhere to be seen!
"We can't kill them." Yu said quietly. "We have to somehow get them to stop fighting us."
"Let's do our best to knock them out." I replied. The four of us started rushing Kel, but her shots were so accurate it was hard to move up. We had to go from cover to cover in very quick succession, and we still didn't know where Amamiya was! As we were moving towards Kel, Amamiya suddenly jumped on Yu out of nowhere! He pinned Yu to the floor and started shooting at Suomi, BJ and I with a suppressed pistol! Yu managed to grab Amamiya's shooting arm and stop him from hitting. I rushed over to the cover Yu was behind, but Kel started shooting at me! I jumped behind a clothes display and I found myself pinned down by Kel! Amamiya lost the hand to hand fight with Yu, but he managed to slip away. We were back to not knowing where he was again!
"We have to take Kel out while we have the chance!" I said loudly enough for my friends to hear. "Then we can focus on Amamiya!"
"Spread out!" BJ ordered. "She'll have a harder time keeping track of the four of us!" We all zipped from cover to cover, but Kel started running to another piece of cover further away! She knew what we were trying to do! Suomi took off running after her!
"KEL! THIS ISN'T YOU! SNAP OUT OF IT!" Suomi yelled desperately as she was gaining on her best friend. Suomi then jumped onto Kel and pinned her to the floor. Kel tried pointing her gun at Suomi and Suomi tried keeping the barrel of Kel's gun away from her. Suomi was starting to lose the fight, so I ran over there and grabbed Kel's barrel and got it away from Suomi. BJ ran over to us and hit Kel over the head with the side of his hatchet, knocking her out. Just then, Amamiya jumped out of nowhere as Yu was running over to help us. He got the jump on Yu and pinned him down! Amamiya disarmed Yu, and aimed the pistol at Yu's face. BJ quickly grabbed one of his smgs, flipped a little switch in it, then fired a single shot at Amamiya's body. It hit him, and he yelped in pain because it looked like the bullet burned his skin, which gave Yu the upper hand. Yu got up and hit Amamiya's head with the butt of his M14. After everything settled down from that fight, Yu and Suomi both got up and walked over to their respective friends slowly. I stood there like a dope not fully knowing what to do.
"Amamiya-Kun… I'm so sorry… I'm sorry." Yu uttered while crying.
"Argh! I can't believe you two failed!" Neptune raged over the loudspeaker. "Every guard and lieutenant in and around this mall, take these four out and I'll let you see my naughty pictures!"
"This can't be good!" BJ said. "We have to get the frick out of here." BJ didn't actually say 'frick.' Yu picked up Amamiya and put him over his shoulders, and Suomi did the same to Kel. I grabbed both of their guns, hoping maybe we could un-brainwash them and have them fight with us.
"Alright, you two stay behind, BJ and I will clear the way." I said. BJ ran over to the other side of the department store and found an exit. We all ran out of it and straight into a halo of gunfire! We somehow had to make our way across a wide open parking lot with barely any cover! All we could do was hug the wall and hope to find a side of the mall where we wouldn't be overwhelmed by guys who wanted to see pictures of Neptune robbing a candy store. Guards were rushing us from almost every angle!
"We have to make it to the car!" Yu said as we ran and dodged bullets. Just then a helicopter came from the distance! It was after us! It started spotlighting the underpass we parked the car under, then it destroyed the car with the machine guns! We didn't have a way out! We kept running and firing back at the guards to both slow them down and hopefully take a few of them out to make the opposition lighter. We ran towards the slums just across the road from the mall in an attempt to lose the guards.
"Put the kid down." BJ ordered Yu. "I'll hold onto him so you can shoot." Yu quickly put Amamiya down somewhat gently and steadied his M14 on the side of one of the dilapidated houses.
"I'll slow them down as much as I can!" Yu shouted. "You three, get as far ahead as you can! I'll catch up!" BJ and Suomi rushed ahead, weaving around buildings while carrying Amamiya and Kel, both still unconscious. I couldn't run ahead and leave my brother behind!
"Klonoa, run!" Yu yelled at me.
"We both know I can't do that, brother!" I retorted. Yu and I both stood there shooting guards who were charging the slums. We were only able to stay there for a few moments because there were more guards than we could deal with, and they were all spread out! One of the guards who was close to us threw some sort of can at us!
"GRENADE! GET DOWN, KLONOA!" Yu yelled as he jumped on me. I was expecting the can to go BOOM, but it ended up releasing some sort of purple smoke.
"What's going on?" I asked while I was relieved the can wasn't a grenade.
"They're telling the helicopter where we are!" Yu said as he shuffled onto his feet. He then helped me up, and the two of us ran through the slums.
"You try to run from me?" The guy piloting the helicopter threatened. At least I think he's a guy. He sounds very girly. It's tough to say, but whatever. Yu and I ran through the slums as machine gun fire tore the wood and sheet metal shacks apart. Guards were right on our tails, so playing dead wasn't an option! As Yu and I neared the end of the slums, BJ suddenly came out from a corner with both of his shotguns and started ripping guards apart!
"Keep running, I'll slow 'em down!" BJ ordered. Yu and I both kept running until we reached an empty parking lot that had some concrete dividers we could use for cover. Suomi was hiding behind a divider and she was calling someone.
"We're in an abandoned parking lot near the Rahmanian mall on the outskirts of Neptune's region!" Suomi yelled into her phone. I figured she was getting us a way outta there, so I left her alone. Yu and I both jumped behind dividers and laid down fire for BJ as he ran back from the slums. He had bought us time, but the helicopter was unfortunately headed our way!
"You can't win this fight! I'm an ex-hacker-thief in a helicopter!" The fem-boy pilot screeched. Suomi turned towards the helicopter slowly then a look of horror went across her face.
"Oh… Perkele." Suomi muttered. BJ had just made it over to us and hopped the barrier. "Keep me covered!" Suomi yelled as she ran towards the helicopter.
"SUOMI, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" I yelled. Suomi got as close to the helicopter as she could, then she pulled out the gas launcher and fired it at the helicopter! A cloud of gas immediately surrounded the helicopter, and I could hear the pilot coughing over the pa system, then the helicopter started retreating! Unfortunately, guards started pouring out of the slums and firing on us! Suomi was pinned down! Not only that, but there were guards coming at us from behind as well! They were flanking us!
"Should we push back into the slums?" Yu shouted.
"No!" Suomi answered. "Pearl's coming with a helicopter, we need to stay in this area if we want a ride out of here!"
"DANGIT!" I yelled. We were almost completely surrounded and Suomi was still pinned down! I had to think of something fast!
"VEST! HE'S GOT A VEST!" Yu yelled. I turned around and one of the guards was running at us with a vest that had a flashing red light on it! It was a bomb vest! BJ ran over to him with his hatchet, sliced off the arm that was holding the remote detonator then he quickly sliced the guard's neck! BJ made sure to not let the hand holding the remote hit the ground, otherwise the detonate button could have gotten hit and the bomb would have killed us all! BJ grabbed the guard and ran towards the side of the parking lot where the slums were!
"Give me covering fire!" BJ ordered me and Yu. Yu and I fired at the windows where the guards were to try and keep them from firing at BJ. He ran over to Suomi and threw the guard's body inside one of the houses. "GET DOWN!" BJ yelled. He got on top of Suomi and pressed the remote detonator, and there was a huge explosion! The guards were in disarray only for a moment, but I knew I had to take advantage of it. I ran over to where Suomi was hiding.
"YOU HAVE TO GET BACK TO THE PARKING LOT, SUOMI!" I yelled. She and BJ got up and ran back behind the barriers! There were still guards behind us, but we were able to take them out easily, and the slums behind us were a mess, so the guards in there were more focused on clearing out the rubble so they could get through.
"Yo fresh squids, your ride is here!" I heard Pearl say over the loudspeakers on the helicopter. Pearl landed the helicopter, and Team Blue got out and gave us supporting fire. Yu grabbed Amamiya, and Suomi grabbed Kel. BJ and I helped Team Blue take out the never ending horde of guards who had been harassing us the entire time.
"Everyone's on board!" Specs yelled. "Klonoa, get on the-" I turned around to board the helicopter, and I saw that Specs had been killed!
"NOOO!" Headphones yelled. "EVERYONE GET ON BOARD NOW!" BJ and I got over to the helicopter, but I picked Specs on the way. Suomi, Yu, BJ and I all gave Team Blue covering fire as they got back into the helicopter, but Bobble Hat grabbed one of BJ's hatchets and ran towards the slums!
"Bobble Hat!" Headphones yelled. "We have to get out of here!" Bobble Hat wasn't coming back.
"We need to cover her!" Yu yelled. We all stood there in that helicopter keeping Bobble Hat covered the best we could. Eventually, Goggles jumped out of the helicopter and ran over to her. I couldn't hear what Goggles said to her, but whatever he said, it worked. The two of them ran back over to the helicopter, and we helped them in. The helicopter took off, getting us away from the endless hordes of guards.
"Specs…" Headphones sobbed into her hands as she slowly sat on the bench in the helicopter.