(August 25, 2024)-(Ren Amamiya)-
"Amamiya?" I heard in my sleep. I rolled over, hoping it would go away. "Amamiya brother?" It was getting louder and was now accompanied by light slaps on the face. I opened my eyes to see Commander Graves at my bedside. "Ohayo, Amamiya brother. Ready to go to the warzone?" I quickly got on my feet and stood at the ready.
"Yeah." I replied.
"Well now I like that energy, brother." Graves said, accompanied by a pat on the shoulder. "Now, we need to wake up Bullpup-sister."
"This will be difficult." Suomi said, sounding like she didn't get any sleep last night. She also looked sleep deprived. We went over to the pullout couch, where RFB was fast asleep. I also couldn't help but notice her nintendo switch on the floor. Her hand was hanging off the bed right over it and she was drooling on her pillow.
"Yo. Bullpup sister." Graves said as he attempted to wake her up. No avail.
"Hey Kel!" Suomi said loudly. "How about I delete Splatoon 2 off of your switch?" RFB suddenly grabbed Suomi by the collar, but she was still more than half asleep.
"If… if you delete… Splatoon 2… I will eat your… liver…" RFB drifted back to sleep as she was threatening to ingest Suomi's liver. Suomi suddenly jumped on the bed and violently twisted RFB's arm behind her back. "AAAAAHHHHHH… OKAY I'M UP I'M UP!" Suomi released RFB's arm and allowed her to stand up.
"Ohayo, Bullpup-chan." Graves said. "Ready to go to the warzone?" RFB just stood there nodding with a dead look on her face.
"Right, now we need to take inventory of personnel and resources." Graves said as he turned towards the door. "To the intelligence room! Everyone's gathered." We followed Graves to his room, though RFB was walking like she was drunk. Graves seemed to notice this. "We have coffee, bullpup-chan. I need you alive."
"My name's RFB." RFB clarified. Anyway, we got to the intel room, where the Gentlemen and Shadows were. There were also a few girls there who kind of looked a little similar to Suomi and RFB there. There were also some strange humanoid creatures there. I want to say they were squid-humans. RFB looked starstruck.
"CALLIE? MARIE? PEARL? MARINA? TEAM BLUE?" RFB yelled in complete amazement. One of the squid humans elbowed another squid human.
"Yo 'Rina, look! We've got fans!" The pink tiny squid human said. Want me to sign anything?" RFB pulled out her Nintendo switch.
"Please sign this! I play Splatoon all the time!" RFB said happily.
"What's Splatoon?" A headphones-wearing squid human asked.
"It's the game you're from!" RFB answered. "It's my favorite!"
"We're from a game?" A googles-wearing squid human said pleasantly surprised. "Am I the main character?"
"Actually, you and the rest of Team Blue are from the manga." RFB clarified. The goggles-wearing squid human looked disappointed. "By the way, where's Specs?" I noticed Narukami and Suomi wincing. The headphones-wearing squid human looked down sadly.
"Alright everyone, this here…" Graves changed the subject as he pointed at a spot on the map that was circled in red. "...Is Neptune's command building. It is a high security area, and it is also a massive staple on Neptune's choke hold on this region. Now, we also need to find our missing brother, Klonoa."
"MASTER'S MISSING?" One of the T-dolls shouted. It's important to note that she has these weird fox ears.
"Hopefully, by taking this building, we'll be able to find out where your master is, Fox-sister." Graves said. "Now, first of all, we'll need to make some introductions here. We have some new sisters that have been requisitioned from the team that freed the region to the West of us. Well, actually both teams. The Tactical Dolls and the Inklings freed Akechi's region and the oil fields, respectively."
"We shuffered lotsh of losshes." A T-doll with long white pony-tails, a black officer's cap and a speech impediment said sadly. "MG34-onee-shama…"
"That is the cost of this struggle, lass." Jarl said as he walked over to the T-doll. She had a look of fear in her eyes for a split second, possibly due to Jarl's large and slightly intimidating build. "We must continue to fight, for the friends we still have."
"This… is the price we pay… for what we do." Woods said solemnly.
"Yo, we're gonna go out there and show all those no-good lolcows what happens when you mess with fresh squids by stealing their feline friend." The pink short squid-human said with a hyper exterior but sadness lying underneath her eyes. Graves began the mission briefing, seeming to understand most of us were really antsy.
"Alright, first things first, we can't get into this building if there are all these infrared lasers blanketing the entire area. Apparently, Amamiya-brother here can somehow see the lasers, and that means he'll be going in. Now, does anyone here know about circuitry and all of that cool stuff?" A tall dark-skinned squid human raised her hand high and proud. This was followed by a fashionable pink-haired T-doll grabbing another T-doll's hand and raising it for her.
"So, you're good with machinery, T-sister?" Graves asked the T-doll. She looked like she just got snapped out of a trance. "What were you so lost in thought about?"
"Oh, sorry, I was just thinking about what it would take to turn this place into an impenetrable fortress." The T-doll said. She was wearing a large orange coat and had utility belts full of tools hanging off her body. She was also wearing what looked like self-made goggles. "What did you need me for?"
"It looks like Amamiya-brother will be sneaking you and the squid-sister into the building, where you two will have to disable the lasers so we can all move in."
"Hey, what are you trying to pull here?" A squid human with black hair that was tied into a bow said. "We're the squid sisters!"
"Callie, calm yourself please. This is a professional setting." A squid human with gray hair said.
"Technically, I'm an octarian, sir." The dark-skinned octarian corrected Graves. The orange-coated T-doll looked at me.
"So, I'll be in your care?" She asked me. She then shuffled closer to me. "Do you want me to make you a fully functioning cybernetic body?"
"Huh? N…nah." I said with a consoling wave.
"Anyway…" Graves continued. "While those three are doing that, I want a sniper team to get themselves positioned and ready to provide cover fire. Any volunteers?"
"I suppose Headphones and I can do that." The gray-haired squid human said calmly.
"I believe I'll be needed here." A T-doll with super long white hair, a German general cap and a massive cloak said. "I'll show you all my strength."
"Guess I'll help out too." Jason said monotonously yet confidently."
"Well, as much as I'd like to be there to rescue Klonoa, if he's in there, I'll stay outside and keep you all covered." Narukami said. "Amamiya, I'll keep you, Marina and MK3 covered as you move in."
"Sounds good, thank you." I said.
"Well Eugene, you've got a rifle and good accuracy, you'll be helping them out, yup yup?" Graves asked a handsome man dressed in medieval-looking garb.
"Yup yup." Eugene replied.
"Alright, we've got all of that decided, but we still need some more support." Graves pointed out. "I'm guessing the rush into the building will be one of the most difficult ever attempted during this conflict, yup-yup?"
"Well, I've got a plane and experience with providing close air support, so I can help you out there." Nathan said proudly.
"Not to mention we have a tank that we oddly haven't used much." BJ added in his shredded voice. Graves's eyes widened.
"Alright, now THAT'S what I like to hear!" Graves said excitedly. "I trust you can get that tank over here and it is in good working order?" Graves asked.
"Don't worry about it, Graves." Woods said. "We keep it well oiled and fueled. She'll get us through. Tank's all yours, Graves."
"Alright, I think I'll be in that tank myself." Graves said. "I'll need a crew, though."
"I'LL DO IT!" A bobble-hat-wearing squid human said… or rather growled, all the while her eyes were closed and she had a huge smile on her face.
"Alright… then…" Graves said, sounding slightly uncomfortable. I think that may have been the first time I saw his normally hyped up and un-moved persona waver. "Uh… Longbottom and Papa, why don't you two join me in the tank? Same with you, Bullpup-sister."
"Huh?" RFB slurred her word as she rubbed her eyes. "Oh, tha's fine." She clearly wasn't fully awake yet. I slid her the pot of coffee.
"Caffeinate yourself." I instructed RFB.
"Alright, everyone else in here, you'll be charging into that building. Snipers outside will keep you covered, same with my team in the tank as well as our fly boy here. As for the two MGs we have, MG-42, you'll stay with the snipers and unload hell on any CWC terrorists who come close. MG-36, you move up with the rushers, but stay towards the rear, yup-yup?"
"Yup-yup!" MG-42 said determinedly. "I'll make MG34-onee-shama proud!" MG-36 just nodded, without saying a word.
"MG-sister, I'm gonna need to hear a response from you." Graves pried.
"Yup-yup…" MG-36 said with less gusto than MG-42.
"Alright everyone, we are wheels up!" Graves said as he threw his fist into the air.
"YUP-YUP!" The entire room chanted.
"Klonoa… we'll find you." Suomi solemnly said.
—-
Later that day, we were all formed up outside the perimeter of the command building and ready for action. First thing's first… MK3, Marina and I had to sneak inside the building to shut down the motion sensing lasers.
"Alright, Amamiya-brother." Graves said as he tossed me a radio. "Get yourself and your mechanical sisters into that building, get those lasers shut off and try not to be seen. If you get spotted and they start rushing you before the lasers are off, there won't be much we can do to help you." That made me feel quite uneasy, but I'll never let something like that show.
"Hmm." I acknowledged as I adjusted my glasses. "Alright Marina and MK, let's go." I readied my suppressed glock and led Marina and MK through the trees. I had to focus more than I normally would in order to see the lasers, but I could make them out. The three of us headed through the treeline.
"Amamiya, sniper team is at the treeline ready to take out sentries." Narukami said.
"Don't get us caught." I advised. We went around to the Southwest side of the massive parking lot and got behind a retaining wall so I could watch the lasers and see if any of them were moving. Luckily for me, as far as I could see, none of them were moving.
"Amamiya, don't move." Narukami advised me. "Three sentries looking your way." We stayed in cover. I knew we hadn't been seen, but my heart was still pounding out of my chest. I've done stuff like this about a year ago in the metaverse, but this time, it felt a lot more real. The weight of knowing if I mess up, us three could be ended by the pull of a trigger. I couldn't let that anxiety scramble my thought process. Two lives were in my hands at that moment, as well as this entire mission to save Klonoa. "Targets down. You're good to move." Narukami radioed me. We ran over to where a laser was.
"Laser here." I informed my team. "We have to crawl under." We crawled underneath the laser and kept crawling until we were clear. This went on for just a while longer, until…
"Amamiya, get into cover!" Narukami said over the radio. "A car is approaching the building!" There wasn't any good cover, except for a shallow ditch. It was all we had.
"Car coming." I whispered to my team. "Get into the ditch and stay still." We rolled into the ditch and stayed perfectly still. My heart was pounding. "Anything to report, Narukami?"
"This is your lucky day, it's just Raku-Chan doing a Doadassu order." Narukami said over the radio. "All the sentries are keeping their eyes on Raku-Chan, so you can move safely." I got my team out of the ditch, and we kept moving until we got to a door on the backside of the building. There was a retinal scanner at that door, so I had to think of something.
"I think I can do something about this…" Marina said as she took out a knife. She popped off the panel, pulled some wires, and the door opened. We snuck inside and I took point. We slowly and methodically moved through the well-lit hallways. I took out guards whenever it was safe and dragged their bodies behind cover.
"Do you know where you're going, Amamiya-San?" MK asked me.
"Nah, but I'm hoping I can figure it out." I said unconfidently. "I figure it will be tucked away in a corner somewhere, but whether or not it's on this level, I don't know." We kept moving until we got to a massive room. I think it was the entryway. I saw Raku-Chan standing at a receptionist's counter. I remembered Raku-Chan from when we took the airfield a while ago, shortly before Klonoa got captured. It seemed we could trust her. The receptionist wasn't there, so I tried getting her attention. "Psst." I whispered to Raku-Chan. She was far away, but she did hear it. She started looking around. "Pssst!" I went louder. Raku-Chan saw me and made her way over.
"OH! I knooowwww youuuu…" Raku-Chan started. I quickly shushed her.
"Are you making a delivery here?" I asked.
"Haiiii… they pay reaaaallllllyyyyyy subarashīīīīīīīī." Raku-Chan whispered.
"Listen, we're taking this place down, but we need to be able to find our way around. Do you know where we can find a map of this place?" I asked. Raku-Chan went over to the desk, reached behind it and pulled out a brochure. Suddenly, the doors behind the desk opened and someone came into the room before she could hand it to me.
"Yes, Mr. Heffley will be down shortly to get the delivery." The receptionist said. "In the meantime, you can get lost." I wasn't surprised by the rudeness of this place's employees. I could tell Raku-Chan was conflicted. Suddenly, Raku-Chan punched the receptionist as hard as she could on the forehead and knocked him out. I ran out of the alcove to hide the body.
"I've never liiiiked himmmm, anywaaaayyyyy. Nyaaa~" Raku-Chan whispered. She handed me the brochure.
"Raku-Chan, thank you for the help." I whispered back. "Leave now, get somewhere safe." Raku-Chan waved and quickly left. We went to a secluded corner of the building and looked through the brochure, and there was in fact a map on there.
"There." Marina said while pointing at the map. "'Security center.'" That was where we headed. We had to go up a few flights of stairs.
"Amamiya?" A guard said from behind me. "Good to see you…" His face soured. "Who are these two?" I quickly took him down and hid his body.
"Why did he know you…?" MK asked me, sounding like she was re-thinking her trust. That was when I remembered… all the guards knew me. Apparently I'd done a good enough job of keeping my true identity underwraps… they didn't know my mental conditioning was reversed. I took the guard's Neptune lapel pin off and put it on myself.
"Follow me and stay hidden. Trust me." I said. I knew Marina and MK were questioning me, but there wasn't any time to explain. I walked down the hallways of the command center, acting like I belonged there. Marina and MK were slinking behind, staying in the darkness. A few maintenance workers came walking by, wearing gray jumpsuits with "Neptunian Technicians" on the front and back. They looked happy to be there. "Take them out when I snap my fingers." I whispered to the alcove where Marina and MK were hiding. "Hey," I stopped the two technicians and made sure their backs were turned to the alcove. "Where is the security room?" I asked.
"Just down that hallway, take a right, then take your third left and it will be the sixth door on your right." One of the technicians said. I looked both ways down the hallway we were in, then snapped my fingers. Marina and MK came out of the shadows and snapped the technicians' necks.
"Alright, put their uniforms on, quickly." I said.
"Well don't look!" Marina snapped at me.
"Right…" I said as I looked away. A few minutes later, they changed into the jumpsuits. Why do women take so long to change? Sorry to get off topic, but it is a serious question… I don't want to keep the others waiting. Anyway, we walked down the hallways, following the directions the technicians gave us, and we got to the security room door. A few guards walked past, but there weren't any problems. A few side-eying, but that's it.
"Alright, let's make this quick." Marina said. We went into the security room. "Let's get those lasers off." Marina and MK started tinkering around with the circuitry and computers in the room.
"This is weird, there's a protocol in here that will send a distress signal to an airfield here if the place comes under attack." MK pointed out.
"Set it to the airfield closest to the border in Blanc's quadrant, that one's under our control." I said. MK started working her magic on the computer.
"Ah, these lasers are connected to at least eight different alarm systems…" Marina face palmed.
"Can you turn them off without triggering the alarm?" I asked.
"The alarm is controlled from here." Marina said. "I'll turn the lasers off, then MK, you shut the alarms down, then Amamiya, you send an all clear message to everyone in the building."
"This will be risky, but it's our only way forward." I said. Marina cut the power to the lasers, and the alarms started going off! MK quickly cut the power to the alarms, then a green light flashed and the alarms stopped dead. I went over to the console with the microphone on it.
"This is Lieutenant Amamiya," I said into the mic. "I apologize for startling you all, we had a brief issue with security protocols resulting in our having to retest the system. There are no threats here, please return to your business and labors. Hail Neptune." I said sleekly.
"Wow Amamiya, that was very convincing." Marina complimented me. I adjusted my glasses confidently, then I left the security room and made my way to one of the windows overlooking the parking lot. The lasers were confirmed off.
"Narukami, the lasers are down and the building is quiet." I said into the mic. "Launch the attack."
—-(Commander Phillip Graves)-
Well there I was, sitting in the tank, getting to know Bullpup-sister and Bobble-sister. I like them both ok, but I love Bobble's really explosive personality. I might request a requisition.
"Commander Graves, the phantoms succeeded, the lasers are off." Narukami radioed me. I poked my head out of the hatch.
"Alright, we're clear to move up!" I yelled to everyone. "Get over there and kick serious ass, YUP-YUP?"
"YUP-YUP!" Everyone responded.
"I'M COMING KLONOA!" Suomi yelled as she let off a few shots in the air. The tank moved through the treeline, clearing a path for all our brothers and sisters. Sentries on balconies were already firing on our position! I got back inside the hatch to avoid taking any gunfire. I moved the tank's gun towards the building, and shot a high explosive round into it. Sentries went flying off and the gunfire lightened. We kept moving forward. The tank could take all the gunfire it needed to, but the same couldn't be said for all the shadows.
"Everyone stay behind the tank!" I instructed. "Narukami-brother, stay hidden in that treeline. If they focus fire on you, you'll all be holey-er than thou, yup-yup?"
"Yup-yup!" Narukami-brother replied. "We'll be careful." Suddenly, two tanks came out from behind the building. One of them shot at us, but it just barely missed. I had to take care of those tanks and get my shadows to safety.
"Everyone, get behind good cover, now!" I ordered. "Alright gang, let's take care of these tanks, yup-yup?"
"YUP-YUP!" Bobble-sister replied.
"Fly boy, we need your help down here." I reported as a tank round hit the side of our tank. "Dammit!"
"Alright Graves, I'm coming in now." Zackary said.
"Graves, rpgs are about to start firing on you!" Narukami-brother reported. "Abandon the tank, now!" I happened to look out the gunsight, and I saw Steven Universe rushing the tank.
"I'll use gem power to-" He couldn't finish what he was saying because he got shot. I don't know why I let him be a shadow. Anyway, we all abandoned the tank as RPG rockets were flying all around. Zackary arrived just in time, and he took out one of the tanks. He wasn't able to take out the other. Suddenly, Bobble-sister ran towards the other tank with her grenade launcher. The tank's gunner turned towards her and shot some rounds through her chest!
"NOOOO! Bobble-sister!" I yelled as I collapsed to my knees. As I looked towards the tank, I saw Bobble-sister dragging herself towards the tank, leaving behind a trail of blood. She shouldered her grenade launcher, and shot at the tank, disabling it. Flames shot out of the hatch, and the tank crew crawled out as they were engulfed in flames. My eyes were locked on Bobble-sister, as she rolled onto her back, closed her mouth slightly, and slowly laid her head back. She had died without a whisper. I was overcome with rage. "Put them down!" My crew began firing at the burning enemy tank crew, ending their miserable lives. I sat against our disabled tank, feeling discombobulated by the loss I had just suffered. Longbottom came up to me.
"Commander, we have to finish this mission!" Longbottom yelled. "Don't let Bobble-hat die for nothing!" I sat there, feeling the deep cut of the loss I'd just seen. The heroic undying spirit of Bobble Hat will live on. The others were rushing the command building off in the distance, struggling to find cover from the bullets flying everywhere. Suddenly, I felt a sharp slap in the face.
"Yo, Mr. Commander-man!" The short pink squidling said. That broke me out of my trance. I racked my M4.
"Let's do this, sister!" I yelled. "For Bobble-sister!"
—-(Pearl Houzuki)-
This battle is completely rad, yo! It's your fresh squid, MCPrincess here! Spittin' bars and bullets! Those Chris-Chanian fools think they can keep feline man away from his homies? No, they can't! Me and my fresh ability to roll out the way of bullets, all of which have my name on them, decided the only way to succeed was for me to get behind those low-down enemies and flank their butts.
"Yo, Mr. Commander-man! Cover me! Imma give those here fools led enemas!" I yelled to Commander man.
"We'll keep you covered, sister!" Commander-man said. "Longbottom! Use whatever magic you can to keep them at bay!" The British school kid took a fancy stick out of his pocket. I dunno if he's playing wizard or what, but Commander-man will keep him in line. Suddenly, the big Soldier guy came up to the tank… carrying a giant rocket launcher.
"SIR, THEIR NUMBERS ARE MASSIVE!" The Soldier yelled.
"Yo, I'm gonna flank them." I proudly said. "If you move with me, I'll clear the way for you to cause some major mayhem!"
"YOU HAD BETTER KNOW HOW TO FIGHT, SQUIDLING!" The Soldier guy yelled.
"She's made it this far…" The British school kid said. I brandished both of my metal Dualies. That's right, I've kept them since I found them in that prison the Feline-man and the stick-man broke myself and Finland-girl out of. Now, it's my turn to repay the favor to Feline-man.
"Stay close by and try not to get your bottom fried by CWC-bullets!" I yelled. I dodge rolled out from behind the tank. I ran straight over to a shrub and the Soldier-man followed me. There were a ton of guys with big heavy guns on the upper floors of the building, keeping everyone pinned down. "Soldier Man, blow them dirty machine gunners off their cribs!" The Soldier man let some rockets loose, and the balcony at which he shot started crumbing. CWC troopers were trying to get back inside, and while a few of them made it, most of them fell to the ground.
"Enemy fire's lightening up! Move now!" That cool guy with the green bandana on his head yelled. Everyone else moved up, which made the enemies start moving backwards… right to where I was! I ambushed them dirty CWC lovers. There were tons of them firing at me, so I had to do nothing but dodge roll. One problem: I can't shoot while I'm dodge rolling. At least I was keeping them guards off my homies!
"SQUIDLING, HIT THE DECK!" The Soldier man yelled. I trusted him, and I jumped onto the ground, and suddenly I felt a burst of heat, then I was covered in blood! The Soldier man had shot a rocket straight into a group of CWC soldiers who were harassing me. The rest of the homies moved up to where I was laying, admittedly feeling slightly dizzy and out of it. Some construction dude grabbed my hand and helped me up.
"You ok?" He asked me with all the gusto you can expect from a construction worker who looked like an action figure. All of the evil soldiers were rushing back into the command building! "Alright everyone, CAN WE WIN IT?"
"YES WE CAN!" Everyone else yelled. We all rushed inside of the building, then Marie and the other long-gun folks ran into the building. We all started moving our way through the lobby, taking out anyone we could see!
"Well well, if it isn't Mr. Narukami and his band of law-breakers." Someone with a feminine voice said over the loudspeakers. I looked over to the Stick-man, who was clenching his teeth.
"Lucas…" The Stick-man said under his breath.
"You lawbreakers need to know your place in this new world." The voice on the loudspeakers said. "Unfortunately for you all, I know your place… in this building! Every guard in this building, focus your fire on the lobby area, and kill every single one of those disgusting little lawbreakers!"
"We need to move now, or we'll be surrounded!" The commander man yelled.
"Should we fall back?" Goggles asked.
"NO!" Finland girl replied. "We aren't leaving this place until we know where to find Klonoa!"
"Well we can't stay here!" Callie yelled.
"Yo, where's 'Rina, that frizzy glasses kid and the blonde tech-wizard?" I asked. Suddenly, all the power in the building was cut! I wasn't sure what to make of that. "What was that?"
"It was Ren." The green bullpup girl said. "Now they can't use the cameras against us."
"There they are!" Some guards said. "Open fire!"
"PEARLIE! OVER HERE!" I heard 'Rina yell! She, the glasses kid and the tech-wizard were all on the third floor balcony overlooking the lobby! We all used the stairs to get to where they were. We all took advantage of the height difference, something I don't usually get to do, and took out the first wave of non-fresh inkers.
"There's something we need to show all of you." The frizzy glasses kid said. It was clear, but a lot of the peeps stayed posted near the stairs. A few of us went into that high-techy room with frizzy glasses, the blonde wizard and 'Rina. Frizzy flipped a switch, which made all the lights come on. He then pointed at a bunch of TVs. "We can track lieutenants in this building. Aside from getting all the files we can, I'd recommend trying to get one of those lieutenants alive."
"Ah yes, my power's been turned back on." The loudspeakers said. "Stairs and the security room seems to be where our rat problems are the worst, so any armed personnel in the building should get working on pest control IMMEDIATELY!" Ignoring the loudspeakers, Finland girl took a few steps towards the monitors, and she turned around quickly and left the room.
—-(T-doll Ksenia "Stechkin")-
I was standing guard at the balcony, watching for a mess of soldiers and standing ready to kill them and then pickpocket them. Suddenly, KP-31 came running out.
"BJ, Goggles, Callie, Micro-Uzi, Stechkin and… you." KP said while pointing at the swag black teen.
"Name's Miles." The black teen said. "Miles Morales."
"I'll get to know you once Klonoa is safe!" KP said frantically. "We're going to go capture a Lieutenant alive, now let's go!" Everyone who got picked out went running with KP, so I racked my Stechkin and ran after them. We ran down a narrow hallway, and a bunch of guys ran around the corner. Unfortunately for them, we were all more ready for combat than they were. Bullets went flying and fools got mowed down. Despite the fact I really wanted to pickpocket them, Shikikan Klonoa is more important. We started busting down doors and clearing rooms, looking for someone who looked important and rich. Nothing… nothing… nothing. A few rooms later, some weird bald kid with 3 sprigs of hair on the back of his head busted out of one of the rooms and ran down the hallway. CWC soldiers came out of that same room and made a human wall. We mowed them down, but the sprig-kid got far ahead of us.
"Why don't you go picking on someone who's less important than me, huh?" The sprig-kid said in a whiny voice.
"We have to keep going!" Callie the squid sister yelled. She's rich, I think. We did as the rich squid sister said and kept on running. Suddenly, bullets started flying from behind us!
"Everyone stay behind me!" Mr. Blazkowicz yelled as he fired both of his shotguns at the enemies.
"Get down, I've got a little something for them!" Micro-Uzi yelled as she threw an incendiary grenade. The enemies lit up as they danced around and screamed.
"COME ON! HE'S GETTING AWAY!" KP yelled. Without another word, we kept running after the sprig kid. As we were catching up to him, he threw a red book on the ground.
"Fine! Here's my journal! Now, shoo, shoo!" He yelled. I scooped the book up for later. Interestingly, he said it was a journal, but it clearly had 'Diary' on the front of it. Maybe this kid's illiterate. He wouldn't stop running. I wanted to shoot him, but if I killed him by accident, I knew KP would put me down herself. Guards ran past the kid to try and slow us down. We got caught up in a firefight in the middle of the hallway! There wasn't much cover, but Mr. Blazkowicz ran in front of us and used his shotguns to tear apart the guards. That guy is like a human tank! The lieutenant was too far ahead of us after we got past that firefight, but then we heard more guards running down the hallway towards us! Enemy fire flew towards us, so Mr. Morales and I ducked into a hallway for cover. KP looked at us, then her eyes lit up.
"Miles, Stechkin, go through the hallway on the right and try to flank that lieutenant, got it?" KP yelled.
"Yeah, we'll get it done!" Mr. Morales yelled. "Let's hit it, Stechkin!" So Mr. Morales and I ran down the hallway, relatively uninterrupted. Miles ran ahead of me, but a guard suddenly ran over to Mr. Morales and pulled a knife on him! I quickly grabbed the guard's head and twisted it all the way around.
"You ok, Mr. Morales?" I asked. Mr. Morales massaged his throat a little bit.
"I'm fine, thank you." Mr. Morales said. "And just call me Miles." I nodded in acknowledgement, and we kept going through the hallway.
"There appears to be two rats running through the service tunnels near the fifth floor corridors." That feminine guy said on the loudspeakers.
"We've been made!" Miles yelled.
"I wanna kill that guy who's sitting in his office watching the cameras, then I'm gonna pickpocket him!" I said angrily. Guards turned the corner. I pointed my gun at them, squeezed the trigger and unloaded on all of them! They all dropped dead, except for one. He raised his gun at me and Miles! Miles held out his hand, shot a web out of his hand and grabbed the guard! He yanked the guard towards himself, and he punched the guard once he was within his reach. "WOW! THAT WAS SO COOL!" I yelled in amazement.
"Yeh, I've been honing my skills for quite some time now." Miles said, like it was no big deal. We kept running, I of course switched out magazines as I was running. We turned a corner, and we were back in the big hallway. We were behind a bunch of CWC guards who were pinning down our friends!
"It can't be helped now! I have to do this!" I yelled. I grabbed one of the guards, turned him around, pulled the pin on one of his grenades and shoved him in the middle of the rest of his butt-buddies. "MILES, GET DOWN!" I yelled. I grabbed Miles's arm and ran further down the hall. The grenade exploded and painted the hallway red!
"Aw, you've gotta be kidding me!" The sprig kid yelled as he turned heel and started running again.
"DANGIT!" I yelled. The kid turned the corner. "Come on everyone! We can't let him get away!" Miles and I took the lead, with the others close by behind us. We turned the corner, and it looked like the kid was all out of guards to throw at us, but he wouldn't stop running! "Miles, do the web thing!" I yelled. The kid was shooting at us with a handgun! He was all out of options.
"I can't, I might crack his head open!" Miles replied. "...but there is something else I can do." Miles used his web powers on a vending machine and tipped it over right in front of the kid's path. "Go Stechkin!" I sprinted ahead. The kid was trying to shoot at me, but he missed every shot. After I got close, he tried to climb over the vending machine, but I ran over and tackled him! The others caught up to me.
"GUN DOWN!" Goggles yelled at the kid as I was pinning him down! I grabbed his shooting hand and hit it against the ground, causing the gun to be released. Mr. Blazkowicz ran over and kicked the gun away from the sprig kid.
"Got you." KP said as she stood over the kid. "Now, you're going to tell us where you and your friends are keeping Klonoa."
—-(Jason Brody)-
Some sort of alarm must have gone off, because it looked like half of CWCistan was coming for our asses. Maybe that fem-boy over the loudspeakers called the cops on us. Luckily, I've trained myself in the ways of a warrior. All of the snipers and I took positions on the second floor right against the window.
"Trucks are coming in!" Marie the gray haired squid girl yelled. Trucks were indeed turning into the parking lot and dropping off a bunch of guys. That MG-42 girl started unloading on the guards who came out of the trucks. They all got wiped away.
"That was for you, MG-34-onee-shama." MG-42 said quietly. More trucks came into the parking lot, but this time there were a lot more of them!
"There's more of them coming!" The Headphones squid girl said.
"They'll send wave after wave to overwhelm us!" Eugene yelled.
"Don't crack under the pressure, brother!" Commander Graves said from the first floor. Everyone else was on the first floor, ready to clear the lobby if they got in. Some of the trucks stopped to drop guards off, but there were a few of them that drove straight towards the building!
"They must be suicide trucks!" I suggested. "We need to stop them before they hit the building!" The trucks kept swerving, so it was difficult to get a good hit on the driver.
"Calm yourself, kid." The gray-haired squid girl said. "A hunter finds calm before the kill." I already knew that… but it's been a while since the Rook Islands. The squid girl took an expert shot and hit the driver of the truck, who blew up. Luckily, some of those moronic guards were rushing the building and happened to be right next to the truck that blew up. They got absolutely launched!
"BURRRNNNN!" I yelled. We were able to take out the other suicide trucks, and Nathan took care of the guards that were sniping at us from the treeline across the parking lot.
"Mr. Narukami, you just don't understand." The fem-boy on the loudspeaker said. "I will keep ordering guards to come here and overwhelm you and your friends."
"WE HOLD THIS BUILDING AT ALL COSTS!" Graves declared. "YUP-YUP?"
"YUP-YUP!" We all replied loudly over the sounds of gunfire. As we were fighting, Nathan was occasionally flying downwards and shredding all the CWC guards in the parking lot. At one point, a plane dropped down towards the building. It wasn't Nathan's.
"EVERYONE GET DOWN!" I yelled. "ENEMY STRAFING RUN!" We all dove for cover to avoid the plane's machine guns. We were safe, but that was when I realized; the plane wasn't supposed to kill us, it was supposed to distract us… and it did! Guards were flooding into the lobby.
"We need to un-pin everyone in the lobby!" Yu yelled. Bullets and grenades were flying everywhere! The reverb from like 50 guns going off at once were almost like bullets to the head.
"More fighters in the area!" Nathan reported. "I need to peel off and take care of them!"
"DANGIT! THERE GOES OUR AIR SUPPORT!" Eugene yelled, sounding a little bit hopeless.
"We can't give up now!" I yelled. "I'm not dying on my knees!"
"Time to show them, MG-34-onee-shama!" MG-42 said as she mounted her MG on the railing. She was mowing down all of the guards in the lobby!
"MG36, get a fresh drum mag in and cover us as we go up the stairs!" Graves ordered.
"Yes sir!" MG36 quickly put a magazine in her gun and continued mowing down guards faster than they could enter the building! Graves was leading everyone up the stairs as well as firing at the guards on the first floor to help MG36. The rest of the snipers and I were keeping them as thinned out as we could, but they were all congregating outside of the entrance! MG36's drum mag lasted long enough for everyone to get upstairs.
"Run up here, kid!" Woods yelled. "I'll keep you covered!"
"Suicide bomber!" Neville yelled. A guard ran into the building with a flashing red vest and a detonator in his hand!
"MG36, get down!" Woods yelled.
"NO! This may be our only chance!" MG36 yelled. She hopped over the receptionists desk, stabbed the suicide bomber, grabbed the detonator out of his hand, picked the bomber up, then she ran outside!
"MG36! NO!" Woods yelled. There was a massive BOOM! The shockwave could be felt from the second floor and glass shards flew everywhere. There was silence for a few moments… at least I think there was. My ears were ringing like a motherf-c–r. Without any words, we all walked downstairs slowly, and towards the main entrance. There was blood and innards everywhere… no feasible remains of MG36. I swear to God that Woods was crying, but he never let us see no tears.
"I hope you all aren't too battletired, Mr. Narukami, because there are more where that came from." The femboy said over the loudspeakers. Yu's head hung down low, and his fists clenched.
—-(Yu Narukami)-
This has to end. Now. My friends are all exhausted and my brother is out there somewhere. Lucas has been hanging over me like a massive shadow almost the entire time I've been in this dimension. Now, he is all that stands between us and total victory today. I readied my M14 and made sure there was a round in my Glock 18.
"Everyone, be ready to stand your ground, I'm going after Lucas, and I'm going to end these waves of reinforcements." I announced.
"I'm coming with you." Amamiya said. I looked him in the eyes. I wanted to do this alone, but I remembered, Amamiya has also been a victim of Lucas's. I nodded.
"We'll hold here, Narukami-shama." MG-42 said. "Besht of luck to you both."
"Alright Amamiya, let's go big game hunting." I said as I kicked one of the guard's M4s to Amamiya. He picked it up, and we both ran towards the elevators.
"Lucas is on the 15th floor, in the Lieutenants lounge." Amamiya said. We got to the elevators, and Amamiya pressed the 'up' button. "Let's do this." Amamiya said as he put his index finger between his eyes and swung his hand out showingly. The elevator doors opened, we took it up, but as we were going up to the 15th floor, we could hear a firefight. I thought maybe it was on a different floor, but I was wrong. The doors opened and bullets were flying every which way. From what I could tell, we were behind the guards, and someone was on the other side of the room. Amamiya and I took the guards out from behind while trying to stay low and secretive. Amamiya shines at fighting in the shadows.
"Kill them!" Lucas ordered from the loudspeakers. I wasn't sure if he was talking about me and Amamiya, or whoever else was on this floor.
"Stick man?" Pearl asked from behind me. She had apparently dodge rolled over to where we were hiding, but she lacked any form of subtlety. Amamiya and I were under fire.
"Pearl, what's going on here?" I asked.
"We need this floor clear!" Pearl said. "We're *this* close to finding Feline-man!" Klonoa… my brother.
"C'mon Amamiya! Let's get this floor clear!" I said, feeling more than revitalized. We kept firing, slowly but surely bringing down the guards' numbers. Pearl was guiding me and Amamiya to where the rest of the ones who split off earlier were. Luckily, Suomi was one of them.
"Nice of you to show up, Narukami!" Suomi yelled while she was reloading like a mongrel. "Help us clear this place! I won't let ANYONE keep me from finding Klonoa!"
"FOR KLONOA!" I roared. Everyone yelled as they pushed harder and faster than before, taking out guards left and right, as well as doing their best to shrug off a few bullets.
"Hey guys, look! A bar!" Goggles said.
"This is no time to get drunk, kid!" BJ reprimanded Goggles. "Besides, you're far too young!" It was literally a second later that Suomi threw herself over the bar counter, stayed ducked beneath it, then she stood up about 20 seconds later with molotovs. She threw cocktails at groups of guards, which took them out by the numbers and pushed them back. It was only in a short amount of time that we cleared out the entire room.
"Damn you Narukami!" Lucas said over the loudspeaker.
"Alright, now that that nonsense has been dealt with, let's keep squeezing all the info we can get out of our Lieutenant friend here." Suomi walked over to this… stick figure kid with 3 sprigs sticking out of the back of his head with his hands and feet zip tied to a chair, surrounded by Callie, Miles Morales, Micro Uzi, BJ, Stechkin and Goggles. "You're good, Narukami." Suomi said. "Go do what you've been itching to do." Amamiya and I headed into the VIP only lounge, where I knew Lucas was.
"Well well well, here you and Mr. Amamiya stand." Lucas said with his arms crossed after Amamiya and I entered. "I'm surprised you want anything to do with Mr. Narukami, considering what he did to you at the beginning of all of this." Amamiya did that same showy thing with one hand on the bridge of his nose and the other swooshed out.
"Your helping Chris spread his poison is all over, Lucas." Amamiya declared.
"I'm not the only one who has been spreading poison, Mr. Amamiya." Lucas said.
"We started a war to end the way of life you've instilled on this nation…" I said angrily but calmly. I squeezed my M14. "...The same one that you almost forced onto my little sister, Nanako."
"She's safe, and yet you continue to want me dead, Mr. Narukami." Lucas snied. "Why is that?"
"You've done nothing but evil… and for what?" I asked. "To somehow bring your world back to what it was before? All you're doing is pushing it further into insanity. I know you like this new world… just because you're at the top, watching all the suffering in this nation while you sit in this VIP lounge sipping a cosmopolitan."
"This world is doomed, Mr. Narukami." Lucas declared. "I myself… have grown a taste for watching the world sink into the lava. Maybe I will be swallowed up with it, but you won't be alive to watch it sink anymore. You and Mr. Amamiya have been making the world sink even faster, so don't act like I'm the only one who's been destroying the world. Lucas suddenly squeezed his green clay necklace. "ELECTRIC HEDGEHOG POWER!" Lucas was engulfed in blinding white light for a moment, then he transformed into a green and red sonichu! "Well Mr. Narukami, it's time we end this unpleasant meeting, and I'll make sure it never happens again. And don't worry, because I'll be reclaiming that M14, which belongs to Devil." Lucas started running at Amamiya and I. I shoved Amamiya out of the way, and Lucas ran right at me and shoved me into the wall. I fell on the floor, then I suddenly couldn't move my arms or legs! I was being physically manipulated by Lucas's physic powers! He started squeezing me so hard, I thought my skull was going to break and my head would cave in on itself. It was one of the most intense pains I'd ever felt in my life. Suddenly, Amamiya came out of the shadows and shot Lucas in the back a few times. Lucas dropped me, thinking I was debilitated enough to stay where I was. Lucas went after Amamiya, and I was able to crawl away. I pushed a table over and took a moment to get my bearings back. I sat there with pulsating pain in my head and neck. I couldn't hear anything, except for some electric zaps. I realized; Amamiya could be in trouble! I stood up and shouldered my rifle. Amamiya was slipping in and out of different hiding places, but Lucas knew where he was.
"LUCAS!" I yelled. I mag dumped Lucas. I missed only a few shots, but most of them hit Lucas. It visibly did some damage to him. I ran at him with my knife, but Lucas quickly got up and used some sort of psychic aura to launch Amamiya and I away from him! We quickly hid from Lucas and regrouped. "How do we kill him?" I asked Amamiya.
"His medallion." Amamiya said. "His medallion is the source of his power. We need to hit the white mark around his neck."
"Right, can you distract him enough so I can land a good shot on Lucas?" I asked. I saw a glimmer of doubt in Amamiya's eyes. "Amamiya, I won't let you die this time, I promise." Amamiya reluctantly agreed to my plan. This was no longer about just ending Lucas, but it was now about showing Amamiya that the me he fought with in the prison months ago is not the real me. Amamiya ran away from me and rattled off some rounds at Lucas.
"There you are!" Lucas yelled. "You could have been one of us, Mr. Amamiya. You could have enjoyed everything in this VIP lounge with me!" Lucas was far away and the spot I had to hit was so small. The slightest movement threw my aim off. Lucas was chasing Amamiya and I couldn't line up a good shot. I was running out of time, because Lucas had caught Amamiya and threw him on the floor! Lucas then did that same psychic squeeze he did to me! I couldn't let Amamiya die! I promised him! I held my breath and held the M14 tightly. I had the scope on Lucas's medallion, but I kept moving slightly, doubting my own aim! My finger involuntarily curled over and squeezed the trigger without my knowing! I ended up hitting his medallion. His psychic powers were gone for a few seconds and he was flickering back and forth from his human form to his sonichu form. I was standing there in a daze at the shot I just took, but I had to capitalize on the shot I just took. I dropped the M14, grabbed my Glock and my knife, and I ran at Lucas. I kicked him off his feet, jumped on top of him and repeatedly stabbed his medallion, screaming primally as I did so. Light was beaming out of every single stab, hitting me directly in the eye. I was stabbing even though I couldn't see! I felt someone pull me off of Lucas. I swung at him, but my hand got stopped. My vision cleared up enough to see Amamiya.
"Narukami!" Amamiya yelled. "... it's over." I stood up slowly and unsteadily and walked over Lucas. His medallion laid on his chest, shattered and covered in blood. Lucas looked me dead in the eye.
"Finish it, Narukami." Lucas commanded. "Enjoy sinking with this doomed world." I stood there, Glock in hand, not shooting. Amamiya came up to me with my M14.
"Finish it, Narukami." Amamiya said calmly. I stood there, still eyeing Lucas. Amamiya handed me the M14. I thought of everything Lucas had done to not me, but Nanako. How scared she sounded when she called out to me back in I M Meen's prison, how long it took her to fully calm down… even now… even at her best, I still don't see all of the happiness in Nanako's eyes like I used to. A tear fell out of my eye as I looked at the guy who caused all this pain on my Sister. I pointed the M14 at Lucas's head, not even shouldering it. BANG! I stood there, not feeling as free from my past as I had hoped.
"It's over, Amamiya." I muttered.
"Call me 'Ren.'" Amamiya said, with a smile. It was at that moment, I was finally free from my past. Amamiya's alive and well, so is Dew, and now… Amamiya sees me as a friend. We both walked out of the VIP lounge. We walked over to where Suomi and her group were. Suomi was standing at a table with her back turned, not moving at all.
"Suomi?" I asked.
"We found him…" Suomi said shakily. She moved out of the way, and I saw all these maps laying on the table. There was a map that had an area circled in blood. "That location… it matches up with these prisoner records and transport manifests… Klonoa… we found Klonoa… we need to go rescue him!" That was the first time I'd seen Suomi's eyes beaming with happiness since before the mission in Ghazni. Suomi grabbed her smg and walked slowly towards the sprig kid zip tied to the chair.
"No… please… I gave you everything you wanted!" The kid pleaded. "I didn't have a choice! I had to be a lieutenant! I couldn't make it on my own!" Suomi raised her gun at the kid's forehead. I put my hand on the gun barrel and forced it downwards.
"Suomi… don't become what I was at the beginning of this…" I warned her. "I promise, you will regret putting this kid down." Suomi stared at the kid with hatred in her eyes, then she lowered her gun.
"Free him." Suomi commanded as she turned towards the table and grabbed all the maps. Stechkin walked over to the chair with a knife and cut the zip ties. She also reached into his pocket and pulled out a wallet. SHe opened it, looked inside, then she threw it lightly at the kid's forehead.
"I thought you lieutenants were rich." Stechkin said disappointedly. The kid ran off.
"Come on, let's go rejoin the others." I said. We all took the elevator back down to the first floor, where everyone was standing guard. The reinforcement waves weren't showing up. The building was clear. We all left the building and walked back over to the transports. The walk was filled with words of congrats and happy chatter… We got what we came here for, and that building will never be used to plan Neptune's mutiny on this country ever again. We all headed back to the hotel to rest up a bit. Tomorrow, we're going to save Klonoa.
Klonoa, I'm coming Brother. By sunset tomorrow, you will be a free cabbit once again.