(August 10, 2024)-(Suomi KP-31)-
We were fighting the best we could without air support. The bombers were almost dealt with, but they were almost over the city of Ghazni.
"Suomi, go to the South side of the building and prepare an ambush!" BJ ordered me. I ran to the rear to do my duty, and that was when…
"KLONOA? KLONOA, COME IN!" I heard Woods yelling over the radio.
"Woods?" I yelled desperately. "What happened?"
"Klonoa's plane got shot down!" Woods reported. Klonoa… my duty… you are my duty. I climbed out the window onto the fire escape, and made my way down.
"Everyone!" I yelled into the radio. "I'm going to rescue Klonoa!" I ran down the crude metal stairs to the platform on the second floor. That was far down as it would go. I jumped off the building without any hesitation. Upon landing, I rolled my ankle a little bit.
"BLUEY, YOU JUST GOIN' AN' LEAVIN' US?" That tomppeli Dedede yelled.
"I CAN'T LEAVE KLONOA!" I yelled. I ran over to the street, and there was a pickup truck with a bunch of militant looking tyhmyris on the back of it. There were too many of them! I was pinned down! Suddenly, the tyhmyris got picked off one by one! I looked up towards the balcony I'd jumped off, and there was Narukami who had given me sniper support!
"Suomi! Go save Klonoa!" Narukami yelled. "SUOMI! GO!" I ran towards the truck and got into the driver's seat. Narukami had shot the driver, so I yanked him out of the truck! There was still a guy in the passenger seat who stuck a 1911 in my face, but I disarmed him and blew his brains all over the interior. I cranked the wheel and stomped on the gas. The truck drifted as I made a super sharp turn and I was headed in the direction where I saw tons of smoke, I'm assuming from where Klonoa's plane went down. There was a line of honor guards running down that street and they all opened fire on me. All I had to do was get my head down and stomp on the gas pedal even more! Lots of thumps later, I was out of the city.
"Who's in that white pickup?" Woods asked me over the radio. "What's going on here?"
"I'VE GOT TO FIND KLONOA!" I replied. A few fighter planes tried making strafing runs at me, so I made some more quick turns and avoided them. As the plane was about to pull out of the dive, it suddenly burst into flames! Either Woods or Nathan had shot it down, and its burning fuselage was headed right towards me! It veered ahead and landed on the ground and exploded, but I didn't stop nor slow down! I drove over the wing and ended up getting some air. The wheels hit the ground at full force which threw me forward. Airbags didn't deploy but I didn't need them. I have airbags on my chest. A few white pickups were driving right towards me, obviously trying to make me stand down! They continued driving towards me, but I sped forward. At the last second, the trucks suddenly turned out of the way. I clipped their mirrors and definitely scrapped some of the paint off the sides of those trucks.
"The bombers are retreating!" Nathan happily reported on the radio. They were headed towards me! They opened up with their defensive guns trying to kill me, so I continued swerving as much as I could. Eventually, the bomber angled upwards and stopped firing at me. I thought they were cutting bait… but that was when I realized: they were about to blow up a bridge that was ahead of me! I stomped on the gas even more, but it didn't do me any good. I would have broken the pedal if I put any more force onto it. The bomber flew ahead of me and dropped its bombs on the bridge. I was hoping I could get across the bridge before they detonated, but I was wrong. The bombs exploded, the bridge got destroyed and my truck did a nose dive into the water. The truck falling into the water caused my head to fly forward and I banged my head on the steering wheel. I blacked out momentarily, but I regained consciousness and determination after I closed my eyes and saw Klonoa. I grabbed the koonepistooli and shot the windshield off, then I swam to shore, even though my neck was super kinked and I could barely keep my eyes open. I got my head above the water and pulled myself onto shore. The last time I did something like that… It was to save Klonoa's life. When I pulled myself onto shore back then, he was in my arms. I failed. I failed Klonoa. I crawled further onto shore, but the headache and exhaustion overcame me physically… and I found myself laying there… motionless and distraught.
(August 14, 2024)-
"Sue? Sue? Anyone home?" I heard someone calling to me. I opened my eyes only slightly. I saw Kel sitting at my bedside.
"Where's… Klonoa?" I asked, barely conscious.
"We found the crash site, but we couldn't find him anywhere." Kel said with regret in her voice. "Ren and Narukami are out with the others looking for him right now."
"We need to… go help them search." I said as I struggled to sit up.
"Sue, you've been out cold for the last four days…" Kel said. "You still need to rest. Don't worry, I'm sure the others will find him." Kel put her hand on my shoulder to push me back to laying on my bed, but I swiped her hand off of me.
"No… I have to find him…" I said as I struggled even more to sit up and get on my feet. I could feel the veins in my head pulsing violently, and as the room got super dark, I became so disoriented that I fell to the floor, hitting my head. Despite my barely being able to move, I dragged myself across the floor, trying to get out the door so I could help everyone search. Kel put her foot on my back and forced me down all the way.
"Sue…" Kel said sternly. "You NEED to wait until you can at least walk before you can accept the 'find Klonoa quest.'" I wasn't in the mood for Kel's gaming metaphors.
"KEL!" I yelled. "Our Shikikan is out there, possibly even more wounded than I am right now. Twice now he has saved me from a situation that seemed hopeless… I have to…" I trailed off. I became overwhelmed with emotion. "Please… Klonoa's out there… he needs help."
"The others are out there looking for him now." Kel tried reassuring me. "All we can do is sit here and wait. Now, let me help you back into bed." Kel helped me off the floor and carefully laid me back down in my bed. She then walked over to the footlocker at the end of her bed and grabbed a piece of paper that was slightly singed. "We uh… we found a note in Klonoa's plane." Kel handed me the note Klonoa had written. 'Suomi… I lov…' was written on the bottom. I stared at the paper in disbelief, holding my emotions in as best I could, but I was about to break. "Uh… why don't I give you some space, Sue?" Kel suggested as she left the bunk house. I tried to keep myself from breaking… but I couldn't.
"Klonoa…!" I cried into my pillow as I grasped the note. "I should have… been… there!" I was mad at those damn fighter pilots, I was mad at every asshole that fought for Neptune, I was mad at myself for not being able to get to Klonoa's crash site. I tried reasoning with myself all I could, but that only seemed to make things worse. I wasn't in the right state of mind to think logically. There was only one thing I could think about… the note. It was cut off. He loves… fighting with me, or… he loves… me?
—-
I had cried myself back to sleep without knowing it. I was woken up by the bunkhouse door opening. I turned my head slowly to see Narukami and Amamiya walking back in.
"Narukami…?" I called out. He looked straight at me with a look that wasn't the look I wanted to see. He walked over to me slowly.
"We still can't find him… We've checked everywhere." Narukami said defeatedly. "But we couldn't find his body, which means he is most likely alive." That should have made me feel better, but I wouldn't feel better until I knew he was safe again. For all I knew, he was in a labor camp somewhere.
"Have you called Noire yet?" I asked. "Maybe she knows something?"
"I've been pressing her this whole time, she doesn't know anything." Narukami sadly informed me. "She is trying, though."
"Do you suppose he's trying to find his way back to us?" Kel asked Narukami. The thought of Klonoa out there alone and scared was too much for me to handle. I rolled out of bed and struggled onto my feet.
"We'll find him… we have to." I said weakly yet determinedly.
"Sue, you NEED your rest!" Kel yelled at me.
"DON'T TALK TO ME ABOUT REST, KEL!" I barked. "HOW CAN I REST WHEN KLONOA IS OUT THERE?" I depleted my breath by yelling like that, so I started feeling even more wobbly. I stumbled over to the gun rack where my konepistooli was.
"You can barely stand!" Narukami barked back at me.
"If you go off and fight while you're too weak to even yell, you'll get yourself killed." Amamiya reasoned calmly. "Then when we find Klonoa, you'll be gone. I don't think Klonoa will like that very much." Amamiya's words got to me. I staggered back to bed… that was all I could do.
(August 23, 2024)-
We still don't have any leads on Klonoa, but at least I can fight now. The days of staring at my Klonoa medallion and remembering the good times are… well not over, but at least now I can go out and do something about it. We've been searching outposts and nearby towns. On this particular day, we went to search the crash site again, hoping to find some clues that were missed the last time the group went without me. I need to get Klonoa back… I have no idea where he is or what he's going through, but it can't be good. I'm kind of ashamed about this, but I brought Klonoa's AK-47 with me. It made me feel slightly better about everything going on… I don't know if I was seeing it as a lucky charm or if I saw it as Klonoa being close to me in a weird way. I kept an eye out for him wandering on the side of the road the whole drive to the crash site. Unfortunately we had to take a different road there because the bridge was still gone. We pulled up to the stretch of forest where Klonoa's plane went down. We hid the jeep then walked through the woods, keeping our eyes open for something to give us clues on where Klonoa was. We walked past the wreckage of the plane. The smoke and fire was gone, but the twisted remains of the plane were still lying there. I walked over to it and looked closely at the cockpit.
"Suomi, there's nothing there." Narukami said. "We already looked." I stood there staring into the cockpit, noticing something strange… it looked like someone got the canopy open from the outside. The glass was broken right above the emergency release handle.
"He was either taken or rescued…" I reasoned out loud. We kept walking through the forest, hoping to find some sort of clue… something to get us on at least some sort of path. Suddenly, Amamiya stopped.
"I found something." Amamiya said as he bent over. He picked up a 9mm casing. That didn't fill me with much hope, since, as far as I know, Klonoa wasn't armed.
"Do you think a firefight went on?" Kel asked.
"No, this is the only casing I can find." Amamiya said after searching the area briefly. "Not to mention there aren't any bullet holes in any trees. We looked around a little bit more, then I found something that made me fall to my knees in despair.
"Suomi?" Narukami asked as he ran over to me. I knelt in front of a hole in the ground, the width of a 9mm bullet. Around it was a blood splatter and bits of someone's skull. I could barely part my mind from the idea of Klonoa being put down. I could barely move or think… but I wasn't about to let anyone see me cry.
"I refuse… to believe it ended like this… for him." I said quietly as Narukami helped me back on my feet. We kept walking through the forest after that, and I can't speak for anyone else, but I felt like all of my life just poured out of me. We kept walking until the sun was just about down.
"Wait… is that a cabin?" Kel suddenly asked. I honestly wasn't paying much attention to anything around me, I was focused on trying to keep my morale from depleting. We all shouldered our weapons and moved closer to the cabin.
"Stop!" Amamiya said sharply. "This place is booby trapped."
"How do you know?" I asked Amamiya.
"I can feel it…" Amamiya whispered to himself. That wasn't an answer. "Stay in a single file line, there's a thin path that doesn't have bear traps planted." We all got close to Amamiya and walked behind him. Every step felt like an eternity. I felt like I was being watched as I passed a window on the cabin, so I suddenly darted my head to the left… there was nothing in the window.
"Sue, keep up." Kel quietly ordered. We got to the cabin and stacked up on the door. "No telling what's in here." Amamiya opened the door just a crack.
"An explosive trap." Amamiya pointed out. He grabbed a blade out of his back pocket and whittled away at the tripwire that had a live grenade hanging on it. He disarmed the trap, then we went inside. It was a small cabin with a few small tables lining the bare wooden walls. There were a few armchairs sitting on the far wall, but right next to the chairs, on a table, was a miniature armchair. There was also a small coffee maker. It wasn't turned on, but I could see steam rising from the pot on the coffee maker. Someone was there.
"Who's here?" I asked, feeling a bit more lively. Maybe we would get some sort of clue here… or at least a definitive answer.
"Who the smurf are you?" Someone asked with an elderly voice. We all turned towards a table on the other side of the cabin, ready to shoot. "The floor boards are rigged with explosives, and I have the remote. Either you four identify yourselves right smurfing now, or I will trigger the explosives!"
"We're not with Neptune, if that's what you want to know." Narukami said, surprisingly calmly. Some little blue bearded kääpiö wearing red pants and a red hat came out from behind a wooden box.
"Put your weapons down, kids." The kääpiö said calmly. "We're on the same side, it seems." He set the remote down carefully, then he strolled over to the small armchair I mentioned before and took a seat, all with a rather calm demeanor. "What brings you kids out this far?"
"Our friend…" I answered right away. "...Klonoa."
"Klonoa, well I'm not sure I'm familiar with that name." The kääpiö said as he leaned back in his chair like a wiseguy.
"Are you aware of the plane crash maybe twenty miles that way?" I asked.
"Klonoa was the creature in the aeroplane?" The kääpiö asked. "The one with long black ears and the blue cap?"
"YES!" I shouted like I had just snorted crack. "IS HE OK?"
"He was unfortunately captured by some of Neptune's foot soldiers." The kääpiö said. "One of my fellow fighting men was killed by the soldiers who dragged this Klonoa of yours away from the aeroplane."
"So… Klonoa's alive?" I asked, feeling a blend of fear that Klonoa was captured and relief that he was in fact alive.
"Yes, Klonoa is alive." The kääpiö confirmed.
"So… Do you know where he is?" Kel asked.
"I do not at the moment…" The kääpiö started, "But I do believe that if we work together, we'll be able to find him."
"What is this, a recruitment scheme?" I asked.
"I'm guessing you kids have been out here by yourselves for quite a while and now need a place to rest your heads?" The typerä kääpiö said. It was at this point where I lost it. I shoved everything that was on the table right off of it, except for the armchair, then I slammed by fist on the table.
"I… WANT… KLONOA… AND ONLY… KLONOA!" I yelled through tightly gritted teeth.
"Suomi, stand down!" Narukami barked. I loosened my fist and my teeth, but the hate in my eyes remained.
"Listen young lady," The typerä kääpiö said with confidence in his stance but fear in his voice, "I'm not some all-knowing mystical being. I'm merely suggesting we can work together. You want to find your friend, and we need more nimble folks to fight for us. Let us help each other." Narukami put his hand on my back and forced me to the opposite corner of the cabin.
"Suomi, I think this is our only option." Narukami reasoned. "I'll do anything to find Klonoa, and I can tell you feel the same way." All I could do was swallow my hate and nod.
"Alright, but if he doesn't help us find Klonoa, I'll spend the next week washing typerä kääpiö off the bottom of my shoe." I whispered back. Narukami turned around, then looked towards Amamiya and Kel, who both nodded.
"We'll help you." Narukami confirmed.
"Excellent!" The typerä kääpiö said happily. "Now, if you kids have a working vehicle, I can navigate you to the domicile where my group sleeps." Amamiya put the typerä kääpiö in his pocket, then we all ran back to the jeep to drive over to this town that was mentioned to meet a group that, if they know what's good for them, had BETTER help us find Klonoa.
—-
We were on the way to some hotel in Vert's region, where this typerä kääpiö's group supposedly was. Narukami was driving, and the typerä kääpiö was chilling on the dashboard giving us directions. I couldn't stop staring daggers at the typerä kääpiö, though. 'Ooohh, do you need a place to rest your heads at night? Maybe we can play checkers or something if you ever get tired of searching for your friend?' That was the vibe I got from him, so yeah, I kinda wanted to squish him and give my gun a blue paint job. I sat there feeling so filled with hate, it kind of made me feel like I was about to snap. Instead, I thought of Klonoa. The first time I saw him… when he helped me find all the T-dolls… when I saved him after he got impaled… when I rescued him from Akechi's prison… I could go on. I peered out the jeep window at the vast landscape. Searching for Klonoa wouldn't be easy, but I care about him more than enough to search to the end of this dimension. He saved me from a labor camp, now it's my turn to save him again.
"So, how did you kids find yourselves in this war?" The typerä kääpiö asked. I wasn't in the mood to listen to his silly voice.
"If you want to put a stop to what's going on, you have to fight." Narukami answered.
"You seem like good kids…" The typerä kääpiö said. He then eyed me, then whispered something to Narukami. 'Except for the one dressed in blue,' he probably said.
"That may be true, but I understand why she's like this." Narukami said. See? I knew it. "I was like that when my little sister was being held by the cruel bastards in the Southwest corner. Klonoa means a lot to all of us…" Narukami then looked at me. "...but everything that happened with my little sister taught me that getting hostile towards everyone else wouldn't do anyone any good." I was in no mood for a pep talk. Maybe after we find Klonoa, I'll take Narukami's words to heart. The rest of the car ride was pretty silent, except for the typerä kääpiö giving Narukami directions. Anyway, we finally got to a hotel building in the middle of nowhere. It was the dead of night when we got there. We all got out of the jeep and headed inside the hotel.
"Stop! Stop right there, or I'll shoot, I swear to Rapunzel's grave!" I heard someone yell from the third floor balcony!
"WHOA WHOA!" The typerä kääpiö yelled back. "Lower your weapon, Eugene!"
"Papa Smurf?" This 'Eugene' called out. Someone then came out of the front door holding a battle axe and was wearing something that wouldn't be out of place in a fairy tale. He kind of reminded me of King Harkinian… I think. The memory of Harkinian is still kind of fuzzy.
"Looks like you've found your way back, Papa?" The man said. "Who are these young soldiers you have with you?"
"Ah yes, I haven't actually gotten their names yet." The typerä kääpiö admitted. "Why don't we start by introducing ourselves to them? This is Jarl Balgruuf, and I'm Papa Smurf, but you all can call me 'Papa.'" Narukami took a step forward.
"I'm Yu Narukami," Narukami started, "That's Ren Amamiya, and those two girls are named after their guns, so that's Suomi KP-31, and Keltec RFB." Narukami then extended his hand out to Jarl for a handshake, who gladly returned it.
"I trust you four know how to handle firearms?" Jarl asked.
"Yes sir!" Kel said while hyped up.
"If we could please hurry this along," I started, "Our friend is missing and we need to find him as soon as possible."
"Ah yes, this one is quite keen on finding one known as 'Klonoa.'" Papa smurf said. "We'll take you to meet Commander Graves, he's the one who coordinates all of our missions, and I'm sure he'll be delighted to meet you four. We all walked through the hotel and took an elevator up to the second floor, where this Commander Graves slept. When we got to his door, Jarl knocked.
"Graves, we have a few folks here we'd like you to meet." Jarl bellowed through the door. "They say they have combat experience."
"Hold on a moment, brother." Graves said from inside his room. He came out and stood there, gripping his tactical vest. "Well hello there-" He cut himself off. "Well, perhaps I should rephrase that in a more… honorable way, seeing as how you are Japanese and all… Ohayo soldiers, welcome to Shadow Company 2.0. I'm Commander Phillip Graves."
"We need to find our friend, Klonoa." I started. "He went down in a plane crash, he's been captured by Neptune's men, and I'll do anything to get him back!" Graves stood there, thinking for a moment.
"So, you can all handle firearms, hermana?" Graves asked me. I nodded firmly.
"She's got fire in her eyes, Commander." Papa Smurf said. He then looked towards me. "Fire is good in moderation, but too much fire can kill you. Mind those flames of determination."
"I see." Graves said as he paced back and forth. "Walk with me." He walked past us and down the hallway. Amamiya, Kel, Narukami and I all shrugged at each other, then followed Graves. Jarl and Papa Smurf followed close behind. Graves brought us to a room with a massive map sitting on a table. "This is our planning room, brothers… and sisters. This is where we decide the best places to strike. We slip out of the shadows long enough to attack, then we slip right back in. We stick to the shadows."
"I like the sound of that." Amamiya said as he adjusted his glasses.
"Now, this 'Klonoa…'" Graves started. "Is this the same Klonoa that freed the region to the West?"
"Yeah…" Narukami said as he looked down to the floor, seeming to also have come slightly emotionally un-done. The memories came flooding back. All the stuff we had been through together.
"I regret to inform you, but Klonoa has been a target of Neptune's this whole time." Graves informed us. A knot formed in my stomach. I could barely speak.
"A… target?" I asked on impulse.
"We've been monitoring the communications between Christian Weston Chandler and Neptune…" Graves began. "We all showed up through Christian's power, but Klonoa… he's different. He arrived late and without Christian's say."
"What does this mean?" Kel asked.
"At this moment, I can't say for certain." Graves said. "It's almost as if… Klonoa himself is… a dream."
"He… He is." I said with tears streaming down my face. Damnit! I hate letting people see tears!
"Keep your chin up, sister." Graves said as he slid a box of tissues over to me.
"Let's get back on track, you've been monitoring Neptune's conversations?" Narukami asked. "Any word on where Klonoa was brought to?"
"Christian wanted to speak to Neptune in person." Graves said. "That was the last we heard from the most recent communication."
"So you don't know where Klonoa is?" I asked with spiked anger.
"SUOMI!" Narukami barked. "Stand down." I stood there trying to sort myself out. "It seems that if we can figure out where Chris-Chan is going, we'll be able to find this meeting spot of his."
"Actually, brother, this communication happened seven days ago." Graves said. I fell to my knees.
"There's got to be another way." Narukami pleaded.
"We'll keep looking for leads, but for now…" That was all Graves could say before he shrugged. "You four can stay here, but I will expect you all to pitch in. Shadow Company 2.0 doesn't give no free rides." Graves then poked his head out of the room. "Jarl? Jarl-brother." Jarl came over to the door. "Please find these four a room, it looks like they'll be staying."
"Aye, Phillip." Jarl said. "Follow me, you four." Jarl brought us to an empty suite. It was nothing fancy, but it would do. As we stepped into the room, Jarl discreetly motioned us over to the counter. He laid a small sheet of paper down.
"Is this… a lead?" Narukami asked.
"It could be…" Jarl said with a hint of hope in his voice. "A building of importance to Neptune, a training camp in fact." Kel picked up the paper, and brought it close to her face. She suddenly looked like she had been struck by lightning. "You've seen that building before?" Jarl asked Kel.
"I…" Kel was speechless.
"That building must be torn down!" Jarl said. "Your Klonoa may be in there, check the building if you must, but it must be reduced to rubble!" Kel determinedly nodded. "Sleep well, you four. And… welcome to Shadow Company 2.0."
All the lights are off now, everyone's asleep, but not me. I'm sitting awake, writing this. I'm starting to see the error in my ways… I've become incredibly hostile towards everyone… but nothing feels right anymore. Klonoa was my whole world, and now I have to find my whole world and bring him back. Maybe I'll get some sleep, maybe I won't. I can tough out anything.