Chapter Text
“I still think about those dreams I had many years ago. They race through my head every day. Will I ever experience something like them again? I did have this one dream, one that felt faster than ever…”
A small long-eared boy is playing in a forest. He spots a giant ring stuck in the ground, and begins to pull at it before a spirit appears from within the mysterious object.
“Woah! Who are you?” says the boy in a curious tone.
The spirit begins to speak. “My…. name…. is….”
The same boy who’s now much older looking suddenly appears lying down in a cold and dark room. It’s quiet, but that changes as white lights begin turning on within the room. The boy begins to wake up, and two guards standing outside the room take notice that the boy is awake.
“Please make your way to the lobby, Master Dream Traveler.” Says the first guard. “We’ve been expecting you.”
“Huh? Can someone tell me what’s going on?” Says the boy in a dazed tone. He’s still waking up and adjusting his eyes to the bright lights. The other guard turns to the boy.
“You are not in danger, Klonoa. Once you’re ready you may begin making your way down to the lobby.”
Klonoa looks at the guards suspiciously. “How do you know my name?” He says as he rubs his eyes.
“There is a lot you don’t know, but he will explain everything.” Says the first guard. Klonoa is still suspicious, but steps out of the room with the guards.
“He? Uhh, this better not be a trap.” Says Klonoa as he looks around.
The guards lead Klonoa down a hallway with doors leading to similar rooms he stepped out from. They walk down a staircase, and find themselves in a massive lobby filled with hundreds of people. Some of the people in the room are Phantomilians, some are Lunateans, and some are unfamiliar.
“Here is your stop, Klonoa. Enjoy your time here, and good luck.” Says the second guard as he and the first guard leave back upstairs. Klonoa looks around at the crowd. They notice him, and move out of his way as he looks around confused.
“Could it really be him?” Says one person. “He’s here too? Amazing!” Says someone else. The crowd continues to whisper to themselves as Klonoa wanders around aimlessly.
“Uhhh, can someone please tell me what’s happening? Why are you guys all here?” Says Klonoa. Before anyone could speak up, a screen turns on and a voice is heard over a loudspeaker.
“It seems everyone has finally made it. Welcome, everyone.” Says the voice. The crowd goes silent, and everyone turns to the screen as a dark figure is on display. The atmosphere in the lobby room is tense, and everyone stays silent as the man on the screen begins a speech.
“Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Garlen, the CEO of Garltek. I have brought all of you here for something special, something-”
One of the people in the crowd suddenly begins to angrily shout. “We don’t care who ya are, pal! Why the heck did ya drag us all here?!” Says the upset crowd member. Klonoa seems to recognize this voice.
“Is that who I think it is?” Says Klonoa to himself. Garlen notices the rowdy crowd member.
“Don’t be upset, my friend. You are all not in danger. Each and every single one of you here have done amazing and heroic actions. Some have saved the world. Others have unique talents that are yet to be shown.” Says Garlen.
“My company is leading the charge in revolutionary technology. This technology is experimental, and we have been looking for the best heroes in the world to show its potential. This is why I have brought all of you here today.” He continues.
A female voice speaks up from the crowd. “And just what are you planning to do with us, anyway? You practically kidnapped all of us to this place! Who’s going to look after my ship?”
Klonoa recognizes this voice too. “Is that…” Before Klonoa could continue to ask who the voice was, Garlen spoke to the member in the crowd.
“Rest assured, your possessions are still back in your world. Nothing has been harmed, and we left messages for your worlds about your absences.” The crowd member breathes a sigh of relief, but she is still suspicious of Garlen.
“Now as I was saying, I am formally inviting all of you today to pilot my new experimental machines, and put them to the test in a brand new racing competition. One that will test all of your skills, one that will push the limits of what’s possible.”
Another voice speaks up, a voice Klonoa does not recognize. “And what’s the pay for this championship thingy of yours anyway? I’m not risking my life for nothing.” Says the upset voice.
“So uncooperative today, aren’t we?” Says Garlen in a disappointed tone. “The winner of this championship will be rewarded 10 million Dream Stones. Emergency personnel will be stationed at every location in the event of danger.” Garlen continues.
The crowd is in shock. Nobody was expecting the reward to be this high. The formerly suspicious and weary crowd members now all seem interested in this event.
“I see all of you wish to partake now.” Garlen says. “Good. I have constructed a hundred experimental prototype vehicles for each of you here today, ones tailored for your unique personalities and traits. With these machines and their unique abilities, we will all travel to different worlds.” Garlen starts a slideshow of all the different vehicles and their features. The amazing looking vehicles, the idea of racing them, and winning a large reward get the crowd excited.
Klonoa is still trying to figure out if anyone he recognizes is in the crowd. “Hello? Popka? Lolo? Anyone? Is there anyone I know around here?” Klonoa tries to ask the crowd, but his questions are in vain as the crowd cheers and gets excited at the photo slideshow of Garltek’s experimental vehicle prototypes on the screen.
Garlen smiles. “Well then, It seems all of you are ready to enter. Now, here are the rules of competition for this championship.”
Klonoa is still trying to call out for anyone he recognizes, but to no avail. He gets tired, and looks to the screen as Garlen explains the rules.
“There will be seven races. Two races in three worlds alongside a special finale event. You must finish within a qualifying position at the end of each race to move on to the next one. If you fail to qualify within a certain position, you will be disqualified from the competition.”
Despite the fact that nobody in attendance has knowledge of racing, the crowd looks ready to prepare for the championship and race for victory.
Garlen notices the tension and excitement in the crowd. “Well then, off to your vehicles then. Each tent in the garage is marked with your name. Inside you’ll find a crew of my finest Garltek robots ready to service your lovely machines. Best of luck to you all, racers!” Says Garlen as he signs off and the screen turns off.
A door in the room opens up, a passageway that leads to the series of garages. The crowd of competitors begins to slowly exit the lobby room and enter the garages.
“Hey! Wait!” Says Klonoa, still trying to find anyone he’s familiar with. Someone seems to finally recognize the voice.
“Wait… is that?” Says a girl. She motions to her friend, a small dog-like creature to listen to the familiar voice.
“Is there anyone around here who knows me?” Klonoa shouts. The dog-creature notices the voice and perks up his ears.
“No, it can’t be. He’s here too?!” Says the creature with excitement.
After making their way past some random people, they spot Klonoa.
“It is him!” Says the girl. A wave of excitement soon rushes over her as she and her friend rush to reunite with Klonoa.
“Lolo! Popka! It’s you guys!” Says Klonoa as the boy and his friends all reunite. Klonoa and Lolo hug each other as Popka watches on happily, glad to see his old friend back after so long.
“It’s been years, Klonoa! We missed you so much!” Says Lolo on the verge of tears, still hugging her long-eared friend. “I can’t believe you’re here with us again!” She continues.
Klonoa smiles. “I can’t believe it either. I thought I recognized some of the voices in this crowd!” He says.
Popka smiles at Klonoa. “It’s good to see ya again, Klo!” Says Popka. “We’ve been wondering how you’ve been all these years later y’know!”
Klonoa and Lolo let go of each other as Klonoa greets Popka.
“How’ve you been, guys?” Asks Klonoa.
“It’s certainly been a nice five years, that’s for sure.” Says Lolo. “I finally got the rank of Priestess on my own, I finally got Popka to start brushing his teeth…” Popka unamusingly stares at her, causing Lolo to temporarily lose her train of thought as she and Klonoa giggle at Popka’s now disappointed expression.
“As I was saying, we also rebuilt Hyuponia with the help of Leorina and Tat. It seems they’re changing for the better!”
“Well that’s nice! I thought I heard Leorina’s voice speak out during that Garlen fellow’s message to us earlier. It seems she’s somewhere here too.” Says Klonoa as he turns over to see the many people walking around the garage.
“Y’know, speaking of Garlen, what the heck is even goin’ on here?” Says Popka. “I mean, we get transported to this weird building outta nowhere and get told we and a bunch of other people are getting strapped into these super high tech racecars just to test ‘em or something?”
“It’s strange, but at least we’re all going to be safe, right?” Says Lolo.
“Yeah, I hope so at least. I still don’t know where we are.” Replies Klonoa.
“Now I’m wondering…” Says Popka. “Where are our cars, anyway?” “Well let’s find out.” Says Klonoa as the trio step into the garage.
The garage is huge. People are all beginning to find their tents and vehicles as robotic assistants are scrambling all over the garage transporting parts and other items to places all over the garage.
“Wow… this place is huge!” Says a mesmerized Klonoa. “It’s a bit overwhelming if you ask me.” Says an uncomfortable Lolo.
“We’ll be fine, Lolo.” Says Popka trying to reassure her the best he can. “Now, that guy said our names were somewhere around these tents, right?”
Klonoa looks around for a short while, before finding Popka’s name above one of the tents. “Hey, I think I found your’s, Popka!”
“Well then what’re we waitin’ for?!” Says an energetic Popka. “Let’s check my ride out!” Popka runs over to his tent as Klonoa and Lolo follow behind him. What greets Popka at his tent is a massive yellow truck with ten wheels. Its engine is exposed behind the cabin, and behind that is a gigantic rear wing.
“Aw yeah! Check it out!” Says Popka with a huge grin on his face. “Maybe this guy isn’t so bad after all!”
As the dog-creature jumps up to the driver’s seat of his truck to get a feel for it, Klonoa and Lolo look at each other with concern.
“You’re telling me he’s going to be racing in that thing?! I don’t even know if he’s capable of riding a tricycle!” Says a concerned Lolo.
“Well, I’ve seen crazier things.” Says Klonoa jokingly. “I wonder what your vehicle looks like, Lolo.”
Lolo looks over to her tent, It’s close to Popka’s. “I guess it’s over here.” She says as she and Klonoa begin to walk to it.
Lolo’s car is a sleek, red and pink hovercar. The hovercraft is on lifts as robots are busy tinkering away at the vehicle’s five antigravity engines.
“Oh wow… I’m going to have to drive this thing?” Says Lolo cautiously. She stares at her vehicle. One of the robots stops working and turns to the girl.
“OUR CREATOR HAS ASSURED THAT YOUR VEHICLE IS TUNED TO YOUR SKILL LEVEL.” The worker says in a monotone voice.
Lolo breathes a sigh of relief but still doesn’t fully know what the worker meant. She then turns to Klonoa. “Well, I guess I better go look after this thing. You better go find your vehicle.” Lolo says as she turns to her vehicle, and then back at Klonoa.
“Right. I’ll go over to my tent and take a look at my machine then. We’ll talk to each other soon, alright?” Klonoa says.
“Of course, Klonoa. We still have a lot of catching up to do.” Lolo adds.
“Stay safe, Lolo.” Klonoa says. “You too!” Lolo says as she watches Klonoa walk away to find his tent and vehicle.
As Klonoa is walking past some of the tents, he spots a few people he recognizes such as Balue shooing away his robots insisting he can build his car himself. As he looks around, he also spots Momett marvelling at his car. Klonoa smiles, happy to see them but still looking for his tent.
As Klonoa looks around at all the people around him, he bumps into someone unfamiliar to him, causing them both to fall over.
“OW! Hey, watch where you're going you motherf-”
The stranger realizes who bumped into him, and attempts to regain his composure as he stands up.
“So… you’re the Master Dream Traveler they told me about, eh?” Says the stranger.
“Uhh… Come again?” Asks the dazed Klonoa as he gets up.
The stranger laughs. “You’re not as handsome as they say you are, that’s for sure.” Klonoa looks at the stranger confused by his demeanour and comment.
“The name’s Guntz, the Golden Death. I’m well known across the world as a bounty hunter. Don’t get in my way again, punk.”
“Alright then, sorry about that.” Says Klonoa. Guntz stares at him with anger in his eyes. Klonoa dusts himself off and attempts to shake Guntz’s hand, but Guntz doesn’t accept his apology.
“I know your type, kid. Your happy and cheery demeanor won’t work on me. I have standards.” Scoffs Guntz.
“Well, I better be on my way then, Guntz. Take care and good luck out there!” Klonoa says as he turns to look for his tent. Guntz stares at him annoyed.
“Don’t think you’re better than me or something, Dream Traveler…” Guntz murmurs to himself as Klonoa hops away to continue looking.
After searching, Klonoa finds his tent. His car is parked inside, a sleek sporty racecar with a star pattern along the sides.
“I guess this is my car.” Klonoa says as he steps into his tent. He passes by some of the mechanic robots, and opens the door to his car. He looks inside, and begins to contemplate what’s exactly happening.
“Why now? After all these years, you finally reunite with your old friends, but now you have to drive an untested racecar against 99 other opponents for some unknown man.” Klonoa whispers to himself as he steps into his car and sits down.
As Klonoa reclines in his car, his mind starts to drift. He feels the steering wheel of his machine, and stares quietly at some of the other tents. He spots someone in the distance, seemingly commanding their robot workers to fit a mysterious upgrade into their machine. Suddenly, a message appears on his car’s dashboard.
“THE RACE WILL BEGIN IN 1 HOUR. PREPARE YOURSELF AND YOUR MACHINE.”
Soon, the message appears on screens all over the massive garage. He steps out of his car and rushes over to Lolo and Popka, who are talking to each other.
“...Oh dear, Popka! I’m- Uhhh… still not sure if I’m exactly cut out for this sort of event.” Lolo says to Popka in the distance. Klonoa hears this conversation from afar, and approaches the two of them.
“We’re going to be fine, Lolo. The three of us can work together to win.” Klonoa says with confidence.
Popka nods his head in agreement. “Ya know what, Klonoa? You’re still as heroic as ever.” Says Popka with a grin. Klonoa smiles and puts his hand behind his head.
“It’s been years since I last got told something like that, Popka.” Klonoa says, almost embarrassed to receive the compliment. Lolo smiles at the two of them, seemingly with her confidence back.
“You’re right, Klonoa. It’s going to be fun having you with us for this adventure, even if It doesn’t involve saving the world!” She says with a smile.
Popka jumps with excitement. “Aw yeah! We finally got the trio back together!”
Klonoa looks back to his car at the tent. “Well, it seems we have to make some last minute adjustments to my machine. I’ll see you two out there soon!” Klonoa says.
“Stay safe, Klonoa. We’ll be there right behind you every step of the way!” Lolo says as Klonoa rushes off.
Popka turns to Lolo with a smirk on his face. “Ah… It’s good to see our old buddy hasn’t changed, Lolo.” Popka says.
“I missed him so much…” Says Lolo. “I hope we’ll talk with him again soon.”
“Of course we are, Lolo!” Popka says back. “We’ll be right there for him just like old times!”
“I guess I’m just worrying too much then, Popka.” Says Lolo with a sigh of relief. “Let’s get you back to your machine, I need to make sure you don’t mess anything up on it.”
With now only a few minutes left before the race starts, Klonoa is watching his robotic workers make the last set of tunes and changes required before the race begins. The robots motion Klonoa over to a changing area in his tent, and give him something.
“PLEASE PUT THIS RACE SUIT AND HELMET ON IN THE PROVIDED CHANGING BOOTH. IT WILL PROTECT YOU FROM ANY OPEN FLAMES IN THE EVENT OF A CRASH.” Says one of the robots.
Klonoa nods his head and receives his suit and helmet. He puts them on in the changing booth. As he steps out, he takes a look in the mirror. His suit and helmet have a similar star pattern to his racecar.
“Woah! This looks pretty nice!” Says Klonoa as the robots close the hood to his car and set it down from its jacks. Klonoa steps into his car, straps himself up, and sits in anticipation.
Garlen’s voice is heard through a nearby loudspeaker addressing all the racers.
“Drivers, the time has come. The race will begin in one minute. All your cars will start the race from your respective tents, and make your way to a nearby portal that will open once the race begins. Once you make it through the portal, you will be transported to the track and begin your race. The bottom 10 drivers at the end of this race will be eliminated from this championship, so be prepared to fight for those positions out there in Lunatea.” Garlen explains.
Klonoa jolts back after hearing the name of the location for the race. “Lunatea?! Did he just say Lunatea?!” Says Klonoa in shock, but before he could get another second to think, Garlen gives the order.
“And without further a do… Drivers! Start! Your! Engines!” As Garlen orders the drivers, the 100 competitors all fire up their machines. Popka giggles maniacly to himself as his truck’s engine roars to life and spits fire from its exhaust pipes. Lolo starts up her hovercar’s antigravity engines, takes a deep breath, and readies herself.
A wave of anticipation rushes over the long-eared boy. He was not expecting to go back to Lunatea quite like this, and a million thoughts rush through his head.
A horn is sounded, the lights in the garage all begin to glow bright green, and the portals to Lunatea open up in the middle of the garage. The competitors take off from their tents, leaving trails of smoke and skidmarks as they speed to the portals.
Klonoa takes off with the others, but nearly spins out trying to make his way to the portal. “Manya! This thing is faster than I thought!” Shouts Klonoa. He gets the car back under control, and soon finds himself surrounded by his opponents as he closes in on the portal to the course.
“Alright, here goes nothing…!” Says Klonoa as his car jumps through the portal. The sounds of his car and the other competitors go quiet, and Klonoa waits with anticipation to make it out the other side.
END OF CHAPTER 1
Author’s Note: Wow! My first ever fanfiction! I never thought I’d see the day. I'm very new to this sort of thing, and I have never used AO3 before in my life, so I apologize if I get a few things wrong. This story is going to be quite a unique one compared to some of the other Klonoa fanfics out there. Motorsports has always been something I’ve been deeply fond of, and I want to put some of that love into my work. A few friends of mine gave me the motivation and inspiration to make something Klonoa related, as well as a few rewatches of Redline and Speed Racer of course! I’m still going to get some emotional moments and themes in there just like DtP and LV, so be prepared for those later down the line.
Special thanks to KirbyCabbit, Neru7123, and RavenCabbitz for helping me gather the motivation and inspiration to make this project, I wouldn’t have done it without you guys.