6/12/2006 Twinkle Park Entertainment Center Offering the best in cutting-edge entertainment at reasonable rates, the heart of the Twinkle Park Entertainment Center is a darkened circular chamber of cavernous proportions and industrial decor. The noise level here is overpowering, the crowd easily drowning out the background music. Lit with an eclectic collection of colored lights, the room also has several artifacts on display. Flashy holographic artwork occupies a few niches along one wall, as do scale models, and costume-wearing mannequins. Dominating the center of the room is an actual ride mecha, one of the massive machines used in the filming of the cult adventure movie, "New Avalon Panic". Near the standing mech is the main information and ticketing counter, fashioned from large slabs of armor with the Twinkle crest laser-engraved into them. Past the grinning service personnel manning the desk, doors and corridors lead off to different wings of the center. There's the in-house disco, the famous VR simulators, even conventional video games. A short lift journey down to the basement levels would bring you to the larger rides. There's even a whole haunted house somewhere down there. Across from the main desk, a pair of glass double doors lead to the outside world...assuming you can wade your way through the crowd. [Exits : Cafe , 100 Marina , and Station Square ] [Players : Klonoa ] The evening hours have just begun to settle over Twinkle Park, setting it aglow with the glaring indoor lighting and the plethora of arcade consoles. There are crowds of people just hoping to take some time off to relax as they escort their dates to the next amusement park ride sim and friends challenge each other in Dance Dance Revolution a fighting games. In fact, one of the hot spots of the arcade gallery are the racing simulators, which are constantly being occupied by excited cats, birds, and other creatures. But as for the others? Well... Let's just say that they don't usually get the attention they deserve, as the snowboard and skiing arcade consoles demo their NPC reels. Enter Klonoa. Things have been more than a little crazy for this poor Phantomilian, as he found himself dropped literally into the waiting arms of GUN. Since then, he has been performing his role as a (reluctant) member of the Special Forces, usually pulling odd jobs or acting as a courier from time to time. But he can't complain, since exploring has been a little fun in itself as he found himself getting used to Mobius. That is... Until he found Twinkle Park! When he first saw it, he thought his mouth would be stuck hanging open for life! It looked almost nearly as fun as Joilant, and so he wasted no time dashing into the amusement park to set out to explore. There have been a few lines for the ride sims, and he enjoyed watching some of the DDR players, but what really grabbed him was the unoccupied snowboarding console. Huh. "This looks like fun!" He said with a grin, digging deep into his right pocket for a stray token among the lint. After finding it, he blew a soft breath over the coin to clear away any of the lint that was attached, stepped onto the board and then... *clink* 'PLAYER 1!' the arcade boomed. 'Select your boarder!' *click-click-CHOOM* 'Get ready..." Naturally, Gantz's first reaction to Twinkle Park was different. He had seen the amazing plethora of amusement, even just through the glass doors lit brightly by the interior, as something absolutely pointless. Oh, sure, it looked fun. But what a waste of time and money! And he had avoided it as long as he could, until that fateful day he first entered... and became known vaguely as "The Kid with the Magic Feet" or some other nonsense. He'd done his best to ignore the nicknames and eventually the entire Park itself! Alas, poor Gantz has no choice. It's been a few days since his fight with that blasted black hedgehog and he's recovering well, though he still has a couple of obvious white bandages in certain places, namely over his thigh where the biggest, open wound ended up being. As he debates heavily in front of Twinkle Park, wondering if finding Klonoa is really worth it, he finally decides that his own reaction is a little too close to fear for his liking. And Gantz fears no one! Besides, he's certain Klonoa has to be here. It looks like his kind of place and Gantz already checked all over the GUN outpost when looking for him. Gantz sighs as he finally steps inside and mutters under his breath, "I'm going to regret this. But there's nothing else for it." He then braces himself for the first idiotic comment and wanders around the floor, glaring daggers at anyone who looks like they're about to talk to him first. '3...2...1...' Klonoa flexes his knees as he watches the cheeta dressed in a comfortable snowgear do the same, shedding a small grin. 'GO!!' The snowboard beneath his shoes vibrates gently into motion as the cheeta starts to coast down the icey hilltop on screen. In the lower right-hand corner of the screen, a small blue dot starts to move over a wavy loop track as Klonoa eases from side to side over the snowboard. On the screen, tall pine trees fly past the cheeta as his tail wafts in the breeze as he coasts over the snow, picking up speed. Then in a distance... a hill! The snowboard dips as it simulates the motion of a boarder sliding down into a valley as it speeds up to make a giant leap into the air. *FWOOSH* The boarder slides up and then... Klonoa kicks down hard on the back of the snowboard to keep himself from falling forward as the snowboard begins to tip backwards and the cheeta soars gracefully into the cool winter air onscreen. Meanwhile, Klonoa seems to be having a lot of fun with this game as he laughs softly to himself as the snowboard makes a landing on the ground, rocking the snowboard with hard vibrations. "Cool!" "...What are you doing?" a gruff voice asks, breaking in on Klonoa's fun rather abruptly. Leaning up against one of the other games, right beside the snowboard sim, is a figure with a pointy face that Klonoa should recognize. Gantz! Admittedly, he hadn't been watching for very long, even though he had gotten lucky and scouted the side of the vast amusement park which Klonoa was actually on, saving him a good deal of time. But he's just not in the mood to be friendly so even something that should have piqued his interest falls a little flat. "Huh?" Klonoa turns his head from side to side as he hears the voice that actually -didn't- boom from the arcade console just now. Was someone watching him as he played? He didn't really notice it before. Heh! I guess it was because he was just having so much fun. Unfortunately, the game is still going while Klonoa sits idle on the snowboard as it vibrates softly. The cheeta boarder on screen has been standing slack for one or two minutes, with a brightly colored checkpoint banner hoving just a foot or two in front of him. Meanwhile, the time attack clock is ticking... *Ding... Ding...* ...and Klonoa is realizing it! "Oh no!" He starts to lean forward on the board to send it forward onscreen but... Time runs out and the cheeta comes to a complete halt, taking off his helmet and looking dejected. A big orange 'GAME OVER' appears on the screen, causing him to sulk a little. "Awww..." He says putting a gloved hand over the top of his head with a frown. "I was so close..." Sighing, Klonoa steps lightly over the snowboard and turns around. "Sorry, sorry. I didn't think that someone wanted to play this game so..." Blink blink. "Soon?" Gosh. That guy really looks familiar. Blink. "Gantz?" ... "Gantz!" He beams. "What are you doing here?" Suddenly a wash of mild concern swims over his face as he glances at the white bandages. "Huh? What happened to you?" Maybe he got into a fight with someone? "That's what I came to find you about," Gantz admits, absolutely unconcerned with Klonoa's little game. It does remind him that they should really find somewhere to go snowboarding for real. Him anyway. Klonoa can keep the game if he wants. "We might have a problem. I ran into something... I guess I should say someone. I've never met him before but he took out one of the knights before I got there," Gantz explains, clearly annoyed about something, "He said his name was Shadow. Do you recognize it?" "Shadow...?" Klonoa repeats to himself, pulling his hand up to his chin with his eyes looking skyward. "Shadow, Shadow... Hrnn..." He folds his arms over his chest, looking a little discouraged with his eyes now closed. He sighs and then shakes his head slowly, ears waggling from side to side. "No, I don't." Opening his eyes, he frowns. "Is he coming after members of GUN?" Gantz taps his chin as Klonoa brings up a question he hadn't considered. But as soon as he does, he realizes that the answer would probably be a resounding no. It then occurs to him that he'll also have to explain the battle now, which he fully intends to make extoll his virtues. Yet somehow he slips more of the basic facts in than he would have liked. "I think he was after something else. He blew up part of City Hall and I put a stop to whatever he was up to but... I'd rather not face him again without some kind of edge," Gantz confesses, "He called himself the 'Ultimate Lifeform' and inspite of how stupid that nickname is, I think he was ... on to something. Or just on something. He was certainly the 'Ultimate Pain', I can still feel some of the bruises." Gantz stops to catch his breath and rub the back of his head. None of that came out right at all. He gives Klonoa a stern look, to let his 'little buddy' know that he's not lost the title of 'Best Gunner' or 'Golden Death' yet. Gantz has only just begun to fight! ...Seriously. Klonoa listens with keen interest as Gantz explains. While he isn't too thrilled by the fact that Gantz had to go at it alone, seeing as how the odds sounded were stacked against him, he can't help but wonder what Shadow might have been after. He assumes his thoughtful expression once more, eyes looking skyward. "If he destroyed it, then maybe whatever he was looking for wasn't there or he was caught..." Then there is that other part... "The 'Ultimate Lifeform', huh?" Why is it that bad guys always have the corniest titles? "I wonder who he is..." Klonoa is certainly hoping that he isn't someone from the Empire, because he sounds dangerous. He hums and then offers Gantz a small smile, unintimidated by the stern look he is being given. "Well, we won't be able to move forward until we figure out what he was looking for, or until he appears again. Hopefully, that won't be very soon..." That would be a very bad thing. His smile broadens. "But... Next time I won't let you fight alone, Gantz. Let's go after him together so that we can make sure he doesn't hurt anyone else!" Gantz smiles at this suggestion only it's a bit more calculating. He was hoping Klonoa would suggest they work together to defeat Shadow. Normally he might have tried to dissuade Klonoa, reassuring him that he could do it all alone. But he already fought Shadow once and he's realistic, not stupid. He has no interest in facing Shadow again, not alone at least. He knows his first fight could have gone either way, especially since he was unprepared for it. Nodding sagely, Gantz agrees, "Good. How about you ask someone higher up and see if you can find out anything else? I'm stuck here for awhile but they don't like it when I ask questions. I'll... do my own research." Which means Gantz is going to lounge around his apartment until he can't take it anymore and maybe ask the Knights about it whenever he figures out a polite way to shove a gun in their faces so that they'll feel free to tell him. Or just eat and have target practice. It's all good. Klonoa bobs his head up and down in a nod in response. "Okay, I'll do my best." Though... As Gantz mentions how he'll do his own research in the meantime, he can't help but wonder what that would be like. The image of Gantz in a lab coat with his gun in his pock and some clear vials full of a mysterious bubbly liquid sitting on a nearby table just doesn't seem to fit quite right. He gives a outward shrug and simply gives another short nod. "Okay!" But then something else occurs to him just then, suggested by the curious blink that he gives. "Hey Gantz, how did you know where to find me anyway?" He says, while pointing to himself with a gloved hand. Gantz blinks at Klonoa's question. He stares at Klonoa for several minutes. Then calmly, he indicates Klonoa's hat and the symbol on top of it. "That... You're also such a kid," Gantz teases. ... Klonoa sweatdrops. A bit at a loss for words, he simply frowns with his eyes looking stern. "I-I've just never been able to find the time to go to Twinkle Park before, that's all." He puffs his cheeks out a little, looking sideways into the remaining stretch of the arcade with mild interest. "Anyway... You can make it out of here on your own okay, right?" He would be surprised if Gantz ever replied with a honest-to-goodness 'no'. Gantz huffs up a bit at the insinuation that he might have trouble leaving the premises, either from stupidity, horrible sense of direction, or sustained injuries. He crosses his arms and glares at Klonoa. His mouth is set in a straight line and his ears are twitching with irritation. "Thanks. Next time anything interesting happens, I'll remember to ask you that instead of letting you know about possible danger and destruction that could affect everything." Gantz begins making his way back to the front of the Park while stomping rather obviously. On the way, some tittering teen points at him, "Hey... Magic Feet!" He gives them a glare capable of setting heads on fire, if he only had that ability, and then hurries the rest of the way.