Namco × Capcom/Story/P2:Pre-Stage

Gensoukai - Oberon Corporation's Secret Factory, Underwater Cave

Stahn: "What kind of act is this... Leon!"
Leon: "It's as you can see."
" Leon: "...If you want to proceed any further, you'll have to defeat me first."
Rutee: "What are you talking about?!"
Rutee: "You understand that this is an emergency, right?!"
Leon: "...That doesn't matter. I'm just fulfilling the role I've been given.
Leon: "Which is to kill you all."
Stahn: "Wake up, Leon...!"
Stahn: "You're just being used by Hugo!"
Leon: "That's right."
Leon: "I'm nothing more than a disposable pawn to Hugo."
Rutee: "No way! ...Even knowing that, why...!?"
Leon: "...I have something I must protect... That's all."
Leon: "Are you ready?! Here I come, Stahn!"

(Swords clash!)

Stahn: "Leon! This is no time for... no time for doing something like this!"
Stahn: "The 'Eye of God' is something that humans shouldn't possess!"
Leon: "That doesn't concern me!"
Stahn: "Something is happening all over the world!"
Stahn: "You know about the 'Key of Time', right!?"

[Image: Key of Time]

Leon: "I know. ...It's a divine treasure from Shinkai that was stolen by some demon, right?"
Leon: "But... I told you that doesn't matter, Stahn!"
Stahn: "Leon...!"
Stahn: "Ugh... Uwooooh! Shishi! SENKOOOOU!"

(SHISHI SENKOU!)

Leon: "Kah...!"
Stahn: "Leon... why...!"
Leon: "...Stahn..."
Leon: "...Not yet... It's not over yet."
Stan: "Stop it, Leon!"
Leon: "I can't... let you chase after them..."

(The screen shakes as the cave collapses)

Stahn: "Wh-what?!"
Leon: "...Heh...hehehe...It's begun..."
Leon: "Victory... is mine..."
Stahn: "What?!"

(The cave continues to collapse)

Leon: "The clock of the apocalypse... has started... ticking..."
Leon: "It can't be stopped... by anyone... anymore..."
Stahn: "This sound... Could it be that water is flowing in!?"
Dymlos: "This is bad, it's going to collapse!"
Atwight: "But, he's...!"
Rutee: "No! We won't make it in time!"
Stahn: "Leooooon!"
Rion: "Hehe... Goodbye... Marian..."

Meanwhile - Breezegale Village

Klonoa: "He's late... What's he doing?"

(A motorbike approaches)

Klonoa: "Oh! That sound!"
Gantz: "Yo, sorry for the wait, Klonoa."
Klonoa: "What's the deal? You called me here only to show up late!"
Gantz: "Quit your whining! You're still such a kid."
Gantz: "I have my own reasons for doing things this way."
Klonoa: "Stop calling me a kid! And what do you mean by 'reasons'?"
Gantz: "Things have been gettin' pretty chaotic in the world lately, right?"
Klonoa: "Huh... for real?"
Gantz: "Seriously... that's why this village is such a pain. It's too peaceful."
Klonoa: "A-anyway, what do you mean by pretty chaotic!?"
Gantz: "Hoho, you took the bait."
Klonoa: "Is it another Phantom Beast sighting? Then let's go and take care of it!"
Gantz: "It's a monster hunt alright... but the quarry ain't Phantom Beasts."
Gantz: "This one looks like it's gonna be pretty dangerous."
Klonoa: "'Looks dangerous' how?"
Gantz: "...Word is, the 'Golden Knight' is on the move."
Klonoa: "Huh!? The Golden Knight... you mean *that* 'Golden Knight'!?"
Gantz: "That's how it is."
Gantz: "Several years have passed since 'that battle'... Since then, there's been no records of the Golden Knight's battles."
Klonoa: "Yeah, so why so suddenly...?"
Gantz: "Try thinking about it the other way around."
Gantz: "...What if the opponent is so powerful that even the Golden Knight has to take action?"
Klonoa: "Oh...!"
Gantz: "Looks like a bingo. ...But it's pretty dangerous, y'know?"
Gantz: "They're nothing like those Phantom Beasts that run away at the slightest poke."
Gantz: "But if we're really up against that many guys, then we can expect a good reward..."
Gantz: "And I plan to collect."
Klonoa: "........."
Gantz: "That's why I'm hesitating about whether or not to take you with me this time."
Gantz: "Well, no need to force it..."
Klonoa: "...This is getting interesting, Gantz."
Gantz: "Heh, right?"
Gantz: "Hehe... Having fun is important, y'know?"
Gantz: "It's settled, then. ...Let's go!"
Klonoa: "Yeah!"
Klonoa: "...But even if we go to the royal palace, they probably won't let us in easily, right?"
Klonoa: "Could it be... are you planning to break through the castle gates...?"
Gantz: "Hey... why are you looking at me?"

[Location: Tower of Druaga - Ruins]

Gantz: "You should already know where we're going. When you think of the 'Golden Knight'...?"
Klonoa: "Oh, that's right!"

Meanwhile - Sandland, Highway

Kurino: "........."
???: "...Hold it."
Kurino: "........."
???: "...I heard about it. You're still as reckless as ever, aren't you?"
Kurino: "It's you, Sabine."
Sabine: "I just spoke with the tribal chief."
Sabine: "...I heard that the goddess Ishtar forbade the Sandra tribe from getting involved in this incident."
Kurino: "...Yeah."
Sabine: "Your actions are an act of rebellion against the goddess."
Sabine: "For a decision made by a man called a 'hero'... it's rather pathetic."

[Location: Endless Desert Pyramid]

Kurino: "...Titles don't matter."
Kurino: "I decided at 'that time... when I was rescued by that person at the Endless Desert Pyramid..."
Kurino: "The rest of my life will be dedicated to my family..."
Kurino: "...and to Lady Valkyrie."
Sabine: "Hah! How splendid, how splendid."
Sabine: "And the result is, no farewells, only armor and a single spear as luggage... How miserable."
Kurino: "No, I'm grateful to the chief."
Kurino: "He didn't execute me as a traitor to the tribe... He just banished me from the village."
Kurino: "And he told me I didn't have to worry about my family... I couldn't ask for anything more."
Sabine: "...You're always... alone, aren't you?"
Sabine: "Even when you saved me and my mother... you came alone, and then you challenged the 'Phantom Tower' alone."
Kurino: "...That's a story from the past, Sabine."
Sabine: "........."
Sabine: "...Well, 'former' hero of the Sandra tribe, where are you going now?"
Kurino: "To the ruins of 'that tower'. This incident... is definitely related."
Sabine: "What, the same direction as me? What a coincidence."
Kurino: "......!"
Kurino: "No, Sabine."
Kurino: "I'm a rebel. ...You don't need to be involved."
Sabine: "Huh? I just go wherever I want to go, whenever I want to go."
Sabine: "...Well, I might just happen to walk the same path as you."
Kurino: "........."
Kurino: "You've changed."
Kurino: "The you from back then wouldn't have said something like that even if your mouth was torn open."
Sabine: "Hehe... That's a story from the past, Kurino."

Gensoukai - Tower of Druaga, Ruins

Stahn: "..."
Rutee: "Stahn..."
Stahn: "Hey, Rutee... Was what I did back then... the right thing to do...?"
Rutee: "...Was there another way?"
Rutee: "Or what? Do you mean... you wish you had been the one who got cut down instead?"

[Image: Eye of God]

Rutee: "Then who would chase after the 'Eye of God'?"
Rutee: "I don't wanna say it, but... that thing is capable of 'destroying the world'."
Stahn: "...The world, huh?"
Stahn: "I'm not fighting to save the world or anything like that."
Rutee: "...?? Then why do you fight?"
Stahn: "Hmm... I can't really explain it well, but I'm just fighting to protect the people I care about, my family, my friends."
Stahn: "You know, I'm just a country bumpkin. When you say 'the world,' it doesn't really register with me."
Stahn: "I wonder if this is really okay..."
Rutee: "It's fine, really. I'm pretty much the same, so we're in the same boat."
Stahn: "Hearing you say that, Rutee, makes me feel a lot better."
Rutee: "That's right, that's the Stahn I know. Otherwise, there's no challenge."
Stahn: "........."
Rutee: "Even so... he's late. What kind of person calls someone out and then isn't even here first!?"
Stahn: "He seems like a busy person, so it can't be helped, right?"
Rutee: "That doesn't matter! Besides... I don't want to stay in a place like this forever!"
Stahn: "Well, yeah."
Stahn: (The Tower of Druaga... What business could the person who destroyed this tower have with us...?)