Hmm...let's see. Which new Sgt. Frog fic do I want to write first? The one where they all go to a parallel universe and face evil versions of themselves...or the Parappa the Rapper crossover. Decisions-decisions!
The base was quiet. Mois was sweeping the dark grey floors, humming a familiar tune to herself. She had only one corner to go before her work day was finished, allowing her the freedom to finally partake in her favorite daily activity; watching as her Uncle built whatever new Gundam model she had last bought for him. Realizing that her work was almost done, she felt her excitement build as she imagined his gleaming face looking over his newest toy. A thought that would always bring a smile to her face.
The walls suddenly lit up with reflected light. Mois stared upwards at the walls, watching as something behind her illuminated the entire room. She quickly turned around, eyeing the source of the light. A glowing speck of yellow light stood floating in the center of the room, its mass growing constantly as it slowly began generating a bizarre, alien noise. Wind blew from its direction, blowing against Mois and causing her to cover her face from the cold breeze with her arm.
The light vanished almost instantly. The wind that blew against Mois slowly faded away. She rested her arm back down to see what had happened. The room was once again dead silent as Mois stared wide eyed at what the strange light had left behind.
The being held his head tightly as it harshly ached from the sudden change in atmosphere. He carefully opened his eyes, seeing the world as nothing but a grey blur. He squinted to adjust, pushing against the floor and raising his body upwards. He looked up, making out the silhouette of a person. Breathing deeply as he waited very impatiently for his vision to return, already well aware that his time was quickly running out with each second. The world became clearer eventually, and he was able to see that the person in front of him was Angol Mois.
His eyes widened. It was her. Well...THIS her. Not the other her. Not the her he knew. He lifted his arm outwards towards her, trying to build the will power to speak. "P...P-Please..." he said, his entire body shaking at the mere sight of her. "...D-Don't...p...p...panic."
Mois screamed, causing the intruder to flinch in both surprise and annoyance. She ran to the main panel at the front of the base, quickly slamming her palm down on the emergency alert button. Red sirens appeared over the ceiling as an explosively loud alarm echoed throughout the base and the many hallways that lead up to it. Mois activated the speaker and shouted into the intercom.
"INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT! IT'S LIKE, VIPER!"
Keroro, Giroro and Tamama ran down the massive hallway side by side, each of them prepared to fight the one who had broken into their base. Seeing the entrance just a few meters away, Giroro cocked his gun and Tamama cracked his knuckles. The monster probably already had Mois tied up and ready to use her as leverage, but the three frogs knew that this battle wouldn't be so easily won on his part. After all, it was HIM that had come to THEIR territory this time. He was at the mercy of whatever secrets their base may be hiding, which happened to be a lot.
The door to the base opened. The three frogs ran inside with stride, ready for war. "Alright, Viper!" Keroro shouted as he made his way inside. "What have you got for us this ti-!"
He stopped, as did the other three frogs. They were immediately baffled by what they saw going down in front of them. Viper laid on the floor, wrapped up in a ball with his knees touching his chest. He covered his face with his hand and claw as he whimpered like a frightened child, letting Mois beat him down with the brush end of her broom.
The frogs' jaws dropped. They could hardly process what was happening before them. Mois had their arch rival and nemesis, who up until now never showed even a hint of fear to the frogs, cowering to the ground with a BROOM? Giroro held his gun all the tighter, an odd vibe telling him that this was a trap.
"Uh...Mois?" Keroro asked, causing Mois to stop and turn to her Uncle. Expecting Viper to use this opportunity to reveal his fake helplessness and attack Mois, Giroro brought his gun up and aimed it directly for the cowering alien.
"Uncle!" Mois said with excitement, her face instantly turning serious as she turned back to Viper. "Now you're in for it, Snake-head." she gave her best attempt at an insult.
"P-Please. I beg of you. You...you have to listen to me." he whimpered. Giroro took a step closer, his trigger finger beyond ready to fire.
"You have two seconds to leave before my gun shows you out." Giroro threatened, expecting Viper to continue this poor attempt at a charade.
"I...I don't...wait..." Viper stared at Giroro, his eyes widening with shock. He recognized that red skin. "G-Giroro?"
Giroro grew all the more agitated. His pistol disappeared and a rocket launcher appeared in his hand. Viper shrieked in fright, causing Mois to look upon the intruder with a much newer expression. The frogs now shared Giroro's uneasiness as they too began to believe that this had to be some strange ruse that would allow them to let their guard down. Mois, however, saw Viper's terrified behavior as genuine. She couldn't place what it was about how he was acting, but this didn't seem to her like any kind of trick.
"You aren't tricking anyone, Viper!" Tamama smiled, standing in his martial arts pose.
"Hmm!" Keroro stood with his chest up. "I'm honestly offended that you think we're that gullible."
"YOU'RE THEM! THE ONES FROM MY WORLD!" he shouted, admittedly surprising the three frogs. Viper's shocked face turned to a massive smile. "AT LAST! YOU'RE THE ONES I CAME HERE FOR! THE ONES WHO CAN HELP SAVE MY FRIENDS!"
"Y-Your friends?" Mois repeated, her eyebrow raised in confusion.
"Don't listen to his words, Mois! He's trying to trick us!" Keroro shouted to his niece, causing Viper to panic once again.
"NO! WAIT! PLEASE!" he begged. "I'm not who you think I am! I'm here because I need help! My friends...my WORLD needs your help! Please! You're the only ones I can turn to!"
Giroro hissed. "I've heard enough!" he roared, firing his rocket launcher without a second thought. Viper screamed in fear as the rocket came spiraling towards him at full speed. He covered his head as he coward back to the ground, preparing for the worst.
The rocket made contact, releasing a bright, ground shaking explosion that each frog quickly covered their eyes to avoid seeing. The ground ceased to shake and the light dimmed down. The frogs turned back to the scene in front of them, surprised greatly by what they saw.
Mois' held her Lucifer Spear in her hands tightly with the planet side covered in black ash after having stood in the way of the rocket. Viper slowly opened his eyes as the smoke around him cleared, baffled at the fact that he was still alive. He looked up, seeing Mois standing between him and the frogs.
"MOIS! WHAT THE HE-!?" Giroro shouted.
"Listen!" Mois interrupted, which all of the frogs were taken a step back by. "I like, think we need to give this guy a chance. I know it sounds weird, but I just don't think he's faking it. Why don't we like, hear him out first?"
Viper could feel his eyes water as he wanted to cry out tears of joy for this young women's mercy. "Thank you! Thank you, Mois!" he yelled, greatly surprised by what he was saying. Even if it wasn't the one he knew, just saying those words felt wrong in every possible way.
'Nrrh. Leave it to this dumb women to get in the way.' Tamama thought with annoyance.
"Mois, are you crazy!? Viper's only tricking you! This is probably what he wants!" Keroro yelled, hoping to get Mois away from Viper as soon as possible. Whatever trick he was hiding had to reveal itself soon enough.
"B-But Uncle...!" Mois replied, preferring not to argue with Keroro. Mois did believe that whatever this Viper was saying was the truth, but if her uncle wanted her to stand aside and let their platoon handle it, she couldn't disobey his orders. "I...I just think that..." she turned to Viper, who was still cowering behind her. She built up as much courage as she could muster and turned back to her uncle, a deep, focused, serious stare in her eyes. "I like, KNOW that he's telling the truth. I just know it. And if he needs our help, then..." she gulped, wishing that it didn't have to be this hard. "...then I'll help him in whatever way I can. He's like, totally scared right now."
Nobody said a word. They couldn't think of anything to say. Was Mois serious? This was VIPER! She knew of all the trouble he had caused them over the years, and now suddenly she decides to trust him? Suddenly, a circular hatch from below the floor opened. A metal chair slowly rose up from beneath the base, the sound of laughter echoing from the darkness inside.
"KUKUKUKUKU!"
Viper sprung up immediately after it appeared. "...That...that laugh! But...that's..." he stuttered, his arms shaking and his jaw hung open. That was Kululu's laugh, there was no doubt about that. But...the Kululu from his world laughed the same way. Mindless, maniacal, and all around insane. The frogs in this world were supposed to be polar opposites of the ones he knew, weren't they? Chills raced down his spine as the laugh replicated the same eeriness as the Kululu he knew perfectly.
"He's telling the truth. The electromagnetic signatures of Earth's gravitational barrier have been slightly fractured by dark matter shifts in the atmosphere of our base, resulting in molecular vibrations passing through the..." Kululu paused. A cold wind blew silently through the base, carrying with it the phrase 'CONFUSED' in large brown letters before quickly fading away. He sighed.
"He broke through the universe." he explained. The frogs looked at each other with varied expressions. Giroro stared blankly at the others while Keroro kept his face of confusion and Tamama had a look of disbelief. Viper remained terrified, still trying to understand why this world's Kululu had no noticeable differences from the one he already knew. Mois seemed to be the only one happy to hear this news.
"Like, really!?" she cheered, more glad than ever that she had saved his life. She turned back to Viper and reached her hand out to help him up. Viper immediately took her offer and grabbed her hand. She pulled him onto his feet, causing him to shake uncontrollably and quickly lose his balance. She caught him before he could fall to the floor.
"Thank you. For everything. I know how weird this must look, but I really do need you and your friends' help." Viper told her. Keroro was the first to step forward.
"Well...if you're from another universe, shouldn't there also be another...US there too?" he asked. Kululu's chair extended as it lifted itself next to him.
"Kukuku! I'm surprise you knew that, Captain." he stated.
"Pekoponian animes. Definitely taught me more than five years of military training." he replied. Giroro growled at his leader's comment.
"Well...yes, there are. But..." Viper shivered a bit, giving the frogs even more evidence that this version of Viper was a clear coward. They peered at one another, each of them feeling the gawkiness of watching their arch rival act like Dororo after a missed birthday party. "...they aren't like you five, at least from...what I've heard. They're the reason I need your help. They've...taken over the Earth. Killed millions. They have my friends and plan to execute them tonight in front of the world. And that's if they don't struggle."
"WAIT!" Keroro interrupted, spreading his arms out and catching everyone's attention. "YOU MEAN IN YOUR WORLD, OUR INVASION IS ALREADY COMPLETE!?"
"Uh...well, yes, but that's-" Viper flinched in shock as he began to process what Keroro had just said. "How'd you know about the invasion!? And did you say...OUR invasion! YOU'RE NOT INVADERS TOO, ARE YOU!?"
Keroro wrapped his arms around Tamama and Giroro, pulling them both in for a hug to Giroro burning displeasure. Tamama only blushed as he was his cheek was now pressing up against his sergeant's. "Of course! The A.R.M.P.I.T. platoon has always been about completing our glorious invasion of Pekopon and stomping over all those who get in our way!"
Giroro shoved Keroro off of him the moment he finished talking. Tamama just laid on his sergeant's soldier in bliss. Viper was now taking small gasps in shock. They didn't have the same aura or look as the frogs he knew, but they still had the same priorities and beliefs as the monsters who slaughtered all of Japan in cold blood, bombed almost half of every country on Earth, and subjugated the entire planet into obeying the Keron government. These were supposed to be the ones to help SAVE their world, weren't they?
'Tororo didn't get his universes mixed up, did he?' he feared. He had to know for sure if they were the ones he was looking for before bringing them into his world. Otherwise, his universe could very well have two evil overlords creating chaos throughout the world, and he'd rather die than put his friends through any further pain.
Viper lowered his chin and tried his best to calm his nerves, speaking solemn to the frogs. "Do you four really plan on enslaving this planet like...them? If you had the chance, would you do what they did? Murder any human who didn't do what you ordered? Man, woman, child, anyone? Would you turn their entire world into a living nightmare just because your military tells you to?"
Giroro was already feeling irked with this new Viper's comments. Everything he was describing is exactly what he was planning to do when he first arrived. His number one priority had changed to protecting his beloved Natsumi from danger (and his rival Saburo) since then, but there had always been a strong part of him remaining that still cared about completing the invasion and laying waste to all who oppose keronian rule, even if it caused him to routinely feel conflicted between his two preferences.
"...Well...I...we...I think..." Keroro couldn't find the right answer. He had come to like the people of Pekopon over the now three years he had lived on it, so he wouldn't dream of slaughtering any of the humans he cared about, like the Hinatas or Nishizawas. And he still planned on keeping the Gundam factories active even after they invaded. But now that he was finally confronted with the idea of slaughtering ANYONE, he suddenly felt himself at a loss for words.
"Kukuku! Leave it to our one-of-a-kind leader to think about what we should do once we invade only after he's asked about it."
"Listen, I don't have much time! My friends are going to die and you may be the only ones who can help!" Viper yelled. The room was quiet for only a few seconds before Giroro turned around and began walking towards the exit. Tamama saw this and called out for him.
"Giroro? Where'ya goin'?"
Giroro kept walking as he answered Tamama's call. "This isn't our fight. It isn't even our world."
Tamama and Keroro looked at each other before they both shrugged, causing Viper's eyes to widen. "He has a point." Keroro admitted.
"Kukuku! I have to agree with the rest of you. I've already got my afternoon filled up anyway. I don't have time for to save a universe. Maybe next year, kids." Kululu said as his chair lowered back down into the floor, the hatch closing once he was out of sight.
Viper watched as one by one his hope for saving his friends turned away from him and took slow moving steps towards the door. Mois only stood quietly in the corner, deciding to wait until everyone was out of the room to ask this new Viper a few questions of her own. She only seemed to make Keroro worried whenever she started talking to him and chose to remain silent as long as he was around. The last thing she would ever want to do is make her uncle worry.
Finally throwing every hesitation he had left to the wayside, Viper chose to use his last resort and crawled forward, screaming to the frogs information he was hoping he wouldn't need to tell them until after they were in his world and had already agreed to help him.
"THEY KNOW I CAME TO THIS UNIVERSE TO FIND YOU! THE OTHER YOUS! FROM MY WORLD!" he shouted, making Giroro stop and listen, which caused Keroro and Tamama to then follow. "They'll find out how I did it! They'll discover a way to come here! They'll invade this world, too! They'll kill you! All of you! Your friends! Everyone on Earth! The moment they arrive, Tokyo will be nothing but a cloud of dust in less than ten seconds! Stop them in my world before they get a chance to get to this one! You think this isn't your fight, but...but it is! I'm sorry! I...I didn't have a choice! You either save my friends,...or...or both our friends will die!"
A small green finger tapped on his other hand's wrist. It was the only visible movement the keronian leader made while he sat in his Pekoponian skull throne, two burning candles at the end of each armrest flickered in the pitch blackness around him. His eyes remained closed as he waited for the latest update on their latest runaway's whereabouts to come stumbling in through the door. Just as he began to lose his patience, a bony, deep breathing human with a blinking collar around his neck fell into the room after being kicked through the door by a full armored Tamama.
The man felt himself nearly cough his lungs out onto the floor. He finished clearing his throat until he was able to speak understandably enough for the world leader to hear. "Emperor Keroro,...we think we know where Viper escaped to." he yelled in a croaky voice.
"Go on." Keroro responded. The man took another three coughs and swallowed.
"He was last seen...making his way down into the old base."
The tapping of his finger stopped. "Beneath the Hinata house?"
"Yes, Emperor Keroro."
Keroro slightly rotated his head as his intrigue suddenly increased. He remained in that position before eventually turning his head back to its original spot. "Thank you. Tamama will see you out."
A crawling twinge passed through his body as metal footsteps stomped from behind him, followed by a sinister chuckle. The footsteps stopped just behind the man's back as he mentally prepared for the worst yet again. Pulling out a glowing, futuristic mace-like weapon from his arsenal, Tamama lifted the heavy weapon and bashed it against the back of the man's head, knocking him unconscious while also breaking out a few of his teeth. He then gleefully lifted the man's body off of the floor and began carrying it back out the door.
"Take him back to his post. And no extra injuries this time. From the sound of his voice, he's still in working condition." Keroro ordered just as Tamama was about to shut the door, making the black keronian feel a bit disappointed.
"Yes, Hun." he said back. The door closed with a low, echoing click, allowing Keroro to return to his own private thoughts.
'If my spy is correct, he must have gone down there to try and escape into this 'alternate universe'. Even if we don't find him, it won't matter. He knows the tracking chip is still inside his collar. Kululu should be able to track him wherever he goes, even into other universes. If Tororo managed to break that barrier, so should Kululu. We'll make him wish he had never tried to interfere with our rule. Now all he's done is give us another world to conquer."