In the skies above Japan, invisible to the normal human eye, was a large green airship with a gold star and the letters KRR on its side. Inside it were five Keronians, one Angolian (who was in her human form), and four humans. But the aliens inside weren't focused on the conquest of Earth…

"Vacation time, desu!" Tamama sang out as he munched on a bag of chips. He was in one of the three pilot seats; the other two were manned by Kururu and Angol Mois. The others were standing around the area of the main cockpit.

Koyuki was sitting on her knees on the ground, with Natsumi in front of her with a first aid kit. Natsumi finished putting a bandage on Koyuki's left cheek, covering up a long scratch. "Koyuki-chan, how did you manage to get this cut?" Natsumi asked.

"I was hit by a shuriken," Koyuki said, smiling. (Why are you smiling about that? Natsumi thought, sweat dropping.)

Dororo was standing next to Koyuki, looking up at her with concern. "Does it hurt, Koyuki-dono?"

Koyuki turned to Dororo. "Nope, I'm fine." Koyuki's bright smile made Dororo blush a bit.

Keroro opened up a small refrigerator and pulled out two six-packs of Coca-Cola. He walked up to Natsumi, Koyuki, and Dororo. "Anyone thirsty? This Pekoponian beverage is delicious, de arimasu!"

"No thanks," Natsumi said, waving the offer away.

Koyuki took a can. "I don't think I've ever tried this before. What is it?"

Natsumi gaped at Koyuki. "Y-you've never tried soda before?" she asked in shock.

Koyuki popped up the tab, and smelled it as it bubbled up. She took a sip. "M-my nose feels funny!" she said, holding her nose with her free hand.

Natsumi chuckled. "That happens sometimes. You'll get used to it."

Koyuki held the can up at eye level. "It does taste good, though…" She turned to Dororo, holding the can to him. "Do you want a sip, Dororo?"

He extended his hand, and then stopped. "Wait, but w-wouldn't that be…s-second-hand k-kissing…?"

Koyuki chuckled, and then kissed Dororo on the cheek. "It doesn't matter that much, does it?"

Dororo's face turned bright red. "E-e-eh?"

Tamama turned around in his seat to face Dororo, still munching on chips. "Geez, Dororo. If you get flustered from that, how do you expect to have kids?"

Dororo's eyes became large and distant. "Kids? But th-that would mean…"

SPEW

Everyone watched as Dororo's mask was stained red with his own blood—he was having a very bad nose bleed. He fell on his face, blood gushing through his mask and onto the floor. He was mumbling inaudible and random words to himself, and his eyes were completely blank.

"Dororo!" Koyuki cried out, shaking him. "Dororo, wake up!"

"What do you think he's saying?" Natsumi asked as Dororo kept murmuring to himself.

"In some ways, I don't want to know," Tamama said blandly, still eating chips.

Momoka and Fuyuki were standing near the window, looking out over Japan and not having any idea of what was going on.

"I'm so excited," Fuyuki said. "I wonder where we're going on our vacation? Oh, I hope we get to investigate supernatural stuff! Or maybe old ruins!"

Fuyuki rambled on like this for a while, and Momoka blushed scarlet at standing so close to him. Why aren't you talking to him? Her inner voice said, clenching her fists. For God's sake, just say something! Momoka couldn't think of anything to say, so she just stood silently and watched Fuyuki. This was one of the first trips she was going on without Paul following her everywhere.

Giroro sat a few feet away from where Natsumi was, polishing a wide array of weaponry. He looked up at Keroro with a scowl on his face. "Alright, time to talk, Keroro," he said, pointing the gun he was polishing at Keroro. "Where is this 'vacation' and who sent you the invitation?"

Keroro looked at Giroro. "The vacation we are taking is on an artificial island east of Japan, not seen by any Pekoponian before, de arimasu!"

Giroro had a pulsing vein on his forehead because of his anger. "Of course. Now, who sent—,"

The airship suddenly lurched, and those who weren't seated toppled over onto the floor. The next thing they knew, the airship was moving downward. Giroro, Dororo, Natsumi, and Koyuki were all close enough to the back of the pilot seats to grab on. Keroro was close enough, too, but he failed to grab on, and was pushed to the back wall with Fuyuki and Momoka. Momoka had found herself snuggled against Fuyuki's chest when they were on the wall, and she had spaced out into her imagination.

"Kukuku…it seems that someone hacked into the ship's systems," Kururu said, frantically typing on a keyboard. A few beads of sweat were forming on his forehead as he was trying to get the computer systems back under control.

"This isn't working!" Mois said, also clicking away at computer data. "You could say; big trouble?"

Tamama was trying to fix the computers, too, but just got angry at them. "Stupid system!" he said, pounding his fists on the keyboard.

Giroro looked up to where Keroro was being pressed against the wall. "Keroro, who sent the invitation?"

"Gero! It was from Pururu-chan! Sh-she said that her platoon was on vacation there, de arimasu!" Keroro answered, yelling so that everyone could hear.

"Kukukuku…the Garuru platoon isn't here, remember?"

Everyone except Mois, Tamama, and Momoka (she was still daydreaming) looked up at Kururu in shock.

"But!" Dororo exclaimed, "Zoruru was here!" Koyuki noticed that Dororo's mask didn't have any blood on it; he had switched the mask with another when no one was looking.

"Kukuku…there were records of Zoruru coming, but not the rest of their platoon," Kururu replied, still in a typing frenzy. "And even if they did come, we could find where they are on Pekopon. But they aren't on any of the tracking devices."

Natsumi furrowed her eyebrows, equally annoyed at Kururu and Keroro. "If they aren't here, then who sent the invitation?"

The ship crashed in the middle of the island that was there destination, and a small explosion caused some of them to fly in the air and scatter.

/

"Koyuki-chan! Wake up, Koyuki-chan!"

"Koyuki-dono, please wake up! Koyuki-dono!"

Koyuki opened her eyes to see Natsumi and Dororo over her, both with concerned expressions on their faces. "What…happened?" she asked. She sat up, and saw that Giroro was there, too, a large laser gun strapped to his back.

"It appears that the explosion in the airship sent us here," Dororo said. "The airship isn't too far away; we'll start to head over when you're ready."

Koyuki felt her head throbbing. I must have hit it on a rock or something, she thought, rubbing the back of her head.

"We should be careful at all times," Giroro said. "This 'vacation' must have been a trap, so this is a matter of survival."

Natsumi helped Koyuki stand up, and then started walking towards what looked like a small pillar of smoke in the distance—where the airship had crashed. "We should start heading over there now, if we want to make it before night fa—,"

Before the other three could react, a large and dark mass came from the treetops and hit Natsumi in the face. She took in a giant breath of air as if to scream, but no scream came out. Instead of splattering like water or sticking to her like goo, the substance seemed to dissolve into her. Natsumi collapsed onto her knees, and then fell forwards.

"Natsumi!" "Nachii!" "Natsumi-dono!"

Giroro, Koyuki, and Dororo all ran to Natsumi in concern. "Natsumi!" Giroro cried out, shaking her shoulder. "Natsumi, please!"

Koyuki was shaking her other shoulder. What on earth was that…?

"Koyuki-dono!"

Koyuki felt herself get pushed to the side by Dororo. When she looked to him, another dark mass headed right for where she once was from behind—and to where Dororo was now. The substance dissolved into his back just as it did with Natsumi, and when Koyuki fell to the ground, Dororo landed on top of her, unconscious.

"Dororo!" Koyuki exclaimed, sitting up and lifting up Dororo. He was still unconscious, and his eyes were blank. "Dororo…please, wake up…"

Koyuki heard Natsumi stand up next to her. She looked up to her friend, relieved she had awoken, but this little piece of happiness was wiped away instantly when Koyuki saw her. Natsumi looked limp, and her head hung on her chest, her face shrouded in shadow.

Giroro stepped back, looking up into Natsumi's blank face. "N-Natsumi…?"

Natsumi looked at Giroro, but it wasn't Natsumi anymore. Her eyes had turned gray, and she had no emotion at all. She had a long stick in her right hand, as if to use it as a weapon.

Koyuki jumped in surprise when Dororo leapt out of her grip and was floating in midair a few feet in front of her. His eyes had turned a dark gray; not just the pupil, but the entire eye. His katana was drawn, but he looked limp, like a puppet on dead strings. Koyuki stood up. "Doro…ro…?" But he was unresponsive. "What's wrong with them?" She asked Giroro, still looking at Dororo in terror.

Giroro was staring wide-eyed at Natsumi, who was staring back at him with those cold, gray eyes. "They're being controlled somehow!"

Dororo flew forward in a flash, almost stabbing Koyuki with his drawn katana. She jumped to her right, so that she was standing back-to-back with Giroro. Dororo appeared in front of her, his katana hanging by his side. Natsumi was standing in front of Giroro, holding the stick menacingly and standing a battle posture.

"We need to get them back!" Koyuki said to Giroro, beads of sweat forming on her face.

"Right," Giroro said, readying his laser gun. Beads of sweat were on his face, too. "I'll handle Natsumi, you handle Dororo. Got it?"

"Right!" Koyuki leapt up high into the air and landed behind Dororo, who turned around and slashed his katana at her, only to see that no one was there. He looked down to see her crouching on the forest floor. "I'm sorry!" Koyuki jumped up to punch Dororo in the stomach, but he moved out of the way. She landed on a low tree branch in a crouching position, breathing fast. "Wh-where…?"

Dororo appeared behind her and used the dull edge of his katana to knock her out of the tree and onto the ground. Koyuki landed right on her face and skidded for a short distance before finally stopping, coughing up dirt and blood. Dororo was floating above her, holding the katana above her neck.

/

Giroro stood up, his legs shaky and aching. He didn't ever want to hurt Natsumi, but this time, she wouldn't be returning the favor to him. She kicked him in the face once he had stood up, and Giroro went flying into a tree. Sliding down the tree, he had a memory; Natsumi breaking through all the traps he had set with a leek, sending him flying through the window…

That was the day we first met…

Giroro stood up, only to find himself flying backward into the tree again. Natsumi had pinned him up by the neck, and he couldn't breath.

I have to…get those good days back…

Natsumi's eyes were not the beautiful caramel colour that Giroro had been bewitched in on numerous occasions; they were a cold, stony grey, and Giroro felt the eyes look through him.

It's…not her…

"Natsumi!" Giroro cried out, and he found the strength to pry her fingers off of his neck. He fell to the forest floor, gasping for breath, glad to still be alive. His happiness didn't last for long, when a burst of white light enveloped Natsumi. Giroro shielded his eyes, the other hand against the tree. When the light faded, he was able to see that Natsumi was in a white and blue powered suit.

"Wh-what?" Giroro exclaimed in disbelief, his eyes getting larger. "No way…!"

Giroro was expecting to die, when suddenly Natsumi turned her head over her shoulder. She turned around and flew away, a blur in the distance. Giroro fell to his knees. "Natsumi…"

He looked over and saw Koyuki sitting up, wiping blood from her mouth. The entire front of her outfit was covered in dust, and she was covered in bruises.

"Hey! Are you okay?" Giroro ran up to Koyuki, worried for this girl that he knew almost nothing about, other than she was friends with Natsumi and she lived with Dororo.

Koyuki looked up at him, despair in her eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine." She turned to the directon where both Natsumi and Dororo had headed to, frowning. "What…what's going on?"

Giroro looked in the same direction. "I don't know. We shouldn't follow them; we've been weakened as it is. We'll try to find the others first, and see if they know anything."

Koyuki made a silent wish for Dororo to be safe, and at the same time, Giroro wished the same for Natsumi.