Buried deep in the darkest bowels of the Keroro Platoon's secret base, a peculiar assortment of vials sat perfectly aligned on the counters of a dark lab room. A few of them bubbled and misted mysteriously; bright, translucent colors that glowed in the dimly-lit space. These vials were samples Sergeant Major Kururu had collected after the platoon's latest save of Planet Pekopon – the very planet the invaders had been assigned to conquer.
The Earth Dragon would have succeeded in draining every resource on Pekopon if not for the intervention of the Keroro Platoon. (And more like the intervention of Keroro, Fuyuki, Natsumi, and Momoka, since the rest of the platoon had been transformed into Dragon Warriors to protect the rebirth of the Earth Dragon.) After that close call, Kururu had made a point to gather DNA from Terara, the Earth Dragon's secondary, much less intimidating form after being defeated by Shion Drakon – the girl who had revived the great serpent in the first place. This was so Kururu could understand the chemical changes that had taken place in their bodies as best as possible, and be more prepared if something alike ever occurred again. (And to perhaps one day use in one of Keroro's reckless invasion plan operations – or save Pekopon from destruction for the ten-millionth time.)
But for the most part, Kururu gathered information purely to experiment with it, and make use of his findings in an invention of his. What outlandish exploitations will surface by adding this to the mix? he wondered, tipping one vial, end-up, into another – thick, silvery liquid into that of a tangy-orange and bubbling one. "Kuuukukuuu~" The vial of orange liquid foamed and turned a sherbet-green, bubbles no longer rising to the surface.
"Omoshiroi," Kururu commented quietly to himself, smirking. He suppressed another laugh, only a few high-pitched chortles escaping. Surely, he'd have to test this new concoction on his guinea pig (also known as Corporal Giroro).
Kururu slid the vial of green foam into a separate holder of its own, then carefully placed the set into a freezer chamber in the center of the dark lab. He turned around and grabbed the other vial sets from the counter, stowing them on the shelf below the first. Closing the glass-pane, his automatic lock activated and clicked into place. There. That was that. Time to go assemble the tape recordings of his next Natsumi video to sell on the spaceweb.
Finally, Kururu had mixed and received the exact reaction he'd been aiming for with the Terara DNA, but it'd taken months to perfect. Terara's DNA was a tricky thing, Kururu wouldn't deny. He still would have to test it out, and who knew what kind of kinks lay in the actual process of –?
Kururu came to a sudden halt, standing in the doorway of his dark laboratory. The light from the inner halls of the base cast his shadow into the room. Slowly, he turned around, glancing back at the vial of foamy, sherbet-green liquid in the freezer chamber. The light from the hall set a glare on his glasses.
The vial hadn't moved. Only a few bubbles puffed – on occasion – out of the top. Even still, Kururu watched it for another few moments.
He turned back around. "Ku~"
He shrugged. "Whatever."
Kururu continued to walk forward, and as he did, the door to the lab room snapped shut, sealing off all light to his lab.
Only the faint glow of the vibrantly-colored vials rested within.
Tamama Presents: Tamama's task – de arimasu
Tamama awoke that day just like any other: with a group of about half a dozen maids greeting him and tidying up his room; being ushered to join Momoka for breakfast (where he ordered cake, cookies, and anything else he could think of); then going off to find Keroro at the Hinatas'. Regardless of an invasion meeting taking place or not, Tamama always went over to hang out at the Hinata house. It wasn't like he wanted to spend the entire day at the Nishizawa Manor where, sure, he'd get snacks, games, and anything he wanted at his beck-and-call, but it always felt so empty, even with all the servants and guards Momoka had hired.
No, being at the Hinatas' was better. Things weren't nearly as formal, but aside from all that, most importantly, Tamama got to spend time with the love of his life, Sergeant Keroro.
And so, today Tamama climbed into Momoka's black limo without much thought to what stupid scheme his leader had in store for him that day – swinging his legs and humming to himself as Momoka seated herself across from him, the limo gradually rolling forward. Whatever Keroro did, Tamama would be happy to take part in it with him. As mentioned before, it was better than spending the day alone in the Nishizawa Manor.
Oh, he couldn't have been more wrong.
Tamama burst into Keroro's room, raising one arm and beaming warmly. "Gunsou-san, I'm here, desu~!"
Silence.
No one was inside.
Tamama sighed, pouting at the floor. All that enthusiasm for nothing, he grumped, treading forth. At the wooden table that lay in the center of Keroro's room, he stopped. On it, one of Keroro's Gunpla models remained, unfinished, the pieces scattered all over the table and floor. "He must be in the control room, desu..." Tamama thought aloud, staring at the unfinished Gunpla. That was strange... usually nothing could tear Keroro away from finishing one of his Gunpla models.
Through the portal in the refrigerator, Tamama stood on the moving sidewalk that would bring him to the control room. As he passed through the halls, couldn't help but notice how quiet it was... or maybe it was just him?
When Tamama reached the doors to the control room, immediately, he sensed something was out of place. The lights down the opposite hall were all blinking or burned out, and on the doors Tamama saw dents and scratches. Leading from the hall, multi-colored gel trailed on the ground in huge, inky globs. The gel consisted of only four colors: sky-blue, a pungent yellow, brash red, and... leaf green.
Tamama gasped in horror, the lines around his eyes deepening in realization. He spun around and pounded frantically on the dented, scraped-up doors with both hands. "GUNSOU-SAN! GUNSOU-SAN!" he screamed, banging on the door until his fists were marred with bruises and scratches of their own and his voice was nothing but a hoarse rasp. Not a sound came from behind the doors, which would not open. Had one of Keroro's crazy invasion plans gone horribly wrong? Tamama needed to know.
With a final hit on the door with his fist, Tamama gave up and sank to the floor, leaning against the dented metal. His throat clogged up. "N-no... he can't be... he can't be...!" The longer Tamama stared at the jagged gashes across the door, the heavier his chest weighted with worry.
What kind of creature could create such a thing...? he thought miserably. Of course he could name many. Every fowl space creature imaginable popped into his brain. Tamama feverishly shook his head, fending off the tears that threatened to roll down his face. He didn't want to think about it. He didn't want to think about anything. What could he do...? What should he do, when he didn't even know what had happened...?
Behind the control room door, something shifted and let out muffled croak from inside.
Tamama sat up at once, pressing his hands against the crease of the two scratched-up metal doors. "Gunsou-san?!" Tamama called again, – weakly, his voice barely audible from his yelling earlier. But loud enough.
"T-Tamama...?"
It was him. "Gunsou-san!" Tamama gasped happily. A tidal wave of relief rushed through his entire body, calming him. He let the tears seep out of his eyes, and a small grin spread his lips. Tamama wiped his face, trying not to let Keroro know how emotional hearing his voice had made him. "I'm so g-glad you're okay, desu..." he whispered, leaning forward so his forehead rested against the door.
"Tamama... you need to get out of here..."
"No, I'm staying right where I am! Are you hurt? I can get you out! I'll find a way to open the doors; I swear I will, desu!"
"N-no! Don't do that!"
Tamama had stood and prepared for a Tamama Impact to blast the doors, but stopped when he heard the sheer tension of Keroro's voice. "Wh-why not, des-ka?" he asked, perplexed.
"Be-because... I..."
"You what...?"
"I'm not exactly... myself at the moment."
Tamama's face strewed in confusion. "Huh?"
"Listen, Tamama, something... something happened to the entire platoon. One of Kururu Souchou's experiments went berserk and spread throughout the entire base and infected everyone. You have to get out of here before it affects you too."
So it was Kururu, was it? Tamama would have time to blast Kururu later. "Wh-what was the experiment, des-ka...?" Tamama asked hesitantly. Again, he glanced at the deep, menacing scratches on the doors. Maybe he didn't want to know...
"Kururu had gathered some of Terara's DNA and was making a mixture that would transform us halfway into dragons when..." Keroro trailed off, then let out a sharp yell.
Tamama's throat clenched, leaning close to the door again. "Gunsou-san?! Gunsou-san?! What's going –?!"
Tamama's breath cut short; he was interrupted by someone else who was inside there with Keroro.
"Ouji-sama!" he heard another voice call in desperation. "Ouji-sama! Ouji-sama! Ouji-samaaa!"
Tamama's worry vanished just like that. "That woman," he hissed, eyes slanting in disgust. "Why isn't she affected by whatever's causing everyone else to transform into dragons, desu-ka?!" he fumed angrily, gritting his teeth.
Keroro's voice came through, panting hard. "Apparently Angols aren't affected by it." This was followed by some more yells from Keroro. Knocks and clashes resounded from inside. And skittering – the catch of claws on the walls.
Mois continued calling out "Ouji-sama!" but Tamama's shouting as Keroro thrashed around in the room drowned her out. "GUNSOU-SAN?!"
The roar overrode both Tamama's and Mois's screams. An ear-splitting, deep roar that shook him to his very core.
A dragon's roar.
Tamama slowly backed away from the door, his eyes wide. Mois kept calling things like, "Please calm down! Everything will be fine! Try to remember who you are!" but Tamama could only vaguely imagine what was going on inside.
He was shocked… and terrified.
Keroro... turned into a dragon? A mindless beast that would only cut down those who stood in its way… not the commander he usually knew…? Tamama couldn't stop his shaking...
A millennium of cluttered skittering and listening to Mois calming Keroro down later, Tamama was snapped out of his dreary thoughts once again by Keroro.
"Tamama! Tamama Nitou!"
"Ah?! Yes, Gunsou-san?!" Tamama stepped readily up to the door.
"I-I need your help..."
"With what, desu-ka...?"
Keroro spoke slowly. "The other platoon members... they're not... I don't know where they are... but they aren't themselves either..."
Tamama could already tell where this was going. He wasn't sure he wanted to hear it, even if the one ordering him to do so was Keroro. "What do you want me to do...?" he said apprehensively.
Keroro waited a really long time. "...There's a way to bring us all back to normal. By using the Kero Ball. Before he turned into a dragon, Kururu said he created a cop out by placing the Kero Ball into a platform in his lab."
Tamama had been right. He sucked a breath in through his nose, preparing himself for the challenge sure to come. "Where is the Kero Ball, des-ka?"
"Fuyuki's room... but I don't know where this lab of Kururu's is inside the base. Or where the other platoon members are. They were caught up in the mixture before me. I'm sure they've already transformed."
Keroro broke out into another fit of agonized yells and roaring, but all Tamama could think about was Mois, who was trapped in there with him. Alone. For however long it would take him to retrieve the Kero Ball and find that lab of Kururu's... Tamama thought of blasting down the door of the control room right then and there to separate Mois from Keroro... but what good would that be to anyone? By the sound of it, Keroro was already mostly-dragon. Who knew what he might do if released and fully transformed? Tamama would already have the other three platoon members to deal with...
More skittering from inside distracted Tamama. Mois calling for Keroro to calm down, remember who he was. Keroro calling back, assuring her with earnest that he wouldn't allow himself to forget.
Tamama felt himself trembling with rage. Unrelenting, unforgiving, irresistible revenge. But he clenched his fists and scrunched his eyes tightly shut. He would not let Keroro's quick thinking – by locking himself in the control room where he couldn't harm anyone – go to waste. He wouldn't. He wouldn't, he wouldn't, he wouldn't.
I won't! I won't! I won't! Tamama echoed, willing his rage to be subdued. I won't! I won't! I WON'T!
Tamama turned away from the control room, his fingers digging into his palms. "I'll retrieve the Kero Ball from Fu-ki's room and turn everyone back to normal," Tamama alleged. He dashed down the hallway he'd come from, away from Keroro's and Mois's desperate yells. "I promise I will, Gunsou-san!"
Even if Keroro hadn't heard him and Mois was the only one there to comfort Keroro, try to keep him under control, Tamama wouldn't let it get to him. He wouldn't allow himself to.
He'd turn everyone back to normal, just as Keroro had requested. Even if it was the last thing he ever did.
New story officially started! Hope y'all 're interested~ I may put the other story I'm writing that's non-Sgt. Frog on hiatus in order to update this story more frequently. In case yah enjoy it! :D
Please be sure to tell meh whatcha think! Thanks~!