Kero opened his eyes to another beautiful day and sighed happily. He was relieved Kururu had left quietly, instead of pummeling him as he had expected.

"But then again I am squad leader, and he's not, Gero gero gero." Kero laughed to himself as he slipped out of bed. "I wonder what Fuyuki's doing today?"

--

Far beneath the earth, quiet laughter could be heard.

"Ku~ ku ku…Ku~ ku ku…"

It started out small, but resonated through pipes and metal. It echoed back and forth in chambers of steel until it reached a deafening crescendo. It raged into a din…

…And then, all at once, it stopped.

There was the tiny sound of a button being pushed, and two words.

"I press."

--

"Good morning Kero, have you seen Giroro anywhere?"

Kero stopped still on his way to the kitchen and considered Fuyuki's question. Oddly enough, he hadn't seen the angry red frog yet. Usually it was Giroro that woke him with some plot to take over Pekopan, but that morning he was allowed to wake slowly.

"No, I haven't seen him. I wonder where he is?" Kero wondered aloud as he wandered into the living room.

"I can tell you..." A smug voice intoned

Keroro didn't bother to turn around. "Lister Kuru, you're not getting any money until next week, so don't even bother."

Kero strode towards the sliding door, aiming to go out and get some fresh air, but was stopped as a sheet of metal slammed down, preventing escape.

"Ku~ ku ku….Ku~ ku ku ku ku…"

Kero's fingers twitched as he heard numerous other slams and knew all hope for escape was gone. Kero turned to see a large plasma TV suspended from one of the walls, and on it was none other than Kururu, looking smug as he absently twirled a cable around his finger.

"So, would you like to know where Giroro is? Ku~ ku ku…"

Kero chose to remain silent and he saw it rewarded as Kururu's smile faded, unhappy with the mute response. However his grin was back in a flash as he leaned close to the screen announcing his big surprise.

"Giroro…is with me! Kukukuku!" Kero's eyes bulged as the yellow alien leaned to the side revealing an unconscious Giroro. Though it didn't seem like the red frog was injured, he was wrapped in metal cables and unarmed. Kururu moved back to the middle of the screen, laughing triumphantly.

"Ku~ ku ku! As you can see, Giroro, is safe and sound. But that can change very quickly." His voice turned sad as he continued. "I'm willing to let bygones be bygones but my friend Mr. Wallet here has lost so much weight lately…Won't you give him something to eat?"

Kero put his hands out in front of him in a pleading gesture "I told you, my Gunpla is non-refundable…"

Kururu's gaze did not flicker, but his mouth turned downward in a frown. Casually, he shifted in his chair, from a sitting position to resting sideways, one hand supporting his head. "Everything is refundable, you just have to ask hard enough. Apparently I haven't been asking properly." He paused to readjust his glasses, which somehow seemed threatening to Kero "Well then, I guess I'll just have to motivate you then. You'll pay me in tears and blood or you'll pay me in cash. Either way, it's green."

He looked to the side for a moment, seeming pensive. "Anyway, aren't you forgetting something?"

Kero blinked, confused. "I don't think so…Am I forgetting that one blue guy again…what's his name .. Dororo?"

Kururu stared at Kero long and hard, then answered "No. I'll give you a hint, it starts 'Fuyu' and ends with 'ki'."

Kero sighed and scratched his head, thinking hard. He looked back up at Kururu, pleading with his eyes. "Can I have another hint?"

Kururu froze, sweat beading on his forehead as a vein pulsed in his neck. "...No."

Kero sat down and thought until his skull pounded with the effort. Finally it came to him. "Fuyuki! He was here just a moment ago! Kururu, what did you do to him?"

"The Pekopan are fine…Ku ku ku…But you won't be seeing them anytime soon. At least, not until Mr. Wallet gets fed." The frog yawned and sat up. "Well, Giro will be waking soon and I need to deal with him accordingly. Do consider donating to Mr. Wallet's worthy cause, Ku ku ku..."

The flat screen TV went blank and retreated into the wall, leaving Kero alone and fairly creeped out.

--

Kururu got up and stretched. Already he could hear Giroro moaning and squirming against his ties. Despite himself, he found himself constantly surprised by Giroro's endurance and will. The tranquilizer he'd slipped into Giro's glass should have been enough to knock an elephant out for days, the red veteran was barely kept down for an hour.

"Wh-what the hell is this?!" Giroro screamed, his eyes shooting open into full consciousness as he thrashed against the ropes that kept him down.

Kururu giggled, replying "Now, now, Giro. I only want to talk to you."

"Well this is a sick way to do it! Let me go damn it!" Giroro screamed furiously, practically biting at the cables that wound around his arms.

"I don't want to. You'll hurt me." Kururu replied, faking fear for a few moments before breaking out in mocking laughter.

"DAMN WELL I WILL!" Giroro screamed, thrashing against the floor like a fish out of water. He stopped still as Kururu dangled a remote in front of his face teasingly.

"Don't get too riled up now, as I said before I only want to talk, Sergeant Major to Corporal. Promise me you won't hurt me and I'll let you go."

Giroro grinned like a piranha and replied. "I promise not to hurt you."

Kururu pressed a button on the remote and the coils of wire restraining Giroro condensed into a tight disc. Giroro stood up and brushed himself off; then dashed to Kururu so quickly he was almost unseen and forced a gun between the madman's eyes. In response, Kururu laughed coldly. A million red dots trained on Giroro's stunned face as numerous turrets sprouted from the walls, seeming to know their creator was in danger.

"Ku~ ku ku…I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Gieroro looked around him, saw no way out, and dejectedly lowered his weapon. The turrets retreated into the walls, but their presence was still felt, a looming reminder that he was in Kururu's territory. He sighed, defeated.

"So, what do you want to talk about?"

Kururu snickered and replied "As you know, I am higher in rank than you and can give you orders. Therefore I order you to attend mandatory cooking lessons."

"W-w-w-WHAT?" Giroro stammered. "YOU MUST BE MAD!"

Kururu inclined his head and regarded Giroro from over his glasses. "I will never understand why you people feel the redundant need to state the obvious. You don't have any choice anyway, I am of higher rank than you and…" Kururu snapped his fingers and a hole opened up under Giroro, sending him screaming to the darkness below.

"…I'm smarter than you. If you dislike it take it up with the leader."

--

I was honestly surprised that anyone would read, let alone review this story, but I was overjoyed when you did. So I must thank you, fair reader, for motivating me and making me want to write the next chunk.

What will horrors will Giroro face? Will he really be forced to take cooking lessons? How will Keroro get enough money to pay off Kururu? Why am I asking you all of these questions?

Find out on the next chunk of Payment!

All charcters belong to whatever crazy mind came up with this show. And the mind that came up with this crazy show should get a gold star.

P.S. Thanks to all those people that pointed out to me that I'd accidentally copied the chapter and pasted it TWICE. This was part my crappy computer and part my negligence so I appologize. I seriously wondering why this chapter was so gosh darn long but I didn't really check and probably wouldn't have if it wasn't for you people, so I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Have a theoretical cookie.