Chapter 2: Even Bad Asses Have Bullies.
A bolt of lightning shot through the dark and forbidding skies above. It illuminated the narrow path for a brief moment, and then she was in the cold rain once again. Her only source of warmth was the hand roughly pulling her forward. She couldn't see much more of her companion than that. The wind whipping her sopping hair into her eyes and the darkness almost drowning them both kept her vision to a bare minimum.
"Hang on!" The stranger shouted over the thunder. "We're almost there!"
She clung as hard as she could to the stranger's hand. But her fingers were numb, and the wind was doing its best to pull her away. She knew she wouldn't last much longer. Not after what they'd just seen.
The hand holding hers tightened its grip, and the voice called out again. "Stay with me! We're almost there." Within a few steps, the stranger slowed to a trot. The strength of the tugging dwindled away. Before them hovered a black portal, surrounded by and intertwined with light blue rings.
She stared for a moment before the stranger's panting voice called her attention away. "We're here. This is it."
A cold voice sounded from behind. "And where do you think you're going?"
She flinched and turned to look behind her. Before she could even catch a glimpse, a strong protective arm was around her waist, pushing her safely behind the stranger.
"JUMP!" The voice was a bellow. She was shoved into the portal, her companion falling in behind her. They plunged into a different type of blackness, one somehow even more cold and damp than the trail they'd just run. The tight grip from the strangers hand was her only source of warmth, the only thing keeping her aware of the fact that she was still alive.
"Wh-Whoa!"
"Don't let go!"
Lightning ripped through the dark, dazing her still further.
"Just a little longer! I know you can do it!"
"I-I can't! I'm sorry."
With that, the warmth left her hand and darkness engulfed her.
Giroro's eyes shot open. Had a door just shut? He blinked twice and groaned, noticing that he was on the couch. He must have dozed off sometime after putting Natsumi on his bed and doing some of the scattered paper work spread on the desk before him. He yawned as he stood up. Before anything else, he needed to hit the washroom to clean his face and teeth.
He walked through thirty seconds of dead silence before realizing how wrong it was, and then made a beeline for his room. He walked in and saw nothing but rumpled sheets on his bed. No Natsumi. With a muffled curse, he lurched out of his room and down the hallway, clambering straight into the elevator.
The 200 foot rise to the ground floor was an impatient one, but soon enough he was surrounded by the noise and general stupidity of the main tent. As he left the elevator, he spotted a group of maggot trainees. The whelps were looking around, taking in the lovely Keroro colored carpet that covered every available surface. This particular batch must be more stupid than usual, however, because they hadn't yet noticed him registering the stares aimed directly at him.
"H-Hey... isn't that the Red Devil?" One mumbled. As soon as those words left the kid's mouth, any pretense of politeness the cadets had was lost, and each one of them filled their eyes with the Red Devil.
"What are you maggots looking at?" The words were a bark.
Half the group involuntarily went to attention. The other just withered and looked away. Either way, their attention was off of him. They parted like tadpoles as he made his way towards them, and he waded his way in, searching for that familiar pink lump.
"Giroro, what are you doing here? Didn't I tell you to stay hidden until later today?" Keroro's nasally voice almost made Giroro shudder, but he managed to keep it together long enough to ask a very important question.
"Did a pink racially confused Keronian come through here?" Giroro said, gritting his teeth. He didn't have time to waste, but if Keroro had information…
"Gero?" Keroro blinked a set of wide, innocent, completely clueless eyes, tilting his head cutely to the side.
Giroro took a good look at that wide, adorable, completely idiotic expression, and snapped. "I don't have any fucking time for this! Did you see her or not?!"
Keroro's façade broke. "I-I didn't see anything!"
Before the words were even out of his mouth, Giroro ran. He avoided and ignored the frogs staring at him. Before a minute had passed, he ran out of the tent's front flap, glaring back with a scowl. Trust Keroro to have the tent be a giant representation of his head. His ego was so large, even that didn't come close to doing it justice.
Giroro ran downhill from the tent until he came upon a 4-way crossroad. The frog glanced around, ignoring the sign next to him because he knew the directions by heart. North was Keroro's Guild. The east road was the way to adventuring. South went straight to the beach. And the only thing west was the market.
Giroro ran straight through the intersection, heading south. If Natsumi only remembered her name and that she once was a Pekoponian, then the only place she had to go was the beach. That was the only place that could have any potential clues.
Sure enough, as he rounded the final corner, he spotted a familiar pink lump sitting on the sand. She was facing away from him, staring into the sea. He felt a rush of relief, but just behind it was a wave of anger.
He stomped towards her, waiting until he was close enough that she couldn't bolt to begin yelling.
"What the hell do you think you're doing? You don't have the slightest idea how this world works! You weren't supposed to leave the apartment!"
Natsumi gave Giroro an utterly confused look. "Why are you even yelling at me?! It's not like I'm yours."
Giroro opened his mouth, and then shut it. She was…right. Why had he made a big fuss about finding her? Why had he searched for her like a madfrog? To be honest, he had no idea, but she didn't have to know that.
The frog gave up and changed the subject. "Why are you here?"
Natsumi gazed at him for a moment, and then returned her attention to the ocean. "I had a nightmare." She mumbled.
"About?" Giroro asked.
Natsumi paused, asked another question instead of responding. "Why did you come back here?" The pink frog stared him down.
Instead of speaking, Giroro sat next to her with a quiet sigh. Natsumi glanced at him, then away with a growl of frustration. They appeared to be at an impasse.
"Well, if it isn't the Red Devil." A low chuckle behind them caught their attention, and they turned to see two frogs. "And some chick's with him, too." This last comment came from the closer of the two frogs. He was a lighter shade of red than Giroro, and his hat was black instead of maroon. He wore more jewelry than either frog sitting on the beach, gold ringing his waist and both of his wrists. A long staff was clutched in one hand as he stared cockily down at Giroro and Natsumi.
"I never knew you liked your victims alive." The other frog smirked. His skin was a harsh steel blue, something that matched the guns coming out of every possible area. The grey was broken only by a yellow symbol on his belly that was matched in red on his forehead.
Giroro stood up immediately. "What the hell do you guys want?"
"Tsk tsk tsk, Doruru." The red frog said with a sneer, addressing his companion. "The Red Devil still thinks he can order us around?"
"He does, Shivava," The blue frog, Doruru said. "You're not part of any army anymore, Giroro. You got fired just like I did."
Giroro balled his hands into fists. He couldn't keep a few tremors of rage from escaping him. "I was never fired! I was promoted." He spat the last word.
"Then why are you on this backwater little planet?" Shivava grinned.
Giroro's eyes spread wide as he leapt for Shivava's face with an incoherent scream, his hands made into claws. Shivava shielded himself with his staff in a practiced gesture, bracing for an impact.
Giroro was too angry to think about anything but pulling that staff away and pounding Shivava's smug face into a pulp. He jerked at the staff with an almost feral snarl, aiming jabs into the holes in Shivava's defenses.
Natsumi had stepped back from Giroro's scream, totally at a loss. Movement caught her attention and she turned in time to see the blue frog point one of his cannons at Giroro. "Watch out!"
Giroro's head jerked first towards her, and then towards Daruru. A missile was rocketing towards him, and it was too late for him to avoid it. He yanked at Shivava's staff one last time, pulling it in the path of the missile. It exploded in a cloud of smoke that stung his eyes and made him gag. He recoiled, completely unprepared for Shivava's punch, and for his shout.
"An eye for an eye!"
Giroro landed on the ground with enough force to send the small case clipped to his belt flying. He heard it crack open as two photographs and a key flew out, landing in the sand beside him.
Doruru laughed. "Would you look at that? He's still holding onto the past." He stepped forward, casually grinding the photographs deeper into the sand with his foot as he approached.
"D-Damn you!" The words were a growl. Giroro tried to struggle to his feet. Shivava kicked him in the side and he went down hard.
"We're all damned in this place, Red Devil," Shivava chuckled. He spotted the key glinting in the sand and smirked. "Hiding the good stuff from us, eh? Yo, Doruru, this key might be it!"
"Don't touch that! That belongs to me!" Giroro snarled. He reached out for the key.
"Giroro!" Natsumi's shout carried through the smoke.
"Shit. That girl's still here. Let's take this key and go." Shivava said, glancing around for potential threats.
"Yeah no shit, Sherfrog," Doruru scooped up the key as they swaggered off.
"Get back here-" Giroro earned another kick in the side. With a crack, something sharp and painful made itself known inside of him.
Natsumi waved the smoke out of her eyes, coughing. It began clearing away in time for her to see the frogs that had attacked them headed toward a cave. In their wake lay Giroro, wheezing and holding a hand over his ribcage as if he was trying to hold it together. Two photographs were settled deep into the sand next to him, one badly crumpled. Under the sand half coating it were what looked like five frogs saluting. One of them was Giroro. The other photo was of him and two other frogs that looked like family.
"Give back my fucking key!" Giroro roared. He stumbled to his feet, still clutching his ribs. Trying not to wince, he reached for the pictures half buried in the sand. He had to get that key back. He was going to get that key back. Placing the photos back inside their belt case, he began limping his way towards the cave.
"What do you think you're trying to do?!" Natsumi chased after him. She caught up easily.
"To get my key back. And to murder them for trying to take it in the first place!" His eyes were filled with exhausted blood lust.
"And get your ass handed to you again?" Natsumi gripped his shoulder, halting him in an attempt to make him think. "You have at least one broken rib, idiot. You'll kill your-"
"I don't care! That key is what's keeping me alive! It's my reason to live!" He slapped her hand away, too angry to care that he was being honest. "I have to get my fucking key back!"
Natsumi paused, staring into his burning eyes. Underneath the bloodlust, rage and pain, she could see a thread of steely determination. "Not on your own. I'm coming with."
Giroro didn't let it make him miss a beat. "Then don't hold me back." He turned back to the cave, ignoring the lightning bolts of pain shooting from his sides.
Natsumi nodded, right at his side. A stray thought made her smirk before she banished it. Guess even the bad asses have bullies of their own.
"Are you sure you can keep moving? You're getting sluggish." Natsumi's comment came from the darkness behind him.
"Stop. Asking." Giroro growled between his teeth.
"Look, I'm just saying. Once we meet those frogs you're going to get your ass kicked again. Why don't we take a break and put that off for a while?"
Giroro growled in affront, but leaned against a nearby wall anyway. His ribs hurt with every breath, but he'd had worse, and the key was more important anyway.
"So, where are we?" Natsumi was still on her feet, and she took the time to finally look at the cave around them. It was blue, and dark, and cold, and every surface she saw was made of stone.
"It's called Beach Cave." Giroro mumbled. He read Natsumi's expression and barked out a harsh chuckle. "Yes, very original, I know. If I counted the stairs right, we're on the fourth floor. Right by the end, the last place those bastards could have run to."
"You've been here before?" Natsumi asked, eyebrows raised.
"Yeah, in my early missions." Giroro grunted, glad for the distraction. The pain might not have been bearable otherwise.
"Then how do you not know where the stairs are, and why have we run into four dead ends? Do frogs not have a sense of direction?" She asked as she looked around.
"This isn't an ordinary cave, and you're a frog too, idiot." Giroro said. "This place is a Mystery Dungeon."
"... A what? Is this some kind of nerd game or something?" Natsumi frowned, ignoring his insult for the sole reason that he was already injured.
"I wouldn't know, but I've never seen this place the same way twice." Giroro sighed. "Mystery Dungeons change layouts all the time, including staircases and dead ends."
"So they're basically mazes that reset every visit?"
"Yup." Giroro grunted, steeling himself to get back to his feet.
"Why?"
"I already said I don't know. It's been like that since I came here." Giroro said shortly, finding a place to give his hand purchase.
"So you weren't born here? Where did you come from?" She was worse than a tadpole with the questions.
"Keron." He stood up. "Enough questions. We need to keep moving if we don't want them to leave without us." He limped deeper into the dark hallway, shoulders tense.
Natsumi sighed as she walked after him. She almost tripped over a light blue ball, caught herself and picked it up. It was a berry.
"You coming, girly frog?" Giroro's voice came from the shadows ahead. They were deep enough that she almost couldn't see him.
"Don't make me regret helping you, stupid amphibian." Natsumi jogged to catch up, the berry still clasped in her hand.
"Well, is it opening?" Doruru asked over Shivava's shoulder.
"It would be, if this key would twist." Shivava twisted the key and growled with all the frustration he could muster. His muscles gave out with a gasp, the key still as unmoving as ever. "Damn! Maybe this one is a fake."
"Damn Giroro, making it sound so important." Doruru stalked away from Shivava. They were already too deep into the cave for there to be any way out but the chest- once they got it open.
"FUCKING KEY." Shivava growled. He stood up, kicking the chest as hard as he could. The key and chest mocked him, glittering dully in the dim light.
"Let it be. We should get out of here before the Red Devil shows up." Doruru said, turning back towards his partner.
"You've got to be fucking with me. All that hard work for nothing? I ain't leaving here with that," Shivava almost wanted to spit.
"Oh, you'll leave with something alright, but that isn't going to be the treasure." Giroro stood at the entrance of the room. The defiance in his posture almost drowned out the clear signs of pain.
"So you decided to come alone?" Shivava smirked. Giroro was already broken. This should be fun.
"Nah, he isn't alone." Natsumi stood next to him, her hands on her hips and a smirk on her lips. "That wouldn't be a fair fight."
"A chick coming to the rescue?" Doruru laughed. "How low can the once mighty Red Devil fall?"
"Nowhere near as low as you," Giroro said. His smile tugged into a snarl.
"We'll see about that when I grind your face into the rock beneath my feet!" Shivava yanked the key down around his head, charged at Giroro with his staff pointed to stab.
Giroro braced himself. A sharp pain in his side froze him as he moved to side step, and the staff caught him in the chest. He flew backward, hit a wall, and then landed hard in a puddle of water.
"Giroro!" Natsumi's shout was punctuated with footsteps. She skidded and knelt at his side.
"The fight hasn't even started yet and the Red Devil is out?" Shivava laughed.
"Damn it..." Giroro got an elbow underneath him, and then collapsed. He let out a noise that was supposed to be a growl, but came out alarmingly like a whimper.
"What is going inside your head?" Natsumi knelt next to him. She mostly resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Had this frog-thing ever heard of self restraint?
"So, what, is that chick going to fight me?" Shivava mocked. His grin was as wide as his eyes were narrowed.
"Sure." Natsumi stood up, turned to face Shivava.
"Stop. You won't be able to defeat him." Giroro grunted. He tried to rise again, and fell back.
"Don't underestimate me." Her tone was clipped.
As she ran at Shivava, the red frog spun his staff tauntingly. Once she was in range, he swung his staff at her skull, but she ducked underneath and took a step forward. Shivava didn't even feel the uppercut until he was falling onto his back backward, his staff wrested from his hands. He was completely unprepared when his own staff caught him under the chin, ready to jab in and finish the job at a moment's notice.
"T-That's mine!" Shivava yelped.
"Just as that key is Giroro's?" The staff didn't budge.
Shivava growled. He wouldn't let this upstart pink frog show him up! He rolled out from underneath the staff suddenly, trying to jerk his weapon back, but she lifted it out of the way. He threw a punch aimed at her gut. She used the staff to block him. He threw another aimed at her head. She used the staff to block him again. With a snarl, he began flurrying his punches, but the only thing they hit was the metal of his own staff.
The frog began throwing kicks, but she dodged every one of them. Out of frustration, he leaped back. She did the same, twirling the staff expertly and gesturing him towards her with two fingers.
Shivava let out an almost scream and charged forward, hands raised. Natsumi bid her time. When the frog was close enough, she landed one end of the staff hard onto the rock underneath her and pole vaulted into midair, landing perfectly behind him. She whirled, keeping the staff low. It caught Shivava in the gut.
Giroro's mouth fell open. Where did she learn to fight like that? Giroro's gawking face followed Shivava's hurtle across the room, landing headfirst into the wall. It crumbled around him, and he fell to the ground with a moan. Giroro returned his gaze to the pink frog standing in the center of the cave, his mouth still wide enough for zubats to fly out of.
Giroro realized too late that it was too quiet. His gaze went to Doruru at the same time that he fired one of his guns. It hit Natsumi at the same moment Shivava rose to his feet, screaming incoherently.
The pink frog felt white hot pain rip through her side. She was thrown across the room, landing an arm's length from Giroro. A small blue ball fell from underneath her hat and rolled next to Giroro, and the red frog blinked. How in the world had she managed to get her hands on an Oran berry?
Natsumi stumbled as she got to her feet. She kept one hand pressed against the wound on her side. "Coward! Only weaklings shoot their opponents in the back!" She glared at Doruru.
"Sorry, girly, but beating my teammate isn't allowed. Besides, you were getting too proud. I had to put you back in your place."
"Doruru! This is my fight!" Shivava stalked back over, snatching up his staff as he did.
"A fight you were losing." Doruru smirked.
"Natsumi," Giroro whispered. It was too low for the other two to hear over their bickering- a perfect opening.
"What?" She growled.
"How long did you have this Oran Berry?" He held it up.
"Is that what it's called? I found it in the cave earlier. Why?"
"Idiot. You should have told me." He took a bite, clambered to his feet. He did his best to press the rest of the berry into Natsumi's palm. She stared at him in shock, and he grunted.
"The berry heals you. Gives you energy back. Since I ate half it only gave me half the energy, but I'm fine. You'll need it as well." Giroro smirked, began walking towards their slowly quieting enemies.
Natsumi took her bite. It was sweet, and just a little bit bitter. Biting into it was a little like getting shocked by an electrical socket back home, except there was no pain. No pain at all, in fact, including from the already healed gash on her side.
She smirked. It seems revenge tasted sweet, and a little bit bitter. She followed after Giroro and faced down the two other frogs, both of whom had begun stammering.
"How about a rematch?" Giroro asked. He'd already pulled out his guns.
"Enough Giroro! They're already half dead!" Natsumi pulled Giroro away from Doruru and Shivava. The latter two were covered in bruises and rock chips, and neither one was fully conscious.
"This isnt enough." Giroro's words were a snarl. "They deserve so much worse!"
"No they don't, idiot. They already won't be able to live this down, ever. Let them be!" Natsumi yanked him away.
Giroro growled, wiping the dust and flecks of blood from his hands. He had his key. And he'd taught those who had taken it from him a lesson. Too bad said lesson didn't feel like near enough.
"How are we going to get out?" The room they were in had no exits.
"Like this." He squatted at Doruru's side, stood with a grenade clasped in one hand. It exploded against the wall a moment later. Huge chunks of blue stone fell with the explosion. Behind the rubble, there was a space, hollow and dark. Giroro got walking. "Let's go."
Natsumi blinked and chuckled softly. She followed after him.
The pair emerged and settled onto the beach, the setting sun casting everything in a honeyed light. They were relaxed and comfortable in their twenty four hours of friendship and victory, or as much as they could be. Giroro cleared his throat.
"Natsumi...?"
"Hm?" She didn't take her eyes from the sunset.
"Where did you learn to fight? I've never seen that fighting style before." Giroro asked.
Natsumi shrugged. "It just came to me. Like I said, I don't remember anything other than-"
"You're a Pekoponian and your name is Natsumi." Giroro finished her sentence. He already knew. That didn't stop him from hoping for more information.
"Yeah." The pink frog tugged her legs to her chest with her arms, as if seeking reassurance.
Giroro nodded as both frogs fell silent. He wasn't sure how to bring it up. Should he ask her to join him? Did he even want to?
"Why is that key so important to you?" Natsumi asked suddenly. It was obviously a tense subject. Might as well get it out of the way.
"My brother gave it to me." Giroro's voice was quiet as he tugged the key from around his neck. His eyes were full of a warmth Natsumi had figured he didn't have in him. It was shock enough that she paused for almost a full minute before asking the obvious question.
"You have a brother?"
"His name is Garuru." The answer was prompt.
"That's a nice enough gift, but still. Why a key?"
"Maybe after he heard my ex-platoon got 'promoted', he wanted to give me a consolation prize." He chuckled bitterly. His eyes filled with hate. "Especially with my 'behavior' the day it happened."
"It's useless anyway. He didn't even have time to figure out what it opened, so he figured, 'let's give it to little baby brother Giroro on Zimontova, maybe he'll use that to fill his completely empty life'." The words were a growl.
"…But when those two idiots took it from you, you said it was your life." Natsumi raised an eyebrow.
Giroro paused. "I did." He twirled the key between his fingers. "I know my brother meant well. He handled the news better than I did, anyway."
"News? What happened?" Natsumi asked.
The red frog changed the subject abruptly. "Have you ever heard of an exploration team?"
"No." She quirked an eyebrow. Giroro was good with weaponry, not with topic changes. She would need to remember that.
"It's a group of people who explore. They have a very original name."
"...Okay?" Natsumi nodded, pretending she understood what was coming out of Giroro's mouth.
"I belong to one of those exploration teams. Pretty much, I work for an idiot named Keroro. We capture outlaws. We also do missions- rescue idiots, escort idiots, find stupid items for said idiots," he explained, gingerly creating some space between the two of them. He felt awkward. He had never done this before, nor had he planned on ever doing it. "Why don't you come and join me? Become my partner."
"J-Join you? P-Partner?" Natsumi sputtered.
"Yeah. My sidekick," Giroro said. Why had he ever even asked? He should have left it alone the first time he brought it up.
She snorted. "That sounds stupid."
Giroro didn't know whether to be pleased or insulted by her reaction. Either way, he began to get to his feet to go back to base alone.
"What's in it for me?" She asked.
The soldier sat back down.
"Um, well, there's money, and adventure, and maybe even a way to figure out why you turned into a Keronian and find a way back to your human self. If you're serious about that." Giroro said.
Natsumi put a hand to her chin, pondering.
"Besides, you don't really have another place to stay."
"You're right." The pink frog paused, thinking. "Alright, how do I join?"
The Red Devil next to her had to fight to keep from doing a triple take.
He decided it would be best if he were to the point.
"My guild is nearby, and we should be able to walk-" Giroro climbed to his feet, looked around at a sharp grumbling sound. Natsumi's face had gone pinker. The red frog chuckled. "And get something to eat."
"Shut up!" Natsumi yelled, her face still bright pink.
A/N: HELLO AGAIN~ Sorry for the lateness of this chapter. Im not going to lie but I was distracted with other things. But I had this written. I just had to have my beta to proof read and make it understandable :3 But because of the follows, favs, and little comments steered me back to the story. But finally this chapter is going to be posted for you to enjoy~ And I hope you could give me some more feedback and love~
B/N: B/N means 'beta's note'. Don't question it. Anyway, hello, and enjoy your latest round of Keronian Mystery Dungeon! Thank you for reading, and for sending Meyoshi reviews, favorites and comments. She squeals at me and gets on my butt to finally beta her stuff. Which takes forever, because I'm very very slow. :D In any case, thanks again!
