Dororo and Koyuki Present: The Human Mind, the Ultimate Battlefield! (De Arimasu!)
Chapter 2
by TheAngryTaco

A/N: I won't recreate my reactions to the love that this story received, but some people tell me it's a similar reaction to when Keroro gets a new Gundam model.

So instead, I just want to thank the awesome people who read and enjoyed the story. I hope you'll continue to do so.

Legal/Technical: I don't own Keroro Gunsou or the characters in the franchise. Bold is the Narrator, italics is thoughts.

When we last left off, Koyuki had fallen into a coma-like state. What is the cause of this troubling event? Let's find out.

Dororo sat on an uncomfortable stool, watching helplessly as Pururu ran every test she could think of on Koyuki. After being unable to wake her up, he had frantically sent a message to his platoon mates begging for their help. They had raced over and helped Dororo get Koyuki to the clinic in the underground base, stunning Dororo with their willingness to lend a hand. And fortunately, Pururu happened to be in town on a visit. She was ready when they arrived and had started working on Koyuki as soon as they got her through the door. Less fortunately, even after several hours of testing, Pururu didn't appear to have a clue what was wrong with her.

"I'm used to Keronian patients, not Pekoponians," she had warned him before she got started.

Dororo felt a few tears begin to make their way down his face. He angrily wiped them away, shaking his head. Koyuki's strong, he thought. She'll pull through. She has to...

Pururu took a deep breath and wrung her hands together. "I can't find anything!" she said, clearly frustrated. "No abnormal temperature, she's not dehydrated or malnourished, nothing wrong with her heart rate or breathing. There's nothing odd that I can see except that she won't wake up."

Dororo silently took in her words, then walked over to his unconscious friend. He felt his heart sink lower and lower with every step. "Will she be all right?" he asked quietly.

The medic looked him straight in the eye. "I don't know, Dororo," she replied honestly. "I've never seen anything like this in Keronians. Admittedly, I don't know that much about Pekoponian ailments, but my professional guess is that this would be abnormal in any species."

Dororo closed his eyes, trying to maintain his composure. He felt Pururu's hand on his shoulder, but he didn't look at her. "I'm so sorry, Dororo," she said. "I'll keep looking for something, but I think the best thing to do for her now is to keep her comfortable."

"Understood."

Pururu went over to her computer, presumably to look for anything resembling Koyuki's condition online. Dororo took Koyuki's hand, the tears returning at full force. "Koyuki, please come back," he whispered. "I don't want to lose you."

A quiet whimpering reached his ears. He quickly turned to see Koyuki's lips moving. "Koyuki? Koyuki! Can you hear me?"

"Do...ro..."

"Koyuki!"

Pururu ran back over. "Is she awake?" she asked. "What happened?"

The human girl let out a strained breath, then fell silent again. Dororo gripped her hand tightly. "No, Koyuki!" he cried. "Don't you dare!"

Pururu turned Dororo around. "What happened?" she demanded again.

"She just spoke! Just now!"

Pururu frowned and started checking Koyuki's vital signs. Dororo took a few steps back so she could work. The frustrated grunt that came a few moments later indicated that Pururu still could find nothing. She returned to the computer just as Dororo heard footsteps rapidly approaching the clinic. He turned to see Natsumi come through the door. "Tamama just told me that Koyuki's in here," she said worriedly.

Dororo nodded, gesturing back toward his friend. Natsumi sat next to her, a troubled expression on her faces. "Do you know what's wrong?" she asked.

He told Natsumi about the events that had transpired the night before and earlier that day. Natsumi stared at him in shock as he spoke, sorrow gradually filling her eyes. She looked like she wanted to tell him something, but she chose to turn her gaze back to Koyuki instead. "I'm so sorry, Dororo," was all that she said.

He nodded, not trusting himself to say anything else. Over at her computer, Pururu took a sharp breath. Dororo's head snapped toward her. "Did you find something?" he asked.

"I might have..." Pururu replied, her voice clearly troubled. "But if this is what's going on, Koyuki's in grave danger."

Dororo's eyes widened and he sprinted over to her side. "What is it?" he asked.

"Let me get the others in here first," she said. "If this is really the case, I don't want to have to repeat it."

Poor Koyuki. It sounds like the author likes making characters suffer.

Dororo waited impatiently as she rounded up the rest of the platoon. Once she had them all gathered, she took a deep breath. "I believe that Koyuki is not afflicted with a disease," she began. "After speaking with some of my colleagues online, I think that she has become possessed."

Tamama tilted his head. "Possessed?" he repeated. "You mean, like with a ghost?"

"Sort of," Pururu replied. "In recent months, reports have been coming in about attacks from a race of parasitic aliens called the Sorucians."

That caught Giroro's attention. "Sorucians?" he asked. "I think I remember hearing about those in school...but I thought they all wiped out."

Pururu nodded. "That's what I thought as well," she answered. "But according to the reports, Sorucians have been making appearances in multiple galaxies in the past few months. And I think that's why she has fallen into this state."

Natsumi rose a hand. "So...what exactly do this Sorucians do?"

"That's where we run into danger," Pururu said. "Sorucians have no bodies of their own, and so they are constantly seeking out hosts. Once they find one, they latch on and take over their mind, essentially making the host a puppet."

"Oh! So kind of like that thing that was in Dororo's head a while back!" Keroro commented.

Dororo, recalling his encounter with a mental parasite, was having a difficult time remaining calm. "So...if that's the case...why is she unconscious?" he asked.

"If the potential host's mind is strong enough, the Sorucian can't take total control," Pururu replied. "And since Koyuki's been able to speak, even for a second, I would guess that her mind is very, very strong."

"But you said that she's in danger," Dororo reminded her.

"Yes," Pururu said simply. "If the host has not relinquished control to the Sorucian after three days, the Sorucian will kill the host and move on."

Dead silence met Pururu's grim words. Dororo sat completely still, his expression becoming hard. "How do I kill it?" he asked.

The tone of his question made everyone step back. "I don't know," Pururu said anxiously. "I don't even know how you can hurt it since it doesn't have a body. There's nothing in the reports..."

"How. Do I. Kill. It?"

The cold fury radiating from Dororo sent nearly everyone fleeing from the room. Pururu shifted uncomfortably, trying to decide what to do. "I'll try to find something, Dororo," Pururu said finally. "But I really don't know what else to tell you."

"There's absolutely nothing we can do to help her?"

"There's always the Soul Diver."

The two turned to see Kururu casually leaning against the wall. "The Soul Diver?" Pururu asked. "You mean the device that allowed me to go into Giroro's memories?"

"That's the one," Kururu replied, casually flicking a speck of dirt off his face. "I've made some modifications on it so it can access someone's entire mind, not just their memories."

They both stared at him. "Why did you make such modifications?" Pururu asked.

"Ku ku, I have my reasons. How about it then?"

Pururu put a hand to her chin as she contemplated the idea. "That just might work," Pururu said slowly. "Yes...I think it might."

"I'll do it," Dororo said at once.

"Ku ku ku, excellent."

Why do I feel like this is going to end badly?

A few minutes later, Koyuki was inside the Soul Diver. Dororo gave her hand one last squeeze before she was sealed off. He then went to his station and climbed inside. Pururu walked over and fixed him with a serious look. "I'll keep an eye on her vitals and do what I can for her," she said. "But I can't guarantee anything. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Chief Medic. I understand."

She nodded and stepped back. Dororo fixed his gaze on Koyuki. "I'm ready when you are."

Kururu grinned, then pressed a button. A wave of pain shot through Dororo's body, but he ignored it as he focused on Koyuki. "Keep fighting, Koyuki," he said. "I'm coming to help you."

There's a "thinking with portals" joke here somewhere, but it would probably be inappropriate.

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