CHAPTER 7: FRIDAY NIGHT PLIGHTS

Natsumi sighed as she held the unconscious frog in her arms, her eyes sweeping over his weakened figure. "Why did you have to be so stupid?" she whispered upon Giroro's deaf ears, her voice echoing softly within her tiny cell. He was always putting himself in harm's way for her, and now she finally understood why. As she thought of the earlier events of that day, a weak laugh parted her lips and a single tear rolled down her cheek, dropping onto Giroro's metallic belt buckle.

"Giroro!" Natsumi was able to yell before the audio and visual dispersed, the mirror resuming its reflective state. However, she was on the viewing side of the mirror, so she could still see the wrathful Keronian thrashing against his bindings, and hear his voice calling out her name. "Giroro! It's a trick! Don't say anything!" she tried to warn, her eyes welling with tears as she realized he couldn't hear her pleas. Dangling by her wrists, she was forced to watch the interrogation unfold, observing the soldier's constantly weakening mental state with every display of that evil ruse. Natsumi couldn't help but feel awful, knowing that she was the reason for his pain, and that she had helped make him this way. Yes, it was her prerecorded screams, but she was forced to do them! It's not like she wanted to! Still, the fact remained that she had played a part in his agony, causing the tears to begin to trickle down her cheeks. "Oh Giroro…"

"…Tell me, have you fallen in love with your enemy, Corporal?" her captor asked the red frog, causing Natsumi's head to perk up at the question. Love? What did he mean, love? That couldn't possibly be right. Giroro didn't love her. He was just a nice guy…err…space frog. She strained her neck to hear, pushing her ear as close as she could towards the glass mirror. Was Giroro in love with her? He was always doing nice things for her…but that was just a part of his personality, wasn't it? (Narrator Note: If a guy constantly does nice things for you, it's because he really likes you, and for no other reason. Remember that, ladies.)

"Yes…you're right…I…" Giroro's brow was pulsating, sweat running down his face, "I love her."

Natsumi's heart sank into her stomach, her eyes widening as her face flushed with embarrassment. He…loved her? Why? For how long? Didn't he know she had a thing for Saburo? Her head whirled towards the Reaper guarding her, as if she needed confirmation for what she had just heard. It didn't say anything, its mandibles just smirking at her, giving all the answer she needed. Giroro had just indirectly confessed his infatuation for the Pekoponian warrior princess, causing her adolescent hormones to take a turn for the worse. Not only was she feeling confused, guilty, and terrified, but now anger, nausea, and another feeling which she couldn't quiet place came into the mixture. This was too much for one day. Today was supposed to be relaxing, enjoyable, and fun. She was supposed to start her Spring Break today! Instead she was being abducted and told by a space frog that it loved her. A soft groan escaped her lips as she shut her teary eyes, a stress-induced headache coming on. Yes, this was too much for one day.

"You stupid toad…" she sobbed, trying to cover up her sadness with pathetic laughter, "Why didn't you tell me?"She was mentally berating herself, feeling guilty for all the times she had been so cruel. Was he ever going to wake up? It had felt like hours since she had been sent back to her cell, Giroro's unconscious body greeting her on the cold metal floor. She had shook him, slapped him, yelled in his ear, even pleaded to him, and yet nothing seemed to work. Whatever they had done to keep the Keronian quiet seemed to be working wonders.

Her tears gently fell onto Giroro's limp form, crashing onto his soft belly. The moisture from her tears seeped into his amphibious flesh, revitalizing his weakened muscles. From Natsumi's tears Giroro slowly awoke, his eyes flickering open. A groggy groan passed his lips as he came to, his vision refocusing as he stared up at his Pekoponian angel. Natsumi let out a small gasp of excitement and instinctively pulled the frog in close to her, smooshing him within her bosom. The sudden closeness with his love's breasts and the lack of oxygen caused him to panic in both a good and a bad way, as he squirmed out of Natsumi's arms, panting with a beet red face.

"N-Natsumi…are you ok?" he stuttered, thinking the girl must have suffered from a head injury. He had never been that close to Natsumi's breasts, the feeling bittersweet as it filled him not just with immense excitement, but oddly scared him in a way because of her strange behavior.

Natsumi just laughed softly, her face as bright and cheery as could be in their current situation, "Yeah, are you?" By the way Giroro was blushing, he must not have known that Natsumi now knew his deepest secret, and the girl planned on keeping it that way, at least for now. They had to worry about getting home right now. A discussion like that could come later. "So, do you have a plan to get us out?"

"Yeah. Stand back." Giroro warned, taking a deep breath as he concentrated his energy towards materializing a giant plasma cannon. If that couldn't get them out, then nothing could. But no matter how hard he focused or how much energy he converged, Giroro could not will the cannon to come to him. With a frustrated curiosity, he tore the skull emblem from his hat, staring profusely at the tiny electronic. As he scoured the device, he found a small crack on the crest of the skull, and a tiny plume of smoke rising as it made a concerning, dying sound. Giroro's eyes narrowed in rage as he balled the broken device in his fist and punched the closest wall, letting out a loud, "Fuck!" in both anger and pain.

"Giroro, what's wrong?" Natsumi asked with concern, kneeling beside the frog and staring upon the broken emblem with him, "Your invisibility thingy is dead again?" Invisibility thingy? Like she knew what it was called! All she knew was that it made him invisible to everyone except select people, which included her, and that he ran out of battery a lot.

"No, Natsumi. Worse." Giroro took a deep breath, steadying his emotions as he removed his fist from the now dented metal wall, "This piece of technology also allows me to summon any weapon from my quantum space storage unit for a period of time. The circuit is fried." …It must have happened when I was kicked into that electric door… "Without it, I can't break out of this cell, meaning I can't get you home, meaning—"

"So, we're stuck here?" Natsumi cut in.

"Yeah."

She rolled her eyes, "You could have just said that in the first place."

"S-Sorry." Giroro stuttered, felling the blood rush to his face again. He couldn't help it, no matter the situation, he didn't know how to act around the Pekoponian female. He either stuttered, talked too much, or couldn't speak at all.

Suddenly, an ear splitting siren penetrated the air, its echoes ricocheting off of the metal walls, causing the hundreds of captives to cover their ears in pain and anxiety. A bright red light throbbed from the ceiling, casting crimson shadows upon the faces of the Reaper's victims. Large metal doors busted from the seams of each cell's walls, slowly closing their victims inside, encasing them into a coffin of darkness.

"No!" Giroro roared as he attempted to stop the thick metal from shutting them in, the mechanical force threatening to crush his body, as he jumped out at the very last moment, the door sealing shut, entombing them in shadows.

"Giroro! What's happening?" Natsumi yelled back, starring in horror as their final sliver of light faded into darkness. Giroro gazed into the obscure shadows, unable to see Natsumi's frightened façade and reluctant to shatter the confidence she still held in him. Naturally, he knew what was happening, but letting Natsumi know the truth would only frighten her further, as she would realize the full extent of their grave situation. The ship was preparing to launch into hyperspace, locking down all cargo and shutting off any unnecessary power, which included the prison wards' electric doors. To assure the Reaper's live cargo wouldn't attempt to revolt while in hyperspace, metal doors sealed their exit, replacing the electric screen. It would stay that way until they reached their destination, as power outages were a common mishap because of the massive amount of energy consumed when traveling at lightspeed. "You know, don't you? Tell me now!" her voice was demanding, switching from the weak, frightened Natsumi he had just heard. He couldn't help but obey this Natsumi, her forceful demeanor rendering him powerless as her words constricted his thumping heart.

"We're launching into hyperspace. We'll be leaving Earth's orbit shortly." Giroro mumbled, his voice being inaudible if not for the acoustics of the metal cell.

"Then what? What do they want with me!" Natsumi's voice was still filled with fire, tired of being afraid and tired of the overall bullshit.

Giroro swallowed hard, feeling a lump in the back of his throat. Why did she want him to tell her these things? Again, his voice was muffled, guilt shrouding his words, "They want…to…sell you."

"Sell me?" Natsumi asked, her confusion covered by anger and sarcasm.

"…as a slave."

"A slave?" A moment passed before she continued, the rage boiling over as the thought brewed in her mind, "Is this one of Keroro's stupid invasion plots! Cause if so, this has gone far enough!"

Giroro grasped his thighs tightly, baring his teeth as the thought of Keroro doing something this awful pulsated in his brain. Sure he was dumb, but the sergeant wasn't a cruel being, and as sexy as Natsumi's strong voice was, her yelling wasn't getting them anywhere. "It's not a trick, Natsumi!" he finally yelled, his own anger spouting back.

"Then where are they!"

The Corporal's eyes widened at the question, a question he had been asked hours earlier by the Reaper captain. Silence passed for what felt like minutes as he deliberated on his answer, still keeping Natsumi's best interests in mind, "Your friends…the ones you were going to Spring Break with…will they…worry if you don't show?"

As odd and misplaced as the question was, it seemed to calm the raging red head. Were her friends worrying about her absence? Would they leave her without a second thought? Surely they wouldn't, but then…Oh no. A small gasp escaped Natusmi's lips as she realized what awful thing she had done.

Natsumi nearly called out in excitement when the final bell rung, thanking the heavens for letting this awful day come to a close. She just needed to go back home, grab her things, and take the train to her friend's house. Then her Spring break could officially begin and there would be no more aliens poking around in her mind.Satsuki and Yayoi were there as always to walk with her to the crossroads where they split off, the three of them talking endlessly about all the fun they were going to have over the break.

"This is going to be so awesome! I can't believe your mom said yes!" Yayoi cut in, enthusiasm raising her voice an octave.

"I know right? I just got to grab my stuff from home and I'll meet up with you two at Satsuki's house. If I don't get there by 5, it means my mom came to her senses and changed her mind." Natsumi laughed, sarcasm flooding her voice.

"Yeah, let's hope that doesn't happen! See you soon!" Satsuki shouted, waving goodbye as Natsumi broke off from their group, heading home.

Of course what she had said was all in jest, but were her friends even smart enough to decipher her sarcasm? What if they took it literally and thought that her mom really had changed her mind? Then there would be no reason for alarm, and they wouldn't think anything about Natsumi not showing. Damn her cynicism.

"I…don't think so…" Natsumi finally answered solemnly, "What about the platoon? They're coming, right?"

Back on Earth, the ARMPIT platoon was ready to launch, and everyone, even including Dororo, was strapped into the newly repaired transport ship, with which Kururu had replaced its missing hyperdrive. With valor the platoon began the countdown, the engines revving as they prepared for the immediate plunge into space, and the subsequent rescue mission.

"10…9…8…" Keroro sang, his posture mimicking that of a fearless leader's.

"Don't worry Giroro, we're coming," Dororo promised softly from the rear. No one heard him.

"Time to kick Reaper buttttt…" Tamama added, his voice switching from sweet to plain scary as his gravelly voice indicated the presence of his…darker side.

"…4…3…2…"

"Hold on a second, kuku…" Kururu's maniacal laughter interrupted the final countdown, irritating Keroro as his spotlight was stolen, "I've lost Giroro's signal. It seems they've gone into hyperspace, ku."

Keroro's face turned ghost white as his eyes bulged in horror, his head snapping to Kururu's direction, "Is there any way to trace where they're going!" he panicked, pulling on the ear flaps of his hat with much distress.

"Nope. They could be heading anywhere in the universe. Not even I have the technology to trace someone that far away. It seems they're quite literally prisoners to space, kukuku."

Morbid realization haunted the sergeant as he came to terms with their situation. There was no way to help Giroro now, and hopefully he had met up with Natsumi, and the two of them would find their way back to Pekopon. Yes, the corporal was strong…surely they would be ok. But what would he tell Fuyuki? What would he tell Aki? No, if they found out it would be the death of him. Besides, there was no real reason to panic…not yet at least. Giroro would be ok, he would bring back Natsumi-chan, and Keroro's ass would be spared. Everything would work itself out, right?

"Crap."

Thanks to G66xD66 for given me the idea for this chapter =^_^=

Something I forgot to mention in the previous chapter what was the inspiration behind Capt. Fera's name. If you can guess it, you get kudos!

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