Apocalypse Now 3: Crusaders of The Cataclysm

by KeronianLibrary

Knowing that the mysterious tribe that laid siege to Keron and Pekopon would not stop at two failures, the human/keronian team head out to the home planet of their aggressors to execute a counter-attack. However they soon realize that the technology they possess is cripplingly inferior to that of their enemy. How will the K66 Platoon survive with the odds so stacked against them?

7. Trust

Warning: Use of vulgar language in this chapter. Not overdone, I think, but it bears a warning.

Note: Remember that the bolded text (which there will be some of) in the chapter is the thoughts and voice of Dark Momoka. None of it is A/N. I never interrupt the chapter for A/N anyway.

Chapter 7: Trust

Crap CRAP! Dark Momoka swore internally as her rocket instantly shredded and she found herself floating unprotected in space. Her mind raced as she looked down the massive barrel of the frontal cannons and realized that the entirety of the K66 Cruiser could fit snugly inside.

"It's looks plenty bigger up close…" she muttered grimly to herself as her limbs moved erratically in an effort to escape the next hail of bullets, "Doesn't matter if I can tank a thousand of those freakin small laser things. One hit from that cannon and there'll be nothing left for goodie-goodie Momoka to slip back into.

Twisting around, Dark Momoka tried to use breaststroke to 'swim' in zero gravity, but it was in vain. No matter how hard she tried, even with the 10x strength suit, without anything to kick off of, she was stuck. A sitting duck, the alternate soul steamed in helpless anger. "That old scientist dude really wasn't kidding when he said an object at rest stays at rest. If I made a freakin armored spacesuit with blades in the wrists, I'd put some GOD DAMN THRUSTERS IN IT TOO!" She threw herself to the left with all her strength, but the suit was too snug for it to do all that much. Still, it was enough. She felt some relief as her body began to drift slowly out of the cannon's range.

"Maybe Giroro was right when he said that the mysterious tribe idiots never fired a MP5SS before. They're all glowing hot, and haven't fired since the initial burst…still, I don't have much time before they cool." Swallowing her exceptionally large pride, Dark Momoka commenced in what looked to the other Momoka floating above like a demented form of break dancing. By moving her body back and forth in a jerky motion, she continued to slowly drift.

Can you hear me! Momoka yelled down as hard as she could, but Dark Momoka never stopped.

Nobody can communicate with you but me. Came the reply from Koyuki, You're a soul without body right now. You can move and talk, but the most anyone will ever know of you in this form is a tingling presence, and that's when you're shouting and punching them.

How did this even happen… thought Momoka to herself,I thought that this soul separation thing would definitely work.

Even though she wasn't trying to communicate, Koyuki heard and replied at once: It appears that you have two souls. I'm not sure how or why, but it's the only thing that makes sense.

Impossible! My Darker side and I, we're just heads and tails of the same coin! A personality thing, right?

That's what we all thought, but now that I think about it, you two really do seem like separate entities sometimes. I mean, mood swings and all that is understandable, but the super strength and the fact that both you and the other are often present at the same time…that's different.

So…let me get this straight. When you pulled me out of my body, my other soul took control?

Seems so, but it's all so mysterious. If only Dororo were conscious, I'm sure he would know what to do here.

Momoka broke connection for a second, thoughts and ideas mixed with dread in the whirlwind of her mind as she tried to wrap her head around the concept of two souls in one body. Suddenly, an awful thought popped into her brain and she voiced her concerns at once: Since Dark Momoka has full control over me…um…my body, do you think she'll go crazy and do bad stuff while pretending to be me?

Koyuki thought about it for a bit. Momoka could sense that she was thinking, but the individual topics were flying by too quickly for her to process any of them. Even in her distress, she felt humbled by the complexity of the human brain. Finally, when Momoka thought she couldn't hold back her curiosity for much longer, Koyuki's voice returned sharply to her mind. Truth is, Dark Momoka is really unpredictable. Since you both want the same thing at this moment, to destroy the mother ship and get to safety, there shouldn't be many problems right now. IF your Dark form gets on board, you can easily slip back in the body and everything will be alright.

Why can't I do it now? She needs my help!

It would only hurt her, replied Koyuki before Momoka could make a move, with only Dark Momoka in your body, her power is the strongest it's ever been. She's in what Dororo would call a ninja situation which means an impossible one. She'll need every ounce of undiluted strength to escape.

And I would…dilute her?

Pretty much. Koyuki felt Momoka's feelings of inadequacy grow and a rush of sympathy shot forth. Don't take it so bad! She needs you as much as you need her. That's probably why you exist in the same body. Without you as a balance, she would probably be in the custody of the galactic police for some reason or another.

Yeah…I hope you're right. Thank you, Koyuki.

Back on the K66 Cruiser, Fuyuki was becoming more and more agitated with each passing second. Pacing back and forth, his uncharacteristic glower targeted each Keronian in turn.

"Why didn't you know this would happen?" he whispered to Keroro so dangerously, that the Sergeant took two quick steps back, a bead of sweat rolling down his cheek. "Why didn't you run tests? Why did you let this…this…WHY?"

"KERO!" came the terrified voice of the cowardly commanding officer, "Nobody knew! The Nishizawas have the best medical doctors in the world working for them and they never knew!"

"Don't you do…I don't know, check-ups and all that? You're living at MY house for FREE! Can't you do ANYTHING right?"

"This isn't a health matter…ku ku ku…"muttered Kururu, for once slightly reluctant to show off his knowledge, "It's more of a spiritual thing. If Dororo did 'check-ups' as you put it, he may have found some discrepancies with the soul, but he wouldn't because unlike me, he respects privacy."

Fuyuki ground his teeth, his legendary rage growing by unstable. Unable to look at Keroro anymore without kicking him, he whirled around to face Giroro. Though the Corporal was beginning to tire of the Pekoponian boy's ridiculously anger, he knew the feeling. Single minded fury to return to the one you love: an emotional all too familiar for his tastes.

Looking away, he walked off stiffly toward the missile launching tubes. He never got away. "DON'T YOU WALK AWAY FROM ME, CORPORAL!" yelled Fuyuki turning red, then nearly purple, "YOU…YOU MUST HAVE CALIBRATED THE MISSILE TRAGECTORY WRONG OR…OR SOMETHING!"

Giroro also turned a deeper shade of crimson as he whirled around in indignant rage. "Shut up, boy!" he growled in the commanding tone of a drill Sergeant. The Keronians nearby snapped to attention and even Fuyuki, blinded by his emotions, appeared taken aback. "Listen, you," he began quietly, "I know Momoka is in some serious shit right now, but that's no excuse to start pointing fingers and yelling."

Fuyuki sputtered and his arms made wild gestures, but before he could utter a sound, Giroro continued. "It wasn't too long ago, if you remember, that I was caged up and tortured by that pompous tyrant Kamimi back on Keron. Was I angry?" he waited for an answer.

After a pause in which everybody looked at each other, Aki spoke up: "I'm sure you were."

"EXACTLY!" cried Giroro, startling everyone again, "Hell yeah I was pissed. Worse, I had no idea how Natsumi was faring. Didn't make withstanding the pain any easier, believe me. I escaped though. You know how?"

"Dororo and Koyuki helped you break free in the courtroom, right?" answered Fuyuki, becoming furious all over again, "How is this even slightly, SLIGHTLY related to what I'm going th-"

"You'd be put on cleaning detail for the rest of your miserable life with that whiny attitude," cut in Giroro before Fuyuki could finish, which made him stop. He took a step back which the Corporal saw as a sign to continue.

"If I blamed and struck out at everyone who got close to me, I would have been filleted by Kamimi's guards long before I even saw the courtroom. Did I survive by luck then? No. I survived because of two things."

Giroro paused here, silently daring Fuyuki to interrupt him again. The room was deathly silent. Nodding with satisfaction, the old war veteran finished his speech.

"One, I kept my cool. Two, I believed in my allies. I could have attacked back, but if not used at the right moment, all the strength in the world won't save you. If I had blamed my platoon mates, my mind would have been far too bitter and thus brittle to survive the harsh interrogation I received."

The room was as still as a grave as the Corporal ended. Then, Natsumi began to clap quietly.

"That's right…" she said, "Being angry solves nothing in these kinds of situations. We need to buck up, and think of a way to solve this problem!"

As the rest of the crew enthusiastically shared the same sentiment, Fuyuki, who seemed to have calmed down since his initial bout of fury, bent down and looked Giroro in the eyes. "I'm sorry. I'll try to be more like you."

Giroro blushed lightly. Though the wording of the praise wasn't anything special, he could see in the boy's eyes just how determined he was. Giroro felt his respect for the Pekoponian grow. "Well…um…I'm trained for this kind of stuff, you know. I've been in the military long enough to learn those two lessons both from my commanders and from experience." Suddenly feeling awkward, the Corporal turned away and walked toward the missile launch tubes yelling offhandedly, "Never lose heart! You'll go far, kid."

"I'm sorry all of you!" Fuyuki turned to the rest of his fellow crewmembers, and they were so relieved to see his smiling face, that they burst out laughing.

The moment passed in an instant. The smile drained off the boy's face like water, and an intense frown replaced it instantly. "That doesn't change anything for our current situation, though," he said, "We still need to find a way to get Dark Momoka the power she needs."

"Ku ku ku…mindset is everything. With you not babbling like a crazed monkey, maybe I can think of a solution!"

"Watch it there, toad," intoned Natsumi out of the side of her mouth, fearing that Fuyuki was going to grow angry again from Kururu's unsubtle jibes, but her worry was for naught. Fuyuki laughed it off and knelt down by the Sergeant Major's laptop.

"Anything I can do to help?"

"Ku ku…You! You want to help ME? Ku ku ku…"

Fuyuki waited, still smiling, as Kururu's laugh stretched passed 30 seconds. Giroro who was now watching the boy very intently, noticed a bead of sweat roll down his cheek and a vein popping in his temple. He knew the Pekoponian was trying his best not to smack Kururu into the next galaxy, and he was glad that his lecture hadn't fallen on deaf ears.

Suddenly, the R&D specialist paused in his mirth, his smirk becoming slightly lopsided. Fuyuki looked intently at Kururu, trying to decipher what he was thinking, but his face was unreadable. All at once, he looked up and spoke: "You know what? If your memory is good, maybe you can help me."

"What do you need to know?" asked Fuyuki confidently, and Natsumi beamed, Aki doing the same by her daughter's side. They both knew that this was Fuyuki's specialty. When it came to occult, powers of observation, and memory, the Pekoponian boy was second to none.

"The model number of your girlfriend's (ku ku ku…) suit; what is it?"

This wasn't hard, since Fuyuki had spent the last seven hours staring at Momoka ripping scouts apart with her bare hands. During breaks in enemy waves, they had frequently talked via the com and she would come right up to the window.

"The model number is clearly displayed on the top left corner of the front. It says XPow10. Don't know what that means, but I'm sure that makes sense to you."

"Yes, yes. I know that already! Do you think I would have forgotten that she was testing my newest invention: the Extra-Power Model 10 Suit? You idiot, I mean the model number, you know, the serial number on the side."

Fuyuki distinctly remembered seeing a string of nine or ten or so numbers painted in white on the side of Momoka's right leg, but the exact digits were a blur. Grunting, Fuyuki sat down on the ground and massaged his temples. This is where I can help! I can't screw this up after the commotion I just made!

The Sergeant Major, who had been waiting patiently up to now, made a big show of looking at his watch. Upon seeing what time was displayed, he put his hand to his cheek and sighed noisily while making the fakest "sad clown" face the crew had ever seen. It was so melodramatically disgusting that even Tamama had to gag.

"You know, Fuyuki, if you don't know what the number is, that's fine," said Kururu, putting his arm on the boy's shoulder, "But know that without those ten numbers, Momoka, ahem, your girlfriend is as good as ashes."

"Girlfriend…"

"Good as ashes…"

Those phrases resonated hard inside Fuyuki's head and he gasped as if punched in the gut. His eyes dilated and he fell to the ground as his body pumped adrenaline up to his brain. He could remember. He had to remember.

Laughing quietly to himself, the Sergeant Major began to walk away. Natsumi, enraged at this point, was prepared to punch Kururu into the wall, but Fuyuki got there first. Grabbing the yellow frog by the neck, he spun him harshly around until the two faced each other, their eyes centimeters apart.

Kururu wondered what his fate was going to be. He could imagine all kinds of cruel physical punishments Natsumi had done and could do. He could imagine the different kinds of torture used by the Keronian military. There was his own twisted imagination itself; far worse than anything in existence. Then, there was enraged Fuyuki. By the looks of the boys face, sweat covered, eyes sockets vibrating, hands shaking, whatever he was about to do was going to make a nice new entry in the History of Modern Pain.

"8427409966. Now SAVE MOMOKA."

Kururu felt his butt hit the ground. Dazed for a moment, he just sat there, swaying as if being hit by a light breeze in a park. The Pekoponian boy had remembered. The others urged him up and pushed him into the R&D lair so he could begin, but the entire time, his thoughts were on Fuyuki's mentality.

Analyzing the data he had gathered so far of Fuyuki's extremely rare and deadly outbursts of anger, they seemed to follow a very distinct pattern. The catalyst: serious cases of trust betrayal or the endangerment of a loved one. The entire Momoka problem fell squarely under "endangerment of a loved one", so Kururu concluded that the legendary rage was what he had indeed just witnessed minutes before. Of course, the reason why he and Keroro at the very least weren't in a coma baffled him.

"I don't like to not know something…ku ku ku…" Kururu muttered to himself as he typed a few equations into computer according to the statistics of the 8427409966 model of the power suit.

Suddenly, the door to his lair opened and Giroro walked in. Kururu started and whirled around.

"Ku ku ku…are you kidding me? You haven't even given me two minutes. You think making a power-multiplier-secondary is easy? Give me three more minutes and I'll be done. Thank you, goodbye."

"We know you're not finished, you slacker," Giroro shot back, "I brought some juice. It's from Fuyuki who told me to tell you that despite his anger, he still is your friend. Don't know why he'd ever give anything less than a rocket down the throat for a perverted jerk like you though."

Kururu ignored the stream of insults and took the juice from the Corporal's hand. Taking a big sip, he thought about the concept of energy. Fuyuki exerted intense amounts of energy when he was in his "fury mode". Maybe that energy could be directed elsewhere…

The Sergeant Major shook his head. He had an idea, but it would have to wait. Rescue missions are priority number one.

"Well, whatever," growled Giroro, throwing up his hands and walking toward the door, "Don't say thank you. Didn't expect an ingrate like you to ev-"

"Wait old man."

Giroro stopped, his hand on the exit button.

"When you retire, you should be a therapist or at least a drill sergeant. Oh, and tell Fuyuki 'thanks'."

There was no answer, but Kururu could guess the look on his platoon mate's face, and he grinned to himself. He heard the pneumatic hiss of the door opening and closing and he got back to work.

"Damn this feels GOOD!" cried out Dark Momoka as she dodged laser blasts. The mysterious tribe had learned from their errors and stopped firing them all at once. About twenty would go off every second which allowed significant cool time. This would still be an impossible situation for a normal human, but Dark Momoka's reactions when boosted by ten were beyond that of a machine. Twisting into acrobatic poses in order to dodge blasts, she marveled at how well the suit conformed to her body motion. "It's like all I have to do is think, and this thing moves with me. I take it back! Kururu is a genius!"

Though dodging hundreds of lasers made her feel alive, the real source of happiness was stemming from a feeling of: "FREEDOM!" she cried out, willing the entire universe to hear her, "Freedom from that goodie-goodie's wimpy presence! Free to finally unleash the horror which is TRUE MOMOKA!"

"Goodie-goodie Momoka" who had moved in close enough to hear her counterpart talk, felt despair grip her. I'm definitely the weaker of us two. I…I want to just drift off and live as a soul forever so nobody can ever call me weak!

Wouldn't work! Came Koyuki's voice, Once you…your soul goes out of my range, it goes zipping back into the body.

I wasn't going to actually do that… Momoka felt the emotion related to a face flushing, though she had no body for it actually to play out. It's just one of those things…you know…that you think that are super irrational, but it just pops into your head when you get stressed and…and…I wish you couldn't hear all my thoughts, that's all. No offense, of course.

None taken. I'm trying not to eavesdrop on your mind, but that last thought was particularly strong, is all.

Eh…yeah…I understand, I guess.

"It's done!"

The crew rushed in to see Kururu's newest invention. At five minutes, this was one of his fastest builds, and he was proud of it. "Presenting…drum roll please!"

From the cold looks he was receiving, he realized at once that this wasn't the time. Quickly changing his tone, he masked his arrogant face with one of neutral seriousness. He grabbed a rather large looking remote control from his desk and spun around. Fuyuki stared intently at it, not blinking.

"What? Is there a smudge on the dial or something ku ku ku…?" Kururu laughed nervously as the boy's face got closer and closer to his precious new creation.

"Well, if this thing really is going to save an amped up Dark Momoka, I just thought it would, you know, look more…" Fuyuki trailed off.

"Impressive?" Tamama raised his hand and offered the finishing word.

There was a moment in which Kururu appeared to be choking on a large quantity of food. Suddenly, he burst out laughing. "I, KU KU KU, suppose that, KU KU, you were thinking I would make a huge-ass mech or something? Ku ku ku…there is no mech in the universe that has more potential than Dark Momoka." Except for maybe Enraged Fuyuki. Kururu kept that last part to himself. It would require more looking into after the crisis.

"Well, as you can see," butted in Keroro, slightly miffed at the lack of attention he had been receiving for the last few hours, "Dark Momoka isn't doing all that great out there. She's still on the radar, god knows how, but it won't be long until they get lucky…or she gets careless."

"Or both!" added Tamama which earned him a dry stare from Fuyuki.

"Exactly," said Kururu once Tamama had shut up, "She's a super soldier like no other, but she will tire. Whether it be in a day or a week, I don't know, but she ain't going anywhere with those lasers on her, and neither is the mother ship. This is where my invention comes in."

"How come you needed the model number? I don't see where that comes in at all," said Aki, her brow furrowed, "I want to know why you were torturing my son for it."

"He wasn't torturing me, Mom…" Fuyuki began, patting his mother on the shoulder, but the Sergeant Major cut him off.

"Oh, but that's really important too," said Kururu as if he were teaching a class, "I said the suit multiplies your strength by ten. Now that isn't quite right. It doesn't sound quite as cool if I say it multiplies your strength by 10.12, but that's what the 8427409966 model does. I must say I haven't really quite mastered power amplifying tech, trouble with the direct manipulation of the liquid energy. See, if air weren't matter, this whole process would be a cinch, but because I have to somehow create thousands of tiny vacuums, it takes time, and the STRX Fibers used to control the high levels of gamma radiation are hard to come by in this star system as the ion-"

"Can we um…maybe get on with it?" Natsumi was trying to be polite, but her blood pressure was beginning to rise.

Kururu blinked and paused for a moment before resuming. "Oh yeah…short of the matter is, I needed the suit's unique power multiplication factor to calibrate this invention."

"What does it do?"

The R&D specialist smiled to his audience. "Dark Momoka is pissed off, I'm sure. How do you make a scary girl even more scary?"

"Put a stupid frog in front of her who isn't talking fast enough?"

"Ku ku ku…WRONG! PMS is the answer!"

Fuyuki nearly doubled over. Was this the supposed genius's best idea?

"No worries," admonished Kururu seeing the look on Fuyuki's face, "I haven't created a ray to increase hormonal activity in Pekoponians. This is PMS: Power-multiplier-secondary, acronym unfortunate. I plugged in Momoka's suit's stats and with a crank of this dial, that ten times power will be remotely amplified to a hundred times."

The crew stepped back, aghast. That kind of strength would break intergalactic records.

"That's genius!" cried Keroro, determined to get some attention.

"That's genius, yeah," countered Giroro, "But really dangerous too. I'm sure that there is some kind of risk to this."

Kururu nodded and began pacing around his lair. "Right as always, Corporal. There are some risks indeed with something I like to call a 'surge'."

"A what?"

"I'll cut to the chase," said Kururu, looking directly at Fuyuki, "Listen up because you'll be the one to operate the dial. Dark Momoka is strong, but her body is human. Best case scenario, you turn the dial and she gets stronger, kicks ass, and then we can lower the power before she destroys the entire universe. Bad case scenario, you turn up the dial and her body explodes. Worst case, you crank that shit and the body surges. The suit overloads and goes supernova creating a black hole and killing everyone in a ten million mile radius."

"T-that can happen?" asked Keroro. The crew traded looks of apprehension.

Except Fuyuki.

Walking over to the yellow frog, he picked up the remote from his hand and caressed the shining dial. Natsumi watched worriedly as Fuyuki stared as if entranced at his distorted reflection in the polished silver.

"There are power levels, you know. You can increase the power to 20 times, or to 30 times, and so forth up to 100. If you increase it to 20, she'll probably survive."

"Yeah, I got it. I know Momoka the best."

Natsumi grabbed Fuyuki's arm as he began to turn the dial. "Look, Fuyuki, I…I don't want to question your judgment, but are you sure you know what you're doing? You look so calm and this…this isn't a situation where I would be calm and you know me."

Giroro agreed silently. It was as if Fuyuki was an entirely new person. Perhaps his determination grew him a backbone. I gotta hand it to him. I don't think I could keep cool either if I knew that Natsumi might explode before my eyes.

Fuyuki just smiled at the two of them and after a second, they returned the favor with determined grins but shaky eyes.

"One," said Fuyuki and he began to turn the dial, "Always keep your cool," the dial was up to 30X "Giroro…you showed me that," the dial was up to 50X, "success can only be achieved when," the dial was up to 70X. Kururu was sweating from the pressure as stared at the moving circle, "YOU BELIEVE IN YOUR FRIENDS!" he yelled and close his eyes as the dial clicked onto the 100X mark.

Dark Momoka was becoming board outside. Sure the lasers were fast, but she was able to memorize where they would come from by the cooling times. Then again, I guess I'm not going anywhere quick…not sure how much longer I can keep doing this.

Suddenly, her wrists began to tingle. Then her head, then her neck, then her entire body began to feel like it was on fire. She arched her back and screamed, abandoning all acrobatic movements and taking several laser hits. It was searing pain. Pain beyond anything she had ever experienced. Pain to match my power she thought grimly as her vision dimmed. It soon proved to be much more powerful than her though, and wouldn't let her black out.

She couldn't see because of her suit, but she wouldn't have been surprised if her physical body actually was burning. Her eyes were zooming in and out of focus, her tongue felt heavy and fuzzy in her mouth. The head…oh how it POUNDED and beat like a rampaging rhinoceros against her skull. Her arm and leg muscles wouldn't respond to commands, jerking this way and that way, her ears rang with implacable discord and she tried to cover them but when she told her hand to move up it went down. Her voice was shot now; throat a horrid red, blood streaming from her nose and ears and eyes. But the heart! What a ghastly melody it was playing! A fast beat that caused her mind to go crazy with pleasure only to have it swing to into suicidal depression at the next moment. She was taking hundreds of laser hits now, but it felt like mere pinpricks to the exquisite pain that ravished and raked every bone, every muscle, every nerve, every cell in her body.

She screamed out once more and her mind exploded and it was over.

Dark Momoka felt herself. With the suit in the way, she couldn't actually touch the flesh, but she was fine with that. She figured the suit was the only thing keeping her body from falling apart into little chunks.

She had felt her mind explode. Felt her MIND EXPLODE! But she was still alive. How? She didn't know, and frankly, she didn't much care. The laser pinpricks were gone now. Why? Another unanswered question to add to the growing list.

Gingerly, Dark Momoka began searching for answers in the only place she could: in her own mind. The worry was unfounded, as she quickly discovered that she could reason. The brain was intact, at least, but what about the rest of her? She found she was breathing, so the heart was alright, but to know for sure, she had to open her eyes.

The memory of blood rushing through her tear ducts gave her shivers, but she grit her teeth and opened them.

She was in space. The lasers…they were still hitting her…or not. She didn't feel them. It was only then that she realized what was happening. A new natural function had been created in her. As easy as it was to breathe without thinking, her body put up a mental barrier that blocked all incoming shots.

With that discovery, power like nothing she had ever felt before surged through every pore of her body. If that pain…was…for THIS…then it was worth every second!

Rising up, she found that she could move with the power of her mind as well, and it put on no strain. Smiling, Dark Momoka raised her hand and saluted the K66 Cruiser in the distance. Whatever they had done, it had worked.

Her grin turned into a full blown laugh as she sent an incoming scout to hell with a flick of her wrist. Then, the full weight of it hit her. "Mother ship," she called out to nobody, "Up to now, you've been calling the shots around here. You're powerful, I'll give you that, and your lasers are quite annoying. But this game ends here."

Savoring her victory, she extended her consciousness Dororo style and engulfed the steering deck of the mother ship. She felt three crew members' minds before finding the captain.

Who or what are you? She asked him telepathically and took great amusement in the surprise and fear that gripped his mind for the moment.

Who or what are you who got through our thought barriers? Telepathy should be blocked by our shields!

Ah you speak my language. Excellent. Now answer my question.

You should talk with more respect toward a superior race. We don't "speak" your puny, insignificant language. I'm merely using a translator. Now answer MY question. How did you get through the barrier?

I'm puny? That's funny! If you're the superior race, you should be able to use this mental link to telepathically kill me. Do it!

Impossible. Telepathy doesn't work like that. Why are you contacting me, you ignorant fool! Let me speak to your commanding officer at once!

Telepathy doesn't work like that! HA! Dark Momoka withdrew from the Captain's head and slipped into the minds of his two navigators. With just a twitch of her mind, their heads exploded, splattering blood and body parts all over the walls. By mentally hijacking the eyes of the pilot, she surveyed the carnage with light amusement. When she could see no more from the pilot's chair, she had him pick up a gun and shoot himself in the head.

Slipping seamlessly back into the mind of the captain, she continued. So…feel like answering MY questions first now?

We…we are Radians. A superior race to you- The captain's head separated from his body and dropped on the floor.

"I'M SICK OF YOUR SUPERIORITY BULLSHIT!" Dark Momoka screamed over the mother ship intercom she mentally took control of, "HOW ARE YOU STRONGER WHEN ALL YOU CAN DO IS FIRE LASERS AT ME AND I CAN CRUSH YOU WITH THE POWER OF MY MIND!?"

The crew on the K66 Cruiser watched in flabbergasted silence as the mother ship turned completely over. By using optics, Kururu zoomed in on Momoka. "The strongest super soldier ever created…and I did it!" a single tear rolled down his cheek.

The Pekoponians glanced down at Kururu's tear and looked away. Somehow, they felt as if they were interrupting a private moment.

I guess even Kururu is overcome by emotions sometimes. Natsumi smiled to herself.

Kururu sneakily put the eye drops back into his hidden pocket and smirked as Momoka used her powers to pry off the bottom of the mother ship as if it was a large can of sardines. Ships poured out of every docking bay, but they never got far before they simply melted into slag.

Dark Momoka wished that space wasn't silent. The screams: they must have been quite delicious. Licking her lips at the thought, she pointed at a large battle cruiser trying to retreat and it caught on fire, tumbling through empty space before colliding with a scout and exploding.

A beat in her heart made her suddenly shiver. Looking around, space was still in chaos, the mother ship was destroyed, and the battle was won, but she felt uneasy. The pumping in her heart grew more and more.

Dark thoughts entered her mind as the pain began to return. Did I overdo it? Yes…I know that's the reason in my soul. This power is amazing, tantalizing, irresistible, but I must resist it. If I don't…I'm going… to die.

Driving hard into her mind, Dark Momoka fumbled in the dark for the small pocket of energy that was fueling her metamorphosis. It wasn't long until a glimmer of light caught her eye. Stumbling forward, she pictured herself grasping the light and felt the infinite power. Panicking she felt its tendrils grab her. She had to get rid of it, but how! It didn't matter how many ships she destroyed. How would that deplete infinity? How?

Then she knew.

Fuyuki watched in amazement as the mother ship just disappeared. Giroro backed up a few paces and swore loudly. "I've seen some crazy stuff today, but this takes it. How the hell did she do that?"

There was a general muttering of hypothesis, but Kururu's reaction topped them all. Real tears drenched his face this time. "She did it…" he whispered to the air, "She figured it out."

A loud knocking came from the outside minutes later and Kururu pulled the airlock open in a hurry. An exhausting looking Momoka stumbled in and Fuyuki gasped with joy. He quickly disassembled her suit and kissed her lips, closing the gap between them in a tight embrace.

"Hey! Stupid boy! Get off me! Release me!" but she said it without conviction, an obvious blush gracing her face.

"That's right!" muttered Tamama to Keroro, "Dark Momoka loves Fuyuki too. That'll always keep the two souls together."

Fuyuki stared gently into Momoka's eyes as he pulled away from his kiss and grinned. Dark Momoka smiled back weakly and let go, falling into a deep sleep. Knowing in his heart that she would wake up in due time, Fuyuki covered her with a blanket. The tips of her hair softened as goodie-goodie Momoka slipped back into her body as well and fell asleep.

As Aki piloted the Cruiser through the Radians' atmosphere hours later, Kururu paced back and forth in his R&D lab. "That was a good one," he said to himself, "Destroying matter!"

"Momoka destroyed matter?" it was Fuyuki at the door to the lair, "I thought that was supposed to be impossible!"

"It is," replied Kururu, "But doing the impossible is the only way to get rid of infinite energy, you must understand. It is the paradox to top them all. That's how the ship disappeared by the way. She destroyed its matter. She didn't change the state; she didn't turn it into energy. It's just gone!" Kururu paced around his lab and whimsically stroked his chin. Fuyuki couldn't help but grin. It was the happiest he had seen everyone in a long time. Momoka was safe, their passage to the planet was assured, and Koyuki's plan to revive Dororo was about to begin.

Whew…that was one long chapter for me.