Explanation for why I've been gone so long:
Boring version: Writer's block.
Fun version: TWO CHAPTERS AT ONCE! :D
Journal Entry Number...fuck, how long has it bee-8: Yeah,...eight. I've been hiding down here for a few days now. They haven't found me yet. No one ever looks down here. This cellar's been empty for over a hundred years. I think it was used as a hideout during some kind of civil war or something. I don't care, really. As long as I'm safe. Though...I feel like I'm being a bit delusional. Of course they're going to find me. They have to eventually. There sure as hell's no way out of the camp. I'd have nowhere to go anyway. I'm trapped. I'm dead.
...*slam* Dammit, I have to stop thinking like this! I'm NOT gonna die! Not here! Not like this! I came here because I wanted dad to be proud of me! I wanted to be like him! Now...I don't know what he thinks. Or where he is! He knows I'm not a spy. He KNOWS! I'm his daughter for fuck's sake! They can all turn on me! The whole...the entire ARMY...the fucking PLANET can turn on me! But not my dad! Not...my dad.
I'm not gonna die. I'm not. I'm not gonna die. I'm not gonna die. I'm not...I'm...I'm not...gonna...*sniff*...I'm...*gasp* I'm not...
*cries*
...
...*cough* *cough*...*sniff* Journal Entry: ...*cough* *cough* Offline.
Nothing was clear. Everything above her was a white blur, as if she was staring through a cloud. She blinked a few times, trying to focus her vision. She could hear the faint sound of buzzing machinery by her side. She carefully turned her head, eyeing large medical equipment attached to her arm. ...Her arm! She quickly darted down to her wrist, finding a metal bracelet locked around it. She didn't recognize the device, but the pattern in which it was pieced together certainly had a familiar look to it. Almost as if she had seen this type of craftsmanship before. She sighed, sinking into the pillow beneath her head.
'So I'm still alive...' she thought, disappointed in herself for not having finished the job more efficiently. The thought of what happened after death still scared her, but the idea of what would become of her if she kept living the life she had was far worse. If this was supposed to be some kind of moment of realization for her mistake of wanting to end her life, she was still far from reconsidering. This had only prolonged her death.
"Glad you're awake." she heard from across the room. She recognized the voice, and immediately cringed at the idea of looking in the direction of the frog it came from. Unfortunately knowing that she had no choice, she looked up, seeing the exact two frogs she wished she'd never have to see again.
"Good morning, Captain." Taruru said, holding the bouquet of flowers he had brought for her tightly.
"We both got a letter from Headquarters claiming that you tried to kill yourself. I'm sorry to see that their claims were true." Zoruru said, his pet squirrel Zeroro sitting quietly on his shoulder, gnawing on a small nut given to him by his owner.
Pururu stared at the two Keronians with annoyance, not bothering to hide any of her displeasure. The last thing she wanted was to see them looking at her with pity. She was the one who had failed to keep their platoon in tact, and now here they were, watching their once respected leader laying in a hospital bed after trying to kill herself. The word 'humiliation' couldn't even begin to describe her feelings as she eyed them silently.
"...Where's Tororo?" she asked, refusing to give the slightest gesture of gratitude for them coming so far just to see her. Zoruru turned his attention to the wall as Taruru looked down at his bouquet with an upset frown. He hadn't any idea of how she would react to seeing them, but he at least expected a small 'Hello'.
"We don't know. We assume he got the same letter, but..." Zoruru sighed. "...we didn't see him on our way here."
"H-h-he's probably just doing something with Chiroro right now!" Taruru shouted. "He probably hasn't...checked his mail yet. I'm sure he'll come!"
Pururu fell back onto her pillow. She knew that she was going to be here a while. If Tororo was coming or already knew that she was here, it was only a matter of time before she would have to deal with one of his mockery comments. He knew from the start that the platoon would crumble without Garuru to keep them afloat, and he made sure to let the rest of them know as often as possible. Obviously, he was the most happy to be the first one to be discharged from the platoon. Perhaps he would feel at least somewhat sympathetic knowing that she had gone as far as to try and end her own life, but Pururu had her doubts. Very few frogs could be as cruel as Tororo.
"...Listen...I need both of you to leave. Now." she ordered. They turned to one another with blank faces before looking back at Pururu, who was now staring at the wall away from her past crew. Zoruru nodded, slowly turned to the side, and walked towards the exit.
Taruru looked at Pururu with watery eyes. He understood the grief she had to be feeling at the moment, and he didn't want to make things worse by staying. He only wished that he could help her in some way. It didn't matter to him that she had tried to kill herself. He still respected her. She had personally chosen to lead the platoon after Garuru's death. She had spent over a year leading them into battle and always put their safety before the mission. She worked endlessly for weeks just to keep them together. He couldn't think less of her for wanting to put an end to it all, as horrific of an idea as it was. He probably would have done the same if it were him.
He walked over and placed the flowers on a small table beside her bed. He looked down at the back of her head, pondering if he should say anything or just leave now. Admittedly going against his gut, he spoke.
"I'll always be by your side, Captain. Separated or not, the platoon always comes first. You're not alone, Captain. Don't think you're alone." he said softly as he gave his best salute. He then turned around and walked back to the door. He did a quick double take on Pururu and carefully shut the door, hoping that he had gotten through to her at least slightly.
The room was now empty. Pururu was by herself, finally. She thought about everything Taruru had said before he left while also knowing that none of it was true. They couldn't help her, as much as they wanted to. No one could help her. No one understood. No one felt what she felt. She WAS alone.
Giroro sped through the crowd of screaming people, careful not to let go of Natsumi's hand. He didn't look back; nor could he bare to face his wife and child after what he just did. He only cared about getting them to safety. After reaching the closest exit, he quickly ran through the automatic doors and shot the motion censored above it, making sure it remained shut so that the guards couldn't case them the entire way.
"GI-!" Natsumi was about to scream before she was caught off by the bullet he used to close the door. She continued as soon as she heard the slam of the door. "GIRORO! WHY DID YOU SHOOT HIM!? WHAT WERE YOU-!"
"I DIDN'T! I SWEAR, I DIDN'T! SOMETHING HAPPENED TO ME JUST NOW! I...I COULDN'T CONTROL MY...!" he stopped, thinking that she wouldn't believe him. He could barely believe it himself.
"...GIRORO!" she shouted after his pause. Teri cried the entire time, creating an echo down the bright hallway they ran through. Alarms flickered across the ceiling while a loud siren rung throughout the ship.
"I COULDN'T CONTROL MY ARM! IT ACTED ON ITS OWN!"
"WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN!?"
"I DON'T KNOW!" Giroro screamed. He couldn't explain it, but he knew it wasn't his fault. It was like he completely lost control of himself for a short moment, and he had no idea how or why. It didn't feel as though any type of trigger went off in his brain. It didn't feel like an impulse or spontaneous act of rage. As hard as he tried, he couldn't put it into words.
He had no idea where he was going or where this hallway lead. Only the thought of running was on his mind. He knew there had to be an emergency escape hanger somewhere with a ship they could pilot. He simply needed to find it before they found him. However, seeing as the Grand Star was the Keron Army's mother ship, Keronians would likely be spread out endlessly throughout every floor. Giroro knew there had to be an ambush close by. A loaded pistol appeared in his hand as he readied himself for whatever was around the corner.
A giant steel door inside the hallway slammed shut in front of him. He stopped, firing his pistol a few times at the door, which had no effect. He immediately turned around, moments before feeling a deep startling pain in his left knee. He fell on his side and wailed out in pain.
"GIRORO!" Natsumi screamed, collapsing onto her knees in front of him. Teri now cried even louder, making Natsumi want to cover her ears from the noise. Blood seeped out of the bullet wound in her husband's leg, staining the cold floor he laid upon. He continued to screech as Natsumi quickly grabbed the end of her dress, ready to tear a part of it off and wrap it around his injury.
"Get away from him! On your feet! Don't try anything!" she heard a voice behind her shout. She turned around, eyeing six Keronians all standing in two rows and pointing their guns directly at her. She let go of her dress, holding Teri now tighter than ever, and carefully stood up as slowly as she could. The Keronians kept their aim on her every inch she moved.
After she was on her feet, one of them activated their voice transmitter. "Killer is down in Hall 1.C., sir. We have him surrounded."
The Supreme Commanders looked over the shoulder of the Keronian on the other end of the line. He looked up at them, and the leading Commander nodded. The Keronian spoke into his transmitter. "Kill on sight. Take no prisoners." he said without skipping a beat.
The other Keronians in the hall overheard this order. They all looked at the family in front of them before turning to each other with nervous expressions. "Sir...there's a child." the first Keronian replied.
"That's an order by the Supreme Commanders, Corporal." he immediately heard back.
There was a pause. "...Yes, sir." he reluctantly said before switching off his transmitter. Natsumi watched helplessly as they steadied their weapons.
Another gun fire was heard. Blood flew out of the head of one of the soldiers in a thick stream. The other Keronians turned to their comrade in shock, watching him fall backwards and land weightlessly on the ground. Three more guards immediately followed, blood bursting out of their heads. The remaining Keronians darted towards Giroro, seeing him holding his loaded weapon. A concentrated rage burned in his eyes, making it seem as though the wound in his leg didn't even bother him. It continued to bleed out, but he paid no attention to it and was fully focused on the guards, as if it were painless.
The guards all fired at Giroro. He rolled out of the way with shockingly quick speed, avoiding the bullets. The Keronians were starstruck at the sight, but continued rapidly firing as they watched him roll up to the wall and throw his body against it. He balanced his entire body onto his one good leg and held himself there with his arm leaning on the wall. Giroro shot each Keronian directly in a rapid fire, killing all of them faster than Natsumi's eyes could see. Her knees shook from the amount of shock she just witnessed.
Giroro's pupils were smaller than usual. His fangs were on full display. His body stood like a statue, never even flinching, despite his recent bullet wound. Natsumi could hardly comprehend what was in front of her. Giroro had recovered quickly from major injuries before, but Giroro's knee was still horribly bleeding with the bullet still inside. Yet, he suddenly didn't notice the pain, only a few seconds ago having been on the ground screaming.
The massive door that blocked their path swung open, revealing another swarm of guards. Natsumi screamed as she and Giroro ducked down to the floor the moment they appeared, avoiding the instant barrage of bullets. The Keronians aimed for the floor when one of them felt something roll into their feet. He turned to the ground and jumped back in surprise.
"GRENADE!" he yelled, turning around and speeding back down the hall they came from. The rest of the guards quickly noticed the cork-less explosive laying directly below them and instantly did the same. Natsumi, knowing that Giroro had to have summoned it once she saw the sudden pin in his mouth, darted towards him and grabbed him by the arm, dragging him down the opposite hall as fast as possible.
The grenade went off sooner than Natsumi expected, killing the group of guards and sending her flying forwards. She managed to flip herself around while in the air, landing on her back and protecting Teri from the ground. She groaned in pain, not realizing she had accidentally let go of Giroro once the vibration hit her. She groaned in pain when she suddenly heard him shriek out horrifically. She turned to him. His eyes had returned to normal. He was squirming in circles on the floor. Whatever had snapped inside him seemed to suddenly fade.
She held Teri close as she pressed the back of her left arm against the ground, trying to lift herself up. Her arm shook wildly before it quickly gave in, causing her to fall back to the ground. She clamped her teeth, trying her best to ignore the pain. She tried again, getting only a bit higher before once again landing on her back.
She heard more footsteps coming. Another group of guards was approaching. She forced herself harder than ever to get up, finally succeeding in getting to her knees. She slowly pushed herself up with one leg, shaking once she was back on her feet. She tried desperately not to drop Teri, which took what felt like most of her strength. She limped towards Giroro when she heard an angry shout from behind her.
"Natsumi!"
She froze, feeling as though she recognized the voice. She turned around, eyeing the same black armored Keronian who had brought them to Keron. "I-I-It's you!? J...Ja...rara, or something-I'm sorry-listen, Giroro's hurt! We have to get him-"
Natsumi instinctively screamed when she saw the next swarm of guards turn the corner. She threw herself back to the ground, expecting to hear another wave of bullets fly over her head. Nothing. Not a sound for a full ten seconds. She looked up at the group of guards, which caused her to nearly vomit on sight. It looked like spaghetti sauce painted the entire end of the hallway, spreading across the ceiling and walls. Jirara stood in the middle of it, dripping in the stuff. Shreds of flesh were scraped against his long, pointed fingers. He slapped it off with the flick of his wrist, turning to Natsumi immediately afterwards.
"My ship is nearby. Let's get going."
The Supreme Commanders watched the cameras, seeing the morbid splatters on the walls their troops were being reduced to. They wanted to call off the attack, but they had to kill him now while he was still on the ship. Whatever trick he used to get back to Keron must have been able to slip by their censors undetected. If he escaped, they'd probably never get another chance.
"We're here, Masters." a muffled, metallic voice spoke. The three Commanders turned to see five armored soldiers standing in front of them with their leader standing in front, creating a V-formation. They each slowly bowed in respect.
"The Keron Military Force Special Missionary Faction - X2. We've summoned you here because a largely dangerous Corporal traitor is loose inside the ship. We believe he may currently be heading towards the emergency escape hanger. We're entrusting you and your pupils the task of eliminating him, as well as anyone else who tries to stand in your way." The leading Commander ordered.
"TCH!" One of the student assassins let out unapologetically. "One Corporal and a few of his friends. I doubt we'll ALL be needed for this one. Sensei, let me handle this on my own. It would only take a min-"
"No!" the right Commander huffed. "This Corporal will not be easy to kill, especially for only one frog. Which is why we're sending out all of you. We don't care what you do or how. Just make sure he doesn't leave this ship alive. Do not disappoint us."
The students made no effort to question the Commanders, even though what they were saying made very little sense to them. It would usually only take one of them to slaughter an entire colony. The idea that this one soldier had enough strength to pose a threat to all of them together was simply mind-blowing. But they weren't enlisted into the Missionary unit to think. They were enlisted to kill. Without saying anything, their master gave a quick sign of goodbye to the three Commanders before they all vanished for sight.
"What if he truly is unstoppable?" The left Commander whispered to his superior.
"Nothing is unstoppable." the leading Commander replied calmly. "And if you think otherwise...you've already lost."
Twelve Keronian soldiers stood guard in the emergency hanger as ordered. They knew what was coming, and none of them wanted to be there. They all had thoughts of throwing their weapons away and escaping with their lives, but the idea of what would happen to them if they did so was far scarier than anything this one Corporal could do. The main door swung open, causing the soldiers to shakily aim their weapons at the shockingly empty hallway. Knowing that this was a trick, they knew a few of them had to walk out and check the situation.
"One of you guys check it out."
"Fuck you! You fuck'n go out there and see!"
"SOMEBODY HAS TO!"
One of the soldier's heads popped off, spuing blood across the faces of the frogs around him. Shouting in fear and opening fire wildly across the ceiling, the soldiers began dying the same way every other second. One of them finally threw his weapon down and ran for the exit. His legs tripped over and the entire top of his body was sent soaring forwards as he was cleanly sliced in half.
Mere seconds flew by before the last living soldier was standing. He had his weapon still harnessed to his back and was shivering uncontrollably as the blood of his comrades painted his entire body. He jumped backwards as Jirara phased into sight, standing cross armed and staring at the last remaining soldier silently. The Keronian then scurried in the opposite direction and ran as fast he possible to the nearest ship to the leave the Grand Star, Jirara simple standing there and watching him retreat with his tail between his legs. The soldier unlocked the door to the ship he was closest to and was about to enter when Jirara slightly twitched his trigger finger, revealing a long, red string of light that guarded the entire perimeter of the room, piercing through the Keronian's skull and slicing straight through his brain as he fell to the floor dead.
Seeing that he was now alone in the room of splattered guts, his left eye began to glow as another string of red light shot out of it, creating a large red sphere in the center of the room. Natsumi, Giroro and Teri all phased into the sphere before it vanished, letting them slip gently onto the ground.
Natsumi's hand turned cold as her fingers came in contact with the red liquid beneath her. She shivered in disgust while making sure not to concentrate on anything but the child in her arms.
"I know, Teri. It's okay, Teri. Mommy's still here. We're going to be fine. It's okay." she bounced the screaming one-year-old while speaking in the softest whisper she could muster.
"My ship's right over there! Hurry! Before more guards come!" Jirara announced. Natsumi got up, grabbing the quiet and badly injured Giroro off the ground, and splashed through the puddle of blood that covered the entire floor on her way to Jirara's ship, stepping over or simply kicking away any organs or full corpses that laid in her way.
They were a few feet away from their escape when Jirara suddenly jumped in front of Natsumi and knocked away a flying shuriken that was less than an inch from her face. The metal weapon stuck into the ground beside her with a 'clank' and Jirara now stood in front of Natsumi, facing the entrance to the ship with a dark stare, which was hidden by his facemask. A dark red Keronian with a mask similar to Dororo's appeared guarding the door to the ship after deactivating his cloaking device.
Four other Keronians suddenly surrounded the group. They stared them down with glass eyes, making sure to take in every slight movement they made. Natsumi looked at them in both confusion and fear, Jirara standing completely still as his eye-contact stayed on the Keronian standing over the door, knowing from his aura and presence alone that he had to be the leader.
The dark red assassin bowed to Jirara as to indicate a duel between equals. He rose back up, speaking clearly and ominously. "Wanted ex-Captain Jirara. I am Captain Sutete."
"Your replacement." one of the assassins cockily told Jirara, who readied himself for an all-out assault.
"Get out of our way or die painfully." Jirara voice was just as threatening.
Sutete carefully moved his eyebrow; a miniscule message that Jirara was able to catch. He leaped above Natsumi, which was too quick for her to catch. She looked up, seeing Jirara hanging above her with his arms crossed, four strings of red light spreading from him to the corners of the ceiling, each one with an entangled assassin wrapped in it, stuck in an attacking position. It didn't take long for Natsumi to realize that he had just stopped them from killing her after they all attacked at once.
Jirara grunted as his body shook. He was trying desperately to keep them all frozen at once, already aware that their master was still up for an attack. He noticed that he wasn't moving at the moment for some unknown reason. He quickly tried to think of something before Sutete decided to intervene.
"I'll distract them! Leave without me! As long as my barrier is still around the ship, they shouldn't be able to track you! I'll be-"
He felt a tiny vibration in the air. He instantly released the four assassins and, without any escape plan, blocked Sutete's attack on Natsumi, if just by a millisecond. Jirara's claws clashed with Sutete's retractable forearm spike. Sparks spit out as Jirara's arm felt numb from the impact while Sutete remained completely undaunted. The two masters then vanished from sight, choosing to continue their fight at high speed. The rest of the assassin students then readjusted themselves before one of them finally attacked again. Natsumi acted on impulse and furiously kicked in the direction she saw the Keronian coming from. The assassin vanish just when it got close enough to her foot and reappeared in the air behind her back, throwing his katana down at her to cut through her spine.
A shot was fired. The assassin suddenly switched his motives to defense and blocked the bullet with the edge of his sword. He landed on his feet and stared at the angry Keronian on Natsumi's shoulder, suddenly awake and pointing a gun at his head. Natsumi noticed only half a second before Giroro sprung off of her and returned to his earlier fighting mode.
He opened fire on the assassin, who phased out of the way to miss the first ten shots. Giroro stopped firing when he saw that the assassin hadn't reappeared yet. His eyes darted wildly around the room before suddenly coming to a stop in one specific spot. He fired in that direction, hitting the speeding Keronian and causing him to return to visible eyesight before tumbling to the ground, a bullet hole shot straight through his head. Another elongated splatter of brains covered the top of the wall, dripping down onto the floor in small chunks.
Natsumi couldn't believe it once again. Giroro had never been this well-experienced, even with a pistol. She had seen him fight hundreds of times before, but never would she have thought that he would be capable of any of what he had been displaying since they arrived on the ship. It eased her in some ways, but in several other ways, it also scared her.
The other assassins were frozen in shock, most of them with their jaws dropped and their minds blank. This one Keronian was able to know where their partner was going to be and was able to time his aim correctly enough that he shot straight through his head. They now realized that THIS was the deadly Corporal they had been sent to kill.
"SCATTER AND ATTACK! DON'T LET UP!" one of the other students yelled. The others then disappeared and charged at Giroro at full speed.
Just a little someth'n real fast; I'm going to post a picture of Sutete on my DeviantArt soon as part of a new "Villain Files" series of drawings (Spoiler Alert: I'm not a good artist, sorry). I already have a drawing of a character that will be appearing next chapter posted, since I was actually planning on both this and chapter 9 to be one long chapter together, but it got SO out of control SO quickly that I knew the best thing to do was to split them apart. I don't know exactly when the drawing of Sutete will be posted, but I'd give it until next Sunday.
