This chapter's mainly Kurumois. Yo.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Giroro had just come out of the shower at work. He was still looking for the chip 966 had installed in him, unsettled by the invasion on his body. It was exactly the type of the thing the Agency would do. At one point, 966 had been less twisted than them. But now he was a deranged mind. The twisted smile on his mask reflected exactly who he was. There was no emotion in him.
He walked in to 966's control room, still in a wet towel as his boss sat at a desk surrounded by at least five different computers. The odd thing was, 966 was visibly upset and shaking. He pushed one of the precious computers into the wall.
"DAMMIT. DAMMIT. DAMMIT," he screamed loudly. Giroro had never seen him like this. And the yelling sounded awfully weird with his voice modifier. "MORE PEACH SUMMER SNOW. STUPIDEST DAMN TEAM EVER. WHAT THE HELL? How could I have been so blind? I mean, sure, my eyesight is bad, but I never thought I'd be so blind." 966 slumped in his chair, putting his face in his hands and crying.
Giroro hid behind the corner of the wall. It was the first time he had ever seen 966 be so angry, so emotional... So human. Getting angry over a petty loss and being a sore loser at least made him seem not so psychopathic. It drew Giroro's big brother instincts in, even if 966's anger was directed at Natsumi.
He wanted to comfort him. But instead he let his boss cry for a moment so that 966's anger wouldn't explode all over him.
966 had a simple scheme to hide his identity, to keep the government, spies, policy everything off the great super villain's back. And that was simple - to be who he truly was. Kululu.
His age fit perfectly enough that nobody would suspect his real activities. During the day, he was just a normal high school student, living in an apartment on his own because his parents were... overseas. Despite this, his super villain name was a play on his regular one. Nobody suspected it - that was the beauty of it all. And that was, in part, because of his new personality.
Of course, before he had devised this scheme and had just been a normal kid, he'd acted like his normal self, snarky and a bit of a jerk, but once you were catfishing the government to get loads of cash off of them, you had to have a secret identity. And his secret identity was the opposite of what he used to be. Now he was a loser and a dork, the stupidest guy in school. Nobody could get a negative score on a test - except him. He was non-threatening, a bit of a wimp, not especially kind but still couldn't hurt a fly. Pain? Sadism? What were those?
He was the perfect wimp. Nobody would have suspected him in a million years.
His secret identity had just existed to give himself some safety to hide away if danger came. That was its purpose. But once the annoying teachers had started suspecting that he needed help in school, they had assigned him a tutor, someone he was happy enough to spend time with. A tutor could provide an alibi if he needed one.
Admittedly, he hadn't expected the tutor would be so damn cute. Since she was a cheerleader and the most popular girl in school, he'd never approached her. When he got to know her, he learned that she was funny, kind, though sometimes a little ditzy on the outside. She was everything the real Kululu hated, but he tried to push it down for his secret. She could serve his purposes, after all.
He learned more and more about her as their study sessions went by. He had at first believed that she had been assigned to tutor him because her level of thinking was that of A-student. She was smart, the level of smart that he knew, if he were to explain some of his inventions, she would have been interested. She enjoyed math, computer science, and geology.
What he had first thought was just some shallow popular kid was a nerd in actuality. A cute nerd. And quickly the flirting he did "just for his cover" became real, and he started actually developing affections for her.
Nothing had been scary about it. He had denied it for a while, but there was nothing wrong with developing human emotions. It didn't make him waver from his goal. Having another life was fine, and it made his life at school more enjoyable. The moment she had accepted to be his girlfriend had been one of the most blissful in his life.
And soon enough, he treasured every little moment with her. He was hopelessly in love with her, even making sure none of his plans damaged anything she had shown interest in. He counted down the days until he conquered the world so he could announce to her that her boyfriend was now king of the world and she could be his queen. He had been confident that she'd be supportive and just scold him for not telling her sooner.
Sometimes he did wish he could let Mois know the real him, but part of him had been afraid. He wanted to at least have something impressive to show her... like a conquered planet or country... before he let the big news out.
He had always assumed he had been the only one keeping secrets... But I wasn't, he reminded himself. She was a spy, someone working for the government's top spy agency. And she hadn't told him. Her hair color, her skin color, not even her height was real. How the hell did she change all that? Man, she really is one good spy. I mean, I was COMPLETELY conned. Kululu tried to get himself back on topic instead of idolizing her.
He couldn't blame her for keeping secrets. He had to. Maybe it was part of her job. Maybe she was forced to. Although the idea crossed his mind that she was dating him just for her cover, he dismissed it. She really loved him. He knew that. Her love was so radiant, so pure, that he was confident that even if he hadn't seen all of her, he knew at least part of her true personality. Sure, he had known nothing of her background, her identity, but the true her... that had been the Mois in his arms who always kissed him and looked at him so excitedly.
And he loved all variations of her.
Still... this complicates things horribly, Kululu thought to himself. One of his enemies, someone sworn to defeat him, was actually his girlfriend. What do I do? He wasn't going to give up on his goal. He had come too far. He had tortured too many, played along with the government too well, to amass a fortune so he could make whatever he wanted. All because of the injustices on his family. This wasn't about revenge. This was about changing the world.
Would Mois see it that way? Did they see eye-to-eye?
And if it came down to it... what was more important to him? His past or his future?
I've got to change my tone. Mois is important. I don't have to decide between them, Kululu decided. But... perhaps I don't. I can make her understand. Kululu decided.
"Giroro," 966 called. Giroro pretended that he wasn't watching his boss crying and had rather taken a moment to get there. "Ku ku ku... There's been a change in plans."
"What's the change?" asked Giroro.
"Remember More Peach Summer Snow? And how they meant nothing to us because they were just a pathetic group of teens used for the Agency's propaganda?"
"Yeah?"
"Well I have decided that they DO mean something. Ku, ku, ku. I'll be taking dealing with them personally from now on. Not you," Kululu ordered.
No... No! This definitely means that they've pissed him off. Natsumi is pretty much dead. He plans to kill her. Giroro tried not to let his worry show. "Why?" he squeaked out.
"The silver-haired one has some potential. I saw the explosive in her pocket. She's interested me, like Natsumi's brat of a brother." Kululu shrugged. "I think I'll convert her to my side. Ku, ku, ku."
"And... I can continue trying with Na-Summer?" Giroro asked.
"Knock yourself out."
He nodded. He didn't know why 966 wanted another for their ranks, but he had made a point that he was the boss. Giroro couldn't question it.
Natsumi paced around as her teammates - Keroro, Tamama and Saburo - sat in chairs all around the meeting room. She was still pulling at her hair. So many questions were on her mind.
"I'm so confused. AUGH! I don't understand what's going on!" she yelled.
"Well, um, we're just as confused as you are, Natsumi," said Keroro. "966 could have killed us all, but he left instead. Maybe he was making a show of how cool he was to the students?"
Natsumi stuck out her tongue. "Duh. None of us know the answer to that one. But I'm confused about so many things, like the ninja - I know they were agents just impersonating the ninja who attacked on the beach - but who were they? Who are the freakin' ninja?"
Keroro cleared his throat. "There are some secrets that your team, and not even Saburo, has clearance too."
"I learned on my own, though." Saburo leaned in his chair.
Momoka slammed her fists on the table. "Tell us! There are no secrets that should be kept from me!"
"Yeah. I've lived here all my life! I should know, too," Koyuki insisted.
"If Keroro wants to keep it from us, it's okay," said Mois.
Keroro sighed. "They're a group called the Underground. They're like our spy agency."
"So you mean we're not the only spy organization in Japan? I thought we were!" Natsumi was surprised.
"We're the only one operating legally, under the government," Keroro explained. "The Underground isn't. They exist on the black market, doing jobs for and assassinations not for good, but for anyone who pays. They're more murderous than us. They deal information, too. But... they also don't have as many rules and regulations, secret identities or things. That's just their life. They live in the shadows of society, no undercover duty or superhero stuff or spy rescue missions."
Natsumi frowned. "That... That almost seemed more evil than 966. Should we be taking these guys out?"
"They've existed for a while. They're like our evil shadow. They don't like us, we don't like them, but it's impossible to get rid of them. If we did, there would be way more corruption and murderers on the street." Keroro sighed. "That explain it?"
Everybody nodded.
Natsumi still wasn't completely satisfied. "Well, that answered one of my questions, but second of all - "
"How'd 966 know your name?" Mois finished. A disturbance filled the air.
Natsumi scrunched her nose. She knew the answer to that one. Giroro was a traitor! She exchanged glances with Koyuki, but she didn't want to confess her screw-up.
"My question would be... how'd 966 get there so quickly to fight us?" Natsumi tried to keep the topic off of her name.
Keroro's eyes widened. "He knows your name?"
"Yeah, but it's not Natsumi's fault," Saburo defended. "I'll answer both your and Mois's questions at the same time. The reason he appeared and knew your name was actually the same reason Keroro and I went to the dance." Saburo grinned. "You see, 966's quick appearance can be explained by Tamama."
"Me?" Tamama asked, munching on chips. "How?"
"Remember when 966 captured and experimented on you? How you almost died because of it?" Saburo asked.
He frowned. "How could I forget?"
"Well, how could he capture you while you were on vacation probably watching tv and eating snacks in your hotel room?" Saburo asked. "He had to be there, in the area. He could have lived in that city, sure, been a hotel employee... I was going to investigate that next. But my hypothesis was that he is actually a high schooler. It just made sense that he went to your school. I tested it to see if he'd appear at another public school event - and sure enough, he did." Saburo smiled. "So, Natsumi, the reason he knew your name is because he goes to your school. This dangerous super-villain is no more than a high school student."
Natsumi gaped. It couldn't be. It might have just been a coincidence. Saburo was drawing conclusions only because Giroro previously knew her name. Could she tell him the truth? That 966 had learned her name from Giroro?
She knew her school. None of them had the talent, the evil, to be 966.
It wasn't possible.
Natsumi continued doubting Saburo's hypothesis as everyone dispersed. Momoka went about doing her own things of trying to defend her reputation as an heiress. Keroro was working on paperwork, Tamama was training, and Mois was sleeping. Koyuki was doing training. Natsumi didn't join her. Instead she paced, trying to figure out if she should tell Saburo about her mistake with Giroro.
Everyone was absorbed in their own little world, so nobody noticed their deep cover agency with high security being penetrated.
Nobody knew 966 had the passcodes, invisibility, or anything like that. And he entered the high-class agency.
Taking a turn at the hallway and letting no one see him, thanks to something he called an "anti-barrier" something of his own invention, he eventually got to the Agency's dorm rooms and found the one with the name tag labeled "Angol Mois."
He walked in like it was no big deal. She was sleeping soundly on a cot.
Geez. A cot? Giroro wasn't joking about the crummy quality of life that these agents lead. They couldn't even give her a feather mattress? No wonder she's so enamored with my bed. Well... that's one of the reasons. Kululu picked her up, careful not to wake her.
Attaching something small to her forehead, he carried her off. And nobody stopped or prevented him from it.
She was kidnapped.
The little siren went off, signaling that Natsumi, Momoka, Koyuki and Mois had a mission.
They all ran to the main room to see what was up.
"I... I can't believe it... How did he get in?" Keroro was panicking.
"What... What happened?" Natsumi asked.
Saburo put a hand on Keroro's shoulder. "966's struck."
"What did he do this time?" Natsumi asked.
"Despite our strong security, he broke into here! Just three hours ago he was in this very office! We picked up a heat signature when reviewing security cameras, and realized it must have been him. Somehow, he was invisible. He... He appeared for a brief second in Mois's room before she disappeared, too... He kidnapped her!" Keroro was sweating.
"Oh. The travesty. I wonder if she's dead?" Tamama said with very little emotion as he hugged Keroro.
Natsumi's eyes widened. Mois was gone? Out of everyone 966 could have attacked, it was her? "We'll find her at whatever cost!"
"Thanks to a tracking device placed in her, we know she's already half way across the country. It'll take a while to get there, but she's alive," Saburo told them. "Rescue her."
"I will. I'm not going to let one of my members die," Natsumi vowed.
"I can't... I can't believe he did this!" Koyuki cried.
"We'll save, Mois. I promise," said Momoka.
This was the mission - the mission that put their friendship on the line. This was life or death. Either Mois survived, or none of them did.
Kululu, of course, had no intention of hurting Mois. He waited patiently for her to wake up, placing her in a bed.
"Geez,, are you just going to stare at her creepily? You never let me sleep so peacefully," said Giroro.
"Ku, ku, ku. You don't need your beauty sleep, so I take it from you. That's why you're ugly. She, on the other hand? She has beauty to spare. So she can continue sleeping," Kululu laughed.
Giroro groaned. "You really just going to talk to her? You kidnapped her just to have a friendly chat?"
"Call it a job interview." Kululu wheeled over to a device he had. "Ku, ku, ku..." He looked at the brain waves and smiled.
"Wait, you were scanning her with something? So there was something sinister about this?" he asked.
"I'm scanning her thoughts. I'm trying to figure out how susceptible she would be to joining our side. If she isn't susceptible, she's a lost cause. I'm not as stupid as you are toward your pathetic pleas with Natsumi. Ku, ku, ku." If she was a lost cause, he'd have to figure something else out. He mentally apologized for invading her private thoughts and probing her mind.
Mois stirred.
"She's waking up!" Kululu whispered. "Leave, quick!" She had always wanted to wake up in a bed like this in a strange place, as if she was sleeping beauty with someone handsome (him, she had clarified) by her side. It was one of her "I want to be a fairy tale princess" fantasies. Now he could actually make it happen.
Sort of.
"Why? You have a crush on her or something? Why do you have to talk alone?" Giroro asked. If he could tease 966 for even a moment, it was worth it, after all 966 had teased him so much about Natsumi.
966 just hissed at him. "Don't even joke."
Giroro shrugged. I wonder why he's so interested in her, though. Maybe when Natsumi inevitably gets here to rescue her, she'll figure it out. I sure can't. He walked out, closing the door behind him.
Mois yawned and stretched, grasping the fancy, smooth blanket under her. "Huh?" She looked around in confusion at the unfamiliar room. A transparent curtain surrounded her bed like she was some sort of princess. The room was filled with gems and treasures of all kind, obvious décor that had just been put there recently.
"Am... am I a princess?" she spoke aloud.
"Only if you want to be." Kululu, dressed in his 966 persona with a voice changer, bowed, extending his gloved hand.
Mois pulled up her blanket and looked frightened for a moment. "Where am I?"
"Your palace. Or, well, it could be," said Kululu. He tried to be smooth and flirtatious. Around Mois, normally he was anything but. He'd like to say it was fake, for his school persona, but he was also kind of shy and embarrassed.
"You're 966!" Mois recalled. "And you kidnapped me. Why? How?"
"How is a secret. Ku, ku, ku. But why is simple. I wanted to see you." Kululu sat backward in his chair to face her, leaning his chin on his folded arms.
"You wanted to see me? But why?" Mois knew she should struggle and try to escape, but she assumed her options of escape were limited. His inventions had more power than she did; this was one of his lairs of possible many. He had probably planned for if she tried to escape. So she could only talk herself out of this one.
"Let's say you've caught my interest." Kululu took her hand and pulled his mask up just slightly so his lips could be exposed and he could kiss her hand. "I took a look at the explosive that you were sleeping with. Did you make them?" he asked after giving her hand a gentle kiss.
Oh my god. Did 966 kidnap me to hit on me? Mois's eye twitched for a brief moment. This would be a harder situation to talk herself out of. He was laying it on pretty thick. She pulled her hand away. "I have a boyfriend. And I am very much in love with him," she shot down. "So you better quit it."
Kululu laughed for a moment. "Ku, ku, ku!" It was nice to be able to use his natural laugh around her. It had taken him so much work to train himself to use that fake laugh, a "normal" laugh. Well, I'm glad of that. I can't believe she just said she was very much in love with me! Th-that's so cute. Wouldn't she be surprised where her boyfriend was now! "Just going to ignore my explosive question?"
"I made it. So what?" she asked. "I will never make you more like them."
Kululu whistled. So she had made it. That was impressive. Those explosives were on a level even beyond his engineering. They were her own specialty, but she was good at it. My Mois is so cool! He just wanted to gaze at her with heart eyes the whole day.
"Maybe you can make me them. What would you say if I told you I want you to work for me? I'd pay well, of course. And I'm not as evil as the Agency makes me out to be. Yeah, I plan to murder a bit, but it's necessary!" he defended. "My goal isn't evil, it's to recreate this world, to be sinless. The people in charge are corrupt. They hurt minorities and the poor just for their own gain. Do you think that's right? Because I don't. My goal is pure, to take away their power and rule the world myself. The people have proved they're too stupid to solve their own problems. But I will make sure nobody gets hurt and wronged the way I was. Justice won't be taken away. I'll recreate this world to be ideal," he described, "But... you probably doubt my vision, because I'm evil and twisted, corrupt like the ones I'm fighting against."
"Yeah. Your goal is contradictory." Mois called him out on it.
"True. Ku, ku, ku. But... what if somebody helped me rule the world? Someone more pure than I. You could do great things for this planet, More. Rule by my side. Don't you feel wronged by the people in power, too? At least a little bit?" He extended a hand again. He used her codename to make her feel more comfortable as he asked her that simple question, something he knew she would agree with. He had scanned her thoughts; he knew where her beliefs lay. And it was a vision close to where he was going.
Mois frowned. "I... I suppose in a way... Corporations, institutions, factories... they would all dump their waste in my birth town. It caused heavy pollution, making most of the later generations, especially mine, have heavy birth defects and illnesses. I myself was dying from a rare genetic condition," she confessed..
"They did what? Y-you were dying?" Kululu tried to keep the panic out of his voice. "You're okay now, though, right?"
Mois looked at him oddly. "Yes. The Agency bought up everything at my town's hospital. After several experiments resulting in the loss of the life of all the rest of the children from my town, I survived, and my illness was cured." She smiled.
"You were... bought?" he asked quietly. Mois had never told him about her family history before, or any of this. He wondered what kind of malice or revenge she could be feeling for the people who had hurt her, who had abandoned her, compared to what he felt. His family might have died, but she had been abandoned by hers. He wanted to hug her, but he knew he couldn't hold her. She didn't even know who he really was. He wondered briefly about the pressure she must have felt to be all the Agency wanted her to be, and to live for the other children who had died so she could be healed.
"Yes. So I can understand a little bit of feeling malice toward those who have wronged you. If I could protect everyone in the world through killing everyone bad - well, that's not the situation we're in, so I won't answer that," she said with another sweet smile. If she could just have an open and honest conversation with 966, perhaps she could convince him out of his evil ways.
Maybe, there was hope... And then he spoke.
"Ku, ku, ku. But you could! Be my evil queen! Or, eh, good queen I suppose. And if you're worried about your boyfriend, I'll make sure he's fine too. Rule by my side. You would have great potential. Bring the light that you want to bring to the world." He stood up and offered a hand.
A buzzing sound went off. Natsumi and her crew must have found his lair.
Mois stood up. "No," she refused, realizing it was Natsumi. "I won't. There might have been bad in the world, but the Agency has helped me. I won't betray them.
"Ku, ku, ku. Fine." Kululu grabbed her arm. "Let's go visit your little friends, my princess.~" He gently pulled her toward the balcony, where she huddled under her blanket, refusing to escape its softness.
Natsumi had a gun in her hand. If it came down to it, she was ready to shoot to kill. Momoka was ready with her arm canon, and Koyuki with her knives.
A door opened and Giroro entered the room. 966 was on the second floor, leaning over a balcony as he grasped Mois's arm in his own.
"More! Are you okay?" Natsumi called.
Mois waved. "Guys! I'm so happy you came to rescue me!"
"What was he doing to you? Did he hurt you?" Koyuki asked desperately.
"We're recruiting your little friend," Giroro said quickly. "We just held a job interview. How'd it go?" He looked up at 966.
"I refused!" Mois cried out.
"Ku, ku, ku. Oh did you really? I suppose she did, but I know where your loyalties really lie." He let go of her and let her rush down the stairs. She only made it halfway before he continued talking, knowing he needed to give her her freedom but still having another case to make. The things he had seen in her mind had to be exposed in front of her friends, after all, so that she couldn't deny them. "While you slept, I scanned your brain, to see how you really feel about my plans. Where your morals are, basically. If there's potential for you to join me."
"And you saw nothing," said Mois, looking back at him.
"Untrue. Ku, ku, ku." Kululu grinned under his mask. "In fact, I saw that you would be the perfect comrade for me. Your real desires lie with something much more extreme than even I have planned. You, my dear, are just as evil as I."
She paled. "What are you talking about?" She took a few steps up the stairs, trying to level herself with him.
"Your true thoughts are that if no good can come of this planet, if evil lies here and there is no hope... everybody - and I mean everybody - should die. This whole place should come crashing down. You thirst for the destruction of evil, my princess! It's what you crave the most! Anyone who's sinful should die by your hands! Ku, ku, ku!"
Mois's eyes just widened.
She was more intense than he was - Kululu swooned a little bit. Thank god he wore a mask. And he completely 100% agreed with her. She would be the perfect ruler by his side. I thought there wasn't a way to fall any more in love with her, but even I was proven wrong!
"We're exactly the same," he told her. "So come join me. You know it's what's really you."
Mois just looked pale. She didn't know anymore. She was so confused. She looked between Natsumi and 966. She did think that, but... her loyalties were to the agency. She had been conditioned by them to be loyal. But at the same time, was she just evil? Was what she was doing for the agency what she truly wanted? Was it right?
"More, that's not true... Don't be scared. You're nothing like him," Natsumi tried to convince her. She outstretched her arms, open and welcoming.
"He's tricking you," Momoka said simply. "You know why he wants you, right? It's because you're a super weapon made by the Agency. The only soldier they managed to make withstand intense atmosphere conditions, severe heat, long periods of time underwater! He wants to use that."
"Yeah! You're right! It makes sense now!" Mois realized.
Wait, what? How is that possible? How can she withstand all that? Kululu wondered. "An all-terrain soldier, huh? Interesting in theory, but not realistic..."
"It took many experiments. But I am the result." Mois said proudly of her origins.
Kululu frowned beneath his mask. Experiments? Who was experimenting on Mois? It must have hurt. Her pain tolerance, at least from Tamama's bullying had always been high. And now he knew why. Well, now I'm DEFINITELY killing all of the Agency. How dare they experiment on Mois.
"Yeah, you just want her explosive potential," said Momoka.
"I will not join you," said Mois. "I trust the Agency and I will not betray them. I'm good, and there are good places on this planet. I will not waver." She headed down the stairs to Natsumi.
"Ku. I suppose your friends would be in the way of letting you realize the truth." Kululu pressed a button. Panels appeared on the floor where Natsumi, Momoka, and Koyuki were standing. A wire rope appeared and grabbed Mois. The panels trapped the other three girls on giant iron tables, clamping down on them.
"Unfair!" Natsumi screamed. She knew they were traps, but even she couldn't break through iron.
"Ku, ku, ku. Guess I'll just have to kill you three, then." Kululu pressed a button and laser appeared from a shaft in the ceiling. Natsumi, Momoka and Koyuki were all in a line, Natsumi the closest to the laser and Koyuki farthest from it.
"I'm guessing you want me to agree to join you or you'll kill them?" Mois asked.
"Nah, I've changed my mind again," Kululu shrugged. "I'm killing the agency, whether you join me or not. It's not like I like Natsumi very much anyway. Killing her has been on my list for awhile now."
Natsumi started sweating. Mois screamed. Koyuki cried out. And Giroro watched.
No... there's nothing she can do from that angle. It would take something else to dislodge the laser... She's as good as dead if someone doesn't come and save her, Giroro realized.
If he used the gun on his belt, he could shoot the laser off of its position. He could press the button on the wall that controlled the laser and would release the binds on all of them.
But that would be directly betraying 966 to save Natsumi's life. He didn't have time to think. He had to make a decision just from his gut.
And he knew what the right choice was. 966 was evil. Mind control, electrocuting him... trying to kill Natsumi and kidnapping agents? He had lost his vision. In the beginning he had been good, but no more.
And in that split second, Giroro realized where his loyalties lay. And despite his promises, it wasn't with 966. It was with Natsumi.
I can't let her die. I really do love her, he realized. He took out his gun and shot the button to free Natsumi and her friends. The laser fell down and shot down toward him.
Giroro screamed as his shoulder was burned when the light of the laser went down on him.
As Natsumi was released from her shackles Giroro toppled over. "Giroro!" she yelled.
Kululu frowned. "Ku, so he really did betray me."
Natsumi ran over to Giroro. She didn't know why he had sacrificed everything on a moment's notice.
She pulled him over her back. "To the jet. We have to get Mois back to the agency. We'll take him back to be patched up, too."
"Natsumi..." Giroro groaned. "Sorry for not choosing sooner."
Natsumi just smiled. "Spies always win. That's what the manual says."
Giroro grinned.
Momoka blasted a hole in the wall with her arm canon and the group escaped.
Ku. I'll get them later, Kululu told himself.
Fleeing in itself was a victory to them for now. They were all alive and that was good enough.
Sorry the Giroro scene at the end was short. Originally it took up 1/3 of the chapter summary of him switching loyalties, but then my sister wanted to watch something and I was sentences away from finishing the chapter, so it got short.
Please review.