I might have rushed the ending a bit but I hope everything's good! I just wanted this whole story out there and finally complete.
Kululu had some hope that Mois would at least think about that she knew him apparently, or let the fact that she was starting to remember something sink in. He wanted Natsumi's plan to help. He wanted there to be some visible change.
But Mois went back to what the pekoponians called "evil" immediately. Instead of killing and maiming the populace, she seemed to stop for a moment though.
It gave Kululu hope. The ground hadn't started shaking for six hours.
Then a TV that they had set out turned on. For some reason despite the city being an absolute wreckage and looking like the apocalypse itself had happened and people fleeing and hiding for their lives, the city news channel still broadcasted.
They were all unsure why or how the news was getting their footage but it was happening. Perhaps they had talked to Mois and convinced her to let them take footage of her attacking the city.
Either way somehow Mois was on the TV this time staring directly into the camera to address the populace.
"I have grown tired of toying with you pekoponians." She spoke at first.
Fuyuki's eyes lit up hopeful when he heard those words. "She's going to stop!" He pointed at the screen. Everybody circled around it.
"Several hours ago I found myself in an odd place. I found myself settling into it." Mois spoke.
Natsumi's face brightened. "It worked! She's starting to remember us!"
"It reminded me about things. Like why I am here. As I watched screens of many pekoponians in their normal activities I was reminded of my duty, and the reason for my existence. It's not to make people experience the same pain I have. It's not to bring about a nightmare. You could say, misery loves company? But...That wasn't the reason I was created. I shouldn't think of myself." Mois smiled as if she was a better person.
Saburo looked relieved. They all looked relieved.
The reason she was created? Kululu wondered. He was happy that Mois was thinking about the time they were together but he wished she was thinking of him instead. Still something didn't sound too good about the way she was talking.
"I have decided to get on with it!" Mois clapped. "At Midnight tonight I will destroy this planet and nothing will stop me. No heartfelt pleas, no attacks, the end will come!" She announced.
Immediately everyone looked scared and there was a dreadful atmosphere.
"Take this time to say good-bye to your loved ones. I'm nice enough to give you a warning." Mois waved and the tv turned off.
"Oh no." Natsumi covered her mouth. "How...How did it backfire?" She looked at Kululu. "What happened? How did you remind her that she was here to destroy the planet and to not take her time?" She hated the fact that Mois was literally killing people but it was a lot better than everyone dying immediately in her mind.
Kululu looked sheepish. "I'm not sure. I think the pull on her instincts was too strong. Your...Your plan seemed like it was working in the beginning but then she just...vanished."
"Maybe her feelings and new memories confused her so much that she decided that this was the only way to stop the confusion." Fuyuki suggested.
Kululu didn't know. That could have been it, but what was clear was their window of time to stop Mois was getting smaller and smaller.
"We should leave. We've got a ship. We're the only ones who do." Keroro was nervous. He didn't think they could stop Mois. She was different.
Fuyuki listened to his fears, and suggestions. He was still mad at Keroro but seeing Keroro frightened reminded them of their past together.
"This is my planet, sarge. I'm not abandoning it like you did to it." Fuyuki told him.
"Why?" Keroro grabbed the cuff of his shirt. "A planet doesn't matter! What matters is the people. What matters is you." He reminded. "We can find your mom, we can bring Momoka's family, we can bring everyone! We can save you all."
Fuyuki shook his head. Although he thought his mom was likely fine- She had texted him when this chaos had started that she was working on a huge project and wouldn't be able to leave the building to go home for a long time, he suspected she had no idea chaos was even happening outside, he still didn't want to leave the planet.
"And where would I go, Sarge? This is my home."
"You could come to Keron. Then I wouldn't have to leave you again. Then I wouldn't hurt you!" Keroro suggested.
Fuyuki slowly shook his head. "I love aliens. I love space. But...I can't leave my home when there's still stuff we could do."
Keroro was so sad, sniffling and honestly fearful. Fuyuki eventually sighed and opened his arms.
He didn't hate Keroro. Being at a near death experience reminded him that he was happy to have Keroro back and his friend.
Keroro gasped in shock as Fuyuki allowed him to hug him. "You're forgiving me?"
Fuyuki shook his head. "No. But you're still my friend. And you always will be. My best friend." He promised. "Should...We be spending our last hours doing other things than panicking?"
"Like planning how to stop her?" Keroro asked.
"Like talking to Momoka and Tamama." Fuyuki suggested. He hadn't...exactly spoken to Momoka about their kiss. He had just kinda thrown himself at her to keep his memories of her properly. And he knew Tamama had confessed to Keroro and Keroro had just kinda put that on the back burner.
Keroro frowned. "I can do that after the end of the world." He stuck out his tongue, the chronic procrastinator he was.
Fuyuki sighed. Keroro's flaws and problems just made him care about him more. It made him know that Keroro hadn't hurt him for any nefarious reasons, it was just that he was a screw up. And he hugged him.
Keroro hugged back.
Momoka somehow had tea and a fancy table with sweets even in an isolated forest. Paul was supplying her with luxury.
"Will you fight? Or will you leave the planet?" She asked Tamama. "Because of the power of Nishizawa satellites the rest of the planet does know what's going on with this city. I believe my father plans to fight Mois with missiles. After fighting her myself I don't think it would work though." Momoka sighed.
All the Nishizawa forces were working hard on a plan to save the planet, but Momoka didn't know if even they could do anything.
"I'll stay." Tamama told her. "I'll stop that woman from finishing her evil." He promised. "I'll fight for your planet. I'll fight her, even if I have to do it alone."
Momoka smiled, appreciating Tamama's support.
"You have a ship though. I'm sure Keroro plans to abandon the planet so you can live. Why not use it?" Momoka asked.
Tamama shook his head. "I'm not abandoning you. And I have a duty too-"
To protect me? Momoka wondered.
"To ruin that woman's plans!" Tamama declared cheerfully.
Momoka laughed. Tamama was the same as always.
"Should we say our good-byes? Live like this is our last day alive?" Dororo asked as he sat in front of Koyuki. "I will never abandon this planet, so if it perishes I will perish with it." He promised.
He reached out to Koyuki, caressing her face and gently kissing her. Koyuki gave him a soft smile before he could finish doing anything further romantic.
"I never want to say good-bye to you again, Dororo." Koyuki told him. "I acted calm last time but I don't think I can go through another good-bye with you."
Dororo continued stroking her cheek and looking at her. "Then should we just bask in each other's presence?"
Koyuki shook her head too. "I'm not willing to give up on this planet so quickly. Although I would love to spend time being close to you I think we should spend our last hours planning how to fight Mois." She suggested.
"You've been watching Natsumi, haven't you? She never gives up in a fight and you've decided to do the same." Dororo realized.
Koyuki grinned. Natsumi had taught her a lot. "We got beaten last time but I think if we use all our ninja skills and fight even faster, and stealthier we can beat her."
"The way of the assassin is not a long drawn out fight, it's one blow quickly and correctly." Dororo nodded. They needed to plan.
This was their last chance to beat her.
Koyuki nodded. She took out her knife. "Spar with me. We both might be rusty because of our lack of time together. But...We have to win."
Dororo nodded. "I would love nothing better." He rushed at Koyuki, ready to fight.
Natsumi was still pretty injured. Despite having to pretend she wasn't during her plan her stomach was still packed with gauze and bleeding. She rested a hand on it, pressing on it.
Giroro watched her, wondering if she would take back her insistence that they not 'shoot to kill' Mois.
"She really did a number on me, didn't she?" Natsumi laughed. "I never knew Mois was so strong. Man I should have sparred with her earlier when I had the chance."
Giroro smiled, that was his warrior princess. "I admire the way you smile even in the face of utter doom. That's a warrior's spirit." He told her, knowing this might be the last time he could tell her.
Natsumi's eyes softened at the sweet words. She would have yelled at Giroro for it due to the fact that she had been badly hurt by him abandoning her. But instead she sighed. "I would have died if you didn't save me, wouldn't I have?"
Giroro didn't answer. He didn't want to think about that.
"Thank you. For saving me even though I was mad at you." Natsumi told him. She knew she had put herself in a dangerous situation. Giroro had no reason to put himself in danger for her.
"Of course I would have saved you! Even if you hated me I'm not the sort of person who would let you die! I don't care what you think of me Natsumi, I care about your safety and your life!" Giroro told her.
Natsumi looked down at her bracelet, the power suit that Giroro had left to her despite being ordered not to. That's true. Even when I forgot him and didn't know who he was he always cared about my safety.
Giroro cared about her. And even though she didn't want to think about it and wanted to blame Giroro for abandoning her, she knew wiping her memories had hurt him too.
Knowing what she had to do she groaned. "I...I forgive you. For wiping my memories."
Giroro's eyes widened, shocked. "You do? ...Wait you aren't saying that because you think we'll both die today, are you?"
Natsumi shook her head. "I won't let Mois destroy my planet. I'll stop her. We won't die." She promised. "And I'm not saying it because of the situation. I really do forgive you. I...I don't forgive very easily so consider yourself lucky."
Giroro smiled, so grateful. "I do!"
Natsumi grinned and lightly punched him on the arm. "I'm glad to see you again, Giroro." I missed you.
Giroro grinned but before he could react Natsumi hugged him. He gurgled in shock. "Natsumi!"
"I'm not scared I just...Haven't seen you in a while. So don't tease me or anything." She hugged him tighter.
Giroro had no plans too. He just hugged back. He could understand Natsumi's feelings.
Saburo leaned against a tree and sighed. He was still mad at Kululu but he knew Kululu was the smartest guy he knew who could think his way out of this situation.
"It's hard making plans, isn't it?" Saburo asked. "I never really used my intelligence to help others or for others before volunteering myself as leader. But it's a hard task."
"There's different sorts of intelligence." Kululu responded quickly, "Strategy is something you're good at. Don't be too hard on yourself that Mois beat you. She would have beaten anyone. She's the lord of terror."
"She didn't beat you." Saburo sighed.
"That's because she wasn't fighting me." Kululu pointed out. "If she chose to fight me for real all she would need to do is look at me and I'd be instantly beaten."
Saburo snickered. That was true. "Why are you consoling me? We're...Not exactly getting along at the moment. I'm still super mad at you."
Kululu looked guilty about all that. "I...I still consider you my friend even if it might not be mutual." He paused for a moment. "I'm sorry Saburo. If I had thought about it longer I would have realized you felt closely to the pekoponians. I would have made fake memories so you could have remained friends with them after the memory erasing."
"Why didn't you?" Saburo asked. It seemed like a huge oversight.
Kululu sighed. "I...I didn't fully realize that you cared about people, unlike me. I thought losing Natsumi's closeness with you would have been no big deal."
Saburo shook his head. "Losing Natsumi was no big deal. Losing Koyuki, Momoka and Fuyuki especially? Was a big deal to me. I really liked Fuyuki. He was someone I valued deeply. But now we'll never be as close as we were when we were teens."
Kululu looked apologetic. "You could work towards the closeness again." He suggested. "Fuyuki's always willing to make friends."
Saburo looked at Kululu like Kululu didn't fully get how he felt about Fuyuki.
Kululu tried not to look at Saburo, quickly looking away. "I'm...I'm so sorry." He wasn't sure Saburo's feelings would have been returned anyway.
"It's all right." Saburo got up. He knew what Kululu was thinking. And Kululu was likely right. Fuyuki loved Momoka. Not him. "I guess….I was just lashing out."
He walked over to Kululu and leaned over his shoulder, seeing Kululu examining various diagrams of brains. He knew Kululu was trying to desperately look for clues as to how to return Mois's memories in such a small amount of time.
"How are your problems going?" Saburo asked, trying to be friendly again. He knew Kululu was right to focus on Mois right now. She was going through a lot. He had just been childish and mad.
"Bad. I can figure out a lot of information about memories from a scientific standpoint related to brains. However I don't even know if Mois has that organ. I don't know where her memories are stored." Kululu replied. "If they were all housed on angol and uploaded like a database we shouldn't have been able to delete her memories. If her brain was her phone than the angolians without lucifer spears wouldn't have brains at all. It's a puzzler. There's been no angolian dissection or x-ray so I have no clue where to even look for this information."
Saburo sighed as Kululu rambled. "Well if anyone will find out a technological answer you will."
"I think her phone is part of her conscious. Just because it's so in tune with her. But I don't know if it's the whole thing-" Kululu continued to just ramble.
Saburo stopped him by putting his hand on his head. "Hey, you ever think that maybe there isn't an easy technological answer? There wasn't with us. You didn't give us back our memories. We remembered them."
Kululu paused. He listened. "And what do you suggest with Mois? She's seen us and she hasn't remembered us at all."
"Maybe Natsumi's right that you have to appeal towards feelings." Saburo suggested. "Memories create a feeling after all." He paused. "You know I remembered you when I listened to a song that we listened to on our last day together. Did you ever consider using music as a trigger to Mois?"
Kululu shook his head. He hadn't listened to anything huge with Mois. But Saburo did make a fair point.
She...She did recognize me when I appealed to her feelings in the base. She knew my name and who I was despite my keronian form. She did trust him enough to admit how scared she was.
Maybe he was going about this the whole wrong way, manipulative and scheming instead of appealing to her feelings.
He could at least try, right? There was no harm in trying.
Midnight started approaching. The pekoponians and the keronians in their keronian forms, all took their greatest weapons ready to try one last scheme in attacking Mois.
Koyuki and Dororo nodded to each other, disappearing into the night, knowing that they both needed the perfect moment to strike.
"I said nothing would stop me from destroying the planet. No duels, no attacks." Mois sighed. "You didn't listen."
"Of course we didn't. We won't let you destroy the planet, Mois!" Natsumi told her.
Mois sighed. "I don't have time to deal with you. Nor do I want to fight again. It...It was very sad to fight you." She raised her arm and her spear. "I'll get rid of you in one quick burst." She decided "Angolian secret art-"
Kululu's eyes widened. She's going to create a black hole to get rid of us! Apparently he was the only one who recognized that technique and how dangerous the movements of her spear were.
"Wait!" He said quickly running in front of the platoon's ready stances and towards Mois. "I want to talk." He requested.
That stopped Mois for a moment, because it just confused her. She was unable to complete her technique. "Negotiations for the planet won't work. It's day of doom is long overdue. Did I fail at destroying the planet because of my lost memories?"
"You overslept!" Keroro yelled from the background.
Mois face palmed. That sounded like her.
Kululu shook his head. "I don't plan to negotiate for the planet. I just wanted to talk to you. You can destroy the planet for all I care."
"Kululu!" Natsumi yelled.
Saburo groaned. "This wasn't what I meant by 'appeal to her feelings!' "
Mois's eyes widened. "Oh. Well um...I suppose we can talk after I'm done then?" She was very caught off guard by Kululu not caring for the planet. She brought down her spear about to hit the ground.
"But I'll be dead since I'm on the planet! I want to talk now." Kululu demanded.
Despite his lack of persuasion this stopped Mois from hitting the ground, still shocked by Kululu's sheer determination to talk to her. "W-what...What do you want to talk about?" She asked, stuttering a bit.
Natsumi sighed in the background. It had stopped her for a moment. Mois was faltering.
Dororo leapt from the shadows with a sword, moving towards Mois's back.
"Dororo! I forgot you were involved in this!" Kululu fake gasping. "Wow. I didn't even know you were on Pekopon right now."
Dororo faltered and didn't stab. His eyes watered with tears. "Kululu! How could you? I've been here the whole time!"
Mois just looked confused. She knew Dororo had almost stabbed her and that Kululu had saved her, but she wasn't sure why that had worked. She hit Dororo away as he shot into the sky in a wave of tears.
"I can't believe you forgot me!" He sobbed.
"Dororo! You had one job!" Koyuki sighed, revealing her hiding spot and just groaning at Dororo's predictability.
"Ku, ku, ku." Kululu laughed. That takes care of the assassination attempt.
Mois sighed. "All right. You may talk." She owed it to Kululu for just saving her life.
Kululu nodded. "I...I don't know if you remember yesterday in the base-"
"That was a base?" Mois asked.
"But I promised to help you." Kululu didn't answer. "And I will. I won't ever leave you alone again, Mois."
Mois shook her head. She didn't fully get all of this but she was going to destroy the planet after Kululu spoke to her. Meaning he'd leave her alone because he wasn't currently fleeing and probably wouldn't survive this.
"When you destroy the planet I plan to escape so I can do this." Kululu told her.
"Kululu! You're trying to convince her to not destroy the planet!" Giroro groaned. "Shouldn't have trusted Kululu to not turn his back on us."
Natsumi sighed. That was true. She was horrified by Kululu abandoning the planet. But it seemed very Kululu.
"Oh well then can I get back to work?" Mois asked.
Kululu continued talking ignoring her request. "I'm going to figure out a way to get you to remember your memories besides your natural instincts and desires. I haven't figured out a way yet, but I will get you to remember me."
Mois's gaze softened as she looked at him. She knew that somehow she had known Kululu before, she just didn't know how or what they were. And it softened her heart a little to know that Kululu was so desperate to get her to remember. "Sometimes it's not the past that matters it's the future-"
Natsumi gasped. Mois was quoting her! That must meant she remembered her time on Pekopon after having her memories wiped. Her angolian desires just matter more than our fun times. Maybe she could appeal to her feelings herself after Kululu failed spectacularly.
"Even if it takes years of research and a mountain of dead bodies-" Kululu continued giving his speech.
"The dead bodies part wasn't necessary." Fuyuki winced.
"And the possibility that you might never return to me, I'll continue searching for a way for you to remember everything. What we did is wrong and I'll do whatever it takes to return your true self to you." Kululu promised walking closer to her and grabbing her hand as if he was pledging himself to her.
Perhaps it was the 'mountain of dead body' line, but Mois swooned a little bit. And she smiled a bit despite herself. He's sweet. She stared at him for a good moment.
Kululu tried to stare back, looking into her eyes so she could know that he was being honest and genuine. Despite himself he twitched, and his legs shivered, his knees buckling under him. His hand raised instinctively to shield himself from her eyes. "S-stop staring at me!" He screeched totally embarrassed and forgetting that he was actively trying to be romantic.
Mois pulled away completely shocked by how afraid Kululu looked. Despite the betrayal of his fear for some reason she didn't feel hurt.
"Stop staring at me!" She heard his voice again in her head. As if she was teleported away for a moment she saw several hundred memories circling her mind. She was in some sort of lab setting or various places with the same yellow keronian watching as he made something and he would always fall down and yell those words.
"I'll do anything if you stop staring at me. Please..Please don't look at me with those eyes" Suddenly she was in a whole new scene. She was kneeling down and watching Kululu as he tried to plug some sort of cord together. And he was shaking.
She felt confusion, but continued watching him. Mois realized that this must have been the first time Kululu became afraid of her.
"You'll scare the evil out of me. You're too good, pure and innocent." Mois heard his voice again.
Memories were returning to her, specifically of Kululu's fear of her.
Kululu watched as Mois looked shocked for a moment and as if she was thinking or desperately trying to remember something.
Crap. I messed up. He had become frightened the moment she looked at him. And he had to snap her out of thinking about that.
"Mois, I...I love you." He said suddenly.
That snapped Mois out of it. She looked at him in stunned shock. "What? Why?" Was all she could say.
Kululu smiled a bit, because that was better than her feeling nothing at all from the words. "You've always made me feel so happy. You've always tried to help me and support me. You've always been interested in what I'm doing. Your goodness, ick, inspires me to be a better person, or at least care about people. Being with you and spending time with you has made each and every one of my days sunnier and happier, to the point of when I left Pekopon and you weren't there I became very sad and lonely." Kululu explained.
"But...But I'm a monster! I exist to destroy planets!" Mois was still stunned. How could Kululu love her?
"I think it's cool how you destroy planets! I like fault lines and tectonic plates too, Mois!" Kululu told her, working up the courage to take her hand again. "You've never been a monster to me."
Mois blushed.
"You've always been my angel. Or angol I guess." Kululu couldn't help but put in a bad pun and pick up line.
She blushed deeper.
"Hey, Mois? I know this is an odd question, but do you remember your nightmarish life on Pekopon when you thought you were a pekoponian? Do you remember when I tried to pretend to be a pekoponian to earn your trust?" Kululu asked.
Mois reluctantly nodded. She did remember. All of those memories seemed overpowered by instinct though now.
"Do you remember your odd feelings for me?" Kululu asked.
Mois blushed. "If we knew each other in the past they were probably just confusion!" She defended a little. She didn't know why she was getting embarrassed, but she was. Maybe the old Kululu, the real Kululu that she had known was still somewhere in her mind.
"I know." Kululu smiled a bit, "That wasn't the real you. So you kissing me was a little awkward."
Mois blushed. She had remembered kissing Kululu. But now that there was some sorts of memories of Kululu being afraid of her those two things seemed conflicting and her actions seemed embarrassing. "I'm s-sorry-" She wasn't sure if this conversation was meant for Kululu to be shaming her.
"Ku, ku, ku." So she does remember kissing me. "It's all right. But that wasn't really me, you know. That was a fake me created to win you over." Kululu told her.
"Oh well-"
"When I kiss you I want it to mean that I'll be there for you. That we're just us. The real you who's able to do everything you like and the me that's an absolute jerk who you know is a jerk." Kululu told her, "I want kissing you to be as honest and genuine as looking into your eyes."
Mois was kneeling down now so she could be on better eye level to talk to Kululu. Also so he didn't have to shout and everyone wasn't completely overhearing their conversation.
Kululu reached out to her again to sweep some hair out of her eyes and gently caress her cheek. She didn't stop him and blushed deeper, her grip loosening on her lucifer spear somewhat forgetting about her previous declaration of destruction.
"I love you, Mois. I really love you. And no matter what happens to you I'll be there and still love you, okay?" Kululu tried to reassure her. "I won't leave you alone again to deal with all of this."
Those small words of reassurance helped Mois a lot. She had been so scared for so long and fighting it all by herself. She dropped her spear onto the ground and hugged him.
Kululu smiled but went a step father and leaned up, kissing her on the lips. The kiss was soft and sweet at first, but Mois started to kissing him back. Feeling like she was into this, Kululu put his hand in her hair pulling her closer to him.
Mois murmured for a moment letting herself forget about her instinct, her duty and everything else and just throwing herself at Kululu and letting him kiss her. Her body although much larger than his, shivered for a moment still somewhat frightened by the nightmare that surrounded her. It was a fragile body, but as Kululu touched it the shivering started dying down.
As if he was trying to express his feelings the best he could and just let Mois know his body enough for her to remember him, he kissed her over and over again as if each kiss was the words I love you.
The kissing went on for a good moment. Natsumi briefly wondered if she was healthy enough to get between them and pick up the lucifer spear on the ground, or if she even wanted to risk that.
Eventually Mois pulled apart, and looked at Kululu again for a good moment, a sort of familiarity returning to her eyes and focus.
Scared that she would leave again, Kululu pulled her back to kiss her as if time was not on his side.
Mois eventually noticed that the pekoponians were behind him staring up at them, when she opened her eyes to move him just a little bit. She blushed heavily and pulled away again.
But to Kululu's surprise she was smiling. And not in the way that someone would be if they had just kissed for several long minutes, but in the bright Mois way.
"Um...Uhh-" Mois was blushing and stumbling over her words. "Memories back?" She jazz handed.
"REALLY!?" Kululu asked. "That worked?" Romantic sappy love confessions really did it? That's so Mois!
Mois blushed and nodded. "Technically I started remembering you when you freaked out from me looking at you and not the love confession, but yeah-"
"I was wracking my brain over the scientific answer to your dilemma and how to figure out how an angolian mind worked but it was on a level beyond me!" Kululu yelled. "I can't believe you remembered me from the whole feeling thing." Kululu paused. "Wait, you do remember me, right? You did get the memories of who I am back?"
"No I remembered everybody except you, Kululu." Mois replied.
"What?" Kululu stepped back, stunned.
"Nah, I'm just joking." Mois giggled. "You could say, just trying the whole jerk thing?"
"That's mean." Kululu crossed his arms. But he smiled larger than he had in a while. "I'm...I'm so happy you're back! I...I didn't think I'd ever see the full you again. I'm just so happy-"
Mois smiled back at him, still slightly flushed. Before Kululu could pull her into another kiss, Natsumi barreled over to her.
Natsumi hugged her. "You really remember all of us? That's great! Your memories are all back!"
Mois smiled and nodded. "I'm sorry for injuring you, Natsumi. I was confused-"
"It's no big deal. I've injured loads of friends." Natsumi reassured. "I've beaten up Giroro over there loads of times." She pointed. "But this is great! Your memories being back means you won't destroy the planet."
"...I guess..." Mois agreed reluctantly, looking at her lucifer spear on the ground. She was still extremely tempted. "At least I got rid of a few bad pekoponians." She weeped a bit.
Natsumi hugged her. "Come on down to the rest of us! Everyone wants to spend some time with you!"
Mois smiled. I have friends who missed me?
Everyone waved to her. Keroro was openly crying. "I'm so glad Mois didn't kill us all and that she's okay!"
"Hey, um...Can I maybe talk to Mois? I mean I know you want to hang out and celebrate with her-" Kululu tried to get past Natsumi's legs and between them to Mois again. He had said something fairly huge after all, and kinda wanted to spend more time with her.
"Nah." Natsumi rejected him harshly and Mois was dragged away.
The pekoponians and keronians all celebrated despite the damage to the city. There was a party in the backyard of the Hinata House with various banners of "Reunion!" streamers, cake and sparkling cider.
"So we lived with aliens?" Aki asked, after the whole thing was explained to her by Fuyuki and Natsumi.
Paul nodded along to the story, trying to ask Tamama how strong he was while listening.
"Cool! Wow, a manga would have been great about that." Aki immediately believed the whole thing. "And Mois was a planet destroyer all along? Hmm...Well we can definitely make the manga version of her some sort of supernatural thing. I think we've already foreshadowed that. It will be a big surprise to the readers that she doesn't get together with the main lead. But controversy gets you talked about." Her eyes sparkled. "I guess we'll need to further develop the Kululu character from her past."
"Excuse me?" Kululu asked listening in. There was some sort of manga revolving around Fuyuki, Momoka and Mois's lives? And now him?
"Just let her be. There's no stopping that manga." Fuyuki sighed.
"Now that my character's getting together with Fuyuki I'll finally read it." Momoka hung onto Fuyuki's arm.
They were all having a great time laughing and celebrating their lack of destruction and trying to catch up with their old friends. Giroro was desperately trying to get info on Natsumi's love life, Natsumi was trying to figure out when Koyuki and Dororo had happened, that sort of thing.
It was a lot of fun. But Kululu still hadn't had a chance to talk to Mois. She was peering over the fence seeing the broken streets and houses that she had created and wondering why she wasn't being yelled at or isolated or something like that.
"Hey Mois, it's fine." Kululu told her. "The pekoponians understand that you weren't thinking straight."
"But...I still don't entirely mind the fact that I destroyed that much. I mean I do want to destroy the planet." She pointed out. "But they aren't yelling at me." She took a sip of her sparkling cider. "Actually they aren't talking to me much at all. I...I kinda hoped we'd spend some time together being our old selves."
Kululu didn't want to point out that Mois hadn't spent that much time with the pekoponians as her old self.
"I guess I got closer to Natsumi and Fuyuki after the memory erasing." Mois sighed, "And maybe they want to focus on the old them right now."
"Maybe they're leaving you alone so that I can talk to you?" Kululu suggested. He didn't think the pekoponians were that smart or respectful, besides maybe Natsumi.
And the reason Natsumi wasn't currently paying attention to Mois was because Kululu had told her that Giroro had said that he was stronger than her after his newest training on Keron (A lie to get her competitive and away from Mois) it had worked and now Kululu had some time to speak to her.
"You really think that?" Mois asked.
"Uhhh, well Natsumi's also gone because I convinced her Giroro thought he was stronger than her. And now she's arm wrestling." Kululu replied.
Mois giggled. That was very Natsumi. She looked at Kululu for a moment realizing that they probably should talk. "I'm uhh sorry I didn't reply to your text confession. It must have been really awful feeling for me to think you were a stalker."
Kululu shrugged not really wanting to dwell on that because it was embarrassing as heck. "Eh, it happens."
Mois's eyebrow raised completely surprised. "It does? How many girls have you confessed to over text and that's happened?"
Kululu sputtered. That wasn't what he wanted her to think! He wasn't some playboy. "Just you! I just meant, uhh let's not talk about it. I'm just glad you're you again." He was talking very fast.
Mois smiled looking at him affectionately. He's nervous. She noticed. "I didn't know you liked me. Did that happen after you left Pekopon?"
Kululu blushed. "No. Um...Listen I know I wanted us to talk but do we really need to talk about this sort of thing?" He didn't know what to ask her.
He was in this weird situation where he was super happy that she was back but he had said some really embarrassing things that he wasn't fully sure Mois returned. He didn't know how to ask her directly if she returned his feelings though.
Mois seemed to realize that he was trying to wrack his head over how to subtly ask her if she returned his feelings. She leaned down and kissed him on the cheek lightly.
Kululu mentally exploded over the cute and simple gesture. It was so Mois. "M-mois?"
"I love you too, Kululu." Mois told him. "There's no reason to worry."
Kululu blushed more so than he had when telling her he loved her in front of everyone. "R-really?"
Mois nodded. "Mmhmm. I mean I thought that would have been obvious when you were the only one I wouldn't attack and who was having some sort of effect on my memory lost state. I really appreciated you. I guess without my memories for some reason my feelings for you remained." She paused. "Oh! I guess I realized I loved you when I couldn't remember you. That's weird. I'm only realizing that now."
Kululu snickered a bit. "I would have thought you would have realized that you liked me when you fully thought I was going to introduce you to my family as my girlfriend." He teased.
Mois covered her eyes, embarrassed. "I was dense, okay! You can't blame me for being so stupid that I didn't realize I had a crush on you when I was okay with being introduced as your girlfriend and going over to your house to sleep with you."
Kululu sighed. So that weird misconception had never been cleared up and she was still wondering if that was the reason he had invited her. "I can blame you." He teased her. "And you do realize I just wanted to hang out, right?"
Mois blushed. "Oh! Y-yeah of course I considered that."
"We can do those other things too if you really want." Kululu teased suggestively.
Mois blushed deeper. "Kululu!"
Despite all the laughter and fun, all the keronians and pekoponians had a looming sense of dread. They wanted to put out of their mind what was coming up.
Saburo knew that despite the celebrations their time was ticking down. It'll all repeat. The keronians will leave again and wipe our memories.
They weren't on the planet to invade this time. They were here to save Mois. And Mois was now saved so likely they'd leave soon.
None of the keronians however seemed to be trying to say good-bye. Did they plan to leave without those farewells again?
Saburo gathered the other humans while the keronians were cheering for themselves. "We need to talk about the memory erasing and how it will probably happen again."
Natsumi's hand trembled for a moment on her glass. "They wouldn't. They learned their lesson." She didn't sound confident.
"I've been preparing this entire time for when it happens. I've been writing secret notes to myself about our previous lives, hiding pictures of the keronians and us that I've drawn around the city. I've even been leaving gundam models where we usually go." Saburo told them. "Although the city will likely be rebuilt, I'm sure we'll find one of the clues I've left. I'm not allowing us to permanently forget all of this."
Fuyuki's hand squeezed Momoka's, hoping he wouldn't forget her again. Momoka looked at him and smiled.
"I'll remember, and I'll tell you about them." She promised hoping that Kululu didn't do a better job erasing her memories this time.
"I saw Kululu doing some research on where our memories are stored when he was trying to cure Mois. I think if given the time I can make something with that research that will prevent us from losing our memories again." Saburo suggested. He clenched his fist. "However I don't know when they'll erase our memories, so I don't know how much time I have." He glanced at the group suspiciously.
Everybody nodded, understanding that they had to buy time. They needed to spend as much time with their friends as possible to buy Saburo time to work.
They dispersed.
"How much time do we have, Keroro?" Giroro asked, having a good time partying like everyone else but knowing that this wonderful situation could not last.
"Until the space police notice that Pekopon has been tampered with thanks to aliens." Keroro sighed. "Which should be pretty soon. After all an angolian did directly attack the planet and show herself. It's not a huge secret."
Giroro winced. So Mois's outburst would hurt them in the long run anyway because the space police would deem that tampering with pekopon and force them all to leave, and possibly be arrested for revealing themselves to the pekoponians. "Will...The Hinatas memories get erased of us?"
Keroro nodded. "Once the space police start their investigation they'll see that we interacted with those five pekoponians. They'll erase their memories and arrest us for our crimes. I'm good at talking my way out of court though so it shouldn't be to bad." He tried to reassure.
Giroro sighed. It sounded really bad. "At least we won't be the ones to betray them this time. Should we fight against the space police? I...I don't think Natsumi could accept getting her memories erased again."
Keroro shook his head. "We need to make the best of the time we have. We've got something new this time. We...We have a chance to say good-bye to them. For real. Instead of just leaving without warning." He reminded.
All the keronians looked up from what they were doing. Keroro was right. They could say good-bye this time.
Tamama covered his mouth slightly happy that at least he could say good-bye. Kululu glanced over at Saburo who seemed to be scheming with the pekoponians.
Dororo just started crying. "Why is the world so cruel to me? I just want to live happily with Koyuki! Why can't that happen?" He sobbed.
Giroro pat his back and hugged him as Dororo tried to scramble up some sort of idea on how to stay.
"If I erased my own memories of aliens-" Dororo suggested.
"That won't work. You'll feel horrible." Mois seemed to clue into the conversation with Dororo's words. She looked at Keroro. "W-what are you guys talking about?"
"The space police." Keroro replied. "That's why we left in a hurry and had to memory erase all the pekoponians last time. You might not know but the galactic law changed things involving Pekopon, they want Pekopon to remain untouched by aliens and uninfluenced, because they've lasted so long without being invaded."
"So we were forced to leave the planet and erase all signs that we were here. Including memories." Giroro finished. "Although we've saved you nothing has changed about that law."
As they explained to Mois, a circular portal appeared in the sky. Legs twirled down, definitely one of the poyon's legs.
"They're here. We're out of time." Kululu groaned. "I guess we should hurry up and say those good-byes."
Dororo continued sobbing, but Kululu walked over to Saburo.
"Saburo I promise to be involved in the process this time, you won't lose your other friendships-" Kululu started speaking.
The poyon was out of the portal. "By order of galactic law 541 you're all under arrest for revealing yourself to pekoponian creatures! Our forces will come down to clean up memories and erase the damage you've done." She pointed her gun and immediately cuffed the keronians.
Natsumi gasped. She had never realized things were so serious for the pekoponians. Fuyuki looked horrified.
"Miss space police woman!" Keroro cried, "Can't we at least have a moment to say good-bye to our friends? We've all gone through a lot. You know us. Please just let us say good-bye."
The poyon looked sympathetic to Keroro's plight. "None of them will remember, but closure is probably for the best." She nodded.
All of the keronians darted towards their pekoponian companions, except Dororo who seemed to be still trying to find some sort of loophole to stay. "But what if I-?"
"No." The spacepolice woman said.
"Dororo...It's okay. I...I understand." Koyuki tried not to cry. She opened her arms so Dororo could run into them.
For once they both cried instead of just Dororo.
"Wait." Mois was watching as the keronians hurried around her to say good-bye to their friends. It was such sad imagery and such a sad atmosphere. And Mois didn't want to lose the pekoponians either.
With a sense of calm she walked over to the space policewoman. Perhaps she was calm because she was the only alien without handcuffs on. "My name is Angol Mois, of the Angol Tribe. I'm known as the Lord of terror."
Everybody looked up from their tears. Was Mois trying to negotiate?
"It won't work, Mois. The law is strict." Keroro whimpered.
"I know who you are." The poyon frowned. "It would take a real idiot to not know who you were, Lord of terror."
Mois nodded. "Then you know what my purpose is on this planet. And how I've already attempted to destroy it several times."
The poyon slowly nodded.
"Looking around this city, you can see I really did a number on the thing. You could say, no use beating around the planet?" Mois asked.
The poyon looked past the Hinata House's backyard to the wreckage of the city. She frowned. "Once the cities memories are erased I'm sure they'll view it all as a bad natural disaster-"
"Will they?" Mois asked. "Because I created fissures in the ground to stop people from leaving the city. I called down wild angolian plant life to make sure helicopters or missiles didn't mess with my work. I broadcasted myself telling all of the pekoponians on the planet exactly what would happen to them, that their destruction was imminent." She stared directly at the poyon. "Whether the galatic law likes it or not everybody on this planet knows about angolians now. Can you erase that?"
The poyon frowned. She looked at her gun for a second but knew that she couldn't use it on Mois.
Angolians went by their own laws, and were unable to be prosecuted by the space police. After all the space police conspired to protect the universe while the angolian's were supposed to destroy.
Secretly the space police saw them as mobsters that kept killing people and hiding the bodies but they had an uneasy alliance with and had to allow the mob to get away with their bad practices.
The poyon sighed. It was true that if the whole planet knew about aliens or at least Mois that it likely couldn't fully be erased her influence on the planet. "What do you suggest then? We could always try to erase the whole planet's minds of this instant. Sure, conspiracy theories would be sure to spring up and there would be problems but we could at least try."
Mois stared at her directly, holding her ground. "Don't erase their memories. Don't erase any of their memories." She requested.
The poyon gasped. "What? Why?"
"Memory erasing technology is cruel. It plays with your brain and takes away something precious from you." Mois glanced at Natsumi and the rest of the pekoponians, her eyes still pained by what she had experienced. "As someone who went through the technology I could make a very big claim that the technology itself hurt an important member of the angol tribe. What would happen then when our tribe investigated and realized it was the galactic law enforced by the space police that made me go through such a horrible event?" Mois asked.
The police woman looked frightened for a moment. "We would be seen as someone who directly hurt the angol tribe-"
"And I can tell you what I, the lord of terror, would do to someone who hurt the angol tribe. I'd destroy them. After all the space police have a meeting space and can easily be destroyed. You're just fragile lives." Mois's negotiation technique immediately turned menacing.
Despite the intimidating approach it seemed to be working. The poyon saluted. "I'll speak to the others about our use of memory erasing technology, but..." She looked at the pekoponians, "I can say with certainty that we will not erase Pekopon's memories."
The keronians looked up and glowed in happiness. "Really? Does that mean we're free to go?" Keroro asked.
Fuyuki cheered. No memory erasing?
"Wow, Mois, you're violence actually got something good to happen. Like...Hundreds of people died, but it helped us!" Saburo clapped.
"Thousands." Mois corrected.
Saburo paled.
The space policewoman glared at Keroro. "Know that this wasn't because of you keronians. You did break the law and talk to the pekoponians. We just can't do anything about it because an angolian seems connected to the planet."
And with that she twirled her way into the air and disappeared.
Everybody watched her go, relief in their eyes. There was no longer a risk of their friends losing their memories!
The nightmare was finally over.
After several days of people trying to aid the city and every citizen trying their hardest to help clean up and aid the injured, the group was finally given time to think again.
"...When are you going to leave?" Fuyuki was the one to ask the question that none of them wanted to ask.
"Fuyuki!" Natsumi scolded, "Maybe they don't have to leave."
"They have a home to return to. And obviously they have to go back to Keron eventually." Fuyuki reminded.
"We could stay for a while." Keroro suggested. "We came here to find Mois after all, we don't have to report back that we already found her-"
"I actually already called my dad. I'm sorry!" Mois apologized. "Kululu just told me he seemed pretty worried-"
Keroro face palmed.
"The Keron army has given us the order to get home as soon as possible." Kululu confessed. "So...We'll be leaving pretty soon."
Immediately the sad atmosphere returned.
"That's...Too bad." Saburo looked glum.
"I'll visit." Kululu replied immediately. "Moving away doesn't mean the end of our friendship. Sure it's a long distance from Keron and Pekopon but I'm sure I can perfect some sort of technology that makes travel faster. Maybe I'll design it after Mois since she's able to travel so darn fast-"
"Ahh! I thought you were taking me back home with you because you wanted us to have a life together!" Mois looked shocked and betrayed. "I didn't know I was just the basis for your science experiment."
"Ku, ku, ku. That's just a bonus, Mois." Kululu teased. "Fast space travel is a bonus."
Mois glared at him.
"You don't want me to invent something that's revolutionary towards travel time?" Kululu asked.
"I didn't say that..." Mois sighed. "Just don't study me too much, okay? I'm not too weird or different…."
Kululu nodded. He smiled a little to himself. I guess she really is coming back with me. She must have remembered all those times he had said that he had wished he had taken her with him before. She wasn't letting them abandon her again.
Saburo smiled a little bit. This wasn't the end. And it wasn't like Kululu had lived with him before. "Then see ya soon I guess." He nudged Kululu's arm and did a fist bump with him.
The other pekoponians were having less of an easy time grappling with the fact that their keronian friends were going home.
"I'm staying here." Dororo told Koyuki, "I made a mistake last time not having the confidence to go against Keron. I don't care if I can't return home. I'm choosing you this time."
Koyuki hugged him, "Dororo! Thank you!"
Dororo smiled.
"You might be able to return home. You might just be quitting or turning traitor to the keron army." Keroro decided. "After all, the space police aren't getting in the way of aliens interacting with Pekopon anymore."
"Yay! I won't be assassinated!" Dororo cheered.
"Yay?" Koyuki didn't know he had even been signing up to be assassinated. Dororo needed to learn not to be tragic.
Natsumi watched Giroro, waiting for him to say his good-byes or perhaps deciding on a whim to stay like Dororo. I'm hoping for the wrong thing. Dororo's staying and abandoning his planet because he loves this planet and Koyuki.
"N-natsumi I..." Giroro walked over to her, trying to stumble out the words. There was one thing he had always regretted not telling her.
Natsumi looked at him, waiting for him to tell her his decision.
"I love you." He finally spurted out. "I've always loved you. Ever since our first meeting and how you punched me out of your window."
"H-huh?" Natsumi was completely caught off guard by that news. She hadn't expected that at all!
"He...He actually did it! He finally confessed!" Keroro cheered. He hadn't expected that either. He had thought Giroro would be too shy forever.
Giroro just blushed. "It's fine if you don't return my feelings. I just didn't want to run away from facing my feelings head on. And I always regretted not telling you." He turned around trying to be cool. He was very obviously steaming in embarrassment though.
Natsumi realized she actually needed to respond and grapple with her confusion. She spoke on instinct and based on her gut- her best friend in all her choices. "Stay."
"Huh?" Now it was Giroro's turn to be confused.
"I won't give you an answer unless you stay. After all there's no reason to get invested in you and our relationship if you're leaving and only returning to visit every few years or something." Natsumi pointed out. "We can't form an actual connection that's not just based on nostalgia if you're not actually here."
Giroro paused. Natsumi's words made sense. And if she rejected him it wouldn't have been based on the fact that she didn't like him, it would have been based on the fact that they just couldn't be together because he wasn't on the planet.
He melted too, because all that required him to stay was Natsumi asking him too. He couldn't refuse her request. "Okay." He said weakly.
Natsumi smiled. "I got two of the frogs staying!" She peace signed. "Your turn, Fuyuki and Momoka!"
"I want to stay too!" Tamama whimpered not even having to be convinced. "Being on Keron and being famous is overrated."
"You're just trying to run away from all the lies you created. Ku, ku, ku." Kululu realized. "Don't want to be caught in the web when it breaks, huh?"
Tamama looked away, because that was the full truth. "Momoka! Can I live in riches still with you?" He asked running into her arms.
"Of course!" Momoka smiled. "But you better be my pet and always there for me." She rubbed his head, her hair pointing.
Tamama nodded.
Keroro smiled as he saw his platoon mates making decisions he knew they wouldn't regret. He threw up his hands in defeat. "Fine! I'll stay too! I can tell Keron we're all quitting or something. Suck it Keron!" He smiled at Fuyuki wanting to stay with his friends too.
"Actually...Ku, ku, ku." Kululu laughed. "I might have a solution that would involve you all not quitting." Kululu had to be the solution to everything. He liked looking smart.
The keronians looked at him, him having their full attention.
"Pekopon knows about aliens now and is allowed to know about aliens thanks to Mois. They'll probably require alien diplomats or something stationed on Pekopon." Kululu pointed out. "I bet you all could do that."
Keroro looked hopeful. "I'd be a great diplomat! I'm so friendly looking and nice!" Finally, a job for him.
"Does that mean you'll be staying too?" Saburo asked looking hopeful at Kululu.
Kululu shook his head. "Can't. I doubt Mois wants to be on Pekopon for an extended amount of time considering her life here, and I doubt Pekopon wants Mois on it." Kululu pointed out.
Mois hugged him realizing Kululu didn't want to leave her alone.
"Ku, ku, ku. I'll probably finally put that sergeant major rank to good use and be higher up than you checking up on how you're doing." Kululu decided.
Suddenly the keronians shivered. They didn't want to report to Kululu.
Everybody seemed happy with this solution. It was quite easy to arrange for the Keroro Platoon to be diplomats too. They had succeeded in an important mission of retrieving one of their allies after all.
Finally the atmosphere of sadness was gone. The Keronians were allowed to stay on Earth and get back the time they had lost with their pekoponian friends.
Despite Kululu and Mois only being there half the time because Kululu was reporting back to Keron about how the Keron platoon was doing, they all felt like a group again.
The universe was back in balance and the Keroro platoon was back. And everybody felt like their life was normal again for them and was happy.
I'm Fuyuki Hinata. And I'm 19. And this is the story of how I met an alien. Fuyuki finally wrote on his blog.
The universe couldn't separate him from his friends again. Everybody was at peace.
Hmmm...Something feels off about the ending. Like I didn't wrap something up, but I'm not sure what. Any suggestions?
