Aliens to Monsters
Giroro- Ganrougel
Keroro- Kurse
Tamama- Taiki
Dororo- Aldmora
Kururu- Krueger
Mois- Molioke
"Holy crap! Did anyone else hear that?!" Kurse cried as he floated behind the group.
"Yeah, why do you think we're running towards it?!" Aki replied anxiously. Everyone ran down the hall towards a loud clatter near they're destination.
Koyuki carried Aldmora with Garuru's help. "That's about where they're keeping Ganrougel."
They hurried around the final corner and halted when they found a ghost before the broken bent bars of a cage full of black blood.
"You don't think he killed him do you?" Taiki asked nervously.
"No way, Haru said it was nearly impossible." Aki looked at the scene in disbelief. "But I guess I can see how you would guess that."
"There isn't a body though or even a blood trail." Koyuki noted. "Maybe he walked away."
"Only Mo and her father can permanently stop someone from existing especially after death, so yeah safe bet he's still walking around." Krueger explained. He walked up to the ghost with a wide grin. "Let me guess… friend of the soldier zombie?"
"What do you care?" The ghost soldier crossed his arms.
Krueger held the stone against his hip with one arm as he looked over the spellwork written on the floor. "That smart bastard. Stole from my genius."
"You know what that weird marking is?" Taiki asked.
"Just magic for ghosts." Krueger walked towards a wall and whipped out a pen from his pocket. He scribbled a funny circle. When it was done, he knocked on it twice. After a moment the wall segmented inside the circle moved away and revealed the inside of the Hinata house. Saburo leaned through with a smile. "Hey kid."
"Hey dude, what's up?" Saburo waved.
"How did you do that?!" Kurse and Taiki exclaimed with their jaws dropped.
"This pen links with the reality pen in case I need something from Saburo." Krueger lifted his glowing stone and handed it to Saburo. "Hold onto this for me kid. Take it to the lab if you can."
"Sure thing." Saburo grinned as he set the stone carefully on the floor of the living room. "Did you guys find everyone already?"
"Not yet. We lost Natsumi and we haven't found Ganrougel." Aki stated.
"We found the cage he was supposed to be in full of blood." Taiki added casually.
"That sucks." said Saburo.
"I need your reality pen and a jar." Krueger held out his hand expectantly. Saburo complied with a smile. Everyone watched as Krueger scribbled on the bottom of the jar. He returned the pen to Saburo and walked towards the ghost soldier.
"What do you think you're doing?" The ghost leaned back as far as he could and watched as worry possessed him.
"Cleaning up the mess. Kukuuu~" Krueger laughed as he lifted the jar above the ghost and quickly pulled it down on him. The ghost cried out as he was sucked into the glass, unable to fight it. Krueger quickly sealed the lid.
"Did… did you just bottle a ghost?" Kurse asked nervously.
"kukuuuu~" Krueger only laughed as he looked at Kurse. He walked back over to Saburo and handed him the jar along with a heart he pulled from his pocket. "Hold these for me as well until I get back. Is Mo there?"
"Right here." Molioke popped up next to Saburo.
"Here." Krueger held out his hand, revealing a small metal shard.
"Oh my gosh." Molioke started tearing up as she picked it up. "You're so sweet. Thanks for getting it back for me."
"Tch, don't read into it too much. I need your help with the subject back home and anyone else would definitely be useless with that." Krueger crossed his arms, making it look oddly comfortable with three arms.
"That's one of the nicest things you've ever said to me." Molioke blushed and teared a little more. She held the metal shard tight in her hands against her chest.
Krueger paled slightly and looked away from her. "Just make sure you-"
"I'll melt it down as soon as I can." Molioke nodded her head understanding what he was going to say.
"Have the kid help you especially with the rune work. You'll be too clumsy without your magic." Krueger sighed.
"That's true." Molioke giggled.
"Make sure you choose something that's hard to lose." said Kruger.
"Don't worry." Saburo assured with a wink.
"Take the weak too." Krueger gestured to Aldmora. "He'll only slow us down."
"No, you'll need my help to get out again. I have more control of it inside here. Out there it's a gamble." Aldmora protested.
"That might be helpful later on, the disc above the house is fading. I don't think the door you went through will be there much longer." Saburo explained.
"Probably because we unhooked him from that machine." Kurse stated.
"Wait, here." Fuyuki jumped into the conversation holding out a small bag with a gold drawstring. "Give this to Aldmora. I was practicing some stuff from Grandma's books and found this. I just finished cleansing and repowering it."
"What is that hun?" Aki asked looking at the bag as it was passed to Aldmora.
"It's a cleansing charm that might help him regain some of his energy. It's got some iron and salt and some other stuff that represent things like healing and protection. It might not work right away because I'm not that good yet but it should help some." Fuyuki rubbed his head.
"Thank you Fuyuki. That's very kind of you." Aldmora's eyes smiled. He carefully placed the pouch in his pocket and took a deep breath. "I think I can try running on my own for now."
"If we get into any trouble stay to the side." Krueger turned away and began walking down the hall.
"Where are you going? How do you know that's the right way to go?" Kurse asked.
"Instinct." Krueger chuckled.
"Wasn't he the one boasting about thinking things through earlier?" Aki asked with a small smile.
"Well we can't go back." said Taiki.
"Aldmora what do you think? You know the building." Koyuki looked up to her partner.
"That way leads deeper into the building. It may seem cliché but that might be where one would find more of our enemy's secrets and weaknesses. It might be helpful to follow him either way since we're still missing Natsumi and Ganrougel. We don't want more of us getting lost in here." Aldmora suggested.
Everyone nodded in agreement and ran down the hall after Krueger.
"Good luck guys." Saburo waved after them before slipping the wall segment back into place, leaving only the markings as a reminder that it had ever been open.
"We're almost there." The bull chimed happily after a long and silent walk through the empty building.
"Are there any minions you've got here?" Natsumi asked taking whatever control of the moment as she could. "It seems way too quiet for an evil lair."
"I just have two really. Also evil? I'm just doing what I have to to get what I want." The bull smiled casually.
"You killed my dad and blackmailed me with the soul of my baby for something, I don't even know what, that happened forever ago. Those are just two things you did to me, I'm not going to go into everything else you've done to other people. You pretty much are the definition of evil." Natsumi glared.
"Fine. Then I guess I should embrace it, I'm evil." The bull chuckled. "Doesn't really matter does it? Even before I became a monster people have feared since childhood, they thought I was a bad man. I just wanted certain things and no one thought I deserved them. I had to find my own ways to win even if I had to kill so many people."
"Even the soldiers who were there to fight beside you and not against you? How did someone like you become a soldier anyway?" Natsumi asked.
"I was finally caught by the police and they thought they could mold me into a better person. I went along with it thinking I could at least learn to fight like their experts." The bull explained. "I knew there were some strict bastards but the Corporal pushed the limit too far."
"You mean Ganrougel? I've known him my whole life and I've learned he's pretty reasonable. How did he push you too far?" Natsumi stopped walking and turned to face the bull dead on.
The bull couldn't help but turn away for a moment as he thought back to the days he was alive and was being trained by corporal Giroro. 'Congratulations on the worst drills I've ever seen run!' 'I wouldn't trust you to run a bath let alone run the front lines with a weapon!' 'You look like you're about to take a cry! SHOW ME YOUR WAR FACE!'
"He abandoned us." The bull growled. "He sent his recruits off on a training mission but really it was just a dump in the woods to get rid of us. When I finally got us back to base I found him hanging out and laughing, drinking a beer happily away while we were lost."
"First of all he doesn't drink, at least not alcohol, and he would never abandon someone. So forgive me if I don't buy your story." Natsumi replied.
"I don't need you to believe me but you did ask. I win either way." The bull shrugged.
"I'm really going to enjoy making you realize how wrong you are."
Natsumi and the bull both turned to the hall behind them. Natsumi felt the guilt flood through her, gripping her stomach tight. "Ganrougel?"
"Yeah don't count me out yet." Ganrougel clenched his fists. His chest heaved with deep ragged breaths. The tlot tlot sounds of his hooves resounded heavily through the room as if to relay a murderous intent. He ignored the black blood as it still poured from his slowly healing wounds and glared at the bull like he was about to start a hunt. "I'm not playing your game anymore."