Chapter 14:
"Papa! Help!" Kururu stopped, held onto his aching side, and looked toward the direction he had heard the cry help coming from. It had sounded like Kirere.
"What's she gotten herself into now?" Kururu grunted through his wheezing as he trudged over to the sound. They had all been separated in the commotion only moments previous…. It didn't surprise him that Kirere had ended up separated from the others.
"Help! I hurt my leg! It's twisted!" continued Kirere's voice, and Kururu continued to follow it as it got closer to him. He then gave a call of surprise as the ground was lifted out from beneath him and soon the trees surrounding him were all upside down, and he was still spinning. He realized after the initial shock, that he was hung by the foot to one of the surrounding trees. He then gave a glare as out through the bushes walked Chunini, who was still speaking in the very voice he had heard moments ago.
"My leg! I think it's twisted!" Chunini said, ending in a laugh and returning to her normal voice. "I didn't show you that card, did I? Well, you knew my specialty dealt with my voice…."
"Tch," Kururu gave a grunt, and watched as Chunini walked back and forth. Her look had changed since they had last left her… Her hat was the same, but the ribbons on it were yellow, with orange triangle patterns. She wore a bell-shaped smock dress, which was blue on two sides, but orange in the center. On top of the dress was her star symbol. In one hand was a large, painful-looking mace.
Chunini leaned in and smiled at Kururu, and gave a chuckle, "You know, you're kind of cute! Too bad you're not my type! You were probably a real lady killer on Keron, eh?"
"The blood's rushing to my head, would you mind talking a little less and getting me down?" Kururu asked, obviously annoyed by Chunini's nonstop chattering.
"Or maybe you weren't," she winked at him and patted him on the cheek. "I had a really good time, Kururu-kun. It's such a shame…"
"Kukuku! What's your part in this, anyway?" Kururu asked as Chunini had her back turned to him. While she was looking away from him, he was reaching for his headphones.
"It's too complicated for you and your little friends to understand… Just appreciate the time you have left," Chunini turned around, as she did this, Kururu pressed in his headphones, and they popped out, and they began to emit a sound meant to disable Chunini.
Instead, she swung the mace with such force that the soundwaves Kururu's headphones emitted were flown back, completely missing Chunini but coming back at Kururu full force. His glasses shattered, he gave a yell, and was thrown against the tree. He then hung there, fainted and swaying now numbly. Chunini gave a chuckle and poked at the passed out Keronian. She floated up with use of her angel pack, took out a knife, and then cut him loose and slung him over one of her shoulders.
"I think this is generally the other way around, Kururu-kun," she said with a giggle as she walked off into the woods with her bounty.
Giroro gave a grunt as he fell against a fallen log, and took this opportunity to regroup. Keroro? Ran away. Dororo? Fighting some kind of monster. Kururu? Who the hell knew. Tamama and Kirere? Hopefully holding up.
He sat his gun down on the ground and began to reload, not knowing if he would need it. A few moments later he saw that this was a good option, as a shot came from up above the trees and aimed directly at him. It missed him by inches, landing right in between his feet. He gave a gulp and then scrambled up, and looked up to get a better look of the attacker. Something shining and bronze zoomed past him, but was too quick for Giroro to get a good look. Another few shots from a laser fired, and the red corporal climbed up the closest and tallest tree he could find.
Whatever the slender, silent object was, it was confused now by Giroro's absence, and it flew back and forth now like an annoyed carnivore trying to get at a small rodent.
"Of course I stick out like a sore thumb," Giroro muttered as he looked down at himself. He hid himself further in the tree, up against the shadows. "…It's going in a pattern…."
It took it a few times, but then the bronze object came to a jerking halt as a hook attached to it, and Giroro began to climb up it. By the time he reached the surfboard-shaped object, he had his gun pointed at whoever was controlling it. Giroro was stunned silent as he saw it was Mahihi on the other end, and Mahihi who had a gun pointed back at him.
"M-Mahihi!" Giroro yelped out, and then quickly let go of his grip as Mahihi took a shot at one of Giroro's hands.
Giroro fell back to the ground, but only for a few moments. He zoomed back up through the trees moments later, his wingpack now on and with two larger guns, one in either hand.
"Mahihi!" he barked out, and the Keronian turned his head at the sound of his name. "What's the meaning of this?!"
Mahihi didn't answer, only shot once more, Giroro barely dodging out of the way this time. The entire time Mahihi's expression didn't change from a blank, faraway stare.
"So that's how it's going to be," Giroro grit his teeth and glared up at Mahihi, who was still floating about, circling him.
This Mahihi looked much more different than the one they'd encountered before. Gone was the Hawaiian shirt, and now two tattoos on either side of his arms were visible—Ones that looked just like Rokiki's. He had on a cloth about his waist, too, like Rokiki, although the colors were brown and black. There was a collar about his neck that looked like palm fronds, and he wore thick gold bracelets that had amber-colored gems on them. On this head was his usual helmet, although about the helmet there was a brown band, and in the center a golden square.
'He's my equal….' Giroro thought as he glared across at Mahihi, who awaited Giroro's next move, as if playing with him a bit. 'If I want to get anything done it has to be something he wouldn't expect…'
"You really don't get it, do you?" Mahihi asked with a sigh, breaking the silence between them. His half-lidded eyes went wide for a moment, then, as Giroro sped forward, full force, butting into Mahihi with his skull and knocking the winded soldier off of his surfboard. It went flying out of the way while Mahihi began a plummet to the ground. He was saved last minute by Giroro, who had gripped onto his hand quickly, keeping Mahihi from a rough landing on the hard forest floor. He then let Mahihi fall, although it was only a few feet now.
"Thanks, Aka Baka," Mahihi said with relief as he sat there, sitting up on the ground he'd fallen onto. He said this no sooner than Giroro had a gun pointed directly in the middle of his forehead.
"I did it so I could get a clear shot here. I—eh?!"
Mahihi gripped onto Giroro's wrist in such a way the gun was released from his grip, and Mahihi grabbed it and then used it to press Giroro against him, placing the gun beneath the corporal's neck and restraining him this way. Giroro struggled until Mahihi bent down and whispered.
"Dude, knock it off! We're on your side! But if we don't make this look good, someone's going to get suspicious!" Mahihi whispered, and Giroro stopped his struggle, and looked back over his shoulder to Mahihi, stunned by this news.
Dororo watched for a moment as Giroro and Mahihi continued to battle, after a curious standstill. They then resumed their fighting, crashing down into the woods. He didn't have a long time to search for his friend after that, his assailant was back, and the bronze-colored clawed glove they wore sliced right through his hiding place.
He jumped back and landed down on the forest ground, his blade in front of him for protection. He was finally allowed to breathe, although he kept his breathing light, in order to hear his opponent.
And soon they appeared, staff in both hands, ready to come down right atop his head. Dororo held out his sword, and held off the staff this way, although he was now pinned down to the ground by his attacker.
This allowed him his first good look; the armor looked ancient, and was covered in geometric patterns, not uncommon from ancient Keronian outfits; its shape was just like his, including the ears atop it, the only difference being two large jade beads and a white veil coming down on either side of the head, and an oval-shaped covering on the back of the suit of armor, which was for a tail, he assumed. The right eye was covered by a brown patch, and the left one… Was green.
"Lu-Lupapa-dono!" Dororo yelped, and she seemed caught off-guard by him calling out her name. She took a step back, letting off of Dororo and allowing him to rise. She relaxed for a moment, and stood with her staff standing straight up in her hand.
"You all made a terrible mistake of coming here!" she snapped at him, glaring through the one visible eye. "You have no idea the danger you've put yourself in! You.. You should have never gone to see Fujuju!"
"I knew that there was something off about him," Dororo sighed. "So he's the one who made you do this."
"No," his eyes opened fully at the coldness of her voice. "I chose this. And now, having made my choice…." She took up her staff again, and pointed the sharp end at Dororo.
"L-Lupapa-dono, you don't have to do this! There are always options!" Dororo called out all while holding her back with his sword. He jumped back up into the trees, but was pursued by Lupapa the entire way.
He finally found the edge of the forest, where there was only a forcefield, no more running. He turned back around, and saw she was still gaining on him. She attempted to bring the heavy metal staff onto his head again, but again failed, with him blocking this. What followed was a sea of sparks coming from both metallic weapons, with Dororo attempting to defend himself and not harm Lupapa in the process.
It finally came to a standstill when Lupapa grabbed hold of the wrist he held his sword with, and there was a moment of silence between the two.
She then took it, and pulled it forward, allowing it to go through her armor. Dororo watched this, stunned for a moment, then grabbed onto her as she fainted, keeping her from falling down onto the hard ground. He then sheathed his sword, lifted her up, and jumped off, looking for the nearest help, if there was any still.
Lupapa came to with a small grunt, and the sensation of water being splashed on her face, "Wha… What the… Dororo?"
"The wound you inflicted on yourself wasn't a bad one at all, Lupapa-dono. I think you fainted from the exhaustion more than anything," Dororo explained as he wrung out a small cloth he'd been using in the stream he'd stopped at, and Lupapa grabbed hold of her aching head. "Drink some more water, please."
"Eh? Oh," she sat up, and sat there a moment, looking down into her reflection in the stream. Her helmet had been removed, as had Dororo's. "…I'm sorry for this betrayal. He threatened to hurt my family. He's threatening each of us. We're your comrades, we just have to make it look otherwise for them."
"Which is why you did that to yourself, you wanted to give a good cover for vanishing. Well, it's good to know a group as powerful as you, Mahihi-dono, Chunini-dono, and Fujuju-dono are in our corner!" Dororo added, and Lupapa's eyes went wide, and she attempted to bolt upright.
"Fujuju! He's still out there, he—" she fell back to the ground though, Dororo easing her down onto the ground. She gave another groan and held her head. "He can't be stopped once he's started."
"What's that?"
"There's another side to Fujuju, one he can't control. If one of your younger members or that one who acts like a child runs into him, they're done for."
"We'll find him, then," Dororo nodded, and took up his sword.
"I'm going with you," she muttered, and wobbled as she stood. "You're a comrade at arms and a friend before an assassin… I've got to help you."
"Lupapa-dono, you're too weak to right now," Dororo answered warningly, holding out a hand for her to stop.
"I'll be fine. I won't… Allow myself another failure…" she mumbled, but then began to fall again. Dororo grabbed hold of her hand, keeping her from falling.
"It would be more of a disservice to your team to put yourself in danger. And to your family."
"Dororo, I—"
There came a whistle, followed by a laugh, "Sorry, we didn't mean to interrupt anything! Are you sure that's appropriate for the battlefield, Lupa-chan?"
"Lay off of her, Chunini," Mahihi muttered as he, Chunini, and Giroro emerged from the brush. Kururu was there as well, but was still slung over Chunini's shoulder.
Lupapa's face reddened a bit, and she let go of her grip on Dororo's hand, "It took you all long enough!"
"Where's Fujuju at? Don't tell me he's still out there," Mahihi sighed despairingly.
"Is that a bad thing? Isn't he on our side as well?" Giroro asked, looking sideways to Mahihi. Mahihi's frown only deepened.
"Ugh! Heavy!" Chunini tossed Kururu off of her like he was a piece of luggage, and turned to Giroro. "Fujuju's not a bad guy, except for one teeny, tiny problem."
"He gets fire-drunk," Mahihi added gravely. "Loves explosions, flames. If he gets too much, he's unstoppable until…."
"Until…?" Giroro ventured.
"Well, we don't know," Chunini answered. "We never let him get that bad! We always limited how much fire he was allowed to use."
"He burnt down a whole city after a fireworks show and still wanted more," Mahihi added, scratching his head. "We better go stop him, Chunini."
"Right! Lupa-chan, look after my baggage, would you?" Chunini asked, pointing to Kururu.
"Don't you "Lupa-chan" me!" she snapped.
"I'm going to go look for my daughter," Giroro added, taking up one of his guns.
"Keep your eye open for Rokiki," Mahihi added. "He's capable of anything, at this point, and I don't hold anything against him. Remember, we're still enemies to him."
"Right," Giroro nodded, and then took off into the woods.
Chunini and Mahihi took off flying moments later, leaving Dororo and Lupapa alone once again.
"Rokiki doesn't like to lose," Lupapa said warningly to Dororo as he took up his sword once again. "He won't stop until he gets what he wants. And that Pekoponian looks like trouble."
"We're not a very functional bunch, but Keroro-dono's worked miracles before. We need to keep hopeful. That's the key to victory," Dororo said with a grin. "You and Kururu-dono stay here, in case Teicho-dono, Tamama-dono, or Kirere-chan show up."
"Right," Lupapa nodded, and watched as Dororo hopped up and then vanished.
"Kukuku! I hate that woman," Kururu laughed weakly as he now came too, and Lupapa sighed.
"Me, too," she mumbled.
"Eh?" Tamama stopped at the noise of some branches breaking, and called out, "Gunso-san! Kii-chi! Giroro-san!... Anybody?"
He had heard the sound of explosions before, but they had stopped a while back. Tamama continued to walk cautiously through the forest, coming to a halt as he smelt something; it was like… Gunpowder. A familiar smell, from working with Giroro.
Tamama turned around, and was taken aback at the stark white mask staring back at him. The eyes were like black goggles, and the small figure, only a bit taller than him, also wore a black cloak tied with a red ribbon, black gloves, and heavy black boots. There was a flat, brimmed black hat atop his head, and a black cloth veil coming down from the sides of it. There was a gray ball in his hand, something Tamama recognized in a split-second as a bomb.
"Ga—Gyaaa!" Tamama took off running from the explosion as the little creature threw the bomb right at him. The black tadpole barely missed, and from beneath the laugh there came laughing.
"Fuuuuujujujuju! These are the kinds of games I like! Don't you like games?" the voice cackled out, and from beneath the cloak there came another bomb, which he threw right at the tree Tamama hid behind. "I like games! All kinds of games! Chess, checkers… All sorts!"
"This guy's worse than an angry Momochi!" Tamama croaked out in terror. Then, something snapped in him, and he glared at the sound of his inner voice berating him. 'You're scared of this!? You go against Natchi everyday! And your affections for Gunso-san are tested daily by that woman! This one's nothing compared to what you've gone up against!'
Tamama nodded, agreeing with the voice in his head. At this same time, Chunini and Mahihi stopped right above them, seeing the black-costumed Keronian beneath them.
"Found him!" Mahihi called out. "What... What's that kid doing?!"
Tamama stood there a moment, staring down his attacker. There came another laugh, and then Tamama focused, building a jealousy ball. He threw the good-sized ball, and it impacted with the bomb that had been thrown at him. Mahihi used his surfboard to guard him from the explosion, and Chunini was flown back a bit.
Tamama stood the victor, smiling victoriously over the other Keronian.
"Eh?" it started to stir, and he sat up and pulled off the mask, revealing himself to be Fujuju. "Where did I go? Tamama-chan?"
"EH?! Fujuju-san?!" Tamama took a step back. "Y-You were the one who—"
"Thank you for stopping me," Fujuju stood, holding his mask under one arm. "I got a little carried away, again, it looks like…"
"Fujuju-kun! Are you nice and not crazy now?!" Chunini called up cautiously.
"…Chunini, we've gotta move out. I hear our backup at the gates! Better let our reinforcements in!" Mahihi nodded over to the right, and Chunini floated up a bit more, and went to follow him. "You guys join up with Lupapa!"
"Quite a bit of fireworks… Like a holiday, almost," Kezanstav smiled down at Romama, who looked back up at him with a cold, hard glare. "…You know, Rokiki's not bad, but… You were my original partner. Don't you remember how we went around the world together? Wouldn't you like that again? You could ever bring your girlfriend; I know right where she is. Down to the street address. It could be like old times."
Romama remained silent and glaring, and Kezanstav sighed, "I suppose not, then. Well, no matter. There's always Rokiki, and that little pink Keronian child. At least she can take a joke."
He turned back to the balcony, and Romama continued to wriggle, giving a grunt of frustration moments later as he saw he wasn't moving.
Kirere and Keroro stopped long enough to catch their breath, the little girl collapsing on her rear on the forest floor and Keroro leaning against a tree while holding onto on of his sides.
"Through this I'm quickly learning that I haven't been spending nearly enough time in my physical training," Keroro huffed. "Kire-chan, are you all right?"
"I feel like my legs are going to snap off!" Kirere answered in a moan. "Why can't we get bad guys who don't run so fast, Ojiisama!?"
"I wish I knew that," Keroro sat down in front of Kirere and gave a sigh. "What I wouldn't give to be back building Gunpla, but… Family is family."
"Do you think my family's okay?" Kirere asked, her face now giving way to a worried expression.
"Hrm? Giroro and Kururu? Gero gero gero! Most certainly! Why, I'd bet my rarest Gunpla figure on it! One Pekoponian and one rouge Keronian are no match for us! Eh, Kirere-chan? You've suddenly lost most of your already pale coloring!"
Kirere said nothing, only gulped and scooted back a little bit more. Keroro went cold as he felt a presence behind him, one even stronger than that of Giroro or Natsumi their angriest. He slowly turned around, shaking, and Rokiki smiled back down at him in return.
"Easier than I thought," he laughed, and lifted up Keroro by the top of the head. Keroro's eyes met with Rokiki's, and neither said nothing for a moment, until Rokiki was briefly caught offguard by Kirere's pounding him with her fists. He lifted her up by the head with the other hand and laughed.
"And it just gets easier," Rokiki laughed while Kirere still struggled in his grasp. "Time to get back, I suppose…"
He started to walk back, but he was stopped as something floated down in front of him quickly, blocking his path back to Kezanstav's mansion. He first looked up at the metallic white legs, then continued to look up and up, until he reached the angry, stone-serious face of the girl in the white and blue power suit.
"Hey, put those down, those are my stupid frogs!" Natsumi said gravely.
"Natsumi-dono! Bravo! You've been working on your entrances!" Keroro clapped his hands together and grinned in approval.
"H-how did you get in?!" Rokiki asked in confusion, but after a moment regained himself and smiled. "…No matter, you can have this one. I'm just interested in this one."
He threw Keroro at Natsumi, and then took off, Kirere in his grasp, and rushing through the woods like a wild animal.
"Ojiisama! HELP!"
"Ki—Kirere-chan!"
"Just, you're all too much trouble," Natsumi lifted up Keroro and then floated up, her laser sword in one hand and the Keronian in the other. She then took off in pursuit of Rokiki, Keroro clutching onto her tightly all the while, and following Kirere's screaming.