"Sugoi Keiko! You managed to get another butterfly!" Kawa shouted happily.
      "Shh...You'll scare it away." Keiko and Kawa both studied the butterfly. The two were out on another one of their bug hunts. They had heard rumors of strange lights
around the area recently and were wondering if they were glow bugs by any chance.

      Arett had gone into his mushi form and was exploring the grass. He thought he heard voices coming from up ahead. 'Maybe some more from the landing team.' he
thought as he crept up on the area. He was having a hard time seeing over the grass, but the voices seemed very loud and were higher up in the air than Arett expected. He
skittered closer to the voices and tried to make out some forms looming over him.

      The butterfly flittered away finally.
      "Ah, well it was pretty." Keiko finally said.
      "Yeah...Oh cool I found a roach!" Kawa roughly picked up the creature and held it aloft. Keiko snorted. Kawa feeling mischievous advanced on Keiko.
      "Don't even think about it!" Keiko smacked Kawa's hand and the roach fell into the dirt and skittered away.
      "Aw man, I'll go find another." Kawa left. Keiko saw the roach skittering away and picked it gently up.
"There, there little roachi..."

      Arett couldn't believe what he was seeing. He was roughed up and dropped and now was being held by giants. He tried to blink but couldn't in his mushi form. He was also paralyzed with fear. Arett finally took a few steps back and gazed up at Keiko. His head spun and he started feeling sick. Arett was scared, and he didn't know how long he could keep his mushi form. Keiko looked Arett over.
      "You know your lucky I'm into bugs, else I would have just squished you." Keiko giggled. Arett didn't find it funny at all.

      Iliem was following the group as they explored more of the area. Suddenly Iliem stopped as he got a psiji pang.
      "Oi! Daijobu ka Iliem?" Wheito asked.
      "Something is wrong!" Iliem shot back.
      "Nande?" Taku asked.
      "It's Arett...he is in trouble." Iliem told the group.
      "Then let's go!" Wheito shouted and started forward.
      "Wait!" Taku firmly put a hand on his shoulder. "Think before you act Wheito! We need a plan and depending on the circumstance we should go in mushi form and blend in. This is a very strange planet." Taku stepped up as leader.
      "I can't get a clear picture...but Arett is VERY fearful."

      Arett was deathly afraid now, he could barely hang onto being a roach. He wondered what would happen if he lost it as he was familiar with giants terrorizing Gennsu
in the latest horror movies and TV series'. Keiko leaned over him again.
      "You're an awfully big roach." Keiko observed. Just then a flash of light hit her hand causing her to drop Arett. He fell and landed reverting to his senshi form. Getting to his feet he could see Keiko grab her wounded hand.
      "What was that?" She looked in the direction of the bolt and saw a mantis standing close by on some grass. A butterfly danced in the sky around the mantis. "A mantis? But how?" Keiko wondered. Taku meanwhile rushed up to Arett and transformed.
      "Get out of here! I'll handle this!" He pointed to Keiko for a few short seconds then went back into his mushi form. Arett did the same.
      "There you are roachi!" Keiko exclaimed after recovering from the shock and ignoring the other bugs. She then went for Arett. Arett jumped and rolled out of the way.
      "Not very roach-like "
      Taku was off to the side of Keiko and was concentrating. He thought the words 'FIRE NEGAN CHARGE!!' a ball of liquid fire formed in from of his horn and blasted
forward hitting Keiko's arm. Keiko stood up and being off,balance fell to her butt.
"Kawa! Kawa!" Keiko yelled. Kawa, who was off some distance, came rushing over to see what had happened. Iliem then looped over and went for Kawa. He dove toward Kawa's face, changed into senshi for a brief second and changed back. In that time he had drawn his sword and cut Kawa's face. He grabbed the cut and faced Iliem with a look of shock on his face. Keiko meanwhile had lashed out at Taku with her foot and knocked him a few feet. His armor took the impact of the kick. Keiko then stood up after the attack.
      Eiji was concentrating on another attack. 'Magne Static...CRASH!!' electricity arced in and then launched out as a bolt. Eiji then leaped from his position. Arett in that time was trying to scurry off.
      Kawa had grabbed a stick from the ground and was assaulting Iliem who was dodging every blow.
      "What the hell is going on here!!" Kawa exclaimed. "The bugs are attacking us! What did we do?"
      "Maybe it's like that one book, about how Mother Nature is revolting against humans and such." Seeing another bug scurrying into the area, Keiko kicked at Wheito
and missed. Taku was on his feet and seeing the attack on Wheito was preparing another Negan Charge. "Kawa let's stop fighting! Maybe they'll leave."
      "LEAVE! These bugs are fierce, some of them shouldn't be here, like that pondskater." He pointed at Wheito. Looking at Wheito Keiko lunged again at Wheito and
kicked him a few feet. After hitting the ground and rolling into the grass he was in his senshi form.
      "Itetete...maybe this is a bad idea Arett!" Wheito shouted and went back into 'skater form' after the pain died down.
      "Keiko...You hear something? Like a small voice..." Keiko stopped her assault on Taku and listened. Taku angrily looked in Wheito's direction.
      "I think I did...sounded like...Arett or something."
Arett perked up his antennae at hearing his name. With that Keiko finally spotted Arett and picked him up.
      "Excellent Keiko! Now pull off its legs and it won't go anywhere." Kawa shouted. Taku felt a pang of fear wash over him, as did all the other mushi senshi. They all focused on Keiko. Arett was horrified at the suggestion and began to struggle greatly.
      "That's cruel!" Keiko shouted and squeezed Arett to keep him from struggling. Pain shot through his body and he lost his entire grip on his mushi form.
      "Ite!! Ite!!" Arett shouted as he felt his ribs almost about to crack. Keiko looked at her hand and was shocked. She felt herself almost about to pass out and sat down staring at what was in her hand.
      "Nandaiyo!" She released her grip and let Arett rest in her hand. Kawa looked over at her.
      "She has Arett!" Iliem shouted after landing and breaking his mushi form. He then rushed over to Taku.
      "It's...a...a...little guy...with...antennae." Keiko exclaimed and stared at Arett. She felt a strange sensation rushing through her body. This was...not a normal occurrence. First he was a roach and now he was a ...person? Kawa looked over at her hand.
"S...S...Sugoi!" He spun around and went to his knees to stare at Arett as well. He too was feeling strange. This was a discovery! Would he,keep Arett as a pet, a helper, sell him...his mind rushed with ideas. Taku tooka aim at Kawa's shoulder and released his Charge again. Feeling the searing pain Kawa let out a scream. It caused Arett to stir. He opened his eyes and looked at Kawa screaming in pain. He wondered what had happened to cause the giant so much pain. Keiko was looking at Kawa as well. After the fire and pain was at a tolerable level, Kawa spun around and went after Taku.
      "Wait please..." Arett choked out past his fear. He had just directed the angry intentions of this giant at himself, which made him all the more skittish. Kawa spun to look at Arett, who had his hand out begging. Keiko was already focused on the little man in her hand. "Please let us go. We...we'llleave peacefully." Arett fell back onto Keiko's hand. Keiko was speechless. Kawa went back into his kneeling position.
      "What do you mean peace! You attacked us first!" Kawa shouted at Arett, who felt his hot angry breath wash over himself. Keiko meanwhile tried to calm Kawa down.
      "Maybe they'll tell us Kawa, just...relax!" Kawa relaxed somewhat. "Who...What...are you?" Kawa asked puzzling finally. Arett took a few deep breaths and laid onto his back to gaze at the blue sky. He knew he wouldn't see this sky anymore, he was theirs now. He only wondered what would happen to his friends.
      "Oi!! Kid!!!" Wheito shouted from the edge of the grass. Kawa looked at him. "You attacked us first dimrod! Now let Arett go or you'll get more of the same, Ne!!!" Arett laughed to himself a bit. His friends were trying to save him from the giants and now he was captured. He decided to give some information up. The laugh attracted Kawa's attention back to Keiko's hand.
      "I am..and my friends are from Gennsu. A planet in another solar system." Arett became quiet. The pain in his body was dying away.
      "Well duh!" Kawa said as a matter of fact. He then tried to prod more information from him.       "So...what are you doing here?"
      "We left our planet because we are in a war with the Tori Senshi. They are attacking our homes and our people." Arett let the bad memories flood into his mind. remembering the pain of Gennsu made him forget where he was.
      "Tori Senshi?" Keiko asked not sure of herself.
      "Yes! The bird warriors. Ah...they are like us only...tori." Arett didn't know exactly what to say to her. He decided to continue. "Our losses are great, so my people...all of them chose to seek out another planet capable of sustaining life. We are to live there and establish a colony till are number are greater and claim Gennsu back for us!" Arett sighed and sat up. "I am a failure." Arett closed his eyes. Keiko looked at Kawa and tried to process the information.
      "Wait a damn minute here! So, you came here and you going to set up a colony! I don't mean to state the bleeding obvious but this planet is...already taken. Your not planning to get rid of us humans are you?" Kawa said getting miffed.
      "Well gini kinjin!! Get this boy a degree!" Wheito said very rude and angrily. "He figured out what WE just figured out now!!" Kawa gave Wheito a dirty look. Keiko changed the subject.
      "So...your bugs and..not bugs..." Keiko continued.
      "We are Mushijin. We can assume our mushi forms after about our tenth year of life. Here I can see...we are nothing more than pests to you."
      'Yes...specially that one over there!' Kawa thought to himself.
      "Well, to some people insects are pests. We on the otherhand were out collecting for our...collections." Keiko responded.
      "So, I'm part of your collection now." Arett smiled. "Well, I give up!" Arett resigned himself. Taku started forward, but Iliem stopped him. Keiko and Kawa looked at each other.
      "Well, your not exactly...bugs now. So, your..." Keiko stumbled over the response. "We...won't now. Your like...not bugs now. Well your aren't and...uhm..so...you were born in this form, not hatched from roach eggs?" Kawa asked. Arett laughed and readjusted his sitting position.
      "We, I am assuming, ah...are the same as your species is in reproduction." Arett blushed. He was still young and didn't quite understand that part of life much himself.
      "I get it!" Keiko smiled. Arett looked up at Keiko. She put him on the ground. Arett was suprised. Was he being released? Taku looked suprised while Iliem had his poker face on.
      "Your letting me go?"
      "Yes, your free...I won't, y'know, keep you as a pet or anything." Keiko tilted her head and smiled. Kawa too agreed with Keiko then added...
      "Yeah...besides Keiko hates roaches!" Kawa interjected. A new pang of fear went down Arett's spine. Keiko then proceeded to hit Kawa.
      "I do not! I picked him up after you..." Keiko didn't finish. She then looked at Arett who had backed up about a foot. "Anyways what was your name?"
      "I am Arett!" Arett responded with a slight smile.
      "Arett? That's a strange name?" Keiko said.
      "DUH!" Whieto and Kawa chimed in together. "They are from another planet..." Kawa finished.
      "Well, I must return to my friends..." Arett let his voice trail off. They both looked at him.
      "But we just met, I want to know more.." Keiko felt downhearted. This was the first time she met another alien race and, they had to leave so soon.
      "Yes...I see...well...maybe...we might meet again." Arett looked at the ground. He had mixed emotions. Were they going to hurt him or were they just curious. "I didn't get your names." Arett asked.
      "I am Keiko and this is Kawa."
      "Keiko and Kawa...really I must leave now. My friends must be getting...a bit anxious." Arett was scared that they might recapture him to study him. He also felt that his friends might attack as well, then they would be back at square one and have another war on their hands. One they couldn't think of winning.
      "Wait, just one more question then. Can you introduce your friends?" Keiko interjected. Arett laughed a little.
      "Right! I'm being rude aren't I? The butterfly is Iliem, our master of the sword. He doesn't speak much, but..." They all looked at Iliem who gave Keiko and Kawa a deadly look. "The pondskater is Wheito." Wheito smiled and gave a V sign. "This is Taku." Arett gestured to the Scarab Rhino that had skittered up next to him. "He's a master of hand to hand and fire." Taku wasn't one for pleasantries at the moment. "Eiji is the mantis, he helps with technical stuff. I bet you can guess I'm a roach so I won't insult you." Taku took a few steps forward.
      "Sugoi! Thanks um...I guess..Taku wants us to leave." Keiko smiled at Arett.
      "He's like that." Taku looked up and over at Arett. Kawa then stood up setting Arett back a few paces. He was still pretty fearful of being stepped on, though he felt that these people wouldn't harm him and his friends anymore.
      "Sorry..." Kawa said.
      "Well, it was nice meeting you. We'll go our own path now." Keiko stood up and backed away from the group. She did this to set them more at ease. She and Kawa had already felt their power. Arett gave a salute then went mushi form and skittered off with his crew.

      "Kawa...you certainly weren't hallucinating right? You saw those bugs and that little guy right?" Kawa nodded. "Well, we better be careful what bugs we want to squash, else we maybe hurting Arett's people."
      "I don't know Keiko, they're bugs...they attacked us as well...I don't trust them, but I guess I'll watch where I'm going." Kawa still couldn't quite digest what was going on. It felt like he had just woken up from a dream, but had the burn marks to prove it.

      "Arett! What in the name of Makuu were you thinking!!" Taku had Arett by his shoulders and was yelling at him.
      "I couldn't help it...I was being crushed! I couldn't hold my mushi form...and then I--" Arett stammered.
      "That's K'sun! You should have attacked the first sight of them!" Taku gripped Arett's shoulder's. He almost lost his life partner to the locals. It wasn't something he wanted, to wanted to happen again.
      "Taku! We need friends here, No I don't trust them. But they seem that they aren't going to hurt us. Besides! You're the one who told me that friends are indispensable!!" Arett shot back. Taku let go and turned away.
      "Oi! C'mon Taku. They really didn't seem to know that were had a senshi form." Wheito added.
      "So they treat mushi that way! We are about mushi size here, what makes you think they are going to treat us differently than pests!" Taku was getting angry with Wheito now.
      "Taku, its not like you treated mushi too differently back on Gennsu. We are all guilty...save maybe Iliem, but he's strange, ne." Wheito crossed his arms. "They may provide us with food and shelter when we need it. All we give them is kindness and information about or land and culture, ne." Taku looked angrily at Wheito.
      "I don't trust them." Iliem stated and then went silent.
      "The way I see it. We should be on our guard around every human. Maybe we shouldn't trust them quite yet, but let's not be inhospitable as well, na." Eiji summed up his feeling.
      "Oi! The voice of reason has spoken." Wheito sighed and walked off. Arett smiled and agreed with Eiji. Taku smirked and nodded. Iliem just gave Eiji a dirty look.

      "Sir, we have confirmed a total of eight hundred small objects that have entered
and landed!" A lab tech shouted after getting his computer readings. Zeren Toshiyuki walked over to him.
      "So, it's just as I had suspected. We are being invaded!" Zeren looked dour and walked away.
      "Prepare a defense!" He added finally. If those alien bastards wanted Earth, they'd have to get through Professor Zeren Toshiyuki! Top of his class in science and former captain of the Strange Phenomenon Club!

Gini kinjin - Pondskater for when someone has stated something very obvious. Kind of like 'La Dee Da Da'. Indicates the person is who stated the obvious is stupid.

TOP