Unlikely Predators Chapter 1

       Hanana loved the corps. She really did. How could she not? They were fun and caring and were the family she'd never had. But, with every family, there were times when she needed some personal time.
When the noise and chaos of the manor became a little too much, she slipped out and went for a walk. Seeing as the manor was close to a convenient forest, she chose to wander among the trees. Being around plants calmed her down and gave her room to think about the new plants she could grow and how to use them and care for them.
In the forest, she was alone but never lonely. The dead leaves had turned soft underfoot, along with the pine needles, muffling the noise of her boots. The various small animals were the only living things making noise. If she listened closely, Hanana could hear her own heartbeat.
On one such walk, she found something that didn't belong. It was a silver pod, about the size of a sweet potato. The stark contrast of the silver against the greens and browns of the forest winked at her in the pale light of the overcast sky.
Hanana believed that one of her faults was curiosity. She picked the pod up. It felt smooth to the touch and cold. There weren't any lights or panels or countdown clocks. It occurred to Hanana that it might be a bomb, but seeing how it didn't have a lot of the things previously listed, it seemed unlikely.
She never meant to press the button. She meant to take it to Robobo and ask what it was. As she turned it over in her hands, her finger touched the little bump of the button and, without really thinking, she pressed it.
The pod began to grow warm and vibrate. She lifted an arm to throw it, but it had stuck itself to her hands. The warmth was turning to scalding heat. She cried out and tried to drop it, but it just wouldn't. The vibrations were starting to shake her. A rainbow bloomed in front of her, forming shapes that might have been flowers and might have been people.  She blacked out.
A moment later, she was woken up by a gentle poke to her cheek. Her eyelids fluttered open. A face was looking down at her. It was her own face, smiling brightly.
Hanana sat up quickly, then rubbed her eyes to get rid of the stars. The other Hanana had jerked back just in time to avoid Hanana's forehead.
"You shouldn't sit up so fast," she scolded. "It's bad for you."
Hanana was about to agree when she realized who was talking to her. She shrieked and scrambled back a little bit and bumped into someone else's legs.
"Where do you think you're running off to? There's no need to be afraid," the person who owned the legs said.
Hanana slowly looked up. Standing above her was another Hanana, except this one had purple hair that was tied off into a bunch of small ponytails that were tied at the ends.  The purple Hanana smiled at her.
Hanana looked back down at her knees and took a deep breath. "Who are you?" she asked, her voice quivering.
The Hanana who had woken her lifted Hanana's chin up so that they were looking at each other eye to eye. "I'm Hanasama," she said with a smile. "Nice to meet you."
"Hanasama? What are you…how did you…what's going on?"
The purple Hanana lifted the pod. "It's because you pressed the button on this thing. It split you into seven."
"Seven?" Hanana gasped. "There are more?"
Hanasama nodded gently, like she was dealing with a mental patient. She pointed a gloved finger. Hanana swallowed and turned around slowly.
Standing behind her were four other Hananas. Each one of them was staring at her. Hanana did nothing but stare back for a minute before she jumped to her feet. She dusted her skirt off and cleared her throat.
"Well," she said. "This is certainly a…surprise." She tried to smile, but she was sure it looked forced. Who could blame her? It wasn't every day that you came face to face with six other versions of you.
"We have to introduce you," Hanasama said, skipping in front of Hanana. She clapped her hands together and waved an arm at the others. "Say hello!"
Hanana raised a cautious hand and waved uneasily. "Urm, hello?"
"Come on, you guys! You have to say it back," Hanasama said. "It's rude. And don't think I can't see you back there Hanappe!"
Hanana backed away. Her back hit a tree. She leaned on it heavily. She needed to sit down for a minute.
Hanasama dragged one of the Hanas free from the small crowd of them. This one wore her hair down, her bangs covering her eyes, which were brimming with tears. She shrank deeper into her sweater when Hanana met eyes with her.
"Hanarin, there's no need to be scared. It's only the original."
Hanarin shook her head fiercely and let out a little sob. She was pulled so hard against Hanasama's arm that she would probably go falling over if Hanasama decided to let go. Hanasama sighed heavily and pried Hanarin's fingers off her arm.
"Hanarin, you've got to stop being afraid of everything," the purple Hanana said, holding her hand out to Hanana. "I'm Hanako. I'm the bravest one of the group obviously."
Hanana didn't take her hand. She was afraid that if she did it would turn out to be the real world and not a dream. She nodded politely, at a loss for words.
Another Hana was brave enough to step forward and take Hanana's hand in her own. Her hair was blue and she was wearing a different dress. There was a dreamy look in her eye, as if she was miles away.
"It's so amazing to meet the original," she said, her voice full of sincerity. "I'm Hanapon."
"Lovesick," Hanasama whispered in Hanana's ear. In a louder voice, she called out, "Hanappe! Don't be rude."
This Hana was very different looking from the rest. It appeared to be a boy with short hair. He was glaring with his arms folded. Hanana didn't like that look. It reminded her of when Yukiki or Giruru would get mad. If looks could kill, Hanana would be dead.
He uncrossed his arms and walked over to her. He wasn't much taller than her at all, despite having an aura that just dared anyone to get near. He leaned forward and squinted at Hanana. The small tattoo of a Venus flytrap on the back of his neck stretched out as well.
"This is the original?" he scoffed. "Not very impressive."
Hanana frowned. Not very impressive? What kind of first impression was that? She decided to let it roll of her shoulders. She wasn't going to pick a fight.
"So sad you think so," she said with a pleasant smile. She turned to Hanasama. "You said there were seven. Who's the seventh?"
Hanasama frowned and made a noise of disgust. "Well, there's Hanachi. But she's a little off. And she's a weed. You don't want anything to do with her."
A weed? Hanana looked past Hanappe's shoulder and found another version of herself with pale green hair.
Hanachi had very blank eyes and dressed rather simply. She was wearing a dark green cardigan and a dress that almost matched the color of her hair. What looked like a dandelion rested just in front of her bun.
"Hi," Hanana said, waving.
Hanachi looked up, but didn't say a word. Her head moved back to staring at the ground with a sleep like slowness. It was like she hadn't moved at all.
Thoroughly creeped out, Hanana moved away from the tree and held her hands up. "Now, can you girls and guy just wait here for a little while? I need to…take this to someone important." She snatched the pod from Hanako's hands and smiled nervously.
"Why can't we go with you?" Hanasama asked. "I mean, I understand why Hanappe, Hanachi and Hanarin would be bad to take along, but all of us?"
"Yes, all of you," Hanana confirmed, tucking the pod under her arm. Just think of what would happen if the corps knew about this. Giruru would be mad, Putata and Mekeke wouldn't stop asking questions and Yukiki…she didn't know how Yukiki would react.
She started back towards the house at a leisurely pace at first, but when the other Hanas were out of sight, she sprinted. She leapt over a fallen log at breakneck speed and ricocheted off a bush. She scraped a hand against some rough bark and nearly twisted her ankle, but she made it back to the manor in one piece and with no one tailing her.
She slipped inside quickly and locked the door behind her. She took a minute to catch her breath, leaning her forehead against the door, very aware of the "not a dream" realness of the situation.
"Hanana, what's going on? You look like you just got chased by a bear."
Hanana faced Yukiki, who was sitting on an armchair in the living room. One eyebrow was raised with curiosity, but behind the questioning expression lay the dark storm clouds of anger.
"You'll never believe what happened to me," she said with a laugh, hoping to assuage any assumptions he was making about her flight. "So I won't tell you. Where's Robobo?"
"Out," Yukiki answered promptly. He closed his book and made to stand up.
"Oh, don't get up," Hanana said quickly. If he was standing up that meant he was going to question her. "Sorry if I interrupted you."
"You didn't," Yukiki said, standing up to his full height. "And we're the only ones here."
"What?" Had she heard that correctly? "Where is everyone?"
"Nuii wanted to go to the park so she brought Gyororo along of course," Yukiki said, counting off the corps members on his fingers. "But they couldn't go alone so Mekeke and Putata volunteered to go with. Giruru didn't trust them to be out on their own so he went and wherever he goes, his brother follows." Four more fingers. "Kagege wanted to get out of the house as well and tagged along. And as for Robobo, I don't know where he is. So that just leaves me and you."
"Oh." Hanana hung her head. She'd been hoping to have this problem fixed quickly and not have anyone know about it but herself. That appeared to be shot now. "Do you think Robobo is still in the basement?"
"Why do you want to talk to him?" Yukiki's eyes flashed down to the pod under her arm. Hanana shifted it behind her back, but not in time. "You found something. What is that?"
"What's what, Yuki?"
"Hanana, if you're going to lie do it with a straight face."
Hanana sighed and showed him the pod. "I don't know what it is," she explained.
Yukiki squinted at it. "It doesn't look dangerous or anything. Where did you find it?"
Hanana shrugged. "Out in the woods. Now, I need to find Robobo. It's very important." She hugged the pod to her chest and looked up at Yukiki beseechingly.
With a sigh, Yukiki said, "He might still be down there. I hope that thing doesn't turn out to be dangerous."
It was dangerous, but probably not in the way Yukiki meant it. Hanana grabbed a flashlight and opened the basement door. It was instantly cooler as soon as she put her foot on the top step. It creaked.
On careful lookout for spider webs, Hanana trekked downstairs. There was a faint blue light coming from the computer screens down there. Shadowy worktables made odd shapes in the darkness. There appeared to be no sign of Robobo. That was, until a blanket moved.
Hanana swung her flashlight beam over it. The bundle writhed violently. "Don't you dare bring light in here! If that's you, Yukiki-!"
"It's Hanana."
"Oh, it is you," Robobo said, sitting up. His eyes glowed in the darkness. "What brought you down here?"
"This," Hanana explained, holding out the pod.
Robobo took it in his magnet hands and looked over it. Hanana held her breath as he turned it over, just in case he pushed the button by mistake. Robobo wasn't so careless however.
"I've seen this before," he said. "On one of my rare trips out of the basement, I attended a technology convention where that irritating tech guy from the Keroro platoon displayed some of his failed inventions. This was one. It's an instant heating strength enhancer. But unfortunately, it kept splitting people into seven representations of different facets of their personality. So I guess he threw it out. How did you get your hands on it?"
"I found it. Robobo, what could someone do if they were split into seven and wanted to put the other six back?"
Robobo stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Let's see now," he muttered. "You'd have to have them all together, then maybe press the button again. But that's only a theory."
"Good! We'll try it!" Hanana said, forgetting that this was a secret. She snatched the pod back and shouted a quick thank you over her shoulder as she climbed the stairs. She could fix this so easily.
Yukiki was back to reading when she emerged from the basement. She blinked in the sudden light and continued to the door. As soon as her hand was on the handle, Yukiki spoke.
"You're going out again? Did you find out what that thing was?"
"Yes," she said. "I'll be back soon. Don't worry," she added, noticing his expression. She flashed a peace sign. "Really."
Before Yukiki could say anything more, Hanana was out the door and headed back into the woods. She hoped the others would be alright with returning to the original. It wasn't like she could force them.
As she neared the clearing where she'd left them, she heard their voices. They were talking in hushed voices, but in the silence of the forest, Hanana could hear them.
Hanappe's voice, in a harsh whisper, said, "She's trying to get rid of us. We can't let that happen. So that means we get rid of her."
The pod slipped from Hanana's hands and hit the ground soundlessly.