Episode 1

Hot Pursuit

Sigma's Note: Hmm. Black Dogs and Big Guns works out to BDBG. Go figure. Oh, and Naoto, Haruko and all the other characters from FLCL are property of Gainax and whoever else owns them. And as usual, all the plentiful original characters in this Fanfic are property of ME. Though feel free to use them if you feel so inclined. I'd be flattered.

My one complaint about FLCL is how Noata never really learned to depend on himself. Right up to the very end, he still clung to Haruko with all his strength. However, that does open up some rather unique possibilities for me. On with the show!

Somewhere deep in space....

"Commander! We have her on sensors!"
"Where is she?!"
"Heading for the NO gate. Is that a Vespa?"
"Can you take her down without damaging the station?"
"Not at that speed. That's one fast Vespa. We'll be lucky to hit her at all!"
"She's trying to open the gate!"
"You mean she has a channel prepped?"
"That's impossible!"
"Commander, she'll reach the gate in twenty seconds."
"Damn! Black Dog units 3 through 19, enter full pursuit mode. Don't let that wench reach the gate!"

The sounds of bullets tearing through metal resonated through the giant space station as wave after wave of sparks flew up into the inky black sky. On the irregular surface of the spacial edifice, a single yellow Vespa blasted across the metal horizon like a freaking bullet, throwing up shards on metal and black smoke behind it as it left a trail of burnt rubber 100 feet long. Behind the lone scooter was a daunting fleet of hundreds of small star fighters armed to the teeth and more than prepared to eliminate the Vespa and its rider the moment even one of them got a shot off. Not that that was very likely. The rider was far too skilled and/or insane to actually be hit.

Weaving her way through an invisible slalom course, she managed to stay just slightly ahead of the tsunami of bullets and laser and missals that dogged her hungrily. Due to the force field around the space station, there was a breathable atmosphere on its surface, hence the audibility of the bullets and the Vespa woman's lack of breathing aparati in what would normally be a cold and very deadly vacuum that would suck her eyeballs out of their respective sockets in an instant and cause her internal organs to explode like so many water balloons.

But, of course, there was an atmosphere, so all that is moot.

In the distance, looming larger and larger on gray and black horizon, there appeared a single, massive metal ring that stood alone on the otherwise featureless arm of the jack shaped space station. The driver of the insane Vespa grinned a wide, knowing and, some would say, evil grin as she raised a small, guitar shaped device in the air. There was a sole red button on it that blinked green. She continued to ride towards the ring, seemingly ignorant of the wave of fiery metallic death that followed her.

"Commander! What's that in her hand?!"
"It looks like...... A DETONATOR?!?"
"Are you saying that woman planted a bomb on the space station?"
"Oh sh-" As if on cue, she tapped the button and it turned from a soothing green to a very much alarming red. Seconds later, a tremendous fiery explosion blew a huge chuck out of the space station, separating one of its four arms from the rest of it. The blasts began to cascade around the spherical center of the station, almost like a popcorn kernel being popped.

"Black Dog units 1through 21, full retreat. Get yourselves out of the blast area. Units 22 and 23, stay with me. We're going to stop her if it's the last thing we ever do!" The majority of the fighters pulled back away from the doomed space station, leaving only 19 remaining, including the crimson hulled ship of the commander. Their engine ports spewed white hot flame as all 19 of the ships threw the throttle to maximum in a desperate attempt to try and stop the fugitive from reaching the NO gate and freedom. Their relentless hail of gunfire picked up as they neared their target.

"We got her sir!" one of the pilots cheered somewhat prematurely. And incorrectly, as it turns out. While the Vespa continued valiantly towards the distant NO gate, the drive actually turned around and whipped a blue bass guitar from her back. With the guitar's heat facing forwards, she pulled a hidden trigger on the body. The result was somewhat unexpected.

"What the hell is she doing?" another pilot yelled. As soon as she pulled the trigger, a shot gun blast burst from the head of the guitar, where two barrels where now quite distinct. The shot hit one of the fighters and caused it to fall back and crashing into three more. She fired again and again, with reckless disregard for where her unguided Vespa may be taking her. Luckily, it kept its heading. She opened fire again and score a direct hit the fuel line of another fighter. It exploded, taking down five more in the ensuing fireball. With their numbers cut in half, things were not looking good for the Black Dogs.

Just then, a bullet connected with the tail end of the Vespa. It immediately went flying into the air along with its driver, who managed to land on her feet with guitar in hand. The fighters soared overhead from their own momentum, but quickly turned around, which ended up being a crucial mistake.

"Full Auto!" the woman screamed gleefully as she began to wail away at the ships from the ground, covering their armored plated hulls with bullet holes. Before any off them could manage to squeeze of a single shot, they found themselves plummeting to the metal surface of the terminally wounded space station, trailing smoke and flames on their way down. In seconds, all that remained was the single lead ship with its blazing crimson hull.

"Sanity be damned! All ships, regroup! We're taking her down even if it means that we go down with her! That's an order!" the commander shouted into the communicator. The retreating Black Dogs stopped in mid flight and pulled a quick 180, returning to the flaming hulk of the space station.

The woman with the guitar suddenly began to worry. She desperately pulled the trigger again and again, only to hear the clicking sound of an empty magazine. Out of ammo.

She put two fingers in her mouth and whistled shrilly. The damaged Vespa, acting seemingly on its own volition, hopped up from its resting place. It pumped thick black smoke from where the bullet had punctured it, but it blasted off at full speed towards its pink haired master. She lept into the air and landed on top of it, and shot towards the NO gate. The wave of explosions where growing nearer and nearer to it, and she knew that if she didn't hurry, it too would be engulfed and she would be trapped on the doomed space station with a hundred angry Black Dogs staring her down, prepared to reduce her to mince meat in a the blink of an eye. She spun her guitar around and gripped it by the fret board. Standing on the moving Vespa, she pulled a rip cord and the turbine in the center of the guitar kicked into action, as though it was gas powered. She swung the guitar towards the ring and pulled a trigger on the head. A small ball of red energy shot from the bottom of the guitar and hit the center of the ring.

Where there should have been empty space, the ball stuck what appeared to be a wall of electricity. The bolts crackled around it exploded outward, creating a swirling red vortex in the ring. An NO gate.

"She's opened the gate!"
"KILL HER!"

They opened fire again as the woman and her Vespa hopped of the ground and were sucked directly into the channel like so much toilet water going down a drain. The second she was through, the explosions reached the ring, shattering it into a million shards of metal. -----------------

Most people think that Japan is nothing but Anime, Swords and Video Games mixed in with some heart faced pop stars to even out the mix. Those people never see the normal side of Japan, which is just like every other place in the world. But its the Anime, Swords and Video Games that get the most attention so nobody knows just how dull Japan can really be.

Next Episode: Painful Malaise!