Party Favors

'I've had the weirdest things sticking out of my head. Besides just horns, I've had cat ears and a gun hammer. On another occasion, I've had a guitar pulled out of my head. The horns, they just kept getting weirder and weirder. And now that they're back again... I don't know what to expect, but this one has to be the weirdest...'

Naota sat, frowning at his reflection in the mirror before him. He placed his finger upon the object sticking from his forehead and forced it back into his noggin. Sighing he opened the drawer beside him, grabbing a large, square-shaped band-aid and two smaller ones two help re-enforce it.

Naota sighed, "As if this doesn't complicate things enough... I have to apologize to Eri."


Naota walked into the living room, where Mamimi sat petting Miyu-Miyu and watching TV, wearing nothing but her plaid skirt and white T-shirt. Naota tried to tiptoe by, but he was nowhere near stealthy enough to avoid the young photojournalist.

"And where might you be going, Naota-san?" Mamimi asked without turning her head from the TV.

"Umm... Eri's house. I have to... talk to her about something..." Naota stammered scratching his nose and averting his gaze as a slight blush spread over his face.

"Eri?" Mamimi tilted her head in thought.

"Ninamori Eri..." Naota specified reluctantly.

"Oh! The mayor's daughter... and your little girlfriend?" she turned smiling.

Naota was quick on the defense, "There's nothing between Eri and I. We're just friends."

"Why do you call her 'Eri'?" the redhead asked simply, turning around on the couch and laying her head on her crossed arms.

Naota looked up for a moment, thinking about it. He didn't really know why...

Naota looked back to her, only to find Mamimi face barely an inch from his. Her eyes were locked on the band-aids on his forehead.

"It's fooly cooly again. Isn't it?" she asked, reaching for the band-aids.

Naota moved back out of her reach, attempting to avoid the subject, "No. It's just... uh. Yesterday, during the fight with that machine, I hit my head..."

Mamimi continued to move closer, "Ohhh... Poor little boy," she teased, "let Mamimi kiss it and make it all better..."

Naota continued to move back, falling over the arm of the love seat, Mamimi climbing on top of him, straddling his hips. Naota's face turned deep red as he looked downwards to keep his eyes from meeting her's. Mamimi pulled the band-aids from his head and revealed what he had tried to hide from her.

Upon Naota's forehead, sat a curled up, fleshy cylinder. If you were to take a strip of paper and roll it down itself, you had Naota's new horn. Comparable to a fruit-by-the-foot or a fruit flip for you who buy the generic brand.

Mamimi grinned, "See? I know when you're keeping secrets from me, Naota-san."

She began poking and prodding the curled up chunk of flesh. To her surprise it slowly unraveled as she did so.

"This one is almost as fun as your kitty ears! There almost like those things you blow at parties," the young women exclaimed, the horn proceeding to unravel under her touch.

"Aghh... Mamimi, stop I have to go see Eri," Naota whimpered as he found the handling of his horn hypnotizing... almost pleasing.

"What was that, Naota-san?" she asked nonchalantly, the horn having almost completely uncoiled.

"Careful, it might spit on you..." Haruko said, standing over the two. Wearing her trademark red hoody and black pants.

"Oh, hey, Haru-san..." Mamimi greeted, climbing off of Naota.

Naota sat up, forcing the horn back in and placing the band-aids back over it.

Haruko looked down at him with a smirk, "Just like old times. Huh, Ta-kun?"

Naota's eyebrows narrowed, "Why is this happening again?"

Haruko scoffed, taking a seat on the couch, "Why you asking me? Why would I know?"

Naota's expression angered, "You decided to come back at a very... convenient time..."

"Justa' co-winki-dink, I guess..." the salmon haired girl yawned making herself comfortable.

"Sure..." Naota replied, seemingly, unconvinced.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Haruko bantered, waving her hand negligently.

"Eri!" Naota exclaimed taking off for the door.

Mamimi stood, staring at the alien women, 'Why is she back?'



A large, yellow crane lifted the clawed arm from the crater that had been made after the explosion of the MM robot that was once named: Scalpel's Edge.

Amarao stood in front of the impression, scratching his chin.

"See, Kitsurubami? Just like last time. Medical Mechanica sends its toys out for Raharu and co. to play with, then leaves them lying about after they're broken. Leaving us with the cleanup," Amarao scoffed, turning to his lieutenant.

Kitsurubami just sighed, her feet dangling in the crater, continuing to look over the radiation readings the remains gave off on her laptop. She still looked the same as three years ago, minus the fact she'd grown a little.

"I wonder why they even brought us back?" he thought to himself.

"Probably just to make that government think that the events unfolding here in Mabase were being looked into. Covering Medical Mechanica's true objectives..." Kitsurubami deduced.

Amarao sat, slightly surprised by her insightful response, "Umm... Most likely."

The blonde haired lieutenant turned her eyes towards the commander, her eye twitching, 'He's still wearing those damn eyebrows.'



Naota leaned against Eri's bedroom door, doing his best to apologize through it, "Eri, please, I said I was sorry..." Naota groaned.

He'd been standing outside her door for more than a half-hour now, still she refused to see him, nor speak to him.

"Eri-chan, please, I'll do anything to make it up to you."

Naota almost never called her Eri-chan. Only on very special occasions. It was his secret weapon of sorts.

Ninamori suddenly opened the door, "Anything?" she emphasized.

Naota sighed with relief, "Yes, anything."

"There's a party at one of Masashi's friend's house tonight, I want you to go with me," Ninamori demanded, sticking her face in Naota's.

"Of course," Naota replied, raising his hands to defend himself.

Ninamori smiled, suddenly noticing the band-aids over Naota's forehead, "What happened here?" she asked speciously.

"Umm..." Naota thought for a moment, maybe it wasn't best for him to mention the robot that had popped out of his head the day before, "I tripped yesterday, on my way to the theater."

"And that's why you didn't show up?" she assumed.

Naota bit his lip, "Ye-yeah..."

"In that case... I forgive you," the violet haired girl grinned.

"What time should I stop by?" Naota asked, being quick to change the subject.

"Oh, no you don't!" Ninamori asserted, "This time you spend the day with me!"

Naota obliged.


Back within the deep darkness of Medical Mechanica, the three monoliths stood once more.

"The boy has gained the will to fight..." 01 confirmed.

"That shouldn't be to much of a predicament..." 03 deduced.

"Yes, but if he learns to tap into the power within him, we would have a problem..." 02 thought.

"They've already destroyed one of our most powerful machines..." 03 pointed out.

"Another is on the way now..." 01 proclaimed.

"And if it fails?" 02 asked.

"Then we will consider Plan B..." 01 finished, ending their conference on an ominous note.


Mamimi sat along the bank of the river, letting her feet dangle in the water. Sitting in the same spot beside the bridge as she did three years ago, she prepared her camera for a shot of the water front.

Flash.

'Naota-san sure has changed,' Mamimi thought to herself, 'he's grown up a lot since I last saw him. I guess three years will do that to you. He's acting more boyish too. I guess he doesn't think I noticed him eying my legs at the Café Bleu, but I guess I'm no better than I used to be. Maybe I shouldn't have straddled him like that earlier. He's probably all ready made up his mind about me. I need to show him I'm not the same as before. Uh... Why do I even care what he thinks of me? Sure he's my friend, but so what if he thinks I'm too... sexual. I never thought about what he thought about me before...'

The red head's face suddenly turned red as her hair, "Wow... maybe I've matured too..."


Naota and Ninamori arrived at the party. It was your average teenage party: parents out of the house, blaring music, and "punch". Naota wasn't sure, but the song in the background sounded like D.A.R.E. by the Gorillaz. Ninamori pulled Naota into the family room, where the stereo was blasting and where most the people were dancing. The air was thick with the smell of alcohol, sweat, and sex.

The violet haired girl started to wave herself back and forth in front of Naota, "Come on. Aren't you gonna dance?"

"Umm... I don't dance..." he half-chuckled.

"Oh, come on, Naota. It's easy. Just do what comes naturally to you," Ninamori urged.

Naota relaxed, the sound of the music filling his thoughts. He slowly started to pick up the beat. Thing about dancing, once you start, it's hard to stop. Besides, have you ever really "danced" at a party or like homecoming? You can get by perfectly just by jumping up and down or moving back and forth.

Ninamori giggled, "See? Now you've got it."


"She isn't the brightest alien is she?" Amarao asked his lieutenant, sitting at the driver's seat in his van, that was parked just across the street from the Nandaba household. The mid-day sun hung over their heads.

"Or maybe... quite smart..." Kitsurubami remarked, rising an eyebrow.

"How's that?" the red haired commander asked.

"Well, think about it." Kitsurubami started, "She has the kid and the Medical Mechanica robot to protect her. Which I found out, the hard way, is bullet proof. And unless we can get a hold of some more complex weaponry, an attack on that household would be suicide."

Amarao looked back at the house, "Hmm... We'll just have to make a few calls then..." Amarao smirked.


Naota and Ninamori sat down at the couch exhausted. They had been dancing for about two hours and it was starting to get to them. A young blonde haired girl suddenly walked up to Ninamori and whispered something in her ear. Ninamori smiled questionably.

The girl turned to Naota, placing her hands over his, "Come on!"


Ding dong, the Nandaba house door bell rang. Haruko, Mamimi, and Canti sat at the couch in the living room watching anime reruns.

Haruko scratched her head as she sat on the couch watching, "I don't get it... What exactly are they?"

"They're Sailor Scouts," Mamimi answered while she read a magazine.

"What exactly is a 'Sailor Scout'?" the alien asked.

"I dunno, they're like Power Rangers with miniskirts."

Haruko scoffed, "This is dumb."

Door bell rang again.

"Sameji, answer the door. Will ya'?" Haruko asked (though it sounded more like a demand).

Mamimi sighed getting up and putting down her magazine, "Sure..."

Mamimi walked towards the door with the person on the other side still impatiently ringing the door bell.

"Hold your horses!" Mamimi yelled through her yawn as she stretched.

She opened the door, finding the barrel of a handgun pushed against her forehead.

Mamimi sighed, "Haru-san, it's for you."

The man behind the gun started to pull the trigger. A yellow shotgun blast suddenly hit him in the face. Mamimi turned around, finding Haruko at the end of the hall, her Gibson EB-0's tip smoking.

"Down!" she screamed.

Mamimi obeyed, dropping to the floor. Haruko shot again, hitting another man in black who was attempting to break in.

"Canti!" the salmon haired women called.

Canti came to Mamimi's side, grabbing her and taking her to safety. Haruko quickly found herself surrounded on both sides by men coming from the kitchen and living room. Each holding complex guns that were obviously not of this world. Amarao walked into the front door holding a large, lance-like cannon on his shoulder.

"Well, well, we meet again, Raharu," he said cooly putting his sunglasses on.

Haruko chuckled, "You again?! Wasn't your little department circumcised or something?"

"That's circumscribed!" Amarao blasted, losing his cool for a moment.

"Meh, potato patoto," Haruko shrugged beginning to manicure her nails.

The redheaded commander's eye twitched behind his shades, "Just as arrogant as ever, I can see..." he exclaimed with exasperation.

"Aren't a just a blast?" Haruko grinned winking.

The commander reached for a lever on his gun and gave it a pull, his shoulder mounted cannon giving off a few mechanical sounds as it locked and loaded.

Amarao smirked, "Ha-ha, Yeah. That's exactly how I'd describe it."

The men around her loaded her guns. The alien girl placed her index finger and thumb to her lips, whistling. Her Flying V flew to her hand as well (knocking out one of the gunmen on the way in).

A vain began to throb on the commander's forehead, "Fire! Fire! Fire!"


Naota and Ninamori sat down on the red floor carpeting in the back room of the house. Among them were a few other boys and girls all sitting around one another in a circle.

Naota leaned over to Ninamori, "Umm... What are we doing here?"

She smirked averting her glance towards the closed closet door, which suddenly opened. A brown haired boy stumbled out of the closet, followed by a grinning redheaded girl.

Naota noticed the purple marks on the side of the boy's neck, "Ohhh, boy..."


Haruko ducked under a shot from a man in black, compensating with a shotgun blast to the stomach of the gunman. The battle against the salmon haired alien vs. the suits had moved its way to the kitchen. The battle itself was fairly one-sided. Back and forth, room to room, gunshots flew, suits crashed through walls, and screams of agony filled the small household.

Haruko turned to Amarao, "You just don't get it, do ya'? It doesn't matter what guns or technology you have. You're never gonna best me!"

A bead of sweat ran down the commander's face, "I'm not out of men yet!"

"Only you would keep so many guys around!" Haruko smirked.

Amarao became outraged, "Why you little- Attack!"

More of Amarao's suits came bursting through the right wall of kitchen and from the window to her left as well. Haruko gripped her guitars, spinning in a full 360 degrees, bashing all of her attackers with a single sweep of her guitars.

The men fell lifelessly atop one another around the green eyed women. Haruko flipped her Flying V onto her back, aiming her EB-0 at the astounded commander.

"Oh, shit," Amarao choked.


Ninamori tightened her grip on Naota's hand, 'Seven Minutes of Heaven, Naota'," she said staring into his blue eyes with her eyes of lavender.

Naota could only gulp, his cheeks reddening.

Ninamori moved closer, "For seven minutes, I have you. With the freedom to do whatever I want with you."

Naota was ready to open in his mouth in protest, but the redheaded girl interrupted.

"Your turn, Ninamori.," she stated, "you and your boyfriend."

Naota opened his mouth, but Ninamori's hand quickly covered it.

"You said you'd do anything for me, right? Do this and we're even…" the violet haired girl whispered in his ear.

Naota frowned, "That doesn't sound very… responsible…"

"Oh, please, Naota." Ninamori sighed, "Since when did you care about responsibility?"

"Umm…"

"Are you not man enough to kiss a girl, Naota?" Eri asked nonchalantly.

He scowled.

"Fine! Let's do it then!" Naota asserted, pulling Ninamori to her feet.


Similar to their first gunfight, Haruko and Amarao found themselves staring the other down at opposing sides of an alleyway behind the Nandaba household.

Amarao rubbed his aching cheek, "Damn…"

"Yeah, guitars to the head usually hurt!" Haruko taunted.

Amarao loaded his cannon, "That's it! I've had enough out of your mouth!"

Amarao pulled the trigger, yellow particles gathering around the tip of the cannon.

Haruko cocked eyebrow, "A particle cannon, huh?"

The cannon fired a hefty yellow orb towards the alien women. Time seemed to slow as Haruko ducked under the blast, the orb exploding behind her. Amarao fired another blast, only to have it dodged as well. Amarao continued to fire a volley of particle blasts, only to have them dodged over and over by his potential target.

"Stay still!" Amarao screamed.

"Where's the fun in that!?" Haruko laughed, proceeding to dodge everything the commander threw at her.

Amarao gritted his teeth, "Go to he-"

Haruko suddenly appeared at his side, a devilish grin formed on her face and her two guitars fused into one, "Ladies first!"

Haruko slammed her guitar into the side of Amarao's head, sending him flying into the dumpster to his left, the lid promptly closing on top of him.

Canti walked out of the kitchen, dropping a pile of men in the dumpster as well.

"When will you learn?" Haruko smirked.


"Have fun you two, and keep it clean!" the red haired girl joked, closing the door to the closet.

Naota and Eri now found themselves sitting across from one another with nothing but the dim light seeping through the crack under the door to illuminate their surroundings. The closet was small, cramped, and full of winter coats and old shoe boxes. The only reason they were able to sit comfortably was because there was just enough space cleared for two people to sit across from one another and relatively close too. Naota sat with his heart racing and his hands clenched into tight fists of sweat.

Naota thought to himself, 'What the hell is wrong with me? It's not like I've never kissed a girl before... But, then again, this is Eri...'

"Close your eyes, Naota," the violet haired girl spoke softly into the boy's ear.

Naota obeyed shutting his eyes tightly. He could feel Ninamori's soft hands over his cheeks. Thoughts began to flow through his mind like a whirlwind. Most of them concluding... this is freakin' Eri! However, Naota's thoughts were interrupted as the young girl leaned in for the kill.


Haruko gave a sarcastic salute to the dump truck as it drove down the alley. Haruko's eye caught the sight of her shackle, its single link rattling violently.

Haruko's eyes widened, "Uh-oh…"


The Medical Mechanica plant's siren echoed through Mabase.

The force in Naota's head banged around in his cranium, jerking him back and away from Ninamori's lips. He clutched his head in pain as it continued to attempt an escape from the boy's skull. Naota screamed, the pain in his head becoming too much to bear.

"Naota, what's wrong!?" Ninamori asked worriedly.

"It's coming!" Naota struggled to reply, placing both his hands over his forehead.

"What?" she blinked with a confused look.

Naota stood up, opening the door and falling to his knees in the middle of the room. The band-aids fell away. The people in the room gasped, looking upon his horn, which had almost completely unrolled and was still doing so. Ninamori stood behind him, with mixed emotions of fear, confusion, and disgust. The horn completely unraveled, instantaneously transforming into a long, flat, tan hose and bursting through the walls of the house and into the street. Naota struggled to keep his balance, as another hose identical to the first came from his head as well. The hoses wrapped themselves around a streetlamp across the road, pulling the rest of its body out from the boy's skull. The force of the machine living his head pulled Naota from his feet.

"Naota!" the violent haired girl screamed.

Ninamori threw her arms around his waist, as if to pull him back to the floor, but even so, both Naota and Eri were thrown out onto the curb. The two now gazed upon the former resident of Naota's head.

Its torso was large and, somewhat, V-shaped. Its waist was a hefty, metal orb. From which, four, two sectioned, spider-like legs came. Each with a mid-sized orb at the bottom, used for mobility. It had no head, but a slight hump on the top of its body, with a red "eye." It didn't have what one would call arms, instead, the long, flat, tan hoses that were rolled up now, in the same way Naota's horn was. Behind each hose, a large red balloon, obviously to fill the hoses with air and unravel them. Those were it weapons, the hoses. They were almost identical to those party favors you'd blow into at parties.

Naota's eyebrows narrowed, "Party Favor…"

The balloon behind Party Favor's right hose began to shrink. Naota pushed Ninamori, sending them both opposite direction. In a mere blink of an eye, the robot's hose unfolded, slapping the ground with amazing force in the exact spot that the two stood moments before. Ninamori sat on the ground, too paralyzed with fear to move. Party Favor's glowing eye locked on the defenseless girl.

"Eri!" Naota screamed, throwing himself at Ninamori.

The hose unraveled, hitting the back of Naota's head with tremendous force, sending him flying into the brick wall of a nearby building.

A tear fell down the young girl's cheek, "Naota!"

The scream attracted the machine's attention. Party Favor turned, fixing its eye on Eri. The robot gyrated its right side in such a way to swing its unrolled hose under its shoulder and over. Its hose ready to come down on the defenseless Ninamori. Eri shut her eyes, death breathing down her neck. Party Favor's hose came down. The strum of a guitar rang in her ears. Ninamori reopened her eyes, awestruck by what she saw before her. Naota stood, his Rickenbacker materializing into his hands, holding back the machines hose.

Eri found herself overcome with emotions, the tears pouring from her sparkling, violet eyes now, "Naota… you saved me..."

The symbol appeared on Naota's temple once more. Even with the immense strength of the MM robot, Naota was holding it back with relative ease. Party Favor brought his second hose down on Naota's guitar but he easily blocked it too. Naota forced the hoses back into the air with a single swing. The boy turned to Eri with the symbol shining brightly on his head.

"You okay?" he asked simply.

Ninamori's cheeks turned deep red, "Naota…"

Naota flipped his Rickenbacker onto his back, picking up Eri in his arms. Party Favor regained his balance, re-inflating his balloons and rolling his hoses back up, before immediately inflating his right hose again. Naota jumped back, dodging the blow. The machine was quick to attack again and inflated his left hose. Once more, Naota dodged, gracefully flipping to the side. Party Favor fired his right again, starting to roll its way down the street, in hopes of hitting the swift guitarist. Naota dodged, Party Favor fired, Naota dodged. This continued until the two opposing forces came to the end of the street. Naota dodged once more, this time flipping onto the windowsill of the building behind him. Party Favor fired both of his whip-like hoses, Naota leaped onto the roof, placing Ninamori on her feet. Party Favor was quick to swing his hoses at Naota, whose back was turned. The hoses wrapped around him and pulled him from atop the building, flinging him back down the street.

"Naota!" Eri screamed.

Naota landed on the pavement, bouncing off the ground again and again before finally coming to a stop at the other end of the street.

Naota stammered to his feet, rubbing his aching head, "Ugh, as if hitting the pavement once doesn't hurt enough..."

Party Favor gave his opponent no time to recover, immediately rolling down the street on its spider-like limbs. Naota held his open palm straight in front of him, his eyes glowing red. A small red orb appeared in his hand, gradually growing larger in size. This didn't phase the charging MM robot, however. Naota grabbed his Rickenbacker with the orb, now around three feet in diameter, floating freely before of him. Naota pulled his guitar from his back, slamming the orb, sending it zooming down the street at a blinding speed. Party Favor extended its hose. The two made contact, the orb tearing through the flat hose as if it was paper, before passing the through the shoulder of the robot, leaving a clean, circle-shaped hole in its wake. The MM robot stopped in its tracks, falling completely silent. Naota ran at the silent machine with his Rickenbacker, held reverse handedly, at the ready. The guitarist leapt into the air high above him, throwing his guitar down at the robot. Naota landed on the roof in front of Eri, holding his hand to the sky. His Rickenbacker landed in his palm. The symbol disappeared from his forehead. The hellbent MM bot burst into a ball of fire and collapsed into the street.

Naota opened his eyes, the redness fading back to his natural blue, Eri threw her arms around him, her tears flowing freely, "Ohhh, Naota!"

Naota's face turned hot, "What?"

Eri stared into his eyes, before burying her blushing face in the boy's chest, "Oh… nothing…"

The machine's remains exploded, sending a shock wave that almost knocked the two off their feet. Ninamori almost lost her footing, but Naota quickly helped her steady herself. As she smiled at him, her blush still visible over her cheeks, Naota could only manage to smile awkwardly back.


Haruko sat down the street on her Vespa, looking up at the two hugging teens as the smoke cleared.

She sighed, "I guess I missed the party..."


Ride on Shooting Star

Orange no slide utusu sora

Sponge no pride burasagete

Spider

Iki touta sono yakan wa

kakusanaku tatte ii'n da

Iro no tsuita yume mitai na

Ride on shooting star

kokoro no koe de sandaijuu no you ni

utai tsutzuketa

Grunge no hamster otona bite

Revenge no logster hiki tsurete

Sniper

fuchi dotta sono sekai ni

nani ga mier'ute iiunda nerau mae ni

sawaritai na

Ride on shooting star

kimi wo sagashite kindan shojoujju

uso wo tsuita

Ride on shooting star

kokoro no koe de sandaijuu no you ni

utai tsutzuketa


Episode Trivia:

1.) Naota's new horn represents how easily teenaged boys become aroused.

2.) "It's almost like those things you blow at parties." This is a double entendre.

3.) Haruko and Mamimi's short conversation about "Sailor Scouts" stems from them watching Sailor Moon on TV. Haruko's confusion (and opinion) of the anime stems from my own. (Mamimi's comment about "Power Rangers in miniskirts is my own comparison as well.)

4.) Haruko mistakes Interstellar Immigration being "circumscribed" for being "circumcised". This shows like, how in the original Fooly Cooly, Haruko often mishears words and mistakes them for another. (i.e. "Death" for "Desk" and "Cooly Cooly" for "Cool-Aid")

5.) D.A.R.E. By The Gorillaz plays in the background of the party. The song seems to fit in well with the attitude of the fore-coming events. Also, the song is often thought to contain sexual references, which fit in well with the episode's theme.

6.) "Ninamori smirked, averting her gaze towards the closed closet door, which suddenly opened. A brown haired boy stumbled out of the closet, followed by a grinning long red haired German girl." This is a reference to the Shinji/Asuka pairing of Neon Genesis Evangelion, which I am a fan of. (His relationship with Rei is more platonic, like Aerosmith.)

7.) At certain points, Naota seems to act somewhat like Shinji does during NGE. I found the characters to be physically similar. (Though I found Shinji to be more of a pansy, while Naota was more of the type to lash out violently.)

8.) Ninamori's abnormal attitude during the party and willingness to part take in "Seven Minutes of Heaven" are due to her having a little too much of the punch. (Which, indeed, was spiked. That's right: she's sexual drunk.)

9.) The destruction of Party Favor is very similar to the destruction of Fire Starter. Ironically, both are in episode two of their respective series and an orb pierces on of their extremities and leaves a large, gaping hole in its wake and then they explode after impact by guitar. This wasn't intentional, just a coincidence.


Author's Note: Okay, Chapter 2 done. Well, maybe not completely. I might add something later, but I'm content with it at the moment. Not much to say here except, next stop: Chapter 3.