I am finally back, everyone! The main reason I took a long time on this chapter is because my computer has a habit of turning itself off, and if I'm working on FLCL: Second when it happens, it doesn't save what I wrote. I went through draft after draft of this chapter, and I finally got it when I wrote this one. I hope you like it, because I spent a really long time on it!
I've said this before, and I'll say it again for the umpteenth time: Please give me ideas for later chapters! I'm not going to finish this story anytime soon from the looks of it, and I'm going to need all the help I can get, so please give me some ideas so I can fill in the blanks and get through it a little faster, so I can show you the things I have planned for the story in the near future.
Hope you like this chapter.
Naota's body may have slept soundly that night, but his mind ran the entire time he slept. The dreams he encountered were like nothing he could have ever imagined on his own.
The first dream he had felt like it wasn't in his perspective. Someone else's perspective? Perhaps. The room was dark and empty, except for a rectangular table in the middle of the room and three indiscernable figures standing on either sides of the table. One of the figures raised its hand over the table, and a light winked into existence and bathed the room in a cold blue. The light was coming from the table; There was what looked like a holographic projection of an unidentifiable environment cast over the table. Judging from the elevations of the projection, it was an area with a lot of hills.
The second figure turned towards the third one. It spoke something that couldn't be heard, then turned towards the first figure. "Have we determined where they are going to attack next?" The figure said, his voice low, as if he didn't want anyone to hear him. The first figure was silent for a moment. "They're going to attack everywhere next," it said, the voice obviously female. "We don't have any time left. Either we execute Protocol 17, or we stay and die fighting."
"Protocol 17?" The third figure asked, his voice serious. "The enemy isn't going to stop, What other choice do we have?" The second figure said. The two looked back to the first figure, who examined the holographic map without speaking. He flicked his wrist, the map zooming out to a view of an entire planet. A few inches off the planet, a few large red dots blinked into existence, followed by an uncountable number of smaller ones.
"They are already here..." The leader said in a low voice. Without raising his head, he spoke. "It's our only choice. Relay the standard XO-17 commands to all global and local authority forces. We're getting everyone out of here."
Suddenly, everything went black, and the scene changed once again. This time, Naota was in his own perspective, as far as he could tell. He was standing in the middle of what he thought was a road, and there were strange-looking buildings on either side of the road. They were black, and had dark windows Above him, the sky was dark, but had a slight orange tint. He could see the stars.
Naota was very surprised when he found that he had total control over his 'Dream Body'. He walked forward, looking at the strange buildings. They were all one or two stories high, with strange windows that looked like they were made of tinted glass. There was no light coming from any of the buildings, except for one at the end of the street. He walked to it, his curiosity getting the best of him. When he got to the building, he glanced into the window next to the door.
He saw four people, who looked as human as anyone else he knew, except for their hair and eye colors. There was a man with sage-colored eyes and light blue hair. A woman sat next to him, who had yellow eyes and light pink hair. She was holding a baby in her arms, who had the same features of its father. The mother looked like Haruko, only a few years older, probably somewhere in her late 20's or early 30's. The other being was a small child. She had the features of her mother. She looked no older than eight or nine.
(Music start: Solitude by Joe Satriani. I'll give you a little forewarning, you might be hearing a lot of Joe's music in the future.)
He didn't know why, but Naota instantly knew that the girl could be no-one other than Haruko. He could only assume that the baby was her sibling, and the adults were their parents. Visions of Haruko as a child? This was strange.
The two adults sat talking on a couch-like peice of furniture, while Haruko sat on the floor, playing with strange block-like objects with facets edged into them. The two parents watched her, smiling, the mother cradling her baby.
Suddenly, the dream shifted, and the four individuals faded out of existence. Naota was at the same place as before, looking into the house's window, but the inside fo the house looked different. The funiture had been moved to different places, and there were several new furniture peices there.
Someone walked into the room from a passageway Naota couldn't see. It was Haruko, but older than before. She looked slightly younger than Naota was now, around fourteen or fifteen. In her hands, she carried a very familiar object: Her light-blue Rickenbacker 3001. She carried the guitar like a newborn child, cradling it in her arms. She walked into the middle of the room. A few seconds later, the green-haired girl walked into the room from the same direction Haruko had. She had grown, she now looked five or six.
Haruko turned around and looked down at her little sister. She leaned her guitar against the wall next to her, then she got on her knees so she could get at eye-level with her tiny sibling. She smiled warmly, then embraced the smaller girl.
The scene changed again. He could hear dry grass shifting in a soft breeze below his feet, and he saw that he was standing at the top of a hill. He looked down and saw that he was holding Haruko's guitar in his hands. Tiny specks of light that reminded Naota of fireflies rose out of the ground and into the sky. He looked back up at the horizon, and almost dropped the guitar when he saw two planets just above the horizon, which was slightly covered by a taller hill. One planet was smaller than the other, and was almost floating right in front of the larger one. Suddenly, a loud alarm-like sound pierced the air, and everything faded into darkness.
(Music end)
Naota sat up, feeling like he just got an electrical shock. He was gasping for air and sweating, but he felt like he was freezing. He looked beside him and saw Haruko sitting up next to him, a concerned look in her golden yellow eyes.
"Naota, are you okay?" Haruko asked, resting her hand on his shoulder. Seeing Haruko and hearing her voice suddenly made Naota feel better. Naota leaned his head foreward and rested his head on Haruko's shoulder. "Y-Yeah..." Naota said, shivering, "I'm fine... Just a weird dream, thats all..."
Haruko pulled Naota close, holding his head to her shoulder with one hand. "Tell me about it." Haruko said.
Naota lifted his head up and recounted his dreams with Haruko, explaining every little detail. But once Naota started talking about seeing what he thought was her and her family, Haruko's concerned look turned into a confused, sad look.
"You were dreaming about my homeworld..." Haruko whispered. Naota suddenly felt very confused. How could he dream about Haruko's homeworld when he didn't even know what it was? He was well aware of Haruko's alien origins, but a dream about her homeworld and family?
"Your homeworld?" Naota asked. Haruko nodded. "You saw me and my family when I was young... Then you saw me when my sister gave me my Rickenbacker on my birthday..." she said quietly. She closed her eyes for a moment, as if to keep herself from crying.
"My sister... Reina..." Haruko whispered, then she hugged Naota close, burying her face in his shoulder. Naota never knew that Haruko had a sister. "Why didn't you ever tell me that you had a sister?" Naota asked. "I was always trying to forget about what happened to her..." Haruko replied. Naota snaked an arm behind Haruko, keeping her held close to him. "What happened?" Naota asked. Haruko was silent for a moment.
"Medical Mechanica's entire military fleet attacked our planet..." Haruko began, "And the leaders of our planet's military declared a full global state of emergency and initiated Protocol 17, which is a mass evacuation of the entire planet. While our family was being boarded onto a shuttle to a planet far out of our system, the shuttle port was attacked... Everyone was scattering, and we were trying to stay together."
"I was holding onto Reina to keep her from getting lost in the crowd. While we were boarding the shuttle, a Medical Mechanica soldier grabbed Reina by her wrist and pulled her right out of my arms..." Haruko stopped talking for a moment. "She was so small, she had no chance of defending herself, and the shuttle's doors closed before I could reach out and try to pull her back to me..."
"I can still remember hearing her screaming... Begging them to let her go... Crying for help, crying for me..." Haruko said, and she sniffled once. Naota kept Haruko held close to him. "Before I came to Earth for the first time, I tried to find her for years, but I had no luck... I don't know what they might have done with her..."
Haruko started crying at that moment. Naota didn't know what to say. Nobody should have to go through having their sibling just taken away from them. He tilted her head up so she was looking at him, then he wiped away Haruko's tears.
"I'm sure you'll find her. Even if you have to leave Earth again." Naota said. Haruko sniffled, and shook her head. "I can't leave you again, Naota... I broke your heart once before, and I won't do it again..." She said.
They sat like that for a while, Naota comforting Haruko as much as he could, until they heard a knock on their door. "Come in." Naota said, not looking away from Haruko. The door opened, and Ivan walked in. He had been awake all night, sitting on the balcony and watching for any signs of danger. He didn't look tired at all, considering he hadn't gotten a wink of sleep that night.
"Anything so far, Ivan?" Naota said, not looking at the man. "Not yet," Ivan said, "Medical Mechanica has been silent all day. They usually release that steam once or twice every day at a certain hour, but they didn't even do that."
Naota got up out of his bed and went over to the laptop sitting on his desk, opening it. He looked at the time. Twelve o' clock. He had been sleeping for longer than he thought. "Is everyone downstairs?" Naota asked.
"Your father went for an interview today, your grandfather is still asleep, and Mamimi went to the store to see if she could get some more memory for her camera, or something like that." Ivan said.
"And Canti?" Haruko questioned. Ivan shrugged. "I haven't seen the robot for a while."
Naota sat down in his desk's chair. We know they are going to do something, but when?
(At Medical Mechanica)
"Your suit is a very sleek, agile peice of work that combines safety, speed, and strength all into one." A short man in a white coat explained. Kakashi stood next to the scientsist. Kakashi, now standing at least seven feet tall, towered over the other short man. The two stood next to a tall black box.
I've been listening to this dwarf babble for hours, can't he just cut to the chase, Kakashi thought to himself. As if on cue, the scientist pulled a small rectangular box out of his coat, and pushed a small button on it. Suddenly, a small white line split down the middle of the tall box next to them. The new two halves of the box slowly slid away from each other, revealing what they had been containing. Kakashi was surprised at what he saw.
So, the future really is near, he thought.
(Back at the Nandaba household)
Naota, Ivan, and Haruko sat in the kitchen, eating the lunch Haruko had cooked up for them. Well, breakfast, in Naota's case. Mild curry and ramen. Nobody complained, Haruko made both of the dishes like a pro.
The three agreed now that everyone was awake, they should take shifts in watching the Medical Mechanica factory for anything suspicious. Ivan and Naota sat at the kitchen table for a while, silent. Ivan was the first one to break the silence.
"When I came into your room, it looked like you were comforting Haruko. Was something wrong?" Ivan asked. Haruko lowered her head for a moment. She didn't want to think about what she had told Naota earlier. The look that came over Haruko's face was enought to tell Ivan that it was a sensitive subject, and he drew the three away from it by asking if there was any more food.
After a while, Naota got up and walked to the stairs, leaving Ivan and Haruko to finish their food. He closed the door behind him, then leaned against the wall. He closed his eyes, trying to relax and take in the events of the last few days.
He opened his eyes, and his vision wandered to the Beast V NT guitar he had gotten on the day that he had battled Amarao and his men after pulling it out of his head. Ever since then, Haruko had refered to the day as "The day Naota kicked federal ass".
Naota had always thought that there was something weird about that guitar. Whenever he held it, he had the sudden urge to play it, when he didn't even know how to play it. He was somehow able to play good with the instrument, even though he knew nothing about playing a normal guitar, only bass guitar.
He reached over and picked up the guitar. The instrument felt cool, then it seemed to instantly warm at his touch. He examined the insturment closely, turning it over and looking at the back of the body, up the neck all the way to the top. The guitar's design was flawless, such is the perfection of N.O. born guitars.
Suddenly, he felt the urge to play the instrument again. He didn't know where it came from or why, but it just... came. Naota didn't understand it. He resisted the urge and put the guitar down, and looked around the room once before opening the door and walking out of his room. As soon as he walked out of his room, he bumped into Haruko. They both laughed at the folly, and both leaned against the wall next to the door.
"I guess it is Ivan's turn again, huh?" Naota asked. Haruko nodded. She edged a little closer to him, laying her head on his shoulder. Naota smiled. Despite the sensitivity of the morning's subjects, they had both gotten better.
"Want to watch some TV?" Naota asked suddenly. He didn't know why he picked the TV, but he wanted to try to take Haruko's mind off of what they had talked about earlier. Haruko's smile widened a little, and she giggled a bit. "Sure," she said, laying her forehead against his chest and hugging him.
Naota's smile widened a little. They both walked down the hall and went down the stairs together, walking into the living room and sitting on the couch next to each other. For a minute they just sat there holding onto each other and grinning, before Naota began to look around for the TV remote. It wasn't on the table or anywhere in the living room that he could tell. "I'm gonna check the kitchen for it, I'll be right back." Naota told Haruko. Haruko smiled at him and let him get up.
As Naota was walking to the kitchen, his mind started to race. He couldn't focus on one thing at once, but he recognized memories from when he was younger, when Haruko had first came and all of the adventures associated with her staying, then the things that had most recently happened.
For a moment, he remembered the Beast V NT upstairs. He shook his head, trying to clear his head, but to no avail.
Then suddenly, a familiar sharp pain shot through his head. He yelled out a little and lost balance, falling over and managing to catch himself on the kitchen counter, knocking stray silverware and the TV remote he had been looking for off the table.
Suddenly, everything went black.
/FLCL\
(At Medical Mechanica)
It had taken a little while for the scientists to get Kakashi set up in the armor, but they had finally fitted him into the complex suit. "In a moment, all of the systems associated with the suit will be controlled directly by your nervous system. You will have no difficulty using the system once we finalize the suit's recognition of its new owner." The short man who had been helping Kakashi with his final preparations for the past day.
"Once we are finished here, the suit will become a part of you." The man said. Was that a trace of pride that Kakashi heard in the man's voice? Most likely. he man had seemed very happy about the success of the whole procedure. Kakashi stood completely still as the man had instructed him while he stood behind him and checked the systems of the suit. The man mumbled something about the suit's weapons being ahead of their time.
Then, Kakashi felt a white-hot peircing pain in his spine near the base of his neck. He threw his head back and struggled not to scream in pain. His vision blacked out for a few seconds. Then, as quickly as the pain had come, it dissapeared.
Suddenly, the suit seemed to tighten or loosen in various places. It was taking form to the contours of his body. Suddenly, the suit seemed much lighter, and he was much more aware of his surroundings. The inside of his helmet lighted up with a bright red light, and an interface of the same color popped up inside the visor of the helmet.
"Now, focus on the interface for a moment." The man said. Kakashi did so, and a few square objects came up on the interface. Inside them were strange letters that he did not recognize at first. Then, he was somehow able to understand them. "Focus on the third box to the left," the man said. When Kakashi did so, a new interface came up, showing a model of the suit he was wearing. Several places of the model flashed yellow.
"The flashing yellow lights you see are the various weapons built into the suit. Try to focus on one of them."
He looked down at his left arm. He focused on it for a moment. A split second later, a foot long straight blade quickly extended out of a hidden compartment on the top of his wrist with a metallic shing.
Kakashi smirked. He was going to make sure that Naota and his lady friend wished they were never born.
(?)
Naota thought he went unconscious for a moment, but he still felt alive and awake. A moment later, he noticed he was still kneeling down. He slowly got up, and looked up to see a strange scene. He seemed to be in an endless empty space, the ceiling far above him pulsing with different colors, mainly red and dark purple. The floor seemed to be made of a sort of silver reflective substance, showing a mirror image of him and the colors pulsing above him.
Where am I? He asked himself.
"You are inside your mind." A voice said. Naota jumped at the voice. The deep voice sounded powerful, and seemed to come from everywhere at once. How had it read his thoughts? He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came. Once again, he heard the voice.
"You cannot physically speak here. Speak using your mind." The voice said. Naota shivered a little. He looked around the empty space, looking for anything of interest.
What is this place? Naota thought. "You are in the inner confines of your conscience," The voice said. "Here is where the portal from your brain to the N.O. dimension lies." The sky went completely black, except for many straight red lines pulsing across it from all directions.
"Turn around," The voice said. Naota hesitantly turned around, and backed up a step at what he saw. A sphere about the size of Naota's head floated in the air a few feet away from him. It was made out of a strange, metallic dark metal with a reflective sheen. Many symmetrical grooves lined the sphere, with a red light shining out of them, making a red glow around it.
Who are you? Naota asked.
"I am Atomsk."
(Naota's kitchen)
Haruko had heard him yell out and had immediately ran into the kitchen to find him laying facedown on the floor, unconscious. "Naota, wake up!" Haruko said, shaking him to try and wake him up. No response. She rolled him onto his back, seeing that his eyes were wide open. She saw his chest rise and fall normally, and she mentally sighed in relief that he was still breathing. She yelled for Ivan, who came rushing into the kitchen a few moments later.
(Back in Naota's mind)
Why are you here, and what do you want from me? Naota asked. The sphere floated closer to him, then flew in a circle around him once, then rushed off to his right, dissapearing into the distance. Naota started to run after it. Hey, wait! He yelled out in his mind. He stopped running after a few seconds, knowing it was no use.
Suddenly, a warm red glow covered him from behind. He turned around, and the sphere was behind him again. He jumped a little, wondering how it had gotten behind him so quickly.
"I wanted to have an audience with the human that was both my prison and my freedom," It said. "The human who has more spirit than other humans with any kind of N.O. power."
"In this time of crisis for the human race, I want to return the favor to the young boy that you were when a similar time was drawing near." It said, the red lines on its spherical body blinking on and off at different intervals.
"I want to help you, Naota Nandaba."
(Kitchen)
Ivan knelt down next to the prone Naota, checking him over, as Haruko stood above him, leaning against her pink-colored Epiphone Evolution, which she seemed to have gotten from nowhere.
"Whats wrong with him, Ivan?" Haruko said, the concerned tone obvious in her voice. She lowered her head, closing her eyes tight. Her grip on the neck of the guitar tightened.
"I'm not sure." Ivan said, and he sat the unconscious Naota in one of the dining room chairs, then turned around to see Haruko storming out of the room towards the front door. Ivan quickly followed her out, quickening his pace when he sees Haruko getting on her Vespa with the guitar strapped to her back. Just as she put her helmet on and started the engine, Ivan got in front of the vehicle and held onto the handlebars, keeping her from leaving.
"What are you doing, Haruko?" Ivan asked. Haruko growled a little, and looked towards the massive Medical Mechanica factory at the center of the city. "I can't sit here and wait for them to attack us anymore! I'm not going to sit by and watch while they mess with Naota's mind and not be able to do anything about it!" Haruko revved the Vespa's engine, getting ready to turn onto the street, when Ivan turned the vehicle back towards him, forcing her to stop. Ivan firmly placed his hands on Haruko's shoulders, turning her towards him.
"Now is not the time to get angry. They could be trying to use that anger to lead you into a trap. Naota is a strong boy, and he will pull through, but we just need to be patient for a little longer," Ivan said. Haruko relaxed a little, her grip on the Vespa's handlebars loosening. She took off her helmet and turned off the ignition, then looked back at Ivan.
The two, however, didn't notice as a small black object with a trail of fire and smoke behind it ejected from a port in the side of the Medical Mechanica factory. It drew closer as Ivan tried to calm Haruko down.
"Its going to be okay, Haruko. We just need to-"
Ivan's sentence was cut off as an explosion from the other side of the street threw Ivan and Haruko to the ground, the Vespa tipping over with them.
(Naota's mind)
The sky color shifted again, the red transforming into a deep purple which made Naota feel at ease. The voice made a deep chuckling sound. "I see I've found your spirit color," It said. The lights in the sky faded in and out every few seconds, and the lights on the sphere changed to match the purple colors in the sky.
My what? Naota asked. The sphere spun in a circle a few times, and its color went back to red. Suddenly, Naota's vision started to darken. "I will tell you that and more when we speak again. Right now, you must go. Next time you want to speak to me..." The voice faded out slowly, and just as it could no longer be heard, an image of the Beast V guitar flashed in his mind.
(Kitchen)
Naota suddenly woke up, jumping out of the chair he had been placed in, feeling out of breath. He looked around, seeing the things he knocked off the table scattered all over the floor. He looked into the living room, Ivan and Haruko nowhere to be found.
Suddenly, he heard a crash outside that made the house shake a little. He hurried out of the kitchen, bursting through the door to see the entire street in ruins. Streetlights were knocked over, there were huge cracks in the road and sidewalk, and many cars were flipped onto their sides or backs, and some were demolished. He looked further down the street to see a sight that shook him to his core.
Ivan was lying facedown on the road in a blackened crater in the asphalt. Nearby him, a black-clad figure was holding Haruko a few feet above the ground by her neck. Haruko was gasping for air, the Evolution guitar clutched weakly in one hand, while the other hand tried to pry the hand of her assailant from her neck, to no avail.
At this sight, anger immediately filled Naota. Losing control, he burst into a sprint towards the figure holding Haruko up, unable to hold in the scream of anger that left him. Haruko saw him running and was unable to yell to him to tell him not to do it. Before Naota could ram himself into the enemy, the figure turned around and swung his free arm at Naota, swatting Naota out of the way. Naota rolled to a stop several meters away, trying to get up and figure out what just happened.
When he got up, he looked back at the black-clad figure again. It was wearing a strange suit, somewhat similar to the armor the guards wore at the Galactic Space Police's base, only black in color and with some different shapes in the armor parts.
"Well, look who it is!" The wearer of the suit said, his voice being amplified through speakers in the helmet. He then threw Haruko, who went flying straight into a car parked near them, crushing and bending the car's body a little. Haruko's head dropped to her chest, and she coughed a few times, a trickle of blood coming from the corner of her mouth. The sight of anyone being able to take down Haruko angered Naota even more.
"Who are you?!" Naota yelled at the man, his anger swelling inside of him. The armored figure laughed loudly. Then, the helmet's T-shaped visor flashed , and the helmet started to take itself apart at unseen points in the metal, retracting itself into the neck guard, revealing his face. The identity of the attacker almost made his jaw drop.
"...Kakashi?" Naota said, involuntarily backing up a step. Kakashi smirked, and took a few steps towards Naota. "Thats right, Nandaba. I seem a little more fit for combat now, wouldn't you say?" Kakashi said.
Naota shook his head in disbelief. "Kakashi, if this is about yesterday, I was only defending my friend! Going to Medical Mechanica for revenge isn't going to help you. All they want is the destruction of Earth, and everything on it!"
Kakashi laughed. He reached down and ripped a large chunk of asphalt off of the damaged road. "Well, I'll believe that when I see it. But for now, just die!" Kakashi threw the projectile straight at Naota.
Naota didn't have time to think. His first instinct was to swing, and he did so. He swung his arms as if he were swinging a baseball bat. Suddenly, in a flash of red, the Beast V guitar materialized in his hands, and the body of the guitar collided with Kakashi's projectile, shattering it.
Kakashi didn't expect Naota to completely avoid injury like he did. When Naota turned back towards Kakashi, he had changed drastically. A red aura surrounded him. His eyes glowed orange. A small red bolt of electricity arced from the body of the guitar up to the neck, then up to Naota's arm. Nearby, the single chain link of Haruko's shackle bracelet jingled, attracted to Naota's powerful N.O. channel.
If Naota was in awe of his own transformation, he didn't show it. His eyes were locked with Kakashi's, and he smiled. It was a smile of knowingness, as if a deep intelligence lied behind it. Kakashi, however, was in shock at how Naota had changed. This was nothing like the Naota he had known at school before. He had never believed in magic, but he knew this was something much more than that.
"What the-" Kakashi's words were interrupted as Naota dashed forward in the blink of an eye, swinging the guitar forward. The guitar body hit Kakashi square in the face, and it sent him flying backward, in a collision course for a car parked next to the car Haruko had been thrown into.
Haruko lifted her head up, looking to the side. She laughed weakly at the sight of Kakashi suffering the same punishment she just had moments ago, then lowered her head again, coughing quietly.
Kakashi shook his head to regain his senses, and slowly rose back to his feet. He scowled at Naota. "Alright, we can make a fight about it if you won't accept that you're a dead man!" Kakashi said angrily. His helmet materialized back over his head, the visor flashing red. He quickly turned around, snatching up the demolished car he had been thrown into, then spun around and threw it at Naota.
The aura around Naota flashed from red to purple, and he swung the guitar straight down. Somehow, the car got cut in two straight down the middle. Before the two halves even hit the ground, they dissipated like ashes in the wind, being absorbed into Naota's N.O. channel on his forehead.
Naota had changed again. His eyes were now glowing yellow. There was an armored gauntlet covering his right forearm. He was holding a new weapon. The Beast V guitar had been transformed into a large scythe, the blade pointing upwards like a naginata weapon. There was a smaller blade coming off the other end of the handle, also sticking out straight. He held the scythe in both hands.
Haruko raised her head again, and saw how Naota had changed. Her eyes widened. "He found it..." She said under her breath.
Almost as if on cue, thunder sounded in the sky. Gray clouds had been gathering, and the sun dissapeared behind them. The rain first came with a few droplets, before increasing to many, and increasing further, into a downpour.
(Music start: The Animal by Disturbed, without the short intro.)
Naota looked up at the sky, and smiled again. That intelligent, all-knowing smile. He flicked the scythe forward, the large blade flicking forward into its normal position with a shing. At the same time, another boom of thunder sounded in the sky. He spun the scythe around once, holding it with his left hand dominant.
Kakashi involuntarily backed up a step. He shook his head, remembering what he had come to do. He flicked both of his arms forward, a straight blade unsheathing itself from above either wrist.
"You aren't going to intimidate me!" He yelled. He started running toward Naota, his arm drawn back in an attempt to stab him when he got close enough. Before Kakashi even got the chance to land an attack, Naota sidestepped, swinging the scythe aroung and whacking Kakashi in the back using the flat side of the blade, giving him a boost that sent him even further away.
Kakashi skidded to a halt a few feet away, quickly turning around and dashing towards Naota again. He swung his arm at Naota, trying to cut him straight across the chest, but Naota swung the scythe up and deflected it.
(Music stop)
Meanwhile, while Kakashi kept trying to score hits on Naota to no avail, Haruko was slowly trying to recover from her injuries. She reached inside her vest, taking a small, sealed vial containing a light blue liquid out of a pocket on the inside of the vest. She popped the top off with her thumb and downed half of the concoction.
Within seconds, her pain slowly withdrew from her body. She wiped the small trickle of blood from the corner of her mouth with her sleeve, and started to get up. She looked over at the small crater Ivan had been left in, and saw the man slowly recovering himself as well. She walked over to his kneeling form, limping slightly, not taking her eyes off of Naota.
I knew it would happen eventually, but I didn't think he would be ready for the change this soon, she thought. She got over to Ivan, and handed him the vial. "Drink this." She said, trying to keep her voice down, even with the sound of metal deflecting metal keeping her voice from carrying very far. Ivan said nothing, and gulped down the drink. He gagged slightly at the taste.
"What... is this stuff?" Ivan said drowsily, still trying to recover from the beating he had taken not too long ago. Haruko smiled a little, and took the empty vial from Ivan's hands and stuffed it back into her vest pocket. "Just a little pick-me-up." She pointed over towards Naota and Kakashi, who were still locked in battle. "Look."
Ivan looked over at the two fighters, and coughed a little at what he saw. "What the... What happened to Naota?" He said. He started getting up, the pain-dulling effects of Haruko's draught already numbing his wounds. Haruko got up too, putting an arm underneath his to help him stand.
"Something very good." Haruko said, a slight smirk forming on her face. She lifted her arm up and glanced at her shackle bracelet. The Atomsk symbol was changing from red to purple, then back every few seconds. But, the chain wasn't being attracted towards Naota like it usually would be.
Kakashi was getting tired of having his attacks deflected. At one point, he had a chance to turn the tables. He waited for Naota to spin the scythe straight up, then he snatched it out of his hands, spun around and attempted to cut Naota in two. But before the blade even touched him, he dissapeared in a short flash of purple and red light, almost instantly reappearing right behind Kakashi.
Nearby, Haruko's emotions were a mix of awe and thankfulness. An N.O. jump, Haruko thought, how can he do that already?
He pulled the scythe out of Kakashi's hands, spun the scythe so that the short, straight blade faced towards the back of Kakashi's head, and he jabbed the weapon forward, purposely missing his mark by an inch, the blade scraping against Kakashi's helmet slightly. Kakashi saw the blade at the very side of his visor, and went dead still.
Naota smiled, leaned forward toward the other side of Kakashi's head. "You know... That would have killed you if it were just an inch to the left..." He said quietly. Kakashi growled, spun around and attempted to gut Naota with the blade on his right wrist, but Naota dissapeared again.
Naota didn't reappear for a few seconds. When he did reappear, he was floating five feet above the ground behind Kakashi. The suited combatant spun around, and aimed his arm at Naota. The blade above his wrist shot off of his armor at a speed too fast for the untrained eye to follow. Naota easily deflected it.
Kakashi sighed, and a new blade popped into place where the last one was. "This is starting to bore me, Nandaba." Naota smiled, and spun the scythe in his hand a few times. "Well, then we're both even. I was hoping Medical Mechanica would send more of a challenge."
An arc of purple static raced across the blade of Naota's scythe. He grinned, then he drew his arm back, and threw the scythe as hard as he possible could. The weapon began to spin faster for the eye to follow, flying towards Kakashi. Any normal person wouldn't have been able to do anything...
But Kakashi's heightened senses gave him a slight edge. He tracked the sythe's spinning trajectory, then as it got close enough, he caught the weapon. If his movement had been even a nanosecond off, he probably would have had an arm sliced off. But, he didn't stop there. He spun around and used the velocity of the weapon against its owner, sending it back to Naota. Naota caught it with ease.
While Naota and Kakashi were taking turns throwing the scythe, Haruko was quickly but silently rushing up behind Kakashi, intent on a surprise attack. When Haruko got behind the enemy, she innocently tapped on his helmet with the headstock of her guitar. When Kakashi turned around, he was greeted by the body of a guitar smashing into the front of his helmet.
Haruko continued to land a few blows on Kakashi, stunning him for a short amount of time. But, the armored fighter predicted one of Haruko's strikes, and caught the body of the guitar in one hand before it could hit him. As Kakashi drew his hand back in an attempt to push the blade straight into Haruko's abdomen, Naota rushed from the air to the ground in a split second, pushing the blade of his scythe between the two, seperating them.
Then, Naota gave Haruko a light push backward with the blade. Haruko was about to ask what he thought he was doing... But stopped as she saw Naota swing the flat of the blade from above his head, which he couldn't have done with Haruko next to him. The blow was powerful enough to send Kakashi flying into a house across the street, bursting through the wall and caving in part of the house.
Haruko winced a little, laughing, and Naota just smiled. The house had nobody living in it; it had had a 'For Sale' sign planted in the yard for about a month since then. The two stood and watched for a moment as they saw the rubble shift and move, Kakashi lifting himself out of it. After he got standing up again, he heard someone burst into laughter.
He looked, and he saw Ivan, bending over with his hands on his knees, laughing loud enough for the echo to go across the whole street. While he laughed, Ivan looked up at Kakashi.
"From badass to lame-ass, am I right?" Ivan's own comment made him burst into a fresh wave of laughter. Kakashi snarled under his helmet, and pointed his arm at the man. He fired the blade on his wrist.
"Hey, now!" Ivan exclaimed, picking up a thick peice of asphalt about as big as a tile from the ground and holding it up, letting the projectile hit and stick inside it. After the blade hit, the peice of asphalt cracked and crumbled, and Ivan let it all fall, excluding one baseball-sized peice, which he threw at Kakashi in return. His throw must have been more powerful and accurate than Naota and Haruko thought, because the peice of rock slammed right into Kakashi's helmet, making him recoil a bit.
After that, Ivan started laughing even more. Kakashi growled and shook his head, turning back towards his two main opponents, only to see Naota standing right in front of him, hovering a few inches off the ground. He backed up a step, but didn't have time to retaliate, as Naota planned on getting the first move in.
He grabbed his opponent by his arm, and pulled him out of the house, sending him running and struggling to stay balanced. Before Kakashi could stop, he ran right into another hit from Haruko. That hit sent him back towards Naota, who gave him a kick in the torso to send him back to Haruko. They continued to send Kakashi back and forth for a little while, Ivan watching and struggling not to break out into laughter again.
Eventually, Kakashi decided that enough was enough. He activated the temporary thrusters in his boots and wrists, sending him flying up a few meters. Due to his inability to stay balanced from Naota and Haruko's attacks, though, he couldn't control his trajectory. He went up in the air in Ivan's direction, and his fall trajectory threatened to make the armored fighter land on Ivan.
When Kakashi was about to land, Ivan simply sidestepped out of the way. The Russian man didn't even flinch when Kakashi impacted. A small dust cloud temporarily dulled any vision, but cleared as Naota walked towards them, spinning his scythe around to dispel the dust. Haruko followed close behind.
Kakashi was laying on his back, his only visible moving was his breathing. Ivan smiled, and knelt down, getting his face right up to the visor of the helmet.
"It's sad, really." The man said, "We worried so much about an attack from Medical Mechanica that would give us a run for our money, but it turns out that we worried for nothing." He chuckled a bit, and have the helmet a single pat, then rose back to his feet. Naota smiles a little at the remark, and spun his scythe around once before it reformed itself back into its original guitar form. Then, the aura surrounding hin dispersed, and the gauntlet on his hand dissapeared. His eyes returned to their normal icy blue color.
Haruko got opposite of Ivan, knelt down, and moved her hands all over the helmet. Eventually, she found what she was looking for, and there was a small click as Haruko pressed a hidden button, making the helmet retract into the neck guard of the suit. Kakashi looked unharmed, except for the small trickle of blood going down his cheek.
Suddenly, Haruko made a fist, drew her arm back, and belted Kakashi one right in the nose. The defeated opponent moaned in pain, bringing an armored hand up to cover his injured face. Haruko scoffed, and got back up.
"That's what you get for throwing me into a car, you asshole." She said, before swinging her Evolution bass around once, then striding back towards Naota's home without looking back. On the way, she got her Vespa back into a standing position before going inside. Ivan and Naota both looked at each other, shrugged, then looked back at Kakashi.
"Go back and tell Medical Mechanica that we aren't as weak as we look. We have a little ace up our sleeve." Ivan said, giving Naota a clap on the shoulder before following Haruko to the house. Naota stood there for a minute, just looking at his enemy. He frowned a little.
"Kakashi, I wish I could have stopped you from picking the wrong side." Naota said sadly. "I tried to tell you that siding with Medical Mechanica was a bad move, but I guess I can't change your mind now. I just hope you will learn from your mistakes." Kakashi had heard Naota's voice, but he knew that there was a greater power behind him that controlled his words.
Naota turned around, going back to his house as well. Kakashi was left dazed and confused, laying on the destroyed road.
What the hell just happened?
/FLCL\
Naota sat on his bed, his Beast V guitar in his lap. He plucked the strings lazily. Haruko sat in his rolling desk chair, giggling and spinning around in it comically. Ivan had already left, convinced that Medical Mechanica would give them a little time to recover.
They just need a bit of time to lick their wounds, is all. They will most definitely strike again, and in greater force. But, I know we can handle them. I mean, we were able to hold of that guy in the suit today, didn't we? You know how to get a hold of me, Naota. Take care, both of you.
Naota scratched his head with one hand, following the patterns of the guitar's body with the other. Haruko and him had already talked about that had happened to him.
It seems that Atomsk has good intentions for you, she had said, tapping on the Atomsk symbol burned into her shackle bracelet. It seems that he allowed you to tap into his nearly infinite reserves of N.O. energy in order to fight Kakashi without getting beaten.
...But, it turns out you have a lot more of your own power than Atomsk thought. You took his energy and transformed it, used it to to fuel your own little power trip. At first, you used his energy, then you seemed to carry it over to your own reserve that you had never known about before, and use it as a catalyst to harness it.. You used N.O. in every way you saw fit, and you used it to fight. From a spectator's point of view, you could have just as easily been mistaken for Atomsk with a bad cold, relatively speaking. In other words, you were temporarily rivaled in N.O. power with Atomsk.
Naota knew he had a powerful N.O. channel, from what Haruko told him, but he didn't think it was that powerful. N.O. power that could match Atomsk?
Wow, Naota had said. Yeah, wow, Haruko had replied.
It was an hour or two since they had fought Kakashi. Naota's father and grandfather eventually came home. His father was freaking out about the damage done to the street, and his grandfather was babbling about how kids these days didn't know how to handle fireworks correctly, or something along the lines. It was actually quite funny for Naota and Haruko to listen to.
Mamimi came home as well, sporting a new camera. It turned out that Canti had been with her, helping her shop. Mamimi questioned the destruction left in the street, and the two made a little cover story to keep her satisfied. Canti, however, was told the real story. After Naota was done explaining, Canti was left scratching his T.V. head confusedly. Haruko gave the screen a little flick. "Way to look out for us, big guy. Maybe next time?" She had said.
Canti, of course, promised that he would be there to help next time. The combination of symbols that Canti flashed on his screen to relay the message was comical. A chibi version of Kakashi getting slapped around by a chibi Canti was answer enough. Eventually, everyone went to bed, including Haruko and Naota.
Haruko had fell asleep on his computer chair rather than in bed, which amused Naota a bit, but he let her sleep. She had taken quite a beating from Kakashi today, the fact that she had recovered so quickly amazed him. After all was said and done, he laid down in bed, lost in thought.
We may have drove Medical Mechanica back today, but I know that they aren't going to stop just because of one defeat. Something tells me that this is only the beginning of their true plan to finally get rid of them.
'You are probably right about that,' a voice had said deep in his mind. Naota instantly knew who it was, and huffed in dissapointment.
Oh yeah, that's right. Atomsk is in my head now.
Great.
(End Credits)
Haruko's voice: Holy crap, my Ta-kun is so awesome! He really beat the crap out of that Kakashi guy today, didn't he? Well, don't get out of your seats yet; There is still more to come! How will Naota use his newfound power now? If it were me, I would storm right into Medical Mechanica, and be like "Hey everyone, I'm here! Check out my huge awesome scythe! Whoosh! Whoosh!" But, I know my little Ta-kun isn't that reckless. Well, we'll see what happens next very soon! Next, on FLCL Second... Truths Found in Ambient Lies!
Well folks, its finally done! Man, this chapter really smashed up my brain. It confused me to the point of it not getting finished for a while... But I guess now that its all done, I can try to work faster.
I got inspiration for Naota's true N.O. form from a certain scythe fighting style. The gauntlet being worn on the dominant hand (Naota's right, but using his left arm constantly, due to his ambidextrous-ness). I chose the scythe as his weapon because of inspiration from a little game you might know, called Darksiders II. The main character from that game is practically my idol!Thanks for reading, and I'll see you in the next chapter!
-Nyx (formerly Gman)