Somewhere 100,000 light years away from the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, an orb familiar to 6,000,000,000 class 4 sentient beings rose into view. It was riddled with green and white and gray and blue: an intensely beautiful sight for those who have little hope.
Then music came from the horizon: a steady thumping and the sound of an electric guitar playing along exuberantly. Then the Japanese voices burst into song, and a yellow blur came hurtling past Mars, moving at speeds comparable to light years. Then it stopped.
Sitting on a Vespa motorbike, with a red helmet and peculiar clothes, and with a double-necked guitar strapped to her back, was a woman. She had vivid golden eyes: the eyes of a predator, and pink hair, which she was toying with. She gave a long snort and spit, which, in null g, just kind of floated there, besides totally ruining the mood of the scene.
The predator girl glanced in no direction, and said, "Shut it, Daniel. Just get back to writing the damn story: I've never actually dealt with plot before!"
"Oh, right, sorry," said the author, looking confused and slightly bewildered.
The girl now looked at the blue orb that was earth, shaking her head. "Never thought I'd come back here…how'd Atomsk manage to get back? Did he go so far he actually looped around? Ah well…nothing to it. There's only one place here on Earth that Atomsk would go. Mabase…"
The girl's peculiar features, which had been frowning, now deepened. They looked a little confused, a little saddened, a little grimmer. "I have to wonder what became of him…I gotta check up on Naota, though I probably shouldn't…he probably hates me by now…"
The girl shook herself. "What the hell am I thinking?" She yelled into the void of space.
"You know, you really can't hear sound in space," said the author. "No air to vibrate, you see."
The girl shrugged. "Look, this is a fanfic. Everyone knows who I am, and you have yet to let me say my name. For the love of god, get on with it: you're even worse then the director!"
"Curse you Haruko, curse you!" yelled the author…but then sighed. "Fine, let's get on with it."
"Thank god," she muttered, then looked at the Earth with a wicked grin. "Ah well, life goes on. Be afraid, earth, be very afraid, for the mighty Haruko has returned!"
And with that, Haruko swung out her guitar and shot toward the planet.
Episode 1: Sting of the Vespa!
On the rooftop of an apartment complex, a blond girl sat, staring rather emptily into space. In her hands she loosely held her prized possession: a red Gibson Epiphone Sorento, given to her by her grandma. She regarded the sight of the town wearily, and in the red light her blue eyes flashed uncertainly, and her simple T shirt and Jeans seemed insufficient. The Red T shirt had words in white printed on it "Corrupted Innocence".
I found the journal of a girl in the back of my grandmas store, once, thought the girl. It said that even burning down Mabase would never make it disappear. I guess that's true: Ever since the town exploded 8 years ago, it was rebuilt so fast…mostly due to Medical Mechanica.
The girl glanced across townIn the distance, a metal factory that looked a lot like an iron puffed out a steam of smoke almost irritably. She sighed, and strummed a few notes on her guitar. I'm going to write in that same journal. It might be a stupid thing to do, but if feels fitting somehow, to be the new breed of anti-Mabase. Who knows, maybe someday some other kid will find my journal and write in it…
"Sashimi Eleanor, where are you!" Screamed a cackly old voice from behind the closed door leading on to the roof.
Eleanor leapt to her feet, looking utterly terrified. "Oh dear god, what have I done now," she muttered to herself. A moment later, a whirlwind of…something wrinkly and pale burst from behind the door. "Eleanor!"
Eleanor sighed, straightening her long hair. "Yes, grandma?" she inquired softly.
Her grandmother gave her a sly old smile. "I thought I told you to call me Aiko, El," she said creakily.
"I thought you were going deaf, grandma," said Eleanor looking puzzled.
Aiko looked rather confused. "I was, actually…but now I seem to have gotten better. Oh, and Raidon's on the phone. He wants to know if you're available."
"Yes, grandma, I'll talk to him."
"Very good," grunted Aiko, and she shambled back inside, muttering something about "Wait, I can't actually get better…"
Eleanor shook her head, and hefted her Epiphone lightly. She strolled on inside, occasionally brushing a cold concrete wall, and picked up the phone. "Hey, Raidon," said. "How are you?"
"Meh," said a voice from the other line, one that sounded as though life was something that was there mostly to be ignored. "My mom's all over my case again…but, hey, she said she had something to give me in a couple weeks, for my 13th birthday. So, I guess I should be happy."
"I wouldn't be, if I were you," said Eleanor. "It's probably gonna be some kind of coming of age gift, and you have to pretend you like it, and they figure it out, and they say its no big deal, but it really is and you know it, so you start feeling guilty, and then it's really awkward…"
Raidon was silent for a couple of minutes. "Um," he began eventually. "Yeah…okay, well, if that's over, you want to meet me down by the bridge."
"Sure, why not?"
"Okay, cool. I'll take my Motor Scooter. See you in a couple of minutes?"
"Sure. Bye."
Eleanor hung up, and then raised her head. "Hey, grandma! I'm going down to the river. Raidon will be there. See you in a bit…"
Eleanor walked out of the apartment and began the slow descent of the stairs. A few minutes later, Aiko walked in, muttering, "Now, if I could build some kind of robot who could hear for me, and send that information directly to my brain…!"
About 30 minutes later, Eleanor walked down to the river, her Epiphone Sorento slung casually over her shoulder. She glanced around, wondering briefly what the hell could be taking a boy who was bringing his motorbike from a house that was a five minute walk away so long, but then just kind flowed with it and threw herself down on the grass. She glanced up at the sky, which was now the color of fire, until she heard the sound of a motor. With a grin, she turned around-only to freeze as she saw that it wasn't Raidon on the bike, nor was it even his bike.
The pink-haired girl gave a predatory smile. "No need to worry, girl," she said, glancing around. "I'm just here looking for a particular boy. I need an NO gate, ya see, although you probably don't…"
Eleanor glanced at the golden-eyed girl with interest, and then to the guitar on her back. "What kind of guitar is that?" she asked.
The pink-haired girl stared at her, then gave her a wide grin. "Oh, you're a guitar fan! My kind of woman. Well, this is a…" she thought quietly. "Well, it's a fusion. You can see that the two necks are mainly Flying V style, but the body's an EB-0…I'm not really sure, it was kinda custom-built."
There was a long pause, and then the pink-haired girl said, "So, that an Epiphone Sorento? Never really liked them, but hey, it's your guitar…Oh, here he is!"
Raidon came wheeling around the corner on the back of his slick black motorbike. His eyes widened in surprise at the girl on the Vespa who blocked the road. He lifted up his goggles and looked at her in surprise. "Is that a Vespa?" he asked, eyes wide. "Where'd you get one, I thought none of them worked!"
The pink-haired girl stared at him, mouth open in surprise. She took in at a glance his violet hair, his pale face, his slightly hooded eyes. "Hold on a sec, you're not Naota!
Raidon shrugged, looking at Eleanor. "No, I'm not. I don't even know who this kid is. So, where'd you get the Vespa?"
The pink-haired girl glanced at him for a moment, looking befuddled. "Well, number 1, the dealer is way out of your range, in cost and distance. And number 2," and with this her grin widened, and her hands flashed back to her double-necker, whipping it out like some kind of demon axe. "If Naota's not here, then I'm going to have to go with the old strategy. RANDOM SMASHING!"
And with that, the golden-eyed woman leaped into the air and brought her guitar crashing down on Raidon's head. His black bike shuddered under the impact, and Raidon crumpled to the ground in a heap.
Eleanor's eyes widened in surprise, and she whipped out her own guitar and charged towards Raidon. "What the hell was that for, you crazy bitch!" she screamed at the girl. In response, she raised her guitar towards Eleanor. Eleanor's eyes widened briefly, but then narrowed into a glare all too much like her grandmothers. She swung her guitar out like some kind of sword, and swept toward the pink-haired. She stood over Raidon, her red guitar extended before her like a lance. "Why'd you hit him!"
The pink-haired girl grinned at her. "Oh, it's not just him. Until someone gives me what I need, I'm just gonna keep swinging. Which means you're up, girly-girl!"
Her grin widened until it looked like some hell-creature finally having escaped. "Taste the curry-flavored wrath of Harahara Haruko!"
She leaped into the air and brought the double-necked guitar crashing down. Eleanor threw up her guitar, thinking, There's no way this is gonna work…wait a sec, curry-flavored wrath!
The huge guitar met the Ephiphone Sorento with an intense blast of force, but was reflected without damaging either guitar. Haruko stopped, staring open-mouthed at the two guitars and looking intensely confused. By this point, Eleanor's reflexes had taken over, and she threw herself forward. Eyes locked onto Haruko's midriff, she swung the guitar in an upward arc. The blow landed, sending Haruko blasting backward into the bridge wall. She glanced up, grimacing. "What the hell is that guitar!" she yelled, looking exasperated. "Even my old Rickenbacker couldn't have taken a blow like that from this guitar!"
She glared up at Eleanor, who stared, shocked at what she had done. "See, now I'm going to have to seek some revenge. People who aren't demi-gods aren't allowed to hit me!"
She launched herself at Eleanor, who's eyes widened in surprise. She hurled herself aside and brought her own guitar up to counter, only to find herself staring into the back of the double-necked guitar.
Eleanor slowly stirred back to life. Her pale green eyes moved back and forth cautiously, and then she felt a sharp pain in the front of her head. She gasped, and sat up in her bed, rubbing the horn that was sprouting out of her head. Then she looked down, suddenly realizing she was half-clothed and in bed. With a sigh, she flopped back down. What, then, was that all a-"WHAT THE-"
Lying next to her, with his eyes closed and a set of three bumps on his forehead was Raidon. She gave a desperate little scream and scooted backwards, gazing in horror at Raidon's boxers and undershirt. Raidon stirred and looked up at her. "Oh, hey, El," he said, with a small smile, waiting for his eyes to refocus. "Did you sleep in Mom's room, or OH HELL!" he yelled, scampering backwards as he saw that Eleanor only had panties and a nightshirt on. "Why are you in my house! Did we, did I, were you…"
Aiko strode into the room at this point, putting away some clothes and playing with a stand of her curly white hair. She turned around to Eleanor and said, "Oh, hello El. What was that scream about?"
Raidon and Eleanor looked incredulously at each other, but then quickly looked back at Aiko, remembering why they had just yelled. "Grandma," said Eleanor, sounding angry. "Why the hell are we in bed next to each other?"
Aiko chuckled, flexing her fingers. "Well, my new bodyguard seemed to think it was an appropriate decision. Always trust your bodyguard, El: they're almost always right."
Eleanor considered this statement for a moment, and then shook her head, promptly disregarding it. "Grandma," she said, a note of quiet exasperation creeping into her voice. "You don't have a bodyguard, nor do you need one. Now, who the hell recommended we be put in this bed half-naked?"
"Heh heh heh; that would be me," said a familiar predatory, nasally voice over in a corner. Feeling their blood simultaneously freezing over, both teens glanced over to the spot to find Haruko's golden eyes glaring at them behind one of the necks on the guitar. "How's it going!" she exclaimed cheerfully.
Raidon and Eleanor glanced at each other, but quickly departed, hurling themselves to separate corners of the room. Raidon threw himself under a nearby couch and cowered, while Eleanor rolled over to her Epiphone Sorento and swung it around her head like a sword. "What are you doing here!" she screamed at the sinister-looking woman.
Haruko's eyes glinted for a moment, and with an incredibly rapid step she drew herself to her full length and the surroundings grew golden around her to make her figure more poignant. "Harahara Haruko! Age 22; very attractive and incredibly skilled with her Vespa and guitar. Contracted as a bodyguard by the famed but non-wealthy and completely unknown robotics expert Sashimi Aiko! Likes curry and a variety of sour stuff!"
The two teenagers stared at the woman and blinked in confusion. Eleanor's mouth hung slightly agape as she thought about what she'd said. Well, at least we know what the hell was up with that curry-flavored wrath bit…wait a second! "What the hell did you do to our heads!" she screamed.
Haruko's eyes moved up to the ceiling as she attempted to look innocent. "Is there something wrong with your heads?" she said, confusedly and (somehow) seductively. Raidon looked ready to let the issue go, but blonde Eleanor merely arched an eyebrow and said, "I'm not a lesbian, Haruko."
The look on Haruko's face changed instantly. "Ah damn it, that's true," she breathed angrily. "I've never dealt completely with girls…boys are so much easier to manipulate."
Eleanor grinned at this as Haruko moved back to the bunk bed and sat down. Eleanor sat down with her, keeping the guitar at the ready. "That's really too true," she responded, throwing back her rather attractive head and letting the blonde hair cascade down her back.
"Oh so true," breathed Aiko, arching her back and trying to mimic the gesture Eleanor had just managed to perform.
"Grandma, have you ever been with a man?"
"Your mom had to come from somewhere, didn't she?"
"Sometimes I wonder if I'm just some robot you created…who would go out with you, anyway?"
"Hey! Don't make me remember that comment and swear a blood feud on your entire family!"
"First of all, you're part of my family, and second of all you won't even remember this conversation in about thirty seconds to two minutes."
"I'm sorry, dearie: what was that you just said?"
"I'm still in the room, you know," said Raidon indignantly, having been forgotten in the comic sketch. The three women surveyed him with obvious contempt, and he quickly wilted while shrinking back underneath the couch.
Haruko sighed heavily, and then shrugged, saying to the abused child in his corner, "You'd better go home. We'll see you later!"
Terribly frightened, the boy nodded and sprinted down the stairs, breaking into a full-bodied run as he hit the base. Haruko watched him go with a malicious grin, before yawning and back-flipping onto the top bunk. Aiko and Eleanor stared at her for a moment, but then shrugged and went about their business. Within moments, Haruko was asleep, and life began to pass once again in relative normalcy for the Sashimi family.
A Small and Hidden Base somewhere in the mountains near Mabase
Captain Kitsurabami of the Space Emigration Office surveyed the screens surrounding the main room with weariness. Since her promotion several years ago following the "Mabase Disaster", her life seemed to have grown much more difficult. On the plus side, she thought with an imperceptible sigh. At least Amarao's not working here anymore…
On her left, Lt. Tatsuya Ichigo surveyed the screens with an expression of intensity she used to have. A slight smile graced her lips as she remembered the days when Medical Mechanica had been attempting their world takeover: now that had been an incident of concern.
Lt. Tatsuya's eyes met hers over the table. With a serious expression, he waved to a monitor of what appeared to be a human brain and said, "Do you know what that means?"
Kitsurabami's eyes rolled as she turned to stare at the screen. Her eyes bugged out, however, when she saw the readings. "An NO gate of…is that ATOMSK 4!"
Tatsuya nodded. "Yes. And another one reading at ATOMSK 1."
The captain glared at the board as though to cow it. The last time an ATOMSK 4 had been in town had been during Naota's time: the only human ever to single-handedly assume control over Atomsk. Such high ratings were remarkable, and since with proper training NO gates got stronger over time…
She shivered as she though about it. On this little backwater planet of six billion, a gift found in one out of every fifteen billion people had been found for the fourth time in two decades, an event with no precedent on any other planet. "This is bad," she said, examining the statistics with fear. "Where are they?"
Tatsuya's face tightened, and he managed to breathe, "You're not going to believe this…"
"That's all I need to hear, soldier," she said calmly. "Inform Central Command that we have two NO gates fully active in Mabase."
Tatsuya nodded, turning to go as he did so. However, at the door, he stopped and turned his head slightly so that only his mouth was visible. "You do realize who's likely to be involved, right?"
Kitsurabami nodded, standing at her console and typing in rapid orders. "Obviously. Tell command to send in the new Combat Suits. We'll need them to face MM…and her."
The lieutenant turned his head and proceeded to leave the room. Kitsurabami griped the railing tightly as she stared at the picture of the pink-haired girl on her screen. Images of having the anti-tank missile batted at her car filled her head as she gripped the railing even tighter. "This time, Harahara Haruko," she whispered. "You're going down."
Mabase, Two Days after Haruko being hired
Eleanor leaned cautiously around the corner of the large apartment. Glancing around nervously, she took a tentative step followed by a second tentative step, examining her position from every possible angle. So close to the phone…if she could just make it there…
It was too late. Haruko hurled around a corner of the muddled apartment, cleaning rapidly and leaving more of a mess behind her. "CLEANING TIME!" she shouted as her hands tunneled through the clutter. With a short and startled cry, Eleanor threw herself out of the way before being impacted by the insane woman. "Didn't Grandma ask you to clean up the workshop!" she exclaimed.
Haruko shrugged, moving a couch into a position more in accordance with her personal Feng Shui. "I'm an insane manic ball of energy…but I'm not touching that place!"
Eleanor nodded with a slight roll of her eyes. Aiko's workshop had become a place of fear for her: once she had entered and a metallic cat had pounced on her. Shortly thereafter, what had appeared to be a windup doll of Evangelion's Sachiel had unleashed a beam that had nearly killed her. Since this had occurred, Eleanor always avoided her grandmother's workshop.
"Seriously though…what is up with your grandmother!"
Eleanor closed her eyes and shook her head. "How the hell should I know! She's been like this ever since Grandpa got fed up and either died or got launched into space atop a Gundam battle suit! However…the latter's more likely, considering Aiko's personality…"
Haruko threw back her head and laughed hard and long. "HA hahahaha…that's just brilliant! I wouldn't be surprised if somewhere out there a world has been attacked by a Gundam!"
The phone rang, and both women glanced at it. Haruko's eyes narrowed as she saw the way Eleanor glanced at the phone nervously. "I got it," she said sinisterly, and began a slow walk.
Eleanor, on the other hand, shouted, "No way in hell!" and launched herself madly at the phone, her horn protruding like some parody of a unicorn. Laughing insanely, Haruko was lunging to the phone.
Needless to say, Aiko picked it up.
Both of the tenants just stared as Aiko made a few mumbling comments and then said the word yes with abrupt finality. When she promptly hung up the phone, Aiko glanced at her granddaughter and said, "Raidon's waiting for you by the river. He says to hurry the hell up."
Eleanor looked at her grandmother with a strange look on her face as she advanced back into her workshop. Shrugging, she walked over to a corner and grabbed her Ephiphone Sorento and began to walk out the door. Before she could do this, however, Haruko moved in her way. "You seem rather excited!" she exclaimed happily and, somehow, threateningly.
Eleanor flushed, looking away. "What the hell does that matter to you?" she asked with what she hoped was a menacing undertone.
Haruko shrugged, still smiling like a coyote. "It's none of my business, I suppose…" she drawled, her hands clenching around an invisible guitar-an invisible guitar that could easily be brought to bear upon her, as Eleanor had quickly learned.
Eleanor gripped her Ephiphone Sorento tighter and confronted the evil bodyguard, saying, "Maybe you should move."
Haruko examined the guitar with a look of obvious contempt. Shrugging once more, however, she hurled herself down a nearby hallway to start a second cleaning. Shaking her head once, Eleanor left the house.
"Your grandma's bodyguard gives me the creeps," commented Raidon as they walked along the rivers edge.
Eleanor grinned and looked out over the water at the sunset, which stained the bridge and all around it with a bloody and strangely beautiful hue. "Yeah…she's a crazy bitch, that's for sure."
Raidon shook his head as they continued to walk together, staying relatively close together. "Damn, but who would have thought that someone like her could come to this place. Why would she even want to be here?"
Eleanor massaged the horn that crested her head, examining the triangular bumps on Raidon's as she did so. "I'm pretty sure it has to do with these things on our heads. Oh, and that one kid."
"Who?" asked Raidon, rubbing the bumps on his head in obvious self-consciousness as he asked the question.
"Naota…don't you remember? She was looking for him. For some reason, Naota did something important."
"Oh yeah…she said I wasn't Naota, which is really weird…"
"Why?"
"I've heard the name before. One of mom's friends is my father, and Naota's the friend whose not. He was the epicenter of some kind of event in Old Mabase…I actually remember something about Medical Mechanica…"
As he spoke, a distant whistling was heard. From the distance, a baseball arched out of the sky, in a perfect parabola of motion. This parabola led the baseball to hit a spot directly on top of Raidon's head, knocking him out and causing him to collapse. A couple seconds later, Haruko walked over the hill, swinging a baseball bat casually over her should as she crested. When she saw Raidon collapsed and the baseball next to him, she simply stood there staring.
"Damn it, Raidon, wake up," yelled Eleanor, shaking him hard. His tongue simply lolled, and Eleanor drew back. From her left, Haruko dashed in and, grinning wickedly, ripped off her helmet, lowered her face and, screaming out "Mouth-to-Mouth!" kissed him.
There was an utter silence and Raidon's eyes fluttered open. Seeing what Haruko was doing to him, his brain exploded with pain, and the three dots on his head exploded upwards, twisting together to form a thickly coiled leg. This was followed by another coiled leg and a massive upper body with titanic arms, clutching a hammer which glimmered with energy. A tiny head with glinting red eyes was placed neatly at the top.
Haruko threw herself backwards as the robot launched itself after her, throwing Raidon back against a nearby wall. Grimacing, Haruko drew the double-necked guitar and threw herself forward, screaming at the thing. "Damn it, they sent in a Thundergod?"
From the hammer, a beam of light the size of a human hit Haruko. She collapsed immediately to the earth. "Haruko!" shouted Eleanor, as the gargantuan robot turned its eyes towards her. Grimacing, Eleanor swung out the Epiphone Sorento and charged at the thing. The hammer was brought crashing down as Eleanor leaped into the air a good eight feet and swung forwards. There was a terrific whang as the two forces impacted, and the robot crashed into a far wall.
"Wow," murmured Haruko, staggering to her feet. "That guitar is really something…where the hell'd you get it?"
Eleanor turned as pink as Haruko's hair as she heard this. "None of your business," she muttered, as the robot rose to its titanic height.
Haruko shrugged, glancing at the Thundergod as it began to advance towards them. "Alright…well, without Canti, I'm a tad outmatched. You wanna lend a hand?"
Eleanor's eyes slid over towards Haruko, but as the enemy drew a second hammer from inside its torso, she shrugged and threw her guitar up as though it was a baseball bat. "Why not," she said. "Got a plan?"
Haruko grinned and nodded. "You attack the right side, I'll take the left. When I say 'Strike', you attack as hard as you can and leave the rest to me. Got it?"
Eleanor nodded, and then lunged towards the robot with Haruko at her side. The thing twirled its hammers twice and then attacked viciously, swinging them in grand arcs as the two swung in again and again. Haruko deflected a hammer blow, following it up by leaping onto the arm and striking as hard as she could at the elbow. When the Thundergod turned its attention to her with the other hammer, Eleanor swung her Epiphone Sorento as hard as she could at the exposed left side. The robot crashed into the far wall and lost one hammer, but quickly regained its composure and shot back up, dealing one massive blow to Eleanor that sent her into the river. Haruko backflipped into the air and landed perfectly as Eleanor braced herself in the water…with Raidon held tightly in her left arm, having been knocked into the water during the fighting. She placed him gently on the earth and looked over at Haruko.
Haruko nodded once at the girl, pulling the guitar up and aiming it as though it was a gun. As loud as she could, she yelled out the command, and Eleanor launched herself out of the water and towards the head of the massive robot. As she did this, the robot turned to confront her…just in time to be caught by a double blast from the guitar which destroyed its legs and left it alone on the ground. Haruko and Eleanor leaped into the air as though twins and delivered a tremendous, crushing blow to the head. The robot exploded, and both Eleanor and Haruko were obscured by the flames.
Haruko staggered to her feet, looking at the wreckage of the Thundergod and smiling grimly. She walked over to Raidon and smiled evilly as she watched him. He was so much like Naota…
The rough screech of metal being torn apart brought her back to attention. A familiar shape made of black metal hurtled by her, pursued by no less then four Thundergods. Eleanor dangled limply from the left arm of the robot. It set her gently down before bringing its somehow terrifying television screen to bear upon the hammer-wielding robots in front of it.
Both groups shot towards each other at the same time. The Black Canti gripped the head of one of its enemies and crushed it effortlessly, taking the hammer from its body before that exploded. Using the hammer, it swung in an arc and blocked four beams from the other models before releasing the hammer as though it was a discus, destroying one and crushing the hammer-wielding arm from another. The one that had lost the hammer attacked viciously, swinging back its arm and punching with great force. Black Canti blocked the fist, gripped it tightly, and hurled that robot at the MM plant, where it impacted and exploded. The final Thundergod whipped out two hammers, aimed them both, and unleashed beams of destruction at least twice as powerful as the one that had hit Haruko. The robot caught the beams in its massive hands and slowly began to make it revolve in its hands. When the attack ended, the Black Canti was holding a swirling blue sphere, which it hurled at the Thundergod. It immediately exploded.
As the four Thundergods were destroyed in about a minute, Black Canti had quite enough time to turn his (that was the impression that Haruko got, anyways) gaze upon her. She clutched at the double-neck guitar in a way that showed her intent and grinned the predatorial grin, golden eyes sparkling. By this time, both Eleanor and Raidon were standing beside her, though Eleanor looked incredibly weak and Raidon was just plain useless. Black Canti surveyed them for a moment before shrugging, and took off into the sky.
The three of them stood isolated for a moment before Haruko burst into sudden laughter. Raidon looked up indignantly and said, "What the hell is your problem?"
She smiled and said, "It's just…it took us everything we had to kill that one Thundergod from your head, and then Eleanor produces four Thundergods and a creature strong enough to kill them all. She's got unstoppable power on her side!"
She wiped her eye after a moment and said, "Now that you've felt the Vespa's sting…you should be the better for it. By the way, good job Eleanor!"
She was smiling earnestly and kindly now. "You did really well, Eleanor. Not even Naota could have done that well."
As the three of them walked slowly away from the smoldering grass under the bridge, Eleanor found herself thinking quietly to herself, The world is a weird place, isn't it? An insane serial killer can praise you, and a girl can use a guitar to fight a giant robot. This is a town where nothing ever happens…but with this Vespa girl here, amazing things might happen.. I guess that makes it a simple but difficult question: is the sting of the Vespa a curse…or a cure?
"Hiya, folks! This is Harahara Haruko, the attractive housekeeper and bodyguard of the Sashimi family. What does the term Christian mean? Is God a friend of Christ, or is it all about Lucifer? Who cares about what happens in the end of a struggle between two angels, really? Or is God an angel? Maybe one of you Christians in the audience can tell me. Or maybe I should just watch more Evangelion. FLCL Episode Two: the Angel and the Devil!"