Another masterpiece brought to you by the mastermind Anti-Christ Samurai!! I know, I know, I probably should stop making new stories and concentrate on the others I already got. Well, I got two words for you. FUCK YOU! I downloaded all six episodes off of Limewire and so I'm on a FLCL kick.

Anyway, read on.

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As she downed her tenth shot (or was it her eleventh? She couldn't remember.), her thoughts wandered back to that day, sixteen years ago. She had no idea why her mind was assaulted with the painful memories. She had been twenty at the time, and he had been barely twelve! But still, they did, and she found she needed them more with each passing day. Not something she was particularly proud of, but it was the truth nonetheless. It was the main reason she was in the bar right now. That, and her junker of a vespa was in the shop. She had landed quite roughly, also known as crashed, onto the planet's surface, a direct result of bad weather conditions and a faulty seatbelt. The flight module was totaled and they'd been waiting for days for the replacement module. And a delivery like that could take weeks on a shit-hole planet like this one.

Haruko had always considered herself a good mechanic. Under normal circumstances, the vespa would have braved the storm and come through unscathed. But her poor little scooter just couldn't take all the traveling they had been doing. She didn't blame it; if it had been her, she would have quit years ago. Her search for Atomsk had yielded no result and she had long since given up. A full year of no news, no sightings, rumors, memos, e-mails, smoke-signals, anything, had passed by and she finally just gave up. What's the point in ultimate power if you've no one to share it with anyway? She had someone at one time, but she had lost him because of her own lust for power. That was a long, long time ago. Sixteen years ago today, to be precise. She raised her shot glass into the air slightly.

"Happy fucking anniversary." she murmered before downing whatever was in the glass. She had long since forgot what she'd been drinking, and she wished she could remember how many she had. It wasn't like she was drunk, or even buzzed for that matter; she hadn't been either in ages. Her mind kept drifting in and out of the past and she could barely concentrate long enough to remember her name. Even her own damn name brought back memories. She wished she was drunk, so then maybe her mind would stop and let her rest. Which was why she downed each drink the bartender gave her without question. She looked up at him from across the counter. "How many have I had?"

"That was your fourteenth." he said, uninterested. "Want another?"

She shook her head and stepped back from the counter. "Nah, I'm gonna go. Put it on my tab, will ya?" He nodded. Haruko had set up a tab the day before, but she had no intention of paying it. She was going to leave when her vespa got fixed. Hell, she wasn't even going to pay the mechanic doing the repairs. She just hoped she could get away. Ditching the bartender would be easy; he was old and could barely walk. The mechanic, however, would put up a fight. Him and his five sons. But, as long as neither of them knew until then, she'd be alright. Besides, she always left a generous tip, at the bars at least. She laid sixty dollars on the counter before walking out. When outside she looked up, hands in her pockets, scanning the night sky, searching for that little glimmer of hope that she knew was there. The place she looked to when feeling lost. Her North Star.

"Earth..." She had always been able to find comfort and solice in that glittering speck of light. But tonight, she didn't look for it for comfort. She looked out of anger. Anger at the planet that made her this way. Anger at herself for leaving. Anger at the heartsick feeling she got when she looked at it. Anger at the mechanics for taking so long. Anger at her piece of shit vespa. There was definitely some anger to go around. She frowned as she remembered the events of that day...

The dust settled on the ruins of Mabase, revealling the devastation Atomsk's escape had caused. The vacuum of his N.O. had destroyed most of the city; pieces of buildings were still floating in the air. Buildings had crumbled, trees were uprooted, lives snuffed out. People that had survived were now filling the streets, gazing in wonder at the destruction around them. A pink haired woman named Haruko sat, mounted on a yellow vespa, eyes locked with the boy that had confessed his love for her only moments ago.

"I lost him again because of you Takkun." she said, breaking the silence between them. His face remained blank, his eyes begging her to stay. He knew where this was going. They both did. His cold blue stare made her feel a bit uneasy, so she did what came natural and looked up to the sky that had been painted red by Atomsk's escape. So close. She had come so close to having the ultimate power. They had messed up, and all she had gained was his guitar, which was now strapped to her scooter. Once again, silence had settled between them.

"We couldn't pull it off."

Silence. She turned her head to see if he was still there. His eyes glistened with self-disappointment. She felt sorry for the kid. It wasn't really his fault Atomsk got away. The power got to him in the worst way. At least he got rid of the factory. She looked straight into his sad blue eyes. It was amazing he could keep a straight face. She turned the ignition and the vespa jumped to life.

"Wanna come along?" she asked in a last-ditch effort to cheer him up. His eyes widened slightly and he broke his gaze to look at the ground, giving her his answer. Haruko, who'd been fine through most of it all, could feel her heart break. She didn't understand. She was giving him the perfect oppertunity to leave this dead-end life and go with her. It was obvious now that he didn't want to go with her, but he expected her to stay with him? She pushed her googles over her eyes and looked away. Tears were welling in her eyes and she'd be damned if she let him see. The vespa rose a few feet in the air. "Know what?"

He looked up at her. "Forget it. 'Cause you're still a kid Takkun." He said nothing, just watched as the vespa rose higher and higher. "Save it for next time."

And with that she had flown off. Away from the only place that had made any sense to her. Away from the boy she loved. Yes, Haruhara Haruko, twenty at the time, had fallen for a then twelve year old boy. She felt no shame in admiting it. She had stopped denying it years ago. God, how old would he be now? Twenty-seven, twenty eight? And all these years had just made the feeling worse. What she wouldn't give to be on that planet, in that house, on his brother's bunk. Soon, soon.

But tonight, Earth was hidden by an enormous cliff in the distance. Haruko kicked a rock in anger before walking back to her tent near a crater on the planet's surface. The tent was a rental, with only a cot and a collapsable chair; she would have needed ID to buy one, and she was trying not to leave a paper trail. In fact, she was pushing it by letting proffesional mechanics repair her vespa. Normally she would have stolen the parts, but there weren't any flyable vespas on this miserable little planet.

She sat on the cot and kicked off her shoes. She took off her jacket and threw it onto the chair.. She laid down and curled up under a blanket, and it was then that she felt the tug at her wrist and a single clink of metal. She looked down at her wrist. Her N.O. magnet was standing straight up, pointing at the cliff. She pulled the braclet off and threw it angrily in her bag. The damn thing had to be malfunctioning. For one, no one, not even Atomsk had enough N.O. to make her magnet stand straight up without moving. Second, it had went off on every planet she'd been to the past six months. "Need to get it fixed too..." she whispered to herself before falling asleep.

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A man dressed entirely in black, wearing a big black duster, with short brown hair and blue eyes, sat straddling a black motorcycle, binoculars glued to his eyes as he scanned the city across the desert. He was perched upon a very tall cliff, parked dangerously close to the edge. He caught a flash of pink and he zoomed in. His prey was standing outside of a bar, gazing angrily in his direction. He didn't worry; he was too far away to be seen. His eyes followed as she went into a tent and laid down. After a moment she sat back up and threw something before laying back down.

The man put away the binoculars with a smile. He reached down and unzipped one of the two guitar cases strapped on his bike, pulling out a black 2016 Gibson, which he slung across his back before unzipping the other and pulling out another guitar, a 2003 Rickenbacker. The electric blue of the older guitar seemed to glow against the darkness. He slung it in the same fashion on top of the other. He was about to turn the ignition on his bike when his comlink buzzed. He turned it on and Kitsurabami appeared on screen. "General Kitsurabami. What an unpleasent suprise."

"Agent N, status report." she said, frowning. He couldn't tell if she had heard him, or if she was just as pleased as he was to have this conversation. "I've located the target. I should be able to get her by noon tomorrow if I don't waste time with meaningless conversation."

"Any sooner?" He shook his head. "Damn. Well, get there as soon as possible and detain her."

"Yes, General."

"Finally. After all these years of searching..." The smile that had been put on her face fell. "Agent N, don't let your past history--"

"Don't worry." he cut her off coldly, his blue eyes shining with anger as he remembered the past. "There is nothing that will get in the way. She's just another paycheck to me." Kitsurabami nodded and the screen went blank. The man started his cycle, pushing a pair of goggles over his eyes before speeding off the edge of the cliff , tearing across the immense desert ahead of him.

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One of Kitsurabami's lieutenents, a young girl of nineteen, turned to her. "Do you think he can do it?" Kitsurabami continued to watch the screen, monitoring Agent N's progress as he sped across the desert. She nodded. "If anyone can, it will be him."

The lieutenant frowned. "But, do you think his past history will effect his performance?"

She shook her head. "She went to his home planet once and ruined his life. I doubt he'll be very forgiving."

The lieutenant nodded. "I just hope we don't have another CANTI incident." Kitsurabami nodded. "But that was different. There was sentimentality there. He feels nothing towards her but anger and revenge. I just hope he doesn't get pissed off enough to kill her."

"That's one lesson General Amarao learned the hard way." the younger girl said with a smile. She shared Kitsurabami's hatred for Amarao, but now that he's dead, they didn't have to worry about keeping their thoughts to themselves. "The robot had to be destroyed." Kitsuabami continued. "And he's getting paid a large sum of money for this job."

"The robot was destroyed, but the threat still returned..." the lieutenant said, lowering her voice so only Kitsurabami could hear. "Did the robot really need to be destroyed if it was going to happen anyway?"

"It would have happened sooner if we hadn't, and we would have fallen. We needed time to prepare, and the robot gave us that time."

"But, did we really have to send Agent N against his only friend?"

"Hold your tongue lieutenant." Kitsurabami said angrily. "I will not stand here and listen to you insult the Order by questioning our actions. I will strike you down." She looked at the girl. "...You're dismissed."

The younger girl looked down at the ground and muttered an apology before leaving the room. As soon as Kitsurabami was sure she was gone she let out a sigh. She hadn't meant to explode at the girl. She was under enough stress as it was, and insulting the Order had always been one of her pet peeves. She'd have to apologize later tonight. Besides, that's not the way you treat your girlfriend.

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