Yoji Enokido - FLCL

Finally free, Naota's body tumbled to the ground. Once he caught his breath, he called out "Mamimi!" Naota ran over to the fallen girl.

She'd lost consciousness. Given the circumstances, that was good.

The android looked as if it was trying to escape an enemy.

Its adversary still was moving. The freshly severed arm pushed itself along, using its five fingers like tentacles. Moving around on its fingers, the arm looked like it was imitating an octopus or a squid. With unbelievable speed, it distanced itself from the humanoid robot. The arm seemed to be preparing for a fight.

This creepy robotic life form still was ambulatory. And standing up straight, the arm measured about the same height as Naota.

Naota instantly saw that the humanoid robot was the prey, and the arm was the predator.

The android attempted to run away—but a few seconds later, it was tripped. The unseen attack must have been forceful, because the robot didn't get up to keep moving away. Persistently, the arm kept pursuing, thwarting all the android's escape attempts.

In medicine, a machine called an ESWL (Lithotriptor) provides noninvasive treatments for kidney stones by focusing high-intensity acoustic pulses that break up the stones. Such pulses seemed to be the arm's weapon, and it aimed that weapon at the areas where the android moved.

The bodies of both robots bore the same mark: It was the logo of MM, the medical machinery maker.

In one of the rooms at the MM Mabase factory, a siren still blared and a host computer continued transmitting "message received" signals.

Undeterred for a single second, battle reports flashed onscreen, one after another:

«MMR Class [K].001 ATOMSK flees into Mabase. 22:14

MMR Class [J] DH pursues and attempts to capture or damage fail. 22:16

Manipulator breaks off from DH and currently operates alone. Original 82% returns with the closing of FLCL; remaining 18% engages in battle in Mabase. 22:16.

Returning 82% issued code RH; remaining 18% issued code LH. 22:16.

LH uses Shockwave weapon. Engages in battle. 22:16.

Good luck to LH in executing battle strategy.»

LH, the arm, scuttled around, targeting the android's position.

Still holding Mamimi, Naota couldn't move. The area had turned into a battlefield.

The arm pointed a thin, threadlike laser toward Naota.

Shit!

Both combatants had ignored Naota and Mamimi up until then—but the arm must have noticed the two bystanders and was calculating how to deal with them now.

What should I do? Naota wondered.

It seemed crazy, but Naota could think of no other option but to jump into the river with Mamimi.

Right then, the humanoid robot—which had fled its pursuer until now—suddenly turned and attacked the arm. It attempted to destroy the enemy entirely with a single blow. As before, when it had fought the main portion of the arm, the force unleashed by the android was powerful.

However, the humanoid robot moved carelessly close to the arm.

Bright white sparks ran down the android's body, and the robot stopped as suddenly as if it had been deactivated. This time, it appeared to have absorbed a fatal hit. The smell of scorching metal was everywhere.

The arm laughed with an electrical noise.

In a grotesque, wriggling motion, the arm once again grabbed hold of the humanoid robot, ready to finish it off. It tried to crush the android with its powerful grip, a weapon in its own right. Creaks like screams came from the strangled robot, which tottered forward one step, then two.

Suddenly, the android's appearance changed. The navy blue body transformed instantly into a deep crimson color.

As though its demise had been merely a feint, the android snatched the arm, wrenched it away from its body, and smashed it into the pavement. It was a complete turnaround. Not giving the arm the slightest opportunity, the humanoid robot crushed the center of its opponent's palm beneath its metal foot—all within the space of a moment.

Sparks and an explosion followed.

Naota shielded Mamimi from the blast and the heat.

«[K] reacts to ATOMSK. Reason unknown. 22:19

LH movement stopped. Eliminated. 22:19

Awaiting further communication. 22:19»

The humanoid robot pulled apart the scrapped arm's defenses, and then it yanked out the machine component innards, ensuring the arm's utter destruction.

Could it be, Naota thought , it saved us?

It certainly felt like the arm had begun to come after Mamimi and Naota—and that was when the android suddenly had started to fight, as if it had been worried about them.

What is it?

The robot that had come out of Naota's head silently continued to dismantle the arm.

This robot came out of my head!

This is the robot that came out of my head!

Then, a roaring noise approached, and Naota recognized the terrible sound of a scooter's engine.

"Haruko?"

As he'd anticipated, the approaching headlights were those of a Vespa.

Guitar in hand, Haruko leapt off the bike and ran toward the humanoid robot. En route, she started up a hand-operated generator mounted on the back of her guitar.

As she lifted it, the guitar emitted bright energy and light. Of course, Naota had no idea it was actually a light-space-modifying weapon in the shape of a guitar.

"Uuuuaaaagggh!" With the beautiful stance of a professional baseball player, Haruko heaved the guitar toward the robot's head. Her aim was perfect.

It was the first time Naota had seen anyone with such an amazing swing—other than his brother. To the uninvolved viewer, her gorgeous attack was like part of a flawless dance.

Apparently, the android hadn't expected this new, fleshy opponent to appear, and it reacted a moment too late. Its TV-monitor head took a direct hit. Part of the monitor split apart, coughing out a small stream of smoke. For a few seconds yet, some muddy operating sounds were audible; then, the robot plopped down, as if it had lost the ability to move.

"Eh?" Haruko said, scanning the quiet surroundings, "Where is it?"

"What?" asked Naota, wondering why Haruko had attacked the robot.

Looking down at the bracelet on her left hand, Haruko seemed dissatisfied. She glanced around again. She was looking for something or someone.

"Why isn't it here?"

"What are you looking for?"

The outrageous girl looked Naota in the eye and moaned, telling him he was utterly useless.

Okay. Now, he understood. It was an amazing experience: Two robots coming out of his head, having a fierce battle, and so on. He realized that's not something every sixth grader got to see. A few days after all that happened, though, he still retained his belief that there wasn't anything amazing in this world. Who was the Japanese philosopher who had said perception and experience were different things? Back then, no matter what happened in front of him, it amounted to no more than something he happened to see. Don't hate him for that. Don't hate who he was back then. After all, he was but a child.

When Naota went to school the next day, he no longer wore a bandage across his forehead. The horn was absent for the time being, as well.

There is nothing amazing in this world. Everything is ordinary.

The robot that had been a horn now was kneading dough at the Shigekuni Bakery. The area of its head where Haruko had hit it still looked a little strange, but the robot could move again.

Commenting vaguely that they had picked up something useful, Kamon had put the robot to work.

"See you later," Naota had called to the robot on his way out.

Along Naota's route to school, Mamimi jumped out at him. She was sipping a canned beverage.

She had fainted the night before, so she didn't have a single memory of what had happened, and Naota didn't feel like explaining everything to her.