Chapter 10

Luna looked up from her Transer as Sonia approached. Jumping down from the steps of Vista Point's observation deck, she stepped forward and said, "You're late!"

Sonia shrugged and walked past her. "You're early."

"I decide what's late, and I say you're late!"

Sonia laughed and turned back to look at Luna. "Whatever you say, Prez."

Luna crossed her arms and turned away.

"How have you been? Are your parents doing better?"

Luna drooped a bit. "They're back to their daily lives. The doctors say there's no indication of any permanent damage, just a little soreness that might linger a few more days."

"I'm glad."

Sonia leaned forward against the railing, and Luna leaned back against the portion of the deck right beneath her. The latter looked up, saying, "They think it was just a dream. I mean, they know that the snakes got out, but they think me transforming and attacking them was some hallucination brought on by the poison. Still…they actually listened. They don't want to transfer me anymore, and they're actually asking me what I want now. It's like they finally see me as a person."

"That's great!"

Luna looked at the ground. "Yeah…"

Sonia leaned further forward. "…But?"

"…Shouldn't I tell them? It wasn't a dream. I feel like I'm lying to them…like I'm still going about this the wrong way."

"Oh."

After thinking for another moment, Sonia said, "From what I know, it sounds like both you and your parents did bad things to each other, and there's been a lot of pain on both sides. But, if your parents want to put that behind them, then it might be okay for you to do the same."

Luna shook her head.

"Look at it this way: even if they think it was a dream, they still remember the things you did, and they reacted by trying to change. They forgave you, Luna, and decided to make up for what they've done. It would be difficult to explain what really happened, but even if you could, I don't think it would change their decision."

"…So then…I shouldn't stop them from trying to make up for it if that's what they want to do. But, I should try to make up for what I've done too." Luna smiled. "Maybe I was overthinking it a bit."

Sonia flicked Luna's head lightly. "Yeah, maybe a bit."

Luna waved her hand away. "Cut that out! Geez, are all my Brothers going to be trouble?"

Sonia snickered and retreated a bit.

"How are things with you?"

"Well, my manager seems to have moved on, and the letters have slowed down. The pressure's really letting up."

"Good. What about that other FM-ian?"

Sonia frowned. "Still no sign of him. I'm starting to get a little paranoid."

"A little?" Lyra repeated.

Sonia rolled her eyes. "Okay, really paranoid. But you're the one who keeps building him up, Lyra."

"I'm sorry, dear, I only want you to be prepared. Truthfully, with how much work you've put into mastering the Star Force, I think we'll actually do quite well."

"That's right," Luna said, "there's no way you'll lose to this Gemini creep!"

"Thanks." Sonia sighed, sitting down on one of the steps. "I'd still like to avoid a fight if I could. No matter how bad Gemini might be, I can't believe he's beyond all hope."

Luna's eyes lit up. "Ah, you're so cool, Harp Note! You could knock him flat but you'd rather show him compassion!"

Sonia scratched her head. "I-It's not really that cool, I just..."

She gave up trying to finish the thought when she saw Geo coming up the hill. She waved to him, noticing he seemed to be in an extremely good mood.

"You're late!" Luna barked.

"Sorry," Geo said, "I wasn't able to catch the first bus. I had to ask Pat about something, and I wanted to do it before I lost my nerve."

"Hm? Ask him something?"

"Well…"

"The kid wants to become Brothers with him," Mega interrupted.

Sonia got to her feet. "You asked him to be Brothers? Really?"

Geo nodded sheepishly.

"Well, what did he say?"

"He said he wanted some time to think about it," Geo answered. "I should find out tomorrow."

Luna raised an eyebrow. "Huh? Why does he need to think about it? You two are practically joined at the hip already."

"It has something to do with his secret," Geo said, his grin fading. "He thinks I'll hate him when I find out what it is. I told him there's no way I could hate him, but he's still kind of hesitant."

"He thinks you'll hate him?" Sonia said. "That's weird. What kind of secret could that be?"

Geo's face set with determination. "Whatever it is, it won't bother me. I really care about Pat, and I'm glad he's even considering being Brothers with me. He can take all the time he wants."

Luna said, "You say that, but you seem awfully eager. I don't think I've ever seen you this happy."

"You should have seen him on the bus ride over here," Mega said. "The kid's ready to burst!"

Geo's face melted into a grin again. "Well, of course I'm excited!"

"I'm happy for you, Geo!" Sonia said. "I hope Pat accepts."

As the conversation continued, Sonia drifted back a bit, until Lyra whispered, "What an odd thing to say. 'If you know my secret, you'll hate me.' Correct me if I'm wrong, but Pat was the one who punched that Bud child right before Taurus arrived, was he not?"

"That's the way I remember it too. Given that, I'm a little worried."

"You think he might attack Geo?"

"I don't really have a reason to think that he will…"

She looked over to Geo. His face was covered in a huge grin, and he was laughing powerfully at something Luna had said.

"…And I just can't bring myself to say anything."

"But you can't let it go either, can you?"

"No. So, if he does go to see Pat tomorrow, then…maybe we should follow him, just in case."

"I completely agree. If anything should happen, poor Geo will probably be too stunned to respond, and we can't exactly trust that bumbling Omega-Xis to look after the boy on his own."

Sonia adjusted her guitar strap. "Yeah. I really, really hope I'm wrong…"

Sonia cautiously peeked out from behind a building, staying totally silent and being sure not to go so far that Geo saw her. Pat had called him this morning and asked him to come to a place called Dream Island, a city built on top of an ocean landfill, and Sonia had followed using the Wave Road so she could keep an eye on him. Luna had wanted to come too, but Sonia had convinced her it would be better for her to stay behind.

Geo was waiting on a bench not far from the bus stop—Sonia watched from behind a nearby electronics shop.

"Here he comes," Lyra said.

Sonia pulled back as Pat made his way up the street, fidgeting nervously. Geo sprang up when he saw him, stumbling forward a few steps before finding his balance, and then he took a deep breath, smiled, and waved.

"Were you waiting long?" Pat said as he came to a stop.

"No, I just got here!"

Pat chuckled. "You seem a little anxious."

"Ah, yeah, a little…"

"It's okay—I'm nervous too. This is my first time becoming Brothers with someone, so…um…" Pat gulped.

"Hey, no sweat! There's nothing to it!"

"Right. So…the first thing we do is tell each other our biggest secret, right?"

Sonia took another step back.

"Don't stray too far, dear," Lyra said.

"Well, I don't want to eavesdrop," Sonia whispered. "Hearing Pat's secret without him knowing would be wrong. I only need to keep them in my sight, I don't have to listen."

Lyra sighed. "It might not be necessary either way. Pat seems on-edge, but if I had to guess I would say it's just a simple case of jitters."

"Yeah…probably."

Geo cleared his throat. "You know, Pat, you don't have to tell me your secret if you don't want to. I don't want to force you into anything."

Pat shook his head. "I know. But it's okay: I've decided I want to tell you everything, because…I trust you, Geo."

Geo grinned.

Pat clenched his fists. "Okay. Here's my secret…I have—"

Suddenly he lurched. Pulling his arms around himself, he grunted, "Oh no…no, no, why now?!"

Sonia's eyes widened. No…Geo!

Geo, unsure how to react, asked, "Pat? What's wrong?"

Pat grunted a few more times before finally falling still. He straightened his spine, lowered his arms, and smiled. There was a new look in his eye, and for some reason Geo felt incredibly uneasy.

"Heheh…nothing's wrong," Pat said. "Come on, Geo. Let's be Brothers."

"Sonia," Lyra said, "he's putting off a loneliness wave now."

Sonia closed her eyes. "It wasn't there before?"

"No. It's strange, almost as if he's become a completely different person. But the person there now has definitely been taken over by an FM-ian. I'm so sorry."

Geo tentatively reached out. Then he was pulled back by his left arm, scrambling to stay on his feet. "Huh?! Mega, what are you doing?"

Clutching her guitar tightly, Sonia stepped out onto the street. "Stay away from him, Geo!"

Geo looked up, confused. "What? Sonia?"

"That's not Pat, kid," Mega said. "And whoever he is, he's not alone!"

Pat looked over his shoulder at Sonia. Then he turned back to Geo and laughed. "Well, you're right: I'm definitely not alone. You may as well come out now!"

Sonia put on her Visualizer. Hesitantly, Geo did the same. Floating beside Pat was a large mass of yellow energy with two masks floating atop it, one black, one white.

"It's about time," the FM-ian said. "I was beginning to get bored."

"Gemini!" Lyra shouted. "I'm over here! If you want the Andromeda Key, you'll have to-"

"I'll deal with you in time," Gemini said. "First, my partner here has some unfinished business that must be attended to."

Geo stepped back. "Pat, what's going on? Why are you with Gemini?"

"I told you, kid: that's not Pat!" Mega insisted.

"You're both right," Gemini said. "You see, this child suffers from a form of dissociative identity disorder. Within his mind are both the docile personality you call Pat, and the one you see before you now…Rey."

"What do you think, Geo?" Rey said. "Bet you never thought the guy you wanted to Brother with could be like this!"

Geo furrowed his brow. "I…don't understand…"

"How clear do I hafta make it? We already told you how our parents abandoned us. Being tossed out like that, like we were nothing more than garbage…one person can only take so much trauma. Pat couldn't handle all that pain and hate, so his brain created me as a way of dealing with it."

"I…I thought you said you didn't hate your parents?"

"That was Pat, idiot! Me, Rey, I'm nothing but hate! I'm the one who carries the burdens my pushover brother can't cope with."

After pausing to grin, Rey continued, "And boy am I feelin' good today! You know how much anguish he's been in because of you, Geo ol' pal? He was finally takin' my advice and stayin' away from folks, but then you showed up and he let his guard down! Liked you so much he was able to keep me down for a long time, and he even wanted to be Brothers with you! But, there was one big secret he had, something he knew you'd hate him over, and the thought of losing you sent boatloads of strength my way! Which is pretty fitting, I'd say…because that secret? It's me."

Geo was still reeling, but he tried his best to follow. "S-So…you're the reason Pat was scared to be my Brother? He thought I'd hate him when I found out about you?"

"You're startin' to catch on! Come on, don't act so surprised—just look at ya! Quaking in fear of this side of your 'friend' you knew nothing about. We were right all along! This is the only way you coulda reacted, learnin' that we're an incomplete human."

Rey grunted. His face twisted and he leaned forward, and a moment later he said, "G…Geo…"

"Pat? Is that you?"

"Geo…I'm so sorry…I didn't want…this…"

He grunted, throwing his head back. "Pipe down! I keep tellin' you, this is what's best! You gotta trust me! You know I'm only doing this for you!"

Rey gasped. His body seemed to calm down.

"You know I'm right," Rey said. "Revenge is the only thing that can heal us now. Heh…at least one good thing came from you gettin' so close to this guy."

Turning, he said, "Gemini told me what we can do with the Key his friend has. You did good, bro. You brought everyone into just the right spot, and now, we can finally fulfill our dream!"

Nobody moved. Eventually, Rey winced, and his face softened as Pat took over.

"I'm sorry, Geo…it just hurts too much…"

Geo stared in disbelief as Pat's resigned gaze gave way to Rey's vicious snarl.

"That's more like it! Okay Gemini, time to kick this off for real!"

Gemini laughed. "As you wish."

As Gemini moved to envelop Rey, he held his Transer up. "EM Wave Change! Rey Sprigs and Pat Sprigs, On The Air!"

Sonia blinked as they radiated a yellow flash. When she opened her eyes, two figures were standing up on the Wave Road, each wearing armor similar in style to Mega Man's but sleeker, and with smaller helmets over their shaggy orange hair. One wore white, and the other black; each had a shell of golden armor over one arm, the left arm of the one wearing white and the right arm of the one wearing black. The one in black looked down with a cruel smirk, while the one in white refused to look at her.

"Two of 'em?!" Mega remarked.

"I don't believe it," Lyra said. "Gemini…somehow, he managed to transform both of them."

"Hey, you!" Rey called. "I know you've got the Andromeda Key, so you may as well hand it over!"

Mustering her composure, Sonia said, "I'm not going to do that!"

Rey shrugged. "Well okay then. Guess you won't mind if we do something like this!"

Holding out his armored hand, Rey produced a group of black orbs emblazoned with a '-' symbol, and they each flew off in pairs and scattered over the area. Two settled on a couple nearby, and they immediately moved away from each other and began to argue.

"Gyahaha! See how quick people are to tear into each other? They were Brothers, even! Looks like those precious relationships aren't worth a whole lot in the end!"

Geo looked up at Pat. He met his gaze for a moment, but then he turned towards Rey.

"Rey, what are we going to do?"

Rey looked over his shoulder. "Eh? Oh, right. Not enough time to brief you on the plan, so just stay close to me, alright bro?"

He shrugged at Sonia again, and then turned and ran down the Wave Road, Pat staying right beside him.

"They're heading into that junkyard," Lyra said. "Dear, we mustn't fall too far behind!"

Sonia glanced at the couple. "What about them?"

"This is one of Gemini's powers. Sometimes I can deal with them, but now that he's Wave Changed, I'm afraid the only way we'll be able to get rid of them is by separating him from his host."

Sonia nodded. "I guess we don't have much of a choice. Geo!"

Geo was still staring blankly in the direction they had gone. "…Pat…"

Sonia walked over, placing a hand on Geo's shoulder. "Geo…I'm sorry, but I'm going to need your help. I know this is a shock, but—"

Geo pulled away. "You want me to fight Pat?"

"If it helps, I'll fight Pat while you fight Rey."

"What does it matter? It's still Pat."

"No, it isn't. Well…not exactly…"

Geo covered his face. "I can't believe this…why did I get close to him in the first place? Why did I go through all this, just for him to betray me?"

Sonia stepped in front of him. "Betray you? Geo, that's not it at all! I know it's hard to understand, but Pat is sick. He's being eaten up by his own pain, just like everyone else we've had to face—just like we were not too long ago! Were you trying to betray people when you were hurting? Or were you just trying to find a way to stop the pain?"

Geo slowly slid his hands away. His face was wet.

"He's desperate, and letting himself be controlled by that feeling. And if we don't stop him, he's going to try to inflict that pain on other people, and that'll only make him hurt even more. You know how Luna still regrets what she did—we have a chance to stop Pat from feeling that!"

"I don't know if I can," Geo said. "I've fought other people, but Pat is…"

He shook his head. Sonia grabbed his arms and looked him in the eye.

"Geo. I know it's difficult, and if there was anyone else who I thought could handle it, I'd ask them. But you're the only one strong enough to help me."

"I'm not that strong!"

"Yes, you are! And right now, you're the only one who can share their strength with Pat! That's what he needs: he needs you to help him! He needs you to face your hurt, so you can show him how to face his! That's what we do, Geo. We fight these people so that we can save them when no one else can."

Geo looked down.

"…I know it's easier to avoid the pain. I know, and I've spent so much time doing nothing but distracting myself, and there are times when you just need to ignore everything else and let yourself hurt for a while. But the reason you do that is to build up your strength so that you can face the pain, because that's the only way you'll ever really heal. I wish I could give you time to hurt, Geo, my gosh, I really wish that I could."

Above them, more black orbs were flying out from the junkyard, spreading out over the island and shooting across the sea.

"But we don't have time. I'll give you all the strength I can, and I believe you'll be able to find your own strength faster than you realize. It's terrible that we have to do this, Geo…but the good thing is, we can do it."

Geo looked up at the orbs. He removed his Visualizer and wiped his eyes with his sleeve, and then he took a breath and nodded.

"I'll try."

Sonia readied her guitar. "Thank you. Let's Wave Change and go after them!"

"Actually, dear, I'd recommend waiting a moment," Lyra suggested. "Take a look around."

Sonia carefully scanned the area's Wave Road. Now that she was looking, she could pick out at least a dozen Jammers hiding along it, each one eyeing her and Geo while trying (and failing) to seem inconspicuous.

"Rats," she muttered.

"Come on, we can take 'em!" Mega said.

"Mega, dear, this is Gemini we're talking about," Lyra said. "We need to save our strength."

"I'm sure there's another Wavehole around here somewhere," Sonia said. "If the Jammers still follow us, we'll deal with them then."

After checking to make sure Geo was coming, she walked into the junkyard and surveyed the area. Mounds of garbage lined the path on all sides, nearly obscuring the giant incinerator hiding behind it all, and the Wave Road hovered just out of reach of the numerous backhoes littered about. Pat and Rey could be seen farther in, Rey still scattering more orbs into the sky.

"That's odd," Lyra said.

"What do you mean?" Sonia said as she pushed on.

"Why didn't they keep going? I know they want to fight us over the Andromeda Key, but this location is so near the last that it doesn't make sense to move between them, unless…"

The sound of trash shifting caught her attention.

"Oh no. Sonia, it's a trap!"

"Huh?"

Sonia turned around. Several people emerged from behind the garbage and moved to block the path to the entrance, each of them wearing a suit and trench coat. Pivoting, she saw the same sight all around, her feet slowing to a halt as she realized that they were now surrounded.

"Are these people being controlled by those orbs?"

Rey stopped what he was doing and walked closer. "Nope, we can't get that much control. Heheh…I want to see the look on your face when you realize what's really going on."

Geo stepped forward, calling, "Pat!"

Pat ignored him, staying right where he was.

Sonia took another look at the ones who had ambushed them. Something about the way they were dressed seemed familiar, but the answer wasn't quite coming to her. She squinted, trying to make out the insignia one of them had on their coat sleeve—a Satella Police badge, if she was not mistaken. And that was when everything made sense.

"Yep, that's a priceless look," Rey commented.

"These people are all Satella Officers!" Sonia said.

"But, why would NAZA send them here?" Geo asked.

Sonia clenched her fists. "Walters…"

Two officers parted to make way for another. Detective Copper advanced towards the children, his expression one of the grimmest they had ever seen. He stood in front of them, closed his eyes for a moment, and then glared at Sonia.

"We thank you for all you've done, Harp Note," he said. "However, by the authority of NAZA, I hereby order you to cease and desist. You are to hand over the Andromeda Key…to Gemini."

Sonia glared back at him. She could feel her skin burning. "What?"

"We gave you ample warning."

"You said you were going to try to make me stop. I never expected you'd tell me to hand the Key over to the FM-ians!"

"Harp Note, I—"

"What was all this for, then? Why do you think I kept fighting them all this time? And now you want that all to go to waste? To give them exactly what they came here for?"

"We gave you a chance to end as many FM-ian menaces as you could! There is nothing more to be done now; you must allow the Satella Police to do their job."

Sonia filled her lungs. In an instant, she grabbed Copper by the collar and pulled him in, shouting, "Your job is to help the people of Earth! Explain to me how you think you'll be doing that by letting an invading force reclaim their most powerful weapon!"

Something collided with her shoulder. Pain surged through her entire body suddenly, making her shake and fall to the ground. She could hear the crackle of electricity, and maybe Geo calling out to her, but aside from that all her senses went dull for a few long moments. Soon it passed, and she looked up at one of the officers as he returned something to the holster at his waist.

Copper's eyes were wide now. When he didn't respond, the voice of Gemini stepped in for him. "Foolish girl. Do you really think anyone on this miserable little planet has the means of protecting it from the FM-ians for long? It was only a matter of time before you failed, and that is why NAZA sent a message our way. 'We surrender. Please allow us to negotiate for the continued existence of our species.'"

Sonia pushed herself up with her elbows. "You mean…Walters gave up before even trying?"

"He's quite an intelligent human, that Walters. That's why, when I received the message, I persuaded the FM King to consider his request. With the research NAZA had gathered on us, he knew that we needed hosts when functioning on planets without strong EM waves, so he proposed that the human race be kept alive…so that the FM-ians would have a reliable source of material hosts."

Gemini laughed. "I've seen many things in this galaxy, but a man willingly offering his entire planet into servitude was new to me! It was such an interesting request that I immediately transmitted it to the FM King. Alas, even with my sway, I could not convince him to spare the entire human race."

As Sonia was shakily getting to her feet, Lyra asked, "Why do I find it so hard to believe you actually tried?"

"Oh, believe what you will, Lyra, it really makes no difference. You see, the FM King has decided that Earth has simply done us such wrong that to let it go would be a blemish upon our reputation. However, he does honor the wisdom of NAZA's surrender, and as a reward, he will allow a small number of you to live. We shall take as many as we can to the safe haven of Planet FM…before unleashing Andromeda upon the rest of you."

Sonia looked up at Rey. "…There's something I still don't understand. Obviously you told NAZA to come stop me at some point. Why didn't you have them do this sooner? Why wait until after I had already defeated so many FM-ians?"

Gemini chuckled. "It was something of a back-up plan, really. I had no way of knowing that you'd do so phenomenally well, child, and if one of the others killed you and took the Key then there'd be no need to get so many humans involved."

Her gaze started to harden into a glare. "You had a way you were sure would stop me…you could have stopped me before your allies risked their lives to accomplish that same goal…and you let them do it anyway? Even after some of them had already died?"

"I see. You're asking why I didn't save them, is that it?"

"You had a chance to keep them out of danger, and you didn't take it! Doesn't that bother you?"

"Why should it? I admit, I may have seen an opportunity to remove some…troublesome rivals. Is it really so bad that I took advantage of that?"

"It's despicable!" Sonia yelled.

Another officer drew their weapon, and she was stunned once more.

"Hmph," Gemini scoffed. "Despicable, you say?"

"You didn't need to wait for a chance," Sonia hissed through her teeth, doing her best to ignore the pain. "You had your plan, you had your host…but you actually wanted the others to die…!"

Gemini sighed. "You know, I'm really growing quite tired of this. Human! Please wrap things up now, won't you?"

Copper looked up for a moment, and then turned back to Sonia. Slowly, he held out his hand, saying, "In the name of NAZA…I order you to turn over the Andromeda Key."

Sonia kept her eyes on the pavement.

"…We will have the Key." Copper gestured to one of the officers. They drew their weapon and pointed it at Geo.

Pat started forward. "Geo!"

Rey stopped him. "Relax, Pat! It'll all pay off soon enough."

"Wait, no!" Sonia said. She tried to stand, but her limbs gave out. "No, don't hurt him!"

Rey laughed. Gemini said, "This is why you should never rely on others for power. If you hadn't brought him here, he wouldn't be facing this danger now. And you think that I'm the one who doesn't value others' safety!"

The officer fired. Geo's left arm was yanked back, narrowly saving him from the discharge.

"Look at this," Gemini said. "Even Omega-Xis has gone soft."

"Hey," Rey called down, "much fun as this is, I believe Gemini told you to wrap up!"

Copper flinched. He raised one hand high, and every officer present readied their weapons.

"I'm…never giving you the Key!" Sonia said. "There's no way I—"

"Sonia."

She turned to her guitar.

"Sonia…you've helped me so much, dear, but…I can't ask you to do this."

Lyra left the guitar, appearing on the Wave Road directly above Sonia and Geo.

Now able to stand again, Sonia shouted, "Lyra! Don't!"

Lyra held out both hands. There was a burst of pink flame between them, and then it faded to reveal a massive key with an orange handle flanked by two angular green protrusions.

With a long sigh, she held it forward. "You win, Gemini. The Andromeda Key is yours."