Hello once again everyone.
It's your friendly neighborhood BassDS bringing you the newest chapter to Star Lovers Ꝏ, and I do apologize for the wait on this, but on the bright side, at least I didn't make you all wait a year like last time.
I didn't intend to wait almost over a month going on two for this update, but I do have my reasons, and they're pretty valid. I've actually been working on a set of scripts for use next year, as I intend to roll the dice and see if they are in my favor by doing game reviews, something I've been inspired to do from watching others, and of course to find something I enjoy doing after having spent the last ten years lamenting what I want to do with my life, to have fun and share moments with others, and in conjunction with livestreaming sometime down the road, I feel good on this call, and with the scripts for my first four game reviews completed, hopefully it leads somewhere good in the end.
As for Star Lovers Ꝏ, don't worry about it, I've no intentions on abandoning this project at all; yes, there have been MANY hiccups and a few restarts over the past decade, the story I've devised has never left my mind, more so, I see these failed attempts as working my way to perfectly craft my story out, and like my eventual reviews, my aim is to sate the desire you all have for a good story.
That and the Star Force fandom on seems to be in hibernation apart from a few I've seen on here. It truly was a different place on here back in the late 2000's, that's for sure.
But, I've kept you waiting long, so for now, I bid you all goodbye and I hope you enjoy this latest continuation of Star Lovers Ꝏ.
Star Lovers Ꝏ: Part 1 - Beginnings
Chapter 2: The Calm
"Alright, where should we go first?" Geo asked as he and Sonia looked over the destinations on the bus route board.
"Well…how do you feel about having a little fun? See here?" Sonia responded as she pointed to a notice on the board.
The notice was promoting the opening of Twinkle Park, Geo had remembered when the project for the amusement park was announced; it was recently finished and built on a specially constructed pier that connected to Dream Island.
"Well, I have to admit, I've never been to an amusement park before. Could be fun." He replied in agreement.
"We've got about 6 minutes before the bus comes, so let's just relax here for a moment." Sonia motioned as she sat down on the bench with Geo following suit.
"So, hey…about you retiring again; Are you sure this is something you want to do?" asked Geo.
"Yea, I'm ready to relax and just live my life, I've accomplished so much in these few short years, likely more than anyone in their adult life. I've got my mother to thank for that. She pushed me to embrace something I had real talent in, but everything I did, every song I've composed, it's been for her. Even as she was dying, she wanted what was best for me, and I think deep down, she knew my music was what would secure my future after she was gone." Sonia lamented on her deceased mother.
"Well, you know what they say: mothers know best. Can't tell you how many times I've heard that." Geo retorted jokingly. "But, I think you're right. Your mom was looking out for you."
"I know, and I feel content with having been a musician, but now, I'm just ready to enjoy however long left in the world I have just, well being me, being able to live as a teenager for once. Guess you could say I'm overdue for a change of pace." She laughed. "Though I don't know what the future holds for me from this point on, but it doesn't scare me. As long as I know you'll always be a part of it. You're the first person I formed a Brotherband with, after all. You're my first real friend."
"But deep down, Geo, I want us to be more…"
"Sonia, you don't have to worry about any of that. I'll always be a part of your life, just like you'll always be an important part of mine." Geo reassured her.
"I want to tell you how important and special you are to me, Sonia…"
"Thanks…I'm glad to hear you say that. You don't know how much that means to me" Her soft eyes looked into his as everything just seemed to slow down for them, their hearts beating as they blocked everything else out.
They both wanted to say what was truly on their minds, but they couldn't muster the courage to do it.
Before long, a noise broke them both out of their trance as the horn of the bus rang out as it slowly approached the stop.
"Looks like our ride's here." Geo got up and moved to the opening door before he turned to look at Sonia. "Ladies first."
"My, such a gentleman." Sonia giggled as she stepped onto the bus with Geo following suit as they sat down in their seat.
"Just tell him what he really means to you…" Sonia thought as she darted her eyes from the window back to Geo.
"I need to tell her about these feelings; my feelings for her…" Geo's mind raced as he kept moving his eyes to catch glimpses of her.
"But why is it so hard to say these words?"
"But why is it so hard to say these words?"
The bus ride was awkwardly quiet between the two of them as they soon reached their destination and they looked out at the massive amusement park that sat perched on its man made island. Screams from those riding the rollercoaster filled the air, the laughter from the children on the carousel, spinning cups and other rides that filled the venue.
"It's…it's amazing." Sonia gazed out at the metropolis of fun that laid before them.
I'll back you up on that…" Geo added as he was mesmerized by its sheer size.
"Hello, hello!" Their attention soon snapped back to reality as a Mr. Hertz floated in front of them. "Welcome to Twinkle Park, park-goers! Entry costs 3000 Zenny per person, but don't fret, as to mark our grand opening, we have a special going on: all cute couples get in free! And if I must say, you sure do fit the bill!"
"Cute…" Sonia said with a tint of red in her face.
"Cute couples?" Geo murmured; somewhat shocked that a statement like that was made right in front of him and Sonia. He was finding it hard not to blush bright red in embarrassment himself.
Unbeknownst to the both of them, Mega and Lyra were up high on the wave road watching on, with the former almost bursting out in a fit of laughter at the scenario presented before them.
"Step right this way, and enjoy your time in Twinkle Park, cute couple!" The overly-happy Mr. Hertz states as it flew off to welcome other patrons into the park.
Geo was the first one to break the ice.
"Well, at least we don't have to pay to get in." He mustered a small chuckle.
"Yeah, well, that's one way of looking at it." Sonia uneasily laughed in response. "Let's go make the most of this chance then."
"Tactful, kid, REAL tactful." Mega groaned at the sight.
"Just give them time to sort it out themselves." Lyra rebuked.
"But it hurts just to watch things burn so slow." Mega complained. "I've been watching too many of those romantic soap operas…"
This instantly made Lyra bat an eye in curiosity "Excuse me?"
"Look, the kid's forgotten to wake me up to go to school with him a few times, so I'm stuck at home while Hope's watching the darn things on those days."
"I know humans say you learn something new everyday, but this? Well, first time for everything, I suppose, especially concerning you." Lyra could only response as best she could.
Cute couple.
Those words were still ringing in both Geo and Sonia's minds as they walked around the park.
Neither of them were sure of what to say.
This time Sonia broke the silence.
"Well, at least we got in free; saved us a couple thousand zenny." She chuckled nervously.
"Well, that is a plus. Well, what ride do you think you want to go for first?"
"How about…hmm, that one over there?" Sonia pointed to a sign that said Twinkle Circuit, a massive go-kart track strung about.
"Are you challenging me to a race?" Geo asked smugly.
"Maybe I am. Why, scared of getting beat?" Sonia shot back with a grin.
"You're on." Accepted Geo as they began to make their way toward the track.
At least now for the moment, their minds could focus on having a little bit of fun.
They couldn't prolong the emotions that would stir within them later when the day ended forever.
Inside of WAZA's server room, a portal slowly began opening as a female figure stepped out from within it before it closed behind them.
"Arrived at target location…now beginning data search." She uttered and moved toward the control panel as she brought a gloved hand to it; the console springing to life as streams of data began to feed through into the glove and transmitted to a private server.
"Excellent, Subject D-44…keep feeding the data back to me. The source code is bound to be within these files." The Doctor's voice echoed through her mind.
"Affirmative, Doctor…" she dully responded.
As the data continued to be downloaded, the female figure was unaware she wasn't the only one to occupy the room now.
"I'll give you some credit; you got guts for somehow breaking into here. Shame you didn't know about the silent alarm that the floor triggers if someone enters here without inputting an access code. I'm A.C. Eos with the Satella Police and I'm placing you under arrest, I'm giving you one warning; my blaster is set to stun, and I won't hesitate to use it, now why don't you turn around?" Ace emerged from the doorway, his blaster aimed toward her.
"I've primed the stun charge…fire if needed, Ace." Acid notified him from within the blaster.
The female turned around, revealing her white hair; short in the back with two long stands near her violet eyes, a small mark adorned her face below the right eye, consisting of a small red circle, a triangle with a curved bottom almost hugging the circle part of the mark with the tip pointing upwards on her cheek; a silver bodysuit clung to her form.
"D-44, abandon the mission; I cannot risk you getting captured. Return to base now." The Doctor's voice echoed through her mind.
She shifted around a bit, which prompted Ace to retaliate.
"That was your only warning!" Ace fired the stun blast, only for the female to quickly deflect the blast with her hand, then moved as the bangle on her hand began to glow and attempted to open a portal, but sensing that this couldn't be allowed, Ace fired a shot at her wrist, breaking the bangle off as it dropped to the floor before he retrained his blaster on her.
"There's no way out for you now, surrender. Don't do anything that'll make either one of us regret it." Ace proclaimed.
"I wanted to avoid this, but alas, it can't be helped. D-44, engage Ace long enough to for my Variants to come in order to provide a distraction for your escape." The Doctor instructed.
"Orders received….I will engage the target and await reinforcements to ensure the success of escape…" she replied as her empty eyes stared Ace down. She brought her hand up as an object began to materialize and take a form, reaching out and grabbing it as the light on its screen shone bright. "EM Wave Change activated…"
In a flash, EM waves slowly consumed her body, both hands had a metal ring clasp around her wrists, and EM waves began to converge over her hands and up to her elbows, glowing a light violet like her eyes, sleek violet armor covered her legs from the knees down, violet armor covered the front of her head, with two red marks crowned upon it, a clear-blue visor connected the head piece and ended with a pointed tip on each side, finally, the bodysuit turned pitch black, her chest glowing as the mark of Mu adorned the front. "Aether, ready for combat…"
"The Mark of Mu!?" This caught Ace off guard a bit. "Just who the heck are you?"
Aether enveloped herself in energy, and she soon launched up into the ceiling and out of the building.
"You're not getting away from me! Let's go, Acid!"
"Affirmative, just remember not to overexert yourself, Ace." Acid replied.
"Transcode 001: Acid Ace!"
Instantly, EM waves surrounded Ace as he transformed into his EM Wave Being state and gave chase after Aether, jumping between the adjacent wave roads that surrounded WAZA HQ.
"This is Ace; place the entire facility on lockdown; I've got eyes on the target that entered the server room; moving to apprehend the target now." Acid Ace notified back to HQ before he refocused his attention on Aether.
"I have my orders…I will await reinforcements, or I will destroy you here to ensure my escape." Aether said with an empty tone.
The sun was slowly beginning to set over Twinkle Park as the day started to end while Geo and Sonia walked along the pier near the sea.
"Today's been fun, hasn't it?" Sonia spoke up as they walked, her mind still recounting the words that was said to them when they encountered the welcoming Mr. Hertz. "I need to tell him how I feel…I don't know how long I can handle this weight that lays on my heart." She thought to herself.
"It has been, yes. I'm glad you convinced me to come out here with you today. It's been amazing." Geo replied as he glanced a few looks at her, slowly finding him admiring her beauty as the sunset's light glowed over her. "Has she always looked this beautiful? Something about Sonia is just…so radiant." He thought as he felt his heart beat in union with his thoughts, resonating with his feelings toward her. "I need to tell her, how I feel about her, but I don't…I don't want to damage our bond…"
"Should we take one more ride before we head home?" Sonia suggested, attempting to take her mind off of the feeling inside her.
"Well, feel like going up in the sky?" He pointed to the ferris wheel situated in the center of the park.
"Not a bad idea…we've gotten a rush from all the other rides today. Something calm sounds like the perfect way to end the day." Sonia agreed and the two began to make their way over to the line and waited their turn until an open car stopped at the dock to allow them to board.
Mega and Lyra appeared on top of the car as they watched the two board the car, with Mega intent on seeing what would transpire, as for Lyra, she begrudgingly followed along, partly to keep an eye on the mutt, and to see what Sonia would do.
"And now we wait and see what happens." Mega grin.
"You are so incorrigible, you know that?" Lyra said with an exasperated tone.
They both sat down on the seat as the door closed behind them and began to move for a good bit before stopping to allow another car to be filled. The act of the wheel stopping made the car they occupied sway a bit, causing Sonia to slide on the seat and collide against Geo.
"Easy there…" Geo said as his hands gripped Sonia's arms to support her, causing their faces to blush lightly at the slight involuntary contact.
"Th-thank you…" Sonia replied as she did her best to avoid showing her blush. Geo helped her sit back up against as the wheel had all it's cars filled and be set for its usual several rotations.
Slowly, their car began to reach the top as the wheel turned, and soon they were faced with a falling sunset as its dimming light shined over the water's surface.
"It looks so beautiful out there…" Sonia commented as they looked out to the horizon.
"Yeah, it does, but…" Geo began to say before stopping mid-sentence. He felt the reluctance to speak slowly suffocating him. "Sonia, listen…I've got something I've been meaning to talk to you about." He finally got out. Geo was prepared to throw all caution to the wind. Even if Sonia didn't feel the same about him, he needed to lift this from his conscious.
"To be fair…I need to talk to you as well;" Sonia admitted before continuing. "It's practically the whole reason I even asked you to join me out here today. I just…" she hesitated, trying to find the right words to convey her feelings properly without trying to alienate him.
The pressure had built up in both of them, and they couldn't take it anymore; it was now or never to get things out into the open.
Unfortunately, the moment was dashed by the ringing coming from their Hunters. Instantly, they brought them out and opened the Air Display to see Jack on the other end.
"Well, didn't expect to find you both at once." Jack joked as his voice echoed from both displays. He had grown a bit taller over the years and his hair sleeked down much more with a bang adorning his forehead.
"Ok, that sounds a bit annoying." Sonia said as she closed out her display and looked on to Geo's as they spoke to their caller.
"Jack, is everything okay?" Geo asked with concern.
"Well, if you think having someone break into WAZA and sending the entire place on lockdown, yeah, I'd say everything's far from okay." He retorted. "We don't know why someone broke into the place and tried taking data files from the server room, all I know is that Ace is out there right now tracking them down, and he could use some help out there. And just for the record, I KNOW he can hold his own, but my sister asked me to get you out there to help him. You know how she is, especially after the little scavenger hunt to reconstruct his body."
"Do you know where he's at?" Sonia interjected.
"I'll send you the coordinates, just try to get there as fast as you can to help. Anyone who was able to breach our defenses is likely bad news. Not to mention who knows what they were looking for." Jack replied.
"We got it." Geo responded as he closed the call. "Well, not the best way to end the night, but let's do what we can to help." He said as he looked to her.
"Hey, no argument here. Let's get over there." Sonia replied.
Before long, the car reached the dock as they opened the door and starting dashing out, with Mega and Lyra giving chase.
"I take it we got something going on judging by that call?" Mega asked as he entered the Hunter.
"You were watching…ugh, nevermind, we'll talk LATER." Geo groaned at his partner's actions.
"I'm sorry, Sonia…" Lyra said as she appeared in Sonia's Hunter.
"It's ok, Lyra, once this is behind us, I'll tell him. I have to." She murmured back.
The two of them got far from the dissipating crowd before making sure the coast was clear.
"You ready?" asked Geo.
"It's been a while, but always." She smiled back.
"Transcode 003: Mega Man!"
"Transcode 004: Harp Note!"
Chapter 2 END