SonicANIME2010 here, bringing in another chapter to Sonic the Hedgehog0: Lyrical Familiar; the Little Planet arc, I'll try to be careful on how I play this one out in comparison to Knight of the Night Sky; it'll be similar, but different; here we go! Usual disclaimers apply.
[Earth: Japan]
[South Island: Never Lake]
[Time: 0450 hours]
[BGM: "Little Planet" Sonic CD (JP/EU)]
The large lake in South Island known as Never Lake held an aura of mystery about it. Little was known about the lake; aside from the urban legend spread about from the local animal population around South Island. It was said that for a month of every year, a "planet" would appear over the large lake. The planet would just float above the lake for a month before disappearing for the rest of the year. Its name was unknown to all, but most have taken to calling it "Little Planet" due to its size or "Miracle Planet due to its rare presence and anomaly.
The sun had yet to even grace Never Lake with its rising glow when the anomaly known as "Little Planet" had appeared. It arrived in a flash of light that would've rendered anyone who dared to look momentarily blind. When the light subsided, there it was; Little Planet, stabilized in float aside from a slight rotation that came.
The planet was a beautiful sight for any who would give it a glance. A majority of the planet's surface was water, clean and pure. The landmasses were a few, but diverse, ranging from a few mountain-based volcanoes and desert-based cacti to the palm trees of the tropical coast. It had a slight rotation on its axis and an aura of mystery much like the lake it was floating above.
The sudden appearance of Little Planet had woken up a fair number of the Lake's inhabitants. Among one of those was the young pink hedgehog; and much like some 7 year old girls, she didn't quite approve of her beauty rest being so rudely interrupted. It was understandable, though, as the sounds were loud and echoing throughout the area and the light threatened to assault her eyes had they been opened.
"Mou…" The pink girl groaned as she stirred awake, her gloved hand fingering the grip of her large hammer, "Whoever decided to wake me up this early in the morning is in for a world of hurt…"
She didn't get much further along that line of thought, however, when she caught a glimpse of the sight before her. In disbelief, she rubbed her eyes wider to make sure she wasn't hallucinating. That "planet" certainly wasn't there last night; she was sure of that. Needless to say, the pink hedgehog was almost speechless.
"Pretty…" she said in awe and found herself staring at such a sight. Though she was still tired and sluggish from her early awakening, her mind was still able to make the connections to her memory.
"This must be the unknown realm" The hedgehog observed, looking back briefly to her recent tarot card reading, "This is where my adventure begins…"
[Little Planet: "Collision Chaos" Zone]
[BGM: "Little Planet" Sonic CD (JP/EU)]
Little Planet, despite being a world of mystery in of itself, didn't boast of much in the way of population aside from the local animals and plant life. The planet had regions that had evidenced of a technological development, but no reasoning behind how it was possible. The animals weren't sentient like the rare ones on South Island, and the planet was devoid of humans. That didn't mean Little Planet was incapable of supporting human life, as its lone sentient example was living proof of that.
A young girl took in the sight of the rising sun as it graced the land of her home. She stood from the top of a casino which overlooked a mechanized forest. The girl was somewhat shorter than the average human of her age and had long, golden-blonde hair which had a portion tied into twin-tails with sky-blue hair ties. They were tied to separate the hair tails from the rest of her hair which flowed down to where it just graced the small of her back. Perhaps it was for a dramatic effect, but the wind blew by in a way that played with her hair.
The girl's outfit was cute and girly, but not overly so; a white sleeveless top with a dark blue collar and a sky-blue necktie that matched with her hair ties. She donned a pair of blue wristbands on her hands that matched the blue of her collared shirt. Her shoulders were bare aside from a sky-blue ribbon tied to her left shoulder just at the bicep. She had worn a white-blue short skirt with a bluish-green skirt miniskirt over it. Attached to her skirt at the waist was a blue waist-cape that flared out into two points and had insignias of stars at her hips. On her feet were blue tennis shoes and above her right ankle was a matching blue ribbon tied up.
In her hands was a pair of matching pistols that looked almost as threatening as water guns. The grips of the pistols were sky-blue to match with the ribbons and had a pair of greenish ribbons attached to the butts. The barrels were a whitish-silver but the remainder parts of the guns were black.
The girl's face would've drawn the most attention. From the way she appeared, she had a resemblance to Fate. She had the same eyes, crimson red, but they glimmered with youthful innocence, adventure and maybe a dash of mischief. She had that aura about her that would make anyone cheerful.
"Looks like we're back to civilization again" The girl spoke with a voice much alike Fate's, though with more confidence and energy, "And this time, we will break free of this home and move on; ne, Lucky Star?"
"Yes, Sir!" came the reply from her left-hand pistol. The voice held a striking resemblance to Bardiche with that baritone, albeit lighter.
The girl giggled a little in joy from her device's reply. Sadly, her joy was dimmed when she saw several shadows looming over her head. Upon looking upwards, she could see what appeared to be the shadow of a male, fat human riding a scooter of sorts with countless shadows of robots behind him.
"Is that… an egg?" The girl thought out loud in observation, comparing the odd looking individual to an egg.
"Sir! Danger is close!" Lucky Star cautioned the young girl, "Caution is advised."
"Mou… Never can get a break, can I?" The girl sighed in exasperation and glanced at the intruders one more time before vacating her position, "Well, might as well have some fun."
[OP: "Innocent Starter" Nana Mizuki]
Sonic the Hedgehog: Lyrical Familiar
Chapter 17
Once Upon a Planet
[South Island: Never Lake]
[Local Time: 0550 hours]
[No BGM]
A certain pink hedgehog had left the lake for a few minutes to fetch some breakfast before returning. She was still surprised by the sight of Little Planet, but was relieved that it didn't go anywhere when she had to answer the call of her hunger. In her mindset, Little Planet's presence matched the sudden appearance of the mysterious realm in where her adventure would begin.
"Oh… Sonic…" the pink hedgehog dreamily sighed, thinking about her hero and target of her affections. Whether it was a young girl's innocent crush or not was yet to be determined, "How I've longed to meet you. Ever since I first saw you"
The pink hedgehog thought back several months ago. It was on the same day that Doctor Eggman first started his conquest on South Island. She could remember being surrounded by robots and having no place to go; the blue blur dismantling all of the robots in one shot, and her only glimpse at Sonic the Hedgehog.
"How long has it been since? Months? I've lost count…" The pink girl lamented with a soft sigh, "I can't wait to see him again and get to thank him for saving me…
"Still, if Sonic's going to be up there then I should too" the pink girl's chain of thought finally led to her dilemma, "But how do I get up there? I can't fly"
A loud explosive boom snapped the hedgehog from her thoughts. The front half of the widest mountain close to the shoreline of the lake exploded; what was left of it was what appeared to be a rock formation in the shape of Doctor Eggman's face with the cartoonish, funky moustache sticking out. A chain suddenly shot out from the middle of the face's teeth and attached itself to the planet above the lake.
"Uh… okay…" The pink hedgehog wasn't quite sure what to think of what just happened and found herself scratching her head to figure it out, "That was weird…"
She watched as ground-based robots started to roll their way up the chain and toward the planet above. That was important to the girl because she wasn't nearly as heavy as the mechs. Her mind was already at work in figuring out a way to use the chain to her advantage.
"I don't need to fly, I'll just use this chain" The girl squealed in delight over her spectacular idea being formulated. Determination filling her steps, she quickly started for the chain, "Just you wait Sonic."
[Little Planet: "Metallic Madness" Zone]
[Time: 0630 hours]
[BGM: "Metallic Madness ~Present" Sonic CD (JP/EU)]
Doctor Eggman spent the good part of the past hour overseeing the tasks he assigned for his robots from his new base on the Planet. It didn't take him long for his intellect to figure out some of the secrets of Little Planet and applied them to his machines. The planet had its own sense of "time"; and it had three sets of "worlds" varied by the time. Within seconds, one could travel to the past, present or possible future of a particular zone, just by utilizing the signs spread out through the zone. He also had solved a problem with the power supply for his robots. He was able to extract seeds from the very soil of Little Planet and use them to power his machines.
"Perfect!" The doctor shouted in glee, "I can use the signs in these zones to travel to the past and place my teleport devices there. Robots will come from my base deep in South Island and overrun the past and, in effect, present of each zone.
"So long as I can rule the past and present of Little Planet, I can mold the future to my liking. But, there is one other loose end I must take care of before I can use Little Planet to conquer the earth" The doctor's plans had one little issue, aside from the annoying blue hedgehog who would come by to spoil the fun, "The Time Stones; with 7 I will be able to harness true control over all time here.
"My forces have already collected six, but it's the last one that eludes me. None of my sensors have been able to pick it up and with my sensors being able to detect the presence of the stones without interference from Little Planet, that shouldn't be possible. Unless…" The scientist gritted his teeth and if looks could kill with the glare he sent to his monitor, it would've been out of continues, "They are being jammed…"
A string of alarms dragged the Doctor's attention to a new window that just opened up on the monitor. The alert indicated that several of his robots were destroyed almost in succession. While he was expecting the presence of the blue hedgehog to interfere with his plot once more, he hadn't expected it this soon.
"O~ho-ho-ho! Uninvited guests already?" The doctor's surprise was easily overmatched by his arrogance in his fleet, "Looks like I'll have to head out there and greet them personally."
[Uminari City, Japan]
[Residential district: Takamachi Residence]
[Local time 0700 hours]
[BGM: "Welcome to Our Town" Final Fantasy IV OST (Arrangement)]
With the fun of the previous night's sleepover taken as a factor, it was almost expected that Sonic was a bit late in waking up. The same could not be said for the girls, though, as they were the first to get up. The blue hedgehog could attest to that when he heard the giggling of familiar voices teasing his ears. As he was still partially asleep, he could only discern bits and pieces from the girls, but he could already tell they were up to something.
"Um… is this really okay?" Fate's voice was the first he could pick out, mostly due to how her soft voice carried her uncertainty.
"It's fine, Fate-chan" The second voice was Nanoha's; he could tell by familiarity and the cheerfully confident tone of the brunette. She would appear to be the mastermind behind whatever the girls were up to.
"I don't get why we have to be so tame in doing this" the energetic and mischievous voice of Arisa Bunnings (1) was next, "I was hoping to have a little fun out of it."
"Arisa-chan… we're too young for the type of "fun" you had in mind." Suzuka's voice came next; it wasn't as soft as Fate's and her tone carried some exasperation as she scolded the Anglophone
"Well, there goes my idea" Arf's voice came last and she sounded almost like she was pouting in defeat.
Sonic didn't need elementary to figure out that the girls had planned to surprise him when he woke up, but for what reason? Curiosity growing from his understanding; he tried peak through a small opening of his eyelids to see what the girls had in mind. The morning light had made him wince though and thus alert to the girls that he was starting to stir.
"Shh…" Nanoha silenced the chatter with her excited observation, "He's waking up!"
The hedgehog groaned sleepily and slowly started to stir again. Keeping his eyes closed until he was confident that the morning sun wouldn't try to assault him once more, he stretched his arms and legs a bit from his futon. With the giggling voices of the girls teasing his ears once more, Sonic decided to open his eyes and wake up to take whatever the girls had in mind.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY SONIC!" All 5 of the girls said at once; each in varying volume ranging from Fate's soft voice to Arisa's loud one.
"Uwah!" the poor hedgehog flailed a bit, he had expected something of a surprise but didn't expect them to be so energetic about it, "Good morning?"
"Surprised Sonic-kun?" Nanoha cheerfully patted the blue hedgehog's head, bouncing her hands on the pointed ears a few times
"A little…" Sonic nodded a little, understanding the reasoning behind the surprise, "How did you know about my birthday?"
"I kinda cheated with our link" Nanoha admitted in comical guilt, "I noticed that you would keep track of this date every year. It was how I found out about your age when I was trying to determine if you were going to be my younger or older sibling."
"She only told us this last night" Suzuka added, "She probably would've forgotten had she not looked at the calendar."
"She can forget her own birthday sometimes" Arisa added as well, taking the opportunity for a quick shot at embarrassing her friend.
"Mou, you two…" Nanoha pouted, her cheeks sporting a cute shade of pink in embarrassment, "At any rate, I saw that you would try to celebrate today whenever it came, but you didn't have many friends to play with"
"S-so um… Nanoha said that we should surprise you this morning." Fate shyly followed up, having to recall that conversation from the previous night, "She didn't want you to feel so lonely"
"And that's about it" Arf concluded rather happily, noting idly in her mind the effort that Nanoha had done to reach out to Fate to resolve that lonely feeling.
"Thank you…" Sonic felt a little self-conscious from the attention, but he was still nonetheless grateful that he finally had friends to have fun with; though in the big picture, he figured he was still the youngest having just turned 9 years old.
The scene went from touching to a cute sort of funny when the shared hunger of the girls that had come from not eating breakfast yet had finally decided to take form. One-by-one, each kid felt their cheeks flush cutely as their stomachs growled for attention and fuel. The scene was a cute reminder that despite how wise and thoughtful they can be, they were all still kids after all.
"Nyahahaha…" Nanoha broke the silence first, "I think we should have breakfast before we can celebrate more"
"Y-yeah!" the others all nodded in agreement. The embarrassment was plainly evidenced in their faces; which only added to the cuteness of the scene.
[Takamachi Residence: Kitchen]
[Local Time: 0710 hours]
[BGM: "Welcome to Our Town" Final Fantasy IV (Arrangement) OST]
If there was one thing Momoko Takamachi knew about hosting sleepovers; there was always a responsibility to make sure that the guests were fed in the morning. What she didn't expect, though, was for an additional set of hands to assist her in fixing breakfast for said children. Her surprise was easily understood and expected when she found the preparation of breakfast to be assisted by Lindy Harlaown, another guest of her house for the day.
"Lindy-san" The kind mother, while she wasn't one to refuse help, still didn't feel it right to add a burden to her guest, "I am grateful, but you don't need to be helping me with this"
"I understand, however I'm not just here for a social call." The admiral replied, feeling a little regretful that she had to use the situation to request for the aid of Momoko's daughter again, "We had a sudden development at the office, and I'm unfortunately going to need Nanoha-san and Sonic-san's help."
"Coincidentally this is Sonic-kun's birthday" Momoko lamented with a sigh, feeling rather regretful of the timing more than anything else.
"Well at least we'll be able to deal with it early" Lindy noted with optimism, "The sooner it's resolved, the sooner you can celebrate."
"Good morning!" chorused 6 young voices as the kids who were part of the sleepover entered the living room of the house. Lindy and Momoko shared a laugh or two at the innocence the collected youth still had.
"Breakfast should be ready in a minute" Lindy informed them as they entered; in doing so, she had the effect of making her presence known, drawing looks of surprise and curiosity from a select few.
"Eh?! Lindy-san" Nanoha caught herself staring at the woman for a moment before recovering from her surprise, "What are you doing here?"
"We've got work to do" the woman answered as she passed out plates with miso soup, steamed rice and tamagoayki for all. When finished, the admiral moved to the living room with Durandal in her grasp, "I'll explain as you eat, but take your time"
"I think I can already guess" Sonic noted neutrally, "Little Planet"
"Correct" Lindy nodded as she held out the familiar card that was Durandal in Standby Form, "Durandal?"
[BGM Insert: "Baron Castle" Final Fantasy IV (Arrangement)]
"Okay, boss!" Was the reply from the card as it processed the unspoken request from its master. Floating screens appeared from the device as it presented several things at once; including the appearance of Little Planet and data that Lindy would no doubt explain.
"At about 0450 hours local time to Japan; our scanners on the Arthra (2) detected a dimensional disturbance located at this region in South Island identified as Never Lake." Lindy gestured her right finger at the feed that displayed the sudden appearance of Little Planet, "We've confirmed that the anomaly was the sudden appearance of this floating, for lack of a better term, satellite."
"That's Little Planet alright" Sonic noted, confirming the unsaid suspicion that was drawn from the implications, "You might want to keep an eye on it. It can change its looks in a flash"
"Duly noted" Lindy nodded, making a mental note to file that detail away before she continued on, "When it appeared, I had first thought about deploying a small scouting force, but with my resources still short in dealing with the aftermath of the Jewel Seed incident, it would've been you kids, and I'd figure it'd be best that I let you all sleep in."
"Is that alright?" Nanoha felt a little bit guilty after hearing Lindy admit that, "If something were to happen, it could've been bad for you"
"I'm allowed at least some discretion as this world is non-administrated" Lindy assured the girl, sure it was a technicality, but it was valid, "Had this been an administrated world, I wouldn't have as much discretion.
"At any rate, the situation has escalated within the past two hours" On a hand motion from Lindy, Durandal displayed footage of the mountain's collapse, the inscription of Eggman's face on said mountain and the chain shooting from the teeth and attaching to Little Planet. "Look familiar?"
"Eggman…" Sonic nodded and smirked a little in quipping, "His ego has reached its "peak"."
"He's made his move" Lindy smirked a little, finding the quip somewhat cute but felt that the hedgehog probably could've done better; yet she kept that thought aside and kept on topic, "We've detected a massive amount of his units out there on the surface of the world. We have yet to determine what his goal is, but we have a few speculations.
"We've confirmed the presence of at least 7 items or objects of power; their signal is consistent similar to the Jewel Seeds." Lindy gestured to the dots that appeared on a screen that displayed the results of a recent scan of Little Planet, "Within the past hour, we can determine that 6 of those signals have been moved to a central point. I speculate that someone's gathering them for a purpose."
"Probably Eggman" Sonic interjected with his opinion, "He's done it before"
"So has Mother, with the Jewel Seeds" Fate added softly, unfortunately the shiver that she made when she drew upon her memory wasn't missed by anyone.
There was a brief pause there as Fate felt more self-conscious in her admission. Much as she loved Precia as her mother, it was still understandably hard to just put aside what the woman had done. Nanoha, seeing the escalating nerves, latched on to Fate and pulled her into a hug. Her action did calm her new friend down, but also drew a rather adorable blush from the blonde.
"In any case, we'll have to look into it." Lindy cleared her throat to focus attention back on the matter at hand once more, "In addition, we've also been able to confirm the presence of another mage in the vicinity. That's a least what we could gather from the discharges we've been detecting.
"The problem though is that we can't determine the identity of this mage. We can't get a clear enough signal to make an attempt at identifying their signature." The admiral gestured to another point on the screen that seemed static and inconsistent, "In addition, whatever wavelength we could gather is unregistered to the TSAB. That doesn't mean that we don't know anything about the signature. We've been able to detect trace elements of Photon magic."
"Isn't that Fate-chan's element?" Nanoha interjected, drawing the comparison from her memory.
"Hai, but if Fate-san was there, we would've known so it couldn't have been her" Lindy shook her head, glancing at the aforementioned blonde with little malice to her, "Still it is curious, that element is rare."
"I learned all of my spells from Rynith" Fate answered an implied question from the glance, "She was Mother's familiar, but she died after my training was finished"
"The fact that you were learning spells from your mother's familiar basically means that your mother's spells were used as a base for yours." Lindy noted, "So that leads us nowhere."
"What about if the element was inherited? Like a next of kin or something?" Sonic offered, flinching a little at the collective amount of stares he was getting, "What?"
"You are the last person I'd expect to hear that question from" Arf explained bluntly, getting a nod of agreement or two from Fate and Lindy.
"Still, it would make sense" the admiral agreed, "Either that or she taught the specific spell that happens to have that element. With her isolation, that is unlikely. But there is no next of kin to be confirmed. Her biological daughter would come to mind, but she's been missing for the past 26 years; and that status won't change unless she somehow shows up or is declared dead, and we can't do that unless we find her body.
"At any rate, this will end my briefing; I'll get to the orders I'll have for you four in a moment" the admiral addressed the four, "Any questions before I start?"
"No, ma'am!" Sonic, Nanoha, Fate and Arf all shook their heads. If any of them did have any questions, they had other thoughts preoccupying them. Fate was a little nervous over the mysterious mage as was Arf in connection. Sonic was a little nervous about facing Eggman again even if he didn't say anything. Nanoha was feeling the same thing through the emphatic link with her familiar.
"Alright, I'm going to deploy you in a team." The admiral cleared her throat, gestured to the displays from her device and then started to give out her orders, "Your primary objective is to scout out Little Planet. Find out whatever Eggman is up to over there and stop him. While you're there, you are to identify this unregistered mage is and, if possible, make an alliance with them if they aren't already allied. Your last objective is to clear out any hostile units. Understood?"
"Yes, Ma'am!" The four acknowledged when the woman used the official tone with them. Their response gave Momoko little doubt about the respect that Lindy had, though she had a feeling that there wasn't much doubt in the first place.
"Good; get ready to go when you're finished with breakfast" the woman spoke with certainty, though her tone also implied that there wasn't a need to rush, "I'd prefer that we get started at 0800 at the earliest. I'll have a dimension transfer set up for you to take to the Arthra and from there, Little Planet. Unless one of you knows how to handle the spell already"
"We can" Fate answered softly, "Arf and I can handle it; we'll just need the coordinates."
"I'll have them forwarded to Bardiche" Lindy sent a thankful smile to the young blonde, widening it a little when she saw the cute blush from the aforementioned Fate, "Thank you for the assistance"
"Just trying to help" Fate nodded softly in her modest and awkward nature.
"Well you can't fight evil on an empty stomach" Momoko playfully teased, noting the fact that said children had yet to finish their breakfasts, much to their embarrassment, "Your breakfast isn't going to get any warmer."
"Right!" The kids acknowledged at the same time before resuming their meal, "Thank you for the food!"
[Little Planet: "Palmtree Panic" Zone]
[Local time: 0755]
[BGM: "Palmtree Panic" Sonic CD (JP/EU)]
The four mages, clad in their respective Barrier Jackets, appeared from the yellow magic circle that had spawned out of nowhere. The sight they were greeted to was beyond any word that was descriptive. They had transferred into a tropical region that was scattered with sharp mountains and waterfalls. What gave the zone its moniker were the vast amount of tropical palm trees and the star-shaped plants along the coast. It would've made a perfect, picturesque view, if not for the patrol robots that were themed like bugs.
"Amazing…" Nanoha was the first to take notice of the natural beauty that surrounded her and the others.
"It is…" Fate was next; she was normally of the soft spoken type, but her silence in awe still was not missed.
"Mid-Childa has a huge frontier that we used to live on" Arf drew a memory in comparison to her and Fate's life prior to the Garden of Time, "But I don't think it can top this!"
"It reminds me of Green Hill; though that zone also had robots ruining the picture." Sonic reflected briefly before gesturing with one of his sword hands toward the bug-themed robots, "Themed robots again; they weren't original the first time."
"These guys gave you trouble?" Arf stifled a gawk or two in exasperation, "They don't look like much"
"Eh… they were annoying back then too" the blue hedgehog shrugged as he took the point position to lead said group, "I'll take the lead here, if only because I've faced these things before"
The latter trio nodded in agreement and fell silent to focus on the task at hand. Their first part was a straightforward trek, as Sonic had noticeably started off with a warm up jog that was fast but easily matched by the others in flight. No one really asked why the hedgehog had opted to take the ground first, but Nanoha had understood it was to familiarize himself with the feeling again, she had little doubt that her familiar would join in the skies.
They were soon tested with their first wave of robots. A formation of robots resembling mosquitos attempted to ram straightforward into the flying trio while a few had attempted to dive-bomb the running hedgehog. The girls were able to roll to a side as the mosquitos passed and Sonic had no issue in side-stepping the ones after him. However, the ones that went after the girls were able to make another pass while the ones that had dive-bombed were stuck in the grass.
"They'll just keep trying that if you're in the air." Sonic cautioned as he sliced a few of the downed mosquitos with his blades. The higher quality of armor was noticeable as he did have to work a little harder, but then again, he's improved as well since the adventure on South Island, "Get them on the ground and you'll be able to take them out."
The girls didn't need to be told twice before they followed the advice. Little surprise, it worked and the mosquito robots had the design flaw of being unable to fly backwards. Fate, Arf and Nanoha found the experience rather lacking, but they were spoiled with having to deal with the much tougher robots at the Garden of Time. Sonic had that feeling as well; while he'd probably admit that Eggman had improved, so did he.
Taking a moment to check out the robots, Sonic noticed the absence of any animals inside the cores of the robots. Instead, seeds dropped out from the remains and dropped into the soil, blooming into flowers almost instantly.
"This is new" The hedgehog commented idly.
"I thought you said Eggman used animals" Nanoha glanced at her familiar in confusion, "These are flowers"
"Maybe he used a new power source" Fate offered, "In case the animals weren't powerful enough."
"These robots have been "upgraded" since I last fought them" Sonic noted idly, before realizing that they had lingered for longer than desired. Filing away the details of Eggman's improvement to be addressed another day, the hedgehog continued his trek, flanked by Nanoha, Fate and Arf.
If Sonic had known what would've happened next, he would've either taken to the air much sooner or at least speed up his trek. He was blind sighted in mid stride by a large pink blur of some speed.
"UWAH!" the young hedgehog was startled and found himself; lying underneath the form of a pink hedgehog girl. Even worse he ended up in an embarrassing position; as said girl had worn an orange miniskirt that had flared up, revealing her white panties for all to see.
"Oh Sonic~!" said pink girl dreamily started and clung to said blue hedgehog, either oblivious or uncaring to the pantie show she was giving as well as the blushing reactions from the other girls, "I've been wanting to see you for so long!"
"Uh… two things" Sonic felt rather awkward at the moment, and it wasn't just from the pantie show, "One: Who are you? Two: Can you get off of me please?"
"Oh~ hee-hee…" The pink girl giggled a bit in embarrassment and stood up, took a moment to dust that orange skirt off of any dirt, "Sorry, I kinda got carried away."
"Right…" Arf found herself scoffing softly in disbelief; luckily the pink hedgehog didn't seem to notice.
"I am Amy, Amy Rose!" The pink hedgehog, newly identified as Amy Rose, bowed politely in her greeting, "We've only seen each other once, so I'm not surprised if you don't remember me."
"I think I'd remember if we met…" Sonic hadn't even seen the girl up until this point and already he found his patience tiring.
"You saved my life a few months ago" Amy, oblivious to the strain that trying patience, explained, "I was cornered by a bunch of robots and I didn't have enough time to protect myself until you came along. I tried to say something, but you were already gone"
"Well, um…" Sonic, though with a subtle relief that the girl in front of him wasn't injured or captured by Eggman back then, still felt a tad bit awkward by the situation, "You're welcome?"
"My tarot cards said that you were going to be here today, so here I am" Amy stated; then turned around to face the trio of two mages plus familiar behind her and sized them up with neutral eyes. She was less bothered by the fact that they were humans, but was annoyed that they were female, "They also said you wouldn't be alone."
"Eh? Well um… I'm Nanoha; Takamachi Nanoha" The white-clad mage introduced herself politely, albeit awkwardly so and started to struggle with finding the right words to say under the analyzing glance of the 7 year old pink hedgehog, "And I'm Sonic-kun's um…"
"Master" Fate interjected innocently and truthfully.
Upon hearing the statement, Amy Rose's analyzing gaze at Nanoha turned into one of fury. No one could really blame Fate for making such an innocent statement, as it was true in the only context that she could draw comparison from. Unfortunately, and in defense of Amy Rose, the context was not understood by the pink hedgehog.
"Master?! You turned Sonic into your SLAVE?!" The pink hedgehog, losing control of her volatile temper, pulled out her sledgehammer, rightfully scaring the poor girl in white, "I'll make you pay!"
"Uh-oh…" Nanoha nervously said in telepathy to her allies she saw Amy begin to rush for her, "H-help! Please!"
"Defenser!" Her aid came in the form of Fate stepping in front of her and Bardiche declaring the aforementioned spell.
Amy shrieked like a mad girl and slammed her piko-piko hammer right into the barrier. Despite the Defenser spell being one of the lower-powered spells for the use of protection, it still was able to hold the hammer-crazy hedgehog at bay. That alone was the clue that said Amy Rose had little to no talent for magic, otherwise she would've had a chance of piercing the barrier.
The pink hedgehog stumbled back a ways from the recoil effect of her failed rush. Upon taking notice the blonde taking the defensive stance in front of the girl-in-white, Amy was stricken with confusion. The moment she had taken to calm down and catch her breath gave her the opportunity to get a closer look at said blonde.
"Huh? You look familiar" The pink hedgehog voiced said confusion and familiar feelings, "Didn't I just see you a few minutes ago?"
"Huh?" Now it was Fate's turn to be stricken by confusion, "You must be mistaken, we haven't met before."
"I'm sure I just saw you…" Amy countered with her argument, "You were a little bit shorter though and had a different outfit on, but I'm sure I recognize your hair and face."
An awkward silence fell among the group as the mages and familiars had to think about what the pink hedgehog had said. She might've been easy to blow up over a misunderstanding, but her tone of voice held confusion; and she had appeared honest.
Sonic had felt his patience run low once again; the pink hedgehog was one misunderstanding or confusion after another. It was his impatience that led to the necessity of a retreat. With that need in mind, the blue hedgehog made his move and ensnared Amy with a Restrict Lock. The spell wasn't as powerful as his master's, but he was purposefully holding back so the girl wasn't going to be harmed.
"Eh?" Amy blinked in surprise and found herself unable to break the magical binding despite her best efforts, "Sonic?"
"Sorry, but we have other places to be" Sonic did appear sincere in his apology. He quickly made a few gestures for the others to follow him before taking off in a blistering burst of speed. There was little delay before Nanoha, Arf and Fate followed suit, leaving a confused Amy Rose in their wake.
"Mou…" The pink hedgehog grumbled, "Did they really have to leave?!"
It wasn't smooth sailing for the aforementioned four, though. In their haste to get away from the odd pink hedgehog, no one noticed the sign in their path that had read "Future" before they had passed it. Before any of them could react, space appeared to warp around them as they were blinded by a flash of light.
[Palmtree Panic: Future]
[BGM: "Palmtree Panic ~Good Future" Sonic CD (JP/EU)]
The four had to stop and take a look at where their haste had led them. The zone appeared similar to the one they were just in. The biggest difference was that the tropical jungle had appeared to be somewhat mechanized, but in a peaceful manner. If any of them were to figure out how to describe it; they might have said it was futuristic. Regardless, it still held the beauty of the original zone they had landed in.
"Whoa…" now it was Sonic who broke the metaphorical ice first, "This is something…"
"This kinda looks like one of those games set in the future or something" Nanoha commented, referring to some of the RPG games that she, Arisa and Suzuka had played that held a futuristic environment.
"I don't see any robots…" Arf took notice of the lack or robots as there were animals frolicking about in a peaceful manner, "Did something happen to them?"
"No clue" Sonic shook his head in thought, "But at least we're away from that odd girl."
"H-hai…" Fate nodded in agreement, but still had something plaguing her mind in reference to the pink hedgehog, "But what she said about me looking familiar to her bothers me…"
"Don't worry about it, Fate-chan, I'm sure she was just mistaken" Nanoha assured the blonde, "We can always ask her the next time we see her."
"Yeah" Fate trailed off softly; she felt a little bit guilty over causing the misunderstanding, "um… Sorry, Nanoha..."
"Huh?" said brunette glanced at her friend in confusion, "What for?"
"Because of what I said, that girl tried to hurt you" Fate slowed her trek a little in guilt.
"It's fine, you had no way of knowing whether or not Amy Rose-san would've understood what you meant or not" Nanoha sent a small smile of optimism, "We'll clear it up with her."
"Thanks" Fate returned the smile with one of her own, showing just how appreciative she was of her new friend's optimism and energy.
The group pressed on through the futuristic, tropical jungle. They admired the scenery a little as they went; understandable, as the ledges and terrain were decorated with pipes that had clean, pure water flowing through them. The girls would've felt more in awe at the scenery, but their resident hedgehog decided to stop at a clearing in the zone.
"Attention!" Sonic, having a little fun, made his best impersonation of a drill sergeant.
"Okay, I'll bite" Arf said in some annoyance, "Why are we stopping?"
"You'll see…" the hedgehog smirked a little, sending a knowing glance at his master, "Say, Nanoha, you remember those RPGs we played with Arisa-chan and Suzuka-chan?"
"Yeah" Nanoha was almost afraid to ask where Sonic was going with the chain of thought, "Why?"
"You know what happens when the heroes of said games enter conveniently placed clearings?" Sonic's smirk widened a little as if he had struck genius gold, "This place certainly looks perfect for an ambush."
"This isn't some game" Arf growled in annoyance, "I doubt this "Eggman" guy is so unoriginal enough to try that"
[BGM: "Boss!" Sonic CD (JP/EU)]
"O~ Ho-ho-ho-ho-ho!" Sure enough, the noblewoman-like laugh that was familiar only to Sonic proved the wolf-girl wrong. The mad scientist dropped down in a special Egg-Mobile that was attached to a pink-themed bipedal mech that held bouncy bumpers on its arms and spikes along the feet.
Arf's mouth hung for a moment in stunned surprise. The other three, Fate included, couldn't help but share a giggle or two at the fact that said wolf-girl was so easily surprised.
"Well, well, well… If it isn't the pesky little hedgehog" The doctor's tone of voice was condescending and arrogant while also full of malice as he sized up the blue rodent. Eggman's evil grin widened a little in his wickedness when he caught sight of the girls behind him, "Oh? And what's this? You brought along a few girlfriends as well"
"As if!" Arf was oddly the only one who took offense to that as Fate and Nanoha might've zoned out in each other's gaze at the mention of girlfriends.
"Regardless, I'm here on a little patrol" The doctor was quick to wave off the squabble with the wolf-teen, "As you can see, someone has already been screwing with my plans. I had first thought it was you, but then my sentry robots had informed me that you were a little late to the party."
"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day you know, Eggman" Sonic shot back, "We can't save the world on an empty stomach, can we?"
"Doctor Eggman" Nanoha directed a rather serious glare at the scientist, already not having a good impression from the face-to-face meeting, "Your actions here are um... illegal. Stand down now otherwise we will arrest you"
"Oh please, little kiddy, you'll have to do better than that if you want to intimidate me" The scientist smirked a little bit more in his arrogance as he made his walker step back and forth a few times, "Like I said before, you are late to the party, but I am going to make sure you don't interfere with my plans!"
[VS: EGG-HVC-001]
The doctor made a mad dash rush for the four with his walker. Eggman had designed the walker with the blue hedgehog's abilities in mind as with every step the walker made, one of the arms would extend outward and the bumper would act as a shield. Unfortunately, the doctor didn't take into account of the possibility that Sonic had picked up any abilities that would've rendered that strategy moot; and his strategy quickly saw failure when the four took to the skies.
"H-hey!" The doctor slammed the console of his Egg-Mobile in childish fury, "Get back down here."
The hedgehog merely shook his head and had a confident smirk of his own when he gripped his twin kodachi blades by their hilts and drew them at the same time. In a flash of light-blue light synonymous with his speed, Sonic sliced through one of the arms with his combined spin-and-sword attack. The only sound that indicated the impact of steel was the small explosion from the damaged arm
"H-hey!" The doctor almost screamed
"Arc Saber!" Bardiche's voice made Eggman look up to the resident blonde with the scythe in hand. With barely a grunt, Fate swung Bardiche and detached the blade. Much like the hedgehog's attack, the Arc Saber made short work of the other arm that was attached to the Egg-Walker.
"Stop that!" The nerves started to get to Eggman as he found one of his better creations start to crumble at the efforts of pre-teens. The doctor began to pale as he found himself staring at a smirking wolf-girl.
"This will be fun!" Arf said as she shape shifted into her large wolf form, bared her teeth in a dangerous grin, and generated a volley of Photon Lancers that began to surround the scientist, "Any last words?"
"Oh…" Eggman was no idiot, he knew a bad spot when he was in one; and he was definitely in one with the wolf, "Mother…"
With a feral roar, Arf fired off the Photon Lancers in the Multi-shot variant. As they were all fired from point blank and in rapid succession, there was little doubt to the accuracy from said spell. The lancers made scrap metal from what was left of the original Egg-Mobile. The force of the explosion sent Eggman into a retreat, fearful for his own life, leaving behind an odd gem in his wake.
[Boss Neutralized]
[Jingle: "Act Clear" Sonic CD (USA)]
Much to the confusion of Arf and Fate, Sonic and Nanoha performed their usual coordinated victory dance much like the one they had come up with for when they were sealing the Jewel Seeds. Were the wolf not already confused by the point behind the whole dancing thing, she might've found the act cute. Fate watched in awe and some envy, perhaps hoping she could find something like that of her own that she can perform with Arf.
"Okay…" The wolf familiar decided to take the idiot bait and question her counterpart on the reasoning behind the poses, "What's with the dancing?"
"It's customary to have an awesome and catchy jingle after a boss fight" Sonic answered with a smirk, "You didn't know that already?"
"Forget I asked" Arf sighed; she wasn't in the mood to argue with her counterpart.
"Huh? What's this?" Nanoha took notice of the green gemstone that Eggman had dropped in his hasted. Curious, she picked it up in her hands, wincing a little at the power she could feel, "I can feel its power."
"That might be what Eggman was after" Sonic noted, "It kinda looks similar to a Chaos Emerald"
"Chaos Emerald?" Fate asked curiously, obviously feeling the statement going over her head.
"Later." Sonic was quick to dismiss the question, "We better get going. We have no idea what could happen next."
[Little Planet: "Collision Chaos" Zone]
[Local Time: 0825 hours]
[BGM: "Collision Chaos ~Present" Sonic CD (JP/EU)]
One time jump and quick trek later found Sonic, Nanoha, Fate and Arf in the pink and blue themed Casino zone overlooking the psychedelic mechanized forest. Perhaps it was the aura that came with most casinos, but Nanoha and Sonic couldn't help but have the feeling that they were a little bit too young to be in such a place. Arf and Fate shared that feeling, to an extent, though they knew that there wasn't much that could be done.
"Not sure what to make of this one" Sonic commented idly as they began to walk. Luckily, neither he nor the others had to really come up with any thoughts about the scenery as a familiar voice caught there attention.
"Aha! I found you, Sonic!" The voice, much to the chagrin of the others, belonged to none other than Amy Rose.
"Here we go again…" Sonic grumbled as he and the others watched Amy catch up to them, thankfully she had refrained from trying one of her glomps like last time. The fact that the pink hedgehog may or may not have been intimidated by Arf's form might've been a factor as well.
"It's about time I caught up to you" The pink hedgehog stated as she dusted off her skirt of dirt, "You just left me there all alone last time…"
"Could you blame us?" Arf huffed in growing annoyance, "You glomp the heck out of blue boy and then you tried to go after his friend with a hammer."
"I'm sorry about that, Nanoha-san…" Amy, reminded of the bad impression she left on the group in the first place, turned and gave a polite curtsy to the aforementioned white-clad girl. Although, she still had a stern glare in her direction in doing so.
"Um… it's fine" Nanoha found herself sweat-dropping a little in anime style over the sudden turn around, "It was just a misunderstanding."
"I still don't get the whole "master" part." The pink hedgehog scratched her head a bit, keeping a stern glance at Nanoha, "Could someone explain it?"
"That information is kinda sensitive" Nanoha tried to dodge the question, aiding in her efforts with a confident assertion, "Sonic-kun isn't a slave; he's more like a dear friend to me"
"Uh-huh…" the glare eased up as Amy had found herself overthinking the statement a little, perhaps starting to see the girl-in-white as a rival of sorts.
The moment of peace was sadly short lived as from up ahead rushed a blur of yellow and blue. In a flash of speed that most definitely would've challenged Sonic's, the blur went for Amy Rose and snared her.
"Kyaa!" The pink hedgehog struggled to break free of the hold on her. The struggles forced her would-be captor to slow down and reveal himself for all to see.
The new adversary was robotic in nature, and it looked disturbingly similar to Sonic. The robot's legs, arms and head were painted a shade of blue almost exactly like the hedgehogs and had its feet painted red to resemble the shoes. The robot's eyes were red and it had a sharp pointed nose and matching silver muzzle over the mouth.
"Oy! Metallic knockoff!" Sonic bared his swords, "Drop the girly and you won't get sliced up!"
The robot gave its non-metallic counterpart a once-over in a glance before snapping its fingers to signal the appearance of reinforcements. The would-be kidnapper was not alone as from out of nowhere almost appeared a diverse wave of green mantis and lady-bug themed robots. Each of them ready to strike at any time; and they all had covered the escape of the kidnapper robot.
"HELP MEEEEEE!" Amy cried futilely as she was dragged off into the distance.
"Oy! Get back he-… Whoa!" Whatever Sonic had meant to say, he was cut off as he had to jump back to avoid the blades of one of the mantis robots; the hedgehog groaned as he held his blades in a defensive stance, "Great... we're too late!"
"They're trying to box us in…" Nanoha noted as she noticed the robots starting to spread out in a narrowing circle around the four.
"Numbers won't win a battle" Fate noted with little emotion as she readied Bardiche
"We can take them" Arf added, growling a little in her own feral excitement
"Thunder Rage" A mechanical male voice said in a baritone that was similar, but somewhat lighter than that of Bardiche. The sudden interruption held Sonic and the others silent in confusion.
One-by-one; most of the robots were held in place by lightning and then subsequently demolished by the powerful thunderous boom from the lightning. There were a few stragglers that survived the initial area-of-effect spell, but they were soon fated to join the scrap heap as a small blonde girl rushed in from whatever hiding spot she chose. Without so much as a second to waste, the girl demolished the rest of the robots with what appeared to be a paper fan in her left hand.
"And stay down, rust buckets!" The blonde huffed in a voice that sounded almost like Fate's; albeit with more enthusiasm and energy. She huffed a little and placed the paper fan over her left shoulder, revealing the star emblem on the face.
Nanoha, Sonic and Arf stared at the girl in surprise while Fate quickly took to hiding behind her wolf familiar. Her reasoning was understood by the trio as the blonde in front of them resembled Fate so much, albeit a little bit shorter and a slightly different hairstyle. What really set the nerves of Fate into overdrive was the familiar recognition to the blonde in front of her from memory.
"Alicia…" Fate said softly; though evidently not soft enough as her voice drew the aforementioned blonde to look in their direction.
"That's my name, Alicia Testarossa" The blonde, confirming her identity as Alicia, glanced suspiciously at the group in front of her. The white-clad mage and blue hedgehog she had already pegged for mage and familiar. The orange wolf looked like one from the packs back on Mid-Childa; but it was the girl attempting to hide her presence that caught her attention the most.
"Judging from your outfits and devices, I assume you're from the Bureau." Alicia, deciding to momentarily let the presence of the other blonde slide for a moment, approached the group of mages, "If I'm right, then the world above us is most likely an administrated one, correct?"
"You're 1-for-2." Sonic, taking the level-headed and neutral approach, answered the blonde's question, "The Bureau kinda sent us, but apparently Earth, the world attached to this planet isn't administrated."
"Alright, well I think the next part of this would be introductions, but seeing as the cute blonde trying to hide herself behind the Mid-Childan wolf already knows me; I think it's your turn." Alicia sent a cute, teasing wink in the direction of the aforementioned duo, eliciting a cute blush from the latter blonde. Sure, she was a little bit suspicious, but she wasn't an idiot, knowing that if she tried anything, she wouldn't succeed as she was outnumbered.
"Nanoha" said brunette bowed in her customary greeting, "Takamachi Nanoha"
"Sonic the Hedgehog" The blue hedgehog introduced himself next, "Nanoha's familiar and apparently little brother."
"Arf" The large wolf said with a guarded expression as she held a slight defensive stance.
"Fate…" Fate's soft admission was just slightly loud enough to be caught as she peeked her head from behind Arf's body, slowly revealing herself to the girl she was cloned from, "Fate Testarossa."
'Whoa! She looks just like me!' Alicia thought to herself as she started to circle around the latter blonde. Curiosity overpowering any suspicion, Alicia sized up the slightly taller blonde. She took note of the awkward and shy demeanor. She could see the nervousness and guarded expression worn by Fate as well. Perhaps it was her own energetic demeanor, but Alicia was unable to contain her excitement and before anyone could react, she glomped Fate and clung onto her rather cutely.
"CUTE!" Alicia squealed a bit energetically, enjoying the looks of surprise from everyone else and the atomic-red blush from the target of her glomp. Crimson eyes stared into nearly identical crimson eyes as Alicia gazed at Fate's face with enthusiasm, "I'm making you my little sister!"
Arf was held speechless while Sonic and Nanoha could barely suppress their giggles at the cuteness of the scene that developed. For Nanoha and Sonic, any worries they had felt for Fate were put at ease when the taller blonde didn't refuse the physical contact. As for Arf, she had absolutely no idea what to think; on one paw, she was almost tempted to lunge at Alicia in protectiveness, but at the same time, she could feel no malice behind the shorter blonde's actions.
Fate was confused completely, but there was something about Alicia that made her unwilling to resist the hug and declaration. Her only worries were that Alicia might have refused to accept her on the first impression, but found those quashed when she saw the enviable enthusiasm and energetic personality that she had known to remember.
"I am curious about why you look like me though" Alicia admitted, figuring she'd better hear the explanation right away, "And if you're using my family name, how Mother is doing..."
"That's…." Fate admitted softly, hanging her head in shame, "A long story…"
"We have all the time in the world here" Alicia countered, "How's about this, we'll trade stories as we go"
"Go?" Sonic cut in, "You're fighting Eggman too?"
"Eggman… that's the fat idiot's name?" the smaller blonde giggled, "I was going to call him Baldy McNosehair"
"Baldy McNosehair?!" Sonic couldn't hold back his chuckles, "Why didn't I think of that one?!"
'Oh no….' Nanoha, Arf and even Fate shared the collective thought when they saw the shared look that Sonic and Alicia had.
"At any rate, we better get going;" Alicia was quick to change gears, turn tail and stretch a little in preparation, "I for one will not sit on my butt while this guy's trying to invade my home."
"Alright!" The blue hedgehog smirked in excitement, "Let's go!"
Alicia Testarossa has joined the party!
[To be continued!]
[End of Main Chapter]
[Omake: Fate's test]
Cue back to the aftermath of Nanoha and Fate's last battle over the Jewel Seeds. A barely conscious Fate, after enduring the Starlight Breaker of her rival, floated in the ocean almost lifelessly. Nanoha, concerned for her rival's wellbeing, flew down into the water and saved her from drowning.
Fate, having just woke up from her unconscious state, looked around and realized the reality of her situation. She had just lost in an honorable mage duel. Part of her was ashamed for the defeat, but there was another aspect of her that held opposing feelings.
'I, as a member of the Testarossa family lost to another mage in a duel' The implications started to make Fate blush as less-than-innocent thoughts ran through her head, 'I must now be her wife!'
"Um…" Nanoha innocently waved her hand over the latter blonde's face, "Fate-chan?"
"…." Fate fell silent before taking to the air once more, though she stopped and sent a neutral expression that was betrayed by her crimson blush, "You pass"
"Eh?!" the statement not only went over Nanoha's head, it left her confused and she found Fate trying to leave before she could catch up, "W-what do you mean?"
What did Fate mean indeed?
[Ending: "Little Wish ~Lyrical Step]
[End of Chapter 17]
Author's footnotes
(1): Arisa Bunnings is Alisa Bannings; I went with the name change after reading a Nanoha INNOCENT card that had that name correction
(2) Arthra is the Asura; it was Romanized as A-Su-Ra, but in katakana
For the actual notes, Yes! Alicia is back... Only I'm using the INNOCENT persona of her for the appearance of her Barrier Jacket and Device... Lucky Star is the device name and also the reference to a rather funny school life anime, appropriately enough. When I first introduced Alicia in Knight of the Night Sky, I found that I was rather lacking in displaying that energetic persona that was Alicia Testarossa's personality. This time around I tried to play it out as such. This is the same Alicia that disappeared way back when. And I'm going to use the Little Planet arc partly as a means to allow Alicia and Fate to form a sisterly bond with one another when the situation is right.
At any rate, Metal Sonic and Amy Rose are played out in canon... I have no intention of bashing or vilifying Amy, as while Amy did go after Nanoha, she was misunderstanding the context behind Fate's explanation.
Alright! That's it... Read, review, yadda yadda yadda.. Sorry for the long delay, had to deal with my sister's wedding... Ziplining in a tux was AWESOME!