SonicANIME2010 here with another chapter, I thank all those who have been following since the beginning. With this one marks my 16th chapter.
-Opening: "Secret Ambition" Nana Mizuki-
Sonic Adventure: Lyrical Step
Chapter 16
Precious Things, shocking revelations about Subaru
-RF6: Medical Ward: Night-
After her defeat from Sonic and Nanoha, Teana was unconscious for quite some time, she started to wake up and stretch. She looked around confused as to where she was at. The door opened and Shamal walked in.
"Oh, Teana, you're awake?" The blond doctor observed.
"Shamal-sensei... ummm." Teana looked around.
"This is the infirmary. Do you remember being taken down during the mock battle this afternoon?"
The gunswoman had a brief flashback remembering Super Sonic and Nanoha shooting her down from the wing road. "Yeah..."
"Nanoha-chan's an expert with training-grade magical bullets, and even in his Super form, Sonic knows how to hold back his power, so I don't believe there is any damage to your body."
Teana rested her legs on the ground, with a slight blush as she regained her balance with them.
"Do you feel pain anywhere?"
"No... I'm okay" the girl looked around again and gasped when she saw the clock "It's already 9?" then she looked outside and found that the sky was dark with night "It's nighttime?"
"You were completely out... enough to make me think you were dead. You haven't slept much recently, right? And now it all caught up with you."
-Training Field-
Sonic and Nanoha found themselves watching and reviewing the scrimmage earlier on the monitors from the training field.
The blue blur yawned "Oy.. oy.. How long are we going to keep watching that scrimmage?"
"I just want to figure out what happened... Subaru wasn't able to hit you in your Super form until she went into that state.." Nanoha responded, still staring at the screens.
"Quint said she'd explain it after Teana wakes up... Can't you just wait until then?"
"Nanoha, Sonic" Fate called to them as she approached.
"Fate-chan" the captain turned her attention from the monitors to the blonde enforcer.
"Ah.. Fate, thank goodness, maybe you can talk some sense into this workaholic" Sonic commented pointing to his superior. The trio started to walk back to the base.
"Teana woke up just a minute ago. She came with Subaru to the office to apologize." Fate reported to the duo.
"What did you tell them?" Sonic asked.
"I told them you two were on the training grounds and to talk to you tomorrow."
"Thank you, I'm sorry Fate, because of my incompetence as an instructor, I got you and the Lightning squad involved... And Sonic, this goes to you as well... I got you hurt during the scrimmage." Nanoha apologized.
Sonic waved off the apology "Oy. oy... You don't need to apologize.. wasn't your fault. Anyways, tomorrow, we need to have a talk with the Forwards... Quint said she'd explain what happened with Subaru tomorrow when she can get Ginga to be here." The trio went inside the base to their living quarters and slept for the night.
-Next Morning-
- "Welcome to Station Square" -
It was a bright morning at the base when a car drove and parked nearby, Quint and Ginga exited and went into the base, first meeting Sonic on the way in.
"Good morning you two" the hedgehog greeted leaning against the doorway with his arms folded.
"Morning, Sonic. Where is everyone?" Quint questioned
"Nanoha, Fate, the Forwards, Shari, Signum, Vita, Shamal and Hayate are in the lounge." Sonic informed
"And you waited outside for us?" Ginga asked.
"Nah.. I was just out getting this" he held up a large bag of coffee beans "we're gonna have an important talk so I figured we might as well have some coffee to drink while we're at it."
"Hayate's there too? Why?" the mother asked.
"Well either A: she caught wind about what happened at the scrimmage, or B: she realized she was out of coffee. Now let's go inside. The sooner the better." Sonic led the duo inside.
-Lounge-
- "(The) Base" Sonic Adventure 2-
Sonic led Quint and Ginga to the lobby where everyone else was seated. Before Sonic took his seat, he brewed up some coffee and gave it to those who wanted it, especially Hayate. The blue blur then took his seat holding his own cup of coffee.
"Okay, where do we start?" Sonic asked.
"We could start with what Quint said she'll explain about during the scrimmage" Nanoha offered, taking a sip from her cup.
The older Nakajima woman sighed calmly "Very well. What I'm about to say though, may be hard to take. I'll start with this, Subaru and Ginga aren't human, they are cyborgs."
Shock was evident from both Erio and Caro, the others present seemed surprised as well, but not as shocked as the Lightning duo. Teana and Subaru however, displayed no emotion of shock or surprise, like they knew all along.
"They're what now?" Sonic blinked, though he was a bit skeptical.
"Combat Cyborgs.. Many years ago, some time before the incident that caused the death of my comrade Zest, and left me and Megane injured. I was running an investigation on this facility that was developing Combat Cyborgs. I found those two there and took them with me, I felt a sense of familiarity.. Only later did I find out that they share my genes, so Genya and I adopted them. Subaru., has always had trouble keeping her power and temper in check. And what happened back at the scrimmage, was her losing it. Her power increases alarmingly and so does her strength. I am sorry you had to get hurt by that Sonic."
"Don't worry. I've taken worse hits. Besides with the Chaos Emeralds, I recovered almost instantly." Sonic waved it off.
Vita noticed that Teana didn't have the same shocked expression that the Lightning forwards had "Oy, Teana, you knew about Subaru being a Cyborg, didn't you?"
The gunswoman nodded "Yeah.. I found out soon after I was put in the same Battalion as her, before we were part of Riot Force 6"
"Tia-san... why didn't you or Subaru-san tell us?" Erio asked, while still a bit shocked over the revelation.
"I asked her not to... I thought you wouldn't feel comfortable with it... I'm sorry for keeping it from you.." Subaru apologized.
"N-no, it's fine.. Ano.. Sonic-san, Nanoha-san, I've been wondering, why did you both shoot Tia-san down?" Caro asked.
"To teach a lesson.. One that Nanoha learned the hard way." Sonic began.
Nanoha nodded "Yeah.. How I messed up... It's quite a story.. You guys wouldn't mind helping me explain?"
"Okay.. I'll start." Fate put on display footage of a 9 year old Nanoha at he school, before she had her start in magic "10 years ago. Nanoha was only a normal girl who went to school with her friends and lived happily with her family. She didn't even know anything about magic yet, until, one day.." footage of Nanoha meeting a small ferret, who was Yuuno, with Raising Heart attached to a necklace on the young boy's neck. "She didn't go to any magic school or had any special skills. Yet she was introduced to magic quickly. At the time, Yuuno Scrya was an archaeologist studying the Jewel Seeds when they scattered all around Earth.. and she had to get them before they could fall into the wrong hands." Footage of Nanoha fighting with Fate over a Jewel Seed was displayed "I was her rival in collecting the seeds."
"That's.. Fate-san" Erio observed when he saw the duo fight.
"Yeah.. Such a nostalgic memory, she was such a sad girl back then" Nanoha remembered.
Signum continued this one when the footage shifted to a beaten Fate and an older woman holding a whip. "At the center of that incident, was Fate's mother, Precia Testarossa.. Hence the name of the incident "The Precia Testarossa Incident" The footage shifted to Nanoha blasting Fate with a large pink beam spell that she cast by hitting a pink orb with Raising Heart (Bonus points for the name).
"That big of a magical energy focusing attack?" Erio was stunned..
"Coming from a 9 year old?" Subaru also was shocked.
"Even though a large energy attack puts enormous stress on the body..." Caro observed.
Sonic gave a whistle impressed "Wow! Where were you when I had to face the Death Egg.."
Nanoha giggled at Sonic's remark "Probably helping Fate-chan.."
"After that though.. her fight continued." Signum said, the footage now displayed Nanoha guarding a shot from Vita. And at the same time, Vita rushed in and attacked Nanoha from the other side, that attack also guarded.
"We were deeply involved in the Book of Darkness incident." Shamal said
"She failed to defeat her enemy..." Signum said as the footage showed Vita defeating Nanoha with Raketenhammer. "And lost.. In order to overcome it, she chose to use the then-unreliable cartridge system" The footage shifted to Nanoha's Raising Heart utilizing the cartridge system and charging against a young woman with silver hair, red eyes, wearing a black dress outfit with black wings coming out from it. "Ignoring the strain on her body, she utilized the full drive with the power output far surpassing her own limits, the Excelion Mode." The impact caused a big explosion. Drawing awe from the forwards watching. "To save someone, she overworked herself in order to convey her feelings."
"Who was it she was trying to save?" Subaru asked.
"Hayate and Reinforce." Nanoha responded
"Yeah.. I lost control of the Book, I asked her to help save it.. And this wasn't Rein-chan... Reinforce (original) was the Book itself." The mentioned brunette also gave her response.
"After all that, there was no doubt that her body would have to pay the price." Signum said
Shamal continued "And then, another accident happened, the Winter two years after she came to the bureau. It was on a recon mission on another planet. Vita-chan and a squad were sent there."
Vita continued when the footage shifted to another planet in the Winter "An unidentified unit appeared.. If Nanoha was her normal self she could have protected us and taken it without a problem.. but..." The first thing seen was Raising Heart, scratched up. And then Vita, holding an unconscious Nanoha, the brunette almost dead from a harsh stab wound, bleeding still. "But the stress on her body that had built up from overworking caused her to slow down.. Only a bit, but still enough for this unit to pull a harsh attack from behind. I almost lost her, that day."
Shamal took her turn "And these were the results" the display then showed Nanoha, bandaged up, breathing through a mask. Which got shocked expressions from the Forwards, Sonic looked down and held Nanoha's hand in comfort.
Nanoha took her turn now as the footage shifted to her in a wheel chair trying so desperately to walk at that time. "I apologized for overdoing it, and tried to smile my way out of it.. but.. when I heard that I might not even be able to walk again.. I was scared.." another comforting gesture from Sonic get her back to her focus "But, I've realized that there was a lesson to be learned from that incident.. Overworking yourself can work out in some ways, but then it'll come back to hurt you."
"But, what about Sonic-san?" Subaru asked.
The blue hedgehog responded "I haven't had much issue with overworking myself, I know my limits and I know better than to try anything like that. But, I'm no stranger to it.. My story's a bit different. Listen to it."
The display now showed a younger, smaller and rounder Sonic (think Classic Sonic). "When I was younger, I never knew my family, though I was independent enough to live through it. I lived in South Island, one of the isolated islands that are part of Japan. I lived peacefully, having fun with my animal friends, and pretty much enjoying life.. Until... One day. (The footage shifted to Sonic searching, worried.) My friends went missing, and they were replaced by robots, machines that caused havoc and pain.. I couldn't let it stand, and when I went after one that attacked me I beat it and found one of my friends inside, being used as power. And I was forced to fight the robots who used to be my friends, to save them. (Footage shifting to Sonic and Classic Eggman) I found the man responsible for this.. Doctor Eggman, he captured my friends and turned them into robots for his schemes. With the drive and dedication to save my friends, I bested Eggman at every turn.. (Footage shifted from all of Sonic's fights with Eggman) meeting new friends (Tails and Amy appear from footage) and rivals (first scene of Sonic meeting Knuckles then showed up)... A few years back, my adventures took me to Station Square, fighting Perfect Chaos (The scene of Super Sonic fighting Perfect Chaos showed).. and soon after that, Final Hazard. (Super Sonic and Super Shadow teaming against the merged Final Hazard showed up). I almost lost Shadow that day... In order to stop the ARK we needed to use Chaos Control powerful enough to do it.. (The footage shifts to Shadow removing his Inhibitor Rings in his Super Form and teaming up with Sonic for the Chaos Control).. It worked.. but (cue Shadow falling back to the earth in his normal form) Shadow overdid it, when he removed his limiter rings, he unleashed his full power.. but that power was uncontrollable almost, and adding in the Chaos Emeralds, who's power comes from the heart of the one using them, they took their toll. (Footage of Shadow inside a capsule resting was shown.) he survived though.. So while I personally never went through the pain Nanoha did, I was with someone who did.. So in a ways, I was more similar to Vita." The hedgehog finished, looking sad after recalling the memories. Nanoha gave her subordinate a comforting one armed hug.
"So... now that you've heard.. You understand what we've been trying to teach.." Nanoha finished, everyone excused themselves to go about their work.
-That Night-
- No Music -
Teana sat at a side walk area that overlooked the water. She thought about the stories she heard. Her thoughts were soon interrupted by Nanoha and Sonic approaching her. They sat on opposite sides of her.
"Thought we find you here.." Sonic started.
"Nanoha-san, Sonic-san." Teana noticed them.
"You heard our stories.. about my mess up, and how Sonic almost lost a friend?" Nanoha began.
"Yeah..." the gunswoman answered.
Across the street, and spying on them, were Erio, Caro and Subaru.
Nanoha began "Well... since you understand, I'll scold you a bit. You know, you say you're a normal sharpshooter who can't do anything except illusionary magic, but that's not true. You, and everyone else (the forwards), are like unrefined ore, rough around the edges."
Sonic commented "Yeah, you're still new and young compared to us."
"It's hard to understand your own worth. But as you start polishing yourselves up, you'll start to see your own shining parts. Erio has speed. Caro has gentle supportive magic. Subaru has explosive power at close range. And you, Teana, command all three of them, protecting them with your marksmanship and illusionary magic. That team, although slowly, is moving towards that ideal shape."
"Yeah, very slowly... These things take time though" Sonic commented once more.
Nanoha asked "During the mock battle, didn't you notice when you got hit?"
Teana flashed back to that time, when she was shot down by both Sonic and Nanoha.
"Shooting magic, if used properly, is hard to avoid and hurts when it hits. You ignored your most attractive point and rushed to try something else. That's why it was dangerous. Or at least, that's what I've told you, but... But what you thought wasn't wrong" Nanoha held up Cross Mirage and commanded "System Limiter, test mode release."
"Yes" came Cross Mirage's reply.
She handed the device to Teana "Try commanding it to go into mode two."
Teana pointed her gun outward "Mode Two"
"Set up: Dagger mode" Cross Mirage replied and tilted it's barrel up, it ran a blade from the barrel tip and energy aroudn the handle, tips came from the handle.
"This?" Teana was surprised
"You wanted to become an enforcer right? When you leave here to try to become an enforcer, there will be many 1-on-1 battles. So we prepared this mode for the future"
Teana handed the device back to Nanoha, where it then returned to its card form. The orange head started to cry.
Nanoha pulled the girl into a hug."I was thinking of teaching you some close and long range combat soon, but we can deploy anytime right? That's why I wanted to make the weapon you mastered into something more powerful. But because my training was rather plain, it was painful not to see any results right?.. I'm sorry" she finished with an apology.
Teana cried in the hug, repeatedly saying "I'm sorry"
Sonic smiled seeing the problem resolved.
-The next day-
- "Mystic Ruins" -
Erio, Caro, Subaru and Fate were waiting outside the dormitory building. Teana soon came outside
"Good morning" Caro and Erio said.
"Yeah.. Good morning" Teana responded.
Fate asked "Did you sleep well?"
"Yes.. I did" the girl replied. The five went for a walk around the area.
"You call individuals that excel in their fields and fight excellently "Aces", right? Did you know there are other ways to designate talented mages? As long as they are there, any situation can be overcome, and no matter how tough the situation, they can break through. Those who have that trust are called..." Fate turned to the forwards "Strikers."
After a moment of "ohs" from the forwards, Fate continued "Nanoha, as soon as we started training said "These four should become first class strikers. So I'm going to train them hard, but also with love
-With Nanoha, Sonic, Vita, Signum-
The four stood by the training area, Nanoha was using an interface.
Vita said a it grumpily "Seriously, instructors have the worse kind of life. Not only do they get their hands dirty and raise kids, once their instruction ends everyone goes on their own path."
"Well, it is kinda sad that we won't be able to spend much time together. It's not like we can sit there and watch forever. I want to teach them as much as I can while we're together." Nanoha said.
Sonic gave a comment "Oh, goody, next thing you know they'll start firing large beam spell things!"
"Careful, Sonic, you probably might be on the opposite end of one of those" Signum joked.
"I already have if you didn't remember one of our 1-on-1 matches. Nanoha fired that Divine Buster thing at me.. Would it kill you to restrain the beams of destruction?" Sonic countered.
"Good Morning" The forwards, with Fate in tow, shouted as they ran up to the group at the training field.
Nanoha thought to herself as she watched the forwards 'No matter what happens, no matter who comes, I won't let them beat these kids. Of course while they're under my watch, but also when they're able to fly in their own sky by themselves.' She looked down at Sonic, who gave his usual fanged grin and thumbs up, and then at Fate. Then announced "Well then, try your best for this morning's training!"
"Okay!" the forwards replied
-End of Main Chapter-
-Omake: Hayate's Cosplay bet: Sailor Moon-
"You're Kidding!" Sonic exclaimed in shock when Hayate brought out a blue Sailor Fuku outfit with a blue short skirt, blue heeled boots, a blue tiara and gloves. "No way am I wearing THAT!"
"Come on Sonic, you know you have to, besides it could have been worse. I could have dressed you in nothing but cute pink ribbons and left you right at the room you share with Nanoha and Fate.." The brunette replied.
"They wouldn't let that happen..."
"True, not without sending a few spells my way.. Now put that on.. " Hayate forced the outfit on the blue hedgehog and admired her work "I have to say.. you really do look cute in that.."
Sonic blushed in embarrassment and outright glared at her "This is embarrassing.."
"Well at least you look like you fit the costume. Well compared to the other Senshi in that anime... Ah... Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon." Hayate went on a bit about it..
Sonic could only get a sweatdrop "Some things just don't change about her..."
- Ending: "Hoshizora no Spica" Yukari Tamura"-
-End Chapter-
Author's notes: I'm sorry that this one was a bit short and if it seems a bit rushed.. I've had some family things that popped up that shifted my attention off of this story. This chapter was a bit of a break from all the action going on.