A/N: I'm back with the 13th chapter. In case you were wondering how long this fic is going to be, it was planned to be about 26 chapters. That's more pressure on me, seeing that I still have a lot of work to do! D:

I'm terribly sorry for the lack of updates (as usual). Life has kept me busy, and I've been working on short oneshots for other series (if you like Sword Art Online and Shakugan No Shana, check them out on my profile page!). However, summer is coming up, and so I plan on working on this project. I don't know how long it will take me to finish this, but I will do my best to make sure you all see it through.

Now… reviews!

Pokemon Guy 84: Thanks! I don't know, GeoXSonia always stuck out to me, and I try my best to portray the two as best as I can.

Ultimate Black Ace: Thanks for the feedback! As for the ending, I'm glad you've noticed it. I wanted it to be simple, yet enough to leave the necessary message.

AeolusShadowX: I don't know, I can't help but feel bad about the timing! Then again, we all have lives, right? As for Geo's anger, I guess I MAY have overdone it, but I felt I needed to get the message through to the audience – that he's frustrated because he believes Kelvin is alive, but no one else, not even his mother, thinks the same.

That's all for my painfully long A/N. Remember to leave a review and spread the love (or hate)!

Book II: Gemini

Chapter 13: Pat Sprigs

"Why the hell do you always have to set that alarm so early?" Omega-Xis whined as Geo walked to school. It was party cloudy sunny day, with a cool breeze. Echo Ridge never got a lot of snow during the month of February. Also, it wasn't too far up north, so the temperature was normal for most people.

Geo rolled his eyes. "Mega, we've been living together since, what, November? And yet you're still not used to getting up early for school?" He stifled a chuckle.

It had been 2 months since Kelvin's funeral. Though Hope constantly told her son that she was fine, Geo would sometimes find his mother lying in her bead, crying while staring at their family photo album. Every time he saw her like that, he would want to go and comfort her; however, Geo would never find the words, and would go to bed early. Those small little things were what tore Geo's heart apart.

"Meh, I dunno, kid. I hate the feeling of having a peaceful slumber, when suddenly that annoying noise blasts through my head!" Omega-Xis sighed. "Whatever, school ain't my scene, so I'm gonna bounce and find a nice comfy rooftop to take a nice long nap." Omega-Xis bid Geo farewell, telling him that if anything happens to give him a call. With the customization kit, Geo created a function so that with a click of a button on the Transer, Omega-Xis would receive the alert and would come rushing back.

Geo then walked into the school building. Even though some parts of the school were still under reconstruction due to the Taurus Fire attack, the building was repaired enough to recommence classes. Holding his backpack by one strap over his shoulder, he proceeded to his locker on the 2nd floor. As he was walking up the stairs though, he ran into Mr. Higgy, who offered a wide smile.

"Mr. Stelar! It's been a while. How is school going for you so far?"

Geo smiled back and nodded. "It's going great, actually! I'm all caught up with my classes."

Mr. Higgy chuckled. "That's good to hear," he said. "Have you made any friends?"

Geo's smile widened. "Yep! They're really making the transition much easier."

"That's great, Geo. I'm glad to hear that!" Mr. Higgy said. "Listen, I have to give this new student who recently applied a tour around the school, but it's good talking to you. Come by my office if you ever need anything!" With that, he patted Geo's shoulder lightly and proceeded to his office.

"Will do!" Geo called down the hall, and then ran up the stairs to the 2nd floor, where he found his locker. As he unlocked it and stuffed his bag and jacket in compartment, everything suddenly went black. Geo jumped as he felt hands covering his eyes from behind.

"Guess who!" A familiar voice behind him giggled.

"Oh, wow, Sonia!" Geo groaned. They both laughed as she let go. "Are you going to keep doing that for the rest of high school?"

"Mmhmm, you betcha!" Sonia mischievously grinned as she opened her locker next to his, grabbing her books and took off her hoodie, revealing her favourite lime green tank top and black jeans – her usual attire. The two walked down the hallway, talking about the random things they found amusing to talk about with each other, such as TV shows they watched as kids or people that would annoy them.

Sonia was famous worldwide, and this was no different in Echo Ridge Highschool.

The musician had gained a lot of attention from her fellow peers, especially from the guys. Plenty of the football players would stop by and say hi, and perhaps even try to flirt. Sonia would smile and wave back.

It was no surprise to Geo that most of the guys would try to go for her; Sonia was a very attractive person. She had a very nice complexion, was fit with a nice body, and had bright green eyes that would make a heart quicken after contact with them. Yeah, she's a knockout alright...

Shaking off those thoughts, the two entered their physics classroom, taking their seats behind their assigned lab bench. When the teacher entered the room, the talking between the students slowed down.

"Alrighty, let's get down to business," the teacher said, yawning loudly. He wasn't as cheerful a teacher as Mr. Shepar or Mr. Higgy, which Geo had realized the day he first took his class months prior. The teacher took out his attendance sheet and read out the names.

"Kay?"

"Here!"

"James?"

"Yup."

"Andrew?"

"Meh."

"Deryck?"

"Here."

"Geo?"

"Here."

"Pat?"

Nobody answered. Geo's eyebrows furrowed. Pat? Who's Pat? Though he wasn't familiar with every single person in his grade yet, he certainly knew that there wasn't a student named Pat. He wasn't the first to realize this, as he saw a bunch of students mumbling about the unknown student.

"Oh, right!" the teacher said. "Mr. Higgy is giving him a tour around the school. He should be finished in a while."

Geo's mouth formed an 'o', remembering Mr. Higgy telling him about the new student. He eventually finished the attendance, and then continued from last class on the topic of static electricity.

Fifteen minutes later, the students were assigned a lab to work on. They were given a circuit to experiment with and a worksheet to complete. Geo and Sonia, being lab partners, started right away. Geo grinned. Voltage equals current multiplied by resistance… child's play.

During this, a boy around their age entered the room. He had long green hair, which was at the time was a very rare genetic trait. We wore a long sleeved purple shirt with white stripes. His hands were stuffed into his army pant pockets. His half closed brown eyes almost lazily looked around in the classroom. All eyes were on him.

The teacher stood up from his desk. "Hello, may I help you?"

The boy took off the headphones that covered his ears. Old Metallica records could be still be heard through his headphones. "Uh, yeah. I'm Pat Sprigs. Am I in the wrong class…?"

"Oh, Pat! And no, your not," the teacher said. "Welcome to Physics 9!" He lightly grabbed Pat's shoulder and led him to the corner of the classroom.

Geo assumed that he was catching the new student up to the curriculum. Throughout their conversation, he couldn't help but notice that the teen named Pat was staring at Geo's direction, with a look that seemed obsessive with Geo. Confused, Geo then noticed the boy's eyes moving towards Sonia; the orbs changed from showing obsession to showing interest.

After a while, the teacher pointed in Geo's direction. Pat nodded in reply, and walked towards their table.

"Yo, 'sup," Pat said, his hands still stuffed in his pockets. "I'm Pat, and it looks like I'm working with you guys."

Geo nodded. "Looks like it. I'm Geo."

"And I'm Sonia!" Sonia said. After being told her name, Pat pursed his lips and stared at her, which Sonia noticed. "Um, what's up?"

"Oh, nothing," Pat said, shaking his head. Geo and Sonia began explaining the lab assignment to the new student, however Pat's eyes were glued onto Sonia. Right when Geo was in the middle of his explanation, Pat cut him off saying, "I'm sorry, you wouldn't happen to be Sonia Strumm, would you?"

A couple students around them snickered a little. Sonia, to Geo's surprise, didn't seem to mind for once. "Yeah, that'd be me," she said with a polite smile.

Pat's jaw dropped. "Are you for real? I thought I recognized you when I came in; I'm a huge fan!" he said. "I'm sorry, you must get that a lot."

Sonia's smile widened. "Oh, you have no idea! Sometimes I just hate my record label – I forgot the last day that nobody on the street would ask me for an autograph or something."

"Well, you shouldn't feel bad about that," Pat said, returning a grin. "You're a fantastic writer; it's no surprise that you're a celebrity! You're songs really… touch me. I can connect to a lot of them!"

Sonia's cheeks turned a bit pink. "That's really nice of you!" she said.

For the rest of the period, Sonia and Pat talked about music – music she wrote and other bands they listen to – and other interests, while Geo worked on the lab alone. Throughout the class, Geo felt a strange sensation in his stomach; he felt as if he wanted to puke.

For some reason, I just want this 'Pat' guy to shut up. Biting his tongue, he apllied the formula for finding the voltage of a battery and continued to work.

"Are you kidding me? Mega Man is so hot!"

In the school cafeteria, Geo heard Luna's fangirl-ish squeal as he sat down with her, Sonia, Zack, and Bud. The walls in the cafeteria were being repainted, and there were new tables and seats to replace the ones that were damaged by Taurus Fire.

After hearing Luna's words, his face flushed.

"How exactly?" Bud asked, laughing as he stuffed a handful French fries into his mouth.

Luna scoffed. "I can't believe we're having this conversation. You should have seen him up close – he's amazing! The guy's ripped! And you should have seen his eyes; they're so dreamy! Past the bruises and blood on his face at the time, he's a downright cutie."

Sonia giggled and looked at a deep red-faced Geo, wriggling her eyebrows at him.

"Ooh! Also, he was so calm against that big fire bull guy! Mega Man pounded that sucker!"

Geo heard Bud breathe sharply, his face turning a little pale. Sonia also noticed this and frowned. Nobody knew that Taurus Fire was Bud, and he told everyone that he was left behind in the school during the fire.

Poor guy; God knows how guilty he feels. I couldn't blame him, but what else could he have done?

Zack scoffed. "Yeah, you totally have a chance with him…"

"Hey, you never know!" Luna declared with a dreamy look her eyes. Geo almost choked on his sandwich, and Sonia looked like she was on the verge of tears, holding back waves of giggles. Bud noticed that she hadn't taken a single bite from her lunch, and sneakily took a few meatballs from her pasta. "He seems like he's our age and he saved me! That means he cares about me!"

Nobody could tell if she was joking or not.

"Prez, Mega Man's a super hero. Of course he's gonna save people," Bud said.

Luna rolled her eyes, ignoring Bud's comment. "Sonia," she said, turning her attention to the pop star. "You're a chick. You have to admit, 'The Blue Bomber'? It's such a turn on!

Geo's eyes bulged open as Sonia's cheek turned as rosy as his were. She nervously giggled. "Y-yeah…" she stammered. "He's hot as hell; I'd totally go for him!"

The second those words left Sonia's mouth, Geo felt as if he was going to faint from embarrassment. Sonia looked down at her feet, her cheeks burning. Both trying their best to shrug it off, they continued eating their lunches.

Bullets whizzed in the air, missing Geo's head by the mere millimeter. Some of them caught his spiky hair, and from the corner of his eye, he felt a few strands falling on his face. Geo activated a Long Sword Battle Card and streaked towards the CannonBase. He ran along the Wave Road in superhuman speed; his feet bounced across the Wave Road almost gracefully.

"Eat this!" Geo saw that the CannonBase had reloaded and was ready to fire again. Just as he was going to slash the virus into pieces, a GreatAx virus appeared behind him and, without hesitation, slashed the electromagnetic matrix's back. Letting out a cry, the slash flung him towards the CannonBase virus, which released multiple bullets, and was sent flying into the wall of an apartment building.

"Shit…" Geo cursed, nearly puking from the taste of blood in his mouth. I can't afford to make mistakes like that!

"Geo!" cried Sonia, who had just deleted a large wave of Mettaurs.

Geo knew what she planned as she pointed Lyra's head, who was in the shape of her aquamarine coloured guitar, in his direction. Dammit, don't heal me; you're going to be hit from behind! "Sonia, I'm fine!" he shouted, clutching his chest. He was starting to feel lightheaded, which was to be expected after being smashed into a wall. "Take care of the viruses!"

Sonia nodded and turned her attention towards the viruses that struck her partner. Forming a strong battle stance, she strummed out a chord that sounded like an E minor.

"SHOCK NOTE!"

Two large amplifiers formed by Sonia's side. Large bursts of EM Waves streamed out from the speakers, destroying the CannonBase. After a few seconds, the amplifiers disappeared as though they were never there. Sonia gritted her teeth, looking for the remaining GreatAx virus. Through the smoke of the explosion, she saw that it was headed straight towards her, ready to strike.

"Oh no, you don't!" Sonia pointed Lyra to the virus' direction. "Quick Strings!" Large metallic strings fired from the guitar and coiled around the GreatAx virus in a matter of milliseconds. As the GreatAx virus struggled to break free from her grasp, Sonia skillfully played a thrash metal guitar solo. Big notes were fired from Lyra and destroyed the virus.

By that time, Geo had already gotten up. He picked out a few scraps out of his blue armour. Sonia walked towards him, while picking a soft melody. Just like before, the music not only sounded heavenly to Geo, but a warm feeling enveloped the insides of his body. Feeling true bliss, he sighed and closed his eyes, and by the time he opened them, all his wounds were healed. Geo grinned, feeling like he just got out of the shower.

"Thanks, Sonia. Good job out there," he said. "You know I could have used a Recovery Battle Card, but thank –" Geo didn't get a chance to finish his sentence, as Sonia slapped him across the face. Geo gripped his stinging cheek in annoyance. "What was that for?"

"I saw what you did there. That was really stupid," she said, crossing her arms.

"What?"

"We knew you saw that GreatAx virus," Lyra said, "while you were going to attack that MadVulcan. You knew that you didn't have a chance. You knew that you weren't fast enough."

"But you went for it anyways," Sonia scolded him.

Geo scoffed. He was surprised that their eyes were just as keen as his. "Yeah, I knew I wasn't fast enough," he said. "I should have been, though."

Sonia frowned. "I get that we both go through dangerous stuff, and it's only gonna get worse, with Cepheus and all. But that was just reckless," she said. "You're pushing yourself too hard."

"Maybe I am." Geo looked down at his feet. She's right; I am pushing the boundaries of what's. Even in this form, I'm not invincible. I still feel pain; I bruise, I bleed, and I get the worst headaches ever. "But I have to improve."

"We all have to," Omega-Xis added. "None of us know when or where the FM-ians will attack, so when they do, we have to be ready."

Sonia sighed. "You're right." She punched Geo lightly on the shoulder. "I'm just worried about you."

Geo smiled. "Yeah, thanks. I got your back too." The stronger I get, the better chance I have at finding out what happened to Dad.

The two of them continued their regular after school routine; they Virus Busted a bit more and then Pulsed Out back to their human forms. They proceeded towards their favourite joint, Tad's, which was a small shop known for their milkshakes. As they entered the newly renovated building, they saw Pat drinking a shake by himself.

Sonia grinned. "Yo, Pat!"

Pat smiled back. After buying their milkshakes, (Geo always bought the chocolate flavour while Sonia opted for vanilla) the two proceeded to the table Pat was sitting in. Usually, it would just be Geo and Sonia chatting and laughing with each other. Sonia would always complain about her agent and tease Geo, but now Sonia was engaged with a conversation with Pat. Geo noticed, just like in science class, he was left out. He would sometimes try to join in their conversation by asking a question to either Pat or Sonia, for example. Either of them would kindly answer him, and then continue where they left off in their conversation.

Geo sighed. He had already finished his drink long before either Sonia or Pat's drink was a quarter finished. He was just playing games on his Transer, and felt like it was just a waste of his time. He was about to leave when Sonia suddenly excused herself to the washroom.

He groaned. As she left the table, Geo realized that it was just him and Pat. If I leave now, that'll look rude on my part. "So," Geo said, "how are your classes so far?"

Pat shrugged as he took a sip out of his vanilla milkshake. "Good, I guess, though there was this really annoying girl in my art class today…"

"Was she blonde, quick tempered, and full of herself?"

Pat made a strange face. "…Yeah! You know her?"

"Unfortunately." Geo laughed. "Her name's Luna, but she likes it if you call her 'Prez' because she's grade rep."

Pat laughed as well. "Well, a girl as cocky as her, I'm not surprised that being grade rep affected her ego a bit."

"That's exactly what I thought!" The two laughed, but after, another silence proclaimed them. Trying to break the ice, Geo said, "What school did you go to before this?"

Pat's face darkened a little. "I was homeschooled, so I'm kind of new to this."

Geo's eyes widened; he was surprised, and partly relieved, that he wasn't the only one. "Same," he said, "though I've been in this school for a bit. I can help you around with stuff – show you around the system."

"Really?" Geo nodded and Pat smiled in response. "Thanks, dude. It's means a bunch."

Soon, Sonia returned to the table. Geo, no longer feeling out of place, joined in with their conversations with ease. After about a half hour of laughing and having fun, Geo checked the time.

"Hey guys," he said, "I've gotta go. I have a socials test tomorrow, and I have to study."

"Okay!" Sonia replied. "Later!"

Pat smiled as well. "Yeah, later dude." Geo lightly pounded the fist Pat put out and quickly left the building.

From outside of the building, he saw through the window that the two of them were still talking. After seeing the wide smile on Sonia's face, that 'strange sensation' returned to his gut. Then, Geo heard a soft chuckle from his Transer.

Geo groaned. "What's up with you?"

Omega-Xis continued to laugh quietly. "Oh, lord. This is priceless…"

"What…"

The alien's soft giggle then turned into roars of laughter; they were so loud that Geo silently thanked the AM Sages that only he could hear them. "You're jealous of Pat!"

W-what the hell? Geo felt his cheeks tingle a little. " 'Jealous'? Of Pat? Why would I be jealous?"

"For chatting up your girl, that's why!"

'M-my girl?' What the hell? His cheeks were red hot now. "The hell are you talking about?" Geo bit his tongue; Omega-Xis getting under skin was nothing new. Omega-Xis laughed harder. If Geo put his Visualizer on, he would probably see tears pouring out of his battle partner's eyes.

"Kid, don't even try that," Omega-Xis snickered. "You're denying it!"

"S-shut up," Geo grumbled, closing his eyes. "I don't like her that way…" Suddenly, a loud honking noise broke his train of thought as sharply the sound of dropping a glass cup. His eyes shot wide open as he saw that he was in the middle of a cross walk and almost got hit by a truck. "F-fuck!"

"Damn, potty mouth. You really are crazy about this girl; you're gonna get us both killed!" Omega-Xis laughed.

"Hey! Get off the road!" The driver of the truck roared, sticking a middle finger out the window. Geo spun around to see a few girls from the other side of the street giggling, and an old man with a face that read, "What a stupid kid."

"Sorry! Sorry!" Geo cried, running across the street and into his house. Despite his efforts, he couldn't ignore Omega-Xis' constant harassment.

A/N: Some things to note: characters (especially Pat!) may seem OOC-ish from here on. I'm sorry to all you diehard Starforce fans; it is just how I planned out the plot.

Anyways, it feels I rushed some things; as I've said before, please leave some feedback!