And I'm back. Not much to say except that I'm still working on more concept art. A lot's been happening and I find myself getting more heavy loaded lately. I just hope this feeling stops sooner or later. Anyway, please review after reading, guys. Let's start!

Shooting Star Rockman Celestia: 2nd Wave
Chapter 6: An invisible link

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The sun was up, the sky was as crystal blue as a newly shined jewel and the atmosphere just seemed as relaxing as ever. But in the midst of all that peace and quiet, there would always be a place or two that was jam packed with liveliness at every corner. For example...the Stellar residence.

As Geo continued to hear the audibled sounds from the rearranging of battle cards from within his MP-Hunter, he could also hear the battering sounds of kitchenware being echoed all throughout the small building.

"Wow...it almost sounds like a battlefield" Geo muttered as he stopped his finger on a 'confirm' button, finishing the arrangement of his battle card deck.

Mega added, "No kidding, that girl's taking this way to far. Maybe you should check it out. For all you know, you could find a detached finger or two in there"

"...I really hope I don't" Geo concluded, getting up from his comfortable seat and heading through his poster personalized door. As soon as he'd stepped foot in the hollow hallway, an unknown smell was immediately captured by his senses. It was an unknown smell because neither Geo nor Mega knew how to put it into words.

"Geo, I'm starting to get a baaaaad feeling about this"

"Me too, Mega...me too" And with every step, the smell drew closer and closer as well as the many different clanging sounds of pots and pans. In a few moments, he was now right in front of the kitchen door, but deeply gulped just staring at it. Swallowing up his fear into curiosity, the boy finally opened the door, revealing a mess of all sorts scattered around the cooking room.

"Whoa" Mega began, "What the hell's happened here?"

Looking around the room, Geo could see stains and blotches of food all over the place, including the two people inside.

"Oh...hey, Geo" Sonia embarrassingly said, right before a sticky piece of wheat decided to drop down on her pink head. As much as Geo wanted to chuckle at that, he was just too amazed by how much of a mess she'd made. It obviously couldn't have been the work of his mom, who was also present at the scene, because she was wasn't exactly one to make messes of her cooking.

"Well...this is a rather sticky situation, don't you think?" Hope joked in order to lighten up the mood a bit. For a second, Sonia seemed to smile, but that face quickly turned into a frown once again as she looked around the messy kitchen.

"I just can't believe I managed to do something like this..." She mumbled, "And I'm really sorry for messing up your kitchen, Ms. Stellar. I was the one who asked you for help, after all..."

But as Hope stared at Sonia's flushed face, she couldn't help but let out a genuine chuckle. Oddly, that was just the way she was. "That's perfectly fine, Sonia. The important thing is that you don't give up, even when things turn out far from how you want them. Actually, I helped someone just like your case a few years back"

"Huh? Really? And who was that?" The teen idol asked. Of course Geo had managed to recall that someone in an instant, but he'd rather not remember how that certain someone's cooking looked like before she actually got the hang of things.

"It was Luna" Hope smiled, causing a surprised look to sneak itself on Sonia's face. It wasn't just her because Lyra was just as shocked.

The instrument began, "Wow, really? I didn't think that girl would have a problem like that!"

Mega interrupted, "But believe it or not, she did. And Geo's got the battle scars on his taste buds to prove it. But at least it all turned out well in the end. This kid even ended up liking her cooking eventually"

Sonia felt a little better after that. At least now she knew that she wasn't alone. The mere thought of that gave her a little faith in herself. If Luna's cooking was as bad as Mega had said, maybe there was still hope for the music-loving teen yet.

However, there was a little something that had bothered Sonia from that statement.

"So...Luna cooked for you?" She bluntly said with a slightly envious tone, leaving a newly panicked Geo to defend himself from embarrassment.

"N-No, I mean, that was a long time ago a-and it was kinda for 'Rockman' and not me so...umm"

At seeing Geo's rather defensive and innocent reaction, both girls chuckled like pranksters who'd just fooled their first victim. "I was just kidding, Geo" Sonia cheerfully said, "You're always too serious, you know? But then again, I guess that's what makes you you"

After witnessing the slimy and sticky event, Geo decided to help clean up the place. Hope had decided that Sonia's 'practice' was enough for the day, mostly because she'd used up a ton of ingredients which were eventually turned into trash wastes left alone in the garbage.

Just as they were about to finish, the chiming sound of a doorbell had suddenly echoed itself through the whole house. Actually, that doorbell was a very old model because the new ones would actually have security wizards implanted in them and would inform them with a detailed explanation of the visitor. Both Geo and his mother had agreed though that something like that was practically useless to them and would just be a waste of money.

"I'll get it" Geo offered and immediately headed for the front door. Opening it, Geo saw the smiling face of Pat Spriggs, as calm and cool as he'd ever been.

"Hey there, Geo" Pat said, a relaxed tone filling his voice.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Right after everyone had taken their seats and Hope had gone off to work, Pat continued the conversation he'd started. "I guess you're wondering why I'm here, right? Well...I kind of want to show you guys something" He said, inputing a few commands on his MP-Hunter.

And at once, a familiar face had suddenly flashed out from the device; a face that made both teens and their partners' eyes widen, blinking repeatedly just to make sure that what they were seeing was the real deal.

"C-Cancer?!" Sonia exclamed, standing up in surprise. Apparently, Alpha was no longer in his former state, but was actually back to his original form: Cancer Bubble. And it wasn't just that, but he was currently in his wave fused state instead of being made up of pure waves.

"I'm guessing you're kinda surprised, buku. Actually, I don't even get any of this myself, buku" The crab said as he scratched his head with his red pincers, confused yet a bit happy to have his original body back.

Geo began, "So, Pat, what exactly happened?"

"Hmm...I'm not so sure either" Pat replied, rubbing his chin in deep thought, "But I've been feeling kinda strange ever since the fight at the studio. And I guess Alp- I mean Cancer felt the same thing. Maybe...it was from fighting the manikin?"

Now that he'd mentioned it, Geo did remember Pat taking a hit for him and Sonia when they were desroying that large ball of energy that a berserk Luna had made at the time. Although it didn't really spark a connection, it was all they had to go on.

"But tell me one thing" Mega asked, "You're wave fusion's still more or less Alpha Duo right? There should be some small differences but it's still almost like that"

Pat nodded, "Yeah, that's right. When I tried fusing with Cancer, I thought it'd be different, but it's still the same old Alpha Duo with a few added functions"

Although he'd said that, it still wasn't enough information to be able to deduce the cause of the former Alpha's change in appearance. Mega and Lyra however, knew at least the reason why their fused form hadn't changed much.

Lyra started, "I guess Pat's 'wave memory' doesn't have anything to do with it"

"Yeah, you're right" Mega agreed, crossing his green arms.

"Wave memory?" Geo asked his AM-ian partner who nodded in response.

"You're aware that even you people have wave energy inside of you, right? Well, even if it's nothing compared to an FM-ian or AM-ian's wave energy, it still has its own kind of 'protection lock' called wave memory. It's because of this that every wave pattern differs from one another, be it a human or not"

Lyra added, "And since Alpha Duo's appearance hasn't changed much, we can say that it doesn't have much to do with his wave memory since the fused forms take most of its wave energy from the human partner, not the FM-ian partner"

"So that means..." Geo reasoned, "Cancer's the cause of the change?"

Mega nodded, "You catch on fast, kid. Yup, that's about the gist of it"

"But..." Sonia interrupted, "Wouldn't merging with an already fused Cancer have like...a bad effect? I mean, wouldn't it be too much too handle?"

And at that, Mega couldn't help but chuckle as a response. He, along with Cancer and Lyra, already knew the answer to that question. Although Cancer, being the talk of the conversation, dropped his head down in shame.

"It's because the crab's wave readings are so downhill that Pat could still actually fuse with him!" Mega bluntly laughed, and that was the hard truth because Cancer's face was the proof, just like a turtle hiding in its shell. Still, it was best if they'd asked a person with the right equipment for solid facts, and Ace was the only person they could think off. But they would have to put that on hold, for Sonia's rather fashionable MP-Hunter had started beeping.

Answering the call, Sonia was greeted by the face of her co-singer, Belle. "Sonia, great news!" The brunette said, "My brother's calling us over to the studio for something important. He also said that it might be because Ice finally has a duo name for us, since Lee said he'd been hearing her mumbling to herself about it lately"

The pink haired teen replied, "Really? That's great! I'll be over there ASAP!"

"Alright, I'll meet you there, Sonia. See you!"

And with the closure of their short conversation, Sonia's eyes had gleamed like a hopeful star. "Woohoo! We finally have a duo name! That was like the only thing keeping us from performing for the first time!" She happily said as she jumped around with joy.

"Wow...I didn't know group names were that important..." An amazed Geo said.

"Me neither, kid..." A similarly amazed Mega added.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

At the studio, Sonia and Belle eagerly awaited news from their producer...along with the four other visitors Sonia had dragged along with her. Namely, Geo, Pat, Cancer and a slightly agitated Mega.

"Bah...why do we have to be here too?" The blue armored AM-ian grunted from Geo's MP-Hunter. Actually, they weren't needed to be there at all, but Sonia felt more comfortable with more company. Hence the dragging-along part.

Glancing looks at her companions, Belle had noticed a person in the group whom she'd never seen before. Quickly noticing this, Sonia immediately introduced her to the green ponytailed Pat. "Oh, you still don't know him, do you? This is Pat Spriggs. He's in the same class as me and Geo"

But quite oddly, Belle didn't respond, or rather, she was having a hard time responding. You could see her lips tingle a bit, but they'd never go wide enough to mutter a word.

"Hey there, name's Pat. It's nice to meet you" He calmly started, thinking that he should be the first to greet with a handshake. And from then on, it became clear to Geo and Sonia on why Belle was so hesitant. Looking at the slight blush on her face, you could probably tell why too.

"Oh...umm...m-my name's Belle...nice to meet you too..." The brunette shyly responded, putting her head down to hide her flushed face. The surprising part was, Pat didn't even seem to know why she acted like she did and seemed rather ignorant to that fact.

Finally, their wait had ended when an automatic glass door had suddenly swung open, revealing the dark toned, curly haired staff leader, Lee Stern.

"Sorry to keep you guys waiting" He apologized, "You didn't really have to bring all the company, but the more the merrier, right? Well, if you'll follow me then"

As the group walked along the fairly familiar studio hallways, they'd noticed that it seemed fully repaired although Sonia and Belle were much too busy guessing their duo name to even notice.

In a few moments, they were now in front of the icy producer.

"So, I think you've already heard from Lee, but i've finally come up with a good name for you two" The female wizard announced. "But I'll say, it took me quite awhile...especially because a certain someone had submitted a list with about fifty name suggestions" She continued, holding up a particularly long list of names in front of Sonia.

"Ehehe...sorry bout' that" The girl replied, "I just got a little caught up in it all. I actually only meant to write about 5...but I guess it turned into 50"

Mega blunty interrupted, "Wow, that's a hell of a big difference"

Ice cleared her throat for undivided attention, "Anyway, I got this name by just looking at the two of you. I immediately think of 'pink' when I see Sonia. And as for Belle, your clothes themselves say 'purple', so I think I'll call you two...Pink and Purple"

Pink and Purple...it didn't sound half-bad in everyone's eyes. People would immediately know what that stood for just by appearance, and it kind of held that 'cute' ring to it. All in all, it wasn't bad at all, and everyone agreed to that.

"I don't have any objections to it" Pat said, giving an audience's point of view. One by one, the others offered their opinions too, all of them being positive in general.

"So it's decided!" Ice concluded, "From this moment, you two will be known as 'Pink and Purple!' Here's to a successful future!"

"Yeah!" The two girls cheered filled with a contagious happiness that drew everyone in. But before they could celebrate anymore, there was still one more thing that had to be taken care of. "Oh, I almost forgot. You two don't have any managers, do you? I can assign each of you an assistant if you'd like"

Belle refused the offer, saying that she could handle herself pretty well. Sonia, on the other hand, knew that a manager wizard would come in handy, seeing that she'd be too busy balancing school work, her music work, and her 'helping save the earth from imminent destruction' work. Lyra was pretty good at reminding Sonia about her daily duties, but a wizard designed directly for that purpose would be much better.

And it just so happened, a certain FM-ian fit right into the category of 'assistant' since he'd already been one in the past.

"W-Wait! Pick me, pick me, buku!" Cancer exclaimed as he waved his pincers high up in the air. It was then that Sonia had remembered that Cancer actually was her manager a few years back. Sure he didn't really seem like a responsible manager, but he almost always was.

"Well, I don't see why not, Sonia" Lyra said, "He was pretty diligent in the past after all. Remember the time when you walked out of an interview just so you could go to those snow mountains and help Geo with the OOPART gathering? Cancer almost ripped himself apart just to cover for you"

"Although he made me look pretty weird in that interview..." Sonia mumbled, blushing as she recalled how her 'hologram' self had looked like: Picture a robot, minus the brains. But in the end, Sonia decided that maybe it was the correct decision to let Cancer be her assistant again.

"But how about Pat? He's your partner after all" Sonia reminded the crab, causing him to shoot a 'puppy eyes' stare at the boy. Of course, Pat was more then willing to let him go.

There was just one condition though. "Sure, you can go, but come back in times when I need you, alright? I can't turn into Alpha Duo without you, and without that...I'm pretty much useless during fights"

And as soon as those words had come in contact with Cancer's ears, he'd immediately started pacing around in joy, the squeaky sounds from his feet echoing throughout the room as he ran in circles.

"I can't wait to see what happens" Geo muttered and Pat fully agreed.

"Same here, Ge-" But as the green haired teen was about to finish, a sudden flash of pain had suddenly struck his head as fast as a bullet, leaving him to grasp his head in pain.

"Pat, what's wrong?"

But he couldn't respond. Instead, he groaned in agony as he struggled against the stream of pain flowing through his head. And at that point, at that second, a familiar voice had suddenly revealed itself...

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Hey there, other half. I hope you haven't forgotten about me already. You haven't...have you?" The voice whispered with a teasing tone. From that sentence alone, Pat could already tell who it was even if his thoughts were rather hazy at the moment.

"Rey..." He painly muttered, surprising everyone at the said name.

In a flash, the source of the voice had appeared to them like thunder, smirking and grinning as he graced everyone with his presence. There stood Gemini Bolt, all armored up with a mixture of white and black colors that once belonged to two Gemini Sparks instead of one whole. Not even thinking for a second, Geo immediately took out his MP-Hunter and proceeded for a quick fusion; however...

"Not so fast, kid!" The wave fused menace said, sneaking up behind Belle in an instant and grabbing her by the neck. "If you make even a single move without me even telling you, well, let's say this girl's gonna have the 'shock' of her life"

From that, everyone had stopped, just as expected from almost any kind of hostage situation. "That's a good dog" He continued, "Now, Pat, come with me to the rooftop. We've got a few things to 'discuss'. And just so none of you decide to step in on our little conversation, I'm taking this girl with me. You get the picture, right? See you there, Pat!"

And he was gone, leaving Geo and co. to think things out. Pat, on the other hand, had already made his resolve.

"Cancer, let's go" he directly ordered, his calm expression suddenly changing into a whole different look. His eyes didn't seem as relaxed as they usually were, and his composure seemed very unlikely of him.

Sonia interrupted, "Come on, you're not thinking of taking him on alone, are you? We should think of a plan first or something"

"There's no need for that" Pat replied, "You don't know what that guy's really capable of. If he said he'd hurt Belle, then I'm sure he'd have the guts to do so"

But when the teen was only mere inches from the door, he'd stopped and turned his head around with a small smile. "And besides...I'm the only guy he'll listen to"

At that phrase, the door had closed, and Geo and co. were left to think about what he said then and there. The only person Rey would listen to? None of them could derive anything from those words. But in any case, it would be a good idea to at least keep an eye on Pat.

Now in wave fused Alpha Duo, the boy travelled the wave roads to the path of the buliding rooftop, his blue and red armor shining brightly under the hovering sun.

"You sure about this, 'buku?" Cancer asked his partner, receiving a decisive nod in response.

"Yeah, I'm sure. If he helped me out once when I was fighting Celestia, then maybe there's something he's not telling me"

"If you say so...but I still think talking to him is a pretty whack idea, 'buku...."

"Well...you won't know 'till you try, right?"

In the distance, Alpha Duo's eyes zoomed in on an anxious Gemini Bolt, the same excited smile on his face as he stared back. Along with him, an unconscious Belle silently lay there a few feet away from him.

With a final jump from the wave roads unto the wide, square roof, Alpha Duo now stood before the black and white wave being. For a few seconds, they just stood there, staring at each other. But ultimately, Pat decided to speak.

"I need to ask you something" The dual gunner said to his other self, who in turn replied with curious eyes. "Why did you help me when i fought Lucia. I've been thinking about it over and over, but I never could put my finger on it"

The electrifying man replied with a grin, "Beats me...I guess I was just feeling charitable. But you know, I don't even know the reason myself either. But...enough about that"

Two translucent yellow swords had formed from Gemini Bolt's hands, threatening Pat with their sparking appearance. Though Pat had wanted to converse just a little more, his reflexes told him otherwise and immediately pulled out two bladed guns as he steadied his stance. Maybe he'd be able to talk to him again after giving a good beating.

Gemini Bolt started off his opponent's capabilities by swinging both blades wildly as Alpha Duo used the blades installed on his guns to counteract. Sparks flew continuously as both competitors clashed at a blinding speed, creating their own after-images after every swing. Ducking a swipe from the short bladed gun, Gemini Bolt pushed his foe back into the air with a powerful thrust using both arms.

Using that to his advantage, Alpha Duo took that short interval to aim at his opponent, opening a barrage of fire in mid-air. After blocking a few shots with his translucent swords, Rey immediately fired his own projectile in the form of a lightning bolt, via his metal yellow hand. "Gemini Thunder!" He yelled just before shooting a stream of lightning at Pat.

Still in mid-air, Alpha Duo had no choice but to guard against it. He crossed his arms in a defensive stance and took the full blow of the strike. Just before hitting the ground hard; however, he'd quickly fired his guns at the solid pavement, causing the force from the shot to temporarily push Pat back into the air and into a safe landing.

"Behind you, 'buku!" Cancer alerted, giving his partner enough time to glance over his shoulder.

With a never disappearing grin on his face, Gemini Bolt fired another flash of lightning, although Pat was steady on the ground this time around.

"It won't work a second time!" Alpha Duo said, putting up his guns and literally absorbing the yellow electricity. He'd used the newly gained charge to fire an even larger and faster shot from his twin guns, leaving the target to defend against it for a few seconds until it had finally disappeared into thin air.

Fortunately, that attack had actually damaged Gemini Bolt quite a bit, judging from the fact that he was now kneeling on one knee. Seeing that this was the perfect chance to continue the conversation that he'd started, Pat vanished his weapons into a light that disappeared as quick as it had appeared.

"Now, answer my question. Why did you help me?" He interrogated once again, oddly causing Gemini Bolt to narrow his eyes and laugh out as loud as he could.

"This guy's got issues...'buku" Cancer mumbled with a confused tone present in his voice.

Gemini Bolt continued to laugh insanely as he rested his hand on his forehead. "You've gotta be joking! How'd you get so freakin' strong?" He finally laid down his hand. "I used to be the one giving you the orders. Now, it's the other way around! How the hell'd that happen?"

"I'll ask you again" Pat said, "Why did you help me?"

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Gemini Bolt replied, "Heh...I guess this is how things go now. Man...this really bites. Why don't I ask you a question first? Do you even know how I keep popping up? When you first saw me after a year, when you first gained the Alpha Duo form, and when you fought against Lucia...do you know how I suddenly just show up at those times?"

He thought about it, but Pat just didn't know.

With an index finger, Rey gently tapped his own forehead about three times. "Your mind, Pat, your mind. I'm sure you thought you got rid of me a year ago, waking up and suddenly not feeling my presence anymore, but I was actually hiding in a deeper part of your mind. All that time, I was still inside you, waiting for the right moments to pop-up...and test you"

"Test me?" Alpha Duo responded in confusion.

"That's right. I just wanted to see...how much you've grown, and how much stronger you've become" As Pat's eyes widened at hearing those words, his other self continued. "After taking control over me 4 years ago, I just wanted to get you back for that. I hated the feeling of being left out in the dust and I tried over and over again to take back that control that I lost. But...it never happened. You were always just one step ahead of me...like a younger brother finally surpassing his big bro..."

From those words, and from that tone, Pat could now piece together the puzzle that his mind had been solving for so long. The very thing Rey desired was to merely have that feeling of domination. Though it was just a simple desire, it drove Rey to great lengths just to make it happen. But after being thwarted time and time again, that desire eventually crumbled away, and from it, a new goal was set place in his mind. And that goal, was to simply watch as his other self had grown stronger with each passing day. A prime example of the saying, 'If you can't beat 'em, join 'em'. Although, it was much more serious in this case.

As Rey's eyes began to stare at the ground, embarrassed and lost, his face had still kept that lasting grin. But at least now, it was more of a relieved smile; A feeling that felt so good that he just stayed there, sitting on the pavement and even ignoring his injuries.

But in a second, he'd raised up his face, looking up at the green haired teen who'd approached and was now standing over him.

"You could've told me that earlier, you know?" Pat said as he reached his hand towards Rey, his look now returning to that former relaxed aura that he'd always present. For a moment, Rey had paused, but he eventually closed his eyes and reached out his hand as well, grasping the hand of his 'brother' and allowing him to stand on his two feet.

"Well, what can ya' do?" Rey sincerely replied. For some reason, his armor felt a bit lighter now. He didn't know why, but it just felt like a big load had been carried off from his shoulders.

But...it wouldn't last much longer...

Belle, who was now wide awake, had witnessed the whole conversation; Furthermore, she was about to witness something else that would immediately turn her smile into a frown.

"Look out!" The girl yelled with all her might, but it was too late. From behind Gemini Bolt, a figure had approached, and with a great fiery sword in his hand, he'd swiped it across Rey's back, causing him to writhe in pain before slowly falling unto the ground.

"We finally found you, Gemini Bolt" The orange haired Celestia member known as Rage had said. "Bad move showing yourself like that, you traitor. But, I've gotta applaud you for that. You sure got some balls, revealing your location even when you knew what would happen.

"Tch...you little..." Rey muttered in pain as he ordered his body to move even a slight bit. But in the state he was in, his body had done the opposite, forcing him to lose consciousness.

Alpha Duo was now gripping his dual guns as tight as he could, not even thinking twice about aiming them right at Rage's head. "Bastard!" he shouted, quickly pushing his finger against the trigger.

A loud bang was heard...but it didn't come from Alpha Duo's guns. As soon as he'd realized that, his vision had started to slip away as he felt a sharp pain that had struck his back like a raging bull. That shot had come from someone, but Pat didn't even have the consciousness left to even turn his head.

"I...didn't even...sense...that..."

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Geo: And now

Sonia: it's time for the 'terms of the week!'

Filename: Rey Spriggs
The other. aggressive self of Pat who is also known as Gemini Bolt, a form of a combined black and white Gemini Spark. After Pat had gained control over Rey 4 years ago, Rey tried desperately to reclaim his control, but to no avail. A year before the events of Shooting Star Rockman Celestia, Pat had finally gained full control over his own body, leaving Rey to hide in a much deeper and unnoticeable region of Pat's mind. As a former member of Celestia, he'd appeared towards Pat on a few occasions, all but one of them showing aggression towards Pat. The only time he'd actually helped him was when he'd given him an inch of his power during Pat's fight with Lucia, a member of Celestia who is now long gone.

Filename: Belle Stern
Famed singer and step-sister of Lee Stern. Her original family name is Glacier. Along with Sonia, she makes up 'pink and purple', a singing duo that they had formed. Her instrument of choice is the tambourine which she always stores in her MP-Hunter. Her singing voice and style is more solemn than Sonia's, making the mixture of her voice quite harmonic to Sonia's cheerful style.

Geo: Now, please take a look at the screen behind us for the clue words on the next chapter

*Incredibly pink screen flashes*

Geo: Sonia...what did you do?

Sonia: *cheerful humming*

Geo: Why do I even bother...

*Bond* *brotherhood* and *Spade* Appear on the screen.

Geo: So there was Ace, Heart and now Spade. I wonder how many more of them there are?

Sonia: We'll just have to find out another time coz' we're all out of time for now. See you!