Yo, I'm back. Sorry it took awhile but I was busy drawing concept arts on the characters. I've already posted one on Solo, Geo, and Sonia up at my deviantart page. I think i've said this a number of times already but my username there is Gibder. Well i don't have much to say right now so we'll just head straight to the fic.

Shooting Star Rockman Celestia: 2nd wave
Chapter 11: The mind of an ace

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

all around the wide area, loud crashes and noises could be heard repetitively. These noises could be traced towards one little innocent looking Mettie. Right now, however, his aura had completely changed into that of a berserk child wildly swinging his pickaxe, creating shockwaves that even pierced through air. Alpha Duo was currently the little child's target for the sole purpose of absorbing his energy like what the previous manikins had done in the past.

"Damn...what's going on" the dual gunner asked himself just before leaping into the air to evade a crawling wave. Just when he thought he couldn't be reached in mid-air, the mettaur swung its axe towards him, flashing a mid-air shockwave that caused Alpha Duo to thrust to the right and bounce off a wall before another mid-air attack could hit him.

"Pat, he's giving off a pattern like the manikins, 'buku!" Cancer alerted his partner which clarified some of the boy's lingering questions. Even if he knew that much it still wouldn't help the current situation one bit. Another observation was that Mettie's eyes were glowing a bright yellow color which once again placed a similarity with the manikins.

Before he could think anymore, Alpha quickly noticed that the child-like mettaur had summoned yet another pick-axe and wielded them with ease despite his size. He swung with his left followed by his right in just a brink of a second and soon the gunner found himself moving even faster. If he didn't then he'd eventually be struck down by one of the shockwaves.

Unfortunately his agile maneuvering would soon let up. After bouncing himself off the ceiling and unto the ground his right foot had felt a sudden sharp pain, allowing Mettie to successfully attack him with a shockwave that sent him flying into the green lit walls and placing a crack on them.

"tch...that hit home. I hope he's not doing this to pay me back for not buying him another ice cream cone..." he calmly said as he weakly got back on his feet. Before he knew it, Mettie had sent another batch flying at him but this time was deflected one at a time by Rogue who'd arrived just in time with his signature weapon in hand.

"...Care to explain what's going on?" Rogue questioned but Alpha Duo swayed his head in response. "Sorry, I don't have a clue either. He just started acting like this all of a sudden"

"Hmph...well thanks to that, some of the other wizards have gone berserk as well. Luna and Bud are busy taking care of them"

"Is that so? Geez, what a day this is getting to be. Anyway we need to find a way through this" Alpha Duo concluded. "Any ideas on your side?"

"...If it were only me, I'd delete him right here, but I don't think I would hear the end of it from you people so I guess that's out of the question"

And finally the crazed virus had gone back on the offensive, readily swinging the enormous pick-axes as he screamed at the top of his lungs. The sad thing was that neither Pat nor Solo could think of what to do with the current situation. Thankfully though, someone with an idea was about to arrive at the scene.

"Wing Blade!" A voice suddenly yelled, revealing a white armored man from above that sliced away one of the axes with a single swipe of his sword arm, making the virus back away with extreme caution as he gazed at what turned out to be Acid Ace.

"You guys looked like you needed help. Luna, take this" the officer tossed a small chip unto Luna's hands which she curiously looked at for a quick second.

"Huh? But what's this fo-"

"That will let you fuse with Vogue" he quickly replied, catching the girl completely off-guard. "Just for the record, Vogue was created by us, the Satella Police. We were trying to experiment with new types of wizards and Vogue was one of the few that were successful, along with Acid of course. Vogue not only has pinpoint memory, but when you use that chip she'll be able to fuse with you via your mind"

"My...mind?" A confused Luna responded.

"That's right. Vogue will be more of a bridge that connects your mind to a material state. Now hurry up, we don't have much time"

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

In another part of the mall Rockman and Harpnote fended off a few security wizards that've suddenly started doing the opposite of what they were created for. Carefully the two avoided striking vital points that may put the berserkers out of commission for good.

"Rock Buster" with one eye closed Rockman precisely aimed and lifted his weapon to shoot, stunning a few wizards before they could cause anymore damage. Not far from his ears he could hear loud guitar sounds followed by the abrupt stopping of the wizards' systems.

"I think that just about takes care of them" Harpnote confirmed as she looked around and saw the unconscious bodies of the wizards they'd saved. "I really hope Belle got out safely"

"I'm sure she did" Rockman replied. "But I still don't get what's going on here"

Just then, Acid Ace had popped up right behind the two like a shadow, "It's Mettie if that's what you're wondering" the officer announced, making the two teens mentally jump in surprise. Harpnote even accidentally fired a shocknote at the man. Good thing Ace actually expected her to do that and swayed to the left to dodge it with ease.

"D-Don't do that!" The singer loudly scolded.

Lyra added, "Yeah, you almost made me jump right out off the MP-Hunter!"

"Pffft, you guys were surprised by that?" Mega smugly interrupted. "Maybe you should work on your alertness or something"

"Oh really?" the FM-ian fired back. "I saw you drop your jaw back there and you're telling us to work on our alertness?"

And when the two aliens had started arguing it would usually last for quite awhile...unless Ace would clear his throat to get everyone's attention.

"ANYWAY, the root of the problem is Mettie. For some reason the enigma waves inside him are going out of control. Since he was just a mettaur before I thought he could use a tiny portion of that energy it seems like he's somehow broken the lock we installed in his system. Solo and Pat are holding him back right now but I'm not sure how long they can keep him occupied. In a few minutes Luna will be able to fight too but she still won't be able to reverse the effect. That's something only you can do, Geo"

Hearing the part about Luna sparked Geo and Sonia's curiosity but they knew they had to deal with the current issue first. "But then...why are you here?" Harpnote asked. "Shouldn't you be helping them out?"

Ace grinned, "Well...let's just say I'm waiting for someone. Oh, speak of the devil here they are now"

And in front of the group appeared both Jack and his elder sister, Queentia. Just the mere sight of them was enough to stir up a smirk on Ace's face. "Took you two long enough. It's been awhile, hasn't it?"

Jack blurted out "Hmph! Like we'd even be glad to see your ugly mug again!" although Queentia on the other hand didn't speak a word. She simply looked at Ace with a cold stare and he looked back all the same. The hot-blooded Jack couldn't take the stunned silence any longer and decided to stop it.

"What the hell are we still doing here?! Come on, sis, we gotta move!" And from that, the woman's trance had disappeared.

"Yes, we should get going. Excuse us, but you people are in our way-"

"Forget it" Ace interrupted. "If you're after the mettaur kid then sorry, we're not moving"

"I see...then you don't leave us with much of a choice" And with Tia's final threat both she and her sibling transformed into Queen Virgo and Jack Corvus respectively. At this, Ace once again signalled to Rockman, "Geo, get going. We'll hold them off here"

Harpnote added, "And be careful, okay?"

With a confirming nod Rockman was covered in flashing colors until finally disappearing from sight, leaving his two companions to fight it out against the dealer siblings.

"These two won't be easy to deal with...think you can handle it?" Ace grinned at the red-clad teen who grinned back. "I'm not Rockman, but don't underestimate me!"

"Heh, well said"

On that note, Queen Virgo lashed out a stream of water that gushed out from the ground below them. At once Acid Ace and Harpnote leaped out of range from the water attack.

"Jack, take care of the red one. I'll handle Ace"

Without even looking back at his sister Jack Corvus sped at Harpnote using his sharp wings, throwing small balls of purple flame while his opponent repeatedly stepped out of the attack's range. Harpnote fired a few of her own attacks but they all seemed to miss the fast flyer.

"Something that slow can't hit me!" He proudly said as he took a small blade from his wings and gripped it tightly. Flying even faster he swooped down on Harpnote with the attempt to strike at close range. After Harpnote had blocked the first slice with her guitar she immediately tried to wrap him with strings before he could fly away from her line of attacks. Unfortunately it couldn't connect and Jack once again dove down from the air to attack. After being blocked again he simply repeated the process until his enemy had lost her balance and gave him a chance to unleash a strong kick powered up by the speed of his flight, sending Harpnote flying a few ways away.

Jack continued his aerial assault even when Harpnote had gotten back up. Thankfully though she'd thought of something during those endless number of attacks. "Battle card: Wide fan!" she exclaimed just before blowing a strong headwind towards her enemy. Thanks to the effort he'd slowed down long enough for her to successfully tangle him in durable strings. "Quick sting, electrify!" In a second the thin but sturdy lines conducted a large amount of electricity that shocked Jack Corvus for a few moments until finally cutting loose with the blade in his hand. Although he'd escaped, Harpnote was still on the offensive, lashing out shocknotes until a couple of them had struck him down to the ground.

"Tch...not bad, but I'm just getting started!" with a satisfied smirk on his face Jack spread his wings until they had actually formed a spiky circle. "I wasn't planning on using this yet but I think I can make an exception!" Suddenly his wings were enveloped in purple flames which seemed to give off a massive ball of energy that formed in his hands. With only five seconds the ball was about seven times his own size.

"Jack Corvus Special: Vorpal Ball!" And finally he'd thrown it unto the ground and it immediately started swallowing up everything in its path...

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"You done there yet, Luna? Me and Solo here are having a bit of a problem" Alpha Duo asked his friend who was still busy installing the chip unto her MP-Hunter.

"Just a little more! It's almost finish!" She replied, just before widening her eyes to a rampant shockwave creeping straight at her at a great speed. In a flash, Rogue appeared right in front of her knocked it back with his blade.

"...Hurry up, he's only getting stronger"

"I know that! I'm trying my best here!"

"Well maybe you should try a little harder then"

"Well maybe YOU should concentrate on keeping Mettie busy!"

Ultimately the two teens were interrupted by Pat who had been knocked back by the mettaur's attack and slid towards them. "Uh guys...I seriously don't think this is the right time to be fighting" he suggested, switching their focuses back where they belong.

"Luna, all systems are A-OK!" Vogue finally announced, putting a sudden smile on her partner's face as she stared at a bar that indicated a 100% completion.

"Well it's about time! Okay Vogue, here we go" At once Luna closed her eyes and put complete faith unto her partner. Vogue did the same and both of them found themselves in an empty space.

"Okay, we're gonna start. It'll be really short, but kinda painful too. Don't worry, I'll make sure nothing goes wrong. Well, are you ready?" With her eyes still closed Luna slowly nodded. At that, Vogue turned into a shimmering yellow crystal that placed itself inside the girl's body. At first, Luna flinched in pain for a few seconds, but it gradually became lesser and lesser until it'd finally gone away completely. In return Luna felt a sudden rush of power emanate from her as well as a pink light that wrapped like a ribbon.

Back to reality Rogue and Alpha Duo were still evading Mettie's relentless number of attacks that've seemed to triple in speed. Not only that but the child's body was already giving out a dangerous level of wave radiation that could even kill itself if allowed to further charge up.

"Darn...this isn't funny anymore" Pat muttered, "If this goes on there's no telling what'll happen to him" Without even realizing it, Mettie was already behind him and ready to swing his giant pickaxe. The gunner turned around but it was far too late. "Not good!"

But then, a large black hat had suddenly dropped itself on Alpha Duo, transporting him a few feet back and dodging the mettaur's seemingly sure hit.

"Uhh...what just happened?" he asked himself as the hat disappeared into fragments of data.

"Well, that was a close one. You better be grateful, Pat!" A familiar voice said, making both the green haired boy and Rogue look over their shoulders to see a pink-clad figure with long blonde hair. She didn't have much armor like Harpnote and was covered in pink and light green protective clothing. Her visor was a transparent light green color and it almost looked like her form when fusing with Ophiuca but slightly different.

"You like it? I'm still pretty surprised myself" Luna proudly said and with just one glance both of them could see the striking resemblance to her former fusion. It was actually rather nostalgic in their eyes although there was just something about the new form that seemed to distract Solo.

"Hmph...that mix of color is an eyesore" he rudely mumbled.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!?!"

And once again it was up to Pat to break up a potential scene of bloodshed. "Guys...I don't think we're pretty much done here yet. Could you please save the thrashtalk for later?"

In front of them Mettie was about to attack, but was interrupted once more by a couple of buster shots that caused the berserk child to step back.

"Hey, sorry I'm late" the blue bomber said as he landed near his companions.

"Well it's about time you got here, Geo!" Luna scolded. For a second he couldn't seem to recognize her but that all changed when he saw the same resemblance as Pat and Solo had seen.

"Prez, is that you?"

"Mmhm, it's me alright. Now, get to work. You're the only one that can stop him. We'll support you the best we can!"

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

In a flash Rockman and co. sprinted towards different directions, aiming to confuse the enemy with their movements. Alpha Duo fired a few shots as he ran to the mettaur's left. In response the mettaur enlarged its yellow helmet to completely cover its whole body, giving Rogue the chance he needed. The Murian drove his EM fist through the ground and dragged it as he rushed towards Mettie, giving a short yell before digging up the charged hand as well as creating a tall purple pillar that flipped the mettaur over.

"Just leave the rest to me!" Luna exclaimed. "Trap Eye!" Just below Mettie a large eye suddenly revealed itself. It'd seemed that Rogue successfully pushed the crazed mettaur to that exact point and was now unable to move an inch under the trap's effect. He tried desperately to break free but he just couldn't move at all.

And to finish off the group's strategy Rockman appeared in front of Mettie and swiftly placed his hand on his shelled head. "Sorry about this, Mettie. We'll make it up to you sometime, I promise" And the blue bomber closed his eyes to concentrate. Slowly but surely the berserk energy was now flowing out of the child and into Rockman's hand.

"Good, it's working" Ace suddenly spoke out, making the group flinch in surprise. "I was a bit worried but I guess it should run smoothly now" Oddly though, he was carrying an unconscious Sonia in his arms.

"Wh-What happened?! Is she alright?" Luna worriedly asked, gaining a reassuring nod from the Satella Officer.

"She'll be fine. She just used up too much energy shielding herself against one of Jack's attacks"

"Jack?" Pat interrupted. "You mean the Dealer member? He was here?"

"Yup, and he was with Tia as well. I could pretty much tell they were after Mettie but we managed to hold them off"

And speaking of Mettie, Rockman was just about finished on his part. The formerly berserk virus was no longer berserk and had reverted to his usual self although with a sad expression on his bubbly face. "Mettie's sorry...I caused everyone so much trouble..." but deep down everyone knew that he wasn't the slightest bit at fault.

"No worries, we're just glad you're alright" Pat said with that easily recognizable smile on his face as he placed his hands in his loose pockets. At that same time it seemed that Sonia had finally woken up from her sleep.

"...Huh? Where am- H-Hey put me down!" The green eyed teen demanded before accidentally giving Ace a full-powered kick right in the face...which in turn led him to accidentally drop her flat on her behind.

"Whoops...sorry about that. You knocked me pretty hard there..." Ace mumbled, painfully rubbing his jaw.

"Oww...that really hurts..." she softly mumbled. It was then that her eyes caught sight of a red-gloved hand that reached itself out to her. "You okay?" Geo asked with a small smile and with that same smile Sonia took his hand to help her up to her feet. "Yeah, I'm okay, thanks"

"More importantly..." Pat began. "What was with that form, Luna? It looked like your wave fusion with Ophiuca...but a little different somehow"

Ace replied on her behalf, "I think I can answer that for you. Since her memories are part of her mind it's only natural that she takes a form similar to before. Now the reason why Vogue was able to fuse via her mind was because of that chip, and that chip gives her access to her partner's brainwaves just as long as Luna's mind allows Vogue to do so"

"Hmm...so can we do that too?" Mega suddenly asked with a serious face.

"Actually you can. With some minor tweaking in your wave structure even AM-ians and FM-ians can do it. But...it's not that easy even when it's just minor tweaking. I'm sure you know I'm talking about.

"Yeah, I get you. All wave beings like us have a unique pattern that makes us completely different from one another. It'll be tough for you to analyze and scan through each one of us just for that"

"Precisely, but I'm not saying it's impossible. I'll see what I can do"

"In any case..." Sonia started, gazing at her surroundings which were...pretty much deformed in a ton of ways. "I guess we won't be visiting this place anytime soon...and I wasn't even done shopping yet..."

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Meanwhile, Jack and Tia were standing unnoticed at a distant corner. "Tch...why'd you stop me, sis?! We could've taken him on! I don't get why you had to go ahead and stop the fight all of a sud-"

"Trust me, Jack. If we were to have finished the fight then and there, we would only end up the losers. The reason why I fought him was just to test a theory and it seems I was correct. Based on his wave patterns it seems he's still in possession of that. But...he's smarter than this and I didn't think he would just openly reveal it during the battle"

"Hmph...I guess he's got a plan or something. I can't believe that thing's still inside him though. I thought it would've eaten him alive by now" And with a smug the boy vanished in the blink of an eye.

For a short time, Tia stared at the blue haired man with an expressionless look on her face. "Ace...what're you up to?" She mumbled, and after that she too vanished into the wind.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sonia: And that's a wrap! We hope you enjoyed it!

Geo: Now if you'll just take a look at the screen- hey...why is it flickering? Is it damaged?

Sonia: Uh, well...when you called in sick I had two other people fill in. The first guy was ok...but my last broadcast partner had some...issues.

Geo: Hm? But wasn't your last partner...oh...I get it now...

Sonia: It really wasn't a pleasant scene...

Geo: A-Anyway, let's just move on to the terms of the week.

Filename: Platina (Luna's new fusion)
Luna Platz' new form when fusing with Vogue via brain waves. This form lessens her offensive capabilities unlike her predecessor form, but gives her more supportive abilities like traps and protection to aid her allies. The design of this form is mainly pink like before but with some added touches of green on a few parts like her sleeves.

Filename: Queentia
A member of the organization, Dealer, and is currently working alongside Celestia like the rest of the members. She can usually be seen with Jack, her younger brother, and has a wave fused form named Queen Virgo. This form specializes in water that she manipulates in different forms.

Geo: And now, here's the clue words for the next chapter.

*two* *hundred* *years*

Sonia: That's weird, it actually almost sounds like a phrase if you think about it.

Geo: Yeah...I wonder what it means.

Sonia: I guess we'll find out another time because we're all out of that now. See you next time!