SonicANIME2010 here, bringing in part 3 to the Little Planet arc. the cliffhangers are plenty, but things will happen. Precia Testarossa returns, but is she different? Find out now... Also, disclaimer, I don't own Sonic/Nanoha or any characters from those series, they belong to Sonic Team / Seven Arcs respectively
"Say"
'Thought'
"Telepathy"
"Device"
[Non-Administrated Planet #97 "Earth"]
[South Island Archipelago: Never Lake]
[Little Planet: Tidal Tempest: Act 0]
[Testarossa Residence]
[Time: Future]
[No BGM]
For two individuals, time had seemed to slow down. Burgundy-red eyes stared almost fearfully into the purplish orbs on the other end. Fate stood, fidgeting, in the face of her creator, Precia Testarossa. She had to exercise every portion of her mental willpower to keep her dark memories from surfacing, but she was unable to stop her body from shuddering, wincing, shaking in her nervousness. Little did she know, however, that the woman had been doing the same thing.
Even though Precia had said the first words in welcoming Fate to her home, the woman had fallen silent since. She had simply stood there, awkwardly staring at her creation. There was no malice, only worry and nervousness. Despite knowing that Fate was coming, and going so far as to at least put up a welcoming front, Precia found herself unable to say anything further.
The tension between the two was thick and obvious, but there was no malice, no antagonism. If anything, both sides had a mutual fear for the other. To the others present, aside from Alicia, who was just focused on the interaction between her mother and sister, the scene felt awkward to watch, but it would have been inappropriate to simply cut in. Someone had to say the first word at some point, but who.
"Fate-!" Precia started to speak, beginning to extend a hand outward towards Fate.
"Kaa-san!" Fate began at the exact same time. Both of them stopped speaking and resumed their awkward silence, each waiting for the other to speak again.
"This…" Spoke Fate once more, timidly albeit with some disbelief to her tone, "This is real, isn't it?"
"It is…" The woman said with a tired sigh, "I imagine that as hard as this is for me, it's even tougher on you."
"I'm not alone," Fate said as she gestured to the others who were with her, "Alicia and my friends have been supporting me."
"So, I see…" Precia scanned the gathering before her, taking note of the familiar face of the girl in white among the rest of the unfamiliar crowd before resting her eyes firmly on Fate once more, "I have so much that I need to say. My actions, my abuse towards you was indefensible. I have caused you so much pain, such terror, there are no number of apologies that will ever suffice."
"Well…" Fate fidgeted in place, "I've had some time to recover, and other things have happened since then."
"I see…" The woman let her eyes roam amongst the gathered party once more, "I imagine you all have questions for me regarding how we ended up here, what has happened to this world and how you are saving it."
"We heard enough from your first daughter," Signum confirmed, speaking up for the first time, "But if you wish to say more, we will hear you out. However, I must caution you that we have an enemy to contend with and time is not on our side."
"You don't have to worry about that man for the moment, he holds no sway over this part of the world," Precia turned back and started down the hall, motioning for the others to follow, "Come, I will explain all."
Aside from Alicia and, albeit reluctantly, Fate, the others followed the woman with uneasiness that was understandable given the circumstances. As he followed, Sonic had to pause for a moment as a weird glow from one of the rooms he passed along the way caught his eye.
'What the!' Sonic almost turned to check out what had caught his eye but was stopped by Vita.
"Sightsee later, blue boy," the knight of the hammer impatiently dragged the hedgehog on ahead, "We have more important crap going on."
"Yeesh okay…" grumbled Sonic as he followed her, 'That was weird...'
[OP: "Eternal Blaze" Mizuki Nana]
Sonic the Hedgehog: Wind of the Night Sky
Chapter 7
Little Planet Phase 3: A simple choice for a drastic outcome (Part 1)
[Tidal Tempest: Act 0]
[Testarossa Residence]
[Time: Future]
[No BGM]
Precia's lab was moderately spaced and had the usual refinements of any researcher's workshop. Computer terminals, tables, bookshelves, the old woman used the space for her work. The main computer terminal desk was in the middle of the lab. On the left were the bookshelves and tables for research and physical work, while on the right was a sight that no one had expected. A large capsule full of a greenish bubbly liquid, most likely a life-pod of sort, but it was empty.
"E-Eh?!" Nanoha blinked rapidly, her eyes glued on the pod, "I-Isn't that…"
"Yeah, that didn't feel good to wake up in," Alicia shivered in that memory.
Precia seated herself at the computer terminal, typed a few keys on the keyboard and turned to face the party once more. The screen behind the old woman displayed several feeds from all seven zones on Little Planet in their present timeframe. While the three zones that the strike team had finished appeared to be peaceful, the same could not be said for the remaining ones.
"As you can see, Little Planet is responding to your efforts of liberation, though you still have much work to be done." Precia spoke up, her aging, slightly deep voice able to carry through the room, "But we will get into that momentarily. How much has Alicia been able to say about how we arrived here?"
"She said that the two of you woke up on this realm," Signum answered, "But seemed unsure as to how."
"I presume you've heard about the Jewel Seed incident?" queried Precia, receiving a confirmatory nod from the others present as a sign to continue, "Well then, it appears that after Alicia and I fell from the Garden of Time, we were caught up in a small dimensional dislocation that sent us through time and space."
"..." Sonic blinked rapidly as he recalled something that he once read regarding the legends of the Chaos Emeralds and South Island, 'That sounds an awful lot like that "Chaos Control" I hear about in urban legends.'
Seeing as no one had any questions, Precia continued on with her story. After landing on the new world, she found herself wakened by Alicia, who was trying to get out of her life-pod. Initially, it was believed that they had simply died and ascended to heaven, though the life-pod's presence refuted the idea. For but a few moments, it seemed as though the mother and daughter were set for a joyful life together after the reunion.
The happy times never lasted long, as Precia had started to suffer from night terrors which triggered the recollection of her recent memories and the depravity her past self had displayed, especially with Fate. Her story continued and confirmed all that Alicia had said before; not that the latter was exaggerating in any shape, but Precia had confirmed how severe her guilt was.
The night following Precia's attempted suicide, foiled by Alicia's magic awakening in full strength was a tense one. After the girl had let out her emotions in a crying fit that fully drew out her latent power its capacity, she felt a drive of determination, a cause.
"She wanted to set things right with her sister." Precia's eyes locked on Fate as an indication of who she was referring to, "But she needed the strength, the skills…"
Reluctantly, Precia had agreed to teach Alicia in magic and combat, though under the stipulation that the girl improved her mage tests, which she had struggled in before. There was a significant difference between how Fate and Alicia were tutored in their magic. For Fate, Precia had spent little time with anything above the bare minimum of instruction. The rest to was left to Rynith, a familiar created to be an instructor, and to assemble Bardiche. As for Alicia, all of the instruction and curriculum were handled by Precia herself, mainly due to having no resources to create a familiar from. Surprisingly or not, given how driven Alicia was by her desires, she had not only improved on her grades, she aced them outright.
After the academics came the construction of the device. With materials gathered from the quartz mine zone on the planet and the technologically advanced machinery in the Workbench zone, constructing a new device was much easier. It was modeled in a combination of Alicia's energetic personality and her versatile skill set, hence the vast weaponry and the dual-wielding modes.
The application of the magic was, a little difficult, understandably so, though quite a bit embarrassing for the little girl too. Precia had lost count of the number of times she had seen little Alicia fly into a cliff or a wall as she was getting used to flying.
"I sent her out for a few errands through the planet as a final test," Precia seemed a bit tired as she finished the story, "She completed them and I deemed her to be ready. That was a few weeks ago."
"Wow…" Nanoha was amazed, if a bit saddened to hear the story from the woman herself.
"All of that…" Fate struggled to keep her tears in check, she had to be strong, "For my sake?"
"Like Alicia, there has been much I wanted to say to you as well." Nodded the Testarossa matriarch, "I had hoped to apologize, but I know what I've done goes far beyond a simple word. There is much that I feel I must do, but now..."
"Now what?" asked Fate in fear.
"Now I fear that it is too late for me…" the woman let out a sigh, feeling her depression take hold, "You told me once that you wanted to see me smile. I can't… Not to the girl I abused, threw away, failed. After all that I've done. There's nothing more for me."
"Mama…" Alicia took a few steps forward, concern and fright in her five-year-old mind.
Precia's depression was deep as were her feelings. Her heart wanted something yet her mind had seemed fit to torture her with the memories of her past self and the pain she had inflicted; the irreversible, inexcusable, devastating pain she subjected Fate to. It was enough to sink her soul deep into regret.
"Leave, all of you, please…" Precia spoke once more after a brief pause, "You have work to do. You can't waste any more time than you have already on this old shell of a woman."
"But, why Mama?" Alicia asked her tears like waterworks as she felt scared, "Why?"
"Alicia…" the woman lowered her head so she could lock eyes with her first daughter, "You and Fate deserve better than me. I don't deserve your kindness, not after what I've done."
"Kaa-san, I think it is for me and Alicia decides who to give our kindness to," Fate took a few steps forward, "All of the time with the Jewel Seeds, I only wanted to see you smile. I told you that before, and I'm saying it again."
"I understand…" The old woman shook her head in the regret that seeped into her tone and voice, "But I have done too much harm to you already. Please, leave me…."
"Mama…" the tears subsided, but the girl wore a determined frown as if she had decided on something, "Fine then… we'll leave, but we'll be back when we're done! You better have changed your mind about this..."
"Kaa-san…" Fate timidly reached out with her right hand, only for Alicia to take it and start to drag her out, much to her comical surprise, "E-eh?"
"C'mon, Imouto, everyone!" Alicia shouted almost a little louder than usual, "Mama's being an idiot again, let's go."
"Eh?" Nanoha blinked rapidly in shock at the little girl, "You sure?"
"Yeah," shrugged Alicia, "She'll get over it, but we should have her space for now."
With that said, Alicia and the others started to leave. Out of the group of six, only two had not moved from where they stood. Surprisingly, it was Sonic and Signum who chose to remain, if only for a moment.
"Signum, blue boy?" Vita asked, "Ya coming?"
"We'll catch up." Sonic answered, almost ominously, which was rare for him.
"Go on ahead," Signum added.
Confused, but unwilling to argue, Nanoha, Vita, Fate and Alicia left the workshop, or at least had appeared to. The tension had slowly built up between those that had remained. Signum, alongside Sonic, had stared at the Testarossa matriarch's eyes, as if reading her emotions.
"I presume you have something to say to me," Precia asked, rhetorically, likely knowing what the answer was.
"You were far too quick to simply dismiss your children like that," Signum answered, her tone stoic and informative, but highly accurate, "Are you sure about this decision?"
"No…" the older woman shook her head, the confusion and uncertainty in her expression was as clear as day, "My emotions on this are… conflicted... to say the least. My heart and mind are saying two different things. My heart yearns to be with Alicia and Fate, to protect and raise them like I should have, but my mind is all too willing to remind me of my sins."
"You're not the only one burdened by sins." The swordswoman lamented cryptically, but refused to elaborate, "It is never too late to atone."
"Is it?" questioned Precia, fearfulness slowly entering her tone and expression, "I want to atone. I want to take responsibility for my sins. I -"
"Then do it." Sonic cut in, bluntly.
"What?" the older woman's glance shifted down towards the small hedgehog. Interestingly enough, so did Signum's.
"Don't just sit there and waste your precious time. When you want to do something, do it right away." the hedgehog continued on, displaying wisdom beyond his age, "Do it when you can. It's the only way to live a life without regrets."
At that moment, time had seemed to stand still as Precia was mildly shocked. Signum raised an eyebrow in subdued disbelief. The bout of wisdom, coming from such an unreliable source as the hedgehog, had seemed to affect the older woman. With nothing else to add or say, the swordswoman and the hedgehog took their leave.
As the two left, they saw that Vita, Nanoha, Fate and Alicia had eavesdropped. Nothing was said openly, but Sonic's words of wisdom had an effect on the others in their own way. If nothing else, it was a surprise, no one could have expected that the hedgehog had been capable of such anti-nihilism.
"A life without regrets…" mused Precia in deep thought
[Dimensional Space]
[Time-Space Administration Bureau Space Headquarters]
[Office of Director Midget Crowbel]
[BGM: "Baron Castle" Final Fantasy IV]
Lindy and Leti stood at attention and waited as the director took her seat. Crowbel calmly, at her own pace, seated herself proper before she opened a few folders on her desk. The documents within appeared to be reports from the last two incidents that had hit Earth, or as the Bureau had referred to it, Non-Administrated World #97.
"Sit," The woman gestured to the pair of comfortable looking chairs before the younger women, 'We have much to discuss."
The two women took their seats as requested of them. They watched quietly with bated breath, sharing an understandably nervous feeling, not dissimilar to being students in the principal's office, as the director typed a few keys on the keyboard of her office computer. Images started to stream on the monitor behind the older woman, showing stills of planet Earth.
"Now, let us begin…" Crowbel spoke as the screen behind her displayed additional data on the planet, specifically regarding the incidents reported on in the files at her desk, "We know that the 97th indexed world, identified locally as 'Earth', has been the epicenter of two major incidents within the last, approximately, three-quarters of the last calendar year. The cases in question, had it not been for our intervention, would've likely had far more disastrous results."
"Correct," confirmed Lindy, her tone professional to befit whom she addressed, "In fact, both incidents took place within the same city, country and had involved the same civilian."
"Yes, one Takamachi Nanoha," Crowbel confirmed, displaying a picture of the mentioned chestnut-haired girl's profile, "Native of Uminari City, Japan, youngest of her family at age nine, third-grader at Private Seishou University-affiliated Elementary School, designated as a Citizen Collaborator for the Jewel Seed incident, later becoming a Contract Mage in the following Book of Darkness incident.
"Mana capacity output estimated at rank 'AAA+', presumably aerial, and her device is registered as the Intelligent Device, Raising Heart Exelion," the director finished the referential debrief of the girl, "This is correct?"
"Indeed." Lindy nodded curtly, "She, by coincidence, was the one who encountered archeologist Yuuno Scrya at the beginning of the Jewel Seed incident. She was a normal schoolgirl before becoming a magical in order to assist in recovering the Lost Logia, during which time she met and befriended the second mage connected to both incidents."
"Fate Testarossa." the director displayed the next mentioned girl's profile, "Artificial Mage, product of the 'Project Fate' in which she was named from. Officially her age is listed at nine though given her status as an artificial clone, that is hard to confirm. Her mana capacity here is listed at 'AAA+' and like Nanoha-san, is also designated as an aerial mage, her device listed as the Intelligent Device Bardiche.
"She, along with her familiar Alph, had been a secondary antagonistic force in the Jewel Seed incident, but both were acquitted in the resulting trial." Crowbel went on, her tone professional without a slightest hint of emotion, "She then became a Probationary Contract Mage under you, Harlaown, and I heard you had even extended her an offer of adoption."
"Yes, but she has yet to give me her decision," Harlaown confirmed without a second thought, "She said that she still needs to come to terms with how she feels about her mother."
"Though I won't need to say this, I will do so, let her come to that decision on her own volition, don't try to press her," the director advised cautiously, "At any rate, months after the resolution of the previous incident, Fate-san was allowed to visit Nanoha-san on Earth, this was the ninth month of the last calendar year?"
"Indeed," the teal-haired woman confirmed once more, "The night of their initial reunion was when the Wolkenritter attacked and defeated Nanoha-san, absorbing her Linker Core to fill the Book of Darkness. In their attempt of assistance, Fate and her familiar were also defeated by the knights, their cores also absorbed. That encounter, though holding troubling results, had also brought our attention to that world once more."
Silence fell amongst the three as the weight of the ramifications could be felt. Lindy's words from the previous hearing had also been brought to the forefront. Had Fate and Arf not have been able to visit Nanoha on Earth that night, the Bureau would likely not have gotten involved until later, likely when it was much too late.
"So, here is where we stand," Crowbel cleared her throat, "We have two major cases on the same world within a year and a third likely in progress. This same world is also the birthplace of several pivotal mages, Admiral Gil Graham, Contract Mage Takamachi, Yagami Hayate, the mistress of the Night Sky and this Sonic the Hedgehog character. Far more than enough to warrant future interest…."
"Our problem, however…" interjected Leti Lowran, "Is that Earth is non-administrated and has their own government. So that ties our hands officially."
"Officially, yes…" The older woman had a rather ominous tone to her voice, "But unofficially…"
"What do you have in mind, director?" Lindy was almost afraid to ask.
"U-fufufufu~! Let me tell you about something that I've been plotting as of late," The ominous aura within Crowbel's tone grew, nearly scaring the living daylights out of the two before her, "A new pet project regarding this interesting world, Project 97."
[Non-Administrated World #97 "Earth"]
[South Island Archipelago: Never Lake]
[Little Planet: Quartz Quadrant: Act 1]
[Time: Present]
[BGM: "Quartz Quadrant" Sonic CD (JPN/EU)]
The first zone following the Testarossa manor was the previously mentioned quartz mine, designated as 'Quartz Quadrant'. It was an aqua-colored mining region bustling with machinery designed for the purpose of extracting crystals. The material, likely quartz to befit the name, was loaded onto conveyor belts and platforms for an unknown purpose. Some of the materials were being transported while some were left lying around. Inaccessible to the party, there was a swamp area in the outdoor region where the quartz was being shipped off to, likely in transit to any shipment's final destination.
Alicia had started to lead her party through the zone while, humorously enough, riding on Nanoha's shoulders for some reason, much to Fate's shock and worry. The chestnut-haired girl gave no objection, content to let the small blonde piggy-back off of her.
"Uh…" Sonic suddenly piped up, picking up on a weird ominous feeling, "Anyone else feel a disturbance in The Force?"
"Nope." Alicia shook her head.
"Negative" Signum added.
"No." echoed Fate
"Sorry," Nanoha said with a small shake of her head, making sure not to accidentally throw Alicia off.
"You sure you're not imagining things, blue boy?" Vita asked, grumpily voicing her denial.
Nanoha gazed up at the little blonde that had taken a liking to riding her shoulder. Concern was etched in her indigo-bluish orbs as she watched. She knew that the small girl was hurt by Precia's words earlier, even if she could feel only regret, not malic through them.
"Um, Alicia-chan?" she asked the girl on her shoulder, "Are you doing alright? I mean, with what Precia-san said earlier, that must have hurt."
"I'm fine, Mama goes through these phases sometimes, it's best to just ride them out and wait for her to recover." the small blonde frowned and sent a concerned look at the taller blonde whom she had vehemently declared to be her younger sister, "I'm more concerned about Fate…"
"Yeah, it wasn't easy for her after the Jewel Seed incident," Nanoha added, following the young blonde's gaze, "She was tried, but acquitted by the Bureau for the crimes, but I don't think she ever got over what happened."
"I had help, Lindy-san, Chrono and Amy supported me." Fate, obviously overhearing what was said, responded in kind with a small blush on her face, "In fact, Lindy-san had offered to adopt me into her family."
"She did?" Nanoha could not stop herself from smiling at the happy news, "That's great, I'm happy for you."
"Well…" Fate shook her head, "I still haven't given her my answer. I told her that I wanted to settle my feelings with kaa-san first. And now with Alicia here…"
"This Lindy-san…" Alicia frowned in thought, taking the news of the adoption offer with neutrality, opting to keep her judgment reserved until she knew more, "Is she a nice lady?"
"Mhm…" nodded Fate with Nanoha echoing said gesture, "She's nice and kind. Chrono's a good brother-like figure too. I wouldn't mind accepting their offer, but-,"
"Then do it," Alicia cut her sister off right there with that bold statement, shocking both girls with her honesty, though there seemed to be a condition in what she had said too, "Just, um, answer me this though. I want to stay with you; after waiting so long to find you, I just can't bear myself to let you go now."
"Alicia…" Fate slowly started to speak up but was silenced by a finger gesture.
"If mama doesn't want to stay with us, I want to know…" the small blonde had but one question now, "Would she take me in too?"
The question had two answers: yes or no, but even then, it was still an interesting one to think about. Fate weighed what she knew of Lindy already and factored in what she figured the admiral would think about Alicia. She could not lie, the taller blonde had felt a bond between her original and herself, and she felt that it was mutually sustained by their feelings for one another. It was that, along with a bit of wishful thinking, that made the answer a swift one.
"Yes." Fate replied, "Without a doubt."
"Great!" The smaller blonde cheered from her perch on Nanoha's shoulder, almost falling off in a comical fashion, "I can't wait!"
As the three girls reveled in their happiness, Vita took a moment to internally ponder their dialogue along with what Sonic had said to the old hag back there. She could look past the anti-nihilism, but the wisdom behind the words, those were not what she expected from a kid. In fact, the level of maturity displayed by the "youngest" of the group, when compared to herself and Signum at least, was ridiculous!
"Oy! Signum!" Vita pinged the swordswoman telepathically, "Can we talk for a bit?"
"I presume this is about what Sonic told the Testarossa matriarch." Signum knowingly replied, "Better words of wisdom have only been dreamed off by older man."
"Yeah, that's the point! Where did he learn to say that? He's too fricken young!" Vita went on, uninterrupted, "In fact, the maturity here by the chibis here annoy me! Nanoha, Fate and the chibi aren't even out of their training bras and they're that mature."
"That is true, but we can't fault them for being responsible," the pink-haired woman countered aptly, and ready to point out one little thing as well, "Also, you are saying this when you are also 'young', like them."
"Shut up, Boob Monster!" The hotheaded knight of the hammer shouted back, "You're one to talk! 33D demon tits!"
"For your information, they are 34E." Signum's tone shifted ever so slighting into annoyance and a little bit of embarrassment, "Be accurate, unless you want to be a stain on Laevatein's blade."
"Um, Signum-san, Vita-chan..." Nanoha suddenly cut in with a flustered tone, drawing both knights to look at her clearly blushing face. She truly did not wish to be rude and interrupt, but given what she was about to say, there was justification, "You've been broadcasting publicly for the last few minutes."
One could hear a pin drop as the telepathic chatter ceased. A quick glance at the rest of the party revealed that Fate had sported a blush that was just as red in color as Nanoha's, while Sonic and Alicia had differing reactions. Alicia had seemed almost a bit jealous while Sonic, blinking rapidly, had tilted his head in trying to formulate a thought or comment.
The hedgehog's reaction was most interesting and intriguing, he looked like he was trying to make sense out of most of the words said. He understood the praise about his wisdom and felt oddly humble about it, but as for when the topic reached training bras and boobs, that was when he just blinked. One could see the words fly right over his head in the mental imagery.
"I don't get it." Sonic said, plainly.
'I don't know what to think about that…' Nanoha just stared plainly at the hedgehog.
'Gott sei Dank (Thank god!)!' Vita practically prayed, 'Hayate hasn't corrupted him yet!'
The time warp plate to the past could not have shown itself faster as a fair female majority of the team needed the distraction away from the rather titillating subject previously mentioned. Vita might have put a little more power behind her swing than she had intended, but it got the job done and whisked the strike team off into the past.
[Quartz Quadrant: Act 2]
[Time: Past]
[BGM: "Quartz Quadrant ~P" Sonic CD)]
For the first time since the start of the adventure, the party found themselves in a time zone that was a stark contrast to the previous. Unlike the present, the past held more of a resemblance to a bayou while the caverns they traversed looked more natural and peaceful. A large amount of quartz crystals lay in some type of ooze, initially believed to spawn from the outlying swamp. Like the present, they conveyor belts were featured and operational, but were not used for any purpose yet.
"Not that I don't mind adventuring to beautiful places like this," Nanoha commented with a certain level of confusion, "There's something really weird about this world."
"What do you mean?" Fate asked.
"I don't know, yet…" the chestnut-haired girl replied with uncertainty, "I don't want to jump to any conclusions."
"Hmmm…" Alicia hummed in thought from riding Nanoha's back, her leg incidentally triggering a switch on the conveyor belt.
"Well, don't try to keep those thoughts to yourse-whoa!" Sonic's chain of thought was broken swiftly as the conveyor he was on had changed directions abruptly, going from reverse to forward, nearly propelling him too far ahead.
"Heh, heh" Alicia lightly chuckled in amusement, drawing a particularly dirty look from the hedgehog, which led her to issue an apology, "Sorry, I forgot to mention that the conveyor belts here can run in forward or reverse when a switch is triggered."
"Well, are there any other hazards that we should be aware of?" a miffed Sonic asked sarcastically. Oh sure, he would not mind an extra boost or two of his speed, he would just rather it be on his own terms, thank you very much, "If so, please share with the rest of the class. So, we don't end up running around looking like idiots like Vita."
"Yeah! Like m-" the mentioned red knight had to stop herself as she walked right into a clever barb laid down by the hedgehog, "HEY!"
"Oooh," Nanoha, like the expert gamer girl that she was, pounced on the opportunity to tease her former rival, "He got you good, Vita-chan."
"Shut up, baka(idiot)." huffed Vita in a grumpy tone.
Alicia allowed herself to giggle at the antics portrayed to her before stopping. Though she enjoyed the hedgehog's cute discomfort and annoyance, partially as a petty payback for the "chibi-exposition-guide" comment earlier, she knew full well when to start taking things seriously. It was that notion, reinforced by Signum's scary glare, that had her talking about what was to come in the zone.
"The belts here are the main gimmick, they can run in forward or reverse, depending on what switch is pressed, but the speed won't change." the small girl started to explain, "Also, there are transport tubes here that are really fun to ride on, but you have to make sure the conveyor is going in the direction you want the tube to be, otherwise it just throws you out."
True to her word, the team taken a higher route that resulted in encountering one of the mentioned tube slides. As he had taken point anyways, Sonic went in first to check for safety, using his ball form just for safety precautions. After informing them that it was safe, the hedgehog watched as the rest of his team went down the same tube as if it was a slide. Incidentally as Vita and Nanoha went down last, they unintentionally gave a show of their respective yellow and pink panties.
"Um… Nanoha." a flustered Fate said with a light pink blush, "Try to hold your skirt down… I could, see them."
"Oh!" Nanoha did such, but it was a bit too late and the damage was done, "Nyahaha."
While there were four types of robots in the zone, only two of them had presented a legitimate threat to deal with, and they were the Kumo-Kumo and Sasori. The Kumo-Kumo were springy spiders that leapt high into the air to attack aerial foes and employed a web to sap the movements attempted. Sasori were scorpion reminiscent robots that would fire lasers from its tail. Both robots, while on their own were quite formidable with their abilities, combined to make finding the teleporter tiring.
It also seemed as though Eggman had learned from the last few zones as the robot teleporter and projection devices were together, but were guarded by at least a dozen of the two troublesome mechs each. The situation had forced Sonic to use his second ring of the adventure while Nanoha, Fate, Signum and Vita also had to expend a cartridge each, much to Alicia's curiosity. Her question had to be held off as they soon hit another time warp plate and were whisked to the future.
[Quartz Quadrant: Act 3]
[Time: Future]
[BGM: "Quartz Quadrant ~G" Sonic CD (JP/EU)]
The good future zone in which the strike team landed was an underground utopia of gold that gave off the feeling that it was hidden from society. Mining operations had been ceased and brilliant towers of quartz gleamed through the darkness of the caverns. Outside of the paradise of quartz lay futuristic domes with large mountains and brilliant forestry beyond. Interestingly enough, there was a towering wall in the mid-height section featuring the same type of domes, it was likely that the wall was built to keep outsiders at bay, signifying that this civilization was once active, as Nanoha had started to suspect.
"Alicia-chan," The chestnut-haired girl in white asked her new friend, who was far more familiar with the region, "I have a question that I've been meaning to ask."
"Yeah?" queried the girl, obviously allowing the question.
"Are you sure that it's only been you and Precia-san here?" Nanoha could hold the question no further, she never wanted to instill doubt in the story that Precia and Alicia told, but the evidence was piling up, "Because with the casino zone and this place looking like a city, it seems like there would have been more inhabitants."
"Mama noticed that too, but we did several scans of each zone and timeline." Alicia said with a shrug, "If there were any people here, they are long gone now. Mama also had suspected that given how we got here, it's possible that there's a link to Al-Hazard."
"Al-Hazard?" Sonic scratched his furry forehead in thought, "That's that one place thing that the old lady was trying to get to?"
"Yeah…" a small sigh escaped Alicia's lips, offhandedly disregarding the jibe on her mother, "Mama suspects that there is a connection between Little Planet and Al-Hazard. At least, that's what she told me."
The chatter went quiet as the team progressed through the zone. With the robots out of the way, the only things to contend with in the zone were the specific mechanics such as the conveyor belts and tubes. Though true flight was impossible given the small spaces, the aerial mages and knights were able to keep to a low glide on the ground to keep up with Sonic's foot speed.
They soon found themselves on a straight, narrow path that seemed to be when Eggman had made his move. A set of sharp spikes lowered from the entrance to block the possibility of backtracking. The doctor soon made his appearance, though not with any robots or the like. Instead, he had blocked their path with a purple colored booth. In addition, a conveyor belt lay underfoot, though it had yet to be activated.
"I'm not tipping you," quipped Sonic to the doctor, "And if you say anything about passwords, I will hurt you."
"Oh, this booth doesn't require a password," Eggman fingered his moustache with a comically large grin, "But if you do want to pass, I'll have to charge you about, say, three million yen?"
"And if we don't pay?" Signum queried as she drew her blade.
"Well then…" The doctor pressed a few keys and started the conveyor in reverse, drawing the grounded hedgehog towards the spikes, "You'll pay with your lives!"
Immediately the hedgehog started to run to counter the conveyor belt while the other knights and mages floated above. The sight, while awkward and humorous, still proved a point of a rather obvious flaw in the Egghead's plans.
"Did you forget we could fly, idiot?!" The knight of the iron hammer insulted.
"Oh! how careless of me to forge-!" Eggman pressed a key on the booth that lowered a massive fan in front of the aerial mages, "Oops, just kidding!"
[VS Boss]
[BGM: "Boss" Sonic CD (JPN/EU)]
The fan activated and sent a massive gust of wind that put the aerial mages off balanced and threw them towards the spikes, but they were fortunate enough to stop their momentum and change course in the nick of time. Fate, being the fastest of the fliers, took point with Nanoha, Vita, Signum and Alicia far behind.
"Those fans are probably powerful enough to push Sonic's spin-attack back, so don't aim for them!" Nanoha sent out via the telepathic channels, "Sonic-kun, Vita-chan."
Sonic and Vita immediately went on the offensive, respectively utilizing their Spin-Attack and Raketenhammer to try and break through the booth. Sadly, their efforts were nullified with the nigh indestructible armor, though Vita manage to leave a small dent where she struck. Both hedgehog and berserker knight found themselves awfully frustrated by their failed efforts.
"Did you really think that would work?" The doctor grinned maniacally as he pressed a few keys on the booth.
A crane-like mechanism floated overhead containing a spikey bomb. With a few key presses, the holder dropped the mine, just missing the aerial mages and the hedgehog on the ground. It burst upon landing, sending several spikey balls in a circular field.
"That was close!" Nanoha noted, "Even if we dodge it, Sonic-kun's still vulnerable on the ground, so try to block the next few ones with our shields."
"You're kinda doing Egg-stremely badly here," Taunted Sonic to the scientist with another egg-related pun, likely to rile him up and draw the mad scientist to do something stupid.
"Am I?" The doctor sent another bomb on a crane and dropped it on the mages.
No one had to move to avoid that bomb as Eggman's aim on the last drop was just a bit outside. He tried to graze the mages and hedgehog with the spikey payload, but he missed wildly. In his frustration, the scientist turned up the power on the conveyor belt and fans, forcing Sonic to speed up while Nanoha, Vita, Signum, Alicia and Fate had to concentrate more of their mana on sustaining their flight speed with their flight support spells.
Nanoha's eyes narrowed as she stared at the dent originally made by Vita's hammer on the first strike. She knew that if the battle drew on any further, their magic would be depleted. A plan swiftly formed in her mind; she had been meaning to run a test of a spell that she had developed with Raising Heart anyway.
"Everyone, make a path please," She sent out the request, "I think I can take this one out in one shot!"
"You sure?" Queried Signum neutrally, though she acquiesced once she felt the honesty from the mage in white, "Very well."
"Raising Heart!" Nanoha called out to her staff, "Let's try out that new combination we've been working on."
"Yes, my master!" The device chimed back as it loaded several cartridges for a boost of magic, "A.C.S Standby!"
"We're going to break through his defenses and take him out in one shot!" the girl in white said to her device as she watched the head change to a more spear-like appearance, "Exelion Buster, A.C.S!"
"Strike Flame!" Raising Heart declared as it formed an energy bayonet on the tip and several sets of wings sprouted from the head. Blades shaped like sickles formed at the edges of the device's frame.
In an instant, Nanoha launched off and struck the booth contraption in the same spot that Vita had created a dent. The fans could have spun faster than a jet turbine, but they still were insignificant to Raising Heart's Accelerated Charge System, which was designed specifically for high-speed aerial combat.
At first, it seemed as though Eggman's booth would hold out, much to the doctor's delight. Nanoha could hear the man's taunts and laughs of pure cockiness, but she tuned them out and kept her focus on piercing through.
"C-Come on!" Nanoha winced as she felt sweat flow down her face, willing her device to load but a few more cartridges and increase the power output, the wings sprouting wider and brighter.
Sure enough, her efforts were not in vain as the blade from Raising Heart started to pierce a hole into to the booth.
"W-What?!" Eggman cried out in sheer disbelief, "Impossible!"
"Break…" Nanoha loudly called out the trigger words for the spell to end it there and then, "Shoot!"
Instantly, Eggman's booth was engulfed in pink as Nanoha fired the point blank Exelion Buster. A massive beam of pure power flowed out from Raising Heart's tip, destroying not only the booth, but also the whole wall behind it! Luckily for Eggman, the explosion had sent him soaring out of the zone, though not without the Buster grazing him and leaving a significant tear in his clothing.
-Boss Defeated-
[Jingle: "Zone Clear" Sonic CD (JP/EU)]
The conveyor and fans soon shut down after Eggman's departure, allowing the knights, mages and hedgehog to slow down to a complete stop. All immediate attention and concern was on Nanoha, who was kneeling on the ground due to the severe fatigue she had brought upon herself
"Haa...haa… haa." Nanoha panted as Raising Heart opened its vents and released a massive amount of steam, likely due to the high output of magic expended for her attack.
"Nanoha!" Fate, in a bout of worry, went to her friend's side, "Are you alright?!"
"Y-yeah..." The chestnut-haired girl slowly caught her breath, "Sorry if I worried you, Fate-chan."
"That was quite a significant amount of power you expended just now," Signum regarded the little girl carefully, "Are you sure you don't need a moment?"
"Nope!" The girl in white put on a brave face and jumped, "I'm going to be okay!"
"Showoff…" Vita grumbled.
'After all of that?!' Alicia gawked, 'Is she even human?!'
"..." Sonic just blinked and made a mental not to not get on her bad side in the future.
Though Signum and forced Nanoha to bring up the rear so she could recover her strength, the strike team pressed onwards.
[Eyecatch #1: Sonic: Wind of the Night Sky bio card #13: Chrono]
Name: Chrono Harlaown
Katakana: クロノ・ハラオウン(Kurono Haraoun)
Gender: Male
Age: 14
Height: 137 cm
Weight: 42 kg
Rank (Military): Enforcer
Color: Light-Blue
System: Mid-Childa
Rank (Magic): AAA (Air)
Device: S2U
[Eyecatch #2: Sonic: Wind of the Night Sky bio card #14: Amy]
Name: Amy Limietta
Katakana: エイミィ・リミエッタ(Eimyi Rimietta)
Gender: Female
Age: 16
Height: 150 cm
Weight: 40 kg
Affiliation: Sailing Force (Arthra)
Occupation(s): Enforcer Assistant, Information Specialist
Magic: None
[Uminari City, Japan]
[Residential District: Yagami Residence]
[No BGM]
Amy Limietta, liaison and representative for the Time-Space Administration, had seated herself on the couch in the Yagami household with a laptop for her work. She used the computer to keep in touch with Chrono Harlaown; keeping him informed of the progress her deployed mages had made in liberating Little Planet.
So far, they had only been able to report in when they were starting a new zone and the reports were brief and nonspecific. While they had confirmed that the source of the distress beacon was a friendly mage in need, they had yet to introduce her formally or even hint at her name. Not even Precia's sudden reappearance was mentioned.
"That's all I have so far, Chrono-kun." Amy said to Chrono with a hint of regret in her tone, "I'm sorry if I couldn't get into specifics."
"I imagine Nanoha-san, Fate-san and the others are still gathering their intelligence," Chrono seemed far more content that he had some information to work on, "Don't worry about it."
"Still…" Limietta paused for a moment, "Fate-chan has been acting really uncomfortable recently. Arf-chan said that she felt a lot of emotional distress a while back through their link."
This development had seemed to intrigue the young enforcer as he started to process what was said. If the intelligence so far was correct, the adventure had taken to the South Island or at least one of the islands present in that region. From the outside, there seemed to be little reason to suspect that something would have been present that could trigger an episode like Arf had reported.
"Fate-chan's a strong, kind girl." Amy noted, "I don't know what could have happened to trigger it, but Arf has been on edge since that happened."
"I see…" Chrono adopted a slight thoughtful look on his face as he slowly started to form a speculation, "Is it possible that she had found an emotional trigger while deployed in this new region?"
"It could be, and that could be consistent with the episode she had earlier." the older teen nodded her head in thought, "But the only things that could've resulted in trauma of that degree would almost require something that reminded her of her family."
"Like her treatment at the hands of Precia?" The boy inquired, "Or anything that triggered her memories before the incident as well."
"But what could have triggered those memories resurfacing? And even so, to the degree that we had seen earlier, we'd almost think that Pre-!" Amy Limietta stopped herself from continuing any further on that chain of thought as if a sudden idea had come into her mind, one that she did not like, "It... It can't be…"
"You think Precia Testarossa still lives?" Chrono inquired, almost spilling a drink from his computer desk "It would make sense if she was the mage who sent out the distress beacon."
"Wouldn't that be a coincidence?" Amy thought out loud, somewhat rhetorically, "On Fate-chan's first mission on Earth since the Book of Darkness incident, she'd run into her own creator."
"Let us keep that between ourselves for now, though." the enforcer urged caution, "If we make too big of a deal out of this and we end up incorrect, it will not end well for Fate."
"Okay, well I gotta get going now." the brunette inclined her head in regret that she had to hang up, "I'll keep you posted on any more updates that I get.
"Very well, then." Nodded the boy, "Let's keep our suspicions about Precia Testarossa between the two of us for now. It wouldn't do for us to jump to any conclusions, especially if it could be refuted so easily.
"You got it!" Amy pressed a few buttons to end the communication feed, "Limietta out!"
As she set her computer down and headed for the dining room table to sample a mid-morning snack with Reinforce, Zafira, Hayate and Arf, Amy could not help but wonder about the ideas that were floated about during her report to Chrono. Could Precia Testarossa be alive? And if so, was she friend or foe?
[Wacky Workbench: Act 1]
[Time: Present]
[BGM: "Wacky Workbench" Sonic CD (JP/EU)]
One look at the workbench zone and it was easy to see how Alicia's device was made here. The whole zone was a weapons warehouse located within a canyon under the rule of electricity. Several mechanisms like hovering platforms, grounded sirens, checkered floors and weird atom-like structures that generated an electric current. With all of the technology, even in the present, the argument of Little Planet having some connection to Al-Hazard was bolstered to the point just shy of reaching a conclusion.
"Okay, just to make sure," Sonic sent a weird look at Alicia, "This was here already, right?"
"Yes," The small blonde sighed in exasperation, "This weapons warehouse was here when mama and I arrived. We were able to use the tech around here to forge Lucky Star."
"Is there anything we should worry about here?" Nanoha asked, "Aside from the obviously dangerous-looking electric stuff?"
"When the checkered floor lights up, it becomes really, really bouncy." Alicia gestured to a set of wooden platforms that were bouncing off the lit-up floor, "It activates on timed intervals, so be careful when you walk on it."
There was another mechanism that operated on a timely basis and that was the electric security system, designed to as the atom-like structure with coils running across the atoms horizontally, vertically and in a diamond-shaped pattern. When activated, a harsh static current ran through the conductive metal in the array. A few unlucky robots, shaped like grasshoppers oddly enough, had the misfortune of crossing through during the activation. Needless to say, they were fried on the spot, much to Nanoha and Fate's visible shock and near horror.
"Shocking." quipped Sonic.
"W-wha…" Nanoha pointed a trembling finger at the sunflowers left in the wake of the scrap, "What was that?!"
"Oh yeah, that's the high voltage security system, it came with the place." Alicia noted idly, "It runs on a different interval than the floors. And, It hurts! A lot!"
"Please don't keep that to yourself, nee-san," A very timid Fate requested.
"D'awwww." swooned the smaller girl as she hugged Fate, drawing a cute blush from her, "my adorable imouto is nervous. Don't worry, nee-san will protect you!"
"S-sure..." Fate gulped, timidly.
The security mechanism was easier to evade than it had looked. All it took was a simple matter of timing the progression in between each activation. For some reason, the floating platforms had drawn the ire of Nanoha, though the girl had refused to say why. It was of little matter to the rest of the party as she had refrained from letting it become a major issue, just one of annoyance. The time warp plate to the past was located on a metallic girder elevated above the floor. Sonic had the honors of triggering it as he ran circles around the sign, causing it to spin fast enough to send them off to the past.
[Wacky Workbench: Act 2]
[Time: Past]
[BGM: "Wacky Workbench ~P" Sonic CD]
A construction zone for the Workbench was where the team had found themselves upon exiting the time warp. The girders, platforms and many of the other features in the zone that were once a dark blue were now bright green in color. Red-colored canyons could be seen in the backdrop with various construction cranes, operating automatically, looming below them. Despite how impossible it was, the past was unchanged in comparison to the present, leading to a supposition that most of the mechanisms in this time zone were saved and preserved for the present.
"Uh Alicia?" Sonic asked the girl with a soft poke of the shoulder, "I have a question."
"Shoot." the girl said, motioning for Sonic to ask.
"Eggman mentioned something about the Time Stones," quick to the point, the hedgehog was, "You wouldn't happen to know anything abou-."
"They're with mama." Alicia responded via telepathy, drawing shock from the hedgehog and interest from the others present, "As Mama's final test for my magic training, she had me collect them. This was long before the whole drama with Mustached Baldy started."
"Whoa, warn a guy before you do that!" the blue hedgehog groaned in annoyance, "I'm still not used to speaking this way."
"Sorry about that," the small blonde apologized lightly, "Mama urged me caution about that. We don't know if Mustached Baldy is capable of listening in on our conversation."
"He appears to have at least surveillance in each of the zones we've been to thus far," Noted Signum, "Though whether it was just visual has yet to be confirmed."
"And we don't know if he was able to intercept my communications with mama earlier," Added Alicia, "So right now, unless we can be sure that what we're saying physically is not what we want Baldy to hear, we should keep to either telepathy or just be quiet."
"Awe..." Sonic pouted, "Where's the fun in that?"
Speaking of fun, the robots in the Workbench zone had provided some for the hedgehog and his comrades. Two of the most relevant types of badniks in the zone were the Poh-Bee and the Bata-Pyon. Poh-bee were stocky bee-like bots that flew through the air, firing salvos at threats, reminding Sonic of the Buzzbombers from Green Hill. The Bata-Pyon were the grasshopper-shaped robots that the party had previously seen get fried in the present. They had springs for feet in which they used to jump around and land on any unsuspecting enemies.
The number of robots were scarce though as the security systems had limited the number of forces. Still, there was a steady flow of robots replacing the ones destroyed, which meant that the teleporter had presented a threat. The projector device, which is what the team had encountered first, still had the effect of riling up Sonic's nerves.
"If I ever find this robot…" The hedgehog grumbled as he crushed the device underfoot, "I'm gonna make him pay for using my awesome image for evil and that crap."
"Awesome? Your image?" Vita let out a few chuckles, as if she had heard the funniest joke ever.
"Yeah, you're more cute than awesome," Nanoha added, giggling a bit.
"Hey!" Sonic, sounding obviously offended, folded his arms under his chest in a cool manner, "I am quite awesome, thank you~!"
The teleporter was destroyed next, it was located on one of the higher girders past the projection device. Fate had been the one to destroy the teleporter; Bardiche's blade was far sharp enough to do the trick. With the destruction of both devices, another zone was liberated of Eggman's influence. All that remained was to confront the doctor in the future and drive him out.
On their way to the future time plate, the team was lucky enough to encounter a secret room containing what appeared to be a statue of a beautiful angel. The figure was adorned with a somewhat revealing Greek-like dress and it had been drawn in a manner that had it leaned forward, accentuating its lovely figure. While Alicia, Fate and Nanoha had teamed up to bar Sonic from seeing such a scandalous image, much to the hedgehog's confusion, Vita and Signum shared a knowing look. Should they ever come here again, Hayate would not be allowed to see the statue.
[Wacky Workbench: Act 3]
[Time: Future]
[BGM: "Wacky Workbench ~G" Sonic CD (JP/EU)]
The Workbench in the future was highly advanced, pink and purple in color, and had many of its hazardous functions replaced by advanced, safer technology. Many of the odd features were colorful, childish, geometric shapes bearing the aesthetics of a circus. A toy land of fun and fancy was what the Workbench had become. Interestingly enough, while the checkered floors had remained active, the security system was not active.
"Ahh!" Alicia absolutely gushed in happiness
"Favorite zone, Alicia-nee-san?" Fate asked, knowingly.
"Mhmm!" It took all of the little girl's willpower to restrain herself from having the time of her life at the toy land.
"Is there anything to worry about in this timeline?" queried Signum, getting straight to the point.
"Aside from the bouncing floor, floating platforms and such, nope." The small girl replied, "In fact, even the electrical security system is inactive, so we don't have to worry about it."
Though the security system was offline, the bouncy floor, which had become another of Sonic's favorite toys to abuse, much to the annoyance of Vita, had still been a factor to contend with in the toy land zone. In addition, some of the other electric fields, while scarce and placed in a manner to only bar unauthorized entry, were still active. None of the fields were blocking anything of real interest, so the party was able to ignore them.
Soon they had come across a rather conveniently placed clearing in the middle of the zone. It seemed to be the perfect, if a bit predictable, place for an ambush. One had to wonder how predictable the mad scientist was. To be fair, there were only a few places in which to launch such an attack, so there was a measure of wisdom.
Sure enough, the doctor had descended upon them, piloting a small rocket with a set of spikes in a pattern to resemble a drill. The rocket also seemed to be incredibly armored like the booth from the previous zone, a testament to signify how much the doctor has improved from the previous encounters.
"Well, hello again." Eggman greeted almost too cordially, "And what do you think you're doing?"
"Oh, you know..." Sonic replied casually, "Just running around."
"Running around?" queried the doctor.
"Running around," The hedgehog sensed an obvious pattern in the exchange.
"Thwarting my plans?" The mad scientist's tone did not change, humorously enough.
"Thwarting your plans?" Sonic asked, keeping the same casual tone.
"Are you?!" Eggman nearly shouted, breaking his tone in comical fury.
"No, we're looking for flying monkeys." Exasperation and a heavy amount of sarcasm dipped into Sonic's tone, "Do you know where we could find the yellow brick road?"
The humor was not lost to the rest of the peanut gallery, as Nanoha, Fate and Alicia had to stifle their giggles while Vita and Signum smirked, though the latter was more discreet about it.
"You've made a mockery of my talents for the last time," The doctor slammed a few keys on his console to start the drill and rocket engine, "Time to die."
[VS Boss]
[BGM: "Boss" Sonic CD (JP/EU)]
Eggman had taken a less direct approach in his attack, powering the rockets to a stronger degree and launching off into the ceiling above. Initially, it had caused confusion amongst the party, but that was soon cleared up as the ceiling started to cave in, causing blocks of it to drop. Their heavy weight and size made them awfully hard to dodge unless one was in a lucky position.
"He's trying to bring the whole room down." Signum noted, "Steel yourselves."
"I don't think that's the only thing he's trying to do," Sonic added cautiously.
Sure enough, the hedgehog was correct in his assumption as it quickly became noticeable that there were prongs on the wall just close to the floor. Eggman had likely planned ahead and set a means to electrify the floor. Soon the prongs activated and sent a strong electrical current through the floor and the checkered floor lit up.
Swiftly, the aerial mages and knights ascended up to the second level while Sonic used the bouncing blocks as stepping stones to follow suit. Once they got through the hole in the ceiling, the team landed on the second floor, which had the same array set-up. Eggman's strategy seemed to focus on testing his foes' speed, agility and timing as all three factors were of major importance.
"Oh ho~!" The doctor allowed himself a moment to compliment his foes, "I'm surprised you managed to figure that out, but I wonder if you'll be able to do that again now that you have less room."
"Eisen!" Vita shouted to her hammer as she held it in a rather threatening manner.
"Gigant!" pinged the device in return as it loaded a cartridge and shifted into the massive sledgehammer form, the very same form it had taken during the NachtWal battle.
"Oh my… That is…" Eggman could not help but tremble at the sight, "A very… big… hammer."
While the doctor was sure of the durability of his rocket's armor, he still felt a healthy amount of fear that the Iron Knight's hammer might render that useless. It was time to initiate the second phase of the plan anyways, so the doctor activated the rocket boosters once more.
Vita, on the other hand, was going to have none of that. She took off in swift pursuit, using her Pferde spell to increase her flight speed and mobility. Though she was far from the fastest flyer in her team, she managed to easily catch up to the rocket drill mech.
"URYAAAAAAAAAA!" The knight of the hammer took a massive, mighty swing at the mech and slammed into it, hard.
One can only count the things that combination of the iron knight Vita and Graf Eisen could not crush with two hands, especially when the berserker's hammer was in its Gigant state. Eggman's rocket was no different as the blow left a massive, octagonal hole while the impact from the initial swing had generated enough force to send the machine into the wall.
In pure shock, everyone with the notable exception of Signum had found themselves wide-eyed and their mouths agape.
"Such p-power!" Eggman stuttered out.
"Oh, you're still in one piece." Vita eyed up the mech, noting that it was still functional despite the gaping hole, "Eisen, let's fix that."
"Ja!" the hammer confirmed as it loaded two more cartridges to provide a bigger boost of power.
"Gigant…" shouted the iron knight as she closed in on the rocket that freed itself from the wall, "Hammer!"
Immediately Vita struck true with her massive hammer in the same spot that she had previously struck. The sheer brute force was enough to shred the rocket in half, separating from the engine while the main body was thrown into the wall across like a baseball hit on a line-drive.
Despite the apparent billing that the attack was complex, the Gigant Hammer spell was but a basic one used when Eisen was in said form. It was simple, but that was what gave it and Vita power. Like a berserker, the Knight of the Iron Hammer was at her strongest when the objective was simple.
When she needs to smash something, she will. If the target could not go down in one blow, something of a rarity, she would strike again. If her strategy worked the first time, she would repeat it. There was no need for her to get cute and clever like Nanoha, her former rival.
As both of her strikes landed true and the target still functioned, Vita rushed in swiftly to follow up with the final blow. No cartridges, spell incantations or anything fancy: she primed her massive mallet for one final strike.
"W-well…" for once in his extensive lifetime, Eggman could finally say that he felt fear; though also embarrassed to have it from a schoolgirl, "Look at the time! I must be o-!"
Vita was upon him before he could even finish that sentence. The iron knight brought her hammer down upon the rocket once more. This time, finishing the job and creating a solid-sized explosion. It was only Eggman's last ditch effort to activate the eject sequence on his eggmobile that had saved him from being caught up in the wake of destruction, ironically caused by one little tyke with a hammer.
[Boss defeated]
[Jingle: "Act Clear" Sonic CD (JP/EU)]
"Alright!" Vita let herself cheer for her victory as she held her hammer over the shoulder, glancing down at her captive audience.
If she was looking for amazement, she would not have been disappointed, as aside from the stoic Signum, everyone else had various levels of shock on their faces; from the blatant near-horror of Nanoha and Alicia, to the subtle timidness of Fate, plus a grumpy Sonic to take the cake.
"I…." gulped Alicia, "I was not ready for today."
"I don't think any of us were…" Fate added, "Except for Signum…"
"Did… did she really…" Nanoha let in a little bit more exasperation into her tone, "Have to go that overboard?!"
"Uh..." Sonic, somewhat bluntly, pointed out, "This coming from the girl who obliterated a machine in the last zone?"
"If I'm not mistaken, this is what the youth of this age call: 'Getting Wrecked'." Signum noted, neutrally. sending a look at the iron knight, "Though she is enjoying this victory far too much."
"Hehe~!" The iron knight descended to the ground, "How'd you like that?!"
"Showoff..." groaned Sonic, "I could've done that,"
Before the iron knight could get too far ahead of herself, Signum corrected her with a solid blow to the forehead. A comically large, steamy bump had been left where the woman had struck.
"OW! That hurt!" Vita rubbed the lump in annoyance, "What the hell, demon tits?!"
"You were getting carried away," Signum held her fist up, likely to signify that she was not below striking again if she had to, "I should not have to remind you that we still have a mission to complete."
"Yeah, yeah..." The chibi-knight shrugged, "I know, I know."
"Our next zone is called Stardust Speedway," Alicia seemed to have recovered from her stupor enough to inform the party of their next objective point, "After that is Mustached Baldy's place."
With that, the mages, knights and hedgehog pressed on into the next zone. Little did they know of the dangers that lay ahead.
[Never Lake: Little Planet]
[Tidal Tempest: Act 0]
[Testarossa Manor]
[Time: Future]
[No BGM]
Deep in thought, Precia Testarossa found herself pacing through her lab. The progress of her daughters and their friends was well documented, though the woman could not bring herself to focus wholly upon it. Instead, her focus was on the words that were spoken to her by the little blue hedgehog.
"A life without regrets…" For the umpteenth time, the woman paced around a certain open door in her lab, "Can I really..."
Doubt sank into her depressed self as she continued to process the words spoken to her by the young hedgehog. She truly wanted to atone for her past with Fate, but she was unsure if she could. She had done so much harm, and yet…
"She still wanted to give me a chance…" Precia slammed her head against the door causing it to open. She had to cover her eyes as the flash of light from the room almost blinded her.
Seven different colored gemstones of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple and cyan were contained in a glass chamber. The old woman approached the container and stared not just at the gemstones held within, but her reflection off the glassy container they were in.
"Look at me…" She mused to herself, humorlessly, "The great mage, Precia Testarossa, a genius researcher in her prime. A woman whose name was spoken of with pride by her own children. Is this what I have become? A shell of my former greatness?"
The Time Stones glimmered brightly within their cage. Precia had lost count of how long it had been since she sent Alicia out to fetch them. Admittedly, even she had little clue as to why she had requested for them in the first place. All that she knew was that they were connected to Little Planet, like the Jewel Seeds were to Al-Hazard. The stones, though vaunted as gems of power that could allow anyone to shape Little Planet's time in their image, were only gathering dust in the woman's lab.
"Alicia had told Fate to wear her status as my daughter with pride, but what have I done to deserve such?" Precia questioned her reflection, "Sit here on the sidelines? Wallow in the solitude that is but a disguised form of despair? Is this what a mother, let alone any mage should do, watching her daughters fight a madman with a robot fetish?"
Unconsciously, Precia shivered as her mind drew a parallel of Eggman to a former colleague that she had used to work with, back when she spearheaded Project Fate. This man, like Eggman, had also done an extensive dealing in machines and cybernetics, borderline becoming obsessed with them. She was glad to have severed her ties with the man long before Fate was born, but even thinking about him brought her an unshakable ominous feeling.
Wordlessly, the woman called her device to her hand. It took the form of a priestly, angelic staff with a grayish-purple orb at the head, positioned in between a yellowish spiked crescent and a silver plate like an eye. Grasping the staff, the woman's attire changed into her Barrier Jacket. A one-piece, robe-like dress adorned to her body, leaving little to the imagination as her belly button, bare hips and healthy cleavage gap was on full display. The garb's color scheme was mainly purple and black with a few hints of golden yellow on the armbands and just above the chest. A long purple cloak flowed down her back, reaching just shy of the lower part of her shins.
"No…" Precia waved her hand across the gemstones in the container, making them disappear from sight, "This is not what I should do."
Swiftly, she had moved to store all of the data from her computers into her device in addition to backing them up on portable external hard drives. All of the necessary items that she had felt were needed, she had stored in containers that she teleported out. Her last stop was the life-pod that had formerly held her own daughter. She had kept it only because it was still operational, foregoing the sentimental attachment it might have held for her past self. Softly, she traced a finger along the cold glass, observing it and the machinery within.
"I hope to the higher power that I do not have need for you," The woman focused her power for but a moment, teleporting the pod away with a brief flash of purplish light, setting it to join the rest of the necessities that she had gathered, "But you are far too valuable to be left behind should I be able to escape this realm with everyone else."
The woman slowly walked towards the exit of her domain with deliberation in her stride. Her face had a look of pure determination. Eyes steeled in resolve, lips in a firm line to denote the level of seriousness. She had as much resolve as she could have mustered with the mental pep talk, but it was more than enough to get her moving.
"When you want to do something, do it right away," The hedgehog's words were echoed by Precia to herself in recollection, "Do it when you can, it's the only way to live a life without regrets."
Soon she had stepped out the door for the first time in what felt like a millennium. The mid-day sun threatened to blind her with its brilliance as it shone, but she was able to cover her eyes. A topographic map was produced in her left hand, displaying the current location of her two daughters and their comrades as just entering the sixth zone.
"Five down, two to go, I see…" The woman allowed a smirk of pride to grace her lips, "Quite fast, much as I expected from the two whom I trained; though their comrades are also quite capable…"
Within an instant, the woman had begun to float in the air and had taken to the skies; her flight speed was low, but that could have been attributed to her lack of practice. She kept an eye on the map to her side as she began to soar in the general direction that her heroes had previously taken.
"I have been a spectator for far too long; now it is time for me to clear myself of my regrets, and do what I should have done a long time ago." Precia said finally, "Stay alive and strong, Fate and Alicia, your mother is on her way..."
Five zones were cleared so far in the liberation efforts taken by Sonic the Hedgehog, the Wolkenritter, Alicia and the two Bureau contract mages, Nanoha and Fate, but there were still two more to go. Nobody knows what other tricks and traps that Doctor Eggman had set out in waiting. As if the complexities were not enough, Precia Testarossa seemed to have decided on the move she should make. As Little Planet flies, the adventure had was slowly starting to reach its end.
[Ending: "Mi-Ra-I" Run & Gun, Sonic X]
[End of Chapter 7]
Author's Notes: A reunion bit here that I hoped I played out well in the portrayal. The feels of this chapter was massive. Admittedly, some of the humor might have been intentionally overplayed to balance it out. But yeah, a ton of stuff happened. We get to see Nanoha and Vita take their turns of soloin the Eggman, which picturing the doc getting his crap wrecked by a bunch of grade schoolers will be a funny sight to remember for a long time. At any rate, Precia has made her move and so has the Bureau apparently. Stay tuned for more