SonicANIME2010 here, bringing in the next part of my Sonic 2 arc for Wind of the Night Sky. For those wondering who those new faces at the end of the last chapter are, you'll soon find out.
[South Island Archipelago: South Island]
[Scrap Brain: Factory Ruins]
[Time: 1047]
[BGM: "Team Chaotix" Gunnar Nelson, Sonic Heroes]
Quint could only raise an eyebrow as she took in the appearances of the new quirky trio that had interrupted her investigative mission on Scrap Brain; an unlikely hodge podge of characters she could find. Still, the many years of Bureau experience she had taught her against underestimating her foes.
The largest of the trio was a goldenrod-eyed, top-heavy, green-skinned crocodile with red spikes running to his tail. The crocodile's attire consisted of small, black shoulder pads, white gloves, black shoes with orange tints, a gold chain around his neck and wireless headphones. There was an odd mix of toughness and easygoing to his aura, making it difficult to read.
To the crocodile's right was a purple-scaled chameleon with a yellow horn between golden eyes and black spikes running from spine to tail. He wore a pair of dark-purple and black shoes, purple and white gloves and studs on his wrists and ankles. The chameleon carried himself with military-like discipline, offsetting his taller green companion.
The final addition was a yellow-black striped bee who was either a worker or queen given her stinger. She had yellow-and-black antennae and golden eyes. Her attire was an orange vest bearing a bee emblem, white-orange shoes, a pair of white gloves, a black pilot's helmet and a pair of flight goggles. With the way she buzzed about, one could feel the pure energy.
"Good morning, ma'am," The crocodile spoke with a rough voice that was offset by the smooth, polite tone, "Was wondering if you could answer a few questions."
"Ah, aren't we the smooth talker?" Replied Quint cooly, experienced with the crocodile's way with honeyed words, "Unfortunately, if you're looking for a date, I'll have to disappoint you. I'm married."
There was an awkward pause following the vocal exchange as the unexpectant crocodile was left speechless from the reply. The silence lasted only for but a brief moment as the bee broke out into a giggling fit.
"Wow! That's the fifth time this month you struck out with a girl." The bee said in between giggles in a teasing tone, "Maybe you should work on your approach, Vector"
"Oh, shut up, Charmy! You know I wasn't asking for a date!" The croc, christened Vector, glared at the bee, "Besides, I don't need dating advice from a bee."
"Hey, at least I can get a girl, unlike you." Charmy Bee countered with a smirk, "And I'm not even old enough to date yet."
"First off, why are you bragging about that?" The crocodile argued back, "Secondly, don't forget that you're a girl!"
The back-and-forth between the honeybee and crocodile continued for a few moments. Quint would be dishonest if she felt the exchange was without humor. Her attention shifted to the chameleon, who simply shook his head.
"Vector, Charmy. Focus." The chameleon spoke with a deep, serious voice, "We have an assignment."
"Right, right." Vector nodded, grabbing the bee by the head and turning his attention towards the woman, "I'll get right to the point ma'am. Who are you and what are you doing here?"
"I'm under no obligation to give you my name or objective." the woman simply replied, "Especially if you're not polite enough to give yours in return."
"Sorry ma'am. My name is Vector, lead detective for the Chaotix Detective Agency." The crocodile performed a one-handed bow, "With me are Espio and Charmy."
"Charmed." Quint nodded with a neutral expression, "Nakajima, Quint."
"Thank you, ma'am." The tall crocodile nodded, "Now if you don't mind, we're gonna have to kindly ask you to leave."
The woman raised an eyebrow, her arms folded under her chest and a faint glow emitted from the gems on her gauntlets.
"There is a bounty for any information regarding the facility." Espio took the cue to explain.
"Yeah, and because Vector runs through cash faster than we run through pudding, we can't afford to share." Charmy added with a big grin on her face, "So we have to ask you to amscray."
"Unfortunately, My work here is unfinished," The woman replied, with a neutral shake of her head, gauging the responses from the trio, "I can't leave until I find what I'm looking for."
"Awe, why'd you have to go and do that, pretty lady?" the bee pouted cutely, "Now we have to beat you up."
"The pipsqueak's right, if you don't leave quietly, we'll have to convince you by force." The crocodile motioned for his posse to close in, "And I hate having to fight a lovely lass."
Quint slowly settled into a defensive stance, the gears on her gauntlets slowly started to spin. She took a deep sigh and hardened her expression.
"So be it." The woman replied, cooly.
"Say, uh…" Charmy Bee found herself quipping, "Anyone else hear boss music?"
[OP: "Bright Stream" Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha The MOVIE 2nd A's]
Sonic the Hedgehog: Wind of the Night Sky
Chapter 13
West Side Island Phase 3: Counteroffensive
[South Island Archipelago: West Side Island]
[Casino Night: Clearing]
[Time: 1050]
[No BGM]
Signum and her squad waited patiently as Eggman keyed in the combination on his egg-mobile to summon his latest creation. Soon, they could feel the rumbling in the ground and the whirs of mechanicals spinning as a figure rose from the depths of the city.
The doctor took a cue from the environment this time as this robot looked like one of the cowboys one would find in a western casino. It had only one arm, but it held a powerful cannon in hand. On the robot's chest was a motif of a slot machine that was stuck on a trio of reels bearing the emblem of the Eggman Empire. A brown cowboy hat was on its head with a red jacket on the shoulders and blue jeans on its legs. Red eyes appeared to pierce deep into the souls of its opponents.
"I give you the Egg-Bandit." Eggman said gleefully, "Don't even think about pressing your luck on these slots, you'll only get busts and bullets."
None of the group deigned to give the mad scientist a response to the cliche; opting to prepare their respective weapons and magic for battle. Rather disappointed, Eggman sighed and quickly made his exit with his Egg-Mobile. The robot's eyes glowed harsher as it pulled the hammer on its peacekeeper.
[VS Boss: Egg Bandit]
[BGM: "Eggman Battle" Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (8-bit)]
The robot opened the fight with a volley of metallic sphere-shaped bullets, one of each aimed for the airborne Signum, Vita, Nanoha and Fate. Though they were able to avoid the bullets initially by flying and breaking formation, they were far from safe. Each bullet had a homing function built in that forced the group to continue flying in order to not be hit.
A change of tactics was soon called after Vita ran out of patience with the game of chicken she was made to play with her bullet. After taking another lap around the robot with the bullet hot on her trail, the iron hammer knight turned on her tail and converted Eisen to its Gigantform. Timing the bullet, the knight slammed her hammer down on the bullet just before it could hit her, causing it to careen to the ground and explode harmlessly.
"Oi, these bullets contain explosives, but you can knock them away." Vita called out.
The others nodded and followed suit, using their weapons and devices to knock away their bullets safely. As the boss had to take a few moments to reload its weapon, the squad had time to launch a counter offensive.
Under Nanoha's suggestion, the magically inclined reversed their roles in making their attack runs. Vita provided passable ranged coverage for Nanoha with her Swallow Flier spell while the latter utilized her ACS Charge to ram into the bandit robot. Signum and Fate followed suit, the former switching Laevatein into its whip form to launch a fiery ranged attack to protect the blonde as she converted Bardiche to its Crescent Form and hacked away with the energy blade created.
Despite their combination synergy, the team still found their attack mostly resisted by the mech's armor. It was mostly a few cuts or dents here and there over the frame, but the saving grace was that their attacks had registered.
"We won't be getting far unless we can get past its armor." Signum hardened her gaze on the robot, "Takamachi? If we stall for time, do you think you can think of a strategy."
"I think I may have one already." Nanoha nodded, "But it's going to require a test. Could either of you try to redirect the bullets back at it?"
"Got it!" Amy nodded
Another volley of homing shots was fired from the Egg-Bandit and the pink hedgehog was one of the targets. Due to her lacking the capability to fly, she had a difficult time dodging the bullet with just her speed along, but she managed and was able to position herself so she could line the bullet with the mech. One swing of her hammer later, the bullet was redirected back at the robot. Much to Nanoha's satisfaction, the bullet not only left a sizable dent in the armor, but the ensuing explosion made a decent hole in the middle of the frame.
Vita followed suit with the bullet aimed at her. Perhaps it was due to Eisen's Gigantform, but she put enough power between her swing to cause her projectile to tear a hole into the Egg-Bandit before it exploded, causing a significant amount of damage. The robot was left temporarily paralyzed following the iron knight's attack, allowing Nanoha to make her move for the finisher.
With a deep breath, the auburn-haired girl converted Raising Heart into Exelion Form, loaded two cartridges and brought out the Strike Flame addon. A harsh pink glyph of magic appeared at her feet. She was determined to finish the foe in one shot.
"What is she doing?" Amy asked out loud.
"Oi, oi!" Vita shouted to the girl, "Are you that reckless? That could kill you!"
"Exelion Buster, ACS!" The girl gritted her teeth from the effort, tuning out the cautionary tones, "Drive!"
With a burst of speed that would make a certain blue hedgehog proud, Nanoha launched from her spot and rammed into the Egg-Bandit with enough force to stagger it.. She made several raiding sweeps, shearing through the holes that the bullets previously made. On the girl's last run, she paused right between the mech's legs and loaded three more cartridges into Raising Heart, widening the Strike Flame wings and increasing its power output significantly above normal, much to Signum's alarm.
"Takamachi!" The general called out, "Cease before you hurt yourself, you've done enough."
"Break…" Nanoha, in a moment of tunnel vision, toned out the warning once more, "Shoot!"
Within an instant, the Egg-Bandit was fully engulfed in a blast of pink as Nanoha's Exelion Buster was fired at point blank. Its body was incinerated completely and the ensuing explosion jettisoned a somehow intact capsule of critters. As Raising Heart exuded steam from the workload, its master held her left arm with a wince and broke the capsule to free the critters inside.
[Boss Clear]
[Jingle: "Victory" Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (8-bit)]
There was no celebration here; Amy Rose was frozen in shock, watching as Fate and Signum, both expressing their concern for the mage in white in their own way, rounded on the girl and lectured her about the excessive force she put out. The pink hedgehog's shock soon turned into confusion and she sought answers from a fuming Vita.
"Uh…" Amy poked the knight, "What just happened? And why is everyone getting on her case?"
"That girl is going to kill herself if she keeps that up!" Vita growled out, "The Cartridge System is still a work in progress in the modern day. She can't be using cartridges like that."
"Cartridge System?" The pink hedgehog queried.
The Cartridge System, as explained by Vita, was originally invented by the Ancient Belkans as a means to temporarily boost the power output of a device by consuming small capsules of compressed magical energy. These capsules typically take the form of rifle rounds or bullets, which would explain the visible clips on Bardiche and Raising Heart.
Unfortunately, for the Mid-Childans, this system was still experimental and had a notable safety concern in putting a strain on the mage's body. The Wolkenritter could use the system reliably due in part to their decades bordering on centuries of experience, while Nanoha and Fate only had months in comparison.
"That girl's only human, her body isn't used to the recoil yet.." Vita continued, "And if she keeps this up, she literally could kill herself."
"I see..." Amy let out a gulp.
Reinforce and Team A arrived on the scene shortly as Signum and Fate finished their discussion with Nanoha. The latter multi-tasked taking part in the discussion regarding the Egg-Bandit with changing Raising Heart's clip. Her actions, while notably reckless, were put on hold in favor of the foe's gimmicks.
"This last battle leaves no room for doubt, Eggman is adjusting to our capabilities," Signum noted, "We had to utilize unconventional tactics this time."
"At least for the first part, using our foe's strengths against it worked in our favor." Reinforce nodded, sending a look at Nanoha, "Until someone took matters into her own hands."
"Sorry…" The auburn-haired girl bowed, "I thought I saw an opportunity and took it."
"While I can't fault you for that, you could've been hurt or worse." The taller woman knelt and placed a hand on her shoulder, "We're only concerned for your safety."
Nanoha took that moment to register the expressions from the others and found that the sentiment was unanimous even amongst the animals who had less experience with the specifics of magic. The one whose agreement made the most impact was Fate. She could see the concern clear as day on the normally reserved blonde's face.
'Even Fate-chan….' Nanoha gulped under the weight of her closest friend and partner's gaze, "Alright, I'll be more careful."
Relief settled amongst the group, even if it was expressed in different forms. For Nanoha, it was Fate's smile that affected her the most. The girl had went through much in her life and she wished to not add more to it.
[South Island]
[Scrap Brain: Factory Ruins]
[Time: 1100]
[No BGM]
Dusting herself off after a tough workout, Quint observed the unconscious forms of the Chaotix before her, held in a powerful Hoop Bind spell. The woman took a deep breath in sync with the steam being released from Revolver Gauntlet.
Despite their appearances, the Chaotix were a competent trio whose abilities synergized well with one another. The crocodile was not only the strongest of the group, but he was also the smartest, able to discern some patterns in her movements and match her blow-for-blow in some areas.. Small as the bee was, her stinger was powerful and her hyperactivity did well to keep the woman off-balance. Lastly, the chameleon was able to combine his camouflage ability with potent ninjutsu techniques to compliment the unpredictably powerful trio's strength's.
That was where their advantages ended, and Quint's began. The woman was not only a powerful mage in her own right, but she was also the originator of Shooting Arts, a form of magical martial arts focused around using her rollerblades to raid with her entire body. It was this art that allowed her to keep pace and beat even the likes of Sonic with his speed during their training matches.
She was also able to pick out and utilize flaws in the Chaotix to her advantage. Charmy's own aggressiveness was turned against her as the woman was able to direct and slam the bee into the ground with great force without relying on magic. The chameleon's camouflage was far from perfect as it only impacted sight, and there were other senses that could discern his location. For the crocodile, she almost had to burn a cartridge to keep up with his strength, but was able to turn it against him with a powerful Judo throw combined with the momentum from her own style.
"Having fun, are we?" a familiar voice of Lindy Harlaown called out to the investigator through a video feed that had appeared due to the admiral making a call to her from Durandal.
"I held back." the investigator replied coolly, "But they were deceptively strong."
"I presume you have something to report on here?" Lindy queried neutrally
"You will get my full report on my investigation when I return," answered Quint, "I can tell you that we're not the only ones looking into this place. This quirky party was kind enough to inform me that there was a high information bounty for any details on what transpired here."
The admiral commended her investigator for the good work and informed her that she would need to make for the Chemical Plant in West Side Island. There was a recent development that warranted investigation, and she wanted to keep Eggman from furthering any more research in that zone, using any means necessary.
Acknowledging the orders, Quint turned to face the unconscious forms of the Chaotix, a plot forming in her mind. She focused a fair amount of magic into a group-wide healing spell for the trio to mend any injuries and negate her bindings. Their wounds were far from serious, but she wanted to make sure that they were capable enough for the work she had in mind.
Vector was the first to awaken from unconsciousness and the most aware of the situation he was in. His team had been beaten and were at the mercy of this unknown party. While that alone raised a question of a few things, it was the apparent mercy displayed by the woman that raised more, especially regarding her motives.
"Oi! Gents!" the crocodile called to his team as they slowly woke up, "Look alive! We got company."
"Vector…" a tired honeybee deadpanned, "I'm a girl."
"Sorry." Vector scratched the back of his head while Espio remained quiet.
"Good to see you're recovering well." Quint nodded, "I hope I didn't hurt you too much."
"Just my pride." Vector replied before hardening his expression, calling years of detective experience, "What do you want? You obviously stuck around long enough to let us recover, why?"
"Observant." The woman commended and went to the point, "You see, I have need of your detective skills."
"And why should we help you?" Espio broke his silence with a healthy amount of skepticism, "We hardly know you."
Quint answered the chameleon's question with several points, all valid. First, they were acting as an aggressive party and attacked her, and though they had likely no way of knowing at the time, the woman carried a badge. That alone got Vector's attention. The second reason, they both had a shared objective of looking around Scrap Brain and she would be able to give them some information that they could use for the bounty. Thirdly…
"I understand that you are hard-pressed for money." The woman brought her final and most volatile point last.
"Yeah cause our rent's too high and now we're on a deadline." The bee chimed, "Eviction or paaaaaaay.. RENT!"
"Well, what if… in addition to the information I could share from my findings here, which could help your bounty..." Quint hooked her metaphorical bait and cast the line, "I could further compensate you for helping me out?"
The biggest bait yields some of the biggest catches, and for Quint, at least two of the Chaotix had caught onto what she was implying. She could see the dollar signs in the eyes of the crocodile and honeybee. She had them hooked and she knew it. All she needed to do was reel them in, if only the chameleon was less skeptical.
"Hold on, guys…" Espio attempted to caution, "I have a bad feeling about this."
"Espio, you know we don't turn down any job that pays!" The crocodile stood up, "That's our policy, y'know!"
"Yeah~!" Charmy chimed energetically to back him up, "It's Policy~! Policy~!"
"Well then," Quint, satisfied with the results, gave the trio her full attention, 'Let's get down to business."
[West Side Island]
[Hill Top: Zone 0]
[Time: 1105]
[No BGM]
Up high in the clouds was the set of the next zone for the combined squad to take on in their battle race to liberate West Side Island from Eggman. A huge mountain range surrounded by a scape of clouds. In the distance, one could see a horizon of gray mountains and canyons reaching through the clouds. Compared to the draining fun in the casino, this would be a good place for a hangover recovery, if one could find thin air and lava therapeutic.
Sonic was reminded of Marble Zone with the pits of lava and underground caverns. The only difference there was that this zone held no ancient ruins of a lost civilization. Any hints of such would likely have been dusted with the quakes and volcanic eruptions from the volcanoes in this mountain range.
"Whoa," Hayate took a deep breath, "We're really high up here."
"Yeah, watch your breathing," Amy cautioned, "The air is really thin at this altitude."
"Also, this is going to sound obvious, but lava is hot." Sonic added with a nod, "Lava don't care about your magic, lava is hot."
"Wow." deadpanned Vita, "Astounding advice, blue boy. I never would have guessed."
"Hush from the peanut gallery."
While the hedgehog's warning was obvious, it was far from redundant and had its merit. No magic would save anyone unfortunate enough to slip and fall into the molten magma.
[Hill Top: Action Stage]
[BGM: "Hill Top" Sonic the Hedgehog 2"]
With the whole zone centered around the mountain range and the caves within, there were no higher or lower routes for the teams to split. Instead the routes were split by which way around the mountain either team wanted to go. For simplicity sake, Team A took the left path while B handled the right. Both paths had segments inside the caves, where the quaking ground and rising lava forced the teams to sacrifice speed for caution.
As if to make up for the lack of robots in the casino, Eggman was able to deploy three types of robots, Tsun-tsun, Zaura and Gora. The Tsun-Tsun and Gora both shared a design centered around a red ball as the main body, but while the former attacked by hurling its spiky cone, the latter utilized its orbiting fireballs and would hurl them in one direction. The Zaura were Plesiosaur shaped badniks that were designed to withstand heat, able to hide their head within the lava and only come out when it was time to strike. All three robots shared a weakness in that they were completely defenseless after they had attacked.
[POV: Team B (Signum, Vita, Nanoha, Fate, Amy)]
Out of concern for Nanoha's wellbeing from her last battle, Signum had virtually relegated her to the backline for medium-long range support with basic shooter spells such as Axel Shooter. If the girl put up any argument, it was quickly shot down with a combined look between the swordswoman and Fate; the latter having more of an effect on her. This was not to say that the team lost any firepower; Fate proved to be nearly as effective in that department.
Amy also put up more of her fair share of work despite the staggering difference of power between her and the mages and knights. The pink hedgehog had been able to use both her hammer and her quills to clear the field of rubble, saving the effort that it would take to blast them with magic.
"So, if I heard correctly," Amy started, drawing attention from the group, "Everyone here fought one another at some point?"
"Correct." Signum nodded, "On the Incident before, regarding the Book of Darkness. We were on opposite sides."
"And Nanoha and I were the same way." Fate added, "Before that, with the Jewel Seeds."
"How come you guys are able to fight so well together then?" the pink hedgehog asked, "Like, even knowing that you were enemies, I could barely tell that from the way you guys are working together."
"We train together a lot." Replied Nanoha, "Because of that and our experiences from past battles, we're aware of one another's tactics and their limitations."
"Really?!" the pink hedgehog sounded skeptical, "Training?!"
"Yup." the auburn-haired girl replied, "Spend enough time with someone, you get to know their strengths, weaknesses. I fought Fate-chan several times during the Jewel Seed Incident, and then we fought Signum-san and Vita-chan several times during the Book of Darkness incident. And even after that, we spend most of our training sessions together either sparring or determining new tactics or combinations."
After taking a moment to process the mage's words, Amy had to admit that there was validity to them. She had only the hearsay experience from the summation of the last two events, and had very little, if any actual experience in interacting with the group. From that moment, the pink hedgehog resolved to make the effort to be more understanding of others and their situations and not just judge from impressions and what was said.
[POV: Team A (Reinforce, Hayate, Alicia, Sonic, Tails)]
Much like Amy had her fair share of work put into the Hill zone, so too did Tails. The fox kit helped carry a flightless Sonic over a few of the lava pits and was able to identify locations of enemies. Though his combat abilities were still in development, the workload was compensated highly with the power output from Hayate, Reinforce and Alicia.
Magic was still something that Tails had to get used to. Even though he had a full display of it courtesy of the others, there were still many questions and he had to find one to ask first.
"Um, this may sound weird, but I've been wondering about your outfits." The fox kit began timidly, "How come they look so different? I thought magic users had coordinated outfits like sailor uniforms from that show Amy and I watched one time."
'Oh crapbaskets' Sonic thought to himself as he saw the color drain comically from the face of Reinforce, 'He just -had- to go there at some point, didn't he?'
"Well, now that you mention it…" Hayate, the resident cosplay nut, sent a knowing teasing look at the taller woman, "I have thought about using that show for a few ideas…"
"Me too," Alicia shared a knowing grin with the brunette
"Uh, Sonic?" The hedgehog could almost hear the pleading tone from Reinforce on mindspeak, "A little, help, please?"
"Sorry~, I don't get involved in fights I can't win," Sonic replied in a guilty tone, "Plus we're in the same boat."
"She's getting to you too?" dread slipped comically into her tone.
"Bingo~!"
Perhaps it was convenience that led to the team finding the next Special Stage signpost, but neither Reinforce nor Sonic could turn down the distraction. The silver-haired woman may have thrown the hedgehog at the post, but he paid it no mind and just took the gate to initiate the trial.
[Coordinates Unknown]
[Special Stage]
[Time: Unknown]
[BGM: "Special Stage" Sonic the Hedgehog CD (JP/PAL)]
In contrast to the previous stages, the one Sonic landed in for this trial had an aesthetic mixing between a futuristic and urban city. The ground below his feet resembled a gray city street with arrows and curbs to match. He could see what appeared to be the city in the background; contained within a dome of red steel girders.
Right away, the blue hedgehog could tell the difficulty was raised for this trial. Pitch black were the pools of water below the strips of land, and their placement left little room for error on the turns and jumps.
'Yikes. Talk about a difficulty curve.' Sonic thought to himself, 'One wrong move and I'm outta here.'
The red sphere of light descended from the sky and orbited around the hedgehog's head. Aside from the occasional hum, she said little. Her presence was still a mystery that Sonic wanted to investigate, however he found doing so to be quite difficult due to her reserved nature.
"Say, uh…" Sonic awkwardly began, "Anyone tell you that you have a nice voice?"
"Huh?" The sphere paused, a hint of surprise in her tone, "Well, thanks?"
"Doesn't it get lonely out here?" questioned the hedgehog, "Like don't you ever want someone to talk to? I can tell you've probably been through a bit, so it might help."
"Ah…" Her tone shifting to one of realization, the sphere paused, "I know what you're trying here."
"Hm?" Now it was Sonic's turn to pause.
"The flattery, it will not avail you here." The voice shifted to apologetic, "Not that I don't appreciate it, and I can see that you have only good intentions, but I am barred from saying anything beyond the scope of my task, which is to moderate these trials.
"There will be a time in which all can and will be revealed, but not now." The sphere began to rise, "I cannot speak anymore, your time is limited."
Sonic began the trial upon the request from the sphere. Though he had failed to get all of the information desired, what he had received was a starting point.
True to the pattern from the previous stages, the placement of each UFO added to the intense difficulty of the trial. The hedgehog had to be fast on his feet and even faster with the reflexes in order to avoid touching the pools of water that drained his available time.
His time went down to the last ten or so seconds, but the hedgehog was able to complete the trial. As the yellow chaos emerald floated into Sonic's hands, he could see the moderator sphere hovering in place. Not a word was said though, and he was beamed out of the special stage with little more than a flash.
[Eyecatch #1: Sonic: Wind of the Night Sky bio card #25: Vector]
Name: Vector the Crocodile
Katakana: ベクター・ザ・クロコダイル(Bekutā za Kurokodairu)
Gender: Male
Age: 20
Height: 180cm
Weight: 200 kg
Color: Green
System: None
Rank: B+
Device: None
[Eyecatch #2: Sonic: Wind of the Night Sky bio card #26: Charmy]
Name: Charmy Bee
Katakana: チャーミー・ビー(Chāmī Bī)
Gender: Female
Age: 6
Height: 70cm
Weight: 10kg
Color: Yellow
System: None
Rank: C
Device: None
[Non-Administrated Planet #97 "Earth"]
[South Island Archipelago: West Side Island]
[Hill Top: Race Results]
[Time: 1120]
After another photo finish, Sonic and Team A had just edged out Team B in the race portion. Neither team had any major delays outside of the robots and stage hazards. Sonic had to admit that as an appreciator of speed, he was starting to enjoy the racing segments with Fate and expressed that he and her should have an actual race sometime. Fate, though she was far too shy to admit, started to feel the same way.
"First Place bonus: 10000 points. Enemy bonus: 37x100." Lucky Star called out the results for its team, "Final Score: 13700 points."
"Second Place bonus: 7500 points. Enemy bonus: 40x100." Raising Heart chimed in return, "Final Score: 11500 points."
"Yes~!" Sonic raised his fist in celebration, "Another win for us!"
"Don't get cocky, blue boy." Vita retorted, "We'll get you on the next one."
As par the course for the arrangement, Signum's team concealed themselves behind one of the cliffs while Sonic and his team pressed onwards. There was a chill in the thin air from the altitude, but the humans were protected from the elements due to their respective Barrier Jackets and Knight Clothing. Despite their smaller size, neither hedgehog nor fox held any issue with the weather either due to their fur.
Unfortunately, the same did not apply to Doctor Eggman, as the group found the mad scientist shivering from the cool air. The combination of the mobile's lack of a roof and heater led to a miserable time, not that anyone felt sympathy for the man. Despite that, he appeared to be in good health minus the occasional sneeze and when he noticed the group approaching, turned to face them.
"Ah, you again." The doctor addressed the group, "I was wondering which one of your groups would show up, seems like you have some sort of a system going on with that."
"You're quite cordial, considering our last meeting." Reinforce commented, "I presume you have something to ask."
"Well, I was briefly considering asking for your opinion on a location for a base." Eggman went to his point, "I found that this zone here could be an ideal location to set up my base of operations; you know for science and research."
"Why's that?" queried Alcia
"There are these nice twin peaks providing an exquisite view." Eggman began, "And there's a nice fertile valley further south that can give my building a natural hardened defense. I can really see myself settling here."
Though unintentional, the mad scientist's words had drawn a humorous variety of reactions from the group. Hayate and Reinforce both stared at a certain part of a flushed Reinforce's body. Tails, oblivious to the meanings behind the words or actions from the girls, simply tilted his head. Sonic shook his head and resisted the urge to slap his forehead in exasperation.
"Good night, everybody!" Shouted the blue hedgehog randomly.
"Huh?" Eggman paused
"Nevermind that…" Reinforce regained her composure, "I believe you have a new robot for us?"
With a shrug, Eggman pressed a series of buttons. The ground began to shake as a massive purple figure rose from the closest lava pool. A purple dinosaur-like head with a long neck sprouted from the figure and was soon joined by another. This robot appeared to be designed similarly to a hydra from Greek mythology, except it was purple and had only three heads.
"Behold! The Egg-Hydra!" Pride evident in the doctor's voice, "I hope this one isnt too hot for you."
"Eh…" Sonic shrugged, "Five out of ten."
"You sassy rodent." Eggman scowled and turned to take his leave, "Give them hellfire, Hydra."
[VS: Egg Hydra]
[BGM: "Eggman Battle" Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (8-bit)]
As soon as the doctor left the premises, the hydra robot began its assault. A jet of fire shot out from the middle head, causing the team to break formation to dodge. The other two heads lunged at the trio of girls who took to the skies, demonstrating their long range.
Sonic and Tails each went after a head with their spin attack; their attacks hit hard and forced the heads to withdraw, but there was little damage done outside of it. Eggman had continued the trend of armouring the robot's defenses and this robot was no different. Hayate and Alicia fired off a volley of shooting spells at the remaining head, doing little damage but it was enough to buy them some time to strategize.
"He just had to model this one after a monster from the Greek mythology." Sonic grumbled, "But I don't think he can program it to regrow heads or any of that immortality stuff."
"Doubtful," Reinforce agreed, "I think we should strike at the limbs, they're likely going to be weaker."
"But those heads are pretty fast when they lunge." Tails noted, "And the fire breathing just makes it difficult."
"I think I might have a way to limit their movement." Hayate spoke as she turned towards Reinforce, "But, Reinforce, we'll probably have to do -that-."
In anticipation of her mistress's request, Reinforce could only nod and begin the preparations. For a brief moment, the woman's body glowed before reducing in size and shape to that of a very small purplish-white ball. While Sonic had seen this once before, he had a feeling what was going to be next.
"Uh…" Alicia voiced her confusion with a tilt of the head, "What are they doing?"
"Oh, they're pulling that move." Sonic nodded, "Just watch, you'll see."
"Bless the light of the night sky," Hayate called out as she raised her staff, "Reinforce, unison in!"
Reinforce phased into Hayate's body through her orb form, causing both of their forms to glow for a few moments. When the light died away, only the smaller girl remained. Her body was unchanged apart from her eyes and hair, which took on a sky-blue and sandy-brown color respectively. There was a significant change in the aura from the girl.
"What the?!" Alicia found herself gawking.
"It's been a while since we've unisoned." Hayate commented, "Reinforce is inside, helping me with magic control. We should be able to help with crowd control on those hydra heads, but…"
"Because of your Unison thing, Reinforce isn't here to help fight." Sonic got the message, "Which means Tails, chibi-blonde and I have to keep them busy while you get your spells off."
"Right," The sandy-brown girl replied, "Sorry to be a burden, I'm still working on controlling this new magic."
"Don't apologize, Mistress." Reinforce consoled from within her Lord's mindspace, "You will get better, it just takes practice."
"It's coming again!" Tails called out.
True to the fox boy's word, the metallic hydra extended its heads through the lava and made a lunging motion at the team with incredible accuracy and speed. Without Reinforce, there were only three targets for the robotic serpent to attack, which played into the favor of the teams. This allowed the three to monopolize the attention of the hydra's heads away from Unison Hayate so she could focus.
"Approach from beyond, mistletoe branch." Hayate intoned as she stood on a floating belkan triangle glyph, her focus set on a spell in mind with the book opened on a specific page.
"Become spears of the silver moon," Reinforce added, her focus on controlling her mistress's mana in the spell, "Shoot and pierce!"
"Petrifying spears!" Both called out as they raised their staff, "Mistilteinn!"
Upon completion of their spell's aria, Hayate and Reinforce watched as a volley of light spears rained down upon the metallic monstrosity. Each spear had very little power to them, but they carried a particular additional petrification effect, which was the design of the spell. Very slowly, the robot's body and heads were frozen in stone, rendering it immobile.
"Alright~!" Sonic cheered, "Now to finish it off"
"I got this one!" Alicia declared, taking to the sky and turning to address her device, "Let's go, Lucky Star!"
"Yes Sir!" The device chimed in return.
Thunder was the element of the Testarossa family, and Alicia, despite her inexperience, had inherited it from her mother like Fate. A turquoise mid-childan glyph appeared at the shorter blonde's feet as she converted Lucky Star into its twin gun form. The girl focused her power into the glyph as she focused on a spell that would eliminate all three heads in one shot.
"Thunder…" Alicia intoned, thrusting her pistols forward, "Rage!"
One of the Testarossa family's most powerful spells that required no aria, Thunder Rage, worked in two stages. The first was to bind the target in lightning binds; given the petrified status, this was mostly unnecessary. Once the target was bound, the second part of the spell was to strike with lightning. Lighting struck out and hit not only all three heads, but the main body attached. A massive explosion ensued as the hydra met its shocking end, jettisoning an intact canister of critters free.
[Boss Clear]
[Jingle: "Victory" Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (8-bit)]
Reinforce and Hayate cancelled their Unison as the victory celebrations started. The team went into their usual poses, though they appeared to be more in sync with one another. Hayate and Alicia were more fluid in their poses not dissimilar to Sonic and Tails.
"Well now," Sonic chuckled as he readied his wit, "You could say that was quite shocking."
"Sonic-kun~!" Hayate's tone was playfully dark, as she and Alicia rounded on the hedgehog with matching paper fans
"Yes~?" A drop of sweat appeared on the blue boy's forehead.
"You aren't making bad cliche lines again…" Alicia's tone matched Hayate's, "Are you?"
"No way~!" Sonic shook his head in obedience and comical fear.
"Good~!" Both girls nodded.
"Girls are scary." Tails gulped, quickly turning tail to face Reinforce, "No offence!"
"None taken." The woman shook her head kindly.
Signum and her squad withdrew from their position and met back up with the rest of the group to discuss the robot fight. The latest robot from the doctor had proved to be one of his best yet given its range of attack and its fire-breathing ability. Hayate and Reinforce were forced to Unison in order to counter it, and that card was a move they had wanted to keep in reserve.
"I have a question." Alicia queried, "What is Unison?"
"I've been meaning to ask that as well," Sonic added, "I mean, I've seen you two do it a few times now, but I don't really understand how it really works beyond that fusion thing I've seen in some anime."
"Well…" Hayate took a deep breath, "That is kinda how it works. Reinforce and I unite, and she helps me with controlling my mana."
"Only problem is that if I'm Unisoned with Hayate, I can't be out on the field." Reinforce noted, "And this was something we'd rather use sparingly."
"So only in a pinch?" Amy asked
"Correct." Signum nodded, "The less information our enemy has on us, the better."
"We should get going." Sonic declared, "I don't think Eggman is going to give us the luxury of being able to sit and chat anymore."
The team agreed with the hedgehog and pressed onwards. There were fewer breaks for idle chatter due to Eggman's prominent influence over the island. While the squad's campaign had done a great deal to lessen it, there was still much work to be done
[Administrated World #1: "Mid-Childa"]
[Cranagan]
[Time-Space Administration Ground Headquarters]
[BGM: "Vow of Unity" Tales of Vesperia OST]
The office of a decorated admiral was the last place that Precia Testarossa thought she would find herself in. She was seated in the middle chair facing the desk, and she could see Lowran standing in the corner. Crowbel, the host of the gathering, was seated at her desk, a neutral expression on her face.
"Precia Testarossa," the woman began, the magitek screen behind her displaying a bio of Testarossa, "You have quite the history."
"Not one to be proud of, no doubt." The woman acknowledged with a frown, "And I have no excuse for it."
"So you say…" Crowbel countered, "Yet there exists arguments to the contrary, that you fail to realize."
"Your actions during the Jewel Seed incident, for instance." Lowran added, "There can be an argument made to your mental state during it. Compromised by tragedy that fueled your motives."
Precia paused, recalling the tragic accident in question; the trigger of her insanity. An accident occured when she was working on a prototype energy generator. Because she was forced to ignore safety regulations due to the pressure her superiors had placed on her to bring results, the reactor exploded with her home in the blast zone. At the time, it had been thought that Alicia, her precious daughter, was killed by the explosion.
Understandably so, Precia was overcome by grief and her mind was shattered. Turning to science for means of resurrecting her daughter, she used Alicia's DNA to create a clone through Project Fate, Fate Testarossa. Hoping to reach Al-Hazard, she used Fate to gather the Jewel Seeds. Though she was thwarted, her disappearance in the end led to Fate being tried for the incident.
"This doesn't excuse my actions." the woman shook her head, "Even if one could argue that I wasn't fully sane at the time; my actions during that incident were inexcusable."
"True, but you aren't above redemption." Crowbel countered, "And this is what we are offering for you."
"Hm?" the woman sat upright.
"We're willing to offer you a probationary contract." The older woman began, "We'll keep an eye on you as you work under us. Do well enough and you'll be given more freedom, including…"
"Including?" Testarossa queried.
"Provided that their guardian signs off on this." Crowbel answered, "An opportunity to spend time with your daughters."
The words from the Bureau chief of staff processed within the mind of the Testarossa matriarch. It was of no secret that the woman's children had meant the world to her; and to be able to apologize, make amends and atone for what she put them through, was an opportunity she would be unable to turn down. If doing so meant she had to play to the tune of the Bureau, she would do anything.
"Just…" The woman sighed, "Tell me what I must do."
"Splendid. Starting immediately, you will be working under Admiral Lowran here," Crowbel's attention turned towards the other occupant, "Lowran?"
"Right," The younger admiral stepped forward with a folder in hand, presenting it to the woman, "These contain your living arrangements and schedule. Look over them carefully."
Precia opened the folder and looked through the contents. She was to be given modest apartment housing on base and designated to report to Admiral Lowran on a daily basis before reporting to another department for contractual work. It seemed the Bureau handpicked the fields she was to be working for based on the areas she had the most experience with. Her first assignment was with their medical technology sector.
"MedTech…" Precia muttered as she read through the documents, only to pause when something stood out to her, "These are already signed and approved. You knew I was going to accept."
"We're aware of your intentions." Crowbel stood up and offered her hand, "You have made that much obvious. And we're going to make sure you have the opportunity; all you have to do is work with us."
"Very well," the Testarossa matriarch stood up and took the admiral's hand, "When do I start?"
"Monday." Lowran replied, "You'll have this weekend to prepare."
Closing her folder, the woman stood up and prepared to take her leave. Her orders were clear, and her mood was significantly better. She was finally given her chance to atone for her sins, and she was going to make the most of it.
"By the way, could you ask the man and his familiars outside to come in on your way out?" Crowbel questioned, "We have a few things to discuss with him."
Though she was curious, the woman refrained from questioning. She followed the request and took her leave, allowing Gil Graham and his familiars to enter the admiral's office.
[Non-Administrated Planet #97: "Earth"]
[South Island Archipelago: West Side Island]
[Mystic Cave: Act 0]
[Time: 1135]
[BGM: "Mystic Cave (2-Player)" Sonic the Hedgehog 2]
After braving the volcanoes of the Hill Top zone, the combined troupe found themselves in the dark underground caves beneath the mountain range of the island. The rocks in the backdrop were purple while the stalagmites below were green. Due to the lack of lighting outside of the occasional lantern, the most that could be seen in this surprisingly spacious subterranean realm were moss-covered rocks and dangling ivy.
One thing that could be noted about this cave zone was that the caverns were not natural. The presence of the lanterns, dangling bridges and railways indicate that the previous inhabitants had set up a mining facility. Though there was nary a soul in sight now and the overgrowth of moss over the rails and bridge signified the passage of time.
"The signs of civilization, though faded by time, are still here." Reinforce observed, "I have to wonder why they built a mine, though."
"Probably to take the ore from the mountain to use as materials." Sonic noted, "We did just venture through a fully-functional casino zone, so I have a few guesses as to where it was going."
"I wouldn't be surprised if Eggman also took advantage of this setup," speculated Signum, "We should be careful. He'll likely have traps and robots ahead."
"Eh, even if he does, it's nothing we can't handle." Vita shrugged without a care, "We've got more experience in one hand than he has in his lifetime."
Tails looked at the red knight with a little bit of curiosity. Though he was still reserved and timid, the adventure he had thus far had taught him to open up and speak for himself. He found himself growing attached to Sonic and Hayate, seeing them as older sibling figures. Still, he was young and inquisitive, and one could fault him little for asking questions with the best of intentions, even if they were ill-advised.
"So, um Vita, right? if you have a lot of experience..." the fox kit tilted his head in thought, "How old are you? You don't look too old."
Silence descended upon the cave as the atmosphere became awkward due to the fox's innocent question. The only qualifiable noise was the condensation dripping from the ivy. Soon, the two hedgehogs were pulled to a sidebar by Nanoha and Hayate.
"Tails-kun is getting pretty brave." Hayate said, grinning slightly in amusement.
"Yeah," Sonic nodded, "That's Hell he's walking into."
"I can't help him on this one," Amy shook her head, "Hope this girl's merciful."
"To be fair, Vita-chan kind of set this one up" Nanoha pointed out, "And I don't think she's the type to get upset over this."
Vita approached the fox cub in a slow, deliberate pace that left him unnerved. Her default grumpy expression did little to assuage the boy's nerves. The redhead stopped a few inches short of Tails's face. A gloved hand was raised and the fox winced in reflex. Pain was expected, but it never came; instead, the hand lightly stroked the fur on the fox's head.
"Old enough." Vita spoke as she petted him.
"Huh?" Tails blinked, fighting a blush.
"You're endearing, kid." The short girl lifted her hand and turned to walk away, "Don't lose that quality."
The fox boy and the rest of the combined team were left briefly in silence. Vita turned and moved into the cavern. For the next moment, the rest of the group exchanged glances with one another, processing the series of events and wondering what got into the normally grumpy and foul-mouthed iron knight. Just when one was about to speculate on the girl's health did she come back, looking just as impatient and grumpy as ever.
"Oi! Slackers! What the Hell are you waiting for, a damn written invitation?!" Vita shouted back to them, "Let's go wreck some metallic ass!"
A feeling of relief settled upon the rest of the group gathered; that was the Vita everyone knew and loved. With lighter atmosphere driving them forward, the team pressed on and began their race
[Mystic Cave: Action Stage]
[BGM: "Mystic Cave (1 player)" Sonic the Hedgehog 2]
There were two main routes that split the zone high and low, allowing for the teams to split up and take each path. The cramped space and low visibility reduced any opportunities for speed and put more focus on evading the stage hazards and robot elimination. Most of the traps and hazards were natural green rock crushers, spike pits, spikes on chains, spiked blocks and even spiked chains.
Eggman supplied two types of robots in this zone: Zakin and Flasher. The Zakin were, as compared by Sonic, an evolved version of the caterkiller, a centipede shaped robot that attacked by borrowing underground and lunging from their spots, relying on surprise. Flashers, though small like fireflies, were annoying due to their ability to use their flashing bodies to not only protect themselves from harm, but also surprise and blind their attackers.
[POV: Team A (Reinforce, Hayate, Alicia, Sonic, Tails)]
For reasons unknown to the fox, he kept drawing weird looks and giggles from Hayate and Alicia as they blazed through their path. The thought occurred to him to question the girls, but he lacked the courage to act upon it. His next thought was to ask Sonic, but the blue hedgehog shook his head with only a token attempt at keeping a straight face. Not even Reinforce was willing to lend her aid, though that could also be partly due to her focus on the mission.
Finally, after what felt like an agonizingly long time to the fox, Hayate and Alicia chose to break their giggles and explain themselves. They had an opportunity to do so as they were waiting for a bridge to open in their path.
"Tails-kun." Hayate spoke first, "Do you want some advice?"
"Huh?" The fox paused, "Y-yes?"
"Please refrain from asking a girl her age." explained the brunette, "It can kinda come off as insensitive. Even if you think you may know them enough…"
"It's a sensitive topic," Alicia added, "Especially for girls; they can be really touchy about that."
"Oh…" Tails fluttered his eyes rapidly in processing of the words, "So, what I asked wasn't good?"
"Vita did kinda set that one up," Sonic chimed in, "So in that context, it wasn't too inappropriate."
The bridge lowered at that point and allowed the heroes to press onwards. There were fewer robots in their path, but the ones they could find were quickly taken out by Sonic's spin-dash or Reinforce's melee attacks. The hedgehog and Unison Device took point together and formed a dangerous combination for any mechs.
As Tails followed and did his part in the battle race, his mind was full of curiosity regarding the magic he bore witness to. Combining that with the words from Vita before regarding experience and that she was old enough to have more experience than Eggman brought more questions than answers. His curiosity grew more when he thought of Reinforce, Signum and Vita and how they were all connected.
"Can I ask a question?" queried Tails in wonder
"You just did," Sonic answered humorously
"Sonic-kun~" Hayate chimed on cue
"I'll behave." The hedgehog immediately deflated
"Thank you." a serene smile was sent to the fox, "Go ahead, Tails-kun."
"Okay, I've been meaning to ask about this since I heard this in passing earlier." Tails went to his point, "But, what is Wolkenritter?"
Reinforce and Hayate paused on that question, and took to their telepathy to formulate an answer. No one else said a word as Sonic, while knowledgeable, only had second hand knowledge and it would be inappropriate for him to say as that story was for those closest to it to say. Alicia felt the same way, only she was also more curious on the specific particulars. The deliberation soon ended and Reinforce was the one to answer.
"I'm sure you have many other questions, and we will be happy to indulge. You've been with us long enough to be trusted, however…" Reinforce took a breath, "There is much we have to explain, this is a long story and our time here is limited."
"We'll tell you as much as we can after this is all over. " Hayate added, "But for now, please be patient."
"Oh…" Tails nodded, "Okay…"
With the chatter silenced, the team moved onwards into the zone. Little did they know, however, about the drama ahead.
[POV: Team B (Signum, Vita, Nanoha, Fate, Amy Rose)]
While Signum's team encountered their fair share of traps and robots, it was one notable stage hazard that had almost caused harm to the grounded Amy Rose; and it was by no means her fault. One of the railways had an abrupt end with a pit and the only way forward was to pull an ivy to lower a bridge. The spike pit that Amy had nearly fallen into was deep and had spikes at the bottom. It was only the quick reflexes from Vita that saved the pink hedgehog from a dangerous fall.
"Yikes! Thank you, Vita." Amy let out a breath as she was grasped by the shortest of the humans, "I swear whoever designed this mine likes spikes, there's a big pattern."
"Yeah, yeah." The girl mumbled, "Just be careful next time."
Perhaps it was bad luck on her part, but as soon as Vita made sure the pink hedgehog was safe, she was immediately blindsighted by a tricky combination of a Flasher's strobe and a lunge from a Zakin robot that had camped close to the wall. The girl was able to avoid any harm, but it came at a cost. Her precious hat, which was secured to her head, had fallen off and drifted down into the chasm below.
"..." The knight stood in silence, light dimming from her blue eyes.
"Oh no..." Nanoha gulped in horror, memories of her first encounter with Vita resurfacing.
"What is it?" Amy asked of the girl in white.
"Vita-chan gets really scary when she's mad." the girl explained, her hands shaking slightly, "But what really sets her off…"
At that moment, Vita's rage reached the breaking point. A cartridge loaded itself into Graf Eisen as it shifted into the missile-head form. The engines ignited, and a harsh red triangular belkan glyph appeared at the iron knight's feet. A loud roar of pure anger, fury uncontained, was unleashed; a roar so loud that it likely transcended time and space.
"YOU! METALLIC! BASTARDS!" Vita shouted in fury, "I'LL KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU!"
Roaring in her broken rage, the Crimson Iron Rider launched from her spot and went on a killing spree. No machine was safe from her wrath. What used to be a dark damp mine had turned into the site of a slaughter. She was like an unstoppable force, destroying everything in her path.
"Is her hat…" Signum let out a sigh, turning to face Nanoha, "Takamachi, recover her hat and make sure it isn't damaged."
"Understood!" The girl nodded instantly,
"Testarossa, Rose," The swordswoman turned toward the rest of her group, "We'll try to catch up and calm her down."
"R-right!" Amy and Fate nodded at the same time.
While Nanoha took the plunge into the dark chasm to recover the rampaging knight's hat, the rest of the team pushed forward towards the end. Nothing else, at least the Iron Knight's rage counted for their robot tally for the overall score.
[Mystic Cave: Results]
[Time: 1150]
[No BGM]
When Sonic and Team A crossed the finish line first to end their portion of the race, they had expected Team B to be hot on their trail. Sonic had to make a stop at the Special Stage to secure the sixth Chaos Emerald. The hedgehog juggled the lime green emerald in his right hand, waiting for their counterparts to arrive.
They soon found out the cause for Team B's delay, but not from anyone from the team. The cause of it could be heard from the zone. A loud echoing scream of rage and there was only one guess needed as to why.
"Um, Sonic" Tails, understandably frightened, asked of the blue blur, "Do you hear that?"
"I feel that." Sonic replied simply.
"Uh-oh, somebody messed with Vita-chan's hat." Hayate was unable to hide her amusement, "They shouldn'ta did that."
After nearly a minute, the first of Team B arrived at the rendezvous point and, unsurprisingly, it was a hatless Vita. The knight had slowly begun to calm herself down with deep breathing, steam releasing from the head of Graf Eisen as the device returned to its mallet form
"Vita-chan." Hayate rushed towards the knight and held her in a tight, yet kind embrace, her presence immediately helping the knight to calm down further.
"Hayate…" Vita allowed her mistress's contact, her once volatile rage calmed to the point of a mere pout.
Soon after the others arrived from Team B and Vita was fully coherent. The last of the group to arrive was Nanoha, but she had good cause for doing so as she had retrieved the Iron Knight's hat and made sure it was undamaged.
"Vita-chan!" The girl in white rushed over and calmly placed the hat on the knight's head with a genuine smile, "Here you are, good as new."
"Th-thanks…" Vita blushed a bit, "Nanoha…"
The correct pronunciation of Nanoha's name made the girl beam happily. Soon after the cute moment had passed, the devices that were keeping track of the race results displayed the final scores from that round.
"First Place bonus: 10000 points. Enemy bonus: 28x100 points." Lucky Star read out the full tally, "Final Score: 12800 points."
"Second place bonus: 7500 points. Enemy bonus: 56x100 points." Raising Heart read in return, much to even Nanoha's shock, "Final Score: 13100 points."
Though it was likely overdue since the first zone, this marked the first time a team won the battle race segment with the enemy elimination modifier. It was astounding, yet understandable, how much Vita's roaring rampage of destruction accounted for the scoring. The fact of that put a great amount of pride in the iron knight's demeanor.
"Heh heh." The short girl chuckled, sending a cocky grin at the hedgehog, "How'd you like that? We beat you this time!"
"Oh yeah," Sonic deadpanned, "You won by throwing a temper tantrum after you lost your hat."
"Shut the hell up!"
The small exchange between the hedgehog and knight was taken by confusion from Tails and Amy, but was merely chuckled off by the rest. There was little, if any heat between the two despite the snarky dialogue and it was mostly for fun that they trade barbs.
"At any rate, the round is still ours." Signum noted, "We will press onwards to engage the enemy."
"Good luck" Reinforce nodded, "We'll be behind in case backup is needed."
"Alright!" Vita had a toothy smirk, "That bastard's gonna pay for sicking his scrap metal on my hat!"
With heightened spirits and excitement, the team pressed onwards to their next encounter with Doctor Eggman. Little did anyone know, however, that their battle with Eggman was about to get tougher than anyone could imagine.
[Ending: "Hikaru Michi (The Shining Road" Aya Hiroshige]
[End of Chapter 13]
Author's Notes: Ah yes, one of the ten commandments of Nanoha, never mess with Vita's hat.