A Thousand Points of Light

Welcome, one and all to my humble collection of Mega Man Star Force oneshots. Most of them will be Geo/Sonia centric. Well, there's little more to be said, so I hope I give you an entertaining read.

For reference's sake, all my stories will, unless otherwise noted, be based on the videogame, not the anime, which I am not very familiar with anyway. (I don't even know if Sonia really knows who Mega Man is or not.)

Title: Sucker

Summary: Geo knew, deep down, that he would forever and always be a sucker for a pair of big, pleading eyes and a thirteen letter 'PLEEEEEAAAASE?'.

Genre: Humour/Romance

In some tiny corner at the back of his mind, Geo Stelar was fervently hoping that this was not what Sonia had had in mind when she had talked about going 'somewhere quieter'.

He understood, of course, that things such as 'quiet' were all subjective, but he had a hard time wrapping his mind around the concept that anyone could find this quiet. He was quite literally assailed on all sides by noise, which all merged into an indistinguishable, unending background roar.

With a sigh, he glanced over at the person beside him. She was walking along, a smile on her face that suggested that she was perfectly at home in this noisy, crowded, theme park.

Then again, she was a former rock star. He supposed getting used to eardrum-destroying volumes was part and parcel of the package. Not that it made it any easier on him, of course…

Sidling closer to her, he tapped her pink sweatshirt where he assumed he shoulder would be (he would have called out to her, but the noise issue made the chances of such an method getting returns slightly iffy) and leaned over. "Sonia?"

"Hm?" Sonia glanced back from where she had been staring rather intently at a row of cute, brightly coloured stuffed animals. "What is it, Geo?"

"Sonia, this wasn't what you meant by 'someplace quieter' in that e-mail you sent me, was it?"

"No, of course not!" She chuckled. "But then I saw an advertisement in a flyer, and I thought it would be a good idea to come check this place out with you. It just opened last month, you know."

Of course, opening 'last month' ensured that the entire place was jam-packed with hundreds upon hundreds of people all seeking to try out the latest attractions. Which in turn ensured a minimum half-hour queue for any of the various attractions. Attractions that Geo was certain were largely no different from any other theme park or carnival in the rather long and checkered history of theme parks and carnivals.

And as of right now, they were stuck in yet another queue. Not that Geo minded terribly, since he had thought to load his transfer with a variety of portable games beforehand. Curiously enough, he hadn't had had much of a chance to use it – a fact that could be largely attributed that talking to Sonia over a variety of matters yielded sufficient enjoyment.

"We stand in this blasted queue for thirty minutes to experience a ninety-second ride or attraction. I tell you right here and now, I will never understand humans."

Of course, said ability to entertain oneself apparently did not apply to the two energy being that had come along with them for the ride. For a while Omega had contented himself with playing whatever games Geo had brought along, but apparently the AM-ian had quickly grown bored of them – that, or he simply wasn't very good of a gamer. Geo was pretty certain he'd heard the alien cussing one of the games out over 'those stupid orange enemies that come the hell out of nowhere and slaughter all of you in one turn'… or something to that extent.

"What, do AM-ians just not have the ability to enter stasis or something?" Came the bored voice from Misora's guitar-cum-transer.

"Eh, he hates taking naps for some reason." Geo shrugged. Not that I ever understood why beings comprised of pure energy ever needed to take naps to recharge energy anyway.

"The line's moving, so shut it and pick up the pace." Came the grumpy reply.

Sonia Strumm had never seen the point of screaming while on a roller coaster. Unless one really was frightened by hurtling through the air at relatively high velocities, yelling out… just didn't seem very productive. Then again, she supposed that a part of her was always worried about damaging her vocal chords if she screamed too loudly. Sure, she was currently in retirement (and in the manner of most pop stars, she planned to come out of it sooner or later), but she still liked singing for singing's sake, and having a healthy throat was pretty useful for that.

So, while people were howling their lungs out in the seats around her, she simply placed her hands on the guardrail, enjoying the feeling of the wind in her face and the squirming in her belly as the cart raced downwards at high speeds.

A sideways glance revealed to her that Geo was similarly silent, his face stony. As the cart corkscrewed through the rails, she wondered what was on his mind.

Several moments later, they had left their seats, and she turned to face Geo. "Wasn't that just awesome?" She gushed. "They said the DeathTurbo 1500 is the fastest and most gut-wrenching roller-coaster this side of the coast!"

There was a long, somewhat awkward moment as Geo stood still and made no reply whatsoever.

"…Geo?" Sonia asked, a frown creasing her features.

In response, the spiky-haired youth held up a single finger, in the classic and universal gesture of 'just one moment', after which he made a beeline for the nearest toilet. (The designers of the park weren't idiots – they'd built one right beside the exit of the rollercoaster.)

Sonia blinked. "Oh." After several seconds, she took off after Geo at a fast trot. She didn't plan on entering the male restroom to watch him get sick, but she figured that hanging around near the entrance until he came out again and she could comfort him and make sure he was all right and all that would probably be a good idea.

Meanwhile, behind her, two glowing beings who had for the time being ditched their digital points of residence watched the ongoing antics.

"So they queue for thirty minutes to get onto a ninety second ride so they can get sick and throw up whatever they've ingested for breakfast. I'm telling you Lyra, I will-"

"Never understand these humans. Yes, we get it already."

As Geo stumbled out of the toilet, still feeling rather queasy, he mentally reviewed the reasons that he had come here today.

Part of it lay in, hey, theme park! It was usually a decent way to pass a lazy afternoon, especially when one had nothing better to do such as blowing up energy beings hell-bent on the annihilation of all of Earth's inhabitants.

Another part lay in the fact that today was a holiday, and as such there was no school, hence the very existence of said 'lazy afternoon'. Geo, being the conscientious sort of kid that he was, had already finished his homework, unlike one Bud Bison who was currently attempting to figure out the finer points of addition involving single digit numbers.

Most of it, however, had to do with the simple fact that Geo would always and forever be a sucker for a pair of big pleasing eyes and a thirteen letter "PLEEEEEAAAASE?"

It had started innocently enough…

"Doorbell's ringing." Omega noted without glancing up.

"Mom's not home, too." Geo sighed as he got off the couch. "Guess I'd better go answer it."

A short walk to the door yielded the smiling vision of Geo's first Brother, and his first real human friend.

"Sonia? What's up?"

"Oh, I managed to get myself a couple of tickets to this new carnival that's opened recently. Do you want to come?"

"Oh. Uh… when are the tickets for?"

Sonia coughed, glanced at the ground, and went slightly red. "Well, as it so happens… they kinda sorta expire today."

This he hadn't been expecting. "Today? B- but I haven't prepared! I haven't changed!" He quickly glanced at the time. "It's nearly noon!"

Sonia folded her arms, "But I don't have anyone else to go out with. I mean, sure, I could ask Luna, but then she'd probably try to drag Bud and Zack along, and I really don't have enough tickets!" Then she paused.

He knew what was coming. She knew it too. And honestly, he was half considering saving her the trouble and simply agreeing right there and then.

But, dammit, it was a ritual, and he was not going down without a fight.

Sonia leaned over slightly, clasping her hands, her wide eyes staring hopefully into his own. He could already feel his insides starting to quiver. NO! He was strong! He could fight it! He could!

"Please, Geo?"

HE. WAS. NOT. GOING. TO. CRACK.

"PLEEEEEAAAASE?"

"…Alright."

"Yay!"

It was at times like this when he couldn't decided if he really hated or liked himself.

"Oh, shut up." He muttered to Omega, who had spent the majority of their conversation snickering.

Geo snapped out of his reverie as he spied Sonia standing in the doorway, a somewhat worried expression on her face. "You okay?" She asked as soon as she caught sight of him.

"Fine." He said, trying to put on a convincing front. "Although I don't want our next ride to be the Spinning Teacups."

She grinned at that. "Okay. Why don't we try the Fair? I wouldn't mind trying a hand at some of the games."

Geo considered, shrugged, and consented. Nothing could go too badly there, right?

Approximately seventeen minutes later, Geo was staggering under the weight of two stuffed bears (one of which was life-sized), a goldfish in a plastic bag, a crayon colouring set, a shark's tooth (complete with shark), and fifteen balloons. Meanwhile, Sonia walked beside him, contentedly nibbling away at a piece of candy floss.

"Wow, I never really expected to be so good at these games!" Sonia commented happily. "I mean, I heard that almost no one wins those ball-tossing games at all and I aced it all on my first try."

Geo shrugged – or at least he would have done so if shrugging wouldn't mean that his precariously stacked bundle of carnival prizes would go crashing to the ground. "Well, you've had some training in battle as Harp Note, right? I'd guess it'd help with, you know, improving your aim, the strength in your arms, and whatnot."

"Hm…" Sonia grinned. "So, I guess that means that you should be even better at this sort of thing than me, huh?"

"Eh?" He wasn't sure he liked the direction this was going.

Sonia tilted her head to the side and smiled sweetly at him. "You think you could win me a prize, Geo?"

"Ah, er…" Definitely didn't like where this one was going.

"Like that pink monkey over there in the coin toss?"

"Um, er, well, you see…" It wasn't that Geo didn't want to win something for Sonia, it was just that he sucked royally at this sort of thing. Which was sort of the reason he had offered to carry Sonia's ever growing pile of carnival prizes – so she'd be less likely to ask him to participate in one of these games.

That particular ploy had, quite obviously, failed.

Several minutes later, a noticeably distraught Sonia was tapping Geo on the shoulder. "Er, Geo, I'm glad that you're trying to win it for me, but it's okay, really! I could probably win it myself, you know?"

"No!" Geo snapped. "I can do it!" Thus saying, he took careful aim, threw – and missed again.

"In this particular case, Omega, I am certain you understand the concept of 'foolish male pride', since you yourself demonstrate it on such a regular basis."

Geo paused for an instant to shoot a withering glare in the direction of Sonia's transer, and in that instant Omega leapt out from Geo's own communication device, grabbed the coin Geo was holding and placed it squarely in the centre of the 'Grand Prize' circle. Naturally, no one else noticed this, since the thing about wave-beings is that they're naked to the invisible eye. Handy trait, that.

"Well, sonny," The noticeably surprised owner of the stall said. "I dunno how you did it, but you did. Have your pick of whatever prize you want!"

"Er, that stuffed monkey over there. The pink one."

The prize was handed to Geo, who summarily turned it over to Sonia. "H- here," he said softly, still unsure about what exactly had just occurred. "You wanted it, right? It's yours."

"Thanks!" Sonia smiled as she cuddled the floppy toy close to her. "I know it was difficult for you, so… thanks for sticking with it."

"Yeah, well, haha, anything to make you happy, y – y'know!" The youth rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Oh, heylookcandyapplesovertherelet'sgotryone!" Saying that as quickly as he could, he dashed off to the nearest stall.

Sonia chuckled and curled her arm around the monkey, holding it almost as if she were cradling a baby. "Thanks for the save, Omega." She said to the empty air.

A moment later, the AM-ian's face appeared on her guitar screen. "I have no idea what you're talking about." Then it promptly flashed out again.

Suppressing a giggle, Sonia ran to catch up with Geo.

"Okay, so we've explored most of the park." Sonia said as she peered over a map.

"Good thing, too." Geo focused on the setting sun in the distance. "It's evening already." After getting frustrated with the huge pile of prizes, Geo had carded out Propeller Man and Shovel Man and told them to deal with the pile of junk. Last he'd heard the two were organizing airlifts to his home with the RC Chopper Geo had picked up from… well, somewhere. He couldn't really remember. The exception was, of course, Sonia's pink monkey, which she still clutched tightly to herself.

"I figure we can catch one more attraction, and then we can go off for dinner. Sound good?"

"Sure." Geo glanced over Sonia's shoulder. "So… what'd you have in mind?"

"Well, there're two more rides we haven't tried yet that are pretty close to here…" The musician tapped one portion of the map. "There's the Tunnel of Love."

A variety of emotions passed through Geo, not all of them unpleasant. "Er… what's the other one?"

Sonia hesitated a second before turning to him, a devious smile on her face. Despite that, she still managed to look utterly angelic as she said "The log flume ride."

Fifteen minutes later, they were in the queue for the Tunnel of Love. And as usual, Omega was moaning about how the ways of humans made no sense whatsoever. ("Why do you people need to engage in courtship rituals in the middle of an amusement park?")

Geo sighed as he watched the swan shaped boats float serenely down the waterway. "I hear this is one of the longer rides in the place."

"Uh-huh – they say it takes nearly five minutes." Sonia had, by now, pulled down the hood on her sweater. "Perfect time to sit back and relax."

"I suppose it'll make a good 'wind-down' ride, at least." Geo sighed as they moved forward.

Finally, it was their turn, and gingerly stepping into the boat, the youth felt Sonia sidle up next to him.

"…Kinda cramped here." He ventured.

"I think the term the designers would use would be 'cosy'."

"Point still stands."

A few minutes later they were floating serenely in the semidarkness, with only the soft ambient lighting providing any visibility.

"…Geo?"

"Hm?"

"I…" Sonia sighed softly. "I'm not sure how to say this, but… thanks."

"I repeat: Huh?"

"Thanks for – for coming out with me. For spending the day with me, for carrying my stuff. I never did properly thank you yet, so…"

"It – it was no big deal! After all, you came to me with those tickets, and – and I like spending time with you."

"Y- yeah…" He caught sight of Sonia lowering her head and staring steadfastly at the water. "The truth is – I'd gotten those tickets a long time ago, only… I never had anyone to go with – and I didn't want to go alone. Today was the last day, and I knew you were free…"

He heard her shuffling about, and suddenly he felt warm arms embrace him. "Geo… thanks."

He could rapidly feel the temperature of his face rising. "Uh… uh… it was nothing, really! Like I said… I really enjoy spending time with you," he smiled. "N- next time, if you ever feel lonely… well, just give me a call. I'll be right there to cheer you up."

He wasn't sure, but he thought he heard a slight sniffle. "Geo…" She whispered, snuggling ever closer to him. "Thank you."

At that moment, 'cosy' suddenly seemed the perfect way to describe the situation.

"So they're in the middle of a cold, dark cave with practically no lighting, squeezed together on a boat that's just floating in the darkness for all we know, and that's ideal romantic conditions? I tell you, Lyra, I will-"

"WILL YOU JUST DROP IT ALREADY, YOU OVERGROWN ENERGY RAT?"

Story End

Well, hoped you liked it. Keep an eye out for more stories.