Blaze

"Blaze?"

*𝒔𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒉

Just as I uttered that word, 𝘖𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 delivered a strong punch right into my face, sending me staggering backward. Drops of blood fell from my nose. My senses had long abandoned this world. Before I could regain them, he showered me with flames. Even though I was wearing Stacirium-Fiber, which was supposed to be heat-resistant, I could still feel the intensity of the flames. They completely vaporized my eye mask and trench coat, leaving only my pitch-black jacket and pants in decent condition. If not for my quick regeneration, I would have been gone long ago.

I pleaded to him,"𝘖-𝘖𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳, stop. Please stop. I am not your enemy! Come back to your fucking senses!"

"How many times do I have to tell you that it's futile? He is not your 𝘖𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 anymore; he is my Blaze.", said that evil doctor holding his head high with pride.

𝘖𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 grabbed my neck and threw me to the ground. The sound of it astonished everyone who could hear it. Blood started to flow from the back of my head in a crimson stream. He didn't stop there. 𝘖𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 began kicking me in the stomach while I was still lying on the ground. Each kick was engulfed in his orange flames, causing me an unbearable amount of pain. I wanted to scream but had no energy to do so.

The situation was getting worse second by second. Both my physical and mental state were being torned to pieces. But I wasn't done yet. She was not done yet.

"Analysis and Hacking Completed"

As soon as I heard that, I used my right hand to grab the incoming kick from 𝘖𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳.

"𝘓𝘪𝘷! Now!"

Information started flooding into my mind. In a mere instant, the transparent, strong glass wall was lifted, making way for me, connecting me to Rose and Kevin. In that brief moment, my brain was inundated with information. I came to know that Dr. Kezlar didn't have any powers at all. He merely possessed a technological weapon on his right hand capable of disrupting gravity somehow. All of this occurred in less than a second. I moved so swiftly toward 𝘋𝘳. 𝘒𝘦𝘻𝘭𝘢𝘳 that it seemed like I had teleported. Gripping his hand with all my strength, not giving him a chance to throw me away again, I used a high-voltage electric shock to destroy whatever device he was wearing. Sparks glittered as the device broke, and he cried out in pain and anger.

𝘕𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘯, who was standing right beside him, finally gained enough time to react, but that wasn't enough to beat me down. Her right hand started revealing its true nature, turning blue like water as it transformed into a sharp scythe. It was aimed at me with pure bloodlust. Pushing my already torn body to its limits, I swiftly dodged her blow and reached where 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦 and 𝘒𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯 were. All of this took no longer than 2.3 seconds.

𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦 suddenly found herself confused,"Wh-what happened?"

"We don't have time, you two run!"

"Wait, what about you?", 𝘒𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯 asked.

"JUST FUCKIN RUN!"

Without wasting much time, he promptly responded to my command and forcefully took 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦 with him while she resisted, saying, "Wait, no! What about him? Why are we leaving him alone?"

When they were out of sight, I shifted my gaze to the enemies.

"Now we can talk."

"You... how did you do it.....", 𝘋𝘳. 𝘒𝘦𝘻𝘭𝘢𝘳 said while holding his right hand with his other hand. I couldn't see his eyes because of his mask, but I am damn sure they are full of hatred.

"Looks like your spy hasn't told you everything. Rose and I are kind of geniuses at our school. Given the long way to your hideout, we worked together on improving 𝘓𝘪𝘷. It's true that it's still not good enough to hack your Kezrins, but I had 𝘓𝘪𝘷 working on this place right since we got here. Looks like she completed her task just in time."

Wish I could see what kind of expression he was making under his mask.

"Blaze! 𝘕𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘯! Deal with him until I fix this machine, don't kill him. He is mine."

Scary.

The fire and the water. Both slowly walked towards me. They looked like — ah, they were expressionless. Literally robots. Their loyalty to their master was clearly visible. It was the type that didn't care about anything as long as the job was done. My heart was aching, giving rise to an uneasy feeling within me. It was a mix of tension, fear, and regret. Something I had never felt in my entire life, which, so to speak, was a short one.

𝑶𝒌, 𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒙. 𝑹𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓, 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒖𝒚 𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒂𝒇𝒆𝒕𝒚. 𝑫𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒂 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒐.

"Master, at full power, you can rival them for about 7 minutes. Should I release all of the electrical energy stored in your cells?"

𝒀𝒆𝒂𝒉, 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒅𝒐 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆.

Energy unleashed from every part of my body, engulfing me in a dense blue aura for a mere second. I felt powerful. So much powerful. The bitch was on the right and Blaze was on the left, with both of them approximately 10 meters apart.

𝑳𝒆𝒕'𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕.

I sprinted towards 𝘖𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 in a straight path, a very risky move according to the professionals. Lightning sparks emitted from my body as I ran. Oliver, seizing the opportunity, raised his right hand with the intention of obliterating my existence before I could even reach him. Just as a burst of flame erupted, I lowered my body and slid right under the fire, passing him swiftly. I maintained my balance and got back up, positioning myself with one hand toward 𝘕𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘯 and one toward 𝘖𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 at a 90° angle.

𝑻𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔.

*𝒛𝒂𝒑

Lightning came from both hands simultaneously. One bolt struck the fire, but the water was too swift. She liquefied and fell to the ground before my second bolt of lightning could even touch her.

*𝒕𝒉𝒖𝒅

That was the sound of 𝘖𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 falling onto the floor. Perhaps my attack was too much for him to handle and that was exactly what I Intended. However, 𝘕𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘯 was still unharmed. She, with her wiggly twiggly body, moved towards me, creeping along the ground in her liquid form. She was so fast that the distance between us vanished in less than a second. A scythe formed, followed by her whole body as she rose to attack me. She moved her scythe-like hand swiftly with precision and speed but I was not slow either. My body shifted back slightly to prepare for a counterattack. However, she anticipated my movements and also moved back.

There was a table right beside me, and I grabbed one of its legs, hurling it toward her. The table, which had withstood powerful laser bolts, was smoothly split into two halves by her scythe. However, that was expected by me. Using it as a distraction, I jolted her with electricity. The force of it sent her striking back into a wall.

"That was just too eas-"

*𝒔𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒉

Before I could complete the sentence, a strong punch struck my face from the right. 𝘖𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳, who had once fallen, was back in the fight. The impact was swift and unrelenting. My body was already torn, and receiving such a blow was making things much worse. The shockwave of it rippled through my entire body, leaving me unbalanced and unable to stand my ground. But I didn't give up. The pain surging inside me only fueled my determination to move forward.

Concentrating whatever strength was left in my whole body into my right leg, I aimed for his face with the intention of making him the fallen one again. As I "almost" reached him, he grabbed my leg with a strong grip, not budging from his position. I looked into his eyes and sensed what was coming for me.

𝑨𝒉, 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒕.

Grabbing my leg, he spun and threw me into the air. I crashed into a wall and fell down in a sitting position. Coughing up some blood, I mustered some energy to speak, "How many times am I supposed to get crashed into walls?"

Completely ignoring my question, he rushed toward me. His right hand was in the air, and as he pulled it back and formed a punch, I could see it getting engulfed in flames. 𝘓𝘪𝘷 didn't even need to tell me what I was supposed to do. Just as I crossed my hands in defense, his punch struck me, cracking the already broken bones of my hand. But he didn't stop; more of his attacks were coming at me, getting faster and stronger by each split second. After a few punches, he finally broke my defense, and I got hit right in the face. Using a single hand, he grabbed me by my collar and lifted me into the air. He was going to punch me again, but I grabbed his hand and electrocuted him. He groaned in pain and removed his hand from me. My feet reached the ground, and I knew it was my turn to return some pain.

First his stomach, then his chest, then his face. I hit everywhere, not giving him a chance to fight back. He was just moving further and further back, tasting every one of my hits. I then pointed both of my hands toward him, ready to unleash a jolting bolt of lightning. But suddenly, my body was stopped by an invisible force. I knew exactly what had happened and was frightened by it. I moved my head slightly to see 𝘋𝘳. 𝘒𝘦𝘻𝘭𝘢𝘳 behind Blaze, his hand directed toward me. He moved it forward a little, and I was thrown far backward. 𝘕𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘯 also rose to her feet. 𝘋𝘳. 𝘒𝘦𝘻𝘭𝘢𝘳 moved forward, stepping one leg after another, and then stopped at a distance. Nerovann moved to his right, and Blaze was already on his left.

"What were you thinking, 𝘈𝘭𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳? That you could just come straight in my layer and go back unharmed?"

𝒀𝒆𝒂𝒉, 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒍𝒚. 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈.....

He once again raised his hands toward me. The halves of the table that Nerovann had split were now rising into the air. They changed their shape and became two sharp-looking spears, starting to rotate on their axis.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no," I muttered to myself. I was lying on the ground and tried to move, but I was bound by the invisible strong force.

"𝘓𝘪𝘷, why am I getting a bad feeling about this?"

"Because it is going to get really bad, Master. Be prepared to get hit. There is nothing we can do in this state."

Ready to embrace whatever was coming for me, I closed my eyes and was lost in my thoughts.

𝑶𝒉, 𝒏𝒐. 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅, 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒊𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔. 𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒍, 𝒂𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒇𝒆. 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒊𝒇 𝑰 𝒅𝒊𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆. 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝑶𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆.

The spears came right at me. I could hear them piercing the flesh. I could hear the blood dripping. But there was a problem. The flesh and blood. They weren't mine. I opened my eyes-

"Wh-What the hell are you doing here!?", I cried in fear and anger.

𝘒𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯 stood in front of me, two long spears stuck in him. My eyes welled up with tears. I, who didn't even seem to care much about the death of my parents, was now becoming emotional for a person who had constantly annoyed me every single day of my life. Now he was standing in front of me, dying. He fell to his knees, looking down at the ground.

I once again asked him,"Why are you here?", this time my tone was low and soft.

He shifted his gaze towards me and said, "You see, one of the responsibilities of being an adult is looking out for the young ones."

"That doesn't mean you just jump straight in to die! You should have run when I told you to!"

He smiled a little at me, "I couldn't just let you die while you were trying to save us. This isn't your end, 𝘈𝘭𝘦𝘹. You are meant to do something great with your life. Not just our Earth, but the fate of every planet ravaged and terrorized by the Valacian Empire rests in your hands. You are our sole hope. Promise me you will defeat that Rydian whatever emperor and save us."

"Yeah, yeah I promise. But I will need you and that white haired rich beauty's help for that. Now, let's get you somewhere safe."

Just as I moved towards him, he fell down, the spears still stuck in him and his eyes wide open. Blood was expanding on the floor, painting it red.

"H-hey," my voice crackled. "H-hey, 𝘒𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯 say something."

No reply came.

"𝘓𝘪𝘷, do something."

"Master, I am afraid he is gone."

A drop of tear ran through my cheeks. My heart was hurting so bad that I wanted to die.

"I said do something!", I shouted in frustration.

"Master, please."

"Can't I provide him some electrocution so that his heart starts beating again?"

"He has lost too much blood already. One of the spears have ruptered his heart completely. He is gone."

𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦 entered the room and saw me and 𝘒𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯. She rushed towards us, "Oh, no! What happened! 𝘒𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯 locked me in the car and said he was going to get you."

Hearing that, my heart skipped a beat.

𝑰𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒚 𝒇𝒂𝒖𝒍𝒕. 𝑰𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔

"Are you done with your emotional drama? I have some other experiments to conduct, so I need to eliminate all of you quickly," said the evil doctor. I looked toward him, my eyes red with anger and murderous intent. I quickly moved my right hand to shoot a lightning bolt at him. However, he raised his hands and created an invisible force shield that saved him and his minions.

However, this lightning bolt was different. It was red in color.

𝘕𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘯 who stood there for so long finally spoke to the mad scientist,"What was that?"

"What does it matter? Red or blue, lightning is lightning. And none is going to hit me."

I slowly stood up on my feet. "Valacyns, you were wrong to pick a fight with me," I declared. Raising both of my hands towards them, I released all of my anger and frustration in one powerful shot. A massive red bolt of lightning surged toward them. However, the invisible force remained strong between us. I didn't give up. My hands were still raised, lightning still emanating from them. The floor and walls began to crack. My hands clenched tightly. I wanted to crush them all.

"Where all of this power is coming from? At this rate, we will be crushed", 𝘋𝘳. 𝘒𝘦𝘻𝘭𝘢𝘳 muttered to himself. His hand started feeling the pressure. "We need to get out."

𝘕𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘯 looked at him and said, "Are you suggesting that we should run?"

"Yes. You have any problem with that?"

She stood still, saying nothing. She knew what will happen to her if she goes against him.

𝘋𝘳. 𝘒𝘦𝘻𝘭𝘢𝘳, still keeping his right hand in place to block my attack, raised his left hand behind him, seeming to open a vortex. "Go."

First Blaze and then 𝘕𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘯 entered it and disappeared. Seeing that, I shouted in frustration, "Where the hell are you running to!? Fight me!"

Not listening to any of my words, he rushed into his portal, which then disappeared right after he entered. I lowered my hands, and everything became eerily silent. The only thing that broke the silence was the sound of 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦 crying behind me. She was on her knees, clutching 𝘒𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯's lifeless hand, her sobs echoing through the room.

I wanted desperately to comfort her, to find some way to ease her pain, but I felt utterly powerless. In that moment, I longed for someone to hold me, to reassure me that everything would be okay. But there was no one.

I had lost. I had come here to rescue a friend, and I had lost him. And in the process, I had lost another friend. Guilt and sorrow washed over me like a relentless tide. I stood there, frozen in my grief, tortured by thoughts of how I had made everything worse, how it was all my fault. The weight of it all bore down on me, and for a fleeting moment, I even considered the darkest of thoughts like how far will I go to torture the person who caused me this.