Part One: No Sacrifices.
No Sacrifices.
The words went through Blaze's head as she looked around Sector V, the place still filled with life, with people trying to go about their daily lives as the war with Fuse continued. It seemed like they were oblivious, but when she looked closer she could see citizens looking around and moving carefully trying to attract as little attention as she could. People were scared and the war was only becoming harder to ignore. Many now refused to leave there houses, some tried to be brave and run; they didn't get very far.
If things continued the way they were now, Sector V would be one of the few places that would survive the year. At least that was the future that she saw after the time travel accident. A future where everything was covered in green cobwebby gel and it was a daily fight to survive.
I don't want to see any sacrifices.
No sacrifices. It was a mantra that Ben seemed to follow until the very end. She had always admired him for it, she had a small crush, but she would never admit it because in the end it would never go anywhere. He had a girlfriend, he was happy, she was happy for him. She stood no chance anyway; she was too young, being only thirteen. He was sixteen and in high school. An experience she would never have if they lost this war.
Gwen, Kevin… they fought so hard…
Blaze could only think of one word to describe Ben when she met him in the future: broken. Completely broken, a shell of his former self. His eyes were dull and bloodshot, and he looked pale, thin, and tired. Just tired. He rarely spoke and when he did it was about their objective and Blaze was sure that he would collapse at any minute. He probably did after she and the others returned to the past.
Grandpa Max… it's because of him and Dexter that we've been able to fight for so long.
When Dexter was trying to get into contact with Mandark about fixing the time machine, Blaze used the opportunity to slip away and ask Ben what had been happening. She asked what happened to the others, she immediately regretted it. She had about people suffering from a lot of stress jumping from despair to outright anger. She left quickly and was grateful that Eurydice, Numbuh Five, and the others were ready to head out. She didn't want to say around. She had come to her own conclusions anyway.
And Julie…
"Hey, how are things going over there?" Blaze almost jumped when she heard Ben's voice come from her ear. She had forgotten about the earpiece Dexter had given her so she could communicate with him from all the way across the area. He was in Townsville Center, trying to work with Providence on a way to rescue everyone that had gotten trapped in the Townsville Park. And from his voice Blaze could tell he was tired, but not nearly as tired as he would be if that future happened.
It's because of Julie that I'm…
"Everything's quiet." She told him once she remembered she needed to press the little button on the side of the earpiece to talk back. "I haven't heard anything from Dexter or Numbuh 2. They're probably still scanning the area."
"Alright, stay there until they get back to you." She heard Ben tell her.
"How are things going in your area?" She asked before she could stop herself. Every second that she spent talking to him was a second that could cause the future she saw to happen.
"Well, Grandpa and Doctor Holiday are trying to find a way to get Rex back on the field. Nothing's working." He told her. "Right now our priority is to try and enter the infected zone and save anyone left behind. Hopefully we get everyone out of there."
Please, no sacrifices.…
"You will." She told him. No sacrifices, words that she always admired. They were used by someone that would never let anyone be left behind even if the odds were against them. Reckless yes, but admirable all the same.
We lost so much…
She wished she could be like that. "You always find some way to win." She said and she could hear laughing coming from the other end.
"Yeah, I know." He sounded happy. Arrogant (the one trait she did not care much for), but happy all the same.
We can't lose more…
She walked along the road stopping when she saw Fusion Spawns forming out of the ground. "Found a spot. Sorry, gotta go."
"Same, this Six guy is giving me this look." He trailed off before starting up again, "Guess they're ready for the rescue mission. Hope they're ready, I don't plan on leaving until we find everyone in there."
So please...
"No sacrifices right?" She found herself asking, partly to him, and partly out loud as she remembered that was what she said when future Ben told her. The line was silent and Blaze figured he ended the conversation before hearing a chuckle.
"That's the plan." He said and then the line went dead. Blaze loaded her weapon before making her way over to the Fusion Spawn. The future she and the others saw was still a year away. There was still time to prevent it, and she would do whatever she could to keep it from happening. No matter how hard it was.
Understood. No Sacrifices.
(Lengthy) Author's Note:
I've been planning what will either be a fanfic or fan comic of Fusion Fall. It's still in planning, so I decided I'd write some stuff to explore my characters a bit; motivations, personalities, the like. Blaze was easy; I wanted her motivation for fighting to be focused around Ben from Ben 10: Alien Force, but at the same time not focused around him, like it's the effects the war has had on him that motivates her, so she can try to prevent that outcome, not him himself. I think that makes sense...no, no it doesn't.
The characters are based on characters that I, my boyfriend, and three other friends made to play the game and Blaze is the character I made, so doing her first seemed natural in a 'get it done with so you can focus on other things' sense. I didn't give her a physical description in story because I didn't want to break flow so I'll just put it here: Dark skin, shoulder length spiky purple hair, brown eyes, blue jeans, light purple top with broad shoulders, black tanktop underneath, sneakers.
All chapters are going to be relatively short (like this length), meaning this author's note is too long. Oops.