AXB: YAY! I got great reviews! I fixed the typos in the last chapter. If you find any here, let me know. I'll be sprinkling little Silver X Blaze hints throughout the story. Hey, hey, hey, don't laugh. Boys can write romance stories.
Silver: Yeah... sissy boys.
AXB: Shut up. If you don't, I swear I'll pick up that Xbox 360 controller and drive you off the highest cliff of Kingdom Valley.
S: Please! OK, OK, I'm sorry!
Blaze: Silver, you really need to grow up.
S: Blaze... like I said, you really, really, really, really want me.
B: Shut up!
AXB: Actually, I did see you making out with him in the corner.
B: I'll kill both of you!!
AXB: Run for your life!
S: AAAaaaAAAAAaaaAAAAA!!!!
Forest Falls
Blaze and Silver took a stroll through Forest Falls, looking for signs of where Eggman Nega could have escaped to. He had long since built a new base, and it was somewhere on Onyx Island. Nega, being so polite, was never the kind of person who would swiftly whip a weapon of mass destruction together without giving his rivals a sporting chance. So, Silver and Blaze figured a relaxing walk together wouldn't kill them. Along the way, Silver took in the view of the misty waterfalls and tropical cycads. He tilted his head at the sight of a crystalline stream that ran from the foamy waterfall, and the hot droplets of dew and rain that dripped from the tops of the palms and rainforest trees. The rich green grass was wet beneath his feet, and sparkled with water that formed clusters of dew on the checkered pattern of the ground.
"Ah... yeah... it's so beautiful today..." he sighed.
"What is it with you and nature, Silver?" Blaze asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Aw... it's just so cool that we live in such a great place. Just think, Blaze. I mean, what if the world was covered in nothing but fire and darkness?" he answered.
Blaze stopped and looked down at her pink shoes. "Silver... you see... for me... it really is like that. Since I was born into the royal family as its princess, I'm always surrounded by flames. Because of my duty to the Sol Emeralds, I've never... ever... had any friends..."
Silver brushed a small tear from her eye and gave her a friendly smile. "Hey, don't say that. Blaze... I'm your friend. I always have been, and I always will be," he said, hugging her. "Don't cry, Blaze. You know the Sol Emeralds can't come between us. We have a special kind of friendship. I guess I can say... I really... uh..." he trailed off, holding her hands and staring into her eyes.
"You really... what?" she asked, noticing the soft grip on her hands.
"It's almost as if... we've been friends for so long... I guess I can say... I... I lo--" was all he could say, before an Egg Pawn attacked him from behind. He crippled the robot with his telekinetic powers and sent it flying into a nearby lake. A barrage of Venoom creeped across the ground. It was clear that Silver and Blaze were coming closer to Eggman Nega's base.
"But... what..." Blaze started.
"I... I'll tell you later. Right now, we have to find Eggman Nega. We're almost there."
Heeding Silver's words, Blaze sent forth a wave of fire, burning the Venoom to ashes. Egg Pawns charged forward, only to be swept away by Silver's psychic powers. As more robots emerged, Silver and Blaze stood back-to-back, until they knew they couldn't fight anymore. Silver spotted a trap-door in the grassy soil, from which some of the robots were coming. He grabbed Blaze's wrist and ran toward it, destroying the robot that rose from it. He jumped in, and Blaze followed.
Suddenly, it was dark... and cramped. Silver felt highly uncomfortable, stuck in a tight hole.
"Ouch! Uh... Blaze? Your elbow's in my ribs." he said.
"Sorry. I... can't move. It looks like we're stuck," she said, blushing.
There was enough room for her to raise her free hand and create a small ball of fire. The tiny orange flame illuminated the cramped box of space they were stuck in. When the light of the flame was cast, Blaze saw that she had fallen on top of Silver, with one hand holding the glowing fireball and the arm of the other buried in his chest. In this position, their faces were inches apart, and she could have merely imagined the light blush that streaked across the tan bridge of his nose. A small, unnoticable smile formed on her lips as his crest, resembling that of a tropical parrot, brushed against her face.
"Blaze...?" he started as he stared into his eyes.
As Blaze felt herself drawing closer, almost finding comfort in this new position, she was taken aback when Silver sneezed. Directly in her face.
"Ew! Silver!"
"Sorry!"
Suddenly, though, the tiny compartment became a huge room, as the floor dropped from beneath them and sank into a lower level of ground. The surface they had been on turned out to be the floor of an elevator, and it lowered to a metallic sub-level. Still sprawled on top of Silver, Blaze noticed more robots emerging from every angle. She jumped to her feet and blew them all away. Silver stood up when it was all clear and brushed himself off.
"Well... that was... uncomfortable..." he started when Blaze had finished destroying Eggman Nega's robot servents.
He checked his surroundings. Silver and Blaze seemed to be in a vast underground factory. He turned back to Blaze.
"We... must be in Eggman Nega's base... I think if we search, we'll find him here." Silver said.
Blaze, however, appeared to have her mind on other things. "Silver... we've known each other for what seems to be forever. You and I... have an easy time communicating, right?"
"Of course, Blaze. We're like siblings... I understand you completely."
"Then... do you think... we're intimate enough to be considered... erm..." she trailed off.
"What? What's on your mind?" he asked, concerned.
"Um... nothing... I just meant... do you think we're close enough to be considered best friends? Or... something?"
"Yes, of course. I'll always be your best friend. I don't care about your duties towards the Sol Emeralds. You're so great to be around... you're smart, understanding, interesting, beauti--Uh... I mean... trustworthy... and you're the only friend I ever had. Probably the only friend I ever will have."
He held her hand and looked into her bright eyes. Ruining a "friendly" moment yet again, Eggman Nega appeared in his floating pod.
"Heh heh heh... are you two enjoying your little tour of my NegaBase?" he asked, snickering.
"... Wow. 'NegaBase'? That has to be the... stupidest thing I've ever heard," Blaze scoffed at the dark image of Dr. Eggman Nega.
"Well, I'm sorry. I hadn't the time to prepare... anyway... you are intruders. Prepare to meet your destruction!" Nega announced.
Eggman Nega clicked a switch, calling forth an armored truck crafted in the likeness of a mechanical lizard. His pod attached to it, acting as a cockpit to control the device.
"Heh heh heh... I call it, the Negative Saurian!! Now, I'll crush you both!!"
He pulled a lever, and the Negative Saurian charged forward. Silver used his powers to wield some metal spikes. He tossed them, one-by-one, at the tires of the truck. They bounced off with no effect. Silver jumped out of the way, avoiding being crushed. Blaze cast fireballs at the wheels, softening the rubber into a sticky mess of gum-like liquid. Silver threw more spikes, with pinpoint accuracy, which pierced the soft rubber and let the air escape.
"You irritating creatures! You are both the bane of my existence... just like the blue hedgehog who plagued my ancestor in days past. No matter... I always have a backup plan." he said, pressing a button, which revealed a large cannon that emerged from the top of the truck. "Take this!" Nega shouted, as the cannon fired a beam of fiery red energy, vaporizing the metal flooring of the base as Silver and Blaze dodged its path.
Silver pelted the weapon with tools and scraps of metal. Blaze sent torrents of stars raining down on the machine. They kept up, but to no avail. The cannon aimed at Silver, and blasted a shot of burning energy his way. He saw a shattered piece of silvered glass on the floor, picked it up with his telekinesis, and defleced the beam back at Eggman Nega's Negative Saurian. The machine smoked and crackled. Sparks flew from the truck as Eggman Nega randomly smashed buttons. Silver used this stall time to pick the entire truck up from the ground with his powers.
"See ya later, Robotnik!" he shouted, launching the Negative Saurian up toward the underground ceiling, blowing a hole through it and casting Eggman Nega above ground and into the blue sky.
A shining object fell back to the floor. Silver picked it up, revealing it to be the red Sol Emerald. Silver examined its glittering luster with awe. Blaze took it from his hands and let the light bounce through it like a prism.
"It's so beautiful. Like... something else I'm thinking about," Silver started.
"Really? What?"
"Aw, nothing. Well... that's the first Sol Emerald. Six more to go. And the Sol Emeralds are like magnets. We can use the first one to lead us to the rest. Like a compass." he said.
"Yes."
