Chapter 3
Battle at the Stronghold
Silver stood at the edge of a giant cliff. Molten lava was churning hundreds of meters below, but his focus was on the magmatic spiral towering in front of him. In his hands were two of the seven Chaos Emeralds. He knew what he needed to do, even if it could cost him everything. Silver was going to end this nightmare. He took a deep breath of ash and soot and held out the gems before he spoke. "Chaos Emeralds! Lend me your power! Eternal Sun! The Living Flame that has been entrusted to the royal family! Fall into slumber with my soul, Iblis! You cursed Flames of Disaster!"
The spiral transformed into an orb and flares began to rocket from it, into the emeralds, and then into him. Silver let out an agonizing cry. He should have expected this. It felt as though his heart and lungs were under fire from a blow torch, charring them until nothing remained. There were no visible flames on him, but he was burning up from the inside. Frustrated, he cried out again. "No! Why won't it accept me as the vessel?" That was when he felt a firm hand rest on his shoulder.
BANG BANG BANG! Silver's head jolted up to find the source of the noise. "Get yer lousy rear out of bed, Nickel!" Marine's voice shouted through the door. "It's nearly 9:00 and the brekkie's getting cold!" He was back on the ship. It was all just a dream. Silver rolled out of bed and went to open the door.
"Sorry, captain." He apologized groggily. "I guess I had a rough night." Marine stood just outside the doorway, looking him up and down.
"Didn't you have five spikes on your forehead last night?" She asked. Silver looked up to see a few of his front quills had apparently merged overnight. He let out a muffled 'oh' before the raccoon whirled away from him. "Get yourself looking presentable for yer date, please."
"I'm still not sure it's a date…"
"Whuteva," Marine continued down the hall, talking as she went. "Just sort yerself out before she gets 'ere." Right! Silver thought to himself. Gotta be ready by 10!
An hour later, Silver stood on the docks, anxiously awaiting his pyrokinetic friend. His eyes scanned the deck from end to end as far as his vision would allow, until finally, he caught a glimpse of a familiar, bright purple ponytail making its way down the boardwalk. As soon as the head attached came into view he started frantically waving and calling her name to catch her attention. Blaze was back in her regular outfit, a dark purple top with a red trim and white leggings underneath. When she noticed Silver, she presented a small wave of her own before turning to talk to a koala next to her, pointing back at the hedgehog. The pair approached him.
"Good morning Silver," Blaze started. "I'd like you to meet one of my top advisors: Gardon." Silver's eyes widened.
"Woa! Gardon? We actually met just yesterday!" He said, before turning his attention to the koala. "It's great to see you again!" Gardon seemed cautiously amused.
"It certainly is a surprise." He responded. "I simply hope your social skills don't reflect your competence."
"Stow your concern, Gardon." Blaze chimed in. "I trust him, and so can you."
"As strong as Blaze's judgment is, I would like to know what kind of abilities you have to merit joining her today." The koala remarked. Silver responded with a wry smile.
Marine lay stretched out on her cot. The captain was right happy with herself as of late. In the past few days she had learned of Blaze's boyfriend. Whether or not the princess would admit as much, it was all the ammo she could ever want to poke fun at her. But her celebratory nap was cut short with a jolt.
Marine's exposed eye shot open as her ship began to rumble. "No…" She heard herself say aloud. She sprung out of bed and raced for the main deck. "No no no no no!" She darted through the halls as her surroundings began to emanate a familiar teal aura. "No no NO NO NO!"
Finally, she burst through one last door and into the sunlight. Looking over the deck she became aware that her beautiful ship was floating five meters in the air. The culprit: a snow white hedgehog with his hand extended out to the vessel. "Steel! You put me ship down right now before some bonehead gets the bright idea to take our spot!"
Silver obliged and returned the S.S. Marine II back into the water where it belonged. He felt he proved his point, nevertheless. When he turned around, he noticed Gardon was struggling to keep his composure.
"I was born with the ability to move things with my mind." Silver tried to explain. "At first I could only throw pebbles and other small objects, but over the years I've trained myself to get as strong as I can for the sake of my future." His eyes focused on the center of his glove before he curled it into a fist. "I can promise you that, while I'm here, I will do everything in my power to protect Blaze's future too." Gardon looked at Blaze, who nodded at him.
"Very well," The koala said, moving a hand to his hilt in a casual manner. "You may accompany Blaze on her missions during your stay."
Silver and Blaze began to make their way up through town and into an evergreen forest to the north-east of the shore. Not wanting to waste time, Blaze had been hopping from roof to roof while in town and skipping across branches when they made it to the forest. Silver followed closely behind the princess, flying through the streets and gaps within the trees. Every now and then Blaze would look back to see if the hedgehog was keeping up. A few times he could have sworn she would speed up, challenging him to do the same. Finally, about a half hour into the trees she came to an abrupt halt. Silver nearly ran into her trying to stop himself. "Our target is around fifty meters from here." She explained. "We should walk the rest of the way in case there are any speed monitors around."
"Speed monitors?" Silver asked.
"Yes, if you move too fast near them they sound an alarm or try to trap you. Dr. Eggman Nega used them when he was trying to conquer my world." The hedgehog's stance stiffened.
"Wait, is the doctor here?"
"I don't think so. But recently I discovered he had left a stronghold on this island. Though I am unsure how long it has been here." Blaze started moving at a casual pace, motioning Silver to follow.
"So that's why we're here."
"Indeed. I wish to investigate this stronghold and make sure there are no threats to the island hidden within it. Nolar has been through enough already." Silver cocked his head.
"The island seems fine to me. Is something wrong with it?" Blaze looked back at him.
"That's right… you are unaware of the history of this place." She said, "Would you like to know?"
Blaze could have sworn she saw stars in Silver's eyes. "I'd love to learn about this place!" The princess let out an amused huff.
"Very well. Nolar was once a much larger island known as Voya-Nui. 1,000 years ago a group of vigilantes against the royal family - my family - had stolen the Jeweled Scepter. This relic contains powers very few can even begin to understand. There is no real equivalent in your world. The vigilantes had brought it to Voya-Nui and threatened to destroy the island if my ancestors didn't follow their demands. In the end, my family was able to stop them and retrieve the Jeweled Scepter, but half of the island had already been lost. What is left is now known as Nolar: a half-island held up by a sturdy core that connects it to the bottom of the ocean. The Festival of the Earth and the Sea was established to commemorate the event. Every year for two weeks the festival helps to remind us how precious life is and that we are stronger united than we could ever be apart."
Silver took a moment to let all the information sink in. "Stronger united than we could ever be apart…" He echoed. Then his eyes lit up. "That's such a nice story Blaze! I can't wait for my future to have stories and festivals like…" His words slowed and his gaze suddenly fell to the grass. The princess took a glance back at him.
"Silver, is everything alright?" The hedgehog's eyes glanced up at Blaze's for a split second before retreating back to the ground. A long pause followed.
"Blaze… I need to ask you something." He finally said. "Is…" His eyes locked on something on the ground. "Is that a trapdoor?" The princess followed his gaze and found a rust covered iron hatch in the ground obscured by the plants around it. She approached it and took a knee to wipe away the debris, revealing a logo of a smiling face with a mustache protruding from both sides: the undeniable mark of Dr. Eggman Nega.
The pitch black darkness gave way to a single stream of light from above. The old steel groaned from being disturbed for the first time in ages. When the hatch closed, only the azure aura surrounding Silver could be seen as he and Blaze made their way to the ground below. Once they touched down, the princess snapped her fingers. A dozen tiny flames sparked in her hand and, with her motion, they moved to spread around the abandoned base.
"Where did you learn to do that?" Silver whispered.
"My powers are not purely offensive." She explained. "It took me a while to accept that, but with the help of some friends I learned that fire has many more uses than destruction. We should have a look around." She cast her eyes across the room. Dust and cobwebs were everywhere. The walls were littered with various metal and glass pipes. But the true prize was in the back of the room. A giant testing tube covered in iron lay behind three computer monitors resting on a table. When Blaze took a step towards it, a grid of lasers showed up on the ground. She turned to her companion. "Silver, I need you to fly over to that computer and deactivate the security measures."
"Got it." Silver acknowledged. He hovered effortlessly above the lasers. Halfway through he rotated himself upside-down to face Blaze. "Good thing the doctor didn't expect me to be here, right?" He boasted with a smile. Blaze rested a hand on her hip, sporting a grin of her own.
"Just get to the terminal." She ordered. "You can gloat when this is over." Silver flipped himself back upright and made it to the computer. He wiped away the dust on the table, which responded by activating a yellow touchscreen keyboard. The monitors flickered to life with the same glow, Eggman Nega's symbol decorating each one.
"Blaze," Silver called back. "It's asking for a password."
"Try P-I-N-G-A-S." Blaze spelled out. "It's worked on other bases I've infiltrated."
"P-I-N-G-A-S." Silver spoke as he typed the letters. A bright PASSWORD ACCEPTED showed up on the main monitor. The lasers on the ground disappeared and the sound of motors and engines echoed from behind the walls. About half of the lights on the ceiling managed to flicker on. Each monitor now boasted loads of information the hedgehog couldn't quite decipher.
"Well done Silver." Blaze said, showing up next to him. "Let me have a look at this data." Silver floated away from the computer and touched down behind her. He looked over her shoulder as she clicked around, gathering intel. When she noticed his snooping she began to explain. "A good deal of the data on this computer has to do with something the doctor is calling 'Project Cinder'. Unfortunately, most of this is encoded so it will take some time to-". She paused, her eyes locked on a file on a list she'd been scrolling through. "...Metal Blaze?" She moved the cursor over to click on it. A dozen windows popped up over the monitors for a split second, then vanished before everything on the desktop disappeared. All that was left was an audio prompt that relayed the voice of Eggman Nega through the speakers.
"I'd like to congratulate you on finding this stronghold Princess Blaze." The iron shield over the testing tube began to retract. "A pity I can't be there to see my new creation tear you apart. It hasn't been a pleasure, now meet your match: Metal Blaze!" The glass behind the iron door of the testing tube shattered and Blaze and Silver were blown back in the shockwave. Blaze landed on her feet whereas Silver stumbled onto his back. The sound of a motorized engine erupted after the blast, but all that could be seen through the dust and smoke were two glowing red eyes.
The eyes focused in on Silver, then to Blaze, launching toward the latter. Blaze managed to catch her copy's claws, stopping its progress. Metal Blaze's body seemed to be modeled after a motorcycle engine, with pistons pounding in and out of its body and exhaust pipes slightly protruding from the shoulders. Its head resembled Blazes with three razor sharp "ponytails" on top. The tail was as long as Blaze's with razor claws at the end. It was this same tail that Blaze watched rise up to strike her. Thinking quickly, she used her own tail to swipe Metal Blaze's feet out and pulled it over her as she slid across the ground. The cat rolled over and leaped into the air, fire forming around her fists as she spun, but her eyes widened as she saw Metal Blaze's ponytails open up and launch a few missiles at her. Before she was able to change her form she saw a blue light cover the rockets and couldn't help but smile as they careened off course, leaving her opponent wide open.
BAM! Blaze couldn't tell if the sound was from the missiles hitting the walls or her fist hitting her copy. She followed the strike with an uppercut and a spinning back kick, knocking Metal Blaze even further back. Silver joined her side. "Nice work." Blaze told him.
"Thank's Blaze." Silver said. Bits of concrete began to orbit them both. "I don't think I've ever seen a metal copy of you before." Metal Blaze was getting back up.
"Be that as it may," Blaze remarked. "I think it was only ever meant to handle me, so if we work together…"
"It doesn't stand a chance." Silver finished. "Let's take this thing down." He looked at the princess and glanced up. She understood and ran out of Metal Blaze's view. Before it could pursue her a small chunk of concrete hit its head, causing it to turn its attention back to Silver. The hedgehog crossed his arms, then snapped them up together, commanding two slabs of concrete to scissor up and around Metal Blaze. It jumped up to dodge the attack only for Blaze to tackle it from its blindside. Once she had it straddled on the ground she unleashed a blast of flames right into its face. But when the smoke cleared, Metal Blaze appeared undamaged.
"What?" Blaze asked. Her copy then delivered a headbut, knocking her off balance and off of Metal Blaze. The machine's tail had started glowing as it was raised beside its head, aiming at the princess. She only had time to open her eyes, then she was pulled out of the way by Silver's power just as the tail let loose a superheated laser that melted the concrete wall behind her.
"Are you alright?" Silver asked, helping Blaze to her feet.
"We can't use my flames." Blaze said, holding her forehead. "But look." She pointed at Metal Blaze, who had taken a knee and seemed to be struggling to move. "That attack must take a lot of power. We need to finish this while it's weakened."
"Right." Silver responded. He reached out his hand and called a piece of rebar out of the floor he had broken, then turned his attention to the machine. Metal Blaze was yanked towards Silver who slammed the rebar into its head as hard as he could when it passed by. Blaze's copy skidded to a halt at the wall covered in pipes, sparks flying from its head. Silver turned toward his opponent but soon felt a sharp pain in his side. He looked down and noticed three red gashes in his fur. He winced as the smoky air stung at his wound before a glove covered it up.
"This is going to hurt…" Blaze warned.
"What's going to-" Silver's question was answered as he felt the flames penetrate and seal his wounds causing him to cry out. Despite his pain he managed to voice out a 'thank you'. The pair turned their attention back to Metal Blaze who was lying next to the wall.
Slowly, it made it back on its feet, and turned to face the two of them. In an instant, one of Metal Blaze's ponytails opened up and a missile flew out, not towards Silver or Blaze, but into a pipe behind them. Silver could smell the gasoline immediately and threw up a bubble shield around himself and Blaze before the flames could engulf them.
Within moments, Metal Blaze was assaulting the shield with double the ferocity it had before. Finally a claw managed to dig into the barrier. Silver was running out of tricks when Blaze turned to him. "Silver!" She said, "Do you trust me?".
"More than anyone!" He shouted back, sweat trailing down his forehead. Metal Blaze's arm was almost halfway through, viciously swiping at the two heroes. "Why?" That last question was aimed at both Blaze and himself.
"I need you to lower the shield!" She commanded.
"Wha- are you sure!" That was when he felt a firm hand rest on his shoulder. He turned his head to see her looking right into his eyes.
"I can handle this, please trust me." She reassured him. Time seemed to slow down as he looked into those amber eyes. That familiar pang in his chest returned, but something more was there, too. Some part of him knew he was going to be safe as long as she was there. So Silver slowed his breathing, closed his eyes, and let go.
Blaze took action immediately, pushing all the fire away from them and kicking Metal Blaze away with it. The copy landed on its claws and activated the laser on its tail while it spun in a circle. Blaze jumped over the beam, but Silver tried to duck under. He felt the heat on his front quills as the laser passed over him singing his fur. When he got back to his feet he saw the machine on all fours, ready to fire again, but this time, directly at Blaze.
"Blaze, watch out!" But it was too late, the laser had fired. What he didn't expect was for Blaze to catch the beam. Her arms shook with the impact and her feet slid backwards.
"Now, Silver!" She shouted. Silver sprung into action commanding all the rubble he could directly into the beam's source: Metal Blaze's tail. Finally, a particularly large slab of concrete collided with the appendage and it broke. The most powerful explosion yet ruptured through the base, breaking holes in the ceiling.
Blaze was the first to get up. Her eyes darted around the crumbling stronghold until they found Silver who had flames burning over his shoulder. "Silver!" She darted over and extinguished the fire on the hedgehog. She lifted up his head as his eyes fluttered open. "Silver, are you alright?!" His eyes found hers and he smiled.
"I think I'm alright." He said. "Is it-" His eyes glanced over her shoulder and he reached out his hands. Blaze turned around to see Metal Blaze suspended in air just a foot away from them, missing its right arm and tail. She heard Silver shout, then it was launched into the ceiling, which began to cave in in response. The hedgehog wrapped his arms around the princess and rolled them out of the way. Metal Blaze landed next to them only to be crushed by a concrete slab. Silver and Blaze both watched as the eyes flickered out.
Blaze turned her attention to the hedgehog that she was… lying on top of! She promptly got off of him and extended her hand. "Care to get us out of here?" She asked. Silver smiled and took her hand. The two of them floated up and out of the underground base into an opening in the trees.
Silver first let Blaze down on the grass then laid down, himself, catching his breath. His chest rose and fell as he coughed violently, his lungs attempting to expel any remaining smoke from his lungs. A few moments passed by and he felt himself begin to chuckle. Blaze delivered a curious look to him which only seemed to spur more laughter from him. She could hardly believe it, but that seemed to get her to start giggling as well. She covered her mouth with her hand as the hedgehog continued to chortle beside her. But her resolve didn't last long. Her hand left her muzzle and Blaze began laughing too. That was, until she felt her hand fall into something that wasn't grass. She quickly looked over and saw that her hand had fallen into Silver's palm. He was looking at their hands too. Then they looked at each other, eye to eye. The hedgehog's face grew pink as he sent a coy smile her way and slowly closed his fingers around hers. She would have let it happen, too, but the sound of helicopters approaching caused her to yank her hand away, though she couldn't quite hide the blush on her face.
One helicopter touched down in the opening as Blaze quickly rose to her feet. Silver tried to follow suit, but couldn't quite manage to ignore the burns on his body, only making it up to one knee. Seeing him struggle, the princess took his arm and draped it around her shoulder, propping him up as a honey badger approached the two of them.
"Princess Blaze." The badger said. "My name is Valerie; head of the wildfire department of Nolar. What happened here?"
"This was a stronghold for Dr. Eggman Nega." Blaze told Valerie, authority back in her voice. "This hedgehog and I wanted to make sure it would not get in the way of the festival, and we succeeded. I will help you handle the fire, but right now, he needs medical attention. He has suffered several second degree burns. His name is Silver."
"Of course, your highness." Valerie pulled out a walkie talkie. "We need a medic on site to take a Silver the Hedgehog to the city hospital."