Chapter Eighteen: Threshold of Heros and Villains

She had nowhere to go. It was already mid-morning by now, and the sun was blaring with all intensity. It hit her. She had one place to go, but after that night, she wasn't sure if she was welcome there either. The pipe gym.

Blaze formed her disc below her and rose off the ground a little ways. She knew how to get there, but it was far away. The speed of X's cycle had gotten them to the secret gym in minutes, but she didn't know how long her disc could hold her. Her light bending powers seemed weaker when she was upset, and right now she was very, very upset.

It didn't hold. Blaze had made it about half way, going at a moderate speed so not to hurt herself if it did give out. First her power faded to a point where she could only stand on her tiptoes, then it just disappeared completely throwing Blaze onto the red hot pavement. "Great," she mumbled to herself. She didn't want to get up, it hurt too much.

It hurt. It had never hurt before, but now it hurt. It hit Blaze. Zeus was taking away her powers because he was slowly making her mortal. She begged, pleaded in Olympus to send her back to Earth, to give her hair and skin and her life. She was getting her wish, and much more.

"What are you doing?" Red X was standing over her, shadowing her from the blistering sun.

"Get away from me! It's your fault I'm like this! It's all your fault!" Her hands were cupping her eyes, trying to hide the river of tears freely flowing from them. She stood up and tried to walk away. Red X grabbed her shoulder. "No! Don't touch me!" Blaze whipped around and kicked him, hard, in the stomach. He hadn't expected it and took the full force of the blow.

Blaze watched him double over, then turned to run. Her pace quickened, running no where in particular, just away from here. She was stopped dead in her tracks. "No that wasn't very nice." You could practically here X frowning. His outline appeared in front of her. "Don't you want to know what's inside?" He held the briefcase with one finger, urging her to take it from him.

"No. Just leave me alone."

"Weren't you coming to me?" Blaze backed up a step. "You were heading to my gym, right? I thought that maybe once you saw my little note, you would be curious of what's in the case."

"Well I'm not. And I didn't know where I was going, but now I know I want to get away from you."

"No you don't." he laughed menacingly. He extended his arm and offered her Robin's secrets one more time. "Here. Take it." Blaze shook her head, but she was unsure of herself. At first she reached out, but then clutched her fingers to her palm and resisted. "Fine. You don't have to look." he began walking away, leaving her in the middle of the street. "You're coming, right?"

"Where?"

"Fine, then don't come." X placed the briefcase on the ground then with a mocking gesture, he disappeared before her very eyes.

Everything she ever wanted to know was in that briefcase, she was sure. She approached it carefully, being sure it wasn't booby-trapped or something. Her hands ran over the smooth black leather and the cold, golden locks. She tried to open the locks. They wouldn't budge.

With all the strength she could muster, Blaze took the sunlight streaming off the gold and used that light to add force to the locks. They buckled under the pressure and Blaze ripped the rest off, making sure there was still enough left to secure the lid shut.

She wasn't going to open it, to look inside, she only wanted the satisfaction of knowing she could. That was enough for her. She placed it back on the blacktop and sat down along side it, staring. X appeared again, snatching the case and waiving it in front of her. "Thanks, doll."

"What?"

"Couldn't have opened it by myself. My gadgets didn't work, so I figured I'd try something new."

"So you were using me the entire time?" Blaze screamed, biting hard on her lower lip.

"I couldn't use you if you didn't let me."

Blaze was furious, but he was right. Something about him intrigued her. Something about him made her want to scream at the top of her lungs, but laugh at the same time. Something she couldn't put her finger on.

But she could put her lips on it...

Without thinking, she lifted up the bottom portion of his mask, careful not to raise it too high. He tensed his muscles at this. The only time he was this close to someone else was when he was fighting, so he wasn't used to it. She kissed him, placing her hands gently on his cheeks. He didn't touch her back, keeping a tight grasp on the briefcase.

He pushed her away and yanked his mask back on, turning away from her.

"I'm coming with you." Blaze sounded confused, but had never been more sure.

"No, you don't fit in with me." He growled. X was caught off guard, something that never happened.

"Well I don't fit in anywhere anymore." She threw her hands in the air to help plead her case. "I'm standing at the threshold of heros and villains and I don't know which way to go. Like you."

He didn't say anything, just walked down the street. He didn't object when she followed close behind.

a/n: (pertaining to the two newest chapters) any OOC characters, sorry, but this is exactly how i wanted my story to go. also, my OC is mary-sue-ish here, but again, it's how i wanted the plot to go. i hope you guys liked it. send me some feedback...

read on and rock out

Ruby...