Alright Alright. Another chapter for me to type. Ugh.
Lol, my lack of reviewers compared to what I used to get is pretty funny in my opinion.
And the quote of the chapter is...
"A thousand mindless quotings are worth one original saying." How absolutely TRUE, is that? Motivational quotes, they all mean the same thing, but THAT, was original.
...
As I have said countless times before, chapter is still in beta mode, barely read over, and is subject to short-term or long-term changes.
"So I am sure you have no idea how Blaze got to be her fiery self. Right?" I asked Marine as we continued our boring walk along the side of this cliff.
"Nah, I don't." Was her simple reply. I sighed.
"Well then you get to hear a story. The story of stories actually."
FLASHBACK
Ring! The annoying doorbell sounded. Ugh. I held a small kitten named Blaze in my arms, she had just been born two days ago and right now she was at the center of my universe. They say that a father never truly loves their child till they see him/her for the first time. That statement has got to be true, I was the most stressed out, anxious king of anything throughout that short 9 months.
Anyways, I loved that kid, and was busy playing with her when the doorbell rang. I picked baby Blaze up and walked to the door, upon opening it I saw a face I had not seen in quite some time.
"Merlin! How are ya?" I asked happily as the fox strode into my home. He wore his usual ugly robe with no shoes or gloves. Although he was happy anyways with what he was. His face had gray facial hair, showing his age.
"I am fine Evan. I see you have yourself a kid! Not that that is news but... You must be so happy." Merlin said to me as he gave my child a good studying. His face smiled happily.
"What do you meant that is not news. I have not had word released to the public about Blaze yet." I said suspiciously. Merlin had talked of a guardian role, that needed fulfilling. But that was years ago, surly the people that protect the Sol emeralds had somebody by now!
"Ahh, so Blaze is her name. Her name suites her." He said. Oh my god, he does want my child to fulfill the role of guardian of the Sol emeralds!
"No, Blaze will not be the guardian of the Sol emeralds. You can't do that Merlin." I said to his face. He frowned.
"I'm afraid you don't have a choice. The only other viable candidate is in a different zone right now. Unfortunately for you, this kid does not have permission to travel the zones, this kid was even chosen for a...Different, destiny. Also my brother would get really angry if I were to try and get him as the guardian. But take trust, that is not the biasing factor. The biasing factor is trying to keep the zone cops pleased. Also he has his own destiny to fulfill."
"Who is the other child?" I asked, curiously.
"I have not gotten his name yet, but it is my brother's son. So he is a Prower like yours truly."
"PROWER!" Marine shouted in my ear, interrupting my flashback.
"Ya! So whats so special about that?" I asked.
"Tails' real name is Miles. Miles Prower."
"Small Multiverse isn't it?" I asked, smiling. "I know how much of a coincidence it is to have Blaze actually meet the first choice when the decision was made for somebody to be the protector. But it really doesn't matter now. He has his own destiny to fulfill, like Merlin said."
"Well, what might increase your interest is that Blaze and Tails, sorta, like each other."
"Oh really? Well we will see about that. Now let me finish my flashback." I gave Marine a look of skepticism, Blaze would never like like another guy so quickly. Let alone a fox of all things. She had inherited her distrust from her mother.
As I was saying my friend Merlin Prower was talking with me.
"You mean Amadeus? He and who? Rosemary?" I asked. Merlin gave me a nod.
"So you do understand the pickle I am in, right? The old guardian of the Sol emeralds needs an apprentice. Now too."
"Blaze is two days old, she stays here for now. I'll think about it. Plus the missus is not gonna like this. Actually, she'll hate your guts now, and mine too unfortuanately. I understand though. Blaze will be the next guardian of the Sol emeralds. But wait till she can walk at least before we go ahead giving her the ability to burn down the city." I said.
"Of course, of course. The age they start training would be 2 and a half. She should be able to walk by then. Her powers awaken when she is one and a half. However." Merlin explained.
"Alright, for now though, ya want to come in? Perhaps stay for dinner? Shirley is an excellent cook! Plus this will be the last meal you get from her. When she learns about why you're here she is gonna hate you like no tomorrow."
"Sure."
...
"Alright Marine, the next part is 1 and a half years later when Blaze gets her fire powers."
"Okay, keep going. This fills lots 'a' holes." Marine said with curiousity. The two of them walked along the cliff that led to who knows where. They haven't seen anything really, but they were too into the story to notice a small town on the horizon...
...
1 and a half years later...
Ring! I sat up wearily. The doorbell rang. I knew who it was as well. It had been a year and a half since that day Merlin came in telling me my daughter would be the next guardian of the Sol emeralds. What was worse was that I never told Shirley about it.
"I'm coming Merlin!" I said loudly. Then picked up Blaze. She was a very...fluffy, baby. I had to tell you that she was definitely the cutest thing in the house at the time. Whatever Merlin had to do had better not hurt her...
I walked over to the door with Blaze and opened it. As predicted, Merlin stood there. He put a hand into his robe and pulled out an emerald of some sort. Then brought it forward and was about to touch it to Blaze's forehead...
"Wait!" I shouted, backing off. "Tell me when your gonna do that!"
"Sorry Evan, you know how impatient I get. Now lets just get this over with. It won't hurt your daughter at all, I promise." Merlin said. "Besides, you should know if it hurts or not."
"I was her age! I don't remember anything about that whole huge mess. Here, just get it over with." I said wearily, extending my arms all the way, holding the baby out. I also closed my eyes and bent my head the other way.
A few seconds went by.
"Done!" Merlin said, satisfied.
I looked down at my kid, she had a small gem in the middle of her forehead and looked not the least bit bothered. "That's all there is to it?" I asked incredulously.
"That's all there is to it!" Merlin said. "If I may, could I hold her?" He asked sincerely. He tossed the Sol emerald he had with him back into his pocket.
"Not gonna hurt her are you?" I asked suspiciously. "Or take her?" They wanted Blaze to be the guardian of the Sol emeralds, pretty badly too by the looks of it.
"Of course not. I'm your friend first you know." He said. I reluctantly handed Blaze over to him. He looked into her eyes. "You and your wife made a heck of a kid you know that? It's like holding a plush doll." Merlin said, slight envy in his eyes.
"I know, she is the cutest thing alive." I said proudly. "Jealous?"
"Yes!" Merlin said excitedly. "Too bad. I have no wife. I spent my life doing other things, you know?" He said, handing the child back to me.
"I understand." I mumbled back at him.
...
"Alright Marine, now the next part takes place a while later. When-
"When does 'Shirley' take an extreme disliking toward everybody?" Marine interrupted me. She giggled at Blaze's mother's name.
"Shut up! I was getting to that part. Back to the story." I shouted irritably.
...
A couple days later...
"Honey! When did Blaze get this gemstone embedded in her forehead?" Shirley said from the other room. Uh-oh!
I walked over to her. "Blaze is going to be the next guardian of the Sol emeralds..." Shirley's face turned into a look of extreme shock. "The gem in her forehead is a symbol of her duties."
"When the hell did this happen!" She shouted, Blaze started to cry in response. "She can't be queen one day if she's protecting a bunch of dumb rocks!"
"Shirley, listen to me. The Sol emeralds are what keep this world alive. They must be protected at all costs. Blaze was the only one available that could fit the job."
Shirley calmed down slightly, but was still very angry. "Why her?"
"I know Merlin and his friends. Also I know what the guardian of the Sol emeralds does, AND how hard it is to find a protege. Only a select number of people are ever able to sync with the Sol emeralds. Blaze probably inherited her abilities through me, my great great grandfather was the protector of the Sol emeralds before the one we have now. Also, I was the potential protector of the Sol emeralds at one time, but I was not chosen as you can see right now.
"How come I am just now learning about this Evan! You need to tell me these things!" She shouted at me.
"I'm sorry, but I did not think you needed to know about all that. I was doubting that our first born daughter would end up being the guardian of the Sol emeralds." I said to Shirley as Blaze romped about on the floor playfully. For no particular reason as well. "She is still our daughter Shirley. I care for her above all else. Besides, if we don't let her be guardian, then she will just be taken from us. We have no choice in the matter."
"I..." Shirley started, then turned and walked away.
"She has been a bitter person ever sense. She hates strangers and doesn't act too fond of me much anymore. I get treated like a person, but I still always felt like a stranger in my own house. Ya know?"
"Na, I dan't know. Oi live by meself." Marine responded tiredly. "I want to take a nap."
"Ya, well, we can find a place to stop soon. Don't worry." I said to her. Marine was walking with her eyes closed and I was watching her so I did not notice the broad side of a barn approaching us. I turned forward. SMACK! I collided with the wall as well as Marine.
"Ow! Dam- I stopped my potential swearing with Marine present. She was only like 13, she didn't need to here me swear.
"Goddamnit! My f*ckin' nose!" Marine shouted and fell on her backside. She held a hand over her nose. I couldn't swear for some reason, I always had a problem with it. Marine had obviously felt pretty comfortable with letting trash talk flow from her mouth though. It appeared that we were on the outskirts of a small town, and this was not really a barn. Maybe the wall of a saloon? Some sort of building. There were the backs of a few other buildings to the right as well as left of this one, behind them was bare wasteland.
"Hey! Watch your language!" I said, helping her up.
"Dad?" I heard somebody say. I turned to face Blaze! Well, that was quick. I was so glad I could see her, my world revolved around her. That was just the way it was as a caring parent.
"Blaze!" I ran toward Blaze and wrapped my arms around her. Lifting her off the ground in the process. I was so glad she was safe.
"I heard Marine's profanity. I'm glad you're alright, but, uhh, where's Mom?" Blaze asked me.
"She went in the other direction we did, hopefully she finds something important. Hopefully your boyfriend." I said to Blaze, playfully prodding her emotions.
"What! He-Tails is not my boyfriend!" Blaze said defensively. "I, uhh, don't even like him!" She held her hands in front of her and flailed them wildly in protest. She was such a funny girl.
"Oh yes you do!" I prodded some more.
"Ya sure weren't sayin' that when ya was about to eat his face in the closet a week ago!" Marine added. Didn't hear that part! She was laughing up a storm right now at Blaze's expense.
"You did?" I asked curiously.
"Just drop it." Blaze said seriously, obviously she did not like the direction this conversation was taking. She was never one to let emotions show, that's for sure. I could tell she was turning red from the way she hid her face. "Mom had better not treat him like trash. Or else she is getting a stern talking to." Blaze said frustratedly.
"Oi think Tails can 'andle himself. As he 'as said before, he is quite the sweet talker." Marine said.
"I think you should take relationships a little slower Blaze, you've only known this kid for a week." I said, slightly worried about my daughters recklessness in the matter. I mean, it's my job!
"And a day!" She argued.
"Give me a good reason." I said to her.
"Tails is... kind, and nice, and really the first person that was not my parents or Marine to like to be with me." Blaze said dreamily. What the heck happened to her? She went from a ruthless cold introverted person to infatuated beyond possibilities within a week! This could not really be Blaze, could it. "But lets forget about that for now. We need to find a place to rest for tomorrow, then wee can search for Mom and Tails." And back to analytical with a handle on the situation in a flash. Yep, still Blaze.
"Hey! Are you 'Blaze the Cat'?" A voice asked from a distance. They put a sort of excluded, quoty emphasis on Blaze's name.
"Who wants to know?" Blaze asked suspiciously. I think she was glad that attention was turned away from her and this Tails kid. We all turned to look at a floppy eared rabbit in western clothing. She was definitely curvy, very physically attractive. As a matter of fact, as stereotypically perfect as women come. But I shrugged it off, not a teenager anymore. To define her western clothing, she wore a jacket that modestly disguised her figure as well as a pair of average jeans. She obviously wasn't show-offy about her looks.
"The name is Stephanie, Stephanie Rabbot. Spelled R-A-B-B-O-T but pronounced Rah-Boh." She said with a southern belle accent.
"Okay, now why do you want to know?" Blaze asked her, still suspicious.
"Well, Ah heard you beat the stuffing outta Nack in the saloon over yonder." She clumsily stuck a thumb out at the building me and Marine had run into. "An' because of that, Ah was wondering if ya'll was an accomplice of Tammany or not. Not a whole lotta people can set Nack straight like that." She said, obviously impressed.
"Who is Tammany? I am no body's accomplice." Blaze asked.
"Tammany? Tammany the Tiger? How could ya'll not know about The Tammany Tiger?" She asked again. I recalled a brief bit about him, something in that history book on Mobius history that Merlin gave me. But it was very fuzzy. I do not remember clearly whatsoever.
"I recall hearing about him. But elaborate further please."
"Sho' thing handsome." She said with a wink, which I found slightly disturbing. I am like 30 years older than she is..."Tammany the Tiger is a type of mob boss, if you wanna imagine. But his grip is over 90% of the Western territories of Mobius." Stephanie said. She gave me a...look, it was freaking me out.
Why is she looking at me that way... I thought with a disturbed face.
"So, why did you want to know if we were with Tammany?" Blaze asked.
"Well, Ah thought ya'll came in to teach Nack a lesson. 'Cause Nack may be Tammany's best hitman, but he is also a slacker and a partial free agent. Tammany hates that." Stephanie said, toying idly with one of her ears.
"So what do you want from us?" I asked.
She looked at me for a second and hesitated. Then spoke. "I wanna know if ya'll be willing to help me out 'ere. Me an' a group of friends are helpin' take down Tammany. I wanna know if ya'll 'ill join us." She had a not too caring attitude about her, like she was trying to work out a business deal.
"Umm, first answer some questions. What year is it?" I asked, she gave me a questioning look, I liked that better than the lusty look, that was creepy...
"1864?" She said nonchalantly. Alright, from what I know on Mobius history, Mobius was not Mobius back then, therefore this is NOT the prime zone. Which also means whatever we do in THIS past will not affect the prime zone, that means we can help without severely altering the future. Or present. Or whatever. But, first things first, Tails must be found, fast.
"We need to find our friend first. He is more important." I said seriously. Stephanie drooped her ears slightly. She came over to me and pushed her head in the crook of my neck and nuzzled affectionately. I saw Blaze's eyes widen, as well as Marine's.
"Please?"
"No, friend more important." I said pushing her off. I held out a ringed hand. "Married, and thirty years your senior. Trust me, it's not a good idea."
"Aww, you're no fun!" The bunny complained, crossing her arms and pouting. "Do ya need a place to stay?" She asked in a serious tone. I looked at Blaze, who looked at Marine, who looked at me, I think. I turned to her again to reply.
"Yes. I'll sleep on the floor." I said, reassuring myself.
"Nonsense! Ya'll can take ma bed." Stephanie said, hooking her arm around mine.
"No-thanks." I said, shrugging her off. What was with her? I know rabbits stereotypically reproduce a LOT but this is just silly.
"Fine!" She said, pushing away from me. Then she motioned for us to follow. I gave Blaze a look, she shrugged her shoulders and walked after her. I did the same.
...
Tails POV (Well its about damn time we got back to the fun character!)
...
I sat in a chair in the larger portion of the great big section of the 'shed'. Well, just take a guess at what was in there? A crude plane of some sort. It sat smack in the middle of the shed and was surrounded by surprisingly organized tool boxes and other things. There were a few somewhat precisely machined tools on the floor under the plane. Which looked mostly wood for the frame, interesting choice but the norm for back then. Back then... This may very well be Mobius but in the past!
Anyways, everything in the shed looked to be a dull and dusty color, like the rest of the places I have seen. Although the windows near the top and sides were cleaned often, still dusty, but not so much as everything else. The windows on the side, facing west, let in some of the remaining sunshine as the day began to end, and the sun started to set. It gave the room a cozy glow of sorts, very relaxing and easing on the eyes compared to the intense fluorescent lights of my workshop. I made a mental note to put many windows in the hanger when we got back home.
BANG! "Ah, hell!" I heard a female voice shout from the other end of the 'shed'. I sat up quickly since it was quite a loud bang.
"What was that?" I yelped.
"Whaddya think it was! Damn piece of crap exploded in my face!" I heard the sound of foot meeting wooden table leg, then a muffled "ow". I began to walk over to the area where the bang came from. It was around to the other side of the plane, closer to the tail section, and on the right side. Jen was sitting in a chair, holding her foot. Her face was covered in soot and there was what looked to be a crude attempt at an engine of sorts sitting on the dusty wood table.
"What are you doing?" I asked bored.
"Ah'm tryin'a make a-! She stopped suddenly. "Ah'm trying to make an engine for my flying machine over there, black powder is a bit of an...unstable, fuel source."
"Well it's a solid in the first place, how are you gonna get it efficiently to the engine? I suggest using alcohol, that can be mistified and introduced to an ignition source inside the engine. It should provide an adequate fuel source." I explained without thinking.
"Oh really? How does it get mistified, and ignited?" Jen asked, suddenly paying some interest in what I had to say. She turned her body in the chair to get a better hear on what I was saying.
"Well, to mistify it, I am thinking of having a venturi of some sort, a tube where it gets skinnier then wide again, this will create a low pressure zone. At the apex of the venturi, we could have a needle, which allows a controlled amount of fuel in, the low pressure will suck fuel out this needle and into the air mixture. The ignition source would be electronic, some sort of coil that is energized by a flywheel or rotating magnet, a stator. Then that electrical signal would be condensed in a type of capacitor, and discharged by two contacts meeting each other. Then that final electrical signal will travel to a gap inside the combustion chamber, which will create a spark, lighting the fuel mixture." I explained, my eyes where closed at the time. When I opened them I saw Jen furiously scribbling down every word I had said. "You could just ask for help. Ya know." I said.
"That is completely genius! What you just said filled so many holes in my ideas! Thankyou thankyou thankyou!" She shouted happily, wrapping her arms around me and jumping out of her chair, knocking it over in the process.
"Ha! Calm down!" I said laughably, she was an excitable one, big-time. "Now come on, leggo of me." I said seriously after she did not release me.
She let her arms up and looked at me, "Ya know Ah am very glad you are here. An' not just cause you know everything about everything." Jen said to me. Uh-oh!
This could get very complicated. I am getting a vibe from her that she might like me, but it is not mutual. Where is Blaze at? I love her, not Jen. Wait, I love Blaze? Maybe. But what am I gonna do about her acting like this? I gotta think this out... Nah, things get complicated when I do that. Hmmm...
"You look like ya'll got somethin' on your mind, what is it?" Jen asked, blinking her eyes curiously, and hopefully.
I just didn't think about it, I just said it. "I already got a girlfriend..." I said, not saddened, but just in a very careful, easy tone. To try to not hurt her feelings.
Jen looked down for a sec, obviously disappointed. Then looked up again. "Well, we can be friends then! No worries. Now come-on, tell me some more about this theorized engine of yours!"
I sighed, just like Marine, you can't keep her down for long, can you? "Alright, well lets take a quick looksy at what you got here." I said, uprighting the fallen chair and taking a seat in it. Jen leaned forward, hands on her knees, looking over my shoulder. She nodded as I point out several points of interest with her design. It was of two-stroke type. To be honest, the darn best attempt I had seen yet at a black powder fueled engine. I had seen a few, but none put together quite this well...
...
The end! I have decided to stop the story right here, but it will start again in the next chapter! HA!
Alright, well, that was somewhat fun. I much prefer writing Tails POV with my half OC Jen. They're fun to write.
For those of you that like to whine about me forgetting things, before you say that I forgot to finish the backstory on Blaze. That comes later, just be frickin' patient GODDAMNIT! Remember! The Guy in the Background says so! Crack is whack and dope is nope. Got it?