"So tell me," Nega pointed a ray gun at Blaze who was trapped in an energy beam inside Eggman's base. "How did you access so much power from merely one Sol Emerald?"
"I don't know!" She shouted for the tenth time, sparks flying from her fingertips. "I just grabbed it!"
"Fine!" Nega shouted. "Then die!"
Blaze made no attempt to cower or beg for mercy. She looked Nega in the eyes. She didn't want this power she couldn't control. She could've killed all her friends! After all this time, she finally found people who truly appreciated her, and she could have killed them. The raw power she possessed gave her a sense of courage, but also unease. Without breaking eye contact, she gripped the emerald in her hand. "Chaos control." she whispered. but then she thought. 'this is a Sol Emerald.' and she whispered "Sol Control." and disappeared, leaving a dumbfounded Eggman Nega in her midst.
Blaze reappeared in a forest. She looked around, breathing in the fresh cool air and examining the tall trees and vegetation. Sighing, she sat down against a tree. "I need to talk to Tails." She rested for a few minutes, trying to work together her thoughts and formulate a course of action. The power showed no signs of fading any time soon, and the amount of energy the emerald gave her combined with the power of her flames could spell disaster. She realised she was currently sitting in a very flammable area, and got back up. "Sol Control."
"Tails," Blaze said sharply, appearing in his workshop later. "I need you to tell me... do you know what happened?" Blaze stood in front of Tails. The looks she was recieving from her friends made her feel bad, especially Cream's. Cream was scared of her. Sonic just watched her from his spot of the couch. Amy looked shocked. Shadow was a little surprised. Rouge was equally as shocked as Amy. She took a deep breath, she had to remain composed. An emotional break could cause a slip in controlling her power.
"I'm not really sure. You touched the chaos emerald, and then you were knocked back by and unseen force. The Sol Emeralds scattered, all except the violet one. When you touched the violet emerald you disappeared. When you came back, you were in your burning form. Then you changed colour, to red..." Tails looked at her. "Then you told us to run. We left and you blew up the entire Dead Line death egg. I have no idea how you did it."
"I'm sorry..." Blaze said, a shock setting in when she realised how much damage she had truly done. She looked to the floor. She wasn't worth putting their lives in danger, and with her newfound power, she felt she could handle the mission on her own. "I think I can find the emeralds myself now... I'll return home. You can all pretend I was never here."
"No, we can't." Sonic said, jumping up from the couch. He stood across from her. "I'm going to help you, whether you like it or not."
"We'll join you as well." Shadow said, giving her a nod.
Rouge placed her hands on her hips. "I probably can't back out at this point, can I?"
"Okay..." Blaze smiled a small smile. "I'm going to Night Carnival."
"And I'm going with you." Sonic said. Amy looked over at him, but said nothing.
"Rouge and I will take Mirage Road. As for the rest of you, stay here. We'll be back." Shadow said. Amy opened her mouth to protest, but before she could get much of a word out the four of them left and split up going to their designated zones.
"Blaze, you look upset." Sonic looked over at her. The kept pace with each other as they sped towards the infamous carnival zone.
"I'm fine." She replied simply, not bothering to look over at him.
"No, you're not." He frowned, and looked down at her feet to calculate the pace of her steps.
"Please Sonic. Don't start this." The looked at him with an expression of exhasperation.
"Sorry, I already did." In a swift but calculated motion, Sonic abruptly stepped in front of her, and she widened her eyes in shock as he grasped both of her hands, twirling her around and slowing them both to a stop. They were in the middle of a forest on a path, and there was a moment of silence between them, filled with the chirping of birds and the rustling of leaves in the background. He waited a moment before speaking to her again. "Now tell me. What's wrong?"
"I- everyone is scared of me." She admitted, avoiding his gaze. She chose not to focus on the way he held her hands, trying instead to concentrate on the colour of the soil and the leaves on the trees.
"I'm not. If I was, would I be here?"
"No...? But-" He cut her off, and Blaze began to wonder exactly what he would be scared of-besides maybe water.
"Blaze, listen. You are my friend, heck I told you before. I don't care if you feel the same way, but I like you, a lot." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and smiled boyishly at her.
"...Sonic... I have power I didn't even know I had. You shouldn't trust me." She looked at him, her expression serious.
"But I do." Sonic's emerald eyes met Blaze's golden ones. Sonic leaned in, and she hesitated. She needed to calm her nerves. She closed her eyes, inhaling slowly just before his lips met hers. The kiss made her feel more relaxed, but at the same time instilled a new feeling in the pit of her stomach. It was as if Sonic erased all her fears and hurt she held inside her. Sonic felt as if everything around them disappeared, and time slowed down for just those few seconds. It was just him and Blaze. And Rouge didn't come along and ruin it.
"Now let's go." Sonic said as he pulled away. He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and they both headed off to Night Carnival.
"Shadow... Do you think Blaze is okay?" Rouge asked as they ran through the array of sand and egg pawns.
"I don't know. But that was unbelievable power." He replied, propelling himself swiftly into an egg pawn and smashing it.
"I know... I never knew..." Rouge suddenly let out a loud groan and began furiously brushing at her chest. "UGH! There is way too much sand in my top! Why did we choose to come here? I would rather be at the city of lights than collecting enough sand to build a new city in my boobs."
Shadow chose to ignore the complaint about her breasts. "...Blaze used her version of a Super Form with only one emerald. I don't know how she did it."
"No, she went from her super form onto something else. She blew up that entire zone!" Rouge expretly smashed another pawn with a roundhouse kick.
"With one emerald... These Sol Emeralds must be pretty powerful. Even more so than Chaos Emeralds." Shadow remarked thoughtfully. He began to calculate the possibilities... If he could access that much power somehow...
"I don't want to see her when she uses all 7 emeralds power." Rouge said slowly as they finally entered the end point of the zone.
"There it is. The yellow emerald." Shadow said, a hint of a smile spreading across his face. "I'll go get it."
Roughe scoffed and placed her hands on her hips. "No, I will. You have Chaos Emeralds on you. Did you see what happened when Blaze touched the Chaos Emerald? She had Sol emeralds with her."
"Right." Shadow's tone was sharp, and he scowled.
Rouge flashed him a glittering smile and flew over, perching on the endge of the stand the emerald rested on. Her smile faltered, and for once she found herself uneasily reaching to an emerald. This was a jewel she was actually afraid to touch. When she touched it, nothing happened.
"Okay, it's all good." She announced, letting out a sigh of relief and satisfaction as she returned to Shadow.
"Hmph." He grunted in response, crossing his arms.
"Well, I guess we have to go back now..." Rouge frowned. "I'm almost getting tired of all this moving around... I could really use a spa day, you know?"
A/N: It has been a million years, and at the dawn of the new era, the author has finally returned... with a short chapter. I must say, This chapter was a lot shorter when I first opened this file... I think I originally wrote this a few years back, and let's just say I'm older now and more mature... and so is my writing. I tried to edit this and fill in as much detail without altering the story too much, but I finally present to you the much-requested continuation of my sequel to A Love to Remember!