A/N: And Neon(Supertails) brings you another chapter of Holding it Together! This chapter continues from the last and explains what the wolf and the Cross-Diamond Raiders want with Blaze, not to mention what happens as well. This chapter is rather sad, but that's the effect I'm going for.
Disclaimer: Blaze the Cat and the Sol Emeralds (And Eggman Nega) do not belong to me and are owned by Sega and Sonic Team.
Neon the hedgehog and everything else is mine, as I created everything myself.
Chapter 3
Blaze narrowed her eyes and in seconds a wall of flames sprung up between her and the wolf.
"I don't think this is any business that I would want any part of." The pyrokinetic cat scowled, staring through the flames at him. The wolf's reaction was calm, and he continued to speak even through the flames.
"I'm afraid you have no choice." The wolf continued on, talking as if the fire wasn't even there. "We have something to take care of, and if you do not comply with us, then you shall suffer."
The wolf raised a communication device. He pressed a switch and said, "Prepare the bomb." Below, another masked man in a suit reached into a vehicle and brought out a black case. He opened it up, with lights flashing and wires stuck around. He fiddled with a few switches and relocated several wires.
"A BOMB?" Blaze roared, and the flames sprung up intensely. "There's no way that I'll let you."
"It is ready." said the voice through the device. "Should I detonate?"
"Not yet…" replied the wolf, keeping eye contact with the feline princess. The men behind him stood patiently and ready, looking for any guards that could come their way. "This can be easy." The wolf continued on, a menacing look in his shining, yellow eyes. "You can simply retrieve the Sol Emeralds- knowing that only you know where they are- and we will release you and leave this city unharmed."
"Not going to happen." Blaze replied coldly through clenched teeth, her hands balled up into fists.
"…Then we will have to do it the hard way, by detonating the bomb we have. I'm sure it should expose the Sol Emeralds, since they won't be affected by the blast." The wolf grinned slyly. "Now, I'm sure you want to go with the easy way, don't you, Your Highness?"
"I don't think so."
The wolf shrugged. "Fine, have it your way. We will detonate the bomb and-"
"First things first- who ARE you?" Blaze asked, unmoving from her position behind the wall of flames.
"Us? Why, we are the Cross-Diamond Raiders. Our goal is to conquer the world. Not in the way that foolish fat man Nega does, but rather by terror and power. We need those Sol Emeralds for our plan, and we will have them, one way, or another, even if some of us have to die to do it."
Neon awoke tied to a chair on top of a building. The two men stood near him, keeping an eye on him.
"Look, the little bitch is awake." said one of them, motioning to the other.
"LET ME GO!" Neon shouted, squirming around in the chair, trying to free himself from the ropes' grip.
"Don't waste your time." grumbled the other man. "Even if you escape, you deal with us. Besides, this will end quickly anyway. You may as well just sit here and watch." He lazily reloaded his rifle and pointed it toward the hedgehog's head.
Neon clenched his teeth and cursed under his breath. He needed to get out. All of those men were in the castle. He didn't know what was happening, except that Blaze was in trouble and he wasn't there to help. He squirmed around some more, but the ropes didn't loosen around his body. He was stuck.
Something was going to happen to Blaze if he didn't get free and deal with these two. Neon looked around, the castle straight ahead. He could be able to do something if he could get free and run as fast as he could inside. His eyes narrowed and he sent a gust of wind into the backs of the two men holding him hostage.
"Whoa!" shouted one, losing balance and plummeting off of the roof of the building. The other was unable to keep steady, either, and he fell off as well. The two sickening thuds signaled to Neon that those two weren't getting up. He took this opportunity to shake himself free, and eventually was able to get at the knot, which he rubbed open. As the rope fell around his ankles, Neon gave a shout of joy and flew down off the roof, landing near the two men.
"Such a shame." Neon said, shaking his head. "These guys shouldn't have messed with the wrong people. Now they're dead. Serves them right."
The green hedgehog turned his body to the closed doors of the gleaming marble castle. In a few moments, he stepped back and then began to race down the long street, hoping to reach the castle in time.
"I'll never help you and the Cross-Diamond Raiders." Blaze said as she made the flames leap up against the men. The wolf stood calm, his red suit getting barely any more than a few burn marks. "We knew about your fire abilities, miss, so we took the precautions against that." He struck out at Blaze, his fist contacting with her face. Blaze sprawled backwards onto her bed. She tried to get up, but the wolf pinned her down.
"That's enough playing around."
The doors of the front room blew open. Neon was still racing towards the castle as fast as possible, noting that his leg must have been injured after he fell unconscious.
"I'M COMING, BLAZE!" He shouted, when the man holding the black box caught his eye. From the distance, the wind carried information to Neon.
It's a bomb.
Neon's eyes narrowed and clenched his teeth tightly together and growled, "I can't let them do this! I have to reach Blaze!" He attempted to gather his wind control to push him faster, but it seemed that his control had been limited and still restoring after he had been knocked unconscious.
"DAMN IT!" Neon shouted, continuing on foot towards the castle. A slight breeze blew by his ear, and it twitched as it heard the words carried by it-
"Detonate the bomb." The wolf's voice echoed in Neon's ear again as he continued his limp-run towards the castle. Pain shot through Neon's right leg in an even faster pattern as his eyes bulged and he tried to go faster.
"NO! BLAZE!" Neon roared, his voice echoing through the barren streets.
"NEON!" Blaze shouted back, barely reaching him through the transportation of the wind.
Neon's heart raced as he pressed on as fast as possible, his only thoughts on rescuing Blaze.
And then, it was all over.
In one instant, the man holding the box connected one single wire to the rest of the device. The bomb detonated, and it all seemed to go in slow motion as the roaring flames and debris were launched into the air, ripping apart the castle. The marble walls shattered like glass and crumbled, the windows blasted apart. The huge explosion expanded throughout the building, destroying the staircase, the walls, the decorations, and everything in its way in one, fell swoop.
"NOOOOOOO!" Neon shouted as he tried to continue onward, raising his arms- despite the searing pain in the reopened wound in his left shoulder- to shield his face. A large chunk of marble flew by as Neon pressed on, closing his eyes from the light. The marble scratched against the left side of his head and across his eyelid. Blood began to drizzle out of the gash that it left behind, but the scorching debris had also partly burned the wound shut.
The green hedgehog ignored the pain as he ran forward. Through the smoke and the ruins of the castle, he could see several bodies of the men inside. There was also a faint, multi-colored glow that resonated through the smoke as seven differently-colored gems blasted through the air from the impact, disappearing from sight.
"BLAZE! BLAZE! ARE YOU THERE???" Neon cried out, coughing through the ashes and smoke. He collapsed to his knees and coughed some more, staring down at the ground, refusing to take in what had just happened. He pushed himself to his feet and attempted to see past the smoke, blowing it away with a gust of wind.
The castle was completely destroyed. Nearly everything Neon saw was absolutely unfamiliar to him. The burned down ashes of the walls and debris lay everywhere, leaving a blackish-gray color all around. Traces of white could be found here and there, but it was only the walls of the building, crumbled and decimated beyond Neon's memory. Where the tall, gleaming, spiral staircase once stood was a pile of rubble and ash. There were several places where small amounts of flames had sprung up, and Neon looked away from the thing that had reminded him so much of Blaze.
Fragments of the walls still stood, crumbled away and blackened with smoke. The whole area was covered with debris of every shape and size, and it was hard to walk as Neon stepped through the disaster-struck foundation of the once proud, tall castle. Remnants of the seared bodies of the suited men lay this-way and that-way, their green uniforms charred and burnt to a barely-recognizable black.
Then a glint of light reflected off of something through the smoking ruins that drew the green hedgehog towards it, his vest and pants charred as well. Blood dripped from the large scratch on the side of his head and hit the ashy ground as he bent over it. Neon silently gasped as he realized what it was, and dragged away some debris to free what was underneath. His trembling arms reached down and he grabbed the ashy figure as he pulled it up.
"No…" tears formed in Neon's eyes as he looked over the body and almost dropped it. The hot, fresh tears streaked down the sides of his face, carving a path through his ashy fur.
Blaze's body was terribly scratched and burnt, despite her clothes being fireproof. Her fur and hair was all messed up, and what had been her pony tails drooped down from the lack of a hair band. The gem on her forehead gleamed no longer, covered up with smoke and ash. The expression on Blaze's face had been the same as when the bomb had just detonated- a frightened look, her eyes closed tightly, her mouth pulled into a frown. Blaze's dress was ripped up in certain areas, blood pooling and matting her fur on her arms and stomach. One leg contained a wide gash, and blood dripped steadily onto the ground and Neon's shoes. There were other details, such as the cuts into her back or the ripped up gloves and shoes, but there was only one thing that truly caught Neon's attention.
It was the gleaming, charred, dented gold necklace that hung around Blaze's neck. It was bent in a certain place, and Neon examined it carefully. It was the front of the necklace, but it looked like that was supposed to be able to move. The green hedgehog curiously pushed open the top, and even more tears streamed down his face as he peered inside.
Inside the necklace was a picture, like in the compartment of a locket. Inside the necklace was a picture of one person, and one person only. One who undoubtedly deserved that special place near Blaze's heart. As Neon stared into the compartment, he saw that that picture was of a green hedgehog, with black highlights under his spines on the back of his head and the ones that hung in front; who wore a short, red vest with blue lining the edges that hung near the long, white tuft of fur on his chest.
It was a picture of Neon, himself.
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A/N: I told you it was sad! So, now we've seen what happened, what the Cross-Diamond Raiders wanted, and what they did. Neon's obviously heartbroken. So, what do you think will happen next? Keep on reading! (And reviews would be nice!)