A/N: And it continues. It's another sad chapter, and the sadness in total should be spread out a bit more later...

Disclaimer: Blaze and any other Official Sonic-Universe thing belongs to Sega and Sonic Team.
Everything else, from Neon to Glint City, Belongs to me.
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Chapter 4

Neon felt weak in his legs. He barely held himself up on the thought of dropping Blaze. He reached up his right arm and wiped his eyes, uncaring that he'd also picked up some blood from his scar. He just stared at Blaze, her expression emitting the emotion so loudly.

The green hedgehog shook his head. He didn't want to believe it. Not in the slightest desire did Neon want to accept that Blaze, one of his best friends in the world, was dead. Thoughts raced through his head almost as fast as a blue hedgehog he'd met once, and he was confused, angry, and mournful all at once. Neon could barely move, his body felt stiff like a petrified tree.

It was only a small glance around him that revealed to himself the people crowding around from the street, to see the devastation that had been caused. Neon looked down at Blaze in his arms, his head bowed down in misery. He began to tremble, which escalated to shaking as he began to cry. It was not just him, either, but also the residents of Glint City. The sobs from the crowd, ones from children and adults alike seemed to be nonexistent to Neon. The world around him became blurred and invisible as he stared down at the body of the lavender feline.

When he finally spoke, his voice was raspy and dry. He found it hard to speak at all, but was able to do so anyway. "Why… Why did they do this?" Neon asked, not to anyone around him, but more to Blaze. "You… you didn't deserve this. You didn't deserve this at all. I… I…"

He was unable to go further, overwhelmed by emotions in such vast amounts that he'd never felt before. He was consumed of rage, misery, revenge, and despair. Everything that he had truly cared for was now lost from this world.

Neon slowly turned, still holding Blaze in his arms, and faced the people who had been behind him. Some gasped and cried even more when they saw the condition Blaze was in, and only few noticed the extent of Neon's wounds. As he stepped forward slowly, the crowd parted for him to get through. He limped his way through, the people gathered on either side of him, and continued on down the street, the sobbing mass following behind. As Neon knew where he was going, and it didn't matter if everyone else followed.

The green hedgehog made his way to the park area, bright green and white and all sorts of colors, untouched by the ash from the smoke. The flowers bowed in the breeze, and in Neon's mind it was almost like they were saluting Blaze. He reached the middle of a grassy hillside, touched by little more than the flowers and the shade of a nearby tree. Here, Neon slowly set Blaze down in the soft grass. He kneeled down next to her.

Racing through his head were the memories of her through his whole life. It was too much for Neon to remember, the countless good times and the few bad ones, and it nearly made him sick to think that they'd all ended then and there. Tears ran down his nose and dripped onto the lush grass beneath him, a hand held to his forehead.

It was silent for a long moment until the quiet was broken. That was when Neon had stared into the sky and shouted, "SO THAT'S HOW THE GAME IS PLAYED? SO THAT'S HOW YOU WANT IT TO BE?" as he pointed an accusing finger towards the heavens. "WHY? IT COULD HAVE BEEN ME INSTEAD! I COULD HAVE TAKEN HER PLACE! I COULD HAVE TAKEN HER PLACE!"

It seemed now that Neon was delirious. Whether from blood loss or shock, no one knew. Or had he been delirious at all? He fell silent again, staring down at Blaze. He reached down and gently began to brush the ash off of her face, revealing the lavender fur, slightly charred, underneath.

Once he'd cleared her face, he sat back silently. A man walked up to him and rested a hand on Neon's shoulder. He fox had his hat off and held over his heart. Neon looked up at him.

"Perhaps we should take her and…. Get her ready…" he said solemnly, gesturing towards the funeral center down the street. Neon nodded and picked Blaze up once more, following the man down the street, the crowd of people following behind. Neon walked into the building after the man, who had worked there. The rest of the people waited outside, as instructed by the policemen, who lined up on the outside of the building. Several people peered through the window, but couldn't see anything.

Inside, Neon had laid down Blaze on a somewhat low table and sat in a chair, his head bowed and his arms laid across his lap as he patiently waited for the fox. The fox was looking around for something inside a room. The seconds ticked away slowly until he finally returned, carrying a large, golden box. It was a casket, no doubt.

"Excuse me, but why would you have something like that already made before Blaze… passed away?" Neon asked, not looking up at the man.

There was a short moment of silence before the grim reply came. "By all respects, this is bigger than what we'll need… We had been ordered to have something like this ready incase of a disaster such as this one… but we thought it wouldn't be soon…"

Neon looked up at the casket. The golden design on the top was reminiscent of bright, shining flames around the clear, glass opening, where her head would bee seen. There were red gems embedded into the outside, and it shone with a brilliance that was comparable to Egyptian work. Inside were fluffy, white sheets that would be perfect to put Blaze on.

"We should clean her up." The man offered Neon after a moment's time.

"Yeah… I'll do it." He slowly stood up and lifted Blaze off of the table, walking into a room as directed by the fox.

The door clicked behind him as he flicked on a light. Here Neon was, alone in a room with Blaze. He gently laid her on a soft, bed-like object, and looked around. There was a paper up on the wall, titled "INSTRUCTIONS FOR THOSE WISHING TO PREPARE THEIR LOVED ONES BY THEMSELVES." A quick, solemn scan of the list was all Neon needed, and he set right to work, slowly and carefully.

He carefully removed Blaze's clothing, not in a lustful way, but in a caring way. He placed her into a tub and filled it with water, cleaning off Blaze's wounds and fur so that she wouldn't be buried looking so bad. He then lifted her up and dried her off with a blow-dryer, wrapping her in a towel when he was done.

Neon opened the door a bit and peered out at the fox. "Hey, I need you to get some clothes from my house. You know, the ones that look like- and are- Blaze's? She left them there once, so I figured that I could change her into those… since everything else burned up…" The man nodded and Neon tossed his house keys to him, and the fox stepped outside and took a ride with the police officer to Neon's house.

While he waited, Neon took a long look at Blaze. He stared at her expression and then gently fixed it up, changing the frightened emotion to a peaceful one. Then a knock came on the door, and Neon opened it. The fox handed Neon the clothes, and he gave him a thankful smile before closing the door. He then walked over and carefully dressed Blaze, smoothing out the wrinkles and everything.

He carried Blaze out of the room, turning off the light behind him. The fox helped Neon carefully put the feline inside the casket, and he placed her hands on top of each other on her stomach. Then they closed the top and lifted the casket and carefully took it outside and back to the park.

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It was a quick but long funeral service. Neon and several others had changed into formal clothes, and he himself stood near the casket the whole time. One thing was rather notably different, though. Missing from around Blaze's neck was her necklace. Neon instead wore it, all polished and fixed around his own neck. The compartment was open, however, and the picture of himself had been replaced by a picture of Blaze.

Neon was asked to speak and he went to the microphone. "Blaze… was one of my best friends. It was so fun to be around her and everything. In truth, I loved her. I suppose I had never imagined this day coming so soon…" He paused and looked back at Blaze behind him. "I know it's not so great to say this during a funeral, but I will… get revenge. She was such a great leader to all of us, and those people…. They killed her for their own gain, and I can NEVER forgive them for that. I promise, I'll end this before anything else happens to us and out city, not to mention the kingdom. Blaze, for you, I'll set things straight."

The casket was covered up and slowly lowered into the hole that had been dug in the park. Neon placed in one thing on top of it before he began to fill up the hole- the picture of himself that he'd found inside the necklace. The soil was slowly covered until Neon had finished it off and a strip of grass had been placed on top. Then, a bronze plaque was stuck into the ground above the grave. It had been made quickly and read: "HERE LIES PRINCESS BLAZE THE CAT. A GREAT LEADER AND INFLUENCE TO ALL SHE RULED OVER KINDLY. SHOW HER RESPECT FOREVER MORE." Carved into the bronze was Neon's signature. He'd engraved it into the bottom of the plaque because he felt that it was right to sign his name into a plaque dedicated to his best friend.

Neon remained on the hill near the grave for a few hours more, as everyone slowly left. The bodies that could be found and identified for the guards were being placed into a truck to be cleaned so they could be later buried the next day.

"Blaze… I'll miss you more than anyone else. I'll keep my promise to you. I won't let everything that you've made good fall apart." Neon whispered this silently before finally standing up. He wiped away his tears, no longer stained with the blood from his scar, which had clotted up. He turned and left the area. After a few limping paces, he turned and gave one last, long look at the grave before going home, where he just sat and laid awake in bed, unable to sleep.

"Blaze… rest easy in the sky."

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A/N: Sad, isn't it? Blaze was put to rest kindly in this chapter. Starting the Next chapter, Neon's journey will begin. He'll keep his promise, don't you worry!