New Kid On The Block

Chapter 5 – The Morning After

Hey guys! Chapter 5 is here! Thanks for being so patient, you guys are awesome! So, this chapter is in the aftermath of the epic fight between Blaze and Ace (which resulted in victory for the loonatics... JUST! :D) Blaze in about to regain consciousness, but where will he find himself? Will it be in a cold and dark prison cell? Or somewhere else? Let's find out shall we I hope you my fellow fanfictioners (as Midnight Dragon calls them ;)) enjoy!

Slowly and painfully, Blaze opened his eyes. The electricity from the tazer had made him very weak. He tried to move his arms but he couldn't. It was like an invisible force field was pinning him down.

Because he couldn't move, Blaze was staring at the ceiling. It was a plain metal grey and the only other thing he could see was a rectangle shaped light which was giving off a dim glow. He was in a prison cell, he was sure of it, or so he thought.

Blaze still felt very tired and as he lay there trying to piece together what had happened the previous night, he drifted off to sleep. However, his sleep was far from peaceful. He had a nightmare, one that he had grown accustomed to…

Blaze watched helplessly as he always did in this nightmare. A female tiger placed a small tiger with adorably massive golden eyes in a cardboard box stuffed with blankets. All around them were shouting and violent explosions. The tiny tiger cutely laughed as he played with a broche that was clipped onto the female tiger's blouse. She smiled as a tear appeared in each of her coral blue eyes and she held the little tigers paw. She leaned in and tenderly kissed his forehead.

As she started to back away, she leaned back in towards his ear and then whispered "Goodbye my beautiful little Blaze. Your star will shine brighter than anyone one day." She then backed away, took one last look at the little tiger and closed the lid. The little tigers view started to go black and just before the lid completely closed; he whimpered "Mama?" and then all went black…

Blaze suddenly woke up panting. He always woke up at that part. After his breathing had calmed down he sat up. He was drenched in sweat. He started to think about his nightmare, about his mother, and he asked the question that he had asked himself so many times: why did she leave me? Maybe he would never know the answer.

Now that he could move, Blaze surveyed his surroundings. It was a big room, and the appliances surprised him greatly: desks, wardrobes, a TV and a king sized bed which he was sitting on.

What kinda prison cell is this? Blaze thought to himself.

Still bewildered, Blaze got off the bed and walked around the room to explore his surroundings, opening wardrobes and cupboards. He also opened a door which shockingly to Blaze, lead to a big en-suite bathroom. If he didn't know any better, Blaze would think he was in a 5 star hotel room not a prison cell.

Blaze stood in the middle of the room trying to make light of his situation. But the longer he dwelled on the matter the more confused he became. But then he noticed something. The door which he presumed lead in and out of the cell had a strange feature on it. A lock… on the INSIDE of the door. Now the tiger was really confused!

Curiously, Blaze wandered towards the door and he finally reached the door. Well, here goes nothing Blaze said to himself and reached out towards the lock. He twisted it clockwise and it made a click as it turned the full 90 degrees. Blaze's eyes widened slightly in shock what the heck is going on, is this a trick? He asked himself. He then moved his hand up to the handle and twisted it identically as he had twisted the lock, and then pulled.

The door opened…

Blaze released his grip on the door handle letting it open the rest of the way by itself. He took two steps back in bewilderment. Was he hallucinating? Was he in another dream? Or where people just trying to screw with his head again? Blaze didn't know, but he was very curious now.

He slowly made his way to the door and cautiously leaned out. He looked to the left. It was a hallway with a few doors on either side which were identical to the door he had just opened. More prison cells was Blaze's immediate thought, but then he turned his head to the right. It was pretty much the same, a hallway with a few doors on either side. But there was something different about the right side. The hallway to the left which he first saw ended in a dead end, but this one seemed to lead out into a room.

Blaze frowned, he was starting to realise that he wasn't in a prison. He cautiously stepped out of the room he had been in and closed the door. He was just about to start walking when he heard chuckles coming from the room up ahead.

Blaze instinctively took his fighting stance, thinking he was about to be attacked. He waited a few moments and then the laughing died away. Blaze started to slowly walk forwards, very wary now. His steps echoed slightly and his shadow followed him along the wall like an enemy stalking him.

Blaze finally came to the end of the hallway. The room that it lead out to was massive. The tiger took a couple of seconds to look around the huge room "Whoa" he whispered in amazement. A big kitchen, a hologram table, a ping pong table and so much more. But then he noticed 6 figures sitting on a large couch that surrounded a large table, turned, facing him.

Lexi, Tech, Slam, Duck and Rev all had slightly cautious looks on their faces. But Ace was smirking at the tiger. "Mornin doc" he said in a cool voice.

Blaze was tense, but the bunny's smile and kind tone eased him a little "Uh, Morning…" the tiger responded warily.

Ace's smile widened slightly "As ya can tell yer not in prison" he said sharply cheekily raising an eyebrow.

Blaze frowned slightly "Yeah I can see that…" the tiger stated. But then he thought about something, where actually was he? "Where am i?" he asked Ace.

"Loonatics HQ doc, yer new home! Well, Dats if ya want it ta be." Ace replied.

Blaze wasn't tense anymore. The rabbit didn't mean him any harm. "Oh…" quietly said the tiger as he looked down at the floor. "So you were telling the truth after all…" Blaze was angry with himself. He realised what a fool he had been. All the pain, all the destruction he had caused… for nothing… "I… I'm so sorry for everything I did…" he stuttered "I… I… I should have trusted you… I'm so stupid!" Blaze shouted at himself.

While he was saying this, Ace and the others had walked over to him. Ace put his hand on the tigers shoulder seeing that he was in distress. "Don't worry doc, believe me, I know what ya have bin through. It aint easy." The bunny said trying to comfort the tiger.

It took a few moments for Blaze to regain his composure. Then he remembered why he was here in the first place. He spoke "So… You guys want me to join you?" he asked as he looked at Ace.

Ace nodded "It would be an honour"

Blaze thought to himself for a few seconds, and then came to a conclusion "Well… I've never really seen myself as a hero… But since you guys have saved me from a long stint behind bars, it's the least I can do to thank you" and as he said the last word, unbelievably a wry smile appeared on his face.

The loonatics all beamed in happiness. Their mission was complete. They now had a powerful ally and hopefully a future friend.

Ace stepped forward "Welcome to de loonatics, umm… err…" the bunny stumbled in embarrassment as he realised he didn't know the tiger's name.

"Blaze" the tiger finished with a small chuckle "The name's Blaze. Blaze Tiger."

Ace smiled Dats an awesome name he thought to himself. "Blaze" he said with a cool smile "Welcome to de loonatics, Blaze." The bunny smiled as he offered his hand to Blaze. The tiger took it and warmly shaked it.

Blaze smiled "Thanks, thanks to all of you guys, and again, im really sorry for what happened" he gratefully said as he looked at the others. They all smiled back.

All the loonatics introduced themselves to Blaze and shook his hand.

After he had met his new teammates, Blaze reflected on his situation. He now had a place to live, new friends and something to strive for rather than just trying to survive. He smiled as he realised he could have the family he never had, he had a home…

Home… Blaze thought to himself. Home… just thinking the word made him feel all fuzzy inside. Blaze smiled. For the first time in a long time…

He was happy…

Wohoo! So Blaze is now officially a member of the loonatics. Good stuff! :P Next chapter will be up ASAP! And now that Blaze is a part of the loonatics, how will he settle in to his new life? All will be revealed in the next chapter.

P.S.

Thanks so much for all your reviews, I love waking up in the morning and finding some lovely juicy reviews! Keep em coming! Also, Loonaticslover13 thank you so much for your advice it really helped, and since it came from you it's even more awesome! Haha

Thanks guys and hope you enjoyed!