New Kid On The Block
Chapter 8 – It's Official
Hey guys! Sorry that I have been neglecting you the last few days. It's been a bit hectic. Anyways hope you are all enjoying this story so far. So in this chapter, we find out exactly WHAT Blaze's powers are, and also what is Tech's present? Time to find out! Btw, I will be getting a little technical when describing Blaze's powers, but I hope you guys will understand it all ok. Enjoy! :)
"That was so awesome Blaze!" exclaimed Lexi excitedly as she ran up to him. Blaze blushed in response. He wasn't really used to getting praise, especially from a girl! It felt good. "Thanks Lexi" the tiger responded timidly with a smile.
All the loonatics were thoroughly impressed. "Man-that-was-so-unbelievably-amazingly-super-duperly-cool!" shouted Rev as he jumped up and down on the spot.
Duck shrugged his shoulders "You will never reach my super standards, but not bad." The mallard commented in a cocky tone.
Slam ran up and gave Blaze a bone-crushing hug, depriving the tiger of air. He started to go purple. "Thanks Slam but can ya gimme some air please?" he wheezed in a barely audible voice.
The Tasmanian realised that he was crushing his teammate and released his iron grip on Blaze. The tiger dropped to the ground and took massive breaths. He sighed in relief as oxygen returned to his lungs. "Aaah… Thanks buddy" he said with a wink.
"Hssud sojrb" (Haha, sorry!) Slam giggled in embarrassment.
Blaze got back to his feet to see Ace standing in front of him with a wry smile. "Nice one doc" the bunny said coolly as he held out his fist.
Blaze grinned and fist-fived his leader "Cheers Ace" the tiger answered with a grateful nod.
"Where did ya learn ta fight like dat?" Ace asked with wonder.
Blaze sadly thought to himself for a second as he recalled painful memories. "It's a long story, I'll tell you some other time." He answered.
They all stood around him complimenting him on his skills and moves. Blaze shyly said thank you to each comment. He had never been treated like this. Nobody had ever appreciated his special talents in his past life. His heart raced with joy.
After all the excitement had died down, Tech invited Blaze and the others back to the electronics room. Blaze, Ace, Lexi, Duck, Slam and Rev all sat on the large couch which ran along the back wall. All of them, particularly Blaze, watched Tech intently as he typed away at the computer. He finally stopped typing, and they were all sure that they heard the coyote utter a quiet: Wow…
Tech finally turned around and focussed his attention on Blaze, who stared back with his golden eyes.
For the next half an hour, Tech ran through all that the data from the microchips had shown him. While Duck had silently fallen asleep, the others had listened intently. Tech was being very scientific with his words and phrases, and on more than one occasion, Ace had to ask the coyote to speak in plain English. Despite Tech making no sense to the others for most of the time, Blaze had got the gist of it. He now knew… He finally knew what his powers where.
Three hours later…
After Tech had finished his explaining, he had gone straight to his lab, Blaze had no idea why. While the others had gone to get something to eat, Blaze had taken a shower, and was now lying on his bed thinking about all that Tech had said.
Tech had explained to Blaze and the others that the energy that had been absorbed and analysed from his body had contained an extremely powerful compound called electromagnetism. This combination meant that not only could Blaze create, store and use this electromagnetic energy in different ways and techniques, but he could control metal, he could manipulate and absorb normal electricity, and he could create seismic waves with his magnetic energy to make earthquakes.
As a whole, Blaze had some very immense powers. But Tech had warned him that Blaze still had to learn to control all these powers properly. And also, he had to learn to control his emotions. Blaze realised why Tech had said this. At the end of his fight with Ace, Blaze had lost control in a burst of anger and frustration. And as his anger raged, so did his powers. It dawned on the tiger that he could have done some serious harm. He had to learn to stay in the driving seat and to keep his feelings in check, because if he didn't, the results could be disastrous…
This warning that Tech had given struck home with Blaze big time. He realised that with all his powers, he could be a great addition to the loonatics, and could be a driving force in keeping the peace in the universe. But he could also be a big danger to it if he lost control of them, aswell as his emotions.
I will control myself. Blaze thought to himself assuredly. I'm not a monster. I'm not just fighting for myself anymore. I'm fighting for innocent people, for justice, and for my friends. I can't let my anger get the better of me. I will control myself…
Blaze kept repeating the last line over and over again, trying to pummel every last ounce of doubt out of his conscience.
Hours passed as Blaze just lay there thinking about the past, the present, and the future. Eventually he heard a knock on his door. Blaze snapped back into the present as the situation registered. "Yeah?" Blaze enquired as he sat up.
A familiar voice came from the other side of the door. "Yo Blaze. Everyting okay?" Ace asked in his Brooklyn accent.
Blaze smirked. "Yeah im good" he replied. "Hang on a sec Ace, I'll be right there." He continued as he shuffled to the edge of his king-sized bed and stood up. He lazily walked towards the metal door, slid open the bolt and pulled the handle.
Ace coolly smiled as the door swung open. "What's up doc." He said with a grin.
Blaze returned a smile. "Nothing much. Just been thinking a lot." He admitted with a sigh.
Ace raised an eyebrow at Blaze's response. "What about?" he asked trying not to sound nosey.
Blaze looked down at the floor as he leaned against the door frame. "Everything really. My past, what's happened the last few days, and also the future." He explained. "I'm just worried is all."
Ace frowned "What's bothering ya doc?" he asked with concern.
Blaze looked back up and backed into his room and started pacing up and down, up and down like a caged wild animal. "My anger…" he started "My anger worries me… In the past, I've had big issues with my anger, and that's putting it lightly." The tiger continued as he continued to pace. "You saw so yourself Ace. Sometimes I just blackout, and completely lose control of myself, and that's exactly what happened down at that square." Blaze admitted as he stopped pacing and looked back down at the floor in sadness.
Ace had made his way into Blaze's room and stood with a comforting hand on the tiger's shoulder. "Hope ya don't mind me asking Blaze, but how has all dis anger bin built up inside ya?" The bunny asked. Ace realised that the only way that he could help his teammate was by getting him to open up.
Blaze looked back up at his leader for a brief second. He then turned around and moved towards the foot of his bed where he sat down. "It's a lot of things… Growing up on the streets and having to live life the hard way gave me an attitude to start with. You don't have anyone to give you guidance, love and discipline. You always ask yourself "Why me? What have I done to deserve this?" And never knowing why you are in the situation you are is frustrating." The tiger began. He took a brief pause as key events of his life flashed before his eyes. Then he continued. "But the worst thing was that I was always being bullied. The kids always picked on me, treated me like dirt and made fun of me. I was always left out of things. At first I was scared, but as it got worse, my fear turned into anger. As this rage built up inside of me, at times I just wanted to lash out. But I didn't want to hurt anyone, so I kept it all bundled up. As the years went on, I distanced myself from everyone. But my anger was always there, like a raging fire that never burnt out." Blaze paused as his train of thought wondered off again.
Ace thoughtfully frowned and raised his hand and rested his chin on his bony knuckles. "Ahhh… So dat's why yer so good at martial arts. You taught yourself everyting so dat ya could defend yourself against bullies." the leader of the loonatics stated.
Blaze nodded with a serious look. He then continued with his story with a slightly aggressive tone. "Even though I distanced myself, they kept going. They wouldn't stop. When asking them didn't work, my only choice was to threaten them. And at first it worked, but they started ganging up on me. And then…" Blaze stopped dead in his tracks as his angry voice faded and his facial expression saddened. "But then the meteor strike happened and I got my powers…" Blaze stopped and got up off of his bed and started pacing again. "The next time that they ganged up on me, I was so angry I couldn't hold it in anymore. I just let it all out, without even being able to control it… I used my powers for the first time that day… The result was all 7 guys ending up in hospital with serious injuries. The only way I got away with it is that the guys I beat up didn't remember anything. From that day on, I have done my best to keep my emotions from getting taking control of me. But, as you saw the other day, sometimes it just gets too much…"
With that he stopped. He stopped talking and he stopped pacing. The tiger remained in a spaced out mind-set for a few moments and then turned to face Ace. A tear had run down his black and orange coloured cheeks. "That's why im worried Ace, because I could really hurt someone unintentionally… I could hurt a lot of people… It could be innocent people, or even you guys… And you're the best friends I've had in a long time… I don't want to endanger anybody's safety. Especially the loonatics…"
Ace smiled sympathetically as he walked towards Blaze and once again put his hand on the troubled tiger's shoulder. "Don't worry Blaze. Before ya were alone. But ya got us now. We're all in dis together okay, so trust me buddy, ya will beat dis." He assured as his smile broadened.
Blaze smiled gratefully back and mirrored his leader's actions as he put his hand on Ace's shoulder. "Cheers Ace. You don't know how much that means to me." He replied genuinely.
The bunny smirked "No worries." He started. "Hey ya must be hungry. Slam is cookin his famous pasta. Trust me on dis one, it's the best pasta in Acmetropolis. C'mon." he suggested as he waved at the door.
"Aye aye skipper" came Blaze's quick response as he chuckled.
Ace smiled at the tiger's comment as they moved towards the door and stepped into the hallway.
As the two anthros made their way down the corridor, Blaze realised that Ace was one of the best people he had ever met. And he had only known him for 2 days! He was kind, considerate and understanding. The qualities of not only a great person, but of course, a great leader.
Blaze concluded his thoughts as they finally came to the end of the hallway and entered the main room.
After taking two steps, Blaze's nostrils were bombarded by possibly the most amazing smell he could ever recall. "Oh… My… God…" he drearily said in a trance.
Ace chuckled at his teammate's response. "I know… And I know dis probably sounds impossible, but it tastes even better dan it smells." He said with a smile as he closed his sapphire eyes and took a deep breath in through his nose, sucking up the heavenly smell. "Let's get some grub!"
Ace wasn't kidding. Blaze had never tasted anything so amazing. He gobbled down every last morsel like a ravenous wolf and he finished miles ahead of everyone else.
Tech had been in his lab the whole time but he finally came out as he arrived at the table after getting his portion of pasta.
"Hey Tech." they all said as he took his traditional place at the table with his plate of food in hand.
"It's been a few years hasn't it Tech, how you been pal?" Duck asked sarcastically which caused the others to laugh, but caused Tech to glare at the mallard with a look that could kill.
"Actually DUCK, I've been working on something very important." He replied in an irritated voice as he had a mouthful of his pasta. "Mmm, great pasta by the way Slam" the coyote said with a mouthful of food.
The loonatics all gave looks of wonderment, and for a while they sat there staring at Tech hoping that he would enlighten them.
Rev finally broke the ice. "Okay-well-since-nobody-else-is-gunna-say-anyhting-I'll-say-something-since-I-usually-say-everything, WHAT-have-you-been-working-on-Tech?" he rapidly questioned.
The coyote smiled "Oh don't worry, you'll find out soon enough" the coyote replied as he had another mouthful of pasta. "Oh by the way Blaze, there's a little something in your room for you" he added with a sly smile.
Blaze responded with a surprised look. "How did you get in my room?" he questioned.
"Oh yeah, well I was gunna bring your gift in here but as I came out of the lab I noticed your door was open so I put it on your bed. Hope you don't mind." Tech replied swiftly.
"Oh yeah no problem. Umm, may I be excused guys?" Blaze openly asked. He was very curious about his "gift" and wanted to find out what it was.
"Sure ting doc" Ace replied with a smile, which was coupled with smiles of confirmation from the others.
"Cheers" the tiger said with a wink. He got up out of his seat and made his way towards his room…
As he opened his door, he immediately saw something spread out on his bed. He smiled as he realised what it was and closed the door behind him…
Back in the main room, the others were all waiting, waiting to see what Blaze's gift was. It was like waiting for rain in the middle of the dessert: Eternal. But finally, the echo of footsteps came down the hallway…
The shadow on the wall got bigger and bigger, until finally, Blaze emerged…
The others all gasped as they saw the brand new Blaze.
He was wearing a black suit, with dark blue lining, dark blue boots, dark blue gloves, a blue and black mask identical to the other loonatics which changed the colour of his face, a blue belt going around his muscular waist, the dark blue built in communicator on his right forearm, and of course, on the middle of his chest, a dark blue triangle.
It was his loonatics uniform…
The other all smiled, as they looked at their majestic looking new teammate. Ace uttered a brief statement with a wide smile "It's official Blaze, You're a Loonatic…"
Phew! So there we go! As the title of the chapter suggests, its official! Blaze is now the seventh member of the loonatics! Yay! So in the next chapter, we will get the reactions from Blaze's teammates. Plus, there will be yet ANOTHER kick ass fight so don't miss it! :)
As usual, thank you guys so much for your support, im glad that you are enjoying the story. Loonaticslover13 thank you so much for allowing me to use 2 of your characters (Ace's parents), im deeply grateful. Anyway hope you enjoyed this chapter, next one will be up soon and don't forget to gimme your lovely feedback! ;) Cheers guys
P.S. Midnight Dragon, I hope you enjoyed your holiday ;)