Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognized characters or gameplay patterns within this fanfiction. Sonic the Hedgehog, Tails, Eggman, Blaze, and all related characters of such are owned by SEGA. All original character's are owned by me, unfortunately.

Exile 8.4

Trigger Warning; Extreme Violence and descriptiveness of injuries, Character Death


Blaze was in a surprising amount of pain. She figured she should be in at least some, considering she dove deeper into her soul for the flames than she ever had before, using the words from Silver and her mother in an attempt at bravery, and from hearing her parents words upon her guardianship, but she wasn't quite considering this.

She wasn't in control of the flames. They didn't obey her, instead obeying her general directives, burning her inside and out, and she knew she'd probably have to make new clothes...again. She could feel the heat from her skin and fur, and could only smell the world around her, and even that was filling ash and smoke. There was fear from the elders, who had long vanished. The Chosen, who were fighting the guards, gave the scent of desperation and anxiety. The guards themselves were fearful but aggressive. None of them came close to her, not even the other fire callers. She could 'see' through the flames, and only through that knew that the roof was on fire, and the entire meeting hall was burning to the ground.

She stood her ground though, holding back the ordinary villagers of Ikan'Thoa. They were afraid of the heat, of the possible fires she could conjure, not knowing that she had nothing. She was barely standing at this point. She had reached further than ever before...and had been burned because of it.

"Blaze!" someone's voice called out. Fern's. Was the coyote trying something? She glanced in what she hoped was his direction. Her ears were on fire at this point, her eyes were burning and she wanted to cry but she knew that'd just make it worse; steam would rise up and blind her instantly, even worse. "You need to go! We can handle this!" he shouted. Why would she need to go? There was nowhere left now. Only fire remained her constant. "To Tails, to the other Exception!"

She was alone. Fern knew this...there was no one around. There was no one for her, no one to wait for her. She was alone, as all Guardians must be. Fire raged in her soul, burning and twisting it, letting it writhe in internal agony. She had chosen fire, but had she been mistaken? She felt a grip on her hand, and she felt it pause for a moment, as if judging something. "Get to the beach, Blaze. Remember? You were right, last night. This place is twisted, and we were never given a chance, or a choice. You need to run."

Run. If the voice said she must run, then she would run. She could do that. She smelled the outside air through the smoke, the cries of the villager's telling her another way. She lifted a hand, unblinking as twin streams of flame popped from the ground. She was the earth sunderer. The world killer. She was Blaze. She was...Sol? Memories shot through her head that weren't hers. A fire devastated by a city, rivers of lava destroyed by the oceans and continents. She was anger, she was rage, she was calm, she was frenzied, she was collected.

The clean air hit her nose like a sledgehammer. She couldn't see, only a gray haze lay in front of her. But she remembered; a boat, a plan, a two-tailed fox. The ground was burning underneath her, and within seconds she was supersonic. Trees didn't get out of her way, instead she burned through them just as fast as she was going. She was a wildfire given form, she was anger and rage and hatred shattered without direction-

She felt the sand glass underneath her. "Blaze!" she heard Tails shout. She could remember his voice. He would be her rock, then. The thing that couldn't melt. There was something going on the beach, some kind of fight. She smelled blood, she smelled rage and hatred and that was all her and nothing else could ever have it. She felt a shock go through her system, followed by a howl of pain as someone tried to strike at her. She was still the fire, still the hatred. "Stop channeling!" Tails shouted.

Stop? How was she to stop? She couldn't control it; that was the very reason she knew it was a suicide mission. She needed Tails and Spark and Katia to go. Not her. They were the lightning channelers, not the fire caller. How could she stop, when she was in so much pain? Her soul was on fire, burning from the inside out. It wasn't as if she could just go and turn it off.

She felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her, and her feet leave the ground. She wasn't near the water yet, where was she going? Tails was airlifting her, obviously, and she knew his hands, probably his entire body, were burning from being so close to her. She anticipated the cold feel of the metal against her feet, only to hear a groan of pain from above.

The air rushed passed her, and she was dropping. The ground was beneath her, the sand...she hoped. She tried to push herself upright, hoping her instincts would be on point. They were; her feet landed first, straight into the water. She let out a scream as she felt the steam immediately flood her senses, cooking her alive within her power. Her ears heard the roar of the waves above her, pushing her back down just as fast as she tried to push herself off.

The roar of the ocean multiplied around her. She saw the dragon, she saw the ocean of fire that she had once seen purview of...and she saw him. The silver hedgehog, the one that helped seal him within this...these were Iblis' memories. Not her own. She wasn't rage, or hatred, or fire. She was Blaze! She couldn't control the flames of disaster, so she had sealed them deep within her soul. And that's where the flames were escaping out of. She had reached too deep, pulling out the flames, letting them consume her mind, body, and soul.

She could feel the power leaking from her, now that she was in...well, not well. Her body was starting to seize up. She cut it off instantly, getting only minor relief before the boiling water came crashing down into her. She tried to swim upwards, only to realize she didn't know which way was up. Was it towards the waves? Or were the waves pushing her down and around? She hadn't taken a breath before, and she could feel herself starting to run out.

She grabbed what she hoped was the ground, or something, and pushed herself away from it. She couldn't see, now. Only a light grey haze upon a black drop shone for her. Had she burned out her eyes? Her ears were unhelpful, hearing only the roar of the waves around her. She couldn't feel anything, anymore. She couldn't see the light, and had no way of knowing which way was where, and she was still underwater.

"I think she needs help," she heard Silver's voice say deep within her mind. Was she so far gone that she was hallucinating again? Memories of a past time, memories of a past life...was she the seal of Iblis? Or was she the princess of the Sol Empire?

"I think she does," she heard her own voice respond. "Can you lift the grate? I'll pull her out," her voice answered. Grate? What grate? She wasn't being held down by anything other than the strength of the water. Anyone who claimed that water courier's or aquakineticists weren't strong needs to take a dip in the ocean and say that again. Then again, by that metric fire was actually one of the weakest kinetics...second only to lightning. "Here. Village is this way," her voice continued, Silver's doing a few small grunts behind her.

"Blaze? What are you doing out here? You're not supposed to be out here," a small girl's voice called. She recognized it, but what was the name? In the end, did it matter? She was about to die. That's why she was having this...vision. Or hallucination. Watching her life, both sides of it.

"I'm not, no, but it's a good thing we are anyways, aren't we? The next patrol would have been out here in two days. You would have died. And no one would have found you in time. That's why we tell everyone where we're going before we go."

"But I wanted to get this neat shell for Mom! See, isn't it neat?"

"It is, yes, but it's not worth your life."

Silver raised his voice from a distance. "You know, they say if you put a shell to your ears, you can hear the old ocean's roar. You want to try it? Get back home and then we'll both try it!" he said exuberantly. The girl must have run off after a moment, as Silver kept talking, but much quieter. "She's young, Blaze. She doesn't know what she's doing."

"Doesn't make it better. I'm the unofficial guardian of the village, because I can control the fires."

"A guardian still needs to be a Guardian, Blaze. Sometimes, it's better to let the accidents happen, and have the accidents teach. As long as the lesson is learned, that's all that matters in the end, right?"

Blaze took a deep breath as the felt the surface of the water break for her. She had gone still, long enough to float above the water level. It roared around her, now a much more comfortable temperature than the boiling it had been. She could barely feel her hands, and her feet. Had she been pushed to the beach by the ocean? She felt Tails grab her arms again, and she unconsciously flinched as he rubbed against the burns, making them ignite around her again-

Tails didn't drop her this time, letting the cold metal of the boat surround her. "Stay here. You're hurt, badly. But Strike and Katia are fighting still, and no matter how much damage you did while in that burning phase thing you were in, Strike isn't letting up. I need to go help. Spark, watch her?" Tails's voice called out. Blaze turned to look at the vixen, only to see the grey scale background that she knew wasn't what she should've been seeing. She must've nodded or something, as Tails flew out of the boat a moment later.

"What did you do to yourself...?" Spark muttered around her. The ocean was loud, and the cold metal felt great but at the same time was reigniting the pain just by existing. Her nose smelled blood; whose blood? She couldn't move either. Her muscles refused to answer her. "I wish we had a rainbow road here, that's what helped you last time. When you crashed, like that. You still weren't up for that, for any of it."

She couldn't shake her head. "No, I wasn't," she tried to get out. Her voice was hoarse, impossible to make out. Had she burned her vocal cords? That...she hoped not. There was no healing that could come back from that, and even the rings wouldn't be of too much help. As much as Spark thought they would, they had helped almost all other physical injuries, something from the inside...rings couldn't help internal injuries. Not often.

The boat shifted again as Tails landed with Katia in tow. The scent of blood doubled and tripled in the air, and Blaze could hear their heartbeats pound in their chests. Katia was near the back, the aft. "Come on...what happened to her?" she asked.

"Overload. The same thing happened to Sonic the first time he went super. Spark, also had it happen when she used the Tempest the first time," Tails explained. "Rest, Blaze. Sleep, we got this," he said. Blaze took a deep breath through her nose. There was an awful lot of blood in the air. Blood and ash and smoke. There was another scent though...coming rapidly. "Strike's coming!" she tried to yell.

There was a sudden lurch in the boat as something landed on the aft, and both Spark and Katia let out a startled scream. There was a low growl, probably from Strike, and a cut off scream as Strike pulled Katia back into the water.

—Side T—

"Prepare the boat!" Katia shouted as soon as Strike ran across the sand. Tails wasn't sure how Strike had caught up to them so quickly. Had he left before them? Or was Strike almost as fast as he was? The jaguar's claws quickly met against Katia's knife that she still had on her from pickpocketing the guard, and with a swift riposte he jumped backwards onto the sand. "Once Blaze gets here, we go!" Katia shouted.

Tails nodded. Katia wouldn't have to beat Strike; just last long enough for Blaze to get there. He and Spark quickly shoved their shoulders against the metal boat, inching it out into the water. Once it would start to float, they knew it was good to go. He gave a quick glance back to Katia and Strike.

The jaguar was doing his best to dodge around the topless vixen, who was meeting him strike for strike. Despite the electrified claws that he attempted to disembowel her with, Katia was proving that she was worthy of the title of 'hunter'. She weaved and wove around his strikes, letting them either hit only air or the knife she still held. She was using her lightning resistance for good measure, now, never channeling any towards her opponent, and only using it when she needed to dodge or swerve out of the way.

He was growling something, not that Tails could hear it well. The sound of the ocean was too close, too everywhere, for even him to be able to hear. "You set up the mast, I'm going to help Katia," Spark said, keeping her bare feet out of the water. The boat was floating, now, at least. Tails agreed, and quickly flew up to the middle of the metal.

He pulled up the long log that Blaze and Katia had made earlier that day. He had a few sections carved out already that he attached the sheets to, ignoring the scent of sweat and lust and blood. He ignored how Katia's scent was still all over the sheets as he attached them to the top, giving a small glance towards the fight. Spark was much more aggressive, lower to the ground as she darted this way and that, occasionally landing small hits on his legs that he couldn't block, because his claws were too busy ensuring that Katia wouldn't get him in his bare arms or chest with her knife. All three were silent, especially compared to the usual banter he heard between Eggman and Sonic.

All he had to do now was to stretch the sheets out to the bow, and they'd go. He could leave, right now. But the thought barely crossed his mind before he discarded it. He'd never leave anyone behind, if he could help it. He spun his tails and flew to the aft, looking out to the fight, for the perfect place to enter it himself. Spark and Katia were doing pretty well, despite the one-sidedness of their fight earlier. They weren't working together, so to speak, and it reminded him strongly of Sonic and Knuckles.

That thought gave him the best place to enter. He landed down, and curled up, starting to spin in place as rapidly as he could. Spark was fighting like Sonic; quick, light strikes that were more to disorient than to actually hurt, to check for weaknesses before the final hit. Katia was like Knuckles, slow strong hits that were meant to attack and defend at the same time. Knuckles always did say that the best defense was a really good offense.

He waited, somehow knowing when to release his spin. Spark had just finished her strike, staying low to the ground as if she was feral, and Strike turned to claw her exposed back. "Hey, asshole!" Tails shouted in common as he let go. Strike barely had the chance to turn to him before he got the full power of the two-tailed foxes spindash, being thrown back into the trees, a minor slash in his chest as Tails uncurled and swung his tails at him.

"Ha, so now the worthless Exception joined in. Wonderful, I get to kill all of you," Strike said, grinning madly as his metal claw attachments crawled over each with lightning. He ran, surprisingly quick, towards Tails who ducked under the first strike, before he jumped to the side to aim for Katia. The vixen barely managed to block one claw before his other one came up, slashing up towards her shoulder. She tossed it back, but Tails still got the scent of blood in his nose.

Spark chose that moment to dive in, her own claws going against his back and his legs. Strike must have been holding back earlier, as he took a half step before flashing out with a kick aimed towards Spark's stomach, and only because Tails pulled her away at the last second was she not hurt worse. He could smell the pain she was in. The jaguar jumped back onto the sound, eager for another round of repeat. "You got a lucky shot, Exception. But I have your weapon, now. And these two? Worthless without their weapons. You're hurt, tired, and I am going to enjoy this," Strike smirked madly, his eyes wide as he brought up the bloody claw to his mouth, giving it a deep sniff before he licked it off.

That was creepy. If his reason for doing that was to bother him specifically, well, Tails had to admit he was right on the ball. He darted forward, acting like Spark generally would before he jumped over the inevitable kick, using his tails to dodge the claw strike as Strike missed the open air. Fighting someone like himself, Tails knew he'd get tired. With insane endurance, and the ability to start and stop in midair? And the knowledge of how to use it, and to work with his teammates, as both Spark and Katia dove in last second, quickly weaving their own strikes through Strike's weapons. Tails would not want to fight himself.

On the other hand, using all of his knowledge to show up someone like Strike? Wonderful. Maybe this was why Blaze had her special dance battle technique. Although...he had one too. His mind tried to recall the steps to it, although the rhythm had been lost for a long time.

His ears heard it before his other senses did; the sound of fire. He almost felt it before he saw her, too. Blaze, covered only by smoke and fire, running out of the forest. The haze around her protected her modesty, but he really didn't think it was a good idea when grey, ashy smoke was coming from out of her eyes. Strike took only one moment before he too lunged after her. "Blaze!" Tails shouted in warning. The cat didn't move as Strike attempted to carve up her chest, and four long claw marks made it obvious he had hit. Then he howled with pain a moment later as he jumped back, his entire front quickly burning up from being near her. The claw he'd used to attack her had melted into the sand. "Stop channeling!" he warned.

She gave him a dead stare, her eyes unfocused as her face moved for them. He rushed over to her, ignoring the way his skin was burning just from being near her. She was almost gone, lost in her power. He'd seen this once before; when Sonic had turned Super for the first time. The hedgehog had become a cruel, unstoppable juggernaut on Westside Island, and it had taken nearly half a day for him to tire out. But that was under the power of the seven Chaos Emeralds; Blaze was still under her own power, or so he hoped. If she'd activated the Sol Emeralds, from here, there wasn't much he could do.

He spun his tails, and ignored the burns rapidly developing around him as he picked up her wrists, taking her to the boat. He hoped she wouldn't melt right through it, but that was a thing they'd have to deal with only if it happened. Katia and Spark darted around Strike, trying to keep him occupied, and take advantage of his burning state as he took Blaze away. He didn't see it coming though; Strike had managed to channel enough lightning to throw a bolt towards him. It hit him right in the tails, making his back seize up as the electricity shot right through him, and his arms automatically opened.

Blaze fell into the water, into a massive cloud of steam that popped up a moment later. It took a moment or two, just long enough for Tails to spin up his tails again as he darted around another bolt. Spark was on the ground, a small cut into her side. Katia still had her shoulder wound, and she wasn't moving it much now, only using it defend if she needed to. Strike was still mostly good, except for the small hits that they'd already gotten him with, and the large full frontal burn that came when he attacked Blaze.

He heard the scream a second later as the steam stopped, and the instantly boiling water collapsed onto Blaze. She must have cut off her power in the water. He dove down to try to grab her, only to be rebuffed by the heat and steam. He waited only a second before he dove down into the water anyways, feeling the heat burn at him as he shoved Blaze upwards and towards the shore. She wasn't moving. She...hadn't drowned, had she? She was only down for a couple of seconds!

He managed to get her to shore, seeing Spark go down as she made one desperate attempt at Strike's legs. She had a large cut on her own leg, but the surge of blood from Strike showed she hit true. He fell down to one knee, using his claws to defend against Katia's knife strike as she moved in on his chest. One good strike is all that either party required. "I'm out!" Spark said, forcing herself to channel lightning to her legs and using that power to jump straight to the boat. Tails heard her hiss as she landed. He could tell that Strike had broken her leg at some point in the fight.

He flew back up and grabbed Blaze's arms again, noting how still warm she was, and yet she was almost shivering. With one of his legs hobbled badly, Katia was on the offensive now, swinging wildly as he was forced to block everything. "Stay here. You're hurt, badly. But Strike and Katia are fighting still, and now matter how much damage you did while in that burning phase thing you were in, Strike isn't letting up. I need to go help. Spark, watch her?" he asked. The vixen didn't hesitate as she nodded instantly, and Tails spun off.

They were still in a deadlock, Tails saw as soon as he landed. He came in and took over Spark's old job of doing the quick strikes, using his own natural speed as he attempted to trip the jaguar up. A strike here, and a strike there, Strike was slowly fading due to the bad leg. Spark had got him good, Tails noticed, getting him in the back of his knee. He probably shouldn't even be standing. So Tails aimed for it, using his own claw set towards it. Strike must have seen where he was aiming for, as he jumped back, promptly landing to one knee...right in front of Katia's knife. He heard the sickening sound as the knife parted Strike's flesh straight in the back, almost right in the spine.

The jaguar growled with blood coming from his mouth as he swiftly turned and got Katia with one last cut across her stomach before he fell. Tails was breathing hard as he waited for the jaguar to come back up. Had...had they won? Had they just killed him? Katia was breathing just as hard, her good arm holding her stomach. "We need to go," she muttered. Tails nodded, and grabbed her by her legs and back, holding her bridal style.

The boat hadn't moved, and Tails landed softly. "What happened to her?" Katia asked as she looked at the despondent Blaze. Tails looked at her hard for the first time since the meeting hall. Blaze was naked, curled up and trying to touch as much metal as possible while not touching anything. Her eyes were glancing out, unseeing. If her ears were still good, then Tails hoped the rest would be too.

"Overload. The same thing happened to Sonic the first time he went super. Spark also had it happen, when she used the Tempest. Rest, Blaze. Sleep, we got this," Tails said as he connected the sail to the bow. The boat started to move gently, quietly, the chilled wind starting to fill them with hope. They had done it. They had made it.

Then Blaze tried to yell, a sound that would haunt Tails' nightmares nightmares, as Strike lunged onto the boat, his body coated with electricity. He grinned bloodily towards them as his one remaining metal claw ripped right through Katia, the tips showing through her chest. She barely got a scream out before Strike jumped backwards into the water, with Katia still on his claw. Tails jumped over the boat instantly, trying to grab Katia's hand as she was pulled into the water.

"Katia!" Tails yelled as the water shorted out the electricity from both of their bodies. He could see it visibly crossing the surface, and with nary a waiting glance, he dove downwards into the water. He felt his muscles spasm, but he did his best to ignore it, using his previous experience to keep from hurting himself. Katia was near the surface, Strike right below her. Despite the fatal wound, he seemed to still be alive, striking at Katia over and over with his claws. Blood filled the ocean's water from her, but she was giving just as much, her knife digging into his arms and legs. Their blood mixed. Tails pushed himself to swim faster, forcing himself to use the electricity that they were emitting, trying to boost towards her.

Strike gave one last attack on Katia. She must've been watching what Tails had been doing as she pulled out his trick, creating a vacuum of lightning to move out of the way, and launch herself back in. The jaguar was overextended, and Tails watched as the knife strikes went through Strike's chest, his legs, his heart, and finally his head. There was no water around either of them anymore, but a mix of both of their life's essences.

She hadn't come out unscathed, Tails noticed. Strike had managed to get Katia's bad arm, blood coming from the cuts and wounds, and several hits on her legs and stomach. Far too late, Tails made it to Katia. He was racing the sharks now, who would inevitably come for the feast. He pushed Strike's body downwards, hoping to get them to attack his dead body. Tails surfaced a moment later, far too late, with Katia, hoping that he could back onto the boat in time to save her.

Katia barely looked up as they surfaced. She gave a dying grin towards him as he shoved every ounce of energy he still had into the boost, roughly landing on the boat. Her eyes were dull and lifeless, and it was only the fact she was barely moving that told him she was still alive. Her chest had been cruelly caved in, and her arms had been broken in multiple places. "Tails...kill the Blooming Tides," Katia said, the words barely coming out of her throat before she gave a single sigh, her body crashing onto the boat's bottom.


Katia rolled a natural 1.

Until Next Time.