Phantoms Of The Truth

Chapter 16

Live and Learn

*Location: Human World, Portal Entrance*

Blaze, along with the entire gang waited outside the portal as the evening began to appear. They waited for 4 arrivals as Blaze groaned.

“He’s late, again.” Blaze huffed as the some rolled their eyes and other just agreed

“You do realize he’s standing on the other side of the statue, right?” Came the voice of Serafin as Blaze spun around as just stared at her as he glanced to see him waving

“I give up.” Blaze sighed in defeat as he turned to see everyone looking at the new arrivals, consisting of Serafin, Loki and his two siblings

Lithareal, his sister and the embodiment of Envy, she was the youngest and most energetic of the three as she greeted everyone. Then his brother, Lucifer, the oldest was the polar-opposite of Lith, as he would follow his own rules and even mess with people from time-to-time. He is also the embodiment of Pride.

Then only Serafin remained. Now she wore a yellow halter top with yellow bracelets with red trimming by her shoulders. She also had light orange jeans with red flames at the bottom and charcoal shoes.

“So, who’s this, Blaze?” Xelor asked as Serafin nodded to him

“I’m Serafin, an old friend from out of town, Blaze asked if I wanted to come to this festival so I accepted,” Serafin lied as she didn’t want to involve anyone in her private affairs

“Well nice to meet ya! I’m Xelor,” Xelor greeted her with a handshake as the rest did also, but one of them, in other words, Sam, decided to try his ‘Charm’ on her

“Oh no,” Loki said as he stood beside Blaze

“Tell me something Loki, how much force would it take for a body to break concrete?” Blaze asked as they waited for the inevitable

“Don’t know, why?” He asked

“Well I do believe Sam’s about to find-“

Then they all oohed and ahhed as they saw a glaring Serafin look down at the now broken pavement with Sam imbedded in it

“Do that again and I’ll not go easy on you!” She warned as his head spun

“That was easy!?” He managed to say as Serafin turned to walk away but tripped on one of his legs before falling forward

“Geez, Sam, even when broken you can’t stop trying to hurt people,” Raiden said as he held Serafin up from the ground as he helped her back up “You alright?”

“Ye-yes, thanks,” She said in a slight stutter “Sorry, I’m still trying to remember names,”

“Raiden, and no problem,” he said with a nod as she gave him a small smile before Pinkie caught everyone’s attention

“Alright everyone! Let’s get this festival started!!!” She yelled as they all cheered but Blaze then remembered something

“Oh, yea almost forgot! He said as he quickly pointed at Loki and his siblings “They’re the embodiments of 3 of the 7 sins

This made some looked concerned and some most baffled.

“And why should we believe that?” Xero said looking rather annoyed “I mean come on, I can by the whole other dimension thing, but the Sins of Hell, really?”

“What, jealous you don’t have awesome powers like us?” Lith mocked as Xero rolled his eyes

“As if I would want to be a – “

“Ok! That’s enough! Look just take my word on it and just let it slide, alright?” Blaze jumped in as Xero just turned and walked away “Loki, no taunting,”

“I’m not apologizing or promising,” He admitted as he teleported ahead as Blaze sighed

“I can’t seem to catch a break,” He groaned as he felt someone tap his shoulder as he saw Dash walk beside him

“Well at least this time you can get a break, right?” She countered as he shrugged

“Fair point,” He admitted as she nodded before scooting closer

“Besides-“She then gave him a peck on the cheek as Blaze’s face lit up along with Dash’s “-I expect you to stick around for longer,” She then jogged ahead as Blaze just walked slowly behind her

“You are now dating 2 girls at once, congratulations!” Neckros cheered in Blaze’s head as he continued to smirk

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*Loki, Xelor, Blaze, Pinkie*

“Ow!” Once again Blaze ran into another mirror wall as he along with Xelor, Loki and Pinkie tried to navigate it

“You really suck at this navigation thing, don’t you?” Neckros mocked as his reflection replaced Blaze’s in the mirror

“Ha. Ha, look I hate navigation, but this! No.” He argued as he turned and walked slowly down a hall as Neckros walked beside him through the mirrors

“Side note, I tasted a lot of envy and anger from that Xero kid a while ago, even now I can sense it,” Neckros added which made Blaze stop to face him

“Why? What’s up with him?” Blaze asked as he just shrugged

“Don’t know really, It could be anything, heck if KAI were here he would say the same,” Neckros added before they both came across a circular room with Loki looking at, not himself

In the front reflection, a medieval looking person stood, a staff in one hand and a bottle of alcohol in another as he just stared back, in another, a completely armoured figure with a golden scythe on his back stood. Another showed a more human looking one, but from the neck down he was a synthetic robot with blue code emanating from parts of his body.

“So, this is what it’s like to be the Paradox,” He said before falling unconscious, his reflections disappearing completely and not even reflecting his body

“That was the weirdest thing ever, of all time,” Both Blaze and Neckros said as they turned and walked away, then the sound of a girly scream echoed around them as Neckros looked from the mirror to Blaze

“Who…?” Neckros began but Blaze just face-palmed

“Xelor, as bright as you are, you’re not the bravest,” Blaze quoted as Neckros began to laugh hysterically

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*Serafin, Raiden, Lith, Lucifer*

“I told you, I’m better for I have billions of years’ worth of experience,” Lucifer argued as he huffed and Raiden sighed as his eye twitched

“Just because you have that many years under your belt, doesn’t mean you won’t screw up once,” He countered as Lucifer kept refusing to back down

“I could just blow you away to the deepest reaches of Hell right now, but sadly I can’t, so my argument wins,” Lucifer continued as he smirked

“That didn’t even have anything to do with the argument! You’re just too stubborn to admit you can’t win!” Raiden snapped back but before Lucifer could counter they both turned and soon their jaws dropped

The targets were being gunned down a light-speed as onlookers watched in amazement as the bell rang and the game ended. People clapped to Serafin and Lith as they soon turned around with smirks on their faces as they both fist-bumped. Then they both took their prizes, Lith had a plush of a red fox with an eyepatch and hook, Serafin took a Blocky Blaze as they walked passed the two stunned boys.

“Time to see what else there is! Onwards!” Lith cheered happily as Serafin followed with a nod

“Never speak of this again?” Lucifer offered as Raiden nodded

“Agreed,” Then they both shook hands and followed “You gotta admit, they have skill,”

“Meh, I can do better,” Lucifer mumbled as they pressed on

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*Dash, Sam, Twilight, Sunset*

The group walked closely together as they wandered around for the exit. They all decided to try the haunted maze, which happened to be a difficult as fort-Knox as they were scared at almost every corner. But something felt wrong as they continued.

“Hey Guys? Don’t ya think it’s getting kind of… cold?” Sam asked as they all nodded hesitantly

“So, what? It’s just part of the attraction, nothing crazy, right...?” Dash said but felt uneasy as they then heard something rustle in the bushes and jumped  

“Somehow, I doubt that, Dashie,” Sunset said as it then came from the end of the hallway

“Oh, you gotta be kidding? Of all the creepy clichés, it had to be this one,” Dash cursed as they then saw black fog creeping out of the bushes

“Oh boy,”

“No problem, we’ll just turn around and head back,” Twilight tried to reassure but a tap from Sam got her to turn as her eyes widened

The way was gone.

“Great! Now what!?” Dash shouted as they all talked amongst themselves

“Girls?” Sam tried to call but they didn’t hear him

“Girls!?” he tried louder as he waved franticly behind him

“Girls!!!” He yelled as they turned

“What is it, sa-“Sunset started as she gasped and soon the rest did

The black shadow was tall and skinny, it’s massive claws and arms held it up as its massive, inhumanly grin shined in the darkness as its head looked like a wolf as it’s white, soulless eyes glared at them.

“ROAR!!!” It screeched as they all screamed and ran down another passage, then once they disappeared the shadow looked around before laughing

“Tha-that was priceless! Hahahahaha! They-they just-hahaha!” Neckros laughed as he wiped a tear away before heading back into the black puddle below

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*Later That Night*

After most of the evening had passed, all gathered at the main stage for a ceremony of sorts, it was to thank everyone or something. Blaze and the rest all gathered and when Blaze heard about the maze incident he face-palmed to the laughing in his head before they heard the ceremony beginning. What they didn’t expect was the next incident to happen.

“Sorry, but this night’s little speech has been-“ The a clawed arm held out a person impaled on the end as people gasped and screamed as the body dissipeared into a small flame

The flame was then crushed as the figure walked out. They wore what looked like rags with some red here and there. A smirk was present on their black face as crimson eyes glared back at the crowd. It tail swished back and forth in excitement.

“Oh, my apologise, I haven’t introduced myself, I’m Carnage,” He spoke with venom as people froze in fear as he began to pace

“Now down to business, it’s come to my attention that this world has been suffering, magic has become a muck around here and I’m here to clean it up,” Carnage began then Neckros chimed in

“Oh, you got to be kidding me,” He said with a slight hint of worry

“What is it?” Blaze asked

“That’s really, Carnage, The Corrupted, bad~ news,” Neckros finished with a gulp “Get ready for a fight, because this won’t end well for us,”

“You see after a little fight that a certain cyborg had with a bunch of freaks, he opened a rift by accident, one that lead to my realm, the Nightmare Realm, and so I took it upon myself to go through, then I met someone,”

“That’s your cue!” Carnage added at the end

The person then walked out of the shadows as Blaze and rest gasped. It was Xero, his bored eyes scanned the area before shook his head.

“I know many of you might not know me, but that won’t matter soon anyways, as I have come to rid this world a corruption, a virus that must be stopped,” Xero began as Blaze and Loki moved through the crowd

“You see, someone has brought magic into this world, and ever since his arrival it has caused nothing but pain and suffering to some, and is even affecting the world as a whole!” He began as he glared at the now approaching Blaze and Loki

“It’s all your fault, Blaze!!!” He yelled as people stepped back from the two as Blaze looked at him in concern

“Xero, I-I haven’t done anything wrong! All ive done is try to protect this world!” Blaze countered as he slammed his foot

“Have you!? Have you now!? If it weren’t for you, this world may have live in peace, people wouldn’t have to fear everyday was one that at any point could become havoc!”

“Ever since Indigo you have caused nothing but pain, all I heard was magic this, magic that! The threats to this world became bigger as rifts began to open, all because of you! You have done nothing but made everyone suffer for your mistakes!”

“You don’t know me, I thought you did, but you don’t know what it’s like to fight, to kill all for the sake of your friends!” Blaze snapped

“Ive suffered so much! Not one day went by where I didn’t think about the lives I put at stake, not one,” Blaze said as Xero just shook his head

“You fucker! You bloody idiot, you brought three of the sins of hell with you! You actually like them as friends, how can I not blame you! You’ve done nothing but plague this earth,” Xero trailed off as he looked at the Nightmare as it grinned

“So, I’m going to cleanse it,” He said darkly as Blaze and Loki both protested

“No! don’t! if you fuse with that ‘Thing’ you’ll be corrupted by it! Please don’t!” Blaze begged

“I get that your package hasn’t dropped yet, but this is not the way to do it,” Loki mocked as he glared at him

“Listen to them Xero! It’s not worth it!” Xelor shouted as the rest also protested as he hesitated before looking away

“If you won’t stand aside, then your nothing but an obstacle in my way,” He finished before reaching his hand over to Carnage as he accepted

“NO!!!” All of them yelled but it was too late

The monster spread across his body like a plague as he fell to his hand and knees as he yelled in pain, but before the rest could do anything a blinding light of crimson shot out.

When their eyes adjusted again, Xero slowly began to stand as they all stared at the monster before them. It was very slim, almost skeleton like, as it was one. A grey cloak covered most of its body as two skeleton hands gripped something on its back.

Then It pulled a massive, jagged scythe with two massive curved ends. Its hood then came over its skull as two green eyes glowed back, constantly angry. Xero was gone.

“Xero…?” Blaze asked in a whisper but only got a glare in response

“No, Xero is gone, only Zanerif remains!” he spoke in a chilling voice, this was going to be brutal

To Be Continued…