Phantoms of the Truth

Chapter 17 part 2

Down But Not Out

*Location: Tempest Rampart, Dawn*

Blaze slowly woke up to the sound of wood being cut from just outside the small shack he was in, it was dust and looked as old as the world around it. His limbs still felt tender from the fight. But his eyes just kept to the ground as he hopped off the bed. Bandages wrapped around parts of his body as he made his way to the door.

When the light met his gaze, he waited for his vison to clear before focusing on the sight before him. Neckros was busy flicking through his Necronomicon, Loki was using so sort of map as he pin-pointed locations and Serafin was checking her golden armour.

“Oh! It’s about time you woke up! Howya feel?” Neckros asked as Blaze kept his frown

“Better, I guess, how long was I out?” He asked as Neckros quickly flicked through the book

“Hmm, about 3 days, but then again you got torn out of your armour and not to mention all your vitals, according to KAI, were completely screwed,” Neckros explained as he looked at his metal limb before sighing

“Atleast you didn’t get two massive claws shoved into your head! I was mind raped, that’s worse than normal rape,” Loki shouted in annoyance as he grumbled to himself

“So, what now is what Ive been thinking for 3 days,” Serafin added as she walked up, Blaze just sat there in silence

“’What now’? really? What the hell could we possibility do to beat him?” Blaze snapped as he kicked the dirt

“Geez, I think Seer hit him harder than we thought,” Neckros quipped as Blaze just glared at him

“Well if you want to jump into action, then what’s stopping you!? I don’t give a shit anymore! I’m done! You can do whatever you want now, your contract is over, done, gone,” Blaze snapped as Neckros’s smile grew in excitement

Then without warning both Serafin and Loki watched as Neckros vanished and pinned Blaze to the wall of the shack. His gaze ever so hungry.

“You don’t know how long ive waited to hear those words!” Neckros laughed as he brought a claw up to Blaze’s face “Now then, time for some payback!”

“Do it then,” Blaze whispered as he closed his eyes “Everything I had is gone now, so there’s no point in fighting,”

*SHINK-SMASH*

Blaze’s eyes shot open as he felt the wall behind him crumbled into rubble, then his eyes met Neckros as his narrowed eyes glared at Blaze.

“Wake up.” He said sternly

“What?” Blaze asked as he felt his body fly backwards and into the dirt

“Wake the fuck up!” Neckros repeated as the others watched, even Oak had come back to see the commotion

“No matter what happens, you always kept fighting, you beat me, you beat a demi-god and a world of a virus, you beat your past and future, and then this joker shows up and all of a sudden you just say ‘there’s no point in fighting’!!?”

“You showed me trust, something that ive never been given in a long time,” Neckros finished as he brought Erika out “I was alone, only her to trust, then you decided that after everything I did, you would give me a second chance,” Erika glowed happily

"Even i'm thankful that you helped Neckros out, even if he can be a bit... dramatic," Erika thanked as Neckros continued

“Loki, was a sociopathic nightmare, who has sent more danger our way than anyone else, and yet after a small talk you accepted him as a friend,” Loki smirked at the comment

“Serafin, who had been drowning in her own self-pity for so long, you saw that she had a chance to make a new life, and she did, though it was hard, she finally had someone she could care about again,” Serafin smiled slightly

“Oak was a small threat, but even after what he tried to do he changed, all because of what you did for him in the past, now he’s the most badass wolf I know!” Oak barked happily at that, then Neckros pointed at Blaze

“Now. . . we’re going to help return the favour,” Neckros finished as Blaze saw him hold out his hand

“You’ve done so much for us, atleast let us do the same,” Serafin added as she held her hoof out above Neckros’s

“It’s been a heck of a ride, so let keep er going!” Loki happily yelled as he held his hand out

“I still don’t understand a lot about friendship, I still have a lot to learn, but what I do know is that I’ll stand by you,” Oak responded as he held a paw out also

“Guys I. . . I’m sorry, I just felt like all ive ever done was make people suffer, never making anything right,” Blaze said, his head low as his he saw a small sprite of KAI appear

“And? What about what you can still accomplish, every being makes mistakes, so how about we fix this one, or die trying,” KAI stated as Blaze slowly felt his sadness fade only determination remained

“They have been by me all this time, no matter how much pain I put them through or even in reverse, they stayed with me, and now…” Blaze thought as he held his metal hand out “I’m going to keep going, no matter how painful,”

"Let's show that freak what us idiots can do!" Blaze shouted as the rest yelled also

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Later…

Blaze was busy flying around their camp site as they all went to work. This time Blaze was all fired up.

“Loki! I need you to call Lith and Lucifer here!” Blaze asked as he stopped

“Why? Exactly would you want to bring the nuclear bomb and my brother here?” He asked as Blaze smirked

“Were gunna have a party,” He said vaguely as Loki smiled and nodded

“Neckros! I need you to use all your power to be able to launch me and Serafin into the castle, it would take too long for all of us, so atleast send two,” Blaze explained as he powered up

“Hehehehe! Don’t need to tell me twice!” He said as he kept powering up

“Serafin! I need you to focus on finding our friends, I’ll take care of Seer,” Blaze asked quickly as she looked at him with concern

“How can you fight him without any of us to help you?” She asked as everyone stopped and looked at Blaze as he grinned, his red eye glowing brightly

“Oh, we have that covered,” Blaze said menacingly

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*Location: Canternlot outskirts, midday*

The wind blew silently as Loki, Lith, Lucifer, Oak, Neckros and Blaze stood to attention, just beyond them was a massive sea of black. But little sparks of red indicated they were there.

“There’s about 100,000 or so bots,” Blaze said calmly as he turned back “You sure you all got this?”

“What, only 100,000!? I was expecting a challenge,” Lucifer yawned as Blaze rolled his eyes

“Look, just keep them busy, Neckros, you’re up!” Blaze called as he levitated Blaze up, his gaze widening with anticipation “You know what you’re doing, right?”

“Oh, totally not!” He said truthfully as he charged his hand with dark energy, the wind then began to pick up “HASTA LA WAGO!!!”

Then the bots’ attention drew to the sound of a sonic boom as they watched the crimson arrow pass right over them and the sound of the castle wall breaking echoed into the valley.

“HEY TINHEADS!!!” Loki called out as they all turned to see the group “WELCOME TO THE CIRCUS OF THE DEAD!!!”

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Inside the castle…

Once the bots in the hall cleared out, Serafin and Blaze came out of hiding. Serafin wore her golden armour as it glowed a tint of purple, her sword hovering along with her blaze rods. Blaze then turned in the direction of the throne room but was stop by Serafin.

“What’s up?” He asked as she looked at him with a smile before hugging him

“Don’t die, go it?” She asked as he smiled and nodded

“No promises,” He joked as she let go and ran down the next hall, then Blaze face became one of pure anger then he heard Loki's voice over all the commotion

"Taste the power of my Lemonades!!!" he yelled as the sound of something exploding and splating could be heard

Blaze then approached the doors of the throne room as he heard the commotion outside grow, he then kicked the doors open as he looked to see Seer staring back at him from the end of the hall.

“You really don’t know when to quit, do you?” He asked calmly as Blaze glared at him “You should have let me end your pain there and then, all this conflict could have been avoided if you just died,”

“Never! I’ll keep refusing to die, until every one of you scumbags are dead!” Blaze shouted back as Seer just got up

“So, it ends like this? The villain against me, even if you did win, you can’t possibly imagen what will happen, the wars will only become more deadly, causing more pain to others, is that what you want? to die?” Seer asked as Blaze smiled as he narrowed his eyes

"No! I'm not trying to die, i want to survive!" Blaze yelled back as Seer sighed and locked into a stance

“Besides, i want you to be my first test for my new look,” Blaze said with a smirk as his metal limbs glowed red as he stood upright

His body instantly was consumed by grey metal of all shades as his body became slimmer, almost air tight as red plates of armour strapped to the sides of his thighs, some on his knees and the heal and tongue of his feet.  

His arms had a red stripe up the middle as two shoulder guards stuck into the air with a red stripe going through them. His cored also gain many layers, the middle becoming red also. Then his neck was silver and his entire face was encased. A silver visor covering his eyes as 4 horizontal red bars covered his face with dark grey metal.

His hair was covered by his helmet going angular at the back, then his golden sword of the elements appeared in his right hand. Then he spoke.

*BLAZING TRAIL: CRIMSON FLAMES*

“Now it ends here Seer, you and me!” Blaze yelled, his voice now more metallic as Seer felt his glare through the visor

“Let your death be quick,” He answered as Blaze held his blade to his side

“Let’s Dance!!!” he called out

This was no longer a simple fight, it all began at a high cost. First Mettalix, then Omega, Neckros, Indigo, Loki, Sophix, all of them. Now it was the fight between the Fallen God and the Corrupted Hero.

Sneak Peek:

“His power is off the charts! How the hell can we beat that!!?” Neckros called out as the sky grew darker in colour due to the attack, as many panicked

Blaze stood in his armour, his eyes were closed as he spoke hollowly.

“Neckros…” Blaze called, his voice trailing off as he turned to face him as it took him a moment to thin before closing his eyes and laughing lazily

“End of the line, eh?” He asked as Blaze tilted his head, a smirk present under his mask

“I guess we all have to pay our debt one day,” Blaze answered, they both knew what they had to do

To Be Continued…