by Andrew Jones
"Let the fool give into his suffering." The Nova clone spoke in a distorted voice as she appeared in front of her. "You should be on this side of the barrier- considering the fact that you knew of Amaya's death, and her village being destroyed."
Kryptonite gasped as he looked over at Blaze, "Blaze... So, she is dead and you kept it from me?"
Blaze stayed on the ground, not realizing that her overwhelming amount of tears poured down her cheeks, "It didn't feel like the right time to tell you! She died from Nova and Atreyu!"
He wiped away some of the tears that had materialized from his tears, not being able to stop the tears from forming, "I trusted you, Blaze!"
A pop sound was heard as a mass of black smoke formed next to Kryptonite. In the black smoke, Atreyu looked down at him as he crossed his arms. His eyes grew from a pale white color to a deep red coloring, beginning to shoot a glare down at him.
"She is no Aeza, Kryptonite. Do you even remember her? The one destined to bring the race of Teddy Bears toward the right direction." Atreyu spoke, with the same distorted voice, as well. "It was too bad she died, I wouldn't think she'd be happy knowing you replaced her with this girl or the pathetic Synth over there."
Kryptonite looked up at him, "No... I didn't replace her! I still care very much for her!"
Atreyu smirked, it was a very evil looking smirk. As he did so, he reached his arm down toward him and opened his hand slowly.
"Aeza is on our side. We've made contact with her." Atreyu said.
Kryptonite jumped up in shock, as he suddenly dropped Amaya's body and stood up, "You... Spoke to her?"
Atreyu nodded his head, "We control even the dead now. I can take you to see her."
Blaze gasped as she pulled out her sword and charged into the barrier. She tried her best to penetrate through the barrier- hearing the magical sounds it made and being slightly blinded by the multiple colors that shine after each impact. She stabbed and slashed and did just about anything to get passed the barrier.
"You fool. You can't get passed." Nova spoke, chuckling.
Nova snapped her fingers right after speaking, letting the barrier electrocute Blaze, forcing her to fall to the ground. She screamed as she lost control of her own body, all she could feel was the infuriating pain of the shocks that ran through her own body.
"N-No, Kryptonite!" Blaze screamed through her pain.
Opening one eye slightly, she saw Kryptonite place his paw in the center of Atreyu's hand. Atreyu tightly grabbed his paw immediately, grinning. Atreyu's body had turned completely black apart from his red eyes. The black mass began pouring into Kryptonite through his paw, slowly consuming his body until he was just a black mass. His black button eyes had changed to the color of red. He screamed, but not from the physical pain, but from the emotional pain. This process fed off of his inner rage for vengeance- the one thing he never really knew he wanted. He realized that his true intention, that forced him to undergo many painful memories was for this purpose. To get revenge for what happened to Aeza, the Queen of the Teddy Bears fro hundreds of years ago, back before Ruse became a serious threat to the world.
"Kryptonite, no! Please!" Blaze shouted.
She used all of her strength to sit up and stab her sword into the ground, using it to help her onto her feet. But she was struggling to even keep on her feet, and keep a tight enough grip on the sword. Her vision became blurry, but she was able to see what had become of Kryptonite. She tried to keep her eyes open, every time she'd force her eyes to open a bit, she'd see Kryptonite look at her with no reaction or emotion in him. She could only see a tear fall down his cheek.
"Kryptonite... I'm sorry..." Blaze whimpered, just as she fell to the ground.
Atreyu and Nova watched as Blaze fell to the ground, looking as though she had died. Atreyu's red eyes narrowed and frowned, as he looked at Nova and nudged his head toward the black building. She nodded, quickly lifting her arm toward Blaze's body and formed a fist, instantly making her turn into multiple little blocks. The blocks would float in the air for a moment before fading away into the wind that cast a soft breeze toward the open doors into the building.
Branch B Ending
Verse XIX
The Sound of the End
Blaze was awake, but she preferred to keep her eyes closed. She felt as though she had nothing left to keep her going. Kryptonite, her real companion, had become corrupted and taken over by the Armagna network because Blaze simply never told him about what happened to Amaya and her village. Did Kryptonite really care that much about his friends? This caring feeling was something Blaze could not feel inside for anyone, anyone except Augur. She could only picture him in her mind, smiling, as she was uncertain of what her next outcome was. She was scared, she had actually been scared for once in her life. Which was not common at all, since she has had multiple incidences where she has had a near death experience. It was like those incidences were intentional, like she craved the feeling of death and pain- because that was Humans felt.
It was like in that moment, Blaze finally accepted the fate of all machines, even Synths. All of the machines were created to replace the Human race. But she did not believe that machines were exactly Human, and cannot be, no matter how much one would try or believe. A machine's life was wasteful, for nothing, to be disregarded and thrown around. They were beings of nothingness only to believe they were so. And the might of believing only made them much weaker and vulnerable to being corrupted. Maybe the machines were just created to help this Network spark and gain control.
"Blaze, do you remember what you told me? What you truly wanted to accomplish in this world?" Augur asked.
It was like Blaze could hear his voice once again- like he was standing right in front of her. Her body shook with the urge to see him, and she had opened her eyes almost immediately after she heard the question. She saw him, but he was like a spirit. He had formed his body of when he was alive, but he was see-through, like a ghost. He was looking down at her as she held her arms up against the chains that kept her down on her knees. She couldn't speak, she could only look down and grunt in her pain.
"What's wrong, Blaze?"
Blaze felt a tear run down her cheek, as she hid her face behind her bangs, "Augur... Why can't I die? I feel like this whole time, I've been trying to die, but fate won't allow it..."
Augur shook his head and chuckled.
"Blaze, I've been keeping you alive." Augur sighed, kneeling down right in front of her, "I can't let you die. I've been looking down at you and watching you. You can say that I've been protecting you."
Blaze gasped and looked up at him. Her eyes were sparkling, sparkling brightly from all the tears that were eradicated within. Augur smiled, wiping away some of her tears while they ran down her cheeks.
"But, I think I've been through enough... I want to pass and be with you..." Blaze muttered, sounding like she was going to start sobbing.
Augur shook his head, "We all live for a purpose, Blaze. My purpose was to help create the Machina, and to sacrifice myself for the research of Ruse. My fate has been sealed- but yours hasn't yet. But you are close to what destiny has for you."
Blaze quickly grabbed onto Augur's hand, incredibly shocked that she was able to feel his touch. She held it tightly before putting it up to her cheek, beginning to sob quietly. Augur grabbed her and pulled her into a hug, a soft and tendering hug.
"You're tortured, I can sense that something is bringing suffering to your senses. You must hurry and destroy Lilith, Blaze. It's the only way to destroy the Network."
As she was pulled into his hug, she felt an overwhelming amount of light pierce into her heart. Her tears dried up like she never cried. She found herself standing in a normal looking city, the city she had colored in the previous room with Kryptonite. She looked around, just as a little bus had driven by her. She saw many people on the bus, the people had smiles on their faces and actually looked like they had been enlightened. But the strangest part was that the sun was
big and it gazes the picturing of dust as the nighttime was around the corner.
She saw a girl run around the corner, down the stairs as she seemed to giggle at her. Blaze narrowed her eyes as she crept toward the corner, being cautious, but a few kids approached her.
"Hello! Are you new here?" A boy asked, jumping around with joy oddly.
"..." Blaze said nothing.
The girl tugged on the back of her brother's shirt, trying to pull him away, "Sorry... Mother says for us not to talk to strangers..."
Blaze watched the two of them walk away, seemingly arguing, as she could not help but feel strange about what the area looked like. It was like Humanity had rebuilt itself and the destruction of Ruse and the Armagna Network had never been an issue.
She turned to look down the stairs, seeing the girl laughing down there again. She was just looking up at Blaze and laughing in the strangest way. Blaze frowned and followed down the stairs, quickly approaching the girl. But as she arrived within a few feet away from her, the girl disappeared. Like she, herself, was a ghost. Blaze gasped as she heard some loud commotion toward the district next to her. There was a crowd of people, just surrounding a man who was standing on top of a platform. He had a microphone and shouted preaching to the people, who would then preach along. She only gazed at the sight of how the Humans would preach, trying it out herself. But when she lifted her arm up, like they did, she pulled it down and looked at her arm. How could she so desperately want to be a Human? She was mimicking the actions of the Humans now, she felt so pathetic of herself.
"It is because of this one man, we are here today! Augur, who sacrificed his life to create an antidote that would kill off the Ruse virus!" One man in the crowd shouted.
Blaze gasped as she heard Augur's voice. She began to really wonder what this world was, until the spirit of Augur, the one she saw before she ended up in this mysterious world, appeared next to him. He smiled and watched the people in amusement, staying quiet as he listened to their chanting.
"You see, Blaze? This world is the world you and I can create. It just requires sacrifice- and we can regenerate the world, instead of creating a new. Our souls, our spirits help support this world and fight off the bonds of darkness and corruption."
"This world is beautiful... But surely this world must have it's ups and downs?"
Augur shook his head, "The people slouch, and they complain about their neighbors. There are financial issues, that bring upon stress. That's unavoidable though, we cannot supply money, can we?"
Blaze chuckled a little bit as she laid her head down, looking a bit worried as she would think about the world and her next actions.
"You can do it, Blaze. You may not be a Nawx, but with the goodness of our sacrifices- we can do her job. We can create a beautiful, radiant world with our souls entwined."
Within a few seconds, a man charges into the crowd with a gun. With the gun, he pulls the trigger and kills several people in the crowd, shouting at the person on the platform. Blaze gasped, while Augur reached into his chest to grab a ball of light he had created.
"Go back to your world, Blaze. I can handle this." Augur shouted.
Blaze shook her head, "But how will I see you again?!"
The man's shadow moved on its own, increasing in size and forming a blackened monster.
"You'll see me eventually, I promise!"
Augur formed a portal from his ball of light, forcing Blaze into the portal as he would rush to the darkened shadow for an attack.
Blaze twitched and opened her eyes as if she had a frightful dream. She found herself in the dark room once against, feeling the chains squeeze against her wrists tightly. Feeling an overwhelming amount of light inside of her, she was able to regain her strength and pull back against the rusted chains, breaking them off of the walls. She fell to the ground and rubbed her wrists as they shown a permanent scar from the chains, showing signs that they had bled at some point.
She dashed out of the wooden door to see herself in a large hallway. It looked to have belonged to a royal family- statues of armored soldiers stood next to each of the doors in the hallway, pictures of old relatives from the past, a long red carpet that would lead down the hallway and into a large open room. Blaze would follow the red carpet to the open room, stopping immediately after she saw that the room was inhabited by functioning machines.
The machines were sitting on the dining table- it was a big dining table that would circle around the big room. Machines sat on each side of the table, which consisted of about one hundred machines. They were chowing down some sort of food like they had never been fed before. But as they ate, the blood from their meals would gush all over them and the table. Suddenly, the meal looked like body parts from Human corpses.
"We must eat Human... So we can be more like Human..." A machine said, its voice was malfunctioning quite a bit as it ate as well.
Blaze narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms, "They're eating Human because they believe that having Human materials in their bodies, they'll eventually become Human. It might be another trick from Lilith to manipulate them..."
"Indeed, machines of their rank are easily convinced, since they do not have a mind of their own." Chip spoke.
Blaze looked annoyed, "Chip- where have you been? ... Never mind that, try to gather through this building's intel and find me a map. I have to find Kryptonite."
All the machines stopped eating at the same time, to look up at the top of the stairs on the other side of the room, the opposite side of where Blaze was standing. The giant gold doors began to open. Kryptonite walked out of the doors to overlook the machines, with the Synth clones of Nova and Atreyu. Blaze frowned as she dashed forward, breaking off a machine's arm as she did so, and attempted to slash at the Synth clones. But a blue magical force reflected her attack, making her bounce off and land straight onto the dining table.
Kryptonite snickered, "You. I should have known you'd find your way out of there."
"Kryptonite, snap out of it. You're under Lilith's manipulation- just like everyone around here." Blaze spoke bluntly at him.
"I may have, but Lilith has helped me regain my wish to seek vengeance for Aeza.
Blaze sighed, "I don't have the patience for this. If you won't move out of the way, I'll just take you and your two lackeys down."
Kryptonite narrowed his red button eyes, forming a frown, "I respect you, Blaze. But you're making the wrong choice. The machines can form a better culture than those of the Humans. Lilith has the plans that can bring the perfect world- without the likes of the Nawx."
"I said to fucking move!"
Kryptonite stretched his arms to the sides, letting Nova and Atreyu grab them with their hands. They began to transform, altering their bodies as screams of pain were heard from all three of them. They began to grow bigger and bigger until they forming into the shape of a dark cloud- with a center of which changed colors, colors that shine brightly from the inside of the machine cloud.
Blaze grunted while the machine cloud produced winds of high speed, but she was surprised that the purpose of the winds was to bring all of the machines that sat on the dining table to it, making all of the machines fuse with the machine cloud. It began to transform again- quickly becoming a mimic of Blaze, completely copying her all shapes of her body, but the color of her was black with the red eyes. The Mimic Blaze snickered, showing her sharp teeth as she slightly opened her mouth.
"I'll devour you." The Mimic Blaze spoke, also copying Blaze voice except it was a bit darker.
"That's fine, I'll take all of you machines out in one go!"
Blaze dashed toward her mimic, only for the mimic to melt to the ground. She looked down, to see her face had been implanted on the floor- growing into a black color. She quickly jumped as the floor grew a mouth and attempted to eat her. The mimic began to laugh, while it stuck it's tongue out. Blaze used that as an opportunity to strike the mimic, slashing against it's tongue. She flew passed it, and landed on the other
side of its mouth, ensuring her own safety, while blood gushed from the tongue which forced the mimic to come out of the ground. Blaze stuck the mimic once again, but every time she hit the mimic, machines would seem to pop out of the mimic like she had been breaking their bond. She dashed back into the few machines that had popped out, killing each of them with a few swings of her weapon.
"Why must you deny us machines of the world we deserve!?" The mimic spoke again, copying Blaze's voice once more.
The mimic flew toward the hallway, where it had broken into many different parts. Three of the parts that came from the mimic flew into the large red rug, and the rest of the parts flew into each of the statues of the armored soldiers. Blaze watched as the rug slowly began moving up, like it had been copying a snake. But she also had dodge fast and precisely, as the rug would attempt to wrap around her. It finally captured her after a few tried. Blaze tried her best to break free, but her being cautious from the approaching armored soldiers made her wary. Instead of trying to break free, she used her weapon to stab through the rug, causing it to scream and flee from her. As it began to flee, though, Blaze catch it by it's end and used it to attack the armored soldiers, striking them like the rug was a whip of some sort. It worked and forced the armor to break off, causing the machines to form back into their normal selves. Blaze quickly dashed to strike each of the machines, listening to them all explode as she dashed past them.
"Traitorous Synth! You're supposed to protect the Machina!"
The mimic fled from the rug, but it immediately flew into the wall. It began to hack into just about anything in the room. The chandeliers on the top of the room began to shoot limitless balls of fire at Blaze, the walls grew long arms and began trying to either grab Blaze or attack her. Blaze tried to dodge all of the attacks, but she was hit by one of the swinging arms of the wall, throwing her across the room as she hit against the wall. She opened her eyes as she grumbled, seeing as the mimic jumped out of the wall and began walking to her, aiming a spear that looked like the one Blaze lost a while ago, right at her.