The Apocalypse: Blaze

Solo No Mo

Blaze rocketed along the rails towards a desert biome. She passed by a rather large desert city with a nearby oasis, heading towards the mountains. As she continued on her path, she had to jump to an adjacent rail to avoid looping back. A few minutes later, something down below caught her eye. There was a yellow Mobian fox swinging a metal baseball bat at a smaller version of the metal cats Blaze had fought. Five more were surrounding her. The fox had flowing red hair with red on the tip of her tail, and wore a red dress, separate black sleeves, red gloves, and red boots. She also had a red jewel attached to a neckband.

Blaze jumped down to lend a hand, quickly dispatching one as she landed on it. The fox smashed the one she was fighting before ducking and smashing another one when it leaped over her. Blaze threw a fireball at another before looking at the last two. The fox jumped on one's head and smashed its face in before doing a back flip, landing behind the last one, and aiming the tip of her bat at it. An energy blast shot out and blew the robo-kitty up.

"Not bad," Blaze said.

The fox looked at her with a wide smile and gasped. "Blaze?! Princess Blaze?!"

The cat held up her hand. "Just... Blaze. And who might you be?"

The wolf set the tip of her bat against the ground as she rested her arms on the handle. "Name's Poppy. Pleasure to meet you."

"Well, Poppy... I should be going." Blaze said as she got ready to shoot back up to the rails.

"Wait!" Poppy yelled, picking up her bat and resting it on her shoulder. "You're on a mission, aren't you?" She asked. "Something serious, I can tell," she added as she put on a serious voice and narrowed her eyes.

"Yes. Very serious. Gotta go."

"WAIT!" Poppy yelled in a more whiny voice. Blaze was about to jump but stopped suddenly, almost falling over. "I can help. Let me help! It's sooooooo boring around here. If I can get more action like this, I wanna help."

Blaze sighed and crossed her arms. "I'm more of a solo act."

"I respect that. But you can't tell me that having help is worse than having no help."

Blaze thought back to when she fought Eggman Nega. She had no back-up and got her butt kicked. She sighed deeply, knowing getting the Emeralds back was of the utmost importance and any help was better than no help at all. "Fine. You can come."

"YES!!!" Poppy cheered. "Looks like yo solo no mo, Blaze!" She then jumped up and gripped her bat with both hands, hanging from the rail. "You comin'?"

Blaze sighed to herself and jumped up, landing in front of the fox and lightly pushing herself forward with her fire. She looked back to see if the fox could even keep up. Poppy grabbed the rail and swung herself up. She smiled at the cat and held her bat out in front of her. It then seemed to magnetize to the rail and pull her along. She gave a wave at the princess as she was able to keep up. Maybe she really wouldn't slow them down.

As they traveled, Poppy started to whistle to herself. When they arrived at two parallel rails that seemed to run together for miles, Poppy jumped to the other one and sped up a little to ride next to the cat.

"Sooooo, what happened?" She asked. Blaze eyed her but said nothing. "Come ooooooon," Poppy said before she flipped over her bat and began to push herself backwards so she could look Blaze in the eyes. "Let's use this time to get to know each other."

"You first."

"Alright. As you may have guessed, I have a lot of energy. Like... lots."

"You don't say."

"Life in town was rather duuuull... and booooooring. Suddenly, these robots appeared and attacked our town so I grabbed my bat and-- OH! Did I mention I play baseball?"

"No."

"Oh. Well, I play baseball and, due to my combat training, have a maaaaad swing. Like, wham, bam, POWER SLAM!" She yelled as she picked up her bat and took a batter's stance. Blaze just stared at her. She slowly lower her bat back down to the rail. "Sooooooo... a few of my sports friends saved the town before I chased a few out to where you found me."

Blaze sighed. "Uh-huh."

"Now, you. What brings you out here? Not to see me, of course. We just met."

"I was made Guardian of the Sol Emeralds and then I was tricked into using them by Eggman Nega. Now, they're scattered around and I have to find them... or he'll use them to destroy my kingdom, my people, and take over the planet."

Poppy was silent before she leaned back and saw she was nearing a loop back. She casually stepped over to stand in front of Blaze, the two maintaining the same speed. "That is serious. And, you have my word, I will stick by your side until mission completion."

Blaze hid a smile. "Alright. But, for now, could you stick behind me?"

"Oh, yeah," Poppy said as she jumped over the cat and landed on the rail. She was still traveling backwards as she watched her home vanish in the distance. "This is the farthest I've been from home."

Blaze looked down. She's been out far before, but not this far. "Well... Poppy... That's one thing we have in common."

The fox looked over her shoulder. "For real? You've never traveled the lands?"

"Not this far, no. I had everything I needed back home, so I always stayed close. Plus, I was expected to protect the civilians."

"Lot of responsibility."

"Yes... Lots."

"I hope me being here makes you feel like all the burden isn't placed on you. Even if it isn't true."

Blaze smiled but said nothing. Perhaps this new companion of hers would prove to be more than just a companion. A friend, maybe? It would be her first one. She suddenly felt a surge of power, telling her they were close. She glanced around and saw a series of caves up ahead.

"We're close," she finally said, making Poppy flip around to face forward. "Down there." She pointed at the caves. "Before we head in, tell me about your bat."

"Oh, yeah," Poppy said with a smile. "Forgot about that. I had it specially made in case Eggman Nega's robots ever came to our home, which they did. It's made of a super strong metal, can shoot out an energy blast, attach to rails, aaaaaand function as a flashlight. Controls are on the handle."

"Good. In case we get split up, you will need that flashlight."

Poppy smirked. "Oh, you won't get rid of me that easily."

Blaze smirked to herself and thought, I wouldn't dream of it.