Chapter 22.
Roxanne's Rebirth.
Blaze and Axel stood a good distance away from each other, both on their toes, both ready. Nothing would calm down the two powerful fighters in this moment, except for the adrenaline rushed as their weapons clash together.
“Blaze... Is it really you?” Axel could not believe his eyes, seeing as to how Blaze had changed.
“To me, it is me, but the Blaze you knew is gone, Axel.” They both paused and stared at each other, trying to measure the level power their respective opponent possessed.
“Where is she, Axel? I know you are hiding her.” Blaze gruffly asked the man in the opposite direction.
“Why don't you come over here and find out!” Axel wished to continue the chatter no more. He raised both of his rings, making a gigantic wall of fire rise from underneath the ground despite the heavy rain. The wall covered Axel in its flames, wrapping around him in a ball of intensely hot lava. It was obvious from the start that Axel was not going to joke around. He raised a set of numerous and huge pillars from underground, and made them all rush towards Blaze without mercy.
Blaze saw Axel's power level rise much higher than of his current one, but did not make any sign of fear or awe. The pillars sped up towards Blaze, but instead of hitting him, made a huge circle around Blaze and continued to burn even more intensively, turning the raindrops into gas before they even touched the flames.
“This wall is impossible to break through Blaze, even with whatever power you are hiding! Don't worry, i won't tell Roxanne of your quick loss when she wakes up.” Axel's attitude was even more cockier after the year of adventures and training.
“You don't know what power I am hiding, Axel.” Blaze talked back with more calmness than a quietly flowing river, even though the heat of the flames was growing higher, and Blaze was right in the middle of it.
“I might not, but i know its not enough, now die!” Axel cockily yelled from his side of the area. The fire pillars enclosed Blaze withing them, swallowing them with their heat. There was not where Blaze could have gone to, not even underground, as the flames shut away that path also. Blaze only stood there, letting his chains drop down onto the flames and took a deep sign of the last remains of air withing the flaming cage, seemingly accepting his death without even trying to work his way out of the cage. The flame tongues were already touching his coat, making it melt.
“Darkness...” Blaze whispered what to Axel seemed like his last words. And then he moved.
Blaze stretched his arms outwards, putting them directly into the molecule melting flames, without any grimace of pain on his face. Then a dark purple shield drew around Blaze, lifting him upwards. The shield was strong enough to force the flames back away from Blaze, much to Axel's amusement. He could feel the flames struggle against the power of the Blaze's shield. Axel focused more power into his pillars and made them push back. Axel struggled to keep all this power up, starting to sweat and take deep and exhausted breaths as his power was given away into the flames. Blaze, however, only give off just enough to match Axel's flames to the nearest hundredth of Axel's power.
“Indestructible, huh?” Blaze said to asked with a matter-of-fact tone. He cocked back his right fist, making the darkness flow into it. Blaze's strength dramatically increased, now to Axel's amazement. The shiled slightly opened in front of Blaze, and Blaze threw a shattering punch. Axel lost control of the wall. He couldn't believe his eyes, but the flaming pillars that were surrounding Blaze exploded, sending out a big pack of small flames, which were finished off by the rain once they hit the ground.
Despite losing the wall, Axel did not lose his will to win. Blaze descended back to the ground, and Axel picked his mind right back up, throwing a flaming concussive wave in Blaze's direction to cover up his assault. Blaze lifted his rings and threw them towards the wave, effortlessly splitting it before it could touch him.
“Surprise!” with a relentless yell Axel appeared behind the wave, with his chakrams ready. Axel threw one of the chakrams at his opponent with brute force behind it, while keeping the other in his hand to attack.
Blaze weaved to the left to avoid the chakram that would have taken his head off, while walking backwards away from Axel. Axel made the thrown chakram appear back in his hand and while slowing down his swing, engaged in combat.
Axel was flying towards Blaze, while Blaze was walking backwards and letting his rings dance a dance of heated battled with Axel's chakrams. Axel and Blaze were both completely engaged in a fight and everything else in the world did not matter to them. They both were perfectly flawless in their techniques, not making one mistake, afraid of losing a punch to the other. It was a battle of less recklessness and more of complete concentration and willpower, as they continued to walk in their direction. And when Blaze's back was towards the building he did not stop, he started walking backwards against gravity without any effort, putting his whole mind into the fight.
As they walked upwards, already going higher than the tenth floor of the lifeless building, their powers increased so much that the glass that they walked on was cracking. Axel's body became engulfed in flames from all the power he was putting out in his swings, but Blaze was always right on par with his Nobody. The were now all the way up on the eighteenth story, and Axel's cockiness finally let him down.
Axel was mad because Blaze was able to match everything Axel put out, making him feel like he wasted a year of training. He channeled his rage into what he sure would be the final strike, raising the chakrams up high and engulfing them in his raging flames. Then Axel got one more look at Blaze and let go of the collected power, hoping to make a hit.
Blaze could see two flames falling down on him, and all in one short moment he managed to weave to the side of the attack, making Axel stagger. Blaze then landed a beautiful hay maker onto Axel's ribs, knocking every sign of breath out of Axel's body and shutting off his flames. All that before the gravity took its place.
Axel knew he could stay vertically anymore, their movements were quick enough to be ahead of gravity, but it inevitably caught up to the two incredible opponent. Axel was falling with a ruthless pain that was loudly whining away in his ribs like a restless newborn. Although Axel lost the struggle, his ego would not let him go out simply from one punch, far from it, he was still thinking of a way to win.
Axel pointed his chakrams outwards and intensified the heat to make all the crackled glass break completely and fly behind him. The entire side of the building was becoming windowless, as Axel flew by then upside down. Blaze watched Axel fall and waited for gravity to pull his body down also. He folded his arms onto the side of his body and nosedived towards the ground, with the crackled glass engulfing him in its waterfall of reflections. Blaze kept his eyes downwards, not noticing the one of those sparkling reflections of the moon was more to him than just a piece of glass. Right before hitting the ground, Axel made an upside down somersault and jumped away good twenty feet, feeling excitement in anticipation of hearing Blaze's cries of pain. What Axel didn't hear was Blaze's quiet whisper.
“Dawn...”
Blaze landed onto the ground and looked Axel directly in the eye. The glass was about to fall onto him like a deadly waterfall that was ready to mix itself with Blaze's crimson liquid. But Blaze showed no fear, in fact, he lifted his head so that his lips would show and self-assuringly smirked, puzzling Axel.
Blaze raised his hand and all of the glass piece that were about to hit him stopped. It was like the waterfall froze into tiny droplets that were stuck in time. Axel's jaw almost dropped in awe of Blaze's abilities. Blaze then pointed his hand onto Axel, and without showing any signs of remorse, redirected the sharp glass chunks onto stunned Axel.
Axel quickly snapped out of his awe, in time to realize what was flying directly at him. He burst the remains of his power in an astounding effort to stay alive, pointing his chakrams towards the glass he released the remaining flames that were sealed inside of him, overwhelming the glass but draining much of his power.
Axel stood there, slightly bent breathing heavily and holding onto his ribs where Blaze landed his punch. Axel knew he was almost spent, almost done, but he also knew that he played everything out just right.
“So, is this your all?” Axel asked, breathing heavily but still keeping up his cocky tone,
“No. When the worlds start to crumble under my rage – then... Maybe then it would be my all.” Blaze answered back without showing any sign of tiredness in his tone.
“You know what Blaze? You still suck.” Axel yelled at Blaze to provoke him, but in the next second highly regretted his words.
Blaze flew towards Axel like a magnet, seamlessly covering the long distance between them. He tackled Axel with his shoulder right through Axel's ribs. Axel didn't even manage to see Blaze move away until they hit. Blaze was faster than lightning, and maybe even faster than light in those moments. And the crash, it was like a speeding locomotive hitting a stationary truck that was standing on it's rails. A loudly disgusting crunch rocketed through the entire area, even making Riku and Roxas stop their battle for a second to watch Axel fall.
Axel was coughing up blood all over his coat, his entire body was equivalent to the chattered glass, among which Axel was lying. Blaze was standing right over him, watching Axel struggle while trying to fight of unconsciousness and even maybe death itself. Blaze had a grim look on his face, he did not want to crush Axel in such a way but Roxanne he would do anything. Suddenly Axel smiled through the bloody mask.
“Where is she?” Blaze asked with a dead serious tone.
“Ha... Haha.... Hahahahahahaha!” Axel started laughing away like he was in from an insane asylum.
“Where is she?!” Blaze formed a blast of darkness in his hand and put it to Axel's face to signify he was not kidding around.
“Hahahahaha! I think you not ask me as to where is she, but ask yourself where is her heart!” Axel managed to yell out, despite throwing up and coughing out more blood.
“Her heart... the key!” Blaze grabbed onto the coat in his chest area, where the key would have been but it was gone.
“But it can't be... the key...” Blaze was completely lost, while turning away from Axel and looking onto the field of melted and broken glass.
“Oh yes it can, Blaze.” A voice that was too familiar not to identify came from somewhere high above. The voice was emotionless, calm, and charismatically deep. A voice Blaze heard one too many times.
“Xemnas!” Blaze angrily yelled out, ready to attack, as he saw the leader of the Organization standing on the edge of one of the skyscrapers, holding Blaze's key in his hand. The key shined away at Blaze, reflecting the moon, just like the glass pieces that were scattered along the ground.
“If you decide to come to this world again, Roxanne will truly be dead. If i were you I would stay far away from The World That Never Was.” Xemnas was speaking with a slightly satisfied tone and a tiny predator-like grin.
“You... Double crossing bastard!” Blaze shrieked out in desperation of inability to do anything. The deep feeling of madness at himself grew out even more inside of Blaze, making him wish to attack Xemnas in a blind rage. But they key, they key is what was stopping him from doing anything. Blaze couldn't even raised his hand on the Organization, not to mention fight against them like Destiny wanted him to.
Axel was crawling away, leaving a bloody trail behind himself, into a darkness portal. Blaze turned away from Xemnas and looked Axel in the face again. Blaze thought Axel would push his self-containment even further, but instead, Axel gave Blaze a compassionate look. The look of a respecting friend, instead of a sworn enemy, and whispered.
“Now, tell me, who has really won?”
The End.
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