//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Criticism Isn't Magic // Story: Twilight the Assistant // by JusSonic //------------------------------// Chapter 3: Criticism Isn't Magic Burnblast took Drago and his pals to a secret place to discuss their mission quietly. Drago and his team listened to his father's and the rest of his family, including the Apocalypse Ponies and Burnblast, explaining what has happened so far, including Spike's new job. "Do you understand the mission now?" Shendu ask his son calmly. "So... Spike is the Prince of Friendship." Drago chuckled evilly. "This sounds good. I can't wait to meet the Prince. This is going to be fun..." Shendu hissed sternly and wickedly, "I'm glad you accept it, son. Remember; make Spike suffered for his betrayal against the Demon Lords, especially his own family." "No problem, dad. Just can't wait to burn him down." "Don't start without me, gecko." Burnblast said to Drago with a smirk. The villain doesn't want to be left out of this whole situation. "Stop calling me Gecko!" Drago snaps angrily at Burnblast. If there's one thing that he cannot stand, is being called a Gecko! "Fine... You'd better don't try anything funny, Burnblast." "Don't worry. I'm not like Lorcan. All he did was manipulated and used them for his purposes, like you. The reason why you're easily fooled is because you're a hotheaded one..." "I'm gonna kick your flank, samurai pony." Drago and Burnblast both growled in anger and rage at each other. They both armed themselves with their claws and sword, preparing to fight. This could get ugly...if a certain Demon Lord hasn't stepped in that is. "Drago; that is enough!" Shendu roars furiously to Drago, causing him to back off. "You and Burnblast will work together, despite being rivals! So no matter what, bring Spike to me! Do I make myself clear?" Drago growled in anger, "Yes... dad..." The Superior chuckled evilly as he notices the nasty intension between both Dragons, "Something tells me that Shendu and Drago didn't had a good family relationship." "Possibly, Lord Smaug since Shendu spoke no information of his own child." Tso Lan comments to the Superior in agreement. Shendu never mention about his kids, probably because of the bad relationship. "Yes... Perhaps, that was the reason why Drago wasn't involved at the End of Equestria battlefield 2,000 years ago. This could be fun." Bai Tza remarks with a sinister hiss. It would be interesting to see how Drago and Burnblast would work together...barely. Drago turned and glared at Burnblast, demanding more than asking, "So, what's the plan? This better not a funny one..." "No, it won't..." Burnblast assures Drago with a cruel smile. This one will assure victory for the Dark Mystic Ponies and Apocalypse Ponies alike... ------------ It was 5 days later. Before that time, Spike and Twilight thought that they got their temporarily jobs easily. Shows what you know! Spike has to deal with the worst things that he had to do in Twilight's horseshoes. It includes dealing with disputes between two arguing sides which Spike having trouble figuring out how to resolve, trying to deal with situations involving magic which the Baby Dragon doesn't seem to have, recruiting new guards though some are either too selfish, too clumsy, or something else in between. A fourth difficult task that Spike had to deal with is starting races for the foals. At first, he thought that it was no big deal. Wrong! The Dragon yelps as he has his scales and tongue pulls by some wild and crazy colts and fillies. How did even Twilight deal with this? And the final task; Not getting a moment's rest. Seriously, being a Prince of Friendship is tiring. Now, as far as Twilight is concerned, she had to deal with five of his own duties: cleaning up after everyone, changing things whenever the schedule or stuff get changed, trying to help various ponies at once, keeping the food from going bad...and of course, trying to do work after night especially since Spike is still the Prince of Friendship temporarily and she is the one who can stay up. Normally, it's worst for Spike when he is the one who fall asleep...now its worst for her. Pinkamena and her group watch more as she says, "Well so far everything is doing ok but we must be ready for anything so stay sharp everypony." Golden Heart and the others nod and keep their guard up being ready for anything. Eventually, it was the end of the day as the two are in the throne room. Spike sat in the throne while Twilight was almost exhausted. "Well, Twilight, I thought all your tasks were cool, but they are pretty must worst and difficult." Spike said to Twilight with a groan. "But on the plus side, at least it's over." "You think those parts of my jobs are tough? You’re cleaning up, re-changing stuff, helping ponies as an assistant instead of being a Princess, and working after night is exhausting as well." Twilight remarks to Spike with a deep sigh. "At least it's over too." "Yeah, now you see what I had to put up with." Just then, Azure came into the throne room. Twilight had almost forgotten that her teacher promised to come on to help the mare continue her training to use her Dark Form along with resisting the hypnotism magic. She wishes to use both in the future to help Equestria and Ponyville. "Twilight, I apologized that I didn't make it since I had some matters to deal with from the North. So let's-" Azure stops as he is spotting what Spike and Twilight had been doing, "What the?! What is the meaning of this?" "Oh...well, Spike and I had switch places for the week." Twilight explains to Azure with a weak smile. "I am the assistant and he is the Prince of Friendship." "We are recovering from the worst duties that the other had done before then." Spike explains to Azure with a groan and a nod. Azure looks concerned; he can tell that both jobs are taking its toll on the two heroes of Equestria. "Twilight, a word with you alone..." Azure said to Twilight seriously. The Princess nods as she takes the Lord of Ma to her room to have a private chat. Whenever Azure is like this, what he wants to say is very serious. "What were you doing?" "I was trying to be fair and good to Spike. It's what mothers and owners are supposed to do." Twilight explains to Azure, telling him as to what was going on besides what he knew already. "I'm supposed to be treating Spike good and fair. I don't want a wedge to be driven between me and him. He was too important as Nyx, Ben, my friends and family." Azure sighed, shaking his head while saying, "Twilight, I'm not quite sure that was indeed a good idea for you to do that. Spike is a servant class, he is neither warrior nor leader class." "I know. But I had to. Even if Spike was having some difficulties, I'll always be there for him no matter what." "You treasure, care and loved him much, don't you?" Azure asks making Twilight nodded. "For me, I always treat everyone well. Even if I did make mistakes in blaming my officers or unintentionally harming them, I apologized to them, gave them gifts and guided them well. That's what a leader's supposed to do, not switching the position for the sake of one servant." Twilight thought for the moment, then spoke, "I understand. But Spike is my son, my assistant and my friend, he is not a servant." "Whatever you want to do with him is your choice, I was merely advise you. And what you're doing for Spike was completely wrong. If the mistake comes, he won't handle much of pressure. If you truly care for Spike, then treat him well of how you wanted for him. Farewell..." Azure takes his leave, leaving Twilight to her thoughts. What if he's right? Would the mare's decision to switch roles make things worse? If so, what would happen when Spike is under pressure? --------------------- "Chocolate cake!" "Coffee cake!" Once again, Tao and Mighty were arguing, this time, at Sugarcube Corner. The ponies, as well as the shop owners, were trying to deal with the latest intense argument between the two. "Now, now, gentle-Mystics; How about you take them both instead?" Mr. Cake asked the two nervously, not wanting a fight to break out and scare the foals. Pinkie nodded her head, speaking, "Yeah. Besides, there is no need to fight over for the small stuff." Tao and Mighty Heart both scowled at Pinkie, "Shut up!" Pumpkin and Pound Cake cried and sobbed in despair and fright. Mrs. Cake picked her up her foals, hugging them carefully while saying to the arguing two, "Oh dear! You both are scaring the babies!" Tao and Mighty Heart glared at each other in accusation and then snapped in unison, "This is your fault!" The temporary prince of Equestria came in with the rest with the former asking, "What's going on?" Dragon Kick rolled his eyes while explaining dryly, "Uncle and Mighty Heart again." "They're still arguing for four days?! I thought we solved the problem already like separating them from fighting! Dragon Kick helped Tao while Jade helped Mighty." Spike said in disbelief. One would've thought that those two have stop arguing by now! "Apparently, it didn't..." Jade explained with an annoyed sigh. Twilight groaned in annoyance, "Honestly! This is getting ridiculous!" "Tell me about it!" Rainbow complains in annoyance. "These two would put my arguments with AJ in shame." "Eeyup an' we normally don't fight fer days." Applejack said in irritation. "Oh, dear; we got to put a stop to this." Fluttershy said nervously. "Yes, yes, this behavior is unponylike." Rarity said in agreement. She can't bear to see any more of this! Twilight said to her friends sternly, "Come on. Let's get them out." The group took Tao and Mighty outside with the rest of Tao's family following. Ben sighed a bit, "Okay, you two. We better find a way to deal with this foolishness." "Yes. It's getting a bit out of hoof here. Can't you get over the whole silliness?" Twilight asked the two Mystic Ponies politely. "No!" The two stubborn Mystic Ponies snapped angrily. "Come on! Just apologize, okay?" Pinkie asked happily, "At least for your family." "Over my dead body," The two Mystic Ponies snapped stubbornly in unison, and then the two get back to arguing. Their friends sighed in irritation. "At this rate, it could take a miracle to get these two guys to apologize." Spike remarks with a dry look. "Well, you're the prince now, Spike." Nyx points out to Spike in concern. "Find something!" In a darkest alley nearby, Drago and his team were watching the event. Strikemaster Ice quietly spoke, "Yo, boss! You're sure this is gonna work?" "Yeah...I mean criticize Spike; Seriously? That was his plan?" MC asked Drago as if this plan must be the most dumbest one ever. "And you think this would work? This is even stinkier than your plan in allying with that stupid Lorcan. No offense, of course..." DJ Fist nodded his head while having his claws crossed. Drago growled, "I dunno what's stupid. But it's better than trusting Lorcan again. Let's do it!" As Twilight and her friends continued talking with Tao and Mighty Heart, MC Cobra,; using his powerful speed, was passing by Spike. Without warning, he quickly threw a salt powder on his nose. Then, suddenly, Spike sniffled before he breathed heavily like he was about to sneeze. "AH-CHOO," Spike sneezed loudly. He blew a small greenish flame before it blasted out, increasing Spike's firepower which became bigger and larger. It shot right on the Ponyville Hall, setting it on fire. "Oh no; The Town Hall," Twilight cried. "It's on fire!" Pinkie exclaimed in horror. "Call the Fire Department!" A pony called out frantically. Ponies frantically got water in hopes to put the fire out like mad. The local fire department was called in quickly, getting water hoses and magic to put the fire out. The folks were freaked out and worried. "Come on now, come on!" The fire chief called out as ponies threw water onto the mess. "Come on, before she goes down!" Caramel groaned, "There must be a way for some of Twilight and her friends' adventures to not be a hazard." "That's right." The fire chief remarked with a frown upon overhearing. "Every time those girls, nothing against them, get into one of the adventures, some of our village almost gets burnt down." Pinkie, Nyx and Pinkamena then yelled out into the sky, "LEAVE US ALONE, TOONWRITER!!!" "Yeah," Phobos exclaimed with a nod. The Mane Five looked confused then Rainbow slapped her forehead, groaning, "I can never understand how random those three are." Soon after, the fire at Ponyville Hall was put up. Luckily, not much damage was done to the place. Dragon Kick sighed in relief, "That was close. But what was that?" A Green Earth Pony with a brown spiky mane and short tail named Masamune appears, pointing an accusing hoof at Spike while exclaiming, "I'll tell you what! That Prince of Friendship set fire on our town hall!" "What," Everyone else asked in shock and disbelief. Spike looks stunned while his friends look worried. He didn't mean any damage! Spike just sneezed unexpectedly. "I saw it with my own eyes! That stupid Dragon was trying to kill us!" Masamune remarked in an angry tone of voice. Spike gasped, "No, I wasn't! I was sneezing! Honest!" "Yeah, right. When did I hear that lying part before?! Like letting Lorcan destroy our home," Masamune snapped to Spike, reminding him of when his actions that was still fresh in the memories of the ponies, especially after what Lorcan had done. Some ponies came in, upset as they yell in agreement. The Mane Six groaned as those guys were the Princess Bashers, who dislike the princesses of Equestria; Mostly because of the bad decisions made by Celestia in the past. Why couldn't those jerks just let it go? "Yeah, I mean, how many times have we let this bum almost destroy us?" One Basher remarked as he and the others agreed with Masamune's opinions. "Princess Sparkle should've broken his egg instead of hatching it years ago!" Another basher yelled out angrily. Twilight frowned at hearing it but kept her temper in check. "Spike is a Dragon! And he is a servant class! And Princess Twilight let him take over her role as our Prince?!" Masamune exclaimed with scoffs of disbelief, anger, and something else. "Don't make me laugh! That was the most stupidest thing that I ever heard! Letting him lead us means our doom! Like what he had done to our town as a big greedy Dragon, and trying to abandon his own family and home to Lorcan, and let's not forget that he was helping Shendu in killing our princess! This Dragon will kill us! He will never be one of us! Will we accept this?!" The Princess Bashers members cried furiously, "No! Spike's no leader! Kick Spike out! Spike's no leader! Kick Spike out; Spike's no leader; Kick Spike out!" Spike had a look of fear and nervous on his face. This was the same thing that happened when he had to blow fire onto the torch back at the Equestria Games. Only this time, he was being criticized for something that wasn't his fault! "Hey, leave Spike alone, he didn't mean to do it!" Nyx yelled angrily to Masamune and the Princess Bashers. "Right, I mean, yeah, Spike did some bad things, but they weren't truly his fault." Rainbow said with a frown. "Right; Spike helped out Equestria many times then I can remember!" Phobos exclaimed. The Moon Dragon paused then adds, "Of course, if I could remember, at least." "Not helping, Phobos." Twilight groaned angrily. "Anyway, even if Spike is Lorcan's brother, I refuse to believe that he is bad! Not now or ever!" "And you dumb ponies may as well stop it just because he almost blew up the town hall!" Scootaloo exclaimed sternly. This was too much for Spike to handle. He groaned before screaming in an upset tone. Spike turned and ran away from the scene, much to the shock of his friends. "Spike; Wait," Twilight exclaimed in alarm for her little brother/son. "Spike," The CMC exclaimed in shock and sadness. "See what you jerks did?!" Ben snapped furiously to the Princess Bashers. For some reason, Masamune had left, but that wasn't the matter now. "You guys are despicable!" "Hey, zip it, Ben. If you don't watch your mouth, you're going to face a permanent dethroning." One Princess Basher remarked dryly to the prince. "GET OUT OF MY TOWN!!!!" Ben yelled furiously in the Royal Canterlot Voice that would make his mother and aunt proud. He hated it when someone made Spike upset, and hated it more when he's being threatened like that! The stallion used his magic to push the critics back like mad, "Out! Out! Out! Out; OUT!!!" "We must get him back here!" Tao exclaimed in worry. He didn't want Spike to hate himself like this! "I'll go!" Mighty Heart exclaimed, wanting to help his good friend. Jade and Nyx both shouts, "Me too!" Rainbow Dash groaned in annoyance:, "About time you two stop arguing!" Tao and Mighty Heart huffed in disagreeing before departing. They obviously didn't stop arguing at all, "Seriously?! Unbelievable! I'm not sure if they're aware that it was their fault." Mighty and Tao both snapped at the same time, "We didn't do anything wrong to Spike!" "Apparently, you guys did. Mighty Heart, please find Spike and make sure he is okay. The last thing I want is to lose him." Twilight said sternly to Mighty Heart. Mighty Heart nodded as he galloped off after his friend. The princess turned to Tao to speak with him next, "We need to talk... And it's about Mighty." "Don't look at me! He insulted and disrespected me! And I don't like it!" Tao protested his innocence to Twilight, insisting that whatever happened was Mighty's fault. Twilight will not have it. It's time she tells him how she herself feels about his behavior! The Alicorn asked, "Don't you think you've been treating him badly?" "Mei Hua (What)?! Me?! Treat him badly?!" Tao protested to Twilight, shocked by what she's asking, "Never! All I ask is 'One more thing' for him to do!" "That's the point, Tao. You're demanding too much. You can't expect him to be 100% ready for everything." Twilight explained to Tao with a sigh, making him look stunned by the idea that he is treating Mighty wrong. "He is a pony, not a machine. And he needed rest. And besides, do you actually hate him?" "No... I don't... I just don't like how he behaved and how he insulted my son; And...maybe I should have considerate about his health." Tao said. He is now feeling guilty. The old pony didn't realize how badly that he truly treated Mighty until now. "Maybe I say many more things..." "That's good enough. I think when we find Spike, you should apologized to Mighty Heart for not considerate his well-being." Twilight said with a warm smile. At last, Tao has saw how he has treated Mighty. "I will. You are wise as I am, though I wish you should be more careful when dealing with your enemies..." Tao said, giving words of precaution to Twilight. "That's good enough..." Twilight said with a nod. Now that Tao has come to his senses, time to go after Spike! ---------- In the same dark alley, Masamune slowly transformed into his true form: Burnblast. His plan worked. Accusing Spike of trying to destroy the folks and the Princess Bashers' unknowingly help of him had shaken the purple Dragon's confidence a bit. "I can't believe it. It worked!" Drago exclaimed in amazement that the idea work. "I told you so. So now, we get Spike." Burnblast ordered. With the ponies looking for them, the villains planned on getting to him first. "Fair enough; Spike's gonna regret what he had done to my family. And when I'm done with him, I'm coming after the rest of his family." Drago declared sinisterly, holding a claw in a fist of rage, "Because the Son of Shendu is taking over this kingdom!" --------- Near the lake, Spike was crying in pain and sorrow. He blew it. The Dragon couldn't take criticism and already some ponies hated him. He didn't even seem to notice that Nyx, Mighty Heart and Jade are arriving at first. That is, until Nyx spoke up, "Spike?" Spike sniffled, spotting his sister as he said, "Oh... Hey, Nyx..." "Are you alright?" Nyx asked Spike, who nodded in reply. "Look, Spike... You shouldn't let those stupid Princess Bashers critics criticize you. All they did is just spread rumors and talk nonsense for everyone to believe because they think they were better than anyone else. Like that stupid Hamster Master, he always accused authors, without any proof like JusSonic and Power Master. He was really stupid." Jade was not sure what Nyx was going for, but she played along, exclaiming, "What she said! Besides, everyone make mistakes but they learned from it to become better." Spike sighed sadly, "It's not the leadership that upsets me. It's about me. And they were right. I'm not a leader. I'm an assistant and a servant. I helped and served ponies, not leading them. I mean... this is not what I'm supposed to do. I'm sorry... Those critics were right. I'm not a leader, and I had abandoned you all." "Spike, that isn't true!" Nyx exclaimed, denying Spike's claim. "You didn't abandon us." "Right; you just freaked out, under pressure." Jade assured Spike in concern. "You can be a leader if you put your mind to it." "I dunno... What about you, Mighty Heart? You seemed to be hating him a lot." Spike said, recalling Mighty Heart's fight with Tao earlier. "You... reminded me of me from Lorcan's War. I was so stupid for blaming Twilight in not thinking about me when she really does since I was a baby." "To be honest, it was true. But I never hated Tao, I just wanted him to respect me and give me some freedom. He's taking advantage of me." Mighty Heart explained to Spike with a sigh, explaining how he truly feels about Tao. "After all, every servant needs rest and freedom. You can't expect one to be a full and prepared servant in handling everything. I just want him to realize. I guess... I've gone too far for insulting him and his son." "You sure did." Jade said. She and every Mystic Pony knew how sensitive Tao was when it comes to his son. "But Spike, mommy wanted to take care of you and be fair with you because she loved you so much." Nyx explained gently to Spike. "I know... But leadership is not what I'm good at. I wish she knew about it." Spike remarked with a groan a bit. He knew that Twilight was only trying to help, but being a leader was just not cutting it. "Look, Spike. Being leader doesn't mean you had to give orders or lead them, but also served and help them. They're like what assistants do." Nyx explained to Spike, nuzzling him while telling her what she believes. "Besides, all of us will be there for you. You don't have to worry about one thing. Just two more days, and everything will be back to the way it was; so, how about we go back home?" Spike thought for a moment before smiling. He spoke, "Yeah, let's go home. And when we do, I think you better apologized to Tao and tell him what you feel about not letting you for more time to rest. He will understand." "I guess you're right." Mighty Heart said with a sigh. Spike was right. It's time for the foolish argument to come to an end. ---------------- The group looks around for a few seconds, until they find Spike with three certain pals of theirs. The princess sighs in relief. Hopefully now this matter can be resolved. Perhaps Azure is right: Spike shouldn't be in the leader role. Twilight felt like it's best to put an end to it before it's too late. As soon as Twilight and her friends find their missing friends, they were about to reunite with Spike, Mighty Heart, Jade and Nyx. BOOM! A giant fireball blasted at the ground hard, causing everyone to fell down. One of the Demons who fired, Strikemaster, smirks wickedly from nearby while taunting, "Whoops! Did I just ruin your reunion; my bad!" "Yeah, my bad as wellm" MC exclaims wickedly as the gang got up. Who are these guys? More Dark Mystic Ponies, "But an order is an order! The boss is making his appearance." DJ Fist turned and waved to Drago who is nearby, In terms of age, the new character seemed roughly in his teenage years, but was clearly very powerful. He was rough the size of an average human with forest-green scales coating his body, a long, sweeping tail, and a row of horns of his head and the sides of his face. He wore tight steel-grey pants with a red sash around his waist, a grey shirt with a fire logo on his chest, and black bands on his wrists, and a flowing, jet-black jacket with the sleeves ripped off. He seems relative to the lizard family, almost like a Dragon teen, and even has red eyes. Drago turned and glared at Spike. "Who... Who are you?!" Spike asks in alarm. He doesn't know who this guy is but there's something wicked and familiar about him! Drago grabbed Spike's tail up. He snarls, "I am one angry Dragon who is going to make you pay for what you had done to my family!" "What are you talking about?!" "Yeah, Spike never met you until now!" Rainbow exclaims to Drago in alarm. "What makes you think Spike has ever done anything to your family?" Rarity demands to Drago, not sure what's going on here. "Does the name Demon Lords rang the bell?" Drago ask. Twilight and her friends yelps, gasping a bit. Yeah, that name definitely reads a ring, especially since it alarms and freak them out a bit. Even Fluttershy felt close to fainting upon hearing the name. "Glad to hear that, because I'm bringing him before my dad. And he's gonna teach this little twerp for betraying everyone! " Twilight gasped, "No! Not Spike! Leave him alone! Take me instead! But not him!" "Shut up! And take that sumo pony with us. He would make a fine feast for us to eat." Mighty gasped as he grabbed by the Demons, "Oh no!" "Let's move out, Dragons!" Drago orders his minions. They got what they themselves came for, now is the time to leave! "You said it, boss!" Strikemaster exclaims eagerly. It will thrill him big time to see Spike get punished. The heroes rush over to help Spike and Mighty Heart, but Drago blew a flaming wall in front of the group, keeping Twilight and the others away. Spike is heard screaming as Drago and his pals made black smoke appears around themselves, him and Mighty Heart, "Twilight, help me! HELP! Don't let them take me away; Mommmmmmmmmy!" Twilight gasped, "Spppiiikkkkeee!" Mighty Heart exclaims as he tries to get freed, "Seeennnssseeeeiii!" "Miiiggghhhty HEART!" Tao exclaims in alarm. PUFF! Drago and his gang disappeared from the black smoke. In the distance on a hill, Burnblast smirked darkly in victory. Everything has gone well. Drago's ambush came without warning, they got Spike and Mighty Heart, and most likely Shendu is going to punish Spike big time for the so-called betrayal. "Dang nabbed it!' Applejack exclaims as she and the others find themselves helpless and horrified. Those creeps got away with Spike and Dragon! "And they are cheating cowards!" Ben exclaims as he stomps the ground in frustration. "They ambush us before we got a chance!" "Oh man, this day couldn't get any worst!" Phobos groans a bit while shaking his head. "Wait, never mind. It can!" Tao whacked and slapped himself hard and in pain. This action startled everyone else as they never seen Tao does this to himself before! Mighty Heart's kidnapping has definitely harm him big time. "What's wrong, Tao?" Fluttershy ask Tao softly. "Tao is stupid! Tao is very stupid! Tao should never have started the argument!" Tao exclaims in regret and sadness, blaming himself for the argument that cause this mess. "And Mighty Heart was right! I said too many more things! And look at what happen! My apprentice is turning into a feast for those Demon Dragons to eat! I am so stupid!" Twilight sniffed before showing her firm face, speaking, "Instead of blaming yourself, help yourself. If you care for Mighty Heart, then we need to find a spell to find and locate Mighty Heart and Spike before what Shendu's Son is going to do will happen for real." Tao sniffed, getting the courage to speak up, "Yes... You are right. This is not the time to be despair. Mighty Heart and Spike must be rescued!" "Yeah," The CMC exclaims in determination. "Indeed, we must go and find Spike and Mighty Heart!" Rarity exclaims with a nod of agreement. "Right, those jerks will regret event taking our pals!" Rainbow exclaims, flying around in determination. The gang soon begin their plan of rescuing Spike and Mighty Heart from Drago's group before it's too late. If Shendu has his way, Spike wouldn't live on this plain for much long! Behind the trees, Burnblast smirked darkly and impressed. He smirked once more as the villain added, "Just what I wanted...A leader who really cares for his servant and ally. That kinda remind me of the past, doesn't it, Lightningblade?"