//------------------------------// // Entry 7: Firestorm Zwei vs. Blaze // Story: MLDC: Firestorm Crisis // by Michael_Ravencroft //------------------------------// “I can’t believe it, those bitches told me I was the only one with this power! Screw them, I’ll just kill ‘em later, after I’m done with you two cuties!” “Ugh, now I really want to incinerate him,” said Sunset. “Be careful, we don’t know how strong we are in these forms, but honestly…I feel like I can remake the world with my bare hands,” said Twilight in astonishment as she looked at her own hands. Sunset was loving this feeling, the power coursing through her, it was more accurate to say she was the power itself! It was like the magical power she longed to have again, it was almost similar, not quite, but still, it was extremely potent stuff. “So do you have a name?” Sunset asked. “Call me Blaze!” “How original.” “Shut up! Anyway, why fight me, the three of us can set fire to this entire damn city! And later we can watch it burn! Watch as all the little people run away as fast as they can to avoid getting charbroiled!” Blaze offered. “In addition to being a pyromaniac, and being sadistic, he’s also developed a god complex,” said Twilight. Sunset smacked her right fist into her left palm, causing a clanking of metal to echo out. “Guess we need to knock him off his pedestal then!” “Screw you both then, let me hear you scream!” Blaze pointed both his hands at the girls, atomic rings formed as the particles of energy gathered at his call. Sunset saw this and mimicked the motion, she only hoped that the few lessons she taught herself in the use of offensive magic translated well into this power. Her hopes were answered when her hands gained the atomic rings as well, the energy built up faster than Blaze and in no time at all Sunset unleashed a powerful stream of plasma fire right at him. The blast hit him dead center, sending him up to the building and going higher and higher as Sunset continued to pour it on. Twilight reached out with her own hand and concentrated, trying to conjure a fire blast to aid Sunset, but for some reason the atomic rings never formed. “Why can’t I use it too?” “Don’t worry Sparky, I’ve got this guy!” “RAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!” Blaze released burst field of power, breaking himself off from Sunset’s energy blast. “Or at least I did.” Blaze didn’t seem to drop back down, in fact, he was still in midair. It then occurred to both girls that Blaze could fly, something that Sunset found out the hard way. Blaze flew right at her, plowing himself into Sunset and forcing her back. He held Sunset by the neck, smashing her through one wall after the other. He then aimed at a skyscraper, glass shattered and steel was melted as a molten wake was etched into the side of the building the higher they went, and dragging her up its surface to its highest point.   Sunset had had enough of this, she cocked back her right fist, energizing it with flames and struck Blaze right in the face! The strike sent him spiraling away from Sunset as he tried to correct himself in midair. Sunset scrambled to figure out how she could remain airborne, knowing that it would only be a matter of seconds before she began falling to the pavement down below. An idea sprung into her head and she went with it. The flames that jetted out of the sides of her boots began to swirl and spun rapidly till they looked like spinning wheels floating a few inches away from her boots. “Not exactly a chariot, but it’ll do,” said Sunset. Blaze seemed to get his bearings again, now flying straight for Sunset. The red armored girl smirked and jetted off towards him. The two met halfway as Blaze went for a punch right at her head, but Sunset dodged it, and drove her right elbow right into Blaze’s midsection, causing a shockwave to boom outwards. The pyromaniac let out coughing gag from the blow, Sunset took advantage of this and delivered a palm uppercut to this jaw with her left. Sunset felt great, the pain from her injury during her fight with Lightning Dust and Gilda was no longer there at all, not only that, but she was faster and stronger now too. Sunset began giving Blaze a flurry of punches that moved a rapid fire pace. Sunset’s punches moved so fast that it looked as if Blaze was getting pummeled with dozens of fireballs. The pyromaniac managed to block one punch, allowing him to deliver a powerful hook right to Sunset’s stomach, knocking the air out of her lungs. In that same moment, Blaze maneuvered around so that he was behind her now. He grabbed hold of her right wrist, wrenching her arm back, causing Sunset to grunt in pain, and with his left hand he palm struck Sunset right at the elbow at the same time. The result was the sickening crunching and cracking sound of Sunset’s arm breaking at the elbow, causing the crimson warrior to cry out in pain as her eyes bulged out from the injury. “SUNSET!!!” Twilight cried out. Twilight’s white eyes shined as she pointed her hand at the metal antenna of one of the buildings. Her mind went to work, through the eyes of her new form she was able to see many things. For instance, the atomic and molecular structure of the antenna itself, her mind automatically registered every core metal component of the tall tower. Her right hand summoned forth the atomic rings as Twilight directed her energy right to the tower, she then raised that same hand up as if picking something up. The antenna rose into the air, breaking off part of the roof it was on with it. With another burst of her power the antenna was blasted apart into tiny particles, her mind set to work on rearranging the atomic structure, changing the molecular density composition of the entire thing in a matter of nanoseconds! The atomic rings formed around Twilight’s left hand, and working with her right she formed the reworked item like a conductor of an orchestra. The new creation was a multitude of chain links that swirled around her, each one tipped with a sharp arrowhead. Twilight waved her hands and the chains launched themselves right for Blaze. Blaze saw the chains coming and quickly released Sunset Shimmer from his grasp, flying at great speed to avoid them. He fired plasma flame beams at the chains, but every time he severed the chains they grew back, reconnected to the original, and continued their pursuit. Blaze tried this a few more times, trying to completely melt the chains, but the end result was the same, now instead of many, there was literal a hundreds of thousands spear tipped chains surrounding him. Like the ancient mythological hydra, when one head was cut two more grew in its place, and it was proving to be the same with these chains! Sunset floated to Twilight, clutching at her broken right arm. “So…looks like you can fly too.” “It’s just a simple matter of manipulating the gravitons that float within the air, but forget that! Sunset your arm!” The crimson Firestorm looked at her arm with a growing feeling of nausea, her arm looked like a jackknifed semi, and she couldn’t even move it. But just then flames erupted around the arm, surrounding the broken area. The flames changed into the atomic rings, and within a few seconds Sunset’s arm was set back into place. Both girls were astonished by the sudden regeneration, Sunset flexed the fingers of her right hand, and then gave her arm a few light bends. There was no pain at all, her arm had been completely healed. “How…?” Twilight gasped. “It must be our bodies, we’re not exactly flesh and blood anymore. And because of that, we must be able to heal at a faster rate than normal,” said Sunset with an observational tone. “Makes sense, but still, we shouldn’t be reckless with our attacks, too much damage and not even our healing abilities might able to save us.” Twilight warned. “Okay, no head shots or getting twenty inch holes blasted through our guts. By the way, how are you still talking to me and chasing him down with those chains?!” Twilight looked up and saw that the chains were still after Blaze, she shrugged and smiled. “I’m great at multitasking.” The chains swirled around Blaze like a pit of vipers, each one snapping at him as he lobbed fireballs at them. The chains went stiff, readying themselves for the final strike. “I’m not going to be beaten by a couple of girls! You hear me?!!!” The chains lashed out from every direction, it was a three-hundred and sixty degree death swarm, no matter which way he went, the chains would be there and they were closing in with each second. Blaze created a sphere of flames around his body, hardening it into a shield that kept the chains at bay, but they grinded against the sphere, tirelessly trying to pierce through it and get at their prey. Blaze built up more of his power, his flaming hair flaring up as he did so. The sphere grew more and more, expanding and pushing against the swirl of chains. Outside the sphere, Twilight was doing her best to keep hold over the chains, her brow furrowing as she concentrated. Sunset noticed her struggling and looked to the sphere, watching as the center glowed brighter. The red Firestorm thrust out her hand, concentrating to aid in the maintenance of the chain sphere. Her eyes saw into the atomic structure of the chains, seeing Twilight’s artistry in rearranging the atoms into a stronger version of themselves. Seeing where the bonds were growing weaker, Sunset concentrated her energy on transmuting the bonds back into place. But something was wrong, the atomic rings that usually precursor the usage of their powers did not appear at all. Twilight looked to Sunset, who was now staring at her hand. “What’s wrong?!” “I can’t…transmutation…I can’t use it like you can!” I can’t use fire blasts and Sunset can’t transmute?! Does that mean that the Protocol split its abilities between the two of us?! Twilight didn’t have time to ponder this as the chains burst apart, vaporized by the heat and power of Blaze’s energy. The rogue Firestorm looked upon them with pure hate and rage burning in his eyes. Blaze shot out with a trail of flames in his wake, cocking back his left fist as he aimed right for Twilight. The lavender Firestorm’s eyes widened when she saw him careening for her. When Blaze threw his punch Sunset bolted and got right between him and Twilight. With her right hand Sunset caught the punch mid strike, sending a shockwave booming around them from the residual force and power being dispersed. Blaze readied to blast her in the face with his other hand, but Twilight thrust out her left hand, summoning the atomic rings around her hand. A great pressure formed between Sunset and Blaze, and with a flick of the wrest Twilight unleashed the pent up force, sending a wave of pressure roughly the equivalent to being slammed with a ten-foot steel wall. The pressure wave threw Blaze some ought feet away. Sunset looked to Twilight, smirking at the egghead’s quick thinking. “I may not be able to use fire blasts, but there are other ways for me to attack!” Twilight proclaimed. “Then let’s slam this d-bag into the grindstone!” Sunset took off, with Twilight right behind her. Sunset brought both of her hands together, the rings forming around them, and fired a column sized blast of plasma fire right at Blaze. The rogue Firestorm stopped his momentum, he quickly erected a barrier around himself just in time for the blast to hit it and engulf him. Twilight used her enhanced vision, peering past the flames and barrier to see Blaze underneath. She focused her power within the bubble of energy that he protected himself with. Although not able to wield the same flames as Sunset, that didn’t mean she couldn’t use fire in another way. Twilight concentrated her power on the air molecules floating in the bubble, she manipulated them into ten condensed spheres of swirling air. Blaze was noticeably confused about what was happening around him, but he wasn’t about to let down the barrier while Sunset was still pouring on the heat. With a snap of her fingers, Twilight made the air molecules grind against each other, causing enough friction that they caused a chain reaction. All ten ignited at once, causing a massive explosion within the confines of his barrier, which only magnified the damage and power of the detonation. Sunset’s attack blew up at the center, adding to the destructive power of the attack. A massive smoke cloud appeared around Blaze obscuring him from sight. But Blaze was still there, glowing bright. His body was a mess from the counter attack, the flames and atomic rings already at work trying to heal his battered body. He spat out some blood, which was really plasma ichor that dissipated after a second or two. “How in the hell are they so strong?! Fine then I’ll just blow up the entire city!” “Not happening!” Blaze looked up into the sky and saw a yellow star shooting down from the heavens. Then he realized that it wasn’t a star, it was the other Firestorm girl, Sunset! She came in at a blinding speed as her yellow flames ignited around her in an aura of yellow brilliance. She spun around until her legs were pointed down at Blaze, she then concentrated the flames around her right foot, making them coalesce until they engulfed her whole foot. Her bellowing mane flared up like a jet engine and propelled her at even greater speed. Sunset delivered a powerful flying kick to Blaze’s sternum, making the chest plate dent greatly, but it didn’t stop there. The crimson Firestorm continued her attack, pushing Blaze and herself down in a straight nosedive back down to the earth below. Blaze cursed and yelled as Sunset’s attack burned at his chest, while the g-forces of their freefall kept him from doing anything to counter attack. The city was quickly coming into view, and luckily for Sunset, their landing site was big enough and wide enough that no one would get hurt.   The two of them continued to free fall straight down to the ground, striking asphalt and concrete, turning it into dust and molten rock upon impact. A powerful shockwave rattled the buildings and high-rise towers, causing some of the glass to either fracture or shatter all together. A large dust cloud was kicked up into the air, taking the form of a mushroom cloud, except without the nuclear fallout that would usually precede such an explosion. Twilight had watched from on high, with worry gripping at her heart, she flew down to the dust cloud. Atomic rings formed around her hands as she cut through the cloud and made it disappear in the blink of an eye. To her relief, Sunset was standing, her foot firmly planted on Blaze’s chest, holding the pyromaniac in place as he struggled to regain his strength from the powerful dual beat down. She waved her hand over the area, making the heated concrete cool rapidly until it was safe to walk upon. After a moment’s struggle, Blaze finally lost consciousness, and following shortly after, his body was engulfed in flames with the atomic rings forming around him. What now laid under Sunset’s boot was a man in his early to mid-twenties, a little bruised up, but otherwise he looked unharmed. Twilight flew down and landed beside Sunset, nodding at the other girl as she smiled. Suddenly, Twilight and Sunset’s eyes peered into the man’s body, seeing something at his core. It was a fireball wrapped in three oscillating rings, much akin to the Firestorm Protocol. Sunset looked to Twilight with a serious expression. “You know we can’t let him go, he’ll just come back and try this all over again.” “What do you suggest? Killing him?” “That’s an option.” “No Sunset! We’re not stooping to their level!” “Well we can’t just let ‘em keep that Protocol!” Twilight looked back at the Protocol still within the man. She bent down on one knee and placed her hand over his chest. It was a long shot, and there was no telling what it would do to the man if this worked. Still, there were no other alternatives other than ending this man’s life. Twilight concentrated her powers, reaching out to signal the other Firestorm Protocol within the man’s body. The man grunted in discomfort as Twilight raised her hand up slowly. Sunset’s enhanced vision allowed her to witness what Twilight was doing, her energy was formed into tendrils that reached into the man’s body and wrapped themselves around his Firestorm Protocol. Like pulling out a splinter, moving ever so carefully, Twilight continued to draw out the source of the killer’s power. A sphere and rings could be seen emerging from the center of his chest, and with each passing second, a little more was drawn out of him. Twilight gave one last tug and the Firestorm Protocol was completely extracted, she looked back at the man, letting out a sigh of relief that he didn’t seem harmed by the procedure. Twilight looked up at Sunset Shimmer and smiled victoriously. “There’s always another way.” Sunset crossed her arms and smirked at the sparkling Firestorm girl. The Protocol that Twilight extracted suddenly floated out of her grasp, the sphere floated before them and then split apart. The sphere then shot towards them, striking the sun emblem on their chest plates and disappearing into them. Sunset and Twilight could feel their energy spike for a quick moment but then it was gone. “Okay, what was that about?!” Sunset asked with surprise. “I…I’m not sure…I feel normal-ish, what about you?” “Same, I guess.” Sunset suddenly heard the sounds of police sirens. “I know that song, we better leave Sparky, the last thing we need is to explain this to the cops!” “Agreed,” said Twilight. With little else said, Sunset and Twilight shot off into the air, leaving Blaze to the proper authorities when they arrived. Adagio was standing on the edge of a skyscraper roof top, she wore a mauve hoody with dark blue jeans as her amber hair bellowed in the wind. Her rose-colored eyes kept watch on the burning trails of yellow and pink as they took off away from the city. To her right was Aria and to her left was Sonata, both sitting on the edge of the roof. Aria and Sonata were wearing the same colored jeans as Adagio, but Aria’s hoody was an army green color while Sonata’s was plum colored. Sonata was happily kicking her feet back and forth, with a bag of popcorn in one hand as she munched down on its contents. “Wow, now that was cool!” “Feh, we could do better,” said Aria. “So, are we going to go after them?” “After seeing that? No. Besides, we need to report to Dusk Shine, he’ll want to know that his precious Protocol was found, and that the mass production ones are very potent.” “But Dagi, those girls took out the Protocol in his body! I didn’t know we could do that!” “Yes, that is a strange ability…” Adagio looked to Aria, who was now raising an eyebrow at the lead Siren. “Why are you looking at me like that?” Before Aria could get an answer, Adagio threw herself at Aria, knocking the both of them onto the flat of the rooftop. Sonata turned around and watched as the other two Sirens rolled around, still eating her popcorn. Adagio managed to get herself on top of Aria, she then placed her hand on Aria’s chest, making Aria eyes widen and her cheeks flush. “W-What the hell are you doing?!” “Shut it for a minute would you?!” Adagio concentrated, calling on the power within her, Aria and Adagio stayed there, with the latter straddling the former, hand still resting where it had been placed. Sonata leaned forward in anticipation of what Adagio was doing, almost to the point of falling flat on her face. After several seconds Adagio’s serious expression faded to one of disappointment. “Doesn’t look like we can do what they did.” Aria blushed harder. “D-Do what?!” “I just tried to reach in and take your Protocol, but nothing happened. Looks like Professor Neigh must’ve made theirs special. And that’s why Dusk Shine wants it so badly, but I doubt he told the higher ups.” “Fine, fine, now would please get off me?!” Aria grumbled. Adagio gave Aria a coyish smile, she then thrust her other hand forward, putting it right beside Aria’s head as she leaned down to the grumpy Siren. “Now who said we were through here?” Oooh, another show! I’ll need more popcorn!